• 22 May 2023

Tunnel construction started for the Agra Fort-Taj Mahal Metro Railway Line

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 21 May 2023, the metro railway line construction between Agra Fort and Taj Mahal will be completed soon. After making the first breakthrough in a record time of 77 days, TBM Yamuna has started construction of the tunnel towards the Taj Mahal Metro Station.

Key Points:

• It is known that before Agra, the metro started in many districts of Uttar Pradesh. But the metro work in Agra is also special because Agra Metro Rail Project is the first such project where the first breakthrough has been done in a record time of just 77 days after the TBM launch.
• TBM Yamuna was launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in February. After this, TBM Yamuna completed the tunnel work from the powerhouse to Agra Fort by making the first breakthrough in 77 days.
• The construction of the underground metro line by TBM is mainly divided into 3 phases. The first stage in the process is the initial drive, in which the TBM starts digging the channel from the launching soft.
• In this step, the temporary rings are fitted manually. During this, the thrust jacks fitted in the machine propel the TBM forward with the help of these temporary ring segments. After this, the TBM reaches the main drive. The TBM constructs the tunnel by drilling as well as by installing permanent ring segments. After this, the TBM machine comes out by breaking through at the other end.

STP to be built in the cities along the banks of river Ganga in Bihar

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 21 May 2023, Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) will be built in the cities along the banks of the river Ganga in Bihar. Manure will be prepared from the waste generated from the plant.

Key Points:

• According to information, along with the construction of the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) in 23 cities along the banks of river Ganga and 16 cities of its tributaries in Bihar, work is also underway on FSTP (Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant) in 76 small towns.
• After collecting the filth coming out of private septic tanks through these FSTPs, it will be treated and prepared as manure. At present, the land is being searched for the construction of FSTP in the identified bodies.
• The total capacity of FSTP plants to be set up in 76 cities will be 1287 KLD. That is, the plants to be established will be able to dispose of 1287 kilo-litres of septic and contaminated waste every day.
• At present, people in small towns use only septic tanks for defecation. The faecal sludge that is emptied through the tankers, is thrown into empty spaces, pits or drains, causing many serious diseases and contaminating the water sources. To control this and to facilitate the people, a plan has been prepared to set up an FSTP plant.
• According to officials, the plant not only treats sludge from domestic septic tanks but also all other types of contaminated waste in the city, separating them into solid and liquid. The solid waste left over from the plant after treatment can be used as manure while the liquid can be used for irrigation. The plant works in several steps on a completely scientific basis.
• Apart from Ganga and its tributaries, Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) are also being prepared in eight other important cities. Among these, 4 cities with dirty rivers are Ramnagar, Narkatiaganj, Raxaul and Jogbani while 4 important cities are Gaya, Ara, Bettiah and Katihar.
• A total of 251.75 MLD capacity STP is being installed here. Of these, the tendering process is underway for 9 MLD capacity STP in Ramnagar and 7 MLD capacity in Narkatiaganj, while the DPR of sewerage treatment plants of 12 MLD capacity in Raxaul, 42.5 MLD in Jogbani, 84 MLD in Gaya, 47 MLD in Arrah, 33 MLD in Bettiah and 55.5 MLD in Katihar has been prepared and sent to NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga). As soon as it is approved, the work will be started after completing the tender process.
• It may be noted that out of about six dozen STP projects approved for keeping the rivers clean, only seven projects have been completed and started so far. The facility to treat even 10% of the total dirty water coming out of the cities has not been developed so far.

Now 2 Luv- Kush Vatika in every district

Why in News?

On 20 May 2023, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot approved Rs 66 crore for developing two Luv-Kush Vatikas in all the districts of the state. This will give a boost to Eco-Tourism in the state.

Key Points:

• With the decision of the Chief Minister, models related to forests and wildlife will be established in these gardens, through which children will be able to learn about environment & wildlife conservation. There will be space for the construction of eco-trail paths and exhibitions.
• These gardens aim to educate and educate the common people about environmental protection.
• It is worth mentioning that in the budget for the year 2023-24, the Chief Minister had announced the development of one additional garden in each district.

Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota & Ajmer cities will be 3D cities

Why in News?

On 20 May 2023, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a financial proposal of Rs 106.46 crore for the implementation of GIS-based 3D City and Rajdhara Satellite Imagery Repository projects in 4 cities of the state, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer.

