22012022 first india new delhi

N-E states one famous for corruption, now
spend money for development: Amit Shah
Agartala: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Friday said that the
North eastern states
wereoncefamousforcor-
ruption, but after former
PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee
had taken the initiative
for development of the
region, the entire money
sent from Delhi is being
spent for development.
He said the plan for
Tripura’s development
overthenext25yearshas
been laid out in a vision
document ‘Lakshya
Tripura’. Addressing a
gathering on Tripura’s
50th statehood day
throughvideoconferenc-
ing, Shah said, huge in-
frastructure for connec-
tivity of the land-locked
state through roads, rail-
ways were built and ini-
tiatives were taken for
better connectivity
through Bangladesh.
RISING GRAPH
Amit Shah addressing a gathering on Tripura’s 50th statehood day through video conferencing.
SHAH TO CONDUCT DOOR-TO-DOOR
CAMPAIGN IN UP'S KAIRANA TODAY
New Delhi: In his first political programme in UP after the
assembly poll dates were announced, Home Minister Amit
Shah will be on a door-to-door campaign in support of
the BJP candidate in Kairana on Saturday. The senior BJP
leader, who is playing a key role in the party's campaign
in the politically crucial state, will also hold a meeting with
party workers in Shamli and Baghpat.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
10,756
NEW
CASES
17,494
RECOVERED
38
NEW DEATHS
NEW DELHI l SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.144
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
Sensex tanked 427 points or 0.72% to close at 59,037, staging a recovery
from intraday lows of 58,620. NSE Nifty 50 ended at 17,617, falling 0.79%.
Bank Nifty along with broader markets closed in the red. while India VIX soared
6.18% to settle at 18.89 levels. Bajaj Auto was the top Sensex gainer, up 3.7%,
followed by Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki India, and HDFC. P6
An earthquake of 5.6 magnitude was on Friday reported near Champhai in
Mizoram. According to preliminary reports, the tremors were felt across
Northeastern states such as Manipur, Assam, and North Bengal. The epicentre
of the earthquake, which struck at 3.42 PM, was at border area in neighbour-
ing Myanmar. No major damage was reported till last reports came in.
SENSEX CLOSES
427 PTS LOWER
AT 59,037, NIFTY
ENDS AT 17,617
5.6 EARTHQUAKE
SHAKES MIZORAM,
TREMORS FELT IN
NORTH EAST
CRUCIAL READ
CIVIL SERVICES EXAM: SC JUNKS PLEA
SEEKING TO QUASH 2020’S FINAL LIST
SC TO SUPERTECH:
REFUND MONEY
CENTRE CALLS
ALL-PARTY MEET
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused
to hear a petition seeking to quash the UPSC
Civil Services Examination 2020 final selection
list to the extent that it violates the 50% ceiling
of reservation. L Nageswara Rao and Justice BR
Gavai, who were hearing the case, further warned
petitioner’s lawyer that it will dismiss it with a cost
and said that the court did not see any point to
hear the counsel any further.
New Delhi: Supreme
Court on Friday ordered
the real estate firm Su-
pertech to process the
refund to homebuyers,
who have been affected
due to the demolition of
its two 40-story towers
in Noida.
New Delhi: The Centre
has convened an all-
party meet likely at 3
pm on January 31 to
discuss Budget Session.
The meet is to deliber-
ate with the opposition
on issues they would
like to discuss. P3
AG okays contempt against
Narsinghanand over remarks
against the Constitution
New Delhi: Attorney
General K K Venugopal
on Friday gave consent
to a Mumbai-based ac-
tivist to initiate crimi-
nal contempt-of-court
proceedings against
Yati Narsinghanand
for his remarks about
the Supreme Court and
the Constitution, say-
ing they were “a direct
attempt to lower the au-
thority of the Supreme
Court in the minds of
the general public”.
“I find that the state-
ment made by Yati
Narsinghanand that
‘those who believe in
this system, in these
politicians, in the Su-
preme Court and in the
Army will all die the
death of a dog’ is a di-
rect attempt to lower
the authority of the Su-
preme Court in the
minds of the general
public,” said the attor-
ney general, adding the
remarks made during a
January 14, 2022 inter-
view “have been ex-
plained to me”.
ETERNAL FLAME GOES OFF,
MERGES WITH WAR MEMORIAL
Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate extinguished after 50
years, flame shifted by ceremonial guard to torch at the
National War Memorial in a military ceremony
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: The Amar
Jawan Jyoti or “eternal
flame” for soldiers was
put out at India Gate in
Delhi today
, 50 years af-
ter it was first lit, and
merged with the torch at
the National War Memo-
rialinamilitaryceremo-
ny
.
The flame was taken
from India Gate by a cer-
emonial guard to the
new memorial around
400 metres away in the
heart of the capital.
The Amar Jawan Jyo-
ti or flame of the immor-
tal soldier was installed
at the India Gate after
the 1971 India-Pakistan
war that led to the crea-
tion of independent
Bangladesh.
It had burned ever
since, fuelled first by cyl-
inders of liquified petro-
leum gas and later with
piped gas, according to
AFP
.Asoldierlitasingle
torch from each of the
four flaming urns at In-
diaGatebeforetheirfuel
was cut off. P3
Air Marshal BR Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff lits the torch to merge the flame of Amar
Jawan Jyoti with the flame at the National War Memorial during a ceremony at India Gate in New Delhi
on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
INDIA LOSE WAY IN ODI SERIES TOO
z A young South
Africa punished a
jaded Indian team for
its outdated approach,
handing it one of the
most comprehensive
series defeats with an
easy seven-wicket vic-
tory in the second ODI
in Paarl on Friday.
z A target of 288 was
below-par on a flat
track and the seasoned
Quinton de Kock (78
off 66 balls) in the
company of rising
sensation Janneman
Malan (91 off 108
balls) added 132 for a
match-deciding open-
ing stand.
z The home team
eventually reached the
target in 48.1 overs to
take an unassailable
2-0 lead in the three-
game series.
2nd chargesheet in Lakhimpur case:
farmers named for killing of BJP men
New Delhi: A second
chargesheet has been
filed in the Lakhimpur
Kheri case where an
SUV -- allegedly driven
by the son of a Union
Minister--ploughedinto
a crowd of protesters
last year. While the first
chargesheetnamedAsh-
ishMishra,sonof Union
Minister Ajay Mishra,
over four farmers and a
journalist who got run
over, the second one in-
volves the violence that
followed, in which two
BJP workers and the
driver of the SUV were
beaten to death.
Seven farmers were
arrested by the police
during their investiga-
tionsinthiscase,butitis
not clear year if all of
them have been charged
with murder.
Thesecondpolicecase
was filed after a com-
plaint by one Sumit
Jaiswal, a local BJP
worker, against un-
named farmers, accus-
ing them of instigating
the violence.
Man attempts to set
self on fire outside SC
New Delhi: A 50-year-
old man allegedly tried
tosethimself onfireout-
side the Supreme Court
in New Delhi on Friday
afternoon. He was taken
to LohiaHospital,where
he is recuperating and
police are trying to con-
tact his family
.
According to the po-
lice, the man has been
identified as Rajbabu
Gupta, who works in a
factory in Noida Sector
128. “We received a call
around 2.20 pm that a
man had tried to self-
immolate and that he
was stopped by the secu-
rity personnel. Police
rushed to the spot and
the victim was taken to
hospital,” said police.
Priyanka declares self as
Congress‘CM’faceinUP
New Delhi: Senior Con-
gress leader Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra today de-
claredthatsheistheface
of the party in poll-
boundUttarPradeshbut
remained evasive on
whether she would con-
test the upcoming As-
sembly polls. UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath and Samajwadi
Party (SP) president
Akhilesh Yadav have al-
ready decided to contest
the elections.
Asked who would be
the Congress’s face in
UP
, Vadra said, “Aapko
kisi aur ka chehra dikh
raha hai Congress party
ki taraf se? To phir…
Dikh tho raha hai na sab
jagah mera chehra.”
(Are you seeing any oth-
er Congress leader’s
face…it is only my face
being seen everywhere
in UP
.)
Onwhethershewould
fight the polls and what
would be her constitu-
ency
, Vadra
said, “When
itisdecided,
you will get
to know. We
haven’t made
a decision
on it
yet.”
EXPELLED U’KHAND BJP MINISTER
HARAK RAWAT JOINS CONGRESS
PARRIKAR’S SON QUITS GOA BJP,
IGNORES AAP INVITATION; TO
FIGHT POLLS AS INDEPENDENT
OPPN SLAMS CENTRE
SIGNIFICANCE
OF AMAR
JAWAN JYOTI
AND WHY IT
WAS MERGED
The eternal flame at
the Amar Jawan Jyoti
underneath India Gate
in central Delhi was an
iconic symbol of the
nation’s tributes to the
soldiers who have died
for the country in various
wars and conflicts since
Independence. Estab-
lished in 1972, it was
to mark India’s victory
over Pakistan in the 1971
War, which resulted in
the creation of Bangla-
desh. The then PM Indira
Gandhi had inaugurated
it on Republic Day, 1972.
Centre said the flame will
not be extinguished, but
just moved to be merged
with the one at the
National War Memorial.
The eternal flame paid
homage to the soldiers
killed in the 1971 War,
but does not mention
their name, and the India
Gate is a “symbol of our
colonial past”.
Just months before assembly polls, expelled Bharatiya
Janata Party’s Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh
Rawat rejoined his old party Congress
on Friday in the presence of former
Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Harak
Singh Rawat was dismissed from
the Uttarakhand Cabinet and expelled
from the BJP on Monday for “anti-
party activities”. He was one of the 10
MLAs who had left the Congress in
2016. Earlier, sources said that Harish Rawat was un-
comfortable with Harak Rawat’s re-entry into Congress.
Utpal Parrikar, the son of three-time Goa Chief Minister
and former Union Minister Manohar Parrikar, parted
company with the BJP after the party
refused to offer him ticket for the Panaji
seat in the coming assembly elections
of the seaside state. While ignoring in-
vitation by AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, Utpal
announced that he would contest as
an Independent. He said the time has
come for him to “take some stand for my values... and let
the people of Panaji decide”. P5
The Opposition strongly hit out at the
Centre for its decision to “extin-
guish” the eternal flame of the Amar
Jawan Jyoti as it is to be merged with
the National War Memorial on Friday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed
the move, saying “some people cannot
understand patriotism”. However, gov-
ernment sources said there was “a lot
of misinformation” over the decision.
ANALYSIS
STATUE OF SUBHASH BOSE TO BE
INSTALLED AT INDIA GATE: MODI
Ahead of Netaji Sub-
hash Chandra Bose’s
125th birth anniversa-
ry, PM Narendra Modi
announced that his
statue will be installed
at India Gate. Until in-
stallation is completed,
a hologram of Netaji
will be projected.
The Hologram of Netaji.
...but remained
evasive on
contesting polls
Family dispute
suspected
behind suicide
attempt: Police
Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party (SP)
patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, met him on Friday morning
to take his blessings. Aparna posted a photo on her Twitter
handle which showed her touching the feet of Mulayam.

New Delhi: Delhi Lieu-
tenant Governor Anil
Baijal on Friday reject-
ed the government’s
proposal to lift the
weekend curfew in the
national capital and
ease COVID-19 restric-
tions.
According to the
sources, Baijal said that
the status quo be main-
tained with regards to
weekend curfew and
opening of markets. A
decision will be taken
on the subject once the
COVID situation im-
proves further.
Earlier in the day,
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal had sent a rec-
ommendation to LG
Anil Baijal to end the
weekend curfew.
In the proposal, Kejri-
wal also asked to end
the odd-even system in
the markets and to al-
low private offices to
operate at 50 per cent
capacity, the sources
added.
