04012022 first india new delhi

AN OTHERWISE NONDESCRIPT TILOI TOWN OF AMETHI
TURNING A MEDICAL HUB, SAYS SMRITI IRANI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Heaping
praises on Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath, Union
Minister Smriti Irani
said on Monday that an
otherwise nondescript
Tiloi town in Amethi
district is becoming a
medical hub and it’s due
to the concerned efforts
of the BJP government
led by Yogi. She was ac-
companied by the UP
Chief Minister.
Irani said the Yogi
govt opened many new
medical colleges, while
the Akhilesh govern-
ment did not even pro-
vide basic treatment fa-
cilities to the UP people.
Smriti Irani was ad-
dressing a political rally
in poll-bound Uttar
Pradesh’s Amethi dis-
trict from where she is
the Lok Sabha MP
. Irani
had scripted a history in
this Parliamentary con-
stituency by defeating
Congress’ Rahul Gan-
dhi. Notably, Amethi
has been a stronghold
of the Gandhi family for
the last many decades.
“With a 200-bed hospi-
tal, a medical college,
and a trauma centre, Ti-
loi,atowninAmethidis-
trict, is becoming a med-
ical hub,” she said while
addressing the gather-
ing on this occasion.
The extensive
groundwork by the BJP
govt is now being wit-
nessed by the people of
Jagdishpur, Tiloi, Ame-
thi, Gauriganj, and Sa-
lon, she added.
Meanwhile, Irani,
while attacking the Con-
gress, said that the peo-
ple of Amethi today
confront that “family”
(Congress) for not build-
ing a single bus stand in
the district in 30 years.
Speakingonthisocca-
sion, in a veiled attack
ontheGandhifamilyfor
its “divisive politics”,
Yogi Adityanath said
that those who called
themselves ‘accidental
Hindus’, cannot call
themselves Hindus. It is
duringtheelection,they
used to go out to become
a Hindu- ‘unhe chunaav
mein he ‘mandir’ aur
Amethi ki yaad aati hai.’
Yogi laid the founda-
tion stone for Govern-
ment Medical College in
Amethi worth Rs 293
crores and also inaugu-
rated a 500-bedded dis-
trict-level referral hos-
pital built at a cost of Rs
86.42 crores in the dis-
trict. Union Minister
Smriti Irani was also
present on the occasion.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister
Smriti Irani in Amethi, on Monday.
Union Minister
hails UP govt for
boosting health
infrastructure
SCRIPTING SUCCESS STORY
DELHI HC EXTENDS TIME
FOR FB, WHATSAPP TO
RESPOND TO CCI NOTICES
New Delhi: WhatsApp
and Facebook have
challenged the CCI’s
June 4 and 8, 2021,
notices respectively,
asking them to furnish
certain information for
the purpose of inquiry
conducted by it.
The Delhi High Court
on Monday extended
the time for filing re-
plies by Facebook and
WhatsApp to two no-
tices issued to them by
the Competition Com-
mission of India (CCI)
which has ordered a
probe into the instant
messaging app’s new
privacy policy.
WhatsApp and
Facebook have chal-
lenged the CCI’s June
4 and 8, 2021, notices
respectively, asking
them to furnish certain
information for the
purpose of inquiry
conducted by it.
More on P8
NEW DELHI lTUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.126
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Cngress leader Priyanka Gandhi took to
Twitter to state that she will remain in isola-
tion for a few days. “A member of my fam-
ily and one of my staff have tested positive.
I have tested negative,” wrote Priyanka.
All parties in Bihar, except the BJP, have made
known their stance on conducting a headcount
of castes in the state, Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar said on Monday. He, however, made it
clear he was “not blaming” his ally.
The Sensex surged 929 points higher at 59,183
while Nifty rose 1.6% finish above 17,600. Global
stock markets and U.S. futures were mostly higher
on 2022’s first trading day after Wall Street ended
last year with a double-digit gain.P6
PRIYANKSA IN
ISOLATION AFTER
FAMILY MEMBER,
STAFF TEST +VE
BJP’S STAND
AWAITED ON
BIHAR’S CASTE
SURVEY: NITISH
SENSEX
SURGES OVER
900 POINTS IN
NEW YEAR
LAKHIMPUR KHERI VIOLENCE
...SIT CHARGESHEET AGAINST
MoS MISHRA’S SON, 13 OTHERS
l Accused
faces murder,
conspiracy
charges
l This is the first chargesheet in the
October 3 case. Mishra’s car was
allegedly part of the convoy that ran over
a farmers’ march against the agri laws
5,000-PAGE
Mohd Fahad
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh Police on Mon-
day filed a chargesheet
against Union Minister
of State Ajay Mishra’s
son Ashish Mishra and
13 others, under charges
including murder and
attempt to murder, in
the Lakhimpur Kheri
incident that left four
farmers and a journal-
ist dead.
Of the14chargesheet-
ed by the police SIT, 13,
including Ashish, are in
jail. The one not in jail
is Virendra Kumar
Shukla, who is named
for alleged destruction
of evidence. Sources
said Shukla is Mishra’s
distant relative and
block pramukh, and the
SIT has sent him a no-
tice. Senior prosecuting
officer SP Yadav said
the SIT had filed a 5,000-
page chargesheet, and
the details will be
known after studying it.
FLASHBACK
CHARGES PRESSED
October 3, 2021: MoS (Home)
Ajay Mishra Teni was on a visit to
inaugurate government schemes
in Banbirpur village. Several pro-
testers were blocking the road to
restrict their passage in Tikunia
village of Lakhimpur Kheri when
an SUV, allegedly belonging
to Ashish Teni, son of the Ajay
Mishra Teni mowed down the
peacefully protesting farmers.
Ashish has been charged under IPC Sections 302
(murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting),
148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149
(every member of unlawful assembly guilty of
offence committed in prosecution of common
object), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt
by dangerous weapons or means), 34 (acts done
by several persons in furtherance of common
intention), 427 (mischief causing damage to
the amount of Rs 50) and 120-B (criminal
conspiracy), as well as under the Arms Act.
EC asks five poll-bound states to
ramp up Covid-19 vaccination
New Delhi: The Elec-
tion Commission of
India has written to
the chief secretaries
of five poll-bound
states, asking them to
“accelerate” the pace
of Covid-19 vaccina-
tion. The poll panel
also expressed con-
cerns over the low per-
centage of first dose
coverage in Manipur.
This comes after the
Commission had at a
press conference in
Lucknow last week
emphasized on the
need to speed up
vaccination in poll-
bound states, EC offi-
cials said.
84% OF DELHI
COVID SAMPLES
TESTED IN TWO
DAYS OMICRON
New Delhi: Eighty-four
per cent of all COVID-19
samples tested in Delhi
in two days are of the
highly transmissible
Omicron variant, the
national capital’s Health
Minister said on Monday.
Genome sequencing
reports of December 30-
31 have found Omicron
strain in 81 per cent of
samples, Health Minister
Satyendar Jain told PTI.
The national capital
recorded over 4,000 new
corona cases on Monday.
CORONA CATASTROPHE
INDIA
33,750
new cases
123
new fatalities
NEW DELHI
4099
new cases
01
new fatalities
China builds
bridge across
Pangong Lake
New Delhi: Satellite
imagery accessed by
geo-intelligence expert
Damien Symon indi-
cates that China may be
constructing a bridge
across Pangong lake in
eastern Ladakh.
The bridge, which is
being constructed
across a part of the lake
that falls within Chi-
nese territory, connects
both banks of the lake
and gives China the
ability of quickly move
soldiers and heavy
weaponry
. The tweet by
Symonshowsthebridge
almost complete across
a narrow part of lake.
WINTER CARNIVAL IN MANALI
Women perform Kulvi Naati dance on
Mall Road on Monday. (Inset) Artists
from Punjab perform during the five-
day-long national level Winter Carnival
festival, the largest tourism event of
Himachal, in Manali. —PHOTOS BY PTI
‘Practice your religion, don’t indulge in hate speech’
Yati Narsinghanand named
in2ndFIR;SITtoinvestigate Kottayam: Vice-Presi-
dent Venkaiah Naidu
on Monday spoke out
against hate speech,
saying it goes against
the country’s culture,
Constitution and
ethos, and that “every
person has the right to
practise and preach
his or her faith”.
Addressing an event
marking the 150th
death anniversary of
Saint Kuriakose Elias
Chavara in Kottayam,
Kerala, the Vice-Presi-
dent said, “Hate speech
and writings are
against (the country’s)
culture, heritage, tra-
dition and Constitu-
tional rights and ethos.
Every person has the
right to practise and
preach his or her faith
in the country. Practise
your religion but don’t
abuse and indulge in
hate speech and writ-
ings,’’ he said, express-
ing his “disapproval of
attempts to ridicule
other religions and
create dissensions in
society”.
Saying Saint
Chavara, the 19th cen-
tury Catholic priest,
philosopher and social
reformer, “has taught
us that peaceful hu-
man relationships are
sacred and more im-
portant than anything
else”, Naidu said, “To-
day, we need a Chavara
in every community
— a towering individu-
al with a vision to
unite all sections of
society socially and
culturally, and take the
country forward.”
Dehradun: The Uttara-
khand police on Sunday
registered a second FIR
in connection with the
three-day ‘Dharam San-
sad’ in Haridwar where
a series of hate speeches
targeting Muslims were
made.
FIR, registered on the
complaint of a social
worker, Nadeem Ali, has
been filed under Sec-
tions relating to promot-
ing enmity and wound-
ing religious feelings.
The second FIR only
names Yati Narsing-
hanand, along with
“unidentified others”.
SIT has been formed
with an Additional SP
andaDeputySP-levelof-
ficer as members to in-
vestigate the speeches
made at Haridwar event
on December 17-19.
Meanwhile, a court
rejected bail plea of
Kalicharan Maharaj
in Raipur Dharam San-
sad case.
DHARM
SANSAD IN
HARIDWAR The Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called for strengthening the
Indian value system during his speech in Kerala’s Kottayam.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022
02
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New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court on Monday
asked the municipal
body and other authori-
ties to inquire into the
allegations of encroach-
ment on graveyard land
in Jamia Nagar and de-
molish the structure in
question if it is illegal.
The Division Bench of
Justices DN Patel and
Jyoti Singh on Monday
disposed of the matter
after hearing the submis-
sion of petitioner and
respondent corporation
and asked the authori-
ties to make enquiry into
the allegations and take
action as per law. The pe-
tition filed by NGO, Jan-
hit Vikas Sanstha sought
direction to concerned
authorities for demoli-
tion of the alleged unau-
thorized and illegal con-
struction encroaching
graveyard land in Jamia
Nagar of Delhi.
Advocate Alamgir ap-
pearing for the petitioner
alleged that the private
builder originally occu-
pied the said graveyard
land by using their pow-
ers and links and associ-
ation with land mafia
which is the subject mat-
ter of the present writ
petition and built illegal
construction.
The plea further said
that the respondent
builders are still carry-
ing on unauthorized con-
struction over the grave-
yard land after encroach-
ing the said land illegally
and have raised con-
struction on the ground
up to the 5th floor with-
out any sanctioned plan
or without following any
building bye-laws in col-
lusion with the respond-
ents’ authorities.
The action and inac-
tion of the respondents
authorities are in com-
plete violation of law of
the land and the judg-
ments and orders passed
by this Court and the
Supreme Court, said the
petition. —ANI
HC asks officials to look into illegal encroachment
JAMIA GRAVEYARD

The NGO sought
direction to
concerned
authorities for
demolition of
illegal
construction
encroaching
graveyard land
in Jamia Nagar
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: Two people,
including a 65-year-old
disabled beggar, were ar-
rested on Sunday over the
killing of a man on January
1 in west Delhi’s Rajouri
Garden area following an
argument, police said. The victim’s body, with stab
wounds on the chest and near the collar bone, was
found lying in a shanty on a pavement in the Subhash
Nagar area on Saturday. During the enquiry, it was
revealed that the victim, Chandan, was celebrating New
Year with his two friends near Ansal Plaza.
