State PCS

• 18 Oct 2023

Shri Anna Mahotsav

Why In News?

• According to information received from the media on October 17, 2023, before Krishi Kumbh 2.0, a three-day Shri Anna Mahotsav and state-level millets workshop will be held at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow from October 27 to 29. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will inaugurate it.

Key Points:

• On the first day, farmers of six mandals, on the second day five mandals and on the third day seven mandals will participate in it. Along with this, teachers and students at agricultural universities and two colleges will also participate in it.
• Lucknow, Kanpur, Ayodhya, Basti, Azamgarh and Devipatan divisions on October 27
• On October 28, Saharanpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Agra and Moradabad divisions
• Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Varanasi, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Prayagraj and Mirzapur divisions on October 29
• Through this festival, the state government will honor progressive farmers and also inspire other farmers for millet products. Besides, it will also create awareness about the production, consumption, marketing and export of millet crops.
• In the conference, 50 progressive farmers from each district of each division, 10 representatives of Farmer Producer Organization and 10 technical assistants will participate.
• In the state-level Millets workshop, 35 FPOs will be given certificates for seed money. The Chief Minister will provide Rs 4 lakh per unit to each FPO. Also, grants will be given to government institutions setting up millet-based processing plants. There will also be 40 stalls of Shri Anna's products. There will be stalls of FPOs, participants and companies working on millets. Through this, people will be aware of the benefits of millet products.

Non-Residential Sports Training Scheme' launched in Bihar

Why In News?

• On October 17, 2023, Bihar's Art Culture Minister Jitendra Kumar Rai launched the 'Non-Residential Sports Training Scheme' to nurture the talent of sportspersons.

Key Points:

• The Minister said that under this scheme, trainee players from 8 to 14 years will be given training in sports.
• With the help of this scheme, modern training facilities will be provided to the players of Bihar.
• The players registered under the non-residential sports training scheme will attend the training site at the scheduled time of sports training and receive training.
• This scheme will be operated in every district. This scheme will be operated in the main outdoor stadium, district sports building, sports ground and schools of panchayats, blocks, districts. There will be a four-hour training period on each working day.

President Draupadi Murmu honored Atell's Manish Saini with National Film Award

Why In News?

• On October 17, 2023, President Draupadi Murmu presented the National Film Award to Manish Saini, a resident of Mandi Ateli town in Mahendergarh district of Haryana, at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

Key Points:

• President Draupadi Murmu presented awards to the winners of the year 2021 at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony in various categories in New Delhi. He also honoured Waheeda Rehman with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021.
• Manish Saini, a resident of Ateli town in Mahendergarh district of Haryana, has been awarded the National Film Award for his Gujarati film 'Gandhi and Company'. This is his second film as a writer and director.
• His film 'Gandhi & Co' is a Gujarati comedy children's film, which tells a story with the backdrop of Gandhian values of honesty and harmony in an entertaining way. The film is a coming-of-age family drama for the family audience.
• It is worth mentioning that Manish Saini is a writer and director, who has been awarded the National Award earlier too. Manish Saini also directed the Gujarati film 'Dhah'. It was also awarded the National Film Award. Apart from this, Manish Saini has also been honored for many films at the international level.
• Manish Saini is originally from Ateli assembly constituency of Haryana. Manish Saini completed his education from National Institute of Design Ahmedabad.

Agroha will Develop as a Global City

Why In News?

• On October 16, 2023, Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Dr. Kamal Gupta told a press conference that Agroha will be developed as a Global City after getting permission to excavate the archaeological site of Agroha.

Key Points:

• Dr. Kamal Gupta said that this city will be developed within a radius of 20 kilometers of Agroha, which will make its identity like Singapore, Mauritius.
• Agroha will work to give cultural tourism recognition at the world level. Maharaja Agrasen Airport will also play an important role in this.
• Urban Bodies Minister Dr. Kamal Gupta while sharing his vision document about Agroha with the media said that Agrasen Global City is a very important location in terms of connectivity, which can become a center of international level religious tourism. A 108 feet high temple of Abhya Mahalakshmi is being built here, which will cost Rs 100 crore.
• Due to the archaeological and religious importance and the association of Harappan culture, there is immense potential for tourism here. Apart from Indus Saraswati sites, Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Birdana, Kunal, Hisar as well as Agroha will also be one of the largest circuits in the world in terms of tourism.
• Dr. Gupta said that the state government is planning to develop a big museum here on the lines of Rakhigarhi. The excavation work of the agroha archaeological site will be done jointly by the Excavation Branch (ASI) of the Survey of India and the Haryana State Archaeology Department.
• Minister Dr. Kamal Gupta informed that the Central Government has given approval regarding the excavation of Agroha Mound. He said that in 1888-89, the mound was excavated for the first time during the British era. The second time was carried out in 1938-39 and the third time in 1978-79. Now the excavation work will start for the fourth time.
• Under the government's ambitious plan, Agroha will be developed as a world-class tourist center, in which Maharaja Agrasen Airport will play an important role. Hisar airport is being developed in 7200 acres in Phase 2. In future, about 10 thousand acres of land adjacent to it will also be used for an integrated aviation hub.

