The Maharashtra Government today proposed to raise tax on liquor and lottery while earmarking Rs 8,233 crore for irrigation projects in its budget for 2017-18 with an estimated revenue deficit of Rs 4,511 crore.

Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented his third straight budget, which he described as "agriculture-centric," in the assembly amid vociferous demand by the Opposition for a farm loan waiver.

He said the BJP-led government has taken a major decision to merge plan and non-plan expenditure from 2017-18.

"The focus will now be on capital expenditure. This change will allow each department to use the entire fund allocated to it effectively instead of only the plan component which is 25 per cent of the total budget size," he said.

After the merger, the concept of plan outlay will cease to exist, said the finance minister and added: "A sum of Rs 77,184 crore has been earmarked for various schemes." 

He said in FY18, the revenue receipt is estimated at Rs 2,43,737 crore and revenue expenditure at Rs 2,48,242 crore.

Consequently, there will be a revenue deficit worth Rs 4,511-crore.

Mungantiwar said the government will try to reduce the deficit by cutting down avoidable expenditure and ensuring effective revenue recoveries.

He proposed to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from 23.08 per cent to 25.93 per cent on the maximum retail price of the foreign liquor, the IMFL and the country liquor.

Mungantiwar also proposed to raise tax on weekly lottery from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The tax proposals are expected to result in additional gain of Rs 396 crore.

Describing the budget as "agriculture-centric," the minister said a provision of Rs 8,233-crore has been made for various irrigation projects.

He earmarked Rs 100 crore for micro-irrigation projects in Yavatmal and Wardha districts which will be completed using Israeli technology.

Mungantiwar said the government proposes to double the farm income by 2021. To achieve this, it has decided to focus on irrigation, electricity, farm ponds, food processing, technology, marketing, group farming and agriculture credit.

The farm loan waiver issue, which has been dominating the proceedings ever since the budget session began last week, again hogged the limelight.

Opposition members, including Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Congress), former finance ministers Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil (both NCP), were on their feet seeking relief for cultivators in form of a debt waiver.

The members displayed banners, played cymbals and made loud noises as the minister read out his speech.

The Maharashtra Government today proposed to raise tax on liquor and lottery while earmarking Rs 8,233 crore for irrigation projects in its budget for 2017-18 with an estimated revenue deficit of Rs 4,511 crore.

Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented his third straight budget, which he described as "agriculture-centric," in the assembly amid vociferous demand by the Opposition for a farm loan waiver.

He said the BJP-led government has taken a major decision to merge plan and non-plan expenditure from 2017-18.

"The focus will now be on capital expenditure. This change will allow each department to use the entire fund allocated to it effectively instead of only the plan component which is 25 per cent of the total budget size," he said.

After the merger, the concept of plan outlay will cease to exist, said the finance minister and added: "A sum of Rs 77,184 crore has been earmarked for various schemes." 

He said in FY18, the revenue receipt is estimated at Rs 2,43,737 crore and revenue expenditure at Rs 2,48,242 crore.

Consequently, there will be a revenue deficit worth Rs 4,511-crore.

Mungantiwar said the government will try to reduce the deficit by cutting down avoidable expenditure and ensuring effective revenue recoveries.

He proposed to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from 23.08 per cent to 25.93 per cent on the maximum retail price of the foreign liquor, the IMFL and the country liquor.

Mungantiwar also proposed to raise tax on weekly lottery from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The tax proposals are expected to result in additional gain of Rs 396 crore.

Describing the budget as "agriculture-centric," the minister said a provision of Rs 8,233-crore has been made for various irrigation projects.

He earmarked Rs 100 crore for micro-irrigation projects in Yavatmal and Wardha districts which will be completed using Israeli technology.

Mungantiwar said the government proposes to double the farm income by 2021. To achieve this, it has decided to focus on irrigation, electricity, farm ponds, food processing, technology, marketing, group farming and agriculture credit.

The farm loan waiver issue, which has been dominating the proceedings ever since the budget session began last week, again hogged the limelight.

Opposition members, including Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Congress), former finance ministers Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil (both NCP), were on their feet seeking relief for cultivators in form of a debt waiver.

The members displayed banners, played cymbals and made loud noises as the minister read out his speech.

