Month: July 2019

Digitisation of Anganwadi Centres

The
ICDS Scheme has an in-built monitoring system since its inception to
track the physical progress of the scheme in respect of various input
process, output and impact indicators through a standardized Management
Information System (MIS) through regular reports on monthly, quarterly
and half yearly basis. To strengthen the monitoring of Anganwadi
Services Scheme revised MIS known as ICDS-Rapid Reporting System (RRS)
has also been introduced for capturing the data of AWCs online. Under
the ICDS-RRS each Anganwadi Centre is assigned a 11digit unique code and
login password is allotted at the supervisor level to submit the
monthly progress report. As on 31st March 2019, out of
13,72,872 operational AWCs 13,61,714 AWCs have been assigned the 11digit
unique code. The State-wise detail is given at Annexure-I.   Assigning the 11 digit unique code to the remaining AWCs is already on.
In addition, the digitization of physical registers has been taken up with roll-out of ICDS-CAS Software Application under POSHAN Abhiyaan
Mission of Ministry of Women and Child Development.  The ICDS-CAS
mobile based software enables the identification of underweight children
based on auto-plotting of Growth Charts. The drill-down dashboard
available at National, State, District, Block level contributes towards
identifying and addressing the problem of nutrition. Thus, improve
overall service delivery. As on 30th June, 2019 more than
3,55,000 Anganwadi Workers are using ICDS-CAS Application across 21
States/UTs. The State-wise details are at Annexure -II.
Under
POSHAN Abhiyaan Smart Phones are provided to Supervisors and Anganwadi
workers to provide online data. The mechanism to implement the project
in State/UTs include regular review through Video Conferencing, meetings
and visits by officers to the States/UTs. The timeline to implement the
activities under POSHAN Abhiyaan is March 2020 for all State/UTs.
The
child beneficiaries under the Anganwadi Services Scheme are provided
Supplementary Nutrition as per the guidelines. Monthly Village Health
and Sanitation Day and Community Based Events are organised by
States/UTs to improve status of nutrition of children. Pre-school
Education is another service provided under the Anganwadi Services
scheme.This covers non-formal education to the children in the age group
of 3-6 years.  State/UTs are provided with the funds for Pre-School
Education Kits for each Anganwadi Centre at Rs. 5,000/- per annum.
Training is imparted to Anganwadi Workers so that they can improve the
literacy and numeracy skills of children of their respective AWC.

Missing Children and Child Labourers

As
per information provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), total
number of missing children in the country, State/UT-wise including
Rajasthan during 2014-2016 is at Annexure-I. The Ministry of Women and Child Development does not maintain figures of child labourers in the country. 

As
per Section 109 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), the National Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of
the provisions of the JJ Act. As reported by NCPCR, complaints regarding
children running away from Child Care Institutions (CCIs),
State/UT-wise details during the last two years and the current year
2019-20 (till 30th June, 2019) are at Annexure-II.
The
primary responsibility of execution of the JJ Act lies with the State
Governments. However, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Model Rules, 2016 framed under JJ Act by the Central
Government, for the benefit and use by the State Government, to carry
out the purpose of the JJ Act. Under Rule 66(1) Model Rules, any
dereliction of duty, violation of rules and order shall be viewed
seriously and strict disciplinary action shall be taken or recommended
by the person-in-charge against the erring officials. Under Rule 54(6)
of Model Rules, where an FIR is registered against a person working with
a Child Care Institution for any offense under the Act and the rules,
such a person shall be debarred from working directly with the children
during the pendency of the criminal case. The JJ Act also provides for
stringent provisions for offences against the child. The proviso to
Section 75 of the JJ Act says that if such offence is committed by any
person employed by or managing an organisation, which is entrusted with
the care and protection of the child, he shall be punished with rigorous
imprisonment which may extend up to five years, and fine which may
extend up to five lakhs rupees. However, as reported by NCPCR,
complaints pertaining to harassment of such children by the officials of
CCIs during the last two years and the current year 2019-20 (till 30th June, 2019) are at Annexure-III. 
Details
of Observation homes, Special homes and Observation cum Special homes
in the country during the last two years, State/ UT-wise including
Rajasthan being supported under Child Protection Services (CPS) is at Annexure-IV.

