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AMIT SHAH TO GIVE FINAL SHAPE TO NEW
YOGI CABINET WITH AN EYE ON 2024
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah will
visit Lucknow on
Wednesday ahead of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) state legislature
party meeting on 24
March, said sources in
the party
.
According to the
sources, Shah, who is the
party’s will give final
shape to the nature and
composition of the new
Yogi Adityanath cabinet
that will lay the saffron
outfit’s template for the
2024 Lok Sabha elections
whenPMNarendraModi
will seek to return to of-
ficeforthethirdconsecu-
tive time.
The party
, as a matter
of fact, is keeping its
card close to its chest
about the number of
Deputy CMs who will
take oath along with
Yogi. Sources said that
the party considers that
the step to appoint at
least two deputy CMs
paid off well for the par-
ty
. The oath-taking cere-
monyof YogiAdityanath
will take place on 25
March, sources said.
This will be his second
term as the CM of the
state. Sources said PM
Modi, Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh, BJP Na-
tional President JP Na-
dda are on the list of in-
vitees for the scheduled
oath-taking ceremony of
Yogi Adityanath.
Earlier, PM Modi held
a high-level meeting of
theBJPtopleadersathis
residence in New Delhi
to discuss government
formation in four states
where the party won in
the Assembly elections
held recently
.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will give final shape to the nature and composition of the new Yogi Adityanath cabinet
NEW DELHI l TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No.201
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
CDS GETS PADMA
VIBHUSHAN
CHINA PLANE CRASHES WITH 132
ON BOARD; NO SIGN OF SURVIVORS
BJP resurrects ‘loser’ Dhami as
U’khand CM, Sawant retains Goa
Dehradun: Putting all
speculations to rest, the
BJP on Monday an-
nounced that Pushkar
Singh Dhami will return
as the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand. Dhami
will take oath as the 11th
CM of the state on
Wednesday
.
The announcement
was made after newly
electedBJPMLAsmetat
thepartyofficeinDehra-
dun to choose their lead-
er. The meeting was at-
tended by Union Minis-
ter Rajnath Singh, who
was appointed as BJP’s
observer, and minister
Meenakshi Lekhi.
Australian PM expressed ‘understanding of
India’s Ukraine position’, says foreign secy
New Delhi: Australian
Prime Minister Scott
MorrisononMondayex-
pressed his understand-
ing of India’s position
on the crisis in Ukraine,
and he and PM Naren-
dra Modi felt the conflict
should not be a reason
for diverting attention
from the Indo-Pacific,
ForeignSecretaryHarsh
Vardhan Shringla said.
The Russian invasion
of Ukraine figured at a
virtual summit between
thetwoprimeministers,
news agency PTI report-
ed.
Shringlaalsosaidthat
IndiaandAustraliawere
keentofinalisetheCom-
prehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement
as it will unlock new op-
portunities to expand
bilateral trade and in-
vestment ties.
Unlike its Quad part-
ners — the US, Japan
and Australia — India
has not condemned the
Russian invasion of
Ukraine.  More on P7
DEATH IN
THE AIR
According to
broadcaster
CCTV, the accident
involving a China Eastern
Airlines Boeing 737 took
place near the city of Wuzhou
in Teng county
China Eastern Airlines grounds
Boeing 737-800 fleet post crash
Guangxi: A Chinese
airliner with 132 pas-
sengers on board Mon-
day crashed in the
southern province of
Guangxi, the Chinese
media has reported.
The aircraft, with 123
passengers and nine
crew on board, lost con-
tact over the city of
Wuzhou, China’s Civil
Aviation Administra-
tion of China (CAAC)
and the airline said.
The crash, in which the
plane descended at a
final rate of 31,000 feet
a minute according to
FlightRadar24, sparked
a mountainside fire.
China Eastern said
the cause of the crash
wasunderinvestigation.
‘SHOCKED’ XI
ORDERS PROBE
AIRLINE’S WEBSITE
TURNS INTO BW
FI ANALYSIS
Chinese President Xi Jin-
ping said he was “shocked”
after a China
Eastern Boe-
ing 737-800
crashed in
the southern
province of
Guangxi on
Monday. He has called for
an investigation into the
accident, as per reports.
After the crash, the website
of China Eastern Airlines,
mobile app and some
of its other social media
platforms were presented
in black and white - what
airlines do as a sign of
respect or mourning for
the assumed victims. The
ill-fated China Eastern flight
MU5735 was traveling from
Kunming to Guangzhou.
Pushkar S Dhami - the BJP
warrior that went down fight-
ing while handing his party
another term in Uttarakhand
was given another shot
at the top post by Central
leadership of PM Narendra
Modi and Union Minister
Amit Shah. Both believed
that it was not very long
ago before polls that Dhami
was appointed CM, but in
short span of time, despite
facing internal revolt, he still
ensured victory for the party.
