09012022 first india new delhi

Haryanacancelsnotificationtosetup judicial
paneltoprobepoliceactiononfarmers
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: The Har-
yana government will
not go ahead with set-
ting up a one-member
judicial inquiry com-
mission to probe al-
leged police action
against farmers in Au-
gust last year. The
Home Department has
issued a formal notifi-
cation in this regard.
Sources said the deci-
sion has been taken in
view of the withdrawal
of the farmers’ agita-
tion after repeal of the
three Farm laws by the
Central government.
The state government
has already announced
to withdraw the cases
registered against the
farmers during the stir.
The notification is-
sued by Additional
Chief Secretary (ACS)
(Home) Rajeev Arora
reads: “Whereas the
state government is of
the opinion that the ex-
istence of commission
of Inquiry constituted
byHaryanagovernment
homedepartmentnotifi-
cation No. 3-1-2021-1HC,
datedSeptember25,2021
is unnecessary…Now
therefore in exercise of
powers conferred by
clause (a) and sub-sec-
tion (2) of section-7 of
the Commissions of In-
quiry Act 1952, the Gov-
ernor of Haryana here-
by ceases the publica-
tion of this notification
in the official gazette.”
The one-man commis-
sion was headed by Jus-
tice S N Aggarwal, a re-
tiredjudgeof thePunjab
andHaryanaHighCourt,
to probe the incident, in-
cluding police lathich-
arge on protesting farm-
ers, at Bastara toll plaza
onAugust28,2021inKar-
nal where farmers had
gatheredtoprotestHary-
ana CM Khattar’s visit.
ACS (Home) Rajeev Arora
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
20,181
NEW CASES
07
NEW FATALITIES
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”.
NEW DELHI l SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.131
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 P5
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
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: The
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) on Saturday
stunned the Aam Aad-
mi Party by winning
the Chandigarh May-
oral poll by just one
vote. The seven concil-
lors of the Congress
and the lone one of the
Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) abstained from
voting. Terming it as
the “murder of democ-
racy”, AAP alleged that
the trio of BJP, Con-
gress and SAD had col-
luded to defeat the AAP
candidate.
BJP Councillor Sara-
bjit Kaur was elected as
the Chandigarh Mayor
with 14 votes while AAP
candidate Anju Katyal
was polled 13 votes. The
Congress has seven
councillors and SAD
has one. All of them ab-
stained from voting.
In the Chandigarh
civic body polls last
month, the BJP had
won 12 wards and AAP
had won 14, Congress
eight and SAD one.
Too close: BJP stuns AAP by winning
Chandigarh Mayoral poll by 1 vote
Newly-elected Chandigarh
Mayor Sarabjit Kaur
ARVIND KEJRIWAL’S
PARTY CRIES FOUL,
TERMS IT “MURDER
OF DEMOCRACY”
SHEKHAWAT HAILS
PARTY ’S VICTORY
Union Jal Shakti Minister
and Punjab BJP in-charge
Gajendra Singh Shek-
hawat on
Saturday
congratu-
lated BJP’s
Sarabjit
Kaur,
the new
Mayor of Chandigarh.
Shekhawat, while playing
a crucial role in driving
the party home, said, “In-
stead of gaining political
sympathy by protesting,
AAP should rather take
legal action”.

CRIME
BRANCH
CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022
02
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New Delhi: Delhi re-
corded its highest rain-
fall in a day for January
in at least 13 years, ac-
cording to official fig-
ures, as overnight rains
inundated some low-ly-
ing areas in the nation-
al capital.
Several parts of the
city reported waterlog-
ging with the Safdar-
jung Observatory, con-
sidered the official
marker for the city, re-
cording 41 mm rainfall
which, according to
data available on the
IMD website, is the
highest in a day for Jan-
uary for at least 13
years.
The weather station
at Palam gauged a re-
cord 48 mm rainfall in
the 24 hours ending at
8:30 am Saturday
.
The overnight rain,
however, improved the
air quality of the city to
moderate category this
morning with the air
quality index (AQI) of
114 at 9 am. It was 182 on
Friday, the best since
October 26 when it
stood at 139.
