With loss of habitat and rising incidents of human-bear conflicts plaguing the sloth bear population in Rajasthan, the state government has drawn up an ambitious conservation plan for the nocturnal

NEW DELHI The Cabinet committee on infrastructure on Thursday cleared highway projects worth . 1,500 crore, the government said.

It also cleared a project worth over Rs 600 crore for two-laning of Salasar-Haryana Border section of NH-65

The government today approved Rs 899.24 crore investment proposal for building a section of National Highway 758 in Rajasthan. It also cleared a project worth over Rs 600 crore for two-laning of Salasar-Haryana Border section of NH-65. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved the investment proposal for implementing the project for the development of 4-laning of Rajasamand-Bhilwara section of the National Highway 758 in Rajasthan, an official statement said.

The first tunnel close-pit mining in Rajasthan started here in Kayar area to produce zinc and allied minerals, including silver and lead, will bring pump in Rs 1 crore every month initially as royalty to government's coffers.

The first production of mineral from the Kayar mine was sent to a refinery in Rampura Agucha of Bhilwara district. Kayar has the third largest zinc deposit in Asia with an expected 35,000 metric tonnes of the mineral.

Jaipur gets respite; adjoining districts of Dausa, Sikar and Sawai Madhopur continue to suffer

Rains continued to batter half a dozen Rajasthan districts in the eastern and northern parts for the second day on Thursday taking the toll of casualties to 26 in the past 48 hours. Though there was respite in heavy rains in Jaipur -- which had borne the brunt of rains the other day -- the adjoining districts of Dausa, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur and Karauli continued to reel under the impact of unprecedented outpour which the old timers put as heaviest in the past 30 years.

New Delhi GAIL India has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity order that upheld the PNGRB’s decision to accept the technical bid of the Gujarat State Petronet-led consortium for laying the R5,000-crore Mallavaram-Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur gas pipeline project.

GSPL, which currently operates about 2,000 km of pipelines in Gujarat, has a 52% stake in the consortium, with Indian Oil Corp holding 26%, and Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp having 11% each. The grouping had emerged as the lowest bidder for the project, ousting GAIL.

With the monsoon below normal this year and particularly patchy across a few regions, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra are exploring cloud-seeding options to bring rains.

Hindustan Zinc has decided to plant one lakh saplings at its sites in Rajasthan to mark World Environment Day. Its zinc-producing mine at Rampura Agucha in Bhilwara district has started plantation of 70,000 saplings as part of the ambitious drive.

Inaugurating the drive on Tuesday, Bhilwara Collector Onkar Singh said the district administration would make available wasteland to Hindustan Zinc to include it in its plantation drive. “This unique initiative will surely become a benchmark for other corporate groups to follow.”

JAIPUR: To curb illegal mining in the state, the Rajasthan government will start a campaign from April 16th to June 15th. The two-month drive will be carried out in all the districts of the state, with a special focus on regions where the illegal activities are rampant.

Task forces at district and at sub-divisional levels have been formed. Focus will be in areas like Bharatpur, Alwar, Karauli and Bhilwara.
"All the districts in the state have been informed to carry out the inspections at mining sites. Authorities will take strict and effective action against the culprits," said Sudhanshu Pant, secretary, mines and petroleum.