65-YEAR-OLD DISABLED BEGGAR AMONG
2 HELD FOR KILLING MAN IN DELHI
4099 NEW COVID
CASES, POSITIVITY
RATE AT 6.46 PC
New Delhi: The Delhi on
Monday reported 4,099
new Covid cases, 28 pc
more than on Sunday,
and one death due to the
disease as the positiv-
ity rate rose to 6.46 pc,
according to the official
data. If the positivity rate
is over five per cent for
two consecutive days, it
would trigger a ‘red alert’
under the Delhi Disaster
Management Author-
ity-approved Graded
Response Action Plan
(GRAP) leading to a ‘total
curfew’ and halting of
most economic activities.
New Delhi: Crime
Branch of Delhi Police
has rescued two
kidnapped minor girls
in two separate
cases and arrested
the suspects who had
allegedly married the
victims, according to
the Delhi Police. The
suspects Ajay Rana and
Daya Shankar have been
arrested. The police
rescued the victims and
arrested the suspects
from the Shutrana area
of Patiala and Delhi’s
Nithari respectively,
police said.
TWO MINOR GIRLS
RESCUED, TWO
SUSPECTS HELD
DELHI OBJECTS
TO BULLI BAI, SULLI DEAL APPS
DCW summons Delhi Police in connection with investigation into ‘Bulli Bai’,‘Sulli Deal’ cases
Commission For Wom-
en (DCW) on Monday
asked police officials to
appear before it later
this week in connec-
tion with a probe into
objectionable content
on ‘Bulli Bai’ and ‘Sulli
Deal’ apps.
The DCW, in a state-
ment, said it has taken
suo motu cognisance
of media reports re-
garding pictures of
many Muslim women
being been uploaded
on ‘GitHub’ platform
without their consent.
It has asked the Del-
hi Police to appear be-
fore it and provide a
list of people arrested
in both the ‘Sulli deal’
and ‘Bulli Bai’ cases.
The commission
said non-arrest of cul-
prits in such a serious
matter is appalling and
that this “callous atti-
tude of the law enforce-
ment agency has em-
boldened the culprits
and others who are
continuing to sell
women and girls on-
line”.
“It was reported that
doctored photos of
hundreds of Muslim
women and girls were
uploaded by an uniden-
tified group of persons
on an app using inter-
net platform ‘GitHub’
and were shared with
the term, ‘Bulli deal of
the day’,” it said.
The commission
said in 2021, pictures
of many Muslim wom-
en and girls were up-
loaded on the same
‘GitHub’ platform un-
der the name “Sulli
Deals”. “In that matter,
while the Delhi Police
had registered an FIR
in July last year after
DCW’s intervention, it
is yet to make any ar-
rests,” it said.
TheDCWhassought
details of action taken
against the ‘GitHub’
app by the Delhi Police
along with steps taken
in preventing such
platforms from up-
loading “derogatory”
and “illegal” content
in the future. —PTI
Police seek info from
Twitter, GitHub; direct
removal of content
Police has sought de-
tails from the GitHub
platform about the
developer of the contro-
versial ‘Bulli Bai’ mobile
application and has
written to Twitter for in-
formation about the ac-
count handler who first
posted about the app,
officials said on Mon-
day. The city police also
asked Twitter to block
and remove on the
microblogging platform
any “offensive content”
shared from the ‘Bulli
Bai’ app’, which had put
up pictures of hundreds
of Muslim women
including prominent
personalities for “auc-
tion”, they said. After
widespread outrage
and demands for action
against those behind
the app, IT minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw had
said on Sunday that the
government is working
with police in Delhi and
Mumbai, where cases
have been registered
in the matter. He also
said that GitHub has
blocked the user who
had uploaded the app
and that the Computer
Emergency Response
Team (CERT), the
country’s nodal agency
on cyber security, and
police are coordinating
further action in the
matter. —PTI
DCW Chief Swati Maliwal
CM to pay `1 cr to kin of soldiers killed in U’khand
Dehradun: Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on Monday promised
to pay Rs 1 crore to the
next of kin of security
personnel killed in the
line of duty in Uttara-
khand as “Samman
Rashi” if the Aam Aad-
mi Party comes to power
in the state in the 2022
assembly polls.
Kejriwal also prom-
ised to give jobs in gov-
ernment to retired Army
jawans aged 34-35 years
and make them partners
in the building of a new
Uttarakhand making full
use of their patriotism,
military skills and disci-
pline.
He made the an-
nouncement at the par-
ty’s Uttarakhand Nav
Nirman rally at the Pa-
rade Ground here.
“Families of Army, po-
lice and paramilitary
personnel who are mar-
tyred will be paid Rs 1
crore as Samman Rashi
to honour their martyr-
dom,” he said. Kejriwal
said Uttarakhand has the
largest representation in
the armed forces and if
soldiers make up their
mind, no one can stop the
Aam Aadmi Party from
coming to power in the
state. —PTI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP ANNOUNCES FIVE MORE
CANDIDATES FOR PUNJAB POLLS
New Delhi: The Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) on
Monday released its
seventh list with five can-
didates for the upcoming
Punjab Assembly Elec-
tions. For the 117 seats
in the state, the party has
announced the names of
101 candidates so far. As
per the list, Sukhjinder
Raj Singh Lalli Majithia
will be contesting from
Majithia, Dr Ajay Gupta
from Amritsar Central,
Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal
from Tarn Taran, Surinder
Singh Sodhi from Jaland-
har Cantt, and Dr Baljit
Kaur from Malout. In the
2017 Punjab Assembly
polls, Congress won an
absolute majority in the
state by winning 77 seats
and ousted the SAD-BJP
government after 10
years. Aam Aadmi Party
emerged as the second-
largest party winning 20
seats in 117-member
Punjab Legislative As-
sembly. The Shiromani
Akali Dal could only man-
age to win 15 seats while
the Bharatiya Janata Party
secured 3 seats. —ANI
Sisodia introduces bill for
Delhi Teachers University
New Delhi: Delhi Dep-
uty Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia on
Monday introduced a
bill for Delhi Teachers
University on the first
day of the two-day ses-
sion of the Delhi As-
sembly
.
Sisodia, who also
holds the education
portfolio, said for the
last seven years, histor-
ical decisions were tak-
en by the AAP govern-
ment, including ex-
penditure of 25 per cent
budget in the field of
education.
“This is not a roman-
ticism formula. We are
doing it considering
education as the most
fundamental require-
ment. The credit for the
education revolution
goes mostly to the teach-
ers,” he said in the
House.
The minister had
also visited an under
construction campus of
the Delhi Teachers Uni-
versity in Bakkarwala
on January 1. —PTI
AAP MLA SEEKS
DETAILS OF
VIGILANCE CASES
DELHI ASSEMBLY
CONDOLES DEATH
OF GEN. RAWAT
New Delhi: Delhi Assem-
bly Speaker Ram Niwas
Goel sent a matter per-
taining to “not answer-
ing” a question related to
action taken in corrup-
tion cases by vigilance
department to privileges
committee. The question
pertaining to department-
wise details of vigilance
cases such as corruption
and dereliction of duty
was asked by AAP MLA
Somnath Bharti.
Assembly on Monday
condoled the deaths of
Chief of Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat and
others in a helicopter
crash last month. The
House also condoled the
deaths of those killed in a
stampede at the Vaishno
Devi shrine in Jammu
and Kashmir’s Katra
and prayed for a speedy
recovery of those injured
in the incident.
BJP’s ‘chakka jam’ against
AAP Govt’s new excise
policy leads to traffic woes
New Delhi: Delhi BJP
workers staged a “chak-
ka jam” protest against
the city government’s
new excise policy on
Monday and blocked
roads at different loca-
tions in the national cap-
ital, leading to traffic
snarls at important
stretches including at
the ITO, near the Ak-
shardham temple and on
the Ring Road.
Reacting to the pro-
test, Delhi Deputy Chief
Minister Manish Sisodia
said BJP leaders are “rat-
tled” as the new excise
policy aims to curb ille-
gal liquor sale.
The protest near the
Akshardham temple was
led by Delhi BJP presi-
dent Adesh Gupta.
“The Delhi govern-
ment is opening liquor
shops illegally across the
city under its new excise
policy. Shops are being
opened near residential
and religious places. Our
protest will continue un-
til the policy is rolled
back,” Gupta told report-
ers. He said liquor shops
will not be allowed to op-
erate near religious plac-
es, schools and residen-
tial areas. —PTI
A long vehicular traffic is seen at Delhi - Meerut Expressway as
BJP supporters stage a ‘chakka jam’ protest against the Delhi
Government’s new excise policy in New Delhi —PHOTO BY ANI
VISHWAS’S FAITH?
CATCH THEM YOUNG
A boy receives a
dose of Bharat
Biotech’s Covaxin
against COVID-19
disease during a
vaccination drive for
children aged 15-18
years, at the Star
Imaging and Path
Lab, in New Delhi
—PHOTO BY ANI
DCW has
taken suo
motu
cognisance of
media reports
regarding
pictures of many
Muslim women
being been
uploaded on
‘GitHub’ plat-
form without
their consent
—DCW statement
Delhi Assembly

INDIA
03
Anita Hada
New Delhi: The sus-
pense still persists re-
garding the assembly
elections of five states
includingUttarPradesh.
The Election Commis-
sionteamhasbeenasked
byallthepartiesof Uttar
Pradesh to conduct elec-
tions on time. But in
view of the rapid spread
of corona virus infec-
tion, a few days ago a
judge of the Allahabad
High Court appealed to
the Prime Minister to
postpone the election.
After that Durga
Shankar Mishra, a close
official of the Prime
MinisterfromDelhi,was
sent back and made the
Chief Secretary of the
state. Because of this, it
was being said that elec-
tionsinthestatecanalso
be postponed. But due to
the compulsion of the
presidentialelection,the
election may not be post-
poned.
However, it is not that
if the elections to these
five states are post-
poned, then the BJP will
have any problem in get-
ting its President. In the
presidential election,
the value of the vote of
the MPs is equal to the
value of the vote of the
MLAs of all the states,
where the BJP has an
overwhelming majority
.
BJP is in government in
four of these five states.
But only Uttar Pradesh
is important in terms of
the number of MLAs.
The value of the vote of
MLAs in the Electoral
College of Presidential
elections is close to five
and a half lakh, in
which the value of the
MLAs of Uttar Pradesh
is 84 thousand and the
value of the vote of the
MLAs of the remaining
four states is close to 20
thousand. If elections
are not held in these
states, then the required
figure of majority will
also be reduced.
On the other hand,
the value of the votes of
543 MPs in the Lok Sab-
ha is a little more than
three lakh 84 thousand,
in which the govern-
ment has more than two
lakh 35 thousand votes.
The value of the votes
of Rajya Sabha MPs is
close to one lakh 65
thousand, out of which
about 77 thousand votes
belong to the govern-
ment. That is, out of the
total five and a half lakh
votes of Parliament, the
government has three
lakh 12 thousand votes
with the government.
The votes of the parties
that indirectly support
the government are
apart from this fugure.
Similarly, in the votes
of MLAs, the BJP, its
allies and the parties
giving indirect support
have a very clear ma-
jority. So, postpone-
ment of elections to
five states will not af-
fect the government's
maths much in the
presidential election.
Punjab: Rift in Punjab
Congress became evi-
dent once again as state
Home Minister
Sukhjinder Singh
Randhawa
on Monday
said that
P u n j a b
P r a d e s h
Cong ress
Committee
chief Nav-
jot Singh Sidhu is upset
with him ever since he
became the Home Min-
ister of Punjab.
Addressing a press
conference, Randhawa
said, "Sidhu has some
problem. I share old re-
lations with his family.
