20052022_First India New Delhi.pdf

Universities should not become spaces
for ideological conflict, says Amit Shah
New Delhi (PTI): Uni-
versitiesshouldbeaplat-
form for exchange of
views and not become
spaces for ideological
conflict, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah said
on Thursday
.
He was addressing the
inaugural session of a
three-day international
seminar on “Revisiting
The Ideas of India from
Swaraj’toNewIndia’”at
the Delhi University
.
Shahsaidthatif apar-
ticular ideology is a
cause for strife, it is “not
an ideology and definite-
ly not India’s ideology”.
“Universities should
become a platform for
exchange of views and
not become spaces for
ideological conflict. An
ideology progresses
through ideas and dis-
cussions. Turn to P2
Amit Shah lights lamp to inaugurate an International Seminar at
DU on Thursday. Union EM Dharmendra Pradhan (C) and DU Vice-
Chancellor Prof Yogesh Singh (R) are also seen.
Nooneremembers
thosewhodestroyed
NalandaTaxila
varsities.Itissaid
thatthelibraryofNa-
landavarrsityburnt
formonths.But
thoughtsfromthose
universitiescontinue
toliveontillnow.
AmitShah,UnionHomeMinister
SHAH MEETS FADNAVIS OVER
RAJYA SABHA ELECTIONS
Renni Abraham
Mumbai: Bharatiya
Janta Party (BJP)
leaders from Maha-
rashtra including
leader of the opposi-
tion Devendra Fad-
navis and BJP’s state
president Chandra-
kant Dada Patil met
Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah in New
Delhi on Thursday
over the forthcoming
elections for six Ra-
jya Sabha seats from
the state.
According to a sen-
ior BJP leader, “The
meeting was restrict-
ed to the Rajya Sabha
elections for the seats
from Maharashtra
that fall vacant come
July 4”. Full Report P3
Yasin Malik convicted
in terror funding case
New Delhi: A Delhi
court on May 19 con-
victed Kashmiri sepa-
ratist leader Yasin Ma-
lik, who had earlier
pleaded guilty to all
charges, including
those under the strin-
gent Unlawful Activi-
ties Prevention Act
(UAPA), in a terror
funding case.
Special Judge
Praveen Singh directed
the NIA authorities to
assess Malik’s financial
situation to determine
the amount of fine to be
imposed and posted the
matter for arguments
on the quantum of sen-
tence on May 25.
NIA court to begin
hearing on sentencing
from May 25
Kashmiri separatist
leader Yasin Malik
NEW DELHI l FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 260
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI MUMBAI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim bail to jailed Samajwadi
Party leader Azam Khan. A bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao
invoked its special power under Article 142 of the constitution to grant
relief to Khan in view of the peculiar facts of the case. P7
SC INVOKES
SPECIAL POWERS
TO GRANT BAIL TO
AZAM KHAN
The Delhi high court on Thursday set aside the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi
government’s doorstep delivery of ration scheme — Mukhymantri Ghar Ghar
Ration Yojna — stating that the Centre’s grain cannot be used for this scheme.
HC allowed two petitions filed by ration dealers challenging the scheme. P5
DELHI HC STRIKES
DOWN AAP GOVT’S
DOORSTEP RATION
DELIVERY SCHEME
SC DISMISSES MISTRY’S
REVIEW PLEA AGAINST
TATA GROUP ORDER
INDIA’S NIKHAT ZAREEN
WINS GOLD AT WOMEN’S
WORLD BOXING C’SHIP
The Supreme Court dismissed
on Thursday a petition filed by
Shapoorji Pallonji Group against
its March 26, 2021, ruling that ap-
proved the decision of Tata Sons to
remove Cyrus Mistry as group chief.
India’s Nikhat Zareen won the gold
medal in the 52kg category at the
Women’s World Championship
with a win over Thailand’s Jitpong
Jutamas in the fly-weight final in
Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday.
ANOTHERMOSQUEGOES
UNDERTHEGAVEL
Krishna Janmabhoomi case: Mathura court allows
plea seeking ownership of Shahi Idgah Mosque land
Sidhugetsone-yearjailin
34-year-oldroadragecase
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court has
awarded cricketer-
turned-politician Nav-
jot Singh Sidhu one-
year jail in a 1988 road
rage case. The Supreme
Court had earlier al-
lowed the review of its
May 2018 order exoner-
ating former Punjab
Congress President
Navjot Singh Sidhu in
the 34-year-old road
rage case, in which Pa-
tiala resident Gurnam
Singh had died.
Sidhu will be taken
into custody by Punjab
police as per the order.
Sidhu was earlier let
off with a fine of Rs
1,000. Now, the maxi-
mum possible punish-
ment under Section 323
of the IPC has been
awarded to Sidhu.
On May 15, 2018, the
apex court set aside the
Punjab and Haryana
High Court order con-
victing Sidhu of culpa-
ble homicide and
awarding him a three-
year jail term in the
case but had held him
guilty of causing hurt
to a senior citizen.
More on P8
Mathura: The district
court in Mathura on
Thursday allowed a plea
by the Shri Krishna Jan-
mabhoomi Trust and
other private parties
seekingownershipof the
land in which the Shahi
Idgah Mosque is built.
The Idgah is next to the
Sri Krishna Janmabhoo-
mi Sthal, where the deity
Krishna is believed to
have been born. The rul-
ing by judge Rajiv Bharti
allowing the plea means
that the civil suit will
now be heard by a lower
court.Thecourtwillnow
examine revenue re-
cords among other as-
pects like 1968 pact be-
tween temple, mosque
panel. More on P7
Congress leader Novjot Singh Sidhu dodges media while leaving
the residence of ex-MLA Lal Singh after meeting in Patiala.
Advocate Ranjana Agnihotri along with six others had first filed
a claim in the case in the court of a civil judge last year.
The dispute
essentially involves
ownership of 13.37
acres of land which
the petitioners
claim belongs to
the deity Lord Shri
Krishna Virajman
Sunil Jakhar joins BJP,
slams Congress ‘gang’
SC halts Varanasi district
court’s Gyanvapi Mosque
proceedings till today
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day directed the civil
court in Varanasi civil
courttonotproceedwith
the case related to the
Gyanvapi mosque case
tillittakesupthecaseon
Friday at 3 pm.
A bench of Justices
DYChandrachud,Surya
Kant and PS Narasimha
adjourned the case after
the Hindu side’s lawyer
asked it to hear the case
on Friday
. It then asked
the Varanasi trial court
to desist from taking up
the matter on Thursday
.
Advocate Vishnu
ShankarJain,appearing
for Hindu petitioners be-
fore the trial court,
sought adjournment for
thedayonaccountof the
medical condition of
leading counsel Hari
Shankar Jain.
New Delhi: Sunil
Jakhar, senior Con-
gress leader and for-
merchief of itsPunjab
unit, has joined rival
BJPdaysafterquitting
the grand old party
.
The former Con-
gress leader quit Con-
gress weeks after he
was issued a show-
cause notice by the
Congress leadership
over his criticism of
formerChief Minister
CharanjitSinghChan-
ni. Congress’s coterie
has now turned into a
gang, he said while ad-
dressing the media
with BJP chief JP Na-
dda by his side.
Sources close to
Jakharsaidthathemay
be nominated for the
RajyaSabhaandwould
begivensomeresponsi-
bilityinPunjab.
Meanwhile, Punjab
ex-CMAmarinderSin-
gh applauded Jakhar
for his move.
SURVEY REPORT IN
SEALED ENVELOPES,
BUT OUT IN OPEN
ASI SHUTS AURANGZEB’S TOMB IN
AURANGABAD AFTER MNS COMMENTS
The report of the filming
of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi
Mosque was submitted in
court in sealed envelops
on Thursday. But it seems
a copy of the report, was
shared by the lawyers of the
petitioners hours later and it
appears to back their claims
of the presence of Hindu
idols and symbols inside the
Gyanvapi mosque. The report
shared by the petitioners says
symbols of a “Trishul” or
trident, lotus engravings and
ancient Hindi carvings have
been found in the survey.
Aurangabad: The Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) Thursday shut Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s
tomb in the Aurangabad district
of Maharashtra for five days after
a mosque committee in the area
tried to lock the place Wednesday,
officials said. On Tuesday, the Ma-
harashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
spokesperson Gajanan Kale had in
a tweet questioned the need for the monument’s
existence in the state and said it should be de-
stroyed. Kale’s comment came after AIMIM leader
Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to the tomb earlier this
month was criticised by the ruling Shiv Sena as
well as by the BJP and Raj Thackeray-led MNS.
The SC reviewed its
earlier verdict to pass
the sentence after the
victim’s family had
re-approached court
Sources close to Jakhar said that he may be
nominated for the Rajya Sabha and would be
given some responsibility in Punjab and also
would be instrumental in bringing more dis-
gruntled Congress leaders into the BJP fold.
BJP chief JP Nadda
welcomes Sunil Jakhar.
Raj keen on bidding adieu to Gehlot govt: Nadda
Yogesh Sharma
Aishwary Pradhan
Jaipur: After the Congress’s
Chintan Shivir, now the BJP
has initiated a bid to come
out with a formula to win
the assembly elections in Ra-
jasthan slated to occur later
next year. The meeting of
national office bearers of
BJP is starting in Jaipur for
three days from Thursday.
BJP national president JP
Nadda reached Jaipur air-
port at 5:30 pm.
Nadda, who landed at
Jaipur airport in a char-
tered flight, was accorded a
grand welcome as the entire
route from airport to Leela
hotel at Amer, where the
three day event is held,
donned the saffron garb. A
huge crowd of BJP leaders
and workers had amssed at
the airport to wlecome Na-
dda and accompanied, in
several vehicles, to the hotel.
Nadda took former Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje
along with Leader of Oppo-
sition Gulabchand Kataria
and BJP State President Sat-
ish Poonia in his car from
the airport.
Meanwhile, addressing
the party functionaries and
workers of Amer constitu-
ency on Delhi road, Nadda
attacked the Gehlot govern-
ment on the pretext of inci-
dents of violence in Karauli
and elsewhere and said, “It
has become clear from the
atmosphere that the people
have made up their mind to
bid adieu to the Gehlot gov-
ernment in the coming
times. People are keen to
form BJP government. The
people of Rajasthan have
been neglected in the Gehlot
government. Turn to P8
PROGRAMME FOR
NEXT TWO DAYS
May 20: PM Narendra Modi will
address the functionaries virtually at
Hotel Leela at 10 am. Modi’s speech
will be followed by meetings in four
sessions till 6 pm. JP Nadda will ad-
dress the concluding session. On the
same day at 7 pm, he will address
the ‘Prabudh Jan’ at Birla Auditorium
in Jaipur.
May 21: JP Nadda will hold a
meeting of organization ministers of
all the states from 9 AM to 4 PM and
with a special focus on Rajasthan
too. There will be a discussion on
the planning of raising the issues at
the national level after sorting out the
issues surrounding the government.
BJP is united, Lotus will bloom in Raj: Arun Singh
JP Nadda waving at the party workers in the presence of Vasundhara Raje, Satish Poonia, Ramlal
Sharma, and others at Amer, Jaipur on Thursday. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA
Devendra Fadnavis

