First India-Jaipur Edition-22 July 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

28°C - 37°C

ALERT JAIPUR l WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

6,15,880 1,49,70,372 DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 12,276 DEATHS 3,27,031 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

DELHI 3,690 DEATHS 1,25,096 CASES

RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 46

INDIA

28,770 11,92,405 DEATHS

CONFIRMED CASES

TAMIL NADU 2,626 DEATHS 1,80,643 CASES

RAJASTHAN

577

DEATHS

GUJARAT 2,200 DEATHS 50,465 CASES

Corona ‘cancels’ Amarnath Yatra VIRTUAL DARSHAN WILL BE TELECAST LIVE DURING MORNING & EVENING PRAYERS

Srinagar: The annual Amarnnath yatra has been cancelled due to the continuous rise in Covid 19 cases across Jammu and Kashmir. Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board on Tuesday said the virtual darshan of one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimages devoted to lord Shiva will continue to be telecast live during the morning and evening prayers, which will continue at the shrine, located at a height of 13,000 feet from the sea level.

“Based upon the prevailing circumstances, the Board decided with heavy heart that it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year’s Shri Amarnathji Yatra and expressed its regret to announce the cancellation of Yatra 2020,” an official spokesman of the board said.

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‘Those betraying party won’t be able to face public’

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31,373

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 1,469 DEATHS 71,069 CASES

IPL 2020 SHIFTS FROM INDIA TO UAE

New Delhi: The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be played in the UAE, the IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed on Tuesday.

The IPL 2020 edition was slated to commence from March 29 this year but the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. “IPL 2020 which was postponed due to coronavirus will now be held in UAE,” Patel told ANI. He also said that the Board of Cricket in Control for India (BCCI) has applied for government permission and further course of action will be discussed in IPL governing council meeting.

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A MORAL VICTORY! CLAIMS PILOT CAMP AFTER HC BREATHER

Defer disqualification notices till July 24, HC to Speaker

CM Ashok Gehlot addressing the MLAs during CLP meeting at Hotel Fairmont on Tuesday.

Jaipur: Lashing out again at dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot here on Tuesday said those betraying the party will not be able to face the public.

Gehlot also reiterated that a conspiracy to topple his government was being hatched but said he was confident that they will complete their tenure.

“This is intolerable and condemnable.

Those betraying the party will not be able to show their faces in pub-

lic,” Gehlot said addressing a Congress Legislature Party meeting at a hotel here.

According to a statement issued by Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi, Gehlot said efforts are being made to weaken democracy in the country but Congress legislators are fighting firmly to save it.

The fight will continue till the victory of truth, he claimed, adding that his government is strong and stable and will continue to serve people of the state for five years.

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Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday requested Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to defer action on disqualification notices till Friday as it will pass appropriate orders on the writ petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident legislators on that day, the Speaker’s counsel said.

The Pilot camp is reportedly elated after the Joshi decided to keep his decision on the removal of rebel leaders from the Assembly, safe till July 24. The camp is thus considering it as their moral victory as they have received relief till Friday.

The also court allowed the application of two other parties to be included as respondents as heard them on Tuesday.

“It will become clear on July 24 whether Turn on P6

—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Kartikey Dev Singh

BRIBE ALLEGATION

PILOT SERVES LEGAL NOTICE TO MLA MALINGA First India Bureau

Jaipur: Former deputy CM and PCC chief Sachin Pilot has served a legal notice to MLA Giriraj Malinga for false and malicious statement made by him to the press on Monday. It may be recalled that Congress MLA from Bari, Malinga, had alleged on Monday that rebel leader Sachin Pilot had offered him Rs 35 crore to switch to the BJP but he had refused to comply. After this, Pilot had said in a statement on Monday that an attempt was being made to defame him and he would take strict legal action against the MLA. Meanwhile Pilot will hold a press confrence on Wednesday at 9 am.

CP Joshi in Assembly; Avinash Pande & Randeep Surjewala arrive at the Vidhan Sabha in Jaipur on Tuesday.

Will not act against rebels till verdict: CP First India Bureau Jaipur: The action by Assembly speaker Dr CP Joshi in pursuance of the notices served to Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs is still under consideration.

Joshi, after the HC hearing on Tuesday, keeping with the judicial dignity decided to defer

any action on the notices served till the evening of July 24. He took the decision keeping in view the request made by HC in the matter. This is the second time in the last four days that Joshi has acted to uphold the dignity of two constitutional bodies.

Joshi reached his office at the Vidhan Sabha at 5 pm on Turn on P6

Rajiv assasin Nalini attempts suicide in Vellore prison Vellore: Nalini Sriharan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, allegedly attempted to commit suicide inside the Vellore Women’s prison on Monday night, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

“Yesterday night, we received information that Nalini attempted to commit suicide in prison. Immediately, we enquired from police officials and prison officials. They said that the information is correct,” Advocate P Pugalenthi told ANI. Pugalenthi alleged torture by jail officials and urged the authorities and Tamil Nadu chief minister to transfer Nalini to another prison anticipating a threat to her life.

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#RAJASTHANPOLITICALCRISIS

Gehlot camp expects IT raids, now on kin in Jodh Aditi Nagar New Delhi: Days since the Income Tax department raided the establishments of various Gehlot camp Congress leaders and businessmen at Jaipur, Mumbai and other cities, even as Rajasthan simmered in the political tussle between Gehlot and Pilot camps, the Gehlot camp now believes that the I-T sleuths will again be put

to action in Rajasthan, however this time around their ‘sting’ could hurt more as word has it that now relatives and people close to Gehlot camp at Jodhpur will be targeted.

Knowledgeable sources claim that the I-T sleuths are searching their records and may even take up 10-15 year old I-T matters of the Gehlot loyalists and family members into their purview. Sources say I-T is

burning midnight oil to search for matters related to businessmen and politicians close to Gehlot. Moreover, there is ample indication to these individuals that the I-T could ‘act’ on them on Wednesday.

Notably, so far the Income Tax sleuths had raided the offices and enterprises of leaders close to Gehlot, namely Rajeev Arora, Dharmendra Rathore, Ratankant Sharma, Om Kothari and others.

‘Much-awaited’ phone tapping report sent to Centre Dr Rituraj Sharma Jaipur: Three days after the union Home Ministry asked the Chief Secretary to furnish a report on the phone tapping issue, the Home department forwarded a report on Tuesday night on the points asked by the Ministry. The Home Ministry had sought a report seeking if the phones of

any political leader were tapped and surprisingly, the Home department has answered in the negative. Highly placed sources in the Home Department maintained that no tapping of phones of political leaders have been conducted. Surprisingly, by contradicting its own public claim that union minister Gajendra Singh Turn on P6

RAJASTHAN JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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FROM THE PAGES OF FAIRMONT DIARY!

TITTLE-TATTLE

Raghu Sharma, Arun Kumawat, Gopal Meena and Mahendra Chaudhary discussing Rajasthan political situation over a cup of tea at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur on Tuesday.

WHAT A SHOT

Sudarshan and Prashant Bairwa during a friendly Badminton game at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur on Tuesday.

“WE HOPE THAT GOOD JUDGMENT WOULD COME ON JULY 24,” DR SATISH POONIA SAID. THE BJP HOPES THAT THE HIGH COURT WOULD DISMISS THE SPEAKER’S NOTICE ON REBEL CONGRESS MLAS

BJP in ‘wait and watch’ mode till Friday Aishwarya Pradhan

Jaipur: The BJP will remain in ‘wait and watch’ mode till the High Court pronounce its judgment on the Sachin Pilot group’s petition against disqualification notice by speaker Dr CP Joshi on Friday. BJP believes that it gives more edge to its attack on Ashok Gehlot government while it remains locked in a luxury hotel.

State BJP president Dr Satish Poonia reiterated that for how long the government would remain in the hotel.

While reacting to the court case related to rebel the congress MLAs

DIFFERENT CASES TO CONSIDER!

State BJP president Dr Satish Poonia

disqualification he expressed faith in the judiciary.

“We hope that good judgment would come on July 24,” Dr Poonia said. The BJP hopes

that the court would dismiss the speaker’s notice to rebel Congress MLAs. Meanwhile, Dr Poonia said that CBI action in Rajgarh SHO’s sui-

cide case should not be linked with ongoing political development in state. SHO Dutt’s suicide case was handed over to the CBI much before this political cri-

sis; the two should not be linked. Though, he said that if SOG and ACB can become active then why not CBI. Deputy leader Rajendra Rathore said that

everyone is awaiting the high court’s judgment. The MLAs are desperate to come out of the hotel therefore, how long can the government keep them locked.

Rathore said that monsoon is playing truant because of which 31 out of 33 districts have been facing drought.

Number of corona positives has crossed 30000 but the government has been enjoying at the luxury hotel. It doesn’t care about people.

The BJP is likely to call meeting of legislators and senior leaders after the high court pronounces its judgment on July 24.

Sambit Patra is generator of lies: Khachariyawas

People suffering due to CM and He also said that Pilot rift: Diya Jaipur: Rajsamand MP, Diya Kumari, said that the people of State are suffering in the rift between CM Gehlot and Pilot. CM has vented his anger not only on Pilot but also on public. Diya said that the people should not hope for any relief as Government itself is helpless. The Government, which is giving a shock to consumers in electricity bill amounts, should understand that the same shock will return to them later.

the rebel MLAs of Cong are fighting in court unnecessarily First India Bureau Jaipur: Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas has said that BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra is the generator of lies. It is clear from the kind of language he is using by becoming the spokesperson of the Congress rebels that the BJP government at the centre is fully involved in the

conspiracy to topple the government.

Khachariyawas said that the BJP leaders are running the camp of rebels and independent MLAs. Many union ministers visit the camp. The camp of the independent candidates is also being governed

by BJP, that is why each Congress rebel speaks with the permission given by the BJP leaders, according to the script written by them.

Khachariyawas added that there is still time for the Congress MLAs who have left the

Pratap Singh Khachariyawas

party to return and be in a position to respond to the people of their area, otherwise the public will not allow them to enter their respective

assembly constituencies. If someone betrays the party from which he/she has won, then it is cheating with the voters as well.

