06042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

CRUCIAL READ
SUPREME COURT
TO HEAR PIL
CHALLENGING
ELECTORAL BOND
SCHEME
New Delhi: Supreme
Court on Tuesday
agreed to list for
hearing a PIL chal-
lenging laws permit-
ting funding of po-
litical parties through
the electoral bond
scheme. A bench
comprising CJI N.V.
Ramana and Justices
Krishna Murari and
Hima Kohli took note
of the submissions
of lawyer Prashant
Bhushan.
GORAKHNATH TEMPLE ATTACK
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Central
agencies along with UP
Anti-Terrorist Squad
(ATS) and Special Task
Force (STF) have been
trying to unearth the
plot after taking into
police remand Ahmad
Murtaza Abbasi, who
attacked three police
personnel posted at the
main entrance of
Gorakhnath temple on
Sunday
.
On March 31, the In-
telligence Bureau (IB)
had provided profiles
of 16 people (dossiers)
whose activities were
suspect. The name of
Abbasi was in the list
and it was for this rea-
son two plainclothes
cops went to his Civil
Lines residence – Ab-
basi Nursing Home –
on April 2, a day before
the attack. But he was
not at his home. As
soon as he came to
know about the arrival
of cops, he scanned
them on CCTV camer-
as installed at his resi-
dence and later with-
out talking to any one
he disappeared.
Refusing to buy the
theory that Abbasi re-
sorted to attack on
highly sensitive Gora-
khnath Temple just be-
cause of his mental
disorder, the security
agencies, after recov-
ery of sensitive mate-
rial and map of the
temple from Abbasi’s
laptop, have veered
round to the view that
the youth was highly
radicalised during his
stay in Mumbai and
Jamnagar (Gujarat).
Also, in view of Ab-
basi’s movements on
the Indo-Nepal border,
the probe agencies have
indicated strong possi-
bility of activation of
“sleeper cell” of which
Abbasi could be active
member. “This could be
lone wolf activity by
terror forces”, com-
mented an intelligence
officer here. More on P3
100-DAY ACTION PLAN
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting at Lok Bhavan on Tuesday in which Chief Secretary DS Mishra made a
presentation of the govt’s 100-day action plan. Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, other ministers
and officials were present on the occasion.
Plot thickens as attacker’s ‘terror connections’ come to light
Abbasi was on UP Police radar after
IB’s alert on March 31, had been
travelling to Nepal border districts
UP ATS teams in 4 districts
Lucknow: The probe into the attack
has indicated that two persons from
Maharajganj on motorcycle had
dropped Abbasi outside the tem-
ple gate on Sunday evening. SSP
Gorakhpur Dr Vipin Tada said from
Abbasi’s laptop the probe agencies
have recovered videos and other
material connected with ISIS and
absconder Dr Zakir Naik. Abbasi
is learnt to have deleted all chats/
calls, numbers and other data before
committing the attack. His mobile
phone and laptop have been sent for
forensic check and recovery of data.
An ATS team also reached Ghazipur
to meet Abbasi’s first wife who had
divorced him because of his activi-
ties. A second team is in Jaunpur
where his second marriage has been
fixed. UP ATS teams have been sent
to Mumbai and Jamnagar where
Abbasi stayed during his education
and later service in an oil company
in Jamnagar. Abbasi’s Aadhar Card
has address of “Millenium Tower,
Sanpada, Navi Mumbai”.
UP Police officers at Taj Heights housing
society in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.
—PHOTO BY PTI
Ahmad Abbasi in police custody in Gorakhpur. —PHOTO BY PTI
LUCKNOW l WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 143
The ministry of information and broadcasting has blocked 22 YouTube channels,
18 Indian and 4 Pak-based, for “spreading disinformation related to India’s national
security, foreign relations and public order”, according to a press release. According
to the ministry, the combined viewership of these channels was over 260 crore. P5
IB MINISTRY
BLOCKS 22
YOUTUBE
CHANNELS
Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 430 points on Tuesday as
investors booked profits in banking and financial stocks after sharp gains in the
previous session. The 30-share BSE gauge ended 435.24 points or 0.72 per cent
lower at 60,176.50. Similarly, the NSE Nifty shed 96 points or 0.53 per cent to
close at 17,957.40.
SENSEX TUMBLES
OVER 430 PTS;
NIFTY SLIPS
BELOW 18,000
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/lucknow I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Imran ‘disobeyed’ Washington, says Russia
Moscow: Russia has
criticised the US for
making “another at-
tempt of shameless in-
terference” into the in-
ternal affairs of Paki-
stan and asserted that
Prime Minister Imran
Khan was paying the
price for being “disobe-
dient” to Washington
and being punished for
visiting Russia in Feb-
ruary this year.
Khan met Russian
President Vladimir Pu-
tin in the Kremlin on
February 24, the day the
Russian leader had or-
dered a “special mili-
tary operation” against
Ukraine. In doing so, he
had also become the
first Pakistani premier
to visit Russia in 23
years after former pre-
mier Nawaz Sharif trav-
elled to Moscow in 1999.
Shramdaan, Mahadaan:
Modi calls on BJP leaders
They killed entire
families: Zelenskyy New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday called on BJP
leaders and workers to
offer voluntary labour
(shram daan) to build
more and more ponds
in their areas ahead of
the summer months.
PM Modi gave this
call at a meeting of BJP
Parliamentary Party
held at Ambedkar
Bhavan on Tuesday at
which he gave direc-
tions to observe a Social
Justice Paksha Pakh-
wada (fortnight) from
April 7 to 20. PM Modi
stated that as the tem-
perature is rising con-
tinuously, the problem
of water may become
more prominent.
Kyiv: Addressing the
UNSC, on Tuesday,
Ukrainian President Vo-
lodymyr Zelenskyy
talked about the war
crimescommittedbythe
Russian forces, stating
that they killed entire
families and attempted
to burn their remains.
He further said that
some were shot in the
streets, while others
were thrown into wells,
slain in their homes, or
crushed by tanks while
driving their cars. “UN
needs to act immediate-
ly and its system must
be reformed quickly
. In
the Security Council, all
regions must have an
equal representation.
The Russian military
must be brought to jus-
tice,” he said.
Delhi government a hurdle in
development of 3 MCDs: Shah
New Delhi: The Rajya
Sabha on Tuesday
passedtheDMCAmend-
ment Bill, with voice
vote. The Bill seeks to
unify three municipal
corporations of Delhi
into a single entity
.
Meanwhile, alleging
that the Delhi govern-
ment’s step-motherly at-
titude has been hinder-
ing the efficient func-
tioning of the three
MCDs, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
Tuesday pointed out
that if states or union
territories deal with
civic bodies in such a
manner, it would stop
Panchayati Raj and ur-
ban local bodies from
gaining their targets.
Chd is ours
too: Haryana
Chandigarh: In an at-
tempt to counter the
resolution passed by
Punjab Vidhan Sabha
lastweekstakingaclaim
on Chandigarh, the Har-
yana Assembly Tuesday
unanimously passed a
resolution moved by
Chief MinisterManohar
LalKhattarduringaspe-
cial session of the As-
sembly convened Tues-
day
. The Khattar’s reso-
lution demanded that
the central government
shouldnottakeanysteps
that would disturb the
existing balance be-
tween the two states and
maintain harmony till
all the issues emanating
from the reorganisation
of Punjab are settled.
ED ATTACHES
`4.8 CR ASSETS OF
SATYENDAR JAIN
PM MODI TO VISIT
JK ON APRIL 24
The ED said Tuesday it
has provisionally attached
immovable properties
worth Rs 4.81 crore
belonging to companies
allegedly linked to Delhi
minister Satyendar Jain
and his relatives. The
attachments have been
made in connection with
a case of money launder-
ing the agency is probing
against the minister.
Jammu: PM Modi will
visit Jammu and Kashmir
on April 24 on his first visit
to the union territory after
the abrogation of Article
370. The PM will address
a conference of local body
representatives in Samba on
National Panchayati Raj Day
on April 24. Modi may also
meet representatives of the
Kashmiri Pandit community
during the visit.
PAK SC TO CONTINUE ‘NO-TRUST
MOTION’ HEARING ON WEDNESDAY
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday
sought the record of the proceedings of the Na-
tional Assembly conducted on the no-confidence
motion filed against Prime Minister Imran Khan
as it adjourned till Wednesday the hearing of the
high-profile case.
RAJAPAKSA LOSES
MAJORITY IN PARL
New Delhi: Sri Lankan
President Gotabaya Ra-
japaksa’s ruling coali-
tion lost its majority in
Parliament as proceed-
ings began Tuesday for
the first time since the
state of Emergency was
imposed. At least 41
lawmakers walked out
of the alliance amid
public anger against
the Rajapaksa family.
Earlier, President Raja-
paksa had asserted that
he won’t resign from his
position, however, he’s
ready to hand over the
government to whoever
proves the majority in
Parliament. While a
vote count is yet to be
taken, with the ruling
coalition in minority,
passing government
proposals may become
tough unless independ-
ent members support
them.
Tendering his resig-
nation a day after being
sworn in Finance Min-
ister Ali Sabry, who re-
placed the President’s
brother, Basil Raja-
paksa, said, “fresh, pro-
active and unconven-
tional steps” are needed
to navigate this unprec-
edented crisis.
Lankans agitating against the economic crisis in the country.
LANKAN SHARES SNAP 6-DAY
LOSING RUN, SETTLE 5.99% HIGHER
‘INDIA ON PATH OF LANKAN CRISIS: RAUT
Sri Lankan shares broke their six-day losing streak on
Tuesday. At the close of trade, the CSE All-Share index
settled 5.99% higher at 8,738.08 points. The equity
market turnover was 1.14 billion rupees ($3.86 million)
on Tuesday, compared with 1.97 billion rupees in the
previous session.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on
Tuesday called Sri Lanka’s situation
“worrisome” and cautioned that India
would be on the same path if the ris-
ing inflation is not tackled. Raut said,
“Sri Lanka’s condition is very worri-
some. India is on that path. We have
to handle it otherwise our condition
will be worse than Sri Lanka.”
Newly appointed FM Ali Sabry resigns

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
02
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DIFFERENT MOOD
CM Yogi Adityanath feeds jaggery to a cow at Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur on Tuesday.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The demand
to rechristen districts in
UPhascroppedupagain.
Within days of the in-
stallation of CM Yogi
Adityanath’ssecondgov-
ernment, a BJP Lok
Sabhamembershotoff a
lettertotheCMdemand-
ing that Farrukhabad
district be renamed
‘Panchal Nagar’.
This seems to have
startedaclamouramong
the BJP leaders, who
have followed suit and
petitioned the UP gov-
ernment with around a
dozen name-change pro-
posals of their respec-
tive districts. According
to sources, the districts
whose names have been
sought to be changed in-
clude Aligarh to Hari-
garh or Aryagarh, Far-
rukhabad to Panchal
Nagar, Sultanpur to
Kushbhawanpur, Bu-
daun to Ved Mau, Firoz-
abad to Chandra Nagar
and Shahjahanpur to
Shajipur.
Reports suggest that
after vetting the sugges-
tionsofficialconsenthas
beenarrivedattochange
the names of these six
distrcts and their name
change proposals with
historical evidence to
back the decision would
be tabled in the upcom-
ing assembly session.
Foremostamongthemis
Aligarh. In 2015, VHP
raised the demand to
change the name of this
city
. Even BJP and sup-
porting organisations
have started calling
Aligarh as Harigarh. On
August 6, 2021, the new
Naveli Panchayat Com-
mitteeof Aligarh,under
its new president Vijay
Singh, passed a resolu-
tion not only to change
the name but also to a
new name in the Vikas
Bhawan Auditorium.
Plans are afoot to name
it as Harigarh or
Aryagarh.
Farrukhabad MP
MukeshRajputhaswrit-
tenalettertoAdityanath
stating that this district
was the capital of
Draupadi’s father
Drupada Panchal state.
Hence its name should
be Panchal Nagar.
RESTORING LOST GLORY
lll
Official
consent has
been arrived
at to change
the names
of at least
six of the
12 distrcts
proposed
BJP vetting proposals to change names of a dozen dists
SULTANPUR TOO..
ELABORATEARRANGEMENTSFORGRAND
BJP FOUNDATION DAY CELEBRATIONS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The UP unit
of BJP is making elabo-
rate arrangements to
reach out to party work-
ers in every nook and
corner of the state with
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s address to
them on the occasion of
the party’s foundation
day on April 6.
Various programmes
will be held in all the
districts of the state in-
cludng the state party’s
headquarters in Luc-
know. Flag hoisting at
BJP state headquarters
will be done at 9 am. CM
Yogi Adityanath, BJP
state president Swatan-
tra Dev Singh will hoist
the flag, while Deputy
CM Keshav Prasad
Maurya and Brijesh
Pathak will be present.
Senior workers in-
cluding Organisation
General Secretary
Sunil Bansal will be in-
volved.
The party’s flag will
also be unfurled at sites
identified in every
‘mandal’, after which
party workers will take
out a ‘shobha yatra’
singing patriotic songs
and raising slogans.
They will carry plac-
ards mentioning gov-
ernment’s welfare
schemes. LED screens
will be installed on all
the divisions of the
state.
Party people will be
able to listen to PM
Modi even on digital
medium. FromWednes-
day to April 14, BJP will
celebrate Samarsata
week till the birth anni-
versary of BR Ambed-
kar. Blood donation
camp, cleanliness cam-
paign, fruit distribu-
tion in hospitals, health
test camp and drinking
water will be arranged.
All BJP workers will
put the party’s flag at
their homes. Ministers,
MPs, MLAs, party offi-
cials, front, cell officials
will be involved in dis-
trict programmes.
This will be the first
event for the state BJP
after its victory in the
assembly polls. The par-
ty’s foundation day
, first
of the six annual events
that the BJP celebrates
all over the country
, will
be a mega show this
year. Besides the foun-
dation day, the party
will also celebrate
Ambedkar Jayanti on
April 14 as ‘Samrasta
Diwas’ to highlight its
initiatives to achieve
social inclusion.
Yogi, Swatantra to hoist flag at BJP HQs today, progs lined up in every dist; PM to address workers
WEEK DEDICATED
TO SERVICE
The entire week
following the foun-
dation day will be
celebrated as ‘seva
saptah’. “We will
organise blood do-
nation camps, health
camps, plantation
drives and other pub-
lic welfare activities,”
a party functionary
said. Programmes
will be organised in
every ‘mandal’ of the
state BJP.
`25k reward on
arrest of Ansari’s
absconding aides
First India Bureau
Barabanki: The po-
lice have announced
rewardof Rs25,000on
arrest of two crimi-
nalsandcloseaidesof
mafia-turned-politi-
cianMukhtarAnsari.
The police had reg-
isteredcaseagainst13
persons under Gang-
ster Act into the mat-
ter of ambulance reg-
istered on fake docu-
ments, used by
Mukhtar during his
jail tenure in Punjab.
As many as 11 ac-
cused including
Mukhtar Ansari
were jailed into the
matter while two oth-
ers Mohammad Sha-
hid and Mohammad
Zafari were still on
the run.
Earlier, police had
arrested BJP leader
Dr Alka Rai and her
brother Sheshnath
Rai in connection
withtheMukhtarAn-
sari Ambulance case.
Rai was earlier in jail
for about 8 months
and was recently re-
leased from jail. Now,
she has been arrested
againundertheGang-
ster Act along with
her brother.
Also, accused
AnandYadavandMo-
hammad Suhaib Mu-
zahid had surren-
deredincourtintothe
matter.
Mukhtar Ansari
GrNoidafarmlandacquisition
rate raised by `250 /sqm
Noida (PTI): The
Greater Noida Indus-
trial Development Au-
thority (GNIDA) on
Tuesday said it has in-
creased the minimum
rate for buying farm
land from Rs 3,500 per
square metre to Rs 3,750
per sq metre with effect
from April 1.
The decision, an-
nounced after the 126th
board meeting of GNI-
DA held in Greater Noi-
da on Tuesday, would
benefit thousands of
land owners in the vil-
lages falling under its
notified area, it said.
There are nearly 300
villages that fall in the
notified area of GNIDA,
which was formed in
1991 and functions un-
der the UP infrastruc-
ture and industries de-
partment.
“In the board meet-
ing chaired by GNIDA
chairman and UP In-
dustrial Development
Commissioner Sanjeev
Mittal, a proposal was
made by GNIDA CEO
Narendra Bhooshan to
increase the purchase
price for buying land
directly from farmers,”
a statement said.
“The board accepted
it and increased the
purchase price by Rs
250 per square metre
from Rs 3,500 per
square metre to Rs
3,750 per square
metre,” it added.
The purchase price
for buying land directly
from farmers in villag-
es under the GNIDA
was fixed at Rs 3,500 per
square metre in 2016.
Bhooshan said the
interest of investors for
industrial investments
in Greater Noida is in-
creasing rapidly with
companies from not
only within the country
but also from overseas
asking for land for set-
ting up industries.
“The GNIDA is try-
ing to develop indus-
trial sectors by buying
land from farmers,
so that industrial in-
vestment can increase
further and employ-
ment opportunities can
be created for the youth.
From April 1, 2022,
it has been decided to
buy land from farmers
at the new rate,” he
added.
`350-CR FOR JEWAR AIRPORT 2ND PHASE
Noida: The Greater Noida Industrial Development
Authority (GNIDA) on Tuesday said it has allocated Rs
350 crore from its 2022-23 budget for the upcoming
Noida International Airport’s second phase. The an-
nouncement was made after the 126th board meeting
of its Greater Noida office under the chairmanship of
UP Industrial Development Commissioner Sanjeev
Mittal and GNIDA CEO Narendra Bhooshan. The
announcement came a day after the Noida Authority
announced an expenditure of Rs 756 crore for the
mega Greenfield airport in 2022-23 fiscal following its
board meeting on Monday.
Criminal surrenders with
‘Don’t shoot me’ placard
First India Bureau
Varanasi: Due to fear
of encounter, accused
of a loot incident at BP
Petrol pump, reached
Alinagar police station
to surrender. The ac-
cused had a board in his
hand with “Don’t shoot
me” written on it.
Police said Rs 65,000
was looted at BP petrol
pump near Bhikhipur
Gaur village on March
30 and notorious crimi-
nal Ashish Vishwakar-
ma was prime accused
of the loot. Also, reward
of Rs 25,000 announced
on his arrest.
Police had arrested
another criminal in-
volved in loot bid on
Friday and a country-
made pistol along with
cartages were recov-
ered from him.
Sanjay Kumar Singh,
sub-inspector Mirza-
murad police station
here said that police
team was vigorously
searching for criminals
involved in loot inci-
dent. One accused
Dinesh Sonkar was ar-
rested near Bilarideeh
village in Chandauli
district.
New dimension to Namami Gange project
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Keeping up
with their promise of
making the rivers of
Uttar Pradesh clean,
the Yogi Government
2.0 has announced to
introduce several new
dimensions to their
ambitious Namami
Gange project.
The government
has planned to revive
the extinct wells and
convert them into re-
charging wells, and at
the same time, to
bring to life the ponds
and establish village
forests on their banks.
The plan also includes
rejuvenating 19 of the
22 tributaries of the
Gomti river that have
dried up.
Social and govern-
ment organisations
like Lok Bharti and
Nehru Yuva Kendra
have come together to
launch a campaign to
make people aware
and revive the rivers.
This campaign is
scheduled to start on
April 6 across the state
and will last up until
May 3.
Multiple organisa-
tions will work togeth-
er to make these things
accessible to the people
through awareness.
Not only this, a cam-
paign to plant Peepal,
Banyan, Pakar, Syca-
more and Mango trees
on the banks of the riv-
ers will also take place.
To maintain the ex-
tinct wells and convert
them into recharging
wells, arrangements
will be made to clean
the wells and redirect
the rainwater inside
them.
CAMPAIGN STARTS
BJP MLA
Sangeet Som
surrenders
Muzaffarnagar (PTI):
Former BJP MLA San-
git Som on Tuesday sur-
rendered before a court
here after a non-bailable
warrant was issued
against him for not ap-
pearing in court in con-
nection with a case of
blocking a road in 2009.
Civil Judge Senior Di-
vision Mayank Jaiswal
quashed the non-baila-
blewarrantagainstSom
and fixed April 22
for further hearing in
the case.
After Som’s surren-
der, his lawyer filed an
application to quash the
warrant.
—PHOTO BY PTI

UTTAR PRADESH
03
CRUCIAL READ
Lucknow: ACS MSME Navneet Sehgal said under
the Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana 1,43,412
artisans of various trades have benefitted. He add-
ed that loans amounting to `372 crore have been
66,300 artisans by linking them with the Mudra
scheme. He further said the Yojana was being
run from December 26, 2018 to help traditional
artisans like carpenters, tailors, basket weavers,
barbers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, potters, confec-
tioners, cobblers, masons and craftsmen in urban
and rural areas to make their small business grow
into a larger one.
ADC CHIRANJEEV
SINHA ADOPTS
AMINABAD SCHOOL
Lucknow: CM Yogi Adi-
tyanath has urged all of-
ficers to adopt a school
under the “School Chalo
Abhiyan”. Under these
directives, Chiranjeev
Nath Sinha, ADC (West),
Lucknow Commissioner-
ate, on Tuesday adopted
Basic Primary School
Aminabad Nagar Area-3
and gave notebooks,
drawing books and
other stationary to the
students in the school.
The IPS officer also took
a class, encouraged
the students to come
to school daily, and
instructed the officials to
ensure that all necessary
resources are available in
the school at all times.
STATE GOVT HIKES
DAILY WAGES OF
SANITATION STAFF
Lucknow: AK Sharma,
Urban Development,
Urban Employment
and Poverty Alleviation
Minister, on Tuesday
said the government
had increased daily
wages of sanitation
workers employed
in urban local bodies
through outsourcing/
contracting by about
10%. He said these
workers will now get
` 366.54 per day
rather than ` 336.85
they were receiving.
He further said this
increase meant that
these workers will now
receive `9,530 per
month instead of
` 8,758.
‘LOANS OF `372-CR GIVEN TO 66,300
ARTISANS UNDER MUDRA SCHEME’
GORAKHNATH
TEMPLE ATTACK
High alert in Uttar Pradesh,
security beefed up at govt
buildings in state capital
ATTACKER’S NAME FIGURED IN LIST OF 16 GIVEN BY IB
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The state
government, while
strengthening security
in Ayodhya, Varanasi,
Mathura and other sen-
sitiveplaces,onTuesday
sounded high alert all
over the state after a
failedattemptbyayouth
who had attacked three
police personnel posted
on main entrance of Go-
rakhnath temple in Gor-
akhpuronSunday
.Tight
security has been put in
place around the state
secretariate and all gov-
ernment buildings in
Lucknow.
Even as the state gov-
ernment did not rule out
the possibility of
high-levelconspiracy
,in-
volving terrorists, who
are reportedly active on
Indo-Nepal border, the
central agencies, UP An-
ti-Terrorists Squad
(ATS)andSTFhavebeen
trying to unearth the
plotaftertaking accused
Ahmad Murtaza Abbasi
into police remand.
The youth was on ra-
dar as two plainclothes
security men in his
search had visited his
CivilLinesresidence-Ab-
basi Nursing Home- on
April 2 -a day before at-
tack. But he was not at
his home. As soon as he
came to know about the
arrival of cops, he
scanned them on CCTV
cameras installed at his
residence and later
without talking to any
one he disappeared.
According to infor-
mation on March 31 the
Intelligence Bureau (IB)
had provided profiles of
16 people (dossiers)
whose activities was
suspected. The name of
Abbasi was in the list
and it was for this rea-
son two plainclothes
cops went to his resi-
dence on April 2.
In view of highly sus-
picious literature recov-
ered from the laptop of
the accused and his
movements on the In-
do-Nepal border the
probe agencies have in-
dicated strong possibili-
ty of activation of
“sleeper cell” of which
Abbasi could be active
member. “This could be
lone wolf activity by ter-
ror forces”, commented
an intelligence officer
here today
. However, the
probe agencies, who
have now taken Abbasi
into remand, are hoping
to get to the roots of ter-
ror network in East UP
which has close geo-
graphical proximity
with Nepal.
Refusing to buy the
theory that Murtaza re-
sorted to the attack just
because of his mental
disorder, the security
agencies, after recovery
of sensitive material
and map of the temple,
have veered round to the
view that the youth was
highly radicalized
during his stay in Mum-
bai and Jamnagar.
ABBASI MIGHT HAVE VISITED
MADRASAS ON NEPAL BORDER
Apart from his frequent visits to neighbouring
Maharajganj and Sidhdharth Nagar districts, secu-
rity agencies have also tracked down his movement
to various places in Nepal. Sources said his location
was also found on Indo-Nepla border on April 1 from
where he bought two knives used in attack. Thus, the
ATS has picked up two of his accomplices from Ma-
harajganj and the people connected with the Madar-
sas in the two districts are being interrogated. Abbasi
had told the police about his visits to Maharajganj
Madarsas. The probe agencies have also not ruled
out possibility of his visits to Madarsas on Nepal
border which are considered highly sensitive.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the scene of the attack at
Gorakhnath Temple.
Deputy Chief
Minister and Health
Minister Brijesh
Pathak arrived
on a surprise
inspection of KGMU
in Lucknow in
Tuesday.
—PHOTO BY
SUMIT KUMAR
6 men with Abbasi
connection in custody
for interrogation
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Nearly
half a dozen people in
Gorakhpur have tak-
en into custody for
interrogation in con-
nectionwithattackon
Gorakhnath temple
by Ahmad Murtaza
Abbasi.TheATSteam
have also been sent to
Mumbai and Jamna-
gar where he stayed
during his education
andlaterserviceinan
oil company in Jam-
nagar (Gujarat) to
track down his con-
nection. The official
said Abbasi’s father
Munir Ahmad Abba-
si,whowaslegaladvi-
sor in a private firm
in Mumbai had come
backafterretirement.
Abbasi’sAadharCard
has address of Navi
Mumbai.
Probe indicated
that two persons from
Maharajganj on mo-
torcycle had dropped
Abbasi outside the
temple gate on Sun-
day evening where he
attacked three cops
with knives. Abbasi,
who had completed
hisBTech(chemicals)
from IIT Mumbai in
2015 and later shifted
to Jamnagar for job.
Sourcessaidhewas
“radicalised” during
his stay in Jamnagar.
He left job in 2016.
SSPGorakhpurVipin
Tada said informa-
tion gathered from
various sources were
being crossed
checked. From his
laptop the probe
agencies have recov-
ered videos and other
material connected
with ISIS and ab-
sconder Zakir Naik
whohasbeenaccused
of promoting terror
activities during his
religious sermons in
India.
Ballia(PTI): After a
video of a man carrying
his wife on a cart to a
hospital in Uttar
Pradesh’s Ballia went
viral on social media,
Deputy CM a probe into
the matter, officials said
on Tuesday
.
The incident took
place in Andaur village
of the district, they said.
In the video, Sakul
Prajapati, a resident of
the village in Chilkhar
block was seen carrying
his ailing wife Jogni (55)
to the hospital on a cart.
Chief Medical Officer
Neeraj Pandey said the
deputy CM has ordered
the director general of
medical and health to
probe the matter.
On March 28, Prajapa-
ti took his wife to a
health centre -- three ki-
lometres away from his
house -- on the cart as he
wasunabletofindaride.
The doctors there gave
some medicines and re-
ferred his wife to the dis-
trict hospital, he said.
He left his wife on the
cart at Piyaria village
and returned home to
take clothes and money
and then took her to the
hospitalonamini-truck,
he said.
His wife died during
treatment in the hospi-
tal, according to police.
Prajapati claimed the
death took place at
around 11 pm and the
hospital refused to pro-
vide an ambulance to
take the body home, say-
ing the service was not
available at night. He
then hired a private am-
bulance for Rs 1,100.
First India Bureau
Agra: Sensation spread
in Etmadpur police sta-
tion area here on Tues-
day morning after a
girl’s body was found
locked in a plastic sack.
The body was com-
pletely decomposed.
According to the police,
this body could be nine
to ten days old. The
identity of the de-
ceased could notbe es-
tablished. Police have
taken the body in pos-
session and sent it for
post-mortem.
On Tuesday, Etmad-
pur police station got
information that the
body was lying in a
plastic sack on Barhan
Marg arrived on the
spot. The police said
the girl’s body was half
in the sack, half out-
side of it. The age of
the girl is said to be
around 25 years. The
girl was wearing a red
lehenga and white top,
with a check dupatta
around her neck. Along
with this, the girl was
also wearing green
bangles. The villagers
told that the body had
been thrown here last
night because if it had
been here before that, it
would have definitely
come to the notice of
someone.
The police sent the
girl’s body for post-mor-
tem and the reason for
the murder is not clear.
New Delhi(PTI): The
Press Club of India
(PCI) on Tuesday con-
demned the arrest of
three journalists in Ut-
tar Pradesh’s Ballia dis-
trict in connection with
a class 12 examination
paper leak case, alleg-
ing that police made
them the accused while
they had “exposed” the
paper leak.
The PCI demanded
immediate release of
the three Ballia-based
journalists.
Last week, police ar-
rested three journalists
— Ajit Ojha, Digvijay
Singh and Manoj Gupta-
-along with others in
Ballia for their alleged
roles in the leakage of
the question paper of
theUttarPradeshschool
examination board.
Arrest of the three
scribes in connection
with the case evoked
an outrage among lo-
cal journalists who
staged protests against
police and the district
administration in Bal-
lia on April 2, demand-
ing their immediate
release.
The PCI lashed out at
the UP government
over the arrest of the
three scribes and
called the police action
arbitrary.
“It is highly condem-
nable on the part of
Ballia district adminis-
tration to arbitrarily
arrest those Bal-
lia-based journalists
who had exposed the
leak of 12th exam pa-
per. It is just akin to a
case of kettle calling
the pot black,” it said,
demanding “immediate
release” of the scribes
Of late, it has been
observed that the UP
government is going
hammer and tongs “to
threaten and actually
arrest those mediaper-
sons who don’t toe the
line of the government
thinking over the issues
of policy measures,”
the PCI charged.
Man carries wife to hospital
on cart, DyCM orders probe
AKHILESH’S JIBE
3 killed, 30 injured as bus
overturns on Lko-Gkp NH
PCI deplores arrest of scribes in UP paper leak case
Ayodhya (PTI):
Three people were
killed and 30 others
injured when a dou-
ble-decker bus over-
turned on Luc-
know-Gorakhpur na-
tional highway Tues-
day morning while
trying to overtake an-
other vehicle, police
said.
The accident took
place at around 7 am
when Basti and Sid-
dharthnagar bound
private bus coming
from Delhi over-
turned on the high-
way near Mumtaz
Nagar area under
Cantonment police
station, they said.
All the injured have
been brought to the
Faizabad District hos-
pital, while 12 are ad-
mitted and the rest of
them were discharged
after first-aid, the po-
lice said.
Among those who
died included Ramesh
(35), a resident of Sid-
dharthnagar and two
unidentified persons.
Efforts are on to
identify the two de-
ceased, said Arun
Pratap Singh, SHO
Cantonment Police
station.
Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has con-
doled the death of
three people.
Expressing condo-
lences to the bereaved
families, he directed
speedy relief and res-
cue efforts by sending
the District Magis-
trate and SSP to the
spot immediately
.
Lucknow: In a move to protect bank customers
against large value cheque frauds, Punjab National
Bank (PNB) to make Pos-
itive Pay System (PPS)
mandatoryforthecheque
of Rs 10 lakh and above
from April 4, 2022. As per
the Positive Pay System
(PPS) developed by the
National Payments Cor-
poration of India (NPCI), a customer issuing the
high-value cheque has to reconfirm some essential
details, which are cross-checked while presenting
the cheque in clearing before payment.
‘SYCOPHANT POLICE’
“... the sycophant and
more-than-eager UP
Police and bureaucrats
don’t waste time in arrest-
ing mediapersons at the
first-available opportunity
to please powers-that-be,”
the PCI added.
The ill-fated bus after the accident near Ayodhya.
ONE DEAD, 36 INJURED AS MATADOR
OVERTURNS IN FIROZABAD
Firozabad: One person was killed and three dozen
injured when a matador overturned near Nagla
Harishchandra village in Tundla area here, the police
said Tuesday. The injured, including 14 children were
rushed to a hospital where condition of three is stated
to be critical. Tundla Circle officer Abhishek Srivas-
tava said, the accident took place on Monday night
when a matador carrying people from Etah over-
turned while returning. The passengers had come
here to pay obeisance at a Vaishno Devi temple.
Decomposed body
of girl found in sack
PNB mandates verification
of high-value cheques

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PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 143 l 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 Lucknow.
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
he Union gov-
ernment has re-
ignited the dec-
ades-old dispute
over Chandi-
garh by notifying Central
Service Rules for the Union
territory (UT) instead of the
Punjab Service Rules. This
intervention by the Central
government, like the way it
has been doing in Delhi, is
whathasirkedthefirstAam
AadmiPartygovernmentof
Punjab. It moved a resolu-
tionintheAssemblyremind-
ing the Centre of the Punjab
Reorganisation Act of 1966
throughwhichthestatereor-
ganisedintoHaryana,UTof
Chandigarh and parts of it
going to the then UT of
Himachal Pradesh. Centre,
the resolution said, was in-
tervening in administration
toupsetthebalancethatwas
maintained for assets like
Bhakra Beas Management
Board (BBMB). The BBMB
vacancies that were earlier
filledupbyPunjabandHary-
ana officers in 60:40 ratio,
havenowbeenopenedbythe
Centre for officers of all
states, including those from
Central government.
As Punjab wants the
whole of Chandigarh as
part of the state, Haryana
is opposing the move. It has
raised the contentious is-
sue of transfer of Hindi
speaking areas from Pun-
jab. Punjab’s resolution is
silent on that. Selja Kumari
of the Congress said that
transfer of Hindi-speaking
villagesandSutlej-Yamuna
Link Canal have to be dis-
cussed together.
Punjabresolutionpassed
at a special session of the
Assembly and Chief Minis-
terBhagwantMann’sthreat
of protests from “street to
Parliament”ismeaningless
as there is no backing off in
the Central government’s
lexicon, with the farm laws
being the only exception.
Litigation also won’t
help as boundary issues
have never been easy to re-
solve for courts.
CHANDIGARH
ROW IS ONLY
FOR PUBLIC
As Punjab wants the whole of Chandigarh as part
of the state, Haryana is opposing the move. It has
raised the contentious issue of transfer of Hindi speaking
areas from Punjab. Punjab’s resolution is silent on that.
Selja Kumari of the Congress said that transfer of
Hindi-speaking villages and Sutlej-Yamuna Link
Canal have to be discussed together
T
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
It was a pleasure meeting Australian
PM’s Special Trade Envoy for India
@HonTonyAbbott in Melbourne. He
has played a key role in realising the
#IndAusECTA. Discussed how both
countries can build on this deal to
increase supply chain resilience in
the Indo-Pacific region.
Nitin Gadkari @nitin_gadkari
Construction of the very important
Dimapur Bypass in Nagaland is
ongoing and scheduled to be
completed soon. This 35 km bypass
is a Greenfield Alignment which will
connect NH-36 and NH-39 avoiding
the heavily congested Dimapur town.
#PragatiKaHighway #GatiShakti
TOP TWEETS
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
A person can rise through the efforts of his own
mind; or draw himself down, in the same manner.
Because each person is his own friend or enemy.
—Bhagavad Gita
MATUAS: ‘NEGLECTED’ BUT BEING
WOOED FOR POLITICAL GAINS
Whatever be the cause,
the Matuas... today are a
bewildered lot and they
quite rightfully believe
that their political
demand is not being
addressed by anyone...
even as every party is
playing the charmers’
role to earn brownie
points from the sect. The
Modi government’s
failure to frame and
notify the rules of the
Citizenship (Amendment)
Act seems to have cost the
BJP dearly in the West
Bengal Assembly elections,
with the Trinamool
Congress getting the
better of the saffron
party in seats dominated
by the Matuas
orthelastfewyearsinWest
Bengal politics, the Matua
factor has been worrying
all major parties... and
which way they go is the
cynosure of all eyes... how-
ever,nonearetakingchanc-
es as far as wooing the com-
munity is concerned!
If CM has announced a
state holiday for the birth
anniversary of the founder
of the sect, in a late-night
virtual address, the PM ad-
dressed them with his best
wishes. Understandably,
the Union minister from
the community, Shantanu
Thakur had said... what-
ever political parties do...
as long as it benefits or up-
lifts the stature of the com-
munity it is ok.
Let’s try to understand
why the Matuas are impor-
tant for political parties.
Matuaisasectthatbelongs
to the Namasudra caste.
The Matuas came to WB
from Bangladesh after Par-
tition as refugees. Matua
Mahasangha is an umbrel-
la organisation that was
formed through religious
reforms. The Mahasangha
was established by
Harichand Thakur in the
mid-19th Century
. Howev-
er, the movement of this
sect became popular under
the leadership of Guru-
chandThakur,Harichand’s
son. Harichand preached
love, tolerance, gender
equality and non-distinc-
tion irrespective of caste,
class and creed. After Par-
tition, thousands of Matu-
as crossed over to WB, and
Harichand’s grandson
Pramatha Ranjan Thakur
set up the sect’s headquar-
ters at Thakurnagar in
North 24 Parganas district,
West Bengal.
Initially
, the Matuas had
sided with the Congress
Bengal but they gradually
drifted away to the Left
camp since 1977. However,
after several heartburns
between the sect members
and the Left leaders, the
Front was not willing to
provide them with citizen-
ship and land rights, how-
ever, in 2010... Late Boro
Ma, the matriarch of the
Matua Mahasangha, had
switched over to the TMC.
Till 2019, the communi-
ty was entirely with
Mamata Banerjee’s TMC.
The scenario was “des-
tined” to change, however,
with the demise of Boro
Ma as the family was verti-
cally divided in this re-
spect. If of her sons stayed
with TMC, the other (son)
and his family sided with
the BJP. Geographically,
Bengal shares a huge bor-
der area with Bangladesh
and has a huge number of
voters who belong to the
kin of refugees and hence
their votes mean a lot to
any party in West Bengal
incidentally, Matuas are
the largest section of Hin-
du refugees, therefore,
they play a vital role in the
husting.
In the 2014 LS and 2016
assembly elections, largely
due to the blessings of the
lateBinapaniDeviThakur,
the TMC ruled the area
with Matua support. The
winds changed and the
fluttering of the Saffron
flag in the 2019 parliamen-
tary polls was a matter of
fact... but the political acu-
men of Mamata helped the
TMC to regain some lost
ground in Matua-dominat-
ed areas thereafter.
The Namasudras form
one of the largest chunks
of SCs in Bengal, compris-
ing 17.4% of the popula-
tion, behind Rajbanshis
(18.4%), according to the
2001 Census information.
The BJP has been wooing
the Namasudras heavily
(with the Matuas its big-
gest group), together total-
ling about 1.5 crore voters,
with presence in at least 42
Assembly seats spread
across North 24 Parganas,
Nadia and some parts of
North Bengal.
In the 2019 LS polls...the
BJP led in 33 of the total
68 SC-reserved Assembly
segments in the state. Of
these 33 seats, 26 are Mat-
ua-dominated. The Trina-
mool led in 34 segments
while the Congress and
Left in only three. In 26 As-
sembly seats in North 24
Parganas and Nadia dis-
tricts where Matuas have
a dominating presence,
the BJP won 14 seats in
the 2021 crucial Assembly
polls while the TMC
bagged 12. In 2019, the BJP
led in all 26 Matua-domi-
nated seats in these two
districts.
It is obvious that if the
Dalits do not get proper
representation in any po-
litical party, it will be an
irritating factor for them.
However, in a bid to pacify
them, Senior BJP leader
BL Santhosh and Bengal
BJP chief Sukanta Ma-
jumdar have already spo-
ken to Shantanu Thakur.
Also to make matters
worse for the BJP... Mama-
ta Banerjee had taken sev-
eral important steps to aid
the community and uplift
their lives... following
such beneficial schemes...
a good number of people
from the sect have started
also showing a leaning to-
wards the TMC.
THE CAA
HEARTBURN
The community has been
demanding the amend-
ment of the Citizenship
Act, 2003, for a long time.
The Matuas believe that
the provisions of the Citi-
zenship Act of 2003 had
made it difficult for them
to get citizenship. Mean-
while, after the communi-
ty supported the BJP dur-
ing the crucial 2019 Lok
Sabha elections, the party
in the same year brought
the controversial CAA.
The community believed
that after the implementa-
tion of CAA they will get
their citizenship.
The Mahasangh has
been fighting for citizen-
ship for the past 20 years.
After the CAA was
brought...peopleof thesect
werehopefulof gettingciti-
zenship. People of the sect
areinafixoverthefactthat
since the TMC has already
declared that they will not
implementtheCAAandthe
current silence of the Cen-
treontheissuemightagain
sweep the matter under the
carpet.
With their original de-
mand of implementing
CAA put on the back burn-
er, the BJP lost quite a
ground to the TMC in the
Assembly election. How-
ever, no party is leaving
any stone unturned in
their bid to woo the sect,
which can easily turn the
political tide of any party
if it comes together.
THE PRICKLY
CAA ISSUE
The citizenship screening
drive in Assam through
the NRCitizens triggered
panic among the Matuas
and the BJP’s promise for
protection against such
probable citizenship
screening exercise in West
Bengal won them their
(Matuas) confidence.
While the TMC had for-
mally opposed the CAA,
the party also launched a
campaign from the end of
2020 asking why the Centre
was not being able to frame
the Rules for the CAA even
a year after its passage by
the Parliament. It was be-
cause the Rules would fur-
ther complicate matters
for the Matuas, the TMC
alleged, while Union home
minister Amit Shah attrib-
uted the delay to the gov-
ernment’s preoccupation
with handling the Covid-19
pandemic.
Whatever be the cause,
the Matuas... today are a
bewildered lot and they
quite rightfully believe
that their political demand
is not being addressed by
anyone... even as every
partyisplayingthecharm-
ers’ role to earn brownie
points from the sect.
The Modi government’s
failure to frame and notify
the rules of the Citizen-
ship (Amendment) Act
seems to have cost the BJP
dearly in the West Bengal
Assembly elections, with
the Trinamool Congress
getting the better of the
saffron party in seats dom-
inated by the Matuas.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
F
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India
Matua is a sect that
belongs to the
Namasudra caste.
The Matuas came to
WB from Bangladesh
after Partition as
refugees. Matua
Mahasangha is an
umbrella
organisation that
was formed through
religious reforms.
The Mahasangha was
established by
Harichand Thakur in
the mid-19th Century
‘CLARIFY THE CENTRE’S STAND OVER
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CAA IN WB’
hantanu Thakur, BJP MP from Bongaon even urged
Union home minister Amit Shah to clarify the Centre’s
stand over the implementation of CAA in the state.
Thakur, who won the (Bongaon) seat riding the crest of sup-
port for the BJP’s ‘citizenship promise’ to the Matua com-
munity, seems to be in a spot following the
fact that the joint president of the All In-
dia Matua Mahasangha has been miss-
ing from the political meetings of the
BJP in recent months! For some time
now, representatives of the commu-
nity have gone on an attacking mode
against the West Bengal unit of the BJP.
SHANTANU THAKUR also criticised the
Saffron party’s state unit. The leaders of
the community are aggrieved over the fact
that the state committee of the BJP has
not given representation to the
Matuas.
S

INDIA
05
ED SEIZES ASSETS LINKED
TO SENA’S SANJAY RAUT
New Delhi (ANI): The
Enforcement Directo-
rateonTuesdayattached
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay
Raut’s properties in con-
nectionwith`1,034crore
Patra Chawl land scam
case, the law enforce-
ment agency said.
The properties at-
tached include Raut’s
Alibaug plot and one
flat in Dadar, Mumbai.
Speaking to reporters
on Tuesday
, Raut said, “I
am not the one who will
getscared.Seizemyprop-
erty
,shootme,orsendme
tojail,SanjayRautisBala-
saheb Thackeray’s fol-
lower and a Shiv Sainik.”
“I will fight and ex-
pose everyone. I am not
the one to stay quiet, let
them dance. The truth
will prevail,” he said.
In a tweet on Tuesday
afternoon, the Sena MP
said, “Satyameva Jayate
(truth alone triumphs)”.
Earlier, on March 25
Raut had lashed out
against the Centre al-
leging that there is a
nexus between the Cen-
tral agencies and the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) to defame the Ma-
harashtra government.
These developments
come against the back-
drop of the Brihanmum-
bai Municipal Corpora-
tion (BMC) elections slat-
ed to be held this year.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said he will fight and expose everyone. —FILE PHOTO
AM I VIJAY MALLYA: SENA’S SANJAY
RAUT AFTER SEIZURE OF PROPERTY
Mumbai: Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, furious over the
Enforcement Directorate’s move to attach his properties in
connection with the `1,034 crore Patra Chawl land scam
case, on Tuesday mocked the agency, questioning if they
considered him equal to fugitive tycoons like Vijay Mallya
and Nirav Modi. The action against him, he said, started
after people pressured him to bring down the Maharashtra
government. Asserting that this has been going on for two
years, Raut told the media on Tuesday that he had already
informed the Rajya Sabha chairman about the matter.
Govt blocks 22 YT channels
over nat’l security concerns
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Information
Broadcasting has
blocked 22 YouTube
channels for allegedly
spreading disinforma-
tion related to India’s
national security and
foreign relations. These
include 18 Indian You-
Tube news channels
that have been blocked
for the first time under
IT Rules, 2021, and four
Pakistan-based You-
Tube news channels.
In an order issued on
Monday, the Ministry
said these YouTube
channels used logos of
TV news channels and
false thumbnails to mis-
lead viewers.
In addition, three
Twitter accounts, one
Facebook account, and
one news website were
also blocked.
“Thesechannelswere
involved in spreading
misinformation impact-
ing India’s sovereignty,
national security rela-
tions with other coun-
tries. They were spread-
ing fake news about the
pandemic Russia-
Ukraine crisis. We
won’t shy away from
taking such action in
future,” Union IB Min-
ister Anurag Thakur
said on Tuesday
.
“The Ministry of In-
formation Broadcast-
ing, utilizing the emer-
gency powers under the
IT Rules, 2021, has is-
sued orders on
04.04.2022 for blocking
of twenty-two (22) You-
Tube based news chan-
nels, three (3) Twitter
accounts, one (1) Face-
book account, and one
(1) news website. The
blocked YouTube chan-
nels had a cumulative
viewership of over 260
crore, and were used to
spread fake news, and
coordinated disinfor-
mation over social me-
dia on subjects sensi-
tive from the perspec-
tive of national securi-
ty, India’s foreign rela-
tions, and public order,”
the ministry said in a
statement.
Cong leader
who criticised
Gandhis sacked
as TN spox
Chennai (Agencies):
A Congress spokesper-
son has been sacked in
Tamil Nadu after he
suggested that Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra should
step aside to “save the
Congress”.
Americai V Naray-
anan, a member of the
All India Congress
Committee (AICC), also
said the party’s alums
like Mamata Banerjee,
Jagan Mohan Reddy
and K Chandrasekhara
Rao should return and
restore people’s confi-
dence in the Congress.
“To build the confi-
dence of the people of
India, bring in ex Con-
gress leaders who have
proven track record –
like Mamata Banerjee,
Jagan Mohan Reddy,
Sharad Pawar, K Chan-
drasekhara Rao (KCR)
- and request them to
merge their party with
the Congress,” Naray-
anan told media.
Harsh Jain to take
charge as Indian
envoy to Ukraine
New Delhi (PTI): Dip-
lomat Harsh Kumar
Jain is set to take charge
as India’s new envoy to
Ukraine, the Indian em-
bassy in Ukraine said
on Tuesday
.
The embassy tweeted
a photo of Charge D’ Af-
faires Ambarish Ve-
muri welcoming Mr
Jain “who arrived in
Warsaw today to take
up his assignment as
the new Ambassador of
India to Ukraine”.
Jain succeeds Partha
Satpathy as the Indian
envoy to Ukraine.
Panic grips Choutigam’s Kashmiri Pandit families after militant attack
Srinagar (Agencies):
Panic has gripped three
Kashmiri Pandit fami-
lies in Shopian a day af-
ter militants shot at and
injured a Pandit shop-
keeperBalKrishannear
his shop.
The Pandit families,
who had stayed on in the
Valley and did not mi-
grate in the 1990s, have
maintained silence and
refused to talk to the me-
dia for fear of retribu-
tion after the attack.
“We are hopeful that lo-
cals will safeguard us,
likeinthepast30years,”
a minority member
said, on the condition of
anonymity
. A little-
known outfit, the Kash-
mir Freedom Fighters
(KFF), has claimed re-
sponsibility for the at-
tack at Choutigam vil-
lage of Shopian. “The
cadre of the KFF shot
and critically injured
the Kashmiri Pandit. He
was hand in glove with
the BJP and was also in-
volvedinmanyimmoral
activities,” a KFF
spokesman claimed.
The police have not,
however, confirmed the
veracity of the outfit’s
claim. Officials said Bal
Krishan, who is in hospi-
tal,isstable.However,the
incident has pushed the
three remaining Pandit
families to maintain a
low profile in their own
villages, in the face of
back-to-back targeted at-
tacks on civilians.
AnilBhat,thevictim’s
brother, rued the deci-
siontostaybackinKash-
mirin1990.“Itwasamis-
taketostaybackinKash-
mir. We have stayed
through the worst times
here.Thenyesterday
,two
people disembarked
from a two-wheeler. One
pulled off a pistol and
fired at my brother in
front of me. This is all
about land and nothing
else,” Bhat said.
Five people, including
four non-local labourers
and one Kashmiri Pan-
dit, have been injured in
attacksinKashmirsince
Monday
. In most cases,
bullets were fired at the
limbs and not the upper
body
, officials said.
On the growing num-
ber of militant attacks,
Peoples Conference
chief Sajad Lone said
the whole game plan
seems to be to scare and
to chase out people.
“Whatever one’s ideolo-
gy maybe, the least we
can do is to understand
theideologyof theother
side and the strategy of
the other side,” he said.
Lone said the violence
in Kashmir is not only
senseless and barbaric
but also aimed at eco-
nomically crippling the
Kashmiri economy
. “
Af-
ter a long time business
seemstohaveresumedin
hotels and allied sectors.
Andthebutchersseemto
be hell bent on destroy-
ing all that,” he added.
The family of Bal Krishan, a Kashmiri Pandit, who was shot at by
suspected militants recently. —FILE PHOTO
MUSLIM NEIGHBOURS CONDEMN
ATTACK ON KASHMIRI PANDIT
Srinagar (Agencies): The Muslim neighbours of a Kash-
miri Pandit, who was shot at and injured by terrorists,
on Tuesday said they are solidly behind the family in
their hour of crisis. On Monday evening terrorists fired
at and injured Sonu Kumar of Chotagam village in South
Kashmir’s Shopian district. “It is very wrong and against
the teachings of Islam. He is a farmer like us and a very
helpful person. He is always ready to help others, we
live like brothers,” Mukhtar Ahmad, neighbour of Sonu
Kumar said. Earlier on Monday, the terrorists shot and
injured two non-local labourers in Pulwama. Terrorists
also shot at and injured two CRPF jawans at Maisuma
in Srinagar. One of the injured jawans later succumbed
to his injuries in the hospital. Director General Jammu
and Kashmir Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh told reporters
on Tuesday that terrorists were enemies of people and
their handlers across the border can’t digest the fact that
people in Kashmir are leading a peaceful life. He said
these attacks show the insane nature of terrorists.
‘Not an inch
of land ceded
since Modi
became PM’
New Delhi (PTI): Not
an inch of land has been
ceded since Narendra
Modi became prime
minister, Union minis-
ter Kiren Rijiju said in
Lok Sabha on Tuesday,
hitting back at an oppo-
sition MP who accused
the government of giv-
ing away Indian territo-
ry “bit by bit to China”.
Intervening in the
discussion in the lower
house on the situation
in Ukraine, Rijiju took
strong objection to the
remarks made by BSP
MP from Jaunpur Shy-
am Singh Yadav.
“Everyoneknowsthat
our claimed territory
underthecontrolof Chi-
na and Pakistan dates
back to earlier times.
Since Narendra Modi
has become prime min-
ister, not an inch of land
has been ceded,” Rijiju
said after Yadav alleged
thatIndianterritorywas
being given away “bit by
bit to China”.The minis-
ter said Arunachal
Pradesh, which is a bor-
der state, is also “100 per
cent safe and secure’’.
Mosque loudspeakers won’t be removed
forcefully: K’taka CM seeks to allay fears
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): Reacting to the
slew of developments
in the state relating to
religious matters, Kar-
nataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai on
Tuesday said all are
equal before the govern-
ment and mosque loud-
speakers will not be
taken down forcefully
.
“All steps would be
taken to ensure peace
by not letting any indi-
vidual or organisation
take law into their
hands,” he said.
He further stated that
the ruling BJP has the
blessings of the people.
He said that he would
deliver more pro-people
programmes in the
coming days and the
crisis won’t be solved by
mere issuing of state-
ments.“Therearemany
things behind these de-
velopments. The orders
were made in 2001, 2002.
The ruling BJP has not
passed any order. We
will keep everything in
mind and take deci-
sions,” he said refer-
ring to the ban on Mus-
lim merchants in tem-
ples and religious fairs
and the use of loud-
speakers in mosques.
Explaining about
‘
Azaan’, Bommai said
thattherewasalreadyan
order by the Apex Court
in this regard. “There is
also another order ques-
tioning why its orders
arenotbeingimplement-
ed.Thelimitof decibelis
prescribed and there is
an order to purchase a
decibel meter.
“This is work which
has to be done by taking
everyone into confi-
dence. It can’t be done
forcefully
. At the ground
level meetings are being
conveyed by the police
with the community
leaders.Itwillbedonein
future also and action
wouldbetaken,”hesaid.
Commenting on the
cabinet expansion,
Bommai maintained
that the issue was likely
to be discussed when he
meets Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
and BJP president JP
Nadda.
Basavaraj Bommai
SC agrees to list Abhishek Banerjee,
his wife’s plea against ED summons
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Supreme Court on
Tuesday agreed to list
next week, a plea filed
by the Trinamool Con-
gress leader Abhishek
Banerjee — the nephew
of West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee, and his wife Ru-
jira Banerjee, challeng-
ing the ED summons in
a money laundering
case linked to an al-
leged coal scam.
Senior advocate Ka-
pil Sibal, representing
Abhishek Banerjee,
urged a bench headed
by Chief Justice N.V.
Ramana to urgently list
the matter for hearing.
The bench, also com-
prising Justices Krish-
na Murari and Hima
Kohli, said it may list
the matter for hearing
next week.
The Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) sum-
moned Banerjee and
his wife to appear for
questioning on March
21 and 22. The couple
had earlier moved the
Delhi High Court
against the ED’s sum-
mons, contending that
since both are resident
of West Bengal, they
should not be called by
the agency to appear
before it in the nation-
al capital.
SARADHA SCAM: ED
ATTACHES ASSETS
WORTH `35 CRORE
New Delhi (PTI): ED on
Tuesday attached assets
worth over `35 crore
in connection with a
chit fund case involving
Saradha group of compa-
nies. The attached assets
in West Bengal include
vehicles, buildings, flats
and bungalows in Bish-
nupur, plots in South 24
Parganas, Nadia, Cooch
Behar and Jalpaiguri. ED
had registered a case
against Saradha group of
companies in 2013.
Abhishek Banerjee
It should be extended across
country: BJP MP Parvesh
MEAT BAN DURING NAVRATRA
New Delhi (PTI): BJP
MP Parvesh Sahib Singh
Verma extended support
to the controversial ban
onmeatduringNavratras
announced by two Delhi
mayors, and said the ban
should be extended
across the country
. “I re-
quest Muslims that don’t
come into any controver-
sies,” he told reporters.
“I welcome the deci-
sion which was taken by
South MCD. I want all
threemunicipalcorpora-
tions to implement this.
Also, I want Delhi-NCR
and the whole country to
implement this,” he told
reporters on Tuesday
.
Exhorting everyone to
follow the decision, he
said, “Our culture says
that we have to respect
every religion... Modi
governmentschemesare
for every religion”.
The sale of meat was
barred during 9-day
NavratrafestivalbyMay-
ors of South and East
Delhiyesterday
.Whileno
official order was issued,
South Delhi Mayor
Mukesh Suryan wrote to
South Delhi Municipal
Commissioner Gyanesh
Bharti saying there was
no need to open meat
shops as ‘most people’
don’t consume non-veg
food in this period.
“Religious beliefs and
sentiments of devotees
are affected” when they
come across meat shops
ontheirwaytoofferdaily
prayers and have to bear
the foul smell, he added
in the letter.
Parvesh Verma
Anand in 13-member panel
to frame TN edu policy
Tamil Nadu Chief Min-
ister MK Stalin on Tues-
day announced a
13-member panel to
frame the state educa-
tion policy
. The
panel comprises
severallegendary
p e r s o n a l i t i e s
from various sec-
tions. The panel
will be headed by
a retired justice of Delhi
High Court, Justice
(Rtd) D Murugesan to
frame the state educa-
tion policy
.
Former world chess
champion Viswana-
than Anand and music
maestroTMKrishnaare
also a part of the panel.
The panel members are
drawn from various sec-
tions and include a mid-
dle school head-
master, a chess
champion, a mu-
sician, a writer,
and members of
the planning
commission oth-
er than the retired Dis-
trictJudge.Chief Minis-
ter said that the panel
would give its recom-
mendations to frame the
new education policy
within a year.

INDIA
06
Bhopal: Tiger state
Madhya Pradesh has
lost 14 tigers in the last
four months in differ-
ent wildlife habitats of
the state, including four
between April 1 to 4.
Of the total tigers re-
ported dead, 10 had lost
their lives within the
earmarked area of tiger
reserves, while four
were reported dead out-
side the area. The NT-
CA’s data shows that
overall, 39 tigers were
reported dead across
the country in the last
four months. Madhya
Pradesh, like in the pre-
vious years, led with 14
tiger deaths, followed
by Maharashtra with
10, while Karnataka
was at third place with
6 tiger deaths.
According to the Na-
tional Tiger Conserva-
tion Authority’s
(NTCA) report, three
tigers were reported
dead in Pench Tiger Re-
serve, two each in Band-
havgarh, Sanjay Tiger
Reserve, Kanha Tiger
Reserve and one in Sat-
pura Tiger Reserve. The
remaining four big cats
were reported dead out-
side the wildlife habitat
areas.
The NTCA report
also suggests that of the
14 big cats lost between
January 1 and April 4,
six were female and
three male, while the
identity of five re-
mained unknown.
Of the three tigers
who died in the last four
days, two were found
dead in Satpura Tiger
Reserve (STR) in Nar-
madapuram (Hoshang-
abad) district and the
third in Balaghat. A sen-
ior officer in STR said
the carcass of a female
cub, aged around 5-6
months, was spotted by
a forest patrol in Mogra
area of Pachmarhi
range on Saturday
.
39 big cats have died so far this year
WHO’S SILENCING THE ROAR OF BIG CATS
India’s maritime sector scaled
new heights in last 8 yrs: Modi
India has focussed on port-led development, which includes expanding port capacities: PM
New Delhi (PTI): In
the last eight years, In-
dia’s maritime sector
has scaled new heights
and contributed to
boosting trade and
commercial activities,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi said today on
the occasion of Nation-
al Maritime Day.
April 5 is celebrated
as National Maritime
Day across the country
and is dedicated to the
role of maritime trade
in the development of
the Indian economy
and the role of India
and its strategic loca-
tion in global trade.
“Today, on National
Maritime Day we recall
our glorious maritime
history and highlight
the importance of the
maritime sector to-
wards India’s economic
growth,” PM Modi said
in a series of tweets.
“In the last 8 years
our maritime sector
has scaled new heights
and contributed to
boosting trade and
commercial activities,”
he said. In the last eight
years, the government
of India has focussed
on port-led develop-
ment which includes
expanding port capaci-
ties and making the ex-
isting systems even
more efficient, the
Prime Minister said.
He said waterways
are being harnessed to
ensure products get ac-
cess to new markets.
“While we are lever-
aging the maritime sec-
tor for economic pro-
gress and building an
Aatmanirbhar Bharat,
we are also taking ade-
quate care to ensure
the marine eco-system
and diversity which In-
dia is proud of is safe-
guarded,” PM said.
PM PAYS TRIBUTE TO DALIT
ICON BABU JAGJIVAN RAM
New Delhi (ANI): Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
today paid tributes to
freedom fighter Babu
Jagjivan Ram on his 115th
birth anniversary and said
that the nation will always
remember the remark-
able contribution of the
veteran leader who was
admired for his adminis-
trative skills and concern
for the poor. “Tributes
to Babu Jagjivan Ram Ji
on his birth anniversary.
Our nation will always
remember his remark-
able contribution. He was
widely admired for his
administrative skills and
concern for the poor,” PM
Modi tweeted. Popularly
known as Babuji, Jagjivan
Ram was one of India’s
greatest Dalit icons, who
fought for the rights of
the underprivileged. Born
in Bihar in 1908, Jagjivan
Ram was a freedom
fighter and served as a
Minister in governments
led by Jawaharlal Nehru
and later India Gandhi.
He quit the Congress to
protest against Emergency
and served as a Deputy
PM in the Janata Party
government. He was the
Defence Minister during
the India-Pak War in 1971.
New Delhi: Over 600 social media accounts of the
central government were hacked in the last five
years, Information and Broad-
casting Minister Anurag Thakur
told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Responding to a query on the
hacking of government’s Twitter
handles and e-mail accounts, the
minister said since 2017, 641 such accounts have
been hacked.Altogether 175 accounts were hacked
in 2017, 114 in 2018, 61 in 2019, 77 in 2020, 186 in
2021 and 28 so far this year, he said in a reply.
Srinagar: JK DGP
Dilbagh Singh on
Tuesday said that 42
terrorists have been
killed in the past three
months during various
anti-terror operations
and the presence of
foreign terrorists is
very low in the UT.
Talking to reporters
on the sidelines of the
wreath-laying ceremo-
ny of CRPF jawan who
was killed.
New Delhi: Indian
Army Chief Gener-
al Manoj Mukund
Naravane and Singa-
pore Defence Minister
Ng Eng Hen met on
Tuesday and discussed
regional geopolitical
developments. General
Naravane reviewed the
Guard of Honour at the
Ministry of Defence
and complimented the
Guard for an impecca-
ble turnout and parade.
Beijing: The disclosure of new Covid variants
emerging in China and the rise of a potentially more
transmissible strain in the U.K.
has recast the spotlight on the
ongoing risk of the virus, even
as health experts say there’s no
reason to panic. The WHO said a
hybrid of two omicron strains —
BA.1 and BA.2 — that was first detected in the U.K.
and dubbed XE could be the most transmissible vari-
ant yet. It is estimated to spread 10% more easily
than BA.2, which itself was more transmissible.
OVER 600 GOVERNMENT SOCIAL MEDIA
ACCOUNTS HACKED SINCE 2017: CENTRE
JK DGP: 42
ULTRAS KILLED IN
LAST 3 MONTHS
ARMY CHIEF,
S’PORE DEF MIN
DISCUSS TIES
CHINA VARIANTS AND OMICRON XE PUT
FRESH FOCUS ON COVID MUTATIONS
CRUCIAL READ
India shouldn’t increase
imports from Russia: US
Washington (PTI):
The White House has
reiterated that it is not
in India’s interest to
“accelerate or increase”
imports of Russian en-
ergy and other com-
modities, while offering
to work with New Delhi
to help it reduce its reli-
ance on imports from
Moscow.
Responding to ques-
tions on the visit of top
Indian-American US
advisor Daleep Singh to
New Delhi last week,
White House Press Sec-
retary Jen Psaki said
that he explained both
the mechanisms of
sanctions and reiterat-
ed that any country or
entity should be abid-
ing by those.
Psaki said that re-
porting energy pay-
ments by India are not
sanctioned and imports
of Russian energy rep-
resent only one to two
per cent of its total en-
ergy imports.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that energy
payments are not sanctioned.
UK PM BORIS JOHNSON EXPECTED TO
VISIT INDIA TOWARDS MONTH END
US LAWMAKERS WANT INDIA TO RESTRICT
SALE OF RUSSIAN-ORIGIN DIAMONDS
London (PTI): British PM Boris Johnson is
planning a visit to India towards the end of
this month with a focus on strengthening
bilateral ties against the backdrop of the
ongoing India-UK Free Trade Agreement
negotiations. The visit, which is expected
around April 22, is long overdue.
Washington (PTI): A bipartisan group of American law-
makers has sought the help of the Biden administration in
restricting the international trade and sale of Russian-origin
diamonds. In a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken and
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the lawmakers expressed
concern that the sanctions issued to target Russia’s diamond
industry will have a minimal impact on Alrosa and its CEO.
Cong’s revival essential for
democracy, society: Sonia
Gender bias in Hindu
Succession Act? SC
seeks Centre’s view
New Delhi (ANI): Con-
gress interim president
Sonia Gandhi on Tues-
day called for “unity at
all levels” of the organi-
sation at a meeting of
party MPs in which she
spoke about the party’s
“shocking and painful”
defeats in the recent
elections even as she
slammed the govern-
ment for targeting the
Oppositionand“spread-
ing maximum fear and
intimidation”.
Stating that the road
ahead for the Congress
party was more chal-
lenging than ever be-
fore and the spirit of
resilience of party
workers was under se-
vere test, Sonia Gandhi
said she had received
many suggestions on
how to strengthen the
party and she was work-
ing on “many of them”.
Addressing a meeting
of the Congress Parlia-
mentary Party (CPP) in
Parliament, Sonia Gan-
dhi said, “The road
ahead is more challeng-
ing than ever before.
Our dedication and de-
termination, our spirit
of resilience are under
severe test.
Unity at all levels of
our vast organisation is
of paramount impor-
tance and speaking for
myself, I am deter-
mined to do whatever is
needed to ensure it. Our
revival is not just a mat-
ter of importance to us
alone — it is, in fact, es-
sential for our democ-
racy itself and indeed
for our society as well.”
A petition alleging “sec-
tions of the Hindu Suc-
cession Act are uncon-
stitutional and violate
gender equality” was
on Tuesday heard by
the Supreme Court at a
time debate around the
Uniform Civil Code
(UCC) is largely focused
on gender injustice per-
ceived to be prevalent
in the personal laws of
minority communities.
The Centre has been
given four weeks’ time
to respond.
“The court should in-
tervene on behalf of
Hindu women because
while society is moving
towards gender equali-
ty, the Hindu Succes-
sion Act discriminates
based on gender,” the
petition stated.
HC seeks Govt’s
response on PIL
for Uniform
Banking Code
Made all
arrangements
for Haj: Centre
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi High Court on
Tuesday asked the Cen-
tre to seriously look
into the issue raised in
a Public Interest Litiga-
tion (PIL) seeking im-
plementation of a Uni-
form Banking Code for
foreign exchange trans-
actions to control black
money generation and
benami transactions.
A Bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice
Navin Chawla issued
notice to the Centre
through ministries of
Home Affairs, Law and
Justice and Finance,
and asked them to re-
spond to the petition.
Additional Solicitor
General Chetan Shar-
ma, representing the
Centre, submitted that
the petitioner has
raised a serious issue
which shall be looked
into by the government.
The court, which list-
ed the matter for fur-
ther hearing on May 25,
asked the Centre to “se-
riously look into the is-
sue” raised by the peti-
tioner. Petitioner and
advocate Ashwini Ku-
mar Upadhyay raised
loop holes in the system
in relation to transfer
of foreign funds which
could be used by separa-
tists, Naxals, Maoists ,
and terrorists.
New Delhi: Minority
Affairs Minister
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
on Tuesday said the
Government has made
all arrangements for
Haj, but a decision on
the modalities has to be
taken by Saudi Arabia.
The minister said
this in Rajya Sabha, af-
ter Nadimul Haque of
the TMC raised the de-
mand for confirmation
of date for restoration
of Haj-2022. It is the
Saudi govt which will
decide the modalities of
Haj Naqvi said.
‘Six-fold hike for infra along
China border in Arunachal’
LS adjourned twice
over fuel price hike
Centre: Climate report
supports India’s view
government has allo-
cated six times more
funds for the develop-
ment of infrastructure
along the Sino-Indian
border in Arunachal
Pradesh — from Rs 42.87
crore in 2020-21 to Rs
249.12 in 2021-22. Union
Minister of State for
Home Nityanand Rai
said in Lok Sabha that
Rs 602.30 crore has been
allocated in 2021-22 and
Rs 355.12 crore in 2020-21
under the Border Infra-
structure and Manage-
ment (BIM) scheme to
improve infrastructure
along the international
border in the Northeast
— with China, My-
namar and Bangladesh.
While Rs 42.87 crore
was allocated under the
BIM for the India-China
border in the Northeast
in 2020-21, Rs 249.12 has
been allocated in 2021-
22 for it, he said in a re-
ply to a question.
New Delhi (PTI): Op-
position members on
Tuesday disrupted the
proceedings in the Lok
Sabha by staging vocal
protests over hike in
fuel prices and other is-
sues, forcing two suc-
cessive adjournments
in the House.
As soon as the House
met at 11 am, Congress
leader Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury and DMK’s
TR Baalu demanded a
discussion on the hike
in fuel prices, which
were raised 13 times in
the last two weeks.
As protests contin-
ued, the Speaker ad-
journed the proceed-
ings till 12 noon.
latest IPCC report on
mitigation of climate
change justifies India’s
emphasis on equity at
all scales in climate ac-
tion and sustainable de-
velopment, Union Envi-
ronment Minister Bhu-
pender Yadav said on
Tuesday, stressing that
it fully supports India’s
view on the necessity of
public finance for devel-
oping countries.
Yadav welcomed the
IPCC Working Group III
report on ‘Mitigation of
Climate Change’ and
said the report under-
lines the need for deep
and urgent global emis-
sions reduction.
“The IPCC report un-
derlines the need for
deep and urgent global
emissions reduction in
climate action and sus-
tainable development,”
Yadav said.
HIGHLIGHTS

z BJP’s “80-20”
meant hiking fuel
price by 80 paise for
20 days: AAP leader

z Rise in fuel prices
found its latest critic
in a member of the
ruling BJP ally JD(U)
with KC Tyagi calling
for a rollback of the
hikes in prices of fuel
PM Modi being presented
with monolithic stone model
of Subhas Chandra Bose by
Sculptor Arun Yogiraj.

NEWS
07
9 ARRESTED
AFTER TWIN
ENCOUNTERS IN
NOIDA
Nine suspected criminals
allegedly involved in cases
of theft, snatching and
kidnapping were arrested
following two separate
encounters with the police in
central Noida, officials said on
Monday. Four of the suspected
criminals suffered injuries in
the shootout which occurred on
Sunday night under the Phase 3
and the Badalpur police station
areas, Additional Deputy
Commissioner of Police
(Central Noida) Elamaran G
said. It was reported that there
were 7 accused in total. The
officer said the first gunfight
broke out near Harka police
post in TP Nagar under the
Phase -3 police station
jurisdiction in which two
miscreants were arrested while
one managed to escape. “The
local police had got information
about the movement of some
suspects in the area. A checking
was set up after which the
suspects, who were in a car,
were intercepted for query but
they tried to sped away. The
police chased them and an
encounter ensued,” Elamaran
said. Two accused were injured
in retaliatory firing by the police
while their third partner
managed to escape, he said.