Earlier, Deputy Chief
Minister Manish
Sisodia had said “Now
cases are declining, to
keeping this and em-
ployment in view
Arvind Kejriwal has de-
cided to end weekend
curfew.” —ANI
CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 2022
02
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CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: Months
after it announced
its plan to develop
Sanjay Van in south
Delhi as an ecotour-
ism destination, the
Delhi Development
Authority (DDA) is
reworking the plan and will be inviting expression of
interest again from private players by the end of this
month. A senior DDA official said that the plan is to
promote nature-based adventure activities.
DDA REVIEWS PLAN TO DEVELOP SANJAY
VAN, TO INCLUDE ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
RT-PCR TEST GETS
CHEAPER: `300 AT
LABS, `500 AT HOME
New Delhi: The Delhi
government on Thurs-
day slashed prices of
Covid-19 tests in the
city, and ordered hospi-
tals and labs to process
all samples within 12
hours of receiving them.
The cost of the gold-
standard RT-PCR test
has been reduced by
`200 for home collec-
tion as well as for sam-
ples collected at private
hospitals and labs.
The same price cut was
extended for rapid anti-
gen tests in the city.
Now an RT-PCR test, if
performed at labs and
hospitals, will cost `300
instead of `500.
New Delhi: The air
quality in the na-
tional capital on Friday
remained in the ‘very
poor’ category accord-
ing to the System of
Air Quality and Weather
Forecasting and Re-
search (SAFAR).
The overall Air Quality
Index (AQI) is at 353.
Yesterday, the AQI was
318. As per the govern-
ment agencies, an AQI
between zero and 50 is
considered ‘good’, 51
and 100 ‘satisfactory’,
101 and 200 ‘moder-
ate’, 201 and 300
‘poor’, 301 and 400
‘very poor’, and 401
and 500 ‘severe’.
AIR QUALITY
REMAINS IN ‘VERY
POOR’ CATEGORY
New Delhi: A 78-year-
old Delhi resident suf-
fering from recurrent
inflammation of the
large intestine and
bloody diarrhoea has
recovered after doctors
from Sir Ganga Ram
hospital treated him
with faecal microbiota
transplant (FMT), a pro-
cedure where stool from
a healthy person is put
into the colon of the pa-
tient.
Despite treatment
with antibiotics, the
symptoms kept reoc-
curring in the patient
and he was admitted to
the hospital with fever,
bloody diarrhoea, low
blood pressure, and
high heat rate. When
his stool was analysed,
the doctors found a bad
bacteria called c. diffi-
cile.
A c. difficile infection
disrupts the growth of
normal, healthy gut
bacteria and is often a
result of prolonged an-
tibiotic use. It can cause
severe symptoms that
can be fatal.
“FMT is the up and
coming treatment.
However, the knowl-
edge and acceptability
of the treatment is not
very high. It is the first
line of treatment in pa-
tients with recurrent
pseudomembranous co-
litis (inflammation and
ulceration of the
large intestine), but I
don’t think it has been
used in the country
yet,” said Dr Piyush
Ranjan, vice-chairper-
son, Institute of Liver
Gastroenterology and
Pancreatico Biliary Sci-
ences, Sir Ganga Ram
Hospital.
Although anyone wi-
th a healthy gut micro-
biome can be a donor,
he said, the Centre en-
courages it to be a fam-
ily member to increase
acceptability
. —Agencies
FMT helps 78-year-old with recurrent diarrhoea
SIR GANGA RAM HOSPITAL
lll
FMT is the up
and coming
treatment.
However, the
knowledge and
acceptability of
the treatment is
not very high,
says Dr Piyush
Ranjan
New Delhi: Days after
Delhi Police registered
a case against a person
for allegedly outraging
the modesty of a girl
student in Jawaharlal
Nehru University
(JNU), the university’s
administration along-
with the security
branch has been closely
coordinating with po-
lice in process of inves-
tigation.
In an official state-
ment by the University,
it informed, “JNU Ad-
min with the security
branch has been closely
coordinating with po-
lice in process of inves-
tigation. In case of any
information related to
this incident, residents
are advised to immedi-
ately intimate to the se-
curity branch or the
police.” On January 18,
Delhi Police registered
a case against a person
for allegedly outraging
the modesty of a girl
student pursuing PhD
in Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU).
The Delhi Police in-
formed that the inci-
dent took place in the
campus area last night,
wherein one boy came
on a bike from inside
campus and tried to mo-
lest her. On January 18,
a PCR call regarding
molestation in JNU was
received in PS Vasant
Kunj North, the police
said. Keeping in view
the gravity of the mat-
ter, DCP South West dis-
trict Gaurav Sharma
along with SHO Vasant
Kunj and staff immedi-
ately rushed to spot. It
was revealed that in the
intervening night of
January 17 and 18, 2022,
one girl student, pursu-
ing PhD in JNU, was
taking a stroll within
the campus itself. —ANI
Molestationcase:JNUcoordinatingwithpolice
New Delhi: Deputy
chief minister Manish
Sisodia reviewed the on-
line teaching-learning
process in Delhi govern-
ment schools, and said
that it was crucial for
learning to continue
even as in-person classes
stay shut due to Covid
curbs.
Besides laying empha-
sis on the need to bridge
learning gaps, Sisodia,
who also holds the edu-
cation portfolio, directed
officials to ensure that
the emotional and men-
tal well-being of chil-
dren was also taken care
of while they undertook
academic activities.
“Due to the repetitive
school closure during
Covid pandemic, there
has been a loss of learn-
ing for the students. The
health of students is
very important for us,
but it is also important
that the education of the
children does not stop.
The Covid-induced pan-
demic has posed new
challenges for us, but
our team is working dili-
gently to ensure that
every child has access to
education in these
times,” said Sisodia.
In a written state-
ment, the government’s
directorate of education
also shared that over
95% of the students in
various classes were
able to access study ma-
terial while attending
online classes.
The directorate of ed-
ucation said worksheets,
through offline and on-
line medium, were
reaching around 99.2%
of students from KG to
Class 2; 99.1% from Class
3 to 5, 94.21% to students
in Class 6; 97.2% in Class
7; 98% in Class 8; 98.7%
in Class 9 and 98.4% in
Class 10. Himanshu
Gupta, director, Directo-
rate of Education, who
took part in the review
along with Sisodia, said
that the DoE was send-
ing worksheets weekly
on WhatsApp to stu-
dents in nursery to class
11. He added online
classes were being con-
ducted for students in
classes 9-12. —Agencies
Learning must continue
even if schools are
shut: Manish Sisodia
CMwantsweekendcurfew
lifted;STATUSQUO,saysLG
New Delhi: The Lieu-
tenant Governor Anil
Baijal office on Fri-
day approved the gov-
ernment’s proposal to
allow private offices
to function with 50
per cent staff
strength, official
sources said.
Earlier in the day,
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Manish Sisodia
said that the decision
to ease the restric-
tions was taken in
view of declining
number of Covid cas-
es in the city and also
to ensure that liveli-
hood of the public is
not affected.
“Now since the cas-
es are going down and
it also seems that the
peak has gone we
want to ensure that
the public’s livelihood
continues smoothly.
We have proposed to
do away with week-
end curfew and also
with the odd-even ar-
rangement of open-
ing of shops in mar-
kets.
“We have also pro-
posed to allow func-
tioning of private of-
fices with 50 per cent
staff. All these chang-
es will be implement-
ed once this proposal
is approved by the
L-G,” Sisodia said in a
virtual press confer-
ence here. —PTI
Baijal says a decision will be taken once COVID situation improves
Private offices to run
with 50% strength
CHOCK-A-BLOCK
A long vehicular traffic jam seen at Ring Road towards Ashram due to the construction of a
flyover in New Delhi —ANI
New Delhi: Raising con-
cerns once again over
the issue of lack of funds
at the 12 Delhi University
colleges aided by the Del-
hi government, the Delhi
University Teachers’ As-
sociation Friday said the
recurring problem is
holding back develop-
ment at the colleges.
Earlier this month,
DUTA had held a univer-
sity strike to demand
that the reduction in
fund allotment to these
colleges be reversed.
There are 12 colleges in
the university which are
fully funded by the Delhi
government. According
to their principals,
across all these colleges,
the budget allocation for
this financial year has
been reduced on an aver-
age to 75 per cent of the
previous years, which
they state, has made it
difficult to make all pay-
ments due to the staff
members. —Agencies
Slashed funds for 12 colleges
stall development: DUTA
New Delhi:Twomonths
after Delhi Police arrest-
ed seven jail staff mem-
bers for allegedly help-
ing inmate and conman
Sukesh Chandrashek-
har in extorting nearly
`200 crore from a Fortis
Healthcare worker, the
Economic Offences
Wing has asked the jail
administration to allow
it to probe 82 officials
and staff of Rohini jail
under the Prevention of
Corruption Act.
The Economic Offens-
es Wing of Delhi Police
has written to Tihar Jail
that investigation is
needed against the 82
employeesof RohiniJail
who helped Sukesh and
took crores of rupees in
the name of providing
him amenities. Prior to
this, a letter to DG
(Tihar) Sandeep Goel on
January 10 had been
written, in which DCP
(EOW) Mohammad Ali
said, “It is stated that a
case, dated August 7,
2021, under sections
170/384/386/388/419/
420/468/471/186/353/
506/120B IPC and 66-D IT
Act, section. MCOC Act,
1999 PS Special Cell was
registered on the com-
plaint of Aditi Singh,
wife of Shivender Singh
and the same was inves-
tigated in EOW
.” —PTI
Delhi jail staff likely to be
quizzed in probe over Sukesh
New Delhi: The num-
ber of COVID cases
in Delhi has come
down after register-
ing a record surge
a week ago, but the
daily fatalities trend
needs to be watched
for the next few days
to tell if the death
count has reached its
peak, according to
medical experts. Sen-
ior doctors at leading
COVID facilities, both
state-run and private,
have emphasised
that the peak in
death cases happen
generally a week or
two after the peak
in the daily cases
tally. Delhi Health
Minister Satyendar
Jain on Thursday had
said that it seems
the peak of the third
COVID wave in the
national capital has
gone past, even as
he cautioned that the
city was not out of
the danger zone yet.
Delhi saw a record
surge in daily cases
recently with over
28k cases registered
in a day on January
13, and the positivity
rate too had gone
beyond 30 per cent
on January 14. —PTI
KEEP A WATCH
ON COVID TREND
FOR MORE DAYS,
SAY EXPERTS
New Delhi: Five men
were arrested for cheat-
ing people by promising
jobs at the Delhi airport,
police said on Friday,
and identified Naveen
Pathak, 30, and Kamal
Sharma, 32.
Police said in June,
they received a com-
plaint that a person was
cheated on the pretext
of providing a job with
an airline and was
asked to deposit money
in the name of a secu-
rity deposit. —PTI
Five arrested for
cheating people

INDIA
03
Congress demands all-party
delegation, PM to visit LAC
New Delhi: After the
Arunachal Pradesh in-
cident of abduction of
an Indian youth by Chi-
na’s People’s Liberation
Army (PLA), the Con-
gress Party is taking on
the Modi govt and de-
manding that an all-
party delegation of the
MPs should visit the
Line of Actual Control
(LAC) under the leader-
ship of the PM Naren-
dra Modi.
Speaking to the re-
porters, Cong MP and
spox Shaktisinh Gohil
said, “The Congress
party has always put
the interest of the coun-
try above the interest of
the party
. We have never
tried to derive political
gains but have worked
for the benefit of the na-
tion. Be it the security
of the nation, whether
it is our brave army,
whether it is issues of
terrorism. Even on top
of that we never did
vote-bank politics about
the brave army
. It is the
responsibility of all of
us to see that the bor-
ders of our nation are
safe. No one should en-
ter our borders even a
little bit.”
