AJMER: A Rajasthan politician has landed in an embarrassing controversy after a photo of him urinating near a wall, right next to a BJP campaign poster went viral on social media. Defending himself, Shambhu Singh Khatesar, the chairman of Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation, said urinating in the open was "an age-old tradition". He also denied urinating near the poster, which featured Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

"The photo of me urinating against a wall is not near a campaign poster," Mr Khatesar told news agency ANI.

Mr Khatesar's defence also seemed to be at odds with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Clean India Mission, which aims to make states 'Open Defecation Free' by saying defecating and urinating in the open were two different things.

He said that while defecating in public caused diseases, urinating in the open was not an issue, as long as it is done in a secluded area.

That the location was next to the venue for a BJP election rally, where according to him around 2.5 lakh people were in attendance, also did not appear inappropriate to the Mr Khatesar.

"There was no urinal nearby for kilometres at a stretch and I was busy working since morning," Mr Khatesar said.

courtesy : ndtv.com

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Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with  representatives of Iran.”

“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.

Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.

However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.

Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.

"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.

"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.