12012022 first india jaipur

POLITICAL SCENE HEATS UP
AHEAD OF ASSEMBLY POLLS
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Former
Punjab MLA Arvind
Khanna & several other
politicians from the
state joined BJP on
Tuesday as the party as-
serted that it will write
a new chapter in re-
gion’s electoral history
with its success.
Khanna, a business-
man and two-term for-
mer MLA, had not been
much active politically
after quitting the Con-
gress some years back.
Kanwarveer Singh
Tohra, grandson of for-
mer SGPC president
Gurcharan Singh
Tohra, Gurdeep Singh
Gosha, who was with
Akali Dal, and Dharam-
veer Sareen joined BJP
in presence of Union
ministers Gajendra Sin-
gh Shekhawat and Har-
deep Singh Puri.
Welcoming them,
Shekhawat, who is the
BJP’s in-charge for the
Punjab assembly polls
slated for Feb 14 said
their presence will
boost the BJP. The party
will write a new chapter
in the state’s electoral
history, he asserted.
Shekhawat also alleged
that its rivals using the
state machinery foiled
PM Modi’s proposed
rally in the state last
week. It would have
been the state’s biggest
rally, he claimed.
Kavita Pant
Lucknow/New Delhi:
In a massive jolt to BJP
& Yogi Adityanath just
before UP polls, a min-
ister and 3 MLAs quit &
joined the party’s main
challenger, Akhilesh
Yadav. Swami Prasad
Maurya, a top minister
& backward caste lead-
er in Yogi govt, posted
his resignation on
Twitter. Soon after he
went public, 3 more
MLAs, Roshan Lal Ver-
ma, Brijesh Prajapati &
Bhagwati Sagar an-
nounced their resigna-
tions. Reports suggest
Maurya may take a few
more ministers and
MLAs with him.
As Maurya’s letter
emerged on Twitter,
Akhilesh tweeted a pic
with him, welcoming
him and his support-
ers. Later Verma too
declared he was leav-
ing BJP with Maurya.
MANY FROM PUNJAB
JOIN BJP!
UP MINISTER, 3 BJP
LEADERS QUIT!
NOT QUIT BJP YET: SWAMI PRASAD MAURYA
JAIPUR l WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 217
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Global economic growth will dip sharply from 5.5% in 2021 to 4.1% in 2022
and 3.2% in 2023, even as India’s annual growth is projected to be 8.3% in the
current fiscal year, 8.7% in 2022-23, and 6.8% in 2023-24, according to the
World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects Report, released on Tuesday. The
report also flagged the risks posed by growing inequality and rising inflation.
Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that resolution passed by Maharashtra
Assembly suspending 12 BJP MLAs, is prima facie “unconstitutional” as such
a suspension cannot operate beyond six months owing to a constitutional bar.
The MLAs were suspended on July 5, 2021 for 1 year after State govt had
accused them of “misbehaving” with presiding officer in Speaker’s chamber.
GLOBAL ECONOMY
HEADS FOR A SHARP
SLOWDOWN, INDIA TO
GROW AT 8.3%: WB
WORSE THAN
EXPULSION’: SC ON
1-YR SUSPENSION OF
MAHA BJP MLAS
Ex-Congress leader Arvind Khanna, President Panth Ratna Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra
Memorial Trust Kanvar Singh Todha, SAD leader Gurdeep Singh Gosha & ex-councillor of Amritsar
Dharmveer Sareen, join BJP in presence of Union Ministers Gajendra S Shekhawat & Hardeep
Singh Puri in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Swami Prasad Maurya (L) joins Samajwadi Party in presence of
party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Though I have met Samajwadi
President Akhilesh Yadav but I will
take a call to join any party after dis-
cussing with my supporters and well-wishers.
—Swami Prasad Maurya
MAYAWATI WON’T CONTEST UP
ASSEMBLY POLLS: BSP MP
Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati will not contest the upcoming As-
sembly election in the
State, Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) MP Satish
Chandra Misra said on
Tuesday. “Former Chief
Minister Mayawati and
I will not contest the
Assembly elections,”
BSP MP Satish Chandra
Misra told news agency
ANI. Commenting on
Samajwadi Party’s chief Akhilesh Yadav’s claim
that his party will win 400 seats, Mishra said, “If
Samajwadi Party does not have 400 candidates,
how will it win 400 seats?” “Neither SP nor BJP
will come to power, BSP is going to form the govt
in Uttar Pradesh,” he added. —ANI
UP: NCP JOINS SP; IN TALKS
WITH CONG, TMC FOR GOA
Lucknow: NCP president Sharad Pawar on
Tuesday said his party would contest the
state elections in
UP as part of the
Samajwadi Party-
led alliance. He also
said 13 members
of Legislative
Assembly in UP
will be joining SP.
Talking to reporters,
Pawar said people
of UP are looking for
parivartan (change), adding it will happen. He
added NCP is in talks with Mamata Banerjee’s
TMC and Congress to fight Goa Assembly
polls together. “TMC, NCP & Congress are
holding discussions. We have given our
choice of seats to them. A decision will be
made soon,” Pawar said. Meanwhile, in Goa
Congress tied up with GFP, a regional outfit,
while TMC found a regional partner in MGP.
Delhi orders WFH for pvt offices
New Delhi: All private
offices in Delhi shall be
closed, except those
which have been ex-
empted, the DDMA said
in its revised guide-
lines. The private offic-
es, which were till now
operating with 50%
workforce, have been
asked to follow the prac-
tice of work from home.
Meanwhile, India
logged 1,68,063 new cor-
onavirus infections tak-
ing the total tally to
3,58,75,790 which in-
cludes 4,461 cases of
Omicron, according to
the Union Health Min-
istry data updated on
Tuesday. —ANI
More on P6
 Active cases highest
in 208 days in India.
 All int’l passengers
coming to India must
mandatorily quarantine
at home for 7 days, fol-
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
RAJASTHAN
6,366
NEW CASES
2,166
NEW CASES
IN JAIPUR
04
NEW
DEATHS
lowed by RT-PCR test on
the eighth day.
 Lata Mangeshkar ad-
mitted to ICU after testing
+ve. Nitin Gadkari also +ve
 PM enquires about
health of Mangeshkar &
Bihar & Karnataka CMs.
 Goa Dy CM Manohar
Ajgaonkar tests positive,
admitted to hospital.
 US breaks hospitalisa-
tion record as Omicron
surges.
India test fires
BrahMos
Supersonic
Cruise Missile
New Delhi: India suc-
cessfully test-fired
BrahMos Supersonic
Cruise missile from the
Indian Navy’s INS Vi-
sakhapatnam warship
on Tuesday
. The missile
was tested from INS Vi-
sakhapatnam which is
the latest warship of
the Indian Navy induct-
ed recently. ‘Advanced
sea to sea variant of
BrahMos Supersonic
Cruise missile was test-
ed from INS Visakhapa-
tnam today
. The missile
hit the designated tar-
get ship precisely’,
DRDO official said. The
missile is a joint ven-
ture between India and
Russia where Defence
Research and Develop-
ment Organisation
(DRDO) represents the
Indian side. ‘The sea to
sea variant of the mis-
sile was test-fired at the
maximum range and
hit the target ship with
pinpoint accuracy’, the
official added. —ANI
Shah recalls Shastri’s
‘selfless patriotism’
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Tuesday re-
membered former PM
Lal Bahadur Shastri on
his 56th death anniver-
sary
.
Taking to Twitter, the
Home Minister said,
“Former Prime Minis-
ter Bharat Ratna Lal
Bahadur Shastri Ji,
through his firm leader-
ship in a challenging
time, instilled a sense of
unity from soldiers to
farmers and set an ex-
cellent ideal of how self-
less patriotism can pro-
tect the country and
serve the public”. “Sa-
lute to such a great pa-
triot,” Shah tweeted in
Hindi. Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu, BJP
National President JP
Nadda, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi and a
host of politicians re-
membered the former
PM on his death anni-
versary on Jan 11. —ANI
CRUCIAL READ
CBI TO SC: MAHA MAKING JOB TOUGH
IN PROBE AGAINST ANIL DESHMUKH
CS, DGP ‘SKIP’
MEET: DHANKHAR
SEEKS REPLY
New Delhi: The SC said that it is a ‘very disturbing sce-
nario’ in Maharashtra, where ex- Mumbai Police Com-
missioner Param Bir Singh, has no faith in police force,
which he headed recently, & state government has no
faith in CBI. CBI informed top court that state is creating
several stumbling blocks in its probe against former HM
Anil Deshmukh. Senior advocate Puneet Bali, represent-
ing Singh, submitted that his client is being targeted.
Kolkata: Expressing his
displeasure, WB Gover-
nor Jagdeep Dhankhar
sought clarification from
CS Hari Krishna Dwivedi
& DGP Manoj Malviya
for ‘skipping’ a meeting
scheduled with him on
Monday. Dhankhar had
summoned them to brief
him about an incident
involving BJP LoP Suv-
endu Adhikari. “Stunned
at farcical identical
messages ‘as directed’
& premise of meeting
boycott with Guv by CS
@MamataOfficial & DGP
@WBPolice. CS/DGP
directed to indicate by 5
PM today under whose
‘directions’ messages
were sent,” he tweeted.
KERRY TO VISIT
INDIA SOON
SENSEX JUMPS
3RD DAY IN A ROW
New Delhi: US special
envoy for climate John
Kerry & India’s Union
Environment Minister
Bhupender Yadav had
a telephone conversa-
tion and discussed the
prospect of the meeting
soon, keeping in mind
the evolving Covid-19
situation, in order to take
CAFMD forward.
New Delhi: Bulls man-
aged to sustain grip on
Dalal street on Tuesday
as Indian equity markets
ended the volatile session
in green for third straight
day. After fluctuating 408
points, BSE Sensex index
closed 221 points or
0.37% higher at 60,617,
while Nifty50 settled at
18,056 levels, or 0.29 %.
IPL: Tata Group
replaces Vivo
as title sponsor
New Delhi: One of In-
dia’s largest business
conglomerates, the Tata
Group, is all set to re-
place Chinese mobile
manufacturer Vivo as
I PL’s title sponsor from
this year, the event’s
governing council de-
cided in a meeting.
BCCI Secretary Jay
Shah stated, “We are
truly happy that India’s
largest & most trusted
business groups has be-
lieved in IPL growth
story & together with
Tata Group, we will
look to take Indian
cricket and IPL forward
to greater heights.”
GEHLOT GOVT SEEKS CENTRE’s
INTERVENTION ON COAL BLOCKS
New Delhi: After fail-
ing to elicit the desired
response even after
writing to the Congress’
interim chief Sonia
Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot’s
Rajasthan government
has approached the
Centre to pursue Chhat-
tisgarh CM Bhupesh
Baghel to clear land
permissions for the
next phase of mining at
Parsa East and Kente
Basan (PEKB) Block,
said sources.
“Due to shortage of
domestic coal and rising
prices of imported coal,
Rajasthan wants to se-
cure fuel for long term
from the three blocks
located in Chhattisgarh
for its power generation
assets,” the source add-
ed. According to sourc-
es, Rajasthan’s ACS for
energy Dr Subodh Agar-
wal on December 31
wrote to the Ministry of
Environment, Forest
and Climate Change
(MoEFCC) Secretary RP
Gupta for necessary
clearances and land al-
location for the exten-
sion of PEKB block
from the Chhattisgarh
government.
In the letter, Agarwal
stressed that it is criti-
cal to get the 1136 hec-
tare of land for PEKB
Block from Chhattis-
garh for the smooth op-
erations of thermal
units of state utility
Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut
Utpadan Nigam Limit-
ed (RRVUNL). —ANI
TO SECURE RAJ POWER SECTOR
CM Ashok Gehlot
CM Gehlot had written to Cong Prez Sonia
Gandhi to persuade Ch’garh CM Bhupesh
Baghel to clear land permission for mining
Gehlot has written at least two letters to
Baghel requesting him to direct his officials
to expedite various approvals for two blocks
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
HIGHLIGHTS

