164555741923022022 first india new delhi

CORONA CATASTROPHE
New Delhi Recovered
411
NEW
CASES
498 NEW
DEATHS
01
Shah holds massive roadshow in Prayagraj
Prayagraj: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Tuesday held a
roadshow in Prayagraj
along with Uttar
Pradesh Deputy Chief
Minister Keshav Pras-
ad Maurya.
In the seven-phased
state Assembly elec-
tions, Prayagraj will go
for polls in the fifth
phase on February 27.
Amit Shah was atop a
vehicle that was decked
with flowers and BJP
posters.
Large crowds had
gathered in the road-
show and they marched
along the convoy of ve-
hicles across the streets.
People raised BJP flags.
The streets were also
decorated with balloons
and BJP banners.
Amit Shah, a BJP
star campaigner in Ut-
tar Pradesh, has been
on a campaign trail in
the state.
Earlier in the day,
Shah addressed an elec-
tion rally in Raniganj
where he said that BJP
and its allies will form
the government by win-
ning over 300 seats.
In a veiled attack on
Samajwadi Party and
Bahujan Samaj Party,
Shah said, “Bua aur
Babuwa (aunt-nephew)
ruled UP for 15 years
but did not even build
toilets for the poor. The
BJP has constructed
the toilets for 2.61 crore
poor houses.”
The seven-phased As-
sembly elections in Ut-
tarPradeshcommenced
on February 10. The
first three phases of the
elections have been con-
cluded.
Polling for subse-
quent phases will take
place on February 23,
27, and March 3 and 7.
The counting of votes
will take place on
March 10. —ANI
Amit Shah addressing a rally in Prayagraj, on Tuesday.
UP POLLS PM CARES FOR
CHILDREN SCHEME
EXTENDED UP TO
FEB 28
New Delhi: The Ministry
of Women and Child De-
velopment, Government
of India has extended the
PM Cares for Children
Scheme till February
28. Earlier the scheme
was valid till December
31, 2021. A letter in this
regard has been written
to all Principal Secretar-
ies/ Secretaries, Women
and Child Development,
Social Justice & Empow-
erment Department of
all States and UTs with
a copy to all District
Magistrates/District
Collectors for necessary
action.
P8
PERSPECTIVE
JAIPUR | WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 23, 2022 02
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Vol 3 Issue No. 258
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77
764. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur.
Published at 304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
Amit Shah @AmitShah
The road accident in Champawat
district of Uttarakhand is heart-
wrenching. In this hour of grief, my
condolences are with the families
of those who lost their lives in this
horrific accident. May God give them
the strength to bear this grief. The local
administration is providing prompt treatment to the injured.
Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp
To promote learning in anytime,
anywhere mode, bridge digital divide,
spread digital literacy and minimise
learning loss, PM Shri @narendramodi
ji has approved Phase-III of the National
Mission on Education through ICT with
an outlay of `2,455 crore for FY 2022-27.
TOP TWEETS
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot
coal with the intent of throwing it at someone
else; you are the one who gets burned.
—Buddha
s the world on
the brink of a
major war? The
answer will de-
pend on wheth-
er President Vladimir Pu-
tin launches a full-scale
war, threatening Europe.
Russia has taken its first
steps towards the invasion
of Ukraine by recognizing
the breakaway regions of
Donetsk and Lugansk. The
Russian move has prompt-
ed swift retaliation from
the West by way of sanc-
tions which may not be
enough. As the world waits
and watches President Pu-
tin’s next move, the West
has to do more than what it
has done in the immediate
aftermath of the day’s de-
velopments.
The UK an-
nounced the first tranche
sanctions on five Russian
banks. A bigger action has
been taken by Germany,
which was seen as appeas-
ing Russia, by shelving the
Russian gas pipeline
known as Nord 2 gas pipe-
line which was to supply
Russian gas to Europe “un-
der the Baltic sea”.
Russia has shrugged off
the initial action by the
West and Ukraine also
wants the US and other
countries to impose harsh-
er sanctions. It is believed
that to hurt Putin hard,
sanctions must target Rus-
sian oligarchs.
As the crisis escalates, In-
dia can’t remain unaffected
by the developments
which
may engulf the world. Oil
prices are seeing a surge in
the fear of disruption in
supplies in case the conflict
escalates. Stock market too
isinchoppywaterswithfor-
eign portfolio funds pulling
out crores of rupees.
Fasten your seat belts as
the crisis in Ukraine turns
more serious with each
passing day. It is the eco-
nomic turbulence which
will hit us harder than
what we are experiencing
at present.
As the crisis escalates,
India can’t remain
unaffected by the
developments which may
engulf the world. Oil
prices are seeing a
surge in the fear of
disruption in supplies
in case the conflict
escalates. Stock market
too is in choppy waters with
foreign portfolio funds
pulling out crores of rupees
I
WORLD
WATCHES AS
RUSSIA MAKES
ITS MOVE
THE PERSON WHO HOSTED THE TRICOLOUR
FLAG IN 1992 AT LAL CHOWK IN
SRINAGAR, PUTTING HIS LIFE AT RISK,
IS NOW THE PM OF THE COUNTRY
DOWN THE MEMORY LANE… THE MAKING OF PM MODI – PART 4
T
he 1989 general elections
were fought under the dark
shadow of Bofors scam.
BJP contested the election
in collaboration
with Jana-
ta Dal in Gujarat, where the
party won all the 12 seats it
was allocated, under the ar-
rangement. Narendra Modi
was the key strategist be-
hind the unprecedente
d
success. Modi left an indel-
ible mark on the party after
the win. Union minister
Parshottam Rupala remem-
bers the unique working
styleof NarendraModidur-
ing that period.
“Modi ji spends lots of
time in planning. Once
planning is done, he delib-
erates on minutest detail
before execution. This is
his key to success,” he said.
The 1989 Lok Sabha elec-
tions gave new vigour to
BJP. The party decide to
launch a Rath Yatra from
Somnath to Ayodhya. The
entire planning of this
yatra was entrusted with
Modi, who was credited to
have organised many suc-
cessful yatra on the past.
This yatra was looked upon
a decisive move for BJP
which was striving for the
political significance.
Soon after the independ-
ence, Sardar Patel led the
renovation of Somnath
temple. Now BJP
, under its
aegis, was striving for
building Ram Mandir in
Ayodhya, which is the birth
of Lord Ram. BJP was look-
ing at garnering public
support in favour of build-
ing Ram Temple at a place
where Mughal emperor Ba-
bar is said to have con-
structed Mosque demolish-
ing the ancient temple.
The yatra was launched
with much fanfare but it
could not reach the destina-
tion. However, BJP leader
LalKrishnaAdvaniwhoan-
chored the yatra, managed
to win public sentiments,
which led to the broadening
of BJP’s cadre base.
Modi’sorganisationskills
were proven. Now, within a
year Modi decided to go for
a mega yatra together with
the then BJP’s national
president Murli Manohar
Joshi. The yatra, which
started from Kanyakumari
was named Ekta yatra and
the plan was to hoist Indian
tricolour at Lal Chowk of
Srinagar, which was then
underinsurgency
.Themain
agenda of the yatra was to
abolish Article 370, end ter-
rorism and save India.
During that period, Paki-
stan sponsored terrorism
was at peak in Kashmir.
Terrorists in the valley
used to torture the native
Kashmiri pandits, which
had forced them to flee the
valley. The aim of this
yatra was to awake the
country against the atroci-
ties of terrorists in the val-
ley
. Shaken by the firm de-
termination
of Modi and
Joshi, terrorists
an-
nounced that they will give
reward to daredevil, who
can return alive after hoist-
ing tricolour at Lal Chowk.
Modi took up the chal-
lenge. He made the Repub-
lic Day of 1992 a memorable
one by hoisting the Nation-
al flag at Lal Chowk defying
all the terror threats. The
entire country was under
the wrap of emotions. Peo-
ple realised that Modi has
the courage, conviction and
enthusiasmforlayingdown
his life for the country
.
The emotions ran heavy
in the country
. Modi and
Joshi were successful in
stirring the sentiments of
people and planting the
seed of nationalism
in
them.TherisingHindusen-
timents during that time
culminated in the demoli-
tion of the controversial
Mosque structure in Ayod-
hya on 6th December 1992.
And this also led to fall of
BJP-Janata Dal coalition
government in Gujarat.
Rising on the Hindutva
wave, BJP contested the
elections alone in Gujarat
and gained majority for
the first time. The master
strategist behind the vic-
tory was Narendra Modi
whose efforts had finally
started bearing fruits.
BJP had come to power
withalmosttwo-thirdmajor-
ity and at that time Shankar
Sinh Vaghela was the natu-
ral choice for the chief min-
ister, but Narendra Modi’s
thoughts were different and
he created such an atmos-
phere and strategy in the
party that Keshu Bhai be-
came chief minister.
But unfortunately
, the
strong and hurt Shankar
Sinh Vaghela revolted
against his own party and
went away to Khajuraho
along with rebel MLAs
leaving his party’s govern-
ment in lurch. He blamed
Narendra Modi for the en-
tire fiasco.
The central BJP leader-
ship swing into action for
the damage control. Vaghe-
la put up a condition for
reconciliation
that Modi
should leave Gujarat. Look-
ing to the sensitivity of the
situation senior BJP leader
Atal Bihari Vajpayee ac-
cepted his terms and Modi
as a dedicated and disci-
plined party soldier left Gu-
jarat in the larger interest
of the party
. On 28th Sep-
tember, Modi resigned from
the post of state’s organisa-
tion general secretary
.
As he always believed
in —
Kya haar mein kya jeet
mein, kinchit nahin
bhaybheet main,
Kartavya path par jo
mile, yah bhi sahi, vah
bhi sahi.
But subsequently,
out-
side Gujarat responsibili-
ties provided Narendra
Modi an opportunity
to
build up his All-India vi-
sion which came in handy
when he took over the reins
of the country on 26th May
2014 as the Prime Minister.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
Modi’s organisation skills
under insurgency. The main
abolish Article 370, end
terrorism and save India.
Modi took up the challenge. He made the Republic Day of 1992
a memorable one by hoisting the National flag at Lal Chowk,
Srinagar defying all the terror threats. The entire country was under
the wrap of emotions. People realized that Modi has the courage,
conviction and enthusiasm for laying down his life for the country.
Narendra Modi
believes in...
Kya haar mein
kya jeet mein,
kinchit nahin
bhaybheet main,
Kartavya path par
jo mile, yah bhi sahi,
vah bhi sahi
FEBRUARY 21, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI lWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.175
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Shivamogga: Six people have been arrested in con-
nection with Bajrang Dal activist Harsha murder case
here while some are at large, a senior police officer
said on Tuesday, as stray incidents of arson and
violence were reported in the city this morning.
BAJRANG DAL
MAN’S MURDER:
SIX ARRESTED
In a setback to National Conference in JK’s Pir Pan-
jal region comprising Poonch Rajouri, ex-min Syed
Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari on Tuesday resigned saying
he was being told to stop his fight for ST status to
Pahari-speaking people in the twin border districts.
JK: PAHARIS
PRESS FOR ST
STATUS, NC LOSES
KEY LEADER
WORLD AT
BOILING POINT
Russia OK’s military use to
back ‘rebel-held regions’
New Delhi: Russian
parliament’s upper
house on Tuesday vot-
ed to allow President
Vladimir Putin to use
the Russian army out-
side the country to sup-
port separatists in
Ukraine. A total of 153
Russian senators
backed the decision,
with no one voting
against or abstaining.
Putin had asked the
lawmakers for permis-
sion to use Russia’s
armed forces abroad
after formally recognis-
ing two eastern Ukrain-
ian regions, the cham-
ber’s speaker said.
The Russian Presi-
dent had on Monday
night recognised the
independence of
Ukraine’s two separa-
tist regions within their
administrative borders.
Ukrainian leader Vo-
lodymyr Zelensky on
Tuesday demanded an
immediate halt to the
Nord Steam 2 project.
