06012022 first india new delhi

GujCMinauguratestwo-dayint’leducationconference
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
Chief Minister Bhupen-
dra Patel on Wednesday
inaugurated a two-day
international confer-
ence of academic insti-
tutionsaheadof the10th
Vibrant Gujarat Global
Summit to be held Janu-
ary 10-12.
During the inaugural
ceremony of the mega
eventfocusingontheim-
plementation of the Na-
tional Education Policy
,
2020 (NEP-2020), Patel
launchedthesecondedi-
tionof theStudentStart-
up and Innovation Poli-
cy (SSIP 2.0) in the pres-
ence of dignitaries from
India and across the
world.
The five-year tenure
of the SSIP-1 will end on
January 10. Hence, SSIP
2.0 was unveiled on
Wednesday and will re-
main in force till March
2027, a government re-
lease said.
The new policy aims
to establish an innova-
tion and incubation cen-
tre in each of the 90-odd
universities in Gujarat.
Other objectives of
the policy include pro-
viding financial assis-
tance to school and col-
lege students to build
prototypes and proof-of-
consents, financial as-
sistance for filing at
least 1,000 Intellectual
Properties (IPs) and
building a pre-incuba-
tion support system in
500 institutions and uni-
versities.Thepolicyalso
aims to upscale nearly
1,500 student start-ups
and incubate 500 start-
ups through iHub, a
state government initia-
tive, the release stated.
Over 2,000 MoUs will
be signed between vari-
ous government enti-
ties, universities and
institutions during the
event, the release said.
Around 120 panel
speakers, including 40
from abroad, will be
sharing their experi-
ences across 21 different
sessions during the two-
day seminar at Science
City
, the state has previ-
ously said.
Australia, Canada,
Norway, the UK and
France have joined as
partner countries for
this conference, while
theBritishCouncil,Aus-
tralia India Business
Exchange and Institute
of International Educa-
tion are among the key
institutions which have
joined as international
participants.
Mega event to focus on the
implementation of NEP-2020
11 L NEW VOTERS
ENLISTED
As many as 11,15,312 new
voters have been added to
the list as part of the Elec-
tion Commission’s drive to
update the voters’ list. Of
these, 6,51,075 are in the 18-
19 age group, while 6,52,274
voters are in the age group
of 20 to 29 years. With this,
Gujarat now has 4,84,72,764
voters, including 2,33,85,448
female voters, 2,50,86,028
male voters, and 1,288 vot-
ers from the third gender.
Guj CM Bhupendra Patel
addressed the International
Conference of Academic
Institutions in A’bad on Wed.
Nepal PM Deuba to
meet PM Modi in Guj
Shirish B Pradhan
Kathmandu: Nepal
PrimeMinisterSherBa-
hadur Deuba will meet
his Indian counterpart
Narendra Modi during
the Vibrant Gujarat
Summit next week as
part of his four-day visit
to India.
Prime Minister Modi
is hosting the Summit
from January 10 to 13 in
Gujarat. Deuba is set to
leave for India on Janu-
ary 9 to attend the global
summit, according to
sourcesatthePrimeMin-
ister’s private secretari-
at. This will be Deuba’s
firstofficialvisittoIndia
after assuming power in
Julybuthissecondmeet-
ing with Modi. Earlier,
the two leaders met
briefly during the Glas-
gow Climate Summit in
November. —PTI
PM Modi
New Delhi: Pilot error
was the likely cause for
thechoppercrashthatled
to Chief of Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat’s
deathlastmonth,sources
said on Wednesday
.
Sources said the Mi-
17V5 helicopter carry-
ing Gen Rawat, his wife
Madhulika,and12other
armed forces personnel
- from the Sulur Air
Force base in Tamil Na-
du’s Coimbatore to the
Defence Staff Services
Colleges in Wellington
- crashed after a CFIT, or
Controlled Flight Into
Terrain, occurrence.
CFIT occurs when an
airworthy aircraft,
while under the com-
plete control of the pi-
lot, is inadvertently
flown into terrain, wa-
ter, or an obstacle.
According to the
IATA (International Air
Transport Association),
the term refers to acci-
dents in which in-flight
collisions with terrain,
water, or another obsta-
cle occur without indi-
cation of loss of control.
The United States’
FederalAviationAdmin-
istrationsaysCFITis‘’...
an unintentional colli-
sion with terrain
(ground,mountain,body
of water, or an obstacle)
while an aircraft is un-
der positive control.”
NEW DELHI lTHURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.128
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
The Pune police on Wednesday took custody of controversial godman Kalich-
aran Maharaj from Raipur in connection with an alleged inflammatory speech
case registered against him and five others last month. He was brought to
Pune following a transit remand granted by a Raipur court. Later in the day,
a Pune court sent Maharaj in one-day police custody till Thursday.
BSE Sensex gained 367.22 points (0.61 per cent) to reclaim the 60,000 mark
and end at 60,223.15 while the Nifty 50 rose 120.00 points (0.67 per cent) to
settle above the 17,900 mark at 17,925.25. Earlier in the day both the indices
had begun on a choppy note moving in a narrow range in the opening deals.
the gains on Wednesday were led by Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance.
PUNE COPS ARREST
KALICHARAN
MAHARAJ FROM
CHHATTISGARH
SENSEX RISES 367
PTS TO RECLAIM
60K-MARK, NIFTY
ABOVE 17,900
CDS Rawat crash: Pilot error
in cloudy weather,says report
3rd arrest in case
of app hosting
doctored photos
New Delhi: A team of
cyberpoliceofficialsfrom
the Mumbai Crime
Branch Wednesday ar-
rested one more accused
from Uttarakhand for al-
legedly posting obscene
and derogatory content
on an application, which
hosted doctored photo-
graphs and objectionable
commentstargetingMus-
limwomeninthecountry
.
The accused was iden-
tified as Mayank Rawat,
21, a student who was in
touch with the other ac-
cused in the case, Shweta
Singh, 18, and Vishal Ku-
mar Jha, 21.
The police said the
three are part of a larger
team.
Men walk on a road during season’s first snowfall, on the outskirts of Srinagar. Kashmir received fresh snowfall, forcing
suspension of air traffic to the valley as authorities carried out snow-clearance operations in all major towns. P5
58,097
New Delhi: India on
Wednesday reported
58,097 fresh COVID-19
cases in the last 24
hours, 55 per cent
higher than Tuesday’s
37,379 cases. This is
twice the number seen
only four days ago.
The country report-
ed some 9,000 cases on
December 28, so the
count has now gone up
more than six times in
just eight days. India
has 2,135 cases of the
Omicron variant - the
most in Maharashtra
with 653 cases, fol-
lowed by Delhi with
464 cases.
The weekly positiv-
ity rate is 2.60 per cent;
daily positivity rate is
4.18 per cent. Positivi-
ty rate is the percent-
age of all Covid tests
that are actually posi-
tive. It will be high if
the number of positive
tests is high, or if the
number of total tests
is low.
Several states have
announced restric-
tions like night curfew
as Covid cases contin-
ue to rise. P2
...new covid cases
clocked in country
NEW HOME
ISOLATION RULES
 The Centre on
Wednesday released
revised guidelines
for home isolation of
mild/asymptomatic
Covid-19 cases.
 According to the
new guidelines, a
patient under home
isolation will stand
discharged after 7
days from testing
positive.
 Provided the
patient has no fever
for 3 successive days
and they shall con-
tinue wearing masks.
There is no need for
re-testing after the
home isolation period
is over, the new guide-
lines stated.
Tamil Nadu: Night
curfew, shutdown
Chennai: In view of
the surge in Covid-19
cases in Tamil Nadu,
Chief Minister MK
Stalin announced that
a night curfew (from
10 pm – 5 am) will be
imposed in the state
from Thursday, Janu-
ary 6 and a complete
lockdown will be ob-
served on all Sundays.
CM urged all to follow
Covid guidelines.
61 resident doctors
at JJ hosp test +ve
Mumbai: Amid the
alarming rise in COV-
ID-19 cases, a total of
61 resident doctors
were found COVID-19
positive at the JJ
hospital in Mumbai,
informed Maharash-
tra Association of
Resident Doctors.
Meanwhile, samples
of 1,827 passengers
on board the Cordelia
cruise ship were sent
for COVID-19 testing.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
10,665
NEW CASES
8
NEW FATALITIES
PMNOTSAFEINPUNJAB!
MODI SKIPS FIROZPUR RALLY OVER ‘SECURITY BREACH’
AS PROTESTERS BLOCK FLYOVER ENROUTE
The PM landed in Bathinda on Wednesday, from where he was to go to
National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter. Due to rain
and poor visibility, the PM waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear
1 When the weather didn’t improve, it was
decided that he would travel by road.
Later, he had to return to Bathinda airport
2
Later, he had to return to Bathinda airport
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s (in circle) cavalcade
was stranded on a flyover
for 20 minutes as protesters
blocked his way in Punjab.
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: Prime Min-
isterNarendraModican-
celled his programme in
Punjab on Wednesday
after a massive security
breach left him stuck on
ahighwayfor20minutes
because of protesting
farmers. In a spiralling
row in election season,
the BJP accused Pun-
jab’s ruling Congress of
“murderousintentions”.
Visuals from Bathin-
da showed the Prime
Minister’s convoy on
the flyover, surrounded
by Special Protection
Group (SPG) personnel.
PM Modi was seen wait-
ing in a black armoured
Toyota Fortuner ringed
by SPG officers. Barely
a few feet from his car
were clusters of people
and policemen. Images
tweeted by a BJP work-
er showed posters held
up as the PM’s car drove
by
. A BJP bus following
the convoy was heckled
by protesters.
PM Modi cut short
his visit and returned
to the airport.
MHA SEEKS REPORT
FROM PUNJAB GOVT
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Home Affairs has
sought a report from
the Punjab government
asking how the PM’s
cavalcade was stranded
on a flyover for over 15
minutes due to a protest,
when his programme
had been duly com-
municated to the state
police. “Such dereliction
of security procedure in
the Prime Minister’s visit
is totally unacceptable
and accountability will
be fixed,” tweeted Union
Home Minister Amit Shah.
QUIT: AMARINDER TO PUNJAB CM CHANNI
Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder
Singh slammed the state’s Charanjit Singh Channi
government. “Complete failure of law and order in
Punjab, CM and HM Punjab, in particular. When you
cannot provide smooth passage to the Prime Minister
of the country and that too just 10km from the Pakistan
border, you have no right to stay in office and should
quit!” read his tweet.
I had been up till
late night over-
seeing security
arrangements for rally.
The PM’s road plans were
made at the last minute,
he was earlier supposed to
travel by helicopter
Charanjeet Channi, Punjab CM
We in BJP want
to know who in
the Punjab gov-
ernment gave informa-
tion about the prime min-
ister‘s route to individuals
who planted themselves
atop the flyover?
Smriti Irani, Union Minister
Apne CM ko
thanks kehna, ki
mein Bhatinda
airport tak zinda
laut paaya.
Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister to officials
before leaving Punjab
Hospital Staffers arrange beds as part of preparations for the
third wave of COVID-19 in Coimbatore.
A PARADISE CALLED KASHMIR
YOU READ IT FIRST INDIA ON DECEMBER 9, 2021

