Rajasthan State PCS

• 21 Apr 2022

National Co-operative Spices Fair, 2022

Why In News?

On April 20, 2022, Registrar of Cooperatives, Rajasthan Muktanand Agrawal informed that the 10-day National Co-operative Masala Mela, 2022 will be organized from April 30 to May 9, 2022 in the southern campus of Jawahar Kala Kendra.

Key Points

• Muktanand Aggarwal said that Rajasthan is the only state in the country in the cooperative sector, which has been organizing the Sahakar Masala Mela for many years.
• Consumer union's managing director VK. Verma said that in the Sahakar Mela, instructions have been given to the cooperatives to ensure attractive packing, purity of spices, competitive price and to maintain the credibility of the cooperative. In the Sahakar Masala Mela, along with whole and ground spices, arrangements will also be made to make ground spices available on the spot.
• By organizing the Sahakar Masala Mela, both the producer farmer and the common citizen will be benefited. The main objective of organizing the Sahakar Masala Mela is to provide pure spices to the people of Jaipur.

MoU signed between Indian Red Cross Society and 23 state universities

Why In News?

On April 20, 2022, MoU was signed between 23 government universities of the state and Red Cross Society, Rajasthan at Raj Bhavan in Rajasthan, along with the launch of a new website (redcross.rajasthan.gov.in.) of Red Cross Society.

Key Points

• According to the MoU, the Red Cross and the universities will work in collaboration to create awareness about disasters and risk prevention-relief work, water sanitation and sanitation management, climate change, environmental management, eco-based works, health services and blood donation.
• After these MoUs, training and other activities of the Red Cross will be expanded in universities and colleges as well. Now lakhs of students studying in state universities will get an opportunity to join the activities of the Red Cross.
• In the new website of Red Cross Society Rajasthan, online arrangements have been made for applying for new membership and joining as a volunteer and giving financial support.
• On this occasion, Governor of Rajasthan and ex-officio President of Red Cross Society, Rajasthan branch, Kalraj Mishra said that units have been formed in all the districts in coordination with district collectors to give impetus to the activities of Red Cross in Rajasthan.
• He also directed to constitute the executive committee of the Red Cross State Unit at the earliest, so that the strong, active and powerful form of Red Cross is visible in the state at the time of calamities and crises. He directed to make the Red Cross Society effective by running a time bound campaign in the state.

The wholesale price index of all commodities in the state stood at 380.58 in March 2022

Why In News?

On April 19, 2022, Dr. Omprakash Bairwa, Director and Joint Government Secretary, Economic and Statistics Department of Rajasthan said that in March 2022, the Wholesale Price Index of all commodities stood at 380.58 (provisional).

Key Points

• The annual growth rate of inflation (in March 2022 over March 2021) based on the monthly general wholesale price of the state has been 9.10 per cent. Similarly, the primary goods group index stood at 407.52 and the fuel, power, light and sub-lubricants group index was 571.06 and the manufactured products group index was 300.16.
• The index for the primary articles group in March 2022 stood at 407.52 with an increase of 1.35 percent over the previous month. The main reason for the increase in the index of the primary commodity group is registering an increase of 1.48 percent in the agricultural subgroup index and 0.30 percent in the mineral subgroup index.
• The Food articles subgroup index of the Agriculture item group registered an increase of 3.10 percent, while the non-food articles subgroup index showed a decrease of 0.78 percent.
• Under the food/non-food items sub-group of primary commodity group in the month under review, cereals (4.19 percent), pulses (3.17 percent), fruits (25.92 percent), milk (1.28 percent), spices (8.18 percent), fiber ( 0.54 per cent) and other non-edible articles (0.96 per cent), while vegetables (16.84 per cent), egg, meat and fish (0.14 per cent) and oilseeds (1.36 per cent) registered a decrease.
• Under Minerals subgroup, a growth of 0.30 per cent was registered in the month under which mainly silver (5.30 per cent), steatite (soapstone) (0.09 per cent) and timber (0.58 per cent) registered an increase in prices, while that of gypsum (0.35 per cent). Percentage), limestone (0.63 per cent) and bricks (0.14 per cent) declined.
• The rate of inflation in the primary commodity group index has registered an increase of 16.16 percent on an annual basis since March 2021.
• The index for Fuel, Power, Lighting and Sub-lubricants group stood at 571.06 with an increase of 0.54 per cent in March 2022 as compared to 567.98 for the previous month. The main reason for the increase in the index has been the growth of 4.21 percent in the Coal subgroup and 0.65 percent in Petrol, Diesel and LPG.
• The fuel, power, lighting and sub-lubricants group has registered a growth of 2.34 percent as compared to March 2021 on an annual basis.
• The Index of Manufactured Products group has increased by 0.82 percent to 300.16 in March 2022 as compared to 297.71 in February 2022 in the previous month. The main reasons for the increase in the index are food products (2.07 percent), alcoholic beverages and tobacco products (0.07 percent), spinning-weaving and refining (0.59 percent), non-metal and mineral products (0.04 percent), basic precious and ferrous metals (1.75 percent) and general purpose machinery (0.02 percent), while the prices of timber and wood products (1.63 per cent) and chemicals (0.23 per cent) declined.
• The Manufactured Products group has registered a growth of 7.46 percent as compared to March 2021 on an annual basis.