Every district in Rajasthan to have road safety panels, orders Supreme Court

Following orders of theSupreme Court, the state transport androad safetydepartment has now made it mandatory to have district road safety committees in every district.

These committees will be headed by the district collectors and have Police commissioner, chief medical officer, executive engineer of public works department, programme director fromNHAI, district Education officer (secondary), district transport officer among others.

Private sector AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) signed a pact with the National Bank for Rural and Development (NABARD) on September 29, 2021 in a bid to boost ongoing rural development initiatives in the state of Rajasthan.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Chairman and Managing Director of AU Small Finance Bank.

MoU envisages a joint initiative to benefit farmers, Self Help Groups (SHGs), rural artisans, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), agri-entrepreneurs, and agri-start-ups in Rajasthan

It will provide institutional credit support to ongoing development schemes in Rajasthan, which in turn will lead to further prosperity in the rural areas.

It will also give a boost to the process of lending, especially in areas of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and rural development.

The state government has appointed gold medalist Avani Lekhara as the brand ambassador for Beti BachaoBeti Padhaocampaign in Rajasthan. State minister for women and child development Mamta Bhupesh wrote a letter to Lehkara in this connection.

The 19-year-old shooter won the gold medal in the womens 10m air rifle standing (SH1), defeating reigning champion Zhang Cuiping of China and Ukraines Iryna Shchetnik, who won silver and bronze, respectively.

MNREGA: Average wage per person touches 190 in state

The Average wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has touched an all-time high of Rs 190.89 (per day per person) in the state, data received fromNREGAportal stated.

In 2021-22, the average wage rate inRajasthanwas Rs 182.62; in 2020-21, it was Rs 169.51; Rs 144.87 in 2019-20 and Rs 137.24 in 2018-19.

A labour budget of 24 crore was sanctioned for the financial year 2022-23. So far, 7.57 crore persondays have been generated in the state.

State-run oxygen banks coming up across Rajasthan

Oxygenbanks are coming up acrossRajasthanto help people take Home Oxygen concentrators for patients facing difficulties in breathing. These oxygen banks will be run by thestate Health department. The oxygen concentrators will be provided to the needy patients on the basis of doctors prescription.

Not only Covid, patients but also those suffering from neurological problems or other lung diseases will be able to get oxygen concentrators from these banks. During the secondCovidwave, a lot of NGOs and social workers put their efforts to provide oxygen concentrators to patients at homes, in case they did not find a bed in hospital. But it is for the first time that the has taken a decision on creating oxygen banks in all the districts.

The state government is taking measures to become self-reliant in oxygen generation as it is planning to produce 1,000 metric tonnes in times to come with oxygen generation Plants being set up by various institutions and through other equipment.

Residents of as many as 11 towns in Rajasthan consume harmful water. A report prepared by the state laboratory and referral institute of the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) revealed this shocking fact.The report Status Report of Drinking Water Quality in Urban Towns of Rajasthan has categorized the 235 urban towns in Rajasthan into three categories potable, partially potable and unpotable depending on the quality of drinking water available in these towns. The report stated that 11 urban towns of the state have unpotable water supply, it means water in these cities are unsafe.

The survey revealed that water of five towns in Rajasthan – Bhiwadi and Kharital in Alwar district and Navalgarh, Surajgarh and Chirawa in Jhunjhunu district has a high concentration of nitrate. Water consumed in Govindgarh in Alwar has a high concentration of TDS. Lastly, water available in Nadbai in Bharatpur, Ratangarh in Churu and Fatehpur Shekhawati, Ramgarh Shekhawati and Losal in Sikar is contaminated owing to multiple parameters.

Lithium reserves: After oil, Rajasthan may throw up lithium stash

India could be poised to make its second ‘discovery’ oflithiumreserves, with news agency IANS on Monday saying theGeological Survey of India(GSI) has found a large reserve of the critical mineral — used in electric vehicles to laptops and mobile phones — at Degana area of Nagaur district of Rajasthan.

Understandably, the report created a buzz throughout the day and analysts joined the ring on the commercial and strategic upside for the country, especially ending China’s monopoly.

US Geological Survey puts total lithium reserves globally at just 80.7 million tonnes. Nearly 54% of India’s lithium imports are from China, which hogs 80% of global supply. Available data shows India imported lithium worth over Rs 6,000 crore, including Rs 3,500 crore worth from China, in 2020-21.

NPS fund mismatch of Rs 4 crore between govt & staff share: RTI

There’s a mismatch of nearly Rs 4 crore between government’s share (Rs 14,171.54 crore) and employees’ share ofRajasthan(Rs 14,167.82 crore) under the National Pension System (NPS) fund, an RTI reply obtained from the (PFRDA) has revealed.

According to an official of the state’s finance department, the mismatch was quite low and it was because of the legacy data of employees’ share which was yet to be deposited in the NPS funds. “PRAN activation, recovery head issues and general provident fund reconciliation are some of the reasons for the mismatch between government and employees’ share,” said the official.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to the people of Rajasthan on State Day.

About formation of Rajasthan:

Every year State Day of Rajasthan is celebrated on 30th March.

Rajasthan, formerly known as Rajputana, was established on March 30, 1949.

The state is mainly composed of Rajputs lands, including 19 former princely states, two chiefships and the Ajmer-Merwara districts of the British.

On August 15, 1947, the princely states was merged into the union of India, but the reunification could only be completed later.

The 4 princely states of Alwar, Dhaulpur, Karauli, and Bharatpur formed the Matsya Union and it was established on March 17, 1948.

The Rajasthan Union was established in March 25th, 1948 by the union of states: Banswara, Bundi, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kishangarh, Pratapgarh, Shahpura, Tonk, and Kota.

The emperor of Udaipur decided to join the Rajasthan Union three days after the establishment of the Rajasthan Union.

Rajasthan State is established and inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on April 18, 1948.

On March 30, 1949, the four states will be forthcoming Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer joined this integration, and the area was later called Greater Rajasthan.

The Matsya Union merged with Rajasthan on May 15, 1949.

So far, the only state-Sirohi has not yet joined the federation and later it was joined the Federation on 26th January, 1950.

During the state reorganization in 1956, the Ajmer-Merwara region merged with Rajasthan, while Bhanpura Tehsil in Madhya Pradesh and Abu Tehsil in Gujarat also merged with Rajasthan at that time.

Centre paves way to accord national status to Rajasthan canal project

The Centre has taken a step forward to accord national status to theEastern Rajasthan Canal Project(ERCP), an issue that had resulted in a political slugfest between the Congress and BJP in the past.

TheRajasthangovernment had proposed the scheme in the year 2017. However, since then – till now even now there is non-availability of water (according to the parameters of the national project) under this scheme. The Central Government has now duly approved the integrated modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal (PKC) Link Project as part of the National River Linking Plan (partial)