RAJASTHAN

Facing a power crisis, Rajasthan government has again requestedChhattisgarhto expedite the process for making its captive mines operational.

Rajasthan govt stated that the desert state require at least 15 rakes of coal a day to keep 4320 MW thermal power generation units operational to ensure uninterrupted and affordable electricity to its close to eight crore consumers.

Banking on the committed coal supplies from the countrys largest producer Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan has commissioned 4320 MW of thermal power generation capacity at an of Rs 40,000 crore.

With the temperature dipping gradually, more than 270 species of migratory birds, including falcons, cranes, and vultures along with endangered ones such as common rock thrushes and sociable lapwings, from across the globe have started visiting the Desert and the nearby areas.

Wildlife experts and bird watchers have attributed the phenomenon to the good rains in the arid regions this year which contributed to the greenery. They said several rare species from colder countries like Kazakhstan and Russia are visiting for the first time this year and they were excited to study them.

After the launch of 17 biofortified crops by the Centre in 2020, bajra is taking a new form in Rajasthan, having more iron and zinc. It is not genetically modified.
Even the farmers do not have to do anything extra in the agricultural practices to produce the crop that is more nutritious and healthier. In terms of taste, look, odour, and cooking mechanism, there is no difference between the conventional and the fortified bajra.

Biofortification is an established strategy which comes under the Centre.Ministry of Women and Child Development,Integrated Child Development Services, and would be key to drive the demand early on.

Higher prices of photovoltaic panels,steel, wires and invertors have hit the rooftop scheme for 45 MW with only projects worth 23 MW getting commissioned.

The scheme, which was supposed to end in March this year, has been extended and will close on August 31. Vendors selected by the government for this scheme said the sudden rise in photovoltaic panels, steel, copperwireprices since the beginning of the year have made the scheme unviable.

Under the scheme, the government had fixed the prices with one kilowatt requiring Investment of Rs 43,000 including subsidies of 40% for projects below 3 KW and 20% for 4-10KW, which is the upper capacity limit.

The salaries of junior technical assistants (JTAs) under MGNREGA are pending since April as the Centre is yet to release funds meant for material components amounting to Rs 2,651 crore, according to an official in the rural development department.
The official said for the financial year 2022-23, the pending amount for material components is Rs 2,566 crore and for 2023-23, the pending amount is already Rs 85 crore.

The has sent a proposal to the Centre urging it to release Rs 3,777 crore for material components. The proposal has been made keeping in mind the amount to be required for material components for six months from the month of April, the official said.
Out of the total approved labourbudgetof 20 crore for 2023-24, persondays of 12.36 crore have already been generated inRajasthan(up to July 7).

Out of 1.36 crore active MGNREGA workers in the state, 80.5% workers have been linked to the Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) so far by connecting their bank accounts with their Aadhaar numbers. Dausa is the worst performer among districts with 70.0% ABPS coverage, followed byUdaipurat 71.6% coverage, Jaisalmer (72.5%), Pratapgarh (72.8%) and Ajmer at 74.6% coverage.

Tribal regional welfare minister Arjun Singh Bamania has announced establishment of states first tribal children hockey academy inUdaipur. The academy is expected to be inaugurated by the chief minister on the occasion ofWorld Tribal Day.

The selection process was started at Hockey AstroTurf ground in the presence of chief coach Arjuna award winner Olympian Dhyanchand at Maharana Pratap Sports village. The selection process will continue till July 11. Kuldeep Singh Jhala and national level umpire Mohammed Hanif were also present on the occasion.

Rajasthan recorded its lowest ever Growth of 0.14% in the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher Education in 2022-23, a phenomenon that has baffled experts and plunged into question the Ashok Gehlot government’s claims about the state emerging as an education hub in the country.
As per the government’s data, the latest growth rate is the lowest in the last 18 years, as enrolment data is available only from 2005. In 2022-23, a little over 2,000 students were added to the previous year’s tally of 13.02 lakh. What has surfaced as an alarming situation is that for the first time, the enrolment of boys has decreased by 1.52% from 2021-22 despite the state having opened 117 new colleges in the last one year.

In absolute numbers, while 13.02 lakh students enrolled at all levels in the state in 2021-22, it was only 13.04 lakh in 2022-23. Experts say that considering the rise in Population in the state, the Average rise in enrolment every year should be at least around 5%.

As per the report available on the website of the department of higher education, General-EWS andScheduled Tribes(ST) recorded a negative growth (-2.89% and -1.68% respectively) in enrolment while that for SC and OBC remained marginally up (1.89% and 1.45% respectively).

An analysis of the growth figures of the last five years makes the fall in enrolment growth in 2022-23 hard to understand. In 2018-19, the growth rate was 5.12% and in the following years it was 7.16% (2019-20), 5.26% (2020-21), 3.41% (2021-22) and 0.14% (2022-23).

In a bid to strengthen the manufacturing capacity of handloom, handicraft, khadi and terracotta and find new markets for their products, the department laid out a plan for organizing handloom week in August this year.

While a buyer and seller meet would be the core area of the event, focus will be also on design innovation, adoption of new techniques and live demonstration of various products manufacturing by the artisans engaged in the sectors.

The five-day event starting from August 3 is part of theBudgetproposals for 2023-24 announced by the chief minister in February. The objective is to empower and build capacity of weavers, handicraft makers and other artisans.

Rajasthancame second among 36 states and Union Territories in the Centres online ranking after it completed and implemented the largest number of projects under theSmart City Mission. In the ranking published by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs on Monday, the state climbed 27 ranks to bag the second position. The state had earlier come 29th in the list. Jharkhand has taken the top position.

Four cities from the state, Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer and Jaipur, found spots in the ranking of 100 cities. While Udaipur came 8th, Kota stood at 11th, Ajmer 29th and Jaipur 36th in the 100 city rankings.

The Centre has released third and fourth instalments of Rs 100 crore and Rs 50 crore, respectively, for Udaipur. Similarly, for Jaipur and Ajmer, a third instalment of Rs 50 crore each has been released, and for Kota a request for the third instalment has been sent.