He further asked the
PM to say something on
China. “Modi ji, Gao is
a member of the nation-
al executive. Will you
ignore him now too? If
you do this, then re-
member Chanakya ji
had said that despite
having a strong army,
the ruler of the country
who has neither cour-
age nor spirit can land
nation in trouble. —ANI
It is the responsibility of all
of us to see that the
borders of our nation
are safe. No one should enter
our borders even a little bit.
—Shaktisinh Gohil, Congress MP
All Mumbai
schools to reopen
from January 24
Mumbai: Offline teach-
ing will resume at
schools in Mumbai
from class-
es 1 to 12
from Janu-
ary 24, mu-
n i c i p a l
c o m m i s -
sioner Iqbal Singh
Chahal told PTI.
The decision came as
new Omicron cases and
overall daily coronavi-
rus infections in the
city have begun to de-
cline. Earlier on Thurs-
day, Maharashtra
school education minis-
ter Varsha Gaikwad an-
nounced that govt has
allowed reopening of
schools for classes 1 to 9
for offline teaching
from January 24. —PTI
Centre calls all-party
meet on January 31
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Govt has convened
an all-party meet likely
at 3 pm on Jan 31 to dis-
cuss Budget Session.
The Budget Session
will get underway on
the same day with the
Presidential address at
11 am followed by the
laying of the Economic
Survey. The Union
Budget will be present-
ed on Feb 1.
The all-party meeting
has been called by Par-
liamentary Affairs
Minister Pralhad Joshi
to deliberate with the
opposition on issues
that they would like to
discuss during the ses-
sion while the govt will
also give them a close
view of the agenda and
Legislative business
that they would likely
follow in the next one
year. Sources also told
media that the all-party
meeting would be fol-
lowed by a meeting of
the BJP Parliamentary
Executive Committee
and then the NDA floor
leaders meeting.
PM Modi has been at-
tending these meetings
and is often seen urging
the opposition to allow
smooth functioning of
the House. —ANI
‘Merging of Amar Jawan Jyoti is a historical step’
New Delhi: Ahead of
Republic Day celebra-
tions, Brigadier Chi-
tranjan Sawant (retd),
who has been the R-Day
commentator for the
past 49 years, on Friday
said that Amar Jawan
Jyoti will merge with
National War Memorial
flame.
“India Gate, war me-
morial built by the Brit-
ish. National War Me-
morial is built in mem-
ory of soldiers who
sacrificed their lives for
the nation from 1947 till
today
. Amar Jawan Jyo-
ti will merge with Na-
tional War Memorial
flame,” said Brig Chi-
tranjan Sawant(retd).
In a historical step
days before Republic
Day, the Amar Jawan
Jyoti at the India Gate
lawns would be extin-
guished and merged
with the flame at the
on Friday
.
“The Amar Jawan
Jyoti flame at India
Gate will be extin-
guished and merged
with the flame at the
on Friday at a ceremo-
ny,” an Indian Army of-
ficial informed.
The ceremony would
be presided over by the
Integrated Defence
Staff Chief Air Mar-
shal Balabadhra Radha
Krishna who would
merge the two flames,
officials said.
After a long wait and
multiple considera-
tions, the National War
Memorial was built in
the India Gate complex
by the Narendra Modi
government and was
inaugurated in 2019. Af-
ter the inauguration of
the building in War me-
morial, all military cer-
emonial events were
shifted to it from the
India Gate. The Nation-
al War Memorial has
the names of all the In-
dian defence personnel
who have lost their lives
in different operations
since 1947. —ANI
ROW OVER ‘AMAR JAWAN JYOTI’
India Gate, war memorial built by
the British. National War Memorial
is built in memory of soldiers who
sacrificed their lives for the nation from 1947
till today. Amar Jawan Jyoti will merge with
National War Memorial flame.
—Chitranjan Sawant, Retired, Brigadier
CRUCIAL READ
VIKRAM DEV DUTT
APPOINTED AS CMD
OF AIR INDIA
New Delhi: Vikram Dev
Dutt, an 1993-batch IAS of-
ficer of Arunachal Pradesh,
Goa, Mizoram and Union
Territory (AGMUT) cadre,
has been appointed as the
Chairman and Manag-
ing Director (CMD) of Air
India, an official statement
from Air India informed on
Friday. Dutt takes over from
Rajiv Bansal, Secy in the
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
who was at the helm of
Air India so far, the release
said. Prior to this, Dutt was
Principal Secy in Services
Department.
INDIAN NAVY’S FIRST
IL 38 AIRCRAFT
RETIRES AFTER 44-YRS
Panaji: IN 301, the first IL
38SD aircraft of the Indian
Navy, was decommis-
sioned after completing 44
glorious years of service
to the nation. According to
the Indian Navy, the aircraft
was decommissioned on
Jan 17. The aircraft was
commissioned in 1977 and
remained a formidable air
asset throughout its service
life. It was with the induc-
tion of IL 38 aircraft that
the Navy moved into the
arena of airborne LRMR
combined with anti-subma-
rine search and strike.
FOUR INDIANS FREEZE
TO DEATH TRYING TO
ENTER USA
New York: A family of
four, including a baby, all
believed to be Indians, has
died from exposure to cold
weather on the Canadian
side of the border with the
US in an apparent human
smuggling operation, ac-
cording to media reports.
Manitoba Royal Canadian
Mounted Police (RCMP)
on Thursday said that the
bodies of four people two
adults, a teen and an infant
were found on the Cana-
dian side of the US/Canada
border near Emerson on
Wednesday.
TWITTER FIXES TECH
BUG, SAYS THINGS
BACK TO NORMAL
New Delhi: Twitter on
Friday said that it has recti-
fied the technical issues
that affected users across
the world while accessing
Twitter. Users were expe-
riencing difficulties when
accessing the microblog-
ging site and also when
they were trying to log
in. Twitter was down for
users for some hours in
the morning. Twitter said
that it has fixed a technical
bug that was affecting
how tweets get routed to
the backend systems and
things are back to normal.
Jaipur: Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Friday
laid emphasis on the promotion of “smart agricul-
ture” to make farming sustainable and profitable.
He said that agricultural universi- ties
through their directorates of exten-
sion education and Krishi Vigyan
Kendras should motivate farmers
to adopt “smart agriculture” and
help them with necessary mobile
applications. Mishra was ad-
dressing the convocation of Shri
Karan Narendra Agricultural
University in Jobner virtually.
He said it on the merit of the
new NEP.
RAJ GUV STRESSES ON MAKING
FARMING SUSTAINABLE, PROFITABLE
IN THE COURTYARD
KALICHARAN MAHARAJ
SENT TO 14 DAYS
JUDICIAL CUSTODY
Mumbai: A local court on Fri-
day remanded 14 days judicial
custody to the controversial
Hindu religious
guru Kalich-
aran Maharaj
in connection
with his alleged
derogatory re-
marks against
Mahatma Gandhi in dharma
Sansad recently. Naupada
police had arrested him, fol-
lowing a complaint registered
by state Housing Minister and
NCP leader Jitendra Awhad for
his alleged remarks against
Mahatma Gandhi. He was
brought to Thane on Thursday
evening on transit remand
from Raipur, in Chhatishgarh
where he was lodged in jail
in a similar case. Apart from
Chhattisgarh, Kalicharan has
been facing multiple cases in
Maharashtra for the comments
he had made against Mahatma
Gandhi.
‘WHY SOCIAL MEDIA COS
CANNOT BE INCLUDED AS
ACCUSED OR ABETTOR’
Madurai (Tamil Nadu): The
Madurai Bench of Madras
High Court on Thursday
sought a reply from the
Tamil Nadu government and
state Police as to why social
media companies cannot be
included as accused or abet-
tor in criminal cases involving
social media platforms.
This comes in response to
a petition filed by the Tamil
Nadu police seeking to cancel
the bail granted to YouTuber
Saattai Duraimurugan who
came up for a hearing before
Justice B Pugalendhi.
New Delhi: The Delhi HC on Friday listed the matter for
February 3, a plea moved by Delhi State Legal Services
Authority (DSLSA) seeking payment of cost from Ac-
tress turned Environmentalist Juhi Chawla and others.
The cost was imposed on them by Justice JR Midha
(now retired) while dismissing a petition connected
with the rollout of 5G technology. On Friday, the bench
of Justice C Harishankar deferred the matter for Feb
3, after the Lawyer appeared for Juhi Chawla said he
didn’t serve with the petition copy. Court also noted that
the appeal in the matter is pending before the Division
Bench of Delhi HC. The DSLSA has recently moved to
the Delhi HC soughting payment of Rs 20 lakh to them.
DSLSA’S PLEA TO IMPOSE `20 LAKH FINE
ON JUHI CHAWLA TO BE HEARD ON FEB 3
New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Friday declined
to entertain a PIL searching for a path to censor
all future social media posts by Bollywood actress
Kangana Ranaut, on the grounds that she had made
a number of sacrilegious statements towards the
Sikh neighborhood, particularly in
reference to the protest towards
the farm legal guidelines. The
plea was filed by advocate
Charanjeet Singh Chanderpal.
A bench of Justices D.Y.
Chandrachud and Bela M.
Trivedi instructed Chander-
pal that the court respects
his sensitivities and further
said: “There are two ways,
ignore... there is also rem-
edy under the law,”.
‘IGNORE’: SC DECLINES TO HEAR PLEA
ON KANGNA’S SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
SC JUDGE RECUSES FROM HEARING
TEJPAL’S PLEA IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE
New Delhi: Supreme Court judge, Justice L Nageswara Rao
on Friday recused himself from hearing an appeal filed by
former Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal
challenging the order of the Bombay High Court at Goa which
has rejected his application for in-camera hearing in the 2013
sexual assault case. A Bench headed by Justice Rao posted
the matter for hearing on Monday before another Bench say-
ing he had appeared in 2015 as the counsel for the State of
Goa in the case. Tejpal has sought an in-camera hearing of
the appeal filed by the State of Goa against his acquittal.
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Friday said that Tripu-
ra is becoming a land of
opportunities and is
performing well today
on many parameters of
development.
While virtually ad-
dressing the people of
Meghalaya on the occa-
sion of their 50th State-
hood Day, the Prime
Minister said, "Today
Tripura is becoming a
land of opportunities.
The double engine gov-
ernmentisworkingcon-
tinuously to meet the
small needs of the com-
mon people of Tripura.
That is why Tripura is
performing well today
on many parameters of
development."
PM Modi said that
Tripura is also one of
the six states in the
countrywherenewtech-
nology is being used in
housing construction.
"Today on one hand
Tripura is doing com-
mendable work in pro-
viding pucca houses to
the poor, and on the
other hand, it is also
adopting new technolo-
gy rapidly. Tripura is
also one of the six states
in the country where
new technology is being
used in housing con-
struction," he said.
The Prime Minister
said, "From transpar-
ency in administration
to modern infrastruc-
ture, the Tripura that is
being built today will
preparethestatefordec-
ades to come. Recently,
theTripuragovernment
has started providing
100 per cent facilities to
every village."
He further said that
thewisdomof thepeople
of Tripura has contrib-
uted a lot in the new
phase of development in
whichTripuraismoving
towards a new height.
"Three years of mean-
ingfulchangeisproof of
this wisdom," he added.
"Thehistoryof Tripu-
ra has always been full
of dignity
. From the
majesty of the Manikya
dynasty emperors to the
present day
, Tripura has
strengthened its role as
a state. Be it tribal soci-
ety or other community
,
all have worked hard
and unitedly for the de-
velopment of Tripura,"
said PM Modi.
UndertheNorth-East-
ern Areas (Re-organisa-
tion) Act, 1971, Tripura,
ManipurandMeghalaya
attained statehood on
January 21, 1972. —ANI
MEGHALAYA BECOMING ATTRACTIVE
DESTINATION FOR WORLD: PM MODI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that
Meghalaya is becoming an attractive destination for
the country and the world. While virtually addressing
the people of Meghalaya on the occasion of their 50th
Statehood Day, PM Modi said, “Over the past 50 years,
the people of Meghalaya have cemented their identity of
being close to nature. To see the beautiful waterfalls, to
experience the clean and serene environment, to con-
nect with your unique tradition, Meghalaya is becoming
an attractive destination for the country and the world.”
