The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti is organizing "Ganga Utsav" - The River Festival 2022 on 4th November, 2022 at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi in two sessions. 

 

The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism & DoNER, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, will be the Chief Guest in the morning session in the gracious presence of the Minister for State, Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Shri Bishweswar Tudu. Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, will preside over the evening session in the presence of Shri Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Shri Govind Mohan, Secretary, Ministry of Culture. 

 

NMCG will be taking Ganga Utsav - The River Festival 2022 to newer heights through active and inspirational participation of multiple stakeholders. One of the main objectives of Ganga Utsav 2022 is to celebrate our rivers and spread awareness on the significance of river rejuvenation across river basins in India. Dedicating the grand event to the 75 years of Indian Independence (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), the aim is to hold similar events at more than 75 locations in states to celebrate the rivers of India. Various activities of Ganga Utsav will take place at central, state, and district levels on both physical and virtual platforms.

 

* Various activities of Ganga Utsav will take place at central, state, and district levels

* Major contributors to the Clean Ganga Fund to be felicitated by Union Jal Shakti Minister

* Arth Ganga will be focus area as it aims to establish people-river connect

* District Ganga Committees mobilized to ensure ardent participation in Ganga Utsav

* A mini food festival will be part of the Ganga Utsav 2022

* Film screening and a storytelling session to also be conducted

* The Ganga Utsav 2022 is being developed as a model for River Festivals

 

Ganga Utsav 2022 will be an exciting blend of art, culture, music, knowledge, poetry, dialogue, and stories. The event at New Delhi will witness exuberant dance and musical performances from renowned artists including Dr. G. Padmaja Reddy, Padma Shri, Sh. Siddhartha Banerjee, Ms. Megha Nair, Sh. Bimal Jain, Folk Dance Performance from Uttarakhand and Rajasthani etc..

Source : PIB

The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.77 percent in October 2022 compared to a four-year low of 6.43 percent in September 2022, data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

 

Among the 25 states for which data is available with the CMIE, six states - Bihar (14.5 percent), Haryana (31.8 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (22.4 percent), Jharkhand (16.5 percent), Rajasthan (30.7 percent), and Tripura (10.5 percent) - registered the unemployment rate in double digits.

 

Madhya Pradesh recordrd the lowest unemployment rate at 0.9 percent, followed by Chhattisgrah at 0.9 percent, Odisha at 1.1 percent, and Gujrat at 1.7 percent.

 

According to the data, rural unemployment has seen a steep surge from 5.8 percent in October 2022 to 8 percent in September 2022.

 

The rural unemployment rate surged to 8.04 percent from 5.84 percent in September, while the urban jobless rate moderated to 7.21 percent compared with 7.7 percent in the previous month. The spike can be attributed to the harvesting period of the Kharif crop which is between September and the first half of October 2022. This results in a dip in October in rural employment, before it picks up in November when sowing for winter crops begins..

Source : Money Control

Finance Minister "Nirmala Sitharaman" on Thursday(3rd Nov 2022) kicked off sixth round of coal mine auction – the country’s largest ever coal mine auction with 141 mines on the block across eleven states.

As many as 133 coal mines were put up for auction, out of which 71 are new mines and 62 are rolling over from earlier tranches of commercial auctions, according to the ministry of coal. Additionally, eight coal mines under second attempt of fifth round of commercial auctions were included for which single bids were received in the first attempt.

 

While launching the auction, Finance Minister "Nirmala Sitharaman" said, “A fast growing economy like India needs greater investment in coal production and gasification projects. Globally, energy prices especially that of gas is going up. India is at present the best investment destination in the world. Due to policy consistency and transparent process of the government, coal imports for power sector have come down by 41%.”

Coal and mines minister "Pralhad Joshi" said the ministry is exploring alternative methodology for enhanced use of coal.  "Finance ministry has extended ₹6,000 crore incentive for coal gasification and ₹250 crore for exploration process.  During the biggest auction undertaken so far, today 141 mines pertaining to eleven states have been auctioned"..

Source : Fortune India

Goa is hosting the three day Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Conference from 1st November 2022 to 3rd November 2022. 

Across the three days, delegates and exhibitors from the Asia Pacific region andbeyond will be discussing and collaborating on the key issues that will help shape the future of Asia’s aviation industry and turn the Complete Air Traffic System(CATS) Global Council’s vision for the skies of 2045 into a reality. 

 

Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, General (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd.), Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and for Road Transport and Highways, Simon Hocquard, Director General, CANSO and Rajiv Bansal, Secretary of Civil Aviation will address the conference  on 2nd November 2022. 

