Jal Jeevan Mission, Indian Railways, BS-6 four-wheel vehicles, Wild Wonders of Madhya Pradesh
1. Virtual safari of the Wild Wonders of Madhya Pradesh
- To showcase the mesmerizing natural beauty and eco-system of Madhya Pradesh, Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘Wild Wonders of Madhya Pradesh’ under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series.
- It has provided an immersive virtual safari experience to one of the most biodiversity rich hotspots in the world.
- The State of Madhya Pradesh, which is also known as the heart of Incredible India.
- Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series is an effort to showcase India’s rich diversity under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
- Madhya Pradesh is an amalgamation of natural wildlife, history and mythology.
- However, enchanting the journey with Bandhavgarh National Park which is also known as tiger’s heaven.
- This national park captures the scenic beauty of around 32 hills.
- Bandhav means brother and Garh means fort, which revolves around the mythological story of Lord Ram who gifted the fort (which is situated at the top of the national park) to his brother Laxman and that’s how this national park got its name as Bandhavgarh National Park.
- Apart from the tigers, this national park is a home for many other wonderful species such as butterflies which are smaller than a thumbnail and Indian Bison which is one of the largest bovine species in the world.
- Influenced by the natural habitat of Bandhavgarh National Park, a group of elephants migrated from Odisha to this national park and are living here since October, 2018.
- Some interesting facts about the tigers such as determining a tiger’s age by his nose colour- the pinker the nose, the younger will be the tiger.
- Apart from Bandhavgarh National Park, there are other places in the heart of India that are showcasing the bio-diversity of our country such as Sanjay Dubri National Park, Panchmari Biosphere Reserve which is famous for its scenic views and waterfalls.
- Satpura National Park which is the only national park in India where walking safari is permitted.
- Apart from the natural bio-diversity Madhya Pradesh is also home to many UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Sanchi Stupa and Khajurao Group of temples which is next to Panna Tiger Reserve.
- One can also witness the endangered species such as Gharial at the unexplored Son river & National Chambal River Sanctuary.
- The lifestyle of the people living around the areas of National Parks and Bio-sphere reserves in Madhya Pradesh can be a great learning for all as they respect the wildlife and the space of animals that also leads to sustainable change and conservation of these natural wonders and humanity.
- The Community participation helps to uphold the local culture, tradition and indigenous knowledge of the local people which further helps in conservation of the environment and culture of the local community.
- ncredible India Tourist facilitator certification programme which will also act as an enabler for transforming a local citizen with no specified skills having proficiency in a regional language into a potential bread earner for their households.
- The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the Ministry in conducting of the Dekho Apna Desh Webinars by providing technical assistance directly with a professional team thereby ensuring effective citizen engagement and communication with all stakeholders using the digital experience platform.
2. BS-6 four-wheel vehicles must have colour band
- Mandating a strip of green colour of 1 cm width on top of the existing sticker carrying details of registration for BS-VI vehicles of any fuel type i.e. for petrol or CNG which have a light blue colour sticker and a diesel vehicle which is of orange colour.
- These stickers will now have a green strip of 1 cm on top for BS VI, as mandated.
The BS-VI emission standards, which have been mandated w.e.f. 1st April, 2020, provide for stricter and cleaner emission norms and are at par with the emission standards being followed across the world.
Such distinct identification of vehicles for such emissions standard as is also being followed in other countries had been requested to the Government and brought-forth by the Government.
3. Safety performance by Indian Railways
- Indian Railways registered the best ever safety record during April 2019 – March 2020 as there has been no fatality of any railway passenger in any train accident so far from 01.04.2019 to 08.06.2020.
- The remarkable feat has been achieved for the first time in the year 2019-2020 since introduction of Railway System in India 166 years ago in the year 1853.
- The zero passenger fatalities in the last 15 months is a result of continuous efforts by Indian Railways to improve safety performance in all respects.
