05052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
NEW DELHI l THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 245
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
ON FINAL LEG OF EUROPE TOUR: MODI PARTICIPATES IN SECOND INDIA-NORDIC SUMMIT
BOOSTING
INDIA’S TIES!
Moni Sharma
Copenhagen: PM Nar-
endra Modi on Wednes-
day said there is much
that India and the Nor-
dic countries can
achieve and contribute
to global prosperity
and sustainable devel-
opment.
The Prime Minister
said this after attending
the second India-Nordic
summit in Denmark
that primarily focused
on cooperation in post-
pandemic economic re-
covery, climate change
and renewable energy
.
“The India-Nordic
Summit will go a long
way in boosting India’s
ties with the region. To-
gether, there is much
that our nations can
achieve and contribute
to global prosperity and
sustainable develop-
ment,” Modi tweeted.
The summit saw the
participation of the
Prime Ministers of
Denmark, Finland, Ice-
land, Norway and Swe-
den. The 1st India-Nor-
dic summit was held in
Stockholm in 2018.
Modi arrived in Den-
mark on Wednesday af-
ter concluding his visit
to Germany where he
held extensive talks
with German Chancel-
lor Olaf Scholz and at-
tended the sixth India-
Germany Inter-Govern-
mental Consultations.
Modi said that India and the
Nordic countries can achieve and
contribute to global prosperity
and sustainable development
The 2nd India-
Nordic Summit
commences. A
boost to our
multifaceted
cooperation with the
Nordic region in areas like
emerging technologies,
investment, clean energy,
Arctic research and more.
Arindam Bagchi,
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson
PM’s last bilateral
summit meeting
was with PM of
Finland where focus
of conversation was
to build on existing strength that
India-Finland achieved. They
talked about cooperation in
digital innovation, digital goods
and platforms.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra,
Foreign Secretary
BILATERAL TALKS
NORWAY
SWEDEN
ICELAND
FINLAND
VIEWS ON REGIONAL AND
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
JT ACTION PLAN PROGRESS
BOOST TIES IN AREAS LIKE
TRADE, ENERGY & FISHERIES
DEEPEN BILATERAL TIES
PM Modi met his Norwegian counterpart
Jonas Gahr Store and the two leaders took
stock of the full range of bilateral relations,
discussed ways to deepen developmental
cooperation and exchanged views on
regional and global developments.
PM Modi met his Swedish counterpart
Andersson, discussed ways to deepen bi-
lateral ties & progress in Joint Action Plan.
PM Modi met his Iceland counterpart
Katrin Jakobsdottir and discussed ways to
boost ties in areas like trade, energy and
fisheries. ‘We talked about Yoga, it’s quite
popular in Iceland. A lot of people practice
it regularly,’ Jakobsdóttir said.
PM Modi met his Finland counterpart
Sanna Marin and discussed ways to
further deepen bilateral ties.
PM Narendra Modi with (L) PM of Finland Sanna Marin, PM of Sweden Magdalena Andersson, PM of
Denmark Mette Frederiksen, PM of Norway Jonas Gahr Store, and PM of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir,
during the India-Nordic Summit 2022, in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
presented gifts to leaders from
Nordic countries that reflect In-
dia’s diversity & rich traditions,
in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
Amit Shah on a 2-day
WB visit starting today
New Delhi (ANI): Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah is likely to
attend some public pro-
grams during his two-
day visit to WB from
Thursday. From flag-
ging off a floating boat
ambulance to laying of
Maitri Museum, Shah
is scheduled to attend 6
public events during
his visit.
On Friday, the Home
Minister will visit Teen
Bigha and interact with
BSF personnel at BoP
Jhikabari at around
9.30 am in WB’s Cooch
Behar district.
BIG SPENDER BMC COMMISSIONER
FOLLOWS CAN DO MANTRA
IQBAL SINGH CHAHAL SPENT
`65,000 CRORE IN 2 YEARS
BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal in an exclusive con-
versation with Associate Editor, Renni Abraham of First India
spoke about his ambitious spending targets for Mumbai city.
Mumbai: BMC Com-
missioner, Iqbal Sin-
gh Chahal caught
PMModi’s eye for his
tactical urbanisation
initiative (TUI) to
transform 105 bus
stops across Mumbai
city, to make a wait at
bus stop actually
healthy & eco-friend-
ly. Confirming this
Chahal told First In-
dia, “We designed
green bus shelters &
PMO evinced keen in-
terest in same. I sent
drawings of TUI pro-
ject over email to
PMO last week after
PM sought it himself.
Modiji liked my
work.” Turn to P3
MODI AND NADDA
MAY VISIT BENGAL
With 2024 LS polls in the
backdrop and considering
the drooping morale of
the common party work-
ers in West Bengal, the
state leadership is trying
hard to persuade PM
Modi national president
JP Nadda to visit the state
in coming months.
Modi to address
BJP meet in Raj
on May 20-21
LIC IPO DAY 1:
67 PERCENT
ISSUE BOOKED
New Delhi (PTI): The
BJP will hold a meeting
of its key organisational
leaders from across na-
tion in Jaipur on May 20-
21 to deliberate over its
strategy for upcoming
polls in states and dis-
cussthecurrentpolitical
situation, sources said
on Wednesday
. PM Modi
is scheduled to address
oneof thesessionsvirtu-
ally
,theyadded.BJPprez
JP Nadda will chair
meet, and its national
office-bearers besides
state party chiefs, in-
charges others will at-
tend meeting.
biggest IPO in the histo-
ry of Indian markets,
LIC IPO
was sub-
scribed
67% on
Wednes-
day
. LIC
policyholders lead ini-
tial bout of buying in
insurer’s IPO as they
have subscribed 1.99
times the portion re-
servedforthem.Theem-
ployee reserved portion
has been subscribed
117%, while retail inves-
tors portion has been
subscribed 60%.
CRUCIAL READ
BCCI BANS JOURNALIST FOR 2
YEARS FOR ‘INTIMIDATING’ SAHA
New Delhi: BCCI has banned journalist Boria
Majumdar for 2 years for “threatening and
intimidating” India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman
Saha. Ban includes not getting press pass for any
matches in India, an embargo on interviewing
centrally contracted players and no access to any
of cricket board’s and state units’ facilities.
SC DENIES BAIL TO
DAWOOD’S NEPHEW
SENSEX FALLS 1,307
PTS, NIFTY50 16,700
New Delhi: The SC on
Wednesday refused to
grant bail to Mohammad
Ibrahim Kaskar, nephew
of gangster Dawood Ibra-
him, in a 2019 case for is-
suing threats to a builder.
‘We see no reason to
enlarge applicant on bail
at this stage,’ bench said.
Mumbai: The Sensex
fell 2.29% (over 1,300
points) to 55,669.03.
Nifty declined by similar
magnitude to 16,677.60.
This is the first time the
50-stock gauge closed
below 17,000 since April
25. Nifty Sensex closed
at lowest level in 7 weeks.
NONSENSE
...says Kremlin over reports
of May 9 war declaration
London: Russia has no
plans to declare war
against Ukraine as part
of its Victory Day cele-
bration May 9, Kremlin
spokesmanDmitryPesk-
ov said Wednesday
, but
mounting Western intel-
ligence suggests Russia
may mark the commem-
oration with an escala-
tion of its military cam-
paign. Celebrated annu-
ally in Moscow, Victory
Day commemorates So-
viet Union’s 1945 victory
over the Nazis.
EU LEADER CALLS FOR RUSSIAN OIL
BAN IN NEW SET OF SANCTIONS
Brussels: European Union’s leader on Wednesday called
on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia in
6th package of sanctions targeting Moscow for its war in
Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen also proposed that Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank
2 other major banks be disconnected from payment system.
MAHA LOUDSPEAKER ROW
I will continue
playing Hanuman
Chalisa, says Raj
Mumbai has 1,104 mosques of which 135
used loudspeakers on Wednesday, he said
Mumbai (ANI): Main-
taininghisdefiantstand,
Maharashtra Navnir-
man Sena (MNS) chief
Raj Thackeray on
Wednesday said his par-
ty workers will continue
to play the Hanuman
Chalisa at higher vol-
umes as long as loud-
speakers at mosques are
not silenced.
Speaking at media,
he also hit out at Maha-
rashtra Police for de-
taining party workers
and `letting off’ those
who do not follow law.
Raj had warned of start-
ing agitation against
mosque loudspeakers
from Wednesday
. If any
temple is violating
norms laid down by SC,
thenitshouldalsofollow
norms, he said.
‘BLACK DAY’ FOR
HINDUS: RAUT
Mumbai: Shiv Sena
leader Sanjay Raut, on
Wednesday, slammed
Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena chief Raj Thack-
eray and said that it was
a ‘black day’ for Hindus
as people could not hear
Aartis because of BJP’s
politics ‘in cahoots with
the MNS’.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS

z Maharashtra cancels
all police leaves after Raj
Thackeray warning

z Heavy security
deployed in Mumbai,
neighbouring areas

z Shiv Sena’s school
of Hindutva is original,
says Raut dismissing
Thackeray’s ‘nautanki’
Dmitry Peskov Ursula von der Leyen
Raj Thackeray
ECONOMY FACES
HEADWINDS FROM
GLOBAL SPILLOVERS,
SAYS RBI GOVERNOR
P3
THE QUINTESSENTIAL
MAN BY FICCI FLO
WELCOMED ABHISHEK
BACHCHAN IN JAIPUR P12
INFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED PROJECTS
CENTRE OKAYS DIVERSION OF FOREST LAND
FOR DEVELOPMENT IN NAXAL-HIT STATES
New Delhi (ANI): For
rapid development in
the Left Wing Extrem-
ism (LWE) or Naxal-af-
fectedstates,theCentral
government gave ap-
proval for the diversion
of forest land for infra-
structure-related pro-
jects in 14 categories in
2020-2021. The approval
was granted by the Min-
istry of Environment,
Forest and Climate
Change mentioning the
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs’recentlypublished
annual report 2020-2021.
“Ministryof Environ-
ment, Forest and Cli-
mate Change has given
general approval for di-
versionof forestlandfor
infrastructure-related
projects in 14 categories
relating to schools, dis-
pensaries, hospitals,
electrical and telecom-
munication lines, drink-
ingwaterprojects,water
and rain harvesting
structures,minorirriga-
tion canals, non-conven-
tional sources of energy
,
skill upgradation and
vocational training cen-
tre as well as rural
roads,” the report said.
The general approval
was earlier for diversion
of up to five hectares of
forest land, which has
been increased to 40 hec-
tares for LWE areas,
with validity up to De-
cember31,2020,interms
of section 2 of the Forest
(Conservation)Act,1980.
The report said that
Govt of India has been
implementing Road Re-
quirement Plan since
February26,2009,forim-
proving road connectiv-
ity in 34 LWE affected
districts of eight states,
Andhra Pradesh (now
AndhraPradeshandTel-
angana), Bihar, Chhat-
tisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Maha-
rashtra, Odisha and Ut-
tar Pradesh.
CONGRESS
LEADERSHIP REACHES
OUT TO ‘UPSET’
HARDIK PATEL P7
DIRECT CONTEST
BETWEEN AAP AND
BJP IN HP POLLS:
SATYENDAR JAIN
P2

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022
02
New Delhi, (PTI):
JNUSU members began
a sit-in protest outside
the office of Dean of
Students on Wednesday
demanding allotment
of hostels to students of
the 2021 batch.
Jawaharlal Nehru
University Students
Union members also de-
manded the resumption
of offline classes for
first-year students.
They held placards
that read “Start offline
classes, no more classes
on Zoom”, “immediate-
ly start hostel allot-
ment” among others.
