• 19 Jan 2023

Second Phase of Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 in Basti District

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the second phase of Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 2022-23 held in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing.

Key points

• During this Khel Mahakumbh, various competitions are organized in both indoor and outdoor games like Wrestling, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Volleyball, Handball, Chess, Carrom, Badminton, Table Tennis etc. Apart from these, competitions like Essay Writing, Painting, Rangoli making are also organized.
• The first phase of the Khel Mahakumbh was held from December 10 to 16, 2022 and the second phase of the Khel Mahakumbh is scheduled from January 18 to 28, 2023.
• This MP Sports Mahakumbh is being organized by Basti district MP Harish Dwivedi since 2021 . Khel Mahakumbh is a unique initiative that provides an opportunity and platform to the youth of the district and surrounding areas to showcase their sporting talent and motivate them to take up sports as a career option. It also seeks to instill discipline, teamwork, healthy competition, confidence and a sense of nationalism in the youth of the region.
• The Prime Minister appreciated the vastness of the Khel Mahakumbh and hoped that through such events, India's traditional expertise in sports will get a new dimension. Around 200 MPs have already organized such khel Mahakumbh in their respective constituencies.
• The Prime Minister said that the athletes who perform through these games are being selected for further training under the Sports Authority of India. Around 40,000 athletes are participating in the Khel Mahakumbh as compared to last year.
• The Prime Minister informed that financial assistance of Rs 50,000 per month is also being provided to 2500 athletes through Khelo India. About 500 Olympic potential athletes are being prepared under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Keeping in mind the need for international training, some players have received assistance ranging from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 7 crore.
• More than one thousand Khelo India District Centers are being set up across the country, out of which more than 750 centers have been completed. Geo-tagging of all sports grounds across the country is also being done so that players do not have any problem in taking training.
• He informed that the government has created a sports university in Manipur for the youth of the Northeast and another sports university is also being constructed in Meerut, (Uttar Pradesh).

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022

Why In News?

• According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 released on January 18, 2023, the English and mathematics abilities of children studying in schools in Bihar have increased, as well as the interest of children in private coaching has increased.

Key points

• According to this report, the attendance of students and teachers in primary schools of Bihar has also increased, while the proportion of unaccounted girls in the age group of 15-16 years has decreased.
• According to the report, the ability to read English among class 5 children in Bihar has increased by 4.3% between the year 2016 and 2022. The number of such children was 18.1 in the year 2018, which has increased to 2 2.4% in 2022.
• The ability to read English in Class 8 is stable at 43.8% in 2022, the same as in 2014. Similarly, 11.4% of class 3 students in the state were able to read simple sentences of English and 54.5% of the children were able to convey their meaning.
• According to this report, the efficiency of attending class 5 children of government or private schools in the state has increased by 5.5% compared to the year 2018 to 35.4% in 2022 . The number of such children in class 5 in government schools has increased by 5.9% and in class 8 by 2.4%.
• The trend of private coaching among children up to class 8th has increased by 9.5%. Under this category, 62.2% of children used to take private tuition in 2018, now this figure has increased to 71.7%.
• It is noteworthy that the trend of private coaching in Bihar is the highest in the country.
• Enrolment has increased by 4.1% even after the closure of government schools during Covid. By the year 2022, the enrolment of children aged six to 14 in government schools in Bihar is 82.2%. The total enrolment in private and government schools in the same age group has been 98%.
• During the year 2022, the number of unaccredited girls in the age group of 11-14 years in Bihar has come down to 1.8%. The proportion of unaccompanied girls aged 15-16 years has come down to 6.7%. The average attendance of pupils in primary schools has increased from 56.5% in 2018 to 59.3% in 2022. 30.2% of primary and 34.9% of upper primary schools had text books.
• Children enrolled up to pre-primary three years in Bihar schools – 77.1%
• Primary government schools with 60 or fewer students in Bihar – 5.8%
• Attendance of teachers in Bihar 68 in 2018. Increased compared to 5% - 80.9%
• It is worth mentioning that a non-governmental organization 'Pratham' releases this report.

