First India-Jaipur Edition-24 July 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

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ALERT JAIPUR l FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

WORLD

COVID-19 UPDATE

6,32,836 1,55,10,588 CONFIRMED CASES

DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 12,854 DEATHS 3,47,502 CASES

DELHI 3,745 DEATHS 1,27,364 CASES

RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 48

INDIA

DEATHS

Jaipur: The stage is set for bringing forth the ‘facts’ in the fortnight long battle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his nemesis Sachin Pilot. Hours after the Chief Minister told the reporters that the assembly session would be called “very soon”, Governor Kalrj Mishra gave his approval on calling the session from Monday ie July

voting could be done online, in line with similar approach in a few other countries. Before leaving for Raj Bhawan, Gehlot met his ‘natural ally’ and Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi at his Civil Lines residence, may be on a courtesy call.

According to sources, Gehlot is overconfident of his clearing the floor test with a thumping majority.

One of the reason may be that at present all Gehlot camp MLAs are staying at ‘fortified’ Fairmont Hotel under a close supervision and therefore there is a little chance of any MLA defying the whip of the party to vote for Gehlot government. But at the same time, Pilot camp is also confident of Gehlot enjoying the support of only 88 MLAs against CM’s public claim of 102 MLAs’ support. So now all eyes are on Monday or Tuesday, when Gehlot is likely to face the Trust Vote.

Interestingly, there is a flip side to this development and that is on the part of the Governor Kalraj Mishra. Pilot camp was extremely hopeful that at this critical juncture, the Governor would not agree to the state government’s request on calling an assembly session. However, the Governor behaved in a different but constitutional manner.

Moreover, the entire development has two clear messages. First is that while working in a completely democratic manner, Union Home Ministry did not issue any direction or advice to the Governor in handling the present political crisis in his own con-

CM MEETS GUV; ASSEMBLY SESSION ON MONDAY;

GEHLOT CONFIDENT OF WINNING TRUST VOTE

stitutional manner. There is a second message too ie in the fight between Gehlot and Pilot camps, BJP’s top leadership does not intend to be involved.

Now, it is believed that since the process for assembly session has been initiated, a file in this regard can reach Raj Bhawan late in the night on which the Governor’s approval may be sought at night itself.

However, Thursday night’s ‘development’ has got tongues to roll and various pertinent questions are being raised in the political and bureaucratic circles. The first and extremely important question being if the trust vote goes Gehlot’s way, which it appears to be going, will that end the ‘war’ ongoing between Gehlot and Pilot camps? Secondly, will it also put an end to the tussle or face-off between Centre and State through the phone tapping and CBI entry ban in Rajasthan?

While the answer to this may not be clear as yet, however most of the political observers believe that answer to be a clear “NO”.

The first reason for this being that Pilot has literally closed all the doors of him returning to Congress fold since the former deputy chief minister hopes to settle his score for the alleged ‘humiliation or being

DEATHS

GUJARAT 2,256 DEATHS 52,563 CASES

MORAL VICTORY 27, after his twenty minute long meeting with the Chief Minister at Raj Bhawan on Thursday. During the meeting the Governor also reportedly enquired about the current political situation and about his majority from the Chief Minister. Highly placed sources revealed that the session would be called for three days during which Gehlot will present a vote of confidence. However, due to the Corona crisis, the

594

CONFIRMED CASES

#RAJASTHANPOLITICALCRISIS

Aditi Nagar

RAJASTHAN

30,645 12,86,877

TAMIL NADU 3,232 DEATHS 1,92,964 CASES

FOR GEHLOT

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sidelined during the last one and a half years of his stay in Gehlot government.

This coupled with his natural ‘desire’ to be the Chief Minister. Secondly, even though he claimed that he will not join BJP, he has come closer to the saffron party during the last couple of weeks. Some people even say that Pilot and BJP are now ‘natural allies’.

On the other hand, after being upset and frustrated with Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate raids on his close confidantes and some of his close relatives, during the last ten day, Gehlot has gone more aggressive on the centre calling all these raids as political vendetta.

Meanwhile, Gehlot’s daring move to put a entry ban on CBI in Rajasthan has further worsened the state and centre’s relationship and therefore CBI appears to be all set to register a formal FIR in Rajsthan phone tapping case, which can have multiple repercussions. In this case, CBI is likely to enter Rajasthan via some other ‘central route’ or through the court, as it happened in West Bengal in Kolkata Police Commissioner case.

So, there is a slim possibility of some sort of ceasefire between Gehlot and Pilot camps and between Gehlot government and the centre.

PILOT TO HOLD MEETING Sacked Deputy CM Sachin Pilot will meet MLAs supporting him on Friday in Delhi where he is expected to hold a meeting with them to churn out upcoming strategy.

RAJ HC TO ANNOUNCE VERDICT TODAY The Rajasthan High Court will announce its judgement on the petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the Assembly Speaker on Friday. The HC had on Wednesday requested the Speaker to defer action on disqualification notices till Friday.

33,220

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 1,616 DEATHS 80,863 CASES

SC TO JOSHI: VOICE OF DISSENT IN A DEMOCRACY CAN’T BE SHUT New Delhi: Voice of dissent in a democracy cannot be shut down, the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it questioned Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi on the reasons for initiating disqualification proceedings against 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

However, the Supreme

Court made it clear that the judgment of the High Court will be subject to the Apex Court’s verdict.

High Court will deliver its judgment in the matter on Friday, July 24. While SC will hear the matter next on July 27.

The top court’s observation came when senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Joshi, listed the reasons Turn on P6

CP Joshi

Sachin Pilot

EC defers bypolls for 1 LS, 7 Assembly seats New Delhi: The Election Commission has deferred by-elections for one Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats due to “some extraordinary circumstances peculiar to these constituencies” and the poll panel will meet on Friday to discuss scheduling of these bypolls.

The states where the bypolls have been deferred are --Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, two assembly seats each in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, and one each in Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Most of these seats fell vacant due to the death of sitting members.

A senior EC official said the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood situation were two reasons behind the decision.

As per the electoral law,

EC has to hold bye-elections within 180 days (six months) of a seat falling vacant, another official pointed out.

The six-month deadline to hold by-elections in these eight seats was ending on different dates in July, August and September respectively.

When the EC assessed the situation, it found that it is difficult to adhere to the sixmonth deadline in these seats, and approached the Union law ministry to defer the polls, the official said.

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, in certain cases, the EC, in consultation with the Central government (the Union law ministry), certifies that it is difficult to hold the by-election within the six-month period.

Turn on P6

Audio clips genuine, send them abroad for forensic test: Gehlot We have a majority. All Congress MLAs are united: CM Naresh Sharma Jaipur: Targeting Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said the audio clips which indicate an alleged plot to topple his government can be sent abroad for forensic tests.

Without taking the minister’s name, Ge-

hlot questioned why he is not coming forward to give a voice sample. Rejecting the charge that the audio clips are fabricated, he said they can be sent to any forensic science laboratory for examination.

“We can send it for FSL testing to America if they have no trust in the Rajasthan govern-

CM Ashok Gehlot interacting with media.

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR

ment,” he said, adding that the Congress also did not trust the Centre.

Why is he not giving a voice test? He should come forward for it, the CM said, in an apparent reference to Shekhawat whom the party has accused of trying to lure Congress MLAs. Shekhawat has denied the charge that it his voice on tape.

CM Gehlot also expressed confidence that he has a majority, a day before a crucial verdict

on a petition by Sachin Pilot and other Congress rebels who are threatening his government. It is worth mentioning here that HC will give its verdict on plea of Pilot and 18 dissident MLAs today.

“We have a majority. All Congress MLAs are united,” the Chief Minister told reporters. “Those who have gone to court, those who have strayed, their only point is whether the disquali-

fication notices served to them were justified. It has nothing to do with the anti-defection law,” Gehlot said.

Gehlot said he expected some rebels to return.

“Some have been held hostage. Bouncers have been hired to guard them. They are calling us. We are hoping they will vote with us. We have full majority and with that majority, we will go to the house,” he said.

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Avinash Pande, Govind Singh Dotasara, Sanyam Lodha, Rafeek Khan, Amin Khan and Giriraj Malinga along with others during a friendly conversation on Thursday at Hotel Fairmont.

02

Manju Meghwal tweeted a pic along with Krishna Poonia & Mamta Bhupesh on the occasion of Teej. These MLAs are presently holed up in Hotel Fairmont.

IS CORONA

‘QUARANTINED’ HERE?

E CHITTER-CHATTER

Randeep Surjewala, Govind Singh Dotasara, Raghuveer Meena, and Rafeek Khan along with other Congress MLAs discussing the political situation of Rajasthan at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur on Thursday.

MLAs of Sachin Pilot camp strategising at ITC Grand Bharat Hotel in Manesar.

—FILE PHOTO

ven as the Congress MLAs from Rajasthan are holed up in Hotels, a million dollar question, doing the rounds in the power corridors is, “So far we have heard about diplomatic immunity, is there also anything like ‘Corona immunity’ for warring political parties/MLAs ?” People are asking when nobody is allowed inside the hotels where MLAs are staying at present, will the prohibition also stop Coronavirus from entering the premises?

CM Gehlot might adopt the ‘Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formula’ which he had embraced to prove Raj DLs to encourage majority of his government in 2008, when it was said to have lost the confidence of the House organ donation

Assembly to be the ‘last resort’ in Raj power tussle Yogesh Sharma Jaipur: The power struggle which began at Manesar resort might have travelled to the High Court and Supreme Court, but may finally settle at the obvious place, the state legislative assembly. There might be a special session of assembly convened soon. CM Gehlot might adopt the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formula. It is being assumed that CM Gehlot might take the initiative and prove his majority on the floor of the house. He himself might move the confidence motion for his government in the house since BJP has so far hesitated in demanding a floor test. Giving a boost to this theory is CM Gehlot himself who has said that the assembly

PARTY WISE TALLY

200 SEATS

could be convened.

CM Ashok Gehlot had adopted the same process to prove the majority of his government in 2008 when it was said to have lost the confidence of the house. This process was first adopted by late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had proved his majority in the house by passing a confidence motion for his government on January 23, 1990, November 8, 1990, and December 31, 1993.

Shekhawat had the support of 85 MLAs in 1990 and 95 MLAs in 1993.

Similarly, CM Gehlot also had proved the majority of his government on January 3, 2009, when Congress had only 96 seats in the house of 200.

Congress had passed the majority test with help from MLAs from BSP and the ones who had won in the by-elections.

Out of 107 Congress MLAs if 19 dissidents are deducted then Con-

gress comes down to 88 MLAs. One MLA Master Bahnwar Lal Meghwal is hospitalized and is said to be on Gehlot’s side while Dr CP Joshi’s vote will only be valid if the ayes and nays are equal on floor. So effectively Congress has the support of 87 MLAs. Two MLAs each from BTP and CPI have announced support for Gehlot. RLD MLA Dr Subhash Garg is already part of the Congress. With the sup-

n INC 107 n BJP 72 n CPI 2 n BTP 2 n RLD 1 n RLP 3 n Independents 13 port of these 5, the government has the support of 92 MLAs. Add to these 10 independents who have announced support for Gehlot government the figure of 102 stands in the favour of Ashok Gehlot government.