The University Grants Commission on Saturday clarified that it has not sent any letter to JNU notifying the closure of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at School of Social Sciences. A forged letter was allegedly forwarded by the JNU administration to the chairperson of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at the School of Social Sciences in JNU.

The alleged forged letter informed JNU that financial support to the CSDE would be discontinued after the end of the XIIth Plan and that the decision to discontinue the financial support had been taken at the level of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, by an order. The notice according to a press statement ends with the proclamation: “No communication whatsoever will be entertained or solicited by the UGC.”

A press statement from UGC said some news reports had appeared on the basis of the forged letter allegedly sent to the JNU administration by UGC. “It would have been proper if the press would have confirmed with University Grants Commission before publishing the news item,” said the statement.

 It has been stated that the UGC has established  Centres for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy in various universities in the Xth Plan on plan-to-plan basis  provided these centres record satisfactory progress in the areas of their focus.  Keeping in view the same procedure, the UGC would be extending these centres from 1 April 2017 onwards. 

 In another letter of UGC dated 20 January 2011, Jawaharlal Nehru University was informed that the centres will continue as earlier and the work done by them would be monitored by the Commission. In letters dated 22 September 2015, and 23 December 2015, UGC informed JNU that the Centre being on plan-to-plan basis will continue on the same basis.

Apple Inc.s Chief Executive Tim Cook defended globalisation in a rare public speech in China, as his company faces political pressure in the US to bring back factories.

Cook also said data privacy was one of the company's values, although he stopped short on Saturday of criticising decryption demands from governments as Apple has previously in the US, reported the Wall Street Journal. 

It was his first time speaking at the China Development Forum, an annual conference sponsored by the Chinese government. 

During his speech, Cook said globalisation "in general is great for the world," but noted socio-economic gains may not be evenly distributed within or between countries. Despite globalisation's shortcomings, countries should not shy away from such development, he said.

"I think the worst thing would be to, because it didn't help everyone, is to say it's bad and do less of that," Cook said. "I think the reality is you can see that countries in the world…that isolate themselves, it's not good for their people."

The subject is a contentious one for Apple, a US company that farms out a bulk of its manufacturing operations to China. 

President Donald Trump recently called for Apple to bring iPhone production to America, a move that would stimulate the domestic economy. Trump has asked the same of many US multinationals in attempts to repatriate overseas jobs, said the report. 

Cook also touched on cybersecurity and user privacy, both highly sensitive subjects in China. 

Parroting past statements on the matter, Cook said Apple employs end-to-end encryption to protect its customers from nefarious actors. 

He fell short of taking a stand against Chinese cybersecurity policy that requires companies to furnish authorities with technical assistance in investigations and data gathering operations, reported the Journal.

Cook tiptoed around the subject of data privacy, saying, "We think that an individual should own their data and should be able to control their data." 

He is in China to bolster relations with the country's central government. Apple's top executive is slated to speak with Xu Lin, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, in a private meeting on Monday. 

Cook also said that Apple Inc will be setting up two more research and development (R&D) centres in Shanghai and Suzhou, following Beijing and Shenzhen.

Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's father Krishnaraj Rai passed away today at a suburban hospital here due to health issues.

He was hospitalised a few weeks ago and was later shifted to the ICU.

"Aishwarya's father Krishnaraj Rai passed away at the Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra," the publicist of the actress told PTI.

Krishnaraj Rai is survived by wife Vrinda, son Aditya and daughter Aishwarya.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday accused Germany of owing "vast sums of money" to NATO and the US, one day after his meeting at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He said on Twitter that Germany owed NATO and the US for the "powerful, and very expensive defence it provides to Germany!"

Trump also tweeted that he had a "great" meeting with Merkel, despite the "fake news" that, in his opinion, have been published in US media outlets. 

During his press conference with Merkel on Friday, he again raised complained that many European members of NATO, which he has described as "obsolete", were not pulling their weight within the Atlantic Alliance. 

"Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years and it is very unfair to the US. These nations must pay what they owe," he said, apparently referring to the failure of some member-states to comply with the NATO guideline calling for devoting at least two per cent of gross domestic product to the military, CNN reported.

Merkel said Germany had committed to increasing its military spending to the previously agreed level of two per cent of GDP for NATO's European members.

