Congress chief of Himachal Pradesh Pratibha Singh informed that they will be holding a meeting to decide upon the name of the Chief Minister of the hill state in the evening.

In his petition before the high court on Thursday, the state's deputy leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Rajendra Rathore, demanded that the HC direct the Assembky Speaker to arrive at a 'decision' on the mass resignations on September 25, at the earliest.

Jaipur Apr 23 PTI In the continued slugfest between the BJP and Congress over the demolition of two temples in the Alwar district a saffron party MP on Friday asserted that the Rajgarh municipality headed by his party had not cleared any proposal to demolish the shrines Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore alleged that the temples were demolished in haste without any clearance by any senior government official in the district The temples were demolished when Alwars district collector had been transferred and his successor was yet to assume charge alleged Rathore Sticking to the Congress charge Rajasthans Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas asked the BJP to tender an apology to the country for allegedly demolishing the temple in a town with its municipal body headed by them Two temples were demolished during an anti-encroachment drive in Alwar districts Rajgarh dearly this week triggering an exchange of barbs on Friday between the Congress and BJP in Rajasthan Rajgarh is a BJP-run municipality in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan In a news conference here Rathore also accused the Rajasthan government of pursuing the politics of appeasement and hurting the sentiments of the majority community He said the demolition of the temples was nowhere in the proposal presented before the municipal committee board and in any case no religious place can be demolished without the permission of senior officers such as the district collector The temple was demolished in a hurry when the previous collector was relieved from duty and the new collector was yet to take the charge he alleged This action was done with a malicious intention of vengeance The incident of Alwar and the violence in Karauli are known to everyone Section 144 is being imposed on Hindu yatras in the state The way appeasement politics is being done in Rajasthan for a particular community is crystal clear Rathore said He said it seems a Talibani mindset exists in the Ashok Gehlot government in the state where cases of atrocities on women and Dalits are on the rise and the government is miserably failing in providing drinking water to the people A five-member BJP panel headed by state president Satish Poonia visited Rajgarh where two temples and some shops were demolished on Sunday While one temple was completely demolished and one partially The owners of the completely demolished temple had removed the idols The sanctum sanctorum of the partially demolished temple was stated to be intact BJP MP Sumedhanand Sarawasti who was a member of the fact-finding committee said The 300-year-old temple has been demolished the Congress government and the chief minister should publicly apologise The idols should be installed respectfully by getting the temples rebuilt he further demanded On the other hand Rajasthan minister Khachariyawas said the BJP should apologise to the country as they are spreading lies after demolishing temples in Rajgarh here the municipal body headed by them cleared the proposal to bring down the temples There is documentary evidence that Nagar Palika Board had made the proposal to this effect The BJP is conspiring to foment communal riots in the entire state by misusing social media The BJP wants to win the lost battle in Rajasthan But I will tell them that they hastened in spoiling the atmosphere as the assembly elections are due after one and a half years Khachariyawas said Former Congress MP Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Tikaram Jully also reached Rajgarh to inspect the demolished temples BJPs Rajya Sabha member Kirodi Lal Meena tweeted on Saturday Former MP Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and Minister Tikaram Jully have assured the reconstruction of temples in Rajgarh but my other demands are compensation to people whose houses were demolished and to punish officials involved in this misdeed He said he had also demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter but his demands were yet to be met PTI AG AG RAX RAX

