Railway Buldget - Impacts on Trains in Uttarakhand

Train Number 14711/14712 Sri Ganga Nagar- Haridwar train, now extended to Rishikesh to help tourists in Rishikesh

Train Number 12687/12688 Madurai - Dehradun/Chandigarh Express frequency increased from 1 to 2 days every week.

New Train - Bandra Terminus - Haridwar Express (Weekly) Via Valsad

The approval to laying a bypass line in Raiwala is also very signicant in view of the security of elephants.

Jaish-e-Mohammad 'threatens' to blow up Dehradun, Haridwar stations

Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad on Tuesday allegedly threatened to blow up major railway stations and places of religious and tourist interest in Uttarakhand in retaliation to the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The letter written purportedly by the Karachi based area commander of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad contains a threat to blow up Dehradun, Haridwar and Kath Godam rail junctions near Nainital and prominent places of religious and tourist interest like Har Ki Pauri in the holy city.

Zee TV's Badalte Rishton Ki Daastan being shot in Rishikesh and Dhanaulti

Renowned TV actor Sanjeeda Sheikh will soon be seen in Zee TV's family drama 'Badalte Rishton Ki Daastan' which is yet to be launched.

Adding about her character in the series she said, "The girl loves her dream man madly and keep dreaming about her future with him. She is an impulsive, vibrant, charming woman of today who stands strong in the wake of adversity."

The series is all set to hit the small screen in March on Zee TV. Most of the scenes of the serial have been shot at the enchanting locations of Delhi, Rishikesh and Dhanaulti.

Gangotri opens for Darshan on May 13, 2013

The sacred portals of Gangotri shrine in the Himalayas will be reopened for devotees on May 13, after six months of annual closure during winter.

The doors of the Himalayan shrine will be thrown open to people amid chanting of hymns and all necessary rituals at 2:45 pm on the auspicious occasion of "Akshay Tritiya" on May 13.

Badrinath Shrine reopens on 16th May, 2013

For all those who wish to pay homage to the Badrinath Shrine this year will be able to do so from May 16th.

After its annual closure during winter due to snow bound conditions, the portals of the shrine have been scheduled to be reopened for devotees at 4 am on May 16.

The portals of Badrinath Dham, dedicated to Lord Vishnu and located at a height of more than 10,000 ft in the Himalayas, are closed every year for six months due to snow bound conditions during winter and reopened for visitors in April and May.

During the long winter recess Lord Vishnu’s idol is worshipped at Narsingh temple located at nearby Joshimath.

Snow, rain gives shivering to the people of Uttarakhand

Cold conditions returned to Uttarakhand, with showers in the plains and heavy snowfall in the higher reaches.

Munsyari in Pithoragarh district, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Dhanaulti near Mussoorie witnessed heavy snowfall, while various places in the plains, including Dehradun and Haridwar, were lashed by rain coupled with strong gusts of wind.

Haridwar received the maximum showers of 45 mm, followed by Tehri with 39.4 mm and Dehradun with 23.6 mm, the MeT department said, adding that Nainital (18mm), Mukteshwar (4.2mm) and Pantnagar (5.6mm) also received showers.

The weatherman, meanwhile, has said the temperature in the state capital is likely to hover around 15 degree Celsius, which is normal for this time of the season. However, a drop in the minimum temperature is expected by Monday when the weather is likely to clear up, the department said.

World Famous Nanda Raj Jat Yatra to begin on August 29 this year

Uttarakhand's world famous religious festival Nanda Raj Jat yatra, held once every 12 years in the hills of Chamoli district, will begin this year on August 29.

The yatra, one of the most important religious and cultural events of the state, will conclude after a 19-day arduous journey through the Himalayas on September 16.

People from both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of the state as well as other parts of the country and abroad participate in this three-week long event.

Coming Soon: Prepaid power connections in Dehra Dun

With an aim to provide best services to domestic and commercial electricity consumers, the State power department has taken a decision to allot prepaid electricity connections to its consumers. The rumours are that it would be first completed in the Dehradun district.

As per the department figures more than 15,93,853 are the registered electricity consumers of the state power department having load of 4,033 megawatt in Garhwal and Kumaon division of  Uttarakhand. Since the number of domestic and commercial consumers have been increasing year after year, the State power department is forcing hard to meet with the daily requirement of the power in the state.

In a recently taken decision, the State power department has already procured 5,000 electronic meters for the prepaid electricity connection. The project would be first used in the Dehradun and might expand in the other districts of Uttarakhand depending on the response from the consumers. The minimum recharge limit is Rs 100 whereas the maximum recharge limit has been fixed for single phase and three phase recharge is Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.

The electronic meter would be equipped with the chip having unique identity number. The facility would be given to those consumers who are seeking load upto 30 KV. Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand are worst affected districts in terms of power theft with those consumers who are living in the remote parts of these districts are worst affected in terms of power theft.

Pakistan-linked hawala racket busted in Uttarakhand, 132 ATM cards recovered

The police today claimed to have busted a hawala racket having links with Pakistan with the arrest of one of its agents from Roorkee in Haridwar district.

Jai Prakash Ruhela, a native of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by a joint team of officials on February 10 when he was on his way to withdraw money from an ATM, DIG (Dehradun range) Amit Sinha said today.

Rupees 4,72,000 cash, 132 ATM cards of various banks, a luxury car, a two wheeler, four mobile phones and SIM cards were also recovered from his residence, the DIG said.

During questioning, Ruhela admitted to be part of a syndicated module operating from across the border and engaged in illegal routing of Indian money abroad.

