First India-Jaipur Edition-8th April 2023

MODI TO LAUNCH `11K CR PROJECTS IN HYD, INAUGURATE T2 IN CHENNAI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate projects worth over `11,000 crore in Telangana during his visit to Hyderabad on Saturday. During the day, PM Narendra Modi will also inaugurate the new Integrated Terminal Building at the Chennai International Airport. P5

NOT DEMOCRACY, IT IS DYNASTY THAT IS IN DANGER: AMIT SHAH ON RAHUL

Kaushambi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that people would not forgive Opposition parties for disrupting Parl proceedings over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from LS based on a legislation brought by Congress-led UPA govt. P5

Edu institutions should focus on holistic development: Dr Kalla

Ministers Kalla and Garg pay gratitude to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra for giving a platform to highlight important aspects of education

Mitali Dusad

Jaipur: Highlighting the role of higher education institutions in imparting education and making the students industry-ready, Education minister Dr BD Kalla on Friday said that such institutions should also focus on the holistic development of the students. He also appreciated the efforts of the government and shed light on the importance of a strong infrastructure for pre-primary schools. Kalla, the Chief

Crucial

JAISHANKAR HOLDS

TALKS WITH SOUTH KOREAN COUNTERPART

New Delhi: EAM S

Jaishankar on Friday held wide-ranging talks with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin with an aim to take forward special strategic partnership between 2 countries. The 2 foreign mins also deliberated on the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

16-YR-OLD ARRESTED OVER ASSASSINATION THREAT TO MODI, YOGI

New Delhi: The Noida

Police officials on Friday apprehended a teenager from Lucknow who is believed to have sent an email to a media house, threatening to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath, officials said.

“NO MENTION OF PIB FACT CHECK...” UNION MIN CHANDRASEKHAR

New Delhi: After a controversy arose over Centre’s notification that fake news about Union govt would be forcibly taken down and declare content as fake news, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday clarified that rules notified on Thursday do not mention “PIB Fact Check”.

NCERT CLASS 12 BOOK

CONTAINS MISLEADING

INFO: SIKHS’ TOP BODY

Amritsar: Shiromani

Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami on Friday claimed that the NCERT has misrepresented historical details related to Sikhs in its Political Science syllabus book of Class 12.

nipal University Jaipur, at Hotel Marriott on Friday. The event attended by several senior academics, school and college administrators, edutech entrepreneurs and politicians.

Guest, was addressing the ‘Education Conclave 2023’, presented by

First India, First India News, Bharat24- Vision of New India, and Ma-

CONCERN OVER RISING COVID-19 CASES

India in battle-ready mode

Centre asks States to identify emergency hotspots, ramp up testing

Moni Sharma

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting with health ministers of States and UTs on Friday to review the public health preparedness and the status of Covid-19 vaccination. He directed states to identify emergency hotspots, ramp up testing, genome sequencing and ensure hospital infrastructure readiness.

He underscored the need for Centre and the states to work in collaboration as was done during previous waves of Covid to keep infection under control. He also directed health officials to follow a five-fold strategy of the test, track, treat, vaccinate and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour for Covid management. P3,6

Minister Technical Education Dr Subhash Garg, the Guest of Honour, emphasized the importance of equity and inclusion in Higher Education Institutions and how technology has played a pivotal role in transforming higher education, making it more accessible, efficient and effective. Dr Subhash Garg also paid immense gratitude to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra for giving a platform to shed light on the important aspects of the education.

More on P8

Another jolt

for

Congress,

Ex-

Andhra CM Reddy joins BJP

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The last CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy joined the BJP on Friday, just weeks after 4-time Cong MLA sent a one-line resignation letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Post his induction, Reddy was quick to hit out at Congress high command, alleged that they did not consider opinion

Kiran Kumar Reddy joins the BJP in the presence of Pralhad Joshi and Arun Singh at party headquarters, in Delhi on Friday.

of party leaders, that party was getting “damaged in all states”, how-

TMC leader, kin hacked to death in Bengal; 3 held

Kolkata (FIB): TMC panchayat-level leader Neelima Barman, her husband Bimal Barman (also an active member of TMC) and their daughter Runa Barman were hacked to death after being allegedly attacked by a sharp weapon by some miscreants at Sitalkuchi in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal on Friday.

“Three people have been

Hindu spiritual gurus in South do more work than missionaries: Mohan Bhagwat

Dimple Sharma

Jaipur: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said social service by Hindu spiritual gurus in the southern states was several times more than that provided by missionaries, “but this is not a matter of competition”. Bhagwat said intellectuals in country generally mention (Christian) missionaries when talking about service to society.

UMESH NATH RAISES

AZAN VERSUS CONCH

SHELLS, BELLS ISSUE

Raising issue of azan versus conch shells & temple bells, Balyogi Umesh Das Nath, mahant of Valmiki Dham in Ujjain, said that because of some infiltrators within nation, sound of conch shells, bells has stopped & people have to hear “azan” five times a day, he said.

“Missionary organisations run various institutions, schools and hospitals all over the

world everyone knows this. But what is the Hindu seer community doing?” With this thought

in mind, a Hindu service fair was held in Chennai, he said. “But I am not talking about any

SHOCKER! ANOTHER

TMC LEADER SHOT AT

Other incident was reported from over 600 km away in Nadia district. Another TMC leader was shot dead in broad daylight on Friday morning. The deceased has been identified as Amod Ali Biswas, Hanskhali TMC VP.

arrested in the incident,” Cooch Behar additional SP Amit Verma said.

There is an old saying my king is very intelligent, he doesn’t think on his own, and he doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice. The “bad decisions” of Congress was the main reason why the party was losing its footprint in other States.

—Kiran Kumar Reddy

ever, he noted that he had never imagined that he would leave Cong.

Centre to bring scheme to help poor prisoners

New Delhi (FIB): The MHA has finalised the broad contours of the scheme under which the Centre will provide financial support to State Govts to extend financial relief to poor prisoners who are unable to avail bail or get released due to non-payment of fines. MHA said on Friday that consultations on were held with stakeholders. P6

Dalit woman raped, set afire; 1 arrested

Mukesh Mathrani

It was noticed there that the service done by the acharyas, munis and sanyasis in Kannadaspeaking, Telugu-speaking, Malayalam-speaking and Tamil-speaking provinces “is many times more than the service done by the missionaries.

competition about more than them, less than them,” RSS chief added quickly. P8

Barmer: A Dalit woman was allegedly raped and set ablaze in Barmer district, police said on Friday. The victim, who suffered 40% burn injuries, is undergoing treatment at a govt hospital in Jodhpur.

Pachpadra police station SHO Rajendra Singh said alleged incident occurred on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Shakoor, allegedly raped woman and then poured some chemical

Ruckus outside a hospital in Barmer on Friday.

on her before setting her on fire. The accused, who lives near victim’s house, has been arrested. A case has been registered under relevant sections of IPC and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act. P3

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya virtually interacts with the Health Ministers of all States on India’s rising Covid-19 situation, in New Delhi on Friday.

PHOTO BY ANI

Dr BD Kalla, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, Dr Subhash Garg and Jinendra Singh Shekhawat during the lamp lighting ceremony at ‘Education Conclave’ in Hotel Marriott, Jaipur on Friday.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra addressing the audience in Jaipur on Friday.

Dr BD Kalla addressing the audience at Hotel Marriott in Jaipur.

PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Dr Subhash and Dr Kalla are the silent workers, the reforms are unique and if Gehlot-led government comes into power again, a major credit will go to these two.

——Dr Jagdeesh Chandra

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat interacts with Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal during Rashtriya Sewa Sangam, in Jaipur on Friday.

—Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Chief

PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

RUN FOR HEALTH

BD Kalla praised the Nursing Council for creating e-councils, RTH, OPS and others

Jaisalmer DTO tops in revenue collection of Transport Dept

Shivendra Parmar

Jaipur : The Transport Department has done vigorous work in revenue collection in the last financial year, compared to the previous financial year with which the department achieved more revenue of about Rs 1400 crore.

There are 15 district transport officers who have earned more revenue than the fixed revenue.

Among them, Jaisalmer DTO got the first position.

Department after the completion of the financial year. The performance of most of the RTOs and DTOs in the transport dept was poor till the month of December but Transport Commissioner KL Swamy gave directions to the field officers by taking frequent meetings.

Apart from this, teams of senior offic-

Dinesh Tiwari

Jaipur: On the occasion of World Health Day, 20,000 nurses assembled at Amar Jawan Jyoti at Janpath, under the auspices of Rajasthan Nursing Council for ‘Survey Santu Niramaya and Nirogi Rajasthan, Samridh Rajasthan’.

Dr. Shashikant Sharma, Registrar, Rajasthan Nursing Council welcomed the guests and said that 20,000 nurses ran for the first

Sukh Nirogi Kaya. Due to CM Ashok Gehlot opening government nursing colleges at all district headquarters, change of nursing designation and implementation of the old pension scheme, nurses will work on the lines of Nar Seva Narayan Seva for the general public.

Education Minister BD Kalla praised the Nursing Council for creating e-councils, Right to Health, Old Pension Scheme and others.

Investigation into recruitment process of asst. professor in RAJUVAS still stuck

Kashiram Choudhary

Jaipur: The Animal Husbandry Department formed an inter-departmental committee three months back for investigation into the recruitment of assistant professor at Rajasthan Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bikaner but the investigation of the committee has not been completed yet. It is interesting that in the earlier departmental enquiry, irregularities were found in the recruitment, yet the recruitment is not being

started afresh by canceling the earlier one and the recruitment process is stuck.In the investigation of a committee constituted by the order of 25 November 2022, prima facie irregularities were considered. Only after this, orders were given to constitute a high-level inter-departmental inquiry commit-

tee on 21 December 2022 by Kashmi Kaur, Deputy Secretary of Animal Husbandry Dept. Due to high-level pressure, opinion was sought from the DOP by not forming an inquiry committee. The DOP did not give any opinion on the file considering the situation as unclear and returned the letter back

COMMUNAL HARMONY!

to the Animal Husbandry Dept. In the reply sent to Raj Bhavan, the Deputy Secretary said that irregularities were found in the recruitment investigation. The VC of the University Dr. Satish Kumar Garg is already facing allegations of criminal cases pending against him in the court. A hearing is going on in the Jodhpur High Court on the Public Interest Litigation filed by Rajasthan Youth Board member Sunil Sharma regarding his wrongful appointment.

RISING MERCURY!

Tourists were seen protecting themselves with a scarf from the scorching heat at Jantar Mantar in Jaipur on Friday afternoon.

—PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA

DTOs WITH MORE REVENUE

DTOs that achieved more revenue than the fixed target include Jaisalmer, Khetri, Kotputli, Nokha, Pali, Phalodi, Nagaur, Dudu, Dholpur, Kishangarh, Balotra, Bikaner, Dausa, Salumber, and Bhiwadi.

ers from the headquarters were also sent to different RTO regions in the months of Feb and March. As a result, the field officers worked with full dedication in the last months of the financial year and the revenue of the dept reached Rs 6,100 cr.

Subordinate court timings to change

First India Bureau Jaipur: From April 10, the time of subordinate courts, including the High Court will change as per notification until July 23. During this period, the timing of judicial work will be from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm, the office hours will be from

7:30 am to 1:00 pm. In the subordinate courts, the court timings will be from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Office time will be from 7:30 am to 1 pm. Work in chambers will be from 7:30 am to 8 am and 12:30 pm to 1 pm. During this, the presiding officers will work in their chambers.

Christian devotees take part in a play portraying the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the occasion of Good Friday, at Saint Andrew Church in Jaipur on Friday.

—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Muslims offering last Jumme ki Namaz of holy Ramzan month at Johari Bazaar in Jaipur on Friday.

—PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA

Who will be the new RERA Chairman?

Rajendra Chhabra

Jaipur: The post of Chairman of Rajasthan Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) will become vacant on April 19 as its current Chairman - NC Goel - is all set to retire on the completion of sixty-five years of age. Former Chief Secretary Goel was appointed as Chairman on April 23, 2019, as the first Chairman of RERA. Now a million-dollar question has arisen in the political and administrative circles of the

state as to who will come at helm of this important post in the state.

Over the past five years, RERA has extended its grip in the real estate and property sector of the state to such an extent that this authority has made its own separate place in the administration as well. As of today, 2500 projects are registered with RERA and more than five thousand agents are registered with the Authority.

The post of Chairman is a ‘selection post’ and applications will be

invited for it. Then a high power committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of High Court, in which Principal Secretary UDH and Secretary Law are members, selects the best candidate for the job. Chairman’s

tenure is of five years or 65 years of age and an official of the seniority of Additional Secretary in the Government of India or a technocrat is eligible for the post.

The names that are being reportedly considered for the job are retired IAS R. Venkateswaran and PK Goyal. Notably, PK Goyal retired recently on January 31 and has served as Commissioner of the Housing Board, Secretary LSG, and Additional Chief Secretary UDH. Prior to NC Goel, he served as

RERA Chairman for some time.

According to highly placed sources, the state government has not taken any decision on who will be the new Chairman and on April 19 itself, the new Chairman can be appointed. It seems that for the time being, its additional charge can be given to Principal Secretary UDH or any RERA member. It is also being said that the government will wait till June 30 after this, a retired senior IAS would be put at the helm of the post.

More than 20,000 nurses assembled at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Janpath, Jaipur for the run held by the Rajasthan Nursing Council on Friday.

PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO

BD Kalla, Virendra Poonia & others flag off the marathon on the occasion of World Health Day in Jaipur on Friday.

Parsadi Lal Meena inaugurated the three-day sports competition. Dr. Shashikant Sharma & others welcomed him.

20,000 nurses ran in the first Sukh Nirogi Kaya, said Dr. Shashikant Sharma

FORGET SLOGANS, FOCUS ON WORK: CP

CP Joshi asked workers not to tie turban or garland him for welcome & wear the party scarf only

Aishwary Pradhan

Jaipur: BJP state president CP Joshi has come on active mode. To strengthen the party, Joshi has started holding division-wise meetings. It started with the meeting of Jaipur division on Friday. However, many leaders including MLAs like Kalicharan Saraf, Satish Poonia, Ashok Lahoti, Narpat Singh Rajvi were absent from the meeting.

In the meeting, instructions have been given to all the leaders and workers to publicize the nine-year plans of the Modi government. Joshi even asked him to forget his home for a year. “Take permission from the family and get ready for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

I should see banner-posters of schemes of Centre in the city,” he said.

On the other hand, Organization General Secretary Chandrashekhar informed about the events to be held in April and said that along with Ambedkar Jayanti and Jyotiba Phule Jayanti,

COURTESY MEET

Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari met Rajendra Rathore at his residence on Friday. She congratulated Rathore for his appointment as the LoP in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

the 100th episode of PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat should be made memorable. The Minority Front has been instructed to complete all the booths.

DURING RAFTING...

Tourist from Raj drowns in river Ganga in U’khand

SDRF team at the rescue operation to fish out the Rajasthani tourist who drowned in Rishikesh on Friday.

Mahesh Sharma

Rishikesh: A tourist from Rajasthan drowned in Ganga river in Rishikesh during rafting on Friday.

Harish Meena, a resident of Jaipur, along with 13 others reached Muni ki Reti and went for rafting.

The raft capsized in a strong current of water following which 32 year old

Meena drowned. According to eyewitnesses, his life jacket opened as soon as he fell in the Ganges and therefore he drowned. State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) started a rescue operation but there was no recovery till late evening. In charge inspector Ritesh Shah said that action will be taken in case of negligence.

Instructions were given to everyone in the meeting that the protests going on under the Jan Aakrosh campaign should be effective. Re-

garding the change in the BJP executive committee, he said that everything will happen with time. “I am a normal worker of the party.

Whatever decisions are made here, they are collective. State President alone cannot do anything, work is done with team spirit,” he said.

BJP CENSURES

SEC 144 IN UDPR; PSK HITS AT BJP

Jaipur: BJP state president CP Joshi has accused the Rajasthan government of appeasement and cornered the government over imposition of Section 144 in Udaipur. “Whether it is Rajasthan or Taliban? After all, to please which class, the Congress government is adopting the policy of appeasement. The imposition of Section 144 in Udaipur wrong and said that it has become clear from this order that the govt is following the policy of appeasement,” Joshi said at BJP HQs. Food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas hit back at BJP saying that the party failed in getting riots happened in Mewar therefore the BJP leaders are having stomach ache. On the other hand, Union Min Gajendra Shekhawat tweeted – “Now the administration’s permission will have to be taken for hoisting the religious flag in Udaipur.” Dr Satish Poonia also censured the section 144 in Udaipur shows the Tughlaqi decree of the Raj Government.

Joshi: Blast accused acquitted under what compulsion?

First India Bureau

Jaipur: BJP state president CP Joshi on Friday met the family members of two persons who lost their lives in 2008-serial bomb blasts in Jaipur.

The blasts had claimed 71 lives and 185 others were injured. All the accused of the case have been acquitted.

Joshi along with Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra, former MLA Mohan Lal Gupta and other leaders of the party went to the residences of Rampratap Dhankya and Radheshyam Yadav, who lost their lives in the blast, in Chandpole

area. He said that the BJP party was standing with the victims’ families until the accused got the hardest punishment. Joshi said that the lower court awarded the death sentence but what is the reason that the accused were acquitted by the high court. “When the culprits can make a Supreme Court lawyer stand for them, then what was the compulsion of the Rajasthan govt (in hiring a good lawyer)?” he asked. Joshi said that the public wants to know that to please whom and under whose pressure the state govt did not act properly.

GS

Sandhu reviews construction work at Raj Int’l Center

First India Bureau

Jaipur: On Friday, UDH advisor GS Sandhu inspected the Rajasthan International Center wherein he reviewed the construction of the auditorium. He also chaired a meeting with JDA officials and gave instructions to officials saying, “Whatever work is left regarding the construction of the center, it should be completed by April 12 in any case.”

Troubles for PHED engineer RK Meena

Naresh Sharma

Jaipur: RK Meena, Chief Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department who was arrested while taking a bribe of ten lakh rupees, is once again seems to be in trouble.

Meena currently has important responsibility of Jal Jeevan Mission, but due to gross negligence in work, a total of 4 notices have been served to him on direction of ACS PHED Subodh Agarwal.

LAGS IN JJM EXECUTION

Rajasthan is lagging behind many of the states in the execution of Jal Jeevan Mission. Of the 34 states and UTs, Rajasthan stands on 31st position. Rajasthan is ahead of only Jharkhand, West Bengal and Lakshadweep. There are nine districts in Rajasthan where the work is below 25 percent. Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Banswara and Jaisalmer are lagging behind whereas only 7 districts have touched the figure of 50 percent. PHED minister Mahesh Joshi’s hometown Jaipur is on 8th place.

Along with him, two show cause notices have been given to additional chief engineer Arun Srivastava. The

Mock drill to check Corona preps to be held in State on April 10, 11

First India Bureau Jaipur: A mock drill will be held regarding Corona on April 10 and 11 to check the healthcare system in Rajasthan and other states. This decision was taken in a meeting held by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya regarding prevention of corona in New Delhi. In this, Health Ministers of States and Union Territories and officers and doctors of the Health

Dept were present. After this meeting, it has been decided not to make masks compulsory in the entire country including Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh. The district administration and

allegation against Meena is that he presented matters of price bid in the meeting of the finance committee on

March 8 even after due date was over. Meena put several agendas in the meeting but in reality the validity date was already over. He presented most of the cases after the deadline was over. It is written in the notice served to Meena that such act reflects his incapabilities as the chief engineer of Jal Jeevan Mission. After the notices were served, questions are being raised as to why Meena was given this responsibility.

TN’s ‘Singham’ Jangid may contest from Barmer

Yogesh Sharma

Court official booked in Sri Ganganagar for embezzling `1cr

Hem Singh Rajpurohit

122

NEW CASES REPORTED IN RAJ

The State recorded 122 new Coivd cases on Friday while 34 patients were treated. The graph of active corona patients reached 382 in State. Amid the rise in cases it is advised to take proper care.

health officials have also been asked to make proper arrangements for proper preparations. Instructions have been given to keep ambulance, oxygen cylinder, covid vaccine ready.

Jaipur: The ‘Singham’ of Tamil Nadu will contest elections from Rajasthan and for this, the “Singham” is eyeing Barmer. Former DGP of Tamil NaduSangaram Jangid - is eyeing Barmer. Jangid came into the limelight with ‘Operation Bawariya Gang’. The film “Dheeran” was based on him. He is the first IPS from Barmer district who became IPS

85 posts of Special Tiger Protection Force okayed

First India Bureau

Jaipur: The state government is working with commitment for conservation and promotion of forests and wildlife in the state. Keeping in view the importance of tigers, CM Gehlot approved the proposal to create 85 posts in the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) according to forest pattern instead of police pattern, for tiger project being run in Ranthambore

National Park. Along

Forest Guard, which will be filled as per rules. Also, the services of 27 forest

watchers will be taken on contract basis as per RTPP rules. This will put an annual financial burden of about Rs 3.6 crore on the state govt.

Gehlot has approved the proposal keeping in view the problems caused by the current police pattern based ‘Special Tiger Protection Force’ and the benefits of the forest pattern. With this decision, the conservation of tigers will be done more effectively.