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
02
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Focus on innovative research:
Sisodia to state universities
GOVTWILLALSOSETUPANINTEGRATEDMECHANISMTOHELPSTATEUNIVERSITIES
New Delhi (PTI) : State
universities need to fo-
cus on research projects
that can set a global
benchmark of excel-
lence and can provide
solutions to pressing
problems of society,
Deputy Chief Minister
ManishSisodiahassaid.
Sisodia, who is also
Delhi’s Education min-
ister, said the govern-
ment will also set up an
integrated mechanism
to help state universi-
ties collaborate with
each other on projects
of similar interests.
“Over the years, state
universities have
worked hard to achieve
greater heights as insti-
tutions. But now they
need to focus on research
projects that can set a
milestone for universi-
ties of the world.
“Inthisrapidlychang-
ing world, they need to
focus on research which
cangiveimmediatesolu-
tions to the problems of
society,” he said during
an interaction with the
vice chancellors of state
universities in national
capital.
He said state universi-
ties have been working
as an extended arm of
the state government,
conducting studies and
generating reports from
time to time.
“This has helped the
government in taking
many people-centric de-
cisions. But now they
need to think of bigger
problems around the
world and conduct inno-
vative research on
them,” he added.
Sisodia said the gov-
ernment will also set up
an integrated mecha-
nism to help state uni-
versities collaborate
with each other on pro-
jects of similar inter-
ests.
“Universities should
focus on developing
products that can re-
solve the issue of de-
pendency on foreign
madeproducts,”hesaid.
Some of the innova-
tive research ideas in-
cluded ‘Social Robots’
being developed by IIIT
Delhi, Indianised ver-
sion of all EV compo-
nents such as batteries,
power systems etc being
developed by Delhi Tech-
nological University and
development of barren
plot into wetlands by
Ambedkar University.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
New Delhi (PTI): One
person was killed and
six others were injured
on Thursday after a fire
broke out at a factory in
northeast Delhi’s Musta-
fabad area, officials said.
A call about the blaze
was received at 12.17 pm
following which seven
fire tenders were rushed
to the spot, officials said.
The blaze were
brought under control at
1 pm, fire department of-
ficials said.
“The fire broke out on
the first floor of a facto-
ry manufacturing elec-
tric items (inverter,
stablizer etc) injuring
seven persons who were
rushed to the GTB Hos-
pital. “Of them, one per-
son was declared dead
and another person is in
serious condition. The
building is spread over
an area of about 200
square yards,” Fire De-
partment Director Atul
Garg said.
1 dead, 6 hurt
as fire breaks
out at factory
Anti-encroachment
drive in Sultanpuri
locality cancelled
New Delhi (PTI): An
anti-encroachment
drive scheduled to
take place in north-
west Delhi’s Sultan-
puri area was can-
celled on Thursday
due to unavailability
of adequate police
force, civic authori-
ties said.
According a North
Delhi Municipal Cor-
poration official, the
drive to remove tem-
porary and perma-
nent encroachment
from roads and gov-
ernment land was
scheduled at Sultan-
puri’s Jagdamba mar-
ket. “The anti-en-
croachment drive was
scheduled to be car-
ried out in Jagdamba
Market area of Sul-
tanpuri for Thursday
but it did not take
place as we could not
get adequate police
force,” the official told
PTI. The official said
an encroachment re-
moval drive was can-
celled on Wednesday
too at Sultanpuri’s
Fish Market area due
to unavailability of
police force.
series of anti-en-
croachment drives
were conducted by the
three civic bodies in
different parts of the
city in the last one
month, including
Shaheen Bagh, Jahan-
girpuri, Madanpur
Khadar, New Friends
Colony, Mangolpuri,
Rohini, Gokulpuri,
Lodhi Colony, Janak-
puri among others.
Last month, the
North Delhi Munici-
pal Corporation had
come under fire from
several civil rights
groups and opposi-
tion parties after it
bulldozed structures
in violence-hit Jahan-
girpuri area during
an anti-encroach-
ment drive.
—FILE PHOTO
KEY POINT
CRPF to prevent entry of
cattle into green area
New Delhi (PTI): Acom-
pany of CRPF compris-
ing 60 jawans will be de-
ployed to prevent ingress
of cattle into the Central
Ridge forest area, the
Delhi Police has told the
Delhi High Court.
The Station house of-
ficer (SHO) of Inderpuri
in a status report told
the court that the rein-
forced cement concrete
(RCC) boundary wall
protecting the “green
land” under Delhi Devel-
opmentAuthority(DDA)
has been breached at 11
points. The police said it
had deployed eight per-
sonnel from DCP-Re-
serve along with vehi-
cles to prevent ingress
of cattle into the forest
area but the same was
not sufficient.
“At the request of Del-
hi Police, one company
of CRPF (60 jawans) has
been made available to
the local police station.
They are likely to be de-
ployed in three shifts
round the clock. The
SHO is confident that
this should be sufficient
deterrent to prevent in-
gress of cattle into the
forest area,” Justice Na-
jmi Waziri recorded in
an order.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): After striking
work for half a day
Thursday, resident doc-
tors at Lady Hardinge
Medical College in Del-
hi resumed all services
on assurance of proper
security from the medi-
cal director.
“Considering patient
care in mind and writ-
ten assurance given by
competent authority, we
are resuming all servic-
es with immediate ef-
fect,” the resident doc-
tors’ association of the
hospital said.
“If no necessary ac-
tion will be taken and
culprits will not be ar-
rested, we will be com-
pelled to resume our
protest,” the association
said in a letter calling
off the strike.
An order from the
medical director stated
that an institutional FIR
will be filed with imme-
diate effect as demanded
by the resident doctors.
The medical director
also assured them that
existing bouncers or se-
curity personnel will be
posted in the vulnerable
areas while a request for
increasing the numbers
will be taken up with
competent authority
.
Lady Hardinge Medi-
cal College resident
doctors went on a
strike earlier in the
day, withdrawing from
routine as well as
emergency services
from 9 am onwards.
DOCTORS AT LADY HARDINGE CALL OFF STRIKE Delhi High
Court to hear
Umar Khalid’s
bail today
New Delhi (Agencies):
A Delhi High Court divi-
sion bench on Thursday
transferred former JNU
student Umar Khalid’s
bail plea in the larger
conspiracy case of
Northeast Delhi riots to
a different bench for
hearing on Friday.
Following a change in
the roster, the bail plea
was listed for hearing be-
fore a division bench
headed by Justice Mukta
Gupta on Thursday
. How-
ever, the bench after go-
ing through previous or-
ders of the case observed
that the matter was part-
heard before the division
bench headed by Justice
Siddharth Mridul.
It accordingly ordered
the listing of the case be-
fore the division bench
of Justice Mridul and
Justice Rajnish Bhatna-
gar on Friday, subject to
orders of the Chief Jus-
tice. The division bench
headed by Justice Mridul
had earlier heard argu-
ments made by senior
advocate Trideep Pais,
who represents Umar
Khalid.
The National Green
Tribunal (NGT) has di-
rected East Delhi Mu-
nicipal Corporation to
hold the operating li-
cence of Ghazipur
slaughterhouse, on the
fears of harming the
environment.
The NGT asked the
relevant authorities to
hold the license
until the Central Pollu-
tion Control Board and
Delhi Pollution Control
Board certify that the
project can be operated
on consent conditions
and as per
environment- related
rules. If the CPCB or
DPCB cannot find a way
to run the slaughter
house without violating
environmental rules
and conditions of con-
sent for a licence, the
Ghazipur slaughter-
house will be shut down
for good.
New Delhi (PTI): All the
nine police canteens in
New Delhi district have
been certified with FS-
SAI’s ‘eat right campus’
tag, making it the first
police district in the na-
tional capital to achieve
this feat.
‘Eat Right India’ is a
flagship mission of the
Food Safety and Stand-
ards Authority of India
(FSSAI) under the health
ministry. It aims to en-
sure that people get safe,
nutritious, and whole-
some food.
In February this year,
four police stations of
the district -- B K Road,
Connaught Place, Tilak
Marg and Mandir Marg
-- had received FSSAI’s
‘eat right campus’ cer-
tificate that aims to pro-
mote diet diversity and
reduce burden of life-
style-related diseases
among police personnel.
Now, the remaining five
police canteens -- Parlia-
ment Street,
Chanakyapuri, Tughlak
Road, North Avenue and
the Diplomatic Security
Force unit -- have got the
FSSAI tag, police offi-
cials said, adding that
South Avenue Police
Station does not have a
canteen. Deputy Com-
missioner of Police Am-
rutha Guguloth said,
“All the nine police can-
teens in our district
have been certified with
FSSAI’s ‘eat right cam-
pus’. In fact, we are the
first district to have
done this over a gradual
period of time.”
All nine police canteens get ‘eat right campus’ tag
FSSAI
IT AIMS AT SAFE,
NUTRITIOUS AND
WHOLESOME
FOOD
NGT SHUTS GHAZIPUR SLAUGHTERHOUSE
FOR HARMING ENVIRONMENT
CRUCIAL READ
3 SHARPSHOOTERS OF INTERSTATE
GANG HELD AFTER BRIEF ENCOUNTER
New Delhi (PTI): Three members of an interstate gang
have been arrested after a brief exchange of fire in Delhi's
Wazirabad area, police said on Thursday. The three men
are sharp shooters
of the Tillu Tajpuria -
Parvesh Mann - Neeraj
Bawana gang, they said,
adding that the trio
were planning a big at-
tack against their rivals
and their families. Two
semi-automatic pistols, two country-made pistols and 19
live cartridges were recovered from them, police said. .
The accused have been identified as Pawan Shehrawat
(30), a resident of Bawana, Ashu (21), a resident of Baha-
durgarh in Haryana, and Gaurav Tyagi (27), a resident of
Hapur in UP, they said.
CUTTING OF TREES HALTED TILL
NEXT HEARING, SAYS HIGH COURT
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on
Thursday ordered a stay on further felling of
trees in the national capital till June 2 after it
was informed that
more than 29,000
trees have been
cut or trans-
planted in city
in the past three
years. The court
said that there
was “no other
way” to mitigate
the environmental
degradation, while ordering the interim stay.
ACTING
TOUGH
AmitShahinauguratesInt’lSeminaratDelhiUniversity
FROM P1...
“No one remembers
those who destroyed the
universities of Nalanda
andTaxila.Itissaidthat
the library of Nalanda
University burnt for
months. But the
thoughtsfromthoseuni-
versitiescontinuetolive
oneventillnow,”hesaid
addressingthestudents.
Headvisedtheyouths
to understand their du-
ties towards the coun-
try and spoke about In-
dia’s defence policy
.
India did not have a
defence policy before
PM Narendra Modi
came to power and
even if it existed, it was
a “shadow” of the for-
eign policy
, Shah said.
Referring to the anti-
terror surgical strikes
and airstrike, Shah
said these actions
showed the meaning of
India’s defence policy
.
He stressed that In-
dia “worships peace”,
“wants peace” and has
cordial relations with
every country in the
world. He said that
some people talk about
the human rights of
thoseinvolvedinterror
attacks, but those who
dieduetosuchactsalso
have human rights.
Talking about the
scrapping of of Article
370thatgavespecialsta-
tus to Jammu and
Kashmir, he said that
PM Modi abrogated Ar-
ticle370andArticle35A
with the snap of a fin-
ger on August 5, 2019.
“Those who had said
that there would be a
bloodbath (khoon ki
nadiyaan bahengi)
could not even indulge
in stone-pelting.
The home minister
praised the New Edu-
cation Policy and said
that it is the first such
initiative that has been
“welcomed by all” and
has been “unopposed”.
Talking about the
“5+3+3+4 scheme” out-
lined in NEP, he said
that it is very impor-
tant that children are
taught their mother
tongue in the first five
years. “One should
learn French, various
Chinese languages,
but if I don’t study Gu-
jarati, Hindi, I won’t be
able to connect with
my roots...,” he added.
Noting that DU has
been a witness to vari-
ous struggles and how
they reached their logi-
calconclusion,hehoped
that the university
would continue to do so.
Amit Shah interacts with Dharmendra Pradhan during the seminar.

