17.12.21

Groundwater in many parts of Haryanas 13 districts unfit for drinking: CGWB report

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The groundwater in many parts of as many as 13 districts in Haryana has been found unfit for drinking.

The groundwater occurring in the southern, western and central parts comprising of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Mewat, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Faridabad districts is mostly saline and not suitable for drinking purposes. Apart from this, districts namely Gurugram, Palwal, Rohtak recorded low potable rating, as chemical parameters were found to be higher than permissible limits in 50 percent samples in these districts, according to the latest report of Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).The groundwater samples in parts of these districts were found to have high fluoride or nitrate or combination of all, besides high salinity, stated the 2020-21 report of CGWB for Haryana.

In previous 2019-20 CGWB report, the groundwater samples in parts of 11 districts in Haryana were found unpotable.

In many rural and semi-urban areas of Haryana, groundwater is a major resource for drinking and Irrigation especially in areas where surface water is inadequate. Salinity, chloride, fluoride and nitrate are key parameters that are considered for evaluating the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes.

Sodium was the dominant cation in the majority of groundwater except for the districts namely Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula and Yamunanagar. Its concentration varied widely from 1 mg/L at Khot kalan in district Hisar to 2657 mg/L at Kot in district Palwal. Sodium concentration was found to be less than 100 mg/L in less than half of well waters, the report stated.

The CGWB report concluded that almost all groundwater is suitable for irrigation on well-drained soils for growing salt tolerant crops like wheat, mustard, rice, barley and maize etc. However, at a few places where the EC of groundwater goes beyond 5000 S/cm, such waters are not suitable for customary irrigation. It also recommended that areas identified with unsuitable or marginally suitable water quality should be monitored on micro level.

Punjab to set up Punjabi Film Development Council, says CM Charanjit Channi

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In order to promote Punjabi language and culture, the Punjab government will soon bring in a proposal in the forthcoming cabinet meeting for setting up Punjabi Film Development Council in the state.

Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced this during an award function organised at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, to honour Punjabi actors, singers and musicians for their contribution to Punjabi culture.

Channi said a proposal in this regard would be cleared in the coming cabinet meeting. He said it is the need of the hour to promote the glorious cultural heritage of the state through films, which are the latest and most effective way of Communication nowadays. He said it would go a long way in showcasing rich cultural heritage of Punjab across the globe.

Public debt of Himachal up from Rs 27,910 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 40,572 crore in 2019-20: CAG

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The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Indias report, for the year ending March 2020, tabled in theHimachal Pradesh assemblyon Wednesday revealed thatof the State Government increased from Rs 27,910 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 40,572 crore in 2019-20 registering an increase of 45.37 per cent during the period 2015-20.

The burden of interest payment ranged from nine to 10 per cent of the Revenue Receipts.
During 2015-20, 45.83 to 72.71 per cent of debt receipts were used for discharging existing liabilities.

However, during the five-year period 2015-16 to 2019-20, while GDP has grown at a CAGR (compound annual Growth rate) of 7.69 per cent, the outstanding public debt has grown at a faster rate of 7.77 per cent.

The CAG said that borrowed funds should ideally be used to fund capital creation and developmental activities.

Using borrowed funds for meeting current consumption and repayment of interest on outstanding loans are not sustainable.

It said that during 2015-20, no portion of debt receipts was used for meeting Revenue Expenditure.

The borrowed funds are used for repayment of previous borrowings (principal) and on Capital Expenditure.
It said that there has been a continuous decreasing trend in the growth of revenue receipts except the year 2018-19.

As compared to a growth of 31.37 per cent in 2015-16, the revenue receipts registered a decrease of 0.67 per cent in 2019-20, which resulted in higher dependency on borrowed funds for meeting the current consumption.

Only 33 per cent of the revenue receipts came from the states own Resources comprising taxes and non-taxes, while the remaining 67 per cent was contributed by central transfers comprising the States share in central taxes and duties (15 per cent) and grants-in-aid from GoI (52 per cent).

Patanjali presents comprehensive plan for agricultural development

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Under the guidance of Swami Ramdev and Leadership of Acharya Balkrishna along with the efforts of about 150 scientists of Patanjali Research Institute (PRI), a comprehensive plan has been prepared to solve the problems related to Indian farmers and Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture.

This has been presented in the book Nav Harit Kranti-An Agro Vision. A round table discussion was presided over by Balkrishna in which through this compilation, the future plans for solving the basic problems related to agriculture, simplifying agriculture and increasing the income of farmers was considered. Speaking on the occasion, Ramdev said that the Patanjali has future plans to uplift farmers status. Beginning from training to organic fertilisers, high quality seeds and minimum priced fertilisers will be made accessible to the farmers. Now even in the technical field, Patanjali has developed technological interventions in form of apps to help the farmers, for geo-mapping of land, geo-fencing and Weather forecast so that basic essential information will be made easily assessable to all farmers.

Jugsalai Municipality launches link for Swachh Competition

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As part of the Citizen Engagement under Swachh Survekshan 2022, a bit.ly link was launched in schools by the executive officer of Jugsalai to ensure participation of children in Swachh Competition.

