04022022 first india ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 70
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
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter
shared a video of an interaction between a police of-
ficer and CM Mamata Banerjee. “Did the Governor call
you? Did he instruct you? What to or what not to do?
Remember you are on state government duty,” she said.
Sensex declined 770 points or 1.3% to end at 58,788
level, while the NSE Nifty shut shop at 17,560, down
220 points. During the day, both the indices had
touched a low of 58,654 and 17,511, respectively.
Among sectors, all the key indices ended in the red.
DID GUV CALL
YOU?: DIDI
LASHES OUT AT
POLICE OFFICER
SENSEX ENDS
770 PTS DOWN;
NIFTY TOPS
17,750-MARK
CORONA CATASTROPHE
Gujarat A’BAD
NEW
CASES
3,165
NEW
CASES
7,606 NEW
DEATHS
34
42NOT4
...Chinese soldiers killed in Galwan Valley
clash, claims Australian newspaper report
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: The ac-
count of the Galwan
violence in Australian
newspaper “The Klax-
on”, pieced together by
a group of social media
researchers, claims the
Chinese soldiers who
drowned in the Galwan
river in June 2020, were
in retreat after the clash
with Indian troops. The
report says China had
lost 42 soldiers in the
clash, many more than
the four it had claimed.
At least 38 PLA soldiers
were washed away
.
Anthony Klan, the
Editor of the Australi-
an paper said that the
Indian soldiers had
come to ascertain
whether the Chinese
has removed their en-
campments in the buff-
er zone when the scuffle
broke out. “In heading
back across the river...
the evidence is, the Chi-
nese soldiers got
washed away,” he said,
adding that much of
this information was
from “first-hand ac-
counts deleted from the
Chinese social media”.
State approves `91 cr for the judiciary
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state government led by
Chief Minister Bhupen-
dra Patel has approved
Rs91 crore for the devel-
opment of infrastruc-
ture for the judiciary, in
the hope that this would
help in the fast delivery
of justice.
Announcing the state
government decision,
Law Minister Rajendra
Trivedi said that the
funds have been allocat-
ed to set up taluka, dis-
trict and family courts,
orexpandexistinginfra-
structure. Some portion
of the fund will also be
used to build residences
for judicial officers.
He further said that
the state has allocated
Rs60 crore for the Sabar-
kantha district court
building at Himmatna-
gar, Rs12 crore for the
Tharad taluka court
building,Rs6crorefor10
quarters for judicial of-
ficers, Rs8 crore for judi-
cial staff residences.
The state is equally
concerned about justice
for blind people, so it
has planned to improve
accessibility at courts
like Kalol, Dehgam
,Malpur, Idar, Talod and
Bhiloda for the visually
impaired.
The state govern-
ment has also approved
Rs3 crore for infrastruc-
ture development at the
High Court.
Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment announced
that the re-exam for 186
posts of head clerk will
be held on March 20.
The Gujarat Subordi-
nate Services Selection
Board (GSSSB), which
organizes the examina-
tion recently cancelled
the examination which
wastakenby80,000aspir-
ing candidates, after the
questionpaperwasfound
to have been leaked.
Fund allocation
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel
May lead to injustice:
MHA asks HC to pause
hearings on marital rape
PM MODI TO ADDRESS FIRST
VIRTUAL RALLY IN U’KHAND TODAY
New Delhi: Ahead of
the upcoming Assem-
bly elections in Utta-
rakhand, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
will address his first
virtual rally in the
state on Friday
.
PM will address vot-
ers of 14 Assemblies
virtually in four dis-
tricts of Uttarakhand
including Almora,
Bageshwar, Cham-
pawat, and Pithora-
garh district.
New Delhi: The Centre
on Thursday asked the
Delhi high court to de-
fer hearings on a batch
of petitions seeking to
criminalise marital
rape, saying that it
needs time to conduct
an effective consulta-
tive process before
reaching any conclu-
sion, and that the ab-
sence of such a process
by the executive and
legislature “may result
in some injustice to one
section or other”.
The high court is
hearing a bunch of PILs
filed in 2015 by various
organisations who
sought to strike down
the exception in the In-
dian rape laws.
HC STAYS
HARYANA’S 75%
LOCAL QUOTA
IN PRIVATE SECTOR
The Punjab and
Haryana high court on
Thursday stayed the
Haryana law providing
75% reservation in
industries to youngsters
with domicile of the
state. Pleas were filed
by industry bodies,
including Gurgaon
Industrial Association.
Indian diplomat to skip Beijing Winter
Olympics over Galwan torchbearer
Disputed border with nuclear
neighbours stretching India’s
security resources: Naravane
New Delhi: India has
already witnessed
“trailers” of what con-
flict in the future will
look like, along the
country’s unsettled and
active border, Indian
Army Chief General
MM Naravane said on
Thursday
.
He said India faces
“unique, substantial
and multi-domain chal-
lenges” and “disputed
borders with nuclear
neighbours, coupled
with state-sponsored
proxy war, stretches
our security apparatus
and resources”.
Speaking, along with
the chiefs of the Indian
Navy and IAF, at the
Pragyan Conclave or-
ganised by the Centre
for Land Warfare Stud-
ies think tank, Nara-
vane said, “We are al-
ready witnessing trail-
ers of future conflicts.
They are being enacted
dailyontheinformation
battlefield, in the net-
works and cyberspace”.
New Delhi: Describ-
ing China’s choice of a
PLA soldier involved
in the Galwan Valley
clash as a torchbearer
in the Beijing Winter
Olympics event as “re-
grettable”, India on
Thursday said its en-
voy will not attend the
opening or closing cer-
emonies of the games
in the Chinese capital.
This was conveyed
by Ministry of Exter-
nal Affairs spokesper-
son Arindam Bagchi at
his weekly briefing.
Qi Fabao, a regiment
commander of the Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army
who had fought during
the Galwan Valley
clashes with Indian
troops in June 2020 and
received a commenda-
tion for his role in the
fight, was one of the
torchbearers for the
Olympic flame for the
WinterOlympicsbegin-
ning in Beijing on Fri-
day
. His images were
tweeted by an English-
language news outlet.
TORCHBEARER
INCIDENT VERY
SHAMEFUL: US
PAK NSA: WANT
TO MOVE AHEAD
WITH INDIA
2 PAK MILITARY
BASES ATTACKED
US: DON’T ENDORSE
RAHUL’S REMARKS
A top United States
lawmaker has criticised
China for choosing a
soldier involved in the
Galwan valley clash as
a torchbearer for Beijing
Olympics 2022. Senator
Jim Risch, a Republican
who is a Ranking Mem-
ber of the US Senate
Foreign Relations Com-
mittee, called the move
“shameful” and said
that the US will continue
to support the sover-
eignty of India. Beijing
on Thursday kicked off
a three-day Olympic
torch relay.
Islamabad: Pakistan
wants to be “at peace
with India” but the “en-
abling environment”
has to come from New
Delhi, the country’s
National Security Ad-
viser Moeed Yusuf has
said in an interview on
Thursday. “Pakistan
wants to be at peace
with India. But the sad
reality is that India
is now in a situation
where the prevailing
ideology of the Indian
government, if I may
say so, has blocked all
avenues,” he added.
Quetta: Insurgents in the Pa-
kistani province of Balochistan
attacked two military bases
overnight, killing seven sol-
diers while losing 13 of their
own men, the army said on
Thursday, in the latest violence
in the resource-rich region
where China is investing.
US does not endorse Rahul
Gandhi’s comment that China
and Pakistan are closer than
ever due to PM Modi’s inef-
fective policies, said US State
Department spokesperson
Ned Price.
Shah cautions Jayant: Akhilesh
doesn’t even listen to his father
MULTIPLE SHOTS FIRED AT AIMIM’S ASADUDDIN
OWAISI’S VEHICLE ON WAY TO DELHI; ONE HELD
Meerut: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on
Thursday claimed that some miscreants fired
shots at his vehicle while he was on his way to
Delhi after attending a poll event at Kithaur in
Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut. The incident is being
probed by Hapur Police and one person has
been arrested. “A while ago, shots were
fired at my car at Chhijarsi toll gate.
Four rounds were fired. There were
three-four people, all of them ran
away leaving the weapons there.
My car’s tyre got punctured. I got
into another car and left. We are
all safe,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Aditi Nagar
Bulandshahr: BJP leader
Amit Shah on Thursday
cautioned Rashtriya Lok
Dal president Jayant
Chaudhary over his
party’s tie-up with Sa-
majwadi Party, say-
ing Akhilesh Ya-
dav does not even
listen to his father
and uncle then how would he
listen to him. Addressing a poll
event in Anupshahr assembly
constituency in Bulandshahr
district of western UP, the Un-
ion Home Minister also
claimed that the SP will not be
able to form government in UP.
BJP national president JP
Nadda on Thursday was cam-
paigning in Uttar Pradesh’s
Sirathu. He attacked the Sama-
jwadi Party (SP) in his speech.
“Their (Samajwadi Party)
leaders are contesting elec-
tions either from jail or on bail.
Will you (public) bring such
people to power in the Uttar
Pradesh?, Nadda said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath said that his
government has been able to
take UP’s economy to the sec-
ond spot in the country
The bullets holes
on Owaisi’s car.
China had confirmed only four deaths, but the report claimed, “PLA soldiers panicked
into retreat and at least 38 of them drowned.” India had lost 20 personnel
Doordarshan will not telecast
the opening and closing
ceremonies of the Beijing
Winter Olympics
‘Hope that developing infrastructure
will help in fast delivery of justice’

