First India-Jaipur Edition-24 August 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

25°C - 30°C

ALERT JAIPUR l MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

8,10,883 2,35,10,528 DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 22,253 DEATHS 6,82,383 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

TAMIL NADU 6,517 DEATHS 3,79,385 CASES

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RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 78

INDIA

57,692 31,05,038 DEATHS

KARNATAKA 4,683 DEATHS 2,77,814 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

RAJASTHAN

955

DEATHS

DELHI 4,300 DEATHS 1,61,466 CASES

70,609

CONFIRMED CASES

GUJARAT 2,895 DEATHS 86,779 CASES

Sonia Gandhi to hand over the baton?

23 leaders’ dissent letter rattles Cong prez’s chair, Sonia may offer to resign at CWC meet today Aditi Nagar/Tripti Nath New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi is expected to step down from the post of interim Congress president ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday and a final decision in this regard is to be taken in this crucial meeting.

Surprisingly, Rahul’s young brigade members like Jitin Prasad and Murli Deora, who have also gone a bit disappointed or frustrated in their respective States for various reasons, have maintained a mysterious silence on this entire sensitive issue.

This comes after 23 senior leaders wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi about the need for drastic restructuring of the party.

According to sources, this ‘disappointed or disgruntled’ lot of Congress leaders have gone really upset with the prevailing uncertainty at the level of the top leadership of the party, neither the ‘reluctant bride’ Rahul Gandhi seem to be Keen to take over this direct responsibility nor Sonia and Priyanka have been able to bring this entire issue of a full time Congress president to a logical conclusion. Therefore it will not be appropriate to term this group as ‘dissident’.

Sonia Gandhi took over as interim President of the Congress Party after her son Rahul Gandhi quit on May 25 in the wake of the party’s rout in the national polls.

Turn to P7

CAPT OPPOSES CHALLENGE TO LEADERSHIP New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has opposed the bid by some Congress leaders to challenge the Gandhi family leadership in the party, saying this is not the time to raise such an issue.

In a statement, Singh said the need today is for a strong opposition against the BJP-led NDA which is out to destroy the country’s constitutional ethos and democratic principles.

“The move by these Congress leaders to demand a rehaul of the party at this critical juncture would be detrimental to its interests, and the interests of the nation,” he said. “What the Congress needs is a leadership Turn to P6

‘Cong has no future without Gandhi’s’ Aditi Nagar Meanwhile, a Congress stalwart and a Gandhi family loyalist Ajay Maken who has been recently given an important charge of Rajasthan Congress incharge, has clearly said that the Congress party has no future without Gandhi’s. In his Saturday interview to Jagdeesh Chandra in his ‘The New JC Show’, Maken categorically showed his disagreement with Gandhi’s who say that now the leadership of the party should be given to a person outside Gandhi family.

SACHIN PILOT @SACHINPILOT Mrs Gandhi and Rahul ji have shown what it means to sacrifice for the greater good of the people and the party.Its now time to build consensus and consolidate. Our future is stronger when we’re united. Most Congress workers would like to see Rahul ji take over and lead the party P2

Letter to Sonia by Congress leaders is unfortunate, says Gehlot ‘Sonia Gandhi should continue to lead party and if she has made up her mind, then Rahul should come’ Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said the Gandhi family has kept the party united and the letter written by senior Congress leaders over the leadership issue is an unfortunate move.

Gehlot said Sonia Gandhi should continue to lead the party and if she has made up her mind, then Rahul Gan-

dhi should come ahead and be the Congress president as the country faces the biggest challenge to save its democracy.

He said the leaders who are said to have written the letter have worked with the party for long and this was not expected of them.

“I am not aware of any such letter but if this is true, then it is

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

unbelievable and very unfortunate. They all have worked with the party for so long and the move of writing the letter is uncalled for,” Gehlot told PTI. He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi took reins of the party in 1998 and despite all challenges, she continued holding the party united.

“She became the party president in 1998 in challenging circumstances and has been the saviour of the party.

She took all challenges head on. Today, despite

MODI’S SUNDAY DATE WITH NATIONAL BIRD BSF: Pak may bomb security set ups near border with drones New Delhi: Pakistan will use drones to bomb security establishments near the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s RS Pura and Samba sectors, the intelligence wing of the Border Security Force (BSF) has alerted.

The security establishments, including the Indian Army, have been informed about the plans of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelli-

gence (ISI) to carry out the attacks in Indian territory.

The BSF had alerted other security forces about Pakistan’s activities earlier this week.

Pakistan has increased bombardment in the Indian territories, while China has started transgression in Eastern Ladakh by creating a two-front war like situation.

Turn to P6

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday posted a video on his social media accounts in which he is seen feeding peacocks at his residence during his morning exercise routine.

The 1.47-minute video also has a few glimpses of the prime minister’s daily walk from his home to his office within the Lok Kalyan Marg residence.

PM also posted a Hindi poem, an ode to nature, with the video. He first put the video on his Instagram account and shared on Twitter later.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has released its first video commercial that has short clips from PM Modi’s speeches and US President Trump’s historic address in Ahmedabad while aiming to woo the influential Indian-American voters.

More on P6

her health issues, she is still holding the ‘Congress Kunba’ (party) united. Is it a small thing?” Gehlot added.

Gehlot said Sonia Gandhi declined to take up the post of prime minister and none of her family members became PM or minister at the Centre in three decades.

“If they had any fascination, Sonia Gandhi could have become the prime minister earlier, but P V Narasimha Rao and later Manmohan Singh were made the prime ministers.

Turn to P8

Tributes to Mirdha in Assembly today

First India Bureau Jaipur. The death anniversary of late Ramniwas Mirdha will be observed in the Assembly on Monday where floral tributes will be paid in Vidhan Sabha.

Mirdha, a veteran Congressman, was son of ace farmer leader Chodhary Baldev Mirdha. Raminwas Mirdha while serving as minister in the state and Center established new norms of politics. He chaired many prestigious committees of the parliament. More on P4

RAJASTHAN JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

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Monsoon magic: Dams full till the brim in Raj

APART FROM THE DOUBLE-EFFECT OF RAIN, COMING 24 HOURS MAY SEE SMALL DAMS OVERFLOWING IN DISTRICTS First India Bureau Jaipur. Rains across Rajasthan and in neighboring states in the last three days has many dams and reservoirs overflowing or flowing above the danger mark.

Kalisindh dam in Jhalawar has its 10 gates lifted up to 4 feet allowing 1.5 lakh cusec water per second.

The increased quantity of water in the dam is due to the double effect of the rain locally and in the catchment area in Madhya Pradesh.

The incessant rains for last three days have five feet water flowing over Jhalawar-Gagron bridge cutting Gagron and half a dozen villages cut off for the past 24 hours.

Two persons out for fishing in Parvati river in Baran district were trapped on an island. The duo hanged

2 DROWN TO DEATH

Beneshwar dam becomes an island in the monsoon every year.

on to a tree on the island for 16 hours before being rescued.

The rescue was also possible both had mobile phones with them.

The rescue team had to put in 5 hours to get the duo to safety. Bhanwar Semla dam in Pratap-

garh has two gates opened due to 4 inch rainfall in Arnod subdivision in the past 24 hours.

Two gates of Som Kamla Amba dam were partially opened due rains in the last 24 hours. Bardha dam,

View of gate opening of Mahi dam in Banswara.

famous as mini Goa of Hadoti, too is overflowing.

The gates for Mahi dam, largest dam in Udaipur division, had to be opened at 2 pm on Sunday after the collector Ankit Kumar Singh and SP kavendra Singh

Sagar along with senior Mahi dam officers performed a traditional religious ceremony on the embankment.

Total 16 gates of the dam have been lifted to a height of average half meters each. The dam is releasing 2.5

cusecs of water per second.Heavy rains for past 72 hours has all three dams of Sirohi district overflowing along with the Nakki lake in Mount Abu. The China dam in Abu road started overflowing on Sunday morning. Vasa

dam and Baloriya dam of Pindwara also overflowed to the joy of locals but most dams in Sirohi and Shivganj tehsil are still waiting for divine showers.

Apart from this coming 24 hours may overflow dams in the district.

Restart schools BJP demo on August 31 over power bills from Sept: Lodha requests edu min Aishwary Pradhan

Sanyam Lodha met Govind Singh Dotasra at his residence.

Yogesh Sharma Jaipur: Independent MLA Sanyam Lodha has requested the education minister Govind Singh Dotasra to restart schools from September.

He met the minister at his residence and suggested that classes from class 8th to 12th can be held while ensuring social distancing.

Lodha said that the academic session has already started but a large number of students are deprived of education.

He said that 7% students enrolled in government schools are from class 1 to 7 and the classes can be held with

social distancing protocols for the students of class 8th to 12th.

The minister informed him that the state government has already forwarded a letter to the centre and any action can be taken after the relaxation in centre’s guidelines. The schools are closed till August 31 as per the existing guidelines.

The MLA said that the response for admission to Mahatma Gandhi English medium government schools is high among students and sections in these schools should be increased as per resources. English medium schools should open in rural areas.

Jaipur: BJP will hold a state-level demonstration on August 31 demanding waiver of three months electricity bills. The decision was taken in a state executive committee meeting chaired by the party’s state president Satish Poonia.

The issues of waiver of power bills, losses to crops due to locus attack, complete loan waiver for farmers, illegal mining, rising crime rate, stalled development, discrimination in ration distribution, mismanagement of covid-19 and corruption were discussed in semi-virtual meeting.

Satish Poonia, Madan Dilawar and Ramlal Sharma during the meeting at BJP office.

Poonia said that the committee also discussed an action plan to disseminate various public welfare schemes and programmes of the centre among people of the state.

He said that demon-

stration at all GSS and sub division levels will be held on 31 August demanding waiver of three months electricity bills. On September 2, BJP MPs, MLAs, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions

LIGHTNING KILLS 3 IN RAJSAMAND DIST

Rahul ji should lead: Pilot

First India Bureau

Jaipur: Praising Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and MP Rahul Gandhi for their sacrifice for people and the party, Sachin Pilot on Sunday said that most Congress workers would like to see the latter take over and lead the party. “Mrs Gandhi and Rahul ji have shown what it means to sacrifice for the greater good of the people and the party. It’s now time to

Rajsamand: Three persons died of lightning strike from the skies on Sunday in the Khamnor police station area. All three deceased were friends who had come to Kundeshwar Mahadev temple near Ushan.

All three were bathing under a waterfall some 300 meters away from the temple when a

lightning bolt struck them. All died on the spot.

Khamnor police has kept the dead bodies at the local CHC mortuary and informed the Udaipur police to forward the information to the respective family members.

Meanwhile heavy rain lashed several parts of Rajasthan during the last 24 hours, MeT said on Sunday.

First India Bureau

UNANIMOUS ELECTION

‘Will promote football at grassroots level’ Naresh Sharma Jaipur: Former MP Manvendra Singh Jasol was unanimously elected as the president of Rajasthan Football association in the elections held after four years in Jaisalmer.