- afety being the topmost priority always, the measuresundertaken for safety improvement include elimination of manned level crossings, construction of Road over Bridges (ROBs)/ Road under Bridges (RUBs), rehabilitation of bridges, highest ever renewal of rail tracks, highest ever supply of rails during the year from SAIL, effective track maintenance, stringent monitoring of safety aspects, improved training of railway staff, improvements in signaling system, use of modern technology for safety works, switching over to modern and safer LHB coaches in phases from the conventional ICF coaches etc.
Following are the some major measures taken by Indian Railways to enhance Safety:
- Record number of 1274 nos. of Manned Level Crossings have been eliminated in 2019-20 compared to 631 in 2018-19 (double of that done in last year). This is highest ever elimination of level crossings.
- Total 1309 nos. of ROBs/RUBs were constructed in 2019-20 to enhance safety on the railways network.
- 1367 nos. of bridges were rehabilitated during 2019-20 compared to 1013 (+37% of last year).
- Highest ever renewal of rails for 5,181 Track km (TKM) in 2019-20 against 4,265 TKM in 2018-19 (+20% of last year).
- Highest ever supply of rails (13.8 lakh ton) during the year from SAIL. With supply of 6.4 Lakh ton long rails, scope of field welding decreased drastically leading to better reliability of asset.
- 285 nos. Level Crossings (LC) have been interlocked by signals in 2019-20, cumulative interlocked LC nos. are 11,639.
- In order to improve safety 84 stations with mechanical signaling replaced with electrical/electronic signaling during 2019-20.
All the above could become possible with inputs in the system in the form of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) introduced in the year 2017-18 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to be spent in next five years, having annual outlay of Rs 20,000 crore. With this fund, it has been possible to undertake very critical safety works of urgent nature and results are evident.
4. Tap connections in Karnataka under Jal Jeevan Mission by 2022-23
- The Ministry of Jal Shakti has been working with the States in preparing a roadmap to implement the Prime Minister’s flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide 55 litres of potable water per person per day to every rural household of the country by 2024.
- Karnataka is planning 100% household coverage by 2022-23.
- Out of 89 lakh rural households in the State, 24.50 lakh have been provided with tap connections (FHTCs). In 2019-20, only 22,127 tap connections were provided.
- In 2020-21, the State is planning to enable 23.57 lakh households with tap water connections.
- Further, State is planning for 100% coverage of 1 district, 5 blocks and 8,157 villages during 2020-21.
- State plans to provide 23.57 lakh tap connections by way of retrofitting and augmentation of 3,139 existing piped water supply systems during this year, for which works are to commence in a ‘campaign mode’.
- Central Government has approved fund of Rs 1,189.40 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Karnataka in 2020-21, which is a considerable increase from Rs. 546.06 Crore in 2019-20.
- Also, the State would receive Rs 3,217 Crore as 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs, 50% of which will mandatorily be spent on water and sanitation by the State under various programmes like MGNREGS, SBM (G), 15th Finance Commission Grants to PRIs, District Mineral Development Fund, CAMPA, CSR Fund, Local Area Development Fund, etc.
- State plans to involve local village community/ Gram Panchayats or user groups in planning, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems in villages to ensure long-term sustainability.
- In all villages, IEC campaign along with community mobilization is taken up to make JJM truly a people’s movement. State plans to engage women self-help groups and voluntary organisations to mobilize the rural community for creation of in-village water supply infrastructure as well as for their operation and maintenance.
- Under JJM, provision has been made to test every source once for chemical parameters and twice for bacteriological contamination (pre and post monsoon) in a year as a part of water quality monitoring.
- State has been asked for mandatory testing of all water sources accordingly.
- It has also been advised for opening water quality laboratory facilities to general public. In each village, five women are being trained to test the quality of water supplied at village level.
- A lot of emphasis is given on accreditation of existing State and district level laboratories.
- Karnataka plans for standardization of 30 water testing labs in 2020-21
