Express News Service
Salaries eat into Uttarakhand govt’s budgetUttarakhand has topped the list of states in allocation of budget for salary and related expenditure with 32.81% of the total budget for the fiscal 2021-22, according to the CAG. While the government will spend Rs 16,432 crore in disbursal of salary, the figures were Rs 13,054 crore and Rs 14,951 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21. With the Covid pandemic hitting the economy hard, the earnings of Uttarakhand government dropped to `11,513 crore in 2019-20. It further fell to Rs 10,791 crore in 2020-21, down from Rs 12,188 crore in 2018-19.
Cyber Hackathon for the first time in hill stateUttarakhand Police is organising ‘Devbhoomi Cyber Hackathon 2021’, a mega-coding event intended to harness the creativity, expertise of students, visionaries, young entrepreneurs to offer innovative, sustainable solutions for ‘Smart Policing’. The event is a software edition consisting of two rounds- preliminary round and the final Hackathon round. “It is for the first time that such an event is being organized by a state police in North India and Uttarakhand police is proud to take this initiative. The time is now ripe for the law enforcement agencies to embrace technological solutions to the fullest extent possible for the challenges faced. I appeal to all the young entrepreneurs to participate whole- heartedly in the competition,” said Ashok Kumar DGP Uttarakhand.
No idol immersion Immersion of idols and other articles by devotees in river Ganga other than designated ghats, spots will invite fine of Rs 50,000 along with legal action under the ambit of law. Acting upon directions of the NGT, the Haridwar administration issued the directives. Total three spots have been designated for idol immersion in the ongoing festive season. Other than these spots, any kind of immersion will be fined along with legal action. Pollution spikes in the river given countless immersion of idols after commencement of Durga Puja festival. A study conducted by researchers from Doon University has indicated a ‘very high presence of pollutants’ in the urban stretches of river Ganga at Rishikesh and Haridwar.
Generous help to inter-religious couplesThe government has transferred Rs 1.01 crore to 389 inter-caste and inter-religious couples since the formation of Uttarakhand in 2000, revealed an RTI query. While 343 are inter-caste cases, 46 happen to be inter-religion marriages. Till 2014, such couples were given Rs 10,000 each. At present, the social welfare department provides Rs 50,000. Nainital topped the list of districts with 172 cases followed by Uttarkashi (39), Haridwar (33), Dehradun (29), Udham Singh Nagar (27), Almora (20), Bageshwar (16), Pithoragarh (13), Champawat (13), Pauri (10), Chamoli (8), Rudraprayag (7) and Tehri (2).
vineet upadhyayOur correspondent in Dehradun vineet.upadhyay@newindianexpress.com