But ever since I have
become the home min-
ister of Punjab, he is
upset with me. If he
wants the Home Minis-
try, I will leave and of-
fer it to him."
Further commenting
on the allegation by
AAP that the Charanjit
Singh Channi-led Pun-
jab government is not
arresting SAD MLA
Bikram Singh Majithia
in a drug case, he said
that the pictures and
videos that surfaced of
him offering prayers at
Golden Temple in Am-
ritsar is fake.
"As per my informa-
tion, Bikram Singh Ma-
jithia is not in Punjab.
These are fake videos
and pictures. If Vikram
Singh Majithia is seen
anywhere in Punjab,
we will immediately
arrest him. Our teams
are searching him," he
said. —ANI
ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
COLLAPSED, IN LAST 5 YRS
UNDER BJP RULE: RAWAT
New Delhi: Taking a jibe at the ruling BJP in Uttara-
khand, former Chief Minister and Congress leader
Harish Rawat on Monday alleged that the state has
witnessed a collapsed admin-
istration system and rising
unemployment under the lead-
ership of three Chief Ministers
in the last five years during the
Bharatiya Janata Party’s tenure.
Speaking to ANI, here in New
Delhi, Rawat said, “Uttarakhand
has seen 3 CMs in the last 5
yeats under BJP rule. The ad-
ministration system has collapsed. Unemployment is on
rising.” “People are suffering from inflation, corruption
has become a system of governance. It’s time to change
the system,” added Rawat. Uttarakhand is due to go to
the Assembly polls early this year. —ANI
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: All the peo-
ple who changed the
names of cities, roads,
streets, railway sta-
tions, districts etc. are
silent on the matter that
China changed the
names of many places
in a state of India and
there is no statement,
other than an official
statement, warning
China to be taught a les-
son for such an act. For-
eign Ministry Spokes-
person Arindam
Bagchi also said that
Arunachal Pradesh is
and will remain an inte-
gral part of India, noth-
ing will happen with
fabricated names. In
fact, China changed the
names of 15 places in
Arunachal Pradesh,
while identifying these
places on the basis of
latitude and longitude
and gave new names ac-
cording to the Tibetan
and Roman alphabets.
Among the areas that
China has renamed,
eight are residential ar-
eas, four are mountains,
twoareriversandmoun-
tain passes. Earlier in
2017, when the Doklam
dispute was going on be-
tween China and India,
atthattimealsotheyhad
changed the names of
six places but it was not
discussed much then.
Right now, since there is
a dispute with China in
many places and it has
made a new land border
law, which has been im-
plementedfromJanuary
1, there has been more
discussion about chang-
ing the names of 15 plac-
es. India’s concern has
increased with this new
land border law.
Just imagine how
many places in India
have been renamed so
far. Names are being
changed from Alla-
habad to Faizabad and
from Habibganj to
Mughalsarai in the
name of establishing
Hindu identity and
erasing the identity of
Muslim history. But in
one stroke, China chal-
lenged the sovereignty
of India. It claimed
stake on one of our
state and changed the
names of its places.
China has already been
saying that Arunachal
Pradesh is Southern Ti-
betan, whose Chinese
name is Zang Nan. But
now going a step ahead,
it has started changing
the names of its places.
This is not a merely a
statement from China’s
foreign ministry, to
which India’s foreign
ministry will respond.
This is a decisive step,
which must be coun-
tered at the top level of
the government. There
should be increased
pressure from India
that China should fix
the names of the places
which have been
changed. India did not
do this in 2017, there
China is being coura-
geous now. If nothing is
done even now, then
China will strengthen
its claim on the places
whose names have been
changed. India should
immediately call the
Chinese ambassador
and give a warning in
strict words. By law,
diplomatic and busi-
ness relations should
end, but India cannot
end business relations
because the country’s
economy is largely de-
pendent on China.
Chinese Checkers: A challenge for India's 'name changers'!
CHINA UPS THE ANTE
PUNJAB POLLS
RANDHAWA CLAIMS SIDHU IS UPSET WITH HIM
Sidhu has some problem. But ever since I have become the home minister of Punjab, Sidhu is upset with me: Randhawa
A Congress-BJP-Cong round trip
for Punjab MLA in less than a week
Chandigarh: BJP's lat-
est Punjab recruit from
the Congress has re-
turned to his former
party in what could be
the fastest homecoming
of an MLA in the state
where elections are just
months away
.
Balwinder Singh Lad-
di,aCongressMLAfrom
Hargobindpur, had
joined the BJP six days
ago. Last night, he re-
joined the Congress in a
small ceremony held by
the party's Punjab in-
charge Harish Chaud-
hary and Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhjinder
Singh Randhawa.
Laddi's Twitter time-
line is still fresh with
congratulatory messag-
es to him on joining the
BJP
. He has also retweet-
ed a few of them.
A lot of movement is
happening as the elec-
tions come closer. An-
other Congress MLA,
FatehJungSinghBajwa,
the brother of senior
party leader and MP
Pratap Bajwa, joined the
BJP recently
.
The BJP has also
formed an alliance with
former CM Captain Am-
arinder Singh, who was
earlier with the Con-
gress. Amarinder Singh
runs his own outfit now
afterhelefttheCongress
on bitter terms.
The BJP
, which had
till now played second
fiddle in Punjab to ex-al-
ly Shiromani Akali Dal,
has raised its stakes in
the state and plans to go
big in the elections.
Advancing the race to lure voters with promises
of freebies ahead of the upcoming state assem-
bly elections, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh
Sidhu on Monday promised Rs 2,000 per month for
women homemakers if his party is voted to power.
Sidhu also promised eight free cooking gas cylin-
ders to homemakers every year. The state Congress
chief also promised two-wheelers to girls taking
admission in colleges for further studies, Rs 20,000
to those passing 12th class, Rs 15,000 to the ones
passing 10th standard and Rs 5,000 to the others
passing fifth grade. Sidhu’s promises virtually outdo
those of Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has prom-
ised Rs 1,000 to all women in Punjab, besides up to
300 units of free domestic power every month if his
party is voted to power in the poll-bound states of
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
and Goa. Sidhu made these an-
nouncements in a rally organised
in Punjab’s Barnala district. Ad-
dressing the rally, Sidhu made
the promises while stressing the
need for empowering women in
the state. Women homemak-
ers will be given Rs 2,000
per month and eight
(LPG) cylinders free by
the Punjab govern-
ment, he said.
SIDHU PROMISES RS 2,000 FOR
HOMEMAKERS, 8 LPG CYLINDERS
Balwinder Singh Laddi returned to the Congress from the BJP in
six days.
Prezpolltoremainunaffectedby
postponementofAssemblypolls!
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The Cen-
tre on Monday request-
ed the SC to urgently
hear a case relating to
reservation of EWS
category in NEET ad-
missions for Post-
Graduate medical
courses. A Bench head-
ed by Justice DY Chan-
drachud said it would
consult the Chief Jus-
tice of India NV Ra-
mana and see if a spe-
cial bench can be con-
stituted for hearing the
case tomorrow or the
day after. Solicitor
General of India Tush-
ar Mehta appearing for
Centre told Justice
Chandrachud, “There
is some urgency
.”
Centre urges SC to
hear EWS quota case Mumbai: BJP MLA
Nitesh Rane, son of Un-
ion minister Narayan
Rane, has approached
the Bombay HC with an
anticipatory bail plea in
an attempt-to-murder
case filed against him
in Sindhudurg district
last month.
Asperthecaselodged
by the Kankavli police,
one Santosh Parab, 44,
who was allegedly
stabbed in the chest by
a man who knocked
down the former’s mo-
torbike with a car in
Kankavli, heard the as-
sailant telling another
person in the car that
“they should inform
Gotya Sawant and
Nitesh Rane”.
Rane moves Bombay HC
for pre-arrest bail plea
HC has sought three
terror suspects’ re-
sponse on the plea of
the NIA challenging
trial court order reject-
ing the extension of
custody of accused in
the J&K terrorism
case. The Delhi HC on
Monday asked the
three suspects to file a
response on the NIA’s
plea challenging a trial
court order which re-
jected the application
filed by probe agency
earlier seeking further
extension of police
custody of 3 accused.
New Delhi: Sameer
Wankhede, whose ten-
ure as the NCB’s Mum-
bai Zonal director came
to an end on December
31, will report to the Di-
rector of DRI (Directo-
rate of Revenue Intelli-
gence) in Delhi from
Monday
.
It was earlier in-
formed that the top
NCB officer, in spot-
light since the arrest
of Bollywood super-
star Shah Rukh Khan’s
son Aryan in the
drugs-on-cruise case,
had not sought an ex-
tension of service.
J-K TERRORISM TENURE ENDS
HC seeks 3
terror suspects’
response
Wankhede’s
eventful stint
with NCB ends
granted more time to
Whatsapp and Face-
book to file their re-
sponse over notices is-
sued to them by the
Competition Commis-
sion of India (CCI).
The Division Bench
was hearing the peti-
tions of Whatsapp and
Facebook challenging
the single bench,
which had dismissed
their pleas challenging
a CCI order for an in-
vestigation into the
messaging app’s new
privacy policy.
The court adjourned
the matter for March
30, 2022.
CCI NOTICES: HC GRANTS TIME TO FB,WHATSAPP
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day declined a plea of
the West Bengal gov-
ernment challenging
the order of the sin-
gle-judge bench of the
Calcutta High Court
protecting BJP leader
Suvendu Adhikari
from any coercive ac-
tion in criminal cases
registered against
him by the state po-
lice. A Bench of Jus-
tices DY Chandra-
chud and AS Bopanna
told the West Bengal
government’s counsel
that it has already
dealt with a similar
matter earlier. “Par-
ties would be gov-
erned by the order
which was passed by
this court on 13 De-
cember 2021”.
SC declines Suvendu Adhikari’s plea
New Delhi: President
Ram Nath Kovind on
Monday appointed
four new judges in the
Calcutta and Bombay
High Courts. Accord-
ing to a statement is-
sued by the Ministry
of Law and Justice,
President Ram Nath
Kovind in consultation
with Chief Justice of
India NV Ramana ap-
pointed Aniruddha
Roy as judge of Cal-
cutta High Court.
Prez appoints
judges for Calcutta,
Bombay HCs

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 126
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
The soul is never born, it never
dies having come into being
once, it never ceases to be.
Unborn, eternal, abiding and
primeval, it is not slain when
the body is slain.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
Space sector is deeply connected with
mapping, imaging and connectivity
facilities, speedy transportation,
weather forecast, disaster management
as well as border security. The new
technologies played a crucial role in
keeping the world connected during
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Smriti Z Irani
@smritiirani
Tributes to the pioneer of women’s
liberation movement, the country’s
first female teacher Savitribai Phule
ji, who worked for life for women’s
education and their honor, on her birth
anniversary. The efforts made by her
for women empowerment are inspiring
for the entire society.
TOP TWEETS
BOLD AND BLUNT,
MEGHALAYA GUV
SHOOTS “ARROGANT”
JIBE AT THE PM
eghalaya Governor
Satya Pal Malik has
been raising his voice
against his party and
its leadership un-
mindful of the consequences of
his outspokenness. As Governor
of Goa from 2019-20, he targeted
the Pramod Sawant government
accusing it of corruption. He
said he saw “corruption in every-
thing the Goa government did”.
His remark caused a political
uproar in the state and the BJP’s
central leadership was apprised
of the Governor’s role against
the government of his own party
.
His latest salvo is aimed at
none other but the prime minis-
ter himself. He was openly criti-
cal of PM Narendra Modi’s han-
dling of the farmers’ protest.
Even as Governor of Megha-
laya, Malik made statements
which were pro-farmer and anti-
Central government.
