JAIPUR: A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court, headed by Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra on Thursday asked the state government to stop all illegal minings in the 21-km stretch of Kala Pahar

Noted population expert T. V. Antony has expressed concern over the increasing population in Rajasthan, saying it would adversely affect the State's growth rate and reduce livelihood opportunities significantly in the near future.

Mr. Antony, who is State adviser to the Rajiv Gandhi Population & Health Mission, said at a meeting of medical officers in Alwar on Wednesday that any programme for population control can succeed only with proper awareness among the rural populace. The departments concerned will also need to work in mutual coordination, he added.

Started in August 2001, the Jaisalmer based facility crossed 1,000 Mw capacity to achieve this milestone

The Jaisalmer Wind Park being developed by the Suzlon Group has crossed 1,000 Mw of installed capacity and has reached 1,064 Mw (one gigawatt) on April 1. This makes the wind park, the largest of its kind in the country, Suzlon claimed in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company initiated the development of the wind park in 2001. Suzlon said in the filing that its entire wind portfolio -- from the earliest 350 Kw model to the latest S9X - 2.1 Mw series -- has been used to create the park.

JAIPUR: The state government on Tuesday filed a detailed compliance report before a division bench of Rajasthan high court elaborating on the action taken against suppliers of adulterated milk in various parts of the state.

The court will give its final verdict on May 21. A division bench of high court, while hearing a suo moto PIL in March, had asked additional advocate general S N Kumawat to file the action report on the campaign against adulterated milk in Rajasthan.

JAIPUR: A survey report with quantifiable data on the backwardness of 82 tribes in the state was presented to the state government by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. The report is a comparative study on the social, economic and educational status of more than 91,000 families.

The report has been prepared on the directions of the Rajasthan High Court while hearing a PIL after the state government had granted a special 5% reservation to the Gujjars in the state.

JAIPUR: Following a Supreme Court directive in April this year to demarcate and notify buffer zone around the Ranthambore and Sariska tiger reserves within three months or face the heat, the state forest department has made giant progress in the matter.

According to sources in the forest department, work in this regard at both the tiger reserves is nearing completion. The final report is yet to be prepared but a meeting has been held and the areas to be demarcated as buffer zones have been identified.

JAIPUR: Even though a good two years have passed since the state government announced its first-ever forest policy in 2010, the notification is still awaiting active implementation.

The Rajasthan State Forest Policy 2010 had acknowledged the importance of Orans that are considered repositories of rich biodiversity and an excellent example of people's religious faith linked with conservation. The aim of the forest policy was to preserve ecological balance through increasing vegetal cover which would help in reducing soil erosion and consequently dust particle in upper stratosphere.

JAIPUR: After the March 22 crackdown against illegal gravel mines in Mewat's Pahari region resulting in the arrest of 97 people, some politicians had approached chief minister Ashok Gehlot against

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).