Page 22 - Rajasthan

ACs, coolers shoot up India's power usage by 9% to 152.38 bn units in Jun

India's power consumption rose by nearly 9 per cent to 152.38 billion units (BU) in June compared to the year-ago period mainly due to scorching heat which forced excessive use of cooling appliances like air conditioners and desert coolers. In June 2023, the power consumption stood at 140.27 BU, according to official data. The highest supply in a day (peak power demand met) also rose to 245.41 GW in June 2024 against 223.29 GW in the year-ago month. The peak power demand was recorded at 224.10 GW in June 2023. The peak power demand touched an all-time high of 250.20GW in May this year. The previous all-time high peak power demand of 243.27 GW was recorded in September 2023. Earlier this year, the power ministry projected a peak power demand of 235 GW during daytime and 225 GW during evening hours for May and 240 GW during daytime and 235 GW during evening hours for June 2024. The ministry also estimated that peak power demand may hit 260 GW this summer. Experts said the scorching

Rajasthan medical student undergoes dialysis after being ragged; 7 booked

According to the victim's father, the seniors forced his son to perform between 300 and 350 sit-ups under the blistering sun

Industrial sector in Rajasthan fears output slump after power cut order

The power department on Wednesday announced intermittent power cuts in industrial areas daily between 8pm and 3am

Shree Cement's installed renewable power capacity touches 1 GW across India

India's third largest cement manufacturer Shree Cement on Monday announced achieving installed power capacity of 1,000 MW with the commissioning of a 19.5 MW solar power plant at its Andhra Pradesh unit. "The one GW (Gigawatt) capacity includes a mix of solar, wind, thermal and waste heat recovery power plants, showcasing Shree Cement's diversified approach to meeting the electricity demand for cement production," the Bangur family-promoted firm said in a statement. The company has made an investment of Rs 4,000 crore to expand the renewable portfolio, which now accounts for nearly half of the installed power capacity. "Looking ahead, an estimated capex of Rs 1,000 crore is planned in FY25 for installation of additional renewable energy capacity," it said. This includes the installation of 132 MW of solar capacity in five states - Jharkhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, 36 MW of wind generation in Rajasthan and 34 MW of waste heat recovery capacity in Karnatak

CBI takes over five NEET-UG cases from Bihar, Gujarat & Rajasthan

The CBI has taken over the investigation of five new cases of alleged malpractices in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG that were being probed by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar, officials said on Monday. They said the central agency has re-registered one case each from Gujarat and Bihar and three cases from Rajasthan as its own FIR, while it is also likely to take up another case from Maharashtra's Latur. Barring the case from Bihar, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, invigilators and candidates, the officials said. The CBI has already registered its own FIR in connection with the case on a reference from the Union education ministry to conduct a comprehensive probe, they said. After taking over these new cases, the CBI is now probing a total of six cases pertaining to alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, the officials said. NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYU

Trade bodies ask Rajasthan govt to focus on ease of doing business

Suggestions were presented by the Hotel Association of Rajasthan to make the state a global tourism destination by 2047

Rajasthan govt to boost religious tourism by enhancing temple towns, infra

Tourism contributes roughly 12-14% to the state economy and employs over 7.5 million to 8 million, the third largest after agriculture and textiles

77% rural households provided with tap water connections: Govt data

About 77 per cent or 14.88 crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections till now, according to official data. There are a total of 19.31 crore rural households in the country, according to official data by the Jal Jeevan Mission. According to official data, 14,88,16,184 out of a total of 19,31,21,778 rural households have been provided with a tap water connection so far. Eleven states and Union Territories (UT) have achieved 100 per cent coverage in rural areas, the data showed. A total of 16 states and UTs have tap water coverage between 75-100 per cent and five states have coverage of 50-75 per cent. Rajasthan and West Bengal have below 50 per cent coverage, according to the data. Jal Jeevan Mission, launched in 2019, aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.

Trade bodies in Rajasthan seek budgetary, tax reforms to boost development

"This force should also be responsible for budgetary reforms of the state government," said Kailash Sharma, senior vice-president of ARTIA

Our govt has fulfilled 45% promises made in 'Sankalp Patra': Rajasthan CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said Sunday his government has fulfilled 45 per cent of the promises made in the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' ahead of the election. He said the empowerment of youths, farmers and women and the welfare of the poor through policies and schemes are priority areas for his government. Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 17th instalment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi soon after assuming office in his third term. The country will be prosperous and happy only with the prosperity of farmers, he added. The chief minister was addressing the felicitation ceremony of Union Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Chaudhary in Kishangarh. He said the Rajasthan government is working for the all-round development of all sections. "Our government has sped up work on the ERCP project in view of the water requirement of eastern Rajasthan," Sharma added. He said work is underway to give concrete shape to the Yamuna Water Agreement for the Shekhawat

Rajasthan govt begins recalling some batches of MDH and Everest spices

Rajasthan told the federal government in a letter it found a batch of Everest's cumin powder and a batch each of two MDH spice blends unsafe after tests, Reuters reported on Thursday

ED makes fresh arrest in Rajasthan's Jal Jeevan Mission case, say officials

The Enforcement Directorate has made a fresh arrest in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme being implemented in Rajasthan, official sources said Friday. Padamchand Jain, proprietor of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, has been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) launched by the Union government aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections and it is being implemented in Rajasthan by the state's Public Health Engineering (PHE) department. A man named Piyush Jain was the first to be arrested in this case by the federal agency early this year. The money laundering case of the ED stems from an FIR registered by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) where it was charged that Padamchand Jain, Mahesh Mittal (proprietor of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company), Piyush Jain and others were ...

