• 22 Mar 2023

Chief Minister Inaugurated the All-India Police Athletics Championship

Why in News?

On 21 March 2023, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the 71st All-India Police Athletics Championship in the state capital Lucknow. This championship will run till 25 March.

Key Points

• On this occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that after 10 years the state has got an opportunity to organise the All-India Police Athletics Meet. The Border Security Force (SSB) has started for this event.
• More than 1300 participants from a total of 32 teams from various States, Union Territories and Central Police Forces are participating in this championship.
• The Chief Minister informed that the state has made rapid progress in sports activities. Parliamentarian sports and games are being organised here. 2 to 2.5 thousand players engage in creative activities.
• On this occasion, he informed that 500 sports persons would be recruited in government services in the state.

New ROBs will be Built at 63 Places in Bihar

Why in News?

On 21 March 2023, Bihar's Revenue, Land Reforms and Sugarcane Industry Minister Alok Mehta announced the construction of new Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) at 63 places in the state during the discussion on the income-expenditure for the financial year 2023-24.

Key Points

• Minister Alok Mehta informed that an MoU will be signed between Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited and Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited for ROB.
• He informed that GAD approval and DPR are being prepared. At present, 47 out of the proposed ROBs of Railways have been approved by GAD. Out of this, Railways has given permission for 13 ROBs on DPR. In this sequence, ROB will be constructed between Dalsingh Sarai and Nasriganj in Samastipur Railway Division.
• On this occasion, Minister Alok Mehta announced new projects for 2023-24-
  • 11.50 km Long Six Lane from JP Ganga Path from Digha to Sherpur - Rs 3100 crore.
  • River front development and beautification on the way from Digha to AN Sinha - Rs.500 crore.
  • 25.60 km Long Four Lane Green Field Scheme from Nursarai to Silav in the route of Karota-Telmar road - Rs 862 crore.
  • Flood protection in Raghopur Diyara area and construction of internal roads in the area – Rs 1600 crore.
  • Construction of Dengrahighat bridge over Koshi river - Rs.415 crore.

Rajasthan Right to Health Bill, 2022 Passed

Why in News?

On 21 March 2023, Rajasthan's Medical and Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena informed that the state assembly has passed the Rajasthan Right to Health Bill, 2022 by voice vote.

Key Points

• Medical and Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said that the state government had sent this bill to the select committee on the basis of the suggestions of all the members. The suggestions of all the members and doctors have been included in the bill.
• He said that patients should not be denied treatment in hospitals in the state, that is why the Right to Health Bill has been brought. Under this, in case the cost of treatment in emergency is not borne by the concerned patient, the reimbursement will be done by the state government.
• Under the Right to Health Bill, the State Health Authority Logistical Complaint has also been constituted. Along with this, the provision of district level authority has also been made.
• The minister informed that land has been made available to big hospitals at concessional rate by the state government. There is a provision to link these hospitals under the Right to Health Bill.
• The Medical and Health Minister informed that the state is becoming a model state in the field of health. For this, the state government is spending 7 percent of the budget on the health sector.

Rajasthan Advocates Protection Bill, 2023 Passed in Amended Form

Why in News?

On 21 March 2023, Rajasthan's Law and Legal Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal said that the state assembly has passed the Rajasthan Advocates Protection Bill, 2023 in amended form to prevent violence against advocates, in which important suggestions are included given by advocates.

Key Points

• Shanti Kumar Dhariwal said that the Rajasthan Advocates Protection Bill, 2023 has been brought to prevent assault, grievous hurt, criminal force and criminal intimidation against any advocate while discharging his duties in the state. With this law, advocates will get protection against violence.
• He said that Rajasthan is the first state where such a law has been brought in the direction of protection of advocates. For the welfare of the advocates, every year Rs 5 crore is given by the State Government to the Bar Council.
• The provisions of the Bill have been prepared after detailed discussions with advocates. In this regard, the first meeting was held in the year 2019, after which several informal meetings were held to prepare the bill.
• If a criminal damages the property of an advocate, a provision has been made to recover the amount of compensation fixed by the court and give it to the aggrieved advocate. The speedy recovery of this amount of compensation will be done on the lines of arrears of land revenue.
• A provision of punishment of up to 2 years has also been made for misuse of this law by the advocates. Also, Clause 9 of the Rajasthan Advocates Protection Bill, 2023 draft has been deleted.