The US President also lashed out at the news media on Saturday. 

"Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS," he tweeted, "I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel."

The Trump administration wants to build a 30-foot-high border wall that looks good from the north side and is difficult to climb or cut through, according to a pair of contract notices posted to a government website further detailing President Donald Trump's promise to build a "big, beautiful wall" at the Mexican border.

The notices were made public last night by Customs and Border Protection, the Homeland Security Department agency that will oversee the project and eventually patrol and maintain the wall. The proposals are due to the government by March 29.

One of the CBP contract requests calls for a solid concrete wall, while the other asks for proposals for a see-through structure. Both require the wall to sunk at least six feet into the ground and include 25- and 50-foot automated gates for pedestrians and vehicles. The proposed wall must also be built in a such a way that it would take at least an hour to cut through it with a "sledgehammer, car jack, pick axe, chisel, battery operated impact tools, battery operated cutting tools, Oxy/acetylene torch or other similar hand-held tools." 

The government will award a contract based on 30-foot-wide sample walls that are to be built in San Diego.

This is the second time the Trump administration has asked for private companies to bid on building the wall. Last month CPB put out a call for "concept papers" to design and build prototypes by March 10.

Trump has bragged in recent days that the wall is ahead of schedule, though it's unclear from the latest contract notices if any firms have submitted wall proposals or if any such submissions have been rejected.

The race for the Champions League spots is heating up in the English Premier League and when third-placed Manchester City host Liverpool on Sunday, a lot will be on the line at the Etihad Stadium with the spotlight in particular on City manager Pep Guardiola.

The hawks are circling after the cash-rich club were dumped out of Europe in midweek, losing to a fired-up Monaco side and nothing but three points will do against the Reds.

It won’t be easy, however, for Liverpool are a side that deliver big performances in the big games and while goals will be guaranteed considering neither team has a half-decent defence, a result seems too close to call at this point.

Manchester City
City is on the verge of a crisis and it wouldn't be unfair to suggest that if Liverpool win, fans could start turning on their vaunted manager.

He spoke about the challenge of managing City this week, hinting that coaching the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona was easier since they were established clubs, but for Premier League standards, the Sky Blues are better off than most.

They have a great squad overall, with some obvious weak points but no team in modern football is perfect.

So Guardiola will have to coax the best out of Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, two big names who on several occasions have gone missing when their side needs them most.

His shambolic defence isn't going to be fixed overnight, but City will need their stars to justify their high wages and take a cue from young wingers Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, who have arguably been the team’s bright spots this season.

City have no fresh injury concerns, with Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus on the long-term casualty list.

Liverpool
Ignominious cup exits coupled with a failure to sustain a proper title challenge have brought down the mood at Anfield and while recent results have been encouraging, Liverpool are under pressure to win this game as well.

Arsenal and Manchester United aren't too far behind in the league table and while the Reds have plenty of quality in their squad, a lack of an out and out goalscorer is perhaps the chief reason for their inconsistent displays.

Brilliant against their main rivals but poor against teams that shut up shop, Klopp’s team seems to have no Plan B.

Against City, however, Liverpool will happily cede the possession battle and hit the hosts on the counter with searing speed thanks to the superlative talents such as Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho.

While Mane and Coutinho keep scoring the odd goal, Firmino has been quite ineffective in the final third and that will have to change if the Reds are to win and against a City side whose poor defence rivals Liverpools!

Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino are racing to get fit in time for the trip to the Etihad and while skipper Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge are out, Dejan Lovren is fit for selection .

Super Stat: The first-ever meeting between Manchester City and Liverpool took place in 1901, a game which Liverpool won 3-2!

The Human Resource Development Ministry on Saturday alleged that a forged letter was sent to JNU by the UGC office notifying the closure of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at School of Social Sciences. The purported letter was forwarded by the JNU administration to the chairperson of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy.

The alleged forged letter informed JNU that financial support to the CSDE would be discontinued after the end of the XIIth Plan and that the decision to discontinue the financial support had been taken at the level of the MHRD, by an order. The notice according to a press statement ends with the proclamation: “No communication whatsoever will be entertained or solicited by the UGC.”

A press statement from the government said some news reports had appeared on the basis of the forged letter allegedly sent to the JNU administration by UGC. “It would have been proper if the press would have confirmed with University Grants Commission before publishing the news item,” said the statement.