The JNUSU has
vowed to continue the
protest until a notifica-
tion regarding physical
verification and hostel
allotment is released.
“Many students are
facing problems due to
the non-allotment of
the hostels to first-year
students. Despite sev-
eral assurances, the
Dean of Students (DoS)
office has not issued
any notification in this
regard,” said Anagha
Pradeep, councillor
JNUSU.
On Tuesday, the JNU-
SU wrote to JNU Vice-
Chancellor Santishree
Dhulpudi Pandit, re-
questing the com-
mencement of physical
verification of docu-
ments and hostel allot-
ment for the batch.
Despite the permis-
sion to open all educa-
tional institutions in
full capacity, JNU still
remain shut for the
batch of 2021, the JNU-
SU noted.
The 2021 batch stu-
dents “have still not
been allotted hostel and
has to do with online
classes. Many of them
are facing a lot of issues
due to the online class-
es,” the letter read.
Students protest against non-allotment of hostels
JNUSU
CRUCIAL READ
MOTHER, SON KILLED AS
CAR COLLIDES WITH
TRACTOR IN GR NOIDA
Noida(PTI): A mother-son
duo died on the Eastern
Peripheral E-way in Great-
er Noida allegedly after
their car collided with a
tractor coming on the
wrong lane, police said.
The deceased-- residents
of Nuh district in Haryana,
were returning from
Meerut district in UP, the
police said. They were on
the expressway in their
car under the Dankaur po-
lice station area when the
incident took place.
DELHI STARES AT WATER CRISIS;
SENDS SOS TO HARYANA
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi is staring at a water crisis amid the
rising heat, with the water levels at the Wazirabad pond
depleting alarmingly due to less flow
in the Yamuna, officials said. The
city government has written to the
Haryana Irrigation Department, for
a second time in a week, asking it to
release additional water in the river to prevent disruption in
water supply in the capital, they said.
16-YEAR-OLD BOY APPREHENDED
FOR CIVIL LINES MURDER, THEFT
New Delhi: Two days after a 77-year-old man was mur-
dered and around ₹50 lakh robbed from his house in Civil
Lines, Delhi Police apprehended a
16-year-old boy for the crime from
near Connaught Place, with inves-
tigators saying that he was traced
through his Delhi Metro card.
Police said they have also stepped up efforts to search for
the co-accused and recover the money.
HIGHLIGHT
Jawaharlal Nehru University
SISODIA DISTRIBUTES FREE PASSES TO SOME CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
DELHI GOVT ANNOUNCES FREE BUS
PASSES FOR LABOURERS IN CITY
New Delhi (ANI/PTI):
Delhi Deputy Chief
Minister Manish Siso-
dia on Wednesday gave a
relief to construction
labourers working in
the national capital af-
ter he announced that
the Aam Aadmi Party
government will bore
their travelling expense.
Manish Sisodia said,
“All construction la-
bourers earlier had to
spend somewhere be-
tween Rs 1000 to Rs 3000
per month for trave-
ling.”
“Now the government
has decided to make bus
travel free for such la-
bourers. This will bene-
fit about 10 lakh labour-
ers in the state,” the Dy
CM said. According to
PTI, Sisodia distributed
free passes to some con-
struction workers at a
function held at the Del-
hi Secretariat. He said,
“10 lakh workers have
been registered in Del-
hi. In the last one year,
the Kejriwal govern-
ment distributed Rs 600
crore among the 10 lakh
registered workers (un-
der various welfare
schemes), which is the
highest amount distrib-
uted among workers in
the entire country.”
Sisodia asked the
workers to spend the
money they would save
due to bus passes being
made free on their fam-
ily and not waste it on
anything else. Construc-
tion workers include
masons, painters, weld-
ers, carpenters, crane
operators among others.
Sisodia interacted
with some of the benefi-
ciaries who told him
that used to spend hun-
dreds of rupees per
month on travelling to
their work places.
Now the
government
has decided to
make bus trav-
el free for such
labourers. This
will benefit
about 10 lakh
labourers in
the state.
—Manish Sisodia,
Deputy CM, Delhi
Devotees charged to enter
mosque in Feroz Shah fort
New Delhi (PTI):
Heated arguments
were witnessed after
Muslims who came to
offer Eid namaz at the
mosque located in the
ruins of the Feroz
Shah Kotla fort, a 14th
century Tughlaq era
complex near ITO, on
Tuesday were asked
to pay an entry fee of
₹25 to access the com-
plex.
Many who came
from the neighbour-
ing colonies, the
Walled City and other
parts of Delhi were
seen arguing with the
security guards at the
entry gates of the Ar-
chaeological Survey
of India (ASI) protect-
ed monument, delay-
ing the namaz by
around 20-30 minutes.
Some visitors said
they had not brought
their wallets with
them while others
started making im-
promptu queues to
book tickets, leading
to much chaos.Abdul
Quddus, a resident of
east Delhi near Ak-
shardham, said no en-
try fee was ever
charged to pray at the
mosque on Eid and
Fridays. “They have
started this new fee
rule only since the
last three-four
months,” he said.
ACTION AGAINST POLICEMEN WHO
WERE ABSENT FROM DUTY ON EID
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Delhi Police on
Tuesday said that departmental action will be taken
against personnel of the force’s Third Battalion
who were not on duty on Eid. According to a
senior police officer, 500 personnel of the battalion
were deployed on duty across the national capital
on Tuesday on the occasion. “Those found absent
will be dealt with as per rules,” the officer said.
Tight security arrangements were put in place at
major religious places and also in different parts of
the city for peaceful progression of Namaz on Eid.
Hailstorm and
rain hit parts of
national capital
New Delhi (PTI): A
hailstorm hit parts of
Delhi on Wednesday af-
ternoon, while rainfall
in isolated areas pro-
vided some respite from
the heat.
People in Rohini,
Pitampura and Pas-
chim Vihar reported
hailstorm around 2 pm
along with a bout of
rain and strong winds
Earlier in the
morning, the India Me-
teorological Depart-
ment (IMD) had
issued a yellow alert,
warning of a dust
storm, thunderstorm
or hail storm
with winds gusting up
to 50 kilometres per
hour in the national
capital.
It later updated the
alert to the orange cat-
egory
.
The Met department
uses four colour codes
for weather warnings
— “green” (no action
needed), “yellow”
(watch and stay updat-
ed), “orange” (be pre-
pared) and “red” (take
action). The maximum
temperature at the
Safdarjung Observato-
ry, Delhi’s base station,
is likely to settle around
38 degrees Celsius.
The minimum tem-
perature was recorded
at 28.8 degrees Celsius
which was four notches
above normal for this
time of the year.
Delhi: South civic body begins 1st
phase of anti-encroachment drive
New Delhi (ANI): The
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation (SDMC)
began the first phase of
the demolition drive on
Wednesday
.
The first phase of the
drive will continue till
May 13. The demolition
drive will cover several
parts of South Delhi.
The drive on Wednes-
day started from
Karni Singh Shooting
Range area in Tughlak-
abad.
Police staff is re-
quired to carry out the
drive, said SDMC May-
or Mukesh Suryan.
During the anti-en-
croachment drives, the
deployment of the po-
lice force is necessary
for maintaining the law
and order situation in
the area, he added.
Suryan said that the
people of Delhi support
this drive. “South MCD
will start the first phase
of the demolition drive
from May 4 to May 13 in
several parts of south
Delhi.
Letters have been
written to the south and
southeast Deputy Com-
missioners of Police in
this regard,” Rajpal
Singh, Standing Com-
mittee chairman cen-
tral zone told ANI.
South Delhi Municipal Corporation conducts an anti-encroachment
drive in the Karni Singh Shooting Range area in Tughlakabad, New
Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
Underground Chhatarpur station
to link Metro’s Silver, Yellow lines
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Chhatarpur Metro
station on the Yellow
Line (Samaypur Badli to
Huda City Centre) will
soon get an underground
interchange station to
link it with the upcom-
ing Silver Line (Tughlak-
abad to Aerocity), with
Delhi Metro Rail Corpo-
ration (DMRC) officials
saying that the two sta-
tions will be connected
through a subway.
“The Chhatarpur Met-
ro station will become an
interchange station in
Phase 4 to facilitate in-
ter-connectivity between
the Yellow line and the
Silver Line. While the
existing Chhatarpur sta-
tion is elevated, the new
station will be an under-
ground one and a sub-
way will connect the two
adjoining stations... The
interchange facility will
be provided via entry
gate number two of the
existing Chhatarpur
Metro station,” said
Anuj Dayal, principal ex-
ecutive director, corpo-
rate communications,
DMRC, adding that the
proposed station will be
built 18 metres below the
ground level and will
have the platform at the
bottom, followed by the
concourse and then the
roof level at the top.
‘Direct contest between
AAP and BJP in HP polls’
New Delhi (PTI): Sen-
ior AAP leader Satyen-
dar Jain on Wednesday
claimed that there would
be a “direct contest” be-
tween the Arvind Kejri-
wal-led party and the
BJPduringtheHimachal
Pradesh polls due later
this year, and his party
will emerge victorious.
At a press conference,
he said, Bharatiya Kisan
Union (HP) head and ad-
vocate, Anender Singh
Nauti, along with his
thirty associates have
joined the AAP. Some of
the members who joined
were present during the
press meet. “With few
months to go for the HP
polls, the CM of
Himachal Pradesh is
now going from one
place to another, doing
inauguration of pro-
jects, and telling people
what his government
will do if voted to power.
He should seek votes on
the basis of what has
been done by the govern-
ment,” Jain said.In this
poll, there would be a
“direct contest” between
the AAP and the BJP,
while the Congress is no-
where in contention, he
claimed.
Loudspeaker
removal falls
in Delhi Police
remit:AAP
New Delhi (PTI):
The Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP)
agrees with the
removal of
loudspeakers from
all religious
places in the na-
tional capital, Del-
hi’s ruling party
said in a statement
on Tuesday,
even as it said the
onus was on the
state police,
saying the issue is
a subject that is
under the Delhi
Police’s jurisdic-
tion.
The statement
came after Delhi
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) chief
Adesh Gupta
wrote to chief
minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Mon-
day seeking the
removal of loud-
speakers from
religious places
across the Capital
to check
sound pollution,
which he claimed
was making peo-
ple “sick”.
AS PER PLAN
UP IN ARMS
LIC staff members stage a protest during their Two Hour Walk Out strike against LIC IPO, at
the Lic building in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
Spendthemoneyon
familyandnotwaste
itonanythingelse,
saysSisodia
—REPRESETATIVE IMAGE

INDIA
03
Despite spendings, BMC reserves increased over `15K cr: Chahal
From Page1...
T
he BMC chief,
with his Can-Do
spirit, agrees
that over 23 municipal
bodies across Maha-
rashtra currently being
handled by state ap-
pointed administrators
is not ideal in a democ-
racybut,aconsequence
of the Covid pandemic.
Five municipalities
in Aurangabad, Navi
Mumbai, Vasai-Virar,
Kalyan-Dombivli and
Kolhapur (since 2020)
and another 18 includ-
ing the BMC, Thane,
Pune, Nashik, Latur,
Nagpur among others
(since 2022) have been
placed under adminis-
trators despite the end
of their respective ten-
ures when fresh elec-
tions became due. The
Supreme Court on
Wednesday directed
that the elections be
scheduledintwoweeks.
Chahal has exploited
his role as administra-
torof BMC(sinceMarch
2022) to execute major
projects.Chahalsaid,“It
is not good for democ-
racy like for instance,
tomorrowIhavetofinal-
iseRs21,000croreworth
of sewage treatment
plant (STP) projects
whereIamboththepro-
poser and disposer.