The police said they have
recovered a country-made
pistol along with live cartridges,
a knife and a Santro car from
their possession. The second
encounter took place near the
Rajepur underpass under
Badalpur police station
jurisdiction, he said. “The local
police here got a tip-off about
the gang’s movement and
reached the spot to nab them.
There were seven accused in
total and five of them were in a
car and two on a motorcycle.
During checking, a gunfight
broke out between the two
sides resulting in injuries to
three accused,” he said. The
police said they recovered three
country-made pistol, three live
cartridges, four knives, one car
and a bike from their
possession. FIRs have been
registered in both the cases and
the accused sent to jail, the
police said. —PTI
CARVED STONE
SLABS FROM
RAJASTHAN
REACH AYODHYA
FOR RAM
TEMPLE
CONSTRUCTION
Two consignments of carved pink
stone slabs from Rajasthan to
be used in the construction of the
Ram temple have reached Ayodhya
on Tuesday. The pink stone mined
at Rajasthan’s Bansi Paharpur will
be used for the walls of Ram
Mandir after the plinth work is
completed by June end, said Anil
Mishra, one of the 15 trustees of
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth
Kshetra Trust. The pink stone slabs
will be joined with each other by
using copper strips and hence 35
thousand copper strips supplied by
Hindustan Copper Limited have
also reached the Ram
Janmabhoomi complex, he said.
About 70 thousand copper plates
will be used in the temple
construction to connect the stone
slabs with each other. Mishra said
that the construction work of the
Ram temple is being done at the
fastest pace and by the end of
2023, the idol of Ram Lalla will be
installed in the sanctum sanctorum
of the grand temple. —PTI
QAWWAL PARVAZ HELD IN
KANPUR, SENT TO JAIL IN MP
Rewa: The Madhya
Pradesh police arrested
qawwali singer Sharif
Parvaz, booked for mak-
ing “provocative” re-
marks,fromKanpurand
brought him to Rewa
district on Monday
, a po-
lice officer said. “Later
in the day, Parvaz was
producedinalocalcourt
which sent him to judi-
cial custody for 14 days,”
Rewa City Superinten-
dent of Police (CSP)
Manoj Verma told PTI.
The court turned
down the police’s plea
seeking his custody for
two days, he said. A case
was registered against
the qawwali singer after
he allegedly made pro-
vocative remarks
against the country
, PM
Narendra Modi, Home
Minister Amit Shah and
UP CM Yogi Adityanath
during a musical event
at Mangawa town in
Rewadistrictof Madhya
Pradesh on March 28.
The MP police arrest-
ed Parvaz from Kanpur
Dehat on Sunday and
brought him to Rewa,
where the case against
him is registered, Ver-
ma said. He said police
teams were sent to
Meerut, Lucknow and
Kanpur to arrest the Ut-
tar Pradesh-based qaw-
wali singer. In a video
of the show, Parvaz is
purportedly heard say-
ing, Modi ji kahte hai
hum hai, Yogi ji kahte
hai hum hai, Amit Shah
kahte hai hum hai, le-
kin hai kaun? Agar ga-
reeb nawaz chah le to
Hindustan pata hi nahi
chalega kaha par basa
tha, kaha par tha.
(Modi, Yogi Shah say
they are there. But who
are they? If gareeb
nawaz (patron of the
poor) wishes, it won’t
be known where India
existed).
Parvaz was produced in a local
court which sent him to judicial
custody for 14 days, Rewa City
SP Manoj Verma said.
Qawwali singer Sharif Parvaz —FILE PHOTO
CHARGED UNDER MULTIPLE SECTIONS
The police had registered the case against him fol-
lowing a complaint by some residents of Mangawa.
He has been charged under sections 505 (state-
ments conducing to public mischief), 153 (provoca-
tion with intent to cause riot) and 298 (deliberate in-
tent to wound the religious feelings of any person)
of the Indian Penal Code, police had said earlier.
Police nab 8
from illegal
hookah bar
in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad:Police
havearrestedeight
accused from an il-
legal hookah bar
under the In-
dirapuram police
station area and
registered a case
against them. San-
jay Singh,
the Prahnadgadi
police station in
charge said that
information was
received that an il-
legal hookah bar
was being operat-
ed in Tamara res-
taurant in Sector
15of Vassundhara.
The police team
raided the hookah
bar and arrested 8
accused including
the manager of the
bar. The arrested
accused were iden-
tified as Deepak,
Ritik, Tushar, Far-
man, Govinda, Ni-
tin, Vishal, and
Shivanshu, and
recovered tobacco
other illegal ma-
terial from them.
HIGHEST DIVIDEND TO CENTRE
The dividend cheque of Rs 653.36 crore was handed over to Union Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh by R Madhavan, MD, HAL for the financial year 2021-22 in Delhi on Tuesday.
Woman hangs self 10 days before marriage
Firozabad (PTI): A
19-year-old woman was
on Tuesday found hang-
ing at the home of the
sister of a man with
whom she was to get
married 10 days later,
said the police here who
suspect it to be a case of
suicide. The woman got
engaged to a resident of
Bhagwan Nagar on
April 1 was to get
married on April 15,
Station House Officer
(City) Sanjeev Dubey
said. She was found
hanging in a room by
the family of her future
husband in the morn-
ing, he said. The wom-
an’s family members
have not filed any com-
plaint yet and the police
are trying to ascertain
the reason for the sui-
cide, officials said, add-
ing no suicide note has
been found. The body
has been sent for post-
mortem, they said.
NO SUICIDE NOTE
Police rescue 48 head of cattle, 4 held with ammunition
Sultanpur (PTI):
Police here rescued 48
head of cattle and ar-
rested four people alleg-
edly with two country-
made pistols, ammuni-
tion and the equipment
used for the slaughter
of animals, officials
said on Tuesday
.
Baldirai Circle Offic-
er Rajaram Chaudhary
said they were held and
the recoveries made
during a checking on
Monday night in the
Kurebhar police station
area.48cowswerefound
in 2 trucks, he said.
Those arrested have
been identified as
Harikesh Yadav, a resi-
dent of Sultanpur; Gud-
du Yadav, Vinay Yadav
and Sonu Yadav, all resi-
dents of Ghazipur dis-
trict. The police officer
said a case has been reg-
istered against them
under the UP Preven-
tion of Cow Slaughter
Act, Prevention of Cru-
elty to Animals Act and
Arms Act. A weighing
machine, 3 mobile and
Rs 30,000 in cash had
also been recovered
from them, police said.
The seized arms from the
seizure in Muzaffarnagar.
MAN HELD WITH AK-47 IN MUZAFFARNAGAR
Muslim RSS supporter barred from
mosque, threatened with death
First India Bureau
Moradabad: Fatwa
(religious order) was
released against a
Muslim doctor who
supported Rashtriya
Swayamseveak Sangh
(RSS). The case was
registered against the
person who released
Fatwaandtheaccused
was arrested, police
claimed. Police sourc-
es said that Doctor Ni-
zam Bharati was asso-
ciated with BJP and
he had participated in
an RSS event on April
2 in his native village
Mahmoodpur. Irked
over-enthusiasm of
Dr. Nizam, a resident
of the same village
Imran Warsi issued
Fatwa against him. In
Fatwa, he had prom-
ised to reward anyone
who can kill Dr. Ni-
zam. He was also
barred to offer his
prayers in any
mosque. Police regis-
tered a case against
the accused on the
complaint of Dr Ni-
zam arrested
him. Dr Nizam said
that he was frightened
after Fatwa was is-
sued against him
said that his life was
in danger and such ac-
tivities create rifts in
society and damage
social harmony
.
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Police arrest burglars who posed as cops
First India Bureau
Varanasi: Police
have arrested four
memberss of the
Irani gang active in
several states and
burgles many per-
sons after poising as
policemen. The ar-
rested accused were
involved in several
burglary incidents
in Varanasi, police
claimed are identi-
fied as Ibrahim Ali,
Rehan Ali, Iqbal Ali,
and Salman Hus-
sain, residents of
Madhya Pradesh.
Policehavelaunched
a probe for their
crimes police com-
missioner Satish
Ganesh said that ar-
rested criminals
used fake documents
in different cities.
They used to warn
women in crowded
places to secure
their jewellery and
looted them later by
tricking them. The
police commissioner
has informed police
to beware of any per-
son in civil dress
asks for jewellery or
money in public
places. He also said
that women should
be more vigilant as
they are soft targets
for such burglars.
MISSING DELHI GIRL FOUND IN CHANDAUSI
New Delhi (PTI): A
girl who went missing
from Mehrauli here
was traced to Chandau-
si in Uttar Pradesh’s
Sambhal district, po-
lice said on Tuesday.
The family members
informed the police
about the minor going
missing on Saturday
.
A case under Indian
Penal Code section 363
(punishment for kid-
napping was registered
at Mehrauli police sta-
tion and a team was
formed to trace the girl,
Deputy Commissioner
of Police (South) Beni-
ta Mary Jaiker said.
Technical analysis was
done and CCTV footage
of the area were
checked thoroughly.
The missing girl was
seen with another girl
in one of the footages,
police said. During in-
quiry, the girl was
found to be a classmate
of the missing girl. She
was examined where
she initially refused to
have known anything
about the missing girl,
police said.Later, she
informed that her
mother took away the
missing girl.
On being questioned
further, the mother of
the missing girl’s
friend disclosed that
she had left the girl in
Chandausi at the house
of her own mother,
they said. Police found
the girl in Chandausi.
An investigation is un-
derway to ascertain the
motive behind the inci-
dent, they said. The
matter came to light
when a journalist post-
ed on Twitter about the
“15-year-old girl going
missing”.
A case under
Indian Penal
Code
section 363
(punishment for
kidnapping)
was registered
Gangrape case:
Police arrest
man after
encounter
Gonda (PTI): A man,
who along with 3 others
allegedly raped a Dalit
girl, was arrested after
anencounter,policesaid
onTuesday
.Mehfoozsuf-
fered bullet injuries to
one of his legs during
the exchange of fire be-
tween him and police,
Superintendent of Po-
lice (SP) Santosh Kumar
Mishra said. He and 3
others -- Raja, Balai and
Israel -- allegedly raped
the teenager last month.
‘HATE SPEECH’
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

08
2NDFRONT
Be it music or a painting - all art
forms are a form of
individualism.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: BJPMember
of Parliament from Et-
awah Ramashanker
Singh Katheria fired a
fresh salvo by seeking a
probe against his con-
stituency’sDistrictMag-
istrate Shruti Singh.
Welcomingchief min-
ister Yogi Adityanath’s
decision to suspend DM
Auraiya Sunil Verma,
Katheria, who had ac-
cused Verma of corrup-
tion and lodged a com-
plaint against him with
UP CM, has now trained
his guns on DM Etawah.
“Auraiya District
Magistrate Sunil Verma
was suspended by the
Uttar Pradesh govern-
ment on Tuesday
. Very
commendable decision.
Like Sunil Verma, who
was corrupt, Etawah
District Magistrate
shouldalsobeinvestigat-
ed.,” he tweeted creating
a flutter in the official
circles.
Hailing from the Ch-
hattisgarh cadre, Singh,
a 2007-batch IAS officer,
has recently been pro-
motedtotherankof Sec-
retary/ Commissioner.
In fact, she along with
three other IAS officers
of 2006 batch, namely
,
Kaushal Raj Sharma,
DM Varanasi, Selva Ku-
mari J, DM Aligarh and
Abhishek Prakash DM,
Lucknow are due to her
new postings after April
16followingtheirpromo-
tion to secretary/com-
missioner rank.
But controversy is not
new to Shruti. She was
the collector of Garia-
band district in Chhat-
tisgar but was removed
from the post by the CM
of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Ra-
man Singh over some
resentment.After com-
ing to UP
, she was posted
as the Special Secretary
Agriculture, UP govern-
ment on March 22, 2021
through inter cadre dep-
utationDOPTfor3years
butwasextendedfortwo
more years, that is till
March 22,2023.
ShewasdeputedtoUP
cadre as her father BB
Singh was a former
Commissionerof Jhansi
while her husband is
posted in Army Canton-
ment Lucknow. After be-
ing promoted to IAS
through DPC by the Ch-
hattisgarh government,
herpromotionproforma
was sent to the appoint-
ment department of UP
government following
whichshewaspromoted
from special secretary
level to secretary/com-
missioner rank.
After IAS Verma, BJP MP Katheria now trains his gun on DM Etawah
IN CONTROVERSY
lll
Shruti was
removed from
the post of
collector of
Gariaband by
the CM of
Chhattisgarh
Shruti SIngh
REVIEW MEET
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Pragatish-
eel Samajwadi Party
Lohia (PSPL) leader
Shivpal Singh Yadav
will visit Ayodhya after
Navratri and announce
a ‘major decision’ about
his next political move,
sources said.
Shivpal has already
given enough indica-
tions of his growing
preference for the BJP
by following Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath on
the social media plat-
forms. He even posted a
photograph of Ram
Darbar from his Twit-
ter handle on Monday
.
Though the BJP has
maintained a studied
silence on Shivpal join-
ing the saffron Parivar,
sources in the party
claim that with Shivpal
in the BJP, the strategy
for the 2024 elections
could take a major leap
forward. “Shivpal
Singh Yadav is a re-
spected leader among
Yadavs and his follow-
ing is bound to benefit
any party that he joins,”
admitted a party func-
tionary
.
The BJP, which had
so far concentrated on
non-Yadav OBCs, is
now elated that under
Shivpal Yadav’s leader-
ship, the party can hope
to get a slice of Yadav
votes in the next Lok
Sabha elections from
the Yadav belt that in-
cludes Etah, Etawah,
Mainpuri, Kannauj,
Firozabad and Far-
rukhabad.
The BJP knows that
if it welcomes Shivpal
Yadav into the party, it
would be a major psy-
chological blow to the
Samajwadi leadership
that is yet to recover
from Aparna Yadav
joining the BJP
. Accord-
ing to the political
grapevine, the BJP is
mulling a proposal to
nominate Shivpal Ya-
dav as deputy Speaker
in the state Assembly
.
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: IAS officer
Dr. Brahm Dev Ram Ti-
wari of Meghalaya cad-
re who had come to Ut-
tar Pradesh on in-
t e r - s t a t e
deputation
in 2018 has
returned to
his original
cadre as
his deputa-
tion came
to an ed on April 4 2022.
Tiwari, a native of
Basti district and his
wife Pooja Pandey are
IASofficersfromMegha-
laya cadre but had come
to UP on deputation. Ti-
wari, during his deputa-
tion held posts of Addi-
tional Managing Direc-
tor UPSRTC, Special
Secretary in Election
Department, UP ACEO
DirectorPanchayatiRaj,
Mission Director and
DM of Kanpur (Nagar).
His wife had recently re-
joinedheroriginalcadre
following the end of her
deputation and now he
will also return to his
original cadre
Sumit Awasthi
Kanpur: The Kanpur
Development Authority
on Tuesday sealed an
under-construction
apartmentbeingbuiltin
one of the poshest areas
in the city
.
Avneesh Singh, OSD
in KDA along with a
team of Enforcement
Department team,
sealed the apartment be-
ing constructed by
Pragati Structures at
M a c r a w a r t g a n j ,
Colonelganj. The KDA
officials stated that the
layout/map of apart-
ment being constructed
was different to the lay-
out/map submitted to
the KDA. They further
added that KDA had
even issued a notice to
the builder 11 months
ago about the anomaly
which asked the real es-
tate company owned by
Anand Gupta to submit
Rs. 2.44 crores as mitiga-
tion fee but this notice
was ignored and con-
struction work was pro-
gressing.
When the issue came
to the notice of KDA VC
Arvind Singh, he in-
structed the OSD to take
action in the matter fol-
lowing which a team
reached the spot and
photographed the apart-
ment premises before
sealingoff thepremises.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: With an ob-
jective to enrich the
green coverage of the
city, the Kanpur Smart
city in association
with the Nagar Nigam
Kanpur is planning for
the “Green - Heritage
Corridor.”
Rajshekhar, Com-
missioner Kanpur vis-
ited the sites and re-
viewed the ‘Site Plan’
for the same. The im-
portant public places
like Nana Rao park,
Phool bagh, Children
park, Nauka Vihar area
etc will be developed as
a ‘Green Heritage
Corridor’ linking each
other so that people can
make best use of these
facilities available in
the centre of the city.
At first , the team vis-
ited the “Nauka Vihar”
Park of the Nagar
Nigam. Its total area is
around 1.5 Hectares.
But many facilities have
been damaged have
become non functional.
Kanpur Smart city
will take up this proj-
ect. After Nauka Vihar,
the team visited the
Nana Rao park and
Phool bagh area .
A “Foot over Bridge
(FOB)” is planned be-
tween the Nana Rao
park Phool Bagh to
connect both the parks.
It will have steps as
well as two lifts (one at
either side). It will be
developed by Smart
city will be run by
Nagar Nigam on PPP
model for operation
maintenance.
The new proposed
Green Heritage Cor-
ridor will have multi-
ple entry exit points.
The connecting parts
like roads, divider, sig-
nals, lighting etc will
be similar for all the
above areas included in
the “Green - Heritage
area”.
The commissioner
has asked the team to
prepare the draft plan
in next 15 days and to
submit it for in princi-
pal approval.
PSPL chief Shivpal Yadav —FILE PHOTO
Sealed under-construction site
ShivpalYadavtotakemajor‘decision’afterNavratri
BJP high command
to revamp party’s
state unit soon
Shrikant Sharma speaking at a meeting —FILE PHOTO
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: After be-
ing successful in pav-
ing the way for a mas-
sive victory in the UP
assembly elections,
nowtheBJPhighcom-
mand is preparing to
revamp the party’s
state organization.
The search is on vig-
orously for a suitable
face for the post of
state president of BJP
.
Because the present
state president of the
party, Swatantradev
Singhhasnowbecome
a part of the Yogi gov-
ernment as a cabinet
minister.
There is a lot of
speculation going on
in the political circles
regarding many possi-
ble names for this
post. In the last few
days, the rumor mills
buzz about the ap-
pointmentof Shrikant
Sharma as the state
president. Actually,
there are many rea-
sons behind such spec-
ulations. Shrikant
Sharma, who held the
chargeof EnergyMin-
ister in the previous
Yogi government, has
won the election from
Mathura Sadar seat
this time too. Sharma,
who came from Delhi
and became active in
UP politics, is such an
influential face of the
party who has a strong
hold and reach even to
the top leadership of
BJP
.
Hehasbeenintense-
ly vocal about the is-
sue of Shri Krishna
Janmabhoomi in
Mathura. Sharma’s
name is being consid-
ered more suitable for
the post of state presi-
dent because accord-
ing to BJP’s highly
placed sources, to fill
the vacancy of the
state president, there
is a need for such a
face, which is relevant
in the context of re-
gional and caste equa-
tions in view of the
party’s mission-2024.
The BJP is focusing
especially on the west-
ern region. Because
in the recent elec-
tions, the party has
faced major challeng-
es in this area of state.
The Brij region here
is significant from the
point of view of re-
gional and religious
aspects.
However, there are
many more names in
the race for this post.
These include the
names of Kannauj
MP Subrata Pathak
and Basti MP Harish
Dwivedi. Apart from
them, there have been
speculations about Dr.
Dinesh Sharma.
POSTS VACANT
BJP is mulling a
proposal to nominate
Shivpal as deputy
Speaker in the state
KDA officials seal under-
construction apartment
Green-Heritage Corridor to come up in Kanpur
Commissioner Kanpur Rajshekhar at the site.
FROM THE POWER CORRIDORS
IAS OFFICER RETURNS TO MEGHALAYA
BD Tiwari
PRAKASH CHANDRA
APPOINTED AURAIYA DM
IAS CHANDNI SINGH BACK
FROM MATERNITY LEAVE
Lucknow: IAS officer of 2010 batch UP cadre
Prakash Chandra Srivastava is appointed as the
new District Magistrate of Auraiya. Srivastava,
originally a PCS officer, was promoted to IAS 6
years ago and before his latest as-
signment had held posts like Ad-
ditional IG Stamp and Registration
Uttar Pradesh, Special Secretary
Home Department, CDO Jaunpur,
Special Secretary Food and Civil
Supplies UP, Vice President Vara-
nasi Development Authority, Special Secretary
UP Stamp and Registration, Special Secretary
UP Irrigation and Water Resources Department
and MD UP Desco.
Lucknow: Chandni Singh, 2003 batch IAS offic-
er of Uttar Pradesh cadre on Tuesday submitted
her joining letter to the appoint-
ment department as her maternity
leave comes to an end. The officer
met ACS Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi of
the Appointment Department. It is
expected that the officer will get
posting once the MLC elections
in the state are over and there are chances that
she might even been given the post of District
Magistrate as many other IAS officers from her
batch are currently posted as DMs.
Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya at a meeting with senior officers to review the 100-
day roadmap prepared by the Rural Development and Rural Engineering departments, in
Lucknow on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

une witnessed
an evening full
of glamour
and fashion
extravaganza
on the 3rd day
of Fashion Fi-
esta. The final day of
Pune Times Fashion
Week began with a beautiful
amalgamation of modern
and traditional silhouettes.
First India News made its
mark with Designer Dheeraj
Sharma showcasing a stun-
ning collection with ‘Blacks
and Whites’ giving a style of
Hi-Life and Hi-Fashion. Arti
Singh and Mrunal Jain
turned showstoppers for
Dheeraj Sharma on Day 3 of
Pune Times Fashion Week.
Jagdeesh Chandra who
believes that fashion is the
experimentation to find how
you truly want to express
yourself and how confident
you feel once you find the
perfect combination of
clothing, walked the ramp
with the showstoppers and
designer Dheeraj Sharma.
Inspired by the origin of
all colours and the design-
er’s love for the iconic pal-
ette of black and white, the
collection ‘Absolute Desire’
turned out to be a master-
piece focused on western
silhouettes with classic In-
dian motifs. This high fash-
ion collection was crafted
using widely cherished an-
cient Indian art of Textile
Block printing and was em-
bellished with the aesthetics
of zardosi beads.
The three-day mega show
witnessed the best designers
showcasing their collection
and Bollywood stars walk-
ing the ramp and startling
the audience with the beau-
tiful designer collection.
This Spring-Summer fash-
ion galore showcased Indo-
western fusion, contempo-
rary, ready to wear exqui-
sitely crafted luxury suits
and many
more collec-
tions.
P u n e
Times Fash-
ion Week, an
initiative by
The Times
Group witnessed
Nivedita’s exclu-
sive collection
presented by
Goel Ganga
Group on Day 1.
Day 2 afternoon
included a collec-
tion of Snusha
Silks, L’effet by
Sanjeev Marwaaha
and Zed, while the
evening witnessed
Rinckee Parakh, ISAS
and RSR by Riti Rahul
Shah. On the third day
besides First India pre-
sents Dheeraj Sharma,
JITO presents Kshitij
Choudhary, INSD, Ajeen-
kya DY Patil University
presents Shruti Man-
gaaysh’s collection was
showcased. The grand fi-
nale showcased Vikram
Phadnis’ collection by the
Darwin platform group of
companies.
LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 6, 2022
09
P
MITALI DUSAD
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
THE FLAVOUR
THE FLAVOUR
STYLE
STYLE
PUNE'S BIGGEST FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA, THE PUNE TIMES FASHION
WEEK 2022 KICKSTARTED AT THE WESTIN KOREGAON PARK, PUNE ON
APRIL 1 AND CONCLUDED WITH FIRST INDIA PRESENTING DHEERAJ
SHARMA'S 'ABSOLUTE DESIRE' COLLECTION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2022!
Actress Arti Singh, Designer Dheeraj Sharma and Actor Mrunal Jain walk the ramp with supermodels standing behind
Jagdeesh Chandra
Jagdeesh Chandra walks the ramp with (L-R) Actress Arti Singh, Designer Dheeraj Sharma and Actor Mrunal Jain
From top- Shreya Gupta, Astha Khandelwal, Khushi Ajwani and supermodels
BLACK AND WHITE
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/lucknow I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

06042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

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