UGC has established  Centres for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy in various universities in the Xth Plan on plan-to-plan basis provided these Centres report satisfactory progress in the areas of their focus.  Keeping in view the same procedure, the UGC would be extending these Centres from 1 April, 2017 onwards.

In another letter of UGC dated 20 January 2011, JNU was informed that the Centres will continue as earlier and the work would be monitored by the Commission. In letters dated 22 September 2015, and 23 December 2015, UGC informed JNU that the centre being on plan-to-plan basis will continue on the same basis.
 

Punjab's Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday found support from his Cabinet colleague over his decision to
continue appearing in the popular comedy show  ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’.

The finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal said there was nothing wrong in Sidhu's TV appearance as it's his only source of income. "I am a farmer. By that count, tomorrow I may be asked to leave agriculture as I am a minister now," Badal told reporters after the first council of ministers meeting.

"No work is bad. It's for the individual to do it with honesty. I think Sidhu should continue to appear in the TV comedy show. He has the star power for it. He is a clean man," the minister said.

After assuming charge as minister of tourism, culture and local bodies minister  Sidhu on Thursday said he would continue to make television appearances and it wouldn’t hinder his ability to discharge his duties as minister as the shooting for the TV show will be done late in the night.
“

If people don’t have problem, why do you worry? If I do TV I will leave at 3 p.m. from here (Chandigarh) and will return (from Mumbai) here before anyone wakes up,” he said adding that he would balance both the roles with ease.

In the past when he was the Lok Sabha member from Amritsar as member of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP),  his wife Navjot Kaur had justified his absence from the constituency for TV programmes saying he works hard to earn his money with honestly and didn't believe in earning money through corrupt means like most politicians do.

Kaur had on Tuesday said even after becoming a minister, Sidhu would continue shooting for the show as such shooting requires only around 6 hours during night of Saturday every week.

Days after they became VVIPs, newly appointed Punjab ministers including the chief minister (CM) Capt Amarinder
Singh on Saturday decided against using the biggest symbol of being a VIP — the red beacon light.

In the very first meeting chaired by Captain Amarinder, the council of ministers decided against use of red beacon lights by the CM, ministers, MLAs and government officials.

Red beacon light will only be allowed for ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and the vehicles chief justice and judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

"Use of red beacon has become illegal in Punjab," finance minister, Manpreet Singh Badal, told reporters while informally briefing about the decisions taken during the over-three hour meeting held two days after  the Congress took over Punjab’s reins.

In all, 118 items were discussed during the meeting and more  than 100 decisions were taken to fulfilling the electoral promises.

A formal notification to this effect will be issued after a new policy on use of such beacon lights on vehicles is formulated, an official spokesman said.

The council of ministers also decided to ban foreign travel of all ministers, MLAs and officials on government expense for two years, except where it is so mandated or provided under and bilateral agreement or arrangement.

In another decision, the council of ministers decided that the CM, minister or legislators will lay the foundation stone of any project or inaugurate the same. "To the most, if a project is of over Rs.100 crore, only a stone will be placed there saying "this project was completed with the money collected from the taxes paid by the people," Badal said.

He said it has also been decided that all legislators and ministers will make public their property every month.  "A anti-graft Lok Bill more stringent than the one brought by social activist Anna Hazare will be brought and  everyone including the CM will be covered under its purview," the minister said.

He said 33 per cent reservation will now be given to women in all government jobs including contractual.  "Thirty-five per cent reservation will be given to women in local body elections," Badal said.

For loan-waiver, a decision was taken to set up a group of experts to assess and analyse the quantum of the agriculture debt of farmers in the state, and propose ways and means to waive the debt in a time-bound manner.

The Amarinder Singh government also decided to exempt media persons from payment of toll tax on the state highways.

The Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit on Saturday authorised the party highcommand to decide whether it should contest the byelection for two Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir against its own ruling coalition partner PDP.

However, there were indications that the BJP highcommand might not allow the state unit to contest the election provided the PDP was against the strategy. The local BJP unit's strategy was to put up its candidates to prevent polling of votes of migrant Kashmir Pandits in favour of the Congress–National Conference alliance.