The Prime Minister also said that the state has given
the message of nature and progress, conservation and
eco-sustainability to the world.
COMMITTED TO MAKE MANIPUR THE SPORTS
POWERHOUSE OF NATION: PM MODI
Greeting the people of Manipur on its 50th statehood
day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the govern-
ment is committed to make Manipur the sports power-
house of the country. Speaking on the occasion, he paid
tribute to the sacrifices and efforts of each and every per-
son who contributed to this glorious journey. He termed
the resilience and unity of the Manipuri people in the face
of ups and downs of their history as their true strength.
The Prime Minister reiterated his continued efforts to
get first-hand account of expectations and aspirations of
the people of the state that enabled him to get a better
understanding of their feelings and expectation and find
ways to tackle the problems of the state.
PM HAILS TRIPURA ON BECOMING
LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
MEGHALAYA’S 50TH STATEHOOD DAY
PM Narendra Modi

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 144
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
You have the right to
work, but never to the fruit
of work, You should never
engage in action for the
sake of reward, nor should
you long for inaction.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Till the grand statue of Netaji Bose is
completed, a hologram statue of his
would be present at the same place. I
will unveil the hologram statue on 23rd
January, Netaji’s birth anniversary.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Warm greetings to my brothers
sisters of Meghalaya, Manipur
Tripura on their 50th Statehood Day.
The resilience, generosity, innovation
enterprise of the people of these
states is praiseworthy.May they
continue to shine and contribute to
India’s growth development.
TOP TWEETS
PRIYANKA CAUSES
A FLUTTER, BUT
WILL SHE RISK HER
POLITICAL FUTURE?
riyanka Gandhi has
caused a flutter in po-
litical circles by her
“tongue in cheek” re-
mark that she will be
her party’s chief minister face
in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elec-
tions. In reply to a question
about the Congress’s CM face in
the state, the Congress general-
secretary responded, “Dikh to
raha hai na sab jagah mera cheh-
ra.” It is a fact that she has led
her party from the front during
the pandemic and after that. She
has said often that the party has
succeeded in building her par-
ty’s network at the ground level.
How effective that network will
be, cannot be vouched for until it
passes the crucial test. Revival
of a party with barely 10 percent
of vote share will be a Herculean
task for Priyanka Gandhi.
It is still not clear, if she will
take the risk of throwing her hat
in the ring after the defeat of her
mother Sonia Gandhi and broth-
er Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok
Sabha elections.
P
DECISIONS! DECISIONS!
DECISIONS!
man went to his bank with Rs
5 lakh to place the money in a
fixed deposit. The banker ad-
vised him to invest in the
stockmarket,claimingthatin
the long run, the stock market
never loses its value. The man
decided to take this advice. In
a short time, his investment
lost much of its value.
This experience shows that
making wise decisions is a
challenge. What should I do?
Each one of us, time and
again, face this question that
affects our lives. Making deci-
sions is an inevitable part of
life, some are so small that we
hardly recognise them, such
as what to have for breakfast,
or what to wear.
Other decisions are more
serious, affecting our future
and happiness. People react
in different ways. Some pro-
crastinate, others want some-
one else to shoulder the re-
sponsibility. Yet, there are
others, prepared to make de-
cisions without having some-
one telling them what to do.
We know how difficult deci-
sion-making can be.
If you could re-live the last
tenyears,wouldyoulivethem
differently? Do you ever think
what life would be, if you had
made certain choices? Look-
ing back on our life markers,
one can plan a better future.
Indecision can be a thief
of time. A shopping trip may
end in exhaustion, if one can-
not make the final decision
between two different styles
or colours. Indecision, in
other areas of life too, can
prove costly
.
Life’s uncertainties can
make us indecisive, if we feel
we have to wait until we have
every scrap of relevant infor-
mation before making a deci-
sion. But in reality
, most deci-
sions involve some uncertain-
ty
. What may hinder our abil-
ity to make good decisions?
Fear may paralyse us – fear
of making the wrong deci-
sion, fear of failure, or fear
of appearing foolish to oth-
ers. Such mental limping or
hesitancy can be minimized
by consulting experienced
and mature friends.
Would life be more pleas-
ant, if we did not have to
make decisions? The ability
to think and make choices is
a gift we all have. Some do
what appeals to them at the
moment and look for immedi-
ate benefits. Others do what
friends and family tell them.
Experience in making the
rightdecisionsonaday-to-day
basis trains us to make proper
decisions on more important
issues.Manyprefertosettheir
standards.Buthowwoulditbe
to drive in a city where each
person made up his own traf-
fic rules and went by them?
No personal idea, whim or
prejudice can be compared to
the strength of having and
knowing universal principles
to make the right decisions in
all spheres of life. Basing de-
cisions on them, will unfail-
ingly bring the best results,
for they apply consistently
everywhere, at all times, and
under any circumstances.
Essential to the decision-
making process is our faculty
of conscience that has the
ability to render judgment. It
must be illuminated with the
knowledge of principles. It
aids in making decisions in
harmony with the values we
pattern our life by
.
It is best to keep a long-
range view and not just think
aboutcurrentbenefits.Bytak-
ing sufficient time to weigh
the pros and cons, we can con-
sider how our decisions will
affect our mental, emotional
and physical well-being in the
future. Prudent actions are
rarely a product of guessing,
acting on emotions or simply
following others. Rushing the
process will suppress our de-
cision–makingfaculties.Men-
tally living with each option,
one at a time, is rewarding.
To think decisively re-
quires that one thinks about
problems before they arise.
We cannot take the attitude
that we will worry when the
time comes.
Thinking systematically
does not allow our minds to
jump from one thought to an-
other. By knowing ourselves
– our personal preferences,
values, priorities, strengths,
and weaknesses – we can ar-
rive at the right conclusion.
No matter what choice we
make, there will always be
something to sacrifice. Every
time, when we say to our-
selves, “maybe I should have
….”, we rob ourselves of the
strength that could be used to
support the decision and
make it work.
The effort involved in mak-
ing a decision is wasted, if
not followed through and im-
plemented. Not all decisions
work out exactly as planned.
From time to time, reviewing
the decisions and making ad-
justments when circum-
stances change, is vital.
Our choices have a pro-
found effect on us and our re-
lationships with friends and
family
. Hence, the ability to
make good decisions can help
us to live a relatively smooth,
peaceful life rather than one
that is full of chaos, contro-
versy and disappointment.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
A
Thinking systematically
does not allow our minds to
jump from one thought to
another. By knowing
ourselves – our personal
preferences, values,
priorities, strengths, and
weaknesses – we can arrive
at the right conclusion. No
matter what choice we make,
there will always be
something to sacrifice. Every
time, when we say to
ourselves, “maybe I should
have ….”, we rob ourselves of
the strength that could be
used to support the decision
and make it work
If you could re-live
the last ten years,
would you live them
differently? Do you
ever think what life would
be if you had made
certain choices? Looking
back on our life markers,
one can plan a better
future. Indecision can
be a thief of time
REKHA KUMAR
The writer is a personal development trainer
working with corporate and SME sector
ndonesia is shift-
ing its capital
from Jakarta to
Nusantara as the
present capital is
sinking. At a time when the
Islamic country is in the pro-
cess of building its new capi-
tal one should look at the
country’s syncretic culture
and compare it with India.
Indonesia is a country
where over 87 percent of the
population practices Islam.
With 231 million followers of
Islam, it is the most populous
Muslim majority country
. In
comparison, only 1.74 per-
cent,approximately4million,
of the total population of 273
million follows Hinduism.
There’s some dispute over the
population of Hindus with
some claiming that 18 million
Hindus lived in the country in
2005,implyingthattheirnum-
bers should be more than 1.74
percent. By any count, Indo-
nesia has the fourth largest
population of Hindus after
India, Nepal and Bangladesh,
thanks to the early influences
of Vaisnavism (followers of
Lord Vishnu) in Java, Bali
and Sumatra. Mahabharata
also finds mention in some
Indonesian texts.
After Islam reached coun-
try’s shores, there was obvi-
ouslyfrictionbetweenthetwo
religions. With Islam becom-
ing the state religion, Hindus
came to be regarded as non-
citizens. Until Sukarno dis-
solved the constitution in a
setback to Islamists, the peri-
od from 1959 to 1962 was espe-
cially turbulent. In 1962, Hin-
duism was recognised as the
fifth official religion. Before
that Hinduism was not re-
gardedasareligion.Aspeople
without religion Hindus were
deniedcitizenshiprights.Hin-
dus were thus, required to be
converted. But today, Hindu
religioussymbolslikeGaruda
continue to adorn Indonesia.
In that lies a lesson for some
Indians.
LESSON IN HARMONY
FROM INDONESIA
By any count, Indonesia
has the fourth largest
population of Hindus
after India, Nepal and
Bangladesh, thanks to
early influences of
Vaisnavism(followers
of Lord Vishnu) in Java,
Bali and Sumatra
I

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INDIA
05
Anita Hada
New Delhi: Can a
grand alliance of oppo-
sition parties be formed
in Goa? This is a mil-
lion dollar question, the
answer to which will be
found in a few days
from now as Goa goes to
polls on February 14.
Therefore, whatever de-
cision the opposition
parties have to take, it
will have to be done
within a day or two. In
the current situation, it
seems that if the Con-
gress accepts the pro-
posal of Trinamool
Congress and does not
face much problem on
seat-sharing, then a
grand alliance of oppo-
sition will be formed, in
which all parties except
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam
Aadmi Party will be
there.
Seeing the rapidly
changing political situ-
ation in Goa, the Trina-
mool Cong on its part
has spoken to the Con-
gress and proposed an
alliance. State’s elec-
tion in-charge and TMC
MP Mahua Moitra her-
self has said that the
top leadership of the
party is in touch with
top Congress leaders. In
fact, the position of Tri-
namool has weakened
in the last few days.
Cong leaders who left
the party and went to
Trinamool, many of
them have returned
home to Congress. BJP
government minister
Michael Lobo has also
joined the Cong. With
this, the prospects of
Cong have started to
look strong. That is
when an attempt is on
to form a grand alliance
on the axis of Congress.
Keep in mind that the
Congress is already in
coordination with the
Goa Forward Party and
on the other hand there
is coordination between
the TMC and the Maha-
rashtrawadi Gomantak
Party. So, if Congress
and TMC come together
then both the regional
parties will become
part of the alliance au-
tomatically. Moroever,
Congress is in talks
with Sharad Pawar’s
party NCP as well and
according to informed
sources, Sharad Pawar
is not only talking about
coordination with his
party
, but is also in talks
to bring Trinamool
Congress into the oppo-
sition alliance. If he is
successful, a strong alli-
ance of five parties will
be formed.
Meanwhile, Shiv
Sena leaders have also
reached Goa for cam-
paigning and are pre-
paring to contest the
elections. The Shiv Sena
has influence in the
Konkan region and has
the potential to influ-
ence some seats in Goa.
So, if Cong and Pawar
make the Sena join the
five party alliance, then
the opposition alliance
will swell to six parties
and on the other hand
the BJP will fight alone.
WILL THERE BE A GRAND ALLIANCE IN GOA?
INFIGHTING IN
BENGAL BJP: NOW
COMPLAINT
AGAINST SANTANU
ANAND SHARMA
URGES HM AMIT SHAH
TO TAKE STEPS TO
CURB HATE SPEECH
Kolkata: The infight-
ing within the BJP
reached a flashpoint
after the state unit filed
a complaint against
Union Minister of State
Santanu Thakur and
the rebel leaders to
the central leadership
for fuelling anti-party
activities. It has been
learnt that the state unit
has named 10 rebel
leaders responsible for
the situation. Sources
in the party said that
BJP state general sec-
retary (organisation)
Amitava Chakraborty
has filed a complaint.
