06022022 first india ahmedabad

First India Bureau
Rajkot: In a shocking
incident, Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) MLA
fromRajkotGovindPatel
has claimed that the Ra-
jkotpolicecommissioner
took ‘commission’ from
the victim of financial
fraud for recovering the
money lost by him.
A letter was shared in
a WhatsApp group from
Patel’s office on Satur-
day in which he accused
police commissioner
Manoj Agarwal of re-
ceiving Rs75 lakh from a
man named Mahesh
Sakhiya. The latter was
duped of Rs15 crore
from two accused over
financial investment.
Addressed to Minister
of State for Home Harsh
Sanghavi, the letter
mentioned, “We have
briefed you about the
work of Rajkot police
commissioner. He is
also involved in hawala
transactions for recov-
ering money
.”
According to Sakhiya,
no FIR was filed against
the accused who duped
him, but police demand-
ed 15% of the total
amount recovered. In ac-
cordance with the ‘deal’,
officials recovered Rs7
crore,of which,Rs75lakh
was then paid as ‘com-
mission’ to the police
commissioner through a
police inspector.
“The remaining
amount of Rs30 lakh
was demanded by the
police through calls
made by the PI on the
amount they have not
yet recovered. We then
complained to you
(Sanghavi) and an FIR
was registered followed
by the arrest of one of
the two accused,” stated
Patel, in the letter.
He also informed that
the accused absconding
hadboughtaflatwiththe
amount. Lamenting the
lack of recovery of the
remaining amount of
Rs8 crore, Patel request-
ed Sanghvi to secure
Rs75 lakh (given to the
police) and take neces-
saryactionagainstthem.
ComplainantMahesh
Sakhiya’s brother Jagji-
van Sakiya told First
India, “Manoj Agarwal
(police commissioner)
is not a protector. My
brother had paid a total
of Rs12 crore in install-
ments to Munira Pan-
vala and Riyaz (the ac-
cused). Recovery of
Rs1.10 crore was done
and a property worth
Rs3 crore was given to
us in Veraval Somnath
with an actual evalua-
tion of Rs3 crore. So far,
the police have taken
Rs75 lakh from us for
recovery and are de-
manding an additional
Rs30 lakh.” More on P2
Rajkot MLA Govind Patel
Rajkot police commissioner accused of taking ‘hafta’
BJP Rajkot MLA Govind Patel has alleged
that Manoj Agarwal demanded ‘commission’
for recovering money of fraud victim
STRONG TREMORS
FELT IN DELHI,
NOIDA, J&K AFTER
EARTHQUAKE IN
AFGHANISTAN
Tremors were felt in
Jammu and Kashmir,
Delhi and nearby cities
this morning after a mag-
nitude 5.7 earthquake
with its epicentre in the
Afghanistan-Tajikistan
border region was
reported. Some residents
in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida
tweeted the ground
shook for at least 20
seconds. People in Delhi
also tweeted they felt the
tremor. Meanwhile, PM
Narendra Modi on Satur-
day called up J&K Lt
Governor Manoj Sinha
to inquire about the situ-
ations in Union Territory
following earthquake
tremors in the region.
AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 72
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
SHIMLA
FREEZES AT
-2.1°
c
himla recorded its lowest
temperature this year with the
mercury dropping to -2.1 degrees
Celsius on Saturday, according to the
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
As the cold intensified in Himachal
Pradesh in the past 24 hours, the
temperature in Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti
district dropped to -12.5 degrees Celsius.
S
LATA MANGESHKAR’S
HEALTH VERY CRITICAL
Veteran singer Lata Man-
geshkar, who was admitted
in ICU of a Mumbai hospital
since last month, is very
critical and shifted back on
ventilator. Singer Asha Bho-
sle visted her at the hospital.
GOVT PLACES ORDER
FOR CORBEVAX DOSES
The Centre has placed a
purchase order with Biologi-
cal E for five crore doses of
Covid vaccine Corbevax each
costing Rs 145 excluding
taxes, official sources
said on Saturday.
GIVEN THE ANGER OF PEOPLE...
Lucknow: Samajwadi
Party chief Akhilesh
Yadav on Saturday said
that given the anger
among the people of Ut-
tar Pradesh (towards
the state government),
the SP-RLD alliance is
going to get 400 out the
total 403 Assembly seats
in the upcoming elec-
tions.
Referring to the Hath-
ras rape case, Yadav
said the victim neither
received proper treat-
ment, nor a respectful
cremation after her
death. “Family of the
daughter from Hathras
wanted justice, they
wanted to cremate her
respectfully. But what
did people of this Govt
do? They didn’t let it
happen. Had she re-
ceived proper treatment
at hospital, she would
perhaps have been alive
today,” he said.
SP National President Akhilesh Yadav with RLD chief Jayant.
BSP FIELDS KHWAJA
SAMSUDDIN AGAINST
YOGI IN GORAKHPUR
Lucknow: The BSP on
Saturday released a list
of 54 candidates for the
upcoming Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections,
fielding Khwaja Samsud-
din against Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath from
Gorakhpur Urban con-
stituency. In its latest list,
the Mayawati-led party
has given tickets to seven
Muslim candidates.
MODI TO ATTEND
HYBRID RALLY IN
BIJNOR ON MONDAY
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi will
be holding a rally that will
be hybrid in nature on
Monday at about 11:30
am. PM will be physically
present in Bijnor. In this
rally, the Prime Minister
will cover three districts
of UP: Bijnor Moradabad
and Amroha, thereby,
covering 18 assembly
constituencies in total.
SP-RLD will win 400
seats in UP: Akhilesh
AMIT SHAH HAD ON FRIDAY CLAIMED
BJP WINNING 300 SEATS IN THE STATE
“In the event of administrative committee not selecting a
uniform, clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public
law and order should not be worn,” said government order.
IT’SSAFFRON
SCARVESV/S
HIJABINK’TAKA!
Bengaluru: In a bid
to put an end to the
simmering hijab
(head scarf) contro-
versy in Karnataka,
the state government
Saturday directed
banning clothes
“which disturb equal-
ity, integrity and pub-
lic order” in schools
and colleges.
The government
has invoked 133 (2) of
the Karnataka Educa-
tion Act-1983, which
states that a uniform
style of clothes
has to be worn com-
pulsorily
.
MAA SARASWATI DOESN’T
DIFFERENTIATE, GIVES
EDU TO ALL, SAYS RAHUL
New Delhi: On the
occasion of Saraswati
Puja, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi alluding
to the decision by the
college authorities not
to allow wearing the
hijab in classroom,
tweeted “We are rob-
bing the future of the
daughters of India by
letting students’ hijab
come in the way of
their education.”
Karnataka bans
clothes that ‘disturb
public law and
order’ in education
institutions
In first poll meet after
attack,Owaisi asks
SP leaders to join him
Baghpat: AIMIM chief
Asaduddin Owaisi on
Saturday asked Sama-
jwadi Party leaders to
join hands with him to
oust the BJP from power.
“I appeal to my broth-
ers to vote not only with
the sole aim of defeat-
ing BJP candidates but
vote for ensuring the
victory of our people in
the fray,” Owaisi said,
campaigning for his
party candidate Anees
in Baghpat’s Asara vil-
lage in Chaprauli.
Itwashisfirstmeeting
after Thursday’s attack
on him in western UP
.
Owaisi said joining
hands with him would
only be to the benefit of
SPleaders,andthatstay-
ingwithAkhileshYadav
would be their undoing.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi
216-ft ‘Statue of Equality’
inaugurated by PM
Hyderabad: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday inau-
gurated the 216-foot-tall
‘Statue of Equality’,
honouring the 11th-cen-
tury Hindu saint Ra-
manujacharya. “This
statue of Ramanu-
jacharya ji is a symbol
of his knowledge, de-
tachment, and ideals,”
he said.
According to the
Prime Minister’s Of-
fice, the Statue of
Equality commemo-
rates Ramanujacharya,
who promoted the idea
of equality in all as-
pects of living includ-
ing faith, caste and
creed.
“Today Ramanu-
jacharya ji is giving us
the message of equality
in the form of a huge
Statue of Equality,”
said the Prime Minister.
The statue has been
conceptualised by Jee-
yar Swami of Sri Ra-
manujacharya Ashram.
Telangana CM KCR skips airport welcome
 The 216-foot-tall ‘Statue
of Equality’, honouring the
11th-century Hindu saint
Ramanujacharya is made of
‘panchaloha’, a combination
of five metals: gold, silver,
copper, brass, and zinc and
is among one of the tallest
metallic statues in sitting
position, in the world.
 The statue is mounted on
a 54-feet-high base building,
named ‘Bhadra Vedi’. The
buildings has floors devoted
for a Vedic digital library and
research centre. (Inset):
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi performed a ritual
at ‘Yagyashala’ during the
inauguration of the statue.
AFTER CHANNI, NOW KCR SKIPS RECEIVING MODI
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached
Hyderabad on Saturday on a six-hour visit
but Telangana Chief Minister K Chan-
drasekhar Rao skipped welcoming him at
the airport. This is the second time in two
months that PM Modi was not received
at the airport by a state Chief Minister.
In January, Punjab CM Charanjit Channi
skipped the customary airport welcome to PM.
—FILE
PHOTO

