13012022 first india lucknow

CM Yogi likely to contest from Ayodhya
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath is
likely to contest the
February-March assem-
bly elections in the state
from Ayodhya, accord-
ing to sources in the
BJP
, even as the process
for ticket distribution
within the ruling party
is in the final stage.
Earlier, there were re-
ports that the UP CM
may contest from Ma-
thura or Gorakhpur.
BJP lawmaker Harnath
Yadav had also written
to BJP president JP Na-
ddaforconsideringpick-
ing Adityanath as a can-
didate from Mathura.
But the party has decid-
ed against it. A BJP
functionarysaidthatthe
proposal to field CM
Yogi, who is a five-time
Member of Parliament
from Gorakhpur, from
Ayodhya will send out a
message of Hindutva
alongwithdevelopment.
The move to field
Yogi Adityanath from
Ayodhya is due to the
holy city’s significance
in the BJP’s UP poll
strategy, said the sourc-
es. It also sends a cru-
cial message to the par-
ty’s core voters not to
mention religious po-
larisation in the back-
drop of the chief minis-
ter’s “80 percent vs 20
percent” remark.
“While Gorakhpur,
which is the seat of the
Gorakhnath Math (of
which Yogi is the head)
is identified with the
chief minister, the reli-
gious significance of
Ayodhya is far greater.
If he contests from
there, it will be a clear
and strong message
that the party and the
chief minister are not
compromising on their
core ideological beliefs
for political purposes,”
said a third functionary
.
In 2017, the seat was
won by Ved Prakash
Gupta of the BJP. Poll-
ing for Ayodhya is on
February 27, in round
five of the seven-phase
elections. BJP leaders
assert that the perfor-
mance of the state gov-
ernment and the Cen-
tre’s social schemes will
help the party retain
power in Uttar Pradesh
with 270 to 290 seats.
EMPHASIS ON HINDUTVA World Heritage tag for Sukwa Dukwa Dam
First India Bureau
Lucknow/Jhansi: The
Sukwa Dukwa Weir
near Jhansi, often re-
ferred to as the ‘Niagra
Falls of Bundelkhand’,
has received the World
Heritage Irrigation
Structure tag this year.
“The Dukwa Weir
has been serving the ir-
rigation and drinking
water needs of Uttar
Pradesh for genera-
tions. It is a moment of
pride for our state,”
said Jal Shakti Minis-
ter Mahendra Pratap
Singh.
The International
Commission on Irriga-
tion and Drainage
(ICID) started a pro-
gramme of search for
heritage Irrigation
Structures the world
over. The conditions
were — it should be
more than 100 years old,
its features should re-
main unchanged, it
should still be serving
its purpose.
An engineering mar-
vel, located over River
Betwa about 45 kms
from Jhansi, the Sukwa
Dukwa dam was con-
structed in 1906 and its
features are still the
same. With a capacity
of 57 million cubic me-
tre, the weir irrigates
more than 2 lakh hec-
tares of land every year,
informed Umesh Ku-
mar, Executive Engi-
neer, Betwa Canal,
Jhansi division.
The weir serves the
irrigation and drinking
water needs of Jalaun,
Jhansi and some parts
of Hamirpur. It also
provides water supply
to Datia district in Mad-
hya Pradesh, he added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
addresses a press conference
after attending the BJP meeting
on UP polls in New Delhi on
Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
The Sukwa Dukwa Weir
SC panel headed by ex-judge
to probe PM security breach
New Delhi: The Su-
premeCourtonWednes-
day appointed an in-
quiry committee under
its former judge Justice
Indu Malhotra to probe
the security breach dur-
ing Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s visit to
Punjab on January 5.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India
said that the committee
will also include the
Registrar General of
the Punjab and Hary-
ana Court, the Director
General of the National
Investigation Agency or
an officer nominated by
him not below the rank
of Inspector General,
and ADGP (Security) of
Punjab Police.
The matter “can’t be
left to one-sided enquir-
ies” and that it must be
looked into by a judi-
cially trained mind,
said the SC Bench.
SC ISSUES NOTICE
ON HATE SPEECH
The Supreme Court
on Wednesday issued
notice on a PIL seeking
probe into the alleged
hate speech by par-
ticipants at two separate
events in Haridwar and
Delhi on December 17
and 21. A bench headed
by CJI NV Ramana is-
sued notice on the plea
by Delhi resident Qurban
Ali and Senior Advocate
Anjana Prakash.
‘2 crore teens got
jab since Jan 3’
New Delhi: More than
two crore children be-
tween the ages of 15
and 18 have received
their first dose of the
Covid vaccine since
January 3, Health Min-
istry said.
CORONA CATASTROPHE
UTTAR PRADESH
13,681
NEW
CASES
2,181
NEW CASES
IN LUCKNOW
03
NEW DEATHS
Taking a break from political slugfest, Congress’s
national general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka
Gandhi celebrated her 50th birthday with husband
Robert Vadra and kids in Ranthambore on Wednesday.
PLAYING IN UP POLITICAL CORRIDORS
CASTE AWAY
A DAY AFTER MAURYA, ANOTHER UP CABINET MINISTER DARA SINGH
CHAUHAN, OBC LEADER, QUITS, SP CHIEF ‘WELCOMES’ HIM TO PARTY
Mohd Fahad
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Minister and
BJP leader Dara Singh
ChauhanonWednesday
resigned from the Yogi
Adityanath Cabinet.
This comes a day af-
ter five-term MLA Swa-
mi Prasad Maurya re-
signed as minister from
the Yogi Adityanath
government and
seemed headed to the
rival SP, posing for a
photograph with its
chief Akhilesh Yadav
soon after. In his letter
of resignation, Chau-
han wrote, “The gov-
ernment’s attitude to-
wards backward was
very neglectful. I am
hurt by the mess with
the reservation of back-
wards and Dalits.”
...featuring CM Yogi, delighted Akhilesh!
ARREST WARRANT
AGAINST MAURYA;
LAST NAIL IN BJP
COFFIN ON JAN 14,
HE HITS BACK
‘All will be revealed on
January 14 (Friday)’ -
influential OBC leader
Swami Prasad Maurya’s
responded to furious
speculation surrounding
his political future after
he quit the BJP. Maurya
also played down talk
over the arrest warrant
issued in his name - 24
hours after his resigna-
tion - in connection with
a 2014 hate speech case.
“If there is a case, the
law and the judiciary is
there to judge it”.
18 MINISTERS WILL
DESERT YOGI’S
CABINET: RAJBHAR
Lucknow: OBC leader
Om Prakash Rajbhar on
Wednesday claimed that
one to two ministers
would quit the Yogi Adi-
tyanath Cabinet daily and
this figure would go up
to 18 by Jan 20. Rajbhar
made the claim while
welcoming the resigna-
tion of ministers Swami
Prasad Maurya and Dara
Singh Chauhan. “I had
realised BJP’s apathy to-
wards Dalits, backwards
and the deprived sections
of society in a short time
after joining the govt in
2017,” Rajbhar said. P2
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted the picture with Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday.
WHO IS OBC NETA CHAUHAN?
Dara Singh Chauhan, from eastern UP, was the minister
for environment and forests in the Adityanath
government and had joined the BJP in 2015, after years in
the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He was made the head of
the BJP's OBC Morcha - a plum post, and then a minister
after he won the 2017 assembly election. When in BSP,
Chauhan was a Lok Sabha MP between 2009-14 and a
Rajya Sabha MP in the late 90's.
Akhilesh Yadav @yadavakhilesh
Hearty welcome
and greetings to
Shri Dara Singh
Chauhan ji, the relentless
fighter of the struggle for
‘social justice’! The SP
and its allies will unite and
take forward the move-
ment of equality.
According
to sources,
Dara Singh
Chauhan is
now preparing
to contest
from Mukhtar
Ansari’s Ghosi
seat. It is
believed that
if Chauhan
contests from
this seat on
SP ticket, then
his victory will
be absolutely
certain.
boatman stands near his shikara during sunset, after
recent snowfall on the outskirts of Srinagar. The MeT
Department said the weather was likely to stay mainly
dry over the next few days. The view is apt to define the
legend that when Mughal Emperor Jehangir visited Kashmir in
the 17th century, he defined the beauty, “Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin
ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.” It translates into English
meaning ‘If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here’.
A
Rocket scientist S Somanath
has been appointed as the
new chief of Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO)
and secretary of Dept of
Space. He replaces K Sivan,
whose tenure ends on Jan 14.
ROCKET MAN SOMANATH
IS THE NEW ISRO CHIEF
HAPPY
LOHRI
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
LUCKNOW l THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 63
(THERE IS A HEAVEN ON EARTH)

