Free WiFi services in villages
Why in news?
- Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that free WiFi services will be provided to all villages across the country through Bharatnet till March next year.
Important facts
- The Ministry has already connected one lakh 30 thousand gram panchayats through Bharatnet. The target is to take this to two lakh 50 thousand gram panchayats.
- The target of the government is to convert at least 15 per cent of villages to the digital village in the next four years.
BharatNet:
- BharatNet, also known as Bharat Broadband Network Limited, is a telecom infrastructure provider.
- It was by the Government of India in 2012 under the Department of Telecommunications for the establishment, management, and operation of the National Optical Fibre Network to provide a minimum of 100 Mbit/s broadband connectivity to all 250,000 gram panchayats in the country.
Locust invasion
Why in news?
- Gujarat is under attack from hoppers — new-born locusts — that have flown in across the international border. As the swarms mature, they have ravaged farms in north Gujarat, devastating farms in the three border districts — Banaskantha, Patan and Kutch.
Important facts
- The Desert Locust known as tiddis locally, is one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers (Acridoidea) that are known to change their behavior and form swarms of adults or bands of hoppers (wingless nymphs). The swarms that form can be dense and highly mobile.
- The Latin name for Desert Locust is Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal). The insects fly in during the day and settle on the farms at night, making it difficult to ward them off.
- During quiet periods (known as recessions) Desert Locusts are usually restricted to the semi-arid and arid deserts of Africa, the Near East and South-West Asia that receive less than 200 mm of rain annually. This is an area of about 16 million square kilometres, consisting of about 30 countries.
- During plagues, Desert Locusts may spread over an enormous area of some 29 million square kilometres, extending over or into parts of 60 countries. Desert Locust plagues occurred in 1926-1934, 1940-1948, 1949-1963, 1967-1969 and 1986-1989.
- The Agriculture Ministry’s Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) is located in Jodhpur.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Why in news?
- December 25 was the birth anniversary of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the famed Indian educationist and freedom fighter who is also called ‘Mahamana’.
Important Facts
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861 – 1946) was an Indian educationist and a Freedom Fighter.
- Names: He was conferred the title of ‘Mahamana’ by Mahatma Gandhi. During his school days he started writing poems under the pen name ‘Makarand’ which were published in journals and magazines.
Role in Freedom Movement:
- He was a moderate leader. He was elected as the president of Indian National Congress four times in 1909, 1918, 1932 and 1933, but owing to his arrest by the Government of India, he could not preside over the 1932 and 1933 sessions which had been banned.
- As a member of Imperial Legislative Council (later renamed as Central Legislative Assembly), he participated in the important debates most notable being the prohibition of recruitment of Indian indentured labour to the British colonies.
- He attended the Round Table Conference in 1931.
- Congress Nationalist Party: In protest against the Communal Award of 1932 which sought to provide separate electorates for minorities, Malaviya along with Madhav Shrihari Aney left the Congress and started the Congress Nationalist Party.
- Hindu Mahasabha: He founded the Hindu Mahasabha in 1906 to oppose not the just claims of the Muslim community but the “divide and rule” policy of the British Government.
- As an Educationist: He founded Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916, which was created under the B.H.U. Act, 1915. He was Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1919–1938.
- Journalism: He started the ‘Abhyudaya’ as a Hindi weekly in 1907 and made it a daily in 1915. He also started the ‘Maryada’ a Hindi monthly in 1910. He started the ‘Leader’ an English daily in 1909. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ‘Hindustan Times’ from 1924 to 1946.
- Though, scouting in India was officially founded in British India in 1909, scouting for native Indians was started by him alongwith Annie Besant. In 1913, he started a scouting inspired organisation called All India Seva Samiti.
- Malviya founded Ganga Mahasabha to oppose the damming of Ganges. An agreement known as Aviral Ganga Raksha Samjhuata 1916 was signed between British government and Ganga Mahasabha for uninterrupted flow of Ganges in Haridwar
- He took a keen interest in the industrial development of the country and was therefore appointed a member of the Indian Industrial Commission in 1916.
- Awards and Honours: He was posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna in 2014. Mahamana Express, a train named after Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016. The Train runs between Delhi and Varanasi.
- Oxygen Parlour” At Nashik Railway Station To Combat Air Pollution:
To battle rising air pollution in cities, an ”Oxygen Parlour” has been opened at Nashik railway station.
It aims to provide an experience of breathing clean air to the commuters.
The initiative comes with the efforts of the Airo Guard in collaboration with the Indian Railways.
The parlour contains some unique plants that better absorb the five most harmful pollutants from the air.