Dilip Singh and Kailash Khatik were elected as secretary and treasurer respectively.

In the general body meeting of the association, elections to all 15 posts were held today.

NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE

Manvendra Singh, attending the first general body meeting after the election of Rajasthan Football Association in Jaisalmer.

The executive discussed issues related with football including efforts to promote the game in the state. Newly elected president of the association

will hand over representation to district collectors.

Poonia told that the factor of social engineering was considered while announcing the state executive committee. Talking about VC

with JP Nadda, Poonia said that Nadda stressed on raising public interest issues from assembly to roads in a full scale manner.

He said that the Opposition raised its voice in the assembly but the government is running away. Nadda said that the centre has announced an economic Package of 20 lakh crores and all such initiatives, policies and programmes should be disseminated among the public all over so that they can take benefit. “Our IT team will spread the party’s thoughts and political thinking to every mandal, booth in the state,” he said.

Manvendra Singh, who is the son of BJP leader Jaswant Singh, said that it is the result of the works done in the previous term that the members have

given him the responsibility once again. He said that it is for the first time that the executive has been elected unanimously. “Efforts will be

made to promote Football at grassroots level in all the districts so that talented young players can be well trained and nurtured,” he said.

Sachin Pilot

build consensus and consolidate. Our future is stronger when we’re united. Most Congress workers would like to see Rahul ji take over and lead the party,”

Congress MLA Pilot said in a tweet. Earlier in the day, “Reports of Sonia Gandhi resigning from the post of Congress interim president are false,” Surjewala told ANI. Just before the CWC meeting scheduled for Monday, an internal dispute had emerged regarding “leadership” issues in the party.

Leaders have written to Sonia Gandhi raising a 5-Point Agenda to revive the party.

MeT department has forecast moderate to heavy rainfall in Sirohi, Udaipur, Badrmer, Jalore, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts and heavy to very heavy rainfall at some places in Barmer and Jalore during next 24 hours.

Neeraj Dangi takes up development issues in Sirohi First India Bureau Abu Road: Continuing the arrival of Rajya Sabha MP Neeraj Dangi united the faction ridden Congress locally.

Both camps were present to welcome the newly elected MP with warmth. It is noteworthy that Sirohi district Congress has two camps. While one camp follows Neeraj Dangi while the other takes Sanyam Lodha as their leader. Dangi during his one day tour discussed the drinking water problem in detail and assured the Congressmen of every effort for all round development of the area. Dangi said that lack of political will had delayed the water to the area from Bhainsa Singh dam.

Dangi expressed his gratitude to Sanyam Lodha for supporting him in the Rajya Sabha elections. He said what happened in the past must be forgotten and now the eyes should be set on the future. Dangi assured that he and Lodha will jointly ensure unprecedented development of the area.

Dangi also took notice of the working of the EO of municipal body.

8 bills to be tabled in Assembly First India Bureau

Jaipur: There will be 8 bills tabled during the third sitting of the fifth session of the current assembly on Monday.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting will take place to discuss the agenda before the house proceedings begin today. Sources say that today there will be no question hour or zero hour. It is being assumed that the house will be

declared sine die after the tabled bills are passed by the house. The state govt had requested the Governor to convene the assembly session amid the political crisis in the state.

The state govt proved its majority on the floor of the house on 14 August. This was followed by the ruckus in the house while it discussed the corona epidemic which was replied by the health minister Dr Raghu Sharma.

The govt wanted to pass 8 bills after the discussion on Corona but the house was adjourned on 21 August.

Today first the BAC will take up the agenda for the day and this will be followed by the revenue department tabling 5 notifications in the house and then 8 then the process to pass 8 bills will be run through. Apart from this the agenda for the day also includes the screening, social distancing by the members.

RAJASTHAN

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JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

Sunday reveals 1,345 new cases in Rajasthan, tally crosses 70K mark

18 judges forced to retire over ‘chambal ki ghati’ remark

CORONA OVERALL : Maximum 210 new cases were reported from Jodh, followed by 193 from Jaipur

Vaibhav wishes infected Shekhawat a speedy recovery

First India Bureau Jaipur: The medical report released by the health department on Sunday night declared 1,345 new cases of coronavirus in the state.

Maximum 210 new cases were reported from Jodhpur, followed by 193 from Jaipur, 171 from Alwar, 138 from Kota, 128 from Bikaner, 93 from Bhilwara, 71 from Sikar, 38 from Ajmer, 33 from Pali, 29 from Udaipur, 24 from Sirohi, 21 each from Bharatpur & Ganganagar, 18 from Dholpur, 17 from Jhalawar, 16 from Churu, 15 from Dungarpur, 14 from Karauli, 13 each from Chittorgarh & Dausa, 12 each from Barmer, Pratapgarh & Sawai Madhopur, 10 from Hanumangarh, 8 from Tonk, 5 each from Baran & Jalore, 3 from Jaisalmer, 2 from Bundi.

The new cases have taken the the total tally of corona positive cas-

es in state past the 70,000 mark to 70609 so far.

11 deaths were reported on Sunday with the first corona death being reported from the holy place of Pushkar where a 64 year old person succumbed to Covid-19.

Jaipur reported 3 deaths while Barmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner,

Kota, Pali, Nagaur, Tonk and Jalore reported one death each.

So far there have been 955 corona deaths in the state.

The top 10 districts which have reported maximum cases of coronavirus since the first case of the pandemic was found in the state, are led by Jodhpur with 10440

cases (47 from Iran) followed by 8767 from Jaipur (with 2 Italians), 6802 from Alwar, 4210 from Kota, 3793 from Bikaner, 3668 from Ajmer, 3631 from Pali, 3507 from Bharatpur, 2364 from Sikar and 2202 from Nagaur.

There are 15 districts in the state who still have the infection count below 1000.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Vaibhav Gehlot

First India Bureau

Showing courtesy, Vaibhav called Shekhawat and talked to him about his health.

The minister is suffering from coronavirus and is admitted at a hospital in Delhi.

Vaibhav had contested 2019-Lok Sabha elections on Jodhpur seat against Shekhawat and had lost the election.

Jaipur: All India Congress Committee (AICC) member and Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) president Vaibhav Gehlot, on Sunday, inquired about the health of union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and wished for his speedy recovery.

First India Bureau Jaipur: Amid the ongoing debate over the extent of free speech after the SC held senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt, a former Rajasthan HC judge has said the improvement in the system is not possible without criticism.

Former HC judge VS Dave, who is among 3,000 people who signed a statement to express solidarity with Bhushan, had also raised his voice against corruption in judiciary.

After his statement in presence of SC judge Chandrachud that Rajasthan’s judiciary has become ‘Chambal Ki Ghati’, 18 judges were given compulsory retirement.

“It is not possible to improve any system without criticism and therefore, a

SLSA GOES GREEN, PLANTS 1L SAPLINGS

Guv dedicates new university building

First India Bureau

Governor Kalraj Mishra during the video conference.

Kashiram Chaudhary Jaipur: Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra, on Sunday dedicated the newly constructed building of Maharaja Surajmal Brij UniversityBharatpur through a video conference.

He informed that he had full hopes that the university would fulfill its laid out objectives and aim of providing better education to the present and the upcoming generations and uplift them towards self reliance.

The Governor also

called upon the stakeholders of the university to work hard to push research works forward, so that the university can be create a repuatation of an ideal institution.

The university has started several new courses in a short time and has taken a much awaited concrete step towards the research work by starting research in 17 subjects.

The vice chancellor of the university RKS Dhakarey informed the governor about the progress report of the university

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR Many Jaipurites visited Nahargarh to enjoy the pleasant weather, such a number was a first ever since the first lockdown.

Localites throng tourist destinations in city, enjoy street food after long time First India Bureau Jaipur: It was a welcome sight after a long gap in Jaipur on Sunday, when domestic tourists thronged the city attractions.

Tourists were seen in good numbers at Amer and Nahargarh fort where localites decided to spend their weekend perhaps for the first

time after the first lockdown was announced in late March. The road adjoining the Amer Mavtha was the favorite spot for selfies.

The cloudy above the Pink City was motivation enough to drive the Jaipuites out to the tourist spots at the far end of the city. The vendors selling local delicacies like samosa, ka-

chori and pakoras had a day to remember after a long wait.

It had been a week that the road leading to Nahargarh from Amer road was blocked due to a landslide. The road fortunately opened on a Sunday with pleasant weather, which was all the more reason for it to be blocked by Jaipurites themselves.

The police had a hard day managing the heavy traffic in the area. Central park and rose garden at Jawahar circle also saw a rush of people with street food selling carts having a heyday. Jaipurites dearly missed the traditional churma, dal and bati ‘Goths’ canceled this year due to the ongoing epidemic.

‘NO SCHOOL NO FEES’

Committee of parents call for state bandh on Aug 31 First India Bureau Jaipur: It has been over five months since the schools were closed down due to the ongoing corona pandemic, but the issue of fee submission is still a matter of debate between the parents, school management and the state government.

A joint committee of parents has given a Rajasthan bandh call on

August 31, to press for their demand of “no school no fees” as the schools are closed.

The joint committee has also sought support from various social organisations and market associations for the bandh call.

“We have given a bandh call on August 31 against schools charging fees despite the closure of

proper place of criticism needs to be given,” he said.

Talking about the press conference held by 4 judges of SC in 2018, Dave said that the answer to the questions raised by them has not come till date.

Another former judge of state HC Panchand Jain says that the way the court conducted early hearings in case of Bhushan during the corona pandemic raises questions. He said that such cases should be referred to the constitutional bench of five judges.

He said that for strengthening democracy, it is necessary to raise voice if something is not happening right.

Jain said that thousands of cases of contempt are pending in the court but this case is being given priority.

schools. When the schools are closed, why the parents should give the fees,” the committee office bearers said.

They said that the parents have apprised the government about the issue but no relief has been provided and schools are still pressurising them to pay fees.

“We have no option but to give the call be-

cause we are not being heard anywhere.

Parents are distressed and the government is running away from its responsibility,” they said.

At present, the Rajasthan government has deferred school fees till the schools reopen. In April, the government deferred the fees for three months and now until schools re-open.

Jodhpur: Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority has always been at forefront of environment conservation and set another example on Sunday by planting one lakh saplings. The closing of the mega campaign organised in coordination with District Legal Services Authority at Ravan Ka Chabutra was attended by the administrative judge of the Rajasthan High Court, Sangeet Lodha, as chief guest.

Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vijay Vishnoi were special guests on the occasion.

Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati, Justice Manoj Kumar Garg, Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Prabha Sharma were also present at the event.

The High Court judges were joined in by senior police and administrative officers in planting the saplings.

Member Secretary of RLSA Brajesh Kumar Jain, Joint Secretary Dev Kumar Khatri, DLSA president Ravindra Joshi, Siddheshar Puri along with a large number of magistrates, lawyers, judicial officers and judicial employees became part of the mega campaign.

Divisional Commissioner Samit Sharma, Police Commissioner Jose Mohan, Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kumar Ola, JDA Commissioner Meghraj Singh Ratnu, DCP Alok Srivastava, ADCP Umesh Ojha, Additional Collector Seema kaviya too were present to give the message for green environment.

