• 29 Mar 2022

Kalyan Singh Honoured with posthumously Padma Vibhushan

Why in News?

On March 28, 2022, President Ram Nath Kovind honoured Kalyan Singh with Padma Vibhushan (posthumously). This honor was received by his son Rajveer Singh at the hands of the President.

Key Points

• President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma Awards (Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri) to 64 other dignitaries at the Civil Endowment Ceremony-II for the year 2022 held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Classical singer Dr. Prabha Atre and Kalyan Singh (posthumously) were honoured with Padma Vibhushan in the embellishment ceremony.
• Padma Bhushan recipients include actors Victor Banerjee, Dr. Sanjay Rajaram (posthumously), Dr. Pratibha Ray and Acharya Vashishtha Tripathi along with Dr. Krishnamurthy Ella and Suchitra Krishna Ella (collectively).
• Earlier, on March 21, 2022, 54 personalities were conferred Padma Awards by President Ram Nath Kovind at the first Civil Investiture Ceremony.
• These awards are given in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Awards are given for various subjects/fields, such as art, social work, public work, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service etc.
• 'Padma Vibhushan' is given for outstanding and distinguished service; 'Padma Bhushan' is given for distinguished service of high level and 'Padma Shri' is given for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day.
• A total of 128 Padma Awards are being given this year, including two Yogya Awards (Yoga Awards are counted as single awards). The list of awardees includes four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri.
• Among the awardees, 34 are women. The list includes 10 people from the foreign/NRI/PIO/OCI category. Apart from these, 13 people were awarded posthumously.

Bill Introduced to Include Six Castes of Uttar Pradesh in ST

Why in News?

Recently, a bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha for the inclusion of six castes of Uttar Pradesh- Gond, Dhuniya, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgod in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

Key Points

• Significantly, three bills related to amendment in the list of Scheduled Tribes are under consideration in the Parliament.
• In the Scheduled Tribes Amendment Bill, 2022, there is a provision to include the Gond caste of Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Chandauli, Sant Ravidas Nagar in Uttar Pradesh from the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) and included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST).
• Apart from this, a provision has been made in this bill to include Dhuniya, Nayak, Ojha Pathari and Rajgod of Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar in the Scheduled Tribes.
• It is noteworthy that in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh (Maharajganj, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Mau, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra) these castes have already got ST status.
• Significantly, 15 castes of Uttar Pradesh are currently included in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The Bihar Urban Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2022

Why in News?

On March 28, 2022, Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad introduced the Bihar Urban Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the assembly, which was passed by voice vote.

Key Points

• Under the Bill, the obligation of consent of the landowners has been removed with the acquisition of land by a government authority as per the requirements of the master plan.
• Earlier, at the time of acquisition for urban development, the consent of 80 percent of the land owners or the consent of the owners of 80 percent of the total land area was obligatory.
• Under this bill, the state government can now acquire land according to the need at any place for urbanization. In lieu of this, compensation will be given to the person concerned with the land.
• Along with this, four other state bills were also passed in the assembly.
• The Bihar Taxation Laws (Relaxation of Time Limit Provisions) Bill, 2022 has exempted small taxpayers from filing returns in the state. Now they can file annual returns instead of quarterly. Composite scheme has been started for traders having annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore.
• Under the Bihar State University Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the maximum age limit for the chairman of the commission has been fixed at 75 years and for members 70 years. Earlier the age limit was fixed at 72 years for the Speaker and 65 years for the member.
• Now the consent of the state government will be mandatory in the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor in the Agricultural University. The search panel will suggest the names of three most suitable people to the state government. After this, the Vice-Chancellor will be elected with the consent of the Governor.

Seventh Session of the Fifteenth Assembly Adjourned Indefinitely

Why in News?

On March 28, 2022, the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, Dr. CP Joshi, adjourned the seventh session of the 15th Legislative Assembly indefinitely. This session started from February 9, 2022.

Key Points

• Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Dr. CP Joshi presented the details of the important works done in the House in the seventh session of the Vidhan Sabha.
• A total of 25 sittings were held in this session. The assembly proceedings lasted for about 171 hours and 19 minutes till the end of the session.
• A total of 8336 questions were received from the members, out of which starred questions were 3785 and unstarred questions were 4547. A total of 460 starred questions were listed out of which 333 questions were asked orally and answered. Similarly 498 unstarred questions were listed.
• A total of 351 adjournment motions were received from the members under Rule 50 of the Procedure. Out of these 55 adjournment motions were given an opportunity to speak in the House.
• 288 Special Mention proposals were received from the members under Rule 295 of the Procedure. Out of these, 229 Special Mention notices were read/ deemed to have been read in the House and 59 Special Mention notices lapsed due to absence of members in the House.
• Under Rule-131 of the Procedure, notices of 1076 proposals were received, out of which 15 calling attention motions were rejected. 1061 proposals were sent to the state government for factual information.
• Maximum 7 calling attention motions were listed on the last day of the session. Statements were made by the concerned ministers on 3 subjects of public importance.
• Notices of 3 proposals were received under Rule 119 of Procedure. Notices of 8 proposals were received under Rule 127 of the Procedure.
• The Governor addressed the House on February 9, 2022, his address was discussed in the House for 4 days, in which 21 members participated. The debate on the Address was answered by the Chief Minister on behalf of the State Government on February 15, 2022.
• Discussions were held in the House on the demands of 12 grants related to the departments. Information about 2960 cut motions was received on Demands for Grants, out of which 2644 cut motions were presented in the House and 316 cut motions were disallowed.
• In the current session, 14 Bills were passed in the House by introducing 15 Bills and 1 Bill was withdrawn by the State Government. A total of 279 amendment proposals were received from the members on the bills, out of which 17 amendment proposals were unacceptable and 262 amendments were accepted at the secretariat level.
• A total of 17 private resolutions were received in the current session, out of which 16 were accepted, 5 private resolutions were listed by Shalaka and 1 was disallowed.
• All the listed 5 non-official resolutions were presented in the House. Out of the above resolution, a private resolution presented by members Ashok Lahoti, Rajendra Rathod and Biharilal was discussed in the House on March 25, in which 12 members participated.
• Babulal (Jhadol) and Manju Devi were unanimously selected as the best MLAs for the year 2021 in the current session by the committee constituted for the selection of the best MLA.