Jageshwar Nath Teerth Kshetra in Damoh District as Holy Site

Why in News?

In the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 21 March 2023, it was decided to declare Kundalpur Siddha Kshetra and Shri Jageshwar Nath Teerth Kshetra of district Damoh as holy.

Key Points

• Gram Panchayat Kundalpur for Kundalpur Siddha Kshetra and Gram Panchayat Bandakpur for Shri Jageshwar Nath Teerth Kshetra have been declared as holy areas.
• Apart from this, many other important decisions were taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers-
  • The cabinet gave approval to spend Rs 10 crore and plan for cultural activities of the students under the scheme 'Anugunj' for arts-enriched education.
  • Seeing the effect of 'Anugunj', it was decided to organise it at state level, district level and high and higher secondary schools.
  • It is noteworthy that in the year 2019, the draft National Education Policy was released by the Government of India. In this, a lot of emphasis has been laid on the quality of education and extra- curricular activities.
  • A high quality cultural and theatre programme 'Anugunj' was organised at Bhopal level in the financial years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 with the aim of enriching education through the medium of STEAM education system (Way Forward).
  • The cabinet decided to give a grant of Rs 7 crore to Madhya Bhartiya Hindi Sahitya Sabha through Collector Gwalior by the Culture Department for the construction work of Hindi Bhavan. Under the first supplementary estimate of the financial year 2022-23, a budgetary provision of Rs 2 crore will be given to the Central Indian Hindi Sahitya Sabha for the new scheme '9904- Assistance for the construction of Hindi building'.
  • The cabinet approved creation of a new subdivision Prithvipur in district Niwari. The new section will include the entire area of Tehsil Prithvipur. Along with this, the entire area of Tehsil Niwari and Tehsil Orchha will be included in the original subdivision Niwari.
• The cabinet decided to constitute a new tehsil Amayan in district Bhind. A new tehsil will be formed by excluding 64 villages of the existing tehsil Mehgaon and including them in the new proposed tehsil Amayan.
• The cabinet decided to constitute a new tehsil Dudhmaniya in district Singrauli. A total of 34 patwari circles of tehsil Chitrangi will be included in the new tehsil.
• The cabinet approved the formation of new tehsil Bandri in district Sagar. A total of 28 Halkas of Tehsil Malthone will be included in the new Tehsil.
• With the aim of improving health services in the state, the cabinet approved the establishment/upgradation of 184 health institutions (10 civil hospitals, 6 community health centres, 11 primary health centres, 157 sub-health centres).
• The cabinet has given approval for formation of 9 new project implementation units by Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam. Along with this, various posts were also approved for 15 currently working and 9 new project implementation units to be formed.

The Chief Minister Inaugurated the State Government's Ambitious 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana'

Why in News?

On 21 March 2023, on the occasion of World Forestry Day, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel virtually launched the state government's ambitious 'Mukhya Mantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana' in 42 places of all 33 districts of the state from his office room in the assembly premises. This scheme has been launched with the aim of increasing the income of farmers by promoting commercial plantation in rural areas.

