January 2020: Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary - RajRAS

This post lists summary of Rajasthan Current Affairs for month of January 2020:

Rajasthan Budget 2020-21 likely to be tabled on February 17

The state government may present the budget for the financial year 2020-21 in the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha on February 17, 2020.

Rajasthan becomes third state to pass resolution against CAA

On 25th January 2020, Rajasthan State Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. After, Punjab & Kerala it became the third state to pass a resolution against CAA.

Silicosis-affected families to get benefit of Palanhar scheme

The Rajasthan government has decided to extend the benefit of the Palanhar scheme to the children of those suffering from silicosis. This will benefit 15, 828 children of silicosis-affected families in the state.

What is Palanhar Scheme ?

Under the Palanhar scheme of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, the state government provides a grant of Rs 500 per month per child between 0-6 years and Rs 1,000 per month per child aged between 6-18 years.

Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha extends SC, ST reservation quota in assembly

On 25th January 2020, Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha approved the extension of SC and ST reservation quota in the state assembly by another 10 years in the state on Saturday. The bill came into effect from January 25, 2020.

The parliament passed the bill under the Constitution (126th) Amendment for the extension of quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies on December 12, 2019. Thereafter, the Act was sent to the states for rectification.

Plant 10 trees for each one cut for highways

A division bench bench of Rajasthan High Court asked the state government to plant 10 times the trees to be removed while constructing the state highway (SH) and its maintenance from Majari to Haryana/Rajasthan border and from Majari to Neemrana (Alwar) SH-111 and SH-111A, a highway project on PPP model.

Ration card to club with Jan Aadhaar card

The Rajasthan IT department is working on amalgamation of ration card with the Jan Aadhaar card. The ration card is all set to be revised and the state government has decided to introduce smart ration cards in the state.

Both Jan Aadhaar card and ration cards are issued treating each family as the unit, so, there is no point in duplication. Additionally, a single card that will cater to all the benefits of government schemes, would not only reduce the administrative cost but also the investment required.

SMS becomes State’s first government hospital to conduct heart transplant

In January 2020, Sawai Man Singh Hospital, Jaipur became the first government hospital to conduct heart transplant in Rajasthan. Also, this was fifth such operation in the city. SMS Hospital has developed new facility with a cost of Rs 20 crore for heart transplant, which was inaugurated on October 5, 2019 by chief minister Ashok Gehlot

On August 2, 2015, the first heart transplant of the state was conducted at a private hospital – Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Hospital (MGMCH) in Jaipur. In the state, there are four private hospitals, which have already been approved for heart transplants.

Eco-Sensitive Zone around Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve

In January 2020, the MOEFCC has issued a draft notification to declare a 1 km eco-sensitive zone around Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) spread over 759.99 sq-km covering the four districts of Kota, Bundi, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar.

The eco-sensitive zone will be treated as a ‘breathing space’ for wildlife. It is demarcated based on their ecological importance which reigns in development activities inimical to wildlife and their habitats. While the zone will be completely compatible to livelihoods of local communities living around the tiger reserve, it will bring the order on tourism, mining activities, industries and other footloose development activities disrupting wildlife corridors outside reserve boundary.

A draft notification also mentions that the government shall also constitute a state-level eco-sensitive zone monitoring committee (SESZMC) to monitor the compliance of the ESZ notification.

‘Ghoonghat Mukt Jaipur’ Campaign

Following chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s call to eradicate the practice of ‘ghoonghat’ in the state, the district administration of Jaipur kicked off its ‘Ghoonghat Mukt Jaipur’ campaign in the city.

Under the campaign, awareness will be created among both men and women about the regressive practice which stands as an obstacle to women empowerment and gender equality in society. Women in the district will also be motivated not to wear ghoonghat when they come to vote during panchayat elections. Besides, awareness will be created through WhatsApp and other social media platforms, Gargi and Meena manch in schools and Mahila gram sabhas in the villages.