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
RATTLED BY DESERTIONS, BJP
TO REDRAW ELECTION STRATEGY
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Stunned by
the recent desertions
the BJP may have to re-
draw its poll strategy to
ensure a second term in
Uttar Pradesh.
The immediate im-
pact of the resignations
by UP ministers, OBC
leader Swami Prasad
Maurya and influential
community leaders in
their own right like
Dara Singh Chauhan
and Avtar Singh
Bhadana is likely to
weigh heavy on the
minds of BJP high com-
mand as it gets down to
select candidates for the
upcoming UP assembly
elections 2022.
Sources say more
than three dozen ruling
party legislators/min-
isters are weighing
their options and may
switch sides in the com-
ing days. According to
BJP sources, the party
is aware that it “will not
be possible to repeat its
2017 performance”,
when it stunned every-
one by winning 312 of
the state’s 403 assembly
seats, but its aim is to
mitigate the losses and
“reach a tally of around
240 seats.”
While the temple
blitzkrieg is aimed at
countering the anti-in-
cumbency, BJP may
also attempt a course
correction. For over a
year, farmers from Pun-
jab and western Uttar
Pradesh were protest-
ing the Modi govern-
ment’s controversial
Farm Laws. It recently
rolled back these laws.
Oppn parties un-
derscoring the BJP’s
humiliating retreat.
Sources say the BJP
central leadership
which had earlier indi-
cated that it could deny
renomination to over
one hundred sitting
MLAs to beat anti-in-
cumbency, has now de-
cided to either retain
most of the sitting
MLAs or change their
constituencies. It has
been decided that the
constituencies of some
sitting MLAs be
changed instead of de-
nying them renomina-
tions. Sources said that
the decision was
prompted by apprehen-
sions that those, who
were denied renomina-
tions, could hop over to
the Samajwadi Party
(SP) or other parties
and get tickets from
them.
BJP may not be able to repeat its 2017 performance in Uttar Pradesh, say experts.
I was suffocated
within the party:
Shahjahanpur MLA
Lucknow: MLA
Roshan Lal Varma,
who quit BJP along-
with his supporters,
on Wednesday said
he had been feeling
suffocated for the
past five years as his
work was being ob-
structed.
Roshan Lal said
hurdles were being
created in works he
was doing for the the
poor, backwards.
There was dicta-
torship in BJP as
there is no one from
the district to the
state level who would
listen to what we had
to say
, adding that SP
is a party of poor
workers, minorities
and backwards.
“I kept feeling suf-
focated in the party
for five years because
a minister belonging
to the district created
obstruction in every
work. Whenever I
raised the voice of
the poor and labour-
ers, I was suppressed,
now I am happy,” he
said, apparently re-
ferring to senior BJP
minister Suresh
Khanna, also from
Shahjahanpur.Var-
ma said he will con-
test the coming polls
from Tilhar and the
SP will form the next
government.
He said under BJP
, rights were violated
for his entire term.
Varma had re-
signed from the BJP
alleging he was not
heard in the party
whenever he raised
people’s grievances.
“We had complained
to the chief minister
and also to state unit
president of BJP
Swatantra Dev Sin-
gh,” he had said,
claiming unemploy-
ment has increased
and the backward
castes have been ig-
nored in the BJP gov-
ernment. —PTI
MLA Roshan Lal Verma
CM Yogi has
directed nodal
officers sent on a
three-day stay in
their respective
districts to conduct
an on spot visit
and inspect the
COVID-19 tracing,
testing, vaccination,
arrangement of
hospitals, manage-
ment of Gaushalas,
arrangement of
night shelters and
submit a report to
the Health and Pro-
gramme implemen-
tation department
by January 17.
CM Yogi paid rich
tribute to Swami
Vivekananda on his
birth anniversary
on Wednesday and
said that on Nation-
al Youth Day and
the youth should
take inspiration
from the
visionary
spiritual
leader.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
Two sitting
and one
former MLA
join BJP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Defec-
tions of disgruntled
leaders has intensi-
fied even as elec-
tioneering is yet to
pick up in Uttar
Pradesh.
On Wednesday,
two sitting MLAs,
one each from the
SP and Congress,
and another former
MLA joined the
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
Three-time MLA
Hari Om Yadav who
is sitting Samajwa-
di Party legislator
from Sirsaganj in
Firozabad and Nar-
esh Saini, the Con-
gress MLA from Be-
hat in Saharanpur,
switched over to
BJP in presence of
top BJP leaders.
Soon after he joined
the BJP, the SP said
it had expelled Ya-
dav over a year ago
for anti-party activi-
ties and colluding
with BJP. The third
leader to join was
Dharampal Singh, a
former SP MLA
from Etmadpur in
Agra.
Another Minister, Dara Singh Chauhan resigns
Lucknow: With just
weeks ahead of the
commencement of As-
sembly polls in Uttar
Pradesh, Cabinet Min-
ister in the Yogi Adity-
anath government
Dara Singh Chauhan
on Wednesday re-
signed from his posi-
tion citing neglect of
Dalits, farmers, and
the state of unemploy-
ment by the govern-
ment.
However, Singh has
not declared his future
course of action and
said that he would con-
sult the people of his
community before de-
ciding to join any par-
ty. This comes a day
after cabinet minister
Swami Prasad Maurya
resigned from his posi-
tion in the government
after which three
MLAs followed suit
and resigned from the
party
.
Speaking to ANI af-
ter his resignation,
Singh said, “The Dal-
its and backward peo-
ple because of whom
the BJP came to power
in 2017 were neglected
during the tenure of
the government. They
were not respected and
they did not get any
justice. I, therefore, re-
signed from the gov-
ernment.”
Talking about the
future course of ac-
tion, he said that he
would consult the peo-
ple of his community
and then decide which
party to go with.
In his letter to the gov-
ernor, Singh said in
Hindi, “Due to the ne-
glect of the state gov-
ernment towards the
backward section of
the society, Dalits,
farmers and unem-
ployed youth of the
state and the neglect
of reservation of the
Dalits and backward
class in the society, I
have been hurt and I
resign from the cabi-
net.”
Elections for the
403-member UP assem-
bly will be held in sev-
en phases. Polling will
be held on February
10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and
March 3 and 7 in seven
phases. —ANI
Minister Dara Singh Chauhan’s reps showing a copy of
his resignation as they arrive at Raj Bhawan to tender the
resignation to the Governor in Lucknow on Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Dara Singh
Chauhan
alleged that
the Dalits and
poor have
been
neglected by
the BJP
government in
Uttar Pradesh
Joining SP on January 14,
declares Swami Maurya
Lucknow: Swami
Prasad Maurya, who re-
cently quit the Uttar
Pradesh Cabinet, will
join the Samajwadi Par-
ty on January 14.
In a conversation with
ANI, Swami Prasad
Maurya said, “I will be
joining the Samajwadi
Party on 14th January
. I
have not received calls
from any politician. If
they were cautious on
time and worked on
public issues, then BJP
would not have faced
this.” He further said,
“Whether the BJP lead-
ers are big or small in
power and position, it
doesn’t matter to me as
the arrow has come out
of the bow.”, Maurya
said replying to a ques-
tion. --ANI.
Swami Prasad Maurya answered questions by journalists at his
official residence on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ASHOK DUTTA
BJP's Vinay
Shakya refutes
kidnapping
rumours
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Drawing
flak from Opposition
parties over his contro-
versial‘80 vs 20’ remark,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath on Tuesday
tried to clarify his state-
ment saying that 80 per-
cent are those who are
of positive thinking,
who have faith in na-
tionalism, good govern-
ance, and security. The
remaining 20 percent
are those who sympa-
thise with the mafia,
rioters, and terrorists
and oppose the develop-
ment of the state.
Taking a jibe at Akh-
ilesh Yadav over his re-
mark on dreams of
Lord Krishna, the Chief
Minister said that Lord
Krishna must have
cursed them for insti-
gating riots in the state
when the government
was formed. He also
lambasted the SP chief
for his allegation of tak-
ing credit for develop-
ment saying, “Like
Lord Krishna is coming
in dreams, similarly he
must be dreaming of
development. It’s their
remorse that they didn’t
do any development
work.”
Making a fierce at-
tack on Congress party,
the CM further said. “It
was Congress who had
called Lord Ram and
Krishna a myth. The Sa-
majwadi Party and the
Bahujan Samajwadi
Party were supporting
them”.
MLA Vinay Shakya
18 UP ministers will desert Yogi’s Cabinet by Jan 20, claims Rajbhar
Lucknow: OBC leader
Om Prakash Rajbhar
on Wednesday claimed
that one to two minis-
ters would quit the Yogi
Adityanath Cabinet
daily and this figure
would go up to 18 by
January 20.
Rajbhar made the
claim while welcoming
the resignation of Uttar
Pradesh ministers Swa-
mi Prasad Maurya and
Dara Singh Chauhan.
“I had realised BJP’s
apathy towards Dalits,
backwards and the de-
prived sections of the
society in a short time
after joining the gov-
ernment in 2017 but
these people waited all
these days and, left with
no hope, are quitting it
now,” the Suheldev
Bharatiya Samaj Party
chief said.
Rajbhar has joined
hands with the Sama-
jwadi Party for the 2022
assembly elections.
“One or two wickets of
the BJP Cabinet will
fall every day and this
figure will reach one-
and-a-half dozen by
January 20,” he said at
a programme on a TV
channel after the resig-
nation of Forest and
Environment Minister
Dara Singh Chauhan on
Wednesday and that of
Maurya a day ago.
In the last state as-
sembly polls, Rajbhar
was an alliance partner
of the BJP and his par-
ty had won four seats
then.
Rajbhar himself was
elected from Zahoo-
rabad in Ghazipur dis-
trict and was made a
minister in the Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment.
He, however, had quit
the Cabinet in 2019 and
broken ties with the saf-
fron party
.
Asked about his
claim of one-and-a-half
dozen ministers quit-
ting Cabinet in Uttar
Pradesh and their
names, Rajbhar said,
“Everybody will come
to know about it as and
when it happens. Why
shall I name them?”,
Om Prakash Rajbhar
claimed. —PTI
Resigning leaders have accused
the ruling BJP of apathy towards
Dalits and Backwards
Om Prakash Rajbhar. —FILE PHOTO
BJP IN A FIX
Father didn’t ask ticket for me: Maurya’s son
Lucknow: Outrightly
denying the rumours
that UP cabinet minis-
ter Swami Prasad Mau-
rya resigned from the
Bharatiya Janta Party
as he failed to get ticket
for his children from
the BJP to contest in
the ensuing Uttar
Pradesh Assembly
polls, said Utkrisht
Maurya Ashok, son of
former BJP leader.
Speaking to ANI over
his father’s resignation
from the party and the
ministerial post,
Ashok said, “There is
no such issue that my
father wants a ticket
for me or my sister.”
“My father and the
party will decide if I
have to contest the
election or they want
me as a party worker
for the upcoming As-
sembly polls,” Ashok
said.
He also rejected the
allegations levelled by
his father that Dalits
and backward class
people were neglected
by the BJP. —ANI
Four-time Cong MP Avtar Singh Bhadana joins RLD
Lucknow: Avtar Singh
Bhadana on Wednesday
severed ties with the
Congress and joined the
Jayant Chaudhary-led
RashtriyaLokDal(RLD)
ahead of assembly polls
in Uttar Pradesh.
The four-time Lok
Sabha MP from
Faridabad, Haryana
will be fielded by the
RLD from Jewar assem-
bly constituency in Gau-
tam Buddh Nagar dis-
trict of Uttar Pradesh,
party sources told PTI.
Chaudhary on
Wednesday took to
Twitter to announce the
64-year-old Bhadana’s
entry into his party
RLD and shared their
pictures together.
The meeting took
place in New Delhi, the
sources said.
The Twitter post was
re-tweeted by Bhadana,
who had joined the Har-
yana unit of the Con-
gress over three dec-
ades ago and went to
become a minister in
the state cabinet in 1988.
Bhadana was last
elected to the Lok Sab-
ha for the fourth time
in 2009. —PTI
Avtar Singh Badana
Initially, the party had short-listed
145 MLAs who were to be denied
ticket on the basis of feedback based
on their performance from various quar-
ters. But that number could now be restrict-
ed to 40-50” —A senior BJP leader

UTTAR PRADESH
03
POLL SEASON
Area domination exercise by UP Police and CRPF jawans in run up to the UP assembly
election preparations in Lucknow on Wednesday . —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
CRUCIAL READ
CS MISHRA LAUDS SGPGI DOCS, CALLS
INSTITUTE PRIDE OF UTTAR PRADESH
POLICE BURY REMAINS OF COWS, LODGE
FIR AGAINST UNKOWN PERSONS
Lucknow: On his visit to SGPGI on Wedensday, CS
Durga Shankar Mishra said the institute was built
in front of his eyes and that he very proud to be the
president of such an institution. He said the institute
was the pride of UP in the medical field and all medical
colleges contacted SGPGI for its supremacy in the field
of medicine. The CS congratulated the doctors and got
acquainted with all the heads of the departments and
appreciated the remarkable work done by them.
Etah: Remains of, what was alleged, over a dozen
cows were found on Wednesday in a field in Navi
Nagar village in Pilua area here, police said. As soon
as the villagers saw the remains they informed the
police following which senior officers rushed to the
spot and got them buried using earth digging ma-
chines. Pramod Kumar, a local, said cow and ‘govansh’
(cattle) were killed on Tuesday night and when they
reached the field they informed the police. Additional
SP, Dhananjay Khushwah said an FIR has been lodged
against unidentified persons for killing cows and cattle.
ADDL MUNICIPAL
COMM INSPECTS
NIGHT SHELTERS
Lucknow: To supervise
arrangements of night
shelter homes in the
city, Addl Municipal
Commissioner Abhay
Pandey and Pankaj
Singh inspected the
temporary shelters and
arrangement of bonfire
at Mithaiwala crossing
and Husria intersection
in Gomti Nagar.The ar-
rangements were found
to be satisfactory.
BAHRAICH SSP ON
INSPECTION SPREE
OFPOLICESTATIONS
Bahraich: SSP Keshav
Kumar Chaudhary soon
after taking charge has
started inspection of
police stations in the
district.Many of the po-
lice stations are 90-100
km away from each
other and the new SSP
has been inspecting
them even late in the
evening. Chaudharyhas
said change will soon
be visible.
UP jabs record 1.65L frontline
workers, sr citizens in 2 days
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Committed
to providing additional
protection cover to the
priority group, includ-
ing healthcare, frontline
workers and those above
60 years, the state of Ut-
tar Pradesh has so far
administeredrecord1.65
lakh ‘precaution doses’
within a span of nearly
two days.
Uttar Pradesh started
administering booster
shots (precaution dose)
to the frontline and
healthcare workers as
well as senior citizens
from January 10.
The most populous
state has so far given
over 21,91,15,927 ‘Shots
of Life’ to people. In ad-
dition, as Uttar Pradesh
continuestoconductthe
vaccination drive most
successfully in the coun-
try, the state has also
achieved the landmark
of administering the
first dose of the covid-19
vaccine to over 90.71 per
cent of the eligible adult
population. While over
54.90 per cent of the pop-
ulation is fully vaccinat-
ed in the state.
Strengthening its
fight against the Cov-
id-19 pandemic, the Ut-
tarPradeshgovernment
has decided to vaccinate
all children between 15
to 18 years of age by
January 15. So far, over
34,25,659teenshavebeen
administered vaccine
doses in the state.
A frontline worker after taking a dose of Covid-19 vaccine in
Lucknow on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
 Standing on the
top, UP has admin-
istered 21.91 crore
total doses. The
State is followed by
Maharashtra with
14.12 crore doses.
 So far, over
34,25,659 teens
have been adminis-
tered doses in UP.
21.91 CR DOSES
ADMINISTERED
Nearly 55% fully
vaxed in state,
91% have received
at least one dose
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Politicalpar-
ties have now started
making music for elec-
tioneeringaftertheElec-
tion Commission im-
posed restrictions on
physical campaigning.
This has given an op-
portunity to the local
talent to showcase their
skills.
UP BJP’s social media
headAnkitChandelsaid
the party had not offi-
ciallycommissionedany
song but the members
had come forward to re-
leasesongsontheirown.
“BJP has a host of
committed and talented
workers. Some are sing-
ers and have prepared
songs for the campaign.
The party has selected a
few songs which will be
played in party’s events
and meetings,” he said.
These songs are being
played in various pro-
grammes and functions,
including weddings.
Bhojpurisinger,Suraj
Mishra Vyas has re-
leased a song in support
of CM Yogi.
“
After the 2017 Assem-
blyelections,Irecordeda
songonYogiAdityanath,
‘Sagro UP walon ko up-
har milal ba, Yogi Baba
jaisan CM damdaar mi-
lal ba’. It attracted 3.5
lakh views,” he said.
Vyas said, “I am mak-
ing songs only for the
BJP
. My new composi-
tion for Yogi Adityanath
is‘Vikasdekhkardilhua
diwana, suno ji phir se
Yogijikolana’.Thesong
has been composed by
Shashikant Mishra of
Salempur.”
Bhojpuri singer
Dinesh Lal Yadav a.k.a.
Nirahua has also re-
leased a song, ‘
Ayenge to
Yogi hi’.
Sandeep Acharya’s
song, ‘UP mein gundai
karoge to aukaat dikha
denge, Gorakhpur wale
Baba hain, ghar nilaam
kara denge’, has also be-
come popular.
SamajwadiParty lead-
er Sunil Yadav has also
released a song that says,
‘Chinta chhodo 22 ki, tai-
yyari karo safai ki’.
Presidentof SP’sscul-
tural cell, Dharmendra
Solanki said, “Some of
the songs we have re-
leased for this election
include “Button dabega
cycle ka, Sultan badalne
wala hai, 22 mein UP ka
parinam badalne wala
hai’ and ‘Aayega jab
natija to akhbar dekh
lena, iss baar cycle ki
raftar dekh lena’.
He also has a song on
the stray cattle menace
in the state which says, -
‘Chahe kuchh bhi tum
kar lo jugaad Babaji,
tumkowapiskarengetere
saand Baba ji’.
Former SP MLC Ashu
Malik, who has com-
posed at least five songs,
said party workers were
composing songs on
their own for the cam-
paign and the trend was
catching on.
The Congress is bank-
ing largely on ‘Ladki
hoon, lad sakti hoon’
themesong,alreadypop-
ular on social media.
With ban on physical campaigning, parties go musical to woo voters
CREATIVE SPARK

Both SP and the
Congress along
with the BJP
have got songs
composed in
their favour and
these are being
played widely on
social media
and other
channels
Bhojpuri singer Dinesh Lal Yadav with PM Modi. —FILE PHOTO
‘Liquor, cannabis worth `4-cr seized since model code’
Muzaffarnagar: A
man was arrested here
for allegedly raping a
woman and forcing her
to convert her religion,
the police said on
Wednesday
.
Sevenotherswerealso
bookedintheforcedcon-
version case, they said.
According to the vic-
tim, she fell in love with
main accused Ansar,
who used to work at a
brick kiln, in 2015. She
alleged the man took
her to a madrasa and
pressured her to con-
vert her religion.
She also claimed that
Ansar took her to Kukra
village here and raped
her, the police said.
The woman said she
metaHinduactivistwho
helpedhertofileapolice
plaint. A case under IPC
sectionsandProhibition
of Unlawful Religious
Conversion Ordinance,
2020 was registered
againsttheaccused.—PTI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh on Wednesday
logged 13,681 new cases
of COVID-19 which
pushed its active tally
of infections to 57,355,
the data showed.
Lucknow reported
2,181 new Covid cases,
which raised the tally
of active cases in the
state capital to 8,168.
Three more deaths
were recorded in the
state on Wednesday
, one
each in Kanpur City,
Hardoi and Sultanpur
districts. So far, total
22,940 people have suc-
cumbed to the disease
since it first appeared.
Gautam Buddh Na-
gar logged the maxi-
mum 1,992 COVID-19
infections that pushed
its tally of active cases
to 9,300, the highest for
any district in Uttar
Pradesh.
Neighbouring Ghazi-
abad’s active case tally
reached 7,665 as it re-
corded 1,526 new infec-
tions.
Meanwhile, total 700
patients were dis-
charged from hospitals
following their recov-
ery in the last 24 hours.
Lucknow: Candidates
of the Samajwadi Party
and its allies for the first
and the second phase of
the UP Assembly elec-
tions will be announced
in a day or two after a
consensus on seat-shar-
ing was reached in a
meetinghereonWednes-
day
, a leader said.
The Samajwadi Party
hastiedupwiththeRash-
triya Lok Dal, Mahan
Dal, Pragatisheel Sama-
jwadi Party
, Suheldev
Bharatiya Samaj Party
among others for the
polls assembly elections.
Samajwadi Party
chief Akhilesh Yadav
tweeted a photo of him
with the allies and said,
“Held talks with the top
leadership of all the al-
lies of the SP on the de-
velopment and the fu-
ture of Uttar Pradesh.”
Its official Twitter
handle, the SP said, “Sa-
majwadi Party national
president Akhilesh Ya-
dav discussed election
preparations with al-
lies. All took a pledge to
form the government in
2022 under the leader-
ship of the Samajwadi
Party
. There will be a
change in 2022.” —PTI
Lucknow: Authorities
seized 73,000 litres of
liquor worth over Rs
1.45 crore and 1,825 kg
of cannabis valued at
Rs 2.5 crore since the
imposition of the model
code of conduct in poll-
bound UP, state’s Chief
Electoral Officer Ajay
Kumar Shukla said on
Wednesday
.
The model code is a
set of guidelines issued
by the Election Com-
mission for political
parties, candidates, gov-
ernment and the party
in power during elec-
tions concerning
speeches, announce-
ments, election mani-
festos and general con-
duct.
Assembly elections
in Uttar Pradesh, Utta-
rakhand, Punjab, Ma-
nipur and Goa will be
held between February
10 and March 7 in seven
phases with the count-
ing of votes on March
10, the Election Com-
mission announced on
Saturday
.
With the announce-
ment of the schedule,
the Model Code of Con-
duct for governments,
candidates and politi-
cal parties has come
into force.
Giving details of sei-
zure, Shukla said 73,053
litres of liquor worth
Rs 1.45 crore and 1,824
kg cannabis worth Rs
2.5crorehasbeenseized
in different districts of
the state.
Also, over 25 lakh po-
litical campaign items
were removed from gov-
ernment properties and
private land.
Shukla said the po-
lice department has so
far got 2,01,639 licensed
arms deposited, while
88 licences have been
confiscated and 190 can-
celled. —PTI
Crucial SP meet held to decide candidates
UP NCP chief Umashankar Yadav meets Samajwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav, in Lucknow on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Gautam Buddh Nagar
logged 1,992 COVID-19
infections that pushed
its tally of active cases
to 9,300, the highest
for any district in Uttar
Pradesh. Neighbouring
Ghaziabad’s active case
tally reached 7,665 as
it recorded 1,526 new
infections.
9.3K IN NOIDA
ONE ARRESTED, SEVEN BOOKED
FOR RAPE AND CONVERSION
Over 13k new cases in 24hrs
73K-LT LIQUOR, 1.8K CANNABIS

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 63
l RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi
Industrial Area Kanpur Road Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Vishal Srivastav
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Promoted by First India
News International Pvt. Ltd.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
There are three gates to
this self-destructive hell:
lust, anger, and greed.
Renounce these three.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Interacted with representatives from
various industry associations to
discuss growth opportunities amidst
the pandemic. Took detailed feedback
& suggestions of industry leaders on
ways to combat ongoing challenges,
support affected sectors & improve
ease of doing business.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
In 2014, there were only seven
AIIMS in the country. But after 2014,
the number of AIIMS approved has
increased to 22. At the same time,
various reforms have been undertaken
to make the medical education
sector more transparent: PM @
NarendraModiJi #TNThanksModiji
TOP TWEETS
IMRAN’S LAUGHABLE
BOAST ON PAKISTAN
ECONOMY IS BETTER
THAN INDIA’S
ast year Pakistan got
a US$ 3 billion loan
from Saudi Arabia in
a bailout package.
The terms on which
the loan was given would embar-
rass any sovereign nation, but
not Pakistan.
The money had to be kept in
the State Bank of Pakistan and
Islamabad is required to return
the money whenever the Saudis
demand. Overall, Pakistan is
among the top ten countries
with largest debts along with
Angola, Ethiopia and others.
Pakistan is also unable to rein
in inflation which is in double
digits compared to single digit
in India. Yet Prime Minister Im-
ran Khan would like to boast
that his country’s economy was
doing better than that of India.
He claimed that “Pakistan is
still one of the cheapest coun-
tries in the world”.
Ironically, his statement has
come at a time when the country
finds itself cash-strapped.
While being boastful of his
country’s performance Imran
Khan forgot that Pakistan is ac-
tually caught in a debt trap.
L
ed by cabinet min-
ister Swami Pras-
ad Maurya,
Bharatiya Janata
Party legislators
have resigned due to their
sudden disenchantment with
the ruling dispensation.
Maurya, who was the first to
resign as minister, has de-
nied that he is joining the
Samajwadi Party
.
At a press conference he
told the media to wait till
January 14 when he will an-
nounce his future roadmap.
Besides Maurya, Dara Singh
Chauhan, another minister,
and four MLAs have also
jumped ship. It is believed
they are headed towards the
SPcamp.Mauryahasclaimed
that 10-12 legislators are
poised to quit in a day or two.
That means more resigna-
tions are likely. What raises
doubts about their objective,
however, is that these rebels
are yet to resign from the
BJP. Is some bargaining be-
tween them and the BJP top
leadership underway?
If these leaders do join the
SP, it will indeed be a huge
setback for Yogi Adityanath
and the BJP. Many of these
rebels, including Maurya,
not only belong to the OBC
category but wield consider-
able influence among back-
wards. The BJP, which is fo-
cused on OBCs, Dalits (in-
cluding Jatavs) and upper
castes, will have a tough op-
ponent in SP if it can bring
together OBCs and Muslims.
Until these rebels decide on
their future course of action,
SP seems to have won a psy-
chological war over the BJP.
These Gaya Rams do not
always succeed in deciding
the fate of elections in favour
of the party they join. One
may recall how Trinamool
Congress leaders had
dumped Mamata Banerjee
before assembly elections.
Didi only emerged stronger.
WAIT TILL SP MAURYA
RESIGNS FROM BJP
If these leaders do join
the SP, it will indeed be a
huge setback for Yogi
Adityanath and the BJP.
Many of these rebels,
including Maurya, not
only belong to the OBC
category but wield
considerable influence
among backwards
L
Revolt against the Plutocracy in the
‘Land of wanderers’ Kazaksthan
‘Kazakhs are accustomed
to patience but they have
grown tired and they
have had enough’ as the
locals are heard chanting
in the streets gathering
more people to join the
march against the
exploitative eco-political
class and the one clan
which lives well and
everyone else is in poverty
n the bastion of stability in
central Asia, there was an up-
rising of the common citizens
and large gatherings of mass
civilians which commenced
in front of mayor’s house in
the Mangystau province and
soon the mayor’s office in Al-
maty the largest city of the
9th largest Country in the
world was set ablaze. For the
first time since the formation
of sovereign and independent
Kazaksthan in 1990 there has
been unrest and protests on
the street witnessed of this
magnitude with charred cars
littering the nomadic cities.
This new year brought with it
the shift in the balance of
power from Government led
authoritarianregimetowards
thestreetsformoredemocrat-
ically open political system.
The protests sparked by
soaring fuel prices and al-
most doubling of LPG prices
on the 1st of January, 2022
went onto leading to bottled
up emotions oozing out and
protestors grew to address
the wider grievances such as
the Kazakh elites trading po-
litical freedom for economic
growth, rise of inequality
and gap enlarging between
haves and have nots, lack of
people’s representation in
politics and rampant corrup-
tion to top it all.
‘Kazakhs are accustomed to
patience but they have grown
tired and they have had
enough’asthelocalsareheard
chanting in the streets gather-
ing more people to join the
marchagainsttheexploitative
eco-political class and the one
clan which lives well and eve-
ryone else is in poverty
.
PLUTOCRACY
Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, a for-
merloyalistof thecommunist
party who has been known as
Elbasy (meaning the father of
the nation) has been the Presi-
dent of Kazaksthan for 5 con-
secutive terms starting from
1990andfinallysteppingdown
only in 2019 as President but
remainedtheChairmanof the
National Security Council till
he was succeeded by the cho-
sen one and passing the baton
of power to the current all-
powerful President Kassym–
Jomart Tokayev who has is-
sued the ‘shoot-to-kill’ order
and suspiciously blaming a
band of international terror-
ists behind the widespread
violence engulfed recently
. In
thecountrywhichisstruckby
the crippling economy
, down
paddling of GDP and current-
ly marred by the pandemic
there are political elites of
Astana sitting in Chateaux of
western European nations
dealingincrypto&goldforthe
large reserves of oil, gas and
uranium they possess where-
as larger local populace de-
mandspoliticalaccountability
and protection of their lands.
SHAL KET !
“OLD MAN, GO”
The Prime Minister along
with his cabinet resigning on
the 5th January and fuel pric-
esreducedasaresponsetothe
mass protests, the President
Tokayevacceptedtheresigna-
tion and also took on charge
as the Chairman of the Na-
tional Security council and
stating that he would act as
tough as possible showcasing
the shift of power from de
facto ruler Nur-Sultan also
calledasdictatorbythefellow
opposing party men went on
becoming from being the be-
loved father of the nation to
being the most hated person
of the Nation, Nur Sultan’s
statues have been vandalized
and brought down by the an-
gry mob who once paid re-
spect to the man who won 5
consecutiveelectionsandwon
twice with 98% votes, the sec-
ond time was as recent as 2015
elections but now the major
cities of Kazaksthan have the
slogan of shal ket ! (go old
man, go) indicating the disap-
pointment towards their for-
mer President and the protest
is not just against the oil pric-
es but the grievances are
much wider and have deep
roots in the eco-political land-
scape of Kazaksthan.
TOKAYEV’S IRON HAND
After Ukraine and Belarus,
Kazaksthan is the 3rd former
Soviet country to face similar
protests. Tokayev, The Presi-
dent issuing a decree banning
mass gatherings, restricting
movements, curb on internet
and imposing an overnight
curfew to remain until 19th
January and a peace keeping
mission being deployed by
CSTO (Collective Security
Treaty Organization) on the
President’s request to an old
ally and one of the closest
friend, Kremlin sending in
2000 troops to stabilize the
situation and to assist local
law enforcement officers to
bring back normalcy and dis-
place the common populace
off the streets.
ALGA! KAZAKSTHAN
Amid the death toll rising
above 160, the protestors moti-
vated by different grievances
and motives and staging pro-
test in different places and re-
jecting the soviet-era leaders
want a strong, sovereign and a
trulypoliticallyrepresentative
independent country
.
Alga(forward)!Kazaksthan
– marking the new age slogan.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
PURUSHENDRA SINGH
The writer is Assistant Professor, Dept. of
International Relations, Vivekananad Global
University, Jaipur /(VGU,Jaipur)
For the first time since formation of sovereign
and Independent Kazaksthan in 1990 there has
been unrest and protests on the street witnessed of
this magnitude with charred cars littering the
nomadic cities. This new year brought with it the shift
in the balance of power from Government led
authoritarian regime towards the streets for
more democratically open political system

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court-appointed
technical committee
probing the Pegasus es-
pionage case had issued
a public notice, asking
anyone who believes
that their phone was
hacked and spied on
with Pegasus
software, to come for-
ward and submit their
phone so that it can be
sent for forensic exami-
nation. The committee
had given a week’s time
for this, which ended on
January7.Sofaritisnot
knownhowmanypeople
came forward on panel’s
appeal and how many
submitted their phones
for forensic examina-
tion. But it is certain
that phone of former
Congress President Ra-
hul Gandhi will not be
verifiedbecausewasout
of the country till the
deadline and also there
is no such intention of
Congress to deposit Ra-
hul’s phone.
Rahulhadgoneabroad
at the end of last year to
celebrate New Year. Had
the Congress submitted
his phone for investiga-
tion, it would have in-
formed about it by hold-
ing a press conference.
Significantly
, this espio-
nage scandal was ex-
posed in the media just
before Monsoon Session
of Parliament.Investiga-
tive journalists from all
over the world worked
together on this. Accord-
ing to this disclosure,
even Opposition leaders,
journalists,ministers,of-
ficials and judges were
spied upon in India.
When the news came,
many ministers of the
BJP & also government
had challenged that peo-
ple whose phones are be-
ingsaidtobespiedupon,
should get FIR lodged.
But even then no one
came forward and even
now no one is coming.
This would mean that
just like minor ‘corri-
gendum’ carried by a
some media, even politi-
cians & civil society’s
claims were baseless
and all were engaged in
making allegations just
to corner government.
Pegasus row: Rahul fails to give phone
to SC tech panel for forensic exam!
What happened to SP
& TMC alliance in UP?
Sharat K Verma
Lucknow: Did Sama-
jwadi Party and TMC
fail to reconcile? In late
November last year,
when Mamata Banerjee
went to Mumbai and
met NCP and Shiv Sena
leaders, it was then that
news came that she
would go to Uttar
Pradesh in December.
By mid-December, there
was news of her going
to UP and meeting SP
national president Akh-
ilesh Yadav and the
word was that there
would be coordination
between SP & TMC. The
great-grandsons of Pan-
dit Kamalapati Trip-
athi,aveteranCongress
leader from UP, left the
Congress and joined
TMC recently. It was
said Didi would talk to
Akhilesh & he would
leave at least two seats
for Rajeshpati Tripathi
and Laliteshpati Trip-
athi. But till now there
is no news on this. De-
cember passed & Didi
did not visit UP. It is yet
not known whether she
is helping Akhilesh!
Kavita Pant
New Delhi: Prepara-
tions are underway for
the Budget Session of
Parliament and the gov-
ernment is preparing
theBudget.OnFebruary
1, Union Finance Minis-
terNirmalaSitharaman
will present the coun-
try’s General Budget. At
that time the campaign-
ing for the Assembly
elections in five states
including Uttar Pradesh
will be at its peak.
The first phase of
polling is to be held on
February 10. Just be-
fore that the General
Budget will come. So
just imagine, what ad-
vantage the BJP can get
from this Budget rues
the Opposition! Last
year also the General
Budget was presented
just before the elections
to five states and even
then this issue arose
and interim budget is
presented before every
Lok Sabha election and
even then such ques-
tions arise.
But the Election
Commission has al-
ready made it clear that
it cannot do anything
in the matter of the
General Budget. When
questions were asked
about this at the time
of announcement of
elections, the Commis-
sion declared that its
hands were tied. This
means that the General
Budget will come be-
fore the first phase of
polling, in which the
government can make
a lot of election an-
nouncements in the
name of public welfare.
In order to please the
middle class, there can
be announcement like
exemption in direct
tax, then government
can make some an-
nouncements regard-
ing excise duty etc.
Then there will be an-
nouncements about
new trains, new roads
and industries. An an-
nouncement will be
made about small and
medium industries. A
rosy picture of the
country’s economy will
be shown in the Eco-
nomic Survey and the
growth rate will be es-
timated. Imagine how
the Opposition will re-
spond to this and you
will know what is about
to happen, politically,
in the days to come!
ADVANTAGE IN POLL BOUND STATES?
GENERAL BUDGET 2022-23
Retail inflation spikes to 5-month high of 5.59% in Dec
New Delhi: In a double
whammy for the econo-
my, India’s retail infla-
tion rate shot up to a
five month high in De-
cember and growth in
factory output deceler-
ated to a nine month
low in November.
Data released by the
statistics department
showed retail inflation
rate as measured by the
consumer price index
rose to 5.59 per cent in
December from 4.91 per
cent a month ago.
Growth in factory out-
put as measured by the
Index of industrial pro-
duction (IIP), on the
other hand, dipped to
1.4 per cent in Novem-
ber compared to 4 per
cent in the preceding
month.
Rising pricing pres-
sure in clothing and
footwear (8.3 per cent)
and fuel group (10.95 per
cent) contributed to the
rise in retail inflation
while food inflation also
rose to 4.05 per cent. For
factory output, manu-
facturing sector growth
slowed down to 0.9 per
cent while mining and
electricity output grew
at 5 per cent and 2.1 per
cent respectively
.
According to the gov-
ernment’s statistics de-
partment, the economy
is expected to grow at
9.2 per cent in FY22,
lower than the 9.5 per
cent estimate by the In-
ternational Monetary
Fund as well as the Re-
serve Bank of India.
The economic damage
brought about by the
second Covid wave in
India has already been
unwound, with output
effectively returning to
pre-pandemic levels
even though contact-
intensive sectors, like
trade and hotels are
still below pre-pandem-
ic levels.
However, most econo-
mists believe the official
GDP data has over-
looked the imminent
impact of the third wave
on growth momentum.
With the escalating Cov-
id-19 caseload, many
states have imposed
night and weekend cur-
fews to curb the spread
of the third wave, ad-
versely impacting mo-
bility and contact sensi-
tive services.
Sluggish growth mo-
mentum in the Decem-
ber quarter and emerg-
ing risk from the third
Covid-19 wave may
shave 80 basis points
(bps) off India’s real
GDP growth to 9 per
cent for FY22, Citigroup
said in its latest esti-
mate.
The World Bank on
Tuesdaywhileretaining
its 8.3 per cent growth
forecast for FY22 said
easing supply disrup-
tions related to Covid-19
and deficient demand
led to a return of infla-
tion in India toward the
central bank’s target in
late-2021. —PTI
THREATHASBYNOWAYBEENREDUCED:
NARAVANEONCHINABORDERCONCERNS
Army has reorganised and rebalanced forces to meet the threat from both China and Pakistan: Gen
New Delhi: India and
China have been work-
ing on “mutual disen-
gagement” and there
have been positive de-
velopments, but the
“threat” is very much
high, Army chief
General MM Nara-
vane told reporters
today. The 14th round
of commander-level
talks between the two
neighbours were also
held on Wednesday.
“The 14th round of
the Corps Commander
level talks is underway,
and I am hopeful that
you shall see further
developments in the
days ahead. But while
there has been partial
disengagement, the
threat has by no means
reduced,” General
Naravane told report-
ers on the occasion of
Army Day.
Disengagement has
to happen from friction
areas, then we can think
of deescalation, the
Army chief said.
He said India’s re-
sponse to Chinese at-
tempt to unilaterally
change status quo
along the Line of Ac-
tual Control, or LAC,
was “very robust”.
On a question about
China building a village
in Arunachal Pradesh’s
Upper Subansiri dis-
trict, General Naravane
said, “The MEA (Minis-
try of External Affairs)
has amply clarified our
position. This is arising
because the LAC is not
demarcated and there
are different percep-
tions. As long as the
boundary issue is con-
cerned, for once and for
all, the border issue has
to be resolved. As far as
we are concerned, we
are very well poised all
along our borders and
there is no question that
any status quo as it ex-
ists today will be altered
by force.”
General Naravane
said the Army has reor-
ganised and rebalanced
forces to meet the threat
from both China and Pa-
kistan. “In line with our
operational realities, we
have undertaken reor-
ganisation and rebal-
ancing of forces. Reori-
entation of additional
forces to the northern
borders has been car-
ried out, while retaining
ourpunitivestrikecapa-
bility
, along the western
front,” he said. —ANI
INDIAN ARMY DEVELOPING INFRA IN
BORDER AREAS: GEN NARAVANE
ARMY CHIEF TERMS NAGALAND
FIRING INCIDENT AS ‘REGRETTABLE’
New Delhi: Indian Army Chief General MM Nara-
vane on Wednesday said that the Indian Army is
upgrading and developing infrastructure at the bor-
der areas to deal with the ‘nefarious’ neighbours.
“Up-gradation and development of infrastructure
along the Northern Borders are being carried out
in a holistic and comprehensive manner including
roads and tunnels, for all-weather connectivity,
strategic railway lines, additional bridges across
the Brahmaputra, up-gradation of bridges on
critical Indo-China Border Roads, and storage for
supplies, fuel and ammunition”, informed Gen MM
Naravane. He added that since January last year,
there has been a positive development on India’s
northern and western borders. —ANI
New Delhi: Army Chief General MM Naravane on
Wednesday termed the Nagaland firing incident as
“regrettable” and said that it is being thoroughly
investigated and also assured of “appropriate
action” based on the outcome of the in-
vestigation. “The regrettable incident
that occurred in Oting, Nagaland
on December 4 is being thor-
oughly investigated. We remain
committed to the security of our
countrymen, even during the
conduct of operations,” the
Army Chief said while
addressing media
persons. —ANI
POLICE ARRESTS 3
FOR KIDNAPPING
16-YR-OLD BOY IN
FEROZPUR
Ferozpur: Ferozpur Po-
lice arrested 3 persons
for allegedly kidnapping
a 16-year-old. As per the
police, the accused have
been identified as Karan,
23, Raj Singh aka Rohit
and Amarjit Singh, 22.
However, the fourth ac-
cused, their accomplice
Akash aka Jani man-
aged to flee. The Police
have also recovered
two pistols along with
two cartridges, one
motorcycle, the victim’s
scooter and three
mobile phones from the
possession of arrested
accused persons.
ED ATTACHES
FUNDS OF NBFC IN
CHINESE-FUNDED
INSTANT LOAN APPS
New Delhi: The ED has
attached Rs 72.32 crore
lying in various bank
accounts and payment
gateway accounts of Ku-
dos Finance and Invest-
ments Pvt Ltd, an Indian
Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC), and its
various fintech partner
companies in a laundering
case. The agency attached
the amounts under the
PMLA, 2002. ED is con-
ducting money laundering
investigation against a
number of Indian NBFC
companies their fintech
partner Mobile Applica-
tions (APPs).
ARREST PUNJAB CM: HIMANTA BISWA
SARMA ON PM SECURITY BREACH
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma on Wednesday alleged that the Congress
high command and his Punjab counterpart had
conspired to assassinate the prime minister
through the ‘security breach’ on January 5 while
Narendra Modi was visiting the northern state. He
demanded that Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief
minister of Punjab, should be arrested for his role
in the alleged conspiracy.
J-K: ENCOUNTER BREAKS OUT BETWEEN
SECURITY FORCES, TERRORISTS IN KULGAM
Jammu and Kashmir: An encounter broke out
between security forces and terrorists at the
Pariwan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam
district, informed Kashmir Zone Police late on
Wednesday.“#Encounter has started at Pariwan
area of #Kulgam. Police and security forces are
on the job. Further details shall follow. @JmuK-
mrPolice,” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted. More
details are awaited.
CASE AGAINST ACTOR SIDDHARTH OVER
DEROGATORY COMMENT AGAINST NEHWAL
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police on Wednesday filed a
case actor Siddharth for allegedly making derogatory
comments against Saina Ne-
hwal on Twitter. In a telephonic
conversation, KVM Prasad,
Additional DCP, Cyber Crime
Wing, Detective Department,
Hyderabad said, “A woman
named Prerna approached
Cyber Crime Wing and lodged a complaint against actor
Siddharth for his sexist remarks against shuttler Nehwal
on Twitter.” The police official said that the basis of the
complaint a case has been registered under Sections
509 of the IPC and 67 of Information Technology Act.
INDIA-US AGREE TO ADVANCE COOPERATION
IN COUNTER-TERRORISM, CYBER SECURITY
New Delhi: India and the US on Wednesday agreed
to advance cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber
security, securing critical infrastructure and global
supply chains among other issues during the senior
officers meeting of the India-US Homeland Secu-
rity Dialogue. Maritime security, aviation security,
customs enforcement and trade security were also
focused areas of the dialogue on which both sides re-
viewed the ongoing cooperation and identified further
steps that can be taken to explore opportunities and
synergies in advancing cooperation, said a statement
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
General MM Naravane
Rahul Gandhi
Mamata Banerjee
CRUCIAL READ

INDIA
06
PUNJAB ASSEMBLY POLLS
CHANNI’S HINT FOR CONGRESS
AFTER SIDHU’S WARNING
Sidhu said that people of Pb will pick
new CM, as opposed to high command
Chandigarh: The Con-
gress may have kept
any decision on a Chief
Minister candidate in
Punjab at bay ahead of
elections but its two top
faces, CM Charanjit
Singh Channi and state
Congress chief Sidhu
are not having it.
As Sidhu said on
Tuesday that “the peo-
ple of Punjab” will pick
the new CM, as opposed
to the party high com-
mand, Channi dropped
a big hint of his own.
The Congress should
announce a CM candi-
date before the elec-
tion, Channi told a lo-
cal channel, Pro Pun-
jab TV
. “Whenever the
party has not an-
nounced a CM candi-
date, it has lost,” he
said when asked wheth-
er his party should
name a candidate be-
fore the February 14
election.
“When the party de-
clared its CM candidate
during the 2017 elec-
tions, it won. Before
that, when it did not de-
clare the candidate, it
lost. Whenever the par-
ty has not announced
the CM candidate, it
has lost. So the
party should an-
nounce it,” he
said.
Chief Minis-
ter Charanjit
Singh Channi
refused to com-
ment on who
should be named by
the party but he
talked about people
waving at him wherev-
er he went and even
breaking through
barricades to
tryandmeet
him. —ANI
Chandigarh: Sanyukt
Samaj Morcha (SSM), a
political front of 19
farm organisations, on
Wednesday announced
a list of 10 candidates
for the February 14
Punjab assembly polls.
Morcha convener
Balbir Singh Rajewal
will contest from Sam-
rala. Other candidates
are: Prem Singh
Bhangu from Ghanour,
Harjinder Tanda from
KhadoorSahib,Ravneet
Brar from Mohali, Dr
Sukhmandeep Dhillon
from Taran Taran,
Rajesh Kumar from
Kartarpur, Ramandeep
Singh from Jaitu, Ajay
Kumar from Phillaur,
Balraj Thakur from Qa-
dain and Navdeep Sang-
ha from Moga. —ANI
SSM declares 10 candidates,
Rajewal to fight from Samrala
New Delhi: A day after Punjab Chief
Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the
Congress “should announce” its chief
ministerial candidate, senior Congress
leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari
on Wednesday said the Chief Minister has
made a “fair point.” “The Chief Minister
makes a fair point that since he was put
in the saddle three months
back, why shouldn’t he
be the face of the party
for the 2022 elec-
tions?” Tewari told.
Manish Tewari
@ManishTewari
Punjab requires a CM who has
solutions to Punjab’s chal-
lenges, capacity to take tough
decisions. Punjab needs seri-
ous people whose politics is not
Social Engineering, Entertain-
ment, Freebies and not regime
favourites rejected by people in
successive elections.
Fair point: Tewari on Channi’s remarks
Mohali: Revealing the 10-point agenda of the Aam
Aadmi Party for the upcoming Punjab assembly
election, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on
Wednesday said that the party would focus on generat-
ing employment opportunities in the state. Kejriwal
said, “We have prepared a 10-point ‘Punjab Model’
to make the state developed and prosperous if Aam
Aadmi Party comes to power. We will make
such a prosperous Punjab that the
youth who went to go to Canada
for employment will return in
the next 5 years.”
AAP REVEALS 10-POINT AGENDA
CM CHANNI’S
COUSIN
BROTHER
JASWINDER
JOINS BJP
Ahead of the Punjab
Assembly Elections,
Jaswinder Singh
Dhaliwal, cousin
brother of the Punjab
Chief Minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi joined
the BJP on January
11 in Chandigarh,
Punjab. He joined the
party in the presence
of Punjab BJP in-
charge Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat. Many
political leaders are
switching their sides
ahead of the elections.
The Punjab Assembly
Elections will be held
on February 14.
BSP TO LAUNCH DIGITAL
CAMPAIGN AFTER EC’s NEW
NORMS ON JAN 15: MISRA
UP POLITICS SET FOR
CHANGE: RAUT ON
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Lucknow: BSP will not lag be-
hind other parties in online public
outreach in UP and a blitzkrieg
digital campaign will be undertaken
after assessing the poll panel’s
guidelines post-January 15, its
leader SC Misra said on Wednes-
day. Announcing elections in Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,
Manipur and Goa with a strong
focus on digital and virtual modes
of campaigning, the Election Com-
mission has banned physical rallies
and roadshows till January 15 due
to Covid concerns.
New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay
Raut on Wednesday claimed a
political change was imminent in
poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and the
recent move by a state minister and
some other BJP MLAs to leave the
saffron party was just the beginning.
Talking to reporters here, Raut also
said he wants to tell the people of
Goa, where polls to the 40-member
Assembly are scheduled on Febru-
ary 14, not to fall prey to monetary
inducements, and that the Shiv Sena
will stand against any such move by
the BJP in the coastal state.
115 DEATHS REPORTED GLOBALLY DUE TO OMICRON,
ONE IN INDIA, SAYS HEALTH MINISTRY
Maharashtra, Delhi, 6 others emerging
as states of concern, says Central govt
Policewomen after receiving booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine
during rehearsals for Republic Day parade in Jammu on Wednesday
CENTRE REVISES DISCHARGE POLICY
CAPT AMARINDER TESTS +VE, ISOLATES SELF
New Delhi: A total of
115 people died across
the world due to the
Omicron variant of
Covid-19 so far, out of
which, one death has
been reported in India,
informed Lav Agarwal,
Joint Secretary, Union
Health Ministry on
Wednesday
. —ANI
In Maharash-
tra, the case
positivity rate
surged from 0.87% on
December 22 last year to
22.39% today. The week-
ly cases in the state are
at 257,000. In WB, the
positivity rate has gone
up from 1.52% on De-
cember 22 to 32.18% to-
day and cases are in-
creasing rapidly. Simi-
lar trends are seen in
Delhi, TN, Karnataka,
UP, Kerala and Gujarat.
—Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary,
Union Health Ministry
New Delhi: Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
on Wednesday mocked Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan,
a day after Pakistan
PM claimed that Pak’s
economic condition is
better than India. Remark
drew sharp reaction
from Indian politicians
and Union minister
of state for IT Rajeev
Chandrasekhar’s was
one of them. While addressing inaugural ceremony of
International Chambers Summit 2022, Imran report-
edly said despite unprecedented challenges, Pak’s
economic condition was better than many countries
particularly India.
Kabul: Two members
of the Taliban were
injured in an explosion
in Afghanistan’s capital
Kabul on Wednesday,
local media reported
citing officials as say-
ing. Aqil Jan Ozam,
deputy spokesman of
the Interior Ministry,
said the explosion tar-
geted a military vehicle
in Police District 9 of
Kabul city at around
11 am (local time) on
Wednesday.
New Delhi: Trinamool
Congress party is
not averse to a larger
alliance for opposi-
tion unity to take on
the BJP in the Goa
assembly polls but
such a coalition cannot
be forged with a “big
brother” attitude, TMC
leader Sushmita Dev
said on Wednesday in
an apparent swipe at
the Congress.
New Delhi: Royals
Sports Group-owned
IPL franchise Rajasthan
Royals on Wednesday
announced the launch of
the RRAC, which will be
based at Truro School.
The RRAC will provide
a coaching pathway for
aspiring Cornish boys
and girls cricketers who
will have a chance to
enroll with the academy
at a young age, and
develop into top-class
players.
New Delhi: SC on
Wednesday slammed
the real estate devel-
oper Supertech over
non-payment to the
homebuyers for the flats
which were ordered to
be demolished. A Bench
headed by Justice
DY Chandrachud told
Supertech to keep their
office in order and to
make the payment to
home buyers by Jan 17.
AAPKE PASS SIDHU HAIN: RAJEEV ON
IMRAN’S ‘PAK BETTER THAN IND’ CLAIM
TWO TALIBANS
INJURED IN
KABUL EXPLOSION
DEV: TMC READY
TO FORGE LARGER
ALLIANCE IN GOA
COVID
HIGHLIGHTS
RR LAUNCH NEW
ACADEMY IN
CORNWALL
SC SLAMS SUPER
TECH FOR NON-
PAYMENT TO BUYERS
New Delhi: UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues,
Dr Fernand de Varennes, Wednesday condemned the
surfacing of a hate app on which doctored photographs
of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded for “auc-
tion” and said such incidents need to be prosecuted as
soon as they occur. In a tweet Varennes said, “Minor-
ity Muslim women in India are harassed and ‘sold’ in
social media apps, #SulliDeals, a form of hate speech,
must be condemned and prosecuted as soon as they
occur. All Human Rights of minorities need to be fully
and equally protected.”
APP TARGETING MUSLIM WOMEN A FORM
OF HATE SPEECH, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
CRUCIAL READ
Shah chairs second round of UP core group meeting
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
chaired the second round
of UP core group meet-
ing of BJP held at party
headquarters in the na-
tional capital on Wednes-
day.On Tuesday, after the
first round of meeting,
Shah took over as three
sitting BJP MLAs includ-
ing Swami Prasad Mau-
rya quit the party, said
sources. Besides Shah,
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath,
Deputy Chief Ministers
Keshav Prasad Maurya
and Dinesh Sharma, state
election incharge Dhar-
mendra Pradhan, party
general secretary BL
Santosh and BJP state
president Swatantra Dev
Singh were present at the
meeting. BJP president
JP Nadda joined the
meeting virtually. The
meeting was held to dis-
cuss the poll strategy and
deliberate on the name of
the probable candidates
who will be put before
the Central Election Com-
mittee (CEC) in a couple
of days. “BJP is trying
to bring back Swami
Prasad Maurya and other
three MLAs who quit
on Tuesday. Also, those
candidates who did not
perform well and have
disappointed the public
will not get tickets again,”
sources said. —ANI
New Delhi: Centre on Wednesday announced that it has
revised Covid discharge policy after a review meeting
with PM Modi. Severity of corona cases has been catego-
rised into mild and moderate, Lav Agarwal stated. If there
is resolution of symptoms if patient maintains O2 satu-
ration of more than 93% for 3 successive days without
O2, then that person will be discharged, said Agarwal.

