New Delhi Apr 24 PTI With scorching summer heat pushing several birds in the national capital into stressful conditions an NGO said it has rescued around 140 birds suffering from exhaustion and dehydration since MarchWildlife SOS a conservation NGO established in 1995 with the objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress said its members saved around nearly 120 birds including 30 kites and more than 70 pigeons in March and 20 black kites this month in Delhi-NCRRising temperature causes dehydration and heat exhaustion Wildlife SOS has rescued numerous birds from such distress situations and provided necessary medical aid to the citys avian population the NGO said in a statementEarlier this week its Rapid Response Unit rescued a black kite fledgling from a private garden in Chanakyapuri hereThe young bird was unable to fly and was seen lying motionless on the ground The excessive heat further aggravated the situation and made its condition even more critical Upon reaching the location the Wildlife SOS team first provided drinking water and hydrated the bird after which it was carefully transferred to a transit facility the NGO saidThe kite is currently under medical observation and will be released once declared fit by the Wildlife SOS veterinarians it addedIn another incident a black kite was found caught in glass-coated nylon strings popularly known as manja hanging from a tree inside a residential complex in Sheikh Sarai Phase-I south DelhiThe bird was rescued through a collaborative effort of the Wildlife SOS Rapid Response Unit and the Delhi Fire Service It was suspected that the bird had been stuck there for two days and dehydrated it saidWe get a lot of calls for rescue of kites during the summer months The rise in temperature makes birds sick and the major cause is dehydration due to heat stroke Kites have a tendency to fly at higher altitudes and are more prone to the excessive heat While descending in search of prey or water they very often collapse on the ground due to exhaustion Summer is a difficult season for birds and dehydration can turn fatal for them That is why when we rescue birds from such stressful scenarios the first thing we do is to provide them with water Kartick Satyanarayan co-founder and CEO Wildlife SOS saidCommenting on the impact of weather on birds Wasim Akram Deputy Director-Special Projects Wildlife SOS informed With maximum temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius during the day a large percentage of the avian population in Delhi-NCR is becoming a victim of dehydration heat exhaustion and lack of shade They are often found lying on the ground unconscious and some even suffer from heatstroke which can lead to death if appropriate measures are not taken he said PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Mar 26 PTI A woman and her daughter died and two others sustained grievous injuries in a road accident in Rajasthans Bikaner district police said on Saturday They said the four people were travelling on a motorcycle when a truck rammed into them The deceased were identified as Pathani 25 and Zubeida 6 The police said Pathanis husband Idris Khan and another woman on the motorcycle were seriously injured They were rushed to the government hospital in Poogal A case has been registered against an unknown truck driver and investigation is underway they said PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Feb 21 PTI Rajasthan Director General of Police ML Lather on Monday asked his officials to take effective action on the complaints of the general public at the local level so that they are not compelled to move the headquarters Lather was addressing a review meeting of the Inspector Generals of Police IGPs and Police Commissioners at the police headquarters here He asked the Range IGs to play the role of a guide and motivate their subordinates to resolve the problems of the general public at the local level and provide them relief According to the official statement the DGP stressed on motivating the police personnel to solve peoples problems He directed the additional superintendents of police to review cases on a daily basis He asked them to work towards bringing the criminals to justice by serving summons on time in the cases taken up under the Case Officer SchemeUnder the scheme police are required to follow up prosecution of select cases till the conclusion of trials As 45 to 50 per cent of the cases related to rape and Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the state were allegedly found to be false Lather directed the officers to take effective action against those who filed such complaints PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Jan 27 PTI After the Rajasthan transport department made it mandatory for driving license applicants to declare their willingness for organ donation or otherwise over 314 lakh candidates have taken the pledge an official said on Thursday This figure is probably the highest in the entire country Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Mahendra Soni said He said due to the non-availability of organs in India more than five lakh people die prematurely every year The departments initiative is receiving continuous support Now the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation SOTO run by the state government has also joined us to take this campaign forward he said Data of those driving license holders that have pledged for organ donation will be handed over to SOTO so that the counselling of the consenting licensees and their relatives will be easier in the event of any casualty he said After a meeting of the transport department officials and those from SOTO Soni released a poster that read Yes I support organ donation PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Jan 27 PTI Governor and Chancellor Kalraj Mishra on Thursday asked universities in the state to set an example for other states in implementing the new education policy and deciding the curriculum under it Phased efforts are being made to implement the new education policy from the coming academic season by interacting with the vice-chancellors of various universities from time to time he said during the 18th convocation of Jai Narain Vyas University Jodhpur which was held virtually Playback singer Lata Mangeshkar was awarded DLit at the convocation while scientist MS Swaminathan was also awarded an honourary degree Mishra called for effective work in universities for vocational education and skill development along with traditional education He also called upon teachers to update the curriculum and directed them to include Indian knowledge and culture in it The chancellor said it is necessary to develop the spirit of self-reliance from an early age in order to become independent after obtaining an education To achieve this he suggested preparing