03052022_First India_Ahmedabad.pdf

Two Congress leaders to join BJP in Gujarat today
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Two
Congress leaders—
Ashwin Kotwal and
Keval Joshiyara-- are
set to join the Bharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP)
today, in the presence
of senior leaders.
Meanwhile, Congress
national leader Rahul
Gandhi will address
tribal communities at a
gathering in Dahod on
May 10.
For more than a
month, speculations
were rife that Kotwal, a
tribal leader and three-
term MLA from Khed-
brahma constituency,
was planning to join
the ruling party. Ac-
cording to sources, he
was unhappy with the
party’s state leadership
as his expectations
were not met and he did
not enjoy due impor-
tance. His tenure as
chief whip of the party
in the state Assembly
recently came to an end
after he was replaced
by CJ Chavda.
Keval Joshiyara, son
of Dr Anil Joshiyara, a
four-term MLA from
Bhiloda constituency,
will also join the ranks
in the BJP. After Dr
Joshiyara succumbed
to COVID-19 over two
months ago, the BJP is
hoping that his son may
help it win the seat. In-
terestingly, both Khed-
brahma and Bhiloda
seats have eluded the
ruling party in polls.
According to Con-
gress party sources, Ra-
hul Gandhi will be ad-
dressing tribals in Da-
hod on May 10. Inciden-
tally, this will be his
first public rally in the
state, which means that
Congress plans to kick-
start its Assembly polls
campaign.
On the other hand,
BJP state leaders will
have a three-day break
from party events be-
ginning May 02 till May
05. Members will be
able to spend quality
time with families, rela-
tives and friends for the
duration. This will be
the first time in recent
times that no BJP event
will be held in three
days.
Tribal leader Ashwin Kotwal. —FILE PHOTO
Senior members of ruling party
will welcome Ashwin Kotwal and
Keval Joshiyara to their ranks
CRUCIAL READ
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HC STAYS
ARREST OF KUMAR VISHWAS
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court
on Monday, stayed the arrest of former Aam
Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas in a case over
him allegedly making “inflammatory statements”
against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The
case was registered against him by the Punjab
Police on April 12.
SENSEX TUMBLES OVER 648
POINTS, NIFTY BELOW 17K
Mumbai: Benchmark equity
indices continued to remain
weak on Monday, with the
Sensex tumbling over 648
points in early trade. The
30-share BSE benchmark
was trading 648.25 points
lower at 56,412.62. The
NSE Nifty declined 185.3
points to 16,917.25. P7
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 157
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Nand Mulchandani, an Indian-origin man who studied at a Delhi school,
has been appointed the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) first-ever Chief
Technology Officer. The announcement for the coveted position was made
by Director William J Burns in a blog post and also shared on social media.
INDIAN-ORIGIN
MAN APPOINTED
CIA’S FIRST
TECH OFFICER
With a view to solve the ‘power-problem’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on
Monday chaired a meeting of the top brass of coal, power and railway ministries
amid electricity outages in various parts of the country due to shortage of coal at
thermal plants, according to sources.
SHAH CHAIRS
CRUCIAL MEET
ON POWER
CRISIS
‘TIMETOGOTOTHE
REALMASTERS’
Split Wide
Open in
Haryana Cong
PM Modi’s 8 years of ‘misgovernance’ is case
study on how to ruin economies: Rahul
New Delhi: Congress is
reaching out to sulking
Haryana leader Kul-
deep Bishnoi as he is
upset over denial of
state presidentship of
the party in the state.
Bishnoi has let his an-
ger public and said that
he will seek a response
from the party
.
The internal rift in
the Haryana Congress
has widened after Con-
gress General Secre-
tary Randeep Surjewa-
la came out openly in
support of Kuldeep
Bishnoi.
Since the appoint-
ment of Udai Bhan, a
known Hooda support-
er, as party chief Kul-
deep Bishnoi has been
upset but Surjewala
who is close to Rahul
Gandhi stoked a contro-
versy by saying that
Bishnoi could have
been good President.
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Monday hit out at Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi saying that his
eight years of ‘misgov-
ernance’ is a case study
on how to ruin economy
.
He tweeted: “PM
Modi’s 8 years of mis-
governance is a case
study on how to ruin
what was once one of
the world’s fastest grow-
ing economies.”
The Congress has
been attacking the gov-
ernment on issues of
power crisis, unemploy-
ment, farmers’ issues
and inflation.
Terming the power
crisis ‘artificial’, Con-
gress’s spokesperson
Gourav Vallabh said:
“We demand that this
artificial power crisis be
immediately resolved.”
Modi-Scholz pen green
energy partnership
Berlin: PM Narendra
Modi was received by
German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz in a ceremo-
nial welcome at the Fed-
eral Chancellery in Ber-
linonMondaywherethe
duo were slated to hold
bilateral discussions fol-
lowed by the 6th Inter-
Governmental Consul-
tations (IGC). During
this, Modi Scholz
signed the green sus-
tainableenergypartner-
ship at the Federal
Chancellery
, in Berlin.
Upon his arrival, the
Indian prime minister
was accorded the Guard
of Honour at the fore-
court of the Federal
Chancellery in Berlin.
This is Prime Minister
Modi’sfirstmeetingwith
Scholz as German Chan-
cellor, who assumed of-
fice in December, 2021.
Modi received a rous-
ing welcome from the
Indian diaspora in Ber-
lin. PM Modi greeted
members of the Indian
community, who were
awaiting his arrival at
Hotel Adlon Kempinski
in Berlin.
PM Modi is also
scheduled to visit Den-
mark on Tuesday to
hold talks with leaders
from Nordic countries,
along with other high-
level interactions, the
visit will conclude with
a stopover in Paris on
Wednesday where the
Prime Minister will
meet the newly re-elect-
ed French President
Emmanuel Macron.
T. KAPOOR APPOINTED ADVISOR TO PM,
RAO CHANDRA AS ADDL SECY IN PMO
Former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor has
been appointed as an advisor to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Kapoor, a 1987-batch IAS officer
of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, superannuated as
the secretary of the ministry of petroleum and nat-
ural gas on November 30, 2021. Meanwhile, senior
bureaucrats Hari Ranjan Rao and Atish Chandra
have been appointed as additional secretaries in
the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Amit Shah arrives in B’luru, to
take final call on K’taka cabinet
SC to hear Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind’s plea against
‘attack’ on Muslims’ beliefs on May 9
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day posted for May 9, a
plea seeking a court-
monitored investiga-
tion and prosecution in
hate crimes related to
the “continuous attack”
on the personality of
Prophet Mohammad
and disparaging re-
marks by various peo-
ple in different parts of
the country attacking
the very belief system
of Muslims at large.
A bench headed by
Justice AM Khan-
wilkar posted the mat-
ter for May 9 for hear-
ing along with similar
pending cases.
Bengaluru: The Kar-
nataka state BJP is wit-
nessing heavy political
activity as Union Home
Minister Amit Shah ar-
rived in the city on
Monday late night. The
visit has assumed im-
portance in the back-
drop of Shah coming
with a specific mission
of finalising the deci-
sion on cabinet expan-
sion or reshuffle. He
would also hold talks
regarding the various
happenings in the state
and strategise for the
state Assembly elec-
tions in 2023.
Mid-air
turbulence
lands 11 flyers
in hosp, 8
discharged
New Delhi: SpiceJet,
on Monday said that 11
passengers on board its
flight from Mumbai to
Durgapur in West Ben-
gal were injured in the
severe turbulence a day
ago were hospitalised
and of these eight have
been discharged so far.
The airline also said
that the seat belt sign
was on when the air-
craft encountered tur-
bulence and several an-
nouncements for the
same were also made.
SpiceJet Spokesper-
son, in a statement,
said, “The seat belt sign
was on when the air-
craft encountered tur-
bulence. Multiple an-
nouncements were
made by the pilots and
the crew instructing
passengers to remain
seated.”
PLEA IN SC SEEKS BAN ON TALAQ-E-HASAN
NO ‘MAHA AARTI’ ON EID: RAJ THACKERAY
New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court
seeking a direction to declare “Talaq-e-Hasan and all other
forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq”, unconstitutional for
being arbitrary, irrational, and violative of Articles 14, 15, 21,
25 of the Constitution. The plea also sought a direction to the
Centre to frame guidelines for neutral uniform grounds of
divorce and uniform procedure of divorce for all citizens. The
petition has been filed by a Muslim woman.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on
Monday appealed to his party workers to not perform the
announced ‘Maha Aarti’ on the occasion of ‘Akshay Tritiya’ on
May 3 as he doesn’t want to create any obstacle for Mus-
lims during the Eid festival. He reiterated that his campaign
against loudspeakers was a social issue and he would
disclose his future plans through Twitter on Tuesday.
SHAH ON 3-DAY
VISIT TO BENGAL
New Delhi: Shah will
be on a three-day
visit to West Bengal from
Wednesday to attend
various government
programmes, BJP events
and will also address
the ongoing infighting
in the party’s state unit.
Shah will reach Kolkata
on May 4 evening, and
on May 5 he will attend a
government programme
at Hingalganj.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chancellor of Germany Olaf
Scholz, in Berlin, Germany. —PHOTOS BY PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects Guard of Honour at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin,
Germany, Monday, May 2, 2022. Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz is also seen.
Kartikey Dev Singh
New Delhi: After his
talks with the top brass
of the Congress party
failed,politicalstrategist
Prashant Kishor on
Mondayhintedthatheis
set to take a political
plunge with a tweet in
which he said that he
would be ready to go to
the people’s court, start-
ing from his home state
Bihar. Political observ-
ersbelievethatPrashant,
through this new in-
nings, may try to bring
all opposition parties on
one platform in a more
formal manner as he too
wouldhaveastakeinthe
‘game’, than being just
anadvisortopartiesand
being their strategist
and ‘deal-maker’.
“My quest to be a
meaningful participant
in democracy help
shape pro-people policy
led to a 10yr rollercoast-
er ride! As I turn the
page, time to go to the
Real Masters, THE PEO-
PLE, to better under-
stand the issues the
path to Peoples Good
Governance” Kishor
said in a tweet today
.
He accompanied it
with the hashtag in
Hindi ‘From Bihar’.
The announcement
has come within a week
of hisstatementonTwit-
ter that he had declined
the Congress’ offer to
join a group on strength-
ening the organization
in the run-up to the 2024
general elections.
Kishor is not new to
Bihar politics, for he
was the vice president
of therulingJanataDal-
United led by the chief
minister Nitish Kumar.
Prashant Kishor
@PrashantKishor
My quest to be a meaningful
participant in democracy
help shape pro-people policy
led to a 10yr rollercoaster
ride! As I turn the page, time
to go to the Real Masters,
THE PEOPLE, to better
understand the issues
the path to Peoples Good
Governance
PK’S CRYPTIC TWEET RAISES ‘INTEREST’

