This page summaries Rajasthan Current Affairs for month of October 2021:
Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster
The Jodhpur City Knowledge & Innovation Cluster (JCKIC) has been established under the Aegis of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India. In September 2021, Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, inaugurated the JCKIC.
The main focus of the cluster is to provide a necessary platform to create synergy between all the stakeholders to make use of available knowledge as well as to develop advanced technologies, creative skills, state of the art infrastructure and innovative environment in an organized manner so as to ensure sustainable and systematic development of city of Jodhpur.
The Vice President also laid the foundation stone of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIOT) Hub at IIT-Jodhpur.
Medical Devices Park
In October 2021, RIICO signed a MoU with Indian Institute of Technology-Jodhpur (IIT-Jodhpur) and Jodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Foundation (JCKIF) for development of a medical devices park.
The Medtech Medical Devices Park will be an exclusive zone for setting up of manufacturing units in medical devices domain. The park is under development over 223 acre land and will have 73 plots in first phase where plug & play facilities will also come up.
Best Industrial Parks of Rajasthan
On 5th October 2021, the 2nd edition of the Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS) Report was launched by the Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Shri Som Prakash. As per the IPRS 2.0 report released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT):
- Out of the 41 Industrial Parks rated as Leaders (best performing) across the country – 17 parks (41%) are from Rajasthan, while Maharashtra topped the list with 18 parks.
- For land availability, Rajasthan came fourth (19.58 lakh hectares), not far behind Tamil Nadu (21.45 lakh hectares), the top state in the category.
State Transport Department Renamed
The state transport department’s name has been updated to transport & road safety department. The name change is expected to create awareness among people as well as officials who would strive towards curbing accidents particularly on national highways which is a cause of major concern for us.
The transport department is the nodal agency for road safety and even has a special cell – “road safety cell” for the same according to the guidelines issued by Supreme Court Committee. The road safety cell continuously keeps taking fresh initiatives and now there is a Road Safety Board at the national level, which might soon be replicated in states also in which case it is better to have just one body rather than multiple ones working towards the same purpose.
Invest Rajasthan-2022 Summit
The state government has finalised dates for the two-day investment summit “Invest Rajasthan-2022 Summit” which happen in coming January 20-21 at Sitapura.
Officials from the state government are going to participate in Dubai Expo between November 12-18 and meet investors from the US, Germany, South Korea, France and the UK.
Mukhya Mantri Corona Bal Kalyan Yojana – Extended
The state government will now provide free education and admission in college hostels to children orphaned due to Covid. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has approved free education to 306 such students in government colleges and free admission in hostels.
Earlier, under the Chief Minister’s Corona Assistance Scheme, provision was only to provide free education in government schools and free admission in residential school hostels till class 12 to children orphaned due to corona. Now expanding its scope, the chief minister has decided to provide free education to such children in government colleges and free admission in government college hostels
Mukhya Mantri Corona Bal Kalyan Yojana Other Provisions:
- Under the package, orphaned kids will be paid ₹1 lakh as immediate assistance apart from a sum of ₹5 lakh, to be given when they turn 18.
- They will also receive a monthly sustenance amount of ₹2,500..
- The girl students studying in the college, destitute due to the Covid-19 epidemic, will be given admission on priority basis in the hostels run by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
SC & OBC Development Fund
In October 2021, Chief minister Ashok Gehlot approved the formation of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Class (OBC) Development Funds to ensure inclusive growth of youth belonging to these categories, read an official statement.
The Chief Minister also sanctioned Rs 5.57 crore from the Valmiki Fund with the objective of creating better job and educational opportunities for children belonging to the community.
In addition, financial assistance of Rs 5,000 each will also be provided to the children of sanitation workers on the basis of merit.
Prashashan Gaon-Sahar Ke Sangh Abhiyaan & Persons with Disabilities
Under the Prashashan Gaon-Sahar Ke Sangh Abhiyaan, the state government had declared to identify specially abled persons left out of the social justice and empowerment department’s pension scheme.
However, now it has been notified that that people with only 8 categories of disabilities, out of 21 listed categories, will benefit during the campaign.
Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, there are 21 categories of disabilities. The state has identified eight categories, including blindness, low vision, people cured of leprosy, hearing impaired, locomotor disability, mental retardation, mental illness, and dwarfism.
Mahatama Gandhi Statue
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot unveiled the statue of ‘Father of the Nation’ Mahatma Gandhi in the Rajasthan Khadi and Village Industries Board premises. Further he also inaugurated a picture exhibition based on the life of ‘Bapu’ at Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur.
Clean Street Food Hub
To ensure safe and hygienic street food, the health department will now give a tag to cluster of street food vendors of ‘clean street food hub’ but only after ensuring that they are following all hygienic practices. Places with cluster of eateries will be declared as ‘clean street food hub’, after the health department conducts training of such vendors to follow best hygiene practices so that their food is safe and clean for consumption.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is helping the state as it has already issued guidelines for declaration of ‘clean street food hub’ on upgrading of infrastructure of existing food streets. The initiative will also help in popularising and promoting local and regional cuisines.
Campaign against food adulteration in Rajasthan
With festive season about to kick in, the demand for milk products such as sweets and mawa is increasing. With increase in demand the state health department is apprehensive that markets may witness an influx of adulterated milk and other milk products such as sweets and mawa. Aiming to prevent sale of such adulterated products, the health department will launch a campaign from October 14 to November 4.
Under the campaign, samples of food items will be taken from the market for testing in laboratories. The food safety officers will take the help of police and dairy departments.
Watch Riders
Sanitation condition of Jaipur Municipal Corporation-Heritage will now be monitored by ‘watch-riders’ in the city. These riders will go around the JMC-Heritage area, spreading awareness on sanitation and the riders will also challan anyone found spreading garbage.
On October 2, employees of JMC-Heritage were given motorcycles, using which they will drive around the city and make people aware about maintaining better sanitation conditions. Since they will do so while taking rounds on motorcycles, they have been called ‘watch-riders.’
Suratgarh Thermal Power Station Unit 8
On 9th October 2021, Unit 8 of Suratgarh Super Critical Thermal Power Project with capacity of the 660 MW began generating energy commercially. The power unit will generate 1.584 crore units of electricity per day. With this, the power generation capacity of the plant increased from 7937.35MW to 8597.35 MW.
Biomass based Power Projects
Two new plants for biomass-based power generation will be set up in the state near Fagi in Jaipur district and Chhatarpur in Bikaner district. About 22.9 MW of electricity will be generated from these projects
Leopard Habitat in Galta Region
The forest department of Rajasthan has started an exercise to develop a leopard habitat in Galta region, which is located adjoining Jhalana leopard reserve. The department is also planning a proposal to start a safari for tourists, once the area is developed.
As per NEWS reports, there are around 15 leopards inhabiting the Galta and Amagarh forest block. However, there were no routes to monitor the wild cats. Two routes have been developed in the 16 sq km area. Forest Department is contemplating opening up tourism there after six months.
The Jhalana forest spreads over just 20 sq km on the Southeast of Jaipur. It houses a healthy population of 44 leopards including including 31 adults and 13 cubs. Apart from leopards, the forest has various attractions such as 132 species of avifauna, 220 species of flora, 20 species of reptiles, to name a few.
NGT Bans Commercial Activities at Nahargarh
In October 2021, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Bhopal, has banned all commercial activities, including restaurant, hotel and bar, in Nahargarh Fort located in the Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary (NWS).
The tribunal has called business activities illegal and ordered them to stop operations as they are non-forestry activity. The order was given on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by environmentalist Rajendra Tiwari.
In 1961, the Nahargarh forest was declared as a reserve area, on the basis of which the forest department was given the right of control it. In August, NGT had appointed a high-level committee to probe into the matter. The committee included Jaipur district collector, chief wildlife warden of the forest department, and members of the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board (RPCB).
6 demoiselle cranes die in Jaisalmer
6 demoiselle cranes were killed after hitting electricity wires in Degrai Oran area in Jaisalmer. In similar incidents, peacocks, Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) and other birds have died after hitting the high-tension wires in the area
Thousands of migratory demoiselle cranes come from colder regions to Jaisalmer after monsoon. The threat of these birds dying by hitting electricity wires put up for solar and wind mills is high in Degrai Oran area.
Demoiselle cranes, also known as kurja, come to Rajasthan from Siberia via Mongolia, crossing the Himalayas. These birds come in September and camp here at various places.
Helicopter borne Survey for Ground Water
Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Jitendra Singh jointly launched a heli-borne survey for water management in arid areas of the State.
The survey to locate groundwater in the arid regions of the state, including Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, under the Centre’s under the Aquifer Mapping Programme.
In some areas, this survey will also provide information about level, quantity, quality and information of ground water present as deep as 500 metres
The survey is the outcome of an agreement between the Central Groundwater Board, Jal Shakti Ministry and the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad.
Empanelment to Secretary Level
In October 2021, the appointments committee of the cabinet approved empanelment of 12 IAS officers, including two IAS officers of Rajasthan cadre, Rohit Kumar Singh and Veenu Gupta, for holding secretary level posts at the Centre. At present, Rohit Kumar Singh (RJ 1989) holds the post of additional secretary, ministry of culture, government of India and Gupta (RJ 1987) is the chairperson of Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board.
SC issues Contempt Notice
The Supreme Court issued contempt notice to Rajasthan High Court Bar Association in Jaipur over its decision to boycott Justice Satish Kumar Sharma till his roster was changed after the judge did not take up a case involving a lawyer with immediate effect.