Most of the state leaders
favoured him for the top job.
26,000
FEET LOST
IN UNDER
3 MINUTES
Smoke rises from a fire
after a China Eastern
Airlines passenger plane
crashed near Wuzhou city
in the Guangxi region.
1
2
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
Deeply shocked and saddened
to learn about the crash of the pas-
senger flight MU5735 with 132 on
board in China’s Guangxi. Our thoughts
and prayers are with the victims of the
crash and their family members.
President Kovind
presents Padma
Vibhushan to
General Bipin Rawat
(Posthumous) for
Civil Service. As the
first Chief of Defence
Staff and Secretary,
Department of Military
Affairs, he was pivotal in
ushering transformative
reforms in Indian
Armed Forces. Rawat’s
daughters received
the award. President
Kovind presents
Padma Bhushan to
Rajiv Mehrishi for Civil
Service.  More on P5
Pushkar Singh Dhami Pramod Sawant
Biren Singh
takes oath as
Manipur CM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects antiquities which have
returned from Australia in New Delhi. In a historic move, 29
antiquities have been repatriated to India by the Australia.
Most of the farmers’ organisations, that the Supreme
Court-appointed body for studying the now-rolled-back
farm laws interacted with, supported the legislation, the
report of the committee that was made public on Mon-
day revealed, although now holding little significance.
MOST FARMERS’
BODIES FOR 3
FARM LAWS, SC
PANEL’S REPORT
RUSSIAN COURT BANS INSTA, FB AS ‘EXTREMIST’
A Russian court on Monday banned Facebook and Insta-
gram in country after finding Meta Platforms Inc “ex-
tremist”. Instagram was blocked after Meta said it would
allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages.
Admission to undergraduate programmes across all
45 central universities will be held through a common
entrance test starting this year, and the test will be held
in the first week of July, University Grants Commission
(UGC) chairman Jagadesh Kumar told reporters.
UGC: COMMON
ENTRANCE TEST
FOR ALL CENTRAL
VARSITIES IN JULY
KCR: IN TALKS
WITH PRASHANT
KISHOR TO BRING
NATIONAL CHANGE
Hyderabad: Telangana
Chief Minister K Chan-
drasekhar Rao, popu-
larly known as KCR, on
Monday announced that
he is in talks with politi-
cal strategist Prashant
Kishor “to bring a na-
tional change”, capping
off months of attacks on
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and the BJP which
rules at the centre. “I am
in talks with Prashant
Kishor to bring a national
change. Prashant Kishor
is working with me on
this. Who can have a
problem with this? Why
are they seeing him as a
bomb? Why are they cry-
ing?” he said, speaking
at a news conference.
HARBHAJAN,
RAGHAV, LPU
FOUNDER ASHOK
MITTAL INCLUDE
AAP’S 5 RAJYA
SABHA PICK
Chandigarh: The Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) has
picked former cricketer
Harbhajan Singh, IIT Delhi
associate professor Sand-
eep Pathak, Delhi MLA
Raghav Chadha, Lovely
Professional University
(LPU) founder and chan-
cellor Ashok Mittal and
industrialist Sanjeev Arora
as its representatives in the
Rajya Sabha, party officials
confirmed on Monday.Chief
Minister Bhagwant Mann
accompanied the party
nominees to the Vidhan
Sabha secretariat to file the
nominations. The elections
will be held on March 31.
The oath-taking
ceremony of Yogi
Adityanath will take
place on 25 March,
sources said.
CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
02
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New Delhi (PTI): Del-
hi Deputy Chief Min-
ister Manish Sisodia
on Monday conducted
site inspection of Pra-
gati Maidan tunnel
project and road cor-
ridor and said the fa-
cility will be opened
within a month.
Sisodia also posted
pictures of the Pragati
Maidan tunnel and un-
derpasses on Bhairon
Marg and the Ring Road
on Twitter.
“Reviewed the con-
struction of the roads
and tunnel around/un-
der Pragati Maidan,
Bhairon Marg, Mathu-
ra Road and Ring Road.
This corridor will soon
ease traffic in and
around Ring Road and
India Gate. The work is
almost complete and
will be ready to be
opened in a month,”
Sisodia said in a tweet.
In the pictures, major
construction works
along with painting on
walls of the tunnel and
underpasses have been
completed.
Earlier this month,
Sisodia, who also holds
Public Works Depart-
ment (PWD) portfolio,
had convened a review
meeting department
officials on the project
and had directed offi-
cials to expedite the
construction work. He
had said the facility
will be opened by May.
Under the project,
the PWD is construct-
ing a 1.2-km-long tun-
nel and six underpass-
es at an estimated cost
of Rs 777 crore.
The tunnel will start
near National Sports
Complex of India
(NSCI) on Purana Qila
Road and pass under-
neath the redeveloped
Pragati Maidan to cul-
minate at the Ring Road
near Pragati Power sta-
tion. The construction
work of the tunnel was
started in March 2018.
DYCM INSPECTSWORKPROGRESS
AT PRAGATI MAIDAN CORRIDOR
This corridor will soon ease traffic in and around Ring Road and India Gate
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reviews the construction of the roads and tunnel around
and under Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg, Mathura Road and Ring Road in New Delhi.
SISODIASPEAK
New Delhi (PTI): Five
more Delhi government
schools will start func-
tioning as ‘Sarvodaya
Vidyalayas’ – with pri-
mary and pre-primary
classes – from the aca-
demic year 2022-23.
Of the 1,067 schools
run by the Delhi gov-
ernment, 442 are classi-
fied as ‘Sarvodaya’
schools which start
from either class 1 or
nursery
.
In an action plan
called ‘Vision 2030’ is-
sued in 2020, the Direc-
torate of Education had
emphasised its goal to
provide quality pre-pri-
mary education to chil-
dren below 6 years of
age and begin admis-
sion in the nursery for
all its ‘Sarvodaya’
schools.
Now, it has been ap-
proved for five senior
secondary schools to
have a primary wing
setup and for them to be
converted to ‘Sarvo-
daya’ schools. Of these,
three will begin at nurs-
ery and two will begin
at class 1.
The schools have
been asked to address
issues relating to
school furniture, water,
sanitation and electric-
ity with the depart-
ment.
With the construc-
tion of new classrooms
and school buildings,
this is a part of capacity
enhancement in several
schools for the upcom-
ing academic year.
From 2022-23, five
more Govt schools to
functionasSarvodaya
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dustries in NCR areas
where PNG infrastruc-
ture is not available
have to completely
switch over to biomass
fuels by the year end,
the CAQM has directed.
It also said that the
maximum permissible
emission standards for
particulate matter for
the biomass-fuelled boil-
ers should be 80 milli-
grams per cubic metre.
“However, such in-
dustries shall aim for an
emission level of 50 mil-
ligrams per cubic metre,
through suitable tech-
nology upgrades and
installation of requisite
air pollution control de-
vices such as bag filters,
cyclonic filters, wet
scrubbers, etc., to be de-
cided by the individual
units based on their
onsite technical require-
ments,”thelatestCAQM
directions read.
While switching to
the use of agro-residue,
biomass fuels on a regu-
lar basis, all such indus-
tries in NCR have to ap-
ply for and obtain a re-
vised consent to operate
from the respective pol-
lution control board
with added conditions
to the effect viz., per-
mission to use bio-fuels
and prescribed level of
emission standards,
particularly for control-
ling the particulate
matter emissions.
The panel had earlier
restricted the opera-
tions of industries not
using PNG or cleaner
fuels in NCR to only 5
days a week.
Later, it received rep-
resentations from vari-
ous organisations, asso-
ciations and individuals
for permitting the use of
biomass fuels in addi-
tion to PNG, citing that
biomass fuels are much
more environment
friendly than fossil fuels
such as coal.
The CAQM said that
an analysis of PM emis-
sions from industries
presently using biomass
fuels for boiler opera-
tions indicates that bio-
mass fuels are much
superior than conven-
tional fossil fuels.
IndustriessansPNGshouldswitchtobiomassbyyearend:CAQM
New Delhi (Agencies):
Delhi’s State Wetland
Authority (SWA) has
asked all land-owning
agencies in the Nation-
al Capital to test sam-
ples from water bodies
to assess how many fail
to meet pollution stand-
ards in order to take
corrective action.
While it is mandatory
to test water samples
monthly as per the Cen-
tral Pollution Control
Board’s Guidelines for
Restoration of Water
Bodies, 2019, such an as-
sessment was last done
in Delhi only from
March until May 2020,
with 115 water bodies
then found to be meet-
ing the Class D criteri-
on (propagation of
wildlife and fisheries),
officials said.
The Central Pollu-
tion Control Board
(CPCB) has specified
different categories for
water quality, and allot-
ted Class D to water
bodies which require
pH (potential of hydro-
gen) between 6.5 and
8.5, dissolved oxygen
(DO) to be 4mg/l or
higher and free ammo-
nia to be 1.2mg/l or less
– all needed to sustain
aquatic life.
The CPCB’s other cri-
teria are Class A (drink-
ing water sources with-
out treatment), Class B
(outdoor bathing), Class
C (drinking water
sources after treat-
ment) and Class E (ir-
rigation, industries and
waste disposal).
In a meeting with
Delhi’s lieutenant gov-
ernor Anil Baijal last
Thursday, the SWA said
that the second such as-
sessment had com-
menced in Delhi last
month, with the Delhi
Development Authority
(DDA) having tested 44
water bodies so far un-
der its jurisdiction. All
of them met the water
quality criterion of
Class D, officials said.
As per CPCB’s indica-
tive guidelines to pro-
tect and revive water
bodies across the coun-
try, water samples need
to be collected each
month, or at least eight
times a year, so states
can ascertain the chang-
es in the water quality
and their reasons.
Test water samples to check pollution, orders SWA
DELHI’S WETLAND
New Delhi (PTI): A
cluster bus caught fire
on Monday morning
in northwest Delhi's
Kanjhawala area, offi-
cials said.
The information
about the blaze was re-
ceived around 8.30 am
following which two fire
tenders were rushed to
the spot, fire depart-
ment officials said.
The fire was brought
under control by
around 9 am. No casu-
alty has been reported,
they said.
A senior police offic-
er said the bus had en-
countered a technical
issue and when the
driver came out to
check, the vehicle
caught fire.
New Delhi (PTI): Two
men suffocated to
death after they
slipped and fell into a
basement filled with
wooden logs at a fac-
tory in East Delhi’s
Gandhi Nagar.
Police said the logs
were sprayed with
chlorpyrifos, a pesticide
used to prevent foliage
and insect growth on
wood, and the strong
chemical led to the
deaths.
The victims were
identified as Vaibhav
Kathuria (22) and Zakir
(40). The duo worked at
a cycle rickshaw assem-
bling factory owned by
Vaibhav’s father.
Cluster bus
catches fire in
northwest Delhi
Two men die of
asphyxia after falling
into factory basement
New Delhi (Agencies):
Residents of Chintels
Paradiso housing soci-
ety said that they have
roped in prominent law-
yer Prashant Bhushan
to file a petition against
the developer and the
Haryana government
authorities.
The residents are
planning to seek a court
monitored structural
audit, a thorough inves-
tigation by a central
agency along with suit-
able compensation for
the losses suffered by
them.
They, however, said
that they are still open
to mediation and settle-
ment, provided a rea-
sonable offer is made by
the developer.
Six floors of Tower D
at the Chintels Paradiso
condominium had col-
lapsed partially on Feb-
ruary 10, killing two
residents.
After the incident,
residents of the com-
plex have been demand-
ing a structural audit of
the buildings, a probe
by the CBI and reason-
able compensation from
the developer.
The authorities have
also asked the occu-
pants of Towers E,F,G
and H to vacate the flats
till a structural audit is
carried out by experts
from the Indian Insti-
tute of Technology
(IIT), Delhi.
Chintels residents seek
justice, will move SC
Chintels Paradiso Housing Society residents holding protest.
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Delhi has been
facing a backlog of ap-
pointments for driver’s
licence tests amid the
pandemic, with several
people complaining of
a wait time of three-
four months.
According to officials,
technical glitches and
heavy traffic on the
website have created
hurdles.
Pushpal Singh, a resi-
dent of Mayur Vihar
Phase-I, said: “I had a
licence from Uttar
Pradesh but it has ex-
pired. I also moved to
Delhi recently
. I applied
for the test four months
ago and I’m still waiting
for the appointment.
The grievance cell is
also not very support-
ive, they keep asking me
to try again. Because of
this, I have to use cabs to
go anywhere despite
having a car and a bike.”
Another resident,
who lives in Safdarjung
Enclave, said, “I want to
get my RC renewed and
my daughter has ap-
plied for a licence. We
have been waiting for
an appointment… I
even went to the RTO
office to file a complaint
but to no avail.”
Appointments for driver’s licence
tests pile up, applicants complain
PERMISSION NEEDED
While switching to the use of agro-residue, biomass
fuels on a regular basis, all such industries in NCR have
to apply for and obtain a revised consent to operate
from the respective pollution control board with added
conditions to the effect viz., permission to use bio-fuels
and prescribed level of emission standards, particularly
for controlling the PM emissions. The panel had earlier
restricted the operations of industries not using PNG or
cleaner fuels in NCR to only 5 days a week.
DU’s minority colleges
may have to follow
admissions by test rule
New Delhi (PTI):
Admissions to Delhi
University’s minori-
ty colleges such as St.
Stephen’s College
and Jesus and Mary
College among oth-
ers from the next aca-
demic year could be
solely based on the
CUET scores, if a
proposal in this re-
gard is cleared by the
varsity’s statutory
decision making bod-
ies this week.
Besides admission
to minority colleges,
other modalities per-
taining to the imple-
mentation of the
common entrance
test for admissions to
u n d e r g r a d u a t e
courses from this
year will also come
up for discussion in
the university’s AC
meeting on Tuesday
.
“It was decided
that admissions to all
minority colleges
(including St. Ste-
phen’s College and
Jesus and Mary Col-
lege) affiliated of the
Delhi University will
be only done through
CUET. During cen-
tralized counselling,
separate merit lists
will be generated for
unreserved and mi-
nority candidates as
per the reservation
policy,” according to
the minutes of the
academic council’s
standing committee
meeting held on
March 17.
Fifty pc of the
seats in various
courses offered by
minority colleges are
reserved for students
belonging to specific
minority communi-
ties. St Stephen’s Col-
lege and Jesus and
Mary College are two
of the Christian mi-
nority institutes un-
der Delhi University
.
FLASHBACK
INDIA
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
03
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Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Patiala MP
Preneet Kaur has also
joined the ‘gathering’ of
angry Congress leaders
and many Congress
l e a d - ers have
questioned this. An in-
formed Congress leader
has pointed out that the
statement issued after
the five-hour meeting at
Ghulam Nabi Azad’s
house said that ‘Con-
gress leaders met’, but
should Preneet Kaur
now considered a Con-
gress leader, when she
has openly campaigned
for BJP in Punjab and
sought votes? A mem-
ber of the Congress
Working Committee
says it is one thing to be
angry with the Con-
gress and another to
campaign for the BJP
.
Keep in mind that
Preneet Kaur’s hus-
band Captain Ama-
rinder Singh left the
Congress and formed a
separate party and con-
tested the elections in
coordination with the
BJP. After her aligning
with the BJP, Preneet
Kaur said many times
that family is more im-
portant to her than the
party
.Thatis,sheisCon-
gress MP later and
Capt’s wife is first. Kaur
also attended the BJP
meeting held in Patiala
in connection with the
preparations for Amit
Shah’s programme and
sought votes for the BJP
during the campaign.
Only then the Congress
leaders say that her at-
tending the meeting
means that the meeting
is in support of the BJP
.
Therefore, if the mem-
bers of the meeting at
Azad’s residence were
sincerely with the Con-
gress, they would have
stopped Preneet Kaur.
Similarly, this question
is also being asked that
since when did Shankar
Singh Vaghela become a
Congressman? He had
left the Congress before
the Lok Sabha elections
and later moved to the
NCP
. Therefore, by what
authority has he signed
the roll call of leaders as
a Congress man?
Why not stop Preneet Kaur?
STILL A CONG MEMBER?
New Delhi: In a refer-
ence to the border
standoff with China,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Monday
emphasised that peace
and tranquillity at the
border area was an es-
sential prerequisite for
normalisation of rela-
tions with the neigh-
bouring country
.
PM Modi made these
remarks during the vir-
tual summit with his
Australian counterpart
Scott Morrison, during
which the two leaders
exchanged views on im-
portant regional and
global issues.
Shringla said that
there was equal empha-
sis on the fact that in-
ternational orders
stand on the UN Char-
ter on the rule of law
and respect for the ter-
ritorial integrity and
sovereignty of states.
The conflict in Eu-
rope should not be a re-
gion for us to divert our
attention from the Indo-
Pacific region, and our
position, far as Quad is
concerned, also was on
similar lines, the For-
eign Secretary said.
Shringla informed
that PM Modi and PM
Morrison exchanged
perspectives about re-
gional and multilateral
matters and global is-
sues of mutual interest
including shared con-
cerns such as terrorism.
PM Modi referred to
LAC (Line of Actual
Control) in Ladakh, the
incidents of the previ-
ous year and he empha-
sised that peace and
tranquillity in the bor-
der area was an essen-
tial prerequisite for
normalisation of rela-
tions with China, said
Foreign Secretary
.
Morrison also gave a
fairly detailed perspec-
tiveof howhesawChina
and its actions in the re-
gion and he spoke in par-
ticular about the South
ChinaSea,headded.Ear-
lier this month, the 15th
round of Corps Com-
mander level talks be-
tween India and China
was held at the Chushul-
Moldo border meeting
point on the Indian side
on March 11, 2022.
BORDER PEACE KEY FOR TIES
WITH CHINA, SAYS PM MODI
PM also discussed crucial regional, global issues with Australian PM Scott Morrison
Kolkata (PTI): Trina-
mool Congress candi-
dates Shatrughan Sin-
ha and Babul Supriyo
on Monday filed their
nominations for by-
polls to a Lok Sabha and
an assembly seat to be
held on April 12 in West
Bengal.
Sinha has been field-
ed for by-election to the
Asansol Lok Sabha con-
stituency, while Supri-
yo was nominated for
the Ballygunge Assem-
bly seat.
Speaking to reporters
after filing his nomina-
tion at Alipore Survey
Building, Supriyo said,
I am thankful to 'Didi'
(TMC supremo Mamata
Banerjee) for giving me
this opportunity to con-
test from the presiti-
gious Ballygunge con-
stituency. I am really
honoured and accept
the challenge.
The bypoll to Asansol
was necessitated as Su-
priyo resigned as the
BJP MP after joining
the TMC in September
last year. The Bally-
gunge Assembly seat is
going for polls as in-
cumbent MLA and state
minister Subrata
Mukherjee died in No-
vember 2021.
