Rajasthan Current Affairs 6 September 2026

Welcome to the Ujiyari Rajasthan Current Affairs notes for 6 September 2026, prepared for the RPSC RAS examination and other Rajasthan government examinations. A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur has delivered final judgment in the Jawai leopard public interest litigation, creating a one-kilometre Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone around mapped habitat features in the Pali landscape and directing a geo-referenced map within eight weeks. The Finance Department has notified the Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026, introducing a training bond and recovery of training costs from gazetted officers who leave within two years. Rajasthan goes to its first simultaneous urban local body elections on 9 and 11 September under the state’s One State-One Election policy. Divyendu Sen of Jhalawar was among the 48 school teachers to receive the National Teachers Awards from the President, and the India Meteorological Department has warned of heavy to very heavy rain across eastern Rajasthan. Each item carries a Prelims fact set and a Mains angle, followed by five practice MCQs.

1. Rajasthan High Court Creates a One-Kilometre Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone at Jawai

Why in News: On 5 September 2026, a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur, comprising Dr Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rekha Borana, delivered final judgment in the Jawai leopard public interest litigation, disposing of the petition and merging into it the interim orders passed in the same proceedings as background, on 23 March, 20 April and 28 April 2026.

What the judgment creates. The Court established a Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone, holding that “an aerial distance of one kilometre, measured horizontally from the outer edge of every provisionally or finally mapped leopard cave, den, breeding site, high-use resting site, hill-foot habitat, corridor or other critical habitat feature, shall operate as the Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone.”

What the zone permits and prohibits. Within it, the state government’s order of 31 March 2015 is to be strictly enforced, and no new hotels, resorts, commercial structures or mining are permitted. Village residential construction and essential services remain permitted, subject to wildlife-friendly conditions.

The mapping direction. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pali, in coordination with the Revenue Department and the Jawai Safari and Eco-tourism Coordination Committee, must prepare a provisional geo-referenced map of these habitat features within eight weeks.

Continuing prohibitions. The bans on night safaris, baiting, artificial illumination and drones continue, as does the prohibition on barbed-wire fencing that obstructs wildlife movement.

The reasoning worth carrying into a Mains answer. The Court expressly rejected both absolute prohibition and unregulated construction, choosing instead a science-informed intermediate standard. That is the regulatory logic of an eco-sensitive zone: not a wall around a habitat, but a graded regime in which land use is calibrated to ecological function.

Background. The petition arose from villages including Kothar, Vellar and Mori Bera in Pali district. In an earlier order in the same matter, in April 2026, the Court had recorded an estimate of 50 to 70 leopards in the Jawai landscape and directed the state to examine declaring Jawai a wildlife sanctuary under Sections 8 and 18 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Those two elements belong to the earlier order rather than to the 5 September judgment.

Rajasthan Relevance:

• Prelims: The Jawai landscape lies in Pali district; Jawai Bandh is the largest dam in western Rajasthan, on the Jawai river, a tributary of the Luni.
• Prelims: The leopard is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Prelims: Section 18 of the Act empowers a State Government to declare a wildlife sanctuary; Section 8 deals with the duties of the State Board for Wild Life.
• Prelims: The judgment of 5 September 2026 creates a one-kilometre Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone and directs a geo-referenced habitat map within eight weeks.
• Prelims: Jawai is a conservation reserve landscape known for leopards living in close proximity to the Rabari pastoral community, an often-cited example of human-wildlife coexistence.
• Mains: Eco-sensitive zone regulation across mixed forest, revenue and private land, and the constitutional basis for habitat protection in Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g) (GS3 environment, GS2 judicial intervention in administration).

2. Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026: Training Bond and Recovery of Training Costs

Why in News: The Finance Department notified the Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026 on 3 September 2026, with immediate effect, amending the Rajasthan Service Rules, 1951.

The core provision. An employee who undergoes training after appointment to a gazetted post, and who resigns or takes another job during the training or within two years of completing it, must repay the amount the government spent on that training, excluding salary and travelling and daily allowance. A bond must be executed before the training begins.

Minimum service periods. For training longer than three months, a minimum service period is fixed:

The exemption, which is the part most likely to be tested. The bond condition does not apply where the employee joins the central government, another state government, a government undertaking, a semi-government institution, the Reserve Bank of India or a rural bank. In such cases, however, a fresh bond for the prescribed period must be furnished to the new institution.

Other provisions. The amendment also carries provisions relating to child care leave and surrogacy maternity leave.

Why a state does this. Specialised training is a public investment in an individual’s human capital. Where an officer leaves soon after, the investment transfers to another employer at no cost. A service bond is the standard instrument for recovering that investment, and the carve-out for movement within the public sector reflects that a transfer inside government is not a loss of the investment to the public at large.