Officials informed that it is a type of link that clicks on a Google Form. By filling and submitting this form, children can directly participate in the Swachh Competition. Executive officer Jagdish Prasad said that the Swachh Bharat Mission is not only based on cleanliness, but also on reducing the production of waste. This link based competition has been organised to make the competition paperless and support Digital India.

Children can now participate in Jingle. It is a type of short song or tune which is used to spread public awareness. Under this, they can participate by making a jingle on any topic related to the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Free Wi-Fi facility available at all ECR stations

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For the convenience of the passengers, a free Wi-Fi Internet Connection facility has been made available at the stations of East Central RAILWAY (ECR). At present free high-speed Wi-Fi available at 405 stations out of 409 stations targeted under passenger facility on ECR.

Due to the availability of this facility at all the major stations of all the five divisions Danapur, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Dhanbad, Sonpur and Samastipur divisions spread over 4215 route kilometers, the students, general passengers, businessmen and employed people coming to the station have got a lot of convenience.

The project has been taken up as a mission to transform railway stations into hubs of digital inclusion. The responsibility of implementing this remarkable Digital India initiative has been entrusted to RailTel, a Psu of Indian Railways. RailTel is providing state of the art public Wi-Fi under the brand name of ‘Railwire’. Till now this facility is being provided by RailTel at more than 6070 stations across India.

The number of Wi-Fi subscribers at these stations is increasing day by day. Railway stations have been developed as Wi-Fi hubs. Passengers coming to the station can use this facility to download online classes, Videos, movies, songs, games as well as deal with their other government work online. Students from distant places, especially those appearing in https://exam.pscnotes.com/union-public-service-commission”>Union Public Service Commission, Railway Recruitment Board, Railway Recruitment Cell and Staff Selection Commission and other examinations, can take advantage of this Wi-Fi facility to prepare for their examination.

Barn Owl Sighting in Bihar

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In a surprising sighting on 15 December, forest personnel rescued a barn owl in the Supaul area of Bihar.

Highlights:

Barn owls are typically found in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe and are rare in the Indian subcontinent.

Barn Owl

Tyto alba, the scientific name for the Barn Owl, is the world’s most widely spread owl species. Except for the arctic and desert regions, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, and Asia north of the Himalayas, the species can be found practically wherever.

For the most part, the Barn owl is nocturnal. However, the owl hunts throughout the day in parts of the United Kingdom and the Pacific Islands.

They specialize in hunting animals on the ground. Small mammals are their only source of food, which they track down via Sound.

CM launches ‘Gauthan Map’ mobile app

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched the ‘Gauthan Map’ (Gauthan Multi Activity and Livelihood Management) mobile app here.

The app has been developed by CHIPs for Gauthan Management. All details of cow dung procurement, gauthans along with information about activities of self-help groups and will be made available in the app.

This in-house app developed by Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) will have a Database of all the gauthans in the state. This will include details of Resources, activities, beneficiaries and Services available in the gauthans.

Digital mapping of Gauthans will be done through geo-tagging. A database of various activities conducted by self-help groups will be prepared for each Gauthan. This framework will enable accurate monitoring of key indices of Gauthans.

On this app, a Gauthan-centric database will be available for a robust digital evaluation mechanism for both Gauthan committees and self-help groups for the State Government.

The database will help in planning future activities in Gauthans. Through monitoring the trend and performance of income generating activities in Gauthan, new sources of livelihood will be identified.

First Drone Mela At Gwalior

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In Madhya Pradesh, the primary drone fair within the country was organized at Gwalior.

Highlights:

Gwalior Drone Mela was organized jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the govt of India, the govt of Madhya Pradesh, and consequently the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & (FICCI).

Addressing the youths and farmers present at the Drone Mela in Gwalior, MP Chief Minister said Madhya Pradesh would be made a number one state using drone technology.

Mr. Scindia said five Drone Schools would be opened in Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, and Satna in Madhya Pradesh.

Around 20 companies portrayed their drones at the fair.

Along with Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, drone technology is also recreating an essential role in the Swamitva Yojana being run in the state.

GACL, GAIL team up to establish bioethanol plant in Gujarat

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Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) and GAIL (India) Limited on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a bioethanol plant with a production capacity of 500 kilo litre per day (KLD) in Gujarat.

Apart from the plant, both the companies also agreed to cooperate in other areas of mutual interest. The MoU was signed in the presence of chief minister Bhupendra Patel.
The cost of the project is estimated to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore and it is expected to generate annual revenues of approximately Rs 1,500 crores. The project will also generate direct and indirect EMPLOYMENT for around 700 individuals.

The proposed plant will use corn/broken rice as feedstock with eco-friendly technology and it will produce 500 KLD bioethanol, which will be utilised for blending in petrol. As by-products from this plant, 135 KTPA protein-rich animal feed and 16.50 KTPA of corn oil while using corn as feedstock are also expected to be produced.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a roadmap for 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025 to reduce import of crude oil and save valuable Foreign Exchange, the also added that an estimated Savings of $70 million per year in foreign exchange outgo is expected through this project.