An AQI between zero
and 50 is considered
“good”, 51 and 100 “sat-
isfactory”, 101 and 200
“moderate”, 201 and 300
“poor”, 301 and 400
“very poor”, and 401
and 500 “severe”.
The minimum tem-
perature was recorded
at 15.2 degree Celsius,
eight notches above
season’s average. The
maximum temperature
is likely to settle around
19 degree Celsius, the
meteorological depart-
ment said.
The weathermen
have forecast thunder-
storm with rain during
the day
. The relative hu-
midity was 100 per cent.
December recorded
the longest streak of six
“severe” air quality
days since 2015. —PTI
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police intensified pa-
trolling, raised barri-
cades and warned peo-
ple of legal action as
authorities kept up the
vigil to check violations
of weekend curfew that
kicked in Friday night
to curb the spread of
coronavirus in the city
.
The curfew started at
10 pm Friday and will
remain in force till Mon-
day 5 am.
Police erected barri-
cades at several places
to check vehicles and
ensure that no person
was moving around un-
authorisedly during the
curfew period.
“Patrolling has been
intensified in view of
the weekend curfew,” a
senior Delhi Police of-
ficer said.
Legal action will be
taken if anyone violates
the COVID-19 curfew or-
ders, he said.
Officials in several
districts said that teams
will be in the field
through the 55-hour cur-
few period to ensure
that the order was not
violated and people did
not venture out unnec-
essarily
.
“We are prepared to
enforce curfew condi-
tions and other corona-
virus-related guide-
lines. People are likely
to keep indoors as it has
been raining. It will
make our task a bit
easy,” a district official
said in the morning.
In view of the surge
in coronavirus cases
due to the Omicron vari-
ant, the Delhi govern-
ment announced the
weekend curfew on
Tuesday
.
“A weekend curfew
has been imposed to
minimise the spread of
the coronavirus in Del-
hi. Visit the hospital
only if you have severe
symptoms. Treatment is
possible under home-
isolation. Wear a mask
and follow all the COV-
ID-related protocols,”
Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain tweeted
Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Delhi re-
poeted 20,181 fresh COV-
ID cases, 11,869 recover-
ies, and 7 deaths in the
last 24 hours. —PTI
New Delhi: A Delhi
court has sought an ac-
tion taken report (ATR)
from police on a com-
plaint filed by a 22-year-
old woman who alleged
that a head constable
had raped her and used
her in a honey trap to ar-
rest a wanted criminal.
On her complaint,
Metropolitan Magistrate
Vaibhav Chaurasia has
directed the station
house officer (SHO) of
Budh Vihar Police Sta-
tion to file a report and
listed the matter for Feb-
ruary 19, 2022.
The woman has urged
the court to summon the
cop, try him for rape,
causing miscarriage
without her consent and
attempt to murder and
punish him in the inter-
est of justice.
In a complaint filed
through advocate Amit
Sahni, the woman al-
leged that she came in
contact with the head
constable in November
2020 when she made a
complaint at the police
control room against a
harasser.
She stated that the
complaint was marked
to the head constable,
who was then posted at
Shahbad Dairy police
station. He started
spending time with her
and then proposed mar-
riage. She alleged in the
complaint that the ac-
cused forcibly estab-
lished sexual relations
with her at his residence
at Poot Khurd in Novem-
ber 2020. —PTI
Woman moves court
alleging rape by cop,
says used as ‘honey trap’
New Delhi: The Nation-
al Green Tribunal has
formed a committee to
look into a plea alleging
discharge of sewage on
open land, roads, inter-
nal lanes and storm wa-
ter drains in 93 villages
of Greater Noida in Ut-
tar Pradesh.
A bench headed by
NGT Chairperson Jus-
tice Adarsh Kumar Goel
said averments in the
plea depict unsatisfacto-
ry state of affairs and
rampant violation of
provisions of the Water
(Prevention and Control
of Pollution) Act, 1974
and “public trust doc-
trine”. “In view of above,
let a joint Committee of
CPCB,StatePCB,GNIDA
(Greater Noida Industri-
al Development Authori-
ty), District Magistrate,
Gautam Budh Nagar and
Secretary, Urban Devel-
opment, UP to look into
the matter and take re-
medial action. —PTI
New Delhi: A 41-year-old
Taekwondo star-turned-
gangster was arrested
from Badarpur for alleg-
edly hatching a conspir-
acy to harm a police of-
ficer. Police said the ac-
cused Ajay Gurjar alias
Bhai ji wanted to avenge
the death of one Ankit
Gurjar and hence target-
ed the deputy superin-
tendent of Tihar jail.
In August 2021, the re-
cording of a phone call
between two persons,
one of whom the police
earlier identified as
Satender alias Satte,
went viral. —PTI
New Delhi: The Jawaha-
rlal Nehru University
Students’ Union has
written to the VC de-
manding the “immedi-
ate” setting up of a Covid
Care Centre on campus
that was earlier order by
the Delhi High Court.
“This is to bring to you
notice that till date the
Covid Care Centre at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity has not become
operational. In its order
dated May 13, 2021, the
Hon’ble Delhi High
Court…had ordered the
university to set up a
Covid Care Centre with
quarantine and isolation
facilities, for the use of
the university commu-
nity
. However, even as the
Omicron variant has led
to a rise in cases, after
eight months of the High
Court order, no concrete
response has been forth-
coming on behalf of the
JNU administration,”
JNUSU office-bearers
wrote to VC M Jagadesh
Kumar Friday. Agencies
New Delhi: A ‘school of
excellence’, a dedicated
cycle track from New
Moti Bagh to North and
South Block, purchasing
only e-vehicles for offi-
cial use, and not impos-
ing any new tax or in-
creasing property tax for
the upcoming financial
year – these are among
the plans proposed by
the New Delhi Municipal
Council (NDMC) in its
annual budget for 2022-23
on Friday.
In the education sec-
tor, taking a leaf out of
the Delhi government’s
initiatives, the NDMC
has proposed to redevel-
op its school at Lodhi
Road as a ‘World Class
School of Excellence’ un-
der which there will be
two schools – Navyug
Girls International
School and NDMC Boys
International School.
“Once set up, the schools
are expected to cater to
more than 3,000 stu-
dents,” said NDMC
chairman Dharmendra.
Other education initi-
atives proposed include
a nature-based class-
room in 10 schools, five
cycling clubs, science
parks, introduction of
vocational courses rec-
ognised by CBSE, and
language labs in all its
schools. “The NDMC has
successfully implement-
ed smart classrooms in
all its schools from class-
es VI to XII to provide e-
learning solutions. Now,
it has been decided to
extend this facility to the
primary section as well.
We will provide high
bandwidth LAN to all
schools for better con-
nectivity,” he added.
Besides, NDMC’s ma-
jor focus this year is a
pollution free and envi-
ronment friendly dis-
trict.
To curb pollution, the
civic agency has decided
to stop purchase of pet-
rol and diesel-based cars
for official use and go
electric.
As of now, the NDMC
has installed 60 e-charg-
ing stations in its areas
and is planning to install
100 more in 2022. A fleet
of e-scooters are planned
to be deployed this year,
complementing the
smart bikes. Its cycle-in-
city scheme is expected
to put in place dedicated
cycle tracks for office
goers to cycle to work in
a safe and enjoyable
manner. —Agencies
DELHI WITNESSES HIGHEST RAINFALL FOR JAN IN 13 YEARS
‘School of excellence’, EV push in NDMC’s budget
TWO DRUG
SUPPLIERS HELD
PHONES, CASH
SEIZED FROM
CENTRAL JAIL
New Delhi: Two men
were arrested for alleg-
edly supplying drugs
in the national capital,
police said on Saturday.
The accused are identi-
fied as Brijesh (26), and
Vikram alias Bunty (37),
a resident of Sultanpuri,
they said. On Wednes-
day, police following a
tip-off nabbed Brijesh
when he had come near
Saheed Bhagat Singh
Vyayam Shala, Pooth
Kalan, to deliver drugs.
Prisons Department
has seized 19 phones,
handmade sharp
objects, cash and other
items during a search
at central jail number
13, officials said on
Saturday. According to
officials, a raid
was conducted in the
jail by prison authorities
on the intervening
night of Thursday and
Friday.
DELHI POLICE ENHANCES PATROL
AS WEEKEND CURFEW UNROLLS
DCW CHIEF SWATI MALIWAL TESTS COVID
POSITIVE, SAYS ‘FEELING TERRIBLY ILL’
New Delhi: Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati
Maliwal Saturday said she has tested positive for corona-
virus and is feeling “terribly ill”. “Tested positive for COVID.
Feeling terribly ill with high fever. Have isolated myself.
Request people who came in contact with me to get
their RTPCR done,” she said in a tweet. The 37-year-
old asked people to stay cautious. “Despite so much
work on ground, was able to evade COVID till
now! Omicron is damn infectious.
CHILL SETS IN
A young boy tries to get himself warm at a roadside shop on a cold morning at Timarpur in
New Delhi on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Panel to probe
sewage woes
in Gr Noida
Legal action will be taken if anyone violates COVID-19 curfew, say police
JNU Student Union demands
Covid Care Centre on campus
Taekwondo champion-turned
gangster arrested in Delhi
Ajay Gurjar in custody of Delhi Police special cell. —ANI
—Representative Image
—Representative Image
Shops are closed following the weekend curfew
to curb the spreading of COVID-19 and Omicron
cases at Lajpat Nagar Market in New Delhi.—ANI
Swati Maliwal

INDIA
03
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
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

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 131
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
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
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
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.
CRUCIAL READ
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand art as India
reaching 150 cr vaccine doses, at Puri beach on Saturday.

BIZ BUZZ
06
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

Chandigarh: Soon af-
ter the Election Com-
mission of India (ECI)
announced the dates
of the upcoming as-
sembly polls, former
Chief Minister Cap-
tain Amarinder Singh
on Saturday said that
the polls will decide
the future of Punjab
and urged people to
participate “in the car-
nival of democracy”
with full spirit while
observing all COVID
related protocols.
“Sooner the better. We
are all set for the Big
Day that will decide
the future of Punjab. I
appeal to the people to
participate in the car-
nival of democracy
with full spirit while
at the same time ob-
serving all COVID re-
lated protocols,” he
said in a tweet. Ama-
rinder Singh-led Pun-
jab Lok Congress had
announced an alliance
with the Bhartiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) and
the Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD)-Sanyukt.
Voting for Punjab as-
sembly elections will
be held in a single
phase on February 14,
the Election Commis-
sion said on Saturday.
Amid the spike in
COVID-19 cases, the
Election Commission
of India (ECI) in-
formed that senior
citizens above 80 years
of age, persons with
disabilities and COV-
ID-19 patients can vote
by postal ballots.
Chandigarh:ThePun-
jab unit of Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) has al-
legedthattheCongress
andtheBadalshadcon-
spired to ruin govern-
ment universities, col-
legesandschoolsinthe
state.
Leader of Opposi-
tion (LoP) in Punjab
Harpal Singh Cheema
while commenting on
the pitiable condition
of the state in the field
of public education
said that the ruling
Congress and SAD-
BJP govts have
pushed Punjab uni-
versities, colleges,
schools and other govt
educational institu-
tions to the brink of
c o l l a p s e un-
der a deliberate con-
spiracy. Cheema,
while meeting a dele-
gation of Punjabi Uni-
versity, Patiala urged
Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni and Education Min-
ister Pargat Singh to
implement new pay
scales of UGC in all
Universities and Col-
leges of Punjab with
immediate effect.
In a statement issued
here on Saturday by
Harpal Singh Cheema.
Lucknow: ADG Asim
Arun, posted as Kanpur
Police Commissioner, has
taken VRS from the In-
dian Police Service (IPS).
There are reports that
former IPS Asim Arun
will join Bharatiya Janata
Party. Sources said that
the BJP is going to field
Arun as its candidate
from Unnao Assembly
seat. The VRS of Enforce-
ment Directorate officer
IPS Rajeshwar Singh has
also been accepted. There
is news that IPS Rajesh-
war Singh can also con-
test the election on a BJP
ticket. Rajeshwar was
posted in the important
post of Joint Director in
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) for a long time. Dur-
ing his tenure, Rajeshwar
Singh had initiated many
big actions.
Asim Arun is a popular
officer of UP Cadre and
currently he was working
as Kanpur Commissioner.
Earlier, Asim Arun was
ADG of Dial 112
service.