Haryana's Anganwadi Worker Mrs. Sudesh Yadav honored with Best Anganwadi Worker Award

Why In News?

• According to information received from the Directorate of Information, Public Relations and Languages of Haryana on October 16, 2023, Anganwadi worker Smt. Sudesh Yadav has been awarded the Best Anganwadi Worker Award for feeding 100 percent data on nutrition tracker application, setting up nutrition vatika and organizing more activities during nutrition month.

Key Points:

• Sudesh Yadav was given this honor at the protocol launch program for management of malnutrition in children held in New Delhi recently under the chairmanship of Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
• The state women and child development and AYUSH minister as well as secretaries of the ministry of women and child development and health and family welfare also participated in the programme. On behalf of Haryana, Commissioner and Secretary of Women and Child Development Department Amanit P Kumar along with other district officials, 165 Anganwadi workers participated.
• Women and Child Development Department Commissioner Amanit P Kumar said the protocol is a kind of detailed guideline for identification and management of malnourished children at the community level, including focus on referral, nutrition management and follow-up. This guideline will be helpful in training anganwadi workers for management of malnutrition in the state of Haryana.
• Senior officials from women and child health departments from across the country, members of international and other organisations like UNICEF, Indian Medical Association (IMA), International Pediatrics Association, Indian Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank and Bill Melinda Gates were also present at the event.

Employess Engaged in HKRN will get the Benefit of Health Services

Why In News?

• On October 16, 2023, Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal while presiding over a meeting to extend the benefits of medical services to the employees engaged in urban local bodies said that the employees engaged in various departments of the state under the Haryana Kaushal Rojgar Nigam (HKRN) will be given the benefit of health services in the Chirayu Scheme.

Key Points:

• In the meeting, the Chief Secretary said that now the employees of urban local bodies who are not covered under the ESI scheme and are earning a salary of more than Rs 21,000 will be given the benefit of medical services.
• If the employees engaged in municipal councils, municipalities and municipal corporations have an accident while on duty, then the cost of their treatment will also be borne by the government.
• If a sanitation worker, sewerman, fireman, fire driver dies suddenly, then he is provided insurance of Rs 5 lakh under the Chief Minister's Employees Accident Insurance Scheme. Along with this, financial assistance of up to Rs 3 lakh is also provided to ad hoc, daily wage and contract employees.
• The Chief Secretary said that health benefits were also considered for employees who are out of the skill employment scope. Permission will soon be taken from the Chief Minister to give the benefit of health services to such employees, so that all the employees of urban local bodies and other departments can get the benefit of health services.

Online Education App 'J Guruji App ' for School Children

Why In News?

• Recently, Chief Minister Hemant Soren launched 'Ji Guruji Mobile App' for online education in a program organized in Ranchi.

Key Points:

• The Education and Literacy Department of Jharkhand has prepared an online education mobile app for the children of government schools. Students will get 'Student ID' to login to this app. After login, students will also be able to take online classes.
• All books from class 1 to 12 will also be available on the app. The app also has questions tailored to each chapter, which students can solve online.
• This app has been designed in such a way that students will get answers to the book to test series and questions at a click.
• While answering questions in this app, information about the correct answer to a question will also be given if the answer to a question is wrong. Also, students will be told which chapter of the book they should see for the correct answer.
• At the same time, about 2700 online videos are also uploaded. According to the student's studies on the app, they will also be ranked at the state level.

Uttarakhand's Srishti Lakhera Received National Film Award for the film 'EK Tha Gaon'

Why In News?

• On October 17, 2023, President Draupadi Murmu honoured Srishti Lakhera, a resident of Semla village in Kirti Nagar block of Tehri district of Uttarakhand, with the National Film Award in the category of Best Non-Feature Film for her film 'Ek Tha Gaon' at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

Key Points:

• President Draupadi Murmu presented awards to the winners of the year 2021 at the 69th National Film Awards ceremony in various categories in New Delhi. He also honoured Waheeda Rehman with the Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021.
• Srishti Lakhera produced and directed the film 'Ek Tha Gaon'. Earlier, the film made it to the India Gold category of the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) Film Festival.
• Srishti's father and pediatrician Dr KN Lakhera said that Srishti has been working in the field of film for about 13 years.
• Made in Garhwali and Hindi languages, the film tells the story of Ghost Village. Seeing the pain of migration in Uttarakhand, Srishti made this film.
• Dr KN Lakhera said that earlier there were 40 families living in his village and now only five to seven people are left. People were forced to leave the village at some point or the other. He has presented this confusion in the form of an hour-long film. The film has two main characters - 80-year-old Leela Devi and 19-year-old Kishori Golu.