1. Adani Group bags Dharavi Redevelopment Project as highest bidder
Tags: Economy/Finance Government Schemes State News
Gautam Adani-led Adani Properties on 29 November bagged the Dharavi redevelopment project, Asia's second largest slum colony, as the highest bidder.
Important facts
Adani Properties, the highest bidder offered Rs 5,069 crore as its investment in the project.
The Adani group quoted Rs 5,069 crore for this project, followed by Rs 2,025 crore quoted by the DLF group.
Dubai-based infrastructure firm Seclink Technologies Corporation turned out to be a successful bidder in January 2019 against Adani.
Dharavi redevelopment will involve a massive investment of money upfront, amid tricky complications of land acquisition and rehabilitation.
What is the Dharavi redevelopment project?
Dharavi is only a short drive from India's richest business district, the Bandra-Kurla Complex, which has the largest concentration of commercial offices in the country.
The slum, spread over 2.8 sq km, is home to an informal leather and pottery industry that employs over a lakh people.
The state government had envisaged to convert this slum area into a cluster of skyscrapers with better urban infrastructure.
It entailed resettling 68,000 people, including slum dwellers and those with commercial establishments.
In 1999, the BJP-Sena government first proposed to redevelop Dharavi.
Thereafter, the Maharashtra government in 2003-04 decided to redevelop Dharavi as an integrated planned township, and an action plan for this was approved.
2. Agra, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj get first Police Commissioners
Tags: State News
The Uttar Pradesh government issued an order on November 29, 2022, appointing the first police commissioners in three districts of Uttar Pradesh, Agra, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj.
Important facts
The Uttar Pradesh government on 25 November decided to introduce the police commissionerate system in Agra, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj after it was implemented in Noida, Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur.
The cabinet declared these three districts as metropolitan cities as per the rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before the commissionerate system was introduced.
Agra has been included in the list considering its growing population, its significance in terms of national and international tourism.
Ghaziabad has been included keeping in view its growing population, it being a busy district of the National Capital Region and its new industrial scenario.
Prayagraj has been included because of its population and religious and cultural significance.
What is a Commissionerate System?
Various committees to suggest police reforms have recommended the introduction of a police commissionerate system in cities that have witnessed rapid urbanisation and have a population of more than one million.
Under the Commissionerate system the Commissioner of Police exercises the powers and duties of a District Magistrate.
These powers are also available to any officer under the commissioner who is not below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police.
This means that such police officers now have the powers of preventive arrest by invoking section 144 of the CrPC Act.
According to the commissionerate system the commissioner of Police will directly report to the government, in place of District Magistrate.
3. External Affairs Ministry to organize the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 03-06 December 2022
Tags: Festivals place in news State News
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Government of Goa is organizing the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 03-06 December 2022.
The International Lusophone Festival will be inaugurated on 03 December 2022 by Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa and Smt Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for Culture would be the Guest of Honour.
What is Lusophone World?
The Lusophone world are countries that speak Portuguese as their official language and were colonized by Portugal. With 300 million speakers, Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language on the planet.
The Portuguese speaking countries set up the ‘Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP)’, in 1996.
The member countries of the CPLP are Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor Leste and Equatorial Guinea.
India joined CPLP as an associate observer in July 2021. As part of India’s engagement with CPLP, the Ministry of External Affairs celebrated the World Portuguese Language Day in Delhi on 05 May 2022, soon after joining CPLP.
Goa was also a colony of Portugal and it was liberated by the Indian government in 1961 through an action of the armed forces code named Operation Vijay.
4. Uttarakhand Government appoints Prasoon Joshi as its Brand Ambassador
Tags: Person in news State News
The Uttarakhand government has named Prasoon Joshi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of McCann Worldgroup India, the state’s brand ambassador. Padma Shri awardee Prasoon Joshi is a native of Uttarakhand and is currently the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (Censor Board). He is a famous and highly awarded member of the Indian advertising and media fraternity.
Prasoon Joshi has also written the lyrics for songs in popular Bollywood movies such as Rang De Basanti, Fanaa and Taare Zameen Par. He has also written the script for the award-winning 2013 film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Awards to Prasoon Joshi
Earlier this month, the Uttarakhand government bestowed the Uttarakhand Gaurav Samman honour to Joshi for his contributions to art, literature, culture and advertising.
He has received several prestigious international honours such as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2006. He was also the first Asian to become the jury president at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in 2014 for the prestigious Titanium category.
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand was formed on 9th November 2000 as the 27th State of India.
