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Rajasthan begins preparations to revive tourism as COVID situation eases

In a review meeting of the Tourism Department, Gehlot stressed on the effective marketing of key tourist destinations, fairs and festivals of the state at the international level.

He said foreign tourists are not coming due to the coronavirus pandemic and in such a situation, domestic tourism should be promoted.

The chief minister said the Tourism Policy-2020 announced by the state government focuses on promoting adventure tourism, night tourism, weekend tourism and rural tourism and this will give impetus to tourism in the state.

"The tourism policy, which came after nearly 20 years in the state, will also help in bringing the tourism sector back on track which is facing a crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement quoting Gehlot said.

Rajasthan Minister of State for Tourism Govind Singh Dotasra, Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya and other senior officials of the department were present in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan recorded 20 coronavirus-related deaths and 277 fresh positive cases on Monday, taking the total number of fatalities and case tally to 8,842 and 9,49,961 respectively, an official bulletin stated.

Six deaths were reported from Jaipur and four deaths in Bikaner besides deaths reported in other cities, according to the official report.

Of the fresh cases, Jaipur reported the most cases with 60 followed by Alwar with 37 cases.

A total of 9,34,652 people have recovered from the viral infection while the number of active cases stands at 6,467.

Also Read | Nearly 5,000 vehicles enter Shimla as COVID-19 restrictions ease

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Explained: Rajasthan’s amended law that makes misbehaviour with tourists a cognisable offence

Touts, known locally as lapka, are a persisting trouble at popular tourist sites in the state. they often mislead and force tourists to shop to make money and get a commission. and tourism is a key industry in rajasthan..

The Rajasthan Assembly on Monday (September 13) passed a Bill to amend the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act, 2010. Notably, it makes misbehaviour with tourists, especially by touts, a cognisable offence in Rajasthan with repeated offence being non-bailable.

What is the new bill about?

The Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, inserts a new section 27-A in the 2010 Act. The section is defined as “Offences to be cognizable: All the offences punishable under this Act shall be cognizable and bailable,” subject to the certain conditions, wherein the repeat offence will be non-bailable.

Sub sections 3 and 4 under section 13 of the 2010 Act have been made cognisable and non-bailable. Section 13 deals with “prohibition of certain acts and activities in the tourist places, areas and destinations,” which prohibits touting, begging and hawking articles for sale in or around any tourist places. The sub sections 3 and 4 deal with habitual offenders.

What prompted the bill?

Touts, known locally as lapka, are a persisting trouble at popular tourist sites in the state. They often mislead and force tourists to shop – usually at exorbitant prices in connivance with the establishments – to make money and get a commission. And tourism is a key industry in Rajasthan – it witnessed 5.2 crore domestic and 16 lakh foreign tourists in 2019.

So, the Bill mainly seeks to prevent touts around the tourist sites, with Minister of state for Tourism Govind Singh Dotasra saying that the “earlier law wasn’t for troubling beggars, and nor is it now,” referring to the 2010 law and the current amendment.

Since 2018, the police and the Tourism Department have taken action against close to a thousand touts. However, they are let off easily after paying a fine and subsequently return to touting and troubling the tourists.

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What is the High Court order that led to the bill?

Following the 2010 Act, the state had started tourist police stations in Jaipur and Udaipur. In one of the cases, an FIR was lodged in 2016 and a challan was filed. However, the accused Mohammad Hanif Qureshi and Kailash Saini went to court and in January 2017, the Rajasthan High Court quashed the FIR on the ground that offences punishable under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 13 of the 2010 Act are not specifically provided in the Act as cognisable.

Essentially, the 2010 Act was toothless in cracking down on the touts.

Replying to the debate on the bill in the Assembly, Dotasra said that the 2010 Act was brought in to prevent misbehaviour with the tourists and ensure that they go back with good experiences. “However, the Act did not specify whether the provision for punishment was cognisable or not, or whether it was bailable,” Dotasra said.