07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Lucknow:With the an-
nouncement of the
election dates, the
stage is finally set for
battle royal in crucial
UP assembly elections
in the state. Even
though there are main-
ly four prominent po-
litical players- ruling
BJP, Samajwadi Party,
BSP and Congress- the
prevailing situation in-
dicated that the elec-
toral battle is largely
going be bipolar be-
tween BJP and SP.
Though the develop-
mental activities and
welfare measures are
going to form narra-
tive in the campaign-
ing the thrust will be
largely on playing
caste card to win the
poll. Two smaller par-
ties AIMIM headed by
Hyderabad MP Asa-
duddin Owaisi and
Aam Aadmi Party led
by Delhi CM Arvind
Kejriwal have also
been making effort to
make their position
felt in poll arena.
Both main contend-
ers-BJP and SP have
entered into formida-
ble caste-based allianc-
es with the smaller po-
litical parties. The BJP
has launched an exten-
sive multi-pronged ex-
ercise to keep its base
intact in the state
through these castes
tie-ups. The saffron bri-
gade has already en-
tered into an alliance
with Kurmis’ Apna Dal
headed by Union Min
Anupriya Patel and Ni-
shad Party of Dr San-
jay Nishad. The BJP
has also ensured sup-
port of seven more east
UP-based caste-based
smaller parties like
Bharatiya Manav Sa-
maj Party
, Mushar An-
dolan Manch, Shoshit
Samaj Party
, Bharatiya
Suheldeo Janata Party
,
Jan Shakti Party and
Samata Samaj Party.
The leaders of these
p a r t i e s
had handed over letter
of support to BJP chief
Swatantra Deo Singh
last month. Simultane-
ously the BJP by or-
ganising series of
caste conferences has
been trying to reach to
smaller segments to
keep the base intact. In
central and Bun-
delkhand the SP will
contest all alone.
Stage set for high-stake poll battle
Punjab Polls: Captain urges people to
participate in‘carnival of democracy’
‘Cong,Badalsruined
Punjab’sedusystem’
Dehradun:Political rallies, dharnas and
demonstrations have been banned in
poll-bound Uttarakhand till January
16 in view of the rising coronavirus
cases, according to an official order.
In fresh guidelines issued late Friday
night that come into effect from
Sunday, Chief Secretary SS Sandhu
said all political rallies, dharnas,
demonstrations and public events
like cultural gatherings etc will
remain suspended in the state till
January 16. The Uttarakhand Hc
had recently asked the EC to see
if poll rallies could be held vir-
tually and if online voting was
possible. Assembly polls
in the state are due in
a few weeks and the
Election Commission
may announce the
dates this month.
Night curfew from
10 pm to 6 am said
the order.
New delhi: Union Min-
ister Dr Jitendra Singh
on Saturday reviewed
pandemic preparedness
in the Union Territory
of Jammu Kashmir.
During the high-level
online meeting connect-
ing different districts
ranging from Jammu to
Srinagar as well as the
two divisional head-
quarters of Kashmir
and Jammu respective-
ly, the Minister advised
setting up of a desig-
nated Dashboard for
real time updates relat-
ed to the ongoing third
wave. He also issued a
number of other in-
structions in the wake
of the course being fol-
lowed by the third wave.
The meeting was at-
tended, among others,
by Divisional Commis-
sioner of Jammu, Dr
Raghav Langer, Divi-
sional Commissioner of
Kashmir, Pandu Rang
Pole, Mayor Jammu
Chandra Mohan Gupta,
Mayor Srinagar Junaid
Mattoo, Director Gener-
al Health Dr Salim Re-
hman, DDC Chairmen
of different districts,
Municipal Council
Heads, District Develop-
ment Commissioners
and other concerned of-
ficials and representa-
tives. The Min was in-
formed that while the
night curfew has been
imposed in Jammu, no
decision has yet been
takenonimposingweek-
endlockdownonthepat-
tern of Delhi-NCR.
