05042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Book sheds light on how Smriti Irani was able to
wrest Cong stronghold Amethi from Rahul Gandhi
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A new book
has tried to shed light
on how BJP leader Sm-
riti Irani was able to
wrest Congress’ strong-
hold Amethi from Ra-
hul Gandhi in 2019.
The book, “The Smri-
ti Irani Story – Why She
Won Amethi” authored
by Kartikeya Tanna,
also mentions Irani’s
emphatic victory in 2019
GeneralElection.“Kaun
kehta hai aasmaan me
suraakh nhi ho sakta
(Who says the sky can-
not be pierced...),” Irani
had tweeted this line
from a popular Hindi
couplet on May 23, 2019
when she had defeated
Gandhi scion Rahul
from Congress’ bastion
for decades.
The book also men-
tions an incident from
December 2020 that por-
trays Irani’s gusty ava-
tar when she had
warned the Congress
that,if theycontinuedto
abuse or insult BJP
workers,then,come2024
(when the next General
Election will be held),
Congress’ other bastion
Rae Bareli, that is repre-
sented by AICC working
president Sonia Gandhi,
willalsobewrestedfrom
the Grand Old Party
.
The book chronicles
the reasons for Irani’s
Amethi win. It attrib-
utes Irani’s indomitable
courage as the prime
reason for her historic
victory from Amethi –
Gandhi family’s bastion
of decades. Her victory
was more important as
many political stal-
warts including Sharad
Yadav, Kanshi Ram,
Maneka Gandhi and
Rajmohan Gandhi
could not achieve this
feat.
Smriti Irani
PAK TURMOIL ENTERS
SUPER OVER!
Just when Pakistan appeared or
pretended to rely on more democratic
practices to deal with a political
situation, there are legitimate fears that
things may be going back to square one
NEW DELHI l TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 215
Sri Lanka:
Prez invites
Oppn to join
govt after
Cabinet quits
Vinay Kwatra,
India’s envoy
to Nepal, new
foreign secy
Cops say terror act after IIT graduate
attacks police at Gorakhnath Temple
SIT told UP govt to
scrap Ashish’s bail twice
Govt wants to strengthen
internal security: Shah...
Colombo: Amid Sri
Lanka’s worst crisis in
decades, president Gota-
baya Rajapaksa has in-
vited all political parties
inthecountrytojointhe
‘unity government’ to
find a solution. Raja-
paksa called on the op-
position to “work to-
gether”, news agency
reported.
Sri Lanka’s crisis in-
tensified on Sunday af-
ter all 26 ministers of
prime minister Mahin-
da Rajapaksa’s cabinet
stepped down, allowing
him to induct new fac-
es. The move came after
thousands of people de-
fied a weekend curfew
on Sunday to protest
across the island de-
manding the ouster of
the Rajapaksa family in
the midst of growing
public anger.
Meanwhile, Sri Lan-
kan police fired tear
gas and water can-
nons at some 2,000
irate protesters who
defied curfew orders
and tried to storm
Prime Minister Mahi-
nda Rajapaksa’s resi-
dence in Tangalle on
Monday, demanding
his resignation amid
the worst economic cri-
sis in the country.
Around 2,000 people de-
scended near the Prime
Minister’s residence in
Tangalle area.
New Delhi: Vinay Mo-
han Kwatra,India’sam-
bassador to Nepal, has
been named the new for-
eign secretary by the
Centre on Monday
.
Kwatra succeeds
Harsh Vard-
han who is
set to retire
this month.
The Appoint-
ments Com-
mittee of the Cabinet
has approved the ap-
pointment of Kwatra to
the post of Foreign Sec-
retaryuponthesuperan-
nuation of Shringla on
April 30, 2022, the gov-
ernment order said.
Kwatra is a 1988-batch
Indian Foreign Service
(IFS) officer.
Gorakhpur: The Uttar
Pradesh Police said that
Ahmed Murtaza, the
29-year-old man who al-
legedly injured two Pro-
vincial Armed Constab-
ulary jawans with a
sharp-edged weapon
and tried to forcibly en-
ter the Gorakhnath tem-
ple on Sunday night, is a
chemical engineering
graduate from the Indi-
an Institute of Technol-
ogy (IIT) Bombay
.
Additional Director
General (Gorakhpur
zone) Akhil Kumar said
the police are collecting
more details about Mur-
taza.
A small crowd, which
included security
guards, threw rocks at
Murtaza, who hit back
but was finally pinned
to the ground. The inci-
dent took place at
around 7 pm on Sunday
.
It is an act of terror,
the police said, adding
that investigations
would focus on the pos-
sibility of a larger con-
spiracy
.
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court-appointed
committee has filed its
status report in the
Lakhimpur Kheri case.
It said that the Special
Investigation Team
(SIT) probing the case
had recommended the
cancellation of the bail
granted to prime ac-
cused Ashish Mishra
twice to the Uttar
Pradesh government.
The SC has now re-
served its verdict on the
plea to cancel the bail
granted to Ashish
Mishra in the Lakhim-
pur Kheri case.
Its report also stated
that evidence substanti-
ated that Ashish Mis-
ra, son of Union minis-
ter Ajay Misra Teni,
was at the spot of the
violence that killed
eight people, and knew
about the change in the
route taken by UP Dep-
uty Chief Minister Kes-
hav Prasad Maurya on
October 3, the day of the
incident, to attend a
function.
New Delhi (PTI): The
government’s intention
to bring the Criminal
Procedure (Identifica-
tion) Bill is to strength-
en the law and order and
internal security of the
country
, Home Minister
Amit Shah said on Mon-
day, asserting that con-
cerns over human and
personal rights have
beentakencareof inthe
draft legislation.
The bill seeks to pro-
vide legal sanction to
the police to take physi-
cal and biological sam-
ples of convicts as well
as persons accused of
crimes.
Moving the Criminal
Procedure (Identifica-
tion) Bill for considera-
tion and passage in Lok
Sabha, Shah said that
besides the bill, the gov-
ernment under Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi is also preparing a
model prison manual
that will be send to
states.
He urged the mem-
bers to not see the bill in
isolation.
Islamabad: Embattled
Pakistani leader Imran
Khan on Monday nomi-
nated former Chief Jus-
tice Gulzar Ahmed for
the office of caretaker
Prime Minister.
Former Information
Minister and senior
leader of the Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf party
Fawad Chaudhry said
that Mr Khan made the
decision after approval
from the party’s core
committee.
The announcement
comes after President
Arif Alvi sent letters to
Mr Khan and Leader of
the Opposition Shehbaz
Sharif on Monday seek-
ing suggestions for the
appointment of a care-
taker Prime Minister.
Pak Constitution has
empowered the presi-
dent to appoint a care-
taker prime minister.
Engineer was
waving dagger
I don’t get angry, my
high-pitched voice
is ‘manufacturing
defect’,chuckles Shah
YOGI GIVES
CASE TO ATS
CENTRE MULLING REMOVAL OF AFSPA
FROM FEW J&K DISTRICTS: SOURCES
WILL THE PAK
ARMY STEP IN?
ARGUMENTS
BEGIN IN PAK SC
KASHMIRI PANDIT SHOT AT IN FOURTH
TERRORIST ATTACK IN VALLEY IN 24 HRS
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS) will probe
the incident of an attack
on police constables at
the Gorakhnath Temple
in Gorakhpur. Notably,
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath is the head priest
of Gorakhnath Temple
and has his personal
accommodation here.
The accused, who was
also injured in the at-
tack, was held by
the constables,
ADG, Law and Order
Prashant Kumar said.
The injured constables
have been identified as
Gopal Kumar Gaur and
Anil Paswan.
New Delhi: The central government is considering the
removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,
1958 from some districts in Jammu and Kashmir, said
sources. An announcement in this regard could be made
during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Union
Territory later this month. Areas in J&K were brought
under the AFSPA in September 1990 through a notifica-
tion issued by the then state government, declaring the
Kashmir valley a ‘disturbed area’. P3
History tells us that it’s
not entirely out of the
question that Army will
just be a fencesitter. In
Pakistan, no PM has
been able to complete
the full five-year term
in office. Three military
dictators have in the past
overthrown democrati-
cally elected govern-
ments in Pakistan.
A five-judge bench of the
Supreme Court is hear-
ing the case. Respond-
ing to the request of
Pakistan People’s Party’s
lawyer Farooq Naik for
a full court bench, the
Chief Justice said, “If
you object to the bench,
we will get up and
leave.” The hearing will
resume on Tuesday.
Shopian: A Terrorists shot at a shopkeeper in Chotogam
area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday
evening. The victim, identified as Sonu Kumar Balji - a
Kashmiri Pandit - has been rushed to an Army hospital
in Srinagar in critical condition. Over the past 24 hours,
seven people, including four non-local labourers in
Pulwama and two CRPF jawans in Srinagar, have been
fired at and injured by terrorists. In Pulwama district,
two non-local labourers were shot at and injured.
CM Yogi Adityanath meets police personnel injured in Gorakhnath
temple attack, at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah being received by Union
Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur upon his
arrival, during the special screening of Teleserial Vidrohi, at Film
Division Auditorium, Mahadev Road in New Delhi on Monday.
People break their fast during the holy fasting month of Ramzaan at the historical Badshahi
mosque in Lahore of Pakistan as the country battles political crisis from Assembly to Apex Court.
Imran proposes ex-
chief justice of Pak
Gulzar Ahmed as
caretaker PM; SC
begins hearing
HOW
CARETAKER
PM WILL BE
CHOSEN
Imran Khan will continue as prime minister, but only for 15 days, dur-
ing which a caretaker PM should be appointed, President Arif Alvi has
said. If Imran and Sharif do not agree on a person within three days
of the dissolution of the National Assembly, then two names will have
to be sent to the committee formed by the Speaker of the National
Assembly. In case, the committee fails to appoint a caretaker prime
minister, the president will take a decision in consultation with EC.
says in LS on bill allowing police to collect biometric data
LAKHIMPUR
KHERI CASE
Sensex surged 1,335.05 points (2.25 per cent) to settle 60,611.74 while the Nifty
50 rallied 382.95 points (2.17 per cent) to end at 18,053.40. Both the indices had
opened around 1 per cent higher earlier in the day and surged over 2.5 per cent
in the intraday trade with the BSE benchmark hitting a high of 60,845.10 and the
broader Nifty touching 18,114.65 triggered by a sharp rally in HDFC twins. P6
SENSEX SURGES
1,335 POINTS,
NIFTY ENDS ABOVE
18,000-MARK
India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank will merge with housing finance firm
HDFC Ltd, the companies said on Monday. Shareholders of HDFC Ltd will receive
42 shares of the bank for 25 shares held. Existing shareholders of HDFC Ltd will
own 41 per cent of HDFC Bank. Shares held by the housing finance company in the
lender will be extinguished, making HDFC Bank a full-fledged public company. P6
HDFC BANK AND
MORTGAGE LENDER
HDFC LIMITED
ANNOUNCE MERGER
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CRUCIAL READ
BIDEN WANTS WAR
CRIMES TRIAL AS
MASS GRAVES FOUND
Washington: President
Joe Biden on Monday
called for a war crimes
trial over the alleged
atrocities against civilians
in Ukraine, where mass
graves were found, and
said he wants more sanc-
tions imposed on Russia.
MALIK’S JUDICIAL
CUSTODY EXTENDED
TILL APRIL 18
Mumbai: A special court
on Monday extended
the judicial custody of
Maharashtra minister
Nawab Malik till April
18 in connection with a
money laundering case.
Malik (62) was arrested
on February 23 by ED.
DELIMITATION PANEL BEGINS TWO-DAY
INTERACTION WITH PUBLIC, JK LEADERS
Jammu: The Delimitation Commission, which has
been tasked to redraw the boundaries of assembly
and parliamentary constituencies in JK, on Mon-
day began its two-day long meetings with public and
civil society for receiving suggestions and objections
on its draft delimitation proposal. P3

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022
02
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New Delhi (PTI): As
many as 3,697 buses of
the Delhi Transport
Corporation (DTC) are
equipped with panic
buttons and CCTV cam-
eras even as 43 vehicles
in the fleet lack these
features, government
data showed.