Int’l handball player Irfan Ali passes away First India Bureau Jaipur: Country’s first international handball player Irfan Ali Gaur passed away. He was vice president of State Handball Association and Secretary of Sikar District Handball Association. Gaur also was an international basketball player as well.

The veteran breathed his last on Sunday.

Indian Handball Association general secre-

tary Anandeshwar Pande expressed his grief and said that he had lost a personal friend of 40 years.

Jaisalmer MLA and State Handball Association president Ruparam Dhandev said that the void left by Irfan will always remain vacant.

State association’s honorary secretary Yash Pratap Singh said Irfan will always motivate the youngsters in the state.

PERSPECTIVE JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

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PATRIOT, STATESMAN AND PARLIAMENTARIAN

Ram Niwas Mirdha with Kofi Annan

Ram Niwas Mirdha with Indira Gandhi

UPENDER SINGH RATHORE Editor, The Police Post President Indian federation of working journalists, Rajsathan (IFWJ)

O Mirdhaji convinced all that he was a connoisseur of art. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had precisely for that reason nominated him as the chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy

nce Nobel laureate VS Naipaul, visiting Delhi, asked his host editor Sardar Khushwant Singh if he could arrange his interaction with some prominent Indian politicians. The Caribbean author wanted to know about the Indian economic and political situation. After all, India has been the ancestral homeland of Naipaul’s forefathers before they migrated centuries ago to Trinidad.

Khushwant Singh in his weekly column “With malice towards one and all”, wrote that: “I was anxious to find someone who would not embarrass me by not knowing who Naipaul was. I am pretty certain not more than two or three of Rajiv’s cabinet ministers have ever read anything by Naipaul. The only one I could risk exposing him to was Ram Niwas Mirdha.”

This veteran parliamentarian from Rajasthan, says Khushwant Singh met Naipaul and did not disappoint him. The litterateur and the politician interact-

Ram Niwas Mirdha with Atal Bihari Vajpayee

ed on a variety of national issues for long. At the end of the meeting, Naipaul asked Khushwant Singh: “What a civilized man like Mirdha doing in politics?”

After this Khushwant Singh, once M.P. himself, later wrote that he was also amazed “what was a gentleman like Mirdha was doing in the goonda profession of politics.”

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, after meeting this Jat of stern Kisan stock from the desert area of Nagore was pleasantly surprised that Mirdhaji had read almost all his writings. The

RAM NIWAS MIRDHA HELD A RECORD OF BEING ELECTED TO THE RAJYA SABHA FOUR TIMES. THE PORTFOLIOS HE HELD AS UNION MINISTER WERE BOTH VARIED AND VITAL. THESE INCLUDED HOME AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, DEFENSE PRODUCTION, COMMUNICATION, TEXTILES, AND HEALTH AMONG OTHERS. HE WAS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE RAJYA SABHA COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES

Congress leader was quoting profusely from Naipaul’s “Area of Darkness” and the “Mimic Man”, among his other literary works.

This Jat politician simi-

larly shocked the viewers at the art exhibition “The Triennial” when he came to watch it. How could a politician from the countryside visit a thing of

beauty? But when he spoke about the art, everyone was pleasantly surprised.

Mirdhaji convinced all that he was a connoisseur of art. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had precisely for that reason nominated him as the chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy.

This feeling was also echoed by eminent art critic Kekoo Ghandhy who had remarked: “Mirdha’s presence at the show brings into focus the fact that art is a part of a larger reality.” To this Mirdha’s observation was: “If art is a part of life, it need not be on that walls alone. It need not

THE NEED FOR DEBT-FOR-CLIMATE SWAPS

A

global debt crisis is looming. Even before COVID-19 swept the world, the International Monetary Fund had issued a warning about developing countries’ public debt burdens, noting that half of all lower-income countries were “at high risk of or already in debt distress.”

As the economic crisis worsens, these countries are experiencing steep output contractions at the same time that COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts are demanding a massive increase in expenditures.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, developing countries’ repayments on their public external debts will cost $2.6-3.4 trillion just in 2020

and 2021 alone. Hence, market analysts now suggest that almost 40% of emerging- and frontier-market sovereign external debt could be at risk of default in the next year.

Worse, measures to confront this debt crisis will collide head-on with the global efforts to combat climate change, inequality, and other escalating global crises. We, therefore, need creative thinking about how to advance multiple objectives at the same time.

We must both achieve a strong recovery from the pandemic-induced crisis and mobilize trillions of dollars for the transition to a more financially stable, socially inclusive, low-carbon economy.

In April, G20 finance ministers endorsed a Debt Service Suspension Initiative to suspend debt service

temporarily for the world’s poorest countries while they manage the COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, few debtor countries have taken up this offer, fearing how it might look to markets and rating agencies.

Moreover, private-sector lenders have largely refused to offer meaningful forbearance of their own, thereby undercutting governments’ efforts.

In the absence of new

forms of liquidity support and major debt relief, the world economy cannot possibly return to pre-pandemic levels of growth without risking severe climate distress and social unrest.

Climate scientists tell us that in order to meet the targets outlined in the Paris climate accord, global net carbon-dioxide emissions must fall by about 45% by 2030,

and by 100% by 2050.

Given that the effects of climate change are already being felt around the world, countries urgently need to scale up their investments in climate adaptation and mitigation.

But that will not be possible if governments are bogged down in a debt crisis. If anything, debt-service requirements will push countries to pursue export revenues at any cost, including by cutting corners on climate-resilient infrastructure and stepping up their own fossil-fuel use and extraction of resources. This course of events would further depress commodity prices, creating a doom loop for producer countries.

In light of these concerns, the G20 has called on the IMF “to explore additional tools that could

serve its members’ needs as the crisis evolves, drawing on relevant experiences from previous crises.” One such tool that should be considered is a “debt-for-climate swap” facility. In the 1980s and 1990s, developing countries and their creditors engaged in “debt-for-nature swaps,” whereby debt relief was linked to investments in reforestation, biodiversity, and protections for indigenous people.

Developing countries will need additional resources if they are to have any chance of leaving fossil fuels in the ground, investing sufficiently in climate adaptation, and creating opportunities for twenty-first-century jobs. One source for such resources is debt relief conditioned on such investments.

be expensive. It should be inside as well as outside.” Mirdhaji had possessed a magnetic personality. Tall (above six feet), handsome, fair, attractive, mild-spoken with lots of humility, Mirdha held in his life many important positions to flaunt. But he never did. He was on the UNESCO executive board representing India.

An MLA in Jaipur for 14 long years, including a stint as the Speaker, Mirdhaji adorned both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

He held a record of being elected to the Rajya Sabha four times. The portfolios he held as Union Minister were both varied and vital. These included home and external affairs, defense production, communication, textiles, and health among others. He was the chairman of the Rajya Sabha committee on privileges.

In an age of bank fraud, Mirdhaji’s absence is felt more because as the chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on bank securities in 1992, he had successfully probed various scams. He had won praise than from Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao. Today (24 August 2020) is his 96th birth anniversary..

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Prakash Javadekar @PrakashJavdekar ‘Contact Minimisation’ is at the core of the SOP. This will be ensured by minimal physical contact and sharing of props, PPEs for hair stylists and makeup artists among others.

Mallikarjun Kharge @kharge PM Modi called #MGNREGA a monumental failure. With more than 60,000 Cr allocated this year it has been a savior for people in these difficult times of pandemic.

Hope PM gives more impetus to such poverty alleviation programs rather than mere slogans that don’t feed empty stomachs.

Spiritual SPEAK

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.

—Buddha

SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE

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Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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JEE, NEET 2020

LISTEN TO STUDENTS’ MANN KI BAAT: RAGA TO CENTRE His remark comes amid demands from pupils & parents to postpone exams due to COVID-19 New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged the government to take into account concerns of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) students who have been demanding postponement of the entrance examinations.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) (Main) will be held from September 1 to 6 and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) (UG) on September 13.

“Today lakhs of students are saying something. The GOI must listen to the Students

RAHUL GANDHI @RAHULGANDHI Today lakhs of students are saying something.

The GOI must listen to the Students Ke Mann Ki Baat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution.

Ke Mann Ki Baat about NEET, JEE exams and arrive at an acceptable solution,” the Congress leader said in a tweet.

Gadkari to unveil 35 highway projects in MP New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 9,400 crore in Madhya Pradesh on August 25, a statement said. These 35 projects entail 1,139 km of highways, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in the statement.

“Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari will lay foundation stone of and inaugurate 35 highway projects in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, the 25th of August, 2020,” the ministry said.

Nitin Gadkari

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan will preside over the virtual function, to be attended

by Union ministers Thavarchand Gehlot and Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel, Faggan Singh Kulaste and V K Singh and others. —PTI

His response comes amid the demands from students and parents to postpone the entrance exams in

view of the surge in COVID-19 cases.

On Saturday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi’s Edu-

cation Minister Manish Sisodia had also requested the Central government to cancel the JEE and NEET.”The Central government is playing with the lives of millions of students in the name of JEE-NEET. My request to the Centre is to cancel both these exams immediately and make an alternative arrangement for admission this year. In this time of unprecedented crisis, an unprecedented step will lead to a solution,” Sisodia tweeted.On August 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020.

—ANI

‘Will fight Bihar polls under CM Nitish’s leadership’ New Delhi: All the three NDA constituents in Bihar - BJP, JD(U) and LJP - will together fight the coming assembly polls in the state with CM Nitish Kumar as the face of the alliance, BJP president J P Nadda said on Sunday and expressed confidence that they will emerge victorious.

Nadda’s remarks at a virtual address to the Bihar BJP executive meeting come amid a bitter war of words between Kumar’s JD(U) & Chirag Paswan-headed LJP. Whenever the three parties have fought together, their National Democratic Alliance has notched up a big victory, he said.

“We are going to the polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Our victory is certain,” Nadda said. —PTI

BJP National President JP Nadda addresses virtual Bihar BJP Karyasamiti meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI

BIHAR ASSEMBLY POLLS TO BE HELD ON TIME: SOURCES New Delhi: The assembly elections in Bihar, which due later this year, would be held on time, highly placed sources in the Election Commission said on Sunday, amid demands by some political parties for postponing the polls in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.The term of the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly comes to an end on November 29.Indications are that the polls could be held sometime in October-November. “Bihar elections are definitely happening on time,” a senior official of the poll panel said on Sunday.

Javadekar announces SoPs for resuming film, TV shoots New Delhi: Thermal screening at entry points, manadatory use of face covers/masks and physical distancing of six feet are among the new rules people working in the media production industry will have to adhere to as they resume work amid the coronavirus pandemic. The new rules are part of the SOP issued by the government.

“The general principles behind the SOP will help create a safe working environment for cast and crew in the industry,” Union Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said as he released the

I am happy to announce that we are releasing standard operating procedures for film and TV programme shooting which was stopped due to COVID-19 pandemic for the last 6 months.

Contact minimisation is at core of SoP, Prakash Javadekar said.

guidelines.

I am happy to announce that we are releasing standard operating procedures for film and TV programme shooting which was stopped due to COV-

ID-19 pandemic for the last 6 months,” Javadekar said addressing the media. These SOPs have been finalised after consulting the health and home ministries, he said.

Prakash Javadekar, I&B Minister

The SOP ensures adequate distancing at shoot locations and other work places and contains measures including proper sanitization, crowd management and provision for

protective equipment among others. Barring those who are in front of cameras all others will have to wear masks. “’Contact Minimisation’ is at the core of the SOP. This will be ensured by minimal physical contact and sharing of props, PPEs for hair stylists and make-up artists among others,” he added. Javadekar further said that he hoped that all the states should agree to the SOPs. Shooting for film and television programmes had been stopped from March 2020, owing to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. —ANI

Explosives recovered from house of LAC row: India rejects China’s arrested ISIS operative in UP: Police idea of ‘equidistant disengagement’ New Delhi: The Delhi Police has recovered a large quantity of explosives and an ISIS flag from the house of Mohammad Mustakim Khan in Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh two days after he was arrested in the national capital, officials said on Sunday.

An alleged ISIS operative, Khan, armed with two pressure cooker IEDs, was arrested from central Delhi’s Ridge Road area on Friday night following a brief exchange of fire.

A Delhi Police Spe-

Cops check public vehicles amid tightened security in Ayodhya.

cial Cell team took him to his Badhiyaa Bhaisaahi village.

One brown jacket containing three explosive packets and anoth-

MAN HELD FOR POSTING MORPHED PICTURES OF PM ON SOCIAL MEDIA Jabalpur: A man has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh for allegedly posting morphed photographs of PM Narendra Modi and obscene comments on a social media platform, police said on Sunday. Parvez Alam, aged around 28, has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 292, 504 and the

Information Technology Act Section 67, Gohalpur police station’s inspector Ravindra Goutam said.

One Sartaj Alam lodged a police complaint against Parvez Alam, accusing the latter of uploading morphed photographs of the prime minister with obscene comments on Facebook, he said. The accused was arrested.

er blue check jacket containing four explosive packets were recovered from his house, a senior police officer said. —PTI

I have not heard anything about explosive material. If I had any idea that he was collecting explosive material, I would not have allowed Abu Yusuf to stay in my house. Only after the police came in the evening and found the material I realised what it is.

Kafeel Ahmed, father of ISIS operative

UNSHACKLE POL CAGING OF ADMN,COPS : DHANKHAR TO DIDI Kolkata: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said that he has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “unshackle political caging/chaining” of police and administration.

“Urge Chief Minister to unshackle political caging/chaining of POLICE and ADMINISTRATION. Law and order alarming-with reports of the free run to illegal ‘bomb making’. UNFORTUNATEPolice and administration ever at door of ruling party-in readiness to knock the door of opposition,” Dhanakar tweeted.

New Delhi: While efforts are underway to resolve the ongoing border dispute, India has rejected the Chinese suggestion to disengage equidistantly from the Finger area in Eastern Ladakh.

After the diplomatic level talks, the two sides are also working to hold more military-level talks to resolve the boundary issue. Meanwhile, the top military commanders have also told their field commanders to be fully prepared for any eventual-

At present, Chinese are around the Finger 5 near Pangong Lake.

ity or action on the LAC even as the Indian side is preparing for a long haul on the border.

“Chinese side had made a suggestion that

COP KILLED BY 2 UNIDENTIFIED MEN IN NAXAL-HIT BIJAPUR Bijapur: A police jawan was hacked to death with an axe by two unidentified men at a village market in the Naxal-hit Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, an official said.

Police suspect the involvement of Maoists, but a probe is being carried out to know if the murder was a fallout of a personal enmity. “The incident took

05

place when the deceased, Assistant Constable Suresh Komra, had gone to the weekly market in Kutru village to buy essentials,” a senior police official said. Two assailants, who were dressed as civilians, repeatedly attacked him with an axe, leaving him dead on the spot following which they escaped, he said.

both India & China should go back equidistantly from Finger-4 area.

The suggestion is not acceptable to Indian side,” said sources. — ANI

‘Pak always lied about sheltering Dawood’

Dawood Ibrahim

New Delhi: “Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, and Mustafa Dosa, the three absconding accused who planned, financed and along with Pakistan’s ISI, executed the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in March 1993 are sheltered by Pakistan. This shelter was given days before the blast and has continued unabated,” former Joint Director, CBI, Shantanu Sen, who was in charge of the CBI special task force which investigated the case said.

“Pakistan has always lied about their presence. The media report which was a piece of breaking news last night is back to square one with its (Pakistan’s) denial,” he added.

“The list of 88 terrorists released by Pakistan’s MEA includes Dawood’s name. We should press for his deportation and persuade other countries to join hands in our efforts,” he said. —ANI

DEMAND OF BHARAT RATNA FOR MAJOR DHYAN CHAND New Delhi: Former and current hockey players came together to demand Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, for the legendary Major Dhyan Chand, a week ahead of his 115th birth anniversary. With National Sports Day approaching, greats such as Gurbux Singh, Harbinder Singh, Ashok Kumar and current player Yuvraj Walmiki took part in a virtual discussion on Saturday to celebrate the life and career of the iconic player. National Sports Day is celebrated on Aug29, on birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand.

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INDIA TESTS OVER 3.5 CR TILL DATE

Keeping a sharp focus on the ‘test, track and treat’ policy, the tests per mn have seen a boost touching 25,574 on Sunday New Delhi: Maintaining daily COVID-19 testing spree of more than 8 lakhs, India has tested more than 3.5 crore samples till date. In the last 24 hours, the test per million (TPM) reached 25,574 as on Sunday.

The country has performed 8,01,147 COVID-19 tests, taking the total figures to 3,52,92,220, stated the Union Health Ministry.

The steep rise in the testing is a result of effective implementation of the aggressive testing strategy of the Centre through a focussed and graded approach, it said.

The rising average daily tests during the past three weeks present a strong depiction of the progress made in the enhancement of COVID-19 tests across the country.

The rise in daily testing has been followed by a decrease in the average daily positivity rate. “It is only by aggressive testing that the positive cases can be identified, their contacts tracked in a timely manner and promptly isolated, as well as the severe and critical patients provided the needed clinical treatment,” said the Health Ministry in a press statement.

Till date, the government has created 1,515 labs are providing comprehensive testing facilities to the people, out of which 983 labs in the government sector and 532 private labs. —ANI

If everything goes well India would get vaccine by year-end: Dr Vardhan

KMC health workers prepare before collecting swab samples of residents for COVID-19 test, at a residential society in Kolkata.

Covishield to be sold only after successful trial: SII Bengaluru: The current claims over the coronavirus vaccine, Covishield, are completely false and it will be commercialised when trials prove successful and regulatory approvals are in place, said Serum Institute of India (SII) on Sunday.

SII issued this clarification after reports in the media began appearing which claimed that Covishield- Oxford University’s vaccine candidate, will be commercialised in a little over two months.

The phase three trials for the Oxford vaccine candidate are being conducted by SII in India.

“Serum Institute of India clarifies that the current claims over Covishield’s availabili-

ty, in the media are completely false and conjectural. Presently, the government has granted us permission to only manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use,” SII said.

“Covishield will be commercialised once trials are proven successful and requisite regulatory approvals are in place. Phase-3 trials for the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine are underway.” it added. —PTI

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that if everything goes well, India would get a vaccine against the novel coronavirus by the end of this year. Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including two indigenous ones, are in different phases of development in India.

The phase-one human clinical trials of the two

MP HEALTH MINISTER TESTS POSITIVE Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Prabhuram Choudhary on Sunday said he has tested coronavirus positive. He shared the information on his Twitter handle. Meanwhile, Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh too has tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr Harsh Vardhan

indigenous vaccine candidates, one developed

by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and the other by Zydus

Cadila Ltd, have been completed and the trials have moved to phasetwo, ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava had said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford has been permitted for conducting its phase two and three human clinical trials in India. —PTI

‘Pranab remains in deep coma, on ventilator’ New Delhi: There is no change in the medical condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee as he remains in a deep coma and on ventilator support, according to the Army Research and Referral (R&R) Hospital on Sunday.

“There is no change in the condition of Pranab Mukherjee this morning. He remains in

Pranab Mukherjee

a deep coma and on ventilator support. His vital parameters are stable,” the update from the hospital read. —PTI

Agra: Extensive Sero-survey from Aug 26 Agra: The state health department will conduct an extensive SeroSurvey in the Taj city to determine the percentage of the population with anti-bodies against Covid-19.

The four-day random sample survey will be carried out by

ten teams, an official said. Meanwhile, the surge in the number of new cases of Covid-19 continues to remain alarming in the Agra region.

While Agra reported 36 new cases in the past 24 hours, Mathura reported 100, Firozabad

42, Mainpuri 31, Etah 31 and Kasganj 21.

The total number of cases so far in Agra is 2,481. Out of this 272 are the active cases and 105 deaths have occurred.

The number of recovered patients is 2.104, a healthy 84.80 per cent recovery rate. —Agencies

BSF to undergo tech upgradation TO GET 436 DRONES AND NEW ANTI-DRONE SYSTEMS New Delhi: With Rakesh Asthana taking over as full-time Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF), technological upgradation of the force has started with approval for 436 small and micro drones for border surveillance and anti-drone system being currently tested on India-Pakistan border to shoot down any drone carrying weapon-load for terrorists in Punjab, and J&K. According to senior MHA officials, while the cost of small and micro drone will come around Rs 88 crore, the BSF with the help of security agencies is currently testing an indigenous antidrone system on the sensitive Punjab border with Pakistan. In

CIBM PLAN

the past one year, Pakistani deep state is using Chinese commercial drones to transport assault rifles, pistols and grenades to the Khalistani terrorists in Punjab as well as jihadis in J&K. —Agencies

Make plan for ‘land bank’: CM Trump campaign releases first commercial Rawat directs dist magistrates for Indian-Americans featuring PM Modi Dehradun: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat instructed the district magistrates to make a long-term plan for the ‘land bank’ so that the disaster affected people can be displaced if required.

His directions came while he was reviewing the disaster management works through VC with the District Magistrates at the Secretariat. The CM said it is necessary to have land available to displace sensitive villages in future if needed.

He also said that a proposal will be sent to the Central Government for approval of forest land for displac-

ing people. In this regard, he asked the district collectors to make a proposal and send it.

In case of loss of life due to the disaster, their families should be provided assistance within 3 days, said Rawat. During the disaster, people who are being shifted to other places should

have proper arrangements for their living and eating, he told the district magistrates.

Secretary Disaster Management SA Murugan informed that 62 people have died in the state, 33 were injured and 04 people are missing since January due to natural disasters. —ANI

Washington: Aiming to woo the influential Indian-American voters numbering over 2 million, the Trump campaign has released its first video commercial that has short clips from PM Narendra Modi's speeches and US President Donald Trump's historic address in Ahmedabad.