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
New Delhi: Vadgam
legislator Jignesh Me-
vani Monday alleged
that his arrest by the As-
sam Police was a pre-
planned conspiracy “de-
signed” by the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO)
to “destroy” him ahead
of the Assembly elec-
tions in the state.
“Myarrestisanactof
56-inch cowardice and it
has undermined Guja-
rat’s pride,” Mevani told
media persons in an ap-
parent attack on Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, using his 56-inch
chest assertion.
Addressing a press
conference after he was
granted bail by an As-
sam court, Mevani an-
nounced he would take
to the streets and ensure
a Gujarat Bandh on
June 01 seeking action
againstthosebehindthe
leak of 22 exam papers,
the recent recovery of
“Rs 1.75 lakh-crore”
worth of drugs from
Mundra Port, and to
press for withdrawal of
all cases against Dalits
registered in Una and
against minorities.
“My arrest by the As-
sam police was a pre-
planned conspiracy
. It
was in blatant disregard
to protocol and rules for
an MLA,” Mevani as-
serted.
“It is my charge that
this is a conspiracy de-
signed by the Prime
Minister’s Office. Guja-
rat elections are due
soon and this is being
done to destroy me. I
fear that there is every
chance that by now they
may have planted some-
thing on my computer
which has been seized
by them,” he added.
He also demanded
the paper leak cases be
investigated by a Spe-
cial Investigation Team
(SIT) and the Mundra
Port operator be inves-
tigated in the case of
seizure of drugs.
“Otherwise, we will
take to the streets and
launch a Gujarat Bandh
on June 01,” he warned.
2 tremors hit Gir Somnath; no casualties reported
First India Bureau
Veraval: Two succes-
sive tremors of 4 and
3.2 magnitude on the
Richter Scale jolted a
village in the Gir Som-
nath district on Mon-
day morning, said offi-
cials.
Residents of Talala
village, located 25 km
from the district head-
quarters Veraval, woke
up from their slumber
and ran out of their
homes after experienc-
ing the tremors. How-
ever, there were no re-
ports of any casualty or
damage to property, ac-
cording to the district
administration.
The first tremor of
4.0 magnitude was re-
corded at 6.58 am, with
its epicentre 13 km
north-northeast of Ta-
lala village, confirmed
the Gandhinagar-based
Institute of Seismologi-
cal Research (ISR).
Another tremor of
3.2 magnitude intensi-
ty--the epicentre of
which was nine km
north-northeast of Ta-
lala-- was recorded at
7.04 am, added the ISR,
in a statement.
Interestingly, around
five to six tremors of an
average of 3.4 magni-
tude have been record-
ed in the state’s Kutch
district this year, which
is located in a very
‘high risk’ seismic
zone.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The State
Bank of India (SBI) on
Monday told the Guja-
rat High Court that it
has issued a no-dues
certificate to a borrow-
er in a land sale matter,
which was withheld
over non-payment of an
outstanding amount of
just 31 paise.
Last week, the HC
had pulled up the coun-
try’s largest public sec-
tor lender for not issu-
ing a no-dues certifi-
cate, observing that this
was nothing but harass-
ment.
On Monday
, the bank,
in an affidavit filed be-
fore the court of Justice
Bhargav Karia, said it
has issued the no-dues
certificate on April 28 to
the borrower, required
for clearing the land
deal.
Justice Karia said in
his order that with the
issuance of the no-dues
certificate, the petition-
er has sought permis-
sion to withdraw the
plea.
The SBI said it could
not issue the no-dues
certificate earlier in
view of a letter received
from the original bor-
rower directing it not to
do so.
“It was not the en-
deavour of the respond-
ent bank to not issue
no-dues certificate in
spite of payment of the
entire dues,” the SBI
told the court.
The court had last
Wednesday pulled up
the bank for not issuing
no-dues certificate over
an outstanding amount
of just 31 paise.
Petitioners Rakesh
Verma and Manoj Ver-
ma had purchased a
piece of land in Khoraj
village near
Ahmedabad city from
farmer Shamjibhai and
his family in 2020.
Since Shamjibhai
had sold the land to the
petitioners before re-
paying a crop loan of Rs
3 lakh taken from the
SBI, the petitioners
(who are new owners of
the land) could not en-
ter their names in the
revenue records be-
cause of the bank’s
charge on the land par-
cel.
Though the farmer
later repaid the entire
amount to the bank, the
SBI did not issue a no-
dues certificate, follow-
ing which the new own-
ers moved the high
court two years ago.
During the hearing
last week, when Justice
Karia had asked the
bank to submit the no-
dues certificate in the
court, SBI’s lawyer
Anand Gogia said, “It’s
not possible because
there is an outstanding
amount of 31 paise. It is
system- generated.”
After rap from HC, SBI issues no-dues certificate for land parcel
RECTIFIED
lll
The country’s
largest
public sector
lender bank
had
withheld the
document
due to farmer’s
outstanding
amount of 31
paise
Gujarat High Court. —FILE PHOTO
Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani was recently arrested and released
on bail for assault on a female police officer. —FILE PHOTO
Myarrestpre-planned
conspiracydesignedby
PMO:JigneshMevani
Independent
MLA announces
intention to
launch Guj
Bandh on June 1
if paper leak
cases, drugs
seizure are not
probed properly
First India Bureau
Surat: The political
row between the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) and
ruling Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party (BJP) reached
its crescendo when a
clash broke out between
workers of the political
parties in several cities
of Gujarat on Monday.
Things turned violent
when a group of AAP
workers were am-
bushed by BJP party
members at the ruling
party’s headquarters in
Udhna area of Surat
city
. Their counterparts
in Vadodara were also
detained by police at
Dairy Den Circle of the
city
.
AAP members had
reached the spot during
the day to express their
dissent at being evicted
from the Surat Munici-
pal Corporation (SMC)
headquarters on May
01. Party councillors
have alleged that mar-
shalls misbehaved and
even physically assault-
edfemaleworkerswhile
herding them out of the
SMC office on Sunday.
Even after a video of
the incident was being
circulated on social me-
dia platforms, the head
of security at SMC re-
fused to admit to the
incident.
Meanwhile, during
Monday’s clash, AAP
worker and former Con-
gress councillor Dinesh
Kachhadiya was in-
jured along with AAP
Gujarat chief Gopal Ita-
lia. The latter and 10
others were detained by
Surat police for rioting.
A complaint has been
lodged against 16 AAP
members.
In Vadodara, AAP
workers called out BJP
Gujarat chief CR Patil
for failing to ensure
safety of women. They
demanded that those re-
sponsible for tearing
clothes of a female cor-
porator during a Surat
Gujarat Foundation
Day event on May 01 be
punished.
Delhi Chief Minister
and AAP National Con-
vener Arvind Kejriwal
shared a video of one of
his party workers being
thrashed by BJP func-
tionaries.
“Look at these goons.
Beating openly. They
have created hooligan-
ism across the country.
Will the country pro-
gress like this? They
will never give good ed-
ucation, employment to
your children, because
they want unemployed
goons for politics. All
patriotic youth must
unite against them,”
Kejriwal tweeted.
An AAP press state-
ment said several of its
members were detained
by police for staging
“peaceful” protests in
Surat, Ahmedabad and
Vadodara.
State AAP leader Isu-
dan Gadhvi demanded
that cops register a case
against those who were
involved in the beating
up of his party workers.
Meanwhile, Surat
City BJP president
Niranjan Zanzmera
said, “AAP workers
broke the police cordon
and attacked party
workers. They came
with the intention to get
media attention.”
BJP leader Jagdish
Patel said that a group
of AAP workers went to
the BJP office with plac-
ards.
“If any person tries
to attack your house,
you will defend it. They
tried to enter and create
a ruckus. They have a
history of behaving like
this. A worker will defi-
nitely defend himself
and the office,” asserted
Patel.
AAP, BJP workers clash during protests in Guj
Several AAP members detained by police as tensions between two political parties boil over
Violent turn of events were witnessed at ruling party’s office in Udhna area of Surat; AAP workers also demonstrated in Vadodara city on Monday.
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya
will chair the 14th con-
ference of the Central
Council of Health and
Family Welfare –
‘Swasthya Chintan Shi-
vir’ – at Kevadia from
May 05 to 07.
The objective of the
three-day conference is
to review the imple-
mentation of policies
and programmes relat-
ing to the medical and
public health sectors
and to recommend
ways and means for
their better implemen-
tation.
The Central Council
of Health and Family
Welfare (CCHFW) is an
apex advisory body of
the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare.
The conference will
have panel discussions
with eminent speakers
and experts from the
Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, NITI
Aayog, industry fora,
startups, academia,
among others, along
with interactive ses-
sions with stakehold-
ers.
The sessions are
planned in a manner to
allowforampleinterac-
tion with stakeholders,
with a view to evolve a
participative approach
for time-bound imple-
mentation of policies
and programmes, said
a ministry statement.
The sessions will fo-
cus on themes such as
affordable, accessible
andequitablehealthfor
all, preparing India for
future health emergen-
cies, ‘Heal in India and
Heal by India’, prepar-
ing a roadmap for a
healthy India, sharing
of best practices in the
health sector, and coop-
eration with states for
the ‘healthy states,
healthynation’concept.
UHMMANDAVIYATOCHAIRTHREE-DAYHEALTH
CAREMEETATKEVADIAFROMMAY5TO7
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. —FILE PHOTO

