• 09 Jun 2023

A Concrete Ghat to be built on the banks of the Ganges in Chandravati

Why in News?

According to information received from the media on June 7, 2023, Chandravati, the birthplace of Jain Tirthankar Chandra Mahaprabhu in Varanasi, will be developed in terms of tourism under a project approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Uttar Pradesh. A concrete Ghat will be constructed here on the banks of the Ganges.

Key Points:

• Tourism facilities will be increased here. For this, the government has approved a project worth Rs 20 crore. Along with this, a sanction of Rs 1.50 crore has also been issued as the first instalment.
• Chandravati, the birthplace of Jain Tirthankar Chandra Mahaprabhu, is a sacred place for Jain followers. Being located on the banks of the Ganges, it holds an important place in terms of tourism. For a long time, there was a demand for constructing a Concrete Ghat in this pilgrimage area.
• With the construction of Concrete Ghat in Chandravati, the tourism industry on the banks of the Ganga will get a boost. Along with this, new employment opportunities will also be available.

State's Biggest Blood Bank will be built in Muzaffarpur

Why In News?

On 7 June 2023, Red Cross Secretary of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, Uday Shankar Prasad Singh announced that a blood bank would be set up at Company Bagh in Muzaffarpur district at a cost of three crores, which would be the biggest blood bank ever in Bihar.

Key Points:

• This blood bank to be built at Company Bagh Red Cross will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. For this, machines have been procured. A blood separation machine will also be installed here, due to which the problem of not having blood containing red blood cells will be removed.
• Presently the facility of blood separation is available only in Shri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH), but due to less blood separation, it becomes difficult to save the lives of patients.
• With the formation of this blood bank in Muzaffarpur district, the dependence of the patients on SKMCH will be reduced to a great extent.
• It is known that this blood bank will run on the ground floor of the Red Cross, in which a blood facility will be available for the patients for 24 hours. Patients will be able to take advantage of the service from the blood bank as per their requirements.
• Secretary of the Red Cross said that this blood bank will prove to be a boon for the patients of North Bihar. State-of-the-art machines for blood separation will immediately prepare three units of red blood cells from one unit of whole blood. Due to this, dengue patients, anaemia, blood cancer and thalassemia patients will not have blood problems.
• He informed that the Red Cross is also building a maternity centre at Motipur in the state. Due to this, the pregnant women there will not need to go to the speciality hospital. The Red Cross will make all the arrangements for the centre.

Old Pension Scheme will be implemented in RTDC

Why in News?

In the 192nd meeting of the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Board (RTDC) held at Paryatan Bhawan, Jaipur on June 7, 2023, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot approved the proposal to give benefits of the Old Pension Scheme to RTDC employees.

Key Points:

• RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore said that the corporation management is committed to improving tourism facilities in the state and RTDC's hotel units and Palace on Wheels are running profitably.
• Renovation and upgradation works are in progress in 10 RTDC hotel units to compete with private hotels.
• Rajasthan has carved a niche for itself as one of the leading states in the country as a wedding and conference destination. With the establishment of MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Exhibitions) centres, the state will get a new identity in this field.
• In the meeting, a decision was also taken on the proposal to include Rajasthan Ratna awardees in the category of a fee waiver for RTDC hotels. Along with this, there was a discussion on giving relaxation in the cases of compassionate appointments.

Rs 156.13 crore approved for Irrigation Projects in Jhalawar, Bundi & Banswara

Why in News?

On 8 June 2023, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot gave financial approval of Rs 156.13 crore for 5 development works related to the Water Resources Department to strengthen the irrigation system in the state.

Key Points:

• With this amount, development work of the sprinkler system in the Rajgarh Medium Irrigation Project, construction work in the Ghughwa Minor Irrigation Project and necessary irrigation facilities in the Gagarin Irrigation Project will be done in the Jhalawar district.
• Along with this, construction work will be done in the Uttarana Micro Lift Irrigation Project in Bundi district and construction of Anicut (a masonry check dam that is constructed across a stream to impound water for maintaining & regulating irrigation) on Anas river in Kupra village of Banswara district.
• It is worth mentioning that the Chief Minister had made an announcement in this regard in the state budget for the year 2023-24.

