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.

Saturday will prove to be a milestone in the field of renewable energy production as Reliance Energy will start power generation of 40MW from its solar energy power project in Rajasthan. This is first solar power project in the private sector.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Union minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah, state energy minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Reliance Energy owner Anil Ambani, including other personalities will be present during the inaugural function of the solar power project at Dhudsar village,

The capacity of the Ramgarh gas-based thermal power plant, situated 60 km away from Jaisalmer, is being expanded with the installation of two new units of the total volume of 160 megawatt in the project's third stage. The plant's present capacity is 110.5 MW.

According to Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam chairman and managing director P. N. Singhal here on Thursday, one of the units with the capacity of 110 MW will be gas-based, while the other (50 MW) will be steam-based. Work on their establishment is in progress, he said.

JAIPUR: Hundreds of the villagers living in the periphery of Sarika tiger reserve on Tuesday blocked the gates to the forest and gheraoed the employees in protest against relocation of the villages nearby the reserve.

"If the state government will not solve our problems varying from the land related disputes and our relocation, we will intensify the agitation," said Bhupat Balayan, a local farmer leader.

Jaisalmer Tehsil Registers Highest Improvement In Child Sex Ratio

Jaipur: The provisional population figures up to the tehsil-level released by the directorate of census operations, Rajasthan, on Wednesday showed an overall decrease in the child population in the 0 to 6 years age group and a clear divide on the social issue between rural and urban areas.

The World Bank has approved a funding of $109 million (Rs.545 crore) for a new agricultural competitiveness project in Rajasthan set to improve farm productivity through sustainable and efficient use of water resources.

The project, for which Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot made an announcement in the previous year's Budget, was sanctioned at a World Bank board meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

The World Bank has approved a $109-million grant for Rajasthan to promote water-efficient agriculture through sustainable and efficient use of resources in the desert state.

Wilting under pressure from the Centre and after constant raps by the Supreme Court, the state government has now put a step forward in stopping illegal mining. A special 1000-member team, to be christened Mining Protection Force, will be set up to curb illegal mining in the state.

The state has long been battling illegal mining right from Alwar to Jaisalmer but in vain. While the police had recently detained over 100 people in Bharatpur engaged in illegal extraction of stones, in Jaisalmer mining near the airport has become a threat to its existence.

Rajasthan govt issue fraud certificates to Cong MP for solar projects

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government, for the first time, is experimenting with scientific ways for maintaining land records in the state.

Under the national land records modernization programme, the settlement department has initiated a landmapping project with the use of Electronic Total Station (ETS) technique and is planning to later use satellite images and aerial pictures.