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The na-
tional leadership of the
ruling Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party (BJP) has de-
puted 17 leaders from
Gujarat to campaign in
Uttarakhand ahead of
the assembly elections
there, in a bid to retain
power. The party had
swept the last election,
winning 57 of the 70
seats up for grabs.
The 17 Gujarat BJP
leaders heading to Utta-
rakhand include three
MPs--Mohan Kundaria,
Rajesh Chudasama and
Mitesh Patel--and 10 for-
mer ministers, eight of
whom--including Bhu-
pendrasinh Chudasa-
ma, Saurabh Patel,
Ganpat Vasava, Jay-
drathsinh Parmar, Ish-
warsinh Patel, Jawa-
har Chavda and Kishor
Kanani--were members
of Vijay Rupani’s cabi-
net during his tenure as
chief minister.
Persons close to the
development said the
party is hoping to make
huge inroads into the
Garhwal area, which
accounts for 41 Assem-
bly seats.
In 2017, BJP had won
57 seats, while the Con-
gress had taken 11 and
others, two. Of the total
votes polled, 46.51%
went to the BJP and
33.49% to the Congress.
This was an improve-
ment for the BJP from
2012, when it gained 31
seats as opposed to the
Congress with 32. The
BSP had won seats, Ut-
tarakhand Kranti Dal
had one, and Independ-
ents won three seats.
In 2007, BJP had come
to power with 34 seats
against the Congress
party’s 22. The BJP had
tried to win the 2007
election with the help
of BC Khanduri and his
clean image but the
ploy did not work. Simi-
larly, in 2017, the Con-
gress had tried to win
the elections with Har-
ish Rawat, but that
strategy failed badly
.
Six months ago, the
BJP asked Uttarakhand
chief minister Tirath
Singh Rawat to resign,
an apparent repeat of
its 2007 strategy, when
BC Khanduri replaced
Ramesh Pokhriyal as
the chief minister just
184 days before the gen-
eral elections. The ploy
did not work back then,
so will be interesting to
see if BJP Chief Minis-
ter Pushkar Singh Dha-
mi will be able to gar-
ner the party a victory
this time.
17 GUJ BJP LEADERS TO CAMPAIGN IN UTTARAKHAND
A BJP rally in Gujarat. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Vadodara: In the first
nine months of opera-
tion, the rooftop solar
power plant on the Ako-
ta-Dandia bazaar over-
bridge in Vadodara city
has produced Rs50 lakh
worth of clean electric-
ity, officials said.
In addition to produc-
ing a total of 7,92,000
units of energy
, the “so-
larbridge”asitislocally
called,hasalsobecomea
popularspotamongcity-
dwellers due to its at-
tractive structural de-
sign and lighting.
The Vadodara Mu-
nicipal Corporation
spent a total of about
Rs23.25 crore for this
unique project, which
covers an area of 11,200
square feet, at 252m
long, 40m wide, and
15.33 high.
“A total of 3,024 solar
panels of 325-watt pow-
er have been placed on
the Akota Bridge, ac-
companied by 14 solar
inverters of 70 kW and
a power transformer
with a capacity of 1000
kW amperes. All the
panels are mounted at
an angle of 12-18 de-
grees in the northwest
direction, so that sun-
light is available
throughout the day. In
view of these factors,
this rooftop solar pro-
ject can generate 3,940
units per day and 14
lakh units per year.
The electricity re-
quired to keep the
transformer running
at night consumes 700-
900 units per month,” a
city official explained.
“The Madhya Guja-
rat Vij Company Limit-
ed uses this solar ener-
gy to supply high-ten-
sion electricity to the
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation at Khand-
erao Market Building,
Rajivnagar Sewage
Plant and Atladara
Sewage Plant. We are
moving forward on
green energy and in-
stalling solar panels at
ward and zonal offices
in next three months.
Next in the line are
buildings, water tanks,
sewage treatment
plants and available
spaces at VMC premis-
es. After the Akota
bridge, we are also
working on a 2MW
floating solar power
plant at Ajwa Sarovar,”
VMC Executive Engi-
neer Kaushik Parmar
told First India.
Akota solar bridge produces 7,92,000 units of electricity in first 9 months
CLEAN ENERGY
VADODARA ALSO PLANNING
2MW FLOATING SOLAR POWER
PLANT AT AJWA SAROVAR
Decorative lighting has been installed under the rooftop to
illuminate the bridge at night. —FILE PHOTO
Guj MP demands
constitutional
status for Kutchi
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Rajya
Sabha member Shak-
tisinh Gohil has ex-
pressed concern for
the Kutchi language
which doesn’t have a
script and exists only
in the spoken form.
The former MLA
from Abadsa, Gohil
raised the issue in
Parliament to pre-
serve the language.
Gohil made a pres-
entation to save the
Kutchi language and
include it in the list
of constitutional
languages in the
eighth list.
He said that the
group of Kutchi
speakers is very
large. The Kutchi lan-
guage is spoken by
people who have set-
tled in countries in-
cluding Kenya, Tan-
zania, the UK and
America for busi-
ness. Therefore, in
order to preserve the
culture and history
of Kutch, it is neces-
sary to preserve the
Kutchi language.
It is to be noted,
Kutchi is an Indo-
Aryan language, spo-
ken in Gujarat’s
Kutch region and in
the Sindh region of
Pakistan. Kutchi lan-
guage also has a
touch of Marwari
language. With no
script of its own,
Kutchi is written us-
ing the Gujarati
script. It is not a dia-
lect of Gujarati but a
separate language
spoken by communi-
ties such as the
Kshatriya, Maldhari,
Muslim, Bhanushali
and Lohana.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: While the
Congress party state
leadership takes its time
in deciding who will be
the Vadodara city com-
mittee president, fac-
tionalism within the
party has surfaced with
groups making internal
spats public.
On Wednesday, Con-
gress leader Bhavik
Amin--who had contest-
ed municipal elections
from ward number 07,
but lost--posted on social
media, “As long as Mau-
linVaishnavhasasayin
the party decision, the
BJP will remain in pow-
er in the city
.”
Hints from state unit
president Jagdish Tha-
kor during a recent
visit to the city--that
former state unit presi-
dent Bharatsinh Solan-
ki, Siddharth Patel and
Amit Chavda would
have a say in deciding
city committee presi-
dent--have not gone
down well either.
Those close to the de-
velopment say that
Maulin Vaishnav, who
wants a woman to be
named city president, a
close confidant of
Solanki. If he has his
way, real hard workers
and loyalists will never
get a chance to be presi-
dent of the committee,
insiders say
.
There are seven can-
didates in the race:
Chandrakant Srivastav
alias Bhatthu, Chirag
Zaveri, Rutvij Joshi,
Amar Dhomse, Sandip
Patel and Dr Sujata
Modi. The race is direct-
ly linked with coming
assembly elections, as
those in the running be-
lieve that being named
city committee presi-
dent is a surefire way of
being nominated in the
Assembly polls.
Just two days ago,
Srivastav and his sup-
porters called for Mu-
nicipal Corporation
Leader of the Opposi-
tion Ami Rawat to be
replaced. However, this
is unlikely to happen,
given that many party
leaders feel that Rawat
is doing very well in her
current position.
While Maulin Vaish-
nav has preferred to not
comment on the issue,
party spokesperson
Shailesh Amin said the
allegations are based in
the party’s dismal per-
formance over the past
two decades.
Shaktisinh Gohil —FILE PHOTO
FACTIONALISM IN V’DARA
CONG COMES TO THE FORE
Race to become city committee prez heats up as leadership drags its feet
City Congress members protest against inflation. —FILE PHOTO
In fight against AMC LOP,Cong councillor turns to tantrik
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad:Theoppo-
sition to newly appoint-
edLeaderof theOpposi-
tion Ahmedabad in the
Municipal Corporation
Shehzad Khan Pathan
hastakenabizarreturn.
An audio clip, allegedly
of Congress councillor
Jamna Vegda asking a
tantriktoperformblack
magic against Pathan
and in favour of MLA
Shailesh Parmar, sur-
faced on Thursday
.
Congress state presi-
dent Jagdish Thakore
has ordered an inquiry
into the clip, which has
gained traction on so-
cial media. Responding
toquestionsfromtheme-
dia, Vegda said the voice
in the audio clip is not
hers. “Someone had ed-
iteditandhatchedacon-
spiracy
. I have no prob-
lemsoranyissueagainst
the two men whose
names are involved in
the audio,” she said.
Sheinsistedthatsome-
one has planned the au-
dio to malign her image.
“Thereisaconspiracyto
create animosity be-
tween me and Pathan.
After talking with the
party high command, I
willregisterapolicecom-
plaint,” she added.
Before this episode,
as many as 10 Congress
party councillors had
metstatepresidentTha-
kor at the party head-
quartersandthreatened
to resign if Pathan was
appointed.
LOP Pathan, meanwhile, was seen leading a protest against corruption and poor development at
the AMC office in Ahmedabad’s Danapith on Thursday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Shaktisinh
Gohil expressed
concernoverthe
language that
has no script

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Nagpur: A 16-year-old
girl who was allegedly
taken to Gujarat and
“sold” to a groom there
for Rs1 lakh has been
rescued by Nagpur po-
lice and three persons
arrested, an official
said on Wednesday
.
The accused were
identified as Vishakha
Pradip Biswas (35),
Nikhil Girishbhai Pa-
tel (35) and Prakash
Meghabhai Vankar
(30). Patel and Vankar
are residents of Ara-
valli district of Guja-
rat. According to po-
lice, the girl is a stu-
dent and her parents
work as labourers in
the MIDC industrial
area in Nagpur.
Biswas allegedly ap-
proachedthegirlthrough
her friend in December
and took her to Gujarat,
promising her a job.
She allegedly sold the
girl to Patel, who was
looking for a bride,
through Vankar for Rs1
lakh. When the girl re-
fusedtomarryPatel,Bis-
was allegedly warned
her of dire consequenc-
es,thepoliceofficialsaid.
Patel married the girl
and allegedly sexually
exploited her while
keeping her locked in-
side the house. After her
parents lodged a com-
plaint,policequestioned
Biswas and tracked
downthegirlinGujarat.
The accused were
booked for trafficking
as well as under the Pre-
vention of Child Mar-
riage Act. The police are
investigating further.
Both sanctuaries
see various kinds
of migratory
birds each winter
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat forest depart-
ment will conduct a
census of birds in Nal-
sarovar and Thol
sanctuaries on Febru-
ary 5-6 where a large
number of migratory
birds come during the
winter months, the
state government said
on Wednesday. The
sanctuaries will re-
main closed to tour-
ists during the census
exercise, said a re-
lease by the state gov-
ernment.
The Nalsarovar bird
sanctuary, spread
across 121 sq. km and
located 60km south-
west of Ahmedabad
city, protects the Nalsa-
rovar Lake, iron-flat
plains and wetlands.
This is the largest
wetland sanctuary in
the state and one of
the biggest in the
country as well. The
sanctuary has flocks
of indigenous and mi-
gratory birds, with as
many as 250 species
passing through in
the winter. Ducks,
geese, eagles, spoon-
bills, cranes, pelicans
and flamingos are
best seen at daybreak
and dusk.
Nalsarovar, which
was declared a sanctu-
ary in 1969, was added to
the Ramsar List of Wet-
lands of International
Importance in 2012,
while Thol was added to
the list this year.
Thol wetland, apart
from 150 species of
birds, houses black-
bucks, jackals and blue
bulls in the vicinity. It
is located 27km from
Ahmedabad. Migrato-
ry birds like great
white pelicans, mal-
lards, geese, sarus
cranes and many other
waders make the sanc-
tuary their home in the
winter season. Thol
lake and the area
around it were declared
a sanctuary in 1988.
World Wetlands Day
is celebrated annually
on February 2, to raise
global awareness about
the vital role of wet-
lands for people and
the planet. This day
also marks the date of
the adoption of the
convention on wet-
lands on February 2,
1971, in the Iranian city
of Ramsar, and imple-
mented in 1975.
As per the latest gov-
ernment data, about
60,000 tourists visit the
Nal Sarovar Bird Sanc-
tuary annually, earn-
ing the forest depart-
ment revenue about
Rs30 lakh each year.
Meanwhile, the rough-
ly 50,000 visitors to the
sanctuary at Thol ac-
count for revenue of
about Rs50,000. In addi-
tion, tourists to Nal
Sarovar use boats to
visit the wetlands, gar-
nering a seasonal in-
come of Rs80,000 for
the 300 boatmen who
operate there.
BIRD CENSUS IN NALSAROVAR,
THOL SANCTUARIES ON FEB 5-6
Can you count the birds here? —FILE PHOTO
VIPER TRAPPED IN TAR RESCUED BY KARUNA
AMBULANCE SERVICE IN VADODARA
6 DUCK EGGS HATCHED IN INCUBATOR
AT WILDLIFE CENTRE IN VADODARA
Vadodara: A Russell’s viper snake that was stranded on
a road construction site was saved by the Karuna Animal
Ambulance (1962) of Vadodara district. To remove tar from
the snake’s body and relieve inflammation, the rescue team
employed a combination of zinc oxide and Vaseline lotion.
After discovering the deadly snake was in pain and distress, a
member of an animal care foundation phoned the ambulance
to save the reptile.
Vadodara: Six ducklings hatched from eggs in an incuba-
tor donated to the Vadodara Wildlife Conservation Center at
Kamati Baug. This is the first time a successful hatching has
occurred in the forest department. Eight more eggs are cur-
rently in the machine. The incubator was provided by Pratik
Lakdawala, Director of Beauty Without Brutality, an animal
welfare organisation, to the Social Forestry Department of the
Wildlife Conservation Center, which treats injured animals.
Surat: The Federation of Surat Textile Traders Associa-
tion (FOSTTA) will hold committee member elections,
according to the organisation. The elections, according to
Manoj Agarwal,
president of the
FOSTTA, will take
place in the fol-
lowing days. “All
critical decisions
surrounding the
next elections
will be made by a
core committee,
which has been
formed. We’ve
begun the process of preparing for a proper election in the
coming days “he stated.
Surat: The doctors of the Matrushri Ramuba Tejani and
Matrushri Shantaba Vidya Hospital (Surat Diamond
Hospital) have
managed to
save the lives
of premature
twins after 28
days of free
treatment under
the “Ayushman
Bharat” scheme.
The twin baby
girls had been
brought in from another hospital on January 11 with
very weak lungs and admitted into the neonatal inten-
sive-care unit. When they were admitted, one weighed
1,200g and the other, 1,400g. After their marathon treat-
ment by a medical team including Dr Applesh Singhvi
and Dr Minesh Bhikadia, the girls were both discharged
into their parents’ care on Thursday.
FOSTTA PLANS TO HAVE ELECTION FOR
COMMITTEE MEMBERS SOON
DOCS SAVE LIVES OF PREMATURE TWINS
BORN WITH COVID-19 AFTER 28 DAYS
CRUCIAL READ
Three including toddler injured as LPG
leak leads to explosion in Vadodara
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Three peo-
ple, including a three-
year-old, suffered
burn injuries after a
gas leak from an LPG
cylinder produced an
explosion in the city
.
Gajrawadi fire bri-
gade arrived on the
scene after receiving in-
formation about the ex-
plosion and transported
the injured to a nearby
hospital. The primary
cause of the fire is still
being investigated by
Panigate police.
According to Sainik
KR Rajput of the Ga-
jrawadifiredepartment,
theyreceivedacallabout
a fire at a residence in
the Gomtipura area of
Gajrawadi. When they
arrived, they discovered
that the fire had spread
duetoaleakfromthegas
cylinder. Three persons
were injured, including
a three-year-old child,
andweretakentoanear-
by hospital for treat-
ment. A few kitchen
itemswerealsodamaged
in the incident.
The police have launched an investigation into the incident.
The injured persons, including the toddler, are receiving treatment in hospital.
FEATHERED FRIENDS
16-YEAR-OLD WHO WAS ‘SOLD’
TO GROOM FOR `1L RESCUED
Daughter of labourer in Nagpur allegedly warned
of dire consequences if she did not marry Guj man Ahmedabad: A
16-year-old tribal girl
was allegedly gang-
raped by six persons,
one of them a minor,
in Dediapada town of
Narmada district, po-
lice said on Thursday
.
While the incident
took place on January
31, the victim lodged a
complaint with the
police on Wednesday,
following which all
the accused were ap-
prehended, Narmada
district Superinten-
dent of Police Him-
kar Singh said.
Asperthecomplaint,
the accused took the
victim, who is a Class
11 student, to a seclud-
ed place near Dediapa-
da bus stop and raped
her on Monday even-
ing, the official said.
“We registered an
FIRafterthegirl,along
with her parents, ap-
proached the Dediapa-
da police station on
Wednesday
,” he said.
The six accused
have been booked on
the charges of gang-
rape under relevant
provisions of the IPC
andProtectionof Chil-
dren from Sexual Of-
fences Act, Singh said.
Five men were ar-
rested and a minor
detained for the at-
tack, he said. Some of
the accused who are
non-tribals have also
been booked under
the Scheduled Castes
and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act.
6 INCLUDING MINOR HELD FOR
GANG-RAPE OF TRIBAL GIRL
Govt announces
relaxation as Guj
sees 7,606 cases
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Fol-
lowing a decline in
new daily COV-
ID-19 cases, the
Gujarat govern-
ment on Thursday
said that as much
as 300 persons can
attend weddings
hosted in open
spaces.
The decision to al-
low 300 instead of
150 guests at open-
space weddings was
taken by Chief Min-
ister Bhupendra Pa-
tel on Thursday af-
ter reviewing the
pandemic situation
during the state’s
core committee’s
meeting, said an of-
ficial release.
For weddings in
closed premises, the
limit of 150 persons
shall remain, it said.
Similarly
, not more
than 150 persons will
be allowed to attend
social, educational,
cultural, religious or
political events in
the state. The limit
for attendance at fu-
neral or cremation is
100 people.
While a night cur-
few between 10 pm
and 6 am in 27 cities
will remain in force
till February 11,
food delivery ser-
vice by hotels can
continue 24x7 in
these areas, said the
release.
Cinema halls,
gymnasiums, water
parks, swimming
pools, libraries, au-
ditoriums and other
places of recreation
can operate with
50% capacity.
A medic takes a break from nCoV testing. —FILE PHOTO
COVID-19
UPDATE
11,85,537
TOTAL CASES
7,606
CASES IN
A DAY
11,11,394
13,195
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
TOTAL DEATHS
34
DEATHS
IN A DAY
10,579
ACTIVE CASES
3,165 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
63,564
TOTAL
RECOVERED

