March 2020: Rajasthan Current Affairs - RajRAS

This post lists Rajasthan Current Affairs Summary for March 2020. This same post will be updated every-week.

Rajasthan moves to SC against CAA:

The State government in Rajasthan has moved to the Supreme Court on 16th March 2020 challenging the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, saying it is violative of the principle of secularism, which is part of the “basic structure” of the Constitution, and fundamental rights of equality and life.
It became the second state after Kerala to move the top court invoking Article 131 of the Constitution under which a state is empowered to directly move the Supreme Court in case of a dispute with the Centre.

Section 144 Imposed across State till 31st March

In the review meeting on 18th March 2020, Chief Minister has decided to impose section 144 across Rajasthan till 31st March to prevent spread of Corona virus.

Rajasthan health department declares Covid-19 an epidemic

On 12th March 2020, the state health department declared coronavirus an epidemic in the state and issued the Rajasthan Epidemic Disease, Covid-19 Regulations (REDCR), 2020. After the declaration it will be mandatory for each doctor in the state to report such cases immediately to health authorities.

Polls to six new municipal bodies on April 5

The state election commission (SEC) has announced that elections to the posts of 560 ward members in the six newly formed municipal corporations in Jaipur, Kota and Jodhpur will be held on April 5. The six newly formed Nagar Nigams include:

Jaipur Heritage and Jaipur Greater (Jaipur),
Jodhpur North and Jodhpur South (Jodhpur),
Kota North and Kota South (Kota).

No Vehicle Day:

The first day of every month will be celebrated as ‘No Vehicle Day’ in all government colleges of the state. This advisory was issued by the college commissionerate in March 2020 and colleges have been asked to follow this.

Rajasthan Flying School:

A governing council meeting of the Rajasthan State Flying School was held where it was decided to reopen the school at Sanganer in city. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. It was also decided that the school would be reopened under public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Mr. Gehlot said that 19 air strips were available in the state. These strips would be strengthened and the government would explore all opportunities in the aviation sector.

PCPIR to come up in Rajasthan

In March 2020, Chief Minister announced that a new Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) will be created in Panchpadra of Barmer, which will create large number of jobs and employment opportunities for the youth of the state in various sectors.

The special investment area in the petroleum sector in Rajasthan will be similar to such areas created in Paradip (Orissa), Dahej (Gujarat) and Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu)

New Civil Aviation Policy to be framed

A comprehensive civil aviation policy will be introduced to provide new employment opportunities to the youth of the state and to make possible the full use of the infrastructure related to civil aviation available in the state.

THAR Scheme

The State Government in planning to bring Transforming and Harvesting agriculture and allied sector in Rajasthan scheme – Thar scheme for new investment in agriculture sector.

The scheme will aim at reducing the cost of farming, increasing the income of farmers, encouraging agricultural processing, promoting information technology in agriculture and bringing the agriculture and related products of the state to the markets of the country and the world under Rajasthan. Innovations will be involved.

8% Rise in Road Accidents in 2019

According to the data provided by Rajasthan transport department, there was an increase of 8% in the number of road accidents from 2018 to 2019. A total of 23,480 accidents were reported in 2019 from which maximum number of accidents were reported in Jaipur rural, followed by Udaipur and Alwar.

The total casualties in the accidents were 10,563 in 2019 as compared to 10,320 in 2018 indicating a hike by 2 per cent. Among the districts, the lowest number of accidents was reported in Jaisalmer with 161 road accidents in 2019, showing a dip from 169 in 2018.

Raj leads in learning outcomes: MHRD survey

Rajasthan scored the highest points in the category of ‘learning outcomes and quality’ of education in government schools among the states and the union territories. The category is one of the five categories further divided into a total of 70 subcategories to form the performance grading index (PGI) report 2017-18 released by the MHRD on February 27. The desert state ranked among the top five states in the PGI.

Leading the pack among the states and union territories are Chandigarh, Gujarat and Kerala. These states are listed in grade I category as their aggregate score is between 801-850 while Rajasthan stood in the grade II along with Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and D&N Haveli for having aggregate score between 751 and 800.

“Rajasthan scored 168 out of 180 to lead in the country in the important parameter of learning outcomes and quality,” reads the report. The learning outcomes are defined by the students’ academic performance in reading, comprehension and mathematics. The state performed poorly in two categories — infrastructure & facilities and access. It scored 84 out of 140 and 56 out of 80, respectively. The poor performance in the access category means that the state has poor retention, transition rate and high dropout rate.

Suposhit Maa Abhiyan

In March 2020, Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani launched ‘Suposhit Maa Abhiyan’, a scheme for pregnant women and adolescent girls, on pilot basis in Kota and Bundi. The scheme which will provide nutritional support to pregnant women for 11 months taking on infant and female mortality rates. The programme will run for the next nine months.

Over 1,000 pregnant women and adolescent girls were chosen after screening over 5,000 such females in Kota. They have been chosen to receive a 17-kg kit which contains food items. Medical cards will also be given to monitor their health. The initiative is being supported by the Kota Grains and Seeds Merchants’ Association.

Places in NEWS:

IIT Jodhpur: IIT Jodhpur has developed Rajasthani claybased solid lubricant for industrial applications. This lubricant works well in temperatures ranging between -50 and 1,100 degrees with very low friction, resulting in less wearing of machines.
Bagru, Jaipur: An artisan from Bagru village, belonging mostly to the Chippa caste (a community of painters), has been served a legal notice for using the word ‘Bagru’ for selling his product. The artisans of Bagru have countered the claim and said that they have already received the Geographical Indication (GI) in 2009.
Char Dham of Mewar: Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari urged the Centre to consider developing a spiritual tourism circuit covering Ekling Ji, Shrinath Ji, Dwarakadhish ji and Charbhuja Ji as Char Dham of Mewar.
Banasthali Vidyapith: Banasthali Vidyapith has become Rajasthan’s first varsity to be accorded A++ grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).