“Following the HC order, the police could not file an FIR, nor could the court take any strict action. However, the police and the Tourism Department took action against 208 touts in 2018, 462 in 2019, 194 in 2020 and 102 in 2021. But since the crime isn’t cognisable, a complaint is filed in court and the accused is let off after paying a fine. Hence, the record was not maintained and the repeat offence of the crime could not be proved. But it wouldn’t be so anymore,” Dotasra said.

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Rajasthan government plans to announce a new policy to boost tourism

Depending on the tourism sector demand, some changes are made in the policy every year and, accordingly, new policies are introduced.

Tourists ride a camel, in Udaipur (Photo: PTI)

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Pkl 2023: jaipur pink panthers players list, price and live stream details, rajasthan elections: govt submits traffic and sanitation plan to hc, tax roadblock to tourism drive: india isn't 1st choice for foreign tourists, maldives as tourist hub: its history and what lies ahead for island nation, rajasthan assembly elections: congress releases fifth list of 5 candidates, up religious tourism gets rs 85k cr boost: ayodhya, varanasi top gainers, over 1 lakh people attend textile expo 'bharat tex'; 63 mous announced, rajnath singh to inaugurate new building of naval war college, goa on mar 5, blast at bengaluru rameshwaram cafe injures 5; everything we know so far, india likely to experience warmer start to summer season this year: imd.

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First Published: Mar 01 2024 | 5:40 PM IST

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Rajasthan's Rs 13.48 crore aid to boost religious tourism ahead of polls

A spokesperson said the state government has been continuously working to promote religious tourism and develop various facilities for pilgrims at these places.

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The Rajasthan government on Monday sanctioned Rs 13.48 crore to promote religious tourism in the Nagaur, Jaisalmer and Alwar regions of the state.

Under the initiative, Rs 3.1 crore has been sanctioned for Butati in Nagaur district, Rs 1.65 crore for Ghatveshwar Mahadev Temple, Rs 1.61 crore for Harmal Das Ji Maharaj Temple and Rs 1.36 crore for improving facilities at Dargah Hazrat Samman Badi Khatu.

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Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved funds worth Rs 1.5 crore to develop the Shri Kaledungar Rai Temple complex, a historical religious tourist place in Jaisalmer.

Besides, an aid of Rs 4.24 crore has been sanctioned for the development of Mataji Mandir and Ganga Mata Mandir, Talvriksha in Alwar's Bansur Fort.

Notably, the announcement in this regard was made in the 2023-24 budget.

The desert state will go to the polls later this year.

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Dubai Metro update: Avoid delays with new peak hour measures

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To avoid delays, plan your journeys ahead of time

Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is implementing temporary crowd management measures to ensure everyone's safety during peak hours on the Dubai Metro. This applies from 7:00 am to 9:30 am and 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm daily.

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To avoid delays, plan your journeys ahead of time.

The RTA stated on X that station signage and staff will be available to guide commuters as the authorities navigate these temporary measures.

"We apologise for any inconvenience and reassure you that our foremost concern is ensuring you reach your destinations," the RTA added.

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IPL 2024 match today, LSG vs MI: Check likely XIs, head-to-head record, pitch report, and fantasy XI

Ipl 2024 match today, lsg vs mi: lucknow super giants have had the upper hand, leading mumbai indians 3-1 in the head-to-head..

Lucknow Super Giants are all set to host the five-time former champions Mumbai Indians at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday. The KL-Rahul-led side is currently placed at the No.5 spot with 10 points in the bank. MI, on the other hand, are clinging on to the edge of the cliff with their fingernails in the playoffs climb at No.9 with 6 points in their hands.

The Super Giants will also be looking to get back to winning ways on home turf after losing their previous encounter against the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals last Saturday. After posting 196 runs with emphatic knocks from skipper KL Rahul (76 off 48 balls) and Deepak Hooda (50 off 31 balls), LSG were blown away by unbeaten Sanju Samson (71 of 33 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (52 of 34) who seized the match for RR.