The information was
given by the Transport
department in the Delhi
Assembly last week dur-
ing its budget session.
In reply to another
question by Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) mem-
ber Om Prakash Shar-
ma, the department said
the DTC managed
monthly savings of `2.32
crore in the financial
year 2020-21 while the
corporation's income in
the same fiscal was
`454.42 crore.
In reply to Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) MLA
Pawan Kumar Sharma's
question, Transport
Minister Kailash Gahlot
said, CCTV cameras
and panic buttons have
been installed in 3,697
DTC buses plying on city
roads. However, 43 DTC
buses do not have this
facility yet. The matter
of installation of CCTVs
and panic buttons in
these 43 DTC buses is un-
der consideration with
the government.
The minister also
said that till March 21,
2022, there were 9,181
marshals deployed in
DTC buses.
He added that the per
kilometre running cost
incurred on DTC buses
was Rs 106 in the finan-
cial year 2020-21. In reply
to a question by BJP
MLASharma,Transport
Minister Gahlot said the
government had spent
Rs 13.06 crore per month
in the financial year
2020-21 for deploying
marshals in DTC buses.
The DTC's income in
2020-21 stood at Rs 454.42
crore while the Corpo-
ration managed month-
ly savings of Rs 2.32
crore in the same fiscal.
The DTC spent Rs 28.63
crore per month on fuel
in the financial year
2020-21, Gahlot told the
Delhi Assembly.
Panic buttons, CCTVs in
3,697 DTC buses: Govt
Till March 21, 2022, there were 9,181 marshals deployed in DTC buses
Delhi High Court on
Monday asked the city
government to apprise it
about the infrastructure
required for setting up
of 42 commercial courts
in the national capital.
A bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice
Navin Chawla also di-
rected the administra-
tive side of the high
court to file an affidavit
disclosing the position
regarding availability of
courtrooms and judicial
officers who could man
these commercial
courts. The court issued
notice and sought re-
sponse of the Delhi High
Court, through Regis-
trar General, Delhi gov-
ernment and the Centre
on a petition by advocate
and social activist Amit
Sahni seeking direc-
tions to set up posts of 42
more District Judges
(commercial) in view of
a notification issued by
the city government on
April 13, 2021.
The notification was
issued in furtherance of
the Delhi Government's
cabinet approval regard-
ing setting up of 42 ad-
ditional posts of District
Judges (commercial).
“We direct the Delhi
government to file a
counter affidavit specifi-
cally on creation of in-
frastructure required
for setting up of 42 com-
mercial courts. The high
court (administrative
side) shall file a counter
affidavit disclosing the
position regarding avail-
ability of court rooms
and availability of judi-
cial officers who could
man these courts,” the
bench said.
HC seeks infra requirement
for more commercial courts
Arvind Kejriwal-led
AAP government has a
responsibility for re-
ducing pollution in the
national capital, Union
Environment Minister
Bhupend- er Yadav
said in the Lok Sabha
on Monday
.
The minister said the
CAQM in the national
capital region (NCR)
and adjoining areas has
adopted a participative
and collaborative ap-
proach towards dealing
with the issues of air
pollution in the region.
Yadav was respond-
ing to a question by BJP
MP from Delhi Parvesh
Sahib Singh, who
slammed the AAP gov-
ernment for its alleged
lackadaisical attitude
towards solving Delhi's
pollution problem.
AAPGovthasaresponsibilitytoreduce
pollution in Delhi:Union MinisterYadav
80 hectares earmarked
for AIIMS revamp plan
Delhi Development Au-
thority (DDA) has in-
vited public comments
for amending the Mas-
ter Plan of Delhi, 2021,
with regard to the rede-
velopment of the All
India Institute of Medi-
cal Sciences (AIIMS) in
south Delhi. Around 80
hectares has to be de-
clared as ‘development
area’ in the zonal plan
for the redevelopment
project, said officials in
the know of the matter.
“People have been
given time till mid-May
to submit their sug-
gestions/objections
regarding the pro-
posed changes. This is
an important project.
The plan is to make
the premier institute
into a world-class med-
ical university and de-
velop infrastructure
to meet future require-
ments,” said a senior
DDA official.
3 booked for
hate speech in
Burari Maha
Panchayat
New Delhi (ANI):
Delhi Police have
registered three
FIRs in connection
with the alleged
hate speech deliv-
ered at a Maha Pan-
chayat organised on
Sunday in New Del-
hi’s Burari ground,
and said that legal
action is being taken
against those
spreading rumours
on social media.
The first FIR has
been filed for organ-
ising the pro-
gramme without
due grant of permis-
sion from the police.
The police have filed
an FIR against the
organiser of the
event (Preet Singh,
founder of the Save
India Foundation).
Noida cops
slam the
brakes on 60
bikers
Noida: A group of 60
youths, riding high-end
sports bikes, were
stopped and told to re-
turn to Delhi from Ka-
lindi Kunj, the DND
flyway and the Chilla
border by Noida police
on Sunday.
The bikers, cops
claimed, were mostly
from Delhi and Gur-
gaon. They said the
youths not only race to-
wards Noida every
weekend but also per-
form stunts on the Noi-
da-Greater Noida and
Yamuna expressways,
often causing inconven-
ience to other commut-
ers and affecting the
flow of traffic.
DCP (traffic) Ganesh
Shah told TOI they had
received information
that several youths on
sports bikes were head-
ed towards Noida
throughthethreeroutes
on Sunday morning.
“Traffic cops at the
three border points
were immediately alert-
ed and told to prevent
all such bikers from
moving towards the ex-
pressways.
New Delhi (PTI): In a
boost to the AAP in Har-
yana, former Congress
leader Ashok Tanwar
joined the Arvind Kejri-
wal-led party.
Tanwar joined the
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
on Monday in the pres-
ence of Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia. He also called on
AAP convener and Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal. Tanwar, for-
mer MP from Sirsa in
Haryana, had quit the
Congress in 2019.
Ex-Cong leader Ashok Tanwar
joins AAP; meets Arvind Kejriwal
Former Haryana Congress President Ashok Tanwar joins Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) in presence of Delhi Chief Minister and party
National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi on Monday.
CNG price in Delhi hiked
by `2.5 to `64.11/Kg
New Delhi (ANI): In-
draprastha Gas Limited
(IGL) has hiked the
price of Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG) in
Delhi by Rs 2.5 per kg to
Rs 64.11 per Kg. The
new price will come
into effect from Mon-
day, April 4.
With the hike in
CNG price, cab drivers
in Delhi are now reluc-
tant to switch on their
cars’ air conditioners.
“In the wake of the
hike in the CNG price,
we shall not switch on
the cab’s air condition-
er for passengers. The
increased price has hit
our pockets,” a cab
driver in Delhi told
news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, the pric-
es of petrol and diesel
were hiked for the 12th
time in two weeks on
Monday.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Beautiful in-
doors, great food to be
enjoyed with family
and friends, and the
quaint charm of a train
dining car — New Del-
hi Railway Station is
soon going to boast of
the capital’s first “Rail
Coach Restaurant” that
you won’t need a rail-
way ticket to enter.
Northern Railway is
going to introduce the
restaurant in the circu-
lating area of New Del-
hi Railway Station on
the Ajmeri Gate side.
An old coach would
be converted into a
state-of-the-art restau-
rant expected to offer
the best in fine dining.
“Apart from the area
taken up by the coach,
there will be space
around it. Currently,
the perfect location on
the Ajmeri Gate side is
being finalised for the
purpose. Northern
Railway will only pro-
vide the coach and it
will be refurbished, up-
graded and operated by
a private entity,” said
an official.
The contract to oper-
ate the restaurant
would be for five years
with an expected reve-
nue of Rs 3.3 crore.
“Any railway project is
capital intensive and it
takes time for returns
to come. However, in
this case, we will be
earning non-fare reve-
nue without investing
almost anything,” the
official said.
Similar rail coach
restaurants are opera-
tional at railway sta-
tions in Mumbai, Bho-
pal, Indore and Jabal-
pur. “We expect the
restaurant to become
operational in 2-3
months,” said the offi-
cial. Though located in-
side the station com-
plex, the rail coach res-
taurant would be open
not only to passengers,
but other visitors too.
While it would be open
on all seven days of the
week, it might be opera-
tional 24x7 too.
The restaurant would
accommodate up to 50
diners at a time, sourc-
es said. However, there
would also be separate
food stalls on both sides
of the coach for which
separate sheds might be
provided. There would
also be a takeaway
counter for people to
buy food, snacks and
beverages.
Fine dining on train that’s going nowhere!
RAIL COACH RESTAURANT
6 FRESH CASES OF
DENGUE TAKE TOLL
TO 61 SO FAR
TWO PERSONS
LOOTED AT
GUNPOINT
New Delhi: Six fresh
cases of dengue have
been reported in the
last one week in
Delhi, taking the
tally to 61, accord-
ing to a civic report
released on Monday.
Till March 26 this
year, 55 cases of
dengue were record-
ed in the city. Six
fresh cases have been
reported in the last
one week, it said.
According to the
civic report on vec-
tor-borne diseases, at
least 61 dengue cases
have been recorded
this year.
New Delhi: Two people
were looted at gunpoint
in the Vivek Vihar area
of Delhi near Yamuna
Sports Complex, said the
Delhi police.
The case is registered
and search for the
accused is underway. As
per police, the incident
took place at 6.13 am
when the complainant
along with his friend was
on a morning walk from
his home to Yamuna
Sports complex when
two boys riding on a mo-
torbike stopped nearby
and threatened them by
showing the pistol to
give his ‘gold kada’.
New Delhi: A 62-year-old man was shot dead in north-
west Delhi’s Kanjhawala area, police said on Monday.
Information was received at around 9.04 pm on
Sunday at Kanjhawala police
station wherein the caller stat-
ed that a person has been shot
at by three motorcycle-borne
assailants at Ghevara village in
the Kanjhawala area, they said.
A police team reached the spot
and found that the person had
died, the police said, and identified the deceased as
Rameshwar, a resident of Ghevra village, who used to
run a grocery store.
MAN SHOT DEAD IN NORTHWEST DELHI
CRUCIAL READ
HIGHLIGHT
W
W
THE BENCH SAYS
DELHI TO HAVE
SUMMER ACTION
PLAN: RAI
Delhi government will
prepare a 14-point
summer action plan to
fight pollution in the
capital, Environment
Minister Gopal Rai said
on Monday. He said the
plan will focus on open
burning of garbage,
fires at landfill sites,
increasing green cover
on the roadside,
rejuvenation of water
bodies, parks, tree
transplantation.
New Delhi (PTI):
The Union govern-
ment on Sunday ap-
pointed a six-member
panel to formally take
charge of the Delhi
Gymkhana Club, two
days after the NCLT
allowed the centre to
take over the manage-
ment of the club.
“Yes, it is correct
that after the govern-
ment appointed six
members pursuant to
NCLT orders, the
board has taken
charge,” said lawyer
and BJP spokesperson
Nalin Kohli, who is
among the members.
The members have
been appointed as di-
rectors of the general
committee of the club.
Centre’s panel takes over
Delhi Gymkhana’s affairs
Bhupender Yadav

INDIA
03
Infighting begins in Maha Congress as MLAs become
disgruntled over no response from high command!
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: After the
assembly election re-
sults of five States, it
was being speculated as
to the infighting in
which state congress
unit will come to fore,
first. There was a pos-
sibility of a dispute be-
tween Maharashtra and
Jharkhand and in fact
the dispute started in
Maharashtra which
was first indicated by
NCP’s Rajya Sabha MP
Majeed Memon. He
tweeted that many
MLAs are in touch with
BJP. Earlier, he also
praised Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Later
when he was asked, he
retracted and said that
he was talking about
Congress MLAs.
