News Analysis India

Tag: Rajasthan

  • Five months on and 31 tests later, homeless woman in Rajasthan still infected with COVID-19

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: The coronavirus positive status of a 32-year-old woman has left the medical fraternity in Rajasthan baffled and shaken. Sharada Devi, who has been living at a shelter for the homeless in Bharatpur district, had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 28 last year and is yet to be declared negative. Despite 31 tests in the last five months, she still remains a coronavirus positive patient.

    The woman had come to Apna Ghar organisation, shelter to over 3000 homeless persons, last August. Her condition at that time was very feeble and she was also the first person to test positive for coronavirus at the shelter.

    Sharda was treated by local doctors following which her symptoms started disappearing and she started feeling healthy again. Since mid-September, she has shown no visible symptoms. 

    However, health officials were in for a rude shock after finding out that Sharda’s COVID test is still positive. She underwent 31 tests- 14 RTPCR and 17 antigen. Interestingly, Sharda was given not only allopathic but also homeopathy and ayurvedic treatments in the last five months. Though her weight has gone up by six kg, the virus in her body persists and she has been kept in isolation.

    A senior professor at the SMS Medical College in Jaipur, Dr. Raman Sharma says that the case of Bharatpur woman is extremely rare and is fit to be documented in a medical journal. “Generally, the coronavirus does not stay alive beyond two months and it’s almost impossible for the virus to remain alive in a patient for nearly five months. This is an extraordinary case,” Sharma said. 

    Authorities at the Apna Ghar organization have written to the Bharatpur Collector and CMHO to allow the woman patient to be shifted to Jaipur for better treatment. However, they are yet to receive approval for the move.

    Dr. BM Bharadwaj who heads the Apna Ghar organization says, “ a few weeks ago, some senior doctors from the microbiology department at Jaipur’s SMS Medical college had visited Bharatpur and inspected Sharada. We are keen to get her treated under the guidance and supervision of those doctors in Jaipur. Until permission is granted to move her, Sharada will be continued to receive treatment here.”  Dr. Bharadwaj also revealed that the last Corona test on Sharada was done on January 8 and she once again had tested positive.

    It is now over 140 days since the woman was found to be Corona positive. Her strange case is an indication that though the coronavirus threat is gradually dissolving, there are still several aspects to the pandemic that remain a mystery and a big challenge for health experts.

  • Rajasthan: Amid reports of factionalism, first meeting of core BJP group on Sunday

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: The first meeting of a newly formed 16-member core group of the BJP, which has been put in place amid reports of factionalism in the party, will be held here on Sunday, a party leader said.

    The new group consists of BJP leader Satish Poonia, national vice president and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Rajya Sabha MP Om Mathur, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Kailash Chaudhary, Leader of Opposition Gulabchand Kataria, Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, among others.

    “The first meeting of the group will be held on Sunday during which organisational issues will be discussed,” state general secretary Bhajanlal Sharma said.

    National general secretary and state in-charge Arun Singh will also be present in the meeting.

  • Kota coaching centres reopen, but Covid worries persist

    By Express News Service
    JAIPUR: Kota, the hub of engineering and medical entrance coaching institutes, is regaining momentum after a gap of 10 months after it was shut due to the Corona crisis. 

    Big hoardings with pictures of IIT entrance toppers from various educational institutes at various places of the city could be seen to lure aspirants and their parents. 

    Nearly 32,000 students have already reached Kota after the Gehlot government allowed schools, colleges and coaching centres to reopen from January 18 taking into account the declining number of Covid-19 cases in the state. 

    A large number of students are arriving every day in Kota to study at the top 10 coaching institutes that dot the city’s landscape. Kota has about 50 other institutes and the city has around 25,000 paying guest (PG) facilities and 3,000 hostels and around 3,000 messes to cater to all needs of the nearly two lakh students from across the country. To ensure the safety of all students, the coaching city has turned into a caring city. Ultra-violet hand sanitisers, Aarogya Setu-like apps to monitor student’s health, social distancing norms with isolated seating arrangements and plush studio apartments are some of the measures the coaching institutes have set up.

