• 12 Aug 2021

National Health Volunteers (Rashtriya Swasthaya Sevak Abhiyan) Campaign

Why in News

• Recently, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Rashtriya Swasthaya Sevak Abhiyan by launching the Health Warrior Portal under which health workers will be trained.

Key Points

• Under the Rashtriya Swasthya Sevak Abhiyan, two lakh volunteers will be trained in the state.
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that four lakh health volunteers were being linked to the campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in two lakh revenue villages of the country.
• Significantly, during the COVID-19 epidemic, 72,000 monitoring committees were set up comprising a 12-member committee. The members of this committee made people aware of coronavirus by going door to door.

Bridge over Son River at Panduka of Rohtas

Why in News

• Recently, in the meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, approval was given for the construction of a two-kilometer-long bridge over the Son river at Panduka in Rohtas.

Key Points

• The construction of this bridge will be done by Bihar State Bridge Corporation with the share of Bihar in the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund, whose administrative approval has been given by the state government.
• This bridge will be built between Srinagar in Garhwa district in Jharkhand and Panduka of Nowhatta in Rohtas district in Bihar.
• This bridge will be completed by March 2024 at a cost of Rs. 210 crore 13 lakh. With its completion, Rohtas district will be connected to Palamu as well as Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
• With the construction of about a two km long bridge between Srinagar in Garhwa and Panduka in Rohtas, people of Majhiaon, Kandi, Vishunpura, Bardiha, Bhawnathpur etc blocks of Garhwa district will have to travel 80 km less to reach Varanasi.
• With this, in addition to the districts of Palamu, Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla, etc., the third option will be available to the passengers coming from Chhattisgarh side to take GT Road or go to Varanasi.

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Governance and Social Sciences

Why in News

• On August 11, 2021, the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, Niranjan Arya, through video conferencing set up the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Governance and Social Sciences at Kanak Bhawan, Central Park in Jaipur, from October 2.

Key Points

• This institute is being started on the lines of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Maharashtra Institute of Technology School of Governance at a cost of Rs.100 crore in compliance with the budget announcement of the Chief Minister.
• Efforts have been made to develop this institute as a center of excellence for teaching, research and innovation keeping in mind the changing social and economic scenario.
• This institute will prove to be important in preparing the youth to play a role in social work by imbibing the teachings of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
• The aim of this institute is to access the philosophy of life and social values of Mahatma Gandhi to every section of society through education and research.

Review Meeting of Beggary Free Campaign

Why in News

• On August 11, 2021, a review meeting was held in the auditorium of the Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment at Ambedkar Bhawan, under the chairmanship of O.P. Bunkar, Director of Social Justice and Empowerment Department of Rajasthan, to make Jaipur city free from begging.

Key Points

• In the meeting, Additional Director-Social Security Suvalal Pahadia, while giving detailed information about the campaign, said that those below 18 years of age, women and men between 18 to 55 years of age and above 55 years of age-old and handicapped peoples, category-wise persons involved in begging have been identified.
• For this, 25 points have been marked in the city, where people involved in begging are found. The details of persons involved in begging at such marked places shall be recorded in a format by the volunteers. After counseling them, they will be given admission in destitute children's homes, women's houses, old age homes and disabled rehabilitation homes as per the requirement.
• He said that youth in the age group of 18 to 55 years have been taken as the target category in the campaign. Any youth who is involved in begging and wants to do some work or he wants to get some kind of skill training, getting him rehabilitated by training according to his interest is an important part of this campaign.

Indore: First Water Plus City of the Country

Why in News

• Indore, which has been ranked number one in cleanliness four times in the country, has been declared as the country's first 'water plus city' in the results of Swachh Survekshan, 2021 released by the Government of India on August 11, 2021.