Improving Milking Capacity of Cows

n
order to complement and supplement the efforts made by the States and
Union Territories for enhancing milk production and productivity of
bovines Government has been implementing following schemes:

 

(i)        
Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been implemented throughout the country
including Uttar Pradesh for development and conservation of bovine
population thereby enhancing their production and productivity.
(ii)       
National Dairy Plan-I has been implemented in 18 major dairy states
including Uttar Pradesh for enhancing milk production and productivity
of dairy animals in order to meet demand of the milk in the country.
(iii)      
Breed Improvement Institutes comprises of seven Central Cattle Breeding
Farms, four Central Registration Units and Central Frozen Semen
Production and Training Institutes. These institutes are playing crucial
role in supply of breeding inputs in the form of High Genetic merit
bulls for Artificial Insemination and semen doses of bulls with high
genetic potential in all the States including Uttar Pradesh.
Unproductive
animals with intact reproductive efficiency can be used as recipient
(surrogate mothers) under Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT) and IVF.   In
Uttar Pradesh projects for establishment of two ETT labs with IVF
facility have been sanctioned.    
This
information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Sanjeev Balyan in Rajya
Sabha today.

Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi

The
Ministry of Human Resource and Development wishes to inform the general
public that it has come to the notice of Ministry of HRD that one
entity operating in the name of “Board of Higher Secondary Education,
Delhi” is claiming to be a recognised Board of Education by this
Ministry vide letter No. 1812/2009/SKT-1 dated 29/06/2009 and D.O.
letter No. 3-5/2013/Sch.3 dated the 26th April, 2013. On scrutiny of the
relevant records of this Ministry, it has been found that no such
letters have ever been issued by this Ministry in favour of so called
Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi. Both these letters are,
therefore, completely forged and fabricated. Further, it is abundantly
clarified that No letters, whatsoever, have ever been issued by this
Ministry recognising the said entity i.e. Board of Higher Secondary
Education, Delhi.
The
said entity i.e. Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi stands
dissolved w.e.f. 01.07.1962 vide Directorate of Education Delhi
Administration Resolution’s No. F.32(10)/62-Edn. dated 30.06.1962.
Therefore, if any other document(s) is/are produced by the Board of
Higher Secondary Education, Delhi in relation to its recognition, then
the same may be deemed to be fake and the veracity of the documents may
first be got confirmed from the concerned organisation/Ministry.
The
General Public, all students, their parents and all other stakeholders
are, therefore, advised to take note of the above facts and act
accordingly.

103 Government Colonies to implement intensive campaign on Sensitization on Source Segregation of Household waste

74
colonies in Delhi and 29 colonies in various parts of the country have
been selected for intensive campaign of the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs from July, 2019 to October, 2019. The following will be
implemented in a campaign mode as part of 100 days plan –

Sensitization on Source Segregation of Household waste and Orientation and capacity building on Home Composting:
This will be done with the help of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and
residents of colonies who will be motivated to segregate the house hold
waste and adopt home composting of organic waste. The ULBs will ensure
segregated collection, transportation and disposal of waste from
colonies.
Construction of Rooftop Rain Water harvesting structures:
This would be done by the Central Public Works Department in the
selected colony buildings to ensure conservation and judicious use of
water.
Cleaning and greening in 103 colonies:
Plantation drives will be organized throughout the period in
association with the residents, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs),
Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders to ensure
maximum participation. A special plantation campaign is being  organised
under the banner of ‘HARIYALI MAHOTSAV’ on 28th July 2019 in
10 government colonies in Delhi : (Lodhi Road Complex Sankara/Central
Park at 8.30 AM;  Vithal Bhai Patel House, Rafi Marg V.P. House Park at
10.30 AM; Pandara Road Central Park, Pandara Road at 9.00 AM;  Baba
Kharak Singh Marg Swatantra Senani Park, Behind temple, Havlock Square,
Phase-I at 10.00 AM; Chanakyapuri San Martin Park, S Radhakrishan Marg,
at 8.00 AM;  Lodhi Colony Veer Sawarkar/ Central Park at 9.00 AM; Kali
Bari Marg J- Block Park at 10.00 AM; Sector-8, R.K. Puram Park opposite
Flat No.353 to 377 at 10.00 AM;  Sadiq Nagar, Aurobindo Park at 10.30
AM;  Shahjahan Road Central Park, Shahjahan Road at 10.00 AM) and 29
colonies all over the country.  Minimum 50% of the plantation will be of
fruit bearing trees of local species. Details can be viewed on the
website www.epgc.gov.in including list of colonies in Delhi.