INDIA
03
Shah meets Fadnavis over RS polls
BJP SEEKS FOUR SEATS FROM MAHARASHTRA, SENA WANTS
Renni Abraham
Mumbai: The Bharati-
ya Janata Party (BJP)
leaders from Maharash-
tra including Leader of
the Opposition Deven-
dra Fadnavis and BJP’s
state president Chan-
drakant Dada Patil met
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah in New Del-
hi on Thursday over the
forthcoming elections
for six Rajya Sabha
seats from the state.
According to a senior
BJP leader, “The meet-
ing was restricted to the
Rajya Sabha elections
for the seats from Maha-
rashtra that fall vacant
come July 4. Even the
BMC and other munici-
pal elections that have
been deferred to beyond
the monsoons in Maha-
rashtra did not figure in
todays discussions with
Amit Shah.”
The meeting assumes
significance in the wake
of Maharashtra Chief
MinisterUddhavThack-
eray’s assertion that his
party would try to oc-
cupy two Rajya Sabha
seats. Shiv Sena MP,
Sanjay Raut, who is
seeking a fresh Rajya
Sabha tenure, also in-
dulged in dinner diplo-
macy with MP Navneet
Rana and her MLA hus-
band Ravi Rana on
Wednesday before
spendingmostof Thurs-
dayafternooninLadakh
again during a parlia-
mentary visit with Ravi
Rana and his MP wife.
Even the BJP has said
while it can comfortably
send three members
from Maharashtra to
the Rajya Sabha, it was
keen to leverage its ad-
ditional votes in the
state to wrest a fourth
seat in the upper house
of Parliament.
It is also reliably
learnt that Fadnavis
was asked to submit
four names for the BJP
party high command’s
top two – Narendra
Modi and Amit Shah to
consider for the forth-
coming Rajya Sabha
elections. Both the BJP
leaders are keeping
their cards close to
their chest in respect of
the voting scheduled for
June 10, 2022.
Thiscomeinthewake
of the independent can-
didature of Chhatrapati
Sambhajiraje, who was
a presidential nominee
to the RS by the BJP in
2016 and who was ini-
tially promised some
votes by NCP Chief
Sharad Pawar which
had upset the Shiv Sena
that insisted that he
should contest on an
MVA nomination.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Maharashtra LoP Devendra Fadnavis. —FILE PHOTO
Union Home Minister Shah with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
MANN MEETS
SHAH IN DELHI
...discusses border security, board issues
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Punjab Chief
Minister Bhagwant
Mann on Thursday
met with Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah in Delhi and
discussed several
matters including is-
sues of national secu-
rity and technology
infrastructure to en-
hance border man-
agement services.
“We requested an-
ti-drone technology.
He (Union HM Amit
Shah) said that we
will work together in
regard to national se-
curity. Several other
matters including
the Basmati crop and
Punjab quota issue
in Bhakra Beas Man-
agement Board
(BBMB) were also
discussed,” Punjab
Chief Minister
Mann said.
The Centre had is-
sued a notification in
February this year to
amend the provisions
of BBMS 1974 rule for
the selection criteria
for the appointment
of the two key offic-
ers in the Bhakra
Beas Board from out-
side Punjab.
As per convention,
posts of the two full-
time members - mem-
ber (power) and
member (irrigation)
- have always been
filled by eligible can-
didates of Punjab
and Haryana, respec-
tively, from the panel
of engineers nomi-
nated by respective
state governments.
As many as 10 more
companies of security
forces will be provided
by the Centre.
—Bhagwant Mann,
Punjab CM
Preparing for Assembly
election in Gujarat this
year, the BJP is leaving
no stone unturned to
keep by its side the po-
litically critical
Patidars of the Sau-
rashtra, a region that
proved to be among the
weakest links in 2017.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi will inaugu-
rate the KD Parvadiya
Hospital, the first multi-
specialty hospital in
Jasdan taluka in the Ra-
jkot district on May 28.
“Top” Patidar leaders
are expected to be pre-
sent at the inauguration
of the hospital built by
Patel Seva Samaj, a
charitable trust headed
by formerMLA andBJP
leader Bharat Boghra.
Gujarat BJP presi-
dent CR Paatil said
around three lakh peo-
ple will be present at the
PM’s first visit to the
Saurashtra after the
covid-19 pandemic.
The buzz is that
young Patidar leader
Hardik Patel, who re-
signed from the Con-
gress on Wednesday,
could be one of them,
though, the AAP is also
believed to be pursuing
him and Naresh Patel,
an influential social
worker and chairman
of Shree Khodaldham
Trust, who, too, is yet to
disclose which political
party he will join.
PM MODI TO ATTEND
QUAD SUMMIT IN
TOKYO ON MAY 24
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will attend the Quad
Summit on May 24 in
Tokyo. This will be the
fourth summit of Quad
leaders. Bilateral meetings
with Japanese PM Fumio
Kishida and US President
Joe Biden will take place
on May 24, MEA Spokes-
person Arindam Bagchi
said on Thursday.
PM Modi to hit home turf on May
28 as BJP woos Patidars in Gujarat
Kashmir University
gets its first woman
Vice Chancellor
Srinagar: Professor
Nilofar Khan of the
Kashmir University’s
Home Sciences Depart-
ment was on Thursday
appointed as its first
woman Vice Chancellor
of Kashmir University
.
A communication is-
sued by the Raj Bhawan
said:“Inexerciseof pow-
ers vested in me under
section12of Jammuand
Kashmir Universities
Act,1969,I,ManojSinha,
Chancellor, University
of Kashmir, hereby ap-
point Professor Nilofar
Khan, Department of
Home Sciences, Univer-
sity of Kashmir, as Vice
Chancellor of the Uni-
versity of Kashmir for a
periodof three(03)years
with effect from the date
she takes over change,
on terms and conditions
to be notified later.”
Professor Nilofar
KhansucceedsProfessor
Talat Ahmad, an earth
scientist, who served as
the Vice Chancellor on
two separate terms.
Nilofar Khan
Race heats up for ‘nominated RS seats’ but no clear answer yet!
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Seven seats
of nominated category
in Rajya Sabha are va-
cant. Subramanian
Swamy, Swapan Das-
gupta, Roopa Ganguly,
Suresh Gopi, Mary
Kom, Narendra Jadhav
and Chhatrapati Samb-
haji have retired. Four
of these MPs had de-
clared themselves mem-
bers of the BJP after
being nominated while
the other three re-
mainedindependents.It
is believed that this
time BJP will nominate
such people in all the
seven seats, who can de-
clare themselves as BJP
members after taking
oath. If this happens,
then there will be 11
BJP MPs among the
nominated category
MPs. Out of the five re-
maining MPs, barring
former Chief Justice
Ranjan Gogoi, the re-
maining four MPs have
declared themselves as
members of the BJP
.
The question is, who
are those seven people,
whom BJP will nomi-
nate in the Upper
House. No one has any
idea of the name, but
looking at the regional
equation of the retired
MPs and the assembly
elections to be held in
the next few days, it is
being speculated as to
from which state the
nominated category
MPs will come. It is al-
most certain that a
Kashmiri Pandit will be
nominated. Anupam
Kher may be nominated
but an obstacle in his
way is that his wife Kir-
ron Kher is the party’s
MP from Chandigarh.
Nevertheless, in view
of the elections to be
held in Kashmir in the
next few days, a nomi-
nation will be made
from there.
Two people are retir-
ing from West Bengal
and at least one nomina-
tionwillbefromthereas
well. Will Swapan Das-
guptaberepeatedagain?
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah had gone to
Sourav Ganguly’s house
to have food during his
Bengal tour and since
then his name is also be-
ing discussed for the Up-
per House. Two people
are retiring from South
India, Swamy from Ta-
mil Nadu and Suresh
Gopi from Kerala. Elec-
tionsareyettobeheldin
Karnataka and Telan-
gana. So, one member
from either of these two
states will be nominated
and at least one member
is likely to move to the
Upper House from Ma-
harashtra.
BJP using
central agencies
to ‘settle political
scores’: Mamata
New Delhi (PTI): West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on
Thursday trained her
guns on the BJP amid
the ongoing row over ir-
regularities in the
School Service Commis-
sion(SSC)appointments
and alleged the ruling
dispensation at the Cen-
treisrunninga“Tughla-
qi regime” in the nation
and using central agen-
cies to “settle political
scores”. “The BJP is
running a ‘Tughlaqi’ re-
gime (referring to 14th-
century Delhi sultan
Muhammad-bin-Tu-
ghlaq who was known to
bewillful)inthecountry
and is trying to divide
the nation,” she said at a
public meeting in Jhar-
gram, media reported.
“It is controlling cen-
tral agencies and using
those to settle political
scores,”Banerjeeadded.
Stating a lot of things
are being said about
“discrepancies in re-
cruitment”, Mamata
said the people are “well
aware of those who are
involved in corruption”.
Mamata Banerjee
Offensive
remark against
Vijayan: KPCC
chief booked
Kochi (Agencies):
The Kerala Police on
Thursday lodged a case
against KPCC presi-
dent K Sudhakaran
over his controversial
remark against Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vi-
jayan.
Recently, while cam-
paigning for his party
ahead of the May 31
bypoll, Sudhakaran
had likened Vijayan to
an “unleashed dog”
running around Thrik-
kakara constituency,
which was strongly ob-
jected to by several top
CPI-M leaders. Re-
sponding to the con-
demnation, Sudha-
karan said though the
phrase is commonly
used in his home dis-
trict Kannur, he has no
qualms in withdraw-
ing his remark if it has
hurt Vijayan, who also
hails from the same
district.
With the crucial
Thrikkakara election
campaign gaining mo-
mentum and Vijayan
himself leading the
campaign by staying
put in Kochi, the local
youth wing of CPI-M
decided to file a com-
plaint with the local
police.
K Sudhakaran
TO MEET THE ENVIRONMENTAL NORMS
‘Leather industry to aim at net-zero carbon footprint’
Chennai (Agencies):
Leather industry in In-
dia will aim at net-zero
carbon footprint to
meet the environmental
norms, Union Minister
Dr Jitendra Singh said
on Thursday
.
Addressing the Plati-
num Jubilee celebra-
tions of CSIR-Central
Leather Research Insti-
tute in Chennai, Dr Ji-
tendra Singh said, the
carbon footprint of
leather processing ac-
tivity needs to approach
zero levels and the bio-
economy of animal
skin-derived products
is the new mantra of
the time. He said, the
carrying capacity re-
quirements of the
leather sector in loca-
tions like Tamil Nadu
demand the implemen-
tation of Zero Liquid
Discharge as the en-
forced environmental
norm, which is under
discussion.
Referring to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s pitch for new in-
novations and next-gen-
eration technologies, Dr
Jitendra Singh said, the
sustainability of the
leather sector is likely
to emerge as the new
challenge for CSIR-
CLRI in its journey
from the platinum to the
centenary. He said, the
new vision for leather
research and industry
during the next 25 years
may need to be on sus-
tainability
, net-zero car-
bon footprint, gaining
total recyclability of
leather-based materials,
bio-economy of animal
skin-derived products,
and ensuring income
parity for workers, be-
sides brand building.
Dr Jitendra Singh of-
fered attractive finan-
cial support from DST
to Start-ups to come up
with innovative and
market friendly leath-
er products.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, as chief guest, addressing the
Platinum Jubilee celebrations of CSIR-Central Leather Research
Institute, at Chennai on Thursday.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 260
l 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
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
I have become Death, the
destroyer of worlds.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dr Jitendra Singh
@DrJitendraSingh
Special Stamp and Envelope, prepared
by the Indian Postal Department,
released to mark the 75th year Platinum
Jubilee of the iconic Central Leather
Research Institute (CLRI) #Chennai.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
More than 8,700 Janaushadhi stores
across the country are providing best
quality medicines at affordable prices
to the common man. The government
of Prime Minister @NarendraModi
ji aims at the welfare of the person
standing in the last row and that work
is going on continuously with the
Janaushadhi project.
TOP TWEETS
NEMESIS
CATCHES UP
WITH NAVJOT
SIDHU AFTER
THREE DECADES
emesis, it is said,
limps sternly
, if slow-
ly, behind and over-
takes in the end. That
is precisely what has
happened with cricketer-turned-
politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.
The former TV show host has
been sentenced to one-year’s rig-
orous imprisonment in a three-
decade-old case of road rage in
which the Punjab Congress lead-
er and his associate killed a man,
Gurnam Singh, in a brawl over
a parking spot in Patiala. He was
exonerated by a session court in
Patiala in 1999. But the verdict
was overturned by the Punjab
and Haryana High Court which
sentenced Sidhu to three years
in jail for culpable homicide.
In 2018 the Supreme Court set
aside the sentence for lack of evi-
dence. The victim’s family plead-
edforreviewof thatorder.That’s
how Nemesis caught up with the
swashbuckling cricketer who re-
cently lost the Punjab assembly
elections. The blow may also sof-
ten up the former president of
the Punjab Congress who lacks
the self-effacing quality one ex-
pects of an achiever.
N
ven as the Su-
preme Court is
seized of two con-
tentious issues---
the Gyanvapi
mosque and the validity of
the Places of Worship Act of
1991---stage is set for the Hin-
dus’ claim over Krishna Jan-
mabhoomi to also reach the
apex court for adjudication.
In that respect the order of
the Mathura district judge
Rajeev Bharti upholding the
suit to remove Mathura’s
Shahi Idgah Masjid will set
off yet another round of con-
troversy. In the suit Hindus
have staked claim over 13.37
acres of land on which the
Mathura mosque is built. It
reminds one of Ayodhya
land dispute which the Su-
preme Court ruled in favour
of Hindus.
Hindus are obviously gung-
ho about their claims just as
Muslims are feeling more and
more pushed to the corner.
The manner in which the
Gyanvapimosque’srecording
that was meant only for view-
ing by the court was made
public casts doubts in the
minds of the minority com-
munity about fair play
. A Su-
preme Court bench of Justice
DY Chandrachud and Justice
PS Narasimha restrained the
trial court in Varanasi from
proceeding in the case.
The order may be of some
relief but it does not drive
away the fear in the minds
of minorities. Mentally the
Muslims may have lost
Gyanvapi and also Mathura
but their bigger fear is about
what will be targeted next---
Qutub Minar or the Taj Ma-
hal? Their fears are centred
round the fate of the 1991
Act. Removal of the Act’s
protection would allow the
takeover of 36,000 mosques
or mausoleums which, alleg-
edly, were built over temples.
TROUBLE AHEAD: 1991 ACT HOLDS THE KEY
The order may be of some relief but it does not drive
away the fear in the minds of minorities. Mentally
the Muslims may have lost Gyanvapi and
also Mathura but their bigger fear is about
what will be targeted next--- Qutub Minar or
the Taj Mahal? Their fears are centred round the
fate of the 1991 Act. Removal of the Act’s
protection would allow the takeover of 36,000
mosques or mausoleums which, allegedly,
were built over temples
E
THE BLOODBATH IN
THE CRYPTO MARKETS
he world of crypto is no
stranger to volatility. The
global crypto markets wit-
nessed a brutal bloodbath
last week, losing almost USD
500 billion. Bitcoin which is
the poster boy of crypto mar-
kets had dropped below USD
30,000 for the first time since
July 2021, almost 50% down
from its peak last November.
Smaller coins like Ether, Ava-
lanche, and Solana have fall-
en too, but to everyone’s sur-
prise, it was the Non-Fungi-
ble Tokens (NFTs) that took
the biggest hit, the Bored Ape
Yacht Club (BAYC) and many
other such NFT collections
saw their price plummeting
29 percent over the past 7
days in dollar terms. The
JPG NFT Index, which tracks
NFTs, tumbled by about 26
percent in the last week.
WHAT WAS THE REASON
FOR THE CRASH?
Cryptocurrencies had been
launched with much fanfare
and had seen the fastest
growth among all asset class-
es in terms of attracting
funds. They are however ex-
periencing a massive sell-off
faster than the run-up seen
last year. Trading volumes in
this asset class are also slow-
ing down as evident from dis-
appointing Coinbase’s recent
quarterly results which were
below market expectation on
account of a nearly 20 per-
cent drop in trading volumes. 
Nasdaq has fallen by about
25 percent in 2022. Initially,
the fall in crypto assets was
brushed aside as one that is
caused due to overall volatile
financial markets. However,
the crash is much more than
and there seems to be a crisis
building up.
WHY ARE STABLECOINS
PERCEIVED AS STABLE?
Stablecoins do not depend on
market factors to ascertain
their value. They are instead
derived by pegging them-
selves to the value of a cur-
rency like a dollar, or any
commodity
. This makes them
less prone to the wild price
swings that typically charac-
terize the crypto markets.
Stablecoins are of three
main types:

