• 11 Dec 2021

Announcement to Make Gorakhpur a 'Special Education Zone'

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, Union Minister of State for Education, Skill and Entrepreneurship Development Dharmendra Pradhan announced to make Gorakhpur a 'Special Education Zone'.

Key Points

• The Union Minister made this announcement while addressing the concluding program of the 89^th Founder's Week celebrations of Maharana Pratap Education Council.
• Gorakhpur, developed as a knowledge city through three functional and one under construction universities, will be made a 'Special Education Zone' on the lines of 'Special Economic Zone' as per the requirement of the new National Education Policy.
• The aim of the 'Special Education Sector' is to prepare students as global citizens and solve the problems of the world through academic activities.
• Dharmendra Pradhan said that the new education policy has been prepared in line with the strategic change in the global scenario under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The objective of the new education policy is to make India the number one country in the world and the children of India to be global citizens.

Haiderpur Wetland

Why in News

• Recently Haiderpur Wetland of Western Uttar Pradesh has been recognized as 47^th Ramsar site in the country and 10^th in Uttar Pradesh and 2463^rd in the world, which has been confirmed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Key Points

• The Haiderpur Wetland is spread over an area of 6908 hectares on the Muzaffarnagar-Bijnor border between the Ganges and the Solani River. It is a part of Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Haiderpur Wetland is a man-made lake, which was formed in 1984. The biodiversity here attracts birds. Exotic birds reach here by crossing the hills of Mongolia.
• Also there are many species of dolphins, turtles, alligators, crocodiles, butterflies and deer etc. There are over 30 plant species and over 300 bird species, as well as over 40 fish species and over 102 waterfowl species.
• A conference was held on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. The countries involved in this signed an agreement related to the protection of wetlands and it came into effect from December 21, 1975.
• According to the Ramsar Convention, a wetland is a place that is full of water for at least eight months in a year and is home to more than 200 species of birds.

Patna Metro

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, the Bihar government informed that the European Union, the Asian Development Bank and the Japanese government agency 'JICA' have agreed to give a loan of up to eight thousand crore rupees for the construction of Patna Metro.

Key Points

• Rs. 13365.77 crore is proposed to be spent on Patna Metro Rail Project. It has been planned to take a loan of 60 percent of the amount. For this, the priority of taking loans will be decided based on the conditions of the European Union, JICA and ADB.
• The East-West corridor of Patna Metro starts from Danapur and goes to Mithapur via Patna Railway Station. Similarly, the North-South Corridor will go from Patna Railway Station to New ISBT via Akashvani, Gandhi Maidan, Ashok Rajpath, Moinul Haq Stadium, Rajendra Nagar, Kumhrar, Bypass.
• A provision of Rs 1000 crore has been made for the land acquisition of Patna Metro depot and notification of land acquisition has been issued.

State Level Painting Competition Prizes Distributed

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel distributed prizes to the winners at the prize distribution function of the state level painting competition held at Sandipani Auditorium of Raj Bhavan.

Key Points

• It is noteworthy that the state level painting competition on energy conservation was organized by Narmada HydroElectric Development Corporation in various schools of the state.
• In Group A of the competition, the Governor presented the first prize to Vedika Jain, a student of DPS Neelbad, Bhopal, the second prize to Aditi Kumari, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya BSF Indore, and the third prize to Lakshya Shakya, a student of Ideal Higher Secondary School, Bhopal.
• In Group-B, the first prize was awarded to Bhavishya Acharya, a student of Billabong High International School, Bhopal, the second prize to Rajan Jangid, a student of SICA School, Indore, and the third prize to Priyanshu Yadav, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Shivaji Nagar Bhopal, and 10-10 consolation prizes in both the categories.
• Vijay Kumar Sinha, Managing Director, Narmada HydroElectric Development Corporation said that to promote the awareness and creativity among children about energy conservation, competitions were organized in two categories from class 5 to 7 and class 8 to 10.

India International Science Festival-2021

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, the seventh edition of India International Science Festival (IISF) began in Panaji, Goa, in which Omprakash Sakhlecha, Minister of Science and Technology, Government of Madhya Pradesh inaugurated several sessions.

Key Points

• This edition focuses on the theme 'Celebrating Creativity and Innovation in Science and Technology for a Prosperous India'.
• Minister Omprakash Sakhlecha inaugurated the festival section on 'New Age of Technology'. This section is meant to disseminate information on the growing areas of frontier technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and their application in daily life.
• He also inaugurated the 'Eco Festival', which deals with technologies, strategies and actions that lead to ecologically sustainable living.
• Remote sensing innovation is special in the exhibition. Along with this, the workmanship and craftsmanship of the state has been displayed. It includes many items like tiger prints, bamboo products, iron products and artwork made by Agaria artisans.
• IITF-2021 aims to take Indian traditional arts and crafts to the international stage. Minister Omprakash Sakhlecha also inaugurated the 'Traditional Crafts and Artisans Festival' under IISF along with Goa's traditional craftsman, Panshree Vinayak Khedekar.

Waste to Energy Plant

Why in News

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on December 10, 2021, started work on the process of making 'waste to kanchan' in the state with an aim to focus on the 'cleanliness' required to make life easier, in Sector-14, Gurugram. He laid the foundation stone for the Municipal Corporation office and the Waste to Energy Plant to be built at Bandhwari.