practical courses in collaboration with the Rajasthan Skill Development University Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Jodhpur is the only big city in the country to have several higher educational institutions of national repute such as the Indian Institute of Technology All India Institute of Medical Science National Institute of Fashion Technology Footwear Design and Development Institute National Law University and Police University He said a digital university will soon be setup in the city for which the state government has sanctioned Rs 400 crore He said the process of land allotment is underway Gehlot said Rajasthan which was once considered a backward state has now been making progress in every field PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Jan 27 PTI BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena on Thursday reiterated his demand for a CBI inquiry into REET-2021 paper leak case alleging that a cabinet minister and a senior bureaucrat were involved in the leak Without naming anybody Meena said even the Special Operations Group SOG of the police that is investigating the case had accepted that the paper was leaked from Shiksha Sankul the state directorate of education Meena said the tender for printing question papers for the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers-2021 REET was awarded to a Kolkata-based printer who is an acquaintance of the minister The printer the minister and the bureaucrats divided the bribe money among themselves after the paper leak I will soon furnish enough evidences The matter should be investigated by the CBI and the exam should be cancelled and conducted afresh Meena told reporters here He also alleged that SOG inspector Mohan Poswal and constable Nathu had arrested several innocents in connection with the case but took no action against the culprits Rajasthan Unemployment Unified Federation president Upen Yadav too demanded a CBI inquiry into the case besides pressing for an increase in the number of vacancies He said the state government should introduce an amendment bill in the next Rajasthan Assembly session to make cases of paper leak a non-bailable offence Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia had previously slammed former school education minister Govind Singh Dotasra saying he had converted Rajasthan Public Service Commission into Rishtedaar relative Public Service Commission The SOG has so far arrested 35 people in connection with the case The government had suspended one RAS and two RPS officers 13 personnel of the education department and three other policemen for allegedly being involved in suspicious activities and irregularities during the exam held on September 26 last year PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Jan 21 PTI Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him not to go ahead with an amendment proposing a change in deputation rule for IAS officers The chief minister said the amendment to Rule 6 of the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Rules 1954 will enable the Union government call an officer on deputation without the consent of the officer concerned and the state government He said the proposed change is going to affect the spirit of cooperative federalism This will violate the constitutional jurisdiction prescribed for the central and state governments and reduce the spirit of working fearlessly and faithfully he said Quoting Indias first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Gehlot said If you want an efficient all-India service I advise you that you give the services an opportunity to express themselves freely If you are a service recipient it will be your duty to allow your secretary or chief secretary or other services under you to express their opinion without fear or favour Without it you will not have Akhand Bharat He said a good all-India service will be the one in which there is freedom to speak your mind in which there is a sense of security that you can stick to your word and your rights and privileges are protected This amendment is against the basic spirit of the Constitution Gehlot said adding that framers of the Constitution had conceptualised the all-India services keeping in mind the public welfare and the spirit of federalismThese will harm efforts of the states to achieve the goals set by the Constitution he added Gehlot urged the prime minister to personally intervene and put an end to the attack on the Constitution of India and the autonomy of the states through the proposed amendment PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Jan 19 PTI Expressing concern over the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the state the Rajasthan Council of Ministers on Wednesday emphasized on achieving 100 per cent vaccination The number of patients have more than doubled in a week Currently there are around 69000 active cases in the state Health Secretary Ashutosh AT Pednekar said during a virtual meeting headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Officials informed the ministers that the positivity rate has been on the rise for the last few weeks and it has doubled from 761 per cent to 1552 per cent in a week In order to check this the ministers stressed on focused sampling and strict enforcement of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour In a statement the Rajasthan government urged the Centre to launch a vaccination drive covering adolescents above 12 years as several countries have already been vaccinating much younger children It stated that the move to inoculate adolescents on priority was necessary as a sizeable population of children in India suffer from malnutrition Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said the state is fully prepared to tackle the third wave He said 944 per cent citizens above 18 years have received the first dose while 78 per cent people are fully vaccinated Also 565 percent of adolescent girls have been administered the first dose he said adding that the state fares better than the national average Meanwhile Rajasthans Budget Session is scheduled to begin on February 9 It will be an unprecedented budget Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told reporters after the meeting PTI AG CJ CJ

Jaipur Dec 19 PTI An African-origin woman was arrested with over 2 kg heroin worth Rs 15 crore at the Jaipur International Airport a customs official said on Sunday The woman had arrived from Sharjah United Arab Emirates on an Air Arabia aircraft and was intercepted after landing at the airport Upon frisking about 2150 kg heroin was seized from her the official said He said the narcotics substance was concealed in the bag which was cut open and found it to be heroin The samples of the substance have been sent for laboratory and the woman is being interrogated he said PTI AG CJ CJ