Indeed, many Con-
gress MLAs have ex-
pressed their displeas-
ure. 25 MLAs of the par-
ty have expressed their
displeasure with the
state leadership and the
ministers of the Maha
Vikas Aghadi govern-
ment of the state and
expressed their desire to
meetCongresspresident
Sonia Gandhi. They say
that Congress Ministers
ignore them. Keep in
mind that as soon as the
coalition government
was formed in the state,
the Congress party had
given the responsibility
of listening to the prob-
lems of its MLAs and
resolving them. Three
MLAs were assigned to
each minister, but the
legislators say that they
do not even know about
this. Two and a half
yearsaftertheformation
of the government, a
minister - HK Patil - held
a meeting with three
MLAs, when informa-
tion about this arrange-
ment came to the fore.
Meanwhile, Congress
leadershavealsobecome
apprehensive about this
arrangement. They feel
thatthepartyismonitor-
ing them through minis-
ters and taking meas-
ures to keep them under
control. It is being said
that the Congress is ap-
prehensive that some of
its MLAs may switch
sides and as the elec-
tions are nearing, the
concern of the Congress
is increasing propor-
tionally
. The Congress
haslostbadlyintheelec-
tions of the five states,
after which there is a
possibility of a ‘stam-
pede’ from the party
.
Senior Maharashtra Congress leaders Nana Patole, Bhai Jagtap and others. —FILE PHOTO
Centre mulling removal of AFSPA
fromsomedistsofJK:Sources
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Centre is consider-
ing the removal of the
Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, 1958 from
some districts in Jam-
mu and Kashmir, sourc-
es told media.
Sources add that an
announcement in this
regard could be made
during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit
to the Union Territory
later this month.
Areas in JK were
brought under the AFS-
PA in September 1990
through a notification
issued by the then state
govt, declaring the
Kashmir valley a ‘dis-
turbed area’ under Sec-
tion 3. It was only in Au-
gust 2001 that the then
state govt extended the
scope of AFSPA to Jam-
mu province.
On March 31 of this
year, Home Minister
Shah announced a re-
duction in the number
of areas in Nagaland,
Assam and Manipur
where AFSPA was in
force. As per reports, a
decision in this regard
was taken on the basis
of the recommenda-
tions of a high-level
committee constituted
to examine the possibil-
ity of removal of AFS-
PA following the killing
of 14 civilians in an
Army operation in Na-
galand’s Mon last year.
The AFSPA is now
fully applicable in 31
districts and partially
in 12 districts of four
Northeastern states,
namely Assam, Naga-
land, Manipur and
Arunachal Pradesh.
AFSPA was enacted on 11 September 1958 to bring under control what the government considered
‘disturbed areas’, essentially conflict-hit areas. —FILE PHOTO
JAWAN INJURED IN
SRINAGAR MILITANT
ATTACK SUCCUMBS
Srinagar (ANI): One of
the two CRPF troop-
ers injured in a militant
attack in Srinagar
city on Monday has
succumbed to critical
injuries, officials said.
The two troopers were
injured when militants
fired at them from close
range in Maisuma local-
ity of uptown Srinagar.
Doctors at the SMHS
hospital said one of the
troopers admitted for
treatment with critical
injuries has succumbed.
Jammu (PTI): The De-
limitation Commission,
which has been tasked
to redraw the bounda-
ries of assembly and
parliamentary constitu-
encies in Jammu and
Kashmir, on Monday
began its two-day-long
meetings with public
and civil society for re-
ceiving suggestions and
objections on its draft
delimitation proposal
for the union territory.
The Commission on
March 14 has put its re-
port in the public do-
main and invited objec-
tions and suggestions
from people. The com-
mission has published
its report in the gazettes
of India as well as Jam-
mu and Kashmir.
The panel has begun
meetings at the Conven-
tion Centre here with
members of the public,
civilsocietyandpolitical
parties from all districts
of the Jammu region.
Delimitation panel begins consultations
Two-day-long meet
with public, civil
society members
for suggestions on
Members of the Delimitation panel in JK. —FILE PHOTO
After MK Stalin,
K’taka’s Bommai
to visit New Delhi
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): CM Bommai’s of-
fice confirmed that on
Tuesday, he would leave
for New Delhi for a two-
day trip. An appoint-
ment has been fixed
with Union Jal Shakti
Minister Gajendra Sin-
gh Shekhawat to dis-
cuss the issue of clear-
ance to the pending
Mekedatu project,
which is crucial in the
wake of upcoming As-
sembly elections in the
state in 2023.
MinisterforWaterRe-
sources Govind M. Kar-
jol would also accompa-
ny CM Bommai to New
Delhi. CM Bommai
would also hold meet-
ings and discuss other
important irrigation
projects of the state, in-
cluding Mahadayi and
Upper Krishna project.
CBI moves court
to seek custody
of Vaze, Palande
Mumbai (Agencies):
The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), on
Monday moved the
Mumbai sessions court
to seek custody of
Sachin Vaze and San-
jeev Palande in the Rs
100 crore extortion case
involving former Mum-
bai top cop Parambir
Singh.
Sources have claimed
that there are possibili-
ties that they will be
taken to Delhi for fur-
ther investigation.
Palande was in the
custody of the special
ED court, while Vaze
was in the custody of
the NIA court. Both the
courts permitted their
custody be taken.
On April 21, 2021 the
CBI had filed an FIR
against Deshmukh and
had initiated a probe.
78-yr-old names all her
property after Rahul,
says country needs him
Dehradun (Agencies):
A 78-year-old woman
fromUttarakhand’sDeh-
radun has named all her
property after Congress
leaderRahulGandhi,in-
cluding assets worth 50
lakhs and 10 tola of gold.
Pushpa Munjial has
presented a will in the
Dehradun court, giving
the ownership title of
her properties to Rahul
Gandhi.
Munjial described Ra-
hulGandhiandhisideas
as necessary for the
country
. She said she is
verymuchinfluencedby
his thoughts.
Congress Metropoli-
tan President Lalchand
Sharma said that Push-
pa Munjial willed her
property to Rahul Gan-
dhi at the residence of
former state president
Pritam Singh.
Dehradun senior citizen hands over her property.
Nitish denies plan to
move to Rajya Sabha
Patna (Agencies): Bi-
har Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar on Monday
categorically denied
that he is going to the
Rajya Sabha.
While casting his vote
for the MLCs election in
Patna, Kumar said that
he was shocked to read
news articles about it.
“Theyareusedtopub-
lishing such reports. I
am not paying attention
to it,” he said.
Recently, during an
unofficial discussion
with a few journalists
here, Kumar had ex-
pressed his desire of go-
ing to the Upper House.
In his long political ca-
reer, he said he has
worked in the capacity
of a MLA, MLC, MP in
the Lok Sabha, cabinet
and state minister in the
Centre and chief minis-
ter in Bihar but never
served as a Rajya Sabha
MP
. He denied the state-
ment the next day
.
Denying any such
plan, one of his cabinet
ministersAshokChaud-
hary said that Kumar
has no plans of going to
the Rajya Sabha. He is
the chief minister of Bi-
har and will complete
his five-year tenure.
Nitish Kumar
Rana Ayyub
allowed to
travel abroad
with conditions
Delhi High Court on
Monday permitted
journalist Rana Ayyub
to travel abroad on cer-
tain conditions as it
heard her plea challeng-
ing the restrictions by
the Enforcement Direc-
torate (ED) from leav-
ing the country
.
After hearing the
matter in detail, Justice
Chandra Dhari Singh
allowedhertogoabroad
on certain conditions,
including a deposit of
some amount.
She was also asked to
inform the probe offi-
cials about her stay in
theforeigncountriesand
share contact details.
AdvocateVrindaGrov-
er appeared for Ayyub.
A detailed order in
the matter is expected
to come later in the day
.
Earlier, the bench
had asked the ED to file
a status report on its
case against her by 2.30
p.m. on April 4.
Rana Ayyub
‘Plan to broadcast Hindu
prayers during azaan’
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): The situation is
turning more serious in
Karnataka with Hindu
organisations planning
to broadcast Hindu
prayers at the time of
azaan in mosques.
Hindu activist Bhar-
ath Shetty stated on
Monday that the cam-
paign would start in An-
janeya temple of Yela-
hanka in Bengaluru at 5
am, during the time of
azaan. The campaign is
planned throughout the
state, he said.
This being a sensitive
issue,moresoasRamzan
has just begun, the po-
lice is making elaborate
security arrangements.
The Hindu organisa-
tions are planning to
broadcast “Om Namah
Shivay”, “Jai Shri
Ram” slogans and other
devotional prayers ex-
actly at the time of
azaan in mosques.
The Shri Ram Sena
has stated that it had
submitted a request to
the auhorities for stop-
ping the use of loud-
speakers at 5 am. The
tehsildar and the Pollu-
tion Control Board did
not take any action on it.
“We will submit a
complaint to the Dis-
trict Commissioners as
a last resort. The gov-
ernment should ask the
Muslim community to
follow the guidelines of
the Supreme Court. We
do not oppose their
prayers. But, we oppose
the use of loudspeakers
because of which lakhs
of people are put to in-
convenience,” Shri Ran
Sena founder Pramod
Muthalik stated.
Every day at 5 am,
there will be Ram
Bhajans and prayers to
Lord Shiva played in
temples, he stated.
USE SPEAKERS WITHIN MOSQUES, THEY
DISTURB STUDENTS: KARNATAKA MINISTER
Karwar (Karnataka): Amid opposition by some right wing
groups to the use loudspeakers at mosques, senior Karna-
taka Minister KS Eshwarappa on Monday said, any solution
to the issue can be found by taking the Muslim community
into confidence, keeping the
interests of students and
patients in mind. Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena chief Raj
Thackeray last week demanded
that loudspeakers of mosques
be shut down. “If this is not
stopped, there will be speakers
outside mosques playing Hanu-
man Chalisa at higher volume,”
he had said in Mumbai. Stating that it is not a competition to
play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers to counter its use at
mosques, and that it may lead to conflict between communi-
ties, Mr Eshwarappa advised Muslim leaders to see to it that
speakers are limited to their places of worship and don’t dis-
turb people living in surrounding areas. “The attempts by Raj
Thackeray or Sri Rama Sene against the use of loudspeakers
at mosques, has to be naturally done by taking the Muslim
community into confidence. There have been complaints
for a long time that it disturbs students and patients during
morning and evening hours,” Mr Eshwarappa said.
KS Eshwarappa
Andhra Pradesh gets a new
map, doubles districts to 26
Hyderabad (Agencies):
Andhra Pradesh got a
new administrative map
on Monday
, with the cre-
ation of 13 new districts
that doubled their num-
ber to 26, in a massive
overhaul that the State
Government said will
improvegovernanceand
delivery of services.
Chief Minister YS
Jagan Mohan Reddy
launched the new dis-
tricts at a virtual cere-
mony in the morning,
following an “auspi-
cious muhurat” time
set by Vedic priests.
The decentralisa-
tion of the govern-
ment has been among
the top-billed priori-
ties of the YSR Con-
gress government
which had announced
the creation of village
secretariats as well.
Reddy, while cam-
paigning for the 2019
assembly elections,
had promised that his
party, if voted to power,
would make each of the
25 Lok Sabha constitu-
encies a district.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Creation of more
districts is meant
to be a step in the
decentralised
development of all
regions: CM Jagan

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 215
l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
The one in whom no longer
exist the craving and thirst
that perpetuate becoming;
how could you track that
Awakened one, trackless,
and of limitless range.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Uttar Pradesh will play an important
role in establishing India as a
knowledge based economy in the 21st
century. Good luck to Hon’ble Chief
Minister Shri. @myogiadityanath ji.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Broadcast Seva Portal is an integrated
online facilitation portal for various
stakeholders of the broadcasting
sector - for speedy processing of
applications and license permissions.