Key Points

• On this occasion, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated the mobile-based FRA tool to make forest resource rights accessible to the people and launched the National Transit Pass System (NTPS) in Chhattisgarh to speed up the forest produce-based economy and facilitate the traders.
• Along with this, he transferred a total amount of Rs 22 crore online to the accounts of 1458 beneficiaries under Shaheed Mahendra Karma Social Security Scheme.
• The Chief Minister said that this scheme is a unique scheme in the country, in which private individuals, institutions or companies can earn maximum profit by planting trees of commercial species. It is not just a scheme of tree plantation but also shows our participation and commitment towards climate change in the country.
• ‘Commercial tree plantation will be done in the fallow land of interested farmers of all classes under 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana'. Under the scheme, plantation will be done in 36 thousand 230 acres by 23 thousand 600 farmers of 33 districts. Farmers will get an annual income of 15 to 50 thousand rupees per acre from the scheme. Apart from this, farmers will also get additional income through carbon credits.
• Forest and Environment Minister Mohammad Akbar said that Chhattisgarh is a very rich state in terms of forest wealth. Through 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana', tree plantation will be done in 1 lakh 80 thousand acres in the next 5 years.
• Along with increasing the income of the beneficiaries, this scheme is also an important scheme from the point of view of environmental balance. In the scheme, a provision has been made to give 100 percent subsidy to the beneficiaries who do commercial tree plantation in 5 acres and 50 percent subsidy to the beneficiaries who plant trees on more than 5 acres of land.
• Farmers, interested landowners, government, semi-government and autonomous institutions of the government, private educational institutions, private trusts, panchayats and land contract holders can take advantage of the 'Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana'
• Under the scheme in Chhattisgarh, 12 types of trees will be planted this year. In these, plants of Clonal Eucalyptus, Root Shoot Teak, Tissue Culture, Sandalwood, Melia Dubia, Normal Bamboo, Tissue Culture Bamboo, Rakta Chandan, Amla, Khamar, Shisham and Mahaneem etc. will be planted.
• Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also inaugurated a mobile app during the program to track the process of issuing community forest resource rights.
  • With the use of this mobile app, the entire process of obtaining Community Forest Resource Rights will be simplified.
  • There is a 12-level process from applying for Community Forest Resource Rights to obtaining rights and information is filled in 18 forms.
  • Monitoring of the process of obtaining rights can also be done through the mobile app.
• In the programme, the Chief Minister launched the National Transit Pass System (NTPS) prepared by the Forest Department for transportation of forest produce.
  • Under this facility, applicants can apply for transit permits online and the Forest Department will issue online transit permits. New TP in the interstate border will not be required.
  • Chhattisgarh has become the fourth state to implement the NTPS scheme after Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
• In the programme, the Chief Minister launched the Sakri River Rejuvenation Program through tree plantation with the aim of conserving the Sakri river in Kawardha district and bringing the river flow to its full potential.
  • Under this, riverbank plantation work in forest and revenue land, plantation in private land under Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana, water and soil conservation work under Campa head in forest areas under Narva Yojana and plantation and construction of structures under MNREGA will go in revenue area.
  • With this integrated project, sufficient water will be available to farmers in Karvadha district for domestic use and irrigation for agriculture.

Director of Haryana Sahitya Akademi Released Three Books

Why in News?

On 19 March 2023, Dr. Chander Trikha, Director of Haryana Sahitya Akademi, at the Sahitya Akademi Bhavan, Panchkula, inaugurated the newly published book of litterateur and cinematographer Dr. Om Prakash Kadayan, 'Pagdandiyon ka Safar' and released two books: Haryanvi Muhavare va Lokoktiyan and 'Mati ki Khushboo' (Haryanvi poems) of author, poetess Dr. Suman Kadayan.

Key Points

• On this occasion, Director Dr. Chandra Trikha said that the travelogue collection of litterateur Dr. Om Prakash Kadayan's Pagdandiyon ka Safar' will take the readers to different tourist places of the country, historical heritage sites, remote Himalayas, beautiful valleys and deserts will make you feel the beauty of the sea and the vastness of the sea.
• He said that Dr. Suman Kadayan's book 'Mati Ki Khushboo' will help in enriching the Haryanvi folk language, while the book 'Haryanvi Muhavare va Lokoktiyan' will introduce people to Haryanvi folk literature.