RAJASTHAN
JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022
02
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Manoj Jain
Karauli: Minister of
State for Information
and Public Relations
and Karauli district
in-charge Ashok
Chandna said that the
enthusiasm of inves-
tors at Invest Summit
Karauli 2022 is com-
mendable.
“The district has re-
ceived investments
worth Rs 150 crore af-
ter over 82 MoUs and
LOIs were signed.
This will provide em-
ployment opportuni-
ties to around 1,500
people in the district,”
he said while address-
ing the Summit organ-
ised by Karauli Dis-
trict Administration,
District Industries
and Commerce Centre
and RIICO on Tuesday.
Chandna said that
entrepreneurs must
invest in industry and
tourism sector here.
He said that the State
Government under
the leadership of
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot is committed to
provide incentives to
the investors. “The
MSME Act, Chief
Minister Laghu Udyog
Protsahan Yojana
2019, Rajasthan Invest-
ment Promotion
Scheme 2019 will give
impetus to industrial
development,” he said
Chandna said that
for establishing any
industry, the entrepre-
neur does not need to
visit the departments
for approvals for the
first three years.
Karauli district gets investments worth `150 cr
INVEST SUMMIT KARAULI 2022

Karauli has
received
investments
worth Rs 150
crore. This will
give employment
opportunities to
around 1,500
people in the
district
RATHORE: GOVT IN NO MOOD TO
GIVE FARMERS COMPENSATION
Cold: Chittorgarh,
Karauli shiver at 3
degrees Celsius
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Cold conditions
continue to prevail in
parts of Rajasthan
where Chittorgarh and
Karauli were recorded
the coldest with 3 de-
grees Celsius on Mon-
day night, a MeT depart-
mentspokespersonsaid.
Sikar recorded 3.5 de-
grees Celsius followed
by 4.4 in Bhilwara, 4.8 in
Nagaur, 5 in Bikaner, 5.1
each in Anta and
Fatehpur, 5.8 each in Al-
war and Eranpura road,
6 in Banasthali and
Sawai Madhopur, 6.1 in
Sriganganagar, 6.2 in
Dabok, 6.5 in Churu,
Sangaria and Ajmer.
Jaipur recorded 7.4
degrees Celsius last
night.
Various other places
recorded minimum tem-
perature below 10 de-
greesCelsiusinthestate.
Maximum tempera-
ture yesterday was re-
corded between 14 and
22 degrees Celsius at
most of the places. Dis-
trcts like Kota, Jhala-
war, Baran, Udaipur,
Banswara, Dungarpur
and others had received
heavy rainfall last week
which caused further
dip in the temperature.
Due to hailstorm and rain, many parts of the State witnessed crop damage
Aieshwry Pradhan
Jaipur: After farmers
inthestatesufferedloss-
es due to rain and hail-
storm, Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot has given
instructions to provide
them compensation for
the damaged crops.
However, the opposi-
tion has targeted the
government for not go-
ing to the districts of
the ministers in-charge
to take stock of the
damaged crops.
Deputy LoP Rajendra
Rathore said that one
cannot expect relief
from a government
whichtalkedaboutfarm
loan waiver and then
backtracked. He target-
ed the Gehlot govern-
ment for giving the least
compensation for the
loss of crops. “This gov-
ernment has no inten-
tionof givingcompensa-
tion to the farmers,” he
said.
Rathore expressed
concern over the in-
creasing Covid cases
in the state and sought
the government to
make arrangements
for health facilities.
Chomu MLA Ramlal Sharma inspecting crop damaged due to hailstorm. —FILE PHOTO
CROP DAMAGE: DUSHYANT WRITES TO CM
First India Bureau
Jhalawar: Jhalawar-
Baran MP Dushyant
Singh has written a
letter to Chief Minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot to
demand compensation
to farmers for damage
caused to the crops due
to recent hailstorm.
In the letter written
on Monday, Singh said
that recent heavy rain
and hailstorm in Jhal-
awar-Baran damaged
Rabi crops and the
farmers have suffered
huge losses.
In such a situation,
he said, the crisis of
livelihood has arisen
in front of the farmers
of the area and de-
manded that a survey
should be done soon in
view of the financial
condition of the farm-
ers so that compensa-
tion can be given.
“On one hand the
farmer is battling the
corona pandemic, on
the other hand, the re-
cent hailstorm and
heavy rains caused
damage to the crops.
Thefarmerisdistressed
by the loss,” he said.
On one hand
the farmer is
battling the co-
rona pandemic,
on the
other hand, the
recent hail-
storm and
heavy rains
caused damage
to the crops.
The farmer is
distressed by
the loss.
—Dushyant Singh,
MP, Jhalawar-Baran
 Jaipur records
7.4 degrees Celsius
on Monday night
 Maximum tem-
perature on Mon-
day was recorded
between 14 and 22
degrees Celsius at
most of the places.
COLD WATCH
Dr Joshi kicks
off Har Ghar
Ganga Jal drive
Yogesh Sharma
Jaipur: Congress lead-
ers are accused of ap-
peasement, but regard-
less of all these allega-
tions, Dr Mahesh Joshi
is on the path of politics
of harmony in Jaipur’s
Chhoti Kashi.
Dr Mahesh Joshi,
Minister of Water Re-
sources,whodistributed
puja material kits in the
temples of Jaipur dur-
ing the Corona period,
took up the “Har Ghar
Ganga Jal” distribution
programme on Tuesday
.
A large number of
minority population re-
sides in Hawa Mahal,
Joshi’s constituency.
But beyond all these
things, Joshi believed
in harmony politics.
Now he has gone a step
ahead and launched the
“Har Ghar Ganga Jal”
distribution drive. It
was started from
Joshi’s residence. On
this occasion the reli-
gious leaders of famous
temples also greeted Dr.
Mahesh Joshi.
33 IAS, 14
IPS appointed
poll observers
First India Bureau
Jaipur: 33 IAS and 14
IPS officers of the state
have been appointed as
election observers in 5
States. The Election
Commission will give
online training in Sec-
retariat Conference
Hall on January 14 to
these officials from 9
am onwards.
Amongst the IAS are
Karan Singh, Vish-
wamohan Sharma,
Vishram Meena, Kan-
haiya Swami, Meghraj
Ratnu and others.
Meanwhile, the 14
IPS that have been ap-
pointed observers are
Sunil Dutt, Sushmit
Biswas, Sanjib Kumar
Narzari, Smita Srivas-
tava, Vijay Kumar Sin-
gh, BL Meena, Vishal
Bansal, Bipin Kumar
Pandey, Rupinder Sin-
gh, Sachin Mittal, Bhu-
pendra Sahu, Lata
Manoj Kumar, Sharat
Kaviraj and Umesh
Chandra Dutt were
made observers by the
ECI.
Death anniversary of ex-PM Lal
Bahadur Shastri observed at PCC
Ban on old diesel vehicles: HC
likely to hear plea on Thursday
First India Bureau
Jaipur: The Rajasthan
High Court will likely
hear on Thursday a plea
challenging transport
department’s notifica-
tion stating all diesel ve-
hiclesolderthan15years
will not be renewed.
On January 11, 2022,
Bhanu Pratap Singh has
filed a Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) through
Advocate Sunil Kumar
Singh in the Rajasthan
High Court, Jaipur chal-
lenging the Notification
No. 1560 dated January
1, 2018 issued by the
Transport Department
of The State of Ra-
jasthan, wherein it has
been ordered that the
diesel vehicles which
are 10 to 15 years old will
be de-registered and
their registration will
not be renewed.
First India Bureau
Jaipur: The death an-
niversary of former
Prime Minister Lal Ba-
hadur Shastri, who
coined the slogan Jai
Jawaan, Jai Kisaan was
celebrated at the State
Congress Headquarters
on Tuesday
.
Prominent leaders in-
cluding Water Resourc-
es Minister Dr Mahesh
Joshi, MLA Prashant
Bairwa, Mumtaz Masih,
Ram Singh Kaswan,
Lalit Toonwal, Jaswant
Gurjar, Phool Singh Ola,
Ayub Khan paid tribute
to the former PM. Dr
Mahesh Joshi while
reminiscing the deci-
sions taken by Shastriji
in public interest said
that even today, they
hold great relevance.
In a conversation
with the media, Ma-
hesh Joshi said that the
government is on alert
mode to deal with COV-
ID and CM Ashok Ge-
hlot and the govern-
ment have made full
preparations to deal
with any adverse situa-
tion but the public rep-
resentatives also have
an important role to
play to ensure the safe-
ty of the public.
JoshiblamesSPGinPMsecuritylapsematter
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Holding Spe-
cial Protection Group
(SPG) responsible for
the security of Prime
Minister, PHED Minis-
ter Mahesh Joshi said
that State police fol-
lows the guidelines of
the SPG during the PM
visit.
Commenting on the
lapse in security of PM
Narendra Modi during
the recent Punjab vis-
it, Josh said that state
police only follows the
guidelines of the SPG.
He said that due to
the SPG, the Chief Min-
ister of Uttar Pradesh
also had to run after the
Prime Minister’s car.
“In such a situation,
it can be guessed how
many rights the SPG
has regarding the secu-
rity of the Prime Minis-
ter,” he told reporters.
Statepolicefollows
theguidelinesof
theSPGduring
thePM’svisit.
—Dr Mahesh Joshi,
PHED Minister
PM Modi’s convoy was delayed for 15-20 minutes on a bridge
in Ferozepur, Punjab, last week. —FILE PHOTO
Mahesh Joshi pays tribute on the death anniversary of ex-PM
Shastri, at PCC on Monday.
Ashok Chandana and others at Karoli invest summit 2022.
CONDOLENCE
Mother of former Aligarh MLA and in-charge of Haryana
Congress Vivek Bansal passed away late on Monday night.
Dr. Mahesh Joshi
Bhanu Pratap Singh Advocate Sunil Kumar Singh
—PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

RAJASTHAN
03
First India Bureau
Jaipur: IIT Delhi direc-
tor Prof. V. Ramgopal
Rao has acknowledged
the role of media for
showcasing the raink-
ing of Indian higher
teaching Institutions at
the world level.
He said wherever uni-
versities are ahead,
they are not governed
by ministers. He also
gave the slogan of local
participation and glob-
al reach for higher edu-
cation institutions to
advance in research.
Prof. Rao gave a virtual
address on Tuesday in
the 31st episode of Pt.
Jhabarmal Sharma Me-
morial Lecture Series
organized by Patrika
Group. He focused on
the lecture on self-reli-
ant India and the needs
of higher education
institutions.
On this occasion, the
winners of the best po-
etry and story pub-
lished in the year 2021
in the appendices of
Patrika were honored.
In the welcome address,
Group Deputy Editor of
Patrika Group Bhu-
vnesh Jain said the
Patrika has always
adopted principles of
credibility
, fairness and
fearlessness. For this
reason, governments in
Raj & MP had to with-
draw black laws &
change cooperative law.
‘Media helps highlight institutes ranking’
31ST
JHABARMAL MEMORIAL LECTURE