The minister claimed that the phones of all the MLAs of our camp are on, while all the phones of rebels, have been switched off. He also said that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has all the rights and the rebel MLAs of Congress are fighting in court unnecessarily. If they are truthful, then they should reply to the notice issued by the Speaker. But their behaviour clearly depicts that they do not want to follow the party whip, which is punishable.

MP JAUNPURIYA ASSURES GURJAR SUPPORT TO PILOT

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onk-Sawai Madhopur MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuriya has played the caste card to the hilt by invoking Sachin Pilot to take the ultimate step in the name of Lord Devnarayan. BJP MP said that had Sachin taken a decisive step immediately after the assembly elections when the Gurjar community had given him wholehearted support then he would have been the CM of Rajasthan with such support from people which even Late Rajesh Pilot had never received. Jaunpuriya said that Congress,

Sukhbir Singh Jaunpuriya

which badly needed outside support then is passing comments on Pilot now. BJP Gurjar leader reminded Pilot that he had kept quiet at the critical time and now he says that he is sad. Jaunpuriya assured him of support from the Gurjars but the final decision will have to be taken by Pilot himself.

HC DISMISSES BAIL PLEA OF BHARAT MALANI

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n the matter connected to conspiring for toppling the government, District and Sessions Judge, Jaipur Metropolitan II, Kaushal Singh has dismissed the bail plea filed on behalf of Bharat Kumar Malani, while terming it a heinous crime. Bharat had also denied providing voice samples.

Previously, on July 18, bail plea of Ashok Singh was also dismissed.

APP Mohanlal Gurjar opposed the appeal in court. After the argument, the court found that there are charges of treason and criminal conspiracy against the

Bharat Malani

accused. Moreover, as per the transcription of talks held over the phone by Bharat submitted by SOG, it is evident that the accused has tried to topple the government. The court also said that the bail application of the other accused was rejected and Bharat’s crime is not different from him.

Kota: Man beaten to death Chartered flights soar high at Jaipur airport for harassing woman; 8 held WITH POLITICAL MOVEMENT ON TOP

Kashiram Chaudhary Jaipur: The movement of chartered aircrafts from Jaipur International Airport has been steadily increasing. In the last 55 days, 85 chartered planes have been operated from Jaipur Airport. Mainly, people from businesses use chartered flights, but during the last one month, the political movement at the airport is also being done by chartered planes.

During the Rajya

MOVEMENT OF POLITICIANS THROUGH CHARTERED PLANES LEADER RS Surjewala TS Singh Dev TS Singh Dev RS Surjewala RS Surjewala TS Singh Dev KC Venugopal Ajay Makan Ajay Makan KC Venugopal

Sabha elections last month, the Congress and BJP MLAs were gathered at a place.

FROM Chandigarh Jaipur Raipur Jaipur Chandigarh Jaipur Jaipur Delhi Chandigarh Trivandrum

During this time, Congress had also given the responsibility of the observer to two leaders.

TO Jaipur Raipur Jaipur Chandigarh Jaipur Bhopal Delhi Chandigarh Jaipur Jaipur

DATE June 10 June 10 June 13 June 13 June 16 June 19 June 19 July 12 July 12 July 13

All the movements of these leaders were done through chartered planes. Now, after for-

mer Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is not supporting the government, the political crisis has arisen and the movement of Congress leaders is being done continuously through chartered planes.

The cost of renting a charter plane is around Rs 2.5-3 lakh per hour.

Political parties usually rent aircrafts from aviation companies providing planes in Delhi. Political leaders used 10 chartered aircrafts in the last one month.

Kota: A 30-year-old man died allegedly after eight-nine family members of a woman attacked him with sticks, iron rods and stones at a village in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district for harassing her, police said on Tuesday.

Nine people, including the woman, have been booked and eight of them arrested in connection with the killing, they said.

The incident took place on Monday noon at Sumer village under

the Khanpur police station limits.

The deceased man was identified as Tokiya alias Raju Bagri (30), a resident of Sumer village. He was a notorious goon in the village and was involved in several

crimes and unlawful activities including harassing and troubling women in the village, Khanpur Station House Officer (SHO) Kamalchand Meena said.

Bagri had allegedly harassed the 22-yearold married woman of the village on Monday last week, following which she lodged a case against him under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC. —PTI

RAJASTHAN JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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Tuesday breaks records: 983 new cases in 24 hrs; 9 deaths Govt to ensure State’s tally now stands at 31,373 cases while the toll reaches 577

manpower, meds stock

First India Bureau Jaipur: Last 24 hours added 983 new cases, breaking its previous record, taking tally to 31,373 along with reporting 9 deaths taking toll to 577. 5 deaths were reported from Pali, 2 from Udaipur while one death each was reported from Dholpur & Kota.

111 new cases were reported from Jodhpur followed by 106 from Alwar, 74 from Bikaner, Jalore 69, Ajmer 67, Nagaur 56, Pali 54, Kota 53, Bhilwara 51, Barmer 46, Sikar 44, Sirohi 32, Jaipur 41, Bharatpur 26, Dholpur 23, Dausa 22, Tonk 19, Rajsamand 14, Karauli 11, 10 each from Dungarpur & Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar 7, Jhalawar 6, Churu 5, 4 each from Chittorgarh & Sawai Madhopur, 3 each from Jhunjhunu & Pratapgarh,1 each from Baran, Bundi & Banswara along with 2

First India Bureau

Painters painting a graffiti on a wall for spreading awareness of COVID-19 in Bikaner on Tuesday.

from another state.

The cumulative district wise tally is as follows – Ajmer 1260, Alwar 1914, Banswara 115, Baran 80, Barmer 1041, Bharatpur 2207, Bhilwara 408, Bikaner 1507, Bundi 38, Chittorgarh 223, Churu 527, Dausa 263, Dholpur 1045, Dungarpur 529, Ganganagar 112, Hanu-

ED attaches `13cr assets of ex Jodh Nat’l Varsity chairman New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached about Rs 13 crore worth properties of Kamal Mehta, former chairman of the Jodhpur national university, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged issuance of fake degrees. “The attached assets includes 12 flats, 3 plots, a building and 31 bighas agricultural land located in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Delhi and some amount lying in bank accounts,” ED said.

The case relates to issuance of fake degrees and mark sheets. A provisional order in this context has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Jaipur office of the central probe agency and the assets are worth Rs 12.98 crore. The agency, in 2017, had attached properties worth Rs 8.53 of Mehta and his

trust that ran the private university.

The agency initiated probe in the case after taking cognisance of an FIR and charge sheets filed by the Jaipur special operations group (SOG) of the state police against Mehta and his associates. “Accused Mehta is a Managing Trustee of Kushal Education Trust and had established Jodhpur National University at Jodhpur in 2008,” the ED said. “While working as the chairman of university, he actively indulged in running a syndicate for issuing and selling fake degrees and mark sheets to students for money,” the ED alleged.

He appointed four national coordinators of the university by issuing fake authorisation letters in the name of Registrar for the purpose of collection of fees, forms and conduct of examination.

—PTI

mangarh 167, Jaipur 4446, Jaisalmer 144, Jalore 953, Jhalawar 417, Jhunjhunu 503, Jodhpur 4943, Karauli 239, Kota 1099, Nagaur 1161, Pali 2111, Pratapgarh 162, Rajsamand 485, Sawai Madhopur 162, Sikar 780, Sirohi 772, Tonk 245 and Udaipur 1011 along with 182 from other states & countries.

IAS OFFICER +VE

Jaipur: PS (Health) Akhil Arora held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to take stock of availability of medicines and man power needed to contain the Corona virus in state. Instructing the district collectors Arora told them to ensure proper stocks of the required medicines.

He not only stressed on proper manpower availability but also training them for every eventuality. VC was also attended

by NHM Director Naresh Kumar Thakral and SMS Medical College Principal Dr Sudhir Bhandari along with senior officers from health department.

Court convicts 11 cops for killing ex-royal 35 yrs ago Judge will pronounce quantum of punishment today First India Bureau Bharatpur: District and session court in Mathura has convicted 11 policemen for murder of Raja Man Singh independent MLA and member of erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur.

Judge Sadhna Rani Thakur found circle officer of Deeg Kan Singh Bhati and SHO Virendra Singh along with nine other policemen guilty of the murder while three accused were exonerated and three other died during course of the trial. The judge will pronounce quantum of punishment to the guilty on Wednesday.

Raja Man Singh was independent MLA for seven times and younger brother of last ruler of Bharatpur, Maharaja Brijendra Singh. He was un-

First India Bureau Jaipur: The state government has moved an application in the High Court to postpone the municipal election in the six newly constituted corporations in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota.

With court’s approval the municipal elections could be postponed by 5 months.

The state govternmen has moved the application for postponement giving consideration to the coronavirus situation in the state.

Meanwhile the state election commission has released the final version of the voters

Election Commission released final version of voters list of 129 local bodies

list of 129 local bodies of the state to be used in the upcoming municipal elections proposed in August.

Chief Election Officer and Secretary of

State Election Commission Shyam Singh Rajpurohit informed that the voting lists are for 15 city councils, 113 municipalities and one municipal corporation

due for August elections.

Rajpurohit said that the total number of voters stands at 41 lakh 14 thousand and 36 out of which 21 lakh 31 thousand 10 are male voters while 20 lakh 9 thousand 945 are female voters with 84 transgender voters.

The final list has 98,405 more voters than the previous list in 4450 wards. The CEO said that there will be one booth for every 700 voters instead of earlier provision of 1400 voters per booth. The number of booths now is 7400 instead of earlier 4294 booths.

cle of former tourism minister Vishvendra Singh. Raja Man Singh’s daughter Krishnendra Kaur Deepa is BJP MLA and former tourism minister addressed a press conference, “I am satisfied with the judgment and now look forward to strongest punishment to the guilty,” she said.

The police had shot down Raja Man and two other persons on February 21, 1985. A

day before his killing there was a dispute over hoisting flag on Lakha Burj of Deeg Fort on February 20, 1985. Next day Raja Man Singh damaged stage for then Chief Minister Shiv Charan Mathur’s public meeting and his helicopter.

Later, he got killed in police action, which created huge political uproar forcing Mathur to quit from the post of CM.

gets new principal First India Bureau

Jaipur: St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur welcomed to its new Principal, Rev Dr A Rex Angelo, SJ as Dr. Sheila Rai finished her term as the Principal.

