Dehradun Apr 19 PTI Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Dhami on Tuesday asked officials to strengthen the early warning system before the onset of monsoon to minimise the losses caused by disasters during the season in the state Dhami who held a meeting with officials of the disaster management department to review its preparations in view of monsoon said vulnerable stretches should be identified in advance so that corrective steps can be taken in case of an emergency at the earliest As roads and communication systems are usually the worst-hit during monsoon the administration must pay all its attention to these focus areas Dhami said Installation of the Doplar radars in Surkanda and Lansdown should be sped up so that people get weather updates well on time and have enough time to move to safety in case of an imminent disaster he said Dhami said the gravity of the effects of a natural disaster in Uttarakhand last year could be reduced because an early alert for heavy rains had already been issued by the MeT department PTI ALM RCJ

Dehradun Apr 19 PTI Days after communal tension erupted in a village in Uttarakhands Haridwar opposition Congress on Tuesday held a Sarva dharma sambhav prarthana sabha at the Gandhi Park here to promote religious harmony and peaceIn a noble step Hindu Muslim and Christian priests took part in the prayer assembly along with a host of Congress leaders and prayed for peace and prosperity everywhereThe prayer assembly was attended by a large number of Congress leaders including several disgruntled party MLAs who were said to have been unhappy with the recent revamp of the partys state unitMLAs Pritam Singh Vikram Singh Negi and Rajendra Bhandari who had skipped formal assumption of offices by the newly appointed PCC president Karan Mahra and Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya also attended the prayer assembly Former chief minister Harish Rawat who also attended the meet with his MLA daughter Anupama Rawat appealed to people to live like brothers which has been the tradition of the state Communal tension had broken out in Dada Jalalpur village in Bhagwanpur area of Haridwar district on Saturday when a Hanuman Jayanti procession was pelted with stones PTI ALM SRY

Dehradun Mar 31 PTI Electricity became dearer in Uttarakhand with the state electricity regulatory commission revising the tariff rates for 2022-23 on Thursday The revised rates come into effect from April 1 the Commission said The Commission has restricted the tariff hike to around 268 per cent as against the proposal of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited of about 602 per cent and overall tariff hike proposed by all the utilities of about 1018 per cent it said in a press release While revising the tariffs for different category of consumers the Commission has attempted to reduce the cross-subsidies for all the categories There has been a marginal increase of 4 paisekWh in tariff for around 4 lakh BPL consumers The commission has raised tariff by 10 paiseunit for domestic consumers consuming up to 100 units per month which would impact around 1143 lakh consumers or 45 per cent of domestic consumers the commission said No increase in fixed charges has been effected for domestic users The Commission has reduced the Peak Hour surcharge from 50 per cent to 30 per cent The Commission has reduced the Continuous Supply Surcharge to 25 per cent from 5 per cent The Commission has increased the voltage rebate from 25 per cent to 35 per cent for consumers availing supply at 33 kV voltage level Considering the requests made by the stakeholders and load pattern the Time of Day Slots during winter months have been modified by 1 hour and normal hour will begin from 0800 Hrs instead of 0900 hrs the commission said PTI ALM MR MR

Dehradun Mar 26 PTI BJP MLA Ritu Khanduri the daughter of former chief minister B C Khanduri was elected unopposed as the first woman speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly on Saturday The announcement about her election was made by pro-tem speaker Banshidhar Bhagat Her election to the post was a foregone conclusion as the main opposition Congress chose to stay out of contest Ritu Khanduri won from Kotdwar by defeating former minister S S Negi by more than 3000 votes She had won her maiden assembly election from the Yamkeshwar constituency in 2017 Before taking a plunge into politics she taught at a private university in Noida for several years In her maiden address to MLAs soon after her election Khanduri exhorted first-time legislators to utilise five years of their tenure in learning about legislative procedures and participate enthusiastically in debates in the House on matters of public interest Congratulating her Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami dwelt on her academic achievements and said her assumption of office as the first woman speaker of the state was an acknowledgement of the valuable contribution made by women in Uttarakhands movement for statehood It is a historic day for us We got our first woman speaker in you today It is an honour for the entire women population of the state who played a stellar role in the formation of Uttarakhand Dhami said Opposition members Pritam Singh and Yashpal Arya also congratulated her saying they were confident she would carry forward her fathers legacy of probity in public life and lay the foundations of healthy legislative practices Singh also expressed hope that under her stewardship the House will pass a resolution granting 33 per cent reservation to women in the state legislature PTI ALM SMN