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Pune (PTI): Washing-
ton Sundar has injured
his bowling hand again,
revealed Sunrisers Hy-
derabad head coach
Tom Moody, raising
doubts over the all-
rounder’s availability
for the next game
against Delhi Capitals.
Washington, who
made a comeback in the
game against the Guja-
rat Titans after missing
three matches due to
split webbing in his
bowling hand, re-in-
jured the same area
while fielding against
CSK on May 01.
Following this the
off-spinner was unable
to bowl a single ball in
Sunrisers’ 13-run loss
to CSK. While he did
come down to bat, his
stay in the middle last-
ed only two balls.
“It’s very unfortu-
nate that he had a
knock on the same
hand where he split his
webbing. It had healed
completely but he re-
injured that area, it’s
not injured to the point
that he needs it re-
stitched,” Moody said
at the post-match pres-
entation.
“But unfortunately,
it wasn’t in a state
where he could bowl. It
really did have an im-
pact on us in that early
phase of bowling, giv-
en he was such a criti-
cal bowler for us,” he
added.
Sunrisers struggled
against CSK as their
other bowler T Natara-
jan was also off the
field for a considerable
time nursing an injury
.
In the duo’s absence,
skipper Kane William-
son had to use the ser-
vices of part time spin-
ner Aiden Markram
and batting all-rounder
Shashank Singh.
Markram (0/36) and
Singh (0/10) conceded
46 runs in 4 overs as
CSK posted 202/2 on the
board.
“When you lose one
of your important
bowlers, it is a massive
blow to the side. We also
had Natarajan off the
field with an injury
that was taking some
time before he could
come back on.
So, we basically had
seven overs that hadn’t
been bowled by our
frontline bowlers till
the 14th -15th over. It
made it very difficult
for Kane to manage the
situation in the middle
and we chased a total
which was 20-30 runs
more than it should
have been,” said Moody
.
After registering five
wins on the trot, SRH
haveslumpedtoback-to-
back defeats, losing to
GujaratTitansandCSK.
They next take on Delhi
Capitals on May 05.
Losing Washington against CSK impacted our bowling: Moody
UNFORTUNATE
lll
Sunrisers
Hyderabad’s
frontline
bowler injures
his hand again
as his
availability for
May 05 game
against Delhi
Capitals
doubtful
Sundar receiving medical attention on his hand during an IPL match.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad/Surat:
A writ petition has
been filed by a 56-year-
old man in the Gujarat
High Court for ‘iccha
mrityu’ (active eutha-
nasia). Jawaharlal
Bansilal Mahajan has
appealed to the court
to grant his wish, as he
wished to end the cycle
of criminal trials on
trumped-up charges
levelled against him
for his crusade against
corruption.
Mahajan had raised
his voice against
crores of rupees worth
of corruption in the
Gujarat State Road
Transport Corpora-
tion (GSRTC). The pe-
titioner had joined the
GSRTC’s ST depart-
ment as a driver back
in 2000. He soon stum-
bled upon vital infor-
mation and papers that
revealed crores of ru-
pees of corruption
within the depart-
ment. After complain-
ing to senior officials,
Mahajan was harassed
and dismissed from his
services on bogus
charges and allega-
tions.
During his time with
the GSRTC, Mahajan
was able to unveil doc-
uments related to the
CNG scam, duplicate
spare parts scam, bo-
gus billing as well as
audit report scam and
exploitation of con-
ductors and drivers of
GSRTC. He had even
urged the CBI to inves-
tigate the matter, but
his appeals fell on deaf
ears. From 2012 to 2015,
Mahajan also held a
movement at the Jan-
tar Mantar in Delhi,
met with political lead-
ers to look into the cor-
ruption. And yet, no
action was taken.
“Owing to his brave
actions, the petitioner
has had to endure false
criminal trials and
other court hearings.
Failing to take any
more bogus allega-
tions and false accusa-
tions, he has decided to
end his life,” stated the
petition.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: A man from
Rajasthan was ar-
rested by Rajkot ru-
ral police on Monday
with 19 detonators
and 149 unlicensed
gelatin sticks.
The accused was also
in possession of explo-
sives without a license
or permit.
On the basis of a tip,
rural police searched a
hut near the Kharachi-
ya village lake where
Shravansingh Ramsin-
gh Ravat lived. Police
recovered the sticks
and detonators in his
possession.
When asked for his
license and permit, he
claimed he bought
them on the black mar-
ket in Rajasthan and
used them to dig wells
in Saurashtra.
Police are also look-
ing into whether the
explosives were used
solely to dig wells or if
they were sold on the
black market.
On April 10, Police
Inspector V V Trivedi
and a Special Opera-
tion Group had con-
ducted a search in the
farm of Hirabhai Ro-
jasra, where they had
discovered five people
who had travelled from
Rajasthan and were
carrying explosives.
Land owner Hirab-
hai claimed to have in-
formed police that he
had hired Dinesh Singh
Gehlot and his team to
drill a well at his farm
for which he expected
to be paid Rs2.50 lakh.
Gelatin and dyna-
mite sticks had been
brought by Gehlot and
his team. Both the farm
owner and Dinesh Sin-
gh lacked the necessary
permits to possess and
deploy the explosive.
Gelatin and dynamite
sticks valued at
Rs3,71,225 were seized
by police.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: As the
summer heat rages on,
Gujarat will experience
hot weather over the
next five days, said a
weather bulletin re-
leased by the India Me-
teorological Depart-
ment (IMD) on Monday
.
In Ahmedabad city—
which has been record-
ing one of the hottest
temperatures for the
past few weeks—tem-
perature will continue
to sizzle between 43 and
44 degrees Celsius for
the next five days. Offi-
cials at the meteorologi-
cal department have is-
sued an orange alert till
Tuesday and yellow
alert thereafter.
Heat wave conditions
continued at isolated
pockets in Kutch dis-
trict during the day, as
southwesterly winds
prevailed at a lower lev-
el over the region.
Dry weather is very
likely in all the districts
of Gujarat region, Sau-
rashtra-Kutch and in
Diu, Daman Dadra
Nagar Haveli this week.
However, no large
change in maximum
temperatures may be
recorded in the next 24
hours. Thereafter, tem-
perature may fall by two
to three degrees Celsius
over subsequent 3-4
days over coastal Sau-
rashtra-Kutch.
The maximum tem-
perature will, in all like-
lihood, hover around 44
degrees Celsius and 45
degrees Celsius, said
the IMD.
The IMD uses four
colour codes for weath-
er warnings. Green
means no action need-
ed, yellow refers to
watch and stay updated,
orange means be pre-
pared while red alert
means take action.
Officials at IMD have
deemed the weather to
be potentially tolerable
for the general public
but expressed moderate
health concern for vul-
nerable groups such as
infants, elderly, people
with chronic diseases.
They have recommend-
ed that citizens avoid
exposure to heat, cover
their head while step-
ping out of their homes
andwearlight-coloured,
loose clothing of organ-
ic fabrics.
First India Bureau
Valsad: A man belong-
ingtoatribalcommunity
willmarrytwowomenin
a wedding ceremony to
be held on May 09 in Ka-
prada. Prakash Gamit
will marry Nayna and
Kusum in one mandap
simultaneously in the
presence of their four
children.
When asked about his
two marriages, Prakash
revealed to First India, “I
married Nayna around
13 years ago and have
been living with her and
my second love, Kusum,
for the past 12 years.”
Surprising for some,
Nayna had no objections
about Kusum’s relation-
ship with her husband.
Prakash is father to two
sons and two daughters
from Nayna and Kusum
andtheylivetogetherun-
der one roof as a family
.
“Though I was in a
live-in relationship with
Kusum,Ihadnotofficial-
ly tied the knot with her.
And that is the reason
why I wanted to marry
her as per the Hindu tra-
ditions,” said Prakash.
Rather than making
Nayna a spectator at the
wedding, he decided to
remarry her along with
Kusum. “In adivasis,
there is a tradition of liv-
ing together before mar-
rying your partner. We
can even have children
before tying the knot, as
wasthecasewithmeand
Kusum,” he added.
Prakashfurtherstated
that his entire family is
excited about his upcom-
ing wedding plans and
have insisted that they
marry in accordance
with tribal customs.
Whistleblower seeks ‘iccha
mrityu’ from Gujarat HC
Former ST
driver
Jawaharlal
Bansilal
Mahajan has
faced trials in
his quest
against
corruption
FINAL WISH
Rajkot police nab man
with 149 gelatin sticks
A’bad to sizzle at 43 degree
Celsius for next 5 days: IMD
Tribal man to marry wife,
another woman in Kaprada
Gelatin sticks can be used as explosives. —FILE PHOTO
Amdavadis are struggling to combat hot weather, especially in
the afternoon. —FILE PHOTO
Prakesh Gamit with his wives Nayna, Kusum and four kids.
52-year-old
arrested for
luring women
into flesh trade
Guj records 16
nCoV cases,
tally rises to
12,24,374
First India Bureau
Vadodara: A woman
has been arrested by
city police for allegedly
pushing young women
into prostitution.
The accused has been
arrested and is being in-
vestigated by Vadodara
police under the Immor-
al Traffic (Prevention)
Act, 1956.
Kiran Libuwala, 52,
was arrested by the po-
lice team on Monday
.
She is accused of calling
young women from all
around the country and
pushing them into the
flesh trade. She alleged-
lysummonedcustomers
and ran the racket from
her home in Vishnu
KrupasocietynearFate-
hgunj Bridge, according
to police. The police
team sent a dummy cus-
tomer and conducted a
raid at the mentioned
place. They also recov-
ered cash, mobiles and
other items from the
spot. The case is being
investigated further by
the Vadodara police.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
on Monday reported 16
COVID-19 cases, taking
the tally to 12,24,374,
while the death toll re-
mained unchanged at
10,943, said a state
health department offi-
cial.
So far, 12,13,320 per-
sons have been dis-
charged post recovery,
including 27 during the
day, leaving the state
with 111 active cases.
Ahmedabad led with
five cases, followed by
four in Rajkot, three in
Vadodara, two in Vals-
ad and one each in Gan-
dhinagar and Panchma-
hal. A government re-
lease said 61,379 people
were given COVID-19
vaccine jabs, taking the
total number of doses
administered in Guja-
rat to 10.79 crore.
The adjoining Union
Territory of Dadra and
Nagar Haveli, Daman
and Diu continued to be
coronavirus-free, con-
firmed a local official.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 3 l Issue No. 157
l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf
of First Express Publishers.
Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet
Survey No.148P, Changodar-
Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302
3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium
Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej
Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Radiate boundless love
towards the entire world.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Narendra Singh Tomar
@nstomar
Assistance to farm machinery
training and testing institutes for
demonstrations on farms, institutes
of Bhakrianup, Agricultural Science
Centres and State Agricultural
Universities at the rate of 100% of the
cost for purchase of drones and grants
will be given upto 75% of the cost to
farmers producing organizations for
demonstrations on farms.
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
I don’t blame the young British MP
who is unaware of reality portrays
negative image of Indian. It’s the
result of the negative campaigns
launched by the Tukde-Tukde gang
whose only aim is to discredit the huge
achievements of @narendramodi Govt.
India believes in Rule of Law.
TOP TWEETS
CJI NV RAMANA’S
CASE FOR JUDICIARY
IS REASONABLE
AND STRONG
hief Justice of India
NV Ramana’s plain-
speak at the Confer-
ence of Chief Jus-
tices and Chief Min-
isters should be taken in the
right spirit for the sake of eas-
ing the burden on courts. “Non-
performance by the various
wings of the executive” and
“legislature not realizing its full
potential” was to blame for the
burden on courts, Justice Ra-
mana said. The CJI also includ-
ed PILs in this category as he
explained them to be personal
interest litigation. The govern-
ment being the biggest litigant,
the CJI said that if government
officials from the panchayat to
the state level discharge their
duties in accordance with the
law there will be fewer people
approaching the courts. Land
disputes alone account for 66
percent of cases pending in
courts, Justice Ramana said.
The CJI also emphasised that
the judiciary wouldn’t cross the
“Lakshman Rekha” if the other
two wings acted as per the law. It
is reasonable advice and the leg-
islature and executive should
give it a serious thought.
C
ndians and Indian
Americans in the
US are among the
highly educated
and affluent cate-
gory
. They can be found in
every sphere of society hold-
ingtoppositions.Asadiaspora
they are the true representa-
tives of India’s culture and,
also,itssocialevilof casteism.
Theyhadbeensilentlypractic-
ingcaste-baseddiscrimination
between high and low castes
until two law suits exposed
their ugly side. The first case
was filed by the California
State’s Department of Fair
Employment and Housing
againstCiscoin2020following
a complaint by an Indian ori-
gin employee that he was dis-
criminated against by two fel-
low Indian employees on
groundsof hiscaste.Ciscohas
deniedtheallegation.Thecase
isintheCaliforniastatecourt.
The second case was filed
last year against the Swami-
narayan Sanstha for paying
low wages to its “low caste”
workers, a charge denied by
the organisation. This case is
also pending in court. Cali-
fornia State University has
added caste to its anti-dis-
crimination policy. Other
universities which have add-
ed caste in their non-discrim-
ination policies include Har-
vard, Colby College, UC Da-
vis and Brandeis.
One can celebrate Azadi ka
Amrit Mahotsav in the 75th
year of Independence but
alsobearinmindthatcasteist
slurs and discriminations
still mark the Hindu society
.
What’s strange is that we
talk of Hindu caste hierarchy
but forget, or are ignorant,
about the caste system among
Muslims who have Ashrafs,
the original Muslims, at the
top of the ladder. Below them
are “low-born” Ajlaf, the Hin-
du converts. At the lowest end
are the Dalit converts called
Arzal, meaning vile.
NO STOPPING THE
CASTE SYSTEM
Indians and Indian Americans
in the US are among the
highly educated and affluent
category. They can be
found in every sphere of
society holding top
positions. As a diaspora
they are the true
representatives of India’s
culture and, also, its social
evil of casteism
I
RISING GLOBAL TEMPERATURE
MIGHT KILL MILLIONS
ife is the creation of certain
specific environmental condi-
tions. When human activities
started destroying the envi-
ronment leading to the world
getting warmer, various
health hazards started taking
roots. As the concentrations
of carbon dioxide, methane
and other greenhouse gases
started their upward trend in
the atmosphere, extreme
weather events like storms,
heatwaves,floodsanddrought
became noticeable in differ-
ent parts of the world.
There are people who keep
a close watch on the impact of
climate changes on human
health. Older people are more
vulnerable to heat and vari-
ous diseases getting activated
because of higher atmospher-
ic temperature. The other
groupthatwouldbeadversely
affected is children.Malnutri-
tion, malaria and diarrhoea
may kill a large number of
children, especially in eco-
nomically backward coun-
tries. But the people of rich
countries shouldn’t feel elat-
ed as some different diseases
like Covid-19 might strike
them at frequent intervals.
The so-called development
will impact quality of air and
wateralongwithfoodwhichis
getting more and more laden
with chemicals. Activities like
construction of roads, dams,
industrialcomplexesetc.force
people to leave their villages
and this human displacement
takes its own toll. Rising tem-
peratureactivatesanumberof
diseasescarryingvectors,bac-
teria and viruses. As both the
displacement and rising tem-
perature do not cause large
number of death in a very
short time span like Covid-19,
they are being overlooked and
underestimated by people and
governments but the final
death rate and level of disabil-
ityisnolessthananypandem-
ic - this, actually
, can be called
a slow pandemic. It is in offi-
cial records that heatwaves
during 2004 caused additional
70,000 deaths in Europe. We
overlook such calamities be-
cause the death is spread over
alongerperiodof time.Deaths
in such calamities happen be-
cause of an increase in the
number of heart attacks and
other vascular diseases due to
heat along with particulate
pollution in air. Particulate
pollution impacts people hav-
ing asthma and chronic lung
diseases killing many of them
prematurely
.
Children below 4 years and
senior citizens above 80 are
particularly prone to suffer
kidneydiseasesastheclimate
gets warmer. This may be
caused by dehydration and
electrolyte imbalance. Warm
weather can also trigger vari-
ous infections like malaria
and yellow fever as the in-
creased breeding of mosqui-
toes leads to their massive
growth. When deforestation
happens, many wild animals
lose their habitat and start
movingtowardshumanpopu-
lation carrying many viruses
with them. When episodes of
famine and floods take place
then hunger forces human be-
ings to kill animals for food
which might release many
dormant viruses on human
beings resulting in severe
epidemics and big loss of life.
Coastal areas and many
low-lying islands may be
threatened due to rising sea
levels and it is getting more
and more probable that cities
like Jakarta, New Orleans
and Bangkok would be en-
gulfed by seawater in the not-
so-distant future. Indian
coastal city Mumbai may lose
a significant part of it to ris-
ing sea if the glaciers go on
melting. Powerful sea storms
and hurricanes may contam-
inate drinking water by forc-
ing seawater into aquifers.
The resultant waterborne
diseases would kill hundreds
of thousand people, especial-
ly children and elderly
.
Itishightimethatthesedan-
gers are recognised by a wider
population so that strong voic-
es are raised to force the au-
thorities to take action.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
L
DR RAMAVTAR
SHARMA
The writer is a Physician
and Columnist
The so-called development will
impact quality of air and water
along with food which is getting
more and more laden with
chemicals. Activities like
construction of roads, dams,
industrial complexes etc. force
people to leave their villages and
this human displacement takes
its own toll. Rising temperature
activates a number of diseases
carrying vectors, bacteria and
viruses. As both the displacement
and rising temperature do not
cause large number of death in a
very short time span like
Covid-19, they are being
overlooked and underestimated
by people and governments but
the final death rate and level of
disability is no less than any
pandemic - this, actually, can be
called a slow pandemic
Sarah Vogel, PhD at
Healthy Communities:
She points out that
climate changes are
causing heat strokes,
heart and lung
diseases, food and
waterborne diseases
and mental stress
CLIMATE CHANGES ARE CAUSING HEAT STROKES

