• 27 Oct 2023

In Bihar, Names of lakhs of Children were Removed from School on the Instructions of the Education Department.

Why In News?

• According to the information given by Bihar Agriculture Department on October 26, 2023, the state government has decided to increase the area of maize in the state to increase the production of ethanol. The government plans to emphasize maize cultivation in all districts and plant 100 percent hybrid seeds.

Key Points:

• According to the Bihar Agriculture Department, the government plans to expand the area of maize cultivation in all 38 districts of the state. Maize is cultivated mostly by farmers in the northern and eastern plains.
• As part of the process of inspection of schools on the instructions of Additional Chief Secretary, from July to October 24, 2023, the enrollment of a total of 21 lakh 90 thousand 20 students of classes 1 to 12 has been canceled from all over the state.
• The highest number of 1,43,140 nominations have been rejected from East Champaran, while the lowest 13,237 nominations have been rejected in Sheikhpura district.
• Students from classes 1 to 8 are more than the total number of students who have been canceled from schools. This includes 18,28,859 students studying in classes 1 to 8 and 3,61,161 students from classes 9 to 12.
• The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has banned these students from appearing in the upcoming matriculation and inter examinations.
• However, there is a provision to give an opportunity to the students whose enrollment has been canceled, for this the parents will have to submit an affidavit to come to the school regularly.
• If a child's enrolment has been cancelled due to low attendance, parents can ensure the child's re-enrolment by submitting an undertaking to attend regular school, but in case the child does not attend regular school, the enrolment can be cancelled again.

30 Water Supply and 9 Sewerage Projects Approved for 15 Districts

Why In News?

• Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal on October 23, 2023 has given administrative approval to 30 water supply and 9 sewerage projects worth more than Rs. 1300 crore for 15 districts with a view to strengthen water supply and sewerage system.

Key Points:

• In these 15 districts, 30 water supply projects costing Rs 1018 crore and 9 sewerage projects costing Rs 283 crore will be implemented by the Public Health Engineering Department under 'AMRUT 2.0'.
• These districts include Ambala, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Jind, Panchkula, Rohtak, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Charkhi Dadri, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Palwal.
• The Chief Minister said that 18 water supply projects worth more than Rs 425 crore of Public Health Engineering are in the pipeline, which will be approved soon.
• The Chief Minister gave administrative approval of Rs 14.15 crore for the purchase of land through e-Bhoomi portal for construction of canal-based water works for Rania town of Sirsa district.

'Safe Journey' is a New Initiative in Haryana-112 Regarding Women's Safety.

Why In News?

• In a meeting held on October 25, 2023 under the chairmanship of Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujit Kapoor, it was informed that the police department is soon going to launch a new initiative 'Safe Journey' i.e. 'Safe Journey' on Haryana-112 regarding women's safety using state-of-the-art technology.

Key Points:

• The new initiative 'Safe Journey' being launched by the Police Department for women safety will further strengthen the sense of security among women and they will be able to feel safe while traveling.
• Director General of Police Shatrujit Kapoor said that Haryana-112 is now coming up with the concept of 'safe journey' for women passengers with the aim of making women feel safe even outside their homes.
• Under this, women will now be able to register themselves by dialing 112 and share their travel information with the team of Haryana-112 in advance. For this, women will share their details, such as name, mobile number, place of departure, place of arrival, expected time of departure and arrival etc. After this, the Haryana-112 team will be in touch with the woman. During this time, the location will be tracked by the team members.
• In the meeting, ADGP Telecom-IT informed that work is also being done on the WhatsApp number to provide a safe environment to women and through this, the people of the state will be updated about Haryana-112 from time to time.
• Through this number, information about the facilities and services of Haryana Police will also be made available to the general public, so that people can take advantage of them as per the need.
• Along with this, stickers are also being put up by the Haryana Police on public transport, such as Ola, Uber and Auto, to provide a safe environment for women in the state, in which other information including the name of the auto driver, mobile number, vehicle number etc. has been provided.
• ADGP Telecom-IT said that by October 31, a database of auto drivers and public transport of most districts in the state will be prepared.
• It was informed in the meeting that in September 2023, more than 5 lakh 22 thousand calls have been received through Haryana-112. The Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) has been fixed from 8 minutes to 15 minutes in urban and rural areas.