Luckily
, the Supreme
Court came on board
and took over the moni-
toring and supervisory
roles and, I will be effec-
tively submitting the
bidsreceivedtotheapex
court that will finalise
the same.” Chahal was
speaking to First India
moments before his vid-
eoconferencingwithSC
justiceDYChandrachud
on the project.
When queried on the
whopping Rs 46,000
crore civic budget he
presented in March
2022, the BMC Chief in-
sistsitisnotunrealistic,
“I will complete two
years of tenure as BMC
Commissioner on May
8, 2022. I have so far is-
sued work orders to the
tune of Rs 65,000 crore.
For example: Rs 13,000
crore for the coastal
road project which had
a zero-progress level
whenItookover.Rs8000
crore was spent in the
lasttwoyearsand61per
cent of the project work
is complete. Come July
2023 the project will be
fully complete.”
HealsocitestheSolar-
Hydro Vaitarna project
(Rs 1200 crore), Rs 21,000
crore work orders next
week for STP 7, Rs 8,500
croreGoregaon-Mulund
Link Road (work orders
before May 31 for the 92
metres underground
tunnel below Sanjay
Gandhi National Park),
work orders for Rs 4000
crore desalination plant
at Manori in July
, Rs
4000 crore work order
two months back for
1900 double decker ac
buses, Rs 2000 crore for
fivebrandnewhospitals
inMumbaioutof theRs
16,000 crore annual
health budget.
Says Chahal, “It can
be achieved if, you have
the will to do so. De-
spite the ambitious
spend being undertak-
en when I took over, the
reserves of the BMC
stood at Rs 77,000 crore
and is currently Rs
92,000 crore due to the
rebate on premium
payments introduced
that raised over Rs
15,000 crore in revenue
against an expected Rs
2000 crore.”
K’taka cabinet rejig shifts to Delhi,
party high command to take call
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): The BJP will take
a decision on the long-
pending cabinet rejig in
Karnataka within a
week of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s return
from his foreign trip.
Speaking to reporters
on Wednesday, a re-
lieved Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai said
that Union Minister
Amit Shah had told him
that he would discuss
the matter in Delhi.
Amit Shah had cate-
gorically asked Bommai
to leave the matter of
cabinet expansion to the
high command. Sources
said that Amit Shah
comforted Bommai on
questions being raised
on his (Bommai) leader-
ship. Shah had asked
Bommaito‘justfocuson
work’, sources said.
Chief Minister Bom-
mai’s body language
seemed to be hinting a
relief after the visit of
Amit Shah. State Party
President Nalin Kumar
Kateel and former
Chief Minister BS Yedi-
yurappa have vehe-
mently defended the
leadership of Bommai
and stated that there
was no change of lead-
ership in the state.
Bommai clarified
that the creation of the
post of Deputy Chief
Minister in Karnataka
was a creation of the
media.
Party sources said
that Amit Shah, who
discussed the matter in
detail in the core com-
mittee meeting of the
party during his visit to
Bengaluru on Tuesday,
has asked CM Bommai
to focus on governance.
High Command is
likely to induct at least
10 new faces into the
state cabinet and drop
about five senior cabi-
net ministers. It is not
decided yet whether
there will be cabinet ex-
pansion and overhaul
like Gujarat.
Bommai clarified that the creation of the post of Deputy CM was a creation of the media.
K’TAKA CABINET
MEET POSTPONED
TO MAY 11
The state cabinet meeting
that was scheduled to
be held on May 5 has
been postponed to May
11. This has given rise
to speculations that the
postponement may be to
accommodate expan-
sion in the state cabinet
or reshuffling it, amid
reports that the BJP high
command is expected
to arrive at a decision in
this regard before May
10. Bommai is under
pressure from aspirants
to expand or reshuffle his
cabinet at the earliest.
After 12 days in jail, Court
grants bail to Rana couple
Mumbai (Agencies):
A Mumbai Court on
Wednesday granted
conditional bail to inde-
pendent MP Navneet
Rana and her MLA hus-
band Ravi Rana, who
were arrested in the
‘Hanuman Chalisa’ re-
cital case.
The couple was ar-
rested from their home
after giving a call for
recitingHanumanChal-
isa outside Chief Minis-
ter Uddhav Thackeray’s
private residence.
According to their
lawyer Rizwan Mer-
chant, the duo shall be
released on a bail of Rs
50,000 each, ordered not
to speak to the media
pertaining to the case
underinvestigationsand
refrain from tampering
with evidence, etc.
The Rana duo was
booked and arrested by
Khar Police Station on
April 23 and slapped
with several charges, in-
cluding sedition, breach
of public peace, making
inciting statements, and
other sections for their
plans to chant ‘Hanu-
man Chalisa’ outside
the Thackeray’s person-
al home, ‘Matoshri’ in
Bandra east.
The Special Public
Prosecutor Pradip
Gharat argued that
chanting of Hanuman
Chalisa could incite re-
ligious passions, which
was strongly opposed
by the Ranas’ lawyers.
Independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana.
BMC REACHES MAHA MP-MLA COUPLE’S
HOME OVER ‘ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION’
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
officials has reached the residence of Maharashtra MP-
MLA couple Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana for investigation
over “illegal construction” at their place in Mumbai’s Khar.
The BMC had already sent a notice to the couple recently
arrested over the Hanuman Chalisa row under Section 488
of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, accord-
ing to which, officials can visit any building and ascertain
whether any illegal alterations have been undertaken.
‘Include Garo, Khasi in Constitution’s 8th Schedule’
Guwahati (Agencies):
Meghalaya Chief Minis-
terConradK.Sangmaon
Wednesdaysaidthatlan-
guage defines the iden-
tityof atribeasheurged
the President Ram Nath
Kovind to include the
Garo and Khasi lan-
guage in the 8th Sched-
ule of the Constitution.
Addressing the vale-
dictory function of the
61st annual conference
of the Bodo Sahitya
Sabha (BSS) in Assam’s
Tamulpur, Sangma said
that there are similari-
ties between Garo and
Bodo languages.
“Istronglyfeelthatin-
clusion of languages of
different tribes and dif-
ferent communities in
the constitution would
only lead to a stronger
integration of this very
diverse but great nation
of us,” he said.
President Kovind
was the chief guest in
the BSS meet while As-
sam Chief Ministers
Himanta Biswa Sarma
and Sikkim’s Prem Sin-
gh Tamang, among oth-
er dignitaries, also
spoke in the regional
language literary meet.
NotingtheMeghalaya
Language Act, 2005 rec-
ognises Khasi and Garo
as the states associate
official languages, Sang-
ma urged the President
to support the aspira-
tion of the northeast’s
people and to ensure
that languages from the
region are included in
the Eighth Schedule to
protect and promote the
language and identity
of the people.
“Not just Garo and
Khasi but all the differ-
ent communities and
tribesandtheirlanguag-
es in the northeast are
different. They may be
small but their identity
comesfromthelanguage
and the culture that they
have,” Sangma added.
“Your (President)
presence in a pro-
gramme like this is not
just an inspiration to the
peopleof Bodoareas,but
it shows your concern
and your respect for all
the tribes of the north-
east,” Sangma said.
PraisingthePresident
for his frequent visits to
the northeast, Sangma
said that this sent a very
powerful message to the
people of NE that every
single community is im-
portant.
SANGMA URGES PRESIDENT
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma
Not just Garo and
Khasi but all the
different commu-
nities and tribes and their
languages in the northeast
are different. They may be
small but their identity
comes from the language
and culture that they have.
Conrad K Sangma,
Chief Minister, Meghalaya
Pakistani
tunnel found
near int’l
border in JK
Jammu (Agencies): A
Pakistani tunnel has
been detected near the
International Border
(IB) near the Chak Fa-
quira border outpost in
the Samba sector of
Jammu, officials said
on Wednesday
.
“On Tuesday, a spe-
cial tunnel checking
exercise was carried
out in the AOR (Area of
Responsibility) of Chak
Faquira boredr outpost
by the BSF. During the
exercise, a freshly dug-
up tunnel was detect-
ed,” sources said.
Mamata Govt’s ‘Dalal’: Cong
lawyers heckle Chidambaram
Kolkata (Agencies):
Congress leader P Chid-
ambaram faced a major
protest in Kolkata on
Wednesday when he vis-
ited the Calcutta high
court to appear as an ad-
vocate in a legal matter.
A group of lawyers,
whoreportedlybelonged
to the Congress cell at
the court, shouted slo-
gans against the Rajya
Sabha MP when he was
on his way to leave the
court, showed him black
robes and flags and
called him a sympathis-
er and agent (‘dalaal’) of
the Mamata Banerjee-
led Trinamool Congress
government. They also
blamed the former Un-
ion minister for the Con-
gress’ poor state of af-
fairs in the state.
A media report said
the senior advocate was
representing agro-pro-
cessing firm Keventer.
Chidambaram reached Kolkata to fight the Metro Dairy case
against his own Bengal Congress president Adhir Chowdhury.
‘Anti-NEET Bill forwarded
to MHA for Prez assent’
Chennai (PTI): The Ta-
mil Nadu Assembly Bill
seeking exemption to
the state from the ambit
of the National En-
trance-cum-Eligibility
Test (NEET) has been
sent to the Centre for
presidential assent by
Governor RN Ravi,
Chief Minister M K Sta-
lin said on Wednesday
.
Stalintoldthestateas-
sembly that he has been
informed by the Gover-
nor’s secretary that the
Bill has been sent to the
UnionHomeMinistryto
enable President’ Ram
NathKovind’sassentfor
the same.
“As part of our strug-
gleforNEETexemption,
in the next step, we
should jointly take all ef-
forts to insist the Centre
for presidential assent
for the Bill,” he said.
The assembly had in
February adopted the
anti-NEET Bill for the
second time.
MK Stalin
Tejashwi: No census until
caste headcount is done
Patna (Agencies):
RJD leader Tejashwi
Yadav on Wednesday
said that his party will
not allow any census in
Bihar until caste head-
count is done.
“BJP is an anti jus-
tice party in the coun-
try. Union Minister of
State for Home Nity-
anand Rai has denied in
writing that the caste
based census will not
take place in the coun-
try. In that context, we
will not allow any cen-
sus to take place in Bi-
har,” Yadav said.
“The caste based
census’ resolutions
have been passed twice
in the Bihar Legislative
Assembly (Vidhan Sab-
ha). Even a delegation
of all parties led by
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar had met Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi to press for the
demand of caste-based
census,” Yadav said.
Tejashwi Yadav
RBI GOVERNOR SAYS...
‘Economy faces headwinds
from global spillovers’
Mumbai (Agenies): Re-
serve Bank of India Gov-
ernor Shaktikanta Das
on Wednesday said that
even as the drivers of do-
mestic economic activity
are getting stronger, they
face headwinds from
global spillovers in the
form of protracted and
intensifying geopolitical
tensions along with ele-
vated commodity prices
andCovid-19relatedlock-
downs or restrictions in
some major economies.
He said, the economy
is also facing headwinds
from slowing external
demand and tightening
global financial condi-
tionsonthebackof mon-
etary policy normalisa-
tion in advanced econo-
mies. Das said, these
risks are evolving on the
lines anticipated in the
April statement after the
Monetary Policy Com-
mittee meeting and ap-
pear to be lingering. P6
Shaktikanta Das

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 245
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 Lord is my strength and
my shield. My heart trusts
him. I was helped, my heart
rejoiced, and I thank him
with my song.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
Nitin Gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
Guided by PM Shri @narendramodi
ji’s vision to provide enhanced
connectivity between the ports and the
domestic production and consumption
centres across the country, our
government is committed for port led
development through construction of
world class road network.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
In a meeting with district officers in
Haridwar today, took stock of various
development works going on in
ambitious districts. Here education,
health, agriculture, employment and
increasing the basic facilities and its
benefits reached every person, for this
detailed discussion with all.
