RAJASTHAN

Highlights of the Rajasthan budget 2018

Royalty exempted to carry out mining in many areas. Zero belt mining policy will be promoted.

GST will be reduced on Kota stone

Tax relief of Rs 650 crore given in the budget

No new taxes imposed in the current budget

District Lease Committee rates for agriculture, residential land reduced by 10%. Stamp duty reduced for several transactions. Full exemption of interest rates and penalty on unpaid stamp duty

Milk will be added in Mid Day meal program

Luxury tax and entertainment tax to be given from SGST

Interest subsidiary increased for young entrepreneurs from 5% to 6%
Rs 25 lakh home loan will be given to journalist

Rs 25 lakh allocated for dependents of martyrs

Rs 151 crore allocated to 17 district for forest development. 500 foresters will be recruited, while, 2000 forest guard will be recruited

New toilets will be developed on National Highway

Rs 33.25 crore will be spent on renovation of 19 historical buildings. A new museum will come up at Bundi. Rs 20 crore allocated to develop Amer Fort as iconic tourist destination

Subsidised meals under Annapurna scheme will be provided at all collectorate offices

Rs 55 crore allocated for a tunnel to connect Ajmer-Pushkar

49 new fire tenders will be procured soon

Paota, Jaipur will be upgraded into tehsil

Rs 91 crore will be spent for setting up counter terrorism centre at Sardar Patel Police University in Jodhpur

210 new vehicles at a cost of Rs 7.10 crore will be procured for police soon, while 1,161 constables will be recruited for new battalion of police department

2000 patwari will be recruited

District mineral foundation trust will spend Rs 1000 lakh to build roads, schools and other facilities near mining areas. Rs 150 crore allocated for construction of flyover in Kota

A Ambedkar Bhawan will be constructed at a cost of Rs 80 crore.

State women employees will get two years child care leave

Bikaner, Ajmer, Churu, Pali and Chittorgarh declared open defecation free

Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced one-time loan waiver of up to Rs 50,000 for small and marginal farmers in the state, which would cost Rs 8,000 crore to the exchequer.

Raje also announced setting up a farmer loan relief commission where farmers can approach and present their side for getting relief on merit basis.

Hike in honorarium to Anganwadi workers

An underpass from Ramniwas garden to delhi road will be build for a better traffic management.

Biogas plants will be set up in cow shelters

6571 posts will be filled up by December 2018 in health sector. 5518 health workers will be recruited.

A new scheme announced which is named after late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Under the scheme, Rs 2 Lakh interet free loan will be provided for the self-employed in the unorganised sector. It was a long pending demand of Rajputs.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Swarojgar Antodaya Yojana– 50,000 families to get upto 50,000 interest-free loans.

Rs 1 lakh insurance for Bhamasah card holders.Recruitment of 9,000 grade II teachers will be done soon. 77,000 job openings announced in education department.

The chief minister, who also holds finance portfolio announced free travel for people above 80 years of age and one attendee on half fare in the state roadways buses.

Chief minister announces Rs 25 lakh for player Nagarkoti, who was part of India’s under 19 team. Rs 2 crore sanctioned for upgrading SMS stadium.

Youth Icon scheme has been announced to promote sports in the state.

1,000 new Annapurna Bhandar will be established.

Free WiFi facilities will be provided in state universities. Eight new ITIs to be opened in the state.

Sanitary pads will be distributed in all government schools.

Driving license and vehicle registration to go paperless.

Highways and mega-highways to be converted into emergency landing places.

Rs 6000 crore will be spent to connect Bisalpur dam with the Banas river, the FM said

A new railway line will come up in western Rajasthan. The railway line will link Jaisalmer and Barmer, boosting tourism.

15 kms of new roads will be constructed in all the 200 assembly constituencies, Vasundhara Raje said. Nearly 21,614 km roads will be constructed in rural areas.

Experts believe that tourism would get a bigger focus as it can impact village economy by providing livelihood opportunities for a large segment of people in the unorganized sector.

CM Raje is expected to initiate measures to improve healthcare service in the state which stood 20th among 21 bigger states in the NITI Aayog’s health index.

