State PCS

• 14 Jul 2023

Ropeway facility will now be available in Varanasi

Why in News?

On July 12, 2023, The Divisional Commissioner of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma, said that in order to get rid of the traffic jam in Varanasi, after operating the first cruise and water taxi to promote water transport in the Ganga, now the ropeway operation for transportation is going to start for the first time in the country.

Key Points:

• In the first phase, the ropeway will cover a distance of about four km from The Cantt station. In the second phase, there will also be a chance to visit BHU and Sarnath.
• In the first phase, work has started on the ropeway from Cantt to Godaulia, which will be completed by December 2024. After the operation of the ropeway up to Godaulia, in the second phase, a line will be run from Chowk, Maidagin, and Golgadda to Namoghat.
• The second line will be between Namoghat and Sarnath, which will pass through Ashapur. The third line from Godaulia will pass through Madanpura, Sonarpura, Broadway Hotel, Ravindrapuri and Ravidas Gate to the BHU campus.
• Apart from these, there is also a plan to take another line to Ravidas Ghat to connect the ghats.
• Under the ongoing project, there will be five stations on the four-km long route from Cantt to Godaulia. There will also be a mini hotel and locker room near the Cantt station. Tourists coming to visit Vishwanath Temple go to Godaulia Square from this route. The responsibility of construction has been given to the Vishwa Samudra.
• The ropeway project, to be completed in 18 months, is the first project in the country, which will be part of urban transport.
• Three thousand passengers per hour will be transported in the cable car of the ropeway. There will be 228 cabins in the ropeway. A cabin can accommodate 10 people and cover the distance in 17 minutes at a speed of 6.5 metres per second.

Arwal & Sheikhpura will become Districts with 100% Digital Transactions

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on July 12, 2023, after Jehanabad district in Bihar, now Arwal and Sheikhpura are also going to be the districts with 100 percent digital transactions.

Key Points:

• About 88.31 per cent of savings account customers in Arwal and 92.84 per cent in Sheikhpura have been provided with a digital platform for transactions and are using it.
• Of the total 6.78 lakh active savings account holders in Arwal district, 5.99 lakh account holders are using at least one digital tool. At the same time, out of 6980 current account holders, 4397 account holders i.e., 62.99 percent are doing digital transactions.
• In Sheikhupura district, out of 5.32 lakh savings account holders, 4.94 lakh or 92.84 per cent of customers have at least one digital banking product i.e. internet banking, debit card, mobile banking, UPI and other similar facilities.
• In 2019, the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to make at least one district in every state of the country a district with 100 percent digital banking service.
• Under this, Jehanabad district in Bihar was selected and the State Level Bankers Committee worked with all the stakeholders strategically and Jehanabad was declared a district with digital banking. Now Arwal and Sheikhpura have been selected.
• The best thing about digital payment systems in financial transactions is that it does not require carrying cash. There are many discounts like 0.75 percent discount on buying petrol with the card, rail tickets, toll on highways and buying insurance.

7 Tribal Residential Schools will open in the state

Why in News?

On July 12, 2023, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken an important decision to open 7 residential schools for the educational upliftment of tribal areas to give an opportunity to the students of tribal areas to study in residential schools near them, for the construction of their buildings.

Key Points:

• In the first phase this year, Rs 5 crore will be spent per school. In the coming year, Rs 71 crore will be spent on their construction work under the second phase.
• Residential schools will be opened in Sumerpur, Sawai Madhopur, Bhedoli-Bauli (Sawai Madhopur) in Pali, Girwara in Kekri, Jalore, Chikhali in Dungarpur, Shripura in Deoli in Tonk.
• All these residential schools will have a student capacity of 210.

Proposal will be sent to Declare Khatiyar Gir as Ramsar site

Why in News?

On July 12, 2023, the State Wetland Authority meeting held at the Environment Complex under the chairmanship of Madhya Pradesh Environment Minister Hardeep Singh Dang approved the proposal to include Gir Eco Region Wetland in the new Ramsar site of the country for the sake of Chambal Sanctuary.

Key Points:

• It is known that there are 4 Ramsar sites including Bhoj Wetland in the state. Of these, Yashwant Sagar and Sirpur Talab of Indore, Sankhya Sagar of Madhav National Park Shivpuri got the status of Ramsar site from the Central Government last year.
• The projects of Dhar Wetland Complex (Dhupsagar, Devisagar and Munjsagar) and Girwar Talab Shajapur have been approved under the NPCA scheme of the Central Government.
• It was told in the meeting that more than 15,000 ponds with an area of more than 2 hectares are being conserved in the state as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
• District Wetland Conservation Committees are being formed with the aim of making society and administration partners in the conservation of water sources. Till now they have been formed in 22 districts.
• On this occasion, Environment Minister Hardeep Singh Dung also released the 'Ramsar Sites' booklet based on Madhya Pradesh's Ramsar sites- Bhoj Wetland, Sankhya Sagar, Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar by Madhya Pradesh State Wetland Authority.