—Agencies
KREMLIN SAYS IT HOPES DONBASS
RECOGNITION WILL RESTORE CALM
REVIVAL OF SOVIET UNION, SAYS
UKRAINE DEFENCE MINISTER
ESCALATION OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE TENSION
MATTER OF DEEP CONCERN: INDIA AT UN
US ORDERS TRADE
BAN WITH UKRAINE
REBEL REGIONS
EU PREPARES
LIST OF RUSSIA
SANCTIONS
UNITED KINGDOM
HITS MOSCOW
WITH SANCTIONS
NATO WARNS OF
RUSSIAN ATTACK
CHINA: CONCERNED
ABOUT SITUATION
IN UKRAINE
RUSSIA MUST
STEP BACK: OZ
Moscow: The Kremlin said
on Tuesday it hoped Russia’s
recognition of two breakaway
Ukrainian regions as independ-
ent would help restore calm and
that Moscow remained open to
diplomacy with the US and other
countries. Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov said a decision to
send in forces would depend on
how the situation developed.
KYIV: Russia’s decision to recognise two breakaway
regions means that the Kremlin has taken another
step towards the revival of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Tuesday.
“The Kremlin has taken another step towards the revival
of the Soviet Union. With the new Warsaw Pact and the
new Berlin Wall,” he said.
New Delhi: India said on Tuesday that the escalation of ten-
sion along the border of Ukraine with the Russian Federa-
tion is a “matter of deep concern” and
these developments have the potential
to undermine peace and security in the
region. At an emergency meeting called
by the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC), India said, “The escalation of
tension along the border of Ukraine with
the Russian Federation is a matter of
deep concern. These developments have the potential to
undermine peace and security of the region.”
Washington: President Biden
signed an executive order
imposing sanctions that
target two Russia-backed
breakaway republics in
eastern Ukraine in a swift re-
sponse to Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s decision
to recognise the regions as
independent.
Brussels: The Euro-
pean Union is close
to agreeing sanctions
on Russia that would
put politicians and
officials on blacklists,
ban trading in Russian
state bonds, and target
imports and exports
with separatist entities,
European Union diplo-
mats and officials said
on Tuesday.
London: The United
Kingdom has slapped
sanctions on a number
of Russian banks
and high net worth
individuals, including a
close ally of President
Vladimir Putin as Kyiv’s
Western allies punish
Moscow for recognis-
ing two breakaway
regions in eastern
Ukraine as independent.
Brussels: NATO chief Jens
Stoltenberg said Tuesday
that Russia continues to
prepare for a potential
attack on Ukraine after two
separatist regions were
recognised as independ-
ent. “We see that more
and more of the forces are
moving out of the camps
and are in combat forma-
tions and ready to strike.”
Beijing: China is concerned
about the “worsening” situa-
tion in Ukraine, Foreign Min
Wang Yi said on Tuesday, re-
peating his call for all parties
to show restraint and resolve
differences through dialogue.
The legitimate security con-
cerns of any country should
be respected, he said.
Sydney: PM Scott Morrison
has rubbished sugges-
tions Russia is sending in
“peacekeeping” troops to
eastern Ukraine, saying
Moscow has “moved in on
Ukrainian sovereign terri-
tory”. Morrison on Tuesday
warned the move could re-
sult in an “absolutely violent
confrontation with terrible
human consequences”.
P4
Six dead,12 hurt in
blast at factory in HP
Imranwantsdebatewith
PMModitoresolveissues
Shimla: At least six
women were killed and
12 others injured as a
fire broke after an ex-
plosion in a firecracker
factory at an industrial
area in the Una district
of HimachalPradeshon
Tuesday
. The explosion
occurred in the morn-
ing at about 11 am and
the fire engulfed the
whole factory trapping
everyone present at the
facility
, they added.
Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police of Haroli,
Anil Mehta, said out of
the 12 injured, two have
been referred to PGI
Chandigarh and anoth-
er 10 were admitted to
the hospital in Una.
Mehta said the vic-
tims’ bodies were badly
charred and it was dif-
ficult to identify them.
Out of six deceased,
three women were local
residents and another
was from the Bhangal
village in Punjab.
Islamabad: Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran
Khan said on Tuesday
that he would like to
have a TV debate with
his Indian counterpart
Narendra Modi to re-
solve differences be-
tween the two neigh-
bouring countries.
Khan made the re-
marks during an inter-
view with Russia’s state-
run television network
RT on the eve of his
maiden two-day visit to
Moscow. “I would love to
debate with Narendra
Modi on TV
,” Khan said
inresponsetoaquestion.
Responding to a ques-
tion, Khan said when his
party Pakistan Tehreek-
e-Insaf came into power
in 2018 he immediately
reached out to India and
asked the Indian leader-
ship to sit down at the
table and resolve the
Kashmir issue.
He, however, regret-
ted that India did not
respond positively to
his overtures.
Centre blocks
‘SFJ-linked’
Punjab
Politics TV
New Delhi: Once again
relying on intelligence
inputs and invoking the
emergency powers it
wasgivenunderthenew
InformationTechnology
Rules, the IB Ministry
has banned the digital
media resources of for-
eign-based ‘Punjab Poli-
tics TV’, which it said is
linked to the proscribed
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)
outfit, and was trying to
disturb the public order
during ongoing polls.
The IB Ministry
said that it has “ordered
blocking of apps, web-
site, and social media
accounts of foreign-
based ‘Punjab Politics
TV’ having close links
with SFJ, an organisa-
tion that has been de-
clared unlawful under
the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967”.
Police personnel with locals at the site after an explosion in a
firecracker factory, in Una district. —PHOTO BY PTI
Right to wear hijab does not fall under
Art 25 of Constitution: K’taka Govt to HC
Bengaluru: The Kar-
nataka government on
Tuesday told the High
Court that there is no
restriction on wearing
HijabinIndiawithrea-
sonable restrictions
subject to institutional
discipline. Karnataka
Advocate General
Prabhuling Navadgi
said the right to wear
the headscarf falls un-
der the category of
19(1)(A)andnotArticle
25 as has been argued
by the petitioners.
“The rights claimed
under Article 19(1)(A)
is related to Article
19(2) where the gov-
ernment places a rea-
sonable restriction
subjected to institu-
tional restriction,”
Navadgi told the full
bench of High Court.
Pegasus row: SC agrees
to hear PILs on Feb 25
Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Tuesday
agreed to hear the case
relating to the Pegasus
surveillance scandal on
25 February, after So-
licitor General Tushar
Mehta requested for a
new date before Chief
Justice NV Ra-
mana, pointing
out that he is
supposed to
be arguing
a different
part-heard
case on
Wednes-
day, 23
F e b r u -
ary
. The Pegasus panel,
appointed by the Su-
preme Court, has sub-
mitted an interim re-
port appraising the
apex court about the
progress on the probe.
The matter was listed
for hearing before a
bench headed by
Chief Justice
NV Ramana
and compris-
ing Justic-
es Surya
Kant and
Hima Koh-
li on 23
F e b r u -
ary
.
After Russian President Vladimir
Putin signed a decree recognising
two Russian-backed breakaway
regions in eastern Ukraine as
independent entities, pro-Russian
activists celebrated in the separatist-
controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022
02
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New Delhi: The
Rohtak Road (National
Highway-10) at Tikri
border infamous for ac-
cidents will finally get
redeveloped as the Pub-
lic Works Department
(PWD) has decided to
start work to strength-
en the road with new
bitumen, fill potholes
and cracks, and replace
bearings.
Officials said they
have issued tenders for
the work which will
start in the next 20-25
days. The estimated
budget is Rs 91.94 lakh.
According to offi-
cials, the road also sus-
tained damages during
the farmers’ protest
last year when hun-
dreds of farmers
camped in the area pro-
testing against the con-
troversial farm legisla-
tions. “Several con-
crete, multi-layer con-
crete barriers were in-
stalled on this road
during the protest to
stop farmers from en-
tering the city. Roads
were damaged, pot-
holes developed and we
are receiving com-
plaints from motorists
about the cracks and
breaks on the stretch.
So, we have decided to
repair the stretch to
provide a smooth com-
mute,” said a PWD of-
ficial.
The road safety cell
of the transport de-
partment, in a recent
study, declared the
zone as unsafe for pe-
destrians and motor-
ists. The PWD will re-
pair the road, layout
and main carriageway,
strengthen the joints
and fix accident-prone
sections. All potholes
will be filled and
stretches fully re-laid.
Besides, proper
signages and diver-
sion/stop marks will
also be freshly painted
using thermoplastic
paint. –Agencies
PWD to redevelop accident-prone Rohtak Road
DANGER ZONE
OFFICIALSPEAK
CRUCIAL READ
WOMAN, 6 OTHERS HELD FOR
KILLING HUSBAND IN DELHI
THREE MOTORCYCLE-BORNE MEN
LOOT OVER `11 LAKH IN DELHI
New Delhi: A woman has been arrested along with
six others for allegedly killing her husband here,
officials said on Tues-
day. The woman had an
extra-marital relation-
ship with Gaurav Teotia,
one of the accused, who
offered Rs four lakh
each to his five ac-
complices to kill 35-year-old Pradeep, a milkman by
profession, they said. The arrests were made a day
after Pradeep’s body was found on Heliport Road in
Rohini, they said.
New Delhi: Three men on motorcycles allegedly
looted over `11 lakh from a man under the Punjabi
Bagh underpass on Rohtak
Road, police said on Tues-
day. The police said at 2:30
pm on Monday it received
a call about committing
robbery of `11 lakh by
three motorcycle-borne bikers while going towards
Jakhira. The victim Ratan Shukla Baidya, works for a
mobile recharge dealer based in Rampura Delhi and
had collected cash from different locations.
JILTED LOVER DIES BY SUICIDE
AFTER ASSAULTING GIRL
New Delhi: A jilted lover died by suicide after
allegedly physically assaulting a girl in Loni, Uttar
Pradesh. The assaulted
girl has been admitted
to the Guru Teg Bahadur
(GTB) hospital in Delhi.
She was later referred
to Max hospital in
Patparganj. The father of the girl, 22, said, “My
daughter’s marriage was fixed. But one of the
neighbours wanted to marry her. Annoyed at the
engagement of my daughter, the boy from the
neighbourhood hit her on the head near Meet
Nagar area in Delhi when she was going to her
office.”
New Delhi: The na-
tional capital will get
100 electric buses next
month, followed by an-
other 200 e-buses by
mid-May, to take the
city’s e-bus fleet
strength to 300, senior
transport officials.
Currently, Delhi has
just one e-bus for pub-
lic transport that was
flagged off by Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal on January 17 this
year. This will be a
part of the 300 e-buses
that the DTC is adding
to its fleet.
“In the first week of
March, around 50 e-
buses are expected to
arrive. Overall, in
March, 100 of the 300 e-
buses will arrive. The
rest will arrive in
batches till mid-May,”
an official said, on con-
dition of anonymity
.
Transport commis-
sioner Ashish Kundra
said even the current
bus fleet of 6,894 – com-
prising CNG buses – in
the national capital is
the most the city ever
had. Of the 6,894 buses,
3,761(including the
lone e-bus) are run by
the DTC, while 3,133
are being operated un-
der the cluster scheme.
Apart from the 300 e-
buses of the DTC, an-
other 330 e-buses under
the cluster scheme will
be rolled out by the end
of the year. The tender
for those 330 e-buses is
currently being pre-
pared, said officials.
A set of 1,500 e-buses
under the “Grand Chal-
lenge” of the central
government (initiated
in June last year by the
ministry of power and
NITI Aayog) will start
arriving from July this
year and the final lot is
expected to arrive by
June or July next year,
the transport official
quoted above said.
On October 28 last
year, media had report-
ed that the Delhi gov-
ernment has planned
to procure only electric
buses in the future,
with an aim to increase
the share of zero emis-
sion vehicles in public
transport to over 50 pc.
To cater to the influx of
e-buses, all existing bus
depots are being up-
graded with EV charg-
ing infrastructure with
the help of the three
major private power
distribution compa-
nies in the city
.
