• 19 Aug 2022

Country's First Night Safari to Begin in Lucknow

Why in News?

On August 16, 2022, the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department to start the country's first night safari in the capital Lucknow.

Key Points

• Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said that on the lines of Singapore's world's first night safari, this night safari in Lucknow will be developed on 350 acres in Kukrail forest area spread over an area of 2027.46 hectare and a zoological park will be built in 150 acres.
• Here separate safaris will be made for Tiger, Leopard and Bear. Lucknow's historic Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden will be shifted from the present place to Night Safari. Kukrail river will be developed as a beautiful riverfront. Toy train will also be run in Night Safari.
• This will be the first night safari in the country. At present there are 13 open day safaris in the country, but not a single night safaris.
• The entrance of Night Safari will be grand and attractive. Interpretation center, Butterfly Interpretation Center will also be built here. Apart from this, there are plans to make Leopard Safari in 75 acres, Bear Safari in 60 acres and Tiger Safari in 75 acres.
• Wild animals will be kept in the kettle grid in the open sky instead of in the enclosure. There will be an open air nocturnal zoo, which will be open only at night. In the safari at night, arrangements will be made for the animals in dim light like the light of the moon. A modern theme park will be built for the tourists during the day.
• Under world-class facilities, night safari will also include train rides and jeep rides with local guides. Apart from this, facilities like canopy walk, camping activity, mountain bike track, wall climbing, tree top restaurant, nature trail and food court will be developed.

Cabinet Approves Formation of Uttar Pradesh Eco-Tourism Development Board

Why in News?

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on August 16, 2022, approved the proposal for the formation of the Uttar Pradesh Eco-Tourism Development Board for the development and management of tourism infrastructure facilities in the permissible areas outside the forest sanctuaries of the state.

Key Points

• Eco-Tourism Board will be headquartered in Lucknow and Chief Minister will be its chairman.
• 10 departments (Tourism, Forest, AYUSH, Rural Development, Irrigation, Urban Development, Agriculture, Horticulture, Sports and Transport) have been included in this board.
• The composition of the Board will be the Eco-Tourism Development Board and the Eco-Tourism Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will be responsible for the necessary action to fulfill the objectives of the Environment Tourism Development Board.
• Eco-tourism Development Board will facilitate activities like Trekking, hiking, cycling, caravan tourism, seaplane and river cruise, adventure tourism as well as hotels, resorts and infrastructure facilities, ballooning, jungle camping and wellness tourism such as- Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy etc for the development of the eco-tourism sector.
• The members of the Development Board will be of two types. In these, the official (ex-officio) members and special ministers will be members. Agriculture Minister, Forest Minister, Ayush Minister, Finance Minister, Tourism Minister, Irrigation Minister, Rural Development Minister, Chief Secretary, Principal Chief Conservator and Head of Department, MD of Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation will be members of the board.
• The Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary will be the Member Secretary of the Tourism Board. Additional Chief Secretary / Principal Secretary Environment, Forest and Climate Change will be in the role of its coordinator.
• Representatives of IRCTC, representative of Sashastra Seema Bal Uttar Pradesh, representative of World Wildlife Fund India, representative of Bombay Natural History Society, representative of Turtle Conservation Fund, representative of Katarniaghat Foundation, five nominated environment and tourism experts will be special ministers. Apart from this, two other reputed institutions working in the field of environment as special ministers will be selected for every two years.

Committees To Be Formed at Panchayat and Block Level For The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics

Why in News?

On August 18, 2022, Naveen Jain, Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Rajasthan, issued instrutions to the Chief Executive Officers and Development Officers of all the districts for the formation of committees at the gram panchayat and block level regarding the preparations for organizing the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics-2022.

Key Points

• Gram Panchayat level competitions for Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympics-2022 will be held from 29 August to 1 September. The winning teams at the gram panchayat level will participate in the competitions organized at the block level from September 12.
• Committee at the Gram Panchayat level - The convenor of the committee will be the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat. The principal, village secretary, patwari and physical teacher of government schools will be the members of the committee.
• Committee at Block Level - The Convenor of Block Level Committee will be the Sub-Divisional Officer of the Panchayat Samiti and the Block Development Officer will be the Member Secretary. In this, the head of the Block Panchayat Samiti, the Chief Block Education Officer, the representative of the Medical and Health Department and the District Sports Officer and the State Physical Teacher will be members.
• It is worth mentioning that for the first time Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games will be organized in the state. In this event starting from August 29, the sports talents of village-Dhani will get a state level platform and the state will get players for the future.
• 30 lakh villagers have registered for these games. Sports like Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Tennisball Cricket, Volleyball, Hockey and Shooting will be played in this. After the districts, the state level games between the winning teams will be held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Hathnikund Dam Project

Why in News?

On August 18, 2022, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar gave his approval for sending the preliminary report prepared by the Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department regarding ambitious Hathnikund Dam project to the Central Water Commission. Apart from the Water Commission, this report will also be sent to the five states.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister said that Hathnikund Dam is an ambitious project of Haryana Government. This report is very important in the construction of this project. Every year during the rainy season water is wasted and the Yamuna River area gets flooded. Due to this, the Haryana government has decided to build a dam in Hathnikund.
• The catchment area of this dam is about 11170 square km. Will happen. With its construction, Haryana will not only get electricity but also water supply. The annual power generation capacity of Hathnikund Dam will be 763 MU.
• This dam is to be built in the region of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This report will be sent to the Central Water Commission and the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
• The Chief Minister said that with the construction of Hathnikund Dam, ground water recharging will take place in the surrounding area and farmers will get benefit from it. Apart from this, every year during rainy days flood situation arises in the area of the Yamuna River. This destroys the crops of the farmers. With the construction of the dam, the problem of floods will be solved.
• Renuka, Kisau and Lakhwar, all three dams will get the benefit of the construction of this dam. The balancing reservoir function of these three dams will be made Hathnikund Dam.
• The Chief Minister said that the dam would not only supply electricity and water, but it would also be made a center of tourism. Any dam is also important from the point of view of tourism.

