They Made The News

He had all the makings of the next CM of Rajasthan. But destiny had other plans. While Sachin Pilot, all of 42, had slogged it out under the sun and the rains in Rajasthan to resurrect the party, which under Ashok Gehlot had plummetted to the lowest ever, and most embarrassing tally in the Vidhan Sabha, his older counterpart went on to wear the crown as he had to remain content as the Crown Prince. Pilot who contested his first assembly polls, won by a fabulous margin from Tonk constituency.

Even before the final results could be out, the entire ecosystem and the power brokers lined up outside Ashok Gehlot’s official residence at Civil Lines, Jaipur. The bureaucrats, the cops, the system, they parked themselves outside the gates of his residence, which ironically faced former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s house across the road. Gehlot manoeuvred his way one again to pull off a hat-trick and become a chief minister for the third time in Rajasthan, a feat considering he faced a strong contender for the post in his younger teammate, Sachin Pilot.   

Vasundhara Raje is now the former chief minister of Rajasthan. She steered BJP to an unprecedented win in Rajasthan in 2013 decimating her arch rival and then chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Five years later, Raje inspite of prime minister Narendra Modi chugging along as the “Double Engine”, her sarkar hit a dead-end. The BJP lost the polls to the Congress double engine of Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, who didn’t see eye to eye in the polls but managed to shore up on the right side of history.   

His pride was wounded, for a long time, now. But he waited for the iron to be hot and struck with a sweet timing that spoiled the entire game plan of the party he and his father had come to represent for two generations. Manvendra Singh, son of former union minister Jaswant Singh Jasol who was snubbed by Vasundhara Raje and the BJP in ticket distribution in 2014, quit the party to join Congress and fight Raje herself. He lost to her, but not before he shaved off the winning margin by half.

They were sitting out the rough patch waiting for the tide to turn, and it did! With the change in government in Rajasthan, Kapil Garg was posted as the top cop in state. He has been appointed the Director General of Police in state to oversee the policing. Another major change effected in the course of transfers that ensued after Ashok Gehlot took over as the chief minister, was that of the Jaipur police commissioner. Anand Srivastava, an IG-rank officer who was serving in Udaipur, was catapulted to limelight when his name was announced as the next police chief of Jaipur. He replaces his own colleague Sanjay Agarwal who served as SP with him. 

Christian Bale, the actor who wears his Batman tag with pride, visited Jaipur in November while in the country for the Indian premiere of  Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle. He travelled from New Delhi to Agra to Jaipur before moving to Mumbai for the premiere. This was his second visit after having filmed in Jaipur and Jodhpur for the shooting of The Dark Knight Rises.  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was also here.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. At a time when Hong Kong openers were smoothly cruising towards their biggest upset victory, came in Khaleel Ahmed to stop them in their track by claiming two wickets in quick succession. As Khaleel Ahmed received his ODI cap number 222, it made for the moment the rookie had dreamt of since he decided to make a career out of a piece of leather. Back home, his coach Imtiaz Ali Khan was watching him play in the UAE on the LED screen that Khaleel gifted him before leaving for Asia Cup. 

He was the face on the TV preaching you on the good, the bad, and the ugly in your lives and forewarning you about your future by looking at your stars, except he couldn’t figure out the trouble he would run into.  The Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s premier investigation agency, booked self-styled godman Daati Maharaj, for allegedly raping an inmate at his ashram in Rajasthan, officials said. The agency had taken over investigation on the instructions of the Delhi High Court.

Emotions ran high when after thirty six years, Gajanand Sharma who had been languishing in a jail in Pakistan returned to his family in Jaipur. Sharma met his teary eyed wife Makhni Devi, son Mukesh and rest of the family. The man had been handed over to Indian officials at Wagah border and had to be supported by officials as the man was too weak to walk unsupported. 29 other fishermen were released from Pakistani prison along with Gajanand, sixty-nine, who also cast his vote for the first time in 3 decades.

Forever on the forefront of technology, Data infosys founder and chairman, Ajay Data’s, Data Xgen Tech was selected for the ‘Startup of the Year’ award. Data XGen Technologies Pvt Ltd, a global innovator in providing the Enterprise Email Software with World’s first linguistic email solution, which aims at inclusive IT solutions, bagged the ‘Startup of the Year’ Award at the Express IT Awards. The awards were presented by the Union IT and electronic minster Ravi Shankar Prasad at a glittering function in Mumbai. 

She is a successful educationist known primarily for her flagship institution, after her name. Jayshree Periwal is now the chairperson of the PDHCCI Rajasthan which talks business, like literally! With the New Year approaching Periwal has lined up a series of events beginning with a cyclathon held in Jaipur. A conference on solid waste management has also been scheduled for 18 January in which well known personas like economist, Isher Judge Ahluwalia and anti-pollution activist Almitra Patel are participating.

The arrest of a poacher from the border areas of Sariska Tiger Reserve should be dealt as a serious matter. Not only has the man confessed to killing tigress ST-5 for money, but has also confessed to killing deers and antelopes for their meat. However, the death of two tigers is not the only incident when poachers have targeted felines after 2005, when the entire cat population in the park was wiped out. Sources reveal that in the past thirteen years, at least ten incidents have occurred wherein panthers have also been killed.

Madan Lal Saini was as obscure as one of the countless stars in the night sky until the BJP caught between then chief minister Vasundhara Raje and the party’s national leadership, was stuck in a rut over the state party president, and a resultant eeny, meeny, miny, moe threw up the name of Madan Lal Saini. He was a worker’s dream come true. That’s what the party thought, until the 75-year-old worker lost his way in the polls and saw his party out of power after five years of servicing state. 

He was supposed to boost the fortunes of the BJP in state ahead of the assembly polls. Instead, he ended up squandering away any shot at resurrection of the party in the elections. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath made a career blunder by inadvertently claiming Lord Hanuman belongs to the Dalit community. His speech in Alwar garnered national attention much to the BJP’s embarrassment. BSP chief Mayawati cashed in on his comments. 

Beyoncé’s first-ever private performance in India was a hit! The pop diva Beyoncé garnered attention with fans expressing surprise and disbelief as she became a part of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s grand wedding in December. The Crazy In Love hitmaker performed at the high-profile wedding in Udaipur. This was her first-ever performance at a private event in India. The concert, held at the Oberoi Udaivilas Hotel, went on for two-and-a-half hours and saw the international icon change three outfits, including those by desi designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, a Shivan & Narresh and Falguni & Shane Peacock. While the wedding itself was pegged at $15 million, Beyonce’s private concert fees are said to start at $2 million. She was taken out via an alternate route to escape the crazed fans at airport. 

The two bureaucrats T Ravikant and Jagroop Singh Yadav featured among the bureaucrats who would helm the most coveted posts in bureaucracy in Rajasthan. One would go on to become the Jaipur Development Authority Commissioner (JDC), while the other would become the Jaipur District Collector (JDC). As collector, Yadav would oversee the works of the Jaipur district and become the change agent that the Gehlot government is looking to pull off. Ravikant will have a more challenging role to play as the JDA commissioner. The JDA coffers are empty and he would have to replenish the chest to fund city’s development.     

She is the gold standard for aspirants who are looking to make a career in sports! The year 2018 has, however, been exceptionally great for Apurvi Chandela. Jaipur’s  10-meter Air Rifle Shooter continues to make waves in the global arena. She has already qualified for 2020 Olympics by the virtue of her performance at the World Championship in South Korea. She also bagged the Asian Games Bronze in Jakarta and Commonwealth Bronze in Gold Coast, Australia. She also led her team (ONGC) to Gold in the recent National Championships.