Delegation of Rajasthan Tourism Department to the International Tourism Trade Fair 'FITUR-2023'

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, a delegation of Rajasthan Tourism Department participated in the International Tourism Trade Fair 'FITUR-2023' to be held in Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Key points

• It is noteworthy that this International Tourism Trade Fair will be organized from 18 to 22 January 2023.
• As a five-member delegation, Dharmendra Rathod, Chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Gayatri Rathore, Principal Government Secretary, Tourism Department, Vijaypal Singh, Managing Director of RTDC, Salim Khan, Additional Director of Tourism Department and Navkishore Baswal, Deputy Director participated in the delegation.
• RTDC Chairman Rathore said that there is year-round arrival of tourists from other European countries including Spain in Rajasthan. In this fair, discussions will be held with various international tourism experts, travel agents, tour and travel operators and other tourism related agencies so that tourism of Rajasthan can be promoted.
• He said that 'FITUR-2023' will help Rajasthan to make a new identity at the global level in the field of tourism.
• RTDC Chairman said that Rajasthan is culturally, historically, geographically rich state. All tours, travel agencies and tourism experts related to tourism will be invited to visit Rajasthan through 'Padharo Mhare Desh' with the aim of making Rajasthan's tourism potential known at the global level.

MoU Between the Center and the State Government for the Establishment of the First Composite Regional Center in the State

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Government and the State Government of Rajasthan to provide various types of services and facilities to the disabled people, under which the first Composite Regional Center in the state will be established at Jamdoli, Jaipur.

Key points

• The MoU was signed between the Central Government and the State Government in the presence of Rajasthan Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Tikaram Jully. Manish Verma, Director, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Dehradun and Dr. Committee, Government Secretary Social Justice Empowerment signed it.
• Kantri Tikaram Jully said that after the MoU, the Composite Regional Center will be operated temporarily by the Government of India. Soon, land will be made available to the Central Government by the State Government for the permanent operation of the Composite Regional Center and the building of composite regional center will be constructed by the Government of India on the identified land.
• The operation of this center will benefit the disabled people of the state. Persons with disabilities will get free artificial limbs and equipment from this center.
• Through this center, facilities of identification of disabled people, physiotherapy, occupational therapy etc. will also be provided free of cost, as well as this center will also play an important role in issuing UDID cards to the disabled people.

The Governor Inaugurated the Book 'Exam Warriors'

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra released the Hindi and English version of the book 'Exam Warriors' written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan.

Key points

• The book has been translated into various languages by the National Book Trust (NBT) to ensure its use across India.
• After the inauguration, the Governor said that it is very important not only for the students, but also for teachers and parents. In this book, the Prime Minister has basically written in the context of stress in children during exams, as well as specific information on life management.
• In this book, along with many yoga asanas to help the students, important formulas have also been given on giving the exam with celebration, enthusiasm and gaiety, laughing and smiling at the exam, living in the present, improving life from sports, etc.
• In this book, along with writing letters to teachers, knowledge has been described as a permanent asset and a call has been given to learn it throughout life.
• NBT Director Yuvraj Malik said that translated versions of the book have been published in Indian languages like Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu etc. by the National Book Trust under the Ministry of Education.
• It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written this book for the purpose of 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' dialogue.

Governor Performed Bhoomi Poojan of the New Building and New Galleries of the Archaeological Museum, Ujjain

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, Governor Mangubhai Patel laid the foundation stone of new galleries including a new building in the Archaeological Museum complex at Vikram Kirti Mandir Ujjain. Governor and Higher Education Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav also inspected the Archaeological Museum .

Key points

• The Vikram Kirti Mandir Museum at Ujjain Vikram University has some collections of rich history of the city, with artifacts of almost all periods, rulers.
• The museum has a vast collection of 650 artifacts from the prehistoric era and 30,000 rare manuscripts. The present building of the museum is dilapidated. The renovation and upgradation of the museum will be done by Ujjain Smart City. For this work order has been issued to M/s Doshi Consultant Pvt. Ltd, Indore.
• The proposed works will include construction of new building of 1200 sqm, upgradation/renovation of existing structure of 4500 sqm and setting up of new gallery for displaying artefacts, air conditioning and modern storage/display, lighting and information about artefacts and manuscripts through audio/digital mode and development of public amenities etc.
• The new galleries, including the construction of archaeological museum building, will be constructed at a cost of Rs 14 crore. In the coming days, the government will be able to decorate the museum at a cost of Rs 14 crore. In these, work will be done to give the museum a state-of-the-art look and preserve the preserved statues and relics.
• Archaeological heritage kept in the Archaeological Museum, five lakh years old world famous elephant head, rhino horn, hip teeth of a hippopotamus, wild buffalo jaw and 200 other fossils and other remains will be displayed in various galleries.
• The stone tools made by early man collected by Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar in the archaeological excavation of Bhim Betka will also be displayed in this museum.
• In this museum, 10 logs, which are 2600 years old, found from the banks of Shipra River located in Gadkalika region as the remains of the wooden wall and port built during the time of King Chand Pradyot of Ujjain will also be displayed. Along with this, four thousand years old archaeological material obtained with the excavation of Kayatha, Mahidpur, Azad Nagar, Runija, Sodang, Takravada in the rural areas of Ujjain will be displayed.
• Apart from this, it has been planned to enrich the museum by displaying 472 rare stone statues present in the museum, which are from Mauryan period to Maratha period, in newly built galleries. In the first phase, building construction will be done at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore and interior work will be done at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore.

Haryana Government has Nominated Link Officers for Smooth Functioning of Administrative Works

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, the Haryana government has designated various officers as link officers for smooth conduct of administrative work. A letter in this regard has been issued by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal.

Key points

• Giving information in this regard, Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal said that among these link officers, the first link officer of the member secretary of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board will be the Managing Director of Haryana Land Improvement and Development Corporation Limited and the Managing Director of Haryana Seed Development Corporation will be the second link officer.
• Similarly, the first link officer of mission director of Haryana Skill Development Mission will be director of skill development and industrial training department.
• The first link officer of the Chief Executive Officer of Haryana Skill Employment Corporation Limited, Panchkula will be the Chief Executive Officer of Haryana Family Identification Authority.
• Managing Director, The First Link Officer of Haryana International Horticulture Marketing Corporation, Ganaur will be the Managing Director of Haryana Minerals Limited, New Delhi.
• The first link officer of the Chief Executive Officer of Haryana Family Identification Authority will be the Chief Executive Officer of Haryana Skill Employment Corporation Limited, Panchkula. The first Link Officer of managing director of Haryana Minerals Limited, New Delhi will be the Managing Director, Haryana International Horticulture Marketing Corporation, Ganaur.
• The Chief Secretary informed that in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the departments, boards, corporations in the absence of IAS, HCS officers, due to leave, training, tour, election duty or transfer, vacancy due to retirement or any other reason, 2 days In case of stay out for more than 10 days, the work will be looked after by the concerned link officers. Every officer shall inform the link officer before going on leave, training, tour, election duty.

Increase in Honorarium of Sanskrit Writers

Why In News?

• On November 18, 2023, Director of Haryana Sanskrit Academy Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that the Finance Department has approved the increased honor amount for Sanskrit scholars and litterateurs by Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