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: The national capital recorded light rain on
Wednesday morning and clouds pushed the minimum
temperature to 10.9 degrees Celsius, four notches more
than normal. Similar conditions will persist in the city till
January 9 under the influence
of two back-to-back western
disturbances, officials at the
India Meteorological Depart-
ment said. “Generally cloudy
sky and light rain” is expected
till January 9 and the minimum temperature s expected
to rise to 13-14 degrees Celsius by Saturday. Mahesh
Palawat, Vice President (Meteorology and Climate
Change), Skymet Weather, said the mercury is likely to
drop to around four degrees Celsius after the withdrawal
of western disturbance.
LIGHT RAIN IN DELHI, MINIMUM
TEMP RECORDED AT 10.9° C
TWO ARRESTED
FOR CHEATING
HOMEBUYERS
New Delhi: Two persons
were arrested by the
Delhi Police for allegedly
duping 45 homebuy-
ers to the tune of `4.60
crores under the garb
of the Land Pooling
Policy of DDA, informed
Special Commissioner of
Police DC Shrivastav. The
accused are identified
as Jatin Gulrajani (39),
secretary of the society
and Raj Kumar (42), land
and member facilitator,
said the statement. The
complainants have filed
complaints against the
society ‘MTNL Em-
ployees House Welfare
Society’ in EOW alleging
that they have booked
flats in the society under
the DDA’s newly launched
Land Pooling Policy.
New Delhi: The air qual-
ity in the national capital
continued to remain in
the “very poor” category
on Wednesday with the
overall AQI at 369, ac-
cording to the System of
Air Quality and Weather
Forecasting And Re-
search. High winds and
intermittent rains are
likely during January 5
to 8 which is expected to
improve AQI significantly
to the “lower end of very
poor” category through
strong dispersion and
wet deposition. Mean-
while, the air quality of
Noida remains in the
‘severe’ category with
the AQI at 454. With the
AQI at 356, the air qual-
ity of Gurugram is in the
‘very poor’ category.
AIR QUALITY OF
DELHI, GURUGRAM
‘VERY POOR’
New Delhi: Delhi’s In-
dira Gandhi Internation-
al (IGI) Airport has com-
pleted refurbishing work
on the British-era run-
way built during World
War- II transforming it
into a modern one opera-
tional for commercial
use.
Delhi International
Airport Limited (DIAL)
has completed the reha-
bilitation work on the
runway previously used
in war and handed it
over to Air a traffic Con-
trol (ATC) for operations.
Deputy Managing Direc-
tor, GMR Group, I Prab-
hakar Rao said, “DIAL
has successfully complet-
ed the rehabilitation
work of Runway 09/27
and its taxiways. The
British-era runway was
rehabilitated and made
operational for commer-
cial operations as part of
DIAL’s effort to enhance
the infrastructure and
passenger experience at
Delhi Airport to make it
future-ready.”
“The newly rehabili-
tated runway will have a
design life of 20 years
and would be instrumen-
tal in handling the in-
creased air traffic move-
ments (ATMs) once pre-
pandemic level traffic
return to Delhi Airport,”
he added. The 09/27 run-
way of the Delhi airport
was the airport’s first-
ever runway. —ANI
DELHI’S IGI AIRPORT REFURBISHES RUNWAY
END OF BRITISH-ERA

The newly
rehabilitated
runway will
have a design
life of 20 years
and would be
instrumental in
handling the
increased
ATMs
KEY POINT
The DIAL has now
updated the run-
way with the new
and latest equip-
ment, complying
with Category-I
Instrument Land-
ing System, which
assists pilots to
land during low
visibility condi-
tions too.
UP IN ARMS
Delhi issues its first
caste certificate on
mother’s name
New Delhi: Delhi Depu-
ty Chief Minister Man-
ish Sisodia on Tuesday
handed over the first
caste certificate issued
on the mother’s creden-
tials to a child of a single
mother.
This is the first time
that the child of a single
mother belonging to the
scheduled caste commu-
nity received a caste cer-
tificate based on his
mother’s caste certificate
in Delhi. According to
the Delhi government,
previously, SC/ST caste
certificates were issued
only based on the fathers’
caste certificate or pater-
nal side certificates. Due
to this procedure, many
single mothers could not
get SC/ST caste certifi-
cates for their children.
Geeta Devi is one such
single mother who had
been struggling to get an
SC caste certificate for
her child for the past
eight years. Her applica-
tion was rejected multi-
ple times stating that the
father’s caste certificate
is not present. —PTI
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
DUTA calls for
strike today
over funds
New Delhi: The Delhi
University Teachers’
Association (DUTA) has
called for a strike on
Thursday to protest
against alleged non-re-
lease of grants in full to
12 DU colleges fully
funded by the city gov-
ernment.
An online emergent
meeting of the DUTA
executive was held on
Monday to discuss the
issue of fund cut result-
ing into non-payment
of salaries and other al-
lowances to employees
of these 12 colleges, it
said in a statement.
“The fund cut im-
posed by the Govern-
ment of NCT of Delhi
has caused non-pay-
ment of salaries for
two-six months in vari-
ous colleges of 12 Delhi
government-funded col-
leges that has caused
immense hardship to
teachers and employees
of these colleges,” the
statement said. —PTI
IGI Airport has completed its refurbishing work on the British-
era runway built during World War- II in New Delhi —ANI
‘Bulli Bai’ case transferred to
IFSO unit of Delhi Police
Police on Tuesday trans-
ferred the ‘Bulli Bai’
case to its Intelligence
Fusion and Strategic Op-
erations unit and is
planning to get a nod for
Mutual Legal Assis-
tance Treaty procedure
to seek information
about the app from its
foreign-based hosting
platform, officials said.
Police said the Intelli-
gence Fusion and Strate-
gic Operations (IFSCO)
unit is also probing the
‘Sulli Deals’ mobile ap-
plication case that
emerged in July last
year.
About the probe into
the ‘Sulli Deals’ case, a
police officer said the IF-
SCO unit on Tuesday got
a nod for Mutual Legal
Assistance Treaty
(MLAT) procedure in
criminal matters from
the Centre.
Hundreds of Muslim
women were listed for
“auction” on the ‘Bulli
Bai’ mobile application
with photographs
sourced without permis-
sion and doctored. —PTI
Online exam
solving module
busted, six held
Police has busted an on-
line examination hack-
ing/solving module and
arrested six people, offi-
cials said on Wednesday.
One of the accused
persons, Raj Teotia, has a
reward of `1 lakh on his
arrest from Haryana and
was also wanted by CBI.
Russian hackers were
also used by the syndi-
cate to get access to vari-
ous examination portals,
police said. They got the
access of the examina-
tion through remote ac-
cess. —PTI
Metro to run with 100
pc seating capacity
New Delhi: In the wake
of the latest guidelines
issued by DDMA, Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation
(DMRC) on Wednesday
informed that the metro
will be running with a
100 per cent seating ca-
pacity and no standing
passengers will be al-
lowed till further notice.
“Public Service An-
nouncement, in the wake
of the latest guidelines
issued by DDMA, Delhi
Metro will be running
with the 100 per cent
seating capacity and no
standing passengers will
be allowed till further no-
tice,” DMRC tweeted
from its official account.
Amid surging COVID-19
cases, the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) on Tuesday de-
cided to impose a week-
end curfew in the nation-
al capital. —ANI
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
National Capital reports 10,665 fresh cases & 8 deaths in last 24 hours
FIFTH WAVE OF COVID HAS SET
IN DELHI: SATYENDAR JAIN
New Delhi: Delhi
Health Minister
Satyendar Jain on
Wednesday said that
“the third wave of
COVID-19 has set in
for India, while the
fifth wave has set in
for Delhi.”
He said that the
city was stepping
closer to a daily posi-
tivity rate of 10 per
cent.
“The union terri-
tory is likely to re-
port 10,000 COVID-19
cases on Wednesday.
The daily positivity
rate of the national
capital might touch
10 per cent,” said
Delhi Health Minis-
ter in a press confer-
ence today
.
He further in-
formed that the gov-
ernment has in-
structed private hos-
pitals to increase the
number of reserved
beds for COVID pa-
tients to 40 per cent
from 10 per cent of
their capacity, Jain
further informed.
“Delhi Govern-
ment has instructed
private hospitals to
increase the number
of reserved beds for
COVID patients to 40
per cent from 10 per
cent of their capaci-
ty. Nearly 2 per cent
of beds are oc-
cupied in
the gov-
ernment
h o s p i -
t a l s , ”
said the
D e l h i
Health
Minis-
ter.—PTI
TELEMETRY DEVICES BEING
INSTALLED IN OXYGEN TANKS
New Delhi: Amid an
uptick in coronavirus
cases in Delhi, the city
government on Tuesday
said telemetry devices
are being installed in
oxygen tanks of 53
major government and
private hospitals in the
national capital to help
monitor availability of
the life-saving gas at
the facilities. This will
help in timely delivery of
oxygen to the hospitals
in need in case of an
emergency,
an official
state-
ment
said.
Delhi
had battled a brutal
second wave of the
coronavirus, with
shortage of oxygen and
hospital beds add-
ing to people’s woes.
During the last wave of
COVID-19, it was seen
that there was a sudden
shortage of oxygen in
hospitals across the
country, and many hos-
pitals started sounding
the emergency alarm of
running out of oxygen,
said the statement.The
government was finding
it difficult to decide
which hospital should
be provided oxygen first
and which facil-
ity needed it the
most, it said.
—PTI
8 COVID-19
DEATHS
REPORTED
EXEMPTED
FROM
CURFEW
New Delhi: The
number of deaths
due to COVID-19
as well as that
of admissions
to hospitals
and Covid care
centres have
seen a significant
jump in Delhi
amid a spike in
the case tally,
according to of-
ficial figures. The
national capital
recorded eight
Covid deaths
on Wednesday,
while the number
was three on
Tuesday and one
each on Janu-
ary 3, 2 and 1.A
health bulletin
issued by the
authorities
reports the
data about the
cases and deaths
recorded the pre-
vious day. —PTI
 Officers and
officials involved
in essential and
emergency servic-
es shall be allowed
on production of
valid identity card
during night and
weekend curfew.
 Officers and
officials of Gov-
ernment of India,
its autonomous
or subordinate
offices and PSUs
on production of
valid identity card
and according to
the restrictions
imposed by the
Union govern-
ment.
 Judges and all
Judicial officers,
staff members
of all courts of
Delhi as well
as advocate,
legal counsels,
connected with
the case hearing
on production
of valid ID card,
service ID Card,
photo entry
passes and per-
mission letters
issued by the
court administra-
tion.
 Officers and
officials in the of-
fices of diplomats
of various coun-
tries as well as
persons holding
any Constitutional
post on produc-
tion of valid ID
card.
Regular ETT teachers from Punjab holding roses stage a protest over their demand of an
increase in salary, outside the residence of Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi, at Akbar
Road in New Delhi —PHOTO BY ANI
Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain

INDIA
03
Kabul: The Taliban
have announced a state
of emergency in Af-
ghanistanasheavysnow
andrainfallcontinuesto
batter the country, re-
ported local media.
Provincialauthorities
have been directed by
the Officials of the State
Ministry for Disaster
Managementforfurther
preparedness for rain
and snowfall, reported
Khaama Press. Materi-
als to the provinces have
been sent to states to as-
sist people during the
snow and rainfall and
their distribution is un-
derway, said Muham-
mad Amin Mubariz, an
official of the ministry
.
Afghanistan’s 32 out of
34 provinces are wit-
nessing repeated snow,
rainfall and it has
clogged routes. Due to
the massive rainfall,
floods also erupted in
several provinces.
Salang highway that
connects Kabul with
Northern provinces has
been left clogged due to
heavysnowfallandwind,
said Khaama Press. —ANI
New Delhi: After 'Bulli
Bai',Facebookpagesand
a Telegram channel al-
legedlytargettingHindu
women have now sur-
faced. Union Minister
for Electronics and In-
formation Technology
Ashwini Vaishnaw on
Wednesday assured ac-
tion against them and
saidthatthechannelhas
been taken down.
In reply to a com-
plaint on Twitter re-
garding the Telegram
Channel, Vaishnaw
said, "Channel blocked.
Government of India
coordinating with po-
lice authorities of states
for action." Several abu-
sive pages and groups
on Facebook have also
surfaced, compaints
against whom had been
tweeted by a Twitter
user, to which Union
Minister of State for
Electronics and Infor-
mation Technology Ra-
jeev Chandrasekhar
said that had he has di-
rected the concerned
authorities to inform
Meta and to get them
taken down.
"Have directed Gov-
ernment of India MeitY
team to inform Meta
and have it taken down,"
Chandrasekhar said in
a tweet.
The IT Ministers
were replying to com-
plaints of a YouTuber
by the name of Anshul
Saxena, who alleged
that the Telegram chan-
nel, groups and pages
on Facebook were tar-
geting Hindu women,
sharing their photos
and abusing them.
According to Saxena,
the Telegram Channel
wascreatedinJune2021.
Earlier, based on the
complaint of a woman
journalist at the Delhi
Cyber police station in
whikch she alleged that
her photos were upload-
ed on the website 'Bulli
Bai' to target her, and
harass and insult Mus-
lim women. —ANI
GovtblocksTelegramchannel
fortargetingHinduwomen
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said govt coordinating with police authorities of states
Image for representational purpose only.
Jharkhand: Atleast six
people were killed while
several injured in a col-
lision between a bus
and a tanker in the Am-
dapara area of
Jharkhand's Pakur on
Wednesday
.
As per the Varun
Ranjan, District Col-
lector of Pakur, 15 peo-
ple have been injured.
Further details are
awaited. —ANI
16 killed as bus
collides with truck
in Jharkhand
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday condoled
the death of Padma
Shri recipient Sind-
hutai Sapkal stating
that the renowned so-
cial worker would be
remembered for her no-
ble service to society
.
“The life of Dr Sind-
hutai Sapkal was an
inspiring saga of cour-
age, dedication and
service. She loved and
served orphaned, trib-
als and marginalised
people. Conferred with
Padma Shri in 2021,
she scripted her own
story with incredible
grit,” tweeted Rashtra-
pati Bhavan.
“Sindhutai Sapkal
Ji’s life is an inspiring
example of social ser-
vice. Her selfless dedi-
cation & service-orient-
ed works shaped lives
of children. She also
supported several un-
derprivileged fami-
lies,” tweeted Om Birla.
PM Modi condoles
demise of Sindhutai
Taliban declares emergency
amid heavy snow in Af
Image for representational purpose only.
AKHTAR URGES COMPASSION FOR
ALLEGED ‘BULLI BAI’ MASTERMIND
INDIANS ARE SUCCUMBING TO HATRED:
MALLIKARJUN KHARGE ON BULLI BAI ROW
After an 18-year-old woman was arrested by
the Mumbai police in connection with the Bulli
Bai app controversy, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar
expressed his views on the same, urging
people to forgive her as the young
girl reportedly lost her parents to
cancer and COVID-19 recently.
Akhtar, who has been actively
sharing his opinions on the case,
took to his Twitter handle on
Wednesday to ask netizens
to show compassion
and forgive the girl.
LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “It’s
distressing to see 18-21 year olds committing
crimes sparked by the radicalism of RSS and BJP’s
ideology.” Kharge said the youth are
succumbing to hatred. “Instead of
excelling in education & employ-
ment, they have become pawns in
the hands of BJP-RSS,” he said.
The Mumbai police have arrested
three persons in the case, two
from Uttarakhand and one
from Bengaluru, who are in
their early twenties.
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral government on
Wednesday informed
the SC that there was a
“compelling need” to
appoint Indian Police
Service (IPS) Rakesh
Asthana as the Delhi
Police Commissioner
taking into considera-
tion the national capi-
tal’s “extremely chal-
lenging situations” of
public order on na-
tional security
.
The MHA, while jus-
tifying the appoint-
ment of Asthana as the
Delhi Police commis-
sioner, informed the
apex court through an
affidavit that Asthana
was appointed police
chief of Delhi as a
“special case of public
interest”.
The affidavit was
filed on a plea of NGO
CPIL against the Delhi
HC order of upholding
Asthana’s appoint-
ment as police chief.
Asthana appointed police chief
considering riots: MHA in SC
New Delhi: TheCentral
government on Wednes-
day requested the Su-
preme Court to allow
commencement of the
counselling for NEET-
PG saying doctors con-
cerns for counselling
are genuine.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta appear-
ing for Centre told a
bench headed by Jus-
tice DY Chandrachud,
“Let us proceed with
the counselling. We are
at a point where coun-
selling is stuck. We
need doctors and their
concerns are genuine.”
Centre urges SC:
Allow NEET-PG
counselling
DELHI HIGH COURT HEARS
FUTURE GROUP APPEAL
New Delhi: Future Retail and its promoters
have filed appeals before the division bench
of the Delhi High Court challenging the or-
der passed on Tuesday that dismissed the
Group’s petitions for termination of the Amazon
arbitration. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday
dismissed the pleas moved by Future Group
companies seeking a direction to the arbitra-
tion tribunal, adjudicating Amazon’s objections
against Future Group’s deal with Reliance, to
take a decision on their application for terminat-
ing the arbitration proceedings before moving
any further. The appeal will be listed before the
Chief Justice of Delhi High Court at 02:15 p.m.
on Wednesday, it added.
Anita Hada
New Delhi: Since form-
ing the government at
the Centre, all the peo-
ple who were nominat-
ed to the Rajya Sabha by
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi are retiring
this year as seven of the
12 nominated quota
seats are falling vacant.
Journalist Swapna
Dasgupta, who was
nominated twice in one
term,isretiringinApril
this year. Veteran BJP
leader Subramanian
Swamy is also retiring
in April itself.
Apart from these, Ma-
layalam film actor
Suresh Gopi, Olympic
medalist boxer MC
Mary Kom, Bengali ac-
tress Roopa Ganguly,
who played Draupadi in
the Mahabharata seri-
al, well-known intellec-
tual Narendra Jadhav
and Chhatrapati Samb-
haji, one of Shivaji Ma-
haraj’s descendants, are
retiring this year.
Of those retiring, two
are Bengalis, two Mara-
this and two from South
India. This time it will
change so that a better
regional balance is cre-
ated. Generally, no one
is sent to RS for two con-
secutive terms in nomi-
nated quota. But this is
not a rule. Dasgupta,
who contested Assem-
bly polls of West Bengal
by resigning from RS
last year, lost, and was
re-nominated by the
party to Rajya Sabha.
Therefore, he may get
a chance once again.
But the rest of the MPs
are finding it difficult to
get a chance.
Suresh Gopi has left
the party disappointed
and Roopa Ganguly also
did not prove to be very
useful. On top of that,
she has also started giv-
ing statements against
party. Swamy is also
continuously opening a
front against the Modi
government.
That’s when it seems
that new faces will be
brought in most of the
seats. Instead of well-
known leaders, un-
known people can get a
chance, much like how
Ramshakal of Uttar
Pradesh got a chance.
WATCH OUT FOR NOMINATED
QUOTASEATSINRAJYASABHA!
Mahesh Sharma
Jaipur: Whenever Bi-
har Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar feels he is
getting weak politically
or has to give a message
to his ally, the BJP, he
goes on a tour and al-
most all of his such
journeys start from Val-
mikinagar. The region
has great religious, his-
torical and political sig-
nificance.
This time Nitish has
set out on a Samaj Sud-
har Yatra social reform
journey
. For him social
reform means prohibi-
tion of alcohol. Interest-
ingly, he came to know
of this meaning only
five-six years ago be-
cause before that he was
distributing licences of
liquor shops in every
nook and corner of his
state. But now he has
engaged the police and
administration of en-
tire state to implement
the prohibition law.
However, both the
timing and purpose of
his visit are very clear.
He is traveling to give a
message to his ally BJP
.
He is connecting direct-
ly with the people and
discussing the politics
with the local leaders
wherever he is going.
He knows that without
him the BJP will not be
able to form the govern-
ment in the state and
PM Narendra Modi
needs him in the 2024
elections. That is why
he is showing attitude
to the state leaders of
the ally-party
.
Recently
, by-elections
were held for two as-
sembly seats in Bihar.
JanataDal-Ucandidates
were contesting on both
these seats and BJP
leaders were helping
them, but in a casual
way. Despite this, JDU
won both the seats.
Meanwhile,therewas
a split in the Lok Jan-
shakti Party and five
out of the six MPs, who
have the open support
of Nitish Kumar’s party
,
were on one side. In this
way
, Nitish has avenged
the defeat caused by
LJP in the Assembly
elections.
Nitish has also in-
cluded the lone MLA
who won from LJP, in
his party
. All these inci-
dents brought back the
confidence of the Chief
Minister and he decided
to reply to the state-
ments of BJP leaders.
It may be noted that
BJP leaders had said
many times in the past
that Nitish is the CM of
circumstances and is
sitting on the throne by
the grace of BJP
.
Encouraged by the
victory in the by-elec-
tion, Nitish started the
yatra and with the sup-
port he is getting in the
yatra, he is also giving a
message to the BJP that
if it is in power, it is be-
cause of him.
On the issue of caste
census and special cat-
egory status, he has
got the support of the
main Opposition party
RJD, while the BJP is
opposing it. But Nitish
does not care about that
protest!
Nitish Kumar’s Samaj Sudhar Yatra has a message for ally BJP!
BIHAR POLITICS

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 128
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
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
What is extremely worrisome is that
this incident was also a big security
lapse as far as the PM is concerned.
Protestors were given access to
the Prime Minister’s route while the
Punjab CS and DGP gave assurances
to SPG that the route is clear.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
Warm wishes and greetings to senior
BJP leader, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi ji
on his birthday. He is widely respected
for his scholarly pursuits and rich
contributions towards strengthening
the party and the nation. Praying for
his long and healthy life.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
There has to be evil so
that good can prove
its purity above it.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
AMID COVID SURGE
CONGRESS SETS
EXAMPLE, DEFERS
POLITICAL EVENTS
TOP TWEETS
he Congress has set
an example by put-
ting on hold all its
planned rallies in Ut-
tar Pradesh in view
of the frighteningly rapid in-
crease in active Omicron cases
in the country. The party took
the decision after criticism for
holding girls’ marathons. Other
parties would do well to also de-
fer their scheduled political
events which are used only to
tell people about what they pro-
pose to do in future. The BJP is
said to be preparing for virtual
rallies. Over 58,000 Covid cases
were recorded in the country as
the Omicron variant spread ex-
ponentially across the world.
Uttar Pradesh goes to poll
along with Punjab, Uttara-
khand,GoaandManipuraround
the time when the caseload is
likely to peak. The Election
Commission has already re-
viewed the Covid situation amid
demands to delay the elections.
A similar situation had arisen
in the 2020 Assembly elections
in Bihar when virtual rallies
were introduced but that did not
help in preventing huge crowds
from gathering at venues.
T
nvestigation into
the Bulli Bai app
case in which ob-
jectionable mes-
sages were up-
loaded alongside doctored
photographs of Muslim wom-
en has led to a shocking rev-
elation of how hate has poi-
soned young minds.
The three persons arrested
by Mumbai’s cyber cell in-
clude two 21-year-olds, one of
them an engineering student,
and a girl aged 18. Mayank
Rawal, who is from Uttara-
khandlikethegirl,waspicked
up by police on Wednesday
.
The other two were arrested a
day earlier. The accused had
used an open-source software
platform GitHub to upload
photos of Muslim women for
auction on the Bulli Bai app.
Earlier, an app named “Sulli
Deals” was used to upload ob-
jectionable content and in-
vited people to bid for Muslim
women whose photos were
accessed from their social me-
dia sites, morphed and put up
for auction.
That a teenage girl was
heading the group posting
communal and embarrassing
posts about women comes as
a bigger shock. Her co-ac-
cused, an engineering stu-
dent from Bengaluru, had
created a fake account in the
name of Khalsa supremacist
to give the campaign a more
sinister angle of maligning
the Sikh community
.
The involvement of young
students in such a disgusting
and shameful activity should
cause concern in every right
thinking person. The BJP,
Central and state govern-
ments, leaders of ultra-right
outfits, parents and teachers
must realise the danger
which the hate-mongers are
putting our youth in. Society
in general will bear the brunt
if corrective measures are
not taken. Counselling will
help but for that politicians
and society elders must shun
their communal mindsets.
POISONING OF YOUNG
MINDS MUST STOP
Accused had used an
open-source software
platform GitHub to upload
photos of Muslim women
for auction on Bulli Bai
app. Earlier, an app named
Sulli Deals was used to
invite people to bid for
Muslim women
I
WORLD ECONOMY IN 2022: BIG
FACTORS TO WATCH CLOSELY
ill 2022 be the year where the
world economy recovers
from the pandemic? That’s
the big question on every-
one’s lips as the festive break
comes to an end.
One complicating factor is
that most of the latest major
forecasts were published in
the weeks before the omicron
variant swept the world. At
that time, the mood was that
recovery was indeed around
the corner, with the IMF pro-
jecting 4.9% growth in 2022
and the OECD projecting
4.5%. These numbers are
lower than circa 5% to 6%
global growth expected to
have been achieved in 2021,
but that represents inevita-
ble rebound from reopening
after pandemic lows of 2020.
So what difference will
omicron make to the state of
the economy? We already
know that it had an effect in
the run-up to Christmas, with
for example UK hospitality
taking a hit as people stayed
away from restaurants.
For the coming months, the
combination of raised re-
strictions, cautious consum-
ers and people taking time off
sick is likely to take its toll.
Yet the fact that the new vari-
ant seems milder than origi-
nally feared is likely to mean
that restrictions are lifted
more quickly and that the
economic effect is more mod-
erate than it might have been.
Israel and Australia, for ex-
ample, are already loosening
restrictions despite high case
numbers. At the same time,
however, until the west tack-
les very low vaccination rates
in some parts of the world,
don’t be surprised if another
new variant brings further
damage to both public health
and the world economy
.
As things stand, the UK
thinktank CEBR published a
more recent 2022 forecast just
before Christmas. It predict-
ed that global growth would
reach 4% this year, and that
total world economy would
hit a new all-time high of
US$100 trillion (£74 trillion).
THE INFLATION
QUESTION
One other big unknown is in-
flation. In 2021 we saw a sud-
den and sharp surge in infla-
tion resulting from the resto-
ration of global economic
activity and bottlenecks in
the global supply chain.
There has been much debate
about whether this inflation
will prove temporary, and
central banks have been com-
ing under pressure to ensure
it doesn’t spiral.
So far, the European Cen-
tral Bank, Federal Reserve
and Bank of Japan have all
abstained from raising inter-
est rates from their very low
levels. The Bank of England,
on the other hand, followed
the IMF’s advice and raised
rates from 0.1% to 0.25% in
December.
POLITICS GLOBAL
TRADE
The trade war between the
US and China looks likely to
continue in 2022. The “phase
1” deal between the two na-
tions, in which China had
agreed to increase its pur-
chases of certain US goods
and services by a combined
US$200 billion over 2020 and
2021 has missed its target by
about 40% (as at the end of
November).
The deal has now expired,
and the big question for in-
ternational trade in 2022 is
whether there will be a new
“phase 2” deal.
Elsewhere, western ten-
sions with Russia over
Ukraine and further escala-
tion of economic sanctions
against Putin may have eco-
nomic consequences for the
global economy – not least
because of Europe’s depend-
ency on Russian gas. What-
ever happens politically, it is
clear that Asia will be very
important for growth pros-
pects in 2022. Major econo-
mies such as the UK, Japan
and the eurozone were all
still smaller than before the
pandemic as recently as the
third quarter of 2021, the lat-
est data available. The only
major developed economy
that has already recovered its
losses and regained its pre-
COVID size is the US.
On the other hand, China
has managed the pandemic
well – albeit with strict con-
trol measures – and its econ-
omy has achieved strong
growth since the second
quarter of 2020.
As for India, whose econo-
my has seen double dips dur-
ing the pandemic, it is show-
ing a strong positive trend
with 8.5% expected growth in
the year ahead. I therefore
suspect that emerging Asia
will shoulder global growth
in 2022, and the world’s eco-
nomic centre of gravity will
continue to shift eastwards at
an accelerated pace.
THECONVERSATION.COM
W
MUHAMMAD
ALI NASIR
The writer is Associate Professor
in Economics and Finance,
University of Huddersfield
The trade war between the
US and China looks likely
to continue in 2022. The
“phase 1” deal between the
two nations, in which
China had agreed to
increase its purchases of
certain US goods and
services by a combined
US$200 billion over 2020
and 2021 has missed its
target by about 40% (as at
the end of November)
As things stand, the
UK thinktank CEBR
published a more
recent 2022 forecast just
before Christmas. It
predicted that global
growth would reach 4%
this year, and that total
world economy would hit
a new all-time high of
US$100 trillion
(£74 trillion)

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INDIA
05
New Delhi: The Centre
on Wednesday said the
upsurge of Covid-19
cases is happening in
cities and the Omicron
variant is the predomi-
nant circulating strain.
It also noted that the
precautionary dose of
Covid-19 vaccine for
healthcare and front-
line workers as well as
those above 60 years
with comorbidities will
be same as the first two
doses of the vaccine.
“Upsurge of infec-
tions is happening in
cities. Omicron is the
predominant circulat-
ing strain and mass
gatherings need to be
avoided to reduce the
speed of the spread of
infection.
“India reported over
6.3 times rise in Covid
cases in the last eight
days. There has been a
sharp rise in case posi-
tivity from 0.79 per cent
on December 29 to 5.03
per cent on January 5,”
they said.
They said six states/
UTs now have over
10,000 active Covid
cases. —Agencies
PRECAUTIONARY DOSE OF VACCINE FOR FRONTLINE WORKERS AS WELL AS
THOSE ABOVE 60 YEARS WILL BE SAME AS FIRST TWO DOSES OF VACCINE
Indiastaringatfull-blown crisis,
6 fold increase in cases in 8 days
Dr. VK Paul interacts with Dr. Balram Bhargava during a media
briefing in New Delhi on Wednesday —PHOTO BY ANI
A Covid-19 patient being treated at Covid Care Centre, Commonwealth Games Village, in New Delhi
on Wednesday. —ANI PHOTO
Chahal hails vax
drive in Mumbai
Mumbai: Mumbai
on Wednesday saw a
39 per cent jump in
daily cases over
Tuesday as it record-
ed 15,166 new cases
of coronavirus in 24
hours — the highest
since the outbreak of
pandemic in 2020 —
with three related
deaths.
BMC Commission-
er Iqbal Singh Cha-
hal said that Mum-
bai is more than pre-
pared to fight against
the Covid because of
its excellent vaccina-
tion programme and
will soon achieve the
100 per cent vaccina-
tion target in the city
.
Chahal hailed vac-
cination drive and
said BMC will com-
plete vaccination for
nearly 37,000 kids by
Thursday
.
“We have 2.1 mil-
lion vaccine availa-
ble with us in stock,
14 lakhs in private
hospitals and 7 lakhs
in BMC. There is no
shortage of vaccine,
the last mile is re-
maining because in
Covishield there is
84 days gap. People
who are not due, we
can’t vaccinate
them. But if the pe-
riod is reduced we
could have achieved
100% by now of sec-
ond dose also,” Cha-
hal said.
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister of Minority Af-
fairs Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi on Wednesday
said that there is no
need to panic due to the
fear of the spread of
Covid-19 infection due
to electoral rallies in
the forthcoming assem-
bly polls. He added that
the country has enough
resources to deal with
Covid-19.
“There should not be
any kind of panic re-
garding Covid-19. We
should plan, take pre-
cautions, should try for
prevention. There is no
need for panic due to the
rallies,” he said. —ANI
Mumbai: Amid a surge
in Covid-19 cases, the
Mumbai civic body has
made rapid RT-PCR test
mandatory for the pas-
sengers coming from
at-risk and high-risk
countries and the UAE
at the international air-
port, a senior civic offi-
cial said on Wednesday
.
A day earlier, confu-
sion was created due to
misinterpretation of
revised guidelines by a
civic official who had
said that the Brihan-
mumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) had
made rapid RT-PCR test
compulsory for all the
international passen-
gers at the Mumbai air-
port, sources said. —PTI
Kolkata: BJP national
president JP Nadda
postponed his West
Bengal visit amid the
surge in Covid-19 cases
on Wednesday
.
“In view of the evolv-
ing Covid-19 situation,
BJP national president
JP Nadda’s scheduled
visit to West Bengal on
9-10 January stands
postponed,” said the
state’s BJP unit.”
“Fresh dates for his
visit will be announced
in due course,” added
the state BJP unit. West
Bengal recorded 9,073
new Covid-19 cases on
Tuesday taking the to-
tal to 16,64,301. —ANI
New Delhi: With the
increasing demand for
the ban on election ral-
lies amid the surging
Covid-19 cases in the
country, BJP national
general secretary CT
Ravi on Wednesday said
that the party will fol-
low 100 per cent Covid
behaviour during its
rallies and added that
BJP is also prepared for
conducting these rallies
virtually if the EC man-
dates so. —ANI
New Delhi: The Sub-
ject Experts Commit-
tee (SEC) of the Drug
Controller General of
India (DCGI) on
Wednesday granted
approval to Bharat
Biotech for conduct-
ing intranasal phase 3
trials and heterolo-
gous trials for COV-
ID-19 booster intrana-
sal vaccine for those
who have taken both
the doses of Covaxin
and Covishield.
The SEC has asked
the Hyderabad-based
vaccine manufactur-
er to submit its re-
vised protocol
for trials.
“After detailed de-
liberation, the SEC ‘in
principle’ agreed for
the conduct of both
phase 3 superiority
study and phase 3
booster dose study in
parallel in the light of
the pandemic situa-
tion. Accordingly,
Bharat Biotech has
been asked to submit
the protocol(s) as rec-
ommended for ap-
proval,” reads the
SEC minutes of the
meeting. —ANI
New Delhi: Over one
crore children in the
age group of 15-18 years
have received the first
dose of Covid-19 vac-
cine till this afternoon,
said Union Health Min-
ister Mansukh Man-
daviya on Wednesday
.
“Superb enthusiasm
among Young India for
Vaccination. Over 1
crore youngsters be-
tween 15-18 age group
have received 1st dose
of vaccine that too on
the 3rd day of vaccina-
tion drive for children. I
appeal to all eligible
young friends to get vac-
cinated at the earliest,”
tweeted Mandaviya.
PM Modi had on De-
cember 25, 2021 an-
nounced that the vacci-
nation for the age-group
15-18 years is scheduled
to begin from Monday
while administration
of third dose for the vul-
nerable categories is to
commence from Janu-
ary 10, 2022.
In the context of the
vaccination of the age
group 15-18 years, the
Union Health Secretary
informed the States and
UTs that only ‘Covaxin’
is to be administered
in this population
category
.
Those with the birth
year of 2007 or before
will be eligible for vac-
cination under this cat-
egory
. —ANI
No need to panic: Naqvi
RT-PCR must for fliers
from risk countries
Covid upsurge alters
Nadda’s Bengal tour
Desi kit Ok’d
to detect
Omicron
Will adhere to norms at
poll rallies, says CT Ravi
SEC OK’s trials of intranasal jab
Over 1 cr teens aged 15-18
have received vax so far: Min
A girl reacts while receiving a dose of Covid-19 vaccine, at a
hospital, in Prayagraj on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Srinagar Airport cancels
8 flights due to snowfall
Hyderabad: As the
Centre proposes to raise
the marriageable age
for women to 21 years
from 18 years, Telanga-
na Waqf Board chair-
man Mohammed Sal-
eem has said that board
has accepted the deci-
sion on Triple Talaq,
but will not accept this.
Speaking with ANI
on Tuesday
, Saleem said
that Qazis of Telangana
had conducted a meet-
ing and have come to a
conclusion that raising
the marriageable age
for women to 21 years is
“impossible”.
“As written in Islam,
both boys and girls
should be married off
as soon as they mature.
Earlier, the age of 18
years was made manda-
tory; we followed and
accepted that, but now
21 years is not accepta-
ble,” he said.
He also appealed to
the public of Telangana
to not panic “because
the bill has just reached
the sub-committee and
will have to pass a long
procedure thereafter.”
“Even after that,
there is two years time.
We will take this matter
to the CM K Chan-
drashekar Rao and
raise the voice to stop
the Bill,” he added.
He further added that
the change in marriage-
able age will “spoil the
life of children”. “They
are asking to marry
children at the age of
21; they get matured in
Class X.” —ANI
Srinagar: Eight flights
have been cancelled
from Srinagar airport
after poor visibility was
reported due to light
snow on Wednesday
.
“Poor visibility due
to light snow prevails at
our airport. Following
flights have been can-
celled till now:- Indigo
137 to Delhi, indigo 6738
to Jammu, Indigo 2015
to Delhi, Indigo 2364 to
Delhi, GoFirst 358 to
Delhi and Vistara 611 to
Jammu,” Srinagar Air-
port tweeted.
“All other flights are
also delayed due to poor
visibility,” Srinagar
Airport Director said.
Earlier on Tuesday,
continuous snowfall
and poor visibility re-
sulted in 42 cancella-
tions across all airlines.
According to IMD,
Srinagar will continue
to witness moderate
snow in the coming sev-
en days. —ANI
SRI JAGANNATH
TEMPLE ACT 1954
TO BE AMENDED
Bhubaneswar: Odisha
Cabinet approved a pro-
posal to amend the Shri
Jagannath Temple Act
1954 to facilitate speedy
disposal of cases relating
to alienation of land be-
longing to Shri Jagannath
temple. Briefing newsmen
after the meeting, Law
Minister Pratap Jena said
the govt will promulgate an
Ordinance. The power will
be delegated to the Temple
administration and the Dis-
trict collector for disposal
of the cases relating to
sale, lease and mortgage
of land registered in the
name of Lord Jagannath.
EX-BJP MLA ESCAPES
NAXAL ATTACK, 2
BODYGUARDS KILLED
Jharkhand: A former BJP
MLA from Manoharpur
was attacked and two of
his bodyguards were killed
by Naxals in Jharkhand’s
West Singhbhum district
on Tuesday, police said.
The ex BJP MLA Gu-
rucharan Nayak was at a
felicitation ceremony of
local sportspersons at a
ground in Goilkera Police
station limits when there
was a sound of gunshots.
One of his bodyguards es-
corted him to Sonua Police
station and he escaped
without any injuries. The
body of one of the guards
was recovered last night.
CRUCIAL READ
TEWARI URGES PM MODI TO ANNOUNCE
BHARAT RATNA FOR BHAGAT SINGH
New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit
to the poll-bound State of Punjab on Wednesday, Congress
MP Manish Tewari has urged him to announce Bharat
Ratna for freedom fighters Bha-
gat Singh, Shiv Ram Rajguru
and Sukhdev Thapar.
Tewari also demanded renam-
ing of the Chandigarh Airport as
Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh
International Airport.
TRIPURA BJP MLA DISQUALIFIED FROM
ASSEMBLY UNDER ANTI-DEFECTION LAW
Agartala: Tripura Assembly Speaker Ratan Chakraborty on
Wednesday disqualified BJP MLA Ashish Das, who joined
the TMC on October 31, 2021, after criticising the saffron
party and its leadership in the state. The Speaker said that
after examining all the relevant papers and documents as
well as the petition of BJP Chief Whip, Kalyani Roy he had
disqualified Das under the anti-defection law (the 10th
Schedule of the Constitution). Roy earlier filed a peti-
tion before Chakraborty to disqualify the 43-year-old BJP
legislator as he criticised Tripura’s BJP govt and its leaders
before joining the TMC at a function in Agartala last year.
People under an umbrella walk during fresh snowfall, in Srinagar
on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
z Do not give painkillers to teens after Covaxin
shot, says vaccine-maker
z IIT Guwahati Now A Containment Zone After 60
Test Positive On Campus
z 31 Students In Karnataka Medical College Test
Positive For Covid
z Another 143 passengers on board cruise ship
test positive in Mumbai
z Five Bihar cabinet Ministers test Covid positive
z Five IAS officials have tested positive for
Covid-19 ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit,
official sources said.
z Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa +ve
z Sonu Nigam, family test Covid positive in Dubai
z Amitabh Bachchan’s staff tests positive
z TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty tests positive
z Sourav Ganguly’s daughter, 3 other family mem-
bers test Covid positive
New Delhi: An RT-PCR
test kit for detecting
new coronavirus vari-
ant Omicron has been
developed in India in
partnership with Tata
MD and the Indian
Council of Medical Re-
search (ICMR), said Dr
Balram Bhargava, Di-
rector General of ICMR
on Wednesday
.
He further informed
that the testing kit has
been approved by the
Drugs Controller Gen-
eral of India (DCGI).
“Omicron detecting RT-
PCR kit has been devel-
oped in partnership
withTataMDandICMR
and it has been ap-
proved by DCGI. —ANI
Kolkata: It’s West Ben-
gal CM Mamata Baner-
jee’s 67th birthday on
Wednesday. “Hearty
birthday wishes to
Mamata Banerjee Ji ,
Chief Minister, West
Bengal, wishing you
good health, well-being
and long life,” Lok Sab-
ha Speaker Om Birla
said on Twitter.
Taiwan: Taiwan has re-
ported another incur-
sion by Chinese war-
planes as two military
aircraftof thePLAenter
the island’s air defence
identification zone.
“2 PLA J-16 entered
Taiwan’s ADIZ on Janu-
ary 5, 2022,” Taiwan’s
Ministry of National
Defence tweeted. —ANI
Leaders wish Didi
‘health and long
life’ on birthday
Chinese warplanes
enter Taiwan’s air
defence zone
SITUATION GRIM ALL OVER WORLD!
TelanganaWaqfopposesmarriageBill

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: India’s ser-
vices sector activity
moderated in De-
cember as busi-
ness activity
and sales
rose at a
softer pace,
while price
pressures
and the pos-
sibility of
new waves
of COVID-19
affected busi-
ness sentiment, a
monthly survey said
on Wednesday
.
The seasonally ad-
justed India Services
Business Activity In-
dex fell from 58.1 in No-
vember to a three-
month low of 55.5 in
December. The rates of
expansion moderated
but were nevertheless
“marked” by historical
standards, the survey
said.
For the fifth straight
month, the services
sector witnessed an ex-
pansion in output. In
PMI parlance, a print
above 50 means expan-
sion.
“2021 was another
bumpy year for service
providers, and growth
took a modest step
back in December.
Still, the latest read-
ings pointed to robust
increases in sales and
business activity com-
pared to the survey
trend,” said Pollyanna
De Lima, Economics
Associate Director at
IHS Markit.
Moreover, owing to
the buoyant perfor-
mances seen in Octo-
ber and November, the
average growth rate for
output over the third
quarter of fiscal 2021-
22 was the strongest
since the three months
to March 2011, Lima
noted.
Underlying data sug-
gested that the latest
increase in new orders
was centred on the do-
mestic market, as new
business from abroad
fell further. The deteri-
oration in internation-
al demand was linked
to COVID-19 restric-
tions, particularly
around travelling.
On the employment
front, the December
data showed renewed
job shedding in the ser-
vice economy, but the
rate of contraction was
only slight. Firms gen-
erally suggested that
employment levels
were sufficient to cope
with current work-
loads.
“Uncertainty sur-
rounding the outlook,
and a general lack of
pressure on capacity,
led to a renewed fall in
employment during
December. That said,
the decline was mar-
ginal, and a recovery is
expected this year
should demand for ser-
vices remain favoura-
ble,” Lima said.
Business confidence
strengthened during
December to a four-
month high, but senti-
ment remained sub-
dued in the context of
historical data.
Some firms foresee
further improvements
in demand and expect
marketing efforts to
bear fruit. Others were
concerned that the re-
covery could be damp-
ened by price pressures
and potential new
waves of Covid-19. —PTI
INDIA’S SERVICES SECTOR
RUPEE JUMPS 23 PAISE TO CLOSE AT
74.35 AGAINST US DOLLAR
Mumbai: The rupee surged 23 paise to close
at 74.35 (provisional) against the US dollar
on Wednesday, tracking gains in domestic
equity markets. At the interbank forex market,
the local unit opened up at 74.54 against the
greenback and witnessed an intra-day high
of 74.30 and a low of 74.55. It finally settled at
74.35, a rise of 23 paise over its previous close. —PTI
GOLD PRICE JUMPS `154, SILVER
RALLIES `352
New Delhi: Gold in the national Capital on
Wednesday jumped `154 to `46,969 per 10
grams amid a rally in international precious
metal prices, according to HDFC Securities.
In the previous trade, the precious metal
settled at `46,815 per 10 grams. Silver also
rallied `352 to `60,725 per kg, from `60,373
per kg in the previous trade. —PTI
I-T REFUNDS OF `1.50 LAKH CRORE
ISSUED TILL JAN 3
New Delhi: The Income Tax Department
on Wednesday said it has issued refunds
of over `1.50 lakh crore so far this fiscal
year. This includes 1.1 crore refunds of
Assessment Year 2021-22. “CBDT issues
refunds of over `1,50,407 crore to more than
1.48 crore taxpayers from 1st Apr,2021 to 3rd
January,2022,” the I-T dept tweeted. —PTI
activity hits 3-month low in Dec
SLIP FROM 59.2
PV retail sales dip 11%
in December amid
SEMICONDUCTOR WOES
New Delhi: Passen-
ger vehicle retail
sales in India wit-
nessed an 11 per
cent year-on-year
decline in December
as semiconductor
shortage continued
to impact the seg-
ment, automobile
dealers’ body FADA
said on Wednesday
.
The passenger ve-
hicle (PV) retail
sales last month fell
10.91 per cent to
2,44,639 units
from 2,74,605
units in De-
c e m b e r
2020.
“ T h e
month of
D e c e m -
ber is
u s u -
ally
seen as a high sales
m o n t h
where OEMs con-
tinue to offer best
discounts to clear
the inventory due to
change of the year.
It was, however,
not the case
this time
around as re-
tail sales con-
tinued to dis-
appoint, thus
wrapping up
an underper-
forming calen-
dar year,”
FADA President
Vinkesh Gulati
noted. With semi-
conductor shortage
continuing to play
spoil-sport, passen-
ger vehicle sales in
spite of huge book-
ings in Dec closed in
red, he added. —PTI
TWO-WHEELER SALES REMAIN LOW
The
passenger
vehicle (PV) retail
sales last month fell
10.91% to 2,44,639 units
from 2,74,605 units in Dec
2020.
New Delhi: Over 45
million Indians satiat-
ed their food crav-
ings by dining out
at their favourite
restaurants in 2021,
with Delhi again
emerging as the
country’s Dining
Capital, according
to a report.
An average bill
of `2,670 was paid
in 2021 as com-
pared to `1,907 in
2020, according to
the report by India’s
largest dining out and
restaurant tech plat-
form Dineout.
About 45 million In-
dians saved `1,360 crore
while booking 8,588 ta-
bles per hour using Di-
neout in 2021.
Delhi bagged the title
of “Dining Capital of
India” for the third time
in a row accounting for
32% of the total diners
in India followed by
Bengaluru at 18%.
Butter Chicken, Dal
Makhni and Naan yet
again won the league
making North Indian
food a hit among Indi-
ans at 38%, Chinese at
18% and Continental at
16%, acc to the report.
The City of Lakes,
Udaipur, is the new
‘City of Love’ with 44
per cent of its bookings
under ‘Table for 2’,
whereas the cities of
Agra and Ludhiana had
the maximum ‘Table for
4’ reservations, the re-
port findings showed.
Owing to the higher
disposable income
thanks to our WFH
lifestyles, luxury
dining across In-
dia has in-
creased by
as much
as 120%
and fine
dining by
1 0 5 % ,
and the
average
n u m b e r
of diners per
booking has also
risen. —PTI
45 mn+ Indians dine out at their favourite restaurants in 2021
Sensex zooms 367
points to reclaim 60K
Mumbai: Rising for
the fourth straight
session, equity bench-
mark Sensex rallied
367 points to reclaim
the 60,000-mark on
Wednesday, driven by
strong gains in bank-
ing and financial
stocks amid a support-
ive trend in European
equities.
The 30-share index
surged 367.22 points or
0.61 per cent to end at
6 0 , 2 2 3 . 1 5 .
Similarly,
the broader NSE Nifty
rose 120 points or 0.67
per cent to 17,925.25.
Bajaj Finserv was
the top gainer in the
Sensex pack, rising
over 5 per cent, fol-
lowed by Bajaj Fi-
nance, Kotak Bank,
Axis Bank, Tata Steel,
HDFC Bank, Asian
Paints and ICICI
Bank.
On the other hand,
Tech Mahindra, Info-
sys, HCL Tech, Wipro
and PowerGrid were
among the laggards.
—PTI
New Delhi: The cost
of debt-funds for the
states has touched the
highest level so far this
fiscal with the weight-
ed average cut-off
crossing the 7.16%
points at the latest auc-
tions, up 11 bps over
the past week, reflect-
ing the hardening
yields even for the gov-
ernment securities.
The hardening of
the rates at the first
auction of the quarter
comes in the wake of
the expected large sup-
ply of debt from the
states, as indicated for
Q4 at `3.2 lakh crore,
up by `10,000 crore.
Nine states on Tues-
day raised `18,900
crore at the latest auc-
tion of state develop-
ment loans. The auc-
tion was just 2% lower
than the indicated
amount for this week,
which is among the
highest drawdowns so
far this fiscal year,
Aditi Nayar, the chief
economist at the rat-
ing agency Icra said.
Even though the
weighted average ten-
or remained un-
changed at 12 years in
line with the last auc-
tion, the weighted av-
erage cut-off rose
sharply by 11 bps to
7.16% from 7.05%, re-
flecting a large supply
for the quarter.
On the other hand,
the weighted average
cut-off for the 10-year
loans hardened by 10
bps to 7.13% today
from 7.03% last Tues-
day, Nayar said.
Meanwhile, the
benchmark 10-year G-
secs yield rose by 4 bps
to 6.52%from the last
auction. Accordingly,
the spread between the
10-year weighted aver-
age SDL and 10-year
G-sec yield widened to
61 bps from 55 bps, she
added. —PTI
9 states onTuesday
raised `18,900
crore at the latest
auction of state
development loans
STATES PAYING
THROUGH THE
NOSE FOR DEBT
Cairn withdraws all
lawsuits against India
New Delhi: Cairn En-
ergy has withdrawn
all litigations in the
retrospective tax case,
which will allow the
Government of India
to nullify previous tax
demand and refund
the taxes collected in
this regard to the com-
pany
.
Cairn Energy “has
entered into the final
stage in its undertak-
ings with the Govern-
ment of India by with-
drawing Indian and
global appellate and
enforcement proceed-
ings,” the company
said in a notice pub-
lished in a newspaper
on Wednesday. “This
action is the final nec-
essary step by the
company under the
rules of India’s Taxa-
tion (Amendment Act)
2021.”
—PTI

