Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary August 2017: Week1

Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary August 2017: Week1

Person in NEWS: Ajit Singh

• Ajit Singh, a 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was on 31st-July 2017,  appointed as the director general of police (DGP) by the Rajasthan government.
• Primary tasks at hand:
  • Influx of illegal weapons from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh into Rajasthan.
  • Maintaining law & order at large, and controlling gangs of likes of Lawrence Bishnoi gang and Sethi gangs.
  • Western districts of Jaislmer, Barmer, and Bikaner have witnessed spike in espionage activities from Pakistan.
  • Improving technical surveillance & ground intelligence capabilities of the 89,316 strong force.

Person in NEWS: Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar

• Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar died on 29th july. He was born in Alwar on April 20, 1939, and spent his childhood and youth in city of Jaipur.
• He is credited with taking the ‘dhrupad’ tradition across the globe. He was part of the illustrious Dagar family of musicians.

Rajasthan govt spent Rs 138 crore for care of bovines

• The Rajasthan government has earned Rs 151.50 crore from the 10 per cent surcharge levied on stamp duty for cow conservation and propagation in the year 2016-17.
• Of the total income earned from the surcharge, the state government spent Rs 138.67 crore towards the care of bovines and maintenance of cow shelters.
• Under proposals for cow conservation and propagation fund rules-2016, the state government provided Rs 126.89 crore for fodder and water of 4.71 bovines at 1,036 cow shelters in the state.

New Agricultural Connection Policy-2017

Rajasthan Government has approved the provisions of New Agricultural Connection Policy-2017, which aims to benefit farmers and save electricity. Highlights of new agricultural connection policy are:

• For BPL marginalised farmers, there is a provision of priority till three years for issuing demand note of up to 5 horse power (HP) agricultural connection.
• In the new policy, interest rate for restoring the disconnected connections has been reduced to 12% per year from 16% per year.
• Under the new policy, if a person is found using connection at a land or field other than the allotted one, it would be considered under power theft.
• Now, the farmers would be able to revive the cancelled demand note by paying ₹500 till five years. At present, if the amount is not deposited in 90 days, the demand note is cancelled.
• The farmers will only be given 20HP connection, if they setup five-star rated pump set certified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The consumer, who sets up such pump set, will be given ₹750 per HP relaxation in tariff as grant, after verified by the assistant engineer. At present, the grant is provided to farmers which are voluntarily using 3-star rated pumps.
• Read Details: DIPR

Rajasthan’s first dispute free village

• Araiyavali village in Hanumangarh district has got the distinction of being declared the first ”dispute free” panchayat in the state relating to water and revenue disputes.
• This was achieved by means of Alternative Dispute Resolution like Lok Adalats & improving social harmony, by the setting up a ‘mediation centre’ in the area by an NGO.

35 lakh non-resident Rajasthanis can vote soon

• Nearly 35 lakh non-resident Rajasthani living in various countries across the world can now take part in the electoral process as they would soon be entitled to use their voting right through e-voting.
• The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws. For overseas Indians, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended to include proxy voting as other means to cast their votes.
• It was done as a bench of Supreme Court had expressed its displeasure that the government had not made the necessary amendments (of the Act or Rules) in the Representation Of Peoples Act to allow the voting by NRIs, despite repeated assurances to the court. The court was hearing PILs filed by two NRIs – Shamsheer V P, an NRI from Kerala, and Nagender Chindam, Chairman of the UK-based Pravasi Bharat – seeking the voting rights.

Operation Alert

• BSF will start its exercise ‘Operation Alert’ on the western international border adjoining Pakistan from August 7. The exercise would continue till August 20.

Person in NEWS: Priyanka Kumawat

• Junior badminton player Priyanka Kumawat has made the state proud by getting second place in All India Junior Badminton Tournament 2017 Under-19 Girls’ Singles and third place in doubles.