Benefits of Zero Budget Natural Farming

Intercropping is a scientifically proven practice and has
got several advantages and extends economic benefits for the farmers
particularly under adverse weather conditions. 
It is largely practiced in dry-land areas as an insurance against
failure of main crop.
Under All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on
Integrated Farming Systems, intercropping systems have been studied for many
States and found profitable for farmers. Intercrops act as live mulch thereby
reducing the weeds, water requirement and also providing additional returns to
the farmers. Intercropping with leguminous crops is one of the components of
Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and it improves the crop productivity and
soil fertility by way of fixing the atmospheric nitrogen. Further, the cow
dung, urine based formulations and botanical extracts used in ZBNF help farmers
in reducing the input cost.
The farmers practicing ZBNF either of small land holding or
large land holding prepare the low cost cow urine and dung based formulation on
farm by procuring the required inputs locally from the village or neighbouring
villages.

There is no specific time series data on
disguised unemployment in the country as the phenomenon is not easily amenable
to measurement. However, comparable time series data on employment and
unemployment is available in the form of quinquennial Survey on ‘Employment and
Unemployment Situation in India’ conducted by the National Sample Survey Office
(NSSO). The latest available data as per the quinquennial Survey estimates
indicated that workforce engaged in agriculture and allied sector has come down
from 24.74 crore in 2009-10 to 23.18 crore in 2011-12, i.e., about 6 percent.
The shift in workforce from primary (agriculture) sector to secondary and
tertiary sectors is a normal phenomenon of the development process experienced
by countries across the world and the same is true for India as well. The shift
owes to changes in the nature and scope of work arrangements in the various
sectors of the economy and the absorptive capacity of the non-agricultural
sectors to accommodate fresh entrants as well as workers hitherto engaged in
agriculture. Government has launched various schemes aiming to increase
production and productivity which make agriculture sector more viable and
thereby enhance labour productivity. Besides, Government has taken various
steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging private sector
of economy, fast-tracking various projects involving substantial investment and
increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment
Generation Programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and Deendyal Antodaya
Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission.

National Ganga River Basin Authority

The Central Government, by a
notification dated 20.2.2009, as set up ‘National Ganga River Basin Authority’
(NGRBA)as an empowered planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating
authority for the Ganga river, in exercise of the powers conferred under the
Environment (Protection) Act,1986. The Prime Minister is ex-officio Chairperson
of the Authority, and it has as its members, the Union Ministers Concerned and the
Chief Ministers of states through which Ganga flows, viz., Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, among others. The objective of the
Authority is to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the
river Ganga by adopting a holistic approach with the river basin as the unit of
planning. The functions of the Authority include all measures necessary for
planning and execution of programmes for abatement of pollution in the Ganga in
keeping with sustainable development needs.

 
KEY FEATURES OF THE NEW APPROACH OF NGRBA

·        
 River
Basin will be the unit of planning and management. This is an internationally
accepted strategy for integrated management of rivers. Accordingly, a new
institutional mechanism in the form of National Ganga River Basin Authority
(NGRBA) will spearhead river conservation efforts at the national level.
Implementation will be by the State Agencies and Urban Local Bodies.
·        
 The
minimum ecological flows for the entire Ganga will be determined through modeling
exercises. NGRBA will take appropriate measures in cooperation with the States
to regulate water abstraction for marinating minimum ecological flows in the river.
·        
 Attention
would also be paid to the restoration of living parts of the river ecosystem
for its holistic treatment to enable conservation of species like dolphin,
turtles, fishes and other native and endangered species in their river.

KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE NGRBA

·        
 The NGRBA
would be responsible for addressing the problem of pollution in Ganga in a
holistic and comprehensive manner. This will include water quality minimum
ecological flows, sustainable access and other issues relevant to river ecology
and management.
·        
 The NGRBA
will not only be regulatory body but will also have developmental role in terms
of planning & monitoring of the river conservation activities and ensuring
that necessary resources are available.  The NGRBA would work for maintaining the water
quality of the river Ganga upto the acceptable standards. The pollution
abetment activities will be taken up through the existing implementation mechanisms
in the States and also through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at the pollution
hotspots.  The NGRBA will ensure minimum
ecological flow in the Ganga by regulating water abstraction and by promoting
water storage projects.
·        
 The NGRBA
will plan and monitoring programmes for clanging of Ganga and its tributaries.
To begin with, it will concentrate on Ganga main stem.
·        
 The NGRBA
would draw upon professional expertise within and outside the Government for
advise on techno-economic issues.
·        
 The
technical and administrative support to NGRBA shall be provided by the Ministry
of Environment & Forests.

· ‘PREPARATORY STEPS’ AFTER SETTING UP
NATIONAL GANGA RIVER BASIN AUTHORITY

·        
 River
Basin Management Plan: a notice inviting Expression of Interest to start the
process of selecting an appropriate agency to prepare the Ganga River Basin
Management Plan has been issued. This has been prepared taking into account
inputs received from the Central pollution control Board and the Central Water
Commission on the scope of work to be included in the Plan. 30 proposals have been
received from leading consultants. The Consultant will be finalized shortly
after two stage selection process.
·        
 Status
Paper: the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, IIT, Roorkee has been asked to
prepare a Status Paper on Ganga which includes the experience of the Ganga
Action Plan and the present water quality. It is being finalized. The Status
paper will be presented in the first meeting of meeting of the NGRBA.
·        
 Priority
Action plan for pollution hotspots: one of the priority functions of the Authority
is to implementation river conservation works at pollution hotspots. These
activities should commence even as the comprehensive basin management plan is
under preparation. MoEF has requested the concerned State Governments to
prepare action plans for comprehensively tackling the problem of pollution in
the Ganga at the hotspots locations, such as Hardiwar, Varansani, Ahmadabad,
Kanpur, Patna and Howrah. These plans are awaited.
·        
 SPVs as
mode of implementation: the process of consolations with State Government and
Urban Local Bodies has been started to discuss he feasibility of having SPVs in
the river clearing sector and to evolve the necessary modalities viz.
Contractual arrangements, concessions agreements, etc. A meeting was organized
on 16th June 2009 with the representatives of the State Governments and the
Heads of the Urban Local Bodies as a brainstorming session to begin the process
of identifying appropriate locations and the types of river conservation
infrastructure where SPVs would be feasible.
·        
 GIS
Mapping: The National Information Centre (NIC has been entrusted with the work
of GIS based mapping of the entire Ganga Basin. This work has already
commenced. This will help the users to view and update maps and tabular data
relating to pollution abetment works, water quality etc. and analyze the data
for monitoring and effective decision making.
·        
 Memoranda
of Agreement with States: the National Institute of Urban Affairs has prepared
a modal Memorandum of Agreement which would link flow of funds to achievement
of milestones such as measurable improvements in water quality indicators, implementation
of pre determined reform measures and provision s for O&M.
·        
 Compendium of Technologies: A Compendium of
the treatment technologies available in India and aboard is being prepared by
IIT, Kanpur. This can serve as a store house for the NGRBA and would help the
State Governments and the local authorities in choosing the appropriate
technologies depending upon the totality of local  circumstances. The compendium would be
presented in the first meeting of NGRBA.
·        
 The
States have to be at the forefront of implementation of the river conservation
programme. The Authority, therefore, provides for the State Governments to
constitute State River Conservation Authorities under the chairmanship of their
Chief Ministers. However, certain States may want the States Authorities to be
constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act in which case the
notification will have to be issued by the Central Government. A model
notification in this regard has been circulated to the State Governments for
their consideration.
· 

Lok Sabha passes Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha passed the Central Universities
(Amendment) Bill, 2019 with a voice vote to establish a central
university and a tribal university in Andhra Pradesh.
The bill,
which also seeks an amendment to the Central Universities Act, 2009, was
introduced by Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal
on Monday.
 

