Uttarakhand

Dehradun, May 30 (PTI) The Uttarakhand BJP has kept a copy of the Quran at the party library here to help its cadre learn about the holy book, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the need to reach out to the minorities.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state media head Devendra Bhasin claimed that the move was in line with the party's "philosophy" of treating every religion equally.

The copy of the Quran was kept at the library of the party's state headquarters here two days ago by joint media incharge Shadab Shams, Bhasin said.

Dehradun, Apr 13 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat will hold a dialogue with NRI entrepreneurs Sunday to discuss how they could contribute to the development of the state in different sectors.

"The chief minister will hold a dialogue with NRI entrepreneurs via video conferencing at 9 pm Sunday to discuss investments as well as ways in which they could make a contribution towards the development of the state," Rawat's media advisor Ramesh Bhatt said.

Dehradun, Apr 13 (PTI) A voter turnout of 61.50 per cent was recorded in Uttarakhand which went to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

According to final polling percentage released by the Election Commission after collating data received from remote corners of the hill state late on Friday night a total of 61.50 per cent of the 78.56 lakh voters exercised their franchise on the polling day.

Dehradun, Apr 11 (PTI) Over 57 per cent of the electorate in Uttarakhand cast their vote Thursday to seal the fate of 52 candidates as polling was held in the first phase of the general elections to its five Lok Sabha seats.

The turnout recorded at 5 pm across the five seats was 57.85 per cent, Chief Electoral Officer Soujanya said.

Dehradun, Jan 31 (PTI) Over 3.5 lakh government employees in Uttarakhand went on a mass holiday on Thursday in support of their 10-point charter of demands, including a hike in housing allowance and timely promotions.

Essential and emergency services like health, roadways, power and water supply were kept out of the ambit of the protest.

Dehradun, Jan 19 (PTI) The BJP will hold six special programmes across the country in the coming days to galvanise its cadres in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Trishakti Sammelan, Yuva Sammelan, Buddhijiwi Sammelan, Mera Parivar Bhajapa Parivar, Kamal Jyoti Prajwalan and a Kamal Sandesh Yatra will be organised in the coming days in all Lok Sabha constituencies, BJP national general secretary Saroj Pandey said.

Nainital (U'khand), Jan 18 (PTI) The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday stayed the arrest of former state BJP general secretary Sanjay Kumar, accused of sexual harassment by a woman.

Justice N S Dhanik also directed the state to file a reply within four weeks, after which the matter will be listed for final hearing, said Kumar's advocate, Aditya Singh.

A woman, who worked at the state Bharatiya Janata Party office, approached the police accusing Kumar of sexually harassing her for months by sending obscene text messages and behaving inappropriately with her.

Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand), Dec 28 (PTI) A college student was raped at knifepoint in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district earlier this week, following which three accused have been arrested, police said Friday.

The incident took place on December 25 when she had gone for a walk with her male friend on Gochar road in Karnaprayag, station house officer, Karnaprayag, Chitragupt said.

The three men accosted them and threatened them with a knife, asking him to leave. When the student's friend left, the accused took turns to rape her at knifepoint, he said.

Dehradun, Dec 26 (PTI) An Israeli business delegation met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat here Wednesday and discussed the setting up an algae and a medicinal cannabis farms in the hill-state.

According to a press release by the government, Puremagics Ltd, an Israeli firm specialising in biotechnology, intends to produce Haematococcus pluvialis, a species of algae used in the manufacturing of cosmetics and nutritional supplements in Uttarakhand.

Sexual harassment allegations have been made against an Uttarakhand BJP leader and an inquiry has been initiated into the matter.

A female BJP worker in Dehradun had raised allegations of sexual harassment against a BJP leader who is highly placed in the party’s state unit.

According to The Indian Express, the BJP leader “had been sexually exploiting the woman for about five years, and several complaints of the harassment to various party leaders had gone unacknowledged.”