• 04 Jan 2024

Bihar Caste Survey to be Put in Public Domain: SC

Why in News?

Recently, the Supreme Court asked the Bihar government to put the break-up of the caste survey data in the public domain to enable aggrieved persons to challenge the findings.

• The advocate appearing on behalf of the Bihar government have said that the data, caste wise is already available in the public domain

Key Points

• The panel of justices declined to provide any assistance to the petitioners who have contested the caste survey and the verdict of the Patna High Court that supports the Bihar government's decision to carry out such a task.
• The Bihar Caste Survey, 2023 revealed that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) together constitute 63 % of the state’s total population.
  • According to the data released, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the EBCs (36%) were the largest social segment followed by the OBCs at 27.13%.
• Since the survey data is out, the authorities have started implementing it in the interim and raised the reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, EBCs, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to a total of 75% from the existing 50%.

Rahat Vani Center for Early Warning of Disaster

Why in News?

Recently, the state chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra inaugurated ‘Rahat Vani Center’ (RVC), a disaster early warning center as a part of an effort to deal with multi-hazard scenarios in the state.

Key Points

• The RVC’s function would be to prepare and predict warnings, timely delivery of relief so that compensation to employees could be streamlined.
• The RVC will be Setup at Lalbagh area in Lucknow, with a team of six personnel.
• It will coordinate with India Meteorological Department (IMD), Lucknow; Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune; ISRO's National remote sensing applications; Indian Institute of Information Technology, Lucknow; National Disaster Management Authority and National Institute of Disaster Management to develop a unified disaster risk management stack and efficient technological environment.
• The idea behind RVC is to alert the general mass about possible natural disasters, within 30 minutes to one hour prior to its effect. The information will be disseminated at community level via SMS alert, mobile notification and other ways.
• Currently 68 Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) and 132 Automatic Rain Gauge (ARG) stations of IMD provide weather related alerts in the state.
  • To further strengthen the early warning system, the state government and IMD, are installing five doppler radars (long-range weather forecasting and surveillance), 450 AWSs and 2000 (ARG) stations.

Tulsidas’s Birthplace

Why in News?

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to develop Rajapur village of Chitrakoot district.

• It is the birthplace of saint and poet Goswami Tulsidas who authored Ramcharitmanas in the 16^th century.

Key Points

• Uttar Pradesh tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh emphasized the significance of Ramcharitmanas as well as its writer whose birthplace is visited by people in large numbers to pay their obeisance.
  • The Ramcharitramanas or Tulsi Ramayana is a retelling of the epic Ramayana, by Tulsidas in Awadhi language.
• Tourism facilities would be developed, including accommodation and various other provisions to enable digital availability of the Ramcharitmanas.
  • With an expenditure of ₹21 crore, about two-and-a-half acres area near Tulsi Memorial in Rajapur village will go through beautification.
• A park with medicinal plants, dormitory, digital library and interpretation center will be built as well.
• At present, Uttar Pradesh tops the country in terms of domestic tourism. Tourist facilities are being continuously developed in the state.

Rising Winter Wildfires

Why in News?

Uttarakhand is witnessing a rise in winter wildfires, a phenomenon that usually begins on November 1.

Key Points

• The Forest Survey of India (FSI), which is the apex body of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), has sent 1006 fire alerts to Uttarakhand from 1^st November, 2023 to 1^st January 2024. This number is significantly higher than the 556 fire alerts received during the same period in 2022.
  • Wildfires have been reported in districts, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Bageshwar, Tehri, Dehradun, Pithoragarh, Pauri, and Almora.
• Nainital experienced heightened forest fires on the first day of the year 2024. Villagers cite the absence of rainfall or snow in the last three months, making the region dry, as the reason for the same.
  • The fires can lead to increased human-wildlife conflicts, as animals venture out to the urban landscape to escape fire.
• Various reasons such as controlled burning by forest staff, agricultural residue burning by farmers, waste burning by villagers in barren land lead to the incidence of these forest fires.

Cheetah Cubs in Kuno National Park

Why in News?

According to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, a Namibian cheetah named Aasha has given birth to three cubs in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.

• This development is termed as “a roaring success for Project Cheetah”.

Key Points

• Kuno National Park which is located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district is home to several cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa.
• Project Cheetah in India formally commenced on September 17, 2022, to restore the population of cheetahs, which were declared extinct in the country in 1952.
• Government of India has started many Wildlife conservation projects such as:
  • Project Tiger
  • Project Elephant
  • Project Rhinoceros
  • Project Crocodile Conservation
  • Project Vulture
  • Project Red Panda
  • Project Gangetic River Dolphin
  • Project Snow Leopard
  • Project Great Indian Bustard