Modi and Trump addressed a huge crowd in Ahmedabad during the US president's visit to India in February this year. Trump was also accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration on his trip to India.

“ISI plans to pump in consignment of drugs/ arms/ammunitions inside India with the help of drones”. It guards around 2,280 kms of the front with Pakistan and the 4,096-km-long IndoBangla border.

A senior BSF officer said that activities have increased across the International Border with Pakistan in Jammu and Punjab after terrorists were unable to infiltrate across Line of Control in Kashmir. On Saturday, the BSF shot dead five Pakistani intruders along the Tarn Taran sector of Punjab and seized multiple

weapons and drugs.

The officer said that the five armed Pakistani nationals had entered the Indian territory overnight on Friday and were hiding across the fence.

The alert troops of BSF’s 103rd Battalion noticed suspicious movement at night at the Dal outpost under the Khalra police station of Tarn Taran district.

Around 4.45 a.m. on the Saturday morning, as the troopers started searching the area, they were fired upon. The BSF soldiers retaliated in self-defence killing the five intruders.

On June 20, a Pakistani drone, loaded with a sophisticated rifle and some grenades, was shot down by the BSF along the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.

It was the first such incident in the Jammu region when a drone carrying arms and explosives was shot down by the BSF. In 2019, Punjab Police had recovered Pakistani drones used to airdrop arms and ammunition in border areas of the state. The BSF had also sighted many high-flying drones along Punjab along the international border.

CM Rawat held a meeting with district magistrates on Saturday.

FROM PG 1 Capt opposes ... that is acceptable not just to a few but to the entire party, through its rank and file, and the nation at large,” he said, adding that the Gandhis were the right fit for this role. “Sonia Gandhi should continue to helm the Congress as long as she wants,” he said, adding that Rahul Gandhi should thereafter take over as he is fully competent to lead the party.

BSF: Pak...

The BSF, India’s first line of defence with Pakistan and Bangladesh, has also alerted that

STAR APPEAL

PM Narendra Modi with Donald Trump.

“America enjoys a great relationship with India and our campaign enjoys great support from Indian-Ameri-

cans!” Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair of Trump Victory Finance Committee said in a tweet releasing the vid-

eo commercial.

The president's son Donald Trump Jr, who is leading the campaign and is well connected

with the Indian-American community, also retweeted it as the commercial soon became viral on social media with over 66,000 views on Twitter in the first few hours.

Titled ‘Four More Years’ the 107-second video starts with the iconic footage of Modi and Trump walking hand in hand at the NRG Stadium in Houston during the prime minister's visit to the US last year wherein the leaders of the world's two largest democracies made a joint address before a strong crowd of Indian-Americans numbering more than 50,000. —PTI

Dhankhar urges Didi to ‘unshackle political caging of state admn, police’ Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said that he has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to "unshackle political caging/chaining" of police and administration. "Urge CM to unshackle political caging/chaining of POLICE and ADMINISTRATION. Law and order alarming-with reports of the free run to illegal 'bomb making'.

UNFORTUNATE- Police and administration ever at door of ruling

party-in readiness to knock the door of opposition," Dhnakar tweeted. He further said that public servants are not political workers, and if they behave like one, then it is against the democratic value of the Indian constitution.

"This is a staggering blow to 'rule of law' and democracy. This menacing stance of police and administration would generate consequences.

Politically committed police and administration-death knell of de-

mocracy. Public servants are not political workers," he said.

The Governor added that in West Bengal the unlawful conduct of bureaucracy is an open secret, and the essence of democracy is being shredded in the state."Never thought IAS /IPS could so capitulate and be in 'crawl' unlawful mode-blatantly unmindful of conduct rules. Their actions are OPEN SECRET. Democratic essence shredded. Why be

a party to this and crucify democratic values!"

Earlier on August 22, Dhankar raised questions on the team that was investigating the pandemic purchase scam and accused them of covering up the "massive irregularities" in the matter. He said, "PANDEMIC PURCHASE SCAM COVERUP- GETTING MURKIER What kind of probe it is! Post facto ratification of massive irregularities by subordinates would be SHAM.

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07

INDIA’S FIRST: MUSEUM ADDS TO

GLORY OF RAJASTHAN ARCHIVES

MUSEUM WITH MANY RARE INSCRIPTIONS AND DOCS WAS INAUGURATED BY CM GEHLOT VIA VIDEO CONF z A 22-feet long original

Judgment in BSP MLAs merger case likely today First India Bureau Jaipur: The single bench of Justice Mahendra Goyal at Rajasthan High Court will deliver its verdict on the merger of six BSP MLAs with Congress in the state assembly on Monday.

Justice Mahendra Goyal had started dictating his verdict on August 14 after he had heard all the parties in the case.

The verdict was to be delivered on August 17 but it was deferred due to Covid-19 striking HC then. Now the court will deliver its verdict today through VC. Before the verdict is delivered the arguments by all parties will be taken on record. The Supreme Court will also hear the matter today as counsels for both BSP and Madan Dilawar had requested the SC to defer the hearing due to the pending verdict by the HC on August 17.

The SC too had deferred its hearing till August 24. It is noteworthy that the HC had asked all litigants to submit any written arguments or other relevant documents after the verbal arguments were heard. The court had also requested the assembly speaker to not settle the complaint by Vijay Singh till it delivers its verdict.

From Page 1 At the time of resigning, Rahul Gandhi had told the CWC that the party should elect a non Gandhi as its new President, which has recently been endorsed b his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.

The leaders have raised a 5 Point Agenda to revive the party and emphasised the need for active leadership in the grand old party. According to reports, the extraordinary letter sent by 23 leaders to Sonia Gandhi, has called for sweeping changes from top to bottom and calls for a ‘’ full time and effective leadership” which is both “ visible” and ‘active in the field, elections to the CWC and the urgent establishment of an “institutional leadership mechanism” to collectively guide the revival of the party.

This section comprising sitting MPs and for-

Rajendra Chhabra

T

hey say where there is power, in those corridors of power, there will always be stories of an internal tussle. And what better place for these tussles to emerge than in the ‘rooms’ adjacent to these ‘corridors’. At least as far as Rajasthan is concerned, that seems to be the case since the rooms in the state Secretariat have a unique story to tell.

The rooms here have, over a period of time, become witness to countless conspiracies and

DELIGHT FOR HISTORY BUFFS z After the state archives, it will be the second impor-

tant place for tourists and history lovers in Bikaner. The museum is set up at a cost of Rs 4.12 crore

z Rare documents related to the Mughal era to the

freedom struggle, decrees of Tampatra or copper plate, official letters have been exhibited in the museum

document of the treaty of Purandar, ‘Farman’ or official letters issued by the Mughal rulers and the marks issued by their families, a letter sent by Aurangzeb to the erstwhile Jodhpur ruler with the mark of his paw,

documents and copper plates related with the battle of Haldighati, a rare document on granting land in honour of Maharana Pratap’s horse Chetak are among other important documents which have been displayed in the museum.

z Apart from these, a

has refused from moving out of here although he has been shifted out of the Home department.

Interestingly, for the past seven years, this secondfloor room served as the room for the number of officials who were posted as ACS Home.

The rooms for DOP, Finance and GAD are earmarked in the main building but it is a surprise that no dedicated room has been given to the Home department.

Notably, till the year 2008, the then ACS Home DS Sagar, NK Bairwa, RK Nair and VS Singh used to sit in the same room!

to CM. While DOP’s and GAD’s rooms have been earmarked since day one, the room for the finance department has been changed albeit only once. When in 1999 Ashok Gehlot became CM, he made T Srinivasan the finance secretary in place of Adarsh Kishore. At that time Kishore did not let go of the room citing his seniority and Srinivasan used to sit in a new room.

But in July 2001, MD Kaurani shifted the room back to the ‘old haunt’ and since then the finance department

to go through an extremely bad time.

The recent example is of Ashok Singh I and Sudhansh Pant while two ministers who sat in the room have lost elections.

For the past two decades, the room in which finance secretaries have sat, the new officer -Prithviraj - has opined that the room is small and as soon as he took the charge, he changed the room.

In the main building, a hefty sum was spent to furnish a new, befitting office of the deputy chief minister but Pilot did

document related to the incident of cutting off finger of Afzal Khan by Maharaja Shivaji, a love letter by a woman of Jodhpur Sukhasej Rai to Man Singh in which 108 Rajasthani metaphors were used also displayed ,

Har Kamra Kuch Kehta hai

strides and the most recent of these is the tug of war between newly appointed principal secretary Home Abhay Kumar. The ground flwoor room which is Kumar’s current office is not suitable for the needs and requirements and also the ‘grandeur’ of the Home department. The small dimensions of the room make it almost impossible to call a meeting with PHQ officials. But the room in allotted to ACS Home appears to have been favoured by ACS Rohit Kumar Singh as he mer ministers demanding collective leadership, while another group has sought the return of Rahul Gandhi to the helm.

Two dozen Congress leaders, including some former ministers have written to Sonia for overhaul of the organisational structure and changes to the leadership, some leaders close to Rahul have also written to the CWC pressing for the Gandhi scion’s return as chief.

This letter by former ministers and some MPs was believed to have been written a few weeks ago and sets the stage for a stormy CWC meeting where issues flagged by dissenters are expected to be discussed and debated.

Meanwhile, it is being anticipated that Rahul may push the name of KC Venugopal, so everybody is gearing up with their strategies. Oher Prominent names among those in the CWC are former Prime Minister Dr Man-

But then SN Than I was given a different room after which Pradeep Send, PK Deb, GS Sandhu and Ashok Sampatram sat in different rooms. But when in 2014 Sunil Arora became ACS Home he ensured that the ACS’s room stays the same from then on and since then A Mukhopadhyay, Deepak Upreti, Shailendra Agarwal, Rajeeva Swarup and now Rohit Kumar Singh sat in the same room. This same room, prior to 2014, served as an office to the secretary

‘chief’ sits in this room.

When Ramlubhaya retired, his second-floor room was allotted to PK Goyal but Ramkubhaya’s PS did not let go of the room and after a war of words between his and Goyal’s PS, the DOP had to forcefully get the room evicted.

Interestingly, there is a huge room located on the ground floor of food building but no one is interested in this room.

Word is that this room is inauspicious and any officers or minister who has sat in this room had

not sit in this office for even an hour. Even UDHminister Shanti Dhariwal has come once or twice in his office in the main building as he prefers to work from home.

In fight with Corona, health minister Dr Raghu Sharma ‘formed’ a new wing for himself.

There are four rooms reserved for the minister’s staff and a partition has been put up in the gallery and at the entrance to the ‘wing’, a 2/2 feet copper plate has been out up of the minister, is a point of discussion.

‘HAILED BY CM’ z “People

will be able to see documents about which they were either heard or read in textbooks. Several galleries have been set up in the museum for the display of documents and other things,” director of the state archives, Mahendra Khadgawat said

z Khadgawat

said the chief minister inaugurated the museum through video conference and appreciated it

Youth Cong state prez Ghogra to take charge First India Bureau Jaipur: The new Youth Congress state president Ganesh Ghogra will assume his office today at 11 am at the Youth Congress Office in Bani Park.

