RAJASTHAN

A new extinct species of hybodontshark has been discovered in the Jaisalmer Basin of Rajasthan by researchers from the Geological Survey of India and the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee by a team of officers. This discovery was published in the 4th issue of Historical Biology, an internationally renowned journal of palaeontology, in August 2021.

Key points

Thirty teeth specimens were collected from the region which proved that the species lived about 160 and 168 million years ago.

It was termed Strophodus jaisalmerensis, and it is the first time the Strophodus genus has been found in India.

Hybodont sharks were believed to have grown around 2-3 metres long. They went extinct 65 million years ago, most likely as a result of comparing with other species, such as sharks. It’s worth noting that dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago as well. But It’s unclear whether these two extinctions are related or not.

TheCentral Pollution Control Board(CPCB) on Sunday collected samples from the rain-fedLuniriver to keep tabs on the waterbodys pollution levels. The team collected water samples from a stretch of 22km.

The mandate for keeping a check on the pollution levels in a state river lies with the state. Luni is a state-specific river.

As part of the scheme, 100 grams of pulses, 100 grams of vegetables, 250 grams of chapati and pickles per plate will be provided to people in 358 Indira Rasois (kitchens) which have been set up in 213 across the state. The scheme targets to serve food to 1.34 lakh people per day in the state.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot approved a proposal of62.30 crore to provide financial assistance to around 6,000 research scholars in the state.

In addition, 3,800 research scholars of government colleges and universities will get financial assistance of up to25,000 for participation in internships, seminars, workshops, conferences in prestigious higher educational institutions and research institutes of the country.

Researchers of medical Education universities and those receiving any other kind of fellowship will not be eligible for this financial grant.

On the International Day for , the state forest department launched two safaris in Udaipur andJhunjhunudistricts, enhancing Rajasthan’s reputation as a wildlife destination for tourists.
While the focus of safari in Beed reserve in Jhunjhunu will be on blackbucks and chinkaras, the one launched in Jaisamand in Udaipur district will be a leopard safari, also the first outside Jaipur district.

The leopard safari in Jaisamand sanctuary was planned by the forest department’s following the successful operations of Jhalana andAmagarhleopard reserves. The safari is expected to increase tourism in the area, provide an additional attraction for visitors exploring the Jaisamand lake, the second-largest manmade lake in India.

The will look after children who have been orphaned during thepandemic, irrespective of the fact if their parents died due to Covid or some other ailment. Thehealth departmenthas issued an order to all districts in this regard. The nodal officers, including the medical staff at the district levels, will provide details of such children on the child helpline number 1098, following which thechild commissionwill prepare a list of minors to be handed over to the state government.

During the second wave of pandemic, with the death toll rising, many messages of child adoption started doing the rounds on Social Media. According to these messages minors whose parents have succumbed to Covid can be adopted. The registered orphanages said that till now they have not got any children whose parents died due to Covid. They added that in the coming days these calls might start pouring in.

Jaipurs 99% irrigated land of 2.80 lakh hectares uses groundwater for Irrigation while the remaining 1% uses surface water, leading to gross over-exploitation of groundwater (GW) reserves.

The Central Groundwater Board Report 2022 (November) says that of the districts 15 blocks, Govindgarh has the lions share with 40,000 hectares irrigated using groundwater. Blocks likeJhotwaraand Sanganer lead in using groundwater for industrial purposes.

The report says in 2021, the district recorded a deficit of 918 million cubic metres of groundwater, mainly due to over-exploitation for irrigation purposes.

The report points out that the imbalance in groundwater is gradually pushing the water table deeper. The analysis of the decadal water level trend (2011-2020) indicates that the overall trend in the district is decline at an Average rate of 0.50 metres per year.

In an important judgement, a larger bench of the Gujarat held that the State Government can levy stamp duty in the event of amalgamation or reconstruction of unlisted companies based on their market capitalization, and the premium paid for issuance of Shares cannot be treated as its face value.

A three-judge bench gave various references regarding computation of stamp duty under the Gujarat Stamp Duty Act. The questions were posed by the chief controlling revenue authority before the HC in 2020, when different companies including firms of Adani Group, Global Enterprise Ltd, Troikaa Pharmaceuticals Ltd felt that higher stamp duty was asked for mergers/amalgamation/reconstruction of their companies.

For calculation of stamp duty, the bench held that therevenue departmentwas right in charging duty on orders sanctioning schemes of amalgamation/reconstruction between unlisted companies based on market value of shares, which will be deemed to be its face value according to Explanation-III(c) in Article 20(d) of Schedule-I to the Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958. The amount of premium at which such shares of unlisted companies are issued under schemes cannot be treated as a separate consideration while computing stamp duty.

Vedanta Ltds. Cairn Oil & Gas has discovered oil in the Barmer district of Rajasthan. The company has notified the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) about this discovery. This oil was discovered by Cairn Oil & Gas in a block that was given to them under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).

The Block RJ-ONHP-2017/1 is located in Chohtan and Gudamalani Tehsil of the district of Barmer.

This block covers 542 square kilometers of area and was one of the companys 41 blocks that were awarded in the 2018 OALP-I round of bidding.

In the block, Vedanta owns 100 percent participating interest.

This discovery is the third such discovery that the company has notified under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy.

Durga is the name given to this discovery.