Key points

• Apart from this, the rules of honor have also been changed. The age limit has now been removed for Sanskrit Sahit Alankar and Haryana Gaurav, the highest honor. The amount of scholarship, grant and financial assistance scheme has also been increased manifold.
• Director of Sanskrit Academy Giving information about this, Dinesh Shastri said that various schemes are implemented by the Academy for the promotion and promotion of Sanskrit language.
• It is noteworthy that the Chief Minister had announced to increase the honor amount during the state-level Literature Festival held in February 2022. A proposal in this regard was prepared and sent to the Chief Minister's Office. It was approved by the Chief Minister three months ago. In this episode, the State Finance Department has also approved the increase in the prize money.
• This will benefit the writers applying from this time. Under this, the honor amount has been increased from two times to three and a half times.
• Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that earlier the amount of Rs 2 lakh was received in the national level honor 'Sanskrit Sahit Alankar Samman', which has now been increased by three and a half times to Rs 7 lakh. Similarly, the prize money of 'Haryana Sanskrit Gaurav Samman' has been increased by two and a half times from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh .
• Similarly, the amount of Maharishi Valmiki and Maharishi Ved Vyas Samman has been increased by two and a half times from one and a half lakh to three lakh. Maharishi Vishwamitra Samman will now get Rs 2.5 lakh instead of Rs 1.5 lakh, while Acharya Sthanu Dutt Samman will now get Rs 2 lakh instead of Rs 1.5 lakh.
• In the same sequence, instead of one lakh, two and a half lakh rupees will be given in honor of Mahakavi Banabhatta. The literary award amount was earlier 11 lakhs, which has now increased to 25 lakhs.
• Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that the prize money has also been increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh in Acharya Samman. Under this, now Rs 1 lakh will be increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for Guru Virjanand Acharya Samman, Vidyamartand Pt Sitaram Shastri Acharya Samman and Pt Yudhishthir Mimansak Acharya Samman. Swami Dharmadev Sanskrit Samaradhak Samman has also been increased from one lakh to two lakh rupees.
• Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that the Chief Minister has also increased the book award amount from Rs. 31 thousand to Rs. 51 thousand for Sanskrit innovation talents. With this, talents will work more enthusiastically in literature writing.
• The honorarium amount in grant-in-aid for manuscript publication has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 21,000. In the short Sanskrit story writing, drama writing competition, the first prize will now be 10 thousand rupees, the second will get 8 thousand rupees and the third will get 5 thousand rupees.
• Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that the government has also given a special gift to the students studying Sanskrit. Under this, students studying in First, East Madhyama, North Madhyama, Visharad, Prak shastri and Shastri classes will now get scholarship amount of Rs 8,000 instead of Three thousand.
• Similarly, acharya will give 10 thousand rupees to the students of classes. Dr. Dinesh Shastri said that the deprived Sanskrit writers will be able to get assistance of Rs 50,000 instead of Rs 3,000 in a year in medical expenses. Similarly, the financial grant amount received by the author in the financial year has also been increased from 6 thousand to 21 thousand rupees directly.

MoU Signed Between Haryana Police and IIM Rohtak

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, Haryana Police signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoA) with the Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak with an aim to develop managerial skills among its officers.

Key points

• The MoA was signed at the Police Headquarters in the presence of Prashant Kumar Agarwal, Director General of Police (DGP) Haryana and Prof. Dheeraj P. Sharma, Director IIM Rohtak, Prof. Dheeraj P. Sharma.
• The MoA was signed by ADGP (Law and Order) Haryana, Sandeep Khirwar on behalf of Haryana Police and Dr. Shivendra Kumar Pandey, Dean (Research and Executive Education) from IIM Rohtak.
• As per the MoA, Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak and Haryana Police propose to jointly develop a course and conduct Post Graduate Diploma in Management for Group-A officers of IPS and DSP rank of State Police. Also, it is proposed to conduct an Executive Certificate Program in Data Analytics specially designed for Policing applications.
• Under this agreement, ways will also be explored to create synergy between the work of the police and the expectations of the citizens. The state government will nominate police officers to participate in the course. The Agreement will be effective for a period of five years.
• The main objective of moa is to establish an institutional mechanism for knowledge-sharing between police officers and faculty and students of IIM-Rohtak, assist state police in capacity building and skill development and facilitate exchange of faculty and research scholars for academic and research purposes on an honorary or consultancy basis.
• The objective of the agreement is to impart managerial skills to senior police officers for effective human resource and content resource management.
• This MoU will enable Haryana Police to update police personnel with latest technological interventions to further improve the quality of investigation of cases, ensure efficient management of records and effective supervision of cases. Annual symposia, seminars, conferences, workshops, short term courses etc. will also be part of this MoA.

Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur District Tops in Custom Milling Rice Procurement

Why In News?

• According to information received from Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department on January 18, 2023, Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district ranks first in the state in terms of rice procurement of custom milling.

Key points

• Against the target of procuring 4,60,300 quintals of rice in the district this year, 2,96,870 quintals of rice has been procured so far, which is 64.49 percent of the total target.
• Along with paddy procurement in the district, the work of lifting and custom milling of procured paddy is being done at a rapid pace. Being a border district, intensive checking of freighters is going on continuously at all the check posts.
• the total 16,022 farmers registered at 23 procurement centres in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district, 6,56,681 quintals of paddy has been procured from 13,066 farmers till January 18.
• Out of the procured paddy, 5,27,263 quintals of paddy has been transported by rice millers, which is 80 percent of the total procurement. The total estimate of paddy procurement in the district is 7,95,200 quintals.