New Delhi: Chairman of
Parliamentary Standing
committee on Home Af-
fairs Anand Sharma has
written a letter to Home
Minister Amit Shah urg-
ing him to enact a law
to curb hate speeches.
The letter written on Wed
says, It is requested that
the Home Secretary be
advised to sensitise the
Chief Secretary and DGP
to take prompt and firm
action to enforce law and
secure order. Further, the
government may con-
sider a legislative action,
including amendments in
the IPC and the CrPC.
KNP DIV COMMISSIONER INSPECTS SITE
OF CONVENTION CENTRE PROJECT
Kanpur: The 13,700 Sq mtrs project of modern con-
vention centre will be completed in next 15 months.
On Thursday, Divisional Commissioner/Chairman
Kanpur Smart City Limited Raj Shekhar, along with
CEO/Nagar Aaykut, Nagar Nigam Nodal Officer,
KSCL, visited the ongoing site of Modern Convention
Centre at Chunni Ganj for which Bhumi Pujan was
held in January 2021. Convention Centre is prestig-
ious project of Kanpur. This Smarty City Initiative will
be ‘Central Activity Hub” to boost Art, Culture, Trade
Industry in Kanpur City and Region.
FLYERS CAN CARRY ONLY ONE HAND BAG:
CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL SECURITY FORCE
New Delhi: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has
ordered airports and airlines to strictly follow the 'one
handbag rule' where the
passengers travelling by
flights will be allowed to
carry only one bag inside
the cabin of the aircraft.
CISF has asked the airlines
and airports to implement the earlier Bureau of Civil Avia-
tion Security (BCAS) one-bag order. As per BCAS AVSEC
Circular Nos. 06/2000 11/2000, no passenger should be
permitted to carry more than one handbag said the CISF.
GOVERNMENT AMENDS ARMS RULES TO
BOOST PRODUCTION OF FIREARMS
New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the new
amended Arms Rules have allowed the manufacturers
to enhance their annual
production of firearms or
ammunition or calibre wise
revision of its licensed ca-
pacity by giving intimation
to the licensing authority
and also to the state government concerned within ninety
days from the end of the financial year.
CRUCIAL READ
Muzaffarnagar: Con-
gress leader Mehraj Ja-
han threatened to self-
immolate herself after
she was denied a ticket
from the
Muzaffar-
nagar dis-
trict for
the up-
c o m i n g
UP elec-
tions and termed the
decision of the par-
ty as “injustice” de-
spite working for
the party for many
years.
Jahan who is Muzza-
farnagar’s party secre-
tary was also seen cry-
ing profusely in front of
the camera after she
was denied a ticket
from Muzaffarnagar.
The video of Congress
leader crying profusely
and inconsolably for
having denied a ticket
by the party is viral on
social media. Mehraj
accused his party of
giving tickets to people
with money and ex-
pressed disappoint-
ment for not providing
tickets to those who
have been working
with the party for
many years.
‘IF AKHILESH FIGHTS FROM
UP’S KARHAL, HE WILL LOSE’
New Delhi: SP President
Akhilesh Yadav will face
defeat by a huge margin,
if he contests from Karhal
assembly constituency,
said BJP MP Harnath
Singh Yadav on Friday.
Speaking to ANI ahead of
elections, the BJP Rajya
Sabha MP from
Mainpuri said,
Akhilesh is nerv-
ous and scared.
He is panicking
these days. Let me
tell you all that if Akh-
ilesh is going to contest
elections from Karhal,
considering that the seat
as safe... he will lose very
badly, he said.
CONG RELEASES YOUTH
MANIFESTO ‘BHARTI VIDHAN’
Lucknow: The Congress
on Friday launched
‘Bharti Vidhan’, the
party’s youth manifesto
for UP aheadof polls,
saying that the vision
document focuses on
providing employment
to the youth of the state.
The manifesto, which
promises 20 lakh jobs,
including 9 lakh jobs for
women, was released
by party leaders Rahul
Gandhi and PGV. “Con-
gress Party believes that
progress is founded on
a good education.
Mehraj Jahan threatens
suicide over denial of ticket
New Delhi:Piyush Go-
yal, Commerce and In-
dustry Minister, said
that the Indian industry
should aim to raise 75
unicorns in 75 weeks to
the 75th anniversary of
Independence.
He was at the release
of the NASSCOM Tech
Start-up Report 2022
where he emphasised
that India’s next UPI
moment can be the
ONDC, which will help
the common man access
new-age technology at
affordable costs. ”We
have 43 unicorns added
in 45 weeks, since the
start of ‘
Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav’ on March 12,
2021. Let us aim for at
least 75 unicorns in
these 75 weeks to 75th
Anniv of Independ-
ence,” he said.
India must aim to
raise 75 unicorns
in 75 weeks:
Piyush Goyal
tions and termed the
decision of the par-
spite working for
the party for many
Sabha MP from
Mainpuri said,
Akhilesh is nerv-
He is panicking
these days. Let me
UP
UP
ASSEMBLY POLLS 2022
—Picture for Representation
MP Harnath Singh Yadav
Mehraj Jahan
Sharat Verma
NewDelhi:TheSupreme
Court has given a verdict
in the case of Bharatiya
Janata Party MLA
Mukul Roy
. The Apex
Court has asked West
Bengal Assembly Speak-
er Biman Banerjee to
take a decision in two
weeks. It is worth men-
tioning that Mukul Roy
won the election from
BJP but later changed
party and went back to
his old party Trinamool
Congress. The BJP has
appealed to cancel his
membership, complain-
ingabouttheirdefection,
on which the speaker is
delaying any decision.
After this, the BJP chal-
lenged it in the Supreme
Court,onwhichthecourt
has directed the Speaker
to take a decision within
two weeks.
It is a surprise that if
a senior leader like
MukulRoylefttheparty
,
why didn't he resign
from the assembly? He
can contest the by-polls
after resigning and it is
not difficult for him to
win, considering the
situation in the state.
The second question
is, why is the speaker
taking so long? Do they
not know that sooner or
later Mukul Roy will
have to part away from
his membership? Actu-
ally, this time in West
Bengal, many amazing
things are happening.
Leaders are changing
parties but not giving
up their seats, while in
other states, MLAs are
resigning as they leave
the party. At least two
Lok Sabha MPs in Ben-
gal - Sishir Adhikari
and Sunil Kumar Man-
dal - have been com-
plained about to the Lok
Sabha Speaker by the
Trinamool Congress
asking them to cancel
their membership, as
both have gone to the
BJP. Interestingly, the
decision regarding
their membership in
the Lok Sabha has not
been taken and the mat-
ter is pending since
June last year.
WhenwillverdictonBengal
defectors be announced?
COMPLAINT BY THE LS MPs
Mahesh Sharma
NewDelhi: The case
of Utpal Parrikar, the
son of late Manohar
Parrikar, the former
Defence Minister of
the country and the
former Chief Minis-
ter of Goa, has be-
come a bone of con-
tention for the
Bharatiya Janata
Party
. The opposition
has made it such a big
issue that it has be-
come difficult for the
BJP to ignore it.
When Manohar
Parrikar died, the
party did not give tick-
et to Utpal and at that
time it did not become
much of an issue. But
now Utpal wants to
contest from his fa-
ther's traditional seat
Panaji, but BJP is giv-
ing ticket to Babush
Monserrate from this
seat. About the BJP
candidate, Utpal and
his close associates
have campaigned that
he is an accused in a
rape case. Think, if
Utpal Parrikar cam-
paigns about a BJP
candidate that he is
accused of rape, then
how big an impact
will be in that seat as
well as in the entire
state? That's when the
BJP is trying to con-
vince Utpal in some
way
. Senior leaders of
the party have spoken
to him and there has
been talk of adjusting
him at some good
place. It is also being
said that the party has
also offered him to
contest from a seat
other than Panaji, but
he is not ready for it.
Meanwhile, the op-
position parties have
created tremendous
pressure on the saf-
fron party. AAP has
directly offered the
seat to Utpal from its
party, on the other
hand Shiv Sena has
asked all the opposi-
tion parties to make
Parrikar's son a com-
mon candidate.
‘Junior’ Parrikar to
be candidate of
Opposition parties?
Panaji: Utpal Parrikar,
son of former Goa
Chief Minister late
Manohar Parrikar, an-
nounced on Friday that
he will be contesting
the upcoming Goa As-
sembly election from
Panjim constituency as
an Independent candi-
date.
“Manohar Parrikar
contested from Panaji
for two decades. He de-
veloped a bond with
Panaji and I too have
made that bond. I am
fighting for values,” Ut-
pal Parrikar said at a
press conference on Fri-
day. On Thursday, Aam
Aadmi Party national
convener Arvind Kejri-
wal had invited Utpal
Parrikar to join the
AAP after he was ex-
cluded from the BJP’s
list of candidates for
the Goa election. MLA
Atanasio “Babush”
Monserrate will be
fighting on the BJP tick-
et from Panjim. On this,
Utpal Parrikar said, “I
tried to convince
my party that
I can con-
test. De-
s p i t e
that, I
didn’t get
candida-
ture. The
party pre-
ferred a candi-
date who is opportunis-
tic and came to the
party recently. I had
only two options - BJP
or going independent. I
have chosen to contest
as an independent can-
didate.” Speaking to
media, he said, “I am
contesting as an inde-
pendent candidate
which means I have re-
signed from the BJP. I
can win against the
BJP candidate, I had
asked to contest [on
BJP ticket from Panaji
earlier too during by-
elections. My name was
in the list but was later
dropped... I am taking a
great risk by fighting in
this election.
UTPALPARRIKARTOCONTEST
AS INDEPENDENT FROM GOA
Devendra Fadnavis says that for our party the Parrikar family is always our family.
Utpal Parrikar
BJP MLA Mukul Roy
tried to convince
my party that
I can con-
test. De-
s p i t e
that, I
didn’t get
candida-
ture. The
party pre-
ferred a candi-
date who is opportunis-
GOA
ferred a candi-
GOA
AAP is fighting
Punjab polls with
different strategy:
Raghav Chadha
Chandigarh: AAPlead-
er Raghav Chadha
said that
the deci-
sion to field
Mann, who
is MP from
S a n g r u r,
from Dhuri
is part of
the elec-
tion strate-
gy. Mann
had contest-
ed the last polls from
Jalalabad against Shi-
romani Akali Dal
leader Sukhbir Singh
Badal. “Every elec-
tion has its own politi-
cal strategy. We want
Mann to campaign all
over Punjab.
He added that the
party was fighting the
upcoming polls with a
different strategy
. —ANI
Panaji: Lok Sabha MP and TMC national gen secy
Abhishek Banerjee said that the party is in Goa to win
and the Cong should take the blame if BJP forms
govt in the state. Abhishek Banerjee
hit out at Cong and party leader
P Chidambram for “misleading”
Goans with their claims that TMC
is dividing Cong votes. ”P Chid-
ambaram has been misleading the
party and the nation. Today, time
has come to expose him he added.
Banerjee added that every vote to
the Cong is a direct vote to the BJP.
”If Cong fails to defeat the BJP then
Mr Chidambaram should be the
first person to resign.
WE ARE HERE TO WIN, CONG TO
BLAME IF BJP WINS, SAYS TMC
P Chidambaram
Abhishek Banerjee
S a n g r u r,
from Dhuri
is part of
the elec-
tion strate-
gy. Mann
had contest-
had contest-
PUNJAB

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: In a bid
to spur capital ex-
penditure, the Fi-
nance Ministry has
relaxed spending
norms for the fourth
quarter with a view
to boost economic ac-
tivities. At present,
more than 33% and
15% of the BE shall
be permissible to be
spent by ministries
and departments in
the last quarter and
last month of the fi-
nancial year, respec-
tively. It has now
been decided to relax
the upper limit of
33% of the BE as ap-
plicable for the last
quarter of the cur-
rent financial year as
a one-time measure.