z Fiat-backed: These coins are
backed by a national cur-
rency, that matches the fiat
currency in reserve to the
number of coins in circulation

z Cryptocurrency-backed:
these are coins backed by
another cryptocurrency (e.g.,
BTC, ETH), this keeps the
cryptocurrency in reserve
higher than the coins in
circulation to account for the
crypto’s volatility

z Algorithm-backed: these are
coins that use an algorithm or
“smart contract” to peg the
stablecoin to another crypto
token that helps ensure the
stablecoin remains stable.
BUT WHAT MADE
THEM SO UNSTABLE?
Last week’s crash was led by
the fall in the prices of Sta-
blecoins, Terra, and LUNA.
TerraUSD is an algorithmic
stablecoin that uses algo-
rithms to maintain its stable
value. TerraUSD does not
have any physical reserves of
dollars as collateral but in-
stead depends on the crypto-
currency LUNA to stabilize
its market price. TerraUSD
and Luna have a 1:1 peg. This
means that for every 1 Ter-
raUSD sold, one LUNA coin
is minted and for every 1 Ter-
raUSD purchased, one LUNA
is burnt or destroyed from
the ecosystem.
This equilibrium broke
last week due to de-pegging
when digital coin Luna lost
almost 100% of its value and
the Terra blockchain was
suspended twice after its al-
gorithm failed to rebalance.
From its peak at USD 119,
Luna is now valued near zero
while the TerraUSD trades at
20 cents. Together these two
have knocked off about USD
300 billion from the market
cap of cryptocurrency
.
WILL THE 2008
CRISIS REPEAT?
Just as in 2008 certain struc-
tured credit products consist-
ing of subprime mortgages
were integrated into the fi-
nancial systems to such an
extent that when they col-
lapsed, they triggered a fi-
nancial crisis where the mar-
kets went into recession and
millions of people lost their
jobs and homes, the crypto
assets if integrated, will have
the same capacity
.
Stablecoins currently has a
total market cap of around
USD 170 billion, while the to-
tal crypto market is estimated
to be around USD 1.2 trillion.
Even though stable coins are
too small currently to affect
the economy at large, crypto-
currencies have started work-
ing their way into the finan-
cial systems, it is now found
in the portfolio of many tradi-
tional investors as well.
SHOULD YOU
BUY THE DIP?
About 20 million Indians
have invested in cryptocur-
rency in India with multiple
startups and crypto wallets
coming up to cash in on the
opportunity of unregulated
gains. The Indian crypto ex-
changes are now in a tough
spot after the delisting of the
Luna on platforms like Coin-
DCX and WazirX.
India in its budget this year
saidthatitwillbeintroducing
its very own cryptocurrency
and had introduced a 30 per-
cent flat tax on all gains from
virtual digital assets includ-
ing crypto and the upcoming
1percentTDS(taxdeductedat
source) for all transactions.
The Indian government is
also mulling imposing a GST
on all crypto transactions at
28 percent, the highest tax
bracket putting them at par
with gambling and betting.
CRYPTO CARNAGE
SHOULD YOU BUY THE DIP?
T
Cryptocurrencies as an
asset class are highly
prone to volatile prices.
However, the main culprit
behind last week’s crash
was not caused by this
inherent volatility but due
to Stablecoins. This came
about as quite a surprise
as Stablecoins, evident
from their name, are
usually considered to be a
more stable and steadier
entity of the otherwise
volatile cryptocurrencies.
LET US UNDERSTAND
THE REAL REASON
BEHIND THIS FREE FALL
IN CRYPTO PRICES

