Road Trip to Shakumbhri Devi

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Know About Your Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India on 9th November 2000. The State came out of Uttar Pradesh. Demand for Uttarakhand was first made in 1930 at the Karachi session of INC. It occupies 17.3% of India's total land area with 51,125 sq km.

Uttarakhand is a place with great diversity of the region where snow-clad mountains, green hills, fertile valleys, flowing rivers and thriving lakes add to the natural beauty.

Uttarakhand is also known as the Abode of the gods, there are several highly venerated pilgrimage places. The tourists must visit Kedarnath, Badrinath, Hemkund Sahib, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Jageshwar, Bageshwar, Rishikesh and Haridwar for their religious importance on Uttarakhand Travel. Each hilltop or bent is known to have a temple, big or small, which are considered very sacred by the locals.

Its a region with several natural lakes, which are the center of attraction of the town and good for sporting activities. The popular hill stations of Uttarakhand are Almora, Bhimtal, Munsiyari, Mussorie, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Ranikhet, Chopta, Valley of Flowers, Joshimath and Lansdowne. For unlimited serenity and tranquility in pleasant pollution free environs, hill station on Uttarakhand Travel are ideal for vacations.

Uttarakhand is also ideal for several adventure sports activities because of its geographical attributes. The tourist here takes the maximum pleasure out of adventure sports like trekking, ice-skiing, white water rafting, sailing, boating, kayaking, canoeing, yachting, water-skiing and parasailing. To climb the big mountain stretch or to pass the dense jungles of the hills is in itself very exciting. The huge water-filled rivers and deep lakes are perfect for water sports.

People who come here also prefer to visit the abundant wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in the state. Also dont miss the chance tovisit the Valley of Flower National Park, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuaries, Nanda Devi National Park, Govind National Park, Assan Barrage National Park, Rajaji National Park and Corbett National Park.

Capital Dehradun (Interim)

High Court Nainital
Longitude 77° 34' 27" E to 81° 02' 22" E
Latitude 28° 53' 24" N to 31° 27' 50" N
Total Area 53,484 sq. km.
Total Forest Area 34,434 sq. km.
Hilly Area 92.57%
Plains 7.43%

Districts: Uttarakhand has 13 districts Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Udham Singh Nagarand Uttarkashi

Languages Spoken: Langauges spoken here are Garhwali, Kumaoni, Jaunsari and Hindi.

Pilgrimage Sites: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Panchkedar, Panchbadri, Panchprayag, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Hemkund Sahib, Purnagiri, Chittai, Kaliyar Sharif, Nanakmatta Sahib, Rettha Sahib etc.

Tourist And Historical Places: Nainital, Mussoorie, Pauri, Almora, Ranikhet, Khirsu, Champawat, Dayara, Auli, Khatling, Bedni Bugyal, Valley Of Flowers, Lansdown, Lakhamandal, Paataal Bhuvaneshwar, Gangolihaat, Jolljivi, Kataarmal, Kosani, Jageshwar, Dwarahaat, Someshwar, Baijnath, Pindari Glacier etc.

A lawyer who is also a campaigner for social and human rights causes

Dehradun - A state agitationist and lawyer by profession, Alok Ghildiyal has been an active campaigner for social causes in Dehradun. He has been at the forefront in raising issues linked to corruption and the rising crime graph in the Capital that has seen a spurt in such incidents in recent times. Public conveyance problems and the challenges of encroachment and fast degrading environment have been prominently raised by Ghildiyal time and again.

A resident of Kargi, Dehradun, Alok Ghildiyal is a lawyer by profession and has been practising in the Dehradun district court for over 18 years. Since his college days in DAV (PG) College, Alok Ghildiyal actively participated in agitations linked to civic issues of the city. He completed his Ll.B in 1993, when the movement of a separate state agitation had started simmering. As a young man then, he actively participated in the statehood movement. And even today, after over a decade of the formation of the state, he is actively working to address the genuine concerns of the Uttarakhandi people.

As a legal luminary, Alok has also been a human rights activist for more than a decade now. He is the state secretary of the Uttaranchal Human Rights Association, Dehradun, for 11 years and has been raising the issues of human at various platforms. A former vice-president of the Dehradun Bar Association, Alok is also a legal adviser to the Uttarakhand Ex-Army Officers League, one of biggest organisations of ex-army officials in the state.

Today, in his early forties, Alok Ghildiyal admits that Uttarakhand of the state agitators’ dreams was still to be realised. He said rising corruption and select development was a big issue as state agitationists had thought of a state that was free from corruption and had developed hilly areas.

He believes that Dehradun was today not the same as it was some decades back. Large population pressure on the city has degraded the environment.

Trees are being felled rampantly and the residents of Dehradun are a mute witness to such development. Alok said he has been raising the issue at every platform, seeking stricter environmental laws to save greenery of Dehradun.