    However, the number of Corona cases in Kota remains a big worry. Kota has the second-highest number of active Covid cases in Rajasthan, and on Monday it reported 41 fresh cases — the highest in the state. Among the 41 new cases are 14 coaching students. Of the 33 new cases found in Kota on Tuesday, 18 were coaching students, and on Wednesday, Kota reported 34 cases. 

    The CMHO of Kota, Dr B S Tanwar said according to the doctor, 18 students were asymptomatic and found positive when 2,500 samples were taken from coaching institutes.  

    The Kota district administration has instructed all coaching institutes and hostel authorities to strictly follow the standard operating protocols that have been issued to them. The protocols were decided after consulting heads of institutes and hostels who raised the issue of incurring losses and urged the state authorities to allow them to open up coaching centres. 

    The detailed SOPs have been pasted on the walls of all coaching centres, who in turn, have informed the students about the guidelines they need to follow such as ‘no mask, no entry’ rule. All coaching centres, hostels and messes have also been told to abide by the Covid-19 protocols set by the central and state governments.

  • Celebrated Bengaluru biker King Richard Srinivasan dies after crashing into camel in Rajasthan

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: King Richard Srinivasan, a celebrated biker from Bengaluru, died after his motorcycle crashed into a camel in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, police said on Friday.

    The incident took place in Fatehgarh sub-division on Wednesday night when Srinivasan along with his three friends was headed to Jaisalmer, they said.

    A camel suddenly came in front of Srinivasan’s motorcycle.

    He sustained head injuries in the accident and succumbed on Wednesday night.

    The body was handed over to his family members after a post-mortem examination on Thursday, said Head Constable, Sangarh police station, Sonaram Bhati.

    Srinivasan was accompanied by Narayan from Bengaluru, and Dr.Vijay and Venugopal from Chennai on the tour.

    Their tour was to conclude in Bengaluru on January 23, he said.

    According to reports, Srinivasan had undertaken multiple expeditions from Bengaluru and covered continents of Asia, Europe, America, and Australia on his Tiger 800.

    He had recently upgraded to BMW GS and was planning to go on an expedition to Africa.

  • Man arrested in Rajasthan on charges of spying for Pakistan

    By ANI
    JAIPUR: A special branch of Rajasthan has arrested a 42-year-old man on charges of spying for Pakistan, police said.

    Satyanarayan Paliwal, a resident of Jaisalmer, has been booked and arrested by CID (Special Branch) on charges of espionage, police further said in a press release.

    The suspect was allegedly sharing classified information about the Indian Army, police added. He was later arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (special branch), Jaipur under the Official Secrets Act, police said.

    He has confessed to being in touch with an agent of Pakistan intelligence agency and possessing sensitive military information, Rajasthan Police stated.

  • COVID-19: 4.5 lakh health workers to be vaccinated in first phase in Rajasthan, says Health Minister

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Preparations for rolling out COVID-19 vaccination programme in Rajasthan have been made and around 4.5 lakh health workers will be vaccinated in the first phase, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said on Sunday.

    Sharma said data of 4,36,146 government and private sector health workers had been uploaded on COVIN (COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network) software by 1 pm on Saturday.

    He said the first phase of vaccination will be conducted at 282 sessions sites from January 16 onwards.

    Of them, two sites including Jaipur and Ajmer will be interactive.

    “Rajasthan is all prepared for the vaccination programme. 3,689 medical institutions in the government sector and 2,969 medical institutions in the private sector have been identified for the vaccination programme in the first phase and 5,626 vaccination parties have been trained,” he said at a press conference here.

    He said the government has set up three state-level, seven divisional-level, 34 (medical) district-level vaccine stores, and 2,444 cold chain points are functional at community and primary health centres.