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.70
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Man is bound by his own
action except when it is
performed for the sake of
sacrifice. Therefore, Arjuna,
efficiently perform your duty,
free from attachment, for the
sake of sacrifice alone.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Nitin Gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
In addition to the bypasses constructed
in eight cities/towns/villages of Madhya
Pradesh (Mauganj, Hanumana,
Raghunathganj, Raipur Karchulian,
Manganwa, Devtalab, Gudh and Vilayatghat
Chandia). Under the one-time investment
policy, works worth `83 crore have been
approved in the roads leading through those
cities. #PragatiKaHighway #GatiShakti
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
There is no reservations in Judiciary. But
efforts are being made to create better
representation. However, Govt has urged the
Collegium to ensure the inclusion of women
and persons from backward communities,
SC ST while recommending names for
appointment of Judges.
TOP TWEETS
GUNSHOTS FIRED
AT AIMIM’S OWAISI
VEHICLE BUT WHY,
AND WHODUNIT
lectioneering in Ut-
tar Pradesh took an
ugly turn when shots
were fired at Asadud-
din Owaisi’s vehicle
at a toll plaza on Hapur-Delhi
road. One of the alleged assail-
ants has been arrested. The
AIMIM’s Lok Sabha MP was re-
turning to Delhi after campaign-
ing. The question being asked is
whowouldhavemadesuchadar-
ing attempt at a busy toll plaza
and why? Owaisi obliquely men-
tioned Dharm Sansad’s recent
meeting at Haridwar in which he
was allegedly targeted. Last year,
the Hyderabad MP’s official resi-
dence in New Delhi was vandal-
ized by Hindu Sena members.
Couldthisactalsobethehand-
iwork of Hindu elements? Or, are
there other vested interests in-
volved? The Dharm Sansad,
some maulanas, and even Owai-
si, make fiery communal speech-
es. Campaigning also has vitiat-
ed the communal atmosphere in
Western UP and it is not likely to
stop until two days before voting.
Anyactof communalviolenceor
provocation must be condemned
in the interest of the nation.
E
n important an-
nouncementmade
by Union Finance
Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman was
about blending ethanol with
petrol and making its usage
mandatoryfromOctober2022.
Unblended petrol will invite
additional excise duty from
October. This is expected to
make private oil retailers in
the country start dispensing
ethanol mixed fuel. Sithara-
man said in her speech that
blendingof fuelwasapriority
of this government.
“To encourage the efforts
for blending of fuel, unblend-
ed fuel shall attract an addi-
tional differential excise duty
of Rs 2/litre from the 1st day
of October 2022,” the Finance
Minister said. Private retail-
ers don’t sell blended petrol
and it is only public sector oil
companies which are selling
blended oil. Due to the oxygen
contentinethanol,blendingit
withpetrolreducesemissions
and is thus good for the envi-
ronment. Increased blending
will also bring down India’s
oil import bill which is a fac-
tor in India’s high inflation.
At present only 8 percent
ethanol is blended in petrol
sold by state-owned oil com-
panies. It is to be raised to 25
percent by 2025. The addition-
al excise will work as a disin-
centive, especially for private
oil companies. It is estimated
that around 335 crore litres of
ethanol was produced in the
country in 2021. Uttar
Pradesh is among the highest
producers of ethanol in the
country
. To achieve the target
of 25 percent, ethanol produc-
tion has to be raised mani-
fold. Automakers told the Pe-
troleum Secretary Tarun
Kapoor last year that they
were ready for ethanol com-
pliant vehicles. The only chal-
lenge is finding ways to in-
crease ethanol output.
ETHANOL BLENDING
TARGET IS TOO HIGH
Unblended petrol will
invite additional
excise duty from
October. This is expected
to make private oil retailers
in the country start
dispensing ethanol
mixed fuel. Sitharaman
said in her speech that
blending of fuel was a
priority of this government
A
BJP CONFIDENT OF MAKING IT
ALONE IN MANIPUR
ven as the BJP is aiming to
bag 40 plus seats in the as-
sembly election in Manipur,
the party clearly exhibits its
confidence. All these hap-
pened in the 2017 assembly
elections when the BJP had
bagged 21 seats out of the
60-House Assembly and led
the coalition government
which was formed with the
support of the Naga People’s
Front (NPF), National Peo-
ple’s Party (NPP), Lok Jan-
shakti Party (LJP) and an
independent candidate.
Though Congress was the
single-largest party and se-
cured 28 seats, it fell short of
forming the government.
However,duringtherun-up
to this year’s Assembly elec-
tion, speculation was rife if
the recently-concluded cru-
cial state assembly elections
in West Bengal, Assam, Kera-
la,TamilNaduwouldpossibly
have an impact in the Ma-
nipur polls. Interestingly, it
may be noticed that notwith-
standing all that happened in
theelectionsintheremaining
states…inAssam,theBJP-led
NDA coalition was able to re-
tain power… even as the re-
sult in the neighbouring West
Bengal is there for all to see.
Following the post-2014 po-
litical scenario in the entire
country, the fall of the Grand
Old Party in the electoral
process (of Manipur) had
created a “void” that was
waiting to be taken up. The
influence of regional politi-
cal parties like Manipur Peo-
ple’s Party (MPP), People
Democratic Alliance (PDA)
which had once played a
huge role in the politics of
Manipur have slipped from
their stance in the post-cease
fire (2001) political scenario
in Manipur. Manipur and its
people display a high degree
of ethnic politics and region-
al parties have always flour-
ished in the state and the re-
gion. The parties are deeply
rooted in ethnic lines and
values but following the 2001
truce… these parties failed to
capture and capitalize on the
masses’ aspirations.
In 2017, when Th. Shyam-
kumar defected from Con-
gress to BJP after winning
the election, which triggered
a huge controversy in the po-
litical arena. Currently, this
is an accepted norm. Sample
this… the former president
of the Manipur Pradesh Con-
gress Committee (MPCC) Go-
vindas Konthoujam, 12 key
members of Naga People’s
Front (NPF), Lok Janshakti
Party (LJP) MLA Karam Shy-
am, former Congress MLA
from Sagolband constituency
RK Imo, Congress MLA from
Saikul Constituency,
Yumthang Haokip, Congress
MLA from Wangkhei constit-
uency
, Okram Henry had also
joined BJP
. The list goes on.
However, every situation
has its pitfall… the current
scenario in the saffron camp
reveals overcrowding of in-
tending candidates, with
each constituency having not
less than 3 or 4 potential BJP
candidates. Why delay in an-
nouncing the list. The BJP’s
delay in announcing its can-
didates had led to widespread
speculations that all was not
well. The party was finding it
difficult to choose candidates
as there are four to five (tick-
et) aspirants in every constit-
uency
. The BJP was expected
to announce its first list of
nominees by January 26.
However, three days after the
deadline, the party was still
unable to make up its mind.
BJP HAS TO ADDRESS
LOYALTY FACTOR
Angry BJP workers of Ma-
nipur on Sunday burnt effi-
gies of Chief Minister N
Biren Singh and the state unit
president Sharda Devi as well
as flags. They also ransacked
local offices and shouted slo-
gans against the ruling par-
ty’s list of assembly poll can-
didates which featured defec-
tors from the Congress ignor-
ing many loyalists. Several
BJP leaders including those
who were aspirants for party
tickets but were left out to ac-
commodate recent defectors
also resigned from the prima-
ry membership of the party
.
WHY BJP
EMERGED STRONG
This mainly depends on the
old formulation of dependen-
cy in NE politics that leads to
choosing a parallel govern-
ment. Basically
, NE survives
on Centre. However, this “old
school”conceptalwaysdoesn’t
hold good, as the last few dec-
adeshaveshownchanges.Per-
haps, the changing mode of
governancemighthavekicked
off a huge acceptance of the
BJP in the state.
FALL IN INSURGENCY-
RELATED CASES
Insurgency-related activities
in the NE in 2021 have re-
duced 80% as compared to
2014. Manipur has witnessed
a constant declining record
of insurgency-related cases;
from 233 in 2016 to 167 in 2017
and 127 in 2018, according to
the MHA security report.
From lowering the insurgen-
cy-related incidents to bring-
ing developments, the pre-
sent BJP government has
surpassed the performance
of any government before.
NEW GOVT MUST
ADDRESS AFSPA STATUS
Following Nagaland’s Mon
district firing incident where
14 civilians were killed in se-
curity forces firing on Decem-
ber 4 and 5 last year, heavy
demands for removal of AF-
SPA have been echoed across
the region and the issue has
been raised by many political
parties during the Assembly
polls campaign in Manipur.
The new government will
have to clear its stance on the
AFSPA position soon.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
E
However, every situation
has its pitfall… the current
scenario in the saffron
camp reveals overcrowding
of intending candidates,
with each constituency
having not less than 3 or 4
potential BJP candidates.
Why delay in announcing
the list. The BJP’s delay in
announcing its candidates
had led to widespread
speculations that all was
not well. The party was
finding it difficult to choose
candidates as there are four
to five (ticket) aspirants in
every constituency. The
BJP was expected to
announce its first list of
nominees by January 26
Following the post-2014
political scenario in the
entire country, the fall of
the Grand Old Party in
the electoral process
(of Manipur) had created a
“void” that was waiting to
be taken up. The influence
of regional political parties
like Manipur People’s
Party (MPP), People
Democratic Alliance
(PDA) which had once
played a huge role in the
politics of Manipur
have slipped from their
stance in the post-cease
fire (2001) political
scenario in Manipur
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India

