JAIPUR: A member of Jaipur’s former royal family and BJP MP Diya Kumari has claimed that the land on which the Taj Mahal was constructed originally belonged to Jaipur’s ruler Jai Singh. In an interaction with the media on Wednesday, Diya Kumari also asserted that the land was acquired by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and records of the same are available with the erstwhile Jaipur royal family.

Diya Kumari has virtually claimed that the Taj Mahal, a symbol of love of and one of the seven wonders of the world, was built on property that originally belonged to the former royal family of Jaipur. The BJP MP has claimed that she has documents to show that earlier the Taj Mahal used to be the palace of the old royal family of Jaipur which was captured by Shah Jahan.  When Shah Jahan took that palace and land of the Jaipur family, the family could not oppose him because it was then ruled by him.

Diya Kumari remarked that people have the right to know what was there before the monument was built and the entire issue should be investigated. The member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family further said that there are records available with the Jaipur family to prove all her claims and it would provide them if the need arises.

The BJP MP asserted, “this was the land of our royal family and Shah Jahan had occupied it. At that time the government belonged to him.  I have heard that he was compensated in return, but at that time there was no law to appeal against him or do anything against him.”

MP Diya Kumari further added, ‘I will not say that the Taj Mahal should be demolished but its rooms should be opened.  Some rooms in the Taj Mahal are closed and some parts are sealed there for a long time.  It must be inquired and opened so that it can be known what was there and what was not.  All those facts will be established once we have a proper inquiry.”

As is well-known, Ayodhya’s BJP leader Dr Rajneesh Singh has filed a petition in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in UP regarding the Taj Mahal.  In his petition, Dr Singh has demanded a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to open those 22 rooms of the Taj Mahal which have been closed for a long time.  The petitioner says that the Taj Mahal may contain sculptures and inscriptions of Hindu gods and goddesses.  If the survey is done, then it will be known whether there are Hindu idols and inscriptions in the Taj Mahal or not.

BJP MP Diya Kumari has openly supported that plea and said “it is good that someone raised his voice and filed a petition in the court.” Diya Kumari said that the truth must come out from this and asserted that Documents present in their possession can help to bring out the truth and they are ready to give the same. The BJP MP promised that “if documents are needed, then our royal family of Jaipur is ready to share them.  If the court orders, we will give them all the documents.”

It is worth noting that even when the issue arose regarding the descendants of Ram during the Ayodhya temple, it was claimed by the Jaipur Royal Family that they are the descendants of Ram.  For this, the BJP MP had said that she is ready to testify in court as well.

On the question of whether a petition will also be filed in the court on behalf of the former royal family of Jaipur, Diya Kumari said that we are looking into it now and we will examine what steps should be taken.

Ramesh Latke

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MLA from Mumbai, Ramesh Latke, died of a cardiac arrest in Dubai, a party functionary said on Thursday.

He was 52.

“Latke died late night on Wednesday in Dubai, where he had gone with his family on a vacation,” the functionary said.

Latke was a two-time Sena legislator from Andheri East assembly constituency in Mumbai city. Prior to his becoming an MLA, Latke was also a corporator in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

His mortal remains are likely to be brought back to Mumbai on Thursday.

“We have informed Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior party leaders about initiating the procedure to bring back his body. We hope that the mortal remains would be brought back on Thursday,” the Sena functionary added.

Expressing grief over Latke’s death, party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi remembered him for his work during the pandemic and his connect with the people from his constituency.

“Saddened and shocked to hear about the passing of Shri Ramesh Latke ji. His constant energy, his dedicated work during COVID & his connect with the constituency was immense. He will be missed& he has gone too soon. My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” she tweeted.

BJP MLA Nitesh Rane said in a tweet, “Shocked to hear the news of Shiv sena MLA Ramesh Latke’s sudden demise! I Remember meeting him on a flight to kokan for angnewadi jatra just few months back. I praised him for losing so much weight because of dieting.. He was a friend beyond party lines.Unbelievable!!”

The Shiv Sena currently shares power in Maharashtra with the NCP and the Congress.

New Delhi: As temperatures started soaring again in many parts of the country, the Ministry of Education on Wednesday issued protective guidelines to schools for combating ill-effects of heatwave, asking them to relax the uniform norms, restrict outdoor activities and modify timings.