Former beauty queen Niharika to run for promoting tourism

Dehradun, May 6 - Former Miss India Earth Niharika Singh will participate in a marathon, scheduled for May 25 and 26 in Rishikesh, to promote tourism and spread the message ‘Save the Ganges’ among the masses. Addressing the mediapersons here today, District Tourism Officer YS Gangvar said, “The Tourism Department is organising a two-day marathon ‘Running and living adventure run’. On the first day, a 5-km stretch from Astha Path to Triveni Ghat and on the next day, a 21-km stretch from Shivpuri, Malakhunti to Kotlaganv will be covered.” The registration for the event will continue till May 18 at Hotel Ganga Kinare and yatra office of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam. Niharika Singh, addressing the media via video-conferencing, said she was excited about the event. She said It would be better than other usual marathons organised in metropolitan cities of the country. Efforts should be made to promote tourism in the state.

Van gujjars demand ST status, Assembly seat

Dehradun, March 21
Van gujjars have sought an Assembly constituency reserved for the community in the state.

At a convention of van gujjars held at the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Dehradun, the van gujjars unanimously put forward their demand for reserving an Assembly seat for the community. They also sought the Scheduled Tribes status for the community even while accusing the state Forest Department of harassing them repeatedly.

“In the states of J&K and Himachal Pradesh, the van gujjars enjoy the status of the Scheduled Tribe, but in Uttarakhand instead of giving the ST status, the state government is harassing van gujjars. We demand that the process of declaring van gujjars as the Scheduled Tribe should be initiated immediately and like Jammu and Kashmir, a seat in the Assembly should also be reserved for our community,” said Mohammad Yusuf, a van gujjar residing in the Rajaji National Park.

Aklobibi, a woman representative of the tribe, said, “When our men die, forest officials harass women by saying that the land was given to your husband and now you have no claim on it. We face oppression at the most troubled time in our lives.”

Other speakers asked the Uttarakhand Government to fulfil its promises made in the election manifesto and follow the directions of the National Human Rights Commission treating them under the Scheduled Tribe and Other Forest Dwellers Act, 2006. They also demanded a check on the forcible eviction of those van gujjars who do not wish to leave the forest.

Presiding over the meeting, Padmashri Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson, RLEK said, "I have brought to the notice of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in the presence of Yashpal Arya, state president of the Congress that the government should immediately organize a function in Dehradun and redress the concerns of van gujjars".

He said the distribution of land pattas in the joint names of husband and wife to the van gujjars of Gaidikhatta, Pathri and Bibiwala must be done without delay.

Uttarakhand budget presented: Opposition termed deceit and jugglery of financial data

Dehradun, March 20
Refraining from imposing any new taxes, the Uttarakhand Finance Minister, Indira Hridayesh, today presented a Rs 25329.84 crore revenue surplus budget for the year 2013-14 amidst Opposition din in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.

Presenting the second Budget, the Finance Minister tried to do the balancing act by hiking the budgetary allocation in the social sector and also offering sops to women, disabled persons, minorities, IT, hotel, food processing industry and also strengthening on human and intellectual capital.

“If you take the revenue and the capital expenditure, it is a revenue surplus budget. We have been able to tame the fiscal deficit which is 2.92 per cent of GSDP, which is within the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management venue RBM target of 3 per cent, ” said Indira Hridayesh.

To empower women in property matters, stamp duty exemption of 25 per cent will be given up to Rs 30 lakh (an increase from the earlier amount Rs 20 lakh).

The Budget also proposes to reduce stamp duty from 2 per cent to 1 per cent in cases of gift deeds in favour of family members. To encourage fruit producers, VAT on fruit wine is planned to be reduced from 32.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

To give a fillip to IT industry, the Budget proposes to extend tax concessions against form “C” till March 2015 or till implementation of GST regime.

To give relief to the hotel industry, it has been proposed to do away with the luxury tax being imposed on the hotels offering SPA activities.

Stamp duty exemption in case of property transfers to disabled persons is proposed to be enhanced from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

VAT rate of wire crates used for disaster prevention and flood protection works is proposed to be reduced from 13.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

For development of infrastructure facilities in SC majority areas, a provision of Rs 50 crore has been included, which is in addition to the other specific departmental schemes. For the welfare of minorities, Rs 75 crore has been provided in the Budget.

