16042022_First India_Ahmedabad.pdf

India to gain record number of doctors in next 10 years: PM
First India Bureau
Bhuj: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Fri-
day said the country
will boast a record num-
ber of doctors in the
next 10 years due to the
central government’s
policy of establishing at
least one medical col-
lege in every district.
Speaking after dedi-
cating a 200-bed KK Pa-
tel Mutli-Speciality
Hospital in Bhuj of
Kutch district via vid-
eo-conferencing, he
said, “coronavirus is
still lurking and people
should not take it
easy and be
watchful.”
The modern
health facility
is the first
charitable
multi-speci-
ality hospi-
tal in the
Kutch re-
gionandithasbeenbuilt
by the Leuva Patel com-
munity of Bhuj with
help from donors based
in India and abroad.
The goal of having at
least one medical col-
lege in every district
and ensuring that med-
ical education
was in reach of
everyone will
result in the
country get-
ting a re-
cord num-
ber of doc-
tors after
10 years,
said the
PM.
He further stated that
twodecadesago,Gujarat
had just nine medical
colleges with around
1,100MBBSseats,butthe
medical education sce-
nariohasimprovedvast-
ly in the last 20 years.
Now, the state has one
AIIMS and over three
dozen medical colleges.
Earlier, only 1,000 stu-
dents used to get admis-
sion in medical colleges
of Gujarat, now around
6,000 students get ad-
mission in these col-
leges. AIIMS in Rajkot
has started admitting 50
students from 2021, add-
ed Modi. Turn to P2
PROMOTING HEALTH
Due to Centre’s
push for medical
education and
establishment of
one medical
college in every
district
PM Modi inaugurates KK Patel Multi-Speciality Hospital in Bhuj virtually.
AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 140
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
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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. P6
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 P5
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 Educa-
tion issued guidelines
for students on Friday.
“Closing schools would
be the last option. Partial
closure would be im-
plemented if required,”
said Delhi Dy CM Manish
Sisodia.
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.
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.” P5
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.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: Hardik
Pandya has been lead-
ing from the front
with inspirational
performances and is
also going out of his
way to create a happy
team environment
leading to a good start
by Gujarat Titans in
their maiden Indian
Premier League (IPL)
campaign, feels
Rashid Khan.
Gujarat are now on
top of the table with
four wins from five
games and Hardik is
currently second in list
of run-getters and is
also bowling well in
every game.
“The way he (Hardik)
has led the team, the
way he has kept the
team environment, in-
side and outside the
field has been amazing
so far,” Rashid said at
the virtual post-match
press conference.
Rashid, the ace spin-
ner from Afghanistan,
said Hardik was some-
one who always takes
brave decisions.
“He (Hardik) is some-
one who always takes
that brave decision, al-
ways has confidence
and he is someone who
is very clear in mind on
what he is going to do.
This is an important
thing as a captain when
your mind is clear, and
you take right deci-
sions, the result will
take (care) by itself,”
said Rashid.
Ability to take right
decisions at right time
makes him a good lead-
er, feels the spinner.
“You take right deci-
sions with confidence,
that is something
which makes him the
best and he has been
delivering the best so
far and leading from
the front (be it) batting,
bowling and fielding,”
he remarked.
Hardik has taken brave decisions as skipper: Rashid
APPRECIATION
lll
Ace spinner
from
Afghanistan is
full of praises
for the Guj
Titans skipper,
who he believes
has kept a
warm team
environment
in the tourney
Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya (centre) with the team.
‘AAP will grab RMC oppn bench
without contesting polls’
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Newly induct-
ed Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader Indra-
nil Rajyaguru on Fri-
day claimed that the
next leader of opposi-
tion at the Rajkot Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(RMC) will be from
their party. As politi-
cal parties gear up
for Assembly polls in
December, the an-
nouncement belies
the confidence Rajy-
aguru has in AAP
.
Meanwhile, funds
meant for develop-
mental projects have
remained unused by
RMC corporators, as
per official records.
After joining AAP on
April 14, the former
Congress leader told
media persons on Fri-
day, “The Congress
party will lose hold of
the leader of the oppo-
sition post without
even contesting elec-
tions. And, AAP will
claim the opposition
bench.”
He further informed
on Thursday that two
other corporators had
joined the AAP along
with him. Rajyaguru
also hinted at the pos-
sibility of one more
Congress corporator
joining the party
.
Notably, in the 2021
local civic polls, the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) had won 68 seats
and four Congress can-
didates had been elect-
ed to RMC. If three of
them choose to switch
sides and join other
parties, then Congress
will lose the opposition
bench.