According to various
court orders, Delhi is
supposed to have at
least 10,000-11,000
public transport buses
to cater to its popula-
tion of nearly 20 mil-
lion. –Agencies
100 more electric DTC
buses in city by March
Around 50 e-buses are expected to arrive in capital in the first week
ELECTRIFYING
New Delhi: Shopping
centres and malls have
requested the Delhi gov-
ernment to ease restric-
tions and allow opera-
tions of malls beyond 8
pm, citing falling num-
ber of COVID-19 cases.
In a letter to Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal, the Shopping
Centres Association of
India (SCAI) also as-
sured him that it will
take all precautions
and adhere to the direc-
tives issued by the au-
thorities.
The sector, which has
already suffered a loss
due to successive lock-
downs, recently re-
sumed operations after
bearing many opera-
tional costs, the SCAI
added.
“It is, therefore, our
humble request to kind-
ly allow the functioning
of shopping malls be-
yond 8 pm and help the
industry to continue the
momentum of revival
after a long hiatus. We
assure you that we
would take all precau-
tions and adhere to the
directives issued by the
authorities,” it said.
In December last year,
several state govern-
ments, including Delhi
had imposed strict re-
strictions in a move to
curb the rapid spread of
Omicron variant of the
coronavirus. In Delhi,
multiplexes were closed,
dining in restaurants
was prohibited and only
takeawayswereallowed.
This was reviewed pe-
riodically by the respec-
tive authorities after as-
sessing the situation
and the decline in the
number of cases.
The Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
had on February 4, 2022,
allowed malls to func-
tion till 8 pm.
“Post the 2nd lock-
down, restrictions have
been lifted in almost all
states. Most of the larg-
er cities have been able
to vaccinate large popu-
lations with both doses.
COVID-19 cases are also
on decline and hospitali-
sation is almost negligi-
ble. We request the
Chief Minister of Delhi
also to allow shopping
malls to revert to nor-
mal operational hours,
thereby helping the in-
dustry in improving the
momentum of revival
after a long hiatus,”
SCAI Chairman Muke-
sh Kumar said. –PTI
Shopping centres urge Govt
to allow ops beyond 8 pm
JOB FAIR
Specially-abled people participate in the exclusive job fair for persons with disabilities 2021-2022 organised by
Samarthanam trust at SOL Delhi University campus Gandhi Bhavan in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: Election
authorities have be-
gun preparations for
the civic polls in Delhi,
which are due in April,
and are also likely
to webcast the exer-
cise, officials said on
Monday.
The State Election
Commission (SEC) in
Delhi in January had
said that the civic polls
in Delhi will be held in
April 2022 and an-
nounced de-reservation
of existing wards and
reservation of new
wards on rotation for
specified categories.
The commission is
likely to webcast the
civic polls. This has
been done in previous
elections as well, such
as assembly polls and
Lok Sabha elections.
Webcast is generally
done for sensitive seats
and areas to allay fears
of any wrongdoing, of-
ficials said.
They said 150-200 peo-
ple have been debarred
from contesting civic
polls this time, as they
had not declared their
assets information cor-
rectly in the last elec-
tions.
This is in accordance
with an order issued
seven-eight months
back, the officials said.
Schedule of civic
polls is likely to be an-
nounced in the second
week of March, sources
said. –PTI
Poll authorities likely to webcast
of Delhi civic elections: Officials
New Delhi: A 19-year-
old man was rescued
after three men, posing
as police officers, kid-
napped him, officials
said on Tuesday
.
The three accused --
Sajid (27), Vakil (27)
and Taibbhar Ali (49)
-- has been arrested,
they said, adding that
the ransom amount of
Rs 1,94,000, two motor-
cycles and fake police
ID cards have been re-
covered from their pos-
session.
To earn a quick buck,
the three accused
planned to kidnap the
victim on Friday and
followed him.
The accused stopped
him and introduced
themselves as police of-
ficers, Esha Pandey,
Deputy Commissioner
of Police (Southeast)
said.
“They told the victim
that they had received a
complaint against him
and asked him has to
come with them to the
Janakpuri police sta-
tion. –PTI
New Delhi: Doorstep
delivery of dry ration
kits will continue rath-
er than hot cooked mid-
day meals till 100 pc at-
tendance is achieved in
Delhi government
schools, officials said.
“Right now, there is
only 50 pc attendance in
schools and so, if
cooked mid-day meals
are resumed, all stu-
dents will not be bene-
fited from the scheme.
As soon as 100 pc at-
tendance is achieved,
serving will begin,” an
official said. –PTI
New Delhi: Two uni-
dentified miscreants
shot a grocery store in-
charge in Gurgaon’s
Sector-58 on Monday
night.
The victim, Anuj
Mishra, who is in his
early 30s, suffered a
gunshot wound in his
stomach.
A team from the Sec-
tor-65 police station
reached the spot and
admitted the store em-
ployee to a private hos-
pital in Sector-56 for
treatment.
His condition is re-
portedly stable, the po-
lice said. –PTI
New Delhi: Two people
were arrested on Mon-
day for allegedly killing
a 32-year-old man who
resisted their attempt to
rob him in central Del-
hi’s Karol Bagh, the po-
lice said on Tuesday
.
The accused were
identified as Vishal
Goswami (23) and Mo-
hit (22), the police said.
TheduoattackedRavi
Singh, who used to work
at a footwear shop here,
on Saturday around 9.45
pm when he was walk-
ing home and robbed
him of his bag and mo-
bile phone, a senior po-
lice officer said.
Singh was found
bleeding on the road
and was taken to a hos-
pital, where he died dur-
ing treatment, he said.
On scanning CCTV
footage from the area,
the police said, the ac-
cused were spotted beat-
ing up the victim with
stones and fleeing with
his belongings. –PTI
2 arrested for killing
man in Karol Bagh
Mid-day meals
to resume at
Delhi schools
19-year-old rescued after
being kidnapped by 3 men
Grocery store
in-charge shot
at in Sector-58

INDIA
03
BJP FACES OWN TACTICS IN BIHAR OVER
RUMOURS ABOUT ‘ASHOKA PILLAR’
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Till now,
the situation was that
the Opposition parties
had to answer the ru-
mors spread by the
BJP’s IT cell and its
army of workers. But
this time the BJP is up-
set and is being made to
answer many kinds of
rumours. Among these
there is a rumor that
the Ashoka Pillar is be-
ing removed from the
seals of the central gov-
ernment and all the
government places.
From Awadh to Praya-
graj and in the areas of
Purvanchal and Bun-
delkhand, where there
is a large number of
Kushwaha population,
this rumour is causing
a lot of trouble to the
BJP. Keep in mind that
the Kushwaha society
considers itself a de-
scendant of Emperor
Ashoka. In such a situ-
ation, everything from
the Ashoka Chakra to
the Ashokan Pillar is an
object of pride for it.
These ru-
mours have
been further
strengthened
by the devel-
opments in
Bihar. In Bi-
har, a pillar is
being con-
structed in
front of the
assembly on
the occasion
of completion
of hundred
years of the as-
sembly. Howev-
er, the symbol of
A s h o k a
Chakra or
Ashoka Pil-
lar is not be-
ing put on
top of that
pillar, but
instead the
symbol of
Swastik is be-
ing put in its
place. Protest
has started in
Bihar regard-
ing this and
Leader of Oppo-
sition Tejashwi
Yadav has at-
tacked both BJP and
JDU, saying that for the
first time after inde-
pendence, it is happen-
ing that Ashoka Chakra
is not being installed on
any pillar. This matter
has now reached Uttar
Pradesh as well, where
there is already a ru-
mor that the emblem of
Emperor Ashoka is be-
ing removed from the
government seals of the
Centre. This rumour
and incident in Bihar
can cause big loss to
BJP in its core vote.
New Delhi: Uttar
Pradesh Law Minister
Brajesh Pathak who is
facing Samajwadi Party
candidate and two-time
Corporator Surendra
Singh Gandhi in the
Lucknow Cantonment
seat is among the prom-
inent contender in the
fourth phase of the state
Assembly elections for
which polling will be
held on Wednesday
.
Pathak exuded confi-
dence in the victory of
the Bharatiya Janata
Party and said that the
latter will not allow op-
position parties to fulfil
their dream of coming
to power in the state.
“We (BJP) are going
to break the record of
the last elections. We
will not allow the Oppo-
sition parties to fulfil
their dream. They are
trying to come to the
power with the help of
the mafias which will
never happen. The BJP
has built AIIMS, air-
port, metro and has pro-
vided cereals to poor
people,” the state Law
Minister told media.
He also hit out at the
Opposition for mislead-
ing people, supporting
mafias and goons in Ut-
tar Pradesh. He rejected
the claims that the BJP
has a tough task in the
ongoing polls.
Another keenly
watched seat in this
phase is the Sarojini Na-
gar seat in Lucknow
where the former joint
director of Enforce-
ment Directorate,
Rajeshwar Singh, is pit-
ted against a former IIM
professor and a close
aideof theformerChief
Minister Akhilesh Ya-
dav, Abhishek Mishra.
Raebareli Sadar is
also one of the key bat-
tles to watch out for
with its sitting Con-
gress MLA Aditi Singh
now being a BJP nomi-
nee.
The59Assemblyseats
are spread across the
districts of Pilibhit,
Lakhimpur Kheri, Sita-
pur,Hardoi,Unnao,Luc-
know,RaeBareli,Banda,
and Fatehpur. —ANI
59 assembly constituencies to vote in 4th phase today; 624 candidates in fray. —FILE PHOTO
HEAVYWEIGHTS IN UP PHASE 4
BJP’s Brajesh Pathak,
Aditi Singh in poll ring
‘Achhe din’
is poll time
deception
of BJP, says
Priyanka
New Delhi: The
Congress national
general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra on Tuesday
tweeted “Achhe din”
is just a deception of
Bharatiya Janata
Party’s (BJP) in
times of elections.
“
Assoonastheelec-
tions get over, expen-
sive days will become
a problem for the peo-
ple,” said Vadra.
She added, “The
price of liquefied pe-
troleum gas (LPG)
may double and that
of petrol-diesel will
increase as well.”
Priyanks alleged
that the ruling govt
has no plans to fight
inflation. —ANI
Cong not to take action against Tewari, Preneet!
Sharat K Verma
Chandigarh: Congress
party is not going to take
any action against two
Punjab MPs Manish
Tewari and Preneet
Kaur.InformedCongress
leaders say that many
complaintshavereached
the party and the disci-
plinary committee can
consider them but no ac-
tion will be taken at the
moment. However, both
the leaders are making
every effort to ensure
that the party takes ac-
tion against them. Man-
ish Tewari recently
called himself not a ten-
ant, but a stakeholder in
the Congress. Such
things are not tolerated
in Congress. Then he
also commented in pro-
test on the statement
given by Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Channi
onthebrothersof UP
,Bi-
har and compared it to
the treatment of black
people in America.
Similarly, Preneet
Kaur is continuously
campaigning for her
husband Captain Ama-
rinder Singh and has
also participated in BJP
roadshows.BeforeAmit
Shah’s visit to Patiala,
she also went to the BJP
office and attended the
preparatory meeting.
Despite this, Congress is
nottakingactionagainst
both of them. If Con-
gress takes action, they
will be free from Con-
gress.If Congressexpels
them from the party,
their membership will
remain. That’s why they
are provoking Congress
but the party will wait
till the election results.
Many leaders believe
that if the Congress
wins, these leaders will
automatically shut up
and follow the discipline
of the party
. If Congress
does not win then these
people will be unbridled
but the party will hardly
act even then.
Manish Tewari Preneet Kaur
Not in politics to grab power, but
build nation, says Rajnath Singh
Ballia: Ahead of the
polling for phase four of
Uttar Pradesh Assem-
bly elections, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
on Tuesday said that
politics is not just for
forming governments
but about building soci-
eties and the country
.
“We are in politics not
just to form govern-
ments but to build soci-
ety and the country
.
That explains we are not
reluctant to take tough
decisions,” Singh said at
a rally in Sikandarpur
area of Ballia.
Singh said that the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) will not allow the
trustof thepeopleof the
country to be broken.
“...carefully weigh
the options, see if it is
right and then vote.
Many parties have been
formed and have be-
come extinct over the
years. There was a cri-
sis in politics due to the
false assurances of the
leaders. There was an
issue of unreliability
about the politicians.
