21032022 first india new delhi

Meet at PM’s residence over Govt formation in 3 States
New Delhi (Agencies):
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Sunday
held a key meeting with
top BJP leaders, includ-
ing party chief JP Na-
dda, and Union Minis-
ters Amit Shah and Ra-
jnath Singh, amid the
ongoing exercise for
government formation
in Uttar Pradesh, Utta-
rakhand and Goa.
The meeting was held
at the Prime Minister’s
residence and it was
also attended by BJP
general secretary (or-
ganisation) BL San-
thosh.
BJP retained power
in Uttar Pradesh, Utta-
rakhand, Goa and Ma-
nipurinthelatestround
of assembly polls.
There is also sus-
pense over the top post
in Goa where a race is
in progress between
Pramod Sawant and
Vishwajit Rane. Earlier
this week, sources said
Sawant is likely to get a
second term at the top
post. The decision is
likely to be made on
Monday before the BJP
meets the Governor to
stake claim to form
government.
The swearing-in cer-
emony of the new BJP
government in Goa,
where the party has
emerged as the single
largest political force
by winning 20 out of
total 40 Assembly seats,
will tentatively take
place between March
23 and 25, senior party
leaders said on Sunday.
In Uttar Pradesh and
Goa it is almost certain
that the party will re-
peat Yogi Adityanath
and Pramod Sawant as
Chief Ministers.
In case of Uttar
Pradesh, the party has
to take a call on whom
to appoint as deputy
Chief Minister, as Kes-
hav Prasad Maurya,
who held the post in
the previous BJP gov-
ernment, lost his as-
sembly seat.
Suspense over the top post in Goa, where
both Pramod Sawant and Vishwajit Rane
are CM probables, continues
RSS CHIEF BHAGWAT CALLS UPON
VOLUNTEERS TO CHECK EGOTISM
Gorakhpur: RSS Chief
Mohan Bhagwat called
upon the Sangh vol-
unteers to check the
egotism as well as the
inferiority complex that
has ruined our social
fabric. Addressing the
volunteers at Madhav
Dham on Sunday even-
ing, he stressed the need
to strengthen the social
harmony and pointed
out the evil practices that
should be checked. His
address is considered
to be on the line of the
social engineering of
Yogi Adityanath to unite
members of a commu-
nity under one umbrella.
It is notable that earlier
to his election for the
leader of BJP Members
of Legislative Assembly,
CM Yogi Adityanath had
held a meeting with RSS
Chief Mohan Bhagwat on
Saturday evening. This
meeting has successfully
sent a political message
among the party leaders
as well as among the
political circle. (FIB)
Prime Minister Modi with party chief JP Nadda. —FILE PHOTO
The BJP top leader-
ship is holding hectic
parleys to finalise
the names for Yogi
Adityanath's cabinet
ahead of swearing-in
ceremony on March
25. Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
will visit Lucknow on
Monday.
HOME MINISTER
AMIT SHAH IN
LUCKNOW TODAY
No suspense: Biren Singh
to continue as Manipur CM
Imphal (Agencies): N
Biren Singh, the acting
Chief Minister of Ma-
nipur, was on Sunday
unanimously elected as
the leader of the BJP
legislature party and
will continue as the
chief minister of the
state. The announce-
ment was made by Un-
ion Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman,
who is also the central
observer, at the party of-
fice in Imphal.
“It is a good decision
taken unanimously by
everyone. It will ensure
that Manipur has a sta-
ble and responsible
government which will
build further, because
the Centre today under
the leadership of PM
Modi gives special at-
tention to northeast-
ern states,” Sithara-
man said.
While the BJP bagged
32 seats — one more
than the majority mark
of 30 in the 60-seat as-
sembly in the recently-
concluded elections —
Singh won Heingang,
the seat that he has
been holding since 2002,
by a big margin of
18,271 votes.
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) national con-
vener Arvind Kejriwal on
Sunday told
the party’s
newly
elected
MLAs and
ministers in
Punjab to perform well
or perish and cautioned
them that heads would
roll if they indulged
in corruption. He was
addressing the leaders
virtually days after the
AAP’s victory in the As-
sembly polls in the state
by winning 92 of the 117
seats in the House. After
Bhagwant Mann took
oath as the CM of Punjab,
10 MLAs were inducted
as ministers. P7
PERFORM OR PERISH,
KEJRI TELLS NEW
PUNJAB MINs, MLAs
YOGI HOSTS ‘THE KASHMIR
FILES’ TEAM IN LUCKNOW
 The Kashmir Files team, including director
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, actor Anupam Kher,
Pallavi Joshi, and the film producer Abhishek
Agarwal on Sunday met Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor
Anandiben Patel in Lucknow
 Adityanath said that the movie ‘Boldly’
reveals the inhuman horror of religious
bigotry and terrorism
 UP is one of the states that has made ‘The
Kashmir Files’ movie tax-free
 Agnihotri said that he congratulated CM
Adityanath for his victory in the elections and
that the CM elect assured him of expediting
work on Film City in Uttar Pradesh
Political parties including
mine create division...
Jammu (Agencies):
Stating that political
parties, including Con-
gress, create division
among people on vari-
ous grounds, former
Union Minister Ghu-
lam Nabi Azad, mem-
ber of G21 of the Oppo-
sition party, on Sunday,
while referring to the
1990 exodus and killings
of the Kashmiri Pan-
dits, said that Pakistan
and terrorism were re-
sponsible for all that
took place in the valley
.
His remarks came in
the backdrop of the on-
going controversy over
the film ‘The Kashmir
Files’, which is based
on the 1990 exodus of
the Kashmiri Pandits.
“Political parties cre-
ate division (among
people) 24x7 on the ba-
sis of religion, caste
and other things. I’m
not forgiving any party,
including mine (Con-
gress). Civil society
should stay together.
Justice must be given to
everyone irrespective
of caste, religion,”
Azad said.
He stressed that “Ma-
hatma Gandhi was the
biggest Hindu and secu-
larist”. “Pakistan and
militancy are responsi-
ble for what has hap-
pened in Jammu and
Kashmir. It has affected
all in Jammu and Kash-
mir, including Hindus,
Kashmiri Pandits, Mus-
lims, Dogras,” added
Azad in Jammu.
The film, which fo-
cuses on the exodus of
Kashmiri Pandits from
the Valley in the 1990s,
has been mired in con-
troversy since its re-
lease on March 11 with
the BJP and Opposition
parties sparring over
the portrayal of the in-
cidents.
CONG’s AZAD ON KASHMIRI PANDITS EXODUS
Ghulam Nabi Azad
N Biren Singh with Sitharaman
NEW DELHI l MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 200
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Veteran socialist leader and former Union minister
Sharad Yadav Sunday merged his Loktantrik Janata Dal
(LJD) party with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD) in New Delhi. The merger took place
25 years after the two leaders parted ways.
SHARAD YADAV
MERGES HIS LJD
WITH LALU’S RJD
AFTER 25 YEARS
COVISHIELD DOSE GAP REDUCED TO 8-16 WEEKS
The second dose of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield can
now be administered between 8 and 16 weeks after the
first dose, health officials informed. Presently, the second
dose of the vaccine is given between 12-16 weeks.
CDS Bipin Rawat will be conferred with Padma
Vibhushan posthumously. His daughters will receive
award from President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati
Bhavan. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi and ex-CAG Ra-
jiv Mehrishi will also be honored with Padma Bhushan.
PADMA AWARDS
TO BE CONFERRED
BY PRESIDENT
KOVIND TODAY
NATO IN UKRAINE’s BACKYARD
1ST MULTINATIONAL NATO UNITS WITH PATRIOT
AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS MOVING TO SLOVAKIA
Igor, a 40-year-old
Ukrainian soldier embraces
his wife in front of his
military basement in the
center of Odessa.
troops Russia lost since
war began, says Ukraine
people have fled their
homes in Ukraine, says UN
Germany and the Netherlands have
agreed to send their troops armed
with the Patriots to Slovakia
1
Troops are some of the 2,100
soldiers from several NATO
members, including US, who will form
battlegroup on Slovak territory as alliance
boosts its defenses on eastern flank
following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
2
Bratislava: Slovakia’s
Defense Minister Jaro-
slav Nad says the first
multinational NATO
unitswiththePatriotair
defense systems have
beenmovingtohiscoun-
try
. Nad said on Sunday
the transfers will con-
tinue in the next days.
The system will be
operated by German
and Dutch troops and
will initially be de-
ployed at the Sliac air-
port in central Slovakia
to help reinforce the
defense of NATO’s east-
ern flank.
“I am happy to con-
firm that the first units
in charge of deploying
the Patriot air defense
system are gradually
arriving to Slovakia,”
Defense Minister Nad
said on Facebook.
EUROPE’S BIGGEST STEEL WORKS
“DESTROYED” IN UKRAINE WAR
One of Europe’s biggest iron and steel
works, Azovstal, has been badly damaged
as Russian forces lay siege to the Ukrainian
port city of Mariupol, officials said Sunday.
“One of the biggest metallurgic plants in
#Europe destroyed. The economic losses
for #Ukraine are huge. The environment is
devastated,” tweeted Ukrainian lawmaker
Lesia Vasylenko. Vasylenko posted a video
of explosions on an industrial site, with thick
columns of grey and black smoke rising.
SYRIAN FORCES SAY READY TO
FIGHT FOR PUTIN IN UKRAINE
Some Syrian paramilitary fighters say they
are ready to deploy to Ukraine to fight in
support of their ally Russia but have not
yet received instructions to go, two of their
commanders told Reuters. Nabil Abdallah,
a commander in the paramilitary National
Defence Forces (NDF), said he was ready
to use expertise in urban combat gained
during the Syrian war to aid Russia, speak-
ing to Reuters by phone from the Syrian
town of Suqaylabiyah.
Russia bombs
Mariupol
school with
400 refugees
Mariupol: Ukraine au-
thorities have said that
the Russian military
has bombed an art
school where about 400
people had taken ref-
uge, AP reported. Local
authorities said Sunday
that the school building
was destroyed and peo-
ple could still be under
the rubble.
Meanwhile, Ukraini-
an President Volody-
myr Zelenskiy has
signed a decree that
combines all national
TV channels into one
platform, citing the im-
portance of a “unified
information policy” un-
der martial law. Ukrain-
ian privately-owned
media channels have so
far continued to operate
since the start of the
Russian invasion.
5 KEY
PRICE MOVES SINCE THE
START OF THE UKRAINE WAR
 Since the day Russia in-
vaded Ukraine on February
24; Brent crude oil prices
have risen 11 per cent,
despite deepened volatility
and the price action risk in
the near-term is tilted more
to the upside.
 February 24 - March 8:
Crude oil prices went up,
with the Brent hitting its
highest since 2008 near
$140 a barrel. On March 7:
Brent hit 139$ per barrel,
its highest price since the
2008 financial crisis.
 March 9-16: Oil prices
started falling from the
peak closing price on
March 8, after the United
Arab Emirates supported
a supply increase and
reports emerged of US-
Iran talks and supported
sentiment.
 March 15: Brent crude
oil price closed below
$100 for the first time
since the war started - on
hopes of Ukraine-Russia
peace talks, increased
supply from other oil pro-
ducers and fears of falling
demand from China due to
its COVID-19 outbreak.
 March 17-18: Oil prices
started rising again, jump-
ing above $100 a barrel
and closed at around $108
on Friday, March 18. De-
spite that rebound, bench-
mark contracts ended the
week about 4 per cent
lower on Friday, after hav-
ing traded in a $16 range
for the week. Volatility was
predicted to extend into
the coming week driven by
the news flow on the peace
talks between Russia and
Ukraine.
POPE SLAMS
UKRAINE WAR
Pope Francis has
denounced Russia’s
“repugnant war” against
Ukraine as a “cruel and
sacrilegious inhumanity.”
In some of his strongest
words yet, Francis said
at St. Peter’s Square that
every day brings more
atrocities in what is a
“senseless massacre.”
14,700
10 mn