Jaipur: Veterinary Assistants of Animal Husbandry Department will also get Hard Duty Allowance. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal in this regard. According to the proposal, the veterinary assistants will get Rs 200 per month from April 1, 2023.

Presently the Veterinary doctor is getting Rs.500 per month and the Livestock Assistant is getting Rs.200 per month as hard duty allowance. It is noteworthy that the Pay Anomaly Examination Committee was constituted by the State Government which recommended revising the existing rate of special allowance prescribed in the Special Selection Rules of various services. In the budget 2023-24, the Chief Minister had announced to increase the Special Allowance payable to the employees and officers as per the recommendations of the Committee.

Sangram Jangid

of Tamil Nadu cadre and now wants to try his luck in politics after police job. Sangaram Jangid is a resident of Kawas, Barmer.

Sri Ganganagar : A court official has been booked by police in Raisinghnagar town of Sri Ganganagar district for allegedly embezzlement of money to a tune of Rs. 1 crore. Police informed the court official (Najir), identified as Manohar Lal Wadhwa, allegedly transferred Rs. 1 crore to his wife and other relatives account from the account meant for claims under Motor Vehicles Accident Claims Tribunal.

The FIR has been filed by court reader Ravi Singh. The matter came to light when the bank returned the check due to insufficient funds in the bank given to a complainant for the claim amount in the MACT case.

Liquor prices go up in Rajasthan

First India Bureau

Jaipur : The rates of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer have been increased in Rajasthan.

The prices of IMFL has been increased from Rs. 5 to Rs. 60 while the rates of beer have been increased by Rs 15.

These prices have been increased separately on various brands of whisky and skotch. The government has also in -

creased the EDP by Rs 40 per carton, after which the companies have increased the prices of beer by Rs 10 to Rs 15.

Actually, the Excise Department decides the liquor MRP (maximum selling price) in Rajasthan. For this, rate list is issued every year according to the brand. Liquor is not sold on contracts at a price higher than the MRP prescribed in this list.

CP Joshi with Dr Alka Gurjar, Chandrashekhar, Sardar Ajay Pal Singh, Ashok Parnami at State BJP HQs on Friday. —PHOTOS BY SUNIL SHARMA

JMCG Mayor Dr Somya and other leaders in the meeting on Friday.

`200 PER DAY AS HARD DUTY DA FOR VETERINARY ASSISTANTS IN STATE

RAJASTHAN

CP Joshi reached the house of the victims of the Jaipur bomb blast. Ramcharan Bohra, Shravan Bagdi, Mohanlal Gupta, Surendra Pareek, Raghav Sharma, SS Aggarwal and other workers were present.

OPENING WEEK DELIGHTS PROVIDE SPARKLING START TO IPL 2023!

The IPL season for 2023 kicked off in a spectacular manner with an opening week full of high-voltage action that has been the hallmark of the world’s most expensive cricket league. After the first week, defending champions Gujarat Titans stand at the top with Punjab Kings occupying the second spot in the points table that is likely to see many ups and downs over the next 8 weeks as the IPL saga warms up.

GLAMOROUS OPENING

International stars from Jos Buttler to Rashid Khan have already stamped their class in IPL’s first week. But all Indian players will be keen to perform and make heads turn especially with the ODI World Cup later in the year. Fans can surely look forward to more exciting games as the competition heats up from the second week onwards

The glamorous opening ceremony which had all the razzmatazz to woo even a noncricket fan, was a humongous success. The wonderfully choreographed show saw many film stars and singers dazzle with their performances. Later, the first game between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings gave a glimpse of what the fans can expect over the course of the next two months. The terrific entertainer saw Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat beat crowd favourite Dhoni’s Chennai by 5 wickets. It was Ruturaj Gaikwad of CSK who set the stage on fire with a scintillating 92 off 50 balls. But poor middle order batting saw them post just 178.

Shubman Gill from Gujarat continued his rich vein of form and hit 63 off just 36 balls to start off the chase on a strong note. There was a slight wobble in the middle overs which left Gujarat needing 30 runs in the last 3 overs but Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan ensured there were no hiccups for the

defending champs in their opening game.

‘IMPACT PLAYER’ RULE

There was also the introduction of a new rule of an ‘Impact Player’ which was put to use by Chennai in defending their total. Tushar Deshpande became the first Impact Player of the IPL as he was introduced in place of Ambati Rayudu. He picked up Shubman Gill but couldn’t close out the game in the final over with Gujarat needing just 7 runs.

Apart from the Impact Player allowance, there are a couple of new rules also in effect from IPL 2023. There is DRS rule which allows the fielding team to check the wides and no ball calls given by on-field umpires. This rule was successfully tested in the recently concluded Women’s Premier League. Also, exchanging of team sheets before the toss has been discontinued as teams are now allowed to take a call on selections after the toss has been done.

AFTER THE FIRST WEEK, DEFENDING CHAMPIONS GUJARAT TITANS STAND AT THE TOP WITH PUNJAB KINGS OCCUPYING THE SECOND SPOT IN THE POINTS TABLE THAT IS LIKELY TO SEE MANY UPS AND DOWNS OVER THE NEXT 8 WEEKS AS THE IPL SAGA WARMS UP

PUNJAB’S GREAT START

The other team that has got off to a great start is Punjab. They played the thriller of the week with Rajasthan Royals in a rare game where both sides had scores of about 200. Rajasthan needed 198 to win and came tantalisingly close losing by just 5 runs. Sanju Samson’s batting was the highlight of Rajasthan’s innings as he scored 42 off 25 balls. He will be closely watched through the season but will selectors take a kinder look at him is the key question.

FORBES WORLD'S BILLIONAIRES LIST 2023

DELHI’S POOR START

The team that’s got off to the poorest start is Delhi who have lost both their matches. They lost tamely to Lucknow in their first game by 50 runs and then played poorly against Gujarat as well. One of the reasons for their lack of success is Prithvi Shaw going through a bad patch. Ironically, their big highlight was putting out Rishabh Pant jersey on their balcony and later his arrival in their second game. If they need a turnaround, it will demand a huge improvement on their current efforts.

MIXED START OF TEAMS

Meanwhile, 5-time champions Mumbai Indians also got off to its usual poor start losing the opening match as they’ve always done since 2013. But along with Sunrisers, who also have lost their opening game, they are yet to play their second games in the tournament and will hope for a turnaround in fortune sooner than later.

The Royal Challengers Ban-

Mukesh Ambani ranks 9th, highest in Asia

Ambani regained his 9th spot as Asia’s richest person as Gautam Adani (No. 24) tumbled. Last year, Ambani’s oil-to-telecom behemoth Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to surpass $100 billion in revenue. He sidestepped speculation about succession by giving his children key roles last year: Older son Akash is chairman of telecom arm Jio Infocomm; daughter Isha is head of the retail business; and son Anant works in Reliance’s new energy ventures

lionaires worth $675 billion.

Falling stocks, wounded unicorns and rising interest rates translated into a down year for the world’s wealthiest people. Globally, we counted 2,640 ten-figure fortunes, down

from 2,668 last year. Altogether, the planet’s billionaires are now worth $12.2 trillion, a drop of $500 billion from $12.7 trillion in March 2022. Nearly half the list is poorer than a year ago, including Elon Musk, who falls from No. 1 to

No. 2 after his pricey acquisition of Twitter helped sink Tesla shares. Bernard Arnault, head of luxury goods giant LVMH, takes his place as the world’s richest person, marking the first time a citizen of France leads the rank-

ing. The United States still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 bil-

To calculate net worths, we used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023. See below for the full list of the world’s billionaires and our methodology.

SOURCE: FORBES

galore, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders all have had a mixed start, losing one and winning one. For RCB though, the bright spot was Virat Kohli who was awesome in the first game against Mumbai. But the team flopped badly in their second match where KKR thrashed them as Shardul Thakur showcased his batting abilities. The sore point for Lucknow has been the poor form of K.L. Rahul has brought his international failures into the IPL season but the tournament could be the platform for him to shake off the poor spell.

International stars from Jos Buttler to Rashid Khan have already stamped their class in IPL’s first week. But all Indian players will be keen to perform and make heads turn especially with the ODI World Cup later in the year. Fans can surely look forward to more exciting games as the competition heats up from the second week onwards. THE VIEWS

TOP TWEETS

May all be happy and may all be in good health. May all be well and no one be in sorrow. Happy World Health Day to you all. I wish you all good health. On this occasion, let us all resolve to be conscious of our health.

#GoodFriday is a day of remembrance for Lord Christ’s unwavering dedication to serving others with courage and righteousness, as well as his strong sense of truth, service, and justice. May his thoughts and principles serve as a timeless source of inspiration and guidance for people across generations.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.

Buddha

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

Nitin Gadkari @nitin_gadkari

(From Right) Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, Isha Ambani, Anant Ambani and Akash Ambani.

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi film industry

Modernizing railway stations: A major initiative by PM Modi

New Delhi (ANI): PM

Narendra Modi will on Saturday lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Secunderabad Railway Station in Telangana.

This isn’t an isolated project but it is part of the larger vision of the PM. He has dedicated and laid the foundation stone for redeveloping various key railway stations across India.

In July 2021, PM inaugurated the redeveloped Gandhinagar Capital Railway Station.

In November 2021,

PM dedicated to the nation the redeveloped Rani Kamalapati Railway Station in Bhopal.

In May 2022, Modi laid foundation stone for the redevelopment of Chennai Egmore, Rameswaram, Katpadi, Kanniyakumari and Madurai railway stations in Tamil Nadu.

In June 2022, PM laid foundation stones for redevelopment of Udhna, Surat, Somnath and Sabarmati railway stations in Gujarat.

In July 2022, foundation stone for redevel-

opment of the Ranchi railway station in Jharkhand was laid.

In Sep 2022, PM laid foundation stone for redevelopment of Ernakulam, Ernakulam Town and Kollam railway stations in Kerala.

In Nov 2022, foundation stone for redevelopment of Vishakhapatnam railway station in Andhra was laid.

In Dec 2022, he laid the foundation stones for the redevelopment of Nagpur and Ajni (Nagpur) railway stations in Maharashtra.

Azamgarh has a changed identity today: Amit Shah

Home Minister says Azamgarh was earlier known for terrorism

Azamgarh (PTI): During SP, BSP, and Congress rule Azamgarh was known for terrorism whereas under Prime Minister Narendra Modi it is witnessing development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday.

The Prime Minister has opened the government purse for the development of Uttar Pradesh, Shah said addressing a rally here.

Shah recounted that links of terrorists exploding a bomb in a Gujarat temple were found in Azamgarh.