TOP TWEETS
INDIA’S WAIT TO
BECOME 5 TRILLION
DOLLAR ECONOMY
GETS LONGER
ndia has been aiming
to become a US $ 5
trillion economy by
2024-25 although it
does not have the 9
percent growth rate required to
reach the goal. Last year Petro-
leum and Urban Development
Minister Hardeep Puri said,
“Economic growth is accelerat-
ing. India is poised for growth to
become a USD 5 trillion econo-
my by 2024-25 and USD 10 tril-
lion economy by 2030. Well, that
may not happen in accordance
with the minister’s prediction.
Some economists said it was
“impossible”. One economist
drew attention to the fact that
the Indian economy which was
USD 2.7 trillion in 2019, was al-
most at the same level at the end
of March 2022. While much of
the earlier pushback came from
the pandemic, this time it is due
to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Now IMF data reportedly sug-
gests that India will have to wait
till 2029 to be able to reach the
goal, four years later than the
target year fixed by Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi.
I
heReserveBankof
India’s warning on
global headwinds
spooked the stock
markets and Nif-
ty50 crashed 391.50 and Sensex
tanked by 1,306.96 points on
Wednesday
. Governor Shakti-
kanta Das announced a 4.40
percent hike in repo rate, at
which the RBI lends money to
commercialbankstohelpthem
meet cash shortfall. For the
consumer it would mean high-
er outgo on home and auto
loans. But the scary part of the
suddenly organised press con-
ferencewasaboutthegalloping
inflation in the country
, Asia’s
third biggest economy which
was facing global headwinds.
India not being an island in to-
day’s global village is not unaf-
fected by the “seismic waves
emanating from the centre of
an earthquake” despite its
“strengths and buffers”.
In simpler words he said
that there “was a spike” in the
CPI inflation in March 22 and
is expected to be high in the
currentmonthtoo.TheMarch
inflation was pushed to 7 per-
cent due to high prices of food
items. The RBI Governor’s
gloomy prediction was that
there will be no let up in “food
price pressure in April”. The
increaseindomesticpricesof
petroleum products since the
second fortnight of March “is
feeding into core inflation”.
Sincethewarhasdisrupted
supplies of commodities and
alsoof containerswhichferry
thesupplies,itisacaseof sup-
ply side inflation. High infla-
tionwouldmeancommodities
going beyond the reach of the
poor and middle class who
will require more liquidity to
spend on goods. For that rea-
son alone the government
must consider lowering taxes
on petroleum products.
FOOD INFLATION
REMAINS IRKSOME
The Reserve Bank of India’s warning on global headwinds
spooked the stock markets and Nifty50 crashed 391.50 and
Sensex tanked by 1,306.96 points on Wednesday.
Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a 4.40 percent hike in
repo rate, at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks
to help them meet cash shortfall. For the consumer it would
mean higher outgo on home and auto loans
T
ommunal violence in Karau-
li and Jahangirpuri, Delhi
last month and in Jodhpur
now is a clear and strong
wake-up call for us Indians,
regardless of religion. The
arson has not only sullied the
image of the cities but has
also brought into sharp focus
the people’s inability to see
beyond their nose. Such vio-
lence has never solved any-
thing. But we don’t seem to
be in a mood to learn from
our own history
.
Looking at the visuals of
the violence, anyone with the
faintest idea about India
would be shocked to know
that things haven’t changed
much in over 70 years of our
Independence. Look at our de-
spondency: The Chief Minis-
ter of Rajasthan Ashok Ge-
hlot, was calling for peace as
nooneappearedtobother;the
police was baton charging a
mob here and there to no ef-
fect,almost.Thepoliceaction,
however, is secondary
. What
happened to our leaders from
both or in fact, all parties?
The auspicious occasion
of Akshay Tritiya and Eid –
falling the same day on May
3 – could have turned the cru-
elest day for many
. The main
casualty, however, was our
pretension to be a nation
where law of the land rules,
not of mobs masquerading as
Hindus and Muslims.
We are becoming insensi-
tive,morehypocriticalandless
even-handed. A selective and
pernicious sense of national-
ism has crept into our system
of things. How long will this
nonsense about one religion’s
supremacy over another con-
tinue? I am sure every law-
abiding citizen of Delhi, Jodh-
pur and Karauli would know.
Here’s something that
needs iteration each time the
monster of communalism ar-
rives at our doorstep: India is
the blessed land of so many
religious shades. Yet we Indi-
ans remain oblivious to the
depth and seriousness of joy-
ful events. Togetherness is
not invented; it is ingrained
in the idea of India.
Happiness associated with
festivals is to be distributed.
Imagine our share of happi-
ness – two great festivals of
Islam and Hinduism falling
the same day, May 3. If you
are a believer in God, you
could have taken it as Her/
His manifestation, and if you
are an atheist, you could have
found your happiness in
abundance of food and fun.
Yet, we failed to make a be-
ginning. That’s what May 3
hadbrought–asAkshayTriti-
ya marked the beginning of
good things to unfold. Some-
thing similar took place on
April 2 too. Gudi Padva in its
many forms across the coun-
try fell that day
. It also marked
the first evening of Ramadan
fasting. We were busy; we
were too gross in separating
the spirit of that day
. The ‘di-
vine intervention’ -- if at all
there is something of the sort
– took us across many more
days, as if India’s greatness
were striving to reveal itself.
There’s a lot of substance
in being community-con-
scious because there lies the
pride of who we are. In India,
this pride is reinforced by a
belief that not only ‘this’ but
also ‘that’ belongs to us. The
intermingling of mutually
contradicting thoughts has
repeatedly brought about an
equilibrium in our belief
system, for example, the con-
cept of one god and many
gods – the truth has not lost
itself to arguments; it has
caused us to accept the diver-
sity of truth. Which is what
a happy living is all about.
In an extremely moving
scene in Hollywood World
War-II movie ‘Saving Private
Ryan,’ the rescued American
soldier called James Ryan,
now apparently in his seven-
ties, is walking to the war
cemetery along with his ex-
tendedfamily
.Amidhundreds
of graves all painted white,
Ryan stops at one and breaks
down. The grave belongs to
CaptJohnHMiller,theofficer
who died while successfully
savingJamesRyan,thelastof
his four brothers.
The soldier, his eyes welled
up, looks at his wife and whis-
pers to her before the Cap-
tain’s grave: “Tell me I have
led a good life, tell me I am a
good man.” That was Ryan’s
way of paying tributes to
Capt Miller, who while dying,
tells him “earn it (freedom).”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
HISTORY IS TESTING
US INDIANS!
So far, we seem to be failing, but will Rajasthan with its rich history of
communal harmony surrender to the monster of communalism?
Freedom isn’t acquired
easily and harmony isn’t
realized in good measure
because we forget the
sacrifices that our ancestors
made for us to live happily.
That’s why we keep harping
on diversity, seldom
realizing the unifying force
behind it. April 2 and May
3 have presented an
opportunity for us to look
within. Rajasthan has a
rich history of communal
harmony. The state must
not surrender to the
communal monster
C
PRASHANT SAXENA
The writer is a freelance
journalist and political analyst
The auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya and
Eid – falling the same day on May 3 – could
have turned the cruelest day for many. The main
casualty, however, was our pretension to be a nation
where law of the land rules, not of mobs
masquerading as Hindus and Muslims
JAHANGIRPURI
KARAULI
JODHPUR

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INDIA
05
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The presi-
dential election is to be
held in July and its pro-
cess is believed to start
in June. So far no party
has opened its cards in
this matter. Whom the
BJP will field and who
will be a contender for
the Congress-led UPA
has not been decided
yet. But before that
there is news that a
third front is also being
formed, on whose be-
half the presidential
candidate will be field-
ed. Although efforts are
on to form a third front
to give competition to
the BJP in the politics
of the country, but its
outline has not been de-
cided yet. Therefore,
the question is whether
any outline of the Third
Front will be made in
the name of the presi-
dential election itself?
It is being told that
Akhilesh Yadav, who is
angry with the Con-
gress, is taking the ini-
tiative. Samajwadi Par-
ty national president
Akhilesh Yadav is try-
ing to field non-Con-
gress and non-BJP can-
didates. If he takes the
initiative, he can create
a large group of leaders
who are currently an-
gry with the Congress.
Keep in mind that Sa-
majwadi Party is the
main opposition in UP
and Rashtriya Janata
Dal is also the main op-
position party in Bihar.
The two parties also
have prominent rela-
tives and in Bihar too,
the alliance between
the Congress and the
RJD is over.
So, it is possible that
the foundation of the
Third Front will be laid
by the Samajwadi Par-
ty and the Rashtriya
Janata Dal. If they get
in touch with Prashant
Kishor in any way, then
they can add many of
his client parties to this
group. Angry with Con-
gress, Mamata Baner-
jee and K Chandrashek-
har Rao can be a part of
it. However, both SP
and RJD have a choice
of Left parties. But if
there is talk with CPM,
CPI then Mamata Ba-
nerjee will not come
along. However, this is
a start. If this thing
goes ahead, then a big
front can be formed
and then there will be a
number two contest be-
tween the Congress
and the candidate of
this front.
Third Front will also contest the presidential election!
LankaseeksfertilisersfromIndia,
deferralofpaymentof$2.5billion
Sri Lanka has sought
the supply of fertilisers
from India and the de-
ferral of a payment of
$2.5 billion to the Asian
Clearing Union as part
of efforts to cope with
the island nation’s
worst economic crisis
in decades, people fa-
miliar with the matter
said on Wednesday
.
At the same time, an
amount of $200 million
from the $1-billion line
of credit provided by
India in March has been
set aside to fund the
purchases of fuel, the
people said. This will be
in addition to the
$500-million line of
credit provided by India
in February for fuel
purchases.
With Sri Lanka
switching back to the
use of chemical ferti-
lisers, there is a grow-
ing need for the com-
modity amid a global
shortage created by the
Ukraine crisis. It is in
this context that the
Sri Lankan side has
made the request for
the supply of fertilis-
ers, the people said.
The Sri Lankan gov-
ernment banned chem-
ical fertilisers last
year as part of a
phased transition to-
wards organic agricul-
ture. The sudden na-
ture of the change and
the dearth of adequate
supplies of organic
fertilisers affected ag-
ricultural output, es-
pecially rice and tea,
and the government
recently ended the ban
on several key crops.
“There is a growing
demand for fertilisers
since the use of chemi-
cal fertilisers was
cleared by the Sri Lan-
kan government. The
supply of other items
under the $1-billion line
of credit, including
food items such as rice
and pulses and medi-
cines, has already start-
ed,” one of the people
cited above said.
The Sri Lankan side
has also asked the Indi-
an side to defer the pay-
ment of $2.5 billion to
the Asian Clearing Un-
ion (ACU), an organisa-
tion with its headquar-
ters in Tehran that in-
cludes Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Iran, the
Maldives, Myanmar,
Nepal, Pakistan, and
Sri Lanka.
Earlier this year, In-
dia had deferred the
payment of $515 million
to the ACU at Sri Lan-
ka’s request. It had also
provided a currency
swap of $400 million un-
der the Saarc facility
.
With Sri Lanka switching back to use of chemical
fertilisers, there is a growing need for commodity
amid global shortage created by the Ukraine crisis
An anti-government demonstration demanding President Gotabaya’s resignation.
WHAT IS ASIAN
CLEARING
UNION (ACU)?
Asian Clearing
Union (ACU) is a
payment arrange-
ment whereby
member countries
settle payments for
intra-regional trans-
actions among the
participating central
banks. The main
objective of the
union is to facilitate
payments among
member countries
to economise on
the use of foreign
exchange reserves
and transfer costs.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Italian Foreign
Minister Luigi Di
Maio's three-day visit
to India from Wednes-
day will provide an op-
portunity for both sides
to further expand bilat-
eral ties in trade and
investment, defence
and security, and clean
and green energy, the
Ministry of External
Affairs said.
It said the visiting
dignitary is scheduled
to hold talks with Exter-
nal Affairs Minister S.
Jaishankar on Friday
.
This will be Di Maio's
first visit to India, and
he will be accompanied
by a high-level official
andbusinessdelegation.
The foreign minis-
ter's visit will provide
an opportunity to dis-
cuss the entire gamut
of the bilateral rela-
tions and further ex-
pand and deliver on our
close partnership, espe-
cially in priority areas
like trade and invest-
ment linkages, defence
and security, clean and
green energy, and sci-
ence and technology
cooperation, the MEA
said in a statement. It
said Jaishankar and Di
Maio will review the
progress in the imple-
mentation of the 'Ac-
tion Plan 2020-24'
launched at a virtual
summit in November
2020 and also exchange
views on regional and
multilateral issues of
mutual interest.
The Ukraine issue is
likely to figure in the
talks. Di Maio will also
meet with Union Com-
merce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal
and co-chair a business
round-table.
Italian Foreign
Minister begins
3-day India visit
Luigi Di Maio
UP cop, who
allegedly
raped minor
survivor, held
Lalitpur (ANI):
The Station House
Officer (SHO) ac-
cused of rape in
the Lalitpur rape
of minor Dalit girl
has been arrested
in Prayagraj.
The SHO who
was accused for al-
legedly raping a
13-year-old girl, a
victim of gang
rape, and was in a
visit to the police
station to register a
complaint was ar-
rested on Wednes-
day
, the Additional
Director General
(ADG) of police
Prayagraj, Prem
Prakash, informed
media.
TheNationalHu-
man Rights Com-
mission (NHRC)
has also issued no-
tice to the Chief
Secretary and the
Director-General
of Police, Uttar
Pradesh. A report
has been sought
within 4-weeks per-
taining to the re-
ports of the rape of
the minor.
DRG jawan killed
in encounter with
Naxals in C’garh
Narayanpur (PTI):
A District Reserve
Guard (DRG) head
constable was killed
in an encounter with
Naxals in Chhattis-
garh’s insurgency-
hit Narayanpur dis-
trict on Wednesday,
police said.
The skirmish took
place around 8.15 am
at a forest in Tularg-
ufa-Mungari area un-
der Chhotedongar
police station limits
when a joint team of
various security forc-
eswasoutonasearch
operation, Inspector
General of Police
(Bastar range) Sund-
arraj P told media.
The joint squad of
personnel, belonging
to the DRG and the
Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP), had
launched the opera-
tion along the Palli-
Barsur axis on
N a r a y a n p u r -
Dantewada inter-dis-
trict border on Tues-
day, he said.
When a patrolling
team of the DRG was
cordoning off forests
between Tulargufa
and Mungari on
Wednesday morning,
it came under heavy
fire from a group of
ultras, leading to the
gun-battle, he said.
“DRG head consta-
ble Salik Ram
Markam (37) suf-
fered bullet injuries
in the face-off and
later died,” the offi-
cial said.
IN 2020, LADAKH
RECORDED
HIGHEST SEX
RATIO IN INDIA
The Union Territory of
Ladakh recorded the
highest sex ratio in the
country in 2020, fol-
lowed by Arunachal
Pradesh, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, Tripu-
ra and Kerala, accord-
ing to the annual report
on Vital Statistics based
on 2020 Civil Registra-
tion System report.
“Highest Sex Ratio at
Birth (SRB) based on
registered events has
been reported by
Ladakh (1104) followed
by Arunachal Pradesh
(1011), AN Islands
(984), Tripura (974), and
Kerala (969),” the report
released by the Regis-
trar General of India
(RGI) on May 3 said.
Sex ratio at birth is
number of females per
thousand males.
Mumbai (Agencies):
The National Investiga-
tion Agency (NIA) has
named dismissed police
officer Pradeep Sharma
as the 'main conspirator'
inthecold-bloodedmur-
der of Thane business-
man Mansukh Hiran, in
its affidavit in the case
pertaining to planting a
SUV with 20 gelatin
sticks outside Antilia,
the home of industrial-
ist Mukesh Ambani.
Aware of the entire
conspiracy
, the NIA told
the Bombay HC that Hi-
ran was considered the
'weak link' in the larger
conspiracy to terrorise
the billionaire Ambani
family
, when the SUV
wasdiscoveredonFeb25,
2021, sending shock-
wavesacrossthecountry
.
Opposing the bail
plea of Sharma - nabbed
on June 17, 2021 and cur-
rently in judicial custo-
dy - the NIA affidavit
saidhewasnotinnocent
and had committed of-
fences of criminal con-
spiracy
, murder and ter-
ror acts. The NIA also
claimed that Hiran was
eliminated after he re-
fused to take the blame
for parking the SUV out-
side Antilia.
Antilia case: Pradeep Sharma plotted
Mansukh Hiran’s murder, says NIA
Pradeep Sharma
TKF:Agnihotri accuses PCI
of ‘suppressing’ free voice
The Press Club of India
(PCI) has landed in a
controversy after ‘The
Kashmir Files’ director
Vivek Agnohotri ac-
cused it of denying
booking to him for a
press conference.
Agnihotri said his
booking was first can-
celled by the Foreign
Correspondent Club
(FCC) allegedly over ob-
jections raised by some
of the members and
later, the Press Club of
India followed suit.
Now, the event is be-
ing held in a hotel on
Thursday
.
Taking to Twitter, Ag-
nihotri said: “Wow! @
PCITweetsalsocancelled
me. The watchdogs of
democracy and messiah
of free speech not only
bannedmeundemocrati-
cally but are also lying
through their teeth. 1.
Encl are the facts.
2. They have booked
earlier through our
agency without any
member’s recco. Re-
ceipt encl.”
TMC appoints Kirti Azad
as party’s Goa in-charge
Kolkata (Agencies):
The Trinamool Con-
gress (TMC) on Wednes-
day appointed Kirti
Azad as the new in-
charge for its Goa unit.
Azad, a cricketer-
turned-politician, had
switched over to the
TMC from Congress in
2021. He was earlier a
BJP MP from Bihar.
Azad replaced TMC
MP Mahua Moitra who
was the in-charge of the
Goa unit.
The appointment will
come into force with im-
mediate effect, the par-
ty said in a statement.
Even as the TMC in-
ducted several senior
leaders from the Con-
gress ahead of the as-
sembly polls in the
coastal state earlier this
year, it drew a blank.
Mumbai (PTI): The
Bombay High Court on
Wednesday dismissed a
petition filed by Vara-
vara Rao and two other
activists, arrested in the
Elgar Parishad-Maoist
links case, seeking a re-
view of an earlier order
of the high court which
refused them default
bail.
The high court said it
finds it difficult to hold
there was any factual er-
ror in its earlier judge-
ment and requires a re-
view.Nocaseforreview
is made out, a division
bench of Justices SS
Shinde and NJ Jamadar
said. The high court re-
jected the petition filed
by the three accused:
VaravaraRao,ArunFer-
reira and Vernon Gon-
salves. Rao is currently
out on medical bail,
while the other two peti-
tioners are in jail.
Thethreeaccusedhad
challenged a Dec 1, 2021
order passed by the
bench led by Justice
Shinde that granted de-
fault bail to lawyer Sud-
ha Bharadwaj, a co-ac-
cused in the case, but
denied default bail to
eight other accused per-
sons,includingthethree
petitioners. In their
pleas, the accused said
theHC'sorderwasbased
on a factual error. If
the high court, in grant-
ing bail to Bharadwaj,
set aside the lower court
order of November 6,
2019, the others, too,
were entitled to relief.
The NIA had opposed
the plea on the ground
that the accused were
seeking the same prayer
of default bail under the
guise of review.
Varavara Rao is currently out in medical bail.
Rao, 2 others’ plea seeking default bail junked
ELGAR CASE

BIZ BUZZ
06
Mumbai (PTI): The
RBI on Wednesday cau-
tioned that while the
Indian economy ap-
pears capable of weath-
ering the deterioration
in geopolitical condi-
tions amid the ongoing
Russia-Ukraine war, it
faces headwinds from
global spillovers from
geopolitical tensions,
elevated commodity
prices and moderating
external demand.
The RBI, however,
did not tinker with the
GDP growth projection
made in April. It had
slashed the GDP
growth projection for
the fiscal 2022-23 to
7.2% from its earlier
forecast of 7.8%.
The Reserve Bank’s
rate-setting panel Mon-
etary Policy Commit-
tee (MPC) decided to
hold an off-cycle meet-
ing on May 2 and 4, and
raised the benchmark
lending rate (repo) by
40 basis points and
hiked CRR by 50 basis
points to contain the
rising inflation.
The committee said
that in this high-volt-
age global environ-
ment, it is useful to
take stock of the do-
mestic macroeconomic
and financial condi-
tions.
The rebound in do-
mestic economic activ-
ity that took hold with
the ebbing of the Omi-
cron wave is turning
out to be increasingly
broad-based.
“As regards the out-
look for domestic eco-
nomic activity
, the fore-
cast of a normal south-
west monsoon bright-
ens the prospects for
kharif production. The
recovery in contact-in-
tensive services is ex-
pected to be sustained,
with the ebbing of the
third wave and the
growing vaccination
coverage,” the central
bank said.
Also, investment ac-
tivity should get an up-
lift from the robust gov-
ernment capex, im-
proving capacity utili-
sation, stronger corpo-
rate balance sheets and
congenial financial
conditions.
“On the other hand,
the worsening external
environment, elevated
commodity prices and
persistent supply bot-
tlenecks pose formida-
ble headwinds, along
with volatility spillo-
vers from monetary
policy normalisation
in advanced econo-
mies,” the committee
said.
On balance, the In-
dian economy appears
capable of weathering
the deterioration in
geopolitical conditions,
but it is prudent to con-
tinuously monitor the
balance of risks, said
the six-member panel
headed by Governor
Das. The governor also
said even as the drivers
of domestic economic
activity are getting
stronger, they face
headwinds from global
spillovers in the form
of protracted and in-
tensifying geopolitical
tensions; elevated com-
modity prices; COV-
ID-19 related lock-
downs or restrictions
in some major econo-
mies.
Mumbai (PTI): Home,
auto and other loan
EMIs are likely to in-
crease after the RBI
hiked its key interest
rate by 40 bps in a sur-
prise move on Wednes-
day in an effort to tame
inflation that has re-
mained stubbornly
above target in recent
months.
The increase in repo
rate to 4.40% from a re-
cord low of 4% is the
first since August 2018
as well as the first in-
stance of the RBI Gov-
ernor-headed MPC
holding an unsched-
uled meeting for rais-
ing interest rates. The
RBI also hike the cash
reserve ratio (CRR) by
50 basis points to 4.5%,
which will now require
banks to park more
money with the central
bank and leave them
with less to loan to con-
sumers.
This would drain
`87,000 crore of liquid-
ity from the banking
system, RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das said
in a video address an-
nouncing the rate hike
decision. He, however,
did not mention any-
thing about the reverse
repo rate and hence it
remains the same at
3.35%.