New Delhi: The total
business-to-business
spending in India is ex-
pected to rise by 10.3%
in 2022 with the spend
of the country’s busi-
nesses growing three
times faster than the
expectations from its
comparable peers in
other countries in the
third quarter of last
year, according to a
study. The total busi-
ness-to-business (B2B)
spend for India rose
9.4% in Q3 2021 on a
year-on-year basis.
Stating that the India
spending is on the
rise across nine key
B2B categories, the re-
port said, “it is expect-
ed to rise by 10.3% in
2022.” The study found
bullishness and greater
confidence with 74% of
businesses expecting to
spend more on tech-
nology and 72% plan-
ning to make more
capital investments in
2022. —PTI
New Delhi: Edible oil
major Adani Wilmar
Ltd (AWL) on Friday
fixed a price band of
`218-230 a share for its
`3,600-crore IPO.
The three-day ini-
tial share-sale will
open for public sub-
scription on January
27 and conclude on
January 31. The bid-
ding for anchor inves-
tors will open on Janu-
ary 25, according to
the company
.
The public issue
comprises fresh issue
of equity shares and
there will not be any
secondary offering.
—PTI
New Delhi: India’s
smartphone market
registered its highest-
ever shipments at 169
million units in 2021, ac-
cording to a report by
Counterpoint Research.
Preliminary data from
research said India’s
smartphone shipments
crossed 169 million
units in 2021 to register
11% year-on-year
growth from about 152
million units in 2020.
The market showed
high resilience in a year
that witnessed a second
and more virulent COV-
ID-19 wave, it added.
The report said in-
creased adoption and
demand for 5G smart-
phones was one of the
key factors for high
shipments in 2021. 5G
smartphones contrib-
uted to about 17% of the
overall shipments in
2021, registering 6x
growth compared to
2020. “Intense competi-
tion among OEMs,
availability of cheaper
5G chipsets and declin-
ing prices of 5G devices
will enable brands to
push more 5G devices
into the market. The
price of entry-level 5G
devices has come down
by 40% in the last six
months. The increase in
affordability of 5G de-
vices has been a key
reason for high 5G
smartphone adoption,”
it noted. —PTI
New Delhi: India
has set up a target of
$500 billion exports
for the 2022-23 fiscal,
a top government of-
ficial said on Friday,
contending that the
COVID-19 pandemic
has taught the coun-
try to “reimagine”
world trade. In De-
cember 2021, exports
stood at $37.8 billion,
the highest-ever for
any month.
“We are bang on
target to touch $400
billion for the cur-
rent fiscal. So far in
the first nine months,
the country’s exports
were to the tune of
$301.38 billion,” he
said. Chandra said
India is targeting $1
trillion exports by
2027. “The apprehen-
sion that COVID-19
would lead to a sharp
decline in foreign
trade has turned out
to be negative. How-
ever, the pandemic
has taught us to re-
imagine world
trade,” he said.
The fulcrum of in-
ternational trade has
shifted from Europe
and the United States
to South East Asia,
DGFT official said.
He also said that
the world is moving
away from multilat-
eral trade agree-
ments to bilateral
ones, and India is
presently in the pro-
cess of entering into
six FTAs.
Chandra said go-
ing ahead, artificial
intelligence and oth-
er forms of technol-
ogy will become im-
portant in matters
relating to trade.—PTI
New Delhi: India’s farm
exports are likely to touch
a record $50 billion in FY22, led by a sharp growth in
shipments of rice and marine, meat and poultry items.
Export of rice is likely to touch $9.5 billion in value
terms, accounting for about half of the global rice ex-
port market, the officials said, adding that non-Basmati
rice shipments are likely to clock $5.8 billion. “We ex-
pect farm exports to reach the highest and record $50
billion this year,” said the official. In the April to Nov
2021 period, export of agricultural products, including
marine and plantation, amounted to $31.05 billion, up
from $25.2 billion in the year-ago period. —Agencies
India aiming at $500
bn exports for FY23
New Delhi: Cryptocurrencies sank on Friday taking
Bitcoin to the lowest level in more than five months
as risk aversion again swept across global markets.
The largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as
7.4% to $38,261, while second-ranked Ether slid
b e - low $3,000. Digital tokens
overall have shed some
$1 trillion in value
since a Nov peak.
Other cryptocurren-
cies also dropped,
such as Binance Coin,
Cardano and Solana.
—Agencies
BITCOIN PLUNGES TO LOWEST
LEVEL SINCE AUGUST 2021
New Delhi: For the first time since its market
debut, Zomato shares have dropped below their
listing price, largely because of non-stop selling
in the last four sessions. On Friday, the scrip fell
another 10% to hit a fresh 52-week low of
`113.15. With this, the scrip also
slipped below the listing price of
`115 on NSE. The stock has
fallen nearly 17% in four
sessions. The stock’s
market cap also fell
below `1 lakh crore
during the crash.
—Agencies
ZOMATO SLIDS BELOW LISTING
PRICE; M-CAP DOWN `1 TN MARK
Mumbai: Extending its losses for the fourth straight
session, equity benchmark Sensex slumped 427
points on Friday, tracking weakness in Bajaj Fin-
serv, LT and Infosys amid a widespread sell-off
in global markets. Relentless foreign fund outflows
further weighed on the bourses, traders
said. The 30-share BSE index ended
427.44 points or 0.72% lower at
59,037.18. Similarly, the NSE Nifty
plunged 139.85 points or 0.79% to
17,617.15. Bajaj Finserv was the
top laggard in the Sensex pack,
shedding 5.37%, followed by
Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel. —PTI
SENSEX CRASHES 427 POINTS,
NIFTY DIPS TO 17,617
New Delhi: Shares of One 97 Communications,
owners of Paytm brand, on Friday plunged to a new
low, skidding for the 13th instance in the last 14
sessions amid selling in internet-based tech stocks.
On NSE, the scrip hit a lifetime low of `952, down
about 4%. It is now down 56% from its IPO price of
`2,150. The market cap of the company
fell to a low of `62,000
crore. Paytm is now even
closer to the most bearish
target price of `900 on the
counter, set by Macquarie
analysts.
—Agencies
PAYTM SHARES FALL ANOTHER
4% TO HIT LIFETIME LOW
RILQ3:Netprofitzooms
41%;firingonallfrontswith
strongJio,Retailgrowth
New Delhi: Reliance
Industries Ltd has re-
ported a 41.5% on-
year jump in net prof-
it to `18,549 crore in
the Oct-Dec quarter
of the current fiscal
year. Total income
soared 52% on-year
basis during the
quarter to reach `1.95
lakh crore. Segment
breakdown of Reli-
ance Industries’ re-
sults shows that the
oil to chemical busi-
ness of RIL reported
a revenue of `1.31
lakh crore, as against
`83,838 crore in the
year-ago period. Jio
Platforms reported a
revenue of `24,176
crore while net profit
came in at `3,795
crore. ARPU im-
proved to `151.6. The
retail business of RIL
delivered all-time
high revenue of
`57,714 crore and a
net profit of `2,259
crore. “Our digital
services business has
delivered broad
based, sustainable,
and profitable growth
through improved
customer engage-
ment and subscriber
mix,” said Mukesh
Ambani. —FIB
FARM EXPORTS
EXPECTED TO TOUCH
RECORD $50 BN
New Delhi: Gems and jewel-
lery exports in the April-Dec 2021
period grew by 5.76% to $29.08 bil-
lion on account of healthy demand, the
GJEPC said on Friday. It said that exports in Dec
2021 rose by 29.49% to $3.04 billion. “Holiday
and festive demand was robust in important trad-
ing centres such as the USA, Hong Kong. And we
have every reason to believe that this momentum
will carry through the end of FY2022, bringing
us closer to the set target of $41.67 billion in
exports,” GJEPC chairman said. —PTI
GEMS, JEWELLERY
EXPORTS UP 5.76%
IN APRIL-DECEMBER
COVID-19 has taught country to ‘reimagine’ world trade: DGFT Official
FinMin eases
expenditure
norms to spur
spending in
last quarter
B2BSPENDINGEXPECTEDTOGROW10.3%
India smartphone market logs 169 million
units shipment in 2021, highest till date
DoT mops up `69,179 cr from telecos
New Delhi: The De-
partment of Telecom-
munications has col-
lected `69,179 crore as
non-tax revenue dues
from telcos so far,
comfortably surpass-
ing the `54,886 crore
estimated from the
communications sec-
tor for FY22 in the
Budget. “This figure
is likely to go up in the
next few months as
telecom operators will
deposit their third
and fourth quarter
statutory dues,” a sen-
ior official said. More
than half of the pay-
ments have come from
Reliance Jio Info-
comm, which deposit-
ed over `41,000 crore.
New Delhi: The avia-
tion ministry is likely
to hold discussions
with industry stake-
holders and the DoT
before the launch of
5G mobile broadband
services in India to deal
with concerns over
these airwaves poten-
tially hindering airline
operations across the
country, sources said.
“If there is a concern
or issue that needs to
be addressed, it will be
done,” said an official.
AVIATION MIN
DoT MAY
DISCUSS 5G
CONCERNS
AdaniWilmarsetsIPOpricebandat`218-`230/share
ADANI EXPANDS GREEN PLAN,
EYES FORAY INTO EVs
New Delhi: Along with
steel, Gautam Adani,
India’s second-richest
person and head of the
ports-to-power conglom-
erate Adani Group, may
now be eyeing the auto sector. A trademark has
been registered for the name ‘Adani’, proposed
to be used for vehicles, by SB Adani Family Trust.
The plan is to enter the EV space. —PTI
New Delhi: Telecom major Voda-
fone Idea on Friday said its con-
solidated losses for the quarter
ending December 2021 expanded
to `7,230.9 crore from `4,532.1 crore
compared with the corresponding
quarter last year. The revenue
from operations for the quarter
also declined 10.80% year-on-year
to `9,717 crore from `10,894 crore.
Average revenue per user (ARPU)
for the quarter stood at `115 versus
`109 in prior quarter, a QoQ in-
crease of 5.2%. —Agencies
New Delhi: SBI Life Insurance
onFridayreporteda56%risein
net profit at `364 crore for the
third quarter ended December.
The private sector insurer’s
profit stood at `233 crore in the
same quarter of the previous
fiscal, according to a regulatory
filing. While, LIC-promoted
IDBIBank reporteda53%jump
in standalone net profit at `578
crore and HDFC Life re-
ported a 3% increase in
net profit to `273.65
crore. —PTI
Vi Q3 loss widens
to `7,231 crore
SBILife,IDBIBankQ3
profitup56,53%resp
Mukesh Ambani

07
NEWS
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
Punjab has strongly
condemned the Con-
gress party for using
the name of SC catego-
ry in the matter of re-
covery of crores of ru-
pees from the relatives
of Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni in the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) raids.
Senior party leader
and Leader of the Op-
position Harpal Singh
Cheema said that the
Congress government
and Chief Minister
Channi, after mislead-
ing and taking the votes
of SC community, had
ruthlessly looted the
state’s treasury and re-
sources. Now that the
illegal minting of bil-
lions of rupees have
been exposed and piles
of notes are being re-
covered from Channi’s
family, He is aiming for
the pity of the people by
presenting himself as
poor and dalit, while
the poor and dalits of
the state have not even
seen so much money to-
gether.
Lucknow: Facing the
daunting task of hold-
ing a Covid-safe elec-
tion in Uttar Pradesh,
officials are working
overtime to achieve the
target of fully vaccinat-
ing at least 90 per cent
of the eligible popula-
tion before the first
phase polling on Febru-
ary 10.