Meanwhile, ac-
cording to records of
the Rajkot Municipal
Corporation, out of
72 corporators, only
17 of them have used
the funds granted for
developmental pro-
jects in their respec-
tive wards. The re-
maining 55 corpora-
tors did not spend a
single penny from
the grants and left
over Rs421 crore ly-
ing unused. Each cor-
porator receives a
grant of Rs11.45
lakh for commission-
ing developmental
projects in their re-
spective wards each
year.
(L to R) Former RMC LoP Vashram Sagathiya, Indranil Rajyaguru with AAP
National Convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Freshly recruited Indranil Rajyaguru
reiterates his confidence in his new party’s
capabilities ahead of Guj Assembly polls
Cong leaders to convene
in Dahod for talks today
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Tribal
leaders of the Con-
gress party will gath-
er in Dahod on Satur-
day to chalk out a plan
for the Adivasi Adhi-
kar rally, to be flagged
off by national Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi next month.
Meanwhile, Gujarat
party leaders have be-
gun the second phase
of party organization
formation ahead of
Assembly polls slated
for December.
Speaking to First
India, Assembly Lead-
erof OppositionSukh-
ram Rathva informed,
“The party’s tribal
leaders are meeting in
Dahod, where a de-
tailed programme of
the rally will be
worked out. Rahul
Gandhi will be invited
to address the rally,
but the venue and
dates are not con-
firmed yet.”
Incidentally, the
tribal belt is spread
across the eastern
part of the state from
Danta of Banaskan-
tha district to Dang
and Dharampur of
Valsad district.
Around 27 Assembly
seats are reserved for
tribal communities
(adivasis).
After postponing it
for long, Congress
leaders are finally re-
organizing party com-
mittees in the state. A
few days ago, the All
India Congress Com-
mittee (AICC) ap-
pointed 75 general
secretaries, 25 vice
presidents, 16 district
committee presidents
and three presidents
of city congress com-
mittees.
If sources are to be
believed, then another
round of appoint-
ments will be an-
nounced soon. They
will include 182 secre-
taries, 10 spokesper-
sonsandotherinvitees
on Gujarat state’s
working committee.
As for the alloca-
tion of responsibili-
ties, the state leader-
ship plans to assign
one assembly constit-
uency to each secre-
tary. A vice president
will be in charge of
one Lok Sabha seat
and general secretar-
ies will be entrusted
with cities and dis-
tricts. The duties of
observers in every
city and district will
be to get feedback
from cadres about
candidates, preparing
a panel for each con-
stituency and submit-
ting them to the state
parliamentary board.
All panels will be
scrutinized before
compilation of the fi-
nal panel that will be
sent for approval of
national leaders.
First India Bureau
Surat: A school in
Zankarda village of the
district presented a per-
fect example of commu-
nal harmony when stu-
dents threw an iftar
party for their Muslim
friends on Friday
. In the
holy month of Ramzan,
people belonging to the
Islamic faith observe
day-long fasts that they
break in the evenings.
Students of a govern-
ment primary school
located around 60 km
from Surat in Zankarda
village, arranged an if-
tar party for their Mus-
lim friends.
Praising the gesture,
principal of the school,
Shah Mohammad
Shaheed Ismail, said,
“Every year, students
save money and cele-
brate the festivals of
Diwali, Holi and
Ramzan together at the
school. Muslim stu-
dents distribute sweets
during Diwali and Holi
to Hindu students, and
during Ramzan, Hindu
students organize an
iftar party for their
Muslim friends. Along
with education, it is im-
portant to impart our
culture, values and in-
terfaith brotherhood.”
At a time when the
state has witnessed
communal clashes and
a riot-like situation in a
few parts, this school at
Zankardavillageproves
the phrase ‘Unity lies in
diversity’.
Rahul Gandhi.
To be flagged
off by national
leader Rahul
Gandhi next
month, prep for
the Adivasi
Adhikar rally
begins
Students throw iftar bash for
Muslim friends in Surat
School in
Zankarda village
celebrates all
major festivals
such as Diwali,
Holi and
Ramzan to
promote
communal unity Students breaking their Ramzan fast. —ANI
SESSIONS COURT RESERVES ORDER
ON JADEJA BAIL APPLICATION
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: After
hearing the argu-
ments presented by
the prosecution and
defence during bail ap-
plication proceedings
of Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader Yuvrajs-
inh Jadeja, the Gan-
dhinagar additional
district sessions court
reserved its order for
Saturday
.
Arguing that Jadeja
did not have any inten-
tiontoharmpoliceper-
sonnel, his advocate
submitted that no case
of attempt to murder
can be built against
him. “There was not
even a scratch mark on
the police constable,
who is said to be the
victim of rash driv-
ing,” said the advocate.
