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;

JODHPUR: Union Textile and Commerce & Industry minister Anand Sharma on Saturday, while expressing concern over the closed textile units, announced to set up a high level committee to look into the damages caused by the textile industry to the local environment and ecology at Jodhpur, Barmer and Pali.

Headed by secretary, textile, the committee will work out economically viable technical solutions to get over the situation

Agitating villagers promised a survey of land holdings

After a week-long closure, forced by an agitation by villagers living on the periphery, the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district has now re-opened for visitors. The stir, led by Bharatiya Kisan Union, proved yet another blow to the reserve, struggling to regain its past glory in the wake of re-introduction of tigers.

JAIPUR: Over 150 people belonging to the Behrupia tribe fell ill, at least 10 of them seriously, after having a feast at a social get-together in Jamdoli under Kanota police station area on Monday night. Officials said some of the milk-products items were contaminated leading to the food-poisoning. While most of them were discharged after primary treatment, others still were undergoing treatment till Tuesday evening.

Within the next two years Rajasthan will become the world's solar power hub as Reliance Power plans to take up the generation capacity of its newly-opened 40-MW plant at Dhursar village in Pokhran to 300 MW by 2014.

“We will add another 100 MW by 2013 to the existing capacity and then take it up to 300 MW at the same location in the next two years. This will be the world's largest solar power generation facility at a single location, thus giving a big push to efforts to produce energy through use of non-conventional sources,”

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.

Reliance Power plans to invest more than Rs 6,000 crore for solar power generation projects in Rajasthan in the next two years, its Chairman has said.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Power commissioned a 40 mega watt solar power plant in Rajasthan, which is the country's largest solar project so far. Another 100 mega watt capacity would be added at the site in the next one year.

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.

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