Rajasthan Relevance:

• Prelims: The Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026 were notified by the Finance Department on 3 September 2026, amending the Rajasthan Service Rules, 1951.
• Prelims: The bond applies to training taken after appointment to a gazetted post, with recovery if the employee leaves during training or within two years of completing it.
• Prelims: Recovery excludes salary and travelling and daily allowance.
• Prelims: Minimum service is one year for three-to-six-month training and two years for training longer than six months.
• Prelims: The bond condition does not apply to movement to the central government, another state government, a government undertaking, a semi-government institution, the RBI or a rural bank.
• Mains: Service conditions, human capital investment by the state, and the balance between recovering public expenditure and the employee’s freedom to change employment (GS2 governance, RAS administration paper).

3. Rajasthan’s First Simultaneous Urban Local Body Elections

Why in News: Rajasthan is holding its first simultaneous urban local body elections, with polling on 9 and 11 September 2026 and counting on 14 September, under the state government’s declared policy of “One State-One Election”.

The scale, as reported. The elections cover about 309 urban bodies, comprising roughly 10 municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 248 municipalities, with about 10,245 ward seats and over 1.4 crore voters. These figures come from reporting of the State Election Commission’s announcement and should be cited as reported.

The constitutional framework, which is the examinable core. Urban local government is governed by Part IXA of the Constitution, inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, comprising Articles 243P to 243ZG.

Rajasthan Relevance:

• Prelims: Polling in Rajasthan’s urban local body elections is on 9 and 11 September 2026, with counting on 14 September.
• Prelims: Urban local bodies are governed by Part IXA, Articles 243P to 243ZG, inserted by the 74th Amendment Act, 1992.
• Prelims: The State Election Commission conducts local body elections under Article 243ZA; the Election Commission of India does not.
• Prelims: The Twelfth Schedule lists 18 subjects for municipalities; the Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects for panchayats.
• Prelims: Not less than one-third of seats in municipalities are reserved for women under Article 243T.
• Mains: Simultaneous elections at the local tier, the fiscal and functional devolution gap in urban local bodies, and the role of State Finance Commissions under Article 243Y (GS2 devolution, local government).

4. Divyendu Sen of Jhalawar Among the National Teachers Awards Recipients

Why in News: President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Teachers Awards 2026 on 48 school teachers at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 5 September 2026. Among them is Divyendu Sen, a biology teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Government School, Pachpahar (Bhawanimandi), Jhalawar district, the first recipient of the award from that district and one of two teachers selected from Rajasthan.

What he built. Sen installed QR codes on about 500 trees on the school campus, each giving the plant’s scientific name, utility and ecological significance in the local Hadoti and Malvi dialects, with district collector Ajay Singh Rathore among those lending their voice to the recordings. The initiative began two years ago with the support of principal Krishna Gopal Verma. He has also guided students in identifying 12 asteroid candidates, and two of his students, Shreyans and Aarush Astoliya, held an online dialogue with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior scientist and deputy director Rosaly Lopes. National reporting additionally credits him with a Virtual Biology Laboratory, AI-enabled biology teaching and a “Tree Talk” QR-code botanical learning system.

Why the dialect detail matters. Recording plant information in Hadoti and Malvi rather than only in Hindi or English aligns with the National Education Policy 2020 emphasis on the mother tongue or local language as the medium of instruction in early schooling, and makes environmental education legible to the community around the school rather than only to the classroom.

Rajasthan Relevance:

• Prelims: Divyendu Sen of Mahatma Gandhi Government School, Pachpahar, Jhalawar district, received the National Teachers Award 2026, the first from that district.
• Prelims: Hadoti and Malvi are dialects of the Hadoti region of south-eastern Rajasthan, which comprises Kota, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawar districts.
• Prelims: The National Teachers Awards 2026 were conferred on 82 educators, of whom 48 were school teachers.
• Mains: Local-language pedagogy and environmental education in government schools under NEP 2020 (GS2 education, GS3 environment awareness).

5. IMD Warns of Heavy to Very Heavy Rain over Eastern Rajasthan

Why in News: The India Meteorological Department issued an alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall over eastern Rajasthan for 6 September 2026, with winds reaching 60 to 65 km per hour in places. The districts named include Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Bundi and Udaipur.

The rainfall classes, which RAS asks directly.

Why eastern Rajasthan and not western. Rajasthan’s rainfall gradient is one of the sharpest in India. The Aravalli range runs south-west to north-east, roughly parallel to the direction of the Arabian Sea branch of the south-west monsoon, so it fails to obstruct those winds and force ascent. Eastern Rajasthan instead receives moisture largely from the Bay of Bengal branch and from monsoon low-pressure systems tracking north-westwards across central India, which is why the eastern districts and the Banas and Chambal catchments receive substantially more rain than the western desert.