A great Gandhian scholar, Dr Sheila Rai guided the College to prepare for NAAC accreditation and attained its 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC Act, 1956. Since its inception in 2010, the College has been taken forward visionary leadership of its Management with the Principal at the helm.

The College looks forward to more laurels with Dr Angelo. Dr. An-

gelo hails from Andhra Pradesh and was a Professor of English at Andhra Loyola College, (Autonomous), Vijayawada where he was the Vice Principal (PG Section), Director of ELT Research Centre and Director of the Alumni Association to name only a few prestigious posts.

Land mafia & allies attack cop in Ajmer

7 die in different accidents across state

First India Bureau

Jodhpur: Four people died on the spot in a road accident near Lunawas village on Tuesday. The deceased were travelling in a SUV towards Bhandu on Jodhpur Balotra road when it rammed into an empty bus, coming from the opposite direction.

The bus driver fled after the incident.

Ajmer: Men associated to land mafia attacked a police constable in his own house. The incident took place in the Pratap Nagar area of the Civil Line police station. When Ishwar Singh, posted at Ganj police station, was home, Vikram Singh and his

friends, armed with weapons, attacked the constable with an axe on the head and escaped.

The injured policeman was rushed to JLN Hospital in time.

According to rumours, Vikram is Ishwar paternal cousin and was attacked for grabbing land.

First India Bureau

The dismantled remains of the vehicles after collision.

Meanwhile, in Jhalawar two cars collided in Aklera on NH-52, in which 3 people died and

RBSE Arts Results: 90.70% students clear exam First India Bureau

ASHOK GEHLOT @ashokgehlot51 Congratulations to all the students, who have excelled in the #RajasthanBoard class 12th Arts exams. My best wishes to all for a bright future. #RajasthanBoardResultg the exam compared to last year.

Once again girls have

There was heavy security outside the CBI court in Mathura as it pronounced the verdict. (Inset) Raja Man Singh.

Govt moves HC to defer local body polls St Xavier’s College

EYE ON A BETTER FUTURE

Jaipur: Rajasthan Board for Secondary Education (RBSE) Dr D P Jaroli released senior secondary arts result on Tuesday. Total 90.70% students cleared the exam this year.

According to Dr Jaroli 5,90,868 students took the exams, out of which 5,26,726 passed including 2,64,892 boys and 2,61,834 girls. He said that this year 15,000 more students passed

03

outshined boys as 93.10% girls passed compared to 88.45% boys. Dr

Jaroli said that remaining results will also be declared soon.

VASUNDHARA RAJE @VasundharaBJP Hearty congratulations to all students who passed RBSE 12th Arts exam. Wish you a bright future. Dear children! Work hard, make the country & state in same way and touch heights of success Regular students have a pass percentage of 91.17 and private

students have a pass percentage of 29.17%.

93.10 per cent girls have passed while 88.45 percent boys have passed. As many as 21,681 students would have to appear for supplementary exams this year.

Students have performed the best in Rajasthani Sahitya Subject this time where out of 1553 students who had taken the exam 1542 passed making the total pass per cent of 99.29%.

10 were injured. The 2 severely injured were referred to Kota for treatment, while the re-

maining 8 are getting treatment in SRG Hospital. Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has also taken information about the accident by talking to the District Collector over the phone.

MP Dushyant Singh also inquired about the injured and deceased, along with paying condolences to their family.

‘Send Haj pilgrims of 2020 next year’ First India Bureau Jaipur: The minister for minority affairs in state Saleh Mohd wrote to central minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi requesting to make arrangements for the Haj pilgrims who couldn’t go this year due to corona, to be sent next year.

Saleh Mohd was resonating with the feeling of the Haj pilgrims shortlisted for Haj 2020 which reached him along with requests

from many institutions who help the Haj pilgrims.

Mohd demanded a reserve category for these pilgrims next year and requested that should not be put through the formalities again.

PERSPECTIVE JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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POLITICS OF DEFECTION IS A GAME OF THRONES

IN-DEPTH

FIGHTING COVID-19 ON A WING AND A PRAYER

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midst galloping Covid-19 cases comes the grim news that 60 percent of the Indian population in nine big states is at high risk of catching the virus.

Many districts in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, and Gujarat “were found to have high vulnerability” because of widespread poverty, lack of health facilities, hygiene, and social distancing, says a study in The Lancet. The study is based on an assessment of the ability of these districts to handle coronavirus cases. The highest number of these districts, eight, is located in Bihar, six in Uttar Pradesh and four in Madhya Pradesh. Compared to these states, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim are least vulnerable.

Rajib Acharya, the lead author, has identified poor health infrastructure as a big challenge in the containment of the pandemic. With 80 percent of the confirmed cases in the country asymptomatic, the population is vulnerable to community transmission, the study says. The government insists that the country is not yet in the stage of community spread. Health experts and scientists disagree. As the number of Covid-19 cases stands at over 12 lakh experts feel that denying community spread is unbelievable.

With menacing dark clouds of Covid-19 hovering over the country, the recovery rate is the only silver lining in India’s pandemic story. The rapidly increasing cases still remain a major concern for the government, though. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Gujarat continue to be worrisome. With a ramshackle health infrastructure, we are fighting the pandemic on a wing and a prayer.

SHUBHRANSHU SINGH The writer is a corporate professional, marketing leader, columnist and a social and political commentator. He writes on brand building, marketing, history, politics, technology and business

LIVING WITH THE FLOODS IN ASSAM

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ssam and floods are intertwined. According to the National Commission on Floods, 39.58 percent of the state’s total area of 78.52 lakh hectares in a floodprone area. Its vast network of rivers make it more vulnerable to annual and occasionally some flash floods.

Not long ago Assam had faced the fury of cyclone Amphan. Now, 28 of Assam’s 33 districts are reeling under the deluge, the state’s worst since 1988. With the Central Water Commission forecasting that the Brahmaputra was expected to rise 32 cm by Tuesday. The Met department has also predicted more rain predicted. Any further rise in the water level is only going to add to the misery of the people who have lost their homes and hearths to the raging waters. An estimated 35 lakh people have been affected due to the submergence of large areas. The death toll in floods and landslides has risen to 102. Over one lakh people are in 689 relief camps where the Army is carrying out large-scale relief operations.

Equally sad is the story of wild animals in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve where scores of animals, including ten Rhinos, have perished, remains inundated. For the Kaziranga Park, being a riverine ecosystem, floods are a necessary evil. Kaziranga’s water bodies get their refill from the deluge and the forest too gets rejuvenated.

The politics of defection is a game of thrones.

The Indian constitution doesn’t even recognize political parties.

Yet, we have one of the most stringent anti – defection laws in force whereas it is interesting that none of the democracies in the West legally bar defections

n 1948, in one of the last moves he made before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi proposed the dissolution of the Congress as a political party and recommended its transformation into a social service organisation –the Lok Seva Sangh which would be devoted to the task of social regeneration and economic uplift through voluntary rural programmes. He wanted Congressmen to leave electoral politics, government and administration. Those interested in political power could leave the Lok Seva Sangh and join political parties or form them.

Gandhi Ji wrote in his diary of May 21, 1947 (quoted

by H.V.Kamath in Parliament on May 7, 1962: Lok Sabha Debates, Third Series, Vol II, cc 2931-32) as follows: “The Congress has gained the trust of the people on account of its many sacrifices and penances. But, if at this moment it were to let the people down by becoming their overlord instead of their servant and arrogate to

itself a position of master, I venture to prophecy on the strength of my experience of long years that though I may be alive or not, a revolution will sweep over the country and that the people will pick out the white-capped ones individually and finish them and that a third power will stand to gain by this” The Congress not only stayed on in politics for the pursuit of power, but it also defined

The politics of defection is a game of thrones. The Indian constitution doesn’t even recognize political parties. Yet, we have one of the most stringent anti-defection laws in force whereas it is interesting that none of the democracies in the West legally bar defections.

Defection amounts to the transfer of loyalty. However, it is pertinent to note that the words defection and dissent

DEFECTION AMOUNTS TO TRANSFER OF LOYALTY. HOWEVER, IT IS PERTINENT TO NOTE THAT THE WORDS DEFECTION AND DISSENT HAVE DISTINCT MEANINGS AND ONE MAY NOT USE THEM SYNONYMOUSLY

it. Amongst other things, its modus operandi included brilliant management of power arithmetic through defections ever since the watershed election of 1967. If today its political opponents are beating it at the same game, the Congress cannot complain since its name is indelibly associated with the institutionalising of this practice. The phrase “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” is the stuff of legend.

have distinct meanings and one may not use them synonymously.

Political ‘Bossing’ can only survive with the support of vested interests and ‘status quo-ists’. The larger issue is not caste or group factionalism, polarisation or the lure of office. The underlying basic issue is the lack of ideological commitment.

The economist J.K. Galbraith

A COVID-19 bridge over troubled water?

T

he COVID-19 pandemic is likely to transform our behaviors, attitudes, and policies in many areas.

For the sake of overcoming the public-health crisis and enabling economic recovery, one must hope that water and wastewater management will be among them.

Delivering clean water and ensuring proper wastewater management has been a global concern since the late 1970s. Significant progress toward this objective was made during the 1980s, which the United Nations declared the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade.

But the ultimate goal – to ensure that every human on the planet had access to clean water and sanitation by 1990 – was not achieved.

The world tried again in

04

2000, with the less ambitious Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the share of the population without sustainable access to clean water and sanitation by 2015.

This time, the UN declared victory, but included anyone with access to water at all – clean or not.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN’s members in 2015, were supposed to pick up where the MDGs left off. Again, the target is clean water and proper sanitation for all. The deadline this time is 2030. But, as in the past, the barriers to success are formidable.

When the SDGs were introduced, the UN estimated that 785 million people worldwide lacked access to “even a basic drinking water service.” The true number is probably far larger.

According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, some 2.2 billion people do not have safely managed drinking water services, and 4.2 billion do not have safely managed sanitation services.

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases – such as cholera, diar-

rhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio – that affect hundreds of millions of people every year. Making matters worse, nearly 25% of health-care facilities worldwide lack even basic water services.