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022

Why In News?

• According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 released on 18 January 2023, enrolment of children in government schools in rural areas of Jharkhand is increasing.

Key points

• the total children enrolled in schools up to class 8 in rural areas, 83.3 percent study in government schools. According to the 2022 report, only 14.6 percent of children study in private schools in rural areas.
• According to this report, in the year 2018, the number of children enrolled in government schools in the state was 78 percent. During this period, the number of children enrolled in government schools has increased by 5 percent.
• This survey has been done among the children of rural areas of the state. The number of children studying tuition in rural areas of the state is also increasing.
• According to this report, in the year 2018, 36.9 percent of the children of classes 1 to 8 were studying tuition, this year their number has increased to 45.3 percent. During this period, the number of children studying tuition has increased by eight percent, while at the national level, the number of children studying tuition has increased by 4 percent during this period.
• The number of children studying tuition also increases as the class increases in the state. The survey was conducted in 720 villages in 24 districts of the state. These included 28196 children from three years to 16 years.
• According to this report, children of class 3 have become weaker in studies than before. According to the report, in the year 2018, 18.7 percent of class 3 children could read class 2 level text, but in the year 2022 this number came down to 14.3 percent.
• According to this report, 16.4 percent of class three children do not recognize letters.
• Only 18.2 percent of class 5 students can read class 1 level text. According to the report, 30.7 percent of children studying in class 5 recognize marks from 11 to 99, while 78 percent of children are unable to participate in subtraction and 76 percent of the children are unable to participate.
• 25.3 percent of class 6 children are able to reduce and 30.7 percent of children are able to participate. 25.4 percent of class 7 children are able to reduce and 41.1 percent of children are able to participate. In class 8, 25.8 percent of the students are able to make a subtraction and 45.3 percent of the children are able to participate.
• According to this report, children are weak in English studies in Jharkhand. 49.1 percent of class 1 students do not recognize capital letters. 30 percent of class II, 18.2 percent of class III, 12.2 percent of class IV and 7.8 percent of class 5 students do not recognize English capital letters.
• 6.8 percent of class III children can read sentences in English, while 33.5 percent of children in class 8 can read sentences. In such a situation, about 77 percent of the children of class eight are not able to read simple sentences of English.
• Highlights of this report: 82.1% schools have drinking water facility but 11.3% schools do not have drinking water, 21.1% schools in the state do not have toilets, 27.1% schools are not using library books, 92.1% schools did not have electricity on electricity connection. 91.5 percent of schools do not have computers for children to use, there are 89.6 percent schools in the state where children of classes 1 and 2 sit together.
• It is worth mentioning that a non-governmental organization 'Pratham' releases this report.

The Animal Husbandry Department will Run a Special Campaign from February 1 to Make the Management of Gothans Tight

Why In News?

• On January 18, 2023, Agriculture Production Commissioner of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Kamalpreet Singh, in a review meeting of Animal Husbandry Department held at Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhavan, directed the departmental officers to purchase cow urine from Gauthans set up in villages and strengthen other facilities including multiutility centers. With this objective, instructions were given to run a special campaign from February 1.

Key points

• Agricultural Production Age Kamalpreet Singh said that the officials of the Animal Husbandry Department will visit all the villages and see the arrangements of day-care for animals in the Gouthan's, arrangement of fodder for animals and the operating system of the Gouthan's.
• He said that it should be seen by the field staff that fodder is available in sufficient quantity for the animals coming to the Gouthan's. They should motivate the farmers to donate and ensure that the donated para reaches the cows through the Gauthan Management Committee.
• Dr. Kamalpreet told the officers that increasing the productivity of animals is possible only by improving the breed of indigenous cows, so expected progress should be made in the animal breed improvement work. He said that the state should approve dairy units on the milk route in the cluster under the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme.
• Dr. Singh asked the veterinary department officials to complete the physical and financial targets of the schemes under the department by February. Implementation of the schemes should be done by creating a cluster and full achievement should be ensured by setting quarterly targets in the future.
• In the meeting, the works of the departmental staff for the prevention of infection of Lumpy Disease in animals and the vaccination work done for the prevention of Galghotu, Ektangia, Khura Paka were also appreciated.

