State PCS

• 28 Apr 2023

All Male Staff will be Removed from Kasturba Schools in Uttar Pradesh

Why in News?

According to information received from media sources on April 27, 2023, all the male staff currently working in 746 Kasturba Gandhi Residential Girls Schools operating across the state will be removed.

Key Points

• Uttar Pradesh Director General of School Education and State Project Director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Vijay Kiran Anand has issued a letter to all the District Magistrates of the state, ordering them not to renew teaching/non-teaching male personnel.
• This step of Uttar Pradesh school education has been taken in view of the safety of girl students studying in classes six to eight in Kasturba Gandhi Residential Girls Schools with residential facilities.
• It is known that in the Ministry of Education, the Joint Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy had written a letter on October 12, 2022, giving instructions to appoint only women personnel to all posts in Kasturba Gandhi Schools. In this sequence, instructions have been given not to renew the male staff in the 2023-24 academic session and to appoint only women to the vacant posts.
• In Kasturba Gandhi Schools, all the personnel from the warden to the watchman are hired on contract basis. Except Kanpur Nagar and Auraiya districts in the state, one Kasturba school is running in each development block of all the districts.
• More than one thousand male staff are expected to be affected by the order for renewal of only female personnel in Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalayas.
• Most of the accountants and watchmen in 746 schools across the state are men. In some places the teachers are also men. In such a situation, even if we estimate two male personnel on each school, then around one and a half thousand staff will be affected.

Release of Coffee Table Book Published by Chhattisgarh State Handloom Development and Marketing Association

Why in News?

On 26 April 2023, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel released a coffee table book prepared by the Chhattisgarh State Handloom Development and Marketing Association at his residence office.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister congratulated Dr. Alok Shukla, Principal Secretary, of the Village Industries Department and Rekha Shukla, Managing Director, Handloom Association on the publication of the book said that this coffee table book will prove to be very useful in the promotion of handloom textiles of Chhattisgarh.
• Managing Director Rekha Shukla said that this book has been named 'Mangtha'. Handloom is also called 'Mangtha' in the Chhattisgarhi language.
• In this book, complete information about the manufacturing process of Kosa, Khadi & cotton sarees woven in Chhattisgarh and different types of sarees are depicted through beautiful pictures.
• This book is dedicated to the handloom weavers of Chhattisgarh, it will be of great use in the promotion of Chhattisgarh handloom all over the country.

Rajasthan Housing Board got National Award for Real Estate

Why in News?

On 26 April 2023, a central government agency named the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) presented the National Real Estate Award to Rajasthan Awasan Mandal.

Key Points:

• Rajan Bandelkar, National President, National Real Estate Development Council and Anand Kumar, Chairman, RERA Delhi and senior IAS Anand Kumar conferred this honour on Rajasthan Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora at a national level function.
• Rajasthan Housing Board was awarded this important honour for registering the maximum number of housing projects in the country under RERA, selling a maximum number of houses and doing excellent work in the field of real estate.
• It is known that the award was to be given to Mandal by Union Housing Minister Hardeep Puri, but he could not attend the program due to the Prime Minister's Review Meeting.
• Earlier in the function, Rajasthan Housing Commissioner was specially invited for a panel discussion on the topic 'Real Estate in the Era of RERA'. The Housing Commissioner was also honoured on this platform.
• Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora said on the occasion that RERA registration in houses works like ISI mark. He said that RERA instils confidence in the common man and the buyer towards the developer and builder and brings assurance of providing the best quality housing in a stipulated time frame.
• The Housing Commissioner said that Rajasthan Housing Board has become the biggest organization to register 101 projects RERA numbers. He said that usually government agencies avoid RERA registration, but Mandal has got all the projects registered with RERA for the sake of the confidence of the customers.
• It is worth mentioning that in the last 4 years under the leadership of Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora, the board has received a total of 15 awards. These include World Book of Records in house sales, Scotch Award-2021, Award of Excellence, Honor by National Real Estate Development Council, National Housing Award, I.B.C. and prestigious awards like 'Star of Governance-Gold Award'.

3 day International Wildlife Conference in Kanha National Park

Why in News?

According to the information given by Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department on 26 April 2023, the 'International Wildlife Conference' will be organized in Kanha National Park from April 27 to 29.

Key Points:

• This conference will be organized in line with the completion of a century of forestry research in the state and the announcement made by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 27 March 2022 at Narmadapuram.
• Renowned wildlife experts from South Africa and Namibia are participating in the international conference, including wildlife expert-Padmabhushan Dr. H.S. Pawar.
• The main objective of the conference is to conclude the all-round development of the country by adopting the policy of economy and ecology in line with the Prime Minister's objectives in the Amritkal of Independence
• Specialists, researchers and professionals of the field will present a research paper and statement on four technical subjects on Forest Department and State Forest Research ‘Wildlife Conservation Emerging Scenario and its Future Strategy’ for wildlife management-preservation, rehabilitation and to create an ideal ecological balance in India including Madhya Pradesh.
• Along with this, future strategies and policies will be decided after intensive brainstorming on the current scenarios on important topics like wildlife management, conservation and rehabilitation.
• The conference will focus on technical topics such as wildlife population management, wildlife habitat ecology, wildlife policy issues, challenges and human-wildlife conflict and mitigation measures.