The BJP has erased this
notion,” added Singh.
Addressing a public
meeting, he added, “We
fulfilled our promise to
remove Article 370. Citi-
zenship Amendment Act
was enacted to fulfil
promisesmadetothepeo-
ple. There should be no
division in the name of
religion. After Independ-
ence, India and Pakistan
were divided on the basis
of religion. We fulfilled
thepromiseof buildinga
grand Ram temple in
Ayodhya.PMModigavea
grandlooktoKashiVish-
wadham.” —PTI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
Out on furlough,
Ram Rahim gets
Z-Plus security
New Delhi: Dera Sacha
Sauda chief Gurmeet
Ram Rahim Singh has
beenprovid-
ed Z-Plus
category se-
curity on
his release
from jail fol-
lowingreportsof threats
to his life from pro-Khal-
istan activists.
The Haryana govern-
ment’s decision to grant
the top-tier security cov-
er comes after his re-
quest for furlough was
approved earlier this
month. Ram Rahim was
released from Rohtak’s
Sunaria jail on a 21-day
furlough on Feb 7. —PTI
Mamata writes to PM
over Ganga erosion
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee has written to
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on the issue of
“perpetual river ero-
sion” along the river
Ganga- Padma in dis-
tricts of south-central
WestBengalresultingin
severe loss of public
utilities, private proper-
ties and agricultural
lands. Banerjee urged
the Prime Minister to
kindly reconsider the
decision of Farraka
Barrage Project Author-
ity (FBPA) of withdraw-
al of the extended juris-
diction so as to fulfil the
earlier commitment of
the Central government
and arrange for taking
up bank protection
schemes in the entire
stretch of the extended
jurisdiction. —Agencies
Mamata Banerjee
NORTH-EAST IS GROWTH ENGINE OF
INDIA, SAYS PM IN MANIPUR RALLY
Imphal: PrimeMinister
NarendraModionTues-
day slammed Congress
for “making fun of the
culture of the North-
eastern states”. He said
that the North-eastern
states for the BJP if the
growth engine for the
country
.
While addressing the
election rally in Ma-
nipur’s Heingang,
Prime Minister
slammed the Congress
leaders for making
make fun of the culture
of Northeast India.
“Congress leaders
come to Manipur and
make big claims but
make fun of the dresses
and culture of North-
eastIndiainotherstates.
Congress divided Ma-
nipur between hills and
valleys and played poli-
tics over it. They never
worked on developing
and improving connec-
tivity in the region.”
He further said that
the NDA government
believes that the north-
eastregionisthegrowth
engine for India.
PM Modi said that
decades of Congress
rule in Manipur result-
ed in inequality
.
“TheBJPgovernment
hasmadetheimpossible
possible. Every region
of Manipur has had re-
lief from bandhs and
blockades. Congress, on
the other hand, had
made bandhs and block-
ades the main feature of
Manipur. The BJP gov-
ernment has written a
new chapter of change
for Manipur, taking eve-
ryone forward. The
youth has given up arms
andiscomingforwardto
lead the development
surge,” he added. —ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets BJP supporters during an election campaign rally for the
upcoming Manipur Assembly polls in Imphal on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PARIVARVAADIS SHOWERED LOVE
ON TERRORISTS, SAYS PM MODI
Bahraich: PM Narendra Modi while hitting out at the
Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said that the Parivarvaadis
showered love on terrorists. Taking a swipe at the SP, he
added, “These ‘Parivarvaadis’ showered love on terror-
ists who are guilty of many blasts in Uttar Pradesh. They
were conspiring to release those terrorists from jail. The
Samajwadi government was even against banning terror-
ist organizations. They’re quiet on the 2008 Ahmedabad
blasts verdict. Everyone knows who was helping whom.
Those who cannot think about the country’s security
can never do any good to UP.” Attacking the previous
Samajwadi Party (SP) government, he said, “From 2014
to 2017 I have seen very closely the work, their business,
their exploits of these Parivaarvadis. It is sad when the
Parivaarvadi governments sacrifice the interest of the peo-
ple for their selfish motives.” He added that the Bharatiya
Janata Party’s (BJP) win in Uttar Pardesh in 2022 will be a
‘Jeet Ka Chowka’. “This time we are going to hit a ‘Jeet Ka
Chowka’ (Victory 4). First in 2014, then 2017, 2019, and
now 2022. People of Uttar Pradesh have decided to topple
‘Parivaarvadis’,” said PM Modi. —ANI
50% cap on rallies, roadshows removed
New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on
Tuesday relaxed the previously imposed 50 per cent
capacity cap on meetings, rallies, and roadshows of
political parties.
This poll is to save
democracy change
fate of UP: Akhilesh
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: Samajwadi
Party national presi-
dent Akhilesh Yadav on
Tuesday said this is not
an ordinary assembly
election but polls to save
the democracy and
change the fate of UP
.
Addressing a rally at
Bhirpur in Yamuna-
par’s Karchana constit-
uency, he said, “We will
work to implement the
SPmanifesto.Eversince
the BJP government
came, inflation and un-
employment have in-
creased.”
Taking a jibe at the
BJP leaders, the former
Uttar Pradesh chief
minister said that small
leaders of the BJP tell
small lies, those who are
big tell bigger lies and
those who are “tallest”
leaders tell the biggest
lies.
Turning to the com-
petitive students of BEd
and TET (Teacher Eligi-
bility Test) examina-
tions who came to the
rally, the SP chief said,
“You tell me whether
the examinations were
cancelled or not, wheth-
er the paper was out or
not. Did you have to
fight or not?”

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 175 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301.
Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Sharat K Verma responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
Amit Shah @AmitShah
The road accident in Champawat
district of Uttarakhand is heart-
wrenching. In this hour of grief, my
condolences are with the families
of those who lost their lives in this
horrific accident. May God give them
the strength to bear this grief. The local
administration is providing prompt treatment to the injured.
Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp
To promote learning in anytime,
anywhere mode, bridge digital divide,
spread digital literacy and minimise
learning loss, PM Shri @narendramodi
ji has approved Phase-III of the National
Mission on Education through ICT with
an outlay of `2,455 crore for FY 2022-27.
TOP TWEETS
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot
coal with the intent of throwing it at someone
else; you are the one who gets burned.
—Buddha
s the world on
the brink of a
major war? The
answer will de-
pend on wheth-
er President Vladimir Pu-
tin launches a full-scale
war, threatening Europe.
Russia has taken its first
steps towards the invasion
of Ukraine by recognizing
the breakaway regions of
Donetsk and Lugansk. The
Russian move has prompt-
ed swift retaliation from
the West by way of sanc-
tions which may not be
enough. As the world waits
and watches President Pu-
tin’s next move, the West
has to do more than what it
has done in the immediate
aftermath of the day’s de-
velopments. The UK an-
nounced the first tranche
sanctions on five Russian
banks. A bigger action has
been taken by Germany,
which was seen as appeas-
ing Russia, by shelving the
Russian gas pipeline
known as Nord 2 gas pipe-
line which was to supply
Russian gas to Europe “un-
der the Baltic sea”.
Russia has shrugged off
the initial action by the
West and Ukraine also
wants the US and other
countries to impose harsh-
er sanctions. It is believed
that to hurt Putin hard,
sanctions must target Rus-
sian oligarchs.
As the crisis escalates, In-
dia can’t remain unaffected
by the developments which
may engulf the world. Oil
prices are seeing a surge in
the fear of disruption in
supplies in case the conflict
escalates. Stock market too
isinchoppywaterswithfor-
eign portfolio funds pulling
out crores of rupees.
Fasten your seat belts as
the crisis in Ukraine turns
more serious with each
passing day. It is the eco-
nomic turbulence which
will hit us harder than
what we are experiencing
at present.
As the crisis escalates,
India can’t remain
unaffected by the
developments which may
engulf the world. Oil
prices are seeing a
surge in the fear of
disruption in supplies
in case the conflict
escalates. Stock market
too is in choppy waters with
foreign portfolio funds
pulling out crores of rupees
I
WORLD
WATCHES AS
RUSSIA MAKES
ITS MOVE
THE PERSON WHO HOISTED THE TRICOLOUR
FLAG IN 1992 AT LAL CHOWK IN
SRINAGAR, PUTTING HIS LIFE AT RISK,
IS NOW THE PM OF THE COUNTRY
DOWN THE MEMORY LANE… THE MAKING OF PM MODI – PART 4
T
he 1989 general elections
were fought under the dark
shadow of Bofors scam.
BJP contested the election
in collaboration with Jana-
ta Dal in Gujarat, where the
party won all the 12 seats it
was allocated, under the ar-
rangement. Narendra Modi
was the key strategist be-
hind the unprecedented
success. Modi left an indel-
ible mark on the party after
the win. Union minister
Parshottam Rupala remem-
bers the unique working
styleof NarendraModidur-
ing that period.
“Modi ji spends lots of
time in planning. Once
planning is done, he delib-
erates on minutest detail
before execution. This is
his key to success,” he said.
The 1989 Lok Sabha elec-
tions gave new vigour to
BJP. The party decide to
launch a Rath Yatra from
Somnath to Ayodhya. The
entire planning of this
yatra was entrusted with
Modi, who was credited to
have organised many suc-
cessful yatra on the past.
This yatra was looked upon
a decisive move for BJP
which was striving for the
political significance.
Soon after the independ-
ence, Sardar Patel led the
renovation of Somnath
temple. Now BJP
, under its
aegis, was striving for
building Ram Mandir in
Ayodhya, which is the birth
of Lord Ram. BJP was look-
ing at garnering public
support in favour of build-
ing Ram Temple at a place
where Mughal emperor Ba-
bar is said to have con-
structed Mosque demolish-
ing the ancient temple.
The yatra was launched
with much fanfare but it
could not reach the destina-
tion. However, BJP leader
LalKrishnaAdvaniwhoan-
chored the yatra, managed
to win public sentiments,
which led to the broadening
of BJP’s cadre base.
Modi’sorganisationskills
underinsurgency
.Themain
abolish Article 370, end ter-
rorism and save India.
During that period, Paki-
stan sponsored terrorism
was at peak in Kashmir.
Terrorists in the valley
used to torture the native
Kashmiri pandits, which
had forced them to flee the
valley. The aim of this
yatra was to awake the
country against the atroci-
ties of terrorists in the val-
ley
. Shaken by the firm de-
termination of Modi and
Joshi, terrorists an-
nounced that they will give
reward to daredevil, who
can return alive after hoist-
ing tricolour at Lal Chowk.
Modi took up the chal-
lenge. He made the Repub-
lic Day of 1992 a memorable
one by hoisting the Nation-
al flag at Lal Chowk defying
all the terror threats. The
entire country was under
the wrap of emotions. Peo-
ple realised that Modi has
the courage, conviction and
enthusiasmforlayingdown
his life for the country
.
The emotions ran heavy
in the country
. Modi and
Joshi were successful in
stirring the sentiments of
people and planting the
seed of nationalism in
them.TherisingHindusen-
timents during that time
culminated in the demoli-
tion of the controversial
Mosque structure in Ayod-
hya on 6th December 1992.
And this also led to fall of
BJP-Janata Dal coalition
government in Gujarat.
Rising on the Hindutva
wave, BJP contested the
elections alone in Gujarat
and gained majority for
the first time. The master
strategist behind the vic-
tory was Narendra Modi
whose efforts had finally
started bearing fruits.
BJP had come to power
withalmosttwo-thirdmajor-
ity and at that time Shankar
Sinh Vaghela was the natu-
ral choice for the chief min-
ister, but Narendra Modi’s
thoughts were different and
he created such an atmos-
phere and strategy in the
party that Keshu Bhai be-
came chief minister.
But unfortunately, the
strong and hurt Shankar
Sinh Vaghela revolted
against his own party and
went away to Khajuraho
along with rebel MLAs
leaving his party’s govern-
ment in lurch. He blamed
Narendra Modi for the en-
tire fiasco.
