Urban planners attached to an advocacy group on Panchayati Raj here on Monday called upon the Rajasthan Government to pay greater attention to the Centre's flagship scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana, for providing affordable housing to slum dwellers in the cities. The focus of the Yojana is on according property rights to people living in slums.

Jaipur: Those development projects which came to a halt for want of bajari (sand) will be anxiously looking forward to the Supreme Court decision on Monday as there is a desperate need to resume the work soon to meet the deadline.

The Supreme Court has fixed the hearing for Monday after a team of officials from the Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC) and the Jaipur Development Authority filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, following a Rajasthan High Court order against mining sand from the Banas river.

JAISALMER: Viewing the security scenario and the frequent threats, an integrated security system is being put in place covering 202 railway stations across the country. This includes Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner.

In addition to this, three trains-Thar Express, Palace on Wheels and Atari Express will be a part of the system, informed Railway Protection Force director General P K Mehta during his visit to Jaisalmer on Tuesday.

Demand for proper security and cleanliness in trains

Reacting to the Rail Budget presented by Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in Parliament on Wednesday, Delhiites welcomed the announcement of new trains from the Capital to various locations while stating that an increase in fares was long overdue.

Among the other safety measures announced by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in his budget on Wednesday are increasing the number of trains to be escorted by RPF/GRP personnel to 3,500 and integration of the RPF helpline with the All-India Passenger Helpline.

As part of the Railways' green initiative, 2,500 coaches will be equipped with bio-toilets, 200 remote stations will be powered by solar energy, solar-lighting systems will be installed at 1,000 manned level crossing gates, and two bio-diesel plants will be commissioned at Raipur and Tondiarpet.

JAIPUR: Two more cases of swine flu were reported in the city on Saturday. Eight-year-old Naman is the fifth of six swine flu cases detected in Jaipur in the last 10 days. Naman was tested positive for the influenza on Saturday. Out of the six cases, two patients - eight-year-old girl Ojaswi and 26-year-old Sonal Jain - died.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan high court has asked the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) to submit its scheme for keeping the city clean. The directions were given to JMC CEO Lok Nath Soni who appeared before the court during the hearing of a petition filed on the issue on Monday. Soni has been directed to reappear before the court with the scheme details on Tuesday.

JAIPUR: Even with Holi round the corner and sale of colours picking up, no campaign to check the sale of harmful colours has yet been launched by the state government.

The medical, health and family welfare department has launched a campaign to check the sale of spurious and adulterated sweets but so far no such campaign to prevent the sale of colours with harmful chemicals has been launched.

JAIPUR: The population and size of slums and underdeveloped areas in Jaipur are swelling with increased migration of people from rural areas to urban. Presently, more than half of the city's population resides in urban areas.

But 10 years ago, as per the 2001 Census, more than half of the population lived in rural areas here. But the 2011 Census shows more people are now living in urban areas, and points that since 2001, people have been continuously moving towards urban areas for employment.

JAIPUR: Putting to rest the possibilities of constructing the elevated road from Pani- Pech to Collectorate Circle under Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project, phase II, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has sent a revised proposal of Rs 590 crore to the Centre for the approval.

After the elevated road proposed by the state government from Collectorate Circle to Government hostel was shelved after facing strong criticism that it might cause damage to the heritage building along the route, the decision was even taken to drop the plan of constructing elevated under BRTS to send the revised plan without including elevated road was taken by the JDA.