Rajasthan govt finds some MDH, Everest spices 'unsafe' for consumption

India's domestic market for spices was valued at $10.44 billion in 2022, according to Zion Market Research

Trade and industry bodies in Rajasthan call for creating solar energy hub

Rajasthan ranks as one of the leading states in the country for solar energy production

JSW Energy begins construction of battery storage project in Rajasthan

JSW Energy on Monday said it has commenced the construction of 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) battery energy storage system project at Fatehgarh in Rajasthan. The company bagged the project from Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) recently, JSW Energy said in an exchange filing. The project consists of two installations, each with a 500 MWh storage capacity, designed for two hours of storage in one cycle. The project will be developed under a Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) mechanism and will be transferred to the offtaker after 12 years, the company said. JSW Energy said it aims to commission the project expected by June 2025. The company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JSW Steel Ltd to supply an additional 85,000-90,000 tonne of green hydrogen annually, along with 7,20,000 tonne per annum (TPA) of green oxygen, progressively by 2030. Sharad Mahendra, Joint Managing Director and CEO, JSW Energy, said, "...Our Battery Energy Storage System projec

Domestic open access solar capacity addition doubles in Jan-Mar: Mercom

Open access solar installations rose two-fold in India to 1.8 gigawatts during January-March this year supported by several factors, including reduced module cost, US-based Mercom Capital has said. Solar power through open access is an arrangement where a power producer establishes a solar power plant to supply green energy to consumers. India added over 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar open access capacity in the first quarter of the calendar year of 2024, posting a two-fold increase from 909.3 megawatts (MW) in Q4 2023, the report titled 'Mercom India Solar Open Access Market' said. As of March 2024, the cumulative installed solar open access capacity stood at 14.3 GW. Solar open access developers benefited from lower Chinese module prices and the suspension of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) order for projects commissioned through March 2024. Additionally, lower power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, due to reduced project costs, further incentivized consumers t

Rajasthan developing Maharana Pratap Tourist Circuit worth Rs 100 cr: CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Saturday said the state government is developing the Maharana Pratap Tourist Circuit at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Sharma said this while inaugurating the Maharana Pratap Jayanti celebrations in Udaipur. Maharana Pratap is a source of inspiration not only for Rajasthan and India but for the whole world, the chief minister said. His valour, bravery and patriotism cannot be bound by time and geographical boundaries, Sharma said and added that Maharana Pratap's life "inspires us to not step back even in adverse circumstances and to always follow the path of truth, religion and national interest". He said, "It is the aim of our government to spread the message of Maharana Pratap to the whole world, and in this direction Maharana Pratap Tourist Circuit is being developed at a cost of Rs 100 crore." According to an official statement, the keynote speaker of the programme, RSS leader Krishna Gopal said if today people and their culture, civilisat

Fire breaks out in Daulatpur-Sabarmati express train, none injured

A minor fire broke out in a third-ac coach of Daulatpur-Sabarmati express train near Khatipura station in Rajasthan's Jaipur on Friday. All passengers are safe and the train left after a delay of one hour, said North Western Railway spokesperson Captain Shashi Kiran. The exact cause of the fire, which broke out near the toilet, was not immediately known, he said. The spokesperson said that a passenger immediately pulled the chain and the coach attendant with the help of other passengers controlled the fire. The coach was detached and the passengers were shifted to other coaches, he said. The incident occurred between Khatipura and Jagatpura railway stations. The matter is being investigated.

NEET 'irregularities' must be probed, says Ex Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday demanded a probe into the alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam. Several aspirants of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) have alleged inflation of marks which led to a record 67 candidates bagging the top rank, including six from the same exam centre. The National Testing Agency (NTA), however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres are some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks. "Candidates have expressed apprehensions of irregularities regarding the NEET exam and its result wherein several candidates from the same centre got full marks, and candidates with close roll numbers topped, " he said on X. "Many such aspects are surfacing which increases the apprehensions of irregularities in the examination," he said. Gehlot said the matter concerns the future of lakhs of students and th

Rainfall, strong winds likely over 10 districts in MP in next 24 hours: Met

The met office also issued an orange alert in some districts which include Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa, Indore, Dewas, Dhar, Betul, Ujjain, Jhabua and Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh