13042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

IT’SALLSAFFRONINYOGI’SUP:
BJPWINS33OF36MLCSEATS
CM Yogi Adityanath being congratulated by his deputies Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya,
BJP state chief Swatantra Dev Singh and others cabinet ministers in Lucknow on Tuesday.
—PHOTO BY PTI
At an event held in Lucknow on Tuesday in memory of late BJP leader Lalji
Tandon, CM Yogi Adityanath along with Deputy CMs Brajesh Pathak and Keshav
Prasad Maurya, party state chief Swatantra Dev Singh, BJP MLA and Lalji
Tandon’s son Ashutosh Tandon, ACS Info Navneet Sehgal, and other cabinet
ministers and senior officials gathered to pay tribute. Singer Anoop Jalota was
also honoured on the occasion. —PHOTOS BY SUMIT KUMAR
IN MEMORY OF LALJI
CRUCIAL READ
BOMB HURLED AT
NITISH’S JANSABHA
Patna: A bomb was hurled
near Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar’s ‘Jansabha’
(public meeting) site in
Nalanda district. Accord-
ing to reports, it was a
low-intensity bomb that
blasted around 20 feet
away from where the Bihar
CM was present during
the event.
GOVT APPROVES
PROSECUTION
New Delhi: Clearing the
way for cognisance of
CBI chargesheet against
Amnesty International and
its chair Aakar Patel, the
government has granted
the agency sanction to
prosecute the organisa-
tion. CBI sources said the
sanction was received two
days ago.
13 SHOT AT IN SUBWAY STATION IN NEW
YORK, COPS SAY NO ACTIVE EXPLOSIVES
New Delhi: Five people were shot Tuesday morning at
a subway station in Brooklyn, New York. Fire person-
nel responding to reports of smoke at the 36th Street
station in the Sunset Park neighborhood found multiple
people shot and undetonated devices. The fire depart-
ment said 13 people were injured, but there were no de-
tails on what those injuries entailed. Reports indicating
preliminary information said that a suspect fled wearing
a construction vest and a gas mask.
JHARKHAND CABLE CAR ACCIDENT
3 dead,CM Hemant
Soren announces probe
Want “Peaceful
Cooperative”
Ties With India:
Shehbaz Sharif
‘Indian monthly oil
import lesser than EU’s
usage in one noon’
New Delhi: External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar Tuesday said
that India imports less
oil from Russia than Eu-
rope does in an after-
noon when asked about
India’s position on the
Russia-Ukraine war and
its foreign policy goals.
Responding to ques-
tions after the India-US
2+2 meeting between
the two sides, Jais-
hankar said, “I noticed
you refer to oil purchas-
es. If you are looking at
energy purchases from
Russia, I would suggest
that your attention
should be focused on
Europe, which probably
we do buy some energy
which is necessary for
our energy security
. But
I suspect, looking at the
figures, probably our
total purchases for the
month would be less
than what Europe does
in an afternoon.”
Deoghar: The death toll
in the Jharkhand cable
car accident rose to
three on Tuesday after a
woman fell to death
while being rescued.
She was the second per-
son to fall during the
rescue operation and
succumb to injuries. A
third person who was
injured in the accident
on Sunday evening ear-
lier died. Indian Air
Force (IAF) choppers
Tuesday rescued 10 of
the 15 tourists who re-
mained trapped in cable
cars over the Trikut
Hills in Jharkhand’s De-
oghar district for more
than 40 hours following
a technical snag. The
rescue operations had
been briefly halted late
evening on Monday
.
New Delhi: Thanking
Narendra Modi for con-
gratulating him, Paki-
stan’s new Prime Min-
ister Shehbaz Sharif on
Tuesday said that his
country desires peace-
ful and
coopera-
tive ties
with In-
dia.
With-
in min-
utes of
being sworn in as the
PM on Monday, Sharif
was congratulated by
Modi, adding that “In-
dia desires peace and
stability in a region free
of terror, so that we can
focus on our develop-
ment challenges and
ensure the well-being
and prosperity of our
people.”
he virtual meeting between
US President Joe Biden and
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in which the former
hailed India’s humanitarian
approach towards the people
of Ukraine and mentioned
that both the nations are go-
ing to continue close consul-
tation to manage destabilis-
ing effects of this Russian
war, seems to have paved way
for India becoming one of the
world leaders.
The meeting ahead of the
2+2 dialogue between the two
countries in which Biden
said the US and India share
a strong and growing “ma-
jor defence partnership”,
has given a clear signal to
the world that India, un-
der the leadership of
Modi, is no longer going to
play the second fiddle and
has its own influence on
the world stage.
When the war began, it
was Ukraine, that was look-
ing toward India to bail it
out by persuading Russia to
stop the war, but now the
world’s super powers
are banking on In-
dia while recognizing
its
ability and potential. From
the two major global players
- Putin and Biden - to Israeli
PM Neftali Bennet, to UK
Prime Minister Boris John-
son, to Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a
host of other leader; all have
been looking towards Modi
and India’s relations with
countries across the world to
drive home their respective
points and concerns.
India, and Modi in particu-
lar, do not just have a massive
‘goodwill’ among nations, but
also have the ability to pro-
vide a ‘conscious stability’ to
the world affairs, a fact that
global powers have begun to
accept, only over the past few
years. Be it Modi’s ‘hug di-
plomacy’, his ‘covid care’
programstoallpowerful
and weak nations alike,
or his ‘scientific solu-
tion finding ap-
proach’ to modern
problems; all these
combined have ef-
fectively cemented
Modi’s and India’s
place in global lead-
ership as a mindful
world power! Observ-
ersbelievethatUkraine
hasprovidedanoppor-
tunity to Modi to
establish
himself as global leader even
above Biden and Putin.
In fact, the US President
was all praise for India re-
cently when he said, “I want
to welcome India’s humani-
tarian support for the people
of Ukraine, who are suffering
a horrific assault, including
a tragic shelling in a train sta-
tion last week that killed doz-
ens of innocent children and
women and civilians attempt-
ing to flee the violence.”
“The United States and In-
dia are going to continue our
close consultation on how to
manage the destabilizing
ef-
fects of this Russian war,”
Biden said and added, “We
take the same concerns about
the global challenges we face
for Covid-19, advancing
health security and tracking
the climate crisis and we
share a strong and growing
major defence partnership.”
On his part, while giving a
clear indication that India
was bound to play a key role
in resolving conflicts, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi apt-
ly reiterated that India was
hopeful of the “ongoing talks
between Russia and Ukraine
will pave the way for peace.”
“When I came to Washing-
toninSeptemberlastyear,you
saidthatIndia-USpartnership
can contribute to the solution
of many global problems. I
completely agree with you. As
theworld’stwolargestandold-
est democracies,
we are natu-
ral partners,” he added.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
GLOBAL LEADER MODI EMERGES
AS A ‘SUPERPOWER’ OVER BIDEN
AND PUTIN IN UKRAINE CRISIS
Ukraine has provided an opportunity for Modi to establish himself as a global leader,
where everyone in Moscow and Washington DC looks up to Narendra Modi
T
2+2 dialogue between
the two countries in
which Biden said the US
and India share a strong
and growing “major
defence partnership”,
the world that India,
under the leadership
of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, is no
longer going to play the
second fiddle and has its
own influence on the
world stage
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
The United States and India
are going to continue our
effects of this Russian war,”
major defence partnership.
was bound to play a key
role in resolving conflicts,
Modi aptly reiterated that
India was hopeful of the
“ongoing talks between
Russia and Ukraine will
pave the way for peace”
JOE BIDEN
VLADIMIR PUTIN
NARENDRA MODI
PERSPECTIVE
JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 13, 2022
04
www.firstindia.co.in
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ia
l Vol 3 l Issue No. 305
l RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/7776
4.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B.
Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk
Road, Jaipur. Published at 304,
3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das
Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001,
Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
A person can rise through
the efforts of his own mind;
or draw himself down, in
the same manner Because
each person is his own
friend or enemy.
—Bhagavad Gita
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
Under the ongoing public relations
campaign in Himachal Pradesh, today
in the Jhanduta assembly of Bilaspur,
the name of Vijaypur booth president
Smt. Jamna Devi was honored. It is
these activists who have made the
Bharatiya Janata Party resound all over
the country today.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
The demise of Dr. R. Venkatapathy is
a big loss for news industry in India.
He played an instrumental role in
taking the Tamil daily Dinamalar to its
heights. My deepest condolences to
the bereaved family members and the
staff of Dinamalar.
TOP TWEETS
IN DIRE STRAITS,
LANKA RESORTS TO
EMERGENCY STEP
OF LOAN DEFAULT
ri Lanka’s Prime
Minister Mahinda
Rajapaksa said on
Monday that his gov-
ernment will tide
over the economic crisis the way
it finished off the LTTE to end
the 30-year war. Mahinda is the
elder brother of President Got-
baya Rajapaksa. Under intense
public pressure to resign, Prime
Minister Mahinda is clinging on
to power even as the situation in
the country is turning from bad
to worse. A proof of the gloomy
situation came on Tuesday
when Lankan finance ministry
announced that it would be de-
faulting on all its external debt
of $51 billion as it has run of
foreign exchange to pay for im-
ports. For a nation grappling
with severe shortage of food,
fuel and medicines this was an
emergency measure.
The Rajapaksas are in no
mood to oblige either the opposi-
tion with their resignation.
They expect countries like India
to bail them out with supplies of
essentials. So far India, which
has managed its economy better
than its neighbours, has not dis-
appointed.
S
ensuring India for
its human rights
record, US Secre-
tary of State An-
tony Blinken said
in the presence of External
Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jais-
hankar and Defence Minister
RajnathSinghthattheUSwas
monitoringtherecentsurgein
human rights abuses in India.
“…we are monitoring some
recent concerning develop-
mentsinIndiaincludingarise
in human rights abuses by
some government, police and
prison officials,” Blinken said
at a joint press briefing. His
comments came days after US
Representative
Ilhan Omar’s
remark that the US was hesi-
tanttocriticisetheIndiangov-
ernmentforitsallegedhuman
rights abuses. With Blinken
not elaborating his statement
further and Jaishankar mak-
ing no mention of it at the
press conference, not much
should be made out of
Blinken’s statement.
Risingcommunalincidents
in the country targeting and
stigmatising
minorities and
ruling party leaders giving
cover to the troublemakers,
India is emerging more as a
theocratic nation where secu-
larism and democratic princi-
ples are slowly disappearing.
One only has to look at the US,
UK, Australia and New Zea-
land where majority versus
minority debate has seldom
turned into Islamophobia
and
compare with the situation in
India to see where we are
headed.Whetheritisdisallow-
ing Muslims to pray in an
open space despite govern-
mentpermission,threatening
Muslimwomenwithrape,pro-
tests over hijab, boycotting
Muslimtradersandclosureof
meat shops during Hindu fes-
tivals, has divided the society
.
Despite growing conflicts
it is unlikely that the US will
go beyond verbal censure of
India, which it looks at as a
key defence, strategic and
business partner.
ANTONY BLINKEN’S
UNEXPECTED REMARK
Censuring India for its human
rights record, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said in
the presence of External
Affairs Minister Dr. S.
Jaishankar and Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
that the US was monitoring
the recent surge in human
rights abuses in India
C
IN-DEPTH
LUCKNOW l WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 150
Ukraine has provided an opportunity to Modi to
establish himself as global leader, where everyone in
Moscow and Washington DC looks up to Narendra
Modi, writes Shashikant Sharma
GLOBAL LEADER MODI
EMERGES A SUPERPOWER
OVER BIDEN AND PUTIN IN
UKRAINE CRISIS
It was yet another disappointing session for Dalal Street investors as the
benchmark indices extended losses after a gap-down start on Tuesday.
Losses across sectors pulled the headline indices lower, with the 30-share
pack Sensex declining 388 points or 0.66% to settle at 58,576.37.
NIFTY ENDS
BELOW 17,600,
SENSEX FALLS
388 PTS
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/lucknow I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A new political
threat for Kejriwal
Shashikant Sharma
Shimla: A Narendra
Modi and Amit Shah
confidante, a silent per-
former and an unas-
suming cricketman
turned politician, Anu-
rag Thakur, has sud-
denly started giving
sleepless nights to Aam
Aadmi Party supremo
and Delhi Chief Minis-
ter Arvind Kejriwal.
The reason is simple:
Thakur has demolished
Kejriwal’s dreams of
establishing a govern-
ment in the hill state of
Himachal Pradesh.
After having success-
fully brought AAP’s
state chief Anup Kesri
and other office bearers
of the newly formed
party into the BJP fold,
Thakur rubbed salt in
the ‘still fresh’ wounds
of Kejriwal when on
Monday he ensured a
smooth transition from
AAP to BJP of state
chief of AAP’s mahila
morcha-MamtaThakur
along with the deputy
chief and other office
bearers of the women’s
wing, Industries wing
and even the social me-
dia incharge of AAP for
Himachal Pradesh.
This was Anurag
Thakur’s second suc-
cessful ‘surgical
strike’ at AAP, to
which the rival
party has no an-
swer. After the
dual blow, the
leaders of Aam
Aadmi Party are
in a tizy as to what
needs to be done
towards ‘damage
control’. AAP,
which is dreaming
of sitting on the
throne o Himachal, has
suddenly reached the
margins in the state due
to Thakur’s master-
stroke.
Assembly elections
are to be held in
Himachal at the end of
this year.
Lucknow: After regis-
tering a historic second
consecutive win to re-
turn to power for 18th
legislative assembly,
the BJP once again
marked a thumping vic-
tory in legislative coun-
cil polls and won 33
seats, including nine
unopposed out of 36 va-
cant seats.
However, the party
failed to end the monop-
oly of jailed mafia don
Brijesh Singh’s family
in Varanasi seat, as his
wife Annapurna Singh
won in a one-sided con-
test to become MLC for
the second time. She se-
cured 4,234 votes to de-
feat SP’s Umesh Yadav
who bagged 345 votes.
The BJP candidate Su-
dama Patel managed to
fetch 170 votes only
.
Two other seats, such
as Azamgarh-Mau and
Pratapgarh were won by
independentcandidates.
UttarPradeshlegislative
councilhas100seatsand
on April 9, the state went
for a poll on 36 vacant
seats. Once the results
are formally declared,
the BJP will enjoy a ma-
jority in both houses of
Uttar Pradesh for the
first time in decades.
After the landslide
victory in MLC polls,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath extended
congratulations to win-
ning MLCs. In the two
tweetshewrote,“Hearty
congratulations and
best wishes to all the
newly elected members
of the Upper House of
Uttar Pradesh.”
More on P2
Bypolls: Violence
breaks out in Asansol
Elections were held to
Asansol Lok Sabha
seat and four Assem-
bly seats - Ballygunge
in West Bengal,
Khairagarh in Chhat-
tisgarh, Bochahan in
Bihar and Kolhapur
NorthinMaharashtra
on Tuesday
. Barring a
few incidents of vio-
lence, the polling for
WestBengal’sAsansol
Lok Sabha constitu-
ency and Ballygunge
Assembly seat, was
largely peaceful, with
over 52 per cent of eli-
gible voters casting
their votes till 5 pm.
BJP’s candidate Ag-
nimitra Paul alleged
that people from the
Trinamool Congress
hurled stones at her
convoy
, while the po-
lice took no action, ac-
cording to ANI.
BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul leaves after inspecting a
polling booth in Asansol parliamentary constituency.
ANURAG THAKUR
(Top) ITBP personnel evacuate a child during a rescue operation.
(Below) ITBP, NDRF personnel during a rescue operation after the
collision of two cable cars at Trikut Ropeway, in Deoghar.
Union Minister for Information
and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur
P4
—PHOTO
BY
PTI

z US Reaffirms
Support For India’s Bid
In UN Security Council,
Nuke-Club NSG

z US Conveys Full
Support To India’s
Upcoming G20
Presidency
POINTERS
BJP’s Bulldozer
Carrying “Hatred,
Terror”: RaGa
Our goals are absolutely
clear and noble: Putin
New Delhi: Russian
President Vladimir Pu-
tin said on Tuesday that
Moscow’s military oper-
ation in Ukraine would
undoubtedly achieve
what he said were its
“noble” objectives.
Speaking at an awards
ceremony at the Vostoch-
ny Cosmodrome in the
Russian Far East, Putin
was quoted as saying by
Russian news agencies
that said Moscow had no
otherchoicebuttolaunch
a military operation to
protect Russia and that a
clashwithUkraine’santi-
Russian forces had been
inevitable.
“Its goals are abso-
lutely clear and noble,”
Putin said of Russia’s
military campaign.
Putin said the main
objective of Moscow’s
military intervention in
Ukraine was to save
people in the Donbas re-
gionof easternUkraine.
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment should run a
bulldozer over prob-
lems of the people
such as inflation and
unemployment but the
BJP’s bulldozer is car-
rying “hatred and ter-
ror”, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi said on
Tuesday.
His attack on the BJP
came after the
Khargone district ad-
ministration in Madhya
Pradesh started demoli-
tion of at least 50 “ille-
gal” structures of peo-
ple accused of pelting
stones at a Ram Navami
procession.

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022
02
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MLC polls: BJP dominates the show
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The mood at
the BJP office here was
upbeat as jubilant party
workers danced and dis-
tributed sweets to mark
the party’s victory in
the MLC elections.
Not much activity was
seen at the Samajwadi
Party office.
Sources informed
that SP chief Akhilesh
Yadav and some other
leaders were present in
the party office in the
state capital.
The highest victory
margin was of 5,939
votes in the Moradabad-
Bijnor constituency,
where BJP’s Satyapal
Saini defeated Ajay Ma-
lik of the SP.
The victory margin
was the lowest in the
Jhansi-Jalaun-Lalitpur
seat, where Rama
Niranjan of the BJP de-
feated SP’s Shyam
Sundar Singh by 579
votes.
Akshay Pratap Singh
of Jansatta Dal (Lok-
tantrik) defeated BJP’s
Hari Pratap Singh in
Pratapgarh by a margin
of 1,107 votes.
The BJP lost Azam-
garh-Mau seat to inde-
pendent candidate
Vikrant Singh ‘Rishu’
by 2,813 votes.
BJP’s Ravishankar
Singh Pappu, grandson
of former Prime Minis-
ter Chandrasekhar,
won from Ballia seat,
defeating SP’s Arvind
Giri by 1,981 votes.
In the Lucknow-Un-
nao constituency, BJP’s
Ramchandra Pradhan
defeated Sunil Singh
‘Sajan’ by 3,088 votes.
CP Chand of the BJP
defeated Rajnish Yadav
of the SP in Gorakhpur-
Maharajganj seat by a
margin of 4,432 votes.
BJP State President and cabinet minister Swatantra Dev Singh with newly elected Legislative
Council members in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Supporters of Ram Chandra Pradhan, who has been elected as an MLC from Lucknow-Unnao seat,
celebrate his victory in Lucknow on Monday. —PHOTOS BY SUMIT KUMAR
MLC ELECTION RESULTS PROVE
PEOPLE’S FAITH IN PM MODI: CM
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
ruling BJP winning a
masive majority by
bagging 33 out of the
36 legislative council
seats on Tuesday, CM
Yogi said that the re-
sults proved that the
people had immense
faith in BJP and in
the leadership of PM
Narendra Modi.
“With a thumping ma-
jority in the Legisla-
tive Council and the
state Assembly, the
government will be
able to perform much
better”, he said.
CM Yogi —FILE PHOTO
Fate of 95 candidates
decided in MLC polls
First India Bureau
Lucknow: There
were 95 candidates
in the fray and the
polling was held at
739 centres, accord-
ing to UP’s chief
electoral officer.
As many as
1,20,657 people were
eligible to vote in the
polls held on Satur-
d a y .
Nine MLCs from
eight local authority
c o n s t i t u e n c i e s -
-Budaun, Hardoi,
Kheri, Mirzapur-
Sonbhadra, Banda-
Hamirpur, Aligarh,
Bulandshahr and
Mathura-Etah-Main-
puri--have been
elected unopposed.
Two MLCs were
elected unopposed
from the Mathura-
Etah-Mainpuri con-
stituency, while one
MLC each was elect-
ed unopposed from
the remaining con-
stituencies.
In the 100-member
Legislative Council,
the BJP will now
have 67 MLCs, Sama-
jwadi Party 17 and
the Bahujan Samaj
Party four.
The Congress,
Apna Dal (Sonelal)
and the NISHAD
party have one mem-
ber each in the
House.
The teachers’
group has two MLCs
while the Independ-
ent group (Nirdal
Samooh) and Inde-
pendents have one
MLC each.
Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath had
vacated his council
seat recently while
former leader of op-
position Ahmad Has-
san of the SP died in
February this year.
The Congress and
the BSP did not field
any candidate in the
Legislative Council
elections in Uttar
Pradesh, making it a
direct fight between
the BJP and the SP.
FOUL, SAYS SP CHIEF
Avinash Chouhan wins with record number of votes
First India Bureau
Kanpur: BJP candi-
date Avinash Singh
Chouhan from
Fatehpur Kanpur Ur-
ban Kanpur Rural won
from his seat by record
number of votes.
The winning candi-
date got 4619 votes while
SP’s candidate Kallu
Yadav got only 299 votes
which meant that even
with invalid votes
amounting to 172, Avi-
nash Singh Chouhan
won by 4320 votes.
BJP Kanpur-Bun-
delkhand region presi-
dent Manvendra Singh
speaking on the occa-
sion said that such a
huge victory is due to
developmental plans
brought along by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath as well as
the tireless hard work
of the workers of the
party in the most popu-
lous state of Uttar
Pradesh.
A large gathering of
BJP workers was pre-
sent in Fatehpur Collec-
torate along with Uttar
Pradesh Minister of
State Pratibha Shukla,
MLA Poonam Sankh-
war, former MLA Vinod
Katiyar, Fatehpur Dis-
trict President Ashish
Mishra, Rajendra Singh
Chauhan, Anil Shukla,
Warsi, Regional Co-Me-
dia In-charge Anoop
Awasthi Dr. Satish
Shukla among others to
warmly welcome newly
elected MLC Avinash
Singh Chauhan.
Avinash Chouhan with his supporters in Kanpur.
Shivhare registers thumping win in Agra
First India Bureau
Agra: BJP candidate
Vijay Shivhare has reg-
istered a big win by de-
feating SP candidate Dr
Dilip Yadav by 3266
votes in the recently
held Agra-Firozabad
MLC elections.
Counting of ballot pa-
pers took off amidst
tight security at Naveen
Galla Mandi in Shah-
dara from 8 am on Tues-
day. Supporters are
happy after the victory
of BJP candidate.
Counting of votes
ended at 11 am. A total
of 3845 votes were cast
in Agra - Firozabad
seat. In this 105 votes
were rejected. BJP can-
didate Vijay Shivhare
got 3471 votes out of to-
tal 3740 votes. Whereas
SP candidate Dr. Dilip
Yadavgotonly205votes.
BJP candidate Vijay
Shivhare won by a mar-
gin of 3266 votes.
Vijay Shivhare celebrates victory with his supporters.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: On instruc-
tions of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi Ad-
ityanath, a ‘Uttar
Pradesh Special Securi-
ty Force (UPSSF)’ on
the pattern of CISF
(Central Industrial Se-
curity Force) will be
constituted to protect
the state’s important in-
stitutions. Additional
Chief Secretary (ACS),
Home Department,
Awanish Awasthi in-
formed on Tuesday that
a total of 5,124 new
posts have been ap-
proved for constitution
of the UPSSF
In the first phase, 5
battalions of the force
will be constituted, for
which 5,037 posts have
been created.
These battalions will
be established in Luc-
know, Prayagraj,
Mathura, Gorakhpur
and Saharanpur.
The headquarters of
the force will be in Luc-
know, for which 87 posts
have been created, in-
cluding of one Addi-
tional Police Direc-
tor-General, one Police
Superintendent, one
Police Deputy Superin-
tendent, one Comman-
dant, and one Response
Superintendent.
ACS (Home) Awanish
Awasthi informed that
for the five battalions,
posts of five Comman-
dants, five Deputy Com-
mandants, 25 Assistant
Commandants, 163
Camp Sergeants/ Unit
Leaders, 213 Deputy In-
spectors/ Platoon Com-
manders, 853 Chief
Guards, 3,219 Armoury
Guards, 340 Guard Driv-
ers, 5 DRs, 18 SIM/
Chief Clerks/ Comput-
er Operators, 50 ASIs
have been created.
Along with this, posts
of 10 Pharmacists, 5
Telecommunications
(Radio Wing) Radio In-
spectors, 5 Radio Con-
trol Officers, 95 Chief
Drivers, 10 Assistant
Drivers, and 5 Office As-
sistants have also been
created to make sure
that the operations of
UPSSF run in a smooth
and well coordinated
manner.
AIMING FOR BETTER
lll
The special
force to be
headquartered
in Lucknow
will initially
have five
battalions
CM paves way for UP’s own spl security force, 5124 posts approved
PAC BATTALIONS AS UPSSF FOR NOW
Lucknow: ACS, Home, Awan-
ish Awasthi informed that till
land is identified and buildings
constructed for establishment
of UPSSF battalions, spe-
cial PAC (Provincial Armed
Constabulary) battalions will
be temporarily designated
as UPSSF battalions also and the commandants
of these designated PAC battalions will be given
additional charge of UPSSF battalions.
CM YOGI STAYS PUT ON 100-DAY WORK PLAN
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Even as
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath focuses on a
100-day work plan for
every Ministry, BJP
Ministers and legisla-
tors apparently have
other plans to enhance
their popularity. They
are writing letters to
the Chief Minister’s of-
fice seeking change of
names for colleges and
districts.
Taking the cue, UP
Minister Kapil Dev Ag-
garwal has now sent a
letter requesting Yogi
Adityanath to restore
the names of two engi-
neering colleges in Ban-
da and Bijnore districts
after BR Ambedkar.
In the letter, the Minis-
ter has also urged the
Chief Minister to re-
name two other engi-
neering colleges in
Azamgarh and Ambed-
kar Nagar after the
Dalit icon on Ambedkar
Jayanti, which falls on
April 14. A senior offi-
cial in the Chief Minis-
ter’s secretariat denied
that there was any move
to change the names of
districts or other plac-
es.
“The Chief Minister
is focussing on his de-
velopment agenda and
there has been no talk
of name changing as
yet,” he said.
CM Yogi presides over a Covid review meet at Lok Bhawan on
Tuesday. Dy CM Brajesh Pathak, MoS Sandeep Singh ACS (Info)
Awanish Awasthi, ACS (MSME) Navneet Sehgal, PS to CM Sanjay
Prasad, DGP Mukul Goel and other officials were present.
CM Yogi curtails ‘extended’
lunch breaks for officials
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath on Tuesday
curtailed the lunch
break of the state
government employ-
ees to half an hour.
The CM, while ad-
dressing the Team 9
meeting at his resi-
dence, said that he
had received com-
plaints of officials
and employees tak-
inglonglunchbreaks
which was affecting
the work in offices.
Consequently
, the UP
CM has asked the
concerned officials
to ensure that lunch
breaks do not extend
beyond 30 minutes. It
has been a normal
practice for govern-
ment employees to
take their lunch
break at 1.30 pm and
return to work at
around 3.30 pm or 4
pm.
Even senior offi-
cials who go home
for lunch take a
break that extends to
three hours.
AFTER ODOP, UP NOW MULLS ONE
DISTRICT, ONE-SPORT SCHEME
First India Bureau
Gorakhpur: After the
success of the ‘One Dis-
trict One Product’
(ODOP) scheme, the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment is now plan-
ning to start a ‘One Dis-
trict One Sport’ scheme
that will promote
sports.
According to official
sources, the Sports De-
partment has been
asked to prepare a blue-
print for the scheme
and identify popular
sports for each district.
“The CM wants in-
digenous sports to be
promoted through this
new scheme. Water
sports will be an inte-
gral part of the scheme
for districts that are
situated on the banks of
major rivers. The idea
is to encourage the
youth to take to sports
and also hone their
skills,” said an official
of the Sports Depart-
ment.
Sources said that CM
Yogi is keen on young
players from Uttar
Pradesh making a name
for themselves at the
national and interna-
tional levels in sports.
He also wants to revive
indigenous sports that
were losing their pres-
ence in the field of
sports.
On Monday, British
Trade Commissioner
for South Asia Alan
Gemmell had praised
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath’s ‘One District,
One Product’ initiative.
ACS, MSMEs, Navneet Sehgal
holds a virtual dialogue with
the Indian ambassador in
Bahrain, Piyush Srivastava,
on promoting ODOP products
in Bahrain, in Lucknow on
Tuesday.
Awanish Awasthi

UTTAR PRADESH
03
CRUCIAL READ
Potchefstroom: Mumtaz Khan’s brace went in vain as
the Indian women’s hockey team’s dream of reclaiming
a bronze medal from the FIH Junior World Cup went up
in smoke, losing 0-3 in the shoot-out to England after
both the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regulation
time here on Tuesday. Mumtaz, India’s highest scorer
in the tournament with eight strikes, scored two field
goals in the 21st and 47th minutes, but those were
cancelled by Millie Giglio (18th) and Claudia Swain
(58th) to take the third-fourth play-off match to shoot-
out. Olympian Sharmila Devi, skipper Salima Tete and
Sangita Kumari faltered, while England’s Katie Curtis,
Swain and Maddie Axford found the back of the Indian
net to avenge their loss at the same stage in 2013.
VILLAGE GOES
UNDER WATER IN
HYDEL PROJECT
Dehradun: With teary
eyes, residents of Lohari
village looked on help-
lessly as their homes,
farmlands and cowsheds
got submerged in the
waters of the reservoir
built as part of the 120
MW Vyasi hydropower
project in Vikas Nagar
here on Monday. The
district administration
says it is making all
arrangements for the
suitable relocation of the
villagers and adequate
compensation to them,
but the painful mo-
ments of parting with
something so close to
their hearts will forever
remain etched in their
memories. They were
served a 48-hour evic-
tion notice on Saturday
(April 9), officials said.
TWO LUCKNOW
RESIDENTS DIE IN
ROAD ACCIDENT
Etawah: Two residents
of Lucknow died
when the car they
were travelling
in rammed into a
stationary tanker on
the Lucknow-Agra
Expressway here on
Tuesday, police said.
The car was on its way
to Agra from Lucknow
when it rammed into
the tanker watering
plants on the divider
of the expressway
under the Usarahar
police station area,
Superintendent of
Police (rural) Satyapal
Singh said. The vic-
tims were identified as
Om Prakash (30) and
Shahbaz Khalid (25),
both residents
of Lucknow, the
SP said.
MUMTAZ’S GOALS GO IN VAIN AS NDIAN
WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM LOSE TO ENG
Free tablets, phones to Awadh College girls
First India Bureau
Lucknow: As part of
Yogi government’s plan
to make youth techni-
cally competent and fu-
ture-ready the UP high-
er education minister
Yogendra Upadhyay dis-
tributed free tablets and
smartphones at Awadh
Girls’ Degree College in
Lucknow on Tuesday
.
The state government
has set target of distrib-
uting 9.74 lakh tablets
and mobile phones and
the minister said
the process would be ex-
pedited.
“The department of
information technology
has already been told to
include it in its 100-day
action plan.
To ensure the educa-
tion of the youth was
not hindered, the gov-
ernment started online
education (during the
Covid-19 pandemic). But
the youth’s unfamiliari-
ty with modern technol-
ogy was a major obsta-
cle,” Upadhyay said.
“The state govern-
ment has directed the
officers of the depart-
ment to provide tablets
and smartphones to the
youth within the stipu-
lated time,” he said.
He described youth
as “our power, identity
of Uttar Pradesh.” The
college witnessed the
distribution of smart-
phones and tablets to
1,463 girls from the fi-
nal year postgraduate
and undergraduate
classes as part of the
digital initiative (Karlo
Duniya Mutthi Mei)
undertaken by the
Uttar Pradesh govt.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In keeping
with its promise of ‘sab
ka saath, sabka vikas’
the UP government
claims to have built 47
inter colleges in 27 mi-
nority dominated dis-
tricts to ensure they
were not deprived basic
education facilities.
Theeducationinstitu-
tions were constructed
under the Pradhanman-
triJanVikasKaryakram
for socio-economic-edu-
cational empowerment
of Minorities and other
weaker sections of the
society
.
Under the PMJVK, 47
minority dominated dis-
tricts with more than 25
percentpopulationhave
been identified in the
state, on the basis of the
2011 census. About 145
development blocks, 89
municipalities / nagar
panchayats and 15 dis-
trict headquarters have
been identified in these
47 districts, where the
development work is be-
ing carried out. Besides,
over 13 new ITIs have
been constructed under
the PMJVK for skill de-
velopment and in addi-
tiontothem,12ITIshave
alsobecomeoperational.
Drinking water facil-
ities were provided for
the people of that area
through 64 drinking wa-
ter projects. In the first
term of Yogi govern-
ment, new projects
worth Rs 2,014 crore
were approved whose
benefits are being given
to the people of the area
including minority
communities.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The two-day
Bougainvillea Festival
and Summer Plant Sci-
ence Fest at NBRI, Luc-
know was inaugurated
on Tuesday by Brajesh
Pathak Deputy Chief
Minister of the state.
Aseem Arun, former
IPS and current Minis-
ter of State (Indepen-
dent Charge), RK Dhi-
man, Director of SGP-
GIMS, Lucknow and
Prof AK Tripathi at-
tended the evet as spe-
cial guests.
SK Tiwari, Chief Sci-
entist of the Institute
and the Coordinator of
Bougainvillea Festival
presented the outline of
Bougainvillea exhibi-
tion and said that two
flower exhibitions have
already been organised
by the institute but have
never included Bou-
gainvillea, a major sum-
mer plant in them.
He added that this
will be the first time
that such an event has
been organised and
added that efforts will
be taken to explore the
possibilities of opening
this exhibition for the
participation of the
general public in fu-
ture.
In the festival, bou-
gainvillea varieties de-
veloped by the institute
like ‘Begum Sikander’;
‘Shubhra’; ‘BP Pal’; ‘Ar-
juna’; ‘Archana’; ‘Mary
Palmer Special’; ‘Los
Banos Variegata’; ‘Aru-
na’; ‘Dr. P. V
. Sane’ were
put up for view of the
people in attendance.
SK Barik, in his ad-
dress said that the Bou-
gainvillea Festival has
been disrupted for 2
years due to onset of
Covid epidemic and
that even this year, it is
being organised on a
small scale due as a cau-
tious step.
He added that the in-
stitute has been doing
research and develop-
ment work on bougain-
villea for many decades
and a total of 25 variet-
ies of bougainvillea
have been developed by
the institute which will
be showcased to the
public in the form of
bougainvillea exhibi-
tion from next year on-
wards.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: A 7-member
team of European In-
vestment Bank visited
Kanpur on Tuesday to
review the construction
works of Passenger Ser-
vices on Primary Sec-
tion (IIT-Motijheel) and
Underground Section-I
(Chunniganj to Naya-
ganj) of Kanpur Metro
Rail Project.
The tour which lasted
from 12 noon to 5 pm
saw the EIB team study
the provisions made for
environmental protec-
tion under the project
and their effectiveness
as well as the social im-
pact of the metro proj-
ect in the city
. The team
gave the Kanpur Metro
Rail project ‘excellent’
remark in both the para-
metres.
Kanpur Metro have
installed Rapido Bike
Service counters at all 9
metrostationsinthepri-
mary section in order to
enhance last mile con-
nectivity for customers.
The EIB team on the
occasion inaugurated
Rapido bike counter at
Motijheel metro station
and it was later revealed
that a person can book a
ride while standing at
any metro station in the
primary section at a
steep discount of 30 per
cent (per ride) through
the Rapido Bike app.
The EIB team is on a
tour of UPMRC projects
sinceApril9.Itfirstwent
to Agra for a 3-day tour
of the Agra Metro Rail
project,andthenarrived
in Kanpur on Tuesday
. It
will next go to Lucknow
on Wednesday
.
PARTY STALWART
Cabinet minister Swatantra Dev Singh along with Lucknow West MLA Ashutosh Tandon,
son of Lalji Tandon, and Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia paying tributes at the statue of veteran BJP
leader Lalji Tandon on his birth anniversary, in Lucknow on Tuesday.
47newintercollegesbuiltin
minoritydominateddists:Govt
EDUCATION FOR ALL
SABKA VIKAS
Under PMJVK, 47
minority dominated
districts with over 25
per cent population
have been identified
in the state. Besides,
over 13 new ITIs have
also been constructedin
these districts
Knp Metro gets ‘excellent’
in EIB inspection remark
PathakinauguratesNBRIBougainvilleafestival
The European International Bank team at a metro station in Kanpur
Minister for Higher Education Yogendra Upadhyay, former
principal of Awadh Girls Degree College Dr Upma Chaturvedi,
Principal of Awadh Girls Degree College Prof Bina Rai, and LU
Prof Nishi Pandey during smartphones and tablets distribution
programme at Awadh Girls Degree College in Lucknow on
Tuesday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Over 1,400
students
distributed
gadgets by the
state higher
edu minister
TOUR OF UPMRC
First India Bureau
Kanpur: ‘Self Suffi-
ciency in Electricity
Generation’isoneof the
prioritiesof theGovern-
ment of Uttar Pradesh .
To achieve the objec-
tives, the government of
UP setting up a new 660
MW Thermal power
plant at Panki, Kanpur.
To review the work
progress and to resolve
local issues and prob-
lems if any, Commis-
sionerKanpurRajShek-
har visited the site with
officers of UP Power
Generation Corpora-
tion, BHEL, Boiler De-
partment.
This project was sanc-
tioned in 2018.
The foundation stone of
the project was laid
down by PM Modi on
March 8, 2019.
Total cost of the proj-
ect is ₹ Rs 5,816 crore.
It was to be completed in
46 months period.
But because of COVID
issues , the project got
delayed by almost a year
or so.
The officers told the
commissionerthatason
date the physical prog-
ress of the project is
around 70 per cent.
The lighting up of the
project will be achieved
inJanuary2023.Produc-
tion will be started in
Julne 2023. Complete
site development will be
done by October 2023.
This project is spread
in 80 hectares area and
it will give director em-
ployment to around 600
persons and indirect
employment to around
2,000 to 3,000 persons
through ancillary units
in future.
70% work of 660 MW Panki power plant complete
ON FAST TRACK
Kanpur Divisional
Commissioner Raj Shekhar
during inspection of the
thermal power project on
Tuesday.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, Minister Aseem Arun, SGPGI Director
RK Dhiman, Prof AK Tripathi among others at the exhibition.
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR
—PHOTO BY ASHOK DUTTA

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 150
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
he virtual meeting between
US President Joe Biden and
Modi in which the former
hailed India’s humanitarian
approach towards the people
of Ukraine and mentioned
that both the nations are go-
ing to continue close consul-
tation to manage destabilis-
ing effects of this Russian
war, seems to have paved way
for India becoming one of the
world leaders.
2+2 dialogue between the two
countries in which Biden
said the US and India share
a strong and growing “ma-
jor defence partnership”,
the world that India, un-
der the leadership of
Modi, is no longer going to
play the second fiddle and
has its own influence on
the world stage.
When the war began, it
was Ukraine, that was look-
ing toward India to bail it
out by persuading Russia to
stop the war, but now the
world’s super powers
are banking on In-
dia while recognizing its
ability and potential. From
the two major global players
- Putin and Biden - to Israeli
PM Neftali Bennet, to UK
Prime Minister Boris John-
son, to Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a
host of other leader; all have
been looking towards Modi
and India’s relations with
countries across the world to
drive home their respective
points and concerns.
India, and Modi in particu-
lar, do not just have a massive
‘goodwill’ among nations, but
also have the ability to pro-
vide a ‘conscious stability’ to
the world affairs, a fact that
global powers have begun to
accept, only over the past few
years. Be it Modi’s ‘hug di-
plomacy’, his ‘covid care’
programstoallpowerful
and weak nations alike,
or his ‘scientific solu-
tion finding ap-
proach’ to modern
problems; all these
combined have ef-
fectively cemented
Modi’s and India’s
place in global lead-
ership as a mindful
world power! Observ-
ersbelievethatUkraine
hasprovidedanoppor-
tunity to Modi to
establish
himself as global leader even
above Biden and Putin.
In fact, the US President
was all praise for India re-
cently when he said, “I want
to welcome India’s humani-
tarian support for the people
of Ukraine, who are suffering
a horrific assault, including
a tragic shelling in a train sta-
tion last week that killed doz-
ens of innocent children and
women and civilians attempt-
ing to flee the violence.”
“The United States and In-
dia are going to continue our
manage the destabilizing ef-
fects of this Russian war,”
major defence partnership.”
was bound to play a key role
in resolving conflicts, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi apt-
ly reiterated that India was
hopeful of the “ongoing talks
between Russia and Ukraine
will pave the way for peace.”
“When I came to Washing-
toninSeptemberlastyear,you
saidthatIndia-USpartnership
can contribute to the solution
of many global problems. I
completely agree with you. As
theworld’stwolargestandold-
est democracies, we are natu-
ral partners,” he added.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
GLOBAL LEADER MODI EMERGES
AS A ‘SUPERPOWER’ OVER BIDEN
AND PUTIN IN UKRAINE CRISIS
Ukraine has provided an opportunity for Modi to establish himself as a global leader,
where everyone in Moscow and Washington DC looks up to Narendra Modi
T
2+2 dialogue between
the two countries in
which Biden said the US
and India share a strong
and growing “major
defence partnership”,
the world that India,
under the leadership
of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, is no
longer going to play the
second fiddle and has its
own influence on the
world stage
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
The United States and India
are going to continue our
effects of this Russian war,”
major defence partnership.
was bound to play a key
role in resolving conflicts,
Modi aptly reiterated that
India was hopeful of the
“ongoing talks between
Russia and Ukraine will
pave the way for peace”
JOE BIDEN VLADIMIR PUTIN
NARENDRA MODI
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
A person can rise through
the efforts of his own mind;
or draw himself down, in
the same manner Because
each person is his own
friend or enemy.
—Bhagavad Gita
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
Under the ongoing public relations
campaign in Himachal Pradesh, today
in the Jhanduta assembly of Bilaspur,
the name of Vijaypur booth president
Smt. Jamna Devi was honored. It is
these activists who have made the
Bharatiya Janata Party resound all over
the country today.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
The demise of Dr. R. Venkatapathy is
a big loss for news industry in India.
He played an instrumental role in
taking the Tamil daily Dinamalar to its
heights. My deepest condolences to
the bereaved family members and the
staff of Dinamalar.
TOP TWEETS
IN DIRE STRAITS,
LANKA RESORTS TO
EMERGENCY STEP
OF LOAN DEFAULT
ri Lanka’s Prime
Minister Mahinda
Rajapaksa said on
Monday that his gov-
ernment will tide
over the economic crisis the way
it finished off the LTTE to end
the 30-year war. Mahinda is the
elder brother of President Got-
baya Rajapaksa. Under intense
public pressure to resign, Prime
Minister Mahinda is clinging on
to power even as the situation in
the country is turning from bad
to worse. A proof of the gloomy
situation came on Tuesday
when Lankan finance ministry
announced that it would be de-
faulting on all its external debt
of $51 billion as it has run of
foreign exchange to pay for im-
ports. For a nation grappling
with severe shortage of food,
fuel and medicines this was an
emergency measure.
The Rajapaksas are in no
mood to oblige either the opposi-
tion with their resignation.
They expect countries like India
to bail them out with supplies of
essentials. So far India, which
has managed its economy better
than its neighbours, has not dis-
appointed.
S
ensuring India for
its human rights
record, US Secre-
tary of State An-
tony Blinken said
in the presence of External
Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jais-
hankar and Defence Minister
RajnathSinghthattheUSwas
monitoringtherecentsurgein
human rights abuses in India.
“…we are monitoring some
recent concerning develop-
mentsinIndiaincludingarise
in human rights abuses by
some government, police and
prison officials,” Blinken said
at a joint press briefing. His
comments came days after US
Representative Ilhan Omar’s
remark that the US was hesi-
tanttocriticisetheIndiangov-
ernmentforitsallegedhuman
rights abuses. With Blinken
not elaborating his statement
further and Jaishankar mak-
ing no mention of it at the
press conference, not much
should be made out of
Blinken’s statement.
Risingcommunalincidents
in the country targeting and
stigmatising minorities and
ruling party leaders giving
cover to the troublemakers,
India is emerging more as a
theocratic nation where secu-
larism and democratic princi-
ples are slowly disappearing.
One only has to look at the US,
UK, Australia and New Zea-
land where majority versus
minority debate has seldom
turned into Islamophobia and
compare with the situation in
India to see where we are
headed.Whetheritisdisallow-
ing Muslims to pray in an
open space despite govern-
mentpermission,threatening
Muslimwomenwithrape,pro-
tests over hijab, boycotting
Muslimtradersandclosureof
meat shops during Hindu fes-
tivals, has divided the society
.
Despite growing conflicts
it is unlikely that the US will
go beyond verbal censure of
India, which it looks at as a
key defence, strategic and
business partner.
ANTONY BLINKEN’S
UNEXPECTED REMARK
Censuring India for its human
rights record, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said in
the presence of External
Affairs Minister Dr. S.
Jaishankar and Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
that the US was monitoring
the recent surge in human
rights abuses in India
C
IN-DEPTH

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INDIA
05
Congress demands FIR
against Karnataka Minister,
seeks independent probe
New Delhi (PTI): The
Congress on Tuesday
launched a scathing at-
tack on the BJP over
the death of Santosh
Patil, a contractor who
levelled corruption
charges against KS Es-
hwarappa, and de-
manded an FIR against
the Karnataka minis-
ter and an independent
probe into the incident.
Former Congress
chief Rahul Gandhi
accused the prime
minister and the Kar-
nataka chief minister
of being complicit in
the contractor’s death,
saying that the vic-
tim’s pleas to them
went unanswered.
“BJP’s 40% Commis-
sion Government in
Karnatakahasclaimed
the life of their own
Karyakarta. The vic-
tim’s pleas to the PM
went unanswered. The
PM and CM are com-
plicit. #BJPCorrup-
tionFiles (sic),” Gan-
dhi said on Twitter.
Patil was found dead
in a hotel room in Udu-
pionTuesdaymorning.
He had earlier accused
KarnatakaRuralDevel-
opment and Panchayat
RajMinisterEshwarap-
pa of demanding 40%
commission. The Min-
isternotonlydismissed
his allegations but also
filed a defamation suit
against him.
Congress general
secretary and chief
spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala said PM
Narendra Modi and
Karnataka CM Basa-
varaj Bommai should
lodge an FIR of mur-
der and corruption
against the Minister
and dismiss him, oth-
erwise Bommai’s com-
plicity is clear.
“The CM and PM
should Lodge an FIR
of Murder and Cor-
ruption against the
BJP Minister. Arrest
the Minister. Dismiss
him as a Minister. Con-
duct an independent
probe. Otherwise, it
will be clear that CM
Bommai is complicit
in the alleged corrup-
tion (sic),” Surjewala
said on Twitter.
“Dear Friends of the
BJP
, At least show guts
to speak for a fellow
BJP worker! The wife
of BJP worker, late
Santosh Patil is crying
andtellinghowshehad
to sell her jewellery to
fulfil the insatiable lust
of corruption. Will JP
Nadda speak up (sic)?”
he asked.
CM Bommai said
the police will conduct
a thorough and trans-
parent investigation
into the contractor’s
death. He also ruled
out any resignations
in this regard.
Surjewala alleged
that the “stench of cor-
ruption in 40% Com-
mission Bommai Gov-
ernment, Karnataka
has reached its nadir”.
“Even BJP workers
are not spared and are
forced to commit sui-
cide as the CM and PM
refuse to act upon al-
legations of 40% Com-
mission against BJP
Minister, Eshwarap-
pa,” the Congress lead-
er alleged.
CONTRACTOR DEATH
KARNATAKA MINISTER ‘RESPONSIBLE FOR
MY DEATH’: CONTRACTOR'S LAST MESSAGE
Bengaluru (Agencies): A contractor, who had accused
the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj
Minister KS Eshwarappa’s associates of demanding a
40% commission for a contract, was found dead at a
private lodge in Udupi this morning. Santosh Patil re-
portedly sent messages to
the media and his friends
early this morning, saying
that he was going to end
his life and alleged that Mr
Eshwarappa was respon-
sible for his death. In his
purported suicide note,
Patil urged PM Narendra
Modi, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai and senior
BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to help his wife and kids
after his death. “RDPR minister KS Eshwarappa is
solely responsible for my death. I am taking this deci-
sion, keeping my aspirations aside,” he wrote.
Retail inflation shoots
up to 6.95% in March
New Delhi (ANI): In-
dia’s retail inflation
surged to a 17-month
high of 6.95 per cent in
March from 6.07 per
cent in the previous
month due to a sharp
increase in food prices,
the National Statistical
Office (NSO) data
showed on Tuesday
.
Retail inflation as
measured by the Con-
sumer Price Index (CPI)
has remained above the
upper limit of the Re-
serve Bank of India
(RBI) tolerance band for
the third consecutive
month. The retail infla-
tion stood at 6.01 per
cent in January 2022.
Theinflationissharp-
ly higher when com-
pared with the previous
year. The Consumer
Price Index (CPI) based
inflation stood at 5.52
per cent in March 2021.
The price rise was
sharper in rural India
than in urban. CPI for
rural India surged to
7.66 per cent in March
from 6.38 per cent in the
previous month.
CPI-based inflation
for urban India rose to
6.12 per cent in March
2022 from 5.75 per cent
in the previous month.
The Consumer Price
Index (CPI) inflation
data is released month-
ly by the National Sta-
tistical Office (NSO),
Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Imple-
mentation.
The Price data are col-
lectedfromselected1,114
urban markets and 1,181
villages covering all
states/UTs through per-
sonal visits by field staff
of the Field Operations
Division of NSO, MoSPI
on a weekly roster.
During the month of
March 2022, NSO collect-
ed prices from 99.9 per
cent of villages and 98.3
per cent urban markets
while the market-wise
prices reported therein
were 90.2 per cent for ru-
ral and 93.2 per cent for
urban, according to an
official statement re-
leased by the National
Statistical Office (NSO).
‘Students can pursue 2
degrees at same time’
New Delhi: Students
will now be able to pur-
sue two full-time degree
programmesinphysical
mode simultaneously
either at the same uni-
versity or from different
universities,UGCChair-
man Jagadesh Kumar
announced on Tuesday
.
TheUniversityGrants
Commission (UGC) will
soon issue detailed
guidelinesinthisregard.
“As announced in the
new National Educa-
tion Policy (NEP) and in
order to allow students
to acquire multiple
skills, UGC is coming
up with new guidelines
to allow a candidate to
pursue two degree pro-
grammes in physical
mode simultaneously.
The degrees can either
be pursued from the
same or different uni-
versities,” Kumar said
at a press conference.
Students will also be
allowed to pursue two
degree programmes in
physical and online
mode simultaneously,
he added.
Northeast has seen rapid
devp under Modi:Thakur
Mumbai (PTI): Union
Minister of Informa-
tion and Broadcasting
Anurag Thakur at-
tended the third day of
the four-day ‘Mad-
havpur Ghed Fair’ in
Gujarat. The event was
alsoattendedbyNBiren
Singh, Chief Minister
of Manipur and Minis-
ters of Gujarat.
Addressing the audi-
ence on the occasion the
Minister said Mad-
havpur Ghed Festival is
highest symbol of con-
necting people and the
festival brings together
the far east of the coun-
try and the west. Speak-
ing on the work being
carried out in the States
of north-east Thakur
saidLookEastPolicyhas
become Act East Policy
only under the current
Govt and north eastern
Statesof Indiahavesince
seen unprecedented de-
velopment in infrastruc-
ture and facilities.
Cong mentality:
AAP on Punjab
singer Sidhu’s
‘gaddar’ lyrics
Chandigarh: Punjabi
singer Sidhu Moose
Wala on Tuesday came
under sharp attack
from Punjab’s ruling
Aam Aadmi Party over
his latest song, with the
party leaders accusing
him of calling the peo-
ple of the state traitors.
Shubhdeep Singh Sid-
hu, also known by his
stagenameSidhuMoose
Wala, released his latest
song titled ‘Scapegoat’
in which he talks about
his defeat in the recent
Assembly polls.
Moose Wala, who
fought on a Congress
ticket from Mansa As-
sembly seat, was defeat-
edbyAAP’sVijaySingla
with a margin of 63,323
votes. AAP leader Mal-
winder Singh Kang al-
leged Moose Wala called
the people of Punjab
“gaddar” in his latest
song and demanded the
Congress to clear its
stand on the “objection-
able” lyrics.
“The song reflects the
mentality of the Con-
gress,” Kang alleged.
Condemning singer,
AAP MLA Jeevan Jyot
Kaur tweeted, “Punjab-
is are neither traitors
nor hypocrites. We have
a rich history and we
always stand for justice
and truth. Mind your
words.”
After Kharge, ED
summons Pawan
in Herald case
New Delhi: Congress
leader and former Un-
ion Minister Pawan
Bansal was summoned
by the Enforcement Di-
rectorate on Tuesday in
connection with the Na-
tional Herald case.
The development
comes a day after the
law enforcement agen-
cy questioned Congress
leader Mallikarjun
Kharge in connection
with its investigation.
Young Indian is a
charitable organisa-
tion, which acquired
AJL and its assets
worth over Rs 400 crore
from Congress.
CRUCIAL READ
MEHBOOBA MUFTI
PLACED UNDER
HOUSE ARREST
Srinagar: Authorities on
Tuesday placed former
Chief Minister Mehbooba
Mufti under house arrest
in Srinagar city prevent-
ing her from going to
Anantnag district. Mufti
alleged that she intended
to visit the family of the
Kashmiri Pandit in Shop-
ian district.
ED ATTACHES RS 50
LAKH FLAT OF IQBAL
KASKAR’S AIDE
Mumbai: ED has attached
a flat in Thane worth
around Rs 50 lakh that
belonged to Iqbal Kaskar’s
close associate Mumtaz
Ezaz Shaikh in a money
laundering case. ED had
registered the case against
Pakistan based gangster
Dawood Ibrahim, his fam-
ily members and others.
MADHYA PRADESH MINISTER BLAMES
MUSLIMS FOR RAM NAVAMI CLASHES
Khargone (MP): In escalating tensions over
clashes during a Ram Navami procession in Madhya
Pradesh’s Khargone, the state Home Minister Narot-
tam Mishra on Tuesday directly accused Muslims
of violence and rioting. He also defended the Govt’s
widely criticised move to demolish homes of those
who allegedly threw stones at Hindu procession.
Shah urges everyone to work for welfare
of country and people in next 25 years
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion home minister Amit
Shah on Tuesday ap-
pealed to everyone, ir-
respective of party af-
filiations, to work for
the welfare of people
and the country in the
next 25 years so that In-
dia becomes one of the
most developed nations
in the world.
Shah said Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
had said the next 25
years — from the 75th
year of India’s inde-
pendence to the 100th
year of country’s free-
dom — is crucial for the
growth of the country
and this period has
been termed as ‘Amrit
Kaal’.
SHAH IN PONDY ON
APRIL 24 TO IRON
OUT DIFFERENCES
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah will
visit Puducherry on April
24 to attend several
programmes. The visit
is primarily intended to
iron out the differences
between CM N Ran-
gasamy and the BJP
legislators. Ever since
the coalition government
of the AINRC and the
BJP assumed office in
the Union Territory, there
have been differences
between the two parties.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing at the Inaugural session
of ‘Amrit Samagam’ in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
‘Delhi remote control: Oppn as
Kejriwal holds Punjab meeting
Chandigarh (Agen-
cies): Arvind Kejri-
wal’s meeting with Pun-
jab officers on Monday,
reportedly in the ab-
sence of CM Bhagwant
Mann, has fueled a mas-
sive controversy with
the opposition Con-
gress alleging “remote
control” by the AAP
chief.
Arvind Kejriwal, the
CM of Delhi, reportedly
met with top officials of
the Punjab State Power
Corporation Limited
(PSPCL) in the meeting,
where the Sate’s chief
secretary were present.
Opposition parties
like the Congress and
Akali Dal seized on re-
ports that Mann, who
took charge as CM, was
not present at meeting.
“IAS officers sum-
moned by Kejriwal in
Mann’s absence. This
exposes the de-facto CM
and Delhi remote con-
trol. Clear breach of
federalism, insult to
Punjabi pride. Both
must clarify (sic),”
tweeted Navjot Singh
Sidhu.
Arvind Kejriwal with Bhagwant Mann. —FILE PHOTO
Birla: Youth will make democratic
institutions more accountable
Guwahati (ANI): Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Bir-
la on Tuesday said that
youth are not only the
future of the country
but also the present.
In his address at the
valedictory session of
the eighth Common-
wealth Parliamentary
Association Confer-
ence, Birla said that the
youth, with their ener-
gy, potential and inno-
vative thinking are ca-
pable of bringing posi-
tive changes in society
and meaningful solu-
tions for the future.
“It is the responsibil-
ity of democratic insti-
tutions to ensure active
participation of youth
and women in policy-
making and to make
maximum use of them
for the development of
the country,” he said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other dignitaries at the
valedictory session in Guwahati on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

INDIA
06
READY TO SUPPLY FOOD STOCK
TO WORLD IF WTO GIVES NOD: PM
Ahmedabad: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Tuesday said
that during his talk with
US President Joe Biden,
he offered to supply In-
dia’s food stock to the
worldif theWorldTrade
Organisation (WTO) ac-
cords permission.
Food stock in differ-
ent parts of the world is
dwindling due to the
war (in Ukraine),
Modi said.
“Today the world is
facing an uncertain sit-
uation as nobody is get-
ting what they want.
Petrol, oil and fertiliz-
ers are hard to procure
as all the doors are get-
ting closed. Everybody
wants to secure their
stocks after this (Rus-
sia-Ukraine) war be-
gan,” Modi said.
“The world is facing a
new problem now; the
food stock of the world
is getting empty, I was
talking to the US Presi-
dent, and he also raised
this issue. I suggested
that if WTO gives per-
mission, India is ready
to supply food stock to
the world from tomor-
row,” Modi said.
Food stock in different parts of the world is dwindling due to the war between Russia Ukraine
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing via video conferencing,
in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
MODI WRITES A LETTER TO
BENEFICIARY OF AWAS YOJANA
New Delhi (ANI): To
congratulate a ben-
eficiary of PM Awas
Yojana on Tuesday, PM
Narendra Modi wrote
a letter to congratulate
him for the ownership,
to add up to his con-
tentment. According
to an official state-
ment, PM Modi sent a
letter to Sudhir Kumar
Jain of Sagar district
of Madhya Pradesh
for adding up to his
happiness of own roof
by congratulating him.
“House is not just
a structure made of
bricks and cement, but
our feelings, our aspi-
rations are attached to
it. The boundary walls
of the house not only
provide us security
but also instil in us
the confidence of a
better tomorrow,” PM
wrote in his letter to
Jain. “The dream of
your own house has
come true through the
Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana. Your sense of
satisfaction after this
achievement can easily
be felt by your words
in the letter. This house
is like a new founda-
tion for the dignified
life of your family and
a better future for both
your children,” state-
ment read quoting PM.
US yet to decide on sanctions
over Russia-India missile deal
Washington (PTI):
The US has not yet
made any decision on
potential sanctions or
waivers to India un-
der CATSAA law for
its purchase of the
S-400 missile defence
system from Russia,
Secretary of State An-
tony Blinken has said.
The US administra-
tion is required under
its domestic law,
Countering Ameri-
ca’s Adversaries
through Sanctions
Act (CAATSA) to im-
pose sanctions on any
country that has sig-
nificant transactions
with Iran, North Ko-
rea or Russia.
CAATSA is a tough
US law that authoris-
es the administration
to impose sanctions
on countries that pur-
chase defence hard-
ware from Russia.
“We continue to
urge all countries to
avoid major new
transactions for Rus-
sian weapons sys-
tems. We’ve not yet
made a determination
on sanctions under
the CATSAA law,”
Blinken said.
INDIA PLANS $2BN EXPORTS TO RUSSIA
India,AmericaurgeTalibantofollowUNSC
resolution, call to end violence in Myanmar
Washington: India and
the US have called on
the Taliban leadership
to abide by the UNSC
resolution which de-
mands that Afghani-
stan’s territory must
never again be used to
threaten or attack any
country or to plan or fi-
nance terrorist attacks.
US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and US
Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin welcomed
Singh and Jaishankar
to Washington for the
Dialogue. “The minis-
ters called on the Tali-
ban to abide by UNSC
Resolution 2593 (2021),
which demands that Af-
ghan territory must
never again be used to
threaten or attack any
country or to shelter or
train terrorists, or to
plan or finance terror-
ist attacks,” the joint
statement issued by the
Ministry of External
Affairs said on Tuesday
.
The ministers also
called for the cessation
of violence in Myan-
mar, the release of all
those arbitrarily de-
tained, and a swift re-
turn to the path of de-
mocracy and inclusive
governance.
Myanmar’s military
seized power on Febru-
ary 1 after overthrow-
ing the elected govern-
ment led by Aung San
Suu Kyi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, EAM S Jaishankar along with US
Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin and US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken in Washington. —PHOTO BY ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
HARDIK PATEL HINTS AT CONTESTING POLLS
AFTER SC STAYS CONVICTION IN RIOTING CASE
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress leader Hardik Patel on
Tuesday said that his aim was not just to contest elections
but also to serve the people, soon after the
Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a 2015
rioting and arson case. “My aim is not only to
contest elections but also to serve the people
of Gujarat with strength. Three years ago, I
was sentenced to two years in jail in a false
case, but today the Supreme Court has stayed the sentence.
I thank the judiciary from the heart,” tweeted Patel.
SC: CLARIFY STAND ON
SALEM’S SENTENCE
New Delhi : The Supreme
Court on Tuesday directed
the Union home secretary
to file an affidavit by April
18 on whether it is going
to abide by the solemn
assurance given by the
then deputy Prime Minister
of India Lal Krishna Advani
to the Portugal govern-
ment that the maximum
sentence handed out to
gangster Abu Salem will
not exceed 25 years.
SC ASKS FTII TO
ALLOW DIVYANGS
New Delhi(PTI): The
Supreme Court on Tuesday
directed the Pune-based
Film and Television Insti-
tute of India (FTII) to allow
candidates suffering from
colour blindness to pursue
all courses on filmmaking
and editing. It said no
discrimination be made
based on colour blindness
for getting admission in the
institute as it is not a form
of blindness.
Raipur: A 56-year-old woman was raped, brutalised
with an iron rod before her head was smashed with a
boulder in a blood-curdling incident in Chhattisgarh, the
police have said. The woman, who had a mental disabil-
ity, had resisted rape and was found last Wednesday
so badly mutilated that the police in Janjgir-Champa
district thought she was killed in a road accident. The
autopsy report revealed the horror. An investigation by
the police and security camera footage found that she
was savagely assaulted and dragged by someone on
the road. She had been kicked in the stomach, punched
in the eyes and assaulted with an iron rod.
Hyderabad: After setting the Centre a 24-hour deadline
to procure foodgrain from Telangana’s farmers, CM K
Chandrashekar Rao heaped insults on the Central gov-
ernment and accused the BJP of
weakening the agriculture sector.
This, he said, is a conspiracy to
hand over the agriculture sector
to corporates and reduce farmers
to labourers. Rao had set up a
fresh face-off with the Centre and
PM Modi with a dispute involving the purchase of rice
from farmers in his state. During his sit-in protest in
Delhi, “I asked them if they don’t have the money or the
PM has no heart to buy food grain,” he said.
56-YEAR-OLD WOMAN RAPED, TORTURED
WITH IRON ROD IN CHHATTISGARH
CONSPIRACY TO HAND AGRI SECTOR
TO CORPORATES: KCR SLAMS BJP
CRUCIAL READ
Covid-19: Health Minister Mandaviya takes
stock of ‘XE variant’, wants boost in vaccination
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya,
who chaired a meeting
of the country’s key ex-
perts on Covid-19’s new
‘XE variant’, directed
officials to boost the on-
going monitoring and
surveillance of new
variants and cases as
well as of vaccinations.
He also asked the of-
ficials to constantly re-
view the availability of
essential drugs and
medicines required in
the treatment of Cov-
id-19 patients, a state-
ment from the ministry
read. The Health Minis-
ter further emphasised
on carrying out the on-
going vaccination drive
at full pace and to vac-
cinate all eligible candi-
dates, the statement
said.
The meeting was at-
tended by Dr VK Paul,
Rajesh Bhushan, Dr
Randip Guleria, Dr Bal-
rama Bhargava, Dr. NK
Arora and others.
US MONITORING
RECENT HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
IN INDIA: BLINKEN
Washington: In an other-
wise congenial diplomatic
engagement between top
US and Indian officials,
the Biden administra-
tion on Monday struck a
mildly disapproving and
discordant note by unilat-
erally raising what it said
is a rise in human rights
abuses in India. “We are
monitoring some recent
concerning develop-
ments in India, including
a rise in human rights
abuses by some govern-
ment, police, and prison
officials,” US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken told
the media.
Mumbai: India is likely
to get average monsoon
rains this year, a private
weather forecasting
agency said on Tuesday
,
raising prospects of
higher farm and eco-
nomic growth in Asia’s
third-biggest economy
.
Monsoon rain are ex-
pected to be 98% of the
long-term average, and
there is a 65% chance
that India will get aver-
age rainfall, Skymet
said.
The weather agency
is in the process of
gathering data sets per-
tinent for a comprehen-
sive monsoon forecast
in April.
New Delhi defines av-
erage, or normal, rain-
fall as between 96% and
104% of a 50-year aver-
age of 88 centimetres
(35 inches) for the four-
month season begin-
ning June.
Monsoon to be average: Skymet
CRUCIAL MONSOON
lll
Nearly half of
India’s farmland,
which has no
irrigation cover,
depends on
Monsoon to
grow crops such
as rice, corn,
cane, cotton and
soybeans.
Lanka announces defaulting on
all its $51billion external debt
Colombo: Sri Lanka
defaulted on its $51 bil-
lion foreign debt Tues-
day as the island nation
grapples with its worst
economic crisis in
memory and wide-
spread protests de-
manding the govern-
ment’s resignation.
Acute food and fuel
shortages, alongside
long daily electricity
blackouts, have brought
widespread suffering to
the country’s 22 million
people in the most pain-
ful downturn since in-
dependence in 1948.
Public anger has
flared in recent weeks
with crowds attempting
to storm the homes of
government leaders.
Sri Lanka’s Finance
Ministry said the coun-
try was defaulting on
all external obligations,
including loans from
foreign governments.
Protester wave a Sri Lankan
national flag during a protest.
ARJUNA URGES
Baisakhi 2022: Sikh ‘Jatha’
from India depart for Lahore
Delimitation in
JK may be
over by April
Amritsar (ANI): A
group of Sikh ‘Jatha’
departed for Pakistan’s
Lahore on Tuesday for
celebrating the festival
of Baisakhi (Khalsa Sa-
jna Day).
“We all are ready to
go to the Guru’s place to
bow the head at Guru
Nanak Dev, who is the
Guru for Indians and
Pir for the people of Pa-
kistan,” said a member
of the batch.
“We had applied for
900 visa permits but
could get permits for
only 705, resulting in
the disheartening of
the 195 whose visas
were rejected,” said
Ravinder Singh Khalsa.
“We really hope the
new Prime Minister of
Pakistan Shehbaz Sha-
rif to keep the brother-
hood amongst countries
maintained and ease
the Visa system,” he
added.
Most of the pilgrim
devotees have empha-
sized their demand for
cancelling the visa re-
quirements to visit the
Gurudwara in the
neighbouring country
.
New Delhi (ANI): The
Centre will take a final
call on elections in JK
after the Delimitation
Commission submits
its final report by April-
end. The decision will
be taken after the Cen-
tre reviews all aspects,
sources said.
“The report will be
submitted to Ministry
of Law and Justice. And
after which a summary
revision of Electoral
rolls will be taken up by
the Election Commis-
sion,” said official.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chairs a meeting.
Reduce time gap
for booster jab to 6
months: SII to Govt
New Delhi (PTI): Vaccine
major SII has appealed
to the Government to
reduce the gap between
the second and booster
dose to six months from
nine months at present,
according to its CEO Adar
Poonawalla. Recall-
ing that they could not
meet the commitment of
exporting vaccines in the
first quarter of 2021.
GUARD YOUR LEMONS,
THIEVES STEAL 60KG IN
UP’S SHAHJAHANPUR
Shahjahanpur: Anything
that is valuable is a thief’s
delight. And with the
prices of lemon skyrocket-
ing in the market, thieves
in Shahjahanpur stole
60 kilos of lemon stored
in a vegetable trader’s
godown. The thieves also
stole some other high-
priced vegetables from the
godown. Manoj Kashyap,
the vegetable trader, said
the thieves took away 60
kilos of lemon, 40 kg of
onions, 38 kg of garlic and
a fork from his godown.
The trader from Bahadu-
rganj Mohalla, who has a
shop in the Bajaria area.
OVER 1,500 SCHOOLS
IN MAHA DISTRICT
LOSE POWER SUPPLY
Alibaug: The Maharashtra
State Electricity Board
(MSEB) has stopped
power supply to over 1,500
schools in Maharash-
tra’s Raigad district over
non-payment of dues, an
official said on Tuesday.
Power supply has been
disconnected to 1,549
schools of Raigad Zilla Par-
ishad, of which 679 have
lost electricity permanently,
the MSEB official said. The
supply has been stopped
due to non-payment of bills
to the tune of Rs 49.74
lakh, he said. Electricity
has been disconnected at
118 schools in Pen.
—FILE PHOTO

NEWS
07
PNB CELEBRATES
128TH
FOUNDATION
DAY, LAUNCHES
DIGITAL
INITIATIVE
To honor its illustrious legacy of
127 years of service to the
nation, Punjab National Bank
(PNB) announced the launch of
Cardless Cash Withdrawal and
Virtual Debit Card, along with a
range of other select digital
services on its mobile app named
PNB One, for safe banking
transactions. The new services
were launched by Shri Atul Kumar
Goel, MD CEO of PNB, at the
Bank’s head office in New Delhi, in
the presence of Executive
Directors - Shri Vijay Dube, Shri
Swarup Kumar Saha and Shri
Kalyan Kumar, along with Vijay
Kumar Tyagi - Chief Vigilance
Officer of the Bank, CGMs, senior
officials and other bank staff.
Thanking customers, employees
and other stakeholders for their
continued support during the
challenging times, Shri Atul Kumar
Goel further added, “With the
financial sector on a strong route
to recovery, PNB is witnessing
robust growth. With that, PNB
redefines its commitment to digital
transformation by introducing a
plethora of innovative offerings.
—First India Bureau
COMMISSION
AGENT ROBBED
OF RS 8 LAKH IN
NOIDA
Acollection agent was allegedly
robbed of over Rs 8 lakh cash
by four unidentified assailants
here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to police, the
complainant Yogendra had been
to the vegetable market near
Sector 88 to collect payments on
Monday evening. While he was
coming out of the market with
around Rs 8 lakh cash, three-to-
four unidentified assailants
arrived on two motorcycles and
hit him with a wooden stick, Joint
Police Commissioner Love
Kumar said. The collection agent
said he fell down because of the
attack after which the assailants
took the cash and fled the scene.
He added that no firearm was
used in the incident, the senior
IPS officer said. An FIR has been
lodged at the Phase 2 police
station and four teams have been
formed to solve the case, Kumar
said. Police are examining the
CCTV footage at the crime spot
and nearby areas to identify the
assailants, the officer said.
According to officials, the
collection agent worked for a
private businessman who
supplied material to vegetable
vendors. He worked on a
commission basis and was
tasked with collecting payments
from the vendors on behalf of his
boss, they said. —PTI
Yogi is set to play major role in BJP’s national plan
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With succes-
sive electoral victories
in UP, the Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath,
whose political profile
has risen exponentially
,
is all set to play a major
role in BJP’s national
politics after PM Naren-
dra Modi and Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah. Itmayberecalled
that Modi had coined
the phrase “UP plus
Yogi Bahut hai Upyogi”
(UP plus Yogi is very
beneficial) during the
UP Assembly election.
This slogan was to
highlight Yogi’s good
worksaftercompletinga
five-year term as Chief
Minister. From the Gu-
jarat model, which the
BJP had sold in 2014,
moves are now under-
way to showcase Yogi’s
model of “tough gover-
nance” in the forthcom-
ing state assembly elec-
tions also. Yogi’s bull-
dozer is working over-
time these days to de-
molishillegalproperties
of not only criminals
but also corrupt officers
and cops. Lately, dyna-
mite is also being used
by government agencies
for the faster removal of
illegal properties. Al-
ready Yogi’s bulldozer
politics has found reso-
nance in MP
.
The newly inducted
ministers have been
asked to perform to the
best of their abilities in
the limited time frame
of 100 days given to
them. The ministers,
who had been asked to
set targets for 100 days,
have already made their
presentations before the
CM and have now been
told to work towards
achieving their targets.
They have been directed
to set both short and
long-term goals and
then achieve them on
time. The ministers are
visibly under pressure
to perform to retain
their seats and their re-
port cards would be re-
viewed every month.
They also would be
needed to inform the
government in advance
before leaving the state.
The Chief Minister has
also put in place certain
austerity measures to
check extravagance on
the part of ministers
and has introduced a
system of checks and
balances to ensure
transparency in depart-
mental dealings.
After winning polls, Yogi’s political
clout has risen exponentially
Yogi’s ministers under pressure to
perform, have to present report cards
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with Union Home Minister Amit
Shah and PM Narendra Modi —FILE PHOTO
z
z
z
z
z
z
CM’S HARD-TASK MASTER APPROACH
EARLY SUMMER FUN
Tourists hold umbrellas on a hot summer day as they visit Agra Fort, in the backdrop of the
Taj Mahal, in Agra on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Atul Kumar Goel, MD CEO of PNB, with Executive Directors - Vijay Dube, Swarup
Kumar Saha and Kalyan Kumar, along with Vijay Kumar Tyagi - CVO of the Bank.
Shamli (PTI): The rice
mill of Samajwadi Par-
ty MLA from Kairana,
Nahid Hasan, has been
attached by the district
authorities for failing to
pay dues worth Rs 16.04
lakhs, a senior official
saidonTuesday
.Hasan’s
mill was attached by the
revenue department on
Monday against a recov-
ery certificate (RC) of
Rs 16.04 lakh dues of the
KairanaKrishiUtpadan
Mandi Samiti, Shamli
District Magistrate Jas-
jitKaursaidonTuesday
.
A team of tehsil offi-
cials led by tehsildar
Priyanka Jaiswal at-
tached the Samarat rice
mill of the MLA situat-
ed on the six bigha land
valued around crores of
rupees. Kairana Krishi
Utpadan Mandi Samiti
had sent RC to the tehsil
to recover dues. The rice
mill is owned by SP
MLA Nahid Hasan, his
mother ex-MP Tabasum
Begum and sister Iqra
Hasan. Nahid Hasan
had won the Kairana as-
sembly election by de-
feating the BJP’s Mrig-
anka Singh by over
25,000 votes from the
jail. Hasan got 1.31 lakh
votes against Singh’s
1.05 lakh votes in the
polls. In February 2021,
police had booked Na-
hid Hasan, his mother
Tabasum Begum and 40
others under the UP
Gangsters and Anti-So-
cial Activities (Preven-
tion) Act, at Kairana.
Later, Nahid Hasan was
arrested and sent to jail
on January 15, 2022,
when he was on his way
to Shamli for filing his
nominationpapersfrom
the Kairana assembly
constituency
. He has
been in jail since then.
SP MLA’s rice mill attached
for non-payment of dues
Nahid Hasan, Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana
CRIME
ROUND-UP
STUDENT SHOT DEAD IN
AMETHI OVER MINOR DISPUTE
Amethi: A schoolboy was shot dead when he
was returning home after giving examination
in the Rasoolabad area. Police sources said
that Saurabh Singh, a resident of Dharauli
village under Musafirkhana Kotwali area, was
going to Hanfi Inter
College Rasoolabad
for examination when
six motorbike-borne
criminals shot him
twice. Saurabh died
on the spot in the
attack. Investigation
is underway and it
was reported that
Saurabh had arguments with his classmates
in the coaching center a few days back. Family
members of the deceased were stunned to know
that the college fight took such an ugly turn.
MAN SHOT DEAD OVER
ELECTION RIVALRY IN RAMPUR
Rampur: Elder brother of Pradhan’s husband, was
shot dead in Lalpur village under the Tanda police
station area. Police have registered a case against
the accused and their illegal construction was
demolished. The elder brother of village Pradhan
Tabassum’s husband was outside his residence
when 6 criminals on 2 motorbikes shot them.
Waseem died on the spot while his uncle Haun
and Rahmat were severely injured. The injured
Harun was the village chief earlier and initial
investigations revealed that election rivalry could
be the reason behind the attack. Gaurav Singh,
Tanda police station in-charge said that police
have registered a complaint against the accused
on the complaint of Harun and a manhunt was
launched to nab the criminals. The police force
has been deployed to control the situation.
Etawah (PTI): A
40-year-old head
constable of the UP
Police shot himself
dead using his
service rifle in Etawah
district on Tuesday,
an officer said. Head
Constable Prem
Prakash, posted at
Takha, shot himself in
his room and was
rushed to the Saifai
Medical College
Hospital where
doctors declared him
dead on arrival.
Ghaziabad: A man
and his 2 sons were
shot during dispute
over dog barking in
Morta village. Police
sources said that
Sushil had clash with
Satyam and Shivam
over barking of his
pet dog when
mastter escalated
Satyam opened fire at
Sushil his 2 sons.
All 3 injured were
rushed to the hospital
police have arrested
both accused.
Noida (PTI): A rape
convict from Hathras
district who had
jumped parole has
been arrested after
33 years from Delhi,
where he was living
under a fake identity,
police said on
Tuesday. Relatives of
Raghunandan Singh
(56) in his native
village in Hathras
were shocked to
learn that he was
alive as they and
fellow villagers
believed that he was
dead, they said.
Hathras
Superintendent of
Police Vineet Jaiswal
told PTI that Singh,
who was convicted
in 1987, was living in
Delhi with his wife
for over three
decades and working
at a garment retail
outlet in the city. He
was convicted in a
rape case but
granted parole while
serving the
punishment. He had
jumped parole and
was absconding for
the last 33 years. He
has been arrested
now, Jaiswal said. In
1986, the FIR in the
rape case was lodged
against him at the
Hathras Junction
Police Station in the
district. The next
year, he was
convicted of the
crime by a local court
and sentenced to life
imprisonment, the
officer said. In 1989,
the man appealed to
Allahabad HC after
which he was
released on parole,
he said.
3 KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENT
Barabanki (PTI): 3 people were killed when
a speeding truck rammed into a stationary
pickup van here on Tuesday, police said. The
incident took place near Mohammadpur Kirat
village under the Ramsanehighat Kotwali
police station area of the district. Rajendra
(32), had parked his vehicle on the roadside
when a truck coming from Lucknow rammed
into it, killing him, Durgesh (14) and Jai
Narayan (16), Kotwali police station incharge
Vinod Babu Mishra said.
FOUR KILLED IN ROAD
MISHAP IN MUZAFFARNAGAR
Muzaffarnagar: Four persons lost their
lives while two others were severely injured
in a road accident near Valhana crossing
under the Civil Lines police station
area. Police sources said that 6 friends were
going to Hardwar for a holy dip in Ganga but
they met with an accident near Valhana
village. Manish, Ravindra, Sahil, and Prince
Chauhan died on the spot in the accident
while Rohit and Prince were severely injured.
Police have sent the bodies for post-mortem
and further investigations were underway.ss
HEAD
CONSTABLE
KILLS SELF
MAN, HIS TWO
SONS SHOT AT
IN GHAZIABAD
RAPE CONVICT WHO JUMPED PAROLE HELD AFTER 33 YRS FROM DELHI

08
2NDFRONT
Greetings on the occasion of
Baisakhi. Good health and
prosperity to all.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: Who will be-
come the Commission-
er of Agriculture Pro-
duction in Uttar
Pradesh?
The post of Agricul-
ture Production Com-
missioner APC is con-
sidered to be the next
top post following the
Chief Secretary but
this post will become
vacant due to the re-
tirement of Additional
Chief Secretary Ener-
gy IAS Alok Sinha on
30 April 2022.
There is a lot of mur-
mur going on in the bu-
reaucratic corridors on
who would take up the
post of Agricultural
Production Commis-
sioner of Uttar Pradesh
once incumbent Alok
Sinha, IAS officer of
batch 1986 retires. Ac-
cording to our sources,
there is a strong rumor
that 1987 batch senior
IAS Awanish Kumar
Awasthi who is the cur-
rent ACS Home is lead-
ing the race followed by
IAS Sanjeev Kumar
Mittal also of 1987
batch and who current-
ly is ACS Commercial
Tax and IAS Manoj Ku-
mar Singh of 1988
batch and currently
posted as ACS Pancha-
yati Raj.
APC is considered to
be one of the most
sought-after post in the
state’s administration
after the post of CS. It
has always been a tra-
dition to appoint an of-
ficer whose pay scale is
close to that of the
Chief Secretary.
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: Encircled
by a series of electoral
failures, the BSP is
now going to focus on
the civic body elec-
tions. The strategists
of Mayawati’s party
are of the view that be-
ing active in these elec-
tions will boost the mo-
rale of the workers
disheartened by the
sequence of defeats.
Also, if there is a bet-
ter performance in ur-
ban areas, an atmo-
sphere will be created
in favour of the party
regarding the upcom-
ing general elections.
In the municipal
elections held in 2017,
breaking away from its
strategy of not contest-
ing urban local body
polls on the party sym-
bol, BSP has fielded
candidates after a gap
of over two decades.
This decision was
taken so that the BSP
could register its pres-
ence even in urban ar-
eas, which were not
considered to be the
stronghold of Mayawa-
ti’s party
.
Notably, the BJP has
been dominating the
urban bodies for a long
time in UP.
In 2017, the BJP had
won fourteen out of six-
teen posts of mayor;
whereas in Meerut and
Aligarh, BSP candi-
dates got success.
SP and Congress
could not get a single
seat. In Aligarh, BSP
candidate Mohammad
Furkan defeated BJP’s
Rajeev Agarwal by a
margin of 10445 votes.
In Meerut, Sunita Ver-
ma of BSP got 38780
votes and defeated Kan-
ta Kardam of BJP by a
margin of 15 thousand
votes. However, later
Sunita Verma, giving a
blow to the BSP, decided
to join the SP along
with her husband and
former MLA Yogesh
Verma.
Based on the success
of the last time, BSP is
preparing a roadmap
for the preparations of
the urban bodies this
time too.
BSP chief Mayawati
has instructed all the
coordinators to prepare
a new team at the ward
level soon and become
active in the prepara-
tions for these elec-
tions. According to po-
litical analyst Vikrant
Dubey, the BSP, which
got 19 seats in the 2017
assembly elections, got
22.24 per cent of the
votes.
This time the per-
centage of its vote has
come down to 13 per-
cent, while it could get
only one seat. Obvious-
ly, in such a situation,
there is a situation of
tremendous despair
among the party cadre.
To overcome these,
Mayawati has taken the
step of being active in
the civic elections.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: While
overturningtheacquit-
tal of a rape accused,
the Allahabad High
Court has stated that
courtswereexpectedto
try and decide cases of
sexual crime against
women with utmost
sensitivity
.
“
Asociallysensitised
judge was a better ar-
mour in cases of crime
against women than
long clauses of penal
provisions”, the court
observed while award-
ing a sentenced of 10
years’ rigorous impris-
onment with a fine of
Rs₹25,000totheaccused
Dharma.
The conviction of
theaccusedrespondent
can rest on the sole tes-
timony of the prosecu-
trix provided she is a
sterling witness; her
testimony is credible,
truthful and trust-
worthy
,” the court said.
According to prose-
cution, the accused -
Dharmacaughtholdof
the complainant’s
9-year-olddaughterina
field, dropped her on
the ground, held her
mouth and committed
rape. The trial court on
February 25, 1989 ac-
quitted the accused -
Dharma on the ground
that the prosecution
had failed to prove the
charge beyond reason-
able doubt. It had also
reached a finding that
the victim was tutored,
andtherefore,hertesti-
mony was not trust-
worthy
. Further, it was
found that the time of
the alleged incident
was not corroborated
with the medical ex-
pert’s opinion.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: The Alla-
habad HC adjourned
hearing till April 28 of
Varanasi’s Kashi-Vish-
wanath Temple-Gyanva-
pi Mosque issue as the
hearing resumed before
the Court on Tuesday
.
The counsel appearing
on behalf of temple ar-
gued that if the temple
had been destroyed by
any means, its religious
character never
changed.
“The temple of Lord
Vishweshwar has been
in existence since an-
cient time uptil now and
the Lord is situated in
the disputed structure.
If the temple has been
destroyed by any means,
the religious character
never changed.
Therefore,section4of
Places of Worship (Spe-
cial Provisions) Act 1991
is not applicable here be-
cause it was an old tem-
pleandwasbuiltpriorto
the15thcentury
,”argued
thecounselappearingon
behalf of the temple.
Hearing a petition
filed by Anjuman Inta-
zamiaMasjidof Varana-
si and other petitions,
Justice Prakash Padia
adjourned the hearing
till April 28, 2022.
Section 4 of Places of
Worship (Special Provi-
sions) Act, 1991 bars fil-
ing of suit or any other
legal proceedings with
respect to conversion of
religious character of
any place of worship, as
existing on August 15,
1947.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Another wit-
ness in Lakhimpur
Kheri case, in which the
son of a Union Minister
is accused of running
over farmers, has al-
leged that he was at-
tacked and threatened
not to testify
.
HardeepSinghsaidhe
was attacked by a group
of people on Sunday in
Rampurdistrictoverhis
role as a witness in the
case involving Ashish
Mishra,thesonof Union
Minister Ajay Mishra
Teni, who is the member
of parliament from
Lakhimpur.
“I was returning after
prayingatthegurdwara.
A car came from the
backwiththree-fourpeo-
ple. Another car had
three-four more. The
stoppedme.Oneof them
started to beat me. An-
other hit me from be-
hind. I was hit with a
kadha and the butt of a
pistol. They said, ‘If you
gototestify
,wewillshoot
you’,” Singh said. He
named Mehar Singh
Dayol, a local leader of
the BJP in Rampur, and
Saranbjeet Singh.
The police, however,
contested the charge,
saying they had not
found any link to the
Lakhimpur Kheri case
in which Mishra is ac-
cused of running over
farmers with an SUV
during a protest march
inLakhimpurKherilast
year. “Based on a com-
plaintbyHardeepSingh,
son of Hari Singh, an
investigation by officers
and eyewitness testimo-
ny, the incident prima
facie appears to be one
of road rage. We have
not found any link to the
violence.Actionisbeing
taken against the three
accused named in the
case and others,” the
police said
Speculations hot up over who would take over as new agri production comm
THREE CONTENDERS
lll
It has always
been a tradition
to appoint an
officer whose
pay scale is
close to that of
the CS
Manoj Singh Sanjiv Mittal
IN SEARCH OF LUCK, BSP EYES CIVIC POLLS
BJP has been dominating the urban
bodies for a long time in UP
In 2017, BJP won 14 of 16 posts of
mayor; BSP won in Meerut Aligarh
BSP workers taking out a rally in Lucknow. —FILE PHOTO
BY YEAR-END
COURTESY MEET
UP cabinet minister AK Sharma meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Courtsexpectedtotry,
decidesexualcrime
caseswithsensitivity
CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN
ADVICE FOR BEING
STERN IN SUCH CASES
Allowing an appeal by
UP challenging the
acquittal of a rape ac-
cused by the sessions
court, Farrukhabad, a
division bench com-
prising Justices Suneet
Kumar and Vikram D
Chauhan observed,
“Such cases need to be
dealt with sternly and
severely.”
Lakhimpur case:
Witness alleges
attack, cops deny
Hardeep Singh said
he was attacked by a
group of people on
Sunday in Rampur
HC fixes Apr 28 for hearing
on Gyanvapi mosque issue
‘WAQF ACT VOID’
It was argued that by mere
declaration of mosque
as waqf property, the
Waqf Act would not be
applicable because it is a
dispute between Hindus
Muslims and not between
Muslim sects.
ATS searches Murtaza’s room,
interrogates him for 4 hours
Janardan Misra
Gorakhpur: The An-
ti-Terrorist Team
(ATS) team searched
room of Ahmad Mur-
taza Abbasi again for
more than 30 minutes
in presence of his el-
der brother Dr Khalid.
Also, the team interro-
gated Murtaza for four
hours in police lines
office.
Police sources here
said that Dr Abbasi
had requested to regis-
ter his statement in
Gorakhpur as he had
issue in traveling due
to age but ATS team
thatreachedwithMur-
taza did not record his
statement.
Dr Abbasi was told
to register his state-
ment at ATS Lucknow
headquarter. ATS was
probing financial sta-
tus of Murtaza after
his arrest as he had
confessedtofundingin
Syria and other an-
ti-national organisa-
tions.
Probing the terror-
ist link ATS team had
reachedMurtaza’sres-
idence on April 2 but
he had escaped to Ne-
pal. On April 3 he had
attacked Gorakhnath
templesecurityguards
with sharp weapon.
He was arrested
from the spot and case
was registered against
himinGorakhnathpo-
lice station.
SHADY LINKS
Awanish Awasthi
IMPORTANT POST
—FILE PHOTO

Tellmesomethingaboutyourself.
I’m a very simple and sober guy
, I
want to learn and explore every
art form, I want to fly to new
heightsbutatthesametimeIwant
to stay grounded. And being a
grounded person means being a
more well-rounded person I don’t
want to leave my base, I want to
cover all segments of fashion
whether it’s of 3k or 30 lacs.
When did your love affair
with design begin? How
would you describe the
emotion?
My mother started a bou-
tique 25 years ago, and I
started designing for the
boutique, that’s how I de-
veloped an interest in de-
signing. I haven’t learnt
designing in my entire
life and learnt every-
thing from my experi-
ence. Design for me is
creativity, Having a
creative mind allows
us to do new and ex-
citing things and
engage ourselves in
a way that takes us
one step closer to
reaching our full
potential, and this I
have used in my art.
My designs are always about ex-
pressions. Attire that will talk on
your behalf!
The journey officially began
24 years ago but my love af-
fair with design has been
ongoing since childhood. I
have always believed in on-
wards and upwards, no look-
ing back!
What do you truly enjoy
working with?
All my creations have
Jaipur’s semi-precious
beads and stones. Myde-
signs have an entire
gamete of legendry
‘gotta Patti’ work,
Swarovski ivory
, ceram-
ic, Belgium sequences spray and
‘
Aari Resham’ rosette work. The
couture looks elegant with geor-
gettes flow, nets, swirls, lush velvets
and Banarsi silk.
who do you feel carries off your
clothes the best.
Madhuri Dixit is an icon, she slays
in every outfit that she dons.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/lucknow I twitter.com/
thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
EMBROIDERED
EMBROIDERED
WITH IMAGINATION!
WITH IMAGINATION!
UTTKARSHA
SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@
firstindia.co.in
MOHIT FALOD AND HIS AVANT-GARDE DESIGNS ARE SYNONYMOUS WITH
ALL THINGS GLITZ AND GLAMOUR. THE ACE DESIGNER, WHO COMPLETES 24
YEARS OF HIS JOURNEY IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, HAS SHOWCASED HIS
ASTONISHING DESIGNS ON FASHION CONNECT, HELD IN DUBAI AND HAS
EVEN DESIGNED COSTUMES FOR VARIOUS BOLLYWOOD CELEBS. IN AN
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CITY FIRST, THE DESIGNER TALKS ABOUT HIS
LOVE FOR DESIGN AND HIS JOURNEY IN THE GLAMOUR WORLD.
LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 13, 2022
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

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