• 13 May 2022

Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute

Why In News

• On May 12, 2022, the Varanasi court, in a landmark judgment on the Gyanvapi mosque, refused to remove advocate commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was appointed for the survey of the mosque, and ordered a survey of the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque before May 17.

Key Point

• It is a popular belief that the Gyanvapi Mosque was built in 1669 by the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb by demolishing the ancient Vishweshwar temple. It is worth mentioning that in Saqib Khan's book 'Yasir Alamgiri', it is also mentioned that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple in 1669 by ordering Governor Abul Hassan.
• The case of Gyanvapi mosque has been in court since 1991, when three persons, including Pandit Somnath Vyas, a descendant of the priests of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, filed a suit in the court of the civil judge of Varanasi claiming that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple of Lord Vishweshwar and built a mosque on it so that the land should be returned to them.
• On August 18, 2021, in the same court in Varanasi, five women had filed a petition demanding to worship in the temple of Mother Makeup Gauri, accepting which the court constituted a commission to know the present status of the Makeup Gauri Temple.
• In this context, the court had asked the court to give the survey report by videographing the idol of Makeup Gauri and the Gyanvapi complex, which has created an uproar, as questions were raised on the impartiality of the court commissioner appointed by the Muslim side for the survey.
• Vijay Shankar Rastogi, appearing for the Hindu side, has submitted a map of the entire Gyanvapi complex as evidence in the court, which mentions the temples of Hindu-deities around after the entrance of the mosque, as well as the Vishweshwar temple, Gyankoop, the big Nandi and the basement of the Vyas family. There has been a controversy over the survey and videography of this basement.
• At the same time, the Muslim side says that no decision can be given on the dispute under the Religious Places Act of 1991.
• Under Section 3 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, it is prohibited to convert a place of worship, even its clause, into a place of worship of a different religious denomination or a different class of the same religious denomination.
• Section 4(2) of the Act states that all litigations, appeals or other proceedings relating to changing the nature of the place of worship (which were pending till August 15, 1947) shall cease after the enactment of this Act and no fresh action can be taken on such cases.
• However, if the change in the nature of the place of worship has occurred after the cut-off date of August 15, 1947 (after the act came into force ), legal action can be initiated in that case. The disputed site of Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid) was exempted from the Act.

Power safety audit of buildings above 15 metres in height to be conducted in Patna

Why In News

• On May 12, 2022, the Bihar government ordered an electrical safety audit of all buildings with a height of more than 15 metres in capital Patna. Similar audits will be carried out later in other major cities of the state.

Key Point

• It may be recalled that the state government took this decision after a major fire broke out at Visvesvaraya Bhavan on May 11 . Visvesvaraya Bhavan is a huge multi-storey building, which has several major establishments, including government offices.
• Director General of Home Guards and Fire Services Shobha Ahotkar said in this regard that it has also been decided to appoint fire engineering consultants for the security audit.
• These experts will conduct fire safety assessment of government buildings and also present safety plans for the future.
• Director General Shobha Ahotkar said that at least seven teams will be formed soon to carry out power safety audits in the city.

Bihar Investor Summit, 2022

Why In News

• Bihar Investors Summit, 2022 was held in Delhi, the capital of the country, with an aim to attract investors to Bihar on May 12, 2022.

Key Point

• The summit, held in New Delhi, was inaugurated by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad and Industries Minister Shahnawaz Hussain by lighting the lamp.
• The summit was attended by 110 reputed companies of the country and expressed their desire to invest in the state. This includes companies related to food processing, mobile manufacturing, FMCG, technology and tourism sector.
• Speaking on the occasion, the Bihar Industries Minister said that through this summit, the government is encouraging investment in Bihar. The summit will also be held in other major cities of the country.
• After Delhi, similar Investor Summits will be held in Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad. The final summit will be held in Patna, the capital of Bihar, in which MoUs will be signed with the companies.
• Shahnawaz Hussain said the government is developing plug and play stations where investors will be able to come and start work directly. They will not be required to go through situations like land acquisition and power shortage. This will speed up investment.
• He said a plant with a capacity of five lakh litres of ethanol has been completed in Ara in the state. Apart from this, three plants have been completed, while work on five others is going on.
• 16 ethanol companies have been allowed to operate in the state, which are at various stages of development and will start functioning soon. This is expected to benefit the farmers of the state and will help increase their income.

Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart, 2022

Why In News

• The road show was launched from Jaipur on May 12, 2022 under the joint aegis of Rajasthan Tourism Department and Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan under the aegis of Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart, 2022.

Key Point

• Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) is a unique initiative by the Department of Tourism to provide a platform to facilitate business-to-business meetings to showcase the immense potential in the state.
• It may be mentioned that on 6th April, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Department of Tourism and the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Rajasthan for organizing the Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart.
• In order to promote RDTM, road shows are being organized by the Department of Tourism including a number of innovations such as Rajasthan Film Tourism Promotion Policy, 2022 Guest House Scheme, Revised Homestay (PG) Scheme.
• Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism informed that the second edition of RDTM will be held in Jaipur on July 22-24, 2022 under the joint aegis of Tourism Department and Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Rajasthan.
• Road shows will be held in various cities to invite hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators before the event. These road shows are aimed at promoting Rajasthan as the most friendly tourist destination at the national level.
• The event, to be organised with support from bureau of investment promotion and trade associations, also includes Hotel and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) and Rajasthan Association of Tour Operations (RATO).

Important decisions taken at the meeting of the Council of Ministers

Why In News

• A number of important decisions were taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on May 12, 2022.