An orientation programme will be organised for all the elected women sarpanch in Jaipur so that they can create awareness among other women during gram sabhas, festivals and bal sabhas. During awareness programmes, women will be sensitised about the negative impact of the practice towards gender equality, their success, professional growth, women rights, education and health.

State Health Minister launches Campaign against Teenage Pregnancy

In January 2020, Health minister Raghu Sharma launched a programme to discourage teenage pregnancy to bring down the number of maternal and infant mortalities in the state.

Rajasthan is one of the states reporting the highest number of child marriages resulting in early motherhood. As per the National Family Health Survey-4 data, 35 per cent of girls in the state were married before the age of 18 and more than six per cent of these girls either had children or were pregnant at the time of the survey.

Also Read: Issue of Underage Mothers in Rajasthan
TOI NEWS

Govt’s new initiatives to boost higher education

Minister of state for higher education Bhanwar Singh Bhati in January 2020 announced various programmes at ‘Yuva Samvad’ organised by college education at Shiksha Sankul.

Under ‘New Initiatives in College,’ initiatives will be taken in colleges and enhance the quality of higher education.
‘Commissioner Ki Class’ will be started, under which education commissioner will take classes in government colleges to prepare students for competitive exams.
Under ‘Rajasthan Healthier Youth and Moral education,’ which is meant for students of all the private and government colleges in Rajasthan, health issues and moral values will be discussed.
A programme titled ‘Girls Empowerment and Mentoring’ for the young girls, will start which will focus on the overall development of girls especially revolving around health and safety issues. Women teachers will be trained who will further mentor the girls.
“Administrative Efficiency and Progressive Learning Effort” programme to provide quality education to students and this will incorporate the principals and senior faculty members of the colleges.
Various inter-state games and sports tournaments will be organised under the “Arjun Drishti Programme” to provide better opportunities to students interested in sports.
Following the footsteps of ‘Pratiyogita Dakshta Programme’ in government colleges, similar classes will be organised even in private colleges, which will be available to students for free.

NCRB releases Rajasthan’s Crime Data for 2018

In January 2020, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released data in relation to registered crimes in state of Rajasthan.

Rajasthan witnessed a marginal increase of 1.9% in crimes registered in 2018 in comparison to 2017.
There was a dip in the cyber-crimes recorded in the state with the number decreasing from 1,304 cases in 2017 to 1,104 in 2018.
Rajasthan (now 2nd) has been replaced by Uttar Pradesh as the state with most economic offences. The state accounts for 13.6% of total economic offences in the country.
The biggest increase was observed in the crimes committed by foreigners which went up from 9 to 33 from 2017 to 2018.
A total of 86 cases of human trafficking were also recorded which made of up 3.5% share of the country with a crime rate of 0.1 cases per lakh population.
According to data, Rajasthan ranks fifth in the country when it comes to crime against women. With 27,866 cases registered, the number of cases spiked by 1,873 as compared to previous year.
In crime against children, the figures decreased from 5,180 cases in 2017 to 5,150 in 2018.
Crime against senior citizens also came down with 102 lesser cases recorded in 2018.
Rajasthan has an average of 327.1 cases registered per lakh population.

MoU for State’s first biotech park, incubation centre

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the Centre’s biotechnology department and department of science and technology (DST), government of Rajasthan for development of biotechnology park and biotechnology incubation centre.

Some Other Relevant NEWS of January 2020

Three-day Udaipur bird festival was held at several wetlands across Udaipur, with more than 2,000 people participating in the event.
Arjun Hub was inaugurated in January 2020 at Jaisalmer Military Station for providing speedy and focused repair to vital assemblies of the indigenous Arjun main battle tank (MBT).
FSI, released Rajasthan State Forest Report – ISFR 2019: Rajasthan
On the occasion of the 10th National Voters’ Day, Alwar district collector Inderjeet Singh was honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind for conceptualising and implementing mSVEEP mobile application during Lok Sabha elections in the district.