• 26 Oct 2023

State-of-the-Art Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles (EVs) will be Built on the Expressways

Why In News?

According to information received from the media on October 25, 2023, state-of-the-art charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) will be built on the expressway of Uttar Pradesh. For this, the process of setting up public charging stations with battery swapping systems has started.

Key Points:

• Public charging stations with battery swapping systems will be set up on Yamuna, Agra-Lucknow, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Gorakhpur Link Expressways.
• The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) will develop these charging stations in PPP mode.
• UPEIDA will give land for 10 years on ordinary lease to the selected applicants for charging stations. Also, UPEIDA will provide 100 percent financial support. Through the tender, the charge point operator will be selected who will develop the public charging station.
• Apart from this, the government will set up 2000 charging stations to promote electric vehicles. This includes 1,300 EV public charging stations in municipal cities including Agra, Lucknow, Prayagraj, 100 in heritage sites like Ram Mandir, Taj Mahal, 200 at tourist places like Mathura-Vrindavan and Varanasi-Ayodhya and 400 EV public charging stations on national and state highways of the state.

15 Craft Artists of Bihar honoured with State Award and 14 Merit Awards for the year 2021

Why In News?

On October 25, 2023, Bihar Industries Minister Sameer Kumar Mahaseth honoured 15 craftsmen from the state with the state award for the year 2021 and the Medha award to 14 at a ceremony held at Adhiveshan Bhawan.

Key Points:

• The awardees were given Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
• These artists have been selected through a state award competition. From November 15, 2021, to December 24, 2021, a competition was organized by Upendra Maharathi Crafts Institute for various crafts. A total of 322 artists participated.
• Artists awarded the State Award (2021):
  • Archana Kumari (Madhubani Painting), Bhagwan Thakur (Madhubani Painting), Ambika Devi (Paper Meshi Craft), Deepesh Soni (Wood Art), Swati Raj (Metal Craft), Radha Kumari (Sikki Art), Abhishek Kumar (Leather Art), Hina Kumari (Manjusha Painting), Chandrakanti Devi (applied craft), Suman Singh (Sujani Art), Anita Pandey (Bhojpuri Art), Gyananti Devi (Croatia), Pooja (Tikuli Painting), Namita Azad (Other Beautiful Paintings).
• Meritorious Artists:
  • Abha Das (Madhubani Painting), Manju Karan (Madhubani Painting), Amresh Kumar Lal Das (Madhubani Painting), Ruby Devi (Madhubani Painting), Rama Devi (Madhubani Painting), Sunil Kumar Chaudhary (Manjusha Painting), Jhana Rani (Paper Mache Craft), Rupa Kumari (Jute Craft), Meena Devi (Applied Craft), Sujata Kumari (Sujani Craft), Kaushiki Srivastava (Block Painting), Nikki Kumari (Bhojpuri Art), Soni (Bhojpuri Art), Soni (Tikuli Painting)

Safe School Safe Rajasthan - Second Phase of Awareness on 'Unsafe Touch' on 28th October

Why In News?

On October 25, 2023, Rajasthan School Education Department Secretary Naveen Jain said that under the 'Safe School Safe Rajasthan' campaign in more than 65 thousand government schools of the state, the second phase of awareness about 'Good Touch Bad Touch' will be organized on October 28 on 'No Bag Day'.

Key Points:

• Government Secretary Naveen Jain said that under this, master trainers prepared at the school level will give special training to all the children in a fixed time (between 8 am to 12 noon) on the same day.
• Under this specially designed training module, children are taught the 'No-Go-Tell' principle of 'No-Go-Tell' by shouting 'No' in a bad touch situation and carefully running away from the place or person and telling an elder or the person they trust the most without any fear or panic about it.
• Psychologists and experts believe that if children are trained on this sensitive subject in three phases at regular intervals, it becomes permanently part of their understanding and behavior.
• They can keep themselves safe by facing 'Unsafe Touch' with alertness and alertness. For this purpose, the outline of the training has been prepared by the School Education Department in a phased manner. After the second phase this month, the third phase of training will be held in January in the new year.
• In the first phase of this campaign, on August 26 (Saturday), more than 58 lakh children were made aware and trained about 'unsafe touch' in more than one lakh sessions under the 'No Bag Day' activity in 65 thousand 122 government schools of the state.
• The Government Secretary informed that under this innovative initiative of the department, special training has been given to 1200 master trainers at the state level. Through these, in the training sessions organized in the districts, a teacher from all the schools of the concerned district has been made a 'Master Trainer'.
• In the first phase, these 'Master Trainers' prepared at the school level were trained by all the children in their respective schools for unsafe touch and bad touch. On the same lines, the second phase will be held in more than 65 thousand schools of the state on October 28 under 'No Bag Day'.

State Level Sanjhi Utsav-2023

Why In News?

