Delhi Confidential: Sports Boost

To get a foothold among young voters, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary is repeatedly making contributions from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds for development of sports infrastructure in western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. On Tuesday, he wrote to Bulandshahr district magistrate stating that he is providing Rs 60 lakh for the development of a multi-purpose indoor stadium in a college. On January 18, he provided Rs 20 lakh to a college in Mathura for development of a hand-ball and tennis court on the campus, and Rs 40 lakh for development of a wrestling hall in Muzaffarnagar. RLD insiders said Chaudhary has so far provided Rs 35 lakh from MPLAD funds for development of sports facilities in Rajasthan too. A few weeks earlier, he had announced to give Rs 10 lakh to a college in Jaipur for the construction of an indoor stadium.

Professional Strokes

For former bureaucrat Alok Srivastava, it was his first brush with watercolours but what started as a hobby during the lockdown has turned into over a hundred paintings. Srivastava, who is currently a technical member of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and a former law secretary is showing his paintings in a gallery in Delhi this week. The guest list for the exhibition includes NCLAT Chairperson Ashok Bhushan among others.

Celebrity Returns

A day after attending the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya as an invited VIP guest, Bollywood actor Anupam Kher visited the temple again on Tuesday for a darshan of Lord Ram, but this time he covered his face with a muffler. He spent hours in the queue outside the sanctum sanctorum waiting with other devotees to catch a glimpse of the Lord.