Not surprisingly, such incidents have eroded trust in water utilities. Today, at least 3.5 billion people

worldwide – in both developed and developing countries – lack confidence in the quality of the water they receive. In South Asia, with over 1.7 billion people, there is not a single town or city where people trust their water utilities. Those who can often rely on bottled water or point-of-use water-treatment systems.

The COVID-19 crisis could be a turning point.

Yes, universal access to clean water and sanitation has been on the world’s radar since the late 1970s. But the current pandemic has made it a universal interest. While frequent hand washing is widely regarded as one of the most effective ways to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, the UNICEF/WHO estimate implies that three billion people worldwide lack the facilities to do so. And with the pandemic underscoring the link between clean water and public health, the bar for what qualifies as “clean” has been raised.

The COVID-19 crisis is also changing how people think about wastewater – a resource that has been grossly undervalued in the past.

FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM

once wrote, “Faced with a choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the proof.”

Moreover, truth and accuracy are not the only things that matter to the human mind. Humans also seem to have a deep desire to belong. This is true both for those who leave a formation and those who stay on.

The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker has explained how the need for affiliation affects beliefs, “People are embraced or condemned according to their beliefs, so one function of the mind may be to hold beliefs that bring the belief-holder the greatest number of allies, protectors, or disciples, rather than beliefs that are most likely to be true.” Changing beliefs to feel secure in belongingness is understandable. False beliefs can be useful in a social sense, the facts be damned!

In a representative democracy, the primary loyalty of a representative is to the electorate. The very idea of incorporating provisions to enable defections implies recognition of such a thing as free will and action. However, principled defections, as acts of conscience, are as rare as the sightings of the Yeti. Power is almost always seen to be the sought after prize. It is seen by the electorate as an immoral, opportunistic breach of faith. It negates the electoral outcome. The Constitution’s 52nd Amendment Act, 1985 and the 91st Amendment Act, 2003 - often referred to as the Anti-Defection Laws(s) - recognized that managing floor arithmetic is intrinsic to democracy.

But, the anti-defection pesticide has failed to prevent the rot.

It has merely changed the rules and increased the stakes. The continuing contempt for the electorate shows us that the numbers game in representative institutions is only for grabbing and holding on to power.

The politics of defection subverts the soul of constitutionalism. Yet, it is a reality.

As a democracy, we must deal with the virus and not leave it to the constitutional doctors to attend only to the patients.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp In the last few months, we have established protocols and practices with significant success to fight against the Covid_19 pandemic. We must continue to follow all recommendations by experts, ensure social distancing, wear masks, wash our hands to contain the spread of infection.

Mallikarjun Kharge @kharge If Govt & @JPNadda ji showed the same zeal & aggression fighting #Corona & the Chinese, we would not have lost our land nor would we have been world #3 in #CoronaCrisis. Lack of achievements by your Govt pushes you to be frivolous like this.

Spiritual SPEAK

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

—Proverbs 19:11

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INDIA JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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11,55,191cases in India, 28,084 deaths Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3, 18, 695 cases New Delhi: With a spike of 37,148 cases and 587 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours, the total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 11,55,191, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of cases include 4,02,529 active cases, 7,24,578 cured/discharged/migrated and 28,084 deaths, the officials from the Health Ministry informed while sahring the available data on the same.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,18,695 cases and 12,030 deaths.

The second worst-hit state, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,75,678 COVID-19 cases so far while Delhi has reported 1,23,747 cases, according to the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,43,81,303 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to July 20. Of these 3,33,395 were tested on Monday, the officials added. —ANI

People walk past in the backdrop of a mural encouraging use of face mask in Mumbai. —PHOTO BY PTI

New Delhi:Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched yet another attack on Centre over its ‘achievements’ in past few months.

“Achievements of the Government during Corona period: February-Namaste Trump, March-brought down the government in MP, April-made people light candles, May-sixth anniversary of the govt, June-virtual rally in Bihar, July-attempt to topple the government in Rajasthan. That is why the country is ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in the battle of COVID-19,” Gandhi tweeted. —ANI

Rajnath Singh pays last respects to Lal Ji Tandon in Lucknow.

Narendra Modi @narendramodi Shri Lalji Tandon will be remembered for his untiring efforts to serve society. He played a key role in strengthening BJP in UP. He made a mark as an effective administrator. Anguished by his passing away

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 recovery rate is increasing day by day and today it is 62.72 per cent, Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

“There are currently 4,02,529 active cases in India and 7,24,577 people have recovered. The recovery rate in India is increasing. Today it is 62.72 per cent.” “The case facility rate in India is 2.43 per cent. A

sage “babuji nahi rahe (my father has passed away)”.

The body was taken to Gulala Ghat Chowk at 4 pm, where the last rites were performed, Ashutosh informed.

Amit Shah @AmitShah I am deeply saddened by the demise of Shri Lalji Tandon, the senior BJP leader. Tandon’s entire life was devoted to public service, he played a very important role in the expansion of the organization in UP

New Delhi: In a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his regular tweets attacking the Centre, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said “Rahul Gandhi is tweeting on a daily basis. It seems the Congress will become a party of tweets as they are doing no work among the people and losing one leader after another. A frustrated & depressed party is trying to launch all sorts of attacks on the government,” he told reporters. “People are standing with Modi. Congress has become helpless,” he said. —PTI

very important role in this is that of doctors and paramedical staff.

AIIMS also has an important role. Case intensity rate is below the national average in many states,” Bhushan said during a press conference.

Earlier in the day, Bhushan said that number of COVID-19 deaths per million population in India continues to be among the lowest in the world.

—ANI

Niti Ayog talks on vaccine’s availability

RaGa takes dig at Centre, ‘Cong losing leaders, will lists its ‘achievements’ become party of tweets’

MP Governor Lalji Tandon dies at 85

Lucknow: Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon passed away in the early hours of Tuesday at the age of 85. His son, Ashutosh Tandon, announced his death on Twitter with the mes-

India’s recovery rate at 62.72 pc: Health Ministry

Prakash Javadekar @PrakashJavdekar

@RahulGandhi note your achievements in the last 6 months - February: Shaheen Bagh and Riots; March: Losing Jyotiraditya and MP April: Instigating migrant labourers

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday, said that it has started discussions on the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to all those who need it, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog confirmed.

On being asked about multiple vaccines that are being developed across the world and India’s strategy on choosing those vaccines, Dr Paul said.

—ANI

PM to address India Ideas Summit today

Meghalaya floods: Amit Shah assures all possible help to Govt

New Delhi: PM Modi will on Wednesday deliver the keynote address at the India Ideas Summit, an event which will see discussions on India-US cooperation & their relationship in a post-pandemic world.

The virtual summit is being hosted by US-India Business Council. —PTI

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah condoled the loss of lives due to floods in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya and assured all possible help to the state government.

“Loss of lives due to the floods in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya is very disturbing. I have spoken to Chief Minister Sangma Conrad and assured him all possible

WHO WILL BE NEW SECRETARY GENERAL OF RAJYA SABHA ?

Who will succeed Desh Deepak Verma as Secretary General of Rajya Sabha ? Names of half a dozen retired bureaucrats are already doing the rounds. A couple of them have already met the Vice- President Venkaiah Naidu.

VARSHA JOSHI APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Varsha Joshi has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying. She is a 1995 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

ANUPAM MISHRA APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, CONSUMER AFFAIRS

Anupam Mishra has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs. He is a 1995 batch IES officer.

RAKESH MITTAL APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, DEFENCE

Rakesh Mittal has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Defence. He is a 1995 batch IDES officer.

PALLAVI AGARWAL APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Pallavi Agarwal has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development. She is a 1991 batch IRS-IT officer.

APARNA SHARMA APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, FERTILIZERS

Aparna S Sharma has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilizers. She is a CSS officer.

AMIT MEHTA APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, HEAVY INDUSTRY

Amit Mehta has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry. He is a 1987 batch IOFS officer.

PARAMA SEN APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, INVESTMENT & PUBLIC ASSET

Parama Sen has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Department of Investment & Public Asset Management. She is a 1994 batch IA &AS officer.

Sudhir Kumar has been appointed as Additional Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

He is a 1999 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

AMUDHA APPOINTED JOINT SECRETARY, PMO

P Amudha has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office. She is a 1994 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. help from the Centre,” Shah said. “Nation stands resolutely with

the people of Meghalaya in these trying times,” he added. —ANI

Yes Bank case: Bail plea of Rana Kapoor rejected

was no reason to keep keep him in jail. Also, most of the evidence were documentary in nature & cannot be tampered by the accused, they added.

—PTI

POWER Gallery

SUDHIR KUMAR APPOINTED ADDITIONAL SECRETARY, CVC

IN THE COURTYARD Mumbai: A PMLA court rejected the bail plea of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, arrested by Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged multicrore fraud at the bank.

Kapoor had sought bail on merits of the case. His lawyers submitted that probe was completed, hence there

06

SC asks Centre to file affidavit on funds for children’s shelter homes New Delhi: The SC on Tuesday, directed the Centre to file a detailed affidavit on funds being provided by the government for children’s shelter homes across the country amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Justice L Nageshwara Rao, who was heading three-judge bench, directed advocate Gaurav Agarwal, the amicus curia in the case, to file an affidavit compiling all the “good practices” being followed by states and suggestions on improving the management of shelter homes.

—ANI

Tuesday last week.

sion could be convened in the coming days. The Assembly secretariat is all set for a session and all it awaits is an order from the Governor.

NIDHI PANDEY APPOINTED COMMISSIONER KENDRIYA VIDYAYALA SANGATHAN

Nidhi Pandey has been appointed as Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. She is a 1991 batch IIS officer.

VINAYAK GARG APPOINTED COMMISSIONER, NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SAMITI

Vinayak Garg has been appointed as Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. He is a 1995 batch IRSEE officer.

NITISHWAR KUMAR APPOINTED MEMBER SECRETARY NCTE

Nitishwar Kumar has been appointed as Member Secretary, National Council For Teacher Education.

He is a 1996 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

With arrangements from : http://whispersinthecorridors.com

FROM PG 1 Corona cancels...

“The Board is aware of and respects the sentiments of millions of devotees and to keep the religious sentiments alive, the Board shall continue the live telecast/ virtual darshan of the morning and evening Aarti,” the spokesman added.