Key Points:

• Geographic Information System (GIS) based 3D city models of Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota & Ajmer cities will be developed by the state government for better planning and management of urban development.
• With this, land use is proposed in the master plan of the cities, new roads, flyovers, construction & expansion of new colonies, drainage plan including various works on the ground, large-scale infrastructure development, transport planning, land planning, town planning etc. will be easier to make effective assessment, simulation and planning.
• A virtual tour of the city can also be done through Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) of the developed 3D model.
• Apart from this, a repository of satellite imagery of different time periods of Rajasthan will also be established on the Rajdhara platform. This will facilitate the analysis of land use, land cover, changes in reservoirs/water sources & forest areas, crop yield estimation, growth & spread of cities, etc. as per the requirements of various departments.

Rajasthan Sahitya Academy Award 2022-23

Why in News?

On 19 May 2023, Art Literature and Culture Minister of Rajasthan B. D. Kalla honoured litterateurs for their invaluable contribution to the field of music, art and literature at Rajasthan Sahitya Academy's annual award ceremony 2022-23.

Key Points:

• Rajasthan Sahitya Academy's annual award-honouring ceremony was held at Bhagwat Singh Mehta Auditorium of Harishchandra Mathur Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration (OTS).
• Meera Award, Rangeya Raghav Award, Sudhindra Award, Devilal Samar Award, Devraj Upadhyay Award, Kanhaiyalal Sahal Award, Shambhu Dayal Saxena Award, Sumnesh Joshi Award, Pardeshi Award, Chandradev Sharma Award and Sudha Gupta Award were distributed in the ceremony.
• On this occasion, many eminent litterateurs of the state were also honoured with the special litterateur honour.
• Farooq Afridi, a special officer of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, was also honoured with the Distinguished Writer Award for his significant contribution to the field of literature.
• These writers were awarded-
  • Under the annual awards for 2022-23, the Rangeya Raghav Award given in the fiction and the novel genre was given to Banswara resident Bharat Chandra Sharma for his novel 'Pir Parbat-Si'.
  • The Sudhindra Award for poetry was given to poet Mayamrig of Jaipur for his collection of poems 'Mujhme Meetha Tu Hain' and the Devi Lal Samar Award for one-act play was given to Jaipur resident Ajay Anuragi for his play 'Wrong Number'.
  • The prestigious Devraj Upadhyay Award in the field of criticism was given to Rajaram Bhadu of Bharatpur origin for his work of criticism 'Kavita ke Ayaam' and the Kanhaiyalal Sahal Award for various genres was given to Jaipur's satirist Yash Goyal for his work 'Namumkin Neta'.
  • Shambhu Dayal Saxena Award in the field of children's literature was given to Kusum Agarwal of Kankroli for her book 'Hum Sab Ek Hain'.
  • The prestigious Meera Award was presented to Rati Saxena for her work 'Hasee Ek Prarthana Ke Liye'.
  • All these awards are worth Rs. 31,000.
  • The first published work amounting to Rs. 21,000, Sumnesh Joshi Award was given to Udaipur resident story writer Tarana Parveen for her story collection 'Ek Sau Aath'.
• Emerging litterateurs were also honoured by the Academy
• School Level Pardeshi Award
• For poetry - Pracha Sharma of Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' School, Jaipur for 'Sagar Moti and other poems,
• For the story- Divya Sanap of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Pallu-Hanumangarh for the story 'Khushi ke Aansoo',
• For Essay - Harshita Meena of Raumavi Amarpura-Udaipur for essay on 'Navachaaron ka Udbhav'
• For short story - Awarded for the short story 'Asli Taqat' by Armaan Nadeem of Government Sardul Umavi Bikaner.
• College Level Chandra Dev Sharma Award
• For poetry - Himanshu Bhardwaj of Government Lohia College, Churu for 'Spriha and other poems,
• For story- Nirmala Sharma of Twenty-One College Gopalyan-Lunkaransar for the story 'Koi Chara Nahi',
• For one act - Tanishka Padihar of Maa Jalpa Devi Government College, Taranagar for one act 'Jago Pyare, Jago',
• For Essay- Maina Kanwar of Sona Devi Sethia Girls College, Sujangarh was given for the essay 'Vigat aur Sambhavnaye'.
• Sudha Gupta College Level Poetry Award was given to Suraj Kumari of Women's Post Graduate College, Jodhpur for 'Prakriti ki Awaz and other poems'.
• It is worth mentioning that under all the above awards, Rs. 5,000 are given per award.

MoU signed between Ahuse (Denmark) & Rajasthan Government

Why in News?

