Madhya Pradesh

• 23 Jul 2022

Madhya Pradesh gets 'Most Film Friendly State' award

Why In News?

• The 68th National Film Awards 2020 were announced at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on July 22, 2022. In this, Madhya Pradesh was given the 'Most Film Friendly State' award.

Key Points

• For the second time since 2017, Madhya Pradesh has been awarded this award. Thirteen states participated in this category of National Film Awards.
• Apart from this, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were given the award of 'Most Film Friendly State (Special Mention)'.
• In another achievement, the award for Best Ethnographic Film in the Non-Feature Film category went to the film Mandal Ke Bol directed by Rajendra Jangle. The film has been produced by Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum. The film depicts the Baiga tribal life and their rural environment.
• It is noteworthy that in order to attract and invite filmmakers, according to the Film Tourism Policy, 2020 in the state, various types of grants and exemptions are given along with the facility of single window system for filming permission.
• There is a provision of financial grant of up to Rs.10 crore for international films, TV serials and web series, 25% or Rs.2 crores for national feature films and 25% or rs.1 crore for TV serials and web series. Also, a maximum financial grant of Rs.40 lakh will be given for the documentary.
• There is a provision of additional financial grant of up to Rs.25 lakh to take local artistes of the state into filmmaking. A discount of 40% is provided for film crews to stay in hotels and resorts of the Tourism Department with a financial grant of up to 30% on film infrastructure development.
• Land reserved for private investors is available for setting up of film cities, film studios, skill development centres, etc. for the development of film industry in the state. At the same time, various workshops are organized in the state to enhance the skills of local artists. Due to all these efforts, more than 250 films, web series, serials etc. have been shot in the state.

Shree Singaji Thermal Power Station

Why In News?

• On July 22, 2022, unit number four of 660 MW capacity of power station no.2 of Shri Singaji Thermal Power Station Khandwa of Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company set a record of generating 100 consecutive days of power generation.

Key Points

• The plant load factor (PLF) of the unit during this period was 76.3 percent. The unit became operational on March 28, 2019.
• It is noteworthy that in Shree Singaji Thermal Power House Khandwa there are two units of 600-600 MW in power house number one and two units of 660-660 MW in power house number two.
• It is worth mentioning that the thermal power plants of Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company are continuously making records of uninterrupted power generation in the current financial year. Unit number one of 600 MW capacity of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Station has set a record of continuous uninterrupted power generation for 233 days.
• Similarly, unit number 10 of 250 MW capacity of Satpura Thermal Power House Sarni has created records of uninterrupted power generation for 130 days in 186 and 11 for 202 days and unit number 4 of 210 MW of Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power House, Birsingpur.

Burhanpur becomes country's first 'Har Ghar Jal' certified district

Why In News?

• On July 22, 2022, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said burhanpur district has become the first 'Har Ghar Jal' certified district in the country, achieving the unprecedented and proud feat of providing tap-pure drinking water to every household through jal jeevan mission.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister said that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, so far more than 51 lakh 15 thousand rural households of the state are being provided tap water.
• All the 254 villages of Burhanpur district are being supplied with water from the 'Har Ghar Jal' scheme. These villages have been certified 'Every House Water'.
• Significantly, the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' launched in the year 2019 envisages supplying 55 liters of water per person per day to each rural household by the year 2024 through 'Functional Household Tap Connections' (FHTC).
• The mission, which comes under the 'Ministry of Jal Shakti', aims to develop water as a movement, so as to make it a priority of the people.
• In the Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22, as per The Sustainable Development Goal-6 (SDG-6), jal jeevan mission (urban) scheme has been announced under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to provide universal coverage of water supply to households through functional taps in all cities.

Direct Flight Launched between Jabalpur-Kolkata

Why In News?

• On July 22, 2022, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation General V.K. Singh (retd) launched a direct flight between Jabalpur and Kolkata by SpiceJet.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said that there has been a massive expansion in air services in the country in the last one year. In Madhya Pradesh, which was operating 554 aircraft per week in July 2021, the figure has now gone up to 980.
• Providing direct air connectivity to the people of Jabalpur and its surrounding areas will facilitate smooth movement of passengers. The new direct flight will give a new option to the general public to travel, which will boost tourism potential and accelerate the economic activities of both the regions.
• He said Jabalpur was already connected to nine cities — Bengaluru, Delhi, Bilaspur, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Bhopal. It is now being linked to the 10th city of Kolkata.
• The air traffic in Jabalpur has increased to 182. Gwalior was connected to 4 cities in July 2021 with the movement of 56 aircraft, now this figure has increased to 100. Similarly, 308 aircraft were moving in Indore, which has increased to 468 and now it is connected to 20 cities.
• The state capital Bhopal, which had air connectivity with five cities in July 2021, has now been connected to 13 cities and is carrying 226 aircraft. Khajuraho is also connected to Delhi and has 4 flights per week operating from here.

India Innovation Index, 2021

Why In News?

• Madhya Pradesh has been ranked 13^th in the india innovation index-2021 released by NITI Aayog vice chairman Suman Beri on July 21, 2022 in the category of 17 major states.

Key Points

• In NITI Aayog's 3^rd India Innovation Index, the states and union territories were categorized into 17 major states, 10 northeastern and hill states and 9 union territories and city-states for an effective comparison of their performance.
• In the category of 17 major states, Karnataka topped the list with 18.01 points, followed by Telangana with 17.66 points and Haryana at the third position with 16.35 points. Whereas Chhattisgarh is ranked 17th (last) with 10.97 marks.
• Madhya Pradesh is ranked 13th in the category of 17 major states with 12.74 points.
• Manipur topped the northeastern and hill states category with 19.37 points. Uttarakhand (17.67 points) is at the second spot in this category, while Nagaland (11.00 points) is at the bottom.
• Chandigarh (27.88 marks) has topped the union territories and city-states category. In this category, Delhi (27.00 points) is at the second position, while Ladakh (5.91 points) is at the bottom.
• It is noteworthy that the India Innovation Index prepared by NITI Aayog and Competitiveness Institute is a means of evaluating and developing the country's innovation ecosystem. It ranks the states and union territories in order of their innovation performance, so that there is healthy competition among them.
• This innovation index has been prepared on the lines of Global Innovation Index. The analysis was based on 36 indicators in the previous editions, but this time used 66 indicators. The first and second innovation indexes were released in October 2019 and January 2021, respectively.