Uttar Pradesh

• 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.