Rajasthan

• 03 Mar 2022

Jaipur Literature Festival

Why in the news?

On March 2, 2022, Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh informed that the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), the Mahakumbh of Literature, will be organized at Hotel Clarks Amer from March 5 to 14 this year.

key points

• This 15^th edition of JLF, to be held at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, will also be held on a digital platform this time.
• Writers from 15 Indian languages ​​will participate in this festival. Several special sessions based on Rajasthani heritage and culture will also be a part of the festival.
• In his message, the Tourism Minister said that this festival provides a platform to indigenous and foreign writers from where they share their ideas about literature, culture and heritage to the maximum number of listeners.
• It is noteworthy that JLF was not organized for the last two years due to the COVID pandemic. This year's program will have a special focus on various aspects of literature as well as climate change, new world order, art of fiction, poetry, travel, science, history.
• The Jaipur Literature Festival, which has made a grand presence in the city of Jaipur for the last 15 years, has led to a significant increase in tourism and employment opportunities.
• The organization of JLF will directly create new employment opportunities in the state in sectors like hotel industry, transport, airlines. Along with this, indirectly significant growth in clothing, jewelry, handicrafts, restaurants and other businesses will also be targeted.
• Many world-class litterateurs including the famous poet and great litterateur of Rajasthan language Chandra Prakash Deval, writer and poetess Anukreethy Upadhyay, writer Vandana Bhandari will be part of the festival.

State Level Workshop for 'Tobacco Free Rajasthan'

Why in the news?

On March 2, 2022, under the chairmanship of Dr. Jitendra Kumar Soni, Director of the National Health Mission, a state-level workshop was organized at the State Institute of Health Family Welfare for making 'Tobacco Free Rajasthan' and implementing a 100-day action plan.

key points

• While directing all the districts, the Mission Director said that a meeting should be organized under the chairmanship of the District Collector in all the districts regarding the Tobacco Free Rajasthan-100 Day Action Plan and ensure that the targets set by fixing department-wise responsibilities should be ensured.
• He said that for action under the COTPA Act from the level of the Police Department, a meeting with the District Superintendent of Police should be organized and discussion should be held in the monthly crime review meeting.
• Pledge letters should be filled by people who quit tobacco. Resolutions regarding tobacco control should be passed by all the districts in the meetings of Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad, so that the campaign can get momentum and effective implementation can be done till the village level.
• The Mission Director said that on April 30, 2022, action will be taken against the violations found under the COTPA Act in all the districts of the state up to the level of Gram Panchayat.
• Competitions will be organized for the school students on the topic of tobacco control at village level, block level and district level in all the districts. Similarly, slogan writing and other awareness activities should be organized through village level health, sanitation and nutrition committees and women health committees in urban areas.
• In the workshop, presentation of an action plan to make 46 gram panchayats of Nawalgarh block of Jhunjhunu district tobacco free gram panchayat was also given by Jhunjhunu District Tobacco Control Cell.

'E-Waste Collection Drive'

Why in the news?

On March 2, 2022, President of Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Vinu Gupta, while launching the third phase of 'e-waste collection drive' from the headquarters of the division, flagged off the vehicles for e-waste collection drive.

key points

• In this campaign, 'e-waste collection drive' will be organized for various industrial areas and residential colonies of Ajmer, Pali, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar as well as the residential welfare associations, shopping malls and other commercial institutions.
• In this drive, which will run from March 2 to 15, 2022, e-waste will be collected from industrial units by the authorized dismantler or recyclers of e-waste in the state and they will also be given a suitable incentive amount and certificate for this.
• Continuous monitoring of this drive will be done at the level of the concerned Regional Office of the State Board.
• The e-waste will be collected from residential areas and residential welfare associations and other commercial institutions through 'mobile vans' operated by Godrej Appliances. Awareness regarding e-waste will also be brought through mobile vans through posters and banners.
• On this occasion, Veenu Gupta informed that in the budget announcements of the state for the year 2022-23, the government has announced to formulate an 'e-waste policy' and to develop a 'recycling park for e-waste'.
• In the past also, two phases of 'e-waste collection drive' have been successfully organized to ensure scientific disposal of e-waste and to make the public aware. In the first phase, 11 metric tonnes of e-waste was collected from the industrial units of Jaipur, Kota and Udaipur.
• In the second phase, 66 metric tonnes of e-waste was collected by driving mobile vans from residential and industrial areas in Alwar, Bhilwara, Bhiwadi and Jodhpur. In this phase, an amount of about Rs 20 lakh was provided to the consumers as fair value in lieu of e-waste.
• The Mandal has entered into an agreement with Environment Protection Training Research Institute (EPTRI), Hyderabad to provide accurate statistics of e-waste generation annually. This institute will conduct a study for e-waste inventing in five cities of the state and assess the amount of e-waste generated annually in the state. Similarly, the work of inventing plastic waste is also being done by an institute.