This time he has gone to the
extent of calling the PM “stub-
born” and “arrogant”. Despite
his outbursts, the Centre has tol-
eratedMalikalltheseyears.Why
the leadership is soft on him is
difficulttounderstand.Howlong
a rope will Malik be given?
M
itHub, an open
source platform,
has allowed itself
to be used by an
app that specialis-
es in humiliating, denigrat-
ing and trolling Muslim wom-
en by uploading their photos
picked from their social me-
dia sites. In July last year the
app ‘Sulli Deals’ shocked neti-
zens as it had the tagline of
“Sulli deal of the day” along
with photographs of Muslim
women. Sulli is a derogatory
term for women and the site
was purportedly meant for
auction of Muslim women
whose morphed, lewd photos
were uploaded. The disgust-
ing purpose was to cause hurt
and social and mental trauma
to the minority community
.
Women were soft targets for
the malicious campaign.
GitHub should have been
permanently blocked but it
was not. It has now been used
by another app which goes by
the name of Bulli Bai. Mus-
lim women again found them-
selves targeted by the app just
as they were done by the Sulli
deal app. FIRs have been reg-
istered and Union IT Minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw said that
the “government was work-
ing with the police organisa-
tions in Delhi and Mumbai in
the matter”. The IT Ministry
has the power to permanently
block GitHub for allowing its
constantmisusebytheobnox-
ious misogynist apps. Twitter
also should be questioned for
not taking immediate action.
Asking the IT Minister to
take “stern action against
such rampant misogyny and
communal targeting of wom-
en through #sullideals like
platforms”,SenaMPPriyanka
said it was “a shame that it
continues to be ignored”. Tar-
geting of Muslim women and
DharmSansad’scallforethnic
cleansing are ominous signs.
AFTER SULLI IT’S BULLI BUT
THE LAW IS IN SLUMBER
Sulli is a derogatory term
for women and the site
was purportedly meant for
auction of Muslim
women whose
morphed, lewd photos
were uploaded. The
disgusting purpose was
to cause hurt and social
and mental trauma to
minority community
G
MYSTIC OF BENARAS
ATTRACTS WIDOWS
Come to Kashi and die. For centuries, devout Hindus have descended on the ancient town on the banks of the swiftly-flowing Ganga to
do just that. It is believed, if anyone dies in Varanasi they attain salvation and freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth
n the banks of the holy River
Ganga, breathes Benaras also
calledKashi/Varanasi,which
is believed to be the oldest liv-
ing city in the world. For cen-
turies,themysticof thisplace
has been attracting pilgrims
from across the globe. It is be-
lieved that widows in India
ply to Varanasi to seek shelter
in the abode of Lord Shiva.
Varanasi is a city with
morethan38,000widowsatits
various ashrams and Widow
Houses. It is the highest in
any city after Vrindavan in
India. Over the decade’s wid-
ows of Benaras has been con-
sidered an important re-
search topic for social scien-
tists and scholars of India
and the world over. I as a stu-
dent, indeed have my head
held high, to be joining these
learned scholars in trying to
unravelling this mystery of
thewidowslivinginisolation.
Putting my best foot forward
in aid to help them I travelled
the street of this holy town to
know more about their lot!
Durga Kund Ashram
Widows of the Durga Kund
HelpLine ashram spend time
byorganizingBhagwadKatha
spiritual get-togethers. In
theabsenceof familysupport,
they spend most of their time
praying and looking for food.
While visiting here, the
first one I met was a strong,
tall woman putting on light
ornaments and clean tied-up
bun, Somvati, a resident of
Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar
Pradesh took us to a happy
positive world despite staying
away from family. It is noth-
ing less than a home away
from home for her as she is
residing here for 18 years.
Skinny Shanti Devi, whom
Imetsecondwaslookingweak
as she was stepping down the
stairs but her conversation
was clean and crisp. She is a
residentof Biharandhasbeen
putting up at Kashi for 20
yearsnow.About40peopleare
staying here for 15 years.
The Birla Ashram
While neglected by authori-
ties, widows of Birla Ashram
here are lost in a state of
desolation. In one of the
many narrow by-lanes be-
hind Kashi Vishwanath Tem-
ple, stands the Birla Ashram
with a narrow entrance gate.
Faded walls of an old dam-
aged haveli with tiny 10
rooms is the adobe for 10 wid-
ows. The first widow I met
here was Gita Agarwal from
Kolkata, she gave up on her
family after the wedding of
her 4 daughters. Though un-
educated she has a bold voice
and is partially happy with
the services here.
These widows display a
strong faith in routine and
they follow it rigorously de-
spite their falling health.
Early in the morning, they
take a dip in the Holy Ganga,
braving the chill in the air,
and start their daily chores.
Most of the women here
are a stickler for their priva-
cy and do not entertain inter-
actions from strangers. How-
ever after much coaxing,
they inform that some ran
from their homes after their
sons took all their money and
property, some had failed to
be useful for their families
while a few were thrown out
of their houses due to failing
health. The deep scare visi-
ble on their faces, frail voic-
es, and tears rolling down
their eyes narrates the unfor-
tunate circumstances that
have befallen them.
Mata Anandmayi Ashram
On visiting Mata Anandmayi
Ashram, we found that their
major focus was Sanskrit
studies, preserving the old
teaching of Mata Anadmayi,
spiritual equality for women.
Here we found women or
devotees rekindling thoughts
of Ma amongst people.
Nepali Mandir Ashram
Nearby Lalita Ghat is famous
for housing the Nepali Man-
dir, which was built by the
King of Nepal almost 20 years
ago. Set in this tranquil back-
drop,isawidows’ashramthat
is supported by the temple.
After spending some days
with these unfortunate wom-
en, some important issues
related to the social-econom-
ical problem of the widows
of Benaras came to the fore.
Benaras can be considered as
one of the rehabilitation
hubs for these destitute wid-
ows of Indian society. Wid-
ows choose this place as their
secure shelter!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
O
OM SHARMA
The writer is a Class 12 student of The
Newtown School, Kolkata (West Bengal)
Varanasi is a city with more
than 38,000 widows at its
various ashrams and Widow
Houses. It is the highest in any
city after Vrindavan in India.
Over the decade’s widows of
Benaras has been considered
an important research topic
for social scientists and
scholars of India and the
world over. I as a student,
indeed have my head held
high, to be joining these
learned scholars in trying to
unravelling this mystery of the
widows living in isolation.
Putting my best foot forward
in aid to help them I travelled
the street of this holy town to
know more about their lot!
On the banks of the holy
River Ganga, breathes
Benaras also called
Kashi/Varanasi, which
is believed to be the
oldest living city in the
world. For centuries, the
mystic of this place has
been attracting pilgrims
from across the globe. It
is believed that widows in
India ply to Varanasi to
seek shelter in the
abode of Lord Shiva
ulabh International
in 2013 adopted the
widows of Varanasi
and identified 150 widows
who would be given `2,000
per month. “My idea is
how to change thoughts,
behaviour, and attitude
of people of this country
towards widows of India
who are their mothers, sis-
ters…,” said Dr Bindesh-
war Pathak, founder of
Sulabh International.
SULABH INTERNATIONAL IN YEAR 2013
ADOPTED 150 WIDOWS, GIVES `2K/MONTH S

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INDIA
05
Srinagar: Two terror-
ists including a wanted
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)
ultra Salim Parray were
killed in two encoun-
ters with security forc-
es in Harwan area on
the outskirts of the city
on Monday, police said.
“Srinagar police neu-
tralised dreaded terror-
ist of proscribed terror
outfit LeT Salim Par-
ray,” IGP Kashmir Zone
Vijay Kumar said.
He said details of the
operationwillbeshared
later.
Another encounter
broke out between the
ultras and security forc-
es at nearby Gasu vil-
lage,policeofficialssaid.
“An unidentified mili-
tant has been killed in
theoperationwhichwas
going on till reports last
came in,” the officials
said adding the identity
and group affiliation of
the slain militant was
being ascertained. —PTI
Dreaded LeT ultra eliminated in gunfight
ENCOUNTERS IN JK
Jawans after an encounter in Srinagar. —PHOTO BY ANI
INDIAN HC IN PAK FACILITATES RETURN OF
INDIANS, NORI VISA HOLDERS
Islamabad: Indian High Commission in Pakistan is facili-
tating the return of 47 Indian nationals, 15 No Obligation
to Return to India (NORI) visa holders and travel of 04
Saudi, 07 Nepalese and 146 Pakistan nationals. “@Indi-
ainPakistan is facilitating return of 47 Indians, 15 NORI
visa holders and 4 Saudi nationals, 7 Nepalese and 146
Pak nationals holding appropriate visa from Pakistan to
India between 10-15 January 2022,” tweeted Indian High
Commission in Pakistan.
JK SET TO HAVE DISTRICT-LEVEL
GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir will soon become
the first Union Territory to have a district-level
Good Governance Index, Union minister Jiten-
dra Singh announced on Sunday. Singh said the
Centre will set up the index and the department
of administrative reforms and public grievances
will carry out this task in collaboration with the
Jammu and Kashmir government.
‘Spell of rain expected in
northwest India this week’
New Delhi: Overcast
weather, lower than
normal day tempera-
tures, and widespread
rain is expected in
northwest India till
January 9, the India
Meteorological Depart-
ment said as a western
disturbance in the Him-
alayas is likely to affect
the weather in the re-
gion from Monday
.
Under the influence
of the disturbance,
widespread rainfall or
snowfall is likely in
Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, and
Uttarakhand this week.
Isolated hailstorms are
also likely in the region.
Scattered to fairly
widespread light or
moderate rainfall is
likely in Punjab, Hary-
ana, Chandigarh, Delhi,
Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, and Madhya
Pradesh. Isolated thun-
derstorm activity is
also expected.
“We are expecting
widespread rains in
northwest India and
parts of central India
till January 9 with
chances of heavy rain
on January 5 and 6, and
January 8 and 9. Due to
two intense western
disturbances back to
back, day temperatures
may be lower than nor-
mal and there is likely
to be an overcast sky.
Night temperatures are
likely to be above nor-
mal. There is likely to
be widespread rain in
Delhi also on January 5
and 7. Due to the effect
of the second distur-
bance, there will be
rainfall and hailstorm
in Telangana, Vidarb-
ha, Chhattisgarh, and
Jharkhand also,” said
RK Jenamani, senior
scientist at the IMD.
Under the influence
of another active west-
ern disturbance from
January 7 to 9, rainfall
or snowfall activity to
increase in the western
Himalayan region.— PTI
Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. —FILE PHOTO
Malik clarifies his
statement on Modi
New Delhi: Home Min-
ister Amit Shah meant
no disrespect to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, Meghalaya Gov-
ernor Satya Pal Malik
clarified hours after a
video — that shows him
making contradictory
remarks — went viral,
and the Opposition
latched on this.
Malik, 75, has been a
vehement critic of the
BJP over farmers’ is-
sues. A video that shows
him talking about his
recent meeting with the
PM was widely shared.
“When I recently went
to meet the PM over the
farmers’issues,Ipicked
up a fight within five
minutes... I told him 500
people have died... He
asked — ‘Have they died
for me?’”
“I told him yes, since
you are the king. Any-
way, I ended up having
a fight with him. He told
me to meet Amit Shah
and so I did,” he is heard
saying in the clip.
Exports surge
37% in Dec;
variant can’t hit
businesses: Min
New Delhi: Union
Minister Piyush Go-
yal on Monday said
that India has
achieved the highest
ever exports of $37
billion in December
2021, a 37% jump
from December 2020.
The Commerce and
Industry Ministry
said, India is well on
its way to achieving
an export target of
$400 billion. Goyal
said that the Omi-
cron will be a short-
term disruption on
businesses, adding
that supply chains
activities will con-
tinue at full speed.
Amid Covid surge, over 40L teens
inoculated on Day 1 of vax drive
New Delhi: Vaccina-
tion of children in the
15-18 age group against
Covid-19 began on Mon-
day. Over 40 lakh teens
got their first dose on
Day 1, Health Minister
Dr Mansukh Mandavi-
ya said. On a day 33,750
cases were reported in a
span of 24 hours and
Omicron cases contin-
ued to rise, reaching the
1,700-mark.
The vaccine option
for this age group would
only be Covaxin, ac-
cording to guidelines
issued by the Union
Health Ministry. The
Drugs Controller Gen-
eral of India granted
emergency use authori-
sation to indigenously-
developed Bharat Bio-
tech’s Covaxin for chil-
dren above 12 years
with certain conditions.
The CoWIN platform
had till Sunday evening
recorded over six lakh
registrations in the age
group of 15-18, a day af-
ter the process began.
In Delhi, vaccination
for children in Delhi be-
gan at 159 government
hospitals, primary
healthcare centres, and
government schools.
There are at least 1.01
million children be-
tween the ages of 15 to
18 years in Delhi who
are eligible to get the
shot, according to data
shared by the Central
government. The drive
will be expanded Tues-
day in a “camp mode” at
private schools with
more than 500 students.
Teenagers were of-
fered flowers, pens and
masks after taking the
jabs in Pune, while the
Mumbai civic body
launched a free inocula-
tion drive for the chil-
dren, as inoculation for
the 15-18 age group be-
gan in Maharashtra.
GOA SEES COVID SPIKE AFTER NEW YEAR
CELEBRATIONS, POSITIVITY RATE AT 10.7%
New Delhi: Goa recorded a massive jump in coronavirus
cases on Monday, at 388, with over 10 percent of COVID-19
tests returning positive. The coast state now has 1,671 ac-
tive cases. The huge spike in Covid cases has prompted the
state government to impose curbs, including night curfew,
to control the spread of the virus. A night curfew will be
imposed soon. “We deliberated on various ways to ensure
we don’t take any knee-jerk decision ensure that citizens
as well as tourists coming to Goa are safe,” Goa Health
Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted.
UNEMPLOYMENT RISES
TO FOUR-MONTH HIGH
AMID COVID UPTICK
New Delhi: India’s
unemployment rate rose
to a four-month high in
December as some States
imposed fresh virus curbs
to staunch surging case
numbers. The jobless rate
increased to 7.91 per cent
last month, from 7 per
cent in November, rising in
both urban and rural areas,
according to the data from
the Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy (CMIE), a
private research firm.
NO EXPIRED VACCINE
ADMINISTERED IN
INDIA: CENTRE
New Delhi: Media reports
claiming that expired vac-
cines are being adminis-
tered in India are false and
misleading, stated a Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare
release on Monday. “There
have been some media
reports alleging that expired
vaccines are being admin-
istered in India under its
vaccination programme.
This is false and is based on
incomplete information,” the
statement said.
HIGHLIGHTS
z Bihar: Over 100 doctors
in Patna test positive for
Covid-19 in 2 days
z `1.15 crore penalty,
45 FIRs registered
for defying Covid
norms: Delhi govt
z Karnataka Cabinet to
discuss long-term
measures: Bommai
z HC allows Moser
Baer bank fraud
accused Shivani to
travel abroad for
vaccine booster dose
z 91% Covid Cases
Asymptomatic, No
ICU Case: Mumbai
Civic Body Chief
z Centre Allows 50%
Staff Below Under
Secretary-Level To
Work From Home
z Ekta Kapoor, John
Abraham his wife
test Covid-19 positive
z Bihar’s first
genome sequencing
becomes functional
z 3 cops among 14
attendees to CM Nit-
ish’s Janta Darbar test
positive for Covid-19
z Jharkhand imposes
Covid restrictions till
January 15
Twenty-three resident doctors of a top
hospital in Delhi have tested positive for
Covid-19 over the span of a week, even
as the national capital is reeling under
a sharp spike in cases. The medics at
Safdarjung hospital have mild symptoms.
23 DOCS OF
DELHI TEST+VE
IN A WEEK AS
CASES SPIRAL
A boy receives a dose of vaccine at Ernakulam General Hospital,
in Kochi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
INDIAN COAST GUARD OPERATIONS
SAVE SEVEN STRANDED FISHERMEN
Chennai: The Indian Coast Guard successfully
coordinated and rescued seven stranded fishermen
of IFB SREE 190 nautical miles away from Chen-
nai on January 2, 2022. The rescue operations
began on December 31, 2021. Indian Coast Guard
Dornier aircraft identified and located the boat. The
fishing boat was reportedly adrift due to engine
failure. It is presently being towed by another fish-
ing boat back to Chennai.
WANT ARRESTS, SAY WOMEN LISTED
FOR ‘AUCTION’ ON BULLI BAI APP
New Delhi: Last week, Muslim women targeted
by an app called ‘Bulli Bai’ took to social media to
raise their voices. They said that photographs of
hundreds of Muslim women had been uploaded
on the app on open-source platform GitHub. The
group behind the app collected photos of Muslim
women from their social media accounts and
encouraged people to participate in their “auction”,
the women said. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
informed that an investigation was underway.
CRUCIAL READ
CHINA UNFURLS FLAG IN GALWAN,
OPPOSITION SLAMS BJP-LED GOVT
New Delhi: Just as the new year began, China laid
claim to Galwan Valley once again by unfurling its
national flag on January 1. Videos of the event were
put out by various Chinese government mouthpieces.
Global Times tweeted, “In the Galwan Valley near the
border with #India, under the characters “Never yield
an inch of land,” PLA soldiers send new year greet-
ings to Chinese people on January 1, 2022.” Shen
Shiwei, a Chinese state-affiliated media representa-
tive, tweeted, “China’s national flag rise over Galwan
Valley on the New Year Day of 2022. This national
flag is very special since it once flew over Tiananmen
Square in Beijing.” Opposition grabbed the opportu-
nity to train their guns on the BJP-led government.
‘1 WOMAN IN PANEL OF 31’: PRIYANKA
CHATURVEDI ON MARRIAGE AGE BILL
New Delhi: Maharashtra MP Priyanka Chaturvedi
has raised concerns over the make-up of a commit-
tee that is looking into a bill for raising the legal age
of marriage of women
from 18 to 21. In a letter
to Rajya Sabha Chair-
man Venkaiah Naidu, Ms
Chaturvedi said that the
committee of 31 MPs
deliberating on a bill of
huge significance for
women has only one woman member-West Bengal
MP Sushmita Dev. I am writing this letter to you as a
concerned Member of Parliament.
‘IMRAN’S NEW PAK?’: EX-WIFE’S BARB
AFTER ALLEGED FIRING ON CAR
Islamabad: Reham Khan, activist and former wife
of Pakistan PM Imran Khan, has slammed him over
the country’s law and order situation after her car
was allegedly fired at
last night. In a series of
tweets, Reham asked
if this is “Imran Khan’s
new Pakistan”. She
wrote that she had “just
changed” the vehicle
and that her secretary
and driver were in the car. “On the way back from
my nephew’s marriage my car just got fired at two
men on a motorbike held vehicle at gunpoint!!
Commuters travel amid a light spell of rain.
Telangana BJP
president held
in Karimnagar
Karimnagar: Telanga-
na BJP state president
Bandi Sanjay Kumar
was arrested by Karim-
nagar police on Sunday
eveningduringaprotest,
informed local police.
The arrest came after
Kumar was taken into
custody by police while
he was holding a protest
in Karimnagar de-
manding the resolution
of teachers’ problems
in the state.
The arrest of Telan-
gana BJP chief Bandi
Sanjay is highly con-
demnable and amounts
to the murder of democ-
racy. He was staging a
protest following all
protocols in his office.
Shah discusses threats
from terror groups
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Monday re-
viewed the country’s
prevailing security sit-
uation and emerging
challenges that include
threats from global ter-
ror organisations, illic-
it use of cyberspace and
“movement of foreign
terrorist fighters”.
This was the first
such high-level meet-
ing, chaired by Mr Shah
and attended by the top
brass of the country’s
security and intelli-
gence apparatus, in the
new year.
Amit Shah during a security review meeting, through virtual
conference in New Delhi on Monday.

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: India’s manufac-
turing sector activities mod-
erated in December but out-
put remained in the growth
territory, amid slower rise in
sales and new orders, even as
business sentiment was
dampened by concerns sur-
rounding supply-chain dis-
ruptions, COVID-19 and infla-
tionary pressures, a monthly
survey said on Monday
.
The seasonally adjusted
IHS Markit India Manufac-
turing PMI eased to 55.5 in
Dec, from November’s ten-
month high of 57.6. The Dec
data pointed to a “substan-
tial, albeit slower, rises in
sales and output”, the survey
said, adding that the latest
quarterly reading was at 56.3,
its highest since the final
quarter of fiscal year 2020/21.
The December PMI data
pointed to an improvement in
overall operating conditions
for the sixth straight month.
In PMI parlance, a print
above 50 means expansion,
while a score below 50 de-
notes contraction. —PTI
New Delhi: Customers of
Fino Payments Bank will be
able to receive remittance
money sent from overseas as
it has been granted approval
by the RBI to offer the inter-
national money transfer ser-
vice. Fino Bank has received
the RBI approval to com-
mence the international re-
mittance business under the
Money Transfer Service
Scheme (MTSS), bank said.
The lender will undertake
inward cross-border money
transfer activities in associa-
tion with an overseas princi-
pal, the details of which are
being worked out.
The customer segment of
Fino Bank at the middle of
the pyramid is targeted to
families of many of the peo-
ple working in foreign coun-
tries, Fino Bank said.
The money remitted by
family members abroad can
now be directly withdrawn at
the nearest micro-ATM or
Aadhaar-enabled payment
services-enabled Fino Bank’s
merchant point. —PTI
Mumbai: The rupee
pared its initial losses
and closed on a positive
note in the first trading
session of 2022 on Mon-
d a y , t r a c k i n g
posi-
tive domestic equities.
At the interbank forex
market, the local unit
opened at 74.35 against
the greenback and wit-
nessed an intra-day
high of 74.25 and a low
of 74.47. The domestic
unit finally settled
at 74.26 (provision-
al) against the US
dollar, register-
ing a gain of 3
paise over its pre-
vious close.
—PTI
New Delhi: India’s Future Re-
tail has asked a New Delhi
court to declare arbitration
proceedings in Singapore
with Amazon.com as illegal,
arguing that India’s antitrust
agency had suspended a 2019
deal used by Amazon to assert
rights over Future.
Amazon successfully used
the terms of its toehold $200
million investment in debt-
laden Future to block the In-
dian retailer’s attempt to sell
retail assets to a rival, alleg-
ing breach of certain con-
tracts.
But the Indian antitrust
body, the Competition Com-
mission of India, in December
suspended the 2019 deal say-
ing Amazon suppressed infor-
mation while seeking approv-
als.
The long-running dispute is
being heard by a Singapore
arbitration panel, but both
sides have been fighting paral-
lel cases in Indian courts to
enforce or overrule certain
decisions taken by the arbitra-
tor.
In the latest Future Retail
filing in New Delhi, the com-
pany argues that since the
2019 deal no longer has anti-
trust approval, it has “no legal
existence” in India and Ama-
zon can no longer assert any
of its rights.
The “continuation of the
entire arbitration proceed-
ings is a perpetuation of ille-
gality,” Future said in its fil-
ing dated Dec. 31.
The case will likely be
heard by the court later.
The filing also showed that
Future’s appeal to the Delhi
High Court comes after the
Singapore arbitration panel
did not agree to its immediate
demands to terminate the pro-
ceedings, saying arguments
would continue this month.
