Rajasthan Current Affairs: August 2018

Rajasthan Government has developed two new robots named “Teji” and “Budhia”.
The robots will not only speak in 20 languages including Hindi-English, but will reply in the same style, in the same way that the question is asked.
These robots are also capable of giving information on 20 Government schemes.
The robots are built on the lines of the world’s first human robot Sofia. Sofia talks like humans. She has also given citizenship to Dubai. This was the first case of giving citizenship to the robot.

Rajasthan is all set to have its first ever ‘cow sanctuary’, a shelter for 10,000 bovines in Bikaner district.
The state government has inked a MoU with Mohanlal Buladevi Ojha Gaushala, a private trust, to develop the cow sanctuary spread over an area of more than 250 hectares of land in Napasar in Bikaner district.

Rajasthan has become the first State in the country to implement the national policy on biofuels unveiled by the Centre in May this year.
The lays emphasis on increasing production of oilseeds and establish a Centre for Excellence in Udaipur to promote research in the fields of alternative fuels and energy resources.
The policy on biofuels also seeks to help farmers dispose of their surplus stock in an economic manner and reduce the country’s oil import dependence.
It has expanded the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials, starch containing materials and damaged foodgrains like wheat, broken rice and rotten potatoes for ethanol production.
Additionally, a biodiesel plant of the capacity of 8 tonnes a day had already been installed in the State with the financial assistance of the Indian Railways.
The State Rural Livelihood Development Council would also encourage women’s self-help groups to explore the scope for additional income through the supply of biodiesel.
The Biofuel Rules, 2018, would shortly be brought into effect.
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A total of 2,267 government schools in Rajasthan have been given ‘5 star’ ranking.
The star ranking to government schools are being given for motivation and was based on 12 parameters including results in Class 8, 10 and 12 along with cleanliness, educational performance, enrolment and overall activities.

Rajasthan Chief Minister has approved a proposal to set up 55 courts under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the state.
Each district would have at least one such court to deal with cases of crime against children, especially rape.
One such court is already operational in Jaipur.

Rajasthan State Archives Bikaner is coming up with country’s first document museum to showcase the importance of rare documents from the Mughal period to the formation of Rajasthan.
The museum will have four galleries featuring- Mughal rulers Farman, Mewar rulers copper plates, cryptography or Maps of Rajputana rulers from 18th century and interview or profiles of 250 freedom fighters.

North Western Railway (NWR) whose two railway stations were two railway stations were among top 2 in the A1 category of railway stations and 6 were in top 10 in the A category of railway stations in the 3rd cleanliness survey.
Jodhpur secured first rank whereas Jaipur secured second.
Quality Council of India (QCI) had conducted a survey at 407 bigger stations across the country which included 75 A1 class stations and 332 A class stations.
In the same survey of A category of stations, 6 stations of Rajasthan are figured in the top 10 list. “Marwar Junction has topped the list, followed by Phulera on number 2, Udaipur bagged 4th position, Jaisalmer 5th, Barmer 7th, and Bhilwara has got 10th position.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs came out with first ever Liveability Index across 111 cities in the country.
The Liveability Index included 100 smart cities, capitals & and those with more than one million population. But Howrah, New Town and Durgapur in West Bengal did not participate in the survey. Moreover, Naya Raipur in Chhattisgarh and Amravati in Maharashtra did not fit into the parameters, as these are greenfield cities.
The assessment was based on four “pillars” — institutional, social, economic and physical. These were further expanded into 15 core categories and 78 indicators.
Each city was given a score between 0 to 100. Of the 100 marks, while institutional parameters carried 25 marks, it was 25 marks for social, 5 marks for economic and 45 marks for physical parameters.
Pune and Navi Mumbai stood first and second respectively. Rajasthan’s cities ranking – Jaipur (30), Ajmer (51), Jodhpur (53), Udaipur (54), Kota (59).
Reference: PDF

Under the Ujala scheme, the people are being given better quality LED bulb at low cost by the government.
Till now, more than 1.54 crore LED bulbs have been distributed in the state, saving about 20.04 lakh megawatts of electricity per annum.

Person In NEWS:

Gajanand Sharma, native of village Mahar Kalan near Chomu town, Jaipur returned to home town after having spent 36 years in Lakhpat Kot jail located at Lahore, Pakistan.