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 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
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Chief
Minister Bhupendra Pa-
tel, while launching the
“Cataract/Blindness-
Free Gujarat” campaign
in Gandhinagar, said
that the state plans to re-
duce the blindness rate
in the state to 0.25% by
2025.
Expanding on the is-
sue,Patelsaidtherateof
blindness which was
0.7% in 2014 according to
a survey has come down
to 0.36% in 2018-19. He at-
tributed the improve-
ment to the National
Blindness and Vision
Defect Control Pro-
gramme,whichhasbeen
implementedinthestate.
TheChief Ministerin-
teracted with the benefi-
ciaries who came for eye
and cataract check-ups
and also witnessed the
treatment being done by
theophthalmologists.He
said that the problem of
cataracts usually occurs
after the age of 50 years.
This can be treated with
simple surgery by put-
ting in eye lenses.
He further said that
for this purpose, the
health department has
provided infrastructure
and state-of-the-art
equipment for cataract
surgery in all district-
level as well as taluka-
level hospitals.
The Chief Minister
alsoaddedthatbyachiev-
ingtherateof morethan
1,000 cataract operations
per million population,
Gujarat has been at the
forefront of the battle
against the ocular dis-
ease. Usually
, the opera-
tions of putting eye lens-
esthroughphaco-emulsi-
fication cost Rs10,000-
50,000 in private hospi-
tals, but such operations
are performed free of
cost in the government
hospitals of Gujarat. Be-
sides, Gujarat is the only
state in the country to
provide free hydropho-
bicintraocularlenses,he
also said.
State aims to reduce blindness to 0.25% by 2025
‘VISION’ STATEMENT
CM Bhupendra Patel interacted with senior citizens who had come for the cataract operation.
MokariyasupportsAgarwalcorruptionclaims
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot: In another jolt
to Rajkot Police Com-
missioner Manoj Agar-
wal, allegations of cor-
ruption on his part
were granted authen-
ticity by Rajya Sabha
MP Rambhai Mokari-
ya on Saturday after he
came out in support of
claims made by Rajkot
MLA Govind Patel.
A Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) MLA, Patel
had submitted written
allegations against the
commissioner for ac-
cepting ‘commissions’
from victims of finan-
cial fraud. Supporting
his allegations, Moka-
riya on Saturday re-
vealed that the com-
missioner was a cor-
rupt officer. He also
informed that Agarwal
had paid a BJP leader
to receive posting in
Rajkot city
.
Speaking to First In-
dia, MP Mokariya elab-
orated, “Corruption
happens when the Ra-
jkot police commis-
sioner issues licenses
for weapons, or in case
of land issues. He (po-
lice commissioner)
takes money by getting
work done through a
selected team. He has
side-tracked many
good officers who do
not answer to the pub-
lic, neglect to file com-
plaints and/or FIRs.”
Condemning Agar-
wal’s actions, he fur-
ther stated, “He should
not be granted a good
posting. It is because a
political leader that he
landed in the Rajkot
posting. It is said that
the commissioner paid
Rs1.65 crore to the par-
ty leader every month.
But he must be side-
lined now so that injus-
tice is not meted out
the public.”
Without naming the
party leader who grant-
ed Rajkot posting to
Agarwal, Mokariya as-
serted, “The one who
has brought him to Ra-
jkothasdonedamageto
the city
. There are good
officers in the police de-
partment, but because
of one or two people
like this, the police de-
partment is infamous.”
Rajkot police commissioner has been accused of pocketing compensation amount meant for fraud victims
EXCLUSIVE
Rajya Sabha MP Rambhai Mokariya Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agarwal
BJP offered `3 cr to
AAP councillors:
Isudan Gadhvi
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A day
after five Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) cor-
porators defected to
the BJP, party lead-
ers revealed that the
ruling party had of-
fered Rs3 crore to its
Surat corporators
for defection.
While addressing
media persons on
Saturday, AAP lead-
er Isudan Gadhvi al-
leged, “In the past,
BJP had offered Rs3
crore to AAP corpo-
rators in Surat for
defection, but they
did not succeed.” He
has also pointed out
revelations of gov-
ernment competi-
tive examination pa-
per leaks that have
been made under
BJP rule, terming
them “a routine af-
fair.
Gadhvi also called
out the BJP for fail-
ing to take the public
into confidence
while attempting to
lure AAP leaders
into its ranks. He
urged Dalit AAP cor-
porators to decline
overtures made by
the BJP for defection
as people from the
community have not
received due repre-
sentation or respect
in the ruling party.
The senior leader
also informed that
the party’s legal
team was working
on exploring legal
action under the an-
ti-defection laws
against corporators
who joined the BJP.
Citing an incum-
bent BJP MLA’s al-
legations of mal-
practices and cor-
ruption, Gadhvi reit-
erated AAP’s vow to
fight against BJP
rule.
MSU HOLDS 70TH CONVOCATION
A total of 256 gold medals were given out at the 70th convocation of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, held virtually on Saturday. Chief Guest Lieutenant General Asit Mistry PVSM,
AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd) congratulated all the students, as did Chancellor Shubhangini Raje Gaekwad. Vice-Chancellor Prof (Dr) Parimal H Vyas and other dignitaries were also present.
‘BJP workers working against party candidates’
First India Bureau
Palanpur: A statement
made by a Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
leader from Banaskan-
tha about party work-
ers hindering election
of their own candidates
has taken the state unit
by shock.
At a recent event held
in Thawar of Dhanera
taluka of the district,
party leader and Deesa
Market Yard Chairman
Mavji Desai said that
the party’s own workers
were getting party can-
didates defeated in polls.
Addressing BJP
workers at the gather-
ing, Desai said, “Candi-
dates are being defeated
by party workers. It is
time to fight unitedly
and leaving our differ-
ences behind. If we are
united as a party, we
can rule the state for an-
other 20 to 25 years.
That way neither Con-
gress leaders nor its
workers will be able to
defeat BJP candidates.
The ruling party has
initiated so many devel-
opmental projects that
there is no question of
a n t i - i n c u m b e n c y
against it.”
Desai had made this
statement in the pres-
ence of BJP district
committee President
Gumansinh Chauhan
and Banaskantha Mem-
ber of Parliament (MP)
Parbat Patel. Coming to
Desai’s defense, Chau-
han stated that he had
expressed his feelings
on the matter. However,
he insisted on main-
taining the no conflict
stance of the party.
“There is no groupism
and party workers nev-
er work against the can-
didates,” he said.
Incidentally, Desai
had lost assembly elec-
tions on Dhanera seat
in the 2017 general elec-
tions with a margin of
2,093 votes to Congress
candidate Nathabhai
Patel. In the 2012 elec-
tions, Congress candi-
date Joitabhai Patel had
defeated BJP candidate
Purohit Vasantbhbai
with a margin of 30,291
votes. As BJP has won
the seat in 1998, 2002,
and 2007 polls, Dhanera
was known as the BJP’s
homeground.
BJP leader Mavji Desai addressing party workers at an event in
Thawar, Banaskantha.
AAP leader Isudan Gadhvi. —FILE PHOTO
Rate of blindness in Gujarat has fallen
from 0.7% to 0.36% in 4 years
—
FILE
PHOTOS

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: India
white-ball skipper Ro-
hit Sharma on Satur-
day said that he just
wants to keep things
simple and take the
team forward from
where Virat Kohli left.
Rohit had replaced
Virat as the white-ball
skipper last year. Kohli
first stepped down as
the T20I skipper and
then he was removed as
the ODI captain.
Team India is set to
play three ODIs at the
Narendra Modi Stadi-
um, Ahmedabad from
February 6 followed by
the T20I series at the
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
from February 16. Rohit
was supposed to lead
the side in the ODIs
against South Africa,
but a hamstring issue
ruled him out, however,
he has regained his fit-
ness and is ready to lead
the Men in Blue.
“When Virat was the
captain, I was the vice-
captain. I just have to
take it from where he
left. Everybody knows
what is expected out of
them, we want to con-
tinue with the same
template. There is not
much we need to
change. It is just that
adaptability and being
open to different things
is what we have spoken
of. It is not like I have to
come in and change
things drastically,” said
Rohit during a virtual
press conference.
“I just have to take it
from where he left and
it is important guys un-
derstand the responsi-
bilities. This is what I
will focus on, giving
them the clarity on
what is expected out of
them,” he added.
When asked about po-
tentiallyleadingtheTest
side, Rohit said: “My fo-
cus right now is to lead
India in the ODIs and
T20Is against West In-
dies. I am not thinking
too far ahead.”
Indiahadlastsuffered
a 0-3 ODI series against
South Africa and there
were question marks
overthebrandof cricket
the Men in Blue have
been playing.
Have to take team forward from where Virat left off: Rohit
IND VS WI
FocusonRohit’sleadershipasIndia
takesontheWestIndiesinthefirst
of3ODIsinAhmedabadonSunday
The Men in Blue head out for a practice session ahead of
Sunday’s match in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
MAN FIRES AT KALOL FAMILY
TO RECOVER ‘MIGRATION FEE’
1 ‘agent’ detained, 11 days after another family from Kalol died trying to immigrate illegally
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Local
police have arrested
one man and area
looking for three oth-
ers who opened fire at
a family in Kalol on
Friday evening. The
men had allegedly
sought to recover
Rs1.10 crore, most
which a couple hoping
to settle in the US was
to have paid them on
arrival in America.
The family of Vishnu
Patel, who filed a com-
plaint after the incident,
are now under police
protection.
According to the com-
plaint, grocer Vishnu
Patel told the police that
his nephew Vishal had
wantedtosettleinAmer-
ica with his wife Rupali.
So Vishnu’s friend Ma-
hesh Vyas introduced
Vishal to two
Ahmedabad-based two
“immigration agents”
Rutvik Parekh and De-
vam Brahmbhatt, who
had promised to help the
family reach the US for
the price of Rs1.10 crore.
The deal was that
Vishnubhai would
“show the agents Rs10
lakh” when Vishal and
his wife Rupali left from
Ahmedabad, 50% of the
remaining Rs1 crore
was to have been paid
once Vishal and Rupali
landed in the US and
the remaining Rs50
lakh, over the subse-
quent two months.
On Friday evening,
after Vishal and Rupali
boarded a flight from
Ahmedabad to Delhi,
Rutvik offered to drop
Vishnubhai back at Ka-
lol. On the way, he
stopped the vehicle at
NC Desai petrol pump
and, following a phone
call, three persons ar-
rived on two-wheelers,
and one—identified
only as Riyan—sat in
the car. The troupe then
reached Vishnubhai’s
residence, where the
men demanded the en-
tire amount.
Vishnubhai resisted
and insisted that he
would make payment
onlyafterVishalandRu-
pali reached America.
This angered Riyan who
pulled out a gun and
fired at Vishnu, who had
a lucky escape.
When neighbours be-
gantoarriveinresponse
to cries for help from
Vishnubhai’s family
members, three of the
menfled,butneighbours
caughtRutvikandhand-
edhimovertothepolice.
Kalol Taluka police
have registered a case
under the Indian Penal
Code for attempt to mur-
der, act done by several
persons and arms act,
against Rutvik, and Ri-
yan. Police Sub Inspec-
tor MH Desai is investi-
gating the case.
Notably
, Friday’s inci-
dentcomeslessthantwo
weeks after four mem-
bers of another family
from Kalol froze to death
while trying to enter the
US illegally via Canada.
The family of grocer Vishnu Patel have been given police protection after Friday’s incident.
IN GIR FOR THE STARS
7th astronomy event sees
pan-India participation
Masuma Bharmal Jariwala
Rajkot/Gir: The sev-
enth edition of the
Gir Star Party was
organized by Rajkot’s
Big Bang Astronomy
Club at Bhojdi vil-
lage in Gir on Friday.
A total of 75 people
in the age group of
11-75 years partici-
pated in the three-
day event from across
the country.
While star parties
are a new concept for
India, they have been
around in Europe and
the US for quite some
time.
Speaking to First In-
dia, Nilesh Rana of the
Community Science
Centre, Rajkot said, “In
order to look at the sky
and stars, especially
deep sky objects
(DSOs), light plays a
very important role.
Gir skies with no artifi-
cial lights in the vicin-
ity and clean air is one
of the best locations in
the country for sky gaz-
ing. In Gujarat, ours is
the only club that or-
ganizes public star gaz-
ing parties. People
from all over the coun-
try register for this an-
nual event and enjoy
the dark skies with
their telescopes and
binoculars. This event
is equally delightful for
experienced amateur
astronomers (sky
watchers) as well as
complete novices or
even first timers.”
Eminent astrophysi-
cist and president of
The Indian Planetary
Society, Mumbai, Dr JJ
Rawal, also attended
the event. “Majority of
the participants are
novices. And so, a basic
crash course on astron-
omy was held on Febru-
ary 04, followed by a
naked eye tour of the
sky and bucket obser-
vation,” added Rana.
Dilip Jogi, a 53-year-
old businessman from
Mumbai, who attended
his fourth star party,
termed it “an excellent
knowledge gaining pro-
gramme.”
People gear up for a night of stargazing under Gir’s clear skies.
PREPARING TO FLY
Rajiv Gandhi chairman of Aerotrans, which operates the joyride service from the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad on
Saturday announced that his firm plans to start chopper joyrides from Science City in March. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
In-personeducationforstudents
ofI-IXtoresumefromMonday
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
state government an-
nounced on Saturday
that schools may re-
sume in-person or of-
fline education for
students of Classes
I-IX from Monday.
However, all students
attending on-campus
classes will have to
submit a letter from
their parents permit-
ting them to do so .
All schools have been
directed to strictly
follow all guidelines
related to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Gujarat
on Saturday reported
4,710 new COVID-19
cases and 34 fatalities
due to the viral infec-
tion, taking the tally to
11,96,344 and the toll to
10,648, the state health
department said.
A total of 11,184 pa-
tients were discharged,
which raised the overall
count of recoveries in
Gujaratto11,34,683,leav-
ing the state with 51,013
active cases, it said.
Ahmedabad district
reported the highest
number of 1,484 new
cases,followedbytheVa-
dodara district with
1,012 cases, Gandhina-
gar 347, and Surat 339,
amongotherdistricts.At
seven, the Ahmedabad
district reported the
highest number of COV-
ID-19 fatalities in Guja-
rat, followed by Bhavna-
gar which saw five
deaths. Vadodara and
Surat each reported four
deaths, Jamnagar three,
and Gandhinagar one
among others.
A total of 2.71 lakh
people were vaccinated
against COVID-19 in Gu-
jarat on Saturday
, taking
the total number of dos-
es administered so far to
9.95 crore, it said.
The Union Territory
of Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, Daman and Diu
reported four new cases
and nine recoveries.
With this, the total cas-
es in the UT rose to
11,368 and recoveries to
11,316, leaving it with 48
active cases. The num-
ber of COVID-19 deaths
so far stands at four.
Students will need permission from their parents to return to the classroom. —FILE PHOTO
COVID-19 UPDATE
11,34,683
TOTALRECOVERED
11,184 MORE
IN A DAY
11,96,344
TOTAL CASES
4,710 CASES
IN A DAY
1,451 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
10,648
TOTAL DEATHS
51,013
34 DEATHS
IN A DAY
Moitra draws flak over‘Jain’ remarks
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Arecent
statement made by Tri-
namool Congress (TMC)
Member of Parliament
(MP) Mahua Moitra re-
garding the Jain com-
munity has invoked a
condemning reaction
from Gujarat Bharatiya
JanataParty(BJP)Pres-
ident CR Patil and Min-
ister of State for Home
Harsh Sanghavi. Both
leaders have asked the
MP to apologize for
hurting the sentiments
of the Jain community
.
While speaking in the
Lok Sabha during the
vote on Thanksgiving
resolution to President
Ram Nath Kovind, TMC
MP Mahuva Moitra had
stated, “You fear a fu-
ture India which is com-
fortable in its own skin,
and with conflicting re-
alities. You fear an India
where a Jain boy hides
from home and eats
kathi kebabs from a cart
on the road to
Ahmedabad.”
Her statement was
strongly opposed and
criticized by Patil, who
demanded that Moitra
issue an apology to the
Jain community for
“her defamatory re-
marks”. “Jainism is one
of the oldest religions in
the world. It teaches lib-
eration and harmless-
ness. @MahuaMoitra
Please don’t drag Jain-
ism into your so-called
politics. We will not tol-
erate!! Jai Jinendra!,”
he tweeted.
Minister of State for
Home Harsh Sanghavi,
who belongs to the Jain
community, tweeted,
“Feeling pity for @Ma-
huaMoitra, dragging
Jains into her so-called
politics is showing her
poor mindset. How
could she talk about a
Jainlikethis,Mindyour
words Madam, before
speaking about any spe-
cific community
.”
CR Patil. —FILE PHOTO
WORLD’S 3RD LARGEST STADIUM