z Studies by various bodies
of WHO point to the possibility
of higher additional deaths up
to 2,50,00 every year between
2030-2050

z Activities like construction
of roads, dams, industrial
complexes etc. force people
to leave their villages and
this human displacement
takes its own toll

z It is in official records
that heatwaves during 2004
caused additional 70,000
deaths in Europe

z Children below 4 years
and senior citizens above
80 are particularly prone to
suffer kidney diseases as the
climate gets warmer

z Coastal areas and many
low-lying islands may be threat-
ened due to rising sea levels

z Indian coastal city Mumbai
may lose a significant part of
it to rising sea if the glaciers
go on melting

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INDIA
05
Two CRPF
personnel
injured in IED
blast in J-K
Awantipora (Jammu
and Kashmir) (ANI):
Two CRPF personnel
were injured in an im-
provised explosive de-
vice (IED) blast in the
Awantipora area of
Jammu and Kashmir
on Monday, said police.
IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Ku-
mar said the blast took
place as a joint team of
police and Central Re-
serve Police Force
(CRPF) were conduct-
ing an area domination
exercise in the Larmoo
area of Tral. “A joint
team of police and
CRPF were conducting
area domination in 2 BP
bankers during which a
minor IED blast took
place in Larmoo Tral,
Awantipora. Two CRPF
personnel got minor in-
juries. Our team retali-
ating reinforcement
sent along with senior
officers,” Vijay tweeted.
India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination
coverage exceeds 189.23 crore, says report
New Delhi (ANI): In-
dia’s COVID-19 vax cov-
erage has exceeded
189.23 cr mark on Mon-
day, Union Health Min-
istry said on Monday
.
“India’s COVID-19
vax coverage has ex-
ceeded 189.23 cr as per
provisional reports till
7 am on Monday. This
has been achieved
through 2,33,82,216 ses-
sions,” the official re-
lease stated.
COVID-19 vax for the
age group 12-14 years
was started on March
16, 2022. So far, more
than 2.91 cr adolescents
have been administered
with first dose of COV-
ID-19 vaccine. More
than 193.30 cr COVID-19
vaccine doses have been
provided to States Un-
ion Territories.
NTAGI TO REVIEW DATA OF COVID-19
VACCINES FOR CHILDREN AGED 5-12
MORE THAN 193.30
CR VAX DOSES GIVEN
TO STATES, UTS
Looking to expand the vaccination drive for chil-
dren aged between 5 and 12 years, the National
Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation
(NTAGI) will review the COVID-19 vaccines for the
said age group on May 4, Republic Media Network
learnt on May 2, Monday. The last meeting of the
NTAGI which took place on April 29, remained
inconclusive.
New Delhi: Indian
Health Ministry has
released data informing
that till now more than
193.30 crore COVID-19
vaccine doses have
been administered to
States and Union Ter-
ritories. According to
the Centre, over 19.12
cr balance and unuti-
lized COVID vaccine
doses are still available
with the States/UTs to
be administered. The
Union government has
said that it is commit-
ted to accelerating the
pace and expanding the
scope of COVID-19 vac-
cination throughout the
country.
Chandauli (ANI): The UP
Police have registered an FIR
against more than seven po-
lice personnel in connection
with case of gangster Kan-
haiya Yadav’s daughter, who
was found dead inside house
in mysterious conditions
on Monday. Complainant
Vijay Yadav, son of gangster
Kanhaiya Yadav, lodged
the FIR under section 154
of the Criminal Procedure
Code (CrPC) in Sayyidraja
police station. It stated police
personnel forcibly entered
house of the complainant
and thrashed his sisters.
Dehradun (ANI): Uttara-
khand Education minister
Dhan Singh Rawat on
Monday said that Vedas,
the Ramayana, and the
Gita will be taught in
schools across the state.
Speaking to ANI, minister
Rawat said that Uttara-
khand will be the first state
to implement the new
National Education Policy
(NEP) this year. “We are
going to implement NEP
this year in the upcoming
session, Uttarakhand
will be the first state to
implement it. We will be
including Vedas, Gita,
Ramayana, and the history
of Uttarakhand in the sylla-
bus after taking sugges-
tions from the public and
consulting academicians,”
education minister said.
Mandi (ANI): Researchers at
the Indian Institute of Tech-
nology, Mandi have identified
a drug molecule that can be
used to treat diabetes. This
molecule, called “PK2” is
able to trigger the release of
insulin by the pancreas and
can potentially be used as an
orally administered medicine
for diabetes. IIT Mandi in a
statement said, “ Findings of
the research have been pub-
lished in Journal of Biological
Chemistry. Paper has been
authored by Dr. Prosenjit
Mondal, Associate Professor,
School of Basic Sciences.”
UP: FIR AGAINST
POLICE PERSONNEL
VEDAS, GITA, RAMAYANA WILL BE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOLS: U’KHAND EDU MIN
MOLECULE TO TREAT
DIABETES FOUND
CRUCIAL READ
Heatwave condition to
abate in country: IMD
New Delhi: Heatwave
conditions are abating
inmostpartsof country
,
the weather office said
on Monday, predicting
light rain in Delhi over
next three days amid
hottest pre-summer
months in decades.
Abatement of Heat
wave conditions over
most parts of country
.
Senior scientist at India
Meteorological Depart-
ment, RK Jenamani,
said there are chances
of heatwave ending in
most parts of India, in-
cluding Delhi, Punjab,
Haryana and UP
.
“TheheatwaveinOdi-
shaandBengalwasover
on April 30. Strong
winds will be there in
the next two to three
days. We are also giving
a Yellow warning to
NorthwestIndiaasthere
is a Western distur-
bance,” he said.
SIZZLING HEAT WAVE CLAIMED 25 LIVES
IN MAHARASHTRA, HIGHEST IN 6 YEARS
As many as 25 people are suspected to have died
due to heatstroke in Maharashtra this year which
is the highest in six years, as per the data from the
health department. The last time Maharashtra wit-
nessed a high number of heatstroke deaths was
in 2016 when 19 people died due to heatstroke. A
total of 381 cases of heatstroke were reported to
the health department till May 1, 2022. The high-
est number of deaths due to heatstroke has been
reported in Nagpur with 11 deaths, followed by 5
in Aurangabad and 4 in Nashik. Nagpur division
has 300 cases which are the highest in the state.
A man washes his face in a hot summer day. —PHOTO BY ANI
Modi expresses his
happiness over meet
with Indian diaspora
Berlin (ANI): Prime
MinisterNarendraModi
on Monday expressed
happiness after meeting
the members of the In-
dian community in Ber-
lin and said that India is
proudof theaccomplish-
ments of its diaspora.
“It was early morning
inBerlinyetseveralpeo-
ple from the Indian com-
munity came by
. Was
wonderful connecting
with them. India is
proud of accomplish-
ments of our diaspora,”
tweeted PM Modi. PM
Modi, who arrived in
Germany on first leg of
his three-day Europe
visit, got a rousing wel-
come from the Indian
diaspora in Berlin.
INTER-
GOVERNMENTAL
CONSULTATIONS
INDIA AND GERMANY SIGN AGREEMENT
ON DIRECT ENCRYPTED CONNECTION
Berlin (ANI): The sixth
Inter-Governmental
Consultations, a unique
biennial format which
India conducts only with
Germany, have begun
here with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz co-chairing it IGC
is a unique mechanism
which brings together
several ministers and
officials from both sides
to engage in bilateral
discussions culminat-
ing in a plenary session
which is chaired by the
two leaders. It reviews
cooperation between the
two countries.
Berlin (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met
with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on
Monday and signed an agreement on a direct encrypt-
ed connection between the two foreign offices. Taking
to Twitter, Jaishankar informed that both the leaders
discussed the Ukraine conflict and Indo-Pacific. “Good
conversation with FM @ABaerbock. Reviewed our
bilateral cooperation. Discussed the Ukraine conflict
Indo-Pacific. Signed agreement on direct encrypted.”
PM Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signing agreement,
at Federal Chancellery, in Berlin on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Moni Sharma
What was the main pur-
pose of the meeting of
the Prime Minister
with the Chief Minis-
ters of the states to con-
sider the increasing
cases of Corona virus?
Did it consider the situ-
ation in Corona and dis-
cuss measures to pre-
vent a possible new
wave? Nothing like this
happen because most
states do not have coro-
na cases. Many states
have become complete-
ly free from Corona. In
Uttar Pradesh too, new
cases have increased in
the districts adjacent to
NCR. In Haryana also
only in the districts ad-
jacent to NCR have wit-
nessed a rise. Apart
from Delhi, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and Ker-
ala, most of the states
have either no cases or
few cases.
That is why it was as-
tonishing that the
Prime Minister called a
meeting of Chief Min-
isters of all the states
over Corona. By law, the
meeting of the Prime
Minister should have
been held with the
Chief Ministers of
three or four states.
It has happened
many times in the past
that the Prime Minister
held a meeting with the
Chief Ministers of the
states where there were
more cases. But this
time the Chief Minis-
ters of all the states and
the Lieutenant Gover-
nors and Administra-
tors of the Union Ter-
ritories were called,
and that is why
, it seems
that PM’s aim was to
put the states in the
dock regarding VAT on
petrol and diesel.
And one has to admit
that it was a job well
done. Now the state gov-
ernments and the lead-
ers of the opposition
parties are giving clari-
fication and asking the
Center to reduce the
tax, but the Prime Min-
ister has sent the mes-
sage to the people that
the state governments
with the opposition par-
ties have not given re-
lief to the common peo-
ple by cutting VAT,
while the Center And
BJP ruled states gave
relief.
Modi’s ‘surgical strike’ on opposition ruled states over fuel prices!
MASTER STROKE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with state CMs on the COVID-19 situation in the country
via video conferencing, in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
CBI raids eight locations,
fresh case against Choksi
New Delhi (ANI): The
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation (CBI) has
registered a fresh case
against fugitive dia-
mantaire Mehul Choksi
and his company Gitan-
jali Gems for allegedly
defrauding the Indus-
trial Finance Corpora-
tion of India (IFCI).
A senior CBI officer
said that after the pre-
liminary inquiry into
the complaint received
against Mehul Choksi
and his company Gitan-
jali Gems from the As-
sistant General Man-
ager (AGM) of IFCI, an
FIR under IPC section
420 (cheating), 468 ( For-
gery for purpose of
cheating) and 471 (Who-
ever fraudulently or
dishonestly uses as gen-
uine) has been regis-
tered in Mumbai.
The officer informed
that during the period
2014 to 2018, IFCI Ltd re-
lying on the representa-
tion, assurances and
undertaking of said pri-
vate company as well as
its Director and the
value of the pledged
jewels on the basis of
valuation conducted by
Valuers, had disbursed
the entire loan amount
of Rs 25 crore (approxi-
mately) on the basis of
security cover of two
times, pledge of shares,
pledge of gold, diamond
and gold CS studded
jewellery
.
It was further alleged
that accused had start-
ed committing defaults
in repayment of loan
installments and in or-
der to recover defaulted
amount of the install-
ments, IFCI Ltd invoked
the pledge and the fresh
valuation obtained by
IFCI dropped the valua-
tion of the pledged jew-
els by 90 per cent.
The CBI also alleged
that Director colluded
with the Valuers.
DIAMONDS WERE
OF LOW QUALITY
The diamonds were
allegedly of low quality
not real gemstones,
officer said. Searches
were conducted at eight
premises of accused valu-
ers in Mumbai and Kolkata
which led to recovery of
incriminating documents
and fresh case against the
fugitive diamantaire has
been registered.
Mehul Choksi. —File Photo
New Delhi (Agencies):
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah on Monday
chaired a meeting of the
top brass of coal, power
and railway ministries
amid electricity outages
in various parts of the
country due to shortage
of coalatthermalplants,
according to sources.
The meeting was attend-
edbyCoalMinisterPral-
had Joshi, Power Minis-
ter R K Singh and top
officials, among others.
During the meeting,
Shahreviewedthesitua-
tionof coalsupplytothe
power plants and power
generation,amongother
issues, the sources told
media.
The Union home min-
istry is the coordinating
ministry between the
Centre and states on
various issues.
Since last week, vari-
ous states have been
grappling with power
outages and efforts are
being made to increase
coal supplies to the ther-
mal power plants.
According to the lat-
est data, coal stock at 147
non-pithead plants with
total generation capaci-
ty of 164 GW monitored
by Central Electricity
Authority (CEA) was 26
per cent of the norma-
tive level as on May 1.
Shah reviews power
situation amid outages
SC SEEKS CENTRE’S REPLY ON
REMOVAL OF MEAT FROM MIDDAY MEAL
NOBODY CAN BE FORCED TO UNDERGO
COVID-19 VACCINATIONS: SC
New Delhi: SC on Monday asked the Centre and others
to file their responses on a plea against the Lakshad-
weep administration’s decision to remove meat from
the midday meal scheme of the schools in the islands
and close down dairy farms. A bench of Justices Indira
Banerjee and AS Bopanna issued notice to Centre, Lak-
shadweep administration and others on an appeal filed
against Sep 2021 judgment of the Kerala High Court
which dismissed PIL. PIL challenged Lakshwadweep
administration’s decision to exclude chicken from meals.
New Delhi: The SC on Monday while saying bodily
autonomy and integrity are constitutional rights and no
individual can be forced to get vaccinated against COVID
also affirmed the Central government’s COVID-19 vacci-
nation policy. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and
BR Gavai also held that vaccine mandates imposed by
various state governments and other authorities in the
context of the COVID-19 pandemic are “not proportion-
ate”. Saying that restrictions on unvaccinated individuals
in relation to public places is unreasonable.
IN THE COURTYARD

INDIA
06
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: In the last
20-25 years, many Con-
gress conventions and
contemplation camps
were held, but what
was the decision taken
in them and what was
implemented, even the
Congress leaders will
not have any idea. Even
now, there is a discus-
sion about Pachmarhi
and Shimla conven-
tions. Therefore, it is
meaningless to expect
that the Congress will
take a historic decision
at the Chintan Shivir to
be held in Udaipur in
May and march to-
wards victory from
there. That too will be a
routine conference, as
happened in Jaipur in
2013. But this time the
special thing will be
that the new pesident
of Congress will be de-
cided in this.
Keep in mind that the
election of Congress
president is going to be
held in August-Septem-
ber. Just before that, the
name of the new Presi-
dent of Congress will
be considered in the
Chintan Shivir to be
held in mid-May. The
Congress leaders are
more interested in de-
ciding the name of the
new president than de-
ciding an ideological
line or making an alter-
native agenda. It is be-
ing told that Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot, who is hosting
the Chintan Shivir, is
working on this line.
According to informed
sources, in the presence
of four hundred impor-
tant Congress leaders,
he can propose to make
Rahul Gandhi the na-
tional president of the
party. Remember, he
has been saying this in
the Congress Working
Committee meetings in
the past as well.
According to sources
in the Congress, an at-
tempt will be made to
reach a consensus on
the name of Rahul Gan-
dhi in the Chintan Shi-
vir and different state
committees can also
propose his name. It is
also being said that the
suggestions given by
election strategist
Prashant Kishor will
also be discussed in it.
But that discussion will
be a sham as the Con-
gress is trying to decide
whether Rahul Gandhi
should be made the
president, whereas
Prashant Kishor did not
suggest Rahul in any of
his three formulas.
Prashant Kishor’s
first suggestions was
that Sonia Gandhi
should be the Con-
gress President, Rahul
Gandhi should be
made the President of
the Parliamentary
Board, Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra should be-
come the General Sec-
retary of the Organi-
zation and any col-
league who had left
the Congress should
be made the President
of the UPA. The sec-
ond suggestion was
that someone from
outside the Nehru-
Gandhi family should
become the president,
Sonia should become
the UPA president, Ra-
hul should become the
president of the par-
liamentary board and
Priyanka should be-
come the general sec-
retary of the organiza-
tion. The third propos-
al was to make Priyan-
ka Gandhi Vadra the
president. Obviously,
Kishor was not in fa-
vor of making Rahul
Gandhi the president,
but contrary to his
suggestions, the Con-
gress is adamant on
making Rahul the par-
ty president at any
cost. And thus, this
‘wish’ of the ‘party’
can be stamped on in
the ‘chintan shivir’.
Congress’ new president to be decided in Chintan Shivir!
FLUTTER IN PARTY CIRCLE
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): In a strong rebut-
tal to Maharashtra
Deputy Chief Minister
Ajit Pawar’s statement,
Karnataka Chief Min-
ister Basavaraj Bom-
mai on Monday said it
wasbeingcontemplated
to take back Kannada
speaking regions from
the neighbouring state.
Bommai said there
are Kannada speaking
regions in Maharash-
tra and it is being con-
templated on how to
take them back.
Pawar had stirred a
controversy after
he said that an agita-
tion will be launched
to include the Karna-
taka cities of Belaga-
vi, and Nippani to Ma-
harashtra.
In response, Bom-
mai claimed that there
is a political crisis in
Maharashtra and the
entire government is
in rough waters.
The border is very
clear between Karna-
taka and Maharashtra,
he said, adding: “We
will not yield to them.
Theyalsoknowit.They
are raking it up to sur-
vive in politics.”
“I strongly urge Ma-
harashtra political
leaders not to use such
language for political
gains,”heappealedand
said that there was
question of giving
away even an inch of
land from Karnataka.
KARNATAKA-MAHARASHTRA BORDER DISPUTE
Bommai says ‘thinking of taking
backKannada-speaking regions’
PAWAR REIGNITES
BORDER ROW
Maharashtra Deputy Chief
Minister Ajit Pawar on
Sunday said they would
continue to support the
fight of Marathi-speaking
people residing in border
areas of neighbouring
Karnataka to include those
places in Maharashtra. He
was addressing a gather-
ing in Pune city on the
occasion of Maharashtra’s
foundation day.
HARDIK PATEL DROPS GUJARAT
CONGRESS POST FROM TWITTER BIO
New Delhi: Hardik Patel, the working president of the
Congress in Gujarat, has dropped the party name from
his Twitter bio, appearing to hint at his exit just months
before elections in the state. “Working President of the
Gujarat Congress” is now missing from Hardik Patel’s
bio, which says: “Proud Indian Patriot. Social and
Political Activist. Committed to a better India.” The
Congress’s “hand” symbol has also been removed.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Min-
ister Nawab Malik, arrested
by the ED in the Money
laundering case, was admit-
ted to hospital on Monday
after he complained of fever
and diarrhoea, his lawyer
told a special court here and
claimed that Malik’s health
had deteriorated and he was
in a “serious” condition.
Last week, Nawab Malik,
lodged in the Arthur Road
jail, had sought interim bail
on medical ground from
the special court for trial of
criminal cases against MPs
and MLAs.
MALIK IN HOSPITAL,
CONDITION
SERIOUS: LAWYER
CRUCIAL READS
Will not cede even
an inch, says
Karnataka CM in
response to Ajit
Pawar’s remark
Basavaraj Bommai Uddhav Thackeray
Hyderabad (Agencies):
Protests, vandalism and
arrests are threatening
to overshadow former
Congress president
Rahul Gandhi’s visit to
Telangana on May 7.
Police arrested lead-
ers of the Osmania Uni-
versity Joint Action
Committee (OU JAC)
when they staged a pro-
test in front of Arts Col-
lege on the campus.
Alleging that the uni-
versity authorities de-
nied permission for
Rahul’s visit at the be-
hest of the Telangana
Rashtra Samithi (TRS)
government, they de-
manded that the Con-
gress leader be allowed
to visit the campus to
interact with the stu-
dents. Police arrested
the JAC leaders.
Police have beefed
up security on the cam-
pus in view of the con-
tinuing protests by stu-
dent groups.
Large number of po-
licemen was deployed in
the campus after Sun-
day’s incident in which
proestors led by NSUI
state president Venkat
Balmoor stormed into
the OU administrative
building and tried to
barge into the locked
Vice Chancellor’s office.
They broke glass
panes of the door, rais-
ing slogans against the
Vice-Chancellor and the
government, alleging
the Vice Chancellor was
acting at the behest of
the Chief Minister K.
Chandrasekhar Rao.
They were booked for
unlawful assembly
, as-
sault, rioting, trespass
and preventing public
servants from discharg-
ing their duties.
Srinagar (Agencies):
Seventeen Kashmiri
youths, who returned
from Pakistan to Jam-
mu and Kashmir, were
killed in recent counter-
terror operations,
sources in the security
set up said.
Sources further in-
formed that of the stu-
dents who went to Paki-
stan for higher studies
had received weapon
training.Thesestudents
had gone to Pakistan for
higher studies and re-
turned with terror
training, they added.
According to the
sources, at least 17 were
trained by the terror
outfits on the behest of
Pakistan’s Inter-Servic-
es Intelligence (ISI) and
became the part of the
sleeper cells active in
JK, media reported.
A large number of
Kashmiri youths have
been going to Pakistan
on the pretext of higher
studies, meeting their
relatives or even for
marriage purposes
since 2015, as per offi-
cials in the security
agencies in JK.
They further said
that these youths were
misguided by the anti-
India elements and
some of them were
also trained by the
ISI’s handlers.
More protests at Osmania varsity
over Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit
17 Pak-returnee JK youths
killed in counter-terror ops
Birbhum massacre:
CBI submits progress
report to Calcutta HC
Stalin’s son likely to be
inducted in TN cabinet
Bypoll for three
Assembly seats in
Odisha, Kerala,
U’khand on May 31
MADC polls: Cong,
MNF, BJP lock
horns in Mizoram
Kolkata (Agen-
cies): The Central
Bureau of Investiga-
tion (CBI), on Mon-
day submitted a pro-
gress report on the
agency’s ongoing
parallel probe into
the carnage at Bogtui
village in Birbhum
district of West Ben-
gal on March 21, 2022
and the reasons be-
hind the murder of
Trinamool Congress’
deputy chief of pan-
chayat, Vadu Sheikh.
Altogether, 10 per-
sons have died so far
in the Bogtui massa-
cre. It is learnt that
in the progress re-
port submitted to the
division bench of
Calcutta High
Court’s chief justice,
Prakash Srivastava,
the CBI has detailed
the steps taken by its
sleuths in its probe.
It is learnt that in
the report, the cen-
tral agency has in-
formed the court that
two accused in the
case have been grant-
ed bail by a lower
court without in-
forming the CBI.
Chief Justice Srivas-
tava has asked the
CBI to submit the
copy of the lower
court’s directive that
granted bail to the
two accused. The
next hearing is sched-
uled on May 10, 2022.
Advocate Phiroze
Edulji, a counsel of
one of the petition-
ers, said that the low-
er court granted the
bail to the two ac-
cused because both
were minors.
Chennai (Agencies):
Udayanidhi Stalin,
the youth wing leader
of the DMK and son of
Tamil Nadu Chief Min-
ister MK Stalin, is like-
ly to join as a minister
in the state government
by the first week of
June. Sources in DMK
told media that discus-
sions are on in the party
to make the first-time
MLA a minister.
DMK state organis-
ing secretary and mem-
ber of Rajya Sabha, RS
Bharathi while speak-
ing to media said,
“Udayanidhi Stalin is a
great crowd puller and
demand has come from
across the state to make
him a minister. It is for
the Chief Minister, MK
Stalin to take a deci-
sion and in all likeli-
hood, he will be a min-
ister soon.”
Karunanidhifamilyis
deemed as the first fam-
ily of Tamil Nadu by the
DMKleadersandcadres,
and whenever Udayani-
dhi comes into the As-
semblyhall,partyMLAs
standupfromtheirseats
to greet him.
New Delhi (Agencies):
Bypolls to one Assembly
seat each in Odisha, Ker-
ala and Uttarakhand will
be held on May 31, the
Election Commission an-
nounced on Monday. The
results will be declared
on June 3.
With the announce-
ment of the bypolls, the
Model Code of Conduct
has come into force in the
constituencies concerned.
The constituencies are
Brajrajnagar in Odisha,
Thrikkakkara in Kerala
and Champawat in Uttara-
khand. A notification re-
garding the bypolls will be
issued on Wednesday, the
ElectionCommissionsaid.
Uttarakhand CM
Pushkar Singh Dhami
will contest the election
in Champawat constitu-
ency. In the 2022 state
assembly election, Dha-
mi had lost from Khati-
ma seat in Udham Sin-
gh Nagar district.
Aizwal (Agencies):
The ruling Mizo Nation-
al Front (MNF), BJP
and the opposition Con-
gress continued their
hectic campaign for the
Thursday’s 25-member
Mara Autonomous Dis-
trict Council (MADC)
polls in Mizoram.
Ahead of the next
year’s elections in the
40-member Mizoram
Assembly, the MADC
elections in Siaha dis-
trict are crucial for both
the ruling and the oppo-
sition parties.
Dharamshala (ANI):
Himachal Pradesh
Chief Minister Jairam
Thakur on Monday
said the state will bring
Uniform Civil Code
(UCC) soon.
Thakur reached
Kangra for a two-day
visit. Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) workers
gave him a warm wel-
come at the airport.
“We will do it (UCC)
soon. The situation in
Himachal is different
from other states and it
will not harm Muslim
society. I think every-
one especially Muslim
women will welcome
this step. They will have
a healthy family life to
live and it will be bene-
ficial for them,” Thakur
told media on Monday
.
Last month, Thakur
had said the imple-
mentation of UCC is
not ruled out and “a
decision will be taken
after examining it”. He
had said officials were
examining it and no
decision will be taken
in a hurry.
A debate over the uni-
form civil code has
sparked in several
states in the country
.
Recently Assam
Chief Minister Himan-
ta Biswa Sarma said
that UCC should be im-
plemented in the great-
er interest of Muslim
women otherwise po-
lygamy would continue.
Earlier, Uttarakhand
CM Dhami has said a
“high-powered” expert
committee will be
formed to prepare a
draft of the uniform
civil code for the state.
Himachal to implement Uniform
Civil Code soon: Jairam Thakur
CM says move won’t harm Muslims