The central BJP leader-
ship swing into action for
the damage control. Vaghe-
la put up a condition for
reconciliation that Modi
should leave Gujarat. Look-
ing to the sensitivity of the
situation senior BJP leader
Atal Bihari Vajpayee ac-
cepted his terms and Modi
as a dedicated and disci-
plined party soldier left Gu-
jarat in the larger interest
of the party
. On 28th Sep-
tember, Modi resigned from
the post of state’s organisa-
tion general secretary
.
As he always believed
in —
Kya haar mein kya jeet
mein, kinchit nahin
bhaybheet main,
Kartavya path par jo
mile, yah bhi sahi, vah
bhi sahi.
But subsequently, out-
side Gujarat responsibili-
ties provided Narendra
Modi an opportunity to
build up his All-India vi-
sion which came in handy
when he took over the reins
of the country on 26th May
2014 as the Prime Minister.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
Modi’s organisation skills
under insurgency. The main
abolish Article 370, end
terrorism and save India.
Modi took up the challenge. He made the Republic Day of 1992
a memorable one by hoisting the National flag at Lal Chowk,
Srinagar defying all the terror threats. The entire country was under
the wrap of emotions. People realized that Modi has the courage,
conviction and enthusiasm for laying down his life for the country.
Narendra Modi
believes in...
Kya haar mein
kya jeet mein,
kinchit nahin
bhaybheet main,
Kartavya path par
jo mile, yah bhi sahi,
vah bhi sahi
FEBRUARY 21, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: All parties
should learn from the
Bharatiya Janata Party
how elections are
fought. Although in the
first several elections,
the BJP
, under the com-
mandof NarendraModi
and Amit Shah, has
given hints on how to
fight the elections, but
this time, the Punjab
election is a case study.
The West Bengal elec-
tion could also be a case
study but there was po-
tential for polarisation
and the base for the BJP
was formed in the 2019
assembly elections. On
the contrary, there was
no visible possibility of
polarisation in Punjab,
the BJP’s performance
in the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections was very me-
diocre, getting only nine
per cent votes and this
time it was contesting
alone for the first time.
Despite this, the BJP
changed the whole pic-
ture of the election.
The saffron party did
not have a big face and
did not have a strong
party organisation in
the state. There was an
atmosphere against it in
the whole state because
there was resentment
among the people of the
state due to the agricul-
tural law and farmers’
movement. For the first
time, the BJP was con-
testing the elections
separately from its old
ally Akali Dal. Strong
parties like Congress,
Aam Aadmi Party and
Akali Dal were already
present in the state. De-
spite this, the BJP is a
player in the fight and it
is certain that there will
be a big jump in its vote
share.
Despite all its short-
comings and weakness-
es, the BJP fought the
election vigorously and
left no stone unturned
to make a dent. It took
along with it Captain
Amarinder Singh, who
broke away from Con-
gress, co-ordinated with
Dhindsa’s party, who
broke away from the
Akali Dal. Both Modi
and Shah met the head
of the Radha Soami sat-
sang. The Dera Sacha
Sauda chief, convicted
of murder and rape,
was released on parole
from a Haryana jail.
The party got Kumar
Vishwas, who worked
for the BJP indirectly
, to
make a statement prov-
ing Arvind Kejriwal a
Khalistani. The attempt
to polarise Hindu was
done by the Prime Min-
ister himself. The BJP
has shown that even if
the result is known, it
should fight till the re-
sult is not received and
every means should be
used in the fight, even if
that means is not sa-
cred.
BJP TAUGHT TO FIGHT IN PUNJAB
HOW TO CONTEST POLLS?
Shivamogga: Six peo-
ple have been arrested
in connection with Ba-
jrang Dal activist Har-
sha murder case here
while some are at large,
a senior police officer
said on Tuesday, as
stray incidents of arson
and violence were re-
ported in the city this
morning.
The victim’s sister
rued the “brutal” man-
ner in which Harsha
was killed and appealed
to people to give up fa-
naticism. She also won-
dered if there was no
value for humanity
.
Meanwhile, the Depu-
ty Commissioner of the
district Selvamani R an-
nounced that CrPC sec-
tion 144 has been ex-
tendedbytwomoredays
till Friday morning.
The 28 year-old Har-
sha was stabbed to
death on Sunday night
here leading to clamp-
ing of prohibitory or-
der even as the city wit-
nessed arson, violence
and stone pelting.
“We have arrested Mo-
hammed Kashif, Syed
Nadeem, Ashifullah
Khan, Rehan Khan, Ne-
hal and Abdul Afnan in
connection with the
case. All are aged be-
tween 20 to 22 years, ex-
cept Kashif who is 32.
They are all residents
of Shivamogga,” Super-
intendent of Police BM
Lakshmi Prasad told
said. —PTI
COMMUNAL HOTSPOT IN K’TAKA
BAJRANG DAL MAN’S MURDER: 6 HELD,
UNEASY SHIVAMOGGASIMMERS
Bengaluru: A day
after Bajrang Dal
activist Harsha was
murdered in Shi-
vamogga district,
Karnataka’s Addition-
al DGP Pratap Reddy
on Tuesday said that
all the accused have
been identified and
the work is underway
to arrest the sus-
pects. Speaking to
reporters, Additional
DGP Pratap Reddy
said, “All accused
have been identified.
So, work is going on
and we are on the
verge of completing
the detection and
arresting the accused
persons.” —ANI
ALL ACCUSED
IDENTIFIED,
SAYS K’TAKA
ADDL DGP
Victim’ssisterappealsagainstfanaticism;section144
extendedtillFridaymorninginK’taka’sShivamogga
India sends 2,500 tonnes
of wheat to Af via Pak route
Harsh V Shringla, flags off the first consignment of
wheat to Afghanistan on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: India on
Tuesday sent the first
shipment of 2,500
tonnes of wheat to Af-
ghanistan via Paki-
stani land route, over
four months after an-
nouncing the humani-
tarian aid for the Af-
ghan people.
In a ceremony held
in Amritsar, Foreign
Secretary Harsh Var-
dhan Shringla along
with Afghan Ambas-
sador Farid Ma-
mundzay and World
Food Program Coun-
try Director Bishaw
Parajuli flagged off
the first convoy of 50
trucks carrying the
consignment.
India had sent a
proposal to Islamabad
on October 7 seeking
a transit facility to
send 50,000 tonnes of
wheat to the people of
Afghanistan via Paki-
stani soil. It received a
positive response on
November 24.
Following this, both
sides were in touch to
finalise the modali-
ties for the transpor-
tation of the ship-
ment.
“The shipment is
part of the commit-
ment made by the
Government of India
to supply 50,000 met-
ric tonnes of wheat
for the people of Af-
ghanistan. The wheat
assistance will be de-
livered in multiple
consignments. —PTI
Dubai: Dubai on Tues-
day removed the re-
quirements for Indian
travellers to undergo
rapid RTPCR at Indian
airports before depart-
ing to UAE. An advisory
issued by the Dubai Air-
port updated the travel
requirements for pas-
sengers from India, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and
Pakistan.
The fresh advisory
requires Indian nation-
als to produce a nega-
tive COVID-19 test cer-
tificate taken up to 48
hours before the sched-
uled departure of the
flight, from an approved
health service provider.
The passengers will re-
quire to undergo a PCR
test upon their arrival
in Dubai. For transit
passengers, the rules
governing entry at the
final destination will be
applicable.
The responsibility of
ensuring that the condi-
tions of travel are met
will lie with the airline
operators. The revision
in travel requirements
will ease the situation
for a large number of
Indians who either re-
side in or travel fre-
quently to the city
.
India recorded 13,405
new Covid-19 cases and
235 deaths in the last 24
hours, according to the
Union Ministry of
Health and Family
Welfare.
The country’s active
cases currently stand at
1,81,075 and the total
number of recoveries
in the last 24 hours is
34,226. The daily posi-
tivity rate stands at 1.24
per cent whereas the
weekly positivity rate is
1.98 per cent.
New Delhi: NCP’s Su-
priya Sule and BJD’s
Amar Patnaik are
among 11 MPs who will
be getting the Sansad
Ratna Award 2022,
Prime Point Founda-
tion said on Tuesday
.
The jury committee
has also nominated sen-
ior BJP leader from Ta-
mil Nadu HV Hande
and Congress veteran
M Veerappa Moily for a
lifetime achievement
award while four parlia-
mentary standing com-
mittees — agriculture,
finance, education and
labour — will be award-
ed for their contribu-
tions.
The 11 parliamentar-
ians include eight from
the Lok Sabha and three
from the Rajya Sabha,
the foundation said in a
statement. The 12th edi-
tion of the Sansad Rat-
na Award function will
be held on February 26
in the national Capital.
According to the
foundation, Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
MP Sule, Revolutionary
Socialist Party (RSP)
MPNKPremachandran
and Shiv Sena MP
Shrirang Appa Barne
will be awarded the
‘Sansad Vishisht Ratna’
award.
Trinamool Congress
MP Saugata Roy, Con-
gress MP Kuldeep Rai
Sharma, and BJP MPs
Bidyut Baran Mahato,
Heena Vijayakumar
Gavit (Maharashtra)
and Sudhir Gupta (Mad-
hya Pradesh) will get
the Sansad Ratna
Award for their perfor-
mance in the 17th Lok
Sabha, it said. —PTI
Abu Dhabi/New Del-
hi: To achieve global
security, stability and
sustainable develop-
ment, it is imperative
for all nations to unite
in the fight against ter-
rorism and extremism,
said Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla at the plenary
session of Federal Na-
tional Council (FNC) of
the UAE on Tuesday
.
Om Birla addressed
members of the Federal
National Council of the
United Arab Emirates
in the sixth plenary ses-
sion of FNC in Abu
Dhabi on Tuesday
.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, Birla said that In-
dia has always opposed
terrorism in all its
forms. The Lok Sabha
Speaker stressed that
for global security, sta-
bility and sustainable
development, it is nec-
essary that all the na-
tions of the world come
together to fight the
challenges of terrorism
and violent extremism.
Patna: A day after a
special CBI Court in
Ranchi sentenced RJD
chief Lalu Prasad
to five years im-
prisonment and
imposed a Rs 60
lakh fine on him,
RJD vice presi-
dent Shivanand
Tiwari alleged that Bi-
har Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar was also
“involved” in the fodder
scam and had “taken
the money from the
kingpin Shyam Bihari
Sinha”.
Tiwari’s statement
came after Nitish said
that the leaders who
were involved in filing
the petition
against Lalu, are
working as advi-
sors of the party
and sitting close to
him.
“Nitish has be-
come vocal these days
afterPMNarendraModi
gave him the socialist
leader certificate. BJP
Rajya Sabha MP Sushil
Kumar Modi had al-
leged that Nitish Kumar
was also involved in fod-
der scam,” Tiwari said.
Dehradun: Fourteen
people returning from a
wedding, including five
women and two chil-
dren, died and two were
injured when a vehicle
fell into a deep gorge on
the Sukhidhang-Dan-
daminar road in Uttara-
khand’s Champawat
district on Tuesday
.
Their bodies were re-
covered from the gorge
after a nearly 11-hour-
long rescue operation,
Champawat Superin-
tendent of Police (SP)
Devendra Pincha told
PTI from the spot.
Five women, a four-
year-old girl and a teen-
aged boy are among the
dead, he said. The de-
ceased also include a
mother-daughter duo,
the SP said. All of them
died on the spot as the
gorge was deep and the
car was badly damaged
in the accident on Mon-
day night, he said. —PTI
New Delhi: Greater
power and stronger
capabilities should
lead to responsibil-
ity and restraint and
result in economics
free of coercion and
politics devoid of the
threat of use of force,
External Affairs Minis-
ter S Jaishankar said
on Tuesday, spelling
out challenges in the
Indo-Pacific region. In
an address at the EU
Ministerial Forum on
Indo-Pacific in Paris,
he said the challenges
being faced in the re-
gion could extend to
Europe as “distance is
no insulation”. Jais-
hankar said the host-
ing of the forum at a
time when Europe has
been grappling with a
serious crisis.
