Uttarakhand Current Affairs 2017 - Jan to July

Doiwala Vidhan Sabha Constituency - CM TrivendraSingh Rawat, 9th CM, 5th BJP CM

Governor – K K Paul

U’khand, UP to sign pact on Jamrani dam project soon

The multipurpose dam envisaged in 1975

Expected to provide drinking water for not only the people of Haldwani and Nainital but also will quench the thirst of nearby Bijnor

and Rampur districts in Uttar Pradesh

Steps for finally resolving the matter between UP and Uttarakhand began in 2015

The total cost of the project is Rs 2,350 crore, 25 % of the cost (Rs 595 crore will be borne by the UP

government)

75% - Uttarakhand state government

The 13.06 meter dam on the Gola river

Gola river of Kathgodam area in Nainital district

Combined commanders' conference at Dehradun's Indian Military Academy

PM Modi and that time defence minister Manohar Parrikar attended it

The country may soon get a new tri-service chief— a four-star general like the Army, IAF and Navy chiefs— to ensure synergy in training, logistics, planning and

procurements among the forces.

AdmiralSunilLanba,GeneralBipin Rawat andAirChiefMarshalBSDhanoaattended

Thecrucialreformtohaveachiefofdefence staff(CDS)orapermanentchairmanofthechiefsofstaffcommittee(CoSC),inadditiontothethree

existingchiefs

FruitsandstonepeltingwitnessedatBagwal fair at Devidhura(Champawat)

Thedevoteesdidstonepeltingasaritualtoappeasethelocal deity.

Traditionallytheparticipantswouldpeltstonesateachothersheddingbloodalloverunderthesuperstitionthatthelocal

deityBarahi isappeasedwhenbloodisshedbyherdisciples.Thisfairisheldon Raksha Bandhan everyyear.

Thestonepeltinghasbeenreplacedwithfruits and flower petals afterthecourtorder

SuryaKiranXIJointMilitaryExerciseconcludesinPithorgarh

11theditionoftheSuryaKiranexerciseThe14-daylongexercisebeganon7March2017.

•TheEKTA SHAKTI BattalionofthePunjabRegimentofIndianArmyandtheDURGA BAHSH BattalionofNepaleseArmyparticipatedinthejoint

militaryexercise.•Theaimoftheexercisewastotraintroopsincounterinsurgencyoperationsandenhancedefence cooperationandmilitaryrelations

betweenthetwocountries.

Uttarakhand High Court declares river Ganga ‘first living entity of India’

Yamunahasalsobeendeclaredalivingentity

Samelegalrightsasaperson

Inasimilarincident,NewZealandgovernmenthaddeclared145kmlongWhanganuiRiverasalivingentity.Atthetimeofdeclaration,theriverbecamethefirstintheworldtobelegallyrecognizedasaliving

entity.

NDMA conducts unique state level mock exercise on forest fire in Uttarakhand

3-Dayeventstartedon18th April

70%oftheUttarakhand’s geographicalareacomesunderforests

In2016, thepineforestsofUttarakhandandHimachalPradeshcaughtfire.

MostofthefiresinUttarakhand happenintheChir pine (Pinus Rroxburghii) forestsbecauseleavesofthisconifertreecatch

fireeasily

The 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference was held at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

From3-7April2017,underthetheme‘Forests for Prosperity and Posterity.’

The fifth Mediterranean Forest Week,heldfrom20-24March2017,inAgadir,Morocco,coincidedwiththeInternational Day of Forests,heldannuallyon21March.

SustainableDevelopmentGoal(SDG)13(ClimateAction)SustainableDevelopmentGoal(SDG)15(lifeonland)aswellastheUNForumforForests(UNFF)StrategicPlanforForests2017-2030

Uttarakhand becomes fourth open defecation freestate

1st – Sikkim2nd – Himachal Pardesh

3rd Kerala

5th - Haryana

Uttarakhand was conferred with the award of excellence at the 2nd Global Skill Development Summit held in Paris

recently for innovations and extensive use of IT for skilling the state's youth.

Two-Day Regional Conference on “Good Governance and Replication of Best Practices” inaugurated in Nainital

Atwo-dayRegionalConferenceon“GoodGovernanceandReplicationofBestPractices”involving12Statesand4Uts

inauguratedbyShriC.Viswanath,Secretary,DepartmentofAdministrativeReforms&PublicGrievances(DARPG)

organizedonJuly7-8,2017,bytheDepartmentofAdministrativeReformsandPublicGrievances(DARPG),GovernmentofIndia,in

collaborationwiththeGovernmentofUttarakhand&AdministrativeTrainingInstitute(ATI),Nainital.

