16042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Amit Shah lauds Jairam Thakur’s govt
for development in Himachal Pradesh
New Delhi (ANI): Ex-
tending his greeting on
Himachal Day to the
people of the state, Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah on Friday
said Chief Minister
Jairam Thakur-led gov-
ernment not only doing
development in the
state but is also cherish-
ing the culture.
Shah took to Twitter
to express his views and
extended his wishes to
the residents of
Himachal Pradesh. “I
extend my best wishes
to all the residents of
Devbhoomi on the occa-
sion of Himachal Day,”
the Home Minister
tweeted in Hindi.
“Under the guidance
of Narendra Modi Ji,
the government of
Jairam Thakur Ji is
working to make the
state a leader in devel-
opment along with
cherishing the culture
of Himachal, the land
of natural beauty and
spirituality,” Shah fur-
ther said.
Besides Shah, Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and many Union
Ministers, as well as
politicians, took to
Twitter for wishing the
state on the occasion.
Union Minister Hard-
eep PuriHardeep Singh
Puri in a Tweet said,
“Greetings to the people
of Himachal - the pris-
tine and beautiful hill
state on the occasion of
Himachal Day
...”
HM’S PAT FOR THAKUR
PM Modi to
inaugurate 108-
ft tall Hanuman
idol in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI):
On the occasion of
Hanuman Jayanti,
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi will vir-
tually inaugurate a
108-feet tall idol of
Lord Hanuman at
Keshvanand Ash-
ram in Gujarat's
Morbi town on Sat-
urday
. This is a sec-
ond idol of the deity
installed by the
Shree Harish Chan-
der Nanda Educa-
tion and Charitable
Trust, it said in a re-
lease.
NEW DELHI l SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No.226
Delhi Capitals’ physio Patrick Farhart has tested positive for COVID-19,
the Indian Premier League said on Friday. “Delhi Capitals physio Patrick
Farhart has been tested positive for COVID-19. He is being closely
monitored by DC Medical Team at the moment,” officials said.
DELHI CAPITALS
PHYSIO PATRICK
FARHART TESTS
COVID POSITIVE
CJI NV Ramana has said filling up judicial vacancies is essential
for improving access to justice and that he is making efforts to fill
up all judicial vacancies at all levels. “With cooperation from all the
stakeholders, we could make considerable progress,” he said.
FILLING VACANCIES
ESSENTIAL FOR
IMPROVING ACCESS
TO JUSTICE: CJI
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ANURAG THAKUR
IN UNA TODAY
‘IF HARMED, INDIA
WILL NOT SPARE’
Union IB Minister
Anurag Thakur will
be visiting Una
in Himachal on
Saturday to launch
free health camp on completion
of 4 years of MP Mobile Health
Service, at old bus stand.
In a strong message to China,
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh said that if harmed, In-
dia will not spare anyone. He
asserted that India under PM
Narendra Modi has emerged
as a powerful country. P5
FRIDAY NAMAZ Muslim devotees offer
Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramzan at
Khairuddin Masjid in Amritsar on Friday. Dua or prayer
to Allah during namaz included well-being, world peace.
GOOD FRIDAY People belonging to the Christian community perform
a play during a procession, on the occasion of Good Friday in Jalandhar.
“Ideals of service and brotherhood of Jesus Christ are the guiding light for
several people,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion.
RONGALI BIHU Youngsters perform a traditional dance inside the premises of Ranghar, during the Rongali Bihu celebrations
in Sivasagar city of Assam on Friday. Bohag or Rongali Bihu is one of Assam’s three Bihus, and it is one of the most significant
festivals for the Assamese community. Traditional pat or muga silk or cotton mekhela chadors are worn by women on the occasion
in colours ranging from vivid red, yellow, green, orange and pink. —PHOTOS BY PTI
FAITHFUL FRIDAY OF MONTH
India
observes
Moscow: Russia’s de-
fence ministry warned
Friday it will intensify
attacksontheUkrainian
capital Kyiv in response
to strikes on Russian
soil, after accusing
Ukraine of targeting
Russian border towns.
“The number and
scale of missile strikes
against targets in Kyiv
willincreaseinresponse
to any terrorist attacks
or sabotage committed
by the Kyiv nationalist
regime on Russian terri-
tory
,” the ministry said
in its daily update.
It added that Russian
troops hit a “military”
factory outside Kyiv us-
ing long-range missiles.
RUSSIA HITS MILITARY
TARGET OUTSIDE KYIV
Moscow
says more
to come
RUSSIAN MILITARY’S DAMAGED
BLACK SEA FLAGSHIP SINKS
WORLD WAR III HAS
BEGUN: RUSSIAN TV
The flagship of Russia’s Black
Sea fleet, a guided-missile
cruiser that became a potent
target of Ukrainian defiance in
the opening days of the war,
sank after it was heavily damaged in the latest set-
back for Moscow’s invasion. Ukrainian officials said
their forces hit the vessel with missiles, while Russia
acknowledged a fire aboard the Moskva.
Russian state television has
declared that World War III has
already started after the sinking
of its naval vessel Moskva in
the Ukraine war. Presenter Olga
Skabeyeva made the chilling
statement, informing the viewers
that “what it’s escalated into can
safely be called World War III”.
Contractor death case: Congress leaders
needn’t become investigators: Bommai
Bengaluru: Opposition
leaders in the state need
not become investiga-
tors, prosecutors and
judges in the case per-
taining to the death of
civil contractor San-
thosh Patil, Karnataka
Chief Minister Basa-
varaj Bommai said.
“Congress leaders
need not become the in-
vestigating officer, pros-
ecutor and judge in the
Santoshsuicidecase.Let
them allow for a free and
thoroughinvestigation,”
Bommai said. He was re-
sponding to increasing
demands from Opposi-
tion leaders to arrest
minister KS Eshwarap-
pa in the case.
“The police should be
allowed to do their job.
The police will decide
what to do and what not
to do. Why are Congress
leaders anxious? Let the
truth come out from the
investigation,” he said.
See also P3
WILL BE BACK: MIN
ESHWARAPPA QUITS
TATA REJIGS AIR
INDIA BOARD
Karnataka minister KS
Eshwarappa asked his sup-
porters not to worry as he
“will be back”. In a massive
show of strength before his
resignation, a huge convoy
of cars accompanied him
as he drove to the capital
Bengaluru to resign. After a
meeting with CM Bommai at
his residence, Eshwarappa
submitted his resignation.
Mumbai: Tata Sons has re-
jigged the board of Air India
moving the airline’s execu-
tives who held board posi-
tions to senior management
roles. It has also appointed
a chief commercial officer,
and heads of HR, digital and
technology, customer experi-
ence and ground handling
at the airline.
Air India starts
restoring staff
salaries in a
phased manner
Mumbai: Air India is
restoringsalariesof em-
ployeesinaphasedman-
ner to pre-pandemic lev-
els as the aviation sector
is recovering with the
decline of COVID-19
cases in the country
, ac-
cording to the airline’s
official document on
Tuesday
.
Indian aviation sector
was badly hit due to the
pandemic-inducedtravel
restrictions during the
last two years and there-
fore, all airlines in India
had cut salaries.
Air India’s document
on Tuesday said pilots’
flying allowance, special
payandwidebodyallow-
ance were cut by 35 per
cent, 40 per cent and 40
per cent, respectively
, af-
ter onset of pandemic.
I reject Musk’s Twitter buying
offer: Investor Saudi Prince
San Francisco: Tesla
chief Elon Musk bid to
buy Twitter has set up
the billionaire entrepre-
neur against one of
Twitter’s major share-
holders – Saudi Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal.
“I don’t believe that
the proposed offer by @
elonmusk ($54.20)
comes close to the in-
trinsic value of @Twit-
ter given its growth
prospects,” Prince Talal
tweeted tagging a post
that claimed the King-
dom and he own a 5.2%
stake in Twitter.
MUSK REACTS...
“Interesting. Just two
questions, if I may. How
much of Twitter does
the Kingdom
own, directly
indirectly?
What are the
Kingdom’s
views on
journalistic
freedom of speech?”
Musk asked in a tweet.
CRUCIAL READ
NOT SHUTTING
SCHOOLS: SISODIA
As Covid cases are again
on the rise, the Delhi
Directorate of Education
issued guidelines for
students on Friday. “Clos-
ing schools would be the
last option. Partial closure
would be implemented if
required,” said Delhi Dy
CM Manish Sisodia. P2
VP NAIDU VISITS
AYODHYA, KASHI
Vice President M Venkaiah
Naidu along with his wife
Usha Naidu on Friday
arrived in Ayodhya by
train wherein they offered
prayers at Ram Janma-
bhoomi site. They were
received by governor
Anandiben Patel. Later,
Naidu visited Varanasi. P5
PM MODI SAYS MORE
DOCS IN NEXT 10 YEARS
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, while inaugurating
hospital in Bhuj on Friday,
said the country will get a
record number of doctors
in the next 10 years due to
the central government’s
policy of establishing at
least one medical college
in every district.
MANJHI CALLS LORD
RAM ‘IMAGINARY’
The President of Hindu-
stani Awam Morcha and
former Bihar CM, Jitan
Ram Manjhi speaking at an
event to mark Ambedkar
Jayanti said, “I don’t be-
lieve Ram was a God. Ram
was a character created
by Tulsidas and Valmiki to
spread their message.” P3
A Russian sailor salutes on the bow
of Missile Cruiser Moskva, left, as
crew of Russian patrol ship Pitliviy,
right, prepare to moor the vessel in
Sevastopol, Crimea on March 30.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
02
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New Delhi (PTI): The
AAP on Friday alleged
the BJP government in
Himachal Pradesh is
copying the Arvind
Kejriwal model of gov-
ernance, soon after
Chief Minister Jairam
Thakur announced free
power and water supply,
and a 50 per cent rebate
in bus fare for women.
Addressing a press
conference here, senior
AAP leader Manish
Sisodia said the BJP
government's an-
nouncements ahead of
assembly polls in the
state are an attempt to
hoodwink people, as
the saffron party has al-
ways said it is com-
pletely against freebies
like free electricity
.
After coming back to
power in Himachal
Pradesh, the BJP will
take back all the an-
nouncements that its
chief minister had
made, Sisodia claimed.
Vote for the AAP in
elections, he appealed
to them.
While addressing an
event in Chamba earlier
in the day, the Himachal
Pradesh chief minister
announced his govern-
ment has decided to pro-
vide free power up to 125
units and waive water
bills in rural areas.
He also his govern-
ment has decided to re-
duce the bus fare for
women by 50 per cent.
What the BJP gov-
ernmenthasannounced
today is an attempt to
partially copy the Kejri-
wal model of govern-
ance. They have started
staging a drama of cop-
ying the Kejriwal model
of governance in the
state with an eye on
elections, Sisodia said.
BJP‘copying’AAPmodelof
governance, says Sisodia
‘DON’T FALL IN BJP TRAP’ RISING COVID CASES
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia on Fri-
day said a specific wing
in schools or class-
rooms where a COV-
ID-19 case has been de-
tected should be closed
temporarily and clari-
fied that the entire
school should only be
closed in specific cases.
The comments by
Sisodia, who is also the
Education Minister,
came against the back-
drop of rising cases of
COVID-19 among school
children and staff mem-
bers. A meeting of the
Delhi Disaster Manage-
ment Authority
(DDMA) has been called
on April 20 to review
the situation in the na-
tional capital.
“We haven’t asked
them to close schools.
Our guidelines say that
only a specific wing or
classroom where some-
one was found COVID
positive should be tem-
porarily closed. Schools
can take a decision to
close the entire prem-
ises,” Sisodia said in
response to a question
during a press confer-
ence.
Schools not be closed
entirely in Capital
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Delhi government
on Friday announced
the formation of a com-
mittee to consider au-
torickshaw and taxi
fares revision, this
ahead of a strike called
by the unions seeking
subsidy on Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG).