The state election of-
fice intends to ensure
100 per cent inoculation
of officials and security
personnel to be de-
ployed for the seven-
phase polls in the state
ending on March 7. The
results will be declared
on March 10 along with
other four poll-bound
states -- Punjab, Uttra-
khand, Goa and Ma-
nipur.
Entrusted with the
big responsibility,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath holds a re-
view meeting on the
coronavirus situation
daily and gives neces-
sary instructions on
testing and vaccina-
tion.
“We are aiming to en-
sure the eligible popula-
tion gets at least one
dose by January 25,”
Additional Chief Secre-
tary Navneet Sehgal
told PTI-Bhasha.
So far 63 per cent of
the targeted population
has received two doses
of vaccine and the ef-
fort is to scale it up to at
least 90 per cent by the
time the state witnesses
the first round of voting
on February 10, said Se-
hgal, who is also the
nodal officer on COV-
ID-19 in the state.
The officer said
around 97 per cent of
the 18-plus population
has got their first dose
of the vaccine by now.
On an average 25 lakh
people are adminis-
tered vaccine daily as
part of a speed-up in-
oculation drive. Adity-
anath has asked offi-
cials to increase it to 30
lakh a day. UP Chief
Electoral Officer Ajay
Kumar Shukla told PTI-
Bhasha that more than
7.5 lakh officials would
be deployed on poll duty
and efforts are on to
fully vaccinate them be-
forehand.
Immediately after
declaration of the vot-
ing schedule, all the dis-
trict magistrates and
superintendents of po-
lice were directed to en-
sure that those put on
election duty are fully
inoculated, Shukla said.
“Noofficialwillbeput
onelectiondutywithout
themreceivingbothdos-
es of jab. Treated as
frontlineCovidworkers,
theyarealsobeinggiven
the additional precau-
tionary dose of vac-
cine,” he said.
Those on poll duty
would have to undergo
thermal scanning be-
fore they set out for the
work and if any health
problem is spotted they
would be taken off duty
.
—PTI
Officials working overtime to meet Covid vax target before UP polls
IN TOP GEAR

The UP poll
office intends to
ensure 100%
inoculation of
officials and
security
personnel to be
deployed for the
7-phase polls in
the state
CRUCIAL READ
Mumbai: A snake
was discovered early
Friday morning inside the
chamber of a judge of
the Bombay High Court.
The 4.5 to 5 feet long,
non-venomous snake was found by the court staff
at around 9.30am when Justice N R Borkar was not
present in his chamber, which is on the ground floor
of the three-storey High Court building. The police was
alerted, who in turn called NGO ‘Sarpmitra’, which spe-
cializes in rescuing reptiles and reintroducing them into
their natural habitat. The snake has been rescued and
will be released into its appropriate surrounding. —PTI
MUMBAI: SNAKE FOUND IN BOMBAY HC
JUDGE’S CHAMBER RESCUED BY NGO
MAHA: SIX ARRESTED
FOR POACHING TIGER
IN GONDIA FOREST
Nagpur: Six persons
have been arrested in
connection with the
poaching of a tiger, who
was found dead without
two teeth and whiskers
in Arjuni-Morgaon for-
est range of Maharash-
tra’s Gondia district, an
official said on Friday.
A five-year-old tiger was
found dead at Arjuni-
Morgaon forest range
on January 13, follow-
ing which the Gondia
forest department had
announced Rs 25,000
reward for anyone who
shared information
about the death, the
official said.
—PTI
Thiruvananthapuram: A
day after the Kerala gov-
ernment imposed fresh
restrictions to contain
rising COVID-19 cases in
the State, Health Minister
Veena George on Friday
said 100% of the tar-
geted population above
the age of 18 years have
been given the first dose
of vaccine and 83% of
the total population given
both doses. Over five
crore doses have been
given to people belong-
ing to various categories
and it was significant
to achieve this feat at a
time when the pandemic
is surging, she told the
reporters here. —PTI
‘ALL ABOVE 18 IN
KERALA GIVEN 1ST
DOSE OF VACCINE’
BJP GEARING UP FOR EARLY
GUJ ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS?
Guj BJP chief CR Patil forms several committees in past 24 hours
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: BJP
state unit President CR
Patil on Friday, consti-
tuted a disciplinary
committee, finance
planning committee,
core committee and
state parliamentary
board. On Thursday,
Patil had said that the
party wanted polls to
be held as scheduled in
December. Later in the
day
, he had asked board
and corporation office-
bearers to resign from
their positions. These
developments indicat-
ed that the party has
stepped up prepara-
tions for early state as-
sembly elections.
However, BJP
Spokesperson Kis-
hansinh Solanki disa-
greed with the theory,
when contacted by
First India. “It is an
election year and the
party has to get ready
for polls. Formation of
these committees had
been due for a long
time. CR Patil has deci-
sively formed them
and it does not mean
that the party is look-
ing at early elections,”
he said.
In a brilliant move
to quiet any discon-
tent, Patil has given
enough room to sen-
iors on the parliamen-
tary board. The
14-member committee
comprises former CM
Vijay Rupani, former
Deputy CM Nitin Pa-
tel, former ministers
RC Faldu, Bhupen-
drasinh Chudasama
and former
Ahmedabad Mayor
Kanajibhai Thakor.
All caste equations
have also been given
due importance.
Another develop-
ment that could signal
early polls is the Unjha
seat left vacant by de-
ceased MLA Asha Pa-
tel, who passed away
last year. As per elec-
tions norms, if any
seat falls vacant with-
in six months of polls,
by-elections are to be
held unless general
elections are due in
the next six months.
Going by the facts, if
Unjha seat by-polls are
held before June 30,
but if the date is not
announced by April, it
will be confirmed that
voters will be electing
their representatives
for the state assembly
in mid-2022.
WAGHODIA MLA YET TO FOLLOW ORDER
Amritsar: The mortal
remains of the two Indi-
ans who were killed in a
drone attack in Abu
Dhabi reached Punjab
on Friday
.
On January 17, Hard-
ev Singh and Hardeep
Singh), and a Pakistani
national, all staff of the
Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company were killed
and six others injured
in suspected drone at-
tacks near the UAE
capital’s airport. The
attacks were claimed by
Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The body of Hardev Sin-
gh is being taken to Ba-
gha Purana village in
Punjab’s Moga district,
while that of Hardeep
Singh has reached his
nativevillage,Mahisam-
pur, which is nearly 35
km away from here.
An inconsolable Kan-
upriya Kaur received
her husband Hardeep
Singh’s body
. Kaur, who
arrived in India on
Thursday from Canada,
was married nine
months ago, said a rela-
tive of the family Rajbir
Singh, who brought the
body to the village from
the Shri Guru Ramdas
International Airport
here. —PTI
Bodies of Indians killed in drone
attack in Abu Dhabi reach Punjab
Chandigarh: Under
fire from its political ri-
vals over the ED raids,
the Congress in Punjab
has launched a cam-
paign on social media
stating that the entire
state is with Charanjit
Singh Channi and blam-
ing the BJP-led Centre
for trying to defame
Punjab’s first chief min-
ister from the scheduled
caste community
.
The Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) on
Wednesday had said it
seized cash amounting
to over Rs 10 crore, in-
cluding about Rs 8 crore
from a relative of Chan-
ni, during raids con-
ducted in connection
with an anti-money
laundering investiga-
tion against illegal sand
mining operations in
the poll-bound state.
It had also said, “in-
criminating”documents
related to “illegal” sand
mining and property
transactions, mobile
phones,goldworthmore
than Rs 21 lakh and a
Rolex watch worth Rs 12
lakh were also seized
during the searches that
ended on Wednesday
.
The Punjab Congress
has come out with a so-
cial media campaign
hash tag ‘PunjabChan-
niDeNaalHai’ and has
posted video clips of
several persons coming
out in support of Chief
Minister Channi on its
Facebook page.
Channi was appoint-
ed as the chief minister
of Punjab last Septem-
ber after the Congress
made Amarinder Singh
resign from the post.
Opposition parties in
Punjab have asked the
Congress to explain the
money recovered from
the premises of Chan-
ni’s nephew during the
ED raids, with BJP’s
state unit dubbing the
ruling party as hash tag
‘GhotalebajCongress’
and ‘CongressChor’.
Under the Punjab Con-
gress social media cam-
paign, party MLA Bar-
indermeet Singh Pahra
could be heard in a vid-
eo lashing out at the
BJP and accusing it of
trying to defame Chan-
ni under a well-planned
conspiracy
. —PTI
ED raids: Punjab Congress stands by CM Channi
Hamirpur: A Navy
personnel who had died
in an explosion on
board the INS Ranvir
was cremated with full
state honours at his na-
tive Sathwin village in
Himachal Pradesh’s
Hamirpur district on
Friday. Surendra Dhat-
walia, 47, was among
three Navy personnel
killed in the explosion
on Tuesday
.
Hundreds of people
from Sathwin and its
nearby villages gave a
final farewell to him.
Hamirpur additional
deputy commissioner
Jitendra Sanjta, Badsar
sub-divisional magis-
trate Shahs Pal Sharma,
local MLA I D Lakhan-
pal, former MLA Baldev
Sharma and a number
of local officers were
present at the cremato-
rium. They offered flow-
er petals on the body
before the pyre was lit.
A gun salute was ac-
corded as per protocol
by Navy and Himachal
Police personnel.
His nephew lit the
pyre amid slogans of
‘Surendra Dhatwalia
Amar Rahe’. He was
serving in the Indian
Navy for the last 28
years. He is survived by
his mother, wife and
two daughters.
His body arrived his
homeinabedeckedvehi-
cle on Thursday night
where locals were wait-
ing for its arrival since
early morning amid bit-
ingcoldandbadweather.
Himachal CM Jai
Ram Thakur, Union
minister Anurag
Thakur, former Chief
Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal, and leaders of
all political parties, so-
cial and religious organ-
isations have mourned
his demise and have
sent condolences to the
bereaved family
.
The explosion on the
INS Ranvir, Indian Na-
vy’s destroyer ship, had
killed three personnel
and left 11 injured.
The explosion may
have occurred due to a
gas leak in the ship’s
air-conditioning com-
partment, an official
had said. —PTI
Navy personnel killed on INS
Ranvir cremated in Himachal
LOSS OF NATION
Channi Cong shouldn’t use name of
SC community to cover their loot: AAP
Channi to file defamation
case against Delhi Kejriwal
Chandigarh:Punjab
CM Charanjit Singh
Channi on Friday
said he would file a
defamation case
against AAP leader
ArvindKejirwal,who
has dubbed him as a
dishonest man after the ED carried out raids at
many places including at the premises of the
Congress leader’s nephew. Channi alleged that
Kejriwal was in the habit of levelling accusa-
tions to malign the image of others and that in
thepastitwasseenhowhehadtolaterapologise
to BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, late Arun Jaitley
andSADleaderBikramSinghMajithia.Hesaid
Kejriwal has now crossed all limits and that he
hasrequestedhispartytogivepermissiontofile
a defamation case against the AAP leader. —PTI
(L to R) Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, BJP
Gujarat unit President CR Patil and Guj BJP General Secretary
Pradipsinh Vaghela at a meeting on Friday.
Surendra Dhatwalia

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,595,689
TOTAL DEATHS
275,229,332
TOTAL RECOVERED
63,138,388
ACTIVE CASES
343,963,409
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
488,422
TOTAL DEATHS
36,058,806
TOTAL RECOVERED
2,018,799
ACTIVE CASES
38,566,027
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Food is much more than
sustenance for the body and taste,
it is the reflection of the culture
and heritage of the place it comes from.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Jammu: The Border Se-
curity Force (BSF) has
deployed additional
troops along with anti-
fog surveillance equip-
mentontheInternation-
al Border (IB) in Jammu
and Kashmir as part of
its “winter strategy” to
foil infiltration bids and
terrorplansaheadof Re-
public Day celebrations,
officials said on Friday
.
