09012022 first india ahmedabad

CM reviews progress of six-lane Rajkot-A’bad highway
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a
hands-on move, Chief
MinisterBhupendraPa-
tel on Saturday visited
an under-construction
highway between
Ahmedabad and Rajkot
and reviewed work on
the six-lane stretch be-
tween Bagodara and
Limbdi. Patel’s prede-
cessor Vijay Rupani had
approved the expansion
of Ahmedabad-Rajkot
Highway, from a four-
lane one to a six-lane
one, during his tenure.
The project, estimat-
ed to cost about Rs2,500
crore, is part of the
Golden Quadrilateral
National Highway con-
necting the four cor-
ners of the nation. The
traffic on the
Ahmedabad-Rajkot
highway has increased
after the privatization
of ports like Mundra,
Pipavav, and refineries
set up in the Jamnagar
district, officials said.
While returning from
Bagodara, CM Patel and
Chief Secretary Pankaj
Kumar stopped a road-
side tea stall and chat-
ted with other patrons
whilesippingtheirchai.
Later in the day, CM
Patel also approved six
town planning (TP)
schemes in three cit-
ies: one preliminary
TP scheme and two fi-
nal TP schemes in
Ahmedabad city, one
preliminary and final
TP scheme each in Su-
rat and one draft TP
scheme in Vadodara
city. The CM hopes
that with approval of
the town planning
scheme will kick-off
further growth of
these cities, an official
statement said.
The TP scheme ap-
proved for Ahmedabad
cityisof GodhaviandMa-
nipur, which fall under
the area of the
AhmedabadUrbanDevel-
opment Authority area,
while in Surat, the Sin-
ganpore final TP scheme
has been approved.
CM Bhupendra Patel is seen sipping a cuppa along the A’bad-
Rajkot highway. He is flanked by Roads and Buildings Department
Secretary Sandip Vasava and Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar
on his right, and Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police
Virendra Singh Yadav on his left.
Stops for chai, chat
at roadside stall
on the way back
SNOW
ENGULFS
NORTH
A
view of the snow covered Himalayas mountain range, as seen from Shimla. The hill station received
snowfall on Saturday. (Inset) A man looks through the snow-covered windshield of his autorickshaw
during heavy snowfall following a 40-day long period of harsh winter called 'Chillai Kalan' in Srinagar.
Boatmen clear snow from their shikara during light snowfall at Dal Lake in Srinagar. —PHOTOS BY PTI
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: The Elec-
tion Commission Satur-
day announced the
schedule for the Assem-
bly elections in five
states. The holding of
timely election is the
“essence of maintain-
ing democratic govern-
ance,” Chief Election
Commissioner Sushil
Chandra said, as the top
poll body defended its
decision to go ahead
with elections despite a
frightening surge of
COVID-19 cases.
“We welcome the
festival of democra-
cy,” UP CM Yogi Adi-
tyanath tweeted. SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav
also tweeted, “Revolu-
tion will happen on
10th March. UP will
change”.
AHMEDABAD l SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 46
Punjab gets
new DGP just
before poll
code kicks in
Chandigarh: The Pun-
jab government on Sat-
urday appointed VK
Bhawra as
the new Di-
rector-Gen-
eral of Po-
lice.
B h a w r a
was picked from a list
of three candidates of-
fered by the Union Pub-
lic Service Commis-
sion; others on the list
were Dinkar Gupta and
Prabodh Kumar.
The appointment -
the third in around 100
days of Chief Minister
Charanjit Channi’s
brief tenure - comes
shortly before the Elec-
tion Commission an-
nounces dates for next
month’s polls.
It also comes as Pun-
jab Police (and state
government) finds it-
self in the crosshairs
of the centre over the
security lapses involv-
ing PM Narendra
Modi’s convoy on Jan-
uary 5.
India clocks
1.42 lakh new
Covid cases
New Delhi: India regis-
tered 1,41,986 new Cov-
id-19 cases on Saturday,
21.3 per cent higher
than Friday, according
to the data shared by
the Union Health Min-
istry
. The total caseload
in the country stands at
3,53,68,372.
Top five states which
have registered maxi-
mum cases are Maha-
rashtra with 40,925
cases, followed by West
Bengal with 18,213 cas-
es, Delhi with 17,335
cases, Tamil Nadu
with 8,981 cases and
Karnataka with 8,449
cases. More on P6
ELECTION DATES FOR 5 STATES ANNOUNCED
POLLS: YES, RALLIES: NO
Election Commission bans physical
election rallies, roadshows and corner
meets till Jan 15 amid surge in covid cases
1 The Model Code of
Conduct comes into effect
with the poll announcement
2
EC FOR RAMPING
UP VACCINE DRIVE
EC expressed hope that the
vaccination programme in
the poll-bound states can
be ramped up by then. For
Uttar Pradesh, which bore
the brunt of the second
wave of Covid last year,
that is a tough ask. While
90 per cent people in the
state have received their
first vaccine dose, only 52
per cent people have re-
ceived their second dose.
EC: TAKE ON RALLIES,
ROADSHOWS LATER
No roadshows, padyatras,
cycle or bike rallies and
processions shall be
allowed till 15th January
in view of Covid situation.
The situation will be re-
viewed and fresh instruc-
tions to be issued later,
CEC said. He also said that
the Model Code of Conduct
comes into effect immedi-
ately from announcement
of the schedules.
PUNJAB: A KEENLY
FOUGHT BATTLE
Apart from UP, all eyes
are on Punjab also after
farm protests. The Con-
gress is looking to retain
power in Punjab, while
the BJP and former CM
Captain Amarinder have
agreed to form an alli-
ance. Except in Punjab,
the BJP is in power in the
other four states where
elections will be held.
Chief Election Commissioner
Sushil Chandra gestures as he
announces the schedule for
States’ Elections during a press
conference at Vigyan Bhawan
in New Delhi on Saturday.
ASSEMBLY POLLS IN 7 PHASES, STARTING FROM
UP ON FEB 10, ALL RESULTS ON MARCH 10
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
5,677
NEW CASES
2,567
NEW CASES
IN A’BAD
00
NEW
DEATHS
ASSEMBLY
ELECTION 2022
UTTAR PRADESH (Seats 403 Majority 202)
Phase 1
FEB 10
Phase 5
FEB 27
Phase 2
FEB 14
Phase 6
MAR 3
Phase 3
FEB 20
Phase 7
MAR 7
Phase 4
FEB 23
PUNJAB (Seats 117 Majority 59)
Voting
FEBRUARY 14
UTTARAKHAND (Seats 70 Majority 36)
Phase 2
MAR 3
MANIPUR (Seats 60 Majority 31)
Phase 1
FEB 27
GOA (Seats 40 Majority 21)
Voting
FEBRUARY 14
Voting
FEBRUARY 14
HAPPY
GURU GOBIND
SINGH JAYANTI
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD,
LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
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Sharat K Verma
Chandigarh: BJP on
Saturday stunned the
Aam Aadmi Party by
winning the Chandi-
garh Mayoral poll by
just one vote. The seven
concillors of the Con-
gressandtheloneoneof
the SAD abstained from
voting.Termingitasthe
“murderof democracy”,
AAPallegedthatthetrio
of BJP, Congress and
SAD had colluded to de-
feat the AAP candidate.
BJP’s Sarabjit Kaur was
elected as the Chandi-
garh Mayor with 14 votes
while AAP candidate
AnjuKatyalwaspolled13
votes. The Congress has
seven councillors and
SAD has one. All of them
abstained from voting. In
the Chandigarh civic
bodypollslastmonth,the
BJP had won 12 wards
and AAP had won 14.
Tooclose:BJPstunsAAPbywinning
ChandigarhMayoralpollby1vote
Newly-elected Chandigarh
Mayor Sarabjit Kaur
Arvind Kejriwal’s party
cries foul, terms it
“murder of democracy”
SHEKHAWAT HAILS
MAYOR’S VICTORY
Union Jal Shakti Minister
and Punjab BJP in-charge
Gajendra Singh Shek-
hawat on Saturday con-
gratulated BJP’s Sarabjit
Kaur, the new Mayor of
Chandigarh. Shekhawat,
while playing a crucial
role in driving the party
home, said, “Instead of
gaining political sympathy
by protesting, AAP should
rather take legal action”.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
New Delhi: The South
Gujarat Chamber of
Commerce and Indus-
try (SGCCI) will take a
special initiative to pro-
mote textiles in As-
sam’s Bodoland Terri-
torial Region to help the
weavers and sector
growth, SGCCI Presi-
dent Ashish Gujrati
said on Saturday
.
He was speaking at
the inaugural session
of the SGCCI Expo 2022
held at Surat in Guja-
rat on Saturday, a press
release said.
He said the chamber-
-which represents the
major textile industries
of the country--will
sign a memorandum of
understanding (MoU)
with the BTR (Bodo-
land Territorial Re-
gion) administration,
headed by Pramod
Boro, soon as part of
the Bodoland Textiles
Mission in Assam.
The expo was inaugu-
rated by Union Minister
of State for Textiles and
Railways Darshana V
Jardosh in the presence
of BTR chief Boro and
representatives from
the textiles industry
.
Bodoland textiles sec-
tor was the focus of the
inaugural session of
the expo.
In accordance with
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s vision for
‘Ek Bharat Shresth
Bharat’, the Union min-
ister stressed the need
to support the BTR are-
as to achieve their full
potential in the textile
sector by using modern
technology and market
linkages to add to the
traditional strengths of
the weavers.
The minister, who
had visited the BTR ar-
eas twice recently, inau-
gurated the Bodoland
Textiles Mission along
with Assam Chief Min-
ister Himanta Biswa
Sarma in Kokrajhar.
She said a new era of
collaboration between
the BTR and Surat tex-
tiles industry will com-
mence with the signing
of the MoU with the
SGCCI.
The BTR chief high-
lighted the traditional
strengths of Bodo
weavers and the beauti-
ful garments produced
by them and appealed
to the industry repre-
sentatives to partici-
pate in the mission
through sharing of
technology and knowl-
edge, skill development
and training, among
other initiatives.
SGCCI to promote textiles in Bodoland areas
SPECIAL INITIATIVE
CHAMBER, BTR TO INK MOU
TO BENEFIT ASSAM WEAVERS,
AID SECTOR GROWTH
Union MoS (Textiles) Darshana Jardosh and the Bodoland delegation, led by Pramod Boro, also
interacted with different textile companies in the expo.
26Gujtouristssafeafter
snow at Vaishno Devi
First India Bureau
Banihal/Jammu: A
group of 26 tourists
from Gujarat were
among those shifted to
community halls in
Rambansectorafterbe-
ing stranded when the
famous Mata Vaishno
Devi shrine in Reasi
district of Jammu and
Kashmir experienced
its first snowfall of the
season on Saturday
.
The strategic Jam-
mu-Srinagar National
Highway remained
closed due to land-
slides at several places
and the train service
between Banihal and
Baramulla sector was
suspended after heavy
snowfall in the valley,
as a precautionary
measure to avoid any
untoward incident.
Allstrandedpassen-
gers were provided all
necessary assistance
including food and
blankets during the
night, officials said.
Senior Superinten-
dent of Police, traffic,
Shabir Ahmad Malik
said the 270-km Jam-
mu-Srinagar National
Highway remained
closed since Friday
afternoon due to
heavy snowfall in
Banihal sector and
multiple landslides in
Ramban district.
Thetrainservicebe-
tween the 136-km Ban-
ihal-Baramulla Sec-
tion was also suspend-
edduetotheinclement
weather conditions,
the officials said.
Snowfall ranging be-
tween a few inches to
over five feet was re-
cordedinmostpartsof
Jammu and Kashmir,
while Jammu city and
other plains were
lashed by heavy rains
during the past 24
hours,theofficialssaid.
Theysaidthatabout
fourinchesof snowfall
were recorded at
Vaishno Devi shrine
early Saturday, while
the high altitude areas
including Bhairon
Ghati were covered by
heavy snowfall.
