Rajasthan's New Congress President Name this week

The Congress high command on Monday elevated five more members of the Rajasthan PCC as members of the AICC. These included MLAs Pratap Singh Khachariawas and Rajendra Singh Vidhuri. The other three are Vijendra Singh Inderpura, Banarasi Meghwal and Giriraj Garg. According party sources, the new president would now be declared after Diwali. The party hopefuls have, however, not relented in staking their claim for the top post. Even as two first time MPs from the state are being mentioned among those leading the race, party veterans believe the high command may ‘paradrop’ someone from outside Rajasthan this time.
The party leadership is believed to be keeping the option open considering the reported division among state leaders into different coteries. “An outsider as party president would be able to consolidate the organisation better under these circumstances,” a senior party leader said. For the time being all eyes are set on whether the new president would be a ‘follower’ of the sitting party chief Joshi or the chief minister Ashok Gehlot. If Joshi’s immediate predecessors are considered, the history has been against Gehlot. Former party presidents BD Kalla, Narayan Singh and Girija Vyas are hardly known to be followers of the chief minister.

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Jodhpur price Shivraj Singh to wed on 18 November

Jodhpur prince Shivraj Singh’s wedding with Rajkumari Gayatri Kumari of Askot (Uttarakhand), slated for November 18 in Jaipur, will be an out and out traditional wedding. The wedding ceremony will take place in Rambagh Palace with 400 plus baraatis coming from Jodhpur. The baraat will leave the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur with traditional ‘nikasi’ on November 16 evening. It will be a regal and splendorous event with full pomp and pageantry. Shivraj Singh will be in the vintage Rolls Royce of the Jodhpur royal garage.
In Jaipur, the baraat will enter from the main gate (Bhawani Singh Road) of the Rambagh Palace and will go up to the entry gate. The baraat will comprise mainly of the erstwhile nobles, family friends and celebrities comprising only of men. They will be dressed in the traditional achkan/sherwani/churidars and colourful safas. The guests, other than the baraatis, will have to follow the dress code of national dress or lounge suits. These guests will comprise union and state ministers, senior bureaucrats, friends, celebrities, among others.

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Oracle to acquire Art Technology in $1 Billion

Oracle Corp will snap up e-commerce software solutions provider Art Technology Group in an all cash deal worth USD 1 billion. The latest acquisition, expected to be completed by early next year, would bolster Oracle's capability to offer industry-specific enterprise solutions. Oracle today said it has agreed to buyout Art Technology Group (ATG) for USD 6 per share in a deal valued at nearly USD 1 billion. ATG's solutions enable enterprises to offer sophisticated merchandising, marketing, content personalisation, automated recommendations, and live-help services. "The addition of ATG... furthers Oracle's strategy of delivering industry-specific enterprise applications," Oracle's Executive Vice President (Oracle Global Business Units) Bob Weiler said.
Subject to shareholders' and regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close by early 2011. ATG's President and CEO Bob Burke said that over 1,000 global enterprises rely on the company's solutions.

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Lyricist Ramnath Kamlakar passed away

Lyricist and litterateur Ramnath Kamlakar died here today at the age of 86 after protracted illness, family members said. Kamlakar, who breathed his last at his residence, was was the recipient of several awards. He had set up a number of literary institutes which included Jai Sahitya in the Pink City and Kavi Gul in Kota. His mortal remains were consigned to flames later in the evening. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condoled his death saying he was a great writer of his time.

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Rajasthan's Deepak Chahar takes 8 Wickets, Hyderabad 21 all out