A torrid heatwave had sent the mercury soaring across large swathes of India with the temperature in Delhi rising to 46 degrees Celsius. The national capital also recorded its second hottest April in 72 years with a monthly average maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius.

The guidelines by the Ministry of Education asked the schools to modify timings and reduce the number of school hours each day.

“School hours may start early and get over before noon. Timing may be from 7.00 AM onwards. Number of school hours per day may be reduced. Sports and other outdoor activities which expose students directly to the sunlight may be appropriately adjusted in the early morning.

“School assembly should be conducted in covered area or in classrooms with reduced timing. Similar care may be taken during dispersal after school is over,” the guidelines said.

The ministry has also advised schools to ensure that the school bus or van should not be over-crowded and should be parked in shaded area.

“It should not carry students more than the seating capacity. Drinking water and first aid kit should be available in the bus. Students coming to school on foot or bicycle should be advised to keep their head covered. Parents should be sensitised to pick-up the students themselves, to the extent possible, to avoid public transport and minimise their time out in the sun. School bus or van may be parked in a shaded area,” it said.

The guidelines stated that schools should ensure that all fans are functional and that all classrooms are properly ventilated.

“Availability of power back-up may be arranged, if possible. Curtains, blinds, newspaper, etc. may be used to stop the sunlight entering directly into the classroom. If any local traditional practices are being followed by the school to keep the surroundings cool such as khus’ curtains, bamboo/jute chiks, they may be continued.

“Heat can spoil food therefore hot-cooked meals under PM POSHAN must be served hot and fresh. In-charge teach8er may check the food before serving. Children carrying lunch box may be advised not to carry food that can turn stale quickly.

Canteens in schools should ensure that fresh and healthy food is served. Children may be advised to have light food during lunch time,” the guidelines said.

The ministry also said that schools may relax norms about uniforms and canvas shoes may be allowed instead of leather ones.

“Students may be allowed to wear loose and light coloured cotton material dress. Schools may relax norms regarding uniform such as neck ties. Canvas shoes may be allowed instead of leather ones. Students may be advised to preferably wear full-sleeve shirt,” it said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had last week said a fresh spell of heatwave is likely to begin over northwest India from May 7 and over central India from May 8.

However, closing schools due to heatwave is not an option as suggested by experts as offline classes have started from the new session after nearly two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on May 5 chaired a meeting to review preparations for heatwave management and monsoon preparedness in which he stressed the need to take all measures to avoid deaths due to heatwave or fire incidents.

Lucknow: In an unprecedented move, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday removed Director General of Police (DGP) Mukul Goel from his post for inefficiency and neglecting his work, an official statement said.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar has been given the additional charge of the state’s police chief, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal told.

Goel has been made the Director General (DG) of the Civil Defence department, the statement said.

It added that Goel was removed from the post of DGP for neglecting official work, not taking interest in departmental work and inefficiency.

Goel, a 1987-batch IPS officer, was appointed the Uttar Pradesh police chief in June last year.

Before that, he had served as an additional director general of the Border Security Force.

Born in Muzaffarnagar, Goel has a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Panaji: Union Home Minister Amit Shah was given a mineral water bottle worth Rs 850 during his trip to Goa and it was brought from a town located around 10km away from Panaji, state Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik said on Tuesday.

Naik mentioned about the expensive buy while making a strong pitch for rainwater harvesting in Goa and explaining how water will become a scarce and precious resource in the future.

When Amit Shah was in Goa (for campaigning for February Assembly polls), he asked for a Himalaya (brand) water bottle. It was then brought from Mapusa (located around 10km from Panaji), Naik said, addressing an event in South Goa.

The mineral water which was purchased for Shah costs Rs 850 per bottle, he said.

Even the rate of mineral water bottles available in star hotels hovers in the range of Rs 150-Rs 160. This is how expensive water has become,” Naik added.

Naik, a former Goa chief minister, in the past has pushed for constructing dams across rivers to accumulate water, which he said, can be sold to Gulf countries in exchange for fuel.

The government can build dams across the state, wherever there are mountains, and store water, he said at the event, warning people will fight for water in the future due to shortages.