A high-level meeting of top BJP leaders and ministers was held here today to discuss the issue and also finalize candidates for the six seats of the Legislative Council that are falling vacant next month. The PDP and BJP on basis of their strength in the Assembly will contest two seats each.

The selection committee will forward the panel of BJP candidates to the high command for final choice.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and Avinashrai Khanna were present in the meeting.

Several party activists urged the leadership to field BJP candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats.
Ram Madhav said that the BJP would observe the coalition dharma and the alliance was working smoothly.

He said that the separatists need to be exposed as on one hand their leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani was spitting venom against Constitution of the country and on the other hand feels no problem when his kin is appointed on government job under the same constitution.

He said that the separatists were misleading the youth of valley and making them indulge in stone pelting and such other activities.

Himachali film ‘Brina’ which is based on customs of Mandi district, would be screened at International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF) at New Jersey in United States (US) on 28 March.

The film is based on local tradition which was prevalent in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh around 150 years ago.

“As per the prevalent tradition at that time, moneylender (called as ‘Sahukar’) used to buy brides after paying money to their parents,” Brina movie director, Pawan Kumar Sharma told The Statesman.

“However, a girl from the Pingala village in Sarkaghat in Mandi district, Lahula challenged the system. But she failed and committed suicide,” Sharma said.

And now as penance, the residents of Pingala village celebrate ‘Basoa’ festival on Baisakhi every year and immerse puppets in local rivulets after marrying them.

The main aim behind producing the movie is to give the message of ‘Save Girl Child’ to the society, at a time when there are lots of cases of crime against women in the country, Sharma said.

“Apart from this, the film highlights the issue of polyandry, child marriages and low sex ratio. We want to give a message to society if we could not save the girl child on time, such situation could arise in the near future,” he said.

Pawan Kumar Sharma, who is in his hometown in Sundernagar in Mandi district, says he had blended Pahari language with Hindi in the film and the film features a mixture of artists, both from Bollywood and Himachal Pradesh.

Produced in 2016, the film Brina has not been officially released as yet and Pawan Kumar Sharma is planning to release the movie in May-June this year.

The film has won many awards at international and national film festivals and it has won the Best Jury and Best Villain award at Prague International Film Festival.

Brina has also won the Best Jury, Best Actor and Villain award at Jaipur International Film Festival and Best Film award at the Shimla International Film Festival.

The film would also be showcased at the Nasik International Film Festival scheduled to be held from 23-26 March 2017.

The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and India will jointly conduct a course here to strengthen senior leadership capacity on effective planning and conducting of integrated UN peace support operations.

The Senior Mission Leaders’ Course (SMLC) will be held at the Centre for UN Peacekeeping from 20-31 March, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

A total of 25 participants from 18 countries will attend the course along with 21 UN officials, senior mentors, facilitators and presenters.

The annual course is conducted with the objective of strengthening the senior leadership's capacity through training on effective planning and conducting of integrated UN peace support operations.

It provides a forum for the participants to interact on diverse issues related to peace and security; and challenges faced by them in UN missions. Participants in this course are high ranking military, police and civilian officials and who are expected to assume senior leadership positions in future UN Peace operations.

India continues its strong commitment to UN Peacekeeping both through enhanced contributions and peacekeeping capacity building efforts in recent times.

More than 2,00,000 Indian troops, military observers and civilian police officers have participated in 48 out of the 69 UN Peacekeeping Operations and Observer Missions established since 1948.

The keynote address at the inaugural session at the Manekshaw Centre will be delivered by Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Preeti Saran, and attended by Deputy Chief of Army Staff (IS&T) Gen J S Cheema and Jack Christofides, Director, Department of Policy, Evaluation & Training (DPET), United Nations.

“I wish to go home. But who will trace my roots and who will take me there? It’s enough that they take care of me,” said Ram Singh, 47, a Nepalese, who is bedridden for ten years at an old age home in Shimla.

Ram Singh is from Gunam in Rolpa district in Nepal and had come to Himachal Pradesh in search of employment while he was a minor. He injured his spine, when he worked as daily wagers in forests under a private contractor with the State Forest Development Corporation to lift the logs of woods.

“I was admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) hospital in Shimla with serious injuries by the contractor, who never returned after leaving me there. I was hospitalised for long and was then shifted to this Home,” Ram Singh told The Statesman.