The AAP leader was
arrested by Gandhina-
gar police earlier this
month for assaulting
police personnel and
dragging a constable
on the bonnet of his
car. He was produced
before a local court
which sent him to jail
under judicial custody
after the police did not
seek his remand.
Notably, the prose-
cution did not oppose
Jadeja’s bail applica-
tion but was in favour
of conditional bail.
However, the public
prosecutor submitted,
“The applicant Yuvra-
jsinh has been leading
protests and agita-
tions in Gandhinagar
and Ahmedabad, so
his entry in these two
districts should be
banned.”
On April 05, the job
aspirants (for the post
of assistant professor
or vidyasahayaks)
stagedaprotestagainst
the state government
in Gandhinagar. How-
ever, police detained
them and Jadeja
reached Gandhinagar
police headquarters to
support them.
“After some heated
araguments, Jadeja at-
tacked a few on-duty
policemen and then
tried to flee from the
spot. However, a con-
stable jumped on the
car bonnet to stop
him,” said the police.
Further, the police in-
formed that the evi-
dence collected by the
cops have been sent
for forensic analysis.
Jadeja and one of
his accomplices have
been sent to Sabarma-
ti Central Jail. Fur-
ther investigation is
underway
.
AAP leader Yuvrajsinh Jadeja. —FILE PHOTO
India to gain...
Stressing that
coronavirus has
still not gone
away and people
should not take it
easy, the PM said
Yoga and Ayur-
veda, which have
their origins in
India, caught the
world’s attention
during the pan-
demic. He said
export of tur-
meric from India
has increased af-
ter the advent of
the pandemic as
people across the
globe learnt
about its health
benefits.
To spread the
message of
healthy living,
Modi urged the
people of Kutch to
set a world record
by ensuring maxi-
mum participa-
tion of citizens in
the district dur-
ing the Interna-
tional Day of Yoga
on June 21.
FROM PG 1
AAP invites disgruntled
Hardik Patel to join ranks
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Daysafter
GujaratCongress’Work-
ing President Hardik
Patelexpresseddispleas-
ure with the party lead-
ership, the Aam Aadmi
Party’s (AAP) state unit
on Friday invited him to
join it.
“Hardik Patel has
come up as a leader on
his own merit. He has
expressed displeasure
with the Congress lead-
ership. We require lead-
ers like Hardik in AAP
Gujarat,” said AAP’s
state unit leader Gopal
Italia to media persons.
Hardik should not
waste his time putting
his case before the Con-
gress leadership as it
would not yield any re-
sults, he added.
Earlier this week,
Hardik Patel, who first
rose on Gujarat’s politi-
cal scene as leader of the
Patidar reservation quo-
ta agitation, had said he
had been sidelined and
harassedintheCongress,
and local leaders wanted
him to leave the party
.
Despitehisrepresenta-
tiontoCongleaderRahul
Gandhi several times, no
action was taken, he had
said, while also adding
that he was not planning
to leave the party yet.

GUJARAT
03
To mark Good Friday, a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was held at St Xavier’s School campus in Mirzapur area of Ahmedabad. It is
observed two days before Easter Sunday to commemorate the suffering and death of Christ. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
‘WAY OF THE CROSS’
VMC councillor approaches
police over online ‘defamation’
WhatsAppmsgsaboutluringpeopletogatheringswithliquor,petrolwereshared
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Umang
Brahmbhatt, council-
lor of ward number 10
of the Vadodara Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(VMC) on Friday sub-
mitted a formal appli-
cation to the city Police
Commissioner Sham-
sher Singh regarding
an attempt to tarnish
his reputation. In his
written complaint, the
councillor apprised
him of a chat shared
during Ram Navami
(April 10) that used his
name to make baseless
claims.
The screenshot of a
WhatsApp chat is being
circulated on social me-
dia platforms, in which
a person talks about
Brahmbhatt using the
incentive of liquor and
petrol to lure people to
public gatherings. Inci-
dentally, the councillor
had organized a proces-
sion on Ram Navami
from Bhatali to Gotri
areas on April 10. How-
ever, the messages have
created a stir, as it men-
tions the name of the
local councillor.
“We had organized a
‘Divya Ram Yatra’ on
Ram Navami from
Bhayli to Gotri and it
was attended by many
people. We did not have
to lure anyone there. In
fact, to facilitate smooth
sailing we formed a
WhatsApp group with
the name ‘Divya Ram
Jay Jay Shree Ram’,”
said Brahmbhatt.