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Atme, Syria: US special
forces carried out a
nighttime airborne raid
on Thursday in north-
western Syria during
which the head of the
Islamic State group blew
himself and his family
up,theWhiteHousesaid.
The operation was
the biggest blow to the
jihadist organisation
since his predecessor,
the better-known Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, was
killed in a similar raid
in the same region of
Idlib in 2019.
A senior White House
official speaking on
condition of anonymity
ahead of an address by
Biden said Qurashi det-
onated a bomb during
the raid on the house
where he was staying in
the town of Atme.
In doing so, he also
killed members of his
own family, including
women and children,
the official said.
Qurashi, an Iraqi
from the Turkmen-ma-
jority city of Tal Afar
who was also known as
Amir Mohammed Said
Abd al-Rahman al-Maw-
la, replaced Baghdadi
after his death in a US
raid in October 2019.
ASyrianCivilDefence
said that at least 13 peo-
plewerekilled,including
six children, in shelling
andclashesaftertheraid
in northwestern Syria
near Atmeh on the Turk-
ish-Syrian border, media
reports. —Agencies
ISIS chief blows himself up during US raid
OFFENSIVE IN SYRIA
Washington: United States
President Joe Biden has
said the leader of ISIL
(ISIS) has been “taken off
the battlefield” following
an overnight raid in Syria
that also killed children
and women. A
senior US official
told reporters
ISIL leader
Abu Ibrahim
al-Hashimi
al-Qurayshi was
killed in the raid.
Biden said he would
address the nation
about the raid
at 9:30
am on Thursday. “Last night
at my direction, US military
forces in the northwest Syria
successfully undertook a
counterterrorism operation
to protect the Americans
and our Allies, and make
the world a safer
place,” Biden said
in the statement.
“Thanks to the skill
and bravery of our
Armed Forces,
we have taken off
the battlefield Abu
Ibrahim al-Hashimi
al-Qurayshi—the
leader of ISIS,”
Biden said.
POTUS CONFIRMS
The blast site and (inset) ISIS chief Qurashi.
CONG CM FACE TO BE REVEALED
ON SUNDAY, AFFIRMS CHANNI
New Delhi: Punjab
Chief Minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi on
Thursday said that the
Congress will declare
its chief ministerial
face for the state on Feb-
ruary 6.
Former party chief
Rahul Gandhi is expect-
ed to visit the poll-
bound state on Sunday.
Sources said he is likely
to make the important
announcement.
Rahul Gandhi had an-
nounced during his last
visit to Punjab on Janu-
ary 27 that the Congress
will go into the Punjab
assembly election with
a CM face and that the
decision on it will be
taken soon after con-
sulting party workers.
Congress president
Sonia Gandhi has al-
ready started consulta-
tions with party leaders
andworkersonthechief
ministerial candidate.
The party is seeking
responsesfromCongress
leaders and workers
through its Shakti app.
Over the past several
weeks, Punjab Chief
MinisterCharanjitSingh
Channi and state Con-
gress chief Navjot Singh
Sidhu have, directly or
indirectly
, made a case
for themselves to be de-
claredastheparty’schief
ministerial candidate.
The Congress ap-
pears to be putting its
weight behind Channi,
who belongs to the
Scheduled Caste com-
munity and has been
fielded from two assem-
bly seats of Chamkaur
Sahib and Bhadaur.
The state goes to the
polls on Feb 20. — PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Punjab Chief Minister Channi and State party chief Navjot Sidhu.
‘PEOPLE WANT AAP
TO FORM NEXT GOVT’
Dhuri: People of Punjab
are tired of giving chances
to the Congress and the
SAD for the
last 44 years
and now
want the Aam
Aadmi Party
(AAP) to be
in the sad-
dle, says the party’s chief
ministerial face Bhagwant
Mann. He says people of
Punjab want change and
are keen to see the AAP
form the next government
because they know that
the party has delivered in
Delhi and will serve them
here as well.
GOA CANDIDATES
TO PLEDGE LOYALTY
TO CONG TODAY
Panaji: Congress’s
Assembly poll candi-
dates in Goa will take a
pledge of loyalty to the
party in the presence of
its senior leader Rahul
Gandhi on Friday, when
he will be on a day-
long visit to the state,
a party functionary
said. During the visit,
Gandhi will also ad-
dress a public meeting
in Sankhalim Assembly
constituency, which is
currently represented
by state Chief Minister
and BJP leader Pramod
Sawant, he said. Elec-
tions to all 40 Assembly
seats in Goa will be
held on February 14
and the results will be
declared on March 10.
SP MOVES EC OVER
‘OBJECTIONABLE
LANGUAGE’ BY YOGI
Lucknow: The Sama-
jwadi Party (SP) has
written a letter to the
Election Commission
(EC) against language
being used by Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath during
poll rallies. In a letter to
the poll body, Akhilesh’s
party has asked it to
issue instructions to
CM Adityanath to use
the language which is in
accordance of the Model
Code of Conduct. Sama-
jwadi Party said there is
no justification for such
language in a democ-
racy. The party flagged
CM Yogi’s statements
including bulldozer
chalega, calling SP
candidates ma-
fias, among
others.
Yogi: UP riot-free since 2017,
now preferred investment hub
Lucknow: Claiming
success in controlling
crime in the state, Ut-
tar Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
on Thursday accused
his predecessors of
failing to undertake
police reforms and
modification as the lat-
ter wanted to use the
department as their
personal tool. The
chief minister also
claimed that the state
was free of riots and
terrorist activities for
five years and that Ut-
tar Pradesh had be-
come the preferred
destination for
investors.
“Since2017,no
riots have taken
placeinthestate,”
c l a i m e d
Yogi. —PTI
Party chief Sonia
Gandhi begins
consultation with
leaders on CM face
ELECTION BUZZ

z Keshav Prasad
Maurya files nomina-
tion from Sirathu

z Farmer body SKM
appeals to farmers
to punish BJP in UP:
Yogendra Yadav

z BJP will be reduced
to its 2012 tally: UP ex-
Minister who recently
switched to SP

z ‘Hema Malini’
remark was sarcastic,
Jayant clarifies
SC BREATHER TO
PUNJAB MLA FROM
ARREST FOR A WEEK
New Delhi: A bench,
headed by CJI NV
Ramana, granted interim
protection from arrest
to Simranjit Singh Bains
in view of his lawyer’s
submission that Bains
should be permitted
to file his nomination
papers on Tuesday for
the upcoming assembly
poll. “We restrain the
State from arresting
the petitioner
till Thursday,”
directed the
bench, which
also com-
prised justices
AS Bopanna
and Hima
Kohli.
GATE 2022 EXAMS TO
BE HELD AS PER
SCHEDULE, SAYS SC
New Delhi: The
Supreme Court on
Thursday refused to
postpone this year’s
Graduate Aptitude Test
in Engineering (GATE
2022) exams amid
the third wave of the
coronavirus disease
(Covid-19), pointing out
that delaying the exams
might lead to “chaos
and uncertainty”
among students.
The GATE 2022
exams will
now be held
physically as
per schedule
on Febru-
ary 5, 6,
12, and 13.
IN THE COURTYARD
INDIA
05
Teachers to trace tipplers:
Will it actually work?
Mahesh Sharma
Bihar: Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar has be-
come so obsessed with
the very worn-out idea
of
prohibition that he
has used the entire ma-
chinery of the state
government to imple-
ment only prohibition.
The police and admin-
istration of Bihar is
engaged in the work of
enforcing the prohibi-
tion law 24 hours a day,
which is a way for them
to earn money
.
Liquor prohibition is
not implemented effec-
tively anywhere in the
whole of Bihar. Liquor
isbeingmadeandsoldin
every street and locality
.
In Nalanda, the home
districtof theChief Min-
ister himself, a dozen
peoplediedrecentlyafter
consuming spurious liq-
uor. Before that, in Di-
wali last year, around 40
people died due to drink-
ing in four districts. Un-
der the supervision of
the police and adminis-
tration of Bihar, the
work of making liquor
and selling it from out-
side is being done.
Amidst the failure of
the police and adminis-
tration, now the state
government has also
engaged the teachers
in the task of catching
up those engaged in
selling liquor and giv-
ing information about
the ‘consumers’.
An order has been is-
sued by the state gov-
ernment that teachers
should provide the in-
formation of such peo-
ple to the administra-
tion. For this, phone
numbers have been is-
sued and the identity of
the teachers has been
told to be kept confiden-
tial. Most of the teach-
ers reinstated in the
name of Shiksha Mitra
in Bihar are illiterate
and have been reinstat-
ed by bribing the chief
on the basis of fake
mark sheets. They were
not already doing the
job of teaching the chil-
dren. Now they have
been given a new job, in
which they will also en-
gage in business with
the help of police and
administration.
If someone honestly
gives news about this,
then there is the issue of
danger to his/her life.
Recently, an army colo-
nel, who had come to his
village on leave, was
shot dead by the liquor
mafia because the colo-
nel was stopping them
from selling liquor.
PROHIBITION LAW
Is Captain really the ‘Captain’ with PLC?
Sharat K Verma
Chandigarh: Captain
Amarinder Singh had
formed the party after
breaking away from the
Congress, so it seemed
thathewouldcontestthe
assembly elections as a
chief ministerial candi-
date with the support of
the BJP
. But the BJP has
already mellowed his
hopesbygivinghisparty
only 37 seats.
The BJP itself is con-
testing on 65 seats and
theelectoralcampaignis
being headed by former
Union Minister Vijay
Singh Sampla as its un-
declared chief ministe-
rial candidate. The BJP
had already announced
that if its government is
formed, a Dalit will be
madetheChief Minister.
So, Sampla fits the bill.
Captain’s problem is
that the 37 seats given to
him by the BJP are al-
most all in rural areas.
Seeing the displeasure
of the farmers, the BJP
itself did not want to
fight in the villages, so
it gave most of the vil-
lage seats to Captain’s
party and took the seats
of the city to itself. But
this is not even half of
Captain’s problems.
Even in the selected
urban seats that his par-
tyhasbeengivenashare,
their declared candi-
dates want to fight on
BJP’ssymbol.Justimag-
ine, what an embarrass-
ment it will be for any
party and leader that its
declared candidates do
not want to contest on its
symbol! Captain’s 10 de-
clared candidates have
askedfortheBJPsymbol
andtheBJPhasgivenits
election symbol to four.
Earlier, people close
to the Captain also
joined the BJP instead
of his party. His close
relative Arvind Khan-
na thought it better to
join the BJP than Cap-
tain’s PLC party
.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
BJP announcing
Sampla its CM
candidate may
sour the alliance
Avinash Pande
@avinashpandeinc
Expressing your
trust in me, heartfelt
thanks to the top
leadership, respected
Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji,
Shri RahulGandhi ji,
Smt. priyankagandhi
ji and the organisation
for giving the
responsibility of
the president in
the Coordination
Committee of
Congress.
Time
TWEET
CRUCIAL READS
MALEGAON BLAST
CASE: 17TH WITNESS
TURNS HOSTILE
New Delhi: In Malegaon
Blast Case, another witness
has turned hostile. The
witness is also claiming
that he was forced to take
names of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
leaders in the case. The
witness in the court said
that he was kidnapped by
the Anti-Terrorism Squad
(ATS) and kept in illegal
custody for three-four days,
media reported. In the
matter, over 220 witnesses
have been examined, and
17 have turned hostile.
Notably, ex-Mumbai top cop
Param Bir Singh, currently
facing multiple cases of
extortion, was posted as
additional commissioner of
the ATS, when it probed the
Malegaon blast case.
Kolkata: As many as 108 municipal bodies of West
Bengal will go to polls on February 27, the State
Election Commission announced Thursday morn-
ing. It also mentioned that voting will not take place
at a ward in the South Dum Dum Municipality. SEC
Sourav Das said, “We have issued a notification to-
day (Thursday). The court has allowed to conduct
the polls in all the wards across 108 municipalities
except ward number 29 of the South Dum Dum
Municipality. We received the court order Wednes-
day. Date of nomination starts today (Thursday).”
WB: POLL PANEL ANNOUNCES ELECTIONS
FOR 108 CIVIC BODIES ON FEBRUARY 27
SPEAKERS MUST BE PUNISHED, DHARMA
SANSAD NO EXCEPTION: RSS LEADER
Mumbai: Senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar has con-
demned the alleged hate speeches against minorities at
a recent Dharma Sansad in Haridwar and said all those
who make provocative and divisive remarks should be
punished as per law without any exception. He termed
the ‘politics of hate’ as ‘corruption’ and called all po-
litical parties and their leaders to hould refrain
from indulging in hate-mongering and pitting
one section of the society against the other.