A source with direct knowl-
edge said Amazon had told the
Singapore arbitrator in De-
cember that the CCI’s suspen-
sion of the 2019 deal does not
mean the transaction is void,
as the watchdog has allowed
Amazon to reapply for clear-
ances. —Agencies
Future asks HC to declare
Amazon arbitration illegal
Manufacturing
PMI at 55.5 in Dec
Fino Payments Bank’s
global service gets nod
Rupee settles 3 paise
up at 74.26/US Dollar
Sensex soars 929 pts
to reclaim 59K-mark
Mumbai: The Indian
equity market kicked
off 2022 on a bullish
note on Monday, with
the benchmark BSE
Sensex surging over 900
points to reclaim the
59,000-level.
Starting off the ses-
sion confidently, the
BSE gauge further
strengthened its gains
as the trade progressed
and went to hit the day’s
high of 59,266.39. It fi-
nally ended 929.40
points or 1.60 per cent
higher at 59,183.22.
Likewise, the NSE
Nifty soared 271.65
points or 1.57 per cent to
settle at 17,625.70.
Among the promi-
nent gainers on the
Sensex chart were Bajaj
Finance, Bajaj FinServ,
ICICI Bank, Axis bank,
Tata Steel, IndusInd
Bank and HDFC Bank
-- rising as much as 3.50
per cent. —PTI
SAYING BRIEFLY
AUDI INDIA POSTS 2-FOLD RISE IN RETAIL SALES
CONTRACT FOR HALDIA TERMINAL AWARDED
WASTE-TO-ENERGY:
RAM TO INVEST 15K CR
RELIANCE BECOMES
PROMOTER IN SWREL
New Delhi: German luxury carmaker Audi
on Monday reported a two-fold jump in
retail sales at 3,293 units in India in 2021.
The company had sold 1,639 units in
2020. The uptick was propelled by these
electric cars -- e-tron 50, e-tron 55, e-tron
Sportback 55, e-tron GT, RS e-tron GT and
the petrol powered Q-range along with A-
sedans, Audi India said in a statement. Other models, sedans A4 and A6
along with SUVs Q2, Q5 and Q8 remained volume sellers for the brand,
while the RS and S performance cars continued strong demand and a
good order bank for 2022, it added. —PTI
New Delhi: The government on Monday
said that a contract has been awarded
for the Haldia inland waterway terminal
and the jetty will be operational soon for
sending Exim and inland cargo to Pandu
terminal in Guwahati connecting the
Northeast with Kolkata via the National
Waterway 2. This will provide an alterna-
tive to the Chicken Neck route for easy and cost effective movement
of cargo to and from the Northeast to foreign countries and to other
states of India. —PTI
Chennai: Ram Charan -- the little-
known Chennai-based chemicals
trader which, of late, has been
developing technologies and
equipment to convert industrial
and municipal waste into energy
that leave no residues -- is invest-
ing `15,000 crore to set up two
such manufacturing plants in
Tamil Nadu and Guajrat, a top
company official has said. —PTI
New Delhi: Sterling and Wilson
Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL)
on Monday said that Reliance
New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL)
has become its promoter post
payment of balance `1,583 crore
for acquisition of 25.90 per cent
equity in it. With this transaction,
RNESL and other group firms
together hold over 40 per cent
stake in SWREL. —PTI
India waiting
for global sugar
prices to rise
Oct-Dec sugar
output up
4.74%: NFCSFL
New Delhi: Indian sugar mills
are still waiting for global sug-
ar prices to rise to enter into
further export deals, industry
body ISMA said on Monday.
Owing to fall in global prices of
raw sugar, not many export
contracts happened in the last
one month or so. “Since
almost nine months
are left for the cur-
rent season, mills are
still waiting for the
opportune time to
enter into further
export contracts,”
ISMA added.
—PTI
New Delhi: The country’s sug-
ar production is estimated to
have risen by 4.75%to 115.70
lakh tonne during the October-
December period of the 2021-22
season, sugar cooperatives
body NFCSFL said on Monday
.
Sugar output stood at 110.45
lakh tonne in the same pe-
riod of 2020-21 sea-
son. Sugar season
runs from October
to September.
About 491 mills
had crushed 1227.17
lakh tonne of sug-
arcane as on Dec
31, 2021. —PTI
SUGAR TURNS BITTER
New Delhi: SBI Mutual Fund
on Monday launched a CPSE
Bond Plus SDL index fund, an
open-ended targeted maturity
index fund investing in the con-
stituents of the Nifty CPSE
Bond Plus SDL Sep 2026 index.
The new fund, which tracks the
state development loans (SDL)
Sept 2026 50:50, opened on Mon-
day and closes on January 17.
The scheme seeks to provide
returns that closely correspond
to the total returns of the secu-
rities as represented by the un-
derlying index. The new fund is
suitable for investors who
are seeking income over
the target maturity period
and safer fixed income av-
enues. —PTI
SBI MF launches CPSE
Bond Plus SDL index fund
Amazon has long argued that Future violated terms of its 2019 deal in deciding to sell retail assets to Reliance

07
NEWS
BJP WOOS UP’S GENEXT WITH SPORTS
SAFFRON PARTY STARTS REACHING OUT TO YOUTH THROUGH CONCLAVES
“Talk about sports and the youth are quite attracted,” says political analyst Suhel Ahmad of Saharanpur
First India Bureau
Lucknow: After the
withdrawal of contro-
versial three farm laws
the ruling BJP has been
making hectic efforts to
regain lost ground in
Western UP and in this
connection the party
has targeted the youth
force of the region
through “sports poli-
tics”.
PM Modi’s move to
lay the foundation stone
of Major Dhyanchand
sports university is be-
ing seen in the political
circle in this context in
the run up to the assem-
bly election. In three
previous elections
(2014, 2017, 2019) apart
from caste-combination
the younger generation
had played a vital role
in the huge victory of
the saffron brigade.
The university is go-
ing to play a vital role in
boosting sports activi-
ties as well as career
promotion in Meerut,
which is known as
“sports capital of UP”.
The city is also known
for exporting various
types of sports to
around 100 countries.
Modi, while carefully
avoiding touching
farmers issues except
mentioning measures
taken by the UP govern-
ment for their welfare,
largely concentrated on
the “youth factor” in
western UP which re-
turns around 120 law-
makers in UP assembly
and the BJP had swept
the region in 2017.
The BJP’s “sports
politics” for west UP
seems to be well curated
as it appears to help the
party to effectively con-
nect with GenNext.
More than any other
parts of the state, the
younger generation in
west UP has developed
passion for sports, espe-
cially in three divisions
of Meerut, Saharanpur
and Moradabad during
the last few decades.
Since the “Taus” (old
people) of western UP’s
rural areas were largely
on the forefront of
farmers’ stir against
farm laws and they still
continued to be unhap-
py with the central and
state govt, the BJP has
devised an alternative
strategy to again win
over the younger gen-
eration through “sports
politics’’. The region
has also produced na-
tional and internation-
al sportspersons, who
have brought laurels for
the country in previous
Asian and Common-
wealth games.
PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in UP Meerut
on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
BJP POISED TO WIN MORE THAN
300 ASSEMBLY SEATS, SAYS NADDA
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The nation-
al president of BJP JP
Nadda on Monday said
that the party was
poised to win more than
300 assembly seats in
the forthcoming elec-
tions in the state.
Addressing a public
meeting on the conclu-
sion of “Jan Vishwas
Yatra” in Lucknow on
Monday Nadda said
there was massive en-
thusiasm among the
people for the party
. He
said the people had full
confidence in the leader-
ship of PM Modi and
CM Yogi Adityanath
who has provided an ef-
fective corruption-free
government during the
last five years. Pointing
out that the BJP has ful-
filled promises made in
the 2017 election mani-
festo and would do the
same in future also. Na-
dda said neither Sama-
jwadi Party chief Akh-
ilesh Yadav nor BSP
president Mayawati had
capacity to launch pro-
grammeslike“JanVish-
wash Yatra”. He said the
opposition parties did
not have anything to of-
fer to the people.
Nadda said the previ-
ous SP government was
known for corruption
and mal-administration
whereas the BJP had
provided an honest and
transparent govern-
ment. He said “itra
would not do away with
the foul smell of the pre-
vious govt”. While un-
der the present govt the
funds meant for benefi-
ciaries was directly go-
ing to their accounts,
while during the SP re-
gime the money did not
reach the targeted peo-
ple, Nadda said and
added that Akhilesh
Yadav had been making
fake claims of provid-
ing 300 units of free
electricity to the people.
He said when the SP
government could not
provide adequate power
supply how it could give
free supply
.
BJP wants Yogi
to contest from
Mathura, writes
to JP Nadda
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A BJP
MP has written to
party president JP
Nadda urging the
latter to declare UP
CMYogi Adityanath
the party’s nominee
from Mathura seat.
In his letter to Na-
dda, BJP Rajya Sab-
ha member Har-
nath Singh Yadav
said that Lord
Krishna himself
had ‘inspired’ him
to write to the party
president and urge
him to make Adity-
anath the saffron
party’s nominee
from Mathura seat.
“Lord Krishna in-
spired me to write
this letter to you to
request for Adity-
anath’s nomination
from Mathura,’’ Ya-
dav said in the letter
to Nadda.
AAP’s Raghav Chadha attacks
previous goverments for Punjab debt
AMBUSH
India’s ‘Breadbasket’ Punjab, destroyed by corrupt leaders says Raghav Chadha
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
leader and the party’s
Punjab affairs co-in-
charge Raghav Chadha
accused the previous
Akali-BJP and current
Congress govt of plung-
ing Punjab in debt. He
said, “The Congress
and Badal govts have
made Punjab a debtor
of Rs. 3 lakh crores in
the last 50 years. With a
population of 3 crore,
today every individual
in Punjab has a debt of
1 lac. Every child who is
born in Punjab already
has a debt of 1 lac ru-
pees on them right after
their birth.”
Chadha said, “It is
very surprising that
20% of the annual budg-
et of Punjab is being
spent only to pay the
interest of the loan. If
the state govt did not
have so much debt, then
this money would have
been used for good hos-
pitals, schools, roads,
bridges and other facili-
ties for the people. But
the public’s tax money
is being spent in repay-
ing the debt of Rs. 3
lakh crores.”
Referring to the gold-
en history of Punjab,
Chadha said, “Once
upon a time, Punjab
used to be the ‘breadbas-
ket’ state of India. The
biggest sports industry
in the entire country
was in Punjab. But the
loot and corruption
have ruined Punjab.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Around 147
primary school stu-
dents are studying in
shops and godowns in
a commercial building
in Dhoraji town of Ra-
jkot. There are no fa-
cilities like benches,
school playgrounds,
and even blackboards
are limited. Yet, this
school has been func-
tioning from this build-
ing for decades. Several
requests for a new
school building finally
received a nod, only for
the students to wait
one more academic
year for its construc-
tion to happen. School
number 14’s classes I to
VIII students are stud-
ying sitting on the
ground in shops, go-
downs, with no ventila-
tors and doors.
More than one class
runs in one space that
can hardly accommo-
date 50 students if they
sitting maintaining so-
cial distancing.The
school principal said,
after making several
written requests to the
DEO, requesting for a
new building, they fi-
nally received a nod
recently
.
But the construction
will take one more aca-
demic year.Dhoraji’s
sitting MLA Lalit
Vasoya claims to have
raised the issue even in
the state assembly last
year, but the state gov-
ernment lent a deaf
ear.
DEO DR Saradva
said that he had sent
numerous requisitions
to the Sarva Sikshan
Abhiyan (SSA) to ap-
prove funds for the new
school building, based
on the principal’s re-
quests. In the new
building, students of
school numbers 4 and
14 will study together.
147 kids study in a commercial building in Rajkot Dhoraji town
FUTURE AT STAKE

Primary
students in
Dhoraji study in
shops and
godowns as the
school building
will take one
more year to
develop
AAP’s Punjab co-incharge Raghav Chadha.