INDO-PACIFIC ISSUES MAY EXTEND
TILL EUROPE, SAYS S JAISHANKAR
IN THE COURTYARD
14 dead as
vehicle falls
into gorge in
Uttarakhand
SC TO HEAR PLEA TODAY SEEKING
CANCELLATION OF CLASS X, XII EXAMS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday
directed the Maharashtra government to com-
pletely hold back the ongoing investigation
against former Mumbai Police Commissioner
Parambir Singh over the allegations of mis-
conduct and corruption. A bench of Justices
SK Kaul and MM Sundresh expressing con-
cern over the “messy state of affairs” high-
lighted by the ongoing legal battle between
Singh with the state administration, said that
“it is a very very unfortunate situation”.
Beijing: China has promised to India to work for
the “early return” of over 23,000 Indian students
stranded at home for over two years due to
Beijing’s rigid Covid-19 visa ban and assured New
Delhi that they will not be discriminated against in
any manner, as their resumption of studies is not a
“political issue”. In its first positive communication
on the vexed issue of stranded Indian students.
New Delhi: The
Supreme Court on
Tuesday agreed to list
for February 23 a plea
seeking cancellation
of physical exams for
Class X and XII to be
conducted by all State
Boards, CBSE, ICSE
and National Institute
of Open School-
ing (NIOS). A
bench headed
by Justice AM
Khanwilkar
asked the ad-
vocate of the
petitioner to serve the
copy of the petition to
the CBSE and all State
Boards. The apex court
agreed to list the matter
for Wednesday after the
counsel of the petition-
er urged for an urgent
list of the case said that
even Covid-19 situa-
tion has improved,
classes have not
been conducted
offline. The pe-
tition was filed
by child rights
activist.
SC DIRECTS MAHA GOVT TO ‘HOLD
BACK’ PROBE AGAINST PARAMBIR
CHINA PROMISES TO ‘WORK FOR EARLY
RETURN’ OF STRANDED INDIAN STUDENTS
Dubai ends rapid RTPCR test at airport for fliers
NCP’s Supriya Sule among 11 MPs
to be conferred with Sansad Ratna
All nations should unite
against terrorism: Birla
Nitishwasalsoinvolvedin
fodderscam:RJDleader
NCP’s Supriya Sule
Bajrang Dal workers organise a march to demand justice for Harsha. —FILE PHOTO
EAM S Jaishankar with
Jutta Urpilainen
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
—FILE PHOTO

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
Crude prices posing challenge
to financial stability: FM
New Delhi: Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman on Tuesday
said the Russia-
Ukraine crisis and the
ensuing jump in global
crude prices are a chal-
lenge to financial sta-
bility in India.
The two issues were
discussed at the meet-
ing of Financial Stabil-
ity Development Coun-
cil (FSDC).
“It is difficult to say
how it (crude prices)
will go. Even today, in
the FSDC, when we
were looking at the
challenges which are
posed for the financial
stability, crude was one
of the things. Interna-
tional worrisome situa-
tions where we actually
voiced that we want a
diplomatic solution for
the situation that is de-
veloping in Ukraine...
all these are head-
winds, Sitharaman,
who is on a two-day
visit to the financial
capital, said.
She said the Brent
has touched over $96
per barrel on Tuesday
after tensions between
Russia and Ukraine es-
calated after Moscow
ordered troops into two
breakaway regions in
eastern Ukraine and
added that the country
is keeping a watch on
the same. The finance
minister said the oil
marketing companies
will take a call on the
retail prices.
India, which meets
nearly 80% of its needs
through oil imports, is
worried about the ris-
ing crude oil prices as
it could widen its oil
import bill while lead-
ing to inflationary
pressures.
Trade has not been
impacted because of
the geopolitical ten-
sions but the govern-
ment is keeping a close
watch on the same, Si-
tharaman said adding
that we are careful that
the exporters should
not suffer. —PTI
UKRAINE SITUATION
THERE’S BUZZ,
INTEREST IN
MARKET FOR LIC
IPO, SAYS FM
Mumbai: Finance
Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on
Tuesday said that the
government will go
ahead with the IPO
of the life insurance
behemoth LIC. She
said that there is a
buzz and interest in
the market for the
LIC IPO and we will
be going ahead with
it. The DRHP of LIC
IPO was filed with
market regulator
SEBI earlier this
month on February
13. The government
plans to sell up to
316.25 million shares
or nearly 5% stake
in the life insurance
giant. On being asked
about the spike in
global crude oil
prices, Nirmala said
that increasing crude
prices is a challenge
discussed at the
meeting on financial
stability and we will
keep a watch on it.
It is difficult to say how it (crude prices) will go. Even today, in the FSDC, when we were look-
ing at the challenges which are posed for the financial stability, crude was one of the things.
International worrisome situations where we actually voiced that we want a diplomatic solu-
tion for the situation that is developing in Ukraine.... all these are headwinds
— Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister
India’sfueldemand
expected to grow
5.5% next fiscal
New Delhi: India’s
fuel demand is likely
to grow 5.5% in the fis-
cal year beginning
April 1 as economic
activity picks up after
devastation caused by
the pandemic, govern-
ment estimates
showed on Tuesday
.
Fuel consumption
in 2022-23 is estimated
to rise to 214.5 million
tonnes from 203.2 mil-
lion tonnes expected
sales in the current
fiscal year ending
March 2022, according
to the oil ministry’s
Petroleum Planning
and Analysis Cell.
It will cross the pre-
pandemic level sales
in the current fiscal.
Demand for petro-
leum products grew by
4.9% in the first nine
months of the current
fiscal year that began
in April 2021. Fuel con-
sumption was 148.3
million tonnes in
April-Dec 2021.
India consumed
194.3 million tonnes of
petroleum produced
in 2020-21 – the year
that saw a pandemic-
related lockdown crip-
pling economy and
mobility
.
During the next fis-
cal 2022-23, petrol,
used mainly in cars
and two-wheelers, is
expected to rise by
7.8% to 33.3 million
tonnes.Sales of diesel
is slated to grow by
3.9% to 79.3 million
tonnes. —PTI
Govt looking into lapses in NSE: FM Sitharaman
Mumbai: Finance
Minister Nirmala Si-
tharaman on Tuesday
said the government is
looking into the gov-
ernance lapses that had
happened at the Na-
tional Stock Exchange
(NSE) but declined to
comment on whether
there was an adequate
correctional step in
terms of actions taken
against those who were
held responsible for the
lapses.
Earlier this month,
markets watchdog Sebi
penalised NSE and its
former MDs and CEOs,
Chitra Ramkrishna
and Ravi Narain, and
others for various vio-
lations in a case related
to the appointment of
Anand Subramanian
as Group Operating Of-
ficer and Advisor to
then MD Ramkrishna.
The regulator also
imposed a fine of Rs 3
crore on Ramkrishna,
Rs 2 crore each on the
NSE, Narain and Sub-
ramanian and Rs 6 lakh
on V R Narasimhan,
who was then the Chief
Regulatory Officer and
Chief Compliance Of-
ficer.
Sitharaman told re-
porters here on Tues-
day that the govern-
ment was looking into
the governance lapses
that had happened at
the exchange.
“I have no comment
to make on whether
there was an adequate
correctional step in the
sense of penalising or
anything taken against
those who were held re-
sponsible for it.
“I have no view this
way or that way till I re-
ally get to the bottom of
what is available before
me. I am looking into it
but I won’t be able to
comment on it at the
moment,” Sitharaman
said.
She was responding
to queries, including on
whether the penalties
imposed were ade-
quate. —PTI
SENSEX RECOVERS 906 PTS FROM LOW, ENDS 383 PTS DOWN
Mumbai: The BSE benchmark
Sensex plummeted about
383 points to close at
57,300-level on Tuesday,
tracking massive selloffs in
global markets. After sinking
about 1,300 points in early
deals, the Sensex staged
a sharp recovery but still
ended 382.91 points lower
at 57,300.68. The NSE Nifty
too reclaimed part of its early
losses before closing 114.45
points lower at 17,092.20.
—PTI
` SLUMPS 29 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 74.84 AGAINST $
Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 29 paise to 74.84 (provisional)
against the US currency on Tuesday as riskier assets took a hit
amid deepening geopolitical tensions. At the interbank foreign
exchange, the rupee opened at 74.71 against the American dollar
but later dropped to a low of 74.99 against the greenback. The
local unit was quoted at 74.84 at close, down 29 paise from the
previous close. —PTI
NEW DRAFT POLICY MANDATES GOVT BOIDES TO
COMPULSORILY SHARE DATA WITH EACH OTHER
New Delhi: All Central and state govt bodies will have to
compulsorily share data with each other to create a common
“searchable database”, a draft policy has made it mandatory. The
policy document provides an update to the existing policies,
including the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy
(NDSAP) and the Open Government Data Platform (OGD) India.
Hence, now for sharing the data, the Central and state govt bodies
will have to create a common “searchable database”. –Agencies
Barclays pegs
India’s Q3 GDP
growth at 6.6%
New Delhi: Forecast-
ing a lower-than-previ-
ously projected 10%
GDP growth for the fis-
cal year 2022 due to the
third wave of the pan-
demic, foreign broker-
age Barclays said the
Indian economy is like-
ly to have expanded by
6.6% in the Dec quarter.
The economy had a rel-
atively stable Q3 with
several sectors return-
ing to pre-pandemic
level of activity, with
services playing a big-
ger role in activity, it
said, adding that with
the mild Omicron wave,
there is clear downside
risks to the earlier
growth forecast of 10%
in FY22. In the July-
Sept quarter, the Indian
economy had clocked a
growth of 8.4%. —PTI
I-T dept warns against fraudulent job offers
New Delhi: Caution-
ing public against fall-
ing prey to fraudulent
job offers, the Income
Tax Department on
Tuesday said aspirants
should only consider
offers or advertise-
ments on official web-
sites of SSC or the de-
partment.
“Income Tax Depart-
ment cautions the pub-
lic not to fall prey to
fraudulent persons
misleading job-aspir-
ants by issuing fake ap-
pointment letters for
joining the Depart-
ment,” the I-T depart-
ment tweeted.
In a public notice,
the apex direct tax
body said it has come
to its notice that some
fraudulent persons are
misleading candidates
by issuing fake ap-
pointment letters for
joining the I-T depart-
ment. It said direct re-
cruitment in all Group
B and C posts are con-
ducted by the SSC and
notification/results
are made available on
the SSC website. —PTI
LPG DEMAND RISE
Bengaluru: Indian food delivery company Swiggy, which is
backed by SoftBank Group, has started preparations to raise
at least $800 million in an IPO early next year, according to
reports. Swiggy has begun adding independent directors to
the board, and plans to position itself as a logistics
company and not just a food delivery firm. Swiggy
doubled its valuation to $10.7 billion in its latest
funding round, Reuters reported. Rival Zomato
Ltd, which saw a stellar market debut last year has
struggled to keep the momentum going. It reported
tepid order value growth in the third quarter. —PTI
SWIGGY EYES $800 MILLION IPO EARLY NEXT YEAR
New Delhi: Jalan-Kalrock consor-
tium-owned Jet Airways on Tues-
day announced the
appointment of
former SriLankan
Airlines’ CEO,
Vipula Gunatille-
ka as the Chief
Financial Officer. “We are excited to
welcome Vipula Gunatilleka to our
young and energetic team. Vipula is
an aviation expert and is regarded
as a turnaround specialist in the
industry. He has been shortlisted
after a rigorous process run by our
Executive Team over the last several
months,” said Ankit Jalan, Member
of the Monitoring Committee of Jet
Airways part of the Jalan-Kalrock
Consortium. Gunatilleka, who
served as the CEO of SriLankan
Airlines till January this year. —PTI
VIPULA GUNATILLEKA
NAMED JET AIRWAYS CFO
New Delhi: Asserting that artificial
intelligence is a promising area for
India’s future, a renowned Indi-
an-American expert has urged Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to not only
rope in but also encourage and
motivate the private sector to build
applications for healthcare, edu-
cation and banking sectors for the
benefit of India’s rural population.