z New Delhi reports
27,561 new cases,
highest in 8 months

z Ministry of AYUSH
issues revised norms

z Covaxin can neu-
tralise Delta, Omicron
variants of coronavi-
rus: Bharat Biotech

z US Presidential
medical adviser Fauci
says Omicron will
infect everybody

z Pune launches
Covid-Free Village
contest to curb spread

z Vaccination is criti-
cal pillar of our Covid
response: Dr VK Paul

z Third FIR against
Karnataka Cong chief
for flouting COVID-19
norms during Meke-
datu padayatra
Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister and Punjab
Lok Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh on
Wednesday tested positive for Covid and has self-
isolated himself. Singh requested all those who came
in contact with him to get themselves tested.
SAD LEADER BIKRAM SINGH MAJITHIA
APPEARS BEFORE SIT IN DRUGS CASE
PM Modi to convene meeting with
CMs on COVID-19 situation today
Chandigarh: SAD
leader Bikram Singh
Majithia was on
Wednesday questioned
for more than two
hours by a special in-
vestigation team prob-
ing a drugs case regis-
tered against him. Ma-
jithia, who was grant-
ed anticipatory bail by
the Punjab and Hary-
ana HC two days ago,
appeared before SIT at
the state crime branch
at 11 am. Talking to re-
porters after appear-
ing before the SIT, he
said he assured the in-
vestigating officers of
his full cooperation in
the case.
Bikram Singh Ma-
jithia said he asked the
officers to take note of
Punjab Congress chief
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s
statement on the ap-
pointment of Sid-
dharth Chattopad-
hyaya to the post of
DGP and also the com-
ments of Deputy Chief
MinisterSukhjinder
Randhawa against
him. —ANI
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi will interact with
the Chief Ministers of
all states on Thursday
at 4.30 pm via video
conferencing on the
COVID-19 situation.
The Prime Minister
had also chaired a
meeting to review the
COVID-19 situation in
the country on Janu-
ary 9, through video
conference. During
that review meeting,
PM Modi had stressed
on the need to ensure
adequate health infra-
structure at the dis-
trict level. He had
asked officials to main-
tain coordination re-
garding this with the
states.
In that meeting, he
had said that a meeting
with Chief Ministers
will be convened to dis-
cuss state-specific sce-
narios, best-practices
and the public health
response.
India has witnessed
a surge in COVID-19
cases in the recent past.
According to the Un-
ion Health Minister,
India on Wednesday
reported 1,94,720 new
COVID-19 cases and
442 fatalities. The daily
positivity rate due to
this virus in the coun-
try is 11.05 per cent.
Active cases account
for 2.65 per cent of the
total cases. —ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Bikram Singh Majithia

NEWS
07
CAREER
BUREAUCRATS
OR TYPICAL
POLITICIANS?
We all know that the Indian
corporate sector loves ex-
bureaucrats, especially those
who have held key positions.
Well, the fad seems to have
caught up with the ruling BJP in
UP also. We all know some of
these high-profile former
servants like S Jai Shankar,
Hardeep Puri, RK Singh, Ajit
Doval, etc helm important
ministries/positions in the Modi
government. But the manner in
which two serving officers,
Kanpur Commissioner Asim
Arun and joint director of
Enforcement Directorate (ED),
Rajeshwar Singh, sought and
were immediately VRS to join
BJP ahead of UP assembly polls
2022 has raised eye-browse and
once again revived a mandatory
cooling-off period for babus
before joining politics. Rules for
the all-India services require that
officials undergo a “cooling-off
period” of a year after they retire
and before they can join a private
firm. But there is no bar on their
seeking VRS to contest polls.
While it is unreasonable to
expect a complete bar on retired/
serving bureaucrats taking up
new roles, there is certainly a
need to ensure their post-
retirement jobs are not seen as
“reward” for work done by them
while in office. Last year, none
other than the Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC) had directed
that a cooling-off period should
be mandatorily imposed on all
retired government officials
before they can take up other
jobs in the private
sector. Evidently, at the time, the
CVC did not envision babus
joining politics but now should,
given the number of babus who
are quitting the civil service to
join politics, and often the ruling
party which they until recently
served. —M Tariq Khan
RUCKUS OVER
RESIGNATION
After the announcement of the
dates was made for the Uttar
Pradesh assembly elections, a lot
of turmoil has been witnessed in
the political parties. The sudden
resignation of ministers and MLAs
has heated up the politics of the
state. In this regard, as soon as
SP’s possible candidate for
Etmadpur assembly seat in Agra,
former MLA Dr. Dharampal Singh
announced to take membership of
BJP, the present MLA and his
supporters have come out in
protest. The supporters of the
MLA reached the Braj area office
with their resignation and created
a ruckus. Etmadpur’s seat in Agra
is considered one of the important
seats of the district. As soon as
SP leader and former MLA Dr.
Dharampal Singh joined BJP in
Delhi’s BJP office, the party
workers protested in Agra. At
present, BJP MLA Ram Pratap
Singh and his supporters have
protested against the party and
objected to this decision. BJP
MLA Rampratap Singh even
raised the question that what was
the compulsion that a defector
was able to join the party. MLA
Rampratap said that he is trying
to contact the office-bearers but
no one is answering the calls. He
also added that he is deeply
saddened that the party has
forgotten its original worker.
—Preeti Nagia
SP TRYING TO WIN NON-YADAV OBC VOTERS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: At a time
when the Samajwadi
Party has been trying to
throw away the “Yadav
tag” the induction of
BJP deserter Swami
Prasad Maurya into the
SP is being seen as a big
catch for the party
which has almost en-
tered the bipolar contest
with the saffron bri-
gade. Minus Yadavs, the
BJP has been trying to
keep non-Yadav OBCs
consolidation intact.
This has been part of
the BJP electoral strat-
egy since the 2014 Lok
Sabha poll. The party
never looked at Yadav
and Jatav constituen-
cies in successive elec-
tions and it yielded
positive results as other
OBC and non-Jatavs
gravitated towards it.
However, SP, which
thrived on the Yadav-
Muslim (MY) combina-
tion and occasionally
succeeded in getting the
support of some seg-
ments of backward
communities, like in
2012, has now been des-
perately trying to come
out of “only Yadavs par-
ty” narrative and carve
out a permanent base in
non-Yadav OBCs also. It
is here the arrival of a
prominent OBC leader
Swami Prasad Maurya
matters for the SP
.
Similarly accused of
“Muslim appeasement”
the SP has also been
maintaining the same
distance from the com-
munity
,withTINA(there
is no alternative) factor
working in the commu-
nity in this connection.
So as the poll jugger-
naut further rolls out the
SP
, while making efforts
tokeepawayfromthe“M-
Y” slogan, has been mak-
ing real efforts to become
a party of all OBCs and
not just Yadavs to refute
the BJP oft-repeated as-
sertion that “if SP comes
to power only Yadavs
would rule the roost.”
The SP is hoping that
Mauryawouldhelpinits
drive to widen the party
base, especially in east
UP
. He enjoys consider-
able influence over eight
per cent OBCs consist-
ing of Maurya, Kushwa-
ha, Shakya, Sani sub-
communities. With Swa-
mi Prasad on board, the
SP could broaden its ap-
peal to the OBCs. Apart
from east UP
, Swami
Prasad has been active
in Rai Bareli, Shahje-
hanpur, Badaun areas
where there is the domi-
nance of the Maurya-
Kushwaha community
.
It is for this reason SP
has also aligned with
Mahan Dal led by Kes-
hav Maurya who has
some influence in
theRoohelkhandregion.
In 2014 and 2017 non-
Yadav OBCs had played
a dominant role in en-
suring the victory of
the BJP. Thus, Swami
Prasad could be benefi-
cial for the SP in 2022. In
fact, after Yadavs and
Kurmis (out of a total 52
per cent OBCs) Maurya-
Kushwaha is the third-
largest chunk with
around 8% population.
In the 52% OBC vote
bank around 43 per cent
belonged to non-Yadav
OBCs, in which the BJP
had made a strong base
and now the SP has
been trying to dent it.
Samajwadi Party has been making efforts to throw away ‘Yadav tag’ to connect with non-Yadav OBCs to sail through 2022 polls
Akhilesh Yadav with SP leaders and allies in Lko on Wednesday.
AKHILESH YADAV OFFERS HIS
CHAIR TO APNA DAL (K) CHIEF
Lucknow: As a part of high political gesture and
respect, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav during a meeting
today offered his chair at SP headquarters in Luc-
know to Apna Dal (K) president Krishna Patel, who
is mother of BJP ally and union minister of state
Anupriya Patel. The meeting was aimed at consoli-
dating ties with non-Yadav OBC communities, and
was attended by Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party
chief OP Rajbhar, Shivpal Yadav and others. Yadav
said the meeting was held with all the SP allies to
chalk out action plan for the election.
MAGH MELA SET TO
BEGIN FROM JAN 14
MSME gave employment
to 3.28 cr through ODOP
in state, says government
Prayagraj: Prepara-
tions for Magh Mela,
which is scheduled to
be held on January 14,
has been upscaled in
Prayagraj. Magh Mela
is an annual festival
thatisheldinthemonth
of Magha (according to
the Hindu calendar)
near river banks and
Hindu temples.
The devotees take the
holy dip at Sangam, the
confluence of Yamuna,
Ganga, and mythologi-
cal Saraswati, on the oc-
casion of Paush Purni-
ma. During the entire
month of Magh Mela,
the pilgrims stay on the
banks of Sangam in
tents and take an early
morning bath and par-
ticipate in other reli-
gious duties. Speaking
to ANI regarding the
preparations for the
mela, Senior Superin-
tendent of Police Ra-
jeev N Mishra said,
“The Magh Mela is go-
ing to commence from
January 14. All the prep-
arations by the police
are in place.
The police here will
ensure that only those
whohavetestednegative
for COVID-19 will be al-
lowedtoenterthemela.”
“While carrying out the
preparations,asmanyas
7 police personnel tested
positive for COVID-19.
These police officials
have self-isolated them-
selves and are adhering
to the COVID-19 proto-
cols,” he said. —ANI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: MSMEs, the
growth engine of the
state, have provided em-
ployment to more than
3.28 crore people in 75
districts of the state.
This has come to the
fore in the employment
survey based on loans
taken from banks.
The Department of
MSME and Export Pro-
motion conducted a sur-
veytofindouthowmany
people were employed
by MSMEs and small
businesses who had tak-
en loans from banks. In
the survey, around 11
lakhbankaccountswere
randomly selected out
of 95 lakh bank loan ac-
counts, along with phys-
ical verification of ben-
eficiary details.
As per the survey re-
ports, about 56 lakh jobs
have been generated
through these bank ac-
counts.Thegovernment
has always prioritised
the MSME sector to im-
prove employment po-
tential along with em-
ployment generation.
The state government
started Mission Rozgar,
which aims to provide
training and skills to the
people and provide em-
ploymentopportunities.
The MSME sector has
proved to be the major
force in this regard.
Large-scaleemployment
opportunities have been
created.Apartfromthis,
the government has
started the One District
One Product Scheme,
which has proved to be
important in the indus-
trialisation of small dis-
tricts rural areas. —PTI
FIRE OF FAITH
Activists of Hindu Kalyan Mahasabha try to immolate themselves as they stage a
protest over the demolition of a Hanuman temple by the Municipal Corporation at
Sultanganj, in Agra on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
A makeshift pontoon bridge being made for the upcoming Magh
Mela festival on the Ganga river, in Prayagraj. —PHOTO BY ANI
Sisodia promises to address problems
of people displaced by Tehri dam
New Tehri: AAPleader
Manish Sisodia on
Wednesday said if elect-
ed to power, his party
will address the prob-
lems of people displaced
by Tehri dam, and en-
sure that Rs 1,100 crore
that goes to UP as its rev-
enuesharefromthedam
comes to Uttarakhand.
He asked the people to
give a chance to AAP af-
ter having elected the
BJP and Congress alter-
nately to power for so
many years, saying
Arvind Kejriwal alone
has the solution to their
problems. “It is unfortu-
nate that the problems
of people displaced by
the Tehri dam persist
even today
. We will also
ensure that the Rs 1100
crore that goes to UP as
its share from Tehri
dam, comes to Uttara-
khand. It will be enough
to give 300 units of elec-
tricity free to every
household in the state,”
Sisodia told reporters.
Why should Uttara-
khand’s rightful share
of revenue generated by
Tehri dam go to UP de-
spite so many years of
its creation, he asked.
Earlier, Sisodia did
door-to-door campaign-
ing for AAP candidate
TrilokSinghNegiinBau-
rariareaof thetown,and
said the party will bring
the Delhi model of devel-
opment to Uttarakhand
if voted to power. —PTI
Manish Sisodia
AIMIM
party
workers
booked
Muzaffarnagar:
The AIMIM’s Mu-
zaffarnagar dis-
trict president and
dozens of party
workers were
booked for alleg-
edly violating the
model code of con-
duct and coronavi-
rus norms by or-
ganising a public
meeting here on
Tuesday, officials
said. Intazar 23
other party work-
ers were booked
under sections of
the IPC, Disaster
Management Act
and the Epidemic
Disease Control
Act for their public
meeting at Inniya-
zupura village un-
der Kotwali police
station, SHO
AnandDevMishra
said. However, In-
tazar said they had
not organised any
public meeting
there but party
workers had gath-
ered for a ticket to
contest the assem-
bly polls in the
state. The Election
Commission has
banned any physi-
cal rally or cam-
paign gathering
for the state assem-
bly polls till Janu-
ary 15 in view of
the escalating co-
rona situation.—PTI
FOR THE GROWTH
‘We will ensure
that the Rs 1100
cr that goes to
UP as its share
from Tehri dam,
comes to
Uttarakhand’
The police official added, “There are 16 entry
points for the mela. All the people involved in the
mela have to be double vaccinated. It is a chal-
lenging task, but Uttar Pradesh Police is fully
prepared.” State Minister Sidharth Nath Singh also
briefed about the preparations. He said, “COV-
ID-19 protocols will be strictly observed. Several
arrangements have been done to make it safest
Magh Mela in view of COVID-19.”
‘COVID PROTOCOLS TO BE STRICTLY OBSERVED’
ACS, MSME, Navneet Sehgal inspects an ODOP stall at at Dilli
Haat in Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
MLA Dr Dharampal Singh

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
55,23,788
TOTAL DEATHS
26,19,00,448
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,70,05,950
ACTIVE CASES
31,44,30,186
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,84,655
TOTAL DEATHS
3,46,30,536
TOTAL RECOVERED
9,55,319
ACTIVE CASES
3,60,70,510
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
A very Happy Lohri to all of us!
May our granaries overflow and
no one go to sleep hungry!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
IN THE COURTYARD
PILinAllahabadHCseeking
postponementofUPpolls
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A Public
Interest Litigation
(PIL) plea has been
moved in the Alla-
habad High Court
seeking postponement
of elections for the Ut-
tar Pradesh Legisla-
tive Assembly in view
of the COVID surge.
While seeking a di-
rection to the Election
Commission of India
to hold the said elec-
tions in April and May
2022 (rather than Feb-
ruary and March 2022),
the petitioner has also
prayed for quashing of
the election schedule
fixed by the Election
Commission.
The PIL moved by
Atul Kumar and an-
other (who are intend-
ing to contest the elec-
tions) through Advo-
cate Ashok Pandey
submits that in an-
nouncing the date of
polling, there has been
non-application of
mind on the part of the
Election Commission.
The plea submits
that the petitioners are
willing to contest the
elections of the U.P.
State Assembly, how-
ever, since the same is
taking place amid the
COVID pandemic,
therefore, they are un-
able to contest the
same. The PIL argues
that as per the law, the
general election of
Parliament and As-
sembly is to be held
after the dissolution of
the Assembly or Lok
Sabha, or when their
term is about to expire
and this, the PIL ar-
gues, means, that the
U.P. Assembly elec-
tions should be held
only after the comple-
tion of the term of the
existing Assembly
.
PFI activists, PhD
scholar move HC for
copy of charge sheet
Mathura: A PhD
scholar and two oth-
ers facing charges of
terror funding aimed
at spreading unrest
in the wake of the
gangrape-cum mur-
der of a Dalit woman
in a Hathras village
has moved the Alla-
habad High Court
for securing the
charge sheet in their
case from the trial
court.
The PhD-cum-al-
leged-PFI activist
Atiq ur Rehman
moved the court al-
leging that they have
not been provided
with a copy of the
charge sheet and oth-
er prosecution docu-
ments to defend
themselves in the
case despite the same
having been submit-
ted to the court in
April 2021, his coun-
sel Shashwat Anand
said here.
Rehmanhasmoved
the high court along
with Alam and
Masood, their coun-
sel Shashwat Anand
said, adding the Kera-
la journalist has not
approached the court
on the issue.
Rehman and two
others had been ar-
rested along with al-
leged PFI activist-
cum-Kerala journal-
ist Siddique Kappan
from a Mathura po-
licestationareawhile
on their way to the
Dalit woman’s village
in Hathras on Octo-
ber 5, 2020. — PTI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Al-
lahabad High Court
has made a scathing
remark on the arbi-
trary and illegal ac-
tion of UP govern-
ment officials of
the Business Tax
Department with
traders.
A single-judge
bench of Justice Pi-
yush Agrawal ob-
served that the
state government
have tried to create
an atmosphere for
free flow of trade
and commerce so
that a good busi-
ness environment
can be developed in
Uttar Pradesh,
which can be used
for development
purpose but the
state authorities
are bent upon har-
assing the state’s
trading community.
‘GOVT OFFICIALS
SHOULDN’T
HARASS
TRADERS’
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: The tradi-
tional election cam-
paigning method has
gone out of practice in
the 2022 assembly elec-
tions in the wake of the
Covid surge. Now, the
digital medium is being
aggressively used to
support the mainstream
campaign and the elc-
tion war is being fought
from the war room of
the IT cell of the politi-
cal parties in UP
.
The BJP has a dedi-
cated network of IT
cells in place, ever since
the 2014 general elec-
tion. It is apparently
prepared with its well
oiled organizational
machinery and strong
resources for hybrid
election campaign. The
door-to-door campaign
and digital campaign
are being carried out
simultaneously. The
party is implementing a
mega plan to reach out
to every house falling
under 1.74 lakh polling
booths within all 403 as-
sembly segments.
The digital wing of
the SP is also carrying
out the task with full en-
grossment. All the MPs-
MLAs, party office bear-
ers and workers have
been instructed to digi-
tally connect more and
more people. The press
conference of Akhilesh
Yadav has already been
sent through live links
on WhatsApp groups
and social platforms.
The Congress claims
that the party’s pres-
ence in the digital world
has increased signifi-
cantly due to its ‘Prak-
shan Se Parakram’
campaign. An army of
two lakh trained party
workers has been pre-
pared through more
than 1800 camps, which
have become particu-
larly proficient in using
social media. Social me-
dia teams of BSP, Aam
Aadmi Party and RLD
have also become very
active.
According to experts,
the digital world is the
game of money
, to make
the campaign effective
and ensure wider pub-
lic reach, the level of
expenditure will also be
higher. But barring the
big parties, small par-
ties and those contest-
ing elections in an indi-
vidual way are feeling
themselves in a vulner-
able position in the dig-
ital arena as they are
severely short of re-
source and infrastruc-
ture. That is why the
demand for the level
play field has started
gaining momentum.
Big parties leverage IT power to
reach voters, smaller ones sulk
BJP, SP and
Cong go digital
full throttle
Smaller parties
suffer resource
crunch
Teams of experts
have been appoint-
ed for each social
media platform.
Twitter, Whatsapp,
FB experts have
been included. A
campaign to con-
nect with the public
is being launched
through Google
Meet, Zoom meet-
ing and WhatsApp
video call.
AGGRESSIVE
CAMPAIGNING
ZERO TOLERANCE
Nursing staff of Banaras Hindu University performing a ‘Hawan’ as part of a protest against
the alleged thrashing of one of their colleagues by the medical superintendent of Sir Sunder
Lal Hospital of BHU, Professor KK Gupta, in Varanasi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a massive
hit to the BJP
, a total of
six BJP leaders includ-
ing 2 top ministers and 4
MLAs have quit the par-
ty to join the opposition
SP in the state ahead of
the 2022 state assembly
elections.
A bunch of resigna-
tions in poll-bound UP,
including that of a min-
ister in the state gov-
ernment, Swami Pras-
ad Maurya quit the
party and joined the SP
on Tuesday
. In his resig-
nation letter addressed
to CM Adityanath,
which he later posted
on social media, Mau-
rya said he “worked
with dedication despite
following a divergent
ideology” but was re-
signing “because of the
grave oppression of
Dalits, OBCs, farmers,
unemployed and small
businessmen“.
Hours after Maurya’s
resignation, the party
MLA from Tindwari as-
sembly seat in Banda,
Brijesh Kumar Praja-
pati, and Bilahur MLA
Bhagwati Sagar also
resigned from its pri-
mary membership.
MLA from Bidhuna Vi-
nay Shakya has also re-
signed from the party
.
Whereas, MLA
Roshan Lal Verma from
Tilhar Sahahjanpur
who quit BJP along with
his supporters said he
had been feeling suffo-
cated for the past five
years. Following the
lead, a second minister
from the Yogi Adity-
anath cabinet, Dara Sin-
gh Chauhan has quit the
party
. He is the second
OBC leader after Mau-
rya to quit the party
. He
too has joined the SP
.
First India Bureau
New Delhi/ Dehra-
dun: The Congress on
Wednesday removed
its former Uttara-
khand unit chief
Kishore Upadhyay
from all positions for
anti-party activities,
pending further action
in the matter.
Upadhyay is the
chairman of the Utta-
rakhand Congress Co-
ordination Committee
and is a member of the
state Congress Core
Committee and the Ut-
tarakhand Congress
Pradesh Election Com-
mittee.
The Congress’ in-
charge of Uttarakhand
affairs Devendra Ya-
dav, in a letter to Upad-
hyay, accused him of
“hobnobbing” with the
BJP and other political
parties.
6 leaders quit BJP to
join SP ahead of polls
Cong removes ex-U’khand unit chief
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: Election
Commission of India
on Wedmesday nomi-
nated 53 IAS officers
and 13 IPS officers of
the state as observers
for the upcoming
assembly elections
in five states of the
country.
The Election Com-
mission has also an-
nounced a training
programme for a total
of 66 observers ahead
of the assembly elec-
tions in Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Punjab,
Goa and Manipur.
Special Secretary
Appointment IS Dhan-
anjay Shukla has sent
a letter to the Chief
Electoral Officer re-
garding the relaying of
the information of be-
ing selected as election
observers to the select-
ed officers.
Officers posted in Del-
hi, who have been se-
lected as observers,
have been called for a
briefing meeting at Vi-
gyan Bhawan New Del-
hi while officers post-
ed outside Delhi have
been called for a brief-
ing meeting at Uttar
Pradesh 112 Bhawan
Gomtinagar Extension
in Lucknow which will
be held in virtual
mode.
All the officers se-
lected for the post have
been instructed to en-
sure their presence in
the meeting on time.
The names of 53 IAS
officers include Dr.
Hari Om, Dr. Hira Lal,
Dr. Akhilesh Kumar
Mishra, Amod
Kumar, Yogesh Kumar,
Sukhlal Bharti, Uday-
bhan Tripathi, among
others while the
names of the 13 IPS
officers include Dr.
Ramkrishna Swarna-
kar, Anees Ahmed An-
sari, Amit Chandra,
Navneet Sekera, Dhar-
mendra Singh, among
others.
53 IAS, 13 IPS officers of state nominated as observers for assembly polls
NEW RESPONSIBILITY