TOP TWEETS
SRI LANKA CRISIS
SPIRALS OUT OF
CONTROL, PREZ
SACKS HIS BROTHER
ith Sri Lanka’s eco-
nomic crisis showing
no sign of abating,
President Mahinda
Rajapaksa sacked the
country’s finance minister Gota-
baya Rajapaksa, who is his
younger brother. Earlier, all 26
ministers in the government
had submitted their resigna-
tions. Incidentally
, Gotabaya was
scheduled to meet IMF officials
in the US for a possible bailout
package. That the sacked finance
minister was headed to the IMF
sounds strange as earlier he had
opted for a loan from China, by
virtually mortgaging the inter-
ests of his country, rather than
approaching the international
lending agency. Caught in Bei-
jing’s debt trap, much like Paki-
stan, Sri Lanka pleaded with
China to reschedule its huge
debt burden. To the misfortune
of the island nation which has a
spiraling debt problem, China
decided to leave it in the lurch.
That is what made Sri Lanka
to turn to India for urgent help.
New Delhi, which was worried
over Chinese moves in Sri Lan-
ka, agreed to help out of human-
itarian gesture but also to edge
out Beijing.
W
hat a smashing
century this is for
the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party which
now has strength
of 101 in the 245-member Up-
per House of Parliament. The
tally of BJP-headed alliance---
NDA---willbe117.Crossingthe
100-mark gives it a psychologi-
cal advantage. This is after
1988-90thatapartyhascrossed
the triple digit mark. The pa-
theticsituationwhichtheCon-
gressfindsitself inisreflected
in the party’s presence in Ra-
jya Sabha. Its numbers are
downto33andareprojectedto
fallfurtherto29asitlosesstate
after state in elections. The
Congressnumbershavestead-
ily declined over the years.
From 152 seats in 1982-84 and
108 in 1988-90, the numbers
came down to 99, 72 in subse-
quent years. The achievement
would not have been possible
without the sustained efforts
of top BJP leaders who toiled
to make the party’s ideology
acceptable across India.
Its numbers in both the
Houses give the BJP a big ad-
vantage in the Presidential
election due in July this year
as the opposition will be out-
numbered. The ruling dis-
pensationattheCentredidn’t
have to worry much as it
managed to get the numbers
for the passage of Bills to
scrap Article 370 and triple
talaq and the contentious
farm laws. Legislations on
any pending agenda which
the BJP may now have can
also be moved comfortably
.
At least now, will the Con-
gress learn any lessons from
itsnearall-rounddecimation?
Karnataka and Gujarat elec-
tionslieahead.Anydebaclein
these two states due to bum-
bling leadership will be yet
another nail in the coffin.
ADVANTAGE BJP,
CONG IN DUMPS
What a smashing century this is for the Bharatiya Janata
Party which now has strength of 101 in the
245-member Upper House of Parliament. The tally of
BJP-headed alliance--- NDA---will be 117. Crossing the
100-mark gives it a psychological advantage. This is after
1988-90 that a party has crossed the triple digit mark
W
o one tells me what to think!
And no one tells me what to
do!”Sayingthesewordssoem-
phatically usually means that
we have great confidence in
ourselves and in our own
judgement. Can we really be
sure that someone is not
moulding our thinking, with-
outourbeingevenawareof it?
Every day, we are bom-
barded with persuasive voic-
es – celebrities peddling cos-
metics, salesman pushing
products – very often these
voices are alluring. Many
people do not stop to think
and wonder if these influenc-
ers know much about the
products they promote.
The fact is, the way we
think and act, is generally
influenced, in some way by
the feelings and views of
those to whom we listen. This
is not a bad thing if these
people have our best inter-
ests at heart.
Thus,onecannotthinkthat
no one can ever influence
them. It may already be hap-
pening without our realizing
it. Our choices are also affect-
edbytheadvertisingindustry
,
often subtly
. An advertise-
ment uses two ways to influ-
encethecustomers–byseduc-
ing them or by conditioning
them. What an elusive tech-
nique to mould our thinking!
With the means of commu-
nication expanding, the flow
of persuasive messages has
accelerated. Hoaxes, scams
and deception are common
these days. Misleading state-
ments feature in the media.
Newspaper headlines, televi-
sion documentaries and in-
ternet web pages make some
gullibly believe everything.
Propagandists influence
by agitating the emotions,
exploiting insecurities, capi-
talizing on the ambiguity of
language and by bending the
rules of logic. Most people
vulnerably absorb every-
thing without questioning or
analysing the information.
There is a big difference
between education and prop-
aganda. Good education pre-
sents all sides of an issue and
encourages discussion. It
helps one to think logically.
Propagandists force others to
hear their views and tell
them what to think. They
twist and distort facts, and
make sure that their mes-
sages appear to be correct
and give people a sense of
importance and belonging.
Even though feelings
might be irrelevant when it
comes to facts or the logic of
an argument, they do play a
crucial role in persuasion.
Fear, hatred and pride are
strong emotions exploited by
propagandists. Appeal to
pride can be made with state-
ments such as, “any intelli-
gent person knows that…”
A common persuasive tac-
tic is, to attack the person
with a subtle dose of innuen-
dos – “if you really under-
stood the matter, you would
not have that point of view”
or “you only believe that be-
cause you are told to believe
it.” Or to label a person as
“crazy” or “uninformed” if
he/she says something that
one does not want to hear.
Another tactic is, over sim-
plification, that ignores rele-
vant considerations of a
complex matter. Like an ad-
vertisement of a house pur-
chase may be over simplified
to appear as an attractive
deal, but has hidden costs.
Also,peopleuse“either/or”
kind of reasoning, which re-
duces a wide range of options
to only two, preventing one to
look for other alternatives.
It is easy to absorb whatev-
er is around us. So, one must
see if it has propagandistic
overtones or it is factual. Reli-
ability of any information
depends on the validity of
facts, the quality of reasoning
and the acceptable standards.
We can ask questions to see
if there is a bias. Such as,
what is the motive or merits
of a message? Is it loaded
with words? What is the track
record of the one presenting
the information? Why should
I regard this person, organi-
zation or publication as hav-
ing reliable information?
Rather than just follow the
trend, one can think differ-
ently. Popular opinion is not
necessarily always correct.
We still have a strong de-
fense available against such
hidden persuaders. We can
choose not to be manipulated
in every situation if we know
what is going on, by keeping
our minds open and recep-
tive to good influences. Lack
of information is as lethal as
misinformation.
Using good judgment, we
can perceive subtleties of
ideas or things. One will be
abletorecognizemeresmooth
and complimentary speech
and discard misleading facts.
Honest persuasion is not
the same thing as hidden
propaganda. Since every-
thing we imbibe into our
mind influences us to some
degree, the key is knowing
the source and the people
who are trustworthy
.
So, the sly art of propagan-
da can paralyze thought, pre-
vent clear thinking and can
condition one to act. By creat-
ing an environment where
ideas circulate freely
, one can
be truly educated. In an age
of sophisticated propaganda,
we can be confident not to be
manipulated.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
“
N
REKHA KUMAR
The writer is a personal
development skills facilitator
We still have a strong
defense available against
such hidden persuaders. We
can choose not to be
manipulated in every
situation if we know what is
going on, by keeping our
minds open and receptive to
good influences. Lack of
information is as lethal as
misinformation. Using good
judgment, we can perceive
subtleties of ideas or things.
One will be able to recognize
mere smooth and
complimentary speech and
discard misleading facts.
Honest persuasion is not the
same thing as hidden
propaganda. Since
everything we imbibe into
our mind influences us to
some degree, the key is
knowing the source and the
people who are trustworthy
With the means of
communication
expanding, the flow of
persuasive messages
has accelerated.
Hoaxes, scams and
deception are common
these days. Misleading
statements feature in the
media. Newspaper
headlines, television
documentaries and
internet web pages
make some gullibly
believe everything
The Hidden Persuaders

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PDF Daily
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INDIA
05
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Allaying
concerns about any in-
crease in prices of med-
icines, Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya
on Monday said the gov-
ernment has not effect-
ed any hike and only a
few essential drugs that
are linked to the whole-
sale price index and are
as such priced very low
may see some automat-
ic rise or fall as per in-
flation trends.
“There are some es-
sential medicines
linked to WPI that can
see rise or fall automat-
ically as per the WPI
movement. These are
drugs that are priced a
few rupees and there-
fore, a 10 per cent WPI
increase may lead to the
price rising by a few
paise,” Mansukh Man-
daviya said.
No increase effected by Govt in
medicine prices, says Mandaviya
Colombo (ANI): Un-
dergoing a huge eco-
nomic crisis and tur-
moil, Sri Lankan Oppo-
sition leader and Mem-
ber of Parliament (MP)
Sajith Premadasa on
Monday urged Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi to help their na-
tion to the maximum
possible extent.
Speaking to ANI, the
Opposition leader said,
“Please try and help Sri
Lanka to the maximum
possible extent. This is
our motherland and we
need to save it.”
While responding to
the parties' readiness to
participate in an elec-
tion, if it takes place,
Premadasa said that he
and his party are ready
to contest the election.
“I can tell you, I my-
self andweallhavebeen
ready ever since we en-
tered social service and
political service. We are
ready for any eventuali-
ty
,” he said.
Earlier, the Sri Lan-
kan MP termed the
Cabinet Ministers’ res-
ignation a melodrama.
He said, “The melodra-
ma is being enacted to
fool the people of the
country
. There's no gen-
uine effort to bring san-
ity to our society and
relief to the people. It's
an exercise to fool the
people.”
Reiterating opposi-
tion parties’ demands,
Premadasa said, “We’re
seeking immediate re-
lief for the people. We
want to protect the lives
of the people and their
rights.
Sri Lanka is battling
a severe economic cri-
sis with food and fuel
scarcity affecting a
large number of the
people in the island na-
tion. The economy has
been in a free-fall since
the onset of the Cov-
id-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka is also fac-
ing a foreign exchange
shortage, which has,
incidentally
, affected its
capacity to import food
and fuel, leading to the
power cuts in the coun-
try. The shortage of es-
sential goods forced Sri
Lanka to seek assis-
tance from friendly
countries.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: The Vara-
nasi’s Kashi-Vishwa-
nath Temple-Gyanvapi
mosque issue is not a
dispute of property
simpliciter but it is a
national dispute with
emotions of millions of
people attached to it,
argued the counsel rep-
resenting the temple
before the Allahabad
High Court on Monday,
as the hearing of all
connected matters
were adjourned till
April 8.
“Hindu community
believes that the dis-
puted site is a temple of
Lord Vishweshwar
whereas the muslim
community believes
that the disputed site is
a mosque. Further, the
decision in the Ram
Janmabhoomi case has
increased the impor-
tance of present case”,
added the counsel rep-
resenting the temple.
Singapore (PTI): Indi-
an Army chief General
MM Naravane on Mon-
day visited Kranji war
memorial in Singapore
and paid tributes to
those who laid down
their lives during World
War-II.
Dedicated to the men
and women from India,
the UK, Australia, Can-
ada, Sri Lanka, Malaya,
the Netherlands and
New Zealand who died
defending Singapore
and Malaya against the
invading Japanese forc-
es during the second
World War, the memo-
rial comprises the War
Graves, the Memorial
Walls. Malaya united
with North Borneo,
Sarawak and Singapore
in 1963 to become Ma-
laysia. In 1965, Singa-
pore was separated
from the federation.
New Delhi: A par-
liamentary panel
has expressed con-
cern over the
“huge gap” be-
tween the sanc-
tioned and exist-
ing equipment in
the inventory of
the NDRF and
asked the govern-
ment to procure
these items with-
out any delay
.
The committee
on estimates ob-
served this and
suggested recom-
mendations in its
13th report sub-
mitted to the Lok
Sabha on Monday
.
The panel of
parliamentarians
is headed by Pune
BJP MP Girish
Bapat.
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister of Information
and Technology Ash-
wini Vaishnaw on
Monday called for a
new dynamic legal
structure which bal-
ances the right to pri-
vacy and freedom of
expression and de-
mands for regulations
and control to meet
challenges from un-
scrupulous elements in
the cyber space.
Addressing the sec-
ond national confer-
ence on cyber crime in-
vestigations and digital
forensics organised by
the CBI, the minister
said over the years tech-
nology has given a lot
of productivity, effi-
ciency and convenience
but simultaneously it
has brought intrusions
in the lives of people.