Key Point

• The Council of Ministers approved an action plan of Rs.12.51 crore 51 lakh 81,000 for the construction of a 50-bed all-weather police hospital at the 23^rd and 25^th Corps Visbal Bhopal campus and an action plan of Rs.24.98 crore 41,000 for creation of 46 human resource posts for the hospital and expenditure incurred thereon in 5 years.
• The Council of Ministers ratified the order of the Department of Women and Child Development regarding 'Laadli Lakshmi Yojana 2.0' to operate the 'Laadli Lakshmi Yojana' in an extended format.
• This includes organizing ladli lakshmi diwas on 2nd May every year at the state, district and gram panchayat levels as a festival, declaring gram panchayats as ladli laxmi friendly from the district level and giving an incentive of Rs 25,000 to ladli girls for taking admission in undergraduate or vocational courses after class 12th (course period at least two years), The tuition fee for higher education (up to graduation) to ladli girls is to be borne by the government.
• It has been decided by the Council of Ministers in pursuance of MSME development policy, 2021 to provide specific financial assistance for manufacturing units of furniture, toys and related value makeup products.

Preparations for restoration of the country's third Virupaksha temple at Ratlam

Why In News

• On May 11, 2022, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of MP Guman Singh Damor for the restoration of Virupaksha Mahadev Temple at Bilpank in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh.

Key Point

• In the meeting, a presentation of the development master plan of the temple was given by Ratlam Collector Kumar Purushottam.
• According to the master plan, a grand entrance will be built outside the temple for the restoration of the temple. In addition, dharamshalas, yajnashalas, security cabin parkings, suvidhaghars, resting places, shops etc.
• In addition, along with the landscaping, the entire complex will be made clean and strong with chemical treatment.
• It is worth mentioning that this temple built in panchayatan style is a unique example of the blended architectural style of Parmar, Gurjar, Chalukya.
• Although the evidence regarding the construction of the temple is not yet available, on the basis of records found in the excavation carried out at Bilpank in 1964, it is found that it was renovated by King Sidhraj Jai singh of Gujarat in Samvat 1198.

2nd RoundTable in the context of global city project

Why In News

• On May 11, 2022, the second Round Table Conference was held in Mumbai under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the context of seeking major real estate developers and real estate focused funds for the Global City Project to be set up in Gurugram, Haryana.

Key Point

• The Global City Project will be developed under the aegis of Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is a nodal agency of the Government.
• The Chief Minister said that through this project, Gurugram will be developed as a central business district. It focuses on modern technology sectors and future oriented industries, low carbon green infrastructure, easy living, skill development of people and creating jobs.
• Speaking on the occasion, Vikas Gupta, Managing Director, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, said that it is a mixed land use project, which is being developed in Sectors 36B, 37A and 37B in Gurugram with the under-construction 8-lane Dwarka Expressway on an area of about 1003 acres on an area of about 1003 acres in the residential and commercial hub being developed in Sectors 36B, 37A and 37B in Gurugram along the under-construction 8-lane Dwarka Expressway on an area of about 1003 acres of 'city within a city' Imagine developing as.

Jharkhand government ready to include Hindi in language list in government job exams

Why In News

• On May 11, 2022, the Jharkhand government informed the state high court that it is ready to include Hindi as a language in the examinations for government jobs.

Key Point

• Supreme Court counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state, argued that Hindi in the examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) would be included in the list of subjects.
• According to the new policy announced by the Hemant Soren government for appointments, it has been made mandatory for those seeking jobs to make at least 30 per cent of the marks in a regional and one tribal language to make a merit list.
• According to the new policy of the Jharkhand government, in the state-level examinations, any examinee can choose one of the 12 languages and take the exam in it. These languages include Mundari, Khadia, Ho, Santhali, Khortha, Panchpargania, Bangla, Urdu, Kurmali, Nagpuri, Kurukh and Oriya.
• This list means that the exam papers will be given in these 12 languages, i.e., in Hindi and Sanskrit, as used to be found earlier, they will not be available now.

HC stays judicial probe into Jheeram murder case

Why In News

• On May 11, 2022, the Chhattisgarh High Court stayed the proceedings of the new judicial commission constituted to probe the 2013 Jheeram Valley naxal attack till the next hearing.

Key Point

• The division bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice R.C.S. Samant took the decision while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Assembly Dharamlal Kaushik.
• It may be recalled that 29 people, including senior Congress leaders, the then Congress state president Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union Minister V.C. Shukla were killed in a Naxal attack on May 25, 2013 in Jheeram valley in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
• On May 28, 2013, the previous state government had constituted a judicial commission under the chairmanship of the then Chhattisgarh High Court judge Prashant Kumar Mishra to probe the attack.
• Eight years later, on November 6, 2021, Santosh Kumar Tiwari, secretary of the Jheeram Valley Inquiry Commission and registrar (judicial) of the High Court, submitted his report to the Governor.
• The Governor had submitted the report to the state government, but the present state government did not submit the inquiry report to the Assembly within six months as per rules and had constituted a two-member new commission on November 11, 2021, terming the report as incomplete.

Maneri Dam

Why In News

• On May 11, 2022, 7 labourers have been stranded on an island near Maneri Dam due to the alternate route being washed away due to rising water level of Bhagirathi river, who are being rescued to evacuate them.

Key Point

• Maneri Dam is a concrete gravity dam located on the Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi district. The primary objective of the dam is to divert water and provide water to the 90 MW run-of-the-river Tilloth Power Plant.
• Significantly, the Bhagirathi river is one of the two top streams of the Ganga, which originates from the Gomukh of the Gangotri Glacier.
• This river flows in the form of Ganga, joining Alaknanda in Devprayag.
• As per the state government data, 16 hydro power projects with a capacity of 1,743 MW on the Bhagirathi river are at various stages of development. is an important hydroelectric project (HEP) located on it.