Ruhela further told his network had set up units across India and he was working as its North zone head, Sinha said. He disclosed names of other zonal heads, agents and hawala traders associated with the network, and said the racket has appointed agents in various states including Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Orissa, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Explaining the modus operandi of the network, Sinha said its agents, through the call centres, would contact people on their cellphone and lure them with misleading offers of winning prize money in lucky draws.

The agents would then ask them to submit a processing fee to facilitate remittance of the 'prize money', which would then be routed through hawala, Sinha said.

The DIG said a cash reward has been announced for the team which busted the module, adding efforts are being made to arrest the other members of the network from various states.

Students in DehraDun protesting Afzal's hanging Held in custody

A group of Kashmiri students was taken into custody here today as a preventive measure while demonstrating at the busy Ghanta Ghar chawk here in protest against the hanging of Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru.

Sixteen Kashmiri students studying in different institutions in the city were held as a preventive measure when they gathered at Ghanta Ghar chowk and began shouting slogans in protest against Guru's execution.

Though they were protesting peacefully but police had information that VHP activists were also planning to march to the busy chawk to stage a parallel demonstration justifying the terror convict's hanging.

Anticipating trouble, the students from Kashmir were taken into custody to avert any confrontation.

Uttarakhand adopts PPP mode to run primary schools in the Dehra Dun

After residential schools, the Uttarakhand government is planning to run its primary schools under the private public partnership (PPP) mode.

In the first phase, eight primary schools in Dehradun district would be operated under a pilot project scheme, official sources said.

According to the state PPP cell, the enrolment level in government primary schools is continuously dropping due to lack of basic infrastructure, shortage of teaching staff, sub-standard quality of education and medium of education not being English has forced the government to adopt PPP route for running these primary schools.

The eight primary schools are Hakikatrai Nagar primary school, Bapunagar primary school, Chakhuwala No 2 primary school, Araghar No 1 primary school, Sayeedpur primary school, Amrit Kaur Road primary school, Jhadipani primary school and Dhudli primary school, said Sumit Barua who is heading the PPP cell.

Earthquake of intensity 4.3 hits Uttarakhand

An earthquake of moderate intensity on Monday hit Uttarakhand region and its adjoining areas in the hill state of Uttarakhand but there were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property.

The quake, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale, occurred at around 1619 hours.

Panic-stricken residents rushed out of their houses as the temblor jolted the Garhwal region, including Mussoorie and Dehradun.

Tirath Singh Rawat becomes Uttarakhand BJP chief

Tirath Singh is the new Uttarakhand BJP President, ending a three-month long search for a leader who could lead the party's state unit in 2014 general elections.

Rawat comes from Sangha background and represents the Chaubatakhal (Pauri Garhwal) seat in the state Assembly.

Bad News for Uttarakhand: LPG cylinders get costlier in the state

Uttarakhand government has decided to take back the five percent VAT waiver, making LPG costlier by Rs 21 to Rs 49 in the state.

The new decision deals a fresh blow to people already suffering due to the the hike in LPG prices and cap on subsidised LPG.

A subsidised LPG cylinder, so far available for Rs 410, will now cost consumers Rs 431 while a non-subsidised LPG cylinder would now cost them Rs 994.50 instead of Rs 946.

LPG distributors across Uttarakhand have implemented the decision with immediate effect.

Its Chilling in Uttarakhand due to consistent rains!

Showers in the plains and heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand pushed down the mercury in Uttarakhand.

Tehri received the maximum of 61.8 mm rains followed by Dehradun and Mussoorie which received 43.2 mm and 30 mm rains respectively, the MeT office in Dehradun said, adding the mercury dropped to 0.5 degree Celsius in Tehri.

Mukteshwar shivered at 1.2 degree Celsius. MeT office director Anand Sharma attributed the return of cold conditions in the state to western disturbance with trough in westerlies and induced cyclonic circulation near the desert state of Rajasthan.

Predicting similar weather conditions for the next few days, he said the temperature could see a further drop of 4-5 degrees and fog could envelop the plains. The hills above 3000 metres in Tehri and Pithoragarh district received snowfall.

The overbridge at Lachchiwala finally opens, bringing comfort to DehraDun Haridwar road commuters

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna finally inaugurated Lachchiwala overbridge on the National Highway-72 on the Dehradun-Haridwar road.

The new overbridge will help in movement of vehicles from Dehradun towards destinations of Doiwala, Jolly Grant, Rishikesh and Haridwar.

The bridge has come up at a cost of over Rs 42 crore. It has a total length of 1.12 km which includes bridge approach roads.

Students stage anti-tobacco rally in Dehradun

With an objective to make Uttarakhand tobacco-free, students of various educational institutions in Dehra Dun staged an anti-tobacco awareness rally. 

The rally's main objective was to create awareness among people of Dehra Dun about the ill effects of smoking and use of other tobacco based products.

Students from 40 government schools and other educational institutions participated in the rally which went through the main thoroughfares of the city before concluding at the Parade Ground where the participating students were given certificates signed by the DM.

Lokayukta in Uttarakhand rocks: resolves over 90 per cent cases in 2012

Uttarakhand Lokayukta resolved over ninety per cent of the 767 cases it received during the last year, according to a report.

In the annual report presented to Governor Aziz Qureshi at the Raj Bhavan in Dehradun, state Lokayukta Justice M M Ghildiyal said a total of 767 complaints were received last year, out of which 744 were resolved.

A PAC Jawan posted at Raj Bhawan DehraDun, commits suicide

A PAC jawan posted at the Raj Bhawan here allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle.
 
Kamal Mehra, a constable in the PAC's 46 battalion, shot himself in the head with his service rifle. He was rushed to a city hospital where he was declared brought dead.