He added, “However,
a few anti-social ele-
ments created their
own fake group called
‘Divya Ram Yatra 2022’
and sent messages in
my name. I believe that
this was an attempt to
tarnish my image as
well as the people asso-
ciated with us. I have
submitted an applica-
tion to the commis-
sioner and requested
him to look into it. I am
confident that the po-
lice will investigate
and bring the culprits
to face justice.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Days af-
tercommunalviolence
rocked Khambhat
town of Anand dis-
trict,thelocaladminis-
tration on Friday
brought in bulldozers
to remove illegal en-
croachments along a
road in Shakarpura
areaof thetownwhere
a Ram Navami proces-
sion came under at-
tack on April 10.
“Apart from the il-
legal encroachments,
including wooden
cabins and some con-
crete structures, offi-
cials also cleared
bushes from the land
in Shakarpura, as
miscreants had used
these to hide after
throwing stones at the
procession,” said
Anand District Col-
lector MY Daxini.
“We have launched
a drive from today to
clear bushes and ille-
gal structures built on
government land
alongside a road in
Shakarpura. This
drive will continue in
the coming days till
the entire area is
cleared,” he added.
On March 10, clash-
es erupted between
two communities in
Khambhat after
stones were pelted on
a Ram Navami proces-
sion in Shakarpura.
Anand district su-
perintendent of police
Ajit Rajian had earlier
said that communal
violence in Khambhat
town was a “pre-
planned conspiracy”
hatched by a sleeper
module to achieve the
dominance of the
Muslim community in
the town.
The police have al-
ready arrested 11 per-
sons involved in the
entire conspiracy
.
A senior citizen
was killed and anoth-
er injured in the vio-
lence that broke out
after the procession
was attacked on April
10. Similar clashes
erupted in Himmat-
nagar town of Sabar-
kantha district on the
same day
.
Meanwhile, the
Anand district super-
intendent of police
has transferred the
Khambhat town Po-
lice Inspector MJ
Chaudhary
. He will be
succeeded by Police
Inspector RN Khant.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Con-
sumer Disputes Re-
dressal Commission
in the city on Friday
ordered the Daikin
Industries Limited, a
global air condition-
ing company to reim-
burse a consumer
Rs6,500 for poor af-
ter-sales service.
The company has
been ordered to pay
Rs2,500 for pricing dis-
crepancy of an air con-
ditioner purchased by
the customer and
Rs4,000 for harassment.
The customer, who
lives in the Gota area
of Ahmedabad had
bought a Daikin air
conditioner in June
2016. Following the
purchase, a Daikin cor-
porate technician came
to his residence to in-
stall the air condition-
er for which he was
charged Rs4,000.
He contacted the
company through
email, complaining that
all customers should be
provided with free in-
stallation.
The consumer fur-
ther informed the cus-
tomer service of Daikin
that he later bought a
Hitachi air conditioner,
but the company’s tech-
nician did not charge
him for the installation.
The consumer’s re-
quest to the forum was
to direct compensation
from the Vijay Sales
outlet, where he had
bought the air
conditioner.
The lawyer for Vijay
Sales claimed that they
are ordinary vendors
whose duty is to offer
electronic devices and
machines. It is the
manufacturer’s re-
sponsibility to install
the machine.
Representatives from
Daikin argued that the
technician had in-
stalled the machine and
had charged for the
equipment’s iron stand,
which no company
gives for free.
Consumers should
not demand that instal-
lation be free of
charge, according to
the company.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Centre-
run Alliance Air,
which is no longer a
subsidiary of the
debt-ridden Air In-
dia, on Friday
, said it
will start operating
flights between Guja-
rat’s Keshod to Mum-
bai from Saturday
.
Incidentally
, the Tata
Group took over Air
India from the cen-
tral government a
few months ago.
Thiswillbethefirst
flight to operate from
the Keshod airport,
stated a press release.
The Mumbai-Kes-
hod-Mumbai flight
will operate three
times a week on a
70-seater ATR-72 air-
craft, added the air-
line’s statement.
Keshod is an up-
coming tourist desti-
nation located in Ju-
nagadh district of
western Gujarat and
is surrounded by the
Arabian Sea and
beautiful forests.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Accord-
ing to official data re-
leased by the state
health and family wel-
fare department, Gu-
jarat’s COVID-19 tally
increased by 11 cases
in the last 24 hours to
touch 12,24,129. While
the death toll re-
mained unchanged at
10,942, said an official
on Friday.
The recovery count
rose by 19 during the pe-
riod to touch 12,13,042,
taking the recovery rate
to 99.09%. This has left
the state with an active
caseload of 154. District-
wise,thehighestnumber
of cases was reported in
Ahmedabad(07)followed
by Vadodara (03) and Gir
Somnath (01).