On 19 May 2023, in the presence of Rajasthan's Public Health Engineering Minister Dr. Mahesh Joshi, an MoU was signed between Ahuse, Denmark and the Government of Rajasthan for urban water management in the conference hall of the Secretariat.

Key Points:

• The MoU was signed by Dr. Subodh Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary, PHED & Water Resources on behalf of the state government while Director Planning Louise Pepe digitally signed on behalf of Ahuse (Denmark).
• Public Health Engineering Minister Dr. Mahesh Joshi said that mutual cooperation between Denmark and Rajasthan in various fields was initiated in March 2021. Taking forward the link of mutual cooperation between Rajasthan and Denmark, this MoU has been signed.
• Rajasthan and Denmark will work together in various fields like improvement of services & quality in the urban drinking water sector, reduction in non-revenue water (waste) by increasing the efficiency of the distribution system, Integrated Management of Water Resources & Ground Water Aquifer Mapping, Planning & recycling of wastewater management and green solutions for rejuvenation of rivers.
• Emphasizing the efficient use of water & water conservation, the Water Supply Minister said that there is zero wastage of water in Denmark and there is full use of water there. Rajasthan will be benefited from mutual cooperation in their techniques of saving water in different ways, drinking water, wastewater management and recycling, rejuvenation of rivers etc.
• Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Subodh Aggarwal said that this MoU has been signed after completing approvals and procedures at various levels, including the Ministry of Jal Shakti of the Central Government. With this, smart water technology in drinking water management, reduction in non-revenue water (waste), treatment of wastewater and along with recycling, Denmark's technical assistance will be provided for the retrieval of rivers.
• After this MoU, cooperation between Ahus and Rajasthan will be increased in the field of efficient water management in big districts like Jodhpur, Kota and Jaipur.
• Danish Ambassador Freddy Swan said that there is a strategic partnership between Denmark and India. He said that positive efforts will be made for long-term mutual cooperation with Rajasthan.

Ladli Behna Forces’ will be formed in all the villages

Why in News?

On 21 May 2023, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in the 'Ladli Behna Mahasammelan' organized at Gandhwani in Dhar district that Ladli Behna Forces will be formed in all villages for better implementation and monitoring of schemes for the welfare of sisters.

Key Points:

• In the Mahasammelan, the Chief Minister inaugurated development works worth Rs 229 crore 66 lakh and performed Bhoomi-Pujan of development works worth Rs 187 crore 76 lakh.
• Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the role of Ladli Behna Forces will be activated for better implementation of schemes and monitoring of works. 21 members will be included in big villages and 11 members in small villages.
• The Chief Minister said that in the year 2017, a scheme to provide Rs 1000 per month was started for special backward tribes Bega, Saharia and Bharia. With this amount, women can do the work of buying fruits, milk, vegetables etc. at home.
• Ladli Behna Schemes is also an extension of this idea. In this, it was decided to provide 12 thousand rupees every year to all sisters except those belonging to special backward tribes. From 10 June, women will start getting the benefits of this scheme.
• The Chief Minister said that with the opening of PM Mitra Textile Park in Dhar district, women in the area would get easy employment. 2 lakh people will get jobs from the textile park.
• On this occasion, sisters from 13 development blocks of Dhar district handed over Patis (letters) to Chief Minister Shri Chouhan on behalf of 90,000 sisters of the district, in which they thanked him for starting the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Scheme.

Union minister gifted Water Supply Schemes to Saria and Birni of Giridih

Why in News?

On 20 May 2023, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi laid the foundation stone of water supply schemes in the Saria and Birni block of Giridih district.

Key Points:

• Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi laid the foundation stone of two water supply schemes, Amanari and Kailatand water supply scheme, to be built for Rs 54 crore at Karandih under the Amanari panchayat of Saria block area of Giridih district.
• This scheme will benefit the 20,889 people of a dozen villages of Amanari, Parasia and Ghuthiapesra panchayats.
• About 20,000 people in a dozen villages of Kailatand, Mokamo, Bandkhari and Kusmadih will be benefited from the Kailatand water supply scheme.
• MLA Vinod Kumar Singh said that the Kailatand water supply scheme would be completed for Rs 24 crore for Amanari and Rs 30 crore. Thousands of people in the area will be benefited from this scheme and the people of the area will get pure drinking water.

Grassland will be built in Dalma of Jamshedpur

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 20 May 2023, to reduce the conflict between elephants & humans in the villages adjacent to the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary of Jamshedpur and to overcome the shortage of wildlife, the Forest Department will develop grassland in the forest area.

