10042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Modi has changed ‘culture of politics’ with
his work: Nadda in poll-bound Himachal
Shimla (PTI): BJP Na-
tional President Jagat
Prakash Nadda on Sat-
urday credited Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi with changing the
‘culture of politics’ by
being proactive at im-
plementing various so-
cial service initiatives.
Nadda was here to ad-
dressapublicmeetingas
part of his three-day
visit to his home state
Himachal Pradesh. He
also participated in a
road show from the state
assemblytoPeterhoff on
the first day of his visit.
He said be it 185 crore
doubledosevaccination,
surgical or air strikes in
Pakistan, or safe evacu-
ation of 23,000 Indians
from war-torn Ukraine,
the Modi government
worked with determina-
tion in every field.
Nadda, who is also a
Rajya Sabha member,
claimed the BJP govts
had tried to ‘give’ to the
hill state, while the previ-
ous Congress govern-
ments always looked at
‘snatching’fromthestate.
Elaborating further,
he said the then Man-
mohan Singh govern-
ment had withdrawn
the special category of
Himachal Pradesh, forc-
ing the state to pay 40
per cent share and the
Centre 60 per cent for
carrying out develop-
ment work in the state.
When Modi became
the prime minister in
2014, he restored the
state’s status, paving
way for only 10% contri-
bution from the state
and 90 per cent from the
Centreforvariousdevel-
opment work, he added.
HimachalCMJaiRam
Thakur and Union Min-
ister Anurag Thakur
also underlined the good
work done by the BJP
dispensation at the Cen-
tre and the state.
BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Minister Anurag Thakur,
Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur and other dignitaries
being garlanded during a public meeting, in Shimla on Saturday.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
NEW DELHI l SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 220
On a day the Centre expanded the availability of precaution doses, the XE variant
of coronavirus, a more infectious but not more severe than the Omicron variety,
has been found in Gujarat, a highly placed official confirmed. Meanwhile, Mumbai
reported its first confirmed case of the XE variant of coronavirus on Saturday, the
city’s civic body BMC said. According to BMC, the man had gone to Vadodara.
XE VARIANT OF
CORONAVIRUS
DETECTED IN
GUJARAT
Nearly a month after the Congress was ousted from power in Punjab, the grand
old party on Saturday appointed Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as the president of
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. The post was earlier held by Navjot Singh
Sidhu who resigned last month. Warring was among the 18 MLAs who won their
seats for the Congress in the recently concluded election.
AMARINDER RAJA
WARRING REPLACES
SIDHU AS NEW
PUNJAB CONG CHIEF
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Reached out to Maya, offered CM
post, she didn’t respond: Rahul
Can’t regulate
parties offering
freebies during
polls: EC to SC New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Rahul Gandhi on
Saturday said the Con-
gress had offered to
form an alliance with
BSP chief Mayawati in
the recent Uttar
Pradesh assembly elec-
tion and make her the
chief ministerial can-
didate but “she did not
even talk to us”.
Lashing out at the
BSP supremo, the for-
mer Congress presi-
dent alleged that
Mayawati gave a clear
passage to the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) in the state be-
cause of “the CBI, the
ED and Pegasus”.
The Congress won
only two seats out of
403 and got a vote share
of less than 2.5 percent
in Uttar Pradesh,
where the BJP retained
power. As many as 97
percent of Congress
candidates lost their
security deposit.
The BSP won just
one seat and a vote
share of around 13 per
cent. Nearly 72 per cent
of its candidates also
lost their deposit in the
election, which turned
out to be a bipolar con-
test between the BJP
and Samajwadi Party.
New Delhi: The Elec-
tion Commission (EC)
told the Supreme Court
that offering freebies ei-
ther before or after elec-
tions is a policy decision
of apoliticalparty
,andit
cannot regulate state
policies and decisions
taken by the parties.
In an affidavit, the EC
said:“Offering/distribu-
tion of any freebies ei-
ther before or after the
election is a policy deci-
sion of the party con-
cerned and whether
such policies are finan-
cially viable or its ad-
verse affect on the eco-
nomichealthof thestate
is a question that has to
be considered and de-
cidedbythevotersof the
state.
“The Election Com-
mission cannot regulate
state policies and deci-
sions which may be tak-
en by the winning party
when they form the gov-
ernment.Suchanaction
without enabling provi-
sionsinthelaw,wouldbe
an overreach of pow-
ers.” The EC clarified
that it does not have
power to deregister a po-
litical party except on
certain grounds.
Covishield, Covaxin to cost `225 per dose to
pvt hosps, which can charge upto `150 more
New Delhi (Agencies):
A day before the Centre
rolls out precautionary
doses of Covid-19 vac-
cines to all adults, the
Serum Institute of India
(SII) and Bharat Biotech
on Saturday slashed the
prices of Covishield and
Covaxinvaccinesforpri-
vate hospitals to Rs 225
per dose.
Significantly, on Sat-
urday, the Union Health
Ministry issued guide-
lines to all states that
private vaccination
centres can charge a
maximum of Rs 150 per
dose as service charge
over and above the cost
of the vaccines. “Pri-
vate vaccination cen-
tres must declare the
price per dose chargea-
ble by them on Co-WIN,
in accordance with the
prices declared by the
manufacturers,” the
ministry told the states.
The announcement
by Serum Institute and
Bharat Biotech came
hours before the two
vaccine manufacturers
held a consultation
meeting with the cen-
tral government.
‘NO NEED TO
REGISTER ON
CoWIN AGAIN
FOR BOOSTER’
The government clari-
fied that there is no
need for beneficiaries
to register on CoWIN
portal again for the
precaution dose of the
Covid-19 vaccine. All
due beneficiaries are
already registered on
CoWIN, Union health
secretary stated.
Precaution dose has
to be of the same vac-
cine that was admin-
istered to the benefi-
ciary previously.
File photo of Mayawati with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
BOOSTER DRIVE BEGINS TODAY
CRUCIAL READ
WEATHER DEPT’S
OFFICIAL TWITTER
HANDLE HACKED
New Delhi: The India Me-
teorological Department’s
(IMD) Twitter handle was
hacked on Saturday even-
ing and efforts were on to
restore it, officials said.
“The Twitter handle has
been hacked and we are
trying to restore it,” IMD
Director-General Mrutyun-
jay Mohapatra said.
UKRAINIAN GIRLS
CUT HAIR TO AVOID
RAPE BY RUSSIANS
Ivankiv: In Ukraine’s town
of Ivankiv, 50 miles away
from capital Kyiv, young
girls cut their hair short
to be ‘less attractive’
and avoid getting raped
by occupying Russian
soldiers, according to
deputy mayor Maryna Be-
schastna. The town was
liberated on March 30.
UK PM JOHNSON MEETS ZELENSKYY IN KYIV
KYIV: British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson on Saturday
met Ukrainian President Vo-
lodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
The visit was first made
public by the Embassy of
Ukraine to the U.K., which
tweeted a photo of the two.
PAK SC COMPELS IMRAN
TO FACE NO-TRUST MOTION
Islamabad (Agen-
cies): Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan
summoned a meeting
of his cabinet minis-
ters late on Saturday
night, even though his
government is expect-
ed to lose the no-confi-
dencemotion.Pakistan
National Assembly
Speaker Asad Qaiser
and his deputy Qasim
Suri resigned from
theirpostsatmidnight.
Later, Ayaz Sadiq de-
clared voting open.
Opposition leader
Maryam Nawaz Sha-
rif, Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-
N) Vice President,
slammed the govern-
ment in a series of
tweets, even calling
for the arrest of Im-
ran Khan, the Speak-
er and the Deputy
Speaker. Another op-
position leader Bila-
wal Bhutto Zardari
alleged that PM Khan
was trying to create a
constitutional crisis
and seeking military
intervention in the
country’s political af-
fairs by delaying vot-
ing on the no-confi-
dence motion.
PAK GOVT FILES REVIEW PLEA AGAINST SC
VERDICT ON DY SPEAKER’S RULING
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday filed
a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict setting
aside the National Assembly Deputy Speaker’s rejection of
the no-trust motion against Imran Khan, reported local me-
dia. According to the sources, the development came after
Imran Khan finalized his consultations with legal experts
over the matter. The government will plead for suspension
of the verdict and for the National Assembly to be allowed to
function according to the rules, reported the media outlet.
GO TO INDIA IF YOU
LIKE IT SO MUCH:
MARYAM NAWAZ
WASHINGTON NIXES
IMRAN’S ‘FOREIGN
CONSPIRACY’ CLAIM
Pakistan’s Opposition
leader Maryam Nawaz on
April 9 lashed out at Prime
Minister Imran Khan for
lavishing praise on India,
saying he should go to
the neighbouring country
if he likes it so much. The
remarks of Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N)
vice-president Maryam,
who is the daughter of
deposed PP Nawaz Sharif,
came after Khan called
India a “nation with a great
sense of honour”. “No
superpower can force India
to do anything against its
interests,” Imran had said.
Washington: The US has
bluntly rejected Pakistan’s
embattled Prime Minister Im-
ran Khan’s latest allegations
of a “foreign conspiracy”
plotted in Washington to
overthrow his government
with the help of the Opposi-
tion parties, saying there is
“absolutely no truth” to these
claims. Khan has been claim-
ing that the Opposition’s no-
confidence motion against
him was the result of a
“foreign conspiracy” because
of his independent foreign
policy and funds were being
channelled from abroad to
oust him from power.
...PM Imran likely to lose in Assembly
Islamabad HC, Pak SC open doors at midnight; National
Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker resign from post
Pak Army puts
various airports
on high alert. No govt
official, ministers
allowed to leave
country
Pak Army Chief
General Qamar
Javed Bajwa, ISI chief
Nadeem Anjum meet
PM; Imran refutes
rumours of de-notifying
Army Chief
Imran chairs
cabinet
meeting, says won’t
resign; Prisoners van
seen standing
outside Parliament
Pak Army briefly
surrounds PM
residence
1
2
3
4
NOT GABBAR,
THIS THAKUR
HAS ‘HUNTED’ AAP OUT
OF HIS HOME TURF!
Shashikant Sharma
Shimla: Union Minis-
ter for Information
and Broadcasting, and
a ‘young turk’ of the
BJP - Anurag Thakur
- has dealt a major
blow to the Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) in his
home state Himachal
Pradesh as he has ena-
bled AAP’s renowned
leaders to leave the
bandwagon and join
the saffron fold.
Thakur’s swift ‘han-
dling’ of the issue has
resulted in a major
setback to AAP, which
is trying to make its
political inroads in
Himachal.
After this blow, the
leaders of Aam Aad-
mi Party are in a tizzy
as to what needs to be
done towards ‘damage
control’. AAP, which
is dreaming of sitting
on the throne of
Himachal, has sud-
denly reached the
margins in the state
due to Thakur’s mas-
terstroke.
While on one side,
the Aam Aadmi Party
was claiming to
change the attitude of
politics through a road
show organized on
BJP’s foundation day
on 6th April in Mandi,
the home district of
Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur, however,
the current situation
is that the party’s
clan seems to be
completely disinte-
grating, which may
have never been im-
agined by AAP su-
premo Arvind Ke-
jriwal.
Delhi CM and par-
ty president Kejriwal
had handed the reins
of the party to Anoop
Kesri in Himachal
while appointing Sat-
ish Thakur as the
party gen-
e r a l
s e c -
retary in the hill state,
Thinking that on their
shoulders, he would
repeat the glorious
victory of Punjab in
Himachal too, howev-
er, Thakur woke Kejri-
wal from his deep
slumber. See also P3
Union Minister for Information
and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur

New Delhi (PTI): A
massive fire broke out
in three buildings in
Delhi’s Azad market
area on Saturday morn-
ing and one them, a four-
storey structure, col-
lapsed, officials said.
