MAHARASHTRA

Peoples drive in Maharashtra on water conservation reaches UN

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Mission 500 Crore Litre Water Storagea farmers movement in Maharashtra based on the principle of the people, by the people, for the peoplewas showcased as part of the United Nations Water Conference 2023 in New York.

Driven by the idea put the diesel and use the machine for constructing small check Dams and water bodies, the movement was started in 2017 by IRS officer Dr Ujjwalkumar Chavhan in his hometown of Dhamangaon village in Jalgaons Chalisgaon tehsil.

As part of the mission, river deepening and widening is carried out to buid dams and ponds in villages, through peoples participation and planning by the gram sabhas. So far 450 crore liters of water reservoirs and trenches have been created in 80 villages of nine districts, and 30 km of farm roads have been repaired besides plantation of 45,000 trees.

The Indian delegation from The Peoples World Commission on Drought and Flood (PWCDF) established on the occasion of World Water Week 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden, under the Chairmanship of Magsaysay awardee Dr Rajendra Singh attended the conference. A World Water Dialogue on Drought and Flood: Indigenous Innovations for Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience was held at New Jersey.

Maharashtra hopes to persuade Amazon, Uber, others to go electric faster

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Maharashtra will offer companies likeAmazon.com Inc andUbernew incentives to electrify their delivery fleets ahead of a 2025 target for cleaner air, its Environment minister told Reuters.
Maharashtra is an important market for E-Commerce, ride-hailing and food delivery companies. Last year, it set a target for such companies to electrify 25% of their fleet by 2025.

Companies the state is likely to approach in the next month include Amazon, Uber, Walmart’s Flipkart, Softbank Group-backed ridesharing firm Ola and food-delivery companies Zomato and Swiggy.
The push comes weeks after New Delhi, issued strict draft rules for companies to get a licence on condition that a certain Percentage of their new fleet is electric.
The Maharashtra government has yet make its offer to the companies and Amazon, Flipkart, Uber, Ola, Zomato and Swiggy did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the possibility of speeding up the electrification process.

Maharashtra tops in cybercrime against minors; cases up 196%

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Maharashtrasaw a 196% rise in cyber offences against children from 2019 to 2020, making it displace UP nationally in this crime metric as the number one state. Worryingly, just one person was convicted in the country out of 116 arrested for cyberstalking children in 2020, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Maharashtra, with 207 cases of cybercrime against minors in 2020, is followed by UP (197), Karnataka (144), Kerala (126), Odisha (71), and Andhra Pradesh (52). Nationally, a 261% rise in cyber offences against children was registered in 2020.

According to the NCRB’s 2020 report, 50,035 cyber offences across all categories were registered in the country, up from 44,546 in 2019. A total of 18,420 persons were arrested and 18,189 charge-sheeted, but only 1,369 convicted. In Maharashtra, 1,735 were arrested and 1,238 charge-sheeted, while only two were convicted. In Mumbai, 450 people were arrested for cyber offences, though 223 were charge-sheeted and just two convicted.

States first SPI for girls to come up in Nashik

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The has decided to set up Maharashtras first Services Preparatory Institute ( SPI) for girls in Nashik city.

In Nashik, the building of the department of higher and technical Education and the girls hostel for the daughters of ex-servicemen have been shortlisted as the place to set up the institute.

As per the Government Resolution issued by the general administration department, a six-member panel will recommend the temporary and the permanent set up of the SPI.

As many as 3,371 residential projects across the state have been declared “lapsed” between 2017 and 2021 because the builders were unable to complete them in the deadline they had set while registering their projects with the MahaRera. Of these, 453 projects are in Greater Mumbai, according toMahaRera’s list of “expired” projects.

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The validity of MahaRera registration for these projects has expired. The promoter shall not advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase in any manner any plot, apartment or building, as the case may be,” the regulatory authority said.

Separate body sought to conserve forts

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The Samast Hindu Bandhav Samiti, a non-profit organization working for the conservation of forts acrossMaharashtra, has demanded that the should form a separate corporation for conservation of forts and historical sites associated withChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Founder president of the organisationRavindra Padwal, while addressing a press conference in the city, said state tourism ministerMangalprabha Lodhahas taken steps to form the corporation in the next three months.

The corporation will bring under its jurisdiction over 400 forts in Maharashtra that have not been surveyed by the department of archaeology. It will prepare a district-wise list of forts for better management and conservation

Green sea turtle nesting site documented for first time in Maharashtra: Expert

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TheMaharashtraforest department has documented a green sea turtle nesting site in the state for the first time, a marine biologist said on Sunday. Marine biologist Harshad Karve, who works with theMangrove Foundation, an autonomous body under the state forest department, said 74 hatchlings emerged from a turtle nest in Devbag-Tarkarli in Sindhudurg district on March 5.

On January 11, volunteers spotted a turtle, which was larger than theOlive Ridleyturtles that normally have nesting sites at this beach at Devbag-Tarkarli, he said.

The nesting by a green sea turtle, which are four to six metres long, gives a fillip to sea turtle conservation in these areas as well as the state, he added.

Now, 4 lakh CNG-run private cars in Mumbai Metropolitan Region; 13% rise in a year

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The private car Population running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) has risen by 13% in the past one year and touched the four-lakh mark, latest transport department statistics on Monday showed. The total CNG vehicular population has now gone over nine lakh, it stated.

The sale of CNG-run cars and other vehicles running on the green fuel was badly hit during the Covid pandemic and had dropped by nearly 50% in 2020. However, in 2021, there was recovery in sales and the registrations went up by 24% in Mumbai, thereafter in 2022.

In Greater Mumbai alone, in 2022, the maximum registrations were in the eastern suburbs with 6,709 new CNG vehicles hitting the roads. Th-is was followed by the island city with 6,518 such vehicles.

In 2021 and 2022, citizens felt the pinch of rising CNG rates – hiked by around Rs 35 per kg. The price of CNG had skyrocketed to an all-time high of Rs 89.50 per kg, and this was also instrumental in the hike of autorickshaw and taxi fares in the MMR from October 1, 2022.

Skill centre by SPPU for employability

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The Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and the Pimpri Chinchwad Smart City Ltd have set up a training and innovation centre to help colleges enhance employability of their students.
Skill courses like AutoCad, SAP, Linux, cloud computing and others along with soft skills in Communication, critical thinking that will make students -ready are on offer.

This initiative would bridge the gap between Education and employability of graduates. It aims at creating employable youth, for global opportunities with industry connect.