State PCS

• 04 Sep 2021

SAP for Sugarcane

Why in News

• Recently, Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane Development Minister Suresh Rana told reporters in Lucknow that the state government would soon announce an increase in the State Advisory Price (SAP) for sugarcane for the next sugarcane crushing season starting from November.

Key Points

• Presently, SAP for sugarcane is Rs 325 per quintal for early variety and Rs 315 per quintal for rejected variety.
• It is noteworthy that in October 2017, the Yogi government had increased the SAP by Rs 10 per quintal for the sugarcane crushing season 2017-18.
  
  • However, for the last three years, SAP has not been increased due to increase in sugar production, coupled with a sharp drop in demand in the year 2020 due to the pandemic.
• In terms of sugarcane crushing and sugarcane production, Uttar Pradesh holds first position across the country. Also, it has first place in the production of ethanol.
• A record crushing of 4,289 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane has been done in this season. Earlier the area under sugarcane cultivation was 20 lakh hectare, which has now increased to 28 lakh hectare.
• Minister Rana said that the Yogi government made the closed sugar mills operational and through this 35,000 people were given direct and indirect employment.
• He also said that the Yogi government has so far paid Rs 1,42,311 crore to sugarcane farmers in four years.

Wildlife Sanctuary in Sagar District

Why in News

• Recently, in the meeting of the State Wildlife Board chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, approval was given to the proposal for construction of a new wildlife sanctuary in Sagar district.

Key Points

• It is noteworthy that the Forest Department has taken this important initiative in compliance with the instructions of Forest Minister Dr. Kunwar Vijay Shah to create 10 new sanctuaries in the reserved forest areas of the state while expanding the efforts of wildlife conservation.
• An area of 25,864 sq. km. of the North Sagar Forest Division has been selected by the Forest Department for the sanctuary. Its headquarter will be at Sagar district and the Sanctuary will be named as Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Sanctuary North Sagar.
• There are 88 villages within a radius of 5 km of the proposed sanctuary, whose nistar system is dependent on forests. It has been estimated that annually 98.202 cubic meters of timber and 236 cubic meters of firewood with an estimated cost of Rs 42 lakh and Rs 4.96 lakh respectively will be affected in the sanctuary area.

Free Education to Children: Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School

Why in News

• In a meeting to review the progress of Model Sanskriti Schools held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, it was decided to provide free education to the children of poor families in Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School.

Key Points

• Under this, children from poor families will be provided free education in Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School, who have been verified under the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP).
• To ensure continuous progress of these schools, the Chief Minister directed senior officers to visit these schools and review these schools monthly. Along with this, he also suggested the senior officers of the district like SDM, DDPO, Tehsildar to adopt these schools.
• It is noteworthy that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during his budget speech had announced the opening of Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School and Government Model Sanskriti Primary School in every block of the state, so that quality education could be provided to the students at par with private schools.
• At present, there are 137 Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary Schools and 1,418 Model Sanskriti Primary Schools functioning in the State.
  
  • There has been an increase of 27.90 percent in the number of children in Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School and 16.73 percent in Model Sanskriti Primary Schools.

'Additional Diet' Programme

Why in News

• Recently, Chhattisgarh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Amarjeet Bhagat virtually inaugurated an 'Additional Diet' programme under the Community-based Nutritional Management Programme from Mohla in Rajnandgaon district.

Key Points

• The month of September is celebrated as Poshan Mah all over the country. The Chhattisgarh government has announced a fight against malnutrition and anemia and launched it as a mass-andolan under the Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan.
• A public awareness campaign for Poshan Aahar is being launched across the state and Poshan Raths are going to cities and towns of Bastar region as well as interior areas.
• Under the campaign, children and women affected by malnutrition are identified and medicines and nutritious diet kits are distributed to them.
• Anganwadi workers, Mitanin and voluntary organizations are playing an important role in making people aware about nutritious food.