New Delhi: Kerala is
the only one out of eight
States with over 50,000
active Covid-19 cases
witnessing a surge in
new cases of infection
and an increase in posi-
tivity rate, the Central
Government said on
Thursday
. Kerala alone
accounts for 24 per cent
of all active cases in the
country. The second
State where data points
to an uptick in fresh
cases and positivity
rate is Mizoram.
The peak of the third
Covid-19 wave driven by
the highly transmissible
Omicron is slightly low-
er than that of the sec-
ond wave, which swept
thecountrylastyearand
killed lakhs of people.
The country on Thurs-
day reported 1.72 lakh
fresh cases, half the cas-
es recorded on January
21, which was the peak.
Cases have been falling
sincethen.HealthMinis-
try’sJointSecretaryLav
Agarwal told reporters
during a Press confer-
ence that 34 States/UTs,
including Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu,arenowrecording
a decline in cases.
“Consistent decline
in daily active cases,
daily positivity rate in-
dicate decreased spread
of infection,” Lav Agar-
wal said, adding that the
government has noted a
decline in case fatality
rate with an increase in
vaccination coverage.
Schools now open
in 11 States/UTs
An official with the
Ministry of Education
said schools are now
conducting physical
classes in 11 States/
UTs. At the same
time, 16 States/UTs
have allowed the par-
tial reopening of in-
stitutions. while
physical classes are
still prohibited in 9
States/UTs.
INDIA
06
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Many a
times it seems that the
Central Government
itself creates the situa-
tion of uproar and forc-
es the opposition to stay
out of both the houses
of Parliament by giving
some issue or the other.
Just imagine, how con-
venient it is that the
government has to an-
swer to the country on
inflation, unemploy-
ment and the bad condi-
tion of the economy,
then the issue of
Pegasus has come, on
which the opposition
will continue to create
ruckus. Such a system
has not yet developed in
India that the opposi-
tion should protest
against any issue, also
perform demonstra-
tions and when the Par-
liament is in session,
there is a meaningful
discussion. It is such an
irony that whatever
protests the opposition
parties will carry out
will be during the Par-
liament session. There
is no recollection of
any major demonstra-
tion outside Parliament
on the issue of infla-
tion, unemployment
and corruption. Con-
gress definitely did a
rally in Jaipur regard-
ing inflation, but it has
no meaning since pro-
tests should be an ongo-
ing process.
However,ineverySes-
sion, the Government
gives some ‘rattles’ in
the hands of the opposi-
tion. On the first day of
the last Session, the
Government suspended
a dozen MPs from the
Rajya Sabha for the en-
tire Session. This was a
completely wrong deci-
sion as the MPs were
suspended in the Winter
Session for creating a
ruckus in the Monsoon
Session of Parliament.
The work on this issue
remained stalled
throughout the Session.
Especially in the Rajya
Sabha, where the Gov-
ernment does not have a
majority
. Prior to this,
i.e. in the Monsoon Ses-
sion, the issue of
Pegasus dominated and
the opposition stalled
the work on it.
Prior to that the
Budget Session of Par-
liament was affected
due to Covid and was
postponed prematurely
due to the ongoing As-
sembly elections in five
States. At that time the
farmers’ movement
was also going on and
the opposition was cre-
ating a ruckus on that
issue as well. Before
that, i.e., the Winter
Session of 2020 was be-
ing held in the midst of
the farmers’ movement
and during the same
time, the three disputed
agricultural laws were
forcibly passed in the
Rajya Sabha, rejecting
the demand for voting
of the opposition. On
the contrary
, the MPs of
the opposition were
also suspended from the
house and they staged a
sit-in in front of the
statue of Mahatma
Gandhi on the Parlia-
ment premises through-
out the night. The two
Sessions before that
also happened in a half-
hearted manner due to
the pandemic. So, for
the last two years con-
tinuously, the proceed-
ings are being held in a
half-hearted manner.
Immense convenience to the Govt from opposition’s uproars!
KERALA, MIZORAM STILL SEEING
UPSURGE IN COVID CASES
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Is it to be
expected that this time
the Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh will be a
member of the Legisla-
tive Assembly? In UP,
usually the chief minis-
terial candidates do not
contest the Assembly
elections. The current
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath was a Lok
Sabha MP when he was
sworn in. Before him,
Akhilesh Yadav had
also took oath as the
Chief Minister while he
was a Lok Sabha MP
. Be-
fore him, Mayawati was
also not an MLA when
she became the CM. Af-
ter taking oath, these
three CMs took the
membership of the Leg-
islative Council due to
constitutional obliga-
tion. Therefore, this is
the first time in the last
nearly two decades that
the chief ministerial
candidates are contest-
ing the Assembly polls.
Adityanath is a con-
tender from the BJP and
is contesting the Assem-
bly elections from Gora-
khpur city seat. Akh-
ilesh Yadav is a contend-
er of the Samajwadi
Party and is in the fray
from the Karhal seat of
Mainpuri. Now the big
question is, can anyone
other than these two be-
come the Chief Minis-
ter? If Samajwadi Party
wins then there are no
ifs and buts. But there is
a doubt among political
observers who suspect
that if BJP wins then
the CM can change too?
Last time the party had
contested the election
undeclared in the name
of Keshav Prasad Mau-
rya and after the results
there was talk of mak-
ing Manoj Sinha as the
Chief Minister, howev-
er, it was Yogi Adity-
anath who became CM.
This time also such a
reversal is possible.
This time also BJP’s un-
declared contender is
Keshav Prasad Maurya
and this time he is also
contesting the Assem-
bly elections from Sir-
athu seat of Prayagraj.
Then there is the
third possibility of a
hung assembly. Even
then, apart from these
two, a third person may
come forward, who may
not be a member of the
Legislative Assembly
.
Will an MLA become the UP CM this time?
34 States including Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, UTs recording decline
in fresh cases, positivity rate, says Govt; schools fully open in 11 States, closed in nine
New Delhi: Media re-
ports about mass exodus
of migrant workers amid
the third wave of the
pandemic were untrue
and States have been
asked to be wary of ru-
mour mongering on this
issue, Parliament was
informed on Thursday.
The third wave hit the
country last month,
forcing states to impose
local restrictions to curb
the spread of Covid-19.
New Delhi: The Un-
ion Health Ministry
on Thursday re-
futed as “mis-
leading” media
reports which
claimed that 50
lakh unused
Covishield doses may
go waste by the end of
this month. It said the
Centre had proactive-
ly advised all state
governments
to review the
availability of
vaccines, right
from the start
of the drive, to
ensure that the wast-
age of doses is re-
duced to a minimum.
New Delhi: A “small
fringe group of pro-
Khalistan elements in
Canada” is spreading
anti-India feelings and
the Government is
closely engaged with
Canada over the issue,
MoS for External Af-
fairs V Muraleedharan
said on Thursday
.
Both governments
have recognised the
fundamental principle
of respect for sover-
eignty, unity and terri-
torial integrity of India
and Canada as the basis
of bilateral ties, Mu-
raleedharan told the
Rajya Sabha in re-
sponse to a question.
“The vast majority of
people of Indian origin
in Canada share a
warm emotional bond
with India and have
worked for the better-
ment of relations be-
tween India and Cana-
da,” he said.
“There is a small
fringe group of pro-
Khalistan elements
who spread anti-India
feelings through their
statements,” he said.
“The government of
India remains closely
engaged with the Gov-
ernment of Canada to
address our concerns
relating to anti-India
activities,” he said.
Muraleedharan said
the government main-
tains close contact with
Indians in Canada, and
its policy is to make
continuous efforts to
strengthen the bond
with the community
.
Khalistanis gaining
ground in Canada: MoS
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment is working
to ensure that Indian
workers are back to
their work and jobs
in the Gulf and is
pursuing the issue
with its counterparts
in the region at the
highest level, Exter-
nal Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar told the
Rajya Sabha on
Thursday
.
He also said with
the economic recov-
ery in the Gulf and
its increasing open-
ness to ease travel re-
strictions following a
receding trend in
Covid-19 cases, many
Indian workers are
now returning back
to the region.
As per the govern-
ment’s estimates, as
many as 7,16,662
workers returned to
India from the six
Gulf countries — the
UAE, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
and Bahrain — under
the ‘Vande Bharat
Mission’.
Govt pursuing return of
Indians with Gulf nations
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: The Border
Security Force (BSF) killed
a Pakistani intruder in
Punjab’s Ferozepur sector
as he did not stop and con-
tinued moving ahead in an
aggressive manner cross-
ing International Border, the force said. The intruder
was moving ahead of the International Border fencing
from the Pakistan side in the area of responsibility of
BSF at Border Outpost KS Wala in the Ferozepur sector
on Wednesday evening. The BSF personnel fired upon
the intruder as he entered into Indian territory. “On
February 2, 2022, during evening hours, alert BSF
troops observed some suspicious movement of an
intruder ahead of Border fencing coming from Pakistan
side in the area of BOP KS Wala, Ferozepur sector.
Thiruvananthapuram:
A tweet in Malayalam
by Sheikh Mohamed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice President and Prime
Minister of UAE and Ruler
of Dubai, soon after his
meeting with Kerala CM
Pinarayi Vijayan in the
Emirates, has gone viral
on social media as sev-
eral expatriate Malayalis
shared it on their virtual
platforms. Besides the
tweet, the Dubai ruler also
shared the picture of the
reception given to Vijayan
at the venue of the Dubai
Expo 2020 on Wednes-
day. The tweet was later
shared by Vijayan on his
Twitter handle.
Mumbai: Former director
of Punjab and Maha-
rashtra Cooperative
(PMC) Bank Daljit Singh
Bal was apprehended
by the Mumbai police’s
Economic Offences Wing
(EOW) in Bihar, an official
said on Thursday. Bal,
who is wanted in the
PMC Bank scam case,
was arrested at Raxaul in
east Champaran close to
the India-Nepal border,
the official said. The EOW,
which is probing the
multi-crore scam, had
issued a lookout notice
against Bal and 10 former
directors of the bank. Bal
will be taken into custody
by the in Mumbai.
BSF SHOOTS DEAD PAKISTANI INTRUDER
ALONG FEROZEPUR BORDER OF PUNJAB
DUBAI RULER
TWEETS IN
MALAYALAM
FORMER DIRECTOR
OF PMC BANK
HELD IN BIHAR
New Delhi: External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar targeted Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi over his re-
marks that the BJP
Government’s policies
have brought “China
and Pakistan together,”
stating that “some his-
tory lessons are in or-
der” and that Pakistan
illegally handed over
the Shaksgam Valley to
China in 1963, when a
Congress government
was in office.
He said that China
built the Karakoram
highwaythroughPoKin
the 1970s and CPEC was
started in 2013 when
Congress-led UPA was
in power at the Centre.
Jaishankar also
slammed Rahul Gandhi
over his remarks in Lok
Sabha during debate on
the motion of thanks on
President’s Address
that the government
could not get a foreign
guest for Republic Day
.
EAMmountsblisteringattackonRaGa
ROW OVER REMARK
New Delhi: TMC MP
Mahua Moitra tweeted
a dare to what she called
the “heckler team” to
prepare for her speech,
a day after Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
tore into the Govern-
ment over issues.
“Am speaking this
evening in Lok Sabha
on President’s Address.
Just wanted to give ear-
ly heads up to BJP to get
heckler team ready and
read up on imaginary
points of order. Drink
some gaumutra shots
too,”Moitra tweeted.
Mahua asks
BJP to drink
gaumutra shots
Students denied entry in
K’taka college over hijab
Bengaluru: The hijab
versus saffron scarf tus-
sle is spreading to more
colleges of Karnataka,
with one allegedly shut-
ting its gates on stu-
dents wearing hijabs,
and Hindu students in
at least two other col-
leges wearing saffron
scarves in protest.
Officials of Kun-
dapur’s Government
PU College on Thurs-
day allegedly shut the
gates on students wear-
ing hijabs. The move
came after all colleges
were asked to maintain
‘status quo’ on dress
code by the State educa-
tion department.
Meanwhile, at the
Kundapur college, more
than 40 Hindu students
reportedly wore saffron
scarves on Wednesday
to protest against
around 27 Muslim stu-
dents wearing hijabs.
REPORTS ON
MASS EXODUS
FALSE: CENTRE
Media reports on wastage of
Covishield ‘misleading’: Centre
A healthcare worker collects a sample of a passenger in Patna. —PHOTO BY ANI
UP CM Yogi Adityanath and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav

BIZ BUZZ
07
INDIA CLOSE TO FINALISING
BATTERY SWAP SCHEME
New Delhi: The Indian
government is expect-
ed to finalise incentives
under its new battery
swap scheme for elec-
tric vehicles within the
next two months, an of-
ficial said, amid a
broader clean mobility
push to meet its decar-
bonisation goals.
The policy will ini-
tially focus on battery
swap services for elec-
tric scooters, motorcy-
cles and three-wheeled
auto rickshaws, the of-
ficial said, in a boost
for sectors like last-
mile delivery and ride-
sharing.
India said on Tues-
day it will introduce a
new policy to promote
swapping, a service
that allows EV drivers
to replace depleted bat-
tery blocks for freshly
charged ones at swap
stations. This is faster
than charging the vehi-
cle and reduces range
anxiety for drivers.
A battery is also the
most expensive part in
an EV and swapping al-
lows companies to offer
it as a service through
lease or subscription
models, bringing down
the cost of owning and
operating the vehicle,
industry executives
say
.
The government is
likely to offer EV own-
ers an incentive of up
to 20% of the total sub-
scription or lease cost
of the battery and this
will be in addition to
what they already get
for buying clean vehi-
cles, the person said.
In 2019, India set
aside 100 billion rupees
to promote EVs by giv-
ing incentives directly
to buyers, but only
about 10% of this has
been used. Incentives
for battery swapping
will likely be given
from the same fund, the
official said.
Globally, battery
swapping has been
slow to gain traction
especially among car-
makers.
In India, oil giant Re-
liance Industries has
formed a joint venture
with Britain’s BP Plc to
offer battery swapping.
Motorbike maker Hero
MotoCorp and Tai-
wan’s Gogoro have also
partnered to set up
swap stations, and the
service is offered by
start-up Sun Mobility
as well.
The government will
also define battery de-
sign and charging
standards for compa-
nies that want to set up
swap stations. This is
to ensure the batteries
can be used across EV
models of different au-
tomakers, the official
said.
“The idea is that if
one company sets up a
battery swap station,
vehicles of another
company should be
able to use the same
battery and service.
Disruption will only
come with scale,” the
person said. —Agencies
NEW POLICY
Services PMI sees lowest
expansion in 6 months
New Delhi: India’s
services sector activi-
ty moderated further
in January as new
business rose at a no-
ticeably slower rate
amid the escalation of
the pandemic, reintro-
duction of restrictions
and inflationary pres-
sures, a monthly sur-
vey said on Thursday
.
The seasonally ad-
justed India Services
Business Activity In-
dex fell to 51.5 in Janu-
ary, down from 55.5 in
December, pointing to
the slowest rate of ex-
pansion in the current
six-month sequence of
growth.
For the sixth
straight month, the
services sector wit-
nessed an expan-
sion in output.
In Purchas-
ing Manag-
ers’ Index
(PMI) par-
lance, a print
above 50
means ex-
p a n s i o n ,
while a score
below 50 denotes con-
traction.
According to survey
participants, demand
was restricted by the
fast spread of the Omi-
cron variant and the
reinstatement of cur-
fews in parts of the
country
.
“The escalation of
the pandemic and rein-
troduction of curfews
had a detrimental im-
pact on growth across
the service sector. Both
new business and out-
put rose at slight rates
that were the weakest
in six months,” Polly-
anna De Lima said.
Companies became
increasingly worried
that growth would be
harmed by the intensi-
fication of the pan-
demic, reintroduction
of restrictions and in-
flationary pressures.
Business sentiment
remained positive but
slipped to a six-month
low.
“Concerns about
how long the current
wave of COVID-19 will
last dampened busi-
ness confidence and
caused job shedding.
Firms were also
alarmed about price
pressures,” Lima not-
ed. —PTI
Direct tax to breach
`12.50LAKHCRTARGET
New Delhi: Direct
tax collections are
expected to breach
the revised target of
`12.50 lakh crore and
set an all-time high
and “historic” re-
cord by the end of
this financial year in
March, CBDT Chair-
man J B Mohapatra
has said. Multiple
reasons like “eas-
ing” of tax compli-
ance processes for
taxpayers and en-
hanced ability of
the taxman in data
processing were cit-
ed by him for mop-
ping up this high-
volume of collec-
tions under two ma-
jor heads -- corporate
tax and personal in-
come tax.
“As we speak (Feb-
ruary 1), the direct
tax col-
lection numbers
stand at `10.38 lakh
crore so it is only
70,000 crore less from
the BE (budget esti-
mate) numbers of Rs
11.08 lakh crore. This
number, at this point
in time, is better
than the last year’s
total collections,”
Mohapatra said.
He also said that
“the department
never crossed `11.18
lakh crore in its his-
tory”. “This year we
are going to breach
`12 lakh crore...
our target is
`12.50 lakh
crore (re-
vised esti-
mates) and
we have
good confi-
dence of achiev-
ing the target and
probably exceeding
it,” the Central
Board of Direct Tax-
es chief said. —PTI
The direct tax
collection numbers
stand at `10.38
lakh crore so it is
only 70,000 crore
less from the BE
8.72 lakh vacant
posts in govt
departments
New Delhi: There were
over 8.72 lakh vacant
posts in central govern-
ment departments as on
March 1, 2020, the Rajya
Sabha was informed on
Thursday
. As many as
9,10,153 vacancies exist-
ed as on March 1, 2019
and 6,83,823 as on March
1, 2018, according to a
written reply given by
Minister of State for
Personnel Jitendra Sin-
gh.
There were 8,72,243
vacant posts in central
government depart-
ments as on March 1.
Three major recruit-
ing agencies -- SSC,
UPSC and the
RRBs have
carried out
2,65,468 re-
cruitment
d u r i n g
2018-19 and
2020-21, it
said. —PTI
LIC’s embedded value set at over `5L cr
New Delhi: State-run
Life Insurance Corpo-
ration of India’s (LIC)
embedded value has
been finalised at more
than Rs 5 trillion
($66.82 billion), a gov-
ernment official who is
overseeing what is ex-
pected to be the coun-
try’s largest IPO said
on Thursday
.
LIC is likely to sell
its entire stake to IDBI
Bank in 2022/23, the of-
ficial said.
Investors are eagerly
waiting for the govern-
ment to indicate LIC’s
embedded value - a
measure of future cash
flows in life insurance
companies and the key
financial gauge for in-
surers - when it releas-
es the initial public of-
fering (IPO) draft pro-
spectus, expected in a
matter of days.
While there has been
speculation about the
number in Indian me-
dia - from as low as $53
billion to as high as
$150 billion - this is the
first time the govern-
ment, which owns
100% of LIC, is com-
menting on the matter.
The embedded value
will help establish the
market valuation of
LIC and determine
how much money the
government raises in
the flotation. That will
be crucial to the gov-
ernment to help meet
its divestment targets
and keep its fiscal defi-
cit in check.
“I would say the em-
bedded value could be
more than 5 trillion ru-
pees and the enterprise
value will be multiples
of that,” Tuhin Kanta
Pandey
, told Reuters in
an interview. —Agencies
Apple makes progress in India as iPhone sales rise 34%
New Delhi: Apple Inc
had its strongest quar-
ter for iPhone sales in
India yet, a sign that
the company is finally
making progress in the
world’s fastest-growing
smartphone market.
Sales increased to 2.3
million units in the
fourth quarter, up 34%
from a year earlier, ac-
cording to numbers
from the market re-
search firm Counter-
point.
Apple appears to
have pulled in more
revenue than any of its
rivals, however, be-
cause of the iPhone’s
high price tag, accord-
ing to Counterpoint’s
calculations. The US
company took in an es-
timated $2.09 billion for
the quarter, edging
aside Samsung with
revenue of about $2 bil-
lion.
“It’s a turning point
for Apple in India,”
said Neil Shah, the
Mumbai-based partner
and research head at
Counterpoint Technol-
ogy Market Research.
“Indians were willing
to lavish money on pre-
mium phones during
the pandemic because
everyone’s lives re-
volved around their de-
vices and there was
nothing else to spend
on.”
While Apple has be-
come the most valuable
company in the world
on the popularity of its
iPhone, it has strug-
gled in the 1.3 billion-
person India market.
Pricey iPhones are far
beyond the reach of
many local consumers,
a situation aggravated
by stiff import tariffs
Apple had to pay on de-
vices made outside the
country
. —Agencies
SALES INCREASED TO 2.3 MN UNITS
New Delhi: FRL
has asked the
Supreme
Court for
two weeks
to come up
with a solution
with lenders as the retailer has
missed its payment deadline
and will be tagged as a NPA.
The council to the lenders of
Future Group suggested an
open bid between Amazon and
Reliance to settle the dispute
and ensure recovery for banks.
FRL ASKS SC 2 WEEKS’
TIME TO REACH A SOLN
New Delhi: India’s sugar
production is estimated to
have increased by 5.64% to
18.70 million tonnes during the
Oct-Jan period of the ongoing
marketing year 2021-22 from
over the year-ago period, ISMA
said on Thursday. Sugar mills
had manufactured 17.70 million
tonnes of sugar in the corre-
sponding period
of the previous
2020-21 market-
ing year (Oct-
Sept), it said.—PTI
OCT-JAN SUGAR
OUTPUT JUMPS 5.64%
New Delhi: Air
India may get
Alex Cruz, an
aviation vet-
eran with rich
experience of
heading both full
service and low cost airlines,
as its CEO. Cruz was chairman
and CEO of British Airways for
about five years till 2020. Cruz
LinkedIn profile shows he is
currently an investor, board
member and adviser on some
companies. —Agencies
EX-CEO OF BA COULD
BE AIR INDIA CHIEF
FRL
with a solution
Air
Air
heading both full
heading both full
Mumbai: Equity
benchmark Sensex
slumped 770 points to
close below the 59,000-
mark on Thursday as
selling pressure inten-
sified towards the fag-
end amid profit-book-
ing in IT and finance
counters.
Relentless foreign
capital outflows also
weighed on sentiment,
traders said.
The 30-share BSE in-
dex ended 770.31 points
lower at 58,788.02. Simi-
larly, the NSE Nifty
plunged 219.80 points
or 1.24% to 17,560.20.
HDFC was the top
laggard in the Sensex
pack, shedding over
3%, followed by Info-
sys, LT, Kotak Bank,
Bajaj Finserv and Tech
Mahindra. —PTI
Sensex falls 770 pts; Nifty settles at 17,560
MKT EVALUATION

