06032022 first india lucknow

PT CHHANNULAL MISHRA SAYS
MODI HAS ‘RENEWED BANARAS’
Varanasi: Hindustani classical singer and Padma
awardee Pandit Chhannulal Mishra on Saturday
showered his blessings upon Prime Minister
Narendra Modi at the ‘Prabudh Sammelan’
in Varanasi. He said that the
Prime Minister has “renewed
Banaras”. Speaking at the
meeting, Pandit Mishra said,
“I bless my Prime Minister
that he remains healthy and
keeps leading our coun-
try forward. He has
renewed Banaras.
Everyone should
bless Prime
Minister that
he remains
with us like
this.”
Varanasi’s chai & paan icons
get PM’s invite to PR event
Varanasi(PTI): Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday inter-
acted with intellectuals
and other prominent
personalities here and
said if the BJP returns
to power in Uttar
Pradesh, the state will
be at the forefront of
economic development.
Nearly 200 partici-
pants interacted with
the prime minister at
the ‘Prabudh Varg Sam-
melan’ held at Raman
Niwas here. Padma
Bhushan awardee and
Hindustani classical
singer Channulal
Mishra and BHU vice
chancellor Sudhir Jain
were among the attend-
ees. Famous paan seller
Ashwani Chaurasia,
known as ‘Keshav paan
wala’, and tea seller Pap-
pu, at whose kiosk Modi
enjoyed a cuppa on Fri-
day, were also present.
Rama Raman, a busi-
nessman on whose
premises the event was
held, told PTI that the
PMhadaheartyinterac-
tion with the attendees.
PM Modi speaking at the ‘Prabudh Varg Sammelan’.
—PHOTO BY ANI
PT CHHANNULAL MISHRA
Russia declares partial ceasefire
UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY ADDRESSES US SENATE;
NATO JUNKS ‘NO-FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE’ PLEA
Ukrainian forces
shoot down Russian
aircraft, capture pilot
3
Evacuation from Ukraine’s Mariupol,
surrounded by Russians, was delayed as
officials accuse Moscow of breaking ceasefire
2
Russian military observed a temporary
ceasefire in two areas of Ukraine to allow
civilians to evacuate, escape the brutal war
1
T
he Russian De-
fense Ministry
said that it had
agreed on evacuation
routes with Ukrainian
forces to allow civilians
toleavethestrategicport
of Mariupolinthesouth-
east and the eastern
town of Volnovakha.
Authorities in the
Ukrainian city of Mari-
upol said an evacuation
of civilians planned for
Saturday had been post-
poned as Russian forces
encircling the city were
not respecting an agreed
ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Russian
President Vladimir Pu-
tin said that Moscow
would consider any
third-party declaration
of a no-fly zone over
Ukraine as “participa-
tion in armed conflict”.
Refugees with children
arrive at the border
crossing in Medyka, Poland.
STAY INSIDE: INDIA TO
STUDENTS IN SUMY
India’s foreign ministry
claimed that the ministry
and Indian embassies are in
regular touch with the stu-
dents stranded in Ukraine.
“Have advised our students
to take safety precautions,
stay inside shelters and
avoid unnecessary risks,”
said Arindam Bagchi, of-
ficial spokesperson of the
Ministry of External Affairs.
WEST ACTING LIKE
BANDITS, SAYS RUSSIA
The Kremlin on Saturday hit
out at Western nations for
slapping crippling sanctions
against Russia following
its invasion of Ukraine
and said they were acting
like bandits. Moscow said
Russia was far too big to be
isolated as the world was
much larger than just the
United States and Europe.
NMC ALLOWS MEDICOS TO FINISH INTERNSHIPS
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has made a
significant relaxation for students who are unable to
complete their MBBS internships because of compel-
ling situations like the Ukraine war or the Covid-19
pandemic. It has said foreign medical graduates can
apply to complete their internships in India.
PUTIN: UKRAINE COULD LOSE ITS STATEHOOD;
SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA BY WEST AN ACT OF WAR
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting on
Saturday warned that Ukraine might lose its state-
hood “if they continue doing what they are doing,” The
New York Times reported. During the meeting, Putin
also likened sanctions imposed by Western countries
toward Russia as “akin to a declaration of war”.
RUSSIA: NEEDED
HARSH MEDIA LAW
The Kremlin on Saturday
defended new legislation
that could see people
jailed for up to 15 years
for publishing “fake
news” about the Rus-
sian military, saying the
country was facing “an
information war”.
PM MODI HOLDS
MEET ON UKRAINE
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi held another
high-level meeting on
Saturday evening to
discuss the situation
in war-hit Ukraine and
India’s evacuation efforts
to bring back its citizens,
officials said.
YOU READ IT FIRST
IN FIRST INDIA
MARCH 4, 2022
TALIBAN RELEASE INTERIOR
MINISTER HAQQANI’S
PHOTO FOR THE FIRST TIME
Afghanistan’s Taliban government
has for the first time put out a picture
of its interior minister, Sirajuddin
Haqqani, who also happens to be a
UN-designated terrorist. He is seen
reviewing new Afghan police recruits
during graduation ceremony in Kabul.
A view of snow-covered Himalayan mountain
range as seen from Shimla on Saturday.
LUCKNOW l SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 114
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TALIBAN RELEASE INTERIOR
PHOTO FOR THE FIRST TIME
has for the first time put out a picture
reviewing new Afghan police recruits
Issue No. 114
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
IN KASHMIR,
AN APPEAL FOR UKRAINE
Amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia,
a Ukrainian woman has reached out to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to help the war-torn nation “in any which
way possible”. Married to a Kashmiri, Oliza said with
her family in Ukraine, she was appealing to the Indian
government for help as Russia’s military operations in
Ukraine continued to batter the nation.
Oliza, a
Ukrainian
national married
to a Kashmiri,
who lives in
J&K’s Pulwama.
Thousands
without internet
after massive
“cyberattack” in
Europe: Report
Paris: Thousands of
internet users across
Europe have been
thrown offline after
what sources said Fri-
day was a likely cyber-
attack at the begin-
ning of Russia’s offen-
sive in Ukraine.
AccordingtoOrange,
nearly 9,000 subscrib-
ers of a satellite inter-
net service provided by
its subsidiary Nordnet
in France are without
internet following a
“cyberevent”onFebru-
ary 24 at Viasat, a US
satellite operator of
which it is a client.
Eutelsat, the parent
company of satellite
Bigblu internet service,
confirmed that around
one-third of bigblu’s
40,000 subscribers in
Europe, in Germany,
France, Hungary,
Greece, Italy and Po-
land, were affected by
the outage on Viasat.
BJP confident of return to power
in 4 states, upbeat about Punjab
New Delhi: As As-
sembly elections in
five states come to a
close, the Bharatiya
Janata Party on Satur-
day said it would re-
turn to power in four
states and have an im-
pressive performance
in Punjab.
Home Minister Amit
Shah said the way the
Modi-led government
intervened to get the
stranded Indians out of
war-hit Ukraine also
would have its impact
on the BJP’s electoral
prospects.
Bharatiya Janata
Party National Presi-
dent JP Nadda asserted
that the programmes
initiated by the Centre
and brought to people
by chief Ministers had
brightened the party’s
chances of returning to
power in the states of
UP, Uttarakhand, Goa
and Manipur.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP
Nadda address a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.
MANIPUR TURNOUT:
76.04% IN 2ND PHASE
Manipur recorded 76.04%
voter turnout in second
phase of Assembly polls on
Saturday amid reports of
EVM destruction and two
people being shot, one by
security personnel. There
are chances of repolling in
some areas.
avindra Jadeja etched his name in history
books by slamming a career-best unbeaten
knock of 175 on Day 2 of the first Test
against Sri Lanka in Mohali. Jadeja on Saturday
broke Kapil Dev’s long-standing record for the
highest score by an Indian coming to bat at No.7
or below in Test cricket. Kapil held the record for
35 years. He had amassed 163 against Sri Lanka
in Kanpur way back in December, 1986 while bat-
ting at No.7. Jadeja went past that score.
R
RECORD-BREAKING
JADEJA!
FIRST TEST
DAY-2
108/4
Sri Lanka
574/8D
India

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | SUNDAY, MARCH 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
(from left): PM Narendra Modi addresses the public rally at Khajuri Village, Raja Talab, in Varanasi on Saturday. BJP supporters wearing cutouts of PM Modi at the rally. Women supporters raise slogans in favour of PM Modi at the rally. —PHOTOS BY ANI
Modi: Pro-Incumbency in all 6 phases
Addressing an election rally at Khajuri village in Varanasi, PM says people voting for continuation of government
Varanasi(PTI): Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday de-
scribed the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly
polls as “pro-incum-
bency”, saying the peo-
ple themselves are
fighting for continua-
tion of the govern-
ment. Addressing an
election rally at Khaju-
ri village in Varanasi,
the prime minister
said that due to their
aversion towards him,
“dynasts” were make
fun of ‘vocal for local’
and the Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan.
Seeking votes for the
candidates of the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP) and its alli-
ance partners in UP,
Apna Dal and Nishad
Party for the seventh
and final phase of
polls,, Modi said that
the people have reject-
ed parties that protect-
ed mafia, gangsters
and eve-teasrs as well
as promoted corrup-
tion, illegal occupation
of land and nepotism
in the state and are
unitedly saying
“Aayegi to BJP he, aay-
enge to Yogi he”. Even
on the Ukraine issue,
the opposition is busy
doing politics and add-
ing to the people’s
woes, Modi said.
In a swipe at the Con-
gress, he said the party
which derived political
mileage for years from
Khadi now hesitates to
even take its name.
Modi concluded, “Sab-
ka Saath and Sabka
Vikas without partiali-
ty and discrimination
is our commitment.
And through Sabka
prayaas, we are seeing
increasing participa-
tion of poor, women
and tribal people in the
developmental activi-
ties.”
PM Narendra Modi waves to supporters as Deputy Chief Minister Swatantra Dev Singh and Union Minister Anupriya Patel look on,
at Khajuri village in Varanasi on Saturday —PHOTO BY ANI
APPRAISAL
Our govt gave 5L jobs in 5 years: Yogi
Sonbhadra/ Azam-
garh/ Bhadohi(ANI):
Ahead of the last phase
of polling, CM Yogi
Adityanath on Satur-
day said that his gov-
ernment has provided
five lakh government
jobs while his policies
created two crore self-
employment opportuni-
ties in the last five years
in the state. ‘‘In the last
five years, we have giv-
en government jobs to
five lakh youth and
worked to ensure that
around two crore
youngsters are engaged
in self-employment.
The BJP has also made
arrangements for the
drinking water in every
house through ‘Har
Ghar Nal Yojana’,” CM
Yogi said addressing a
public rally in Sonb-
hadra.
He said that if the
party comes back to
power, it will provide
“free travel to women
older than 60 years of
age in state corpora-
tion buses”. He also an-
nounced that water
will be supplied free of
cost to the agricultural
land for the purpose of
irrigation and farming.
Addressing a public
rally in Azamgarh on
Saturday, Adityanath
said that the SP only
had sympathy for the
terrorists who are in
jail. “Samajwadi Party
neither had sympa-
thies for development,
poor and youth nor for
farmers and safety of
women. They were
sympathetic only to-
wards getting terror-
ists out of jail,” the
chief minister said.
Campaigning at
Bhadohi, Adityanath
said, “Before 2017, the
ration and medicines
were either eaten by
the henchmen of SP or
by the elephant of Be-
henji.”
Yogi made the re-
marks in reference to
the free ration and the
vaccine provided by the
Central government
during the pandemic.
CM Yogi Adityanath speaking in Sonbhadra on Saturday.
CM Yogi, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Swatantra Dev
Singh address the press in Lucknow on Saturday.
Promises galore: Free
travel, scooty, LPG
Sonbhadra: Speak-
ing in Sonbhadra,
CM Yogi promised
that a house will be
given to every family
of SC-ST, Nomads as
well as the Most
Backward Classes.
He also promised,
“We have decided
that after forming
the govt we will pro-
vide free travel to
women older than 60
yrs of age in state
corporation buses,
free LPG will be giv-
en to every poor dur-
ing Diwali and Holi,
and free scooty will
be provided to meri-
torious girl students.
Besides, the amount
of money given un-
der Kanya Sumanga-
la Yojana will be in-
creased to Rs 25,000
while under the
Mukhyamantri Sam-
uhik Vivah Yojana,
Rs 1 lakh will be
transferre”.
BJP-led alliance to
get 80% seats: Yogi
Lucknow(PTI):CM
Yogi Adityanath on Sat-
urday claimed that the
BJP and its allies are all
set to get 80 per cent
seats in the Assembly
elections as people have
voted for the party on
issues of nationalism,
development, good gov-
ernance and security.
”Casteism has been de-
molished.
Those who indulged
in dynasty politics have
failed. People have giv-
en their support to the
BJP on the issue of na-
tionalism, development,
good governance and
security in the six phas-
es of polling held so far
and this trend is con-
tinuing in the seventh
and last phase sched-
uled for Monday,” Yogi
told. “I can say with full
confidence that when
polling is over and re-
sults are declared on
March 10, 80 per cent
seats will be won by the
BJP with its allies and it
will form its govern-
ment with a massive
majority
,” Yogi said.
Shah: Elect candidates who have
values of service in their DNA
Jaunpur (PTI): Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah urged the voters
in this UP district on
Saturday to elect candi-
dates who have the “val-
ues of service” in their
DNA.He also asserted
that one or two gang-
sters, who are still out
of jail, will be put be-
hind bars once the BJP
returns to power in the
state on March 10, when
the results of the ongo-
ing UP polls are de-
clared.
Addressing a poll
meeting in the Malhani
Assembly constituency,
Shah said, “Do not
make the musclemen
win this time. You
should make such a
candidate win who has
the values of service in
his DNA. The one who
does not want to snatch,
but wants to give. The
one who does not slap
anyone, but wants to
send the person who
has slapped to jail.”
He said in the run-up
to the 2017 state Assem-
bly polls, the BJP had
promised that UP will
be freed of the mafia in
five years. “Today, Atiq
Ahmed, Azam Khan
and Ansari are in jail.
One or two are out . You
make the lotus bloom
on March 10 and after
that, they will be in
jail,” he added.
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah. —FILE PHOTO
‘Nationalism should be
priority, not parivarwad’
Varanasi(ANI): Ahead of the seventh and
the last phase of UP elections, BJP leader
Aparna Yadav on Saturday said that national-
ism should be the priority in politics and not
‘pariwarwad’.”Nationalism should be the pri-
ority, Pariwadwad should not be in politics.
Right now, every youth is with the nation and
women also plays an important part in shap-
ing the view of the society,” Aparna told on
being asked that in this Assembly election, on
the one hand, it is her family and on the other,
it’s her party. Aparna Yadav who recently
joined BJP is Samajwadi Party patron and
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law.
JP Nadda:
Cong misled
farmers
Bhadohi (PTI): BJP
national president J P
Nadda on Saturday ac-
cused the Congress of
misleading farmers in
the name of loan waiv-
er, and said PM Naren-
dra Modi has given Rs
6,000 to farmers every
year under the PM-
Kisan Samman Nidhi
scheme. ‘‘Today many
people call themselves
farmer leaders, but
they did nothing for the
community’’.
‘‘When the PM start-
ed the Jan Dhan Yojana,
the opposition made
fun of it. Akhilesh ji,
who was born with a
silver spoon, and Rahul
Gandhi ji asked what
will happen with bank
accounts for the poor?’’
Today, the money goes
directly into the bank
accounts of the poors.
JP Nadda addresses a rally at
Sitamarhi on Saturday
PRIYANKA’S PITCH
(Left) Congress
General Secretary
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra addresses
a public rally
for the seventh
and last phase
of UP elections
at Phool Bazar
in Varanasi on
Saturday. (Below)
Women listening
to Priyanka at the
rally.
—PHOTOS BY ANI
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR
Aparna Yadav offers prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple in
Varanasi on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

UTTAR PRADESH
03
CRUCIAL READ
Muzaffarnagar: The Election Commission suspended
an official deputed as a zonal magistrate for elections
in Kairana constituency for negligence in duty, officials
said Saturday. Voting for the Kairana seat in Shamli
district was held on February 10 in the first phase of
the UP polls. On the directives of the EC, Assistant
Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Narender Pratap
Singh, deputed as zonal magistrate in the Kairana con-
stituency, has been suspended, DM Jasjit Kaur said.
THEFT ACCUSED
DIES IN CUSTODY,
KIN PROTEST
Bijnor: A theft accused
allegedly died in police
custody in Nazeemabad
police station while fam-
ily members of deceased
accused police for mur-
der. Police said Nazeem-
abad police had taken
a person into custody
on allegation of theft
in shop in Akabarpur
Chaugaon village. Health
condition of accused
Sunil deteriorated in po-
lice station and he was
rushed to hospital where
he succumbed. Agitated
villagers thronged the
police station after death
of Sunil and accused
police of his murder.
MANSTRAGULATED
TO DEATH BY SON
OVERLANDDISPUTE
Mathura: A man killed
his father over land
dispute and tried to burn
his body to destroy evi-
dence. Police said Amrit
Lal (55), of Narhauli
village was killed by son
Vineet when he refused
to sell his house. Vineet
strangulated his father
to death and later set his
body ablaze in attempt
to destroy evidences.
During investigation it
was revealed that Vineet
had scuffle with his
father to sell his house
two days back and when
her mother and daughter
were not in house, he
strangulated Amrit Lal.
ZONAL MAGISTRATE FOR KAIRANA
POLLS SUSPENDED BY EC
AGAINST CENTRE’S GIVEN TARGET OF 6.6 CRORE
Noida (PTI): The Uttar
Pradesh government
has got registered the
maximum number of
its unorganised sector
workers, a whopping
8.22 crore, far surpass-
ing the number from all
labour-intensive states,
on the Centre’s e-Shram
portal.
The state has alone
surpassed the 6.66 crore
target set by the Centre
atthetimeof thelaunch
of the portal on August
26 last year, said state
government officials on
Saturday
.
With the registration
of 8.22 crore of its work-
ers on the e-Shram por-
tal, Uttar Pradesh has
emerged as the state
with the maximum
number of registered
workers also far sur-
passing even Bihar
which has been able to
register only 2.8 crore
of its workers on the
portal. The national da-
tabase of unorganized
workers registered on
the portal till March 5
shows that after Bihar,
West Bengal has got
registered 2.5 crore
workers, Madhya
Pradesh 1.5 crore and
Odisha 1.3 crore.
For the welfare of the
unorganised workers,
the Centre had set a tar-
get of registering 6.66
crore workers in the
month of August 2021
for registration on the
e-Shram portal, which
was completed by Uttar
Pradesh on February 2
this year, UP Labour
Commissioner Raj
Shekhar said.
At present, Uttar
Pradesh is at the first
place in the whole coun-
try by registering 8.22
crore workers, said the
senior IAS officer, who
is also the Divisional
Commissioner of the
Kanpur zone.
He said in view of
this historical achieve-
ment and in the interest
of unorganized work-
ers, Union Labour Min-
ister Bhupendra Yadav
would be honouring the
UP government for its
efforts on March 7 in
Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan
during the ‘e-Shram
Award’ function.
It is a matter of great
pride for the Labour De-
partment and entire Ut-
tar Pradesh, Raj Shek-
har said, as he congrat-
ulated all regional offi-
cials of the department
and called on them to
continue the efforts in
future also for the unor-
ganised workers.
Within UP, the dis-
trict of Prayagraj regis-
tered the maximum 22
lakh unorganised work-
ers followed by Jaunpur
(21 lakh), Sitapur (20
lakh), Bareilly and
Azamgarh (both 19
lakh), according to the
national database.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Three stu-
dents severely injured
one in critical condition
in clash between two
groups in old campus of
Lucknow University.
Police and university
officials rushed to the
spot and send injured to
hospital.
The police said clash
occurred between two
students’ groups in LBS
hostel when other stu-
dents from Mehmood-
abad hostel reached
there. It was reported
that three students in-
cluding post-graduation
student Aman were se-
verely injured in the at-
tack. It was alleged that
outsider youth were also
involved in the clash but
how they got entry in
campus premises was
question raised for uni-
versity authorities.
Meanwhile, chief
proctor Prof Rakesh
Dwivedi has written to
the police about the in-
cident. Prof Dwivedi
said after information
of scuffle between stu-
dents in LBS hostel
proctor board officials
reached hostel and
probed about incident.
Police have to take nec-
essary actions into the
matter, he added.
Sonbhadra (PTI): A
CISF jawan died and 11
were injured when the
bus they were travelling
in fell into a gorge in
Markundi valley here,
the police said Saturday
.
Thebuswastakingthe
jawans from Kushinagar
to Obra (in Sonbhadra)
on election duty
, they
said, adding there were
37 jawans in the vehicle.
Robertsganj police
station SHO S N Mishra
said, “A Roadways bus
carrying 37 CISF jawans
had left for Obra from
the Robertsganj area (in
Sonbhadra) on Friday
night. Around 12.30 am,
as the bus reached the
Markundi valley under
the Chopan police sta-
tion area, the driver lost
control over the vehicle,
and it fell into a gorge
after breaking the road
railing.”
The injured jawans
were admitted to the dis-
trict hospital, he said.
The deceased was
identified as Krishnabir
Singh(45)of Ghaziabad.
His body has been sent
for post-mortem, Mish-
ra said. Among those
injured, MM Beg and T
Balakrishnan were sent
to Varanasi for treat-
ment, he added.
Sumit Awasthi
Kanpur: Another stu-
dent from the city after
returning from Ukraine
narratedthesituationin
Ukraine. Resident of Ja-
jmau, Yasmin Fatima
reached Kanpur last
night and got emotional
on meeting her parents
at Lucknow airport. She
said at the VN Kargil
Medical College in
Kharkiv, where she was
studying, lot of damage
was caused by Russian
bombs.
Medical students of
Kanpurhavelostcontact
with their parents since
Tuesday night after the
towersweredestroyedin
the Russian attack leav-
ingparentsof allthestu-
dents stuck in Ukraine
severly upset.
Yasmin Fatima and
Shivani’s parents are
worried.Yasmin’sfather
Dr Naseem Ahmed said
last night children of
Kanpur had reached
Kyiv from Kharkiv. Ev-
eryone was supposed to
reachLabib,Romaniaby
train but now there is no
contact. A letter has
been mailed to the Gov-
ernment of India in the
morning itself.
Yasmin said after re-
maing stuck in Khariv
for five days she reached
Romania through Kyiv
and then arrived in
Mumbai from where the
UP government made
arrangements to bring
her to Lucknow.
@8.22cr
UPleadsIndiainregisteringmost
numberofun-organisedworkers
The ill-fated bus.
15L IN LKO, KNP
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Even as the
high-octane campaign
for the last lap of UP as-
sembly elections 2022
came to an end on Satur-
day
, all political parties
madealastditcheffortto
give their best shot as
Purvanchal is consid-
ered to be the bellwether
region of the State.
While the ruling BJP
is pulling out all stops to
retainitsbastion,theSa-
majwadi Party (SP)
made an aggresive push
to regain the constituen-
cies it won in the 2012
elections. Not to forget
that this phase will also
be a litmus test for allies
on both the sides from
Anupriya Patel to Om
Prakash Rajbhar. BJP
surprised everyone with
its 2017 tally
. Though,
Modi wave was surely
felt by most political
pundits, a jump of 265
seats(312seatsfrom47in
2012) with a whopping
swing of 24.67% (from
15%to39.67%)confining
the combined might of
the main opposition SP
and Congress to just 54
seats (47+7), was some-
thing most pollsters and
psephologists failed to
predict. BSP stood third
with just 19 seats.
Looking closely at
2017 numbers give a
clear idea of how big a
win it was for the BJP
.
Riding on Modi wave
BJP along with its allies
won222seatsbyamargin
of 20000 or more votes.
But in the absence of a
clearwaveandonesingle
narrative,theseat-to-seat
narrativehasmadethese
polls a fight to the finish.
Both BJP and SP are
claiming they have an
edge so far. “Voters will
vote on the issues. The
election will be issue
driven. BJP promised to
double farmer’s income,
control inflation, pro-
vide jobs to the youth,
etc. On contrary
, it took
away jobs, it isn’t paying
even the MSP for wheat,
paddy
, etc., cane farmers
are not being paid on
time, stray cattle are de-
stroyingtheircrops.BJP
willfacethewrathof the
voters and SP alliance
will form the govern-
ment with over 300
seats,” said Shivpal Ya-
dav(brotherof Mulayam
Singh Yadav).
The BJP is backing it-
self on the image of the
PM and its widely prop-
agated narratives in-
cluding strong action
against mafia (bulldozer
waali sarkaar as they of-
tencallit),lawandorder,
womensafety
,freeration
to the poor. Interestingly
,
Covid management
doesn’t find any promi-
nentplace;neitherinthe
opposition’s narrative
nor in the BJP’s.
Parties round off campaign blitz in bellwether phase of UP polls
READY FOR MARCH 7
Home Minister Amit Shah at Malhani in Jaunpur on Saturday.
3 students injured
in LU group clash
TEMPLE RUN
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav visits Kaal Bhairav Temple in Varanasi on Saturday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
Ukraine-returned Jajmau
student narrates ordeal
Fire in Saharanpur-Delhi Passenger train
disrupts traffic briefly,none injured
Meerut (PTI): Passen-
gers on a train from Sa-
haranpur to Delhi had a
narrow escape on Satur-
day when a fire broke
out in two of its coaches
near Daurala station
here, with many joining
hands with the railway
staff to quickly help pull
the remaining bogies
away from the engine
that was also ablaze.
The fire started in
the train, which left Sa-
haranpur at 5.30 am, on
its way to Delhi. When
the train reached Dau-
rala, about 90-km short
of its destination Delhi,
smoke was seen rising
from a compartment.
“By the time the
train reached Daurala
at 7.10 am, two coaches
were in flames,” Meerut
City Railway Station
Superintendent RP
Sharma said.
The passengers in-
side these coaches were
safely evacuated, he
said. There were no ca-
sualties. A fire usually
spells panic but the pas-
sengers of this train
kept their cool and
worked together to
avert a major tragedy,
the official further said.
The passengers,
many carrying back-
packs, pulled away the
remaining coaches of
the train from the burn-
ingportionwithplumes
of smoke rising in the
background. A video of
the incident has gone
viral on social media.
Sharma said the
cause of the fire was
being ascertained.
“There are no reports
of loss of life or proper-
ty of any passenger.
Rail traffic was briefly
disrupted due to the
fire,” he said.
The bruning train at Daurala station near Meerut on Saturday.
The passengers
pulled away the
remaining coaches of
the train from the
burning portion. A
video of the incident
has gone viral on
social media
1 CISF jawan killed,
11 hurt in accident
BJP candidate in Kairana Mriganka Singh after casting her vote.
Yasmin Fatima with her parents
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
—PHOTO BY ANI

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 2 Issue No. 114
RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi
Industrial Area Kanpur Road Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Vishal Srivastav
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Detachment from
material things is the way
to inner peace.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Shashi Tharoor
@ShashiTharoor
Sad to note a 23% decline in India’s
Democracy rating by the globally-
respected @vdeminstitute since
2013: https://thewire.in/rights/india-
among-top-10-autocratising-nations-
democratic-slide-to-continue-v-dem-
institute The people of India want,
deserve, #DemocracyNotAutocracy
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
Greetings to Madhya Pradesh Chief
Minister, Shri @ChouhanShivraj ji on
his birthday. He is a popular leader
who has been assiduously working
towards the development of his
state. His passion towards people’s
empowerment is noteworthy. Praying
for his long and healthy life.
TOP TWEETS
MEDICAL STUDENTS
FROM UKRAINE
ARE VICTIMS NOT
OPPORTUNISTS
edical students re-
turningfromUkraine
are now staring at a
difficult future of
completing their edu-
cation in India where standards
aretougherthaninUkraine.Also
most of them are without any
documentsorcertificatestoshow
the level of their competence.
Without any certificate to prove
theirmerittheyarenobetterthan
class 12 pass-outs. A way must be
found to accommodate them per-
haps by testing their competence.
The National Medical Commis-
sion has opened a window by giv-
ing final-year students the oppor-
tunity to clear the mandatory
Foreign Medical Graduates Ex-
amination for foreign students
before they are allowed to com-
plete their internship.
While this is a welcome step,
what about hundreds of those
without their certificates? Their
competence levels may not be
the same as a second, third or
fourth year student studying in
Indian medical colleges and ac-
commodating them will have its
own problems. Even if a way out
is found, are there enough seats
available in government medi-
cal colleges in the country?
M
he Bombay High
Court has taken
suo motu cogni-
sance of cases
pending against
MPs and MLAs in Maharash-
traandGoa.Areportsaidthat
there were 550 cases pending
intrialcourtsinthetwostates
and before different benches
of the Bombay High Court.
Chief Justice Dipankar Datta
has asked the registry for a
list of the pending criminal
cases and has constituted a
special bench to hear the mat-
ter.Thiswasin“pursuanceof
Supreme Court’s order of
2020” pertaining to the delay
in cases against elected repre-
sentatives.
The Supreme Court has
been seized of the matter but
it is also aware of the con-
straints which the courts
face. “It is easy to say that
expedite this and expedite
that, but where are the judg-
es?” a bench headed by the
Chief Justice of India NV
Ramana remarked in August
last year. In a mild rebuke to
investigative agencies like
the Enforcement directorate
and the CBI, the CJI said,
“We don’t want to say any-
thing about agencies as we do
not want to demoralize them.
There are 300 to 400 cases in
these CBI courts. Drawing
the attention of Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta the
court said, “There is no rea-
son for not filing charge-
sheet for 15 to 20 years”.
Last month the Amicus Cu-
riae informed the Supreme
Court that pending cases
against MPs/MLAs in-
creased from 4122 to 4984 in
two years. With more and
more legislators with crimi-
nal backgrounds sitting in
the august Houses, democra-
cy will keep losing its appeal.
Expediting these cases is a
step in the right direction.
BOMBAY HC’S STEP IN
THE RIGHT DIRECTION
There are 300 to 400
cases in these CBI
courts. Drawing the
attention of Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta the
court said, “There is no
reason for not filing
charge-sheet for 15 to
20 years”.
T
hat is the zeitgeist- the spirit
of the age? All I can say is
that I sorely miss it.
Before I come to the war in
Ukraine and its horror, I will
refer to a stunningly moving
act of one of our students in
Ukraine, 21 year old Rishab
Kaushik from Dehradun, re-
fused to leave Ukraine or get
into the Indian Air Force res-
cue plane unless he was al-
lowed to take his pet dog
Maliboo with him.
Finally Rishab and Malibo
reached Gaziabad on Febru-
ary 27.
For the past few days, I
have been recalling what the
Swedish Count Axel Gustaf-
son Oxenstierna (1583-1654)
said, “Know, my son, with
how little wisdom the World
is governed.”
“The United Nations was
founded in 1945. At the open-
ing, the Secretary of State of
theUnitedStateuninhibitedly
declared, “The Veto provision
was an absolute condition for
the United States’s participa-
tion in the United Nations.
The Super Powers (U.S.A,
U.K, U.S.S.R, France and Chi-
na) would not be subject to
any co-ercion. The Veto in-
sured that General Assembly
or the Security Council could
not act against any of the five
permanent members.”
The greatest democracy in
the World ensured the Secu-
rity Council would be a law
unto itself. It would not be a
democratic establishment.
In the Security Council
meeting earlier in the week,
Russia vetoed the resolution
that condemned Russia for
“invading” Ukraine. India
rightly abstained. It also did
so in subsequent meetings.
The 20,000 Indians mainly
students had a rough time
while getting out of Ukraine.
Very many had to walk twen-
ty miles in freezing cold to
reach a railway station. Cha-
os prevailed there. Hundreds
were prevented from enter-
ing the compartments. Stu-
dents from Pakistan, China
and the Philippines had the
same experience.
East European countries
are not known for tilting to-
wards racism. But racism was
evident in several places, par-
ticularlyatstationsinUkraine.
Prime Minister Modi
spoke to President Putin to
ensure the security and wel-
fare of Indians and their
leaving Ukraine. President
Putin’s priority was and is
the annihilation of Ukraine.
The bravery, courage and
patriotism of the Ukrainians
is breath-taking.
NATO and the European
Union have, if I may say so
functioninslowmotion.Sanc-
tions do not work instantly
.
China has made that clear.
The President of Ukraine,
Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has
displayed extraordinary guts,
staying power and fearless-
ness. He is Jewish and had
been an immensely accom-
plished and brilliant comedi-
an. Today
, he is a world figure.
Whydoourmedicalstudents
go to Ukraine? The answer is
simple.ThefeesinIndianmed-
ical colleges and universities
areexorbitant.NotlessthanRs
15 lakh for a six year course. In
Ukraine, they pay half. Can’t
the government take action
against these private medical
Universities, which fleece
youngmenandwomen,whodo
not come from rich families?
In some quarters, there is
talk of prosecuting President
Putin for war crimes. This is
confusing reality with fic-
tion. How is this absurdity to
be implemented as long as he
is President. Who will lead
the coup against him?
I am reading Jairam
Ramesh’s brilliant and mas-
terlybiographyof P
.N.Haksar,
themostpowerfulandrespect-
ed civil servant for almost a
decade in Indira Gandhi’s ten-
ure as Prime Minister.
OF UKRAINIANS WRITING A NEW
SAGA OF COURAGE; INDIRA’S LETTER
TO A ‘RESPECTED’ BUREAUCRAT
W
The bravery, courage and
patriotism of the
Ukrainians is breath-
taking. President of
Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr
Zelenskyy has displayed
extraordinary guts,
staying power
fearlessness. He is Jewish
had been an immensely
accomplished comedian.
Today, he is a world figure
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India
Strictly Personal
Prime Minister
Dec 25, 1972
Dear Haksar Saheb,
I was hesitated to write or to speak. Some things are too
deep for words or it may be that I am not enough of a writer
to find the right words. I have no new or better phrases to tell
you what so many have been repeating- much to your annoy-
ance- all these days and even months, whenever the question
of your leaving us has arisen.
During a period which has spanned so many crises, you
have stood like a rock. Your wise guidance has been invalu-
able in helping us to negotiate the obstacles and steer clear
of the many pitfalls endangering our onward journey, and
even our survival.
There is perhaps no dearth of worthy, intelligent, even sin-
cere or conscientious persons. But the need if for something
over and above that- as you yourself are well- aware. These
qualities can be useful only, if they are combined with a depth
of judgement, which is based on long experience of men,
especially in government, and affairs of India as well as the
world; on an insight into tends and forces. There can be no
doubt that your retirement will greatly diminish the efficacy of
the PM’s Sectt and will be a great loss to me.
At this stage, I can only say thank you for all your help and
wish you better health in the years to come.
With every good wish
Yours Sincerely
Indira Gandhi
ON HIS RETIREMENT, SHE WROTE HIM AN ADMIRING
LETTER, WHICH IS REPRODUCED BELOW:

!#$%%'(%#)*%%#+%,-./.%*#
01)#1/'23#
!#$%#'
##$%''()#*+,'-.#%.$$+/0
()*)+,#-'
##$%''#*12'3)4%#)56).+78/50-
!#$%'()*+,-)#.% /01+0$2#+)10,.3,12
42)5)22)64*'5,278

INDIA
05
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Does dy-
nastic rule for the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty only means the Gan-
dhi family and the Mu-
layam Singh Yadav
family? Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra has said that
for the BJP, dynasty
means only her family.
The BJP itself is pro-
moting several family
members.
In the special context
of Uttar Pradesh, Mu-
layam Singh Yadav’s
family is also on target
because the BJP is fac-
ing real competition
from Samajwadi Party.
That’s why right from
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi to BJP leaders
are constantly target-
ing the SP.
The Prime Minister
had said without nam-
ing that more than 40
members of a family
were in one or the other
post. He has continu-
ously appealed to defeat
the dynasts and mafias.
Maneka and Varun
Gandhi are facing col-
lateral damage for cam-
paigning by targeting
the Gandhi family
. Both
are BJP MPs but this
time BJP did not in-
clude them in the cam-
paign. Prime Minister
Modi removed Maneka
from the cabinet and
did not give place to
Varun. Even both of
them did not get a place
in the national execu-
tive of the party. Con-
gress leaders believe
that Maneka and Varun
Gandhi have been treat-
ed like this because the
prime minister was to
launch a massive attack
on the dynasts in the Ut-
tar Pradesh elections
and the BJP had to con-
test on this issue. Both
Maneka and Varun
Gandhi understand this
and after March 10 they
will also decide the fu-
ture strategy
.
Dynasty only means Gandhi family!
FOR BJP
New Delhi (ANI): With
state elections ending
on Monday, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
slipped in a dig at the
government two days
before the final voting
day, advising people to
fill up their fuel tanks
and warning that a
price hike was looming.
Quickly fill up your
tanks. Modi govern-
ment's 'election' offer is
about to end, he wrote
in a Hindi tweet.
With international
oil prices soaring past
$100 a barrel, petrol and
diesel prices - locked by
state-run oil companies
because of the elections
- are likely to be hiked
after polls get over next
week. International
crude oil prices have
shot above $110 a barrel
for the first time since
mid-2014 on fears that
oil and gas supplies
from energy giant Rus-
sia could be disrupted,
either by the conflict in
Ukraine or retaliatory
western sanctions.
The basket of crude
oil India buys rose
above $102 per barrel on
March 1, the highest
since August 2014, ac-
cording to information
from the Petroleum
Planning and Analysis
Cell (PPAC) of the oil
ministry, media report-
ed earlier this week.
The average price per
barrel of the same
crude was $81.5 when
petrol and diesel prices
were locked in in early
November last year.
With state elections
getting over next week,
we expect daily fuel
price hikes to restart
across both gasoline
and diesel, investment
banking company JP
Morgan said in a report.
Quickly fill up your fuel tanks:
Rahul’s ‘election’ advice
Mamata's flight
faces mid-air
turbulence
Kolkata (Agen-
cies): The West Ben-
gal government on
Saturday sought a
report from the Di-
rectorate General of
Civil Aviation
(DGCA) on Chief
Minister Mamata
Banerjee’s aircraft
encountering mid-
air turbulence while
returning from Var-
anasi, a top bureau-
crat said.
The state govern-
ment also wanted to
know from the
DGCA whether the
route taken by the
plane in which the
chief minister re-
turned to the city
from Varanasi on
Friday evening had
been granted prior
permission, he said.
Mamata was re-
turning from Uttar
Pradesh after cam-
paigning for the Sa-
majwadi party.
When contacted,
an official of the
DGCA said that they
have already started
working on the re-
port. “We conduct
investigations in all
such cases and ac-
cord priorities
where VVIPs are in-
volved. We have al-
ready started work-
ing on preparing
our report in this
connection,” he told
media.
On Friday even-
ing, the chartered
flight carrying
Mamata Banerjee
from Varanasi air-
port to the city hit
an air pocket caus-
ing the plane to rock
violently.
The pilot man-
aged to steer the
plane out of the air
pocket and land it
safely in Netaji Sub-
has Chandra Int’l
Airport here though
Mamata suffered a
back injury caused
by the steep climb-
down the flight
had to make to
cope with the
turbulence.
AIADMK sacks Panneerselvam’s
brother for meeting VK Sasikala
Chennai (ANI): A day
after he called on VK
Sasikalaandhelddiscus-
sionswithheroverparty
related matters, O Raja,
AIADMK top leader O
Panneerselvam’s (OPS)
brotherwasonSaturday
expelled from the party
.
Raja was removed
fromtheparty’sprimary
membership for violat-
ing party discipline and
working against the par-
ty principles, AIADMK
coordinator Pannersel-
vam and co-coordinator
K Palaniswami said in a
joint party statement. In
a disciplinary action,
three other functionar-
ies, also belonging to
Theni party district like
Raja were dismissed.
Confidante of late AI-
ADMK matriarch J Jay-
alalithaa, Sasikala was
eased out from the party
years ago.
O Raja and a few other AIADMK functionaries met expelled leader
VK Sasikala in Thiruchendur on Friday. —FILE PHOTO
—FILE
PHOTO
RAHUL HOLDS MEET WITH CONGRESS
LEADERS AHEAD OF DELHI CIVIC POLLS
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held an important
meeting with senior state Congress leaders regarding the
upcoming Delhi Municipal Corporation elections on Saturday.
Addressing reporters on Saturday after the meeting, Delhi
Congress in-charge Shakti Singh Gohil said that in the upcoming
corporation elections, Congress will give tickets to the deserving
candidates in a transparent manner. “Rahul Gandhi instructed
the leaders to fight the corporation elections unitedly,” he said.
Gohil also informed that he along with state chief Anil Chaudhary
will hold meetings every week with former state presidents like
Ajay Maken, JP Agarwal, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Subhash
Chopra. The dates for the Municipal Corporation elections will be
announced within a few weeks. The last time Congress won the
civic elections was about 20 years ago in 2002.
A Gurukul teacher paints a portrait of former cricketer Shane Warne as a tribute to him, at
Gurukul School Of Art, in Mumbai on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
West Bengal
Govt seeks
DGCA report
Rishikesh (PTI): The
first phase of the tiger
census work being car-
ried out by the Uttara-
khand forest depart-
ment in the Corbett and
Rajaji tiger reserves
and the adjoining areas
of the two parks has
been completed, Head
of Forest Force (HoFF)
Vinod Kumar said on
Saturday
.
Details related to the
carnivores, their faeces,
poaching, vegetation
and human interfer-
ence in their habitats
were collected in the
first phase, he said.
As part of the second
phase of the tiger cen-
sus, data is being col-
lected through 1,798
camera traps installed
along tiger trails on
around 2,300 square
kilometres of the two
reserves, dividing the
entire area into four
parts.
Of the 1,798 camera
traps, 1,034 have been
set up in the Corbett Ti-
ger Reserve and 764 in
the Rajaji Tiger Re-
serve, Kumar said.
Apart from this, the
tiger census work is
also underway in the
Haridwar, Dehradun,
Lansdowne, Kalsi and
Narendra Nagar forest
divisions, which border
on the Rajaji Tiger Re-
serve, he added.
First phase of tiger census
work complete in U’khand
Rahul Gandhi
Mamata Banerjee
Lanka must ensure
equality, justice for
Tamils: India at UN
United Nations/Gene-
va (PTI): India has told
the UN that it is in Sri
Lanka’s own interest
that expectations of
Tamils for equality, jus-
tice, peace and dignity
within a united country
arefulfilled,underlining
that as a friend and im-
mediate neighbour, New
Delhi has consistently
called upon Colombo to
fulfill its commitments
on protecting the inter-
ests of the Tamils.
India’s Permanent
Representative to the
UN, Geneva, Ambassa-
dor Indramani Pandey
made the statement on
Friday at the interac-
tive dialogue on the
High Commissioner for
Human Rights report
on promoting reconcil-
iation, accountability
and human rights in
Sri Lanka. He said that
as its friend and imme-
diate neighbour, India
has consistently called
upon Sri Lanka to fulfil
its commitments on ad-
dressing the issues re-
lated to protecting the
interest of Tamils in
Sri Lanka.
India has insisted
that it would want Sri
Lanka to pursue the
13th Amendment, also
known as 13A, as the
tool to address the con-
cerns of the Tamils on
devolution of power.
FAREWELL, WARNE
3000 INDIANS AIRLIFTED BY SPECIAL FLIGHTS
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Under ‘Op-
eration Ganga’ to rescue
Indian citizens, about
3000 Indians were air-
lifted on Saturday by 15
special flights from
Ukraine’s neighbouring
countries. These includ-
ed 12 special civilian
and 3 IAF flights.
With this, more than
13 thousand 7 hundred
Indians have been
brought back since the
special flights began on
22ndFebruary, 2022.The
number of Indians
brought back by 55 spe-
cial civilian flights goes
up to 11728. Till date, the
IAF has flown 10 sorties
to bring back 2056 pas-
sengers, while taking 26
tonnes of relief load to
these countries, as part
of Operation Ganga.
Three C-17 heavy lift
transport aircraft of the
IAF,whichhadtakenoff
on Friday from the
Hindan air base, landed
back at Hindan on Sat-
urday morning.
629 INDIANS EVACUATED FROM
ROMANIA OTHER COUNTRIES
11 SPL FLIGHTS TO OPERATE
TODAY ON RESCUE MISSION
IAF HAS FLOWN 10 SORTIES TO
BRING BACK 2056 PASSENGERS
SPECIAL CIVILIAN FLIGHTS
BROUGHT BACK 11728 INDIANS
3000 Indians were airlifted on Saturday by 15 special flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.
Exploring all possible ways to
evacuate Indians from Sumy
New Delhi (PTI): The
Indian embassy in
Ukraine on Saturday
said it is exploring all
possible ways to safely
evacuate the Indian
nationals from the
eastern Ukranian cit-
ies of Sumy and Pi-
sochyn.
The embassy specifi-
cally said it is reaching
out to 298 Indian stu-
dents in Pisochyn and
buses are en route to
evacuate them.
“Reaching out to our
298 students in Pi-
sochyn. Buses are en-
route and expected to
arrive soon,” it said.
The mission also
said it is in touch with
all the interlocutors
concerned.
DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT
STUDENTS IN UKRAINE’S SUMY
New Delhi (PTI): India
on Saturday said it is
“deeply concerned”
about the Indi-
an students
stuck in
the eastern
Ukranian
city of Sumy
and strongly
asked both Russia
and Ukraine through
multiple channels for
an immediate cease-
fire for their safe exit
from the conflict zone.
Arindam Bagchi, the
spokesperson of the
MEA, said the students
have been advised to
take safety precautions,
stay inside shelters
and avoid unnecessary
risks. On Friday,
he had said
around 700
Indians were
stranded
in Sumy.
“We are deeply
concerned about In-
dian students in Sumy,
Ukraine. Have strongly
pressed Russian and
Ukrainian governments
through multiple chan-
nels for an immediate
ceasefire to create a
safe corridor for our
students,” Bagchi said.
about the Indi-
about the Indi-
city of Sumy
city of Sumy
and strongly
and strongly
asked both Russia
asked both Russia
risks. On Friday,
risks. On Friday,
he had said
he had said
around 700
around 700
stranded
stranded
in Sumy.
in Sumy.
“We are deeply
“We are deeply
concerned about In-
concerned about In-

INDIA
06
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Gov-
ernment of India had
set a huge target of
earning through disin-
vestment in the finan-
cial year 2021-22. Pre-
senting the budget in
2021, Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
had said that 1.75 lakh
crore rupees will be
raised by selling gov-
ernment companies. A
year after that, when
she presented the budg-
et for 2022, it came to
light that the govern-
ment was able to raise
only 12-13 thousand
crores by selling its
companies. So, in the
revised estimate of the
budget, it has been said
that the government
will earn Rs 78 thou-
sand crore by selling its
companies.
This estimate of the
government is based on
the fact that five per-
cent stake will be sold
by bringing IPO of Life
Insurance Corporation
of India ie LIC, which
can earn 70-80 thousand
crore rupees or more. If
that happens, the gov-
ernment will earn more
in the Revised Esti-
mates and give itself a
pat on the back. How-
ever, there seem to be
several obstacles in this
approach, but the gov-
ernment is also bracing
itself to sell it off, in
any case.
That’s why the stock
market in India is show-
ing a boom even in the
midst of Ukraine’s at-
tack. If markets around
the world fell, there was
a historic fall in India
too. In one day the index
fell by 27 hundred
points and investors
lost thirteen and a half
lakh crores rupees. But
the very next day i.e. on
Friday, the market went
upby13hundredpoints.
The stock market is so
sensitive, yet it is going
up in the middle of the
war, so it means that
some external force
wants it to be so and
thus it is happening.
The Government of In-
dia does not want that
there should be nega-
tive sentiment in the
stock market and inves-
tors should stay away
from it. Therefore, it is
being believed that no
matter how much the
war lasts, but the Indi-
an stock market will
remain bullish.
Concerned about its
earnings from LIC, the
government took an-
other big decision on
Saturday. The govern-
ment has allowed for-
eign direct investment
up to 20 percent in LIC.
For this, the govern-
ment changed the spe-
cial law of LIC. After
this change, foreign in-
vestors will be able to
invest up to 20 percent
in LIC through the auto-
matic route. In fact, the
government is worried
that if domestic inves-
tors do not invest more,
then the target of earn-
ing will remain incom-
plete. Therefore, exemp-
tion has been given to
foreign investors. In the
insurance sector, 74 per-
cent FDI is allowed, but
LIC’s law is different
from the insurance law
and FDI was not al-
lowed in it till now, a
‘hurdle’ which the gov-
ernment has done away
with now.
To boost its earning, Govt has tinkered with LIC law
Jammu (Agencies):
The issues inherent in
redrawing of Jammu
and Kashmir by the De-
limitation Fee persist,
with a second draft fol-
lowing talks addition-
ally operating into ob-
jections.
As per its second
draft report, shared
with its 5 members on
February 24, the panel
has steered that the Ra-
jouri Meeting seat be
reserved for STs in-
stead of Poonch Haveli,
that had been proposed
earlier; restoration of
Suchetgarh, as an al-
ternative of its merger
with R S Pura and
Bishnah; SC-reserved
standing for Suchet-
garh; restoration of
Srinagar’s Habba Kad-
al constituency with its
sizeable Kashmiri Pan-
dit migrant voters; and
renaming of the newly
proposed Mughal
Maidaan as Inderwal.
Other than this, the fee
has additionally re-
drawn boundaries of
some seats in each
Jammu and Kashmir
divisions.
Non-BJP events have
denounced the adjust-
ments as favouring the
BJP
. PDP spokesperson
FirdousTakmentioned
the adjustments “give
credence to our appre-
hensions that the Fee is
working on the behest
of the BJP”. Apni Oc-
casion spokesperson
Vikram Malhotra men-
tioned “the BJP ob-
tained every thing
achieved for its politi-
cal comfort”, whereas
Congress chief spokes-
person Ravinder Shar-
ma mentioned “the De-
limitation Fee has
achieved dissection as
an alternative of de-
limitation”.
The suggestion to not
reserve Poonch Haveli
for STs adopted wide-
spread protests within
the constituency
, which
is basically inhabited
by individuals of Kash-
miri origin, at such a
change. The constitu-
ency’s inhabitants com-
prised 36.60% tribals.
To shift the ST standing
to Rajouri — regardless
of solely 33.84% of its
inhabitantsbeingtribal
— the panel has now
steered including
Fatehpur, Doongi and
Bagla from the pro-
posedThanamandicon-
stituency
. This is able to
take Rajouri’s tribal
numbers to 37.18% of
the inhabitants. Thana-
mandi too can be ST re-
served as per the De-
limitation Fee.
Protests prod changes in JK delimitation plans, lead to more issues
Phones of Goa Oppn leaders
tapped, alleges Sanjay Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv
Sena leader Sanjay Raut
on Saturday alleged that
phones of Goa leaders,
including MLA Sudin
Dhavalikar, MLA Vijai
Sardesai, former Chief
Minister Digambar Ka-
mat and state Congress
President Girish
Chodankar, had been
tapped.
Talking to the media
persons in Mumbai,
Raut said, “The phones
of manyleaderswhoare
the leaders of the Oppo-
sition in this country
and especially wherever
elections are being held,
are being tapped. The
public got big informa-
tion in Goa phone tap-
ping case from Congress
only yesterday
.”
“It is true that the
same thing happened in
Maharashtra which is
on record. The same
Maharashtra pattern is
going on in Goa. It is a
matter of coincidence
that the leader of Ma-
harashtra at that time
is in charge of Goa.
Phone tapping may be
going on in Uttar
Pradesh too, I am also
worried about Akhile-
sh Yadav,” he added.
Polling in Goa on 40
Assemblyseatswasheld
on February 14 and the
counting of votes will
take place on March 10.
“The way phones of
Maharashtra leaders
were tapped, the same
patternof phonesurveil-
lance is being replicated
in Goa. Calls of Sudin
Dhavalikar, Vijai Sarde-
sai, Digambar Kamat
and Girish Chodankar
arebeingtapped.Thena-
tionwantstoknow:Who
is the ‘Rashmi Shukla’
of Goa behind this tap-
ping?” Raut tweeted.
Former Pune Police
Commissioner Rashmi
Shukla was accused by
Maharashtra Home
Minister Dilip Walse
Patil of tapping the
phones of leaders like
Nana Patole, Bachchu
Kadu, Sanjay Kakade
and Ashish Deshmukh.
NewDelhi(ANI):Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
isscheduledtovisitPune
onMarch6toinaugurate
the Pune Metro Rail Pro-
ject worth more than Rs
11,400 crore.
He will also inaugu-
rate and lay the founda-
tion stone of various
development projects,
the Prime Minister’s Of-
fice said in a statement.
At around 11 am,
Prime Minister will un-
veil the statue of
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj on the prem-
ises of Pune Municipal
Corporation. The statue
is made up of 1,850 kg
gunmetal and is about
9.5 feet tall.
Prime Minister will
inaugurate Pune Met-
ro Rail Project at
around 11:30 am. This
project is an endeav-
our to provide world-
class infrastructure
for urban mobility in
Pune. The Foundation
Stone of the project
had been laid by the
Prime Minister on De-
cember 24, 2016.
New Delhi (ANI):
A Delhi Court on
Saturday dis-
missed the bail
plea moved by for-
mer AAP Coun-
cilor Tahir Hus-
sain in a money
laundering case
registered by the
Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) in
connection with
the alleged fund-
ing of Northeast
Delhi violence of
February 2020.
Additional Ses-
sions Judge dis-
missed the bail
plea on Saturday.
He had reserved
the order on 8 Feb-
ruary after hear-
ing the arguments
of counsel of the
prosecution and
accused. Hussain
is accused in
many riots related
cases and in cus-
tody for one and
half years.
Uttarakhand (ANI):
With heavy snowfall
hitting high altitude ar-
eas of Uttarakhand,
locals faced difficulties
in commuting as the
road connecting the
Niti-Mana valleys in
Chamoli district re-
mained covered with
snow on Saturday.
The situation wors-
ened as there were a lot
of obstructions on the
pathway. It became an
uphill task for the peo-
ple living in the villages
of the valley, the army
vehicles, and soldiers to
reach the border.
New Delhi: A special
CBI court in Delhi has
dismissed the anticipa-
tory bail plea of Chita
Ramkrishna, the former
managing director and
the CEO of the National
Stock Exchange in con-
nection with the NSE co-
location case. The CBI
has already arrested
Anand Subramanian,
NSE’s former group op-
erating officer, who had
served as Ramkrishna’s
advisor,fromChennaiin
the co-location case.
Chitra and Anand hit
the headlines after
SEBI, in an order on
February 11 charged
Chitra with alleged gov-
ernance lapses in the
appointment of Subra-
manian as the chief
strategic advisor and
his re-designation as
group operating officer
and advisor to MD.
SEBI levied a fine of Rs
3 crore on Ramkrishna,
Rs 2 crore each on NSE,
Subramanian, former
NSE MD and CEO Ravi
Narain, and Rs 6 lakh
on VR Narasimhan,
who was the chief regu-
latory officer and com-
pliance officer.
The CBI, which was
probing the co-location
scam since 2018, swung
into action after the
SEBI report that
showed alleged abuse
of power by the then top
brass of the NSE.
Ramkrishna said she
was steered by a Hima-
layan yogi in the ap-
pointment of Anand
Subramanian. While
CBI claimed Anand
Subramanian himself
was the Himalayan
yogi, SEBI contradicted
the claim.
Earlier, the Securi-
ties and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI)
has penalized the Na-
tional Stock Exchange
(NSE) and its former
CEOs Chitra Ram-
akrishna and Ravi
Narayan and two other
officials for lapses in
recruitment at the sen-
ior level.
Same Maharashtra pattern is
going on in Goa: Sena leader
‘Phone tapping may be going
on in Uttar Pradesh too’
Malik being linked to Dawood as he’s muslim: NCP
Pune (ANI): Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
chief Sharad Pawar on
Saturday said that the
arrest of party leader
and Maharashtra minis-
ter Nawab Malik is “po-
litically motivated” and
attempts were made to
connect him to fugi-
tive Underworld don Da-
wood Ibrahim because
he is a Muslim. He also
dismissed the demands
raised by the Opposition
seeking the resignation
of Malik. Nawab Malik
was arrested by the
Enforcement Directo-
rate on February 23 in
a money-laundering
probe linked to the
activities of Dawood
Ibrahim and his aides.
Pune (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the work of
the metro service to be inaugurated by the PM is
incomplete, and underlined the need to focus more
on rescuing Indian
students stranded
in war-hit Ukraine.
The prime minister
is scheduled to visit
Pune on Sunday
for the inaugura-
tion of the metro
service and unveiling other projects. “I agree that
there are important projects in Pune that are
incomplete and the PM will be inaugurating the
important one....rescuing students stranded in
Ukraine is more important. I think the ruling party
must be thinking of it seriously,” Pawar said.
PM to visit Pune to flag off
Metro Rail project today
Tahir Hussain
Former CEO of the National
Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra
Ramkrishna. —FILE PHOTO
NE Delhi
violence:Tahir
Hussain’s bail
plea rejected
Uttarakhand:
Heavy snowfall
creates problems
for commuters
Jammu (PTI): The Bor-
derSecurityForce(BSF)
opened fire at a suspect-
edPakistanidronealong
theInternationalBorder
(IB) here on Saturday
, of-
ficials said as a massive
search operation was
launched to ensure no
weapons or narcotics
were dropped by it.
A BSF spokesperson
said alert troops of the
forcefiredatthesuspect-
ed flying object when it
entered the general area
of Arniaaround4.10am.
“The humming sound
of asuspecteddronewas
heard in the morning at
4:10ambyalerttroopsof
the BSF in the general
area of Arnia. The
troops fired towards the
direction of the sound,”
the spokesperson said.
He said the area was
cordoned off with the
help of police, and a
joint search operation
was underway
.
JK: BSF opens fire
at Pak drone along IB Ex-NSE chief’s bail plea turned down
METRO WORK IN PUNE
INCOMPLETE BUT PM WILL
INAUGURATE IT: PAWAR
Delimitation commission members speak in Jammu. —FILE PHOTO
 Proposal to shift practically 20
villages which can be presently
a part of the Kalakote constitu-
ency to Rajouri
 Transferring Sunderbani
tehsil from Nowshera seat to
Kalakote
 Proposal to merge Suchetgarh
with SC-reserved R S Pura
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
NSE SCAM

NEWS
07
OPERATION
PEHCHAN: AGRA
RECORDS
MAXIMUM
CRIMINALS
Operation Pehchan was launched
by ADG Zone Agra Rajeev
Krishna to identify the criminals
and keep their records with the
police department under which
data feeding is being done in the
identity app for data collection. So
far, data of more than 1.20 lakh
criminals of the Agra zone has
been fed in the identification app.
Of these, Agra has the maximum
number of 23577 criminals. There
are 23033 criminals in Aligarh and
18580 in Mathura. The police are
verifying these criminals and have
also knocked on the house of 80
percent. Operation Pehchan App
has proved to be a milestone in
Uttar Pradesh. In the recent
assembly elections, preventive
action was taken against the
criminals only with the help of
Operation Pehchan App. This app
has a data feed of criminals who
have been involved in crime for ten
years. Through this app, the
soldiers posted on the beat do
door-to-door verification go there
and fill in the details about the
criminal. The information filled in
the app is monitored by the station
head to the CO and the SP. The
criminal information of eight
districts is attached to the
identification app. The data of
criminals of eight districts of the
Agra zone has been fed in the
identification app. Giving more
details about the app, ADG Rajiv
Krishna said that the data of more
than 1.20 lakh criminals in the
Agra zone has been fed into the
app and the process of verification
of 91 thousand of them has been
completed. There are 23577
criminals in Agra, 23033 in Aligarh,
18580 in Mathura, 15389 in
Firozabad, 13383 in Etah, 12166 in
Mainpuri, 7457 in Hathras, and
7195 in Kasganj. With the help of
the app, the police are keeping a
close eye on the criminals. Where
is the living? In jail or out? Who
are their relatives? What are you
working on at the moment? How
many family members are there?
All this is being explored. This data
can be easily available from the
police station to the officers with
the help of the app.
—Preeti Nagia
NEW
ADVENTURE
SPORTS PARK
IN KANPUR ZOO
The zoo administration has
come up with another new
gift of entertainment for the
visitors. Now, everyone would
be able to enjoy dozens of
adventure sports like
commando net and balance the
rope for less money in the
adventure park which has been
opened from Saturday. The
committee will pay annual rent
to the zoo administration in
return. Visitors to the park
would also be able to enjoy pole
walk, Burma bridge, long walk,
tyre walk, hammock walk,
balance the rope, twin rope,
rope swing, zip line, Burma
bridge (plank), Archery,
Commando Net (Tyre), Tyre
swing, Zig-Zag Walk, etc. The
park has been built close to the
lawns located near the crocodile
enclosure by the Eco-Tourism
Committee of Madhya Pradesh.
According to Pramod Jatav,
chairman of the committee,
equipment and swings have
been installed in this park, built
at a cost of Rs 6.18 lakh. The
income from the tickets of the
visitors coming here would go
to the committee.
—Sumit Awasthi
BJP IN FOR TOUGH FIGHT IN MIRZAPUR
Mirzapur (PTI): The
contest for the five as-
sembly seats in Uttar
Pradesh’s Mirzapur ap-
pears to be challenging
for the BJP even though
it had swept the district,
neighbouring the prime
minister’s Varanasi
parliamentary constitu-
ency, last time riding
the Modi wave.
The five seats of Mir-
zapur Chunar, Mariyan,
MirzapurNagar,Majha-
wan and Chhanbey will
vote in the last phase of
the Uttar Pradesh As-
sembly elections, are
poised for a strong con-
test between the BJP
and the Samajwadi Par-
ty
. The BSP and the Con-
gress candidates are
working to ensure that
the contest is a
multi-cornered one. An
anti-incumbency senti-
ment was evident
among several people in
the district. The BJP
has repeated its candi-
dates in four seats and
has allotted Majhawan
to ally NISHAD Party.
Strengthened by ties
with regional parties
like the Apna Dal
(Kamerawadi) and the
Suheldev Bharat Samaj
Party (SBSP) of Om
Prakash Rajbhar, the
Akhilesh Yadav-headed
SP alliance is making
all efforts to take away
the advantage the saf-
fron party had in 2017.
Known for its famous
Vindhyachal temple,
Mirzapur is about 50 ki-
lometres from Varana-
si. Like in Varanasi,
where the BJP-led coali-
tion had won all the
eight seats in the last
elections, the saffron
party had swept all five
seats in Mirzapur too.
Among various is-
sues, an important one
on which many are un-
happy with local BJP
leaders and the state
government is the dem-
olition of over 930 hous-
es as part of the Vindh
project on the pattern
of the Kashi Vishwa-
nath project. “Owners
of these demolished
houses were given be-
low-market rates,” said
Shiv Ram Mishra.
Houses of Brahmins
and Vaishyas were an-
nexed for widening of
roads in and around ar-
eas “cleverly” selected
to spare those owned by
Thakurs, the castemen
of Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, another
person claimed, refus-
ing to identify himself.
Sitting BJP MLA Ratna-
kar Mishra did not
come to the help of the
local people “whose in-
terests were sacrificed
in the name of the
Vindh project,” one per-
son alleged.
The Akhilesh-led alliance is strengthened by ties with regional parties Apna Dal (S) and Om Prakash Rajbhar’s SBSP
‘PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER PREPARED TO
RETURN TO THE DARK DAYS OF THE SP’
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addresses ‘Karyakarta
Sammelan’ in Mirzapur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Malhani emerges as high-stake
seat among high-profile candidates
Jaunpur (PTI): The
Malhani assembly seg-
ment near Jaunpur has
emergedasahigh-stake,
poll battleground for
the Samajwadi Party,
BJP and JD(U) and their
high-profile candidates.
While the SP has fielded
sitting MLA Lucky Ya-
dav from Yadav-domi-
nated Malhani, the BJP
has fielded its former
MP K P Singh strong-
man and former Jaun-
pur MP Dhananjay
Singh is fighting for this
seat on a JD(U) ticket.
The Malhani assembly
goes to polls on March 7.
The importance of
the Malhani assembly
seat may be seen from
the fact it is only the sec-
ond seat after Karhal,
party founder Mulayam
Singh Yadav has ad-
dressed an election ral-
ly despite not keeping
good health. Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav and his
uncle Shivpal Yadav too
have campaigned in
support of Lucky Yadav.
Mulayam Singh Yadav
addressed an election
rally earlier from Karh-
al from where his son
and SP chief Akhilesh
Yadav is fighting. For
BJP’s K P Singh, PM Na-
rendra Modi held a pub-
lic meeting for the sup-
port of all the candi-
dates of Jaunpur while
CM Yogi Adityanath,
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah and Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
also held an election ral-
ly. On the other hand,
JD(U) chief LalanSingh
has held several public
meetings in the area in
support of Dhananjay
Singh. For Lucky Yadav,
the seat is considered
his family seat because
his father Parasnath Ya-
davwasatwo-timeMLA
from here. Apart from
this, Parasnath Yadav
was also a Lok Sabha
MP and an MLA from
Jaunpur. His family too
shares a good relation-
ship with SP founder
Mulayam Singh Yadav
with Parasnath Yadav
being a minister in gov-
ernments of both Mu-
layam Singh Yadav and
Akhilesh Yadav.
In the 2017 assembly
elections, Parasnath Ya-
dav became an MLA
from Malhani. After his
death, the SP made
Lucky Yadav its candi-
date in the by-election
and he won the Malhani
seat, maintaining his
family’s legacy
. Dhanan-
jay Singh is in the fray
from Malhani, this time
on a Janata Dal (United)
ticket for the second
time. He had become an
independent MLA from
here for the first time in
2002. Before delimita-
tion,Malhaniwascalled
Rari. In 2007, Singh won
the seat on a JD(U) tick-
et. He left JD(U) and
joined BSP in 2008.
K P SINGH CONTESTING ASSEMBLY
ELECTIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME
BJP candidate K P Singh’s father Umanath Singh
was a minister in the Kalyan Singh government. K P
Singh won the Lok Sabha elections from Jaunpur for
the first time in 2014. In 2019, he again contested the
Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket but lost. Now he
is contesting assembly elections for the first time.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah gestures during a public meeting
for the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly
elections, at Malhani, in Jaunpur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
ALL COLOURS UNDER THE SUN
Workers prepare colours for use in Holi celebrations, in Sambhal on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI
UP Govt
challenges
acquittal of
Gayatri under
POCSO
charges
Woman files
case against
husband for
molesting girl
Lucknow (PTI):
The UP govern-
ment on Saturday
moved the Alla-
habad HC, chal-
lenging the acquit-
tal of former state
minister Gayatri
Prasad Prajapati
of stringent
charges under the
POCSOActdespite
being convicted of
gang-raping a
woman in 2017.
The state govern-
ment moved the
Lucknow bench of
the HC, also chal-
lenging the acquit-
tal of his associ-
ates in the gang-
rape case. On the
government’splea,
a bench of justices
Ramesh Sinha and
Saroj Yadav issued
notices to Prajapa-
ti, to be served
through the jail su-
perintendent. A
POCSO court on
November 12 had
convicted Prajapa-
ti for committing
gang rape but ac-
quitted him and
co-accused Ashok
Tiwari and Ashish
Shukla of the
charges under the
POCSO act.
M u z a f f a r n a g a r
(PTI): Shunned by
their families, 3 wom-
en facing a human
trafficking case al-
legedly attempted sui-
cide by consuming
poison outside the of-
fice of a police officer
in Uttar Pradesh’s
Shamli district, offi-
cials said on Saturday.
The incident took
place on Friday. The
women were rushed to
the hospital and dis-
charged later in the
day, the police officials
said. The three wom-
en attempted suicide
by consuming poison
outside the office of
the circle officer of
Sadar, the police said.
According to a suicide
note written by the
women, they were fac-
ing social boycott and
had been shunned by
their husbands and
in-laws after they
were arrested in con-
nection with the hu-
man trafficking case,
the police said. The
women were arrested
during a raid in Sham-
li on January 3, they
said. Circle Officer Bi-
jendra Bhadana said
the three women were
rushed to the hospital.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: As the state
enters into the final poll-
ing on March 7, the offi-
cers of the UP Power
Corporation Ltd (UP-
PCL) started gearing up
to meet the challenge of
keeping and executing
the free power promise
by the next government
that comes to power af-
ter March 10. Both BJP
and the main challenger
the Samajwadi Party,
apart from the Congress
and Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP), have made a pre-
poll promise for free
power in one form or the
other and officials see it
as a big challenge to ful-
fill it. Chief Secretary
DS Mishra recently held
an ‘internal’ meeting
with the energy depart-
mentofficials,including
UPPCL chairman M
Devraj managing di-
rector Pankaj Kumar, to
discuss the road map for
implementing the free
power plan. “The CS
wanted the officials to
havearoadmapreadyto
implement the free pow-
er promise by the next
government, consider-
ing the fact that almost
all political parties have
promised free or subsi-
dized electricity to vot-
ers,” a senior energy
departmentofficialsaid.
First India Bureau
Saharanpur: Police
have registered a case
against a man on the
complaint by his wife
for sexually abusing a
9-year-old daughter un-
der the Nanuta police
station area. Police
sources said that a
woman has filed a com-
plaint against her hus-
band who molested her
9-year-old daughter. She
said that her daughter
screamed for help and
the accused escaped
leaving her behind. Po-
lice have sent the minor
victim for medical ex-
amination and regis-
tered a case against the
accused under POCSO
charges. Chandrasen
Saini, inspector in
charge said that a man-
hunt has been launched
to nab the accused.
3 women attempt suicide at circle officer’s office
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
UPPCL gears up to
meet big challenge of
free power promise
Gayatri Prajapati

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
6,012,139
TOTAL DEATHS
377,288,936
TOTAL RECOVERED
61,008,164
ACTIVE CASES
444,309,239
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
514,908
TOTAL DEATHS
42,378,721
TOTAL RECOVERED
63,848
ACTIVE CASES
42,957,477
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
When confused, choose the
behaviour or response that is
kinder and more compassionate.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
DiscordantnotesringloudinBJP
Plagued with dissidence, party may take strong action against errant leaders after polls
Janardan Misra
Lucknow: The dissi-
dent members of BJP
may face action after
the polls. The party is
still facing criticism by
its own team members
who have decided nei-
ther to support nor to
leave the party
.
Afterbackwardleader
Swami Prasad Maurya
left BJP and joined SP
,
his daughter BJP MP
Sanghamitra Maurya
lashed out at BJP for ig-
noring plights of Dalit,
backward and most
backward classes.
A few days back when
conveyof SwamiPrasad
wasallegedlyattackedin
Fazilnagar during elec-
tion campaign, Sangh-
mitra Maurya called it
action of BJP goons. On
social media she was at-
tacking BJP frequently
and also refused to re-
sign from the party
.
In same fervour, an-
other BJP MP Varun
Gandhiwasconsistently
hittingoutatBJPonsev-
eral issues. In Lakhim-
pur incident Varun had
criticised BJP Union
Minister and his son for
hisinvolvementindeath
of several farmers. He
had demanded action
against the minister and
later criticised several
policies of the party
while raising voice
against unemployment.
With similar inten-
tions, BJP MP Rita Ba-
huguna Joshi had ex-
pressed her resentment
after rejection of assem-
bly ticket to his son Ma-
yank Joshi. She said she
had offered her resigna-
tion for ticket of her son
but when party refused
to consider her request,
a photograph of her son
went viral owith SP arty
president Akhilesh Ya-
dav. Though, later she
denied of any antipathy
and claimed BJP will
form government.
COURTESY MEET...
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in conversation with Jagdeesh Chandra at Raj
Bhavan, Kolkata on Saturday afternoon, during a courtesy visit by the latter. Jagdeesh
Chandra was on a one-day visit to the capital of West Bengal.
Swami Maurya Varun Gandhi Rita Bahuguna
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: In view of
increasing investiga-
tions against the admin-
istrative officers in UP,
efforts are being made
on a new system to com-
plete investigations in
all the allegations relat-
ed to administrative of-
ficersinthestateintime
by roping in retired of-
ficers for the task.
Directives have also
been issued to prepare a
note related to this and
provide a proposal
thereafter.
Efforts are also being
made to form a commit-
tee besides a panel to
complete the investiga-
tion on time under the
new system.
InUP
,thegovernment
has always been investi-
gating complaints and
allegations received
against PCS and IAS of-
ficers from various lev-
els by entrusting its re-
sponsibility to IAS offic-
ers. Due to this the offic-
ers who already have a
lot of pressure of regu-
lar work fail to complete
theinvestigationintime
owing to which promo-
tionisdelayedbesidesat
timeshavetogothrough
the court process which
futher entangles the
matter. The investigat-
ing IAS officers at times
also have to face adverse
remarks due to non-
completion of investiga-
tion in time.
In view of such situa-
tion the government is
contemplating to form a
panel of retired IAS of-
ficers to dispose of all
these investigation re-
lated matters in time.
According to the of-
ficers of bureaucracy
posted in the govern-
ment, if the case of IAS
and PCS officers is
found to be worth inves-
tigating then one of the
competent officers can
be nominated from the
panel of retired IAS of-
ficers for investigation
within a time limit for
which the latter would
receive honorarium.
The arrangement for it
is being considered and
soon a proposal related
to this would be present-
ed before the competent
level officers.
Government mulls panel of retd officers
for timely probe of cases involving babus
NEW ARRANGEMENT
Lucknow: BJP Lok Sabha member Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s
son Mayank Joshi on Saturday joined the Samajwadi
Party (SP), just days ahead of the last phase of the Uttar
Pradesh assembly polls. Mayank, who had met SP president
Akhilesh Yadav a few days ago, attended an election rally
addressed by the SP president at Azamgarh. The SP pres-
ident also announced Mayank’s joining during his speech.
“SP will be strengthened with the joining of Mayank,” he
said. Mayank’s joining the SP comes close on the heels of
another BJP MP Sanghamitra Maurya taking potshot at the
saffron party following attack on her father Swami Prasad
Maurya, who joined the SP before the polls, allegedly by the
BJP workers at Fazilnagar in Deoria district. Swami Prasad
Maurya was SP candidate from the seat. The development
assumes significance as Rita Bahuguna Joshi had earlier
demanded a ticket for her son from Lucknow Cantonment
seat, where polling was held on February 23, but the saffron
party did not oblige.
BJP MP RITA BAHUGUNA’S
SON MAYANK JOINS SP
Mayank Joshi,
son of BJP MP
Rita Bahuguna
Joshi, joins SP
in presence of
Akhilesh Yadav
at a rally at
Gopalpur, in
Azamgarh on
Saturday.
Often serving officers delay probe due to
immense work pressure on them, which
has led to mooting of the proposal
Cong rubbishes BJP
talk of winning UP
New Delhi: Congress
spokesperson Supriya
Shrinate on Saturday
dubbed the press con-
ferences of Home Min-
ister Amit Shah and
BJPchief JPNaddaas
directionless.
Shrinate sought to
know from Shah what
he would like to say to
Asha Singh, whose
husband was killed
and their daughter
raped in Unnao, as the
home minister had
been lavishing praise
on the law and order
situation in Uttar
Pradesh in the last five
years.
Asha Singh is con-
testing the Assembly
polls as a Congress
candidate.
The Congress
spokesperson also
questioned the BJP on
rising unemployment
and sought details on
the 70 lakh jobs that
were promised in the
state.
Taking a jibe at BJP
chief Nadda over his
remark that the BJP's
campaign in Uttar
Pradesh was respon-
sive , Shrinate said the
saffron party's leaders,
MLAs and MPs were
not even allowed entry
into villages and were
chased away by the
people.
Supriya Shinate
SANGH’S
PRATINIDHI SABHA
IN KARNAVATI
The meeting of the
Rashtriya Sway-
amsevak Sangh’s Prati-
nidhi Sabha is being
convened from March
11 to 13 in Karnavati,
Gujarat. According to
the agenda of the meet-
ing, it aims to outline
various programmes
to commemorate 100
years of the Sangh in
2025. But also look at
the timing of this meet-
ing that the results of
the Assembly elections
of five states will be de-
clared on March 10 and
this meeting has been
kept just a day after
that. Is it so that the
performance of the
BJP in these elections
can also be reviewed?
Or can there be any
discussion on 2024
polls? The Sangh lead-
ership often does such
things in closed rooms
wherein, the top lead-
ers of a select number
of unions are present.
In particular, there will
be talk of making the
celebration of 100
years of the Sangh
‘grand and effective. ’
1,500 people from all
over the country
along with BJP Na-
tional President JP
Nadda Org Gen Secy
BL Santosh are likely
to be present in this
meeting.
CAN JN SINGH
REPLACE PK
MISHRA?
The news has gone
very loud that the
almighty PK Mishra of
the PMO is going to
leave. There is talk of
making him the Gover-
nor of some important
state. He is 74 years old,
he is a bit unwell
these days, so looking
at his age and health,
he can be shown the
way out of PMO. Sourc-
es reveal that specula-
tions about Mishra’s
departure are also
gaining weight be-
cause Bhaskar Khulbe,
his very special friend,
did not get an exten-
sion in the PMO. Name
of Dr Jagdeep Narayan
Singh to replace
Mishra is doing the
rounds. Dr. Singh re-
tired as Guj CS in No-
vember 2019. National
Security Advisor Ajit
Doval can also be sent
as the Governor of a
state, say sources.
WILL THE DELHI
MUNICIPAL
CORPORATION
ELECTIONS BE
POSTPONED?
Sources reveal that
the upcoming mu-
nicipal elections of
Delhi, which were to be
held on April 12, maybe
postponed for 6 months.
And on this issue, there
has been an agreement
between the two major
political parties of Del-
hi i.e. Bharatiya Janata
Party and Aam Aadmi
Party. But both these
parties have kept Con-
gress in the dark in
this matter. This was
first disclosed by Vijen-
dra Yadav, former dep-
uty chairman of Stand-
ing Committee. Yadav
says that “the three
corporations should be
united first, then elec-
tions can be held here
only after six months.”
Elections can be held
in the month of Sep-
tember. In this regard,
there is an important
meeting of the top BJP
leaders of Delhi on
March 12 in which a de-
cision can be taken to
postpone the elections.
...AND FINALLY
Petro diesel prices
in the country
have not increased in
the last three months,
but after the last phase
of the Uttar Pradesh
elections to be held on
March 7, there may be
an unexpected price
increase of Rs 10 to Rs
20 in the prices of pet-
rol and diesel. The Oil
companies and the
government can
blame it on the recent
Russia-Ukraine war.
The price of edible
oils has risen by about
15 percent as the Ada-
ni Wilmar Oil pro-
cures 60 percent of its
demand from Ukraine,
which is almost
doomed to bear the
brunt of war these
days.
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
BY TRIDIB
RAMAN
The author is a journalist
and political commentator
and views expressed are
his personal
JN Singh PK Mishra

LUCKNOW, SUNDAY,
MARCH 6, 2022
head of The Fash-
ion Connect season
11 to be held on
March 12 at Oaks
Ibn Battuta Gate
Hotel Dubai, City
First shares the ex-
clusive collection of one of
India’s foremost couturi-
ers, Suneet Varma. A name
that immortalizes glamour
and timeless style. Known
for his timeless creations,
the ace couturier has also
dressed many celebrities
— from Sonam Kapoor
and Deepika Padukone
to Jennifer Lopez and
Sarah Jessica Parker.
He will be showcasing
his exquisite crea-
tions at the grand
finale of The Fash-
ion Connect sea-
son 11 to be held
on March 12 at
Oaks Ibn Battuta
Gate Hotel Dubai!
The face of
differ-
ent lifestyle brands, Suneet
has helped create some of
the most iconic and luxuri-
ous identities in India.
Time and again, Suneet is
invited to style advertising
campaigns for the best
companies in India includ-
ing Airtel, Raymonds, The
Oberoi Group of Hotels and
various high-end jewellery
brands. Suneet has show-
cased his collection in the
famous Hammer Museum
in Beverly Hills in front of
renowned Hollywood direc-
tors, producers actors.
He has also bagged two Hol-
lywood films for costume
styling designing. He was
appointed to co-host the In-
dian launch of Omega
watches in 1999.
Admired for his enigmatic
work in India and the
world, Suneet has been
awarded the Designer
of the Year award
several times by the
Bollywood Fashion
Council in NYC.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
With Fashion Connect season 11 to be held on
March 12 at Oaks Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel Dubai,
just a week away, City First takes you on a
whirlwind tour of what all to watch out for the
top single day fashion event of India... starting
with grand finale designer Suneet Varma!
CONNECTING TO
FASHION
A
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Suneet Varma

10-11
ETC
irst India with it’s
one-day fashion show,
Fashion Connect cel-
ebrates Indian cul-
ture and ethos and
brings it to the world.
The Fashion Con-
nect has set the bar high
with the completion
of its very suc-
cessful previ-
ous seasons.
Fashion
Connect is grabbing all eyes
ahead of its Season 11 to be
held on March 12 at Oaks Ibn
Battuta Gate Hotel Dubai.
With the huge response and
netizens going gaga over the
exemplary lineup and digital
readiness, the first interna-
tional Fashion Connect scored
an amazing win over the fash-
ion industry.
For those who swear by the
charisma of fashion, any dis-
cussion on the topic is incom-
plete without the mention of
Mohit Falod. Talking about his
collection, Mohit said, “The re-
galia collection is purely in-
spired by nature and the
Rajputana array. We
have experimented
with a wide range of
jewels, including
polkas and semi-
precious stones.
There has been a
beautiful utilisation
of real gold and sil-
ver gotas and
threads, semi-
precious stones,
polkis, and tur-
quoise with an in-
terplay of fabrics.”
Sogani Jewellers
with their finest and
luxurious gold, platinum
silver jewellery collection pre-
senting every product meticu-
lously carved with natural cer-
tified diamonds and precious
gemstones are all set to en-
hance the beauty of the mod-
els.
While brands like Shades
and Sizzlin Scizzors, Paavaki
jewellers are official styling
partners and have been in
the industry for a while
now. Their expertise in-
cludes professionals who
are here to change the
way this industry func-
tions.
Shivayu Fashion Stu-
dio will be showcasing
traditional Indian wed-
ding attires with a touch
of the indigenous Dubai
fashion style.
Karigiri is the ultimate
fashion destination for the
modern woman who is al-
ways on the lookout for exqui-
sitely crafted designs. With
the aim of preserving the In-
dian heritage but with a mod-
ern lens and outlook.
Jaipur Dori, which is al-
ways categorized as a dynam-
ic one, where consumer pref-
erences surely rule the mar-
ket.
There is no denying that
Indian arts, crafts, and local
traditions are unparalleled
the world over, often inspir-
ing global fashion trends.
FASHION BLITZKRIEG
F
Oaks Ibn Batutta Gate Hotel, Dubai
The beautiful lobby of Oaks Ibn Batutta Gate Hotel, Dubai

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
CITY FIRST
R
eliance Indus-
tries Ltd. an-
nounced the
opening of the
country’s largest and
most prestigious multi-
faceted destination, the
Jio World Centre on
Saturday
.
The project is envi-
sioned by Nita Amba-
ni, Director of Reli-
ance Industries and
Founder-Chairperson
of Reliance Founda-
tion. The first-of-its-
kind destination in In-
dia, the Jio World Cen-
tre includes a cultural
centre, a musical foun-
tain, an upscale retail
experience, a curated
selection of cafés and
fine dining restau-
rants, serviced apart-
ments and offices, and
the state-of-the-art con-
vention facility
.
Sharing her vision
for the Centre, Nita
Ambani said, “Jio
World Centre is a trib-
ute to our glorious na-
tion and a reflection
of the aspirations of
New India. Jio World
Centre is envisioned
as Mumbai’s new
landmark, a point
where we come to-
gether to script the
next chapter of In-
dia’s growth story.”
the Dhirubhai Amba-
ni Square is a dedi-
cation to the be-
loved founder of
Reliance, Dhirub-
hai Ambani.
A celebration of
the spirit of the city,
it will be an iconic
new public space
where people share
joys and soak in
the colours and
sounds of Aamchi
Mumbai! I am de-
lighted to pay a special
tribute to teachers on
the opening night. Jio
World Convention
Centre is set to be In-
dia’s foremost venue
for distinguished
business and so-
cial events includ-
ing consumer
shows, conferences,
exhibitions, mega con-
certs, gala banquets
and weddings. The
multi-dimensional
venue sets global
benchmarks in India
with transformative
spaces, backed by
technology.
The opening of Jio World Centre, RIL calls it Mumbai’s ‘new landmark’
t’s no secret that being
a woman in the public
sector is difficult. Un-
derstanding your lim-
itations and discover-
ing your underlying
passion is something
that very few do... yet there
are those exceptional people
whomanagetoshinethrough
it all.
City First, had a conversa-
tion with one such woman,
Kanak Rekha Chauhan, the
founder-director for META-
PHOR The LucknowLitFest
and Secretary of Lucknow
Expressions.
How has your journey
been so far?
The journey hasn’t yet ar-
rived at its end, and while it
hasn’t been as pleasant as
one might want, any journey
worth undertaking
would be incom-
plete without its
trials, twists
and turns. My
family has
been my
most stead-
fast ally.
My hus-
band and
my chil-
d r e n
a r e
proud of everything I have
done in the previous ten
years and have always been
supportive in every way pos-
sible.
How has your experi-
ence been during your
project “Our Heritage,
Our Children” been?
“Our children’s herit-
age” has been one of my
most rewarding experi-
ences, considering I feel
there is a disconnect
between modern
schooling
a n d
the old
school culture. The
goal of this project
was to bring the
aforementioned el-
ements together.
While it was ex-
tremely reward-
ing, it could not be
continued for a long
time owing to time re-
strictions on both our and
the schools’ parts.
Are you satisfied with
what you have right now?
What do you plan to do in
the future?
Satisfaction is diffi-
cult to come by since there is
always something new I want
to attempt and something
that has to be fixed. However,
one goal that I continue to
pursue is to pique the inter-
est of children in reading. I
want to introduce children to
the written world, as well as
establish libraries and story-
telling programs for impov-
erished children.
Do you think art, litera-
ture, and culture leave a
mark on one’s personality?
How has it changed you
and the way you look at the
world?
The most effective tools for
healing the world are litera-
ture, culture, and art. It’s
both restorative and enlight-
ening.
Literature has aided my
understanding of mankind,
both its suffering and its joy
.
It has taught me to be kind,
above everything else.
Compassion, I believe, is
the most powerful interpreta-
tion of human
emotions, and
I place it
above reli-
gion.
BRING OUT YOUR
PASSION!!!
DEVANSHI MUDGAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
PASSION IS A
SOURCE OF
ENERGY. FEEL
THE STRENGTH
THAT COMES
FROM
FOCUSSING ON
YOUR PASSIONS.
I
BOOK LAUNCH
CITY FIRST
F
ICCI FLO Luc-
know organised a
Hindi Book
Launch of Divya
Dutta’s “Me and Maa”
along with a talk show
with the author and ac-
tress at Hotel Hyatt Re-
gency on Saturday
.
The veteran actress
has been honoured with
many Filmfare and Na-
tional Awards. Divya is
a diverse artist who has
garnered success as an
actor, writer, and poet.
After appearing in over
100 feature films in Hin-
di and Punjabi, Divya
tried her hand at com-
posing her first poem,
‘Jab Sab Ok Hoga Na,’
which received a lot of
attention.
The actress was in-
spired to write her de-
but novel, “Me and Ma,”
after losing her mother.
She mentioned that
this book took her on a
journey to her memo-
ries with her mother.
She also mentioned,
that she and her mother
shared a special parent-
child bond and that she
wanted to share details
of it with the world
through this book. Flow
Lucknow chapter chair-
person Aarushi Tandon
who was excited to
bring Divya to the city
for the unveiling of her
book said that “Great
art, be it visual arts, po-
etry, music, dance, act-
ing or any other crea-
tive work, they all in-
spire us. It is an honour
to have a versatile artist
among us who is not
only an outstanding ac-
tress but also a prolific
writer.”
THE NEW TOMORROW:
RENEWABLE ENERGY
CITY FIRST
I
nstitute of New and
Renewable Energy,
University of Luc-
know, signed a Mem-
orandum of Under-
standing with Jaypee
University of Engi-
neering and Tech-
nology, Guna,
Madhya Pradesh,
on 4 March. Profes-
sor Alok Kumar Rai,
Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Lucknow,
and Prof. JSP Rai, Vice-
Chancellor of Jaypee
University, signed the
MoU on behalf of their
respective universities.
The MoU’s main goals
include raising aware-
ness about renewable
energy and inform-
ing people about the
benefits of utilising it,
producing renewable
energy-powered equip-
ment, conducting skill
development pro-
grammes, and conduct-
ing research. In its first
phase, the process of
identification of Bud-
dha village in Lucknow
district will be complet-
ed by the end of March.
In the next phase, the
progressive farmers of
the village will be given
training in the opera-
tion and protection of
solar-powered water
pumps and street lights,
and other equipment
related to renewable
energy
.
Celebrating Life
CITY FIRST
A
miphoria the
annual cultur-
al festival was
organized by
Amity university this
year. The festival in-
cluded national level
participation which
included teams from
Delhi university. Stu-
dents of Lucknow Uni-
versity won the first
prize in Drama which
was based on the
theme, celebrating life
and woman empower-
ment. A group of stu-
dents from Lucknow
University ‘Adamya”
has consistently been
taking up socially sig-
nificant themes in-
cluding menstrual hy-
giene, violence against
women, covid protocol
awareness and preven-
tion of cruelty to-
wards animals. They
are also partners with
Govt of UP police pro-
grams on gender sen-
sitization. The group
has students from all
faculties, as part of
Azadi ka Amrit Ma-
hotsav.
A BETTER WAY OF
LIVELIHOOD
CITY FIRST
T
he 1st Mega Job
Fairwasorganised
by the Association
of Muslim Profes-
sionals, Islamic Centre of
India and Shaheen Acad-
emy on Saturday at the,
AishbaghEidbagh.There
wasamassiveresponseto
the Job Fair from the candidates.
Duetothelimitedresourcesavail-
able, many candidates were re-
quested to submit their resumes
onlineonAMP’sjobportal.Aamir
Edresy, President of AMP said,
“The main objective of AMP is to
provide educational employment
support to the youth of the coun-
try so they are empowered to con-
tribute to their families and the
society”
SPOTTED!
Superstar Sanjay Dutt
was spotted at Jaipur
International Airport
on Saturday.The actor
was in the town for
his upcoming film
‘Ghudchadi’, which is
a Bollywood drama
also starring Raveena
Tandon.The film also
features Khushalii
Kumar and Parth
Samthaan.
—PHOTO BY
MUKESH KIRADOO
Nita Ambani
Divya Dutta with FICCI Flo members
Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, Dr Mohd Amir Jamal and
Faisal Siddiqui with others during the inaugural ceremony
Alok Kumar Rai and JSP Rai
Kanak Rekha Chauhan

06032022 first india lucknow

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