Uttar Pradesh

• 29 Jan 2022

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Elections

Why in News

• On January 28, the Election Commission of India announced the election schedule for 35 seats in the local body area of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

Key Points

• According to the Election Commission, elections will be held in two phases for 35 seats in the local body area of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. In the first phase, polling will be held for 29 seats on March 3 and in the second phase on March 7 for 6 seats.
• It is worth mentioning that just as there are two houses of Parliament, similarly according to Article 169 of the Constitution, there can be a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly in the states.
• At present there are Legislative Councils in six states- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• There are a total of 100 members in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, who are elected as follows-
  
  • One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state legislators.
  • In addition, 1/3 of the members are elected by local bodies, such as municipal and district boards, etc.
  • 1/12 members are elected by the people who have been teaching for 3 years and 1/12 members are elected by graduates living in the state for 3 years.
  • The remaining members are nominated by the Governor from amongst those who have special knowledge and practical experience of literature, knowledge, art, cooperative movement and social service.

Kashi will Become Cultural and Tourism Capital of Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Why in News

• On January 28, 2022, Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Agarwal informed that a smart city dossier would be prepared to declare Kashi as cultural and tourism capital of SCO.

Key Points

• The year-long events, major venues, catering and other things will be prominently mentioned in the dossier.
• The purpose of the dossier is to present Kashi as a nomination for the cultural and tourism capital of the SCO at the upcoming summit of the Heads of State of the SCO.
• Significantly, there is a provision of making one city of the member country as cultural and tourism capital every year by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, under which India has been selected for the period from September 2022 to September 2023.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an eight-member economic, political and security alliance, established in 2001. It includes China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was signed by India and Pakistan on 9 June 2017.