Central Coalfields Limited Gets Coal Minister's Award 2021-22 in Safety and Stability Category

Why in News?

Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a Jharkhand based subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), bagged the second prize in safety category and third in sustainability category in the Coal Minister's Award for 2021-22 at a function held in New Delhi on August 18, 2022.

Key Points

• Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi presented the Coal Minister Awards, 2021-22 in various categories.
• Prahlad Joshi presented the trophy to PM Prasad, CMD, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in the presence of Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain and CIL Chairman Pramod Agarwal.
• These awards, first introduced last year, were given in three categories - safety, production & productivity and sustainability.
• Expanding the scope of these awards, two new additional categories of quality and ERP implementation have been added this year. As another aspect, General Managers from the best performing sectors were also awarded in four sub-categories this year.
• Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited (MCL) bagged the first prize in three categories, namely 'Safety', 'Production & Productivity' and 'Quality', out of the five categories of awards. While Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) got the first prize in the category 'Sustainability', Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) got the first prize in 'Implementation of ERP'.
• It is to be noted that CCL (formerly NCDC Limited) was established on November, 1975 as a subsidiary out of five subsidiaries of CIL. Central Coalfields Limited is a Category 1 Miniratna Company since the year 2007.
• Central Coalfields Limited has recorded highest production of 68.8 Million Tonnes (MT) and dispatch of 71.8 Million Tonnes (MT) in the last financial year 2021-22 since inception.
• It is noteworthy that Coal India Limited is the first controlling company in the country for coal. Initially it had five subsidiaries, whereas CIL currently has eight subsidiaries.
• Coal India Limited The state owned coal mining corporation came into existence on November, 1975. Coal India Limited, with an ordinary production of 79 million tonnes (MT) in the year of its inception, is today (as on 11 August 2022) the world's largest coal producer with a production of 224 million tonnes (MT) and is one of the largest corporate employers with a manpower of 2,48,550 (as on 1 April, 2022) .
• CIL, spread across eight states of India, operates through its subsidiaries in 84 mining areas. Coal India Limited has 318 mines (as on 1st April, 2022), of which 141 are underground, 158 open mines and 19 mixed mines. CIL also has 21 Training Institutes and 76 Vocational Training Centres.

Swami Atmanand English Medium Model College to Come up in Chhattisgarh

Why in News?

On August 18, 2022, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced to start Swami Atmanand English Medium Adarsh Mahavidyalaya in a phased manner in Chhattisgarh.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister has directed the Chief Secretary to submit an action plan in 10 days regarding starting Swami Atmanand English Medium Adarsh Mahavidyalaya (Swami Atmanand English Medium Model College).
• With this decision of the Chief Minister, children studying in English medium schools will no longer have to go out for higher education after 12th. Quality higher education in English medium will be available in the state itself.
• In the first phase, from the coming academic session June 2023, at least 10 English medium colleges will be opened in major cities of the state. Similarly, in the next three years, English medium colleges will be opened in all the district headquarters of the state.
• It is noteworthy that on the special initiative of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the State Government has started Swami Atmanand English Medium School to provide quality education in English medium to the children of weaker sections and middle class families of the society. Last year 51 schools were started, due to the popularity of these schools the number of Swami Atmanand English Medium Schools has increased to 247 at present.
• Now with the start of Swami Atmanand English Medium Adarsh Mahavidyalaya, children studying in these schools as well as children of private English medium schools will not have to go out for higher education in English medium.
• Seeing the success of this scheme, on August 15, 2022, the Chief Minister had announced to implement Swami Atmanand Utkrisht Vidyalaya Yojana in 422 schools of the state before the upcoming academic session in the state. Out of these, 252 schools will be in Bastar and Surguja divisions.
• 100 percent government high schools and higher secondary schools of Dantewada district will be transformed as Swami Atmanand Utkrisht Vidyalaya.
• The Chief Minister has said that the education revolution of Chhattisgarh will present the best education model of the country in the future.

Centre Sends Proposal for Rishikesh Development to German bank

Why in News?

Recently, the central government has sent a proposal of Rs 1600 crore to German bank KfW for the Integrated Urban Infrastructure Development Project of Yognagri Rishikesh. This project will be funded by a German bank.

Key Points

• On the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Finance Ministry has sent a proposal of 160 million euros, i.e. about Rs 1295 crore, to the German funding agency KfW for the integrated development of Rishikesh city.
• The total cost of this project is about 200 million euros (about Rs 1600 crore). The financial ratio of the central government and the state government for the project will be 80:20.
• With the Integrated Urban Infrastructure Development Project in Rishikesh, better basic facilities will be available to the local citizens and tourists in Rishikesh city, which is known as Yoga Nagari in the world.
• It is worth mentioning that lakhs of tourists visit Rishikesh every year. During the Chardham Yatra, the traffic system is badly affected due to the rush of pilgrims. For this, elevated roads will be built in Rishikesh, which will help to get rid of traffic jams.
• Upon completion of this project, there will be an increase in the urban liveability standards of the citizens. The business and livelihood level of the local people will improve. Citizens and tourists will get better drinking water and sanitation facilities. Their livelihood activities will increase.