• 15 Jun 2023

Green Field Highway will be Built from Aligarh to Palwal

Why in News?

• On June 14, 2023, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Project Director PK Kaushik told that a green field highway will be built for the convenience of the people along with reducing the load of vehicles on the Aligarh-Palwal highway connecting Aligarh, the city of tala-training in Uttar Pradesh, to Haryana and NCR.

Key Points:

• It is known that action has been started to prepare the DPR of the highway at the NHAI level. The Aligarh-Palwal highway was constructed by the PWD provincial section. The road has been constructed at a cost of Rs 552 crore.
• It took about five years to build this 67 km long highway. In March 2022, the PWD handed over the highway construction work to NHAI. Now NHAI is doing the maintenance, repair, etc. of the highway.
• The Aligarh-Palwal highway connects the three states. This highway also connects the Uttar Pradesh border to Delhi-NCR. At the same time, the border of Haryana is also connected.
• The proposal to construct this highway has been made by NHAI considering the number of vehicles per day on the PTA route and the possibility of obstacles in its six-lane in the future.
• At present, due to lack of bypass in Khair-Jattari, there is a long jam for hours every day in both the towns. Speeding vehicles on the four-lane PTA route stop in these two towns. About a 10-10 km (about 6.21 mi) long bypass is to be constructed in both the towns.
• Along with this, NHAI has prepared a proposal to build a green field highway from Aligarh to Palwal on par with the PTA route. This highway will be six lanes.
• NHAI has already conducted a traffic survey of PTA Marg, in which 25 thousand vehicles have been reported passing daily, which is more than the number of vehicles passing on four lanes.
• It is not easy to convert this route into six lanes due to high settlement on both sides of the PTA Highway. Apart from this, the non-availability of land is also a major reason, due to which a proposal to build a green field highway has been prepared.

Rajasthan Literary Promotion Award will be Started

Why in News?

• On June 14, 2023, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot approved a proposal related to the procedure, guide and selection committee to honour the state's litterateurs with the Rajasthan Sahitya Protsahan Puraskar.

Key Points:

• In the encouragement, awards will be given in the name of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Sethia, Shri Komal Kothari, Dr. Sitaram Lalas and Shri Vijaydan Detha.
• Shri Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Literary Award in verse category, Shri Komal Kothari Lok Sahitya Puraskar in folk literature/art category, Dr. Sitaram Lalas Language & Research Award in language/research category and Shri Vijaydan Detha Sahitya Puraskar in prose category will be given.
• Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi, Udaipur has been made the nodal agency for these awards. The Department of Art, Literature, Culture & Archaeology will be the administrative department.
• The award carries a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a citation and a shawl. These awards can also be given posthumously.
• These honors can be distributed among those individuals, institutions or organizations, whom the selection committee considers equally eligible. All the awards can be given on the Rajasthan Literature Festival, Rajasthan Day or other occasions organized by the state government.
• The standing committee constituted for the selection of the award will be headed by a non-state person nominated by the state government.
• Two Padma Shri/Sahitya Academy Awardees nominated by the state government, president of Rajasthan Sahitya Academy Udaipur, president of Rajasthani Language, Sahitya and Sanskriti Academy, Bikaner and Principal Government Secretary of Art & Culture Department will be members in this committee where Deputy Government Secretary will be Member Secretary.
• After examining the applications received, the committee will form a panel of selected litterateurs in groups of three and submit it to the Chief Minister through the Administrative Department for a final decision with recommendations.

Mukhymantri Chiranjeevi Shramik Sambal Yojana

Why in News?

• On June 14, 2023, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the draft of 'Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Shramik Sambal Yojana-2023' to provide relief to active workers and identified street vendors registered under the Construction Workers Welfare Fund of the unorganized sector of Rajasthan during hospitalization.

Key Points:

• Under the 'Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Shramik Sambal Yojana-2023', registered laborers and identified street vendors and their family members (registered active workers) aged 25 to 60 years will now get financial assistance for a maximum of 7 days during hospitalization.
• Under the scheme, in case the daily wages are exhausted at the time of recruitment, assistance of Rs 200 per day for the period of recruitment or 7 days (whichever is less) will be sent to the worker's account through auto DBT. This assistance will be given in case of hospitalization of the beneficiary himself or his family member for a minimum of 24 hours.
• Assistance can be obtained under the scheme even in case of death of the laborer in the hospital.

Decisions of the Council of Ministers Headed by the Chief Minister

Why in News?

• On June 14, 2023, in the cabinet meeting held at Mantralaya under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, several other important decisions including the approval of 'Cooperative Policy of Madhya Pradesh, 2023' were taken.

Key Points:

• To encourage the students, under the new scheme, the cabinet has decided to provide e-scooties to the students who have secured first position in all government higher secondary schools of the state.
  • If more than one student has the highest marks then all of them will get the benefit of the scheme.
  • Scooty will be provided in areas where e-scooty is not available.
  • About 9 thousand students will benefit from the scheme.
  • A provision of Rs 135 crore has been made in the budget for the year 2023-24 for the implementation of the scheme.
  • It is worth mentioning that provision has been made for a new scheme to increase the convenience of students to reach schools and to reduce dependence, to encourage them for higher education, to instill self-confidence.
• According to the announcement of the Chief Minister, the order issued by the Scheduled Caste Welfare Department on April 15, 2023, for increasing the income limit for 'Scholarship to Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe students' from Rs. 6 lakh to Rs. 8 and endorsed to give foreign study scholarship to the students belonging to Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes for humanities subjects as well.
  • Along with this, consent was given to increase the annual income limit of post matric scholarship for Scheduled Tribe students studying in non-government institutions to Rs.8 lakh.
  • It is worth mentioning that the Tribal Affairs Department has abolished the income limit for Scheduled Tribe students studying in government and government-aided educational institutions. With the increase in the income limit, students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will get wide opportunities to get education.
• While approving the 'Cooperative Policy of Madhya Pradesh, 2023', the cabinet has authorized the cooperative department to prepare and implement a time-bound action plan.
  • This cooperative policy will pave the way for making cooperatives a mass movement in the state.
  • Committees will be formed in new areas through co-operatives and employment opportunities will be created.
  • Changes will also be made in the cooperative law of the state as per the requirement and action will be taken to remove the internal & structural deficiencies of the cooperative. Along with this, information technology will be used on a large scale in the cooperative.
  • Agricultural credit, urban credit, cooperative marketing, cooperative housing, consumer cooperative, cooperative seed production and marketing, small forest produce cooperative societies, dairy cooperative, cooperative fisheries, etc. are major areas in cooperative policy.
• The cabinet has agreed to the state government's payment security guarantee and its format for the 600 MW capacity Omkareshwar floating solar project.
  • It is worth mentioning that the 600 MW floating solar project is being constructed in two phases on the Omkareshwar reservoir of Narmada River.
  • Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project will be one of the largest floating solar projects in the country and the world.
  • Omkareshwar project is one of the country's multi-purpose projects, where along with irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, solar energy will also be produced, and tourism will also be promoted.
• The cabinet has given approval for amendment in the 'Chief Minister's Youth Internship for Professional Development Program' (CMYIPDP) in line with the Chief Minister's announcement at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis under the Department of Public Service Management.
• The honorarium of interns in the CMYIPDP program will be increased from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. The appointment of interns will now be done at the block level as well as at the panchayat level.
• The cabinet has approved Rs 338 crore 83 lakh 6 thousand for the construction works of 11 higher secondary school buildings under the CM Rise scheme under Tribal Affairs Department.
• It is worth mentioning that in the first phase, 95 schools have been selected as CM Rise Schools in the Tribal Affairs Department. Out of this, construction work is to be done for a total of 11 schools in Dhar, Mandla, Jhabua, Betul, Alirajpur, Khargone and Ratlam districts.
• The cabinet has decided to give administrative approval to 2 revised group water supply schemes costing Rs 2,002 crore 62 lakh and 29 new group water supply schemes costing Rs 15,995 crore 98 lakhs for implementation by the Public Health Engineering Department through Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam.

A New Policy will be Made for Construction of Boundary Walls, Sheds etc. in Vegetable Markets in the State.

Why in News?

• On June 13, 2023, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal announced a new policy for construction and repair of boundary walls, sheds, gates & cleaning arrangements etc. in vegetable markets across the state.

Key Points:

• Under this, a committee will be formed, in which commission agents will be partners. Some amount will be made available to this committee from the market fees, so that the committee will be able to get the work of the market done at its own level.
• The market fee and HRDF rate to be charged in the vegetable market across the state will now be fixed in one go. The bill to amend the rules related to this has been passed by the Vidhan Sabha.
• At present, the rate of 2% market fee and 2 percent HRDF is applicable in the vegetable market. Considering the demand of workers, the state government has decided to do it outright.
• It is known that shops were sold to traders under the policy by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in Transport Nagar in Kaithal, but today traders are not able to sell their shops further due to some terms and conditions in the policy.
• Realizing the difficulty of the traders, the state government has decided that a new policy will be made for such traders, and they will be given relaxation in the rules, so that they will be able to sell their shops.
• The Chief Minister informed that a policy is also being made to shift government Godowns built in cities across the state out of the city. Soon such Godowns will be set up outside the city.
• He announced the extension of the dispute resolution scheme launched by the government for a period of one year to settle the ongoing disputes related to shops in Mandis.
• To solve the problems of the traders in the state, the state government has also formed the 'Traders Welfare Board'. In addition, insurance cover is provided to traders under the 'Chief Minister Traders Collective Private Accident Insurance Scheme'.
• It is known that under the 'Small Trader Maandhan Yojana' launched by the Central Government, an annual assistance of Rs 6 thousand is provided to small traders. Apart from this, loans ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh are given to street vendors under the 'PM-Swanidhi Yojana'.

Chief Minister's Big Announcement for Dairy Development

Why in News?

• On June 14, 2023, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, in a review meeting of the schemes of the Department of Sugarcane Development, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries at the Dehradun Secretariat, gave instructions to set up 600 multi-purpose milk cooperatives for dairy development in the state.

Key Points:

• In the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the number of merino sheep, which give high quality wool, will be increased in the state, for which an MoU will be signed with an Australian breeder soon.
• In view of the shortage of fodder in the state, the Chief Minister gave instructions for formation of 20 fodder FPOs, establishment of 50 milk producer service centers in clusters of milk societies, and the establishment of 16 Badri Cow Growth Centers.
• He has done automation of the works of milk committee and milk union, to solve the problem of fodder shortage by planting 10 lakh fodder plants on community land in hilly areas, to bring benefits to all milk societies and all milk unions of Uttarakhand, instructions were given to work by setting targets.
• The Sugarcane Development Department was instructed to modernize Bajpur and Kichha sugar mills, change sugarcane seed, work on sugarcane survey through GPS & complete the target of promoting organic sugarcane production in the state at the earliest.
• He directed for expansion of 468 hectares of new water areas for fisheries, construction of 863 new trout raceways, 33000 Tonnes of fish production and timely completion of the target of 80 lakh annual trout fish seed production.