Jaipur: The environment report card is out and Rajasthan is among the worst performers in the country. A latest compendium of “Environment Statistics India 2012” released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MOSPI) indicates that Rajasthan’s environment situation is appalling.

The state has the fifth highest consumption for pesticides in the country. This despite Rajasthan’s contribution to agriculture being under 10% nationally. Moreover, agrarian states like Punjab and Haryana have witnessed a dip in usage of pesticides even as it goes up in Rajasthan. The report noted that the due to excess use of pesticides, organisms develop resistance and lead to major health issues.

Mines Dept Sends Proposal For Minimum 3% Reservation For Widows Of Mine Workers

Jaipur: The department of mines and geology has submitted a proposal to the state government seeking reservation and preferential rights in allocation of mining leases to widows of mine workers who have died due to occupational diseases and accidents. According to the United Nations Human Rights Report- 2012, out of the total miners in the state, nearly 37% are women and most of them are dalits and tribals. Now, in a bid to provide definite source of livelihood such widows, the department has recommended a minimum of 3% reservation to them in mining leases.

Jaipur: The state capital of Rajasthan will soon join the club of top ten most populated cities of urban agglomerations in the country.

Latest Planning Report Says State’s Progress Is Off-Track

Jaipur: The latest report for Rajasthan on the millennium development goals (MDG) released by the state planning board revealed that the state is likely to miss its targeted goals set for 2015. The state has performed poorly in many of the indicators under the MDG report released on Thursday. The progress in child mortality rate, maternal health, gender equality and empowerment of woman and marginalized communities is completely off track. The statistics noted in the report for Rajasthan are painting a grim picture of the state’s development.

Jaipur:In a bid to make full use of the natural resources and enhance employment opportunities, the state government has decided to allot mining licenses of two major minerals, iron ore and limestone, only to those companies who are keen to set up plants or value addition processing units in the state.

Stressing on industrialisation and employment generation, there has been a major shift in the government’s policy of leasing out mines of iron ore and limestone. From now on the mining licenses of these two minerals will be issued to only to those companies who’ll use the cement grade limestone and steel grade iron ore only in cement and steel plants, respectively.