New Delhi: Chhattis-
garh has been ranked
first among states with
the lowest unemploy-
ment rate in the coun-
try, an official state-
ment said on Monday
.
According to the lat-
est data released by the
Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy
(CMIE), Chhattisgarh
has registered an unem-
ployment rate of 0.6 per
cent this March, which
is the lowest so far, it
said.
Chhattisgarh ranks
first in the country with
the lowest unemploy-
ment rate while the
country's unemploy-
ment rate stood at 7.6
per cent in the same
month (March), the
statement said citing
CMIE data.
The state govern-
ment took several steps
and formulated new
policies for generating
employment opportuni-
ties especially for the
youth, resulting in a
constant decline in the
unemployment rate,
the release said.
As per the data, Hary-
ana has the highest un-
employment rate at 26.7
per cent, followed by Ra-
jasthan and Jammu and
Kashmir at 25 per cent
each and Jharkhand at
14.5 per cent.
Patna (PTI): Slam-
ming the Bihar Govern-
ment for leaving unuti-
lised a major portion of
the funds sanctioned
for strengthening the
sewerage infrastruc-
ture in Patna, under the
Centre’s ‘Namami
Gange’ programme, the
Comptroller and Audi-
tor General (CAG) said
the project was running
behind schedule.
Around Rs 684 crore,
meant to be used under
the scheme in a span of
four financial years,
was left untouched by
the BGCMS, according
to a CAG report that
was recently tabled in
the Bihar Assembly
.
Audit observed that
only 16 to 50 per cent
funds were being uti-
lised (annually) during
the period 2016-17 to
2019-20.
COURTESY VISIT!
UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya felicitated PM Narendra Modi with scarf during his
courtesy meet with PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Monday.
Sri Lankan Oppn leader urges
Modi to help nation amid crisis
Please try and help Lanka to the maximum possible extent, this is
our motherland and we need to save it: Premadasa
A protester holds up the Sri Lanka flag during demonstrations in Colombo.
Won’t preach to India:
German envoy on crude
New Delhi: Germany
does not wish to
“preach” India into cut-
ting back Russian oil
imports, the country’s
ambassador to New
Delhi Walter J Lind-
ner said on Monday,
adding that anyone who
can reach out to Rus-
sianPresidentVladimir
Putin can help bring
the war in Ukraine to
an end.
“There is no denying
that many countries in
Europe are dependent
on Russian oil and coal.
We didn’t know that Pu-
tin will one day attack a
neighbouring country.
We are already reduc-
ing the imports mas-
sively. We want to re-
duce the dependency of
oil to 0 per cent by the
end of this year, he
said.
Asked about India
buying Russian oil dur-
ing the war, Mr Lindner
said, Every country
has its own past, its
own dependencies.
There's no preaching
here. We have sanctions
and if that can be used
to stop the war, we will
use that.
Shrugging off grow-
ing global pressure to
distance itself from the
Kremlin, Finance Min-
ister Nirmala Sithara-
man on Friday had said
that India will continue
buying cheap Russian
oil in the nation's inter-
est and said energy se-
curity came first.
RUSSIAN COPTER
SPLITS INTO 2
AFTER BEING HIT
BY MISSILE
London: A Russian
helicopter was seen
splitting into two af-
ter an attack by the
Ukrainian forces,
according to a re-
port in UK-based
Times. The missile
used by the Ukrain-
ian military is Brit-
ish-made Star-
streak, the report
further said.
A video of the in-
cident circulating
online shows the
tail of the Mi28N
breaking after being
hit by the missile.
The Times said that
the helicopter was
targeted in the Lu-
hansk region, in
eastern Ukraine.
Army chief
pays tribute
at memorial
in Singapore
Shortage of
equipment
for NDRF:
Parl panel
NEW LEGAL STRUCTURE NEEDED TO
COUNTER CYBER CRIMINALS: VAISHNAW
VAX NOT SENT TO UN:
BHARAT BIOTECH INDIA RECORDS
UNDER 1K CASES
GOVT: 108 DIED DUE TO TIGER
ATTACKS BETWEEN ’19 ’21
BJP ISSUES WHIP TO ITS
RAJYA SABHA MEMBERS
SIX NEWLY ELECTED
RAJYA SABHA MPs
TAKE OATH
BENGAL: CBI TO
PROBE MURDER
THREE BANGLADESHI MEN GET FIVE YEARS IN
JAIL FOR ARMED DACOITY IN THANE DISTRICT
CBI GETS NOTICE
FROM DELHI HC
SC AGREES TO HEAR PLEA
CHALLENGING BAIL TO LALU
With WHO announcing
the suspension of Cov-
axin supply through UN
procurement agencies,
Bharat Biotech sources
said the pharma cos has
not supplied vaccine to
any UN agency and no
impact of the suspension.
New Delhi: India
recorded less than
1,000 fresh Covid-19
cases for the first
time in 715 days
even as the corona-
virus tally rose to
4,30,29,044, while
the active infection
count fell below
13,000, according
to the Union Health
Ministry data updated
on Monday.
New Delhi: A total of 108 people died
in the country due to tiger attacks be-
tween 2019 and 2021, the government
said on Monday. Replying to a ques-
tion on the issue, Minister of State for
Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey,
however, told the Lok Sabha.
New Delhi: The BJP has issued a
whip to its Rajya Sabha members,
asking them to ensure their pres-
ence in the House for the remainder
of the session between April 5-8.
The whip comes as some important
Bills, including the legislation.
New Delhi: Six newly-
elected Rajya Sabha
MPs, including two from
the BJP and one from
the Congress, took oath
in the House on Mon-
day. Pabitra Margherita
(BJP, Assam); Rwngwra
Narzary (UPPL, Assam);
Jebi Mather Hisham (Con-
gress, Kerala); Sandosh
Kumar (CPI, Kerala); A A
Rahim (CPI-M, Kerala);
and S Phangnon Konyak
(BJP, Nagaland) were the
members who took oath
in the Upper House of
Parliament.
Kolkata: The Calcutta
HC on Monday ordered
a CBI probe into the
murder of Congress
councillor Tapan
Kandu. The court also
directed that the inves-
tigation of the case be
transferred from the
West Bengal police to
the CBI.
Thane: The Thane district court has convicted three Bangladeshi nationals
on the charges of armed dacoity and handed them rigorous imprisonment
for five years. Additional Sessions Judge RV Tamhanekar also imposed
a Rs 2,200 fine on each convict. The three convicts- Mohammed Palash
Mohammed Ismail Hawaldar (32), Lukman Chinna Miya (23), and Bappi
Aakubar Shaikh, (27) along with two others had barged into a house in the
Kashimira area of the Thane district on March 22, 2018.
New Delhi: The Delhi
HC on Monday issued
notice to the CBI on a
plea moved by a senior
citizen challenging the
order passed by the CIC
in November 2020 over
declining the information
sought in RTI regarding
the status of corruption
case registered in 1991.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
on Monday asked RJD leader Lalu
Prasad Yadav to file a reply on the
plea challenging the Jharkhand HC
order granting bail to him in a case
related to the fodder scam. A Bench
of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR
Gavai agreed to hear a plea challeng-
ing the HC order granting bail to RJD
chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
‘Temple-Mosque issue a nat’l dispute’
Chhattisgarh has
lowest unemployment
rate in country: Data
Opportunities
are being
created in rural
areas with the
effective
implementation
of schemes
CAG slams
Bihar Govt for
failing to utilise
funds for Ganga
IN THE COURTYARD
ATTORNEY GENERAL
OPPOSES PLEA!
New Delhi: Attorney General
KK Venugopal opposed a plea
filed in the SC, seeking to
enforce fundamental duties.
The SC was hearing a petition
seeking enforcement of funda-
mental duties as enshrined in
the Constitution and to frame
guidelines.
IN THE COURTYARD

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
New Delhi (PTI): India
continues to remain the
highest receiver of the
FDI, and the Indian re-
tail investors have cre-
ated the capacity to ab-
sorb the shock due to
outflowof foreignfunds
from the country’s
stock markets, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sita-
raman told Lok Sabha.
Replying to a ques-
tion asked by Congress
member Shashi Tha-
roor in Lok Sabha, she
said foreign invest-
ments have to be
gauged,notjustbylook-
ing at FIIs and FPIs
which by very nature
depend on the interest
rates and they keep on
“moving up and down.”
“The FIIs and FPIs
would come and go.
But, today the Indian
retail investors have
proven that even if they
come and go any shock
that may comeinis now
taken care of because
of the shock absorbing
capacity that the Indian
retailers have brought
into the Indian mar-
ket,” she said during
Question Hour.
“We in the House
should should stand up
and appreciate the Indi-
an retailer who has in-
vested a lot of confi-
dence in the markets to-
dayinIndia,”sheadded.
Pointing out that
overseas investors has
pulled out over Rs 1.14
lakh crore from the In-
dian market so far, Tha-
roor had urged the fi-
nance minister to ex-
plain the worrying
trend of “steadily” de-
clining investment by
the foreign investors.
The Congress mem-
ber had also sought to
now from the govern-
ment as to what meas-
ures were being taken
to reverse the trend.
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s sugar export may
touch 85 lakh tonne in
the ongoing 2021-22
marketing year ending
September, as per the
estimates of global
trade houses, industry
body ISMA said on
Monday
.
While the country
has contracted 72 lakh
tonne of sugar export,
the physical exports
have been around 56-57
lakh tonne till March-
end this year, it said.
Sugar marketing
year runs from October
to September. Crush-
ing operation is still on
as 366 mills were oper-
ating till March-end,
while 152 mills had
stopped the crushing.
Releasing the latest
sugar production fig-
ures, Indian Sugar
Mills Associa-
tion (ISMA)
said: “News from
the international
trade houses indicate
that global market is
expecting 85 lakh
tonne of sugar
exports from
India, in the
current season.”
According to the in-
dustry body, sugar pro-
duction reached 309.87
lakh tonne till March
of the ongoing 2021-22
marketing year,
higher
than 278.71 lakh tonne
in the year-ago period.
Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh and Karna-
taka are the top three
sugar producing states
in the country
.
As per
the ISMA data, sugar
production in Maha-
rasthra rose to 118.81
from 100.47 lakh tonne
in the year-ago period.
In Uttar Pradesh,
sugar production re-
mained lower at 87.50
this year compared
with 93.71 lakh tonne in
the year-ago period.
Sugar output in Kar-
nataka, the country’s
third-largest sugar-pro-
ducing state, rose sub-
stantially to 57.65 lakh
tonne till March as
against 42.38 lakh
tonne in the year-ago
period.
On the ethanol
front, ISMA said
against the total Letter
of Intent (LoI) for sup-
ply of 416.33 crore li-
tres, 131.69 crore litres
of ethanol have been
supplied as on March
27 this year.
Contracted quantity
as on date is 402.66
crore litres as against
LoIs of about 416 crore
litres issued by oil mar-
keting companies,it
said.
Sensex zooms 1335
points after HDFC duo
merger deal
Mumbai (ANI): The
Indian equities mar-
kets’ key indices,
Sensex and Nifty
,
surged by more than 2
per cent on Monday
afterHDFCandHDFC
Bank announced a
surprise merger deal.
The 30 stock SP
BSE Sensex surged
1335.05 points or 2.25
per cent to close at
60,611.74 points
against its previous
session’s close at
59,276.69 points. Earli-
er, the Sensex opened
in the positive at
59,764.13pointsatrose
sharply soon after the
HDFC merger deal
was made public. The
Sensex surged to a
high of 60,845.10
pointsintheintra-day
.
The broader Nifty
50 of the National
Stock Exchange
surged 382.95 points
or 2.17 per cent to
18,053.40 points.
The stock markets’
rally was
led by
HDFC and
H D F C
Bank.
H D F C
Bank
surged 9.97 per cent to
Rs 1656.45. The scrip
earliersoaredtoahigh
of Rs 1721.85 in the
morning trade. The
market capitalisa-
tion of HDFC
Bank soared
past Rs 9
lakh crore.
