River Management, Shramik train, Tiger reserve, Largest Solar Power Plants, Kisan Sabha App
1. Strengthen Ganga Knowledge Center ‘The Future of River Management’
- The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) organized an IDEAthon on “The future of River Management” to explore how the COVID-19 crisis can shape River Management strategies for the future.
- National Mission for Clean Ganga had initiated this IDEAthon to garner more attention towards river management and also highlight the interconnectivity of Cities with the River.
- NMCG is also working with GIZ in developing the River Basin Organization and also River Basin Planning and Management Cycle to develop an adaptive framework under Namami Gange for Ganga river basin management.
- NIUA and Namami Gange are also planning to release a policy paper based on the deliberations of the IDEAthon.
- However, The Sustainable Development Goals which have a very definitive vision for water governance.
2. Special trains being run on ONLY ON STATE GOVERNMENTS requests "Shramik Special train"
- Railways are not running any train other than being requisitioned by State Governments.
- All OTHER passenger and suburban trains REMAIN SUSPENDED.
- No other group of traveler or individual are to come to station.
- No tickets being sold at any station.
- Special trains which are being run for migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places, are being operated ON REQUEST of STATE GOVERNMENTS ONLY
3. ‘Destination- Sariska Tiger reserve’ of "Dekho Apna Desh" series
- The 13th session of Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho ApnaDesh webinar on 1st May 2020, titled, ‘Destination- Sariska Tiger reserve’ was a presentation and virtual tour of wildlife adventure, safari experience for the traveller within the Sariska Tiger Reserve’ in Alwar district, Rajasthan.
- Sariska Tiger Reserve is located in the Aravalli Hills, 35 km from Alwar, 250 km SW of Delhi and 110 km North East (NE) of Jaipur.
- The Sariska valley is home to a variety of flora and fauna.
- The park has populations of tigers, leopards, Nilgai, Sambar, chital etc.
- The place is a paradise for bird lovers as it shelters a large population of Indian peafowl, crested serpent eagles, sand grouse, golden backed woodpeckers, great Indian horned owls, tree pies, vultures and many others.
- The sanctuary is strewn with ruins of ancient temples dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries.
- Kankwari Fort and Neelkanth temples are highlights.
- Khajuraho-like carvings architecture is available here.
- Chand Baoli(step well) at Abhaneri is enormous with 3500 steep steps built by the Nikhumbha dynasty is one of the largest stepwells in the world.
- Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.
- Sariska is the first tiger reserve to have successfully relocated Royal Bengal tigers in India and at present there are around 20 tigers in the reserve.
4. Largest Solar Power Plants in India
- Charanka Solar Park, Gujarat
- Charanka village solar park is one of the Asia’s biggest solar park.
- Located at northern Gujarat.
- The site is the world’s second largest photovoltaic power station and spread across 5,384 acres of unused land.
2. Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan
- Third largest solar park in India and world largest solar park as of March 2020.
- Spread over a total area of 10,000 acres.
- The park has total capacity of 2,255 MW.
3. Pavagada Solar Park, Karnataka
- Pavagada Solar Park is a solar park covering an area of 13,000 acres (53 sq.km) in Pavagada taluk, Tumkur district, Karnataka.
4. Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, Andhra Pradesh
- World’s largest solar park, spread over a total area of 5,932.32 acres in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.
5. Kamuthi Solar Power Project, Tamil Nadu
- One of the world’s largest single location solar power project, It was commissioned by the Adani Group.
- Kamuthi Solar Power Project is the largest single location solar power plant in the world, located at Kamuthi in Tamil Nadu.
- Spread over an area of 2,500 acres (10 sq.km) in Kamuthi, Ramanathapuram district, 90 km from Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
5. Kisan Sabha App
- Kisan Sabha has 6 major modules taking care of Farmers, Mandi Dealers, Transporters, Mandi Board Members, Service Providers and Consumers.
- Kisan Sabha App developed by CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), New Delhi to connect farmers to supply chain and freight transportation management system.
- The portal connects the farmers, transporters, Service providers (like pesticides/ fertilizer/ dealers, cold store and warehouse owner), mandi dealers, customers (like big retail outlets, online stores, institutional buyers) and other related entities for timely and effective solution.
- The portal acts as a single stop for every entity related to agriculture, be they a farmer who needs better price for the crops or mandi dealer who wants to connect to more farmers or truckers who invariably go empty from the mandis.
- It would also prove to be useful for those associated with cold store(s) or godown(s).
- KisanSabha also provides a platform for people who want to buy directly from the farmers.
- Kisan Sabha aims to provide the most economical and timely logistics support to the farmers and increase their profit margins by minimizing interference of middlemen and directly connecting with the institutional buyers.