RAPS SIDHU
‘WILL SELL CHIT FUND COMPANIES’
PROPERTY TO REPAY PEOPLE’S MONEY’
Chandigarh: The
Aam Aadmi Party has
promised to auction the
properties of chit fund
companies to repay the
hard-earned money of
people if the party forms
govt in Punjab. LoP in
Punjab assembly Harpal
Singh Cheema an-
nounced, “Properties of
Pearls Pvt Ltd and other
chit fund companies will
be auctioned to return
the money of their vic-
tims, who were looted in
the name of investment.
Not only will the de-
mands of these victims
be included in the mani-
festo of AAP, but also all
forms of justice will be
ensured when the govt is
formed.” He said despite
the orders of the SC,
Captain failed to make
return the hard-earned
money of the people.
Government primary school functioning from shops and godowns for decades in Dhoraji of Rajkot district.
First India Bureau
Barnala: PPCC presi-
dent Navjot Singh Sid-
hu on Monday an-
nounced revolutionary
changes coming to-
wards Punjab in the
near future. He empha-
sised that distribution
of money without plan
and agenda does not
contribute to growth of
the state and its people.
Siddhu, while attack-
ing Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) for its poll prom-
ises,said,“It’simportant
to fight the battle for the
right causes and gain
what’syoursthroughthe
right methods. Unlike
AAP
, Congress intends
to work towards cohe-
sive growth and not iso-
lated self-serving short
term agendas.”
“Giving women free-
bies like AAP, will not
empower them. There-
fore, we want to give
them 50% reserved
seats in the Urban Local
Bodies (ULBs) and Pan-
chayat because no one
knows the roots better
than the women them-
selves who gave birth to
all the leaders. Addi-
tionally, the current
Punjab Government al-
ready carries 33% res-
ervation for women in
jobs and it’s time that
we enable them to oc-
cupy their reserva-
tion,” he added.
He said that the wom-
en of Punjab are moth-
ers, sisters, wives,
daughters of someone
or the other. They de-
serve equity and re-
spect much like every-
one else. Therefore, it is
announced that
Rs.2,000/- per month
will be provided to the
women folk of Punjab
who are housewives.
“It is important that
their hard work be rec-
ognised. They will also
be provided with home
based, kitchen-based
business opportunities
andinterestfreeloansto
run them. They will also
be provided with eight
gas cylinders per year to
keep their kitchen run-
ning under all circum-
stances,” he added.
To battle the high
dropout rates of girls
from school, it is pro-
posed that female stu-
dents will be rewarded
with Rs 5,000 on comple-
tion of class V
, whereas
Rs 10,000 on completion
of class VIII.
Revolutionary changes are
needed in new Punjab: Sidhu
Navjot Sidhu addressing a rally in Barnala on Monday.
SIDHU HARDSELLS CONG’S PUNJAB MODEL
BJP National President JP Nadda —FILE PHOTO

08
2NDFRONT
Don’t let your struggles define
you, be beyond them, have a life
that is separate from them.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Haryana
Health Minister Anil Vij
has said that even
though the third wave
of Covid is definitely
knocking at our door, no
one should be fearful.
Instead it is important
to practice caution and
follow guidelines that
are set to combat the
pandemic. Meanwhile,
Additional Chief Secy
(Health) Rajeev Arora
virtually launched a
vaccination campaign.
Anil Vij on Monday
started the programme
of administering Covid
vaccines to children in
the age group of 15 to 18
years in the state from
the Vaccination Centre
setupatSDCollege,Am-
bala Cantonment. Earli-
er, he also duly inaugu-
rated the centre. On this
occasion, Vij also pre-
sented certificates to the
children who got the
Covid vaccine. He in-
formed that from Janu-
ary 10, a vaccination
campaign will also be
started for frontline
workers, healthcare
workers and people with
co-morbidities above 60
years of age. So far in
Haryana, the first dose
has been administered
to 98 percent of people
and the second dose has
been administered to 71
percentof thepeople.On
this occasion, CMOs
fromacrossthestatealso
participated in this pro-
gramme through VC.
The Health Minister
said that the world’s
largest vaccination
campaign is being suc-
cessfully run in India
under the able guidance
of Prime Minister, Sh.
Narendra Modi.
The Health Minister
said that all arrange-
ments to fight against
Covid have been made
andwhateverisrequired
is being made available
inHaryana.WhenCovid
came, there was not a
single RT PCR lab in
Haryana, today RT PCR
labsareestablishedinall
the districts except one
district where it will
soon be set up. Genome
sequencing lab has been
startedinRohtak’sMDU.
Vij said that PSA
plants have been com-
missionedin84govthos-
pitals and 54 PSA plants
in private hospitals. We
have sufficient number
of isolation, oxygen
beds, ICUs, ventilators,
alargenumberof oxy-
gen concentrators.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state government on
Monday decided to in-
crease compensation
for the electricity
transmission lines and
poles installed in agri-
culture fields. As per a
notification issued, “If
standing crops or trees
or fruit plants are
damaged due to instal-
lation of transmission
lines or poles, farmers
will receive compensa-
tion.” To that effect,
jantri (land value)
rates have also been
increased by the state
government.
Announcing the de-
cision, state Finance
and Power Minister
Kanubhai Desai said,
“Earlier, only 7.5% of
the land value was
paid as compensation,
and now, it has been
doubled as 15% land
value will be paid. We
have even increased
jantri rates with a cap
of maximum 10%.
Transmission compa-
nies will have to calcu-
late the final amount
with compound inter-
est rate.”
Meanwhile, the 10th
edition of the Vibrant
Gujarat Global Sum-
mit (VGGS), showcas-
ing the progress and
success of the central
theme ‘From Aat-
manirbhar Gujarat to
A a t m a n i r b h a r
Bharat’, will be held in
Gandhinagar from
January 10-12, 2022, as
planned. The state’s in-
dustries department
culminated the signing
of Memorandums of
Understanding (MoUs)
for proposed invest-
ments in various sec-
tors on Monday, with
the signing of 39 MoUs.
A MoU for an air-
craft flying training
institute in Amreli
was also signed on the
day. Other MoUs
signed were for a cap-
tive jetty, solar power
plant, lithium refin-
ery development,
green renewable en-
ergy hydrogen facility,
intermediary pesti-
cides, synthetic and
organic chemical
plants, a research cen-
tre for nano satellites,
among others.
Guj hikes compensation for power lines passing through farms
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was weighed with herbal medicinal plants, during the
dedication of Dr Subhash Ayurvedic and General Hospital in Junagadh on Monday.
PRIVACY POLICY
WhatsApp, FB granted time
to respond to CCI notices
extended the time for
filing replies by Face-
book and WhatsApp to
two notices issued to
them by the Competi-
tion Commission of In-
dia (CCI) which has or-
dered a probe into the
instantmessagingapp’s
new privacy policy
.
WhatsApp and Face-
book have challenged
the CCI’s June 4 8,
2021,noticesrespective-
ly
, asking them to fur-
nish certain informa-
tion for the purpose of
inquiryconductedbyit.
A Bench of Chief
Justice DN Patel and
Justice Jyoti Singh not-
ed that the Data Protec-
tion Bill is yet to be fi-
nalised and, therefore,
adjourned the proceed-
ings to March 30.
The court was hear-
ing the appeals of Fa-
cebook and WhatsApp
challenging its single-
judge order dismissing
their pleas against the
probe ordered by the
CCI into WhatsApp’s
new privacy policy
.
“Till then the time
to file replies to the
June 4 and June 8, last
year, notices issued by
CCI to the appellants
[Facebook and What-
sApp] is extended,”
the Bench said.
The court had ear-
lier granted time to
the social media plat-
forms to file replies to
notices and thereaf-
ter, the time was fur-
ther extended.
Senior advocate
Harish Salve, repre-
senting WhatsApp,
submitted that the
Data Protection Bill
was tabled in Parlia-
ment and the court
had earlier granted
time to file replies to
the notices till October
11, 2021, but it could
not be extended there-
after as the matter was
not taken up.
Additional Solicitor
General Aman Lekhi,
appearing for CCI,
contended that Data
Protection Bill is “ir-
relevant” to this con-
troversy and that the
case does not deal with
‘privacy’ but with the
provisions of Compe-
tition Act relating to
abuse of dominant po-
sition and inquiry into
certain agreements
and dominant position
of an enterprise.
Meanwhile, the
counsel for Facebook
India submitted that
he has filed an applica-
tion seeking to be im-
pleaded as a party to
the case. However, the
court asked him to file
a fresh petition.
The case relates to
the appeals of Face-
book and WhatsApp
against a single judge
order dismissing their
pleas against the probe
CCI ordered into the in-
stant messaging app’s
new privacy policy
.
The Division Bench
of the high court had
on May 6, 2021, issued
notices on the appeals
and asked the Centre
to respond to it.
LAST ORDER BY SINGLE JUDGE IN THE MATTER
z The single judge on
April 22 last year, had
said it saw no merit in
the petitions of FB and
WhatsApp to inter-
dict the investigation
directed by the CCI.
z CCI had contended
before judge that it was
not examining the al-
leged violation of indi-
viduals’ privacy which
was being looked into
by the SC.
z CCI had argued that
new privacy policy
of WhatsApp would
lead to excessive data
collection and “stalk-
ing” of consumers for
targeted advertising.
z In January last
year, the CCI on its
own decided to look
into WhatsApp’s new
privacy policy on the
basis of news reports
regarding the same.
Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the Data Protection
bill is yet to be finalised and, therefore, adjourned the proceedings to March 30
3rd wave knocking at door,
but no need to panic: Vij
Around 39 MoUs signed for
investments in various sectors ahead
of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit
Additional Chief Secy
(Health) Rajeev Arora
virtually launches
vaccination campaign
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij lights a lamp during the launch of COVID vaccination programme for
children aged between 15 to 18 years at SD College in Ambala Cantonment on Monday.
Kota: Lok Sabha speak-
er Om Birla on Monday
inauguratedaCOVID-19
vaccination drive for
children aged between
15 and 18 years in Kota.
Inaugurating a vacci-
nation camp at a com-
munity centre in Vig-
yan nagar, he said that
every life is important
and every person in the
country will be provid-
ed with a protective
shield of vaccine.
Birla spoke to the
teenagers and adoles-
cent girls who got the
first dose on Monday
and asked them to fol-
low all COVID-19-relat-
ed guidelines.
Healsocalleduponall
public representatives,
social organisations, re-
ligiousleadersandintel-
lectuals to encourage
the vaccination.
Birla also addressed a
programme of retired
railway employees at
Purohit auditorium and
acknowledgedtheircon-
tribution in strengthen-
ing the rail network.
Birla said that the
Railways has made a
significant contribu-
tion in bringing about
socio-economic change
in the country and due
to the tireless work of
the employees who are
now retired, a strong
rail network was estab-
lished in the country
.
LS Speaker Birla flags off
vaccination drive for kids
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at an event in Kota on Monday.
Anita Hada
Jaipur: Rajasthan CM
Ashok Gehlot is one of
the rare politicians who
observeapersonnotonly
onthebasisof publicper-
ception,butgoingseveral
steps ahead and under-
standing how an individ-
ual is as regards their
natureandtrueself.Even
though he remains busy
inthedevelopmentof the
state, sources close to
him reveal that he keeps
an eye on the issues
raised by media and
knows good journalists
likethebackof hishand.
On Monday
, while in-
teractingwithmedia,Ge-
hlot lauded and appreci-
ated, with an open heart,
First India’s channel
head Jagdeesh Chandra
and made encouraging
comments on his style of
work.Inreturn,Chandra
responded by expressing
gratitudetoGehlotforhis
‘aashirwad’.
“Ithastobesaidabout
him that he is a ‘master’.
He effectively answers
all the questions raised
byjournalistsinhisNew
JC Show. He is a major
player,”Gehlotsaid,add-
ing, “I used to observe
that he would land in a
flight with the PM at 4 in
the morning and at 6
AM, he would leave in
another flight with the
Vice-President. There-
fore,theremustbesome-
thing special about him.