Burhanpur: First District With 100% Tap Water

Why in News?

Recently, Burhanpur district has become the first district in the state to provide water to 100 percent rural households through tap connections at their houses under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

Key Points

• Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the work of single or group water supply schemes is going on in every district to provide water through tap connections to the entire rural population of the state.
• Water supply schemes costing more than Rs 129 crore in Burhanpur district, with a rural population of about five lakh, are now reaching every rural household through tap water.
• There are 167 Gram Panchayats and 254 Villages in both the Blocks (Burhanpur and Khaknar) of the District. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the availability of water has been ensured through tap connections to the households of all the families of all the villages of the district.
• In all the Anganwadi centers and schools operating in the rural areas of the district, arrangements have been made to provide water through tap connections by making platforms.
• According to the guidelines of the mission, the Village Water and Sanitation Committee has been constituted in every village of the district.
• 541 women have been trained in water testing through FTK for proper checking of the quality of water available to rural households.
• The women of self-help groups have also been entrusted with the responsibility of getting water from water consuming families by forming sector-wise clusters.

23rd National Sub-Junior Fencing Competition: Haryana Won Title of boys Category

Why in News?

Haryana has won the overall title in the boys section of the 23rd Sub-Junior National Fencing Competition held at Jainam Manas Bhawan, Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh.

Key Points

• Karnataka has won the overall title of the girls category of this competition.
• In the closing ceremony of the competition, Chairman of Chhattisgarh Minorities Commission Mahendra Singh Chhabra distributed prizes and medals to the winners.
• Manipur and Maharashtra became the winner and runner-up respectively in the girls category of the final event of the competition, while Tamil Nadu and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the boys category, Haryana and Manipur became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Punjab and Maharashtra stood third.
• Tamil Nadu and Delhi became the winner and runner-up respectively in the boys section of the Saber event of the competition, while Punjab and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the girls category, Delhi and Haryana became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Punjab and Manipur stood third.
• Karnataka and Maharashtra were the winners and runners-up respectively in the girls category of AP event of sub-junior fencing competition, while Tamil Nadu and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the boys category, Haryana and Manipur became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir got the third position.
• Overall Haryana stood first, Manipur second, Tamil Nadu third, Punjab fourth and Delhi fifth in boys' category. Similarly, in the girls category overall Karnataka stood first, Manipur second, Haryana third, Maharashtra fourth and Tamil Nadu fifth.

Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA)

Why in News?

On March 28, 2022, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the 10th meeting of the Board of Directors of Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA) was held. A total of 24 proposals were discussed in the meeting.

Key Points

• In the meeting, in the case of transfer of leasehold rights of partial land under Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority Regulation-2016, approval was given to transfer 100% of the land value fixed in the current year.
• The budget of the authority for the financial year 2022-23 was also approved.
• In Gopalganj village of Nirsa zone of Dhanbad district, 34.07 acres of land transferred to Jiyada, which is reserved for the establishment of leather park/footwear park industries, was de-reserved and approved to be marked for the establishment of general category industries.
• Approval was given to de-reserve the remaining land out of the allotted land reserved for food processing, hatchery, egg, meat processing in Sosai industrial area located under JIADA.
• Many other important proposals were discussed in the meeting and post-facto approval was also given on many proposals. On the occasion, the Chief Minister also launched the website of Jiada Bokaro Zone.

23rd National Sub-Junior Fencing Competition

Why in News?

The 23^rd Sub-Junior National Fencing Competition was organized from 26 to 28 March 2022 at Jainam Manas Bhawan, Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.

Key Points

• Haryana won the overall title in the boys section of the competition and Karnataka won the girls' title.
• In the closing ceremony of the competition, Chairman of Chhattisgarh Minorities Commission Mahendra Singh Chhabra distributed prizes and medals to the winners.
• Manipur and Maharashtra became the winner and runner-up respectively in the girls category of the final event of the competition, while Tamil Nadu and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the boys category, Haryana and Manipur became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Punjab and Maharashtra stood third.
• Tamil Nadu and Delhi became the winner and runner-up respectively in the boys section of the Saber event of the competition, while Punjab and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the girls category, Delhi and Haryana became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Punjab and Manipur stood third.
• Karnataka and Maharashtra were the winners and runners-up respectively in the girls category of AP event of sub-junior fencing competition, while Tamil Nadu and Haryana stood third. Similarly, in the boys category, Haryana and Manipur became the winner and runner-up respectively, while Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir got the third position.
• Overall Haryana stood first, Manipur second, Tamil Nadu third, Punjab fourth and Delhi fifth in boys' category. Similarly, in the girls category overall Karnataka stood first, Manipur second, Haryana third, Maharashtra fourth and Tamil Nadu fifth.