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Infighting in BJP delays govt formation in 4 states: CM
New Delhi (ANI):
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal and
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) national con-
venor Arvind Kejri-
wal on Friday claimed
that the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) de-
spite winning four
states in the recently
concluded Assembly
elections is not able to
form the governments
due to infighting with-
in the party.
“The BJP which has
won in four states, but
is not able to form gov-
ernments till now due
to infighting within the
party,” said Kejriwal
while addressing Pun-
jabAAPMLAsthrough
video conference on
Sunday. Kejriwal said
that the AAP MLAs im-
mediately took oath in
Punjab Assembly and
the government was
also formed without
wasting time. “The
government has begun
working in Punjab,”
said Kejriwal.
The Delhi Chief
Minister also won-
dered what would the
BJP governments in
the four states do when
the party cannot form
the government there
after so many days.
Kejriwal claimed
that the BJP continues
to be busy dealing with
infighting in the party
ranks in the four states.
He further lauded the
work of Punjab Chief
Minister Bhagwant
Mann. “I’m very proud
of Bhagwant Mann’s
work in just three
days,” said Kejriwal.
“The whole country is
talking about Bhag-
want Mann and his
works. Compensation
for crops damaged in
October has been re-
leased and farmers will
get cheques in the com-
ing days. You have
done good work within
three days of forming
the government,” said
Kejriwal.
The meeting of the
AAP MLAs was held in
Mohali and Kejriwal
joined it via video con-
ferencing from Delhi.
The BJP registered
a win in four of the
five states barring
Punjab that went to
Assembly polls in Feb-
ruary-March, the re-
sult of which came on
March 10.
In Uttar Pradesh, the
BJP and its allies won
255 seats out of 403 as-
sembly constituencies.
In Uttarakhand, the
party secured 47 seats
out of 70 seats.
In Goa, the BJP won
20 seats, out of 40, and
got the support of inde-
pendent candidates
while in Manipur, the
ruling BJP coalition
bagged 31 seats out of
60 seats.
The Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP)
which has won (as-
sembly elections) in
four states, but is
not able to form
governments till
now due to infight-
ing within the
party
—Arvind Kejriwal,
Chief Minister
‘VEHICLE SCRAPPAGE POLICY WILL
IMPACT30CRPEOPLE’SLIVELIHOOD’
Calling new policy unfair, transport unions threaten indefinite strike from April 1
New Delhi (Agencies):
While opposing the new
vehicle scrappage policy
,
variousDelhi-NCRtrans-
port unions have said
that around 30 crore peo-
ple are associated with
the transport business
andthenewpolicywould
impact the livelihood of
these people. These un-
ions, including Delhi-
NCR Transport Ekta
Manch, have threatened
to hold an indefinite
strike against the new
policy that comes into ef-
fect from April 1.
The vehicle scrap-
page policy has the po-
tential of putting old
polluting vehicles off
roads to help the envi-
ronmentaswellasboost
demand for new ones.
The transport union
alleges that the vehicle
scrappage policy would
only benefit automo-
biles manufacturers.
The Central govt has
claimed that this policy
will help in phasing out
unfit and polluting vehi-
cles. It is also claimed to
promote the new vehi-
cles’ demand and a cir-
cular economy as well.
While announcing
the vehicle scrappage
policy, the govt claimed
it would reduce the pro-
duction costs for the ve-
hicle manufacturers as
recycled metals and
parts can be used in new
vehicles, which would
eventually reduce pro-
duction costs and vehi-
cle prices as well.
Under the scrappage
policy, the Central govt
had said that states and
UnionTerritorieswould
provide up to 25 per cent
tax rebate on
roadtaxfornewvehicles
that are purchased after
scrapping old vehicles.
The new vehicle scrappage police will come into effect from April 1. —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi (PTI): The
online application pro-
cess to entry-level seats
in Delhi’s private
schools under the eco-
nomically weaker sec-
tion (EWS)/disadvan-
taged groups (DG) and
children with special
needs (CWSN) catego-
ries for 2022-2023 has
been delayed by a week
and will now begin on
March 29.
According to the ear-
lier schedule issued by
the Directorate of Edu-
cation, applications for
these seats were sup-
posed to begin online
from March 22 and the
date of the first round
of centralised comput-
erised draw of lots was
supposed to be conduct-
ed on April 11.
However, according
to a revised schedule is-
sued by the department,
the online application
process will begin on
March 29 and the last
date for submitting
applications is April 12.
The first round of
computerised draw of
lots will take place on
April 19.
PROCESS DELAYED
EWS admission to
begin on March 29
Baijal approves
Vikas Kumar as
new DMRC MD
New Delhi (PTI): Lieu-
tenant-governor (L-G)
Anil Baijal has ap-
proved the Delhi gov-
ernment’s proposal to
appoint Vikas Kumar as
the new managing di-
rector of the Delhi Met-
ro Rail Corporation
(DMRC), senior trans-
port officials said on
Saturday. The Centre
still has to clear the pro-
posal to make Kumar’s
appointment official.
Kumar is an officer
of the 1988 batch of the
Indian Railway Traffic
Service, and was earlier
working as the execu-
tive director (opera-
tions) in the DMRC,
prior to his current role
as director, DMRC.
On Saturday (March
19), the state transport
department wrote to
central government in-
forming that the L-G
has given his approval
to the Delhi govern-
ment’s proposal.
Delhi (ANI): The Delhi
Police Special Cell ar-
rested a woman accused
of abduction-cum-mur-
der in a cafe near Gha-
ziabad on Saturday
.
Nidhi alias Bharti,
accused in the case of
abduction and murder
of Sagar alias Chunnu
was arrested by the Del-
hi Police Special Cell. A
team of Special Cell in
the Southern Range su-
pervised by Assistant
Commissioner of Po-
lice (ACP) Attar Singh
arrested this 27-year-
old absconding woman
from a cafe near the Go-
vindapuram area of
Ghaziabad.
"Based on the infor-
mation received about
Nidhi's movements in
an area of Govin-
dapuram, Ghaziabad,
we conducted secret
surveillance on her
activities. Based on
specific inputs received
about her arrival at
the location, we spotted
and arrested her
under appropriate sec-
tions of the law," said
DCP Special Cell Jas-
meet Singh.
Woman accused of abduction-cum-murder held
New Delhi (PTI): Fewer
new cases of HIV (Hu-
man Immunodeficiency
Virus) were reported in
Delhi over the last two
years —3,629 cases in
2020 and around 4,500
cases in 2021 — accord-
ing to data from the Delhi
State AIDS Control Soci-
ety (DSACS) that imple-
ments the national con-
trol and prevention pro-
gramme in the state.
This, however, is a
cause of concern for the
officials. There wasn’t
an actual decrease in the
number of cases, they
say. Rather, fewer people
going to hospitals during
the lockdown and surge
in Covid resulted in a de-
cline in detection of HIV
cases over the last two
years, according to offi-
cials from Delhi’s health
department.
Incomparison,around
6,000 new cases were de-
tected in Delhi each year
before the pandemic.
“The decline in the
number of HIV cases
isn’t good news. This
means we were unable to
detect 4,000 cases,” said a
Delhi government offi-
cial. The official ex-
plained that even though
the programme uses sev-
eral approaches to detect
as many cases as early as
possible, the main source
of detection is at hospi-
tals where people might
have gone for the treat-
ment of other diseases.
2-year Covid era takes toll on HIV detection in Delhi
DSACS DATA
ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS
DUPLICATE GOODS OF REPUTED
COMPANIES SEIZED, ONE HELD
DELHI POLICE RESCUE
KIDNAPPED GIRL, ONE HELD
One of the main approaches of the programme is
to routinely test persons from high-risk groups
such as sex workers and injection drug users.
However, only about one in six cases that we
detect each year under the programme are among
people from high-risk groups. Another 0.1% of the
cases are detected in pregnant women during their
ante-natal check-up. Most cases are usually de-
tected when people go to hospitals and get tested
before invasive procedures and surgeries.
New Delhi (ANI): District Investigation Unit (DIU)
of North District Police have recovered a huge
quantity of duplicate products of reputed compa-
nies and arrested a person involved in the case,
the police said. According to Sagar Singh Kalsi,
DCP, North District Delhi, the case has been reg-
istered under section 103/104 Trade Mark Act and
63/65 Copy Right Act on March 15.
New Delhi (ANI): Delhi police nabbed a 72-year-old
man in a kidnapping case involving a minor girl.
New Delhi District Police rescued a kidnapped mi-
nor girl and arrested the accused before he could
escape from the city along with the victim, said po-
lice. The police also said that the accused, Raghu
Nath (72), a resident of Geeta Colony, molested the
victim after she boarded his auto-rickshaw.
HIGHLIGHT
New Delhi (PTI): A 29-year-old man, who had lost his
job to the Covid-19 lockdown, was
thrashed and stabbed to death al-
legedly by a group of five persons,
including a minor boy, following an
argument that arose after the man’s
motorcycle brushed against one
of them at a pan kiosk near PVR
Naraina in west Delhi on Friday, police said.
New Delhi: A man was killed after allegedly being hit by a
bus on Delhi’s Outer Ring Road Flyover near Peeragarhi on
Saturday. When police reached the spot they found a bike
and a DTC bus in damaged condition. Upon enquiry, police
found that the accused was driving rashly and hit the man
riding the bike. Police have arrested the bus driver, who
was attempting to flee after hitting the motorcycle-borne
man but was arrested by a constable on duty.
MAN STABBED TO DEATH AFTER BIKE
BRUSHES AGAINST SHOP WORKER
MAN DIES AFTER BEING HIT BY BUS
IN DELHI, ONE ARRESTED: POLICE
13-YEAR-OLD,
MOTHER KILLED
BY SPEEDING CAR
New Delhi (PTI):
13-year-old boy and
his 38-year-old mother
were killed and three
others, including his
father and brother, were
injured after an alleg-
edly speeding car hit the
autorickshaw they were
travelling in on Bara-
pullah flyover in south
Delhi on Friday night,
police said. The errant
vehicle, a Tata Nexon
car, also hit another taxi,
a Swift Dzire car, but its
occupants -- a driver
and a woman passenger
-- escaped unhurt.
CRUCIAL READ
DRAWING ATTENTION!
Students and members of Friday for future group participate in drawing chalk graffiti art to aware people about the climate
change, at Connaught place in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

INDIA
03
Jerusalem (Agencies):
Israeli Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett has said
that he will be visiting
India in the first week
of April to mark the
30th anniversary of the
establishment of diplo-
matic relations between
the two countries.
The maiden visit of
Bennett who became
prime minister in June
last year also aims to
expand the cooperation
between the two coun-
tries in the areas of in-
novation and technolo-
gy, security and cyber,
and agriculture and
climate change.
“I am delighted to pay
my first official visit to
India at the invitation
of my friend, Prime
Minister (Narendra)
Modi, and together we
will continue leading
the way for our coun-
tries’ relations,” Ben-
nett said.
“Modi restarted rela-
tions between India and
Israel, and this is of his-
toric importance. The
relations between our
two unique cultures —
the Indian culture and
the Jewish culture —
are deep, and they rely
on deep appreciation
and meaningful collab-
orations,” he said.
“There are many
things we can learn
from the Indians, and
this is what we strive to
do,” Bennett said, pledg-
ing to expand coopera-
tion “to other areas,
from innovation and
technology, security
and cyber, to agricul-
ture and climate
change.” Informed
sources told PTI that it
will be a four-day visit
from April 2-April 5.
In a statement, the
Israeli PM’s Foreign
Media Adviser said that
Prime Minister Bennett
will pay his first official
visit to India on Satur-
day, 2 April 2022, at the
invitation of Prime
Minister Modi.
The two leaders had
first met on the side-
lines of the UN Climate
Change Conference
(COP26) in Glasgow in
November last year
during which they re-
viewed the bilateral ties
besides exchanging
views about expanding
cooperation in areas of
high-technology and in-
novation.
Israel PM Naftali Bennett to visit India in April first week
TO EXPAND BILATERAL TIES

