03022022 first india new delhi

CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
3,028
NEW
CASES
4,679
RECOVERED
27
NEW DEATHS
OSC Scheme implemented for violence-affected women: Smriti
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar and CM
Mamata Banerjee again
got engaged in a bitter
debate on Wednesday
after the constitutional
head of the state vowed
to resign if the allega-
tions levelled against
him by the West Bengal
CM are proved correct.
Dhankhar was reacting
to Banerjee’s allega-
tion that the Governor
orders food from Taj
Bengal every day. “I
have read the state-
ment of the CM. This
is unfortunate. This is
a challenge to democ-
racy. The statement
that I get my food from
Taj Bengal is 100%
incorrect. It doesn’t
behold the Chief
Minister to make such
wild allegations. If it is
proved correct, I shall
resign,” Dhankhar said.
Banerjee’s comment
came after Dhankhar
questioned the financial
allocation of ‘Maa
Canteen’. —Agencies
ith water being one of the
prime resource for nearly 8
crore people of the parched
state of Rajasthan,
Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot has
remarked
that while Ra-
jasthan filled up the ‘pitcher’
for the central givernment
by
electing all 25 BJP candi-
dates as MPs in last elections,
in turn, the MPs have not
been able to secure even the
state’s right of water as the
Union governmen
t did not
give the Eastern Rajasthan
Canal Project (ERCP) a na-
tional project status, even
though promised
by PM
Modi during his poll rally in
state.
Gehlot said all the 25 BJPs
brought disappointm
ent to
the state as they could not
impress upon the Union gov-
ernment the utility and ben-
efits of the Eastern Ra-
jasthan canal project or get
any other mega benefit.
The budget has made no
announcem
ent on the vari-
ous pleas made by the state
to the Centre to give Ra-
jasthan special status in
light of the fact that a
very large area of the
state is sandy and
there is a huge short-
age of drinking water
with just one perennial
river in the state. The
Union budget would
fill the coffers of the
rich and make the
rich richer still,
while there is no solid provi-
sion for the poor, farmers and
labourers,
Ashok Gehlot said.
NITI AAYOG
ISSUE RAISED
Gehlot has been trying to per-
suade the Centre to give the
national project status to the
state’s ambitious
East Ra-
jasthan Canal Project (ERCP)
to help provide drinking and
irrigational
water to the peo-
ple of the desert state. The
Chief Minister has raised the
issue again and again and
also during a meeting with
the Niti Aayog with the pres-
ence of Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi in a virtual pres-
entation.
GEHLOT
SPOKE TO
PM VIA VC OVER ERCP
Gehlot reminded
the Prime
Minister
during a virtual
meeting, ”while addressing
a
rally in Jaipur on July 7,
2018, and also in Ajmer on
October 6, 2018, you had
promised to declare the East
Rajasthan
Canal Project a
national project of impor-
tance. But the same has not
been executed.”
The Chief Minister
told
the Prime Minister
in the
virtual meeting
that Ra-
jasthan has 10% of the coun-
try’s land, while only 1% of
the country’s
water is
available
in the state.
Rajasthan
is a de-
sert region, there
is also a shortage
of surface and
groundwat
er.
Due to the
large dis-
tance between
the village
hamlets as well
as the heterogene-
ous geographica
l
conditions,
the
cost of providing
drinking
water
from house to house
is much higher than
in other states. In
view of this, the Cen-
tral governmen
t like
the Hill states, should
also provide assistance
under 90:10 provision
(that
is 90% help from the Centre
and 10% help from the state)
in the Jal Jeevan Mission to
the state.
The ERCP propos-
es to provide drink-
ing water to 13
districts of Ra-
jasthan and pro-
vide irrigation
water for 2.8
lakh hectares
of land
through 26 dif-
ferent large
and medium
projects. With-
in the Cham-
bal basin, dur-
ing the rainy
season Kunnu,
Sui, Parbati,
Kalisindh,
Mez,andChakhan
sub-basins
also have surplus
water while rivers like Ba-
nas, Banganaga
and Gamb-
hir are basins in deficit yield.
Under this scheme, the sur-
plus water will be carried to
all such basins that are defi-
cit basins.
LETTER TO JAL
SHAKTI MINISTRY
In a recent letter to Jal Shakti
Ministry, the Water Resourc-
es department
of Rajasthan
pointed out that the status of
national
project has been
given to 16 projects in other
states, but no project in Ra-
jasthan has been given this
status. In the project with the
national project status of the
funding pattern is 90:10 but in
ERCP, 60% funding will be
borne by the Centre and 40
per cent by the state, said a
senior department
official.
With the cost of Rs 40,000
crore, ERCP proposes drink-
ing water to 13 districts of
Rajasthan
and provide irri-
gation water for 2.8 lakh hec-
tares of land through 26 dif-
ferent large and medium
projects. Under the project,
the surplus water in the sub-
basins of Kunnu, Kul, Par-
vati, Kalisindh,
and Mej riv-
ers received during the mon-
soon will be carried to the
sub-basin
of Banas, Morel,
Banganga,
Gambhir and Par-
bati rivers.
The project would ensure
the availability
of sufficient
water for drinking and irri-
gation till the year 2051 in
Jhalawar,
Baran, Kota, Bun-
di, Sawai Madhopur,
Ajmer,
Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karau-
li, Bharatpur
and Dholpur
districts.
Pradesh Congress
presi-
dent, Govind Singh Dotasra
termed the budget direction-
less and disappointi
ng for the
youth.
Former Deputy Chief Min-
ister, Sachin Pilot aptly de-
scribed the budget as with
inflation-w
ithout jobs. He
said the NDA governmen
t
which came to power by de-
ceiving the youth and prom-
ising them jobs has left the
youth frustrated
and disap-
pointed.
Pilot said there was not a
word in the Union budget for
the poor, youth and unem-
ployed. A vision of 25 years
has been presented
in the
name of 75 years of Inde-
pendence
and there is no ac-
count of announcem
ents of
the last seven years includ-
ing three years of the tenure
of the NDA governmen
t.
SOURCE: NATIONAL HERALD
25 MPs HAVE FAILED
RAJASTHAN, STRESSES
GEHLOT ON UNION BUDGET!
W
GEHLOT HAS BEEN
TRYING TO PERSUADE
THE CENTRE TO GIVE
THE NATIONAL
PROJECT STATUS TO
THE STATE’S
AMBITIOUS EAST
RAJASTHAN CANAL
PROJECT (ERCP) TO
HELP PROVIDE
DRINKING AND
IRRIGATIONAL
WATER TO THE PEOPLE
OF THE DESERT STATE
PRAKASH
BHANDARI
THE WRITER IS
A SENIOR JOURNALIST
Union budget is silent on the
suggested 90:10 ratio for
expenditures
on attaining
the objectives of the Jal
Jeevan Mission. The Union
government should spend
90% on the Jal Jeevan
project as the states were not
capable of funding the project
from their own resources.
Ever since the NDA
government came in power,
the fiscal deficit has been
increasing significantly.
The
fiscal deficit has doubled in
the past seven years and after
the current budget
announcemen
ts, the deficit
would grow further.
—Ashok Gehlot,
Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan
PERSPECTIVE
JAIPUR | THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY
3, 2022
04
www.firstindia.co.i
n I www.firstindia.co.i
n/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirs
tindia I facebook.com/thefi
rstindia I instagram.com/the
firstindia
Vol 3 Issue No. 238
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019
/77764.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B.
Corp Limited, Shivdaspura,
Tonk
Road, Jaipur. Published at 304,
3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das
Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001
,
Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504
.
Editor-In-Chief
: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible
for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Akhilesh Yadav misled the people of the
country and the state by saying that this
is the BJP’s vaccine for the Covid vaccine,
we will not get it administered.
If there was
no vaccine, would people have been saved
from the third wave today? Prime Minister
with Sudarshan Chakra of free vaccine @
narendramodi
Ji did the work of securing
130 crore people of the country.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Jayant ji, Hema Malini ji is one of the best
politician and actress of the country. She is
a symbol of Indian women empowerment,
by taking a jibe at her you are insulting
countless women who are trying to make
their mark. Jayant ji, you have to work
very hard to become Hema Malini. People
rejected you and chose Hemaji, then it was
on his ability to connect with him, on his
work. You should apologise, Jayant.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Drop by drop is the water
pot filled. Likewise, the wise
man, gathering it little by
little, fills himself with good.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
COLLEGIUM-GOVT
STAND-OFF OVER
EIGHT NAMES FOR
HC JUDGESHIP
ppointment
of judg-
es is virtually a war
of nerves between
the Collegium
and
the governmen
t.
This leads to delays in filling up
vacancies
of judges in different
high courts. There’s a fresh
stand-off between the two with
the Supreme Court reiterating
eight names for judgeship.
The
governmen
t had sent these
names back for reconsidera
tion.
A statement
on the Supreme
Court’s website said, “The Col-
legium… has resolved to reiter-
ate its earlier recommend
a-
tion…” with regard to judicial
officers for elevation to Calcutta
High Court.
The collegium
has also recom-
mended 19 fresh names for ele-
vation.
Last year, Union Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju had said that the
Central governmen
t cannot be
blamed for delay in judicial ap-
pointments
because it is incum-
bent upon the governmen
t to do
“due diligence”
before recom-
mending a name for elevation.
With the apex court reiterating
the names, will Centre accept the
eight names or will it still find
that enough due diligence
has
not been done by the collegium?
TOP TWEETS
A
est Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata
Banerjee
has re-
vealed her prime
ministerial
ambi-
tions by declaring that Trina-
mool Congress
will contest
the 2024 Lok Sabha elections
from Uttar Pradesh. In the
meantime
she has decided to
back Samajwadi
Party in the
Assembly
elections.
This won’t be the first
time that Mamata will be
testing waters in UP. In 2012
also the TMC announced
names of 49 candidates
for
the first phase of UP Assem-
bly polls. Out of these only
one---Shyam
Sundar Sundar
Sharma---w
on from Mant in
Mathura.
Sharma later de-
fected to BSP and once again
figures in the party’s list of
candidates
for 2022 elections.
To expand its base the TMC
had also set up a state unit
with Anup Chowdhary
as
president.
It was a forgetta-
ble debut for the TMC.
After her initial forays in
the state did not help Mamata
to expand her footprints
in
the Hindi heartland
she
seemed to have lost interest.
It is after her stupendous
vic-
tory in last year’s state elec-
tions that the West Bengal
CM began dreaming of a pan-
India role and hoping to re-
place Congress as an alterna-
tive to the BJP. To achieve
that, the TMC must mark its
strong presence in the Hindi
heartland.
Backing SP won’t
take her far. Her party has to
contest and win elections in
UP to prove that she is ac-
ceptable to the people.
Two years is a rather short
time for TMC to take roots in
UP even if the party does well
in Manipur and Goa. Maybe,
Prashant Kishore could help
Didi realise her dream.
MAMATA WILL FIND UP
TOUGH TO TRAVERSE
West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
has revealed her prime
ministerial ambitions
by declaring that
Trinamool Congress
will contest the 2024
Lok Sabha elections
meantime she has
decided to back
Samajwadi Party in the
Assembly elections
W
Promoted by
Shree Cement Limited
New Delhi: Senior
Punjab Congress leader
Sunil Jakhar has
claimed that 42 MLAs
wanted him to be the
chief minister of the
state after the uncere-
monious exit of Ama-
rinder Singh last year.
Jakhar could be
heard saying this in a
video -- that has sur-
faced online -- while ad-
dressing a gathering in
Abohar on Tuesday
.
Sunil Jakhar was
among the front run-
ners for the chief min-
isterial post. But the
partypreferredCharan-
jit Singh Channi, who
became the first chief
minister of Punjab
from the Scheduled
Caste community
.
Forty-two votes went
for Sunil (Jakhar), 16
for Sukhjinder Rand-
hawa, 12 votes for Ma-
harani Preneet Kaur
(Amarinder Singh’s
wife and Patiala MP),
six votes for Navjot
Singh Sidhu and two
votes for (Charanjit
Singh) Channi, Jakhar
said.
He also said he even
declined the post of
deputy chief minister
offered by Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi to
him.
NEW DELHI lTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.155
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Income tax return (ITR) forms from next
year will have a separate column for making
disclosures on gains made from cryptocur-
rencies and paying taxes, revenue secretary
Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau has recorded the
statement of former Mumbai police commis-
sioner Param Bir Singh in connection with an
open enquiry being conducted against him on
a complaint lodged by a police inspector.
Sensex closed 695.76 points or 1.18 per cent
higher at 59,558.33. Likewise, Nifty jumped
203.15 points or 1.16 per cent to end at
17,780. Supportive global cues also propped
up the domestic indices, traders said. P6
2022-23 IT
RETURN FORMS
TO HAVE CRYPTO
INCOME COLUMN
OPEN ENQUIRY:
ACB RECORDS
STATEMENT OF
PARAM BIR
SENSEX RALLIES
NEARLY 700 PTS,
NIFTY ABOVE
17,750-MARK
Yet another Punjab
Congress storm brews
Build Temple In Mathura: Union
Minister Giriraj Singh dares Akhilesh
Akhilesh govt will build Ayodhya
temple faster than BJP: Ram Gopal 2
1
P4
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: Samajwadi
Party MP Ram Gopal
Yadav in the Rajya Sab-
ha on Wednesday re-
sponded to a swipe at
party chief Akhilesh
Yadav by BJP’s Amit
Shah over “stopping the
temple”.
“The Home Minister
said in Chitrakoot that
no matter how hard
Akhilesh Yadav tries,
he cannot stop the tem-
ple work. But who is
stopping temple work?”
Ram Gopal Yadav said
today
.
“In fact these people
are stealing from the
temple,” the Samajwadi
Party MP said, adding,
“But if Akhilesh Ya-
dav’s government
comes to power, the
temple will be made
faster and better.”
“I challenge Akhilesh
to announce that he will
proceed to build a tem-
ple in Lord Krishna’s
birthplace. Make him
announce to build a
temple at Mathura by
taking the oath of Gan-
ga jal,” Minister from
BJP Giriraj Singh said.
India under ‘threat of
religious hegemony’,
TN CM Stalin writes
to 37 national leaders
Chennai: Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister MK Sta-
lin (in pic) has written
to leaders cutting across
regional and political
lines inviting them to
nominate their party
representatives to the
All India Federation for
Social Justice, a plat-
form he formed on Re-
public Day
. Stating that
the country is “under
threat of bigotry and re-
ligious hegemony”, Sta-
lin mentioned in the let-
ter that “these forces
can only be fought if all
who believe in equality,
self-respect and social
justice unite together”.
The letter has been
sent to 37 leaders, in-
cluding Sonia Gandhi,
Mamata Banerjee, Ud-
havThackerayandAkh-
ilesh Yadav.
JODI OF 2 BOYS WILL FAIL: YOGI
CHANNI ON CONG U’KHAND STAR
CAMPAIGNER LIST, NO SIDHU
Addressing a poll rally, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath accused former chief minister of being
involved in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. He also claimed
that Akhilesh Yadav’s alliance or jodi with Rashtriya Lok Dal
leader Jayant Chaudhary was bound to fail. “This jodi - that
has now come - of these two boys [Akhilesh and Jayant],
similar jodi had come in 2017, 2014,” he said, referring to
the 2014 national elections and the 2017 UP elections.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is one of
the star campaigners for Uttarakhand, the Congress
revealed in a list that names 30 party leaders including
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. Curi-
ously, Navjot Sidhu is not one of the star campaigners.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was targeted after he received
Padma Bhushan, is also on the list. Sachin Pilot, Bhu-
pesh Baghel are among other star campaigners for state.
42 MLAs wanted me to be Punjab CM after Capt.
Amarinder’s exit, just 2 went with Channi: Jakhar
UPAR SHERWANI,
ANDAR
PARESHANI:
KCR ON MODI
SP PITCHES MINISTER
ANUPRIYA’S SISTER
AGAINST MAURYA
I DON’T WANT TO BE
HEMA MALINI: JAYANT
ON BJP’S OFFER
PM Narendra Modi
“dresses for elections”
and his budget exempli-
fies “style without sub-
stance” - Telangana CM
K Chandrasekhar Rao
said. “Upar Sherwani,
andar pareshani (all
style, no substance),”
the Chief Minister
quipped, mocking “Guja-
rat model” that the BJP
flaunts as an example of
Modi’s governance.
Pallavi Patel, the elder sister
of Union Minister Anupriya
Patel, will be contesting as
the Samajwadi Party candi-
date from the Sirathu seat
in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaush-
ambi district where the BJP
has fielded UP Deputy CM
Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Days after receiving an offer
to join BJP-led alliance, RLD
chief Jayant Chaudhary on
Tuesday said that he does
not want to be like BJP
leader Hema Malini in the
party. “What will BJP get by
pleasing me? I don’t want to
be Hema Malini),” he said.
Insulting National
Anthem? Mumbai
court summon for
Mamata Banerjee
Mumbai: The Maz-
gaon Magistrate Court
in Mumbai has directed
West Bengal Chief Min-
ister Mamata Baner-
jee to appear before
them on March 2 in a
case filed against her
for allegedly insulting
the national anthem
during one of her visits
to the city on December
1, 2021.
The petitioner advo-
cate stated that during
a programme convened
by writer-poet Javed
Akhtar last year, Mama-
ta was “sitting when the
national anthem start-
ed. Later she stood up,
sang two verses and
abruptly stopped sing-
ing the anthem again”.
2 Indias - One for rich,one poor
... Rahul while targeting Centre on jobs
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Wednesday accused the
government of using
the judiciary, the Elec-
tion Commission and
Pegasus spyware as “in-
struments to destroy
the voice of the union
of states”. In a fiery
speech in parliament,
the Congress leader
also targeted Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, saying the “idea
of a king is back”, and
accused the BJP of
weakening India.
There are now two
distinct Indias, he said,
one of the rich and the
other of the poor. “The
gap between the two is
growing,” he said in the
Lok Sabha.
“You keep talking
about Make in India,
Make in India. Make in
India is not possible
anymore. You have de-
stroyed ‘Made in India’.
You need to support
small and medium in-
dustries, otherwise
‘Make in India’ is not
possible. And jobless-
ness is only increas-
ing,” said Rahul.
With ‘Bua-Bhatija
govts...’, Shah fires
fresh salvo in UP
Aditi Nagar
Atrauli: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Wednesday
launched a fresh at-
tack on the previous
Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) and Samajwadi
Party (SP) govern-
ments in Uttar
Pradesh, saying
“bua-bhatija” re-
gimes pushed the
northern state to the
BIMARU category
.
During his first
campaign for third
phase of Uttar
Pradesh assembly
elections in Atrauli
and Sahaswan, Shah
slammed the BSP-SP
“casteist govern-
ments”, saying they
“could not do any
good to Uttar
Pradesh”.
Continuing his dig
at SP president Akh-
ilesh Yadav, the home
minister said the for-
mer will “play a game
of red-green light”
with the people of Ut-
tar Pradesh. “He will
show a red light to
development and
green light to mafi-
as,” he added.
Ram Gopal Yadav Giriraj Singh
Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
addresses a public
meeting in Atrauli.
Sunil Jakhar Punjab CM Charanjit Channi
IN POLL SEASON...
ATEMPLERUNNO
PARTYCANSKIP!
Govt pulls up Google,
Twitter on fake news
New Delhi: Officials
have held heated dis-
cussions with Google,
Twitter and Facebook
for not proactively
removing what
they described as
fakenewsontheir
platforms, sources
told Reuters, the gov-
ernment’s latest alter-
cation with Big Tech.
The officials, from
the Ministry of Infor-
mation and Broadcast-
ing (IB), strongly
criticised the compa-
nies and said their in-
actiononfakenews
was forcing the
governmenttoor-
der content take-
downs, which in
turndrewinternation-
al criticism that au-
thorities were sup-
pressing free expres-
sion, two sources said.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Union
Minister for Women
and Child Development
SmritiIranionWednes-
day said the govern-
ment has implemented
the One Stop Centre
(OSC) Scheme across
the country to provide
integrated support and
assistance under one
roof with range of ser-
vices to women affect-
ed by violence.
Replying to question
in the Rajya Sabha, she
said as of now, 733
OSCs have been ap-
proved, out of which
704 are operational in
35 States and Union
Territories. She said
that these OSCs have
assisted more than four
lakh 54 thousand wom-
en. Irani also said that
her ministry also im-
plements the Univer-
salisation of Women
Helpline (WHL)
Scheme with an aim to
provide 24-hour emer-
gency and non-emer-
gency response to wom-
en including the wom-
en affected by violence
or in distress across the
country through refer-
ral services and con-
necting them with
OSCs. She said the
women helpline is op-
erational in 34 States
and Union Territories
and have handled more
than 66 lakh calls. She
also informed that the
Central government
provides 100 per cent
financial assistance di-
rectly to Districts for
setting up and Manage-
ment of OSCs.
In reply to a question
on whether the govern-
ment has taken any po-
sition regarding inclu-
sion of marital rape as
an offence under IPC,
the Minister said that
the matter of marital
rape is sub-judice. She
added that the Parlia-
mentary Standing
Committee on Home
Affairs in its report
had recommended that
there is a need for a
comprehensive review
of the Criminal Justice
System of the country.
Mrs Irani said accord-
ingly the Centre has
initiated the process
for comprehensive
amendments to crimi-
nal laws in consulta-
tion with all stakehold-
ers. P3
In reply to a question
on whether the
government has taken
any position regarding
inclusion of marital
rape as an offence
under IPC, the
Minister said that the
matter of marital rape
is sub-judice.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani
WILL RESIGN IF ALLEGATIONS
ARE PROVED CORRECT: WB GUV