The yatra was go-
ing on smoothly but
the helicopter service
and the battery car
service remained sus-
pended due to weath-
er, the officials said,
adding it was raining
heavily in Katra, the
base camp for the pil-
grims visiting the
shrine, when last re-
ports were received.
A blanket of snow covers the Vaishno Devi Bhawan after a fresh
snowfall, in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
RMCformsinquirycommitteeonengineersuicide
First India Bureau
Rajkot: In order to en-
sure due justice to
Paresh Joshi, the addi-
tional assistant engi-
neer of the Rajkot Mu-
nicipal Corporation
who committed suicide
on December 31, Mu-
nicipal Commissioner
Amit Arora has formed
an inquiry committee
headed by Deputy Mu-
nicipal Commissioner
AK Singh.
In addition to Singh,
the committee will also
include Assistant Com-
missioner Samir
Dhaduk and an officer
from the vigilance de-
partment.
The three-person
body will assist the po-
lice in their investiga-
tion and provide any
required documents. It
will and also look into
internal procedures
and see if there was any
administrative lapse.
“This is the first time
such an internal com-
mittee is formed to look
into the suicide of an
RMC employee. We
hope for justice for
Joshi who was not only
a dedicated employee
but also a good singer
and cricketer,” a top
RMC official told First
India. Joshi is believed
to have taken his own
life in the wake of ex-
treme harassment from
a contractor.
The taluka police, who
are investigating the
death, have detained
Kanti Chandarana of
MadhuramConstruction
Agency and supervisor
Mayur Ghodasara based
on a statement from
Joshi’s wife Miliben.
Joshi had worked
with RMC for 24 years
at the time of his death.
Leader of opposition Sukhram Rathva visited 23 persons
who were admitted to Surat Civil Hospital after inhaling toxic
chemical fumes on Thursday. Rathva also condoled the families
of the six people who died in the incident.Then, addressing
the media, he demanded that the government ensure speedy
justice for the victims and compensation for their families.
Later in the day, officials announced that the police inspector
of Surat’s Sachin GIDC area, and a nodal officer of the state
pollution control board had been suspended.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
Paresh Joshi
reportedly
took his own
life following
harassment
from a
contractor
Paresh Joshi —FILE PHOTO
LOP VISITS SURAT GAS LEAK VICTIMS
5 INJURED IN MID-SEA ATTACK BY
FISHERMEN FROM MAHARASHTRA
First India Bureau
Una: Five Gujarati
fishermen are cur-
rently receiving
treatment at a Una
hospital after suffer-
ing injuries in an at-
tack by Maharash-
trian fishermen
some 50 nautical
miles off the Gujarat
coast near Nava-
bandar village in
Una taluka.
According to Kailash
Haribhai, who owns
the Sagar Pujan fish-
ing boat, his crew had
sailed from Nava-
bandar on Thursday
and dropped anchored
some 50 nautical miles
out at sea. On Friday
night, some seven to
eight fishing boats
from Maharashtra cor-
nered his vessel, and
the Marathi crews
thrashed the crew of
the Sagar Pujan fish-
ing boat before trying
to it.
Members of the Sa-
gar Pujan crew, identi-
fied as Haribhai Bamb-
haniya, Ramjibhai
Solanki, Ramesh Silo-
tar, Hasmukh Shiyal,
and Mohan Shiyal,
were brought to shore
on Saturday morning
by another boat from
Gujarat and then shift-
ed to a local hospital
for treatment.
The incident has left
sarpanch Somabhai
Majethiya of Nava-
bandar furious.
He has now demand-
ed that the state gov-
ernment take action
against the Maharash-
trian fishermen, and
also also take up the
matter with the Maha-
rashtra government to
curb such attacks in
the future as well.
Through the Gujarat
Fisheries Amendment
Bill, 2020, the state gov-
ernment had made ef-
forts to penalize fish-
ing boats from other
states from straying
into Gujarat’s waters.
Fishermen who fish
in Gujarat’s waters
can legally be fined up
to Rs1 lakh. Further,
the law also allows au-
thorities to collect five
times the value of fish
caught by such out-of-
state fishers.
However, this is not
implemented properly,
leading to many such
incidents, one fisher-
man said.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Chhani
police have registered
a case against one Go-
vindbhaiBharwadfor
grievously injuring a
cow with a sharp
weapon at Dashrath
villagenearVadodara.
Thecomplaint,Jayesh
Jagubhai Bharwad,
whoownsthecowand
Govindbhai are both
cattle rearers by pro-
fession.
In his complaint,
Jayesh told the police
that he had released
his cow in the open
on Thursday since
its usual enclosure
was temporarily be-
ing used to store a
sugarcane harvest.
Around midnight,
a neighbour called to
tell him that his cow
had wandered near
his shop and was
bleeding profusely
from the hind legs.
The animal could not
even stand, and had
to be treated by the
emergency veteri-
nary service.
He later discov-
ered that Govindbhai
had injured the ani-
mal, after it strayed
into his enclosure.
Jayesh also told
the police that the ac-
cused had previously
attacked his cow
with a stick when it
strayed inside his en-
closure. Police are
investigating.
The cow was left out in the open since its usual enclosure
was being used to store sugarcane. —FILE PHOTO
Case against
V'dara man for
injuring cow
7-8 fishing boats cornered the Guj vessel and thrashed the crew before trying to sink boat
The attack
caused damage
to the Guj vessel.
Through the Gujarat Fisheries
Amendment Bill, 2020, the
state government had made
efforts to penalize fishing
boats from other states from
straying into Gujarat’s waters,
and adversely affecting the
catch of fishers here . Stray-
ing vessels can be fined up
to Rs1 lakh, and the law also
allows authorities to collect
five times the value of fish
caught by such out-of-state
fishers. However, this is not
implemented properly, leading
to many such incidents, one
fisherman told First India, ask-
ing not to be named.
LAWS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN?

GUJARAT
03
‘Few samples being sent
for genome sequencing’
‘Most RT-PCR for travellers done at airport, so Civil Hosp doesn’t need to send’
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Even as
the Omicron variant
spreads rapidly
across the country
and the world, Guja-
rat managed to have
two days without any
such cases being re-
ported, on Thursday
and Friday. While
this may seem almost
miraculous, those in
the know say it’s sim-
ply the result of not
sending too many
samples for genome
testing—like people
who do not see a doc-
tor so they can pre-
tend they’re not ill.
Officers in the health
department say very
few samples are being
sent for the genome se-
quencing to identify
which variant of COV-
ID-19 has infected a par-
ticular patient.
“We are sending ran-
dom samples, and that
too in a limited number.
We do not send any sam-
ples from the civil hospi-
tal since most RT-PCR
tests are carried out at
theairportforthetravel-
lers. Also, at present
there is no case in the
hospital,” said Dr Rake-
shJoshi,superintendent
of the Civil Hospital in
Ahmedabad’s Asarwa.
Thelonelaboratoryin
the state that can test for
theOmicronvariant,the
Gujarat Biotechnology
Research Centre, has a
maximum capacity to
test 50 samples a day
.
“The process takes
four to five days,” said
Dr Chaitanya Joshi, di-
rector of GBRC, ex-
plained, adding, “Who
says there are no Omi-
cron cases? The govern-
ment might not reveal
them because they do
not want to discrimi-
nate between variants,
but the cases are there.”
He added there is no
way the virus can be
curbed any time soon.
On the ground, the
government and hospi-
tals are preparing to bat-
tle against the third
wave of infections,
which some say has al-
ready arrived. Three
plants—one each of
1,000, 500 and 230 litres
per minute—have been
set up at the Sola Civil
Hospital. Oxygen capac-
ity has also been in-
creased from 5 metric
tonnes to 12.7 metric
tonnes. This will be able
to meet the needs of 100
patientswith100ventila-
tors and 350 oxygen beds
for potential patients, of-
ficials said, adding that
thehospitalhasalsodou-
bled the number of ven-
tilator beds to 100.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat reported 5,677
COVID-19 cases on Sat-
urday
, raising its tally
to 8,55,929, while a fa-
tality-free day after a
week kept the toll un-
changed at 10,128, an
official said.
Ahmedabad led with
2,567 cases, including
2,521 in civic limits, fol-
lowed by 1,661 in Surat,
of which 1,578 were in
the city
, 309 in Vadodara,
257 in Rajkot, 87 in
Anand, among other ar-
eas, he said.
So far, 8,22,900 people
have recovered, includ-
ing 1,359 during the day
,
leaving the state with
22,901 active cases, of
which 25 are critical.
About 3.07 lakh peo-
ple were given vaccine
jabs during the day, in-
cluding 92,581 in the 15-
18 age group, taking the
total number to 9.30
crore in Gujarat.
Meanwhile, nine dis-
tricts on Saturday re-
ported a total of 32 new
cases of the Omicron
variant—including 12 in
Ahmedabad, five each in
Anand and Vadodara,
three in Mehsana and
two in Bharuch two—
raising the tally of such
infections to 236.
Seven patients from
Anand, who had been
infected with the new
variant,weredischarged
duringtheday
.Sofar,167
Omicron patients have
recoveredfromtheinfec-
tion in the state.
Ahmedabad city ac-
counts for a total of 105
such cases, out of which
75 have recovered.
Vadodara city has re-
ported 35 cases so far,
including 23 recoveries.
Anand,SuratandKheda
districts have reported
23, 20, and 12 Omicron
cases,respectively
,sofar.
First India Bureau
Mehsana/Valsad: The
state government
postponed the Vi-
brant Summit in the
wake of the spike in
nCoV cases and Chief
Minister Bhupendra
Patel refuses to at-
tend meetings with
large gatherings in
the wake of the re-
cent surge in COV-
ID-19 cases. However,
other political lead-
ers and builders con-
tinue to violate COV-
ID-19 norms as police
turn a blind eye.
In Banaskantha dis-
trict on Friday, a felici-
tation programme was
organized for a sar-
panch. While the nCoV
SOP states only 50%
capacity is allowed in
covered areas, thou-
sands had gathered for
this event violating the
norm, which had MP
Parbat Patel as a guest.
In another instance,
BJP’s OBC leader Al-
pesh Thakor and Kher-
alu taluka BJP MLA
Ajmalji Thakor en-
joyed a night cricket
tournament organized
in Mandropura vil-
lage. As Alpesh Thakor
hit the opening or in-
augural shot, none pre-
sent with him at the
inauguration were
wearing face masks or
maintaining social dis-
tancing.
Party media coordi-
nator Yagnesh Dave ad-
mits that Thakor could
have avoided attending
the inauguration, but
said the party will still
inquire into it.
Taking a cue from
political leaders, on
Friday night, builder
Bipin Patel visited his
site at Atak Pardi vil-
lage to celebrate his
friend and elected
leader of Jujwa village
panchayat Nagri Saji’s
birthday and win.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Spandan
school for children
with intellectual dis-
abilities organized a
vaccination drive for
around 45 students in
the age group of 15 to
18 years on Saturday
in Vadodara.
Currently, 213 students
are studying at the
school. “Around 45 stu-
dents were vaccinated
in the school, including
students from six other
organisations associat-
ed with us. The vaccine
is the most effective
way for safety against
COVID-19 and, I request
every parent to get their
children vaccinated,”
said Bharat Desai, Pres-
ident of Spandan.
BJP’s OBC leader Alpesh Thakor took to the crease without a
mask at the night match in Mandropura village.
COVID-19 UPDATE
2,567 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
8,22,900
TOTALRECOVERED
1,359 MORE
IN A DAY
8,55,929
TOTAL CASES
5,677 CASES
IN A DAY
10,128
TOTAL DEATHS
22,901
00 DEATHS
IN A DAY
OMICRON CASES: 236; NEW: 32
BATTLE PREP
1st death-free day this
week, 22.9K cases active
SURAT GOES FROM SEEING 625
CASES IN DEC TO 6K IN 1 WEEK
KHODALDHAM
PATOTSAV OFF
A’BAD GETS TELEMEDICINE HELPLINE
Surat: The city has seen a massive jump in the
number of COVID-19 cases, from 625 through-
out December, to more than 6,000 since the
beginning of January. Saturday alone brought
1,661 cases. City officials say that about 40%
of cases this month have been reported in the
Athwa zone. Three residential societies have
been declared microcontainment zones: one
each in Varachha AB, Katargam and Athwa areas
of the city. As many as 78 students have also
tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Rajkot: The Khodaldham
Patotsav slated for Janu-
ary 21 to commemorate
its five years has been
cancelled, considering
the surge in COVID-19.
A Mahasabha, of around
25-30 lakh people, follow-
ing the event also stands
cancelled. Organizers will
now broadcast the event
on social media. Instead
of 108 yagnas, one kund
mahayagna will be done
followed by a dwaja van-
dan and Maa Khodal aarti.
Ahmedabad: Following a review meeting led
by health minister Rishikesh Patel to gauge
preparedness amid the ongoing health crisis,
city officials said that arrangements have been
made to treat 25,000 patients simultaneously in
Ahmedabad city and more than 2,100 patients in
the other parts of the district. The minister also
launched a telemedicine service for Ahmedabad
residents needing medical guidance. On calling
14499, patients can get assistance on COVID-19
treatment from a team of doctors working in the
help centre over the phone, they said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Three
persons, including two
brothers, have been ar-
rested under the Epi-
demic Act for violat-
ing COVID-19 proto-
cols after a large num-
ber of people turned
up to attend a lavish
birthday party they
hosted on Friday even-
ing, an official said. To
make things more in-
teresting, the party for
a pet dog, Abby, report-
edly cost a whopping
Rs7 lakh.
NikolPolicelaunched
an investigation after
pictures from the cele-
bration gained traction
on social media.
While it has become
common for pet owners
to mark their furry
friends’ birthdays, Ab-
by’s humans took it up
a notch.
Brothers Chirag and
Urvish Patel, both res-
idents of Krishnagar,
along with their
friend, Divyesh Me-
hariya, hired a party
plot, Madhuban
Green, and set up
beautifully decorated
tents that housed mas-
sive photographs of
the Patels’ pet canine.
A popular folk singer
performed at the event,
and a cake was also cut,
the official added.
Photos from the event
also show the Indian
Spitz making a sartori-
al statement in a cheq-
uered sweater and cute
black booties.
The same photos
also show that most of
the many guests were
not wearing masks or
maintaining social
distancing.
“Given the rise in
COVID-19 cases, the
government is setting
up new curbs and re-
strictions. At such a
time, we received pic-
tures of this large
event where people
were seen ignoring
COVID-19 protocols. We
investigated the matter
and booked the people
responsible for organ-
izing the party,” a po-
lice official said.
It is to be noted that
the state on Friday said
social events at open
grounds may have a
maximum 400 attend-
ees, but that all COV-
ID-19 guidelines are to
adhered to strictly
.
3 held for violating nCoV guidelines with `7L party for canine pal
DAYS FOR DOGS!
Pix from the b’day
bash drew cops’
attention after
gaining traction on
social media
Abby was a spiffy sight both in paw-son and in her posters splashed across the venue.
Cricket, b’day bash take
precedence over SOPs
KEEPING YOU POSTED
10 STUDENTS FROM
MARWADI COLLEGE +VE
MAN ATTEMPTS SUICIDE
AS CLASSES GO ONLINE
Rajkot: At least 10 students from
the Marwadi College have tested
positive in the last three days. The
college had organized a party on
December 31 without official per-
mission from the administration.
Around 1,000 students are said
to have attended the party. One of
the college buildings is listed as a
micro-containment zone. Mean-
while, four saints from the Rajkot
Ramkrishna Ashram also report-
edly tested COVID-19 positive.
Rajkot: A 31-year-old school
van driver Ashvin Solanki report-
edly consumed poison after the
state suspended in-person school
for Classes I-IX on Friday. Online
education during lockdown had se-
verely affected Solanki’s financial
condition. With the re-opening of
the school, he had hopes of im-
proving his financial position. But
the new guidelines scared Solanki.
He has been admitted to the Rajkot
civil hospital.
45 V’dara minors with
intellectual disabilities
get vaccine doses
Party media
coordinator
Yagnesh Dave
admitted that
Thakor could
have avoided
attending the
cricket match
Students get their shots.
COVID-19 testing in Ahmedabad. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.46
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Indeed, Allah is my
Lord and your Lord, so
worship Him. That is
the straight path.
—Quran
IN-DEPTH
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
I welcome the announcement of the
dates for holding elections in five
states by the Election Commission
of India. I urge all BJP workers to
participate in this great festival of
democracy with full vigour, following
the Kovid and all other guidelines
given by the Election Commission.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
Shielding Young India against
COVID-19 Syringe Over 2 crore
children between the age group of 15-
18 vaccinated against #COVID19 since
3rd January. Congratulations to all
my young friends who got vaccinated.
#SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine
TOP TWEETS
ECONOMY SET FOR
HEALTHY GROWTH
UNLESS OMICRON
PLAYS SPOILSPORT
here’s heartening
news on the economy
front. The Gross Do-
mestic Product is
projected to recover
its Covid-19 year losses and
grow at 9.2 percent in the cur-
rent financial year. This is some-
what lower than the Reserve
Bank of India’s prediction of
9.3. The GDP contracted 7.3 per-
cent in the previous financial
year. A lot will, however, depend
on the impact that Omicron
might have on the economy. Al-
ready, Delhi has introduced a
lockdown on weekends because
of the rising cases in the nation-
al capital. If Omicron leads to
Covid-19 like hospitalisation,
the government may have to
take measures that could impact
the growth projections.
The minor hiccup will not
stop India from becoming the
second largest economy after
China in Asia-Pacific by 2030. At
an expected $8.4 trillion econo-
my by 2030 it will also be bigger
than the economies of Germany
,
France and the UK. According
to a report, India “is expected to
continue to be one of the world’s
fastest growing economies”.
T
ll the rumours
about postpone-
ment of assembly
elections have
been put to rest
and the stage is set for the fi-
nal countdown to elections in
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa,
Uttarakhand and Manipur.
UP will be the first off the
block with voting for the first
of the seven phases sched-
uled on February 10 and the
last on March 7.
The elections are being
held under the shadow of
Omicron, but only after the
Union Health Ministry’s
briefing to the poll panel.
Keeping the virus in mind,
the EC has banned all physi-
cal campaigning or road
shows, padyatras and nukkad
sabhas till January 15. The
curfew on campaigning for a
week from now may be too
short a period given at the
pace at which the Omicron
variant is spreading. The
only saving grace is that the
virus load in the election-
bound states is low, though
the number of unvaccinated
or those with single jabs is
high in UP and Punjab.
Still, no one knows how the
virus will behave after Janu-
ary 15. Both Punjab, where
polling will take place on Feb-
ruary 14 and UP have a large
unvaccinated population. In
UP
, less than half of its popu-
lation (about 48 per cent) is
fully vaccinated. In Punjab it
is 40 percent of the state’s to-
tal population of 2.27 crore.
Extra precaution will have to
be taken in these two states,
especially in UP
, if it wants to
avoid a West Bengal like Del-
ta spread. The EC will also be
reviewing the pandemic situ-
ation to consider extending
the ban on physical cam-
paigning if needed.
EC’S NEW WEAPON
TO FIGHT COVID
Keeping virus in mind,
EC has banned all
physical campaigning or
road shows, padyatras and
nukkad sabhas till Jan 15.
Curfew on campaigning for
a week from now may be
too short a period given at
the pace at which
Omicron variant is
spreading
A
e live in dangerous times.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s motorcade was held
up for twenty minutes the
other day on an unguarded
spot on an unguarded road,
not far from the border of Pa-
kistan. He was a sitting duck.
Every agency connected with
the Prime Mini’s security
must own responsibility for
so serious a lapse.
I was in New York the day
President John F. Kennedy
was assassinated in Dallas.
He was traveling in a car
with its hood down. He took
an unnecessary risk. His se-
curity detail could not save
him. Even after sixty nine
years the mystery of his
death remains a mystery
.
Indiraji was killed in the
compound of her residence.
Rajiv Gandhi’s security was
drastically reduced after he
ceased to be Prime Minister.
On 17th June he had come to
Bharatpur to campaign for
me. With him was one secu-
rity office. Five days later he
was killed in Sriperumbudur.
He was 46.
I do not remember if our
security officers go to Israel,
the USA or UK for training.
Israel has an outstanding se-
curity and intelligence gath-
ering establishment. These
know what precisely is going
on in the Islamic world. Only
once -1973- Israel was taken
by surprise, when Egyptian
armies crossed the area be-
yond Shermal-Sheik. But ul-
timately Israel won the war.
It is not widely known that
the Vatican runs one of the
most alert and competetent
secret services in the world.
Was it necessary for sev-
eral Chief Ministers (I do not
wish to name them) holding
elaborate pujas, wishing the
Prime Minister long life. I am
a Hindu. Pujas do not save
lives. We are a secular state-
at least so far. Were the Pujas
done to provide future safety
for the Prime Minister or
were they PR exercises, with
cameras all over the temple
to cover the Pujas. Build
schools, hospitals, orphan-
age, create jobs. I am now in
my 93rd year. I recite the Gay-
tri Mantra every day
. My ad-
vice to the distinguished
Chief Ministers is, meditate,
pray in seclusion, not before
cameras. The Almighty will
ensure Shri Modi a very long
life, not Chief Ministers.
On 6th January 2021, thou-
sands of hoodlums-all follow-
ers of former President Don-
ald Trump invaded Capital
Hill in Washington, which is
where the Senate and the
House of Representatives
meet.Thehoodlumssmashed
glass windows, destroyed
furniture in both Houses and
worse. President Trump was
watching the horror of his
creation on T.V. His signal
stopped the rampage. What
was the objective of this un-
precedented outrage. To
undo the results of the elec-
tions, which Mr. Trump had
lost by nearly seven million
votes. According to him the
election had been stolen. Al-
most all the Republicans in
both Houses and in the Coun-
try supported Mr. Trump. U.S
democracy was under threat.
Last Thursday
, 6th January
,
President Joe Biden spoke in
the United States Capital. Mr.
Biden is not known as an in-
spiring speaker. Last Thurs-
dayhemadeamemorableand
powerfuloration.Ishallquote
some passages relating to
“former defeated president”,
Donald Trump.
President Biden said, “For
the first time in our history
, a
president had not just lost an
election, he tried to prevent
the peaceful transfer of pow-
er as a violent mob breached
Capital…. On this day of re-
membrance we must make
sure that such an attack nev-
er, never happens again.”
“Close your eyes. Go back
to that day
. What do you see?
Rioters rampaging, waving
for the first time inside the
Capital a Confederate flag
that symbolised the cause to
destroy America, to rip us
apart.”
“What else do you see? A
mob breaking windows, kick-
ing in doors, breaching the
Capital. American flag poles
being used as weapons, as
spears…..We saw it with our
own eyes. Rioters menaced
these halls, threatening the
life of the Speaker of the
House, literally erecting gal-
lows to hang the Vice-Presi-
dent of the United States of
America.”
“But what did we not see?
We did not see a former pres-
ident, who had just rallied
the mob to attack- sitting in a
private dining room off the
Oval Office in the White
House, watching it all on tel-
evision and doing nothing for
hours….”
“We must be absolutely
clear about what is true and
what is a lie. And here is the
truth: The former president
of the United States of Amer-
ica has created and spread a
web of lies about the 2020
elections. He’s done so be-
cause he values power over
principle, because he sees his
own interests as more impor-
tant than the country’s inter-
ests and America’s interests,
and because his bruised ego
matters more to him then our
democracy or our Constitu-
tion. He has done what no
president done in American
history- the history of this
country- has ever done. He
refused to accept the results
of an election and the will of
the American people.”
In the rest of his moving
speech President Biden took
the high road, speaking of
American values and its de-
mocracy, “So let us remem-
ber: Together, we’re one na-
tion, under God, indivisible;
that today, tomorrow, and for
ever, at our best, we are the
United States of America.”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
EVERY AGENCY ATTACHED WITH
PM SECURITY MUST TAKE BLAME
W
Was it necessary for several
Chief Ministers (I do not
wish to name them) holding
elaborate pujas, wishing the
Prime Minister long life. I
am a Hindu. Pujas do not
save lives. We are a secular
state- at least so far. Were the
Pujas done to provide future
safety for the Prime Minister
or were they PR exercises,
with cameras all over the
temple to cover the Pujas
I do not remember if
our security officers go
to Israel, the USA or
UK for training. Israel has
an outstanding security
and intelligence gathering
establishment. These
know what precisely is
going on in the Islamic
world. Only once -1973-
Israel was taken by
surprise, when Egyptian
armies crossed the
area beyond
Shermal-Sheik
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Kerala Gov-
ernor Arif Moham-
mad Khan has shown
the way to the state gov-
ernments across the
country. When there
was a dispute regarding
the appointment of Vice
Chancellors in universi-
ties, Khan announced
that he will leave the
post of Chancellor. He
did not give any reason
for this but also said
that if the state govern-
ment brings a bill to re-
move the Governor
from the post of chan-
cellor of all universi-
ties, then he will imme-
diately sign it. Accord-
ing to the current sys-
tem, the appointment of
Vice-Chancellor in uni-
versities is done by the
Governor. In many
states including Bihar,
there have been major
controversies regarding
this. After one such con-
troversy, Arif Moham-
mad Khan announced
to let go of his responsi-
bility
.
Now governments in
many states have start-
ed snatching this right
from the Governors on
their own. Such a law
has been made for two
new universities to be
built in Bihar, accord-
ing to which the right
of appointments will
not be with the gover-
nor, but with the state
government. In Maha-
rashtra also, the state
government is going to
bring such a law and
will retain the right to
appoint vice-chancel-
lors of many universi-
ties. The Governor of
Kerala may have made
the suggestion out of
annoyance or being
miffed, but the West
Bengal Government’s
Education Minister
Bratya Basu, referring
to it, said that the state
government is consid-
ering to make Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee the chancellor of
all universities by
bringing a law. Right
now this kind of trend
is visible only in the
states ruled by the Op-
position because there
are conflicts too, but in
the coming days, it may
happen that govern-
ments will take such
initiative even where
there is no conflict.
Kerala Guv Arif Mohammad
KHAN SHOWS THE WAY!
GOVERNING UNIVERSITIES
New Delhi: The Nation-
al Investigation Agency
(NIA)hasconstitutedan
Inspector General (IG)
level team to assist the
Registrar General of
Punjab and Haryana
High Court to secure
and seize the records re-
lated to Prime Minis-
ter’s security breach
during his visit to Pun-
jab on January 5.
As per a senior Na-
tional Investigation
Agency official, the anti-
terror agency has “nom-
inated Inspector Gener-
al of Police Santosh
RastogitoassisttheReg-
istrar General of Pun-
jab and Haryana High
Court to secure and
seize the records related
to the visit of Prime
Minister to Punjab on
January 5, 2022, from
State and Central Agen-
cies”. “Director-General
NIA issued an order in
this regard on Friday,”
the officer said, clarify-
ing “there is no probe”.
Sources also said that
the team comprises sev-
en other officers, in-
cluding three Deputy
Inspector General level
officers.
The move comes after
the Ministry of Home
Affairs(MHA)askedthe
NIA DG Kuldiep Singh
to constitute the team.
The DG then issued a
written order on Friday
to form a team.
The officers who will
assist Rastogi in the in-
vestigation include
DIGs Vidhi Kumar Bi-
dhi, Kaliraj Mahesh Ku-
mar and Amit Kumar,
Superintendents of
Police Amit Singh,
Tejinder Singh
and Shankar B
Raimedhi.
The develop-
ment comes
hours after the MHA
constituted three-mem-
ber committee sum-
moned Punjab Police
Director General Sid-
dharth Chattopad-
hyaya, Punjab ADGP,
Patiala IGP and
Ferozpur DIG along
with over a dozen top
Punjab Police officers
who were responsible
for the Prime Minis-
ter’s security during
his visit to Punjab’s
Ferozpur on January 5.
The Ministry of
Home Affairs on Thurs-
day constituted a three-
member committee led
by Sudhir Kumar Saxe-
na, Secretary (Securi-
ty), Cabinet Secretariat;
Balbir Singh, Joint Di-
rector (IB); and S.
Suresh, IG, Special Pro-
tection Group.
The Centre is consid-
ering action under the
Special Protection
Group(SPG)Actagainst
Punjab Police officers
following the breach in
the security of Prime
Minister Modi during
his visit to Punjab on
January 5.
Section 14 of the SPG
Act makes the state gov-
ernment responsible
for providing all as-
sistance to the
SPG during the
movement of
thePrimeMin-
ister. —ANI
New Delhi: The govt
has blocked several so-
cial media handles that
were circulating “fake
and inciting” content on
Twitter, YouTube and
Facebook, MoSfor IT
Minister Rajeev Chan-
drasekhar said on Sat-
urday
. Owners of these
accounts are being iden-
tified for lawful action,
he added.
Amid the massive
crackdown on hateful
posts, sources said that
the offensive content ac-
tioned pertained to fake
video of a cabinet brief-
ing, an animated fake
video showing violence
against the PM and de-
rogatory posts targeting
Hindu women uploaded
on social media handles.
“Taskforce on Safe
Trusted Internet at @
GoI_MeitY at work.
Handles that tried to
push fake/inciting con-
tent on twitter, youtube,
fb, insta have been
blocked,” Chan-
drasekhar tweeted.
The Minister said
ownersof suchaccounts
are being identified for
action under the law,
and asserted that plat-
forms will be reviewed.
On Friday evening, the
Minister had responded
to a tweet that urged
him to take action
against the “creators of
a very violent video that
features the PM”, which
“has been in the public
domain since December
2020”. —PTI
New Delhi: The Delhi
police have found out that
app creator Niraj Bishnoi
had created five different
Twitter handles with the
initial name ‘giyu’, named
after a gaming character
to carry out his satanic
deeds. The following Twit-
ter handles have been
identified, which are @
giyu2002, @giyu007, @
giyuu84, @giyu94 and @
giyu44. Out of these, the
account @giyu2002 has
been found associated with
one FIR registered. —ANI
New Delhi: In an open
letter, a group of stu-
dents and faculty mem-
bers from the Indian
Institute of Manage-
ment requested PM
Modi to speak up
against hate speech and
caste-based violence in
the country
.
The signatories said
that the PM’s silence on
these issues was em-
boldening the hate-
filled voices.
“Your silence, Hon-
ourable PM, emboldens
the hate-filled voices
and threatens the unity
of country. We request
you, Honourable Prime
Minister, to stand firm
against forces that seek
to divide us,” the stu-
dents and the faculty
said in their letter. —ANI
IIM students, staff
write to PM:Take
stand against
hate speeches
Kavita Pant
Kolkata: Has Trina-
mool Congress really
dealt a big blow to Con-
gress and is making PM
Narendra Modi’s dream
of making a Congress-
free India a reality?
While the ‘uninitiated’
may think so, but those
with a deeper knowl-
edgeandsenseof things
claim that it is not so. In
fact, Trinamool has just
created a perception to
this effect and in reality
is far away from giving
any major blow to the
grand-old party. In As-
sam, Congress has suf-
fered due to Sushmita
Deb leaving the party.
But that’s not a big blow.
Sushmita Deb, who
once won Lok Sabha
elections from Silchar
on the legacy of her fa-
ther, was not very effec-
tive in politics of the
state after losing twice
in a row. Similarly, the
leaders who have left
the Congress in Goa are
not doing any major
harm to Congress.
Churchill Alemao, who
has yet again joined
TMC, had garnered
merely 3% votes and his
security was forfeited
when he contested from
TMC ticket last time.
Barring Meghalaya,
where Mukul Sangma’s
exit is indeed a big set-
back for Congress, TMC
has not dealt any major
blow to Congress so far.
There may be some big
loss going forward, but
for now only an as-
sumption is being
made. This perception
is also being created
not because there is
any great potential in
Trinamool, but because
BJP wants it.
Since the country’s
media is with Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi in the campaign
of ‘Congress-Mukt
Bharat’, that is why it is
also supporting this
campaign of Mamta
Banerjee.
In fact, leaders like
Ashok Tanwar and
Kirti Azad leaving the
Congress is not a blow
to the Congress, rather
a boon.
TMC enters ‘perception politics’ regime!
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The market
value of the American
company Apple has ex-
ceeded the total size of
India’s economy. This
company is more than
the total GDP of the
economies of 186 coun-
tries of the world. Due to
this, the economy of
America, China, Japan
and Germany has in-
creased. On Monday, Ap-
ple became the first com-
pany in the world to
touch a market cap of US
Dollar 3 trillion, before
falling slightly on the US
stock market whereas In-
dia’s economy is approxi-
mately close to $2.60 tril-
lion.
The Apple company
had created a value of
one trillion dollars in Au-
gust 2018. In August 2020,
it became a two trillion
company. And after a
year and a half, in Janu-
ary 2022, the figure of
three trillion is proof
that the company made a
tremendous increase in
its value during the Co-
rona period from produc-
tion sales.
It is also the world’s
number one company
when it comes to a com-
pany with a reserve of
cash. Apple alone is said
to have more cash than
all the big IT companies
in India. Apple touched a
$2 trillion market value
in August 2020 during the
pandemic, when there
was a huge demand for
electric products around
the world. It took just 16
months for the company
to add another $1 trillion
to its valuation.
The trust of inves-
tors continues to re-
main in the most valu-
able company in the
world. The reason for
this is the huge sales of
iPhones and MacBooks.
Shareholders have seen
their investments sky-
rocket in the company
six-fold over the past
five years. However, the
stock market is still try-
ing to get out of the out-
break of the Covid pan-
demic and is getting a
lot of help from Tesla,
Apple and graphics
chipmaker Nvidia.
IG LEVEL TEAM TO HELP PB, HARYANA
SEIZE RECORDS IN PM SECURITY ROW
Social media handles
spreading ‘fake, inciting
content’ Blocked: MoS
DCP: Bulli Bai
app creator had
5 Twitter handles
‘Bulli Bai’ App creator in arrest.
New Delhi: For-
mer Puducherry
lieutenant gover-
nor Kiran Bedi on
Saturdayslammed
Punjab police over
their alleged neg-
ligence to secure
the route of Prime
Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s convoy
in Punjab and said
that it was a clear
case of ambush of
the PM.
“The very first
security breach
was absentee DGP.
State Home Minis-
ter and Home Secy
were also not pre-
sent. Even the dis-
trict collector was
absent. Was
breach a pre-
planned conspira-
cy?,” asked former
IPS officer Bedi.
“It is a clear case
of ambush of the
PM,” Bedi further
alleged.
PM Modi’s con-
voy was stuck for
15-20 minutes due
to a road blockade
in Punjab’s
Ferozepur. The
PM, who was trav-
elling by road, had
to call off his event
in Ferozepur on
Wednesday
.
Following the
incident, BJP al-
leged that the Con-
gress government
in Punjab had de-
liberately created
a scenario to harm
PM Modi. —ANI
Security breach ‘clear
case of ambush of PM’,
says ex-IAS Kiran Bedi
NIA constitutes IG level team
to assist Registrar General
An ‘Apple’ bigger than
INDIAN ECONOMY
Mamata Banerjee
is doing politics of
becoming the face of the
Opposition before the
next Lok Sabha elections
and her election strate-
gist—Prashant Kishor—
is trying to make TMC
centre of Opposition
politics, instead of
Congress. In this effort,
the party is being spread
outside West Bengal to
other states. For this,
Congress leaders from
other states have been
broken and two peo-
ple have been sent to
Rajya Sabha by Mamata
Banerjee. Mamata
sent Congress leader
Sushmita Deb and
Luizinho Flerio, who was
Congress CM in Goa, to
the Rajya Sabha in the
by-elections. Mamata
has also sent retired IAS
officer Jawahar Sarkar
to the Upper House.
After this, the leaders
who have joined the
Trinamool will have to
wait for the Rajya Sabha
for now. Rajya Sabha
elections in West Bengal
will be held next year
i.e. in July of 2023 and
again in April of 2024.
Elections will be held for
a total of 11 seats at an
interval of seven-eight
months, out of which
nine seats will go to
Mamata’s party.
Recently, leaders like
Pawan Kumar Verma,
Ashok Tanwar, Kirti
Azad joined Trinamool
while Yashwant Sinha
had joined earlier. One
or two more leaders of
Jharkhand are in touch
with Mamata Banerjee.
It is being said that Kirti
Azad or any other leader
of Bihar or Jharkhand
can be contested from
the Asansol Lok Sabha
seat vacated as a result
of resignation of Babul
Supriyo.
LEADERS WHO JOINED TMC WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR RS SEAT!
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court
Women Lawyers Forum has sent a
letter petition to CJI NV Ramana,
highlighting the alleged failure of
the Central and State Govts to secure
the Minority communities in India,
their Fundamental Right to life with
dignity and safety guaranteed by Ar-
ticle 21 of the Constitution of India.
The petition undersigned by
around 77 women lawyers, further
prayed for the issuance of appropri-
ate directions to the Central and
State Govt to secure and ensure to
members of the minority communi-
ties, an atmosphere within which
they can enjoy their right to life with
dignity and security
. The petition
prayed for appropriate directions be
issued to prevent the dehumaniza-
tion of minorities by using pejora-
tives, likening them to animals and
germs, spreading fake news by dis-
seminating fearful stereotypes, in-
citing others to harass the targeted
communities. —ANI
New Delhi: A day after the Central
government’s reply in Delhi High
Court over the Uniform Civil Code,
one of the petitioners Ashwini Ku-
mar Upadhyay said that the govern-
ment should soon publish a UCC
draft to end all the confusion as it is
a matter of civil liberty, human
rights, gender justice and gender
equality
.
“Draft of it must be published
soon to end all confusion. Presently
neither its proponents nor its oppo-
nents know much about the Uni-
form Civil Code,” said Upadhyay
. “It
has nothing to do with religion or
personal laws. It’s a matter of civil
liberty, human rights, gender jus-
tice and gender equality,” he said.
“Uniform Civil Code means Uni-
form Age of Marriage, Uniform
Grounds of Divorce, Uniform Main-
tenance and Alimony, Uniform
Adoption and Guardianship and
Uniform Succession and Inherit-
ance,” he added. —ANI
CENTRE, STATE GOVTS FAILED
TO SECURE MINORITIES: DELHI
HC WOMEN LAWYERS FORUM
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE DRAFT
MUST BE PUBLISHED SOON TO
END ALL CONFUSION: PETITIONER
PM Narendra Modi

INDIA
06
New Delhi: There is an
urgent need to link
weavers and artisans
through e-Commerce
platforms and leverag-
ing of the new technol-
ogy for growth of tex-
tiles sector, Union Tex-
tiles Minister Piyush
Goyal said on Saturday
.
Goyal reviewed the
functioning of Ministry
of Textiles, its autono-
mous bodies and Public
Sector Undertakings
(PSUs) under its admin-
istrative control. Dur-
ing the meeting Goyal
directed the concerned
officials to take all the
required measures to
accelerate the growth
of handlooms and
handicrafts sector. The
minister directed for
simplification of pro-
cess and for an effective
online dashboard based
monitoring system for
transparency
. —ANI
Need to link weavers through E-comm: Goyal
FOR GROWTH OF TEXTILES SECTOR
OVER 2 CRORE CHILDREN IN 15-18 AGE
GROUP VACCINATED WITH 1ST
DOSE
Lauding efforts of children, Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said great going, my young friends
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya on Sat-
urday said that over two
crore youngsters be-
tween 15-18 age group
have received their first
dose of the Covid-19
vaccine in less than a
week of vaccination
drive for children.
Lauding the efforts
of children, Mandaviya
said, “Great going, my
young friends.” “Great
Going, my Young
Friends. Over 2 crore
youngsters between the
15-18 age group have re-
ceived their first dose
of vaccine in less than
a week of vaccination
drive for children,” Un-
ion Health Minister
said while noting that
the drive has been pro-
gressing rapidly
.
Vaccination program
for kids aged between 15
and 18 years has been
started on Jan 3. —ANI
Piyush Goyal reviews meeting to deliberate on ways to further strengthen India's Textiles ecosystem.
There was
special focus
on livelihood
sector of handlooms
and handicrafts. I ad-
vise all officials to
maintain good com-
munication with State
Govt functionaries to
improve outcome of
Central Govt schemes.
—Piyush Goyal, Textiles Min
Naypyidaw: At least 15
people were killed this
week in Myanmar mili-
tary’s attacks in the
country’s Sagaing re-
gion including four sib-
lings aged 5-26 and one
woman who died when
a missile fired from a
helicopter struck their
home, a media report
said citing sources.
The two Mi-35 attack
helicopters on January
4 launched six rockets
and fired machine guns
into Gahe village, part
of Indaw township in
Sagaing region. —ANI
5 killed in Myanmar
military’s attack in
Sagaing region
HIGHLIGHTS
 Now instead of 14,
test isolation ends in
7 days; Expert say,
Covid will spread fast
 India administers
over 150 crore doses
 Weekend curfew in
Karnataka, New Delhi
begins from Saturday
 Covid +ve Vishal
Dadlani's father dies
 ATK Mohun Bagan
vs Odisha FC post-
poned due to Covid
 WHO calls for strict
public health meas-
ures amid Covid surge
in South-East Asia
 US mom locks
Covid positive son in-
side car trunk to avoid
contracting virus, held
 U’khand HC sus-
pends court hearing
Lahore: Pakistan’s hill
station Murree was de-
clared a calamity-hit
area after at least 21
people, including 9 kids,
froze to death in their
stranded vehicles due
to unprecedented snow-
fall and rush of tourists
to picturesque town in
Punjab province.
All the routes in Mur-
ree in Rawalpindi were
blocked as vehicles en-
tered city, leaving tour-
ists helpless on roads.
The Punjab Govern-
ment has imposed a
state of emergency in
hospitals, police sta-
tions and administra-
tion offices. PM Imran
said he was shocked
upset at tragic deaths.
21 die trapped in vehicles
after snowstorm in Pakistan
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment’s decision to
set up 100 new Sainik
schools will provide an
opportunity for girl stu-
dents to join the armed
forces and contribute to
national security, De-
fence Minister Rajnath
Singh said on Saturday
.
In an address at an
online conference, Sin-
gh said the government
is for increasing the
role of women in the
armed forces and a se-
ries of steps have been
taken in that direction,
including clearing the
way for their admission
in Sainik schools and
providing permanent
commission to women
officers.
The defence minister
exuded confidence that
the decision to establish
new Sainik schools will
encourage girls to real-
ise their dreams of
serving country. This,
Singh said, will lead to
healthy competition
among schools. —ANI
Singh:100 new Sainik schools to provide
opportunity to girls to join armed forces
Kolkata: The Gan-
gasagar Mela, which
occurs at WB's Gan-
gasagar (also known
as Sagar) Island dur-
ing Makar Sankranti
every year, starts on
Saturday and will
continue till January
16. There was a ma-
jor cry regarding its
cancellation owing to
the ongoing corona-
virus disease and the
recent surge in cases
across country amid
Omicron outbreak.
GANGASAGAR
MELA STARTS,
PILGRIMS HEAD
TO WEST BENGAL
New Delhi: India reported 1,41,986 new cases of
Covid-19 on Saturday, a week after the country
crossed the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued
to spread at an unprecedented pace, largely driven
by the Omicron variant now present in 27 states.
The active cases comprise 1.34% of infections,
while the national recovery rate has decreased to
97.30%. An increase of 1,00,806 cases has been
recorded in the active Covid caseload in 24 hours.
1,41,986 COVID CASES IN INDIA
SATURDAY, 21% UP FROM FRI
COVID POSITIVE
Four Supreme Court judges
lHaryana Deputy CM Du-
shyant Chautala lAyesha
Singh of 'Ghum Hai Kisikey
Pyaar Meiin' lMadhur
Bhandarkar lMaanvi Gagroo
lOver 50 health workers in
Chennai lSathyaraj and di-
rector Priyadarshan lUnion
Minister V Muraleedharan
The government believes in in-
creasing the role of women in the
Armed Forces and a series
of steps have been taken
in that direction, in-
cluding clearing the
way for admission of
girls in Sainik Schools
and providing Perma-
nent Commission to
women officers.
—Rajnath Singh,
Defence Minister
Sydney: Novak Djokovic, whose lawyers said Satur-
day he was given an Australian Open Covid-19 vaccine
exemption for testing posi-
tive on December 16, was
at a young players event in
Belgrade the following day,
without a mask. In a filing
to the federal court seeking
to overturn his entry visa
cancellation his lawyers said
that the “date of the first
positive Covid PCR test was recorded on 16 Decem-
ber 2021”. The Belgrade tennis federation, in a Face-
book post after the December 17 ceremony, reported
that Djokovic had handed over cups and awards to
best young players in 2021.
New Delhi: The Foreign
Contribution (Regulation)
Act (FCRA) registration
of Missionaries of Char-
ity (MoC), an organisa-
tion founded by Mother
Theresa, was renewed
by the Ministry of Home
Affairs on January 7,
according to reports. The
ministry had earlier re-
jected the organisation’s
application to renew
the registration, citing
“adverse inputs” that it
had received. It is not yet
clear why the ministry
has reversed its decision.
FCRA certificate will be
valid till the end of 2026.
According to reports by
MoC, it had received Rs
425.86 crore in 5 years.
Mangaluru: A case was
registered against a
Muslim bridegroom and
family members of bride
for allegedly hurting
religious sentiments of
Hindus during a wed-
ding. Case was registered
based on a complaint
from Chethan from Vitla
Padnuru village, that the
bridegroom had dressed
up as Koragajja, a revered
Hindu demigod in Tulun-
adu area, police said.
New York: An Indian-ori-
gin Sikh taxi driver in US
has been assaulted by an
unidentified man, who
knocked off his turban
and also used expletives
against him outside JFK
International Airport in
New York, according to
a video on social media.
The undated 26-second
video was uploaded
by Navjot Pal Kaur
on Twitter on Jan 4,
showing a man assault-
ing the Sikh taxi driver
outside the airport.
Riyadh: Saudi authorities
have released a princess
and her daughter who
had been held without
charge for nearly three
years in capital, a hu-
man rights group said
on Saturday. Basma
bint Saud, 57, a royal
family member long
seen as a proponent of
women’s rights and a
constitutional monarchy,
has been detained since
March 2019, and in April
2020 implored King Sal-
man and Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman
to release her on health
grounds, ALQST for Hu-
man Rights said.
DJOKOVIC ATTENDED BELGRADE EVENT
24 HOURS AFTER POSITIVE COVID TEST
MISSIONARIES OF
CHARITY’S FCRA
RENEWED TILL ‘26
CASE AGAINST MUSLIM
MAN FOR DRESSING AS
HINDUDEITYINM’LURU
INDIAN-ORIGIN SIKH
DRIVER ATTACKED
AT JFK AIRPORT
SAUDI PRINCESS,
FREED FROM JAIL
AFTER 3 YEARS
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police have
booked 10 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lead-
ers, including a former minister, for violating Covid
protocols during a gathering to mark the sixth
death anniversary of party founder and former
chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Sayeed’s
daughter, former chief minister and PDP president
Mehbooba Mufti, in turn called out the JK Police
and the administration for “bias” against her party,
pointing to a candle light protest by BJP workers
in Srinagar Thursday to protest the security breach
during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab. The
BJP protest was allowed by the government.
10 PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERS
BOOKED FOR BREACHING COVID NORMS
CRUCIAL READ
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand art as India
reaching 150 cr vaccine doses, at Puri beach on Saturday.
Kupwara: Despite
heavy snowfall in the
forward post of Jammu
and Kashmir along the
Line of Control in the
Kupwara sector, the In-
dian Army personnel
continue to perform
their duty in the hostile
weather conditions.
The Army troops
were also seen using
snow scooters to move
around their positions
at a forward location
near the Line of Con-
trol in the Keran sector
of JK.
In a video shared by
PRO Udhampur, Minis-
try of Defence on Twit-
ter on Friday, a soldier
was seen standing and
guarding the border
amid the heavy snow-
fall and wind.
On the contrary,
continuous snowfall
in Kashmir led to the
cancellation of flights
at the Srinagar air-
port and affected ve-
hicular movement at
the Jammu-Srinagar
National Highway.
Weather department
on Friday had predicted
that intensity of snow-
fall and rainfall in parts
of Jammu and Kashmir
is likely to increase on
Saturday
. —ANI
BRAVO!
DESPITEHEAVYSNOW,INDIANSOLDIERS
GUARD BORDERS AT 17,000 FT ALTITUDE
Armytroopswereseenusingsnowscooterstomovetheirpositions
at a forward location near the Line of Control in the Keran sector
The Indian Army personnel continue to perform their duty in the hostile weather conditions.
IN KAZAKHSTAN’S STREET BATTLES, SIGNS
OF ELITES FIGHTING EACH OTHER...
It came as no big surprise when a
crumbling oil town in west Kazakh-
stan stirred in protest Sunday, 10 years
after security forces there killed over
dozen workers who had gone on strike
over pay and poor conditions. But it re-
mains mystery how peaceful protests
over rise in fuel prices last weekend
in Zhanaozen, a grimy, Soviet-era
settlement near Caspian Sea, suddenly
spread over 1,000 miles across full
length here, turning biggest Kazakh
into war zone littered with dead bodies,
burned buildings and incinerated cars.
FLIGHTS CANCELLED !
Nearly 10 outbound flights from Srinagar airport were cancelled due
to low visibility on Saturday. The visibility was as low as 500m at the
airport, said the airport authorities. “Snowfall is expected to continue till
today afternoon. Visibility is only 500 M,” tweeted Srinagar airport. Six
Indigo flights, a Vistara flight, two SpiceJet, and one GoFirst flight have
been cancelled and four flights rescheduled so far due to the ongoing
snowfall in the city causing the low visibility.
Military vehicles of Russian peacekeepers
parked at an airfield outside Moscow.

BIZ BUZZ
07
INDIAN ECONOMY
IN 2022
THE BIG FACTORS TO WATCH
A fter navigating the
turbulent pan-
demic waves, the
recovering Indian
economy is now
sailing through un-
chartered waters of
rising coronavirus
cases, spiralling
commodity prices
and spiking infla-
tion though the
lighthouse of sus-
tainable growth re-
mains visible.
As 2022 begins, a raft
of developments, ranging from
Budgetary announcements to
continuation of stimulus meas-
ures to monetary policy
, will set the
tone for the domestic economy,
which is projected to grow more than
9 per cent in the current fiscal ending
March 2022.
The country’s continuing massive vac-
cination drive and ‘precaution’ doses start-
ing for select categories of people this month
will provide a firewall against any steep spike in
coronavirus cases amid the emergence of the Omi-
cron variant.
Experts opined that the economy is expected to see a
strong recovery in the coming months and even going
past the pre-COVID levels unless the pandemic plays
spoilsport.
In the 2021 April-June quarter, the economy recorded
a whopping 20.1 per cent growth but then it came main-
ly on the back of the base effect as GDP contracted 24.4
per cent in the year-ago period.
Nevertheless, an 8.4 per cent growth in the second
quarter (July-September) was more meaningful as it
indicated sustained recovery
.
The country’s exports have picked up in recent
months, which is also an indicator of substantial recov-
ery in the economy
.
Industry body Ficci President Sanjiv Mehta said that
a likely growth of over nine per cent in the current fis-
cal ending March 2022 was good but more important
would be to “achieve a sustained growth of eight per
cent over a long period of time”.
A sustained growth is needed for accelerating job
creation, removing poverty and bringing in prosperity
in the rural and semi-urban areas. Fitch, global rating
agency said it expects the services sector to show a
strong reading amid the lifting of most restrictions.—PTI
A dovish mone-
tary policy by
the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has also
played a key part in
stimulating the
overall economic ac-
tivities. With global
inflationary trends
slightly on the upward
trajectory, the RBI will con-
tinue with its relatively loose
monetary policy
.
As far as direct growth in In-
dian economy is concerned, econo-
mists said that RBI would be keep-
ing a close watch on the inflation
level but may focus on growth in
the next monetary policy review
in Feb 2022. “Considering the
high inflationary expectations,
RBI will be watchful of the inflation
level, and we hope that benign interest
rates continue considering capital inten-
sive sectors like real estate are strongly influ-
enced by credit costs at both level,” an RBI offi-
cial said.
The Reserve Bank has kept the benchmark lending
rates or repo rates unchanged since May 2020. Among
others, the low-interest rates have provided a much-
needed boost to the real estate and other sectors of the
economy
.
“India’s real GDP bounced back strongly in Q2:2021-
22, hitting a growth of 8.4% over a favourable base and
exceeding the Reserve Bank’s estimates of 7.9%. The
GDP level surpassed that of Q2:2019-20 by 0.3 per cent,”
according to an assessment by the RBI.
“The recent correction in prices of many
food items other than tomatoes, has pro-
vided relief for the inflation trajecto-
ry
. In our assessment, as long as the
CPI inflation remains within the
target of 2-6%, the MPC and RBI
will prefer to prioritise growth,
and maintain policy support. As
of now, there isn’t enough evi-
dence on the durability of the
growth recovery to confirm
that the stance will be
changed to neutral in the
Feb 2022 policy re-
view,” MPC official
said. —PTI
RECOVERING
INDIA
New Delhi: A data by government
on Friday revealed that India’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated
to grow by 9.2% in 2021-22 as against
a contraction of 7.3% recorded in the
previous year.
GDP at Constant Prices (2011-12)
in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs
147.54 lakh crore, as against the Provi-
sional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-
21 of Rs 135.13 lakh crore, according to
data released by the National Statistical
Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation.
The growth in nominal GDP during
2021-22 is estimated at 17.6%. Nominal
GVA at Basic Prices is estimated at Rs
210.37 lakh crore in 2021-22, as against
Rs 179.15 lakh crore in 2020-21, show-
ing a growth of 17.4%.
Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices
in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs
232.15 lakh crore, as against the Provi-
sional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-
21 of Rs 197.46 lakh crore, released on
May 31, 2021. —ANI
INDIA’S GDP ESTIMATED
TO GROW 9.2% IN 2021-22
Will 2022 be the year where the world and Indian economy recovers from the pandemic? That’s the big question on everyone’s
lips as the festive break comes to an end and a new year embarks. After navigating pandemic waves, a constantly recovering
Indian economy is now sailing through rising coronavirus cases, spiralling commodity prices and spiking inflation though
sustainable growth remains visible. India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow by 9.2 per cent in 2021-22 as
against a contraction of 7.3 per cent recorded in the previous year, the government data showed on Friday.
RBI IN ACTION,
AGAINST
INFLATION
dian economy is concerned, econo-
mists said that RBI would be keep-
ing a close watch on the inflation
high inflationary expectations,
RBI will be watchful of the inflation
level, and we hope that benign interest
rates continue considering capital inten-
sive sectors like real estate are strongly influ-
Experts opined that the economy is expected to see a
RBI IN ACTION,
INFLATION
INFLATION

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
54,99,949
TOTAL DEATHS
25,85,14,802
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,02,39,551
ACTIVE CASES
30,42,54,302
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
285
TOTAL DEATHS
40,895
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,72,169
ACTIVE CASES
1,41,986
TOTAL CASES
COURTESY
MEETING
Jagdeesh Chandra greets West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
WILL NAQVI GET
RS FROM BIHAR?
The term of three big
Muslim faces of
BJP i.e. Union Minister
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi,
a journalist turned- pol-
itician and former min-
ister MJ Akbar and
Syed Zafar Islam is go-
ing to be over this year.
Naqvi remains a fa-
vorite of his party’s cen-
tral leadership these
days, the PM himself
has praised the ‘Hunar
Haat’ conceptualized by
him on many occasions
and he is included in the
only Muslim face of the
Modi cabinet, so ti is be-
lieved that he is set to
get RS again. Presently,
he is in RS from
Jharkhand. Then sourc-
es tell that he can be
sent to RS from Bihar
next time. Two seats of
RS from Bihar are going
to be part of BJP. Any-
way, Naqvi is a popular
progressive face of the
party, so the BJP feels
that he can be used as an
answer to Lalu’s Mus-
lim-Yadav equation in
Bihar. Zafar Islam
comes to RS from UP
, to
capitalize on his friend-
ship with Gulf coun-
tries, the Modi govt can
bring him again in the
RS from UP itself.
WILL KC TYAGI’S
EXILE END?
6RS seats are going to
be vacant from Bi-
har. The tenure of Un-
ion Minister RCP Singh
and RJD’s Misa Bharti
is going to end on July
7. The tenure of two
other BJP leaders i.e.
Satish Chandra Dubey
and Gopal Narayan Sin-
gh is also about to end,
but the party is not said
to be ready to send these
two again to RS. Send-
ing Misa Bharti back to
RS will be a compulsion
for Tejashwi as he does
not want to increase
further family discord.
Nitish’s cousin RCP
Singh is currently the
Union Steel Minister in
the Modi cabinet, so it
may be Nitish’s compul-
sion to give him RS
again. Preps are being
made to send KC Tyagi
to the Upper House
from the seat vacated by
the death of King Ma-
hendra, the fruit of the
long wait from 2018 to
2022 is now going to go
to JDU’s vocal speaker
KC Tyagi.
SAFFRON DIXIT!
Rajesh Dixit, who
was the national
secretary of the SP in
the past, got down from
the cycle in the pres-
ence of BJP president
JP Nadda and Dhar-
mendra Pradhan and
held a lotus in his
hands, with a new saf-
fron slogan. Dixit is a
well-known face in the
corridors of power, he
once operated the cor-
porate media of Muke-
sh Ambani, as he also
had a very close rela-
tionship with Mulayam
Singh. He later quit
Ambani’s job became
full-time SP worker.
AFTER RAMLALA,
NOW SHYAMALLA!
To support the party
in western UP and
unite Hindu voters
against 40% of Muslims
there, the BJP is consid-
ering contesting its new
Hindutva leader Yogi
from Mathura. The
‘Shri Krishna Janmab-
hoomi Mukti Andolan’
is being given an edge
with the idea of repair-
ing the broken land of
BJP in western UP due
to the farmers’ move-
ment. Anyway
, Ayodhya
has been saved through
SC and Kashi has been
saved through political
will, now it is Mathu-
ra’s turn. The presence
of Yogi can be seen in
Mathura-Vrindavan, no
matter what the big re-
ligious event is. Till
now Yogi has visited
Mathura some 19 times
as CM.
WILL KEJRIWAL
AGREE TO MANN?
The question if stuck
over who will be the
CM face of AAP in Pun-
jab. Bhagwant Mann
was staking his claim
for this for a long time,
but considering Mann’s
image, AAP supremo
Kejriwal did not ap-
prove of it. His choice is
Legislature Party lead-
er Harpal Singh Chee-
ma, a prominent Dalit
face of the party
.
...AND FINALLY!
Bihar CM Nitish has
started his ‘Samaj
Reform Abhiyan’ yatra
from December 22 itself,
declared the purpose of
this yatra to create an
atmosphere against al-
cohol, and against evils
like dowry and child
marriage. But Nitish’s
alliance partner in the
state government, the
BJP, has kept a distance
from this visit.
