JAIPUR: The people's union for civil liberties (PUCL) has accused police and mine mafia of ganging up on those raising their voices against illegal mining at Dabla village in Sikar. The activists have demanded that all the false cases against the villagers including Kargil hero Jagram Singh should be withdrawn.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, PUCL said that in the last 18 months since villagers started raising voice against illegal mining in the region, the police have registered more than 12 FIRs against locals including Jairam Singh (Kargil hero), Sunil, Surendra and Moharchand.

Parks Were To Be Opened On Mon, Forest Dept Move Comes In View Of SC Postponing Decision

Jaipur: Tourism in the Ranthambore and Sariska tiger reserves will have to wait a while longer. The Supreme Court on Thursday postponed to October 3 its decision on the ban on tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves. Consequently, the state forest department also notified on its official website for tiger safari reservation that the park, which was supposed to open on October 1, will remain closed till October 3.

JAIPUR: As the Ranthambore National Park (RNP) gears up to open in two days time, the impasse over the Supreme Court verdict has forced tour operators to keep alternate arrangements in place.

JAIPUR: Officials, wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists are waiting with bated breath for Thursday's Supreme Court verdict on tourism in the core of areas of wildlife sanctuaries. With just three days to go for the Ranthambore and Sariska national parks to re-open (October 1), this would chart the way for the two thriving tiger reserves in the state.

The Centre on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court requesting that the ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves be lifted. In the affidavit, the Centre has outlined the revised guidelines to protect the tiger population and requested the court to permit tourism activities in 20% of the core tiger habitat.

JAIPUR: The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on August 9 had issued advisory to states including Rajasthan to reduce number of mobile towers functional in eco-sensitive zones.

It had suggested that mobile towers should not be permitted within 1 km radius of the existing ones to check impact of electromagnetic radiation on birds. The state government, though, claims ignorance over the advisory.

SOG Probes Whether Accused Are Linked To Int’l Smugglers

Jaipur: The special operations group (SOG) of state police on Tuesday busted a racket involved in smuggling of turtle shells and arrested two persons. The duo were held while they were trying to sell 65 shells to some buyers. The estimated price of these shells is nearly Rs 50 lakh in the international market. The SOG got a tip-off in August that some people belonging to the Kalbelia tribe in Kota are planning to catch and sell turtles once the monsoon recedes. Accordingly, the SOG formed a team and sent decoys to the smugglers, said sources.

JAIPUR: A 43-year-old swine flu patient who was admitted to a private hospital here, a week ago died on Monday. This was the first HIN1 death of the season in the Pink City, confirmed the officials of medical and health department on Tuesday. In this season so far three persons have died due to H1N1 in the state.

Mohan Lal Sharma was tested positive a week ago and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital. A resident of Sanganer, Sharma had been in the hospital for a week.

JAIPUR: The civic body, after facing strong criticism for delaying the door-to-door garbage collection scheme, is now finally set to launch it. The contracted A to Z firm will start door-to-door garbage collection from Wednesday in the city.

While talking to media, Jaipur Municipal Corporation's (JMC) chief executive officer (CEO), Lok Nath Soni said, "In the first phase the door-to-door garbage collection will be started in 21 wards of the city from Wednesday." He added "There are 17 wards of Hawa Mahal east and west zone and 4 wards of Civil Lines zones which will be included initially."

Jaipur: Urban housing and development (UDH) principal secretary, G S Sandhu expressed his disappointment over the slow pace of work for cleaning the city’s big drains during the review meeting on Monday.

After heavy rainfall the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) had initiated repair and cleaning work for the Brahmpuri Nullah, Nag Talai Nullah and other drains in the city, however, as only half the work is done, the secretary was upsetThe JDA officials said that the work to clean Galta pond has been completed.

Jaipur: The UPA’s mid-day meal programme in Rajasthan is in tatters. The recently released Monitoring Institutions (MIs) report has revealed glaring anomalies in implementation of the scheme with many children in the state not getting any benefits and some actually going hungry.

According to a report, the scheme is not being implemented on a regular basis in some schools in the Pali district. The findings, based on figures between April 2011 and September 2011, were shared recently by the Union HRD ministry.