UP POLL: OF, FOR AND ‘BUY’ THE PEOPLE
07
NEWS
India’s coal production stands at 74.8 million tonnes for Dec’21
LEVEL-UP
The country’s
total coal
production rose
6.74 per cent to
74.78 million
tonnes in
December as
compared to the
same period in
2019, the
government said
First India Bureau
New Delhi: India’s to-
tal coal production in-
creased by 6.74 % to
74.78 Million Ton (MT)
during December, 2021
as compared to the
same period in 2019.
Out of the total produc-
tion during December
last year, Coal India Ltd
(CIL) achieved a growth
of 3.79% by producing
60.220 MT.
Captive blocks regis-
tered a growth of
40.98% by producing
8.91 MT of coal during
the period. At the same
time, Singareni Collier-
ies Ltd (SCCL) regis-
tered a negative growth
of 1.12% by producing
5.65 MT of Coal during
December. Coal produc-
tion of financial year
2022 has been compared
with FY 20 as FY 21 has
been considered abnor-
mal year due to restric-
tion imposed on com-
mercial activities in the
wake of Covid-19.Coal
dispatch increased by
14.62 % to 75.05 MT from
65.48 MT during Dec
2021 as compared to Dec
2019. Out of the total
production during this
period, Coal India Ltd
(CIL) achieved a growth
of 12.70% by dispatch-
ing 60.67 MT of Coal,
Singareni Collieries
Ltd (SCCL) achieved a
growth of 2.01% by dis-
patching 5.70 MT of
Coal and captive blocks
registered a growth of
43.23% by dispatching
8.68 MT. The Power util-
ities dispatch has
grown by 20.06 % to
63.32 MT in the month
of Dec 2021 as compared
to 52.74 MT in Dec 2019.
There is fall in im-
port price of coal since
the end of Oct 2021,
however, import prices
are still at high level
discouraging import.
Further, coal based
power demand has in-
creased by 12.7% up to
November 2021 against
the same time 2020. Coal
based power generation
has registered a growth
of 11.84 % in the month
of Dec 2021.
REPRESENTATIONAL PICTURE
COAL DISPATCHING
Lucknow: There are
over 39,598 voters in UP
who are above 100
years of age. The Elec-
tion Commission will
be providing them spe-
cial facilities, includ-
ing that of postal ballot
service, to vote. The
state has a total of 15.02
crore registered voters.
According to the Elec-
tion Commission offi-
cial, these centenarian
voters will not only be
encouraged to cast
their votes, they could
also be made local am-
bassadors to motivate
others to take part in
the voting process.
Lucknow district
election officer, Ab-
hishek Prakash, said,
“The EC is offering
postal ballot service at
homes of voters who
are above 80 years. Fur-
ther if any senior citi-
zen voters wish to visit
a polling booth, our on-
duty staff will assist
them in every possible
way.” As per EC data,
the highest number of
centurion electors are
registered in Aligarh
(1,727) followed by
Prayagraj (1,413),
Azamgarh (1,252), Bal-
lia (1,213), Ghazipur
(1,135) and Shahjahan-
pur (948).
Sultanpur and Main-
puri district recorded
the least number of
centurion voters 48 and
61 respectively
. Recent-
ly, PM Modi felicitated
former two-time
106-year-old MLA Shri
Narain a.k.a. Bhulai
Bhai, who had repre-
sented the Naurangiya
Assembly segment,
now known as Khadda
in Kushinagar.
BJP spokesman Har-
ish Chandra Srivasta-
va said, “These voters
have immense experi-
ence. They have lived
under several regimes,
and with their vast ex-
perience they can often
predict the elections
results. Also, such vot-
ers have a lot of follow-
ing in their community
and families who fol-
low them to polling
booths.”
UP HAS 39,598 VOTERS ABOVE 100 YEARS OF AGE
15.02 CRORE REGISTERED VOTERS
Aam Aadmi Party
spokesperson
Vaibhav Maheshwari
said, “Centenarian
voters have seen both
colonial and free
India. Their opinion
in public has huge
weightage. Our party
will assist such voters
to reach the nearest
polling booth and
vote for change.”
Political parties also
seem considerably
enthused about these
‘super-senior vot-
ers’. The state has a
total of 15.02 crore
registered voters.
POLITICOSCOMINGOUTWITH
TEMPTINGSOPS FORVOTERS
First India Bureau
Lucknow,: With UP as-
sembly election fast ap-
proaching, the political
parties of all hues are
coming out with tempt-
ing sops for the elector-
ate. Even though mani-
festos of all the parties-
ruling BJP, Samajwadi
Party, and Congress are
yet to be announced,
promises are galore
during rallies. The BSP
doesnot believe in poll
manifesto or freebies.
CM Yogi has resorted
to cash bonanza to vari-
ous sections in the govt.
Yogi has transferred Rs
1000 maintenance al-
lowance in the bank ac-
counts of 1.50 crore mi-
grant workers and has
announced to increase
additional honorarium
to anganwadis working
in rural areas. The dis-
tribution of smart-
phones and tablets to
one crore students also
commenced last week
in the state. The PM
Modi has already trans-
ferred Rs 1000 crore for
self-help group target-
ing around 16 lakh
women in UP.
The Samajwadi Party
has adapted AAP’s play-
book by announcing 300
units free domestic
electricity and free pow-
er for irrigation. The
Cong has already come
out with “women-cen-
tric” manifesto.
The BJP has reached
to the people to assess
their aspirations which
could be included in the
poll manifesto likely to
be released later this
month. The BJP had
launched feedback cam-
paign “Sujhaav aapke,
Sankalp Hamara on
Dec 15. However, what
attracted the attention
of political parties was
the announcement of
Samajwadi Party presi-
dent Akhilesh Yadav to
provide 300 units of
electricity supply to
households and free
power to farmers for ir-
rigation.Theannounce-
ment of free electricity
has led to discussion
about the capacity of
UP Power Corporation
to bear the huge burden
of subsidies. While the
BJP has questioned the
viability of the prom-
ise, the UPPCL has
pointed out that it
would lead to additional
burden of Rs 34000
crore. The Priyanka
had set the ball rolling
when she released
“women manifesto”
promising smartphone
and scooty to class 12
pass girls and graduate
students respectively if
voted to power.
ITBP PERSONNEL ON DUTY
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel walk past at Raisina Hill amid light rainfall, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
RaGa expected
to return next
week in India
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi,
who is on a “personal
visit” abroad ahead of
assembly elections to
five states, is likely to
return to the country in
the second week of Jan-
uary
.
The Wayanad MP has
gone abroad when elec-
toral preparations in
five poll-bound states
are in full swing and
Congress has a crucial
test not only in terms of
its ability to contain the
BJP but also for the
space as the main chal-
lenger to the ruling
party at the Centre.
Among the poll-bound
states, Congress is seen
to have better prospects
in Punjab and Uttara-
khand but the situation
has been complicated
over series of decisions
over the past few weeks.
Congress is witnessing
infighting in both the
states and Rahul Gan-
dhi, who takes crucial
decisions without a for-
mal senior party posi-
tion, is being seen as
“missing from action”.
COVID SCARE: CONG CALLS OFF
MARATHONS, RALLIES IN UP
Lucknow: Amid a sharp
spike in Covid-19 cases
across India, Congress
has cancelled all rallies
in UP. The party had
planned to organisie
at least seven to eight
marathons in Noida,
Varanasi and other
districts of the states
in the coming days.On
Tuesday, the grand old
party drew flak after
some girls participat-
ing in a long-distance
run organised by the
Congress as part of its
“Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti
Hoon” campaign were
injured in a stampede-
like situation Bareilly on
Tuesday. Cong leaders in
Lko termed it a conspir-
acy hatched by the BJP.
Huge crowd seen in ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’ Rallies of Congress Leader Priyanka Gandhi.
All should join hands for
integrated approach: Singh
New Delhi: Union Sci-
ence and Technology
Minister, Dr Jitendra
Singh on Wednesday-
launched the theme of
National Science Day
2022. The theme of this
year is ‘Integrated Ap-
proach in Science and
Technology for Sustain-
able Future’.
The National Science
Day is observed every
year on 28th February to
mark the discovery of
the Raman effect.
Launching the theme in
New Delhi, Dr. Singh ex-
pressed hope that
throughthisalltheinsti-
tutions across the coun-
try will be able to chart
out programmes to ob-
serve the day
. He said
this is the best time to
givea pushto this theme
because a lot of aware-
ness of science has been
generated during the
COVID-19 pandemic.He
added that Modi has
been reiterating that we
have to come out of the
culture of working in
silos and now this is no
longer only an option, it
is a necessity
.
Yogi transfers
pension of Rs
2,955.36 crore
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath on
Wednesday disbursed
the quarterly pension
money amounting to Rs
2955.36 crore directly
into the accounts of 56
lakh elderly
, 31 lakh des-
titute women, 11.17 lakh
specially-abled people,
and 11,400 leprosy pa-
tients. A total of 98.26
lakh beneficiaries of
social security pension
schemes received the
money online. Benefi-
ciaries including desti-
tute women, elderly
persons, leprosy pa-
tients, and specially-
abled from Bijnor, Vara-
nasi, Saharanpur, Chi-
trakoot, and Deoria in-
teracted with the Chief
Minister through vir-
tual medium and ex-
pressed their gratitude
towards him for dou-
bling the pension
amount.
Interacting with the
beneficiaries, the Chief
Minister said that the
government under-
stands the sentiments
of every deprived and
the needy, including the
elderly, destitute wom-
en, ‘divyangjans’. Un-
derstanding the same,
the government has
doubled the monthly
pension amount.
Union Science and Technology Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Chief Election Comm, UP, Ajay Shukla showing a voter list of
first time voters in Lucknow on Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR

We all make errors, all
humans do - but to stay wrong
makes no sense.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
IGRUA sets a new record of 19k flying hrs in 2021; Aims 25K in 2022
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Indira
Gandhi Rashtriya Uran
Akademi (IGRUA) after
setting record of 19,000
flying hour in 2021, now
has set a target of 25,000
flying hours in 2022 that
will be achieved as 121
cadets were inducted in
the institution in 2021,
the Civil Aviation Min-
istry said on Wednes-
day
.
The IGRUA, which is
a flying training school
in Amethi, works under
the Civil Aviation Min-
istry
.
‘’During the year
2021, the IGRUA piled
up 19,000 hours of fly-
ing as against an aver-
age yearly flying output
of 15,000 per year dur-
ing the previous five
years,’’ the ministry’s
statement noted.
The flying output was
11,641 hours in 2020, it
mentioned.
‘’TheIGRUAachieved
this milestone of 19,000
hours despite contin-
ued effect of pandemic
and inclement weather
conditions due to Tauk-
tae cyclone in 2021,’’ it
noted.
During the concur-
rent period, 66 cadets
have graduated as
against 43 during the
previous year, it added.
This achievement --
of 66 candidates pass-
ing -- was more signifi-
cant as it is done with a
reduced fleet strength
of 18 aircraft as against
24 during the previous
years, it mentioned.
‘’The IGRUA has al-
ready set foundation to
hit a target of 25,000 fly-
ing hours in 2022 by in-
ducting a record 121
cadets in 2021 and ex-
panding the fleet
strength in 2022,’’ the
statement noted.
Indira Gandhi Rash-
triya Uran Akademi
(IGRUA)was estab-
lished by the Govern-
ment of Indiain the
year 1986 at Fursatganj
Airfield, presently in
the district of Amethi
in Uttar Pradesh. IG-
RUA is an Autonomous
Body established under
the Societies Registra-
tion Act 1860 and is ad-
ministered by a Gov-
erning Council under
the Ex-officio Chair-
manship of Secy
, Minis-
try of Civil Aviation.
VP calls for sense of urgency in
dealing with new Covid surge
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Vice
President, M. Venkaiah
Naidu on Wednesday
called for a sense of ur-
gency in dealing with
the new surge in COVID
cases and to apply the
lessons of the past
waves of the pandemic.
“We must consider it
our ‘Dharma’ and ‘Kar-
tavya’ to follow the
COVID protocol at all
times – wearing a mask,
maintaining physical
distancing and getting
vaccinated, and secure
ourselves and our com-
munity”, he empha-
sized.
Noting the impor-
tance of the measure to
vaccinate age groups
15-18 years, VP Naidu
urged parents of the
children in the newly
eligible age groups to
get their wards vacci-
nated at the earliest. He
called upon public-
minded individuals, so-
cial advocacy groups,
medical professionals
and the government to
reach out to as many
people as possible and
get rid of any vaccine
hesitancy that may be
stopping India in its col-
lective fight against the
pandemic.
In a recorded inaugu-
ral message for the 15th
Global Health Summit
organized by American
Association of Physi-
cians of Indian Origin
(AAPI), the Vice Presi-
dent praised Indian ori-
gin medical profession-
als for “making their
mark in every corner of
the world” and being
the “personification of
our nation’s civilisa-
tional value of Vasud-
haiva Kutumbakam”.
Vice Prez Naidu ob-
served that in the US in
particular, Indian ori-
gin physicians have
gained a formidable
reputation and that sev-
eral of them occupy the
top administrative posi-
tions in the country.
“They are among the
most successful ambas-
sadors of India’s value
systems”, he added.
Noting that Indian
firms have collaborated
with US-based organi-
sations to produce the
recently approved vac-
cines — Corbevax and
Covovax, the Vice Presi-
dent said “this experi-
ence clearly shows In-
dia-US collaboration in
healthcare can reap
great benefits not only
for our countries, but
for the entire world”.
During the year 2021, the IGRUA piled up
19,000 hours of flying as against an aver-
age yearly flying output of 15,000 per year
during the previous five years.
— The ministry’s statement
LAUDS TELANGANA
M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President
Praying for your speedy
recovery: Didi to Kejri
New Delhi: West Ben-
gal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on
Wednesday wished a
speedy recovery to her
Delhi counterpart
Arvind Kejriwal, who
has tested positive for
COVID-19.
In a message on
Twitter, Kejriwal on
Tuesday said he has
tested positive for the
viral disease and has
“mild symptoms”. He
also said he has iso-
lated himself at home.
AAP leader and Del-
hi CM urged those
who came in contact
with him in the last
few days to quaran-
tine themselves and
get tested for Covid.
“I pray for your
speedy recovery, @
ArvindKejriwal ji. Get
well soon and take
care of yourself!” Ba-
nerjee tweeted, re-
sponding to Kejriwal’s
message on the micro-
blogging website.
Earlier in the day,
Delhi CM greeted the
Trinamool Congress
(TMC) chief on her
birthday
.
“A very happy birth-
day @MamataOfficial
didi. May God bless u
wid (with) all happi-
ness, success, health
and long life,” he said
in a tweet.
According to offi-
cials, this is the first
time that Kejriwal
has tested positive for
COVID-19. In April
last year, his wife Su-
nita Kejriwal had
tested positive for the
coronavirus infection
and while the AAP
national convenor
had developed symp-
toms, he had tested
negative. —ANI
Mamata Banerjee @
MamataOfficial
I pray for your
speedy recovery, @
ArvindKejriwal ji. Get well
soon and take care of
yourself!
BJP, AAP to fight it
out in Chandigarh
Mayoral Polls
Chandigarh: The Aam
Aadmi Party and the
BJP will slug it out in
the Chandigarh Munic-
ipal Corporation may-
oral elections slated for
January 8.
The Congress, which
had ended up winning
eight of the 35 seats, has
opted out of the race.
On Tuesday, nomina-
tions were filed by AAP
and BJP candidates for
the posts of mayor, sen-
ior deputy mayor and
deputy mayor. Accord-
ing to AAP senior lead-
er Pradeep Chhabra,
his party has fielded
Anju Katyal for the post
of mayor.
On the other hand,
the BJP has put up
Sarabjit Kaur. Both can-
didates for the mayor’s
post are first-timers.
The post is reserved for
a woman councillor in
the new MC House’s
first year.
AAP has fielded
Prem Lata for the post
of senior deputy mayor
and Ram Chander Ya-
dav for the post of dep-
uty mayor while for the
same posts the BJP has
put up Dalip Sharma
and Anup Gupta, re-
spectively
.
The Cong with 8 seats
is out of the race of
Mayor election. —PTI
Local programming on AIR FM services
First India Bureau
New Delhi: To ensure
due space to local/re-
gional programming on
AIR stations of Praya-
graj, Varanasi, Rohtak,
Jaipur, Jodhpur and
Udaipur, All India Radio
has instructed the sta-
tions to carry the pri-
mary channel originat-
ing from the station, to
ensurethatlocalcontent
relevant to the particu-
lar city/town/region is
also available on FM.
In the light of few re-
cent media reports
which are falsely sug-
gesting that Prasar
Bharati is going to re-
place the broadcast of
local content in local
languages/dialects with
Vividh Bharati National
service at All India Ra-
dio stations in North
zone,PrasarBharatihas
clarified that local pro-
grammingonFMwillbe
ensured in all such sta-
tions. These All India
Radio stations have also
been asked to limit their
relay of Vividh Bharati
National Service to only
4 hours a day
, from 9 AM
to10AMinthemorning,
3 PM to 5 PM in the after-
noon and 9 PM to 10 PM
in the evening.
The morning an-
nouncement on the pri-
mary channels at above
mentioned stations will
alsoincludethefrequen-
cy details of the FM
transmitter at that par-
ticular place.
Decisions on these recent changes were
taken as part of streamlining of
broadcasting operations of All India Radio
in North Zone,
which further
strengthens local
content and its
availability on FM.
ODOP in UP: Flipkart records
`1k crore sale in last 18 mnths
First India Bureau
Lucknow: By promot-
ing the indigenous and
specialised products
and crafts in Uttar
Pradesh on the Flipkart
marketplace, the e-com-
merce platform has wit-
nessed a 52% quarterly
growth in revenue for
the states ODOP prod-
ucts in 2020-2021.
In a major success of
the One District One
Product (ODOP)
scheme, more than two
crore ODOP products of
Rs more than 1000 crore
have been sold out on
the Flipkart portal from
April 2020 to October,
2021 which has helped
thousands of artisans
of UP in a big way. Ra-
jneesh Kumar, Chief
Corporate Affairs Of-
ficer, Flipkart Group
said, “We are delighted
to see the growth that
local businesses from
UP have witnessed on
our platform, we are
committed to building a
truly local, democratic
andinclusiveplatform.”
AAP supporters celebrating party’s victory in Chandigarh
Municipal Corporation Elections on Dec 27, 2021. —FILE PHOTO
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM
(From Left) Braj Lata Hada, Ramchandra Choudhary, Rakesh Pareek, Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, Jagdeesh Chandra, Bhagirath Choudhary,
Vasudev Devnani, Suresh Tak, Prakash Rajpurohit, Vikas Sharma and KK Tak stand for the National Anthem during First India’s Ajaymeru Gaurav
Samman programme in Ajmer on Wednesday. —PHOTOS BY SUMAN SARKAR ANAND SHARMA
Shubham Jain
Ajmer: The Ajaymeru
Gaurav Samman pro-
gram was organized by
First India News in the
religious city of Ajmer
on Wednesday wherein
Mahendra Jeet Singh
Malviya, Minister of
Water Resources of the
RajasthanGovernment,
was the chief guest of
the program. First In-
diaNewsCMDJagdeesh
Chandra also reached
the program where 53
‘Karmaveers’ were hon-
ored. Ajmer MP Bhagi-
rath Chaudhary, Ajmer
North MLA Vasudev
Devnani, Kishangarh
MLA Suresh Tank,
Masuda MLA Rakesh
Pareek, Ajmer Munici-
pal Corporation Mayor
Brajlata Hada attened
the program as special
guests. Chief Guest
Malviya extended his
best wishes to the re-
cipients of the awards.
Ajmer: 53 ‘Karmaveers’
honoured by First India