    Sharma said 18,654 vaccinators have been trained so far.

    The orientation of 1,66,188 people in 10 categories including public representatives has been done so far, he added.

  • Army’s captain of desert warfare specialised unit feared drowned: Rajasthan Police

    As a part of the exercise, some jawans had jumped into the lake from a helicopter to hone their skills in saving a drowning person.

  • Ashok Gehlot urges PM Narendra Modi to restart stalled railway projects involving Rajasthan

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restart Rajasthan’s stalled railway projects on priority. He said around 42 per cent of New Rewari-New Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) crosses Rajasthan on way to Gujarat.

    While speaking on the occasion of digital inauguration of the WDFC by PM Modi, Gehlot thanked him for routing the major part of the WDFC through Rajasthan and expressed the state government’s commitment to the project.

    “It is a big challenge how the Delhi–Mumbai industrial corridor is made and developed along Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor,” Gehlot said. On the occasion, Gehlot also said that several railway projects involving Rajasthan were sanctioned and even started but were later stalled due to some reasons.

    He urged the PM to restart wok on them on priority. “We have demanded that a railway station should be made in Bhiwadi town as it has a Japanese investment zone, first of its kind in India, with around 6,521 industrial units,” he said.

    Gehlot said projects such as Sarmathura-Gangapur via Karauli railway line were inaugurated but closed. Similarly, work on Pushkar-Merta road railway line and Chauth ka Barwada to Ajmer via Tonk railway line has been stalled.

    “The state had 50 per cent partnership in the Banswara-Dungarpur-Ratlam project, benefitting the tribal area adjoining Gujarat. The state has given around Rs 250 crore. The work had started but later due to some reasons, it was stopped. I urge the PM to resume work on those projects on priority,” said the CM “But as the state is not in a sound position, the entire expenditure now has to be borne by the railways,” he added.

    He said the Memu coach factory in Bhilwara too was sanctioned and inaugurated but later stopped. “Oil and Gas is there in Jaisalmer and Barmer. Country’s 20 per cent oil is supplied from Barmer. Now, the refinery work has also started. For the last 40 years, there has been a demand for a rail line to connect Mundra-Kandla port with Jaisalmer-Barmer which is justified as per future needs,” said Gehlot.

    Gehlot said though the gauge conversion of Loharu-Sikar-Reengus rail line has been completed, no train is being run on this line.

    Welcoming the PM for giving major part of the WDFC to Rajasthan, the CM said the state is committed for the project. It is a big challenge how the Delhi–Mumbai industrial corridor be made and developed along Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor, Gehlot said.

  • Brazen offence: 38 tribal women kidnapped from Rajasthan by Madhya Pradesh villagers

    By PTI
    KOTA: In a brazen case of mass kidnapping, a group of over 100 people belonging to a Madhya Pradesh village abducted 38 tribal women and children from Rajasthan on suspicion that their men were involved in stealing their bikes, police said on Thursday.

    The Rajasthan police, however, managed to secure the release of kidnapped women and children from Madhya Pradesh within hours of the offence and arrested six of the kidnappers and seized their arms and ammunition and the car used for the abduction on Wednesday afternoon.

    The brazen offence of inter-state kidnapping of tribal women was committed in Unhel police station area of Jhalwar district in Rajasthan by the people of Kalasiya village under Alot police station of Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh, Unhel police station’s SHO Bhanwar Singh said.

    Singh said several families of ‘Kanjar’ tribe community live in makeshifts tents at the interstate border under his police station area.

    These tribal people are often suspected to be involved in various crimes in the area by locals, he added.

    The provocation for this daring offence of mass kidnapping was the theft of a motorbike of someone belonging to Kalasiya village in the neighbouring Ratlam district, he added.

    Following the theft, over 100 men of Kalasiya village, armed with guns, iron rods and lathis, reached Bamandevriya and Hajdia villages under Unhel police station area, where these tribal people lived, in a bus, a car and several motorcycles, said Singh.