New Delhi Apr 19 PTI The strike called by drivers attached to ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Ola demanding subsidy on CNG prices and revision of fare rates entered its second day on TuesdayHowever auto-rickshaw and yellow-black taxi unions which were a part of the strike on Monday have decided to postpone their stir bringing much-needed relief to DelhiitesAs the app-based cabs remained off the roads several people faced difficulties due to non-availability of rides and surge pricingI am trying to book a cab for my office in Noida Film City from Mayur Vihar but the fare is high due to the strike I usually pay around Rs 300 but today the estimated fare is around Rs 700 Nilesh Kumar a commuter saidHowever the impact of the strike was minimized on Tuesday as auto-rickshaws and yellow-black taxis resumed services I tried booking a cab but the waiting period was about 15-20 minutes and that too on higher rates Since autos were plying today so I decided to take an auto to Lajpat Nagar from AIIMS another commuter Deepika Chaudhary saidRavi Rathore president of Sarvodaya Driver Welfare Association Delhi which represents drivers attached to app-based cab aggregators said a decision on whether to continue the strike or postpone it will be taken in the eveningCab drivers also staged a protest at Jantar Mantar to press for their demands Ola Uber cabs are not plying on the roads today Our protest at Jantar Mantar has started A call on the future course of action will taken in the evening Rathore told PTIRathore said apart from the subsidy on CNG the government should also consider revision of faresIt has become tough for auto and cab drivers to survive after hike in fuel prices Fares of app-based cabs have not been revised for a long time in the city Seeing the steep rise in CNG prices the government should increase fares Rathore demanded PTI AKM TDS TDS

Jaipur Feb 21 PTI Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday ruled out the possibility of deferring the RAS Mains examination saying doing so will put financial and mental pressure on the candidates Gehlots statement came amid BJP leaders demanding postponement of the Rajasthan Administrative Service Mains examination The Congress leaders too have lent support to the agitating candidates who have been demanding its deferment saying they were left in the lurch due to change in syllabus and unavailability of adequate study material Gehlot said it is the priority of the state government to complete all recruitments in a stipulated time by organising competitive examinations in a time-bound manner The Rajasthan Public Service Commission RPSC and Rajasthan Staff Selection Board conduct various examinations to fill vacant posts in the state government departments after releasing the recruitment calendar RAS Mains examination is scheduled to be conducted on February 25 and 26 as per the RPSC calendar an official statement said Gehlot said majority of the candidates wanted the examination to be held as per the schedule Postponement of examinations is not in the interest of most of the candidates as it will put financial and mental pressure on them In such a situation the demand to postpone the Mains exam by some candidates is not justified he said The chief minister said it is necessary to maintain a gap of 90 to 100 days between the preliminary and mains examinations to complete the process of RAS recruitment in three phases - preliminary mains and interview in one year Any delay puts an additional pressure on the candidates preparing for the RAS exams Other competitive examinations too may get delayed if RAS Mains is deferred he said Gehlot said the preliminary examination of RAS recruitment 2021 was organised on October 27 2021 and its result was declared on November 19 2021 In such a situation candidates preparing for the Mains got adequate time Few candidates demanding the postponement of Mains examination stating that they did not get adequate time to prepare due to change in the syllabus of the examination is not logical because the RPSC had already issued a clarification earlier that slight changes had been made in the syllabus These are contemporary changes made according to the current circumstances Gehlot said The chief ministersaid the newly-added topics are related to the existing subjects and most of the syllabus remained the same Gehlot said the state government had constituted the Kumawat Committee to suggest measures for smooth conduct of competitive examinations And according to the recommendations of this committee the examinations are being conducted as per the recruitment calendar released by the RPSC He said the incumbent government has so far provided appointments to 1 lakh youth in government departments and around 1 lakh recruitments in various departments are in process because of its resolve to complete the recruitment processes in a time-bound manner Earlier in the day independent MLA Sanyam Lodha who is also an advisor to Gehlot had written to the chief minister urging him to defer the examination by two to three months Syllabus has been changed and time for preparation is only three months Necessary book material is not available in the market It is a request to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to provide relief to RAS aspirants by postponing the exam Lodha had stated RAS Mains exam is scheduled to be held on February 25 and 26 for which aspirants have been protesting in parts of the state Lodha said the syllabus for the RAS Mains examination is vast and more extensive than that of the Union Public Service Commissions civil service examinations Some new subjects too have been added in the syllabus for which more time for preparation is needed he added Congress MLA from Chaksu Assembly constituency Ved Prakash Solankitoo has urged Gehlot to get the examination deferred by some time I request respected Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to postpone the RAS Mains exam and give ample time to candidates for the preparation Change in mains syllabus after prelims result has not given proper time to the candidates Solanki said Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena and Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore too had written to chief inister CM Gehlot seeking rescheduling of the examination PTI AG CJ CJ