Data Centre Planning as an essential service for public safety and order

Why in News?

On July 13, 2023, the Government of Haryana has declared employment as essential services under data centres as established under the Haryana State Data Centre Policy, 2022 to ensure public safety, maintain public order and maintain community delivery or services.

Key Points:

• A notification to this effect has been issued by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal.
• As per the provisions under clause (ii) of section 3 of the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1974 (40 of 1974), the state government has announced that the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act will apply to employment covered under the Haryana State Data Centre Policy, 2022 and under data centres as established.

State Govt’s Notification to Increase the Honorarium of Sarpanches & Panches

Why in News?

On July 11, 2023, the Haryana government issued a notification regarding increasing the honorarium of Sarpanches and Panches and the increased rates will be applicable from April 1, 2023.

Key Points:

• As an increase in the honorarium of Sarpanches and Panches in the state, now Sarpanches will get Rs.5000 and Panches will get Rs.1600.
• It is known that at present, Sarpanches and Panches in the state get an honorarium of Rs 3,000 and Panches respectively Rs 1,000 per month. The Sarpanches and Panches demanded an increase in their honorarium from the Chief Minister, which was fulfilled by the Chief Minister Manohar Lal.
• To increase the honorarium of Sarpanches and Panches, the government has amended the 'Haryana Panchayati Raj Finance, Budget, Accounts, Audit, Taxation and Works Rules-1995'.
• These rules will now be called 'Haryana Panchayati Raj Finance, Budget, Accounts, Audit, Taxation and Works (Amendment) Rules-2023'.

Aspirational District Dantewada First and Kanker Second in RIPA's Service Activities.

Why in News?

On July 12, 2023, according to the information given by the Chhattisgarh Republic Department on July 12, 2023, the state's aspirational district Dantewada is at first and Kanker at second place in the service of the state government's RIPA.

Key Points:

• The RIPA scheme of the Government of Chhattisgarh is actually a major centre of income-oriented activities conducted in Gauthan built in villages under 'Suraji Gaon Yojana'. Various activities are being conducted in RIPA centres.
• Infrastructure and resources are being made available by the government for conducting income-generating activities through RIPA in Gauthans, which is helping the women and villagers of the group to conduct self-employment activities.
• Arrangements have been made by the government to provide quality training to the entrepreneurs before working in RIPA. Along with this, continuous monitoring of the activities conducted in RIPA centres is also being done.
• It may be noted that a total of 300 RIPA centres are being operated in different Gauthans of the state. In these RIPA centres, 5849 women and 4107 men are conducting livelihood activities.
• 1546 activities have been proposed by the state government in these RIPA centres, out of which 1103 activities are being conducted. As of June, service activities are being conducted in 213 RIPA centres.
• In these service activities, work of Aadhaar Center, B.C Sakhi, computer, cooler and motor vehicle repair, restaurant, photocopy, printing machine, drinking water, tent and catering is being done.
• The Rural Industrial Park (RIPA) scheme of the Chhattisgarh government has started providing employment and self-employment to the villagers in the villages. Intending to make villages the centres of production and make the villagers self-reliant, this scheme has now started bringing a positive change in the rural scenario.

Newly Built Library & New Website of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Inaugurated

Why in News?

On July 13, 2023, Governor Lt. Gen. Gurmeet Singh (Retired) inaugurated the newly constructed library and new website of the Vidhan Sabha in the Vidhan Sabha Auditorium of Uttarakhand, so that information related to the legislative works of the Vidhansabha and the proceedings of the Vidhansabha can now be found on one click.

Key Points:

• Apart from this, books and research-based books of famous writers from India and abroad will be available from the e-library in the Vidhan Sabha.
• More than 25 thousand books have been included in the library, in which important books related to various subjects including constitution and law, public administration and general knowledge will be available. The books will be available in both digital and print form.
• The Vidhan Sabha library will help the MLAs in their parliamentary work, while on the other hand, they will also benefit in social work by studying the special books available in the library.
• Through this library in the Vidhan Sabha, all the elected members can get information regarding the solution to their parliamentary problems as well as the parliamentary traditions and proceedings inside the house. According to the agenda from the books available in the library, information about the proceedings of the House and old records will guide many people.
• This library will also be connected with the library of other state assemblies of the country.
• On the new website of Vidhan Sabha www.vidhansabha.gov.in, legislative and assembly proceedings and question-answers will be available to the people in one click.