- Himachal’s oldest voter dies at 105
Why in News: Ganga Devi, the oldest voter of Himachal Pradesh and aunt of BJP chief J.P.Nadda, passed away at her home in Kullu today.
Ganga Devi was honored by the Election Commission as the oldest voter during the 2022 Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.
Note :
Shyam Saran Negi
- Shyam Saran Negi was born on 1 July 1917 in Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh
- this person is also named the first voter of Independent India
- He voted for the first time on October 25, 1951 when his city experienced voting in Kinnaur. He voted 17 consecutive times (from the time of India’s independence till the Lok Sabha election of 2014) and exercised his right to vote for the 34th time
- Paragliding Pre world cup event begins at new site near Dharamshala
Why in News: After Bir Billing, Dharamsala has come up with another paragliding adventure sport site at Nirvana, about 6 km from here.
Highlight:
- It is for the first time that a pre-world cup event has been organized at a site other than Bir-Billing, which ranks among top 10 paragliding sites of the world
- About 97 pilots from the USA, India, Nepal, Austria and Brazil had registered for the event. Of them, 66 have been allowed to take part.
- Losar Festival celebrated with fervor in Lahaul and Spiti
Why in News: Losar festival was celebrated with traditional fervour in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti
About Losar:
- Festival marks the beginning of the Tibetan New Year
- On this occasion, the Buddhist settlements and monasteries are adorned with wonderful and serene ambience and people visit monasteries to offer prayers
- The festival also celebrates the agricultural prosperity of the region.
- The first day of the festival is fondly known as the ‘Lama Losar’, or ‘the Festival of the Guru’. Devotees worship His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual head of the Tibetan people, on this sacred day, and take out lively processions in his honour.
- “People clean their houses thoroughly to ward off evil spirits and prepare a special delicacy called the ‘Ghutuk’, which is shared and eaten with great joy,”
- Emergency Preparedness and Response Capacity Assessment for Himachal Pradesh
Why in News : A new assessment report, the world bank has lauded the Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Response Force(SDRF) for its effective utilization of social media channels.
Highlight :
The report recognizes the SDRF’s commitment to leveraging Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to communicate with people and disseminate critical information during emergency
According to the report, the SDRFdedicated three staff members to maintain a robust social media presence. This team was responsible for creating engaging content, monitoring platforms and providing real-time updates to their followers.
- Major Somnath Sahrma :
Why in News : No memorial to major Som Nath Sharma, has been built in his native village “Dadh” near Palampur despite assurances from successive state government
About Major Somnath Sharma:
- Sharma was born into a Dogra Brahmin family on 31 January 1923 at Dadh, Kangra
- Major Somnath Sharma was martyred in Kashmir in 1947 while leading his unit to Badham village for evicting Pakistani raider from the Srinagar airport.
- On 21 June 1950, Somnath Sharma’s award of the Param Vir Chakra, for his actions on 3 November 1947 in defending the Srinagar airport, was gazette. This was the first time the honour had been awarded since its inception
- HP Shiva Project:
Why in News: Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi directed officers concerned to go to field to understand the problems of the stakeholders and solve them.
About HP Shiva (Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture Irrigation and Value Addition) Project:
Aim: aims to increase the income of farm households in seven districts (Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Sirmour and Una) of subtropical areas of Himachal Pradesh.
Financed by: the Government of Himachal Pradesh and Asian Development Bank
Highlight:
- The total outlay of this project will be USD 163 Million (approx. INR 1300 Crores)
- The duration of the project shall be 5 years (from FY 2022-23 to 2027-28)
- Under the project, plantation will be done in 400 Clusters covering an area of 6000 Hectare in 28 development blocks of project districts
- The irrigation facility shall be ensured through 162 Irrigation schemes. The Farmers in these clusters will be organised in the form of CHPMA Cooperative Societies / FPOs to be registered under the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Society Act, 1968
Benefits:
- Increased income of rural households in Himachal Pradesh
- Strengthened climate resilience in Himachal Pradesh.
- Increase subtropical horticulture production
- Raise the profitability & farm gate price of subtropical horticulture production through value chain development of targeted commodities.
- Project is considered as a key intervention to the state’s agriculture/horticulture based economy and is a major contributor to the state’s overall GDP.
- Improve livelihood of at least 15,000 farm households (around 90,000 direct beneficiaries in these households) in these seven districts
- Mukhyamantri Sukh Ashraya Yojana:
Objective: To serve the most vulnerable section of the society. Government took a decision to adopt the orphans, the specially-abled children as the ‘Children of the State’ and work for their upliftment and well-being, giving them all parental care, besides taking care of the destitute women and elderly who have no one to look after.
Benefits under Scheme:
- The Government is decided to take care of the orphans till the age of 27.
- Incorporates a 15-day educational tour annually for the orphan children, and their stay in three-star hotels.
- Beneficiaries will also receive ₹10 thousand as apparel allowances, ₹500 as festival grant and a marriage grant of ₹2 lakh. “For higher education, children are eligible for financial assistance of up to ₹1 lakh and a monthly pocket money of ₹4,000.
- Grants of ₹2 lakh will be provided to support orphan children in establishing small or micro-industries for self-employment.
- Some important Initiatives to Boost Tourism in Himachal Pradesh
The state government is giving top priority to develop Himachal as a tourism state so that employment for the youth and income of permanent people can increase. In view of this, activities like trekking, camping, paragliding and river rafting are being specially promoted.
Recently :
Three-day Asian Rafting Championship was successfully organized in Beas River at Nadaun, Hamirpur, in which participants from countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Kazakhstan participated. And a project worth Rs 2500 Cr has been proposed with the help of Aisan Development Bank for tourism development in Nadaun area.
Water sports activities are also being promoted in Kol Dam Lake at Tattapani in Mandi district.
Apart from this, the government has announced a comprehensive tourism development plan of Rs 1331 Cr with the help of Asian Development Bank in this year’s budget. Under this, Rs 390 crore will be spent in Kangra, Rs 257 crore in Hamirpur, Rs 229 crore in Kullu, Rs 123 crore in Shimla, Rs 138 crore in Mandi and Rs 174 crore will be spent on tourism development at other places.
In order to ensure smooth organization of summer and winter sports, along with upgrading the Shimla ice skating rink, ice skating rink and roller skating rink will be constructed in Manali.
- Him – Sanchar App:
News: Information and Public Relations Department Himachal Pradesh Launched Him Sanchar App, so that a meaningful role can be played in wide publicity of the policies and programs of the state government.
This app is available on both Google Play store and IOS and one can also download this Application by using QR code.
- Empowering Tribes – A path toward Sustainable Development book
News : Recently Himachal Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla released the book Empowering Tribes – A path toward Sustainable Development, written by Professor Shimmi Agnihotri and Dr. Vijay Singh.
In this book, the authors have told about the changes that have taken place in the tribal areas of the world after development.