 
Participating
in the debate on the Bill, Congress MP K. Suresh claimed that
percentage of expenditure on education had been reduced under the NDA
government while YSR Congress Party’s L.S. Krishna Devarayalu urged that
more funds be allocated towards building of Central universities and
research programmes in these universities.
Biju Janata Dal’s Bhartruhari Mahatab enquired about the problem of shortage of faculty in new higher educational institutions.
A Bill seeking to establish two new universities — the Central
University and the Central Tribal University in Andhra Pradesh — was on
Friday passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was moved as the
establishment of a Central University and a Central Tribal University in
Andhra Pradesh was obligatory under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation
Act, 2014.
“The universities will be set up with a cost of Rs 1,700 crore in
four years in Andhra Pradesh. In the first phase, Rs 450 crore will be
provided for the Central University and Rs 420 crore for the Central
Tribal University,” Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal
Nishank said replying to the debate on the Bill.
He said the government has accorded high priority to strengthen the
education system in the country, for which the government has increased
the budget of education from Rs 67,000 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 95,000
crore this year.
The Minister said the establishment of the two universities in Andhra
Pradesh will increase access and quality of higher education and also
facilitate and promote avenues of higher education and research
facilities for the people of the State.
Tribal University will promote advance knowledge by providing
instructional and research facilities in tribal art, culture and customs
and advancement in technology to the tribal population of India, he
said.
“Apart from being focused on tribal education, the Central Tribal
University shall carry out all educational and other activities like any
other Central University,” he added.
TDP’s K Ram Mohan Naidu said that the existing institutions in Andhra
Pradesh have not been run well and lack the necessities, which make
them function properly.
YSRCP’s Lavu Devarayalu urged the government to allocate more funds
towards the building of the Central universities and sought the
introduction of more courses and research programmes in these
universities.
“More funds need to be allocated to the Eklavya schools in tribal
areas so that the students who eventually go to the tribal university
have a strong foundation,” he said.
Participating in the debate, BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the
sprouting of coaching institutions have hampered higher education.
He also urged the government to grant the central university status to Jai Prakash Narayan university and Patna University.

UGC launch PARAMARSH to promote quality education

PARAMARSH
University Grants Commission (UGC) launched a new
scheme as an attempt to promote good learning amongst students of higher
education. Paramarsh, a University Grants Commission scheme for mentoring
NAAC accreditation aspirant institutions to promote quality assurance in higher education is launched by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank.

Under the Paramarsh scheme, imminent institutions
will be mentoring colleges to achieve them high quality standards. It
would also be providing financial support to supervisory institutions with an option
to appoint an expert.  The scheme main
aim is to subjugate a national challenge of improving the quality of Higher
Education in India. Services like sharing of knowledge, information and
opportunities for research collaboration and faculty development are the major concern areas of Paramarsh scheme for Mentee Institutions.

Hub
& Spoke” model
The scheme will run under a Hub & Spoke” model called
where mentoring institute would act as a Hub will have the responsibility of
guiding the Mentee institution and the mentee institution through the secondary
branches the “Spoke” through the facilities delivered to the mentee for self-development.
It will have a centralized control over functioning, efficiency, resource
utilization to accomplish complete progress of the mentee institution. Each mentor
institute will guide five NAAC (National Assessment Accreditation Council) aspirant
colleges. The mentor institution will only be the top Indian colleges and
universities that have achieved a NAAC Score of 3.26 or an “A”
accreditation. They will share their resources and expertise with  learning institutes, which have failed to meet quality standards of NAAC score. They will also be providing proper guidance to these colleges to improve their grade or
rank. Initially 71 universities and 391 colleges have NAAC accreditation that
will mentor undermine colleges, as per guidelines issued by government in PIB (Press
information Bureau).

Importance
of NAAC Accreditation
NAAC (National Assessment Accreditation Council) was
established in 27 January 2018. It has a mission to evaluate the higher
education institute and organization to assure the quality in
terms of education, infrastructure, research, teaching & learning etc. Accreditation
of NAAC is mandatory for all the institute and organization that aims to
provide higher education to students, particularly state universities. Organizations
with top NAAC grades such as ‘A++’, ‘A+’ and ‘A’ are most sought-after
institutes for higher studies. It help student to choose the best college they
want to get admission to shape their career. Also, UGC don’t grant RUSA and financial assistance if the college or institute fails to have accredited from NAAC.
Benefits
of NAAC Accreditation for Institutions
·        
NAAC
accreditation helps learning Institution to have a SWOT analysis and provides an opportunity to improve through an informed review process.
·        
It also provides financial assistance to the institute for better development of infrastructure
building.
·        
NAAC
assessment aids educational organizations to initiate pioneering
methods of teaching.