TMCcandidates
Shatrughan,Babul
filenominations
BENGAL BYPOLLS
Kohima (PTI): BJP
leader S Phangnon
Konyak has become
the first woman Rajya
Sabha MP from Naga-
land after winning the
Rajya Sabha seat on
March 21. She is the
Mahila Morcha presi-
dent of BJP’s Naga-
land unit.
She filed her nomi-
nation earlier in the
morning of March 21
in presence of Naga-
land Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio and BJP
state president Temjen
Imna Along. The elec-
tion was slated for
March 31 but Konyak
was elected unopposed
to the seat.
The election for the
lone Nagaland seat
was to be held on
March 31 but Konyak
was elected unopposed
to the seat.
The seats are spread
across six states - five
in Punjab, three in
Kerala, two in Assam,
and one each in
Himachal Pradesh and
Tripura.
Now, elections to
three Rajya Sabha
seats in two other
Northeastern states:
two seats in Assam and
one each in Tripura
are slated for March 31.
Srinagar (PTI): Ter-
rorists on Monday shot
dead a civilian and in-
jured a non-local ven-
dor in two separate in-
cidents in Budgam and
Pulwama districts of
JK, police said.
“Around 7:20 pm, ter-
rorists fired at and in-
juredacivilian,Tajamul
Mohiuddin Rather, near
his residence in Goth-
pora area of Budgam in
central Kashmir,” a po-
lice official said.
In the second inci-
dent in Pulwama, a non-
local vendor, Bisujeet
Kumar from Bihar, was
injured after militants
fired at him at Circular
Road, the official said.
BJP’s Phangnon Nagaland’s
first woman Rajya Sabha MP
JK: Civilian killed,
non-local vendor
hurt by terrorists
S Phangnon Konyak, Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland.
New Delhi (ANI):
Leader of Opposition in
the Rajya Sabha and
senior Congress leader
Mallikarjun Kharge on
Monday dismissed the
possibility of an alli-
ance with Asaduddin
Owaisi's All India Maj-
lis-e-Ittehadul Musli-
meen (AIMIM) and
dubbed it as Bharatiya
JanataParty'sB-team.
Slamming AIMIM,
Kharge said that Con-
gress needs to be cau-
tious of such parties
which try to defeat sec-
ular parties. Congress
has not yet received any
proposal (of an alli-
ance), Kharge told ANI.
A strategy for an alli-
ance is decided within
the party, he said, add-
ing that there is a need
to be cautious of such
parties which attempt
to defeat secular par-
ties. Kharge further al-
leged that the AIMIM is
working at the behest
of the BJP. His remarks
come after Shiv Sena
also termed AIMIM as
BJP's B team while re-
jecting scope for an alli-
ance with AIMIM.
Kharge dubs AIMIM
‘B team’ of BJP, rejects
scope of any alliance
Dehradun (ANI): BJP
MLA from Kaladhungi,
Bansidhar Bhagat was
on Monday sworn in as
the pro tem speaker of
Uttarakhand Assembly
.
The oath of office was
administered by Gover-
norLtGen(retd)Gurmit
SinghatafunctionatRaj
Bhawan which was at-
tended by caretaker CM
Pushkar Singh Dhami,
Chief SecretarySSSand-
hu, Principal Secretary
Ananad Vardhan and
secretary to the gover-
nor,RanjitKumarSinha.
Soon after being sworn
in, Bhagat rushed to the
Vidhan Bhawan here to
administer oath to the
newly elected MLAs.
Bhagat is one of the
senior most BJP leaders
from the state who was
state party president till
March, 2021 when he be-
came a minister in Dha-
mi's cabinet.
The BJP won the pop-
ular mandate for the sec-
ond consecutive term in
Uttarakhand,bagging47
seats in the 70-member
Assembly
.
U’khand: BJP’s Bansidhar Bhagat takes oath as Protem Speaker
TO STOP MEKEDATU DAM PROJECT
Tamil Nadu Assy moves
resolution against K’taka
Chennai (Agencies):
The Tamil Nadu As-
sembly adopted a res-
olution against the
Karnataka govern-
ment’s attempt to
build the Mekedatu
Dam across the Cau-
very river, in what is
the latest develop-
ment in the row be-
tween the two states.
Earlier this month,
Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj
Bommai had ruled
out negotiations with
his Tamil Nadu coun-
terpart. The resolu-
tion adopted by the
Tamil Nadu Assem-
bly was unanimous,
with the support of
the Tamil Nadu BJP
and the Congress.
The resolution,
moved by Water Re-
sources Minister V
Duraimurugam, said
that the Karnataka
government did not
respect the order of
the Cauvery Water
Dispute Tribunal or
Supreme Court and
without receiving
clearances from co-
basin state or the gov-
ernment of India is
proposing to construct
the dam unilaterally,
which is not accepta-
ble. “Hence, the action
of Government of
Karnataka is strongly
condemnedbythisAu-
gust House,” it said.
