Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary October 2017: Week 1: Read here
Government school students to get free coaching facilities via virtual classes
State Government will provide free coaching facilities for medical and engineering entrance examination to government school students. For this, the state government has signed a MoU with Kota-based Allen Coaching Institute, which will provide live coaching through virtual classroom.
The smart virtual classrooms have been set up at 770 government schools and 11 district teaching and training institutes with the coordination of the School Education Department and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. In the first phase, free coaching facility will be provided to 11th class students of 770 government schools.
Jaipur shortlisted in top 6 smart cities under World Smart City Expo
Jaipur has been shortlisted in top 6 among 600 cities across 127 countries which participated in World Smart City Expo at Barcelona in Spain. The expo is going to be held from November 14-16. Recently, Jaipur has signed a MoU with Australian city Adelaide for exchange of ideas on smart facilities.
Cancer Institute
Chief Minister of Rajasthan recently laid foundation for Cancer Institute at at Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) campus at Pratap Nagar, Jaipur. The State Cancer Institute is proposed to be spread over 35,000 square metres of land and will have specialised wings for radiology, surgical oncology, medicinal oncology, pathology, etc.
Pushkar Fair
The pushkar fair, better known as Pushkar ka Mela began on Saturday, October 28, 2017 with the ceremonial hoisting of the tricolour . The 2017 fair will close on 4 November, coinciding with Kartik Purnima, the full moon day.
Rajasthan Dairy Development Fund
A 100 crore dairy development fund will be set up by the state government for the development of the Saras Dairy in across the state. In this fund, 75 crore rupees will be made available by the government for 10 years without any interest. The remaining 25 crores will be given by RCDF.
The fund will be used for development for poor category dairies of the state. At present, Banswara, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Churu, Jalore, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Sikar, Tonk and Sawai madhopur belong to poor dairy category.
Rajasthan Assembly passes bill raising OBC quota to 26%
Recently, the Rajasthan Assembly passed a bill to increase reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the state from 21 per cent to 26 per cent. The bill grants five per cent reservation to the five “most backward” OBC communities, which includes Gujjars and four other communities that were earlier grouped as the special backward classes (SBC).
Under the new arrangement, there will be no SBC category as it does not have constitutional approval. Instead, there will be OBC and ‘Most OBC’ categories.
Bird Fair in Udaipur
Udaipur will host the third edition of the bird fair in December. This year the four-day event, which will begin on December 25, will feature bird racing, an event which aims to collect data on different species of birds.
Rajasthan gets its first heavy metal testing lab
Central public health laboratory at mini health directorate in Jaipur has been upgraded to heavy metal testing lab. With this Rajasthan has joined the selected state like Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra where the presence of heavy metals and pesticides in fruits, vegetables, and other food items can be tested at government testing lab.
Many studies have reported the presence of high content of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, cobalt, copper, zinc etc. in vegetables and fruits cultivated with waste-water. Irrigation of agricultural land with waste-water leads to a continuous build-up of metals at these fields which gets accumulated in the vegetables and crops grown on these fields.
Rajasthan govt. notifies 7th pay commission recommendations
The Rajasthan government issued the notification to implement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. This will revise the pay of nearly 12 lakh employees and pensioners in the state. The notification, issued by the state finance department, will be effective from October 1. The state government had constituted the Sawant Committee to examine cases of salary discrepancies, allowances and arrears and make recommendations.
Swami Vivekananda Statue to be installed in Govt. Colleges
State higher education department has directed government colleges to install statue of Swami Vivekananda in their campuses to inspire students.  Rajasthan has 219 government colleges.
Chirayu Programme launched in Rajasthan
To reduce infant mortality rate (IMR), health department has launched Chirayu programme in eight districts – Udaipur, Jalore, Karauli, Barmer, Rajsamand, Jodhpur, Sirohi and Sawai Madhopur. The programme will focus on on saving lives of under-28 days children as majority of infants (under one year) die before they complete four weeks of their lives.
As per the Centre’s Sample Registration System (SRS) report 2015, the percentage of neonatal (Neonates: under-28 day infants) deaths to infant deaths in the state is 69.8%. The NMR in the state is 30 deaths per 1000 live births. It is slightly higher than the national average, which is 25 deaths per 1000 live births.
Chirayu Programme:
- The health department will strengthen its healthcare services for neonates at sick newborn care units (SNCUs).
- The health department will also focus on operationalise C-section points in districts to ensure that the pregnant women with complication receive caesarean deliveries facility immediately at the time of need.
- The health department will emphasis more on providing referral transport. This will ensure availability of vehicles for pregnant women.
- The health department will take strict action against ANMs who will fail to perform under Chirayu programme which include withholding of increments. Also, officials will face action if they provide incorrect data reporting.
Best Tourism Film Award
Rajasthan’s tourism department popular television advertisement ‘Jaane Kya Dikh Jaaye’ has bagged best tourism film award at National Tourism Awards 2015-16.
Steps to curb witchcraft in state
The social justice and empowerment department has directed district collectors to strictly enforce the Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act of 2015 in their districts. The department has identified 14 most sensitive districts where the practice of witchcraft is still prevalent. They are Jaipur, Bundi, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jhalawar, Kota, Pratapgarh, Banswara, Sawai Madhopur and Dungarpur.
The department has also decided to launch a campaign at the grassroots level against this inhuman practice in collaboration with local NGOs, community liaison groups (CLG), adult literacy programmes, women self-help groups (SHGs) and people’s representatives. Another important aspect is the rehabilitation of the victims and providing support systems. The allotment of housing plots, medical care, power, water, pension, etc., will be provided to them under existing schemes.
Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary October 2017: Week 1: Read here