·       Being
one of the major accreditation agencies of the country, NAAC recommendation is
mandatory  for all the higher learning institutes.

Pollution of River in India due to Untreated Waste Water Disposal

The major polluting
industries on the Ganga are the leather industries, especially near Kanpur,
which use large amounts of Chromium and other chemicals, and much of it finds
its way into the meager flow of the Ganga. Also, inadequate cremation
procedures contributes to a large number of partially burnt or unburnt corpses
floating down the Ganga, not to mention livestock corpses. 

The Ganga Basin, the
largest river basin of the country, houses about 40 percent of population of
India. During the course of its journey, municipal sewages from 29 Class-I
cities (cities with population over 1,00,000), 23 Class II cities (cities with
population between 50,000 and 1,00,000) and about 48 towns, effluents from industries
and polluting wastes from several other non-point sources are discharged into
the river Ganga resulting in its pollution. The NRCD records put the estimates
of total sewage generation in towns along river Ganga and its tributaries as
5044 MLD (Million Litres per Day). 

According to the Central Pollution Control
Board Report of 2001, the total wastewater generation on the Ganga basin is
about 6440 MLD.  Urban filth and industrial pollution are scientific
causes, but environmentalists believe that apart from industrial pollution and
sewage, the increase in number of slaughterhouse, dhobi ghats, crematoria and
slums are the major sources of pollution in these rivers. Every year, religious idols
are immersed in rivers which lose a little more of their life as they are
choked yet again.    

River Ganges in India

The Ganges is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre and supports one of the world’s highest density of humans. The river has been declared as India’s National River. After flowing 200 km through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges debouches on the Gangetic Plain at the pilgrimage town of Haridwar. 
Further, the river follows an 800 km curving course passing through the city of Kanpur before being joined from the southwest by the Yamuna at Allahabad. Joined by numerous rivers such as the Kosi, Son, Gandaki and Ghaghra, the Ganges forms a formidable current in the stretch between Allahabad and Malda in West Bengal. On its way it passes the towns of Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar. The Ganges Basin with its fertile soil is instrumental to the agricultural economies of India and Bangladesh. The Ganges and its tributaries provide a perennial source of irrigation to a large area. 
Chief crops cultivated in the area include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes, and wheat. Along the banks of the river, the presence of swamps and lakes provide a rich growing area for crops such as legumes, chillies, mustard, sesame, sugarcane, and jute. There are also many fishing opportunities to many along the river, though it remains highly polluted. Tourism is another related activity. Three towns holy to Hinduism – Haridwar, Allahabad, and Varanasi – attract thousands of pilgrims to its waters. 
Thousands of Hindu pilgrims arrive at these three towns to take a dip in the Ganges, which is believed to cleanse oneself of sins and help attain salvation. The rapids of the Ganges also are popular for river rafting, attracting hundreds of adventure seekers in the summer months.  

Importance of Rivers

Rivers have been used for navigation for
thousands of years. The earliest evidence of navigation is found in the Indus
Valley Civilization, which existed in northwestern Pakistan around 3300 BC.
Riverine navigation provides a cheap means of transport, and is still used
extensively on most major rivers of the world. Rivers have been a source of
food since pre-history.
They can provide a rich source of fish and other edible
aquatic life, and are a major source of fresh water, which can be used for
drinking and irrigation. It is therefore no surprise to find most of the major
cities of the world situated on the banks of rivers. Rivers help to determine
the urban form of cities and neighborhoods and their corridors often present
opportunities for urban renewal through the development of foreshore ways such
as River walks. Rivers have been important in determining political boundaries
and defending countries. The coarse sediments, gravel and sand, generated and
moved by rivers are extensively used in construction. In recent decades, there
has been a significant increase in the development of large scale power
generation projects. Rivers also provide an easy means of disposing of
waste-water and, in much of the less developed world, other wastes.  