Rajasthan's debutant medium-pacer Deepak Chahar bowled a sensational spell to dismiss Hyderabad for just 21 runs, setting a record for the lowest team total in Ranji Trophy. In fact, it was a 75-year old record that was broken Monday. In the first Ranji Trophy season in 1934-35 Southern Punjab were bowled out for 22 chasing 114 against Northern India, which was the lowest total so far. Hyderabad also equalled the record for the lowest total in India's first-class cricket. In 1915-16, the Europeans bundled the Mohammedans out for 21 in the Bombay Quadrangular.
Debutant pacer Deepak Chahar, 18, wreaked havoc by taking eight wickets for ten runs to inflict the humiliating record on Hyderabad. The previous lowest total was registered by Southern Punjab, who were all out of 22 in a chase of 114 against Northern India in Amritsar in 1934-35 in the first edition of the domestic cricket tournament. Hyderabad also equalled the record for the lowest total in India's first-class cricket history. Way back in 1915-16, Mohammedans were also out for 21 against Bombay Quadrangular.
Medium pacer Chahar would have not have thought of such a dream debut as he recorded sensational figures of 7.3-2-10-8. His pace colleague Pankaj Singh claimed the other two wickets. Chahar had a chance to get a hat-trick after dismissing MP Arjun and Alfred Absolem in the last ball of his seventh over and the first of his eighth but Pagadala Naidu denied him the milestone by managing to survive that ball. The young paceman's performance though was not best ever on debut as Maharashtra's Vasant Ranjane had taken nine wickets for 56 run against Saurashtra in 1956-57.

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Jaipur to get AC Buses by early 2011

Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL) is yet to arrange it's share of funds to purchase buses, it will take at least two more months for air-conditioned buses to hit the city roads. The JCTSL has applied for loans worth R 50 crore with various banks to contribute its share in the purchase of the buses. The JCTSL has to spend 30% of the total cost of the project as it will be realised under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM). A JCTSL official revealed that they have applied for the loan and it may take some time. AC buses would be used for public transportation and also for the transportation for the tourists who visit the city.
JCTSL Managing Director Malini Agarwal said, "Some of the buses will be used for public transportation and some for tourists who keep visiting Jaipur." Adding further she said, "We will ply these buses to and fro at the tourists spots. It may take two more months to introduce AC buses." Initially as many as 20 AC buses would be used for the passengers. At present JCTSL is busy arranging funds for these buses from the state and centre governments and through banks loans. The introduction of AC buses is part of the low floor buses project (Jaipur Bus). The JCTSL is taking up the project in phases. After introducing around 220 buses in the city, the JCTSL has also introduced buses in the sub-urban areas. The JCTSL is also identifying other routes in the sub-urban areas for those commuters who visit the city daily for their jobs.

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RSS to hold nationwide protest on 10 November

RSS leader Indresh Kumar has not been seen since he was named by the Rajasthan Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) in the chargesheet in the Ajmer blasts case. But today he showed up at the RSS conclave in Jalgaon to defend himself. He denied any involvement in the incident in which three persons were killed and 15 others injured. "This is a political conspiracy and all these charges are baseless and an attempt to malign me and defame my organisation," Indresh told reporters. "We believe in the judicial process and Indian Constitution. Everything will be clear," he said. To a query on how his telephone number figured in one of the diaries of the accused he said, "anybody's number can be in anyone's diary. It does not mean or prove anything."
During the three-day meeting of the Sangh conclave, the RSS discussed ways to counter the arrest of its men in the blasts. And now the Sangh Parivar has thrown its weight behind Indresh. Faced with charges against its men for blasts in Ajmer and Malegaon, the Sangh has decided to agitate. On November 10, the RSS will hold a nationwide protest against what it calls a witch hunt against it, by the Congress. And for the first time since the Emergency, the RSS chief will be heading the protests.

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States to revamp PDS to protect poor from inflation - Govt

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked states to revamp the public distribution system to protect the poor from inflation. Talking to reporters at Jangipur in West Bengal Mukherjee said the government programme for providing subsidised rice and wheat to 6.5 crore below poverty line or BPL families can be successfully implented only if the public distribution system is revamped. The Finance Minister pointed out that inflation numbers have started coming down and all three consumer price indexes and wholesale price-based inflation numbers are in single digits for the first time in sixteen months. He also said, Reserve Bank of India will try to strike a balance between growth and inflation at its monetary policy review next week. The central bank will come out with monetary policy review next week. However, he refused to give any guidance on the steps likely to be taken by the central bank at its November 2 monetary policy review. "We have to wait till monetary review by RBI," he said.
The RBI is expected to increase short-time lending and borrowing rates by 25 basis points each at the forthcoming quarterly monetary policy review. The economy is giving conflicting signals, with inflation still at high levels, whereas core sector growth has slowed down considerably. The Finance Minister said that prices of certain items generally go up in the rainy season, but admitted that this time around, the upward spiral had persisted for a longer duration than usual. "No doubt, inflation is a concern."

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