The standing depos-
it facility rate is now at
4.15% while the mar-
ginal standing facility
rate and bank rate
stand at 4.65%.
RBI FLAGS RISKS FROM GLOBAL SPILLOVER
Indian economy face headwinds from geopolitical tensions, elevated commodity prices and moderating external demand
India may not become a $5 tn economy before FY29
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): The gross domes-
tic product (GDP) of
India will hit the target
of $5 trillion not before
FY29, the International
Monetary Fund’s (IMF)
updated database
shows.
Indian Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi in
2019, before the COV-
ID-19 pandemic rattled
the global economy,
had sought to make In-
dia a $5 trillion econo-
my by FY25.
But as per the IMF
database, India’s nomi-
nal GDP may rise to
$4.92 trillion in FY28
(the database has not
forecasted beyond this
period). The latest fore-
cast hints that the tar-
get of $5 trillion may
fructify with a mini-
mum delay of four
years.
The IMF in April in
its World Economic Re-
port slashed its growth
forecast for India for
FY23 to 8.2% owing to
the impact of Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, as
it expects the higher oil
prices to weigh on pri-
vate consumption and
investment. IMF’s ex-
pectation is higher
than that of the RBI,
which sees growth at
7.2% in the current fis-
cal and 6.3% in the
next.
Earlier in February,
Chief Economic Ad-
viser V Anantha Nag-
eswaran had expressed
hope that India would
become a $5 trillion
economy by FY25 or the
next year on the back
of 8-9% sustained
growth.
Some experts had ar-
gued that the target
was beyond reach in
the current circum-
stances. Former Re-
serve Bank Governor C
Rangarajan late last
year said that India
needs to grow at 9% per
annum for the next five
years in order to
achieve that.
PM’S TARGET
Mumbai (PTI): Equi-
ties went into a tail-
spin on Wednesday
after the Reserve Bank
surprised the market
with a mid-cycle rate
hike in a bid to tame
soaring inflation.
The move came just
ahead of the Federal
Reserve’s policy deci-
sion, with analysts ex-
pecting a similar move
by the US central bank
as well as the focus
shifts to combating
runaway price rise, ex-
acerbated by geopoliti-
cal tensions.
After a choppy start,
the 30-share BSE
Sensex came under
massive selling pres-
sure following RBI’s
interest rate hike, clos-
ing 1,306.96 points or
2.29% down at a two-
monthlowof 55,669.03.
This was its third
straight session of
loss. On similar lines,
the broader NSE Nifty
tanked 391.50 points or
2.29% to finish at
16,677.60.
Bajaj Finance was
the biggest loser in the
Sensex pack, tumbling
4.29%, followed by Ba-
jaj Finserv, Titan, In-
dusInd Bank, HDFC
Bank, Maruti and RIL.
Only three constitu-
ents managed to finish
higher.
LIC IPO Day 1: 67% issue booked;
employees portion fully subscribed
New Delhi (PTI):
LIC’s public offer, the
country’s biggest-ever
IPO, saw the policy-
holders’ portion being
oversubscribed on the
first day itself on
Wednesday, though
overall subscription
stood at 67%.
The government
aims to generate about
Rs 21,000 crore by sell-
ing 3.5% stake in the
insurance behemoth.
LIC’s initial
public offering
(IPO), open for
retail and in-
stitutional in-
vestors, is set to
close on May 9.
The issue period
also includes
bidding on Sat-
urday, May 7.
The portion reserved
for policyholders was
subscribed 1.9 times,
while that for employ-
ees was fully subscribed
during the first day it-
self, as per data availa-
ble on the BSE.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. —PHOTO BY ANI
RATES RAISED
EMIs to rise as RBI hikes
repo rate by 40 bps
Sensex plummets
1,300 points
INVESTOR WEALTH
TUMBLES `6.27
LAKH CRORE
New Delhi (PTI): In-
vestors became poorer
by over `6.27 lakh
crore on Wednesday
as markets crashed
after the RBI hiked
the policy rate by
40 bps in a surprise
move. The 30-share
BSE benchmark
Sensex tumbled
1,306.96 points or
2.29% to settle at
55,669.03. During
the day, it plummeted
1,474.39 points or
2.58% to 55,501.60.
In tandem with the
slump in equities, the
market capitalisation
of BSE-listed firms
tumbled `6,27,359.72
crore to stand at
`2,59,60,852.44 crore.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): India is trying
togetdeeperdiscounts
on Russian oil to com-
pensate for the risk of
dealing with the
OPEC+ producer as
other buyers turn
away, according to
sources.
The South Asian na-
tion is seeking Rus-
sian cargoes at less
than $70 a barrel on a
delivered basis to com-
pensate for additional
hurdles such as secur-
ing financing for pur-
chases in high level
talks between the two
countries, said the
people, asking not to
be identified as discus-
sions are confidential.
Global benchmark
Brent is currently
trading near $105 a
barrel.
Both state and pri-
vate refiners in the
world’s third-biggest
oil importer have
bought more than 40
million barrels of Rus-
sian crude since the
invasion of Ukraine in
late February, the peo-
ple said. That’s 20%
more than Russia-to-
India flows for the
whole of 2021, accord-
ing to data.
India wants Russia
to sell oil below $70
PLI APPLICATION DEADLINE
FOR STEEL EXTENDED
government has ex-
tended the deadline to
submit applications
under the production-
linked incentive
scheme for speciality
steel till May 31.
The deadline has
been extended for the
second time. Initially,
March 29 was the last
date for manufactur-
ers to apply for the
benefits under the PLI
scheme for speciality
steel. It was later ex-
tended till April 30.
“...The application
window (for scheme)
will be kept open up
till May 31, 2022,” ac-
cording the steel min-
istry notification dat-
ed April 28.
The move is expect-
ed to attract an addi-
tional investment of
about `40,000 crore
and create 5.25 lakh
job opportunities.
LIC IPO to stay open on
Saturday for retail investors
Life Insurance Corp. of India’s initial public of-
fering will take subscriptions even on Saturday,
an unusual move aimed at attracting investors in-
cluding retail buyers for the nation’s biggest share
sale.The IPO, which kicked off on Wednesday, will
remain open until May 9, including on Saturday,
a notification on the National Stock Exchange of
India Ltd. said. The Indian government is selling
221.4 million LIC shares at between 902 rupees
and 949 rupees each, which would raise as much
as 210 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) at the top end
of the range. “This is a bit unusual for a share
sale. However, this exception has been given
to LIC IPO considering its sheer size and
humongous interest from retail investors,”
said Kranthi Bathini, chief market strategist
at WealthMills Securities in Mumbai. “This
can put some additional pressure on the
system. However the Indian capital market
infrastructure is geared to facilitate
bidding on Saturday too.” —Agencies
IndiGo appoints V Sumantran
as chairman of the Board
New Delhi (ANI): In-
terGlobe Aviation,
which runs IndiGo air-
lines, on Wednesday
said it has appointed
Venkataramani Suman-
tran as chairman of its
Board of Directors.
Sumantran, who has
been an independent
non-executive director
of the Board since May
28, 2020, succeeds Me-
leveetil Damodaran,
who stepped down on
May 3, 2022, on attain-
ing the age of 75 years.
Sumantran is a busi-
ness leader, technocrat,
and academic, having
worked in the USA, Eu-
rope, and Asia through
a career spanning over
37 years. He is currently
the Chairman and Man-
aging Director of Cel-
eris Technologies, a
strategic advisory firm
engaged in the domains
of automotive, mobility
.
INDIGO STARTS NEW
FARE FOR SPECIAL
SERVICES
New Delhi (PTI): IndiGo on
Wednesday launched an ex-
clusive fare category called
“Super 6E” that will provide
special services like extra 10
kg baggage, free seat selec-
tion, reduced cancellation
fee as well as in-flight meal.
Passengers will be able to
opt for ‘Super 6E’ fare only
at the time of booking, it
said. The ‘Super 6E’ fare has
been designed to provide
the most sought-after
services under a single fare
for passengers who want
to have all services bundled
in single fare, the airline’s
statement said.
government has revised
downwards the esti-
mate for wheat produc-
tion by 5.7% to 105 mil-
lion tonnes in the 2021-
22 crop year ending
June from the earlier
projection of 111.32 mil-
lion tonnes, as the crop
productivity has been
affected due to the early
onset of summer.
Addressing a press
conference, Food Secre-
tary Sudhanshu Pan-
dey said the agriculture
ministry has revised
the wheat production
estimate downwards to
105 million tonnes for
the 2021-22 crop year
from 111.3 million
tonnes earlier.
India’s wheat produc-
tion stood at 109.59 mil-
lion tonnes in the 2020-
21 crop year (July-
June).
The lowering of esti-
mates has been attrib-
uted to “early summer”.
Govt revises wheat
production estimate
Chandigarh (PTI):
Global engineering
and product develop-
ment digital services
firm Tata Technolo-
gies has shown inter-
est in setting up an
electric vehicle pro-
duction centre in
Punjab, a state gov-
ernment release said
on Wednesday
.
A delegation of
Tata technologies
called on Punjab
Chief Minister Bhag-
want Mann on
Wednesday here at
his official residence.
Tata Tech may
set up EV centre
in Punjab

07
NEWS
New Delhi (ANI): Ac-
tor Ranveer Singh-star-
rer ‘Jayeshbhai Jor-
daar’ has been chal-
lenged in Delhi High
Court on Wednesday
over the depiction of a
prenatal sex-determi-
nation scene in the
trailer, saying that the
scene has been shown
without disclosure.
The plea has sought
appropriate direction
to the Centre and other
respondents to censor/
delete the ultrasound
clinic centre scene of
the movie ‘Jayeshbhai
Jordaar’ in which the
sex selection technique
is allegedly being
shown practicing and
abortion of a girl child
is being shown without
disclosure.
The plea states that
this is a violation of
sections 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 6,
and 22 of the Preven-
tion of Corruption Act
and Pre-Conception
and Pre-Natal Diagnos-
tic Techniques Act. It
also requested that
since the movie is being
released across India
on May 13, the court
grants the request be-
fore the release.
The plea moved by an
NGO through its presi-
dent Manish Jain
states: “We see in the
movie Jayeshbhai Jor-
daar’s trailer that one
of the scene in which
the couple and his fam-
ily member gone for the
sex selection in the ul-
trasound clinic and the
doctor is operating the
machine and showing
the radiology image of
the baby in the womb of
the mother and on be-
ing asked by the family
member, Agar Ladka
hua toh Jai Shree
Krishna and Ladkee
hue toh Jai Mata Di fol-
lowed by an abortion of
the girl child.”
On Wednesday, the
plea filed through Ad-
vocate Pawan Prakash
Pathak mentioned the
matter before the act-
ing chief justice court
where the court asked
the lawyer to file all the
documents today we
will hear it tomorrow.
Advocate Pathak
stated that prenatal sex
determination is statu-
torily prohibited and
prays that the scene in
question be deleted on
the ground of promot-
ing prohibited activi-
ties.
Jayeshbhai Jordaar
is an upcoming come-
dy-drama film directed
by Divyang Thakkar
and produced by Aditya
Chopra and Maneesh
Sharma under Yash Raj
Films.
LEGAL TROUBLE
Still from Ranveer Singh’s‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’.
CENSOR THE SCENE
Party sources say Rahul Gandhi has sent a message to Patel asking him to stay in the party
CONGRESS LEADERSHIP REACHES
OUT TO ‘UPSET’ HARDIK PATEL
New Delhi (ANI): Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi has reached out to
disgruntled Gujarat Con-
gressCommitteeworking
president Hardik Patel to
sortoutdifferencesinthe
party unit ahead of state
assembly polls, said
sources.