Bhopal got 2nd and Gwalior got 5th place in 'Eat Right Challenge' competition

Why in News?

According to the information provided by the Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department on June 7, 2023, Bhopal has been ranked second and Gwalior has been ranked fifth at the national level for its efforts to improve the food environment and implement strategies to educate communities on food security in the 'Eat Right Challenge' competition.

Key Points:

• Seven other districts of the state – Ujjain, Rewa, Indore, Sagar, Damoh, Jabalpur and Satna also secured a place in the winner list by scoring more than 75 percent marks.
• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Minister of State Prof. Satyapal Singh Baghel honoured Madhya Pradesh's Food Safety Commissioner Dr. Sudam Khade with a citation for this exemplary performance on World Food Safety Day at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• It is noteworthy that in the second phase of the Eat Right Challenge, from 1 May 2022 to November 15, 2022, 260 districts of the country were assessed on 6 different parameters of food security, out of which 31 districts scored more than 75%.

Reconstitution of State-Level Sanctioning Committee

Why in News?

On 8 June 2023, Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department official Rajesh Dahima said that the state government has reconstituted the committee by superseding the state-level approval committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to approve various project proposals under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

Key Points:

• In the reconstituted state-level approval committee, Additional Chief Secretaries of Farmers' Welfare, Finance, Planning, Panchayat and Rural Development, Water Resources, Horticulture, Cooperation, Forest, Vice-Chancellor or Director Research Services, Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University, Gwalior, Commissioner/Director Farmers Welfare and Agricultural Development, Horticulture, Cooperation, Director Agricultural Engineering, Government of India, nominated officer by the Ministry of Agriculture, representative nominated by Government of India NITI Aayog will be members.
• The committee will have the Commissioner of Agricultural Production as its vice-chairman. The additional Chief Secretary will be a member of the Farmers Welfare & Agriculture Development Committee.
• The quorum of the committee would not be complete without the presence of a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Senior officers/representatives of the Agricultural Research, Education & National Rainfed Area Authority will be able to participate in the meeting of the committee.
• The committee may nominate one of the important districts, the District Collector, and a progressive farmer who has received the best farmer award.

Education Minister released Interactive Digital E-book

Why in News?

On 7 June 2023, Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal released the interactive digital e-book 'Bhool Bhulaiya Khel Pitara'.

Key Points:

• This digital e-book has been prepared in an interactive manner by Dr. Vijay Chawla, Hindi Professor working in Aarohi Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Gyeong, District Kaithal.
• This e-book can be used in schools through smart classrooms, digital labs, tabs and mobiles. It also provides simple and interesting study material to develop Hindi linguistic skills.
• Links and QR codes have been provided to study digital reading material. Students will have to click on the link given to read the digital reading material and scan the QR code contained in it. By doing this, students will be able to study Hindi competencies in detail.
• The Education Minister said that unless the students become proficient in Hindi linguistic skills, they cannot score good marks in Hindi subject. Only by being proficient in Hindi competencies, students are able to answer different types of questions themselves.
• The Education Minister expressed hope that this edition of the interactive digital e-book 'Bhool Bhulaiya Khel Pitara' will fully meet the expectations of children and teachers to develop Hindi linguistic competencies prepared by Dr. Vijay Kumar Chawla.

The word 'Hindu' gets added again in the name of Lohardaga's Nadia School

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 7 June 2023, the School Education & Literacy Department of Jharkhand has again added the word 'Hindu' to Nadia Hindu High School in the Lohardaga district of the state. In the letter issued earlier, the word ‘Hindu’ was removed from the name of the school.

Key Points:

• It is worth mentioning that the Department of School Education & Literacy has withdrawn the change in the previous name of the excellent schools. The letter issued on May 25 in this regard has been amended. A letter in this regard has been issued by the department.
• The names of seven schools in the state have been revised again. Now only CM School of Excellence will be added to the former name of the schools.
• The word 'Ramrudra' has also been added to the name of the school after it was removed from Ramrudra Plus Two High School in Chas Bokaro.
• The school education & literacy department has earlier described the change in name as a typographical error. The discrepancy in the letter issued earlier by the Education Department has been corrected.
• In the list released earlier, the names of some schools were added to other schools. Chas Bokaro was added to the name of the school at Nawadih in the Bokaro district. These mistakes have been corrected.
• Now the names of the schools will be-
  • CD Girls CM School of Excellence Jhumritilaiya, Koderma.
  • SSLNT CM School of Excellence Girls, Dhanbad.
  • District RK Rama Sahu CM School of Excellence, Garhwa.
  • Chandravati Memorial CM School of Excellence, Domchanch Koderma.
  • District Ramrudra CM School of Excellence, Chas Bokaro.
  • CM School of Excellence BPM, Burmamines Jamshedpur.
  • District CM School of Excellence Nadia Hindu, Lohardaga.

Hi-tech monitoring of the movement of Elephants in Chhattisgarh

Why in News?

According to the information given by the Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department on 7 June 2023, Hi-tech monitoring of the movement of elephants in the forests of Chhattisgarh has been started. To ensure this, the AI-based 'Chhattisgarh Elephant Tracking and Alert App' has been developed.

Key Points:

• The app has been jointly developed by the Forest Management Information System (FMIS) and the Wildlife Wing to alert villagers in elephant-affected areas of Chhattisgarh.
• This app works on Artificial Intelligence (AI) based on inputs received from the Elephant Trackers (Hathi Mitra Dal). The purpose of this app is to send information about the presence of elephants by sending mobile calls, SMS, and WhatsApp alerts to every person in the affected village in addition to the 'Munaadi' announced by the elephant trackers.
• It is known that this app is being used in Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve for the last 3 months. The alert of the real-time movement of elephants in the area of 10 km has been successfully sent on the mobiles of the villagers.
• Mobile numbers and GPS locations of the villagers are registered in this app. When the elephant movements are inputted on the app by the elephant trackers, alerts are automatically sent to the mobiles of the villagers by the app.
• Hathi Mitra Dal members use the ODK app (open source) to feed the location, herd names, behaviour and other characteristics of elephants. This ODK app works in both online mode (real-time) and offline mode (near-real time when trackers are out of mobile network area).
• The alert and tracking app can track the route of elephant presence using time period filters, filter the herd of elephants and track different routes (e.g. Sikasar Dal, Chanda Dal etc.).
• This app can be used not only to send alerts about the presence of elephants but also other carnivorous, omnivorous animals (leopard, sloth bear), and wild buffaloes, for research, housing development, planning & tracking as per requirement.

The Center has approved setting up of 2 New Cities in the state

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 7 June 2023, the central government has given preliminary approval to establish two new cities near Kashipur and Doiwala in Uttarakhand.

Key Points:

• The Uttarakhand Housing Department had given a presentation of an all-facilitated city to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, agreeing to which the central team would soon reach Uttarakhand to inspect both the townships.
• It may be noted that the Housing Department is working on a plan to set up eight new cities in the state. Recently, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had proposed 1100 crores while requesting the Center in this regard.
• Under this, the Housing Department had prepared the proposal of two cities and sent it to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Among these, a city will be built on 378.50 hectares of land in the name of an Industrial City on the land of Parag Farm in Kashipur.
• The second township will be named Aero City near Doiwala on the Doon-Haridwar Highway. This city will be built on 3080.8 hectares of land in the name of Integrated Township. It will have 746.98 hectares of government land and 2333.81 hectares of private land.
• The Housing department will provide facilities in all these cities. These will include all facilities like roads, sewers etc.
• Master plans of these cities will be prepared with the help of the Town Planning Department. Accordingly, the work of building cities with private participation will be done. The government will also give some of its land to them.

proposed 8 cities
Marked Place	Total Land (Hect.)	Name of the City
Doon-Haridwar Highway near Doiwala	3080.8	Integrated Township
Chharba, Sahaspur on Doon-Paonta Sahib Highway	1672.94	Cyber City
Arcadia Tea Garden, Dehradun	719.7	New Dehradun Twin City
Bamoth Village Near Gauchar Airport	50.00	Wellness Township
Near Ramnagar City	4365	Tourism Township
Haldwani Near Golapar	2840.16	New Haldwani Twin City
Near Naini Saini Airport, Pithoragarh	77.00	Film-Entertainment City
Parag Farms, Near Kichha	378.58	Industrial Township