‘Jaipur by Nite’ with car rally for women

5th edition of the ‘Jaipur by Nite’ will be held between September 9 and September 16 with new events like ‘night women car rally’ and ‘bite fest’.

The fest, which until last year was of two-day event, will be extended to a three-day affair and is being jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Young Indians, Union ministry of tourism and Rajasthan tourism department and s supported by the Rajasthan Khadi and village industries board and department of archeology and museums.

In 2016, the fest began with a night marathon, and this year, it will start with the night women car rally on September 9 at 8.30pm from the Clarks Hotel in Amer to the Ramniwas Garden in Jaipur.

“Message behind the rally is that women are safe in Jaipur,” said Vivek Lodha of Young Indians. More than 100 participants have confirmed to take part in the rally until now. The rally will have awards like the best decorated car, best dressed women and the best social message,” he said.

On September 15, the Indian fusion rock band – Indian Ocean-- and Rajasthani folk singer Mame Khan will person at City Palace from 6.30pm.

The next two days of the event will feature a food festival--The Bite Fest’--at the City Palace from 5.30pm.

The other attractions include performances by Rajasthani folks troupes.

On September 16 the ‘Jaipur by Nite Marathon’ will begin from the City Palace in two categories—a 10km run with a timing chip and a 5km run without a timing chip.

Until now, more than 750 participants have confirmed their participation who include the ambassador of Costa Rica, senior diplomats of Greece and others participants from different states across the country.

State tourism additional chief secretary Nihal Chand Goel said, “In 2016, the state witnessed a tourist footfall of more than 4.30 crore, this year we are hoping it to touch the five crore mark.”

“The department has chalked out a long-term strategy and aggressive marketing plan for promoting tourism in the state and the ‘Jaipur by Nite’, is part of it.”

“To promote tourism, we have started a number of festivals like the Rajasthan heritage fashion week, photo festival, the Bhakti festival in Pushkar and World Music festival in Udaipur.”

“Last year, we spent ₹ 60 crore on marketing and this year more than ₹100 crore, including ₹25 crore on publicity campaign,” he said. HTC

inmates and two security guards were injured in a fight between two groups of juveniles at a state-run children shelter home in Kota, police said.

The incident took place early on Friday at the child observation home in Nayagaon neighbourhood of the city, said Abdul Rashid, an official at the RK Puram police station.

After the barrack gates were opened in the morning when two rival groups among the juveniles clashed with each other, he said.

“The four juveniles injured in the fight, were rushed to the New Medical College and Hospital for treatment.”

Two security guards at the shelter home who tried to intervene and end the fight, too sustained minor injuries in the incident, he said.

The juveniles, involved in the fight are 16 to 17 years of age, except a 20-year-old who are serving term for cases of Arms Act, assault and murder, said Rashid.

The two groups have been involved in a number of fights in the last couple of days, he said.

Hindu right-wing groups, including Bajrang Dal and others blocked the Kota-Rawatbhata road for a while in protest against the incident.

Police, however, dispersed the agitators. HTC