AI is a branch of computer science
that replicates the human mind’s
problem-solving and decision-mak-
ing capabilities. —PTI
‘PVT AI PLAYERS MUST PLAY
BIG ROLE IN INDIA’S GROWTH’
Potential investors in LIC
IPO fret over govt control
New Delhi: Prospec-
tive investors in LIC
$8-billion IPO are
seeking assurances
from company man-
agement that it will
not sacrifice their in-
terests to meet the
goals set out by the
government, its con-
trolling shareholder,
sources said. LIC man-
agement and the IPO
bankers have been
peppered with ques-
tions about the insur-
er’s past investments
and their quality. LIC
has in recent years
been a key buyer of
shares in state-owned
firms sold off, often
bailing out less-than-
successful public is-
sues of shares. It has
also been tapped to
rescue struggling fi-
nancial institutions.
Finance
Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Defence Re-
search and Develop-
ment Organisation
(DRDO) is participating
in ‘Vigyan Sarvatra Pu-
jyate’ being held across
the country on the occa-
sion of 75th year of In-
dia’s Independence,
‘
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahot-
sav’. ‘Vigyan Sarvatra
Pujayate’ is a pan-India
programmeto showcase
science, technology
innovation from every
part of the country dur-
ing February 22 to 28.
The DRDO is also or-
ganising exhibitions on
the theme ‘
Amrit Mahot-
sav Science Showcase:
Roadmap to 2047’ at 16
cities throughout the
country
. The cities
where these science
technology mega expo-
sitions are being held by
DRDO are Agra, Almo-
ra, Bengaluru, Bhu-
baneswar, Chandigarh,
Chennai, Dehradun,
Delhi, Hyderabad, Jodh-
pur, Leh, Mumbai, Mys-
uru, Pune, Tezpur, Er-
anakulam, Vijayawada
and Visakhapatnam.
Participation of DRDO
in the ‘Mahotsav’ is an
opportunitytohighlight
the work being done by
RD organisations and
showcasing ideas and
technology efforts on
the road to 2047.
Various DRDO prod-
ucts pertaining to dif-
ferent technologies are
going to be exhibited.
This include models of
Nag, Man Portable An-
ti-Tank Guided Missile
(MPATGM), Akash,
BrahMos, Astra, Pralay
,
Mission Shakti, Ar-
moured Engineer Re-
connaissance Vehicle
(AERV), Mareech, 3D
Central Acquisition Ra-
dar (3D CAR), Electron-
ic Warfare System,
Bridge Layer Tank
(BLT), etc. Technolo-
gies on display are ret-
romotor, booster motor,
composite rocket motor
casing, drop tank, break
disk, etc.
The week will also be
marked by the lectures
of eminent scientists
on various science and
technology develop-
ments at various cen-
tres throughout the
country
. The DRDO sci-
entists are also deliver-
ing lectures at 33 cen-
tres throughout the
country on different
themes and topics in 11
different Indian lan-
guages.
The Government of
India (GoI) is holding a
year-long programme,
Azadi ka Amrit Mahot-
sav, to pay homage to
freedom fighters and
showcase the achieve-
ments of the country in
various fields in the
75th year of Independ-
ence. Various science
and technology organi-
sations of the Govern-
ment, in close partner-
ship with agencies at
the level of the states,
are celebrating ST
achievements.
The ‘Amrit Mahot-
sav Science’ also titled
‘Vigyan Sarvatra Pujy-
ate’ will put on display
our scientific legacy
and technology prow-
ess that have helped
find solutions to prob-
lems in defence, space,
health, agriculture,
astronomy, and other
areas.
Vigyan Sarvatra Pujayate: DRDO organising exhibitions in 16 cities
75 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

Participation of
DRDO in the
‘Mahotsav’ is an
opportunity to
highlight the
work being done
by RD
organisations
and showcasing
ideas and
technology
efforts on the
road to 2047
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The stage is
set for voting in 59 con-
stituencies in Awadh
and central UP in
fourth phase on Febru-
ary 23. After this round
the performance of po-
litical parties would
further bring clarity to
the shape of results on
March 10. While from
fourth phase onward
the BJP is expecting to
compensate the losses
of first two phases, the
SP has been making de-
termined efforts to con-
solidate gains.
Even as the region is
significant for both the
BJP and Samajwadi
Party
, the Congress has
also concentrated its
energy as AICC presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi’s
Lok Sabha constituen-
cy Rai Bareli is also
slated to go to poll in
this round.
The fourth phase is
consisting of nine dis-
tricts Pilibhit, Lakhim-
pur Kheri, Sitapur, Har-
doi, Unnao, Lucknow,
Raibareli, Banda and
Fatehpur and 2.13 crore
electorates would vote
for624candidatesinthe
fray
. While in 2017 the
BJP had swept the cen-
tral UP and Awadh,
vastly improving over-
all increase in the tally
of the party
, in 2022 the
tough contest has
turned seat-to-seat in
largely direct contest
between the BJP and
SP, except on few seats
including Banda (Bun-
delkhand) where the
BSP has made the fight
triangular. All eyes are
also onLucknow,which
had gone all the way to
BJP in 2017 but now of
the nine seats contest
appeared to be tough on
seven seats. Similarly,
in Rai Bareli, where the
Congress had won two
out of five seats in pre-
viouselectionisintight
spot to retain base. The
two Congress MLAs
Aditi Singh and Rakesh
Singh had defected to
BJP and now contest-
ing on the party tickets.
The Congress has thus
been relying on new
faces in the districts.
Riding on Hindutva
wave the BJP, which
had also sewed up for-
midable caste combina-
tion of OBCs, MBCs
and upper castes, had
decimated the opposi-
tion. However, the SP,
making dent into BJP’s
social engineering, has
now been trying to gain
ground. The central UP
and Awadh have also
scattered Muslim pock-
etsinLucknow,Sitapur,
Hardoi, Unnao,
Fatehpur and Lakhim-
pur. But the SP’s core
base- Yadav communi-
ty- does not have sig-
nificant presence, as
was the case in Etawah-
Mainpuri region in
third round. The SP is
largely depending on
non-Yadav OBCs and
Muslims. The region
has good population of
OBC-Kurmis, which
during the previous
elections, had aligned
with the BJP
. The Apna
Dal(S)headedbyUnion
Minister of State Anu-
priya Patel and Apnal
Dal (K) breakaway
group led by Anupri-
ya’s mother Krishna
Patel claim to represent
the Kurmi-Patel com-
munity
. While Anupri-
ya Patel is an ally of
BJP, her mother has
joined SP alliance. Will
the community stand
united or split is being
debated in political cir-
cle here.
UP 4TH PHASE POLLING TODAY
59 seats in IV phase critical
for stakeholders of power
Polling officials stand in queues to collect EVMs and other polling equipment for the fourth
Yogi says Congress “seeks votes in UP
and then abuses UP residents outside”
First India Bureau
Ayodhya: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
on Tuesday launched
a frontal attack at the
SP, BSP and the Con-
gress for playing with
the faith of the Hin-
dus and crushing
their religious senti-
ments.
Lashing out at the
opposition parties,he
said, “It was BJP’s
double-engine gov-
ernment which ended
the 500-year-long wait
and fulfilled wishes
of India’s 135 crore
people by paving the
way for construction
of grand Ram Temple
in Ayodhya.”
He further said,
“Could Congress con-
struct Ayodhya’s
Ram Temple? Could
BSP do it? Could
‘babua’ do it? Will
those, who opened
fire at Ram bhakts,
build it? Will those,
who locked Ram Tem-
ple, build it? Who is
building it? The dou-
ble engine govern-
ment of BJP.”
New Delhi: Unmanned
barricades on roads
serve no purpose and
cause harassment to
public, the Delhi High
Court said on Tuesday
and asked Delhi Police
to submit the protocol
followed by it for placing
barricades in the city
.
TheHCtooksuomotu
cognisance of a letter
written to the PM which
was in turn sent to the
Delhi HC for taking ac-
tion against placement
of unmanned barri-
cades on several roads
in south Delhi area.
“The issue raised by
Om Prakash Goel (who
wrote the letter) re-
quires consideration
since these unmanned
barricades on roads pri-
ma facie serve no pur-
pose and indeed cause
inconvenience and har-
assment to public at
large. Such barricades
also have been used to
set up kiosks and for
parkingvehicles,”saida
bench of Justices Vipin
Sanghi and Jasmeet
Singh.
The court issued no-
ticestotheCommission-
er of Delhi Police, Delhi
government, the Centre,
through the Ministry of
Home Affairs, and
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation through its
Commissioner and list-
ed the matter for further
hearing on April 13.
“Therespondents(au-
thorities) shall file their
respective status re-
ports before the next
date of hearing. Delhi
Police shall place on re-
cord the protocol that
they follow in relation to
setting up of barricades
in the city, if any,” the
bench said.
A PIL was registered
by the court while tak-
ing cognisance of the
December 10, 2021 letter
by Goel. —PTI
Unmanned barricades
serve no purpose, cause
harassment to public: HC
Deoria: BJP presi-
dent Jagat Prakash
Nadda on Tuesday
said that even while
theSCsoughtabolish-
ing the practice of tri-
ple talaq only the BJP
could bring a law to
makeitarealityasthe
Opposition partied
shunned responsibili-
ties due to their poli-
tics of appeasement.
“Supreme Court
had ordered abolish-
ing the triple talaq
practice but nobody
acted on it because of
theappeasementpoli-
tics. Only (PM Naren-
dra) Modi ji had the
will to revoke this
13th-century prac-
tice,” said Nadda,
who addressed an
election rally in Deo-
ria. Slamming the SP
chief AkhileshYadav,
the BJP chief said
that about 200 riots
took place in the state
during 2012-17 when
heheadedthegovern-
ment in the state.
“There has not been a
single riot in UP in
the last five years,”
Nadda asserted.
Stressing on
achievements of the
BJP , Nadda said that
the“grand”Ramtem-
ple is being built in
Ayodhya to fulfil “de-
sires for centuries.”
“The SP had
opened fire on the
Kar Sewak (devo-
tees). Congress
stalled the issue of
Ram Janmabhoomi.
When you (public)
voted the BJP to pow-
er, the Ramjanmab-
hoomi issue could be
taken for final resolu-
tion, leading to the
commencement of
the construction of
the temple,” the sen-
ior BJP leader said.
He also said that
the govt under the
leadership of CM
Yogi put “traitors
and criminals” be-
hind the bars. —ANI
‘Only BJP could
abolish triple
talaq practices’
WAAH TAJ!
Tourists
dressed
up in
traditional
Indian attire
poses for
a photo in
front of the
Taj Mahal,
in Agra on
Tuesday.
—PHOTO
BY ANI
Mumbai: Mumbai:
NCP chief Sharad Pa-
war has sought more
time from Koregaon-
BhimaInquiryCommis-
sion to appear before it.
Notably, Pawar was
scheduled to appear be-
fore the panel on Febru-
ary23torecordevidence
in connection with the
January 2018 violence at
a war memorial in the
Pune district of Maha-
rashtra. An application
has been filed before the
Commisiononbehalf of
Pawar seeking time to
file an additional affida-
vit before the Koregaon-
Bhima judicial inquiry
Commision informed
Pawar’s Advocate Ash-
ish Satpute.
Maharashtra Minis-
ter and NCP leader
Nawab Malik told ANI,
“Pawar in written told
the Commission that he
will appear before it
next time and this time
he cannot come. What-
ever information he has
he will surely keep it
before the Commission
in future.”
Maharashtra govt-
appointed inquiry Com-
mission is probing the
2018 Bhima-Koregaon
violence. —ANI
Pawar seeks time to appear
before Koregaon-Bhima panel
9 Naxalites held
in Jharkhand
Lohardaga: The
Jharkhand police on
Tuesday arrested nine
Naxalites under the
‘Operation Double Bull’
from the jungles of Bul-
bul in Lohardaga and
neighbouring districts.
The zonal commander
of CPI (Maoist) Balram
Oraon was also arrest-
ed. “Nine Naxals of the
rank of zonal com-
mander, subzonal com-
mander and area com-
mander have been ar-
rested in ‘Operation
Double Bull’ that was
launched on February
8,” the police said. —ANI
CONG IN UP?
Goel raised grievances
relating to setting up of
unmanned barricades
in Kalkaji and CR Park
DIFFERENT TEC

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
59,12,403
TOTAL DEATHS
35,41,88,279
TOTAL RECOVERED
6,68,31,255
ACTIVE CASES
42,69,31,937
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
5,12,371
TOTAL DEATHS
4,21,58,510
TOTAL RECOVERED
1,81,048
ACTIVE CASES
4,28,51,929
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Once a person learns to give
without expecting anything in
return, he can achieve anything.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
VP emphasizes the need to offer tech courses in Indian languages
First India Bureau
Chennai:VicePresident
M Venkaiah Naidu on
Tuesday observed that
‘language’ is a funda-
mental bond that unites
people and said that the
drive to protect and pre-
serve mother tongues
shouldbecomeapeople’s
movement in the coun-
try
. “If we lose our moth-
er tongue, we will lose
our identity”, he added.
Addressing an event
organized by the Minis-
try of Earth Science on
the occasion of Interna-
tional Mother Languag-
es Day virtually from
Chennai, the Vice Presi-
dent called for tailoring
languages to the chang-
ing needs of our times
and finding creative
and innovative ways to
promote them among
younger generations.
“Children should be en-
couraged to learn the
nuances of language
through games and ac-
tivities,” he opined and
also underlined the
need to improve the sci-
entific and technical
terminology in Indian
languages.
Describing languages
as carriers of our cul-
tural heritage, Naidu
said that a language is
the vital, unseen thread
that links the past with
the present. “Our lan-
guages are thus a repos-
itory of our collective
knowledge and wisdom
which we have amassed
over thousands of
years,” he added.
Observing numerous
languages thrived
alongside each other
over hundreds of years
in India, the Vice Presi-
dent suggested refer-
ring to them as ‘Indian
languages’ instead of
‘regional languages’
signifying their equal
status and distinct iden-
tities. “These ‘Indian
languages’ are the epit-
ome of our long-cher-
ished value – unity in
diversity,” he added.
Noting that India is
hometohundredsof lan-
guagesandthousandsof
dialects, the Vice Presi-
denttermedthislinguis-
ticrichnessaskeytoour
creativity and expres-
sion. He also expressed
happiness over the fact
that NEP-2020 encour-
ages the use of mother
tongue in schools and
colleges and seeks to ‘In-
dianise’ our education
system by making it ho-
listic, value-based and
inclusive. Commending
this approach, he urged
the states to implement
the policy in letter and
spirit.
Naidu reiterated the
need to offer technical
courses in Indian lan-
guages to make educa-
tion truly inclusive and
to unlock the full poten-
tial of our youth force.
Citing the example of
several developed coun-
tries such as Japan,
France, and Germany
that impart education
in their respective
mother tongues, he sug-
gested learning from
their policies and strat-
egies for preservation
and promotion of moth-
er tongue.
Naidu urged the state
governments to take a
proactive stance in im-
plementing Indian lan-
guages in every walk of
life. “All states must use
the mother tongue of
the people as the lan-
guage of administra-
tion and also as a me-
dium of education,” he
said.
Vice President Naidu
opined that this could
be achieved through
usage of people’s
language only. He said
that court proceedings
should also be in
Indian languages so
that people could
better understand the
judicial process.
M Venkaiah Naidu suggests the
usage of the term ‘Indian languages’
instead of ‘regional languages’
SAD, BJP and Capt have betrayed
common people of Punjab: Mann
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Accusing
traditional parties of
Punjab of betraying
state’s farmers, Aam
Aadmi Party’s chief
ministerial candidate
and Sangrur MP Bhag-
want Mann on Tuesday
claimed that these par-
tieswillnotwinthePun-
jab Assembly elections.
Mann said that the al-
liances of traditional
parties won’t succeed in
Punjab, no matter how
strong and old their al-
liance is. Mann said
that SAD, BJP and Capt
Amarinder Singh once
again have betrayed the
farmers, labourers and
people of Punjab and
hence the voters of
Punjab had rejected
these traditional par-
ties from the very be-
ginning. But the tradi-
tional parties in the
lure of power are trying
to unite and prevent the
Aam Aadmi Party from
forming the govern-
ment. “That is why BJP
leader Amit Shah and
other leaders including
Akali leader Bikram
Singh Majithia are
making moves and hint-
ing coalition to form a
government in Punjab,”
he said.
In a statement issued
on Tuesday, Mann said
that BJP national lead-
er and Home Minister
Amit Shah stated in fa-
vour of an alliance with
SAD-BJP to form the
government in Punjab
and earlier SAD leader
Bikram Majithia had
also hinted of forming
a coalition government
with their former ally
BJP.
Mann said that the
claims made by these
leaders prove that SAD
had severed ties with
BJP only to get votes of
farmers, labourers and
common Punjabis, but
in reality SAD and BJP
were on the same page.
He said that behind the
curtain, the SAD-BJP
SAD alliance was still
going on but tried to
hoodwink the common
people by doing the dra-
ma of severing ties and
contesting election sep-
arately in view of the
farmers’ protest.
Mann further said
that the BJP, Akali Dal
(Badal) and Capt Ama-
rinder Singh had al-
ways betrayed the farm-
ers of the country and
Punjabis. Although the
Akali Dal Badal, Capt
Amarinder Singh and
BJP have fought elec-
tions separately just to
befool voters but in real-
ity Akali Dal Badal and
the BJP are together. He
said that SAD had open-
ly supported anti-farm-
er agricultural laws in
the Central government
and they only back pad-
dled from their state-
ments when the farm-
ers of Punjab started
protest against these
laws and Punjab assem-
bly elections were
around the corner.
Mann said that now
BJP national leader
Amit Shah and Punjab
candidate Fateh Jang
Bajwa had also claimed
to form BJP govern-
ment in the state and
had confirmed their al-
liance with SAD. He
said that the results
coming on March 10
would be against the ex-
pectations of those who
betrayed the farmers
and Punjabis as the peo-
ple of Punjab had voted
for change of govern-
ment which sent a clear
message that this time
Aam Aadmi Party gov-
ernment will be formed
in Punjab.
CEC should strengthen the
security of EVMs: Cheema
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
Punjab has urged
Chief Electoral Of-
ficer (CEO) S Karuna
Raju to strengthen
and upgrade the secu-
rity of buildings with
voting machines and
counting centres.
Senior AAP leader
Harpal Singh Cheema
said on Tuesday that
the AAP has suggest-
ed to the CEO to in-
stall CCTV cameras
at the counting cent-
ers and buildings
with EVMs and share
the link of the live
feed with the candi-
dates.
Releasing a state-
ment from the party
headquarters on
Tuesday, Cheema said
that the voting pro-
cess for the Punjab
Assembly elections
had been completed
peacefully. But vari-
ous Aam Aadmi Party
candidates have ex-
pressed concern over
the lack of adequate
security arrange-
ments for the voting
machines. He said
that as per the infor-
mation received, the
buildings where the
voting machines have
been kept do not have
strict security ar-
rangements and in
many places there is
lack of security and
proper lighting.
HIDDEN AGENDA?
PM CARES for Children Scheme Extended up to Feb 28
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Minis-
try of Women and Child
Development, Govern-
ment of India has ex-
tended the PM Cares for
Children Scheme till
February 28. Earlier the
schemewasvalidtillDe-
cember 31, 2021. A letter
in this regard has been
written to all Principal
Secretaries/ Secretar-
ies, Women and Child
Development, Social
JusticeEmpowerment
Departmentof allStates
and UTs with a copy to
all District Magistrates/
District Collectors for
necessary action.
All eligible children
can now be enrolled till
February 28 to avail
benefits of PM CARES
for Children Scheme.
The scheme covers all
children who have lost:
i) Both parents or ii)
Surviving parent or iii)
legal guardian/adop-
tive parents/single
adoptive parent due to
COVID 19 pandemic,
starting from March 11,
2020 the date on which
WHO has declared and
characterized COV-
ID-19 as pandemic till
February 28 this year.
To be entitled to bene-
fits under this scheme
Child should not have
completed 18 years of
age on the date of death
of parents.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi, on May 29
last year, had an-
nounced comprehen-
sive support for chil-
dren who have lost both
their parents due to
COVID 19 pandemic.
The objective of the
scheme is to ensure
comprehensive care
and protection of chil-
dren who have lost their
parent(s) to COVID pan-
demic, in a sustained
manner, enable their
wellbeing through
health insurance, em-
power them through
education and equip
them for self-sufficient
existence with finan-
cial support on reach-
ing 23 years of age.
The PM CARES for
children scheme inter-
alia provides support to
these children through
convergent approach,
gap funding for ensur-
ing education, health,
monthly stipend from
the age of 18 years, and
lump sum amount of
Rs. 10 lakhs on attain-
ing 23 years of age.
The scheme is acces-
sible through the online
portal https://pmcares-
forchildren.in. All
States/UTs have now
been asked to identify
and register the eligible
children on the portal
till February 28.
All eligible children
can now be enrolled
till February 28 to
avail benefits of PM
CARES for Children
Scheme.
WB Guv Dhankhar
returns file
seeking his nod
Kolkata: WB Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar on
Tuesday said that he has
‘remittedback’filesrelat-
ing to financial matters
seeking his approval.
In a tweet he wrote,
“Files seeking Guv ap-
proval for Annual Fi-
nancial Statement for
2022-2023; Supplementa-
ry Estimates for 2021-22,
Supplementary Grants
for 2021-2022 and Budget
Grant 2022-2023 remit-
ted back as could be con-
stitutionally considered
only after assembly is
duly summoned.” The
Governor further stated
that the financial mat-
ters would only be ad-
dressed after the state
Cabinet decides to sum-
mon the assembly and
issue a publication of
notification in the Kol-
kata Gazette for the
same. “After receipt of
Cabinet Decision to
summon assembly
publication of Notifica-
tion in Kolkata Gazette,
these financial matters
will be addressed,”
tweeted Dhankhar.
Healsosoughtcompli-
ance of the note issued
onJanuary21,2022seek-
ing information, includ-
ing diversion of funds
from the state Consoli-
dated Fund. —ANI
RIFT WIDENS
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu
Bhagwant Mann
AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema
WB Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar Mamata Banerjee
PM Narendra Modi

lthough su-
p e r m o d e l s
and glamour
industry art-
ists may
have been re-
vered for
their enviable style
and penchant for
luxury, they also
grappled with trou-
bled upbringings
and challenges
throughout their
lifetimes. But Shr-
ishti Khatri, an
18-years old gor-
geous model from
Pink City writes
her own rules.
W h e n
a s k e d
about her
e a r l y
life, the
r av i s h -
ing beauty said, “I did my
schooling from India Inter-
national School Jaipur but
my parents are from Nepal.
I am a second culture kid
so I was born and brought
up here.” She further add-
ed, “I’ve been into model-
ling since a kid and when I
grew up I gradually real-
ised that I was made for it
so I joined the industry
again after a gap of a few
years. When I turned 16, I
wanted to leave a huge
mark in the modelling and
fashion industry.”
I have done four beauty
pageants as of now.”
A multitalented sports lov-
er with dancing and acting
as her passion, Shrishti
looks up to Aditi Hundia,
fashion influencer and
Miss Supranational 2018 as
her role model.
Khatri aspires to earn a
huge name and fame and
leave her footprints on
the inter-
national beauty platforms.
Shrishti has been a fash-
ionista and a diva since
childhood. Her family and
friends have been a huge
support. She said that she
has learnt a lot from Gaurav
Gaur, the Director of Elite
Miss Rajasthan after she
participated in the beauty
pageant. She also paid grat-
itude to her parents for al-
ways uplifting her during
the hard times.
Whenaskedwhatmes-
sageshe’dliketogiveto
younggirlsof herage,
she said, “When
you’re deter-
mined to reach
a goal, you just
havetogoforit,
keep your head
high and keep
moving. Ev-
erything is possible if you
try, things take time but in
the end, it’ll be all worth it.”
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 23, 2022
A
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
A PERFECT CREATION
Supermodel Shrishti Khatri, who hails from Rajasthan, opens up to City First
about her life as a young model and her down to earth approach to beauty!
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO
SHRISHTI

164555741923022022 first india new delhi

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