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Commission looks for an immediate plan to protect the survivor, her family
GANGRAPE CASE: DCW ISSUES
SUMMONS TO DELHI POLICE
New Delhi: The Delhi
Commission for Women
(DCW) issued summons
to the DCP (Shahdara)
to give protection to the
20-year-old woman who
was abducted and alleg-
edly gangraped by her
neighbours and parad-
ed in Delhi’s Shahdara
last week.
The Commission said
it is looking for an im-
mediate plan to protect
the survivor and her
family as the accused
have a criminal back-
ground. So far, the Delhi
Police arrested nine
persons and apprehend-
ed three minors.
The matter came to
light after the DCW is-
sued a notice to the Del-
hi Police in the matter
and asked them to ar-
rest the accused. Senior
Delhi Police officers
said a Special Investiga-
tion Team (SIT) has
been formed to investi-
gate the matter and all
the accused named in
the FIR have already
been caught.
On Wednesday, the
DCW in a statement
said, “The Delhi Police
is yet to provide the
DCW with details of
measures being taken
for the protection of the
survivor and her family
.
Moreover, the CCTV
footage of the incident
has not been provided
yet. DCW Chief Swati
Maliwal met the victim
who has expressed fear
for her life given the
criminal background
of the accused persons.
Her younger sister was
also harassed and a sep-
arate FIR has been reg-
istered the matter.”
The police has been
asked to produce a copy
of the FIRs, details of
accused arrested per-
sons, arrangements to
be made for a safe house
and details of com-
plaints regarding the
illegal trade of liquor
and drugs.
DCP Shahdara has
been summoned to ap-
pear before the Com-
mission and produce all
documents on February
4. “They have been giv-
en 48 hours to appear
before the Commission
with a detailed report
of measures being un-
dertaken,” said an offi-
cial. The Delhi Police
said it has increased the
deployment in the area
and heightened securi-
ty. The woman is at a
safe house with her hus-
band and her sister has
been provided with ad-
equate security
, said the
police. –PTI
New Delhi: The trans-
port department in Del-
hi has identified about
16 high-risk accident-
prone corridors where
at least 10 people have
been killed every kilo-
metre. It has also found
22 junctions as high-
risk for all road users
and about 40 intersec-
tions and junctions as
unsafe for pedestrians
and motorcyclists. Of
the 40 junctions, 20 are
unsafe for pedestrians
and 20 for two-wheeler
users. A senior trans-
port official said the de-
partment will pick the
10 worst stretches and
redevelop its road engi-
neering and make it
safer for pedestrians
and commuters. IIT-Del-
hi will be roped in to
conduct a survey and
study the corridors and
for further redesigning.
About 89 pc of road
accident victims are pe-
destrians, motorcyclists
and cyclists, according
to a report shared by the
transport department.
The department will re-
lease the Delhi road
crash fatalities report
Wednesday
.
“The massive num-
ber of unknown cases
indicate lapses in en-
forcement in high-risk
areas where hit and run
cases took place,” said
an official. “The data is
aimed at curbing acci-
dents and improving
road engineering. By
making it public, the de-
partment will inform
and provide guidance to
all the city stakeholders
for enforcing motorcy-
cle helmets, seat belts,
speed management, en-
hanced enforcement
during high-risk times
and safer streets for mo-
torcyclists and pedestri-
ans,” added the official.
The report has re-
vealed that road acci-
dents have increased by
13.7 per cent and fatal
accidents have seen an
uptick by 3.55 per cent
in 2021 as opposed to
2020. A total of 4,178 ac-
cidents occurred in
2020, of which 1,196
were fatal and 3,662
caused serious injuries.
Over the last year, 4,720
accidents took place
and 1,239 fatal accidents
and 4,273 with injuries
were recorded. –Agencies
Transport department to identify 10 most accident-prone stretches, fix them
ROAD ACCIDENTS
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
Of the 40 junctions, 20 are unsafe for
pedestrians and 20 for two-wheeler
users, says transport official
HIGHLIGHT
New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital on
Wednesday continues to remain in the ‘very poor’
category with an overall Air
Quality Index (AQI) at 343,
according to the System
of Air Quality and Weather
Forecasting and Research
(SAFAR).The concentra-
tions of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were recorded at 176 in
the ‘very poor’ and 280 in the ‘moderate’ category
respectively. The SAFAR in its bulletin predicted
rainfall on February 3 and 4, with a gusty wind that
is expected to improve AQI to ‘lower end of Very
Poor’ or ‘Poor’ through wet deposition and strong
dispersion.
DELHI’S AIR QUALITY CONTINUES TO REMAIN
IN ‘VERY POOR’ QUALITY, AQI DOCKS AT 343
HOMELESS
PEOPLE SHIFT TO
NIGHT SHELTERS
New Delhi: As the
night temperature fell
to 7 degrees Celsius in
Delhi and fog engulfed
the city, many home-
less people shifted to
night shelters. “Peo-
ple have come from
different states such
as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan. Eigh-
teen beds are installed
herew. Covid testing is
done from time to time
here,” said the caretak-
er of the night shelter
in Ramlila Maidan.
CRUCIAL READ
MAN HELD FOR
KNIFE ATTACK ON
WOMAN IN CITY
Delhi: A man was
arrested for allegedly
assaulting a 45-year-
old woman with a
knife while she was
buying vegetables
in Outer Delhi’s Raj
Park area, police
said on Wednesday.
The accused, Kamal,
resident of a village
in Ghaziabad attacked
the woman to take
revenge from her as
he believed that her
live-in-partner left him
because of the victim.
Prioritysection:Trialrunson
RRTScorridortostartthisyear
NDMC to devp
new veterinary
hospital in city
New Delhi: Aiming to
provide all modern
medical facilities under
one roof for stray ani-
mals as well as pets of
the Delhiites in the
heart of the capital city,
Vice Chairman, New
Delhi Municipal Coun-
cil (NDMC) Satish
Upadhyay informed
that NDMC will develop
a “New Modern Veteri-
nary Hospital” having
all state of art facilities
at Bidhan Chandra Vid-
hyalya at Moti Bagh in
New Delhi.
A few Days before,
Upadhyay personally
visited the hospital and
said the existing build-
ing requires proper
maintenance work.
In view of the frequent
demand of animal lov-
ers of the New Delhi
area, NDMC has decid-
ed to develop a new Vet-
erinary Hospital with
all facilities. –ANI
Delhi shopkeeper arrested for killing
employee after extortion, say police
New Delhi: A 36-year-
old shop owner in Delhi
killed his employee who
had allegedly threat-
ened to circulate videos
that he had recorded
showing them engaging
in a sexual act, police
said on Tuesday
.
The accused took the
help of his nephew and
another associate to kill
his 22-year-old partner
and dumped the body
near Sarojini Nagar
Metro station, they said.
The accused, who
runs a clothes shop at
the Sarojini Nagar mar-
ket, has been arrested
along with the two oth-
ers for conspiring and
dumping the victim’s
body after killing him,
they said.
The shop owner, who
got married 14 years
ago, has two children,
they said. The police
said on Saturday, they
recovered the body of a
22-year-old man, a na-
tive of Kodarma district
in Jharkhand from Del-
hi’s Sarojini area. The
police said a case of
murder was registered
and during investiga-
tion, it was found that
the victim was in a rela-
tionship with the shop
owner and had secretly
recorded videos while
engaging in sexual act.
The man who was
killed was also black-
mailing the shop owner
by threatening to make
the video viral and ex-
torting money from
him, the police said.–PTI
Govt notified on provisions
of Delhi Technical Institutions
HC on Wednesday is-
sued notice to the Gov-
ernment of NCT Delhi
and others on a plea
moved by father and son
challenging the provi-
sions of “The Delhi Di-
ploma Level Technical
Education Institutions
(Prohibition of Capita-
tion Fee, Regulation of
Admission, Fixation of
Non-exploitative Fee
and Other Measures to
ensure equity and excel-
lence) Act, 2007”. The
bench of Justice DN Pa-
tel and Justice Jyoti
Singh today issued no-
tice to the Government
and others on a plea
challenging the provi-
sions of the Delhi act
which reserves 85 pc
seats only for Delhi can-
didates defined as stu-
dents who have done
plus two from an insti-
tution in Delhi. –ANI
3 held in road
rage incident
New Delhi : Delhi Po-
lice on Thursday ar-
rested three accused in
North Delhi road rage
incident, informed Sa-
gar Singh Kalsi, Deputy
Commissioner of Po-
lice (DCP) North. The
police also seized coun-
try-made weapons from
the accused persons,
added the DCP. Three
people were injured in a
brawl that led to road
rage near Red Fort on
the night of January 3,
he stated. –ANI
COLD WAVE
People wrapped in blankets to keep themselves warm on a cold winter morning, at Lajpat
Nagar, in New Delhi —PHOTO BY ANI
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
TOTAL 16 ARRESTED
New Delhi: The trial
runs on the 17 km pri-
ority section of the
Delhi-Ghaziabad-
Meerut Regional Rap-
id Transit System
(RRTS) corridor,
which will connect Sa-
hibabad to Duhai, will
begin this year and the
completed corridor
will be opened for pub-
lic use by March next
year, said officials.
Currently, the work
on the 16 km viaduct
of priority section,
1,200 piers, and 9,900
piles have been con-
creted and the founda-
tion work has been
completed for 56 km of
the corridor.
The 82 km long Del-
hi-Ghaziabad Meerut
RRTS corridor will
have 25 stations, in-
cluding two depots
and one stabling yard.
The RRTS section will
also have three major
interconnectivity sta-
tions in Delhi at
Anand Vihar, Sarai
Kale Khan and New
Ashok Nagar. Work
has also started on
these stations.
“More than 14,000
workers and 1,100 en-
gineers are working
day and night at our
sites. Despite the chal-
lenges brought in by
the Covid-19 pandem-
ic, the progress of the
project has been as per
scheduled timelines,”
said a senior official
of the National Capi-
tal Regional Trans-
port Corporation.
With a design speed
of 180 kmph and an
operational speed of
160 kmph, the RRTS
trains will be unique
and one of a kind in
India. The aerodynam-
ic coaches will be self-
propelled on electric
traction with 25KV AC
System. The RRTS
trains are being de-
signed with the state-
of-the-art latest tech-
nology, said the
In a major boost to
regional connectivity
in Delhi and the Na-
tional Capital Region
(NCR), the Central
Government allocated
Rs 4,710 crore to the
country’s first RRTS
project in the Union
Budget, said NCRTC
officials. “RRTS is a
strategic investment
of the Governments to
transform the mobili-
ty in NCR in line
with the GatiShakti
masterplan,” said Vi-
nay Kumar Singh,
Managing Director,
NCRTC. –Agencies