Agriculture University Raipur First Place in Folk Dance Competition

Why in News?

According to the information provided by the Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department on 21 March 2023, the students of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur participated in the folk-dance competition at the 21st All India Inter-Agricultural University Youth Cultural Festival (Agri Unifest) organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Bangalore won gold medal by securing first position.

Key Points

• A 31-member contingent of students at Indira Gandhi Agricultural University participated in the 21st All India Inter-Agricultural University Youth Cultural Festival.
• The students at Indira Gandhi Agricultural University presented the popular traditional 'Panthi dance' of Chhattisgarh in the folk-dance competition.
• In this youth cultural festival, about 20 different competitions were organised in dance, singing, art, literature and drama.
• The university team also got the fourth position in the skit competition organised in the youth cultural festival under the drama genre. Similarly, Vaidehi Dewangan, a student at Agriculture College, Bilaspur, got the fourth position in the poster making competition under art stream.
• It is noteworthy that this year the 21st All India Inter-Agricultural University Youth Cultural Festival was organised by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore from 13 to 17 March 2023, in which teams from 65 agricultural universities across the country participated.

Union Minister Inaugurates Asia's Largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope at Devasthal

Why in News?

On March 21, 2023, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated Asia's largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror telescope.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that this historic event of the inauguration of Asia's largest 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope will provide India with a host of capabilities to study the mysteries of space and astronomy and share the same with the rest of the world. Keep it on a different and higher level.
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (AREES) announced that the world-class 4-metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope (IMLT) is now ready to explore distant and deep celestial space. It received its first light in the second week of May 2022.
• This telescope is located at an altitude of 2450 metres in the observatory complex at Deosthal in Nainital district of Uttarakhand (India) at AREES, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
• Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that IMLT is supported by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (AREES), University of Liège, Belgium and Royal Observatory of Belgium, Poznań Observatory, Poland, Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute of Uzbek Academy of Sciences and Researchers from the National University of Uzbekistan and the University of British Columbia, Laval University, the University of Montreal, the University of Toronto, York University and the University of Victoria in Canada.
• The telescope was designed and built by Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) Corporation and the Center Spatial de Liège in Belgium.
• He said, this ILMT uses a 4-metre diameter rotating mirror made of a thin layer of liquid mercury to collect and condense and focus the light. Metallic mercury is liquid at room temperature and is also highly reflective and therefore, ideally suited to make such a mirror.
• ILMT is the first liquid mirror telescope specially designed for astronomical observation and is the largest aperture telescope currently available in the country as well as the first optical survey telescope in India.
• The ILMT is designed to survey the strip of sky it passes over every night, helping to detect transient or variable celestial objects such as supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris and asteroids.
• This telescope will generate about 10-15 gigabytes of data while scanning a strip of sky every night and the data generated by ILMT will be processed with the facility of application of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) algorithms. The same will be used to classify objects observed with IMLT.
• The minister informed that the data will be rapidly analysed to find and identify variable and transient stellar sources. A DOT of 3.6 m, together with the availability of sophisticated back-end equipment, will allow rapid follow-up observations of the latest discovered transient sources with adjacent ILMTs.
• In addition, the data collected from ILMT would be ideally suited to conduct an intensive photometric and astrometric variability survey over the next 5 years of operational time.
• It is known that a liquid mirror telescope consists mainly of three components – first, a Bowl-like container containing a reflective liquid metal (essentially mercury) and second, an air bearing (or motor) on which the liquid mirror is mounted and third, a drive system. Liquid mirror telescopes take advantage of the fact that the surface of a rotating liquid naturally takes on a parabolic shape that is ideal for focusing light.
• ​​A scientific grade thin transparent film of Mylar protects the mercury from the air flow. Reflected light passes through a sophisticated multi-lens optical corrector that produces excellent images over a wide field of view. Also, a 4K⨯4K CCD camera, located above the mirror at the focus, records 22 arc-minute wide strips of the sky.​