2022 Theme : The theme of this year’s(2022) “Think Global, Collaborate Regional, Accomplish Local”.

 

As Poh Theen Soh, CANSO Director, Asia Pacific Affairs, stated: “With air travel recovering, it is now time to look beyond COVID-19 and to the future. Building on that CATS vision, Asia Pacific Air Navigation Service Providers can step up collaboration and tackle such crucial subjects as sustainability, and embracing and exploiting technology.”..

Source : PIB

The Ministry of Education has released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States and Union Territories for 2020-21. It is a unique index for evidence-based comprehensive analysis of school education systems across States and UTs.

The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policy-making and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all.

 

As per the index, a total of seven States and Union Territories namely  Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level -2 grading in 2020-21.

Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants with the highest achieved level. Union Territory Ladakh has made significant improvements in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21.

PGI 2020-21 classified the States and UTs into ten grades of which the highest achievable Grade is Level 1 for the states scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points.   The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for a score below 551..

Source : AIR

City based drone-as-a-service (DaaS) company Garuda Aerospace has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for collaborative research projects.

 

According to Garuda Aerospace, the collaborative research projects using drones, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for applications for geographical surveys for the government and society.

 

The collaborative operational and research projects in these areas may be taken up by Garuda Aerospace and IISc's Department of Aerospace Engineering.

 

According to Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace, the association with IISc is a step towards realising the company's potential to provide developments of digital input processing packaging tools, including yield estimation from a given image, diagnoses of crops, surveillance and mapping of fields and lands.

 

"This partnership will facilitate the collaborative development of new technology related to surveillance applications using drones, that will benefit the farmers, the government and the country as a whole..

Source : Business Standard

For the first time in India, two women officers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),  Annie Abraham and Seema Dhundiya, who were inducted into the force in 1987.

 

Notably, the Central Reserve Police Force was also the first Central Armed Police Force to induct women in combat in 1986, have been promoted to the rank of Inspector General on 2 November 2022.

 

Inspector general Annie Abraham will be posted as the head of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) of the CRPF while IG Seema Dhundiya will head the Bihar Sector of the CRPF.

 

RAF is being headed by a woman officer for the first time since its Raising in 1992. While the paramilitary forces are perceived as an extremely challenging job for women, New India has seen more and more women joining the forces as the environment gets conducive for them to work. 

 

Infact, women officers have held senior ranks across India’s various paramilitary forces such as Archana Ramasundram who served as DG of Sashastra Seema Bal, and Manjari Jaruhar as Special DG in the CISF...

Source : News on Air

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday(2nd Nov 2022) approved naming of greenfield airport at Hollongi, Itanagar, as ‘Donyi Polo Airport'.

 

“The resolution was passed by the state government of Arunachal Pradesh to name the airport as ‘Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar’, which reflect the people’s reverence of the Sun (Donyi) and the Moon (Polo) to symbolize the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the state," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a press release.

 

The Centre had granted an ‘in-principle’ approval for development of Hollongi greenfield airport in January 2019. The project is being developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) with the help of central government and the Arunachal Pradesh government at a cost of ₹646 crore.

 

With a 2,300 metre runway, the greenfield airport is the first in Arunachal Pradesh to have the capacity to land big aircraft. The airport can accommodate 300 passengers during peak hours with eight check-in counters. It is energy-efficient and will run on renewable energy..

Source : Mint

Elaben Bhatt, 89, noted Gandhian, leading women’s empowerment activist, and renowned founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) passed away on Wednesday(2nd Nov 2022) in a hospital in Ahmedabad after a brief illness. 

 

The recipient of national and international awards, including the Padma Bhushan, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize and many other accolades, she was globally recognised as a woman leader who founded many institutions and carried out pioneering work in organising the informal sector for self-employment and empowerment of women not only in India but across South Asia. 

 

Elaben was the Chairperson of Sabarmati Ashram and recently resigned as the Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi-founded Gujarat Vidhyapith. 

 

In 2007, she became the part of a group of world leaders called the Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights and peace across the world. 

 

She was also a Member of the Rajya Sabha and of the Planning Commission of India in the 1980s. She served in many international organisations, including Women’s World Banking, a global network of microfinance organisations, of which she was co-founder and had served as Chairperson. She also served as an advisor to the World Bank, and addressed the United Nations General Assembly. 

 

Founded by her in 1972, SEWA is one of the largest cooperatives working for women, with a base of over two million members from around 18 States in the country and in neighbouring nations..

Source : The Hindu