INDIA
03
Mumbai: Theseatrials
for the fifth submarine
of Project75,whichwill
include testing the pro-
pulsion systems, weap-
ons and sensors of the
warship, have com-
menced, more than a
year after its launch
here, the Indian Navy
said on Wednesday
.
The submarine,
which will be chris-
tened INS Vagir at the
time of commission-
ing, is scheduled for
delivery to the Indian
Navy later this year af-
ter completion of these
trials, an official state-
ment said. The fifth
submarine of Project
75, Yard 11879, Indian
Navy’s Kalvari class
commenced her sea tri-
als on February 1.
The submarine was
launched in November
2020 from the Kanhoji
Angre Wet Basin of
Mazagon Dock Ship-
builders Ltd (MDL).
The submarine would
be named ‘Vagir’ after
commissioning, the
Navy said in the state-
ment. Despite the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, Mum-
bai-based MDL has
‘delivered’ two subma-
rines of Project 75 in
2021 and the com-
mencement of sea tri-
als of the fifth subma-
rine is a significant
milestone, it added.
The submarine will
now undergo intense
trials of all its systems
at sea, including pro-
pulsion systems, weap-
ons and sensors.
The submarine is
scheduled for delivery
to the Indian Navy in
the year 2022 after com-
pletion of these trials,
the statement added.
Kolkata: The marine
version of the French-
made Rafale fighter jet
has been successfully
flight-tested at a shore-
based facility in Goa
where conditions simi-
lar to that on the indig-
enously-developed air-
craft carrier INS
Vikrant were simulat-
ed, a top diplomat said.
The Rafale-M is pit-
ted against the US-
made Super Hornet -
both of which are be-
ing evaluated for a pos-
sible purchase by the
Indian Navy for de-
ployment on the INS
Vikrant.
“Tests were done to
check its take-off from
the deck of your car-
rier and it has done
very well,” French
Ambassador to India
Emmanuel Lenain told
journalists on Tuesday
evening in Kolkata.
Navy flight tests Rafale-Marine
jet for aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
Fifth Scorpene-class desi sub sails out for first sea trial
New Delhi: Noting that
timely completion of
the vaccination sched-
ule is important to con-
fer protection of vac-
cines to the recipients,
the Centre has asked
the States and UTs to
review the coverage of
second dose among ado-
lescents daily
.
Union Health Secre-
tary Rajesh Bhushan
said a tailored commu-
nication strategy, fo-
cused at adolescent
population and their
caregivers, should also
be rolled out to make
them aware about the
timely completion of
vaccination schedule.
“I hereby request you
to direct the concerned
officials to accelerate
the 2nd dose coverage
among due beneficiar-
ies aged 15-18 years,”
Bhushan said.
Noting that timely
completion of Covid-19
vaccination schedule is
important to confer full
protection of vaccines
to the recipients,
Bhushan said “it is im-
portant that the cover-
age second dose amongs
adolescents is reviewed
daily at your level.”
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday said that
the migration from bor-
der villages is not good
for the national securi-
ty and the current budg-
et has provisions to de-
velop ‘vibrant villages’
on the border.
The PM said that the
Budget also focused on
the development of vil-
lages at the border
while adding that the
National Cadet Corps
(NCC) Centres will be
brought in at schools
situated at the border.
Budget will help in devp of
vibrant border villages: PM
Speedupvaxcoverage
forteens,Statestold












SNIPPETS
New Delhi: Rajya Sab-
ha Chairman M Venkai-
ah Naidu on Wednesday
asked MPs to ensure
smooth functioning of
theHouseduringtheon-
going Budget session
and said they should
conduct themselves in a
manner befitting the
trust citizens still have
inIndia’sparliamentary
democracy
.
Earlier in the day
, the
House observed silence
as mark of respect on
the deaths of Archbish-
op Emeritus Desmond
Mpilo Tutu of South Af-
rica in December, and
David Sassoli, serving
President of the Euro-
pean Parliament.
Nobel Peace Prize
winner Tutu passed
away on December 26 at
the age of 90. Sassoli
was awarded the Gan-
dhi Peace Prize in 2005.
Sassoli died on Jan 11.
TheHousealsoobserved
silence as a mark of re-
spect to the memory of
those who lost their
lives in floods in Malay-
sia, and the volcanic
eruption near Tongan.
Naidu pulls up MPs over conduct in Parl
RS Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu conducts the proceeding of the
house in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: As many as
439 terrorists have been
eliminated in Jammu
Kashmir so far after the
abrogation of Article
370 while 541 terrorism-
related incidents have
been registered in the
UT, MoS for Home af-
fairs Nityanand Rai in-
formed Rajya Sabha.
Rai, in a written re-
ply to Rajya Sabha MP
Neeraj Dangi, said, “541
terror incidents while
439 terrorists eliminat-
ed and 98 civilians who
lost their lives and 109
security forces mar-
tyred in JK after the
repeal of Article 370
post-August 5, 2019 till
January 26, 2022.”
The MoS added dur-
ing these incidents, no
significant public prop-
erty has been damaged.
439 ultras killed in JK
post Article 370 repeal



