Celebrating centuries of folk tradition
With Deepawali round the corner, a wave of festivity and celebration has swept Momasar, a small town in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. A two-day Momsar Utsav which was jointly organized by the residents of Momasar and JAJAM Foundation kicked off from October 19. This non-profit festival brings together over 200 artists and craftsmen from different parts of Rajasthan in a unique celebration of folk traditions. Through this festival, the foundation aims at preserving the rich culture & traditions of the region and also creating opportunities for sustained employment for the locals.
Pink city set to have two mayors
The Ashok Gehlot-led government on Friday announced that the cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota will have two municipal corporations. The number of wards in Jaipur is now set to go up to 250. UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal said that one of the municipal corporations will be called Heritage Jaipur Municipal Corporation, while the other will be called Greater Jaipur Municipal Corporation.
To handle the two corporations, two mayors are set to be appointed. Gehlot said that this segregation will help civic authorities manage the city better. “The population has increased. Ensuring civic facilities for all the city wards is becoming unmanageable,” said Gehlot. Jodhpur and Kota has been divided in north and south municipal corporations.
Ten-day cultural extravaganza
Jaipur is in the grip of a cultural extravaganza known as ‘Lokrang’ which celebrates the rich tribal and folk traditions of India. The festival, which kicked off last week after a three-year break, will be on till October 20. As many as 700 country-folk artistes will be presenting colourful performances during the festival.
In addition to cultural events, exhibitions and workshops are attracting art and culture lovers of all ages. On inauguration day, Natua dance of West Bengal, Rathwa of Gujarat, Deru of Shekhawati, Sirmouri Nati dance of Himachal and Rauf of Jammu and Kashmir were showcased.
Housing board hits the jackpot
It’s a joyous occasion for Rajasthan Awashan Mandal as they have managed to collect I86 crore for its treasury over three phases by selling its houses in various cities of the state through an e-auction. The mandal was incurring a considerable amount of losses over the last few years.
The e-auction program which is being conducted by the state housing board was launched by the new commissioner, Pawan Arora, and is an effort by the state body to provide housing for all at discounted rates. Red-tapism though had plagued the scheme for long.