Highlights:
The Budget estimate shows a receipt of Rs 18,955.72 crore under the consolidated fund, of which Rs 11,007.81 is tax revenue and Rs 7,947.91 crore is under non-tax revenue.
The total expenditure from the consolidated fund of the state in 2013-2014 under the non-plan expenditure is at Rs 16,6619.46 crore, of which Rs 4,422.97 crore is on revenue and Rs 2,196.49 crore on capital account.
Despite the financial constraints, the government has increased provision in major departments as compared to last year.
The increase in budgetary allocation in education sector is estimated at Rs 4,875 crore in 2013-2014. In 2012-2013, it was Rs 4,321 crore. The allocation in health has increased from Rs 996 crore in 2012-2013 to Rs 1,209 crore in 2013-214.
The allocation for the social welfare scheme has increased from Rs 1,000 crore in 2012-2013 to Rs 588 crore in 2013-2014. The allocation towards roads has increased from Rs 1,167 crore in 2012-2013 to Rs 1,314 crore in 2013-2014.
A provision of Rs 3,262 crore has been made, which is 46 per cent higher than 2012-2013.

A pack of lies, says Bhatt

Dehradun, March 20
Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly, has termed the Budget presented by the state government as a document of falsehood, deceit and jugglery of financial data.

Bhatt in a statement said the state government had utterly failed to use 41 per cent of the funds of the previous Budget. He added it was unlikely that the government would be able to generate resources as it had reduced taxes for high-end users like Spa and Wines in the Budget.

He said the government managed to survive last year only due to the Central grant and pension funds of Rs 2,300 crore made available by the Uttar Pradesh government. The Budget was highly disappointing for the common people of the state, he added.

The wife married to FIVE brothers

Rajo, 21, follows a tradition in Indian villages which allows families to hold on to their farmland

• Rajo Verma, 21, lives in one room with the siblings, in Northern India
• The young wife spends each night with a different brother in turn
• She does not know which of siblings is the father of her young son
• Fraternal polyandry is tradition in the small village near Dehradun

A young Indian woman has spoken out about being married to five husbands, all of whom are brothers. Rajo Verma, 21, lives in one room with the siblings and they sleep on blankets on the floor. 
The mother-of-one, who sleeps each night with a different brother, does not know which of her five related husbands is the father of her 18-month-old son.

Happy family: Five brothers (L-R) Sant Ram Verma, 28, Bajju Verma, 32, Gopal Verma, 26, Guddu Verma, 21, and Dinesh Verma, 19, with their shared wife Rajo Verma, 20, and their son Jay Verma

The set-up may seem peculiar, but it is tradition in the small village near Dehradun, Northern India, for women to also marry the brothers of their first husband.
She told the Sun: 'Initially it felt a bit awkward. 'But I don’t favour one over the other.'

Rajo and first husband Guddu wed in an arranged Hindu marriage four years ago.
Since then she has married Baiju, 32, Sant Ram, 28, Gopal, 26, and Dinesh, 19 - the latest in the line of husbands - who married her as soon as he turned 18.
'We all have sex with her but I’m not jealous,' first husband Guddu  - who remains the only official spouse - said. 'We’re one big happy family.'

Tradition: The set up may seem peculiar, but it is custom in the small village near Dehradun, Northern India, for women to also marry the brothers of her first husband

Wife: They sleep together in turn, but that they do not have beds, just 'lots of blankets on the floor'. Rajo does not know which of the brothers is the father of her son

Housewife: Rajo said she got a lot more attention and love than many other wives

POLYANDRY: AN ANCIENT TRADITION

The practice of polyandry is believed to stem from the tale of Mahabharata, the ancient Indian epic.
The text, one of the cornerstones of Indian culture, sees Draupadi, daughter of the King of Pancha being married to five brothers.
It is not legal, but in its most common form - whereby women in polyandrous relationships marry more than one man from the same family - it is permitted.
It tends to be practised in male dominated villages, who still follow primitive rituals and customs. Brothers who refuse the union are often treated as outcasts.
In polyandrous families, the woman often cannot say which of her husbands fathered which children.
Recently, there have been instances of DNA testing, to solve inheritance disputes.  
 

The ancient Hindu tradition of polyandry was once widely practiced in India, but is now only observed by a minority.
It sees a woman take more than one husband, typically in areas which are male dominated.
In fraternal polyandry the woman is expected to marry each of her original husband's brothers.
It is thought to have arisen from the popular Sanskrit epic of Mahabharatha, which sees Draupadi, daughter of the King of Pancha being married to five brothers.
The practice is also believed to be a way of keeping farming land in the family.
It is most commonly found near the Himalayas in the north of the country, as well as in the mountainous nation of Tibet.
While the advance of modernity has seen the archaic practice largely die out in most areas, the shortage of women in countries such as China and India has helped keep it alive as a solution to young men's difficulties in finding a wife.
Rajo said she knew she was expected to accept all of her husbands, as her own mother had also been married to three brothers. 
She said they sleep together in turn, but that they do not have beds, just 'lots of blankets on the floor'.
She added: 'I get a lot more attention and love than most wives.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295380/The-wife-married-FIVE-brothers-Rajo-21-follows-tradition-Indian-villages-allows-families-hold-farmland.html#ixzz2MuGpr3Ur
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