Delhi transport min-
ister Kailash Gahlot
tweeted, “Due to the ris-
ing fuel prices, auto/
taxi unions have been
demanding revision of
fares. @ArvindKejriwal
govt. understands their
concerns. A committee
shall soon be constitut-
ed by transport Dept for
this purpose, which
shall furnish its recom-
mendations in a time-
bound manner.”
The Delhi govern-
ment’s assurance
comes day after the
members of auto, taxi
and cab drivers’ asso-
ciations warned the au-
thorities to go on strike
from Monday if their
demand for subsidy on
gas prices was not met.
The bus operators have
also announced to join
the strike.
Delhi Govt says panel to consider
revision of auto taxi fares soon
City Govt sanctions of
`476crtodevelopmandis
New Delhi (ANI): The
Delhi government on
Thursday passed a
budget of Rs 476.89
crore for the develop-
ment of various man-
dis in the national capi-
tal, including over Rs
175 crore for the Aazad-
pur market.
In a joint meeting
chaired by Develop-
ment Minister Gopal
Rai with the officials of
Delhi Agricultural Mar-
keting Board (DAMB)
and Agricultural Pro-
duce Market Commit-
tee (APMC) today, re-
garding the develop-
ment of Delhi’s mandis,
the board passed a
budget of Rs 476 crores
89 lakhs for the develop-
ment of mandis for the
financial year 2022-23 at
the meeting.
The board has allo-
cated approximately Rs
178.73 crore to gricul-
tural Produce Market
Committee Azadpur, Rs
13.34 crore to the fruit
and vegetable market in
Ghazipur, Rs 13.96 crore
to FP and EMC in Ghaz-
ipur, Rs 8 crore to the
flower market, Rs 18.91
crore to gricultural Pro-
duce Market Committee
Keshopur, Rs 45.03 crore
to APMC Narela, Rs 5.32
crore to APMC Najaf-
garh and Rs 193.57 crore
to the Delhi Agricultur-
al Marketing Board.
New Delhi (Agencies):
Hours after the Delhi Po-
lice removed the saffron
flags and hoardings of
'Bhagwa JNU' from out-
side the Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU)
campus in the national
capital on Friday, Hindu
Sena president Vishnu
Gupta said the Delhi Po-
lice should not be in such
a hurry to take down
them as the 'saffron' is
not a symbol of terror.
The police should not
be in such a hurry to
take down the saffron
flag. Saffron is not a sym-
bol of terror that the po-
lice is showing haste, it
is the right of the law to
protect saffron and Hin-
dutva, Gupta said.
The members of Hin-
du Sena -- a right wing
organisation -- had put
up saffron flags outside
JNU forcing the police to
initiate legal action and
remove the said flags
from there.
The Hindu Sena chief
said the Saffron and
Hindutva are constantly
being insulted in the
JNU campus, which is
very wrong. Hindutva
is our culture and saf-
fron is the symbol of our
culture. The people of
any country should not
have any objection to
saffron, he said.
‘Why is police in hurry to remove
banners,saffronnotsymbolofterror’ New Delhi (PTI): Al-
most four decades after
developing Rohini as one
of the three sub-cities in
the national capital, the
Delhi Development Au-
thority (DDA) has now
decided to develop com-
mercial spaces lying un-
used for years, and have
initiated steps to appoint
a consultant to carry out
a study and prepare a de-
tailed plan for the vacant
land parcels.
“There are several va-
cant land parcels in the
area. The consultant will
study the entire area, as-
sess demand and suggest
ways to optimally utilise
land parcels earmarked
for commercial use,”
said a senior DDA offi-
cial.
The official added that
the selected firm will
have to do a detailed fea-
sibility study, taking into
account DDA’s latest
policies, like transit ori-
ented development, and
provisions under the
Master Plan of Del-
hi-2021.
“Study the best prac-
tices from similar pro-
jects in Delhi-NCR, any
other city in India or
globally... Highlight the
key learnings with re-
spect to product typolo-
gy, success factors, prod-
uct mix details, nature
and type of development
and innovative solu-
tions,” said the tender
document issued by the
DDA on April 12.
Spread over 7,400 hec-
tares, Rohini was devel-
oped in the 1980s as one
of the three planned sub-
cities along with Dwarka
and Narela. DDA offi-
cials said that it was de-
veloped in five phases
with 41 sectors.
DDA plans to develop Rohini’s vacant plots
Court orders
FIRs against
builder for fraud
and cheating
New Delhi (PTI): A
Delhi court directed
Delhi police to lodge
two FIRs against a real
estate developer for al-
leged fraud and cheat-
ing by selling flats that
were already sold to
others in Gurgaon.
Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Dinesh Ku-
mar passed the order on
two separate com-
plaints filed by Para-
mount Infratek Pvt Ltd
and Choraria Securi-
ties Ltd against Raheja
Developers Ltd. The
court said that the alle-
gations prima- facie
showed the commission
of an offence punisha-
ble under the sections
406 (criminal breach of
trust), 420 (cheating),
and 120B (criminal con-
spiracy) of IPC.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Amid unusually
high temperatures this
summer, the Delhi Jal
Board (DJB) is plan-
ning to increase the
daily water production
to approximately 1,000
million gallons per day
(MGD) -- its highest
ever -- mostly through
groundwater sources
to meet a water deficit
of around 450MGD.
Noting that the city
sees peak water de-
mand during summers,
a senior DJB official
said the DJB has set a
target of producing
998MGD of potable wa-
ter, an increase of
63MGD over last year’s
935MGD. A water
stressed city, Delhi is
estimated to have a wa-
ter demand of 1,380
MGD based on the
norms of per day water
requirement of 60 gal-
lons per person.
“The targeted pro-
duction from the nine
water treatment
plants will be pushed
up to 861MGD instead
of last year’s peak
summer production
of 845 MGD. The ex-
traction of water from
sub-surface resources,
such as ranney wells
and tubewells, will be
137MGD -- an addition
of 47 MGD over last
year,” said a senior
DJB official.
Water output to be amped up to near 1k MGD this year
UNUSUALLY HOT SUMMER

—Representative Image
New Delhi (PTI): Three juveniles were apprehended on
Friday for allegedly stabbing a 45-year-old ice-cream ven-
dor to death in northeast Delhi’s
Bhajanpura, police said. According
to police, the incident took place
in Subhash Vihar area on the in-
tervening night of Wednesday and
Thursday. Two baton swords used
in the crime were also recovered
from them. All the juveniles who were aged between 15
to 16 years had fled to Meerut (UP) after killing Tamkeen
and later returned back to their Delhi home, police said.
New Delhi (ANI): The girl, who had jumped from the
Akshardham metro station on Blue Line in East Delhi
succumbed to her injuries on Thursday evening, said
officials. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Metro Ji-
tendra Mani said that the girl was a resident of Hoshiarpur
in Punjab, worked in Haryana's Gurugram, and had quit
her job recently. A girl who had jumped off Akshardham
Metro station has now succumbed to her injuries. She
was a resident of Hoshiarpur in Punjab, worked in Hary-
ana's Gurugram, and had quit her job recently, said Mani.
THREE JUVENILES HELD FOR KILLING
ICE-CREAM VENDOR IN BHAJANPURA
GIRL WHO JUMPED FROM AKSHARDHAM
METRO STATION SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES
PATIENT ATTACKS
DOCTOR IN TILAK
NAGAR HOSPITAL
New Delhi (PTI): A doctor
was attacked by a patient
with a pair of scissors
in an Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) of a hospital in West
Delhi’s Tilak Nagar on
Friday, police said. The
doctor managed to escape
the attack with minor inju-
ries in his hand, they said.
The incident took place
when the doctor came
to treat the 40-year-old
patient in the ICU.
BODIES OF 2 BOYS
RETRIEVED FROM
YAMUNA: POLICE
New Delhi (PTI): Two
more bodies were re-
trieved from the Yamuna
here on Thursday, a day
after four boys went to
play near Kalindi Kunj
and drowned in the river,
police said. The bodies of
Mohammad Ali (11) and
his cousin Sahil (13) were
retrieved from the river by
the rescue teams and the
search is still on to trace
Rihaan (13), they added.
AAP: BJP Govt’s
announcements
are an attempt to
‘hoodwink’ people
MINISTER SAYS
PLANNED CITY
1 killed, 5
injured as
fire breaks
out in eatery
New Delhi (PTI): A
man died and five
others sustained in-
juries after an air-
conditioner com-
pressor exploded,
causing a fire at an
eatery in southeast
Delhi’s Jamia Nagar
on Thursday, police
said.
Nadeem and
Shaan were called to
repair the AC at the
eatery, police said.
“Due to the explo-
sion, Nadeem sus-
tained severe inju-
ries on his head and
chest and was found
bleeding and uncon-
scious,” a senior po-
lice officer said, add-
ing that he died dur-
ing treatment.
Shaan along with
Danish, Ajju, Bijay
and Ikra sustained
injuries and were
admitted to the Holy
Family Hospital for
treatment, an offi-
cial said, adding that
Ikra was discharged
after a few hours.
New Delhi (Agencies): Delhi has recorded 366
Covid cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity
rate of nearly four per cent (3.95 per cent) - high-
est since February 3. The national capital has been
witnessing an uptick in coronavirus cases over the
last few days. Earlier in the day, the Delhi govern-
ment announced free precaution doses of Covid
vaccines at its hospitals. “Precaution doses of
the same vaccine will be given to the people,” the
Delhi government said in a statement.
CAPITAL WITNESSES POSITIVITY RATE
RISE TO 3.95% IN LAST 24 HOURS
Manish Sisodia
—Representative Image
CRIME BRANCH

INDIA
03
BJP fact-finding team meets rape
victim’s family, criticises WB govt
Nadia (ANI): A five-
member fact-finding
committee constituted
by Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) national
president JP Nadda vis-
ited Hanskhali on Fri-
day to look into the al-
leged rape and murder
of a minor girl.
A 14-year-old girl died
after she was allegedly
gang-raped in Hanskha-
li in Nadia district of
West Bengal earlier this
month. The victim’s
family has accused the
son of a Trinamool Con-
gress (TMC) panchayat
leader in the case.
Following this, BJP
— the Opposition party
in the state — formed a
committee of party’s
women members to en-
quire into the incident.
The members of the
fact-finding committee
are BJP’s vice presi-
dent and MP Rekha
Verma, Uttar Pradesh
minister Baby Rani
Maurya, Tamil Nadu
MLA Vanathi Srini-
vasan, who is also BJP
womenwinghead,Kush-
buSunderandWestBen-
galMLASreerupaMitra
Choudhury
.
Meanwhile, a Central
Bureau of Investiga-
tion (CBI) team also ar-
rived in Hanskhali on
Thursday and visited
the residences of the
gang rape victim and
the accused in the case.
Calcutta High Court
on Tuesday granted per-
mission to the CBI to
investigate the alleged
rape and murder case.
CBI DIG Akhilesh Sin-
gh with CBI Joint Direc-
tor Ghanshyam Upad-
hyay reached the house
inGanrapotaBilparaVil-
lageof theprimeaccused
in which the minor girl
wasallegedlygangraped,
but found it locked. They
then broke the lock and
entered the house.
BJP ‘fact-finding team’ visit Hanskhali village to inquire into the death of a minor girl, who was allegedly gangraped and murdered, in
Nadia on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
TRIBAL GIRL GANGRAPED IN BENGAL’S
BIRBHUM DISTRICT, SAY POLICE
Santiniketan (PTI): A tribal girl has been gang-raped in
West Bengal’s Birbhum district by at least five men when
she was returning home from a village fair, police said
on Friday. The incident took place when the minor and
her boyfriend were coming back from a Charak Mela at
Adityapur in Santiniketan police station area on Thurs-
day night, an officer said. Five men beat up the girl’s
boyfriend and took her to the banks of a river where they
took turns to rape her, he said. Based on a police com-
plaint, a case has been registered and investigation is un-
derway, the officer said. The girl is undergoing treatment
at Bolpur Sub-divisional Hospital, and police is seeking
her help to draw sketches of the accused, he said.