Ghogra was appointed the new president amid the revolt by erstwhile chief Mukesh Bhakar during the recent political crisis in the state. CM Ashok Gehlot, PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara, IYC national president Srinivas BV, Sports minister Ashok Chandna, State Youth Congress incharge Abraham Roy Mani, Dr Palak Varma and Manju Tongad along with a large number of Youth Congress members from across the state will be part of the event.

Protocol, communication, Management & Venue and media committees specially constituted for the event have finalised all the preparations for the function. All these committees had around 60 Youth Congress members who were given the responsibility for the day.

This is the first high profile event by the State Youth Congress after a series of controversies surrounding its elections and presidents.

Sonia to hand over the baton? mohan Singh, Members of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, A. K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad and former MPs Motilal Vora, Mukul Wasnik besides the promising Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Sources say that it may as well be a way to facilitate the return of Rahul Gandhi who is attempting new cosmetic changes reminiscent of the persona of his late father and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Sources say that there is nothing dramatic about the leaked contents of the letter which in any case has been part of public discourse.. Party insiders say that in any case, the closed door CWC meetings encourage only monologue and discourage free and easy dialogue.. There will be the

usual clamour by loyalists for Sonia Gandhi to continue as the only person who can hold the party together. You are already seeing statements

by Sonia loyalists affirming faith in her leadership But if the CWC decides for elections, the matter may be laid to rest. In the meantime, top Congress managers are busy reaching out to dissenters in the party. These leaders have called for bringing changes in the organisation by effecting reforms through decentralisation of power and empowerment of state units besides setting up of the central Parliamentary Board, a body that existed in the party in the 1970s but was later wound up.

The letter in question has also stressed collective decision-making with Gandhi family as its inte-

gral part.

They have also called for the appointment of a full-time leadership which is active and which can be easily contacted by workers and leaders. The pro reform leaders are further learnt to have called for free and fair organisational polls from the block up to the working committee level.

While the younger leaders in the Congress are expected to chalk out a strategy to push for Rahul’s return to the helm, the leaders who earlier petitioned to Sonia Gandhi have called for contacting and winning back all those Congressmen who have quit the party and joined the BJP and expressed concerns over rank and file getting demoralised due to the drift in the party.

They are also learnt to

have pointed out that the CWC is not “guiding” the party effectively in mobilizing public opinion against the BJP. Among leaders learnt to have signed the letter are Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, deputy leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, besides ex ministers Mukul Wasnik, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor, MP Manish Tewari, and former MPs Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada and Sandeep Dixit.

They signatories are also said to include former party unit chiefs including Raj Babbar, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Kaul Singh Thakur besides leaders Akhilesh

l Chief minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurating the inscriptions museum via video conference. (Right) Bikaner Collector Nimit Mehta taking stock of pereparations before the inauguration on Sunday.

FREEDOM STRUGGLE

THE INSCRIPTIONS MUSEUM ALSO EXHIBITS DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE CONTRIBUTION OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF RAJASTHAN

CONTENT: LAXMAN RAGHAV

IPS Lamba who nailed Asaram Bapu now pens book on investigation Nizam Kantaliya Jaipur: IPS officer Ajaypal Lamba who had led the investigation in a rape case, in which self-styled godman Asaram Bapu is serving life imprisonment in Jodhpur jail, has penned down his experience related with the investigation.

Lamba had to face challenges during the investigation and he played a crucial role in his arrest and in taking the investigation to a logical conclusion due to which the minor victim got justice and Bapu is facing the punishment.

He has written a book ‘Gunning for the Godman’ which will be released on September 5.

The book has already become a talk of the town and people including bureaucracy, politicians and those in the judiciary are eagerly waiting for the book.

A 2005-batch IPS officer, who is presently posted as Additional Commissioner of Police in Jaipur, had supervised the arrest of Asaram from his Indore Ashram as well as investigation and the court trial when he was posted as Deputy Commissioner of PoliceWest in Jodhpur city.

He said that women in the country will have to recognise their Prasad Singh and Kuldeep Sharma.

These leaders argued that in the absence of a direct dialogue with the Congress chief over strengthening of the party, revival of the party has become imperative in the interest of democracy in the country.

While most of the leaders who have written the letter did not answer calls on Sunday, some who answered remained tightlipped on the issue having set the stage for a CWC debate on the need for a Gandhi vis- -vis a non Gandhi Congress President. Replying to question, “ What exactly is going on?’, sources in the party texted back, “ No quote or interview given

by Sonia Gandhi to anyone about party leadership change. Haven’t seen the alleged letter. Tomorrow is CWC meet. We will speak only after CWC meeting.” A counter to the pro reform lobby ar-

The cover of Lamba’s book ‘Gunning for the Godman’

power.

Self-styled godman Asaram was awarded life imprisonment in the case by a Jodhpur court on 25 April 2018.

The court sentenced him for life till natural death, 20-year imprisonment to two co-accused Shilpi and Sharad and acquitted two coaccused Shiva and Prakash.

A teenage girl from Shahajahanpur of Uttar Pradesh who was studying at Asaram Bapu’s ashram had accused Bapu of raping her on the night of August 15, 2013. An FIR was lodged with a police station of Delhi and Jodhpur police started the investigation on 21 August 2013.

He was detained from Indore, which was a challenging task, and brought to Jodhpur and placed under arrest on September 11, 2013. guing for collective leadership in the Congress has also begun with sitting MP Manickam Tagore calling for Rahul’s return as party president.

Apart from Tagore, Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, ex Telangana lawmaker and AICC secretary in charge of Maharashtra has also asked for the promotion of Rahul Gandhi as Congress President without any further delay. In a letter to the CWC on Sunday, Challa Reddy said any delay in Rahul’s reinstatement would be at the cost of the Congress.

People familiar with the functioning of the Congress however say that this letter cannot be taken at face value as it a camouflaged political manoeuvre to ensure that the Gandhi family continues to retain its power hold on the party and passes on the baton smoothly to one of its younger members.

If you cannot find the time for exercise today, you might be forced to find time for illness tomorrow.

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

POSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21

JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

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08

He said that ‘the crime rate in the state is increasing, which indicates that the administration is crumbling’

Congress in Rajasthan betrayed people, says BJP chief JP Nadda Jaipur: BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday, accused the Ashok Gehlot- led Congress government in Rajasthan of inaction, betraying people and failing to provide relief during the lockdown due to the Corona pandemic.

Nadda addressed the party’s state unit leaders and workers through a video conference, while saying that the crime graph in the state is rising which is a reflection of crumbling administration.

“The state government has proved inactive during the lockdown. Instead of providing relief, the government has betrayed people,” Nadda said.

He said that the crime rate in the state is increasing, which indicates that the administration is crumbling and the government did nothing except nepotism. The party president added that there has been an increase in crime as the atrocities

BJP National President JP Nadda addresses party workers in Jaipur during the virtual Bihar BJP Karyasamiti meeting in New Delhi.

against women has increased by 122 percent, whereas, dalit atrocities have risen to 92 percent and those on the tribals has grown to 101 percent as compared to last year.

“I am putting these figures in front of you because this is a reflection of the inhumanity of the Gehlot Government, nepotism and collapse of the govern-

ment structure,” he said. He said that embarrassing incidents have come to fore due to the incidents resulting from the political crisis in the state. He wondered that the Chief Minister and former deputy weren’t on ‘talking terms’ for 18 months.

Nadda said that Congress MLAs were watching Sholay,

Ajay Maken to reach Jaipur this week Jaipur: For Rajasthan Congress, the proverbial ‘ball,’ as it appears, has been set in motion.

The newly appointed General Secretary Incharge of Rajasthan, Ajay Maken will start his district- wise tour of state from this week. He is slated to reach Jaipur in a few days and PCC is all set to chalk out a detailed tour plan for the former Union Minister.

Highly placed sources reveal that PCC Chief, Govind Singh Dotasara himself is taking a keen interest in the entire exercise and giving final touches to the roadmap.

On Sunday, Dotasara hinted at these developments pointing that Maken’s tour will start from this week. It is believed that Maken, who is coming for the first

Ajay Maken

time since being appointed the in-charge, will start his tour from Jaipur, where he will hold various meets of party workers and leaders and listen to their issues and grievances, if any.

It is also being said that Maken will complete the state tour in two phases for which district- level leaders are being assigned different roles and respon-

sibilities. There leaders have been tasked with getting local workers and leaders to interact and meet Maken.

Interestingly, word is that a dinner will be organised at the CMR in honour of the new state in-charge wherein, MLAs, ministers and selected Congress leaders will be invited. Maken will be formally introduced to the MLAs and others during this dinner.

Mughal-e-Azam, and making Italian dishes instead of serving people of the state.

“Now, there has been an agreement between them...don’t know on what grounds it has been done and how long it will last. Gehlot leveled allegations on BJP but they failed to handle their internal issues and infighting, but they blamed BJP instead,”

said Nadda.

The BJP Chief asked the state unit to apprise people of the work done by the Centre including providing free ration till November, free gas, Atmanirbhar Bharat package, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, electrification of villages etc.

“The state unit should be concerned with motivating ideologically disciplined workers. The commitment level should be high and this will happen only when we give them political content.”

He added that to provide political content, the IT cell should prepare good contents and popularise them through whatsapp at grassroots.

He asked the party’s State President Satish Poonia to form a Whats App group at all 52,000 booths, with 100-150 members connected to each group.

Poonia said the consumers are hit with inflated power bills and the government is doing nothing.

Modi Govt failed to deliver on promises made: Dotasra Jaipur: Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President Govind Singh Dotasara on Sunday said that the Modi government failed to deliver on the promises made during elections and people will settle scores at the right time.

Targeting BJP President JP Nadda, he said that the Centre does not want to be transparent for the PM CARES Fund, but it accused Congress of corruption.

“Nadda is saying that the public has a short memory, but he is wrong. The promises made during elections on reducing unemployment, controlling inflation, bringing black money are still in the memory of people and they will give a befitting reply,” Dotasara told reporters.

He said that the PM himself has praised the State Government’s work and therefore, there is no value of the allegations levelled by BJP’s local leaders.

Dotasara, who is also the Education Minister,

Govind Singh Dotasara

said that the State Government did excellent management of COVID-19 in the state.

He said that BJP had announced to move a ‘no confidence motion’ in the Assembly, but when the State Government moved the motion of confidence in House, four BJP MLAs disappeared and the party too does not know where they had gone.

The minister further said that the BJP was engaged in efforts to destabilise the State Government during the Corona pandemic. “It was the time to come together to fight against Corona, but the BJP was

busy making attempts to topple the State Government,” he said.

He said that BJP which is questioning the State Government over Corona management, could not protect its own three ministers including Amit Shah from the Coronavirus.

Dotasara informed that the AICC General Secretary in- charge for Rajasthan, Ajay Maken will come to the state and will hold meetings with the party MLAs and leaders.

