Dehradun clinches state judo championship

In the state Judo Championship, held here at the Vedic Mohan Ashram, Dehradun district clinched the trophy by securing 108 points, while the host district, Haridwar closely trailed behind as runner-up with 106 points. Pauri district bagged the third place with 76 points.

In the under-12 event (boys category), Agam Goswami, Priyanshu Thakur, Dhruv Dutt, Rishabh Dabral, Shivam Mittal and Sanchit Agarwal came out with flying colours, while in the girls category of the event, Varnika, Shikha Rana, Manvi Kumari, Gulfasa, Neetu Devi and Vashini Taneja won the laurels. In the under-14 event (boys category), Ishwar Dutt, Ashutosh Khanduri, Saurabh Sharma, Saurabh Mehta, Aditya Gupta and Rijul Dimri made their mark, whereas in the girls category of the same event, Kajal Singh, Archana Singh, Megha, Reena Thapa and Manisha Bhadkaria were declared winners. In the under-17 (boys category), Abhay Rana, Sanjeev Pal, Sonu Gupta, Anurag Roy, Nilesh Negi stood at the tip. In the girls category of the same event, Rakhi Arya, Savita Gurung, Samiksha Panwar, Deepa and Jaya Dimri distinguished themselves.

11 roadways bus stations to be modernised

Uttarakhand cabinet on Tuesday decided to modernise 11 roadways bus stations under PPP mode. In the first phase, four bus stations of Srinagar, Ramnagar, Kashipur and Rudrapur would be developed at a cost of Rs 29 crore. The cabinet also decided to give VAT exemption on daily commodities being sold through canteens of central police and paramilitary forces.

Briefing newspersons after a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, chief secretary N.S. Napalchyal said the state government has decided to extend the benefit of VAT exemption on daily commodities to the canteens of these central forces like ITBP, SSB and CRPF on the lines of army. The decision would cost the state exchequer Rs 10 lakh annually, he added. Napalchyal, however, said there would be no VAT exemption for liquor.

Uttarakhand cabinet also approved Rs 2 crore as its equity capital for Uttarakhand Pariyojna Vikas evam Nirman Nigam, a new corporation to be set up for the development of hydropower projects, Napalchyal said.

The corporation would be in addition to Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) and mainly comprise employees of state irrigation department, he said, adding, there would be 150 employees in the corporation.

Initially the corporation would develop two hydropower projects -- 70 Mw Aarakoti-Tyuni and 66 Mw Tyuni-Plasu. Its headquarters would be in Dehradun, he added. The cabinet also gave approval to fill the posts of 225 lecturers and 19 heads of department in state polytechnics.