A MAJOR
SECURITY LAPSE
IN PM’S PUNJAB
VISIT! ANOTHER
SIDE OF THE
STORY!
There should not be
any doubt or de-
bate on the failure of
the Punjab government
and especially the DGP
and Home Secretary in
providing a safe and
protected route to
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi who was on
his way to address an
election rally! However,
after initial reluctance,
finally, under displeas-
ure from Sonia Gandhi
the Punjab Chief Min-
ister had to shift DGP
Siddharth Chattopad-
hyayandSSPFerozepur
Harmandeep Singh
Hans on Saturday, the
day of the announce-
ment of the Code of
Conduct. But the other
part of the story is why
only the Punjab govern-
ment or its police are
being criticized? What
were our intelligence
agencies doing? While a
special intelligence net-
work of IB is prepared
for the PM, a senior IB
officer is authorized for
PM’s visits, accompa-
nies him in his caravan.
Second, the big ques-
tion is, what was the
SPG doing, the agency
whose sole concern and
responsibility is related
to the security of the
PM and the country
alone spends Rs 592.5
crore annually on this
agency. All the deci-
sions of the SPG are
made according to their
‘Blue Book’, if the PM
decides to travel by
road, then this entire
route is decided
under the
direction
of the
S P G .
E v e n
in the
‘Blue Book’ it is written
that at what speed will
the vehicles of PM’s
convoy run. Recently,
the Modi government
changed the law to in-
crease the BSF’s 15 km
radius of control to 50
km. Then the question
arises that what was the
BSF doing? The PM had
tweeted a PIB press re-
lease on January 5 in
which he had no pro-
gramme to visit the
Hussainiwala National
Martyrs Memorial. The
distance from the
Bathinda airport to
Hussainiwala, which
borders Pakistan, is
about 140 km by road.
The distance of Hus-
sainiwala from the rally
site is only 12 km. The
question is whether the
BSF really knew that
PM could come to Hus-
sainiwala where there
are often reports of
drone attacks from
across the border. If the
decision to go by road in
bad weather was taken
in a hurry, did the secu-
rity agencies do any
drill before? Wherever
the PM’s programme is
organised, the security
agencies also take the
local police under their
control from several
days ago. And when the
PM is travelling by
road, the SPG makes
sure that the state’s
principal secretary,
DGP, district collector
and SP accompany him
in his convoy. As far as
the farmers’ protest is
concerned, these dem-
onstrations were al-
ready going on from
place to place in Punjab
and on January 2 itself,
the farmers had an-
nounced that their pro-
test would continue
unabated. On some oc-
casions in the past
(once in Noida, when
the PM’s caravan lost
its way, twice in West
Bengal, once in Maha-
rashtra) there have
been lapses in PM’s se-
curity
. If the country is
spending precious Rs
592.5 crore of its hard-
earned money on PM’s
security, then such re-
peated lapses are sim-
ply unfortunate.
FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL
BY TRIDIB
RAMAN
The author is a journalist
and political commentator
and views expressed are
his personal
Jagdeesh Chandra paid a courtesy call to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on
Saturday morning at Rambagh Palace Hotel, Jaipur. The Governor is on a two-day
visit to his native state of Rajasthan and returned to Kolkata on Saturday.
Chaitanya Balvada with Pratap Banhu Shekhawat, Prant
President, Hindu Jagran Manch, during their meeting with
Governor Dhankhar. —PHOTOS BY SUNIL SHARMA
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in conversation
with Jagdeesh Chandra.
PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI
The contribution of the
Pravasi Bharatiyas to the
development of the state
and nation is commendable!
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Tapi: A three-year-old
girl was mauled to death
by a leopard at a village
in Tapi district, a forest
official said on Saturday
.
The toddler was taken
away by a wild animal
while her family mem-
bers were working at a
brick kiln in Hanuman-
tiya village on Friday
evening, said range for-
est officer (RFO) Chirag
Ajara. “After hours of
search, the family mem-
bersfoundthegirl’sbody
with her severed head
lying near a sugarcane
field around midnight.
Primarily
, we suspect
that she was attacked by
a leopard. Her body has
been sent for postmor-
tem,” said Ajara, RFO,
Sadadval forest range in
the Tapi district.
The victim was the
daughter of a migrant
labourer from Khargone
in Madhya Pradesh.
“The incident oc-
curred when she was
playing outside the
shacknearthebrickkiln
on Friday evening. After
her family members re-
alised that she was miss-
ing, they launched a
search, only to find her
body with her head sev-
ered,” said Ajara. He
said forest department
officials visited the site
and set up six cages to
trap the leopard.
Leopard mauls toddler to death in Tapi
The girl went missing while playing
outside her house; search party
found her body with head severed
Gujarat lost 67 persons to leopard attacks between 2015 and
2019, the government told the state Assembly in March last year.
Godhra police arrests
one for forging an
LRD/PSI call letter
First India Bureau
Godhra: Godhra police
have arrested a person
for forging LRD/PSI
physical test call letter.
He will be prosecuted
under various sections
of theIndianPenalCode
for punishment for for-
gery, forgery for valua-
ble security, forgery for
cheating, whoever
fraudulently or dishon-
estly use it as genuine,
whoever makes or coun-
terfeits any seal.
Police Sub Inspector
Harishchandra Indra-
jitsinh in a complaint
lodged with the Godhra
B division police sta-
tion, said that Sandip
Thakor had appeared
for the physical test
with call confirmation
number 92140519. But,
a few minutes later, Ro-
hit Parmar from Kheda
appeared for the exams
with the same call con-
firmation number. So,
the police called Sand-
ip Thakor to produce
his call letter, which
showed Dholka town in
Ahmedabad district as
his residential address.
The address raised a
suspicion in police as
to how a person from
Ahmedabad got
Godhra as a centre for
a physical test.
On further inquiry,
they found that Sand-
ip’s brother-in-law
Ritesh Chauhan had
filled the online form
from Dholka. So the po-
lice asked the candidate
to call Ritesh to Godhra.
During the primary
round of questioning,
Ritesh allegedly admit-
ted before the police
that he had forged the
call letter for Sandip.
He had somehow pro-
cured access to candi-
date Rohit Parmar’s
call letter, from which
he used the call confir-
mation number.
Though the accused
was aware that he had
generated a fake call let-
ter, he never revealed it
to Sandip. He instead
askedhimtoproducethe
letterbeforethepoliceas
a genuine letter and at-
tend the physical test.
LRD/PSI posts aspiring candidates preparing for physical tests at the Amreli police ground. —FILE PHOTO
—FILE
PHOTO
The accused is booked
under various
sections of the IPC
for punishment
for forgery

AHMEDABAD, SUNDAY
JANUARY 9, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
o satisfy the crav-
ings of all fashion
lovers, ‘India De-
signer Show’ pre-
sented some of the
most colourful and
heavily-embellished
lehengas which can make
anyone go crazy
.
The second edition of the
India Designer Show is
wrapped up on a scintillating
note with some breathtaking
and fashion-forward lines by
Indian designers. This one-
dayfashionshowcumexhibi-
tion was organised by Ronit
Agrawal of Modern Stage
Events and sponsored by AB
Motoss, an Indian electric
two-wheeler manufacturing
company in association with
TiJil Interior by Nipa Jain at
Hotel Roseate House, Aeroc-
ity recently
. The main aim of
the event was to promote and
showcase the talents of Indi-
an Designers on the national
level. The momentous event
was directed by Lokesh Shar-
ma which featured some ele-
gant fashion statements by
the finest designers like Amit
Talwarr from Delhi, Poshak
Bridal Emporio by Monika
Bhatia from Jammu. Brand
‘Bare and Blur’ Couture by
designer Arshi Singhal pre-
sented an exquisite designer
line of clothing collection
underthename‘KASTOORI’-
A Royal Extract which was
inspired by the regal beauty
of Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur.
Designer Arshi Singhal with
her Bare and Blur label vows
to deliver the modern trends
in the traditional sense. The
third performance added an
impeccable element to the
glamourbyshowcasingsome
classical Indian collections
like saris, suits, and men’s
kurtaPajamabyAngadCrea-
tion From Jammu and Indo-
Western gowns under the
luxurycouture
brand Ka-
rigiri by sister duo Sulak-
shana Arpita from Pri-
tampura Delhi. Karigiri
is an Indo-western cum
ethnic wear for mod-
ern-day fashion-sav-
vy women. The
event also threw
lightonastonish-
ing collections
by designers
Sulakshana
a n d
Arpita.
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
cityfirstdel@gmail.com
T
GLOW AND
GLARE!
The second edition of India Designer Show directed by
Lokesh Sharma featured some elegant fashion statements
by the finest designers of the country!
Tanvi Bakshi
Neha Bains
Zara Sheikh
Elakshi Gupta
Gehna Arora
Divas at India Desinger Show
Models flaunting their Lehengas on the runway along with the designers

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
ARYANSHI SHARMA, Blogger
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You make sure to
make things work
your way. You
are most wanted
by your friends.
Never demotivate
someone even if
someone is not
capable of doing
something. You can have romantic affair
in office and a serious one. You will invest
money in clothes and accessories today.
You are a God fearing person.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You are a pro in
your field and
no one can beat
you very easily.
Female Aries are
lioness and other
women around
are often jealous.
You give a tough
competition to people. Many people get
inspired and motivatedss by you. You
will get special treatment from your dear
ones.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Just do whatever
you can do to
cheer everyone
up. You will
feel financially
comfortable and
infant you are in
position to invest
money in some
new venture. Your personality will attract
many eligible bachelors. Spend time
talking with likeminded people as it will
make you feel good for now.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Being an
opportunist
will make you
successful
one day. Your
spouse can do
anything for your
happiness. There
may be delays in
property possession and it won’t effect
you. You are happy spending whole day
at home. Help your mothers at home
today and make them smile.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You are fortunate
to have a great
friend circle. You
are generous
by nature and
also you the
backbone of your
family. Today is a
favourable day for
business. You may postpone your study
plans. Be careful of the words that come
out of your mouth. Your lover may finally
say yes to get married to you.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
This is the
best time try
something new
with life give
yourself a new
purpose. You
will feel amorous
towards your
wife. Work on
your limitations, there can be no better
time than this. You have more opposite
sex friends than the same and you may
be judged sometimes but don’t care.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You must create
an environment
of understanding
at home. You
need a break
from day to
tensions and the
way to cope up
with stress is to
meditate. You will succeed in any sort
of examination if you put your heart and
soul to it. Promotion can be expected
even if other are not.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Best day to
buy gold and
silver or any
precious metal
for investment
sake. You love to
live close to your
family. You are a
child at heart and
never let this child die. You have a big
heart and you always help someone if you
can. Video gathering is possible as you
miss your social circle like anything.
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You need
academic help
and you should
not shy away
from asking.
Your spouse
may make you
spend more than
you expected.
Fantastic day for investing money in stock
market. You miss your parents a lot and
somewhere fear to loose them. Admit
your faults in relationship.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You always
maintain cordial
relationship with
your friends,
family and
colleagues. You
workout daily to
keep yourself fit.
You may start a
side business to earn extra money. You
are not a jealous kind and you feel happy
for others. You are a very grounded
person.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Don’t make
friends for money
and status rather
make friends who
will stick with you
forever. You care
about you lover
but somehow
hesitate in
expressing that care. On social front, you
may have to spend some extra money
in buying gifts for someone for some
specific occasion.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Take stand where
you need to,
don’t run in the
same direction as
everybody else.
Visit a doctor
if you have any
doubts about
your health. Don’t
attract stress. Let go of things that are
not in your control. You want to have
your own house and you will work hard
to make your dream come true.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
GROWING
GROWING
POPULARITY OF
POPULARITY OF
SPIRITUALISM
SPIRITUALISM
PHOTOGRAPHER SHANNON TAGGART TAKES
VIEWERS INSIDE THE WORLD OF SÉANCES,
MEDIUMS AND ORBS AS SPIRITUALISM’S
POPULARITY GROWS
he word sé-
ance con-
jures im-
ages of
darkened
rooms, en-
t r a n c e d
mediums, strange
occurrences and
spirit voices. For
many contempo-
rary audiences,
these visions might
seem like some-
thing out of the
past, or perhaps a
movie, rather than
a living belief sys-
tem.
For the past 20
years, American
photographerShan-
non Taggart has ex-
plored modern spir-
itualism, a religion
whose adherents
believe in commu-
nication with the
dead.
Her photograph-
ic series “Séance,”
which was recently
on view at the Albin
O. Kuhn Gallery at
the University of
Maryland, Balti-
more County, pro-
vides a window into
this often misun-
derstood religion.
As a curator and
art historian who
has researched ap-
parition photo-
graphs and the art
of conspiracy theo-
ry, I was drawn to
Taggart’s images
because they offer a
lens through which
to examine the role
of spirituality in
modern life.
In an era defined
by a global pandem-
ic, heightened po-
litical division and
the planetary threat
of climate change, I
wonder: Is spiritu-
alism due for a ma-
jor resurgence?
T
BETH SAUNDERS
Curator and Head of Special
Collections and Gallery, University
of Maryland, Ballimore County
SPIRITUALISM
COMES KNOCKING
S
p i r i t u a l i s m
emerged near
R o c h e s t e r,
New York, in 1848
when two sis-
ters, Kate and Mar-
garet Fox, claimed
to hear a mysteri-
ous rapping at their
bedroom wall. The
adolescents claimed
to communicate
through a system of
knocks with the
spirit of a man who
had died in the
house years earlier.
News of the phe-
nomenon traveled
quickly, and the
girls appeared be-
fore crowds demon-
strating their pur-
ported abilities.
Notably, spiritu-
alism gave women
an unprecedented
role in religion, pro-
viding an audience
and a platform to
deliver messages
both personal and
political. Suffra-
gists Marion H.
Skidmore, Eliza-
beth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. An-
thony all spoke at
Lily Dale. The views
of spiritualists thus
represented a radi-
cal break from tra-
ditional religious
and political au-
thority
.
GHOSTS IN
THE MACHINE
SPIRITUALIST
REVIVALS
T
he Fox sisters’ purported ability to
communicate with the dead became
known as “the spiritual telegraph,”
referencing the then-recent invention by
Samuel B. Morse. As spiritualism devel-
oped, adherents embraced technology as
tools for spirit communication and to
prove the existence of spirits.
Photography became “the perfect me-
dium” with which to create an iconogra-
phy of spiritualism. Whether it was
through astronomical, microscopic or X-
ray photography
, cameras could render the
unseen visible. Despite the proliferation
of altered photographs in the 19th century,
the photograph’s status as a truthful rep-
resentation of reality remained – and, one
might argue, continues to remain – largely
intact.
H
istory suggests that catastrophic loss
of life can spur renewed interest in
spiritualist beliefs.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the
Mumlers’ portraits became the rage amid
the devastation of the U.S. Civil War. Has
the new sense of uncertainty induced by
the COVID-19 pandemic triggered another
spiritualist revival? Alternative belief
structures, are experiencing a resurgence,
reaching new audiences through the inter-
net. While modern mediums have their
detractors, their eager adoption of televi-
sion and the internet is a logical step for a
religion that embraces new technologies.
What was once seen as a niche subcul-
ture or the domain of late-night shows has
gone mainstream: Psychic businesses were
a US$2 billion industry in 2018.
SHANNON TAGGART’S ‘SÉANCE’
T
his new spir-
ituality has
i n f l u e n c e d
pop culture as well
as high art; the
G u g g e n h e i m ’s
2019 retrospective
of Swedish artist
and mystic Hilma
af Klint was
the most-visited
exhibition in the
museum’s history,
drawing over
600,000 viewers.
Taggart’s photo-
graphs explore
present-day prac-
tices, sites and ob-
jects of spiritual-
ism. Allowing
chance and auto-
mation to guide
camera experi-
ments, she reveals
processes of trans-
formation and al-
tered states
through blurred
effects, halos of
light and doubling
in images that ref-
erence historical
spirit photo-
graphs.
In one image, for
example,agrieving
mother raises her
arms into a dark-
ened sky dotted
with circles of light
knownasorbs.Tag-
gart’s aim is to re-
maintruthfultothe
psychological expe-
rience of spiritual-
ism,tomakevisible
what is ineffable.
Taggart’s photo-
graphs recover the
marginalized his-
toryof spiritualism
at a moment when
the religion feels
once again on the
verge of a resur-
gence.
As Taggart is
fond of saying,
“You don’t have to
take spiritualism
literally to take it
seriously
.”

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022
11
ith everything going on,
inclusion has been a
hotly debated topic. In-
clusivity is not a new
concept and has ac-
quired significant atten-
tion in recent years. It
may not always be present in the
fashion business, though as time
progresses, it is evolving.
Recently
, more and more fashion
agencies have started including
unconventional models such as
trans, amputee, plus-size, coloured
skin, gender-fluid models, etc.
Even world renowned companies
like Victoria’s Secret, which have
strict criteria on the type of mod-
els they put on the runway, are
coming out of their shells and try-
ing to include non-traditional
models.
Recently the Cosmopolitian
magazine started a Tummy series
Campaign. It features 12 women
expressing who they are by being
confident in their bodies and shar-
ing the message; ‘All tummies are
good tummies.’ The campaign
aims to normalize all types of bel-
lies. For example, their magazine
covers feature women with chubby
tummies that have stretch-marks,
or are loose due to pregnancy
.
Another example of inclusive
modellingisWinnieHarlow.Discov-
ered by Tyra Banks on Instagram,
she is currently one of the top mod-
elsintheworldandhasvitiligo.She
hasmodelledforfashionmagazines
such as I-D and Dazed.
You can find many examples of
inclusive modelling on the inter-
net. Every day, companies portray
a new way to normalize all kinds
of women. Though traditional
beauty standards are still control-
ling the flow of the fashion and
beauty industry, we are one step
closer to a more healthy portrayal
of the human body and its beauty
.
Reshaping the
Reshaping the
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
OVER THE YEARS
MODELING HAS
BECOME ALL THE
MORE INCLUSIVE,
THINK: COLORS,
SHAPES AND SIZES,
AND... WE LOVE
THEM ALL!
DEVANSHI MUDGAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
W
Gender Fluid beauties
Mid-sized model rockiing the ramp
Winnie Harlow Kim Kardashian
Viktoria Modesta and Kendall Jenner
Gigi
Hadid
Beauty in diversity

12
CITY BUZZ
K
erala based Zam-
roodh, who has
been termed as
the ‘South Indian
Superstar’ on Sony En-
tertainment Televi-
sion’s India’s Best Danc-
er 2, is known for his
freestyle, semi-classical,
Bollywood, lyrical and
hip-hop dance styles.
Winning the hearts of
the judges aka ENT (En-
tertainment, Newness
and Technique) special-
ists – Malaika Arora,
Terence Lewis and Gee-
ta Kapur, the energetic
dancer who is known for
giving twists to each of
his dance acts along
with choreographer
Sonali Kar has made it a
long way on the show.
Entered as just another
boy during the audi-
tions, he soon went on to
win the hearts of the
judges followed by that
of India. With his im-
peccable dancing skills,
he has made his way to
the Best 5 in the show.
In an exclusive inter-
view with City First,
Zamroodh revealed
a lot about his jour-
ney, learnings and
future plans. “It’s a
great feeling to be
able to make it this far.
The journey on India’s
Best Dancer has been
just like a rollercoaster
ride with a lot of ups,
downs, learning, laugh-
ter and more.” Spilling
the beans about his
technique, he in-
formed, “When it
comes to technique, my
style is freestyle, semi-
classical, Bollywood,
lyrical and hip-hop.”
On his most cherished
moments on the
show, Zamroodh re-
marked, “I am
grateful to all the
celebrity guests who
have graced the show
and witnessed our per-
formances. When it
comes to the best mo-
ment.” Expressing
gratitude to his chore-
ographer Sonali Kar,
Zamrood said, Sonali is
one of the greatest cho-
reographers and now, a
friend that I have ever
met. She has always
been with me through-
out and extended her
support always.” He
also mentioned, “The
three judges – Geeta
maa, Malaika ma’am
and Terence sir have
been motivating me with
their comments through
and through.” A word
for his fans - “I am highly
thankful to everyone
who has appreciated my
performance and show-
ered me with absolute
love and support.”
ZAMROODH DANCES HIS WAY TO FAME!
POORVI SINGHAL
ndia has a long and unique
history of art, with several
indigenous crafts and prac-
tices passed down across
generations. Today, these
crafts have the potential to
be revived quite quickly by
leveraging current technology, so-
cial media and e-commerce space.
COVID-19 pushed many people to
discover their creative selves.
Moreover, these challenging times
allowed several artists and crafts-
men to showcase their creativity
and talent on social media and in-
spire their community
.
One such young artist who won
many hearts was Anusha Sarda.
Anusha started crocheting in 2020
after the first lockdown. While in-
terviewing her, she mentioned,
“times were difficult and I needed
something to keep my mind occu-
pied. I had seen naani and mom do
this and I found it very amusing.
After a little while, my friends
started pushing me to start a page
and hence, I came up with @
an.artsynaari.“
What started as a DIY/craft blog
soon became a store for all things
crochet and handmade! Every
With the sudden surge in Corona and its
variants, Delhi Government decided to
cease the city under 55 hours long
weekend curfew which kicked
in at 10 pm on Friday. Delhi has been
witnessing a huge spike in fresh cases in
the span of the last several days with the
positivity rate rising to over 17 percent. As
the weekend curfew began in the capital,
a wave of Silence ran down the
city. Markets were shut down with only
the essential services operational. City
First caught glimpses of empty roads and
closed markets in the morning of
weekend curfew in Delhi.
—Photos by SHAZID CHAUHAN
After the security lapse
in the Punjab tour of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, the whole country
is praying for the well
being of PM Modi. In this
episode, prayers were
offered for his well being
at Hazrat Nizamuddin
Dargah of Delhi on
Friday. Atif Rashid,
Deputy Chairman of the
National Commission for
Minorities, prayed for
PM's long and
healthy life.
PRAYERS FOR MODI!
WEEKEND CURFEW
BANNO AND HER BRIDESMIADE
Nitika Panjwani
product is handmade with premi-
um quality yarn, customisable and
completely size-inclusive. Over the
last year, Anusha came up with a lot
of quirky and trending designs and
received a lot of love. The brand
was also featured in Grazia India
and was seen by many celebrities
and influencers.
Anusha also quoted, “Building
artsy has been very challenging but
is honestly the best experience of
my life, I am grateful for this jour-
ney and all the love we've received.”
ARTSY
ARTSY
NAARI!
NAARI!
I
Zamroodh
Zamroodh and Sonali
Be it for a new line promotion
or launching new products, it
seems that collaborations are
everywhere. To increase the
footfall of fashion lovers, Delhi-
based designers and makeup
artists have rounded up the
most desirable collaborations of
the season, 'Banno and Her
Bridesmiade'. The beautiful
models were decked up in
Designer Indian, western
and Indo western wear
with partially curled
hair and heavenly
make-up by Gurbani
Singh.
— PHOTOS BY MANOJ
KESHARWANI
Be it for a new line promotion
or launching new products, it
seems that collaborations are
everywhere. To increase the
footfall of fashion lovers, Delhi-
based designers and makeup
artists have rounded up the
most desirable collaborations of
the season, 'Banno and Her
Bridesmiade'. The beautiful
models were decked up in
Designer Indian, western
and Indo western wear
with partially curled
hair and heavenly
make-up by Gurbani
— PHOTOS BY MANOJ
KESHARWANI
Shivani Bhatia
Akansha
and
Ujwala
Tiwari
Anushka Sarda’s astonishing crochet work
Riddhima Pandit donning Anusha’s crochet work

09012022 first india ahmedabad

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