The adjoining union
territory (UT) of Dadra
Nagar Haveli and Da-
man Diu continued to
remain coronavirus-
free as no case was re-
ported in the last 24
hours, confirmed a lo-
cal official.
As for vaccination,
over 6,234 people were
administered either the
first or second doses of
the COVID-19 vaccine
on the day
.
VMC councillor Umang Brahmbhatt. Screenshot of the complaint submitted.
Local police supervising the demolition.
The airline is a former subsidiary of Air India.
Inoculation against nCoV in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
WHAT HAPPENED
Admin removes illegal
structures in Khambhat
Daikindirectedtopay`6.5Ktoconsumerforbadservice
Alliance Air to begin
flights between
Keshod Mumbai
11 cases,no death; active tally 154 after 19 recoveries

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 3 l Issue No. 140
l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf
of First Express Publishers.
Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet
Survey No.148P, Changodar-
Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302
3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium
Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej
Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
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
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
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia on Fri-
daysaidthattheBharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP) in
copying the Kejriwal
Model of governance in
Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing a press
conference here, Sisodia
saidthatHimachalChief
Minister Jai Ram
Thakur has announced
to provide 150 units of
electricity
,waterandbus
farefreeinthestate,fear-
ing defeat in the view of
assembly election in the
state in November.
He said the BJP is in
the power in total 18
states and has opposed
the freebies every-
where. But as Himachal
Pradesh is going to the
poll soon, they are copy-
ing the Kejriwal model,
blamed Sisodia.
Delhi Chief Minsiter
Kejriwal has done just
one roadshow in Mandi
and it has created so
much fear among them
(BJP), Sisodia claimed.
He also questioned
the BJP as to why it is
not making such an-
nouncements in other
states.
Sisodia said that the
public of the state
knows that the BJP is
not in favour of provid-
ing free electricity
. This
announcement is a
hoax of BJP, he said.
The BJP has spoken
half-finished plans out
of fear of elections,
they have no intention
of doing anything free
or cheap, said Sisodia.
BJP copying Kejriwal model of governance in HP: Sisodia
BEFORE CHALLENGING, AAP MUST BUILD A
DECENT ORGANISATION IN HIMACHAL: BJP
New Delhi: BJP’s Himachal Pradesh in-charge
Avinash Rai Khanna on Friday said before challeng-
ing anyone, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) must build
a decent organisation in the state. “AAP has no pres-
ence and stake in Himachal Pradesh. They do not
have any organisational structure. AAP tried to build
an organisation but collapsed within a short span of
time. Before challenging anyone, AAP must build a
decent organisation in Himachal Pradesh. AAP does
not have ground presence while the strong cadre of
BJP is present in each polling booth across Himachal
Pradesh. We have no challenge from anyone and
AAP is not in the race,” Khanna said. He also said
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will be
formed for the second consecutive time in the state
for its pro-people policy.
AMIT SHAH LAUDS
JAIRAM GOVT
Shimla (PTI): Extending his
greeting on Himachal Day
to the people of the state,
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah on Friday said Chief
Minister Jairam Thakur-led
government not only doing
development in the state
but is also cherishing 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 occasion
of Himachal Day,” the Home
Minister tweeted in Hindi.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
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.
Use loudspeakers
to discuss price
rise, says Aaditya
Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Poli-
tics over Hanuman
Chalisa heated up in
Maharashtra on Friday
with state minister
Aaditya Thackeray
saying loudspeakers
should be used to cre-
ate awareness among
people about reasons
behind rising prices of
essential items, while
independent MLA Ravi
Rana asked CM Uddhav
Thackeray to recite the
devotional hymns at
his residence on Satur-
day.
It all started when
MNS president Raj
Thackeray raised the
issue of high-decibel
loudspeakers atop
mosques. Raj Thacker-
ay has demanded re-
moval of loudspeakers
atop mosques before
May 3 and warned the
Shiv Sena-led Maha Vi-
kas Aghadi (MVA) gov-
ernment that MNS
workers will play Hanu-
man Chalisa, a collec-
tion of devotional
hymns dedicated to
Lord Hanuman, in
front of mosques if his
demand was not met by
the deadline.
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

INDIA
06
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
07
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

08
2NDFRONT
KALOL MAN MURDERS FRIEND
TO STEAL RAW GOLD, MONEY
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: For eve-
ry crime, there is a mo-
tive. In Kalol, a man
killed his friend to ob-
tain his money and 600
grams of gold.
PD Manvar, Kalol
Deputy Superintendent
of Police, said 600
grams of gold and Rs3
lakh in cash were
seized. During the ini-
tial interrogation, the
accused admitted to
poisoning the victim be-
fore murdering him. He
then fled from the shop
and sought refuge at a
friend’s home, where he
stored looted gold and
cash. The accused is
suspected of stealing
Rs15 lakh in cash, ac-
cording to authorities.