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INDIA
05
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): One of the most
significant impacts of
climate change is on
our food system. It af-
fects the way we pro-
duce as well as con-
sume food. The impact
is even more on a pre-
dominantly agrarian
economy like India,
creating ripple effects
on the entire food pro-
duction chain. On Sun-
day, the mercury level
in several states of
north India touched 49
degrees Celcius, mak-
ing it one of the hottest
days in the recent his-
tory. The damage
caused to agriculture
and food security by
the ongoing heatwave
is multi-dimensional. It
damaged wheat crop,
affe
c
ted the food sup-
ply, prompting a phe-
nomenal rise in the
price of wheat prod-
ucts. The loss to wheat
is both qualitative as
well as quantitative as
besides the low output,
the grain is also of poor
quality. It should be
seen in the light of the
fact that food security
is as much about the
quantity of food, as it is
about the nutritional
value. The Global Food
Policy Report 2022 by
the International Food
Policy Research Insti-
tute has warned that
climate change may
push many Indians to-
wards hunger by 2030
due to a decline in agri-
cultural production
and disruption in food
supply chain.
The report states that
globally, around 65 mil-
lion people are at risk
due to climate change-
induced hunger, with 17
million people in India
facing hunger by 2030,
the highest among all
countries.
HowclimatechangeisimpactingIndia’sfoodsecurity
HEATWAVE DAMAGED WHEAT CROP
lll
Although global
food production
may increase
by 60 per cent
by 2050, 50
crores of
Indians would
still be at the
risk of going
hungry
SHUTTERS OF BHOOTHATHANKETTU DAM OPENED IN RAIN-BATTERED STATE
‘ORANGE ALERT’ FOR 12 DISTS
AS HEAVY RAINS LASH KERALA
Thiruvananthapuram
(Agencies): The India
Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) on
Thursday issued an
‘orange’ alert for 12
Kerala districts -
Kasaragod, Kannur,
Wayanad, Kozhikode,
Malappuram, Palak-
kad, Thrissur, Ernaku-
lam, Idukki, Kottayam,
Alappuzha, and
Pathanamthitta. The
weather department
also predicted ‘heavy
to very heavy rainfall’
for the southern state
over the next 48 hours
before a ‘substantial
reduction in rainfall
intensity’ from May 21.
An ‘orange’ alert in-
dicates ‘very heavy
rainfall’ — between six
and 20 cm. A ‘red’ alert
indicates rainfall over
20 cm while ‘yellow’ In-
dicates between six
and 11 cm of rainfall.
The Kerala State Dis-
aster Management Au-
thority said cyclonic
circulation over north-
ern Tamil Nadu and
adjoining areas would
lead to isolated very
heavy rainfall in sev-
eral parts of the state.
Incessant rains have
battered Kerala over
the past few days.
Chief minister in-
arayi Vijayan has is-
sued directions to en-
sure authorities are
prepared to handle
natural disasters that
are likely to follow, in-
cluding landslides and
flooding.
Local bodies have
been directed to pre-
pare a list of disaster-
prone areas in their
respective jurisdic-
tions and alert con-
cerned government
departments.
The chief minister
also directed establish-
ment of relief camps
for evacuated people.
The National Disaster
Response Force
(NDRF) has deployed
five teams to Kerala.
Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road after heavy rain in Kochi. —PHOTO BY PTI
Actor Dileep case:
Court seeks proof
to cancel bail
JK: Baramulla
liquor shop
killers arrested
Kochi (Agencies): Ac-
tor Dileep on Thursday
got some relief when
the trial court hearing
a petition filed by the
Crime Branch police
probe team seeking to
cancel his bail, asked
the prosecution
where’s the proof that
he has tampered with
the evidence.
Incidentally now,
there are two cases in
which Dileep has got
bail. One is the 2017 ac-
tress abduction case in
which he is the eighth
accused and was in jail
for over two months and
the second case was reg-
istered in December
that he conspired to do
away with the police of-
ficials who made him an
accused in the 2017 case.
In April, the probe
team filed a petition
seeking cancellation of
his bail. The prosecu-
tion informed the court
that they have all the
evidence against the ac-
tor which includes dele-
tion of chats.
Srinagar (Agencies):
With the arrest of four
terrorists and an over
ground worker of
Lashkar-e-Toiba, police
on Thursday claimed to
have solved the grenade
attack case on a liquor
shop in Baramulla dis-
trict of Jammu and
Kashmir. Five pistols
and 23 grenades were re-
covered from the arrest-
ed terrorists. “Baramul-
la Police cracked the
case of recent terror at-
tackonwineshop.04ter-
rorists 1 associate of
LeT outfit arrested. 5
pistols, 23 grenades, ex-
plosive recovered. This
terror module was in-
volved in several terror
incidents in Baramulla.
Investigation going on,”
inspector General of Po-
lice, Kashmir, Vijay Ku-
mar tweeted.
An employee of the
liquor shop died while
three others were in-
jured in the grenade at-
tack carried out by a
burqa clad terrorist and
hisassociateonTuesday
.
Delhi HC quashes AAP’s
doorstep delivery scheme
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): The Delhi high
court on Thursday set
aside the Aam Aadmi
Party-led Delhi govern-
ment’s doorstep deliv-
ery of ration scheme
— Mukhymantri Ghar
Ghar Ration Yojna —
stating that the Cen-
tre’s grain cannot be
used for this scheme.
The high court allowed
two petitions filed by
ration dealers chal-
lenging the scheme.
A bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice Jas-
meet Singh said the
Delhi government is
free to bring another
doorstep delivery
scheme but it cannot
use grains provided by
the Centre for this
doorstep scheme. The
bench also said that
scheme did not have
the approval of the
lieutenant governor.
The high court had on
January 10 reserved its
order on the pleas by
petitioners Delhi
Sarkari Ration Dealers
Sangh and Delhi Ra-
tion Dealers Union af-
ter holding extensive
hearings.
The Delhi govern-
ment had made all
preparations to start
the scheme from 25th
March 2021, but an ob-
jection was raised by
the Centre.
Pb: Addl forces ahead
of Op Blue Star anniv
Monitoring situation,
talks on, says MEA
CHINESE BRIDGE OVER PANGONG TSO LAKE
New Delhi (Ahen-
cies): The security
agencies have been put
on alert and vigil has
been increased in and
around the holy city of
Amritsar ahead of 38th
anniversary of Opera-
tion Blue Star next
month.
Operation Blue Star
was carried out by the
Indian Army at the Dar-
bar Sahib complex be-
tween June 1 and 8,
1984.
The banned outfit
Sikhs For Justice, says
a senior official, has an-
nounced that it will
hold a ‘Khalistan’ refer-
endum on 6 June.
“Keeping this in mind a
general alert has been
raised in entire state,”
says a senior official in
the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA).
According to the
Chief Minister, 10 com-
panies have already
been sanctioned 10
more will be sanctioned
by Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, general
alert has been raised
in Punjab after rocket-
propelled grenade or
RPG attack at an intel-
ligence headquarters
in Mohali. In
Himachal, ‘Khalistan’
flags were found
draped at the gate of
the state Assembly in
Dharamshala.
New Delhi (ANI): The
Ministryof ExternalAf-
fairs (MEA) on Thurs-
daysaidthatitwasmon-
itoring the situation af-
ter reports claimed that
the Chinese side was
constructing a second
bridge over the Pangong
Tso Lake in the Union
Territory of Ladakh.
Answering a question
regarding the recent
bridge reportedly built
by the Chinese side over
the Pangong Tso Lake
and, MEA spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi said
thatthetwoissuesof the
bridge and the talks are
different and are being
dealt with at different
levels.
“There is this issue
of talks as well as the
bridge. On the talks
part of it, we have been
pretty clear, we have
been saying the same
thing repeatedly, and
we have had various
rounds of conversa-
tions with the Chinese
side at different levels
diplomatic and military
side,” Bagchi said.
India calls out the West, says food grains
shouldn’t go the way of Covid vaccines
India on Wednesday ex-
pressed concern over
the hoarding of food
grains and discrimina-
tion amid an “unjusti-
fied increase” in food
prices and cautioned
the West that the issue
should not go the way
of Covid-19 vaccines,
for which poor coun-
tries struggled even for
initial doses, while rich
nations had an excess
of what they needed.
Minister of State for
External Affairs V Mu-
raleedharan said that
India’s decision to re-
strict wheat exports will
ensure it can “truly”
respond to those most in
need. “A number of low-
income societies are to-
day confronted with the
twin challenges of ris-
ing costs and difficulty
in access to food grains.
Even those like India,
which have adequate
stocks, have seen an un-
justified increase in
food prices. It is clear
that hoarding and spec-
ulation are at work. We
cannot allow this to
pass unchallenged,” Mr
Muraleedharan said.
“In order to manage
our own overall food se-
curity and support the
needs of neighbouring
and other vulnerable
developing countries,
we have announced
some measures regard-
ing wheat exports on
May 13, 2022,” he said.
The Minister of State
for External Affairs was
speaking at the ministe-
rial meeting on the
‘Global Food Security
Call to Action’, which
waschairedbyUSSecre-
tary of State Antony
Blinken under the US
Presidencyof theUNSe-
curity Council for May
.
The minister empha-
sised that India will
play its due role in ad-
vancing global food se-
curity and it will do so
in a manner in which it
upholds equity
, displays
compassion, and pro-
motes social justice.
“We have already
seen to our great cost
how these principles
were disregarded in the
case of Covid-19 vac-
cines. Open markets
must not become an ar-
gument to perpetuate
inequity and promote
discrimination,” Mura-
leedharan said.
RAIN RUINATION
Cars submerged in standing water after heavy rainfall, in Agartala on Thursday.
‘WILL KEEP HELPING NEIGHBOURS’
Muraleedharan also highlighted India’s “track re-
cord” of helping its partners in distress, saying
that even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic
and ongoing conflicts including the war in Ukraine,
the country has never been found wanting. “In
keeping with our ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutum-
bakam’, and our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, we
will continue to assist our neighbours, in their hour
of need, and stand by them, always,” he said.
TWO-DAY WEATHER WARNING FOR KASHMIR
Srinagar (Agencies):
The Meteorological
Department on Thursday
issued an advisory ask-
ing farmers to suspend
agricultural operations
and tourists to avoid shi-
kara (boat) rides on Dal
lake and cable car rides
in Gulmarg for 2 days
because of likely gusty
winds and hailstorm
on May 19 and 20.The
advisory issued by the
MeT department said
that there is a possibil-
ity of light to moderate
rain with thunder and
lightning accompanied
by hailstorm and gusty
winds at 30-40 kmph
over most parts of Kash-
mir and isolated places
of Jammu Ladakh
divisions from May 19
to May 23. “Farmers
are advised to avoid or
suspend any kind of
chemical spray including
fertiliser application and
irrigation,” the advi-
sory read, adding that
“People should avoid
cable car in Gulmarg and
shikara ride in Dal and
other lakes”.
Police personnel inspect security arrangements. —FILE PHOTO
Globally, around 65 million people are at risk due to climate
change-induced hunger.
HOARDING AT WORK
—PHOTO
BY
PTI

BIZ BUZZ
06
INDIAISFASTEST-GROWING MAJORECONOMY:UN
United Nations (PTI):
As the Ukraine conflict
impacts the global
GDP, India is projected
to grow by 6.4% in 2022,
slower than the last
year’s 8.8% but still the
fastest-growing major
economy, with higher
inflationary pressures
and uneven recovery
of the labour market
curbing private con-
sumption and invest-
ment, according to a
UN report.
The UN Department
of Economic and So-
cial Affairs said in its
WESP report released
that the war in Ukraine
has upended the fragile
economic recovery
from the pandemic,
triggering a devastat-
ing humanitarian cri-
sis in Europe, increas-
ing food and commodi-
ty prices and globally
exacerbating inflation-
ary pressures.
The global economy
is now projected to
grow by only 3.1% in
2022, down from the
4.0% growth forecast
released in January
2022. Global inflation is
projected to increase to
6.7% in 2022, twice the
average of 2.9% during
2010–2020, with sharp
rises in food and ener-
gy prices, it said.
The report said that
the outlook in South
Asia has deteriorated
in recent months,
against the backdrop
of the ongoing conflict
in Ukraine, and higher
commodity prices and
potential negative
spillover effects from
monetary tightening in
the United States.
The regional eco-
nomic output is pro-
jected to expand by
5.5% in 2022, which is
0.4 percentage points
lower than the forecast
released in January
.
“India, the largest
economy in the region,
is expected to grow by
6.4% in 2022, well be-
low the 8.8% growth in
2021, as higher infla-
tionary pressures and
uneven recovery of the
labour market will
curb private consump-
tion and investment,”
it said.
For the fiscal year
2023, India’s growth is
forecast to be 6%.
Lead Author Chief,
Global Economic Mon-
itoring Branch, Eco-
nomic Analysis and
Policy Division, United
Nations Department of
Economic and Social
Affairs Hamid Rashid
told reporters at the
UN Headquarters that
almost all regions in
the world are affected
by high inflation ex-
cept for East Asia and
South Asia.
He said “India in
that sense” is a “little
bit” in a better position
as it did not have to ag-
gressively pursue mon-
etary tightening com-
pared to other coun-
tries in Latin America.
India’s projected
growth for 2022 is 6.4%,
a downward adjust-
ment of 0.3% from Jan-
uary
.
“We expect Indian
recovery to remain
strong in the near
term, in the next year
and two, but again we
cannot completely dis-
count the downside
risk that would come
from external chan-
nels. So that risk is still
there,” he said.
The report added
that higher prices and
shortages of farming
inputs including ferti-
lisers are likely to per-
sist in the region.
“This will probably
result in weaker har-
vests and exert further
upward pressures on
food prices in the near
term,” the report said.
It said along with
higher energy prices,
elevated prices of food
will likely increase
food insecurity across
the region. Consumer
Price Inflation in the
region is expected to
accelerate to 9.5% in
2022, from 8.9% in 2021.
The report also said
that tighter external
financial conditions
will adversely affect re-
gional growth pros-
pects, especially for
countries with high
exposure to global cap-
ital markets facing
debt distress or risks
of debt default.
Gurugram (PTI):
Maruti Suzuki India
(MSI) on Thursday said
its new manufacturing
facility in Haryana, the
company’s third in the
state, would reach peak
production capacity of
10 lakh units per an-
num in the next eight
years entailing a total
investment of Rs 18,000
crore.
The new facility,
which would come at a
800-acre site at IMT
Kharkhoda in Sonipat
district, will entail total
investment of Rs 11,000
crore in the first phase
with a production ca-
pacity of 2.5 lakh units
per annum.
The first set of vehi-
cles are expected to roll
out from the facility in
2025. Speaking at an
event here to mark the
formal announcement
of land allotment to the
auto major, MSI Chair-
man RC Bhargava said
the 10 lakh production
capacity at the Sonipat
plant would help in ca-
tering to the demand in
both domestic as well as
export markets.
“We expect, subject to
market conditions in
India being favourable
we will be able to reach
our peak production ca-
pacity in the Sonipat
plant in eight years.
The plant will then be-
come the largest site in
the country with pro-
duction capacity of 10
lakh cars,” he noted.
The success of Suzu-
ki in India has actually
led to the strengthening
of economic ties be-
tween India and Japan,
Bhargava said.
He noted that the suc-
cess of MSI shows that
there is no alternative
but for governments
and the private sector to
work together with mu-
tual trust.
Maruti to invest `18k cr in Sonipat plant
New
manufacturing
facility in
Haryana would
reach peak
production
capacity of 10 L
units per annum
ACCORDING TO A UN REPORT,
INDIA IS PROJECTED TO GROW
BY 6.4% IN 2022
GLOBAL ECONOMY
LPG price up by `3.5,
crosses `1,000 mark
New Delhi (PTI):
Cooking gas LPG price
was on Thursday hiked
by `3.50 per cylinder,
the second increase in
rate this month follow-
ing the firming of inter-
national energy rates.
Non-subsidised LPG
now costs `1,003 per
14.2-kg cylinder in the
national capital, up
from `999.50 previously,
according to a price no-
tification of state-
owned fuel retailers.
This is the second in-
crease in LPG rate this
month and the third in
less than two months.
The price was hiked by
`50 per cylinder on
March 22 and again by
the same quantum on
May 7.
Since April 2021, pric-
es have risen by `193.5
per cylinder.
Non-subsidised cook-
ing gas is the one that
consumers buy after
exhausting their quota
of 12 cylinders at subsi-
dised or below-market
rates.
Non-subsidised LPG
costs `1,002.50 per 14.2-
kg cylinder in Mumbai
while it is priced at
`1,018.50 a bottle in
Chennai and `1,029 in
Kolkata.
Alongside, oil firms
also hiked the price of
commercial LPG cylin-
ders by `8 per cylinder
to `2,354 per 19-kg bot-
tle. On May 1, the price
of a commercial LPG
cylinder was increased
by `102.50 to `2,355.50.
Adani forays
into healthcare
services
New Delhi (PTI):
Billionaire Gautam
Adani’s group has
created a new
company for its
foray into healthcare
services through the
acquisition of large
hospitals, diag-
nostic chains, and
offline and digital
pharmacies. Adani
Enterprises Ltd in a
regulatory filing said
a wholly-owned sub-
sidiary, Adani Health
Ventures Ltd (AHVL)
was incorporated
on May 17, 2022.
AVHL will “carry
on the business of
healthcare-related
activities.
SC: GST rulings
not binding on
Centre, States
New Delhi (PTI): The
Supreme Court on
Thursday ruled that
the GST council’s
recommendations
are not binding on
Union and State but
have a persuasive
value as the country
has a cooperative
federal structure. A
bench of Justices DY
Chandrachud, Surya
Kant, Vikram Nath
also held that the
Centre and State
govts have simulta-
neous powers to leg-
islate on GST but the
council must work
in a harmonious
manner to achieve a
workable solution.
Sugar exports
up 64% to 71
lakh tonnes
New Delhi (PTI):
Sugar exports have
risen by 64% to 71
lakh tonnes during
October 2021-April
2022 period on
better demand for
the Indian sweetener
in global markets,
according to industry
body ISMA. In a
statement, ISMA
said that 43.19 lakh
tonnes of sugar was
exported during
the corresponding
period of the last
year. ISMA said it
expects over 90 lakh
tonnes of export in
the current 2021-22
marketing year.
SENSEX TANKS 1416 POINTS
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmarks fell sharp-
ly on Thursday, mirror-
ing a sell-off in global
markets, with the
Sensex and Nifty tum-
bling over 2.60% on
across-the-board sell-
ing.
Persistent foreign
fund outflows also con-
tinue to dampen senti-
ment. The 30-share BSE
benchmark Sensex
dived 1,416.30 points or
2.61% to settle at
52,792.23. During the
day, it tumbled 1,539.02
points or 2.83% to
52,669.51.
The broader NSE Nif-
ty tanked 430.90 points
or 2.65% to end at
15,809.40.
From the Sensex
firms, HCL Technolo-
gies, Wipro, Infosys,
TCS, Tech Mahindra,
Tata Steel, IndusInd
Bank and Kotak Mahin-
dra Bank were the ma-
jor laggards. ITC and Dr
Reddy’s emerged as the
gainers.
INVESTORS LOSE
OVER ` 6.71 LAKH CR
New Delhi (PTI): Equity
investors became poorer
by over `6.71 lakh crore
on Thursday as domestic
benchmark indices tum-
bled amid a global market
meltdown. In line with the
weak market trend, the
market capitalisation of
BSE-listed firms tumbled
by `6,71,051.73 crore to
stand at `2,49,06,394.08
crore.
ITC SHARES JUMP OVER 3%;
MCAP CLIMBS `11,276 CRORE
New Delhi (PTI): Shares of ITC jumped
over 3% on Thursday after the company
reported an 11.60% rise in consolidated
net profit for the
fourth quarter
ended March. The
stock gained 3.43%
to settle at `275.65
on the BSE. During the day, it jumped
4.74% to its 52-week high of `279.15. At
the NSE, it went up by 3.35% to end at
`275.75 apiece. The company’s market
valuation jumped by `11,276.55 crore
to `3,39,690.55 crore on the BSE. In
volume terms, 23.54 lakh shares were
traded at the BSE and over 7.82 crore
shares at the NSE during the day.
` SLUMPS 10 PAISE TO CLOSE AT
ALL-TIME LOW OF 77.72/$
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee extended its
losses and slumped 10 paise to close at a
record low of 77.72 (provisional) against
the US dollar on
Thursday, weighed
down by a negative
trend in domes-
tic equities and
unabated foreign fund outflows. At the
interbank foreign exchange market, the
rupee opened lower at 77.72 against the
greenback, and finally settled for the day
at 77.72, down 10 paise over its previous
close. During the trading session, the ru-
pee touched an intra-day low of 77.76 and
a high of 77.63. On Wednesday, the rupee
declined by 18 paise to close at 77.62.
‘Wealth
creation pvt
sector’s job’
New Delhi (PTI):
NITI Aayog CEO Am-
itabh Kant on Thurs-
day said it is the pri-
vate sector’s job to
create wealth and the
government should
focus on laying down
public policy frame-
work.
“The govern-
ment’s job should be
laying down public
policy framework, it
is the private sector’s
job to create wealth.
The only other areas
where the govern-
ment should be are
health, education
and nutrition,” he
said.
Risingcotton,yarn
pricesmayhitapparel
exportstarget
New Delhi (PTI):
The unabated surge
in prices of cotton
and cotton yarn
may affect the coun-
try’s apparel ex-
ports target of $19-
20 billion during
the current fiscal,
AEPC chairman
said on Thursday
.
He said that the
prices have jumped
by about 125-130%
during the last 18
months and one of
the reasons for that
would be “un-
checked” exports of
cotton and cotton
yarn. He suggested
the government to
impose a temporary
ban on exports of
cotton and cotton
yarn. “In 2021-22,
the exports were $16
billion and we are
targeting $19-20 bil-
lion this fiscal. But
because of the price
rise, it looks to be a
concern on achiev-
ing the target. The
industry is facing a
big challenge at the
raw material front,”
Goenka said.
He added that if
the price rise does
not stop, global cus-
tomers would start
looking at sourcing
options other than
India.
Temporary ban
Mumbai (PTI): Larg-
est private sector lender
HDFC Bank on Thurs-
day announced that it
has carved out rural
banking as a separate
vertical and will be
opening 1,060 branches
in mofussil areas and
semi-urban pockets as
part of the increased
focus in FY23.
Earlier, rural bank-
ing was a part of the
wider retail branch
banking vertical, and
the bank has appointed
Anil Bhavnani to head
the newly-carved rural
banking vertical.
It can be noted that
there seems to be an in-
creased focus on the ru-
ral banking business
among lenders, espe-
cially in the private sec-
tor who were earlier
blamed for focusing
only on the cash-spin-
ning urban pockets
which had prompted
policy to mandate rural
presence.
The largest private
sector lender said the
move is a part of mak-
ing the bank future
ready, and will address
the untapped opportu-
nities in the market.
MM, Volkswagen sign pact
for MEB electric components
Mumbai (PTI): Volk-
swagen and Mahindra
Mahindra are explor-
ing the use of modular
electric drive matrix
(MEB) components for
the latter’s new ‘Born
Electric Platform’.
MM intends to
equip its Born Electric
Platform with MEB
electric components
such as electric motors,
battery system compo-
nents and battery cells,
MM said in a release
on Thursday
.
The binding supply
contract is planned to
be concluded by the end
of 2022, it said.
MEB electric plat-
form and its compo-
nents allow car manu-
facturers to build their
portfolio of electrified
vehicles, quickly and
cost-effectively
.
MM officials and Volkswagen officials sign the pact.
HDFC Bank carves out
rural banking separately

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A day af-
ter Hardik Patel left the
Congress, the party’s
Gujarat unit president
Jagdish Thakor on
Thursday claimed that
he took the step as he
was afraid that he
might have to go to jail
in sedition cases regis-
tered against him.
Thakor also claimed
that Patel might join the
ruling BJP
.
The Congress leader
made these claims soon
after Patel held a press
conference here, in
which he alleged that
he was not given any
meaningful work de-
spite being the working
president of the party’s
state unit. Patel also
accused the party of
having no vision
and its state unit
being too much into
“caste-based politics”.
Patel resigned from
the Congress on
Wednesday, months
ahead of the Assembly
polls in Gujarat, claim-
ing that top leaders of
the party were distract-
ed by their mobile
phones and that Guja-
rat Congress leaders
were more in-
terested in
arranging
c h i c k e n
sandwich-
es for
them. Pa-
tel was
made the
w o r k -
ing president in July
2020, a year after he was
inducted into the Con-
gress in the presence of
Rahul Gandhi.
Talking to reporters
in Rajkot, over 220 kms
from here, Thakor al-
leged that whatever Pa-
tel spoke during the
press conference earlier
in the day and what was
written in his resigna-
tion letter was scripted
by the ruling BJP.
“Hardik feared that
he may have to go to jail
in sedition cases if he
stays in Congress.
Hence, to save himself
from the possible pun-
ishment, he decided to
quit Congress and he
might join the BJP as
well,” Thakor claimed.
Patel, who once led
the Patidar communi-
ty’s agitation for reser-
vation, faces nearly 25
criminal cases in Guja-
rat, including sedition
FIRs registered one
each in Ahmedabad and
Surat.Refuting Patel’s
allegations that he was
sidelined and not given
any important work de-
spite being a working
president, Thakor said
the party had made him
a “star campaigner” in
the recently-held As-
sembly polls to five
states.
“Not just that. He was
given the facility to
travel in helicopters
and planes. He was al-
ways given importance
during the key national-
level party meetings,”
claimed Thakor, who
accused him of being in
touch with the BJP for
some time.
HardikquitCongfearingjailin
seditioncases,sayspartyleader
Thakor claims Patel’s resignation scripted by BJP and he might join party
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In the
wake of a slew of peti-
tions filed in various
courts over the Krish-
naJanmabhoomi-Sha-
hi Eidgah dispute, the
Uttar Pradesh Police
have directed its units
in eight districts to ‘re-
main on high alert’.
The petitioners
have sought restric-
tions on the presence
of Muslims at the
mosque, situated near
the Shri Krishna tem-
ple complex in the city
.
Additional Director
General (Agra zone)
Rajeev Krishna said
that he had issued in-
structionsacrosseight
districts of the Agra
zone, which includes
Mathura, to ensure se-
curity not only at the
disputed site but else-
where too, especially
sensitive spots.
The ADG said that
police chiefs of all the
eight districts in the
region have been in-
structed to keep a
close watch on anti-
social elements. He
said that if anyone
tries to disrupt har-
mony in the name of
religion, immediate
action will be taken
against them. Mathu-
ra Senior Superinten-
dent of Police Gaurav
Grover said that the
security has been
tightened in the dis-
trict and all efforts are
being made to main-
tain peace.
This came even as a
fresh plea was filed in
the court of the civil
judge on Wednesday
by ABHM’s Dinesh
Sharma who said that
‘being a Hindu’, he
had the right to offer
prayers at the Idgah
as it was an ancient
temple.
8 UP districts on high alert
following Mathura dispute
New Delhi (PTI): Ja-
nata Dal (United) leader
andUnionMinisterRCP
Singh on Thursday set
tongues wagging within
his party with strident
criticism of the choice
of Jawaharlal Nehru as
the country’s prime
minister, a longstanding
BJPplank,andclaiming
that he got the top post
despite enjoying little
supportintheCongress’
organisation and it was
our “first mistake”.
The former JD(U)
president’s sharp take
on Nehru is significant
as Nitish Kumar, the
party’s main face and
Bihar chief minister, is
not really known for
holding strong views
against India’s first
prime minister and
has in the past even
praised him.
Speaking at a semi-
nar on “Threat of Dy-
nastic Political Parties
to Democratic Govern-
ance”, organised by
RSS-linked Rambhau
Mhalgi Prabodhini,
Singh also countered
the Congress’ repeated
emphasis about leaders
from the Gandhi family
making sacrifice for
the country, saying one
has to bear whatever
comes with the post he
or she holds.
People like Bhagat
Singh also made sacri-
fices without holding
any position, he said.
Singh, once consid-
ered a confidant of the
chief minister, was also
not present in Patna on
Thursday where top
party leaders, includ-
ing Kumar, accompa-
nied its Rajya Sabha
bypoll candidate Anil
Hegde during the nomi-
nation filing. A section
of JD(U) leaders claim
that Singh, the only
leader of the party in
the Narendra Modi gov-
ernment, has veered
closer to the BJP, with
the relation between
the two parties seem-
ingly far from smooth
even though both are
allies in Bihar.
RCP Singh sets
tongues wagging
within JD(U)
Uttar Pradesh police keeping a high vigil.
Janata Dal (United) leader and
Union Minister RCP Singh.
KEEPING
CLOSE WATCH
The ADG said that
police chiefs of all
the eight districts in
the region have been
instructed to keep a
close watch on anti-
social elements.
BIG BOLT FOR CONG AHEAD
OF ASSEMBLY POLLS IN GUJ
Patel resigned from the Congress on
Wednesday, months ahead of the Assembly
polls in Gujarat, claiming that top leaders of
the party were distracted by their mobile
phones and that Gujarat Congress leaders
were more interested in arranging
chicken sandwiches for them.
Patel was made the working
president in July 2020, a year
after he was inducted into the
Congress in the presence of
Rahul Gandhi.
New Delhi (PTI): In a
relief to jailed Sama-
jwadi Party leader
Azam Khan, the Su-
preme Court Thursday
granted him interim
bail in an alleged cheat-
ing case paving way for
his release, saying it is
a fit case to invoke its
extraordinary power
under Article 142 of the
Constitution as facts in
the present case are
very peculiar.
“The petitioner is di-
rected to be released
on interim bail in re-
spect of FIR being
Case Crime No.70 of
2020, registered with
Police Station Kotwali,
Rampur, Uttar Pradesh
for the offences pun-
ishable under Sections
420 (cheating) and 120B
(criminal conspiracy)
of the IPC on such
terms and conditions
as found appropriate
by the trial court,” a
bench headed by Jus-
tice L Nageswara Rao
said.
The bench noted that
“in ordinary circum-
stances, we would not
have entertained the
present writ petition.
The petitioner would
have been directed to
take recourse to the
remedy available to
him in law.
However, the facts in
the present case are
very peculiar.” The top
court said though
FIR, in this case, was
registered on March 18,
2020, and the charge
sheet was filed on Sep-
tember 10, 2020, Khan
has only now been im-
plicated, i.e., after a pe-
riod of one year and
seven months, by order
dated May 6, 2022,
passed by the Addition-
al Chief Judicial Magis-
trate, Rampur.
The bench also reject-
ed the submission of
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment that Khan has
threatened the investi-
gating officer (IO) in the
case.
SC grants interim bail to Azam Khan
Rains wreak havoc in Karnataka
EXCESSIVE RAIN CAUSES CONCERN
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. —FILE PHOTO
Bengaluru (PTI):
Heavy downpour con-
tinued to wreak havoc
in various parts of Kar-
nataka including Ben-
galuru for the third day
leading to declaration
of holiday for schools in
some regions.
Normal life was
thrown out of gear in
several parts of the
State since Tuesday
with the pounding
rains. In view of heavy
rains in Dakshina Kan-
nada district for the sec-
ond day, deputy com-
missioner K V Rajendra
declared a holiday to all
government, aided, un-
aided primary and high
schools. Udupi Deputy
Commissioner M Kur-
ma Rao also instructed
schools to take deci-
sions on holiday as
heavy rains are contin-
uing in the twin coastal
districts.
In the state capital,
there was no respite
from rains today as the
downpour continued
for the third consecu-
tive day
. Families living
in low-lying areas strug-
gled to remove rain wa-
ter that gushed into
their houses.
First India Bureau
Agra: Union Minister
for Minority Affairs
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
and Uttar Pradesh Dep-
uty Chief Minister
Brajesh Pathak inaugu-
rated the 41st Hunar
Haat’, which provides
market exposure and
employment opportuni-
ties to artisans, crafts-
men and traditional cu-
linary experts, here on
Thursday
.
More than 800 arti-
sans and craftsmen
from 32 states and Un-
ion Territories are par-
ticipating in the 12-day
‘Hunar Haat’, being or-
ganised at Shilpgram in
Agra’s Tajganj.
Stressing that Hunar
Haat’ is a credible con-
fluence of vocal for lo-
cal’, swadeshi’, self-reli-
ant India’ and ek bharat
shreshtha bharat’ initi-
atives, Naqvi said that
the event is playing a
pivotal role in preserva-
tion, protection, promo-
tion of centuries-old
rich legacy of art and
craft of the country
.
Cutting across barri-
ers of caste, communi-
ty, region and religion,
Hunar Haat’ has pro-
vided employment and
self-employment oppor-
tunities to about 10.5
lakh artisans and
craftsmen from all sec-
tions of the society in
the last six years. More
than 50 per cent benefi-
ciaries are women arti-
sans from all sections,
he said.
Naqvi said that by erad-
icating the disease of
policy paralysis , Prime
Minister Narendra
Modihasbecomean“in-
stitution of good gov-
ernance and mission of
inclusive development”.
Naqvi and Pathak inaugurate 41st ‘Hunar Haat’ in Agra
PLATFORM FOR ARTISANS CRAFTSMEN

