-The Times of India JAIPUR: Moved by the sight of some students coming to school barefoot in the chilly December weather, Jalore collector Jitendra Kumar Soni, a young IAS officer, started an innovative scheme aimed at providing free shoes to downtrodden and deprived children. Christened as 'Charan Paduka Yojna', the scheme aims at distributing shoes to nearly 25,000 school kids before the Republic Day this year. Soni, who hails from Dhanasar village near...

-Livemint.com Accountability Yatra aims to cover all 33 districts of Rajasthan in 100 days, and to mobilize people join in and put pressure on the state government to bring in an accountability law Santosh Devi and Raju Devi of Raniwara in Jalore district of Rajasthan are from the Bhil tribal community. They are widows of the same man and live with their grandchild. Earnings are meagre here—every time the postman brought pension...

-The Hindu No qualified candidates to contest; seven posts fall vacant Jaipur: The impact of the amended Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 to include minimum educational qualification as an eligibility criteria for contesting the Panchayat elections, is now becoming visible with reports of posts going vacant pouring in from across the State. Worse, the Sikar police have arrested a gang of people who have reportedly sold fake marks sheets and Transfer Certificates to...

-The Hindu By providing food & firewood, the State tree supports rural economy Jodhpur: Rajasthan's State tree - Khejri - is dying a slow death, scientists and environmentalists have warned. Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) covers about two-thirds of the total geographical area of the State and and is of immense significance culturally and economically. The tree supports rural economy like no other wild vegetation does. The fruit of the tree is eaten as sangria, cooked...

-The Times of India JAIPUR: The arid regions of Rajasthan are the worst sufferer of climatic changes, according to Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur. Eleven districts in this zone have seen a rise in surface heating, reduction in rainfall, change in crop pattern and low milk productivity of livestock. The inference emerged after CAZRI analyzed climatic data of this region from 1913 to 2013. The latest data received from...