The Election
Commission has
announced a
training
programme for
66 observers
ahead of the
elections in UP,
U’khand, Punjab,
Goa Manipur
Dr Hariom Dr Heera Lal Akhilesh Mishra Sukhalal Bharati Ramkrishna Swarnakar Anees Ahmad Ansari
Atiq ur Rehman

LUCKNOW, THURSDAY
JANUARY 13, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ohri being
thefirsttradi-
tionalfestival
of the year, is
celebrated
with im-
mense love,
laughter and happi-
ness all around. Cel-
ebrated on January
13, Lohri marks the
endof thewintersol-
stice and is also a
majorharvestfesti-
val.FirstIndiacel-
ebrated the festi-
val with joy and
togetherness,
J a g d e e s h
C h a n d r a
greeted eve-
ryoneonthe
occasion,he
said, “We
are glad to
host this small cel-
ebration so that
the people out
there can safely
rejoice and cher-
ish the festive
spirit with their
friends and fam-
ily
.” He also re-
minded everyone
tokeepCovidprotocolsin
mind.
The evening was replete
with all the elements of the
best of festivities with
bonfires, amazing food,
traditional sweets, Pun-
jabi music and lots of
singing and games.
Shweta Mishra Awasthi
anchored the special
show and the games.
Ashok Singh, Gaurav
Gaur, Yogesh Mishra,
Pawan Tank, Kapil Raj
and Harish Soni were
present as were the stun-
ning models from their
organisations.
The renowned band and
dance troupe Desi Boyz set
fire to the evening with Sim-
ran’s performance drawing
a lot of appreciations and
dance moves too.
Turn to P10-11
The lighting of bonfire during this winter festival
is an ancient tradition. City First brings to you
some glimpses from the First India festive
celebration we wish you a very Happy Lohri!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Shweta Mishra Awasthi
Shivani Jakhar, Kiran Kanwar, Nikita Soni, Simran Singh Khenchi and Sonali Yadav grooving on bhangra beats
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

SUNIL
SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra lights the holy
Lohri fire flanked by Ashok Singh,
Shweta Mishra Awasthi, Yogesh Mishra,
Gaurav Gaur, Pawan Tank, along with
Divija, Simran, Swati, Akanksha,
Sapna, Himadri, Preksha, Jahnvi,
Sapna and Mona
Watch this special First
India Lohri celebration
show on 13 January at 7:55
pm and on 14 January at
8:25 pm, only on First India
News!
L
Divija Gambhir, Poonam Sharma and Sapna Singh
Simran Kashyap

10-11
ETC
...The girls had a thor-
oughly wonderful time
as they hipped and
hopped and swayed to
the bhangra tunes and
Punjabi numbers. The
beautifully decorated
surroundings added a
joyous flavour to the
evening making it a
memorable one. Lohri
is truly all about toast-
ing traditional gaiety
and fervour, relishing
delectable food and put-
ting your best foot for-
ward when you step
out. Singing and danc-
ing form an intrinsic
part of the celebrations.
People wear their
brightest clothes and
come to dance the bhan-
gra and gidda to the
beat of the dhol. Pun-
jabi songs are sung, and
everybody rejoices. Sar-
son da saag and makki
di roti is usually served
as the main course at a
Lohri dinner. Lohri is a
great occasion that
holds great importance
for farmers. However,
people residing in ur-
ban areas also celebrate
Lohri, as this festival
provides the opportu-
nity to interact
with family and
friends.
In the evening,
people gather for
‘Parikrama’ and
munchies like
popcorn, puffed
rice as well as re-
wari are put in the
bonfire as a thank-
ful offering.
Sugarcanes are
also ‘offered’ into the
bonfire. This spreads a
fragrance of burning
sugar all over making it
a very sweet evening.
MUBARAK HO TENU,
LOHRIDATYOHAAAR...
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Sunil, Aditi, Srishty, Vishakha, Muskan, Tanu, Preeti, Angel, Chahak, Poonam, Ayushi, Riya, Ashok, Gaurav, Shweta, Dimple, Sonali, Megha, Shivani, Nikita, Simran, Kiran, Shreya and Taruna
Shivani, Kiran, Nikita and Sonali grooving on Desi Boyz band
Jagdeesh Chandra with Sudhanshu Mathur and Shishir Awasthi
Jagdeesh Chandra with Shaan, Aditi and Sunil
Mona Gautam and Mittali Kaur
Sakshi Bhogal Yogesh Mishra and Pawan Tank Artist Simran during the spectacular performance with Desi Boyz band Vishakha Mathur, Swati Jangid, Tanu Choudhary, Srishty Khatri, Akanksha Bhalla and Pearl Agarwal
Bhangra
dancers
enjoying
the
music
Poonam, Vishakha, Megha, Ayushi,
Dimple and Shweta during the magical
dance performance
Sapna Singh, Himadri Bhatnagar, Preksha Purnam,
Bhavna Vaishnav and Jahnvi Soni caught in a candid moment
FROM PG 1
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA SUNIL SHARMA
Kavita Pant and Moni Sharma
Kapil Raj and Harish Soni

F
or the first time
in Uttar Pradesh,
a four-day camp
of painters honoured
with Padma Shri and a
National Award will be
held from January 13 to
16 in Lucknow. Senior
and young artists, both
of whom have received
India’s highest honour,
will collaborate on
their colours and lines.
The camp will be
inaugurated on
January 13 at 12:30
PM in Lucknow. The
venue is Genesis Club,
Grand Rose Cottages,
(Genesis Club Com-
pound) Near Atal Club,
Kursi Road, Lucknow.
Accordingtothecamp’s
organiser and young
painter Bhupendra Ku-
mar Asthana, the ma-
jor guest senior artist
and art critic is Histo-
rian Akhilesh Nigam.
He also said that the
artists participating in
the camp will create
artworks in their styles
during this camp. An
exhibition of these ar-
tefacts will be displayed
at the closing ceremony
of the camp along with
the work of guest art-
ists. Dr Vandana Se-
hgal, the curator of
this art camp said,
there are nine painters
in this camp, includ-
ing Padmashree
Vijay Sharma of
Kangra style,
Gond painting
painter Padmashree
Bhajju Shyam, and
Bhil painter Pad-
mashree Bhuri Bai.
12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
MAJOR QUADIR:13th MR INDIA
verything is a
dream until
you make it
your passion
and determi-
nation to
transform it
into an achievement.
The excursion of Ab-
dul Quadir Khan, an
engineer turned I n -
dian Army
Major who
made fit-
ness and
b o d y -
building
his sole
purpose
of life, went
ahead to be-
come International
Bodybuilding and Fit-
ness Federation (IBFF)
13th Mr India Senior
National Bodybuild-
ing and Physique
Sports Championship
2021.
Major Abdul Quadir
Khan holds his roots
in Lucknow and is now
stationed at Jabalpur,
Madhya Pradesh.
The Indian Army
major also holds many
prestigious accolades
like winning Gold
MedalinBodyWeight
Category at Uttar
Pradesh Bodybuild-
ing Championship,
winning a silver medal
in Asian Bodybuilding
and Physique Sports
Championship 2019
and securing 4th place
in the 12th World Body-
building and Physique
Sports Championship
2021.
Talking about his
genesis in the field of
athletic bodybuilding,
Abdul Quadir said, “I
was an athletic kid
since childhood. I was
drawn towards many
sports like volleyball,
long jump, high jump
etc. but it wasn’t until
my engineering degree
that my affinity to-
wards weightlifting
grew. The four years of
my degree were the
foundation of my ath-
letic bodybuilding
journey
.”
Sharing in-
sights on how the
Indian Army helped
Khan perfect his pas-
sion, he said, “The In-
dian Army propelled
me to further develop a
lifestyle of discipline
and focus. It helped me
become tough around
working round the
clock. Be it by provid-
ing facilities like gym-
nasiums, pools and
outdoor activities or
the genuine backing
throughout. Ever since
my days of being post-
ed as lieutenant to cap-
tain to now a major,
the support from
the Army has been
immense.”
Speaking on how
Abdul prepared for the
c h a m p i o n s h i p s ,
Quadir said, “After be-
ing stationed in Jabal-
pur, I was introduced
to the slew of skilled
and experienced
Army Coaches who
guided and trained
me according to
the needs of these
championships,
straight from
setting the
goals for the
right amount
of diet to dif-
ferent exer-
cising rou-
tines in
morning and
e v e n i n g .
Apart from
this, the men-
tors and fellow
athletes shared
their knowledge
too.”
Working on the
posting of a
major and overseeing
it with being a pro ath-
lete, Quadir echoed the
sense of camaraderie.
He said, “To maintain
a balance between my
passion and profes-
sion isn’t always easy
but the senior officials
help a lot. They moti-
vate me to focus on
weightlifting as when
I live up to the title it
brings accolades not
just to me but the
whole com-
pany
.”
MONICA PRABHAKAR
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CITY FIRST, MAJOR
ABDUL QUADIR KHAN SHARED INSIGHTS ABOUT HIS JOURNEY
TO WINNING THE TITLE OF IBFF’S 13TH MR INDIA
E
BLUE SKIES FREE LIVES Beautiful flock of birds was seen flying over Gomti river in the blooming sunlight after the pleasant weather revealed a blue sky on Wednesday.
The birthday of IAS Saumya
Pandey, and IPS Bhajani Ram
Meena was on Wednesday,
January 12. We wish them all
the best!
Harmony
MITRA
I
n a village in Firo-
zabad, a northern
state of Uttar
Pradesh, a woman
died of tetanus be-
cause she used a blouse
to stem the flow of
blood that had a hook
on it covered with
rust. Issues related to
menstruation are still
tabo in many areas of
Indian conservative
society. It is seen that
in the absence of even
a clean piece of cloth,
millions of women use
rags, sand, and ash to
deal with their men-
struation, which en-
dangers their lives.
GOONJ, a Non-Profit
Organisation was
among the first to
bring this taboo sub-
ject and the related
dire need for cloth into
the limelight with
their menstrual
hygiene initiative
named ‘Not Just a
Piece of Cloth’. It
aims to address the
gaps and challenges of
menstrual hygiene and
management for the
last women by engag-
ing comprehensively
with all key stakehold-
ers. It has broken the
culture of shame and
silence around men-
struation in rural and
slums India with a
triple-A approach- Ac-
cess, Awareness and
Affordability. It is mo-
tivating urban
masses to contrib-
ute cloth for mak-
ing ‘MY Pads’ cloth
sanitary pads for
women who struggle
even for this basic.
GOONJ engages wom-
en from nearby slums
at processing centres
in different cities in
making millions of
cloth pads. Male mem-
bers of GOONJ hold
to break the silence
meetings, women are
pleasantly surprised
by how they sensitive-
ly approach this taboo
topic and normalize it.
EVEN TODAY, THERE ARE SOME PARTS WHERE MENSTRUAL
HYGIENE IS A TABOO. ‘NOT JUST A PIECE OF CLOTH’
INITIATIVE IS WORKING TO NORMALISE MENSTRUAL HEALTH!
B’DAY!
GOONJ - A VOICE, AN EFFORT
Abdul Qaudir Khan posing after his glorious win.
Bhuri Bai
Bhajju Shyam Vijay Sharma
File Photo
—PHOTOS BY ASHOK DUTTA

13012022 first india lucknow

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