• 09 May 2023

The Higher Education Department of Chhattisgarh received the prestigious National Level Skoch Silver Award

Why in News?

On 8 May 2023, the 'Project Assessment and Accreditation' of the Higher Education Department of Chhattisgarh was awarded the country's prestigious Skoch Silver Award.

Key Points:

• This award has been given to the Higher Education Department due to the presentation, voting & achievements of several stages while competing with many big and important projects of the country.
• In order to increase the quality of higher education, a campaign has been started to get affiliation from NAAC on a mission mode to ensure the arrangement of educational infrastructure and academic level according to the various criteria set by NAAC.
• It is worth mentioning that out of total 211 qualified government colleges, Chhattisgarh is at the top position in the country by getting 197 government colleges evaluated by NAAC.
• Due to the continuous efforts of the government, the number of students taking admission in the college is increasing continuously. Where about 2,26,373 students took admission to the college in 2018-19, this number has increased by 48 percent to 3,35,139 in the year 2022-23, which is 1,08,766 more than in 2018-19.
• Because of the increasing number of students studying in the college, a total of 33 new government and 76 non-government colleges have been established in Chhattisgarh in the last 4 years.
• To encourage girls in higher education, 26 girls' colleges are being run in the state. Co-study facilities are available in other colleges. In the year 2018-19, where 1,34,391 girl students took admission to the college as compared to 91,982 boys, in 2022-23 the number of girl students increased to 2,06,829 as compared to 1,28,310 boys. Thus, the number of girl students is 61 percent more than that of boys.

Chief Minister released the book 'Cyber Encounters'

Why in News?

On 7 May 2023, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami released the Hindi version of the book 'Cyber Encounters' at St. Joseph's Academy, Rajpur Road, Dehradun.

Key Points:

• This book is written by DGP Uttarakhand Ashok Kumar and former DRDO scientist O.P. Manocha.
• DGP Ashok Kumar and O.P. Manochahaves wrote this book analyzing cyber crimes and based on true incidents, it will help readers a lot in avoiding cyber crimes. In this book, where on the one hand an attempt has been made to make people aware by mentioning true incidents, on the other hand, the book is also entertaining. Each page of the book will work to inspire people to protect themselves from cybercrime.
• Cybercrime is the biggest challenge of the current era of technology and the DGP of the state has made the public aware of this challenge, increasing the relevance of this book even more.
• It is worth mentioning that the author of this book, DGP Ashok Kumar, is a 1989 Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Uttarakhand cadre.
• On 30 November 2020, he became the 11th DGP (Director General of Police) of Uttarakhand. In his nearly three decades of service, from undivided Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand, he has been posted to important posts in Police, ITBP and BSF. Over the years, he also wrote books on many subjects, in which his book 'Khakee Mein Insaan' has been very famous.
• Ashok Kumar was born on 20 November 1964 in Kurana village of Panipat district, Haryana. He received B.Tech and M.Tech education from IIT Delhi.
• DGP Ashok Kumar received the UNA Mission Medal in 2001 for his outstanding work in Kosovo. He was awarded the President's Police Medal for long and excellent services in the year 2006.
• O.P. Manocha is a DRDO scientist. O. P. Manocha is a Post Graduate of Physics (Electronics) and has 35 years of experience working in DRDO, the research wing of the Ministry of Defense where he has spearheaded various defense projects.
• He has six published works in various international & national journals and conferences, including Proceedings of Defense Science Journal, International Conference of Image Information Processing & International Conference on Advances in Computer Science.
• He is a Life Fellow of the Institution of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers and a life member of the Computer Society of India & the Indian Society of Remote Sensing. He is the former President of IETE, Dehradun Chapter. He retired from DRDO in the year 2018.

Tungnath temple will be declared a National Monument

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 6 May 2023, Devraj Singh Rautela, the officer-in-charge of the Archaeological Department of Uttarakhand, said that Kedar Tungnath Temple, the third of the Panchkedars, will be declared a national monument.

Key Points:

• It is known that the Tungnath Temple in the Rudraprayag district of the state is the highest Shivalaya (12800 feet) above sea level in Asia. The distance of Tungnath Temple from Rudraprayag district headquarters is 70 km. From Chopta, one has to climb 4 km on foot to reach the temple.
• Significantly, the Central Government issued a notification on 27 March 2023 to declare the ancient temple Tungnath as a monument of national importance.

Police Training School will be established in Silori, Ajmer

Why in News?

On 7 May 2023, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot approved the proposal of the school for the establishment of a training school at Silora (Kishangarh) in Ajmer intending to increase the functionality and efficiency of the Police Personnel of Rajasthan.

Key Points:

• Here are the new posts of Additional Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Police Inspector, Company Commander, Programmer & one post each of Senior Assistant, 2-2 posts of Sub-Inspector CP and Platoon Commander, 10 posts of Head Constable and 18 Constable (total 38 ) will be created.
• Apart from this, a total of 15 posts of Lecturer, Platoon Commander, Barber, Sweeper, Cook and Head Constable will be recruited on a retired or job basis.
• Along with this, approval has also been given to spend Rs 4.34 crore for various construction works, Rs 4.05 lakh for equipment and Rs 29.20 lakh for vehicles.
• It is worth mentioning that the Chief Minister had announced this regard in the budget announcement for the year 2023-24.

A new variety of paddy Sabour Kunwar discovered in Bihar

Why in News?

Recently, scientists of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour (Bhagalpur) have discovered a new variety of paddy, Sabour Kunwar.

Key Points:

• The discovery of this new variety of paddy, which requires less water, 25 percent less fertilizer and is ready in 110 to 115 days, is beneficial for paddy-producing farmers who are troubled by erratic and less rainfall.
• The average production of this variety of paddy is 55 to 60 quintals per hectare, while the maximum production is up to 87 quintals.
• In this, the length of the plant ranges from 100 to 105 cm. This variety is resistant to bacterial diseases like blight, angmari, jhonka and kandua. Tolerant to stem borer, brown borer and leafhopper.
• Due to this, the farmers of Buxar, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Samastipur, Bhagalpur, Banka etc. will be particularly benefited.

2nd phase of Mukhyamantri Jan-Seva Abhiyan

Why in News?

On 6 May 2023, the General Administration Department of Madhya Pradesh issued instructions to start the second phase of the Mukhyamantri Jan-Seva Abhiyan.

Key Points:

• The second phase of Mukhyamantri Jan Sewa Abhiyan will be launched in the state from May 10 to 25 for the services provided to the common citizens and 100 percent redressal of their problems by the government departments.
• Mainly this campaign will have 2 major components. In the first component, applications pending in the offices of all such departments, which are related to civil services, will be disposed of as far as possible. Along with this, the complaints pending in the CM Helpline will be redressed.
• On the other hand, in the second component, 100 percent redressal of the complaints registered and currently pending in the CM Helpline till 15 April 2023, will be done. The information of redressal will also be compulsorily given to the concerned complainant.
• In this campaign, service delivery camps will be organized in all the field offices providing identified 67 services to the citizens.
• All collectors will nominate specific nodal officers for each office in their district where the camp will be held. The applications for the identified 67 services which are pending online or offline in the respective offices before the start of the campaign, will be recorded on the portal for their disposal during the campaign and for each day's disposal.
• Redressal of the applications for prescribed services received during this campaign will also be ensured in the portal. The camp number of the district will also be entered on the portal.
• Out of all the complaints received during the campaign, the District Collector will be able to mark separately such complaints, which are not possible to be resolved due to budgetary reasons, policy decisions, or pending cases in civil or high courts.
• In this campaign, it will be ensured that all the remaining complaints are redressed. All the complaints registered on the CM Helpline portal till 15 April 2023, but currently pending, will be displayed separately. This service is being made live on the CM Helpline portal from 5 May 2023.
• It is worth mentioning that in the first phase (17 September 2022 to 31 October 2022) of the Mukhyamantri Jan-Sewa Abhiyan, more than 83 lakh eligible beneficiaries have benefited by achieving 100 percent saturation in the schemes of the Central and State Governments.

A new facility will be started on the 'Haryana e-Samiksha Portal'

Why in News?

On 5 May 2023, a meeting was held in Chandigarh under the chairmanship of Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal with the officials of the Human Resource Department and National Informatics Center in which it was informed that the state government will start a new facility on 'Haryana-e-Samiksha Portal' so that Administrative Secretaries and Heads of Departments can monitor the follow-up actions taken on the decisions taken during their meetings and presentations.

Key Points:

• It is worth mentioning that the 'Haryana e-Samiksha Portal' is a real-time online system designed to monitor the 'follow-up actions' taken on the decisions taken during presentations by Administrative Secretaries and Heads of Departments. The system can also be configured to review 'Follow-up Actions' from other meetings if required.
• This new feature of Configuration will enhance the monitoring & tracking of important decisions made during meetings and presentations, thereby increasing accountability & transparency in administrative processes.
• This portal will provide updates on file number, date of the meeting, chairman of the meeting, meeting details and other documents like Minutes of Meeting (MOM), which can be accessed by the officials of the concerned departments.
• Additionally, the portal facilitates automated tracking of action points, proposals, issues, projects, plans and targets from online submission to compliance.

'Chief Minister Teerth Darshan Yojana' launched

Why in News?

On 5 May 2023, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal launched the 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Yojana' from the Panchkula district of the state.

Key Points:

• This scheme will be implemented in the entire state and after that arrangements will be made to send senior citizens above the age of 60 years who wish to go on pilgrimage.
• It is worth mentioning that every person has a dream to do a pilgrimage in his life, so the government has made this scheme. Under this scheme, first of all, Ayodhya Yatra has been planned, in which about 200 old people will visit Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Ayodhya from 5 May to 8 May. The state government will bear the travel expenses of these passengers.

Haryana Backward Classes Commission's Report approved in Cabinet Meeting

Why in News?

On 8 May 2023 in the cabinet meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, the report of the Haryana Backward Classes Commission constituted to ensure political reservation rights of Backward Classes (A) in urban local bodies was approved.