Governor: Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh
Chief Minister: Pushkar singh Dhami
Capital: Dehradun
5. KVIC Chairman Manoj Kumar inaugurates the ambitious RE-HAB Project in Nainital
Tags: Environment place in news National Person in news State News
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Manoj Kumar inaugurated the ambitious RE-HAB, Project (Reducing Human Attacks using Honey Bees) of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission at village Chausla, in Forest Range Fatehpur, Haldwani, District Nainital, and Uttarakhand on 28 November 2022. He also distributed 330 Bee-boxes, bee-colonies and toolkits along with the honey extractors to the rural beneficiaries in Chausla village.
Project RE-HAB,
Government is promoting the use of bees to discourage attacks of wild elephants on human settlements. KVIC has launched a project RE-HAB, in the states of Assam, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Orissa.
How it works
- Under Project RE-HAB, “Bee-fences' ' are created by setting up bee boxes in the passageways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories.
- The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further.
- It is a cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animals.
- It is scientifically recorded that elephants are annoyed by the honey bees. Elephants also fear that the bee swarms can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes. The collective buzz of the bees is annoying to elephants that force them to return.
- Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of KVIC’s National Honey Mission.
- While the Honey Mission is a programme to increase the bee population, honey production and beekeepers’ income by setting up apiaries, Project RE-HAB uses bee boxes as a fence to prevent the elephant attacks.
- As a new initiative, the RE-HAB project will be run by KVIC at selected locations for a period of one year.
The Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC)
- The Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) was set up in 1957 under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
- It is under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.
- It is responsible for planning, promotion, organisation, and implementation of programs for the development of Khadi and other village industries in the rural areas along with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.
Chairperson of KVIC: Manoj Kumar
6. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, Karan Kundrra join Goa CM in beach clean-up drive
Tags: Environment State News
Actors Jackie Shroff and Karan Kundrra, on 28 November 2022. Joined Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to launch the state government’s ‘CleanAThon’ initiative, at Miramar Beach in Panjim.
The ‘CleanAThon’ initiative was also joined by the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Phadnavis, Amruta Fadnavis also joined the initiative.
Goa is famous for its beaches and which attracts lakhs of domestic and International tourists. Miramar Beach in Panjim is one of the most popular beaches with tourists.
For this cleanliness drive, several people gathered at the beach, dressed in black and white uniforms, to get rid of the garbage.
Goa
It is the smallest state by area of India located along the Arabian Sea coast.
It was earlier a colony of Portugal and the government of India launched operation Vijay to liberate Goa in 1961.
It became a Union Territory in 1962 and became the 25th State of India on 30 May 1987.
When it became a state, Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli were separated from it and made a Union Territory.
Capital: Panjim
Governor: P S Sreedharan Pillai
7. Assam lifts travel restrictions to Meghalaya, six days after border violence
Tags: State News
The Assam government on 27 November 2022 lifted travel restrictions to Meghalaya, six days after being imposed in the aftermath of violence in a disputed area along the inter-state border.
An advisory was issued by the Assam Police, asking people to avoid travelling to the neighbouring state following the incident on 22 November. Barricades were erected in Jorabat near Guwahati and Cachar district, the two main entry points to Meghalaya.
Violence had broken out at Mukroh village (Meghalaya) near the disputed border between the two states in West Karbi Anglong district in the early hours of 22 November, after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by forest guards from Assam. Five tribal villagers from Meghalaya and a forest guard from Assam were killed due to the clashes.
Border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya
During the British colonial rule, undivided Assam included Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram. In 1972, Meghalaya was formed as per the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969.
Background to the Assam Mizoram Boundary Dispute
- Assam and Mizoram share a 164.6 km long boundary.
- Mizoram was a district of Assam known as Lushai Hills during the British time. In 1972, Meghalaya was formed as per the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969.
- The genesis of the dispute lies in the border demarcation during British times.
- In 1875 a notification was issued that differentiated the Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar and in 1933 another notification was issued to demarcate the boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur.
Different Interpretation of Boundary
- According to Mizoram, the boundary shall be demarcated on the basis of 1875 notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873.
- However the Assam government believes that boundary shall be based on the 1933 notification ,
- Mizoram says that when in 1933 the boundary was demarcated, Mizo society was not consulted.
Attempt to resolve the Border Dispute
- To resolve the issue the chief ministers of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma and Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam held several rounds of talks.
- Twelve disputed areas were identified – three areas contested between West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya and Kamrup in Assam, two between RiBhoi in Meghalaya and Kamrup-Metro, and one between East Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya and Cachar in Assam.
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 29 March 2022 between the two chief ministers in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The MoU stated that out of 36.79 sq km of the disputed area, Assam would get full control of 18.46 sq km and Meghalaya of 18.33 sq km.