Five people suffered
minor injuries after a
cylinder exploded at a
shop.
It is suspected that the
cause of the fire was a
short circuit in an elec-
tric pole, police said.
Twenty fire tenders
were rushed to the spot
after information about
the blaze was received,
the fire department of-
ficials said.
New Delhi (ANI): As
many as nine people
were injured in a cylin-
der blast during a fire-
fighting operation at a
factory in Anand Par-
vat Industrial Area in
the national capital on
Saturday, informed Del-
hi Fire Service.
A total of 12 fire ten-
ders were pressed into
action to douse the fire.
“A total of 9 people in-
cluding six firefighters,
one policeman, one per-
son of the factory and
an unknown person
were injured in cylin-
der blast during the
firefighting operation
in Anand Parvat Indus-
trial Area today morn-
ing.
All injured are in sta-
ble condition,” in-
formed Delhi Fire Ser-
vice.
The exact cause of
the fire is yet to be as-
certained.
In yet another fire ac-
cident that took place
the same day, five per-
sons received minor in-
juries in a cylinder
blast during a firefight-
ing operation in Azad
market.
CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022
02
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New Delhi (PTI):
The Delhia Univer-
sity (DU) has asked
to the College of
Art to start the ad-
mission process
and has informed
the city govern-
ment that the col-
lege will not be de-
affiliated from the
varsity, vice-chan-
cellor Yogesh Sin-
gh said.
He said the is-
sues between the 12
Delhia University
colleges funded by
city government
and the AAP dis-
pensation had aris-
en due to procedur-
al lapses, and they
are being sorted.
The office of L-G
had earlier given
an in principle ap-
proval to the merg-
er of College of Art
(CoA) with the
state-run Ambed-
kar University sub-
ject to its de-affilia-
tion from Delhia
University
.
However, Execu-
tive Council of the
university, which
is its highest deci-
sion making body,
refused to de-affili-
ate the college.
New Delhi (ANI): The
associations of auto driv-
ers, who have been pro-
testing against the con-
tinuous rise in the price
of CNG, will hold a pro-
test outside the Delhi
Secretariat on April 11.
They also plan to go on
indefinite strike from
April 18 if a subsidy of
`35 is not given to them.
At present, there are
95,000 autos in Delhi.
Rajendra Soni, Delhi
Auto Rickshaw Sangh’s
general secretary, while
speaking to ANI said, “At
12 pm we will start pro-
testing against the CNG
hike outside the Delhi
Secretariat. We are de-
manding a subsidy of `35
from the Delhi govern-
ment as we don’t want to
burden our passengers.
If the government lis-
tens to us then it’s fine
else from April 18 on-
ward taxis, and autos
will go on indefinite
strike.”
GURUGRAM: LAB
USES DRONE TO
COLLECT SAMPLES
MAN RUNS
CYLINDER GODOWN
AT HOME, ARRESTED
Gurgaon (PTI): A
private diagnostics
company started a pilot
project in the city on
Friday to collect blood
samples from hospi-
tals using drones and
deliver them to a lab to
cut down on turnaround
time and provide faster
test results. Officials
said a four-day trial
will take place in and
around Gurugram to
test the efficacy of the
system. On Friday, Del-
hi-based drone delivery
firm Skye Air Mobil-
ity conducted the first
trial wherein a drone
collected samples from
a private hospital near
Huda Metro station and
flew them to SRL Labs
in Sector 14.
New Delhi (PTI): The
chief minister’s fly-
ing squad arrested a
34-year-old man, who
operated a godown for
storing commercial gas
cylinders in the back-
yard of his residence at
Wazirabad in Sector-52,
and seized 425 cylinders
from the godown, said
police on Friday. Police
said the godown posed
a major safety hazard as
it is in a residential area
and the suspect, identi-
fied as Pawan Yadav,
allegedly carried out
refilling activities on a
large scale. Three pickup
trucks, refilling nozzles
and plastic covers used
for sealing cylinder caps
were also seized from
the spot, said police.
Noida: Three suspects were arrested by Gautam Budh
Nagar police for allegedly duping a man of `20 lakh
on the pretext of exchanging
notes of larger denominations.
The police recovered `25.50
lakh cash and a car from the
three men, officials said. With
their arrest, the police claimed
to have busted a gang of frauds who were running an
‘exchange scam’. The arrests were made on the basis
of a complaint registered at the Bisrakh police station
on April 1, where the complainant alleged that the ac-
cused duped him of `20 lakh.
THREE HELD FOR DUPING MAN OF `20L
IN GAUTAM BUDH NAGAR
CRUCIAL READ
Noida (PTI): Prepara-
tions are underway for
a test explosion in Su-
pertech Twin Towers at
Noida’s Sector 93A. As
part of the technical
evaluation, the test
blast will take place on
Sunday between 2.30
and 3 pm, and the final
demolition will be car-
ried out on May 22 by
Edifice Engineering
company
.
“We have been com-
municated in advance
about the test blast. It
will be a very low-inten-
sity blast to check the
amount of explosives
required for the main
explosion and the dis-
placement of concrete.
The area around the
site will be cordoned off
briefly,” said UBS Teo-
tia, president of Emer-
ald Society RWA.
As per officials,
charges will be placed
in six columns — five in
the basement and one
on the 14th floor. The
amount of explosives
will be less than 10 kg.
Three layers of steel
mesh will be wrapped
around the exploding
columns to limit the im-
pact.
Another layer of geo-
textile material will be
placed on the ground to
prevent the dispersal of
debris.
The test blast will not
produce clouds of dust,
officials estimate. Resi-
dents living in towers
facing Apex and Cay-
enne towers have been
advised not to stand on
the balconies during
the period.
A similar communi-
cation has been given to
residents of ATS Vil-
lage whose boundary
wall is adjacent to Em-
erald Court.
Supertech towers demolition: Prep for test blast underway
TWIN TOWERS
Cylinder blast injures 9 during
firefighting operation in Delhi
Somerespitefrom
heatexpectedinthe
nexttwodays:IMD
Two arrested for robbing
Italian Embassy counsellor
New Delhi (ANI): As
Delhi witnesses ris-
ing temperatures and
dry weather, some
respite is expected in
the national capital
in the next two days,
said an IMD official.
The blistering
heatwave sweeping
across Delhi-NCR in-
tensified further on
Saturday with the
maximum tempera-
ture in the national
capital rising to 42.4
degrees Celsius, the
highest in April in
five years.
The IMD observed
that in 72 years this is
the highest initial
temperature in the
last 15 days. The capi-
tal had recorded a
maximum tempera-
ture of 43.2 degrees
Celsius on April 21,
2017. The all-time
highest maximum
temperature for the
month was 45.6 de-
grees Celsius on
April 29, 1941.
New Delhi (PTI):
Two people were ar-
rested for allegedly
robbing the handbag
of a 54-year-old coun-
sellor working at the
Italian Embassy here,
police said on Satur-
day
.
On April 2, the
counsellor, a Noida
resident, lodged a
complaint at the Lodhi
Colony police station
about the robbery that
had taken place on the
Barapulla flyover on
March 30, a senior of-
ficer said.
According to the po-
lice, the incident oc-
curred around 7 pm
when she was going
home from her office
in Chankyapuri. The
bag contained a mo-
bile phone, Aadhar
card, PAN card, ser-
vice ID card, two debit
cards, a pair of gold
earrings and a gold
ring, DCP (South) Be-
nita Mary Jaiker said.
EVMs with VVPAT
can’t be given for
civic polls: ECI
Not rape if
marriage promise
genuine: Delhi HC
New Delhi (PTI):
The Election Commis-
sion of Indiahastold Del-
hi High Court that it
can’t give the latest state-
of-the-art EVMs
with VVPAT for munici-
pal elections in the capi-
tal as the “technological
integrity” of these ma-
chines needs to be main-
tained under its supervi-
sion.
It said that since the
machines are used at pre-
sent by the ECI itself,
these can’t be loaned to
the state election com-
mission (SEC), which
should have its own in-
frastructure and
source EVMs to conduct
the elections.
New Delhi: A sexual re-
lationship on a genuine
promise of marriage
that fails to fructify due
to external circumstanc-
es is not rape, the Delhi
high court has clarified.
It was dealing with a
matter in which a man
and a woman were in a
long-term relationship
and also got engaged but
the marriage could not
be solemnised.
JusticeSubramonium
Prasad set aside a trial
court order framing
charge under Section
376(2)(n) of the IPC
against the man for re-
peatedly raping the
woman under an alleged
garb of marriage.
‘College ofArt to stay
with DU,can begin
admission process’
Auto drivers protesting rising
CNG prices, to go on
indefinite strike from April 18
Girls cover their heads with stoles to protect themselves
from the sun during a hot summer day —PHOTO BY ANI
FURY OF FIRE IN THE CITY
New Delhi (ANI): Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal lauded efforts of the
fire brigade and disaster
management teams for a
swift response towards
dousing the fire that
broke out in the national
capital’s Azad Market
area early Saturday
morning.
He also wished a
speedy recovery to the
people who were in-
jured in the fire mis-
hap.
“The sad news of
this incident fire was
received in the morn-
ing. Thank God that
there was no loss of
life. The fire brigade
and disaster man-
agement teams
have handled the
situation with
great gusto,” tweeted Ke-
jriwal.
“I wish a speedy recov-
ery to all those injured in
this accident,” he added.
A total of five persons
received minor injuries
after several shops were
gutted in a
mas-
sive
fire,
the fire department said.
All the injured are safe
and in stable condition.
After a call at 4.40 am
today informing about
the blaze in the Azad
Market main road area,
20 fire tenders were
rushed to the spot to
bring the fire under con-
trol, fire department of-
ficials said.
The main
building where
the fire origi-
nated collapsed
and Disaster
mana g ement
teams includ-
ing JCBs had
to be called
to remove
the debris
from the
collapsed
building.
A view of the building that caught on fire at Anand Parbat Industrial Area —PHOTO BY ANI
SEVEN SUFFER MINOR BURNS AS
FIRE BREAKS OUT AT RAJIV NAGAR
Gurgaon (PTI): Seven people suffered minor burn injuries after a fire broke out in
Gurgaon’s Rajiv Nagar on Saturday morning, fire
department officers said, adding that one fire
tender was pressed into service and the blaze was
controlled within 20 minutes. The cause of the fire
is yet to be ascertained, they said. According to
officers with the fire department, they received a call
around 5 am about a fire in the parking area of lane
number 13 in Rajiv Nagar. The police said sparks
from a motor may have caused the fire which later
spread to the parking lot, gutting three motorcycles
and two scooters. The blaze also spread quickly towards a house, they explained. A police
officer said, “As the flames spread, the occupants of the house tried to escape and some
rushed to the roof. While rushing out, some grabbed the railing and suffered burn injuries
on their arms and legs. Seven people – five men and two women – suffered burn injuries
and were rushed to the civil hospital and a private hospital. Their condition is stable.”
CM lauds efforts by fire brigade,
disaster management teams
Five injured in Azad market fire
Firefighters gather at the incident site where the fire breaks out,
at Azad Market —PHOTO BY ANI
Twin Towers at Noida’s Sector 93A

INDIA
03
Former JK
Minister Babu
Singh held in
Hawala case
Jammu (Agencies): A
former Jammu and
Kashmir Minister was
arrested on Saturday
for an alleged Hawala
money case.