To mark 30
years of
diplomatic
ties and to
‘advance,
strengthen’
strategic
alliance with
India
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Afterhistour
to Gorakhpur, Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) chief Mohan
Bhagwat will be reach-
ing Varanasi on March
23 on a five-day visit.
It is believed that
during the visit, Bhag-
wat will participate in
a crucial organisation-
al meeting of the Sangh
where besides taking
feedback from the of-
fice bearers of the
Kashi province, he will
also brainstorm on the
expansion of the ac-
tivities of the Sangh in
the region.
Kolkata (ANI): BJP's
Keya Ghosh took a jibe
at the Trinamool Con-
gress saying it is scared
of losing after BJP MP
Jagannath Sarkar nar-
rowly escaped bomb at-
tack on Sunday and
demanded the deploy-
ment of Central forces
for the bypolls.
Ghosh is BJP's candi-
date for Ballygunge As-
sembly by-elections and
facing Trinamool Con-
gress'BabulSupriyo.She
Speaking to media,
she said, "The attack on
BJP MP Jagannath
Sarkar shows that TMC
candidates are scared
that they will lag be-
hind in polls."
Earlier on Saturday,
the BJP MP from Rana-
ghat in West Bengal
Jagannath Sarkar al-
leged that a bomb was
hurled at his car when
he was returning after
watching the film 'The
Kashmir Files' in Nadia
district.
"I was returning after
watching 'The Kashmir
Files'. A bomb was
hurled at my car on my
way back, we escaped it
(bomb) narrowly," said
Jagannath Sarkar.
Kochi (PTI): KPCC
president, K Sudha-
karan has once asked
party leaders, includ-
ing Shashi Tharoor, to
refrain from attending
CPI-M seminar to be
held in April. Sudha-
karan said that the
state party has issued a
ban on party leaders
participating in the na-
tional level seminar to
be organised by the
CPI-M as part of its Na-
tional Conference at
Kannur and if anyone
violates that they
would have to face par-
ty action.
The CPI-M has in-
vited Shashi Tharoor
and former Union Min-
ister, KV Thomas for
the seminar on nation-
al politics. The party
had issued a statement
that no Congress lead-
er must participate in
the CPI-M seminar as
the party is in a fight
against the CPI-M due
to the Kerala Govt’s
anti-people policies.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
Keya Ghosh, BJP candidate
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
BALLYGUNGE
CANDIDATE
SLAMS TMC,
DEMANDS
CENTRAL
FORCES
DEPLOYMENT
‘The Kashmir Files’ won’t help any
political party in polls: Sena’s Raut
Mumbai (ANI): Shiv
Sena leader Sanjay
Raut on Sunday said
that 'The Kashmir Files'
is just a film and will
not provide any politi-
cal advantage to anyone
in the coming elections.
"It is not right to do
politics on a sensitive is-
sue like Kashmir... 'The
Kashmir Files' is just a
film, I don't think it will
provide any political ad-
vantage to anyone in the
coming elections," said
Raut addressing media
persons here.
He further said that
by the time the contro-
versy surrounding the
film will be gone by the
time elections come.
"Whether the events
shown in the film are
true or not can be dis-
cussed later. Many
things shown in the film
are being questioned
that are not true. Many
people are also saying
that there are many
facts that were sup-
posed to be shown, but
are not shown. Muslims
were also among those
who died at that time.
There were many offic-
ers whose lives were
saved by Muslims, these
are all such things that
could be in the film but
are not there," he said.
The Shiv Sena MP
said that in the coming
days, the film will get a
national award and the
makers of the film will
get something like
Padma Shri, Padma
Bhushan etc.
New Delhi: The release
of the hotly-debated
Bollywood movie ‘The
Kashmir Files’ has been
put on hold in New
Zealand. The country’s
censor board, which
had earlier cleared
the movie, decided
to review its decision
after it was approached
by some community
groups. The country’s
censor board had given
‘The Kashmir Files’ a
certificate that allows
individuals above the
age of 16 and over to
watch it. But the has
board decided to review
its decision and put on
hold the screening of
the film. The film, which
focuses on the exodus
of Kashmiri Pandits
from the Valley in the
1990s, has been mired
in controversy since its
release on March 11.
Reports said the chief
censor is reviewing the
film’s classification after
members of the Muslim
community raised con-
cerns over the content
of the film. Former New
Zealand deputy PM
Winston Peters has hit
out at the movie board
and said that censoring
the film would be an
attack on the freedom
of New Zealanders.
CENSORING ‘KASHMIR FILES’ IS ATTACK ON
FREEDOM: NEW ZEALAND EX DEPUTY PM
BJP MP Jagannath escapes bomb attack
Bhagwat on 5-day Varanasi visit from Mar
23, to oversee Sangh expansion in region
Congress warns
Tharoor against
attending
CPI-M seminar
BENGAL BYPOLLS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Bharati-
ya Janata Party chief of
Uttar Pradesh, Swatan-
tra Dev Singh on Sun-
day wrote a letter to can-
didates who lost their
State Assembly elec-
tions and reminded
them of the lines of for-
mer Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Despite getting a
thumping majority in
the UP elections 2022,
some prominent BJP
leaders including minis-
ters who lost include for-
mer deputy chief minis-
ter Keshav Prasad Mau-
rya, Suresh Rana, Upen-
draTiwari,SangeetSom,
Moti Singh, Dhunni Sin-
gh and Satish Dwivedi.
The UP BJP chief
tried to console and
cheer them up by recall-
ing the lines written by
Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
“Ye bhi sahi, vo bhi sahi
(this too right, that too
right)” in public ser-
vice. In the letter, Singh
said that the people
have given BJP an op-
portunity to form the
government in Uttar
Pradesh again, so the
credit for this extraordi-
nary achievement goes
to the tenacity
, sacrifice
and hard work of all the
candidates. Motivating
the party workers to
continue serving the
public, he said that this
could be a momentary
break on the duty path,
not a rest. “All the work-
ers will serve the people
with devotion and dedi-
cation as before and will
continue to contribute
to the pride of the coun-
try and the state,” the
letter read. The BJP re-
tained power in Uttar
Pradesh by winning 255
out of 403 constituen-
cies, securing a 41.29 per
cent vote share. Adity-
anath will be the first
Chief Minister in the
last 37 years to return to
power after completing
a full term in the
state. Apart from PM
Modi, Home Minister
Amit Shah, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh,
and top brass of the par-
ty
, BJP has also called its
migrant workers to the
oath-taking ceremony
of Yogi Adityanath as
CM of Uttar Pradesh.
New Delhi: Pakistan
prime minister Imran
Khan on Sunday heaped
praises on India and its
foreign policy, this at a
timewhenitfacesthreat
of being unseated amid
no-confidence motion
moved against him.
Addressing a rally in
Malakand, Khan
said,”Main aaj Hindu-
stan ko daad deta hun (I
salute India today). It
has always maintained
an independent foreign
policy
.”
“India is a member of
Quad alliance with
United States as one of
its members. But still it
calls itself neutral. In-
dia is importing oil
from Russia which is
facing sanctions. This
is because India’s for-
eign policy is for its peo-
ple,” media reported
quoting Imran Khan.
Earlier in January,
Khan had praised India
for its boom in the IT
Sector, and hailed the
policies attracting in-
vestments.
The former cricket
captain-turned politi-
cian’s remark has come
amid a no-confidence
motion moved by a joint
opposition which will be
takenupbythePakistan
National Assembly on
March 25. A substantial
number of lawmakers
from his party PTI are
alsobelievedtobevoting
against the government.
UP BJP CHIEF TRIES TO CHEER
PARTYLEADERSWHOLOSTPOLL
Despite getting a big win in UP, some prominent BJP
leaders including former Dy CM Maurya and others lost
Leaders from various parties pose for a picture with UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh (sitting
3L) after joining the party, at the party office in Lucknow on Feb 15. —PHOTO BY ANI
Arvind Kejriwal
AAP'S PLAN FOR
RAJASTHAN
2023 ELECTIONS
AFTER PB SWEEP
Lucknow: The opposition alliance led by SP having decisively lost the battle for Uttar
Pradesh, there is speculation now on whether the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)
chief OP Rajbhar is leaning towards former partner BJP again. The speculation started
amid reports of his meeting with the BJP's chief strategist Amit Shah. The buzz is that Mr
Rajbhar met the top leadership of the BJP on Holi. A purported photo of the meeting also
surfaced on social media, which later turned out to be four years old. Rajbhar has denied
that any meeting took place. "This is not true at all. I have not travelled out of Lucknow
in many days. I am with the Samajwadi Party, will remain with them and also contest the
2024 Lok Sabha polls as an ally," he said in response to questions by journalists.
KEY SAMAJWADI PARTY ALLY OP RAJBHAR
DENIES MEETING WITH AMIT SHAH
Jaipur: Buoyed by
its resounding win
in Punjab polls, the
AAP is now focusing
on Rajasthan with
the party holing a
two-day conven-
tion in Jaipur to
“strenghthen” the
organisation in the
state where elections
are due next year.
According to the
AAP, party's state in-
charge and RS MP
Sanjay Singh will
hold discussions on
ways to make people
aware of the party’s
welfare policies
during the event on
March 26-27.
Dehradun: Following
the BJP's victory in the
recently concluded Utt-
arakhand Assembly
election, the newly
elected MLAs will take
their oath at a ceremo-
ny at the Vidhan Sabha
in Dehradun at 11 am
on Monday
.
The pro-tem Speaker
in the Uttarakhand As-
sembly, Bansidhar Bha-
gat, has confirmed the
same.
Later in the evening,
the next chief minister
of state will be decided
at the BJP legislative
party meeting, said BJP
Uttarakhand chief
Madan Kaushik.
“Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh and
MoS MEA Meenakshi
Lekhi will be arriving
tomorrow for the Leg-
islature Party meeting
to be held in Dehradun
where the CM's name
will be declared.
Swearing-in ceremony
will take place after
the meeting,” State
media in-charge Man-
veer Chauhan was
quoted as saying by
media.
On Sunday morning,
former Uttarakhand
CM Trivendra Singh
Rawat told reporters,
"We have many options
for the CM face."
U’khand: Newly
elected MLAs to
take oath today
India’s foreign
policy better
than Pak: Imran
Bansidhar Bhagat, pro-tem Speaker in the Uttarakhand Assembly.
Later in the
evening, the
next Chief
Minister will
be decided at
the BJP
legislative
party meeting

