Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand - Projects and Development

[kronik]

Dear all,

I am starting a new thread which tracks the project developments in the twin states of Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. I hope the mods will look kindly.

As most of you would know, Uttaranchal was created out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, and thus has a lot in common with the state.

However, since its inception, it has followed a path of planned industrialization, recognized its massive potential in hydel power generation and plans to build on its strong tourism sector.

What can i say about Uttar Pradesh, the big, bad 'bhai' of the country. Zero in progress but a hero in politics. But its not that UP is not witnessing some major projects of its own taking shape. As mentioned in the Lucknow Landscapes thread, the capital city is undergoing changes, and the affluence and good governence of Noida and Greater Noida seems to be spreading to other western districts of the state.

heres one from Lucknow.

On Lohia birthday, city gets another socialist landmark

Laying the foundation stone of the Jai Prakash Narain International Centre (JPNIC) here on Thursday, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and other socialist leaders stressed on the need to promote socialism and Gandhian thought all across the country.

The centre, which is being developed by the Lucknow development Authority, aims at promoting socialism and Gandhian thought.

The centre, to be built at a cost of Rs 25 crore inside the Lohia Park in Gomti Nagar, would cover an area of about 3 acres.

From what I saw of the ad for the center in the papers, it is to have two auditoriums, a library, an art gallery, and a couple of other things.

[kronik]

HTTL to set up mfg unit in Uttaranchal

Home furnishing products company Hanung Toys and Textiles Ltd (HTTL) is setting up a manufacturing unit in Uttaranchal and would go public to part fund the Rs 175 crore project, which would boost its overseas exports.

The unit, which is scheduled for commissioning in December this year, would enhance company's capacity six folds and boost overseas export of home furnishing products.

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VIP to open 40 exclusive retail outlets next fiscal

Leading luggage manufacturer VIP Industries Ltd., on Thursday said it was all set to commission its new manufacturing facility in Uttaranchal and further strengthen its retail network by opening 40 more exclusive stores across the country next fiscal.

"The new manufacturing facility in Haridwar (Uttaranchal) would start producing about 20 lakh pieces per year from this April."

The company has already spent Rs 20 crore on the manufacturing unit at Haridwar.

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Uttaranchal govt unveils measures to develop urban infrastr.

The Uttaranchal government today unveiled a host of measures to improve urban infrastructure in the state and said the Asian Development Bank was extending Rs 800 crore assistance for the purpose.

Addressing the legislature on the opening day of the budget session here, Governor Sudershan Agarwal said his government aimed to develop infrastructure in urban areas, including the setting up of a science city, IT-BT parks, and a planetarium.

A technology resource centre had been sanctioned in Naugaon area of Uttarkashi district for imparting technical assistance to the rural population, the Governor said.

Eighteen new industrial estates are being set up under in Dehra Dun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

He said that out of the identified potential of 20,000 mw of hydro power, projects of nearly 12,000 mw were in different stages of implementation.

Stating his government was giving a thrust to forestry and horticulture, Agarwal said 16 horticulture nurseries, 381 herbal-nurseries and 40 centres of excellence had been developed.

[kronik]

KGMU grant for GMAH computerisation

In a major decision, the finance committee of King George's Medical University (KGMU) on Friday approved the Rs 7.5 crore ambitious project to computerise the facilities in the Gandhi Memorial and Associated Hospitals (GMAH).

If all goes well, then within a year, GMAH will have paper-less and film-less functioning. The entire hospital will have computer networking. From prescriptions to diagnosis and expert opinion — all will be through desktop.

Even the X-Rays, Cat Scan and MRIs done in the hospital will be film-less and available for the doctors immediately on their computer screen.

The project has been prepared under the technical guidance of the experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

t has been decided to set-up the server room for the networking at the Trauma Centre so that even if the construction of the centenary hospital is delayed, the system can be commissioned in other places.

Experts of NIC and SGPGI were also involved in the project.

[kronik]

Nainital to get giant telescope

The Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) at Nainital will soon have a large optical telescope of 3.8m diameter for higher research in astronomy.

The project is likely to come up with the collaboration of Russia and Belgium. An agreement will be signed this year, according to highly placed sources in the Belgian embassy.

ARIES, an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology hosts optical telescopes of the size of 15cm, 38cm, 52cm and 104 cm.