Jitendra Singh aka
Babu Singh was arrest-
ed by JK police in
Kathua and subse-
quently shifted to Jam-
mu for questioning.
Singh was evading
arrest after police re-
portedly unearthed a
hawala racket and ar-
rested four people part
of alleged hawala
transactions.
Police said more than
6 lakh rupees recovered
from the accused in
Jammu were meant to
be handed over to Singh.
Babu Singh was a
minister in the PDP-
Congress government
in 2002.
The former Minister
from Kathua was an op-
ponentof theabrogation
of Article 370 and down-
gradingof JKstateinto
two Union Territories.
Singhfrequentlyspoke
against the Centre’s
move and demanded re-
storing JKs special sta-
tus and statehood.
Babu Singh
MGP gets Min post despite
BJP MLAs’ objections
Panaji (Agencies):
ThreeMLAsweresworn
in as Ministers in the
Cabinet of Goa Chief
MinisterPramodSawant
on Saturday
, completing
the appointment of min-
isters in the state. BJP
MLAs Nilkanth
Halarnkar, Subhash
Phal Dessai and senior
M a h a r a s h t r aw a d i
Gomantak Party (MGP)
legislator Ramkrishna
alias Sudin Dhavalikar
were sworn in by Gover-
norPSSreedharanPillai
at the Raj Bhavan.
The induction of the
three ministers in the
all-male Cabinet comes
12 days after the swear-
ing-in ceremony of
Sawant and eight other
ministers in a grand
ceremony on March 28
held in the presence of
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi. The new min-
isters are yet to be as-
signed their portfolios.
The inclusion of
MGP leader Dhavalikar
was opposed by most of
the 20 BJP MLAs in the
state. The MGP had con-
tested the polls in a pre-
poll alliance with the
TMC. The BJP had then
termed the alliance “un-
holy”. After the election
results were declared on
March 10, the MGP –
which won two seats –
extended “uncondition-
al support” to the BJP,
which won 20 of the 40
seats in the Assembly
.
The BJP formed the
government with the
support of the MGP and
three Independent
MLAs, giving it a major-
ity of 25 in the House. It
was the BJP’s central
leadershipwhichfinally
decided on Dhavalikar’s
inclusionintheCabinet.
Pramod Sawant
UP CMO’s Twitter hacked,
Yogi govt promises action
Lucknow (PTI): The
Uttar Pradesh govern-
ment has vowed to take
the strictest action
against those responsi-
ble for the hacking of
the official Twitter ac-
count of the office of
Chief Minister Yogi
Adiyanath (CMOffice-
UP) on Friday night.
In a brief statement,
the CMO said that the
hacking will be probed
by cyber experts.
The hackers had
changed the name of
the account and pic-
ture. The miscreants
posted suspicious
tweets one after the oth-
er for over 40 minutes.
Over 300 tweets were
posted. Old tweets were
deleted by the hackers.
Thousands of unknown
Twitter handles were
tagged in the tweets.
The handle was
hacked around half
past midnight. The ac-
count, which has over
40.53 lakh followers,
was restored at 1:10 am.
The account has been
recovered and the
tweets are being
cleared.
To recall, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi’s
Twitter account was
also hacked in Decem-
ber last year. The hack-
ers posted a tweet from
the Twitter handle
claiming that India had
officially adopted bit-
coin as legal tender. The
hackers also wrote on
the PM’s handle that
the government was of-
ficially distributing 500
BTC to all residents of
the country
.a
Over 58% decline
in Congress
income in FY21
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): The income of
the Indian National
Congress declined by
over 58 per cent in fi-
nancial year 2020-21,
down from Rs 682.2
crore in the previous
fiscal to Rs 285.7 crore,
according to its audit
report submitted to the
Election Commission.
The party’s expendi-
ture, too, dipped from Rs
998.15 crore in the previ-
ous fiscal year to Rs 209
crore in FY 2021, the re-
port submitted to the EC
on March 30 revealed.
TheCongress’income
in FY 2018-19 stood at Rs
918 crore. It has contin-
ued to decline since
then. Other parties in-
cluding the NCP and
JD(U) also submitted
their audited accounts
reports to the EC.
I was born in centre of power but it
does not interest me: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): For-
mer Congress president
Rahul Gandhi on Satur-
day said that despite be-
ing born in the centre of
power, he has no greed
or temptation for it.
The Congress MP
was speaking while
launching a collection
of essays edited by for-
mer IAS officer K. Raju
at Jawahar Bhawan.
“There are politi-
cians who are constant-
ly in search of power....
I was born in the centre
of power but honestly
, it
does not interest me at
all. On the contrary, I
try to understand the
people and the country
.
In the process, I came to
know that India is the
only country in the
world where untoucha-
bility still exists. We
need to break free from
this regressive mind-
set,” he said.
Expressing his grati-
tude for the constant
love that he received
from the people, Gandhi
said: “My country has
loved me uncondition-
ally for which I shall be
indebted eternally
. Defi-
nitely, there have been
times when I have re-
ceived brick bats as well
which caused immense
pain but deep within I
know that my country
wants to teach me, so I
try to understand it.”
On people being tar-
getted only because
they belong to a par-
ticular caste or creed
he said: “I have also
seen times when mobs
assaulted innocent peo-
ple like animals with
sticks and batons sim-
ply because they be-
longed to a different
caste or religion. This
is happening only with
Dalits in the country.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaking at Jawahar Bhawan.
ATTACK ON PAWAR HOME
NCP says ‘plot’ to physically harm
him, Sena senses ‘BJP conspiracy’
Mumbai (Agencies):
In a direct charge, Ma-
harashtra’s ruling Shiv
Sena on Saturday ac-
cused opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) of mastermind-
ing the conspiracy of
the attack on National-
ist Congress Party Pres-
ident Sharad Pawar’s
home on Friday even-
ing, while a Minister
said it was a sinister
plan to cause physical
harm to the senior lead-
er and his family, and
Governor Bhagat Singh
Koshyari condemned
the incident.
Housing Minister Dr
Jitendra Awhad made a
startling claim that the
whole purpose of the
assault was to cause
“bodily harm” to Pa-
war, his wife and other
family members pre-
sent at that time in their
Silver Oaks bungalow.
“Fortunately, with the
blessings of millions of
people of the state,
nothing untoward hap-
pened to Pawar Saheb
or his family mem-
bers,” he added.
NCP state spokesper-
son Mahesh Tapase
said that the attack was
a pre-planned and polit-
ically-motivated con-
spiracy intended to
destabilise the MVA
government, but
warned that the party
activists would not “re-
main mute spectators”.
“On one hand, the
state transport workers
welcomed the Bombay
High Court verdict
with huge celebra-
tions... How did they
suddenly decide to pelt
stones and shoes? BJP
leaders like Anil Bonde
and others are misguid-
ing the employees
which is very regretta-
ble,” he said.
Talking to the media
after meeting Pawar,
Sena MP and chief
spokesperson Sanjay
Raut said that the trans-
port workers’ stir on
Friday was not an agita-
tion, but “a brutal, pre-
planned attack” on the
NCP leader’s residence
at Silver Oaks bunga-
low in south Mumbai.
“It is regretful that
the Opposition (BJP) is
supporting such acts...
They are stooping to the
lowest level of politics
to target the MVA gov-
ernment and create a
law-and-order situation
in the state,” he said.
The protesters in front of the Sharad Pawar’s residence, Silver Oak, in Mumbai. —FILE PHOTO
TWO-DAY POLICE
REMAND FOR
MSRTC LAWYER
Mumbai (Agencies): A
Mumbai court on Satur-
day sent advocate Gun-
ratan Sadavarte, counsel
for the Maharashtra
State Road Transport
Corporation (MSRTC)
employees, to two days
police custody till April
11 in connection with the
attack on the residence
of Nationalist Congress
Party president Sharad
Pawar on Friday. Another
109 MSRTC workers
who were arrested in the
same incident were sent
to judicial custody and
they will be entitled to
apply for bail soon.
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday
condemned an “attack” on the residence of Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. Over 100 striking employees of the Maha-
rashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) staged a sudden
and angry protest outside Pawar’s residence in Mumbai on Friday
afternoon when he was home, alleging he has not done anything to
resolve their issues. “I condemn the attack on the residence of one of
India’s senior-most public figures, Sharad Pawar @PawarSpeaks and
welcome the statement of @CMOMaharashtra for stern action
against the offenders,” Banerjee tweeted.
MAMATA CONDEMNS ‘ATTACK’ ON PAWAR’S RESIDENCE
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday expressing concern
over the matter said that Sharad Pawar is a senior leader and such an incident
should not have happened. Guv Koshyari said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray
is handling the matter and he is very sensible. He also said that Sharad Pawar is a
distinguished leader and so no-one will encourage such incidents. “In this matter
Maharashtra government will pay attention, ”said Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Meanwhile,
Mumbai Police today arrested seven more people in connection with the protest
outside Pawar’s Mumbai house taking the tally of those arrested in the case to 110.
CM IS HANDLING THE MATTER: MAHA GOVERNOR
Guwahati (PTI): Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Bir-
la on Saturday said that
Indian cultural ethos
view the world as a
global family and Indi-
ans believe that all in-
ternational disputes
should be resolved
through dialogue.
He said that India
regularly holds talks
with other countries to
resolve pending issues
to ensure peace and sta-
bility, which are requi-
site for development.
Addressing the inau-
gural session of the
Commonwealth Parlia-
mentary Association
(CPA) mid-year execu-
tive committee meeting
here, Birla said, “Our
Indian cultural ethos
view the world as a glob-
alfamily
.Webelievethat
all international prob-
lems should be resolved
through dialogue.”
“Peace and stability
are needed for develop-
ment. Hence, India reg-
ularly holds talks with
other countries to re-
solve pending issues,”
he said.
Birla hoped that the
deliberations during
the two-day meet, which
India is hosting for the
first time, will help
member nations
strengthen democratic
institutions in their re-
spective countries.
He said that India has
been taking forward its
democratic traditions,
and increasing mass
voter participation in
the election process
bears testimony to peo-
ple’s faith in democracy
.
“Right from the vil-
lage level bodies to the
Parliament at the top,
we have democratic
process involved at all
levels with 90 crore vot-
ers participating in it…
India is the world’s larg-
est working democra-
cy,” he said.
The Lok Sabha speak-
er said that the diversi-
ty in the country has
strengthened its democ-
racy, while the Covid-19
pandemic has taught
the world to face prob-
lems collectively
.
Birla, also the chair-
person of the India re-
gion unit of the associa-
tion, said, “I hope that in
the CPA meet, ways to
take good governance to
the people and strength-
en democratic tradi-
tions will be discussed.”
Noting that the pan-
demic had pushed the
meeting by two years,
CPA acting chairperson
Ian Liddell-Grainger
urged the members to
use the chance to con-
nect, develop, promote
and support each other
in ensuring the deliver-
ance of good govern-
ance to people. Repre-
sentatives from 53 mem-
ber countries are at-
tending the event
through either physical
or virtual modes.
Indian cultural ethos view world as global family: Birla
COMMONWEALTH
PARL ASSOCIATION
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla
took a leaf out of parliamen-
tarians for the inauguration
of the mid-year executive
committee meeting of the
Commonwealth Parliamenta-
ry Association, which will be
held for the first time in India
in Guwahati. Representatives
from 53 Commonwealth
countries and nine regions
will participate in the meeting.
