RAJASTHAN

Sections 272 to 276 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with offences relating to adulteration of food, drink, drug or medical preparations. The offences are punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to Rs 1000, or with both. The offences are non-cognizable and except offences related to adulterating any drug or medical preparation under Section 274, the offences under sections 272, 273, 275 and 276 are bailable.

The state child panel officials claimed that more than 50% of the children who had been orphaned during the pandemic have been provided the benefits announced by the government in June. The authorities had prepared a list of over 700 children who lost their parents due to Covid and the government had announced Rs 1 lakh for each child as immediate relief measure. Districts have been also asked to give the list of children who have been provided with the benefit.

The government will give Rs 2,500 per month to the child till he/she turns 18 as well as financial aid of Rs 5 lakh post turning 18. The government will also provide free Education to the orphaned children till Class 12.

Rajasthanhas a lions share in theNEETresults with nine percent of the 14.45 lakh qualified students being from the state. The desert state may be in the third spot in terms of the highest number of qualified students (absolute numbers) afterUttar PradeshandMaharashtra. It has recorded a strike rate of 69%, which is the highest among the top 10 performing states.

Figures released by National Testing Agency (NTA) said that 1,45,824 candidates have appeared in the examination while 1,00,316 have declared qualified with a strike rate of 68.70%. UP has a strike rate of 52.34% with 267383 students appearing and 1,39,961 qualified and in Maharashtra which ranks second in the country has among the worst strike rate at 47.84%.

To coincide with the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observed on June 15, Agewell Foundation conducted a national online survey on the current status of older persons with special focus on impact of second wave of Covid crisis on elderly.

The survey indicated that the second wave and lockdown rules and restrictions have forced majority of the senior citizens to live in critical conditions. Around 69% elderly respondents from the state said cases of abuse had increased during lockdown and after. Among them, 63% claimed that interpersonal relationships is the main factor responsible for fast increasing incidence of elder abuse in families.

The survey was conducted during June and included 500 respondentsRajasthanout of the total 5,000 from across the country. Every third elderly (33%) claimed that they faced domestic violence (physical/verbal) in old age.

In all, 79.5% of elderly respondents from Rajasthan claimed that their life had been affected adversely during current Covid situation. During the study it was found that 62% elderly respondents were facing neglect in their life.
Approximately 59% elderly respondents said they were suffering abuse in their families and Society.
The survey concluded that that most elderly have to depend on family care, which makes them vulnerable. Incidences of elder abuse, mistreatment, and harassment of elderly occur primarily within their respective families are on rise due to vulnerability of older people. Elderly Women are worst affected due to their poor financial status, increased level of dependency and even due to longer lifespan comparatively elderly men.

TheRajasthanchapter of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and (DICCI) has signed anMoUwith the State Government and CII to set up an incubation-cum-training centre under Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Rajasthan Dalit Aadiwasi UdhyamProtsahan Yojana.

The MoU was signed to accelerate Growth“>Inclusive Growth by working to tap the potential of the SC-ST Entrepreneurship in the state, organising training and capacity building programmes for SC-ST youth, providing impetus to SC-ST youth both on creating entrepreneurship and employability in the manufacturing and service sectors.

While incidents ofblack marketingofRemdesivirand other drugs and Oxygen have come into Light, the doctors are now alleging that the other medical consumables such as gloves, masks are now being sold at higher prices.

On the reports, the Health department constituted four-member committee in Jaipur which will work to prevent any black Marketing of oxygen and Remdesivir and other medicines such as Tocilizumab and Favipiravir.

Rajasthanwill host two All India RankingBadmintontournaments this season, according to the latest yearly calendar released by the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

The national governing body ofsportshas once again allotted Rajasthan Badminton Association (RBA) two All India Ranking tourneys this year 2023-24.

The All India Junior tourney will be held from November 4 to 10 at Udaipur, while the seniors meet will take place from January 22 to 28, 2024 at Jodhpur.

Chief ministerAshok Gehlothas approved a customised package for five investments worth Rs 6,994 crore to encourage private which would generate direct jobs for 5,415 people in the state. The approval was given at the 4th meeting of the board of investment.

Gehlot said that the State Government has implemented many important decisions and programmes to increase investment in the state in the last four years. Investors are being provided facilities under MSME Policy,RajasthanInvestment Promotion Scheme (RIPS), Rajasthan Industrial Development Policy and One Stop Shop System.

The recently introduced RIPS 2022 has been well received by investors. Due to these policies, the state government is continuously getting proposals from international companies. This would further strengthen industrial development in the state.

The state has admitted 2.75 lakh students under the Right to Education (RTE) in 2022-23 which is the highest in the country in a year.
The Act is mandated to provide admission to economically poor and marginalised sections. In the state, only 5% of the admissions under the criteria is grabbed by ST students while their share in the Population is almost 14%. Also,Rajasthanstood 7th in terms of population in the country but it is number one in RTE admission raises questions on the admission process.

This year in the first RTE admission session in April-May, 1.38 lakh admissions took place in class I. Thereafter, the second admission session took place for pre-primary Classes in February which received 2.20 forms against the estimated seats of 1.50 lakh seats.

Officials have confirmed that the state is leading in terms of having the highest number of students admitted under RTE followed byMadhya Pradesh.

Rajasthan Corporation in its letter to Urja Vikas Nigam on January 25 said that Biomass power projects of 228.69 MW capacity are under the process of getting approvals for power evacuation,NOCfrom water authority and approval ofState Level Empowered Committeeetc.

There are seven reasons provided in the letter to increase the renewable energy obligation from biomass (mandatory procurement) from the current 0.9% of discoms total power consumption to 2.45%.