Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary – April 2017

We have published the Rajasthan Current Affairs Module Part II (eBook) that has current affairs summary for Rajasthan till March 10, for RAS Mains 2016. Now, the onwards current affairs have been included in this post. So this post contains Rajasthan current affairs from March 15 onwards till April.


  • Jaisalmer railway station of North Western Railway (NWR)has set new records in revenue generation by earningRs 154.4 crore revenue in last three months. Jaisalmer Railway Station is one of the maximum revenue-giving stations by transporting limestone in the country.
  • Rajasthan forest department switching over to use technology to monitor the tigers and critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, GIB. Forests of Ranthambhore and Sariska Tiger Reserve and GIB areas of Jaisalmer will soon use satellite based technology `e-Patrol’ to automate the process of monitoring the far and distant areas of the forest with just the click of a button. It is android based software developed by a Bengaluru based company that has successfully been tried in 20 other tiger reserves. This was launched in Ranthambhore on February 9, 2017 by the Forest Minister, Gajendra Khimsar.
  • Central Government has approved to set up seven livelihood business incubators (LBI) in Rajasthan. They will come up at Jaipur, Udaipur, Alwar, Kota, Ajmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur. One of the LBI with ten trades has already been sanctioned by the ministry for Jhalawar district where process of setting up is underway. For each LBI, a grant of Rs 1 crore has been sanctioned under which youth will be provided skill development in various trades.
    Livelihood Business Incubators (LBI):

