National
Foundation stone for PRASHAD project for Temples in Telangana
⇒ The President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu, laid the foundation stone for the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Facilities at Bhadrachalam Group of Temples’ on December 28, 2022 at Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamivari Devasthanam, Bhadrachalam in the Bhadradri Kothagudem District of the state of Telangana.
She also laid the foundation stone for another project called ‘Development of Pilgrimage and Heritage Infrastructure of UNESCO World Heritage Site at Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple’ at Mulugu in the state.
- Both these projects have been approved under the PRASHAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
Temple at Bhadrachalam:
The temple at Bhadrachalam, Sri Seetha Ramchandra Swamyvari Devasthanam, is said to be more than 350 years old and is closely associated with epic of Ramayana. It is believed that Lord Rama with his wife Goddess Sita and brother Lakshmana spent some part of their 14 years of exile at a village called Parnasala, a part of Dandakaranya forest near Bhadrachalam Temple.
- The project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Facilities at Bhadrachalam Group of Temples, Telangana’ has been approved by the Ministry of Tourism at an estimated cost of Rs 41.38 Crores.
- The components sanctioned include infrastructural interventions like Pilgrimage Amenity Centre, Parking Area development, Kalyan Mandapam, Street-scaping, Souvenir shops etc.
Ramappa temple of Lord Shiva:
The Ramappa temple of Lord Shiva, a perfect example of architectural brilliance, was built in 1213 AD by the Kakatiya rulers and has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
- This heritage temple attracts over 10 Lakh visitors every year and has a high visibility amongst the tourist circuit.
- The President Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage and Heritage Infrastructure of UNESCO World Heritage Site at Rudreshwara Temple (Ramappa)’.
- This scheme which was approved by the Ministry of Tourism headed by Shri G. Kishan Reddy with the estimate of Rs 62 Crores.
- It aims to make Ramappa Temple, a world class pilgrimage and tourist destination, by providing state-of-the-art facilities for visitors while maintaining essence of heritage and tranquility of the site.
The scheme has approved three sites for interventions namely:
- 10 Acre of Site (A) with Interpretation Centre, 4-D Movie Hall, Cloak rooms, Waiting halls, etc.
- 27 Acres of Site (B) with Amphitheatre, Sculpture Park, Flower Garden, etc.
- Ramappa Lakefront Development.
Others:
» Subsequently, she inaugurated Sammakka Saralamma Janjati Pujari Sammelan, organised by the Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad –Telangana at Bhadrachalam.
» The President virtually inaugurated two Eklavya Model Residential Schools of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs at Komaram Bheem Asifabad and Mahabubabad districts of Telangana.
- The objective of EMRS is to provide quality upper Primary and Secondary and Senior Secondary level education (Class VI to XII) to Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in remote areas.
Online request Transfer Portal for Gramin Dak Sevaks
⇒ The Department of Posts under Ministry of Communications has launched an ‘Online request Transfer Portal’ for Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS), on 28 December 2022.
Launching the portal, Shri Alok Sharma, Director General Postal Services informed that the entire transfer process, from the stage of seeking applications from GDS to the stage of approval and issuing transfer orders, has now been made paperless and simple through the portal.
Key Points:
- The Department of Posts has the largest network of Post Offices in the world consisting of more than 1,56,000 Post Offices across India, out of which more than 1,31,000 Branch Post Offices (BOs) are in rural areas, where the Postal facilities are rendered through Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS).
- The launch of online request transfer portal is a huge step in bringing transparency and accountability in the governance processes by leveraging technology.
- The online process would also result in saving of the time and resources.
- Transfer of more than 5000 GDS has been approved through the online portal in one go on the day of launch.
ADB ranks WAPCOS amongst Top Consulting Services Firm in Water and other Infrastructure Sectors
⇒ In a major breakthrough for WAPCOS, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its report released on Annual Procurement, ranked WAPCOS as Top amongst Consulting Services Firm in Water and other Infrastructure Sectors, with highest sanctioned financed amount.
» In another report on its Members’ Fact Sheet – 2022 released by the ADB, WAPCOS figured amongst the Top 3 Consultants from India involved in Consulting Services Contracts under ADB Loan, Grant and Technical Assistance Projects in Energy, Transport and Water & other Urban Infrastructure Sectors.
- WAPCOS is the only Indian Public Sector featuring in the above categories.
About WAPCOS:
- WAPCOS Limited is a “MINI RATNA” formerly known as Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited. WAPCOS is a Government of India Enterprise under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- WAPCOS is a leading technology driven Consultancy and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) organization in the fields of Water Resources, Power and Infrastructure Development.
- Apart from India, the Company has successfully completed/on-going consultancy assignments in more than 51 Countries covering Asia, Africa, CIS, Pacific Islands and South America.
International
‘Stay Safe Online’ Campaign and ‘G20 Digital Innovation Alliance’
⇒ As part of India’s G20 presidency, the Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched the “Stay Safe Online” campaign and the “G20 Digital Innovation Alliance” (G20-DIA) on 28 December 2022.
About Stay Safe Online Campaign:
- The objective of the ‘Stay Safe Online Campaign’ is to raise awareness among citizens to stay safe in the online world due to the widespread use of social media platforms and the rapid adoption of digital payments.
- The exponential increase in the number of internet users in India and the rapidly evolving technology landscape have brought unique challenges.
- This campaign will make citizens of all age groups, especially children, students, women, senior citizens, specially-abled, teachers, faculty, officials of Central/State Governments, etc. aware of the cyber risk and ways to deal with it.
- The campaign involves the dissemination of multilingual awareness content in the form of infographics, cartoon stories, puzzles, short videos, etc. and amplifying the same through extensive use of the MyGov website and prominent social media platforms.
About G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA)
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) to recognize and support innovators that have digital solutions for various world economies.
Objective:
The objective of the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) is to identify, recognize, and enable the adoption of innovative and impactful digital technologies developed by startups, from G20 nations as well as the invited non-member nations.
Theme:
The Ministry of Electronics and IT has chosen six themes that are of critical significance for global communities.
- These themes are Ed-tech, Health-tech, Agri-tech, Fin-tech, Secured Digital Infrastructure, and Circular Economy.
Startup products in the aforementioned six themes enabled through Digital Public Goods Infrastructure can create a global population-scale impact and reduce the digital divide and enable sustainable, and inclusive techno-socio-economic development.
Key Points:
- The G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20–DIA) summit which will be held in Bangalore on the sidelines of the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) meeting will be a multi-day program where top nominated startups from each of the theme areas from all of the G20 countries and the non-member invited countries will showcase their solutions to the global community of investors, mentors, corporates, and other government stakeholders.
- A total of 174 startups will be engaged, celebrated, showcased, and supported under this program from around the world at the Grand Summit in Bangalore in August 2023.