• 03 Aug 2023

Per Capita Energy Consumption in U.P. is only 629 Units

Why in News?

On August 2, 2023, Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister A.K. Sharma said that the per capita energy consumption in the state is very low at 629 units per year.

Key Points:

• In terms of lowest consumption, Bihar is next only to Uttar Pradesh, while the average per capita energy consumption of the whole of India is 1208 units per year.
• According to data from Uttar Pradesh, the per capita energy consumption in the year 2017-18 was 629 units per year, which declined to 606 in the year 2018-19. In the year 2019-20, it reached 629 units per person per year. The subsequent situation is yet to be announced.
• State Energy Minister A.K. Sharma said that to increase per capita energy consumption in the state, the roster phase will end gradually, and efforts will be made to provide a 24-hour power supply.
• In this regard, Consumer Council Chairman Awadhesh Kumar Verma said that the roster system is not applicable in many states. This is the reason why the per capita energy consumption per year is high.

Per Capita Consumption in Some States (Year 2019-20)
States	Per Capita Consumption
Gujarat	2388 unit
Haryana	2229 unit
Punjab	2171 unit
Chhattisgarh	2044 unit
Delhi	1572 unit
Himachal Pradesh	1527 unit
Maharashtra	1418 unit
Rajasthan	1317 unit
Madhya Pradesh	1086 unit
Uttar Pradesh	629 unit
Bihar	332 unit
Average in the country	1208 unit

Interactive video prepared for the guidelines of Holistic Education Programs

Why in News?

On August 2, 2023, Naveen Jain, Government Secretary, School Education Department of Rajasthan said that as a unique initiative by the department in the state, videos of programs, activities and 'Teachers Training Module' conducted under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan have been prepared. These will be circulated to teachers of all government schools through WhatsApp groups in the coming days.

Key Points:

• Government Secretary Naveen Jain said that under this, about four dozen guidelines have been included in 15 interactive videos and uploaded on 'YouTube' and their QR codes have been created.   
• With this new initiative, teachers, parents, the general public and students will be able to get information about their related programs through these videos by scanning the 'QR code' on mobile in a few minutes.
• This experiment will lead to more transparency in departmental activities and will promote community participation. It will be easy to read and understand the guidelines circulated in the form of videos, which will enable the effective operation of departmental schemes.
• He informed that the guidelines of different programs under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan are issued from time to time through departmental circulars. The guidelines issued in this traditional manner are often limited to officers and principals.
• In this direction, all the 'guidelines' were reviewed by the department while working 'out of the box'. By combining practical and similar aspects, 'interactive videos' have been created by turning them into 'audio-visual forms'. These videos have been uploaded on 'YouTube' and their 'QR codes' have been created.
• These will be made accessible to all government schools in the state through a 'WhatsApp group' of officials, teachers, students and parents at the division, district, block and school level under the department.
• Useful videos will be created on different themes:
  • Keeping in mind the utility and requirements for all the 'Stakeholders' of the School Education Department, these videos have been prepared on different themes.
  • The video titled 'Grants for School' contains essential information and useful information about Composite School Grants and Sports Grants, Youth and Eco Clubs and Science Clubs in 'Clubs in the School', 'School Utsav', the video titled 'School Utsav' contains necessary and useful information about Praveshotsav, Annual Festival, Alumni Meet, Children's Festival, Kala Utsav, Rangotsav and 'Hostels' video.
  • A special video has been prepared for students and teachers covering the main topics related to teaching learning material-related activities such as teacher-student diaries, all types of workbooks (remedial readiness), art and ABL kits, and science and mathematics kits.
  • Videos have also been made on Rani Laxmibai Self-Defense Training, ICT Lab, Vocational Education Activities, Community Mobility (School Level Development Committee Meetings, Community Awareness Day and Aapnii Lado Scheme) and Adolescent Empowerment Activities (Raju/Meena Manch, Gargi Manch, Teachers' Forum, Kishori Mela and Child Rights Club).
• Focus on students with special needs
  • The department conducts activities like transport allowance, escort allowance, stipend and reader allowance for 'Children with Special Needs'. Important information about them can be accessed through a video.
  • Similarly, videos related to the active corner, reading corner and art corner in the video of pre-primary education in Mahatma Gandhi Schools as well as TLM (Teaching Learning Material) kit for pre-primary education and transport voucher scheme for students are now available on YouTube for everyone.
• Includes short-term teacher training
  • Various trainings of many teachers are conducted throughout the session for a short period of one or two days at the block and district level in the department. To join them, teachers have to travel from their schools to cities or any other centre to get training. This causes unnecessary trouble to them and also adversely affects classroom teaching.
  • In such a situation, videos have also been made about such training running at the block and district level, which teachers can see according to their convenience on their mobile and get information about the activities.
  • Apart from this, a video related to the examination of schools and teachers for quality education has been given information about Nipun Mela, Shala Siddhi and Teacher Evaluation Form, Quality Monitoring Tool.

Several important bills passed by voice vote in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

Why in News?

On August 2, 2023, the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed several important bills including the Rajasthan Electricity (Tariff) Bill, 2023 by voice vote.

Key Points:

• In-charge Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal presented the Rajasthan Electricity (Tariff) Bill, 2023 in the House for consideration, after discussion on which the House passed the bill by voice vote.
• Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Tikaram Julie presented the Mahatma Gandhi Divyang University, Jodhpur Bill, 2023 for consideration in the House, after which the House passed the bill by voice vote.
• Cooperative Minister Udaylal Anjana presented the Rajasthan State Farmers Debt Relief Commission Bill, 2023 for consideration in the House, after which the House passed the bill by voice vote.
• Revenue Minister Ramlal Jat presented the Rajasthan Tenancy (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the House for consideration, after discussion on which the House passed the bill by voice vote.
• Devasthan Minister Shakuntala Rawat presented the Nathdwara Temple (Amendment) Bill, 2023 for consideration in the House, after which the House passed the bill by voice vote.