Dehradun Feb 27 PTI A trekker from Meerut stranded in a forest beyond Shivpuri in Tehri district was rescued safely on Sunday by the State Disaster Response Force personnel SDRF sources here said they received information about three trekkers stranded in the forests beyond Shivpuri on Sunday morning A team led by Sub-Inspector Niraj Chauhan was rushed to the spot immediately When they reached the spot they found out that a group of three trekkers had started the trek from the hotel where they were staying on Saturday night but lost their way Two of them somehow came down groping their way back but one was still stuck somewhere in the forests SDRF personnel eventually traced him after a six-hour-long search and rescue operation As the trekker was unable to walk SDRF personnel brought him to the main road carrying him on their back He has been identified as 23-year-old Parva Garg a resident of Gandhi Nagar area of Meerut The Uttarakhand police has also shared a video on Twitter in which the trekker is seen thanking the SDRF team for saving his life PTI ALM RAX RAX

Dehradun Feb 24 PTI Taking cognisance of a video purportedly showing tampering of postal ballots the Election Commission has sought a report from Pithoragarh District Magistrate on it at the earliest official said on Thursday The recording is said to have originated from Didihat constituency An action in the matter will be taken after his report is received Additional Chief Electoral Officer C Ravishankar said The video in which a man in Army uniform is purportedly seen ticking and signing several postal ballots was shared by AICC general secretary and former chief minister Harish Rawat on Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday asking whether the poll body would take cognisance of it Meanwhile on the complaint of Didihat Congress candidate Pradeep Pal an FIR was filed against unidentified people under sections of the IPC and the Peoples Representation Act Pithoragarh SP Lokeshwar Singh said The authenticity of the video is being verified he said BJP leaders including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pradesh party president Madan Kaushik termed the video fake The video is fake The Congress has floated it in a face saving attempt as it can foresee its defeat in the assembly polls Dhami had said in Haldwani on Wednesday Kaushik said it was done by the party as it knows it is going to lose in the assembly polls and wants to blame the democratic institutions for its defeat He also called it an insult to the armed forces PTI ALM VN VN

Dehradun Jan 31 PTI Senior BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday accused the Congress of opposing the creation of Uttarakhand and wanting it to be made only a Union Territory when the statehood movement was at its peak The people of the state have not forgotten how one of the Congress leaders had even said that Uttarakhand will be built on his dead body Pokhriyal also a former chief minister of Uttarakhand and a former Union minister said The Congress leaders were never in favour of making Uttarakhand a separate state and wanted it to be made a union territory he said On the contrary the BJP did not just create Uttarakhand but also ensured an unprecedented development of the state in its health education and infrastructure sectors he said Historic work done in the state over the last five years included the establishment of medical colleges in Srinagar Haldwani Dehradun and Almora he added The budget of the Health Department has been increased from Rs 837 crore to Rs 3000 crore over the last five years the former chief minister said Lakhs of families in the state have benefitted from the Ayushman Bharat scheme a fact everyone in Uttarakhand can acknowledge he added Other developmental work that Pokhriyal counted included the Rishikesh to Karnprayag rail line upgradation of highways the construction of elevated roads in general and the upcoming one between Delhi and Dehradun in particular Now it takes only 40 minutes to reach Dehradun from Laksar whereas earlier it used to take two hours and three to four hours in case of a jam he said He said Dehradun airport too is now going to become an international airport The BJP has proven its respect for servicemen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi implementing one-rank-one-pension which had remained stuck for 40 years he added The Congress on the other hand always insulted soldiers One of their leaders once even called late General Bipin Rawat a streetside hooligan he said Slamming the Congress party for this he said the party had no remorse for what it did and never apologised for it PTI ALM RAX RAX

Dehradun Jan 29 PTI Kotdwar and Haridwar rural seats in Uttarakhand are all set to witness interesting contests when the state goes to polls on February 14 with the daughters of two former chief ministers preparing to avenge the defeats of their fathers from the two constituencies The BJP has fielded former chief minister Maj Gen Bhuvan Chandra Khanduris daughter Ritu Khanduri Bhushan from the prestigious Kotdwar seat while the Congress has fielded former chief minister Harish Rawats daughter Anupama Rawat from Haridwar rural seat Khanduri had lost from Kotdwar in 2012 and Harish Rawat from Haridwar rural in 2017 when the two stalwarts had contested from the seats as incumbent chief ministers Congress nominee Surendra Singh Negi had registered a victory over Khanduri in Kotdwar in 2012 defeating him by 4623 votes Negi had garnered 31797 votes while Khanduri had got 27194 votes Similarly Harish Rawat who contested from Haridwar rural in 2017 lost to BJPs Swami Yatishwaranand who trounced him by 12278 votes What makes the contest even more interesting is that the duo is pitted against the same challengers who had defeated their fathers - Negi and Yatishwaranand Bhushan made her political debut in 2017 by winning from Yamkeshwar seat Negi a former MLA from Kotdwar and a minister in the Harish Rawat government had lost the seat in the last assembly polls While Negi has already won the Kotdwar seat once and has an edge over Bhushan in terms of experience the latter is a fresh face and being the daughter of a BJP veteran can work in her favour Khanduri is widely respected for his political integrity and is considered by many as one of the best performing chief ministers However Dhirendra Chauhan who was denied a ticket from Kotdwar by the BJP has entered the fray as an independent and may spoil Bhushans chances of a win Anupama Rawat who makes her electoral debut this time has been working hard in Haridwar rural constituency for quite some time and enjoys a connect with people at the grassroots say poll watchers However they feel taking on Yatishwaranand a two-time MLA and cabinet minister in the Pushkar Singh Dhami government who is contesting from the seat for the third time will be a difficult task for the newcomer PTI ALM RHL