The share
price of
HDFC Ltd surged 9.30
per cent to Rs 2678.90.
HDFC soared to a
high of Rs 2855.35 in
the intra-day. With
this surge, the market
capitali- sation of
HDFC soared
p a s t
Rs 5
l a k h
crore.
Mumbai (ANI): Share price of the country’s
largest private sector lender HDFC Bank and
mortgage lender Housing Development Finance
Corporation (HDFC) Ltd surged by nearly 14
per cent on Monday after the two companies
announced merger proposal. The share price
of HDFC Ltd surged to a high of Rs 2855.35
shortly after the opening of the trade. At 13.55
pm at the BSE, the share of HDFC was trading
8.81 per cent higher at Rs 2666.85.
HDFC, HDFC BANK SHARES ZOOM
14% AFTER MERGER DECLARATION
Mumbai (ANI): The merger of India’s largest
mortgage lender Housing Development Finance
Corporation (HDFC) with private sector lender
HDFC Bank will be good for the economy and
it is expected to get the required regulatory
approvals in 15 to 18 months, HDFC Chairman
Deepak Parekh said on Monday. Addressing a
joint press conference, Parekh said a number of
regulatory approvals are required to complete
the process of merger of HDFC and HDFC Bank.
HDFC, HDFC BANK MERGER MAY GET
APPROVALS IN 15-18 MONTHS: PAREKH
Bank consortium gives final nod of
` 1,500 cr for Amrapali projects: SC
New Delhi (PTI): In a
boost to the efforts of
construction of stalled
projects of Amrapali,
the Supreme Court was
on Monday told that a
consortium of seven
banks have granted fi-
nal approval to infuse
Rs 1500 crore.
A bench of Justices
UU Lalit and Bela M
Trivedi was told by
court receiver R Venka-
taramani that the rest
of the amount could not
be released as banks
said that for the purpos-
es of disbursal of funds
they would require eq-
uitable mortgage by de-
posit of title deeds as a
pre-condition.
The top court was
told that one of the rea-
sons pertains to some
of the observations
made by this court in its
judgement dated July
23, 2019, in one of the
paragraphs of the
judgement and some
clarification was
sought.
Venkataramani in
his note pointed out
that the top court had in
its judgement said that
all leases in favour of
Amrapali Group of
companies stand can-
celled which in effect
would mean that there
would be no title docu-
ment that could be
deposited in the
banks.
The court receiver
and counsel appearing
for the consortium of
banks said that the situ-
ation could be salvaged
if the name of the Am-
rapali Group of compa-
nies could be substitut-
ed by the court receiver.
The bench said that it
was precisely for which
reasons the expression
used in the judgement
is vest in court receiver
or right of the lessee
shall rest in court re-
ceiver.
Petrol, diesel
prices hiked
by 40 paise
per litre each
New Delhi (PTI):
Petrol and diesel
prices were on Mon-
day, April 4, hiked by
40 paise a litre each,
taking the total in-
crease in rates in the
last two weeks to Rs
8.40 per litre.
Petrol in Delhi will
now cost Rs 103.81
per litre as against
Rs 103.41 previously,
while diesel rates
have gone up from Rs
94.67 per litre to Rs
95.07, according to a
price notification of
state fuel retailers.
Rates have been in-
creased across the
country and vary
from state to state,
depending upon the
incidence of local
taxation.
This is the 12th in-
crease in prices since
the ending of a four-
and-half-month long
hiatus in rate revi-
sion on March 22.
In all, petrol prices
have gone up by Rs
8.40 per litre.
Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh and
Karnataka are the
top three sugar
producing states in
the country.
India's palm oil import increases by 21% in March
Mumbai (Agencies):
India’s palm oil imports
jumped 21% in March
from the previous
monthastradersmoved
to secure alternatives to
sunflower oil that can
no longer be bought
fromUkraine,fourdeal-
ers told Reuters.
A poor soyoil crop in
South America, mean-
while has limited In-
dia’s ability to rely on
that edible oil as a sub-
stitute for Ukrainian
sunflower oil.
Indian demand con-
tributed to the palm oil
price,asindicatedbythe
futures contract, reach-
ing an all-time record of
7,268 ringgit per tonne
on March 9, although it
has since fallen to 5,741
ringgit per
tonne.
In March,
5 5 0 , 0 0 0
tonnes of
palm oil
landed in In-
dia.
India's manufacturing activities moderate
in March as production, sales slow down
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s manufacturing
sector activities mod-
erated in March with
companies reporting
softer expansions in
new orders and pro-
duction as inflation
concerns dampened
business confidence, a
monthly survey said
on Monday.
The seasonally-ad-
justed SP Global In-
dia Manufacturing
Purchasing Managers’
Index (PMI) was at
54.0 in March, down
from 54.9 in February,
highlighting weakest
rate of growth in
terms of production
and sales since Sep-
tember 2021.
The March PMI
data pointed to an im-
provement in overall
operating conditions
for the ninth straight
month. In PMI par-
lance, a print above 50
means expansion
while a score below
50 denotes contrac-
tion.
March PMI data
pointed to an
improvement in
overall operating
conditions for ninth
straight month
India's sugar export to touch 85 L T this year: ISMA Bajaj Auto sees 20% dip
in vehicle sales in March
Mumbai (PTI): Bajaj
Auto on Monday re-
ported a 20 per cent
decline in total vehicle
sales at 2,97,188 units
in March compared to
the year-ago period.
The company had sold
a total of 3,69,448 vehi-
cles, including com-
mercial vehicles, in
March 2021, it said in a
statement.
For the full fiscal
2021-22, Bajaj Auto
registered a growth
of 8 per cent in its ve-
hicle sales at 43,08,433
units. In the year-ago
period, the sales
stood at 39,72,914
u n i t s .
Total two-wheelers
sales dropped 22 per
cent to 2,56,324 units
in March as against
3,30,133 units sold in
the same month of
2021.
Mumbai (Agencies):
Gains from bond trades
for banks are likely to
be down 30 per cent in
FY22 over FY21 due to
hardening of yields. The
trading gains were about
Rs 52,600 crore in FY21,
according to India Ratings.
The rating agency’s as-
sessment showed the yield
on benchmark 10-year
government bonds rose
66 basis points in FY22 to
close at 6.84 per cent from
6.18 per cent at the end of
March 2021.
New Delhi (Agencies): Amazon
and Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on
Monday informed the Supreme
Court that they wish to appear
before the Singapore Inter-
national Arbitration Centre in
connection with the pending
adjudication of arbitration
proceedings before it.A bench
headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ra-
mana and comprising Justices
Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli
said: “It is stated and agreed by
both the parties that they wish
to appear before the Singa-
pore International Arbitration
Centre.”
BOND TRADE GAINS
OF BANKS MAY BE
DOWN 30%, SAYS
INDIA RATINGS
New Delhi (PTI): The auction
of 5G spectrum will be held
on schedule and within the
stipulated timeline, Minister
for Communications Ashwini
Vaishnaw said on Monday. His
affirmation comes at a time
when telecom regulator Trai’s
5G recommendations on spec-
trum pricing and other nuances,
which were widely expected
to come by March-end, have
spilled over by a few days to
early April.Asked if 5G auction
will be held as per
schedule, Vaishnaw said, “ab-
solutely”.
5G AUCTION TO BE HELD ON
SCHEDULE, STIPULATED
TIMELINE: VAISHNAW
AMAZON, FRL AGREE TO
APPEAR BEFORE S’PORE
INT’L ARBITRATION CENTRE
ELON MUSK TAKES 9.2% STAKE IN TWITTER
San Francisco (Agencies) Tesla CEO Elon Musk is taking a 9.2% stake
in Twitter. Musk purchased approximately 73.5 million shares, accord-
ing to a regulatory filing Monday. Musk’s stake in Twitter is considered
a passive investment, which means Musk is a long-term investor that’s
looking to minimise his buying and selling of the shares. However,
Musk has been raising questions about the ability to communicate
freely on Twitter, tweeting last month about free speech and the social
media platform and industry analysts were skeptical about the mercuri-
al CEO remaining on the sidelines anywhere.
The FIIs and FPIs
would come and go.
But, today the Indian
retail investors have
proven that even if they
come and go any shock
that may come in is
now taken care of be-
cause of the shock ab-
sorbing capacity of the
Indian retailers.
—Nirmala Sitaraman ,
Finance Minister
India continues to remain
highest receiver of FDI: FM
Nirmala Sitaraman

07
NEWS
New Delhi (ANI):
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation on Monday
ordered of-
ficers con-
cerned to
take action
for the clo-
sure of
meat shops
during the
n i n e - d ay
period of the Navaratri
festival.
In a letter written to-
day by the Mayor of
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation, Mukkesh
Suryaan, it read,
“Keeping in view the
sentiments and feel-
ings of the general
public necessary direc-
tions may be issued to
the officers concerned
to take necessary ac-
tion for the closure of
meat shops during the
nine-day period of the
Navaratri festival ex-
tending from April 2,
2022, to April 11, 2022.”
“During Navaratri
days, people visit tem-
ples to pay their respect
to the Goddess and to
seek blessings for them-
selves and their fami-
lies. In these days, peo-
ple forgo even use of
onion and garlic in
their diets and the sight
of meat being sold in
open or near temples
makes them uncomfort-
able. Their religious
belief and sentiments
are also affected when
they come across meat
shops or when they
have to bear with the
foul smell of the meat
on their way to offer
their daily prayers to
the Goddess. Moreover,
some meat shops dump
waste in gutters or be-
side the road, which
the stray dogs feed on,”
the letter read.
South Delhi mayor orders meat
shops to close during Navratri
Mayor in his letter said meat shops near temples need to close to maintain cleanliness
Ahmedabad (PTI):
Amid protests by the
Maldhari community
against a bill passed by
the Gujarat Assembly
to tackle the menace of
stray cattle in urban
areas, state BJP chief
CR Paatil said he has
requested Chief Minis-
ter Bhupendra Patel to
reconsider it and be-
lieves it will be with-
drawn soon.
After receiving rep-
resentation from the
Maldhari, or cattle-
rearer, community
against the bill, I met
Chief Minister Bhu-
pendra Patel on Mon-
day morning and re-
quested him to recon-
sider it, Paatil said.
The existing rules
to control cattle men-
ace in municipal corpo-
ration areas are suffi-
cient, and if the com-
munity is ready to fol-
low them properly,
there is no need for a
new law. I find their
(community) demand
justified, and have told
them the government
will certainly recon-
sider it, Paatil added.
Guj BJP says bill on stray cattle
menace may be reconsidered
PROTESTS BY MALDHARIS
‘Muslims facing more difficult
situation than in 1857,1947’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Indian Mus-
lims are going through a
more difficult situation
than in 1857 and 1947
over their religious tra-
ditions, said an office-
bearer of the AlMPLB.
AIMPLB general sec-
retary Maulana Khalid
Saifullah Rahmani
urged Muslims, espe-
cially women, not to fall
prey to “propaganda”
being spread against the
Muslim Personal Law
Board. He said, “extrem-
istforces”weretryingto
“mislead and instigate
us” and bring the Mus-
lim youth to the streets,
and cited the issue of
‘hijab’ in Karnataka
which he said was pos-
ing a “big test” for the
Muslims in that state.
“All India Muslim
Personal Law Board is
looking into this issue
from day one and taking
legal remedies for the
same,” he said.
He said, an appeal has
been filed in the Su-
preme Court against the
decision of the Karna-
taka High Court (on the
hijab issue) and the
board is not ignoring
any such issue which af-
fects ‘Shariyat’.
“But sadly, some peo-
ple want to create a mis-
understanding about
the board,” he added.
Hate speech: Qawwali
singer Parvaz arrested
Rewa (PTI): The
Madhya Pradesh po-
lice arrested qawwali
singer Sharif Parvaz,
booked for making
“provocative” re-
marks, from Kanpur
and brought him to
Rewa district on Mon-
day, a police officer
said.
