What is Bharatmala Pariyojana?

• It is an umbrella project under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• Focuses on optimizing the efficiency of road traffic movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps.
• Bharatmala look to improve connectivity particularly on economic corridors, border areas and far flung areas with an aim of quicker movement of cargo and boosting exports.
• Bharatmala Project is the second largest highways construction project in the country since NHDP.
• Under which almost 50,000 km or highway roads were targeted across the country.

Tech for Tribals Initiative

• TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with Chhattisgarh MFP Federation and IIT, Kanpur will be launched Tech for Tribals initiative.
• It is aimed at the holistic development of tribals with a focus on entrepreneurship development, soft skills, IT, and business development through SHGs operating through Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs).
• TRIFED has tied up reputed national institutions such as IIT, Kanpur; Art of Living, Bangalore; TISS, Mumbai; KISS, Bhubaneswar; Vivekananda Kendra, Tamil Nadu and SRIJAN, Rajasthan.
• They will be conducting Vandhan-ESDP Training Programs in the States of Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan

• Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has started a nation- wide campaign to celebrate “Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan” this year on the occasion of Deepawali festival.
•  The RKA is promoting extensive use of cow-dung/ Panchgavya.
• Products during this Diwali Festival. Manufacture of Cow dung based Diyas, Candles, Dhoop, Idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi for this year’s Diwali festival has already started.
• Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog
• It  been constituted for the conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny and for giving direction to the cattle development programmes.
• RKA is high powered permanent body to formulate policy and to provide direction to the implementation of schemes related to cattle so as to give more emphasis on livelihood generation.
• Why Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog?
• Livestock economy sustains nearly 73 million households in rural areas.
• Even though, the country is the largest producer of milk, the average milk yield in India is only 50% of the world average.
• The low productivity is largely due to deterioration in genetic stock, poor nutrition and unscientific management.

PM Modi to release autobiography of Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the autobiography of Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil.
• He also rename Pravara Rural Education Society as ‘Loknete Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Pravara Rural Education Society’, today through video conferencing in a programme scheduled.
• Balasaheb Vikhe Patil (1932 – 2016) was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India.
• He was seven time MP, former Union Minister of State (Finance) and Union Cabinet Minister (Heavy Industries), Government of India.
• He was a prominent leader of Maharashtra and eldest son of Vithalrao Vikhe Patil, who started Asia’s first Co-operative sugar factory at Loni in Maharashtra.
• He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2010 for his outstanding work in the field of Social Work.
• His autobiography is titled ‘Deh Vechwa Karani’ which means ‘dedicating one’s life for a noble cause’.

Kerala becomes first state to go digital in public education

• Kerala has become the first state in the country that have made the public education completely digital.
• These were implemented in the State as part of the Public Education Rejuvenation Mission.
• Kerala achieved this milestone within two years of the launch of the initiative.
• The programmes were implemented by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education also known as KITE
• KITE has played a major part in the continuous education of the students in the state during the lockdown since March 2020.

14 October: World Standards Day

• It is an international day celebrated internationally each year on 14 October.
• It is observed for paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as International Standards.

Current COVID19 Situation in India

QUIZ TIME

Which state has become first state to go digital in public education?

1. Madhya Pradesh
2. Delhi
3. Kerala
4. Uttar Pradesh

Answer – C

Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil awarded Padma Bhushan in which year?

1. 1990
2. 2010
3. 2000
4. 2005

Answer – B

World Standards Day is observed on:

1. 2 October
2. 9 October
3. 13 October
4. 14 October

Answer – D

Question of the Day

What is India Energy Modeling Forum?

Answer in next session…