Rajasthan Relevance:

• Prelims: The IMD warned of heavy to very heavy rain over eastern Rajasthan on 6 September 2026, with winds of 60 to 65 km per hour.
• Prelims: Very heavy rainfall is 115.6 to 204.4 mm in 24 hours; extremely heavy is 204.5 mm and above.
• Prelims: The Aravalli range runs roughly parallel to the Arabian Sea branch of the south-west monsoon, which is a principal reason for western Rajasthan’s aridity.
• Prelims: The Banas is the largest river flowing entirely within Rajasthan and is a tributary of the Chambal.
• Prelims: IMD colour-coded warnings run green, yellow, orange and red, with red meaning take action.
• Mains: Flash flood risk in the eastern Rajasthan catchments, and district-level disaster preparedness under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (GS1 geography, GS3 disaster management).

Practice MCQs

1. The Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone created by the Rajasthan High Court in September 2026 relates to which landscape?

a) Kumbhalgarh in Rajsamand district b) Sajjangarh in Udaipur district c) Jawai in Pali district d) Ranthambore in Sawai Madhopur district

Answer: c

Explanation: On 5 September 2026 a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur, comprising Dr Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rekha Borana, disposed of the Jawai leopard public interest litigation and created a Leopard Habitat Construction-Control Zone extending one kilometre in aerial distance from every mapped leopard cave, den, breeding site, high-use resting site, hill-foot habitat or corridor in the Jawai landscape of Pali district. Within the zone no new hotels, resorts, commercial structures or mining are permitted, while village residential construction and essential services remain allowed on wildlife-friendly conditions. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pali, must prepare a provisional geo-referenced map within eight weeks. Bans on night safaris, baiting, artificial illumination, drones and obstructive barbed-wire fencing continue.

2. Under the Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026, the training bond condition does NOT apply when an employee joins which of the following?

a) A private company in the same technical field b) A foreign university as a research fellow c) An international organisation such as the World Bank d) A government undertaking or another state government

Answer: d

Explanation: The Rajasthan Service (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified by the Finance Department on 3 September 2026 and amending the Rajasthan Service Rules, 1951, require an employee who takes training after appointment to a gazetted post and resigns or takes another job during the training or within two years of completing it to repay the training cost, excluding salary and travelling and daily allowance, with a bond executed before the training begins. The bond condition does not apply where the employee joins the central government, another state government, a government undertaking, a semi-government institution, the Reserve Bank of India or a rural bank, though a fresh bond for the prescribed period must then be furnished to the new institution. Minimum service is one year for three-to-six-month training and two years for training longer than six months.

3. Which one of the following statements about urban local body elections in Rajasthan is NOT correct?

a) Superintendence, direction and control of municipal elections is vested in the State Election Commission b) Part IXA of the Constitution was inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 c) The Twelfth Schedule lists 29 subjects for municipalities d) Not less than one-third of seats in municipalities are reserved for women

Answer: c

Explanation: Option (c) is the incorrect statement and is therefore the answer. The Twelfth Schedule lists 18 subjects for municipalities, while the Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects for panchayats. The other three are correct: Article 243ZA vests superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of municipal elections in the State Election Commission, not the Election Commission of India; Part IXA, comprising Articles 243P to 243ZG, was inserted by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992; and Article 243T reserves not less than one-third of municipal seats for women. Rajasthan is holding its first simultaneous urban local body elections on 9 and 11 September 2026, with counting on 14 September, under the state’s One State-One Election policy, covering about 309 urban bodies.

4. The Hadoti region of Rajasthan, whose dialect featured in a National Teachers Award-winning initiative in 2026, comprises which of the following districts?

a) Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur and Pali b) Kota, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawar c) Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli d) Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and Pratapgarh

Answer: b

Explanation: The Hadoti region of south-eastern Rajasthan comprises Kota, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawar districts. Divyendu Sen, a biology teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Government School, Pachpahar in Bhawanimandi, Jhalawar district, received the National Teachers Award 2026 from President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan on 5 September 2026, the first recipient from that district and one of two from Rajasthan. He installed QR codes on about 500 campus trees carrying each plant’s scientific name, utility and ecological significance in the Hadoti and Malvi dialects. The region named in option (c) is Braj and the Dang belt, and option (d) covers the Vagad and Mewar tribal belt.

5. Western Rajasthan receives markedly less rainfall than eastern Rajasthan chiefly because:

a) The Thar desert lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats b) The Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon does not reach Rajasthan at all c) The Aravalli range runs roughly parallel to the Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon and does not force it to ascend d) The south-west monsoon withdraws from Rajasthan before it arrives over the west

Answer: c

Explanation: The Aravalli range runs south-west to north-east, roughly parallel to the direction of the Arabian Sea branch of the south-west monsoon, so it does not lie across those winds and does not force them to ascend and precipitate. Eastern Rajasthan receives moisture chiefly from the Bay of Bengal branch and from monsoon low-pressure systems tracking north-westwards across central India, which is why the eastern districts and the Banas and Chambal catchments receive substantially more rain. On 6 September 2026 the IMD warned of heavy to very heavy rain over eastern Rajasthan, naming Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Bundi and Udaipur, with winds of 60 to 65 km per hour. Very heavy rainfall is 115.6 to 204.4 mm in 24 hours.