Hunar Haat’,
provides market
exposure and
employment
opportunities to
artisans,
craftsmen
and traditional
culinary
experts
H
H
H
‘EK BHARAT SHRESHTHA BHARAT’
New Delhi (PTI): A
group of postgraduate
students at the Jamia
Millia Islamia boycott-
ed offline examinations
on Thursday, demand-
ing that they be held in
online mode.
The students also
staged a protest outside
Vice-Chancellor Najma
Akhtar's office to press
their demand.
The exams for the
majority of postgradu-
ate courses, including
MBA, MA (Human
Rights), MA (Public Ad-
ministration) and MA
(Political Science) be-
gan on Tuesday
.
A group of students
had also boycotted
the exams on the first
day
.
According to offi-
cials, around 150 stu-
dents of the three MBA
courses — M.B.A., MBA
and MBA —did not sit
for exams on Thursday
.
PG students at Jamia
boycott offline exams
PROTECT BRAND BENGALURU: KRISHNA
WORLD BEE
DAY EVENT IN
GUJTODAY
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Ministry of Agri-
culture and Farm-
er’s Welfare
(MoAFW), Gov-
ernment of India
is celebrating
World Bee Day on
Friday at Tent
City -II, Ekta Na-
gar, Narmada,
Gujarat.
The World Bee
Day celebration
would be graced
by Narendra Sin-
gh Tomar, Union
Minister of Agri-
culture and Farm-
ers Welfare.
The MoAFW
is observing this
significant day to
promote beekeep-
ing for the bene-
fit of small farm-
ers of the coun-
try under the
guidance of
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
The bench noted
that “in ordinary
circumstances,
we would not
have entertained
the present writ
petition.

Equality cannot be achieved
unless it is understood from the
point of the view of the
underprivileged. —Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Mumbai: A day after
the Supreme Court
granted her bail, a spe-
cial CBI court in Mum-
bai on Thursday said
Indrani Mukerjea can
walk out on bail after
furnishing a bond of
Rs 2 lakh as it finalised
her bail conditions.
Mukherjea (50) has
spent six-and-a-half
years in jail after she
was arrested in 2015 on
charges of killing her
daughter Sheena Bora
(24) in April 2012. The
high-profile case was
taken over by the CBI
subsequently
.
The CBI court said
the former media ex-
ecutive can be released
from the Byculla wom-
en’s prison in Mumbai
upon furnishing a cash
bail bond of Rs2 lakh
and a solvent surety of
the same amount.
The special court,
which is hearing the
sensational case, also
directed Mukerjea not
to tamper with evi-
dence while out on
bail.
08
2NDFRONT
Indiaisnewhopeforworldamidstconflicts:PM
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Highlight-
ing the country’s ris-
ing stature at the inter-
national forums,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Thursday
said that India offers
new hope for the world
amidst global unrest
and conflicts.
Addressing the
‘Yuva Shivir’ organ-
ised at Karelibaug, Va-
dodara via video con-
ferencing, PM Modi
said, “From delivering
vaccines and medi-
cines to the world amid
the COVID crisis and
scattered supply chain
to the role of a capable
nation for peace in the
midst of global unrest
and conflicts, India is
the new hope of the
world today.” Prime
Minister’s remarks as-
sumed significance
amid the Ukraine-Rus-
sia war which is add-
ing to the woes of glob-
al supply chains.
“We are showing the
path of Yoga to the en-
tire humanity and the
power of Ayurveda.
We are emerging as a
nationlookingforward
to a new future, from
software to space. To-
day, the way of work-
ing of the government
has changed in the
country, the thinking
of the society has
changed and public
participation has in-
creased. The goals
which were considered
impossible for India
once, today the world is
also seeing how India
is doing better in such
areas,” he said.
Referring to Indian
culture, PM said ‘San-
skar’ means educa-
tion, service, sensitiv-
ity, dedication, deter-
minationandstrength.
“Our saints and
scriptures have taught
us that any society is
formed by continuous
character building
through generations.
Today we are taking a
collective resolve,
making efforts to
build a new India. A
new India with a for-
ward-looking ap-
proach and ancient
tradition,” added the
Prime Minister.
Modi addresses
‘Yuva Shivir’
organised
by Shree
Swaminarayan
Temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
YUVA SHIVIR’S AIM
Cong neither nat’l nor Indian, it’s
now party of ‘bhai-bahan’: Nadda
New Delhi (PTI): The
Congress is neither na-
tional nor Indian and
not democratic either
and has become a “bhai-
bahan” party, BJP pres-
ident J P Nadda said
on Thursday in a sharp
attack on dynastic po-
litical parties.
Addressing a semi-
nar on “Threat of Dy-
nastic Political Parties
to Democratic Govern-
ance”, Nadda said in
dynastic parties, one
person’s interest reigns
supreme and that such
parties are a threat to
democracy. While the
Constitution bars any
discrimination on the
basis of birth, the lead-
ership in these parties
is decided on the basis
of birth and others are
ignored, he said, men-
tioning a host of dynas-
ty-run regional parties
in almost every state as
well as the Congress in
his attack.
These parties lack
any ideology and their
sole aim is to grab pow-
er, Nadda alleged.
The BJP president
blamed the Congress for
the growth of regional
parties, accusing the
main opposition party
of not giving space to
regional aspirations
during its dominance
over national politics.
The BJP, he said, be-
lieves in “unity among
diversity” and gives
space to regional aspi-
rations while keeping
the centre strong.
As regional parties
grow, personality cults
become “overbearing
and overwhelming” in
these outfits, sidetrack-
ing ideology and local
aspirations, Nadda said.
“What is most sad-
dening is that the Con-
gress has become nei-
ther national nor Indian
nor democratic. It is
also standing now as a
party of bhai-bahan,”
he said, in an apparent
reference to Rahul Gan-
dhi and Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra playing key
roles in running the
show in their party
.
The BJP is the only
party where internal de-
mocracy is maintained,
Nadda said.
Citing the presence
of dynastic parties from
JK to Punjab, Hary-
ana, Uttar Pradesh, Bi-
har, Odisha, Maharash-
tra, West Bengal,
Jharkhand, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana, he said
family interests are su-
preme in these parties,
vitiating the election
process.
First India Bureau
Cannes [France]:
Speaking about the
“cinematic excellence,
technological prowess,
rich culture and illus-
trious heritage of story-
telling” of India, Infor-
mation and Broadcast-
ing Minister Anurag
Thakur on Thursday
said that India’s red car-
pet presence captured
the diversity of cine-
matic excellence not
only in terms of repre-
sentation of actors and
filmmakers but also
through OTT platforms.
Thakur’s remarks
came while delivering
the official keynote ad-
dress after inaugurat-
ing the Indian Pavillion
at Cannes Film Festi-
val. The Union Minister
said, “India’s red carpet
presence captured the
diversity of our cine-
matic excellence not
only in the terms of rep-
resentation of actors
and filmmakers from
various languages and
regions but also the
OTT platforms.”
“Indian cinema has
played a crucial role
and portrayed our fight
for Independence, be it
through turbulent
times and in our times,”
Thakur said.
Indian content is ruling the hearts: Thakur
CANNES 2022
lll
Union IB
Minister says
in 5 years
Bharat will be
amongst the
leading quality
content
producing
nations across
the globe
Special CBI court sets Indrani
Mukerjea’s bail bond of `2 lakh
Sidhu road rage case: Victim’s family thanks Almighty after SC verdict
Patiala (PTI): After the
SC imposed a one-year
jail term on cricketer-
turned-politician Navjot
Singh Sidhu in a 1988
road rage case on Thurs-
day, the family of the
victim, Gurnam Singh,
thanked the Almighty
.
Asked about her re-
action on the verdict,
Gurnam Singh’s daugh-
ter-in-law Parveen
Kaur said, “We thank
Baba Ji (Almighty). We
had left it to Baba ji.
Whatever Baba Ji has
done is right.”She re-
fused to speak more on
the matter.
The family resides at
Ghalori village, five km
from Patiala city. In his
reaction, Gurnam Sin-
gh’s grandson Sabby
Singh just said, “We
thank God.”
A bench of Justices A
M Khanwilkar and S K
Kaul allowed the review
plea filed by the victim’s
family on the issue of
the sentence awarded to
Sidhu. Though the apex
court had in May 2018
held Sidhu guilty of the
offence of “voluntarily
causing hurt” to a
65-year-old Gurnam Sin-
gh in the case, it spared
him a jail term and im-
posed a fine of Rs 1,000.
“...we feel there is an
error apparent on the
face of record .there-
fore, we have allowed
the review application
on the issue of sentence.
In addition to the fine
imposed, we consider it
appropriate to impose a
sentence of imprison-
ment for a period of one
year...,” the bench said
while pronouncing the
verdict.
WHO: COVID
deaths dropped
by 21% last week
Geneva (AP): The
number of coronavirus
deaths globally dropped
by about 21per cent in
the past week while
cases rose in most parts
of the world, according
to the World Health Or-
ganization.
In its weekly report
on the pandemic re-
leased Thursday, the
U.N. health agency said
the number of new
COVID-19 cases appears
to have stabilized after
weeks of decline since
late March, with about
3.5 million new cases
last week, or a 1per cent
rise. WHO said cases
increased in the Ameri-
cas, Middle East, Africa
and the Western Pacif-
ic, while falling in Eu-
rope and Southeast
Asia. Some 9,000 deaths
were recorded.
Infections rose by
more than 60per cent in
the Middle East and
26per cent in the Amer-
icas, while deaths fell
everywhere except Af-
rica,wheretheyjumped
by nearly 50per cent.
The COVID-19 figures
reported to WHO do not
include the recent out-
break figures an-
nounced by North Ko-
rea, which has yet to
officially share request-
ed data with the agency
.
On Thursday, the au-
thoritarian country
headed by Kim Jung Un
reported more than
262,000 more suspected
cases as its caseload ap-
proaches 2 million, a
week after the country
acknowledged the out-
break and scrambled to
slow infections in its
unvaccinated popula-
tion.
Earlier this week,
WHO chief Tedros Ad-
hanom Ghebreyesus
said he was deeply con-
cerned about the spread
of COVID-19 in North
Korea, noting the popu-
lation was unvaccinat-
ed and that there were
significant numbers of
people with underlying
conditions that could
put them at risk of
more severe disease
and death.
A BREATHER
BJP PRESIDENT BLAMES THE CONGRESS FOR THE GROWTH OF REGIONAL PARTIES
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. —FILE PHOTO
In September
2018, the apex
court had
agreed to
examine a
review petition
filed by the
family members
of the deceased
DISDAIN OF RAJ PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS: NADDA
There has been humiliation and disdain for the expectations
of the people. Keeping that in mind, the people have made
up their mind to give their blessings to BJP.” He further said,
“The corruption that has happened in the government, law
and order is nowhere to be seen. Creating unrest in the soci-
ety from place to place, incidents in Karauli and many other
places show that there is no such thing as administration and
govt.” After chairing the meeting of the national functionar-
ies, Nadda indulged in inspection of an exhibition at the hotel
itself. Meanwhile, BJP Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh made
a major statement on Thursday and said that a countdown
will start after the meeting of the national office bearers.
UGC
announces
CUET for
admissions
New Delhi (PTI):
The University
Grants Commis-
sion has decided
to introduce the
common univer-
sity entrance test
(CUET) for post
graduate courses
also from this
year, its chairman
Jagadesh Kumar
said on Thursday
.
The decision
comes weeks after
the UGC chief an-
nounced that
CUET scores, and
not Class 12
scores, will be
mandatory for ad-
mission to 45 cen-
tral universities
and that the cen-
tral universities
can fix their mini-
mum eligibility
criteria.
“CUET for PG
admissions will
also be introduced
from the 2022 aca-
demic session.
The exam will be
conducted in the
third week of July
and the applica-
tion process will
begin today and
will conclude on
June 18.
Jagadesh Kumar
Union Minister Anurag Thakur with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (L)
and CBFC member Prasoon Joshi. —PHOTO BY ANI
THE CASE HISTORY
Mukherjea (50) has spent
six-and-a-half years in jail
after she was arrested in
2015 on charges of killing
her daughter Sheena
Bora (24) in April 2012.
The high-profile case was
taken over by the CBI
subsequently.
BJP Chief JP Nadda
FROM PG 1