The 31st
episode of Pt.
Jhabarmal
Sharma
Memorial
Lecture Series
was organised
virtually by
Patrika Group
on Tuesday
RESPITE! AFTER FORTNIGHT, JAIPUR
RECORDS DIP OF 583 CASES IN A DAY
Health Min Parsadi Meena gets
jabbed with precautionary dose
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Rajasthan re-
corded 6,366 new Covid
cases on Tuesday while
four patients died.
In 14 districts, includ-
ing Jaipur, 100 or more
people tested positive.
However, it was after
about a fortnight that
Jaipur saw less cases.
In the last 24 hours,
2,166 new cases came in
Jaipur, which is 583 less
than on Monday
.
According to the Raj
Medical and Health De-
partment, Jodhpur had
711 cases, Kota 446, Al-
war 411, Udaipur 403,
Bharatpur 365, Bikaner
255, Ajmer 195, Sikar
192, Barmer 124, Ganga-
nagar 112, Sawai Mad-
hopur 114, Bhilwara 108
and Dausa 104. 1 patient
each died in Jaipur, Na-
gaur, Ajmer & Alwar.
According to CMHO
Jaipur, there are 15 ar-
eas where 50 & 100 cases
reported. The rate of
infection in Jaipur has
also crossed 15 per cent
and it is a Red Zone now.
Dimple Sharma
Jaipur: In a meeting of
Rajasthan State Text-
book Board convened
by Education Minister
BD Kalla, various is-
sues including allocat-
ing budget for those ar-
eas of education and
training where there is
none right now such as
procurement of equip-
ment for the handi-
capped, for those who
participate in sports,
and the promotion of
literary activities and
quizzes.
The Minister also said
that board examina-
tions will not be post-
poned and will be held
amid strict COVID pro-
tocols and restrictions.
In case a student is in-
fected with COVID, his
exam will be conducted
separately after the ex-
amination. It will be
ensured that no student
lags behind in his stud-
ies. Secretary Vinod
Purohit, ACS PK Goyal,
Educationist Paresh
Vyas along with Direc-
tor Kanaram, Mahipal
Singh joined meeting .
Abhishek Srivastava
Jaipur: Hospitals,
nursing homes, hotels,
resorts, hostels and res-
idential properties on
plots having more than
500 sq metre area will
have to mandatorily set
up rooftop solar panels.
The UDH department
has amended model
building bylaws for in-
stalling rooftop solar
panels. Illumination in
corridors, stairs & oth-
er common areas will
also be required from
the solar panels.
Till now, only “solar
lighting” was men-
tioned in bylaws but
now rooftop solar pan-
els will have to be in-
stalled. Also, penalty
will be imposed for non-
compliance.
Rs 50 per square metre
(built up area) will be
charged from the build-
er in the first year.
This penalty rate for ho-
tels will be Rs 100 per
square metre.
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Principal Sec-
retary medical educa-
tion Vaibhav Galriya
on Tuesday directed of-
ficials to increase the
number of testing both
in rural and urban
areas of Raj. Galriya
held a meeting with
principals of medical
colleges, CMHOs, nodal
officers of microbiolo-
gy, Block CMOs and
other officials through
vc on Tuesday
.
He said that out of
532 medical oxygen
plants in the state, 473
have started operating
and the rest will also be
commissioned soon.
He said that 1050
metric tonnes of oxy-
gen would be available
from 40,000 oxygen con-
centrators. Aruna Ra-
joria, Shivangi
Swarnkar, Sunil Shar-
ma, Anupama Jorwal,
VK Mathur and other
officials were present
in the meeting.
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Industries and
Commerce Minister
Shakuntala Rawat
met the representatives
of trade bodies, includ-
ing United Council of
Rajasthan Industries
(UCORI), at Udyog Bha-
wan here on Tuesday
.
Discussions were
held on issues like fire
charges, UD tax, amnes-
ty scheme etc at the
meeting.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, Rawat assured the
industrialists from
Vishwakarma industri-
al area (VKI) that in-
structions will be given
to the officials con-
cerned to take immedi-
ate steps towards quick
resolution of the prob-
lems faced by them.
Prominent among
businessmen present
were Tarachand Chaud-
hury
,ArunAgrawal,NK
Jain, Jagadish Somany,
Nilesh Agrawal & MP
Gupta.
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Health Min
Parsadi Lal Meena dur-
ing a review of Medical
Edu Dept on Tuesday
said work of 16 under-
construction medical
colleges in state should
be completed by 2023.
Meena also directed
principals of medical
colleges concerned to
monitor construction
work. He said hospitals
affiliated to medical col-
leges should be pre-
pared for 3rd
wave.
In meeting, PG, UG
seats, budget, review of
works of cancer care
centre, skill training
centre, oxygen plant,
liquid medical oxygen,
genome sequencing
was discussed.
Ziyauddin Khan
Jaipur: Municipal Cor-
poration Heritage May-
or Munesh Gurjar, seen
in action on Tuesday,
arrived to make a sur-
prise inspection of the
accessible toilets but
after seeing chaos, offi-
cials were scolded.
It came to fore where
free facilities were to be
given, money extorted.
Along with this, entry
is also not being made
in the register of those
coming to Sulabh Toilet
Complex. On which
Gurjar expressed her
displeasure & said that
those who are doing
corruption will not be
spared. She said that if
people come from out-
side, facilities have
been provided in the Su-
labh toilet complex. But
when people were asked
whether money was be-
ing taken, money was
taken. Gurjar said that
cleanliness should also
be maintained, but
most of them were lit-
tered with dirt.
Jaipur: More than 93
per cent of eligible pop-
ulation in Raj has re-
ceived first dose of the
vaccine, Health Minis-
ter Parsadi Lal Meena
said on Tuesday
.
The 70-year-old Mee-
na, who was adminis-
tered the precautionary
dose of the COVID-19
vaccine at SMS Hospi-
tal here, said the pan-
demic can be defeated
only by vaccination.
“Be it the first dose or
the second or precau-
tionary dose, whether
adolescents or elders,
everyone should get
dose,” he said.
In a statement, he
noted that recently CM
Gehlot has directed that
by Jan 31, all eligible
people will have to get
both doses, otherwise
their visit to govt offic-
es will be stopped.
He said that people
are also enthusiastic
about the precaution-
ary dose, one lakh
people have received
the third dose.
—PTI
First India Bureau
Alwar: In Alwar city, a
mentally weak minor
was raped and thrown
near the Tijara Phatak
bridge. As the matter
came to light, police ad-
mitted her to the ICU &
initiated investigation.
However, the identity of
the minor could not be
ascertained late night
while the cops have
pulled CCTV footage
from surrounding areas
for examination.
SP Tejaswani Gautam
informed that around 9
pm on Tuesday night,
information was re-
ceived about the minor.
“Soon after, the police
reached the spot. After
examination, the doctor
told that the child seems
to be mentally chal-
lenged, and the cops are
yet to trace the family
members. Investigation
is being done by collect-
ing information from
the person who in-
formed the police,” she
said. Most of the estab-
lishments were closed.
9,88,638
TOTAL CASES
6366 IN A DAY
9,49,063
TOTAL
RECOVERED
8,978
TOTAL DEATHS
4 IN A DAY
30,597
ACTIVE CASES
14,006 IN JAIPUR
COVID-19
UPDATE
1 patient each died in Jaipur,
Nagaur, Ajmer & Alwar districts
on Tuesday
HC is going into virtual mode
from Wednesday till January 21.
Administration asked to hold VC
Policemen instructs shopkeeper to shut shop owing to night curfew
that started from Tuesday. —PHOTO BY MUKESH KIRADOO
BD Kalla in a meeting of Rajasthan State Textbook Board.
Parsadi Lal Meena getting
jabbed.
SATISH POONIA, RAMCHARAN BOHRA,
CHANDRASHEKHAR TEST POSITIVE
MEHNDIPUR BALAJI SHUT
AFTER CASES SPIKE
19 FLIGHTS OPERATING
FROM JPR CANCELLED
Mehandipur Balaji
temple located
in Dausa district has
been closed in view
of the increasing
cases of Corona. An
objection was lodged
by the district administration
on the arrival of a large number
of devotees here. After this the
temple trust has decided to close
the temple till further orders.
 BJP General Secretary
Chandrashekhar, who
returned after prepar-
ing for UP elections,
has tested positive.
 BJP state President
Satish Poonia positive.
 MP Ramcharan Bohra
positive.
 Despite govt’s ban,
BJP leaders gathered a
crowd & staged a sit-in
near Gandhi Nagar
circle protesting lapse
in security of PM.
 Jpr city BJP section
flouted Corona guide-
lines by gathering a
crowd at Amar Jawan
Jyoti in protest against
rampant corruption in
Municipal Corporation
Greater.
19 flights operating from Jaipur
airport were cancelled on
Tuesday due to rapidly increasing
corona infection cases. A total of
39 flights are being operated at
the Jaipur airport and maximum
of them, 21, are of IndiGo. Spice-
Jet is operating 8 flights, Air India
and Go First 3 flights each while 2
flights are of AirAsia. Apart from
it, 2 international flights are also
being operated.
1 2
Board exam will be held amid strict
COVID protocols, says Edu Min Kalla
Solar panels must for
500 sqm & above land
Increase testing, both
rural & urban: Galriya
Minister Rawat meets industrialists,
assures to redress their problems
‘Complete work of 16
med colleges by 2023’
Mentally weak
Alwar minor
raped and
abandoned
Munesh Gurjar
detects
irregularities in
Sulabh toilets
2 STUDENTS DIE IN ROAD ACCIDENT NEAR
JAGANNATH UNIVERSITY WHILE WALKING
Jaipur: Two students died in an accident near
Jagannath University on NH-12 on Tuesday
when a speeding pickup hit them while they were
walking on the roadside. Chaksu SHO Yashwant
informed that after the collision the pickup
overturned in the fields. According to the police,
the students were students of B.Ed second year
who were returning after writing their exams at
Jagannath University.
NEWBORNS TAKE LEOPARD COUNT UP AT
JHALANA SAFARI
Jaipur: The number of leopards at Jhalana
safari has gone up with ‘Sharmili’ giving birth
to a cub. Foresters spotted leopardess with
her three newborns through the cameras
installed near a water point on Tuesday. The
infants have become the centre of attraction
for the tourists to the leopard safari now. The
keepers of the park have increased monitor-
ing after cubs were spotted. Regional Forest
Officer Janeshwar Chaudhury informed that
the leopard population is increasing there.
NEWS DIGEST
Bhuvnesh Jain, V Ramgopal along with winners in a conversation.
Ramchandra Choudhary
getting third dose.

