AJMER: Wildlife census in the district began on Sunday morning and teams of forest department went to about 150 water holes to identify animals in different regions. In the first six hours of the census, small animals including snakes and cobras were spotted, but no trace of panther is found in jungles. There is a possibility of panthers being in Jawaja, Pushkar and old Beawar forest regions. For the last four years, panthers have not been reported in the census, but there are reports of attacks by the beast in some regions.

JAIPUR: In an effort to curb unsafe mining, the state government has decided to conduct training in mines safety in the 19 silicosis-affected districts. The training to lease holders will be imparted by the department of mines and geology in collaboration with the director general of mines safety (DGMS).

The department of mines and petroleum has recently issued a notice to the director of mines and geology department asking it to prepare a schedule for such a training programme in co-ordination with the DGMS and to intimate the same to all mining lease holders in the state. The department's orders follow the intervention of the Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC).

JAISALMER: Situated 80 km away from Jaisalmer district headquarters, 12 villages in the Thar region are busy scripting a success story.

With the help of NGO Sambhav, the villagers repaired 500-year-old 'baoris' or stepwells near Diprasar pond, some 10 km from the Ramgarh area. The hard work of the villagers has paid off and their water woes are now a thing of past.

JAIPUR: Following the empowered committee's directions that was constituted to develop Pink City as a world-class city, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Monday will start its anti-encroachment drive in the Walled City area.

During the 10-day drive JMC is targeting to remove temporary encroachments from the roads and verandas in the Walled city area. The authority, however, is not planning to remove any permanent encroachments during this drive.

Bhel officials said that no reasons have been assigned by RVUN for cancelling the tenders

The Rajasthan government has scrapped tenders worth Rs 12,000 crore that were bagged by Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) more than a year ago for two separate thermal power projects in the state. Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RVUN), a state government company, has scrapped EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) tenders for upcoming new super critical units of Suratgarh and Chhabra thermal power stations, sources said.

Jaipur: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticized the state government for its underassessment and non-recovery of revenue worth Rs 588.18 crore in the financial year 2010-11. The report, placed on the floor of the assembly on Thursday, finds several lacunae like the absence of input check controls and lack of monitoring in government departments.

The major underassessment made by the government were in mines, geology and petroleum department. During the test check by the CAG, it was found that minerals were diverted contrary to the conditions of leases.

Mushrooming multi-level residential buildings and absence of a proper government policy to provide water connection to these complexes are leading to a grave situation in the city.

Since the civic authorities are not providing water to residential complexes, the private builders are digging borewells to meet the demand, putting extra pressure on the depleting groundwater level. Yet, the state government is far from making a concrete policy on it and departments are passing the buck.

Jodhpur To help boost private investment in renewable energy, multilateral lending agency ADB today announced $103 million loan to Reliance Power for setting up a 100-MW solar plant in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan.

"I would like to to inform you that ADB has just agreedto extend financing for Reliance Power's 100-MW concentrated solar thermal plant which will be one of the largest solar power generation facilities in India and Asia as well," ADB director general (regional and sustainable development Department) S Chander said.

To help boost private investment in renewable energy, multilateral lending agency ADB has announced $103-million loan to Reliance Power for setting up a 100-MW solar plant in Jaisalmer district of

To help boost private investment in renewable energy, ADB lends to RPower

To help boost private investment in renewable energy, multilateral lending agency ADB has announced $103-million (500 crore) loan to Reliance Power for setting up a 100-MW solar plant in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. “I would like to inform you that ADB has just agreed to extend financing for Reliance Power’s 100-MW concentrated solar thermal plant, which will be one of the largest solar power generation facilities in India and Asia as well,” ADB Director-General (Regional and Sustainable Development Department), S. Chander, said here today.