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.72
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Make level paths for
your feet,” so that the
lame may not be disabled,
but rather healed.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Anguished to learn about the demise
of veteran BJP leader C Janga Reddy
Ji. He was one of the two BJP MPs
who had won in the 1984 elections.
His contribution towards saving the
democracy in the 1975 emergency
and strengthening BJP can never be
forgotten. My condolences. Om Shanti
Smriti Z Irani
@smritiirani
Saraswati Namastubhyam, Varde
Kamarupini. Vidyarambham
Karishyami always in Siddhidharbhatu.
Warm wishes on the festival ‘Basant
Panchami’, which is celebrated to
commemorate the arrival of spring
and worship Goddess Saraswati, the
goddess of learning and knowledge.
TOP TWEETS
STRICTER RULES
ARE NEEDED TO
REGULATE SOCIAL
MEDIA IN INDIA
ndia has close to 700
million internet us-
ers. The Central gov-
ernment had intro-
duced new Interme-
diary Liability Rules last year to
make social media platforms
more accountable by ordering
them to ensure traceability of
end-to-end encrypted messages.
With India being among the top
three internet markets it is able
todictatetermstothesocialcom-
panies which countries like the
US and UK have not been able to
do. In these countries the voices
for freedom of individuals are
far more assertive than in India.
The Central government is
now open to the idea of stricter
rules to make social media more
accountable, provided the oppo-
sition parties are willing to
come on board. Earlier the op-
position has attacked such
measures as being in violation
of freedom of expression. For
the protection of citizens, espe-
cially women, the government is
in favour of consensus for strict-
er accountability. The Bullibai
website which attacked the dig-
nity of Muslims is what has
prompted the government to
mull over stricter rules.
I
ontroversy over
hijab is getting
bigger in Karna-
taka with the BJP
and Congress tak-
ing up opposing positions on
the wearing of headscarves
by Muslim women. The row
began in early January when
six students of Udupi’s Gov-
ernment Pre-University Col-
lege attended classes don-
ning headscarves. This was
said to be in violation of col-
lege dress code which per-
mitted hijab on campus but
not inside class rooms. It
then spread to a private col-
lege at Bhandarkar where
school authorities clamped
the ban although their pre-
scribed dress code allows hi-
jab inside classrooms. At an-
other govt college in Byndoor
area, the college shut its gate
on hijab-wearing students
after protests by saffron
shawl-wearing Hindus.
Hijab is a controversial
piece of garment in some
other countries too. In the US
hijab is a right guaranteed as
freedom of speech and free-
dom of religion by the First
Amendment. In January this
year, French Senate voted in
favour of a ban on wearing of
hijab in sports competitions
for neutrality
, French secular
values. Head scarves are also
banned in French schools.
The Indian Constitution
guarantees religious free-
dom, which includes wearing
hijab, a religious symbol.
Many view it as a political
statement, while others look
at it as an indicator of Islam-
ic fundamentalism. If a con-
troversial issue like hijab
surfaces out of the blue then
there has to be a political mo-
tive. Ex-Karnataka CM Sid-
daramaiah said that prevent-
ing students from attending
class over hijab is to rob them
of their fundamental right
while State’s HM Araga is of
theviewthat studentsshould
wear neither hijab nor saf-
fron shawl to college.
KARNATAKA GOING
FRENCH WAY ON HIJAB
Hijab is a
controversial piece of
garment in some
other countries too. In
the US hijab is a right
guaranteed as freedom of
speech and freedom of
religion by the First
Amendment
C
Why more Indians should invest
in global equities, but do not!
necommonquestionthatIfre-
quently get asked is if we as
Indian residents can invest in
global equity markets. As an
equity investor whose day job
istoallocatecapital,Iamoften
surprisedatthisunfamiliarity
or lack of awareness. Sure, a
numberof fundshaverecently
sprung up offering Indians
limited exposure to foreign eq-
uities but it remains a very
small segment of the overall
market for investments.
Many Indians, however,
have taken a strong liking to-
wards domestic equities. In-
terestrateshaveremainedlow
andwouldprobablyremainso
for some time. This has creat-
ed a dearth of fixed-income
investment options. The Indi-
an stock market has not disap-
pointed and has generated
bumper returns for many
,
with over 25 million new De-
mat accounts in 2021. An indi-
vidual invested in any domes-
tic index fund would have
made a return of more than
50% over the past two years.
My hunch is that over a
long-time horizon, anyone in-
vested in Indian markets
should do reasonably well.
Volatility in the Indian stock
market should open up oppor-
tunities for skillful investors
but this also begs the all-im-
portant question - should you
putallyoureggsinonebasket
or if I may say – should you
invest only in Indian stocks?
Diversification purely as
an end-goal should never be
pursued but there are some
extraordinarily dominant
and highly resilient compa-
nies worth investing outside
the Indian equity market. In
fact, if one were to make a list
of the world’s top ten compa-
nies not just in terms of mar-
ket capitalization but also in
the sheer quality of the busi-
ness, one would be hard-
pressed to find an Indian com-
pany on it. Even if one goes
beyondthiscursorylist,there
are hoards of quality busi-
nesseslistedindifferentstock
exchanges across the world.
Thankfully, quite a few are
now opening up to this reali-
ty of investing in foreign
markets. There is certainly a
growing appetite as evi-
denced in an increase of 28%
in foreign investments (in-
cludes both equity and debt)
by Indians in 2021. Not just
that, SEBI is now seriously
considering increasing the
overseas investment cap for
domestic mutual funds. This
should open up more options
for those looking at alterna-
tives to Indian equities.
However, despite the shift
in momentum, there remains
onlyafractionof Indianswho
have warmed up to the possi-
bility of investing overseas.
As consumers of various
American/European compa-
nies, Indians happily spend
both their precious money
and time on many of their
products/services. What then
is stopping many from invest-
ing in stocks outside India?
To my mind, there are a
number of reasons why this
has happened. One, many are
just genuinely unaware and
consider investing overseas
something that is beyond
theirreach.Insimplerwords,
their financial advisors
haven’t done a great job of
explaining how easy it is to
set up an international bro-
kerage account. Second,
there is a general skepticism
towards foreign markets and
people are quick to disregard
this option as non-serious.
They are fearful of perma-
nent loss of capital even
though the same individuals
may be invested in sub-par
companies in India.
Third, the Indian state in a
way discourages from remit-
ting capital abroad beyond a
certainlimit.UndertheLiber-
alized Remittance Scheme, an
individual can only transfer
up to $250,000 per year for eq-
uity investments. This isn’t
exactly prohibitive but for
HNIsthisisn’tliberalenough.
During those rare massive
market dips, this limit proba-
bly acts as a major spoilsport.
Finally
, the taxation for for-
eignequitiesisnotjusthighly
inefficient but is also exces-
sive. STCG tax for foreign eq-
uities is charged at par with
one’s income tax slab while
LTCG tax only kicks in if se-
curity is held on to for a mini-
mum of two years (at the rate
of 20%). In contrast, LTCG
tax for domestic equities is
charged at 10% and that too
for a holding period of one
year. This tax discrimination
between foreign domestic
equities is difficult to make
sense of and should really be
doneawaywithforthebenefit
of individual investors.
Fortunately, the Finance
Minister has shown agility
and flexibility with regard to
the reduction in corporate tax
rates. A large number of vot-
ers would be thrilled if that
same urgency were applied to
personal income tax reform.
Many more Indians would be
more open to investing in the
world’s greatest businesses
and the process enriching
themselvesandtheirfamilies.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
O
ARIHANT PANAGARIYA
The writer is a graduate of Columbia
University a portfolio manager at
Hundred Ten Capital in London
Finally, the taxation for
foreign equities is not just
highly inefficient but is also
excessive. STCG tax for
foreign equities is charged
at par with one’s income
tax slab while LTCG tax
only kicks in if security is
held on to for a minimum
of two years (at the rate of
20%). In contrast, LTCG
tax for domestic equities is
charged at 10% and that
too for a holding period of
one year. This tax
discrimination between
foreign domestic equities
is difficult to make sense of
and should really be done
away with for the benefit of
individual investors
Many Indians, however,
have taken a strong liking
towards domestic
equities. Interest rates
have remained low
and would probably
remain so for some time.
This has created a dearth
of fixed-income
investment options

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappahm
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindiaahmedabad
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

Chandigarh/New Del-
hi: Congress on Satur-
day denied rumours of
a rotational Chief Min-
ister arrangement in
Punjab. Rahul Gandhi
will announce just one
name as the chief min-
isterial candidate to-
morrow, sources said.
Amidst the heated
contest for the top job
in the State, there was
earlier a buzz that Gan-
dhi would announce
two chief ministerial
candidates in his big
reveal in Ludhiana on
Sunday to accommo-
date both state Con-
gress chief Navjot Sin-
gh Sidhu and current
chief minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi.
Notably, this comes a
day after Channi’s
nephew Bhupendra
Singh Honey was ar-
rested by the Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED)
in an illegal sand-min-
ing case.
A jittery Sidhu has
stepped up his attack
on his own party as
Channi seems to be the
frontrunner for the
post. The state Con-
gress chief had yester-
day launched a direct
attack at his rival
Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni and said the party
must choose someone
“honest and with a
clean track record”.
Congress has recently
givenseveralindications
that Channi was fa-
voured for the top job. It
is also running a public
survey through IVR (In-
teractive Voice Re-
sponse) calls to allow
people of the state to
choose who they favour
for the post. Sources say
Channi is leading that
survey as well. —PTI
INDIA
06
Kathmandu: Ice on a
glacier near the sum-
mit of Mount Everest
that took millennia to
form has shrunk dra-
matically in the last
three decades due to
climate change, a new
study has shown.
The South Col forma-
tion may already have
lost around 55 metres
(180 feet) of thickness in
the last 25 years, accord-
ing to research led by
the University of Maine
and published this week
by Nature.
Carbon dating
showed the top layer of
ice was around 2,000
years old, suggesting
that the glacier was
thinning more than 80
times faster than the
time it took to form, the
study said.
At that rate, South
Col was “probably going
to disappear within
very few decades”, lead
scientist Paul Mayews-
ki told National Geo-
graphic. “It’s quite a re-
markable transition,”
he added.
The South Col glacier
is around 7,900 metres
(26,000 feet) above sea
level and a kilometre
below the peak of the
world’s highest moun-
tain. Other researchers
have shown that Hima-
layan glaciers are melt-
ing at an accelerating
rate. As the glaciers
shrink, hundreds of
lakes have formed in
the foothills of Himala-
yan mountains that
could burst and un-
leash floods.
Nepali climber Kami
Rita Sherpa, who has
climbed Everest a re-
cord 25 times since 1994,
told media on Saturday
he had witnessed chang-
es on the mountain
firsthand.
“We now see rock ex-
posed in areas where
there used to be snow
before. Not just on Ever-
est, other mountains
are also losing their
snow and ice. It is wor-
rying,” Mr Sherpa told
media.
Himalayan glaciers
are a critical water
source for nearly two
billion people living
around the mountains
and river valleys below.
They feed 10 of the
world’s most impor-
tant river systems and
also help supply bil-
lions of people with
food and energy. —PTI
Mt Everest’s highest glacier rapidly losing ice: Study
CLIMATE CHANGE
NIP AND TUCK BATTLE IN PUNJAB CONG:
NO ROTATION OF CM POST, SAY SOURCES
Amritsar: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu
on Saturday said that his Punjab model is one to
change the lives of the people of the state. Address-
ing a press conference, the Punjab Congress chief
said, “Did Navjot Singh Sidhu deviate from politics of
issues? Did Sidhu deviate from policies? Did Sidhu
deviate from budgetary allocations? Did Sidhu open
his business or liquor store? My Punjab model is
one to change lives of children, youth, and people
of the state.” Speaking about the Congress’ plan to
announce the Chief Minister candidate, Mr Sidhu said,
“Today Punjab has to decide a major thing; CM will be
elected if there are 60 MLAs (for the Congress). No-
body is talking about the 60 MLAs. Nobody is talking
about the roadmap for a government to be formed.”
MY PUNJAB MODEL IS TO CHANGE
LIVES, SAYS NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU
Based on public feedback, CM face
announcement likely today
Sidhu ups ante against Channi, hints
party to pick ‘untainted’ candidate
z Sedition case filed
against Rashtriya
Lok Dal candidate
in UP

z Manipur Chief Min-
ister files nomina-
tion from Heingang
constituency —
seat he never lost
since 2002

z SP doing politics
of appeasement,
only BJP can do
development in UP:
Rajnath Singh

z Won’t vote in elec-
tions, if schools
don’t reopen,
protests Punjab
teachers, parents

z U’khand: CM
Dhami holds
door-to-door
campaign, de-
mands Centre for
trains from Tanak-
pur to Ayodhya

z BJP likely to an-
nounce manifesto
for Uttarakhand
assembly elections
on February 6-7:
Sources
ELECTION BUZZ
Chandigarh: Congress
MP Manish Tewari has
broken his silence on
being excluded from
the party’s star cam-
paigners list for Punjab
polls, media reported.
Tewari, a sitting MP
from Anandpur Sahib
took to Twitter after he
and other prominent
members of the G-23
didn’t find space in the
campaign list. “I would
have been pleasantly
surprised if it would
have been the other
way around. The rea-
sons are also no state
secret,” Tewari tweeted.
The Congress MP was
responding to the news
report on the absence
of prominent Congress
leaders from the star
campaigner list and
also to former TMC MP
Abhijit Mukherjee.
New Delhi: Congress
party on Saturday released
a list of as many as 30
‘star campaigners’ for the
ensuing third phase of UP
assembly elections. The
list includes names of top
party leaders including
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra, Ghulam
Nabi Azad, Rajasthan CM
Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot,
Mohammed Azharuddin
and others. Surprisingly,
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and former prime
minister Manmohan Singh
are missing from the list.
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath on
Saturdaysaidthatdevel-
opment and bulldozer
willmovetogether—de-
velopment for people
and bulldozer for crimi-
nals — when he retains
power after March 10.
Speaking at an elec-
tionrallyinShamli,Yogi
began his speech by ex-
tending his good wishes
to the people for ‘Basant
Panchmi’andthenmade
a scathing attack on the
alliance of SP and RLD.
He appealed to the
people to ensure the
victory of the BJP in
the forthcoming assem-
bly elections “to pre-
vent ‘palayan’ like in
Kairana and Kandhla
and riots like that of
Muzaffarnagar.”
Equating ‘palayan’ of
Kairana with that of
exodus of Pandits from
Kashmir, Yogi reiterat-
ed that now “sisters and
daughters are not only
safe in Kandhla and
Kairana but in the en-
tire state.” —Agencies
Chennai: A meeting of
parties, that have repre-
sentation in the Tamil
Nadu Assembly
, on Sat-
urday unanimously re-
solved to send again a
Bill seeking exemption
for the state from the Na-
tional Eligibility cum
Entrance Test’s purview
to Governor R N Ravi to
get Presidential assent.
The meeting, chaired
by Chief Minister MK
Stalin at the Secretariat,
passed a resolution to
convene a special sitting
of the Assembly and get
the Bill adopted again
and send it to the Gover-
nor to forward it to the
central government to
get Presidential assent.
The main opposition
AIADMK,thoughdidnot
take part in the meeting
declareditssupporttoall
legal initiatives aimed at
getting the test scrapped
in Tamil Nadu. The BJP
did not take part in the
meeting. —PTI
DROPPED FROM CONG CAMPAIGNERS’
LIST, TEWARI SAYS ‘NOT SURPRISED’
UP POLLS: GEHLOT, PILOT AMONG STAR
CAMPAIGNERS FOR THIRD PHASE
1 2
New Delhi: The
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has issued a whip
to all its Rajya Sabha
MPs to be present in the
House on February 8.
The official commu-
nique, addressed to all
BJP Rajya Sabha MPs,
stated, “All BJP mem-
bers in Rajya Sabha are
hereby informed that
some very important
business will be taken
up for discussion and
passing in the Rajya
Sabha on Tuesday, Feb-
ruary 8, 2022.”
It added, “All mem-
bers of BJP in Rajya
Sabha are therefore re-
quested to be positively
present in the House
throughout the day on
Tuesday, February 8,
2022 and support the
government’s stand.”
However, Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
Member of Parliament
KJAlphons,whosought
to amend the Preamble
to the Constitution, was
on February 4 absent in
the Upper House of Par-
liament when his turn
to introduce the Private
Member’s Bill came.
The 2022 Budget Ses-
sion began earlier on
January 31 with Presi-
dent Ram Nath Ko-
vind’s address to both
the Houses of Parlia-
ment— Lok Sabha and
Rajya sabha.
The first part of the
Budget Session, which
will continue till Febru-
ary 11, will have 10 sit-
tings.
The second part of
the session will begin
after a month-long re-
cess from March 14 and
conclude on April 8 in
which there will be 19
sittings. —ANI
BJP ISSUES WHIP TO ITS RS MPs
Asks them to be present on
Feb 8 to support govt’s stand
Development,
bulldozer to
move together:
Yogi in Shamli
TN: Unanimous anti-NEET
bill to be sent again to Guv
IN THE COURTYARD
ODISHA: JOURNALIST KILLED IN IED
EXPLOSION TRIGGERED BY MAOISTS
LEGISLATION VALID TILL IT IS DECLARED
UNCONSTITUTIONAL BY COURT OF LAW
Bhubaneswar: A
journalist was alleg-
edly killed in an IED
explosion triggered by
Maoists in Kalahandi’s
Madanpur Rampur
block, police said on
Saturday. The journal-
ist was identified as Rohit Biswal, a local scribe
working with Odia daily, Dharitri.
New Delhi: The SC observed that a law passed by
legislature is good law till it is declared as unconsti-
tutional by a competent Court or till it is declared as
unconstitutional by a competent Court or repealed.
The declaration by a Court that a statute is uncon-
stitutional obliterates the statute entirely as though
it had never been passed, the bench observed.
Mumbai: BJP leader and former Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis on Friday
claimed that 3 per cent of divorces in Mumbai are
happening due to traffic jams. “I am saying this as a
common citizen. Once I go out, I see several issues
including potholes, traffic. Due to traffic, people are
unable to give time to their families and 3 per cent
of divorces in Mumbai are happening due to it, so I
advise the state government to pay more attention to
its mistakes,” Fadnavis said.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday approved
a revised protocol for disposing bodies of Parsi
Covid-19 victims. This came after the Centre and
community members reached an agreement accord-
ing to which the “Tower of Silence” will be covered
with an iron grid so that birds and animals cannot
come into contact with the corpses placed inside.
Approving the scheme, the bench lauded the efforts
of Senior Advocate Fali S. Nariman and the Solicitor
General in reaching the settlement.
3% DIVORCES IN MUMBAI TAKE PLACE
DUE TO TRAFFIC: AMRUTA FADNAVIS
REVISED PROTOCOL FOR DISPOSAL OF
BODIES OF PARSI COVID VICTIMS OK’D
Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad
Yadav on Saturday completely quashed the specula-
tion that he would step down from the post and son
Tejashwi Yadav could take over as the next party
president. “Those who run such news reports are
fools. We will get to know whatever happens,” Lalu
Yadav told media persons in New Delhi when asked
if Tejashwi Yadav will be made the national president
of the party.
Patna: The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)
on Saturday, 5 February, wrote a letter to the CJI, NV
Ramana, and urged him
to resume physical hear-
ing in the top court as
COVID-19 cases in Delhi
are plummeting, reported
media. The association
added that strict adher-
ence to COVID protocols
should be ensured during physical hearings. The letter
said that the DDMA took this decision after considering
the bed occupancy at health centers in Delhi.
THOSE SPREADING NEWS OF TEJASHWI
BECOMING RJD CHIEF ARE FOOLS: LALU
SC BAR ASSN URGES CJI TO RESUME
PHYSICAL HEARING IN TOP COURT
CRUCIAL READS

z Rajya Sabha
clocks 100 per
centc productiv-
ity in first week,
replies from
Prime Minister,
Finance Minister
next week

z Chair cannot
decide to take
up private bill on
amending Pream-
ble: Rajya Sabha
Dy Chairman

z No proposal for
National Agricul-
ture Disaster Man-
agement Scheme:
Government
SIDELINES
Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi with
State Cong chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

BIZ BUZZ
07
Adani Green Energy raises `612.30 cr to refinance debts
New Delhi: Adani
Green Energy (AGEL)
has raised Rs 612.30
crore through its
three subsidiary com-
panies - Adani Green
Energy (UP), Prayat-
na Developers, and
Parampujya Solar En-
ergy to refinance ex-
isting debts.
The fund has been
raised by the maiden
domestic bond issu-
ance of the three enti-
ties -- collectively
housing 930 MW of
operational solar pow-
er projects -- and on a
private placement ba-
sis, the company an-
nounced on Friday.
The rated, listed, se-
cured, redeemable,
non-convertible de-
bentures (NCDs) of
the face value of Rs
10,00,000 each, in mul-
tiple series, have an
average annualized
coupon rate of 7.83
per cent p.a. (fixed)
and a tenure up to 12
years. The proceeds
from the NCDs will be
utilized to part-refi-
nance existing rupee
term loans bearing
higher interest costs.
The NCDs are rated
AA/Stable by CRISIL
and AA(CE)/Stable by
India Ratings. The
NCDs will be listed on
the wholesale debt
market segment of
BSE.
Optimization of the
cost of borrowing is
key to our capital
management program
and this transaction
reinforces the compa-
ny’s strategy, accord-
ing to Vneet S Jaain,
Managing Director
AND Chief Executive
Officer of AGEL. “We
are encouraged by the
robust support from
the finance communi-
ty, which recognizes
the strength of the
company’s business
model and our capital
management ap-
proach,” said Jaain.
“The company has
been able to manage
this fundraising at fa-
vorable terms which
AEGL on a more solid
platform for long-term
growth,” he added.
The success of the
domestic debt market
issue will open up a
new source of fund-
ing, allowing for more
flexibility in capital
structure while also
lowering interest
costs.
Adani Green Ener-
gy develops, builds,
owns, operates, and
maintains utility-
scale grid-connected
solar and wind farm
projects. It has one of
the largest global re-
newable portfolios
with an overall portfo-
lio of 20.3 GW1 includ-
ing operating, under-
construction, award-
ed, and assets under
acquisition catering
to investment-grade
counterparties. —ANI
Optimization
of the cost of
borrowing is
key to our capital man-
agement program and
this transaction rein-
forces the company’s
strategy.
—Vneet S Jaain, Managing
Director AND Chief Executive
Officer of AGEL
AGEL has one of the largest
global renewable portfolios with
an overall portfolio of 20.3 GW1
including operating, under-
construction,
awarded, and
assets under
acquisition
catering to
investment-
grade
counterparties
India's Forexreservesdip by
$4.53 billion to
$629.75 billion
Mumbai: India’s for-
eign exchange (forex)
reserves declined by
$4.531 billion to
$629.755 billion in the
week ended January
28 due to a sharp drop
in foreign currency as-
sets and fall in the
value of gold reserves,
the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) data
showed.
The forex reserves
had declined by $678
million in the previous
week.
The foreign curren-
cy assets, which is the
biggest component of
the forex reserves,
slumped by $3.504 bil-
lion to $566.077 billion
during the week under
review, according to
the RBI’s weekly sta-
tistical supplement.
The foreign curren-
cy assets had dipped
by $1.115 billion in the
week ended January
21.
Expressed in US dol-
lar terms, the foreign
currency assets
include the
effect of
appreci-
ation or
d e p re -
c i a -
tion
o f
non-
d o l l a r
c u r r e n c i e s
like Euro, UK’s
Pound Sterling and
Japanese Yen held in
the foreign exchange
reserves.
The value of gold re-
serves declined by $844
million to $39.493 bil-
lion during the week
under review.
The value of India’s
Special Drawing
Rights (SDRs) with the
International Mone-
tary Fund (IMF) de-
clined by $141 million
to $19.011 billion, while
India’s reserve posi-
tionintheIMFdropped
by $42 million to $5.174
billion. —ANI
THE DECLINE
New Delhi: A return
in risk appetite and a
rally in stock markets
sent the world’s big-
gest and best-known
cryptocurrency Bit-
coin rallying 10 per
cent to a two week high
on Saturday. Ethere-
um, the second-largest
crypto in m-cap terms,
also jumped 9 per cent.
Among key cryptos,
Bitcoin was up 10 per
cent in the last 24
hours at $41,615.37.
Earlier, it hit a high of
$41,983, taking gains
from Thursday’s lows
to nearly 16 per cent
and marking a 27 per
cent rise from the
year’s low of $32,950.72
on January 24.
Ethereum was quot-
ing at $3,030.08, up 8.57
per cent.
Most of the 10 top
digital tokens were
trading with strong
gains on Saturday.
Solana climbed up
10.82 per cent, taking
its 7-day rise to 23 per
cent.
Polkadot soared
15.37 per cent, taking
its 7-day rise to 20 per
cent. At the same time,
Terra was up 11.53 per
cent. BNB, XRP and
Cardano gained 9-12
per cent. Tether was
trading flat.
Dogecoin, number
11 in m-cap terms, was
up 5.55 per cent while
Avalanche, number 12,
advanced 14.5 per cent.
The global crypto
market cap stood at the
$1.64 trillion mark.
The total crypto mar-
ket volume jumped
close to 63 per cent to
$106.29 billion.
–Agencies
TOP CRYPTOCURRENCY PRICES TODAY
Bitcoin hits two-week high; Solana,
Ethereum,Dogecoin jump up to 11%
KEY CRYPTOS’ VALUE IN LAST 24 HOURS
GodrejProperties
callsoffDBRealty
dealaftersharesfall
Mumbai: Godrej
Properties, the real es-
tate development arm
of Godrej Group, has
decided not to go
ahead with its plan to
form a joint venture
with property devel-
oper DB Realty to un-
dertake slum rehabili-
tation and MHADA
redevelopment pro-
jects in Mumbai.
On Thursday, the
company had an-
nounced its plan to
form this alliance and
also subscribe to eq-
uity warrants aggre-
gating to around 10%
capital of DB Realty
for around 400 crore.
Godrej Properties
stock plunged 9.75% on
Friday after several
analysts raised con-
cerns over the deal.
While some analysts
saidinvestinginDBRe-
alty exposes Godrej
Properties to the risk
of capital misalloca-
tion,afewraisedcorpo-
rategovernanceissues.
“The market didn’t
likethisinvestmentde-
cision as there are sev-
eral issues with DB
Realty
. Earlier in
January, DB Re-
alty had
made a de-
fault on
payment
of 698
crore,” said Yash Gup-
ta, analyst, Angel One.
“We expect some more
clarity from the com-
pany in the coming
month. Till that time,
wesuggestretailinves-
tors hold their invest-
ment in GPL stock and
not make any fresh in-
vestment at this level.”
Godrej Properties
stock ended 9.75% low-
er at 1,506.22 on Fri-
day while DB Realty
shares locked 5% up-
per circuit at 100.90.
Godrej Properties
stockhasdeclined38%
in the past three
months compared
with a 14% fall in
the NSE Realty
index. –Agencies
PAST PACT
Amazon surges with record $190
billion gain in value
A day after Facebook owner Meta Platforms
suffered the deepest loss of stock market
value in history for a U.S. company, Amazon
logged the greatest ever one-day increase in
value. Shares of the online retail and cloud
computing giant surged 13.5% on Friday fol-
lowing its blowout quarterly report, expanding
its market capitalization by around $190 billion
by the end of trading. That beat Apple Inc’s
record $181 billion one-day gain in stock mar-
ket value on Jan. 28 following the iPhone
maker’s own blockbuster quarterly report,
according to Refinitiv data. Amazon is now
valued at about $1.6 trillion. –Agencies
SBI Q3 net profit
surges by 62%
New Delhi: The coun-
try’s largest lender
State Bank of India
(SBI) on Saturday
posted 62 per cent
jump in standalone
net profit at Rs 8,432
crore for
the third
q u a r t e r
ended De-
cember 31,
2021.
T h e
bank had
earned a net profit of
Rs 5,196 crore in the
year-ago period,
“Bank has regis-
tered its highest quar-
terly net profit of Rs
8,432 crore in Q3FY22.
This represents an in-
crease of 62.27 per
cent YoY,” SBI said in
a regulatory filing.
Total income also
rose to Rs 78,352 crore
during the quarter un-
der review as against
Rs 75,981
crore in
the same
period of
2020-21, it
said.
On a
c o n s o l i -
dated basis, the SBI
Group clocked 51 per
cent increase in net
profit at Rs 9,692 crore
during the quarter as
against Rs 6,402 crore
in the year-ago period.
–PTI
Bank’s net NPAs rose
marginally to 1.34%
from 1.23% at the end
of 2020-21’s 3rd quarter
Digital payments and financial services firm One97
Communications, which operates under Paytm brand,
on Friday reported widening of consolidated loss to
Rs 778.5 crore in the December 2021 quarter. Paytm
had registered a loss of Rs 535.5 crore in the same
period a year ago, according to late night BSE filing by
the company. Its consolidated revenue from opera-
tions, however, increased by about 88 per cent to Rs
1,456 crore during the reported quarter from Rs
772 crore it posted in
the December 2020
quarter. –PTI
PAYTM Q3 LOSS WIDENS TO `778 CR
Mumbai: Public sector lender Bank of Baroda’s net
profit doubled to Rs 2,197 crore in the October-De-
cember quarter (Q3FY22), aided by higher net
interest income and lower provisions. Net interest
income of the lender jumped 14.38 per cent to Rs
8,552 crore in the reporting quarter. Net interest
margin, a measure of profitability, of the bank
stood at 3.13 per cent, up 36 basis points
from the year ago period. Provisions
fell over 27 per cent on a year-
on-year (YoY) basis to Rs
2,506 crore. –Agencies
BOB Q3 NET PROFIT DOUBLES IN Q3
Ixigo eyes mega IPO backed by Budget
boost to rail infra hospitality
New Delhi:Asthestart-
up IPO boom is set to
continue in 2022, travel
tech major Ixigo is eye-
ing a robust stock mar-
ket debut on the back of
a forward-looking and
infrastructure focussed
Union Budget for FY23.
As per the company,
the announcement of
new Vande Bharat
trains over the next
three years and further
support for the hospital-
ity sector under ECLGS
scheme would in turn
supportthetravelindus-
try and boost consumer
demand in the sector.
In December, the Se-
curities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI)
gave its approval for Le
Travenues Technology
Limited which manages
the travel platform Ixigo
to raise Rs1600 Cr.
through initial public
offering. It plans to raise
Rs 750 crore in fresh is-
sue and Rs 850 crore in
an offer-for-sale. –ANI
SindhuTrade Links
reduces bank-debt by
`1041.5 mn,aims to
be debt free by 2023
New Delhi: BSE listed
Sindhu Trade Links Ltd
is has has reduced its
bank debt by Rs 1041.5
million, almost 1/3rd of
its peak bank-debts.
With promoters’ persis-
tence, the company
dared to initiate this
debt reduction program
during the previous fi-
nancial year, wherein
businesses across the
world were considera-
bly disturbed by COV-
ID-19, and is continuing
thereafter with tenacity
to reduce bank-debt
every quarter. –ANI

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
57,45,845
TOTAL DEATHS
31,07,47,081
TOTAL RECOVERED
39,20,27,116
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
5,01,143
TOTAL DEATHS
4,02,47,902
TOTAL RECOVERED
13,31,619
ACTIVE CASES
4,20,80,664
TOTAL CASES
7,55,34,190
ACTIVE CASES
WHY IS SPEAKER
UPSET WITH
MAHUA?
AftertheBJP
,thefire-
brand leader of
TMC, Mahua Moitra,
has now locked horns
with LS Speaker Om
Birla as well. Mahua
was ‘allotted’ 13 min-
utes to speak on the
President’s address.
Speaking in the House
on Thursday, it was not
even 5 minutes that she
spoke when Rama Devi,
who was sitting on
chair, interrupted Ma-
hua - ‘Why are you
speaking so angrily?’
Mahua’s flow was dis-
turbed. She could not
even speak for 10 min-
utes that her mic got
turned off. Although
she did not
miss even
to reply
to Rama.
S h e
turned
to the chair and said - ‘I
am angry as such I am
speaking so.’ After this
Mahua lodged her com-
plaint with Birla, but
when she did not got
any suitable reply from
there, she tweeted about
this incident - ‘Who is
Chair to obstructs my
precious time? Whether
I speak in anger or with
love, it is not your job to
decide my tone. Birla
said without naming
anyone, “Comment
should not be made on
Chair inside or outside.’
He instructed respected
members of House that
no member whether in
Houseor outsideHouse,
should make comments
about Chair on social
media or in media. Now
there is a split in TMC
over Mahua as she had
already annoyed
her party su-
premo
Mamata by
s p e a k i n g
a g a i n s t
Adani-Ambani and
Mamata has also pub-
licly scolded Mahua for
this. On behalf of TMC,
Sudip said in defense of
Mahua, ‘The speaker is
above the party
.’
PUNJAB ELECTIONS
ENTANGLED IN
DERA POLITICS
As assembly polls
are round the cor-
ner as such attention to
deras, their prowess,
and circumambulation
of politicians around
them is very common.
First of all, let’s talk
about Sachkhand Bal-
lan Dera of Jalandhar.
When Channi was a mi-
nor minister in Cap-
tain’s govt, he had taken
Sidhu with him to this
dera, to get the bless-
ings of his Guru
Ranjan Das to be-
come CM. Guruji
said to Channi-
‘My bless-
ings are
with you,
then why
don’t you
only be-
c o m e
CM?’ See the coinci-
dence, after two months
Channi became the CM
of the state. As soon as
he became the CM,
Channi rushed and
reached the shelter of
his guru. Sachkhand
Ballan Dera is a dera of
Ramdasi sect, to which
Channi himself be-
longs. This dera has a
significant influence in
8-10 assembly seats of
Punjab. It is an impor-
tant dera affecting 32%
of the Dalit population
of Punjab. Harsimrat,
Kejriwal, Mann all
these leaders are also
making rounds of dif-
ferent deras everyday
.
PRIYANKA IN A
CHANGED AVATAR!
Recently
, an incident
like Hathras was
repeated in Buland-
shahr of UP. The media
was showing the age of
the victim as 21 years
old in all the reports,
while in the official doc-
uments the age of the
victim was 17 years. Pri-
yanka lashed out at the
media on this matter
and raised the question
that why does the media
back down from show-
ing the truth these days,
since the victim is 17
years old, so this case
comesunderthePOCSO
Act. A journalist slowly
told Priyanka, “Do you
want to implicate us in
cases?” That is, ‘If you
write the truth, you will
be in trouble’.
BE CAREFUL FROM
FEB 8 TO MARCH 18
Mars and Venus are
traveling together
from February 8 to
March 18 so this can be a
bit difficult time for the
people of Taurus, Pi-
sces, Virgo and Scorpio
signs. This is prediction
of the country’s well-
known astrologer
Rajesh Hasija, who has
made many accurate
predictions in the past
as well. Hasija, who has
worked for more than 2
decades in the top posi-
tions of IB and just to
pursue this knowledge,
he took VRS. Hasija
claims that the rise of
Taurus in the horoscope
of India, being the lord
of both the malefic plan-
ets Mars and Venus and
the visit of 8, 9 house in
transit has also brought
new indications for the
elections to 5 states. It
may also have an impact
on 2024 polls.
DHAMI’S SURPRISE!
Recently
, the theme
song of BJP was
launched for the state of
Uttarakhand. But the
most surprising thing
was that PM Modi was
seen alone on the stage,
but U’khand CM Push-
karSinghDhamiwasnot
visible anywhere. A
press conference was
also held by the BJP on
this occasion. The pres-
ence of Anil Baluni and
BJP’s U’khand in-
charge Pralhad Joshi
was being seen on the
stage of the press confer-
ence, but even there the
CM was not visible any-
where. A journalist
raised a direct question
in this press conference
that ‘BJP should count
anyfiveachievementsof
its 5 years’, on this ques-
tion Pralhad Joshi got
furious and said - ‘We
have not come here to
give exams, ask some-
thing else’. The journal-
ists present were
stunned. The press con-
ference ended, without
counting any achieve-
ments. But sensing the
exigencies of the situa-
tion, the BJP people
startedclarifyinginfront
of the journalists - ‘Joshi
ji is from Karnataka, so
he could not understand
Hindi properly
.’ Anyway
,
in this ‘theme song’ only
Modi govt was praised,
the state govt
did not get
proper at-
tention.
RPN WAS ANGRY
WITH RAHUL’S
BEHAVIOUR
RPN Singh had actu-
ally made up his
mind to leave the Con-
gress long back. He was
in charge of Congress
in Jharkhand for a long
time. A year ago, he had
met Rahul and demand-
ed RS seat from
Jharkhand for himself,
then Rahul was pleased
with him and gladly
agreed to it. But in the
meantime, Jharkhand
CM Soren was constant-
ly pleading with Rahul
about RPN that ‘you
should keep an eye on
him, they want to desta-
bilize coalition govt of
Jharkhandandisopenly
playing in hands of BJP
people’. After several
months, Rahul called to
meet RPN said, ‘You
were sent to J’khand to
save party
, but there you
have brought party to a
dismal condition’. RPN
had decided that he did
notwanttostayinCong.
As soon as Swami Pras-
ad Maurya left the BJP,
theBJPopeneditsdoors
for RPN.
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
BY TRIDIB
RAMAN
The author is a journalist
and political commentator
and views expressed are
his personal
PUSHKAR S DHAMI
PRIYANKA GANDHI
MAHUA MOITRA RAHUL GANDHI RPN SINGH
LS SPEAKER OM BIRLA
First India Bureau
Surat: An eight-month-
old boy has been hospi-
talised in Surat after
being thrashed and tor-
tured allegedly by a
woman babysitter,
whose act was captured
on a CCTV camera in-
stalled at the child’s
house, police said on
Saturday
.
The woman, identi-
fied as Komal Tand-
elkar, has been detained
on the charge of at-
tempting to murder the
baby, they said.
The boy
, who is one of
twin babies born to a
working couple, has suf-
fered brain haemor-
rhage as per the doctors
of a city-based private
hospital, where he has
beenadmitted,inspector
PLChaudhariof Rander
police station said.
Talking to reporters,
ACP (G-division) Z R
Desai said, “An FIR was
registered against Tan-
delkar on the basis of
the CCTV footage, in
which she can be seen
thrashing the baby in
her lap for nearly one-
and-a-half minute be-
fore twisting his ears
and repeatedly throw-
ing him against the bed.
It appears to be a case
of attempt to murder.”
The babysitter was
employed by the cou-
ple in September last
year, four months after
the birth of their
twins, he said.
The baby’s father,
Mitesh Patel, had got
the CCTV camera in-
stalled at his house
only two days back af-
ter his neighbours
complained of hearing
the cries of the babies
when they are under
the care of the babysit-
ter, Desai said.
“Yesterday, when Pa-
tel was away at work, he
received a call from his
mother, who informed
him that one of the ba-
bies was crying and
fainting. The child was
immediately taken to a
hospital. Later, when
the family members
checked the CCTV foot-
age, they found the ba-
bysitter thrashing the
child, twisting his ear
and throwing him
against the bed,” Desai
told reporters.
After that, Patel ap-
proached the police and
lodged a complaint.
“As per the CCTV
footage and on the basis
of the complaint, it was
clear that the woman
knew what she was do-
ing. During her inter-
rogation, we realised
that she appears to be
frustrated,” he said.
The babysitter was
booked under IPC sec-
tions 307 (attempt to
murder) and 323 (vol-
untarily causing hurt).
She has been detained,
but will be formally
placed under arrest af-
ter the police get her
COVID-19 test report,
he said.
Walking away is not always
a sign of giving up, many
times it is moving on to do
better things, leaving strife behind.
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
BABYSITTER DETAINED
FOR ATTEMPT TO MURDER
8-month-oldboy
hospitalisedafter
tortureby
“frustrated”
womancaretaker
Four teens thrashed over
suspicions of stealing scrap
First India Bureau
Vapi: City police have
arrested four persons
on Friday for alleged-
ly thrashing four
teenaged boys in an
industrial unit at the
Vapi GIDC. The teens
are seen naked in a
video clip of the inci-
dent, which took
place on January 25
and was later circu-
lated widely on social
media.
Senior police offic-
ers, who saw the clip,
searched for the boys’
parents and asked
them to file a com-
plaint.
Kartik (name
changed), an operator
at Campha Indus-
tries, in his complaint
has stated that he was
working on the fateful
day when an auto
rickshaw driver came
up to him and in-
formed that his son,
along with three oth-
ers, were naked and
getting thrashed with
belts and plastic pipes
at the Nihal Engineer-
ing unit.
On asking the own-
ers of the unit, Kartik
was told that the own-
er and his manager
suspectedthatthefour
teenage boys were
stealing scrap from
the factory unit and
selling them outside.
He had to plead with
the owners to release
the wounded boys.
The four accused
will now be produced
before the court on
Sunday. The accused
are booked for volun-
tarily causing hurt,
punishment for
wrongful confine-
ment under Indian
Penal Code. The case
is being investigated
by Police Sub-Inspec-
tor DJ Patel.
Nehal Industries in Vapi. —FILE PHOTO
2 die, 3 injured
in reactor blast
at pharma firm
First India Bureau
A n k l e s h w a r :
Two workers died
and three were in-
jured in a blast at
a reactor of a
pharma company
in Ankleshwar
town of Bharuch
district, police
said on Saturday
.
The blast oc-
curred in a chemi-
cal reactor at Ab-
hilasha Pharma in
Ankleshwar in-
dustrial area late
on Friday evening,
an official from
Ankleshwar GIDC
police said.
At least five
workers were in-
jured in the explo-
sion, of whom two
died under treat-
ment at a private
hospital, he said.
The deceased
were identified as
Hari Om Upad-
hyay (53) and
Sundar Singh (22),
the official said,
adding that fur-
ther investiga-
tions were under-
way in this con-
nection.
—FILE PHOTO

ou started
modelling at
the young age
of 13, how did
that come
about?
As a child in
school, I used to face a
lot of bullying and I de-
cided to enter this world
to gain confidence. It re-
ally helped as winning
the local level pag-
eant gave me a
boost and recogni-
tion which
helped me
bloom and
stride for-
ward.
You are the reigning
Miss Teen India Uni-
verse, crowned at Miss
Teen Diva 2020? What
does that mean to you?
For me, it is a major
responsibility as I will
be representing my be-
loved nation at the inter-
national pageant and it
is also a beautiful oppor-
tunity to witness my
dreams come true. It
means a lot to me to be
able to achieve this at 19
years of age and I feel
that the world is my oys-
ter when I look ahead.
What are your prepa-
rations for represent-
ing India at the Miss
Teen Universe pageant
happening in Dubai
from 27th February to
7th March?
I am under training
with Ritika Ramtri at
The Tiara Pageant
Training Studio and
the grooming and
pageant train-
ing has al-
ready done
wonders for me.
I am also working
closely with the
Miss Teen Diva team
and National Director
Nikhil Anand on all as-
pects.
Who is your idol?
My mother, Renu Pa-
reek is my idol. I have
learnt all my life skills
from her, she is abso-
lutely the best and a
wonder woman. My fa-
ther and sister are my
biggest support system.
What is your message
to young girls who as-
pire to be part of the
glamour industry?
It is a difficult indus-
try to be in, be prepared
to work hard, have a dis-
ciplined life and be con-
sistent in your efforts.
The benefits are awe-
some so keep your focus
and stride ahead.
You are completing
your BBA as you con-
tinue to pursue your
modelling career. How
do you manage to do
justice to both?
My mother has in-
stilled the importance
of education in me very
strongly and I am com-
mitted to both. As far as
‘doing justice’ is con-
cerned, there is enough
time provided one wants
to do something. I keep
a specific schedule so
that I get time for stud-
ies and also for my mod-
elling.
You have been involved
in charitable work
also, do throw some
light on the same?
I have been working
for more than a year
now on my project of
raising awareness on
the prevention of sexual
assault and bullying.
I visit schools and
labourer camps
for this cause to
talk to children and
guide them. Also, I work
with my grandmother in
her organisation, The
Honour Till – which is a
beautiful concept to in-
stil honesty and values
in children where they
put up unmanned stalls
with goods with price
tags and a till to en-
courage children to
pay the correct
amount regard-
less of a human
presence or
not.
AHMEDABAD, SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 6, 2022
09
AT HER FEET
UNIVERSE
UNIVERSE
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
Y
An
ecstatic
Wachi
after
the
being
crowned
the
Miss
Teen
India
Universe
CITY FIRST IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH WACHI
PAREEK, THE REIGNING MISS TEEN INDIA UNIVERSE WHO
WILL REPRESENT INDIA AT THE MISS TEEN UNIVERSE
PAGEANT IN DUBAI, DURING HER VISIT TO THE PINK CITY
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Wachi
enjoys
reading
the
First
India
during
her
visit
to
the
newspaper
office

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
PARI, Model
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Sticking to
workout routine
may benefit you
on the health
front. Meeting
relatives at a
marriage or party
cannot be ruled
out. Support from
the family may
seem most encouraging for those aiming
an academic pursuit. A passion-filled
evening is foreseen.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
A lot of time
may be wasted
in socialising,
but you will love
every moment
of it. You will
succeed in
surmounting the
odds to get a
stalled job back on the tracks. Something
concerning property will work out in your
favour. A romantic outing is on the cards
and promises much fun and frolic.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You will manage
to ignore
distractions and
interruptions at
work to complete
a pending task
in time. Job
prospects for
those freshly out
of professional institutes will brighten up
soon. Those not in a stable job can expect
permanency. Health will be satisfactory,
as you remain regular in workouts.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
A rethink is in
order for those
going in for a
heavy investment.
Recovering a
loaned amount
from someone
will not pose
much difficulty.
You will manage to defuse tensions
prevailing at home by your tactful ways.
A work trip is on the cards for some. You
manage to weave magic your lover.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Homemakers
will get a chance
to implement
their ideas. You
are likely to be
recognised for
your efforts on
the professional
front. Chance of
a raise is possible for some. Timely and
correct decision will help you in saving a
lot of money. You will be able to de-stress
yourself completely today.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Spirituality will
have a special
allure for you.
Your innovative
ideas on the
professional front
are likely to be
well received.
Good health will
keep you fit and energetic. You are likely
to expand your social circle. You are likely
to get immense fulfillment in your current
romantic relationship.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
A major
purchase may
make a dent in
your savings,
but will help
in keeping up
with the flow
.Speculation may
not be profitable
and you can very well burn your fingers.
Some of you may get hard pressed to
find a good match for someone eligible
among the family members.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Homemakers can
exceed budget
in doing up
their homes. An
old friend or a
relative is likely
to pay you a visit.
You succeed
in putting an
ambitious project on the tracks and cross
all hurdles in making it a success. Love
beckons and promises to give immense
joy and fulfillment.
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
A profitable day
for entrepreneurs
is envisaged.
You may be
played upon
for spending
on someone
else’s needs
and desires.
Homemakers are likely to enjoy the day
in the company of neighbors and friends.
Fatigue threatens in a long journey, but
adequate breaks will keep you going.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
It is one of those
days when you
will feel satisfied
with whatever
you do today on
the social front.
Those seeking
love may not
get lucky, but
persistence will pay! A friend or relative
can touch a sensitive nerve and get
you all upset. A job switch needs to be
considered.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Satisfaction is
foreseen for the
image conscious
people trying to
achieve perfect
figure and
physique. Your
efforts on the
academic front
will keep you in contention. You are likely
to spend an enjoyable time with a close
relation today. Your helping hand to
someone in need will be appreciated.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Financial worries
evaporate as
new avenues of
earning open up.
You will put in
extra efforts to
complete a task
entrusted to you.
Your academic
aspirations may take some time to get
realised. A contentious property issue
may not show any signs of getting sorted
out amicably, so have a backup plan.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
Indian Food Legends Folktales
How They Shape Our
Food Beliefs Culture!
tories we grow up
with have more influ-
ence on us than we
can imagine. Stories
deeply impact our be-
ing and our under-
standing of things.
This is the reason why chil-
dren are more fascinated by
stories than anyone else, be-
cause to a curious mind of a
child, stories give them the
power to go beyond worldly
boundaries.
As kids, most of us grew up
with many mythology stories
and folktales narrated to us by
our elders; sometimes to teach
an important lesson, other
timestohelpusunderstandour
culture and beliefs better. Just
take a minute and think about
those tales that you have
heard— you’ll be amazed to re-
alizethatsomanyof themwere
rife with references to food.
Throughout the narratives
of food folktales, fables, po-
ems, etc., one common link
that emerges is that our ances-
tors strongly believed in the
sacredness of food and its vir-
tues. In fact, across Indian cul-
tures, worshipping food is an
integral part of any festival as
a token of gratitude to nature
for helping mortal beings sus-
tain life through food.
Whether it is through tales
of the favourite foods of the
Indian deities or the legends
around food, such food stories
deeply signify and impact our
relationship with food. As a
matter of fact, they also add to
our culinary choices and expe-
riences to an extent. Hence, we
decided to share some of the
food folktales that we have
grown up hearing and all of
them have morals and a deeper
meaning attached to them.
THE LEGEND OF DEVI
ANNAPURNA
So the story goes like this –
One day, Lord Shiva while
playing a game of dice with
Goddess Parvati that he sup-
posedly won using unfair
means, asserts that everything
in the world is a ‘Maya,’ an il-
lusion, including food. This
upsetParvatiasshewashailed
as the goddess of all material
things, including food. There-
fore, Parvati decides to disap-
pear in order to teach Shiva
the importance of food to sus-
tain life on earth. In her ab-
sence, there is widespread
chaos in the entire universe.
There are no fruits on the trees
and no grains left on the land
resulting in hunger, famine,
and all sort of human terrors
started to happen.
This made Shiva realize the
variety of worldly things, es-
pecially food. Parvati then re-
appears in her most benevo-
lent form as Goddess An-
napurna, bringing the sor-
rows of people to end and
blessing the earth with abun-
dance and nourishment in
form of food. As Annapurna,
she carries a golden bowl of
rice in one hand and a golden
ladle in the other hand.
Moral: For us, this story
signifies how important it is to
respect the food and more im-
portantly where it comes from.
Our primary nurturers, the
farmers, and our mothers are
all avatars of Annapurna and
we must always honour them,
respect them.
WHEN LORD GANESH TAUGHT THE
LESSON OF HUMILITY TO KUBER
Kuber, the god of wealth
wanted to organize a grand
feast that would showcase the
power of his wealth. Swelled
with pride, he visits Lord
Shiva and Goddess Parvati,
regarded as the gods of all the
gods, to invite them to the
feast personally. Parvati then
asks Kuber the occasion for
hosting such a grand feast
and observes Kuber struggle
to give a proper reply. Under-
standing his intentions, Par-
vati politely tells him that
they wouldn’t be able to at-
tend the feast but promises
that their young son, Lord
Ganesha would definitely
grace the occasion. She sub-
tly hints to Kuber that little
Ganesha has a voracious ap-
petite and seeks assurance
that he will be able to feed to
him well.
Kuber blinded by his riches
feels that feeding a young one
wouldn’t be difficult and starts
the preparations for the feast.
On the day of the feast, Kuber
welcomes Ganesh and serves
him a wide variety of exotic
delicacies in gold utensils. To
Kuber’s surprise, Ganesh eats
all the food served to him and
keeps demanding more. Kuber
relentlessly tries to arrange
food but Ganesh doesn’t have
the patience to wait and starts
eating everything that he can
lay his hands including the
gold utensils. Embarrassed for
not meeting his promise and
realizing his mistake, he runs
to Shiva and Parvati to seek
help. Shiva then confronts him
and tells him that Ganesh isn’t
satisfied with the meal be-
cause it is served with pride.
He gives a small bowl of puffed
rice and tells him to serve it to
Ganesha with love and humil-
ity in his heart. He accepts his
mistake and follows his in-
struction. As he returns, Ku-
ber feeds Ganesh the puffed
rice, eating which Ganesh
feels full and satisfied.
Moral: We should not
boast about our wealth and
should stay grounded. More
importantly, we should never
think of ourselves to be supe-
rior based on our worldly
possessions.
THE STORY BEHIND THE
CHYWANPRASH FORMULATION
Did you know how Chywan-
prash, a popular ayurvedic
formulation of amla along
with many other jadibutis and
herbs, known to boost immu-
nity came into being?
The roots of this age-old
ayurvedic jam can be traced
back to Charaka Samhita but
the origins of Chywanprash
are attributed to a legend of
two sages restoring the youth
and vigour of an old Indian
sage named Chywana, hence
the name.
It is believed that Chyawan
was prematurely born due to
which he suffered from many
healthchallengesthatincluded
degeneration of all body tis-
sues leading to early aging.
Evenafterbeingofferedprotec-
tion from a king and an offer to
marry a princess from his
kingdom, the feeble sage could
not marry a young princess as
he would not be able to satisfy
her. Divine intervention by
twins, Ashwini Kumara allevi-
ated the sage from his problem.
They created a formulation,
intaking which Sage Chay-
wan’s youth, strength, and vig-
our were restored.
CONCLUSION
There are countless such nar-
ratives from mythology, Vedic
scriptures, and other telltales
that have shaped our beliefs
and our connection with food.
These stories give soul to
the food we consume and link
us to our ancestral heritage,
attaching a deeper meaning to
our existence. However, the
younger generations seem to
be deprived of these food folk-
lores that can be attributed to
multiple reasons, leading
them to have a more superfi-
cial connection with their
food. It’s time that we bring
back the native folklores alive
to help our children develop
richer and deeper experiences
with food.
ABOUT CAULDRON SISTERS
Ratika Richa Khetan, two Sis-
ters, started Cauldron Sisters in
2015. It started as an exotic food
gift hamper business, but their
love for food encouraged them
to start culinary workshops, food
deliveries, and slowly and gradu-
ally it turned huge as restaurants
and cafes started approaching
them for consultancy.
S

CHUKKER KA
CHUKKER KA
CHAKKAR HAI
CHAKKAR HAI
AS POLO SEASON STARTS IT IS TIME TO SHRUG OFF THE CORONA BLUES
AND ENJOY A SAFE DAY IN THE OPEN SUNSHINE, AMID THE GREENERY
AND THE CHUKKER OF POLO! CITY FIRST BRINGS YOU SOME FASHION
TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND, AFTER ALL POLO IS A GAME OF THE ELITE AND
FASHINABLE, SO LOOK YOUR BEST AND CHILL.
hat says
s u m m e r
more than
a crochet
or lace
f r o c k ?
Flowy, fit-
ted or two-piece sets
are perfect for a day
of fun in the sun.
These two fabrics
are hugely trending
this season and are
some of our favour-
ite looks.
Just remember to
wear appropriate
u n d e r g a r m e n t s
with these materials
as they tend to be
see-through, and
don’t wear any short
hemlines – remem-
ber if you would
wear it to a night-
club, bar or the
beach, don’t wear it
to the Polo.
Dress light. It is
spring after all and,
unless super lucky,
there will not be
shade more than
your hat. Simply
speaking, it’s time to
pull out your Tulum-
specials: breathable
materials like linen,
light and/or pastel
hues, and loose sil-
houettes. Top the
look with a hat and
you’ve got yourself a
typical polo looks for
both men and wom-
en.
We could write a
whole book about
women’s polo outfits
and it still would not
be enough. Stem-
ming from royal
fashion at polo tour-
naments, women
would normally
wear full skirts or
dresses panning out
to below their knees.
This attire some-
times came with cor-
sets and truly un-
comfortable gar-
ments. But as wom-
en’s rights ad-
vanced, women be-
gan to wear pants
and even shorter
options to polo
games.
Jumpsuits, skirts,
and pants are also
totally appropriate.
For pants, opt for
lighter colours.
While the Dutches
of Cambridge has
been seen wearing
jeans, depending on
the event they could
be appropriate as
well. Flattering gau-
cho pants are quite
fun and comfortable
too like options.
Wearing lighter
summer dresses
with vivid prints are
sure to make you feel
confident and com-
fortable during the
match. For a com-
plete cruise-vaca-
tion look, choose a
w r a p a -
r o u n d
dress or
one with
an open
back.
W
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2022
11
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
For the Jaipur
Polo season you
can follow the
stylish highs set
by none other
than our beloved
Maharani Gayatri
Devi and wear
crepe or chiffon
sarees with the
ever-fashionable
string of pearls.
Just remember it
is daytime so keep
them light.
A polo match in progress
Maharani Gayatri Devi and Jackie Kennedy attend a polo match in
Jaipur during Kennedy’s visit to India in 1962
Deepika Padukone at
Rambagh Polo grounds in October 2015
The Polo players
define style even
more than
the audience
A saree, a sleek white sheath, summery dress or jeans
is the look teamed with sunglasses and a hat or two
Priyanka Chopra and her girl team defines different styles of Polo for us

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
CITY FIRST
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Industrial Security
Force has been granted
the best marching con-
tingent among CAPFs
and Auxillary powers
during the Republic
Day march hung on Jan-
uary 26. This is the sev-
enth time that the
force has been giv-
en this recognition.
An appointment of
99 delegates directed
by Assistant Comman-
dant Mohnish Bagree,
trailed by the power
band, marched on the
Rajpath on 26. CISF
Director General
Sheel Vardhan Sin-
gh congratulated
senior officials, in-
structors associated
and the CISF personnel.
CISF BESTOWED WITH BEST MARCHING CONTINGENT
SABU BOOK
LAUNCHED!
New Delhi : Locksley
Hall Publications pub-
lished a book SABU-
The Extraordinary Sto-
ry of India’s First Actor
in foreign cinema on
Saturday
. The book has
been written by author
Debleena Majumdar
and was represented by
the literary agency, The
Book Bakers, helmed
by Suhail Mathur.
SABU is an inspira-
tional story of a young
orphan boy’s journey
from the stables of
Mysore to the
heights of Holly-
wood. It is a jour-
ney full of miracu-
lous moments of joy
and equally momentous
moments of despair.
Sabu not only learned a
new language, English,
and showed a natural
screen presence early in
life but also experienced
multiple facets and
careers from work-
ing as a busi-
nessperson, con-
ducting a circus act,
and even joining as an
ariel gunner in World
War II on behalf of his
adopted country
, United
States.
RAGS TO WALK OF FAME
New Delhi: On the account of World’s
Cancer Day, Cosmo Foundation, the
philanthropic wing of Cosmo Films
distributed blankets and served ready to
eat food to 1,200 patients fighting cancer
at Delhi Cancer Institute and Guru Tegh
Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in New Delhi. The
event was organized with the support of
ISKCON, New Delhi.
HONOURING THE FILM-MAKING!
New Delhi: The Great
Indian Film Festival (TGIFF)
announced its concluding
date on Saturday. TGIFF
is a unique International
platform for student
filmmakers which provide
them a platform to
showcase their potential.
It is a touring film festival
that aims to bring the
global filmmakers
cultures of the world
together on a single
platform to make art
and cinema accessible
to all. TGIFF started
accepting films last year
the festival will conclude
on February 19.
FOR THE HUMANITARIAN CAUSE!
—PHOTOS
BY
SHAZID
CITY FIRST
New Delhi: To
celebrate Azadi
Ka Amrit Mahot-
sav and 75 glori-
ous years of In-
dependence, the
Police Family
Welfare Society
and Delhi Police
in collaboration
with the Ministry
of Culture organ-
ised a “Rangoli Mak-
ing, Lullaby and
Deshbhakti Songs
Writing” competi-
tion for the Delhi
Police personnel
and their families
for which a Prize Dis-
tribution Ceremony
was organised where
classical dance and
Band performances
were given by special
all Women Band of
Delhi Police.
Intheevent Minister
for External Affairs
and Culture,
Meenakshi Lekhi
was the Chief Guest
and Govind Mohan
Secretary, Ministry of
Culture was present as
special guest along
with Rakesh Asthana,
Commissioner of Po-
lice along with his wife,
President of PFWS Anu
Asthana, senior Police
officers and Members
of PFWS were present.
The President of PFWS
welcomed the Chief
Guest and thanked
them for sparing their
valuable time to grace
the occasion.
While addressing
the gathering Anu
Asthana appreciated
the talent and perfor-
mance of the Delhi
Police staff and their
families. All the digni-
taries appreciated the
participants and moti-
vated their spirit of
Mother Land’s Love.
CELEBRATINGAZADIWITH CULTURE!
—PHOTOS
BY
SHAZID
Debleena Majumdar with the book Sabu
Poster of Sabu’s movie
Meenakshi Lekhi with Rakesh Asthana
while confering awards
The guests inaugrating the event
Special Women Band giving their performance
Meenakshi Lekhi, Anu Asthana and other members of PFWS
CISF’s Marching Force

06022022 first india ahmedabad

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 06022022 first india ahmedabad

Similar to 06022022 first india ahmedabad (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

06022022 first india ahmedabad