Bengaluru (PTI): As
Rural Development and
Panchayat Raj (RDPR)
Minister K S Eshwarap-
pa is all set to resign,
Karnataka BJP strong-
man BS Yediyurappa on
Friday, standing by his
old friend, expressed
confidence that he will
come out clear from all
allegations and return
as Minister soon.
Eshwarappa, against
whom police have
booked a case for alleg-
edly abetting the sui-
cide of contractor San-
tosh Patil, will be sub-
mitting his resignation
to Chief Minister Basa-
varaj Bommai today
evening.
“As a situation has
come for him (Esh-
warappa) to resign, he
is going to resign. If the
investigation is com-
pleted in two to three
months, it will be
proved that he has no
role (in the case) and
that he is innocent, and
there will no hurdles
for him to be re-induct-
ed into the cabinet,”
Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters
here, the former Chief
Ministersaid,duetocer-
tain unavoidable rea-
sons, despite having
committed no mistake, a
situation has come for
Eshwarappa to resign,
under certain pressure.
DECIDED ON HIS OWN: BOMMAI ON RESIGNATION
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivaku-
mar on Friday took a pot shot at Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai after the latter confirmed that Minister
KS Eshwarappa will tender his resigna-
tion from his ministerial post on Friday
following allegations of corruption. “The
protest is not for his resignation (KS
Eshwarappa) but against corruption. CM
said (Eshwarappa) has not done anything
wrong. If he didn’t do anything then why
are you accepting his resignation?” said
Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar. “No need for
the Opposition to become an investigation officer or judge
as everything will come out after probe,” the Bommai said.
‘Eshwarappa will become
Min again after probe’
BS Yediyurappa
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Music and
art show for the versa-
tile Barodians for the
next three days. The In-
dira Gandhi National
Centre for Arts (IGN-
CA) has organised a
three-day festival from
Friday to Sunday titled
“Raja Ravi Varma Ma-
hotsav” under the aegis
of Azadi Ka Amrut Ma-
hotsav, paying tribute to
the late artist. The festi-
val will have art, music,
dance and exhibitions.
IGNCA along with the
royal family of Vadodara
havejointlyrenovatedthe
Raja Ravi Varma studio,
which was built by Maha-
raja Sayajirao Gaekwad
forVarmainsidetheLuk-
shmi Vilas Palace. The
studio and exhibition
were inaugurated on Fri-
day by Minister of State
forParliamentaryAffairs
and Culture Arjun Ram
Meghwal. The festival
will also host several
book releases, lectures,
dance, drama, poetry,
music, film screening
and exhibitions.
“Raja Ravi Varma is a
big name in the world of,
art and painting. He was
invited here by the Ma-
haraja, who built a stu-
dio for him, where he
created some master-
pieces, especially oil
paintings. His studio
was in a dilapidated
state, and the Ministry
of Culture decided to
helprenovateit.Todayit
is ready to welcome fa-
mousartists,wherethey
can feel the presence of
the legendary artist
working right next to
them,” said Meghwal.
The invaluable paint-
ings of Raja Ravi Var-
ma are on display for
three days inside the
Palace studio. In addi-
tion, IGNCA also or-
ganised a pre-event
Chitrayatra on Thurs-
day evening to preserve
and develop the endan-
gered folk arts in this
modern world.
A befitting tribute to Raja Ravi Varma under AKAM
Implement letter of pact reached
with farmers: BKU Charuni to Shah
Ambala (Agencies):
Bharatiya Kisan Union
(BKU) Charuni national
president Gurnam Sin-
gh Charuni wrote a let-
ter to Union home min-
ister Amit Shah on Fri-
day, demanding full im-
plementation of the let-
ter of agreement
reached with farmers
during their year-long
protest.
A similar letter has
also been sent to the sec-
retaryof theUnionmin-
istry of agriculture and
farmers’ welfare.
In his letter, Charuni
said that through the
Union ministry of agri-
culture and farmers’
welfare’s letter secre-
tary (AFW)/2021/Mis/1
dated December 9, 2021,
the Centre government
and the andolankaris
(agitating farmers)
reached a written agree-
ment.
“According to the
agreement, points no. 2
and 2A have not been
implemented, under
which, a consensus was
reached to withdraw
with immediate effect
all the cases related to
the Andolan (agitation)
but till date, the Centre
government has not is-
sued any order to imple-
mentpointno.2and2A”,
said Charuni.
Charuni alleged that
due to the non-with-
drawal of cases, the rail-
way police and other
agencies are harassing
the farmers.
“Therefore, it is re-
quested that Centre gov-
ernment should fully
implement all the points
reached in an agree-
ment to maintain the
people’s trust in govern-
ment”, said Charuni.
“The Centre should
also write to concerned
state governments to
withdraw all the cases
still pending against the
farmers,” he added.
BKU Charuni president Gurnam Singh Charuni (C).
Unable to pay bill,
T’gana man hangs
self in hospital
Hyderabad (Agen-
cies): Unable to pay
hospital bill, a man
committed suicide by
hanging in a private
hospitalinJayashankar
Bhupalapally district.
Marri Bapu, 46, was un-
dergoing treatment af-
ter consuming pesti-
cide following denial of
job to his son as prom-
ised by the authorities
while acquiring his
land for Kakatiya Ther-
mal Power Project.
ED roped in
to track
money trail
Kolkata (Agencies):
TheCBIhasropedinEn-
forcement Directorate
(ED) in the investigation
of theongoingWestBen-
gal School Service Com-
mission (WBSSC) scam.
TheEDwillnowruna
parallelinquirybutonly
inthefinancialaspectof
the scam. CBI sources
told media that the deci-
sion to rope in ED was
takensincethelatterhas
better expertise to track
the money trail involved
in the scam.
“Tracking the money
trail will give crucial
clues relating to the
scamandwedonotwant
further delay in it. Our
senior officers had been
holding dialogues with
theircounterpartsinED
for the last few days and
finally the latter has
agreed to take up the fi-
nancial angle probe in
the scam,” a CBI official
heresaidonconditionof
anonymity
.
The ED will specially
examine the transac-
tions involving huge
amounts to track the
money trail.

❍ WBSSC SCAM
Sonia among last Cong leaders
to enrol for internal elections
New Delhi (PTI): Sonia
Gandhi was among the
lastleaderswhoenrolled
as Congress members
digitally ahead of inter-
nal elections next
month. Over 2.6 crore
Congress workers have
enrolled digitally and
another 3 crore have
used paper enrolment
system to participate in
theexercisethatisbeing
carried out for the first
time in the party’s
137-year-old history
.
This exercise comes
after a series of defeats
in several states and in-
ternal calls from leaders
and workers for a com-
plete overhaul of the
party organisation and
leadership at all levels.
KC Venugopal gives ID card to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
JK: Militants kill BJP
sarpanch in Baramulla
Srinagar (PTI): Mili-
tants shot dead a sar-
panch in an orchard at
Goush-bugh village of
Pattan in north Kash-
mir’s Baramulla district
on Friday evening.
A police official said
a sarpanch was shot
dead by suspected mili-
tants in an orchard at
Goush-bugh village.
The sarpanch has
been identified as Man-
zoor Ahmad Bangroo
of Goush-bugh and is
said to be associated
with the BJP.
The area has been
cordoned off and a
search operation has
been launched to nab
the attackers, the police
official said.
AAP Guj chief
invites Cong
leader Hardik
to join party
Ahmedabad (ANI):
Amid rumours of Guja-
rat Congress Working
President Hardik Patel
quitting the party over
infighting in the party,
Aam Aadmi Party Guja-
rat chief Gopal Italia on
Friday invited him to
join a “like-minded par-
ty” like his and said that
Congress would not
have a place for the ded-
icated people like Patel.
Speaking to media,
the AAP state chief
said, “If Hardik Patel is
not liking in Congress,
he should join a like-
minded party like AAP.
Instead of complaining
to Congress, wasting his
time, he should contrib-
ute here.”
“I have given my 100
per cent to Congress till
now, and will give the
same in the coming
days,” Patel said.
Hardik Patel
Don’t believe ‘Ram was a
god’, Manjhi triggers row
Patna, (Agencies): The
Presidentof Hindustani
Awam Morcha (HAM)
andformerChief Minis-
ter of Bihar, Jitan Ram
Manjhi, has again made
a controversial state-
ment on Lord Ram.
Speaking at an event
organised by HAM
MLA Praful Kumar
Manjhi at Sikandra in
Jamui district to mark
Ambedkar Jayanti on
Thursday, Manjhi said:
“I don’t believe Ram
was a God. Ram was a
character created by
Tulsidas and Valmiki to
spread their message.”
On September 22 last
year, Manjhi had
sparked a row after call-
ing Lord Ram a historic
figure who is just a
character in a mytho-
logical story
.
At the event in Si-
kandra, Manjhi also
said: “People who per-
form Puja at other’s
houses do not become
big people. People be-
longing to Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled
Tribes should stop puja
in their houses. Brah-
mins used to eat meat,
consume liquor and
speak lies. You cannot
achieve religious merit
ny inviting Brahmins
at your houses for puja.
In fact, you gain sin
that way.”
Reacting to Manjhi’s
remarks, RJD state unit
chief Jagadanand Sin-
gh said: “I can’t under-
stand why Manjhi re-
peatedly makes state-
ments on Lord Ram. We
worship Lord Ram. He
is the creator of the uni-
verse. Why do some peo-
ple use his name to cre-
ate controversy and
flare up communal ten-
sion in the society?
Jitan Ram Manjhi
The renovated Raja Ravi Varma Studio inside the Lukshmi Vilas Palace was inaugurated on Friday.
IGNCA puts up a three-day Raja
Ravi Varma Utsav under the aegis
of Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav
IGNCA and
Vadodara royal
family have
jointly renovated
the studio, which
was built by
Maharaja
Sayajirao
Gaekwad

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 226
l RNITITLENO.DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf
of First Express Publishers.
Printed at Impressions Printing
and Packaging Limited, C-21,
22 Sector-59, Noida-201301.
Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309,
Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092.
Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh
Chandra. Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Ashwini Vaishnaw
@AshwiniVaishnaw
My best wishes and greetings to all
on Poila Boishakh, Bihu, Baisakhi,
Puthandu, Vishu and Bisu.
Jyotiraditya M. Scindia
@JM_Scindia
Heartiest greetings to every resident
of Himachal Pradeh on the state’s 75th
Foundation Day. May the state continue
to move forward on the path of
progress and continue to play its part
in nation building with committment.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Detachment from
material things is the way
to inner peace.
—Bhagvad Gita
IN-DEPTH
ODISHA HC’S CHIEF
JUSTICE CALLS LAW
DISCRIMINATORY
AGAINST THE POOR
TOP TWEETS
nlawful detentions,
getting dispossessed
of their properties
with no quarter to
approach for relief,
the poor and the marginalised in
India have always found them-
selves at the receiving end of the
law because of their low status
in society
. Never mind the party
in power and never mind their
claims of being pro-poor. Odisha
High Court’s Chief Justice S.
Muralidhar has given an un-
blinkered view of the plight of
the poor “as the laws are struc-
tured against them”. Delivering
a lecture on “Appearing in
Court: Challenges In Represent-
ing the Marginalised”, Chief
Justice Muralidhar said, “There
are many barriers to accessing
justice that a marginalised per-
son faces…The laws are them-
selves structured to discrimi-
nate against the poor”.