As per the discussion, India will sign a tripatite agreement with Russia and Belgium for the Euro 10-15 million project, with technical and financial collaboration from both the countries.

Belgium will provide the financial assistance and its technical expertise in making large telescopes.

Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS), a Belgian company specialising in designing and manufacturing high accuracy mechanical and optical systems, will provide the design and technical calculations for the telescope. Russia will provide the mirrors to be fitted with it.

“The components will be manufactured in India and shipped to Belgium where they will be integrated and tested before being flown back to India,” Jean-Pierre Chisogne, aerospace engineer and commercial manager of AMOS told Business Standard.

[Tron]

Can somebody from Uttranchal post information on the ski resorts in Auli or other places? I tried googling, but all I found were websites by tour operators, and no offical websites of said ski resorts.

[kronik]

Originally Posted by Tron

Can somebody from Uttranchal post information on the ski resorts in Auli or other places? I tried googling, but all I found were websites by tour operators, and no offical websites of said ski resorts.

I think the best place to start would be the organization which runs most of the tourism in the Garhwal region: The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, or GMVN.

http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/

and this is their section on adventure sports:

http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/sports/index.aspx

Auli, 16 km from Joshimath is an ideal winter resort run by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN). A 3 km long slope ranging from a height of 2519 to 3049 m is a major attraction. The Auli resort run by GMVN has snow beaters which beat the snow to keep the slopes fit for skiing at all times. A 500 m long ski-lift carries skiiers back to the slope top, thus saving them the trouble and time to bridge up wearing long skis.


Season: End December to March.
Equipment: GMVN provides modern ski equipments. Participants are advised to bring heavy woolen clothings like caps, socks, gloves, mufflers, pullovers, trousers, wind proof jackets, dark glasses, gum / snow boots and a torch for personal use.
Package Tours: GMVN conducts 7 and 14 days skiing courses at Auli and special provisions for day tourists are also available. Ski training is given by qualified ski instructors.

and Auli is just one of the locations offered.

[kronik]

Jaiswal brings IISER to city

GOOD NEWS for Kanpur! The centre has incorporated the city in the list of metros that will soon have the Indian Institute of Science and Education Research (IISER).

Earlier, the Centre had given clearance to open the IISER in Pune, Chandigarh and Bangalore. But after a representation by the Minister of State for Home affairs Shri Prakash Jaiswal, the government agreed to set up a fourth centre in Kanpur as well.

[Tron]

Originally Posted by kronik

I think the best place to start would be the organization which runs most of the tourism in the Garhwal region: The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, or GMVN.

http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/

and this is their section on adventure sports:

http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/sports/index.aspx



and Auli is just one of the locations offered.

This again looks like a tourism operator, even though state owned. I am looking for an actual website of the ski resort - say, something like these ones:

http://www.snowbird.com/
http://www.parkcitymountain.com/

A site that gives the map of trails (with difficulty levels), ski lifts, ski patrol services, restaurants and amenities, directions/transport info, snow fall info, rescue and medical services, various lift tickets and passes, ski gear rental information, current weather advisory, etc.

Too bad, every result that turns up on a web search is a page by a tour operator that just tells you the cost of the ski trip.

[kronik]

Originally Posted by Tron

This again looks like a tourism operator, even though state owned. I am looking for an actual website of the ski resort - say, something like these ones:

http://www.snowbird.com/
http://www.parkcitymountain.com/

A site that gives the map of trails (with difficulty levels), ski lifts, ski patrol services, restaurants and amenities, directions/transport info, snow fall info, rescue and medical services, various lift tickets and passes, ski gear rental information, current weather advisory, etc.

Too bad, every result that turns up on a web search is a page by a tour operator that just tells you the cost of the ski trip.

a true blue NRI eh? if you cant find it on google it can only mean it probably doesnt have one right? Skiing in India isnt as developed as it is in Europe or North America, so I wouldnt expect all the fancy Blue Mountain/Snowbird stuff.

GMVN owns the place, maybe you can email them for more information.

[Tron]

Originally Posted by kronik

a true blue NRI eh? if you cant find it on google it can only mean it probably doesnt have one right? Skiing in India isnt as developed as it is in Europe or North America, so I wouldnt expect all the fancy Blue Mountain/Snowbird stuff.

GMVN owns the place, maybe you can email them for more information.

