Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition

JAIPUR l THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020 l Pages 14 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 248
New Delhi: A three-
judge Bench of Jus-
tice NV Ramana, Jus-
tice Mohan Shanta-
nagoudar and Jus-
tice Sanjiv Khanna
was scheduled to
hear the case.
Another Bench of
the apex court has
agreed to hear the
case tomorrow. Senior
advocate Kapil Sibal,
appearing for Sara,
mentioned that he
will not be available
for the hearing on
Thursday. Thus, the
top court scheduled
the matter for hearing
on Friday (Feb 14).
In her plea, Sara Ab-
dullah Pilot, Omar’s sis-
ter and wife of Ra-
jasthan Deputy Chief
Minister Sachin Pilot,
said the order of deten-
tion is manifestly ille-
gal and there is no ques-
tion of him being a
“threat to the mainte-
nance of public order”.
She also said that ex-
ercise of powers by au-
thorities Turn on P4
Lahore: Hafiz Saeed,
the mastermind of
the 2008 Mumbai at-
tack and Jamat-ud-
Dawa chief, was sen-
tenced to 11 years in
two terror financing
cases on Wednesday,
four days ahead of a
crucial meeting of
the Financial Action
Task Force in Paris
where Pakistan will
present its case to
escape from being
blacklisted.
Saeed, a UN desig-
nated terrorist whom
the US has placed a
USD 10 million bounty
on, was arrested on
July 17 in the terror
financing cases. The
70-year-old fiery cleric
is lodged at the high-
security Kot Lakhpat
jail here.
Anti-terrorism
court Judge Arshad
Hussain Bhutta sen-
tenced Saeed and his
close aide Zafar Iqbal
to five and a half
years each and im-
posed a fine of Rs
15,000 in each case.
A total of 11 years
sentence will run
concurrently.
Saeed and Iqbal
were sentenced in two
cases registered
against them in La-
hore and Gujranwala
cities on the applica-
tion of the Counter
Terrorism Depart-
ment (CTD) of Punjab
police. Iqbal is the sec-
retary of Al-Anfaal
Trust, Saeed was
slapped with a prison
sentence of five-and-a-
half years Turn on P4
PRODUCTION DIPS,
INFLATION SHOOTS
New Delhi: The coun-
try’s factory output,
which is measured in
terms of Index of In-
dustrial Production
(IIP) witnessed a con-
traction of 0.3 per
cent on-year to 133.5
during the month of
December 2019, ac-
cording to the latest
data released by the
Ministry of Statistics
& Programme Imple-
mentation (MoSPI).
The IIP had grown
by 2.5 per cent in De-
cember 2018.
Theindustrialgrowth
during the period of
April-December 2019
rose0.5percentfromthe
corresponding period
year ago. The IIP growth
was 4.7 per cent during
the same period last
year, the data showed.
As per the data, the
manufacturing sector
output declined by 1.2
per cent on-year to
134.2, and the electricity
generation slipped by
0.1 per cent to 150.2.
Mining sector output,
however, grew by 5.4 per
cent on-year to 120.6.
Retail inflation (CPI)
spikes 7.59 per cent
The retail inflation,
which is measured by
the Consumer Price In-
dex (CPI) climbed to a
68-month high after it
rose 7.59 per cent in the
month of January 2020,
a separate data by MoS-
PI showed.
The CPI was 7.35
per cent in December
2019 and 1.97 per cent
in January last year.
For the second
month in a row, the re-
tail inflation data ex-
ceeded the Reserve
Bank of India’s (RBI)
upper margin of 6 per
cent. The government
has mandated the cen-
tral bank to keep infla-
tion within the range
of 4 per cent with a
marginof 2percenton
either side. Turn on P4
Industrial production contracts,
inflation too highest since May 2014
IIP growth contracts 0.3% in Dec 2019,
inflation rises to 7.59% in Jan 2020
CAPITALISATION
OF 3 PUBLIC SEC
INSURANCE COS.
KEJRIWAL TO TAKE
OATH ON FEB 16
US CLASSIFIES INDIA
AS DEVELOPED NATION
GANGOTRI OF TERROR: GIRIRAJ
ON ISLAMIC SEMINARY IN UP
New Delhi: The
Union Cabinet on
Wednesday approved
the capitalisation of
three Public Sector
Insurance Compa-
nies-- National Gen-
eral Insurance, United
India Insurance and
Oriental Insurance
Company with Rs
2,500 crore.
AAP national convenor Arvind
Kejriwal is slated to take oath
as Delhi Chief Minister for the
third time on February 16. The
oath-taking ceremony will take
place at Ramlila Maidan. P5
US has classified India as a
developed nation, eliminating
the preferential treatment it
received in countervailing duty.
Now, easier for US to penalise
India if it harms US industries
New Delhi: Union minister Giriraj Singh, rarely
pulled up by his party, the BJP, for his outra-
geous hate speeches, has con-
tributed one more. This time, he
has alleged that Islamic seminary
Deoband in Uttar Pradesh is an
“aatankvaad ki Gangotri (source
of terrorists)”. “I had once said
that Deoband is the Gangotri of terrorists. All
most-wanted terrorists of the world came from
Deoband, including Hafiz Saeed or any of the
others,” said Giriraj Singh.
Saeedjailedfor11years
interrorfundingcases
Apex Court
judge recuses
from hearing
ENVOYS’ KASHMIR RIDE
Members of 25 European Union Parlimentarian delegation ride on a shikara at Dal Lake, in Srinagar on Wednesday. The
second batch of foreign envoys arrived for a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir for a first-hand assessment of the
situation in the Union territory six months after the nullification of Article 370. —PHOTOS BY PTI
‘Friend’ Modi told millions will
welcome me in India:Trump
Washington: US Pres-
ident Donald Trump
has said that he is
looking forward to
his visit to India later
this month where
millions of people
would welcome him.
“I look forward to
going to India,”
Trump told reporters
in the Oval Office, a
day after the White
House announced that
he will be travelling to
Ahmedabad in Guja-
rat and New Delhi on
February 24 and 25.
“He (Prime Minister
Narendra Modi) is a
friend of mine. He’s a
great gentleman,”
Trump said in response
to a question.
Trump said that he
spoke to Modi over the
weekend and during the
conversation, the prime
minister told him that
millions and millions of
people would welcome
him from the airport to
the cricket stadium.
Referring to his
New Hampshire rally
held a day earlier,
which was attended
by an estimated 40,000
to 50,000 people, the
president said in a
lighter vein that he
might not feel so good
with that number.
“When we have 50,000
people, I’m not going to
feel so good… we’ll have
five to seven million
people just from the air-
port to the new stadi-
um. And you know it is
the largest stadium in
the world. (They are)
building it now. It’s al-
most complete and it’s
the largest in the
world,” Trump said.
Responding to a
question on a potential
trade deal with India,
Trump said that he will
do it, if “we can make
the right deal”.
Extremely delighted that @POTUS @
realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS
will visit India on 24th and 25th
February. India will accord a
memorable welcome to our esteemed
guests. This visit is a very special one
and it will go a long way in further
cementing India-USA friendship
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
2 Indians test positive for coronavirus
on ship quarantined off Japan coast
New Delhi: Two Indi-
an crew members
have tested positive
for Coronavirus on a
cruise ship off the
Japanese coast, the
Indian Embassy in Ja-
pan confirmed today.
The ship was quar-
antined with almost
3,700 passengers and
crew members aboard
on February 3.
A passenger carrying
the virus had deboarded
the ship last month in
HongKong,theembassy
said in a statement, add-
ing it has been quaran-
tined till February 19.
The cruise ship Dia-
mond Princess is carry-
ing 138 Indians and ar-
rived at the Japanese
coast early last week. A
total of 174 people on
the ship have been test-
ed positive for the novel
virus, the embassy said.
Turn on P4
Naresh Sharma
Jaipur: Chief Minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot has
said that providing
better nutrition and
education to women
and children, skill de-
velopment of girls,
providing better
health care facilities
to the people are in
the top priorities of
the State Government.
Gehlot was having
discussion with the rep-
resentatives of Children
Investment Fund Foun-
dation (CIFF) on educa-
tion, health, woman and
child development and
some other issues at
Chief Minister’s office
on Wednesday.
He directed the offic-
ers to work in coordina-
tion with CIFF in this
sector along with initi-
ating innovations.
He also directed to
form a Steering Com-
mittee for this. He said
that although good
works are taking place
through various
schemes in the field of
Girls’ Education, Wom-
an and Child nutrition
and Health Services,
but more work can be
done in this direction
with technical help
from international in-
stitutions like CIFF.
The Chief Minister
said, ‘if we make efforts
today to educate girls,
provide employment
opportunities to women
by imparting skill de-
velopment and improve
their nutrition level, we
will be able to make our
coming generation
healthier and more
prosperous.’ All possi-
ble efforts would be
made for the successive
development in these
fields.
Technical assis-
tance by CIFF can
play important role
in achieving the tar-
gets fixed by the Gov-
ernment, he added.
During the meeting
CEO, CIFF Kate
Hampton said that
her foundation want-
ed to continue invest-
ment in the state for
the overall develop-
ment of women, girls
and children and the
foundation would ex-
tend all its coopera-
tion in these sectors.
Hampton expressed
her wish to work with
the State Government
in Maternity Benefit
Cash Transfer
through project ‘Raj-
pusht’. Turn on P4
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot meeting a delegation of Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
led by CEO Kate Hampton in CMO on Wednesday.
Nutrition, edu, empowerment for women top on agenda: CM
OMAR ABDULLAH’S
DETENTION PLEA
LPG CYLINDER
PRICES HIKED
BY OVER `100
New Delhi: The
state-run Indian Oil
on Wednesday raised
the prices of non-
subsidised liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG)
cylinders
across
metro cities
in the coun-
try. The
new rates
are applicable from
Wednesday. The last
price hike of non-
subsidised liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG)
happened on January
1, 2020. As it stands,
a 14.2 kg Indane gas
cylinder will now cost
Rs 858.50 which was
previously priced at
Rs 714, recording a
spike of Rs 144.50.

LOVE FOR GRANDSON
CLOUDS EXPERIENCE
There is traditional Indian concept of the
Interest being dearer than the principle
amount but this really costed heavily to a
builder grandfather whose grandson is apple
of his eye. The young grandson designed
a marriage garden on a land at Ajmer road
worth crores. Needless to say grandfather
didn’t blink. But subsequent months proved
it to be a flop show. Big investment didn’t
attract fraction of the expected money. Finally
grandfather saw huge investment being
bulldozed with his own old & experienced
eyes. Now a residential cum commercial
project is coming up on the same land.
BUILDER NOT WORRIED BY
INCOME TAX RAID
A‘Shokeen’ builder was raided by the I-T
dept a short while ago. The builder, fond of
drinks & dazzle, was at the Golf club with his
glass and friends. Friends were apprehensive
of his reaction to the raid but on the contrary
the builder confidently told his friends that I-T
action won’t make any difference to him. He
said that the investors in his projects were high
profile politicians and officers. So whenever
things have to be sorted out, these connections
will come in handy. Not to save him but to
keep their investment of crores safe. One of the
builder’s project is coming up on Gandhi path,
Vaishali Nagar.
FIRST INDIA speads
its vistas... we shall
now recount bytes
and buzz in the real
estate sector
Check
Realty
1728 SQ YARD LAND FINALISED FOR TURQUOISE
Siddhi Vinayak Buildtech Promoters finalised a 1728 sq yard land for their
new project Turquoise. Satish Sighodiya and Kailash Chodhary, the group
directors, have pitched the project at Rs 11 crore & 64 lakh. This RERA
registered project has generated a positive buzz in the market.
RAYANSH DREAM
PLAZA SET TO BEGIN
Rayansh Infrastructure Group is
coming up with Rayansh Dream
Plaza. The project registered with
RERA will come on 1524 sq yard
land purchased by the group at a
whopping Rs 17 crore signalling
good days for the property market.
NEWSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Jaishankar files caveat over
plea challenging election to RSNew Delhi: External
Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar has filed a
caveat in the Supreme
Court that will be
heard if the court de-
cides to take up any
petition filed by Con-
gress leaders challeng-
ing his election to the
Rajya Sabha from Gu-
jarat in July last year.
A caveat is a notice
given by a person, in-
forming the court that
another person may
file a suit or applica-
tion against him and
that the court must
give the caveator (per-
son filing the caveat) a
fair hearing before de-
ciding any matter
brought before it in
the relevant case.
Jaishankar filed the
caveat through advo-
cate Swarupama
Chaturvedi in the apex
court registry saying
that he should be heard
before the court enter-
tains and passes some
directions on the peti-
tions that may be filed
against the Gujarat
High Court order.
The minister filed
the caveat apprehend-
ing that Congress
leaders, whose pleas
were dismissed by the
High Court, may ap-
proach the top court.
The Gujarat High
Court on February 4
this year had dismissed
a batch of petitions
filed by Congress lead-
ers challenging the elec-
tion of Jaishankar to
the Rajya Sabha.
The High Court’s
order came on the
pleas of Congress
leaders Gaurav Pan-
dya, Chandrika Chu-
dasama and Paresh
Dhanani challenging
the election of Jais-
hankar and BJP lead-
er Jugalji Thakor to
the Upper House of
Parliament.
The Congress lead-
ers had challenged
the election in the
High Court on the
ground that the Elec-
tion Commission’s
notifications, treat-
ing the two vacant
seats, to be of differ-
ent categories and re-
quiring bypolls to be
held separately, were
“illegal and in viola-
tion” of provisions of
the Constitution, Rep-
resentation of People
(RP) Act, 1951 and
Conduct of Election
Rules, 1961.
The elections to the
two Rajya Sabha seats
of Gujarat were held on
July 5 last year. The
seats fell vacant after
BJP leaders Amit Shah
and Smriti Irani were
elected to the Lok
Sabha.
The Congress lead-
ers had approached
the Gujarat High
Court to hold and de-
clare the EC’s actions
to treat the seats hav-
ing fallen vacant as
of different catego-
ries which required
bye-election to be
held separately for
both the seats. —ANI
S Jaishankar
NRC data goes offline,
MHA says, it’s safe
New Delhi: After As-
sam’s NRC list data
went offline from offi-
cial website, MHA said
data is safe. “NRC data
is safe, there is some
technical issue in visi-
bility on Cloud. It is be-
ing resolved soon,”
MHA said. NRC, which
has been developed
with the aim of segre-
gating Indian citizens
from illegal migrants,
was implemented in
Assam.
The final list of NRC
was published in which
19,06,657 persons were
excluded including
those who did not sub-
mit their claims.
After the final list
was published, the com-
plete detail of exclusion
and inclusion of bon-
afide Indian citizens in
the NRC was uploaded
on ‘www.nrcassam.nic.
in’. —ANI
Teacher, two others held for
kidnap & rape of minor
Liquor traders oppose new excise policy
First India News
Jaipur: In protest
against the new excise
policy in the state, liq-
uor traders have also
opened a front against
the government. Most
of the liquor contrac-
tors have expressed
their opposition to the
demands like local liq-
uor, a guarantee of Eng-
lish liquor, an increase
in the application pro-
cess, fees of liquor
warehouse and 30%
cargo lifting with mar-
gin money.
The liquor sellers
gathered in a garden lo-
cated on New Sanganer
Road of Jaipur, under
the aegis of Liquor Wel-
fare Association and
expressed their anger
by opposing govern-
ment’s new excise poli-
cy. The people present
there also accused the
government of harass-
ment by implementing
the new policy.
If the liquor traders
are to be believed, the
government is double
dealing with all liquor
traders through the
new excise policy. All
the sellers alleged that
government had an-
nounced a thousand liq-
uor shops by 2019. But,
under the policy, gov-
ernment has decided to
increase the number of
liquor shops.
Liquor contractors
are also alleging that
government is claiming
to end the Inspector Raj
by making simple rules
of new excise policy
their base, whereas the
policy would give a fur-
ther boost to Inspector
Raj. In such a situation,
all the liquor traders
have decided not to fill
the application in the
lottery this time and
hand over a memoran-
dum to the CM.
Jaipur: A government
school teacher was ar-
rested in Rajasthan’s
Alwar district for alleg-
edly raping a minor girl
and two others held for
their involvement in
kidnapping her, police
said on Wednesday.
Allthreeaccusedwere
produced before a court
from where they were
sent on three-day police
remand, they said.
“The girl was found
staying with a woman
in Aligarh in Uttar
Pradesh. A government
teacher has been ar-
rested for raping the
girl whereas two others
were arrested for kid-
napping her. They have
been sent to three-day
police remand,” the
area police station in-
charge said.
On February 2, the
family members of the
victim lodged a com-
plaint with police after
she went missing while
grazing cattle.
According to police, a
private tutor Surendra
Jatav who knew the girl
had dropped her in Al-
war on bike where gov-
ernment school teacher
Subhash Mahlawat
raped her. He confiscat-
ed her mobile phone
and then sent her on a
train to Jaipur.
When the train
reached Jaipur, Anita
Jatav received her and
thentookhertoUP’sAli-
garhdistrict,policesaid.
OnTuesday,Mahlawat
and the two others were
arrested under relevant
sections of the Protec-
tion of Children from
Sexual Offences (POC-
SO) Act, they added.
MISSING SINCE...
HOUSING BOARD BRINGS SMILES
First India News
Jaipur: Housing Com-
missioner Pawan Aro-
ra informed that the
craze of the board’s
Swarn Jayanti Uphaar
Yojana is there among
the people and they
took part in large
numbers in the
Wednesday auction.
This week on Wednes-
day, the sale of 192
residences took place,
which generated a rev-
enue of Rs. 27 crore for
the Housing Board.
Under the scheme,
37 winners were decid-
ed through a lucky
draw, who were award-
ed a Honda Activa
scooter. Moreover, a
mixer grinder was giv-
en to all the buyers as a
complimentary gift. In
Jaipur circles I, II and
III, 119 properties were
sold, generating a rev-
enue of Rs. 19 crore. At
the same time, 47 resi-
dences were bought in
Kishangarh, which
provided revenue of
Rs. 4.1 crore.
OFF THE
RECORD
THAT’S HOW DEALERS
DEAL WITH OFFICERS
There are certain coinci-
dences that defy logic.
It was a week ago that PS
Transport Rajesh Yadav
had ordered the 2 wheeler
dealers to give a free
helmet with purchase of
every 2 wheeler. The latest
IAS transfer list had him
shunted elsewhere. Three
years ago IAS PK Goyal
had ordered 2 free helmets
with every two wheeler
purchase. The dealers ob-
jected strongly and he was
transferred to other depart-
ment shortly after. Despite
dealers agreeing this time
the result is same.
CORONAVIRUS WIPES
IAS’S S KOREA PLANS
Coronavirus has forced
9 promotee IAS to drop
their South Korea travel
plans. These promotee IAS
were scheduled to go to S
Korea after their training in
Mussoorie in March as part
of the training itself. But
the coronavirus scare now
has plans changed and the
officers might now go to
Singapore or Paris.
WHO WILL BE IN ENERGETIC
SHARMA’S TEAM?
With IAS list out and officers taking
charge of their new posts now,
the focus has shifted to lobbying for
important posts in various departments.
But the big question is who will be part
of coveted team led by the ‘Energetic’
Ajitabh Sharma. There is buzz around
about changes on important seats
under him. The tenure of MDs of Ajmer
& Jodhpur DISCOMs will be over on
February 15. The Directors (T) of all 3
DISCOMs also are scheduled to retire
on the same date. The Director (T) of
RRVPNL is also slated to be vacant
along with Director (Operation) which is
already vacant. There is already a search
on for Technical Director of RREC. With
Ajitabh Sharma at the helm of affairs
of the Energy dept the speculation is
also to retain the experienced. Amid
all this some were surprised at Ajitabh
not taking charge on Monday. Well last
moment clearance of the pending CMO
files could be the reason.
 The Rajasthan High
Court has dismissed
the petitions filed for
the implementation
of the reserved list of
posts of Junior Ac-
countant and TRA un-
der the Junior Account-
ant Recruitment 2013.
The single bench of
Justice Pankaj Bhandari
passed the order after
being satisfied with the
response presented
by the RPSC and state
government. Vikas
Kumar Gupta and oth-
ers had filed petitions
requesting to apply in
the reserved list for
vacant posts under re-
cruitment. The accused
in mining scam case,
former IAS Ashok Sin-
ghvi, has applied for an
anticipatory bail in the
Special Court of Jaipur
on Wed. In application
submitted through
Adv Deepak Chauhan,
Singhvi has requested
for anticipatory bail
and conversion of his
non-bailable warrant to
issued by court into a
bailable warrant. Judge
Arun Kumar will hear
the matter today.
 The High Court
has issued contempt
notices to Jaipur
Municipal Corporation
Commissioner and Vid-
hyadhar Nagar Munici-
pal Corporation Zone
Deputy Commissioner
among others. Justice
Inderjeet Singh has
sought the reply in four
weeks while giving the
order on the contempt
petition filed by Sikar
House resident Jagdish
Prasad Sharma.
 In the matter of not
releasing the wait-
ing list and giving an
appointment despite
vacancies in the LDC
Recruitment 2011, the
High Court has sought
reply by issuing notices
to Principal Secretary
DOP and RPSC Secre-
tary. The single bench
of Justice SP Sharma
has passed the order
while hearing the peti-
tion filed by Surajmal
Sharma. Advocate Lax-
mikant represented the
petitioner in the case.
 Within a week,
Rajasthan High Court
has given the state govt
huge financial relief
worth Rs 38.33 cr. On
Wednesday, HC stayed
commercial court’s
order for execution
of Rs 18.33 cr award
by PHED. Earlier, this
week, HC had accepted
state govt’s applica-
tion to vacate stay on
Rs 20 crore payment
by Ultratech Cement.
In the latest instance,
the division bench of
Justice Pankaj Bhandari
and Justice Prakash
Gupta stayed com-
mercial court’s order
of May last year on an
appeal filed by chief
engineer of PHED.
COURTYARD
in the

RAJASTHANJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
First India News
Jaipur: A major acci-
dent was averted on
early morning Wednes-
day, at the otherwise
crowded 22 Godown
Circle, when a heavy
girder launcher (a
crane used in construc-
tion of bridges) being
used for the construc-
tion work at the Elevat-
ed at 22 Godown Circle
almost fell off the
bridge, damaging it.
Had it fallen on this
busy road, it would have
been catastrophic as
this is one of the busi-
est roads in the city.
Situated in close
proximity to the state
Secretariat, High
Court and Assembly
buildings, the area
also has two big shop-
ping malls and a multi-
plex nearby.
The road witnesses
heavy flow of traffic on
any given time.
The incident, oc-
curred at around 5.30
am on Wednesday after
which the traffic police
promptly closed the
road below for all ve-
hicular traffic.
The JDA is construct-
ing Elevated Road at 22
Godown Circle which
aims to provide a con-
trolled and assessed
high capacity corridor
in east-west direction
of the city for which
there are very few roads
available presently.
A part of the launch-
er suddenly became
loose and dropped
over the bridge, par-
tially damaging the
structure.
Many people wit-
nessed this incident,
creating panic among
commuters. The traffic
policemen who were on
duty at the circle at that
time stopped the traffic
and informed the sen-
ior JDA officials. A
team of engineers
rushed to the spot to ac-
cess the situation.
The traffic was di-
verted and the affected
area under the bridge
was cordoned off.
The traffic was al-
lowed post 8 am al-
though heavy vehicles
were not allowed even
later.
The JDA officers and
engineers reached the
spot and decided on the
future course of action.
MLAs raise issues related
to farmer, youth in House
2 held for smuggling `45L
gold at Jaipur Airport
Party needs to introspect Delhi
Assembly debacle: Om Mathur
1 coronavirus suspect
admitted in Pali
Man, daughter mowed
down by gravel dumper
Streak of light in sky
triggers meteor scare
Alwar: An unexplained
streak of light in the
sky seen in Rajasthan’s
Alwar district triggered
speculation that it was
a meteor.
But there is no evi-
dence of any meteorite
on the ground. “No de-
bris or evidence of the
meteorite fall was found
in the areas where the
light was seen by peo-
ple,” Alwar ADM Uttam
Singh Shekhawat said.
The incident was pur-
portedly captured by a
CCTV camera on Tues-
day at 5.18 am in Itarana
industrial area in Al-
war’s Bhakhera.
“A sharp and bright
light was seen in the
footage of the CCTV
camera installed out-
side my residence. No
damage or impact of
the object was seen in
the nearby area,” advo-
cate Rajesh Kumar
Gupta said.
Meanwhile, a team of
amateur astronomers
reached the district
where the incident was
reported. —PTI
First India News
Jaipur: Issues related
to farmers, youth and
industry were raised
in the House on
Wednesday during the
on going Assembly
session.
DuringtheQuestion
Hour Raniwara MLA
Narayan Singh Deval
raised the issue of Lo-
cust affected farmers
on which minister
Bhanwar Lal Meghw-
al informed the House
that out of 77,676 lo-
cust affected farmers
from eight districts,
53,915 have been com-
pensated with Rs89.93
crore. He said as per
SDRF norms the Cen-
tre and state have 75%
& 25% share respec-
tively. He ensured that
all the farmers men-
tioned in any collec-
tor’s report will be
duly compensated.
BJP MLA Rajendra
Rathore wanted to
knowwhetherthegovt
wishes to adopt the
Gujarat model of com-
pensating farmers by
Rs5000 or Rs10000 per
hectare norm or not?
Manohar Thana MLA
Govind Prasad in-
quired about the issue
of farmer loan waiver
in Jhalawar from Oc-
tober 2018 to January
15,2020.MinisterUday
Lal Anjana informed
that short term loan
worth Rs310 crore of
87,438 farmers of Jhal-
awar has been waived
off. While the MLA
complained about the
farmers yet to benefit,
LOP Kataria raised
the issue of farmers
not qualifying for
loans due to non pay-
ment of earlier loans.
MLA Gyanchand
Parekh raised the is-
sue of 315 vacant in-
dustrial plots in Pali’s
Naya Gaon to which
minister Parsadi Lal
Meena said there were
no restrictions from
state govt to allocate
them to any category.
Amongotherimpor-
tant issues raised in-
cluded vacant posts at
Kota Technical Uni-
versity, action plan to
promote Sanskrit,
damaged roads of Sa-
riska etc.
First India News
Jaipur: The custom po-
lice at the Jaipur Inter-
national Airport confis-
cated smuggled gold
worth Rs45 lakh in two
different cases. Accord-
ing to sources, two pas-
sengers who had ar-
rived at the Airport
from Dubai and Bang-
kok were taken into cus-
tody by the customs de-
partment for attempt-
ing to smuggle gold on
Wednesday. Both pas-
sengers had hidden
over 1 kg gold in their
rectums. While these
are two separate inci-
dents, the customs in-
telligence wing is inves-
tigating whether the
men are part of the
same smuggling gang.
The first smuggling
attempt was foiled on
Tuesday night when
one Mohammed Bilal
was taken into custody
due to his suspicious
behaviour. He had ar-
rived in Jaipur from
Dubai in Air Asia flight
and was planning to go
to Kerala from Jaipur,
sources said. A body
scan revealed that he
was hiding gold and
was taken to a hospital
where gold biscuits
weighting about 589.860
gram were extracted
from his rectum. The
gold is stated to be
worth Rs24.65 lakh.
The second smug-
gling attempt came to
light on Wednesday
morning when one Mo-
hammed Abdul Nazir
was taken into custody
after his body scan re-
vealed that he was hid-
ing gold. 475.99 grams
of gold worth Rs 20.31
lakh was extracted
from his rectum. He
had arrived in Jaipur
from Bangkok in Air
India flight.
The customs depart-
ment officials arrested
both the men and inter-
rogation is on to ascer-
tain if they were part of
the same smuggling
racket.
First India News
Jaipur: Senior BJP
leader and national vice
president, Om Prakash
Mathur said that the
party needs to intro-
spect the debacle in Del-
hi Assembly polls.
Mathur said that the
party will have to find
reasons for its defeat.
So many things come
up after the defeat and
BJP will definitely look
into the reasons for its
defeat.
Mathur said that par-
ty needs to work hard
not just in Rajasthan
but everywhere. BJP
has achieved its present
status because of hard
work of all. He said that
the party is united and
everyone in the party
works together.
“I meet party work-
ers in Rajasthan. I get
positive as well as nega-
tive feedback. Since, I
am a senior leader of
the party; they come
and tell me everything.
They tell me about con-
duct and behaviour of
every leader,” Mathur
revealed.
Mathur who is in
Jaipur on a three-day
visit said that he would
meet every party work-
er and attend a couple
of programmes during
his stay.
First India News
Pali/Jodhpur: The
Jodhpurdivisionhealth
officials who seems to
have had relaxed after
four suspected Corona-
virus patients, admit-
ted at MDM Hospital,
tested negative were on
their toes once again.
A medical student
pursuing his studies
in Beijing (China) had
come back to his na-
tive place Pali on Janu-
ary 27.
District collector
Dinesh Chandra Jain
informed that the Pali
student had come back
to India due to the Coro-
navirus scare in China.
He was duly screened at
the Airport on his ar-
rival but then he com-
plained of fever on
Tuesday.
Immediately a medi-
cal team was rushed
and he was admitted to
Bangad Hospital. His
medical samples have
been sent to a hi-tech
lab in Jaipur for further
course of action.
The actual cause of
fever will be known
only after the investiga-
tive reports arrive from
Jaipur in a day
Till then the suspect
patient has been kept
in a guarded isolation
ward in AIIMS Mean-
while, Jodhpur AIIMS
superintendent Dr
Arvind Sinha himself
is monitoring the situ-
ation.
First India News
Tonk: A father and
daughter were killed
while the mother was
injured when a gravel
loaded dumper mowed
them down on Wednes-
day noon in Niwai. Nala
village resident Ramjas
Bairwa,28andArpita,1,
died on the spot while
Arti was admitted to
hospital. After the acci-
dent enraged crowd
gathered around the
bodies and accused cops
of being hand in glove
with the gravel mafia
making them fearless.
Niwai SDM JP Bair-
wa and CO Anjum Kay-
al reached the spot and
tried to placate the
crowd but the crowd
went out of control and
pelted stones at SDM’s
vehicle in which his
driver was injured. Lat-
er police used light force
and took the bodies to
the mortuary.
BUGGED? Or is it the
grapevine... . First India
begins a column that
brings to you gossips or
tete-e-tete from the
corridors of power
GUP
SHUP
AN UPRIGHT PANTHER WORRIES ALL
APanther Sir posted in the Pink City considers himself being ‘caught’
in the ‘quagmire’ of operation Clean Sweep! The reason? Well, the
sahab ‘desires’ to ‘handle’ a few cases related to real estate. However,
senior officers are worried of the ‘action’ by the Panther since the sahab
is considered upright and any investigation done by him could lead to
solving several secrets! Thus the ‘bade sahabs’ have devised that in
order to keep the Panther busy, keep him occupied in the operation so
that he is unable to conduct his own ‘operation’ on corrupt officials!
A PANTHER IS LOOKING TO
SHIFT BASE ONCE AGAIN
APanther recently transferred from 7th
floor to the 5th floor of the PHQ is
again looking for a fresh sanctuary. His
name is among the front runner officers
who would move to a deputation to end
their year long hiatus. This has again
generated buzz for the man for soon to be vacant 5th floor seat.
A POLICEMAN AND A
POET TOO!
Who said Police and Poems
don’t gel. This Gama who
is sandwiched between two pitch
dark poles, as if on a gray scale,
brings police and poem closer.
All at the commissionerate have
good words for him due to his
track record and accommodating
nature. All praise him for the role
this Gama played in the arrest of
infamous serial rapist Jeevanu
and dreaded Siraj gang. But these
days he is being discussed in
rather sweet context. The Gama
is engaged in a new hobby of
writing poems whenever feasible.
It’s rare that Police discuss a
Policeman for Poems.
HANGINGPRECARIOUSLY,ACCIDENTAVERTED
First India News
Jaipur: Deputy
LoP Rajendra
Rathore has alleged
that Rajasthan po-
lice have not taken
any steps towards
security and safety
of RSS leaders and
their establish-
ments. Citing re-
ports of security
threat to RSS lead-
ers and establish-
ments, Rathore
raised the matter in
Assembly.
He said that IB
has given input that
terrorists are likely
to target Sangh’s
leaders and offices,
yet the police have
not taken any ac-
tion whereas Pun-
jab and Maharash-
tra have beefed up
security of RSS
leaders and offices.
Rathore said RSS
has an office in
Bharti Bhawan in
Jaipur as well as in
Bikaner, Jodhpur
and Ajmer. He
warned that despite
IB’s alert cops have
not taken precau-
tionary measures,
hence, if something
untoward happens,
you will be person-
ally responsible.
Rathore raises security
issue of RSS leaders
Girder launcher used in construction work of Elevated Road at 22 Godown suddenly shifted and hung on the bridge on top of a very busy road
The Girder launcher hangs dangerously above the 22 Godam Elevated Road on Wednesday morning; traffic police diverted the vehicular traffic till a crane was summoned to shift the heavy iron log back to its original place. —PHOTOS BY SUMAN SARKAR

irst India, in its
endeavour to
celebrate the
importance of
education in
ourlives,hasinitiatedthe
Excellence and Educa-
tion Awards. The func-
tion was held on Wednes-
day at Hotel Ramada
where Cambridge Court
World School was hon-
oured with the ‘Award for
BestDayBoardingSchool
of Rajasthan, 2020’. Fol-
lowed by this was the
‘Award for Setting Stand-
ards of Excellence in Ed-
ucation, 2020’ which was
bagged by Vardhaman
International School.
Inthehighereducation
segment,SKITbaggedthe
Award for Excellence in
Placement in Engineer-
ing Segment, 2020 while
Dr Sajeev Kumar Mathur
was honoured with the
Award for Most Creative
and Accomplished Man-
agementExpert2020.Uni-
versity of Engineering
andManagementgothon-
oured with the award for
Excellence in Placement
and Employability, 2020.
NJFInstitutionMahatma
Jyotiba Phule College of
Veterinary and Animal
Sciences bagged the
award for Excellence in
Veterinary and Animal
Sciences in Private Sec-
tor. Adhigam won the
award for Best Coaching
Institute in Rajasthan,
2020, while Concept-RNA
Coaching Institute
baggedtheawardforBest
Nursing College in Ra-
jasthan, 2020. BL Kasturi
Classes, Jhunjhunu, won
the award for Best Coach-
ing Institute for Armed
Forces. Govind Singh Do-
tasara, Bhanwar Singh
Bhati, Mahesh Joshi, Ra-
feek Khan and Jagdeesh
Chandra attended the
event.
RAJASTHANJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
EXCELLENCE IN
EDUCATION AWARDS
First India News
Jaisalmer: BSF and
the police in a joint op-
eration, on information
by the branch of BSF,
nabbed one Qutubud-
din s/o Mohd Khan
near international bor-
der.
Qutubuddin was
caught from DWM mi-
nor 11-12 of Bahla vil-
lage near the Indo-Pak
border.
The suspect has been
brought to Nachna PS
where there will be
joint interrogation by
all intelligence & secu-
rity agencies.
So far nothing objec-
tionable has been re-
vealed or confiscated
from the suspect Qutu-
buddin.
First India News
Jaipur: In less than a
month, SMS Hospital
has conducted second
successful heart trans-
plant. Hospital’s cardio-
thoracic surgeon Dr
Anil Sharma led the op-
eration that took 11
hours. It started on
Tuesday night and end-
ed in the wee hours of
Wednesday.
Earlier, the doctors
counseled the parents of
an18-year-oldbraindead
boy from Sardulshaher
in Sriganganagar dis-
tricttodonatehisorgans.
After their consent, his
heart was transplanted
to a person already ad-
mitted in the hospital
while both his kidneys
were transplanted to two
different patients.
SMS medical college
principal Dr Sudhir
Bhandari and SMS su-
perintendentDrDSMee-
na expressed gratitude
to the parents of the boy
whose organs were do-
nated.
This is second suc-
cessful heart trans-
plant in the SMS hospi-
tal. Only three days ago
the first heart trans-
plant recipient had
been discharged from
the hospital.
Medical and Health
Minister Dr Raghu
Sharma congratulated
the doctors for the sec-
ond heart transplant.
He paid tributes to the
18-year-old donor and
expressed his gratitude
to his family for donat-
ing his organs.
Three weeks ago, the
hospital had created his-
tory when it became the
first government hospi-
taloutsideSouthIndiato
conduct successful heart
transplant. At no point
outside expertise was re-
ceived.
The lifesaving com-
plex procedure led by Dr.
Anil Sharma involved a
team of 17 persons in-
cluding nine doctors.
The operation began on
3.40 AM on January 16
hadtakenfivehoursdur-
ing which heart of a
brain dead person was
transplanted into body
of 17-year-old Vishal.
On January 10th, a
25-year-old man Sawar-
mal from Rajsamand
was referred to SMS hos-
pital after he got injured
in a road accident.
First India News
Tonk: Deputy CM
Sachin Pilot on Wednes-
day met newly-elected
sarpanch from Tonk dis-
trictwhohadgatheredat
Bharnivillage.Pilotwas
exhilarated at meeting
all the sarpanch after
their election as he had
met them once prior to
the election. He ex-
pressed his happiness at
thenumberof youthand
women sarpanch and
said that he was sure
that they would ensure
complete development
of their areas. Pilot re-
minded them that the
MLAs and MPS have a
limited quota but there
isnolimitforasarpanch
so they should make full
use of this opportunity.
He assured everybody
his full support as the lo-
cal MLA. He lambasted
the Modi govt for in-
creasing LPG prices by
Rs150 soon after the Del-
hi election results were
declared. Pilot assured
thatCongresswillnotlet
anybody disturb the res-
ervation policy and will
take steps to get Modi
govt out of slumber.
He announced that Rs8
crore will be spent on
Dakhiya & Chandlai
Dams and will also get
other water sources ren-
ovated. He also distrib-
utedGargiprizesduring
his visit and assured the
studentsof betterschool
buildings.
Pilot was deeply up-
set at news of death of
a father & daughter by a
gravel dumper. He as-
sured of a proper action
against the culprit. Ear-
lier Pilot was ceremoni-
ously welcomed by
Bharni sarpanch Muke-
sh Meena, district pres-
ident Laxman Gata and
Saudi Saeed were also
present during his Pi-
lot’s visit.
SMS Hospital conducts its second
successful heart transplant in a month
Pilot meets newly-elected
sarpanch during Tonk tour
Suspected
man caught in
Jaisalmer
F
Jagdeesh Chandra, Govind Singh Dotasara, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Mahesh Joshi and Rafeek Khan with the awardees during the Award For Excellence in Education event at Hotel Ramada on Wednesday. —PHOTOS BY SUMAN SARKAR
Jagdeesh Chandra, Rafeek Khan, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Govind Singh Dotasara, Mahesh Joshi along
with Amisha, Kanchan, Mitali, Aruna and Mansi.
Jagdeesh Chandra, Rafeek Khan, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Govind Singh Dotasara and Dinesh Mathur
lighting the lamp during the event.
Teachers of Cambridge Court World School at the event. The audience during the event. Mahesh Joshi addressing the gathering.
Nutrition, edu...
She praised Project
‘Dakshata’, the initia-
tive taken by the State
government for safe de-
livery at the delivery
rooms and reduction in
still births. It is to be
mentioned that Andhra
Pradesh has also adopt-
ed this project.
Meanwhile, during
the day, former Minis-
ter Mahendra Jeet
Malviya and Ashok
Bairwa met Chief Min-
ister Ashok Gehlot on
Wednesday. CM Gehlot
posted a tweet mention-
ing that the problems
being faced by the auto
sector are becoming
worse and the sale of
vehicles has gone down
by 14% in January.
Without taking a con-
crete step in the matter,
the NDA government is
only doing lip service.
The industry provides
employment to lakhs of
people. Moreover, late
in the evening, two
cricket players from Ra-
jasthan - Ravi Bishnoi
and Akash Singh - who
were part of the India
under-19 team also met
CM. the duo were ac-
companied by RCA
President Vaibhav Ge-
hlot.
Production dips...
Prior to this high, retail
inflation had witnessed
a spike of 8.33 per cent
in May 2014.
The Consumer Food
Price Index (CFPI) or
the inflation in the food
basket rose to 13.63 per
cent in January 2020
against 14.19 per cent in
the preceding month. In
January 2019, the CFPI
saw a negative growth
of (-)2.24 per cent, the
MoSPI data showed.
In its bi-monthly
monetary policy meet-
ing held last week, the
RBI had kept its key in-
terest rates unchanged
while maintaining an
“ a c c o m m o d a t i v e
stance”.
The retail inflation
has risen primarily due
to a spike in vegetable
prices that saw a 50.19
per cent year-on-year
rise in January 2020.
This apart, the pulses
and products segment
saw a rise of 16.71 per
cent, while that of meat
and fish rose 10.50 per
cent and egg prices
gained 10.41 per cent.
Apex Court...
under the CrPC to de-
tain individuals, in-
cluding political lead-
ers, was “clearly mala
fide” to ensure that the
opposition to the abro-
gation of Article 370 of
the Constitution is “si-
lenced”. The plea has
sought quashing of the
February 5 order de-
taining Omar Abdullah
under the PSA and also
sought his production
before the court.
2 Indians...
“Due to the suspicion of
novel Coronavirus
(nCoV) infection, the
ship has been quaran-
tined by the Japanese
authorities till Febru-
ary 19, 2020,” the embas-
sy said in a statement.
The Indian crew
members had sought
assistance from the In-
dian government.
Binay Kumar Sarkar -- a
chef from north Bengal
-- had gone on social me-
dia to appeal to the gov-
ernment for help.
“Please somehow save
us as soon as possible.
What’s the point if
something happens (to
us)...I want to tell the
government of India,
Modi-ji, please segre-
gate us and bring us
back home safely,” he
said.
Saeed jailed...
and a fine of Rs 15,000
in each case. The sen-
tences of both cases
will run concurrently,
Abdul Rauf Wattoo, a
deputy prosecutor gen-
eral said.
“Saeed remained
calm and cool when the
ATC judge announced
the verdict, another
court official told PTI.
Talking to reporters,
Saeed’s counsel Advo-
cate Imran Fazal Gill
said the verdict against
the JuD chief was an
outcome of the pres-
sure of the FATF.
Saeed will challenge
the ATC verdict in the
Lahore High Court, Gill
said.
“We are disappointed
over the ATC verdict
and will challenge it in
the LHC,” he said.
He said all the prose-
cution witnesses pre-
sented in the court
could not prove any al-
legation against Saeed
and Iqbal.
FROM PG 1

INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
New Delhi: Senior Con-
gress leader PC Chacko
on Wednesday said that
there has been a wrong-
ful interpretation of his
earlier statement where-
in he had talked about
Sheila Dikshit’s tenure
while asserting that par-
ty’s downfall had started
in the year 2013.
Clarifying over his
earlier remark, Chacko
said, “I did not say that
welostinSheilaji’stime,
it is being wrongly inter-
preted. We lost in 2013,
even in 2014, 2015 and
2017.Iknowwhothepeo-
ple behind all this issue
are, there is a deliberate
campaign against me
and I have seen this ear-
lier also.” Earlier today,
during a conversation
with ANI, he had said,
“The downfall of the
Congress party started
in 2013 when Sheilaji
was the Chief Minister.
The emergence of a new
party Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) took away the en-
tire Congress vote bank.
We could never get it
back. It still remains
with the AAP.”
Earlier today, Chacko
alsotenderedhisresigna-
tion from the post of Del-
hi Congress in-charge.
Yesterday, the ruling
AAP had scored a land-
slide victory in Delhi
Assembly elections for
the second time in a row
as it swept aside both
BJP, which was again
restricted to single dig-
its and Congress which
drew a blank. AAP won
62 seats in the 70-mem-
ber assembly, five seats
short of its 2015 tally
when it had won 67
seats. The BJP won
eight seats, five more
than its tally in the pre-
vious election. —ANI
MystatementonSheilaDikshit
misinterpreted, says Chacko New Delhi: After his
Congress’s drubbing in
the Delhi Assembly
polls, its leader Kapil
Sabil on Wednesday
said the party “does
not have a leader to
project”.
“We do not have a
leader to project. This is
the issue within the
party. We will look into
it and resolve it at earli-
est,” Sibal told ANI
here. The former Union
Minister further re-
sponded on NCP chief
Sharad Pawar’s state-
ment that “Delhi has
done tremendous thing
to BJP and their defeat
will not stop now”.
“This kind of polar-
isedpoliticsandthecard
for dividing society that
is being played by the
ministers of the BJP is
notgoingdownwellwith
people of Delhi and In-
dia. You can see the re-
flectionof thatinresults
emerging in states like
Jharkhand and Chhatis-
garh,” Sibal said.
“Its time for them, es-
pecially Amit Shah to
realise there is no point
in dividing people of
this country as it has an
impact on electoral ver-
dicts and as well on in-
vestments in India as
this would pester the
confidence of the inves-
tors,”hesaid.Hefurther
claimed that BJP will
meet the “same fate like
DelhiinBiharAssembly
polls,” scheduled to be
held later this year. —ANI
Congress doesn’t
have a leader to
project: Sibal
New Delhi: Former
Haryana Chief Minis-
ter and Congress leader
Bhupinder Singh Hoo-
da on Wednesday called
for introspection at
a national level follow-
ing the party’s failure to
secure a single seat in
Delhi polls.
“In a democracy, I al-
ways respect the man-
date of the people. Delhi
elections results are a
cause of concern that
needs introspection at
the national level. Con-
gress should make a
plan for the future,”
said Congress leader.
“Win and loss in the
not the question here-
how Congress has per-
formed is the main
cause of concern,” he
added.
Meanwhile, he also
slammed CM Manohar
Lal Khattar led Haryana
government ahead of
state’spre-budgetdiscus-
sion on February 17 and
18. “In 2014 when I was
the Chief Minister of
Haryana, the state was
under debt of Rs 61,000
crores. Now the figure,
which I am aware, has
crossed Rs 1,81,000
crores,” said the former
Haryana CM. —Agencies
Bhubaneswar: BJP
Gen secy Kailash Vi-
jayvargiya invoked ref-
erences of Delhi CM-des-
ignate Kejriwal’s victory
speech “Congratulations
to Arvind Kejriwal Ji!
Certainly, whosoever
comes to Lord Hanuman
gets his blessings. Now
the time has come that
HanumanChalisarecita-
tionshouldbemadecom-
pulsory in all schools,
madrasas and other edu-
cational institutions of
Delhi.Whyshould‘Delhi’
children remain de-
privedof theblessingsof
Bajrangbali?” —ANI
Congress needs introspection
over Delhi poll results: Hooda
‘Make Hanuman Chalisa
compulsory in all schools’
Azamgarh: Congress
General Secretary for
Uttar Pradesh East, Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra on
Wednesday met and in-
teracted with protesters
holding a demonstra-
tion against CAA, Na-
tional Register of Citi-
zens (NRC) and Nation-
al Population Register
(NPR). She was accom-
paniedbyUttarPradesh
Congress Committee
chief, Ajay Kumar Lal-
lu. Priyanka also inter-
acted with the people,
who were injured in
police action, during
the protest against the
CAA, NRC, and NPR.
Later this month she
is scheduled to address
over six rallies in Uttar
Pradesh starting from
February 23 to take on
the BJP government
over farmers’ issues.
Her first rally will be
on February 23 in East-
ern UP’s Basti district.
The Congress will
take on Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath-led
government on issues
like stray cattle, pay-
ment of dues to sugar-
cane farmers, irregu-
larities in the procure-
ment of paddy and sui-
cide of farmers in Bun-
delkhand. —ANI
New Delhi: BJP’s Delhi
unit chief Manoj Tiwari
offered to resign from
his post on Wednesday,
just a day after the BJP
faced a humiliating
defeat at the hands
of the Aam Aadmi
PartyinDelhiAssembly
polls. The party, howev-
er, has refused to accept
his resignation. Tiwari
met newly-elected
MLAs at the party office
on Wednesday.
Priyanka Gandhi meets anti-
CAA protesters in Azamgarh
Manoj Tiwari
offers to resign
Raipur: Following par-
ty’s drubbing in assem-
bly polls, Congress lead-
er Digvijay Singh on
Wednesday asserted
that his party had re-
ceived more votes than
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) in 2019 Lok Sab-
ha elections but in as-
sembly elections, Delhi-
ites have chosen a can-
didate who could defeat
the BJP, therefore, the
votes shifted to AAP.
“Congress got more
votes than AAP in 2019
Lok Sabha election but
in assembly elections, it
seems that people have
chosen a candidate who
could defeat the BJP. I
think that’s why the
votes shifted to AAP,”
the leader said. Speak-
ing over BJP’s perfor-
mance in Delhi assem-
bly elections he said
that there is a distur-
bance in the entire
country due to the CAA
and fear of detention
camps which have been
rejected by the people.
“There is a distur-
bance in the entire coun-
tryduetotheCitizenship
Act. People are scared of
going to the detention
camp and this situation
has been rejected by the
people. Now the same
willhappeninBiharand
Bengal,” he said.
He also demanded
the scrapping of CAA
and added, “BJP gov-
ernment should stop
making Hindus and
Muslims fight and re-
vokeCAA.Thereshould
also be an announce-
ment that no NRC and
NPR will be done, other-
wise, the disturbance
will increase in the
country.” —ANI
‘There was a shift in Delhi
elections as people voted
for winning candidates’
New Delhi: Defence
Ministry will now
havejointsecretaries
wearing military
uniforms as a pro-
posal has gone to the
government for ap-
pointing three Major
General-rank offic-
ers from Army, Navy
and Air Force to look
after bureaucratic
work related to their
respective forces.
The newly-created
DMA under CDS
General Bipin Rawat
is also working hard
togiveapresentation
on working of ser-
vices to Parliamen-
tary Standing Com-
mittee meeting start-
ing Feb 17. “The pro-
posal for appoint-
ment of the three
joint secretaries of
the DMA including
Major General
Narayanan, Rear Ad-
miral RK Dhir and
Air Vice Marshal SK
Jha have been sent to
the government for
final approval,”
sources said. —ANI
New Delhi: MoS for
Home Affairs, G
Kishan Reddy, on
Wednesday said the
use of Improvised
Explosive Devices
(IEDs) is gaining at-
tention both in In-
dia and the world as
it requires mini-
mum effort and
stressed that secu-
rity forces should
have the technology
and strategy to pre-
vent such attacks in
the future.
“Use of IEDs is
gaining attention
not only in India
but also globally as
it requires mini-
mum effort. Secu-
rity forces need
technology, strate-
gy and capabilities
to prevent such at-
tacks,” Reddy said
at a seminar at NSG
headquarters.
Last week, two
suspected low-inten-
sity IEDs were re-
covered by police at
two places in Guwa-
hati, Assam. —ANI
CCC
CHACKO RESIGNS, GOHIL NEW IN-CHARGE
NO CONNECTION WITH JAHANGIR
SAROORI: CONG LEADER SAROORI
Jammu: Senior Congress
leader from Jammu and
Kashmir GM Saroori
who was summoned
by the National Investi-
gating Agency (NIA) on
Wednesday said that a
militant had changed his
name to Jahangir Saroori
in Kishtwar and that he
doesn’t have any con-
nection with the latter. “I
was summoned by NIA
(National Investigating
Agency) on February 10.
I don’t know why I was
summoned. In Kishtwar,
there’s a militant Jahangir
Mohd Amin Bhat, he has
changed his name to
Jahangir Saroori. I don’t
have any connection with
him,” said Saroori at a
press conference here.
“Jahangir is neither my
relative nor a ‘Saroori’.
5-DAY WEEK FOR MAHA GOVT
EMPLOYEES FROM FEB 29
Mumbai: Maharashtra government on Wednes-
day announced five-day working week for its
officers and employees from February 29. The
decision was taken at the state Cabinet meeting
chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here.
There are over 20 lakh officers and employees in
government, semi-government and local bodies
in the state. The Cabinet also decided that the
state department for OBCs, SEBCs, VJNTs and
special backward classes will now be known as
the ‘Bahujan Kalyan Department’.
CHANCELLOR DHANKHAR GETS
NO INVITATION TO COVOCATION
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar
on Wednesday expressed dismay after he was not
invited to attend the convocation of Panchanan
Barma University in Cooch Behar on February 14.
“Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University will be
held on February 14. Ministers Partha Chatterjee,
Gautam Deb, Rabindra Nath Ghosh and Binay
Krishna Barman are invited for the Convocation.
Chancellor, who has the right to preside, has just
no information! Where are we heading!” he tweet-
ed. He is the Chancellor of state universities.
NOT AWARE OF ANY PROPOSAL TO
MERGE NSG WITH CRPF: DG
New Delhi: National Se-
curity Guard (NSG) Di-
rector General (DG) Anup
Kumar Singh on Wednes-
day denied to have any
knowledge of a proposal
to merge the country’s
elite force with the Central
Reserve Police Force
(CRPF). “I am not aware
of any such proposal.
NSG is an elite agency
of our nation. It is our
federal contingency force
and holds the position
as one of the best forces
in the world,” Singh told
ANI. “NSG has its own
important structure. I
hope it will continue in
its current form,” added
Singh, saying the NSG is
the country’s elite agency.
The NSG is a counter-ter-
rorism unit under the
Ministry of Home Affairs.
WISHED KEJRI
New Delhi: BJP presi-
dent JP Nadda on
Wednesday chaired a
meeting of senior party
functionaries at the
party headquarters
here to discuss organi-
sational elections and
other issues.
Present in the meet-
ing were Ram Madhav,
Muralidhar Rao, BL
Santhosh, Bhupendra
Yadav and Arun Singh
among others. The
meeting comes a day af-
ter the Aam Aadmi Par-
ty (AAP) got re-elected
to power in Delhi with a
landslide majority,
while the BJP was re-
stricted to single-digit
seats despite launching
a high-voltage election
campaign spearheaded
by Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah.
The Congress failed
to open its account sec-
ond time in a row in the
national capital.
AAP, led by Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal, won 62 seats in the
results declared on
Tuesday. Despite ag-
gressive campaigning
that lasted, the BJP lost
heavily in the elections.
The BJP had got all its
top leaders, Union Min-
isters and Chief Minis-
ters to campaign, led by
Home Minister Shah.
Nadda chairs
meet to
discuss polls
Defence Ministry
to have joint
secretaries in
military uniform
‘Security forces
need technology,
strategy to
prevent attacks’
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra interacts with a girl while meeting with Muslim
women who have been agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National
Register of Citizens (NRC), at Bilariyaganj in Azamgarh.
DELHI ELECTION Downfall of Congress started when Sheilaji was CM, the senior congress leader had said earlier

message was doing the
rounds on whatsapp, a day
before the Delhi poll re-
sults—“Dilli maen sab se
sukhi Congress party hai,
naa jeet ki chinta, naa
haar ka bhaiy”. It was cir-
culated by Congressmen
watching the drama un-
fold, with exit polls show-
ing a victorious AAP and
the BJP continued to
maintain in a show of su-
per confidence that they
would bag 48 seats.
When the results came, giv-
ing 62 seats to AAP, and 8 to
the BJP, Congressmen cele-
brated the defeat of the BJP,
and some are known to have
even distributed ladoos. The
BJP’s rout offered comfort to
many in the Congress. For the
AAP had managed what the
Congress used to do in the not
too distant past.
The Congress’ devastat-
ing showing in Delhi—zero
seats and 4.5% voteshare,
half of what it had mopped
up in 2015 assembly elec-
tions and one fifth of what
it had got only 9 months
ago in the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections--—did not come
as a surprise to many.
It is hardly a secret that the
party organisation has been
in shambles. Factionalism
has afflicted the party in Del-
hi for many years, and it con-
tinues unabated even after
the party’s unprecedented
defeat (PC Chacko blaming
Shiela Dixit for the decline
on the party).
After the golden years
of the Shiela Dixit rule be-
tween 1998-2013, the par-
ty was headed by several
Congress chiefs, but none
of them—Aravinder Sin-
gh Lovely, Shiela Dixit
again though by that time
she was ailing, Ajay Mak-
en or Subhash Chopra—
were allowed enough time
or a freehand to turna-
round the party. Though
the party was defeated in
2013, mainly due to the
scams which had hit UPA
II, Shiela Dixit had en-
joyed enormous goodwill
of Delhiwallas. What
makes Delhi a greater
tragedy for the Congress
is the strong organisation-
al presence the party had
here not so long ago.
It is possible that the Con-
gress did not put its best foot
forward deliberately in Delhi
2020—there are unconfirmed
stories about AAP’s poll strat-
egist Prashant Kishore per-
suading Rahul Gandhi and
Priyanka Vadra to rein in
their party—so as to prevent
the BJP from winning seats
because of a division in the
anti-BJP votes. This time the
Muslims themselves did not
allow their vote to be split
and opted lock stock and bar-
rel for AAP which was best
placed to defeat the BJP. In
2019, they had preferred the
Congress—which led to its
22% voteshare—in the hope
that it may emerge as the
king pin of a national anti-
BJP coalition.
The point is not what the
Congress could not do in
February 2020, for, by
then, the battlelines had
been drawn between the
BJP and the AAP. The
point is what the Congress
failed to do during the last
5 years, when it had the
chance to strike, and there
were many opportunities
to do so—when the AAP
split right down the mid-
dle three weeks after its
runaway “67 member”
success in Feb 2015, or
when the centre put im-
pediments in the AAP’s
way, leading to ugly spats,
or when Kejriwal himself
made so many mistakes.
But for the Congress, it re-
mained “business as usual”.
On the other hand, by his
sheer grit, Kejriwal literally
rose from the ashes once
again, to claim a landslide
victory for a second time. He
had badly lost the municipal
elections in 2017 and was rel-
egated to number three posi-
tion in 2019.
What is true of Delhi to-
day was also true of other
states, and large ones at
that, like UP, Bihar, West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu which
the Congress had lost. The
point, again, is not that the
party lost these states, but
that India’s Grand Old Par-
ty could never regain
them over the decades.
The party went on to lose
Orissa, once its strong-
hold, and Assam and the
entire northeast to the
BJP, and more recently, it
even became the number
four party in financially
important Maharashtra it
once dominated. And it has
shown no signs of moving
towards a plan to turna-
round the situation in Bi-
har, West Bengal or in UP,
where elections are due
over the next two years.
Anger is simmering in the
Congress, understandably
among the younger leaders,
who have 20-30 years of pub-
lic life ahead of them, and
who see the shutters coming
down. The older Congress
leaders may not want to take
risks,and hope that one day
the [party will win by default
if Narendra Modi starts to
lose ground.
It is not surprising that
Sharmishtha Mukherji,
spokesperson of the Con-
gress (and daughter of for-
mer President and veteran
Congress leader Pranab
Mukherji) should erupt af-
ter the Delhi results. She
took umbrage at P Chid-
ambaram’s tweet “saluting
“ the people of Delhi for
defeating BJP, and asked if
the Congress had “out-
sourced the task of defeat-
ing BJP to state parties?”
If the reasons for the Con-
gress’ woes were to be
summed up, they are essen-
tially two fold. One, and this
is hardly a secret, the Con-
gress has becoming a flabby,
drawing room party and Con-
gressmen and women have
forgotton to work hard and
work amongst people. This
writer remembers one of the
first rallies addressed by Ra-
hul Gandhi in UP, in Phulpur.
Soon after the meeting end-
ed, the Circuit House where
the entire brass of the Con-
gress had camped, was emp-
ty within an hour of Rahul
leaving, there was no one to
take stock of how the meet-
ing had gone, no one to put a
followup plan in place.
Two, while the Gandhis
have played a stellar role
in the Congress’ growth,
today they are neither able
to connect at the popular
level, nor strategise and
steer the Congress effec-
tively. Has the time now
come for the Gandhi fam-
ily to take a backseat and
allow others to take charge
and lead from the front?
One is beginning to hear
voices now,and this should
worry the Congress brass,
that the Congress is “becom-
ing a party of the past”.
Politics brooks no vacu-
um. Others will slowly or
not so slowly fill the space
once occupied by the Con-
gress, and many Congress-
men and women may well
seek greener pastures, if
given half a chance. AAP
will want to spread its
wings in other states, and
the party may welcome es-
tablished leaders from
other groups in its fold in
different states.
India is witnessing the rise
of a new leadership at vari-
ous levels, and its early days
to predict how it is going to
pan out politically. The differ-
ence Kejriwal and his team,
Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai,
Sanjay Singh, Atishi Marle-
na or Raghav Chaddha will
be able to make to Delhi but
also the role they ultimately
play on the national stage. Or
how Chandrashekhar Azad
will galvanize the Dalit com-
munity. Or the impact young
India, exercised about the
principle of equality in the
context of the amendment to
the citizenship law, will come
to have. Or the leadership
that is being thrown up from
amongst the Muslim women
who have never come out on
the streets but who now are
in the vanguard of the anti-
CAA/NRC protests.
The inescapable ques-
tion however is this and it
remains unanswered: How
will Congressmen and
women themselves re-
claim the Congress Party
and impart it vigour and
health again?
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
PERSPECTIVEJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
G Vol 1 G Issue No. 248 G 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.
Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
TOP TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
As a part of Hon.
PM Shri @narendramodi
ji’s efforts to transform India
into a gas-based economy,
we will increase our current
consumption of natural
gas in reﬁneries by three
times by 2025
efore the coro-
navirus explod-
ed into the
news, a re-
port by the
World Health Organiza-
tion warned that the world
was not prepared for “a
fast-moving, virulent res-
piratory pathogen pan-
demic” that could kill 50-80
million people, cause pan-
ic and instability, and seri-
ously affect the global
economy and trade. The
experience of the last 200-
plus years has shown that
only governments acting
in concert can effectively
fight such a pandemic –
and even then, only with
the trust and compliance
of their citizens. This
points to three challenges
facing political leaders in
the fight against the new
coronavirus, now known
as COVID-19.
The first challenge is
that politicians are torn
between looking decisive
and adopting science-
based measures that re-
quire careful explanation
to a skeptical public. For
example, governments in
several countries, includ-
ing India, Nigeria, Japan,
and the United States, have
recently instituted highly
visible temperature checks
on all passengers arriving
at their airports. But fever-
ish travelers can simply
mask their condition by
using fever-reducing
drugs. Furthermore, Chi-
nese researchers suspect
that COVID-19 is conta-
gious for up to 24 days be-
fore the person carrying it
develops a fever. The, Unit-
ed Kingdom’s government
therefore, is focusing on
informing all arriving pas-
sengers about what to do if
they experience symptoms
after leaving the airport.
More seriously, on Janu-
ary 31, US President Don-
ald Trump’s administra-
tion announced a tempo-
rary entry ban on all for-
eign nationals who had
been to China in the past 14
days, unless they were im-
mediate relatives of US
citizens or permanent res-
idents. Many other coun-
tries have imposed similar
measures, but the effect
could be exactly the oppo-
site of what was intended.
Closing off China might
seem justified. But doing
so unilaterally, without
building trust with other
governments, makes it
likelier that other coun-
tries – such as China’s
smaller neighbors – will
not notify the world when
the virus spreads to them,
owing to fear of being
closed off and the massive
economic costs this would
imply. The golden rule in
fighting pandemics is to
encourage affected coun-
tries to notify others im-
mediately of any infection.
Chinese researchers rap-
idly identified COVID-19,
and – after international
urging – shared its viral
sequence, thus spurring
global cooperation in the
race to create a vaccine. In
so doing, China complied
with international rules
that aim to ensure that
countries work together to
combat infections, rather
than harming themselves
or unnecessarily harming
others through protection-
ist measures.
The second challenge for
governments relates to
communication. Accurate,
trusted information is vi-
tal in fighting a pandemic.
But in most of the world,
citizens do not trust politi-
cians to tell the truth, so
they turn instead to social
media and other sources
of information.
Such platforms can fa-
cilitate greater transpar-
ency and instant report-
ing, which governments
must not quash, as local
officials in Wuhan initial-
ly did by threatening doc-
tors who reported the new
coronavirus. But social
media also gives rise to
“infodemics” of fake news
and rumor that endanger
public health. The WHO
currently must refute
claims that mouthwashes,
nasal sprays, and sesame
oil can prevent people
from being infected with
COVID-19.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.PROJECTSYNDICATE.COM
WORLD MUST UNITE TO FIGHT VIRUSES
B
Experience of last
200-plus years
has shown that
only governments
acting in concert
can effectively
fight such a
pandemic
WHERE DOES CONG STAND
POST DELHI ASSEMBLY POLLS
A
If the reasons
for the Congress’
woes were to be
summed up,
they are
essentially two
fold. One the
party has
becoming a
flabby, drawing
room party who
have forgotton
to work hard.
Two, while the
Gandhis have
played a stellar
role in the
Congress’
growth, today
they are neither
able to connect
at the popular
level, nor
strategise and
steer the
Congress
effectively.
The inescapable
question however
that remains
unanswered: How
will Congressmen
and women
themselves reclaim
the Congress Party
and impart it vigour
and health again?
NEERJA
CHOWDHURY
The author is a senior
journalist and political
commentator.

INDIAJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
WILL HARISH KUMAR BE NEW ED?
Once again name of DG Investigations (IT),
Harish Kumar is in circulation for the post of En-
forcement Director. If Kumar gets this job before
his superannuation on March 31, he would get
two years tenure as ED.
BARUN MITRA APPOINTED
SECRETARY, JUSTICE
Barun Mitra has been appointed as Secretary, De-
partment of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.
He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre.
CS, DELHI LIKELY TO JOIN GOI
Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev is likely to join
GoI as Secretary. He is a 1987 batch AGMUT
cadre IAS officer and has already been empan-
elled as Secretary in the Central govt.
SANJEEV RAZDAN IS NEW
CMD, PAWAN HANS
Sanjeev Razdan has been appointed as the chair-
man and managing director of Pawan Hans Ltd
(PHL) He is at present general manager in the PHL,
the national helicopter carrier. He has been ap-
pointed as the CMD for a five-year tenure, it said.
TRIPURA IPS OFFICER, RAMESH
REDDY JOINS AP GOVT
A Ramesh Reddy has joined Andhra Pradesh
Government on inter-cadre deputation for a pe-
riod of three years. He is a 2007 batch IPS officer
of Tripura cadre.
GIRIDHAR GOPALKRISHNA PAI
RETURNS TO PARENT CADRE
Giridhar Gopalkrishna Pai, Director, Department
of Justice, is returning to the parent cadre in
order to avail the benefit of promotion. He is a
1999 batch IRS-C&CE officer.
ACC YET TO APPROVE APPOINTMENT
OF A K SINGH AS CMD, NHPC LTD
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) is
yet to approve the appointment of Abhay Kumar
Singh, ED, NHPC Limited, as Chairman-cum-
Managing Director, NHPC Limited. A vacancy
of this post arose on January 1, 2020 with the
retirement of Balraj Joshi.
O P SINGH TO SUCCEED PANDEY AS
DIRECTOR (T&FS), ONGC ON APR 1
Om Prakash Singh, GGM, ONGC, will be taking
over the charge as Director (Technical and Field
Services), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited
(ONGC) on April 2020. He will succeed present
incumbent N C Pandey retiring in March 2020.
MRS SANGEETA GODBOLE
APPOINTED AS PCIT IN PRCCIT,
DELHI REGION OFFICE
Mrs Sangeeta M Godbole has been appointed as
PCIT(OSD) in the office of Principal CCIT, Delhi
region. She is an IRS-IT officer.
ALLAHABAD HC STILL SHORT
OF 44 ADDL JUDGES
The Allahabad High Court is still short of 44 Ad-
ditional Judges as on February 1, 2020.
RADM SANJAY VATSAYAN ASSUMES
CHARGE AS EASTERN FLEET
COMMANDER
Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, NM has as-
sumed charge as Commander of Eastern Fleet
of Indian Navy.
MAHENDRA PRAKASH GUPTA
APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR, DEFENCE
Mahendra Prakash Gupta has been appointed as
Director in the Ministry of Defence. He is a 2001
batch ITS officer.
DEVESH KUMAR APPOINTED
AS SECRETARY TO HP CM
Devesh Kumar has been appointed as Secretary
to Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He is a
1998 batch IAS officer of HP cadre.
C PAULRASU APPOINTED AS CHIEF
ELECTORAL OFFICER IN HP
C Paulrasu has been appointed as Chief Electoral
Officer (CEO), with concurrent charge of Secre-
tary, Election in Himachal Pradesh. He is a 2004
batch IAS officer of HP cadre.
POWERGallery
New Delhi: Nirbhaya’s
mother Asha Devi on
Wednesday congratu-
lated Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) chief Arvind Ke-
jriwal for his huge vic-
tory in the Delhi As-
sembly elections and
urged him to ensure
that loopholes in the
law are removed for
speedy justice.
“The public have once
again elected AAP for
five years. So remove
loopholes in the law due
to which the convicts
continue to take the law
for granted for a longer
period of time. The Del-
hi jail should bring
changes in the manual
so that no convict es-
capesthedeathpenalty,”
Asha Devi said. Talking
about the case, Nirb-
haya’s mother said:
“The hearing in the Su-
preme Court on Febru-
ary 13 may be impor-
tant. We hope the Su-
preme Court gives a
guideline tomorrow be-
cause Nirbhaya’s case is
constantly going to the
Supreme Court.”
“The apex court has
also given notice to the
convicts in this case. We
are hoping once again
that the top court will
give a guideline in this
matter tomorrow.”
On the plea filed by
convict Vinay Sharma
claiming that he is men-
tally unwell, Asha Devi
said that the convict
does not have any
mental disorder.
“He is not mentally
disturbed. He does not
have any mental disor-
der. Now our last hope is
on the guideline of the
Supreme Court. Only
the Supreme Court can
give a decision in this
regard. It has to be seen
how much we have to
struggle in this case.
How long the guilty con-
tinue to take advantage
of loopholes in laws,”
she said.
The Delhi High
Court last week grant-
ed a week’s time to the
four death row convict
to avail all legal reme-
dies available to them
and said that the con-
victs cannot be hanged
separately since they
were convicted for the
same crime.
A Delhi court had
issued a death warrant
against the four
convicts. —ANI
NIRBHAYA’S MOTHER URGES KEJRI
TO REMOVE LOOPHOLES IN LAWS
New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Wednesday expressed
displeasure with CBI investigation into a bribery
case involving its former Special Director Rakesh
Asthana and has put up the charge-sheet for con-
sideration on February
19. Special CBI Judge
Sanjeev Aggarwal asked
why certain accused, who
seem to have a bigger role
in the case, roaming free
while CBI arrested its own
DSP. “You also arrested
your own DSP and ruined his career. Now, you have
not found anything concrete and put him in column
12 of the charge sheet,” Aggarwal said. The CBI of-
ficer, while sharing charge-sheet details in the court,
informed that a Look Out Circular has been opened
against Asthana’s brother Somesh Prasad and letter
rogatories are pending in further probe. —ANI
Bengaluru: ED questioned Gowramma, mother of
Congress leader DK Shivakumar, in connection with
a money-laundering case. She was questioned at
Shivakumar’s farmhouse in Kodihalli. DK Shivaku-
mar’s brother and Congress
lawmaker DK Suresh was also
questioned by ED. The money
laundering case was registered
against him in September
2018, based on a complaint
filed by I-T department, alleg-
ing tax evasion and hawala
transactions running into crores. Last year, he was ar-
rested by the agency on September 3 and was sent to
judicial custody in Tihar jail on September 17. Prior to
that, he was in ED’s custody for 14 days. On October
23, Delhi HC had granted bail to Shivakumar while
taking into note that he had been extensively interro-
gated by the probe agency since his arrest. —ANI
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Wednesday alleged that
the government is not
taking the coronavirus
threat seriously and
called for timely action
to prevent the spread of
the virus.
In India three cases of
coronavirus have been
detected so far but there
has been no casualty.
“The coronavirus is an
extremelyseriousthreat
to our people and our
economy.Mysenseisthe
government is not tak-
ing this threat seriously.
Timely action is criti-
cal,” Gandhi tweeted.
The death toll in Chi-
na due to novel corona-
virus outbreak has gone
up to 1,113 with 97 new
fatalities reported most-
ly in the worst-affected
Hubei province while
the confirmed cases of
the virus jumped to
44,653. Coronavirus is a
large family of viruses
that causes illnesses
ranging from common
cold to acute respiratory
syndromes, but the vi-
rus that has killed peo-
ple in China is a novel
strain. —ANI
RaGa: Govt not taking
coronavirus seriously
Javadekar highlights
welfare works in letter
New Delhi: Shri Ram
Janmabhoomi Tirath
Trust is yet to decide on
date of construction of
Ram Temple in Ayod-
hya. “There are many
hurdles in deciding the
date and the Trust is
working to resolve all
those issues first,” a
source clarified. The
Trust will discuss the
matter during its first
meeting. Sources said
that there will be 15 to
20 lakh people in Ayod-
hya on Ramnavami. It
will be difficult to start.
New Delhi: Bhim
Army Chief Chan-
drashekhar Azad on
Wednesday called for a
Bharat Bandh on Feb-
ruary 23 against the
Supreme Court’’s ver-
dict on reservation in
promotions.
Azad asked leaders
from the OBC to SC-ST
and minority groups to
participate in the shut
down. He also warned
that if the MPs and
MLAs of the backward
and Dalit classes did
not support the call,
there would be a dem-
onstration in front of
their houses. The Bhim
Army has also demand-
ed reservation in jobs
and promotions in the
private sector. —ANI
Construction of
Mandir may not
start from Apr 2
Bhim Army chief
calls for Feb 23
shut down
Durgapur: Chief Min-
ister Mamata Banerjee
on Wednesday carried
out a march against the
Citizenship Amend-
ment Act (CAA) and Na-
tional Register of Citi-
zens (NRC).
The West Bengal
Chief Minister has
been protesting against
the CAA, NRC and the
National Population
Register for over a
month. —ANI
CM Mamata holds march
against CAA, NRC in Durgapur
New Delhi: India’s
armed forces are at the
cusp of transformation,
Chief of Defence Staff
Gen Bipin Rawat said
on Wednesday, noting
that proxy war and
cross-border terrorism
remained key security
challenges facing India.
Gen Rawat also re-
jected criticism that
armed forces are sup-
pressing the rights of
the people in Jammu
and Kashmir and said
required steps are be-
ing taken keeping in
view ground realities
and threats of terror-
ism in union territory.
Asked about his con-
troversial comments
that India has deradi-
calisation camps, he
said what he meant was
classification of people
based on their views
andtheimpactof relent-
less efforts to deradical-
ise young people.
“When I said camps
-- I meant groups of
people. The classifica-
tion of people based on
their views and the im-
pact of relentless ef-
forts to deradicalise
young people. The word
camp got misunder-
stood,” he said during
an interactive session
at a conclave organised
by Times Now news
channel.
Indian armed forces at cusp
of transformation: Rawat
IN THE COURTYARD
NNN
‘NOT IN MOOD TO ISSUE DEATH WARRANT’
New Delhi: SC on
Wednesday dismissed a
plea filed by 111 Independ-
ent candidates who could
not file nomination papers
from New Delhi constitu-
ency in Assembly polls.
Notably, the New Delhi
seat was from where CM-
designate and AAP national
convenor Arvind Kejriwal
won. The bench headed
by CJI Bobde refused to
entertain the plea citing that
the polls have already been
concluded and the petition
is completely infructuous
now. —ANI
SC REJECTS
NOMINATION
REJECTION PLEA
Mumbai: Nisar Ahmed
Sayyed Bilal, a petitioner
and father of a man who
died in 2008 Malegaon
blast, has submitted a let-
ter to the Chief Justice of
Bombay HC urging him to
recommend extension of
tenure of NIA Court Judge
VS Padalakar till trial in the
case is over. Padalakar is
set to retire at the end of
this month. Copies of the
letter have also been sent
to Chief Justice of India
Sharad Arvind Bobde,
Home Minister Amit Shah
and to NIA. —ANI
APPEAL IN HIGH
COURT TO EXTEND
JUDGE’S TENURE
COURT EXPRESSES DISPLEASURE WITH
PROBE IN CASE INVOLVING ASTHANA
ED QUESTIONS SHIVAKUMAR’S MOTHER,
BROTHER IN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
New Delhi: Union
Minister Prakash Ja-
vadekar has written to
the ministers in the
Central government
asking them to design a
campaign to highlight
the welfare work done
by their respective
ministries.
In the letter, Ja-
vadekar has asked his
ministerial colleagues
to inform the people
about their ministry’s
‘public welfare work’
through television,
newspapers, outdoor
and digital mediums be-
tween February 15 and
March 31. The Union
Minister said that this
campaign should be
themed ‘Har Kaam
Desh Ke Naam.’ —ANI
NIBM GOLDEN JUBILEE
President Ram Nath Kovind with First Lady Savita Kovind, Maha Guv Bhagat Singh
Koshyari and RBI Guv Shaktikanta Das releases postage stamps during the Golden Jubilee
Celebration of National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) at NIBM Campus in Pune
‘INFORM PEOPLE’
GENERAL SAYS

TALKING POINTJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
S
awai Padmanabh Singh,
HRH, Jaipur, as he is still
referred to, is an accom-
plished polo player and at the age
of 21, he has already been on the
Indian Polo team for several
years now. When asked about his
love for the game of polo, he
gushingly acknowledged, “for
me, it is an addiction. It’s the
most rewarding thing I’ve done
— to be able to work with an ani-
mal, to be able to risk your life
based on an animal. I don’t think
there’s a more beautiful sport”.
Unlike most other team sports,
polo is unique for the symbiotic
relationship between a human
and an animal: the rider and his
horse. The two of them, in effect,
get fused in thought and action
to emerge as a formidable combi-
nation of speed, agility, control
and courage in this
fast-moving and of-
ten dangerous com-
petitive sport. A rela-
tively small human
rider in full control
of a galloping 500
kg mass of sweaty
animal flesh is a
wonderful sight to
behold.
Team sports are of-
ten a substitute for
war. That would be true
for the game of polo in two
ways. Firstly, this folk
team game started, per-
haps 2,500 years back,
among horse riding troops
in Central Asia as a means
for developing and hon-
ing the requisite skills
for war, both for the rid-
er and his mount. From
there it spread along
the Silk Route from Constantino-
ple to China and gained royal
patronage in Persia. Secondly, as
in the volatile north western bor-
derlands of Pakistan around
Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan, the
game of polo serves as a vent for
territorial and other disputes.
The respective teams, competing
in a hard-fought version of polo
that is watched and cheered vo-
ciferously by their partisan sup-
porters, end up fighting a proxy
war. These traditions have been
carried forward from the dim,
impenetrable recesses of an-
cient history to our modern
times by various cavalry units of
modern armies.
The annals of polo in Jaipur
invariably speak of the ‘Invinci-
ble’ Jaipur polo team led by Ma-
haraja Sawai Man Singh II, that
travelledtoEnglandin1933.They
won every tournament there. On
this formidable record, Raja Ha-
nut Singh, a member of that
team, remarked with supreme
self-confidence, bordering on ar-
rogance, “we were the best strik-
ers; we had the best ponies, we
were the best horsemen. What
could the others do?”. That team
alsowonalltournamentsinIndia
from 1930 to 1938, with only the
onset of the Second World War
bringing their unprecedented
run to an abrupt halt. The Alwar,
Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Patiala,
Golconda and Bhopal have been
the other successful polo teams
of that princely era.
The history of polo in India re-
cords the death of the Delhi Sul-
tan Qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1210
from a fall while playing polo.
The Mughals were enthusiastic
patrons of polo, with Emperor
Akbar reportedly being an ac-
complished player. After that,
polo in India survived in its two
extreme corners – Manipur and
Ladakh. It was in the former that
the British Army officers, Joseph
Sherer and Robert Stewart, wit-
nessed a local version of the
game. Fascinated, they intro-
duced the sport to the army in
Calcutta and gradually the game
spread to the UK and to the other
British colonies. Today, at least 16
countries play competitive polo,
withArgentinabeingthemodern
powerhouse of the sport, both for
the competence of its players and
their horses.
Traditionally, polo would be
played on whatever ground was
available locally. The modern
game has standardised the polo
field to be 300 yards long and 160
yards wide, with two goal posts 8
yards distant in the centre of
boththefarends.Theteams,with
four players each, try to hit the
hard white ball with their stick-
like mallets between the goal-
posts of the opposite side. The
game is organised in seven and a
half minutechukkasandamatch
may extend from four to eight
chukkas, depending on the level
of the tournament. There is a
three-minute break after every
chukka. The rules of the game
are meant to ensure the safety of
the riders and their horses. An
important rule is a bar on a play-
er crossing the ‘line of the ball’ (a
presumed line along the trajec-
tory of the moving ball) to avoid
dangerous collisions. Two
mounted umpires keep track of
threats to the safety of the play-
ers and their horses, and any in-
fraction is visited by a penalty of
a free hit to the offended team.
The severity of the threat decides
the nature of the penalty.
Given the high tempo of the
game, a horse cannot be used for
two consecutive chukkas, and the
riders have to keep changing
their mounts. Initially, the use of
local breeds for polo such as Ma-
nipuri or Marwari ponies was
common. With the globalisation
of the sport, thoroughbred hors-
es, bred from Arab stallions and
English mares, by UK breeders
havebecomealmosttheexclusive
polo ponies among the current
professional players. These thor-
oughbreds are a perfect blend of
speed, stamina and a calm tem-
perament for the swiftness and
agility required in modern polo.
In India, the thoroughbreds, usu-
ally imported from England, the
US or Argentina, can cost up to 50
lakh rupees each.
Two matches played at the Ra-
jasthan Polo Club grounds in
Jaipur were witnessed by me on
the 1st and the 2nd of February,
2020. The exciting Raghu Sinha
Mala Mathur Memorial Cup was
won by the Malarpan team
against RPC with a score line of
6 goals to 3. Next day, the Shree
Cement Sirmur Cup was a thrill-
er that saw the Sahara Warriors
finally emerge as the winner
against the Garcha Hotels team
by just one goal, the final score
reading eight is to seven. The
players, with meagre financial
returns from the games, were
there primarily for the love of
the sport. Nevertheless, the
champagne flew freely at the ac-
companying lunch and high tea.
That is the spirit of this Game of
the Kings.
MAHENDRA SINGH
DG INCOME TAX
(INVESTIGATION) RAJASTHAN
THESPIRITOF
The annals of polo
in Jaipur invariably
speak of the
‘Invincible’ Jaipur
polo team led by
Maharaja Sawai
Man Singh II, that
travelled to
England in 1933
and won n every
tournament there
THESPIRITOF

SPORTSJAIPUR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
Prajnesh stretched
at B’luru Open
Bengaluru: India’s
top ranked player and
defending champion
Prajnesh Gunne-
swaran, seeded sev-
enth here, was
stretched by Sebastian
Fanselow of Germany
en route to the quarter-
finals of the USD
162,480 prize money
event as three seeds
were shown the door at
the KSLTA on Wednes-
day. The other Indians
to advance into the
next round were 17th
seed Ramanathan
Ramkumar who
quelled the challenge
of the qualifier Abhi-
nav Shanmugam with
a 6-1, 6-3 win and Sid-
harth Rawat who beat
lucky loser Rishi
Redyy 6-2, 6-2.
Bopanna-
Shapovalov in QF
Kotterdam: India’s Ro-
han Bopanna teamed up
with Canada’s Denis
Shapovalov to enter the
quarter-finals of the
Rotterdam Open with a
hard-fought victory
over Australia’s John
Peers and Michael Ve-
nus here. The Indo-Ca-
nadian pair defeated
Peers-Venus 7-6 6-7 10-8
in a thrilling match at
the ATP 500 event. After
winning the first set tie-
break, the duo of Bo-
panna and Shapovalov
lost the second in an-
other close tie-break, as
fortunes fluctuated.
Kush Maini to race
with R-ace GP
New Delhi: Kush
Maini, backed by JK
Racing, finished second
in the Rookie standings
in the Formula Renault
Eurocup Series in 2019
and 6th overall. He is
looking to make a
strong come back in the
Championship in 2020
with R-ace GP that have
consistently won this
Championship over the
last three years. The
2020 Formula Renault
Eurocup is a multi-
event motor racing
championship for open
wheel, formula racing
cars held across Eu-
rope.
Kohli continues at
No 1 in ODIs
Dubai: India captain
Virat Kohli has main-
tained his top spot in
ODIs while leading In-
dia pacer Jasprit Bum-
rah has been displaced
from the numero uno
spot in the ICC ODI
rankings. Kohli en-
dured a rare lull with
the bat garnering just
75 runs in the three-
match ODI series
against NZ which con-
cluded on Tuesday with
India losing all the
three games in a row.
BRIEF
in
ShaunanamedasBritain’sfirsteverOlympicclimber
CM congratulates Ravi andAkash of under-19 cricket team
ShaunanamedasBritain’sfirsteverOlympicclimber
Coxsey, a
two-time
overall
World Cup
winner in
her favoured
bouldering
discipline,
will be part
of climbing’s
Olympic
debut at
Tokyo
Olympic
Games
Melbourne: India
opener Smriti Mand-
hana’s 37-ball 66 went in
vain as Australia
claimed the tri-nation
women’s T20 series
with a gritty 11-run win
following a sensational
five-wicket haul by
spinner Jess Jonassen
here on Wednesday. Set
a target of 156, India
were all out for 144 after
being 115 for three in
the 15th over.
Seasoned left-arm
spinner Jonassen was
the star of the show
with brilliant figures of
5 for 12 in four overs,
making her only the
third Australian bowler
to return a five-for in
the women’s T20 for-
mat. “It was a really
good all-round perfor-
mance. Getting Mand-
hana was the game-
changer, she was
whacking us all over
the park,” said Austral-
ian captain Meg Lan-
ning. Opting to bat, Aus-
tralia managed to post
155 for six in their stipu-
lated 20 overs. Chasing
a challenging target,
Mandhana was up to
the task at hand and
smashed 12 boundaries
in her knock at the
Junction Oval.
However, Mandha-
na’s dismissal in the
15th over, caught bril-
liantly by Carey in deep
mid-wicket, turned the
match in Australia’s fa-
vour as they put the
brakes on India’s scor-
ing while at the same
time taking wickets. It
was the departure of
skipper Kaur, in the
16th over, which dashed
India’s hopes of a vic-
tory. “In the last three
overs we couldn’t take
the pressure and ended
up losing wickets,” said
Harmanpreet, reflect-
ing on the loss. Earlier
in the day, India’s
Rajeshwari leaked 19
runs in the last over to
let Aus off the hook and
post a challenging total.
Opener Mooney, who
was adjudged player of
the series for her 208
runs in the event, top-
scored for the hosts
with an aggressive 71
off 54 balls, hitting nine
boundaries at the Junc-
tion Oval. —Agencies
India opener Smriti’s 37-ball 66 went
in vain as Aus claimed the tri-nation
T20 series with a gritty 11-run win
New Delhi: Delhi’s
target of scoring
around 400 runs in a
day was almost
achieved against an in-
consistent Raj attack
on the 1st day of their
Ranji Trophy match on
Wednesday.
Put in, Delhi finished
the day at 389 for six,
riding mainly on Hiten
Dalal’s pre-lunch 102,
Jonty Sidhu’s 92 and
Himmat Singh’s 90.
With 52 boundaries
and six sixes coming in
89 overs, Raj could do
very little as Delhi went
about its task in a busi-
ness-like manner, ready
to trade wickets for
quick runs. The 142-run
opening stand came off
just 25.3 overs and set
the pace of Delhi’s in-
nings. Dalal was on fire
as he smashed a six and
18 hits to the fence be-
fore his dismissal sig-
nalled an early lunch.
Before Dalal, who
dominated the first ses-
sion with some fluent
stroke-play during his
93-ball blitzkrieg, Anuj
Rawat (45, 5x4, 2x6) and
skipper Dhruv Shorey
(1) departed in quick
succession.
Besides Rawat, Delhi
owed much to Himmat
and Sidhu. The 147-run
fifth-wicket stand in-
volving Himmat and
Sidhu truly foiled Ra-
jasthan’s hopes of cur-
tailing Delhi’s run-flow.
AmongtheRajasthan
medium pacers, Aniket
Choudhary looked
most disciplined. Spin-
options Rahul Chahar,
Mahipal Lomror and
Maneria gained a wick-
et each. Here, Lomror
and Maneria benefited
from the batsmen’s ur-
gency to add quick
runs.
Brief Scores: Delhi
389/6 in 89 overs (Dalal
102, Sidhu 92, Himmat
90) vs Rajasthan.
Want to finish the
bout in the first
round: Ritu Phogat
New Delhi: It took Ritu
Phogat about three
minutes to open her
mixed martial arts
(MMA) account in No-
vember 2019 and she
doesn’t want her second
fight in the One Cham-
pionship stable to last
more than that. Ritu,
the third sister of the
famous Phogat family
of wrestlers, will face
Chinese Taipei’s Wu
Chiao Chen on Febru-
ary 28 at the One: King
of the Jungle in Singa-
pore.
Ritu says that her
training since her pre-
vious bout involved
more focus on striking,
a skill that is complete-
ly absent in wrestling
but is integral to MMA.
But she admits that her
wrestling foundation
gives her an advantage.
“Yes it does help me a
lot. Seven out of the top
10 fighters in MMA are
those who came from a
wrestling background.
For me that is a big ben-
efit,” Ritu said in Delhi,
where she held her first
open workout session
on Wednesday. —Agencies
Hiten Dalal
Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Dalal’s
blistering century drives Delhi
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan Cricket Association President Vaibhav Gehlot along with players, selectors, and RCA ofﬁcials on Wednesday.
AUSTRALIA BEAT INDIA
IN CLOSE ENCOUNTER
First India News
Jaipur: 2 players of the
state, Ravi Vishnoi and
Akash Singh, who were
part of the Indian team
played in the Under-19
Cricket World Cup, met
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Wednesday.
CM Gehlot congratu-
lated both the players
for their good perfor-
mance and wished
them a bright career
ahead.
He also congratulat-
ed Jodhpur resident
Ravi Vishoi’s coach
Pradyut Singh Cham-
pawat and Shahrukh
Pathan.
During this, the
women cricket team se-
lectors Gangotri Chau-
han, Manjulata Shar-
ma, Vandana Daga,
Aastha Mathur, and
Sultana Khan, also met
the Chief Minister and
urged him to promote
women cricket at the
school level.
Rajasthan Cricket
Association (RCA)
President Vaibhav Ge-
hlot, Secretary Mahen-
dra Sharma, Joint Sec-
retary Mahendra Na-
har, Rajasthan Royals
Vice President Rajiv
Khanna, and other
RCA officials were pre-
sent on the occasion.
London: Shauna
Coxsey has created
history by becoming
the first climber se-
lected to represent
Britain at Olympic
Games, British
Olympic Association
has announced. Cox-
sey, a 2-time overall
WC winner in her fa-
voured bouldering
discipline, will be
part of climbing’s
Olympic debut at To-
kyo Olympic Games.
Shauna is coun-
try’s most successful
ever athlete in sport,
with Coxsey adding
two bronze medals in
the bouldering and
combined events at
the 2019 Climbing
World C’ships to her
WC triumphs.
The format of
sport climbing at To-
kyo 2020 combines
speed climbing
where two athletes
will race against
each other up a 15m
wall, bouldering
comprises
of tack-
ling fixed
routes on a
4.5m wall, and
lead will challenge
climbers to get as
high as possible on
up to a 15m wall
within a specified
time. —Agencies
AAI TEAMS MARKS VICTORY
Players in action
during the All
India Public
Sector Badminton
Competition
organized by the
Airports Authority
of India, Sports
Control Board
at SMS stadium
on Wednesday.
The Airports
Authority of India
men and women
teams performed
brilliantly and won
the team event.
—PHOTO BY
NAIM KHAN

Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition

Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition

Similar to Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition (20)

More from first_india

More from first_india (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (17)

Indian newspapers in english first india-rajasthan-13 feb 2020 edition