The resolution also
urged the Union gov-
ernment to not give
technical, environ-
mental or any other
clearance to the Kar-
nataka government.
Stating that the
matter is a sensitive
dispute, the resolu-
tion asks the Union
government to “ad-
vise the Karnataka
government not to
take up the proposal
of constructing the
reservoir at Mekedatu
or at any other place
in the Cauvery basin,
without getting the
concurrence of the
co-basin States and
obtaining the clear-
ance from the Union
Government.”
Patna (PTI): The death
toll due to consumption
of illicit liquor continue
inBihar.Accordingtoan
official of Bihar police,
so far 37 persons have
died after consuming
spurious liquor in the
three districts of Bihar
since the day of Holi.
Maximum number
of deaths took place in
Bhagalpur district
where so far 22 persons
have died since March
19. Besides, 12 persons
lost their lives in Ban-
ka district and 3 in
Madhepura.
Preliminary probe
reveals that some peo-
ple died after report-
edly consuming poi-
sonous liquor while
others were suffering
from some kind of ill-
ness. We are waiting
for the post-mortem re-
ports to ascertain the
actual cause of deaths,
Gangwar said.
Bihar hooch
tragedy: Death
toll reaches 37
Washington (Agen-
cies): Violentrepression
of the largely Muslim
Rohingya population in
Myanmar amounts to
genocide, US Secretary
of State Antony Blinken
said Monday, a declara-
tion intended to both
generate international
pressure and lay the
groundwork for poten-
tial legal action.
Authorities made the
determination based on
confirmed accounts of
mass atrocities on civil-
ians by Myanmar’s
military in a wide-
spread and systematic
campaign against the
ethnic minority,
Blinken said in a speech
at the US Holocaust Me-
morial Museum.
It is the eighth time
since the Holocaust that
the US has concluded a
genocide has occurred.
The secretary of state
noted the importance
of calling attention to
inhumanity even as
horrific attacks occur
elsewhere in the world,
including Ukraine.
“Yes, we stand with
the people of Ukraine,”
he said. “And we must
also stand with people
who are suffering atroc-
ities in other places.”
The government of
Myanmar, also known
as Burma, is already
under multiple layers
of US sanctions since a
military coup ousted
the democratically
elected government in
February 2021. Thou-
sands of civilians
throughout the country
have been killed and
imprisoned as part of
ongoing repression of
anyone opposed to the
ruling junta.
US: MYANMAR REPRESSION
OF ROHINGYA IS GENOCIDE
Rohingya refugees crossing into Bangladesh. —FILE PHOTO
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison during India-
Australia virtual summit on Monday.
Kathmandu: Chinese
Foreign Minister and
State Councillor Wang
Yi will embark on a vis-
it to Nepal from March
25 to 27, the Foreign
Ministry in Kathmandu
announced on Monday.
Wang is the first top-
level foreign dignitary
to visit Nepal after the
Sher Bahadur Deuba
government was
formed on July 13 last
year. According to the
Ministry, Wang's visit
comes on an invitation
by Nepal's Minister for
Foreign Affairs Narayan
Khadka. During the
visit, some agreements
could be signed includ-
ing implementation
of the Belt and Road
Initiative, the flagship
initiative of Chinese
President Xi Jinping.
CHINESE FM
WANG YI TO
VISIT NEPAL
THIS WEEK
Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge
Bansidhar Bhagat
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in the State Assembly.
Preneet Kaur
Babul Supriyo Shatrughan Sinha
India  China agreed to maintain peace along the
LAC in the Western Sector during the 15th round
China-India Corps Commander Level talks
oon after Narendra Modi
took over the reins of the
country, he went heavily
after corruption. Right
from tightening the noose
on shell companies to ini-
tiating legal action against
bank loan defaulters, Modi
lived up to and still does,
of his image of “Na Khata
Hun Na Khane Doonga”.
Narendra Modi always
knew the power of new
technology and its inter-
vention towards bringing
transparency in govern-
ance. He introduced tech-
nology and IT-led innova-
tions and initiatives to
make the governance effec-
tive and at the same time
ease the lives of people. He
launched Digital India Mis-
sion and the rest is history
.
“Corruption-free gov-
ernance, transparency,
public partnership and
reaching out to people
standing last in the line…
Modi government has ful-
filled all four-five basic
rules of governance…This
also shows Modi ji’s lean-
ing towards new technol-
ogy and scientific temper-
ament. Every reform and
improvement show opti-
mum use of technology,”
union cabinet minister Dr
Jitendra Singh was quoted
as saying.
The Digital India Mis-
sion, which was launched
onJuly1,2015,expandedits
wings and utility with the
introduction of Apps and
digital platforms like
Umang, DG Locker, Bhim,
Rupay and UPI. The coun-
try
, which used to rely com-
pletely on physical transac-
tions was ready to embrace
thetechnology-drivencash-
less transaction system.