“I don’t even remember my home in Nepal as I left it in childhood for work,” said another inmate from Nepal, Sonam Bahadur, 43.

Sonam’s legs were amputated some years ago after he met with an accident in the forest. He has, however, learnt to brave the odds of disability as he moves around on inexpensive indigenous seat, which he manually operates.

Like Ram Singh, Sonam too was abandoned in the hospital by the contractor he worked with and his treatment expenses were also reportedly borne by Red Cross Society and the authorities at IGMC, then.

These are not the isolated cases of poor Nepalese housed in this Old Age Home, Basantpur in Shimla district, run by the Social Welfare Board.

There are eight such inmates here, who belong to Nepal and had left their native place long back in search of livelihood, for poverty back home. Among others, these include a deaf and dumb widow, Ganga Devi rescued from Rohru (Shimla) with her husband (who died later) and elderly Bal Bahadur, who earlier lived in a self-created cave like structure in abject poverty a rock near Shimla.

In all, there are 38 inmates from different parts of India in the Home.

With no official requirement of documents in hand, the Nepalese inmates have no clue about their roots. By the time they grew up here, they lost touch with their family members in Nepal. There is no mechanism in the state, as well, to find out their background in routine, for lack of link ups, resources, time and above all, priority.

“Where to go? It’s our compulsion to live in captivity. God has at least given us shelter and food,” said Sonam.

He points to the lock at the gate of Home that bars all inmates (even the normal ones) from moving out for a puff of fresh air. This conveyed his ‘untold pain’ even more.

The Trivendra Rawat government in Uttarakhand faces an uphill task to fulfill the aspiration of the hill people. After scoring a thumping win the state assembly polls, the biggest challenge before BJP to ensure a transparent government, put ban on illegal sand mining, solve the Uttarakhand capital issue and stop migration from the hills.

BJP raised the corruption issue prominently in the Uttarakhand polls. Appointing the Lok Ayukta , as promised in the manifesto, within 100 days will give a clear indication of the new government and its commitment towards transparency and accountability.  

After formation of Uttarakhand, both BJP and Congress have accused each other of wrongdoing. Every government instituted inquiry, but not even a single probe has reached its final stage. Trivendra Rawat’s real test will be to prove that his government is different from others and those guilty will not be spared.  

Illegal sand mining remains unchecked in Uttarakhand. The politician-mafia nexus prevail and putting an end to the ongoing manipulation is not going to be easy in Uttarakhand. 

Transfer/posting is a big industry in Uttarakhand. During the B.C Khanduri rule a dedicated transfer policy was formulated, but it never got implemented. 

Migration is major problem in the hills. According to a state government survey there are over one thousand ghost villages in Uttarakhand. The situation of other villages is also grime, facing burn of mass migration.  BJP has promised stopping migration from the hills? But it is easier said than done. Identifying the problem behind migration, creating livelihood sources there and creating basic facilities like education and medical facilities can help in reverse migration. Rawat government will be under pressure to do some concrete to stop migration.

The rehabilitation of over 300 disaster hit villages will test the commitment of the Trivendra government towards hill people. Post 2013 disaster, the Congress government was able to reconstruct many tourist facilities in Kedarnath. But much is desired to be done at Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. 

Creating jobs for youths, boosting industrial growth, developing infrastructure and creating other facilities will be among the key focus areas of the new government. Trivendra Rawat will face big headache in controlling the bureaucrats. The BJP government will have to fulfill its promise of making Gairsain the summer capital of Uttarakhand. 

After the Congress party's poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday urged party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to act decisively.

“He has to act. My complaint against Rahul Gandhi is that he is not acting decisively. I have told him a number of times. Sometimes, he gets angry when I keep repeating the same thing,” Digvijaya said at an event in New Delhi.

Digvijaya called on for a “new Congress” to rebuild the party after the humiliating losses in the state assembly elections on March 11.

“I would say that we want a new Congress, a new charter, a new roadmap, a new style of campaigning. A new Congress has to be built, and there is no other person who can do it better than Rahul Gandhi," he said.

 “We have to make the Congress party more attuned to modern changing times, looking into the aspirations of a rising middle class, and chart a new course for the party,” he added.