Party sources claim
that Rahul Gandhi has
himself sentamessageto
Hardik Patel asking him
to continue in the party.
He has also asked the
partyin-chargeandother
leaders to reach out to Pa-
tel to sort out the differ-
ences.
Congress General Sec-
retary Randeep Surjewa-
lahasalsoconfirmedthat
party leadership has spo-
ken to Hardik Patel. “The
details of that conversa-
tioncanbesharedonlyby
state in-charge Raghu
Sharma,”saidSurjewala.
However, Raghu Sharma
was unavailable for a re-
action on the develop-
ment. Angered by the
lack of preference given
to him by state leader-
ship, Hardik on Monday
removed “Congress”
from his Twitter bio and
a picture of the party
symbol from his profile
picture.
A senior Congress
leader told ANI that if
Hardik leaves the party it
will be a loss for Con-
gress.
Speculations were rife
about Patel joining the
BJP which the Congress
leader repeatedly dis-
missedstatingthathehas
no such plans, while also
adding that he is upset
with the state party lead-
ership.
He recently lauded the
BJP government for re-
voking Article 370 and
the construction of Ram
Mandir. He has issued a
clarificationthatheisnot
upset with party leaders
Rahul Gandhi or Priyan-
ka Gandhi but he is upset
with the state leadership.
LONG TIME
COMING
Patel who rose to
prominence in July
2015 by leading a
Patidar reservation
movement, has
reportedly been
upset with the party
leadership for some
time. Those close to
the developments say
Patel had wanted to
become president of
the state Congress
committee but was
only made the working
president. “Despite
being appointed as the
working president his
opinion is not taken
on major decisions by
the state leadership,”
this person said.
To conti He wanted to become presi-
dent of the state Congress committee
but he was only made the working
president. Despite being appointed as
the working president his opinion is not taken on
major decisions by the state leadership. —Sources
UP govt to start heliport service in
tourist, pilgrim places
First India Bureau
Uttar Pradesh: To
promote religious
tourism in Uttar
Pradesh, the Yogi Adi-
tyanath govt intends
to link the places of
tourist and pilgrim
interest in the state
with helicopter ser-
vice.
Through a Public-
Private Partner (PPP)
mode, heliport ser-
vices will be available
in Agra and Mathura
in the next six
months. In the next
two years, the Yogi
government aims to
start heliport service
in Lucknow, the holy
city of Prayagraj, the
state capital- the city
of Nawabs. The di-
vine and grand
Kumbh this time will
also be available for
viewing from the heli-
port service.
Radha-Krishna’s
Brajbhoomi will be
able to see from the
ropeway in six
months. Ropeway ser-
vice has already been
started to show the
natural beauty of
Vindhya and Chitra-
koot from the sky it-
self. Operation of
Ashtabhuja and Ka-
likhoh ropeway in
Vindhyachal from Au-
gust last year and op-
eration of Chitrakoot
ropeway has started
from September 2019.
TOURISM DEPT HAS SET TARGET
The tourism de-
partment has set a
target of starting the
construction of a new
ropeway from Jhunsi
to Triveni Pushp in
Prayagraj in two years.
A few days ago, dur-
ing the presentation
before the Council of
Ministers, the tour-
ism department set a
target for itself for 100
days, two- and five
years to get all these
things done.
40% UP MLCs
have criminal
cases:ADR
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The recent
‘Vidhan Parishad’ (Leg-
islative Council) elec-
tions to 36 seats in UP
have nearly 40 % mem-
bers having criminal an-
tecedents. According to
the analysis report re-
leased by Association for
Democratic Reforms
(ADR) on Wednesday, out
of the 35 MLCs analysed,
14 MLCs have declared
criminal cases against
themselves.
Nine MLCs have de-
clared serious criminal
cases including cases re-
lated to murder, attempt
to murder, bribery etc
while three MLCs have
declared cases related to
murder (IPC Section-302)
against themselves.
Four MLCs have de-
clared cases of attempt
to murder (IPC Sec-
tion-307). Out of 33 MLCs
from BJP, 13 have crimi-
nal cases against them
while one of the two in-
dependents have de-
clared criminal cases
against themselves in
their affidavits. Out of
the 35 newly-elected
MLCs, 33 are crorepatis.
Thirty-three MLCs from
BJP and two Independ-
ent MLCs have declared
assets worth more than
Rs 1 crore.
BACK WITH A BANG
After a long period of two years, Urus is now being celebrated with great pomp and ceremony in the village of Jayadri. The first bullock cart race 2022 was
organized in which more than 100 carts participated.According to the organizers, the race was organized by the Shambhu Fans Club every year.
NITI Aayog member
denies claims around
inflated COVID deaths
New Delhi ANI : The
number of deaths 4.75
lakh in 2020 reported by
the Civil Registration
System 2020 (CRS)
shows ‘the truth’
around the fatalities re-
ported and it further
helps in analysing the
mortality load of the
country, said Dr VK
Paul member of
(Health) Niti Aayog on
Tuesday
.
“What you’re seeing
in this (CRS) report is
the actual number of
deaths reported by the
states and written by
the Office of the Regis-
trar General of India,”
Paul told ANI.
Explaining the sci-
ence and statistics be-
hind the number of
deaths, the NITI Aayog
member said, “The
number of deaths in-
cludes fatalities report-
ed due to all the causes
including COVID-19,
natural, maternal, in-
fant, everything. So, if
you look at the overall
picture it helps us to un-
derstand the mortality
load of the country in
the calendar year of
2020.”
Terming the data as
‘simple truth’ that has
been derived from a
well-supervised robust
system, “It is not a ques-
tion of which model has
been adopted. It is a sim-
ple truth derived from a
well robust system. No
particular model. It is a
system shaped and cu-
rated for many years.”
The NITI Aayog mem-
ber also denied the
claims made by some
international media re-
ports that COVID-19
deaths are eight times
more than that is being
reported in India. He ad-
vised them to be “care-
ful” before making such
claims. “I want people
creating a narrative
that mortality is eight
times more than report-
ed to be careful in stat-
ing this because
through a systematic
process following a
timeline we have the ac-
tual numbers with us.
We now know that the
excess mortality rate is
4.75 lakh.” The Central
government on Tuesday
published the Civil Reg-
istration System (CRS)
report 2020 based on
birth and death reports
in the country
.
According to CRS,
death registration has
increased by 4.75 lakh in
the year 2020 as com-
pared to 2019.
AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER
BARRY O’FARRELL CALLS ON PUNJAB CM
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: In a bid to
give fillip to bilateral
trade, Australian High
Commissioner Barry
O’Farrell on Wednes-
day evinced keen inter-
est to forge collabora-
tion especially in the
field of agriculture and
skill development with
Punjab on the pattern
of Gujarat and Maha-
rashtra.
Responding to
O’Farrell’s proposal,
Punjab CM Bhagwant
Mann assured him of all
cooperation and support
in this regard so as to
propel Punjab in the
high growth trajectory
by concretizing these
plans of mutual interest.
A three-member Aus-
tralian delegation led by
O’Farrell, including
Member Parliament
Gurmesh Singh and Sec-
ond Secretary Political
Jack Taylor, called on
the Chief Minister .
Apprising Mann
about the India-Austral-
ia Economic Coopera-
tion and Trade Agree-
ment (IndAus ECTA),
O’Farrell said it is the
India’s first bilateral
trade agreement with a
large, developed econo-
my in 10 years, which
aims to double two-way
trade.
CHARDHAM YATRA
Bhagwant Mann met Barry O’Farrell on Wednesday.
U’khandimposesban
onvehiclemovement
Uttarakhand (ANI):
Uttarakhand govt has
decided to impose a ban
on the movement of ve-
hicles on mountain
routes in the state from
10 am to 4 pm in view of
the Chardham Yatra.
“It has been decided
by the govt to ban the
movement of vehicles
on mountain routes
from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
during Chardham
Yatra,” Uttarakhand
Transport Commission-
er Ranveer Singh Chou-
han told ANI. The deci-
sion has been taken for
the convenience and safe
journey of the pilgrims
on Chardham Yatra.
He said this year’s
Chardham Yatra is ex-
pected to attract a large
number of pilgrims.
The Chardham Yatra
begins on Akshaya Triti-
ya when the doors of
Gangotri-Yamnotri are
opened. The doors of Ke-
darnath Dham will be
opened for devotees on
May 6 and Badrinath
Dham on May 8.
Dr VK Paul
—PHOTO
BY
VIJAYKUMAR
HARISHCHANDRE
Ranveer Singh’s movie ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ challenged in Delhi HC

08
2NDFRONT
As a parent, do not lecture on what
your child must or musn’t do, lead
by example-that is the only way.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
New Delhi (PTI):
Claims that the Himala-
yan glaciers are rapidly
melting and their disap-
pearance will have cata-
strophic consequences,
with India’s rivers dry-
ing up, are false and
alarmist says a new pa-
per that shows glacial
melt accounts for hard-
ly one per cent of the
flow of Ganges, Indus
and Brahmaputra.
Almost all of the riv-
er flow is due to rain
and snowmelt, which
will continue even after
the glaciers ultimately
disappear (several cen-
turies later), reveals the
paper by senior editor
Swaminathan S Ankle-
saria Aiyar and glaci-
ologist VK Raina for the
Cato Institute.
The flow of the rivers
will not be affected at all
byglacialmeltandthere
will be no drying up of
rivers, the authors have
emphasized in remark-
able findings based on
new studies. Earlier
studies mistook snow-
melt for glacial melt.
The Himalayan gla-
ciers have been melting
and retreating since the
end of the last ice age
11,700 years ago, but the
melting has not acceler-
ated recently even
though temperatures
have risen, the paper
says, citing recent stud-
ies and satellite data by
the ISRO.
Melting glaciers won’t dry up Ganga
NEW FINDINGS
lll
Almost all of the
river flow is due
to rain and
snowmelt,
which will
continue even
after the
glaciers
ultimately
disappear
Akhil Gogoi demands Article
370-like special status for Assam
Sivasagar (ANI): Ac-
tivist and Sivasagar
MLA Akhil Gogoi on
Wednesday demanded
the implementation of
the Article 370-like pro-
vision in Assam for the
“Constitutional safe-
guard” of the indige-
nous people of the state.
“We have demanded
the Center to imple-
ment (provisions like)
Article 370 or 371 (A),
371 (F) 371 (J) in Assam
to give Constitutional
safeguard to the people
of the state. The indig-
enous people of the
state will not be safe un-
til Article 370 or 371 (A)
like safeguards are im-
plemented,” Raijor Dal
president said.
Article 370 acknowl-
edges the special status
of the state in terms of
autonomy and its abili-
ty to formulate laws for
the state’s permanent
residents.
Until a few years
back, Jammu and
Kashmir enjoyed this
special status. Article
371 states that no act of
Parliament shall apply
to the State of Naga-
land in respect of the
religious or social prac-
tices of the Nagas, its
customary law and pro-
cedure.
Jerusalem (PTI): The
Omicron subvariants
may burn themselves
out in the next couple
of months and there
could be another out-
break of Delta or a dif-
ferent coronavirus
strain this summer, ac-
cording to a modelling
study conducted in Is-
rael.
The findings, pub-
lished last week in the
journal Science of the
Total Environment, sug-
gests that while Delta
wiped out the variants
that preceded it, Omi-
cron has not eliminated
the deadly variant
which could re-emerge.
Researchers from
Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev (BGU) in
Israel developed sensi-
tive arrays that can dif-
ferentiate variants from
each other in wastewa-
ter which continues to
give indications of
where the coronavirus
is active, even when
PCR and rapid testing
of people declines.