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 200
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
study by IIT-Kan-
pur warned in
February that the
fourth wave of
Covid could land
in India in mid or late June.
A massive surge in new cases
in China, Hong Kong, South
Korea, Israel, Italy, Austria
and some other countries has
led the World Health Organi-
sation to call it a “tip of the
iceberg”. China’s Jilin prov-
ince, which is fighting to con-
tain the virus, found a special
mention in the warning by
WHO president Tedros Adha-
nom Ghebreyesus. “This in-
crease is occurring despite
reductions in testing in some
countries, which means the
cases we’re seeing are just
thetipof theiceberg,”Tedros
said. The WHO also warned
that those who say that Omi-
cron is mild and is the last
variant of Covid are spread-
ing misinformation. The
warning came after a new
variant of SARS-CoV-2 was
detected in Israel.
The Kanpur IIT study sug-
gested that the next wave “is
to persist for approximately
four months.” So far Covid
cases have been falling in In-
dia. A little over 1700 cases
were reported in the last 24
hours.Still,thegovernmentis
warning people not to lower
theirguard. TheIndianCoun-
cil for Medical Research, how-
ever, is of the view that India
may not witness a surge like
in some of the Asian and Eu-
ropean countries. In some of
the countries hit by the new
wave vaccination has been
low and there is a lot of misin-
formation about vaccines. In-
dia, on the other hand, has
fully vaccinated the majority
of people and children also
are now getting a jab. The
push here is for booster dose.
MASK ON: 4TH COVID
WAVE IS COMING
The Kanpur IIT study suggested that the next wave “is to persist
for approximately four months.” So far Covid cases have
been falling in India. A little over 1700 cases were reported in the
last 24 hours. Still, the government is warning people not
to lower their guard. The Indian Council for Medical Research,
however, is of the view that India may not witness a surge like in
some of the Asian and European countries
A
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
All conditioned things are
impermanent—when one
sees this with wisdom, one
turns away from suffering.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Many common birds,
including the house sparrow
are becoming a rarity. On
#WorldSparrowDay today, let
us raise awareness about the
dangers these species confront
and work collectively to ensure
safe habitats for avifauna. Let
us act before the morning
chirp is gone. #LoveSparrows.
Anurag Thakur
@ianuragthakur
Stupendous Sen!
Congratulations, this is truly
historic. Wishing you the best
for the finale @lakshya_sen!
TOP TWEETS
ADOPTED CHILD’S
CASTE CAN’T BE
THAT OF PARENTS
ABANDONING HIM
ne thought that the
issue of caste of an
adopted child was
settled millions of
years ago during the
Mahabharata period. Karna, the
bravest Pandava made invinci-
ble by a gift from his celestial
father, the Sun god, was tor-
mented with the insult of be-
longing to a low caste. An archer
more accomplished than Arjun,
Karna was abandoned by Kunti
(a Kshatriya) as he was born out
of wedlock. He was adopted by a
couple belonging to the Suta
caste and came to be mocked as
Suta-putr (son of Suta) until the
very end of the war when, fear-
ing Arjun’s defeat at the hands
of Karna, Kunti reveals the
truth about his father.
After the mythological tale it
is the Bombay High Court which
has had to settle the issue of
caste of a child adopted by a sin-
gle mother. The child will bear
the caste of his mother, the
court ruled. Why should those
who abandon a child have any
link with the baby?
O
n the last column, we dis-
cussed the professional train-
ing of the new entrants to the
IAS. This provides them with
competencies and skill sets
for the filed postings in the
first decade of the service. Of-
ficers start their career as
SDOs and move on to become
Chief Development Officers
in a rural district or as Chief
Executive officer in a devel-
opment authority or Munici-
pal corporation, culminating
in an assignment as District
Magistrate. After 10 to 12
years, they move on to the
state secretariat or the gov-
ernment of India. The job
requirement is now quite dif-
ferent – for now they must
begin their specialization in
a chosen sector, besides get-
ting into the nitty-gritty of
performance management
and review. To help them cope
with their new responsibili-
ties, officers participate in
three Mid-career Training
Programmes (MCTPs) curat-
ed specifically to meet their
changing functional require-
ments as they grow in ser-
vice. These are offered in the
8th to 10th, 16th to 18th and
the 28th to the 30th year. This
brings officers from 3 batches
together and is also an occa-
sion to share experiences be-
yond the batch. These MCTPs
also involve an element of the
study visits and experiential
learning at civil service and
government training institu-
tions in UK, Singapore, South
Korea, and USA.
The first of these is called
Phase Three. For many offic-
ers, it is their first visit to the
Alma Mater after their induc-
tion into the Service. In the
first few years, as an SDO,
CEO of ZP
, and even as a DM,
the officers have functioned
as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the
government and work hard at
implementing programs.
There is certainly scope for
innovation in the implemen-
tation – especially in terms of
outreach, resource optimisa-
tion, community mobiliza-
tion and engagement with
multiple stakeholders. Offic-
ers are now at an inflexion
point and ready to make the
transition from field adminis-
tration to higher-level respon-
sibilities as Head of Depart-
ment at the State level and
Deputy Secretary / Director
in the Government of India.
By the 16th year, officers
have reached the mid-point of
theircareers:Theyhaveequal
number of years behind as
wellasaheadof them.Officers
are now Joint Secretaries to
the Government of India, or
secretaries to their state gov-
ernments. They have helped
draft cabinet memorandum,
replies to parliamentary /as-
sembly questions, and re-
sponded to the queries of the
Finance Department for re-
lease of funds. They have also
fielded questions from RTI
activists and faced a few con-
tempt petitions at the High
Court. They have also wit-
nessed how their Secretaries
have been grilled by the Par-
liamentary and Assembly
committees. They now need
to understand the conceptual
framework in which the gov-
ernment operates. Thus, the
focusinthe4thphaseisonthe
‘politicaleconomyandinstitu-
tions in public policy and gov-
ernance.’ This is also the time
when analysis and interrela-
tionof bigdataequipsthemto
support the policy spectrum.
The pedagogy for this co-
hort includes a mix of lec-
tures, case studies, discus-
sions, individual assign-
ments, and syndicate work.
This phase is driven by the
participants rather than the
faculty. In that sense, train-
ing only nudges the learning
process in a more planned
and focused direction. The
principal objective of the
programme is to provide
training in a peer-group situ-
ation and preparation for the
next higher level of responsi-
bilities. Negotiation skills,
team-building exercises and
case studies of recent suc-
cesses and failures are also
imparted in this phase.
When officers attend the
last ‘formal institutional’
training in Phase V
, they are
on the verge of becoming Sec-
retaries to Government of In-
dia and Additional/ Special
Chief Secretaries to the State
governments. They are now
the ‘strategic’ core of their or-
ganizations. While the Minis-
ter does provide the political
mentorship, the actual task of
running the Ministry or the
Department falls upon them.
They attend inter-ministerial
meetings, lead negotiations at
bi-lateral and multilateral
platforms in their sector,
speak at industry forums,
press conferences, business
meetings and think tanks
where they spell out the me-
dium to long term vision of
their department. Guest
speakers for this phase in-
clude the Governor of RBI,
Chairman of NABARD, CEO
of NITI,secretairestoGovern-
ment of India. Issues covered
in the last few training pro-
grams included Governance,
Political economy
, Economic
Development, Public Finance,
Foreign Policy
, Trade, Envi-
ronment, Energy etal.
Participants also submit a
Policy Paper/Syndicate Re-
port based on their readings
and professional experience.
These are then shared with
the concerned ministries and
become an integral input in
the strategic directions of
thatMinistry
.Thereport‘Pro-
duce in India, Feed the World’
prepared by this author’s
groupduringhisPhaseVcon-
tributed in no small measure
tothefinalreportof Doubling
farmers Income Likewise,
recommendations from the
report on urban infrastruc-
turearereflectedintheSmart
City program of the Urban
Development Ministry
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
SANJEEV CHOPRA
The writer is Distinguished Fellow,
USI Delhi and Historian Policy Analyst. Also
former Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration, Mussoorie
Participants also submit
a Policy Paper/Syndicate
Report based on their
readings and professional
experience. These are then
shared with the concerned
ministries and become an
integral input in the strategic
directions of that Ministry.
The report ‘Produce in
India, Feed the World’
prepared by this author’s
group during his Phase V
contributed in no small
measure to the final report of
Doubling farmers Income
Likewise, recommendations
from the report on
urban infrastructure are
reflected in the Smart City
program of the Urban
Development Ministry
RAJ DHARMA 5
AN INSIGHT INTO
LIFE OF AN OFFICER
The first of these is
called Phase Three.
For many officers, it is
their first visit to the Alma
Mater after their induction
into the Service. In the
first few years, as an SDO,
CEO of ZP, and even as a
DM, the officers have
functioned as the ‘eyes
and ears’ of the
government and work hard
at implementing programs
YOU READ RAJ DHARMA 4
IN FIRST INDIA ON
MARCH 07, 2022

To Receive Free Newspaper
Newspaper
PDF Daily
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappdelhi
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindianewdelhi
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

INDIA
05
Shillong (Agencies): As
many as 877 newborn ba-
bies and 61 mothers have
died as pregnant women
refusedtogetadmittedto
hospitals for institution-
al delivery during the
COVID-19 pandemic due
to fears of contracting
the disease, the Megha-
laya government has in-
formed the NHRC.
The Meghalaya gov-
ernment has recently
submitted the action
taken report to the Na-
tional Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) af-
terthelatterregistereda
case over the high num-
ber of maternal and
newborn deaths in the
stateduringthepandem-
ic.
“The causes of the
newborn deaths had
been looked into and it
wasfoundthatthefatali-
ties were due to the lack
of medicalattentionand
care because pregnant
women refused to get
themselves admitted to
the health institutions
duetofearandstigmaof
contracting COVID-19
and also the refusal to
test for COVID-19,” the
report said.
During the time the
deathshadtakenplace,it
was mandatory to segre-
gate COVID-19 and non-
COVID-19 patients,
hence testing was done
toavoidthespreadof the
disease, especially in
hospital wards, it said.
Even though women
“abstained” from visit-
ing health facilities,
ANMs and ASHAs were
regularly monitoring
their health through
home visits and counsel-
ling,urgingthemtovisit
hospitals during deliv-
ery
, the report said.
Taking cognisance of
the high number of
deaths, the state govern-
ment had launched a
“rescue mission” and
health teams were con-
stituted to identify all
pregnant women and
register them on a mo-
bile application to pre-
vent such incidents, the
state government said.
MEGHALAYA: 877 NEWBORNS, 61 MOTHERS DIED AS RESULT
WOMEN DENIED HOSPITAL DELIVERY DURING COVID PANDEMIC

