BJP donates over Rs 3 crore for U’khand flood victims
Jaipur: Rajasthan BJP today donated Rs 3.69 crore to state chief minister’s relief fund for victims of last year’s devastating Uttarakhand flood. BJP state president Ashok Parnami handed over the cheque to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje at her official residence here, official sources said. Party’s state Vice-Presidents Satish Poonia and Ramcharan Bohra, MLA Laxminarayan Bairwa, Deputy Mayor Manish Pareek were also present, they said. The Uttarakhand calamity, in June last year, caused heavy floods and landslides, claiming hundreds of lives and thousand others went missing in the disaster. (PTI)
‘Na Mo’ means salute to God: Parrikar
Panaji: Faced with taunts by opposition benches that he was busy chanting ‘Na Mo’, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the term means ‘namaskar’ to God in Hindu religion. “You must not be knowing. ‘Na Mo’ refers to God in Hindu religion. It means ‘namaskar’ to God,” Parrikar said on the floor of the House during Question Hour. The chief minister was responding to the taunts by Congress legislator Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, who claimed Parrikar was busy chanting ‘Na Mo’ – usually referred to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi – and hence there are fears that Goa might be merged with Gujarat. “Na Mo’ is usually ‘namaskar’ to Lord Krishna,” Parrikar said. “But in this context (Lok Sabha elections), we are doing final namaskar to Congress,” he quipped. The Gujarat reference was made in the House after Lourenco questioned why candidates for police sub-inspector’s post were sent to that state for training, as against the conventional practice of sending them to Nasik (Maharashtra). (PTI)
Rains severely damage crops in parts of Maharashtra
Sangli: Standing crops, including food-grains, grapes and vegetables, suffered severe damage during rains and hailstorms which have lashed parts of Maharashtra, officials said. Rains and hailstorms hit parts of Sangli and Kolhapur last Sunday. “Grapes in over 1,500 hectares and other crops on 300 hectares are severely damaged due to the hailstorm and heavy rain,” District Collector, Sangli Deependrashinh Kushwah told reporters on Tuesday. Sangli is a major producer of export quality grapes. The collector has instructed the ‘talathis’ to visit the farms and submit a report. A primary report has also been sent to the state government. The district administration has asked the revenue officials to prepare detailed report on damage to crops, its severity in percentage, damage to houses and any harm to the domestic animals, if any, official sources said. The officials will submit the report to the district collectorate within a day which will be forwarded to the state relief and rehabilitation department, sources said. (PTI)
Freedom fighter dead
Alwar: Veteran freedom fighter Harinarayan Saini died here on Wednesday at the age of 90. Saini, who had participated in the freedom movement, was ailing for some time. The funeral will take place later in the day, district officials said. (PTI)