UGC Names 23 ‘Fake Universities’, 8 from UP and 7 From Delhi In The List

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released a list of 23 “self-styled, unrecognised” universities, eight of which are in Uttar Pradesh. The higher education regulator has warned students against taking admission in these institutions.
West Bengal and Odisha have two fake universities each — Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research, Nababharat Shiksha Parishad (Rourkela) and North Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (Baripada).
“Students and public at large are hereby informed that at present 23 self-styled, unrecognised institutions are functioning in various parts of the country in contravention of the UGC Act,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said.
Eight of these universities are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Delhi (seven). Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Puducherry have a fake university each.
Unrecognised universities in UP are Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (Varanasi), Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya (Prayagraj), Gandhi Hindi Vidyapeeth (Varanasi), National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy (Kanpur), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Open University (Aligarh), Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya (Mathura), Maharana Partap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya (Pratapgarh), and Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad (Noida).
In Delhi, Commercial University Ltd, United Nations University, Vocational University, ADR Centric Juridical University, Indian Institution of Science and Engineering, Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University) and Viswakarma Open University for Self-Employment have been declared as fake.
Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society (Karnataka), St John’s University (Kerala), Raja Arabic University (Maharashtra) and Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education (Puducherry) have also been included in the list.

CNG and PNG Service Begins in Patna

Among many of the projects Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in Bihar on Sunday, it was also the opening of two pump stations in the state capital dispensing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), a first in the city, and also the supply of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to thousands of households in the state capital.
A project of GAIL, formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited, over 1500 homes on Jagdeo Path will begin receiving gas through a network of pipes on Monday. An additional 5000 households will start receiving gas by the end of March when the work on installing PNG connection is completed, GAIL chairperson B C Tripathi said.
The first customer to have the PNG service available at home was Bihar Institute of Technology (BIT) director B K Singh whose residence is on Jagdeo Path.
The first CNG fuel station went in service at Auto Care pump near Rukanpura on Bailey Road where Tripathi and legislator from Danapur Asha Devi inaugurated the service in the presence of a number of senior GAIL officials, pump owner Ajit Singh and his staff members.
The second service was opened at City Fuel Pump in Patna City.
The event, however, was not without a hitch as the station sold only four grams of gas before it developed a technical snag in the system. Women auto owners who had come there to fill their tanks had to return empty-handed. GAIL officials said the problem will be rectified by Monday when the pump will start dispensing CNG to vehicles equipped with necessary requirements.
GAIL Deputy General Manager K C Dwivedi said that while consumers will be able to buy CNG at the rate of Rs. 29 per kilogram, starting March 31 it will cost them Rs. 63.47 per kilogram, higher than the rates in Delhi, Lucknow, and Jharkhand.
GAIL would be given 1.5 acres from the land belonging to the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation’s workshop located at Phulwarisharif, he said.
The move would help curb the air pollution of the state capital as CNG enabled vehicles would start plying on city roads, Kumar said.
The capital city, whose air quality has worsened in recent past, topped the Central Pollution Control Board’s air quality index on three consecutive day from January 1, 2019.

MOONING THE MOON


The night of 14th-15th July was a much awaited night for Indians. Their Cricket
team had started the world cup campaign almost a month earlier and being the
favorite, was supposed to play finals on 14th July. Later that night in wee
hours of 15th July, ISRO had scheduled for the launch of Chandrayan-2; the
second moon-bound Indian spacecraft. But the night proved to be a
heart-breaking one for Indian. The Indian team lost in semi-finals and did not
make to final (which was a nail biting contest) and Chandrayan 2 launch was
halted due to some malfunction with less than an hour of countdown left.
The Cricket team will
have wait for 4 years to get another chance at contest, but the wait for
Chandrayan 2 launch turned out to be a short one. To understand why ISRO
deserves credit to manage the launch within a week, we need to understand the
concept of “launch window”. Every month there is almost a week window
in which a lunar launch can be scheduled. Other than this monthly window, there
is also a much smaller daily window which is hardly of a few minutes. In July,
the monthly window was from 10th to 16th July, but due to the technical snag,
we missed this. So completing the launch in July on a day when only a few
minutes of daily window is available, requires great accuracy. So when ISRO
completed the launch on 22nd July at 2:43pm, ISRO and the fellow Indians had
every reason to be over the moon before the Chandrayan even reached.
Why it is difficult to go to the moon?
There are many aspects of the flight which make this very
challenging. But let me tell you just one of those- the speed at which
everything moves! 
Our Solar System includes the Earth, Moon, planets, stars and
others, is spinning around the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, at a slow
speed of 7.89 lakh km/ hour. Earth is revolving round the Sun at the speed
of 1, 07,000 km/hours while also circling eastward on its axis at a speed that
is 460 m/ second at the Equator. The Moon speed is slow and is around 3,683
km/hours around the Earth — it also has a slow spin about it axis than the
Earth. 

