09-12-22 Daily-Odisha-OPSC Current Affairs

The Odisha Government has signed an MoU with the University of Chicago Trust, India, to set up a Data, Policy and Innovation Centre (DPIC) in the State for rigorous, evidence-based Governance while using new advances in econometrics, data science and machine Learning.

The MoU was signed between Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) CEO Manoj Pattnaik and University of Chicago Centre Bhubaneswar Executive Director Dr Leni Chaudhari here in the presence of Electronics and IT Minister Tusharkanti Behera.

The scope of this programmatic PARTNERSHIP would involve researchers from the University of Chicago providing data analysis and evaluation assistance to the Schemes and Policies to benefit the States districts and blocks.

University of Chicago researchers would aid the Government in conducting research, monitoring, impact evaluation and project implementation in the energy and Environment, Health, Education, <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and water and sanitation sectors.

The creation of this hub for modern data analysis is a pioneering step in using data to advance innovations and drive policy decisions.

Road accidents caused due to foggy and misty weather conditions claimed 13,372 lives in 2021 and another 25,360 were left injured more than half were grievously injured. Among states and UTs,Uttar Pradeshrecorded a maximum of 3,782 fatalities, followed by Bihar (1,800) andMadhya Pradesh(1,233) on this account. Goa, and Lakshadweep did not report any road death due to this reason.

As per the latest report titled Road Accidents in India published by the road transport ministry, among the million-plus cities, all the top six cities reporting high number of such fatalities were from UP. While Kanpur reported a maximum of 173 fatalities, Agra recorded 108 deaths and the other cities that saw a high number of deaths werePrayagraj(97), Ghaziabad (91) Lucknow (67) and Varanasi (56).Patnaalso recorded 56 such deaths.

The Government of India and Asian (ADB) today signed a $125 million loan to develop Climate-resilient sewage collection and treatment, and drainage and water supply systems in three cities in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The signatories to the tranche 3 loan for Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Program were Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance who signed for the Government of India, and Hoe Yun Jeong, Officer-in-Charge of ADBs India Resident Mission who signed for ADB.

The financing is the third and the last tranche of the $500 million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) for the Program approved by ADB in 2018 to build priority water supply, sewerage, and drainage Infrastructure in strategic industrial corridors across 10 cities in the state. The tranche 3 loan covers Coimbatore, Madurai, and Thoothukudi.

With an aim to invite ideas, solutions and actions that can transform rural economy, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has launched the Prajjwala Challenge. It is one of the platforms where ideas are invited from individuals, Social Enterprises, Start up, Private Sector, Civil Society, Community Based Organization, Academic Institution, Start-ups, Incubation centres, Investors etc having potential to transform the rural economy.

DAY-NRLM is one of the flagship <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/POVERTY-alleviation”>Poverty Alleviation programs of the Ministry of Rural Development, which aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihoods enhancements and improved access to financial Services.

Three new cultural sites in India, including the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, historic Vadnagar town in Gujarat, and rock-cut relief sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura, have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO . The UNESCO website describes a tentative list as an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination.

The Sun Temple in Modhera, Gujarat, is dedicated to Surya Dev and is situated on the left bank of the Pushpavati River, a tributary of the River Rupan. It is the earliest of such temples, setting trends in architectural and decorative features and perfectly illustrating the Solanki style. Itscomponentsthe main temple shrine (garbhagriha), a hall (gadhamandapa), an outer hall or assembly hall (Sabhamandapa or rangamandapa), and a sacred pool (Kunda), now known as Ramakundaare all built in the Marugurjara architectural style. This eastfacingtemple is built of bright yellow sandstone.