The Union Home Minister was speaking after laying the foundation stone of Hariharpur Music college and various other development projects in the district on Friday. Bhojpuri star Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirahua” had won the 2022 bypoll from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav after becoming MLA.

UNDER PM MODI, INDIA SCALING NEW HEIGHTS: YOGI

Harsh Vardhan Singla’s biography released

Darjeeling: Harsh Vardhan Singla’s biography

“Not An Accidental

Rise” written by Sikkim University’s Assistant Professor Dr Deepmala was released on Friday.

The biography is based on the inspiring life of Singla, who is G-20 Summit chief coordinator. The function was held at St Joseph’s School here.

Unveiling the book, for-

mer foreign secretary Singla said he began his journey with Darjeeling decades ago and then traveled the world during service. He shared the journey and experience with everyone.

RANA President and Jaipur Foot USA Chairman Prem Bhandari, NCGG’s Director General Bharat Lal also attended the function.

Kaushambi (ANI): Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India is achieving new heights of development and the world is looking up to the country. Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Kaushmabi Mahotsav and also laid the foundation stone of various development projects. In his addressduring the event, Yogi said, “The govt of India is giving free rations to 80 crore people for the last three years, whereas people in Pakistan are struggling for food. Today, the world is looking up to India.” He thanked Shah for giving an international platform to traditional values of the region through ‘Kaushambi Mahotsav’. “Under leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the youth of India are getting the inspiration to take part in sporting activities, live a healthy life and contribute to the development of the country,” he said.

PM MODI RECALLS SACRIFICES OF JESUS CHRIST ON GOOD FRIDAY

New Delhi (ANI): Recalling the sacrifices of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said “may the thoughts of the Lord Christ keep inspiring people.” “Today on Good Friday, we recall the spirit of the sacrifice Lord Christ was blessed with. He withstood pain and suffering but never deviated from his ideals of service and compassion. May the thoughts of the Lord Christ keep inspiring people,” PM Modi tweeted. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also remembered Christ on the occasion and said, “May this Good Friday fill every heart with love, peace and compassion.” A special mass service is held across the churches on Good Friday including at St. Teresa’s Church in West Bengal’s Kolkata. Devotees offered prayers at St Teresa’s Church. Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday or Black Friday, marks the day when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. Each year, scores of people gather in churches across the country to offer prayers to Jesus Christ.

KARNATAKA ASSEMBLY POLLS

BJP to finalise candidates’ list for all seats soon: Ex-CM BSY

Bengaluru (ANI): Former Karnataka CM and JP leader BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that the party will soon finalise the list of candidates for State Assembly elections, scheduled to be held on May 10.

Yediyurappa, who is flying down to the national capital to take part in BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting, said that the party will finalise the candidates’ list for the 224 seats soon. “I am going to Delhi today for the BJP CEC meeting. We will finalise all seats as early as possible and that is why I am going,” Yediyurappa said ahead of his flight here.

Asked about the Congress party’s decision to give a ticket to Vinay Kulkarni, a former minister who is out on bail in connection with the murder of Zilla Panchayat member Yogeeshgouda Goudar, from Dharwad constituency, Yediyurappa said that this is the grand old party’s internal fight and he doesn’t want to comment on that.

On Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-eIttehadul Muslimeen

“It seems targeted”: Pawar on report on Adani; Cong says it’s NCP’s view

New Delhi (ANI): The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and senior Opposition leader, Sharad Pawar, has said that there is “no need” of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue since the Supreme Court-appointed committee is examining the relevant issues and

NCP chief Sharad Pawar

that it seems the Adani group was “targeted” in the Hindenburg Research report.

HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT

With NCP supremo Sharad Pawar stating that the Adani Group was seemingly targeted by the US-based shortseller Hindenburg Research, the Congress on Friday said its ally NCP may have its view but 19 like-minded Opposition parties are convinced that the charges against the conglomerate are real and very serious.

Society should ponder over to avoid conflict: Prez

First India Bureau

Guwahati: President

Droupadi Murmu on Friday inaugurated the Gaj Utsav at Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, and said that the responsibility of manelephant conflicts rests on the human society.

Speaking on the occasion, Murmu said, “Elephants have been most respected in our tradi-

Kerala BJP chief

tion. It has been considered a symbol of prosperity. It is the National Heritage Animal of India. Therefore, protecting elephants is an important part of our national responsibility to preserve our national heritage.”

She said, “The Human-Elephant Conflict has been an issue for centuries and when we analyze this conflict, it is found that a barrier

created in the natural habitat or movement of elephants is the root cause. Therefore, the responsibility of this conflict lies with human society.”

She asserted that protecting elephants, conserving their natural habitats and keeping elephant corridors free from obstruction are the main objectives of Project Elephant.

Former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa. —FILE PHOTO REBELLION IN CONG

AFTER SECOND LIST

Bengaluru: Dissent and rebellion have come to the fore following the announcement of second list of candidates by the Congress even as the party leaders are underplaying the development. Insiders, however, said if the rebellion is not quelled, it will pose a serious challenge to the party in the Assembly elections.

WILL RESUME MUSLIM

QUOTA IF WE WIN: DK

Karnataka: Congress chief DK Shivakumar has said if the party came to power in the state, it would cancel the scrapping of 4 percent Muslim quota by the BJP govt. In March, the Karnataka govt decided to scrap the four per cent quota for minorities and add it to the existing quota of two dominant communities.

JD(S) MOVES TO ELECTION COMMISSION, SEEKS BAN ON KICHCHA SUDEEP’S MOVIES

Bengaluru: Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday wrote to the Election Commission, seeking a ban on the screening and telecast of movies, shows and commercials featuring the Kannada superstar Kichcha Sudeep, claiming they might influence voters in upcoming Assembly elections. On Wednesday, Sudeep confirmed he would campaign for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Speculations were rife about Sudeep and fellow bigscreen star Darshan Tugudeepa joining the BJP.

(AIMIM) planning to contest with the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in Karnataka and impact on the re-

sults if they rope in JDS, the former State CM said, “This is up to them and it is not going to affect BJP.”

New Delhi (ANI): The BJP’s Kerala chief K Surendran said more leaders will follow former Union minister and Congress leader AK Antony’s son, Anil Antony, to the saffron camp. Anil Anthony, who left the Congress earlier, formally joined the BJP on Thursday, in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan. Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Surendran, to a question on whether Anil Anthony’s joining would boost the BJP’s prospects in the southern state and boost its acceptability among Christian voters, said, “AK Antony is senior Congress leader, who held key positions in the party. Today, his son Anil Antony took membership of the BJP. More Congress leaders will be joining BJP soon.”

Meanwhile, a day after Anil Antony joined the BJP snapping all ties with the Congress, AK Antony’s younger son Ajith on Friday said his brother’s decision was an “impulsive” one and the saffron party would throw him out like “curry leaves” after using him temporarily.

“Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s vision finds resonance in NEP”

Dhankhar releases postage stamp on Swami’s 200th birth anniversary

First India Bureau New Delhi: Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s vision and action for combating social evils continue to remain relevant to this day, and find resonance in Government initiatives such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the New Education Policy. This was highlighted by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the release of a commemorative postage stamp on the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, here on Friday. He noted the dedicated efforts of Swami for the eradication of social evils like untouchability, and towards the empowerment of women through education, that continue to form the founda-

VP Dhankhar at event on the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati &

tion of social welfare in Independent India.

The Vice President paid tribute to Swami Dayanand’s contributions as a thinker-philosopher of modern India, and as the founder of the Arya Samaj.

The programme was

organised by the Satya Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications & IT, and Ministry of Culture. Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communication, Dr Satya Pal Singh, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Swami Sumedhanand Saraswati, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Swami Ramdev, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Parmarth Niketan, Hrishikesh and other senior officials from the Ministry of Communication were also present on the occasion.

President Droupadi Murmu during her visit to Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, in Golaghat on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

VP with Yog Guru Baba Ramdev.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off Vande Bharat Express, at Rani Kamlapati Station, in Bhopal on April 1. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is also present. —FILE PHOTO

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath (L), Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya (R) at a public meeting, in Azamgarh, on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI

“Anil Antony not the only one... more to join”:

READ Crucial

CHARGES FRAMED AGAINST ATIQ IN ASSAULT CASE

We provided medicines, vaccines to 180 countries during COVID-19”

“COVID APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR NEEDED”

INDIA HAS 28,303 ACTIVE COVID CASES

New gas pricing guidelines to come into force from today

Lucknow: The CBI court on Friday framed charges against gangster-turnedpolitician Atiq Ahmad and his son Umar in a case related to kidnapping and assault of a businessman in Deoria jail where Atiq was then lodged. Charges have been framed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Atiq appeared in court via video conferencing.

3 HELD FOR DUPING PEOPLE ON PRETEXT OF GIVING JOBS

New Delhi: The police arrested three persons on Thursday for allegedly duping people on the pretext of offering jobs in countries like Turkey and Ethiopia, officials said. Till now the accused had duped more than 100 people to the tune of over Rs 50-60 lakhs, they said. The police seized six mobile phones, two laptops, 68 Indian passports of victims, fake job offer letters from Chinese companies and copies of fake E-Air tickets to Turkey and Ethiopia. The matter came to light after a complaint was lodged by one of the victims.

INDIAN GETS JAIL FOR DEFRAUDING ELDERLY IN US

New Delhi (ANI): On World Health Day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ is India’s heritage and the country has fulfilled its responsibility by providing medicines and vaccines to more than 180 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. “On the occasion of World Health Day, I wish for the health of the whole world. The concept of Vasudev Kutumbakam is our heritage and in this series, the country is fulfilling its responsibility for the

world in the health sector under the leadership of Modi ji. During the Corona period, we had seen that there was a shortage of medicines all over the world, then our country made medicines available to more than 180 countries, and along with it vaccines were also made available,” he told ANI. Mandaviya arrived at Delhi’s Vijay Chowk to take part in the walkathon on the occasion of the World Health Day. The medical staff and paramedical staff walk from Vijay Chowk to Nirman Bhawan.

Mandaviya held a review meeting with the health ministers of all the states amid the surge in COVID-19 cases across country. He met with health ministers of all the states through video conferencing. The health minister discussed the upward trend in Covid cases in all states.

On Thursday, India reported 5,300 covid-19 cases with 13 deaths, which is the highest in 195 days, according to Union Health Ministry. The last time over 5,000 cases was recorded was in September last year.

India among top 3 markets for AIpowered Bing preview: Microsoft

Washington: An Indian national in the US has been sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay USD 2.4 million for defrauding elderly people in America. Ashish Bajaj, 29, pleaded guilty on August 4 last year before District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

MP: MOB ATTACKS POLICE STATION, FREES 3 ACCUSED

Burhanpur: A mob attacked a police station in MP’s Burhanpur, beat the personnel and freed three persons who were caught on Thursday, the police said on Friday. According to officials, the incident occurred at Nepa Nagar police station on Thursday late at night in which two police personnel sustained injuries. They are undergoing treatment at the district hospital. A CCTV video of the incident has also come to light in which the attackers could be seen vandalising the police station and beating the policeman with sticks.