During the time
the deaths had
taken place, it
was mandatory
to segregate
COVID-19 and
non-COVID-19
patients
HOOCH SHOCKER IN DRY BIHAR:
MORE THAN 12 DIE DURING HOLI
Police await post mortem reports in different incidents involving illicit liquor consumed on Holi
Patna (PTI): More than
12 persons died after
consuming suspected
hooch in different dis-
tricts of dry Bihar on
Holi, March 19. Local
police said the would
not be able to confirm
the deaths were caused
by the consumption of
illicit liquor “until post-
mortem reports come
in”. Bihar was declared
a dry State in April 2016
under a stringent Pro-
hibition law.
At least seven per-
sons died in the Amar-
pur block of Banka dis-
trict. Four persons died
in the Sahibganj area of
the Nathnagar locality
in Bhagalpur district.
The deceased were
identified as Raja Ti-
wari of Kamdeopur,
and Raghunandan Pod-
dar, Sanjay Sharma, Su-
mit Kumar, Vijay Sah,
Rahul Singh and Ash-
ish Kumar from other
villages. Similarly, at
least four persons died
in a suspected hooch
tragedy in the Sahib-
ganj area in the Nathna-
gar block of Bhagalpur
district. They were
identified as Binod Rai,
Sandip Yadav, Nilesh
Kumar and Mithun Ku-
mar. Abhishek Kumar, a
youth, lost his eye sight
and has been admitted
a hospital in the town.
Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police Prakash
Kumar confirmed the
deaths of three persons
in Sahibganj area but
declined to say any-
thing on the “cause of
deaths”. “Deaths due to
consumption of illicit
liquor can be con-
firmed only after an
autopsy report,” Rita
Kumari, Station House
Officer (SHO) of Vish-
wavidyalya (Universi-
ty) Police Station under
which the Sahibganj
area falls, said.
A police personnel shows empty liquor bottle. —REPRESENTATIONAL PIC
DEATH COUNT
Y-security for Karnataka HC
judges who gave Hijab verdict
Bengaluru (PTI): The
Karnataka government
on Sunday decided to
give ‘Y’ category secu-
rity to three judges, in-
cluding the chief jus-
tice of the state, who
passed the ruling on the
hijab controversy
.
This comes amid the
backdrop of statements
made in Madurai
threatening to kill the
judges. An FIR has been
registered in Bangalore
on the same.
Chief Minister Basa-
varaj Bommai attacked
the opposition by call-
ing them “fake secular”
as they did not condemn
the Madurai incident.
He said, “Why are the
“fake secular” lobby si-
lent even after 3-4 days
of the incident? People
threaten to kill judges
because of the verdict
and they talk about how
judges will meet with
accident. Even after
this, why are you all si-
lent, just to appease the
section? That is not sec-
ularism, it is commu-
nalism. I condemn this
andyouallshouldbreak
your silence and we
should be united.”
CM asked the state
DGP to look into the in-
vestigation and coordi-
nate with Tamil Nadu
to seek custody of the
accused. The accused
have been booked based
on complaints made by
private citizens.
Karnataka High Court
Depression to
intensify into
cyclonic storm
in 24 hours
Kolkata (PTI): The
low-pressure system
brewing in South East
Bay of Bengal and the
adjoining Andaman
Sea is
likely to
intensify
into a de-
pression today (March
20) and lead to the first
cyclone in March since
2000 in the North Indi-
an Ocean region on
Monday. And if that
happens, the cyclonic
storm will be called
Asani, the name given
by Sri Lanka.
According to IMD, the
system is predicted to
move north-eastwards
and reach near the
north Myanmar and
southeast Bangladesh
coasts on Mar 22. The
IMD has also predicted
heavy to very heavy
rainfall in a few places
over the Andaman
Nicobar Islands.
OTHER FACTORS
Mother holding her newborn baby. —REPRESENTATIONAL PIC
Mamata Banerjee’s
nephew to be grilled
again by ED today
Kolkata: Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee’s nephew and
MP Abhishek Banerjee
and his wife Rujira Ba-
nerjee will be ques-
tioned next week by
the Enforcement Di-
rectorate in an alleged
money laundering
case linked to the Ben-
gal coal scam. Baner-
jee linked the sum-
mons to the BJP’s re-
cent victory in the as-
sembly elections in
four states and ques-
tioned the dismissal of
his appeal in High
Court challenging the
questioning in Delhi.
“I will go to the Su-
preme Court. That path
is open to me. And we
have faith in the top-
most justice system in
the country,” he said.
Banerjee said he was
going to Delhi, even
though he has been ad-
vised bed rest by his
doctor after a recent eye
procedure.
Speaking to report-
ers in Kolkata before
his departure this af-
ternoon, Banerjee said
he had appealed in the
Delhi High Court, say-
ing he should be ques-
tioned in Kolkata in-
stead of Delhi since
the case is connected
to Bengal.
Will Sonia ‘respect’ Azad’s ‘sentiments?
First India Bureau
New Delhi: With the
dismal performance of
Congress in 5 state as-
sembly polls and sym-
pathy, within the party,
developing for G-21, the
meeting between Sonia
Gandhi and Ghulam
Nabi Azad was looked
up by party members
across the length and
breadth of the nation.
K n o w l e d g e a b l e
sources in the relevant
circles of the grand old
party have revealed
that Azad apprised So-
nia Gandhi of demands
and concerns raised by
G-21. Word is that Azad
has shared with Sonia a
comprehensive frame-
work for collective lead-
ership with suggestions
for revival of Central
Election Committee
and Congress Parlia-
mentary Board.
Representing the
G-21, Azad has also sug-
gested to constitute a
committee till the ap-
pointment of new full-
time chairman and to
include senior party
leaders in this commit-
tee. He stressed that the
committee should be
consulted in all the im-
portant decisions of the
party
.
However, now an im-
portant question aris-
ing in the political fields
regarding these de-
mands. After all, why
was there a demand for
revival of parliamenta-
ry board and committee
formation? Is its pur-
pose to test the current
working system of the
Gandhi family?
Now after this whole
conversation, there
may be another meet-
ing of the leaders of the
G-21 group.
Quad has accepted
India’s position on
Ukraine crisis:Australia
Uttar Pradesh:Woman raped
in public toilet at Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (PTI): A
20-year-old woman was
allegedly raped inside
a public toilet located
near a parking stand
at the Pratapgarh rail-
way station, police
said on Sunday.
The incident took
place on March 19,
they said, adding that
an FIR has been regis-
tered in this regard.
SHO of Kotwali po-
lice station R N Rai
said the victim along
with her husband were
waiting to catch a
train when the inci-
dent occurred.
“The husband went
to buy tea in the morn-
ing leaving the woman
alone. That is when
the accused, identified
as Anna, approached
the woman and gave
her a key, telling her
that she can use it to
access a clean toilet lo-
cated near the parking
stand outside. When
the woman entered the
toilet, the accused
raped her.”
New Delhi: Austral-
ia on Sunday said
that the Quad mem-
ber countries have
accepted India’s posi-
tion on the crisis in
Ukraine and it is evi-
dent that Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
has been using his
contacts to call for an
end to the conflict in
that country
.
The comments by
AustralianHighCom-
missioner to India
Barry O’Farrell came
a day before a virtual
summit between
Modi and Australian
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison during
which they are set to
discuss the situation
in Ukraine.
“The Quad coun-
tries have accepted
India’s position. We
understand that each
country has a bilater-
al relationship and it
is clear from the com-
ments of the MEA
and Prime Minister
Modi himself that he
has used his contacts
to call for the end of
the conflict and no
country will be un-
happy with that,” he
told reporters.
The Australian en-
voy was asked about
increasingdisquietin
the West over India’s
position on the Rus-
sian invasion of
Ukraine and its pur-
chase of discounted
crudeoilfromRussia.
Separately
, diplo-
matic sources said
India’spositiononthe
Russian attack on
Ukraine appeared to
be driven by the then
Prime Minister Jawa-
harlal Nehru’s policy
in 1957 that India was
not in the business of
condemnation and it
focused on creating a
space for resolution
of conflicts.
US President Joe Biden (Top left), Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Australian PM Scott Morrison and Japanese
PM Yoshihide Suga. —FILE PHOTO
Attempts being
made to divide
country once
again: Mufti
I-T dept raids
at unicorn,
unearths `224
cr black money
Jammu: PDP President
MehboobaMuftionSun-
day accused the BJP of
pushing the country to-
wards another division
by dividing people on
religious lines. The for-
mer JK CM hurled the
allegation while prais-
ing first PM Nehru for
his“secular”credentials
and “steering” India on
the path of development
and prosperity
. She said
Jammu has been home
toallreligiousfaithsand
beliefs and the city has
accepted everyone from
across JK, irrespective
of their faith.
Mumbai (PTI): The In-
come Tax department
has detected undis-
closed income of about
Rs 224 crore after it re-
cently raided a unicorn
start-up group based in
Pune and Thane in Ma-
harashtra, the CBDT
said on Sunday. The
group, which is engaged
in wholesale and retail
of construction materi-
als, has a turnover ex-
ceeding Rs 6,000 crore.
In a statement, the de-
partment said that the
searches were carried
out on March 9 at 23
premises in 5 states.
MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
MP Abhishek Banerjee
Representing G-21, Azad has demanded
revival of Central Election Committee
and Congress Parliamentary Board, a
move which is being seen as a challenge
thrown by G-21 to Gandhis’ authority!
CYCLONE
ASANI