Prabhakar Nangre
works as a goldsmith
with his friends Srim-
anto and Bholu Bengali.
It was their job to
turn raw gold into orna-
ments. Prabhakar also
had business relation-
ships and trust with lo-
cal jewellers, so he
would go to the
Ahmedabad market to
buy raw gold and cash.
When the jewellery
storeownercouldn’tfind
Prabhakarwiththecash
and gold on Wednesday
morning, he enquired
withBholuBengali.Ben-
gali informed the jewel-
ler that Srimanto told
him that Prabhakar had
fallen asleep after con-
sumingliquor.Whenthe
jewellers arrived at
Prabhakar’s shop, they
found it locked.
At the jeweller’s re-
quest, police broke the
lock and discovered
Prabhakar’s body when
they opened the store
door. The body was sent
forapostmortemreport.
The accused allegedly stole 600 grams of gold and `15 lakh in cash, according to police
—FILE
PHOTO
THE CONFESSION
During the initial
interrogation, Bholu
Bengali admitted to
poisoning the victim
before murdering
him. He then fled
from the shop and
sought refuge at a
friend’s home, where
he stored looted
gold and cash. The
accused is suspect-
ed of stealing
Rs15 lakh in cash.
First India Bureau
Surat: A man suc-
cumbed to the effects
of a poison he used to
end his life, while un-
dergoing treatment at
Surat’s SMIMER Hos-
pital, on Wednesday
night. According to
reports, he was admit-
ted to the hospital on
April 09 after his sis-
ter found him at his
residence. He was al-
legedly harassed, hu-
miliated, and even
blackmailed by hack-
ers to repay a loan that
he had not even taken.
Vivek Sharma (30),
resident of Jalaram-
nagar Society in Am-
roli area, was the
breadwinner of his
family and had been
serving as an assis-
tant lineman with the
Dakshin Gujarat Vij
Company Limited
(DGVCL).
His cousin told lo-
cal media that her
brother had down-
loaded a loan applica-
tion. “Even though he
did not borrow any
money, a hacker or cy-
ber fraudster started
pressuring him to re-
pay the loan amount.
He did pay some mon-
ey but those people
did not stop harassing
him. They used to call
him several times
during the day, even
leave messages to re-
pay the money, which
he had not borrowed,”
she said.
Fraudsters hacked
the deceased’s cell
phone and download-
ed his photos and con-
tact list. They left
messages for his
friends and relatives
and shared false in-
formation that Vivek
borrowed money and
failed to repay the
loan amount. They
branded him a rapist
and his photograph
was circulated with a
message to friends
and relatives. The
message read, “This
man has sold 12 girls
and raped them. If
you find him, please
inform the police be-
cause such types of
culprits should be
sent behind bars.”
Victim of cyber-fraud
succumbs to poison
Vivek Sharma, 30, ended his life after
harassment and humiliation by hackers to
repay a loan amount he never borrowed
JAI BAJRANGBALI!
Amdavadis participate in Lord Hanuman Jayanti’s procession on Ashram road on Friday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Man held for
poaching at
Nalsarovar,
gets 3 yrs RI
First India Bureau
Surendranagar:
A magisterial
court in Limdi
convicted a man
arrested in 2018
for three years’
rigorous impris-
onment (RI) with a
fine of Rs10,000 for
poaching birds in
Nalsarovar Bird
Sanctuary in
Surendranagar.
As per a state-
ment released by
the Deputy Con-
servator of Forest
(Nalsarovar Bird
Sanctuary) on
Thursday, forest
officials had re-
ceived a tip-off on
some people who
were poaching
birds in the re-
gion. The officials
reacted quickly
and caught one Va-
hanbhai Padhhar
with live and dead
birds on August 7,
2018. Three of his
other accomplices
had escaped but
got caught, subse-
quently
.
The officials
had then regis-
tered a case with
the court of Judi-
cial Magistrate
Frist Class Limdi
under the provi-
sion of the Wild-
life Protection
Act. Following a
trial, Padhhar was
convicted on April
13, 2022, while the
other three were
acquitted by the
court, for benefit
of the doubt.
Heatwave to hit Kutch,
Diu over next two days
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: According
to officials at the India
Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD), heatwave
conditions are likely to
prevail over isolated
pockets in the Kutch dis-
trict namely the Kandla
port as well as Diu over
the next two days.
Officials at IMD have
recommended that citi-
zens avoid exposure to
heat, cover their head
while stepping out of
their homes and wear
light-coloured,loosecloth-
ing of organic fabrics.