Dotasara said that the State Executive Committee will be announced after discussing with him,

Pande on Mission Letter to Sonia by Congress Manipur leaders is unfortunate: Gehlot

Jaipur: After successfully completing a three year term in Rajasthan as In-charge, AICC General Secretary, Avinash Pande has been delegated with new responsibility by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, as on Sunday, Pande was given the task of handling Congress’s ‘Mission Manipur.’ The Congress in Imphal has witnessed massive ‘movement’ as 8 MLAs have defied party

From P1

whip, of which, 6 have left the party and 5 of it’s 28 MLAs, have joined BJP while Pande will fly to Manipur’ today to handle the crisis and bring the party on top.

AVINASH PANDE@avinashpandeinc Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji, very bravely, strengthened the Party by providing a visionary leadership for more than past two decades, while @RahulGandhi ji has put his heart and soul in nurturing the core values of the 135 years Grand Old Party. @RahulGandhi ji is certainly the face of the Party now, having faced political adversities, so courageously so far. I express my complete trust and confidence in Sonia ji’s and Rahul ji’s leadership, which alone is capable of helping @INCIndia bounce back to it’s old glory.

Congressmen in all regions have trust over Gandhi’s leadership,” he said.

The Rajasthan Chief Minister later tweeted, “I strongly believe that Hon’ble CP Smt Sonia Gandhi ji should continue to lead the party at this crucial juncture where the fight is to save the ethos of our Democracy. She has always taken challenges head on. But if she has made up her mind - I believe @RahulGandhi should come ahead and be the Congress President as country faces the biggest challenge to save our Constitution - Democracy.”

Gehlot said democracy is under threat and a struggle to save it is going on and there-

CM Ashok Gehlot

fore, “we should not step back”.

“The Gandhi family has kept the party united and in the time of crisis, we need them,” he told PTI. “It is disappointing that the letter was written and it was taken to the media. There is a wide acceptability of the family in all caste, creed and re-

gions across the country,” he said.

Gehlot also said that the letter has created resentment among party workers.

“If the sentiments of the party workers are hurt for personal things and the party falls apart, then history will not forgive us,” the Chief Minister said.

RHB’S ‘GREEN’ INITIATIVE WELL RECEIVED! Dozens of people turn up for app based tree plantation drive Shivendra Parmar Jaipur: Rajasthan Housing Board Commissioner, Pawan Arora said that due to the holiday on Sunday, coupled with a pleasant weather, people contributed to the ‘RHB Green Campaign’ by planting large number of saplings in City Park, Mansarovar.

It is noteworthy that plantation was in two slots in the park at 8 to 10 am and 4 to 6 pm.

“Plantation was started in the city park

by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday. There was tremendous enthusiasm among the planters on Sunday and everyone appreciated this initiative of Housing Board.

Dozens of people took part in this plantation programme with their families,” he said.

The Commissioner informed that keeping the Covid-19 pandemic in view, plantation is being done while ensuring social distancing.

“For this, the mobile

Residents plant saplings during the RHB’s, ‘RHB Green Campaign’ in Jaipur on Sunday at City Park, Mansarovar.

app ‘RHB Green’ has been specially designed

by the Board. Those wishing to plant sap-

lings, can register themselves on this app

through their mobile phones and will be able

to plant on their desired day in the desired time slot. Only those who register on the website or app, can plant saplings. This mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play Store,” Arora said.

In this way, saplings will be planted in 4 slots every week and a maximum of 50 people will be invited.

Notably, planters are being given a healthy plant of up to 10 feet height free of charge to take home, besides providing them an exchange kit of fertilizer and insecticides for the plant.

The Rajasthan Housing Board has made special arrangements for snacks for the people who plant trees here. Counters have been set-up at the plantation site in the City Park, where special arrangements have been made for snack and shade for the common people.

Along with this, hundreds of employees of Housing Board are present on the spot for help in plantation. To make the park greener at the earliest, special 12 to 14 feet high plants are being planted here.

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09

JAIPUR, MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2020

Alia Bhatt

Apart from following all the necessary exercise routines and being on strict diets in order to stay fit, Bollywood Actresses have their ‘Binge Moments’ in-between shoots or shows, when they feast on their favourite dishes from across the globe. After all, they have cravings too!

NEHAL NAYAR

nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in

B

ollywood industry is a power-house of talent and glamour. Apart from acing the silver screens with their acting skills, the celebrities are known and looked upon to for taking good care of their appearance.

Each one of them spend hours working out to maintain their physique, but on some days they deserve a cheat meal, don’t they?

There are a few celebrities who treat their fans with balancing content- they moti-

Shilpa Shetty Kundra

vate them to be fit and healthy, but also try their best to spread the message that cheat days are important too. Just like laymen, there are various Bollywood actresses who never fail to share drool-worthy content on their social media handles, while they binge-eat!

Shilpa Shetty Kundra tops the chart of foodies, hands-down. Her ‘Sunday-Binge’ moment is something that people wait for every week. Known for being a yogaenthusiast and a fitness freak, Shilpa never fails to make the viewers drool over her binge moments; she sure is the fittest foodie in the industry.

The fashion icon of the Bollywood industry, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is yet another known-foodie. She has a strong fetish for chocolates and keeps sharing pictures of herself with food on her social media handles.

Kiara Advani, who’s one of the prettiest and sexiest actresses of the industry at the moment works extremely hard towards getting the desired body. But at the same time, she never forgets to grab her cheat meal whenever and wherever she gets the chance. That’s more like it; isn’t it?

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who has been nailing it with her skills in not just Bollywood but Hollywood too, is a major foodie. She was seen sharing a Pizza with her husband Nick Jonas on the balcony of their hotel room right before they hit the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Cute.

The list of foodies in B’Town can just go on and on with Parineeti Chopra, Rakul Preet Singh, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and many more being a part of it.

Rakul Preet Kaur

(Clockwise) Kiara Advani, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Priyanka Chopra Jonas

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10

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

GURMAN SINGH cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

T

FA CE OF TH ED AY

he Most Electrifying Person in All of Entertainment”, Dwayne Johnson, byname ”The Rock” is an AmericanCanadian actor, producer, businessman, retired professional wrestler, and former American football player. whose charisma and athleticism made him a success in all the fields.

Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers. Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-perview event ever (WrestleMania XXVIII) and was featured among the most-watched episodes of WWE’s two flagship television shows (Raw and SmackDown).

He has won several championships, being a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a 5-time tag team champion, and

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

a 10-time world champion. He was also a Royal Rumble match winner and WWE’s sixth Triple Crown champion. From delivering dialogues in his typical breathless style, flaunting the raised one eyebrow, and playing the archetypal ‘tough guy’ Johnson had his first leading film role in The Scorpion King (2002) and has since starred in several commercially successful

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

You are a child at heart and never let this child die. You have a big heart and you always help someone if you can. You love gardening and you can spend day in doing only that.

Video gathering is possible as you miss your social circle like anything.

Best day to buy gold and silver.

You give tough competition to people. Many people get inspired by you. You will get special treatment from your dear ones. Your time invested in studies will not get wasted and stop making excuses. Opposing views must not be nurtured. Be easy going and don’t take too much tension.

You must see a doctor if you have any doubts about your health. Don’t attack stress even if you don’t have any. Let go of things that are not in your control. You want to have your own house and you will work hard to make your dream come true.

Being an adventurer is your thing.

You make sure to make things work your way. You are most wanted by your friends. You can have romantic affair in office and a serious one. You will invest to of money in clothes and accessories today. You are a God fearing person. Fun and excitement on cards today.

MAR 21 - APR 20

APR 21 - MAY 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

There may be delays in property possession and it won’t effect you. You are happy spending whole day at home. Some of you may feel very lazy today. Help your mothers at home today and give them a reason to smile. Silly behaviour should not be encouraged in business.

You workout daily to keep yourself fit. You may start a side business to earn extra money. You are not a jealous kind and you feel happy for others. Family may arrange a meeting with an eligible bachelor.

You are a very grounded person.

Don’t overspend.

Your personality will attract many eligible bachelors.

You don’t take rejections easily and that s not how things should be always. You may need a friend’s help n love related matter. Spend time talking with likeminded people as it will make you feel good for now.

You will feel amorous towards your wife. Work on your limitations, there can be no better time than this. You have more opposite sex friends than the same and you may be judged sometimes but don’t care.

Approval is needed from all the business investors before decision.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You are very generous by nature and also you are the backbone of your family.

Today is a favourable day for business. You may postpone your study plans. Be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. Your lover may finally yes to get married to you. You are very fortunate.

You need a break from day to tensions and the way to cope up with stress is to meditate. You will succeed in any sort of examination if you put your heart and soul to it. Promotion can be expected even if other are not.

Difficult job must be avoided today.

You will earn good money.

Your spouse may make you spend more than you expected. Fantastic day for investing money in stock market as you can make fortune. You miss your parents a lot and somewhere fear to loose them. Admit your faults in relationship. Determined spirit is all you need to reach your goal.

You may have a little fight with sibling but don’t drag it and make peace asap.

You care about you lover but somehow hesitate in expressing that care. On social front, you may have to spend some extra money in buying gifts for someone for some specific occasion.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

SANYA HISSARIA, Model

films, including The G a m e Plan, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Hercules, San Andreas, Central Intelligence, Moana, Rampage, and Skyscraper.

Johnson’s most successful box office role has been as Luke Hobbs in The Fast Saga films He first appeared in Fast Five and helped catapult the series into one of the highestgrossing film franchises ever. Later in his spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw. He also stars in the Jumanji franchise, appearing in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level.

Johnson produced and starred in the HBO series Ballers (2015– 2019), which ran for five seasons and was ranked as HBO’s mostwatched comedy in six years. He has also attained success as a television host and autobiography author. In 2000, he released the autobiography The Rock Says... which debuted atop The New York Times Best Seller list.

In 2012, he founded the production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has since produced several films and other entertainment projects. Consistently ranked among the world’s highestpaid actors, Johnson made the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list in 2016 and 2019 and is the co-owner of the American football league, the XFL.

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

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‘When it rains, I share my umbrella’

P

JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

osing with a yellow umbrella amid the rainy season, actor Katrina Kaif on Sunday treated her fans with a refreshing all smiles picture. The ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ actor posted to Instagram an adorable picture as she holds a big yellow umbrella as the prop. In the picture, Kaif is seen in a casual avatar as she flaunts her long legs while sporting white ripped denim shorts with matching hoodie and yellow sports shoes. The actor is seen holding a yellow umbrella as she leaves her luscious locks open while smilingly posing for the camera.

The ‘Bharat’ actor noted in the caption, “When it rains, I share my umbrella. If I have no umbrella, I share the rain - anonymous.” Filmmaker Homi Adajania along with more than 3 lakh netizens liked the picture within thirty-two minutes of being posted.

The actor has been quite active on the photo-sharing platform and cherishes more than 42 million followers. Earlier, actors Kaif joined other Bollywood divas in Instagram’s viral ‘women supporting women’ challenge and posted a monochrome picture of herself wearing a grey solid T-shirt and a pair of shots with it.