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
GOVT WORKING ON GST
classification of cryptos
government is working
on classification of
cryptocurrency as
goods or services un-
der the GST law, so that
tax can be levied on the
entire value of transac-
tions.
Currently, 18% GST
is levied only on ser-
vice provided by crypto
exchanges and is cate-
gorised as financial
services.
GST officers are of
the view that cryptos,
by nature, are similar
to lottery, casinos,
betting, gambling,
horse racing,
which have
28% of GST
on the entire
value. Be-
sides, GST
at 3% is lev-
ied on the
entire trans-
action value
in case of gold.
“There is a clar-
ity needed in regard
to levy of GST on cryp-
tocurrencies and
whether it has to be
levied on the entire
value, We are seeing
whether cryptocurren-
c i e s
can be
classified as goods or
services and also re-
moving any doubt on
whether it canbecalled
an actionable claim,”
an official said.
Another official
said that if the GST is
transaction of crypto-
currencies then the
rate could be in the
range of 0.1 to 1%.
“Discussions are in a
nascent stage on the
rate of tax, whether it
would be 0.1% or 1%.
First a decision on clas-
sification will have to
be finalised and then
rate will be discussed,”
the official said.
The Goods and Ser-
vices Tax (GST) law
does not clearly state
about classification of
cryptocurrency and in
the absence of a law on
regulating such virtual
digital currencies, the
classification has to
take into account
whether the legal
framework classifies it
as actionable claim.
An actionable claim
is a claim which can be
made by a creditor, for
any type of debt other
than a debt secured by
mortgage of immova-
ble property
.
The 2022-23 Budget
has brought in clarity
with regard to levy of
income tax on crypto
assets.
by nature, are similar
to lottery, casinos,
betting, gambling,
horse racing,
which have
28% of GST
on the entire
ied on the
entire trans-
action value
in case of gold.
“There is a clar-
ity needed in regard
to levy of GST on cryp
c i e s
can be
an official said.
said that if the GST is
transaction of crypto
currencies then the
rate could be in the
range of 0.1 to 1%.
There is a clarity
needed in regard to levy of
GST on cryptocurrencies and
whether it has to be levied on the
entire value, We are seeing whether
cryptocurrencies can be classified
as goods or services and also re-
moving any doubt on whether
it can be called an actiona-
ble claim.
—Official
Startups get up to 10 yrs
for converting debt
investment into equity
New Delhi (PTI):
The government has
extended the time-
line up to ten years
for startups to con-
vert debt invest-
ments made in the
company into equity
shares, a decision
which is likely to
give a relief to bud-
ding entrepreneurs
to deal with the im-
pact of Covid-19, ac-
cording to a press
note of the DPIIT.
Earlier the option
of changing convert-
ible notes into equi-
ty shares was al-
lowed for up to five
years from the day
when initial con-
vertible note was is-
sued. Now that time-
line has been ex-
tended to ten years.
An investor can
invest in a startup
through convertible
notes, which is a
kind of debt/loan
instrument. But in
this investment, the
investor is given the
option that if the
startup performs
well or achieves
some performance
milestones in future,
the investor can ask
the startup to issue
equity shares of the
company against the
money that they had
initially invested as
loan/debt.
“Convertible note
means an instru-
ment issued by a
startup company ac-
knowledging receipt
of money initially as
debt, which is repay-
able at the option of
the holder, or which
is convertible into
such number of eq-
uity shares of such
startup company,
within a period not
exceeding ten years
from the date of is-
sue of the converti-
ble note, upon occur-
rence of specified
events as per the
other terms and con-
ditions agreed to
and indicated in the
instrument,” the
note has said.
Diesel price for bulk
users hiked by `25/ltr
price of diesel sold to
bulk users has been
hiked by about `25 per
litre in line with a
near 40% rise in inter-
national oil prices, but
retail rates at petrol
pumps remain un-
changed, sources said.
Petrol pump sales
have jumped by a fifth
this month after bulk
users like bus fleet op-
erators and malls
queued up at petrol
bunks to buy fuel rath-
er than the usual prac-
tice of ordering direct-
ly from oil companies.
Worst hit are pri-
vate retailers like Na-
yara Energy, Jio-bp
and Shell, who have so
far refused to curtail
any volume despite a
surge in sales.
Price of diesel sold
to bulk users has been
hiked to `122.05 per li-
tre in Mumbai. This
compares to `94.14 a
litre price of the same
fuel sold at petrol
pumps.
In Delhi, diesel costs
`86.67 a litre at the pet-
rol pump, but for bulk
or industrial users it
is priced at about `115.
Stamp duty, registry
mop-up top `1 lakh
crore in 8 months
SBI lines-up 12
NPA accounts for
sale to ARCs
Mumbai (PTI): Led by
Maharashtra, the cu-
mulative revenue col-
lection from stamp duty
and registration fee of
all the states jumped to
`1,00,100 crore for the
first eight months of
the current fiscal year,
which for the entire
FY21 was `1,27,700
crore.
An analysis of state-
wise data by Motilal Os-
wal Financial Services
showed that the average
monthly collection by
28 states stood at `12,500
crore during the report-
ing period of April-No-
vember 2021, which is
slightly lower than
`12,800 crore in the pre-
pandemic days.
New Delhi (PTI):
Country’s largest
lender SBI has lined-
up a dozen non-per-
forming assets
(NPAs) on sale to re-
cover loan dues of
over `820 crore, as
per the bank’s notifi-
cations.
In terms of the
bank’s policy on sale
of financial assets, in
line with the regula-
tory guidelines, SBI
said it has placed
these accounts for
sale to asset recon-
struction companies
(ARCs)/banks/Non-
Banking Financial
Companies (NBF-
Cs)/financial institu-
tions (FIs), on the
terms and conditions
indicated there
against.
FMCG makers to go for around 10% price hike
New Delhi (PTI): Con-
sumers may have to
pay more for their daily
essential items with
Fast-Moving Consum-
er Goods (FMCG) com-
panies mulling another
round of price hike to
offset the impact of an
unprecedented level of
inflation in commodity
prices such as wheat,
palm oil and packaging
materials.
Besides, the ongoing
war between Russia
and Ukraine has also
added another blow to
FMCG makers as they
expect a rise in the
prices of wheat, edible
oil and crude.
Companies such as
Dabur and Parle are
watching the situation
and will undertake cal-
ibrated price increases
to mitigate the infla-
tionary pressures.
According to some
media reports, makers
such as HUL and Nestle
have increased the
prices of food products
last week.
“We are expecting a
10-15% hike by the in-
dustry,” Parle Products
Senior Category Head
Mayank Shah said.
WAIT WATCH
Working to improve tax literacy
in country, says CBDT chairman
Income Tax depart-
ment is working to im-
prove the “abysmally
poor” tax literacy in
the country so that the
number of tax paying
people and entities can
be increased leading to
enhanced collections,
CBDT Chairman J B
Mohapatra has said.
He said that the di-
rect tax establishment
– the government au-
thority that primarily
collects personal in-
come tax and corpora-
tion tax among others
– will do “everything
possible” to see that
the effective number of
taxpayers who can add
to the revenue kitty are
enhanced.
“There are a few
things to be done here.
One is expanding the
tax literacy which is
abysmally poor across
the country,” he said.
“Banking literacy
has gathered steam
and people know what
is a bank and how to
open an account.
Banks have invested in
expanding the banking
knowledge of the peo-
ple. That thing has not
happened in (income)
tax and that is on top of
our mind,” he said.
Quoting latest data,
the CBDT chief said
income tax return
(ITR) filing numbers
are roughly 7 lakh
crore of which about 4
lakh crore are from the
TDS (tax deducted at
source) category
.
The taxpayers’ pro-
file in India is that
more than 92% filers
are in the 0-`10 lakh
gross total income
bracket, beyond `10
lakh-`50 lakh is 6-7%
and from `50 lakh to `5
crore is 0.6-0.7% and
beyond `5 crore of
gross total income it is
around 28,000-31,000 fil-
ers. “So, our top is very
narrow, very small and
the base is quite large.
Our aim is to get move-
ment across these gra-
dients,” he said.
New Delhi (PTI): Gold exchange traded funds
(ETFs) witnessed a net outflow of `248 crore in
February, making it the second consecutive month
of withdrawals as investors preferred equities over
other segments on record SIP flows. Net outflows
from the gold ETFs were at `452 crore in the
month of January. Prior to that, the asset class had
seen a net investment of `313 crore. Despite the
outflows, the category witnessed an increase in net
AUM of gold ETFs to `18,727 crore at the end of
Feb from `17,839 crore in Jan-end. Also, the seg-
ment saw a surge in the number of folios by 3.09
lakh to 37.74 lakh during the period under review.
GOLD ETFS LOG ` 248-CR OUTFLOW IN FEB
New Delhi (PTI): The top-10 val-
ued companies added a whop-
ping `2.72 lakh crore to their
market valuation last week, as
the domestic equity benchmarks
witnessed heavy buying track-
ing an overall bullish trend in
global equities. The benchmark
indices made strong gains in
the holiday-truncated week. The
30-share BSE Sensex climbed
2,313.63 points, while the NSE
Nifty advanced 656.60 points.
MCAP OF TOP-10 COMPANIES SWELLS BY OVER `2.72 LAKH CR
COVID situation in China major
driver for markets this week
New Delhi (PTI): Stock markets will
be guided by global factors such as
the Russia-Ukraine war, the COVID-19
situation in China and crude oil prices in
absence of major domestic events this
week. Stock markets are expected to
keep their winning momentum this week
as FIIs may come back aggressively
fuelling a further rally in the market.
Govt plans to merge BBNL
with BSNL this month
government is plan-
ning to merge Bharat
Broadband Nigam
Limited (BBNL) with
the loss-making state-
run telecom operator
Bharat Sanchar Nig-
am Limited (BSNL)
this month, a senior
official has said.
BSNL chairman and
managing director PK
Purwar said that the
government is giving
the telecom firm an op-
portunity for a turna-
round.
“The government
has taken a policy de-
cision that BBNL is go-
ing to be merged into
BSNL. This means all
work of BBNL at the
pan-India level is go-
ing to come to BSNL,”
Purwar said on March
13. BSNL already has a
network of over 6.8
lakh kilometer of opti-
cal fibre cable (OFC)
network.
New Delhi (PTI): BSNL expects over `17,000
crore revenue from services in FY22, a tad
lower than the previous fiscal, mainly due to
the removal of call connect charges that used
to bring in additional inflows, according to its
Chairman MD PK Purwar. He asserted that the
state-owned telecom is confident of retaining
its customer base and defending its turf with
quality 4G services to be launched in the coming
months, even as competition intensifies with
private telcos gearing up for 5G services.
BSNL’S SERVICE REVENUE SEEN AT
` 17,000 CRORE IN FY22
The government
has taken a policy
decision that BBNL
is going to be
merged into BSNL