As part of a concerted effort to preserve and propagate Haryanvi culture, the Haryana Art and Cultural Affairs Department in collaboration with Haryana Folk Arts Association, Rohtak jointly organized the state-level Sanjhi Utsav- 2023 program in Rohtak.

Key Points:

• It may be noted that this program is an initiative to acquaint the younger generation with the rich Haryanvi culture as well as to preserve it. Under this, various competitions were organized from October 15 to 24, which saw the participation of rural women as well as school and college students from every corner of the state.
• The first prize of Rs 51,000, second prize of Rs 31,000 and third prize of Rs 21,000 and two consolation prizes of Rs 11,000 each were given to the winners of the state-level joint festival and competition.
• Recognizing the dedication and talent of the women participants in the common competition, the department has decided to award six incentive prizes, each of which will be given a prize of Rs 5100.
• Apart from this, each woman and student participating in the state level competition will get a citation and a prize of Rs 1100. Around 200 women from across the state participated in the competition.
• In the state-level Sanjhi Mahotsav and competition, Manju of Rohtak was given the first prize, Sangeeta second, Sneh Dhul third, Rekha of Jind fourth and Sunita Rani got the fifth prize.
• The recipients of the incentive awards include Anjali and Shilam from Jhajjar, Indu Bhavna from Rohtak, Amita Dhanda from Panchkula and Sita and Suman from Sonipat.
• It is noteworthy that the festival of Navratri in the country is celebrated in different regions with different names and different ways. Sanjhi festival is celebrated in most areas of north Indian states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Here Maa Durga is worshiped as Sanjhi Mata.
• In the Sanjhi festival, the women and girls of the house bring soil from the pond or river in the village and the village and carve the figure of Sanjhi Mata on the wall in the house itself and then worship them for 10 days.

‘Meri Maati Mera Desh-Amrit Kalash Yatra’ will be organised at Raj Bhavan.

Why In News?

According to the information given by the Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department on October 25, 2023, the CRPF has been deployed in the state. A state-level programme of 'Meri Maati Mera Desh- Amrit Kalash Yatra' will be organized at Raj Bhavan in coordination with Nehru Yuva Kendra.

Key Points:

• Under the Amrit Mahotsav of independence, soil has been collected in kalash from all gram panchayats by going from house to house in honor of the martyrs of India. The soil collected from every village will be brought to Raj Bhavan under 146 development blocks of 33 districts of the state.
• To celebrate the 75th year of Independence, the Amrit Kalash will be transported to the duty path of the capital New Delhi. Where Amrit Vatika will be constructed in honor of martyrs from soil brought from different states.
• To mark the occasion, a state-level programme is being organized at Raj Bhavan on October 27, 2023. CRPF officials met Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan at Raj Bhavan and invited him for the event. The Governor gave instructions to organize a grand program.

Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project of Uttarakhand Included under PMKSY-AIBP

Why In News?

On October 25, 2023, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the inclusion of Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project of Uttarakhand under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (PMKSY-AIBP) of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Key Points:

• The Union Cabinet has approved central assistance of Rs 1,557.18 crore to Uttarakhand for completion of the project at an estimated cost of Rs 2,584.10 crore by March 2028.
• The project envisages construction of a dam near Jamrani village on Gola River, a tributary of Ram Ganga River in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. The dam extends its 40.5 km (about 25.17 mi) stretch to the existing Gola Barrage. Long canal system and 244 km. The long canal will give water through the system, which was completed in 1981.
• The project envisages additional irrigation of 57,065 hectares (9,458 hectares in Uttarakhand and 47,607 hectares in Uttar Pradesh) in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand and Rampur and Bareilly districts of Uttar Pradesh.
• Apart from construction of two new feeder canals, 207 km (about 128.62 mi) of existing canals are to be renovated and 278 km (about 172.74 mi) of canals are to be renovated under the project. Paved field channels are also to be implemented.
• Additionally, the project also envisages hydro power generation of 14 MW as well as provision of 42.70 million cubic meters (MCM) of drinking water to Haldwani and surrounding areas, benefiting more than 10.65 lakh population.
• A major share of the irrigation benefits of this project will also accrue to the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh and cost/benefit sharing between the two states is to be done as per an MoU signed in 2017. However, the drinking water and electricity benefits are solely envisaged for Uttarakhand only.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
  • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) was launched during the year 2015-16 with the objective of increasing access to water on the farm and expanding cultivable area under assured irrigation, improving efficiency of water use in the field, implementing sustainable water conservation practices etc.
  • The Government of India had in December 2021 approved the implementation of PMKSY during 2021-26 with an overall outlay of Rs 93,068.56 crore (central assistance of Rs 37,454 crore).
  • The Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) component of PMKSY deals with creation of irrigation potential through major and medium irrigation projects. Under PMKSY-AIBP, 53 projects have been completed so far and 25.14 lakh hectares of additional irrigation potential has been created.
  • So far, six projects have been covered under the AIBP component of PMKSY after 2021-22. The Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project is the seventh project to be included under AIBP.