The decision was taken at the 39th board meeting of SASB, attended by the lieutenant governor Girish Chandra Murmu as its chairman and other board members.

—Agencies IPL 2020...

“In IPL GC will discuss the further course of action,” said Patel.

Earlier on Monday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The T20 World Cup was slated to be played in October-November in Australia this year. —ANI

‘Those betraying...

The truth will prevail and the state government will emerge victorious in all circumstances, he said.

The state government is fighting with coronavirus crisis and at the same time, a leader who was a state Congress president and a

few other MLAs in collusion with the BJP were hatching a conspiracy to topple it, he alleged without taking the name of Pilot or any other party leader.

The CM also said those playing hide-andseek can never be with the truth. Gehlot also thanked the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal legislator for supporting the Congress.

MLAs in the meeting expressed faith in the leadership of Gehlot, saying they will together win the battle of truth.

Senior party leaders, including AICC general secretary in-charge for

the Rajasthan Congress Avinash Pande; K C Venugopal; Ajay Maken; Randeep Surjewala; Vivek Bansal and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot attended the meeting.

—With ANI Inputs

A moral... the court pronounces the final order or interim order,” the counsel said.

Earlier, counsels had told reporters that the order has been reserved.

The notices to MLAs were served after the party complained to the Speaker that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings, on Monday and

Will not...

Tuesday and held discussions with officers of Vidhan Sabha secretariat on various legal aspects of HC order. The lawyers representing petitioners, AICC General Secretary and Rajasthan Incharge Avinash Pande, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and Congress Chief whip Mahesh Joshi too met the Speaker.

Meanwhile the reports of a soon to be convened Assembly session did rounds throughout the day. According to these reports a special Assembly Ses-

Rajiv assasin...

“Officials said that a convict had given an oral complaint against Nalini. At 8:30 pm, the jailer went to Nalini’s cell and enquired about the complaint. During the inquiry, a quarrel took place between the jailer and Nalini. She got upset and attempted to commit suicide,” Pugalenthi said.

“This is the view of the authorities. However, we don’t believe this.

She has served the last 30 years in prison and never attempted to take such steps. This is not believable. I think the jail officials had tortured her.”

“We are going to take action to seek the transfer of Nalini from Vellore prison. Because of this incident, I believe her safety is at stake. I request the jail authorities and the chief minister to transfer her to Chennai Puzhal prison,” he said.

Nalini and six other people were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. In May 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Lib-

eration Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

The attack also left 14 other people dead.

‘Much-awaited’... was involved in horsetrading, after an audio clip claimed to be between the union minister and former Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh went viral on social media, the Home Department’s report raises serious questions on the reportage and claims it has made in the report forwarded to the Union Home Ministry.

NEWS JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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07

RAJASTHAN CRISIS

ROHTAGI QUESTIONS LESS TIME DO SOMETHING THAT CAN WORK GIVEN TO CONG MLAs FOR REPLY WITH HONOUR: KHURSHID TO CONG New Delhi: Advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who is representing Sachin Pilot at Rajasthan High Court, over the disqualification notice to MLAs by the Assembly Speaker said “less time given for reply than as stated in rules.”

“Disqualification notice by Assembly Speaker was issued to Sachin Pilot and other MLAs on the same day of complaint. Less time is given for reply than as stated in rules. No reasons recorded for issuing notice,” he said while speaking to media. Pilot and the 18 MLAs from his camp approached the Rajasthan High Court over disqualification notice, seeking the quashing and setting aside of the show cause notice issued to them on July 14 by the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

Notably, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi had sent notices to Pilot and 18 MLAs under the Tenth Sched-

Disqualification notice by Speaker was issued to Sachin Pilot and other MLAs on the same day of complaint. Less time is given for reply than stated in rules. Also, no reasons recorded for notice.

—Mukul Rohtagi Advocate

ule of the Constitution, popularly known as the anti-defection law after chief ’s whip application for their disqualification. MLAs were earlier asked to present before Assembly Speaker on July 17.

According to the notice, if these MLAs fail to respond to the notice then the Speaker can proceed ex parte and disqualify them from the Assembly.

The Congress com-

plaint and the Speaker’s notice came after Pilot and the lawmakers supporting him skipped Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meetings on July 13 and 14.

Rajasthan Congress continues to remain in turmoil after simmering differences between Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was, on July 14, also sacked from the posts of Rajasthan Deputy

Chief Minister and state PCC president.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs. A controversy had broken out in Rajasthan after Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Pilot to record his statement in the case registered in the alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the state. —ANI

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday favoured working out an honourable formula to deal with the political crisis in Rajasthan and appeared to back a rapprochement with Sachin Pilot, who has raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

As a party man and as someone who knew the son of his very dear friend late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, since his childhood, the former union minister said he is very sad at the turn of events in the state.

Efforts should be made to bring into the party fold anyone from any state who is willing to come, Khurshid said when asked if the party should reach out to Pilot.

But he also added, “I think the Congress must not dissipate, must not scatter. There is a limit to which any leadership can accommodate diversity, ambition etc but its

I think Congress must not scatter.

There is a limit to which any leadership can accommodate diversity, ambition.

Anyone who feels an urge to leave, if we can persuade them be a sensible thing.

—Salman Khurshid

Senior Congress leader

a two-way thing, right?

If people consider themselves I think we should try to keep the party together. Anyone who feels an urge to leave, if we can persuade them not to; that may be a sensible thing but then there are no formulas for this; its only on a case-to-case basis, that you can do something,” the senior leader told PTI in an interview.

“I dont know the immediate circumstances

of Rajasthan crisis, if something can work with honour, why would anyone be against it, Khurshid said.

Pilot, who was last week sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and Pradesh Congress President, along with 18 other dissident MLAs have been slapped with show-cause notices by the Assembly Speaker on petitions by the ruling Congress seeking their disqualification.

The matter has now gone to court.

Kurshid also said holding elections to the Congress Working Committee was not as important as contributing to perpetuate the party’s ideology.

Khurshid wondered why questions dont arise on elections to leadership positions in other parties, saying he was “not quite sure” if the BJP has an elected leadership. —PTI

Bisalpur maintenance to JDA to build ‘Ashiyana’ Guv, CM Gehlot pay tribute hamper supply on Friday for weaker sections to MP Governor Lalji Tandon under CM Jan Awas

First India Bureau Jaipur: PHED will keep the Bisalpur Jaipur drinking water system shut for 2 hours on Friday. This is being done for the annual maintenance of the system.

The shutdown will impact the water supply in Jaipur city, Dudu, Sambhar, Phulera, Phagi, Narena, Chaksu, Bassi (Jaipur district) and Niwai, Todaraisingh and Malpura (Tonk district).

Additional Chief Engineer (PHED) II Devraj Solanki said that the shutdown will begin on 9 am on Saturday 24 July and remain till 9 am on Sunday 25 July. He informed that Jaipur city will receive water supply till 10 am on 24 July.

The evening supply for 24 July will remain suspended which will continue till Saturday morning. The water supply through tankers in all areas except Kho Nagoriyan will also remain suspended for the same duration.

First India Bureau

PHED informed that during the shutdown period the electrical maintenance will be done so that there is no breakdown during the rains.

Apart from this technical maintenance at Surajpura Pump House will be taken up which requires emptying the supply pipelines completely for 7-8 hours.

The water from the pipelines will be stored in Surajpura water reservoirs for that duration.

The pump at Ramniwas garden under Amrit scheme will be replaced with a new one along with new valves along with full electrical maintenance. Similarly the

WHEN HEART SUDDENLY SKIPPED A BEAT! t is said that even the most harshest of humans have a soft inner self, and in the current scheme of things, one incident appears to be a reflection of the saying. In the current state assembly, there are many young leaders who are known for their aggressive style of politics. Over the past one year, they have even carved an image to this extent, but little does anyone know that they have a ‘soft-mushy’ side as well! This happened recently at the hotel where the Congress’s Gehlot camp MLAs

I

valves at the Amanishah pumping house will also be overhauled.

The valves of the western feeder at the Balawala pump house and air valves at the Sanganer railway station will be overhauled during the shutdown period.

PHED has constituted many teams to work simultaneously at various pumping houses, in close coordination with each other, to complete the maintenance work within the stipulated time.

PHED has appealed to all consumers to cooperate and store water for necessary use for 24 hours for its annual maintenance work.

have been ‘housed’ these days.

A young MLA, known to be coming from the well ‘forested’ Rajasthani hinterland, turned ‘red-faced’ when a female legislator quipped at him. Well, the ‘youngster’ was looking at few pictures on his mobile phone and was standing in one corner, devoid of the presence of any of his peers. When the female MLA saw this young chap, she observed that he was too engrossed in the mobile and was scrolling the pictures.

The renowned female MLA, who was at some distance from the young blood, shouted and asked, “What are you so

Jaipur: JDA has come up with 1,448 flats for economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society under Chief Minister Jan Awas Scheme.

It has proposed two housing schemes on Ajmer road, two on Vatika road and one on Goner road. JDA will receive the applications for the schemes till August 4.

All the schemes by JDA have received tremendous response for its housing schemes and have already received more than 1,130 applications in a short span of time.JDA Secretary Alok Ranjan said that the proposed flats will be built on 3G pattern.

Every flat will have two rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and toilet with two wheeler parking provision for

busy in looking in the mobile phones? Are you looking at your girlfriend’s pictures?” The young MLA who was engrossed in his own world was brought back to the ‘earthly reality’ by the female leader’s comments and was baffled by her comments.

However, as if like the ‘cat caught his tongue’, the MLA merely smiled, ear to ear, and red-faced, the man left from the spot!

—Naresh Sharma

each flat. The schemes will have facilities like parks, street lights, sewerage treatment plant, community centre, commercial complex for the residents, water connection along with gated community experience.

The schemes coming up on JDA lands will have flats priced at Rs 7.5 lakh approximately.

The applicants of these schemes will benefit from a subsidy of Rs 1.5 lakh per flat under PMAY (urban) scheme.

JDA has also arranged for an easy loan facility for successful applicants from banks where the successful applicants will receive a signed agreement letter from JDA for easy tripartite loan agreement.

JDA has appointed Nila Infrastructure as the authorized developer for the schemes.

First India Bureau

Jaipur: Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday condoled the death of Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon. Tandon, 85, died at a Lucknow hospital this morning where he was admitted last month. Mishra

Rajasthan Royals plans to introduce the world to its vociferous fanbase Jaipur: Indian Premier League teams are known to have vociferous fans and in an effort to compete with the diehards from Chennai or Mumbai among others, Rajasthan Royals is looking to build the largest fan army, digital and on-ground, among all IPL teams.

In that effort, the Royals from over 6 million fans around the world have zeroed in on a select group of 20 individuals who have been Ra-

POLITICAL WISDOM COMING AT EARLY AGE! hey say all great men start early.

If that saying is anything to go by, it appears that the political future of the ‘Khachariyawas family’ is well secured! Why? Well, the answer is simple. That’s because the next generation is getting firsthand training in political thought and strategy, right from the hotel where Gehlot camp MLAs are holed up. Let us throw a little light on

T

said that he had deep affection for Tandon and he was one of his close friends. In a condolence message, the Rajasthan governor

said that Tandon cannot be forgotten. Chief minister Gehlot expressed his condolence.

“My heartfelt condolences at the passing away of Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon. May God give strength to his family to bear this loss.

May his soul rest in peace,” he tweeted.

jasthan Royals supporters all through. These fans will stand by RR, whether they win or lose.

This has seen RR tag them as Super Royals.

The franchise also has special benefits for the Super Royals and some

this. This development pertains to Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and his son, Kanha.

The minister’s son, still a minor, is in the hotel along with his father where his favourite activity seems to be politics. Every morning, as soon as he wakes up, the first question the minister’s scion without fail asks his father if they have the required majority of MLAs or not. Young Khachariyawas interest and inclination towards hardcore politics, at such a young age, in the politics and political process has raised the interest of other stalwarts in the kid who feel content that the party’s future is secured.

—Yogesh Sharma

of them are: All Super Royals will receive Royals merchandise.

The leaders will have regular access to some members of the Royals management.

RR have a recognition-cum-reward plan as well. —IANS

The monsoon season brings a message to let the cleansing water take away the dust of your woes and stress, learn from the rains and rejoice!

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

POSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21

JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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Rajasthan is watching: Shekhawat to Cong MLAs

He took swipe at activities of Cong MLAs sequestered at a resort First India Bureau New Delhi: Even as the state government curtailed any action by the CBI in the phone tapping matter by issuing a notification to this effect, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who has denied allegations of conspiring with Sachin Pilot’s rebel squad to bring down the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, took a swipe at the activities of Congress MLAs sequestered at a luxury resort in Jaipur on Tuesday.

“Amid this pandemic, you play antakshari, cook Italian food. Rajasthan is watching,” Shekhawat tweeted.

Gajendra Shekhawat, one of BJP’s most prominent faces in Rajasthan, has been ac-

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

cused by the Congress of a role in bribing MLAs to turn against the Gehlot government.

He was also named in one of two FIRs filed based on an audio tape that emerged online last week.

The Congress has alleged that Shekhawat is heard on the audio discussing bribes with a rebel Congress MLA, Bhanwar Lal Sharma.

—File photo

Although Shhekhawat denies it is his voice, he has rejected Rajasthan police summons to give his statement and voice recording saying the audio tape must be verified first.

His dig at team Gehlot follows a deluge of reports and photos over the weekend from Fairmont, where the Congress MLAs have been

Cabinet approves `351 cr for corona affected families

Jaipur: A total of 35 lakh needy families in Rajasthan, those affected due to coronavirus-induced lockdown, would be given Rs 1,000 each as financial assistance and an amount equal to Rs 351 crore would be spent on it, according to an official release on Tuesday.

As per the official release, the Rajasthan Cabinet took the decision in a meeting. “The Rajasthan government will give financial assistance of Rs 1,000 each to 35 lakh needy families of the state, affected due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.

A total of Rs 351 crore will be spent on it,” the release said.

Whispers in the corridors CAG Rajiv Mehrishi will vacate his sprawling official Kushak Road bungalow on August 7 - the day he demits his office.

He is shifting to his private house in the Common Wealth Village. A rare example for the powergame players in Delhi.

—File photo

Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma, after the Cabinet meeting, said that medical teams will be sent to eight districts that have many COVID-19 cases. “The situation caused by COVID-19 was discussed in the Cabinet meeting today.

It was decided that medical teams will be sent to eight districts

that have many COVID-19 cases. Today, we are conducting 27,000 tests per day. The COVID-19 death rate in the state is 1.87 per cent, which is lower than the national average,” Dr Sharma said.

The Rajasthan Cabinet held the meeting at the chief minister’s residence on Tuesday evening.

—ANI

staying. The MLAs have been enjoying movie shows, lessons in pizza and pasta-making, singalongs and board games. The state government believes it has an ace up its sleeve in the audio tapes and as the SOG has served notices to the men alleged to be in the audio demanding that they appear for recording their statements.

Will approach court in BSP MLAs’ merger case: Dilawar

CBI grills Poonia for 2 hrs on 2nd consecutive day CBI quizzes CM’s OSD in Rajgarh SHO suicide case

First India Bureau Jaipur: The BJP is likely to pursue legal case in BSP legislative party’s merger into Congress in its bid to intensify political war against the ruling party.

Senior BJP MLA Madan Dilawar had filed his appeal to speaker Dr CP Joshi on March 13. However, even after four months, the speaker has not decided in this matter.

Dilawar said that He has consulted with state president Dr Satish Poonia and will approach the court soon.

The BJP has raised this matter after the speaker gave disqualification notices to rebel congress MLAs. The BJP questioned that why didn’t the speaker act upon Dilawar’s petition regarding merger of six BSP MLAs in the Congress as he did in case of issuing disqualification notices to 19 rebel congress MLAs.

08

Krishna Poonia

—File photo

First India Bureau Jaipur: The timing of CBI questioning a Gehlot loyalist and towering lady politician, MLA Krishna Poonia in the CI Vishnu Dutt Vishnoi suicide case may raise many eyebrows while same may exclaim ‘we told you so’, but in reality, Poonia has been cordially providing the CBI team with all the details and statements sought by it.

On Tuesday, the CBI team reached the Sirsi road residence of Sadulpur MLA Poonia and is reported to have questioned her on second consecutive day regarding the Rajgarh CI suicide

case. The CBI questioning on Tuesday lasted for two hours while the investigation agency had questioned her for three hours on Monday as well, and Poonia, since day one, has been effectively aiding the CBI in its investigation.

Rajgarh is a part of Sadulpur constituency from where Krishna Poonia won the assembly elections on Congress ticket. It is worth reminding that CM Gehlot had referred the Vishnu Dutt suicide case to CBI on the request of late Vishnoi’s family members and Vishnoi community leaders.

Jaipur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned a Officer of Special Duty (OSD) to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in connection with the alleged suicide of a policeman in Churu.

The OSD appeared before a team of CBI in Jaipur on Tuesday for questioning in the case related to the suicide of Rajgarh Station House Officer (SHO) Vishnudutt Vishnoi in Churu district on May 23.

Vishnoi’s body was found hanging from the ceiling of his residence on May 23 and two suicide notes were recovered – one addressed to his family and the other to the Superintendent of Police. The Rajasthan government had handed over the investigation in the case to the CBI. —ANI

MLA HORSE TRADING

Raj SOG recovers `1.25 crore from three Allow probe: DGP to Hry, Delhi cops

First India Bureau Jaipur: Rajasthan police’s special operations group (SOG) which is probing the alleged horse-trading attempts to bring down Ashok Gehlot government has claimed to have recovered Rs 1.25 crores from the possession of three people, who are being questioned, reported officials quoted by a news agency.

“In an operation by the special operations group (SOG) in Udaipur, Rs 1.25 crore was recovered from the possession of three people in two cars.

They are being questioned regarding the money,” agencies posted a statement attributing it to the SOG and the ATS

First India Bureau

—File photo

(anti terror squad) of Rajasthan police, both involved in investigating the cases surrounding the alleged plot to overthrow the state government primarily using lure of money.

The SOG had earlier arrested three persons including one Sanjay Jain, who it alleged, has been enticing Congress MLAs and independent

legislators by offering them money to ditch the Congress-ruled government in the statement.

The unit claims that the other two arrested in the case -- Ashok Singh and Bharat Malani – are all suspected middlemen.

CM Ashok Gehlot tells Cong MLAs backing him to ‘stand firm like a rock’.

Jaipur: Unable to get hold of the rebel Congress MLAs, Rajasthan police have sought help of Haryana police in investigation regarding alleged conspiracy to topple Gehlot led Congress government.

DGP Bhupendra Yadav has written to his Haryana counterpart and the Commissioner of Delhi Police, seeking cooperation as Special Operation Group (SOG) team once again returned empty-handed from a resort in

Haryana where the Sachin Pilot camp is reportedly camping.

The SOG team had gone to the resort but there was heavy deployment of Haryana police who did not allow SOG team to enter the hotel for nearly 40 minutes. By the time, SOG team was allowed to get in, the MLAs had reportedly sneaked out of the hotel.

Congress has accused Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar of shielding the MLAs. Therefore, if Haryana police will allow after DGP’s letter, is a big question.

Prakash Javadekar predicts fall of Gehlot government in Rajasthan!

‘Provisions keep elected MLAs bound to parties’

Aditi Nagar

Jaipur: Advocate Poonam Chand Bhandari and Dr TN Sharma appearing for Public Against Corruption (PAC) in the High Court said that it is the provisions in the schedule 10 of the constitution which keep the elected MLAs bound to their parties. If these provisions are diluted or done away, then the MLAs winning on tickets of any political party would jump to any other political party at the word go which would contribute to the increasing corruption in the country.

PAC stressed on keeping the provisions of anti defec-

New Delhi: In an ongoing Gehlot-Pilot war, and in an ongoing increasing face off scenario between Gehlot government and Centre, the first powerful statement comes from Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar who claims that Gehlot government is just on the verge of ‘collapse’.

He has gone even to the extent of saying that the Rajasthan Government may fall even during the current month of July, following former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot’s rebellion.

Javadekar, who was BJP’s election cam-

Prakash Javadekar

paign incharge of Rajasthan during assembly and Lok Sabha polls, enjoys the goodwill and reputation of a very seasoned and credible person and therefore such a statement directly coming from horse’s mouth has

Ashok Gehlot

created a ripple in Congress circles in Jaipur and New Delhi.

According to sources, Javadekar enjoys the trust and confidence of both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister and has always played the role

of an ‘advisor’ to the Modi government, at every occassion when some sensitive or important decision is being taken about Rajasthan by the top BJP leadership. Therefore, Javadekar’s statement is being seriously viewed by the Chief Minister as well as by the Congress high command. During this entire one month old crisis, BJP has smartly and tactfully maintained a ‘reasonable distance’ from an ongoing Gehlot-Pilot conflict, as perhaps for the first time a senior BJP leader has predicted the fall of Gehlot government in the near future.

First India Bureau

AVINASH PANDE @avinashpandeinc In the Congress Legislature Party meeting today, after discussing with the MLAs and Ministers, their intention was known and agreed on the strategy ahead.

Our unity is our greatest strength. The people of Rajasthan will not be affected by the government elected by Janardhan.

Satyameva Jayate.

I extend warm birthday greetings to Sh. @kharge ji. Wishing him good health and happiness always.

Poonam Chand Bhandari outside Rajasthan High Court.

—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

tion law intact. It is noteworthy that PAC became a party to the high profile high Court case filed by the dissident Congress MLAs against the notices served to them by speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly.

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FEELING

BLUE? THE COLOUR BLUE NEVER FAILS TO GIVE A SOOTHING FEELING AND WE TELL YOU WHY THAT HAPPENS!

NEHAL NAYAR

nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

B

eing the colour of faith, spirituality, loyalty, peace, calm, trust, confidence and security among various other feelings, Blue is the colour that loved by almost everyone.

After black, blue is the colour that is favoured by the majority across the globe, as it gives them a sense of satisfaction.

According to the colour psychology, the colour blue is considered to be a nonthreatening colour and attracts the feeling of serenity. If you notice, most of the business logo has the colour blue in it- this is to project a sense of security to the customers. In fact, people tend to be more productive if they are working in a blue room.

Being one of the most popular colour out of the lot, this colour is comparatively less appetizing. If you notice, most of the nutritionist would suggest you to eat off a blue plate- so you tend to eat lesser than usual.

This colour also helps in calming the body, lowering the pulse rate and bringing the body temperature back to normal. Can you imagine the text ‘Cool’ being written in any other colour than blue? We can’t either!

There are a few facts about the colour Blue that you might not know:

The phrase ‘Feeling Blue’ means to feel sad or unhappy Blue is the best-selling colour is women’s sweaters because they think men like it Weight-lifters are able to lift heavier weights in blue gyms The blue colour symbolizes heavenly grace Blue birds can’t see the colour blue 8% of the world’ population have blue eyes Blue is the least common colour in the food we eat The colour blue encourages problem solving Blue was once seen as a low-class colour Sick children prefer to be taken care of by people wearing blue.

09

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JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

10

Ramcharitmanas

MAHENDRA K. PARAKH (RAS) Member, Revenue Board Ajmer

R

amcharitmanas considered as one of the greatest works of Hindi literature is an epic poem, composed by the bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas during 1631-1633 in the Awadhi language. The word Ramcharitmanas means “Lake of the deeds of Lord Ram “.

Goswami Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit.

However, he wanted the story of Lord Ram to be accessible to the general public. At that time few people could understand Sanskrit. To make the story of Rama as accessible to the layman as to the scholar, Tulsidas chose to write in Awadhi which was the language of general parlance in large parts of north India at the time. It is said that Tulsidas had to face a lot of criticism from the San-

skrit scholars of Varanasi for being a bhasha (vernacular) poet. However, Tulsidas remained steadfast in his resolve to simplify the knowledge contained in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas to the common people. Subsequently, his work was accepted by all.

The core of the work is considered by some to be a poetic retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana by Valmiki.

The Valmiki Ramayana is centred on the narrative of Rama, the scion of the family tree of king Raghu of the Sun Dynasty. Rama was the crown prince of Ayodhya and is considered in Hindu tradition as the seventh Avatar of Vishnu.

The work has variously been acclaimed as “the living sum of Indian culture”, “the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry”, “the greatest book of all devotional literature” and “the best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people”.

Ramcharitmanas consists of seven K nds (literally “books” or “episodes). Tulsidas compared the seven K nds of the epic to seven steps leading into the holy waters of Lake Manasarovar “which purifies the body and the soul at once.

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

These are Bal Kand (Childhood Episode) 361 Dohas Ayodhya Kand (Ayodhya Episode), 326 Dohas Aranya Kand (Forest Episode), 46 Dohas Kiskindha Kand (Kishkindha Episode), 30 Dohas Sundar Kand (Pleasant Episode), 60 Dohas Lanka Kand (Lanka Episode), 121 Dohas and Uttar Kand (Later Episode). 130 Dohas The whole work was completed in 2 years 7 months and 26 days. It is primarily composed in the Chaupai (four-line quatrains ), separated by the Doha (two-line couplets), with occasional Soratha and various Chhands. Ramcharitmanas comprises about 10000 lines, narrating 84 acts (prasangs).

Ramcharitmanas, made available the story of Rama to the common man to sing, meditate and perform on.

The writing of Ramcharitmanas also heralded a significant cultural tradition of Ramlila, the dramatic enactment of the text. Ramcharitmanas is considered by many as a work belonging to the Saguna school of the Bhakti movement in Hindi literature.

INVOCATIONS AT BEGINNING OF EACH EPISODE

Every chapter of the Ramcharitmanas begins with an invocation or Mangal chara. It is customary of the Indian tradition of writing that the author begins a new book with an invocation to the Gods to ensure that the Sankalpa is finished unhindered. The

first three or four verses of each K nd are typically in the form of invocations in Sanskrit.

The seventh and final chapter of Ramacharitamanas talks of events occurring after the battle of Lanka. Major events are the end of Rama’s exile and his return to Ayodhya, the crowning of Ram as king of Ayodhya and the description of his exemplary governance (Ramarajya). This is followed by details of the departure of the incarnation of Lord Rama, the dialogue between Garuda and Kakbhushundi wherein Tulsidas narrated the All Manas Rog, their causes and the way to overcome these. At the end of every Chapter or Kand, in the closing invocation, the poet has emphasized the significance of devotion to Lord Ram as a way to Liberation in this Kaliyug.

Ramayan serial has been and is still a craze throughout Bharat. I have been a regular spectator of Serial Ramayan by Ramanand Sagar since my college days.

The epic Ramayan has had a deep impact on my mind.

Last year after visiting the Mahakumbh, I visited Varanasi and Ayodhya. Every particle of the city Ayodhya seems to be reverberating with Lord Ram. I bought a copy of Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya and was trying to read it in Avadhi since then.

It was my birthday on 25th March when first Lockdown began as a measure to contain Pandemic Corona.

On this day, I took a resolve

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

A dwelling is all that you have on your mind as you want to have one desperately to prove that you have grown and that you are stable now. You may also buy something expensive for your house.

Newlyweds may feel disappointed due to current circumstances.

Magic exists in the universe if you are willing to open eyes and see it , it all depends on the way you look at things. You will save a lot on tax because of your investments in the past. On professional front you may have to take a tough decision about someone’s career.

You are loved by your family selflessly and unconditionally. You have everything that many can only dream of. Life is tough sometimes but that should not affect us. You are desperate to eat something nice but your determination on health front won’t let you.

Absconding from responsibilities without intimating anyone is not an act of brave. You have a bank balance and it will be put to some good use today. You will have to closely monitor the project that you are working on as there is no scope of any mistakes.

MAR 21 - APR 20

APR 21 - MAY 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

Terminate someone from their job at this time won’t be the right decision, considering karma in mind.

You will have to gather strength to face you inner weaknesses and turn them into your strengths. Its never too late to begin again if things got spoiled in any kind of relationship.

Captivating persona will get you many offer for marriage but choose wisely as it is a matter of whole life. You love to talk about universe and its hidden secrets. Some of you may also be interested in astrophysics or astrology. Good returns are on the cards from the stocks.

Gracious saying no for something that you don’t believe in, is the best style you have got. Relaxing and sipping a coffee of coffee while watching television is all you wish to do today. You may get the chance to talk to someone with who are trying to connect for a long time.

You are God’s sent child and you are purely very nice person. Sometimes you get influenced by those around you even if your heart is saying otherwise. Control your thoughts and -direct your energy in one direction. Don’t get involved in short term relationships.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 22

Prejudice against people from different background, different places or different kind is not something you must pursue. Respect people as they are. Embrace them as they are, then see the word will be a beautiful place for you. You may have to make a strict choice when it comes to career.

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Adoring those you need it and how you are so special. You hug people if you feel they are lonely or going through something, you prove to the world everyday that goo people also exists. You are getting better with your methods are working just fine in office.

Sedulous and dedicating attitude towards your professional will take you someday to next level. You should not do things just to please some people, do whats makes you really happy. require a lot of attention and immediate action. Lover will give you a million dollar advice about goals.

Sentimentality should be controlled in certain matter as sometime you have to take decisions using your brain rather than your heart. You like to surround yourself with likeminded people. You are not someone who ever gets fascinated by someone’s wealth, you make true friends.

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

to read Ramcharitmanas in Masparayan Form. Masparayan is the easiest way to read Ramcharitmanas.

In it, the Epic is split into 30 Chapters and one can complete it in one month. I completed my first reading at the end of the first lockdown in 21 days. When Lockdown was extended, I decided to record Ramcharitmanas in Masparayan form so that I keep myself connected to it regularly. In the beginning, it seemed to be a big task but then I got so engrossed with it, that it was on my mind all the time. Most of the time, the sound, ‘Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’ could be heard in my house during this period.

It took me 5 to 6 hours every day to record, edit and prepare episodes for about 3 months. I enjoyed doing it and now I can say that this poetic Epic is undoubtedly a great work in Hindi Literature. The Chaupais in Ramcharitmanas is written by Goswami Tulsidas with full devotion to Lord Ram. It explains in Uttarakhand why Bhakti is the only way to reach Liberation in Kaliyug. The teachings in this Epic are so significant for the society. It depicts and narrates the ideals of a son, a brother, husband, wife and above all a Ruler. Even today we imagine and revere Ramrajya where everyone led a joyful and happy life.