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Japa-
nese automaker Suzuki
Motor Corporation
plans to invest $1.26 bil-
lion for manufacturing
electric vehicles and
batteries in India, ac-
cording to a memoran-
dum of understanding
signed with Chief Min-
ister Bhupendra Patel.
The battery plant is
proposed to be set up
near Suzuki's automo-
bile manufacturing unit
in Gujarat and the total
investment is estimated
to be around 150 billion
yen ($1.26 billion) on the
new plant, and also in
enhancing production
of EVs in India.
The investment is
part of an overall Japa-
nese investment an-
nounced during the
meeting of Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
and his Japanese coun-
terpart Fumio Kishida,
the report stated.
There was no imme-
diate comment from
Maruti Suzuki India,
the subsidiary of Su-
zuki Motor Corpora-
tion (SMC).
In October 2019, Auto-
motive Electronics
Power Private Ltd
(AEPPL)—a joint ven-
ture between Japan's
TOSHIBA Corporation,
Denso Corporation and
SMC—had signed an
MoU with Gujarat gov-
ernment to invest
Rs4,930 crore in two
phases to up a lithium-
ion battery plant at
Hansalpur in
Ahmedabad district.
It is a part of the Su-
zuki group's plans to
enter the EV space, par-
ticularly in India.
Maruti Suzuki Chair-
man RC Bhargava has
maintainedthatthecom-
pany could launch its
electric vehicle by 2025.
India and Japan on
Saturday announced co-
operationintheareasof
electric vehicles, stor-
age systems, including
batteries, charging sta-
tions and development
of solar energy as part
of expansion of their
bilateral partnership.
Under their clean En-
ergy Partnership (CEP),
the two countries an-
nounced cooperation in
areas such as electric
vehicles, storage sys-
tems including batter-
ies, electric vehicle
charginginfrastructure,
developmentof solaren-
ergy; hydrogen; ammo-
nia; etc. “The objective
is to encourage manu-
facturing in India, crea-
tion of resilient and
trustworthy supply
chains in these areas as
wellasfosteringcollabo-
ration in RD. It will be
implemented through
the existing mechanism
of Energy Dialogue,” a
joint statement said.
Japan on Saturday
announced an invest-
ment target of five tril-
lion yen (Rs3,20,000
crore) in India in the
next five years follow-
ing talks between Modi
and Kishida.
Suzuki Motor to invest $1.26 bn for manufacturing EVs in Gujarat
Guj CM Bhupendra
Patel signs MoU for
new battery plant
in state
WELCOME STEP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The State
BJP is scheduled to
hold its legislature par-
ty meeting in Lucknow
on March 24, a day be-
fore the swearing-in of
the new state Chief
Minister, according to a
party functionary.
Chief Minister-desig-
nate Yogi Adityanath,
who reached State capi-
tal from Gorakhpur on
Sunday, would be for-
mally elected as the
state’s legislature party
leader in the meeting,
according to sources.
“A meeting of the
BJP MLAs was earlier
to be held on March 21
but now it has been
postponed to March 24,”
said a party office-bear-
er. After leading the
BJP to a thumping vic-
tory in the just-conclud-
ed elections, Adity-
anath will lead the
country’s most popu-
lous and politically cru-
cial state for the second
time consecutively as
its chief minister.
Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah and for-
mer Jharkhand Chief
Minister Raghubar Das
have been made the ob-
server and co-observer,
respectively for the gov-
ernment formation in
Uttar Pradesh. Accord-
ing to the sources, five
names and two scenari-
os are being discussed
for the post of Deputy
CMs, and there is no
consensus on it. The
names under considera-
tionareBrajeshPathak,
Sri Kant Sharma, Baby
Rani Maurya, Dinesh
Shama and Keshav
Prasad Maurya. “There
is a proposal to repeat
both the Deputy CMs
again if there is no con-
sensus, as there is dis-
cussion over repeating
Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Another discussion is
to have a Brahmin dep-
uty CM and both Pathak
and Sharma are con-
tenders. Baby Rani
Maurya was a governor
and she is set to get a
senior post. Dinesh
Sharma was offered the
post of state president,
but that deal couldn’t be
closed,” said the source.
UP BJP’S LEGISLATURE PARTY MEET
ON MARCH 24 TO ELECT YOGI AS CM
CM-designate Yogi Adityanath reached State capital from Gorakhpur on Sunday
Panaji (ANI): Goa’s care-
taker Chief Minister Pramod
Sawant revealed on Sunday
that the decision about the
swearing-in ceremony will
be taken in the Legislature
Party meeting that will take
place tomorrow even-
ing. He said that the party
observers will visit Goa on
Monday for the Legislature
Party meeting. “I went to
Delhi on Saturday, BJP
observers will be coming
here for the Legislature
Party meeting. The decision
about the swearing-in cer-
emony will be taken in the
evening tomorrow,” Sawant
told news agency ANI.
‘BJP OBSERVERS
TO VISIT GOA FOR
LEGISLATURE
PARTY MEETING’
First India Bureau
Mohali: Punjab Chief
Minister Bhagwant
Mann on Sunday asked
the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) MLAs to work
with honesty for the
welfare of people.
Mann, who threw
open 2 5 , 0 0 0
jobsin
vari-
o u s
state
g o v -
er-
nment departments on
Saturday in his first
Cabinet meeting, asked
his party MLAs to not
come with any “sifar-
ish”(recommendations)
for the vacant positions.
“Many will approach
you for these jobs, but
refrain from making
any recommendations.
There is no place for
corruption in Aam Aad-
mi Party,” Mann said.
Unemployment has
been one of the major is-
suesthattheAamAadmi
Party had
raised during the just-
concluded state assem-
bly polls.
NO SIFARISH FOR GOVT
JOBS: PUNJAB CM MANN
First India Bureau
Mumbai: Underlining
the importance of Cor-
porate Social Responsi-
bility and social entre-
preneurship, Union
Minister for Road
Transport and High-
ways Nitin Gadkari
called for social entre-
preneurship with social
consciousness, social
responsibility and so-
cial awareness, using
technology creatively in
bringing about socioec-
onomic transformation
in the disadvantaged
sections of society
.
Addressing the
fourth edition of The
CSR Journal Excel-
lence Awards, held at
the Yashwantrao
Chavan Centre in Mum-
bai, on Sunday, the Min-
ister said that there is a
need to use technology
in the social sector to
enable people to stand
up on their own feet.
Gadkari said that
Corporate Social Re-
sponsibility is helping
bring about a signifi-
cant socio-economic
transformation in the
disadvantaged sections .
First India Bureau
Surajkund: Haryana
Governor Bandaru Dat-
tatraya and Chief Min-
ister Manohar Lal Khat-
tar on Sunday inaugu-
rated the 35th Sura-
jkund International
Crafts Mela.
During the inaugura-
tion session, Dattatraya
in his address pointed
out the importance of
art and crafts in the de-
velopment of civiliza-
tion and culture. He
also praised the Minis-
tries of Central Gov-
ernment and Haryana
government for organ-
ising the Crafts Mela as
this gives an opportu-
nity to the artisan from
India and as well as
participating countries
to present the rich leg-
acy of arts and crafts
of their respective
countries, according to
a release by the Minis-
try of Tourism.
Khattar also hailed
the Mela and stated that
the Suraj Kund Crafts
fair helps thousands of
craftsperson from
across India to show-
case their arts and
products to a wider au-
dience, thus also help-
ing in reviving the her-
itage crafts of India.
“This years’ Suraj
Kund Crafts Mela is
special as organized
when we are celebrat-
ing Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav. The Mela
was first organized in
1987 and this is the
35th Crafts Mela or-
ganized this year it is
a stage not only for the
artisans from Haryana
but also from all over
India giving an oppor-
tunity to showcase
their talent and encour-
ages to preserve our
rich heritage and cul-
ture,” he added.
35th Surajkund Int’l Crafts Mela begins
ANNUAL (AF)FAIR
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya with CM ML Khattar at the
inauguration of 35th Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2022.
Bharatiya Janata Party got a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh elections.
Panaji (PTI): Congress
has issued a show-cause
notice to its leader Vijai
Bhike after his state-
ment blaming the ally
Goa Forward Party
(GFP) for the poor per-
formance in the last
month's Goa Assembly
elections drew a sharp
response from the latter.
Bhike's comment was
“malicious” and intend-
ed to jeopardize the
“healthy alliance”, the
notice said, seeking ex-
planation from him.
The BJP won 20 out
of 40 seats in the Goa
elections and is set to
form government with
the support of two MGP
MLAs and three Inde-
pendents. Congress was
a distant second, win-
ning only 11 seats, six
less than the last time,
while GFP won only
one, a loss of two seats
compared to 2017.
Bhike, chief of the
North Goa district
Congress unit, said on
Friday that joining
hands with the GFP
was a mistake.
I think we made the
wrong decision by tying
up with the Goa For-
ward Party as the alli-
ance did not benefit
Congress in any way
but the other party took
advantage of it, he told
reporters at Saligao.
GFP chief Vijai Sard-
esai failed to win May-
em and Mandrem seats
for his candidates,
Bhike claimed, adding
that the GFP's vote
share fell to 1.8 per cent
from 3.5 per cent in 2017.
On Saturday,
GFP's Santosh Kumar
Sawant (candidate from
Mayem) and Deepak
Kalangutkar (candidate
from Mandrem)
slammed Bhike.
Blamedallyforpoll
defeat,GoaCongleader
getsshow-causenotice
OPPORTUNITY
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: After
the cabinet expansion
of the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) govern-
ment in Punjab, AAP
national convener
and Delhi Chief Min-
ister Arvind Kejriwal,
Punjab Chief Minis-
ter Bhagwant Mann
and the party's Pun-
jab affairs co-in-
charge Raghav Chad-
ha, on Sunday, held a
meeting with all their
MLAs of Punjab. Ke-
jriwal attended the
meeting through vid-
eo conferencing and
addressed the MLAs
and explained the
party's objectives
and working
methods.
Addressing the
AAP MLAs, Kejriwal
said that after win-
ning elections in four
states, BJP's new
Chief Ministers
haven't taken oath, let
alone any work of the
people. Our Bhag-
want Mann saheb be-
came the Chief Min-
ister and has also
taken many historic
decisions for the peo-
ple. CM Mann has
done tremendous
work for the people of
Punjab in the last
three days. In his first
cabinet meeting,
25000 government
jobs have been an-
nounced for the youth
of Punjab, this has
raised hope among
the people.
Giving advice to all
the MLAs and Minis-
ters, he said that the
most important thing
for us is to work hon-
estly. I will tolerate
everything, but I will
not tolerate corrup-
tion and theft of pub-
lic money. Kejriwal
said that the people
of Punjab have given
us historical majori-
ty to work, not to
earn money. People
have chosen us after
being fed up with the
theft and corruption
of Congress-Akali
leaders. We have to
work honestly so that
people always choose
us. Do not do any-
thing that will upset
the public.
Kejriwal to MLAs: Will
not tolerate corruption
Arvind Kejriwal addresses the newly elected AAP MLAs in Punjab through video conference.
“CSR is helping
bring about a
significant
socio-economic
transformation”
“The people of
Punjab have
given us
majority to
work, not to
earn money”
Use technology to transform
vulnerable sections: Gadkari

