This page summaries Rajasthan Current Affairs for the month of November 2021:
Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha in Blue
The building of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly was illuminated in blue to mark the World Children’s Day celebrations on 13th & 14th November 2021. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) is running the ‘Go Blue’ campaign worldwide to show solidarity towards child rights
Rise in Electricity Tariff in Rajasthan
In November 2021, the Power Discoms in Rajasthan have raised electricity tariffs by 33 paisa for the next 90 days on account of rise in purchase cost due to coal and other input costs.
Mobile App to monitor Pregnant Women & Malnourished Kids
The state government has introduced a mobile application – ‘ICDS CSS’ for Anganwadi workers for complete digitisation of records aiming to provide immediate help to pregnant women and malnourished children under 5 years of age. The app is in Hindi and English.
Every family will get an 11-digit unique code which will be used as a reference number to track the information about the beneficiary. The reporting for children will be done from one month to 60 months. “The app will act as a health repository for children and pregnant women. The data will raise the red flag at the data centre directing the officials concerned to provide aid in a stipulated period.
GIS Enabled system for Management of Roads Asset
The Public Works Department (PWD) has developed a Road Asset Management System (RAMS) — a GIS-enabled system — for better management of the state’s road network and enhancement of institutional capacity. The purpose of RAMS was to store inventory of roads and bridges, information about their condition and to estimate the need for maintenance and budget requirements. A mobile app has also been created to facilitate various inputs.
NFSA Benficiaries Scrutiny
In an exercise to identify those beneficiaries who are now financially sound (or do not require benefits under the scheme anymore) and have stopped availing themselves of the benefits under the scheme. The state’s food and civil supplies department has identified 7.38 lakh National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries who have not picked up wheat from fair price shops in the last seven to eight months.
Out of these, the names of 2.89 lakh beneficiaries have already been deleted from the NFSA list.
4% Reservation in Promotions in State Government Services
In November 2021, RajasthanChief minister Ashok Gehlot gave approval to provide 4% reservation to persons with disabilities (PwDS) in promotions in the state government services.
Along with this, provision has been made to provide relaxation to specially-abled persons in the upper age limit and minimum marks to be secured in the direct recruitment.
As per the circular issued by the department of personnel (DOP), guidelines have been issued to all the departments regarding the compliance of provisions related to reservation in direct recruitment and promotions, relaxation in upper age limit and concession in minimum marks to be secured by the PwDs.
Under this, the nodal officer will ensure compliance of the reservation provisions for PwDs in all service cadres of the department concerned. For this, along with maintenance of the roster register, the nodal officer will also have to submit an annual report to the head of the department.
Bundi Utsav
After a two-year gap due to Covid-19, the two-day Bundi Utsav took place beginning 22nd November 2021, with the worship of Lord Ganesh at the famed Taragarh gates on Garh ki Paras in Bundi city. The festival is organised jointly by the state tourism department and the district administration with a view to attract foreign tourists and boost local tourism.
Steppe Eagle
In November 2021, a steppe eagle named Kenzhika, which was tagged in Altai-Sayan region, has come to Jorbeer on a winter sojourn after covering a distance of 4,686km. This is the third time any tagged steppe eagle was recorded in Jorbeer, the hub of migratory birds of prey in Rajasthan.
Ornithologists who are tracking the migration path claimed that the bird flew from Russia to Bikaner taking the route of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (via Jaisalmer and Jodhpur).
Jorbeer is a conservation reserve in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.
Education of Specially abled Children
The high court has given the state government four months’ time to respond to the shortage of qualified teachers for specially-abled children in government and private schools. Justice MM Srivastava and Justice Vinod Kumar Bharwani issued the order on a petition by Specially abled Persons Welfare and Rehabilitation Committee’s advocate Anil Kumar Sharma.
As per the petition, specially trained teachers were needed for the education of specially-abled people, including disabled, blind, deaf and dumb, and mentally challenged. As per rules, there should be one specially trained teacher for every five children. However, there are about 70,000 children in the entire state for whom only about 250 teachers are available.
PHED plans to curb drinking water shortage in Desert Districts
State PHED department has made a plan worth Rs 1,275 crore for four escape reservoirs has been decided upon to end the water woes in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Ganganagar districts. With these reservoirs, more than 20.87 lakh families in 6,707 villages will be benefited. These escape reservoirs will be made
- Near 507 RD near Sattasar
- At 750 RD near Gajner lift project in Bikaner district,
- At 1356 RD in Jaisalmer
- At1121 RD in Jodhpur.
With this plan, PHED believes there will be no water shortage for the next 30 years and an additional 1,000 cusec water will be available at these reservoirs which are to be built in the four districts. Each reservoir may get an additional 300 cusec additional water.
H5N1 in Rajasthan
In November 2021, the Rajasthan animal husbandry department sounded an alert after the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, confirmed the presence of H5N1 influenza virus in the samples of dead crows collected from Sambhar lake.
The department has instructed owners of poultry farms to regularly inspect and closely monitor the movement of wild birds, especially crows, which carry the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus. H5N1 can be transmitted to humans from chicken.
This is the second year in a row that the poultry farms are facing a setback due to the virus. In 2020, after the avian influenza subtype H5N8 was found in crows, the poultry business was badly affected.
300 demoiselle cranes died of bird flu: WTI report
According to the report by the Wildlife Trust of India, around 300 Demoiselle Cranes (Grus virgo, locally called the “Kuranja”) have been reported dead since 06 November 2021 in the latest incident of avian flu in Jodhpur and Udaipur.
The first report came from Kaparda wetlands on November 6 with 56 cranes found dead and several others showing signs of sickness, similar to the outbreak that occurred in Sambhar two years ago when thousands of migratory birds died.
Rajasthan Housing Board receives SKOCH Award
In November 2021, the Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB) has been conferred with the prestigious SKOCH ‘Gold’ Award for ‘Revival and Strengthening.’ The award selection was based on the study of housing department’s outcome in various states.
Har Ghar Dastak Campaign
During November 2021, beneficiaries who have been deprived of the first and second doses of Covid vaccine were being identified through a door-to-door survey under ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign being carried out in the state. Under this campaign, 100% vaccination had been achieved in more than 3,000 villages in the state.
DA hike for Rajasthan govt employees
In November 2021, the state government has increased the rate of dearness allowance or dearness relief of state employees, work-charged employees and pensioners working under the fifth and sixth pay commission on the lines of the central government employees. Now such state employees and pensioners will be paid 368 per cent and 196 per cent respectively of dearness allowance from July 1, 2021.
The central government had issued orders on November 1, 2021 to increase the revised dearness allowance to 196 per cent and 368 per cent respectively for the employees working under the fifth and sixth pay commission.
Persons in NEWS:
Padma Shri 2021 awardee from Rajasthan
In November 2021, President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Padma Shri 2021 in different categories. From Rajasthan, Sarangi player Lakha Khan Manganiar, environmentalist Shyam Sundar Paliwal and educationist Arjun Singh Shekhawat have been awarded for excellence in their respective fields.
Padma Shri 2020 awardee from Rajasthan
In November 2021, 5 persons from Rajasthan were awarded Padma Shri 2020 in different categories by President Ram Nath Kovind at the President’s House on Monday. The awardees are — Himmata Ram Bhambhu (Social Work), Usha Chaumar (Social Work), Ustad Anwar Khan Mangniyar (Art), Munna Master (Art), Sundaram Verma (Social Work). The announcement was made in January 2020.
