The desert state on Saturday achieved the glory of having the country's biggest solar power generation plant. The 40MW plant has been set up at Dhoodsar village near Pokhran in Jaisalmer district and the plant started power generation from Saturday.

In a grand function organised at the village, Union new and renewable energy minster Farooq Abdullah, and state chief minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the photovoltaic plant capable of generating 40MW power.

Hundreds of the farmers who were protesting against the relocation of their villages started a sit-in in front of the entrance of the gate. On Wednesday, hundreds of villagers had gathered for a mahapanchayat against the government order of not letting the farmers sell off their lands because of the ban on selling and purchasing of property nearby the reserve.

Saturday will prove to be a milestone in the field of renewable energy production as Reliance Energy will start power generation of 40MW from its solar energy power project in Rajasthan. This is first solar power project in the private sector.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Union minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah, state energy minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Reliance Energy owner Anil Ambani, including other personalities will be present during the inaugural function of the solar power project at Dhudsar village,

JAIPUR: Hundreds of the villagers living in the periphery of Sarika tiger reserve on Tuesday blocked the gates to the forest and gheraoed the employees in protest against relocation of the villages nearby the reserve.

"If the state government will not solve our problems varying from the land related disputes and our relocation, we will intensify the agitation," said Bhupat Balayan, a local farmer leader.

Jaisalmer Tehsil Registers Highest Improvement In Child Sex Ratio

Jaipur: The provisional population figures up to the tehsil-level released by the directorate of census operations, Rajasthan, on Wednesday showed an overall decrease in the child population in the 0 to 6 years age group and a clear divide on the social issue between rural and urban areas.

Wilting under pressure from the Centre and after constant raps by the Supreme Court, the state government has now put a step forward in stopping illegal mining. A special 1000-member team, to be christened Mining Protection Force, will be set up to curb illegal mining in the state.

The state has long been battling illegal mining right from Alwar to Jaisalmer but in vain. While the police had recently detained over 100 people in Bharatpur engaged in illegal extraction of stones, in Jaisalmer mining near the airport has become a threat to its existence.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government, for the first time, is experimenting with scientific ways for maintaining land records in the state.

Under the national land records modernization programme, the settlement department has initiated a landmapping project with the use of Electronic Total Station (ETS) technique and is planning to later use satellite images and aerial pictures.

The state budget that is to be announced on March 26 is likely to be a populist one with the state government planning to expand the ambit of its social welfare schemes and announcing some new ones. However, given the challenges faced by the state, chief minister Ashok Gelhot will have to tread cautiously and present a balanced budget for the overall growth of the state.

JAIPUR/ALWAR: In one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal mining in state's Mewat region in the recent past, police on Thursday arrested over 100 people from unlawful gravel mines in Pahari police station area in Bharatpur district and seized equipment worth crores of rupees. Besides, few persons were also detained.

Jaipur: The state health ministry is closely monitoring the recent cases of swine flu and has already started collecting details about the reports on a daily basis.

So far, in March, 28 cases of swine flu have been reported in the state and out of them five have died of H1N1 influenza. Since the cases of swine flu were reported in Jaipur after a gap of around six months, it has caught the department off guard