Weekly news July 2011

Two new medical colleges soon

Two new government medical colleges will soon be set up in Uttarakhand. These will be set up in Dehradun and Almora. This announcement was made by the chief minister while inaugurating the office buildings of the Director General of Medical Health and Family Welfare and Director General of Ayush in Dehradun. This building has been built at a cost of Rs.15 crore. The chief minister said his government was taking various steps to strengthen medical services in the state. At present there are two medical colleges at Srinagar in Pauri district and Haldwani in Nainital district.

New rural solar power project launched

Aiming to improve access to electricity in rural areas, a new programme to take solar power to villages across the country was launched on Wednesday. Launched by NGO Krishi Bikash Shilpa Kendra (KBSK), the programme will be implemented in the national capital region, the north-eastern region, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. The programme will initially be launched in 50 villages across India. "Solar energy is sustainable energy and the best method to provide electricity. It is eco-friendly and our efforts are to tap this renewable source of energy," said Prosenjit Bose, managing director of KBSK. As per KSBK, the project will create job opportunities for about 50,000 unemployed youth across the country. "This is a very good initiative taken up by KSBK. Through this, poor people in the remote areas of India will also be able to lead a life with electricity and this will solve their problems," said Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes.

Maneater leopard shot dead

A maneater leopard, which killed three persons in Diali Gamri area of Uttarkashi district, was shot dead by Uttarakhand forest department. The 13-year-old male leopard was shot dead at Kumrara village of the area by hunter Lakhpat Singh on Tuesday evening when it returned to its kill, said Divisional Forest Officer of Uttarkashi, I.P. Singh. The length of the leopard was 2.30 meter and height 85cm, he said. The leopard killed a woman of Kumrara village on Monday, prompting the locals to demand that the animal be declared as maneater and kill it. The leopard had earlier killed two more people of the area on May 2 and May 18 this year.

Two women washed away in flash flood

Two women were washed away in a flash flood following heavy rains at Bagi village of Dunda tehsil of Uttarkashi district, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place when a group of six women were crossing Jalkur river and were caught in the flood following heavy rains in the area. Hearing their scream, the people standing on the bank of the river rushed to their help and brought them out, they said. They were taken to a nearby hospital where they were declared brought dead. The condition of the other women is stated to be out of danger.

Smuggler held

On Thursday Uttarakhand forest department recovered three live star tortoises and arrested two smugglers, including one from Delhi, police said. Following a tip-off from state anti-poaching cell, a forest department team stopped the accused near the Wadia Institute of Himalayn Geology and recovered live three star tortoises from them, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Meenakshi Joshi said. The star tortoise is an endangered species of tortoise, she added. The accused have been identified as Shivram, a resident of Delhi, and Subodh Chhilwal, belonging to Almora. They have been booked under Wildlife Protection Act.

HCC-Alstom JV bags Tehri order

The joint venture of construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Alstom has been awarded a contract worth Rs.1,843 crore to construct Tehri pumped storage plant in Uttarakhand. "This is an engineering, procurement and construction contract wherein HCC's share is Rs.701 crore," the company said in a regulatory filing. The project for the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Ltd is to be completed in 54 months. Under the project, the company has to construct head race tunnel, surge shaft, penstocks, underground powerhouse, ventilation system gallery, bus bar gallery and cavern, drainage gallery, access adits and tail race tunnel. The Tehri pump storage project (PSP) comprises of four reversible pump turbine units of 250 MW each. The operation of Tehri PSP is based on the concept of recycling of water discharged between upper reservoir and lower reservoir. The Tehri Dam reservoir will function as the upper reservoir and Koteshwar reservoir as the lower balancing reservoir.

Junior National Basketball

Uttarakhand is sending two teams of boys and girls for the 62nd Junior National Basketball Championship scheduled to be held in New Delhi from July 5-12th. In all there are 26 boys and 25 girls under-18 teams which have confirmed entry into the championship which is being organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Delhi Basketball Association (DBA), at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium. Players born on or after 01.01.1993 are eligible to participate. Age verification of all the players will be done one day before the tournament at the venue. The Technical Commission will conduct the Referees' Clinic. Punjab (boys) and Kerala (girls) had triumphed in the last edition, which was held in Vashi, Maharashtra. Participating teams: Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal. Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.