Pranab MukherjeeinauguratedpresidentialretreatAshiana annexe in Dehradun

It has accommodation facilities for accompanying officers and staff of the Rashtrapati Bhavan

K R Narayanan, in March 1998, was the last president to stay here

KRNarayanan,inMarch1998,wasthelastpresidenttostayhere.

Tiger count in Uttarakhand goes up to 242, 2nd highest in India

Uttarakhandhastwotigerreserves– theCorbettTigerReserveandtheRajajiTigerReserve

JimCorbettNationalParkistheoldestnationalparkinIndia.• Itwasestablishedin1936asHaileyNationalParktoprotecttheendangeredBengaltiger.JimCorbettwasbornonJuly25,1875whichmakestodayhis142ndbirthanniversary.

Accordingtothedata,atleast208tigershavebeenidentifiedinCorbettTigerReserve,upfromlastyear’s163.Alsosixcubswereidentifiedthere.Atleast34tigershavebeenidentifiedinRajaji TigerReservein2016-17,upfromprevious

year’s16Karnataka has the highest, with a population of 400 tigers

Eight stations will be developed under the Adarsh Station Scheme

TheeightstationsselectedareDoiwala,Kathgodam,Kotdwara,Ramnagar,Rishikesh,Roorkee,HarrawalaandRaiwala.Thesestationswillbedevelopedunder

theschemebytheendof2018.

The Union Ministry of Food Processing has given its go ahead to set up five cold storage chains in Uttarakhand.

These cold chains have been approved under the Central government’s Cold Storage Chain Scheme under which 75

per cent assistance will be provided by the Centre to private entrepreneurs.

They will be set up at a cost of Rs 85.64 crore. Three cold stores have been approved for Udham Singh Nagar

and one each for Nainital and Haridwar.

Govt to develop 5 circuits to promote eco-tourism in Uttarakhand

Swadesh Darshan - acentralgovernmentschemetoboosttourisminstatesbylinkingitwithlivelihoodofvillagers

Thecircuits— Haridwar-Lansdowne,Ramnagar-Nainital,TonsValleyandRishikesh-Dehradun— havebeenplannedinPauri,Nainital,

DehradunandChampawat districts.

TheideaistolinktourismtoaprominentForestRestHouse(FRH)andtouristplacesadjoiningit.Thebasicobjectiveofthecorporation

istolinktourismwithlivelihoodoflocals.

Under the scheme, 100% funding will be done by the central government for strengthening infrastructure, capacity building of

staff and locals, finding new avenues to connect people with tourism activities

Ministry of Tourism – PRASAD - Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive and Swadesh Darshan

Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana(HRIDAY)scheme - UrbanDevelopmentMinistry

PRASAD Scheme waslaunchedin2014-15with 12identifiedsitesnamelyAjmer(Rajasthan),Amritsar(Punjab), Amaravati(AndhraPradesh),Dwarka (Gujarat),Gaya(Bihar),Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Kamakhya(Assam),Kanchipuram(TamilNadu),Mathura(UttarPradesh), Puri(Odisha),Varanasi(UttarPradesh)andVellankani (TamilNadu).

During2015-16,Patna(Bihar)andin2016-17,12moresiteswereaddedintheschemefordevelopmentnamelyAyodhya (Uttar

Pradesh), Badrinath (Uttarakhand), Belur (WestBengal),Deoghar(Jharkhand),Guruvayur (Kerala),Hazratbal andKatra (Jammu&Kashmir),

Omkareshwar (MadhyaPradesh),Somnath (Gujarat),Srisailam andTirupati (AndhraPradesh),Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra).

TheChardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna,ortheChardham highway project,isanambitiousinitiativetoimproveconnectivitytothe

CharDham pilgrimagecentres intheHimalayas.

PMModilaidthefoundationstoneinDehradun

The project’s main objective is to develop around 900 km of national highways. These highways will be built in Uttarakhand at an

approximate cost of Rs 12,000 crore

TheprojectwillmaketraveltotheCharDham (Gangotri,Yamunotri,Kedarnath andBadrinath)saferandmoreconvenient

MinistryofAYUSHprovidingFarmerssubsidytocultivatemedicinalplants

Asperschemeguidelines,thefinancialassistancetonortheastandhillstatesofHimachalPradesh,UttarakhandandJammuandKashmirisprovidedintheratioof90:10,

whereasinotherstatesitissharedintheratioof60:40betweenCentralandthestategovernment.