wami Vivekanandji was a yuga-
drishti sannyasi and an inspira-
tion for youth. He was such a rare
personality who not only saw and
tested his era but constantly
worked to awaken the youth and
inspired them to do something
new.Makingthemantraof Katho-
panishad-- ‘Uttishtha Jagrat
Prayapya Varan Bodhat’ his mot-
to, he exhorted the youth to ‘arise,
wake up self and others and do
notstopuntilthegoalisachieved’.
It was at the core of his saying
that the youth should come out of
the darkness of ignorance and
move forward towards the acqui-
sition of knowledge. Along with
getting rid of all the superstitions
and perverted evils of society
, he
also called upon the youth to be
free from all such bondage, due to
whichthemindbecomesdormant
and tends towards unrestrained.
The entire life of Swami Vive-
kananda is the path of the ideal
for youths. His thoughts awaken
enthusiasm among the youth. In
his writings, he has always be-
lieved that youth is a bundle of
strength and courage. If the
youth is determined to do some-
thing with their mind, then they
can take the nation towards ex-
cellence. Swamiji was a great
scholar of the Vedas and the
Upanishads. He made them ac-
cessible to the youth by taking
them into their original implica-
tions rather than the traditional
meanings. He had written, “I
want many such young sannyasis
who spread in the villages of In-
dia and get consumed in the ser-
vice of the countrymen.” In fact,
by “young sannyasi”, he meant
such youths who work for the
country and society by being
committed and by keeping a goal.
I also believe that he has continu-
ously revealed the meaning of
Shastras, Puranas and Vedas
through his contemplation in
which youth can reach heights in
their life by aiming positively to-
wards life.
Swami Vivekananda’s philoso-
phy of Vedanta became famous
not only in India but all over the
world because it has a psycho-
logical explanation of these three
philosophies-Dvaita,Vishishtad-
vaita and Advaita. I have perused
his Vedanta philosophy continu-
ously and have found that his vi-
sion of the rituals and knowledge
of the Vedas is so simple, that the
meaning of life is revealed in it.
Through Vedanta philosophy, he
also taught the youth of the coun-
try in a way to not to deviate from
the path of religion and to always
walk on the right path.
Swamiji was a great orator. At
the young age of 30, he addressed
the Dharma Sansad while repre-
senting Sanatan Dharma on be-
half of India in the Vishwa Dhar-
ma Mahasabha held in Chicago
in 1893.
The Vedanta philosophy of In-
dia, full of spirituality, reached
America and Europe only due to
the oratory of Swami Vivekanan-
da. Many may be surprised to
know that he was given only 2
minutes to speak, but when his
eloquent speech was made, peo-
ple were mesmerized and full of
enthusiasm and they wanted to
listen to him in every session of
the Dharma Mahasabha, he dom-
inated with his power.
He said in the Dharma Mahas-
abha, “I am proud that I belong to
a country which has given refuge
to the persecuted people of all
religions and all countries.
While negotiating the sublime
expressions of life in the narra-
tives related to Indian culture and
religion through the verses of the
Bhagavad Gita, he said that the
present conference, which is one
of the most sacred gatherings till
date, is in itself related to the
teachings of the Gita that “who-
ever comes to me, no matter how
I reach him. People take different
paths, face difficulties, but they
reach me in the end.
Swami Vivekananda, who
considered the Bhagavad Gita as
the mantra to live life, even said
that the youth should play foot-
ball instead of reading the Gita.
If we go to his intention behind
this, it would seem that along
with empowering the youth, he
had an emphasis on empower-
ing the country and society
through them.
He said that the nervous sys-
tem of the youth should remain
strong. If there is a healthy body,
then only an excellent mind will
reside in it. If the mind is strong,
then there is no desire or success,
which cannot be achieved. He
wrote, “Most of the youth want
to lead a successful and meaning-
ful life, but they are not physi-
cally ready to achieve their goal’.
Therefore, later he appealed to
the youth to become fearless and
make themselves physically fit.
If we go into his motto of moti-
vating youth power, then we will
also find that he, while calling
experience as the best
teacher, has emphasized
on constant learning
as long as there is life.
This is how suc-
cesswillbeachieved.
He said that every
work has to pass
through three
stages- ridicule,
opposition, and
a c c e p t a n c e .
That is, people
will first make
fun of you. Then
they will oppose you and in the
end, they will approve of you.
He had a deep connection with
Rajasthan. He got the name Vive-
kananda only in Rajasthan. If
you read his biography, it will be
known that Raja Ajit Singh of
Khetri had brought him from
Mount Abu in his hospitality.
Later, from Khetri he went to
Chicago for the Vishwa Dharma
Sammelan.
Earlier he was known as Nar-
endranath Dutt and Vividis-
hananda. Ajitsinhji first ad-
dressed Swamiji as Vivekananda
after finding his wonderful
knowledge, philosophy, energy,
and spirituality. His picture of
the Chicago conference is still an
inspiration to the youth, in which
he is wearing a Rajasthani saf-
fron safa, cloak, Kamar bandh
presented by the Khetri King.
Swami Vivekananda had im-
mense faith in the youth power.
That is why he did the work of
awakening the youth by travel-
ling across India. There was a
wonderful positive emotion in
his thoughts. He reached Chica-
go 6 weeks ago for Dharma Ma-
hasabha, but all the money he
had was exhausted. Severe cold,
no warm clothes, and no proper
identity card to enter the Dhar-
ma Mahasabha.
In spite of all these difficul-
ties, he did not lose his patience
and represented India there. All
this is inspirational for the
youth. While targeting the youth,
he has also said that religion is
the art of cultivating the intui-
tion of the human being. By this,
we are bound in the discipline.
Religion is not bondage but the
path of liberation.
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
once said that if you want to
know India, read Vivekananda.
In him, you will find a person
with immense optimism and no
negative attributes. I also believe
that if the youth works with a
positive mindset, then there is no
work in life in which they cannot
achieve success. I believe that
Swami Vivekananda Jayanti is
celebrated as Youth Day because
he was a wonderful young ascetic
of sharp intellect. He was the big-
gest inspiration of the youth. An
incident of his life is very touch-
ing in which once a woman came
to him and told him that she
wanted to marry him and wanted
him to have a bright son like him.
Swamiji had said quickly on this
that I am a sanyasi. How can I get
married? If you want, make me
your son. This will not break
even my “sanyas” and you will
also get a son like me. It is said
that on hearing this, the foreign
woman fell at the feet of Swami
Vivekananda and said, ‘You are
like God!’ It is true, Swami Vive-
kananda was just like a god in
our nation. He never deviated
from the path of his religion
under any circumstances.
He always inspired the
youth power through In-
dian culture and spirit-
uality
. Every time I read
about that great man,
Swami Vivekananda, I
find life being interpret-
ed in new meanings. To-
day on the occasion of
his birth anniversary, let
us salute him and imbibe
the ideals given by him.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
He had written, “I want
many such young sannyasis
who spread in the villages of
India and get consumed in
the service of the
countrymen.” In fact, by
“young sannyasi”, he meant
such youths who work for
the country and society by
being committed and by
keeping a goal. I also believe
that he has continuously
revealed the meaning of
Shastras, Puranas and
Vedas through his
contemplation in which
youth can reach heights in
their life by aiming
positively towards life
S
The entire life of Swami
Vivekananda is the path
of the ideal for youths.
His thoughts awaken
enthusiasm among the
youth. In his writings, he
has always believed that
youth is a bundle of
strength and courage. If
the youth is determined
to do something with
their mind, then they can
take the nation towards
excellence. Swamiji was
a great scholar of the
Vedas and the Upanishads
KALRAJ MISHRA
The writer is Governor of Rajasthan
Vol 3 Issue No. 217
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764.
Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan
on behalf of First Express Publishers.
Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp
Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan
Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001,
Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Kavita Pant responsible for selection of
news under the PRB Act
Delighted to host Mr. Yeo
Han-koo, @TradeMin_KOR
to discuss ways to
strengthen the India-Korea
economic relationship.
Discussed key issues
related to bilateral trade
investments, reviewed
progress on CEPA
upgradation deliberated
on ways to fast-track trade
negotiations.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal SPIRITUAL SPEAK
I consider that our present
sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us.
—Bible
TOP
TWEETS
Border Roads Organization
is the lifeline of road
connectivity for the border
areas of our country.
People appreciate them
some people even
complain but they continue
to work tirelessly and
serve the nation with
smiles. I had interacted
with them at the Daporijo-
Taksin Road.
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
PERSPECTIVE
04
Promoted by
Shree Cement Limited
INSPIRATIONAL
SAINT OF
YOUTH
IT WAS AT THE CORE OF SWAMI VIVEKANAND’S
TEACHINGS THAT THE YOUTH SHOULD COME OUT OF
THE DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE AND MOVE FORWARD
TOWARDS THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE

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INDIA
05
Anita Hada
Lucknow: The assem-
bly elections of five
states are being de-
scribed as the semi-fi-
nals of 2024 and at the
same time these elec-
tions are being consid-
ered as semi-finals for
the Congress party as
well. However, that is
not entirely true. The
‘semi-finals’ will be
held next year i.e. 2023,
when assembly elec-
tions will be held for
half a dozen states from
South to North and East
to West. By law, this
election is not even a
quarter-final for the
Congress, but they will
be more of a qualifier
as their results will de-
cide whether Congress
will go to play in the
next rounds or not.
Therefore, whatever be
the case, this time the
Congress will have to
perform well in the elec-
tions of five states.
These elections are
being deemed as ‘elec-
tion qualifiers’ for the
Congress because the
party will not be able to
stay in its present form
if the Congress does not
perform well. Till now
the leaders of the Con-
gress party are leaving
or the party is being
broken, like in Megha-
laya of Northeastern
states. But the party’s
poor performance in
these five states will
lead to a huge division.
The leaders who were
writing letters to the
Congress President till
now are all sitting on
the edge and watching
on the spectacle. As
soon as the Congress
loses, all will come out
firing on the leadership
and it wouldn’t be a sur-
prise if there would be
a split in the Congress
like that in 1969. At that
time it was Indira Gan-
dhi, she had charisma,
which made her Con-
gress stand after that
partition. But this time
if such a division hap-
pens, then the Congress
of those who will be
‘different’, will become
the real Congress.
This will happen be-
cause major leaders
who have left the Con-
gress are planning this
part and successful
election strategist
Prashant Kishor is sup-
porting them. Satraps
like Mamata Banerjee
and Sharad Pawar are
waiting for the defeat of
the Congress party and
‘jilted’ old leaders of
Congress are in touch
with him. From Ghu-
lamNabiAzadtoAnand
Sharma, Kapil Sibal
and Bhupinder Singh
Hooda, many leaders
are sitting ready.
Prashant Kishor has al-
ready given the theory
that unlike other re-
gional parties, the Con-
gress does not belong to
any one leader, but the
Gandhi family is the
custodian of this party
.
On the other hand, the
central government
and the ruling party
have the goal of creat-
ing a separate Con-
gress-mukt Bharat.
The good thing for
Congress is that out of
the five states where
elections are being held
this time, it can win
elections in the remain-
ing four states except
Uttar Pradesh. This will
not happen because of
the Congress’s own pol-
itics, but because of the
situation in these states
and the internal strife
of the BJP, these four
states are showing fa-
vourable conditions for
the Congress. Consider-
ing it as a qualifier, Con-
gress fights it in a do or
die style as only then
there will be a possibil-
ity that it will be able to
play the next round.
UPCOMING STATE ELECTIONS A QUALIFIER FOR CONGRESS!
ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2022
Krishna Bhakti
of Arjun Munda!
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The leaders
of the Bharatiya Janata
Party usually have little
or no skill or quality
other than politics, or-
ganization, campaign-
ing etc. There will be
very few leaders who
have a passion for music
or sports. Three-time
Chief Minister of
Jharkhand, Union Min-
ister Arjun Munda is
one of the few leaders
who have a passion for
music and keeps trying
his hand in sports as
well. He plays golf in
Jamshedpur and in Del-
hi and also organizes
golf tournaments in his
home town of Jamshed-
pur,inwhichaselectfew
get a chance to partici-
pate. He has been sing-
ing songs in front of the
people close to him and
he also knows how to
play many instruments.
For the first time, he has
made a public display of
his talent. Like the ear-
lier album, a video of
him has been released,
in which he is singing a
soulful song related to
the love of Krishna and
Radha written in the
style of Amir Khusro.
The name of the song
writer is unknown but it
has been sung by almost
every major classical
singerof modern.Arjun
Munda has sung this
song with full devotion.
So, he has introduced
his other talent apart
from politics. Secondly,
he has shown devotion
to Krishna at a time
when the political im-
portance of Mathura
has started increasing
after Ayodhya. Can this
video of Arjun Munda
in Krishna Bhakti give
him an edge in
Jharkhand politics too?
Only time will tell!
How branding Rashmi Thackeray as
Maha’s ‘Rabri Devi’ a compliment
not an insult to Maha CM’s wife!
Kavita Pant
Mumbai: A bizarre
kind of politics is being
done in Maharashtra
these days. BJP’s social
media cell chief Jiten
Gajaria compared CM
Uddhav Thackeray’s
wife—Rashmi Thack-
eray—to former Bihar
CM Rabri Devi. This in-
furiated Shiv Sena lead-
ers and the furious lead-
ers termed it an insult
to Rashmi Thackeray
.
Justimagine,howisit
an insult to compare
Rashmi to the first wom-
an CM of a major state
like Bihar and a woman
politicianwithaspotless
political life? It is cer-
tainly a fact that Rabri
Devi was less educated,
but she was Bihar’s CM
for almost 8 years and
except for the first few
days, she conducted in
politics diligently and
ran the government.
Actually Jiten Gajar-
ia had posted a photo of
Rashmi with remarks:
‘Marathi Rabri Devi’.
Since then, there has
been an uproar in en-
tire Maharashtra. The
police filed a case
against him and after
interrogating Jiten for
four hours they re-
leased him.
Kishori Pednekar, a
leader of Shiv Sena and
Mayor of Mumbai, be-
came extremely agitat-
ed over the develop-
ment and said, “Who is
Jiten Gajaria? He
switched from NCP to
BJP like a kangaroo
and today he is making
such derogatory re-
marks about the women
of Maharashtra, about
Rashmi Bhabhi!” In re-
sponse to Mumbai May-
or, BJP’s Ram Kadam,
instead of criticizing
Kishori’s remark, said
that police didn’t take
any action when a min-
ister in Maharashtra
government had made
derogatory remarks
about Hema Malini.
This means, even in the
eyes of the BJP, this
comparison is an inde-
cent remark!
This is about the up-
per caste, cosmopolitan
and so called ‘educated’
section of the society
who still considers it to
be indecent to be com-
pared to a backward
caste woman from a
backward state, who is
not facing any charges
andwhohasbeentheCM
of Bihar for eight years.
Actually this is not an
insult to Rashmi Thack-
eray
, but to Rabri Devi,
whichwasdonebyaBJP
leader first, thereafter
the Shiv Sainiks joined
in. Surprisingly
, all lead-
ers of Bihar are also
keeping silent. The
Thackeray family is also
not saying anything,
while late Bal Thacker-
ay’s father Prabod-
hankar Thackeray him-
self wrotethathisances-
tors had left Bihar and
reached Maharashtra.
A TALE OF TWO WOMEN
Rabri Devi Rashmi Thackeray
IN THE COURTYARD
SUPREME COURT RESERVES VERDICT
ON PLEAS OF FUTURE GROUP FIRMS
New Delhi: The SC on Tuesday reserved verdict on a batch
of pleas filed by Future Group firms against a Delhi HC
order declining stay on an arbitration tribunal decision re-
fusing to interfere with the EA of the Singapore International
Arbitration Centre (SIAC). “We reserve the order. All the
four SLPs (special leave petitions) are over. A lot of home-
work for us. Anyway I will not write lengthy judgement,” a
bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said. Initially,
the bench, also comprising justices A S Bopanna and Hima
Kohli, suggested to the counsels for Amazon and the Future
group firms that the single judge bench of the Delhi HC be
allowed to hear the statutory appeals of the Future group
against the final arbitral award of the SIAC. The bench said
that the pleas, which are arising from the EA’s award and
are pending before it, may not be relevant now as the final
award of the SIAC has “already been passed”.
HATE SPEECH ROW: SC TO HEAR PLEA
SEEKING INDEPENDENT PROBE TODAY
New Delhi: Supreme Court will hear a petition on
Wednesday seeking an independent inquiry into the
Dharam Sansad hate speech case for allegedly inciting
violence against the minority community. A bench headed
by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will hear the matter
today. A petition was filed by former High Court judge and
senior advocate Anjana Prakash, and journalist Qurban
seeking the arrest and trial of the ones who made the hate
speech and allegedly incited violence against the minority
community at Haridwar Dharam Sansad conclave. Earlier
on Monday, the top court had agreed to hear the petition
and assured senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for
the petitioner that it will be heard without delay. The hate
speeches were allegedly delivered between December 17
and 19, 2021, in Haridwar by Yati Narsinghanand and in
Delhi by ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’. —ANI
SC DISPOSES OF PLEA AGAINST BLOCKING
OF ROADS DUE TO FARMERS’ PROTEST
New Delhi: Taking into account that farmers’ protest
against three agriculture laws has ended and roads blocked
due to it are opened, the SC on Tuesday disposed of a PIL
of woman resident of Noida who sought direction to ensure
that the road between Noida to
Delhi is kept clear so that the
passage is not affected. A Bench
headed by justice Sanjay Kishan
Kaul disposed of the PIL saying
it has now become infructuous
beacuse of the clearance of
roads. Noida resident Monicca
Agarwaal had filed the plea in
the apex court and alleged that
her travel to Delhi is taking two hours instead of normal
20 minutes. She had contended that despite the various
directions passed by the apex court to keep the to and fro
passage clear (the road), the same had still not happened.
DELHI HC ISSUES NOTICE TO TWITTER AND
GOVT OVER ARTI TIKOO’S PETITION
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Centre
and Twitter to respond to a plea by a journalist challenging
the microblogging site’s decision to block her access to
her account for allegedly violating its rules against hateful
conduct. Justice Rekha Palli
issued notice to Twitter Inc and
Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology on the
petition by journalist Aarti Tikoo,
founder and editor-in-chief of
news portal ‘the news indian’,
seeking quashing of Twitter’s
December 15, 2021 decision by
which her account was locked
apart from deletion of her tweet of that day. The high court
dismissed as not pressed, the interim application seeking
access to her Twitter account and said you can manage
without Twitter for some days.
CALCUTTA HIGH COURT REVISES ITS
ORDER ON GANGASAGAR MELA
Kolkata: A two-member committee has been constituted to
monitor adherence to COVID-19 protocols during the Gan-
gasagar mela which began on 8 January this year, said the
Calcutta High Court on Tuesday. Further, the court stated
that only those who have been
administered with two doses of
COVID-19 vaccine and has the
certificate of second dose will
be permitted to enter the mela.
Only those having negative RT-
PCR report not earlier than 72
hours will be permitted to enter
the mela, added the court. Ear-
lier on 7 January, the Calcutta
High Court had given go-ahead to Gangasagar Mela on
Friday with certain conditions after the State Government
decided to go ahead with the Ganga Sagar Mela after taking
necessary measures to contain COVID-19.
Arjun Munda
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Elec-
tion Commission has in-
creased the limit of elec-
tion expenditure ahead
of theassemblyelections
to be held in five states.
Now in big states, the
candidate of Lok Sabha
willbeabletospendRs90
lakh and the candidate
of Vidhan Sabha will be
able to spend Rs40 lakh.
For small states, the ex-
penditure limit in the
Lok Sabha polls will be
Rs75 lakh and in the Vid-
han Sabha it will be Rs28
lakh. But this beckons a
question as to why has
the Election Commis-
sion thought of increas-
ingtheexpenditurelimit
of aLokSabhacandidate
from Rs70 to 90 lakh? For
thelasttwoyears,thena-
tional income of the
country has been stag-
nated or is negative. The
income of the common
people has decreased in-
stead of increasing.
Then by what logic has
the election expenditure
limit been increased at
this time? The old Rs70
lakh limit was also a lot,
butraisingittoRs90lakh
will further reduce the
chances of common peo-
ple contesting elections.
Shouldn’ttheElection
Commission take meas-
urestokeepthatexpend-
iturewithinalimit?And
if the expenditure limit
is being increased,
shouldn’t the govern-
mentortheCommission
takemeasurestoprovide
for contesting elections
to ensure a level playing
fieldforall?HastheElec-
tion Commission no-
ticed that election ex-
penditure has increased
or people are spending a
lot in elections, so the
limitonelectionexpend-
iture should be in-
creased?OrhastheCom-
mission seen the figure
that now more crorepa-
tishavestartedreaching
the Lok Sabha than be-
fore, so the limit of elec-
tion expenditure should
be increased? Many or-
ganisations have as-
sessed that the chances
of winning the election
of crorepati candidates
are many times higher
than that of candidates
from the lower strata of
financial background.
Therefore, the Commis-
sion should stop this, or
else the Parliament will
become a club of mil-
lionaires and billion-
aires, where they will
makepoliciesforthetril-
lionaires and not for the
common people.
Dangers of raising poll spending limit!
`90 LAKH
up from `75 lakh for
big constituencies
`70 LAKH
hiked from `54 lakh for
smaller constituencies
HIKE FOR
PARL POLLS
`40 LAKH
for big states, up
from `28 lakh
`28 LAKH
for smaller states from
previous `20 lakh
HIKE FOR
ASSEMBLY POLLS
Nothighcommand,peoplewillchoosePunjabCM:Sidhu
Punjab: Congress Pun-
jab President Navjot
Singh Sidhu on Tues-
day said that it’s the
people of Punjab who
will decide the Chief
Minister and not the
party high command.
The remark is likely to
irk party high com-
mand and especially
the party’s state unit.
Sidhu made the state-
ments during an inter-
action with reporters as
the state is scheduled to
go for assembly polls on
February 14.
People of Punjab will
decide who will be the
CM. Who told you that
the(Congress)highcom-
mand will make the
CM?,”Sidhuquestioned.
“Do not have a false
implication in your
mind. People of Punjab
will choose MLAs and
they alone will decide
who will be the Chief
Minister,” the Congress
Punjab President fur-
ther added.
During the interac-
tion, what raised eye-
brows was also the ab-
sence of Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni and former party
State president Sunil
Jakhar’s photographs
in the banner. The ban-
ner included the photo-
graphs of Congress
president Sonia Gan-
dhi, Rahul Gandhi and
Priyanka Gandhi.
During the presser, he
launched his ‘‘Punjab
Model’, which accord-
ing to him would bring
power back in the hands
of people. He asserted
that his ‘Punjab Model
2022’ will create not only
more jobs but will also
generate revenue and
plug revenue pilferages.
Sidhu also lashed out
at his bête noire Captain
Amarinder Singh and
said that the former CM
shouldresign.“TheCap-
tain himself is round. I
challenged him to play
for 15 minutes with a
stick and ball. He can
barely stand. He should
retire,” Sidhu said.
—Agencies
Navjot Singh Sidhu

INDIA
06
Lyngkhong: Nearly 90
residents of this village
located along the zero
line on the Indo-Bangla-
desh border live in dan-
ger of their village be-
ing could be cut off
from the rest of the
country, as work on a
border fence being built
150 yards inside the In-
dian border is near
completion, village el-
ders said on Sunday
.
At Lyngkhong village
in East Khasi Hills dis-
trict, the foundation for
the single line fence has
been built but the fenc-
ing has been stopped
due to protests of the
residents. However as
yet the authorities have
not agreed to either not
build the fence or build
it on the zero line itself.
Dabling Khongsdir,
the matriarch of Lyng-
khong and one of the
landowners here, said,
“It is not fair that our
village will fall outside
the territory of India
once the fence is built.
We do not feel safe.”
“We have lived here
since time immemori-
al...The government
should do something
for our safety and well-
being,” she said.
Dabling has reasons
to feel insecure. Her
house is barely a few
feet away from the zero
line and the border pil-
lar that separates her
and those living in
Bangladesh. Although a
camp of The BSF is lo-
cated at Lyngkhong, Da-
bling said ‘anti national
elements’ do take ad-
vantage of the porous
border and wanted that
the fence come up as
soon as possible.
Temporarily, the vil-
lage has set up a fence
made of bamboo to sep-
arate themselves from
Bangladesh since last
year in view of the pan-
demic, she said. —PTI
Meghalaya villagers claim risk of being cut off
BORDER FENCE NEARS COMPLETION

Contractors
engaged to build
fence had cut
them off last
year itself but
protests by
villagers forced
the authorities
to put project
on hold
New Delhi: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla on
Tuesday inspected the
Parliament House com-
plex to take stock of the
health safety measures
and other preparations
put in place in light of
the recent spike in Cov-
id-19 cases.
Birla visited the Cov-
id-19 testing facility set
up in Parliament House
for the Members of Par-
liament, officers and
staff of the Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha Secre-
tariats and reviewed
the facilities and prepa-
rations there. He direct-
ed officials to immedi-
ately address any re-
quirements of mem-
bers and officials that
were felt necessary
.
He also directed offi-
cials concerned to put
in place all precaution-
ary measures to check
the spread and keep
track of positive cases.
He also interacted
with doctors and direct-
ed that all additional
resources may be made
available on priority
.
“Necessary arrange-
ments for the 2022
Budget session of Par-
liament are being
made in order to facili-
tate performance of
the constitutional re-
sponsibilities of MPs,”
Birla said. —ANI
New Delhi: Seven people almost boarded a flight
from Delhi to London using fake boarding passes,
if not for the last check at the boarding gate, which
found their documents fake. They
had cleared immigration for the
Air India flight No. AI-133 going
from Delhi to London by posing
as sailors with papers approved
by the Directorate General of
Shipping, news agency PTI
reported.On January 2, the Air India ground staff
rushed into the boarding area and stopped these
seven men and took their boarding passes for re-
verification. —PTI
New Delhi: The on-
going probe into the
“Sulli Deals” case has
revealed that around 30
Twitter handles were
misused for uploading
the morphed pictures of
Muslim women for their
purported “auction”.
Delhi Police is trying to
identify the members
of the group which the
26-year-old Indore youth
Aumkareshwar Thakur
too was a part of. —PTI
New Delhi: Arun Kumar
Chatterjee has been
appointed as the next
Ambassador of India to
the Kyrgyz Republic, the
Ministry of External Af-
fairs said in a statement
on Tuesday. At present,
the Indian Foreign Ser-
vice (IFS) officer of the
1992 batch is serving as
Additional Secretary in
the Ministry. —ANI
New Delhi: In order to
strengthen health infra-
structure in the country,
PM Narendra Modi will
inaugurate 11 medical
colleges in Tamil Nadu
on Wednesday via video
conferencing. According
to PMO, MBBS seats
have been increased
by 79.60 per cent and
the number of PG seats
increased by 80.70 per
cent during the last
seven years. —ANI
Panaji: A day after two
BJP MLAs resigned
from the party, Govind
Gaude, an independent
legislator and the state’s
Art and Culture Minister
on Tuesday resigned as
MLA and said that he
would be joining the BJP
later in the day. “I have
decided that I will contest
upcoming elections on a
BJP ticket,” Gaude said.
7 ARRESTED AT DELHI AIRPORT,
PLANNED TO SEEK ASYLUM IN UK
SULLI DEALS
GROUP USED 30
TWITTER HANDLES
ARUN MADE NEXT
ENVOY TO KYRGYZ
REPUBLIC
PM TO INAUGURATE
11 MEDICAL
COLLEGES TODAY
GOA MIN RESIGNS
AS INDEPENDENT
MLA, TO JOIN BJP
New Delhi: Government has extended the deadline
for filing income tax returns to March 15, accord-
ing to a notification issued by the department of
revenue of the Finance Ministry. The income tax
department also tweeted about the extension of re-
turn filing deadline.The deadline has been extended
due to difficulties being faced by the taxpayers
because of Covid, the notification said, adding that
it has also been done due to problems being faced
while e-filing of various audit reports under the
provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961. —PTI
GOVT EXTENDS INCOME TAX RETURNS
FILING DEADLINE TO MARCH 15,2022
CRUCIAL READ
AMID COVID STORM, BIRLA INSPECTS PARL
Necessary arrangements for the 2022 Budget Session of Parliament are being made, says LS Speaker
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inspects sanitisation work and preparedness in view of the surge in
Covid-19 cases reported among the Parliament staff, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
‘India to witness sharp
spike in Covid cases’
New Delhi: With the
high transmissibility
of the Omicron vari-
ant of Covid-19, India
is likely to witness a
sharp spike in the
number of cases in the
coming days, however,
following Covid-appro-
priate behaviour and
vaccination could help
contain the spread of
the disease, noted a top
health expert.
India reported more
than 1.5 lakh new Cov-
id-19 cases for the
third consecutive day
on Tuesday
. The coun-
try reported 1,68,063
new Covid-19 cases in
the last 24 hours, the
ministry of health and
family welfare in-
formed today
.
Speaking to ANI,
chairman of Covid-19
Working Group of Na-
tional Technical Advi-
sory Group on Immu-
nisation (NTAGI) Dr
NK Arora said, “The
peak will depend on
the virus transmis-
sion, and how well the
community adheres to
the Covid-appropriate
behaviour. If the Cov-
id norms are violated,
a faster and taller peak
is likely to occur. On
the other hand, vacci-
nation and adminis-
trative actions like
night curfews, and
weekend curfews
tend to flatten the
curve.”
“The way that the
IIT Kanpur model has
shown, it looks like,
the transmission is
taking place very ac-
tively and we should
be reaching our peak
in the near future.
But it is likely to last
for several weeks be-
fore it subsides,” he
added. —ANI
 Thousands Set To
Throng Bengal De-
spite Covid As High
Court Allows Holding
Gangasagar Mela
 COVID-19: Ha-
ridwar administra-
tion bans holy dip
in Ganga on Makar
Sankranti
 30 inmates of
Mumbai’s Arthur
Road Jail test posi-
tive for COVID-19
 120 policemen
in Mumbai tested
Covid positive,
including 1 death,
in last 24 hours.
 TN CM Stalin
receives precaution
dose of COVID-19
vaccine
 Kerala reports
9,066 new Covid
cases, 2064 re-
coveries, and 19
deaths today
 Delhi Cases
Could Peak In 48
Hours, Says Health
Minister
 Molnupiravir not
to be included in
Covid-19 clinical
management proto-
col as of now
 Omicron to
infect more than
half of Europe’s
population in 6-8
weeks - WHO
 China locks
down third city,
raising affected to
20 million
 Pfizer CEO says
shot targeting Omi-
cron to be ready in
March
 Post-Covid
parosmia robs
24-year-old from
Nagpur of all good
smells
HIGHLIGHTS
MIN TO HOLD
MEETING
WITH DOCS
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya will
hold a virtual meeting
with all Indian Medi-
cal Association (IMA)
leaders and senior
doctors across the
country on Covid-19
management at 11.30
am on Wednesday. Ac-
cording to the Health
Ministry, 9,84,676
precautionary doses of
the Covid vaccine were
administered on Mon-
day. “9,84,676 ‘Pre-
caution doses’ of Covid
vaccine administered
— 5,19,604 healthcare
workers, 2,01,205
frontline workers, and
2,63,867 over 60 years
administered additional
doses on the first day
of rollout,” as per the
Government. India has
recorded 1,68,063 new
cases in the last 24
hours.
Rijiju pans actor for lewd
remark against Nehwal
New Delhi: Condemn-
ing actor Siddharth’s
tweet on Olympic med-
allist Saina Nehwal,
Union Law Minister
Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday
said that a cheap com-
ment on such an icon
personality depicts a
person’s ignoble men-
tality
.
Rijiju said that Saina
is a steadfast patriot be-
sides being an Olympic
medallist. Quoting Ne-
hwal’s tweet, Rijiju
said, “India is proud of
@NSaina for her out-
standing contributions
in making India a sport-
ing powerhouse. She is
a steadfast patriot be-
sides being an Olympic
medallist.”
Meanwhile, ace shut-
tler’s father Harvir Sin-
gh Nehwal demanded
actor Siddharth’s apol-
ogy for his alleged de-
rogatory remarks
against the badminton
player. — Agencies
Centre gets 6th extension
to frame rules for CAA
Before murder, Sushil
fired at dogs: Chargesheet
New Delhi: Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA)
has been granted exten-
sion for the sixth time
from the Parliamentary
Committees on Subor-
dinate Legislation in
the Rajya Sabha and the
Lok Sabha to frame the
rules for the Citizen-
ship (Amendment) Act,
2019, said sources.
The Parliamentary
Committees gave their
nod another time to ex-
tend rules for the CAA
taking cognizance of a
request made by the
MHA.
A senior government
official told ANI that “it
is confirmed that the
extension to frame CAA
rules has been granted
by the Parliamentary
Committees”. —ANI
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police has filed fresh
chargesheet in the
Chhatrasal Stadium
brawl case, where they
have mentioned that
Olympic medallist wres-
tler Sushil Kumar, on
the date of the incident,
fired on a dog as it was
barking, however, the
bulletdidnothitthedog.
The chargesheet said
that accused Anil Dhi-
man, Praveen Dabas,
Praveen alias Choti and
Rahul alias Dhanda and
their associates have
abducted victim Ravin-
dra alias Bhinda, Amit
Kumar, deceased Sagar,
Sonu alias Jaibhagwan
and Bhagat alias Bhag-
tu from Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi and Model Town-
III, Delhi with motive to
kill them. — ANI
Goyal holds meet
with Bhutanese
counterpart
Just an act,
apologized for it:
Jawed on spitting
New Delhi: Commerce
and Industry Minister
Piyush Goyal on Tues-
day held a meeting with
Minister for Economic
Affairs of Bhutan Ly-
onpo Loknath Sharma
and discussed ways to
strengthen ties.
Both the leaders also
discussed ways to fur-
ther enhance India’s
role as Bhutan’s devel-
opment partner espe-
cially in nurturing a ro-
bust startup ecosystem.
New Delhi: Hairstylist
Jawed Habib on Tues-
day appeared before the
National Commission
for Women (NCW) in
connection with the vi-
ral video that showed
him spitting on a wom-
an’s head.
Meanwhile, NCW
Chairperson Rekha
Sharma expressed dis-
satisfaction over apolo-
gy and denied that it
was a show of “act” add-
ing that it was “demean-
ing” to the woman.—ANI
Concerned by China’s attempt to
intimidate: US on row with India
Washington: The US is
concerned by China’s
attempt to “intimidate”
its neighbours, includ-
ing India, as Washing-
ton believes that Bei-
jing’s behaviour in the
region and around the
world could be “destabi-
lising”,theWhiteHouse
has said asserting that
US will continue to
stand with its partners.
The remarks of
White House Press Sec-
retary Jen Psaki came
ahead of the 14th round
of military-level talks
between India and Chi-
na. Asked about China’s
aggressive behaviour
on its border with India
and if the topic came
during America’s talks
with China or Washing-
ton sending any mes-
sage to Beijing, Ms Psa-
ki, said that the US con-
tinues to monitor the
situation along the In-
dia-China border. —PTI
CURRENT SITUATION
‘STABLE’: CHINA
AHEAD OF TALKS
Beijing: China said that
the current situation on
the border areas with India
was “stable” as it con-
firmed that the 14th round
of talks to discuss the
disengagement process
will be held on Wednes-
day. The remarks from
Beijing came a day after
sources in the security es-
tablishment in New Delhi
said that India is looking
forward to “constructive”
dialogue with China. —PTI
—FILE PHOTO

NEWS
07
Sangeeta Sharma
Jodhpur: Vayu Shak-
ti-2022 will be organized
by the Indian Air Force
at the Pokhran Field
Firing Range from the
second week of Febru-
ary
. The fire demonstra-
tion to be held at the
conclusion of this im-
portant exercise of the
Air Force will have a
live demonstration of
destroying imaginary
enemy positions.
For the first time, ul-
tra modern Rafale air-
craft will also be in-
volved in this exercise
to be held every three
years. Apart from this,
more than 150 fighter
aircraft like Sukhai,
Jaguar and helicopter
pilots will demonstrate
to deal with enemy
threats. With this, the
pilots will show the
power of the Air Force
by hitting targets with
missiles from the sky
and bombing with fight-
er planes. In this, the
offensive and defensive
capabilities of the In-
dian Air Force will be
assessed. Pilots have
started preparations for
this fire power demon-
stration to be held after
every three years of the
Air Force, flying fighter
planes from Jodhpur,
Uttarlai Bikaner and
Jaisalmer airbases.
From state-of-the-art
communication equip-
ment to fighter aircraft,
the Vayushakti exercise
will see live perfor-
mances. This will in-
clude from fast-mover
fighter jets like Rafale,
Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29
UPG, Jaguar, LCA Tejas
etc. to helicopters like
Mi-17. During the day
and night exercise, all
fighter aircraft and hel-
icopters will make a
lively display of bomb-
ing and destroying im-
aginary targets.
IAF to demonstrate Rafale in ‘Vayu Shakti-2022’
AT POKHRAN
Ensure timely payment
to dependents: CS Arya
Dr Rituraj Sharma
Jaipur: Chief Secre-
tary Niranjan Arya in-
structed the officials
concerned to ensure
timely payment of ex-
gratia amount to the
dependents of the Co-
rona victim. In a meet-
ing held through VC
with the collectors in
the Secretariat, the of-
ficers were instructed
that the families of
manual scavengers,
who died due to landing
in the sewer chamber,
should be paid immedi-
ately as per the decision
of the Supreme Court.
Niranjan Arya also
instructed the district
collectors that the out-
standingcasesrelatedto
the forest rights letter
being given under the
ForestRightsActshould
be disposed of at the ear-
liest. Also, make sure to
register these matters
on the MIS portal.
Make a special strate-
gy for the development
of 860villagesof thefour
districts selected for spe-
cial central assistance
for tribal development.
While discussing the
issues related to preven-
tion of illegal mining,
Arya said that it is nec-
essary to stop illegal
mining to increase the
resources of the state
government.
Jalore ACB books Discom JE
for demanding Rs 4,000 bribe
Colony residents create
ruckus over Army wall
Lunaram Darji
Jalore: Jalore ACB has
registered a case of de-
manding bribe against
the Junior Engineer of
Discom Mohammad Fi-
roz Akhtar.
Akhtar was demand-
ing a bribe of Rs 4,000
for shifting the electric-
ity connection located
on the agricultural
land, on which the ACB
on verification con-
firmed the demand of
bribe by the accused.
But the bribe amount
could not be exchanged
due to the knowledge of
Junior Engineer, due to
which the trap action
failed.
ACB has registered a
case against Akhtar on
the basis of evidence,
which will be investi-
gated by ACB Inspector
Rajendra Singh.
Rajiv Gaur
Jodhpur : The Army
and the civilians had a
face off in Jodhpur over
the construction of a
wall by the Army
. While
the civilians pelted
stones, the army beat
them up with sticks.
The matter settled
when the Airport police
reached the spot and
registered a case. On
Monday night, a dis-
pute broke out over the
digging of a trench af-
ter the Army built a
wall in Vyas Colony
near the Air Force area
of Ratanada in the pres-
ence of a large number
of army personnel on
the spot. A few years
ago there was a dispute
regarding a wall at the
same place and now the
army is building a wall
once again.
Gangrape
victim dies
in hospital,
two booked
Bharatpur: A 16-year-
old minor, gangraped
and tortured by two
men repeatedly suc-
cumbed at a hospital in
Alwar on Tuesday at
the hospital. The ac-
cused, Hafeez and Man-
ish, residents of a near-
by village, had allegedly
shot the victim’s videos
and photos and gan-
graped her repeatedly
threatening to circulate
them. When the victim
refused to be raped,
they posted her videos
which caused her to
consume a poisonous
drink for fear of slan-
der. The incident is of
Kaman area.
Shekhawat
demands fair probe
Union Minister Gajen-
dra Singh Shekhawat
has asked CM to take
cognisance of the gan-
grape and murder case
in Kaman. Shekhawat
said the CM should or-
der to carry out an im-
partial investigation
into the case.
Raj has achieved remarkable target in power sector:ACS
Vikas Sharma
Jaipur: Additional
Chief Secretary Ener-
gy Dr Subodh Agarwal
has informed that 20.63
lakh new electricity
connections including
2.48 lakh new agricul-
ture connections have
been issued in the state
in the last three years.
He informed that 60,672
agriculture connec-
tions have been issued
in the financial year
2021-22. He said that
the state has achieved
remarkable achieve-
ments in all the sectors
from power generation
to distribution.
Dr Agarwal was re-
viewing the works of all
the institutions related
to the Energy Depart-
ment in a virtual meet-
ing on Tuesday. He in-
formed that in three
years, 2 lakh 48 thou-
sand agricultural con-
nections, 12 lakh 55
thousand domestic con-
nections in rural areas,
3.51 lakh domestic con-
nections in urban areas
and 3,319 BPL connec-
tions have been issued
in the state. He said that
Rajasthan has now
come third in the coun-
try in solar rooftop also.
So far 516 solar rooftop
plants have been in-
stalled. CMD DISCOMs
Bhaskar A Sawant in-
formed that speedy ac-
tion is being ensured on
the cases and com-
plaints received by the
department.
ROADWAYS MANAGER ARRESTED FOR
TAKING RS 5,000 BRIBE IN ALWAR
Alwar: ACB team has arrested Roadways manager
(Operation) Deepchand Sankhla with a bribe of Rs
5,000 at Tijara Roadways Depot. ACB ASP Vijay
Singh said the complainant Laxman Singh who is
working in Tijara Depot, complained that in lieu
of inclusion of his holidays and non-imposition of
duty on long routes, a bribe of Rs 6,000 was being
sought by the Manager Deepchand Sankhla. In
return for which Rs 1,000 was already paid.
ARYA’S DIRECTIVES TO COLLECTORS
Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya also instructed the
district collectors that the outstanding cases related
to the forest rights letter being given under the
Forest Rights Act should be disposed of at the
earliest. Also, make sure to register these matters
on the MIS portal. Make a special strategy for the
development of 860 villages of the four districts
selected for special central assistance for tribal
development.
Army personnel and colony
residents on the spot
Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya virtually addressing senior officials of the all districts on Tuesday.
NEWS DIGEST
WOMAN ALONG WITH DAUGHTER DIES
BY JUMPING INTO GULAB SAGAR
MAN KILLS MATERNAL UNCLE WITH
LATHIS OVER MONEY DISPUTE
YOUTH IN POLICE CUSTODY ‘JUMPS’
FROM RUNNING TRAIN, DIES
Jodhpur: A woman along with her daughter commit-
ted suicide by jumping into Gulab Sagar on Tuesday.
The divers tried to rescue
them, but by then both have
died. Woman has not been
identified yet. Sadar Kotwali
Police Officer Harishchandra
Solanki said that around
12.30 in the afternoon, information was received
that a woman had committed suicide by jumping
with her five-year-old daughter in Gulab Sagar.
Phalodi: Under the influence of liquor, a nephew
Manohar Ram, along with his cousin Kanaram,
assaulted his maternal uncle
Jetharam with lathis who later
succumbed to his injuries.
Incident happened over some
money dispute. Police have
registered a case against the
accused and sent the body to
the mortuary. Phalodi SHO Rakesh Khyaliya said
that the post-mortem was done Tuesday morning.
Gangapur City: An accused jumped from a
running train and died while in police custody is
spiraling into a major row with the family of the
victim demanding dismissal of the policemen and
arrest of the relatives of the girl accompanying
them. The youth and the girl had eloped but were
captured by the police in Gurugram after the fam-
ily of the girl filed a missing case.
NGT raps CS, says he can’t stop
working before retirement
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar
Goel said retirement can be no justification for neither filing
an affidavit nor appearing by video conferencing
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Green Tribunal
has rapped the Ra-
jasthan Chief Secretary
Niranjan Arya for not
appearing through vid-
eo conferencing on the
pretext of retirement in
a matter of discharge
of untreated sewage
and industrial effluents
on agriculture lands in
a village in Bikaner.
A bench headed by
NGT Chairperson Jus-
tice Adarsh Kumar
Goel said retirement
can be no justification
for neither filing an af-
fidavit nor appearing by
video conferencing.
If a Chief Secretary
is to retire, he cannot
stop working before re-
tirement. If he has such
a disability, in the inter-
est of administration,
he should make way for
others who can per-
form.
“Accordingly, we di-
rect the current and in-
coming Chief Secretar-
ies, Rajasthan to take
immediate remedial
measures in the light of
above observations and
in compliance of direc-
tions in the order dated
September 21, 2021, in
coordination with con-
cerned officers and file
a report of compliance
within two months by
e-mail,” the bench said.
Contrary to the time-
line fixed by the Su-
preme Court, requiring
requisite treatment
plants to be placed by
March 31, 2018, long
timelines have been
proposed without any
accountability for the
delay, the NGT said.
Status of other cities
in the state is not
shown.
“In fairness, relevant
data should have been
given or at least a state-
ment should have been
made that no untreated
sewage was being dis-
charged.
This monitoring was
directed by the Tribu-
nal to be at the level of
the chief secretary but
nothing is mentioned
on this aspect.
“That is why the Tri-
bunal intended to inter-
act with the chief secre-
tary to find out ways
and means for ensuring
compliance with the
law and directions of
the Supreme Court par-
ticularly to cut down
time taking process in
this particular case and
replicate to other places
also,” the bench said.
The NGT said such
attitude of the state au-
thorities is not an act of
good governance but of
continued defiance of
law and obligation to
provide a clean environ-
ment to the citizens.
“Decision of CS not to
appear even by video
conferencing, failure to
file an affidavit of com-
pliance or to take any
action against the err-
ing officials for contin-
ued violations despite
the direction of this
Tribunal, is thus unfor-
tunate. —PTI

The pilots of the
Indian Air force
will show the
power of the Air
Force by hitting
targets with
missiles from
the sky and
bombing with
fighter planes.
If he has such a disability, in the
interest of administration, he
should make way for others who can
perform. Accordingly, we direct the current
and incoming Chief Secretaries, Rajasthan
to take immediate remedial measures.
—Justice Aadrsh Kumar Goel, NGT Chiarperson
IN ACTION MODE
ACS Subodh Agarwal virtually addressing officials on Tuesday.
Visa to Pak nationals: Four
arrested for fake signature
First India Bureau
Jodhpur: Four persons
have been arrested in
Jodhpur in connection
with the fake signature
and seal of the teacher
in the sponsor certifi-
cates presented by the
guarantors for obtain-
ing Indian visas to Paki-
stani nationals.
The discrepancy was
exposed when the CID
Zone examined the docu-
ments received from the
Union Home Ministry
.
Onthis,theCIDZonereg-
isteredacaseof cheating
againstfourpeopleatthe
Udaymandir police sta-
tion.Pakdisplacedbroth-
er-in-law and brother-in-
law were also accused in
this Udaymandir police
have arrested all the four
accused. According to
the police, Mohandas, in-
charge of passport and
foreign section intelli-
genceof CIDZone,fileda
case against Adeshwar
Nagar resident Sohail
and Siranjeet son Mo-
hanlal and others for
verifying documents for
makingvisabyfraudand
forged papers.