BSF troops guarding
the 200-km Internation-
al Border (IB) in Jammu
and Kashmir have been
put on alert to ensure
high-degree of security
against infiltrating ter-
rorists. “We have mobi-
lised troops along the
border. Extra troops
have been deployed
along with surveillance
equipment along IB in
view of the foggy weath-
er and Republic Day cel-
ebrations,” a senior of-
ficer said. He said that
operations and night
domination exercises
have increased along
the border which wit-
nesses dense fog during
winters.
Officials pointed to
terrorists using fog as a
cover to infiltrate and
said the winter strategy
that has been put in
place includes the
measures to deal with
security setup during
the foggy season.
Troops have plugged
all the gaps in riverine
areas of Ujh, Bansantar
and Chenab, they said.
The steps to beef up
the security along the
IB have been taken in
view of the Republic
Day celebrations.
Police have also put
up several checkpoints
on roads leading to the
border and increased
checking, they said. —PTI
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Friday
sought the Centre’s re-
ply on a plea for crea-
tion of The Indian Envi-
ronment Service on the
lines of All India Ser-
vice for environment
safeguards at the
ground level.
A bench comprising
Justices S K Kaul and M
M Sundresh, while issu-
ing notice to the Union
Environment Ministry
,
expresseddoubtwhether
it could issue a manda-
mus for creation of a
separateallIndiaservice.
The apex court said
however that an in-
quiry can be made
whether the Centre in-
tended to implement
recommendations of
the committee headed
by a former Cabinet
Secretary
.
The top court was
hearing a plea filed by
advocate on record Sa-
mar Vijay Singh who
referred to the report
submitted by the High-
Level Committee
formed by the Ministry
of Environment and
Forests under the chair-
manship of former Cab-
inet Secretary T S R
Subramanian in 2014
which recommended
creation of a new All-
India service, the Indian
Environment Service .
However, the Parlia-
ment Standing Commit-
tee (PSC) rejected T S R
Subramanian Report
that reviewed various
Acts administered by
the Ministry of Envi-
ronment, Forests and
Climate Change inter-
alia noted that the three-
month period given to
the HLC for reviewing
six environmental Acts
was too short and rec-
ommended that the gov-
ernment should consti-
tute a new committee to
review the laws, the plea
said. Senior advocate K
Sultan Singh argued for
the petitioner.
The plea further stat-
ed that there is a lack of
trained personnel in-
volved in the adminis-
tration, policy formula-
tion, and supervising
the implementation of
policies of the state and
central governments.
—PTI
United Nations: As he
startshissecondtermas
United Nations secre-
tary-general, Antonio
Guterres has said that
the world is worse in
many ways than it was
fiveyearsagobecauseof
theCOVID-19pandemic,
the climate crisis and
geopolitical tensions
that have sparked con-
flictseverywherebutun-
like US President Joe
Biden he thinks Russia
will not invade Ukraine.
Guterres said in an
interview that the ap-
peal for peace he issued
on his first day in the
UN’s top job on Jan. 1,
2017 and his priorities
in his first term of try-
ing to prevent conflicts
and tackle global ine-
qualities, the COVID-19
crisis and a warming
planet haven’t changed.
The secretary-gener-
al of the UN has no
power, Guterres said.
We can have influence.
I can persuade. I can
mediate, but I have no
power. Before he be-
came UN chief, Gu-
terres said he envi-
sioned the post as being
a convener, a mediator,
a bridge-builder.
He said thatthese are
things I need to do every
day
. As an example, the
secretary-general said
thisweekhespoketothe
African Union’s envoy
Olusegun Obasanjo,
twice with Kenya’s Pres-
ident Uhuru Kenyatta,
andoncewithEthiopia’s
Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed in his attempt to
get a cessation of hos-
tilities in Ethiopia be-
tween the government
and forces in the embat-
tled Tigray region.
Guterres said he has
also been on the phone
to try to get Mali’s mili-
tary leaders who recent-
ly delayed elections
scheduled for next
month to 2026 to reduce
the timetable. He said he
spoke to Mali’s military
ruler, President Assimi
Goita, three presidents
from the 15-nation West
African regional group
ECOWAS, Algeria’s
prime minister and the
African Union’s leader
about how to make sure
that in Mali, there is an
acceptable calendar for
the transition to a civil-
ian government.
The secretary-gener-
al believes voting
should be held in a rela-
tively short amount of
time, and said: All my
efforts have been in cre-
ating conditions for
bridging this divide and
for allowing ECOWAS
and the government of
Mali to come to a solu-
tion with an acceptable
delay for the elections.
He Guterres said the
UN Security Council,
which does have the
power to uphold inter-
national peace and se-
curity including by im-
posing sanctions and
ordering military ac-
tion, is divided, espe-
cially its five veto-
wielding permanent
members.
—PTI
Somnath Temple is epitome of faith culture: PM Modi
New Delhi:PrimeMin-
ister Narendra Modi on
Friday said that the
Somnath Temple is the
epitome of faith and
culture that is visited
by over one crore pil-
grims every year.
Speaking at the inau-
guration ceremony of
the new Circuit House
near Somnath Temple
in Gujarat, the Prime
Minister congratulated
the Government of Gu-
jarat and the Somnath
Temple Trust for the
project.“Somnathisthe
epitome of faith and
culturethatisvisitedby
over one crore pilgrims
every year, taking along
new thoughts and expe-
riences. The circum-
stances in which the
Somnath Temple was
destroyed, and the cir-
cumstances in which
the temple was renovat-
edbytheeffortsof Sard-
ar Patel, both have a big
message for us as we
celebrate Azadi Ka Am-
ritMahotsav,”headded.
“Today, the Somnath
Circuit House is also
being inaugurated. I
heartily congratulate
the Government of Gu-
jarat, the Somnath
Temple Trust and all
of you on this impor-
tant occasion,” said
PM Modi. He further
said that this building
has been designed in
such a way that people
staying here will also
get ‘Sea View’.
“I am told that this
building has been de-
signed in such a way
thatpeoplestayinghere
will also get ‘Sea View’
That is, when people sit
here peacefully in their
rooms, they will also
see the waves of the sea
and the peak of Som-
nath will also be visi-
ble,” said the PM. He
said that the new Cir-
cuit House will become
a centre point of tour-
ism and the landscap-
ing has been done in
such a manner that sea
view is available from
every room.
According to PMO,
Somnath Temple is vis-
itedbylakhsof devotees
from India and abroad
every year. The need for
the new Circuit House
was felt as the existing
governmentfacilitywas
located far off from the
temple.ThenewCircuit
House has been built at
acostof overRs30crore
and is located near the
Somnath Temple, the
PMO said. —ANI
‘World worse due to COVID, climate, conflict’
Bihar heading for midterm
polls, claims Chirag
Kumar Pramod
Patna: Bihar is tipped
for midterm polls as
constituents of the rul-
ing NDA are at each
other’s throat, former
ally Chirag Paswan
claimed here on Friday
.
Paswan claimed that
likelihood of early polls
became evident when
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar, “who does not
venture out until faced
with elections”, recently
plannedastate-widetour.
He was replying to
queries from journal-
ists about recent squab-
bles between Kumar’s
JD(U) and the BJP, pri-
marily over the manner
in which liquor prohibi-
tion law is being imple-
mented in the state.
“Since the day assem-
bly polls results came
out, I have been saying
that this government is
not going to last. The
straw in the wind is now
for all to see,” he said.
A spat ensued after a
JD(U) spokesman took
potshots at state BJP
chief Sanjay Jaiswal
over his offer of help to
familymembersof those
whodiedinahoochtrag-
edy in West Champaran
district last year.
Apex court notice to Centre
on plea for creating Indian
Environment Service
BSF increases surveillance
alongIndo-PakborderinJK
UN CHIEF’S SECOND TERM
SHAH TO RELEASE DISTRICT-BASED GOOD
GOVERNANCE INDEX FOR J-K TODAY
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah will
release the District Good
Governance Index for 20
districts of Jammu and
Kashmir on Saturday, the
first of its kind index for
a union territory. Union
Minister Dr Jitendra
Singh and JK Lieutenant
Governor Manoj Sinha
will also address the event
to be organised jointly
by the Department of
Administrative Reforms
and Public Grievances
(DARPG) and Jammu
and Kashmir Institute
of Management,
Public Adminis-
tration and Rural
Development
in association
with the Centre
for Good
Gov-
ernance, Hyderabad.
Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and
Pensions said in a
statement that
Shah will release
the District Good
Governance
Index for 20
districts of JK
on Saturday.
The District Good
Governance
Index
of Jammu and Kashmir
was prepared by DARPG
in collaboration with the
Government of JK in
pursuance of the an-
nouncements made in
the Behtar e-Hukumat
Kashmir Aelamia resolu-
tion adopted on July 2,
2021 in the Regional
Conference on Replica-
tion of Good Governance
Practices in Srinagar, it
said. —PTI
Deploysmoretroops,surveillanceequipmentalongborderinvalley
PLEA ALSO SEEKS SETTING UP AN INDIAN
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE ACADEMY
The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate on
record Samar Vijay Singh who referred to the report
submitted by the High-Level Committee formed by
the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the
chairmanship of former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subra-
manian in 2014 which recommended creation of a new
All-India service, the Indian Environment Service. The
plea has also sought setting up an Indian Environmental
Service Academy to train officers for environmental law
enforcement.
UN secy-general Antonio Guterres with PM Modi. —FILE PHOTO
PM Narendra Modi
Chirag Paswan
Supreme Court

The last few years have been dominated
by DIY haircuts and at-home treatments,
but 2022 will be defined by stepping
outside of our collective comfort zone
when it comes to our tresses. Sizzlin
Scizzors, styling partner for First India
Fashion Connect, season 11, to be held at
Oaks Ibn Batuta Gate Hotel, Dubai on
March 12, is all set to embrace bolder
haircuts, textures and hues than ever before!
hether you’re fi-
nally ready to
travel back to the
‘90s with your
look or try out
dazzling new
hair colour, this
year is all about experi-
mentation. Forecasters
and stylists alike have
placed an emphasis on
self-expression with this
year’s hair trends, which
means more people are
embracing bolder hair-
cuts, textures and hues
than ever before.
Every day is a celebra-
tion and the world is
your runway where
people will stare,
might as well make it
worth it! Ayan
Chugh, Director,
Sizzlin Scizzors is
definitely here in
the industry to make
it worth it. He said, “Siz-
zlin Scizzors is a brand
marquee that is quite em-
bryonic but the experi-
ence and expertise behind
the salon and spa have
been in the industry for a
while now. This expertise
includes professionals
like Deepali Chugh, who
is one of the best makeup
artists in Jaipur. With
this newborn brand, we
are here to change the
way this industry func-
tions; for the better.”
He further added,
“Though a salon and spa
by nature, SizzlinScizzors
is more than just that. It is
a one-stop for all your
styling needs where we
nurture and bring out
your inner glow because
that is something incom-
parable. We have a team
of professional experts
that are led by the best
makeup artists as well as
best hairstylists along
with other maestros who
are artists in their field,
thereby ensuring results
that are a tad bit higher
than what our customers
expect.”
Ayan on being associ-
ated with FC, Season 11
said, I am beyond excited
to be a part of the grand
show. Looking forward to
styling the ravishing
models and artists. Our
mission in this endeavour
was and still is “To under-
stand our customer’s
needs and to then treat
them with what’s best for
them. In this endeavour,
we ensure that our cus-
tomer truly knows what it
means and how it feels to
be taken care of.”
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY
JANUARY 22, 2022
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MITALI DUSAD
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The beautiful ambiance of Sizzlin Scizzors

22012022 first india new delhi

22012022 first india new delhi

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