Dehradun Jan 22 PTI Denial of tickets has left powerful contenders in the BJP seething with discontent with several of them either preparing to cross over to other parties or enter the poll arena as independents While a number of those left out are sulking as the party has preferred Congress defectors over dedicated party cadres on many seats in its first list of 59 candidates a few have come out in the open with their wounded feelings The most notable of them are the sitting MLA from Tharali Munni Devi Shah and Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi The central party leadership must explain why it has denied a ticket to me I have done considerable development work in my constituency besides taking the achievements of the central and state governments to the people Shah said She said she would not be as hurt if the party had fielded a dedicated party worker from the seat but it preferred someone from Congress background It has broken the morale of party workers Shah who won the seat in a bypoll in 2018 following the death of her husband and sitting MLA from the constituency Magan Lal Shah said She said she is under pressure from her supporters and may enter the fray as an independent from the seat from where the BJP has fielded Bhopal Ram Tamta a Congress defector Negi who had been accused of rape in September 2020 said he has been denied a ticket under a conspiracy He said his name was at the top in all organisational surveys still he could not make it Om Gopal Rawat who was a strong ticket contender for Narendra Nagar seat from where the BJP has once again fielded cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal is planning to join the Congress BJP does not care for dedicated party workers who toil at the grassroots to strengthen the organisation It has no principles or values All it wants is power Rawat said Former MLA Mahavir Rangad too is unhappy with Pritam Singh Panwar fielded by BJP from Dhanaulti He took the opinion of party workers on Friday and said he will contest as an independent Contender from Ghansali Darshan Lal has also decided to enter poll fray as an independent Tika Maikhuri who had long been trying for a ticket from Karnaprayag has also threatened to enter the poll arena as an independent since the party fielded Anil Nautiyal from the seat Manoj Shah in Bhimtal has threatened to quit as the party has fielded Ram Singh Kaira the independent sitting MLA from the seat who joined the BJP late last year I am in the race for a ticket from the seat since 2002 Denying me a ticket is an injustice I will contest as an independent he said Aware of the mood within the party the BJP says the discontent is only natural and the bitterness will subside in a couple of days There can be many contenders for a ticket from a seat but it can be given only to one after taking into account all aspects Everyone should accept the decision of the central leadership BJP president Madan Kaushik said BJP is a disciplined party It is just their initial reaction I have confidence that they will understand he said The party has begun efforts to pacify disaffected leaders with promises of position within the organisation fearing eclipsing of chances of official BJP nominees if they enter the poll arena PTI ALM VN VN

Dehradun Dec 26 PTI BJP chief JP Nadda Sunday termed progressive the proposal to raise the marriageable age for women from 18 to 21 years and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the moveNadda said womens appreciation for the decision strengthens the partys resolve to take more steps for their empowermentIt is a very progressive decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Increasing the marriageable age for women from 18 to 21 and bringing them on a par with men is a historic step towards the empowerment of women Nadda said at a programme here organised by women to thank the prime minister for the moveHe said it is a decision which addresses the concerns raised by health organisations over the marriageable age for women in India being too lowThe Bill on raising the marriageable age of women was introduced in Lok Sabha during the Winter Session and has been sent to a parliamentary committee for scrutinyNadda who was here to review the partys preparations for the forthcoming assembly elections in the state also spoke to the incharges and vistaraks of 41 assembly constituencies and asked them to focus on boothsThe BJP president also praised the 84th episode of Prime Minister Modis Mann ki Baat programme for being free of political contentThe prime minister did not raise a single political issue in todays episode He talked only about social and contemporary issues of human concern he said PTI ALM TIR TIR