Om Birla
Manish Sisodia calls
former AAP Himachal
chief ‘characterless’
New Delhi (ANI): Del-
hi Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Manish Sisodia on
Saturday slammed the
BJP for inducting Aam
Aadmi Party’s
Himachal Pradesh unit
president Anup Kesari
and called his former
party leader “charac-
terless” adding that the
party was about to ter-
minate him on Satur-
day for his “anti-wom-
en remarks”.
Addressing a press
conference here, Siso-
dia said, “The party
that claims to be the
largest party in the
world is in such a state
that its president and a
Union Minister induct
such a person into the
party who has com-
plaints against his
name and who talks ill
about women.”
Three AAP leaders, including party’s Himachal unit chief Anup
Kesari, join BJP in the presence of JP Nadda, Anurag Thakur.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 220
l 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
You will keep in perfect
peace those whose minds
are steadfast, because
they trust in you.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
Nirmala Sitharaman
@nsitharaman
Thanks @BJYM and thanks @Tejasvi_
Surya for giving me an opportunity to
interact with the team. Good idea to
have Policy Dialogue. Happy to have
joined in today. Well structured. Lively
and enthusiastic participation. So
much promise in the team!
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
Delhi High Court Judges and Lawyers
displayed a great spirit during kick
off event of “FUTSAL 2022” Football
Tournament organized by Delhi High
Court Bar Association at New Delhi. It’s
a wonderful efforts to promote sports
culture Fit India Movement.
TOP TWEETS
AN “UNFORTUNATE”
TREND WHICH JUDGES
HAVE TO FIGHT FOR
DEMOCRACY’S SAKE
elations between the
judiciary and the
government have
shown signs of
strain in recent
years. The government is al-
ways happy to have a pliable ju-
diciary and an uncompromising
judge is always an irritant. But
the culture of maligning judges
of the country’s highest court
on social media and by the gov-
ernment is not conducive for the
country’s democracy. As it is,
the government’s anti-people
decision can only be challenged
in a court and if that institution
gets compromised then God save
this country. Highlighting the
tendency to attack the judiciary
the Chief Justice of India Jus-
tice NV Ramana voiced his con-
cern over “attacks on judiciary
in media, particularly social
media” on Constitution Day last
year. Some of these comments
appeared sponsored…motivated
and targeted, he said.
The CJI has once again raised
the red flag over the trend to ma-
lign judges by the government.
“It is a new trend. The govern-
ment has started maligning
judges,” he said. It is indeed an
“unfortunate” trend.
R
nion Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah
pitching for Hindi
as a spoken lan-
guage instead of
English may appear to be in-
nocuous to those in the Hindi-
speaking belt but in Tamil
Nadu it’ll be construed as lin-
guisticchauvinism.Shahsaid
at a recent meeting of the Par-
liamentary Official Language
Committee that Hindi should
be accepted as an alternative
toEnglishandnottolocallan-
guages. PM Narendra Modi,
Shah said, has decided that
the medium of running the
government is the official lan-
guage. This will add to the im-
portance of Hindi, Shah said.
Hindiasanationallanguage
has been a sensitive issue in
southern India and the region
witnessed a three-year lan-
guage war in Madras Presi-
dencywaybackin1937-40over
compulsory teaching of Hindi
in schools. It is Tamil Nadu
which has persistently op-
posedintroductionof Hindiin
the state. The state’s main po-
litical parties---the AIADMK
and DMK---have both refused
to accept Hindi as the state’s
official language. TN has, in
fact, witnessed the highest
number of agitations com-
pared to other states opposing
Hindi. In 2019 several protests
were held in Bengaluru over
Hindi Divas celebrations.
As expected the first objec-
tion to Shah’s statement has
come from Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister MK Stalin who
warned that the move was
against India’s pluralism and
integrity
.“If accepted,itwould
wreck the nation’s integrity
,”
Stalinsaid.“Does@AmitShah
think that “Hindi state” is
enough and Indian states are
not needed,” Stalin asked. A
way has to be found for the
country to have a linguistic
identity through dialogue.
SHAH RAISES TN’S
HACKLES OVER HINDI
Shah said at a recent meeting of the Parliamentary Official
Language Committee that Hindi should be accepted as an
alternative to English and not to local languages. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, Shah said, has decided that the
medium of running the government is the official language. This
will add to the importance of Hindi, Shah said
U
LETTERS FROM INDIA’S
GREATEST DIPLOMAT
PN HAKSAR
India House, Aldwych,
London, W.C.2.
April 7, 1967
My dear Natwar,
I cannot thank you enough for your letter. The state
of indecision was beginning to tell on my nerves. You
can, therefore, imagine my gratitude to you. I think that
you allow your emotions to run away with your judge-
ment. The expectations people have from me are cruel.
I suppose if all of us with good will and stout hearts
work together, there might be some hope. I shall cer-
tainly get you a copy of Bertrand Russell’s book. We are
leaving here on May 4 arriving in New Delhi on May 5.
We would want to stay in the Ministry of External Af-
fair’s Hostel. We shall be four only i.e two children and
ourselves. I believe a suite with kitchen and bathroom
would accommodate us all. If not, we can have a suite
plus an adjoining room, if this were possible. Please do
whatever you can. Our baggage would take months to
arrive. We have, therefore, to carry on as best as we can.
Yours affectionately,
PN Haksar
Kanwar Natwar Singh
Deputy Secretary to the PM,
PM Secretariat, New Delhi
4/9, Shanti Niketan,
New Delhi-110021
Phone 671149
July 11, 1991
My dear Natwar,
I have your letter of June 17. You have put me in the
same embarrassing situation in which Sharada had put
me when he asked me to contribute an article to a book
dedicated to the memory of Smt. Indira Gandhi. In terms
of purely personal relations, I have the deepest affection
for Rajiv. And, I believe, he gave me his affection and also
respect. However, writing about Rajiv as a Prime Minis-
ter is another matter. Also, being old-fashioned, I sub-
scribe to the wisdom contained in the Latin proverb:
Mortus nil nisi bonum. So, you will understand my per-
plexity and dilemma generated by your letter. This is a
purely personal letter to you as you will understand what
I am trying to say
. I trust that you are well and in the best
of spirit and health. With lots of love to you and Hem.
Yours Affectionately.
PN Haksar
Shri K. Natwar Singh
Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust
1, Akbar Road, New Delhi-110011
4/9, Shanti Niketan,
New Delhi 110021
Phone: 4673545/6886146
December 17, 1997
Dearest Hem and Natwar,
There was some English poet who used the words
‘jaded calendar’. He also described the contemporary
culture as ‘diabetic’ which was, according to him, ‘rot-
ting the nerve of Life and Literature’. As I suffer from a
chronic state of cheerfulness, I look forward to the year
1998. Without feeling jaded. Your New Year card added
to my cheerfulness. Many
, many thanks for it. May I, on
my part, wish you and yours, with all my heart, all the
best not only in the year 1998 but in the next millennia.
Yours affectionately,
PN Haksar
Shri and Smt K Natwar Singh
D 1/37, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi-110057
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India
PN Haksar (1913-1998) was India’s greatest diplomat and
Civil Servant. I owe him much. I considered him my Guru.
The other day I was sorting out old papers. Out came
several letters from PNH. I reproduce 4 in the column. Here
is a charming and delightful one from Lagos, Nigeria. He
was High Commissioner there.
Lagos
My dear Natwar,
I am not one of the world’s best letter writers. I, therefore, felt a little taken aback
when I found myself writing to you this letter. But I had to. There is no escape. I
was so overwhelmed with a desire to communicate. And since, the best way to resist
temptation is to yield to it, initially at any rate, I am writing to you. I do not care
to enquire into the origins of this great spirit of energy on my part. As you know
very well, I prefer to lie in my bed to sit up and I have even a greater preference for
just going to sleep. By the way, I think it was a lack of foresight on my part to have
travelled up to Mussoorie with you and thus to have betrayed an aspect of my
character which is moulded in less heroic a pattern. Anyhow the deed was done
and, at this stage there is very little point in pretending that I love exercise and
outdoor life. All this is absurd. I meant to write to you about other things. But here
am I talking about myself. And all this because one can be too much with oneself
in a place like Lagos. Trust this finds you well and that you are now all set for tak-
ing a plunge in matrimonial waters.
With affectionate regards
Yours,
PNH

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INDIA
05
Chennai (Agencies):
With the arrival of four
more Sri Lankan Tam-
ils into the state, the Ta-
mil Nadu government
is preparing itself for
more refugees hitting
the shores of the state.
Chief Minister M.K.
Stalin has already sent
directives to various
state government de-
partments to prepare
themselves for the ar-
rivalof moreSriLankan
Tamils as crisis in the
island nation continues.
A senior bureaucrat
while speaking to IANS
said: “Already 20 Sri
Lankan Tamils are
housed at the Manda-
pam refugee camp since
their arrival following
the financial crisis in
Lanka and our Chief
Minister has directed
all the departments
concerned to take a be-
nevolent view of the
refugees.”
Chief Minister Stalin
has already sent a letter
to Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi and Union
External Affairs Minis-
ter S Jaishankar re-
questing them to in-
volve in the matter.
In the latest incident
of refugee arrival, a
family of four — hus-
band, wife, and two chil-
dren — reached
Dhanushkodi. The Ma-
rine police took them
into custody and hand-
ed them over to the
Mandapam Camp.
The Sri Lankan Ta-
mil family, while speak-
ing to reporters at the
Mandapam camp, on
Friday said that they
were in abject poverty
and did not have the
means to provide even
food to the family hence
they had no other op-
tion but to reach India.
Kishanthan (34) said
that there were no food
and the family had to go
to sleep without food for
severaldays.Hesaidthat
thefamilywashelpedby
SriLankanfishermento
cross Indian shores and
reach Dhanushkodi.
He said that more ref-
ugees from the island
nation will reach the In-
dian shores soon and
that they were jobless.
Kishanthan said that he
was a fisherman but
lack of fuel has led him
to shift to masonry but
regular power cuts have
affected that job also.
The Sri Lankan Tamil
refugee said that this
madehimleaveforIndia
along with his family
.
Kishanthan also said
that he had stayed at the
Pudukottai refugee
camp between 2006 and
2010 and his wife Ran-
jita has stayed from 2006
to 2010 at Krishnagiri
refugee camp and hence
were familiar with the
Indian surroundings.
Tamil Nadu prepares for arrival of more refugees
AS CRISIS LOOMS LARGE IN LANKA
Srinagar: The Jammu
and Kashmir police on
Saturdayarrested13peo-
ple, including two insti-
gators, who had shouted
pro-azadislogansduring
Friday prayers at Srina-
gar’s Jamia Masjid.
Thepolicealsoalleged
a Pakistani angle to the
protests.“Duringtheini-
tial investigation, [we
learnt that] instructions
hadcomefromPakistani
handlers of terror out-
fits to disrupt the Friday
prayer and create a law
and order situation,”
Senior Superintendent
of Police Rakesh Balwal
said in a statement.
The mosque in Srina-
gar’s old city was
opened for prayers only
last month after re-
maining shut for almost
two years.
After the sloganeer-
ing, the police regis-
tered a case of sedition
and criminal trespass.
“After the prayers,
about a dozen people
shouted anti-national
and provocative slo-
gans for a while...Most
of the crowd remained
aloof. Volunteers of the
managing committee
tried to stop the slogan-
eering and hooligan-
ism, leading to clash-
es,” Balwal said.
13 ARRESTED FOR AZAADI SLOGANS
AT FRIDAY PRAYERS IN JK MOSQUE
New Delhi (ANI): The
Government on Satur-
day issued a notification
under the provisions of
the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967,
declaring Hafiz Talha
Saeed, the son of Hafiz
Mohammad Saeed, a
seniorleaderof LeTand
head of the cleric wing
of the terror outfit, as a
designated terrorist.
According to the no-
tification, which has
been issued by the Un-
ion Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA), Hafiz
Talha Saeed now fig-
ures in the Fourth
Schedule of the UA(P)A
that contains names of
persons declared as in-
dividual terrorists. In
the notification, the
MHA said Hafiz Talha
Saeed had been actively
involved in recruit-
ment, fund collection,
planning and executing
attacks by LeT in India
and Indian interests in
Afghanistan.
The MHA notifica-
tion has also mentioned
that the designated ter-
rorist has been actively
visiting various LeT
centres across Pakistan
for sermons that propa-
gate jihad against In-
dia, Israel, the US.
Two encounters started at two different plac-
es in the Sirhama area of Anantnag district
and at ChakiSamad, DH Pora area in Kulgam
district in Jammu and Kashmir, informed police
on Saturday. According to Kashmir Police, one
local terrorist of proscribed terror outfit LeT
was killed in Kulgam and LeT commander Nisar
Dar was killed in Sirhama Anantnag encounter.
Police and security forces are on the job to
tackle the situation on the spot. The internet
has been snapped in some parts of Anantnag
for precautionary measures.
Two terrorists killed in
seperate encounters
Centre declares Hafiz
Saeed’s son terrorist
TensioninK’taka’sMulbagalafterstones
peltedatRamaShobhaYatra,5detained
UPmahantbookedforissuing
‘rapethreat’tomuslimwomen
Global event for
Ukrainian refugees
raises $11billion
Police alleges
Pakistani angle,
say ‘instructions
had come from
Pakistani handlers
of terror outfits’
Any attempt at disrupting peace will be viewed very seriously, say police.
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): Tension pre-
vailed at Mulbagal in
Karnataka’s Kolar dis-
trict after miscreants
pelted stones at a Sri
Rama Shobha Yatra
procession on Friday
night, the police said.
Prohibitory orders un-
der CrPC Section 144
were imposed in Mul-
bagal after the incident
and five people were
taken into custody, of-
ficers added.
The Shobha Yatra, or-
ganised on the eve of
Ram Navmi, began in
the afternoon from Shi-
vakeshava Nagar and
as it headed towards Ja-
hangir Mohalla around
7.40 pm, the power sup-
ply got shut down, the
police said, following
which miscreants pelt-
ed stones at an idol of
Ram being carried in
the procession.
Sources with the po-
lice said a few youths
sustained minor inju-
ries in the incident.
Kolar SP D Devaraj
said a large number of
police personnel had
been deployed for Fri-
day’s procession. “As
there was disruption in
the electricity supply,
some miscreants may
have taken advantage
of the situation. We are
looking into the mat-
ter,” he explained.
In a viral video,
right-wing activists
were recently seen us-
ing loudspeakers and
dancing in front of a
mosque in Kolar dis-
trict while proceeding
as part of a rally in
which Bengaluru South
MP Tejasvi Surya had
participated.
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Sitapur (PTI): A Ut-
tar Pradesh seer, who
allegedly delivered a
hate speech and is-
sued rape threat to
muslim women, has
been charged, police
said on Saturday
.
Bajrang Muni
Das, the mahant of
the Maharshi Shri
LakshmanDasUdasin
Ashram in Khairabad
town, allegedly made
the speech and threat
on April 2 and the vid-
eo of it surfaced on
social media plat-
forms on Thursday
.
“
Acasehasbeenreg-
istered against Ma-
hant Bajrang Muni
Das over his hate
speech in Khairabad.
After collection of evi-
dence and inquiry
, po-
lice will initiate action
accordingly,” Addi-
tional Superintendent
of PoliceSitapur,Rajiv
Dikshit, said.
Das has been
booked under Indian
Penal Code sections
related to making
hate speech and de-
rogatory statements.
Hours after the case
was registered against
Das on Friday
, a video
surfaced online, in
which he apologises
and says his statement
was presented in a
“wrong way”.
“My statement has
been presented in a
wrong way
. I seek un-
conditional apology
for the same,” he said.
The NCW on Friday
sought Das’ arrest and
reprimanded police
saying it cannot be a
mute spectator and
should take appropri-
ate measures to curb
such incidents.
Warsaw (Agencies): A
global pledging event
for Ukrainian refugees
called “Stand Up for
Ukraine” has raised
10.1 billion euros ($11
billion), European Com-
mission chief Ursula
von der Leyen said in
Warsaw on Saturday
.
“The ‘Stand Up For
Ukraine’ campaign has
raised 9.1 billion euros
forpeoplefleeingbombs,
inside and outside
Ukraine, with an addi-
tional billion pledged by
the European Bank for
Reconstruction and De-
velopment),” von der
Leyen said. More than
4.4 million refugees have
fled Ukraine since the
Russian invasion.
2 cars damaged,
1 bike torched;
prohibitory
orders imposed
New York (Agencies):
With new coronavirus
variants emerging eve-
ry four months on aver-
age, UN Secretary-Gen-
eral Antonio Guterres
has cautioned that the
COVID-19 pandemic is
far from over as large
outbreaks are spread-
ing in Asia.
Guterres also called
for governments and
pharma companies to
work together to deliver
vaccines to every per-
son, everywhere.
In a video message
“One World Protected -
Break COVID Now” to
the GAVI COVAX Ad-
vance Market Commit-
ment Summit 2022, Mr
Guterres said on Friday
that the gathering is a
critical reminder that
the “COVID-19 pandem-
ic is far from over.”
“We’re seeing 1.5 mil-
lion new cases each day
.
Large outbreaks are
spreadinginAsia.Anew
wave is sweeping across
Europe,” he said, adding
that some countries are
reporting their highest
death rates since the
start of the pandemic.
He said the Omicron
variant of the coronavi-
rus is a “startling re-
minder” of how quickly
COVID-19 can mutate
and spread - especially
in the absence of high
vaccination coverage.
While some high-in-
come countries are pre-
paring for their second
booster doses, one-third
of humanity remains
unvaccinated, he rued.
“This is a brutal in-
dictment of our deeply
unequalworld.It’salsoa
prime breeding ground
for new variants... more
deaths... and increased
human and economic
misery
,” he said.
Guterres said the next
variant is not a question
of “if” but of “when.”
“We are far from our
target of every country
reaching 70 per cent vac-
cination coverage by the
middle of this year. And
withnewvariantsemerg-
ingeveryfourmonthson
average, time is of the es-
sence,” he said.
‘1.5mn Covid cases daily, new wave sweeping across Europe’
China is combating its biggest rise in Covid-19
cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with
millions under lockdown and the healthcare system
feeling the pressure. One of the last countries sticking
to a zero-Covid strategy, China aims to stamp out
every infection with strict lockdowns and by sending
all cases to secure facilities. In Shanghai, as the city
enters its third day of strict lockdown, after staggered
restrictions failed to contain infections, there are
increasingly widespread reports of residents being
unable to access food, medicine and other essentials.
SHANGHAI LOCKDOWN LEAVES RESIDENTS
DESPERATE FOR FOOD, MEDICINES
Aurangabad:Sixgirls
consumepoison,3die
Patna (Agencies):
Three girls died, while
as many are battling for
their lives after all six of
them consumed poison
at a village in Bihar’s
Aurangabad district, an
official said on Saturday
.
According to police,
one of the girls was in-
volved in a one-sided af-
fair. When her marriage
proposal was rejected
by the boy she was in
love with, she took an
extreme step. All the
others followed suit.
The incident took
place in a village that
fallsunderKasmapolice
station in Aurangabad.
Three of the girls are
stated to be “critical” in
Gaya’s Magadh medical
college.
Elaborating on the in-
cident, Kantesh Kumar
Mishra, SP of Aurang-
abad said: “One of the
girlswasinlovewithher
brother’s brother-in-law.
Bizzare heist: 60-foot
bridge stolen in Bihar
Patna (Agencies): A
gang of thieves has
pulled off an extraordi-
nary heist by stealing a
60-foot abandoned
bridge in Bihar’s Roh-
tas district in broad
daylight. The thieves,
posing as state irriga-
tion department offi-
cials, used gas cutters
and earthmover ma-
chines to demolish the
bridge and escaped
with the scrap metal,
media reported.
Arshad Kamal
Shamshi, a junior en-
gineer of the irriga-
tion department, said
that the villagers in-
formed them that some
people pretending as
irrigation department
officials had uprooted
the bridge using ma-
chines like JCB and
gas-cutters. Mr Sham-
shi added that they
have filed an FIR.
The bridge was built
over the Ara canal in
Amiyavar around 1972.
Hafiz Saeed Hafiz Talha Saeed

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
New Delhi (ANI):
Fresh baby corn and ba-
nana from India will
soon be exported to
Canada as the Canadi-
an authorities have
granted market access
for these farm products
with immediate effect,
the Ministry of Agri-
culture Farmers Wel-
fare said on Saturday
.
The negotiations be-
tween National Plant
Protection Organisa-
tions of India and Can-
ada on market access
for Indian banana and
baby corn resulted in
Canadian market ac-
cess for these commodi-
ties, it said. Manoj Ahu-
ja, Secretary, Depart-
ment of Agriculture
Farmers Welfare, met
Cameron MacKay, Ca-
nadian High Commis-
sioner in India, on 7th
April here to discuss
the issue.
MacKay informed
that the export of fresh
baby corn from India to
Canada may begin from
April 2022 after upda-
tionof directiveD-95-28:
Plant Protection Import
and Domestic Move-
ment Requirements for
Corn and the Automat-
ed Import Reference
System (AIRS), accord-
ing to a statement re-
leased by the Ministry
of Agriculture Farm-
ers Welfare.
“Based on the techni-
cal information provid-
ed for fresh banana by
India, Canada has ap-
proved banana for
entry into Cana-
da with imme-
diate effect,”
it said.
This deci-
sion of the
Government
of Canada
would immense-
ly benefit the In-
dian farmers
growing these
crops and would
also enhance In-
dia’s export earn-
ings, the minis-
try added.
Mumbai (ANI): In-
dia’s foreign exchange
(forex) reserves dipped
by $11.17 billion in the
week ending on April 1,
the steepest weekly fall
ever, due to a sharp
plunge in foreign cur-
rency assets, the Re-
serve Bank of India
(RBI) data showed.
According to the
RBI’s weekly statisti-
cal supplement, India’s
forex reserves slumped
by $11.173 billion to
$606.475 billion for the
week ended April 1.
This is the highest de-
cline in the country’s
forex reserves ever.
This is the fourth con-
secutive week of de-
cline in the country’s
forex reserves as the
RBI continues to inter-
vene in the currency
markets by way of dol-
lar sales to prevent a
slide in the value of
the rupee amid the
Russia-Ukraine con-
flict.
India’s forex re-
serves had declined by
$2.03 billion to $617.648
billion during the week
ended March 25.
The forex reserves
have declined by over
$26 billion in the past
four weeks for which
the official data is
available.
The biggest drop has
been in the country’s
foreign currency as-
sets. India’s foreign
currency assets dipped
by $10.727 billion to
$539.727 billion during
the week ended April 1,
2022.
The foreign curren-
cy asset is the biggest
component of the forex
reserves. Expressed in
US dollar terms, the
foreign currency assets
include the effect of ap-
preciation or deprecia-
tion of non-dollar cur-
rencies like Euro, UK’s
Pound Sterling and
Japanese Yen held in
the foreign exchange
reserves.
The value of gold re-
serves dropped by $507
million to $42.734 bil-
lion during the week
under review.
The other two com-
ponents of the forex
reserves increased
marginally. The value
of India’s Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs)
with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)
rose by $58 million to
$18.879 billion.
India’s reserve posi-
tion in the IMF rose by
$4 million to $5.136 bil-
lion during the week
ended April 1, the RBI
data showed.
INDIA’S FOREX RESERVES SLUMP
BY $11.17 BN TO $606.475 BN
The biggest drop
has been in the
country’s foreign
currency assets.
India’s foreign
currency assets
dipped by $10.727
billion to $539.727
billion during the
week ending on
April 1, 2022.
New Delhi (ANI):
Buoyed by a record
over $50 billion worth
of exports of agricul-
tural products in the
financial year ended
March 31, the central
government has cre-
ated matrix for 50
farm products to fur-
ther boost shipments,
theUnionMinistryof
Commerce Indus-
try said on Saturday
.
India’s agricultural
exports rose by 19.92
percentduring2021-22
to touch $50.21 billion
against $41.87 billion
recorded in the previ-
ousyear.TheMinistry
of CommerceIndus-
try said the sharp in-
crease in growth dur-
ing the financial year
2021-22 was largely
due to the various ini-
tiatives taken by the
government through
the Agricultural and
Processed Food Prod-
ucts Export Develop-
ment Authority (APE-
DA) such as organis-
ingB2Bexhibitionsin
different countries,
exploring new poten-
tial markets through
product-specific and
general marketing
campaigns by the ac-
tive involvement of
Indian Embassies.
The Centre organ-
ised more than 300
outreachprogrammes
with state govern-
ments for enhancing
theexportsof agricul-
tural produce.
INFLATION EXPECTATION, CONSUMER
CONFIDENCE RISE, SAYS RBI SURVEY
Mumbai (Agency):The household inflation expec-
tation and consumer confidence rose in March,
according to surveys conducted by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). Households’ median infla-
tion perception for the current period remained
unchanged at 9.7 per cent in the latest survey
round, while the expectations for both three
months and one-year ahead rose by 10 basis
points each to 10.7 per cent and 10.8 per cent,
respectively, compared to January 2022 round.
“For a majority of population and age groups,
uncertainty in inflation expectations increased
for both three-month and one-year horizons, as
compared to the previous survey round,” the
RBI said.Three months ahead of expectations for
overall prices and inflation were generally aligned
to those for food and non-food products.
New Delhi (PTI): A
TCS-led consortium
has bagged a Rs 550
croreorderfromBSNL
for deploying indige-
nously-designed 4G
network, an official
source said on Friday
.
The TCS consorti-
um will initially de-
ploy 6,000 mobile
towers for BSNL 4G
services.
“TCS-led consorti-
um has been given
order worth Rs 550
crore to deploy 6,000
sites for 4G services,”
a senior BSNL offi-
cial told PTI.
The deal was
signed on Thursday,
another source said.
An email query
sent to TCS did not
elicit any reply
.
Telecom Minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw
had informed Parlia-
ment on Wednesday
that indigenous 4G
telecom network will
soon be rolled out
across India.
DEPLOYMENT OF
4G GEARS IN BSNL
TCS-led
group bags
` 550cr order
Indian banana and baby corn get market access in Canada
The negotiations between National
Plant Protection Organisations of India
and Canada on market access for Indian
banana and baby corn resulted
in Canadian market access for
these commodities
New Delhi (ANI): Re-
serve Bank of India
(RBI) has clarified there
is no platform to facili-
tate rupee-rouble trade
and the central bank is
in discussion with all
the stakeholders in this
regard.
Responding to a
question during a press
conference held on Fri-
day, RBI Deputy Gover-
nor T Rabi Sankar
said, “On the Indo-Rus-
sian trade, there is no
platform that I am
aware of. There are
press reports, but there
is nothing I am aware
of.” “Anything that we
do will be sensitive to
the sanctions. So noth-
ing specific, I mean the
war has obviously dis-
rupted trade and pay-
ments. We are discuss-
ing with all stakehold-
ers and remaining sen-
sitive to sanctions. If
and when anything is
decided you will come
to know,” Sankar told
reporters.
No rupee-rouble trade
platform, clarifies RBI
India to export 30-35 lakh tn of
wheat in Apr-July: Food Secy
New Delhi (PTI):
Traders have entered
into contracts for the
export of 30-35 lakh
tonnes of wheat during
the April-July period,
buoyed by increasing
demand for the com-
modity in the world
market, Food Secretary
Sudhanshu Pandey
said on Friday
.
The country’s wheat
exports crossed 70 lakh
tonnes in 2021-22 as
against 21.55 lakh
tonnes in 2020-21, ac-
cording to the official
data.
“The trade estimate
is that about 30-35 lakh
tonne of wheat has
been contracted for ex-
port during the April-
July period of this
year,” Pandey told re-
porters.
The maximum quan-
tity of wheat will be
shipped from Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Madhya
Pradesh because of
proximity of these
states to ports and eas-
ier logistics, he told re-
porters.
As a result, private
traders are procuring
wheat for export from
these states. If interna-
tional prices rise fur-
ther, traders may buy
the grain from other
states like Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh, he said.
With private trade
procuring wheat for
export, there may be
reduction in govern-
ment procurement but
it is too early to say.
The government is,
however, monitoring
the situation regularly,
he added.
Last week, Com-
merce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal
had said that the coun-
try’s wheat exports
could cross 100 lakh
tonnes during the 2022-
23 fiscal.
`18.60 lakh crore sanctioned in loans in 7 years
New Delhi (ANI):
More than 34.42 crore
loan accounts amount-
ing to Rs 18.60 lakh
crore have been opened
under Pradhan Mantri
Mudra Yojana in the
past seven years, Un-
ion Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
said on Friday.
“It is noteworthy
that more than 34.42
crore loan accounts
amounting to Rs 18.60
lakh crore have been
opened under the
scheme for the crea-
tion of income-gener-
ating activities,” the
Finance Minister said
at a function organised
to celebrate the 7th an-
niversary of the
Scheme. The scheme
was launched on April
8, 2015, by Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
for providing loans up
to Rs 10 lakh to the
non-corporate, non-
farm small/micro-en-
terprises.
“The scheme has
helped in creating an
enabling environment,
particularly for small
businesses and has
helped generate large-
scale employment op-
portunities at the
grassroots level,” the
Finance Minister said.
More than 68 per
cent of the loan ac-
counts have been sanc-
tioned to women and 22
per cent of the loans
have been given to new
entrepreneurs who
had not availed any
loan since the incep-
tion of the scheme, ac-
cording to a statement
released by the Fi-
nance Ministry.
PM MUDRA YOJANA
Boost to exports: Govt forms
matrix for 50 farm products
RISING EXPORTS
L1 bidder HAL-LT
combine to deliver
PSLV rocket in 2024
Chennai (Agency):
The Hindustan Aero-
nautics Ltd and Lars-
en Toubro Ltd (LT)
consortium has
turned out to the low-
est price bidder for
making five Polar Sat-
ellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV) XL variant
rocket out of the three
who had bid, said a
space sector official.
With this, the trans-
fer of PSLV-XL pro-
duction outside of In-
dian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO)
moves a step forward.
“The Hindustan
Aeronautics and LT
consortium has
turned out to be the
lowest bidder to make
five PSLV-XL rockets.
Now other agreements
have to be signed be-
tween NewSpace India
Ltd (NSIL) and the
winning consortium
before awarding the
contract,” an official,
preferring anonymity,
told IANS.
According to the of-
ficial, the remaining
activities are expected
to be completed in a
couple of months’
time, if everything
goes smoothly
.
“The first PSLV-XL
rocket is expected to
be realised in 24
months from the date
of award of the con-
tract. Subsequently
one rocket every six
months has to be deliv-
ered to NSIL,” the of-
ficial added.
The first rocket is
expected to be realised
sometime during the
secondhalf of 2024and
the balance four rock-
ets will be delivered
during 2025 and 2026 at
two rockets per year.
This is the first time
in the ISRO’s history
that an entire rocket,
including the
heatshield, is to be
made outside of the
space agency
.
However, the offi-
cial declined to com-
ment whether the suc-
cessful bid amount
was around Rs 825
crore (about Rs 165
crore per rocket) ex-
cluding taxes.
ROCKET SCIENCE

First India Bureau
Faridabad: The
Faridabad NIT MLA,
Neeraj Sharma, has
provided documentary
proofs to the Vigilance
Bureau in connection
with alleged Rs 200
crore scam in the
Faridabad Municipal
Corporation.
Sharma said that he
had raised this scam in
the Haryana Vidhan
Sabha recently and in
pursuant to that, the
Vigilance Bureau had
arrested the contractor.
MLA Sharma said the
Vigilance Bureau has
given a telephone num-
ber to give complaints
in connection with any
corruption and, in this
connection, he (Shar-
ma) met Faridabad Vigi-
lance SP Anil Kumar
and gave him the docu-
ments pertaining to that
scam in the Faridabad
Municipal Corporation.
Sharma said he has
apprised the Vigilance
SP that some of the ac-
cused in this scam are
about to flee abroad to
avoid action against
them. Hence he has
asked the Vigilance to
take a timely action and
seize their passports
attach their properties.
MLA Sharma ap-
pealed the public to
complain about any cor-
ruption to the Vigilance
and if nothing happens
on their complaint, they
should inform him. He
assured the people that
he will not let their
voice suppressed.
07
NEWS
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi High Court has
dismissed an applica-
tion by Red Bull seeking
to injunct Pepsi from
using tagline “Stimu-
lates Mind. Energizes
Body.” for its energy
drink Sting.
The court said plain-
tiff Red Bull has failed
to establish a prima fa-
cie case in its favour
and balance of conveni-
ence is also in favour of
defendant Pepsico India
Holdings Pvt Ltd for not
granting interim in-
junction as the prod-
ucts of the defendants
have been selling in the
market with this tag-
line for almost five
years.
Red Bull sought in-
terim injunction
against Pepsico, re-
straining it from using
the tagline “Stimulates
Mind. Energizes Body
.”,
which is claimed to be
deceptively similar to
theplaintiff’s registered
trademark/ tagline “Vi-
talizes Body And Mind”.
“Both the taglines
usedbytheplaintiff and
the defendants are de-
scriptive and laudatory
in nature. Whether the
tagline of the plaintiff
has acquired distinc-
tiveness or secondary
meaning in respect of
the plaintiff’s products
can only be established
at the stage of trial,”
Justice Amit Bansal
said.
Red Bull claimed that
the marks are similar
and Pepsi’s use of
“Stimulates Mind. En-
ergizes Body
.” amounts
to infringement and
passing off its trade-
mark - “Vitalizes Body
and Mind”. It had ar-
gued that the mark had
acquired distinctive-
ness and secondary
meaning, thus entitled
to protection.
Pepsi, represented by
J Sagar Associates, de-
fended its use of the tag-
line as being descrip-
tive of the product and
thus no action for in-
fringement can lie. Pep-
si had argued that Red
Bull’s trademark itself
is invalid since it is in
contravention of Sec-
tion 9 of the Trade
Marks Act.