Key Points:

• According to the information, the Forest Department has prepared an action plan for this. Grassland will be developed in the forest area so that animals can be prevented from coming out through it.
• Through Grassland, an exercise has been started to strengthen the food chain for vegetarian and non-vegetarian animals in the Dalma Century area.
• It is known that due to the continuous encroachment in the Dalma Sanctuary area, the animals living in it are not getting enough food in the forest area, due to which elephants & other animals are continuously entering the populated area and they are targeting children & cattle.
• Due to the increasing human-wildlife conflict, the Forest Department has also started work on its effective control. An adequate food chain will be prepared for all the animals by developing grassland in the Dalma Century area spread over 194 square kilometres.
• At present, 10 hectares of grassland are being developed in Dalma Century. With their development, the population of wild animals living in Dalma Sanctuary will increase, apart from vegetarian animals, caretaking of animals will also be easy and sufficient prey for food will also be available inside Dalma.

The Chief Minister launched the 'Hamar Sughghar Laika Abhiyan'

Why in News?

On 21 May 2023, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched the 'Hamar Sughghar Laika Abhiyan' at the 'Bharose Ka Sammelan' program organized at Sankra in Durg district.

Key Points:

• It was told by the concerned officials of the district that the aim of 'Hamar Sughghar Laika Abhiyan' is to bring 18 hundred malnourished children identified on the basis of the survey list of the district into the category of well-nourished children soon.
• This is the first program in the state to be launched at the district level. The speciality of this campaign is to manage the growth of children on the basis of appetite tests.
• In this, ANM and Mitanin will go door-to-door to test the appetite of children falling in the category of malnutrition. Apart from this, a camp will be organized for the screening of children. After this, the families of children falling in the category of malnutrition will be made aware like a nutritionist and they will also be given training.
• Under this campaign, training and guidance will be given to the family until the condition of the child improves by establishing harmony with the concerned family.

The state will soon get Cyber Forensic Lab

Why in News?

According to the information received from the media on 19 May 2023, the Uttarakhand Police will no longer have to depend on the Central Forensic Lab or the labs of other states for investigation in cyber crimes. Soon the state will get its own forensic lab.

Key Points:

• According to the information, the Central Government has approved a budget of Rs 4 crore. of this, Rs 1.25 crore has also been released as a limit.
• It is known that cyber crimes are increasing continuously. At present, Uttarakhand has the fifth place in the country, where the maximum number of cyber crimes are registered. In many cases, computers, mobiles and other items are sent to the Central Forensic Lab, Chandigarh, for forensic examination.
• The Chandigarh Lab has priority to investigate cases of the Chandigarh Police. After this, he gives preference to Punjab and Haryana Police. In such a situation, the police number of Uttarakhand or other states comes much later.
• According to the police officers, sometimes the investigation of the cases is also affected due to delays in the investigation reports. There is also pressure to submit the investigation report in court. In such a situation, a proposal was sent last year to set up a cyber forensic lab.

90% of Eco-Tourism Earnings will be spent on the Local Community

Why in News?

On 18 May 2023, the Uttarakhand cabinet approved the proposal for revenue sharing in eco-tourism activities. Under this, 90 % of the income from eco-tourism in Uttarakhand will be spent at the local level.

Key Points:

• Under the proposal passed by the cabinet, 10 % of the earnings in the first year from the fees charged for various items (entrance fee, adventure activities, parking, stay facilities, camping) in new eco-tourism destinations in forest areas outside the protected areas and in the coming years, 20 % will be deposited in the account of the government.
• Organizations & committees formed at the local level for conducting tourism activities will be able to spend this money on the maintenance of tourist places and other items.
• This system will remain in force till the first year, while from the second year onwards 20 % of the earnings will go to the government and 80 % to the local community.
• Apart from this, for such eco-tourism destinations, whose income exceeds Rs 5 crore after a time, then the additional amount will be deposited in the state fund. Regarding already operated eco-tourism destinations, 20 % will be deposited in the treasury, while 80 % will remain with the local bodies for their maintenance etc.
• Three awards will also be given to the districts which have done excellent work in developing eco-tourism destinations. Rs 1 crore will be given as the first prize, Rs 75 lakh for the second and Rs 50 lakh for the third prize.
• The districts will use this prize money to take forward other activities of eco-tourism. The district which comes first will not be considered for this award for the next three years.
• It may be noted that the Uttarakhand Eco-Tourism Development Corporation was established in 2016 under the Companies Act, of 2013. Under this, a proposal for revenue sharing has now been passed.