Rock Painting Found in the Hill of Dharamjaygarh Area at a Height of 200 Feet

Why In News?

• Recently Prof. D.S. Maliya, famous for cave exploration and rock painting discovery in Chhattisgarh, has found prehistoric rock paintings in a rock shelter located at an altitude of 200 feet at Dharamjaigarh in Raigarh district.

Key points

• These rock paintings were found in the intensive cave search campaign launched by Prof. D.S. Maliya. Prof. Malia said that the cave exploration campaign is still going on, the detailed information will be shared after the completion of the campaign.
• It is worth noting that in Raigad district till now rock paintings have been received from Kabra Pahad, Singhanpur, Ongana and Ushakothi, Bansajhar, Botalda and some other places which are identified by the State Culture and Archeology Department.
• Cave exploration campaign is being carried out by Prof. D.S. Maliya since 1994 and prehistoric rock paintings have been discovered at 16 other sites, in which the Vandankhoh cave rock paintings found in 2003 from the Panchbhaya hill range of Shokhamuda are the most important, which was discovered by the then Deputy Director of the State Culture Department. Dr. G. L. Badam had termed it as a new discovery.
• According to officials of the State Government's Directorate of Archaeology, the state has shelters ranging from the mid-western period to the historical period, which have become nationally and internationally famous in the maps of history and archaeology.
• The first painted rock shelters in the state were discovered in 1910 by English researcher Anderson. After this, in the year 1918, rock paintings of the hills of Singhanpur in Raigad district were published in India Paintings and in the thirteenth issue of Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Indian historian Amarnath Dutt, between 1923 and 1927, did a comprehensive survey in Raigad district and found many more rock paintings. After him, Dr. N Ghosh, D.H. Garden and Pandit Lochan Prasad Pandey also did important work of study and research in this direction.
• Shail Chitra of Singhanpur in Raigad district is about 20 km west of the district headquarters Raigad. Built on a high hill. They are counted among the oldest rock paintings in the world. These rock paintings are now almost blurred. They also depict hunting scenes, including stair-like males, fish-girls and animal figures.
• Apart from Singhanpur, the district headquarters is only 8 km from Raigad. The paintings made on the Tomb Mountain located in the east are of Garrick color. Among them, geometric ornamentation with wild buffalo, turtle and male figures is particularly notable.
• Raigad district is very rich in terms of rock paintings of early humans. At about 17 km to the south-west from the rock shelters of Singhanpur, in the hills of Basnajhar Village (Tehsil Kharsia), more than three hundred paintings have been marked by the primitive humans. In which scenes of elephant, rhinoceros, wild buffalo, group dance and hunting etc. are marked.
• Only 8 km from Tehsil headquarter Kharsia. Singh cave is located at a height of about two thousand feet in the hills near village Botalda, whose animal hunting scenes and geometrical ornaments on the walls indicate the hustle and bustle of human life thousands of years ago.
• 12 km from Tehsil headquarter Kharsia. But in the hills near Patrapali village near Sooti Ghat, there is a famous rock shelter named Bhanwarkhol, on whose walls fish-girl, wild buffalo, bear, human palm and 'Swastika' symbol of Indian culture are also marked. More than one hundred rock paintings of this type can be seen on the Ongana mountain near Dharamjaigarh in the north direction about 72 km from the district headquarter. This includes groups of bulls and even a human figure with ten heads.
• Not only this but thirty km from the district headquarter itself. But in the hills of Karmagarh, more than three hundred and fifty paintings were done thousands of years ago. In these, many other shape-type pictures including geometric shapes are noteworthy.
• The rock paintings in the shape of animals and birds in Khairpur hill near Tipa Khol Reservoir, twelve km from Raigad itself, are also the center of curiosity for the visitors. 2 km from Kharsia. But Amar cave in the hill of village Sonbarsa, 32 km from district headquarter Raigarh. But village Bhainsgarhi, Sooti Ghat on Bilaspur-Raigarh road and the rock shelters and rock paintings made in the hills of villages Gatadih and Sirauli Dangri, near Sarangarh, the tehsil headquarters of the district, have also become the subject of research for archaeologists.