With rainfall being
forecast for southern
parts of the country,
Gujarat will witness
dry weather over the
next five days. Temper-
ature will be tolerable
for citizens and is fore-
cast to touch 41 degree
Celsius. Southwesterly
to Westerly winds are
prevailing at lower lev-
els over the region,
which will contribute to
the summer heat.
No large departures
from maximum temper-
atures of 41 degree Cel-
sius to 42 degree Celsius
have been predicted by
the weatherman for the
remainder of the week.
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 Ut-
sav’ under the aegis
of Azadi Ka Amrit 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 Va-
dodara have jointly
renovated the Raja Ravi
Varma studio, which
was built by Maharaja
Sayajirao Gaekwad for
Varma inside the Luk-
shmi Vilas Palace. The
studio and exhibition
were inaugurated on
Friday by Minister of
State for Parliamentary
Affairs and Culture Ar-
jun Ram Meghwal.
The festival will also
host several book re-
leases, lectures, dance,
drama, poetry, music,
film screening and ex-
hibitions.
“Raja Ravi Varma is
a big name in the world
of, art and painting. He
was invited here by the
Maharaja, who built a
studio for him, where
he created some mas-
terpieces, especially
oil paintings. His stu-
dio was in a dilapidat-
ed state, and the Minis-
try of Culture decided
to help renovate it. To-
day it is ready to wel-
come famous artists,
where they can feel the
presence of the legend-
ary 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
CELEBRATING ART
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 Amrit Mahotsav
Pilgrims struggle for certificates at NCH
First India Bureau
Surat: Pilgrims travel-
ling to Amarnath face
a problem at the New
Civil Hospital (NCH) to
get their necessary
health certificate for
the pilgrimage. Ac-
cording to government
instructions, a single
centre was set up to
provide the certifi-
cates so that applicants
don’t have to run from
pillar to post. The pil-
grims have now writ-
ten a letter to the su-
perintendent of NCH
to help.
The management in
their defence said that
the situation has aris-
en due to a scarcity of
doctors and a sudden
surge in the OPD pa-
tients. The certifica-
tion goes from several
stages, including ECG
and blood tests. Now,
patients have to take
their ECG reports in
NCH and head to pri-
vate hospitals for fur-
ther tests to procure a
medical certificate.
Each year, thousands of pilgrims set out on the religious
Amarnath yatra from all over India. —FILE PHOTO
—FILE
PHOTO
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

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/ahmedabad I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
AHMEDABAD, 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

ETC
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10
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

ETC
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11
P
riyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas welcomed
their first child together, a daughter via
surrogacy earlier this year. After an-
nouncing the birth of their baby girl,
the couple has remained private about their
parenting journey and in a recent interaction
with Lilly Singh for her upcoming book, Pri-
yanka opened up about her daughter for the
first time. Priyanka told Lilly, “As a new
parent right now, I keep thinking that I
will never be imposing my desires,
fears, my upbringing on to my child.
I have always believed that children
come through you not from you.
There is no belief like this is my
child and I will shape everything.
They come through you to find and
build their own life.” —Agency
SHAADI MUBARAK HO!
A
lia Bhatt and Ran-
bir Kapoor tied
the knot and got
hitched for life.
The wedding pictures of
the couple have taken the
internet by quite a storm
and fans are going gaga
over them. Everyone is
still not over it and social
media is filled with the
dreamy pictures from
their wedding. We have to
admit that Alia and Ran-
bir looked nothing less
than perfect on their spe-
cial day. The stars had an
intimate wedding in the
presence of their close
friends and family
. —Agency
J
ohnny Deep and
Amber Heard’s
USD 100 million
defamation case
kicked off in Virginia
this week and among
the first witnesses
to testify in the case
was Depp’s sister
Christi Dembrows-
ki. The 61-year-old
opened up in court
about their child-
hood in Lexington,
Kentucky with
‘peaceful’ dad John
Christopher Depp and
mother Betty Sue
Palmer whom she re-
vealed to have had been
abusive on several oc-
casions. Dembrowski
also weighed in on Am-
ber Heard’s relation-
ship with her brother
Johnny and maintained
that while there were
occasions when she saw
the Aquaman start being
nice to him, there were
also times when the ac-
tress wasn’t the same.