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
57,21,140
TOTAL DEATHS
30,57,93,041
TOTAL RECOVERED
7,43,96,182
ACTIVE CASES
38,59,10,363
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,98,987
TOTAL DEATHS
3,97,70,414
TOTAL RECOVERED
15,33,917
ACTIVE CASES
4,18,03,318
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat Anti-Terrorist
Squad (ATS) has ar-
rested three more
persons in connection
with the murder of
Kishan Boliya, who
was shot dead recent-
ly over an alleged ob-
jectionable Facebook
post, an official said
on Thursday.
With the latest ar-
rests on Wednesday, a
total of eight persons,
including two Muslim
clerics, have been ap-
prehended by the ATS
so far in the case, Assis-
tant Commissioner of
Police BH Chavda said.
Boliya was allegedly
shot dead by Shabbir
Chopda and Imtiyaz Pa-
than at Dhandhuka
town of Ahmedabad
district on January 25,
over a Facebook post,
which the accused
claimed had hurt their
religious sentiments.
Notably, Chopda and
his friend Pathan had
earlier also planned to
kill Porbandar resident
Sajan Odedara for shar-
ing a similar Facebook
post, Chavda said.
The ATS on Wednes-
day arrested Rajkot-
based pistol supplier
Rameez Seta, Por-
bandar resident Mo-
hammad Hussain
Khatri and Matin
Modan of Dhandhuka.
Modan had provided
lodging, food and Rs
8,000 cash to Chopda
and Pathan when they
were on the run after
Boliya’s murder in
Dhandhuka, the official
said.
The pistol used in the
killing had originally
belonged to Seta, who
then gave it to one
Azeem Sama. Jamal-
pur-based cleric Mo-
hammadAyubJavrawa-
la had borrowed the
weapon from Sama
some time back and
gave it to Chopda for the
killing, he said.
The ATS has already
arrested Shabbir, Pa-
than, Sama, Javarawala
and a Delhi-based cleric
Maulvi Qamar Gani
Usmani, who runs an
organisation called
Tahreek Farogh-e-Is-
lam (TFI) to take legal
action against people
who insult Islam.
While the ATS has
sought details from
banks to find out the
source of Usmani's
funding, various central
agencies are also inves-
tigating the case on dif-
ferent angles, such as
terror funding and con-
nection with terror out-
fits, the official said.
Usmani had asked
Chopda, who was con-
siderably radicalised,
to be in touch with Ja-
varawala, and when he
expressed his wish to
teach Boliya a lesson,
Javarawala gave him
the pistol and cartridg-
es to carry out the mur-
der, Chavda said.
The ATS has termed
Boliya'smurderasanact
of terrorandhasinvoked
stringent provisions of
the Gujarat Control of
Terrorism and Organ-
ised Crime (GUJCTOC)
Act and the UAPA
against the accused.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Riddhi
Kadam, a triathlete
from Vadodara has
been selected for trials
by the Indian Triath-
lon Federation for the
upcoming XXII Com-
monwealth Games to
be held in Birming-
ham and XIX Asian
Games, to be held in
Hangzhou, China. She
will take part in the
trials on February 27
at Porur in Chennai.
Kadam has won a sil-
ver medal at the Nation-
al Tournament at
Dhanushkoti in October
2021 and also won two
bronze medals in the na-
tional level tournament
organized by Indian Tri-
athlon Federation (ITF)
in Chennai last year.
To qualify the athlete
will take part in a series
of selectiontrialsinFeb-
ruary and April. “The
two medals assure me a
place for the trails for
two big sports events.
Three toppers in selec-
tion trials would repre-
sent the country later
this year in the interna-
tional events,” she said
brimming with joy
.
She has a passion for
runningandlaterswitch
to Triathlon after got in-
spired from the female
athletes from Gujarat. “I
started taking part in
Triathlon events from
2019 and get 4th position
in my first national at
Kerala. Later I partici-
pate in South Asian
games at Nepal in 2019
whichboostupmyconfi-
dence. I saw many fe-
male athletes take part
in Triathlon events and
it gives me the confi-
dence,” she added.
Riddhi comes from a
sports family as her ma-
ternal uncle was mem-
ber of International
Kabaddi team and
grandfather was a body-
builder. Her father is re-
tired from the army
.
First India Bureau
Daman: A 20-year-
old woman and four
girls drowned in a
creek on Thursday in
Daman district of
the Union Territory
of Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman
and Diu, police said.
A group of five girls
ventured into a creek
near Jampore beach
for a bath in the after-
noon, when four of
them drowned, while
one was rescued by her
family members, dis-
trict Superintendent
of Police Amit Sharma
said.
Daman resident Ma-
hira Qureshi (11) and
Fiza Shaikh (17), Sabi-
na Qureshi (15) and
Zainab Shaikh (20), all
residents of neigh-
bouring Vapi town of
Gujarat, drowned after
water levels suddenly
rose in the creek.
“Three families
from Vapi, Daman and
Lucknow had come to
Jampore beach for a
picnic. When other
family members were
on beach, a group of
five girls entered the
creek for a bath. How-
ever, they all started
drowning after the wa-
ter levels suddenly
rose,” Sharma said.
A 12-year-old girl
was rescued by a fam-
ily member, while the
others disappeared in
the water before they
could be saved, he said.
Locals managed to
pull the girls out and
sent them to a nearby
hospital, where doctors
declared them dead,
the official added.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: A pregnant
woman was injured
on Thursday when a
city bus rammed into
the autorickshaw
she was riding in,
near the Trikon Baug
area in Rajkot.
The autorickshaw’s
windshield was dam-
agedinthecollision,and
the woman sustained in-
juries to her leg.
The autorickshaw
driver responded to the
accident by hitting the
bus driver with a plastic
pipe, a video clip which
has since gained trac-
tion on social media.
However, none of the
parties involved have
come forward to lodge a
police complaint.
This is just the most
recent instance of reck-
less endangerment by
city bus drivers.
Two drivers were ar-
rested by A division po-
lice after an elderly per-
son was beaten by a city
bus driver near Mala-
viya Chowk a few days
ago. A similar incident
took place a few months
ago, when another el-
derly person was beaten
by a bus driver on Kala-
wad road.
NIA, ATS investigating but no links to Pak or underworld found yet
Riddhi Kadam
—FILE PHOTO
Triathlete heads to
Commonwealth,
Asian Games trials
4 girls drown in creek
in Daman; one rescued
Pregnant woman injured after city
bus rams into autorickshaw in Rajkot
First India Bureau
Surat: The diamond
city is all set to witness
the first-ever season
ball cricket league ‘The
Surat T20 Cup’ where
the who’s who from the
eight prominent busi-
ness families in the dia-
mond city of Surat will
be selecting entrepre-
neurs and business-
men--season ball league
players--at the auction
event to be held at
Avadh Eutopia on Feb-
ruary 7.
The Surat T20 Cup is
the first-ever season
ball cricket league for
the business entrepre-
neurs and businessmen
in the 30+ age category
of Surat, where they
will clash with each
other at the super sport-
ing match days at the
NK Grounds starting
from February 26 to
March 6, 2022.
There will be eight-
team owners, 18 match-
es, and 120 players from
the business back-
ground. The title spon-
sors for ‘the Surat T20
cup’ #averamsesurat is
Bhanderi Lab Grown
Diamonds, the event is
driven by Landmark
Honda, and Taste of
Bhagwati is the hospi-
tality partner.
An “owners’ gala
meet” was held Janu-
ary 30 to discuss the
game, the venue, and
the selection process for
the players from the
business fraternity and
to promote the season
ball league.
The owners of the
teams are Shreyans
Arvindkumar Shah of
Ankit Gems, a leading
diamond company,
Shailesh Goti of Dhar-
manandan Diamonds,
Hetal Desai, entrepre-
neur Dhwanil Infra
LLP, Snehal Patel,
Bhanderi Lab Grown
Diamonds, Sanjay
Sarawagi of Laxmipati
group, Piyush Patel of
Dharmanandan Dia-
monds, Kunj Panchali
of Aura Camp, Jayan-
tibhai Narola of Shree
Ramkrishna Exports
(SRK) and Jaiprakash
Agarwal of Rachana
Group of Companies.
Shital Mehul Pitha-
wala, Founder of Big
Bash Sports League,
said, “Surat is going to
witness the first-ever
cricket event in its his-
tory where eight promi-
nent businessmen from
chemicals, diamonds,
and textile sectors will
be the owners of the
season ball cricket
league ‘The Surat T20
Cup’ being organised
for the first time. The
players are the Sunday-
to-Sunday season ball-
players and the cricket-
ing tournament is or-
ganised to promote
their cricket and ex-
pand the horizon of the
game in Surat.”
DIAMOND CITY TO HOST ‘SURAT T20 CUP’
FEB 26 - MARCH 6
MAKING
WAY FOR
MODERNITY
Workers chop down two
of the city’s oldest banyan
trees, estimated to be 150
years old, to make way for
the Metro Rail project near
Chandkheda, in Ahmedabad
on Thursday, as part of the
route from Sabarmati to
Gandhinagar.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
1st-ever league tournament for
entrepreneurs and businessmen
in the 30+ age category
League owners met recently to plan the tournament.
THREE MORE ARRESTED IN
DHANDHUKA MURDER CASE
Kishan Boliya was shot dead in Dhandhuka last week. —FILE PHOTO
If we are and become what
we repeatedly do then
excellence is a habit, isn’t it?
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 4, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
t is truly said that ‘Truth is stran-
ger than Fiction’ and in Bolly-
wood one can say that ‘Real life is
hotter than Reel life’ when we see
the true life-based hits that have
made the box office records. And
when the story is about a woman
whoredefinesempowermentand
power,winningthegamewiththerawhand
lifehasdealther-thenexcitementrunshigh.
Add to this Alia Bhatt- a star who, has more
than proven her mettle- one starts counting
the day till the release.
GangubaiKathiawadiisallthisandmore.
Alia looks simply ravishing as the feisty
Ganga,looselybasedonthelifeof arealsex
worker in the book Mafia Queens of Mum-
baibyS.HussainZaidi.Thefirsttrailergar-
nerednotjust 40Mlikesbutahugeamount
of interestwiththebad-mouthingsexyAlia
in a never seen before avatar! The second
trailerwillbeouttodayandfingersareitch-
ing to click the play button.
Ever since the first look of Alia Bhatt
starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi has been re-
leased, fans have been eagerly waiting for
the film. Well, the Sanjay Leela Bhansali
directorialmadeittotheheadlinesrecently
after the new release date of the film was
announced. The anticipated blockbuster
movie is going to hit the theatres on Febru-
ary 25 and the trailer of the film will be re-
leasing today
, February 4. The first look of
Ajay Devgn was released on Thursday and
the preview of the second trailer was also
held for a select few and we bet it is going to
take your excitement levels high. Devgn
looks dashing and menacing in the poster.
All said and done, it’s Alia who is giving
sleepless nights with her daring,
bindaas,sexyandbadasslooksinthe
trailer. The raw dialogue gets a
glimpse of the no-hold-barred
script and movie which coupled
with Bhansali’s larger than life
extravagant handling promises
a blockbuster.
I
t is truly said that ‘Truth is stran-
ger than Fiction’ and in Bolly-
wood one can say that ‘Real life is
hotter than Reel life’ when we see
the true life-based hits that have
made the box office records. And
when the story is about a woman POWER PERSONIFIED
Gangubai Kathiawadi- the Bhansali film is already
creating a storm much before it’s release on Feb 25, in
reel life as in real life it portrays the power of a woman
who lives life strongly with the cards she is dealt!
SMOKING IS INJURIOUS TO HEALTH
Preview of the trailer held in
Mumbai on Thursday
Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt during the
preview trailer at Mumbai on Thursday

