Context

• Recently Uttar Pradesh Government emphasised more on Skill development, Industrial growth for achieving Zero Poverty Campaign.

About

• The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has announced that the 'Zero Poverty Programme' being launched in Uttar Pradesh will be known by the name of Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar . 
• The objective of this program is that no person in Uttar Pradesh should be deprived of basic facilities and the poor and marginalized communities should be linked to all government schemes
• In every Gram Panchayat, 20-25 such families will be identified, who are still deprived of the facilities. 
• The state government will work to provide all the government facilities like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, toilets, drinking water, electricity, gas connection, Ayushman card, pension schemes to such families . 

Major Developments

• Guaranteed skill training initiative was launched on July 21, 2025, the campaign now provides guaranteed skill training to heads of 300 identified poor families as part of its first phase
• Training will cover seven focus areas including hospitality (housekeeping, guest handling), and will also include language skills to enhance employability 

Supporting Infrastructure

• A portal named Zero‑poverty.in functions as the central portal; each participating department has its own microsite (e.g. rd.zero‑poverty.in for rural development)
• The Users can engage via Mop‑Up (data capture) and Rishta (monitoring DBT/benefit flows). Both apps support alerts and voice messages to capture feedback—even from remote areas.

Existing Success & Oversight

• Raghauli village in Jalaun district is the first to be declared completely poverty‑free, with universal access to MNREGS jobs and electricity connections, and full coverage under relevant welfare schemes.
• In Ballia district, over 22,600 families (~96% of the target) have been identified and marked for support; processes are expected to complete shortly.

Context

• A suspected tiger attack near Pilibhit Tiger Reserve on Thursday killed a person, marking the second such incident in three days, leading officials to consider seeking permission to shoot the tiger. 

About Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

• It is located in Pilibhit District, Lakhimpur Kheri District, and Bahraich District of Uttar Pradesh.
• It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains of the ‘terai’ in Uttar Pradesh.
• The river Gomti originates from the PTR, which is also the catchment of several others like Sharda, Chuka, and Mala Khannot.
• The Sharda Sagar Dam, extending up to a length of 22 km (14 mi), is on the boundary of the reserve.
• Vegetation: North Indian moist deciduous type.
• It has a dry and hot climate, which brings a combination of dry teak forest and Vindhya Mountain soils.

Flora

• It is characterized by sal forests, tall grasslands, and swamps, maintained by periodic flooding from rivers.
• The sal woodland is very dense with good natural regeneration, amounting to almost 76% of the reserve area.
• The forest patches are interspersed with grass meadows with several species like Sacchrum, Sclerostachya, Imperata, Themeda, Bothriochloa, Vetiveria, Apluda, Dichanthium, Digitaria, and Cyperus.

Fauna

• It is home to a myriad of wild animals, including the endangered tiger, swamp deer, Bengal florican, hog deer, leopard, etc.
• The rich bird life in Pilibhit includes species like Swamp Francolin, Great Hornbill, Bengal Florican, Lesser Florican, Black Francolin, Jungle Bush Quail, Red Junglefowl, Asian Openbill, etc.

Context

• The Prime Minister paid tributes to freedom fighter Mangal Pandey on his birth anniversary.

About Mangal Pandey

• He was born on 19 July 1827 in Nagwa village, Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• Mangal Pandey is renowned for his role as a sepoy in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry of the British East India Company and for sparking the Indian Rebellion of 1857, widely regarded as India’s First War of Independence.

Major Events

• He refused to use the newly introduced Enfield rifle because it was believed that the new Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket issued to the sepoys of the East India Company came with a cartridge dipped in beef and pork fat, which made it anathema to both Hindu and Muslim sepoys, who had to bite open the cartridge to load the weapon.
• On March 29, 1857, he mutinied and fired at his Senior Sergeant Major. 
• He was overpowered and hanged on April 8, 1857, by the order of a Court Martial at Lal Bagan in Barrackpore.
• On 9 May 1857, 85 sepoys in Meerut refused to use new rifle cartridges believed to be coated with cow and pig fat.
• They were dismissed and sentenced to 10 years in jail for disobedience.

Contributions

• He played a crucial role in sparking the Revolt of 1857 which eventually led to the end of East India Company rule and the beginning of direct governance by the British Crown under the Government of India Act, 1858.
• It appointed a Viceroy as the Crown representative in India in place of the Governor General of India. 
• Lord Canning became the First viceroy under this new system.

About Socio-Political Context of Awadh 

• Mangal Pandey belonged to Awadh, a key region for Company recruitment. 75,000 sepoys from Awadh were part of the British army, and almost every agricultural family had a representative serving. 
• The annexation of Awadh in 1856 by Lord Dalhousie on the grounds of misgovernance (not under the Doctrine of Lapse) and the land revenue settlements caused deep resentment. 
• Confiscation of taluqdars' lands and harsh revenue systems led to 14,000 petitions from sepoys protesting their economic hardships. Pandey’s rebellion thus became symbolic of this cumulative peasant-military discontent. 

About Other Prominent Leaders of the 1857 Revolt from Uttar Pradesh

• Nana Sahib (Kanpur): Adopted son of Peshwa Bajirao II; denied pension rights by the British. Took leadership in Kanpur; fled to Nepal in 1859, where he likely died. 
• Begum Hazrat Mahal (Lucknow): Widow of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah; led the revolt from Lucknow. Crowned her son Birjis Qadr as king. Lived in exile in Nepal until her death in 1879. 
• Veer Kuwar Singh (Bihar): 80-year-old zamindar from Bhojpur; led guerrilla warfare. Retook Jagdishpur in 1858 before succumbing to injuries. 
• Rani Laxmibai (Jhansi): Denied succession under the Doctrine of Lapse fought British forces under General Hugh Rose in 1858. 
• Khan Bahadur Khan (Bareilly): Led a prolonged resistance in Bareilly at age 82; fought Sir Colin Campbell. 
• Maulvi Liaqat Ali (Allahabad): Controlled Allahabad briefly; operated from Khusro Bagh. Arrested in 1872 and deported to Andaman Islands.