• 02 Feb 2023

South Asian Women's Film Festival to be held in Patna

Why In News?

On 1O February 2023, Bandana Preyashi, Secretary, Art Culture and Youth Department of Bihar informed that for the first time South Asian Women Film Festival will be organized in Patna from February 2 to 9 under the joint auspices of Bihar State Film Development and Finance Corporation and South Asia Trust.

Key points

• Secretary Bandana Preyashi said that the film festival will be inaugurated by Minister of Art Culture and Youth Department Jitendra Kumar Rai among the students of Magadh Women's College, and it will conclude at NIFT Patna Campus.
• The seven-day South Asia Women's Film Festival, being organised by the Department of Art, Culture and Youth, will showcase films from South Asia in four educational institutions in Patna. Apart from films, various issues of women empowerment will also be discussed here.
• Bandana Preyashi said that a total of six films will be screened in it. These films by filmmakers from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India focus on the untouched aspects of women's discourse and inspire the discourse towards women in South Asia.
• As part of the festival, films will be screened at Magadh Women's College on February 2, Chanakya National Law University on February 3 and 4, Chandragupta Institute of Management Patna on February 6 and 7 and NIFT Patna on February 8 and 9.
• These films will be screened at the film festival-
  • India's films 'Sita Ke Badalte Roop' and 'The City That Spoke to Me'
  • Sri Lanka's 'Face Cover'
  • Nepal's 'Be Four You Where My Mother' and 'Flames of a Continuous Field of Time'
  • Bangladesh's 'Decoding Gender'

Industry Minister Inaugurated New Sector Portal and Departmental Websites of Industry and Commerce sector

Why In News?

On February 1, 2023, Rajasthan's Industry Minister Shakuntala Rawat inaugurated the new sector portal of industry and commerce sector and the website of related departments at Udyog Bhawan. Along with the new industries sector portal, the website of all the 15 departments of this sector has been created by the WebMyWay framework.

Key points

• The Industries and Commerce Minister informed that the information of 15 departments related to the industry and commerce sector has been displayed simultaneously on the New Industries Sector Portal.
• This portal includes information related to all state schemes, flagship schemes, services, projects, state documents and programs of all departments of industry and commerce sector.
• The sector portal has been linked to the Chief Minister's Information System, from where information about the budget announcements of the state government, chief minister's announcements, cabinet decisions and public manifestos and their compliance has been displayed to the general public.
• Information about the achievements and innovations of departments in the field of industry and commerce is displayed on the portal. Press releases related to the sector, latest updates and tenders are also displayed on the sector portal.
• All websites created from the WebMyWay framework are identical and the information is inscribed only once, and the same information can be displayed on different portals as needed.

Students will get Information about Flagship Schemes in Coaching Institutes

Why In News?

According to the information received from the Rajasthan Information and Public Relations Department on February 1, 2023, the information about various flagship schemes of the state government, the publicity being done through Sujas mobile app and social media platforms will be conveyed to the youth.

Key points

• According to the information, a special campaign will be launched from February 2 to 9 for the promotion of government schemes among the students studying in coaching institutes. This campaign will be conducted as per the instructions of Director Information and Public Relations Department.
• Two teams have been formed for this. These teams will reach various coaching centers and colleges and give information about all the flagship schemes of the state government.
• Information and Public Relations Department will provide information regarding Sujas Mobile App, Sujas e-Bulletin, Video Bulletin and Sujas Voice in these coaching institutes.
• This innovative initiative of the department will not only give wide publicity to the flagship schemes of the government among the students but will also reach the benefit of the public welfare schemes of the government to the common people.

Citizen Portal of Madhya Pradesh Housing Board honored with Scotch Award-2022

Why In News?

According to the information provided by the Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department on February 1, 2023, the 'Online Citizen Portal' of the Madhya Pradesh Housing and Infrastructure Board has been awarded the prestigious Skoch Award-2022.