Key Points:

• It is worth mentioning that the commission formed under the chairmanship of Justice Darshan Singh, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, made a thorough investigation to assess the political backwardness of the citizens of the backward classes.
• In this report, the Backward Classes Commission observed that there is a need to provide political reservation in urban local bodies to the Backward Classes Block-A (BC-A) people who do not have adequate representation in the political set-up.
• According to this report, the post of councillor in every Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Municipality shall be reserved for the backward classes of citizens of Block-A and the number of such reserved seats may be in the same proportion as the total number of seats in that area.
• Backward Classes of Citizens of the total population in that Urban Local Area shall be the Urban Local Area as a percentage of half of the population of Block-A. If the decimal value is 0.5 or greater, it will be rounded off to the next higher integer. Provided that if the population of Backward Class (A) is two percent or more of the total population of the assembly area, there shall be at least one corporator belonging to Backward Class (A) in every local body.
• Eight percent of the number of posts of mayors/presidents in Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Municipalities will be reserved for Block-A backward classes of citizens.
• The Commission has said that the reservation shall not exceed in aggregate 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs and BCs (A) in any municipal bodies as directed by the Apex Court.
• If the number of seats thus reserved for Backward Classes (A) is added to the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, if their total number exceeds 50 percent of the total seats in the municipal bodies, then the seats reserved for Backward Classes (A) The number of reserved seats will be kept to such an extent that the reservation of Scheduled Caste and BC (A) does not exceed 50 percent of the total seats of the member of Municipality, Municipal Council and Municipal Corporation. For example, in an urban local area, if the population of the backward class of block A of 'A' citizens is 25 percent of the total population of that urban local area, then 12.5 percent of seats will be reserved for the backward class of block-A citizens.
• Where the Scheduled Caste population in a given Urban Local Area is 50 percent or more, the Block-A Backward Classes of citizens will not get any reservation irrespective of their percentage of the population.
• Where the Scheduled Castes population is 40 percent of the urban local body's population and there are 10 seats in the urban local area, then 4 seats will be reserved for Scheduled Castes, and the remaining one seat will be available for backward class blocks.
• Backward Classes Block-A citizens will get a seat in the municipality even if no seat is available for them as per the percentage of reservations provided their population in the concerned urban local area is not less than 2 percent.

Inauguration of the book ‘Swar Tarangini’

Why in News?

On 8 May 2023, Union Ministers of State Arjun Meghwal, Annapurna Devi, MPs Deepak Prakash, Sanjay Seth, B.K. Sinha inaugurated the book 'Swar Tarangini' written by the music teacher of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan Dr. Rashmi Kumari in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Key Points:

• This book contains vocal scripts of 151 songs and rhythms of 25 claps.
• Along with this, the introduction of ragas from the first year to the sixth year and the aspects of music is also there.
• Dr. Rashmi said that through this book, with little time and little effort, children will have a good collection of songs, so that along with studies, children can make music a part of their lives.

Award given to Young Scientists on 19 identified topics

Why in News?

The two-day 18th Young Scientist Conference held in Chhattisgarh concluded on 5 May 2023, in which Young Scientists Award-2023 was awarded to young scientists in 19 identified subjects.

Key Points:

• At this conference, young scientists were honoured with prize money of Rs 21,000, medals and certificates.
• The young scientist awarded the Scientist Award will be allowed to do research work in any national laboratory, national research centre and university.
• Young scientists honoured with Young Scientist Award-2023 include Richa Saav & Sonal Upadhyay in Agricultural Science, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur; Chhaya Bhate in Agricultural Engineering & Technology, Study centre of Chemistry, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Rasleen Kaur in Biology, Study centre of Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Anita Bhoi in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics & Biomedical Sciences, Study centre of Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Lavkesh Kumar Singh Tanwar in Chemical Sciences, Study center of Chemistry, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University etc.
• Similarly Tanveer Haider in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, N.I.T; Anushree Saha in Chemical Engineering, Study Center of Chemistry, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Mayank Lowanshi in Computer Science, Electronics, I.T. & Instrumentation, I.I.I.T; Shyamantika Sarkar in Civil & Architectural Engineering, Department of Architecture, N.I.T; Ayushi Sharma in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, N.I.T; Rajeev Nayan in Mechanical Mechatronics & Production Engineering, Study centre of Chemistry, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Aishwarya Shri Tamrakar in Environmental Sciences, Engineering & Forestry, Study centre of Chemistry, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Bhanu Pratap Nayak in Home Sciences & Behavioral Sciences, Sh. D.B. Girls College etc. were honoured.
• Nisha Gupta from Life Sciences, School of Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Shikha Tiwari in Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, School of Mathematics, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University; Sharda Gupta in Medical & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering, N.I.T.; Kanchan Tiwari in Physics, Department of Physics, Sha. Nagarjuna, P.G. College of Science; Ankita Thakre in Veterinary Science, Animal Husbandry & Dairy Technology, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Sonali Swagatika in Anjora & Mining Metallurgy and Applied Geology, Regional Research Center, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Bilaspur were honoured.
• It is worth mentioning that under the joint aegis of the Council of Science & Technology and Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, this young scientist conference was organized at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium.