RAJASTHAN

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jodhpur has launched a unique initiative to conserve and restore theThar desert, its Minerals, medicines, and Fauna by carrying out ecosystem phenomics through the transdisciplinary framework of medical, engineering, environmental and life sciences.

The initiative called DESERT ECOSYSTEM Sciences Guided by Nature and Selection (DESIGNS) was launched under the aegis of theJodhpur City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster.

This has been one of the largest natural laboratories for evolving innovative ‘designs’ that ensure the adaptation and survival of its constituent species, their interdependencies and the conservation of the entire ecosystem.

Under this initiative, the researchers will use IOT enabled devices and Big Data analytics framework to crowd source observations from the local ecosystem to the regional level keeping the cultural context and traditional medicine knowledge in perspective.

Minister of state for redressal of public grievancesSubhash Gargon Tuesday said that the state was streamlining the complaint grievance redressal process for time-bound resolution. At a meeting of thePublic Litigation Redressal Committee, he said, As soon as any service or complaint is registered on the portal of any department, it will be registered on theRajasthan Samparkportal. The complaints will be divided into categories and redressed in a time-bound manner.

During the meeting it was informed that in the last four years, more than 53 lakh complaints were registered onRajasthanSampark portal, of which more than 51 lakh were resolved.

As the country steps on the gas to minimize the dominance of energy from coalbased Plants, Rajasthan has taken the steering wheel to make solar the energy of the future. Today, the desert state produces the largest quantity of solar power in the country, having an installed capacity of over 14,000 megawatt.

Given the prospects of new projects and advantages of the whole ecosystem, the number one producer will remain the leader in times to come.

Kalbeliya dances are an expression of the traditional way of life of the Kalbeliya community.
In 2010, it was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).
The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List consists of intangible heritage Elements that help to showcase the diversity of cultural heritage and raise awareness of its importance.
It was founded in 2008.
The dance form is characterised by swirling and graceful movements.
The movements associated with the make it one of India’s most sensual forms of folk dance.
It is typically performed for any joyful occasion.
Another distinguishing feature is that it is only performed by Women, while men play instruments and provide music.

Scores of Aravali hills have vanished in the past 20 years due to unchecked mining and Urbanisation, threatening the and Fauna of one of the worlds oldest mountain ranges and leaving the path open for sandstorms from the Thar desert to hitthe nationalcapital region (NCR) and western UP and increased conflicts with animals, warns an ongoing study on the state of the hill range.

The findings have come in a research of the Central University ofRajasthan(CURaj), which has identified over 31 hills in the upper Aravali range that have disappeared in the last two decades, besides hundreds of hills in the lower and middle levels.

The systematic disappearance of hills at the upper level was recorded in Naraina, Kalwar, Kotputli, Jhalana and Sariska with heights of 200 metres to 600 metres above sea level. However, the count of vanishing hills at the lower and middle level, with heights between 50 to 200 metres above sea level, has yet to be completed. All I can share now are the preliminary results which are very alarming, saidL K Sharma, head of department of environmental science, CURaj.

The destruction of hills and forests in the Aravalis, apart from exposing NCR to more sandstorms, has also led to increased man-animal conflict. Leopards, chinkara and sambhar deer, which live in the hills, have been entering human settlements. Rare Plants like neel, chonakurinji and karun kurinji also face wipe-out threats, says a study conducted by the Central University of Rajasthan (CURaj).

Rajasthanhas registered a little increase in the GrossEnrolment Ratio(GER) although it is still behind national Average of 27.1%. In the recently published All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, Rajasthan recorded an increase in the GER from 23% in 2018-19 to 23.9% in 2019-20. GER is a Percentage of Population in 18-23 age group enrolled in higher education.

In the last three years, has opened around 80 government colleges across Rajasthan for accessibility of higher education to students residing in rural areas. Government has also allotted major portion of the budget to education.
According to the report, female enrolment of 24.3% was slightly higher than male enrolment of 24.1% in 2019-20 session. This is higher than 2018-19 session when female enrolment was 23.1% while male enrolment was 23%.

Rajasthan is suffering from poor pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) with more than 50% faculty seats in higher education institutes lying vacant. Government opening colleges without filling vacancies has impacted the higher education.
The pupil-teacher ratio in Rajasthan has been one teacher on 29 pupils in regular and distant mode and 26 pupils in regular mode. In an ideal scenario, PTR should be one teacher on 20 pupils. This is above national average of 26 in regular and distant mode and 23 in regular mode.

State tourism minister Vishvendra Singh on Sunday said that the government is planning to re-develop 23 old airstrips in public-private PARTNERSHIP (PPP) mode to promote tourism in rural areas of the state.
Delivering the inaugural address at the Tourism Expo here, Singh said, “Under our newly introduced rural tourism policy, we are going to re-develop 23 airstrips with private sector support. This will provide a big impetus to tourism in Rajasthan, especially in rural areas, and create humongous EMPLOYMENT opportunities.”

He cited the Kishangarh airport as an example, saying it has been attracting flyers since it was re-developed. He said the State Government has announced a slew of policy measures to promote film, wildlife and rural tourism.

Singh said that Rajasthan has formulated a path-breaking rural tourism policy which other states should emulate. “The policy is expected to boost wildlife tourism, cultural and religious tourism across the state,” said Singh. Union tourism secretary Arvind Singh said that about 70 million direct and indirect jobs were generated through tourism in the country in 2021-22.

In view of the success of farmer producer organisations or farmer producer companies (FPOs or FPCs) under theRajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Parishad(Rajeevika), the government of India has approved the formation of 30 additional Women FPCs in Rajasthan.

For the Empowerment of rural women, FPOs are formed by bringing together self-help groups through Rajeevika.

Rural development department secretaryManju Rajpalsaid allthe 35 FPOs allotted by the government of India in the last financial year 2022-23, have been formed.

TheNational Commission for Womens (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma, who is on a three-day trip to the state capital, has expressed concern about increasingcrimesagainst Women inRajasthan.

According to her, There is a need to sensitise the lower rank Police officials. There is also a need to change societys mindset in Rajasthan and have laws to prevent child marriages and Nata Pratha. Awareness has to be raised which is the governments responsibility.

The of Rajasthan in its budget 2022-23 has announced a Camel Protection and Development Policy.

According to the state government figures, in Rajasthan there are less than two lakh camels left. Since 2012, the number of camels has reduced by 1.5 lakh in India. Around 2.5 lakh camels were left when in 2019 it was last counted.

The state animal of Rajasthan is the Camel and their number is decreasing continuously. In 2014, the government of Rajasthan had declared the camel as the state animal.

As the camel Population is continuously declining, the government of Rajasthan has announced this policy. For this policy, a budget of Rs 10 crore has also been proposed. The amount will be used for protecting, rearing and developing the animals.

Nearly 85 per cent of Indias camels are found in Rajasthan which is followed by Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the 2019 animal census, the number of camels in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Nagaland dropped to zero, although these states had 45, 03, 07, and 92 camels, respectively, in 2012.