Announcement of State Level Sports Awards

Why in News?

On August 2, 2023, Madhya Pradesh Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia announced the state-level sports awards for the year 2022. For the year 2022, 11 players will be honoured with Eklavya Award, 10 Vikram, one coach Vishwamitra and one sports personality Lifetime Achievement Award.

Key Points:

• Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia informed that the Eklavya awards are given prize money of Rs one lakh and the rest of Rs two lakh.
• Since the year 2013, for excellence in the traditional game Malkhamb, Late Prabhash Joshi Award was started, in which the winners are awarded with an amount of two lakh rupees.
• It is known that till the year 2011, the Eklavya Award winner was given Rs 25 thousand and the Vikram, Vishwamitra and Life Time Award winners were given Rs 50 thousand. From the year 2021, all the prize money has been increased.
• Eklavya Award: Aastha Dangi (Kayaking-Canoeing), Aman Singh Bisht (Boxing), Pragya Singh (Fencing), Ashi Chouksey (Shooting) and Saumya Tiwari (Cricket), Ritika Dangi (Sailing) from Rajgarh, Abhishek Parihar (Soft-Tennis) from Dewas, Palak Sharma (Swimming) from Indore, Khushboo (Hockey) from Gwalior, Deepesh Lashkari (Gymnastics) from Ujjain have been selected for the Eklavya Award for the year 2022.
• Vikram Awards: Raju Singh (equestrian) from Bhopal, Aditya Dubey (soft-tennis) from Dewas, Neetu Verma (kayaking-canoeing) from Sehore, Bhuraksha Dubey (Wushu) from Ashoknagar, Pragati Dubey (shooting) from Raisen, Subodh Chaurasia (softball) and Avesh Khan (cricket) from Indore, Neeraj Rana (hockey) and Dhananjay Dubey (tennis) from Gwalior (in Divyang category) and Rajveer Singh Panwar from Ujjain have been announced for the Vikram Awards for the year 2022.
• Vishwamitra Award: Bhopal's badminton coach Rashmi Malviya has been selected for the Vishwamitra Award in the year 2022.
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Anil Dhupar (Tennis) of Indore has been selected for the State Level Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2022.

Dhanbad IIT-ISM's Electric Racing Car got 3rd place

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on August 2, 2023, the electric racing car prepared by the team Machismo of IIT-ISM, Dhanbad, has won third place in the overall category, performing brilliantly in the international level competition PI-EV 2023 held in Bangalore.

Key Points:

• The car has also won the Best Report award in the category of Failure Mode and Impact Analysis. Additionally, the team has also secured third place in the Marketing and Engineering Design category.
• In this competition, first place was won by the team of Indonesia's Institute of Technology Sepuluh and second place by the team of Rajaram Bapu Institute of Technology.
• The competition took place in the last week of July. The result was announced on 29 July.
• It is worth mentioning that team Machismo of IIT Dhanbad has achieved this success in its second attempt. Earlier, the team had participated for the first time in 2022 in the electric vehicle category.
• According to the team's vice-captain and team tech coordinator Herambh Dakshinamoorthy, Machismo Racing has been manufacturing cars since 2008. Earlier it competed in the combustion engine category & started participating in the electrical vehicle category in the year 2022.

'Chhattisgarh Bal Kosh' formed under the Juvenile Justice Act

Why in News?

On August 2, 2023, according to the information received from the Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department, as per the provision of the Juvenile Justice Fund, 'Chhattisgarh Bal Kosh' has been constituted in the best interest of the children in the state.

Key Points:

• For the welfare and rehabilitation of children in Chhattisgarh Bal Kosh, cooperation amounts can be given through donations, grants, and contributions.
• This amount will be used to spend in the best interest of the children, such as education, rehabilitation, coming under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
• Detailed guidelines have been issued by the state government through a notification dated March 23, 2022, to all collectors and district child welfare and protection committees regarding the implementation of the 'Chhattisgarh Bal Kosh.
• Account number 251501000259, IFSI number ICICI0002515 is being operated in ICICI Bank at the state level to receive donations, grants, and contributions for the benefit of children by State Government's Women and Child Development.
• Voluntary donations, contributions, and grants can be made by any individual, group, or institution [(including voluntary organization, organization, non-governmental organization, trust etc., corporates (Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR))] in this fund.
• Along with this, industrialists, intellectuals, government, non-government employees and businessmen can also cooperate in Chhattisgarh Bal Kosh by making voluntary donations, contributions and grants.

Bageshwar's Rohit Danu joins Indian football Team for 19th Asian Games

Why in News?

On August 1, 2023, the Indian football team for the 19th Asian Games was announced, including international footballer Rohit Danu from Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand.

Key Points:

• The flamboyant forward Rohit has been selected for the Indian team for the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China from 23rd September to 8th October. Rohit Danu will be seen playing for the country's football team captained by Sunil Chhetri.
• Rohit Danu, a resident of Baghar village of Bageshwar, started playing football at a very young age. He learned the nuances of football from Bageshwar's coach Neeraj Pandey.
• He was a part of the State Under-14 team. Due to his brilliant performance in this competition, in the year 2017, at the age of 15, he became a part of the Indian Under-17 team. Rohit represented the country in the FIFA World Cup Under 17 in the year 2017. Rohit was also a part of Indian Under-19, Under-23.
• Rohit Danu recently signed a three-year deal with Bangalore FC. He joined Indian Super League club Hyderabad in 2020 for a three-year deal.