DATA ON TERROR
New Delhi: The total recovery of counterfeit notes from
2016-2020 is 20,17,427 in number from States and
UTs. Replying to a question by MP Sukhram Singh Ya-
dav, MoS Nityanand Rai said, “The NCRB is the nodal
agency, which compiles the data on crimes including
the counterfeit currency notes, as reported to it and
publishes the same in its publication ‘Crime in India’.”
New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday
said that the Union Budget is “delusionary, a ‘jumla’,
‘golmaal’, and a time-pass. “What have the middle
class and the poor gotten from the Budget Session
2022? Budget is delusionary, a ‘jumla’, ‘golmaal’, and a
time-pass. It is a flop film,” said the Shiv Sena leader.
FROM 2016-20, CENTRE RECOVERED
20,17,427 COUNTERFEIT NOTES: MHA
BUDGET IS DELUSIONARY, ‘JUMLA’,
‘GOLMAAL’, AND TIME PASS: RAUT
New Delhi: The protec-
tion of women and chil-
dren in the country is a
priority for all but con-
demning every mar-
riage as violent and
every man a rapist is
not advisable, Minister
of Women and Child
Development Smriti
Irani said in the Rajya
Sabha on Wednesday
.
Her comments came
in response to CPI
leader Binoy Viswam’s
supplementary query
on marital rape. He
sought to know if the
government had taken
note of Section 3 of the
Domestic Violence Act
on the definition of do-
mestic violence as well
as Section 375 of the
IPC on rape.
Inadvisable to say
every man rapist: Irani
BJP leaders listening to PM’s virtually address on ‘Atmanirbhar
Arthvyavastha’ in Mumbai on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi al-
leged that the Govt had
delivered a “zero-sum
Budget” that has noth-
ing for the middle class,
farmers and the poor,
drawing a derisive re-
sponse from Ministers
who suggested that the
Rahul had not under-
stood the “futuristic”
measures. The opposi-
tion party also hit out at
FM Nirmala Sithara-
man, accusing her of
insulting the people of
UP with her remarks
and demanding that she
apologise to them.
Row over FM’s
remark, Cong
seeks apology
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday is-
sued notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking extension
of the prohibition on slaughter of cows to old-useless
bulls, bullocks and old buffaloes and male counter-
parts without any further delay.The Petitioner submits
that old-useless bulls, bullocks and old buffaloes
become useless as animals for agricultural work or
breeding but continue to provide dung and urine that
can either be used by farmers as manure and fertilizer
or can be sold by the owners of such otherwise use-
less cattle.The Division Bench of Justice DN Patel and
Justice Jyoti Singh on Wednesday sought response
of Centre through the Ministry of Home Affairs and
listed the matter for March 15, 2022. The plea further
submitted that if one knows how cow dung can be
used as medicine to cure snake bites, then it can be a
cheap and viable alternative for curing the same.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday has
asked to clarify the legal enforceability of the Centre’s
guidelines for the transportation of the camels/animals
while hearing a PIL stating guidelines were laid but not
complied with by the concerned authorities and alleg-
ing illegal transportation of camels during Republic
day Parade function. The Division Bench of Justice DN
Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the counsel for
the petitioner to clarify whether the guidelines issued
regarding the size and structure of camel vans are
mandatory to be followed under any statute or law.
Mumbai: BJP MLA Nitesh Rane withdrew his bail plea
filed in the Bombay High Court as he intends to sur-
render before police and join the probe in an attempt
to murder case in which he is an accused. Nitesh
Rane, son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, had filed
the plea in HC on Tuesday after a sessions court in
Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra denied him bail in
the case while noting that his custodial interrogation
was required. The MLA’s advocate Satish Maneshinde
told a single bench of Justice CV Bhadang that the
applicant would like to withdraw the application.
HC NOTICE ON EXTENSION OF PROHIBITION
ON SLAUGHTER OF COWS, BUFFALOES
HC SEEKS CLARIFICATION ON GUIDELINES
FOR CAMELS’ TRANSPORTATION
BJP MLA WITHDRAWS BAIL PLEA IN
MURDER BID CASE; TO SURRENDER
IN THE COURTYARD
Mumbai: Underworld
Don Chhota Rajan was
discharged by a Special
Mumbai court in con-
nection with a MCOCA
case lodged against him
and others. Five persons
and a girl was shot at
in Bandra west area of
Mumbai out of which five
later died on March 1,
1999. In this case Chhota
Rajan was made as an ac-
cused along with others
and MCOCA was slapped
on them.
New Delhi: The SC
sought the response
of the Centre to 1993
Bombay blast convict Abu
Salem’s argument that his
imprisonment cannot ex-
tend beyond 25 years. A
bench of Justices SK Kaul
and MM Sundresh sought
the response of the Centre
on Salem’s plea that the
2017 judgment of a Mum-
bai TADA Court sentenc-
ing him to life imprison-
ment violated the terms of
the extradition.
CHHOTA RAJAN
DISCHARGED IN
MCOCA CASE
SC SEEKS GOVT’S
RESPONSE TO ABU
SALEM’S PLEA
Mahesh Shrama
New Delhi: The issue
of Railway Recruit-
ment Examination is
proving difficult for the
BJP. The party is stuck
at a time when assem-
bly elections are being
held in five States. The
BJP has also under-
stood the danger, only
then the Indian Rail-
ways hastily tried to
avoid the matter by
forming an inquiry
committee. Railways
has postponed the exam
and has asked the in-
quiry committee to sub-
mit its report by March
4. Everyone knows that
the last phase of polling
is to be held on March 7,
till that time this matter
has been postponed.
Bihar BJP leader and
Rajya Sabha MP Sushil
Kumar Modi has said
that the results of three
and a half lakh more
children will be de-
clared by the Railways
and there will be no sec-
ond exam for the re-
sumption of Group-D.
Think, if there is no
second exam, then how
will the appointment be
made? If someone is
shortlisted on that ba-
sis, will there not be any
controversy? Will the
matter not reach the
courts? It seems that
the intention of both
the BJP and railways is
to entangle this whole
matter in a similar con-
troversy. This is being
felt by the allies of the
BJP, only then the three
allies of Bihar support-
ed the students in this
matter instead of the
railways. Vikas Insaan
Party of Bihar Govt
Min Mukesh Sahni took
part in the Bihar bandh
called by the students
last week. Another col-
league and former CM
Jitan Ram Manjhi also
opposed the police ac-
tion on the students and
appealed to withdraw
all the cases. BJP’s ally
JD(U), which is leading
in State. JDU national
president Rajiv Ranjan
alias Lalan Singh said
in a series of tweets
that the operators of
coaching institutes help
poor children. It is not
right to file a case
against them for incit-
ing students. The BJP
was unable to take po-
litical advantage of this
matter.
On this pretext, the
matter of other exams
and appointments has
also come to the fore.
Keep in mind that every
year crores of students
appear in competitive
examinations in the
country. 4 crore stu-
dents take part in SSC
exams alone every year,
whose displeasure may
overwhelm the BJP.
BJP’S ALLY PARTIES MIFFED WITH RAILWAYS!
RRB-NTPC PROTESTS