Enhancing rural infrastructure with focus on health, education and social sector schemes like pension, insurance is expected to be the broader theme of the state budget.

Raje will try to maneuver limited resources at her disposal to reach out to all, especially the large farmers’ community who have agitated in the past for farm loan waiver.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje will present the last budget of her current tenure on Monday which is expected to be high on populism rather than fiscal prudence.

INTERNATIONAL

· India Ranks 44th In Global Intellectual Property Index, US Tops

India increased “substantially”its score in the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, ranking 44th among 50 nations, according to the US Chambers of Commerce report.
Last year, India ranked 43rd out of 45 countries in the Index.
The top 3 countries in the list are-

The USA.
The United Kingdom.

India’s overall score has increased substantially from 25% in the 5th edition of the Index to 30% in the 6th edition, according to the annual report prepared by the Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC)of the US Chambers of Commerce.

· Guinness World Record attempted for playing Ice Hockey at highest altitude

To set a record in the Guinness book for ice hockey on the world’s highest altitude, an international level tournament was organized at Chiba Kargyam in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Five international teams from USA, Germany, Canada, Slovakia and Russia and a local team participated in the tournament.
It was jointly organized by the Hockey Foundation, USA, Ladakh Winter Sports Club and Lalok Winter Sports Association.
AIR correspondent reports that with a mission to set a record in Guinness World Record, the ice hockey tournament was held at recently built international standards open ice hockey rink at an altitude of 4371 meters above the sea level.

2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea on February 9, 2018.

The site of the opening ceremony Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium was built specifically for the games.

These Games will feature 102 events in fifteen sports disciplines.

Peace will be the central theme of the games.

NATIONAL

11 states are now open defecation free: Government

The government informed the Lok Sabha that till date 11 states and union territories (UTs) have been declared open defecation free (ODF) under Swachh Bharat Mission.

The government is taking various steps under the SBM to make all states in the country ODF, the minister of state in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, said in a written reply.

· Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on 4-day visit to Palestine, UAE, Oman

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the Gulf and West Asian regionfor the fifth time since 2015.
In his statement prior to his departure to Palestine, United Arab Emirates, and Oman, the Prime Minister said, this region is a key priority in India’s external engagement and he is looking forward to strengthening India’s growing and important ties with West Asia and the Gulf region through the visit. He said India enjoy vibrant multi-dimensional ties with the countries in West Asia.
Expressing his gratitude to the King Abdullah II of Jordan for facilitating the transit, he said he looks forward to meeting him in Amman today.
On his first visit to Palestine, he was looking forward to the discussions with President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirmed India’s support for the Palestinian people and the development of Palestine.

· First Ever Chat Based Job Search App ‘Empzilla’ Launched

The first ever of its kind in the country chat-based job search mobile app ‘Empzilla‘ is being launched that will do away with existing limitations of employers and job seekers making selection process quick and cost-effective.
The mobile app gets the conversation between employers and job seekers going in seconds and the latter can chat with the potential employers.

· Haryana emerges as first champion of Khelo India School Games with 38 gold medals

Haryana youngsters outclassed others by achieving the highest number of medal tally in the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games.
The competition concluded in New Delhi.
The sports powerhouse won 102 medals including 38 gold medals, 26 silver medals, 38 Bronze medals. Maharashtra (110) finished second overall while Delhi (94) came third.
Punjab and Kerala won the boys’ and girls’ gold medals respectively in Basketball competition.
On the final day, Haryana emerged with the best haul of five medals, including one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.
Haryana archers showed impressive performance and won one gold medal on the final day. It clinched two silver and two bronze medals from Archery on the same day.

· CCEA approves enhancement of target under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved to enhance target base of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 5 crore to 8 crores.
The revised target of PMUY will be achieved by 2020 with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 crore.
The decision comes in the wake of the huge response to PMUY from the women particularly in rural areas and to cover such households not having LPG connection.
This move will address practical difficulty faced in implementation of MUY, namely, targeting genuinely poor households left out of Socio-Economic Cards.