A case was regis-
tered against the qaw-
wali singer after he
allegedly made pro-
vocative remarks
against the country,
PM Narendra Modi,
Home Minister Amit
Shah and Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
during a musical
event at Mangawa
town in Rewa district
of MP on March 28.
The MP police ar-
rested Parvaz from
Kanpur Dehat on Sun-
day and brought him
to Rewa, where the
case against him is
registered, the officer
said.
New Delhi (PTI): As
many as 117 WiFi hot-
spots have been in-
stalled in the Laxmi Na-
gar Constituency, the
PWD informed the Del-
hi Assembly last week.
Of the 117 hotspots, 89
have been installed at
public places and 28 at
bus stands, PWD minis-
ter Manish Sisodia in-
formed the House dur-
ing its budget session
lastweek.Respondingto
a writtn question asked
by BJP MLA from Lax-
mi Nagar, Abhay Ver-
ma, the PWD minister
said installation of WiFi
hotspots depends on the
demand of residents
and the elected mem-
bers of the area.
117 WiFi hotspots
installed in Laxmi
Nagar constituency
Kulwinder Bawa
Chandigarh: Punjab
Chief Minister Bhag-
want Mann on Monday
asked the Deputy Com-
missioners to regularly
convene outdoor meet-
ings in the field espe-
cially in villages to en-
sure on the spot redres-
sal of people’s grievanc-
es to their satisfaction.
Chairing a meeting of
the Deputy Commis-
sioners at Punjab Bha-
wan this morning,
Mann asked them to or-
ganize special camps
along with their team of
officials in a particular
village or town at their
doorsteps for prompt
resolutionof pendingis-
sues or problems faced
by the public in a result
oriented manner.
Terming the DCs as
eyes and ears of state
administration, t Mann
said, “You are the real
face of the government
because people have di-
rect interface with you
rather than us (govern-
ment) as they repose un-
flinching trust and con-
fidence in you”. He also
urged them to conduct
surprise checks at the
Saanjh Kendras as these
centres have been pri-
marily set up for the
convenience of public
and asked them to pro-
vide citizen centric ser-
vices seamlessly
.
In recognition of the
best performance of Di-
visional Commission-
ers, DCs, SSPs, SDMs
and other field officials,
Mann also announced to
honourofficers/officials
with the ‘Best Perform-
ing Award’ to motivate
them to serve the people
with missionary zeal.
Mann asks DCs to convene meetings in
villages for redressal of people’s grievances
Punjab police launch
state-wide road
safety education
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: In a
move aimed to avert
roadaccidentfatalities
andimproveroadsafe-
ty conditions in the
state, Punjab Police
has launched a state-
wide Road Safety Edu-
cation and Enforce-
ment Drive with focus
on ‘Moving Traffic Vi-
olations’. The moving
traffic violations in-
cludes drunk driving,
non-wearingof helmet
or non-fastening of
seat-belt, over-speed-
ing, high-beam, use of
a mobile phone while
driving, and jumping
traffic signals.
Divulging details,
DGPPunjabVKBhaw-
ra said that the entire
enforcement strategy
is planned based upon
the past year trends
andreasonfortheroad
accidents.
“On an average dai-
ly
, Punjab loses 11-12
valuable lives in vari-
ousroadaccidents,the
majority of which can
be prevented or re-
duced in severity by
focusing on moving
traffic violations,”
said the DGP, adding
that Advanced Traffic
Management Tech-
nologies and Traffic
Police personnel
strength is also being
increased to cover
traffic management
operations until mid-
night, when maxi-
mum road accidental
deaths took place.
Punjab police issuing challan for for violating norms.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann chairing a meeting at Punjab Bhawan.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Union
Ministry of Youth Af-
fairs and Sports has fi-
nalised the Annual Cal-
endar of Training
Competitions (ACTCs)
for 33 Sports disciplines
and earmarked a sum
of Rs 259 crores for the
financial year 2022-23 as
Assistance to various
National Sports Federa-
tions (NSFs). Of this, as
much as Rs 190 crores
will be spent on athletes
for their training, for-
eign exposure, equip-
ment and support staff
for Commonwealth
Games 2022 and Asian
Games 2022.
The budget has been
decided based on de-
tailed discussions with
33 NSFs on their
planned competition
and training calendar
for the year 2022-23,
with special emphasis
on the proposals re-
garding training and
competition require-
ments of athletes par-
ticipating in the upcom-
ing Commonwealth
Games (CWG)at Bir-
mingham, UK in Au-
gust, 2022 and Asian
Games at Guangzhou,
China in September,
2022. The Ministry, in
active consultation
with the NSFs, has care-
fully considered and ap-
proved every proposal
made to further en-
hance the support being
given to Indian athletes
who are bound for these
two prestigious inter-
national events.
Besides the 33 federa-
tions whose ACTCs
have already been ap-
proved by the Ministry,
ACTC consultation
meetings with 3 more
NSFs are in the offing
and the budgets for
them will also be final-
ised soon.
Union Minister of
Youth Affairs and
Sports Anurag Thakur
stated that the Govern-
ment has taken note of
the plans and proposals
for training and compe-
titions submitted by
NSFs for the year 2022-
23, and particularly
with regard to the forth-
coming Commonwealth
Games 2022, Asian
Games 2022 and Para
Asian Games 2022, and
approved the ACTCs.
Thakur further stat-
ed that the funds will
not be a constraint for
the preparations of the
athletes and that the
Ministry will provide
all necessary help and
support to the players
and NSFs.
Sports Ministry to spend `190 crores on training of athletes
COMMONWEALTH AND ASIAN GAMES
Ministry renews recognition of NSFs
for smooth selection of Indian teams
RESPECTING FAITH
JNUSUdemandsallocationof
hostelsforfirstyearstudents
New Delhi (PTI):
The Jawaharlal
Nehru University Stu-
dents’ Union (JNUSU)
staged a protest on
Monday to demand al-
location of hostels for
first-year students
and restoration of li-
brary as well as mess
services.The protest
was held outside the
office of the Dean of
Students (DoS).
The students also
protested over the
unavailability of a
specialist at JNU
Health Centre and de-
manded that ‘dhabas’
should remain open
till late at night.
“It has been weeks
since the university
resumed offline class-
es and hostel rooms
for first-year students
have not yet been al-
lotted. Moreover, the
dhabas that used to
remain open till 2:30
am, now closes down
at 11 pm,” JNUSU
councillor Anagha
Pradeep said.
“There is no spe-
cialist at the JNU
Health Centre. We
have demanded the
university to rein-
state the specialist
service,” she added.
Their demand
comes in the wake of
death of a PhD stu-
dent on March 21, who
had earlier com-
plained of chest pain.
Image for reprsentational purpose only.
ISSUING NORMS
Anurag Thakur
Sharif Parvaz
Mukkesh
Suryaan
T
T
TAKING ALL THE NECESSARY STEPS

08
2NDFRONT
A mature person never reacts in
anger, truly it is like a wind that
blows out the light of the mind.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Imran Khan may not be suited to hold public office: Pak media
Islamabad (PTI): Im-
ran Khan has dealt a
“fatal blow” to constitu-
tionalism and given rise
to the strongest con-
cerns yet that he may
not be suited to hold
public office within a
democratic order, Paki-
stan’s media angrily
commented on Monday
,
as they questioned the
embattled cricketer-
turned-politician’s “un-
constitutional” moves
by a day earlier.
In a controversial
move that has roiled the
country, members of
Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf party
on Sunday blocked a
vote of no-confidence in
the Prime Minister and
got the President to dis-
solve the parliament, a
decision that has been
legally challenged by a
stunned Opposition.
Khan had claimed
the no-trust vote by the
Opposition was part of
a US-led conspiracy to
remove him, but Wash-
ington has denied this.
“The nation is
stunned,” the Dawn
newspaper said in a
stinging editorial titled
‘Democracy subverted’.
“With the parliamen-
tary process pulverised
on the orders of a lead-
er who continues to
hold it in deep con-
tempt, Pakistan has
been thrown into the
dark abyss of a consti-
tutional crisis. It seems,
in retrospect, that the
captain had planned to
play this dastardly card
all along,” it said.
“It came as a rude
shock: it takes quite the
fall for a self-proclaimed
fighter’ to display such
unsportsmanlike be-
haviour,” it said on the
69-year-old former cap-
tain of Pakistan.
By tearing up the
rules of the game in-
stead of playing till the
last ball’, Khan has
“dealt a fatal blow to
constitutionalism and
given rise to the strong-
est concerns yet that he
may not be suited to
hold public office with-
in a democratic order,”
the editorial comment-
ed. The Express Trib-
une newspaper in its
editorial noted that the
spirit of democracy
wasn’t played well.
“The Prime Minister,
who was himself a
great trendsetter in
sports, should have
read the writing on the
wall. He was on a weak
wicket, and could not
chase the score of 172
needed to stay in pow-
er,” it noted.
Khan should have
taken a backseat and let
the opposition take on
the baton. Also, even if
he had been voted out
on the floor of the
house, havens would
not have fallen, the
newspaper commented.
“He would have been
an asset to democracy
and electoral politics as
the leader of the opposi-
tion,andcouldhavepur-
sued more scholarly his
agenda of self-reliance
and an independent for-
eign policy by putting
the new government in
the dock,” it said. The
Dawn newspaper, like
other experts, pointed
out that constitutional-
ly, Khan could not have
dissolved the National
Assembly while a vote
of no-confidence was
pending against him.
UNDEMOCRATIC
By tearing up the rules of the
game instead of playing till the
last ball, Khan has “dealt a fatal
blow to constitution”, reports say
HCdismissespleachallenging
appointmentofCSasECofMCDs
Delhi High Court on
Monday dismissed a pe-
tition by a former BJP
MLA challenging the
appointment of Chief
Secretary Vijay Kumar
Dev as Election Com-
missioner of Municipal
Corporations of Delhi
from April 21.
The court said there
was no merit in the peti-
tion as the date when
Dev shall take over as
EC, he would cease to be
a government servant
as his request for volun-
tary retirement with ef-
fect from April 20 has
been accepted by the
Central government.
A bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice
Navin Chawla dis-
missed the petition filed
by former BJP MLA
Nand Kishore Garg
which alleged that the
appointment was illegal
and improper, saying
there is no factual basis
laid down in the petition
that upon assuming the
office of Election Com-
missioner, Dev will not
function independently
.
The bench said mere-
ly because the notifica-
tion appointing Dev as
the Election Commis-
sioner was issued while
he was still in service as
Delhi Chief Secretary,
is neither here nor
there since the appoint-
ment would be with ef-
fect from April 21, 2022,
by then he would have
retired from the Gov-
ernment of India.
The high court had
earlier issued notice to
the Delhi government
and the three MCDs
East, North, and South,
on the petition seeking
direction to the state to
immediately withdraw
its November 25, 2021
notification.
By its notification,
the Delhi government
has allegedly improp-
erly earmarked the ap-
pointment of serving
chief secretary of Gov-
ernment of NCT of
Delhi as Election Com-
missioner of MCDs
with effect from April
21, 2022, Garg had
claimed in his plea.
The petitioner, repre-
sented through advo-
cate Shashank Deo Su-
dhi, claimed that the
appointment was made
in utter violation of the
settled principles of law
which mandates that
important government
post like election com-
missioner must be of-
fered to a neutral and
apolitical person and
must not be the party to
the several political as
well as administrative
decision of a particular
government as it can be
capable of affecting the
free and fair election
process in the MCDs.
The Delhi govern-
ment has defended the
appointment of Dev as
the EC of MCDs, saying
that the appointment
has been made in ac-
cordance with law and
to say that it was done
as a quid pro quo was
scurrilous.
Congressunleashing
propagandaagainst
delimitationpanel:BJP
Jammu (PTI): Ex-
pressing satisfaction
over the functioning of
Delimitation Commis-
sion, Jammu and Kash-
mir BJP president
Ravinder Raina on
Monday accused Con-
gress of unleashing a
“propaganda” against
the independent body
after losing credibility
among the people.
