State PCS

• 18 Nov 2021

'Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Karyakram - Jhansi Jalsa'

Why in News

On November 17, 2021, under the joint aegis of the State Government and the Union Ministry of Defense, the three-day 'Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv-Jhansi Jalsa' program was inaugurated by Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Jhansi district.

Key Points

• Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that this program is being celebrated by linking the 193^rd birthday of the Rani of Jhansi with the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence.
• Programs of military reinforcement will be presented in this program. In addition, various programs to develop public participation will be presented by the theater workers. This will be an innovative program for the people of Bundelkhand.
• The Chief Minister said that this three-day program is invoking the spirit of dedication towards the defense of the nation. In folk tales and poetry, the radiance and radiance of Jhansi have been presented with Veer Ras.
• On this occasion, folk artists stunned the people with their beautiful performance of Rai dance. Earlier, the soldiers of the army performed excellently in the premises of Lakshmi Vyayam Mandir and after the program, the Defense Minister also visited the exhibition of defense equipment located at Hathi Ground.

ASER Report

Why in News

The 16^th Annual Status of Education Report (Gramin) 2021 was released on November 17, 2021. Accordingly, there has been an increase in enrollment in government schools of Bihar.

Key Points

• According to the report, there has been an increase of 3.6% in the number of children in the age group of 6-14 years studying in government schools of Bihar as compared to the previous year.
• In 2020, the number of children (6-14 years) enrolled in government schools in Bihar was 76.9 percent.
• 78.2 percent boys (6-14 years age group) and 82.9 percent girls (6-14 years age group) are enrolled in government schools in Bihar, while at the national level only 67.9 percent boys and 73 percent girls are enrolled in government schools, the rest Enrollment in private schools.
• According to the report, 73.5 percent of Bihar's enrolled students take tuitions, compared to the national average of 39.2 percent.
• In the year 2021, the number of enrolled students of Bihar, who have a smartphone in their homes, has increased to 54.5 percent, which was only 27.2 percent in the year 2018. This has been possible due to the promotion of online education in the Covid era.
• Bihar, however, is still at the bottom in terms of smartphone availability. While Kerala ranks first with 97.5 percent smartphone availability, the national average is also 67.6 percent, which is much higher than Bihar.
• Despite the availability of smartphones at homes, 53.8 percent of the enrolled students of Bihar are not able to get smartphones to study, which is the highest in the country and this has become a cause of great concern.
• Bihar's 89.4 percent of enrolled children have books for their grades, compared to the national average of 91.9 percent.
• According to the report, 6.7 percent of children in Bihar in the age group of 6-14 years are still unenrolled, including 7.1 percent boys and 4.7 percent girls. At the national level, 4.6% children are enrolled.
• It is clear from the report that only 10 percent of the enrolled students of Bihar are able to study online from home, while in Kerala it is 91 percent, while the national average is also much higher than Bihar at 24.2 percent.
• It may be noted that the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released by NGO Pratham presents data on the schooling status and basic reading and math abilities of children in rural India.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASER 2021 has been prepared on the basis of a phone based survey.

Maharana Award Ceremony

Why in News

On November 17, 2021, 49 Rajasthani talents were honored with 'Maharana Award' for their outstanding contribution in their field at the Maharana Award Samman ceremony organized under the joint aegis of Rajasthan Foundation and Marwari Yuva Manch at Dubai's India Club.

Key Points

• In all four categories, 'Maharana Awards' were given to the talents who made Rajasthan proud with their talent in the country and the world. Of these, 20 talents were honored with Maharana Icon Award, 15 talents were honored with Maharana Udyami Award, one talent with Maharana News Award and 13 talents were honored with Maharana Achievers Award.
• Federation of Rajasthan Export President Rajeev Arora said on the occasion that this honor given to the overseas Rajasthanis in such an international level felicitation ceremony will prove helpful in connecting with each other.
• Dr Rohit Purohit, Dori (Doctors of Rajasthan International) Foundation said that Maharana Award is specially given to those talents who have spread the fragrance of Rajasthan to the whole world by doing excellent work in their respective fields.

National Tulsi and Goddess Ahilya Samman declared

Why in News

On November 17, 2021, the Madhya Pradesh Culture Department declared the National Tulsi Samman for the years 2017 to 2020 and the National Goddess Ahilya Samman for 2019 and 2020. The artists to be honored will be adorned by Tourism, Culture and Spiritual Minister Usha Thakur at the inauguration of Nimar Utsav starting from November 19 in Maheshwar.

Key Points

• Among the artists who were honored with the National Tulsi Samman, the year 2017 was awarded to the eminent painter Kailash Chand Sharma of Jaipur, the year 2018 was awarded to Vikram Yadav, the famous flute player of Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, the year 2019 was awarded to the famous Kabir singer of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. The award for the year 2020 will be given to Dr. Bharti brothers and eminent tribal artist Tilakram Pendram.
• Among the artists to be honored with the National Goddess Ahilya Samman, this prestigious honor of the year 2019 will be given to Shanti Bai Maravi, a tribal artist of Mandla and the honor of the year 2020 will be given to the famous folk singer Malini Awasthi of Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Bundelkhandi style of Lucknow.
• Artists who are honored with the National Tulsi and Devi Ahilya Samman are given an honorarium of 2 lakhs, an honor plaque and a shawl-shriphal.
• It is noteworthy that the annual National Tulsi Samman was established in the year 1983 by the Culture Department of Madhya Pradesh to honor excellence and best achievement in tribal, folk and traditional arts, which is awarded only to male artists. Rashtriya Tulsi Samman is given twice in three years for performing arts and once for Rupankar arts.
• Similarly, to honor women artists in the field of tribal, folk and traditional arts, the National Goddess Ahilya Samman was established by the department in 1996.

'Apni Sarkar' and 'Unnati Portal'

Why in News

On November 17, 2021, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched 'Apni Sarkar' and 'Unnati Portal' in a program to make 75 services of nine departments online towards fulfilling the objective of 'Minimum Government Maximum Governance'.

Key Points

• The Chief Minister said that time and money would be saved with the introduction of online services and all these certificate cabs would be kept in Digi Locker. Now 75 services including income certificate, caste certificate and domicile certificate can be availed sitting at home.
• Information, Science and Technology Secretary R. Of. Sudhanshu said that the portals would help in creating a cashless, paperless and faceless system and would be helpful in reviewing the performance department wise, officer wise and district wise.
• The newly launched portals will be very beneficial for the general public and will also help in establishing coordination between various departments.
• Every citizen can create his own dashboard on the portal, through which one will be able to see the progress of his file.