In 10 years he has trav-
elled around the world
with the President, Vice-
President and PM.”
“It is difficult to find
such a person. He does
not hide his limitations,
which is a rare quality.
When we travel by
planes, he would get the
nearby seats booked in
advance. There is much
to learn from him. You
all should learn. He
sends flower bouquets
wherever you are. One
thing has to be said that
he can impress anyone
and everyone,” Gehlot
said in appreciation.
The CM also lauded
thecrisp,brief news(pat-
ti) that was started by
Chandra.“Heisamaster
of these pattis. He was in
ETV
, then Zee and now
First India, only he
knows where he will
head next. He knows in
advance where and what
he has to do,” a smiling
Gehlot said.
Gehlot’s words of appreciation for FI’s
Editor-in-Chief Jagdeesh Chandra
Chandra responded by expressing
gratitude to Gehlot for his ‘aashirwad’
Ashok Gehlot Jagdeesh Chandra

NEW DELHI, TUESDAY
JANUARY 4, 2022
he Fashion
Connectsetthe
bar high with
the completion
of its very suc-
cessful previ-
ous seasons.
The Fashion Connect
season 11 will be held on
March 12 at Oaks Ibn
Battuta Gate Hotel
Dubai.Season9wasalso
held in Dubai and was
greatly appreciated by
one and all.
With the huge re-
sponse and netizens go-
ing gaga over the exem-
plary lineup and digital
readiness, the first in-
ternational Fashion
Connect scored an
amazing win over the
fashion industry
.
Jagdeesh Chandra
unveiled the poster of
Fashion Connect Sea-
son 11 on December 4 at
the Leela Palace, Jaipur.
Hesaid,“
Afterthegrand
successof theFirstMiss
India/Teen 2021 held at
Novotel Goa on October
30, First India has come
up with another mag-
nificent season. Along
with our endeavour to
showcase the beauty
and talent of charismat-
icladies,withSeason11,
we also strive to empow-
er women by transform-
ing them into stronger
individuals who are
aware of their creden-
tials. This pageant will
be a great contributor to
the welfare of society
,
while also working in
thefashionanden-
tertainment in-
dustry
. I congrat-
ulate the entire
team.”
Featuring a
rooftop pool,
Oaks Ibn Battuta
Gate Dubai of-
fers modern
rooms. It fea-
tures 4 restau-
rants and bars
reflecting the
journey of the
great Arab explorer
with tastes from around
the world. The spacious
rooms feature a mod-
ern,Moroccan-inspired
décor. Each comes
with a flat-screen TV
and a mini-bar. All
rooms are en-suite
with a bathtub
andwalk-inrain-
forest shower.
Free WiFi is
available for
guests.
09
We’re proud to announce that this is the
second time we will hostThe Fashion Con-
nect event at the Oaks Ibn Battuta Gate
Hotel.Their team hosted an amazing show
in 2021, where many attendees from Dubai
shared the same enjoyment with this ex-
travagant and glamorous event.This year,
we’re thrilled to welcome back and host
this event with even greater achievements
and memories to take with us.
—MARLON ABEYAKOON
General Manager
After the amazing success of Fashion
Connect season 9 at Dubai in March 2021,
we are pleased to announce that Season
11 of this mega fashion show will once
again be held at the Oaks Ibn Battuta Gate
Hotel, Dubai.We promise you an even
better show and this year with the second
season of Luxury Lifetsyle Awards teamed
with the first ever First India Queen of
Cosmos, 2022 is going to grander than
ever with these flagship events.
—JAGDEESH CHANDRA
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
I am very much excited for the Fashion
Connect Season 11 and every time we set
a new benchmark. I’m sure this season
will be bigger and better than the previous
ones.The best part of it is that we have a
legendary designer SuneetVarma as our
grand finale designer.This is also a very
good time to do a show in Dubai because
the whole world is looking at Dubai Expo.
—LOKESH SHARMA
Show Director
It’s not easy to do an event or a Fashion
Show abroad, outside your own country.
And we are not only doing, Fashion Con-
nect, but we are also doing our interna-
tional pageant calledThe Queen of Cos-
mos along with Luxury Lifestyle awards.
So basically if you see there are 3 events
in Dubai and something so massive,
something so big could only be possible
with the support of Jagdeesh Chandra. I’m
just keeping my fingers crossed, wanting
that COVD should settle down in our coun-
try and UAE as well and there shouldn’t
be many cases.We also have film actress
Daisy Shah on board. She’ll be joining us
as well, and we have Salman Khan’s cos-
tume designer, Ashley Robello on board.
Looking forward to a great time.”
—RISHEE MIGLANI Brand Ambassador
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FASHION CONNECT SEASON 11
WANTS MORE
Oaks Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, Dubai is all set to host the Fashion
Connect Season 11 to be held on March 12, 2022!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
T
Oaks Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, Dubai
Fashion Connect season 9 File photos
Hotel Team

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
AKSHARA KHANNA, Blogger
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Some positive changes can
be expected on the home
front. This seems a good
day for job seekers. New
avenues for earning open up as you
get more determined. Fitness through
extra efforts is assured for the
deskbound. Chances of making an
exciting plan with lover is possible.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
A family youngster may do
you proud. A business trip
is indicated. Your strategy
to promote yourself on the
professional front will bear fruits.
You may need to speed up things on
the academic front to remain ahead.
On the social front, the day finds you
in your element.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Success is foretold on the
academic front. Your
reputation may boost your
image on the social front.
On the work front, you will manage
to keep your superiors in good
humour. Spend time with family.
Good planning will see you complete
a task at work in record time.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Some favourable
developments on the social
front are foreseen. Buying
new furniture or a major
appliance is possible. With good
networking, a prized posting can be
yours Those trying to get back their
money will succeed. A healthy phase of
life begins for some.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Your happiness is in your
hands. Spouse may need
her space, respect that.
This is a favourable day for
completing pending jobs. Financially,
no problems are foreseen. Much fun
is in store on the social front. Those
in love with the adventures may
chase the excitement very soon.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Those fond of travelling may
get their chance soon. This
is the time when you enjoy
yourself with a new group of
friends or colleagues. A change of job
is likely to give you better salary and
perks. Those in business will soon get
a chance to make profits. Spending
time with lover proves most fulfilling.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Professionals will be able
to give their best in a new
situation. Financially, this
day may prove lucky for
you, so go ask for the raise that is
keeping you on tenterhooks. Don’t
take any chances with your health.
You will succeed in putting your
stagnant love life back on the track.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You may take up some-
one’s cause and earn
appreciation from all
quarters on the social
front. Remaining on the good side of
those who matter on the academic
front will help you achieve much.
Good tidings of well wishers will
keep you going on professional front.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You may wait for
someone’s invitation for a
trip. Tenant troubles are
foreseen for some house
owners. You will find family life more
than fulfilling. A senior is likely to put
in a good word for you to the higher
ups. Financially, you will be able to
consolidate your position.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Your desire for an exciting
time on the social front is
likely to be fulfilled today.
Those looking for buying a
house can get a good bargain.
Appreciation is in store for some
homemakers. A professional victory
is yours if you play your cards well
today.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You will have to be
focussed on the academic
front. You may get busy
organising something on
social front. Put your ideas into
action to prove yourself. A party may
be thrown in your honour at work.
Your good performance may be
noticed by higher ups.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will manage to achieve
what you had aimed for on
the academic front. A
celebration can find you in
your element today. Praise and
honour are likely to greet you in
something that you have managed to
achieve. You will be a pillar of
strength to a friend or associate.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
YOUR FOOD,
LIFESTYLE AND
YOUR HEART
t has been
known for a
long that specif-
ic foods and nu-
trients can em-
power your
heart against
many diseases includ-
ing myocardial infarc-
tion. But it is also a fact
of life that people don’t
adhere to a bland diet
for long especially dur-
ing their youth which
is actually the time
that future heart dis-
eases start taking their
r o o t s . People who
are health conscious
mostly go for specific
nutrientsordietwhich,
again, is not sustaina-
ble for the whole life. A
better option is to cre-
ate a diet pattern rath-
er than a specific diet
or nutrition supple-
ment. The first impor-
tant action is to bal-
ance calorie intake as
per the need of a per-
son according to sphere
and type of work - the
calorie requirement of
an office worker is very
different from that of a
construction worker. A
work-related calorie in-
take also helps main-
tain weight and gener-
al fitness.
The second impor-
tant step is to go for sea-
sonal and different va-
rieties of fruits and
vegetables. These natu-
ral products for great
heart health should
prompt us to protect
and promote the tree
population. This would
be a mutually benefi-
cial coexistence main-
ly for the human race.
Avoid refined grain
products. Go for whole-
grain foods as they pro-
tect your heart, are
more nutritious and
help in maintaining
weight. Whole-grain
foods digest better as
well.
Your major source
of protein should be of
vegetarian origin in
form of pulses, leg-
umes, low-fat dairy,
nuts, and fish. In non-
vegetarian foods,
avoid processed
meat, prefer lean
meat.
It is always benefi-
cial to avoid tropical
oils like palm oil. Go for
cold-pressed sunflower,
sesame oil, mustard,
and extra virgin olive
oil. Overall, oil intake
should be the bare min-
imum as per present-
day lifestyle. Repeated
heating of the oil is a
big NO.
Foods with added
sugars including sweet-
ened beverages should
always be denied for
the sake of your heart
as well as overall
health. As far as the
salt intake is con-
cerned, it should be a
low salt diet. Some peo-
ple including many
physicians go over-
board and stop salt in-
take totally. This may
lead to low sodium lev-
els in the blood which
is a very serious condi-
tion and may cause
brain damage and even
death. Similarly, those
who love alcohol
should also go for mod-
eration.
If you can tolerate
chili pepper, then is
would be a fine addi-
tion to your food. Cap-
saicin in chili peppers
is anti-in- flam-
matory, an- tiox-
i d a n t ,
blood glu-
cose regu-
lator, and
anti-cancer
agent. A good chutney
with garlic is bliss, es-
pecially during winter.
In summary, the
better heart-protecting
foods are - green leafy
vegetables, yellow veg-
etables, whole grains,
fruits, tea, and coffee in
moderation. The foods
that harm your heart
are refined grains, red
meat, processed meat,
deep-fried foods and
sugary beverages.
Finally, what mat-
ters most is your atti-
tude towards life. A
tendency to accu-
mulate at the cost of
living a natural and vi-
brant life, monotonous
routine, being a work-
horse, anger, greed,
hate, poor sleep,
overexertion and
even excessive ex-
ercise are other
factors that
put a strain
on your
heart. A
b l i s s f u l
and con-
tented life with the
moderate but continu-
ous progress of living
standards is, perhaps,
the best option.
DR RAM AWATAR SHARMA
ramawatarf132@gmail.com
I
“A BETTER OPTION IS TO
CREATE A DIET PATTERN
RATHER THAN A SPECIFIC DIET
OR NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT.”
GEMINI
TAURUS CANCER
is a very serious condi-
tion and may cause
brain damage and even
death. Similarly, those
who love alcohol
should also go for mod-
If you can tolerate
chili pepper, then is
would be a fine addi-
tion to your food. Cap-
saicin in chili peppers
is anti-in- flam-
tiox-
lator, and
anti-cancer
better heart-protecting
foods are - green leafy
vegetables, yellow veg-
etables, whole grains,
fruits, tea, and coffee in
moderation. The foods
that harm your heart
are refined grains, red
meat, processed meat,
deep-fried foods and
sugary beverages.
Finally, what mat-
ters most is your atti-
tude towards life. A
tendency to accu-
horse, anger, greed,
hate, poor sleep,
overexertion and
even excessive ex-
ercise are other
factors that
put a strain
on your
heart. A
b l i s s f u l
and con-
the best option.

04012022 first india new delhi

04012022 first india new delhi

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