Washington: India has emerged as one of the top three markets for Microsoft’s new Bing preview, which has ChatGPT incorporated into it, and is its biggest image creator market, a senior company official has said, asserting that the search engine is much better than its rival Google.

Powered by ChatGPT, Microsoft launched the new Bing preview on February 7. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by

OpenAI and launched in November 2022.

“Search has changed and will change. It’s not going away. Just like when television came into existence, radio didn’t go away, but TV got a lot more excitement. Same will happen

here. The new capabilities of AI of chat of answers are now increasingly exciting because they’re helping answer questions that search didn’t do. And with Bing, we are completely unique in that leadership today,” Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer of Microsoft told PTI. Microsoft, under its Indian-American CEO Satya Nadella, has a vision about the world.

New Delhi: At a review meeting on Friday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stressed on the importance of enhancing public awareness campaigns regarding adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour. It was stated at meeting that 7 states are reporting high number of Covid cases in India with rising test positivity rate, including Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana. The state health ministers were advised to review the preparedness of all logistics and infrastructure.

New Delhi: As many 6,050 fresh Covid-19 infections were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours, marking a significant jump from Thursday’s tally of 5,335 cases, the Union health ministry said.Covid cases in the country have seen an upward trend in the past few days, with the daily fresh infections at 2,994 on April 1, 3,824 on April 2, 3,641 on April 3 and 3,038 on April 4 and 4,435 on April 5. India’s active Covid caseload currently stands at 28,303 with a daily positivity rate of 3.39 per cent, the Health ministry further stated.

EXPERTS SAY COMMON COLD-LIKE SPREAD SUGGESTS ENDEMICITY, URGE PRECAUTION

New Delhi: The rise in Covid cases is indicative of the SARS-CoV-2 virus moving into an endemic state in India and behaving like other coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms and can keep reinfecting, say scientists. Giving the reassurance that a monster spike on the lines of the Delta wave in the spring of 2021 is unlikely due to the endemic nature of the virus, they also cautioned that the spread could be halted by following established protocols. “COVID-19 is effectively endemic in the country, and virtually all of us will have sustained an infection by now, whether we knew it or not. The virus is behaving like coronaviruses that cause common-cold-like symptoms and can keep reinfecting us,” said Gautam I. Menon, dean (research) at Haryana’s Ashoka University.

New Delhi: The Modi government on Thursday approved revised domestic gas pricing guidelines and the price of natural gas will be 10 percent of the monthly average of the Indian crude basket.

Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Anurag Thakur, while addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Union cabinet, said there will be monthly notification to ensure stable pricing in regime and provide adequate protection to producers from adverse market fluctuation.He said the guidelines will ensure a stable pricing regime for domestic gas con-

❍ UNION HOME MINISTRY’S HUMANE TOUCH

There will be monthly notification to ensure stable pricing

sumers, provide adequate protection to producers from adverse market fluctuation and provide incentives for enhancing production. The guidelines will be applicable to the gas produced from nomination fields of ONGC/ OIL, new exploration license policy blocks (NELP) and pre-NELP blocks.The new guidelines will come into force from Saturday.

MHA’s financial aid to poor prisoners

New Delhi (PTI): In a move expected to decongest the prisons, the Centre has decided to launch a special scheme to provide financial support to poor people languishing in jails as they are unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.

“This will enable poor prisoners, majority of whom belong to socially disadvantaged or marginalised groups with lower education and income level, to get out of prison,” the

Home Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The broad contours of the scheme — Support for Poor Prisoners

—REPRESENTATIONAL PHOTO

— have been finalised in consultation with stakeholders, it said.

To ensure the benefits of scheme reach the

poor prisoners, technology-driven solutions will be put in place, Eprisons platform will be reinforced and District Legal Services Authority will be strengthen, besides stakeholders will be sensitised and stress will be given on capacity building. Giving financial aid to poor prisoners was among the announcements Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made in her Budget speech this year.

Escaped Namibian cheetah brought back to KNP Illegal mining going on at Soren aide’s site:

Sheopur (ANI): ‘Oban’

– one of the male Namibian cheetahs, that escaped from the Kuno National Park, and was spotted in a village near Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district five days back, has been brought back to the Kuno National Park, officials said on Friday.The Namibian cheetah was rescued from the forest of Shivpuri district on Thursday evening.

“Oban was caught

Oban (cheetah) was caught from Bairad forest area and has been released to Kuno National Park’s Palpur forest.

around 4-5 pm from the forest area near Bairad village bordering Shivpuri district and has been released to Kuno

National Park’s Palpur forest,” Kuno Wildlife Division District Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Kumar Verma said.

WORK GOING AT A FAST PACE

‘Oban’ is one of the Cheetahs which were brought from Namibia that were released into the wild of Kuno Nation-

Delhi-Dehradun expressway to be completed by Dec

Nitin Gadkari announces it in his address during the Fifth Ayodhya Parv on Friday

New Delhi (PTI): The construction work of the 212-km Delhi-Dehradun access-controlled expressway, being built at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, will be complete

by the end of December this year, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

The Union Road Rransport and Highways Minister further said that 60-70 per cent construction work of the greenfield six-lane Delhi-Dehradun expressway has been completed. ‘’People will be travelling from Delhi to Dehradun in just two hours and Delhi to Haridwar in 90 minutes as the construction

work of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway will be complete by the end of December this year,’’ Gadkari said while addressing Fifth Ayodhya Parv on Friday.

The expressway has been divided into four sections and is being constructed starting from Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) near Akshardham in Delhi, Shastri Park, Khajuri Khas, EPE interchange at Khekra in Mandola, Baghpat, Shamli, Saha-

al Park in the Sheopur district. Officials said that it strayed out of Kuno National Park and reached Jhar Baroda village on April 2, about 20 km from the national park on Wednesday. They said that it was under surveillance. Even after four days when Oban showed no signs of returning to the national park, forest department authorities launched an operation to rescue it. Ranchi (ANI): A fresh inspection at the illegal coal mining site at Nimbu Pahaad area in Sahebganj, which was already under the Directorate of Enforcement’s scanner, revealed various pieces of evidence that points to the fact that further extraction was underway.

ranpur, Uttar Pradesh to Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Many special provisions have been made in the construction of the entire corridor and in these, the route from Ganeshpur to Dehradun has been kept safe for wildlife.

There is a provision for a 12 km elevated road, six animal underpasses, two elephant underpasses, two major bridges and 13 minor bridges.

ED

—REPRESENTATIONAL PHOTO

NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME: ED OFFICIALS

The accused in the matter are Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s MLA representatives Pankaj Mishra; Bishnu Yadav and others, and the ED has been investigating the matter linked to illegal mining and money laundering against them. Mishra was arrested earlier in the same illegal mining case and is currently in judicial custody.

The mining site situ-

On earlier occasions too, the officials, who inspected the site, had confirmed that it was illegally run by Pankaj Mishra and Bishnu Yadav. Within a span of 8 months, the central enforcement agency said the site has been further mined and was evident during the inspection.

ated at Mouza Siwria, Anchal Mandro was identified by a team of top officials on Wednesday, ED said on Friday.

The ED said it was discovered that the said mine was one of the several mining sites, earlier visited and inspected during a joint inspection with the ED officials in July 2022.

“

Mandaviya virtually interacts with health ministers of all states on Covid19 situation, on Friday.

—Prakash Kumar Verma, District Forest Officer

3 minors held for killing teacher for being obstacle in love affair

One of accused had love affair with a student, victim expelled him

Arif Mansoori

Jhalawar: Three minor students were detained by Jhalawar Police on Friday for allegedly killing government teacher and noted poet Shiv Charan Sain after he interfered in a love affair of a school student.

Jhalawar SP Richa

Tomar informed that Shiv Charan Sain is a renowned Hadoti language poet and was posted at Government Senior Secondary School, Girdharpura of Jhalrapatan town.

“One of the accused

had a love affair with a girl studying in the same school. When Shiv Charan came to know about his affair, he scolded the boy and even informed his par-

ents. However, when the accused resisted, Shiv Charan expelled him from the school.

Fuming over his expulsion, the accused hatched a conspiracy

Raj to implement RTH from May: Health min

Aditi Nagar

New Delhi: Health

Minister Parsadi Lal

Meena has said that under the Right to Health (RTH) Bill, big private hospitals will have to provide free treatment.

“The bill will get approval from the Governor this month and RTH will be implemented in Rajasthan from May. As soon as rules are implemented, big hospitals will have to provide free treatment to patients in case of emergency,” the Health Minister said while interacting with the media along with spokesperson Pawan Khera at the New Delhi Congress Headquarters (AICC) on Friday.

“We have categorically refused to withdraw the bill or amend the bill, but we are including their demands in the rules. The private hospitals which are protesting today

FULLY ARMED POLITICAL FAMILIES!

Police acts against organised crime in Bikaner division

Laxman Raghav

PROTEST SEEKING STRICT ACTION AGAINST ACCUSED

F ollowing the incident, people from the Sain community protested against the incident and demanded strict action against those involved in the killing of Shiv Charan Sain, who was a renowned Hadoti language poet. Notably, Shiv Charan Sain’s collection of poets, Kalam Rupali, was recently released at a statelevel function on March 30, which is held in memory of renowned litterateur Raghuraj Singh Hada.

to kill the teacher,” said Jhalawar SP Richa Tomar. “The deceased was then stabbed multiple times on April 4 by the three students while

he was returning home from school. He was admitted to SRG Hospital in Jhalawar but died during treatment,” added Jhalawar SP Richa Tomar.

Bikaner: In the last few years, sleeper cells of gangsters and miscreants were being formed in Bikaner but now Bikaner police is seen continuously in active mode. Now whenever a miscreant tries to run away, the police never hesitate to open fire and cathc them.

Under the directions of IG Om Prakash Paswan, in the last few months, the police in the division are seen in an active mode.

Bikaner SP Tejaswani Gautam is also continuously active in the field. Two months after her joining, 10 henchmen of Rohit Godara and Lawrence Bishnoi gang were arrested.

Under the leadership of Lunkaransar CO

The miscreant in police custody was arrested for smuggling illegal weapons, fake notes for Rohit Godara gang in Bikaner.

Noparam Jakhar, fake notes worth about `20 lakh were caught.

By registering 38 cases in the Arms Act, 31 country made pistols, 5 guns, 108 cartridges and 5 other edged weapons were seized and 42 accused arrested.