NEW DELHI, THURSDAY
JANUARY 6, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Aa ab laut
chalein...
This Throwback Thursday we try to take a look on the other side
with ‘Jis Desh mein Ganga Behti hai’, a movie which
romanticised dacoits (like so many others) and gave much food
to the ‘surrender’ campaign in vogue at the time!
aivety rules the mov-
ie, Raj Kapoor has
played a simpleton in
many movies but Jis
Desh mein Ganga be-
hti hai takes the cake,
literally. I do not re-
member liking the movie but
the song…Aa ab laut cha-
lein… still holds me en-
thralled. Padmini leading the
contingent of soldiers across
the barren wasteland with
the camera zooming in on her
face and Raj Kapoor with his
signature haircut singing …
tujhko pukaare desh tera… it
is pure beauty and an emo-
tional high! Lata’s alaap will
give you goosebumps. The
meandering convoy of da-
coits, women and children in
bullock carts with Pran as
Raka, in one of his most
memorable roles, walking in
defeat but it is actually vic-
tory! For me the song is a
symbol that we can go back,
we can rise after we have fall-
en, there is hope in darkness
and the sheer tug of home
which is undeniable for all
living things!
Padmini, is someone I re-
member with her bosom
heaving in O’ Basanti pavan
pagal and then the ‘torn
shirt’ scene in another Raj
Kapoor magnum opus, Mera
Naam Joker but apart from
that she is simply beautiful!
Her character is gutsy and
feminine, she stands up for
herself, is fearless and yet so
caring – Padmini is worth a
watch as is Lalita Pawar in a
courageous mother-wife role.
One of the best characters
is Raka, Pran is simply amaz-
ing in the role. He brings
ruthlessness to his role and
plays it to the hilt, a true-blue
daaku, using Raj Kapoor to
loot a wedding which finally
results in a wake-up call for
the latter.
The visuals are striking in
the movie and the landscapes
beckon, even after decades!
The music and songs are
memorable. Begaani Shaadi
mein Abdullah Deewana and
Tum bhi ho …hum bhi hain…
both are still popular and
hummable!
The movie is socialist and
reformist, it is life with rose-
tinted glasses – but some-
times we need that..don’t we?
A one-time watch definitely!
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
N

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
PIYU THAKKAR, Model
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
you may have a very
refreshing day. Visiting a
mall or watching a movie
with family may be the
highlight of the day for some. You
may enjoy travelling to a tourist
destination recommended by your
friends. Reignite the flickering
romance in your life.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Something you have
implemented at work is
likely to profit the company
and get you noticed. You
are likely to celebrate the
achievement of a family youngster in
a grand way. Shifting into your very
own house may soon become a
reality.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You will derive great
benefit from an exercise
routine that you keenly
follow. Extra workload is
foreseen at work, but nothing that
you cannot handle within office
hours. Taking the family on a trip
seems impossible today due to your
professional commitments.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Your financial situation is set
to improve, as earning
opportunities come to you.
Help from co-workers in a
time consuming task will be
forthcoming on the work front. Support
of family will encourage you to take up
a challenge. Socially, your presence
will be much looked forward to.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Previous investments may
give you good returns.
Some of you may decide to
follow in the footsteps of
celebrities and visit the very same
exotic destination that they had been
to.No amount of excuses will dispel
lover’s suspicions about your tenden-
cy to stray the path.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Money coming from various
streams will keep you in an
elated state of mind. A new
fitness regime that you have
adopted promises to keep you in good
health. Getting old furniture
upholstered may be the priority of
some homemakers. Your search for
perfect partner may soon be over.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Your stars favour a bright
beautiful day . A setback
you have recently
experienced can make you
come out stronger. Tax advisor will
be a big help in saving taxes, so
don’t hesitate to contact one.It is
difficult for the relationship of friends
turned lovers to fall apart, so relax.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Some clarification will need
to be sought on a financial
issue before you take the
next big step. A project left
halfway by someone else may come
on your shoulders, but your efforts
will be acknowledged. Some of you
are all set to enjoy a splendid
vacation.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Money put together on
previous occasions is likely
to come in handy now. A
family youngster is keen to
learn from you, so don’t disappoint.
Settling down in a new house is
indicated for some.You may have to
awaken partner’s interest in you once
again.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Continue doing whatever
you are doing to remain
healthy. Some of you will
have to curb your
splurging ways. Family life will cruise
along smoothly with much love and
bonhomie. Don’t speed up on the
road. Chance of moving to a new
location is likely for some.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
You may find the day most
auspicious. Your
knowledge about your line
of work will be roundly
appreciated and get you the thumbs
up from higher ups. Friends and
family may get together to give you a
surprise. Business travel may leave
little time for romance.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
A vacation you only
dreamed about is likely to
become a reality very
soon. Healthy eating will
help prevent digestive ailments.
Money will be no constraint in buying
what you like. Driving down with
lover to a happening place is
indicated today.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
octors in Indore
are of the opinion
that forgetfulness
in young days
could be an after-
math of Covid-19
and also a symp-
tom of ‘post covid psycho-
sis’.
As you grow old, the is-
sue of forgetfulness starts
becoming common by the
day
, especially when you hit
the 60s. But having diffi-
culty in remembering
things in your younger
days is not a positive sign.
Many may consider it to be
Alzheimer’s, but it is not
what you think it is.
Generally, forgetfulness
can be related to ageing,
head trauma (or injury), or
other conditions or disor-
ders, but new research has
found out that forgetting
things in old age is deemed
normal, but it is not the
case with those in the
prime of their age.
Forgetfulness in young
people may lead to severe
disorders such as Amnesia,
which may also occur in
children. However, in the
post-pandemic world, doc-
tors think that Covid-19
does not only impact one’s
physical health but mental
as well. And this has be-
come a major cause of con-
cern. But around the world,
doctors now are research-
ing new mental health
side effects from the virus.
Even though the number
of patients who reported
Covid-19 psychosis is con-
sidered to be small in
numbers or even rare
for that matter, doc-
tors suggest that it does
have affected patients.
Dr Subhash Garg,
Head of Department
Occupational Thera-
py at Sri Aurobindo
Institute of Medi-
cal Science, In-
dore, says that
some of the
covid-19 con-
tracted pa-
tients have
been diagnosed
with ‘Post Cov-
id Psychosis’. Explaining
what the term means, Dr
Garg says, “Covid Psycho-
sis is a mental disorder in
which patients have an im-
paired sense of reality. Pa-
tients have reported forget-
fulness such as keeping a
key at a place and then for-
getting about it. While
these may be smaller things
to forget, some patients
have also reported severe
symptoms such as halluci-
nations, delusions,
restlessness and
i r r i -
tation among others.”
But how to tackle the psy-
chosis? To this, Dr Garg
says that one must see a
doctor immediately, and at
the same time, can do ac-
tivities that help the brain
function properly
.
“Keeping your brain
busy with an activity or an
exercise can prove to be
beneficial. Solving cross-
word puzzles, writing with
a non-dominant hand and
doing single leg balance are
some of the exercises that
can be considered,” Dr
Garg said.
He also spoke of Cogni-
tive Behavioural Ther-
apy (CBT) that one
can undergo based
on a doctor’s sug-
gestion. CBT is a
common talk
therapy in
which thought
patterns that af-
fect your emo-
tions are changed
in such a manner
that it has a positive
impact on one’s be-
haviour”.
The oth-
er meas-
u r e s
that Dr
Garg suggest are of per-
forming Yoga and meditat-
ing regularly
, as well as hav-
ing a nutritious diet which
includes eating fruits and
vegetables rich in antioxi-
dants, omega-3 fatty acids
and having nuts, legumes,
beans and lentils, etc which
help in increasing the
brain’s prowess.
IS MY FORGETFULNESS NORMAL?
DOCTORS SUGGEST COVID-19 COULD BE A POSSIBLE REASON
SHIVANI SHRIVASTAVA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
D
Dr Subhash Garg

Earmuffs/ear warmer: It is
one of the most essentials
in winters. It keeps our
ears warm. They look ex-
tremely cosy and stylish..For me,
it’s my favorite. Winter acces-
sory. It’s so comfortable and
also doesn’t mess
with my hair. No
matter how cold
it is I can always
feel comfortable
with my muffs.
If there is any-
thing I would
suggest to ev-
eryone, it’s ear
muffs. I mean
just look how
cute they are!
They come
in so many
different
styles to so
they go with
anything.
—Vanshika
Jain, Delhi
WINTERS ARE A GREAT TIME TO LET YOUR CREATIVE SIDE COME OUT.
EXPERIMENT WITH COLOURS AND LAYERS TO BRING OUT YOUR VISION
OF A PERFECT OUTFIT. HERE ARE SOME OF THE CITY FIRST READERS
WITH THEIR FAVOURITE WINTER ACCESSORY THAT CAN SPARK UP
YOUR OUTFITS.
ETC
11
ccessorising an outfit
can bring life to it.
Any outfit with the
right accessories can
be a red carpet outfit,
and winters are a
perfect time to try
out new ways to accessorise.
From boots to mufflers, gloves
to beanies, everyone has their
own style of dressing in win-
ters. To keep yourself warm
and still look photo-ready is a
real puzzle to solve. I person-
ally love boots and how they
can transform any outfit with
minimal effort. City First ran
an extensive interview with
some of its readers from dif-
ferent cities to see what turns
their outfits from Nay to Yay.
Read ahead for some finspo!
DEVANSHI MUDGAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
A
Glam up your
WINTER FITS!
You can never go wrong
with boots. I think that
if you style them, boots
can go with literally anything
in your wardrobe. Plus, they
keep you warm and com-
fortable. If there’s any winter
accessory that can make a
simple winter outfit glam-
orous, its boots. I have
billions of them and I still
don’t hesitate when I see
new ones.
—Himadri Mudgal,
Rajasthan
Winters are my favorite weather because of how many
extra things we can wear and look stylish and warm. My
favorite accessory has to be a beret or a beanie, they’re
practical as they keep you from getting a headache and
also cover bad hair days. You can style beanies in
so many ways its crazy. They look fantastic with all
the layers.
—Mansi Yadav,
Uttar Pradesh
Chilling Winters are
here and it only means
one thing, layering;
and scarves are my ultimate
favorite accessory to style. It
can be used around the neck,
waist or even over the gloves.
Another accessory I love are
gloves, the latest Gucci lace
ones look adorable as well as
chic. From classy to preppy,
gloves look good with every-
thing.
—Shivali Verma,
Uttar Pradesh
You can never go wrong
with boots. I think that
if you style them, boots
can go with literally anything
in your wardrobe. Plus, they
fortable. If there’s any winter
—Himadri Mudgal,
favorite accessory has to be a beret or a beanie, they’re
practical as they keep you from getting a headache and
also cover bad hair days. You can style beanies in
so many ways its crazy. They look fantastic with all
the layers.
—Mansi Yadav,
Uttar Pradesh
here and it only means
and scarves are my ultimate
favorite accessory to style. It
can be used around the neck,
waist or even over the gloves.
Another accessory I love are
gloves, the latest Gucci lace
ones look adorable as well as
chic. From classy to preppy,
gloves look good with every-
—Shivali Verma,
Uttar Pradesh
The winter winds make me
feel like I will turn into an icicle
anytime. Thank gods I have my
mufflers. They look super cute and also
keep me from getting wind chill. I can
style them in so many ways and they
spice up my outfits like nothing else. I
can just hide in my little muffler if i get
cold and still look super cute!
—Swapnika Bharadwaj,
Rajasthan

06012022 first india new delhi

06012022 first india new delhi

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