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 155
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
ith water being one of the
prime resource for nearly 8
crore people of the parched
state of Rajasthan, Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot has
remarked that while Ra-
jasthan filled up the ‘pitcher’
for the central givernment by
electing all 25 BJP candi-
dates as MPs in last elections,
in turn, the MPs have not
been able to secure even the
state’s right of water as the
Union government did not
give the Eastern Rajasthan
Canal Project (ERCP) a na-
tional project status, even
though promised by PM
Modi during his poll rally in
state.
Gehlot said all the 25 BJPs
brought disappointment to
the state as they could not
impress upon the Union gov-
ernment the utility and ben-
efits of the Eastern Ra-
jasthan canal project or get
any other mega benefit.
The budget has made no
announcement on the vari-
ous pleas made by the state
to the Centre to give Ra-
jasthan special status in
light of the fact that a
very large area of the
state is sandy and
there is a huge short-
age of drinking water
with just one perennial
river in the state. The
Union budget would
fill the coffers of the
rich and make the
rich richer still,
while there is no solid provi-
sion for the poor, farmers and
labourers, Ashok Gehlot said.
NITI AAYOG
ISSUE RAISED
Gehlot has been trying to per-
suade the Centre to give the
national project status to the
state’s ambitious East Ra-
jasthan Canal Project (ERCP)
to help provide drinking and
irrigational water to the peo-
ple of the desert state. The
Chief Minister has raised the
issue again and again and
also during a meeting with
the Niti Aayog with the pres-
ence of Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi in a virtual pres-
entation.
GEHLOT SPOKE TO
PM VIA VC OVER ERCP
Gehlot reminded the Prime
Minister during a virtual
meeting, ”while addressing a
rally in Jaipur on July 7,
2018, and also in Ajmer on
October 6, 2018, you had
promised to declare the East
Rajasthan Canal Project a
national project of impor-
tance. But the same has not
been executed.”
The Chief Minister told
the Prime Minister in the
virtual meeting that Ra-
jasthan has 10% of the coun-
try’s land, while only 1% of
the country’s water is
available in the state.
Rajasthan is a de-
sert region, there
is also a shortage
of surface and
groundwater.
Due to the
large dis-
tance between
the village
hamlets as well
as the heterogene-
ous geographical
conditions, the
cost of providing
drinking water
from house to house
is much higher than
in other states. In
view of this, the Cen-
tral government like
the Hill states, should
also provide assistance
under 90:10 provision (that
is 90% help from the Centre
and 10% help from the state)
in the Jal Jeevan Mission to
the state.
The ERCP propos-
es to provide drink-
ing water to 13
districts of Ra-
jasthan and pro-
vide irrigation
water for 2.8
lakh hectares
of land
through 26 dif-
ferent large
and medium
projects. With-
in the Cham-
bal basin, dur-
ing the rainy
season Kunnu,
Sui, Parbati,
Kalisindh,Mez,andChakhan
sub-basins also have surplus
water while rivers like Ba-
nas, Banganaga and Gamb-
hir are basins in deficit yield.
Under this scheme, the sur-
plus water will be carried to
all such basins that are defi-
cit basins.
LETTER TO JAL
SHAKTI MINISTRY
In a recent letter to Jal Shakti
Ministry, the Water Resourc-
es department of Rajasthan
pointed out that the status of
national project has been
given to 16 projects in other
states, but no project in Ra-
jasthan has been given this
status. In the project with the
national project status of the
funding pattern is 90:10 but in
ERCP, 60% funding will be
borne by the Centre and 40
per cent by the state, said a
senior department official.
With the cost of Rs 40,000
crore, ERCP proposes drink-
ing water to 13 districts of
Rajasthan and provide irri-
gation water for 2.8 lakh hec-
tares of land through 26 dif-
ferent large and medium
projects. Under the project,
the surplus water in the sub-
basins of Kunnu, Kul, Par-
vati, Kalisindh, and Mej riv-
ers received during the mon-
soon will be carried to the
sub-basin of Banas, Morel,
Banganga, Gambhir and Par-
bati rivers.
The project would ensure
the availability of sufficient
water for drinking and irri-
gation till the year 2051 in
Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bun-
di, Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer,
Tonk, Jaipur, Dausa, Karau-
li, Bharatpur and Dholpur
districts.
Pradesh Congress presi-
dent, Govind Singh Dotasra
termed the budget direction-
less and disappointing for the
youth.
Former Deputy Chief Min-
ister, Sachin Pilot aptly de-
scribed the budget as with
inflation-without jobs. He
said the NDA government
which came to power by de-
ceiving the youth and prom-
ising them jobs has left the
youth frustrated and disap-
pointed.
Pilot said there was not a
word in the Union budget for
the poor, youth and unem-
ployed. A vision of 25 years
has been presented in the
name of 75 years of Inde-
pendence and there is no ac-
count of announcements of
the last seven years includ-
ing three years of the tenure
of the NDA government.
SOURCE: NATIONAL HERALD
25 MPs HAVE FAILED
RAJASTHAN, STRESSES
GEHLOT ON UNION BUDGET!
W
GEHLOT HAS BEEN
TRYING TO PERSUADE
THE CENTRE TO GIVE
THE NATIONAL
PROJECT STATUS TO
THE STATE’S
AMBITIOUS EAST
RAJASTHAN CANAL
PROJECT (ERCP) TO
HELP PROVIDE
DRINKING AND
IRRIGATIONAL
WATER TO THE PEOPLE
OF THE DESERT STATE
PRAKASH
BHANDARI
THE WRITER IS
A SENIOR JOURNALIST
Union budget is silent on the
suggested 90:10 ratio for
expenditures on attaining
the objectives of the Jal
Jeevan Mission. The Union
government should spend
90% on the Jal Jeevan
project as the states were not
capable of funding the project
from their own resources.
Ever since the NDA
government came in power,
the fiscal deficit has been
increasing significantly. The
fiscal deficit has doubled in
the past seven years and after
the current budget
announcements, the deficit
would grow further.
—Ashok Gehlot,
Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Akhilesh Yadav misled the people of the
country and the state by saying that this
is the BJP’s vaccine for the Covid vaccine,
we will not get it administered. If there was
no vaccine, would people have been saved
from the third wave today? Prime Minister
with Sudarshan Chakra of free vaccine @
narendramodi Ji did the work of securing
130 crore people of the country.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Jayant ji, Hema Malini ji is one of the best
politician and actress of the country. She is
a symbol of Indian women empowerment,
by taking a jibe at her you are insulting
countless women who are trying to make
their mark. Jayant ji, you have to work
very hard to become Hema Malini. People
rejected you and chose Hemaji, then it was
on his ability to connect with him, on his
work. You should apologise, Jayant.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Drop by drop is the water
pot filled. Likewise, the wise
man, gathering it little by
little, fills himself with good.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
COLLEGIUM-GOVT
STAND-OFF OVER
EIGHT NAMES FOR
HC JUDGESHIP
ppointment of judg-
es is virtually a war
of nerves between
the Collegium and
the government.
This leads to delays in filling up
vacancies of judges in different
high courts. There’s a fresh
stand-off between the two with
the Supreme Court reiterating
eight names for judgeship. The
government had sent these
names back for reconsideration.
A statement on the Supreme
Court’s website said, “The Col-
legium… has resolved to reiter-
ate its earlier recommenda-
tion…” with regard to judicial
officers for elevation to Calcutta
High Court.
The collegium has also recom-
mended 19 fresh names for ele-
vation.
Last year, Union Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju had said that the
Central government cannot be
blamed for delay in judicial ap-
pointments because it is incum-
bent upon the government to do
“due diligence” before recom-
mending a name for elevation.
With the apex court reiterating
the names, will Centre accept the
eight names or will it still find
that enough due diligence has
not been done by the collegium?
TOP TWEETS
A
est Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata
Banerjee has re-
vealed her prime
ministerial ambi-
tions by declaring that Trina-
mool Congress will contest
the 2024 Lok Sabha elections
meantime she has decided to
back Samajwadi Party in the
Assembly elections.
This won’t be the first
time that Mamata will be
testing waters in UP. In 2012
also the TMC announced
names of 49 candidates for
the first phase of UP Assem-
bly polls. Out of these only
one---Shyam Sundar Sundar
Sharma---won from Mant in
Mathura. Sharma later de-
fected to BSP and once again
figures in the party’s list of
candidates for 2022 elections.
To expand its base the TMC
had also set up a state unit
with Anup Chowdhary as
president. It was a forgetta-
ble debut for the TMC.
After her initial forays in
the state did not help Mamata
to expand her footprints in
the Hindi heartland she
seemed to have lost interest.
It is after her stupendous vic-
tory in last year’s state elec-
tions that the West Bengal
CM began dreaming of a pan-
India role and hoping to re-
place Congress as an alterna-
tive to the BJP. To achieve
that, the TMC must mark its
strong presence in the Hindi
heartland. Backing SP won’t
take her far. Her party has to
contest and win elections in
UP to prove that she is ac-
ceptable to the people.
Two years is a rather short
time for TMC to take roots in
UP even if the party does well
in Manipur and Goa. Maybe,
Prashant Kishore could help
Didi realise her dream.
MAMATA WILL FIND UP
TOUGH TO TRAVERSE
West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
has revealed her prime
ministerial ambitions
by declaring that
Trinamool Congress
will contest the 2024
Lok Sabha elections
meantime she has
decided to back
Samajwadi Party in the
Assembly elections
W

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappdelhi
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindianewdelhi
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

INDIA
05
25-Year-old, arrested for Yogi
protest, Samajwadi’s poll pick
Lucknow: Wavingblack
flags at Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath and her
subsequent arrest for
what she calls a “demo-
cratic protest” opened
thedoorsof mainstream
politics for 25-year-old
Pooja Shukla.
She is now the Sama-
jwadi Party (SP) candi-
date from Lucknow
North and is among the
youngest candidates in
the Uttar Pradesh As-
sembly polls.
Ms Shukla hogged the
limelight in June 2017
when she, along with 10
others, tried to stop Adi-
tyanath’s cavalcade on
the Lucknow University
Road and waved black
flags to protest against
government policies.
“On June 7, 2017,
when Yogi was on his
way to the Lucknow
University campus to
take part in `Hindi
Swaraj Diwas’ event,
students affiliated to All
India Students Associa-
tion, Students Federa-
tion of India and Sama-
jwadiChhatraSabhasat
on the road and blocked
his convoy, showed him
black flags and raised
slogans against the state
government,” Ms Shuk-
la told PTI.
We were arrested and
sent to jail the next day
.
This happened despite
usingdemocraticmeans
to protest. I had never
thought we would be ar-
rested but it reaffirmed
my faith in fighting for
what is right, she said
recalling the incident.
On being released
from jail after 20 days,
Pooja Shukla met SP pa-
triarch Mulayam Singh
Yadav and became the
face of Samajwadi
Chatra Sabha, the par-
ty’s student wing.
When asked why she
chose the SP, Pooja
said, “I was impressed
by the political strug-
gle of Mulayam Singh
Yadav and policies of
Akhilesh Yadav. —PTI
Pooja Shukla, Samajwadi Party candidate from North Lucknow, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
TMC TO CONTEST
2024 LS ELECTIONS
FROM UP: MAMATA
New Delhi: The Tri-
namool Congress will
contest the Parlia-
mentary elections in
2024 from the state of
Uttar Pradesh, party
chief and West Bengal
chief minister Mamata
Banerjee announced
on Wednesday. During
the announcement, she
also confirmed that the
party will not contest
in the upcoming state
assembly polls in UP
but will support the
Samajwadi Party (SP).
“In Uttar Pradesh, I am
not going to contest
assembly polls but I
am going to support SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav
on 8th Feb 2022. We
(TMC) will contest from
UP in Lok Sabha polls
(in 2024),” news agency
ANI quoted the Bengal
CM as saying. Further,
Banerjee also made
clear her intentions to
take on the Bharatiya
Janata Party at the
national stage in 2024
and emphasised on the
need to win all the 42
Lok Sabha seats in her
own state.
ELECTION BUZZ
z SP fields ex-mins Swami
Prasad Maurya from Fa-
zilnagar, Abhishek Mishra
from Sarojini Nagar
z After BJP’s denial, SP
likely to field Rita Bahu-
guna Joshi’s son from
Lucknow Cantt
z UP: Will continue to re-
main in party, says Swati
Singh after BJP denied her
ticket from Sarojini Nagar
z Rajnath Singh addressed
meet in UP’s Lakhimpur
over phone after chopper
halted due to fog
Manipur: All parties focus on‘Remove AFSPA’
Guwahati: AFSPA-free
Manipur. This is the bat-
tlefield slogan that every
political party in Ma-
nipurisusingtowinsup-
port ahead of the assem-
bly elections in the BJP-
ruled state this month.
The National People’s
Party, or NPP, is a key
ally of the BJP in the
north-east state and it
hadhelpedtheBJPform
government in 2017 by
adding its MLAs to
reachthemajoritymark
in the 60-seat house.
This time, the NPP
under its chief Conrad
Sangma will contest at
least 40 seats in Ma-
nipur. Sangma is also
the Chief Minister of
Meghalaya, where the
NPP has its roots.
“We have been stress-
ing on repealing the
Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act. That’s
very important for the
people of Manipur, Na-
galand and the north-
east. So that’s one very
important agenda that
we are stressing on,”
Sangma told the media.
“There are of course
multiple aspects when it
comes to AFSPA. We
have been against it as a
partyforthelast20years.
In fact when we came to
power in Meghalaya, we
stronglylobbiedwiththe
govt to repeal it and it
was done,” Sangma said.
Manipur and other
northeastern states
have seen massive pro-
tests against AFSPA in
the past, the most recent
in Nagaland after six ci-
vilianswerekilledbythe
armyspecialforcesinan
operation that went hor-
ribly wrong. —Agencies
Protesters hold placards demanding withdrawal of AFSPA from
northeastern States. —File photo
Battle for UP: “Will Yogi survive the Kalidas jinx”
Lucknow: As election-
eering in Uttar Pradesh
touches a crescendo
and barbs fly thicker
and faster, one question
that is hounding the
BJP and its supporters
is that whether Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath will be able to
breakthe‘Kalidas’jinx.
While the Noida jinx
has been a topic of dis-
cussion in political cir-
cles for decades, the
Kalidas jinx has been
very quietly whispered
in the corridors of
power in Lucknow.
The UP chief minis-
ter’s official bungalow
is located on Kalidas
Marg - 5, Kalidas Marg,
to be precise-and a
look at history shows
that no chief minister
since 1950 has lived
here for a second con-
secutive term.
Though several
Chief Ministers have
enjoyed multiple terms
in office, none has had
the privilege of spill-
ing into the second
term while living in
this bungalow.
Mashoor Ahmad, 91,
who had worked as a
maintenance staff dur-
ing the regime of Kam-
lapati Tripathi in early
seventies, recalls,
“Even at that time, peo-
ple used to murmur
about the bungalow
having a curse. Trip-
athi ji used to get ‘puja’
done at regular inter-
vals but it is not known
whether they were per-
formed to remove the
curse. It is a fact that
while parties like
the Congress re-
turned to power
after elections,
the same chief minis-
ter did not make a
comeback. Some chief
ministers like ND Ti-
wari, Mulayam Singh,
Mayawati and Kalyan
Singh occupied this
bungalow several
times but never in suc-
cession.”
A retired IAS officer,
on the other hand, said
that the Kalidas curse
was that the occupant
would make some mis-
take during his tenure
which would show him
the exit door.
“According to a pop-
ular fable, Kalidas was
once sitting on a
branch of a tree on the
wrong end and was
sawing it. When he fi-
nally sawed through
the branch, he came
down with it. Similarly
,
chief ministers living
here often tend to make
mistakes that lead to
their exit,” he said.
The retired officer
further said that the
bureaucrats had in-
formed some chief
ministers, including
ND Tiwari, but they
took it lightly
.
“I am sure if some-
one had told Yogi Adi-
tyanath about this, he
would have changed
the name of the street,”
he added.
The 5, Kalidas Marg
bungalow is one of the
best maintained and
largest government
bungalows in Luc-
know.
Having multiple bed-
rooms, the bungalow
has been renovated
several times. Each
chief minister has
made additions and
changed to the bunga-
low to suit his or her
needs.
Mayawati, as chief
minister renovated the
Janata Darshan Hall
and made many other
changes and additions
to the bungalow.
According to a popular fable, Kalidas was
once sitting on a branch of a tree on the wrong
end and was sawing it. When he finally
sawed through the branch, he came down
with it. Similarly, chief ministers living
here often tend to make mistakes that
lead to their exit. —A retired IAS officer
Mamata Banerjee
re-elected TMC
chief unopposed
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief MinisterMamata
Banerjee, who was re-
elected the TMC chair-
person on Wednesday,
urged its leaders to put
up a united fight against
the BJP and warned
against infighting.
Banerjee’s message
to party leaders came
amid differences be-
tween the generation
next leaders and a sec-
tion of the old guard.
“I want all my party
leaders and workers to
promise they will not
fight among them-
selves. Infighting will
not be tolerated....
groups within the party
will not be tolerated.
There are no different
groups in TMC, the par-
ty is one united group.
TMC held its organi-
sational elections after
a gap of 5 years.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu at the Vaishno Devi shrine.
Sidhu visits Vaishno
Devi as Cong asks
peopleforCMchoice
New Delhi: PunjabCon-
gress chief Navjot Singh
SidhuonWednesdayvis-
ited the Vaishno Devi
shrine in Jammu just as
thepartystartedseeking
public opinion on the
chief ministerial candi-
date. Similar to what the
Aam Aadmi Party had
done in the state, Con-
gresshasbeencollecting
public feedback through
IVR (Interactive Voice
Response) calls for a few
days now. State CM
Charanjit Singh Channi
hasoftenbeenrumoured
to be the party’s favour-
ite for the top job.
“Warmth, love and af-
fection at the heavenly
abode is heart render-
ing...,” Mr Sidhu tweeted
alongwithavideoof him
entertainingrequestsfor
selfies from people who
flocked around him. The
cricketer-turned-politi-
cian had earlier tweeted
a picture of him in front
of achopperannouncing
his visit. “On my way to
MataVaishnoDevi...The
eternal grace of the di-
vine mother has always
protected me on this
pathof Dharma...Ather
lotus feet for blessings...
Dushtaan da vinaash kr,
Punjab da Kalyaan kar
(Destroy evil, bless Pun-
jab)... Sach Dharam di
sathapana kr (establish
true faith)...,” he had
tweeted.
The IVR call from
Congress plays a record-
ed message in Punjabi
prompting listeners to
pressakeytovoteamong
three options. Charanjit
Singh Channi’s name
has been placed at num-
berone,followedbyNav-
jot Sidhu’s. —Agencies
HUSBAND DENIED
TICKET, BJP LEADER
SLAMS PRIYANKA
New Delhi: Former Con-
gress MLA Aditi Singh
on Wednesday attacked
Cong general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
for denying a party
ticket to her husband in
the upcoming Punjab
assembly polls. She
also accused Ms Vadra
of harassment. Singh,
ex-MLA from Raebareli,
has switched over to
the BJP and is the party
candidate in UP elections
that start this month. Her
husband Angad Singh
Saini, current Congress
MLA from Punjab’s
Nawanshahr assembly,
was not renominated by
the party and has filed
his nomination as an
independent candidate.
In Bihar, 400 students write class
12 board exam in car headlights
Motihari: Students sit
in the open for their
Class 12 exams with car
headlights as their only
source of light in a
building without elec-
tricity, in a video from
Bihar, which has strug-
gled with cheating scan-
dals and exam viola-
tions for years.
In an examination
centre at Bihar’s Moti-
hari, over 400 students
took their Hindi exam -
Class 12 (Intermediate)
exam--inthelightof car
headlights on Monday
.
The exam went on
till 8 pm at the Maha-
raja Harendra Kishore
college.
In the second part of
exams that day, which
was from 1.45 pm to 5
pm, students allegedly
did not get their answer
sheets until 4.30 pm be-
cause of last-minute
confusion in seating.
Protestsandchaosbroke
out at the centre and the
police were called in.
Senior police officers
arrived with a large
number of policemen to
tackle the situation.
It was dark by the
time the students set-
tled down for their
exam. But there was no
electricity at the centre,
which led to some more
turmoil.
Finally
, generators
were hired and parents
who had cars switched
on their headlights so
studentscouldatleastsit
on the corridor outside
and write the exam. A
top district official has
ordered an inquiry into
what went wrong. —PTI
Exam went on till 8 pm at the Maharaja Harendra Kishore college.
Construction workers
abducted by militants
Guwahati: Security
forces have launched
operations against Na-
tional Socialist Council
of Nagaland (K-Yung
Aung) after three road
construction workers
were allegedly abduct-
ed by the militant group
from Longding district
in Arunachal Pradesh
on Monday, official
sources confirmed.
The operations have
been launched in areas
bordering Myanmar in
Longding district of
Arunachal Pradesh,
where NSCN (K-YA)
militants have been ac-
tive for several months,
allegedly carrying out
extortion activities.
Longding superiten-
dent of police VH Mee-
na confirmed on
Wednesday that three
construction workers
were abducted by
NSCN(K-YA) militants
from Pumao in Long-
ding district on Mon-
day
. —Agencies
5 killed in coal
mine collapse
in Jharkhand
Bhubaneshwar: Five
people have been con-
firmed dead after a pile
of waste collapsed over
locals trying to lift coal
from an abandoned
open cast mine owned
by state-run Coal India
Ltd in Jharkhand, po-
lice said on Wednesday
.
Police said the mis-
hap occurred early on
Tuesday in Gopinath-
pur in Dhanbad.
The top police official
in the region said the
deceased were not pro-
fessional miners. One
coal miner died on the
job every 12 days on an
average in 2020, accord-
ing to government data.
—PTI
Hizbul terrorist
killed in Shopian
encounter
Srinagar: A terrorist
killed in an encounter in
the Nadigam area of
Shopian in Jammu
Kashmir on Wednesday
belongedtoHizbulMuja-
hideen.Theterroristhas
been identified as Umar
Ishfaq Malik, a resident
of Bongam in Shopian.
He had joined the mili-
tant outfit in November
last year. One AK-47 as-
sault rifle, 4 magazines
andahandgrenadehave
been recovered from the
spot of encounter. —PTI