133 cases in Excise

CS inspects SDO office, other facilities

Bhawani S Hada

Bundi: Chief Secretary Usha Sharma inspected the Sub-Divisional Officer’s Office, Community Health Centre and Devnarayan Residential Hostel and School in Hindoli on Friday. She interacted with officers, including District Collector Ravindra Goswami, and others at the SDO office.

‘RTH ACT FOR WELFARE OF PUBLIC’:

DUDI LAUDS GEHLOT GOVERNMENT

New Delhi: Congress leader Rameshwar Dudi during his visit to New Delhi praised the Congress government for the welfare schemes for the people. He said that the Right to Health scheme was made for the welfare of the public. He said that the BJP was putting up one religion against the other and warned that the people were watching it. He called the Congress a party of 36 communities.

will welcome it after the rules are made.

Just as 1000 private hospitals are associated with the Chiranjeevi scheme, they will also be associated with the Right to Health. We haven’t forced anyone.

Hospitals with less than 50 beds are not in-

cluded in this. The hospitals which have taken land from the government free of cost or at a concessional rate, which is taking government assistance, those big hospitals will have to provide free treatment in an emergencys,” Meena said.

Later, Sharma visited the CHC with the officials and inspected

the hospital’s X-ray machine, patient room, prescription distribu -

Vaibhav Gehlot lays foundation stone of synthetic track in Udaipur stadium

Santosh Kumar

Udaipur: President of Rajasthan Cricket Association, Vaibhav Gehlot, on Friday laid the foundation stone of the synthetic athletic track at Maharana Pratap Khelgaon in Udaipur. Vaibhav Gehlot said that the first 400-meter synthetic athletic track will be constructed of an international standard. “The state is at the forefront when it comes to sports in the

‘TARIK PE TARIK’ BUT NO WATER SUPPLY IS BENIWAL GIVING MIXED SIGNALS?

What is the political connection between arms license and the Dholpur district? It is an interesting story that 18 licenses were issued in the last 5 years in Dholpur and most of the licenses are in the name of political families and officers. Of these, most licenses are in the family of MLA Giriraj Malinga while Rohit Bohra’s son and wife also have weapon license. A license is issued in the name of former SP Kesar Singh and his son, Seeing the list of licenses, only one discussion is going on. Does only political family need to look out for its ‘self-defense’?

—NARESH SHARMA

The recent ‘closeness’ between Hanuman Beniwal and Dharmendra Rathore has become a ‘talking point’ in the political circles of athe State. Both were seen ‘very close’ in the Delhi programme and word is that political consultations also took place between Rathore and Beniwal. It is possible that efforts are being made to stop Beniwal from going closer to BJP or AAP. Meanwhile, Beniwal has also made measured statements in the last few days and thus CM Gehlot’s troubleshooter Dharmendra Rathore’s meeting with Beniwal cannot be called ordinary.

—YOGESH SHARMA

The Multistorey Water Connection Plan of the state government appears to have been put ‘on hold’! Minister had promised a new date several times but till now the water scheme for multistorey has not been formally announced and the scheme could not be implemented in the state till date. The reality of the state capital Jaipur is worst as there is no government water connection in the multistorey building. This is also a fact that the department does not have enough water to supply the multistories of the city.

NARESH SHARMA

country and this achievement will take us even further. In the next two years, the renovation work of the

cricket stadium in Jaipur will also be completed and RCA has also signed an MoU with Vedanta Group.

Lokendra Kalvi Remembered

First India Bureau Jaipur: A condolence & prayer meet was organised at Kalvi House in Vaishali Nagar on Friday where many leaders and dignitaries paid tributes to Rajput

leader and Karni Sena founder Late Lokendra Singh Kalvi who passed away on March 14. BJP state president CP Joshi, MP Ram Charan Bohra, former, DG ACB BL Soni & others were also present.

tion room, medicine distribution centre, delivery room, etc. She also enquired about the facilities available at the hospital from CMHO Dr OP Samar and Block CMO Jagbir Singh. She interacted with the patients in the Women’s Patient Room. Sharma also took a half-an-hour class for those living at the Devnarayan residential hostel.

PM Modi may visit Bikaner for Green Corridor project

Bikaner (FIB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Rajasthan as he can come to inaugurate Bharatmala project’s Jamnagar-Ludhiana Green Corridor in Bikaner for which the date of visit will be fixed. The Union Minister has already given indications of the tour regarding the launch.

Act, 54 in NDPS, 145 in Gambling, and other cases were filed. Along with this, about 450 actions were taken in the ongoing Operation Clean in social media. Rapid action is also being taken under the leadership of Sri Ganganagar SP Deshmukh.

Mother, 2 kids found dead in water tank in Jodhpur

First India Bureau Jodhpur: A woman committed suicide by jumping into a water tank along with her two children in Jodhpur. The reasons for the suicide could not be ascertained. The incident happened in Rohicha Kallan of the Luni police station area. After information, police and FSL team reached the spot and the bodies have been kept in the mortuary of Mathura Das Mathur Hospital.

Luni police station officer Ishwar Parikh said that Shanti Devi, 30, took her two children Bharat (7) and Bhavesh (5) and committed suicide by jumping into the tank. Shanti Devi was living with her two sons and daughter of her sister-in-law. When the girl woke up in the morning and did not see anyone, she went looking for them and saw the lid of the tank open and found the three dead bodies.

Lok Sabha MP Hanuman Beniwal threw a birthday bash for his daughter Diya in New Delhi. Chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Dharmendra Rathore also attended the event and blessed his daughter. —FILE PHOTO

Jhalawar SP Richa Tomar briefing the media persons regarding the case on Friday.

Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena interacting with spokesperson Pawan Khera at Congress Headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.

Chief Secretary Usha Sharma with representatives of All Rajasthan State Employees Federation in Bundi on Friday.

RCA President Vaibhav Gehlot during foundation stone laying ceremony at Maharana Pratap Khelgaon in Udaipur on Friday.

LS Speaker Om Birla paying tribute to the late Rajput leader.

Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot pays tribute to Late Lokendra Singh Kalvi in Jaipur on Friday.

Family members of Kalvi and others during the prayer meet.

Retired IPS BL Soni, Jitendra Singh Naruka, Shripal Shaktawat and others present in the prayer meet held in Jaipur on Friday. —PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Success is important in life but over the years, the realisation that sets in for most successful people is that significance is more important.

Swami Bal Yogi: Sound of ‘Azan’ audible instead of ‘Conch shells’

l 3-day event is being organised by Rashtriya Sewa Bharti after 5 years

Dimple Sharma

Jaipur: The issue of ‘Azan’ versus ‘Conch shells’ and temple bells sounded in the inaugural ceremony of the three-day conclave Rashtriya Sewa Sangam- 2023 organised by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Keshav Vidhyapeeth in Jamdoli near Jaipur on Friday.

Balyogi Umesh Das Nath, the Mahant of Valmiki Dham in Ujjain, said saints, seers had stopped separatism in nation & maintained the strength of Sanatan Dharma. “But because of some infiltrators within the country, the sound of conch shells and bells has stopped and people have to hear ‘Azan’ blared through loudspeakers five times a day,” he said. He also said that because of economic disparity, cases of “love jihad” are rising as young boys and girls are ready to marry on their own. Referring to address by Nath, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said whatever he said was “very clear and true”. “We will have to

l About 4,000 representatives from various organisations attend

Kashiram Choudhary

Jaipur: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said that seers and youth will have to come forward to create awareness about education in the society. He said there has been a vast change in the Indian society in the last 75 years after independence and this social and economic change has to be given a form of revolution through education. He was addressing a Dharma Sansad programme organised by All India Ramjan Mandal in Sanganer area here.

LEADERS GATHER TO LISTEN TO SANGH CHIEF

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and Piramal Group Chairman Ajay Piramal during the Rashtriya Sewa Sangam- 2023 in Jaipur on Friday. Also seen is Swami Bal Yogi Umesh Das Nath.

think about it and go according to it, if not today then tomorrow. We are trying to make it happen today because that is the goal of a

healthy society,” he said.

Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, Mumbai, was also present during the event.

n Friday, Seva Sangam was organised by RSS Seva Bharti where Sanghpramukh Mohan Bhagwat also participated. Leaders gathered to listen to the speech of the Sangh chief. BJP State Prez CP Joshi, LoP Rajendra Rathore participated in it along with Dy LoP & former State Prez Dr Satish Poonia, Dr Arun Chaturvedi, BJP MLA Ashok Lahoty, MP Diya Kumari, Kalicharan Saraf, Ramcharan Bohra, Ghanshyam Tiwari & others were present. National Seva Sangam is being organised for the first time in Rajasthan,for which Bhagwat is on two-day visit to Jaipur.Birla said that the way seers have strengthened spirituality and brotherhood by reaching village to village, in the same way they should generate awareness with more dedication for the spread of education in the society. “When a child becomes a cultured youth after getting education, then he leads the society and the country. We have to prepare generations of such youth for the bright future of the country,” he said. Bhagwan Das, Prez of All India Ramj an Mandal, All India Raigar Samaj Prez BL Naval, MLA Ashok Lahoty, LS Speaker’s OSD Rajeev Dutta & others were also present.

Kota: ‘Suposhit Maa’ campaign for protecting the health of pregnant women from underprivileged families and their unborn babies will begin in Bundi and Taleda panchayat samiti on April 10. The campaign is being run on the initiative of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. He will inau-

T

Bhanwar S Charan

Kota: During the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ campaign Padyatra on Friday, UDH Minister Shanti Dhariwal reached Udiya Basti of Ward No. 45 riding pillion on a bike of a local worker. He addressed the residents of the ward and informed them about the recruitment of 30,000 sweepers soon by the government and also about the food kits given under the budget announcement. Dhariwal’s visit also proved to be a gift for 35-year-old divyang Arjun of Valmiki Basti of Ward No. 45. When Shanti Dhariwal and Amit Dhariwal heard

Education

about problems being faced by Arjun, the minister reached his home and instructed the officials to get Arjun’s Aadhaar card made and start pension. Arjun is the only son, his height is about 1.5 feet, widowed mother is working

and taking care of him. Arjun’s Aadhar card couldn’t be made due to fingerprint impression, now process will be completed by taking impression of pupil of his eyes. Local Councillor Lalit Sharma has been assigned with this task.

Mitali Dusad

Jaipur: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Bharat24Vision of New India and First India, and CMD, First India News touched upon every stage of education a child is receiving & the pivotal role it plays in transforming a human being into a resource for the country.

Santosh Kumar

Udaipur: Assembly

Dr CP Joshi felicitates a pensioner by presenting him a shawl and a gift kit during the ‘Pensioners’ Samman Samaroh’ held at MPUAT in Udaipur on Friday. Also seen here are Lalchand Kataria, Vice-Chancellor of University, Dr Ajit Kumar Karnatak & others.

govt’s positive approach to give pension to varsity pensioners.