Chennai (PTI): Un-
ion Railways Minis-
ter Ashwini
Vaishnaw on Satur-
day reiterated that
the Centre has no
policy to privatise the
national transporter
and emphasised the
need for the sector to
accept the latest tech-
nology to meet the
aspirations of the
passengers. The tech-
nology should be in-
digenous like the con-
tribution of Integral
Coach Factory (ICF)
to Vande Bharat Ex-
press, and take
the sector
forward,
he said,
w h i l e
virtual-
ly in-
augurating the 20th
all India conference
of theBharatiyaRail-
way Mazdoor Sangh
(BRMS) at Rail man-
dapam, Perambur,
from Delhi.
Vande Bharat Ex-
press was designed
and manufactured by
ICF at Perambur un-
dertheCentre’sMake
in India initiative.
“The opposition
parties are repeated-
ly alleging a move to
privatise the rail-
ways. I wish to clear-
ly state that the rail-
ways is a big complex
o r g a n i s at i o n . . .
there’s no policy
to privatise the
railways, he
said.
Jaipur (PTI): Union
Minister Gajendra
Singh Shekhawat has
hit out at Rajasthan
Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot’s re-
marks on the Eastern
Rajasthan Canal Pro-
ject (ERCP), saying
his behaviour cannot
be called normal.
Gehlot had on Fri-
day said though
Shekhawat is an MP
from Rajasthan and
the Union Jal Shakti
minister, he was not
showing any interest
in the projects per-
taining to the state.
Further, the chief
minister had said it
was unfortunate that
the central minister
was not working to-
wards getting the sta-
tus of project of na-
tional importance’
for his own depart-
ment’s ERCP
.
The ERCP aims to
harvest surplus wa-
ter available during
the rainy season in
southern Rajasthan
rivers such as Cham-
bal and its tributar-
ies, including Kunnu,
Parvati and Ka-
lisindh, and route
thiswaterto13south-
eastern districts of
the state that face
scarcity of water for
drinking and irriga-
tion.
Reacting to Ge-
hlot’s statement,
Shekhawat said, The
behaviour of a minis-
ter of the Gehlot gov-
ernment and the CM
himself, with the aim
of doing politics on
East Rajasthan Canal
Project, cannot be
called normal under
any circum-
stances.
Kumar Prabodh
Patna: Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar
on Saturday expressed
surprise over the de-
feat of many NDA can-
didates in the recent
biennial election to the
state legislative coun-
cil and asserted that
the result, which
caused the NDA’s tally
in the upper house to
fall, was not a cause of
worry for the ruling al-
liance. He asserted
that this will have no
bearing upon the as-
sembly by-election
next week in Bochahan
where he was confi-
dent of the BJP nomi-
nee’s victory.
The council election
was not one in which
candidates are chosen
directly by the people.
Shahjahanpur (PTI):
The father of a rape vic-
tim in the infamous
Asaram Bapu case has
expressed threat to his
life and that of his fam-
ily by the self-styled god-
man’s supporters.
Thiscomesadayafter
a girl’s body was recov-
ered from a car parked
inside one of Asaram’s
ashrams in Gonda.
A follower of Asaram
left a threat letter at our
house after hurling
abuses at me on March
21. Derogatory language
has been used in the let-
ter and the person has
also mentioned his ad-
dress on it, the victim’s
father told PTI over
phone on Saturday
.
Following the threat,
the police deployed two
constables outside their
house and since then,
one of them was with-
drawn from duty
.
On the day the man
received the threat, he
said the only constable
on duty was not present.
I have given a written
complaint regarding
this but the police have
not done anything about
it, the man claimed.
Superintendent of
Police, Sitapur, S
Anand said, We have
not received any re-
port regarding any
threat given to the vic-
tim or her family. Ap-
propriate action will
be taken if we receive
such a complaint. How-
ever, I will also get the
incident looked into at
my level.
Mahesh Kumar
Ludhiana: New Com-
missioner of Police Dr
Kaustubh Sharma said
on Saturday that stren-
uous efforts would be
made for detection and
prevention of the
crime in city besides
foremost priority
would be accorded to
redressal of people’s
grievances.
Interacting with the
media persons after
taking over the charge
of office, the Commis-
sioner of Police said
that major focus would
be given on categoriza-
tion of criminals and
their surveillance in
an effective manner.
He said that tirade
against drugs would be
further intensified and
thrust would be laid to
completely wipe out
this curse from the
Commissionerate.
The 2001-batch IPS
officer also said that
all-out efforts would be
further made to solve
the traffic problems in
the city and the entire
traffic management
plan of the Commis-
sionerate Police would
be reviewed. He added
that senior officials of
traffic wing would be
deployed in the field to
ensure traffic snarls do
not create problem for
the commuters. Fur-
ther, he said that PCR
would be made more
responsive to deal with
any sort of exigency
and making city more
safer for the people.
Dr Sharma, who is a
gold-medallist MBBS
and MD (Medicine),
also said that adequate
focus would be laid on
good, responsive and
transparent Policing
for which feedback
would be taken from
the general public and
the press, which was
the fourth pillar of eve-
ry democratic system.
Bhubaneswar (PTI):
Some may call it a super-
stition, some may see it
as a business opportuni-
ty
, the day’s first pitcher
of holy water drawn
from famous Marichi
`Kunda’ (pond) located
in the Mukteswar Tem-
ple here, fetched Rs 1.30
lakh, in an auction con-
ductedontheeveof Lord
Lingaraj’s annual Ruku-
na Ratha festival here.
The auction for the
holy water was held on
Friday night near the
Marichi Kunda. It is be-
lievedthatbathinginthe
holy water helps resolve
fertilityproblemsamong
devotees.
The auction was con-
ducted by Bodu Nijog, a
group of servitors of
Lord Lingaraj temple. A
couple from Baramunda
area in Bhubaneswar of-
fered the highest price
and they received the
first pitcher of water by
payingRs1.30lakhwhile
the base price was just
Rs 25,000.
Similarly
, the second
pitcher of water was
auctioned for Rs 47,000
against the base price of
Rs 16,000 while the third
pitcherfetchedRs13,000.
After the first three
couplesreceivedtheholy
water, the Badu Nijog
distributed other pitch-
ers among poor couples
without making any de-
mands.
Purchasersof thefirst
pitcher said their family
was prepared to go up to
Rs 2.5 lakh to buy the
Marichi Kunda.
Thereisnosuchscien-
tific reason behind this
belief in this water. We
do not believe that bath-
ing with a pitcher of wa-
ter will enhance fertility
in human beings. At the
same time, I also do not
deny that the water
might have other me-
dicinal properties as the
Marichi Kunda is sur-
rounded by many Asho-
ka trees, the roots of
which end in the tank,
said Dr Santosh Mishra,
an eminent gynecolo-
gist.He said people be-
lieve that Mother Sita
conceivedtwins-Lavand
Kush,afterstayingsome
time at Ashoka Vatika, a
garden of Ashoka trees
in Lanka.
One pitcher of holy water fetches `1.3 lakh in Bhubaneswar
SUPERSTITIOUS ACTIVITIES
The auction for the holy water
was held on Friday. It is believed
that bathing in the holy water
helps resolve fertility problems
Delhi HC has
dismissed Red
Bull’s plea seeking
to injunct Pepsi
from using tagline
“Stimulates Mind.
Energizes Body”
for its energy drink
HCREJECTSREDBULL’SPLEA
FORINJUNCTIONAGAINSTPEPSI
FILED TRADEMARK
No plan to privatise
railways, need to accept
latest tech: Vaishnaw
Gehlot’s remarks on
ERCP ‘can’t be called
normal’: Shekhawat
Nitish surprised
over legislative
poll outcome
MD DOCTOR AS TOP COP TO CURE LUDHIANA OF CRIME
Asaram Bapu case: Rape victim’s
father cites threat to him, family
NIT MLA provides proofs in `200
cr scam in F’bad Municipal Corp
Dr Kaustubh Sharma (2nd from R) speaks to media after taking charge as Ludhiana Commissioner
of Police. —PHOTO BY SAURAV SALUJA
NIT MLA, Neeraj Sharma (R) at
Faridabad SP Vigilance office.
Asaram Bapu

08
2NDFRONT
In the modern world,
photography is as much an art
form as painting and sculpting
were at one time.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Mediation in judiciary yet to find widespread acceptance: Prez
First India Bureau
Kevadia: President
Ram Nath Kovind on
Saturday said the con-
cept of mediation in the
judiciary is yet to find
widespread acceptance
due to certain bottle-
necks,butaddedthatall
stakeholdersshoulddis-
play a positive attitude
towards the subject in
order to achieve the de-
siredresult.Healsosaid
that the topmost objec-
tive of switching the
justice delivery system
toinformationandcom-
munication technology
(ICT) should be the im-
provement of access to
justice.
He was addressing
the inaugural event of
the two-day National
Judicial Conference on
Mediation and Infor-
mation Technology or-
ganised near the Statue
of Unity at Kevadia in
Narmada district.
Chief Justice of India
NV Ramana was
among other dignitar-
ies present at the inau-
gural function.
“Truly speaking, in
mediation, everyone is
a winner. Having said
that, one has to admit
thattheconceptisyetto
find widespread accept-
anceacrossthecountry
.
Not enough trained me-
diators are available in
someplaces.Infrastruc-
tural facilities at many
mediation centres bad-
lyneedtobeupgraded,”
Kovind said.
He said these “bottle-
necks” have to be ad-
dressed at the earliest
to help the wider popu-
lation benefit from this
effective tool.
“Moreover, all stake-
holders should display
a positive attitude to-
wards mediation if we
want to achieve desired
results,” he further
said, while emphasis-
ing the importance of
training in this regard.
Training can be pro-
vided at different lev-
els, from introductory
courses at the induc-
tion stage to refresher
courses for mid-career
professionals, he said.
He praised the Me-
diator and Conciliation
Project Committee of
the Supreme Court for
“doing a great job by
organising training
programmes in the
states”.
Kovind said the mis-
conception among law-
yers about mediation
being a “threat to their
profession” must have
been removed in the
last two decades, dur-
ing which period all
stakeholders have rec-
ognised mediation as
“an effective tool for
dispute resolution”.
“If anything, it (me-
diation) is an addition-
al feature in their skills
and expertise. Success-
ful mediation not only
providesahighamount
of recognition to the
lawyer, but it also gives
great job satisfaction,”
the president said.
He also quoted Ma-
hatma Gandhi as hav-
ing said he preferred
the way of mediation
above all, despite hav-
ing a highly successful
career as a lawyer.
President Kovind addressed the gathering in Kevadia on Saturday.
THE PRESIDENT WAS SPEAKING AT
THE 2-DAY NATIONAL JUDICIAL
CONFERENCE ON MEDIATION
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
KASHMIR GETTING VISITORS DUE TO
CRPF’S GOOD WORK: HOME SECY
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion Home Secretary
Ajay Bhalla on Satur-
day lauded the CRPF
personnel for neutralis-
ing many hardcore ter-
rorists in Jammu and
Kashmir and ensuring
security due to which
tourists were flocking
to the Valley
.
While officiating as
chief guest at the ‘Valour
Day’ event of the coun-
try’slargestparamilitary
,
Bhalla said while large-
scale violence was antici-
patedinKashmirpostthe
abrogation of Article 370
in August 2019, the Jam-
mu and Kashmir Police
and the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF)
showed good cooperation
and contained the vio-
lence to a large extent.
