• 24 Aug 2022

Corridor of Thakur Bankebihari Temple

Why In News?

On August 23, 2022, Mathura District Magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal said that the Mathura district administration has proposed to build a corridor of Bankebihari temple on the lines of Kashi Vishwanath after the death of two devotees due to crowd pressure in Bankebihari temple during Mangala Darshan on Shri Krishna Janmashtami.

Key Points

• The Bihariji corridor in Vrindavan will change the form of Thakur Bankebihari temple. With the construction of the corridor, devotees will get freedom from narrow lanes, as well as public facilities will also be provided. The newly constructed Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is being made the basis for Vrindavan.
• Significantly, the area of Kashi Vishwanath Temple is spread over about five lakh square feet. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor also covers 23 buildings and 27 temples. There are four big gates, the glory of Kashi is described on 22 inscriptions in the corridor.
• In this corridor, facilities including Temple Chowk, Mumukshu Bhawan, many passenger facilitation centers, utility buildings etc. have been provided. After Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780, the Kashi temple has been given grandeur through the corridor.
• Apart from this, the corridor of Rameswaram Temple in South India is the largest, which is about 400 feet long. The beauty of the corridor built for Rameswaram, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, is a wonderful example of architecture. The width of this corridor is up to 197 meters.

Five-day Exhibition on Women's Equality Day

Why In News?

On August 23, 2022, Chief Secretary Usha Sharma inaugurated a five-day exhibition of products of women self-help groups at Shilpgram of Jawahar Kala Kendra. The exhibition will be open till August 27.

Key Points

• It is worth mentioning that on the occasion of 'Women Equality Day', a series of five-day celebrations have been started under the joint aegis of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department and Rajasthan Rural Livelihood Development Council.
• The exhibition showcased various handicrafts and handloom products by women of self-help groups from different districts of the state and from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand. About 150 stalls have been set up.
• On this occasion, the Chief Secretary gave several instructions to the officers like regular training of women of women groups, their help in selling their products on online platform and connecting these groups with Anganwadi. Along with this, he also instructed to look into the possibilities of promoting many products of SHGs as corporate gifts.
• Aparna Arora, Principal Secretary of the Department, and State Mission Director and Rural Development Secretary, Rajivika Manju Rajpal told the Chief Secretary that soon an MoU will be signed by Rajivika for the sale of products of women self-help groups through Amazon online platform.

All Government Colleges and Universities of the State will be Connected with e-Granthalaya Software

Why in News?

On August 23, 2022, Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that all the 528 government colleges and 16 government universities of the state will be directly connected to the e- Granthalaya Software of NIC of the Government of India.

Key Points

• Higher Education Minister Dr. The MoU in this regard was signed by officials of NIC and higher education department at mantralaya in the presence of Yadav.
• The Higher Education Minister said that 16 lakh students of the state studying in higher education will benefit from the e-Granthalaya Software. With this software, rare books will also be available to the students to read in digital format. This will improve academic quality.
• At present, 28,000 educational institutions in the country are connected to the e- Granthalaya Software. It is also available on mobile. Students can take advantage of this facility by registering online.
• The resources available in the college and university libraries can be uploaded on it, so that other colleges, universities can take advantage of them.
• NIC officials said that training would also be provided to the staff and professors posted in the library of the college regarding the use of the software.

MoU signed between Jharkhand Government and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) British High Commission

Why In News?

On 23 August 2022, the MoU between the Government of Jharkhand and the Foreign Office of Commonwealth and Development (FCDO), British High Commission, New Delhi and the 'Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Pardeshi Scholarship 2023' was launched.

Key Points

• This MoU was concluded in the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and British High Commissioner Alex Ellis. Under the shared MoU, scholarship will be provided to a maximum of five students.
• Significantly, this is the first time in the history of the country that an MoU has been signed with a state government for a common foreign scholarship.
• 'Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship' will be provided by the Jharkhand Government and the British High Commission to the meritorious children of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Minorities community of Jharkhand.
• With the efforts of the Chief Minister, the British High Commission has started 'Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme', expanding the scope of 'Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme' to provide scholarship to maximum five youths.
• Prior to this, financial assistance was being provided by the Jharkhand Government to the youth belonging to Scheduled Tribes in selected courses of selected institutes/universities of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland through 'Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Pardeshi Scholarship Scheme'. . Now the youth of other sections like Scheduled Castes, Minorities and Backward Classes will also be benefited from the Pardeshi Scholarship Scheme.
• Under this MoU, maximum 5 youths of Jharkhand will be selected for 'Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme' for every academic year. The entire education expenditure of the five selected youth will be jointly funded by the Government of Jharkhand and the British High Commission for Foreign Affairs and Development Office (FCDO). All payments under the MoU will be as per the guidelines approved by the Government of India.
• It is worth mentioning that under the 'Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme', scholarship was being provided to maximum 10 youth in the past, but now maximum 25 youth will be given scholarship.
• Each year a maximum of 10 from the Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand, maximum of 05 of the Scheduled Castes, maximum of 03 of the Minorities and 7 from the Backward Classes have been selected and each year in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the top universities and institutions located in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been selected for the higher in the selected courses. Level education like Masters/M.Phil. Scholarship will be provided for
• The Chief Minister said that a hundred years ago today, a tribal youth from Jharkhand, Jaipal Singh Munda ji got an opportunity to study in Oxford University. Along with his studies, he also captained the Oxford Blues team in hockey. This is the reason that today people know him as Marang Gomke. Jaipal Singh Munda has had a different identity in the state, country and world.

Project Management Unit

Why In News?

On August 23, 2022, Uttarakhand Karmakar Kalyan Board Secretary P.C. Dumka said that a proposal of project management unit (PMU) has been sent to implement the activities of the Workers Board and the best practice of other states. New changes will be implemented soon.

Key Points

• Online cover is being prepared to prevent scams like allocation of bicycles in Uttarakhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. In this, where all the schemes of four lakh workers will be online, the accountability of the officials is also being fixed for the action on those applications.
• A Project Management Unit (PMU) is also being set up for better functioning of the board. It will include experts working in the field of labor welfare, who will put better schemes of various states on the ground in Uttarakhand. .
• All the schemes of the Karmakar Board are being done completely online. Applications will be online, which will have to be completed within the stipulated time period. Online application will be mandatory for all schemes from bicycle allocation. The files will be tagged green, yellow, red online.
• Every officer will get information about pending files every morning through SMS on mobile. If the labor registration is fixed for 30 days, then the file will appear green for 20 days, yellow between 20 and 30 days and then it will turn red after 30 days, the information of which will also go to the top officials. Action will be taken against those who do not work.