- The second phase of talks was supposed to take place by the end of November, but has been disturbed due to the recent clash.
8. Arittapatti village notified as first biodiversity heritage site in Tamil Nadu
Tags: State News
The Tamil Nadu government issued a notification declaring the Arittapatti village near Melur in Madurai district as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Important facts
Aritappatti village is known for its rich biological and historical significance.
It houses about 250 bird species, including 3 major raptor species – Lager Falcon, Shaheen Falcon, Bonelli's Eagle, and wildlife such as pangolins, pythons and slender loris.
The 'Arittapatti Biodiversity Heritage Site' is the first of its kind in the state and covers a range of seven barren granite hills in Arittapatti village.
This unique landscape of rocky hills acts as a water body and supports 72 lakes, 200 natural springs and three check dams.
The site also has various megalithic structures, Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, Jain beds and 2200 year old rock-cut temples which add to its historical significance.
As a biodiversity heritage site it will strengthen biodiversity conservation and protect from rapid loss of biodiversity.
About Biodiversity Heritage Site
These are areas that contain unique, vulnerable ecosystems consisting of terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and rich biodiversity of wild species including domesticated species, rare, threatened and keystone species.
It is also rich in different species.
As per Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, State Governments are empowered to notify, in the Official Gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites, in consultation with local bodies.
In addition, till December 2021, a total of 22 Biodiversity Heritage Sites have been notified by 12 State Governments.
159 plants and 175 animals have been notified as threatened species in 18 states and 2 union territories.
India's first Biodiversity Heritage Site was declared in 2007 at Nallur Tamarind Grove in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Four Biodiversity Hotspots in India
Himalaya,
Indo-Burma,
Sunderland,
Western Ghats
9. Madhya Pradesh becomes the 8th state to notify PESA Rules in scheduled areas of the state
Tags: State News
Madhya Pradesh has become the8th state in India to notify its Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) PESA Rules on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on 15th November, 2022. At the State Level Janjatiya Gaurav Divas Sammelan at Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mangubhai Patel handed over the first copy of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act) Manual to the President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu.
It will empower the Gram Sabhas to take decisions on the rules and regulations with regard to all natural resources in the forest areas. The PESA Act will give more constitutional rights to the tribal people to reap the benefits of natural resources from the forest areas where they live.
In India Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have notified their State PESA Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. Chhattisgarh had notified their PESA Rules on 8th August, 2022.
Scheduled Areas in India
The constitution has made special provision for the administration of areas which are mainly populated by the Scheduled Tribes.
The constitution under article 244(1) makes special provision for the administration of certain areas called Scheduled Areas in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. These Scheduled areas are mentioned in Schedule 5 of the constitutions.
The Tribal areas under the state of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Meghalaya and provisions regarding administration are mentioned in Schedule 6 of the constitution.
Presently, 10 states Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana, have Fifth Schedule Areas in their respective States.
Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996” (PESA)
To bring the people residing in Fifth Schedule Areas in the mainstream, the Parliament, in terms of Article 243M(4)(b) of the Constitution, has enacted “the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996” (PESA) to extend Part IX of the Constitution, relating to Panchayats, to the Fifth Schedule areas, with certain modifications and exceptions. States, having Fifth Schedule Areas, have been empowered to frame Panchayat laws and rules for these areas.
All the states in the 5th Schedule have framed their state PESA rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts, except Jharkhand and Odisha.
Panchayats are mentioned in the State list of the seventh schedule and the state government has the power to make rules law on it.
However, to bring uniformity in the Panchayats across the country and provide a framework, the Parliament passed the 73rdConstitutional amendment act 1992 which gave a constitutional status to the Panchayati raj institutions in India. However the power to frame the rules for their panchayat system is with the state government.
10. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launches Har Ghar Gangajal project in Rajgir
Tags: Government Schemes State News
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 27 November launched the Har Ghar Gangajal project (First phase) in Rajgir.
Important facts
This is a unique and ambitious initiative to make Ganga water available through taps in the dry areas of the state.
The scheme will help to harvest the excess water of the Ganga during the monsoon season.
The water will be stored in reservoirs in Rajgir and Gaya before being channelled to three treatment-and-purification plants, from where it will be supplied to the public.
Har Ghar Gangajal is part of the Bihar government’s Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali scheme.
Under the scheme about 7.5-lakh households of Rajgir (Nalanda), Gaya and Bodhgaya will start getting piped Ganga water.
The second phase will start in 2023 and will cover Nawada district as well.
A Rs 4,000-crore scheme has harnessed flood water from the Ganges to take it to reservoirs in Gaya and Rajgir.
This is the first time in India that flood water harvesting has been done for the purpose of drinking water.