BIZ BUZZ
06
Crypto taxed like gambling
wins, says Finance Secy
New Delhi: The Indian
government said it
doesn’t treat trading in
crypto assets as illegal,
a day after it an-
nounced taxing such
transactions just the
same as winnings from
gambling.
“They are in a grey
area. It’s not illegal to
buy and sell crypto,”
Finance Secretary TV
Somanathan said in an
interview to Bloomb-
erg Television. “We
have now put in a taxa-
tion framework that
treats crypto assets the
same way we treat win-
nings from horse races,
or from bets and other
speculative transac-
tions.”
After years of dilly-
dallying on how to treat
cryptocurrencies, the
government’s budget
on Tuesday proposed
taxing income from the
transfer of virtual as-
sets at 30% -- effectively
removing any uncer-
tainty about the legal
status of such transac-
tions.
—Agencies
New Delhi: Income tax
return forms from next
year will have a sepa-
rate column for making
disclosures on gains
made from cryptocur-
rencies and paying taxes,
Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday.
“Next year ITR form will show a separate column
for crypto. Yes, you will have to disclose,” Reve-
nue Secretary said. —PTI
ITR TO HAVE SEPARATE COLUMN FOR
CRYPTO
New Delhi: The Budget
announcement of taxing
‘virtual digital assets’ or
crypto currencies will
help the Income-Tax
department measure the
“depth” of this trade in the
country, know the investors and the nature of their
investments and it does not “attach any legality” to
these transactions, Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) Chairman J B Mohapatra said. —PTI
TAX DOESN’T MEAN LEGALITY FOR
CRYPTO: CBDT CHIEF
REGULATE CRYPTO
Tata Group excited to work
together to make AI the
airline of choice: Ratan Tata
New Delhi: ‘Tata
Group is excited to
work together to
make Air India the
airline of choice in
terms of passenger
comfort and service’.
This is an audio mes-
sage from Ratan Tata
played onboard some
Air India flights.
On Wednesday, the
airline tweeted a
19-second video with
the message of Ratan
Tata.
“#FlyAI: A warm
welcome extended by
Mr Ratan Tata, Chair-
man Emeritus, Tata
Sons, Chairman, Tata
Trusts, to our passen-
gers onboard Air In-
dia flights,” the tweet
said.
An airline official
said the message was
played in some flights
in the last few days.
“The Tata Group
welcomes Air India’s
new customers and is
excited to work to-
gether to make
Air India
the air-
line of
choice
in terms of passenger
comfort and service,”
Ratan Tata said in the
message.
Through a compet-
itive bidding process,
the government sold
Air India to Talace
Pvt Ltd, part of Tata
Group, for `18,000
crore. As part of the
deal, Talace paid
`2,700 crore in cash
and took over `15,300
crore debt of the air-
line.
—PTI
OnWednesday,
the airline
tweeted a
19-second video
with the
message of
RatanTata
Sensex rises 696 pts
to settle at 59,558,
Nifty ends at 17,780
Mumbai: Equity
benchmark Sensex
surged nearly 700
points on Wednesday
to recapture the
59,000-level, as the
post-Budget rally con-
tinued for the second
session with intense
buying in banking and
financial stocks.
Supportive global
cues also propped up
the domestic indices,
traders said.
The 30-share
BSE Sensex closed
695.76 points or 1.18%
higher at 59,558.33.
Likewise, the NSE
Nifty jumped 203.15
points or 1.16% to end
at 17,780.00.
IndusInd Bank was
the top gainer in the
Sensex pack, spurting
over 5%, followed by
Bajaj Finserv, HCL
Tech, Bajaj Finance,
Kotak Bank and Axis
Bank. On the other
hand, Tech Mahi-
ndra, Nestle
India, Maru-
ti and LT
wereamong
the lag-
gards.
Of the
Sensex constit-
uents, 21 shares
closed higher
while 9 were in
the red. —PTI
‘GDP expected to grow 7.8% this FY23’
New Delhi: Domestic
rating agency CRISIL
on Wednesday estimat-
ed FY23 real GDP
growth at 7.8% as com-
pared with the 8.5%
projected in the Eco-
nomic Survey. Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman’s Budget pro-
posals focused on loos-
ening the purse strings
by boosting capital ex-
penditure and going
slow on fiscal consolida-
tion are aimed in the
right direction.
“All said, risks to In-
dia’s economic outlook
are still skewed towards
the downside,” it said,
estimating the growth
to slow to 7.8% in FY23
from the 9.2% in FY22.
The agency said glob-
al growth is expected to
slow this year as major
economies see a with-
drawal of monetary
and fiscal stimulus. It
will have a direct bear-
ing on India’s growth
prospects as exports
have been a key demand
driver of domestic
growth during the pan-
demic.
Energy prices, espe-
cially that of crude oil,
are likely to continue
firming up, partly ow-
ing to geopolitical is-
sues and Brent crude
will average up to $85 a
barrel as against $70.44
in 2021, which will cur-
tail growth, stoke infla-
tion and widen the cur-
rent account deficit.
Additionally, even if
global supply chain dis-
ruptions are expected
to ease, critical raw ma-
terial shortages such as
those of chips could
take time to tide over.
The agency expects the
nominal growth to
come at 12-13%, higher
than the 11.1% Budget
Estimate, and the head-
line inflation to average
5.2%. —PTI
Fitch: Budget short
on structural reforms
New Delhi: India’s
budget for the fiscal
beginning April focus-
es on giving a boost to
the ongoing economic
recovery through a
sharp increase in
capex spending but is
shortonmajorgrowth-
enhancing structural
reform announce-
ments, Fitch Ratings
said on Wednesday
.
The deficit targets
present in the Union
budget 2022-23 by Fi-
nance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman on
Tuesday “are a bit
higher than our fore-
casts when we af-
firmed India’s ‘BBB’/
Negative sovereign
rating in November,”
said Jeremy Zook, Di-
rector and Primary
Sovereign analyst for
India, Fitch Ratings.
While it was widely
expected that the fiscal
deficit will be lower
than the targeted 6.8%
of the GDP in the cur-
rent fiscal year ending
March 31, 2022, Sithar-
aman put the number
at 6.9%.
—PTI
India’s unemployment rate in
January falls to 11-month low
New Delhi: India’s un-
employment rate fell
sharply in January to
6.57%, lowest since
March 2021, following a
significant dip in rural
unemployment. The
unemployment rate
had risen sharply in
December to 7.91%
from 6.97% in Novem-
ber.
This could be
on the back of
easing of Covid
restrictions since
January 15 after
the number of
cases started to
decline across
major states.
Data from the
Centre for Moni-
toring Indian
Economy (CMIE)
shows rural un-
employment in
January fell to 5.84% as
against 7.28% in De-
cember 2021 while the
urban unemployment
stood at 8.16% com-
pared to 9.30% in De-
cember.
Telangana had the
lowest unemployment
rate in January at 0.7%
followed
by Gu-
j a -
rat at 1.2%, Meghalaya
at 1.5%, Odisha at 1.8%
and Karnataka at 2.9%.
This is expected to
have significantly
brought down the num-
ber of unemployed in
India. CMIE had esti-
mated the number of
unemployed in India as
of December 2021 at 53
million, a huge propor-
tion of
t h e m
being women.
Of these, 35 mil-
lion were unem-
ployed who were
actively seeking
work while 17 mil-
lion were those who,
though willing to
work, were not active-
ly seeking it, CMIE
had said.
—Agencies
HIGHS LOWS
OIL PSUs TO
SPEND `1.11 LAKH
CRORE IN CAPEX
New
Delhi:
State-
owned
oil firms
such
as ONGC and IOC will
invest over `1.11 lakh
crore in the next fiscal
year starting April as
they supplement the
government’s massive
spending programme to
spur economic growth.
Oil and Natural Gas Cor-
poration (ONGC), Indian
Oil Corporation (IOC),
GAIL (India) Ltd, Bharat
Petroleum Corporation
Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation
Ltd (HPCL) and Oil India
Ltd (OIL) will together
make a 7.4% higher
capital expenditure
in the 2022-23 fiscal
(FY23). —PTI
LIC IPO FILING NEXT WEEK, ISSUE IN MARCH
New Delhi: The govt is likely to file draft papers for the mega initial public
offering of LIC with market regulator Sebi by next week, while a portion
of the issue would be reserved for anchor investors, a top official said on
Wednesday. Also The Dept for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT) will soon approach the Union Cabinet to seek its approval on
changes in the FDI policy to facilitate disinvestment of the country’s larg-
est insurer LIC, The issue, after approval of Sebi, is likely to hit the market
in March, he said. LIC’s listing is crucial for the government to meet the
lowered revenue estimates of Rs 78,000 cr for the current fiscal.
New Delhi: As many
as 350 customs duty
exemptions have
been withdrawn in
the Budget 2022-23
to boost domestic
manufacturing. A comprehensive
review of customs duty exemp-
tion on capital goods and project
imports undertaken and more
than 40 customs exemptions to be
gradually phased out, the Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and Cus-
toms (CBIC) tweeted. In total, 350
customs exemptions are being
withdrawn, the CBIC said. —PTI
350 CUSTOMS DUTY
EXEMPTIONS WITHDRAWN
New Delhi: The domestic
two-wheeler sales witnessed
21% year-on-year decline in
January, even as the segment
registered a 14% sequential
growth in domestic wholesale
volumes, according to credit
ratings agency ICRA. The low
YoY sales volume in January,
highlights the adverse impact
of price hikes, fuel inflation,
and Omi-
cron-related
concerns on
consumer
sentiments.
DOMESTIC 2-WHEELER
SALES DIP IN JANUARY

