Raj NGO gets Rajiv Gandhi National Award
New Delhi, Aug 20: Former vice president M Hamid Ansari on Sunday conferred the 25th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award for 2020-21 on Banasthali Vidyapith, a residential institution for women in Rajasthan. The award was handed over to Siddhartha Shastri of the institution in the presence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The award, instituted in 1992 to mark the golden jubilee of the Quit India Movement, is given to an individual or institution for special contribution towards peace, communal harmony and national unity, and carries a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh and a citation. It is presented on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. At the award ceremony, Sonia Gandhi said the ideals of communal harmony, peace and national unity have become more significant at a time the forces giving rise to hatred, division in society, bigotry and politics of bias are getting more active. “They are also getting the support of the ruling dispensation,” she alleged. (PTI
Member of Gogi gang nabbed
New Delhi, Aug 20: A 27-year-old alleged member of the infamous Gogi gang has been arrested following an exchange of fire near Pushp Vihar here, police said on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Sandeep, a resident of Haryana’s Sonipat, who is allegedly involved in more than a dozen cases, including that for attempt to murder, robbery and extortion, they said. Acting on a tip-off that Sandeep would visit Pushp Vihar, police laid a trap and upon seeing him riding a bike instructed him to stop, a senior police officer said. The accused, however, did not adhere to the police’s instruction and as he tried to flee, his motorcycle skidded on the road. He then opened indiscriminate fire forcing the police to retaliate, Special Commissioner of Police HGS Dhaliwal said. In the exchange of fire, Sandeep was injured on his right leg. The accused was arrested and a semi-automatic pistol loaded with two cartridges was seized from him, he said (PTI)