Now the game of probability… If the dissidents abscond from floor test then the majority figure for present and voting 177 MLAs would be 89 which is within reach of CM Gehlot.

Raj HC demands CBI probe I’ve got used to pain these days: Sibal in crop loan waiver scheme to Justice Mishra during SC hearing First India Bureau

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has filed public litigation demanding the CBI to investigate the alleged corruption in the Rajasthan crop loan waiver scheme, 2018. Under the scheme, loans of farmers of up to Rs 50,000 were waived off.

The court has issued notices to CS, Principal Cooperative Secretary,

Principal Finance Secretary, Cooperative Registrar, and Dholpur Collector among others. The bench of CJ Indrajit Mahanti and Judge Prakash Gupta heard the PIL of Ramswaroop Verma. As per the petition, the state government had implemented the scheme in 2018 to waive loans of up to Rs 50,000 from farmers’ cooperative and land development banks.

Nizam Kantaliya New Delhi: The pain hidden inside Kapil Sibal came out in open while hearing the Rajasthan assembly speaker petition in the Supreme Court. While Sibal was making his arguments as counsel for Rajasthan assembly speaker, Justice Arun Mishra asked Sibal

“Why do you seem to be in pain?” To which he replied, “I am not in pain but Salve is smiling.” Justice Mishra

still persisted that Sibal must be in some deep thought. It was then Sibal opened up and said, “I have got used to pain these days.” It is noteworthy that Sibal had openly expressed himself while Rajasthan’s political crisis was getting out of hands and had tweeted asking his party to keep the horses in stable intact.

‘Immunity of people of Raj is fine, but Congs’ has weakened’ Aishwarya Pradhan Jaipur: BJP is saying that Congress does not have a majority clearly.

But they will make a decision only after a concrete outcome. As of now, everybody is waiting for court decisions.

BJP state president Satish Poonia has said that there is a judicial process and we are bound by dignity. We are waiting for the decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court. This is the beauty of the constitution and there is a huge possibility of reforms in the democracy of the country. Such developments have taken place in many states. The party will wait till the decision of the Supreme Court comes.

Speaking on the upcoming assembly session, Poonia said that the Governor can call the session under any circumstances, but such activities should not take place if the matter has reached the Supreme Court. He also commented on the letter written by CM Ashok Gehlot to PM

Satish Poonia

Modi and said that CM has accepted a moral defeat. He said, the immunity of the people of Rajasthan is fine, but Congress’ immunity has weakened.

Deputy leader of the opposition Rajendra Rathore said that what the Supreme Court has said proves that the High Court is right. History will be made by the petition of SC. Rathore also supported the Sachin Pilot camp again and said that if the government had the figure, then the MLAs would not have been gathered at a place.

He also targeted the government on the Gajendra Singh Shekhawat audio case and said that the investigation results will show the truth.

Shivendra Parmar Jaipur: Along with mentioning the blood group of the driver on the driving license issued by the Transport Department, now there will also be information about being an organ donor. The question regarding organ donation after death is being made mandatory while applying for a new license. The step is being taken to promote the ideology of ‘Angdan Mahadan’.

Every year, lakhs of people lose their lives to road accidents. If all those people pledge for organ donation after death, then the lives of lakhs of people can also be saved. As per the government records, about 1.5 lakh people are involved in road accidents in the country every year, including about 10,000 people from Rajasthan.

Out of these, a lot of people even lose their lives.

Transport Commissioner Ravi Jain informed that the question was not made compulsory till now, but now it has been made mandatory.

Increase revenue: Bhaya to Govt teachers bring edu home to students in Jodh officials during review meet ‘SCHOOL CHALE GHAR KI AUR’

Jodhpur: Giving impetus to education during the coronavirus pandemic, teachers of six government schools in a remote village in Jodhpur district are going door-to-door to ensure their students’ learning process continues unabated.

The parents and students of these schools, which come under the PEEO in Berdon ka Bas village in Osian subdivision of the district, are delighted to see these teachers turning

up to their homes to hand over study materials. On the lines of the practice followed every year called praveshotsav to increase enrolments, the teachers are going under the banner of ‘School Chale Ghar Ki Aur’ to each student’s house to distribute self-prepared study materials and books to them while also collecting old books.

The teachers distribute the material from Monday to Friday, while Saturday is designated

for checking the homework and preparing the fresh set of study materials to be distributed the following week.

Bijani, who is the

principal of the Senior Secondary School in Berdon ka Bas, is the brainchild of this plan that was initially conceived for her school

only but later got expanded during a meeting of PEEO and headmasters of three upper primary and two primary schools as they also evinced interest to join the mission.

The idea was triggered by the limitations of the students of government schools in rural areas to access online education. They do not have the required resources for online studies, in absence of which, they were set to suffer,” said Bijani. —PTI

Nirmal Tiwari Jaipur: Amid the prevailing political crisis, the Gehlot government is getting back to work.

Ministers have begun to attend office for the last two days so that routine work is not affected.

After four ministers attended office in the state secretariat on Wednesday, it was the turn of minister for mines Pramod Jain Bhaya who came to his office and cleared im-

Pramod Jain Bhaya

portant files. He also reviewed the department’s activities and instructed officials to increase revenue.

The mining department has been working on increasing revenue

and special efforts are being made to recover old dues, achieve targets.

Special teams have been formed to check illegal mining which is being monitored by the minister himself. Miner minerals mining plots have been identified, which are now allotted district wise through an online auction. It will provide masonry stone, quartz, feldspar, and other necessary minerals that would generate revenue for the department.

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03

STATE RECORDS 11 DEATHS, 886 NEW CASES

Jodhpur reported maximum cases on Thursday with 243 new patients; Raj’s positive tally now stands at 33,220 while toll reaches 594 First India Bureau

Low floor buses being sanitised at bus stop at Sikar road in Jaipur. The buses started operating after a hiatus of 4 months because of coronavirus pandemic.

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR

HC’s notice to DOPT, RPSC on RAS results

Woman kidnaps 3-yr-old, dodges kin, police so far

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has issued notices to Secretary (DOPT) and RPSC, Ajmer in a case related to the recently released RAS 2018 main exams. Justice Indrajit Singh issued the notices while hearing a petition by two aspirants Anurag and Anay who were represented by advocate Ram Pratap Saini.

Advocate Saini pleaded to the court that his clients had appeared in the exam in the departmental employee quota but RPSC failed the quota aspir-

ants while passing the non quota aspirants.

He also alleged that RPSC had cleared only 1.9 times aspirants compared to vacancies unlike earlier.

The petitioners in their petition found it wrong that the answer sheets were checked online and claimed the results declared to be faulty in nature. It demanded to be called for an interview and the results to be declared again.

The High Court has asked Secretary (DOPT) and RPSC, Ajmer to reply to the notices issued by August 11.

Hanumangarh: A 3-year-old girl named Aanchal was abducted by a woman near Bhatner Kila in the town area on Thursday. After getting the information, police started searching at several places, but found nothing. Allegedly the woman wearing a yellow suit was seen picking up the girl from a lane. In a CCTV footage, a woman holding the hand of a girl can be seen buther face is not clearly visible. Victim’s elder sister even followed the accused, but the woman managed to dodge her.

Jaipur: Last 24 hours added 886 new coronavirus positive cases in the state taking the tally so far to 33,220.

Thursday also reported 11 deaths taking the death toll so far to 594.

Three deaths each were reported from Alwar & Bikaner, 2 deaths were reported from Pali and one death each was reported from Jalore, Jodhpur & Nagaur.

Jodhpur reported maximum cases on Thursday with 243 new cases, followed by 133 from Alwar, 95 from Jaipur, 54 from Pali, 43

each from Ajmer & Sikar, 41 each from Bikaner & Kota, 36 from Bharatpur, 28 from Nagaur,17 from Dungarpur, 15 each from Bhilwara & Sri Ganganagar, 12 from Barmer, 11 from Udaipur, 10 from Baran,9 from Bundi, 6 each from Churu & Hanumangarh, 5 each from Banswara, Karauli & Sirohi, 3 each from Dausa & Sawai Madhopur, 2 each from Jaisalmer, Jhalawar & Tonk, 1 each from Chittorgarh & Jhunjhunu, The cumulative district wise tally of the corona positives on

NO NEED TO GET ADMITTED FOR TESTS

Thursday is as follows – Ajmer 1351, Alwar 2227, Banswara 122, Baran 91, Barmer 1089, Bharatpur 2281, Bhilwara 431, Bikaner

1607, Bundi 49, Chittorgarh 225, Churu 541, Dausa 273, Dholpur 1077, Dungarpur 548, Ganganagar 130, Hanumangarh 183, Jaipur

4626, Jaisalmer 159, Jalore 990, Jhalawar 433, Jhunjhunu 512, Jodhpur 5398, Karauli 250, Kota 1161, Nagaur 1212, Pali 2204, Pratapgarh 162, Rajsamand 492, Sawai Madhopur 165, Sikar 833, Sirohi 791, Tonk 247 and Udaipur 1056 along with 182 from other states & countries.

So far 23815 patients have turned negative after receiving treatment. There are 8811 active patients under treatment in various hospitals of the state.

The number of corona positive migrants stands at 6975.

CS takes stock of I-day celebration prep Dr Rituraj Sharma Jaipur: Chief Secretary Rajeeva Swarup chaired a meeting to take stock of preparations for celebration of Independence Day. CS instructed officers to hold the celebration at SMS stadium strictly following corona guidelines.

CS Swarup said that young artists from Sangeet Natak Academy will give attractive cultural performances on the day. Police department will present a dog and horse show. Police, RAC and Home Guards will participate in the parade with due social distancing. Central Police and Army Band will

Rajeeva Swarup during the meeting with Rohit Kumar Singh, Alok Gupta, Mohan Lal Yadav, Bhawani Singh Detha and other officials on Thursday.

also have performances.

CS instructed to ensure social distancing is maintained at the entry & exit gates, in the seating area and also during performances. He said that nobody should be permitted inside the sta-

dium without masks or thermal scanning. CS said that the Independence Day celebration will give spread awareness about corona, through jingles which would be played before the main ceremony. 100

personnel each from police force, health workers, sanitation workers and women & child welfare workers will be invited as corona warriors, who will sit in a special block displaying corona awareness flex

and banners.

PS (GAD) Pritam B Yashwant informed about the programme flow on August 15, during the meeting. The meeting was attended

by ACS (Home) Rohit Kumar Singh, PS (UDH) Bhaskar A Sawant, PS (Tourism) Alok Gupta.

Secretary (UDH) Bhawani Singh Detha, Secretary (Art & Culture) Mugdha Sinha, Commissioner JMC Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Special Secretary (GAD) Mohanlal Yadav. Commissioner DIPR Mahendra Soni, Jaipur Collector Antar Singh Nehra along with senior officers from police, army and various departments.