Key Points

• Referring to the Waste to Energy Plant to be built at Bandhwadi, he said that with the establishment of this plant, Gurugram will move towards joining the category of beautiful cities of the world.
• This waste to energy plant will be set up by Ecogreen and the construction work is planned to be completed in 2 years. This 15 MW capacity plant will generate 6 lakh units of electricity per day. Gradually, as the population increases, the capacity of the plant will also be increased.
• Ecogreen has applied to increase the capacity of the plant from 15 MW to 25 MW, the process of which is in progress. With the increase in the capacity of the plant, more waste can be processed.
• It is worth noting that in Sonipat district of the state, electricity is being generated from waste by a 10 MW capacity plant.
• The Chief Minister said that the municipal office would be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, for which an amount of Rs 117 crore would be spent. This building will be prepared on 2 acres of land, in which a business building will also be built. There is also a plan to build an auditorium with a seating capacity of 600 people in the 11-storey building of the Municipal Corporation.
• Union Minister of State and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh said that after the commissioning of the Waste to Energy Plant, the problem of waste in both the cities (Gurugram and Faridabad) will be solved and the standard of living of the people will improve.

Jharkhand Academic Council Got Chairman

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, Jharkhand Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto informed that the name of the President and Vice President of Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) has been announced.

Key Points

• Dr. Anil Mahto, Controller of Examinations of Ranchi University and Pro. VC of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, will be its President, while Dr. Vinod Singh, Professor Incharge of KC College Bedo will be the Vice President.
• Dr. Anil Kumar Mehta has been appointed as the President of JAC for a period of 3 years.
• The tenure of former JAC President Arvind Prasad Singh and Vice President Phool Singh was completed on September 14, 2021.
• The Education Minister said that the names of three people had come for the post of JAC President. These included Dr. Anil Kumar Mahto, Usha Kiran and Dr. Shabbir Hussain. On the other hand, only Dr. Vinod Singh's bio-data was received for the vice-president.

Announcement to Make Sonakhan a Tehsil

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced the establishment of a life-size statue of Shaheed Veernarayan Singh at Jaistambh Chowk in the capital Raipur and to make Sonakhan a tehsil.

Key Points

• On December 10, 1857, Veer Narayan Singh was hanged by the then British government at Jaistambh Chowk in Raipur.
• On the occasion, the Chief Minister also unveiled a life-size statue of Martyr Veer Narayan Singh riding a horse in the Martyrs Memorial Complex of Sonakhan. He also gifted various development works worth Rs 28 crore 60 lakh here.

MoU Signed Between IISWC and Sparsh Himalaya

Why in News

• Recently Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC) and Sparsh Himalaya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to execute inter-organizational collaborative activities for promotion of Himalayan ecosystem, people and resources.

Key Points

• M Madhu, Director, ICAR-IISWC, stated that the objective of the MoU is to encourage and facilitate cooperation and to promote common programs of mutual interest. That helps advance the interests of the Himalayan ecosystem and the associated intellectual life and cultural development.
• National and international level collaborative programs and enhanced outreach and awareness of technical outcomes and success stories will be targeted through this MoU.
• Potential areas of cooperation include research, training, capacity building, experience sharing and knowledge management and natural resource based sustainable livelihood promotion in the area of rural development.
• The two organizations are developing a joint plan for a national conference in January 2022 on the technical contributions and success stories of R&D organizations working on the welfare of the Himalayas.

MoU Signed Between IIT and IWAI to Stabilize Ganga Shipping Channel

Why in News

• Recently Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has signed an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for stabilization of shipping channels at 17 locations along a stretch of river Ganga from Varanasi to Sahibganj. It follows an earlier morphological study of the Ganges by the Department of Civil Engineering, an institute sponsored by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Key Points

• Under this project, IIT Roorkee will undertake channel stabilization (river training) work at 17 locations along the Ganges river for development of navigation channels with eco-friendly technologies to enhance navigation capability on National Waterway-1 (NW-1).
• The work is a part of IAWI's ongoing Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP), sponsored by the World Bank.
• JMVP envisages creation and improvement of integration opportunities with other surface transport modes such as roads and railways, to improve the overall efficiency of the logistics chain by connecting waterways through various well equipped terminals and ferries.
• Speaking on the occasion, Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee said that this collaboration will ensure the progress of the nation's waterways and will especially benefit the farmers and people living in the entire Ganga belt.
• It will promote the development of small scale industries, generate employment opportunities and facilitate transportation of cargo. Thus there will be improvement in logistics through smaller jetties, which will lead to overall development of the area.

Second Supplementary Budget of the Financial Year Presented

Why in News

• On December 10, 2021, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Banshidhar Bhagat presented the second supplementary budget of Rs 1,353.7908 crore for the current financial year in the state assembly.

Key Points

• A provision of Rs 668.36 crore has been made for the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in the supplementary budget, while a provision of Rs 80 crore has been made for the Nanda Gaura Yojna of the Women's Empowerment and Child Development Department.
• Similarly, Rs 100 crore has been kept for the Public Works Department (PWD) for works under the state sector. An amount of Rs 50 crore has been kept for repair and maintenance of bridges under PWD.
• The minister has presented the second supplementary budget of the government in this financial year. Earlier in August 2021, during the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly, the House had passed a supplementary budget of Rs 5,780.80 crore.
• The then Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat presented a budget of Rs 57,400.32 crore for the financial year 2021-22 in Bharadisain on March 4 this year.