Current Affairs - Uttar Pradesh

In order to give impetus to the perfume industry, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to develop Kannauj as a perfume tourism destination.

• It will also hold an international perfume fair in Kannauj in December.
• At Kannauj, the first phase of the perfume park being set up will be completed by November 15.
• The Uttar Pradesh government has planned to promote the perfume of Kannauj in the international market. The aim is to take the Rs. 250 crore perfume business to Rs. 25,000 crore.
• The perfume business will give momentum to vision of making Uttar Pradesh a $ 1 trillion economy.
• The state government has also made changes in the export policy to make it easier for the traders to boost their perfume export. If a trader associated with the perfume business participates in a fair abroad, the state government will bear the expenses on their travel and transportation of samples.
• The perfume of Kannauj comes under the ‘One District, One Product’ initiative and has demand in the international market.

Uttar Pradesh government is planning to build an education township in the state.

It will provide high-quality education to the youth and equip them with a variety of professional skills in a single place.

Concept: 'Single Entry, Multiple Exit'

• Built on the idea of 'Single Entry, Multiple Exit' (come like a blank paper and carry multiple skills), the focus of this township will be on high-end education.

Features of the Education Township

• Prestigious government and private universities of the country and the world will be able to open their campuses in the township.
• There will be primary and secondary schools like Atal Residential Schools in the same place.
• Universities and colleges will be established for undergraduate and postgraduate studies wherein studies and research works related to management, technology, law, and medicine will be carried out.
• The education township will also feature skill development universities where training will be imparted to the youth in different types of skills. Besides, many other coaching institutes like Abhyudaya will be started in these education townships so that more and more students can be successful in competitive examinations like NEET, IIT, Union Public Service Commission, etc. to be held in the country and the state.
• It will cater to students from not only the country but also African, Latin American and Central Asian countries.
• Accommodations will be provided to both teachers and students at the education township.
• With the introduction of the 'Single Entry, Multiple Exit' system in the state, students will be able to avail of cheap education loans.

Recent Initiatives by the State Govt.

• Recently Govt. has directed authorities to prepare a comprehensive action plan for setting up five education townships in the state during a meeting with the representatives of consultancy firm Deloitte India to explore ways to make Uttar Pradesh a $1 trillion economy.

The century-old Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden in Lucknow (popularly known as Lucknow Zoo) will now be shifted to Kukrail forest area, about 12 km away from its current location in Narhi.

• The move is aimed at decongesting the overcrowded Narhi area because of the presence of the zoological garden.
• The Govt. will establish Kukrail night safari to encourage eco-tourism and create more employment opportunities for locals engaged in tourism trade, catering, decoration etc.
• Possibilities of channelising Kukrail river and developing it as an attractive river front would also be considered. The cost of this mega project will be assessed after the UP government gets to see the report made by the consultant.
• Kukrail Reserve Forest has a captive breeding and conservation center for the freshwater gharials (gavialis gangeticus), one of the 3 native species of crocodiles in India.

About the Park

• Lucknow’s zoological park was established on November 29, 1921 by the then Governor, Uttar Pradesh, Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler.
• It was named as Prince of Wales Zoological Garden.
• On June 4, 2001 the zoo was renamed as Lucknow Prani Udyan.
• In 2015, the Lucknow Prani Udyan was renamed as Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Prani Udyan. Shah was the last Nawab of Oudh who was fond of animals and had reared different animals, to create a small zoo in Kolkata.

A natural history museum is coming up in Uttar Pradesh on the Lucknow Zoo campus and is expected to be ready by March 2023.

• The museum will be the first-of-its-kind in Uttar Pradesh and will have nearly 6,000 specimens of animals and birds collected by experts over the past 200 years from different places across the world.
• The museum will offer information on birds and animals that existed millions of years ago and species that are extinct or endangered.
• The museum will have five galleries showcasing specimens of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and aquatic animals in the form of dummies. Besides, skins, eggs, fossils and skeletons will be on display.
• Visitors will be able to learn about animals that are now extinct, near extinction, rare, critically endangered or endangered as well as those commonly found.

• The Uttar Pradesh Govt. has launched ‘Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana’ under which 19 International Players will get road connectivity to their homes.
• The initial list includes 19 International Players from the state, and later on more players are expected to be added to the list.
• The list includes Indian Cricketers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Mohammad Kaif.
• The UP State Govt. has also declared to name a road after Late Cricketer and Former Cabinet Minister Chetan Chauhan who passed away recently.
  

• The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government has approved Uttar Pradesh Startup Policy 2020 to increase the job opportunities and employment in Uttar Pradesh by promoting the developing units in agriculture, health, power, education, tourism and transport sectors.
• The policy aims at ensuring the position of UP within the top tier of the Centre’s startup rankings; creating 100 incubators with at least one unit in each 75 districts; creating an ecosystem to promote 10,000 startups; setting up state of the art centres; and creating the largest incubator of India in Lucknow.
• The validity of this policy is five years from the date of notification which is estimated to provide direct employment to more than 50,000 people and generate self -employment to around 1.5 lakh people.
• The policy provides special focus, financial and incubation support on the startups in the Backward regions (Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions).