Minister turns ‘traffic cop’
Firebrand sports and youth welfare minister of Madhya Pradesh Jeetu Patwari donned the role of a plain-clothed traffic police cop in his native Indore’s Chanakyapuri crossing area after spotting no traffic policemen to regulate traffic jam in a busy area recently. Wearing the white kurta-pyjama, the minister stepped down from his car in the mid of a traffic jam at Chanakyapuri square and manned the heavy traffic alone for around 15-20 minutes to ease the congestion on the city road.
Caught in a time warp
Nine months have passed since local BJP MLA Yashodhara Raje Scindia lost her Cabinet berth in MP, while it is nearly four months that her four-time Congress MP nephew Jyotiraditya Scindia suffered a shock defeat in Guna. But for a Ganesha Puja committee in Shivpuri, the two members of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family are still in power. The invitations distributed by a Ganesha Pujan festival committee had pictures of the aunt-nephew duo with their past designations. While aunt Yashodhara was mentioned as state government’s sports and religious affairs minister, nephew Jyotiraditya was mentioned in the invite as MP from Shivpuri-Guna.
Ganesh idol with safety belt
Aiming to convey the message of safe driving and compliance of traffic rules, residents of Harishankar Puram-B Block area in Gwalior town carried the Ganesha idol for immersion in a car after tying the safety seat belt around the idol on the front seat of the car. The car left with the Ganesha idol from Harishankar Puram-B Block to the immersion spot, the Sagar Tal, with the idol tied with car safety belt. According to the organizers of the Ganesha Puja, it was perhaps the only of its kind usage of idol immersion procession to promote safe driving practices.
Rejuvenation for elephants
At the Pench Tiger Reserve in Seoni district, a five-day rejuvenation camp was organised in the reserve’s Karmajhari Range recently. The five-day annual camp saw elephants in the reserve being treated with fruits of their choice, besides being given special oil massages. The elephants also underwent medical check-up, and their nails, ears and foot nails were cleaned. Blood samples of the elephants were also collected for proper analysis to prevent any spread of disease among the tuskers. The elephants at the Pench Tiger Reserve are used primarily for patrolling purposes.