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Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai conceded their second defeat on the trot by the rising Delhi Capitals in another high-scoring encounter on Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The guests were welcomed with a spell-binding knock from Jake Fraser McGurk (84 off 27 deliveries) and quick-fire cameos from Shai Hope and Tristian Stubbs that helped Delhi post a gigantic 257-run total on the board.

The five-time former champions slithered in the powerplay after losing Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. However, skipper Hardik Pandya joined hands with Tilak Verma who scored 63 off 32 balls and kept the team’s hopes alive. Despite their spirited effort, the team fell short by 10 runs.

LSG kickstarted their IPL 2024 campaign on a high after losing only one clash in their first 4 matches. However, they have only managed to win only 2 of the last 5 matches they have played so far. While the playoffs chances aren’t ruled for MI, a win over the hosts will earn them brownie points in the race.

LSG playing XI (If batting first)

Quinton De Kock, KL Rahul (c/wk), Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Yash Thakur, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan.

LSG playing XI (if bowling first)

KL Rahul (c/wk), Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra

Impact players: Devdutt Paddikal, Krishnappa Gowtham, M Siddharth, Arshin Kulkarni. 

MI likely XI (if batting first)

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Surykumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Mohammad Nabi, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Luke Wood, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla

MI likely XI (if bowling first)

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Verma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (c), Mohammad Nabi, Tim David, Luke Wood, Nuwan Thushara, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla

Impact players: Nuwan Thushara, Surykumar Yadav, Akash Madhwal, Dewald Brewis

Head-to-head

Both teams have met each other on 4 occasions where the Lucknow Super Giants have had the upper hand, leading 3-1 in the head-to-head.

Pitch report

The Ekana Stadium is considered a tricky surface due to its slow nature. The pitch offers help to the spinners as well as the medium pacers in the initial phases of the game. Out of the 12 games played at this venue, 5 matches have been won by the team batting second. Lucknow lost their last encounter against the high-flying Rajasthan Royals, who managed to chase 196 runs set by the hosts.

Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (c), Tilak Verma, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Ravi Bishnoi, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Matt Henry

At HT Sports Desk, passionate reporters work round the clock to provide detailed updates from the world of sports. Expect nuanced match reports, previews,reviews, technical analysis based on statistics, the latest social media trends, expert opinions on cricket, football, tennis, badminton, hockey,motorsports, wrestling, boxing, shooting, athletics and much more. ...view detail

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Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ Who Would Take India’s Wealth

The direct language used against the country’s largest minority was a contrast to the image Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents on the world stage.

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By Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj

Reporting from New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents gained power — unusually direct and divisive language from a leader who normally lets others do the dirtiest work of polarizing Hindus against Muslims.

Mr. Modi, addressing voters in the state of Rajasthan, referred to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Mr. Singh, Mr. Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”

Mr. Modi aimed his emotional appeal at women, addressing “my mothers and sisters” to say that his Congress opponents would take their gold and give it to Muslims.

Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ in Speech During India Elections

Prime minister narendra modi of india was criticized by the opposition for remarks he made during a speech to voters in rajasthan state..

I’m sorry, this is a very disgraceful speech made by the prime minister. But, you know, the fact is that people realize that when he says the Congress Party is going to take all your wealth and give it to the Muslims, that this is just a nakedly communal appeal which normally any civilized election commission would disallow and warn the candidate for speaking like this.

Implications like these — that Muslims have too many babies, that they are coming for Hindus’ wives and daughters, that their nationality as Indian is itself in doubt — are often made by representatives of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P.

Mr. Modi’s use of such language himself, as he campaigns for a third term in office, raised alarm that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims , and brought up questions about what had prompted his shift in communication style. Usually, Mr. Modi avoids even using the word “Muslims,” coyly finding ways to refer indirectly to India’s largest minority group, of 200 million people.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, called Mr. Modi’s remarks “hate speech.” Asaduddin Owaisi, who represents the only national party for Muslims, lamented how “common Hindus are made to fear Muslims while their wealth is being used to enrich others.”