08
2NDFRONT
The fittest are not the strongest,
the one’s most adaptable are the
fittest for survival.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
 One section in BJP
and RSS considers
Yogi as its ‘dattak
putra’. What does
that mean?
Jagdeesh Chandra:
This means that he is
favoured. His ideology,
his image, his attire, his
no-nonsense attitude,
non-appeasement of mi-
norities etc all is pre-
ferred by this section.
So, they see him as a
future prospect after
Modi who can be sent in
the field. But Shah, who
does not have a monk
like image but his im-
age is of a strategist and
stands with them. He
does not have a hard-
core image but he has
strategy and hard work
to his side. Modi and
Shah need RSS’s help but
not to extent that RSS
needs these 2 . It is due to
strategic importance
that saffron is spread
across nation. Yogi too
needs RSS perhaps
more than Modi Shah.
 It is said that Yo-
gi’s media manage-
ment and his CMO
have also played an
effective role in the
election victory of UP
.
What is your assess-
ment about this?
Definitely it has been
there. No govt can enter
electoral foray without
media management.
During Akhilesh Ya-
dav’s govt media man-
agement was at its low-
est ebb then Navneet
Sehgal was brought in
after which situation
improved. When Yogi
govt was formed, Sehgal
was away from media
management but later
high command and Yogi
himself realised that it
is important to put an
experienced person in
charge of media man-
agement. Awanish K
Awasthi was handling it
then but he also had law
and order charge which
is basically the image
builder for Yogi as
strong law and order
has been his mainstay.
So, Sehgal was brought
back and UP media gave
credit of the victory to
Yogi, more than Modi-
Shah. This was Yogi
govt’s media manage-
ment. There is a minor
coordination issue be-
tween Sehgal and the
director there but that
will smoothen out with
time. CMO there is ef-
fective. The one similar-
ity between Modi and
Yogi’s work culture is
that they give free hand
to bureaucracy and del-
egate power. Since both
of them remain ex-
tremely busy in politi-
cal assignments so they
emphasise on total del-
egation with total trust.
Overall, CMO and me-
dia management team
played a good role.
 What will be the
major challenges be-
fore Yogi in his sec-
ond term?
Challenges are many
.
there is a long way to go.
Firstly
, he has to ensure
that his coordination
and understanding with
high command is better
than before and there is
no confrontation like
earlier. For this he will
have to delegate this co-
ordination responsibili-
ty to some trusted indi-
vidual. Secondly
, he will
have to look into the poll
percentage for 2024 gen-
eral election since this
time around a lot of
votes have been cast due
to Mayawati factor, so
next time BJP will have
to bring LS seats on its
own. Thirdly, he will
have to move ahead in
administrational field.
Fourthly, there is a per-
ception about him that
he promotes Thakur bu-
reaucracy, even if he
does not do so. So, he
will have to work to end
that perception. Fifth
and perhaps the biggest
issue is of coordination
with the central nomi-
nees. there are individu-
als who will be part of
the Yogi government as
nominees of Central
leadership so they may
have some attitude. The
smooth functioning of
government will depend
on Yogi’s coordination.
Development agenda
has brought votes and
that should continue.
 Now elections will
be held in Gujarat,
Rajasthan and many
other states. Will Hin-
dutva be a factor and
will after Ayodhya
and Kashi, focus will
now shift to Mathura?
Hindutva has become
agenda of every Hindu
now. They have ensured
that Hindutva is accept-
ed as a value system for
masses. So now they do
not have to do anything
it will be people who will
take it forward. Kashi
and Mathura is a policy
matter and they will
pick up when they want.
 What was Mayawa-
ti’s role in BJP’s vic-
tory in UP?
Extremely crucial.
Mayawati’s image has
been formed of a party
which has cut votes of
BJP’s rival parties. BJP
should thank her for
this. Mayawati has been
a crucial factor, her vote
percentage, which was
around 22% came down
to 12% or so. But she
must have thought that
if I cannot be in power,
then why should Akh-
ilesh be? Secondly,
Modi-Shah contested
election through mind
games and not through
votes, wherein Mayawa-
ti could fit in strategy.
Mayawati shifted her
votes to BJP and Amit
Shah acknowledged it
and stressed that BSP is
still relevant.
 There are murmurs
that BSP may get in-
cluded in BJP and
Mayawati could be
made the Presiden-
tial or Vice-presiden-
tial candidate. Do
you think so?
I have heard about it
and it is not impossible
since Modi and Shah
are known for experi-
ments. I can’t say that
the parties will become
one but there can be an
unannounced coordina-
tion likes of which we
saw in UP election re-
cently
. Mayawati can be
a candidate which will
send good message in
Dalit community and as
such there has been
some understanding
between BJP and Dalit
community now.
 Did Vikas Dubey
encounter have any
effect on the election?
There was no effect on
election of the encoun-
ter. Even on Brahmin
dominated seats BJP
has performed well.
 Did the Lakhimpur
Kheri incident have
any effect on polls?
There is just one answer
to all this. Modi wave.
What to do about it? Add
to this is Amit Shah’s
strategy and it becomes
amiracleof thiscentury
.
It is nothing short of a
miraclethatall8seatsof
Lakhimpurdistricthave
been won by BJP
. Con-
gress fielded someone
from the victim’s family
but their security depos-
it was forfeited. It is a
tremendous victory for
BJP to win all seats in
the Lakhimpur district.
 And how successful
was Priyanka Gan-
dhi’s decision to give
40% tickets to women?
The sentiment behind
it was good, but it
proved to be a disaster.
Priyanka was Con-
gress’ last hope after
Rahul. Rahul is there,
but some people, in-
cluding me, believed
that she will be able to
do something. But
keeping in mind the
overall structure of the
Gandhi family, she has
not been able to achieve
anything. She fielded
144 women candidates
of which security was
forfeited of 137. This is
Priyanka and Con-
gress’ report card.
Ashok Gehlot says at
least she contested, so
yes that point is there,
she did move about
campaigned for party.
But at end of day deliv-
ery counts. Where is
delivery?
 Do you think Con-
gress will repeat this
formula in 2024 Lok
Sabha elections?
I don’t think so. Neither
in any state nor in 2024.
Priyanka must have be-
come extremely demor-
alized due to the failure.
They have managed
just 2 seats whereas
they had 7 earlier. Even
in CWC the participants
did not say anything out
of courtesy and respect
and said to Priyanka
that she did a good job.
That is alright, elders
do say encouraging
words to children. But
the result is before all to
see. So, there is no
chance that Congress
would give forty per-
cent seats to women.
 What was the result
of the five-hour CWC
meeting held on
March 13 after the de-
feat of the Congress
in these five states?
There has not been any
conducive result. The
same script has been re-
peated. One Rajasthan
CM is Ashok Gehlot,
standsupassaviourand
as defender of Gandhi
family
. He changed the
entire discourse of the
talks but what was the
result? Sonia did show
large hearted approach
and offered to resign.
But everyone knows
where is the option.
Thereisnooptionfor
leadership in Con-
gress other than
Gandhi family
. The
real issue is how
does Gandhi family
provide leadership.
They said they will
holdaChintanShi-
vir and CM Gehlot
is expert in organ-
isingsuchevents.
Cong says those
that are left are
BJP’s men. Ghulam
Nabi was alleged to have
an alliance with BJP but
it was a sin to term a
leader like Azad with
BJP. CWC was ritual
which was carried out
nicelyduetocourtesyof
Rajasthan CM Gehlot.
 Congress will get a
full time President in
August-September
this year and it is be-
lieved that Rahul
Gandhi will be ap-
pointed as President.
But has Rahul ac-
cepted this?
I have had my doubts
since day one about Ra-
hul. He is brilliant per-
son, but he will avoid
taking any direct re-
sponsibility
. I still have
my doubts that even if
the working committee
passes the proposal, he
will go to the next room
and say sorry to his
mother that he will not
be able to carry out the
role. And his mother
knows about his anger
too. This is the difficulty
faced by Congress. Par-
ty has been swinging
between Rahul becom-
ing President or not.
Half of the people say
something else and in
anger he leaves for Italy
to meet his grandmoth-
er. His colleagues like
Surjewala can’t give
leadership in his ab-
sence. problem in Gan-
dhi family is that Sonia
is the only person left
with whom people con-
nect but her health does
not permit her to move
about too much. Rahul’s
problem is that he is not
regular, you may see
him once and he may
disappear for days alto-
gether, he isn’t easily ac-
cessible, you don’t want
to consult anyone. I have
said it before too that
only Rahul can take on
Modi. In 2015 I inter-
viewed Rahul and Pri-
yanka and during off-
camera interaction they
asked my view of Con-
gress. I told them that
either of them should
move away from nation
and tell people to sup-
port the one staying be-
hind. Priyanka then im-
mediately said to me,
“why should I leave?” I
had said then that she
has a passion to lead the
nation. The solution
nowisthatRahulshould
be appointed leader in
LS and Priyanka should
be sent to RS from Raj
where she should be
given place of Ghulam
Nabi and also made par-
ty president which So-
niashouldenforce.They
need this moral cour-
age. Unless there is this
clarity in Cong nothing
will change. Then deci-
sionbyPresidentshould
not change. Gandhi fam-
ily
, I am sorry to say
, is a
house of confused and
disappointed people.
Only hope is Gehlot but
what will he do in Delhi,
Cong may lose Raj then.
And if remote has to be
with Rahul or anyone
else, then what good will
Ashok Gehlot do?
 Who could be the
party president if Ra-
hul declines taking
the mantle?
Such a role can be
played by those who are
okay with being run
through remote control.
For example, there is
Mallikarjun Kharge.
Another name doing
rounds is of Mukul
Wasnik. He knows the
Delhi culture and is a
loyal worker like Avi-
nash Pande. There are
some people who are
simple, mature and loy-
al. But the first issue is
whether Gandhi family
will decide on appoint-
ing a president apart
from the family. Few
days back there were
murmurs in Congress
of which 10 Janpath
also took notice, that
perhaps someone from
G-21 may come at helm.
So, they became active
to safeguard their sur-
vival. Mukul Wasnik, I
think may be one of the
best choices at the mo-
ment. He is from South-
India but has a good im-
age in North too. He has
good liaison abilities
and enjoys good rapport
with Gehlot. He can co-
ordinate with everyone
since he does not have a
state to run, unlike Ge-
hlot. Wasnik is there-
fore a good name, pro-
vided Gandhis move out
of their self-drawn lak-
shman rekha.
 How do you visual-
ise the role of G-21 af-
ter the CWC meeting?
G-21 has become more
sensible now. Earlier
there was a disappoint-
ment, but off late Gan-
dhis have recognised
that. They realised their
mistake and honoured
G-21, to some extent.
Secondly
, even the mem-
bers of G-21 are behav-
ing properly, but some-
times frustration does
happen, Kapil Sibal has
said a lot of things,
without mincing words,
blaming Rahul. Even
G-21 does not have a fu-
ture without Gandhi
family. I had read that
someone proposed Pi-
lot’s name saying he
could be brought, to
which someone else pro-
posed Wasnik’s name.
So, point is that anyone
other than Gandhi fam-
ily will be run through
remote control will
have problems in run-
ning too there will be
nothing more than this.
 Ashok Gehlot
changed the entire
paradigm of CWC
meet. Do you think he
yet again emerged as
man Friday for Gan-
dhis?
100% this has been the
case. He is one of the
most sensible leaders
not only in Congress
but across the nation. I
have firm belief that
even Modi must have
admiration for Gehlot.
being in different party
and Opposition on po-
litical issues is a differ-
ent thing. He changed
the entire script of the
meeting just through
his interviews and he
virtually emerged as
principal trouble-shoot-
er for Gandhis in that
critical CWC meeting.
During the show
#JConModiUPWave
trended top All-India
on Twitter
TO BE CONTINUED...
Editor-In-Chief of First India,
Jagdeesh Chandra, in The New
JC Show, speaks about media
management of Yogi’s
government, CWC Gehlot as
trouble-shooter for Gandhis
including impact of Assembly
elections on the Presidential
poll and more...(Part 2) Jagdeesh Chandra with Shweta Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Tanu Choudhary, Muskan Moolchandani and Vijender Solanki on the New JC Show. —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA
Rahul a brilliant person but appears to be a
bit confused and a reluctant bride because
there are several ‘power centres’ at 10 Janpath
Will Sonia ask Rahul to lead Congress in Lok Sabha and also handover her legacy to Priyanka as the Congress President?
are known for experi-
ments. I can’t say that
the parties will become
one but there can be an
unannounced coordina-
tion likes of which we
saw in UP election re-
cently
. Mayawati can be
a candidate which will
send good message in
Dalit community and as
and offered to resign.
But everyone knows
where is the option.
Thereisnooptionfor
leadership in Con-
gress other than
Gandhi family
. The
real issue is how
does Gandhi family
provide leadership.
They said they will
holdaChintanShi-
YOU READ PART-1 ON
MARCH 20, 2022
Hindutva not BJP’s agenda anymore, now it is every Hindu’s agenda...

uck always fa-
vours the brave
andbravearethe
people who fol-
low their hearts
andtakechances
in life because
they know the power of
opportunities. Maybe it is
becauseof luckbychance
butAsthahasgrabbedthe
opportunity and made
her name shine in the
world of glamour. A sim-
ple 22-year-old did not
know that her life would
take her on this trip, from
a regular life to a glamor-
ous dash Astha has seen
allthis.Whenaskedabout
her journey she said,
“Coming from conserva-
tive middle-class family
modelling was an unreal-
istic aspiration
for a
girl weigh-
ing 72 kgs
with lots
of pim-
ples on
her face. I
never thought
of modelling
until I was
spotted by
a casting
agent at a
cafe. Ini-
tially, I
thought it was some
prank but then they
showed their profile and
that’s how my journey as
a model began.”
Astha has proved that
‘It’sourchoicethatshows
who we truly are, far
more than our abilities.’
Apart from modelling,
this gorgeous beauty is
passionate about acting,
dancing and has learnt
acting from Anupam
Kher’s Actor Prepares -
The School of Actors’
which gave wings for her
flight. While talking
about her achievements,
she said, “I came across
Elite Miss Rajasthan the
last year but was over-
weight so decided to par-
ticipatethisyearwithfull
preparation. I worked
hard on myself and
lost 17 kgs to be a part
of the Elite Miss Ra-
jasthan family, I am
extremely grateful
to Gaurav Gaur for
his constant sup-
port and guidance,
its like a dream
come true. After 20
years I see myself
as an established
actress in the
film industry
.”
Astha has also
worked in Dil
Bechara and
Pyaar Tune
Kya Kiya.
NEW DELHI, MONDAY,
MARCH 21, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
L
ASTHA KHANDELWAL,
WHO HAILS FROM
JAIPUR, RECENTLY
WON THE ELITE MISS
RAJASTHAN 2022
BEAUTY PAGEANT
AND IS SOARING
HEIGHTS WITH EACH
PASSING DAY.
RECENTLY THE
BEAUTY WAS SHOT
BY THE WORLD
FAMOUS FASHION
PHOTOGRAPHER
DABOO RATNANI.
CITY FIRST SHARES
HER JOURNEY!
BEAUTY
@ ITS BEST
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
—PHOTOS BY
MUKESH KIRADOO
Astha Khandelwal

10-11
ETC
Un soir de glamour
et de beauté
City First brings to you some
more glimpses of the First
India Queen of Cosmos
held at Oaks Ibn Batutta
Gate Hotel, Dubai on
March 10, where not
only stunning beauties
from all across the globe
were crowned but a lux-
ury lifestyle award cer-
emony was also held.
Jagdeesh Chandra
conferred the awards
to various people
from different sectors
and congratulat-
ed them on the
occasion. Bol-
lywood Star
Daisy Shah
graced the
occasion as
a special
guest!
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Rishee Miglani, Rupa Khurana, Akansha Bakshi, Third runner-up Sanskriti Negi from India, CEO and Director Bikaji Foods International Ltd Deepak Agarwal, First runner-up Vanessa Amorim from Brazil,
Winner of the First India Queen of Cosmos Elisabeth from Ukraine, Daisy Shah, Rizwan Sajan,Yaqoob Al Ali, Lokesh Sharma, Second runner-up Akan William from South Sudan and Anita Hada
Jagdeesh Chandra with Rajiv, Nupur Kapoor and their kids. Also seen is Yaqoob Al Ali
Jagdeesh Chandra presents a memento of welcome to Rizwan
Sajan, founder and chairman of the Danube Group in Dubai.
Also seen are Rupa Khurana and Rishee Miglani
Hollywood singer Persiana Dulo gives
a spectacular performance
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Priyatam Sogani (Sogani Jewellers)
for Best Jewellery Brand. Also seen are Rupa Khurana and Rishee Miglani Jagdeesh Chandra with Simran Kashyap and Yaqoob Al Ali
Khushi Ajwani
Jay and Sadiya Deepak Agarwal, Anita Hada and Nikhil Anand Kris, Mr Dubai 2022 Yasser and Meg Mayur, Sharmine Khan, Aakansha and Aadharika
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Akansha Bakshi for the
Best Luxury Blogger, also seen are Rupa Khurana and Rishee Miglani Kulsum Malik, Anjana Miglani, Usha Punia and Meera Kataria
Mukund, Madhav and Divyansh
(L-R) Aarna Vishwakarma, Iman Harti,
Daisy Shah and Akansha Bakshi
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

21032022 first india new delhi

21032022 first india new delhi

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to 21032022 first india new delhi

Similar to 21032022 first india new delhi (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (16)

21032022 first india new delhi