07
NEWS
There’sresentmentinSikhcommunityovertheTikoniaviolenceinwhichfourfarmerswerekilledlastOctober
Lucknow: As the poll-
ing date nears, there is
resentment in the Sikh
community in Lakhim-
pur Kheri over the
Tikonia violence in
which four farmers
were killed last October.
However, the opinion is
divided in others parts
of the Nighasan Assem-
bly constituency
.
Four Sikh farmers
were killed when an
SUV allegedly linked to
Ashish Mishra, son of
Union minister Ajay
Mishra ‘Teni’ mowed
them down. A journal-
ist and three others
were also killed.
Ashish has already
been arrested in con-
nection with the case.
There are demands that
Mishra, too, be dropped
from the Narendra
Modi cabinet and ar-
rested.
Members of the Sikh
community who attend-
ed ‘Amavas’ festival at
the Kaudiyala Ghat
Gurdwara near Tikonia
said the October 3 kill-
ings have caused them
great despair, which
will negatively reflect
in the election outcome
for the BJP.
There are about
15,000 Sikh voters in the
Nighasan Assembly
constituency which is
dominated by Muslim
voters, who number
around 80,000. There
are 28,000 Mauryas and
about 22,000 Kurmis.
Ahmed Khan, former
head of Sahan Kheda
village neighbouring
Tikonia, said the Sikh
community leaders
have announced to sev-
er ties with those mem-
bers that carry the BJP
flag.
However, except for
the Sikhs in Tikonia,
there appears to be no
resentment against
Mishra among other
sections. Most of them
said the October 3 inci-
dents was “unfortu-
nate” and it was the
minister’s “bad luck”.
Mishra’s parliamen-
tary constituency com-
prises Palia, Nighasan,
Lakhimpur, Srinagar
and Gola Gokarna Nath
Assembly seats. The
BJP had won all five
seats in 2017. However,
despite being the MP
from Lakhimpur, he is
not actively involved in
campaigning for the As-
sembly polls as accord-
ing to party insiders,
the BJP does not want
to risk its chances by
using him. —PTI
New Delhi: India’s
merchandise export in
January 2022 increased
by 23.69% to $34.06 bil-
lion over $27.54 billion
in January 2021; records
increase of 31.75% over
$25.85 billion in Janu-
ary 2020, informed the
Ministry of Commerce
and Industry on
Wednesday
.
According to the min-
istry, India’s merchan-
dise export in 2021-22
(April-Jan) rose by
46.53% to $335.44 billion
over $228.9 billion in
2020-21 (April-Jan),
marking an increase of
27.0% over $264.13 bil-
lion in 2019-20 (April-
Jan). The value of non-
petroleum exports in
Jan 2022 was $30.33 bil-
lion, registering a posi-
tive growth of 19.4%
over non-petroleum ex-
ports of $25.4 billion in
Jan 2021 and positive
growth of 33.81% over
non-petroleum exports
of $22.67 billion in Jan
2020.
The cumulative value
of non-petroleum ex-
ports in 2021-22 (Apr-
Jan) was $287.84 billion,
an increase of 37.59%
over $209.19 billion in
2020-21 (Apr-Jan) and an
increase of 25.8% over
$228.8 billion in 2019-20
(Apr-Jan). The value of
non-petroleum and non-
gems and jewellery ex-
ports in Jan 2022 was
$27.09 billion, register-
ing a positive growth of
20.1%. —ANI
Merchandise export increases by 23.69% to $34 bn in Jan
FOREIGN TRADE
New Delhi: India’s ex-
ports to China rose by
21% to $22.9 billion in
the 2021 while imports
surged by 49% to
$87.5 billion during the
same year, according
to data released by the
Directorate General of
Commercial Intel-
ligence and Statistics.
Bilateral trade between
the two countries
rose to $110.4 bil-
lion in 2021 against
$77.7 billion in 2020,
registering a year-on-
year growth of 42.2%.
When compared with
2019 data, India’s ex-
ports to China rose by
33.9% in 2021. India’s
exports to China have
risen consistently in
the last three years. In-
dia’s exports to China
stood at $17.1 billion
in 2019. It rose to
$22.9 billion in 2021.
—ANI
Prayagraj: The Al-
lahabad High Court has
directed the counsel
for CBI to verify the
fact whether Anand
Giri, one of the ac-
cused in the alleged
suicide case of Naren-
dra Giri, the then presi-
dent of Akhil Bharatiya
Akhara Parishad had
visited Australia during
May 2019 and was
arrested there in a
molestation case, for
which, he remained in
police custody and was
subsequently released
and returned to India.
The court also directed
the CBI counsel to file
an affidavit after verify-
ing this fact. Justice
Rajiv Gupta passed
this order when during
the hearing of bail ap-
plication filed by Anand
Giri in Narendra guru’s
death case, his counsel
stated before the court
that Anand Giri has
no criminal history to
his credit. However,
in the charge sheet
filed by CBI, it was
clearly stated that in
May, 2019 Anand Giri
had visited Australia
and was arrested in a
molestation case, for
which, he remained in
police custody and was
subsequently released
and returned to India
safely. While directing
the CBI counsel to first
verify and file an affida-
vit in this connection,
the court in its order
dated January 31, fixed
February 14, 2022 for
the next hearing of the
case. The applicant,
Anand Giri, is in jail
since Sept 22, 2021
in connection with
this suicide case. In
the bail application, it
has been stated that
the applicant has been
falsely implicated in
this case. According
to the application, the
alleged suicide note is
not in the handwriting
of Narendra Giri. —FIB
INDIA’S EXPORTS TO CHINA RISE
BY 21% TO $22.9 BN IN 2021
Cong alleges malpractice
over cash seizure from ex-IPS
Verify Anand Giri’s arrest in Oz
case: Allahabad HC asks CBI
Containers for export. —FILE PHOTO
OPINION DIVIDED ON MINISTER AJAY
MISHRA IN LAKHIMPUR KHERI
Union Minister of State of Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra —FILE PHOTO
SC collegium recommends 6
names for Delhi HC judges
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court collegium
headed by Chief Justice
N.V
. Ramana has recom-
mended to the Centre
thenamesof sixjudicial
officers for appointment
as judges of the Delhi
High Court.
The collegium, which
also comprised Justices
U.U. Lalit and A.M.
Khanwilkar, held delib-
erations on February 1
and recommended the
names of Poonam A.
Bamba, Neena Bansal
Krishna, Dinesh Kumar
Sharma, Anoop Kumar
Mendiratta, Swarana
Kanta Sharma and Su-
dhir Kumar Jain.“The
Supreme Court Collegi-
um has approved the
proposalforelevationof
the following Judicial
Officers as Judges in the
Delhi High Court,” a
statement said.
There are three wom-
en judicial officers
whose names have been
recommended for judge-
ship of the Delhi HC
which is functioning
with30judgesagainst60
sanctioned judges. —PTI
NGT asks panel to check illegal
RO plant in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Green Tribunal
(NGT) has ordered
a four-member joint
committee, led by
Delhi Jal Board
Chairman and District
Magistrate to look into
a complaint on the
operating of an illegal
Reverse Osmosis
(RO) plant which is
extracting lakhs of
liters of groundwater
at Chanakyapuri area
in Delhi. The bench
of Justice Brijesh
Sethi directed the
joint committee also
comprising members
from Delhi Pollution
Control Committee
(DPCC) and State
Ground Water Author-
ity to meet within one
month and undertake
a site visit and look
into the grievance. It
was also directed by
the green court that
the panel may submit
a factual and action
taken report within
three months before
the Registrar General,
NGT, Delhi. —PTI
‘Greencorridorcreatedfortransportationofheart’
New Delhi: A 16 km
long emergency green
corridor was created
from IGI Airport in
New Delhi to AIIMS
Hospital for the trans-
portation of a live heart
that was brought to the
national capital by air
from Chandigarh, the
Delhi traffic police said
on Wednesday
.
DCP, Traffic of the
South District had su-
pervised the “challeng-
ing task” of traffic man-
agement by the Delhi
traffic police despite
“ongoing construction
works on the road”.
According to the po-
lice, after the call made
by the Head of Prof
Aarti Vij, Dept ORBO
AIIMS for the creation
of a green corridor
from the Terminal-3,
the corridor was “pro-
vided successfully”
keeping in view the
emergency and human-
ity
.
The police informed
that the corridor short-
ened the travel time
from the usual 60 min-
utes to 18 minutes with
the help of the corridor
that facilitated the suc-
cessful heart trans-
plant.
“The distance of
about 16 KM was cov-
ered within 18 minutes
for transportation of
heart (Piloted by TI/
IGI, Insp. Kuldeep Sin-
gh) which takes almost
60/65 minutes in nor-
mal routine,” the police
stated. The humanitar-
ian effort of the traffic
police was appreciated
by the AIIMS
administration.” The
efforts and assistance
provided by Delhi Traf-
fic Police were appreci-
ated by the administra-
tion of AIIMS Hospital,
New Delhi given in the
service of humanity,”
the police said. —ANI
EMPTY STANDS, AGAIN
ODI series between India and West Indies to be played behind closed doors at Narendra Modi
Stadium. The West Indies team arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday —PHOTO BY ANI
World Wetlands
Day: India now has
49 Ramsar sites
Gurugram: Khi-
jadia Wildlife Sanc-
tuary in Gujarat and
Bakhira Wildlife
Sanctuary in UP are
the latest Ramsar
sites to join the list of
49 protected wet-
lands in the country
on the World Wet-
lands Day celebrated
on February 2 every
year. The announce-
ment was made by
the Union Minister
for Environment,
Forest and Climate
Change, Bhupender
Yadav, and Haryana
CM Manohar Lal
Khattar while
launching the ‘Na-
tional Wetland Dec-
adal Change Atlas’ at
Sultanpur National
Park in Haryana.
Sultanpur National
Park is also a Ramsar
site, which is located
on the outskirts of
Gurugram. In 1971, a
Convention on Wet-
lands was adopted in
the Iranian city of
Ramsar which is how
it got its name Ram-
sar Convention. The
convention laid down
a framework for the
conservation and
wise use of wetlands
and their resources.
Wetlands are an im-
portant part of eco-
logical system, they
support biodiversity
and also mitigate the
effects of climate
change. All 49 Ram-
sar Sites together
now cover 10,93,636
Ha, making it the
highest in South
Asia. —FIB
Bhupender Yadav (R) with Manohar Lal Khattar (C) —PHOTO BY ANI
Noida: Congress’ Noi-
da Assembly candidate
Pankhuri Pathak on
Wednesday attacked
the BJP as she sus-
pected that the cash
seized from premises
linked to a retired IPS
officer here could be
for election malprac-
tice. The Income Tax
officials have recovered
over `3 crore in cash
after it raided premises
linked to former Uttar
Pradesh cadre IPS
officer Ram Narayan
Singh on Tuesday. The
cash – in currencies of
`2,000, `500 and `200
– were found stashed
in lockers created in
the premises, accord-
ing to the officials.
“Ram Narayan Singh
Retired officer of Uttar
Pradesh cadre `3 crore
cash recovered Noida
Connect the dots your-
self (sic),” Pathak said
in a cryptic Hindi tweet.
When contacted, she
said she suspected the
money could be linked
to election malpractice
and alleged the BJP’s
association with it.
Noida, in Uttar Pradesh
goes to polls on Febru-
ary 10. —PTI