Dr Singh reviews Pandemic
preparedness in JK
5 injured in mid-sea attack by fishermen
7-8 fishing boats cornered the Guj vessel and thrashed the crew before trying to sink boat
First India Bureau
Una: Five Gujarati fish-
ermen are currently
receiving treatment at a
Una hospital after suf-
fering injuries in an at-
tack by Maharashtrian
fishermen some 50 nau-
tical miles off the Guja-
rat coast near Nava-
bandar village in Una
taluka.
According to Kailash
Haribhai, who owns the
Sagar Pujan fishing
boat, his crew had
sailedfromNavabandar
on Thursday and
dropped anchored some
50 nautical miles out at
sea. On Friday night,
some seven to eight
fishing boats from Ma-
harashtra cornered his
vessel, and the Marathi
crews thrashed the
crew of the Sagar Pujan
fishing boat before try-
ing to it. Members of
the Sagar Pujan crew,
identified as Haribhai
Bambhaniya, Ramjib-
hai Solanki, Ramesh
Silotar, Hasmukh Shi-
yal, 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 demanded that the
state government take
action against the Ma-
harashtrian fishermen,
and 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 fishing
boats from other states
from straying into Gu-
jarat’s waters.
Fishermen who fish
in Gujarat’s waters can
legally be fined up to
Rs1 lakh. Further, the
law also allows authori-
ties to collect five times
the value of fish caught
by such out-of-state
fishers. However, this is
not implemented prop-
erly, leading to many
such incidents, one fish-
erman said.
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Haryana
Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar has
said that constant work
is being done towards
promoting solar energy
in the state as a result
of which Haryana is
moving at a fast pace in
the field of solar ener-
gy for the last five
years.
“Seven years ago not
much work was done in
this area. Till the year
2014, only 492 solar
pumps were installed.
The present govern-
ment has given about
25,000 solar pump con-
nections and the work
of providing 13,800 con-
nections is in progress.
The state government
has set a target of in-
stalling 50,000 solar
pump sets, Khattar
shared while address-
ing a press conference
here.
Education Minister,
Kanwar Pal and Addi-
tional Principal Secre-
tary to Chief Minister,
Dr. Amit Agrawal also
remained present on
this occasion. He said
that the farmers have
to spend only 25 per-
cent on these pumps
and up to 75 percent
subsidy is given by the
govt.The Chief Minis-
ter said that the tube-
wells of less than 50
horsepower which are
running on electricity
and are being used for
agriculture purposes
should be shifted to so-
lar energy.
“These connections
are also being given
only to those who are
adopting a micro-irri-
gation system,” Khat-
tar added.
He said that work is
being done to make the
people of the state
aware about adopting
micro-irrigation, drip
irrigation or sprinkler
irrigation or irrigation
from community
ponds, instead of flood
irrigation. Haryana is
the second state in the
country after Gujarat
which has promoted so-
lar energy, he added.
It is pertinent to
mention here that
there are about 80 lakh
acres of cultivable land
in the state.
Out of this, 75 per-
cent area is irrigated,
while irrigation on the
rest of the land de-
pends on rain. He said
that about Rs.6500
crore subsidy is given
to the farmers every
year in the agriculture
sector. Adoption of so-
lar energy will also re-
duce the subsidy bur-
den and save water.
This will also save the
diesel of the farmers
and their income will
also increase.
Haryana a leading state in solar pumps installation:CM Khattar
FOR BETTER FUTURE

Chief Minister
Manohar Lal
Khattar provided
solar pumps to
the farmers
during an
inauguration
programme held
through video
conferencing
from Chandigarh
DEPUTY CM DUSHYANT TESTS POSITIVE
The attack
caused damage
to the Guj vessel.
VotingfortheAssemblyelectioninUttarPradeshwillheldinsevenphasesfromFeb10toMarch7;resultsonMarch10
2 officers take
VRS,‘to contest
on BJP ticket’
Can’t match BJP’s infra for digital
campaign’: Akhilesh Yadav urges poll
panel for a ‘level-playing field’
Lucknow: Even as Election Commission of India
(ECI) advised political parties and candidates
to conduct their election campaign in digital or
virtual modes SP national president Akhilesh
Yadav urged the commission to make it a level-
playing field for all the political parties. At a
Press conference in Lucknow hours before the
Election Commission declared the poll schedule
in New Delhi, Akhilesh Yadav said: “The Election
Commission should give some funds to political
parties so that, theycreate a step-up, infrastruc-
ture because we cannot compete with the BJP
infrastructure. So we appeal that EC should get
the political parties some funds from the govt so
that in the democratic set up all political parties
who do not have strong set up like BJP’s should
be able to compete”. His request to the election
commission came in response to a question on
the SP’s preparedness to run a digital campaign
if the poll panel backs the suggestion that politi-
cal parties should hold a virtual campaign.