Prez Vaibhav Ge-

“Education is fundamental to one’s life, for growth of any society and any country. In addition to compulsory education, we must provide quality education to our children,” said Dr Chandra while addressing the ‘Educa-

tion Conclave 2023’, presented by First India, First India News, Bharat24- Vision of New India, and Manipal University Jaipur, at Hotel Marriott on Friday.

Alongside an award ceremony for the best Vice Chancellor, Chairman and Directors in the education sector in Rajasthan, the conclave also saw discus-

sions on topics relating to education, from blended classrooms and online learning to India’s future as an edutech hub, education schemes in Raj, sustainability of digital education, women empowerment & importance of hands-on learning. The event kicked off with an introduction by anchor Megha Kaushik.

gurate the campaign by presenting nutrition kits to beneficiary women. Nutrition is provided to pregnant women from underprivileged families so that they can give birth to healthy babies. In the 2nd phase, a target was set to provide nutrition kits to 3,000 pregnant women in Kota district and 2,000 pregnant women in Bundi.

BIRLA’s KOTA TOUR FROM SUNDAY

here is immense curiosity in both the BJP and Congress camps to welcome Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who has been coming to Jaipur for the last 4 years, but perhaps for the first time he got such a tremendous welcome at the airport. A large number of BJP workers echoed the airport with their slogans and some people are seeing the effect of ‘CP factor’ in this because during the tenure of Dr Satish Poonia, such a large number of BJP workers didn’t reach to receive Birla at the airport. Is this a sign of changing political equations in view of 2023?Kota: LS Speaker Om Birla will be on a threeday visit to Kota-Bundi parliamentary constituency from Sunday. During this, he will participate in various events. Speaker Birla will reach Kota by Mumbai Duronto Express at 3.45 am on Sunday. He will meet the public at the camp office from 10 am. The next day, on April 10, he will inaugurate the Suposhit Maa Abhiyan for Bundi and Taleda Panchayat Samiti areas at Hariyali Resort, in Bundi. Nutrition kits will be provided free of cost for 9 months to pregnant women of deprived families.Birla will visit Keshavraiji’s temple at Keshoraipatan on April 11. He will hold a meeting of State Level Banking Committee at Kota at 3 pm.

—PHOTOS

BY SANTOSH SHARMA

are seen.

—PHOTOS

SANTOSH SHARMA

RASHTRIYA SEVA SANGAM IN

RSS’

Bharat24- Vision of New India, and Manipal University Jaipur, at Hotel Marriott, Jaipur on Friday. Dr BD

Kalla

Dr BD Kalla & Dr Subhash Garg felicitate the Chairperson of Kamla Poddar Group, Kamla Poddar for Best Design Institute, INIFD, Jaipur. Also seen are Dr Jagdeesh Chandra & Jinendra S Shekhawat during the event in Jaipur on Friday.

Dr BD Kalla & Dr Subhash Garg felicitate Abhishek Poddar, Director Kamla Poddar Group for Prime Education Institute in India. Dr Jagdeesh Chandra & Jinendra S Shekhawat are also seen.

Dr Subhash Garg addresses the esteemed gathering during the mega event.

Minister Dhariwal rides bike to reach Udiya basti in Kota

First India Bureau

STUPENDOUS WELCOME TO BIRLA IN JAIPUR!

O

City First highlights some glimpses of designer Rekha’s collection showcased at the Jaipur Couture Show, held at The Palace from March 13 to March 15!

A STYLE FOR EVERY STORY

The three-day Jaipur Couture Show, presented by First India and Bharat24-Vision of New India, was organised at The

Palace on Ajmer Highway

from March 13 to March 15.

Jagdeesh Chandra graced the occasion as the chief guest and appreciated the designer, Rekha Bhimsariya, for her gorgeous collection Areti.

While explaining her collection, the designer said, “Our logo features a small butterfly, symbolizing hope and freedom. The butterfly’s wings represent our commitment to excellence and the modern twist we bring to Indian wear and Indo-western wear. Join us in celebrating

the beauty of fashion and the resilience of the human spirit.” Areti by Rekha is a clothing brand that embodies resilience and passion. The brand’s founder, Rekha, turned her love for fashion into reality by creating this brand. Each piece of cloth-

ing is crafted with the same resilience and passion that inspired its creation.

Areti is more than just a clothing brand; it represents the strength of the human spirit and is something to be proud to wear.

The collection represents the designer’s takeaways from her insightful expeditions,a which have put Indian contemporary and modern patterns on the global map. The spectacular show had the gorgeous Himakshi Choudhary as the showstopper.

Showstopper Himakshi Choudhary with desigenr Rekha Bhimsariya and her husband Sandeep Bhimsariya

Khushi Vijay, Neelanjana Jangid, Yashvini Sarawat, Himakshi Choudhary and Shweta Raje

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA & MUKESH KIRADOO

FACE OF THE DAY!

YOUR DAY

Aries

MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

Happiness in the domestic sphere will only come with a changed mind set. Some of you are likely to become a part of an overseas official trip. Better to consult an expert in financial matters before making an investment. Harsh words may create a rift in your relationship.

Gemini

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

You will succeed in resolving misunderstanding with family members,normalizing ties. Despite your misgivings, you retain good health. You will do much to bring peace and harmony at home. You will remain much in demand on social front. Practice yoga for mental peace.

Leo

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Gifting something to your beloved is likely to make the day memorable. Matrimonial match for siblings will bring happiness for entire family. You will get a good price for your property. Those awaiting results are assured of succeeding with flying colours.

Libra

SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22

Despite hectic schedule you will manage to find time for family. Seek the opinion of your family before finalizing a property deal. Your bold initiatives on romantic front bring back passion and spark in romantic relationship.Overall health remains fine.

Sagittarius

NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22

Your intuition will save you from a tricky spot today. Yoga would help in raising energy levels and improve your metabolism. You will manage to achieve your aim through travel. This is a great time on the academic front, when you mange to render your best.

Aquarius

JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19

Avoid raising controversial issues at home to maintain harmony. Successful implementation of new ideas and projects would add to your prestige on the professional front. It is a wonderful day to build new connections. Your relationship requires you to be tactful.

Include Eggs in Your Diet to Lower the Risk of Heart Disease

DEEKSHA, Influencer

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

Taurus

APRIL 21 - MAY 20

It’s a very good day to take calculated risks in financial matters. Your efforts on the professional front will be recognised. Opting for some healthy choices will ensure you remain in perfect health. You will feel much happy and contented on the family front.

Cancer

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

A friend or colleague may motivate you to take up a healthy activity. Parents may appear more than happy with what you deliver. Plans for overseas travel are likely to materialise. You are likely to get clearance or approval for your construction plans.

Virgo

AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23

Using your initiative at work will be much appreciated. You may get a chance to pursue old hobby. Health tips from an expert will enable you to get closer to your fitness goals. Your generous behavior would enable to enjoy some lovely moments with family.

Scorpio

OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22

Following a health diet will be a good idea.

Luck favours you today on the professional front. Focussing on health now will help you in keeping physically fit. Clarity of mind and retentive power will help you forge ahead on the academic front. You will feel happy today.

Capricorn

DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20

Family will be most supportive, when it really matters for you.

Some of you may add to your list of properties by booking a new one. It is good day to confess your love as stars appear favourable for positive reply. A long drive is likely to help you get over mental tiredness.

Pisces

FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20

Distant relatives may drop in for a surprise visit. On professional front, recognition for good work would motivate you to work harder. Those awaiting an affirmation on romantic front are likely to get lucky today, as partner responds positively. Your day will be full of positivity.

Arecent study published in Nutrition claims that consuming three eggs per week can reduce the risk of heart disease by 60%. Additionally, 4 to 7 eggs per week can further decrease the risk to 75%.

The study adds that not only the heart, but regular eggs in the diet can also help with lowering blood sugar levels as well. Apart from lowering the risk of heart disease, incorporating eggs as part of a healthy diet can also help lower blood sugar levels.

Previous studies have shown that increased levels of cholesterol found in eggs may be harmful for the heart which has now sparked a debate.

The study included 3042 individuals from Greece. This study consisted of 1514 men and 1528 women. The mean age was around 46 years. The duration of the study was 10 years. The study started in 2010 and re-

sults were analysed in 2020 .

The participants of the study were requested to self-report their monthly consumption of eggs either separately or with recipes. This was then divided into weekly consumption.

The study suggests that regularly consuming eggs as part of a healthy diet can reduce the risk of the cardiovascular disease considerably. Three eggs per week lowered the risk by 60% and 4 to 7 eggs per week reduced the risk by 75%.

Eggs are an excellent source of protein and are rich in vitamin B 2, vitamin B 12, selenium, and carotenoid.

Both vitamin B 12 and B 2 are cardio protective. They can lower homocysteine levels and prevent formation of plaque in the blood vessels. This effect can reduce the risk of hypertension.

The selenium present in eggs helps in preventing free radical damage to the cellsand promoting cellular longevity. This isn't a very conclusive study to fix the proportion of eggs per week. There are many loopholes in the study

HIGHLIGHTS :

Regular consumption of 3 eggs per week may be associated with a 60% decrease in cardiovascular disease risk

Four to seven eggs per week are linked with a 75% decrease in the risk of heart disease

Eggs also help in lowering blood sugar levels by slowing glucose absorption from the gut

CONCLUSION

which need to be further taken care of. First of all, this is a self-reporting study. It is hard to recollect and mention there may be many memory lapses.

Due to the limitations of the study, it cannot be said that eggs alone can reduce the risk of heart disease. The

reduce the risk of

participants may have been on low-red meat diets or they might be consuming a lot of carotenoid-rich foods like salads, greens, and reds. All these factors have a cumulative effect in lowering the risk of heart disease. The individual dietary aspects were not taken into consideration in this study.

After analysing all the studies and reviews appropriately, the conclusion is that eggs are a vital part of a meal when taken along with a balanced diet. A balanced, healthy diet along with exercise and physical activity are the essential elements for a good heart.

https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/include-eggs-

DR. GAAYATHRI PALLAUH MBBS

ACCOUNT NO MORE!

im Kardashian and North West’s joint TikTok account can no longer be found on TikTok. When one searches for an account on the platform, it does not appear. Searching the account on Google

search says that the site ‘Can’t find this account’.

On the other hand, if the account is searched on the TikTok mobile app, it says that the account has been banned.

On April 6, different outlets confirmed that the account has indeed been banned but the rea-

son for the same is not yet known. However, the Keeping Up With The Kardashian star’s account is still on the application. However, she has not provided any explanation yet regarding the probable reason behind the sudden band.