Raina made the re-
marks shortly after
meeting the members
of the Delimitation
Commission headed by
Justice (Retired) Ran-
jana Prakash Desai at
the convention centre
here. The delimitation
commission assigned
the task to redraw
boundaries of assembly
and parliament constit-
uencies in Jammu and
Kashmir started inter-
action with various del-
egations including po-
litical leaders and pan-
chayati members from
across Jammu region
on its interim report
which was made public
last month.
BSF seizes
Pak fishing
boat near
Kutch border
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The BSF
seized a Pakistani fish-
ing boat from the Hara-
mi Nala creek area near
the Arabian sea in
Kutch district close to
the Indo-Pak border, it
said on Monday
. During
the operation on Sun-
day night, some fisher-
men managed to flee
into the Pakistani terri-
tory with another boat.
The Pakistani boat
was seized some 100 me-
tres inside the Indian
territory
. Nothing suspi-
cious was recovered
from the boat except
some fish, fishing nets
and fishing equipment,
the BSF said in a state-
ment. An intensive
search of the area was
underway, it said. The
BSF patrol chased them
and seized one Paki-
stani fishing boat
around 100 meters in-
side the Indian territory
.
Chandigarh
belongs to
Punjab: Sidhu
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Former
Punjab Congress Presi-
dent Navjot Singh Sid-
hu on Monday said
Chandigarh belongs to
Punjab and will always
remain so and predict-
ed that its next big bat-
tle with Haryana will be
over river waters.
Sidhu’s comments
came after recent re-
marks by Haryana lead-
ers demanding the com-
pletion of the Sutlej-
Yamuna Link canal for
getting the state’s river
water share from Pun-
jab. They have also
sought the transfer of
400 Hindi-speaking vil-
lages to Haryana.
The Haryana govern-
ment has summoned a
special session of the
assembly here on Tues-
day, days after the Pun-
jab assembly passed a
resolution seeking im-
mediate transfer of
Chandigarh to the AAP-
ruled state.
The Union Territory
of Chandigarh is the
common capital of Pun-
jab and Haryana.
Maha:Cong,NCP
claimBJPthreatening
voterswithEDaction
Mumbai (PTI): Maha-
rashtra Congress chief
Nana Patole on Monday
claimed the BJP was is-
suing threats of ED ac-
tion against voters as it
was staring at defeat in
the Kolhapur North As-
sembly bypoll sched-
uled for April 12.
Patole also hit out at
Maharashtra BJP chief
Chandrakant Patil for
thelatter’sreportedstate-
ment that a section of
voterswasgettingmoney
intheiraccountsthrough
a digital platform.
Patil had said he
would complain to the
Enforcement Directo-
rate over this and had
urged voters not to in-
vite action from the
probe agency by falling
for this kind of money
.
“The BJP has previ-
ously targeted its politi-
cal opponents using
Centralagencies.Now,it
has gone to the extent of
threateningvoters.They
arethreateningthecom-
mon people as the BJP is
staring at imminent de-
feat, Patole told media.
“The ED is working
as if it is a branch of the
BJP. Patil is making
such statements out of
frustration caused by
the BJP not retaining
powerinMaharashtra,”
Patole said.
Maharashtra NCP
chief spokesperson Ma-
hesh Tapase also
termed Patil’s allega-
tions as baseless.
IBMinistrylaunches
BroadcastSevaPortal
forbroadcasters
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The infor-
mation and broadcast-
ing ministry on Mon-
day launched the Broad-
cast Seva Portal for
speedy filing and pro-
cessing of applications
of broadcasters for
various kinds of licens-
es, permissions and
registrations.
The portal was
launched by Informa-
tion and Broadcasting
Minister Anurag
Thakur and he said that
it will bring “transpar-
ency, accountability
and responsiveness in
the ecosystem”. Thakur
said that the portal is a
giant leap forward in
realising Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi’s
mantra of ‘minimum
government, maximum
governance’ “as this
simple and user-friend-
ly web portal provides a
broadcaster end-to-end
solution with just a
click of a mouse”.
He said the online
platform is a major leap
forward in providing
ease of doing business
in the broadcasting
sector.“It will boost the
business environment
and empower the entire
broadcast sector by di-
rectly benefiting more
than 900 satellite TV
channels, 70 teleport op-
erators, 1,700 multi-ser-
vice operators, 350 com-
munity radio stations,
380 private FM chan-
nels and others,” he
said.
Stories of freedom struggle’s
unsung heroes to be imprinted
in national memory: Pradhan
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla inau-
gurated the exhibition
on India’s freedom
struggle, organised by
Indian Council of His-
torical Research under
the aegis of Ministry of
EducationinParliament
Library on Monday
.
Union Education and
Skill Development Min-
ister Dharmendra
Pradhan also visited
the exhibition. MoS for
Education Annapurna
Devi, Minister of State
Arjun Ram Meghwal,
Members of Parliament
from Lok Sabha and Ra-
jya Sabha were also pre-
sent on the occasion.
Speaking on the occa-
sion Pradhan said that
the exhibition showcas-
es stories from approxi-
mately 200 years of In-
dia’s history from 1757
to 1947. He highlighted
that the purpose of this
exhibition is to bring to
light the stories of un-
sung heroes which
should get imprinted in
national memory. MPs
from across the country
will witness this exhibi-
tion and can suggest
more unsung heroes
from their respective
constituencies.
He said that the Min-
istry of Culture in asso-
ciation with State Gov-
ernments will showcase
this exhibition at 100 lo-
cations across the coun-
try and also through
digital platforms.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan said that the exhibition
showcases stories from approximately 200
years of India’s history from 1757 to 1947
Imran Khan Pakistan Prime Minister. —PTI
Union Minister Anurag Thakur
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at the exhibition.
BJP is issuing
threats of ED
action against
voters as it was staring
at defeat in the
Kolhapur North
Assembly bypoll
scheduled for April 12.
—Nana Patole,
Maharashtra Congress chief
NO MERIT IN PLEA
JK BJP prez Ravinder Raina (L) with JP Nadda.

NEW DELHI, TUESDAY,
APRIL 5, 2022
www.firstindia.co.inIwww.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhiItwitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Aanchal Sharma, a beauty with
brains, hailing from Pink City, in
an exclusive interview with City
First talks about how her childhood
dream come true and her journey so far!
LET YOUR
LET YOUR
DREAMS BE
DREAMS BE
YOURWINGS
YOURWINGS he future belongs
to those who be-
lieve in the beau-
ty of their
dreams. And
well, supermodel
Aanchal, who is
currently pursuing Mas-
ters’s in English Litera-
ture, is a huge example of
how a lot of determina-
tion and effort can help
you achieve your goals.
When asked about her
initial days, the diva said,
“I always wished to be a
model, little did I know I’d
accomplish this goal one
day. My parents turned
out to be my biggest sup-
port system.” She further
added, “I cannot be more
grateful to them each day
for their support and love.
I’d also like to thank
Gaurav Gaur for being a
huge turning point in my
modelling career. I
couldn’t have come this
far without his support
and guidance.”
When asked what mes-
sage she’d like to give to
the people, Aanchal said,
“I will share a small story
.
Modelling was always in
myheadfromaveryyoung
age but I met with a road
accident in 2019 and got a
big scar on my right foot.
My spirits were crushed
because to me being a mod-
el meant being flawless.
After a point, my percep-
tion changed. I realised it
was all in my mind. My
confidence and the way I
perceive things matter the
most. And my real journey
kicked off from there. In
2020, I became the Presi-
dent of Xavier’s Fashion
Club, Jaipur. Then in 2021,
I became the finalist of
Elite Miss Rajasthan and
becameMissVoiceof EMR
2021. Since then there was
no looking back. A little
girl of 10, who dreamt of
walking on a ramp is now
a huge source of inspira-
tion to so many.
T
MITALI DUSAD
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Gokarna is a toned-down version of Goa. If you want to take your kids and family to a
Palm-fringed beach, pristine blue water, shacks to laze, minus the crowd and alcohol,
visit Gokarna instead of Goa. Kudle Beach is one of the popular beaches in the town.
It is dotted with luxury hotels and resorts. Although the accommodations options
in Gokarna cannot beat Goa, if splurging is not an agenda of your vacation, then
Gokarna is your best bet! Gokarna is a small temple town in the state of Kar-
nataka. It is home to the sacred Mahabaleshwar temple. If you want
to have Dil Chahta Hai vibes like Goa, head to Mirjan Fort. The
fort offers stunning views of the Western Ghats. Your
nightlife will be much more peaceful here. Spend
your night around a bonfire with guitars
and drums and sleep to the sound
of waves rather than party
music in Gokarna.
10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Alternatives To
Alternatives To
I
India’s Crowded
ndia’s Crowded
Destinations
Destinations
SHALBHA SARDA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Alternate and mindful travel are the trends that the two years of
the pandemic have taught to all travellers. People are seeking
pocket-friendly alternates to popular tourist destinations,
which have fewer crowds and greater accessibility. Here are
some of the tourist spots of India and their substitute places
that you can consider when planning your next trip
The city of temples, ghats and spirituality, Varanasi is the most revered Indian city. Explor-
ing this ancient city and the abode of Lord Shiva must be on your bucket list. But if you have
already visited Varanasi and it has stirred your soul, Ujjain will too! It has more than 100
noteworthy temples and a very sacred ghat that hosts the Kumbh fair. The city lies on the
banks of the Kshipra River, steeped with historical and religious features in its nook and corner.
The most prominent temple of Ujjain is the Mahakaleshwar Temple. The Bhasm Arti ritual per-
formed at 4 am every morning with the ash of the funeral pyre is a next-level spiritual experi-
ence and is sure to give you goosebumps. If poets and scholars have found their inspiration in
the ghats of Varanasi, the greatest Indian writer of any epoch, Kalidas has sought inspiration in
Ujjain. The street food scene of Ujjain is equally enticing. You must try Pani poori, kulfi, jalebi
and other chats in the tower chowk area of the city.
Ujjain for
VARANASI
Meenakshi Temple in Madurai is best known for its religious, historical and architectural
significance. But it is also known for long queues and crowds for darshan. If you are curi-
ous about visiting ancient temples and want to have them to yourself in peace, then head to
the Brihadeshwara or the Tanjavur Temple. The magnanimous temple that lies near the city
of Trichy is both an engineering and architectural marvel. Although both these temples are
constructed in Dravidian style Tanjavur is less colourful than its predecessor, the Meenakshi
Temple. But looking at the sheer scale and imagining the effort to transport monolithic granite
blocks to make the tallest temple of the world a thousand years ago, will leave you awestruck.
The Sculptures carved on the temple walls on a hard rock such as granite are a marvel in
themselves. This temple is one of the largest Shiva temples in the country. And unlike other
prominent temples of South India, this one is far less crowded.
Tanjavur for
Meenakshi Temple
Sambhar Lake
for Rann of
Kutch
The unearthly and contrasting landscapes of Pangong Tso
in Ladakh have been all over Instagram for quite some time
now. But if you are thinking high altitude alpine lakes, then the
Gurudongmar Lake in the state of Sikkim is a must-visit. It is
the highest lake in India and one of the highest in the world!
Semi-frozen turquoise lake is enveloped by azure skies and
iced peaks with fluttering red prayer flags and a temple nearby.
The lake is located at the Indo-Sino border, which requires a
special inner line permit to visit. The journey is treacherous,
but the view of the landscapes will make up for all your efforts.
The Rann of Kutch is a
remarkable place to visit in
Gujrat. These salt expanses
are on the bucket list of many,
and the best way to explore
them is through glamping.
But accommodations here are
limited and unavailable during
the peak season. You need
at least a week from places
other than Gujrat to explore
the area, which is one of the
reasons that travellers must
put aside their plans to visit
the Rann of Kutch. A little
known salt expanse called the
Sambhar Lake lies barely 100
km from the city of Jaipur. It
can be easily explored on a
day trip from Pinkcity. There
are a few options available
to spend a night as well. An
ancient temple and flocks of
migratory birds visiting the
lake in winter are a welcome
addition to your Sambhar trip.
Gurudongmar for Pangong Lake
Gokarna for Goa

05042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

05042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

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