• 04 May 2022

Revival of Malan River

Why In News?

• On May 3, 2022, the campaign for revival of Malan river was launched by Bijnor DM Umesh Mishra.

Key Point

• Speaking on the occasion, DM Mishra said that there used to be a rich civilization on the banks of Malan, the evidence of which is the remains of idols, Shivlings and various objects found here, which have been preserved in mayureshwar nath mahadev baba dham temple.
• Along with the Kanva Ashram, the fort of King Mordhwaj was also located on the banks of this river.
• It is worth mentioning that the Malan river, which was called Malini in ancient times, is believed to have originated from the Chanda hills of Pauri district.
• The river, which originates from the mountains of Uttarakhand, has come into the plain and has been converted into a drain. After entering Bijnor from Haldukhata, the river is 53 km into the district. After traveling, it is found in the Ganges.

Construction of Virat Ramayana temple begins in Bihar

Why In News?

• On the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on May 3, 2022, the construction work of Virat Temple was launched by Acharya Kishore Kunal at Kaithawalia in Kesaria block of East Champaran.

Key Point

• The Virat Ramayana temple will be constructed based on the concept of tower of temples. It will have 15 peaks, with the highest peak being 270 feet high.
• The Shivlinga will be installed in front of the temple. Behind it, an idol with a posture to worship Lord Ram and on the right side will be installed in the inclined posture of Hanumanji.
• In front of these idols, a temple of Mother Sita like Ashoka Vatika will be built at a distance of 200 feet.
• The bhoomipujan of the temple was performed on June 21, 2012. The world's largest Shivalinga will be installed here, which will be constructed from the black granite of Kanyakumari.

Bird census statistics released in Bihar

Why In News?

• Recently, the data of unplanned bird census has been released by the Government of Bihar for the first time in the State.

Key Point

• The census, launched in February 2022, has been conducted by the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Bihar in collaboration with the Wetland International Institute.
• According to this calculation, 202 species of birds have been found in a total of 68 reservoirs of the state. The total number of these birds is 45,173.
• Out of these, 80 species are of aquatic birds, including Leser Whistling Duck, Asian Open Build Stroke, Little Cormorant and Common Coot Garhwal etc.
• As per the calculation, the distribution of aquatic birds is as follows:
  • Gogabil Lake (4973) > Indrapuri Barrage (2641) > Naga-Nakti Dam (2430)
  • Despite this, the situation in magadh division of the state in terms of the number of birds is very worrisome, for example, only 3 birds have been found in The Kulmahadev Dam, while 24 birds have been found in Sita Dam.

Khelo India University Games, 2021: Kota University wins men's kabaddi gold medal

Why In News?

• Kota University (Rajasthan) won the gold medal by defeating Chaudhary Bansi Lal University (Haryana) in the final of the men's kabaddi competition at the Khelo India University Games, 2021 held in Bengaluru on May 3, 2022.

Key Point

• Kota University took the lead to force their opponents to be all out and won by a margin of 15 points to clinch their first gold medal in the Games.
• At the same time, in the final of the women's kabaddi competition, Kurukshetra University (Haryana) won the title by defeating Maharishi Dayanand University (Haryana).
• It may be mentioned that the Khelo India University Games, 2021 were held in Bengaluru from April 24 to May 3, 2022.
• Khelo India Youth Games was launched with the aim of encouraging young students to participate in various sports events and to play them.
• The first edition of the Khelo India Youth Games was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 31, 2018 . In the year 2019, the khelo india school games were renamed as khelo india youth games.

Supriya Jatav wins gold at US Open Karate Championships

Why In News?

• Supriya Jatav of Madhya Pradesh has won gold and bronze medals at the recently held USA Karate Championships in Las Vegas, USA. She has become the first karate athlete in the country to win a gold medal in the karate mix event.

Key Point

• Supriya Jatav of Bhopal won the gold medal and the senior athlete in the mixed event of the competition in Las Vegas, USA and the senior athlete in the 61kg. In the individual bout of the weight class, he defeated the Japanese athlete to win the bronze medal.
• Supriya, who has won the Eklavya and Vikram Awards at the state level, has so far won 37 medals, including six international gold, 22 national gold, in the Karate Championships.

Country's second largest Shivlinga built in Ranchi

Why In News?