Key points

• In order to go to the micro level in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Ministry has included Water Plus with cleanliness. Its main objective is to clean the water bodies, rivers and ponds in the cities, so that only clean and rainwater flows in the rivers and streams and sewerage water can be reused.
• 84 cities of the country had applied in the selection process of Water Plus, out of which only 33 cities were found suitable for ground verification.
• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), the cities of the country are tested on the basis of various cleanliness parameters. It has categories of ODF+, ODF++ and Water+.
• The Water Plus certificate is awarded to cities that have met all the ODF Double Plus standards. Also, the residual sewage from residential and commercial establishments is released into the environment only after treatment. Reuse of treated wastewater should also be ensured.
• As per the guidelines of Water Plus Protocol of Swachh Survekshan, Indore Municipal Corporation has tapped 1746 public and 5624 domestic sewers in 25 small and big drains and the Kanh and Saraswati rivers of the city were made free from sewer lines.
• The Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness and sanitation in cities and towns across the country as part of the 'Swachh Bharat Mission'.

Birsa Agricultural University

Why in News

• Recently eleven high yielding, early maturing and disease-pest resistant crop varieties developed by the scientists of Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) were released by the Jharkhand State Government.

Key Points

• These varieties were released by the State Variety Release Committee (SVRC) under the chairmanship of Agriculture Secretary, Abubakar Siddiqui after intensive discussion and compliance of queries.
• These varieties include one each of black gram, tur, soybean, mustard, baby corn, ragi and two varieties of brinjal and three varieties of linseed. The yield gain of these varieties is 15 to 20 percent as compared to the existing conventional varieties.
• BAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Onkar Nath Singh and Director Research, Dr. A. Wadood said these varieties would go a long way in increasing area, production and productivity pulses, oilseeds and vegetables because quality seed plays a major role in augmenting productivity.
• BAU crop breeders, directorate of seed and farms, Regional/Zonal Research Stations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and seed villages of the state will cooperate in seed production of these crops for extending its availability to farmers.

Ophthalmologists of the State as 'Covid Warriors'

Why in News

• On August 11, 2021, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta felicitated 45 ophthalmologists of the state as 'COVID Warriors'.
  
  • This felicitation has been done for their tireless efforts to help COVID patients and their families during the pandemic.

Key Points

• Addressing the felicitation function organized by Jharkhand Ophthalmological Society in Ranchi, the Health Minister presented this honor to the ophthalmologists.
• These ophthalmologists had ensured all necessary support to the people to fight the second wave of COVID-19, leaving their comfort zones, crossing professional boundaries, without caring for their lives.
• In the award ceremony, Dr. Vibhuti Kashyap was honored with 'Dr. VS Gupta Best Free Paper' and Dr. Rahul Prasad was awarded Gold Medal for 'Manjul Pant Best Video Session'. Dr. Lalit Jain was honored for his extramural oration.
• The Health Minister also presented shawls and mementos to the families of doctors who died in the line of duty in the pandemic. The families of eminent doctors of the state, Dr. Krishna Murari Sahu, Dr. Sujit Kumar Paul and Dr. Chandrika Kishore Thakur, who were victims of the corona epidemic, were also felicitated.

Registration of Potential Beneficiaries by Transport Department

Why in News

• Uttarakhand Transport Department has started registration of eligible beneficiaries affected due to the lockdown imposed to curb Covid-19.
  
  • Each beneficiary will be provided with financial assistance of Rs. 2,000.

Key Points

• Uttarakhand Transport Department will do the registration of public transport operators, conductors and sweepers whose livelihood was affected due to the lockdown.
• According to Regional Transport Officer (Enforcement) Sandeep Saini, eligible public transport operators, operators and sweepers can register themselves on http://uk.gov.in.
• For this, applicants will have to mention the driving license number of the vehicle on which they work, apart from the bank account details.
• After providing all the required information, the applicant will receive a message on the registered mobile number regarding acceptance or rejection of the application. The reason for rejecting the application will be mentioned in the message. Applicants can re-apply with correct information.
• For easy transfer of funds to the beneficiaries for the next six months, applicants will have to ensure that their name mentioned in bank accounts and in the application are the same.