Guv: Need a plan to impart 3 OFFICIALS HELD IN VARIOUS ACB RAIDS higher education online

After 4 months, film shooting to restart in state

Karmari firing: Papla’s brother, aide arrested

Kashiram Chaudhary

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Jaipur: Governor Kalraj Mishra said that a plan to impart higher education online should be made.

He said that the entire world is in the grip of coronavirus. It has brought life to standstill. Every part of the country and society has been affected. Therefore, in this backdrop higher education should be made online.

Governor was addressing 34th foundation day ceremony of Vardhman Mahaveer Open University. He also inaugurated newly constructed science building and entrepre-

B i k a n e r / Jo d h p u r : Anti Corruption Bureau was very busy on Thursday. Additional SP Rajnish Punia led two separate raids in Sri Dungargarh and Khajuwala in Bikaner.

In Khajuwala rural development officer of Siyasar Chougan Manak Chand was trapped while taking bribe of Rs 3,500 while in Sri Dungargarh’s Punarasar patwari Ramavtar Choudhary was caught while accepting bribe of Rs 10,000.

Meanwhile, in a big operation under Jodhpur ACB DIG Vishnu-

Jaipur: The tourism industry during the transition of corona period, approval has been given to start film shooting again in the state. The Tourism Department has also issued SOP and standard guidelinesfor the same.

Principal Secretary of Tourism Department Alok Gupta said the government has decided to provide special facilities to filmmakers and screenwriters for locations of film shooting due to presence of historical and cultural heritage as well as the attractive landscape all over the state.

Jhunjhunu: Police arrested the brother of Papla Gurjar and another accused from Faridabad Jail on production warrants, in connection with gang war and firing of two groups on Karmari lease a month ago. The two accused were monitoring the entire incident from inside athe jail at the time. Due to the case being high profile, security arrangements in Khetri police station have been increased.

At the same time, the border has been

Governor Kalraj Mishra during the V-C.

neurship and skill development center along with Constitution Park in university campus.

“Skill development is origin of behind human life. Skill development will infuse confidence in youths. They will become self-sufficient.

Skill development will also make the country

Atmanirbhar,” he said.

Higher education minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati said that corona has affected high education, and a new strategy is required considering changing circumstances.

Vice chancellor R S Godara also presented his views on the matter.

kant, the ACB Jodhpur has trapped gram sevak of Phalodi tehsil.

He had asked for an amount as bribe from the complainant to make a job card for them for MNREGA. ACB’s additional Superintendant of Police Durgsingh Rajpurohit led the team that arrested the gram sevak while accepting Rs 1,300 bribe at his government residence on Thursday.

Anti Corruption Bureau officials said that the accused Jaswantram had demanded Rs 1,800 from Khivsingh for making MNREGA job card for him and his family.

sealed in many areas along the Haryana border in Khetri and everyone entering the state is being closely examined.

SHO Surendra Singh Degra informed that on June 15, there was a gang war between two parties over a lease in Karmari’s Bhukri ki Dhani, in which a young man died on the spot during the firing.

In the interrogation of accused Sonu Singh, it was revealed that the case is related to the most wanted criminal of Kahiroli in Haryana Papla Gurjar.

Man strangles wife & two Survey for CM’s food security scheme begins children before hanging self TO HELP THE NEEDY

Vikas Sharma Jaipur: Following the instructions of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, a survey work has begun to aid the initiative to provide food security to the destitute and needy families and individuals who cannot afford daily and consistent bread, in the state. This survey work will go on till August 3.

The state government has issued instructions to all the

district collectors in this regard in an official letter.

During the survey, the information received from the destitute and needy families will go online. Also, the registration of such families will be done again. The survey will be conducted through e-Mitra/e-Mitra mobile app, Gram Panchayat level core group in rural areas and urban bodies and BLOs in urban areas. The

registration will be processed based on the information available in the database of Janadhar.

Out of the Janadhar data, district wise data is available for all the families except the selected families under

the National Food Security scheme.

During the survey, information about the occupation and livelihood of the needy families and individuals will be obtained.

The list of businesses and livelihood will be available on the mobile app or e-Mitra. At the time of the survey, the work of mapping from fair price shops will be completed after obtaining relevant information.

Laxman Raghav Bikaner: A man killed his wife and children before committing suicide in Surajara village of Gajner.

He first strangled his wife and two children and then committed hanged himself on Wednesday night. After getting the information, Gajner SHO Amar Singh reached the spot with his team. Kolayat CO Omprakash Chaudhary and Kolayat

Tehsildar Hanuman Singh Deva also reached the location.

The dead bodies were taken to Gajner Referral Hospital, where the postmortem was carried out by the medical board. After that, the bodies were handed over to the family of the deceased. After the incident, the younger brother of the deceased man Shravan has reported the matter to Gajner police station.

The police said that

Jetharam Meghwal (34) first killed his wife Sharda (30), son Jitendra (9) and daughter Ayesha (4) by strangling them on Wednesday night. After that, Jethararam went to another room and committed suicide by hanging himself from a fan hook.

FSL team has done the investigation by visiting the area. The police have also started the investigation after registering the case.

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IN-DEPTH

PLASMA NOT A MAGIC BULLET FOR COVID-19

ASSESSMENT MARKING A PERSON

AS ‘FAILED’ IS DEMORALISING

E

arly this month Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated Plasma Bank for treating Covid-19 patients. Kejriwal is upbeat about plasma therapy as a cure for the virus. Every day he can be seen on TV exhorting those who have recovered from Covid-19 to come forward and donate their plasma for the country’s first such bank. Kejriwal believes that plasma had shown positive results. After permission from the Central government for trial in Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, the first patient who was administered the therapy was in the intensive care unit. He recovered, strengthening the Delhi CM’s faith in the cure. The national capital has 1.26 lakh cases and 3719 fatalities but it has an impressive recovery rate of over 84 per cent prompting the chief minister to claim victory over the novel corona virus.

Encouraged by Delhi’s results, Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states by the pandemic, Kerala and Odisha also decided to rely on plasma cure. These states, too, set up plasma banks. Kerala’s second plasma bank was inaugurated in Wayanad a few days back.

Other states keen to use the therapy include Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

So what is this plasma therapy all about?

People who have recovered from Covid-19 develop antibodies against the disease in their blood. This is known as convalescent plasma which, when transfused in a seriously ill patient, helps boost his/her immune response. The therapy was first used

by German physiologist Emil von Behring in 1901 to cure diphtheria. Behring went on to win the Nobel Prize.

Despite plasma banks coming up in several states and the demand going up manifold, the therapy is not considered to be a magic bullet.

If some patients have been cured, the condition of others has worsened. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is also cautious about its efficacy. In fact clinical trials were conducted at 52 institutions on data collected from about 350 patients. The findings of this pan-India study have been submitted to the ICMR. Many of the investigators found the therapy to be effective on patients with moderately serious illness.

Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, Delhi, is of the view that the therapy has been tried only on very few patients and only a few have responded well to the treatment. According to Guleria, “It is just one part of the treatment strategy. It is not something which will dramatically make a difference.”

Even as expert findings are awaited, unscrupulous elements were trying to make the most of the buzz around plasma cure. There is obviously no dearth of people wanting to exploit human misery for pecuniary gains.

How else does one explain the brazen blackmarketing of the antibodies, even by some donors, as is being reported from Delhi?

MEENAKSHI HOOJA The writer is a Retd IAS officer and former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal

I

In a developing society where all out efforts are essential to promote literacy and education such a process of grading and assessment which marks a person as ‘failed’ is a demoralising factor in the spread of knowledge and understanding

t is not uncommon to hear from boys and girls when they are young or later when they grow up, or from their parents and guardians that they could not pass the Standard 10th or 12 th Board and are eighth or ninth/ tenth fail. Such statements appear simple and factual but are actually a reflection of a much deeper problem of society, and the educational and assessment system.

As we all know information, knowledge, understanding and even wisdom come to a person from a variety of sources; these include his/her immediate and extended family and broader social environment, schools, colleges other educational institutions, media and newspapers, and of course books and the experiences of life.

In the society, where some benchmarking of the knowledge and skills of a person is required, the certification system provides that assessment. The various Boards of examination grade a person according to how he/she has performed on the basis of what they have worked out as a required level of knowledge. Thus some do very well in the exams, some do alright and some are not able to even pass and thereby ‘fail’.

In a developing society where all out efforts are essential to promote literacy and education such a process of grading and assessment which marks a person as ‘failed’ is a demoralising factor in the spread of knowledge and understanding. It not only upsets a person and the family and becomes a social stigma for ever, discourages further learning, but also does not assess properly what a person knows in a positive manner.

Knowledge, skills and talent are vast and diverse, and standardising for grading them is tough as each one of us has a different skill set.

However they are required for comparative and competitive marking and to set some sort of ranking . However it cannot become the be all and end all for the pursuit of knowledge, as so happens when a person who does not clear the school examination, gets barred from entry to higher education.

So what is the way out? One obvious way is to continue with the present system of grading, and those who have not been able to clear the regular exams go into open schooling, open higher education or find their talent in new and different sectors which do not require certificates of education. However, this will benefit very limited people and would require extraordinary efforts, which few will be able to make, to find new avenues or hone their skills outside of the regular system. Many or most will remain with the fail or not pass mark. They will get ordinary jobs in low skilled sectors and there will be little recognition or push to their latent and undiscovered talent.

As an alternative it is suggested that the educational institutions and authorities may issue certificates of passing to those who have not cleared all the required subject examinations. For a 10th standard exam a person who has not cleared the

A PLAIN CERTIFICATE OF PASSING (WITHOUT MENTION OF FAILURES) WITHOUT ANY REFERENCE TO A DEGREE AND WOULD KEEP THE PERSON MOTIVATED

compulsory English exam, in his certificate only the subjects where he has passed maybe mentioned. For e.g. it may be that Sri Ashok Kumar has passed in Hindi, Maths , History and Geography exams of the 10th standard level, and there need not be any reference to the fact that he has not passed in English. This will be treated as a certificate of having cleared the the 10 th standard level with four subjects only. In a way it will be a plain Certificate of passing (without mention of failures) without any reference

How to protect journos from online bullying

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rance is one of the few countries that have introduced laws that address cyberharassment, including that aimed at journalists.

Others would do well to emulate it.

Online harassment of journalists is a growing problem, with harassers often targeting those who write about trolls, whitesupremacist groups, and other nasty patches of the web’s underbelly. And women journalists are the most vulnerable – particularly when they cover supposedly “male” topics such as sports, says Sarah Guinee, who researched online harassment as a Patti Birch fellow for gender and media freedom at the New Yorkbased Committee to Protect Journalists.

Generally, journalism

04

associations and defenders of free expression tend to agree with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that in a “marketplace of ideas,” all ideas should be on the table, and the best ones will win out. In other words, we should fight bad information and ideas with better information and ideas.

But the online behavior addressed by France’s legislation goes well beyond normal exchange of information and ideas. For starters, the sheer quantity of hostility creates a crowding-out effect, so that much online speech that should be heard cannot be.

Moreover, online abusers often use different tactics than those used offline.

Digital harassment can include doxing (publishing someone’s home address or other personal information online), pile-ons

Big technology companies are both unwilling and unable fully to address the the cyberharassment problem by themselves

(where many people attack one person), dissemination of disturbing images, revenge porn, impersonation, and cyberstalking.

In many countries, journalists facing harassment are told simply to ignore it, or to report on their harassers. But the latter takes time and energy, and can lead to a backlash. True, journalists such as Gusta-

vo Gorriti in Peru, and Anton Harber and Thandeka Gqubele in South Africa, have sued for defamation following online abuse.

More often, however, media representatives targeted by online harassment censor themselves.

When the marketplace of ideas is not functioning properly – as is currently the case online – regulation is needed. The issue vexing policymakers is whether existing legislation will suffice to address online harassment. In a 2019 report, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the International Press Institute concluded that journalists should have recourse to targeted cyberlaws that provide for “swift, low-cost, low-burden remedies” in the event of online attacks.

France has been ahead of other countries on this front. In 2014, French law defined online harassment for the first time; until then, such cases had been processed in the same way as those involving offline harassment. And a 2018 law against sexual and sexist violence closed most loopholes regarding cyberharassment by broadening its legal definition. As a result, French law now protects all citizens, including journalists, from doxing, defamation, insult, and online and offline harassment. Although France’s Constitutional Council recently ruled against the law, it left intact the part that created a specialized prosecutor focused on online crimes, including online harassment.

FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO WWW.PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG

to a degree and would keep the person motivated and contain the feeling of being a failure.

The next step could be to allow such individuals to take the exam again in say English in this case, on an open school pattern and they can get a certificate accordingly from the same Board . This will also reduce the negative feelings with what is called supplementary or compartment. The Certificate of passing and such conduct of examination (regular and open combined from the same Board ) could perhaps go a long way in bringing in positivity amongst students and their parents and guardians and give them hope for the future.

At the same time the subjects for teaching in house or receiving training from outside, especially vocational ones need to be increased and added to the curriculum so that both the student and society can benefit from it.

It would ensure that development of skills and talents prevailing in the society do not go unnoticed or are neglected. Young and old with their knowledge and learning would thus be facilitated to make themselves and the society skilled and knowledgeable.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Top

TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp From ushering women-centric initiatives to providing equal opportunities to women to serve the nation, sanction for permanent commission to women officers in the #IndianArmy by Modi Govt. has again proved that this govt is committed to women empowerment & women-led development.

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Technology adoption can be phase-wise. We need to prepare the nation and educate & skill our people to absorb technology.

The rapid skilling programme can bridge the gap between the technological savvy and the rest.

Spiritual SPEAK

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

—Psalm 1:6

Vol 2 Issue No. 48 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur.

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‘NORTHEAST HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME INDIA’S GROWTH ENGINE’

05

RIL breaks into top 50 most valued firms globally, ranks 48

The mantra of peace, progress and prosperity is echoing in the Northeast, PM Modi said New Delhi: Northeast has the potential to become India’s growth engine, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday while asserting that peace has now established in the region.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Manipur Water Supply Project today, through video conferencing, he highlighted that modern infrastructure is being built to improve connectivity.

“The Northeast has the potential to become the growth engine of the country. Day by day my faith is getting deeper because peace is now being established in the entire region. The mantra of peace, progress and prosperity is echoing in the Northeast,” the PM said.

Modern infrastructure is being built in Northeast emphasising that connectivity in the region is important, not for only ease of living, but also for achieving the goal for self-reliant India. —ANI

WATER SUPPLY PROJECT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing at the foundation stone laying ceremony for Water Supply project in Manipur, through video conference, in New Delhi on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

New Delhi: The Manipur Water Supply Project is an important component of efforts of State government to achieve the goal of ‘Har Ghar Jal’ by 2024. The project outlay is about Rs 3054.58 Crores with a loan component funded by the New Development Bank.

Jal Jeevan Mission is to provide safe drinking water to every rural household.

‘One lakh water connections being given every day’ New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said one lakh water connections are being given every day in the country and added that this has become possible as ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ is moving forward as a mass movement.

His remarks came after he laid the foundation stone for the Ma-

nipur Water Supply Project today through video conferencing. “Today

about one lakh water connections are being given every day in the country. Every day, we are removing such a big worry of water from the lives of one lakh mothers and sisters, making their lives easier,” the Prime Minister said.

“This acceleration is also possible because ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ is

moving forward as a mass movement. People of the village, especially sisters and public representatives are deciding where the pipes will lay, where the water will be sourced, where the tank will be built, and how much budget will be made,” he said.

Speaking on the Ma-

nipur Water Supply Project, the Prime Minister said: “Today is a big day for millions of Manipur colleagues including Imphal, especially our sisters. Manipur water supply project will be completed at a cost of about Rs 3,000 crore & is going to reduce water problems of the people.” —ANI

New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd has broken into the top 50 most valued companies globally after it became the first company with market capitalisation of over Rs 13 lakh crore.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate is ranked 48th in market cap globally, according to stock market data.

Globally, Saudi Aramco is the company with the highest market cap of USD 1.7 trillion, followed by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet.

Reliance on Thursday, closed at Rs 2,060.65 on the BSE,

up 2.82 per cent over the previous day’s close. This gave the firm a m-cap of over Rs 13 lakh crore.

Together with the firm’s partly-paid shares that were issued in the recent rights issue and are traded separately, the company had a combined m-cap of Rs 13.5 lakh crore or over USD 181 billion.

No Indian company has ever crossed an m-cap of Rs 13 lakh crore. This is higher than Chevron’s about USD 170 billion m-cap as well as likes of Oracle, Unilever, Bank of China, BHP Group, Royal Dutch Shell and SoftBank Group.—PTI

IN THE COURTYARD

Delhi HC grants bail to former Fortis promoter Shivinder Singh MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

FLORAL

TRIBUTES...

BJP activists paying tributes to freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad to mark his birth anniversary in Bhopal on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

New Delhi: Delhi High Court granted bail to former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh in a money laundering case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, who pronounced the order through video conferencing, granted the relief to Shivinder in

furnishing of a person bond of Rs one crore and two sureties by family members of Rs 25 lakh each.

The judge also directed the investigating officer of the ED to request the Bureau of

Immigration to open LOC in Shivinder’s name to prevent any unannounced exit from the country.The HC imposed various other bail conditions on him, including that he shall not tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses, directly or indirectly.

He was arrested in the money laundering case last year. HC had reserved its order on bail plea on July 16 after hearing arguments from the counsel for Shivinder & ED.—PTI

SC agrees to hear plea against ‘Pak blocked review of Jadhav’s case’ UGC circular on final term exams New Delhi: India on Thursday accused Pakistan of blocking all avenues for an effective review of the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death for alleged involvement in spying, and said it reserved its rights to avail of further remedies.

A day after the Pakistan

government petitioned the Islamabad high court to appoint a lawyer to represent Jadhav for filing a review petition against his death sentence, the external affairs ministry charged Islamabad with systematically blocking access to the former naval officer, not provid-

DEMAND FOR CHINESE RAKHIS FALL AHEAD OF RAKSHABANDHAN New Delhi: Ahead of the Raksha Bandhan festival, the demand for Chinese rakhis have fallen this year, according to shopkeepers from several parts of the country.

People are refusing to buy Chinese rakhis due to tensions between India and China. Women are preferring India-made rakhis to Chinese rakhis.

The locals also intend to boost the Indian economy by buying local rakhis for the upcoming festival.

According to some reliable sources, the local traders are also not buying or selling Chinese rakhis for Rakshabandhan. The traders said that India-made rakhis are also increasing employment among locals.

Kulbhushan Jadhav

ing documents related to his case and violating

the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) order for a review of his conviction. “[Pakistan] has blocked all the avenues for an effective remedy available for India,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a weekly briefing. —Agencies

SSR SUICIDE: POLICE TO SUMMON KANGANA RANAUT Mumbai: Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to record her statement in connection with suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said. A day after Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide, Kangana Ranaut had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry of not acknowledging the star’s talent.She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

New Delhi: The SC agreed to hear within the next two days a plea challenging a UGC circular and seeking cancellation of final year examination in wake of COVID-19 pandemic. A bench of Justice Nageswara Rao posted the matter

for hearing before a bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan. As

AI FORMS PANEL FOR SURPLUS MANPOWER TO BE SENT ON LWP New Delhi: National carrier Air India has started the process of identification for redundant or surplus employees in the company to be sent on compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for a period from six months up to five years.

“Air India has constituted a committee for ‘identification of redundant/surplus manpower resources’.

The Committee to submit its report to the regional director’s office by August 11 for review,” according to a letter accessed by ANI. The board of the airlines has approved a scheme for sending employees on leave without pay for a time period ranging from six months to two years which can be extended up to five years.

many as 31 students from different universities across India approached the apex court to quash the UGC circular dated July 6 whereby all universities have been asked to wrap up the final examinations before September 30.—ANI

TABLIGHI JAMAAT

198 Indonesians set free by court after paying fine

New Delhi: A Delhi court allowed 198 Indonesians to walk free on payment of varying fines, after they accepted mild charges under the plea bargain process, related to various violations including visa norms while attending the Tablighi Jamaat event here during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Metropolitan Magistrate Vasundhara Azad allowed 100 Indonesians to walk free on payment of a fine of Rs 5,000 each, said advocates Ashima Mandla, Fahim Khan and Ahmed Khan, appearing for them.

They were directed to deposit their fines to PM CARES Fund. —PTI

HIMACHAL: NADDA WISHES BJP PREZ KASHYAP ON B’DAY New Delhi: BJP president JP Nadda extended greetings to Suresh Kumar Kashyap, party’s Himachal Pradesh unit president and Shimla MP, on his 49th birthday. “Happy birthday to Himachal Pradesh unit president Suresh Kumar Kashyap.

I have full faith that you will continue to work for the all-round development of the people of Himachal along with empowering the organisation. I wish God gives you good health and longevity,” he tweeted. Notably, Nadda appointed Kashyap as BJP’s Himacha unit president on Wednesday.

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‘PM Modi is 100% focused ‘Time decided for on building own image’ ‘Bhumi Pujan’ is RAM TEMPLE

India has to ‘psychologically’ deal with Chinese from a position of strength New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, alleged that “India’s captured institutions” are all busy building the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Prime Minister is 100 per cent focused on building his own image.

India’s captured institutions are all busy doing this task. One man’s image is not a substitute for a national vision,” he tweeted while posting a video on the microblogging site. In continuation of his video series focusing on border tension with the neighbouring country and other issues, the Congress leader posted another video on Twitter today and attacked

VOICING CONCERN

Rahul Gandhi

Chinese from a position of strength and said that the country needs to have a global vision.

“Psychologically you have to deal with Chinese from a position of strength. If you deal with them from a position of strength, you can work with them,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not having a vision and said this is the reason “why China is in there”, indicating Chinese troops are still inside Indian territory.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi suggested that India has to “psychologically” deal with

you can get what you need and it can actually be done. If they sense weakness, then you had it. The first thing is you are not going to take on China without a vision and I don’t mean a national vision, but an international vision,” he said in the video. —ANI

‘inauspicious’ Ayodhya: As preparations are underway for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, revered seer Shankracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati on Thursday said that the time fixed for the ‘Bhumi Pujan’ ceremony is an ‘inauspicious moment’.

“We are Ram devotees, we will be happy if anyone builds the temple of Ram, but for that- appropriate date and auspicious time should be chosen. There should not be politics in this. Due to politics, the issues of Hindus get knocked down. The temple was being built with the public’s money, their opinion should be sought as well,” he said —ANI

Shankaracharya Swaropanand Saraswati speaks to media.

MAKING A REMARK

Assam floods: 91 people killed, India’s tally reaches 12L 123 animals dead in Kaziranga New Delhi: With the highest-ever singleday spike of 45,720 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 12-lakh mark on Thursday, while the death-toll mounted to 29,861 with a record 1,129 fatalities in a day, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country crossed the 12-lakh mark just three days after it crossed the 11lakh milestone.

The coronavirus caseload in the country surged to 12,38,635, while 7,82,606 people have recovered so far in the country.

Thus 63.18 % people have recovered so far.

The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.

Of the 1,129 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 518 are from Tamil Nadu, 280 from Maharashtra, 65 from Andhra Pradesh, 55 from Karnataka, 39 from West Bengal, 34 from Uttar Pradesh, 29 from Delhi, 28 from Gujarat, 14 from Madhya Pradesh and 10 from J&K. There are 4,26,167 active cases presently in the country. —ANI

A cyclist crosses barricade set up to block the entry in a red zone area during lockdown in Srinagar.

India’s second nat’l-level plasma bank opens in TN Chennai: After national capital, India’s second national-level plasma bank was opened in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore, C Vijaybhaskar, Health Minister, Tamil Nadu said. “We were earlier conducting the plasma method on a trial basis. Four people in Madurai successfully underwent the process in the early

PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA @priyankagandhi This is the condition of Mahoba’s Women’s Hospital. You must have seen the chaotic conditions in hospitals of Bareilly, Lucknow.

CM is interested in hiding these conditions, not improving them.”

HAMMER missiles to make Rafale more lethal!

New Delhi: With the Rafales arriving in the country in the middle of a dispute with China, the Indian Air Force is further boosting the capabilities of the combat aircraft by equipping it with the HAMMER missiles from France.

The order for the HAMMER standoff missiles with the capability to take out any types of targets at the range of around 60-70 kms is being processed under the emergency powers for acquisition given to the armed forc-

stages and a few more banks will be set up in nearby districts. We now have the approval of the ICMR & have opened the second plasma bank at national level with a total budget of Rs 2.34 crore,” said Vijaybhaskar. After a COVID-19 patient is discharged, he has to wait for 14 days before he can donate the plasma. —ANI

es by the Narendra Modi government. “The order for the HAMMER missiles is being processed and the French authorities have agreed to supply them to us at a short notice for our Rafale combat aircraft,” government sources told ANI. In view of the urgent requirement for these missiles by the Air Force, the French authorities would be delivering the systems to India from the existing stock meant for some other customer, they said. —ANI

Guwahati: Nearly 27 lakh people of 25 out of 33 districts in Assam have been affected due to severe floods. The death toll due to the floods has now reached 91 in the state after two people drowned in flood waters in Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar districts.

In Kaziranga National Park, 123 wild animals, including 12 rhinos, have also died due to flood. The dead include 93 deers, four wild buffaloes, and others.

POWER Gallery DESH DEEPAK VERMA TO GET EXTENSION ?

According to indications, present Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha may be given extension on September 1. He is the former 1978 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

32 IAS OFFICERS RETIRING IN JULY 2020

As many as 32 IAS officers of various cadres and batches are retiring in July 2020. They are: SM Raju of Bihar; N Baijendra Kumar, Lakhan Singh Ken, Bharat Lal Banjare of Chhattisgarh; PK Parmar of Gujarat; Ganesh Kumar of Jharkhand; Parmesh Pandey of Karnataka; Saleena Singh, Ramesh Sheoram Thete and Narendra Singh Parmar of MP; Sanjay Bhatia, Dr DG Mhaisekar, Shivaji R Jondhale & Dilip M Shinde of Maharashtra; Dr J Suresh Babu of Manipur; Bibhuti Bhusan Patnaik of Odisha; Shivdular Singh Dhillon of Punjab; Mukesh Kumar Sharma, Sanjay Dixit, Dr Narendra Kumar Gupta & Pradeep Kumar Borad of Rajasthan; LB Chettri of Sikkim; Ruolkhumlien Buhril & K Shanmugam of Tamil Nadu; Ajay Mishra & K Dharma Reddy of Telangana; Mahendra Kumar & Santosh Kumar Rai of UP; Utpal Kumar Singh of Uttarakhand & Rabindranath Roy & Naba Gopal Hira of West Bengal cadre.

WHERE ARE THE ORDERS OF ASHWINI BHATIA FOR MD OF SBI?

COVID-19 UPDATE

mark: Health Ministry

06

Two key bank appointments, of Sengupta and Rao, were made on July 21, but there has been no word about Ashwani Bhatia, Deputy Managing Director, Mutual Fund Business, State Bank of India Ltd. He was to be elevated as the MD of the bank. Will a separate order be issued or has the appointment been shelved ? No firm information is available in this regard.

MERGER OF LOK SABHA AND RAJYA SABHA TV SOON

Merger of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha TV is expected in a couple of months. The Final decision for merger has already been taken.

TENURE OF DAVID RASQUINHA AS MD, EXIM BANK EXTENDED

The tenure of David Rasquinha as Managing Director, Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has been extended until May 31, 2021.

Flood-hit Villagers move to a safer place in Morigaon district.

Following incessant rains, the water level of Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have been increasing, turning the

Permanent commission for women in Army

current flood situation worse. NDRF, SDRF teams have so far rescued 78,317 people from flood-hit areas.

Babri demolition: MM Joshi deposes before CBI court

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence has issued an order for grant of Permanent Commission to women officers in the Army.

In a landmark judgement, the apex court in February had directed that all serving women officers recruited under the Short Service Commission scheme will have to be considered for Permanent Commission.

Army Spokesperson Col Aman Anand said the government order paved the way for empowering of women officers to shoulder “larger roles” in the Army.

“The order specifies grant of permanent commission to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers in all 10 streams of the Indian Army,” he said.

Col Anand said 10 streams where permanent commission are being made available include army air defence, signals, engineers, army aviation, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps and intelligence corps. At present, the Army offers permanent commission to women officers in two branches -- judge advocate general & education.

Lucknow: A special CBI court recorded the statement of BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. The statement of the 86-year-old leader was recorded in the court of Special Judge S K Yadav through video conferencing.

Former Dy PM LK Advani (92) is likely to record his statement in a similar manner on Friday. The Babri mosque demolition trial is presently at the stage of recording of statements of the 32 accused in the case under Section 313 of CrPC. —PTI

restraint on the Rajasthan High Court in proceeding with the matter, its judgment will be subject to the outcome of the proceedings before the Apex Court.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said, “This is not a simple matter and these MLAs are elected representatives. Voice of dissent in democracy cannot be shut down , the bench observed. We are trying to find out whether this process (disqualification) was permissible or not.”

Responding to a query of the bench, Sibal said, “These MLAs had

gone to Haryana, stayed at a hotel and gave TV bites that they want floor test.”

He said the issue as to whether the disqualification process is permissible or not cannot be taken note of by the court at this stage. Our grievance is purely constitutional and there cannot be any order till decision is taken by the speaker.”

During the hearing, the bench asked Sibal whether a disqualification notice can be issued to MLAs for not attending the meetings and can it be taken as stand against the party.

The bench’s observation came when Sibal said that there was a notice issued by the Chief Whip of the party to all MLAs to attend the meetings.

At the outset, Joshi told the top court that the state high court has no jurisdiction to restrain him from conducting disqualification proceedings till July 24 against 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

HUKUM SINGH MEENA TO RETURN TO PARENT CADRE IN AUG ?

Hukum Singh Meena working as Joint Secretary in the Department of Land Resources on central deputation, is expected to return to parent cadre in August, 2020. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

GYANESHWAR SINGH TO MOVE TO HP BHAWAN IN DELHI !

Gyaneshwar Singh is likely to move to the Himachal Pradesh Bhawan in Delhi. He is a 1999 batch IPS officer of Himachal Pradesh.

POST OF AJIT KUMAR UPGRADED AS DIRECTOR, MHA

The post of Ajit Kumar has been upgraded as Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

He is a 2006 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

ARUN MISRA TO TAKE OVER AS CEO, HINDUSTAN ZINC ON AUG 1

Arun Misra, Deputy CEO, has been promoted as Chief Executive Officer, Hindustan Zinc. He will take over the charge on August 1, 2020.

RIVA GANGULY DAS APPOINTED AS SECRETARY (EAST), MEA

Riva Ganguly Das, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, has been appointed as Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

She is a 1986 batch IFS officer.

By arrangement with: http:// whispersinthecorridors.com

FROM PG 1 SC to... for starting disqualification proceedings and said that these MLAs did not attend party meetings and conspired to destabilise their own government. Senior Advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, representing Pilot’s rebel faction, told the Court that Speaker himself had deferred the proceedings on his own volition twice. Moreover, the submissions made by the Speaker before the HC was that no fresh notices will be issued.

The Supreme Court eventually ordered that while there will be no

EC defers...

Using this provision, the poll panel issued a certificate on July 22 to

defer the elections in these eight seats.

In a statement, the Commission said on Thursday that “this matter of timing etc of by-elections is also slotted for discussion in the Election Commission meeting to be held tomorrow” (Friday).

The statement said the total number of by-elections due is 56 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat (including the eight deferred).

However, a letter written by one of its senior officers to the law ministry regarding the eight bypolls is “causing some

confusion”, the EC said and clarified that it was only “in respect of eight constituencies regarding which a reference to Ministry of Law and Justice was made ... due to some extraordinary circumstances peculiar to these constituencies.”

Out of these total number of 57 by-elections, the Commission has already taken a decision to hold all by-election as per provisions and the deferring of these eight by-elections was only up to September 7, 2020, the statement said. The remaining 49 bypolls are due after September 7.

NEWS JAIPUR | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

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07

MAN HELD FOR POSING AS HM AMIT SHAH’S PERSONAL SECY, CALLING HARYANA & RAJ MINISTERS FOR JOB

The accused, Sandeep Choudhary, is a resident of Teh Mundawar in Alwar New Delhi: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a 25-yearold man for allegedly posing as a personal secretary of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and calling up the labour ministers of Haryana and Rajasthan to get himself employed, officials

said on Thursday.

The man, Sandeep Choudhary, is a resident of Teh Mundawar in Alwar district of Rajasthan, they said.

Choudhary did his BA and BEd and was working with Hero Honda company in Dharuhera, Haryana but after he lost his job

amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he hatched a plan to get himself employed, police said.

He was arrested after the Crime Branch registered a case based on a complaint by the Union home ministry, they said.

According to the

complaint, the man posing as the personal secretary of Shah had called up the labour ministers of Haryana and Rajasthan to get himself employed.

With the help of tech-

vealed that he was previously working with Hero Honda company in Dharuhera but due to COVID-19 he lost his job and is currently unemployed, a senior police officer said.

To get himself employed in any of the factories in Rajasthan or Haryana, he hatched a plan and decided to call up the ministers of the concerned states by posing as a personal secretary of the Union home

nical surveillance, the accused was later arrested by the Crime Branch from his hometown in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police said.

During interrogation, Chaudhary re-

JDC lends an ear to investors wanting warehouse logistics Abhishek Srivastav Jaipur: Jaipur Development Commissioner (JDC) Gaurav Goyal chaired a pre-bid webinar on Thursday with senior officials of JDA and investors interested in buying plots for warehouse logistics.

The investors suggested that that separate policy should be framed for warehouse and logistic plots and basic infrastructure must be developed. They also suggested that in the ecological zone warehouse and logistic plots should be de-

FREE HAND FOR GUPTA AT TOURISM DEPT

P

rincipal Secretary Alok Gupta is, these days, the whole and sole of the Tourism Department as neither is there a minister above him, nor are these any Director or MD and Chairman in RTDC. The roles of all these officials is being carried out by Gupta himself. When on 3rd July, Gupta was given the posting, at that time Vishvendra Singh was de-

veloped not just for agriculture but for other products as well.

JDC told them that they can give their suggestions in writing to concerned officials. He also assured them that basic facilities like water, electricity and roads would be developed.

And, the JDA will bring separate policy for warehouse and logistics.

Goyal also instructed planning division officials of to frame policy on the lines of Punjab and Haryana while keeping in mind suggestions of the investors.

partment’s minister. Singh, who had quarreled with all the officials and got them thrown out, had welcomed Gupta with open arms.

Such was his elation that he tweeted, “Shri Alok Gupta ji has been with me in Devsthan for a while and runs an Ambassador like a Rolls Royce. I am sure that he will do the same in the Tourism Department.” However, probably the minister would not have known then that in the next ten days he will loose his ‘chair’.

Sense of despair among Congress workers: Bishnoi

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the ‘Tree Plantation Drive-2020’, organised by the Ministry of Coal, here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Home Minister said that under the drive trees will be planted on 6,000 acres of land in 38 districts across ten states. “Today, trees will be planted on 600-acre land at 150 places. 5 lakh plants will be distributed,” he said.

“In the blind race of development, we forget the mantra of Indian culture that nature is our mother and it cannot be exploited. This is the reason why the temperature of the earth is increasing and badly affected climate. The world is afraid of climate change. There is the only way which our saints and ‘puranas’ had told us that trees are friends of human and only trees can save us. Indian culture has accepted the importance of trees and encouraged it,” he said.

The Home Minister also lauded several initiatives by the Coal Ministry.

“No one cared about labourers of mines of coal and minerals. After the constitution of District Mineral Fund, the government has spent Rs 49,000 crore for the development of the region where mines were set up,” he said.

Shah also paid tributes to Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Chandra Shekhar Azad on their ‘jayanti’.

—ANI

Off the

RECORD

BUREAUCRATIC VACUUM STALLS FILES

A

fter a tussle occurred between him and the then Director of Mines department Gaurav Goyal, Mining minister Pramod Jain Bhaya has stripped the Mining Director off his financial powers. So when the files of the Direc-

torate came directly to Principal Secretary Kunji Lal meena, the official was taken aback and he held these files with him.

Meena then referred the matter to Law Department asking if the minister has the power to strip anyone off their powers. The Law department clearly stated that the minister’s action is illegal and thus the file

Home Minister Amit Shah launches a tree plantation drive, organised by the Union Coal Ministry, at his residence on Thursday. Also seen is Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi.

was sent to CMO and directions were sought.

While the CMO did not give any direction, on the contrary it transferred Principal secretary Kunji Lal Meena and Director Gaurav Goyal, though both the officers were given prime postings by the Chief Minister. Now Subodh Agarwal is ACS Mining and KB Pandya its Director, but the minister’s order still stands since the CMO did not give any direction. As a result of this, files related to finan-

Kunji Lal Meena

cial matters are not being disposed off. According to sources, nearly fifty files, that fall in this category, have stalled the state government’s revenue of almost one hundred crore.

—Rajendra Chhabra

WHO IS THE ‘MOLE’ IN CONGRESS CAMP?

R

emember the famous lines from the movie Sholay “ Hamare Jasoos, Kone Kone mein Faile hue hain” (My spies are spread everywhere)? Well, while that was a reel-life character’s dialogue, however, the Congress ‘camp’ at Fairmont hotel apparently has ‘spies’ too and besides a couple of individuals, not everyone knows of their identity. But what is the need for ‘spies’ in the otherwise acclaimed ‘Happy camp’? Highly- placed sources reveal that these spies are providing regular ‘reports’ from Jaipur to Manesar! Had the reports been going to 10 Janpath, it would have been a different matter, but Manesar has the ‘stronghold’ of dissidents where

each small information plays a big part. Interestingly, this ‘spy’ is even associated with the AICC and keeps a keen eye on which leader is going where, what are they doing or what are they saying. Interestingly, his assembly constituency has a fair representation of a special community.

Moreover, his ‘antics’ have been caught on the ‘third eye’ as well. Now only the outcome of this entire political strife will reveal if the spy remains to be addressed as a spy or if he will be identified as a mole!

covered from him, police said.

This is not the first time that such an imposter has been arrested. Police had earlier this month also arrested a 27-year-old Abhishek Dwivedi from Indore for allegedly impersonating the private secretary of Shah, and calling for cancellation of transfer of a road transport and highways ministery official in Gwalior.

—PTI

PILOT, SCINDIA EPISODES

‘IN BLIND RACE OF DEVELOPMENT WE FORGET NATURE’ JDC Gaurav Goyal chairing a pre-bid webinar on Thursday.

minister, he said.

To execute his plan, he first got a SIM card issued in the name of his girlfriend. He then posed as the personal secretary of Shah and called up Haryana’s Labour Minister Anoop Dhanak and Rajasthan’s Labour Minister Tikaram Julie, the officer added.

The mobile phone and the SIM card used in calling the concerned ministers have been re-

FESTIVE ‘FLAIR’ NO MORE

C

ongress’s ‘Badabandi’ has caused a minor inconvenience to the women legislators who have not been able to follow the traditional festivals while the ‘Saavan’ month is ongoing. One of the most celebrated custom in Rajasthan has been the Sinjara and Teej, but these MLAs have not been able to go home to celebrate. But it is also important to keep the voters apprised that they are in tune with the customs and thus

New Delhi: Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi on Thursday said there is a sense of despair among party workers over the treatment meted out to young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot, and also urged the leadership to promote mass leaders in every state in the war against the BJP. Taking on the old guard, he asked the Congress leadership to give other responsibilities to those who have been occupying high positions for 35 years and have never contested elections.

Bishnoi, who is son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, triggered speculation when he posted a picture of himself with Scindia and Pilot on Twitter.

“Many congratulations @JM_Scindia. A well deserved one,” he said along with the picture, on a day when Scindia took oath as Rajya Sabha member of the BJP. He also congratulated former Congress leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, who also took oath as a Shiv Sena member of Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. “Sincere congratulations @priyankac19 on your hard-earned success. Best wishes for a bright future.”

While Scindia has quit

most of these MLAs have posted their old pictures celebrating Sinjara and Teej and remembering the swings. in the middle of all this even though the political heat is raging hard, the female legislators found time out amid all the commotion to apply mehndi on their hands. The reason: Sinjara celebration. The age-old custom of Sinjara was being observed wherein Mamta Bhupesh, Indira Meena, Ganga Devi, and Krishna Poonia along with other women MLAs were seen enjoying the festivities at the hotel itself. So as this year people were confined to their homes during the festivities due to the corona crisis, women MLAs atleast had each other to bond with.

—Naresh Sharma

Kuldeep Bishnoi

the party, Pilot has raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and is on the verge of quitting, even though he has claimed that he is not joining the BJP. “Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot are very good friends and their leaving the party is hurting the Congress a lot.

The treatment meted out to them by the party, there is a sense of despair among the party workers. I am a Congressman by birth and will never quit it,” Bishnoi said in a video posted on Twitter.

He asked the BJP not to spread rumours about him as he was still the same person.

“I want to tell the high command to bring mass leaders forward as they are the people who can give a fight to the BJP. We are headed towards a big war,” he said.

His remarks brought to the fore the rift between the old and young within the Congress.

There is always something ahead till you are alive and you can make it better or change it by your efforts today.

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

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08

Credit society scam: City court directs probe against Shekhawat First India Bureau Jaipur: A city court has directed that the Rajasthan police should probe a complaint alleging the involvement of Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a credit society scam.

The development comes amid allegations by the Congress that the minister is involved in a bid to topple the Ashok

Gehlot government.

The Special Operations Group (SOG) has already sent a notice to the minister in connection with a probe into audio clips which purportedly indicate efforts to lure MLAs away from the Congress.

On Tuesday, additional district judge Pawan Kumar directed the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court to send

the complaint related to the credit society scam to the SOG. Shekhawat has been named along with his wife and others in the complaint related to the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in which thousands of investors allegedly lost about Rs 900 crores.

The Jaipur unit of the SOG has been probing into the scam since last

year. An FIR was registered on August 23, 2019.

Shekhawat was not mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the SOG in connection with case. Later, a magistrate’s court also rejected an application to include him in the charge sheet. The applicants then approached the additional district judge’s court, which issued directions that their complaint should

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

BIGGEST HURDLE TO BOARD’S COACHING HUB REMOVED, RHB GETS POSSESSION OF LAND WORTH RS 50 CRORE

Pawan Arora during encroachment removal action at the Coaching hub at Pratap Nagar on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR

Shivendra Parmar

through the court, but the board effectively presented its version before law which did not allow the status quo. The result of this is that by taking drastic action against the trespassers, the encroachment could be removed.

Meanwhile, the RHB commissioner reviewed the coaching hub project on the spot and instructed to speed up the construction work. He inspected works such as levelling including boundary walls and instructed the sensor to complete the work on time.

Jaipur: Nearly two decades after a handful of individuals encroached on the land belonging to the Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB), finally on Thursday the land was made encroachment free after RHB Commissioner Pawan Arora personally oversaw and supervised the encroachment removal exercise. Over the course of 20 years, 19 showrooms have been constructed on encroached land, which were located at the head of the land the RHB had

earmarked for its ‘Coaching Hub’ at Pratap Nagar. It is noteworthy that the current market price of this encroached land is about Rs 50 crore. The interesting thing in this action is that the encroachers themselves removed the encroachment on the advice of the Commissioner.

“The removal of encroachment has removed all the hurdles in the construction of the coaching hub, the construction work for which will be initiated soon,” Arora said. How-

ever, the Board has not been ‘all-stick’ rather sympathising with the businesses being operated here, a plan for their rehabilitation was also drawn at Pannadhai Circle, where these businesses have been allotted plots for these shops at double the reserve price. “The Board will develop 12 showrooms of 72 sqm, to be disposed of through e-auction, on the vacant land by making a better action plan for the common man. In this case, the parties concerned also tried for stay order

The complainants alleged that the SOG deliberately protected the minister and some others who did not figure in the charge sheet filed by it.

Petitioners were represented by Advocate AK Jain, who also submitted a chart of money transferred to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, his wife Naunand Kanwar and his companies.

‘Will change strategy to combat corona in Jodh’

BEES SAAL BAAD

Squatters removed, to be given spots for biz

also be probed.

In their application to the magistrate’s court, complainants Gulam Singh and Laboo Singh claimed that a money trail mentioned in the FIR led to companies allegedly linked to the minister.

But the SOG did not investigate the role of the minister or the companies, the two Barmer residents alleged.

First India Bureau AHMED PATEL @ahmedpatel With more than 1000 deaths in last 24 hours , the pandemic continues to surge while the government is pretending nothing has happened.

Decisive Governance is missing when the nation needs it most.

The national lockdown was an opportunity for the BJP government to contain the corona virus. They instead used it to try and contain the Opposition.

AVINASH PANDE @avinashpandeinc Humble tribute to Farmer leader and former chairman of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Shri Parasramji Maderna.

Jaipur: After the district wise review of the corona situation in the state by CM Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday, Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma on Thursday reviewed the situation and announced random and cluster sampling to combat the increasing instances of virus infection in the state. He said the strategy would be changed in Jodhpur.

He said that identifying asymptomatic corona patients was a big challenge and the only way out was more testing.

He attributed increased positive cases in Jodhpur to increased testing.

Dr Sharma held a separate discussion on Jodhpur and said that since both the Divisional Commissioner and Collector have been diagnosed corona positive, some oth-

Dr Raghu Sharma

er officer will be sent to Jodhpur to handle the situation. He said that Ramganj Model will be adopted in Jodhpur due to similarities in the demographic and density patterns of both the places. Dr Sharma said that on the lines of Ramganj Model, random sampling will be done in Jodhpur to identify asymptomatic patients and break the chain. He said the positive to negative ratio in the state is better than 10 big states in the

country. The mortality rate in the state had come down to 1.38 per cent from 2.34 per cent.

The Health Minister said that plasma therapy has been successfully tested in Jaipur and now the government is trying to get permission from ICMR and allow plasma therapy in other districts as well. The government will prepare the data of patients who have turned negative after treatment, and motivate them for plasma donation, he added.

Dr Sharma instructed the health officers to maintain the quality of food and sanitation levels at the quarantine centres in the state. He stressed on focusing on districts like Bikaner, Pali, Barmer and Bhiwadi where the infection was increasing due to super spreaders.

Cong will complete its tenure: Dotasara Yogesh Sharma Jaipur: Govind Singh Dotasara visited the PCC for the first time after being appointed as the new chief. He offered his floral tributes to former PCC chief Parasram Maderna and said that Maderna had worked for the poor, farmers and dalits.

Dotasara said that Congress has the majority and the state government will complete its tenure defeating all conspiracies. Talking about

Govind Singh Dotasara pays tribute to Parasram Maderna at PCC Headquartes on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR

the dissidents he said that some of them wanted to contact but were in

the clutches of Haryana BJP which is an expert in holding MLAs. He

said that the dissidents were so cut off from the outer world that they have to do the cleaning work themselves. Although BJP won’t let the dissident MLAs loose but still if they return we will decide on them sympathetically.

In comparison with former Jat PCC chiefs he said that he has reached to the post starting from being a NSUI and youth congress worker and will respect the party workers.

Agrasen Gehlot a normal man, ED Tiger MT-3 found dead due to official laxity didn’t find irregularities, claims CA Nirmal Tiwari

Jaipur: Negligence and irregularities of forest department officials in Mukundara tiger reserve have allegedly claimed life of tiger MT-3.

Originally known as T-98, the tiger left from Ranthambhore reserve and wandered to Mukundara forests about a year ago. Initially, Mukundara tiger reserve officials were shocked when they saw pugmarks of tiger outside. They thought a tiger has come out of en-

closure but later, the pugmarks identification cameras confirmed that it was a new tiger in the territory. He was given name of MT-3 for identification that has covered nearly

150 kilometres.

At that time tigress, MT-2 was in heat while tiger MT-1 was in a big enclosure. So he wandered around the enclosure for a long time.

Later, the officials de-

cided that it was prudent to keep MT-3 out of the enclosure that was around 80 square kilometre. However, whenever MT-2 called, MT-3 would reach near the enclosure.

While MT-3 was roaming around openly and villagers were yet to be relocated, they brought tigress MT-4 into MT-3’s area. Those responsible for monitoring leaked the videos of tigers’ mating putting them at risk.

They did not stop at that. They flouted every rule and indulged in il-

legal activities. Be it Mukundara advisory committee’s members violating rules or making a weak case against poachers which made it easy for them to get bail, the list of irregularities of forest officials in Mukundara Tiger Reserve is a long one.

Mukundara’s DCF T Mohan Raj has been accused of being surrounded by sycophants and investigations are hushed up.

The death of MT-3 should open up the eyes of Mukundara tiger reserve administration.

First India Bureau Jodhpur: The ED team left the premises of the elder brother of CM Gehlot, Agrasen Gehlot, with some documents and mobile etc after the raid which continued till Wednesday late night.

The advocate and CA for Agrasen, Mahesh Gehlot quoting an official document said that the ED team didn’t find any irregularity or cash or jewellery at the premises.

They also didn’t find any irregularity in the property belonging to

Agrasen Gehlot

Agrasen Gehlot.

The CA said that Agrasen Gehlot was a normal seed and manure trader and lives a normal life. He claimed that the ED team had only found four mo-

bile handsets and had taken along documents related to Agrasen’s business and property. The Gehlot family cooperated with the ED team.

CA Mahesh Gehlot said that Agrasen Gehlot owned a Potassium Hydroxide agency and had nothing to do with import or export of the commodity. Agrasen was a C&F agent catering to western Rajasthan distribution and doesn’t have any connection with places simultaneously raided.

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09

JAIPUR, FRIDAY JULY 24, 2020

City First presents you the sister duos who have succeeded in spilling their charisma in the Indian film industry and are quite the bombshell ‘behans’!

YE BANDHAN TO...

KARISHMA GWALANI karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in

FITNESS FREAKS

Amrita Arora and Malaika Arora

B

ollywood is the place where people try their luck hard to survive in this glamorous industry. Some of them come from a cinema background and others come without any backing in the industry. Interestingly, like many celebs with the Bollywood background, even outsiders too brought their siblings into the business of cinema. Some of the successful examples are of Kajol-Tanishaa-Rani, Karisma-Kareena, Shilpa and Shamita Shetty, SalmanArbaaz-Sohail. While some of them are a big hit on the cinema front, others have not made much noise in public.

The Kapoor’s have always had the reputation of stick-

ing together as a family. If Karishma Kapoor remained at the top in the era of the 1990s, Kareena has a lengthy career comparing her elder sister. Kareena started her career in the year 2000 and remains in the top slot list of actresses.

We did not know much about Kriti Sanon’s younger sister, Nupur until she did cover versions of songs like ‘Teri Galiyaan’ and ‘Bekarar Karke’. Nupur is currently not under media surveillance like her sister but wishes to pursue her career as a singer.

The hot babes with envious figures- Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora are like two peas in a pod. Malaika Arora is one of the celebrated item dancers associated with Bollywood cinema; however, her younger sister amrita showed face in a few Bollywood films, though not successful.

One of the stylish Bollywood sisters Shilpa Shetty

Kundra and Shamita Shetty is the BFF sisters who share the high-end style, great sister love like any other sister siblings. However, Shamita couldn’t sustain in Bollywood too long.

Like every other sister siblings, Riya and Raima Sen love, argue and makeup together. Raima is staying away from the media glare, but she is quite a sensation on social media, and on the other hand, Riya is doing a few films and is spotted at various Bollywood events, award shows, and parties.

Kajol and her baby sister Tanisha Mukherjee share a strong sibling bond while Kajol is still fave of all, Tanisha acting skills didn’t shine well on Bollywood The Chopra sisters are busy taking over the world.

If Priyanka Chopra has become a global icon in a short period, back home, cousin Parineeti Chopra is making the right noise with her choice of work.

SIMPLY SUPER

Riya and Raima Sen

SENSATIONAL

EXPRESSION QUEENS

Parineeti Chopra and Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Kajol and Tanisha Mukherjee

Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Shamita Shetty

BEAUTY QUEENS

SOULMATES

Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan

FAST FRIENDS

Kriti and Nupur Sanon

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JAIPUR | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

10

RANBIR: As sweet as BARFI! E

is not afraid of taking risks and experimenting with his characters, Kapoor surely has it all. Born to one of the biggest heartthrobs of the ‘70s and ‘80s Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor’s son decided to make a debut in Bollywood. However, Saawariya in 2007 boomed at the box office & Ranbir became an one-hit-wonder had all praises. Later, Ranbir went on to do romantic comedies like Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008 and Anjani Anjaani in 2010, ruling the hearts of the females who started seeing him as Shah Rukh Khan of the modern age. The young Kapoor lad proved his mettle in the acting front with Rocket Singh: Salesman of The Year. He chose Raajneeti playing the Arjun of the modern era. His portrayal of a man hurt deeply by his own kin’s deed and taking on a cold and shrewd world of politics made people gasp in admiration. Rockstar unleashed all that was in Ranbir, the viewer couldn’t see Kapoor as an

very year Bollywood witnesses hundreds of starstruck entrants – from filmy and nonfilmy backgrounds.

Everyone comes with a determination to be the next big thing. However, sadly, not many have what it takes to be the next Akshay Kumar or Shahrukh Khan.

Many vanished without a trace. But there are some, who go on to become superstars like Ranbir Kapoor. A majestic charmer, a man with great looks, an actor who

actor but Jordon. The intensity, the rage, the heartbreak, and his dream, Kapoor showed it all. In Wake Up Sid he mirrored the life of every college-goer who wanted to find an ambition. Later in 2013, Ranbir jumped to the light-hearted romance in YJHD, How a free-spirited guy who is lost in the bright shine of the unexplored world learned a valuable lesson at his bff ’s wedding. The actor then again experimented with his choice played a deaf and dumb, adorable protagonist in Barfi. He believes in personal space at a time when the biggest of the stars are discussing everything on social platforms he only comes out during the promotions and maintains a low profile. He later went on doing amazing roles in movies like Sanju among others, where he was applauded for his great acting skills.

It’s safe to say that with actors like him in the industry, Bollywood is in safe hands!

Ranbir Kapoor

FA CE OF TH ED AY

A still from ‘Áe Dil Hai Mushkil’

YOUR DAY Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

Casual behaviour in office is not a sign of sensibility and you may punish someone today for doing the same. You will start cutting corners on onwards just to do some thing big for your child in future. You have many talents but the best one is related to your creativity.

Bawling over small matter is not an adult behaviour, its alright and things will be fine. Monetarily your parents pamper you every now and then and there is nothing to worry really. You are soon going to be a parent and you must already start taking responsibility.

Vitality plays a very important role in ones life and you are full of it. You are always looking forward in life to try something new and experience as much as you can. You take everything positively even your failures and thats your secret of success. You love harmony.

Detachment ia not always bad, if too much attachment is hurting than the prior one is the best option. You will show improvement in your work and as your are growing in life lots of good things will start to happen. You will start buying things which were only a dream in the past.

MAR 21 - APR 20

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

Erroneous calculations in business can make a lot of difference therefore hire the best candidate for the job.

If you want something than you will make sure to have it anyhow. Your financial worries will cease to exists in coming times. Overstraining will affect your health.

Ferocity when directed in a good direction can help otherwise it could be dangerous. You love to eat fruits and vegetable and you try to remain as natural as possible. You value time and you never waste time, each moment of your life you are doing something or the other.

Jumbling clothes in room and any apartment gives you more stress than you can imagine specially for youngsters, keep your room tidy so that you can think clearly. Health is wealth you have heard this many times and you have never taken it seriously but you must now.

Hulking problem are nothing to you because you are a mentally sorted person, you know how to deal with issues. Your have reached a place in life where your words are enough to get things done. Sooner or later you will be moving abroad but until then you should enjoy.

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

AUG 24 - SEP 23

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Intricacy of your work are out standing, you have admirer all around. You are someone who doesn’t hesitate in spending on his/her loved ones. You something say things to people at wrong time and wrong place, please don’t. Look at the larger picture of life and be thanful for everything.

Luscious tastes is your weakness and you can spend to any extent for it.

Think over some matter gain when you have a cool mind.

Brining your job or business stress at home is not your way, you like to keep your family away from worries.

You always amaze your spouse.

Overblown by situations and then thinking too deep about it should be totally avoided.

Marketing business can make you super rich but you need to put an efficient team together. Wealth is very important for you and you will do anything to earn it. You are interested in multiple business.

Avaricious and greedy people is a big turn off point for you. You will prevent someone close from making a big mistake today.

You over worry about your kids, take a bit easy please. Your efforts in making someone’s career will not go in vain. You pray everyday.

NOV 23 - DEC 22

PRATIBHA JOSHI, Artist

APR 21 - MAY 20

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

FEB20 - MARCH 20

ETC

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JAIPUR | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

11

Fake followers’ scam A

s per the latest news reports, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone could be questioned by the Mumbai police in relation to the fake social media followers scam. News reports further add that Mumbai police has been investigating the case with respect to the paid and fake followers. Now, the latest news update states that actors Deepika Paduko n e

and Priyanka Chopra could also get questioned by the Mumbai police concerning the fake social media followers scam. Not just Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, there are nearly 176 high profile accounts which reportedly include Bollywood celebrities, sports personalities and Builders among the highprofile people who reportedly will be interrogated by the Mumbai police.

According to media reports, Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police Vinay Kumar Chaubey

Deepika Padukone

has stated that they have found around 54 firms who have a hand in the fake social media followers scam. He further goes on to add that a team involving the Crime Branch and the Cyber Cell has been formed in order to provide assistance in the investigation of the fake social media followers scam. The news reports also state that a man named A b h i s h e k Dinesh Daude has reportedly been arrested by the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Police in relation to making fake social media accounts.

—Agency

SLAYLENA!

B

lessed are those celebrity friends who flood our timelines with adorable unseen photos of our favourite stars.

Selena Gomez celebrated her 28th birthday on July 22. The singer maintained a low profile on social media but her friends went all out to celebrate their best friend’s birthday. Selena’s friend anna collins posted a bunch of photos featuring Selena and her pooches on her Instagram stories and celebrated the lose you to love me hitmaker. The numerous photos hinted at what an adorable dog mamma Sel is!

... her post

Sharing a mix of six photos and videos, anna gave us a look at how much Selena loves her pooches. These photos featured the singer sleeping, hanging out and cuddling the dogs on several occasions. Apart

from giving us a look at “Doglena”, anna also shared a cute photo of Selena with a halo and deemed her “Slaylena.”

—Agency

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Selena Gomez

A

Kangana Ranaut

Always wanted to study filmmaking

S

haring an unseen throwback picture, actor Kangana Ranaut’s team on Wednesday shared that she studied filmmaking after rising to success with ‘Queen.’

The team of the 33-year-old actor further revealed that she always wanted to study filmmaking but she could not due to financial constraints and she later fulfilled her dream after earning enough money.

“Major #throwback to the winter of 2014, when Kangana was in New York at her film school. This was taken during one of her sessions of screenwriting. #KanganaRanaut always wanted to study filmmaking, but she never had enough money to be able to afford it,” the ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ actor’s team wrote.

“So, when she earned enough after blockbuster #Queen she gifted herself the education she always wanted. She was 27 at this time. Goes to show one is never too old to learn,” the team added.

The picture sees Ranaut wearing a black coloured jacket which she paired with a pair of denim and pink coloured boots. She is seen seated in a classroom with other filmmaking students.

Although she is personally not active on social media, the ‘Gangster’ actor’s team keeps posting insights about her personal and professional lives on social media.

—ANI

Hilary Duff

Exciting UPDATE

Post by her team

ctress Hilary Duff recently revealed that the reboot is still being worked on.

The revamped show Lizzie McGuire has been down a rocky road, the show was originally scheduled to come to Disney+ in August 2019 but has faced several delays after original creator Terri Minsky left over creative differences, and production was halted. At the time, Disney said they wanted to put a new lens on the series, which was described as a show about Lizzie as a 30-year-old woman living her dream life in New York City.

After the series Love, Victor was moved from Disney+ to Hulu due to “adult themes” (per The Hollywood Reporter), star Hilary Duff spoke out on Instagram, asking for Lizzie to follow suit. Since then, there have been few updates, but now, in an interview, Duff said that the reboot is still happening.

“We are very much still in conversation with them a couple of times a week, which is really nice,” she said. “We started shooting, and then obviously that got on hold for a couple of different reasons not involving the pandemic,” Duff continues. “But you know what, I have high hopes that we are going to make it work.”

—Agency

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

JAIPUR | FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020

12

Ladies of the Shekhawat family in Jaipur celebrating Teej

FESTIVAL OF LOVE

Ladies in the Pink City celebrated Teej, the ‘festival of love’ on Thursday. This festival is celebrated primarily by girls and women with prayer rituals followed by songs and dancing, as it is dedicated to Goddess Parvati uniting with Lord Shiva.

Lehariya colour block on Saree by designer Shalu Aggarwal from Jaipur

PRIDE OF INDIA CITY FIRST

R

oposo launched the ‘Pride of India’ program, a collaboration with Indian achievers like Babita Phogat, Chandro Tomar, Neel Ghose and Sangram Singh on Thursday. The multifaceted program recognizes remarkable Indians by providing them with a platform to mentor and inspire fellow Indians.

The inaugural phase of the program kickstarts with Babita Phogat, India’s first gold medal winner in women’s

Heavenly Abode City First

F

ormer IAS Dr Dinesh Chandra left for heavenly abode on Thursday; he was the father of Senior IRS Manisha Chandra and fatherin-law of IPS Amrit Kalash, ADG Home Guard.

As the news reached near and dear ones, a wave of grief swept all. The last rites took place at Lal Kothi Mokshadham on Thursday afternoon.

Late Dinesh Chandra was the Chief Secretary of Punjab and his daughter Manisha Chandra is currently posted as TDS Commissioner. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

HAPPY B’DAY!

wrestling at the Commonwealth Games, Chandro Tomar aka Shooter Dadi, who at the age of 88 years is the oldest woman sharpshooter in the world, Sangram Singh, the world’s best wrestler (as per World Wrestling Professionals), and Neel Ghose, whose Robin Hood Army is on a mission to feed 30 Million Citizens.

Each ‘Pride of India’ mentor will have a Roposo profile to share their experiences and

RAJASTHAN: Kavita Suthar, a well-known dietician and nutritionist of Jaipur, said that she is very excited to work out the diet and nutrition of army professionals Kavita has completed her Bachelor in Nutrition study from Udaipur, and training from CIMS Hospital Ahmedabad and Krishna Hospital Anand in 2018. Through this profession, her objective is to improve people’s eating habits and nutrition intake and work towards a healthy society.

RAJASTHAN: National Co-Convenor and State President, Rohit Deval of All India Charan Gadhavi Mahasabha has appointed Bhupendra Singh Ratnu of Jaipur as a General Secretary in the State Executive.

Making Memories The first original song of the Saavn, sung by Girish Thakur on Lord Shiva, under the banner of Dreamz Music was launched on 23 July. Music director Adhiraj Kumawat shared that this music will also be available on Saavn, Gaana, Google Play Music, Spotify and iTunes Apps.

City First

IAS Peeyush Samariya celebrated his birthday on 23 July, Thursday.

We wish him all the best!

life lessons with other aspiring Indians through innovative Roposo-styled short-video capsules.

The series will comprise of the following: ChandroTomar’s life lessons around persistence, dedication and discipline; Sangram Singh’s tips on physical wellness; Neel Ghose’s insights on providing meals for the less fortunate; Babita Phogat’s talk about selfdefence techniques. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

W

omen officers and employees of the Pink City celebrated Teej at the Rajasthan Housing Board headquarters on Thursday. On the occasion, Housing Board Commis-

sioner and the Chief Guest for the event Pawan Arora greeted everyone present there. The women gathered for the joyful occasion and hummed their favourite songs at the program which was organised for them. The program was conducted by Ra-

jasthan Housing Board Secretary Sanchita Vishnoi.

Financial Advisor Rekha Bhaskar, Estate Manager Kashmiri Kaur Raan, Land Revenue Officer Dr Prabha Vyas and various other senior officials and employees were also present in the program. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

RAJASTHAN: Vedanshi Jain, a student of Children’s Academy, has secured the first position in the ICSE board. On attaining 95.20% marks, Vedanshi said that she used to give about 10 to 12 hours a day to her studies, to meet her target with a fixed time table.

GUJARAT: A self-learned and self-made Mehndi Artist from 2008 and winner of few awards, Kashmira Ghadiali showcased her new design for Shravan season. She takes Mehndi classes and travels across the world to put the same too.