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
57,08,428
TOTAL DEATHS
30,34,70,925
TOTAL RECOVERED
7,37,44,833
ACTIVE CASES
38,29,24,186
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,97,996
TOTAL DEATHS
3,95,11,307
TOTAL RECOVERED
16,21,582
ACTIVE CASES
4,16,30,885
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
‘Delhi's budget not increased in
last 21-yrs, MCD empty handed’
First India Bureau:
New Delhi: Delhi Dep-
uty Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia have
slammed the Union
Budget 2022-23 and
termed it as “anti-farm-
er”. Sisodia, who is also
Delhi’s Finance Minis-
ter claimed that the gov-
ernment has reduced
the allocation for Mini-
mum Support Price
(MSP) in the budget.
Regarding the budget
given to Delhi, Manish
Sisodia also raised the
question and said that
if we talk about Delhi,
we used to think that
the Central Govern-
ment will give some
money from the budget
to the Municipal Corpo-
ration of Delhi to im-
prove the condition of
the Municipal Corpora-
tion, because BJP al-
ways keeps saying that
The municipal corpora-
tion does not have mon-
ey, today when the time
came to give money
from the budget, the
central government of
BJP did not give a sin-
gle penny to the munic-
ipal corporation.
Manish Sisodia said
that only Rs 325 crore is
being given to the Delhi
government since 2001.
Whereas when we had a
meeting with Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman, we have de-
manded to increase this
Rs 325 crore and said
that the rest of the
states should be given
as much as they are be-
ing given, but the mon-
ey of MCD was not in-
creased.
The Delhi Congress
also attacked the Cen-
tral government and
said that there was
nothing for the people
of Delhi in the Budget,
especially those run-
ning small businesses
who have been devas-
tated by the pandemic.
“The Central govern-
ment is decreasing the
number of farmers who
will enjoy the benefit of
MSP, Budget for MSP,
and also the target of
wheat and rice to be col-
lected under MSP.
Could any Budget be
more anti-farmer? The
govet has cheated the
farmers in Budget,”
Sisodia said in a video
statement.
Only Rs 325 crore is being given to the
Delhi government since 2001. Whereas
when we had a meeting with Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, we have de-
manded to increase this but the money of MCD
has not increased yet.
—Manish Sisodiya, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister
What bothers and troubles a
person is not a situation or
incident - But how it affects him,
he forgets that remains under his control.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Budget is 'anti-farmer' alleges Delhi
Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia
Delhi govt inducts new batch
of junior environ engineers
Govt has inducted a
new batch of 30 junior
engineers and 22 green
fellows to strengthen
the city’s environmen-
tal governance and
management, an offi-
cial statement said on
Wednesday
.
The Green Fellows
are part of a unique
Fellowship Program
started by the city govt
for young profession-
als to contribute to
Delhi’s green initia-
tives while the Junior
Environmental Engi-
neers will act as a
force multiplier for
the Delhi Pollution
Control Committee
(DPCC), the Delhi govt
said.
“The Green Delhi
Fellowship program is
a one-of-a-kind initia-
tive by the Arvind Ke-
jriwal govt for young,
motivated profession-
als to innovatively and
creatively support
Delhi’s environmental
governance. The
DPCC too has been
further strengthened
by hiring 30 Junior
Environmental Engi-
neers for the first time
in almost three dec-
ades,” Environ Min
Gopal Rai said. —PTI
The Delhi
Pollution
Control
Committee has
been strengthened
by hiring 30 Jun-
ior Environmen-
tal Engineers for
the first time in
almost 30-yrs.
—Gopal Rai, Environ-
ment Minister
Table Tennis star Manika Batra visited the National War Memorial on Wednesday to pay tribute to air warrior of the 1971
Indo-Pak War Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon. She also paid virtual homage to Another War Hero Vikram Batra. —PHOTO BY PIB
GRATITUDE AND PRIDE!
ASSEMBLY POLLS
Our fight is to save
Punjab: Mann
Mahesh Kumar
Sangrur: Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) Punjab
CM candidate Bhag-
want Mann, on
Wednesday conducted
door-to-door campaign
in his Constituency
Dhuri. Mann went
door-to-door to lis-
ten the problems
of people. Peo-
ple were excited
to meet Mann. He
visited various vil-
lages of Dhuri constit-
uency Rudgarh, Is-
sapur Landa, Farwahi,
Kaleran, Changli, Ka-
taron, Ghannauri Ka-
lan, Ghannaur Khurd,
Bamal and Dhuri town
and interacted with
the people of the area.
Appealing to the peo-
ple to support the Aam
Aadmi Party, Mann
said, “Till February 20
our responsibility is
yours, after that all
your responsibilities
will be ours”.
Mann said that our
fight is not to save
some political
families as our
fight is to save
Punjab, and its
farmers, agricul-
ture, industry and
youth. We will save
both agriculture and
youth of the Punjab.
Due to lack of employ-
ment and better educa-
tion infrastructure,
our youth is moving
abroad, we will stop
this migration.
Voters can file case if we
don’t fulfil promises: AK
Spend time in public and
resolve their issues: Gehlot
First India Bureau
Jaipur: In the meeting
of the State Cabinet and
the Council of Minis-
ters held on Wednesday
,
the Rajasthan CM di-
rected all the ministers
to visit their respective
districts of charge twice
a month. Moreover, the
ministers have been
asked to stay in Jaipur
from Monday to
Wednesday
. The cabinet
meeting is held on
Wednesday, so the min-
isters have been in-
structed not to leave the
capital. Every in-charge
minister has been asked
to go to the district Con-
gress office, hold public
hearings, go to every as-
sembly constituency of
the district under his
charge, take monitoring
meetings of all depart-
ments and prepare pro-
gress reports of the gov-
ernment’s schemes for
public welfare.
Gehlot has told that
the work of preparation
of progress report of
government’s pension
scheme, Chief Minister
Chiranjeevi Bima Yoja-
na, free travel scheme
for students in road-
ways buses, free medi-
cine and testing scheme
and scheme for distrib-
uting free sanitary nap-
kins to 1.25 crore wom-
en in Udaan scheme will
be done by the minister
in charge.
Raj Cm has given in-
structions to all the
ministers to stay in
touch with the MLAs to
solve the problems of
the state, to visit every
district from time to
time, to take meetings
of their departments
and to hold public hear-
ings there. Notably
, even
6 months ago, the Chief
Minister had given or-
der to this effect. How-
ever, due to Covid, there
was some gap in be-
tween and now CM has
been asked to start its
implementation again.
Panaji: Ahead of the
Assembly Elections in
Goa, the AAP candi-
dates on Wednesday
signed a legal affidavit
and took an oath to re-
main loyal to the party
.
The candidates fur-
ther pledged that
they will work
honestly if they
are elected in the
upcoming polls.
AAP national con-
venor and Delhi CM Ke-
jriwal said on the occa-
sion that while all party
candidates are honest
people, they still decid-
ed to go ahead with the
signing of this affidavit
in order to assure the
voters of the state of
Goa, where the party is
looking to emerge as a
big force this time.
“All of our candi-
dates are honest but
this affidavit is needed
to assure voters that
these candidates are
honest,” the AAP chief
stated.
Kejriwal said
copies of these af-
fidavits will be
made available to
voters so that they
can file a case against
them later if the trust is
breached.
Kejriwal, who is in
Goa ahead of Feb 14
polls, said the incum-
bent BJP is aiming to
come back to power in
the state by using the
“strategy” of planning
to woo CongRESS legis-
lators. —ANI
Cong poll promise; 40% women in police
Dehradun: Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra released
the Congress’ manifesto
for Uttarakhand on
Wednesday promising
to reserve 40% jobs for
women in the police de-
partment, jobs to four
lakh people, and
creation of a
‘tourism police’
force.
The manifesto
called ‘Uttara-
khand Swabhiman
Pratigya Patra’ also
promised to give prior-
ity to women in 40 per
cent government jobs
and capping of LPG
prices at Rs 500.
Gandhi released the
manifesto at a virtual
rally here, streamed live
in all 70 assembly con-
stituencies in the state.
Accusing the BJP
govt in U’khand of do-
ing nothing over the
past five years, she
asked people to take
their vote seriously call-
ing it their “most power-
ful weapon” of change.
“The present govt did
nothing in five years.
We still see only the
work done by our govt
which preceded it,” she
said. —PTI
The candidates fur-
ther pledged that
they will work
honestly if they
are elected in the
stated.
copies of these af-
fidavits will be
made available to
voters so that they
GOA
GOA
Dhuri. Mann went
door-to-door to lis-
ten the problems
to meet Mann. He
visited various vil-
fight is not to save
some political
families as our
fight is to save
Punjab, and its
farmers, agricul-
ture, industry and
PUNJAB
BJP demands
reopening of
gyms, fitness
centre in Delhi
BJP on Wednesday de-
manded reopening of
gyms and spas, alleging
that the AAP govt was
discriminating against
them as Covid restric-
tions like weekend cur-
few have been removed,
and restaurants and
bars have been allowed
to operate at 50% capac-
ity. In a statement, loP
in the Delhi Assembly
Ramvir Bidhuri urged
CM Kejriwal to immedi-
ately send a proposal in
this regard to LG.
“Restrictions like
weekend curfew and
odd-even have been re-
moved from the mar-
kets. Along with this,
restaurants, bars, and
cinemas have also been
allowed with 50% ca-
pacity
. Why is discrimi-
nation being done only
with gyms and spas?”
he asked. —PTI
lakh people, and
creation of a
‘tourism police’
The manifesto
called ‘Uttara-
U’KHAND
U’KHAND
U’KHAND
AAP candidates signed a legal affidavit took a pledge to
remain loyal to the party on Wednesday.
Mann during door-to-door campaign in Roorgarh, Isapur
Landa, Farwahi and Claran villages of Halqa Dhuri.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

03022022 first india new delhi

03022022 first india new delhi

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 03022022 first india new delhi

Similar to 03022022 first india new delhi (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

03022022 first india new delhi