They monitored sew-
age in Beer-Sheva city
of Israel from Decem-
ber 2021 to January 2022
and noticed a “disturb-
ing interaction” be-
tween the Omicron and
Delta variants. The re-
searchers also built a
model which predicts
thatOmicronisburning
itself out while Delta is
just biding its time.
“Of course, there are
a lot of factors involved,
but our model indicates
there could be another
outbreak of Delta or an-
other coronavirus vari-
ant this summer,” said
Professor Ariel Kush-
maro from BGU in a
statement. Until now,
the researchers said,
whenever a new, domi-
nant, variant appeared,
it overpowered its pre-
decessor after a short
parallel period.
However, in contrast
to the expected dynam-
ics whereupon the Del-
ta variant diminishes
as Omicron variant in-
creases, results re-
ceived from wastewater
detection indicated a
cryptic circulation of
Delta even with the in-
creased levels of Omi-
cron, they said.
Delta, different variant may cause
another Covid outbreak: Study
The findings, published last week, suggests that Delta wiped out variants that preceded it
India records 3,205
new Covid-19 cases,
31 deaths in 24 hours
dia reported 3,205
new coronavirus in-
fections in a day,
pushing the number
of active cases to
19,509 and the overall
tally to 4,30,88,118, ac-
cording to the Union
Health Ministry data
updated today
.
The data released
at 8 am also showed
that 31 fatalities - 29
of them from Kerala
alone - were reported
in a 24-hour span,
taking the cumula-
tive deaths to
5,23,920.
The active cases
constitute 0.05 per
cent of the total in-
fections, the health
ministry said, add-
ing the country’s
COVID-19 recovery
rate is 98.74 per cent.
The daily positivi-
ty rate was recorded
at 0.98 per cent while
the weekly figure
was recorded at 0.76
per cent, the minis-
try said.
An increase of 372
cases has been re-
corded in the active
COVID-19 caseload
which now stand at
19,509.
The number of
people who have re-
cuperated from the
disease rose to
4,25,44,689, while the
case fatality rate was
recorded at 1.22 per
cent.
The cumulative
doses administered
in the country so far
under the nation-
wide COVID-19 vac-
cination drive has
exceeded 189.48
crore.
DISTURBING INTERACTION
India falls to 150th place
in Press Freedom Ranking
dia’s ranking in the
World Press Freedom
Index has fallen down
to 150th position from
last year’s 142nd rank
out of 180 countries, ac-
cording to a report by a
global media watchdog
released on Tuesday
.
Therankingof India’s
neighbours, except that
of Nepal, have also slid
down, with the index
placingPakistanat157th
position, Sri Lanka
146th, Bangladesh 162nd
and Maynmar at 176th
position, the report re-
leased by Reporters
Without Borders said.
According to the RSF
2022 World Press Free-
dom Index, Nepal has
climbed up by 30 points
in the global ranking at
76th position. Last year,
the Himalayan nation
had been placed at 106th
position, Pakistan at
145th, Sri Lanka 127th,
Bangladesh 152nd and
Myanmar at 140th posi-
tion in the index.
This year, Norway
(1st) Denmark (2nd),
Sweden (3rd) Estonia
(4th) and Finland (5th)
grabbed the top posi-
tions,whileNorthKorea
remained at the bottom
of the list of the 180
countriesandterritories
ranked by the Reporters
Without Borders.
Russia was placed at
155th position, down
from 150th last year,
while China climbed up
by two positions with
the Reporters Without
Borders placing it at
175th position. Last
year, China was placed
at 177th position.
“On the World Press
Freedom Day
, Reporters
Without Borders and
nineotherhumanrights
organisations ask Indi-
an authorities to stop
targeting journalists
and online critics for
theirwork,”theinterna-
tional non-profit organi-
sation said in a state-
ment on its website.
“More specifically,
they should stop prose-
cuting them under
counterterrorism and
sedition laws,” it added.
“The authorities’ tar-
geting of journalists
coupled with a broader
crackdown on dissent
has emboldened Hindu
nationalists to threat-
en, harass and abuse
journalists critical of
the Indian government,
both online and offline,
with impunity,” it said.
The Reporters sans
frontieres (RSF) said
the Indian authorities
should respect the right
to freedom of expres-
sion and release any
journalists detained
on trumped-up or
politically motivated
charges.
FREEDOM OF PRESS
New Delhi (ANI):
Communist Party of In-
dia (Marxist) Politburo
Member Brinda Karat
slammed the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh-
Bharatiya Janata Party
(RSS- BJP) without tak-
ing its name after the
Jodhpur Communal
Clashes and said that
religious festivals have
become a weapon for
communal politics.
While talking to ANI
Brinda Karat said, “It is
a matter of great con-
cern that where people
of all religions used to
celebrate festivals on
the basis of respect for
the culture of our coun-
try
, today religious festi-
vals have become a
weapon for communal
politics. This is a very
dangerous thing and
Jodhpur is a living ex-
ample of this.”
“If such incidents
can happen in the name
of a flag, it is a matter
of concern for the coun-
try and in the name of
religious polarization,”
Karat added.
Festivals have become
a weapon for communal
politics: Brinda Karat
Brinda Karat
Panna(PTI): A farmer
in Madhya Pradesh had
a great stroke of luck as
hestumbledupona11.88
carat good quality dia-
mond in a small, leased
mine in Panna, famous
for diamond mines.
The small-time farm-
er, Pratap Singh Yadav,
who also works as a la-
bourer, found this dia-
mond from a mine in
Patti area in the dis-
trict, diamond officer
Ravi Patel told report-
ers on Wednesday
.
This good quality dia-
mond will be put up for
sale in the upcoming
auction and the price
will be fixed as per the
government guidelines.
Talking to reporters,
Mr Yadav said, “I am a
poor man with a small
agricultural land. I also
work as a labourer. I have
been working hard in
thismineandgotthisdia-
mond and deposited it to
the Diamond Office.”
MP farmer
mines 12
carat diamond
‘Will dump garbage outside Delhi
BJP chief’s house if not cleared’
New Delhi (ANI): Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
leader Durgesh Pathak
on Wednesday warned
the BJP to clear the gar-
bage from the roads of
the Karol Bagh area
that falls under the ju-
risdiction of the BJP-
led North Delhi Munici-
pal Corporation
(NDMC), by Wednesday
evening or else AAP
will collect it and dump
it outside BJP state
president Aadesh Gup-
ta’s residence.
“In the past 15 years,
BJP has left no stone
unturned to litter Del-
hi. In Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s Swac-
chta survey, all over the
nation from 47 cities,
Delhi stands at 45th po-
sition. Delhi’s people
are very worried and
angry
. Everyone wanted
the election to be held
and the new govern-
ment to come so that
Delhi could change.
Delhi is the capital of
India and it’s a reflec-
tion of the country
. But
BJP has adjourned the
elections and now the
whole party is involved
in corruption,” Pathak
said. According to AAP,
the BJP instead of pay-
ing the garbage pickers
is distributing the mon-
ey among themselves,
and as a result of which
the people have stopped
collecting garbage.
“In these seven
wards, garbage has not
been cleared in the past
10 days,” he told.
BJP instigating
violence, can’t digest
peace in Raj: Gehlot
Udaipur (PTI): Under
attack over incidents of
communal violence in
Rajasthan, Chief Minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot on
Wednesday accused the
BJP of instigating riots
on “orders of its high
command”, which he
said wants to create in-
stability in the state.
Targeting BJP lead-
ers, Gehlot said they
are trying to defame the
Congress party’s gov-
ernment in the state as
they are “unable to
digest peace”.
The CM’s statement
came as the opposition
BJP in the state has re-
lentlessly attacked his
government over inci-
dents of communal vio-
lence in the state’s
Jodhpur, Alwar and Ka-
rauli since April 2.
“The BJP is nervous.
Therefore, they are in-
stigating riots. When
BJP national president
J P Nadda Sahab came
to Sawai Madhopur
even then I had said that
he has come to set fire
and the violence erupt-
ed in Karauli,” he told
reporters in Udaipur.
Communal violence
had erupted in Karauli
on April 2 when a bike
rally being taken out by
Hindu outfits was pelt-
ed with stone while
passing through a
Muslim-domi-
nated area.
Akhil Gogoi
Ashok Gehlot
We request that from today evening the
work of picking up the garbage start
and if the garbage is not picked up by
the evening, then AAP will pick up the garbage
tomorrow and put it outside Adesh Gupta’s resi-
dence. Aam Adami Party is warning them.
—Durgesh Pathak, AAP leader
—REPRESENTATIVE PIC

wonder if I
would have
liked Pretty
Woman if not
for Julia Rob-
ertsandRich-
ard Gere, not
to mention Hector Eli-
zendo- all in the hands
of Garry Marshall
who in his signature
style underlined the
goodness and ro-
mance. The movie is
sweet and innocent if
a little unbelievable
but there is a warm-
heartedness to it that
will hold you.
I fell in love with Ju-
lia Roberts’ smile- it
was real- full-lipped,
wide and gleaming, it
was pure sunshine
and spring rolled into
one. Julia is the key to
Pretty Woman though
Richard Gere with his
drop-dead good looks
withouttheswaggeris
super in this movie.
Julia is straightfor-
ward and strong-
willed and looks it
with her look which is
now iconic but at the
time came across as
bold and brassy, set-
ting the tome for her
character - Red thigh-
highboots,XXLhoops,
a blond wig, no subtle
about it definitely
.
IquitelikeHectoras
the manager, who
takes Julia under his
wing, though the fact
is that he is moulding
hertobecomemoreac-
ceptable in the high
society, moving her
away from who she is?
If the chemistry be-
tween Julia and Gere
holds the movie to-
gether and makes it
watchable then the
scenes with Hector
and Julia come a close
second.
The love story is
fragile, in a glass case
surrounded by betray-
al, consumerism, com-
promise and cynicism
and the comedy ele-
vates it, giving it an
edge. I could not have
borne it to be a soppy
love film, totally unbe-
lievable and stereotyp-
ical, it is after all a mix
of Cinderella and Pyg-
malion.
Julia Roberts is
beautiful throughout,
astheharshandsmart
street-walker and as
the charming woman
perfectlycoiffuredand
dressed for the opera
orthepolomatch.And
I liked her as both, as
long as she was true to
herself and the char-
acter which withers
away in the end. But
deep down we all like
the underprivileged
making good, we want
to believe in fairy
tales, happy endings –
so Pretty Woman is
watchable. In the
words of Garry him-
self, “What I enjoy do-
ing are films that in
some way celebrate
the human spirit —
where we see the good
side of a human being
or where the down-
trodden rise.”
The movie has a
feel-good factor which
frankly is unconvinc-
ing but then we are
talking romance in
movies, reality is not
what we are looking
for, are we?
Pretty Woman
could go either way
and for millions of
women out there, it
does. Life is a harsh
reality and one keeps
waiting for ‘someone’
to come and change it
but that someone has
to be you… remem-
ber, there are no
Prince Charmings’
in real life and the
best is to take the
sword yourself
and fight your
own battles.
NEW DELHI, THURSDAY,
MAY 5, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindiafa-
cebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
THIS THROWBACK
THURSDAY, WE GO
BACK A MERE 30
YEARS TO THE
1990 MOVIE
PRETTY WOMAN
AND REVISIT A
ROMANTIC
COMEDY THAT
WAS A HUGE
SUCCESS. TILL
YOU WATCH IT,
LISTEN TO THE ROY
ORBISON CLASSIC,
IT WILL HAVE YOU
HOOKED!
I
NOT
JUST
A
PRETTY
PRETTY
WOMAN!
WOMAN!

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