BIZ BUZZ
07
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s manufacturing
sector activities wit-
nessed faster growth
in April amid quicker
increases in produc-
tion as well as factory
orders, and renewed
expansion in interna-
tional sales, a month-
ly survey said on
Monday
.
The seasonally
adjusted SP
Global India
Manufactur-
ing Pur-
c h a s i n g
Managers’
Index(PMI)
rose from
54.0 in
March to 54.7
in April, as a re-
treat of COVID-19
restrictions continued
to support demand.
The April PMI data
pointed to an improve-
ment in overall operat-
ing conditions for the
tenth straight month.
I n
PMI
p a r -
lance, a
print above 50 means
expansion, while a
score below 50 denotes
contraction.
“The Indian manu-
facturing PMI re-
mained well inside
positive territory dur-
ing April, recovering
some of the ground
lost in March. Facto-
ries continued to scale
up production at an
above-trend pace, with
the ongoing increases
in sales and input pur-
chasing, suggesting
that growth will be sus-
tained in the near-
term,” said Pollyanna
De Lima, Economics
Associate Director at
SP Global.
April data showed a
rebound in new export
orders, following the
first contraction for
nine months in March.
The rate of increase
was solid and the
strongest since last
July
.
Inflationary pres-
sures meanwhile in-
tensified, owing to ris-
ing commodity prices.
India’s factory activity
quickens in April
Incremental credit-to-
GDPsharemaytop50%
Tesla can benefit by
manufacturing EVs
in India: Gadkari
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion road transport and
highways minister Ni-
tin Gadkari on Mon-
day said that if the US-
based EV maker Tesla
manufactures its elec-
tric vehicles in India
then the company will
also get benefits.
Gadkari said days
are not very far when
the prices of all elec-
tric vehicles will be
less than the cost of
petrol vehicles in the
country. “Agar Tesla
India me electric car
manufacture karega
toh unka bhi fayda
hoga (If Tesla manu-
factures its electric
vehicles in India then
they will also get ben-
efits),” he said.
Earlier on April 26,
Gadkari had said, if
Tesla is ready to man-
ufacture its EVs in In-
dia then there is ‘no
problem’, but the com-
pany must not import
cars from China.
“If Elon Musk is
ready to manufacture
in India then there is
no problem ... Come to
India, start manufac-
turing, India is a large
market, they can ex-
port from India,” he
had said. Last year, the
ministry had also
asked Tesla to first
start manufacturing
its iconic electric vehi-
cles in India before
any tax concessions
can be considered.
Mumbai (PTI): The
share of incremental
bank credit in incre-
mental nominal GDP
is likely to cross the
50% mark in the cur-
rent financial year,
from a decade low of
27% in FY2022, an SBI
research report said
on Monday
.
The incremental
credit to GDP share
was as high as 63% in
the pre-pandemic year
(FY19). The average
share was 50% for the
seven-year period end-
ed FY20.
A higher credit-to-
GDP ratio indicates
aggressive and active
participation of the
banking sector in the
real economy, while a
lower number shows
the need for more for-
mal credit.
“For FY23, we be-
lieve that the share of
bank credit may again
breach the 50 per cent
mark indicating the
increasing role of
banks in economic
growth,” the report,
Ecowrap, said.
In the fiscal ended
2021-22, banks’ credit
grew by 9.6%, driven
by all major sectors.
FY22 ended with an
incremental credit
growth at `10.5 lakh
crore, 1.8 times higher
than growth of `5.8
lakh crore in FY21, the
report said.
Gadkari
pitches for
priority
sector
lending
New Delhi (PTI):
Union Minister Nitin
Gadkari on Monday
made a case for ex-
tending priority sec-
tor lending facilities
for entities engaged
in production and
business of alterna-
tive fuels like bio-
ethanol, CNG and
LNG, a move that
will help cut imports
of fossil fuels.
Addressing an
event here, the Road
Transport and High-
ways Minister fur-
ther said the trial of
bringing calorific
value of ethanol at
par with petrol by In-
dian Oil Corporation
(IOC) was successful.
“Those involved in
production or busi-
ness of alternative
fuels should be in-
cluded in priority
sector lending. I shall
speak about the issue
with the finance min-
ister and RBI Gover-
nor,” he said.
Sensex slips for 2nd day
Mumbai (PTI): Equities remained under pres-
sure for the second session running on Monday
as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a
crucial meeting of the US Federal Reserve this
week where it is expected to go for an aggressive
rate hike to tame runaway inflation.
A weak rupee and persistent foreign fund
outflows further weighed on bourses, though
encouraging domestic macroeco-
nomic data like all-time high GST
collections and strong manufac-
turing PMI cushioned the fall.
After plunging over 600
points in intra-day trade, the
30-share BSE Sensex re-
couped most losses to end
84.88 points or 0.15% low-
er at 56,975.99.
On similar lines, the
broader NSE Nifty
shed 33.45 points or
0.20% to close at
17,069.10.
Mumbai (PTI): The ru-
pee pared initial gains
to settle almost flat
against the US dollar on
Monday as subdued do-
mestic equities offset
the impact of a sharp
decline in global crude
oil prices.
At the interbank for-
eign exchange market,
the rupee opened slight-
ly higher at 76.48
against the American
dollar and gained fur-
ther ground to trade at
76.35. It oscillated be-
tween a high of 76.35
and a low of 76.51 dur-
ing the session.
Rupee ends
flat against
US Dollar
India’s power consumption grows
13.6% to 132.98 bn units in April
New Delhi (PTI):
Power consumption in
the country grew
13.6% Y-o-Y to 132.98
billion units (BU) in
April, showing the im-
pact of the early onset
of summers and spurt
in economic activities.
Power consumption
in April last year was
recorded at 117.08 BU,
which was higher than
84.55 BU in the same
month of 2020.
On the other hand,
the peak power de-
mand met, which is the
highest supply in a day
,
during April this year
remained at an all-
time high of 207.11 GW.
The peak power supply
stood at 182.37 GW in
April 2021 and 132.73
GW in April 2020.
The power consump-
tion and demand were
affected in April 2020
also due to the imposi-
tion of lockdown.
Experts are of the
view that power con-
sumption and demand
rose unprecedentedly
mainly because of the
early onset of sum-
mers and showed that
greater economic ac-
tivities are pushing
commercial and indus-
trial requirements of
electricity
.
Fresh housing supply rises 43% across 6 cities in Jan-Mar
New Delhi (PTI):
Fresh housing supply
rose 43% quarter-on-
quarter across six cit-
ies during January-
March to around 80,000
units, mainly driven by
a revival in the demand
for residential proper-
ties, acc to proptech
firm Square Yards.
Technology-led real
estate consultant
Square Yards sells
homes on behalf of
builders and facilities
home loans to consum-
ers. In its report ‘India
Residential Overview:
Jan-Mar 2022’, Square
Yards has covered Hy-
derabad, Bengaluru,
MMR (Mumbai Metro-
politan Region), Pune,
Noida and Gurugram.
“The top six cities
witnessed the new
launch of close to
80,000+ housing units,
noting an exorbitant Q-
o-Q rise of 43%
“The year 2022 has
started on a positive
note with both sales
and new launches wit-
nessing improved num-
bers across top cities,”
Square Yards said.
Strongly rooted in
high homeownership
sentiment, the realty
sector during the first
quarter of 2022 has pre-
dominantly remained
end-user driven.
The MMR continued
to retain its top posi-
tion in the number of
new residential units
launched. Hyderabad
inched up a little, at-
tracting the interest of
big builders in market.
According to the
data, the MMR contrib-
uted 35% to the total
new launches during
the Jan-March quarter.
CIL’s coal supply
to power sector
rises 16% in April
New Delhi (PTI):
State-owned CIL on
Monday said coal sup-
ply to the power sector
rose 15.6% to 49.7 mil-
lion tonne last month
in the wake of high
demand of the dry fuel
from electricity gener-
ating plants and
stressed that it is plan-
ning to augment its
dispatches further, es-
pecially to power
plants in the coming
months.
The statement
comes at a time when
several parts of the
country are grappling
with power crisis.
This is 6.7 MT more
supply compared to
April’21 when the pow-
er sector’s dispatch
was 43 MTs,” the ma-
haratna firm said.
With higher output,
CIL is aiming to in-
crease its dispatches
further, especially to
power plants in the
coming months.
Coal India, which
accounts for over 80%
of domestic coal out-
put, is one of the ma-
jor suppliers of fossil
fuel to the power sec-
tor.
The coal production
by the PSU also rose
27.6% to 53.5 MT last
month over 41.9 MT in
April 2021.
EaseMyTrip to foray into
currency exchange service
New Delhi (PTI): On-
line travel services pro-
vider EaseMyTrip on
Monday said it is plan-
ning to foray into cur-
rency exchange service
for which it will be ap-
plying for a license to
the RBI. The company
is expanding its offer-
ings and is now, plan-
ning to launch a cur-
rency exchange service.
It will enable customers
to easily convert their
currencies to local ten-
ders. “Acquiring this
license will enable
EaseMyTrip to extend
its portfolio and offer
one of the core services
needed for internation-
al travel, furthering its
mission of developing
the company into a
complete travel ecosys-
tem,” statement said.
Commenting on the
plan, EaseMyTrip co-
founder said, “Ease-
MyTrip has been offer-
ing its value-added ser-
vices to its users for the
past 13 years, which is
why we decided to apply
for the license”.
ADANI WILMAR Q4 PROFIT
DOWN 26 PC TO `234 CR
New Delhi (PTI):
Edible oil major
Adani Wilmar on
Monday reported
a 26% decline in
consolidated net
profit at `234.29
crore for the quarter ended March on higher
tax expenses. The company had posted
a net profit of `315 crore in the year-ago
period. In a regulatory filing, Adani Wilmar
reported that its total income increased to
`15,022.94 crore during the January-March
period of last fiscal from `10,698.51 crore in
the corresponding period of 2020-21. During
the full 2021-22 financial year, the com-
pany’s net profit rose to `803.73 crore from
`728.51 crore in the previous fiscal. Total
income grew to `54,385.89 crore as against
`37,194.69 crore earlier. Adani Wilmar, which
sells its cooking oils and some other food
products under the Fortune brand.
GOLD JEWELLERY DEMAND
TO GROW 11% THIS FISCAL
Mumbai (PTI): India’s gold jewellery demand
is likely to grow steadily at 11 per cent during
the current financial year due to strong retail
performance last year, according to a latest
report by Icra. Within the jewellery retail
industry, revenues of organised retailers are
likely to grow at a higher pace of 14 per cent,
backed by their aggressive store expansion
plans and a gradual shift from the unorgan-
ised segment towards the organised one.
“Demand during the current Akshaya Tritiya
season is expected to be strong, leading
to a healthy demand growth of around 45
per cent Y-o-Y in the first quarter of FY23.
Growth for FY23 is expected at 11 per
cent for the industry, despite a high base
witnessed in FY22, driven by the anticipated
steady wedding and festive purchases during
the current fiscal, given Indian consumer’s
strong cultural affinity towards gold,” Icra
Senior Vice President and Group Head
Jayanta Roy said.
The
seasonally
adjusted SP
Global India
Manufacturing PMI
rose from 54.0 in
March to 54.7
in April
EaseMyTrip will apply
for a full-fledged
money changer
license from the RBI
MAJOR CITIES
MAJOR SUPPLIER
Gadkari said soon
the prices of all EVs
will be less than the
cost of petrol
vehicles in India
The
incremental
credit to GDP
share was as
high as 63%
in the pre-
pandemic
year (FY19)

