• 04 Jun 2022

Third Ground Breaking Ceremony Held in Uttar Pradesh

Why in News?

• On June 3, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone of 1406 projects worth Rs 80,224 crore at the Uttar Pradesh government's third ground breaking ceremony at The Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow.

Key Points

• Of these projects, projects worth Rs 45,529.29 crore were received by Gautam Budh Nagar, Lucknow worth Rs 4460.88 crore and Gorakhpur worth Rs 2828.86 crore.
• The ceremony was attended by several industry leaders from across the country and abroad, such as Gautam Adani of the Adani Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group.
• During this, some major investment announcements were made by the industrial giants, the details of which are as under:
  • Adani Group will invest Rs 70,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh in road, transport, multi-modal logistics and defence sectors.
  • In addition, under the Defence Corridor, Adani group will build south Asia's largest integrated ordnance complex at Kanpur with an investment of Rs 1500 crore.
  • Hiranandani Group will invest Rs 1,000 crore per annum in the data centre business in Uttar Pradesh over the next five years. It is worth noting that the data centre being built by this group in Greater Noida will be ready by August this year.
  • At the same time, French multinational company Air Liquid will set up an oxygen plant in the Kosi region of Mathura with an investment of Rs 350 crore.

Archaeological Remains Found on Vuldeshwar Mountain

Why in News?

• Recently, District Magistrate of Jamui district of Bihar, Avneesh Kumar Singh said that the Archaeological Survey of India has found evidence of cultural activities of ancient humans in the rocks of Giddheshwar mountain near Lachhuar, the birthplace of Lord Mahavira.

Key Points

• Archaeological investigation into the dense forests of The Giddheshwar Mountain, located in Jamui district, was carried out by Dr. It is being done by the Bihar Museum in Patna under the direction of Ravi Shankar Gupta.
• Dr. Gupta said that there are very large rock shelters in the Giddheshwar ranges, in which the evidence of many rock paintings has been received.
• The archaeological remains found in exploration from Giddheshwar is said to be of prehistoric times.

Rajya Sabha Elections, 2022

Why in News?

• On June 3, 2022, the Returning Officer of Madhya Pradesh declared candidates of all the three Rajya Sabha seats elected unopposed for the biennial elections.

Key Points

• The elected members include Kavita Patidar, Sumitra Balmik of the BJP and Vivek Krishna Tankha of the Indian National Congress.
• These members have been declared elected unopposed under the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 .
• The three Members of the Rajya Sabha will replace the three members who are retiring on 29th June, 2022 at the expiry of their term of office.
• The maximum number of members of the Rajya Sabha is 250, of which 238 members are elected indirectly from states and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President.
• The current strength in the House is 245. 229 members represent member states, 4 members represent Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President.

Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Pariwar Utthan Yojana

Why in News?

• On June 2, 2022, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Antyodaya Melas of the third phase of Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana, which was started with the aim of increasing the income of very poor families of the state, would be organized from June 10.

Key Points

• Under the scheme, a package of skill development, self-employment and employment generation measures has been adopted so that the minimum annual income of Antyodaya households can be increased to Rs 1.00 lakh initially and later to Rs 1.80 lakh per annum.
• It covers the households of the State whose annual income is less than Rs.1 lakh.
• The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on the occasion of the 644th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas in the year 2022.
• Under the Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Pariwar Utthan Yojana, a target has been set to increase the income of 1 lakh very poor families of the state, out of which about 50,000 families have been provided loans through banks in the Antyodaya Melas held in the first two phases.

Bhoramdev Co-operative Sugar Factory

Why in News?

• On June 2, 2022 Bhupendra Kumar Thakur, managing director of Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory established in Kabirdham district said that Bhoramdev Sugar Factory is playing an important role in international trade by supplying sugar in the country as well as exporting sugar abroad.

Key Points

• Those who have provided capital resources in setting up the factory include 16 thousand 922 farmers besides Mandi Boards, Cooperative Societies and Government of Chhattisgarh.
• Bhoramdev Co-operative Sugar Growing Factory Limited Kawardha is functioning as a remunerative co-operative society. Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory has benefited 45 thousand 200 farmers in 2021-22 from 2018-19.
• In the last four years, 12 lakh 73 thousand 766.257 tonnes of sugarcane has been procured and crushed, from which 324.27 crore rupees have been paid to the farmers. In the last four years, 13 lakh 33 thousand 504 quintals of sugar has been produced.

Chief Minister Dhami Won by a Record Margin of Votes in Assembly By-Election

Why in News?

• On June 3, 2022, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami won the results of the by-election to Champawat seat in Uttarakhand with a record 92% of the votes.

Key Points

• A total of 62,898 votes were polled in the may 31 by-election to champawat assembly seat.
• Out of this, 58,258 votes went to Chief Minister Dhami, while 3233 votes went to Congress candidate Nirmala Gahtori.
• It is worth mentioning that Dhami's victory is the biggest ever victory in terms of vote percentage and vote difference in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections and by-elections.
• It is also worth noting that in the Assembly elections held in February 2022, the BHARATIYA Janata Party had won 47 out of 70 seats, but Chief Minister Dhami lost from his Khatima assembly seat.

India's first Liquid Mirror Telescope set up in Nainital

Why in News?

• On June 2, 2022, the director of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science (ARIES), Nainital, Prof. Dipankar Banerjee told that with the help of the four-meter diameter Liquid Mirror Telescope installed in Devasthal, Aries will help in uncovering the big mysteries of space.

Key Points

• Besides India it is a joint project of four other countries - Belgium, Canada, Poland and Uzbekistan.
• Under the project which started in 2017, this telescope has been built at a cost of Rs. 50 crore.
• In its first phase of testing, clear images of the NGC–4274 galaxy 95 thousand light-years away have been obtained, as well as clear pictures of the stars of its own Milky Way galaxy.