    They surrounded the makeshift tents of these tribal people and apparently wanted to round up men and threaten them against indulging in crime and recover their stolen bikes, said Singh.

    But as there were no tribal community men found there, the Kalasiya villagers forced a total of 10 women, 20 minor girls and eight children of various age, into the bus and sped towards their own village in MP, said Singh.

    After the Unhel police came to know of this audacious act, it organised a team and rushed after the speeding bus, said Singh, adding after the Kalasiya villagers found themselves being chased, they dropped the kidnapped women on way under the Alot police station area in MP and fled the scene, the SHO said.

    After recovering the kidnapped women and children, the Unhel police lodged a criminal case against 100-odd people under various IPC sections related to kidnapping, rioting, illegal confinement and unlawful assembly besides various other sections of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, said Singh.

    The Unhel police also arrested six members of the villagers’ gang, travelling in a car and recovered a country-made pistol, two live cartridges, one sword and several iron rods from them, said Singh, adding the police also seized the car.

    The SHO identified the arrested men as Suresh Singh alias Suraj Singh, Bahadur Singh, Surender Singh, Mahendra Singh, Narayan Singh and Guman Singh, all residents of Kalasiya village in MP.

    He said the bus which was used to kidnap the tribal women was found to be belonging to Kishan Singh, a former ‘sarpanch’ of Kalasiya village.

    The entire operation to rescue the kidnapped women was guided by Additional Superintended of Police Rajesh Yadav and DySP Brijmohan Meena, the SHO said, adding the efforts are being made to nab the remaining 94 involved in the crime.

  • Rajasthan: Six held for befriending random people on social media, extorting money using morphed chat video

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Six members of an alleged extortion gang have been arrested from Rajasthan for allegedly duping people after be-friending them on social media and later threatening to upload their morphed chat videos online, police said on Wednesday.

    The accused have been identified as Waris (28), Rayees (22), Annay Khan (21), Wahid (23), Mufeed (30) and Akram (21), they said, adding they were running the alleged extortion racket from a village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.

    According to police, they used to create fake Facebook profiles and befriend random people.

    After chatting for a while, they would get the victims on video call, capture the screen and edit it to juxtapose it with an offensive adult content, they said.

    The morphed videos were then used to blackmail their targets.

    Offensive videos of more than 40 victims have been recovered from the mobile phones of the accused persons, they added.

    The accused have so far allegedly cheated people to the tune of Rs 25 lakh, a senior police officer said, adding 10 bank accounts linked to the gang have been identified and frozen.

    A probe was initiated by the Cyber Cell Unit of Delhi Police after multiple complaints were received in the last few weeks against an online extortion racket, he said.

    “As per the complaints, the victims were contacted over social media platforms such as Facebook through profiles of attractive individuals.

    The victims were engaged in a brief chat and guided to a video call over Messenger or WhatsApp.

    During the call, the victims were shown an adult clip and their video call was simultaneously recorded.

    “After sometime, they got extortion calls in the name of the offensive video made from the captured video chat.

    Amounts ranging from Rs 2,000 to 30,000 were demanded and some of the victims succumbed to those demands before reporting it to the police,” said Anyesh Roy, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell).

    Using technical help, the location of the accused was zeroed in to Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

    Later, in coordination with the Bharatpur Police, the hideouts of the gang were identified and early on Monday morning, raids were conducted and six accused arrested, he said.

    During the course of investigation, it was found that the accounts in which money was transferred were of Alwar, Rajasthan.

    The accused used multiple SIM cards obtained on fake identities in commission of the crime, he added.

    A total of 17 mobile phones used in making extortion calls and obscene chats and two ATM cards along with bank account documents in which the extorted money had been transferred by various victims have been recovered from their possession, the DCP said.

    The case is under investigation and the cyber cell unit’s help is being sought to retrieve crucial digital evidence, police said, adding efforts are being made to identify the involvement of others.