She accused Heard of in-
sulting Depp during an
incident. —Agency
K
im Kardashian has finally spoken
out about Kanye West’s new girl-
friend Chaney Jones, her ex-cur-
rent husband’s lover. The 41-year-
old reality star was a guest on Not Skinny
Not Fat podcast in a new episode released
on Tuesday when she was ques-
tioned about Jones, 24, whom
many have dubbed a Kim
‘lookalike.’ However, West
was first seen with Jones in
January, while still dating
Julia Fox, and now Kim is
expressing on the podcast
how she feels about
Kanye’s dating life. When
asked that some ladies’
West has been dating
seem to be ‘big admir-
ers of yours’ or
‘even sorta dress
like you,’ and
whether ‘the dop-
pelganger vibe’
bothers her, she re-
sponded didn’t. She
said, “No. I just
want him to be hap-
py and she seems
like the sweetest,’
Kim said, adding,
“Whatever makes
you happy
, I don’t
care what it is.”
—Agency
Adventure comedy
D
aniel Radcliffe, the hero of
the action-adventure comedy
The Lost City, characterizes
his evil character Abigail
Fairfax’s attitude as “pathetic” and
“very funny
.” Having begun his act-
ing career as a youngster in several
projects, Radcliffe is now one of the
world’s most recognizable and
adored film stars. Radcliffe’s most
recent film, The Lost City, casts him
in yet another outlandish character
as a millionaire and international
criminal Abigail Fairfax. The Nee
Brothers directed and co-wrote the
film, which depicts Fairfax kidnapping romance author Lo-
retta Sage (Sandra Bullock) in order to bring him to the val-
uable treasure known as the “Crown of Fire,” since she has
based her books on true historical research. —Agency
Spears denies
Spears denies
attorney’s fees
attorney’s fees
ritney Spears has denied her mother Lynne Irene
Bridges’ request to pay $663,202 in attorney’s fees,
with regards to her conservatorship, which ended
in November last year. The objection marks the
latest move in Britney’s ongoing and drawn-out
legal battle. The singer’s attorney
, Mathew Rosen-
gart, filed new documents with the court ahead
of a Wednesday hearing - where no decision was made.
Rosengart stated in a filing (accessed by ‘Variety’) with
the Los Angeles Superior Court, “Britney Spears has
for decades been her family’s sole breadwinner, sup-
porting her entire family. Lynne Spears and her
counsel seek payment of legal fees
and costs - from Britney Spears
- of more than $660,000.”
“Spears opposes the Petition
in its entirety
.” —Agency
B
VASHI FESTIVAL
ETHNIC BLISS
SWEET MEMORIES
BABY GIRL ARRIVES
A
nupama Para-
meswaran took
to her Instagram
handle and
shared a glimpse of her
Vashi festival celebra-
tions and they are all
things beautiful. The ac-
tress is super excited
about the festival as she
also danced to the trend-
ing Vijay’s song Arabic
Kuthu from Beast. She
dressed up in a traditional Kerala saree for
the Malayalam new year and looked stun-
ning as ever. Sharing the Arabic Kuthu
dance moves video on Instagram, she wrote,
Just a little too excited about Vishu sadhya.
—Agency
K
eerthy Suresh is
the most gor-
geous actress in
the South and can
manage to ruffle the
feathers of onlookers
with her stunning fash-
ion display
. Although she
can stun in any kind of
outfit, her special love for
sarees is something that
needs to be addressed.
She channelled her eth-
nic vibes in beautiful pastel green coloured
embellished saree and looked breathtaking.
For the Malayalam New Year, Keerthy
Suresh glammed up the festive mood in the
dazzling six yards. Her pastel saree came
with intricate threadwork. —Agency
S
outh superstar
Mahesh Babu’s
wife Namrata
Shirodkar and
Shah Rukh Khan’s wife
Gauri Khan met for an
unexpected lunch date
and shared some great
memories with happy
laughs. Namrata took to
her Instagram and
shared a stunning pic
with Gauri post their
lunch date. The star wives twinned in black
and white outfits and made statements for
their fun lunch. Sharing the pic, Namrata
wrote, “Unexpected fun lunch!! @gaurikhan
in the house literally catching up after so
many years.” —Agency
D
ebina Bonnerjee
and Gurmeet
Choudhary be-
came parents of
the baby girl a few days
ago. The couple is elated
as they welcomed the
baby into their lives. The
new parents recently cel-
ebrated the sixth day of
their baby girl’s arrival.
Following Gurmeet’s
family rituals from his
hometown in Bihar, on this day
, it is believed
that God decides the destiny of the new-
born. Both Gurmeet and Debina’s parents
arrived from hometown for puja. —Agency
Virginia
case
COOL MOM
COOL MOM
Kim calls Chaney
sweetest
The newlyweds
Britney Spears
Anupama Parameswaran
Daniel Radcliffe
Keerthy Suresh
Namrata Shirodkar
Debina Bonnerjee and
Gurmeet Choudhary
Priyanka Chopra
Kim Kardashian Amber Heard

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