—ANI

Katrina Kaif; (inset) Her post

Confident to release

A

mid the shuttering of theatres due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Reliance Entertainment has expressed faith that ‘Sooryavanshi’ and ‘83’ will be able to stick to their scheduled release dates on Diwali and Christmas.

The Reliance Entertainment on its official Twitter handle wrote, “We are very confident that the ongoing theatrical exhibition situation will improve much in time for the release of our awaited films, Sooryavanshi and 83, this Diwali and Christmas, respectively.” Reliance Entertainment Group CEO Shibashish Sarkar said that though they are committed to releasing the films in theatres, they do not want to push the release dates any further.

“Just to reiterate we are 100 per cent inclined to release Sooryavanshi & 83 in theatres,” Sarkar tweeted.

—ANI

11

TROUBLE FOR SPEARS

Britney Spears

B

ritney Spears‘ father Jamie Spears is pushing to reinstate someone else in his daughter’s finances. The 68-year-old father of the 39-yearold Glory singer submitted a petition to the Superior Court of California on August 19 requesting to have Andrew Wallet, an attorney who handled her finances until 2019, return as co-conservator of her estate. In the document, Jamie asked that he and Andrew be granted the “power to obtain all documents and records” relating to her estate, including “all contracts, information relating to credit cards, bank statements, estate planning documents, receivables, and any and all powers of attorney.” The filing also revealed that she has a total of USD 2.7 million in cash assets and an estimated USD 57.4 million in non-cash assets as of December 31.

—Agency

NOT TOO HAPPY

S

inger Katy Perry is not too happy with people comparing her to fellow female singers.

She pointed out that male singers are never made to compete, but she gets comments comparing her to artistes like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga.

“We never see Niall Horan and Shawn Mendes fighting, you don’t read about Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber fighting, right? You never hear that,” she said during a podcast.

“But take any female performer and you hear about it every single day. You wanna read my Twitter comments? No, you don’t, because it’s like, ‘who’s better than who?

Who’s skinnier than who? Who’s sold more number ones than who?

Who’s doing better this year than who? Who made this much more?’

‘Okay, well, what about just liking the music? Why?” she asked.

—Agency

FRENCH GIRL

R

eminiscing about a trip to Paris, France, actor Kangana Ranaut on Sunday revealed how she is always misunderstood for a French person.

The ‘Queen’ actor shared some never-seenbefore pictures on Twitter through her team’s handle and said, “Paris. I like France but wherever I travel America, Europe, Middle East people just assume I am French, they even speak to me in French.”

Talking further about what people assume when they tell them that she’s Indian, the ‘Panga’ actor added, “when I say I am Indian they assume I am French based in India, worse with my friends from north east everyone assume they are chinese.”

Ranaut took a walk down the memory lane as she posted pictures from some of the cherished moments in France. In the first picture, Kangana is seen smilingly posing in a hotel lobby as she sports a light purple dress, on the other hand, the other pictures show the actor posing with her friends while she sat with her friends and they posed at the dinner table.

—ANI

CONGRATULATIONS

‘T

he Notebook’ star Rachel McAdams as she gets ready to welcome baby number 2. The Mean Girls star and her boyfriend, Jamie Linden, are expecting their second child together. While the couple has not commented on the news, the actress was photographed out in Los Angeles debuting her baby bump this week.

In April 2018, reports revealed the couple welcomed a baby boy, whose name has yet to be publicly shared. The star is notoriously private about her personal life, but she has made the rare comment or two about what it’s like to be a mom.

Months after welcoming her first child, the actress said that becoming a mom was the “greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, hands down.” “People say your life is not your own anymore,” McAdams shared. “But I had 39 years of me, I was sick of me, I was so happy to put the focus on some other person. I waited a long time for motherhood.”

—Agency

...her post Kangana Ranaut

Katy Perry

Rachel McAdams

CITY BUZZ www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

T

Swapnil K Gulale

dets will join for gruelling training at their respective academies at OTA, Chennai and Air Force Academy, Dundigal, Hyderabad.

Swapnil K Gulale, an NCC Cadet of 5 Gujarat

CITY FIRST

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ecently installed art installation in Albert Hall has awakened the curiosity of the visitors. The mask art installation has been established with the aim of bringing awareness among the people towards preserving the monuments and the cultural heritage of the country. This installation, built under the ‘Design Conclave 2020’ organised by the Department of Science and Technology and Design Cohort of the Government of Rajasthan, is based on contemporary art and is inspired by the social distancing protocol of COVID-19.

Through the installation, people have been given the message that just like we use masks to protect ourselves against Covid virus, similarly the monuments also need to be protected from pollution and deterioration. Visitors will keep these monuments clean and if they do not spoil, then the heritage of our country will remain forever. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Batallion and student of Sir P. T. Sarvajanik College of Science, Surat will pass

out as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army after completing 49 weeks of training.

Senior Under Officer Jaydattsinh P Sarvaiya from PDPU got success

Art Installation in form of a mask at the Albert Hall

Kumar Pachar inaugurated the event and welcomed the speaker, Er. Pradeep Garg. The event was organised to prepare students for upcoming online placements. Pradeep shared his experience in preparation for the interview that a candidate required to face an interview. Assistant Prof. Nishant Sachdeva hoisted the event whereas Head, Training and Placement Cell, Dr Amber Srivastava extended the vote of thanks. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

EHPVO successful I n Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, the patients are being treated regularly, following all the necessary rules related to the corona epidemic seriously.

The untiring efforts of Neurosciences team’s Neuro Vascular Interventional Radiologist Dr Sitaram Barath, Gastrologist Dr Dhawal Vyas and team, Dr Karuna from the Department of Anesthesia, Dr Neha, Dr Manav, Cath Lab and CCU staff have successfully treated a patient suffering from EHPVO (extrahepatic portal vein obstruction).

Dr Sitaram Barath shared that the pa-

Team at GMCH

tient from Pratapgarh came to GMCH with the problem of blood with faeces. Due to the increase in pressure in the colletal veins, blood was flowing and the main vein was closed.

The obstruction was removed by lever stenting of the main

portal vein by Dr Barth, which started the normal flow of blood.

It is known as EHPVO (Extrahepatic portal vein obstruction).

This disease is generally very rare. The patient is now completely disease-free and has been discharged after seven days. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

SURVIVAL IS A CHALLENGE CITY FIRST

“W

hen we talk about startups is only about money making, but there is another stuff that’s hidden in all business, Value. And Value is also wealth. The value business generates is way more appreciated than money it creates. Most startups forget the importance of value while they are running behind money.” said Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder & President, Indian Angel Network (IAN) addressing at the Interactive session on Wealth

lege and family. NCC has helped them to develop discipline, character, comradeship and a suitable environment to take up a career in the armed forces. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Dr AKHILESH JAIN

INTERVIEW

A

Jaydattsinh P Sarvaiya

BEING LONELY T

TIPS FOR ONLINE webinar on ‘How to Face Interviews’ jointly organised by the Department of Civil Engineering and the Training & Placement Cell, Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology (SKIT) and Student Chapter of Indian Concrete Institute witnesses its inaugural ceremony at (SKIT), Jaipur where students across the country participated. The Principal, SKIT, Dr Ramesh

through Air Force Common Admission Test (AFCAT). Earlier another NCC cadet from PDPU, Cdt Joshi Achal Dharmendra Kumar had joined Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala for permanent commission in the Executive Branch (General Service) of the Indian Navy.

These boys have credited their success to their training as an NCC cadet, as well as support from col-

Awakening Curiosity Being alone is not

CITY FIRST

CITY FIRST

12

NCC: PRIDE OF INDIA

CITY FIRST

wo NCC cadets Swapnil K Gulale from Surat and Jaydattsinh P Sarvaiya from Bhavnagar have been selected to join Army & Air Force respectively as officers. Swapnil joined through NCC Special Entry Scheme which allows the cadets to report directly for the interview on account of holding an NCC ‘C’ certificate with A/B grading whereas Jayduttsinh cracked AFCAT written exam for becoming an Aeronautical Engineer in Indian Air Force. Both ca-

JAIPUR | MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2020

During the interactive session

Creation Through Startups organised virtually by Yi Kota Chapter on Sunday.

Keynote speaker at the interactive session Ruparel also added that in the current sce-

nario, survival is the main challenge for Startups and less than 10% make it past the first year.

Welcoming the delegates and speaker at the interactive session, Saurabh Shourie, Chair – Yi Kota Chapter said that the aim of entrepreneurs should be to create a profitable business with a long term vision for growth. Shourie also briefed about the CII – Yi initiatives.

Mr Prashast Jain, Chair, Yi Kota Entrepreneurship Vertical moderated the session. Mr Bhuvan Gaur, Co-Chair - Yi Kota Chapter proposed the vote of thanks at the end of the session. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

he ongoing pandemic has widely introduced the concept of self-isolation or quarantine for one’s safeguard as well as others.

The quintessential element of paradox that has emerged out during this period of isolation is the interpretation of being alone and feeling lonely. The dialectical understanding of these two similarsounding words is very important as the wrong interpretation may create cascades of emotional upheavals and further gloomy situation.

Being alone refers to physical isolation, where you have detached yourself physically, though your longings, connectedness with friends and families, your aspirations and expectations, sense of belongingness, communication, all remain intact and active, though with a change of environment and modes of communication. Nevertheless, you feel social, emotionally and spirituality integrated

HOD, Psychiatry ESI Model Hospital, Jaipur

with whom you adore and that sense of belongingness becomes the foundation of your intact mental wellbeing, thus keeping your morale high, expectation alive and desire to conquer the crisis keeps firing.

This is how you may find it quite easy to survive such hard time with no tangible physical or psychological trauma.

On the contrary feeling loneliness is something beyond being alone. You may physically well be placed in crowd or family yet you may feel lonely as long as your connectedness with surroundings gets lost, your aspirations target no definitive goals, your expectations from loved ones seems to have been fading away, your

communication finds no source to pay heed, your desires have no accomplishments, the relationship becomes insipid and your recognition as an individual seems withering.

You find your existence languishing just because you do not have someone to acknowledge it.

Hence the loneliness may induce juggernaut of emotional consequences such as anxiety, fear, boredom, uncertainty, confusion, depression etc.

With this understanding of the difference between being alone and feeling lonely, one ought to learn that isolation or quarantine during COVID 19 is nothing but a mere protective strategy that may lead you feeling alone but not lonely. Keeping our bondings intact, emotions positive and communication alive, we may substantially avert the associated psychological trauma.

Our understanding about this fact can very well help us to fight the situation positively keeping our spirit high and hopes alive. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

The satirical drama ‘Indian Wife vs Yamraj’, directed

by Manoj Swamy and written by Neeraj Sarna, was successfully staged on the stage of Nettet Next Aera Theater.

GUJARAT: On the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, a Pooja was performed to welcome Lord Ganesha on Saturday at Atal Samvedana in Surat, by Salim and Shankar.