True blue NRI? Come on, man. That would be the most incorrect estimation of me. I'm someone you'd see defending India among the true blue NRIs. I could email GMVN, but I dont hope I'll receive such a detailed email with all the information I'm looking for.

I searched for it in vain. I wasn't complaining about the Uttranchal ski resorts, I was just giving an example of the type of information I'm looking for. I was dismayed by the lack of websites giving you enough information, and not by the lack of skiing facilities.

If I want to travel from Chennai to Auli to ski, then I want to know what to expect when I get there, not some useless stuff like, "it costs Rs. xxx for 1 week", and frankly no information about what to expect when I get there. How hard it would be to build a website that tells this information, that's comparable to the websites of Snowbird or Parkcity? After all, we have so many IT people in our country who can do that. I have personally built greater websites than that.

Look at this PDF file (map of Snowbird ski resort, zoom in to read the text). It gives you in one glance their ski trails, lift locations, restrooms, etc. If I take a one-week vacation to go to some frozen mountain just for the purpose of skiing and nothing else, I want to know what's being offered.

It's my money and my time, and I want to know before I spend it. It's as simple as that. Besides, I love maps in general - they give you so much information that you cannot write in several pages of text. If you complain that it's the tourists' fault for expecting information about the place they want to visit, you won't get any tourists at all.

That said, I'll email GMVN this weekend. I'll report back on what I get.

[kronik]

I didnt mean to sound offensive at all Tron. I know what you mean, and its a pity that there are no dedicated sites to give us the required information on almost all important tourist spots in the country.

The internet is still the last remaining frontier for the Indian bureaucracy and government to cross, despite all the NIC websites. I think Uttaranchal tourism in general has taken a turn for the better though, and things are getting better. The advantages of doing the tour with GMVN is that they own the place, they provide the equipment, and transportation/lodging. They have cottages up there which are rented out for the purpose.

But yeah, please email GMVN, and let me know if you do hear from them. Otherwise I have people in there that i would like to preach the virtues of being online.

[kronik]

Reckitt to invest Rs 60cr in Uttaranchal facility

Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd, a household cleaning products company, is setting up a big factory in Uttaranchal with an investment of Rs 60 crore to double its production capacity.

Chander Mohan Sethi, chairman and managing director, RBIL, said the company had just started the construction of the factory, which is expected to be ready by December. This expansion is likely to meet the company's demand for the next four years.

The factory would manufacture a number of products including handwash products. It is likely to have an annual throughput capacity for Rs 400 crore.

[kronik]

Fire dept set to change gear with Rs 10-cr fund

Four decades of rust and rest later, one of the country’s most underdeveloped fire departments will soon be armed with cutting-edge technology.

With as much as Rs 10 crore earmarked for buying advanced equipment, the Uttar Pradesh fire department will be turned into a highly approachable and advanced rescue operation squad within six months, officials said. As part of the makeover, six prominent districts will have Advanced Rescue Tenders — worth Rs 80 lakh each — while 13 districts will get rescue tenders worth Rs 50 lakh each.

‘‘our roles will be transformed with these new facilities,” Chief Fire Officer J K Singh said. “Earlier, we used to concentrate (solely) on fire-fighting, but our role has increased with the Disaster Management Act in 2005; and these equipment will help us further. We will now become more movable and approachable.’’

Interestingly, the department will now have Mahindra Bolero cars at its disposal for approaching even interior areas in the rural belts with alacrity. Twenty-one such vehicles were brought to the Chowk fire station two days back and will now be sent for modification. The department will also send six advanced fire tenders to districts like Kanpur, Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi etc.

The Advanced Rescue Tender gear
* Thermal imaging Camera
* Life Detector
* Light Tower with automatic floodlights
* Smoke Chamber
* Combi tools (cutting tools, lifting bags and other rescue equipment)
* Two Chemical Suits
*l Four Fire Fighting Suits
* Search Cam with two-way communication system to be inserted through small spaces in collapsed buildings

[WillyWick]

Uttar Pradesh govts plan to contol pollution level in Ganga, Gomti

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh government has drawn out an ambitious sewerage treatment plan to effectively control the pollution level in rivers Ganga and Gomti at Varanasi and Lucknow respectively.

The plan, including sewarage works worth Rs 405 crore for Varanasi and Rs 372 crore for Lucknow has been sent to the union government for approval to control the pollution level in these rivers, Urban Development Minister Mohammed Azam Khan said here today.