U’khand bans political
rallies till January 16
CM ML Khattar
Dr Jitendra Singh
Harpal Singh Cheema
Amarinder Singh

First India Bureau
Jaipur: Concerned
over damages to crops,
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Saturday
sought a report from of-
ficials on the hailstorm
which lashed many
parts of the state on Fri-
day night. Gehlot, in-
fected with covid infec-
tion, is under home
quarantine and moni-
toring the situation
from the residence.
Several public repre-
sentatives including the
opposition leaders have
raised the concern
about crop loss before
the CM. Former minis-
ter Dr Raghu Sharma
has written a letter to
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot demanding a
survey of the crop loss
incurred due to hail-
storm and compensa-
tion for the affected
farmers.
Bharatpur MP Ranji-
ta Koli spoke to Gehlot
through phone and
asked about his well be-
ing. She also informed
the CM about the dam-
age to crops caused by
hailstorm in Bharatpur
and demanded compen-
sation to the farmers as
soon as possible. She
also wrote a letter to
CM requesting him to
order girdawari with
immediate effect.
At the same time,
other public repre-
sentatives of Bharat-
pur district were seen
in unison on the issue
of hailstorm. PWD
minister Bhajan Lal
Jatav, tourism minis-
ter Vishvendra Singh,
minister of state Sub-
hash Garg, MLAs
Joginder Singh Awana
and Wajib Ali were
also seen worried
about the loss to farm-
ers. They reached
their respective con-
stituencies and as-
sured the farmers for
early girdawari and
compensation.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Union Minori-
ty Affairs Minister
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
inaugurated a two-day
Training of Trainers pro-
gramme for Haj 2022 at
Haj House, here on Satur-
day
.Theprogrammeisbe-
ing attended by 550 train-
ers, virtually and physi-
cally
,fromdifferentstates.
Keeping in view the
COVID-19 pandemic
challenges, the training
programme is focused
on health and hygiene.
Officials from Haj Com-
mittee of India; Royal
Consulate of Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia; Mum-
bai Municipal Corpora-
tion, Customs; Immigra-
tion, airlines and doctors
will educate about the
“Do’s and Don’ts” to be
followed during Haj.
Inaugurating the pro-
gramme Naqvi said Haj
2022 has been planned
giving utmost priority to
health and well-being of
the pilgrims. He added
that in view of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, the ap-
plication for Haj 2022 will
bedigital,whichwillalso
make the process trans-
parent,accessible,afford-
able and convenient.
Gehlot seeks crop loss report from officials
Training for Haj ’22
begins in Mumbai
AAP is ready:Arvind Kejriwal after
election schedule announcement
New Delhi: After the
Election Commission of
India announced the
schedulefortheassembly
elections to five states
slated to be held this year,
Delhi CM and Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) convenor
ArvindKejriwalonSatur-
day said that his party is
ready to contest the polls.
“The dates for the elec-
tions have been an-
nounced. Aam Aadmi
Party is ready,” Kejriwal
tweeted. The Election
Commission on Saturday
announced poll dates for
five states with Uttar
Pradesh going for seven-
phase assembly election
from February 10, Ma-
nipur to go for two-phase
election from February
27 and Punjab, Goa and
Uttarakhand to face elec-
tions on Februrary 14.
The counting of votes
in all states will take
place on March 10. With
the announcement of
poll dates, the model code
of conduct has come into
force. —ANI
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
inaugurates 2-day Training of Trainers programme
Naqvi inaugurating the programme in Mumbai, on Saturday.
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
08
2NDFRONT
The contribution of the Pravasi
Bharatiyas to the development
of the state and nation is
commendable!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Arvind Kejriwal
CM Ashok Gehlot

NEW DELHI, 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
POPULARITY OF
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 NEW DELHI | 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
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

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