Greetings on the occasion of
'World Press Freedom Day', let us
all strive together to ensure press
freedom worldwide.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai (PTI):
Gujarat Titans, who
have been remarkable
in bouncing back from
adverse situations,
would look to seal a spot
in the play-offs when
they clash with incon-
sistent Punjab Kings in
the Indian Premier
League (IPL), today
.
Gujarat, the IPL deb-
utants, are clearly the
team to beat in the com-
petition having won
eight out of nine games.
A sixth consecutive win
will make them the first
side to enter the play-
offs.
A big reason for Guja-
rat’s stellar run has
been their ability to
come back from tough
situations.
Whether it is Rahul
Tewatia, David Miller,
Rashid Khan or skipper
Hardik Pandya -- they
all have produced
match-winning ef-
forts during the
course of the tourna-
ment. If one has
failed, the other has
risen to the occa-
sion.
“That’s the
beauty of this
team, people coming
in and showing what
they can do in clutch
s i t u a -
tions is
becom-
i n g
quite a
h a b i t ,
s o m e -
thing I
d o n ’ t
m i n d
happen-
ing. We
always
back them to do it, but
they are defying odds
time and again,”
Hardik’s words after
the win over RCB
summed up his team’s
spirit aptly
.
Punjab would
hope to be on
the right
side of the
result and
that the
g a m e
doesn’t
g o
d e e p .
T h e y
are in
the mid-
dle of
a n o t h e r
inconsistent campaign
and with five losses in
nine games and are run-
ning out of time.
Their senior batters,
captain Mayank Agar-
wal himself, Jonny
Bairstow, Shikhar Dha-
wan and Liam Living-
stone have done well in
patches but have not
been consistent enough.
Barring pacer Arsh-
deep Singh, who seems
to be getting better with
every game, the bowling
department can also do
better. They did well in
the previous game but
the batters flopped to let
the team down.
For Titans, wicket-
keeper Wriddhiman
Saha has been a great
replacement for a strug-
gling Matthew Wade.
The batting mainstay
for Gujarat has been
Hardik, who has played
responsible knocks, and
with 308 runs is the
third highest run-scor-
er. They also have one
of the most lethal at-
tacks in the IPL.
While Mohammed
Shami can wreak havoc
with the new ball, the
big-hitters in the Pun-
jab line-up would be
wary of the pace and
variety which Lockie
Ferguson brings with
him.
IPL 2022
lll
Both teams
to play each
other as the
former seeks
to grab a win
and the latter
looks to
enter next
stage of the
tourney
HELPLESS
In a shocking turn of events, sanitation workers of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) attempted mass suicide
through consumption of pills on Monday afternoon. According to reports, they were all temporary workers who had
demanded regular jobs with a monthly salary of Rs15,000, as promised by the elected wing of the civic body. The workers
took the extreme step as their demands were not met by officials.
First India Bureau
Modasa: Bayad police
have filed a complaint
against a woman for
murdering her six-year-
old son and attempting
to kill her eight-year-old
daughter and herself.
Both the mother and
daughter are undergo-
ing treatment at a hos-
pital.
According to the
complaintlodged,Asha-
ben took her kids to
their agricultural farm,
where she gave them
pesticide or some form
of poison. Fed up of her
husband Balvantsinh
Dabhi’s drinking prob-
lem, she took matters
into her own hands to
end her family’s suffer-
ing.
Residents of Vatrak
Gadh village, the family
owns a small farm, on
which they depended
for their income. The
couple had two kids Pa-
rul (8) and Yuvraj (6).
As Balvantsinh was an
alcoholic, majority of
their income went to
buying alcohol.
The couple quarreled
often, especially when
Ashaben asked for mon-
ey to bear domestic ex-
penses or ask her hus-
band to quit drinking.
On April 29, they had
another fight which
prompted Ashaben to
take the extreme step.
When neighbours saw
her and the kids lying
in an unconscious state,
they rushed them to
Himmatnagar Civil
Hospital.
At first, Bayad police
lodged a complaint
against Ashaben for at-
tempt-to-murder, while
all three were undergo-
ing treatment. But after
Yuvraj died on May 01,
police booked her for
murder in addition to
the attempt-to-murder
charge. According to
police, once Ashaben
has recovered medical-
ly, she will be placed un-
der arrest for her
crimes.
Womanbookedforkillingson,
attemptondaughter’slife
Fed up of
hubby's drinking
habit, she forced
her kids to drink
poison, then
consumed it
herself
GIVING UP
4 killed, 2
injured after
van hits bus
near Limbdi
Minor fire doused at SVP Hospital; no casualties
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A minor
fire broke out in the
air handling unit on
the fourth floor of
Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel (SVP) Hospital in
the city on Monday
evening, though there
was no report of any-
one getting injured.
“The fire was re-
ported in the air han-
dling unit located on
the fourth floor of the
hospital. It was
brought under control
with the help of the
fire sprinkler system.
A fire tender was
rushed to the spot to
control the fire, which
was doused soon after
smoke was noticed,”
said In-charge Chief
Fire Officer Jayesh
Kadia.
The hospital said in
a statement that smoke
was seen emerging
from the AHU at
around 5.30 pm, add-
ing that fire depart-
ment officials suspect-
ed cable and pipe insu-
lation to be affected by
the fire and carried
out thorough inspec-
tion on each floor.
“Finding smoke
coming out from the
shaft between the
basement and fourth
floor, they used the
sprinkler of the fire
system to bring it un-
der control. As a pre-
caution, patients were
shifted to other units
of the hospital,” the
statement informed.
4 students injured
as cement plaster
falls from roof
Scarcity of beds in NCH’s surgical ward,
patients receive treatment on the floor
First India Bureau
Surat: A 27-year-old
resident of Bardoli
reached the New Civil
Hospital (NCH) after
sustaining severe inju-
ries to the stomach and
chest in an accident on
the highway in his area.
Injured Dharmesh
Mukeshbhai Chaud-
hary was sent to the
surgical ward after
base treatment at the
trauma centre but
made to sleep on the
floor due to the unavail-
ability of beds.
The NCH manage-
ment has shifted its
medicine ward from
the old building to the
newly made kidney de-
partment on the same
campus but has not
shifted the surgery de-
partment. Due to this,
the overcrowded sur-
gery ward has to make
patients sleep on the
floor as there are not
enough beds. All four
wards, of the surgery
department, are over-
flowing with patients.
The newly-made kid-
ney building has a ca-
pacity of 800 beds.
The hospital manage-
ment said that the old
building is getting reno-
vated at a cost of Rs150
crore, which was passed
in the Vidhan Sabha. A
grant of Rs25 crore has
also been allocated, and
every year, the grant
will be released. The re-
development work will
be done in instalments.
Due to sudden tempera-
ture changes, the num-
ber of indoor patients
has increased.
For the surgery
ward, management
said they have started
providing facilities and
are planning on in-
creasing the equipment
and infrastructure so
that patients don’t face
any issues.
First India Bureau
Mahisagar: Mahisa-
gar: Four students of a
government primary
school in Mahisagar
district were injured af-
ter cement plaster from
the roof of the lobby fell
on them on Monday
.
The incident took
place in the morning
when students had
gathered in the lobby of
the school in Pratappu-
ra for the farewell func-
tion of a retiring teach-
er, said district primary
education officer
(DPEO) PN Modi.
“Along with students,
their parents, villagers,
and members of the
school management
committee were also sit-
ting in the lobby when a
chunk of cement plas-
ter fell from the roof,
leaving four students
injured,” added Modi.
Officials identified
the injured students as
Lakshmi and Janaki,
both seven years old,
Lakuben (13) and Jayraj
(9), adding that they had
been rushed to a gov-
ernment hospital in
Santrampur for treat-
ment, while one of the
students, a 7-year-old,
was referred to a pri-
vate orthopaedic hospi-
tal as she had sustained
more injuries.
First India Bureau
Surendranagar:
Four people were
killed and two oth-
ers grievously in-
jured when their
van collided head-
on with a bus near
Limbdi in Suren-
dranagar district
on Monday
.
According to re-
ports, the six vic-
tims were going
from Rajkot to Ra-
jasthan to attend a
marriage function
when the accident
took place around
2.30 am near Katari-
ya village on Ra-
jkot-Ahmedabad
highway, over 100
km from
Ahmedabad.
Their van hit a
bus coming from
the opposite direc-
tion, said an official
from Limbdi police
station.
Four of the van
passengers died on
the spot, while two
others suffered seri-
ous injuries, he
said.
All the four de-
ceased—who were
all in their 20s--
were residents of
Rajkot, he added.
Dilapidated infra in govt schools had sparked a debate between
Edu Min Jitu Vaghani Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia last month.
—FILE PHOTO
Punjab to face Gujarat Titans, who have play-offs spot in mind
Guj Titans skipper
Hardik Pandya.
Punjab Kings skipper
Mayank Agarwal.
TRAGIC
—FILE PHOTO
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Hospital in Ahmedabad.
—FILE PHOTO