Key points

• Housing President Ashutosh Tiwari said that under the vision of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, minimum government, maximum governance, one lakh in the online citizen portal with the aim of providing safe, transparent and anytime anywhere payment facility to its allottees. Accounts of 40 thousand allottees have been made available online.
• Online facility is available for allottees of Mandal to deposit property instalment, lease rent, MLC CSC etc. Allottees do not have to pay any additional fee for the said facility.
• Chairman Ashutosh Tiwari said that WhatsApp helpdesk has also been set up at the headquarter level to help the allottees, due to which the problems related to the online accounts of the allottees are being resolved quickly.
• In the last financial year, online payment of Rs 3 crore 39 lakh was made by 4989 allottees through the portal. In the current financial year till January 22, 2023, Rs 14 crore 39 lakhs have been paid by 9700 allottees.
• Committed to providing better facilities to the allottees, all the 15 services (transfer/transfer of property, NOC etc.) of the Board notified under section 3 of Madhya Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act 2010 have been made available online.
• In Public Service Guarantee, the applicant must submit his application along with necessary documents and payable fee online only. Applicants can observe the progress of their application online and they will get every information on their registered mobile no. But it is received through SMS. The allottee is getting his Digitally Signed Certificate online only.
• After the implementation of the online facility, the allottees do not have to make frequent trips for their work, as well as action is being taken according to the time limit for the entire process.

22000 Crore Rupees Subsidy will be Given to Electricity Consumers this Year

Why In News?

On February 1, 2023, Madhya Pradesh Energy Minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar has told that last year a subsidy of Rs 21 thousand 306 crore was given to electricity consumers. This year this amount is expected to exceed Rs 22 thousand crore.

Key points

• Power Minister Shri Tomar has informed that under the 'Atal Griha Jyoti Yojana', domestic consumers are being given a bill of only Rs 100 units of electricity654 for the use of instead of Rs 100. The remaining amount is being given as subsidy by the state government. About 88 lakh electricity consumers are benefiting every month under the scheme.
• In the state, agricultural consumers up to 5 horsepower are 51,896 annually being given a bill of only Rs 3,750 instead of rs . This is only 7 per cent of the total amount. The remaining amount is being given to the companies as subsidy by the state government.
• Similarly, free electricity is being provided to agricultural consumers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with land up to one hectare and load of 5 horsepower. About 9 lakh 34 thousand consumers are benefiting every month in this scheme.

Wild Dog Disappeared from Jharkhand's Betla National Park

Why In News?

According to information received from media sources on February 1, 2023, Wild Dogs i.e., Koiya, which were found in the number of about 200 in Betla National Park of Jharkhand, have now disappeared, they have not been seen since 2010.

Key points

• According to information, since the establishment of Palamu Tiger Reserve in 1974, there was a continuous presence of wild dogs in Betla National Park. If experts are to be believed, koiyas became extinct due to rabies disease.
• The wild dog found in Betla National Park is called 'Koiya' in the local language. Now it has been declared as an endangered species. After the year 2010, he has not been seen till now. Earlier, hundreds of wild dogs were seen in Betla National Park. From Betla to the forests of Bare sad, it used to come and go.
• Wildlife expert Dr. DS Srivastava says that one of the main reasons for the extinction of wild dogs from Betla is rabies. Wild dogs may also have been infected and died due to infection in the water they drank from the domestic dog.
• Significantly, there is a cave of big stones near Nunahi Grass Plot of Betla National Park. Wild dogs used to reside in these caves only. These people used to hide in the cave here after hunting. Not only this, in the evening, wild dogs used to sit on big stones, which were visited by tourists.
• Wild dogs hunted wild animals in a planned manner. His favourite food was sambhar and deer. They lived in flocks when they had to hunt, they surrounded the prey from all sides.
• Betla's guides say that many times a group of wild dogs used to reach in front of the main gate to catch the deer and surround them and attack them and kill them.

The Team from Chhattisgarh got the Award for the Best Scientific Poster.

Why In News?

On February 1, 2023, the team from the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Medical College Hospital, Raipur received the 'Best Scientific Poster Presentation Award' at an international conference held at KIMS Hospital, Secunderabad.

Key points

• Dr. Hansa Banjara, HOD, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Medical College Hospital said that a team of audiologists and speech pathologists from the ENT department made a poster presentation on the care of implants by parents.
• The scientific poster was based on Cochlear implant health assistance operated under the Chief Minister's Special Health Assistance Scheme.
• The conference was organised by Telangana Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists Association (TASLPA) and International Symposium of Audiological Medicine (ISAM).