124 PM Shree Schools of the State Inaugurated

Why In News?

• On October 25, 2023, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal inaugurated 124 PM Shree Schools in the state in the first phase at Tagore Auditorium of Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak.

Key Points:

• During this time, he also launched the School App of the Education Department and the mobile application of the Nipun Program from Tagore Auditorium of Maharishi Dayanand University, which will greatly benefit the students.
• On this occasion, Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal said that 4000 playway schools started in the state will now be known as 'Bal Vatika School'. Similar schools will also be started by the government in the future. Anganwadi centers have also been converted into these schools to give education to children in sports.
• He said that in order to further improve the level of education in the state, 124 PM Shri schools will be started from the new session in the first phase and with the inauguration of 128 schools in the second phase, the number of these schools will increase to 252.
• Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal said that the number of Model Sanskriti Schools has been increased from 22 to 147 by the state government. In the first phase, an amount of Rs 85 crore has been provided by the Central Government for 124 schools of PM Shri In the second phase, the process of selection of 128 PM Shri schools has been started.
• Referring to the meaningful results of the Super 100 scheme launched in the state, he said that so far 252 poor children have been selected in NEET, 127 children in IIT and 26 children in MBBS courses. Nda coaching is also being started soon by the government.

Governor Honored 10 Influential Women from Different Fields

Why In News?

• On October 26, 2023, Governor Kalraj Mishra presented the 'India Today' Award to 10 influential women who have done great work in various fields at the India Today Women Summit and Award ceremony - Shakti, Courage and Success Utsav organized by the India Today Group.

Key Points:

• The Governor honored Tara Ahluwalia (Social Service Sector), Indian equestrian athlete Divyakirti (Sports Sector), Santosh Devi (Farming Sector), Anita Paliwal (Environmental Conservation through innovation for 18 years in Piplantri village of Rajsamand), Preeti Chandra (Outstanding Administrative Service), Neeru Yadav (Rural Development), Dr. Kriti Bharti (For efforts to prevent child marriage), Dr. Meva Bharti (For Labor Women's Rights), Monica Jangid (For Disabled Children) and Vasundhara Chauhan for showing indomitable courage. Honored with India Today Award.
• Referring to the 'Nari Shakti Vandana Act', he said that this will give more opportunities to women to participate in democracy. Along with promoting women's education, he also stressed on the need for all to work together to remove the evils spread in the society.
• The Governor expressed the need to increase the opportunities for women equality in rural areas, effective work on female foeticide, prevent gender inequality as well as work should be done not only theoretically but also practically for women empowerment.
• On this occasion, the Governor also released the introduction book published in honor of the honored women.

Senior Justics Manoj Kumar Tiwari Becomes Acting Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court

Why In News?

• On October 25, 2023, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, a senior judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, has been appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Key Points:

• Born on September 19, 1965 in Pithoragarh, Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari did his LLB from Delhi University in 1990. He was registered with the Bar Council of UP Allahabad in 1990 and started practicing at the High Court, Allahabad.
• He shifted to Nainital when the Uttarakhand High Court was set up in 2000. On May 20, 2009, he was designated as a Senior Advocate. He became the President of the High Court Bar Association Nainital in 2008 and became a permanent judge of the Uttarakhand High Court on May 9, 2017.
• Appointment of Acting Chief Justice
  • Article 223 of the Constitution of India deals with the appointment of an acting Chief Justice.
  • According to this, when the office of the Chief Justice of a High Court is vacant or when such a Chief Justice, on account of absence or otherwise, is unable to perform the duties of his office, the duties of the office shall be performed by such person. Other judges of the Court may be appointed by the President for this purpose.