First India-Jaipur Edition-26 July 2020

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD

CORONA

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ALERT JAIPUR l SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00

COVID-19 UPDATE

WORLD

6,45,240 1,60,78,824 DEATHS

MAHARASHTRA 13,389 DEATHS 3,66,368 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

DELHI 3,806 DEATHS 1,29,531 CASES

RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 50

INDIA

32,096 13,85,494 DEATHS

TAMIL NADU 3,409 DEATHS 2,06,737 CASES

CONFIRMED CASES

BJP ENTERS BATTLE

Yogesh Sharma & Aishwary Pradhan

Jaipur: For the past fortnight, the political turmoil of Rajasthan, that started as an internal strife of Congress party, has kept several political players, both within the Congress and its opposition BJP, on their toes. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has claimed that the state BJP has been instrumental in causing this division in the grandold party, and although a battle is already raging between

the Gehlot government and Union government, it was finally on Saturday, that BJP’s ‘resident’ unit came out in the open in the raging battle.

After maintaining a careful distance from the political activities or moves of Sachin Pilot camp for the last couple of weeks, and even claiming it had nothing to do with the turmoil as claimed by Gehlot camp, the saffron party in Rajasthan has now publicly joined the ranks, wherein, it appeared to be ‘natural ally’ to Congress dissident Sachin Pilot!

Saturday started on a high political note, when CM Ashok Gehlot, giving a charging speech to his legislators at Fairmont Hotel during the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meet, said, “We will

GOVIND SINGH DOTASARA, Rajasthan PCC Chief

go to Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet the President if needed. Also, if required, we will stage protest outside PM’s residence.” He

stressed that it was the MLAs’ power that had enabled them to reach the Raj Bhawan the day before. “You all know what this fight is for and

Will meet the President, if required will also stage protest outside PM’s residence.

ASHOK GEHLOT, Chief Minister

Tripura to re-impose lockdown from Monday Agartala: The Tripura government has decided to impose a three-day statewide total lockdown from Monday in view of the spurt in coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb informed.

The complete shutdown will begin at 5 am on July 27 and last till 5 am on July 30, he said.

A formal order in this regard has been issued

by Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar. The chief minister made announced the decision a televised programme.

The lockdown would

have 21 exemptions, including that to emergency and essential services as well as to print and electronic media.

While announcing the fresh three-day lockdown, Deb thanked people for their cooperation and appealed to extend the same assistance this time again.

—PTI

613

DEATHS

The whole world saw that a prominent person of a constitutional body gave a warning and challenge against a nominated head.

SATISH POONIA, Rajasthan BJP President

to what end. This fight is for saving the democracy. The fight we undergo here could be a turning point for the entire nation. I be-

25,298

CONFIRMED CASES

KARNATAKA 1,798 DEATHS 90,942 CASES

n DURING THE 5th CLP MEETING HELD WITHIN 12 DAYS, CM GEHLOT SAID, IF WE ARE REQUIRED TO STAY IN THE HOTEL FOR 21 MORE DAYS, WE DEFINITELY WILL STAY THERE n THE SUSPENSE ON ASSEMBLY SESSION STILL CONTINUES n BJP DEMANDS CM GEHLOT’S RESIGNATION

State BJP delegation led by Satish Poonia, Gulab Chand Kataria, Rajendra Rathore, Ramcharan Bohra, Ashok Parnami, Narpat Singh Rajvi and Kalicharan Saraf handing over the memorandum to Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhawan on Saturday.

After failing to demolish democratically elected govt, BJP is now putting unconstitutional pressure on Governor to not allow assembly session.

RAJASTHAN

GUJARAT 2,301 DEATHS 54,712 CASES

Pol squabble intensifies as Raj

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lieve you will be victorious in this fight,” Gehlot said.

The three time Chief Minister stressed that when they held the ma-

jority and want to go on floor to prove so, how can one think of stopping them. “Entire Rajasthan is with you and this fight is not merely of the government’s,” he said.

A high point of this meet was when Gehlot asked the MLAs if they wanted to continue fighting, all of them held each others’ hands, raised them together and shouted in unison, “YES”!

However, the political ‘chirping’ reached its highest crescendo in the evening, when a delegation of BJP leaders called on Governor Kalraj Mishra to submit a memorandum to the Governor stating that ‘Chief Minister’s threat suggesting ‘gherao’ of Raj Bhawan and expressing an inability of ensuring security is a clear violation under

IPC section 124’. However, the biggest attack in the entire episode in the past 15 days came at the hands of Leader of Opposition, Gulab Chand Katariya, who demanded that CM Gehlot should resign!

Kataria stated that the CM is the head of the state and he said he will not be responsible for a breach in law and order situation. “If not him, then who’ll be responsible? He should tender resignation for using such language,” he said.

Related reports on P2,3&7

If not him, then who’ll be responsible? He should tender resignation for using such language.

GULAB CHAND KATARIYA, Leader of Opposition

Ayodhya: Ahead of ‘bhoomi pujan’, ISIS terrorists present in Kerala, K’taka: UN Adityanath reviews preparations Ayodhya: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday visited Ayodhya and placed the idols of Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan on the new ‘asans’ at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple site.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister reached Ayodhya in the afternoon and took part in a ‘puja’. He also offered prayers at the Hanumangarhi Temple and inspected the stones carved for Ram Temple at Mandir Nirmaan Karyashala.

‘LIGHT LAMPS TO CELEBRATE CONSTRUCTION’

Yogi Adityanath performs aarti while placing the idols of Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan on the new asanas (seats) in the Ram Janmabhoomi premises in Ayodhya on Saturday.

He then held a meeting with seers and members of the Ram Mandir Trust at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad headquarters at Karsewak

Puram. Adityanath is on a short visit to Ayodhya.

The visit to review the preparations for the foundation stone laying ceremony for Turn on P6

Ayodhya: UP CM Yogi Adityanath has asked all temples in Ayodhya to carry out special cleaning of their premises and light lamps on August 4 and 5 to celebrate the beginning of the construction of temple of Lord Ram. Triloki Nath Pandey, the decree-holder of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, said, “CM Adityanath has asked all temples in Ayodhya to light lamps on August 4 and 5.”

United Nations: A UN report on terrorism has warned that there are significant numbers of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka, noting that the al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent terror group, which reportedly has between 150 and 200 militants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, is planning attacks in the region.

26th report of Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, al-Qaida and associated entities said that the al-

Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operates under the Taliban umbrella from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces of Afghanistan.

The group reportedly has between 150 and 200 members from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan. Turn on P6

BJP ending democratic values, misusing constitutional institutes: Pande Aditi Nagar Jaipur: AICC General Secretary and Rajasthan incharge Avinash Pande, who has been camping in Rajasthan from almost the day the troubles for Congress party started in the desert state, addressed the Congress Legislative Party meet on Saturday morning congratulating the CLP of the manner in which the members staged a sit-in at Raj Bhawan. The senior Congress leader also

thanked the senior Rajasthan Congress leaders for ‘trying to sensitize the general public about the conspiracy hatched by BJP’.

“For the past 13 days, we have been struggling and yesterday the struggle came to fore in the shape of the right message. The high command had always strived that any member of our Congress family could put forward their issue and if they have any problem, they can come forward, but the man-

ner in they (dissidents) have become mere puppets of BJP, now I don’t think it will be possible for them to return,” Pande stressed.

The veteran leader said that people have complete faith in the constitutional institutions “but the behaviour meted out to us raises questions on the faith in such institutions”, he said.

Meanwhile, on Saturday late evening, Pande released a video and stressed that BJP has been continuously hammering on the

Avinash Pande addressing the state Congress leaders during Congress Legislative Party meet on Saturday at Hotel Fairmont.

constitutional institutions of the nation.

“The derogatory task of toppling the state governments on the basis of money, political power and usage of central agencies is being conducted. On one side the entire humanity is reeling under Corona’s threat, on the other hand, BJP government toppled MP government.

Rajasthan’s Congress government is doing commendable job which has been appreciated on interna-

tional level. At such a time, the BJP is trying to destabilise the Rajasthan government. Chief Minister’s request to call an assembly session and Governor’s indifference towards the request points clearly to the fact that misusing the constitutional institutions, the BJP government is damaging the democratic values.

Therefore the Congress party has decided to hold the nationwide Speak Up programme on Sunday,” Pande said.

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CM’s warning of Raj Bhawan gherao can invite punishment: BJP Aishwarya Pradhan Jaipur: The warning stating “eight crore people will surround the Raj Bhawan” given by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot can invite punishment under Section 124 of IPC, said Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Saturday.

On Saturday, BJP delegation led by Poonia and Leader of Opposition Gulab Chandra Kataria met Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhawan here, over COV-

ID-19 situation in the state. “The whole world saw that a prominent person of a constitutional body gave a warning and challenge against a nominated head. The warning that-- eight crore people will gherao the Raj Bhawan, given

by CM and Home Minister of the state can invite punishment under Section 124 of the IPC,” said Poonia.

“The way Raj Bhawan was made an arena for picketing and demonstrations, were they try-

ing to get the sign on the papers forcefully? Demonstrations were held across Rajasthan. We condemn these acts hence we met the Governor today. There are many provisions in the law through which a solution can be found but this is not an arena or dangal. State Chief Minister and Home Minister is responsible to destroy the peace of the state,” he added.

Rajasthan BJP has also submitted a memorandum to the Governor

Ramlal Sharma, Ashok Lahoti, Bhajanlal Sharma, Satish Poonia, Ramcharan Bohra, Rajendra Rathore, Kalicharan Saraf and Arun Chaturvedi along with other BJP leaders coming out from the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

stating that “CM’s threat suggesting gherao of

‘BJP has stabbed in back by trying to topple govt’ Workers gathered at Youth Cong office flouted rules for social distancing Abhishek Srivastava & Dr Rituraj Sharma Jaipur: Transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas has said that if the democratically elected government was stopped from working then it will lay seize of governor house and even president’s house.

Khachariyawas was addressing a protest organized at the Rajasthan Youth Congress office on Saturday. “Today was just a trailer. Congress workers will continue to struggle and if BJP leaders do not stop from betraying wherever they go, Congress workers will show them shoes and black flags,” he warned. President of RCA Vaibhav Gehlot said that the BJP has chosen a wrong state to displace a democratic government because Congress workers here are united and they will fail the BJP conspiracy.

AICC secretary Vivek Bansal said there is no point in blaming BJP or the governor when our

Raj Bhawan and expressing an inability of

ensuring security is a clear violation under IPC section 124”.

“The drama which happened yesterday in the name of a constitutional right was unfortunate. The note which was sent by the government to the governor for calling the assembly session had no agenda,” Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters after the meeting. He said demonstrations held by the Congress on Saturday against the BJP were the

ruling party’s way to build pressure on the governor to call an assembly session.

“It is the right of the cabinet to send a note to the governor for calling an assembly session but creating pressure to get it done immediately is the peak of violation of constitutional values,” he added.

Moreover, Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore asked what was the urgency to convene an assembly session at a time when

there are nearly 35,000 COVID-19 cases in the state.

“They have created an atmosphere of anarchy in the state,” he said. He said the BJP did not seek a floor test in the assembly. The BJP also discussed with the governor the spread of coronavirus in the state, Poonia said.

“We gave the memorandum to the governor and said that there is a need to control the spread of coronavirus,” he said.

HC to hear Dilawar’s petition on Monday Nizam Kantaliya Jaipur: The political ball in the state is being shuttled between the Governor House and Courts. The Supreme Court, on Monday, will hear the matter related to the notices to dissident Congress MLAs by the assembly speaker Dr CP Joshi while the Rajasthan High Court bench of Justice Ma-

hendra Goyal will hear a petition by BJP MLA Madan Dilawar challenging the merger of 6 BSP MLAs with Congress in Rajasthan.

Advocate Ashish Sharma representing MLA Madan Dilawar said that his client had made a formal complaint to the assembly speaker regarding the BSP merger with Congress and had demand-

ed disqualification of all 6 BSP MLAs. But there has been no action in four months since then, he said. Dilawar has named an assembly speaker, assembly secretary, and six BSP MLAs as the party in his petition.

Even BSP chief Mayawati had taken a strict stand against Congress for merging her 6 MLAs illegally. Al-

though the stand of all the six BSP MLAs who had merged with Congress was clear about their unstinting support to Congress. Some were old Congressmen while others were upset with BSP working. One BSP MLA Sandeep Yadav was open enough to say that it was better to be in the party than supporting from outside.

Cong stages protests across Raj Yogesh Sharma Pratap Singh Khachariyawas addressing Congress workers during the state-wise protest at Youth Congress office in Jaipur on Saturday.

—PHOTO BY SUMAN SARKAR

own people have betrayed us. He said that Rahul Gandhi is the only one to fight against fascist forces in country and Congress workers are his strength.

Hundreds of Congress workers gathered at the Youth Congress office without caring for social distancing although only 50 had been called for the protest.

The transport minister apologized saying that it showed how angry Congress workers are against BJP’s con-

spiracy. The BJP has stabbed in the back by trying to topple this government, he said. If the constitution is insulted, then people will come to sit on dharna at Raj Bhawan instead of legislators, he added.

Reacting to the leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria’s statement, the minister said, “They can call CRPF but even the bullets won’t be able to budge Congress workers,” he claimed.

According to Khachariyawas, for how long

‘NO’ TO RULES

the assembly session can be delayed. The day it is called, the BJP’s bluff will be called.

Jaipur: Pradesh Congress Committee under the instructions from AICC and state in-charge Avinash Pande held demonstrations at all the district headquarters in the state to oppose the undemocratic and unconstitutional methods adopted by BJP to topple an elected government. PCC communication alleged that BJP has a track record of toppling elected state governments the way it did in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and other states.

In Jaipur, the sit-in

Members of Congress Seva Dal hold placards against BJP during a demonstration at Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur on Saturday.

—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

was held at the Youth Congress office where hundreds of Congress workers gathered and were addressed by State General Secretary Vaibhav Gehlot.

The protest was also attended by Vivek

Bansal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Brijkishore Sharma, Jyoti Khandelwal, Vishnu Lata, Archana Sharma, Ashq Ali Tak, Khanu Khan Budhwali, Moolchand Meena, Dr Karan Singh Yadav,

Suresh Choudhary, and Hem Singh Shekhawat along with senior party leaders. Vaibhav Gehlot charged BJP of conspiring against a state government that was doing a great job in containing the Covid-19 pandemic. He warned BJP of the consequences for adopting unconstitutional ways to topple the Congress government. Co in-charge of state Vivek Bansal regretted Pilot’s attitude despite party doing so much for him. Banners cursing Sachin Pilot were an attraction for all Congress workers.

A ‘SERIOUS SATURDAY’ FOR CONGRESS

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot addressing the MLAs during a meeting at Hotel Fairmont in Jaipur on Saturday.

Protests were organized by the District Congress Committee and Youth Congress workers at the district headquarters in Jaisalmer.

Women Congress workers holding placards against BJP during the protest at Youth Congress office in Jaipur on Saturday.

BD Kalla addressing the MLAs at Hotel Fairmont on Saturday.

Congress workers holding a protest in Tonk on Saturday.

District Congress Committee and Youth Congress workers holding a demonstration at the district headquarters in Barmer on Saturday.

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Upcoming Ayodhya temple event cue to tighten security in Ajmer —FILE PHOTO

Subham Jain Ajmer: The city is on high alert due to dual caution by intelligence agencies.

There will be a grand function in Ayodhya on August 5 to mark the foundation stone ceremony of the Ram temple with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the function.

The second security

Record surge: Alwar singes as Covid breaches 1.1k mark in Raj

State reported 11 deaths on Saturday; Jaipur recorded 93 cases Jaipur: Breaking all previous records of single day corona positive patients ever since the pandemic broke out in the state, last 24 hours added 1,120 new cases in the state taking the toll to 35298. 11 deaths were also reported with 6 from Ajmer, Kota reporting 3, and Jhunjhunu & Nagaur reporting one death each. The death toll in the state now stands at 613.

Maximum 313 new cases were reported from Alwar followed by 271 from Jodhpur, 93 from Jaipur, 80 from Kota, 67 from Ajmer, 56 from Barmer, 46 from Bhilwara, 29 each from Bharatpur & Pali, 27 from Bikaner,16 from Banswara, 15 from Karauli,12 from Bundi, 10 from Udaipur, 6 from Sawai Madhopur, 5 each

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

from Dholpur , Jhalawar & Jhunjhunu, 4 each from Hanumangarh & Jalore, 3 from Dungarpur, 2 each from Chittorgarh & Dausa, Sri Ganganagar The cumulative district wise tally of the corona positives on Monday is as follows – Ajmer 1481, Alwar 2764, Banswara 138, Baran 102, Barmer 1167,

Bharatpur 2331, Bhilwara 485, Bikaner 1696, Bundi 62, Chittorgarh 228, Churu 563, Dausa 279, Dholpur 1098, Dungarpur 559, Ganganagar 139, Hanumangarh 187, Jaipur 4803, Jaisalmer 159, Jalore 1033, Jhalawar 441, Jhunjhunu 528, Jodhpur 5827, Karauli 278, Kota 1263, Nagaur 1230, Pali 2324, Pratapgarh

GUV’S APPEAL

166, Rajsamand 515, Sawai Madhopur 173, Sikar 845, Sirohi 791, Tonk 252 and Udaipur 1087 along with 182 from other states & countries.

So far 25306 patients have truned negative after treatment and 24204 have been discharged from various hospitals of the state. There are 9379 patients under treatment in the state.

alert is for Independence Day celebrations on 15 August.

With the high alert sounded the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) commandos descended on the city bus stand and some other important places to patrol them with security point of view.

Police are also keeping vigil on all incoming vehicles along with hotels, guest

houses and dharamshalas.

The security agencies have identified sensitive cities across the country for both the dates and are keeping alert to avert any kin of misadventure.

The city of Ajmer assumes a special significance for more than one reason from the security point of view.

First and foremost, it is home to the world fa-

mous Dargah which is undoubtedly a place of reverence for muslims across the world as well as lakhs of Hindus in the country. There has been a precedent of a bomb blast in the crowded area.

Second, the Brahma temple at Pushkar is a revered Hindu religious location. Pushkar also houses a Jew temple which earlier made it to the news

when David Headley put it in his hit list.

The city is truly cosmopolitan with Muslims and Christians residing in fairly large numbers, which though makes it beloved to many but also prone to danger. Thus the security agencies definitely want to use caution to thwart any attempt to disrupt peace of such a religiously advanced city.

Bikaner: Ganga Singh Varsity gets new V-C

Dotasara to take over duties as PCC chief on July 29

First India Bureau

Yogesh Sharma

Bikaner: Governor and Chancellor Kalraj Mishra on recommendation of the state government, has appointed Professor Vinod Kumar as vice chancellor of Ganga Singh University in Bikaner. He was earlier V-C of IIMR University Meerut.

Deputy registrar Dr Vitthal Bissa expressed pleasure on appointment of Dr Vinod Kumar and said that after getting a new V-C, education and research will progress in university.

Speaking to First India News, Prof Kumar said that he will try to do something better in the field of higher education while facing challenge posed by COVID 19. “We will also work on e and online education,” he said. Though, he conceded that India lives in villages and we have to work keeping in mind poor internet connectivity.

Jaipur: Govind Singh Dotasara will formally take charge as PCC chief on July 29 at 10 am in presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, State incharge Avinash Pande, party leaders and elected representatives from the party. Dotasara has been appointed PCC chief in unusual circumstances and in an unprecedented manner.

No PCC Chief in state has ever been appointed after suspending the earlier one. Immediately after his appointment was announced, Dotasara was confronted with never before challenges.

This again is unprecedented that Congress went for a state wide protest under him without him formally taking over the charge.

The Scene at PCC on

UNPRECEDENTED

July 29 will be very different. Unlike until now, outgoing chief Sachin Pilot will not be present to hand over the charge but this important formality will be done by CM Gehlot who himself has been PCC Chief more than once.

It is after 7 years that Rajasthan PCC is getting a new president.

Apart from facing the existing challenges Dotasara will have to expand the party base. He had timely

dismantled the existing working committee as it was dominated by hard core Pilot loyalists up to the block level.

The first task would be to form a new team.

Dotasara received good support from Congress workers when he called them for district level protest on Saturday. He might have passed the first litmus test but he undoubtedly has a barrage of challenges awaiting him.

Teen ends life after Over 230 kg opium seized in Raj, largest ‘Khachariyawas gangrape in Churu seizure in India this year, says NCB forgets if he is in

Churu: An 18-year-old girl died of suicide by hanging after she was allegedly gang-raped in Churu district of Rajasthan, police said on Saturday.

The victim was abducted from her house on Friday night by three accused who took her to a deserted place and allegedly gangraped her there in Hamirwas police station area, police said.

After the ordeal, the girl went to her grandfather’s house and hanged herself from the ceiling. The matter came to light on Satur-

day morning, the police said.

The body was handed over to family members after a post-mortem and efforts to arrest the accused identified as Mukesh, Dayaram and Vikas are being made. —PTI

Chittorgarh: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized nearly 234 kilograms of opium from Chittorgarh on Saturday, making it the largest opium seizure in India this year, the agency said.

According to KPS Malhotra, Deputy Director of Operations of the NCB in Chittorgarh, the contraband was being sourced from Chittorgarh and was on its way to Jodhpur. “Jodhpur Zonal Unit of the NCB raided the residence of R. Lal in the Shadi Village in Begun. A total of

OFFICIAL SPEAKS

233.976 kilograms of opium was seized. The intelligence we received pointed us to the fact that the consignment belonged to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan based drug traffickers,” he said.

“Two persons have been arrested - R. Lal

and MK Dhakad, resident of Bhilwara. One car has also been seized in connection with the cases. Preliminary investigation revealed that the opium was sourced from an illicit cultivation area of Chittorgarh and was destined to Jodhpur,” he added.

Malhotra said that further investigation of the case is underway with a specific focus on the Drug Trafficking Network involved and the linkages they have in the licit opium production areas. During investigation, it was learnt that some of the legal cultivators, especially those in the districts of Mandsaur, Neemuch and Ratlam of Madhya Pradesh and Chittorgarh and Jhalawar of Rajasthan, divert it to the illegal channel and sell it to intermediaries for profit. —ANI

REALITY CHECK?

MLA Rajvi gives history lesson to CM in letter Aishwarya Pradhan Jaipur: MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi has written a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. In the letter, he has mentioned, “I would like to draw your attention to the interview given by you to the media outside the Raj Bhavan on July 24, in which you gave the example of Late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat threatening to protest at the Raj Bhavan

during the president rule in 1993 to justify your statement of not being responsible if the Raj Bhavan is besieged.

“The reality is that the state was under the president rule in 1993 and Shekhawat was not holding any position at that time.

Not only this, but no such thing was said

by Shekhawat or any senior BJP leader.

Even the crowd that had gathered in the

WHAT CM SAID

Civil Lines area was repeatedly asked to remain calm as per the dignity of the Raj

Bhavan. I can say this with confidence because I was present there as an MLA and

State General Secretary.”

“You have been in the political arena for

four decades and the political history of the state is not hidden from you. I am sure that you must have known that protests by opposition parties have been carried out near the Raj Bhavan since independence.

But, the day would be remembered in history for the protest carried out by the MLAs of the ruling party led by the Chief Minister and slogans being raised against the Governor.”

power or in oppn’

Pratap Singh Khachariyawas

Vedprakash Solanki

Dr Rituraj Sharma

Delhi in a car having MLA written on it. I do not change sides like him.”

During the protest outside the Youth Congress office, Transport Minister Khachariyawas had said that, “Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has a big heart.

The borders were sealed when MLA Solanki was going to Delhi and he was stopped at the border.

At that time, the MLA had called Chief Minister Gehlot saying that why can’t I go to Delhi and return. Gehlot started laughing as he knew that Solanki would not come back, but the CM still let the MLA go.”

Jaipur: Commenting on the statement of Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas calling a Pilot camp MLA Vedprakash Solanki on calling him shameless, Solanki himself has issued a statement by releasing a video.

Solanki in the video stated that, “Khachariyawas often forgets if he is the one in power or in opposition while giving statements.

Khachariyawas said that Vedprakash Solanki is shameless and he was stopped while going to Delhi.

No one has the courage to stop me. I went to

PERSPECTIVE JAIPUR | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

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IN-DEPTH

BOLLYWOOD’s NEW RACKET EXPOSED

A

fter nepotism and insider versus outsider debate another murky facet of Bollywood, that of fake social media followers of film stars, has come to light. The suspected culprit is said to be Chtrbox.

Its website describes Chtrbox (pronounced Chatterbox) as “the leading platform for brands to discover & collaborate with all kinds of talented influencers in India. For influencers, we help you with campaigns and sponsorships from some of the best brands, agencies, and start-ups…” This makes it a leading marketing company of social media influencers. Some of these influencers resorted to the unethical practice of paying certain platforms for inflating their followers to influence consumer choices or build a strong social base.

Some experts believe that such manipulation, whether purchased or accidental, doesn’t help because fake followers don’t interact.

The misuse was revealed when actor Bhoomi Trivedi complained to Mumbai Police about a fake Instagram account, unravelling a racket in identity theft by some marketing companies operating on social media platforms. Two individuals have been arrested and an actress and a fashion designer are expected to be interrogated by the Mumbai Police.

There is nothing new about identity theft for inflating social media numbers by marketing companies. Facebook’s “impersonation” feature was meant to prevent that. In early 2019 Facebook deleted 2.2 billion accounts deemed fake. Twitter also removed millions of fake accounts during the same time.

KARGIL VIJAY: MAKING OF A HISTORY MAJ GEN CP SINGH, RETD The writer is a scholar soldier accredited with MA, MSc, LLB, MBA, M Phil (Def Mgt) and M Phil (International Strategic Affairs)

I

CRIMINALS IN UP HAVE NO FEAR

C

hief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s chest thumping over ridding Uttar Pradesh of criminals will never stop. Ironically, nor will criminals stop reminding him and his thoroughly corrupt police force that they have no intention of quitting the state, notwithstanding the encounters. And they have the temerity to cock a snook at the government because of their nexus with criminals. This was exposed in a terrible way in Kanpur’s Bikru village when a notorious criminal Vikas Dubey, who enjoyed police and political patronage over the years, gunned down eight cops with some help from a policeman who acted as his informer.

Truth be said, the system has collapsed in UP. The deterioration started under Samajwadi Party rule and has now reached its nadir. Role of some bureaucrats and BJP ministers could also come under cloud for their proximity with Vikas Dubey and his henchmen.

Another example of police-criminal nexus came from Kanpur where a young lab technician was kidnapped. The police persuaded the man’s father to pay the ransom amount and assured him that they’ll nab the kidnappers at that moment. The plan went awry as the criminals fled with the ransom even as police watched. The technician was later killed. Suspension and transfers followed.

These actions don’t lead to behavioural change in the person donning the uniform.

Rescue of a child kidnapped in Gonda and gunning down of his kidnapper is a rare bright spot.

After 21 years, the victory of the Indian Army and indomitable gallantry of Indian soldiers deserve a round of applause and standing ovation from all

n early 1999, I was posted in Army Headquarters. My parent unit was in J&K, so I volunteered to go to my unit as Commanding Officer. In May, while waiting for my posting, I decided to go on a short leave to meet my parents before going to J&K. Those days, there were no mobile phones. When we returned back, I found the posting order pasted on my door to report to the unit forthwith. Reports of limited war in Kargil had started pouring in. The next day I was on the train to Jammu, unmindful of the family affairs, all left to my wife to take care. Though stressed, she didn’t ask any questions and bid farewell to me with a smile of a good Army wife, wedded to “Olive Greens.” From Jammu, I set course to my unit and reached the operational location of the unit at sunset. The Adjutant came out of the underground control room and said “Welcome to the unit in OP VIJAY, Sir! We are at war!!”

The war took place between May to July 1999 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil district. Fighting went on till July 26. Since then, this day is being observed as KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS. .

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous bus ride to Lahore in January 1999 added to confidence-building measures and bonhomie between the two neighbours. As they were attending the Lahore Summit in 1999 to de-escalate tensions, Pakistani troops had started infiltrating into the Indian territory across the Line of Control. Such deceitful and cunning action amounted to a stab in the back.

The conflict is believed to have been orchestrated by the then Pakistan Army Chief, General Pervez Musharraf without the knowledge of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It began with the infiltration of both Pakistani troops and terrorists into Indian territory. They posi-

tioned themselves in key locations that gave them a strategic advantage of having a complete view of NH1 and even open fire on Indian convoys, to intercept the traffic flow. The plan was to take advantage of vacant Indian posts along the L-O-C in a crippling “first-strike.”

Dovetailed with this master plan was a parallel ignition of the Kashmir insurgency, to dissuade the Indians from moving troops from Kashmir into the theatre in retaliation; and the threat of a nuclear response, if escalation was envisaged in India crossing the border.

The victory came at a high price. The official death toll on the Indian side was 527, while that on the Pakistani side was between 357 and 453. This restraint shown by India in not escalating the conflict into a full-blown war, in fact, put tremendous international pressure on Pakistan to finally withdraw from the Kargil heights. Major diplomatic achievement was that the US played a key role in defusing the crisis. International opinion rallied around India, due to the justness of its cause. Even Pakistan’s allweather ally, China, remained completely neutral. India had proven itself to be a responsible nuclear power.

PM ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE’S FAMOUS BUS RIDE TO LAHORE IN JANUARY 1999 ADDED TO CONFIDENCEBUILDING MEASURES AND BONHOMIE BETWEEN THE TWO NEIGHBOURS

The Kargil War affected the Indian security establishment like a Sunami. Once war is over and the soldier is soon forgotten till the enemy comes knocking down, yet again. The expenditure on preparing well equipped, a combatready force of deterrence is soon considered as a burden on the exchequer. The defence requirements are every time relegated in priority for other populist schemes. Defence forces being disciplined organizations never raise their voice.

The modernisation is slowed,

The open secret to reopening the economy T

he future of the world economy is becoming clearer. At the outset of the pandemic, there were lively disagreements over whether the lockdown and other measures were warranted, or whether the economic costs were too high. Now, it is increasingly evident that economic activity will resume fully only after lockdown restrictions have been given time to work. Otherwise, COVID-19 will continue to spread, making a sustained and rapid economic recovery all but impossible until the arrival of effective, widely available vaccines.

When the coronavirus first began to spread beyond China, triggering an immediate, sharp reduction in the level of economic activity and employment where lockdowns were im

04

posed, epidemiologists tried to educate the public (and the authorities, in many cases) about what would come next. They warned that the virus would not be sufficiently contained until its R number –the average number of people infected by a sick person – is less than one. At exactly one, each sick person infects one other, and the number of COVID-19 cases remains constant over time. An R number below one, scientists explained, could be achieved much faster with tighter restrictions and effective testing and contact tracing to isolate positive cases.

In locations where shelter-in-place orders and other measures have been allencompassing, outbreaks have been stabilized, and the R number has dropped within just two or three

weeks. In some places, COVID-19 cases surged exponentially early on, leading to self-quarantine being more common. And because a high percentage of people in hotspots complied with the lockdown recommendations and tracing and testing (likely out of fear), the epidemic curve was quickly dampened.

By contrast, in locations where lockdown restric-

tions were initially mild or nonexistent, fewer people took steps to avoid contact or prevent transmission of the virus, or were more casual about such precautions, and cases duly increased. To be sure, additional location-specific factors have influenced the spread of COVID-19. But the clear takeaway from around the world is that the scope of lockdown re-

strictions, and the degree to which they are followed, is the single-most important factor in weathering and then recovering from the pandemic.

Unfortunately, in the United States, in particular, popular resistance to restrictions mounted just when continued public compliance was needed.

Some politicians and commentators insisted that the

economic costs of saving a life were too high relative to the costs inflicted on those suffering a loss of income or medical care for other conditions. This burst of public pressure won the day. Despite epidemiologists’ warnings, the initial lockdown restrictions were relaxed too soon in many US states.

Worse, as soon as these reopenings began, many people returned immediately to their old habits, ignoring recommendations for social distancing, avoiding crowds (especially indoors), wearing a mask, hand washing, and other preventive measures.

Factories reopened, and many retail establishments and other services resumed operations, albeit at reduced capacity.

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border areas development is put on backburner, training is economised and welfare measures are drastically curtailed. We only wake up suddenly, when the enemy challenges once again like it has happened in Aksai Chin after 20 years and then the entire nation turns towards defence forces and want them to get Victory (nothing less) at all costs.

That time reminding of past neglect of defence preparedness is considered antinational. This cycle of apathy continues again and again.

I revisited Kargil in 2015 to pay tributes to the “Kargil Heroes” before I hang my uniform.

I stayed for a night at Kargil, to imbibe the valiant spirit that’s still in the Kargil ambiance. I was briefed at the Kargil Brigade HQ and also saw the short film on KARGIL VIJAY. As I stood at Kargil Memorial and looked at the dominating peak in front, my head went up with pride and my hand went up to salute the brave hearts that made the impossible happen. Today, on KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS, the whole nation of 130 crore joins me to salute the valour and sacrifices of brave Indian soldiers at Kargil. JAI HO!!!

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

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TWEET Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp Modi Govt is working to ensure that the poor and vulnerable are provided with all-round assistance in these difficult times. Beneficiaries from across the country thank PM @ narendramodi for extending financial aid & free ration to the needy under PMGKY .#AatmanirbharBharat

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Co-chaired 14th Joint Economic & Trade Committee virtual meeting along with UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Elizabeth Truss.

Reaffirmed our shared commitment to an Flag of IndiaFlag of United Kingdom FTA & towards that, Early Harvest deals in a staged manner. @TrussLiz

Spiritual SPEAK

We are kept from our goal not by obstacles, but by a clear path to a lesser goal.

—Bhagavad Gita

Vol 2 Issue No. 50 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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Bihar floods claim 18 lives, nearly 1mn affected About 3.46 lakh people in Darbhanga have been affected by the deluge, which makes it one of worst-hit districts in the entire region ASSAM FLOODS

Schools, govt buildings submerge in Nagaon district Police personnel work in a flooded police station in Darbhanga.

An aerial view of flooded Bind Toli area along the banks of River Ganga, following incessant rain in Patna on Saturday. —PHOTOS BY PTI

Patna: The floods in Bihar claimed at least 18 lives and hit as many districts in the northern parts of the state, leaving nearly one million affected by the deluge, the state’s disaster management department said.

Heavy rainfalls caused the rivers to swell, leading to breach in embankments at

more than one place.

The state government said repair work would resume only after twothree days, during which the downpour is expected to become less intense.

In the meantime, help will be sought from the Indian Air Force so that relief material could be dropped for people marooned in

Goyal reviews steps to promote ‘Make in India’ in Railways New Delhi: Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Saturday, reviewed the steps to promote ‘Make in India’ products in the procurement process for the Railways and the Union government.

“Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal reviewed the steps to promote Make in India products in the procurement process of Indian Railways as well as Government of India. During the meeting, Piyush Goyal urged to take measures to generate confidence in industry of corruptionfree and transparent procurement environment on Indian Railways,” according to a press statement from the Ministry of Railways. It was felt that encouragement needs to be given to such vendors who can supply higher locally manufactured content. It was also suggested to create a FAQ section and a helpline number so that vendors may get clarity on various issues relat-

THE AGENDA

has borne the brunt accounting for seven of the deaths.

It is home to about 1.43 lakh people affected by the floods, out of whom, more than 5,000 have so far been evacuated and taken to safer places by two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and one of the SDRF. Darbhanga also has

the largest number of people hit by the floods, which has affected 3.46 lakh population there.

So far, 9.46 lakh people have been hit by the deluge across the state.

A total of 22 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) are involved in the rescue operations, which

have resulted in safe evacuation of 93.89 lakh people so far, out of whom more than 12,000 have taken shelter at 22 relief camps.

In addition, 271 community kitchens are functioning, catering to about 1.15 lakh people. Water also inundated the National Highway 28, bringing traffic to a halt. —PTI

ing to procurement process, the statement added. Goyal emphasised the need to do Railways goods and services procurements of approximately Rs 70,000 crore on GeM platform. —ANI

Shri Ram Nath Kovind, completes three years in office today,” it said in a tweet.President Kovind, along with the First Lady expressed their gratitude towards all those who are safeguarding the health of the nation in spite of grave risk to them and their families, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a series of infographics.

Nagaon: As the floods continue to wreak havoc in Nagaon district’s Raha area, several schools, water supply project and other government buildings have been submerged in the floodwaters here.

The water level of the rivers -- Borpani, Kapili, Kalang of this area is flowing above the danger mark while hun-

dreds of villages here have been hit by floods including Magurgaon, Aamtala, Kamargaon, etc.

In absence of drinking water facility, locals in the region are fetching water through hand pumps on a daily routine.Floods have wreaked havoc in various districts of Assam for the fourth time this year.

Border Standoff: Israel pledges support to India New Delhi : In the growing list of allies who have pledged support to India for its border crisis in Ladakh, Israel could be a game changer given that, its announcement for ‘all possible help’ in Ladakh has saw a complete withdrawal of Chinese troops from Patrol Point 15 along the LAC. In a telephonic exchange between defence minister, Rajnath Singh and his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz, they discussed ‘possibilities of further strengthening the defence engagements.’ Rajnath Singh invited greater participation of

STORY SO FAR

Army vehicles carrying military goods on Manali-Leh highway for Ladakh stationed in Kullu.

Israeli companies in defence manufacturing given the now liberalized foreign direct in-

vestment norms. Meanwhile, discussions with French defence minister for an India visit is

also underway.

Also, he Indonesian defence minister, Prabowo Suianto, is ex-

2 terrorists killed in encounter with army

PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND COMPLETES 3 YEARS IN OFFICE New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind completed three years in office on Saturday with the Rashtrapati Bhavan noting that he guided the country in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and met nearly 7,000 people, including soldiers and scientists, during the year. “The President of India,

places, which have become inaccessible.

According to the bulletin issued by the state’s disaster management department, West Champaran district, situated along the border with Nepal and through which flows the Gandak river, originating in the neighbouring country and currently in full spate,

Flood hit villagers stage a protest for relief packets in Gopalganj.

Srinagar: A top commander of the Lashkare-Taiba (LeT) was among two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar on Saturday, the police said.

The encounter ensued when the terrorists opened fire on a search team. Security forces launched a cordon-andsearch operation in the

Army jawans show victory sign after returning from an encounter site at the Ranbirgarh area on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Ranbirgarh area on the outskirts of the city this

PM REVIEWS IMPLEMENTATION OF PM-SVANIDHI SCHEME New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi reviewed the implementation of the PM-SVANidhi Scheme of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs earlier on Saturday. It was informed over 2.6 lakh applications have been received, over 64,000 have been sanctioned and over 5,500 have been disbursed.

Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction on the use of end-to-end IT solution through a web-portal and mobile app for the administration of the scheme to ensure transparency, accountability and speed.

morning following specific information about

the presence of terrorists there, a police official said. He said as the forces were conducting the search, terrorists fired upon them. The forces retaliated, triggering a gunfight.

Terrorists were identified as Ishfaq Rashid and Aijaj Bhat. Security forces have recovered an AK-47 rifle and a pistol from the site of the encounter. —PTI

FAKE FOLLOWERS SCAM: POLICE RECORD OFFICIALS’ STATEMENTS Mumbai: Mumbai police crime branch recorded the statements of the CEO and COO of influencer marketing company Chtrbox in connection with the social media influencer scam. The police have sought details of the nearly 30,000 influencer accounts they handle from the Andheri-based company. So far the

police have arrested two persons for allegedly running websites which sell fake followers and likes.

The police said that they recorded the statements of the top officials of Chtrbox that also deals with social media influencers and manages brands to understand the relationship between social media managers and brands.

pected to visit New Delhi coming Monday to discuss regional issues and expansion of de-

fence ties with new joint naval exercises. Tensions escalated between India and China after differences crept up at Pangong Tso lake, over modalities of withdrawal and claims on the border, during the disengagement process following an ambush attack by Chinese troops on Indian soldiers last month. The strategic Depsang plains has also become a sore point now, where Chinese troops are stopping the Indian army from carrying out patrols to points 10-13, cutting of an over 700 sq km area that was previously patrolled by teams from both sides. —Agencies

Air Force gets new heads for crucial commands New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has made key appointments in its different commands all across the country including formations that look after operations along the borders with China and Pakistan.

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari has been appointed as the head of the Delhi-based

Western Air Command which looks after both the crucial borders, with China in Ladakh & all along Pakistan from Ladakh up to Bikaner in Rajasthan. Chaudhari would be assuming charge of the new office on August 1, replacing Air Marshal B Suresh who is superannuating after a brief tenure of nine months there. —PTI

KIN DEMAND CBI PROBE INTO KANPUR LAB TECH MURDER Kanpur: A day after the Kanpur police stated that lab technician Sanjeet Yadav was kidnapped and later killed, his family members demanded a CBI investigation as they are not satisfied with UP police probe. “I am demanding a (CBI) investigation into my brother’s kidnapping & murder case.

Police have arrested the accused, but they could not save my brother and now, they are not able to find the his body . I am not happy with the UP police investigation hence I want CBI investigation,” said Ruchi Yadav, sister of Sanjeet Yadav.

INDIA COVID-19 UPDATE

If detected & treated on time, the infection can be cured, he tweeted

MP CM Chouhan tests+ve, in hospital Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said that he has tested coronavirus positive.

Chouhan, 61, shared the news on Twitter in the early hours. He was admitted to a COVID-19 designated private hospital in Bhopal, a BJP leader said.

“I had symptoms of COVID-19. In the test report, I was found positive. I appeal to all my colleagues that whoever has come in my contact to get tested for coronavirus. My close contacts should move to quarantine,” Chouhan said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the CM said that if detected and treated on time, COVID-19 infection can be cured.

VETERAN SPEAK

“I have been reviewing the status of coronavirus infection in the state every evening since March 25. Now I will try to review the

hours, the Tests Per Million (TPM) has increased to 11,485 and the total testing capacity has climbed to 1,58,49,068.

India crossed the 13 lakh mark of patients on Friday, overtaking Brazil to become the second country after US with a high concentration of cases. The country’s Covid-19 tally surged past 13 lakh, just two days after it had crossed the 12L mark.

situation through video conferencing as much as possible,” he said.

Chouhan also said that in his absence, the meeting to review the

dra Singh, Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang and Health Minister Prabhuram Choudhary. State BJP’s media in-charge Loken-

manner. Facts are being ascertained & verified. @DFS_India @FinMinIndia," said Anurag Thakur.

The tweet said the tea seller is finding it difficult to run his home

ALOK KUMAR IS NEW AGM, WESTERN RAILWAYS

Alok Kumar has joined as AGM, Western Railways in Mumbai. He is a 1984 batch IRSME officer. dra Parashar said that Chouhan was shifted to COVID-19 designated Chirayu Medical College and Hospital in the state capital.—PTI

New Delhi: India reported a spike of 48,916 coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,36,861 including 4,56,071 active cases, 8,49,431 cured/discharged/mig rated.

With 757 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 31,358.

Maharashtra has reported 3,57,117 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country. —ANI

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been lashing out at the Centre relentlessly, on Saturday attacked the ‘anti-poor’ government for what he said was earning a profit during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The former Congress president’s tweet came after the railways ministry said the Indian Railways generated Rs 429.90 crore revenue through fares collected for Shramik Special trains till July 9.

“There are ‘clouds’ of

Nodal officers posted in these divisions will have five days camp in the district under their charge and implement these arrangements effectively, the statement added. —ANI

What if people die?: CM Uddhav warns against lifting lockdown Mumbai: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray strongly backed and justified his decision to not rush in to lift restrictions that are put in place to contain the spread of Covid-19, adding would those demanding lifting of the lockdown take responsibility for the fatalities.

“There are several smart people speaking against lockdown… Fine, we will open everything for you but unfortunately if the people die due to this, will you take responsibility?

due to lockdown. According to the tweet, he went to bank for a loan, he was told he has a debt of Rs 50 crore in his name.

Another Twitter user shared about his

problem of pending GST registration case at the minister's official handle.

Yuvraj Tiwari tweeted "I have applied GST Registration vide ARN AA320720012761T pending since 17th July 2020. No one is taking any action."

Anurag Thakur issued directions to the concerned GST zone to look into the matter.

"Yuvraj, Immediate action will be taken to resolve your issue. @ cbic_india," reads a response by the Minister to another tweet.

This move by Anurag

DEPUTY

Anand Kumar Jha has been appointed Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He is a 2010 batch IRS-C&CE officer.

Benefitting during a disaster: RaGa slams Centre amid crisis

‘FOCUS ON CORONA NOT PUBLICITY’

that the action plan should be prepared on the points directed at the review meeting and the same should be implemented by the Mandalayukta concerned in his/her Mandals.

coronavirus situation will be held by Home Minister Narottam Mishra, Urban Development and Administration Minister Bhupen-

ANOOP SINGH APPOINTED AS OSD (ROFR) IN FOREST HEAD OFFICE IN AP

Anoop Singh, who is waiting for posting, has been posted in the newly created post of OSD (ROFR) in the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest.

He is a 1991 batch IFS officer of AP cadre.

RP SISODIA APPOINTED AS INQUIRY COMMISSIONER IN ANDHRA PRADESH

RP Sisodia, who is waiting for posting, has been posted as Commissioner of Inquiries, General Administration Department in Andhra Pradesh. She is a 1991 batch IAS officer of the AP cadre.

By arrangement with : http:// whispersinthecorridors.com

Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi

Rahul Gandhi

the disease, people are in trouble, one can make benefits - the antipoor government is

There are ‘clouds’ of the disease, people are in trouble, one can make benefits - the anti-poor government is earning by turning a disaster into profit. earning by turning a disaster into profit,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

Human trials for vaccines underway in six cities New Delhi: Volunteers across the country are being administered the i vaccine candidates against the coronavirus developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited and Zydus Cadila.

Bharat Biotech and Zydus were granted permission for Phase I and II clinical trials of Covaxin and ZyCoV-D respectively and the pharmaceutical companies have said the

Thakur resolves people’s grievances via Twitter New Delhi: Stepping into the shoes of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur is now addressing the problems of the common man through his social media handle.

When a tweet mentioning the ordeals of a tea seller who was finding it difficult to get a loan reached him, the minister promptly responded that grievances will be resolved.

"Rajkumar will be informed of the correct status by the concerned PSB in a time bound

Vivek Kishore has been appointed Director in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He is a 1999 batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre.

ANAND KUMAR JHA APPOINTED DEPUTY SECRETARY, PETROLEUM

After my reports for COVID-19 turned out to be positive, I got admitted at the Chirayu Hospital following doctor’s advice.

All the necessary tests have been conducted. I am completely healthy.

Total cases in India surge to 13,36,861

UP CM directs sr officers to review med facilities in 4 dists Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the senior officials of the state to take stock of medical facilities regarding coronavirus treatment in Kanpur and Jhansi on Saturday and in Prayagraj and Mirzapur on Sunday.

According to a statement by Uttar Pradesh government, the CM directed the State’s Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary to review medical facilities in Mandals (divisions) of Kanpur and Jhansi today and in Prayagraj and Mirzapur tomorrow. The Chief Minister directed

VIVEK KISHORE APPOINTED DIRECTOR, ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS

Vijay Kumar has been appointed Deputy Secretary in the Department of Sports. He is a 2007 batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan @ChouhanShivraj

4.2L samples tested in 24 hrs, capacity at an all-time high: Ministry New Delhi: India on Saturday tested a record number of 4, 20,000 samples in a single day, to detect the coronavirus infection among the population.

This is the first time that the country has carried out tests on such a large number of samples in 24 hours since Friday morning, the Union health ministry’s Covid-19 data indicated.

With 4,20,898 samples tested in the last 24

POWER Gallery VIJAY KUMAR APPOINTED SECRETARY, SPORTS

An ambulance leaves the residence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for Chirayu Hospital in Bhopal.

—PHOTO BY PTI

06

JAIPUR | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

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has drawn accolades from Twitter users "We are delighted to share a new beginning towards a direct, public centric, resolution approach for honest tax payers," his office said.

"Being a public rep, MoS has begun taking similar grievances head on, a more responsive and public centric approach for Finance Ministry that directly communicates with Indians and India Inc. Apart all our other offline activities and engagements," said Anurag Thakur's office. —ANI

first doses of their vaccine candidates were administered to volunteers on July 15. A third vaccine candidate developed

by Oxford University and backed by AstraZeneca Plc will soon be tested in India.

Covaxin, which has been developed in collaboration with ICMR and the NIV, will be tested at 12 institutes, including (AIIMS) in Delhi and Patna, and PGI Rohtak.

Women lawyers urge HM Shah to help ‘financially drained’ advocates New Delhi: Over 2,000 women lawyers from across the country have urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to come to the aid of “financially drained” advocates amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve the infrastructural facilities of the virtual courts.

The women lawyers, in a representation sent to the Home Minister on Friday, requested him to take steps to provide financial assistance to the advocates under the Disaster Management Act on reasonable terms and conditions. A copy of the representation has also been sent to the Prime

Amit Shah

Minister’s Office, the Law Minister, and the Finance Minister. The women lawyers started a signature campaign for the representation on July 21, which received responses from over two thousand advocates within a short span of 40 hours. Senior advocate Meera Khadakkar and Archana Pathak Dave are also among the signatories.

The Supreme Court, on July 22, took suo motu cognizance of the issue and asked the Union of India, Bar Council of India, and others to file their response.

“Most of the advocates do not have proper infrastructure and electronic gadgets such as laptops, scanners, good wi-fi for better bandwidth, and even dedicated spaces in the associations to participate in virtual hearings in virtual courts effectively,” the statement said. —ANI

FROM PG 1 Ayodhya: Ahead... the construction of the Ram Temple comes ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected visit to lay the foundation stone of the Temple in Ayodhya on August 5. The construction of the temple will start with the ceremony to lay the foundation stone. A trust member had said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 200 people would attend the ceremony and all social distancing norms will be followed at the event.

ISIS terrorists...

The current leader of

AQIS is Osama Mahmood, who succeeded the late Asim Umar AQIS is reportedly planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader, it said.

According to the report, One member state reported that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), which was announced on May 10, 2019, has between 180 and 200 members .

It said that there are significant numbers of ISIL operatives in Kerala and Karnataka states.

In May last year, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL or

Daesh) terror group claimed to have established a new “province” in India, the first of its kind announcement that came after clashes between militants and security forces in Kashmir. The dreaded terror outfit, through its Amaq News Agency, had said that the Arabic name of the new branch is “Wilayah of Hind” (India Province).

Prevously, ISIS attacks in Kashmir were linked to its so-called Khorasan Province branch, which was set up in 2015 to cover “Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands”. —PTI

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GUV KALRAJ MISHRA BOUND TO ADVICE OF COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, SAYS EX-LAW MINISTER ASHWANI KUMAR New Delhi: Asserting that Governor Kalraj Mishra cannot refuse to convene the Assembly session sought by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former union law minister and senior Congress leader Ashwani Kumar on Saturday said that Governor is the constitutional head of the state and bound to the advice of the council of ministers.

Speaking to ANI, Ku-

mar said, “The Governor is the constitutional head of the state and works on the advice of the council of ministers. The council of ministers has advised the Governor to convene the Assembly session and I think the governor is bound to do so.”

The remarks come as Gehlot has mounted an offensive against the Governor claiming that he was not calling a session of the state Assem-

bly due to “pressure from above”.

Kumar said that the constitutional position on this issue is well established, both by the ruling of the Supreme Court and by the conventions of the Constitution of India.

“He (Governor) might take one or two days upon to decide on this, but he cannot take away the right of the council of ministers to advise him. He also can-

Ashwani Kumar

Kalraj Mishra

not take away the obligation of the Governor to accept that advice,” he said.

Gehlot had also said that he will not be responsible if the public come out to “gherao” the Raj Bhawan. However, Kalraj Mishra had later written a letter to Gehlot objecting to his remark and reportedly asking who was to ensure his safety and security.

Commenting on the reports of the Governor raising security concerns, the former law minister said that he doesn’t think there are any issues of the security of the Governor.

“The Governor is a seasoned BJP politician. He knows that the security of the Governor cannot be at risk in any state. However, when the elected representatives in the state are compelled to voice

their grievances, they go to the Chief Minister or the Governor,” he said.

The conflict between the Rajasthan Governor and the Chief Minister comes in the backdrop of Rajasthan plunging into a political crisis after simmering differences between former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open. —ANI

Pilot, others have Raj cops seek CCTV footage, guest list ganged up with from Manesar hotel to trace Bhanwarlal opposition: Tulsi New Delhi: Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other MLAs from his camp abandoned their own party and ganged up with the opposition, said Congress Rajya Sabha MP KTS Tulsi on Saturday.

“Whatever may have happened, it is as clear as daylight that Sachin Pilot and others abandoned their party and ganged up with the opposite party. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that they are surviving at the hospitality of the BJP,” Tulsi told ANI. The remark comes in the backdrop of Rajasthan plunging into a political crisis after simmering differences between former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot came out in the open.

Tulsi alleged that

I think that saying they have not given up the party is quibbling with words.

We must see the overall impact of their actions —KTS Tulsi,

Congress Rajya Sabha MP

the BJP arranged the hotel and made other arrangements for the Congress MLA from the Pilot camp and said that they are virtual the prisoners of the BJP now. —ANI

Jaipur: In their search for Sachin Pilot-loyalist MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, accused of attempting to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan, the police’s Special Operation Group has sought CCTV footage and guest list from a Manesar hotel to trace him.

The SOG has registered an FIR against Bhanwarlal Sharma, Gajendra Singh and one Sanjay Jain on the basis of a complaint lodged by Congress Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi who had submitted audio clips as evidence of them plotting to bring down the government.

“We sent the requisition a couple of days ago to the hotel but there has been no response so far. We have asked for CCTV footage and details of

guests list,” a senior official of SOG said here on Saturday.

A few days ago, the Special Operations Group (SOG) was sent to a hotel in BJPruled Haryana’s Manesar in Gurgaon to seek the dissident MLA’s version in connection with an FIR lodged over the audio clips.

The team was

stopped outside the hotel for about an hour by Haryana policemen deployed there.

The Rajasthan police were let in later, but told at the reception that the MLA was not staying there, and they returned, the unit’s Additional Director General Ashok Rathore had said.

The Congress had cited two audio clips on social media and demanded the arrest of Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat, alleging that he is heard in one of them during a conversation on a plot to bring down the Congress government in the state.

In an FIR lodged with the Rajasthan police, the party had also alleged that Bhanwarlal Sharma too was heard in the audio clip.

The complaint by Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi mentioned “Gajendra Singh” but stopped short of identifying him as the Union minister.

Both Shekhawat and Bhanwarlal Sharma have rejected the allegations.

Sanjay Jain, the third man mentioned in the audio clips has been arrested. —PTI

MODI UNHAPPY WITH RAJ BJP

W

hile it appears that Bharatiya Janata Party has been ‘surrounded’ on the political arena by a wily Gehlot, rumour has it that a certain section within the saffron party has been given a ‘mouthful’ on the current political scenario in the desert state by the supreme leader of the party, Prime minister Narendra Modi. Word is that Modi is miffed at the current situation in Rajasthan politics which has been aptly conveyed by the senior leaders to the leaders from Rajasthan after which the camp is a little demotivated. Apparently the entire development occurred when Gehlot wrote a letter to PM Modi and

accused the BJP of destabilizing the government elected by the people.

Generally, PM does not interfere in such developments, however, it is believed that either Om Mathur or some senior leader has apprised the PM of the current scenario. With the high court maintaining status quo on disqualification on rebel MLAs and the whole legal process shifting to the Supreme Court, the political battle has intesified in terms of numbers and now is being closely watched by everyone.

CM-GOVERNOR MEET ‘CALLED OFF’

S

aturday was a day of running around, especially for those involved with the working of Raj Bhawan, Chief Minister’s Residence, Jaipur Police Commissionerate, and local media. The reason? Well, it was nothing but the constant speculation being made that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will meet Governor Kalraj Mishra, yet again, on calling the assembly session. During the day, the ‘reworked’ cabinet proposal for calling assembly was to be sent to Governor Mishra which was brought

by Law secretary. However, later

the ‘reworked’ proposal ‘draft’ was sent back to be worked on in finer detail and after making the relevant corrections the proposal was to be forwarded to the Governor, yet again. This kept the officials and media speculating that any moment Gehlot could call on Governor Mishra. During the day, the Raj Bhawan secretariat was informed of the Chief Minister’s willingness to meet Governor, first at 2 PM then

at 4 PM, however both the time the CM did not meet Governor. Later, around 7.30 PM, the administrative machinery started ‘churning’ as it was said that CM would now meet Governor and present him with the proposal, and even barricading was conducted, over 200 cops were posted between CMR and Raj Bhawan, but at 8 PM, the matter came to naught. Interestingly, sources in the Raj Bhawan informed that the meeting program was dropped from CMR’s side and political observers now believe that not all is well between Raj Bhawan and state government!

—Kashiram Choudhary

GUV’S ANGER, COURTESY RAJ BHAWAN STAFF!

T

he five-hour-long sit-in at Raj Bhawan, although meant to send a political message, resulted in a major development ie the otherwise calm and composed Governor Kalraj Mishra losing his cool. Already flustered with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s comment of not being responsible if people ‘gherao’ the Raj Bhawan, it was a different shade of Governor Mishra that surprised not just his staff but

PILOT’S FUTURE POLITICAL DYNAMICS

T

he biggest question in Rajasthan politics in the current scheme of things is if the progenitor of the current turmoil and squabble, Sachin Pilot, would form a third front and contest on the nineteen assembly constituencies if he and his eighteen supporters are terminated from the assembly’s membership.

Political observers are already riling up with the possibility, which they claim, will be unsavory for the Congress party. Interestingly, the word is that the Pilot camp has even started working on this

Passersby and villagers at the accident spot in Pali on Saturday.

Speeding triple-seat bikers collide leaving trail of bodies, 4 dead First India Bureau Pali: In a horrific accident involving motorbikes, four people lost their lives while two were seriously injured on Saturday.

The accident took place near Dudni village under Nana police station in Bali block of Pali district.

The injured have been admitted in Sumerpur hospital.

The police said that

three persons each were riding on two motorcycles.

Both were driving fast when the accident happened. None of them was wearing helmet.

When the bikes collided, they fell on their head and sustained fatal injury.

The police have been trying to identify them on the basis of bike numbers and documents received from their bodies.

even the stalwart politicians in the state and in New Delhi as well. But was the comment and the agitation by the Congress legislators really the reason for the Governor’s anger? Highly-placed sources in the Raj Bhawan informed that the Governor was miffed at the Members of Legislative Assembly being made to sit in the garden in front of the Bhawan complex ie the front lawns. On the contrary, the precedent is that lawn outside the guest house, within the Raj Bhawan premises, is used for gatherings. MLAs sitting in the lawn and raising slogans presented a bad ‘PR’ for the Raj Bhawan, which was Governor Mishra’s main point of contention.

theory and will focus on their mainstay - the Eastern Rajasthan region - where the third front will focus on ST-Gurjar communion.

In this effort, Ramesh Meena, Murarilal Meena, PR Meena, GR Khatana will work tirelessly for Pilot camp while independent MLA OP Hudla is also with Pilot in this endeavour. Former DGP Harish Meena has been MP from Dausa whereas Sachin Pilot holds immense sway in his caste votes and it is believed that Congress will face immense difficulties in this belt. But to ‘win’ this region, Pilot will have to bring Kirori Lal Meena on board who is a stalwart

leader from this area. As of now, Meena appears to be in support of Pilot, however, he will have to think as a BJP leader since it is unlikely that BJP will extend overt support to Pilot and moreover, the political future of Meena’s brother, wife and nephew would also be at stake. Interestingly, Pilot camp has gone one step further and even drawn plans for Nagaur to woo the Jat belt and observers believe that Pilot could join forces with RLP’s Hanuman Beniwal, who has been a long time advocate of the third front and off late have been giving pro-pilot statements.

—Yogesh Sharma

I am unable to understand how do people get bored. The world is massive full of interesting things to know and learn about, go ahead!

2ND FRONT

—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India

POSTAL REG NO. JPC/010/2019-21

JAIPUR | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

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NITISH AND BJP ENTANGLED IN THE TUSSLE FOR SEATS dne ka shouk rakhti hai duniya magar, Titliuo ke pankh noch leti hai, sab samajhti hai yeh parsukoon chiraiya, jo rehti hai asma mein, par ghosle kahi aur banati hai. Now, take the case of MLC elections in Bihar where swords are still drawn between JDU and BJP. In Bihar, the JDU and BJP have to share 12 legislative council seats and the saffron party wants the formula for 6-6 seats to be discussed, as the BJP has to leave one of its seat for Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP as well. At present, JDU has 71 MLAs in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and BJP

U

has 53, so Nitish wants to share the seats in the same proportion, therefore in the MLC, he wants to retain 7 seats while leaving 5 seats for BJP. Since there are only 2 LJP MLAs in the state assembly, Nitish feels that the Paswan brothers should not claim their MLC seat. In this quarrel between JDU and BJP, two ministers of the Nitish government, Ashok Chaudhary and Neeraj Kumar, have come under fire, as both were MLAs, whose membership has expired and without being a member of any House, no one can continue in the post of minister for more than 6 months, that is, both of them have till October.

Meanwhile, for the upcoming Bihar elections, Nitish knows that his par-

Nitish Kumar

FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL

BY TRIDIB RAMAN

ty’s strike rate is lower able to win only 116 than the BJP’s, so he seats out of 143. Anywants at least 20 more way, Bihar is the only seats for his party in state in the entire Hindi seat sharing. While the belt (Rajasthan, MadBJP is willing to give hya Pradesh, Delhi, UP, 107 seats to JDU, BJP Jharkhand), where till wants to contest on 98 now the BJP has not seats and wants the LJP been able to make its to contest on 38, howev- CM, a point that has aler, Nitish is apparently ways bothered the safnot too happy with the fron party. But Nitish formula. Moreover, he knows it, and thus is not happy with the wants to take every step BJP giving much prefer- in a calculated ence to Paswan’s party. manner.

In the last Lok Sabha elections i.e. 2019, Nit- PILOT’S ish, BJP and LJP con- ‘PILOT tested on the basis of PROJECT’ 17-17-6 seats, in which n RaBJP and LJP won all jasthan, their seats, but Nitish Sachin Picould not do hold on to lot is said to Kishanganj constituen- have the supcy losing it to Congress. port of 18 rebel Even in the 2010 assem- MLAs of Conbly elections, BJP won 91 seats out of 100 seats for its share, while Nitish’s party was Sachin Pilot

I

gress, but now a debate has arisen among Pilot camp MLAs whether Pilot should side with BJP or form a separate party. Most of the Pilot supporter MLAs want Pilot to do hard bargaining with BJP in the same way as Jyotiraditya Scindia and try to get the best deal possible. At the same time, some of his other supporting MLAs are of the opinion to form a separate party.

T h e y t h i n k that if such a party is for med, m a n y young and strong leaders of the

Congress party, angry over the behaviour met to them in the grand old party, can join forces with Sachin. For example, Milind Deora from Maharashtra, Jitin Prasad from UP, Pradyot Deb Burman from Tripura can join Pilot’s new party, i.e. Pilot’s party can polarize angry leaders from Rahul.

Needless to say that this new party of Sachin will also suit the BJP, so the BJP can help Sachin openly in this venture.

BHUPENDRA YADAV’S BIHAR ecently, a news had spread like wildfire that Manoj Sinha could be made the incharge of Bihar BJP by appointing him as the party general secretary, but soon after the news, Bhupendra Yadav quickly took control of the damage and Vivek Thakur, a Bhu-

R

mihar leader who is the son of Dr CP Thakur, was sent to the Rajya Sabha. If MLC elections are held in the first week of August, then Devesh Thakur, a former journalist and belonging to Bhumihar caste and said to be close to late Arun Jaitley, could be made MLC from Bihar.

According to sources, these days, two young leaders of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav and Chirag Paswan are being ‘handled’ by Bhupendra Yadav. In the Bihar assembly polls 2015, BJP gave party tickets to 54 Yadavs, made many Yadav leaders (like Ram Kripal Yadav) as ministers at the Centre, yet the Yadavs continued to cling to the Lalu Yadav’s RJD. Hence, Bhupendra Yadav devised a new formula that if needed, BJP can take

08

help of Tejashwi to form government in the state. A successful experiment was conducted of this idea by BJP in Haryana when it took help of Jat leader Dushyant Chautala to form government there. Now in Haryana, the Jats are enjoying power and the BJP is also making inroads in the community. So if Nitish did sway to ways other than that of the BJP, the saffron party apparently will not shy from calling Tejashwi.

The author is a journalist and political commentator and views expressed are his personal

Bhupendra Yadav

‘Futile for people to expect safety BJP ‘conspiring’ to topple Raj Cong govt: Vaibhav when CM makes Guv feel unsafe’ Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat attacked CM Ashok Gehlot for staging a ‘dharna’ at the Raj Bhawan New Delhi: Attacking Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for staging a ‘dharna’ at the Raj Bhawan, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday said in a state where the chief minister himself makes the governor "feel unsafe", it is futile for people to plead to him for their safety.

Accusing Governor Kalraj Mishra of acting under pressure to not call an assembly session, Gehlot along with several Congress MLAs had staged a sit-in at the Raj Bhawan in Jaipur on Friday.

They ended their fivehour sit-in after an assurance from the governor that he will go by the constitutional provisions on summoning an assembly session.

"Where the chief

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

minister himself makes the governor feel unsafe by threatening him, it is futile for the people of Rajasthan, who are reeling under incidents of robbery, violence, rape and murder, to plead to the chief minister for their safety," Shekhawat said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Congress has accused Shekhwat of trying to topple the Gehlot government in Ra-

jasthan, a charge the Union Jal Shakti minister has denied. The Congress and Shekhawat have been involved in an intense war of words since then.

A Rajasthan court has also asked the state police to probe a complaint alleging the involvement of Shekhawat in a credit society scam. The Union minister has dismissed the charge as a "political conspiracy". —PTI

We have no role in Congress’s internal conflict: Rathore Jaipur: The Congress is raking up a non-existing issue in Rajasthan and is blaming BJP which has no role in the party's internal conflict, said Deputy Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rajendra Rathore on Saturday.

“At a time when COVID-19 has crossed 34,000mark, Congress party is trying to rake up a non-existing issue. They are protesting against BJP for no reason.

What role does BJP have in Congress party’s internal conflict which has

Rajendra Rathore

led to the creation of two factions within the party,” Rathore said.

“This protest is just to divert attention from their inner mess that they have within their party.

They know that their leaders have left the party and their internal conflict is growing in the party,” he added. —ANI

What is the reason to not hold assembly session at a time when Rajasthan government has called for it, he asks

Jaipur: PCC General Secretary Vaibhav Gehlot on Saturday slammed the BJP for a "conspiracy" attempting to topple Congressled state government in the State.

Addressing party supporters during a protest rally in Jaipur against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gehlot said, "BJP at the Centre is involved in the conspiracy to topple democratically elected Rajasthan government.

For the last one and half years, we have worked for farmers, we have effectively tackled coronavirus. I think BJP can not deal with it and hence they are conspiring to topple Congress-led Rajasthan government."

"BJP toppled the government in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka but I am sure that this time BJP has chosen a

Vaibahv Gehlot addressing the party supporters during a protest rally against BJP in Jaipur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

wrong state. This time Congress workers are united in Rajasthan and they will not able to fulfil their dreams of toppling the government," he added.

He also questioned the reason for not holding assembly session. "What is the reason to not hold assembly ses-

sion at a time when the Rajasthan government has called for assembly session. In Madhya Pradesh, they have called assembly session in the middle of a pandemic.

When the Rajasthan government is calling for the session, they are not allowing the session," Vaibhav said. —ANI

issues notices to Cong to protest outside Raj Bhavans across nation ACB Vishvendra, Bhanwarlal Cong to hold online campaign, ‘Speak Up for Democracy’ on Sunday, protest in front of Raj Bhavans on Monday

New Delhi: Accusing the BJP of subjugating democracy, Congress on Saturday announced that it will be holding protests outside different Raj Bhavans across the country on July 27 against the saffron party’s alleged attempts to topple its democratically elected governments.

AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal al-

leged in a statement that the very basic constitutional and democratic frame of the nation is facing an unprecedented attack from the BJP. “Democratic institutions, constitutional values and institutions are being subverted and subjugated in a dangerously premeditated manner, with democratically elected opposition

KC Venugopal

governments in one state after another being toppled by the BJP, using money, intimidation and blatant misuse of constitutional bodies and func-

tionaries,” he said.

“Horse trading to topple democratically elected governments has become the normal. What is more deplorable is that, at a time when the

entire country is reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic, floods and severe economic and financial difficulties, the BJP is going all out to unsettle elected governments - in the process derailing governance and preparedness to handle COVID and other pressing issues,” he also alleged.

The Congress party has decided to organise a nationwide online campaign, ‘Speak Up for Democracy’ on Sunday, July 26, whereby leaders will post videos and posts on different

social media platforms highlighting this issue.

“Following this, all PCCs will hold protests in front the Raj Bhavans in their respective states on Monday, July 27 at 11 am demanding ‘Save Democracy- Save Constitution and exposing the anti-democratic and anti-constitutional actions of the BJP,” he said.

Protest would be held strictly adhering to the social distancing protocols issued by the health and civic authorities, the party said. —PTI

Jaipur: The Anti-Corruption Bureau has issued notice to Congress MLAs Vishvendra Singh and Bhanwar Lal Sharma in connection with alleged horse-trading in Rajasthan.

Last week, the Congress had suspended Sharma and Singh from the primary membership of the party and issued show-cause notices to them to "explain their conduct in the conspiracy to topple Congress government

in Rajasthan." CM Gehlot's loyalists have alleged that Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma was making his fifth attempt to topple the state government along with former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot.

Meanwhile, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan police issued notices to Tanveer Singh, Balwant Singh, Digvijaya Raj Singh and Karni Singh for alleged horse-trading that led to the political crisis in the state. —ANI

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From damsel in distress to stuntwomen, Bollywood actresses have done it all, but very few female stars have done the action genre successfully.

City first jumps into the action with the recent stars who nailed it!

MAIN TERI HERO KARISHMA GWALANI karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in

T

here was a time when actresses, in Hindi films, were just required to dress well, look pretty and cry at the director’s cue. The action and stunt heroines were few and far in between. But that’s not nearly enough for Bollywood actresses of this generation! As the films and roles available for actresses have evolved, so have the actresses approached for these films. From taking up horse-riding to learning combat sports and martial arts, these days, actresses go the whole hog in preparing for a role. Let me tell you, as they look stunning in their Hot Avatars, they look dangerous, ready to stab your heart in action avatars. From Sonakshi Sinha in ‘Force 2’ and ‘Akira’ to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in ‘Dhoom 2’ recent Hindi films where female leads took to action

are breaking the stereotype on screen.

Let’s look at the list of actresses who showed off their action avatar on the big screen. Sonakshi Sinha had to undergo rigorous training for her role as a woman seeking revenge against a corrupt cop (Anurag Kashyap), in Akira. And her efforts seem to have paid off.

While a ten-day course in archery is no big deal for a trained athlete, Deepika made the effort

to do it for her role as Mastani. She refused the option of having the scenes shot with a professional archer and her face being super-imposed on her in post-production. Way to go, D! Playing a boxer convincingly is not an easy task, but it did not daunt Priyanka Chopra. The spunky actress went through a gruelling fitness regime for this role, which included running miles, strength training, pushups in freezing weather and of course, boxing.

Director Neeraj Pandey’s spy thriller featured one of the most impressive action sequences choreographed for a woman actor Taapsee Pannu in recent times.

The Pradeep Sarkar directed crime thriller ‘Mardaani’ saw Rani Mukerji play a cop, out to solve a human trafficking case.

Kabir Khan’s action thriller ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ saw Katrina Kaif play a Pakistani spy on the run with Salman Khan, an Indian RAW agent. The film made more than 186 crore at the box office.

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ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20 Think calmly about everything you are about to start doing. Unwavering good luck will see you through to success. Conduct conversations in a calm tone and restrained emotion. Prepare for an attempt for financial frauds, which may be fatal to your stability if you allow them. Do not expect an expeditious resolution of problems related to your plans to come easily. Now is the time to make changes that will bring you good advantage and tranquillity in the coming months. Positive changes are possible if you anatomize your actions & are careful in your words.

TAURUS

WEEKLY JULY 26 TO AUGUST 1

KRITI SANON’S BIRTHDAY FALLS ON 27TH JULY. THE COMING YEAR IS GOOD FOR EXPERIMENTING WITH A NEW LOOK OR MANNER. SHE SHOULD NOT DWELL ON THE PAST BUT LOOK AHEAD TO WHAT THE FUTURE WILL BRING. UNEXPECTED CHANGES IN PLANS OR EVENTS ARE LIKELY

JAIPUR | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

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LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22 There may be disagreements in your family that you can evade to avoid depression caused by some of the exchanged offensive words.

Your successes are secured if you do not make mistakes because of your lack of inattention. You do tend to hide your real emotions, but soon you will feel like saying it like it is. Your patience and perseverance will be put to the test. Do not rush and think about your intentions and plans once again. Think about the new ideas you were offered to save yourself from downfall and losses.

SCORPIO

APR 21 - MAY 20

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

You may find yourself in a deeply pensive and philosophical mood, turning various events and conversations over and over in your mind to try and get to the bottom of a dilemma. Those of you in real estate and trading will be successful. There will be new people in your life who will bring new ideas and opportunities for revelation. What you need now more than ever are calmness and patience.

Some recent proposals may incur financial losses.

It is time to be practical in a very considerate way, a message from the universe – you need to change.

Soon you may find yourself determined to make your feelings known. Go easy on yourself and be patient. You will be at the right place at the right time and to be successful, you just need to follow your intuition. Soon you’ll have an urge to make changes in your attitude toward one particular person. Build your new plans. You will improve your financial status unexpectedly, with tasks that you’ll accept and finish with finesse. If you had any grand plans for a social outing/traveling, then you may have to scale them down substantially.

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21 If you have been considering how to tell someone just how you feel, you may get a lot of help from the energy emanating from the planets. If you are in a partnership you will be successful because it will make it easier for you to overcome the difficulties on your way. It is better to quit unconsidered journeys because you may miss important meetings with the potential for future success. Some sort of bonus money may come your way if you play your cards right. Give yourself a chance to change when and if necessary.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 22

You are emotional but at the same time stable.

Try not to share your ideas and impressions with even your most credible friends because you will be creating problems for yourself. Think about your next steps well and do not hurry to proceed with their conversion. It’s important not to lend money at this moment. Don’t make travel plans.

The planets promise you excellent self-confidence and spiritual harmony if you remember that selfassessment benefits you. This period is favorable for the realization of your wishes.

CANCER

CAPRICORN

Your prosperity and recognition are awaiting you, despite the difficulties you face. The energy of the stars may cause you to act irrationally when really, you need to calm down and be patient.

There seems to be a lot of pushing and shoving around this period, not only in your general environment but also in your family. Now you may feel quite emotional, but you are lacking a sense of clarity. Evaluate and discuss your new ideas.

This is the perfect time to arrange an outing. Do not insult or criticize for no reason.

The planetary alignment encourages you to express how you feel and if you have been suppressing particular emotions, you may find that you can no longer hold them back another moment. Passed up opportunities for materialization at this moment are to your detriment because success is up to you and you should not miss it right now. Show self-control and don’t embark on new activities, even if someone’s tempting you. The period is filled with plans and new hopes.

LEO

AQUARIUS

You cannot guess what someone is thinking, so you will just need to be patient and wait until you get a clearer perspective. There is no need to struggle for you to be successful. You feel in harmony with yourself emotionally. Follow your heart, and the money and opportunities will follow naturally. Consider whether you’re doing unsolicited good in order not to win an enemy.

This is not a time to stay at home and read or watch television, commit yourself to positive change. Don’t travel if it is not urgent.

Your ideas will be supported if tactically and not too insistently put them up for discussion. Do not overestimate your strengths so you can keep the prosperity on your side. If you overdo your desire to achieve order or your pedanticism, you will only complicate the relationships with people around you. Soon you will have an extra boost of confidence, which puts you in quite a mood and draws people to you with whom you are happy to interact and genuinely at ease. Now is the time to put your money where your mouth is.

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

VIRGO

AUG 24 - SEP 23 Be patient and wait while the thread of your life quietly unravels to reveal you are a true path. You will feel the envy brought about by your success, which is ordinary and should not bother you. Don’t forget to have faith that what you are working on will be successful. Do not let emotions ruin your achievements so far. Your plans could need restructuring. Panels advise you not to travel long distances. Stop looking at the way things were, and analyze how much you have at present, then consider what you want to do with your future.

DEC 23 - JAN 20

JAN 21 - FEB 19

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20 If you are nervous, do not argue or quibble, rather exercise the peace of mind, otherwise you risk creating serious problems. Persistence and patience are always rewarded. If you have arranged an outing soon, it may not go strictly according to plan. Consider how to make the necessary changes to your life happen smoothly.

Creative moneymaking opportunities are likely to come your way via the internet or some other computer-based network you are involved with.

Try not to over-analyse your current status.

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11

JAIPUR | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

An emotional watch DIL BECHARA DIRECTOR Mukesh Chhabra

KAVITA CHAUHAN

CAST Sushant Singh Rajput, Sanjana Sanghi, Saif Ali Khan, Swastika Mukherjee, Saswata Chatterjee and Sahil Vaid

cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

E

k tha raja ek thi rani, dono mar gaye khatam kahani—-Dil Bechara.

The film is a remake of the 2014 Hollywood drama that was based on John Green’s young adult novel The Fault In Our Stars.

The film is Sushant Singh’s only posthumous release which showcases him as an ebullient young boy (Manny), who is aware that the end is near but perseveres to live in the moment.

He teaches Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi), his girlfriend,

Late Sushant Singh Rajput

D Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton

G

...still from the film

who too has cancer, to do the same. In the end, as the narrative pays a teary-eyed tribute to Manny, it is hard to detach the sequence from Singh’s reality, and the corelation is affecting and ab-

surd, to say the least.

Sanjana Sanghi who makes her debut in a leading role gives a confident performance. The supporting cast, especially Swastika Mukherjee and Saswata

Sanjana Sanghi

uring the Me Too wave that had hit Bollywood, Sanjana Sanghi and Sushant Singh Rajput names too had cropped up as reports suggested that Sushant, allegedly inappropriately misbehaved with Sanjana on the sets of their film Dil Bechara.

Back in 2018, Sanjana Sanghi took to her social media channel to dismiss all such reports and clarified

that no such incident took place as she clarified in a tweet that read, “I’d like to clarify that no such incident took place with me. Let’s put an end to these conjectures.”

Now since Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, Kangana Ranaut has been supporting Sushant and calling out names for sabotaging his career and in the latest, Kangana’s Twitter handle has questioned Sanjana’s delayed response to rumors of harassment that had

surfaced against Sushant Singh Rajput. Reacting to Kangana’s claims, Sanjana Sanghi talked about the Me Too allegations as she said that ‘nobody has the authority’ to judge if her response was fast enough or not. In an interview, Sanjana had said that she has said more than enough and after Sushant was allegedly accused of Me Too, Sanjana said that she had given a clarification which should have been enough.

—Agency

STOP

BULLYING!

I

t has been a while since online trolling and cyberbullying have become common wherein anonymous accounts target any account user on social media and send out hate comments. This is extremely common with Bollywood

Surgery went PERFECTLY

Q

ueen of comedy Chrissy Teigen just announced via Instagram that she might have another breast reduction surgery. The topic came up after the 34-year-old cookbook author gave her fans a look at her outfit of the day.

The Cravings star modelled a few necklaces and said, “We’re working the jewels today.” She then began pulling at her top. “This is supposed to go over each t-tty, but my dash are too low,” she said. “And yes, they are still huge. I think I honestly will do it again and have them make them smaller. I did not expect that they would still be this large.” Teigen underwent surgery to have her breast implants removed. She even received a cake from Luke and Meghan that featured a tombstone with words “RIP 2006 – 2020.”

—Agency

celebs who often become a target of online trolls. So to put an end to online bullying, Sonakshi has now teamed up with Mission Josh and a few other cyber experts and launched a campaign, ‘Full Stop To Cyber Bullying.’

Taking to social media, Sonakshi shared a video in which she raised her voice against Cyber Bullying and harassment.

She informed that she is teaming up with Maharashtra Police for an initiative called ‘Mission Josh’ wherein they will raise awareness about online bullying, mental health, harassment, and more. The goal of the campaign is to bring more awareness towards the subject and various important aspects so that the trollers, harassers, bullies are aware of the consequences as well as legal actions that can be taken against them on committing any kind of Cyber harassment while sitting behind the screen. The first interaction will air on the 26th of July.

—Agency

Chrissy Teigen

Chatterjee as Kizie’s parents are superb. The cameo of Saif Ali Khan can be given a miss.

As a film, however, Dil Bechara lacks depth and the feeling of fragility that is at the centre of a story like this. The film is by no means perfect but it is not one without feelings. It is surely going to make you weep.

SANJANA’S REACTION

HAPPY ANYWHERE

wen Stefani and Blake Shelton are kicking off their week with new music. The 50-year-old Stefani and the 44-year-old Shelton dropped their sweet song ‘Happy Anywhere’ on Friday, July 24. In the tune, Shelton sings about how he’s always been on the move; however, he suggests he’s found his home with Stefani. And as long as they’re together, it doesn’t really matter where they are. The lyrics read: “I’m running wide open/I was born with my feet in motion,” the couple, who has been dating since 2015, belts out in the chorus. “But since I met you, I swear/I could be happy anywhere/Any map dot location/ You’re always my destination/ You’re the only thing that I’m chained to/I could be happy anywhere/I could be happy anywhere with you. —Agency

RATING:

Sonakshi Sinha

Bhumi Trivedi

Fake Followers

ALERT!

M

umbai Police’s Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) on Friday recorded the statements of Chtrbox CEO Pranay Swaroop and his wife Julie Kriegshaber in connection with the fake social media followers scam involving Bollywood celebrities. Meanwhile, Chtrbox issued a public statement, saying, “We would like to state that on July 24, 2020, Chtrbox Founder and CEO Pranay Swarup and Chtrbox COO Julie Kriegshaber, met with the Special Investigation Team, Mumbai, to guide and support the authorities in their investigation.” Chtrbox is one of the leading social media influencers marketing companies in India.

Investigators have questioned as many as 25 people as part of the probe. The Mumbai Police is set to record the statements of fashion blogger Ankita Arora and actress Ashi Sharma sometime soon. Summons are expected to be issued to more social media marketing companies, celebrities, and brands in the coming days.

Two individuals identified as Kashif Mansoor and Abhishek Davade, have been arrested so far while police are on the lookout for three more people in connection with the case. The matter first came to light after singer Bhoomi Trivedi’s complaint to the police about a fake Instagram account which led investigators to a business based on identity theft.

A preliminary probe revealed that celebrities paid certain portals and service providers to inflate their social media followers and likes.

Accused Kashif Mansoor revealed during interrogation that Ankita Arora and Ashi Sharma are his clients, sources said.

—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 | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020

12

NO FEAR, LIVE ON

C

oping with all the recent market transitions has been challenging.

But with so much time spent in this situation has led to a lot of knowledge and ideas about understanding and working around a global pandemic like the current one. I look at it just like another situation or a hurdle at work, nothing more but giving it all the due attention to help our brand grow as a market leader in the coming future. The sales have certainly gone for a dip but there is still enough demand for us and we try to touch and reach clients we plan to.

Undergoing and accommodating to all new marketing

DURING THE DAY!

and sales strategies as well as making a safe environment for clients to tour and attend meetings, I think this is going to be a way of life we ll soon be used to. And I am hopeful the impact is momentary, the real estate market would be soon better again and would see tremendous growth once people feel safe to be out and vaccine is available. I feel instead of taking a break from work people should work on business innovations and try fresh ideas and experiment more in these times, and thus be more competition ready once things resume to normal.

By Shraddha Dadhich Model and Sales Manager

DEARLY DEPARTED! GUJARAT: The 91st webinar on the theme ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ was organised by The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday, where expert speaker, Founder of Financial Supermarket Group, CA Gaurav Singhvi gave important guidance in the direction of continuous change to succeed in life.

RAJASTHAN: Renowned neurologist Dr BM Sharma, father of Dr S M Sharma, Additional Principal SMS Medical College, breathed his last on Saturday. He was 88 years old and had been unwell for quite some time. He had headed the Neurology department at SMS hospital and was very popular with his patients and young residents.

A unique application ‘My Edukos’, created

by Shaiphali Saxena (CEO, Founder & Investor) and Hritisha Rewadia (CEO and Founder) is going to launch today at 6 PM. It is an education app featuring courses like Film Making, Opera, Playback Singing, Photography, Acting, Drama & Theater, Visual Arts, Wildlife & Fashion Photography, Fashion Designing and many other artistic subjects.

ROYALTY WITH SAFETY CITY FIRST

A

fter months of staying indoors, people are now looking for options within their city to relax and rejuvenate. Be it a staycation with family and friends, a solo workstation or even a micro birthday or anniversary celebration, heritage hotels are a great choice.

Narain Niwas Palace, a heritage hotel in Jaipur, brings to you an experience of royal luxury coupled with all necessary measures for your protection.

Prithvi Kanota, Managing Director, Narain Niwas says, “Narain Niwas Palace’s highest pri-

ority is the health, safety and security of all its patrons. To limit the spread of Covid-19, our hotels are following all the latest recommenda-

tions and advice from the WHO. We have reviewed and strengthened our existing health and safety processes. Our expert teams have conducted

extensive deep-cleaning and disinfection. We want to ensure that you feel completely safe and have peace of mind. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

IVF IS SAFE IN PANDEMIC CITY FIRST

RAJASTHAN: The members of ‘Sukhmani Seva Society Bani Park’ read ‘Sukhmani Sahib’ online for the benefit of the whole world on Saturday. They prayed: “Waheguru Ji save the world now from the havoc of Corona and protect everyone”.

Rajasthan: Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital is going to be live on Facebook with Senior Consultant, Nephrology Department, Dr Piyush Mathur today at 11 AM, where he will share the information about kidney Transplant. The session is going to be moderated by Dr Sanjana Bhojwani.

O

n the occasion of World IVF Day, a webinar was organised

by Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Sitapura, where Head of the Department of Childhood Diseases, Dr Usha Shekhawat shared that the children with disabilities are increasing in the younger genera-

tion. During the seminar, Child Pathologist,

Dr Manisha Choudhary said that the ba-

bies born with the IVF technique are like normal children. They do not have any congenital malformations. If an IVF patient becomes corona positive, then a procedure for IVF can be performed after coming negative. She said that the IVF procedure can be done if the IVF patient is also a cancer patient. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Bombay Masala Sandwich

TWEETED!

PROCEDURE n Grind all the

masala ingredients in a jar, grind it till it comes in a powdered form.

n Spread butter on a

bread slice evenly.

n Apply Green Chut-

ney on one slice.

VARTIKA JAIN On the occasion of Naag Panchami, Rukshmani Kumari tweeted, “May Lord Shiva shower his divine blessings upon all of us on this auspicious day of #NaagPanchami May he keeps us safe, healthy and gives us the strength to stay away from all evil. #NagaraPanchami #NaagPanchami2020 #NagaPanchami”

n Use Tomato

Ketchup on the other slice.

TV ARTIST AND COOKERY EXPERT

n First, apply a layer

REQUIRED INGREDIENTS

of Cucumber, then Spread Bombay Masala on this.

FOR MASALA

n 1/4 Bowl of Any Kind of Potato

Namkeen. ( Aloo Bhujia )

n Then apply another

layer of boiled potatoes cut in slices, again apply Bombay Masala.

n 1 Table Spoon Roasted Cumin

HAPPY B’DAY!

Powder.

n 1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder. n 1 Teaspoon Salt.

MLA Virat Nagar, Indraj Singh Gurjar celebrated his birthday on 25 July, Saturday. We wish him all the best!

n Then apply thin

n 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder. n 1 Teaspoon Chat Masala. n 1 Teaspoon Mint Powder. n 1 Teaspoon Dry Coriander Powder.

FOR SANDWICH

n Butter - According

To Requirement.

n 4 slices of bread n Green Chutney n Tomato ketchup

slices of tomatoes then again apply Bombay Masala.

n Now add the last

layer of onion slices and again sprinkle Bombay Masala on it. n Add Zero Number

Namkeen. Now cover this with the slice on which we had put green chutney. Press it slightly.

n Cut it in six pieces. n Now garnish the

sandwich with Bombay masala and zero number Namkeen and add a little bit of chutney and ketchup on the top.

n Enjoy this sand-

wich with special masala

n Hope this dish

soothes your taste buds