Indeed, not only are laws com-
plex, the entire legal system is
tilted heavily in favour of the
rich and powerful leaving the
poor at the mercy of untrust-
worthy lawyers at times. People
from the Scheduled Castes,
OBCs and Muslims constitute
the bulk of undertrials and con-
victs and there’s little hope of a
change.
U
inding an honest
politician would
be like looking for
the proverbial
needle in a hay-
stack. Karnataka, like many
other states, has a long list of
corrupt politicians. Heading
the list is former Chief Min-
ister BS Yediyurappa. Others
on the list included his cabi-
net colleagues and Bellary
mine lord Janardhana Reddy
and his aide B. Sriramulu.
All of them were probed by
the Karnataka Lokayukta in
2012. Yediyurappa is still not
off the hook in a land scam
case, although the Supreme
Court did grant him relief
from arrest. The BJP saw
nothing wrong in giving tick-
ets to Janardhan Reddy and
his brothers who, at one
point in time, were seen as
fountainheads of corruption.
The present controversy is
over contractor Santosh Pa-
til’s suicide because of Kar-
nataka Rural Development
Minister KS Eshwarappa al-
legedly made an unreasona-
ble demand for “40 percent
cut money” to clear his bill of
Rs 4 crore. Those in the know
of cut money business are
aware that if 40 percent was
being allegedly demanded by
the highest authority in the
department, others down the
pecking order also expect a
cut. Besides Eshwarappa,
Santosh Patil also named two
associates of the minister.
Eshwarappa has offered ar-
guments in his defence.
The minister has resigned
but he has not been arrested.
Enforcement Directorate and
the CBI, the two independent
bodies, are watching the
show from afar as Karnataka
is an important BJP-ruled
state. What is important here
is to understand that no po-
litical party can absolve itself
of corruption charges. A rul-
ing party finds facing such
charges easier to handle.
KARNATAKA’S CORRUPT
POLITICAL LEADERS
The present controversy is
over contractor Santosh
Patil’s suicide because of
K’taka Rural Development
Minister KS Eshwarappa
allegedly made an
unreasonable demand
for “40% cut money”
to clear his bill of
`4 crore
F
CONTRACTUAL RECRUITMENT
A TRYST WITH NATIONAL SECURITY
I agree that jobs creation is
the utmost need of the hour.
There is also no doubt that
the youth should be
disciplined and the love and
respect for India should
reign supreme. Yes, we all
want India to become an
economic super power but, is
it required to disturb the
decades old and tested
military practices to fulfil
short term political gains
without caring for the long-
term ill effects
ast two years saw a massive
reduction in soldier strength
in Indian Army
. Due to the
pandemic no rallies wereheld
and results of rallies held
were not declared thus caus-
ing a deficiency of over 1.2
lakh soldiers in a time when
we were preparing to meet
Chinese might. The nation
wondered why recruitment
rallies of 15 -18K couldn’t be
conducted when N number of
political rallies involving
over lakhs of citizens, voting
by dozens of crores in elec-
tions and IPL matches were
seen on the block. Was it by a
design or default?
As an observer of military
affairs, I was of the firm opin-
ion that policy makers were
inclinedtopushinoldscheme
of ‘TOUROFDUTY’intoprac-
tice albeit, under a new and
attractive Jingoism called
‘
AGNIPATHBHARTIYOJNA’.
It is believed that the Cen-
tral Government is now final-
izing the Agni Path Recruit-
ment Scheme where in, youth
will have the option to be re-
cruited into Army for three
years and would be known as
Agniveer during his service.
To a lay man the thought
would appear to be noble but
actually it is fraught with un-
certainties and tremendous
harm not only to military’s
war potential but also to the
morale, discipline, motiva-
tion and ethos of units. As it
takes 4 - 5 years in a unit ser-
vice before a soldier matures.
In India, Army has been a
volunteer force for all ranks
since independence. There is
no conscription as the vol-
ume of volunteers is ever on
an increase. Having conduct-
ed this whole process as a
recruiter in the Army, I am
well aware of the dreams and
aspirations of the teeming
millions as well as the tough
selection process of soldiers
before they are put through a
rigorous training pro-
gramme to harness a very
basic military craft which
gets developed into a battle-
hardened soldier in next few
years in a unit.
My apprehension is that, as
againsttheestablishednorms
of recruitment if the propos-
al of short-term recruitment
comes through, it would not
only defeat the efficacy and
efficiency of the armed forces
but may also have the danger
of producing dissatisfied and
disgruntled gun trained mer-
cenaries who are vulnerable
in the absence of meaningful
and worthy employment in
thealreadysaturatedjobmar-
ket. In fact, if ‘
Agniveers’ fail
to pick up a job after three
years of military tourism, the
nation will have weapon
trained unemployeds ready
for exploitation.
Politicians popularly argue
that this scheme is to usher in
‘discipline’ and ‘patriotism’
amongst youth. While mili-
tary leadership harps upon
financial benefits accruing
out of this scheme. The two
do not appear to be in sync. It
is evident that our leadership
is willing to accept the chal-
lenges even at the peril of
National Security
.
I agree that jobs creation is
the utmost need of the hour.
There is also no doubt that
the youth should be disci-
plined and the love and re-
spect for India should reign
supreme. Yes, we all want
India to become an economic
super power but, is it re-
quired to disturb the decades
old and tested military prac-
tices to fulfil short term po-
litical gains without caring
for the long- term ill effects.
Will it not be wise to put this
template first on other govt
services like Railways, CAPF
and Para military forces to
establish its efficacy and
then only subject the defence
forces for implementation?
If we further analyse the
likely draw backs of this pro-
posal, it is the myth it spreads
about the savings to the na-
tion for modernization of the
very Army
. While the cost of
Agniveer is calculated at 85
lakhs against 4-5 crores for a
regular soldier, how many
Agniveers will be required to
replace service span of a
regular soldier has not been
discussed.
It is not quite clear as to
why Defence forces are se-
lected to be the favourites of
the financial authorities for
cost cutting measures. But
the recent reductions in man
power, replacement of regu-
lar soldiers, accepting exist-
ing short falls in officer cad-
re and sale of defence land to
generate modernization
funds for Army point in a di-
rection not very healthy and
inspiring.
And what do we lose in this
myopic vision? Obviously,
the growth within the organ-
ization, stability, experience
skills, motivation and the
capacity to succeed in any
future war. In other words,
lower degree of national se-
curity and that too, just for a
little saving to the exchequer.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
L
COL ANUPAM
JAITLY (RETD)
The writer is Defence expert,
Motivational Speaker Corporate Trainer
In fact, if ‘Agniveers’
fail to pick up a job after
three years of military
tourism, the nation will
have weapon trained
unemployeds ready for
exploitation.Politicians
popularly argue that
this scheme is to
usher in ‘discipline’
and ‘patriotism’
amongst youth

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INDIA
05
VIVEK AGNIHOTRI
DROPS HINTS FOR‘THE
DELHI FILES’
Mumbai: Filmmaker
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri
on Thursday revealed that
he will soon be working
on his next feature film,
titled “The Delhi Files”. The
filmmaker, whose last film
“The Kashmir Files” raked
in big numbers at the box
office but also resulted
in a political controversy,
shared the news in a post
on Twitter. “I thank all
the people who owned
#TheKashmirFiles. For last
four years, we worked very
hard with utmost honesty
sincerity. I may have
spammed your TL but it’s
important.
B’DESHI TEEN HELD
WHILE SNEAKING TO
BUY CHOCOLATE
Agartala: A Bangladeshi
teen has been arrested
and put behind bars for
illegally crossing into
India to buy chocolate, the
BSF said on Friday. Eman
Hossain, a resident of a
Bangladeshi village close
to Shalda River, which
marks the international
border between the two
countries, regularly swam
across the water body to
buy his favourite Indian
chocolate in Tripura’s
Sipahijala district. He used
to sneak through a hole in
the barbed wire fencing to
buy chocolate from a shop
in Kalamchoura village.
Patna: Bihar govern-
ment has sent a fresh
proposal to the Archae-
ological Survey of India
to get Cyclopean wall, a
more than 2,500 years
old structure at Rajgir,
listed in the UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
The Cyclopean Wall
of Rajgir is a 40 km long
wall of stone which en-
circled the ancient city
of Rajgir to protect it
from external enemies
and invaders, built be-
fore 3rd century BC.
“We are leaving no
stone unturned to get
Cyclopean wall listed in
the UNESCO World
Heritage Site. We have
submitted a fresh pro-
posal highlighting the
historical significance
and features of the Cy-
clopean Wall to the ASI
following their re-
quest”, Additional Sec-
retary cum Director
(Archaeology), of Bi-
har’s Art, Culture and
Youth department,
Deepak Anand told PTI.
Anand said the wall
is among the oldest ex-
amples of cyclopean
masonry in the world
and it must be listed in
the UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Earlier,
Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar also
said on several occa-
sions that Cyclopean
wall must be listed in
the UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Bihar’s push for UNESCO world heritage tag
FOR 2,500-YEAR-OLD WALL
lll
The Cyclopean
Wall of Rajgir is
a 40 km long
wall of stone
which encircled
ancient city of
Rajgir to protect
it from external
enemies and
invaders
Washington (PTI): In
a strong message to
China, Defence Minis-
ter Rajnath Singh has
said that if harmed, In-
dia will not spare any-
one, as he asserted that
India under Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi has emerged as a
powerful country and
is headed to be among
the top three econo-
mies of the world.
Singh, in his address
to the Indian-American
community in San
Francisco, also sent a
subtle message to the
US that New Delhi does
not believe in a diplo-
macy of “zero-sum
game” and its relation-
ship with one country
cannot be at the expense
of the other.
The defence minister
was here to attend the
India US 2+2 ministeri-
al in Washington DC.
Thereafter, he travelled
to Hawaii for meetings
at IndoPACOM head-
quarters and then to
San Francisco.
At a reception hosted
in his honour by the In-
dian Consulate in San
Francisco, the Defence
Minister told the select
gathering about the
valour shown by Indi-
an soldiers on the bor-
der with China.
“I cannot say openly
what they (Indian sol-
diers) did and what de-
cisions we (the govern-
ment) took. But I can
definitely say that a
message has gone (to
China) that India will
not spare anyone, if In-
dia is harmed. (Bharat
ko agar koi chherega to
Bharat chhorega
nahi),” he said.
The Ladakh border
standoff between the
Indian and Chinese mil-
itaries erupted on May
5, 2020, following a vio-
lent clash in the Pan-
gong lake areas. The
face-off escalated after
the Galwan Valley
clashes on June 15, 2020.
New Delhi: Indian citi-
zens, without transit or
regular Schengen visas,
are unable to fly to the
UK through European
Union airlines like Luf-
thansa, KLM and Air
France as they are
stopped at the origin
airports in India itself.
As the UK is no long-
er part of the European
Union, it has, post Brex-
it, made mandatory of
for non-EU citizens to
get a transit Schengen
visa in order to fly to the
UK on transit flights op-
erated by its airlines.
Schengen visa is a
short-term visa that al-
lows its holder to travel
freely throughout the
Schengen area, which
covers 26 EU countries
or Schengen States
without border controls
between them.
The move took place
on January 1 last year.
Non-EU citizens can
fly to the UK without
transitorregularSchen-
gen visa only through
non-stop flights or by
one stop flights only
through Gulf countries
or Switzerland. The EU
rule does not apply for
Switzerland as it is not a
member of the Union.
However, there are
several services which
fly directly to the Unit-
ed Kingdom.
After India resumed
scheduled internation-
al flights, foreign air-
lines have started offer-
ing one-stop connec-
tions between India and
the rest of the world.
Following the Rus-
sia-Ukraine conflict,
this one-stop business
has also increased sig-
nificantly.
Beijing: Sun Jian, a 37-year-old master’s degree
student in the Chinese city of Yantai, for months staged
a solo campaign against his university’s Covid-19
prevention measures, including blistering criticism on
social media. The last straw for authorities came on
March 27, when Sun walked around his campus carry-
ing a placard that read “lift the lockdown on Ludong”.
Police detained him and on April 1 Ludong University
expelled him, according to a letter from the university
seen by Reuters. University officials did not respond to
a request for comment. The Chinese public have been
largely supportive of the zero-Covid policy.
Karnataka: Several parts of Bengaluru faced severe
water-logging amidst very heavy rainfall in the city on
Thursday. Buses, cars and other vehicles were seen
struggling to meander through the cascading water.
Homes in some parts of the city were submerged in
nearly waist-deep water due to the downpour. People
were stranded in city due to water-logged streets and
pavements. An emergency operation had to be carried
out in some areas by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara
Palike (BBMP) and the fire department.
GROWING DEFIANCE OF COVID CURBS
IN CHINA BRINGS WAVE OF ARRESTS
DELUGE IN BENGALURU, HOMES FLOODED,
HEAVY RAIN FORECAST FOR THREE DAYS
CRUCIAL READ
Body of student
killed in Canada
likely to reach
Delhi today
CBSE yet to
decide on Class
X XII exams
for 2022-23
Ghaziabad: The
father of the man-
agement student
in Toronto, who
was murdered on
April 7, said that
the body of Kartik
would arrive in
Delhi on Saturday
.
“(Accused) Ed-
win has been pro-
duced before the
court and is being
asked to hire a
lawyer for the next
hearing that is be-
ing scheduled on
Wednesday,” said
Hitesh Vasudev,
fatherof deceased.
Richard Jona-
than Edwin (39),
the accused of the
murder of Kar-
tik Vasudev, 21,
was arrested by
the Toronto po-
lice on Sunday,
including Kartik
Vasudev’s case.
Kartik was a stu-
dent from UP’s
Ghaziabad, who
went to Canada for
studies in January
.
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Board of Secondary
Education is yet to de-
cide whether the 2022-23
academic session will
remain split into two
terms for Class 10 and
12 or it will revert to the
single board exam pat-
tern, officials said on
Friday
.
Bifurcating the aca-
demic session, holding
two term-end exams
and rationalising the
syllabus were part of
the special assessment
scheme for Class 10 and
12 board examinations
in 2021-22 announced by
the CBSE as a “one time
measure” in view of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
“The decision to con-
duct the board exams in
two terms was taken in
view of the unprece-
dented situation, the
students had to be as-
sessed using assess-
ment scheme as no
board exams could be
conducted,” a senior
board official said.
MODI DISCUSSES UKRAINE, SCS
WITH TOP VIETNAMESE LEADER
New Delhi (PTI):
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Friday
spoke with general sec-
retary of the Commu-
nist party of Vietnam
Nguyen Phu Trong and
exchanged views on re-
gional and global is-
sues, including the on-
going crisis in Ukraine
and the situation in the
South China Sea.
In their telephonic
conversation, the two
leaders expressed satis-
faction over the rapid
pace of wide-ranging
cooperation under the
India-Vietnam Compre-
hensive Strategic Part-
nership which was es-
tablished during Modi’s
visit to Vietnam in 2016,
the PMO said.
They complimented
each other on the 50th
anniversary of the es-
tablishment of diplo-
matic relations between
the two countries.
Prime Minister Modi
reiterated Vietnam’s
importance as an im-
portant pillar of India’s
Act East Policy and In-
do-Pacific Vision, and
sought to enhance the
scope of the bilateral
relationship, besides
working for expeditious
progress on existing
initiatives.
The prime minister
also requested for great-
er facilitation of mar-
ket access for India’s
pharma and agri-prod-
ucts in Vietnam, the
statement said.
PM Modi highlighted
the historical and civili-
sation links between
the two countries and
expressed his happi-
ness on India’s involve-
ment in restoration of
Cham monuments in
Vietnam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets while virtually addressing
on the special occasion of Himachal Day, in New Delhi on Friday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visits the various training sites of
US Army Pacific, in Hawaii on Thursday. —FILE PHOTO
PM LAUDS HP’S PROGRESS,
STRESSES ON DEVELOPMENT
New Delhi (PTI): PM
Narendra Modi on
Friday emphasised on
the need for Himachal
Pradesh to realise
its full potential, and
said the State has to
be developed with a
quick pace in the next
25 years to take it
further ahead in fields
like tourism, higher
education, research,
information technol-
ogy, bio technology,
food processing and
natural farming. In an
address on the state’s
75th foundation day,
he lauded its progress.
However, people con-
verted challenges into
opportunities, and the
state now ranks high
on various develop-
ment indices with its
progress in the fields
of horticulture, literacy,
electrification and
water supply.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Artists perform during an event to celebrate Himachal
Divas at Dhalpur in Kullu district on Friday.
RAJNATH’SWARNINGTOCHINA
If harmed, India
will not spare
anyone: Def Min to
China amid tension
Indians can’t fly EU
carriers to UK without
transit Schengen visa
Hawkers cannot insist
on leaving goods: SC
New Delhi: A hawker
has no right to insist
that he may be permit-
ted to keep his goods
and wares at the place
of hawking overnight,
the Supreme Court has
said. A bench of Jus-
tices MR Shah and BV
Nagarathna said hawk-
ers can be permitted to
hawk in markets only
in accordance with the
hawking policy
.
“The prayer before
the high court was that
the petitioner, who is a
hawker in the Sarojini
Nagar Market (Delhi),
be permitted to leave
his goods and wares at
the place of hawking
overnight. The said
prayer has been rightly
rejected by the high
court,” the court said.
“The petitioner, be-
ing a hawker, has no
right to insist that he
may be permitted to
keep his goods and
wares at the place
where he is hawking
overnight,” the bench
said.
Ram temple will herald new
phase for Ayodhya, says Naidu
Amid Ukraine war, Russia starts
delivery of S-400 missile to India
New Delhi (ANI): Re-
construction of the
Ram Janmabhoomi
temple is not simply a
high point in India’s
cultural history, it will
also herald a new phase
in the economy and de-
velopment of the an-
cient city of Ayodhya
and nearby areas, Vice
President M Venkaiah
Naidu said on Friday
.
Naidu’s statement
came after he along
with his spouse Usha
Naidu visited the Ram
Janmabhoomi Temple
site in Ayodhya.
“Spiritual tourism is
a major employment
generator in India and
Ayodhya, one of the
most ancient cities of
the world, which is fast
emerging as a pre-
ferred destination for
national as well as in-
ternational devotees,”
Naidu further said.
“I am pleased to note
that to meet the increas-
ing requirements of
surging tourist inflows,
the Central and State
governments have
started many infra-
structural works.”
New Delhi: Amid the
ongoing war between
Russia and Ukraine, In-
dia has received the
simulators and other
equipment from Mos-
cow for the training
squadron of the S-400
Triumf missile system.
The second squadron
of the missile system is
a training squadron
and includes simula-
tors and other training-
related equipment only
.
It does not include mis-
siles or launchers, de-
fence sources told ANI.
Despite the ongoing
conflict, defence sup-
plies from Moscow are
continuing as the Indi-
an defence forces have
received shipments of
overhauled aircraft en-
gines and spares.
However, there is con-
cern about whether this
would continue in the
near future as a solu-
tion for making pay-
ment to Russia has not
yet been found.
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu with his wife Usha V Naidu as
they worship Sarayu, in Ayodhya on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Prime Minister reiterated Vietnam’s importance as an important pillar of India’s Act East Policy

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
New Delhi (ANI): For-
eign Direct Investment
(FDI) inflow to India is
expected to reach $100
billion in the current
financial year support-
ed by various ground
touching economic re-
forms and significant
ease of doing business
in the recent years,
PHD Chamber of Com-
merce and Industry
(PHDCCI) said in a re-
port.
In the report titled
‘Economy to Resume
Normal Growth Curve
in 2022-23’, PHDCCI
said India’s economic
growth in the current
financial year would be
the highest among the
leading economies
across the world. PHD
Chamber of Commerce
and Industry President
Pradeep Multani said
various dynamics re-
forms undertaken by
the government during
the last two years
would support the GDP
growth.
Though GDP growth
consolidated at around
9 per cent in FY 2021-22
which is the highest
among the leading
economies; the current
financial year 2022-23 is
expected to attain a
GDP growth of more
than 8 per cent, which
is again the highest
among the top ten econ-
omies, Multani said.
However, according
to the PHDCCI presi-
dent, geopolitical con-
flicts, high inflation
and possibilities of
new COVID variants
are the major worrying
factors in 2022-23.
The PHDCCI report
envisages that the nom-
inal GDP will grow at
12-12.5 per cent (8 per
cent real GDP and 4-4.5
per cent inflation) in
the current financial
year and the economy
will attain a size of
$3350-3400 billion in
2022-23.
Mumbai (ANI/PNN):
121 Finance becomes
India’s first fintech-led
NBFC-Factor to re-
ceive the Certificate of
Registration under
Registration of Fac-
tors (Reserve Bank)
Regulations, 2022. The
NBFC-Factor address-
es the most significant
challenge most busi-
nesses suffer from, i.e.,
arranging short-term
funds for MSMEs,
without any collateral.
Until now, Factoring
was offered only to the
large corporates; how-
ever, 121 Finance has
brought factoring to
the Micro, Small, and
Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) and has its
roots ground deep in
FinTech. MSMEs are
actively seeking alter-
nate sources of Work-
ing Capital, especially
since the banks are
moving out of cash
credit limits for small
businesses. Dr Ravi
Modani, Founder
CEO of 121 Finance is
passionate about
bringing the digital
factoringexperienceto
MSMEs. “Digital Fac-
toring is the simplest,
fastest, effectively low-
est cost solution for
Working Capital for
any business, more so
for MSMEs. With fi-
nancial technologies
and registration as an
NBFC-Factor in place,
we are strongly placed
to reach annual dis-
bursements of over Rs
500 crores by 2023. 121
Financehasbeenapio-
neer in Digital B2B
lending through Gov-
ernmenteMarketplace
(GeM Sahay), offering
Sachet Loans or small
ticket sized loans and
nowaimstodeliverthe
Trade Receivables Dis-
counting System
(TReDS)experiencefor
seamlessWorkingCap-
ital solutions to MS-
MEs,” says Dr Modani.
Mumbai (ANI): Tata
Power Company said
on Thursday a consor-
tium led by BlackRock
Real Assets has agreed
to invest Rs 4,000 crore
(USD 525 million) to
acquire 10.53 per cent
stake in Tata Power Re-
newables.
The consortium in-
cludes Mubadala In-
vestment Company
.
Tata Power and Black-
Rock Real Assets-led
consortium have en-
tered into a binding
agreement to invest in
Tata Power’s renewa-
ble energy subsidiary,
Tata Power Renewable
Energy Limited. Black-
Rock Real Assets, to-
gether with Mubadala,
shall invest Rs 4,000
crore by way of equity
/compulsorilyconvert-
ible instruments for a
10.53 per cent stake in
Tata Power Renewa-
bles, translating to a
base equity valuation
of Rs 34,000 crore. The
final shareholding will
range from 9.76 per
cent to 11.43 per cent on
final conversion.
This newly created
platform will consist of
five distinct businesses
delivering long-term,
customer-oriented so-
lutions. It will house all
renewable energy busi-
nesses of Tata Power
includingthosein:Util-
ity Scale Solar, Wind
Hybrid Generation as-
sets; Solar Cell Mod-
ule Manufacturing;
Engineering, Procure-
ment and Construction
(EPC) contracting;
Rooftop Solar infra-
structure; Electric Ve-
hicle Charging infra-
structure, Tata Power
said in a statement.
New Delhi (PTI): Com-
merce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal
on Friday said Egypt,
which is one of the larg-
est importers of wheat
from Ukraine and Rus-
sia, has approved India
as a wheat supplier.
There is a sharp de-
cline in availability of
wheat in the global mar-
kets due to the ongoing
conflict between Russia
and Ukraine. Both the
nations are major pro-
ducers and exporters of
wheat. Egypt imported
wheat worth about $1.8
billion from Russia and
$610.8 million from
Ukraine in 2020.
The African nation is
looking to import 1 mil-
liontonneof wheatfrom
India and would need
2,40,000 tonne in April.
“Indian farmers are
feeding the world.
Egypt approves India as
a wheat supplier,” Goy-
al said in a tweet.
Kolkata (PTI): A lead-
ing mobile retailers’
body has claimed that
unethical and monopo-
listic business practices
of onlinesalesplatforms
are jeopardising’ the fu-
ture of 1.5 lakh brick
and mortar smartphone
retailers across the
country and that it will
seek govt intervention.
In such a situation,
the survival of small re-
tailers is at stake, the All
India Mobile Retailers
Association (AIMRA),
an apex body of smart-
phone retailers, said.
“The situation is ex-
tremely fragile due to
the unethical, discrimi-
natory, and monopolis-
tic business practices by
online sales platforms.
Several shops are closed
and now retailers are
even taking an extreme
step like suicide.
We will approach the
Government with a
charter of demands to
ensure the protection
of over 150,000 mobile
phone retailers across
the country who are
struggling to compete
with the tech giants and
unethical business
practices by many on-
line sales channels and
portals,” AIMRA, West
Bengal president, Mo-
han Bajoria told PTI.
The association will
hold a two-day AGM
from April 16 in the city
to work out a counter-
strategy and action
plan for survival.
“The USD 38 billion
Indian smartphone
market is the biggest
and fastest-growing mo-
bile phone market in
the world. Some of the
top global mobile phone
brands have registered
their highest shipments
to India in 2021. Due to
the fallout of the COV-
ID impact, the online
platform currently ac-
counts fow r 50 per cent
of the smartphone sales
in India,” Bajoria said.
The GST regime, he
said,remainsamatterof
concernforsmallmobile
retailerswhofinditcom-
plicated and not condu-
cive for doing business.
New Delhi (PTI): Fund raising by listed com-
panies through private placement of corporate
bonds plunged to a six-year low in 2021-22 to Rs
5.88 trillion owing to good performance of the
equities and aggressive fund disbursal by banks at
lower interest rate. This was 24 per cent lower from
a record Rs 7.72 trillion mobilised in 2020-21, data
with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
showed. This was the lowest level since 2015-16,
when listed companies had raised Rs 4.58 trillion.
FUND RAISING VIA DEBT PLACEMENT
HITS 6-YR LOW AT `5.88 TRN IN FY22
Shaanghai (Agencies): Shipments of some Apple
products, as well as Dell and Lenovo laptops are
likely to face delays if China’s COVID-19 lockdowns
persist, analysts said, as curbs force assemblers
to shut down and closed-loop arrangements get
harder to maintain. China’s race to stop the spread
of COVID-19 has jammed highways and ports,
stranded workers and left countless factories await-
ing government approval to reopen - disruptions
that are rippling through global supply chains.
APPLE, OTHERS FACE SHIPMENT DELAYS
DUE TO CHINA COVID CURBS: ANALYSTS
FDI inflows to India may touch
$100 billion in 2022-23: PHDCCI
“India’s economic growth in current financial year would be highest among leading economies”
Mobile retailers’ body to seek Govenment
intervention against e-commerce onslaught
SURVIVAL AT STAKE
New Delhi (PTI):
Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Ltd
(BPCL) and Micro-
soft have entered a
strategic cloud part-
nership aimed at ac-
celerating the firm’s
digital transforma-
tion and driving in-
novation in the oil
and gas industry
.
According to a
joint statement, the
collaboration seeks
to unlock the oppor-
tunities that Micro-
soft’s cloud provides
to address the unique
challenges of the oil
and gas sector.
BPCL teams up
with Microsoft
for digital
transformation
No customs duty on cotton
imports till Sept 30: Govt
New Delhi (ANI):
The Government
has decided to ex-
empt all customs
duty on the import
of cotton in order
to provide relief to
the textiles indus-
try, the Ministry of
Textiles said on
Thursday
.
This notifica-
tion shall come
into effect from
April 14, 2022 and
will remain in
force up to and in-
clusive of Septem-
ber 30, 2022. “This
exemption would
benefit the textile
chain-yarn, fabric,
garments and
made-ups and pro-
vide relief to the
textile industry
and consumers,”
the ministry said
in a statement.
The Central Board
of Indirect Taxes
and Customs
(CBIC) has noti-
fied the exemption
from Customs
duty and Agricul-
ture Infrastruc-
ture development
Cess for import of
cotton.
Coal supply to power plants rises 25% in FY22
New Delhi (PTI):
Coal supply to electric-
ity generating plants
increased by 24.5 per
cent to 677.67 million
tonnes in FY22 com-
pared to that of the
preceding fiscal, the
government data said
on Friday
.
Despite increased
supplies, there were
reports of fuel
shortage at
various ther-
mal power
u n i t s
due to
soaring
energy
d e -
mand.
T h e
data, however, showed
that the supply of coal
to power utilities stood
at 544.07 MT in FY21,
which was less than
567.25 MT recorded in
FY20.
“The power utilities
despatch has grown by
19.47 per cent to 677.67
MT during FY22 as
c o m -
pared
to 567.25 MT in FY20.
Fall in import prices
have been observed
since the end of Octo-
ber 2021, however, im-
port prices are still at
high level to discour-
age coal import,” it
said.The coal dispatch
to the
p o w e r
sector in-
creased to
65.36 MT last month
from 57.97 MT during
the same period in
FY21, it added.
The overall dispatch
of coal also rose to
818.14 MT in FY22
from 691.39 MT in
FY21.
Coal secretary A K
Jain had earlier said
that coal block allot-
tees have a golden op-
portunity to augment
production as the de-
mand for thermal
coal will rise
due to an in-
crease in
electrici-
ty de-
mand.
POWER SUPPLY ISSUES ARE
AFFECTING INDUSTRIES IN GOA: CII
Panaji (PTI): The
Confederation of
Indian Industry
(CII) Goa chapter
has said power
shortages, out-
ages and unplanned
shutdowns were
affecting industries
in the state though
the government has
maintained there
were no electricity
supply constraints.
On Wednesday,
Power Minister Su-
din Dhavalikar had
claimed Goa does
not face any power
supply issues like
in states such as
Andhra Pradesh. In
Andhra Pradesh,
industries are not
running even for
five hours a day
sometimes due
to load-shedding.
We are far better,
said Dhavalikar.
The CII Goa chapter
has recommended
to Dhavalikar sever-
al measures needed
to ensure industries
do not suffer due to
any power supply-
related issues.
Egypt approves India
as wheat supplier
BlackRock-led consortium to invest
`4,000 cr in Tata Power’s renewable unit
RBI certifies fintech led
121 Finance as India’s
first NBFC-Factor

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Amid Specu-
lation of Joining BJP
and after coming out in
support of Uniform
Common Civil Code,
PragatisheelSamajwadi
Party (Lohia) chief
ShivpalYadavonFriday
dissolvedallpartyunits.
On Thursday
, Akhile-
sh's Uncle Shivpal had
toed BJP line on UCC.
Apart from the working
committee, state fronts,
the entire spokesperson
panel has also been dis-
solved with immediate
effect. An order in this
regard has been issued
by Shivpal Yadav’s son
and PSPL national gen-
eral secretary Aditya
Yadav on Friday
.
Themovecomesamid
speculations of Shivpal
Yadav switching over to
the Bharatiya Janata
Party
.
Earlier on Thursday,
while attending a pro-
gramme in Lucknow
on the occasion of
Ambedkar Jayanti,
Shivpal Yadav had spo-
ken in favour of imple-
menting the Uniform
Civil Code, an issue
which has been an
agenda of the BJP.
Besides, PSPL spokes-
person Deepak Mishra
has said, “Even Dr Ram
Manohar Lohia was in
favour of Common Civil
Code and he even made
it an issue in 1967.
AfterendorsingCommonCivilCode,
Shivpal dissolves all party units
Apart from the working committee, state fronts, the entire spokesperson panel has also been dissolved
Shivpal Yadav
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In view of
simmering discontent
against the Samajwadi
Party Akhilesh Yadav
in the organization
the SP patriarch Mu-
layam Singh Yadav
has launched exten-
sive damage control
exercise to keep the
party united and pre-
pare for 2024 Lok Sab-
ha elections.
During a visit to his
Mainpuri Lok Sabha
constituency Mulayam
Singh Yadav called
upon the work to be
united irrespective of
“victory or defeat”.
He said the party
should not only stand
united under the lead-
ership of Akhilesh
Yadav but also give
him strength. He said
all the workers should
join hands to further
consolidate the party.
Mulayam Singh Ya-
dav’s observations in
the light of bickering in
the family with impend-
ing departure of SP
MLA Shivpal Singh Ya-
dav to BJP and rising
discontent in Azam
Khan camp against the
leadership of Akhilesh
Yadav are aimed at
keeping the control
over party and also
avoid any problem from
the Yadav community
as the BJP is expecting
to make dent in SP’s Ya-
dav vote bank through
Shivpal Yadav.
Mulayam Singh also
coming forward to pro-
tect Akhilesh Yadav
could be a message to
the Muslim community
that the party was com-
mitted to its interest.
Though looking beyond
Muslim-Yadav (M-Y)
combination Mulayam
Singh Yadav would not
like this vote bank to
get fragmented. While
around 12 per cent Ya-
davs had voted for BJP
in the Assembly elec-
tions there are voices in
Muslim community to
re-strategize the action
plan, including support
to the BJP in future
elections. Around eight
percent Muslims had
voted for BJP in last As-
sembly elections.
There is no-holds
barred battle in first Ya-
dav family in UP.
Mulayam launches damage
control to protect Akhilesh
Kumar Prabodh
Patna: The belea-
guered Congress' cri-
sis-ridden Bihar unit is
now saddled with find-
ing a new president fol-
lowing the resignation
of Madan Mohan Jha,
who held the post for
nearly four years.
Jha tendered his res-
ignation in New Delhi
on Thursday after a
meeting with Rahul
Gandhi. The state Con-
gress is yet to come out
with an official word on
the development.
However, AICC na-
tional general secretary
Tariq Anwar told PTI,
The need for having a
new man to head the Bi-
har unit was being felt
for quite some time.
Jha, who is a senior
leader, a former state
minister and currently
a member of the legisla-
tive council, has cleared
the path by resigning
gracefully
.
The party high com-
mand is now vetting the
names of prospective
candidates for the new
state president. A final
decision will be taken
in due course, said the
former Union minister.
Anwar did not di-
vulge any names under
consideration, but the
Sadaqat Ashram here,
which has been the
state Congress head-
quarters since before
Independence, resem-
bles a beehive, buzzing
with speculations about
who will fit the bill.
Party sources claim-
ing to be in the know of
things asserted that the
new state Congress
chief will be either a
Muslim or a Dalit or
someone from the up-
per castes, preferably a
Bhumihar.
This would be in line
with the party's strategy
to revive itself in a state
where it has come to be
seen as a spent force.
Bihar Congress gets down
to finding new president
Tolink60villages
15pedestrian
bridgesbuilt
IN UTTARAKHAND
Dehradun (PTI): Ut-
tarakhand Chief Min-
ister Pushkar Singh
Dhami on Friday in-
augurated 15 pedes-
trian bridges linking
more than 60 villages
situated along the
banks of rivers and
rivulets in six hilly
districts of the state.
While inaugurat-
ing the viaducts digi-
tally, Dhami said the
bridges will rid resi-
dents of these villag-
es of the hardships
faced by them during
monsoon when water
levels of these rivers
and rivulets rise dis-
rupting normal life.
Built jointly by the
ICICI Foundation and
HESCO, an NGO
working in the field
of environment, the
bridges connect 64
villages.
The chief minister
said such innovative
projects should be
taken up on a larger
scale to help people
living in the hilly ar-
eas of the state.
New Delhi (PTI): A
publicinterestlitigation
has been filed before the
Delhi HC seeking action
against persons fraudu-
lently using 'Judge'
parking stickers on
their vehicles.
Petitioner Sanser Pal
Singh, a lawyer, has sub-
mitted that the fraudu-
lent use of 'Judge' park-
ing stickers is a serious
matter and poses a secu-
rity threat as such vehi-
cles having such stick-
ers are not subjected to
the security check at the
court premises.
In the petition, the pe-
titioner has stated that
there are several in-
stances where he no-
ticed the presence of
cars with a 'Judge' park-
ing sticker but it was
subsequently found that
no such sticker was is-
sued by the authorities
against the registration
numbers of those vehi-
cles. In two cases, it was
found that the registra-
tion number of the vehi-
cles indicated that they
were taxi/cabs, the peti-
tion claimed.
The petitioner said
thathemadecomplaints
to the high court admin-
istration and other con-
cerned authorities on
the issue but no action
was taken.
The petitioner has
also sought action
against judicial officers
who have obtained
'Judge' car parking
stickers without follow-
ing the applicable
guidelines.
PILinHCseeksactionagainstfalse
useof‘Judge’parkingsticker
SP LEADER KASIM RAEEN RESIGNS
CITING AKHILESH YADAV'S SILENCE
Lucknow (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kasim
Raeen on Friday resigned from all party posts citing
no action by party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others
against rising incidents of atrocities meted out to
Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. In the resignation letter
shared by Raeen, he accused the party chief of inac-
tion and questioned his silence over the incarceration
of Azam Khan and his family. Akhilesh Yadav kept
silent when Azam Khan and his family were put into
jail. SP President did not raise his voice after Nahid
Hasan was imprisoned and Sahijal Islam's petrol
pump was demolished, he said in the letter.
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Dhami also hoped
that the ICICI Foun-
dation and HESCO,
founded by noted
environmentalist
Padma Bhushan Anil
Prakash Joshi, will
extend such experi-
ments to other areas
of the state as well.
EXPERIMENTING
IN OTHER AREAS
New Delhi (PTI): New-
ly appointed Vice Chan-
cellorof JammuUniver-
sity Prof Umesh Rai on
Friday met Union Min-
ister Jitendra Singh
hereandsoughtintegra-
tion of science curricu-
lum by engaging and
enrolling students of
the varsity in various
new student and youth-
related StartUp and
other projects of the
Ministry of Science and
Technology
.
In his first meeting
with the Minister of
State (Independent
Charge), Science and
Technology
, after taking
over as the vice chancel-
lor, Rai requested him
to engage the students
from the University of
Jammu in some of the
futuristic science pro-
jects launched under
the ministry
.
Rai, who was a profes-
sor in the Delhi Univer-
sity before taking up his
present assignment,
sought integration of
science curriculum by
engaging and enrolling
students of Jammu Uni-
versity in various new
student and youth-relat-
ed StartUp and other
projects, scholarships
and fellowships started
by Union Ministry of
Science and Technology
.
Singh responded that
the research in the uni-
versity has to be linked
with StartUps and to
make the StartUps sus-
tainable, not only the
academic streams need
to come together but the
industry also needs to
be made equal stake-
holders with equal in-
vestments of resources,
according to a state-
ment by the Science and
Technology Ministry
.
On NEP-2020, Singh
said its two-fold objec-
tive is to correct past
anomalies that were
persistent for years
and to introduce con-
temporary provisions
which are in keeping
up with the present
global trends.
He said Jammu is
fast emerging as north
India’s education hub.
He called for wider
integration among dif-
ferent educational insti-
tutions of Jammu like
Indian Institute of
Technology, IIMC,
AIIMS, Indian Institute
of Integrative Medi-
cine, National Institute
of High Altitude Medi-
cine, Bhaderwah, In-
dustrial Biotech
Park, Kathua, north In-
dia’s first Space Centre,
Central Uni Jammu,
among others.
Jammu Univ VC meets Singh, seeks integration of science with startups
ADOPTING NEW WAYS
Union Minister Jitendra Singh with Vice Chancellor of Jammu University Prof Umesh Rai.
FAILED ATTEMPT
DU Vice-Chancellor
says will resolve issue
through dialogue
ST STEPHEN’S ADMISSION POLICY
New Delhi (PTI):
With St Stephen’s
College announcing
that it will conduct
interviews carrying
15 per cent weightage
for admissions across
categories, Delhi Uni-
versity vice-chancel-
lor Yogesh Singh on
Friday said the var-
sity does not want
any confrontation
and will resolve the
issue through dia-
logue.
In an admission
notice posted on its
website on Tuesday,
St Stephen’s College
said it will give 85 per
cent weightage to
Common University
Entrance Test
(CUET) scores and 15
per cent to interviews
it will conduct for ad-
missions for all cate-
gories of students.
The college also
said that it reserves
the right to proceed
with admissions as
per its own admis-
sion policy guaran-
teed to it as a minori-
ty institution. While
releasing DU’s admis-
sion policy earlier
thismonth,Singhhad
said that for the gen-
eral seats, a college
should solely take the
CUETscoresintocon-
sideration and for the
minority seats, it can
hold interviews and
assign a weightage of
85 per cent to CUET
scores and 15 per cent
to interviews.
Police personnel check a vehicle outside Dehli court. —FILE PHOTO
FRAUDULENCE
TWO-FOLD AIM
Pushkar Singh Dhami

08
2NDFRONT
Travel is one of the best ways to
learn about life; one may travel
physically to other places or
through books with your mind.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Saurabh Trivedi
New Delhi: Apart from
issuing Radio Frequen-
cy Identification cards
to pilgrims during their
journey, Shri Amar-
nath Shrine Board
(SASB) will also issue
RFID cards to ponies for
better safety and secu-
rity of pilgrims during
the yatra. The docu-
ments related to RFID
tagging of pony that
have been accessed by
ANI reads that the
Board intends to devel-
op an automated sys-
tem on a digital plat-
form which is in the
interest of visiting pil-
grims as well as the ser-
vice providers (Pony/
Pithus/ Palkiwallas).
“RFID tagging must
be integrated with ear-
tagging already under-
taken by the Animal
HusbandryDepartment
of Jammu and Kashmir
so as to enable tracking
of every pony plying on
the track through its
unique ear-tag number
or RFID on a real-time
basis, at any of the pre-
paid counter and Main
Switching Centre
(MSC),” it reads.
In the year 2019, 5200
out of a total sanctioned
strength of 5500 ponies
were registered from
the Pahalgam side and
2699 ponies out of total
strength of 6000 were
registered from the Bal-
tal side.
It further read that
RFID tags shall be fixed
properly on the pony for
its identification and
tracking during the
journey on the track en-
route Holy Cave and if
the Pony operator inten-
tionallybreakstheRFID
tag, his mule shall be
shunted- out of the sys-
temandwillnotbeliable
to ply on the track and
getthebusinessthrough
pre-paid counters.
In the year 2018, a to-
tal of 2.85 lakh (2,85,000)
pilgrims visited the
shrine and in the year
2019, 3.43 lakh pilgrims
visited but the yatra
was abruptly called off
on August 2, just a few
days before Article 370
was removed.
The yatra could not
be resumed in later
years due to the Corona-
virus pandemic and re-
mained suspended till
the year 2021.
The yatra will com-
mence this year from
June 30 onwards and
will conclude on August
11.
Clashes erupt at Jerusalem holy site, 152 Palestinians hurt
Jerusalem (AP): Pal-
estinians clashed with
Israeli police at the Al-
Aqsa mosque com-
pound in Jerusalem
before dawn on Friday
as thousands gathered
for prayers during the
holy month of Rama-
dan. Medics said that at
least 152 Palestinians
were wounded.
The holy site, which
is sacred to Jews and
Muslims, has often
been the epicenter of
Israeli-Palestinian un-
rest, and tensions were
already heightened
amid a recent wave of
violence. Clashes at the
site last year helped
spark an 11-day war
with Hamas militants
in the Gaza Strip.
The clashes come at a
particularly sensitive
time. Ramadan this
year coincides with
Passover, a major week-
long Jewish holiday be-
ginning Friday at sun-
down, and Christian
holy week, which cul-
minates on Easter Sun-
day
. The holidays are
expected to bring tens
of thousandsof faithful
into Jerusalem’s Old
City, home to major
sites sacred to all three
religions. Hours after
the clashes began, the
police announced that
they had put an end to
the violence and arrest-
ed hundreds of sus-
pects. They said the
mosque was re-opened
and that Friday’s mid-
day prayers would take
place as usual.
Israeli authorities
said they had earlier
held negotiations with
Muslim leaders to en-
sure calm and allow the
prayers to take place,
but that Palestinian
youths hurled stones at
police, triggering the
violence. Palestinian
witnesses, who spoke
on condition of ano-
nymity out of security
concerns, said a small
group of Palestinians
threw rocks at police,
who then entered the
compound in force, set-
ting off a wider confla-
gration. Videos circu-
lating online showed
Palestinians throwing
rocks and fireworks
and police firing tear
gas and stun grenades
on the sprawling espla-
nade surrounding the
mosque.
A view of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem
Development not possible without
peace, PM should make appeal: Gehlot
Jaipur (PTI): Ra-
jasthan Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot on Fri-
day urged Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi to
ask state governments
to take action against
elements creating nui-
sance in the name of
religion and make an
appeal for peace.
His remarks came in
the backdrop of inci-
dents of communal vi-
olence in some states
during Ram Navami.
Voicing concern
over increasing inci-
dents of communal
tension in the country,
Gehlot said develop-
ment of the country is
not possible without
peace.
“Mahatma Gandhi
had said that I am
proud to be a Hindu
but my Hindu reli-
gion is neither in-
tolerant nor the
one that boycotts
anyone. We are all
Hindus but our re-
ligion teaches that
we should respect
all religions. If we all
respect each
other’s
re-
ligion by keeping this
in mind, then such a
situation will not
arise,” he said.
“I again appeal to the
honourable prime min-
ister to give a message
to the nation to reduce
the rising
com-
mu-
nal tension in the coun-
try and to the state gov-
ernments to take ac-
tion against mischie-
vous elements who are
creating nuisance in
the name of religion,”
the Rajasthan CM said.
Apparently refer-
ring to the recent clash
in the Jawaharlal Uni-
versity over serving of
non vegetarian food,
Gehlot said develop-
ment is not possible
without peace, but if
the people of the coun-
try keep fighting with
each other over food,
attire and religious tra-
ditions and some un-
ruly elements keep
provoking them, then
this country will
r e m a i n
entangled in
small issues.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN
RFID cards for pilgrims
ponies for better safety
EAR-TAGGING UNDRTAKEN
A view of pligrims going to Amarnath Yatra. —FILE PHOTO
Board intends to
develop an
automated
system which is
in the interest of
visiting pilgrims
as well as Pithus
Teen held in New York
over attacks on elderly
Sikh tourist, 2 others
Use loudspeakers to
discuss price rise, says
Aaditya Thackeray
New York (PTI): A
19-year-old youth has
been arrested and
faces hate crime
charges for his al-
leged involvement in
attacks on three Sikh
men in Queens here,
including the brutal
assault of an elderly
Sikh tourist early
this month, that was
condemned as deeply
disturbing” by the
Consulate General of
India.
Vernon Douglas of
Brownsville was ar-
rested on Thursday
in Brooklyn and
charged with multi-
ple counts of rob-
bery, assault, aggra-
vated harassment
and hate crimes, the
Queens Chronicle re-
ported. On April 3,
Douglas allegedly ap-
proached 70-year-old
Nirmal Singh near
the corner of Lef-
ferts Boulevard and
95th Avenue and
punched him in the
face in the unpro-
voked assault. The
attacker fled the
scene on foot and the
incident was taken
over by the NYPD
Hate Crime Task
Force.
Mumbai (PTI): Poli-
tics over Hanuman
Chalisa heated up in
Maharashtra on Fri-
day with state minis-
ter Aaditya Thacker-
ay saying loudspeak-
ers should be used to
create awareness
among people about
reasonsbehindrising
prices of essential
items, while inde-
pendent MLA Ravi
Rana asked CM Ud-
dhav Thackeray to
recite the devotional
hymns at his resi-
dence on Saturday
.
It all started when
MNS president Raj
Thackeray raised the
issue of high-decibel
loudspeakers atop
mosques. Raj Thack-
eray has demanded
removal of loud-
speakers atop
mosques before May
3 and warned the
Shiv Sena-led Maha
Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
government that
MNS workers will
play Hanuman Chali-
sa, a collection of de-
votional hymns dedi-
cated to Lord Hanu-
man, in front of
mosques if his de-
mand was not met by
the deadline.
A view of the victim being
attacked.
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot
Maharashtra Minister
Aaditya Thackeray.
PoK ‘premier’ Niazi resigns
after revolt in Imran’s party
Islamabad (PTI): Inan-
other setback to Imran
Khan, the Prime Minis-
ter of Pakistan-occu-
pied Kashmir, Sardar
Abdul Qayyum Niazi,
has resigned following a
revoltintherulingPaki-
stan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) party against him.
Niazi, hand-picked by
his party chief Khan,
resigned on Thursday
after 25 lawmakers of
his party moved a reso-
lution of no-confidence
motion against him to
replacehimwithparty’s
regional president.
Niazi’s ouster comes
days after Khan lost a
no-confidence vote in
the National Assembly
to become the first Paki-
stan PM to be removed
unceremoniously
.
Under Article 16 (1) of
the Constitution, “I, the
undersigned, resign
from my office of the
prime minister,” reads
the handwritten resig-
nation dated April 14,
which was addressed to
the PoK president
Sultan Mahmood
Chaudhry
.
Dr Asif Hussain
Shah, secretary of pres-
idential affairs, con-
firmed that Chaudhry
has received and accept-
ed Niazi’s resignation
and forwarded the same
to the chief secretary
for issuance of a formal
notification, Dawn
newspaper reported.
Niazi came to power
last year after PTI se-
cured 32 seats in the
53-member House. India
had rejected the elec-
tions in PoK, saying the
“cosmetic exercise” was
nothing but an attempt
by Pakistan to “camou-
flage its illegal occupa-
tion”.
Ministry of External
Affairs Spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi had
said that Pakistan has
“no locus standi on
these Indian territo-
ries” and it must vacate
all Indian areas under
its illegal occupation.
“The so-called elec-
tions in Indian territory
under the illegal occu-
pation of Pakistan are
nothing but an attempt
by Pak to camouflage its
illegal occupation and
the material changes
undertaken by it in
these territories,” he
had said.
Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan. —FILE PHOTO
Niazi’s ouster comes
days after Khan lost a
no-confidence vote in
the Assembly
Raj CM’s remarks
came in the
backdrop of
incidents of
communalviolence
in some states
AMARNATH YATRA 2022

orn and brought up in
the sound city of Ra-
jasthan, he has been
associated with the
world of fabrics,
hand blocks and
screen printing since
childhood.
Angrish fully knows the
market and client’s needs, as
well as how to deal with sup-
ply and demand. Given his
love for history, art and mod-
ernism, his collection is main-
ly inspired by the idea of fan-
tasy resorts and offers a beau-
tiful mix of classic vintage
touch with modern resort
looks for men as well as for
women.
Keeping in mind that
eloquence and elegance
are in proportion with
each other, Wrickie An-
grish has managed to
keep the hold of the her-
itage of Jaipur with
Hand block and yet
gives mesmerizing con-
temporary styles and
silhouettes, which is
what makes the An-
grish all the more
beautiful and makes
it stand out from oth-
er brands and com-
panies. Oozing flair
and trend, the time-
less clothing created
and presented by An-
grish is for quintes-
sential men and wom-
en. When in college,
as a student of gradu-
ation, his keen inter-
est and curiosity in
fabrics and business led him
to pursue and continue with
his family business ie. The ex-
porting apparel. Later, in the
year 2010, he opened a multi-
brand designer studio by the
name of W.A.S. (Wrickie An-
grish Studio), where he sold
the brands of budding design-
ers while presenting his own
designs, in the studio.
B
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY,
APRIL 16, 2022
THE OWNER OF THE FAMOUS ‘THE ANGRISH’, WRICKIE ANGRISH IS
AN ACE DESIGNER, WHO HAS STUNNED THE AUDIENCE WITH HIS
ASTONISHING COLLECTIONS AT FASHION CONNECT, DUBAI, NOW
SHARES HIS JOURNEY AS THE DESIGNER WITH CITY FIRST.
ELOQUENCE
ELOQUENCE
and Elegance
and Elegance
Wrickie Angrish

10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
AS WE RECENTLY CELEBRATED THE NATIONAL SAFE MOTHERHOOD DAY,
ANTARA PROGRAM IS DOING ITS BEST TO PREVENT ADOLESCENT
PREGNANCIES AND CURTAIL MORBIDITY!
GAME-CHANGER
GAME-CHANGER
HOW AN INJECTABLE
HOW AN INJECTABLE
CONTRACEPTIVE IS
CONTRACEPTIVE IS
PROVING TO BE THE
PROVING TO BE THE
RAJASTHAN
RAJASTHAN
IN RURAL
IN RURAL
CITY FIRST
ukhsana is one of
the 23 million
girls who were
married off be-
fore the age of 18
and robbed of
their agency
. Mar-
ried off at 16, she says, “I
still don’t know how a girl
is expected to comprehend
the meaning of the word
‘marriage’ as soon as she
reaches puberty. I never
wanted to marry so early
but my parents paid no
heed and I was sacrificed
to save them from further
financial travails. I can’t
describe the painful expe-
riences I went through.”
She gave birth within a
year of her marriage and
regardless of the depres-
sion that was set in had to
take care of a home as well
as a malnourished baby
girl. Recalls Rukhsana, “I
never wanted to be a moth-
er so soon but was forced
into compliance after be-
ing accused of not obeying
the elders in the family. I
was told that older women
are incapable of giving
birth to a male child
and when I deliv-
ered a girl, I was
asked to get
p r e g n a n t
again!”
Rukh-
sana was
unaware
of con-
tracep-
t i v e
c h o i c e s
available to
her, and her hus-
band took no initia-
tive to plan their fam-
ily. (As the National
Family Health Sur-
vey (NFHS) re-
ports, birth control
is often considered
to be a female re-
sponsibility and
75.4% of married
men do not use any
method of contra-
ception. Hope inter-
vened in the
form of Dariya, an ASHA
worker. She was oriented
on client mobilization and
follow up under the Udaan
project, an initiative of
IPE Global which is work-
ing as a technical support
partner to the Department
of Medical, Health Fam-
ily Welfare, Rajasthan to
roll out Antara injectable
contraceptives in 14 high
fertility districts.
Dariya successfully
counselled Rukhsana and
her husband Sibgadulla
about the benefits of Anta-
ra. Rukshana now says, “I
am at peace because I can
plan my second baby when
I want. I have resolved that
my little girl will study
hard and will not be forced
into an early marriage like
I was. I am getting health-
ier and I have decided that
there will be no more chil-
dren till I turn 20.” How-
ever, Rukhsana’s story
may just be a drop in the
ocean in the face of figures
by the UN stating
that in
India
more than 50% of married
adolescents have already
given birth.
Inclusion of creating
awareness and counselling
on Antara as a new contra-
ceptive in a program like
Rashtriya Kishor
Swasthya Karyakram
(RKSK) is a game-changer
in delaying early pregnan-
cy and ensuring well-
planned and safe mother-
hood.
Sachin Kothari, IPE’s
Strategy Lead for expand-
ing contraception choices
for young women, says,
“We have embedded a
technical support unit
within NHM Ra-
jasthan to roll out in-
jectable contracep-
tives. In 2022, we
will be reaching
the milestone of
over 10 lakh doses
and this is huge
progress for the
State of Ra-
jasthan.”
According to Dr Nazi-
ma, Senior Gynaecologist
and National Master
Trainer for Antara, it is
very rewarding to see
women and sometimes
couples coming back for a
new dosage. “I believe the
success of any family plan-
ning initiative depends not
on coercion but proper
communication so that
people can make healthier
choices on their own. In-
jectable contraceptive is
preferred as a
safe and easy
way to plan a
family as it pro-
vides three
months of pro-
tection with a
single dose. It is
a reversible
method of con-
traception and
does not cause
infertility and is
a wonderful
method for post-
abortion contra-
ception.”
Kothari says
activation
strengthening of health
facilities, robust monitor-
ing system management
of method effects and e-
Counselling has increased
acceptance of the method
and its continuation
among clients. He ex-
plains, “ To keep a tab on
the follow-ups and to re-
duce the drop out rates a
web and mobile-based ap-
plication named Antara-
Raj was developed. With
the help of AntaraRaj, pe-
riodic follow-up messages
were sent to clients to avail
subsequent doses on the
scheduled due date.
Dr Nazima added “As
proper delivery of quali-
ty services is key to the
success of any initiative,
we train doctors ANMs
on complete technical in-
formation on Antara
counselling techniques.
For client mobilization,
ASHA workers were sensi-
tized and they are acting
as last-mile change mak-
ers. IPE Global with the
support of SIHFW de-
partment has developed
e-training modules to en-
sure the continuation of
the capacity building dur-
ing the covid pandemic.
Rekha (name changed), a
30-year-old Antara-Udaan
beneficiary, reflects upon
how the injectable contra-
ceptive changed her life.
Rekha,aclass6schooldrop-
outwasmarriedtoMahesh,
who was a class 5 dropout,
deliver her first
child within a
year – a girl. She
was constantly
tormented for
this, causing her
to suffer three
back-to-back
miscarriages af-
ter which she fi-
nally delivered a
baby boy
. She re-
calls, “I could
not even share
mypainwithmy
husband as he
doesnotapprove
of modernmeth-
ods of contra-
ception.”
She visited the nearby
sub-centre and the trained
ANM counselled her and
her husband. The couple
agreed for adopting Anta-
ra and since then Rekha
has taken four doses of
Antara. Mahesh says, “I
now understand the real
purpose behind family
planning and I am thank-
ful for initiating Antara
services at the sub-centre.
Whenever I take my wife to
the sub-centre for her dos-
age, I fall in love with her
smiling eyes.”
Dr Anupama, a gynae-
cologist and part of the
TSU team, says one of the
reasons for Antara’s popu-
larity is easy to use, highly
effective and can be pro-
vided to most the clients of
reproductive age group
and even lactating mothers
can use it after 6 weeks of
delivery
. Few other method
effects associated with
Antara use can be man-
aged easily with effective
counselling and reassur-
ance. On National Safe
Motherhood Day, I recom-
mend Antara as a safer
way of family planning.
Dr Girish Dwivedi, Pro-
ject Director(FW) stated
that with the proactive role
of Add/Dy.CMHO (FW)
technical support of IPE
Global, we were able to ini-
tiate the Antara services
in more than 90% of health
facilities and this has im-
proved its acceptance and
reduction in dropout of
clients.
R

16042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

16042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

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