HP Current Affairs - UPSC Preparation Made Easy

11th, March, 2023

Importance for Prelims: Economic and social development – sustainable development poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives, etc.

Significance for the Mains Exam:

PAPER-VI: GENERAL STUDIES-III: UNIT II: Revenue generation with special reference to hydro potential, tourism, flora and fauna.

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the officials in charge that work on the 450 MW Shongtong Hydroelectric Power Project needed to start as soon as possible. He also said that the project should be finished by July 2025.

When he was in charge of a review meeting here on Friday night, the Chief Minister said that the tender for this project was given out in 2012, but the building work had been put off for a number of reasons. The state loses money and has to pay more for projects that take longer to finish, so the project had to be done by the deadline.
He told the employees of the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) to fix all of the problems that were slowing things down within a week. After three months, there will be a review meeting. He asked the company in charge of building the project to hire more people so that the rest of the work could be done by the deadline.

Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that when the Shongtong Hydroelectric Power Project is finished, it will produce 1579 million units of electricity every year. This will give the state a total benefit of Rs. 1,706 crore, because the electricity produced will be worth Rs. 1300 crore. The Chief Minister said that getting the project up and running on time would save Rs. 250 crore and make Rs. 156 crore in interest available on the revenue.

The Chief Minister talked about how the project could help the state and bring in money, and he promised that the state government would do everything it could to make sure it was finished on time.
He stressed how important it was to change the way people thought and worked in order to finish the project on time.
The government plans to use hydropower and solar energy to make the state a green energy state by 2025. In this effort, he said, the state has set a goal of making 500 MW of solar energy by the end of 2024.

The Shongtong Karchham Hydro Electric Project is a run-of-river scheme on the river Satluj in the district of Kinnaur in HP. The plan is to build a 102.50-meter-long diversion barrage near the village of Powari to send 406 cumecs of water to four 300-meter-long sedimentation chambers.
The water from the sedimentation chambers is then sent through a water conductor system made up of an 8020-meter-long, 10-meter-diameter circular HRT that ends in a 39.50-meter-diameter surge shaft and three 5.10-meter-diameter, steel-lined (each 211.00-meter-long) pressure shafts. These shafts feed three vertical-axis Francis turbines, which are housed in an underground powerhouse on the left bank
In a 90% reliable year, the project should bring in 1593.93 MU.

(Source: HP Government)

Importance for Prelims: Sports

Significance for the Mains Exam:

PAPER-VI: GENERAL STUDIES-III: UNIT II: Appraisal of education, Health, Physical and Financial Infrastructure Development.

The All-India Inter-University Powerlifting (Women) Championship 2022-23 got started on Thursday at the indoor stadium in Dharamsala. The event was put on by the Association of Indian Universities and was hosted by the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP).

The state government was always trying to help sports and education.
Along with good education and research, universities need to help students get ahead in sports.
Some private universities that give out fake degrees have made the education field look bad. He said that the CUHP’s work in the field of sports is very impressive. By getting young people interested in sports, we can make sure the country is in good hands when they take over.

(Source: The Tribune)