Siddhivinayak DARSHAN

Ever since Priyanka Chopra has arrived in Mumbai, she has been grabbing all the limelight. It is Malti’s first visit to India and it looks like the actress is quite excited about that. Maybe that is

Viral Bhayani, we can see Priyanka Chopra at the Siddhivinayak Temple with her daughter Malti Marie and her entire team.

In the video, we can see the actress wearing an olive green salwar suit and holds Malti Marie

The little one looks adorable as she calmly sits on her mom's lap and stares at the priest who puts a tika on the actress’ forehead and then on Malti’s forehead. We bet Malti is having a gala

Shruthi who is very active on social media recently put out a story with her boyfriend. The couple seems to be having a quiet lunch date and this has been going viral on social media. The couple has always been upfront about their relationship status and the actress’ recent Instagram story shows them together on a lunch date. Shruthi’s caption reads, “Lunch date with my favourite human @ Santanu Hazarika.” The story sees them sharing a nice moment with each other away from the noise of their busy lives. In an earlier interview with Santanu about the status of their relationship, he was asked if he is planning to take his relationship with Shruti Haasan to the next

level. He said, "We are already married creatively. That shows how strong our bond is. We are creative people who like to do creative things together. That is very important for us. When it comes to (marriage), I don’t know about that. Let’s see how things go."

Shruthi has been quite busy in Telugu cinema. She was seen last in two of the biggest Telugu blockbusters; Veera Simha Reddy and Walter Veeraya, where she shared the screen with superstars Nandamuri Balakrishna and Chiranjeevi respectively.

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet might just be the new couple in town, or so a blind item suggests. Fan favourite Instagram gossip page DeuxMoi recently posted a blind item on Instagram, which has now gone viral among netizens. However, it should be noted that DeuxMoi provides a disclaimer that some of her blind items that come through e-mail submissions might be false and should not be believed completely until further proof or validation. Moreover, this particular blind item about Kylie and Timothee came with a gif that said ‘Proceed with Caution’, meaning that this might not be true so must not be taken too seriously. Despite being a blind item that came with a warning to proceed with caution, fans did not stop themselves from reacting to the information on Twitter. Fans also noted that both Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner will be at Coachella this year. Most fans expressed shock and surprise at the new rumour in town.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu was clicked at the Hyderabad airport as she returned after attending the promotional event of her upcoming film Shaakuntalam in Mumbai.

The actress looked her best in a simple ethnic suit and it's a must-have outfit in Summer. She opted for an easy breezy ethnic

and paired it up with a matching palazzo. She kept her simple very basic and simple and left her tresses open. With no jewellery, the actress made a statement with black sunnies, a brown bag and heels. This look is totally steal-worthy and must have an outfit in the summer. It is simple and can be carried everywhere, from the office, to the

Avideo of Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth surfaced on social media where the two were seen arriving together at the screening of Jubilee in Mumbai. When the two entered, Aditi was seen waving at the media while one paparazzi was heard saying, “Kya baat hai, eksaath.” After they entered and posed for the camera side

by side, someone from the media person said, “Lovely jodi!” The photographers kept teasing them while the two continued smiling and blushing.

Aditi looked regal in a black floorlength Anarkali with a golden border. She kept her hair open and wore big jhumkas. While Siddharth looked cool in a white summer shirt and ice-blue trousers.

Kim Kardashian Kylie Jenner

Shruti Hassan

Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Siddhart and Aditi Rao Hydari

Priyanka Chopra

THE BEST HOTELS IN THE WORLD

2023 Readers’ Choice Awards!

CITY FIRST

The 35th year of ‘The annual Readers Choice Awards’ continues to capture the travel experiences their readers love best, from hotels and airlines to cruises and islands.

From the top large U.S. city to the top international airline, this year’s list is a testament to the staying power of perennial favourites, through thick and thin with some newcomers to consider. Among the world’s most reputable hotels list, India offers very luxurious hotels influenced by the country’s culturally diverse finesse, which is represented by royal ancient landmarks and culture.

Among the top 50 Best hotels, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur; The Leela Palace, New Delhi; The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur and The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai have been nominated for the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler US and UK Readers’ Choice Awards 2023. All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by Traveler readers. City First highlights you some amazing features of these hotels!

UMAID BHAWAN PALACE, JODHPUR

Umaid Bhawan is part of one of the world’s largest private residences, and still the occasional home of Jodhpur’s former royal family, so few hotels are as vast and unashamedly regal. Finished in 1943, the palace is a glorious blend of aesthetics: Partly inspired by Angkor Wat, its Rajasthani style was injected with notes of Art Deco by Polish artist–turned–interior designer Stefan Norblin, a famed illustrator in his home country who painted the striking frescoes as interpretations of Hindu mythology. But for all that its huge, pillared central dome can seem intimidating, as can those portraits of former maharajas, you’ll feel at home here.

THE LEELA PALACE, NEW DELHI

The gilded furniture, the twinkling chandeliers, the silver tchotchkes—they overwhelm the senses. But what is truly golden about this hotel is the thoughtful, old-school hospitality, like transfers straight from the baggage carousel; the fact that they will leave the rooftop pool open for you should you need to get in some laps after hours; and the easy vegetarian hits on Megu’s menu, like a delicate cured-tofu sashimi that’s to die for and a heavenly chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. Ten years on and under new management, The Leela’s glitter game is still strong.

THE TAJ MAHAL PALACE, MUMBAI

STEP TOWARDS SAVING LIVES!

CITY FIRST

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Governance and Social Sciences invited the ‘Muskaan Foundation for Road Safety’ to interact with the lecturers invited from colleges from all over Rajasthan to attend a session on ‘Road Safety’ recently. Neha Khullar, the Projects Director of the NGO conversed about the concept of road safety which deals with saving lives on the roads and what is required to make roads safer. She also elaborated that the comprehensive

THE OBEROI UDAIVILAS, UDAIPUR

Rising like a great gilded cake from the western shores of Lake Pichola, magnificent Udaivilas is just the spot to wash up after a dusty Rajasthan road trip. This particular pleasure palace is a relatively recent arrival, but, like the 18th-century mansions it overlooks, it was built to showcase the craftsmanship of the Rajput era. In the most romantic city in India, this is the most spectacular place to stay.

Fashion with a Purpose

—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

In the kinetic megalopolis of Mumbai, the striki than the neighboring Gateway of India. Built in 1903, the gray-andwhite stone, red-domed wedding cake of a building stands over Mumbai’s harbor. The Taj is a landmark but some parts of the hotel are off-limits to non-guests, so you quickly leave the bustle of the lobby behind. The Taj has the best pool in Mumbai. Especially after a sweaty day of touring the city, returning to this gleaming blue oval surrounded by pink and orange color-blocked chaises and a gin cart that makes the rounds—is just plain heavenly.

concept of Road Safety included ‘Traffic Management’ by stakeholder departments of the government and the road user citizens themselves. During the occasion, the Director of the Institute, Prof BM Sharma shared that Gandhi’s philosophy was a very inclusive concept and anything that dealt with nation-building was relevant to it. Road Safety is one such concept, he added. The institute aims to spread ‘Gandhi Darshan’. NGOs like Muskaan too become a part of this process as it is devoted to the task of nation-building through safer roads.

MUSICAL EVENING!

The series Har Mah Swar dedicated to Pandit Chirtanji Lal Tanwar was organised by Sangam, A Mix of Art and Culture at TGH House, Jaipur on Friday. Hari Har Sharan Bhatt enthralled the audience with the mesmerising tunes of sitar. Guru Maa Geeta Devi started the program by garlanding the statue of Saraswati. BJP’s cultural co-coordinators Shalini Sharma and Vipul Bansal honoured the artists by giving them certificates. In the end, the president of the organisation and art promoter Sunil Singh Tawar concluded the program by greeting all the guests and artists.

Radheshyam Jaimani was elected as the state president of Rajasthan Brahmin Mahasabha at the 25th Provincial Convention held in Jaipur on Friday. The election was conducted by Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Sharma and Election Officer Umashankar Sharma, in the presence of hundreds of provincial representatives and district presidents elected from all districts of Rajasthan. The nominations for the post of State President were received from Radheshyam Jaimani and Ramgopal Sharma, however, Ram Gopal Sharma withdrew his name.

CITY FIRST

The inauguration ceremony of Fashion and Glamor Destination, FasDes was organised at Civil Lines, Jaipur on Friday. Bollywood diva Urvashi Rautela and former Mr World 2016, Rohit Khandelwal graced the event as the celebrity guest and inaugurated the institute by cutting the inaugural ribbon. Om

Poonia, Chairman of Jaipur Saras Dairy was also present as a special guest.

Parth (Director, FasDes) while addressing the visitors informed that “FasDes is a multifacility fashion destination where fashion enthusiasts would be able to learn courses like fashion designing, fashion modelling,

event management, and air hostess.” He further added “Our main aim is to create new skills and deserving talents for the fashion and glamour industry. Apart from this, Personality development, outdoor opportunities and communication skills are the main USP on which we are working on currently.”

The launching event was attended by various dignitaries of the city as well as fashion models, fashion bloggers and influencers.

Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated by the devotees of lord Hanuman with much fervour and enthusiasm at Shri Khole ke Hanuman Ji Temple on Thursday. During the occasion, the committee members of the temple informed that this time more than 3 lakh visitors visited the temple and offered prayers to the lord.

The cover of the book ‘Mahabharat ke Hanuman’ written by Anshu Harsh was unveiled on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti at Kale Hanuman Ji Temple, Chandi Ki Taksal on Thursday. On this occasion, Mahant Gopal Das, Yuvacharya Yogesh Sharma and Yuvacharya Jai Sharma were present on the occasion.Anshu Harsh while giving insights about his book stated, “People are aware of the role and contribution of Lord Hanuman in Ramayana. But even during Mahabharata, Lord Hanuman played a very important role, about which people are not much aware and this book ‘Mahabharat ke Hanuman’ will work to spread this information to the people.

In observance of World Health Day, RJ Mohit of 94.3 MY FM took an initiative to promote stress-free living on Friday. Taking to the streets of Pink City, he carried a poster that read “Kam ki tension nhi, sehat bhari muskaan lekar ghar jao” in order to raise awareness about the value of finding happiness in the present moment. Mohit’s efforts aimed to encourage individuals to prioritize their mental and emotional well-being, especially during these challenging times. The message emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and reducing stress levels to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Superstar Urvashi Rautela cuts the inaugural ribbon with Parth, Rohit Khandelwal, Om Poonia and others

Parth, Om Poonia, Urvashi Rautela and Rohit Khandelwal with others

Urvashi Rautela and Rohit Khandelwal

Neha Khullar conversing with lecturers, also seen is BM Sharma and others