India’s space achievements and future plan
  • ISRO was formed on 15th august 1969
  • ARYABHTTA (India’s first satellite) was launched
    on April 10, 1975.
  • BHASKARA-I (the first remote sensing satellite) was
    launched on June 7, 1979
  • SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE -3(India’s first experimental
    satellite launch vehicle) takes off, July18, 1980.
  • INSAT-1A launched on April10, 1982.
  • FIRST INDIAN on Space (Rakesh Sharma) April 2,
    1984
  • Launch of CHANDRAYAAN-1 October 22, 2008.
  • Launch of MANGALYAAN November 5, 2013.
  • Launch of GaganYaan- Manned Mission to space 2022
  • Space Station- Later in next decade
After launching
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-III) also termed, Bahubali,
from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota ISRO envisioned to build a
permanent station in space in few years. With the landing of rover softly on
moon surface India would highlight its technological advances.
How CHANDRAYAN 2 is different from CHANDRAYAN 1

CHANDRAYAN 1
  • Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first mission to moon
  • It had a crash landing on the surface of the moon and
    the cube shaped instrument with the Indian tricolor on all sides was
    destroyed after hitting moon surface. 
  • It was launched by Polar Satellite launch Vehicle,
    PSLV-C11 on October 22, 2008, from Sriharikota.
  • The Chandrayaan-1 discovered traces of water on the
    moon.
  • It also detected Magnesium, Aluminum and Silicon on the
    lunar surface.
  • Global imaging of the moon is another achievement of
    this mission.
  • It made more than 3,400 orbits around the moon.
  • It was operational for 312 days till August 29, 2009.
 Discovery of Water
Traces was remarkable as earlier moon missions could not confirm this. Presence
of water can tell us more about evolution of life on earth. Further, water can
be used to extract Hydrogen which can be used as fuel for future long-distance
space missions.
But due to calibration
issues ISRO could not exactly confirm this beyond doubt. They had to take help
of instruments put by NASA to confirm the same.

CHANDRAYAN 2
  • IT is a follow-on mission to the Chandrayaan-1,
    comprising an orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyaan).
  • It is first attempt of landing on extraterrestrial
    surface by any country.
  • This is second lunar mission that will attempt to have
    a soft landing on moon.
  • It has been launched by GSLV MK-III M1 launch vehicle.
  • It aims to deploy a rover to study the lunar surface
    which has a mission life of one lunar day which is equal to fourteen earth
    days.
  • It will help to understand the history of the solar
    system as well as of earth.
The Launchpad carries an orbiter, a lunar
lander, a robotic rover and also India’s space dreams.There are two aspects
about the flight of this Chandrayan which makes it unique. First, it will
attempt to make a soft landing o the moon, which is considered very tricky.
Chandrayan-1 had only managed a crash-landing. The country will become the
fourth after USA, Russia and China to have a soft landing a spacecraft on moon.
Second, the spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon’s mysterious and
darkest (South Pole) part. If mission is successful, India will be the second
country to achieve this feat, first being the Chinese Chang’e-4 which managed
to do so earlier this January. All other previous landing, including the
manned missions, has been done in areas close to the Moon’s equator as this
area receives more sunlight, which is required by solar-powered instruments.
The landing date is
scheduled in first week of September. Then the moon-rover will make a soft
landing and function for 1 moon day (14 earth days) during the period it has
access to sunlight. In this period it will attempt to cover a distance of
around 500 meters. This would be a very important achievement given Chang’e 4
managed to cover only around a 100 meter on moon. 
Let’s hope that the
project achieves its due success. That it provides key insights into moon,
formation of earth, source of life etc. It can open a totally new frontier in
space for India and the world. As Neil Armstrong had said 50 years back-
A small step for a man, but a giant leap for the
mankind.