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
55,15,031
TOTAL DEATHS
26,08,62,686
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,50,01,165
ACTIVE CASES
31,13,78,882
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,84,213
TOTAL DEATHS
3,45,70,131
TOTAL RECOVERED
8,21,446
ACTIVE CASES
3,58,75,790
TOTAL CASES
On World Youth Day, we
remember Swami Vivekananda
not only for his ideals, thinking,
and contributions but also for his deep
faith in the youth!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
POSTAL REG NO. JPC/004/2022-24
Rajendra Chhabra
Jaipur: In what could
be termed as a first-of-
its-kind incident in the
administrative history
of the state, 2 Principal
Secretaries each, are
working in Finance,
Medical and Health and
Medical Education De-
partment of the state.
This is not only a bi-
zarre situation, but
knowledgeable sources
claim it is extremely
laughable as well.
1993 batch IAS officer
Akhil Arora has been
serving as Principal
Secy of Finance Depart-
ment since November
2020. In April 2021, dur-
ing the second wave of
Covid, he was given the
additional charge of
Principal Secy of Medi-
cal and Health and Med-
ical Education Depart-
ments and therefore, as
on today, Arora is Prin-
cipal Secy of the 3 de-
partments and holds an
important position in
state government.
Till recently, in Fi-
nance Department, 1998
batch IAS officer T Ravi-
kant was posted as Sec-
retary, under Akhil
Arora. However, after
his promotion on Janu-
ary 1, 2022, he became
Principal Secretary
. On
the other hand, another
1998 batch IAS officer
Vaibhav Galriya was
posted as Secretary,
Medical Education un-
der Arora’s direction.
However, nearly two
months back when Sid-
dharth Mahajan left for
deputation to Delhi,
Galriya was given the
additional charge of the
post held by Mahajan
that of Secretary, Medi-
cal and Health Depart-
ment and Galriya has
now receivedpromotion
and from January 1, he
has become Principal
Secretary rank officer.
What should have
happened in these cases
was that on the day of
being promoted to Prin-
cipal Secretary rank on
January 1, T Ravikant
and Vaibhav Galriya
should have been posted
in other departments as
‘independent’ Principal
Secretaries. However,
surprisingly, that did
not happen and both
these senior IAS officers
are still serving on the
same position as before.
Therefore, now 2 Princi-
pal Secretaries are serv-
ing under a Principal
Secretary
. However,
Arora is five years sen-
ior to his two Principal
Secretaries and there-
fore, there is no viola-
tion of hierarchy and it
is only an administra-
tive arrangement in the
public interest.
Both T Ravikant and
Vaibhav Galriya are
sending the files of
their respective depart-
ments to Arora which is
a wrong and bizarre
situation since, accord-
ing to administrative
procedure, system, and
protocol, one Principal
Secretary cannot send
the files pertaining to
his department to an-
other Principal Secre-
tary and neither can
there be two Principal
Secretaries in one de-
partment, because ac-
cording to the Rules of
Business, only one per-
son can be Secretary
Incharge of any depart-
ment.
Senior and retired
IAS, who has handled
DoP, stress that perhaps
in the entire country
this is one of a kind,
weird and impractical
development which is
against administrative
prudence. According to
one retired IAS officer,
who has served as Prin-
cipal Secretary in DoP,
“It is a strange situa-
tion.” Meanwhile, yet
another retired IAS of-
ficersaid,“Iamshocked
that DoP can be so irre-
sponsible and take a
foolish step like this.”
Meanwhile, a few oth-
ers have raised ques-
tions as to why did Vai-
bhav and Ravikant ac-
cept such a situation?
It is also being be-
lieved that perhaps this
is the state govern-
ment’s ‘stop gap’ ar-
rangement for a few
days and soon a new
transfer list will be is-
sued, which will ensure
that everything gets in
order. However, word is
that till the time a new
ACS is appointed in the
Medical department,
the prevailing situation
will continue, but ap-
parently, there is no al-
ternative to Arora in
Finance Department
who has handled the
Corona crisis efficient-
ly and effectively
.
THE BIZARRE CASE OF 2 PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES
WORKING UNDER ANOTHER PRINCIPAL SECY IN RAJ!
Akhil Arora T Ravikant Vaibhav Galriya
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The
News Broadcasters
Federation (NBF), In-
dia’s largest industry
body of news chan-
nels, has raised the
issue of stalling rat-
ings with the Minis-
try of Information
and Broadcasting. In
a letter sent to the
Ministry, NBF has
demanded to resume
the ratings for the
news genre, which
has been stalled for
over 16 months since
October 15, 2020.
In its letter, the
NBF has stressed
that ‘BARC, the agen-
cy registered by MIB
for television audi-
ence measurement,
had unilaterally
paused the ratings
only for the news
genre, for an initial
period for 8-12 weeks
without any ration-
ale or reason.’ The
NBF was officially
said that BARC’s
technical committee
had approved pro-
cess for resumption
of ratings for news
genre by July 2021
which means that the
BARC was ready to
release ratings, and
needs approval from
govt for the release.
“However, despite
the passage of six
months since the de-
cision, the ratings
have not resumed
yet,” the letter reads.
NBF has stressed
that news channels
and especially the
Free-to-Air channels
are being directly hit
with no alternative
to earn revenue
which has “put the
future of more than
400 news channels,
and the livelihoods
of thousands of em-
ployees under threat,
apart from causing a
loss in GST revenue
on advertising to the
exchequer.”
Naresh Sharma
Jaipur: The eligibility
of candidates belonging
to Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes, Oth-
er Backward Classes,
Most Backward Classes
and Economically
Weaker Sections in var-
ious recruitments will
be assessed on the basis
of certificate issued till
last date of application.
If certificate is issued
after last date, the can-
didates will not get the
benefit of the respec-
tive category
. CM Ashok
Gehlot has approved
the circular to be issued
by Personnel Dept.
It is noteworthy that
to get the benefit of res-
ervation in the recruit-
ment of posts under the
Central and State gov-
ernments, certificate of
the respective category
is presented by the can-
didates, on the basis of
which eligibility of cat-
egory of candidate is
evaluated. The candi-
date must have certifi-
cate issued by authority
till last date of applica-
tion, but in some cases,
candidates try to take
benefit of submitting
certificate past last date
citing error correction
due to which dispute
arises.
All depts will be
directed by Per-
sonnel Dept by is-
suing this circular
that benefit of re-
spective categories
should not
be given
to candi-
d a t e s
who pro-
d u c e
cer tifi-
cates is-
sued after
last date.
CM APPROVES CIRCULAR TO BE ISSUED BY PERSONNEL DEPT FOR
CANDIDATES BELONGING TO SC, ST, OBC, MBC AND EWS...
Benefits will not be given if certificate is
issued to candidates after the last date
Aditi Nagar and
Dr Rituraj Sharma
Jaipur: The Gehlot
government has
achieved great success
in getting the state’s
economy out of the
‘Corona Effect’.
According to the
FRBM report re-
leased by the
government,
a bright and
promising
picture has
e m e r g e d
for the
e c o n o -
m y
with a
r e -
d u c -
tion of Rs 9,000 crore in
revenue deficit com-
pared to last year
40.25% increase in own
tax revenue.
Tax went up to
40.25% till Sept
Moreover, the state’s
tax revenue went up to
40.25% in the first half
of the year till Septem-
ber as Excise revenue
increased by 41.85%,
38.72% increase was
registered in stamp
registration revenue.
Revenue deficit for
April-Sept 2021
Meanwhile, State’s
revenue deficit for the
period April-Septem-
ber 2021 stood at Rs
28,574.72 crore which
the FRBM report de-
scribed as a positive
sign for the economy
despite the second
wave of Covid. is Rs
2,32,658 crore.
Power Dept
Power generation wit-
nessed an increase in
2021 as 22,368 MW was
produced by 30 Sept 30,
2021 whereas it was
21,175 MW in 2020.
Mining Dept
Revenue of Rs 2,257
crore in mining has
been received as
against Rs 1,820 crore
last year which is a
24% increase revenue.
About production
of pulses, crops
There has been a re-
ported reduction in
Kharif cropproduction
as compared to 2020-21
wherein production of
97.04 lakh tonnes of
crop has happened in
2020-21 and 74.62 lakh
tonnes is likely to be
produced this year.
Transport Dept
Transport Dept made
revenue of Rs 1,658 cr
as against Rs 1,217 cr
i.e. 36.25% increase as
4,31,644 vehicles were
registered in 2021 from
April to September.
Economic impact of Covid in Raj:Reduction
of `9k cr in revenue deficit, 40.25% tax hike
Stalled since Oct 15, 2020!
NBF demands resumption
of ratings by BARC
Fix diversion issue: Birla
reviews new Kota Airport Priyankatocelebrateherspecial
daywithfamilyinR’boretoday
Half an hour meet held in
CORDIAL ENVIRONMENT!
First India Bureau
New Delhi: LS Speak-
er Om Birla reviewed
the progress of
Kota Airport
with the AAI
officials on
Tuesday. He
asked the offic-
ers that the is-
sue of diver-
sion should be
resolved at the earliest
in coordination with
the state government.
The meeting was
held in the Lok Sabha
Speaker’s chamber in
Parliament building.
AAI Chairman San-
jeev Kumar said that
the land for Kota air-
port has not yet been
transferred by state
govt and due to the is-
sue of diversion, the
work is still pending.
He said that the diver-
sion is a state
subject. Birla
said that AAI
should immedi-
ately resolve
the issue of di-
version by co-
o r d i n a t i n g
with the con-
cerned department of
the Rajasthan govern-
ment.
LS Speaker Om Birla
also said that all the ob-
stacles should be re-
moved immediately af-
ter talking to the Ra-
jasthan govt so that the
project of a well-
equipped airport in
Kota can be completed.
Abhinav Agarwal
Sawai Madhopur:
Congress National Gen-
eral Secretary Priyan-
ka Gandhi Vadra
reached Ranthambore
by road with husband
Robert Vadra on
Tuesday while
both of their
children had
a l r e a d y
reached
R a n t h -
ambore
on Mon-
day. Pri-
yanka is
staying with
her family at
Hotel Sher Bagh
and will cele-
brate her
b i r t h d a y
here today.
She is also
scheduled
to visit the
R a n t h a m -
bore Nation-
al Park to ob-
serve wild animals. It is
worth noting that Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
had also visited Ranth-
ambore on 28 November
last month and after a
gap of just one month,
Priyanka has once
again reached Ranth-
ambore with her hus-
band Robert Vadra.
HAPPY 50TH
B’DAY TO PRIYANKA GANDHI
ANOTHER ASPECT OF SHAH-PARNAMI MEET
Aishwary Pradhan
Jaipur: With each pass-
ing day
, newer details of
meeting between Union
HM Amit Shah and sen-
ior BJP leader and for-
mer Raj BJP chief
Ashok Parnami are un-
folding. According to
the latest reports, while
earlier there was news
of Amit Shah express-
ing his displeasure over
BJP’s defeat in by-poll
Baran cross-voting epi-
sode, now it has been
learnt that Parnami’s
meeting with Shah was
extremely cordial.
Sources revealed, “3
days before meeting,
Parnami called in
Shah’s office and asked
for time to meet him. Af-
ter this, showing large-
heartedness, Shah him-
self called Parnami and
asked the reason for
Parnami seeking a
meeting with him. Par-
nami stressed that he
wanted to personally
meetShahandspeakhis
mind.”
3 days after this inci-
dent, Parnami received
a call from Shah’s office
after which the duo met
and the conversation
took place between the
two in a cordial atmos-
phere for about 20-25
minutes.
Amit Shah Ashok Parnami
CM Ashok Gehlot
Hotel Sher Bagh, Ranthambore

JAIPUR, WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 12, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
BLOSSOMING FLOWERS
Astha Jagwani is a young jewellery designer, whose label today is known for its subtle combination of
unique contemporary pieces and the vintage charm of the classic world. In a candid interview with City
First, the artist talks about her new collection ‘Zahra’ and her journey so far!
ewellery by Astha Jag-
wani is a fashion jewel-
lery label established
by a young designer
Astha Jagwani. She
amalgamates touches
of European designs
with Indian styles and sees end-
less potential in taking the two
cultures and entwining them.
BorninMumbai,andbrought
up in a creative environment of
Jaipur, this creativity wasn’t
new to her. Her passion in this
fieldsparkedataveryyoungage
when she used to sit and do art
anddesignprojectsinhermoth-
er’sofficewhilethelatterworked
on her fine jewellery
, designs
and gemstones. Her mother and
sister, both successful jewellery
designers played a strong influ-
ence on her creative and artisti-
cally diverse childhood.
Today
, her iconic collections
include ‘The Jaali collection’,
‘The Crystal Collection’ and
‘Vintage Coin Collection’ to
name a few. A few best-seller
pieces from these collections
have also been adorned by Hol-
lywood celebrities such as the
evergreen Tyra Banks, Bolly-
wood celebrities such as Sonak-
shiSinha,NargisFakhri,Ileana
D’Cruz , Radhika Apte and the
stunning Deepika Padukone.
About her latest collection
‘Zahra’,Asthasaid,“Itwasborn
during Covid times. We wanted
everyone to have a ray of hope
and resilience, just like flowers
do.” ‘Zahra’ in Arabic stands for
blossoming flowers. This word
brings out the essence of all
kinds of bright and beautiful
flowers. Ranging from the hum-
ble wildflowers to fragrant
blooms, they are celebrating
each of these in their collection.
She further added, “Be it the
beautifulaesthetics,gentleshad-
ed strokes of colour, their re-
silient petals or strong
grounded roots, flowers
alwayscometoblossom,
reassuringgrowthand
a life full of hope, no
matter what the cir-
cumstances are.
We have so much
to learn from
them because
where flow-
ers bloom,
so does
hope.”
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
J
Astha Jagwani
Kumari Vijayashree Shaktawat

12012022 first india jaipur

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