Currently,140 medicinal plants specieshavebeenprioritizedforsupportingcultivationthroughoutthecountryforwhichsubsidyisprovidedtofarmers,

(i)75%subsidyforcultivationofmedicinalplantswhicharehighlyendangered.

(ii)50%subsidyforcultivationofmedicinalplantswheresourcesofsupplyarecriticallydeclining.

(iii)30%subsidyforcultivationofothermedicinalplantsspecieswhichneedsupport.

Pancheswar dam: project to generate employment, power, irrigation

Morethantwo-and-a-halfyearsafterPrimeMinisterNarendraModi'svisittoNepal,hisambitiousbi-nationalscheme,thePancheshwar multi-purposeproject,whichwasanintegralcomponentofhis4Cpolicy— cooperation,

culture,connectivityandConstitution— meanttostrengthenbilateraltieswithKathmandu,hasmadesignificantprogressinUttarakhand.

TheUttarakhandgovernmenthasnowtakenstepstohearoutpeople'ssentimentsinthreecriticaldistricts— Champawat, Pithoragargh and Almora —whicharesupposedtobeaffectedbytheproposedconstructionofthe5040 MW Pancheshwar damtobejointlycarriedoutbyIndiaandNepal.Thethreedistricts

areindangerofbeingsubmergedduetothedam'sconstruction.

An Eminent Persons Group (EPG) tasked by the Centre to strengthen cultural, historical, trade and political relations between the two countries, has been

constantly working to build consensus on important bilateral issues, including the Pancheshwar dam project.

The EPG, which has representation from Nepal's prominent personalities, is chaired by former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP MP from Nainital, Bhagat

Singh Koshyari.

DuringhisvisittoNepalinAugust2014,Modihadplacedspecialfocusonthisproject.ThegovernmentsofIndiaandNepalhadalsosignedanMoU

regardingthePancheshwar multi-purposeproject'samendment.

The project would also help regulate and control the free flow of Karnali and Mohana rivers

which cause floods in Kheri, Pilibhit districts of Uttar Pradesh and other Tarai districts.

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board

• StatetourismministerSatpal Maharaj

• aproject‘Mere Bujurg Mere Teerth’underwhichfreetransportationandaccommodationisprovidedtopilgrimsbystate-ownedGarhwal MandalVikas Nigam(GMVN)andKumaon MandalVikas Nigam(KMVN)

• wouldbeextendedtomanyotherreligiousplacesbesidestheexistingfivedestinations.• Thenameofthescheme,whichwasthebrainchildofformerchiefministerHarishRawat,wouldbechangedto‘Pt Deen Dyal Matr Pitr TheerthatanYojna’.

TheschemewillnowincludemoreplacesofreligiousimportancelikeKaliMath,Jageshwar temple,Golu Devta temple,Baijnath,

Tadkeshwar templeandGangolihat.”

TheprojectwasstartedthreeyearsagobytheCongressgovernmentinGangotri and Badrinath temples.

Threeotherreligiousspots- Reetha Sahib, Nanak Matta and HazratNizamuddin Dargah inDelhi- werebroughtundertheambitofthe

scheme.Now,insteadofHazrat Nizamuddin Dargah,Piran Kaliyar Sufi

shrineinRoorkee willbepartofthescheme.

MNREGA

The average wages under the scheme were increased 2.7% for 2017-18 following the changes in Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour.

For several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, this translated to a mere Rs 1 rise in wages.

The agriculture ministry has selected two districts of Uttarakhand — Chamoli and Pithoragarh — for setting up

krishi vigyan kendras.

Uttarakhand farmers to be allowed cut 20 varieties of trees: Union agriculture minister

Thefarmerswillhavetogrowthose20varietiesoftress,whichoncematured,theywillbeallowedtocutandsellin

thetimbermarket

Swacch Sarvekshan 2017

Roorkee – 218Haridwar – 244Kashipur - 256

France’s Chamonix and Uttarakhand’s Chamoli to club hands to promote each other

Both places are top skiing destinations

MoU was signed between Uttarakhand tourism department and the Chamonix Cluster Mountain Forum (CCMF), a skiing and eco-tourism body in France, the mayor of Chamonix and the French

embassy in this regard.

The CCMF will aid Uttarakhand in building a ropeway with a glass bottom in Auli in Chamoli district to connect it with Gairsain and

Bedni Bugyal. The project will be built under public-private partnership mode. “

The Uttarakhand government has signed an agreement with Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop civil aviation

infrastructure in the state.

AAI willalsoassistUttarkhanad CivilAviationDevelopmentAuthority(UCADA)inobtainingnecessaryclearancesforairportoperationsstartingwiththeupgradedairportatPithoragarh and

lateratChiniyalisaur