Jaisalmer/Jaipur: Mining of lignite coal in Barmer, one of the largest reserves in the country, can lead to loss of thousands of crores and burden the common man with higher power tariff if the flawed bidding process and award of contract are not reversed.

Observed by Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) in its August 17, 2011 order, came following a petition filed by Raj WestPower Ltd (RWPL) for determination of tariffs for power generation.

CLP India said that it has signed a pact with the Rajasthan Government for a 102.4-MW wind power project.

State’s Tall Claims To Check Illegal Practices Fall Flat Once Again

Alwar: Two labourers were buried alive in an illegal mine after stones came crashing on them during an explosion in Alwar’s Tapukara police station area on Tuesday night. As the police and rescue workers could not take the bodies out of the debris till Wednesday night, the tall claims of state government to have enforced the Supreme Court’s complete ban on illegal mining in the area fell flat with these horrifying deaths.

AREVA Solar, an AREVA subsidiary, has been awarded a contract by Reliance Power to build a 250 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) in Rajasthan.

AREVA said under the contract, it will build two 125 MW CSP plants using its Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology and will provide construction management services for the project. The first phase of the project is under construction, with a target commercial operation date of May 2013.

Jaipur: With a view to increase the forest cover in the state, it has been proposed to confer the status of conservation reserves on eleven forests in the state. With that the total number of conservation reserves will go up to 24.

According to VS Singh, additional chief secretary, environment and forests, “The state wildlife board has given its approval and seven forest areas are to be notified, and is awaiting government approval in the cabinet

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.

Jaipur: Waking up to gross violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and orders of the Supreme Court, minister for forest and environment Bina Kak on Monday ordered an immediate halt on the construction of annicuts with the use of earth-moving machinery inside the Sariska Tiger Reserve.

The forest department had embarked on a project of constructing 28 annicuts inside the reserve for providing water to animals there, especially during summer. However, the authorities seem to have missed the clearly laid laws for such work.

The Rajasthan government has appointed a Group of Ministers to look into extending relief to farmers suffering heavy losses due to crops damaged by the harsh winter.

The disaster relief norms at present do not take into account cold wave and frost. Minister of State for Disaster Management Brajendra Singh Ola said in the Assembly on Tuesday that the GoM is considering a report submitted by a working group formed by it to study all aspects of disaster relief norms. “The GoM is expected to make some favourable recommendations to resolve the difficulties of agriculturists.”

Jaipur: The state cabinet on Monday approved the proposal to create a Vidhan Parishad, as was announced by chief minister Ashok Gehlot in his budget speech last month.

The cabinet also approved a series of other proposals, including setting up of the Rajasthan Water Resources Regulatory Authority (RWRR), clearing the State Differently abled People’s Policy 2012, setting up of the Rajasthan Rehabilitation and Research Institute for implementing special schemes, clearing the Rajasthan Rehabilitation of Beggars and Indigents Bill-2012 and the Rajasthan Transparency in Public Procurement Bill 2012.

New Delhi After the Union Budget wiped out $1 billion from Cairn India’s market cap by raising the cess on oil production from R2,500 per tonne to R4,500, the government continues to sit on the company’s applications for both increasing production from its existing MBA (Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwarya) fields in Rajasthan as well as to carry on more exploration in its Rajasthan block.

If the applications are cleared, apart from the gains Cairn and its partner ONGC will make, the government stands to gain R6.8 crore a day (of this, R2.1 crore is for the Rajasthan government) and the country can save R12.5 crore of forex every day in the immediate future;