• On May 3, 2022, a five-day ritual programme began with a grand kalash yatra to honour the country's second largest Shivalinga temple, set up at Sureshwar Dham at Chutia in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.

Key Point

• On the lines of the temple in Karnataka, a grand Shivling has also been installed in Ranchi. The height of this Shivalinga is 108 feet. The sound of the conch shell inside the temple will echo for about a minute when the conch shell is in place.
• It is worth mentioning that the height of the Shivlinga in the Kautilya Lingeshwar temple of Karnataka is also 108 feet.
• It has taken 10 years to build this temple with the second largest Shivlinga in the country. On this Shivling, 50 people will be able to offer water at the same time.
• The life of this temple will be done by the priests of Kashi.

Mati Pujan Mahabhiyan

Why In News?

• On May 3, 2022, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel performed Mati Pujan in the traditional attire of Chhattisgarhi farmer by wearing dhoti-kurta in the traditional attire of Chhattisgarhi farmer and launched the Mati Pujan Mahabhiyan in Chhattisgarh by performing the ritual of paddy sowing.

Key Point

• The Chief Minister launched the mahaabhiyan at the Akti Tihar (Akshaya Tritiya) and Mati Pujan Diwas programme at Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur.
• The Chief Minister also announced to set up Mechanical Skill Development Centres in all the divisions on the occasion.
• He inaugurated the Swami Vivekananda Agricultural College Engineering and Technology Research Centre building in the university campus.
• The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of doppler technology for accurate weather forecasting and also launched the Krishi Rozgar Mobile Application developed by the Agricultural University.
• The Chief Minister felicitated the progressive farmers, as well as seed kits, farm implements and cheques of grant amount under various schemes.

Gyaneshwari Yadav wins silver medal at World Junior Weightlifting Championships

Why In News?

• On May 3, 2022, in the women's category, rising weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav of Chhattisgarh represented India in the women's category at the ongoing World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Heracleon, Greece, representing India in the 156kg category. He won the silver medal by lifting the weight.

Key Point

• Gyaneshwari Yadav of Rajnandgaon scored 49 kg. A total of 156 kg in the weight class. He won the silver medal by lifting weights. He was 73 kg. in snatch and 83 kg. Lifted weights in clean and jerk.
• In this category, India's Ritika scored 150 kg. While indonesia's Ayesha Kantika Windy won the bronze medal by lifting the weight, Indonesia's Ayesha Kantika Windy won the 185kg. He won the gold medal by lifting the weight.
• It may be mentioned that Gyaneshwari is the first player from the state to play the World Championships and win a medal in the junior category. Earlier, Rustam Sarang, Ajaydeep Sarang, Anita Shinde, Madhusudan Janghel, Keshav Sahu and Jagdish Vishwakarma of Chhattisgarh have also represented India in the global tournament but could not win medals.
• Gyaneshwari had won the bronze medal for the first time at the Guwahati School National in Assam in 2018-19. Then in 2019-20, he won a silver medal at school nationals, a silver medal at the National Youth Championships in 2020-21, a silver medal in the National Junior Weightlifting Competition held at Bhubaneswar in 2021-22 and also a silver medal in the All India Vivi tournament.

Monkey and Langur Census, 2021

Why In News?

• Recently, data on unplanned monkey and langur census has been released by the Uttarakhand government in December 2021.

Key Point

• The census has been conducted by the Uttarakhand Forest Department and wildlife institute of India.
• According to it, the number of monkeys in the state has decreased by 24.55 per cent in 2021 as compared to 2015, while the number of langurs has decreased by 31.14 per cent.
• In the 2021 census, the number of monkeys was recorded at 1,10,481 and the number of langurs at 37,735, compared to 1,46,432 in 2015 and the number of langurs at 54,804.
• As per the census, the distribution of number of monkeys is as under: Haridwar Forest Division > Bageshwar Forest Division > Dehradun Forest Division.
• As per the calculation, the distribution of the number of langurs is as follows: Corbett Ramnagar > Badrinath Forest Division > Corbett Kalagarh.
• The following efforts are being made by the Government to reduce the number of monkeys:
  • Programme of sterilization of monkeys
  • Building monkey enclosures
  • Construction of rescue centres, such as Mini Zoo Rescue Centre, Almora.
  • Two monkey forests will be built in the state; The first in 107 hectares in Haldwani, the second in Haridwar in 25 hectares.