hen it comes
to achieving
yourgoals,de-
votion is es-
sential. When
you discover
your passion and connect
it to whatever you’re do-
ing, you’ll discover a
wonderful synergy
that will catapult
you to new heights
with ease. In the
fashion sector,
this is also true.
If you keep your ex-
citement alive and prac-
tise discipline, you can
achieve anything. City
First conversed with
beautiful diva, Priya

z Describe yourself,
and what would you
say are some vital
skills or characteris-
tics to have to make it
in the modelling world?
I’m young, eager to prove
what I’m capable of and
extremely confident of
what I can go on to do. I
believe confidence far
supersedes any other vi-
tal skill a model needs to
possess to make it big in
this profession.

z If you could go
in future and
tell yourself
one thing
about your ca-
reer what would
it be?
We did this! Congratu-
lations! YOU GO GIRL.

z What inspired you
to find the Super-
model in you.
Share some
insides of
your jour-
ney.
I have a pas-
sion for
writing
and penning down my
experiences and strug-
gles. This little innate
passion of mine made
me want to express it,
and I saw an opportunity
to do this through the in-
sider’s guide.

z What was the big-
gest rookie mistake
you made when just
starting out?
My biggest rookie mis-
take I guess, was the time
it took me to realize that
thiswaswhatIwasmeant
to do, and not starting
soon enough.

z What has been the
most memorable or re-
warding moment in
your career?
The look on my parent’s
faces when they saw the
independent Priya. Mod-
ellingwasn’tacareerthey
sawforme.Buttoday
,each
time I see them smile I’m
reminded of my great-
est reward.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
W
AS PLEASING AS THE
SCENERY
BEAUTY IS
CERTAINLY A
SOFT, SMOOTH,
SLIPPERY THING,
AND THEREFORE
OF A NATURE
WHICH EASILY
SLIPS IN AND
PERMEATES OUR
SOULS”. PRIYA
VINOD SINGH, A
STUNNING DIVA
FROM DELHI,
SPOKE CANDIDLY
WITH CITY FIRST
ABOUT HER
INSPIRING
CAREER AS A
MODEL
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY,
MAY 3, 2022

10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/jaipur I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
KHUSHBOO DAHIYA, Artist
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Homemakers will get a
chance to implement their
ideas. You are likely to be
recognised for your efforts
on the professional front. Chance of
a raise is possible for some. Timely
and correct decision will help you in
saving a lot of money. You will be
able to de-stress yourself today.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
A profitable day for
entrepreneurs is
envisaged. You may be
played upon for spending
on someone else’s needs and
desires. Homemakers are likely to
enjoy the day in the company of
neighbors and friends. Health
remains satisfactory.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
It is one of those days
when you will feel satisfied
with whatever you do
today on the social front.
Those seeking love may not get
lucky, but persistence will pay! A
friend or relative can touch a
sensitive nerve and get you all upset.
A job switch needs to be considered.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
A lot of time may be wasted
in socialising, but you will
love every moment of it. You
will succeed in surmounting
the odds to get a stalled job back on
the tracks. Something concerning
property will work out in your favour. A
romantic outing is on the cards and
promises much fun and frolic.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Sticking to workout routine
may benefit you on the
health front. Meeting
relatives at a marriage or
party cannot be ruled out. Support
from the family may seem most
encouraging for those aiming an
academic pursuit. A passionate
evening is foreseen in romance.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Spirituality will have a
special allure for you. Your
innovative ideas on the
professional front are likely
to be well received. Good health will
keep you fit and energetic. You are
likely to expand your social circle. You
are likely to get immense fulfillment in
your current romantic relationship.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Financial worries evaporate
as new avenues of earning
open up. You will put in
extra efforts to complete a
task entrusted to you. Your academic
aspirations may take some time to
get realised. A contentious property
issue may not show any signs of
getting sorted out amicably.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
A rethink is in order for
those going in for a heavy
investment. Recovering a
loaned amount from
someone will not pose much
difficulty. You will manage to defuse
tensions prevailing at home by your
tactful ways. A work trip is on the
cards for some of you.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
A major purchase may
make a dent in your
savings, but will help in
keeping up with the flow.
Speculation may not be profitable
and you can very well burn your
fingers. Some of you may get hard
pressed to find a good match for
someone eligible in the family.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You will manage to ignore
distractions and interrup-
tions at work to complete a
pending task in time. Job
prospects for those freshly out of
professional institutes are set to
brighten up soon. Those not in a
stable job can expect permanency.
Health will be satisfactory.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Homemakers can exceed
budget in doing up their
homes. An old friend or a
relative is likely to pay you
a visit. You succeed in putting an
ambitious project on the tracks and
cross all hurdles in making it a
success. Love beckons and promises
to give immense joy and fulfillment.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Satisfaction is foreseen for
the image conscious
people trying to achieve
perfect figure and
physique. Your efforts on the
academic front will keep you in
contention. You are likely to spend an
enjoyable time with a close relation
today. You will help someone.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
spectacular mix of spiritu-
al beliefs, culture, and tra-
ditions, India can exasper-
ate, thrill and inspire. Di-
verseritualsanddevotional
celebrations hold testimo-
ny to the country’s inevita-
ble religious history
. Its contrasting
calendar from bright brash merri-
ment to more sober carousing al-
lures travellers from far and near.
Spirituality indisputably is the om-
nipresent thread in our country’s
exquisitely varied tapestry
.
And then there are festivals! One
of which is just around the corner.
Eid – ul- Fitr, a major Islamic festival
marks the end of the holy month of
Ramadan. Apart from brand new
clothes, gifts, and family get-togeth-
ers, there is one facet that is impos-
sible to resist. The sizzle of cumin
seeds, the smell of spices, and an ar-
ray of meats marinated masterfully
.
An elusive traditionally prepared
banquet characterizing riveting col-
ours, flavors, and smell is sure to
loosen up your belt. While we can’t
travel this year due to COVID-19 cur-
fews/lockdownsinseveralstates,we
can surely prepare some of these
popular Eid-ul-Fitr dishes at home.
City First Brings to you some de-
lectabledishesyoucanhavethisEid.
A
HALEEM
This delicacy is second to none
and has been around for ages.
It was the first meal produced
in the Arab for the Nizam of
Hyderabad in the 1930s, and
was formerly known as ‘ha-
rees’ or ‘harissa.’ In Hy-
derabad, Haleem is a staple
legendry food cooked by sim-
mering rich mutton stew with
lentils and broken wheat dust-
ed with a dramatic blend of
Indian spices. It’s a delicious
meal that’s been slow-cooked
for hours and is best served
with rice.
TANGRI KEBAB
Tangri Kebabs are famous ap-
petisers in Lucknow, and no
meal is complete without them.
This easy-to-prepare recipe is
a favourite of many foodies.
The chicken drumsticks are
roasted over a blazing tandoor
with copious quantities of but-
ter and ghee. Tangri kebab
from Lucknow, best served
with onion rings, green chut-
ney, and lemon wedges, will
have you reaching for the table
more than once.
KOLKATA BIRYANI
This scrumptious meal
will send you on a
gourmet journey as
soon as it appears
on your plate. The
scent alone will
make your mouth
swim in the first in-
stance. Discover de-
lectably delicate rice
playing hide-and-seek
with juicy and succu-
lent chicken/mutton
morsels. The distinguish-
ing ingredient that distin-
guishes Kolkata-style Biry-
ani from the others is roasted
potato cooked in rice. It goes
great with raita and your fa-
vourite salan.
CHICKEN KORMA
Chicken Korma is a Shahi dish
(royal meal) that serves as
nothing less than a cherry on
top of the celebratory cake. It’s
rich, decadent, and extra
creamy, with the perfect mar-
riage of chicken and yoghurt,
infused with aromatic Indian
spices and cashew nuts.
There’s a lot you’ve been miss-
ing out on if you haven’t tried
it yet. The finest way to enjoy
Delhi’s Chicken Korma is with
flavorful rice, tandoori roti, or
butter naan.
SHEER KHURMA
When it comes to festive feasts,
desserts are unavoidable. If
you haven’t heard your sweet
tooth’s cravings, your Eid par-
ty is incomplete. Sheer Khur-
ma, a vermicelli pudding that
is traditional-
ly pre-
pared during Ramadan, is a
traditional treat. Fine vermi-
celli is simmered with dates,
almonds, sugar, and milk to
make this festive sweet dish.
It’s a must to savour this delec-
table treat after a joyful supper.
AS THE ONE-MONTH OF FASTING FIANLLY COMES TO
AN END, IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE DELICIOUS
FLAVOURS OF THESE DELICIOUS EID DISHES
BHUNA GOSHT
Bhuna Gosht is a succulent and one
of the legendary meals that should
not be missed. Its preparation neces-
sitates a great deal of patience, since
it entails pan-frying chunks of mut-
ton in a richly flavoured sauce. Yo-
gurt, coconut milk, almonds, and
saffron are added to the meal to in-
crease its richness. Bhuna Gosht is
a must-try Rajasthani dish that goes
well with rumali roti or naan.
SHAHI TUKDA
Nothing will keep you from suc-
cumbing to the allure of this boiling
hot delicacy, which is available at a
number of vendors at Chandni
Chowk and Jama Masjid in Old Del-
hi. This delectable sweet delicacy is
produced by dipping deep-fried
bread crumbs in sweetened milk.
This exquisitely crafted dessert,
strewn with saffron, dates, almonds,
and khoya, is nothing short of a va-
cation to heaven.
Treat Yourself
with this Eid Menu!
DEVANSHI MUDGAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

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