State PCS

• 17 Sep 2021

Fortified Rice

Why in News

• Recently, there was confusion about coarse and yellow rice found in ration shops in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. After this, it was clarified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that it is fortified rice not plastic rice.

Key Points

• It is worth mentioning that for the solution of malnutrition, fortified rice is being distributed by the Central Government in the Child Development Scheme, Mid-Day Meal Scheme and Public Distribution System.
• Elements like vitamin B2, B3 and iron have been included in this fortified rice.
• According to FSSAI, one kilogram of fortified rice is mixed with 50 kilograms of normal rice.
• There is a deficiency of nutrients like Vitamin B6, B3 and Vitamin E at the time of polishing of rice in rice meal. For this, the government has decided to distribute fortified rice.

Hearing of Land Disputes in Bihar

Why in News

• Recently an order was issued by Vivek Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Bihar Revenue and Land Reforms Department, regarding giving the DCLR (Deputy Collector Land Reforms) the right to hear disputes related to land again.

Key Points

• DCLR got this right after the Supreme Court's intervention in the court dispute that has been going on for nearly eight years.
• Now DCLR will decide about a disputed land, who is its real owner? This is called a title suit. They will initiate hearing of cases related to Raiyati cases and will also implement the orders passed in the earlier cases.
• It is noteworthy that through the Bihar Land Disputes Redressal Act, 2009, DCLR was empowered to hear land disputes. This act was challenged in the Patna High Court in 2013 by a raiyat named Maheshwar Mandal.
• Five years later, in 2018, following the High Court's order, the Revenue and Land Reforms Department issued an order restraining the DCLR from conducting court hearings.

Government Honored 40 Artists of Bihar

Why in News

• On September 16, 2021, a state award distribution ceremony was organized at Bihar Museum under the aegis Upendra Maharathi Crafts Research Institute.
  
  • During this ceremony, Industries Minister of Bihar State Syed Shahnawaz Hussain presented awards to 40 craftsmen and artists from the state for the year 2017-18.

Key Points

• On this occasion, the Industries Minister said that the Bihar government would develop one handicraft in every district of the state. It will be made the identity of the district.
• He said that the amount of state award has been increased from Rs. 22,000 to Rs. 50,000. Along with this, the amount of State Merit Award (Rajya Medha Puraskar) has now been increased from Rs. 11,000 to Rs.25 thousand. To help the craftsmen, the government has prepared a Revolving Fund of 1 Crore 31 Lakh rupees.
• The Artist Who Received the State Award are- Hema Devi (Paper Mache), Pawan Kumar Sagar (Manjusha Art), Santvana Singh (Metal Craft), Rajendra Sah (Lacquer Craft), Pappu Kumar (Sikki Art), Rupesh Kumar (Terracotta), Khushboo Kumari (Tikuli Art), Gopal Prasad (Wood Art), Ganesh Prasad (Stone Art), Nutan Bala (Mithila Painting), Nalini Shah (Mithila Painting), Dinesh Kumar Paswan (Mithila Painting), Surendra Paswan (Mithila Painting), Anju Devi Mishra (Mithila Painting), Indrakant Jha (Mithila Painting), Dr. Rani Jha (Mithila Painting), Mamta Devi (Mithila Painting), Amit Kumar Jha (Mithila Painting), Priyanshu Kumar (Mithila Painting), Roshan Kumar (Mithila Painting).
• The Artists awarded with the State Merit Award/Rajya Medha Puraskar are- Meena Devi (Applique), Neelam Bharti (Applique), Rinku Devi (Sujani Art), Soni Kumari (Sujani Art), Kumari Kiran (Venu Craft), Jitendra Kumar Rai (Sikki Art), Dinesh Pandit (Terracotta), Shiv Shankar Pandit (Terracotta), Soni Kumari (Tikuli Art), Umesh Thakur (Wood Art), Roopa Kumari (Jute Craft), Vibha Srivastava (Croatia Craft), Sushil Vishwakarma (Weaving Craft), Anita Pandey (Bhojpuri Painting), Sanjeev Kumar Jha (Mithila Paintings), Pooja Kumari (Mithila Paintings), Rajni Kumari (Mithila Paintings), Sneha Das (Mithila Paintings), Ranju Devi (Mithila Paintings), Parikshan Paswan (Mithila Paintings).

National Award for Online Pension Management System of Chhattisgarh

Why in News

• On September 16, 2021, Chhattisgarh Government's online pension management system 'Aabhar Aapki Sevaon Ka' was awarded the 'Elets Innovation Award' at the national level in the category of 'e-Governance Initiative for Government Service Delivery' for government service delivery.

Key Points

• D. Ravi Gupta, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, presented the award to Neelkanth Tikam, Director, Treasury Accounts and Pensions, Chhattisgarh at a virtual function in New Delhi.
• It is noteworthy that for the speedy redressal of pension matters of the pensioners of the state, the online pension management system 'Aabhar Aapki Sevaon Ka' was implemented in the state from May 2018.
• It has been developed with an objective to bring transparency within the concept of e-governance as a single window system.
• As a result of the implementation of this system, the requirement of physical presence of the pensioners for the first pension payment has been done away with.
• Under this system, all the necessary documents (except service book) for settlement of pension cases are submitted online and digitally signed by the concerned officers. All the documents are also sent by the Treasuries to the bank online for the payment of pension to the banks.
• The pensioner can login to the portal to know the status of pension details and can even lodge a complaint online.
• Also, there is a facility to download the digital copy of the Identity Card issued to the pensioners in the Pensioners Corner of the E-Kosh Lite app for pensioners.
• So far A total of 27,231 pensioners have benefited from this system.

State's First e-Sewa Kendra

Why in News

• On September 16, 2021, Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Raghvendra Singh Chouhan inaugurated the state's first e-Sewa Kendra in the High Court premises in Nainital.

Key Points

• The registrar General Dhananjay Chaturvedi informed that people can now easily know about the facilities available digitally under the e-Courts program. The litigants and defendants will also be informed about the updated status of cases, leaves of judges and dates of hearing.
• Apart from this, other important information will also be available in the e-Sewa Kendra. People can also get free legal services through the center from District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
• He revealed that this e-Sewa Kendra is the first service center in the state and the next center will be opened in Almora. Considering the importance of such centers in the present times, more will be established in all the district courts in future.