evendra Fad-
navis and his
wife Amruta, are
the perfect em-
bodiment of the
millennium cou-
ple in modern India.
Bothprofessionalshave
carved out a successful
professional and pub-
lic profile for them-
selves but, it was no
mean feat achieve-
ment for the latter.
Amruta Fadnavis’
professional pur-
suits could easily
havebeensmotheredby
the high profile of her hus-
band Devendra, the erst-
while Maharashtra
Chief Minister and
the associated pre-
eminence of his
stature in society
.
However,Amruta
Fadnavis has held
her handling moth-
erhood, a sing-
ing career, so-
cial work, be-
ing a banker
and coping
ably even
when she
was drawn into the public
domain through controver-
sies regarding her hus-
band’s political personality
.
Self admittedly, the cou-
ple always gave each other
the requisite space to excel
in their respective voca-
tions. While Amruta has
been recognized as one of
the contemporary singers
and style divas in music and
modern society, she had re-
tained the distinct tradition-
al culture of a typical Maha-
rashtrian family
.
Amruta’s multifaceted
personality and her free-
spirited and candid demean-
ourwouldhavebeendifficult
to pull off as successfully as
she has for lesser mortals.
She has multitasked even in
the professional sphere of
work she has engaged in and
is an inspiration for women
seekingtobehighachievers.
She was candid during a
recent television talk show
about how she found en-
couragement and support
to pursue her professional
interests from her hubby,
Devendra, whose preoccu-
pation with full-time poli-
tics has meant quality fam-
ily time came at a premium
for the couple.
Amruta projects the per-
fectimageof themillennium
woman, who is not intimi-
datedbythebustlingdynam-
ics of the ever-changing po-
litical ecosystem in Maha-
rashtra. Her headstrong na-
ture was noted, even by Dev-
endra’spoliticalrivals,when
shechosetofileadefamation
suit against now incarcerat-
edMVAministerNawabMa-
lik over his pejorative public
messages against her.
Amruta knows her mind
well and is clear about her
choice of sporting a modern
clothesline. Why she has
been sought by many a fash-
ionista designer to flaunt
designerbrandlabelsduring
fashion shows. She does not
take the easy path of being
the understated or even un-
derminedwifeof ahigh-pro-
file politician. Instead, she
stands out as a free-thinking
individual who speaks her
mind, does not mince her
words and will take the fight
toanyonewhodarestoscorn
her, as a few seasoned politi-
cians have found out to their
own detriment.
Her creativity has also led
her to create music albums
thataresociallyrelevantand
immensely popular, the lat-
est being a music album that
features the Big B of Bolly-
wood – Amitabh Bachchan.
Amruta’s ability to hold her
ownasabanker,socialwork-
er, playback singer, fashioni-
sta, mother as well as the
better half of a high-profile
politician successfully has
seen her emerge as a leading
light for the next millennial
generation in India.
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY,
MAY 20, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirst-
india facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
TRADITIONAL
TRADITIONAL
CULTURAL VALUES
CULTURAL VALUES
AMRUTA FADNAVIS: FASHIONISTA WITH
D
CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU A GLIMPSE OF THE MULTI-FACETED WOMAN THAT AMRUTA FADNAVIS IS! SHE IS ONE POLITICIAN’S
WIFE WHO HAS CARVED A PARALLEL NICHE FOR HERSELF, WEARS IRON GLOVES AND IS VERY MUCH THE SUCCESSFUL
SUPERWOMAN BEHIND THE SUCCESSFUL MAN. AN INSPIRATION TO MANY, AMRUTA IS KNOWN TO WEAR HER LAURELS LIGHTLY
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@
firstindianews.com
Amruta Fadnavis at the prize distribution event for winners of Women Kabaddi
organised by Maharashtra Tamil Sports Club and BJP Dharavi division in May.
Devendra and Amruta Fadnavis with Divija on Holi
Amruta and Devendra
Amruta
Devendra and Amruta Fadnavis at the Sur Jyotsna National Music Awards Ceremony Amruta works for street children and dwellers for their betterment under the NGO Divyaj
Amruta addressing women on Womens’ Day.
Amruta prays at ancient Sri Gundi temple
at Raj Bhavan premises, on her birthday on April 9
Amruta shares a photo with her daughter Divija,
on Mother’s Day
Amruta with Divija on Gudi Padwa
Amruta

10
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
he beauty of
painting is
you’re giving a
sensation par-
allel to life, de-
scribing some-
thing in paint
which gives a different
feeling than reality
, yet
paradoxicallyenhances
the viewer’s experience
of the world.
When I first met Utt-
karsha during my
school day at Saint An-
gela Sophia School, she
instantlyappearedtobe
an introvert to me and
in a world that reveres
extroverts, it was pretty
difficult for me to com-
prehend.
In societies where be-
ing garrulous, confi-
dent and outspoken is
ideal, the quieter ones
among us may find
themselves left out,
passed over and ig-
nored. But there one
fine evening, during an
extracurricular activi-
ty, someone called out
hername,Iwasstartled
as to how she would
contribute to the up-
coming event. Little did
I know, she was a deep
thinker, who probably
had great powers of
concentration.
I saw her with paint-
brushes, and sheets and
creating an aesthetical-
ly beautiful set for the
upcoming function in
our school.
I was happy to see
her and looking at mas-
terworks, I realized the
best ones breathed. The
accuracy and economy
of touch gave a feeling
to forms, which concen-
trates the essentials
and eliminates the su-
perfluous, giving the
sensation one is experi-
encing a slice of life fro-
zen in time.
She still didn’t talk
much and was pretty
scared of the extrovert
womaninsideme.Years
passed by
, and one fine
day she turned out to be
a colleague of mine.
AndIadmiredherwork
all the more.
From painting por-
traits and sketches,
this BTS lover can in-
stantly create art. And
for her, the setup,
sheets, colours and oth-
er accessories aren’t a
thing. You leave her in
nature and she can cre-
ate beautiful art on
leaves and the stems.
This extraordinary
woman, after a windy
night, doesn’t wake up
normal but ends up cre-
atingabreathtakingart
with the dust collected
over the vehicles.
When asked about
her journey
, the Chota
packet Bada Dhamaka
said, “Coming from a
family who strictly
roots for education and
a strong career in the
same field it got pretty
difficult for me to ex-
plore my art during the
initial days. I opted for
Biology in my higher
schooling and pursued
my graduation in the
samefieldaswell.Little
did I know that my love
for reporting, filled
work,etcwoulddragme
to becoming a journal-
ist one day
.
I have always been
highly fond of art and
the beauty it holds. She
further added, that my
mother Arti Shekhar is
a commercial artist,
yet she never taught
me directly in this
field, she always
thought I’d diverge
from my academics but
always supported my
love for art. My father,
Chandra Shekhar Sriv-
astava, a criminal law-
yer by profession, is far
away from understand-
ing my art but he al-
ways supports my pas-
sion, He knows as far
as I’m balancing it with
my studies, it isn’t a
problem.”
When asked what in-
spires her to follow her
passion and consider-
ing a hectic schedule,
howshemanagestocre-
ate a balance, Miss
Shekhar said, “Honest-
ly speaking I am too
moodywhenitcomesto
art, I can start working
in the middle of the
night and work tireless-
ly for days while on
some days, I wouldn’t
evenliftapenunlessmy
heart gives me permis-
sion to do so. But I
enjoy painting and
creatingart,itissome
differentlevelof satis-
faction. It is indeed
my love language, I
express gratitude
and affection
viamyart.”
T
MITALI DUSAD
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
ART IS AN EXPRESSION OF OUR THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, AND DESIRES, BUT
IT IS EVEN MORE PERSONAL THAN THAT, IT’S ABOUT SHARING THE WAY WE
EXPERIENCE THE WORLD. UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR JOURNALIST BY PROFESSION
AND AN ARTIST BY PASSION, HAILING FROM THE PINK CITY TOO BELIEVES THAT
ART IS THE COMMUNICATION OF INTIMATE CONCEPTS THAT CANNOT BE
FAITHFULLY PORTRAYED BY WORDS ALONE! IN A TETE-A-TETE WITH CITY FIRST,
THE MULTI-TALENTED BEAUTY TALKS ABOUT HER LOVE FOR CREATIVITY!
Art is my love
language : Uttkarsha
Uttkarsha Shekhar keenly colouring her art work

20052022_First India New Delhi.pdf

20052022_First India New Delhi.pdf

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20052022_First India New Delhi.pdf