Tom Vadakkan, a spokesman for the B.J.P., said that Mr. Modi’s speech was being misinterpreted. “This is not about our compatriots, the Muslims,” he said. Mr. Modi was talking only about “infiltrators,” according to Mr. Vadakkan.

The prime minister’s fiery oration, delivered in 100-degree heat in the town of Banswara in arid Rajasthan, marked a contrast to the image he presents in international contexts.

During a visit to the White House in June, Mr. Modi said there was “no question of discrimination” in India. When he played host to the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi three months later, he chose the theme “the world is one family”(in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of orthodox Hinduism).

He put his own face on soft-power outreach programs like World Yoga Day, broadcast to Times Square, using it to present a Hindu-centric India as a benign “teacher to the world.”

Campaigns that divide Hindus and Muslims can be useful in animating the hard-right Hindu base of Mr. Modi’s otherwise broad-based electorate, especially in places like Banswara, where Hindus outnumber Muslims by three to one.

With his remarks, Mr. Modi may have been trying to close a divide that has opened among Hindus in Rajasthan over whether to support the B.J.P., with one prominent group holding protests over comments made by a party official.

But the prime minister’s speech was also clearly intended for a wider audience; he shared a clip on his official social media channels.

The B.J.P. remains the favorite to win another parliamentary majority when six weeks of voting concludes on June 1 and ballots are counted three days later. Mr. Kharge, the Congress party president, called Mr. Modi’s speech — perhaps hopefully — a sign of desperation, adding that opposition candidates must be faring well in the early stages of balloting.

Neerja Chowdhury, a columnist and the author of “How Prime Ministers Decide,” echoed Mr. Kharge, saying that, in her view, “voters are expressing their dissatisfaction much more openly this time.” The B.J.P. is capable of a swift course correction, she added, because “they get feedback very quickly.”

Rahul Gandhi, the public face of the Congress party , said that Mr. Modi’s comments had been intended as a diversion from subjects that trouble ordinary voters, like joblessness and inflation.

That the prime minister alluded to religion at all in his speech drew complaints that he may have violated India’s election rules.

Candidates are supposed to be barred from asking for votes in the name of religion or caste. But B.J.P. leaders regularly invoke Hindu deities during campaign rallies. The country’s Election Commission, which enforces the rules, has taken little action against the party, even as it has moved against members of other parties in similar cases.

Uddhav Thackeray, a former ally of Mr. Modi’s who is now running against the B.J.P., declared that he would now ignore an Election Commission order to remove the word “Hindu” from his own party’s campaign song.

The basis for Mr. Modi’s attack was a 22-second excerpt from a statement that Mr. Singh, a Sikh economist who was the prime minister before Mr. Modi, made in 2006. Mr. Singh had been listing many of the traditionally disadvantaged groups in India, including lower-caste Hindus and tribal populations, and “in particular the Muslim community,” and said that all should share equitably in the nation’s wealth.

Since Mr. Modi took office in 2014, Muslims haven’t had a proportional share of India’s steady economic and social development . Just one of the 430 candidates the B.J.P. is fielding in the current election is Muslim.

Mr. Singh’s speech from 2006 seems old now, but it was made just four years after riots in the state of Gujarat under the watch of Mr. Modi. Hindus and Muslims hacked and burned one another and at least 1,000 died, most of them Muslims.

An earlier version of this article misstated the number of Muslim candidates that the B.J.P. is fielding in India’s current election. It is one, not zero.

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Alex Travelli is a correspondent for The Times based in New Delhi, covering business and economic matters in India and the rest of South Asia. He previously worked as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. More about Alex Travelli

Suhasini Raj is a reporter based in New Delhi who has covered India for The Times since 2014. More about Suhasini Raj