The CRPF has a big
role in ensuring the uni-
ty of India...in Jammu
and Kashmir, over the
last year, many hard-
core terrorists have
been killed and huge
quantity of arms and
ammunition has been
seized by the CRPF and
other forces, he said.
The cooperation be-
tween Jammu and
Kashmir Police and the
CRPF has been excel-
lent and that has been
beneficial, he said ad-
dressing the troops and
officers of the force at a
camp in south Delhi.
He said it is due to the
hard work of the CRPF
that many tourists are
visiting Kashmir and
there is a sense of secu-
rityintheunionterritory
.
“With the good deploy-
ment of local police and
the CRPF, people know
they can go to Kashmir
safely
...theflightstoKash-
mir are full and tourists
are visiting. We feel good
about it,” he said.
He said the force has
got expertise in dealing
with a variety of inter-
nal security challenges,
be it counter-terrorism,
insurgency or Left Wing
Extremism. The CRPF
has a good public image
in dealing with law and
order situations and the
home ministry gets
maximumdemandfrom
statesfordeployingyour
force whenever there is
a challenge, Bhalla said.
BHALLA SAID THE CRPF HAS GOT EXPERTISE IN DEALING WITH A VARIETY OF INTERNAL SECURITY CHALLENGES
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla presents gallantry
award to a CRPF personnel at the CRPF Shaurya Diwas function.
Srinagar (PTI): Jam-
mu and Kashmir is
witnessing a golden
period as 80 lakh tour-
ists visited the Union
Territory in the last
few months, a record
in the last 15 to 20
years,LieutenantGov-
ernor Manoj Sinha
said here on Saturday
.
He highlighted sev-
eral initiatives of the
government to boost
tourism in JK.
“I think this is the
goldenperiodforJam-
mu and Kashmir in
which all the records
of the last 15-20 years
have been broken.
More than 80 lakh
tourists arrived here
inthelastfewmonths.
Thishasbroughtpros-
perity and is helping
people establish
peace,” Sinha said.
JK WITNESSING
GOLDEN PERIOD: LG
Islamabad (ANI):
Speaking on the no-con-
fidence motion against
the Imran Khan govern-
ment, Foreign Minister
ShahMahmoodQureshi
on Saturday raised the
issue of the accidental
misfire of a misile from
India into Pakistan in
early March, saying that
the accidental firing of
the missile could have
escalated into a full-
fledged war between the
two nuclear countries.
He was speaking af-
ter the House resumed
its proceedings on the
no-confidence motion
at around 2:30 pm (local
time), following an ad-
journment of the ses-
sion in the morning af-
ter a ruckus in the
House. “They said that
it was an accidental
fire... I have written to
the President of the Se-
curity Council, and I
have written to the Sec-
retary-General of the
United Nations... that
accidental fire, could
have led to an acciden-
tal war, between two
neigbours who are
atomic powers,”
Qureshi said, adding
that “the reaction time
is not hours, its just
minutes... It’s such a
dangerous game that
India has played.”
Referring to India,
Qureshi said, “Where
are the protocols, where
was the “self-destruct-
ing system”? That mis-
sile was capable of car-
rying a nuclear war-
head.”
Tehran 9 (AP): Presi-
dent Ebrahim Raisi said
Saturday that Iran will
continue nuclear devel-
opment activities as
talks to revive Tehran’s
nuclear deal with world
powers remain stalled,
state media reported.
Speaking in a cere-
mony marking Iran’s
national day of nuclear
technology, the hard-
line president said his
administration will
support an acceleration
in research of peaceful
nuclear technology
.
Our knowledge and
technology in the nu-
clear field is not revers-
ible. Iran’s (continua-
tion of) research in
peaceful nuclear fields
will not depend on oth-
ers’ demands or view-
points, said Raisi, who
came to power in Au-
gust.
Raisi’s comments
came as talks between
Iran and world powers
in Vienna to revive the
2015 nuclear deal have
stalled. There is con-
cern that Iran could be
closer to being able to
construct an atomic
weapon if it chose to
pursue one.
The nuclear deal col-
lapsed four years ago
when former President
Donald Trump with-
drew the United States
and imposed crushing
sanctions on Iran. In
the meantime, Iran has
vastly expanded its nu-
clear work.
Iran has long insisted
that its nuclear pro-
gram has had peaceful
purposes like generat-
ing electric power and
medical isotopes.
During Saturday’s
ceremony, Iran dis-
played its new civil nu-
clear achievements, in-
cluding several medical
isotopes, agricultural
pesticides, detoxifica-
tion equipment and nu-
clear fuel material. The
report did not elabo-
rate.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A border
viewing point on the In-
dia-Pakistan interna-
tional boundary on the
linesof theoneatWagah
inPunjabwillbeinaugu-
rated on Sunday in Nad-
abet in Banaskantha
district by Union Home
Minister Amit Shah.
The viewing point,
which will be the first
in the state, will be de-
veloped as a major tour-
ist attraction, officials
said on Friday
.
Shah will formally
inaugurate Nadabet In-
do-Pak border viewing
point on Sunday, his of-
fice said in a communi-
cation.
“To travel to Nadabet
will be an opportunity
for travellers to see the
workings of an army
post on the border of
India,” the website of
Gujarat tourism, which
is developing the pro-
ject along with the Cen-
tral government, in-
formed.
“Some of the activi-
ties and sights that will
interest travellers in-
clude the retreat cere-
mony where the Border
Security Force (BSF)
jawans put up a gallant
show of marching with
pride to end another day
of guarding the borders.
It will also have a weap-
ons display and photo
gallery with guns, tanks
and other sophisticated
devices that help in
keeping the border and
inland places secure on
display
,” it added.
Shah to inaugurate viewing point today
NADABET INDO-PAK BORDER
GOOD TEAM WORK
JK L-G Manoj Sinha collects weed after flagging off a
campaing for rejuvenation of Dal lake, in Srinagar on Saturday.
Iran’spresidentvowsto
continueNukeactivities
Ebrahim Raisi
THE PROJECT, ONTHE LINES OFTHE ONE
ATTHE INDO-PAKWAGAH BORDER IN
PUNJAB,WILL BE DEVELOPED AS A
MAJORTOURIST ATTRACTION
Pakistan FM says accidental missile
firing by India could have led to war
Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks in Pakistan’s National Assembly.
Islamabad (PTI):
Pakistan’s Army on
Saturday conducted
a successful flight
test of the surface-to-
surface medium-
range ballistic mis-
sile Shaheen-III
which can strike tar-
gets up to 2,750 kilo-
metres, bringing a
numberof Indiancit-
ies under its range.
The test flight was
aimed at revalidat-
ing various design
andtechnicalparam-
eters of the weapon
system, the mili-
tary’s media wing
InterServicesPublic
Relations said.
Pak conducts
test flight of
Shaheen-III
ballistic missile
Toronto (PTI): A
21-year-old Indian stu-
dent has been shot dead
by an unidentified man
at the entrance of a sub-
way station here in Can-
ada while he was on his
way to work, police said.
The victim, Kartik
Vasudev, was shot on
Thursday evening at
the Glen Road entrance
to Sherbourne TTC sta-
tion in St James Town.
Vasudev received
medical attention from
an off-duty paramedic
and was taken to a hos-
pital where he suc-
cumbed to his injuries,
the Toronto Police Ser-
vice said in a statement.
The homicide squad
of the Toronto Police
Service has taken over
the investigation.
Meanwhile, External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar has expressed
grief at the killing.
“Grieved by this tragic
incident. Deepest con-
dolences to the family,”
Jaishankar tweeted.
IndianstudentshotdeadinCanada,
EAMJaishankarexpressescondolences
‘Central agencies looking into
bomb threat to B’luru schools’
Bengaluru (PTI): Kar-
nataka Home Minister
Araga Jnanendra on Sat-
urday said central agen-
cies are looking into the
bomb hoax threat re-
ceivedbymultipleprivate
schools in Bengaluru via
e-mail, with regards to a
terror angle, if any
.
At least 15 schools in
the city and its outskirts
received bomb threats
throughe-mailonFriday
triggering panic among
students, parents and
school managements,
whichthepolicelaterde-
clared as a hoax after
conducting searches.
“Searches went on till
last night. There was no
bomb,itwasahoax.Our
police are trying to find
outastowhowasbehind
thehoaxthreat,andcen-
tral agencies are also
specially looking into it
seriously,” Jnanendra
told reporters here.
Kartik Vasudev S Jaishankar

T
iger Shroff and Tara Su-
taria are gearing up for
the release of their up-
coming film Heropanti
2. On Saturday, the song titled
‘Miss Hairan’ from the film was
launched and the actors, along
with Ahmed Khan were papped
at the event. Tara and Tiger
looked their stylish best at
the song. The actress looked
hot in a three-piece lavender
co-ord set featuring a bral-
ette top with a high-waist-
ed mini skirt, and an
oversized jacket.—Agency
M
alaika Arora had recently made the
headlines after she had met with an
unfortunate accident in the city. Ac-
cording to media reports, her car had
met with an accident on Sat-
urday (April 2) following
which she was rushed
to the hospital. It was
reported that she had
sustained minor inju-
ries and was dis-
charged soon. Ever
since then, Malaika has
been recovering at her resi-
dence and her friends and
loved ones have made sure to
visit her and be by her side dur-
ing these hard times. —Agency
09
NEW DELHI, SUNDAY,
APRIL 10, 2022
GLOWING
GLOWING
IN PINK!
IN PINK!
ajal Aggarwal is waiting
for the birth of her first
baby with her husband,
Gautam Kitchlu. Kajal
posted a dreamy picture
of herself flaunting the
baby bump in a
blush pink ruf-
fled gown, on Sat-
urday. She also
penned an emo-
tional note talk-
ing about her
pregnancy and
the happy and dif-
ficult moments
that shape peo-
ple’s experiences.
—Agency
K
A
fter many
specula-
t i o n s
a r o u n d
Ranbir Kapoor
and Alia Bhatt’s
wedding, it is now
finally confirmed
that the much-in-
love couple is get-
ting married this
month in the pres-
ence of family and
close friends. Ac-
cording to the re-
ports, the wedding
festivities will
begin on April
13 and will
continue till
April 17.
—Agency
S
onam Kapoor and
Anand Ahuja's
New Delhi resi-
dence was robbed
and cash and jewel-
lery worth Rs 1.41
Crore was stolen. As
p e r the news report, Sonam
Kapoor's mother-in-law was
the first one to rush to the Tu-
ghlaq Road police station to
lodge a complaint about the rob-
bery at their home. Keeping in
mind the high profile case,
the senior officials of
the Delhi Police im-
mediately took mat-
ters into their
hands and
formed squads
for investiga-
tion. —Agency
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirst-
india facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
WEDDING
SHENANIGANS!
ROBBED!
ROBBED!
OOZING PIZZAZZ
OOZING PIZZAZZ
REUNITED!
REUNITED!
S
anjay Dutt and Raveena
Tandon, who command-
ed the big screen with
their chemistry in the
1990s, recently reunited
again for the upcoming mov-
ie, KGF Chapter 2. Recently,
in an interview, Sanjay
expressed that Raveena
is a very, very close
friend in a chat with
GOODTiMES. He
added that she has
played a very spe-
cial part in his life
and that they have
shared a beautiful rela-
tionship and that it is amaz-
ing to work with her again. —Agency
I’mAFighter
Alia Bhatt
Ranbir Kapoor
Sonam
Kapoor
Ahuja
Kajal Aggarwal
Malaika Arora
Raveena Tandon Tara Sutaria

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