    • LBIs are aimed at self-employment generation among aspiring entrepreneurs and to boost the development of small enterprises in the manufacturing and service sectors.
    • Through LBIs government will train youths in streams like account management, food processing, computer hardware, tailoring etc.
    • LBIs will also facilitate youths in getting loans under several schemes of state and Centre.
    • Sanctioned by Union ministry for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
  • GRAM-2016 in Jaipur was the single largest agriculture meet in the country that attracted participation of 54500 farmers, 18900 visitors, international delegations from 6 countries, 10 international experts and over 200 corporates. GRAM-2017 is going to be held in Kota from 24th to 26th May 2017.
  • Parwan Dam project will now see the light of day as its tender process is in final stage. Worth Rs 7,500 crore, the project is supposed to supply drinking water to over 800 villages situated in Jhalawar and Bundi and also to wild life area in the vicinity of the dam.
  • The admissions under Right to Education Act quota of 25% at private schools have kicked off in Rajasthan. The online admission process is for 2.5 lakh seats in around 33,500 private schools in the state. This year, the state has revised the income cap to Rs 1 lakh aiming to provide the benefit of the scheme to the marginalised sections of the society. The parents will have to submit an affidavit stating that their annual income is not more than Rs 1 lakh. The last date of submitting the admission form is April 30. The admission will be announced through the lottery system on May 8.
  • Rajasthan has emerged as the leading state in building toilets in rural areas. Rajasthan built 26.87 lakh individual toilets in rural areas under the SBM in 2016-17, reveals the union ministry of drinking water and sanitation data. West Bengal, which added 23.08 lakh individual toilets in 2016-17, was at the second spot. The mission was introduced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to make India open defecation free by 2019 during his Independence Day speech in 2014.
  • Rajasthan’s Department of Information Technology and Communications will soon be introducing a public email domain that can be used by any resident of the state to create an email ID on it. Importantly, this email ID will be linked to the person’s Bhamashah and Aadhar account.
  • Responding to Supreme Court order of banning alcohol shops within 500 meter of highways, the Public Works Department (PWD) will bring a one-time notification allowing existing and proposed sections of state highways passing through populated areas to become urban roads if a by-pass connects to it. The move will make such stretches of highways passing through urban or rural areas immune to the recent SC ruling banning alcohol within distances of 500 meters and 220 metres.
  • Malaysia has expressed keen interest in investing in Rajasthan, especially in tourism and infrastructure sectors. Prime Minister Najib Razak, held talks with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and senior officials to discuss investment opportunities for Malaysian companies.
  • After issuing record number of passport in 2016, the external affairs ministry is coming up with more passport camps and passport seva Kendras in Rajasthan. Jhunjhunu, Jaisalmer and Jhalwar will get passport seva Kendra at the post offices while Udaipur is all set to get a new passport office within this month.
  • The Rajasthan government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Rs 2600-crore project to renovate 137 dams and irrigation structures in 25 districts.
  • Rajasthan Government had formed the D C Samant committee to remove anomalies in salaries of employees while implementing the seventh pay commission. The committee is working towards that.
  • Jaipur Smart city mission is set to introduce a public bicycle sharing (PBS) scheme named “Cyclo“. The scheme will provide pollution-free last-mile connectivity for residents. As per the scheme, one can rent a bicycle from docking stations that will be set up at 20 public and tourists locations in the city. An app will also be launched for residents to book cycles.
  • An olive tea manufacturing plant is set to open in the Rajasthan’s village Bassi. Three olive farms in Jhunhunu, Jaipur and Jalore have been selected for the collection of olive leaves.While Indian olive leaf tea is a fresh brew, global demand for the product is increasing. Why?
    • It is believed that olive leaf tea delivers more health benefits than green tea and contains more anti-oxidants and vitamin C.
    • Olive tea lives can also be used extract oleic acid, a fundamental ingredient in medicines used to treat heart disease.
    • Olive leaf tea contain Oleuropein, a phenylethanoid. Oleuropein has shown to be effective in lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular disease. It is anti-inflammatory and an anti-cancer compound. oleuropein is also believed to ease arthritis, strengthen the immune system, protect against diabetes and improve brain function. It has been credited with controlling symptoms in AIDS sufferers.
  • Rajasthan has rich legacy of Sanskrit texts which are yet to excavated, translated and interpret at historical sites. “The once flourishing Buddhist monasteries or complexes at four places—Bhairat in Alwar, Kholvi in Jhalawar, Bandarez in Dausa and Ramgoan in Tonk treasures of knowledge. These complexes have inscriptions in Magadhi Prakrit shares a genealogy with Sanskrit.
  • State-run power producer NTPC has commissioned 55 mega watt (MW) of Bhadla Solar Power Project in Rajasthan.
    • About Bhadla Solar Power Project:
    • Bhadla Solar Park is a solar park spread over a total area of 10,000 acres (40 km2) in Bhadla, Phalodi tehsil, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, India.
    • The park is proposed to have a capacity of 2,255 MW.
    • In the first phase, the NTPC auctioned 420 MW of capacity split into 6 packages of 70 MW each.
    • Out of this, NTPC has commissioned about205 MW, till 23 March 2017.
  • The Rajasthan government has taken a lead to preserve monuments using the most advanced design technology from Autodesk, the US-based 3D design technology firm. The project is part of the state government’s aim to scan all existing buildings and infrastructure and create a 3D digital model of the state.
    So far, this project has completed true scale as-built 3D models for Albert Hall Museum, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal, Udaipur City Palace, Jaipur City Palace, Albert Palace, seven gates of the walled city in Jaipur.  And, at present, Amer Fort and Kumbhalgarh Fort are being scanned.
  • Tanushree Pareek, from Bikaner has become the First Woman Field Officer of the Border Security Force (BSF).
  • West Bengal topped the list of states with the maximum number of human trafficking cases in 2016 followed by Rajasthan as the two accounted for around 61 per cent of such cases in the country. To put a check on human trafficking, the Centre had signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.
  • Rajasthan state government’s move to provide vitamin-enriched and ready-to-use therapeutic food to malnourished children has borne fruit, with a large number of youngsters now leading healthy lives.
    The Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM)— a project undertaken by the government in December 2015— has helped in treating 9,117 children below 5 years who were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). UNICEF, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and Action Against Hunger are the project partners.
  • In a collective show of strength, residents of five villages including Rojda (Rozda), Sindolai, Harchandpura, Jaitpura and Sardarpura voted overwhelmingly in favour of permanent closure of all liquor shops in the cluster of five villages. The voting was conducted under the provision for referendum in the Rajasthan Excise Act, 1975.
    This is the second instance of referendum over liquor ban in Rajasthan. Last March, 90% of villagers in Kachchbali panchayat of Rajsamand district had voted against keeping the only licensed liquor outlet open.
  • Rajasthan is the only state in the country to have implemented an integrated IT architecture, creating applications and platforms while capturing various functionalities for improving efficiency, transparency and outreach. In the last three years, the number of active e-mitra kiosks has gone up from 3,000 to 40,000. Similarly, the number of services has also increased from about 50 to in excess of 270. If one compares the overall scenario in the country, Rajasthan has 25% of the total kiosks in the country. Additionally, in terms of transactions and kiosks, Rajasthan is far ahead of even five states put together.
  • The central government has cleared the appointment of the Delhi High Court’s Justice Pradeep Nandrajog as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.
  • The second edition of IT Day was observed in Rajasthan on March 21.
  • Rajasthan is planning a 4.7-km pod taxi link between Ajmer railway station and the Ajmer Dargah. Pod taxi is a public transit system for cities in which pods are suspended from an overhead rail. Each pod can carry up to five passengers. The ropeway-like system runs on electricity and driverless pods zip along five to 10 metres above ground. The pods descend and ascend at designated stations to pick up and drop passengers.
    PODTAXI
  • Rajasthan government has sent plan to Centre for rejuvenating ‘Saraswati’ river.
  • The Rajasthan government has identified land to develop Jodhpur-Pali area as an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), and it will submit a detailed project report on it to the Centre by mid-April.
  • The Mallinath Fair, Tilwara started at Balotara in Barmer from March 24. Many years ago, bulls formed majority of the animals coming to the fair. Later, the number of bulls reduced and camels started coming. For the first time, this year a craze for horses, instead of camels, is being witnessed at the fair.
  • Lokayukta Justice S S Kothari submitted the annual report on Lokayukta for the last financial year to governor Kalyan Singh.
  • Rajasthan Government and HPCL have come together to set up a 9 MT refinery in Barmer. It is important to note here that Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in the country after the offshore field Bombay High. Oilfields in the state (of ONGC and Cairn India) were producing nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24% of the total domestic crude oil production.
  • The state-level technical committee on Thursday sanctioned various projects worth Rs 230.67 crore under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. In the 9th meeting chaired by local self government (LSG), principal secretary, Majit Singh, approval was given for water supply, sewerage, drainage and green space projects.
    In last year ranking announced in December 2016, the state stood at first position for successfully implementing work under AMRUT.
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