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
HITHA GOWDA, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Good planning will see you
complete a task at work in
record time. This is an
excellent day to spend time
with family. Your reputation is likely to
boost your image on the social front.
Monetary front grows strong for
some. You enjoy excellent health.
Those seeking love may get lucky.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
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. A good day at
work is foreseen as you make your
mark in front of those who matter.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Fitness through extra
efforts is assured for the
deskbound. Some positive
changes can be expected
on the home front. This seems a
good day for job seekers. If you are
in love, chances of making an
exciting plan together is possible
today.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
A family youngster is likely
to do you proud. 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. Special
awaits you on the romantic front today.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
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.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Much fun is in store on the
social front. Your own
happiness is in your hands
today. Spouse may need her
space, respect that. This is a favourable
day for completing pending jobs.
Those in love with the adventures are
likely to chase the excitement very
soon.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
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.
Exercise care in matters of health.
Lover may become your pillar of
strength.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Good advice may be
required to make a
profitable investment. A
journey may take you
down the memory lane. Some of you
may start a long pending construc-
tion work at home. Winning the
affections of the one you secretly
love is possible.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You may get busy
organising something on
the social front. You may
need to put your ideas into
action, if you want to prove yourself.
A party may be thrown in your
honour at work. Past investments
start giving good returns. Health-
wise a good day is foreseen.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Good tidings of your well
wishers will keep you
going on the professional
front. You may take up
someone’s cause and earn apprecia-
tion 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.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Appreciation is in store for
some homemakers. Those
looking for buying a house
can get a good bargain. A
professional victory is yours if you
play your cards well. Business will be
able to maintain good earning. You
may enjoy good health. Young lovers
may enjoy total bliss.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
This is the day full of joy,
love and excitement . You
will enjoy yourself with a
new group of friends .
Those in business will soon get a
chance to make profits. A new deal is
likely to come through and give you a
taste of success pending time with
lover proves most fulfilling.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
hrough the ten
years I’ve been ac-
tively teaching
Communication
Writing, I’ve come
to certain realiza-
tions. Good ones.
First, there is no such thing
as having attained ‘com-
plete knowledge’. This is a
concept I was introduced to
when I began learning Hin-
dustani Vocal as a young
boy
. Even at an institution
likeDoon,heraldedbymany
as a great school, it was re-
freshing and humbling to
hear my own Gurus say that
they remained students
their entire lives. That there
was no limit to gaining
knowledge, honing one’s
craft, improving, evolving.
Now, I am experiencing the
same phenomenon myself.
With each session, either as
a result of interacting with
a wide age range of students
who constantly keep me
fresh with a perspective
unique to that generation or
through having to answer a
slew of diverse queries, I
stay informed not only
about my own subject but
the world and its people. It is
a beautiful thing to happen,
especially to an educator - to
stay fresh, relevant, and en-
ergized.
By that same token, I have
beenblessedtohavestudents
whoareasyoungasfiveyears
of age,andasmatureasfifty-
five. That published authors
and writers would
come to a much
younger writer like
myself to take a Writ-
ing Workshop is
proof that there are
peopleoutthere,living
and breathing the phi-
losophy I earlier men-
tioned. That despite their
laurels, they are OPEN. To
gain more exposure, to put-
tingthemselvesoutthereand
being among other students,
I suspect to gather different
viewpoints, a myriad of
shared experiences and par-
take of the buffet of knowl-
edge that is served up with
eachnewhumaninteraction.
Of the many places I am
asked to conduct workshops
at, Schools, Colleges and
Corporates,TheOpenSpace
Society, a Media College in
my home city of Jaipur, is
especially close to my heart.
It is here that I started, and
have held, over the past year
or so, more than 5 work-
shops. Two of these, titled
‘Ink’ and ‘Prologue’ respec-
tively
, have been workshops
where I have delved into
both Fiction as well as Non-
Fiction Writing. And on
both occasions, we were
blessed with two groups
that were comprised of stu-
dents as young as 8th Grade,
to as senior as retired corpo-
rate heads. Though we be-
gan with some scepticism,
our trepidation relating to
the age-disparity of the at-
tendees quickly went from
being a potential drawback
to our single biggest
strength. It became the USP
of both these workshops –
where ideas, opinions,
thoughts, feelings between
seeminglydisparategenera-
tions came together by way
of healthy debate and dis-
cussion, sometimes result-
ing in an amalgam of
ideologies, at other
times, presenting dia-
metrically opposite
but immensely in-
sightful points of
views of generations
apart. It made the entire
experience, for me as a
mentor, and for the stu-
dents, as learners, infinitely
more enriching.
Later, it made me realize
that as long as there is a pas-
sionandahungerthatbinds
learners, even a class that
mighthavethreeorfourdec-
ades separating young and
old, can be a potent force-
multiplier. Of course, now
when I curate workshops, I
am mindful that this can’t
alwayswork.If Iamgoingto
teach just school children,
for example, I am careful to
divide those batches by jun-
ior, middle and senior
school. But if it is a session
or a workshop that broadly
addresses Writing or Com-
municationSkills;aslongas
the youngest participants
have fundamental domain
knowledge of the language,
age diversity certainly
makes things much more in-
teresting and this diversity
augments the creative and
learning process.
I want to specifically ad-
dress a lot of people like us,
who may sometimes that we
are ‘past our prime’, that we
have‘missedtheboat’.There
is simply NO such thing. As
the cliché goes - It is Never
Too Late. And this is what
Teaching has taught me.
That a teacher can improve
with each lesson, as can his
students, no matter who or
what they may be - that is the
beauty of knowledge and
shared, lifelong learning.
The next time you have the
urgetolearnanewskill,and
that voice inside you says
“you can’t learn in a class-
roomanymore”,orthat“you
can’t be a student at this
age”, ignore it. If there are
people around you question-
ingyourintentionssimilarly
,
don’t pay any heed to them
either.Learningisaneternal
quest that only rewards and
enriches, so jump right in,
because learning is ageless.
LEARNING HAS NO EXPIRY DATE!
KARTIK BAJORIA
The author is a Jaipur-based
Communication Skills Educator Writer
T
and breathing the phi-
losophy I earlier men-
tioned. That despite their
laurels, they are OPEN. To
gain more exposure, to put-
views of generations
apart. It made the entire
experience, for me as a
mentor, and for the stu-
dents, as learners, infinitely
more enriching.

ETC 11
ternal Hospi-
tal (A unit of
Eternal Heart
Care Centre
and Research
Institute) is a
state-of-the-
art tertiary care hospi-
tal in Jaipur city
. This
landmark Healthcare
Institute is the result
of the vision of Dr
Samin K Sharma, a
world-renowned Inter-
ventional Cardiologist
based at Mount Sinai
Hospital, New York,
USA. Founded in 2013,
today it is one of the
most preferred hospi-
tals not only in Jaipur
but also nationally and
internationally owing
to the exclusive ser-
vices and excellent
medical outcomes de-
livered. Eternal Hospi-
tal brings the best in
multispecialty treat-
ment to the state of
Rajasthan. Hospital
with a capacity of 250
bedded hospital has
state-of-the-ar t
technology focus-
ing on the speci-
alities like Car-
diology, Cardi-
ac Surgery,
Neurology,
Neuro Sur-
gery, Ortho-
paedic
Joint Re-
placement,
Spine Sur-
gery
,Neph-
r o l o - g y,
Paediatrics, Gy- nae-
cology, Critical Care,
Urology, Pulmonology,
Gastroenterology, Dia-
betes and Endocrinol-
ogy and many more.
Manju Sharma, Co-
Chairperson MD,
Eternal Hospital said,
“We are pleased to be a
part of the First India
Fashion Connect Sea-
son 11 to be held in
Dubai. I strongly feel
that health and medi-
cal support should be
the first priority in
every industry. She
further added, “Eter-
nal Hospital has a
knowledge-sharing ar-
rangement with
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York USA, which
has been internation-
ally recognized for its
top-performing physi-
cians and revolution-
ary research centres.
Our team and hospital
altogether have
emerged as a destina-
tionof choicefor many
national interna-
tional patients owing
to the exclusive ser-
vices and excellent
medical outcomes de-
livered here.”
It is the only hospi-
tal with JCI (Joint
Commission Interna-
tional)- USA Based or-
ganisation accredita-
tion. This accredita-
tion is a testimony to
Eternal Hospital’s con-
stant endeavour to pro-
vide world-class pa-
tient care and main-
tain the highest stand-
ards in healthcare de-
livery
. Apart from this
hospital is accredited
by NABH, NABL and
awarded for Nursing
Excellence by NABH.
All construction and
adaptation of technol-
ogy have been done in
adherence to interna-
tional norms. An aes-
thetically inspiring
building backed by
highly dedicated cus-
tomer services bears
the differentiating
mark for ETERNAL
HOSPITAL. The latest
range of equipment
ranging from a highly
equipped ICU to FD-20
(most advanced CATH
LAB in Rajasthan)
cath lab are some of
the examples of the
high benchmarks
ETERNAL HOSPITAL
maintains for its pa-
tients. Eternal Hospi-
tal has emerged as one
of the most preferred
multi-specialities
healthcare centres
with three successful
heart transplants,
ECMO and many
more. Clinical excel-
lence is rooted in our
team of doctors or
medical experts who
are well versed with
the latest advance-
ments in their re-
spective fields,
this is further
complemented
by our teams of
highly trained
nurses and
paramedical
staff.
Along with
the state-of-the-
art medical services,
some of the unique
features that Eter-
nal Hospital also
offers are Nuclear
Medicine, Infec-
tious disease de-
partment, Fast
track surgeries,
Preventive health
department and
ETERNAL HOS-
PITAL pa-
tient edu-
c a t i o n
servic-
es.
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
ETERNAL HEART CARE CENTRE (EHCC), THE OFFICIAL HEALTH CARE
PARTNER FOR THE FIRST INDIA FASHION CONNECT SEASON 11 TO BE
HELD AT OAKS IBN BATUTA GATE HOTEL, DUBAI ON MARCH 12 IS ALL
SET TO REDEFINE HEALTHCARE BY IMPROVING OUTCOMES AND
EXPERIENCE OF PATIENTS THROUGH CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH AND
PERSONALISED CLINICAL CARE INCLUDING INNOVATIVE, PREVENTIVE,
DIAGNOSTIC, THERAPEUTIC AND REHABILITATION SERVICES!
E
Transforming lives with
Transforming lives with
Eternal Care
Eternal Care
Manju Sharma, Co-Chairperson MD Eternal Hospital
Dr Samin K Sharma, Chairman and
Chief Interventional Cardiologist
Dr Pracheesh Prakash,
Chief Executive Officer
Nitesh Tiwari, General Manager
Dr Vikram Singh Chouhan,
Chief Operating Officer
Dr Jitendra Singh Makkar,
HOD Director Cardiology

04022022 first india ahmedabad

04022022 first india ahmedabad

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