There is an urgent need to deal with the rising level of pollution in these major rivers due to the inflow of sewer wastes, he said.

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?a...lnews&id=34031

[WillyWick]

Govt may rope in ADB for mega power plants

New Delhi: The Government plans to rope in Asian Development Bank for financing five ultra mega power plants of 4,000 MW, each of which will require investment of Rs 15,000-20,000 crore, to boost the confidence of private developers and achieve faster financial closure.

http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14175535

[kronik]

Skylines on the rise in Dehradun

The skyline of Dehradun has changed forever with high rise apartments dotting the landscape.

The trend started three years ago and has seen various buildings like the Bhagirathi Apartments come up in the recent past.

Property boom

Almost every intersection in the town-turned-city has signs announcing the construction of a new high-rise.

Property agents are confident the trend will continue.

"After Dehradun became the capital, there has been a sudden increase in the population of people seeking a home in the city. There is limited open space and apartments seem to be the answer.

The Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) is not worried about the construction.

"There are a lot of checks on the builders and developers. Their design standards have to conform to Indian standards and our Indian standards are as refined as anywhere else in the world. On the structural safety account we don't see any problem," said Subarta Biswas, Vice-Chairman, MDDA.

[kronik]

Straight Answers

CEO, Biotech Park Prof P K Seth, on the relevance of the proposed biotech park for the city's youth.

What is the relevance of such a huge project for Lucknow?

Biotech can deliver the next wave of technological changes that can be even more persuasive than those brought by Information Technology. In addition, the city is home to three CSIR (Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research) labs apart from a number of premiere scientific, medical and educational institutions.

Despite having the knowledge and technology base, this is not being utilised by the industry. That is what we seek to do through the biotech park which will act as a tech incubator and attract industries that can utilise this expertise.

How will the youth benefit from such a venture? Will it generate career opportunities for them?

Certainly, the aim is to ensure that we have young professionals take up upcoming career options like Bio-Informatics. We are already on the look out for young science graduates.

A training programme for such professionals is already on the anvil and within a year we hope to develop a good training programme for them. But once the biotech park is functional, young professionals can explore a scientific career in the state itself instead of moving abroad or to Hyderabad or Bangalore.

How many jobs is the park expected to generate?

UP has a strong pool of scientists and engineers. Biotechnology has the potential of generating business to the tune of US $5 billion. In turn this would create one million jobs by 2010. Naturally a big chunk of that will translate to career opportunities in the state as well.

How soon will the biotech park be functional?

Hopefully within a year. The infrastructure is ready and we are waiting for the park to be inaugurated. But work at the park is on. We have successfully managed to do some tissue culture work and transfer of the technology for cultivation of a new variety of banana which has been very well received

[sudheeshnairs]

Kronik, are all these structures 12 floor/35 m or plus? Any renderings or photos? The pic shown in the NDTV page seems to be some 4-5 floor one..

Originally Posted by kronik

Skylines on the rise in Dehradun

[kronik]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

Kronik, are all these structures 12 floor/35 m or plus? Any renderings or photos? The pic shown in the NDTV page seems to be some 4-5 floor one..

Sudheesh, I am not sure. There are no highrises in the city centre as of now. Considering the space crunch in the city and the high seismic zone we sit in, and in keeping with its small town image, I doubt there will be any 12 stories.

I think even an 8 story building will be a highrise by Dehradun standards.

[kronik]

Ramdev gets university

The skeleton dust controversy almost reduced to ashes, Baba Ramdev’s dream project took off today amid much fanfare.

There was also a surprise gift for the new-age guru. After the Patanjali Yog Peeth was inaugurated near Hardwar, Uttaranchal chief minister N.D. Tiwari announced that he had decided to award it university status and make Ramdev its vice-chancellor for life.

Joining Tiwari on the glittering guest list were vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, railway minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, the chief ministers of Bihar, Haryana and Delhi — Nitish Kumar, B.S. Hooda and Sheila Dikshit, respectively — besides some industrialists.

The Peeth, about 50 km from Hardwar, has been designed as a centre for social and scientific research in yoga and ayurveda.

The Peeth, set up at an approximate cost of Rs 100 crore, will lay stress on pranayam — Ramdev is a familiar face on television teaching the breathing exercises — being a cure for several diseases for which modern medical science has no answer.

University status will help the Peeth promote the study of ancient India and herbal medicines, Tiwari said.