All the 30 Episodes of Ramcharitmanas recorded are available on the Youtube channel “ smile Always MK”.

ETC

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JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

11

Precious Little

Morning

Moments T

MOOD

he song ‘Khulke Jeene Ka’ starring late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and co-star Sanjana Sanghi has attracted many fans since its release on Sunday. Adding more for her fans, Sanghi on Tuesday has shared some “priceless moments” while filming the video song.

The 23-year-old star shared on Instagram multiple pictures and videos that showed the co-stars of the movie ‘Dil Bechara’ along with other crew members enjoying their time in Paris in between the song shoot. The post also had selfies of Sanghi with the ‘Kai Po Che’ actor. In the captions, she mentioned that these pictures and videos as “some of the most priceless moments” she will “cherish for a lifetime”.

“Some of the most precious little moments that I will cherish for a lifetime from a dreamy few days of filming in Paris while creating #KhulKeJeeneKa for you all,” the caption read.

—ANI

...her post

C

hanneling her ‘Tuesday morning mood’, actor Bhumi Pednekar treated her fans with a picture in traditional attire.

“Namaste,” the ‘Pati Patni Aur Woh’ actor simply captioned the picture on Instagram. In the capture, the ‘Bala’ star is seen clad in a color-coordinated saree, as she channels her traditional avatar.

Bhumi looks gorgeous and is all smiles while she strikes a pose standing in between the stairs. The snap captures her sporting pastel-shaded saree, as her luscious locks fell on her pretty face.

Of late, the ‘Sonchiriya’ star has been updating fans of her activities by posting pictures and videos on the photo-sharing platform.

Earlier, Bhumi shared her artwork where she is seen in the avatar of the famous ‘Game Of Thrones’ character Daenerys and admitted that she is a huge fan of the show and quoted its dialogue.

—ANI

Sanjana Sanghi

‘PASS NAHI TOH FAIL NAHI’

T

Bhumi Pednekar

he newly released song from the upcoming biographical drama ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Pass Nahi Toh Fail Nahi’ starring actor Vidya Balan will show you the fun side of learning mathematics.

The chirpy fun song, which released on Tuesday, is crooned by singer Sunidhi Chauhan, and the music is done by the musical duo, Sachin-Jigar. The official music video, which is shot in a classroom, sees Balan in the character of the real-life genius Shakuntala Devi. She is known as ‘human-computer’ and ‘mental calculator’ for her ability to make incredibly swift calculations on her fingertips.

The ‘Tumhari Sullu’ actor took to Instagram to share the link to the official music video, and wrote, “Kya mere best friend Maths se dosti karne ke liye taiyyar ho?! #PassNahiTohFailNahi song out NOW! Meet #ShakuntalaDeviOnPrime 31 July, on @PrimeVideoIn.” —ANI

BLACKMAIL TO DROP OUT

K

anye West left everyone worried when he broke down at his first rally for the presidential campaign. The rapper, who announced his decision to run for the US President’s post, was in tears when he spoke at the Exquis Event Centre in North Charleston, South Carolina a few days ago. The musician confessed he and his

then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian considered not having their first child, North. “I almost killed my daughter! I almost killed my daughter!” an emotional Kanye screamed. The act raised eyebrows, leaving fans concerned about his wellbeing.

Now, reports claims Kim wants Kanye to drop out of the Presidential race otherwise “she may drop him!” Kim lost her cool when Kanye brought

North into the picture. Apparently, Kanye told Kim that she should be aware of the “game” by now. But Kim was embarrassed by the incident for she had “built up the image of being so devoted to her children.”

Apparently, the couple has been going through a rocky phase lately. The family has also been concerned. —Agency

Vidya Balan

A

Reunited and how?

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

Lindsay Lohan

fter much anticipation, ‘The Parent Trap’ cast finally reunited for the first time since filming the 1998 movie. Even though the reunion was planned in an effort to raise funds for World Central Kitchen, it came on the anniversary of the childhood-favourite movie’s 22nd anniversary. The virtual reunion was attended by director Nancy Meyers, writer Charles Shyer, and actors Dennis Quaid, Lindsay Lohan, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter and Simon Kunz.

All the cast members gathered to celebrate and remember the family film which officially gave Lohan her first-break.

In the film, Lohan plays not one but two roles: Hallie Parker and Annie James, 11-year-old twin sisters who were separated after birth.

—Agency

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FESTIVAL OF REUNION

with a few of its readers from Rajasthan and Gujarat to see how they are celebrating Sinjara during the POORVIKA AGRAWAL global pandemic and the precautions they are takcityfirst@firstindia.co.in ing for the same. onsoon brings various festivals with it and all of them are celebrated with zeal and vigor. Today, we celebrate Sinjara, a festival celebrated a day before Teej. To celebrate Sinjara, swings are hung from trees and women are dressed in green clothes. They sing songs in celebration of the advent of the monsoon.

This festival is dedicated to the Goddess Parvati, commemorating her union with Lord Shiva. The day before Haryali Teej is celebrated as Sinjara, wherein women put Mehandi on their hands.

City First got in touch

JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

The series of festivals are starting very soon including Sinjara.

Fortunately, Sinjara is not the festival where we have to go to temples, we can do that at home with friends and family. In this festival, we do 16 shringar including applying henna. I will prepare delicious food and will invite a few friends keeping in mind the social distancing.

—SEEMA AGARWAL

M

Sinjara is a celebration in itself and when you celebrate with family than its a more beautiful and colourful celebration. In this pandemic time, I’m not going to call any girl to apply henna on my hands as a precautionary measure. I will connect with my friends on the video call. I will stay at home, will prepare food and have fun with my family. —NATASHA AGARWAL

We celebrate Sinjara with great enthusiasm every year, but this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic, precautions are necessary. Instead of buying from outside, we will celebrate with the available material (jewellery, makeup accessories, mehndi, lac bangles, Lahariya, etc.) at home. We’ll prepare Rajasthan’s famous dish, Kheer-Churma at home. We Nanad-Bhabhi will apply mehndi to each-other. This time, we will avoid swing to follow social distancing.

—PRIYANKA JANGIR

A proud moment

Sinjara is a time when all married friends have a get-together and have a feast. It’s like a party, but this year, the pandemic has asked all of us for social distancing. So This time also, we all have a get together on zoom and we will celebrate the spirit of Sinjara.

—MANISHA AGARWAL

WHAT’S HAPPENING! RAJASTHAN: On the occasion of Hariyali Amavasya, 1001 saplings were planted by the Shilp Srajan Institution to develop the under construction garden at the foot of the mountain under the supervision of residents of Tila No. 4, Jawahar Nagar.

Not only adults but children participated enthusiastically to accomplish the great work.

RAJASTHAN: Teamwork Arts, producer of Jaipur Literature Festival launched ‘JLF Brave New World’ in April when everyone was locked in the homes due to the pandemic. In just a few months JLF Brave New World has captured the attention of a loyal tranche of followers. Teamwork Arts announced that the series has reached 2 million (20,00,000) cumulative views and a reach of over 9 million (90,00,000).

CITY FIRST

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charya Mahapragya has published 1121 poems on an international level to commemorate the birth centenary year (19202020).

Dharmaraj Bharat has been awarded by ‘The British World Record’ London. ‘Yugpurush’ poem written

by Dharmaraj Bharat was selected in the compilation of 1121 poems, which was based on the life of Acharya Mahapragya. The compila-

HAPPY B’DAY!

Dharmaraj Bharat

tion has been recorded in 27 world records including ‘The British World Record’ London.

The birth centenary year of Lok Maharishi Mahapragya was cele-

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brated as ‘Gyan Chetna Year’ under the auspices of the Founder of Ahimsa Yatra, Acharya Mahashraman. For this honour, Anubhavratsevi Prof.

Dr Lalitha B. expressed gratitude, to which Dharmaraj said that it is a great pleasure for me and my region to be named in such a large institute of the world, as well as being a Kalamkar the responsibility has increased further. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

ROYAL HAPPINESS

Rajasthan: Water and Environment Jan Jagruti Chetna Sanstha and New Human Welfare Society organised a plantation program in Jhotwara on Tuesday, where President Kishori Lal Saini shared that the campaign aims to grow plants in the surrounding area to get fresh air.

Zoom Video Communication, Inc. on Tuesday announced that it will expand its presence in India by opening a new technology centre in Bangalore where it will hire key talent over the next few years. Zoom has an office in Mumbai and 2 data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad, respectively. Zoom has seen a growth of 6700% in free user sign-ups in India from January to April 2020.

KAVITA CHAUHAN

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IAS Rohitashva Singh Tomar (top) and IPS Anil Kumar celebrated their birthdays on 21 July, Tuesday. We wish them all the best!

ajasthan’s erstwhile Udaipur royal family has a reason to rejoice and celebrate as Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar and Nivritti Kumari Mewar became proud parents to a baby boy.

On Tuesday, Nivritti Kumari gave birth at a Delhi Hospital.

The couple got married on January 21, 2014, and has two daughters, Lakshyaraj Singh and Nivritti Kumari Mohlakshi- Mewar with their kids ka and Praneshwari. The new baby is the grandson of Arvind Singh Mewar and Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, senior BJP leader from Orissa. A ceremony will be hosted soon at the Udaipur’s Palace to officially welcome the baby boy. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

A virtual Faculty Development Program (FDP) was organised by JECRC University on ‘Essence: A knowledge deck for Academicians’ on Tuesday, with the aim to prepare all the faculty of JU as smart teachers of the future so that children get a quality education. The program was graced with the presence of Director, IIM, Indore, Dr Himanshu Rai who delivered his views and experiences on the ‘Leadership Development’.

RAJASTHAN: Srajan, The Spark a non-profitable Organisation working in the field of Music organised ‘Ek Shaam Rafi Sahab Ke Naam’, where renowned Singer Gaurav Dr Sameer Sharma and Geetika Chaturvedi mesmerized the audience with their performances. The show Dinesh Kataria shared that the show was a big hit with viewers from all over the world.