Current Affairs and Issues (with Special Reference to Rajasthan)

What the official syllabus says

RPSC, RAS/RTS Preliminary Examination, General Knowledge and General Science, under “Current Affairs & Issues (with special reference to Rajasthan)”:

• Important personalities, places, and contemporary issues of relevance.
• Newly launched schemes, programs, and initiatives pertaining to welfare and development.
• Major economic and political developments.
• Significant events and achievements related to sports and games.
• Major awards, publications and distinguished authors.
• Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2022.

‘With special reference to Rajasthan’ means the state’s news comes first, then national and international news.

Topics in detail

Personalities, places and issues

• People in the news: new appointments to constitutional and statutory posts in Rajasthan and India, persons honoured, obituaries of notable people
• Places in the news: new districts and divisions of Rajasthan, protected areas, heritage sites, places linked to events
• Contemporary issues: water, drought, environment, education, health, law and order, social issues in Rajasthan

Schemes and initiatives

• New state schemes announced in the budget and during the year: objective, beneficiaries, benefit, department
• New central schemes and their rollout in Rajasthan

Economic and political developments

• State budget and Economic Review highlights, investment summits, new policies (industry, tourism, energy, IT)
• Elections, new laws passed by the Rajasthan assembly, changes in administration, judgments affecting the state
• National and international economic and political events

Sports and games

• Sportspersons from Rajasthan and their achievements; national and international events (Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, world championships)
• Sports institutions and awards (Maharana Pratap Award and Guru Vashishtha Award of Rajasthan; national sports awards)

Awards, publications and authors

• National awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma awards, Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi awards (including for Rajasthani), Dadasaheb Phalke
• International awards: Nobel, Booker, Magsaysay
• Rajasthan’s awards in literature, culture and public service; books and their authors in the news

Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2022

• Purpose: to prevent unfair means, paper leaks and malpractice in public recruitment examinations in Rajasthan
• Key definitions: public examination, examination authority, unfair means, examinee
• Offences: use of unfair means by examinees, and by other persons, including those entrusted with conducting the examination; conspiracies such as paper leaks
• Consequences: imprisonment and fines, debarment of an examinee from public examinations, attachment and confiscation of property; offences are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable
• Read the Bare Act with its later amendments for the exact penalties

Sources to follow

• The State Budget speech and the Economic Review of Rajasthan
• Government of Rajasthan press releases and department websites; the Rajasthan Gazette for new laws
• Government of India’s Press Information Bureau releases
• A daily newspaper with a Rajasthan edition; a monthly compilation for revision

Overlaps

Mains Paper III (Unit I) has its own Current Affairs and Issues part, including the welfare schemes of Rajasthan and sports of India and Rajasthan.