Paralympian Avani felicitated by FICCI
Avani Lekhara, who made India proud at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, was honoured with the FICCI FLO Award for Sports Excellence for 2022 in Delhi. Avani has been awarded Padma Shri, and was honoured by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje at the event. In a Twitter post she wrote, “It is an honour for me that I got to meet so many wonderful, successful women. It gives me immense pride to present the award to the women of Rajasthan – Ruma Devi, Avni Lekhara and Nidhi Thalia.” Taking to Twitter, Avani wrote, “Thank you FICCI India for honouring me with FICCI this award. I am sure the empowerment of women will take India towards a more progressive path.”
BJP MLAs walk out as CM replies to Governor’s address
Rajasthan assembly witnessed a new tradition during this budget session. On the day of CM’s reply on the Governor’s address, BJP MLAs staged a walkout. For the first time, it was seen that the CM replied to the address of the Governor Kalraj Mishra but all the BJP MLAs walked out from the house demanding CBI enquiry into the REET paper leak scam and in protest of suspension of four party MLAs. Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore said that there was nothing new in CM’s speech. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal has termed the BJP’s move as completely undemocratic and anti-constitutional. “Since 1984, I have been sitting in the house, it has never happened. At least there should have been a reverence for the governor,” he said.
‘Inauspicious’ copter sold after 12 auctions in vain
The state government has finally got rid of the ‘inauspicious’ AgustaWestland helicopter which has been parked in the hangar for 11 years. This helicopter has been sold for `7.55 crore. With this, two more aircraft of the state government were auctioned. The government has sold these two aircraft for `25 crore. All three have been sold by e-auction through the Centre’s portal of Metal Scrap Trade Corporation (MSTC). The chopper which saw 12 unssuccessful auction bids was bought in 2005 for over `20 crore during the first tenure of former CM Vasundhara Raje.
Villagers fly in chopper at Bikaner royal wedding
The royal wedding of three sisters of the Kularia family in Silva village of Bikaner district has done the extraordinary. Three granddaughters of industrialist Padmaram Kularia – Bhawna, Santosh and Kiran – were married on Friday. The people of the village wished that one day they would roam in a helicopter. To make this occasion special, Kularia fulfilled the dream of the villagers by getting a 5 seater helicopter from Delhi, and a helipad was built near his house. All the residents of the village were given an open invitation to sit in helicopter and look at their village from the sky. The helicopter tour for the villagers lasted for three days.
Rajesh Asnani
Our correspondent in Jaipur rajesh.asnani@ newindianexpress.com