India International Mega Trade Fair

Why in News?

On 26 April 2023, Jharkhand Chamber President Kishor Mantri told a press conference held at the Chamber Bhavan that the 11-day India International Mega Trade Fair will start on 28 April at Morhabadi Maidan under the joint aegis of Jharkhand Chamber and GS Marketing Associates.

Key Points:

• Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan will inaugurate the 11-day India International Mega Trade Fair. This mega trade fair will conclude on 8th May.
• It is known that under the joint aegis of the Jharkhand Chamber and World Designing Forum, a five-day online certificate skill upgrading program was started at Chamber Bhavan.
• Chamber President Kishor Mantri said that the Appreciation Certificate will be given to all the participants by the Jharkhand Chamber on 30 April in the mega trade fair being organized at Morhabadi ground.
• This workshop is useful for fashion designers, and entrepreneurs associated with the small & medium textile industry and boutique industries. This workshop is being run across the country.
• Former President of Jharkhand Chamber Pawan Sharma said that every necessary item will be available at the India International Mega Trade Fair. Get an assured gift on every Rs.3,000 spent.

Jharkhand's Longest Bridge Completed on Mayurakshi River in Dumka

Why in News?

According to information received from the media on 26 April 2023, Jharkhand's longest bridge over the Mayurakshi River in Dumka has been completed. An amount of more than 198 crores has been spent on the construction of this 2340-meter-long bridge.

Key Points

• This bridge connects Kumdabad of Dumka Sadar block to Makrampur of Masalia with Singri-Harko road.
• With the construction of this high-level bridge, a large population of the district has come 14-15 kilometers closer to Dumka city. Before the construction of the bridge, the distance from Makrampur to Dumka district headquarters was more than 30 kilometers.
• The width of this bridge is 16 meters with a length of 2.800 km including the approach road. However, the bridge has been widened to 30 meters between the seven spans in the middle, which will also prove to be from the selfie point to the parking zone.
• It is known that there are many villages including Makrampur, which were earlier adjacent to Dumka City. After the Massanjore Dam was built, the middle area got submerged, so half of Makrampur's population was left on the other side of the submergence area of the dam. Now with the construction of the bridge, such Masanjor displaced people will not have any problem in commuting. If youth will be able to travel to and from college, then business-livelihood-employment will also prosper.

Uttarakhand Transport Minister Chandan Ramdas Passed Away

Why in News?

Uttarakhand Transport Minister Chandan Ramdas passed away on 26 April 2023. He breathed his last at a hospital in Bageshwar.

Key Points

• Transport Minister Chandan Ramdas had gone to Bageshwar Dham, where his health deteriorated, after which he was admitted to the district hospital in Bageshwar, where he died.
• He is the third cabinet minister in the government of Uttarakhand so far, whose death has been due to one disease or the other. Before him, Kumaon veteran politician Prakash Pant and Haridwar district leader Surendra Rakesh died of cancer. Surendra Rakesh was a minister in the Congress government, while Prakash Pant was a minister in the BJP government.
• The political career of State Transport Welfare Minister Bageshwar MLA Chandan Ramdas started in 1980. In 1997, he became the independent president of the municipality of Bageshwar. Prior to this, he became joint secretary unopposed in the first year of B.A. at M.B. Degree College, Haldwani.
• Chandan Ramdas joined BJP in 2006 on the inspiration of former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari. He was elected MLA for the fourth consecutive time in 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022. On his death, state mourning has been declared in the state from 26 to 28 April.

Governor Launched 'Chardham Saathi' Mobile App

Why in News?

On April 27, 2023, Uttarakhand Governor Lt. Gen. Gurmeet Singh (Retd.) launched the 'Chardham Sathi' mobile app of Swami Vivekananda Health Mission Society at Raj Bhavan.

Key Points

• Governor Lt. Gen. Gurmeet Singh (Retd.) said that the purpose of this mobile app is to provide health related information to the pilgrims during the Char Dham Yatra.
• This mobile app will be useful for the health facilities of the pilgrims visiting Chardham. Through the mobile app, pilgrims will be able to get information about the nearest Vivekananda Health Mission hospital, services available there and emergency number etc.
• It is worth mentioning that Vivekananda Health Mission is providing free treatment services at Chardham Yatra sites. The Society has established its dispensaries at 11 places in Uttarakhand. So far, this Health Mission Society has provided free health services to lakhs of patients.
• Dr. Anuj Singhal, secretary of this Society, said that ICU-equipped hospitals are being operated by the society at Shri Badrinath Dham, Shri Kedarnath Dham and Gangotri Dham. They have free lab facilities, digital X-ray facilities and pharmacies etc.
• It can be noted that more than 60 cardiologists from all over the country have voluntarily given their consent to render their services in Chardham Yatra Chikitsalayas.