The aim was to put a curb
onblackmoneyandenforce
transparencyinthesystem,
which Modi had already
initiatedthroughdemoneti-
sation. He gave a new di-
mension to the Aadhar
Card scheme launched by
the predecessor UPA gov-
ernment and linked every
government-run schemes
with Aadhar for transfer-
ring benefits directly to the
beneficiaries eliminating
any intermediary
.
“Earlier people couldn’t
open bank accounts due to
lack of KYC documents.
Aadharprovidedidentityto
such people and they start-
ed getting cash benefits and
other subsidies directly in
their bank accounts. Leak-
age was plugged,” said RS
Sharma, CEO of Aayush-
man Bharat Scheme.
The PM Modi also fo-
cused on education, health
and employment to serve
theinterestsof poorpeople.
He started new IIMs, IITs
and launched AIIMS in
various parts of the coun-
try
. He also launched Skill
India Mission to hone the
skills of youth and make
them employment ready
.
On November 7, 2015, Modi
fulfilled one of his impor-
tant poll promises… he re-
alised the dreams of thou-
sands of ex-servicemen by
launching One rank One
pension … a long pending
demand which had not
beenfulfilledsince40years.
It was a tribute to the
Armedforcesfromaperson
who used to dream to join
the Army for serving the
country
. Apart from that,
Modi also resolved prob-
lems of Armed forces
whichhadbeenhangingon
fire for long. Right from the
slowpaceof modernisation
to shortage of modern sub-
marinesandfighterplanes,
the country was facing
acute shortage of weapons.
“He gave us more than
whatever we had demand-
ed. Now you see we are the
best centre in the world …
centre of excellence…
which are manufactur-
ing everything includ-
ing weapons,” said
Harivansh Narayan
Singh, deputy chair-
man of RS. While
resolving problems
and difficulties of
Armed forces,
Modi celebrated
thefestivalof Di-
wali with sol-
diers at the fron-
tiers … some-
times in Pun-
jab, some-
times in
Kashmir or
R a j a s t h a n
and some-
times in
Ladakh. The
solider in Modi saluted the
high spirit of Indian Army
deployed in difficult ter-
rainstoprotectthecountry
.
On September 18, 2016,
in the wee hours of the
morning at 5.30 am, an un-
fortunate incident hap-
pened at Uri when Paki-
stan-sponsored terrorists
carried an ambush against
Indian soldiers, who were
caught sleeping in their
camps.Inthatoperation,18
Indian soldiers laid down
their lives before killing
the terrorists. That en-
raged the entire nation and
people called for revenge.
Moved by the public senti-
mentsPMModiannounced
- “Let the terrorists hear it
out… the country is not go-
ing to forget this ghastly
act.” And within 15 days on
September 29, 2016 the In-
dian army avenged the Uri
attack.
“The Indian Army con-
ducted surgical strike last
night at the launch pads, “
Lt General Ranveer Singh,
DGMO, IA declared.
In that operation, the
army conducted sur-
gical strikes in the
P a k - o c c u p i e d
Kashmir and de-
stroyed terror
launch pads kill-
ing a large num-
ber of terrorists.
That was a big
demonstration
of PM Modi’s
courage and
risk-taking abil-
ity. His deci-
sion was
hailed by eve-
ryone in the
country as
Modi defied
the nuclear
threat posed
by Pakistan.
The confi-
dent Modi
then conquered another
front. This time he an-
nounced to roll out GST in
the country, marking the
entry of long awaited One
Nation One Tax system.
This was the biggest re-
form in the field of taxa-
tion in Independent India.
And Modi made it histori-
cal by announcing it at the
stroke of 12 midnight in
the intervening night of
June 30 and July 1, 2017
from the central hall of the
parliament.
Modi never held him-
self back from rolling out
big decisions and mega
reforms. He didn’t shy
away from getting the law
of Triple Talaq passed in
the parliament on Septem-
ber 19, 2018 which brought
great relief in the lives of
Muslim women.
Modi didn’t stop there.
He went on to launch sev-
eral public-friendly
schemes and programmes
including Namami Gange,
Jan Aushadhi Yojana,
Mudra Yojana, Start-up In-
dia and Make in India
among others. Apart from
that healso focusedspecial-
ly on the development of
northeastern states. Under
Look East policy
, he set up a
separate ministry DoNER
to develop infrastructure
and establish connectivity
of northeastern states with
rest of the country
.
The country was on its
way to economic develop-
ment. Just then Pakistan
came into picture once
again. This time Pakistan
backed militants of JeM
conducted a ‘Fidayin’ at-
tack on the convoy of
CRPF killing 18 jawans in
Pulwama on February 14,
2019. After Uri, this was
the second occasion when
the entire country was
boiling with anger. And
Modi was no exception.
On February 26, 2019,
Indian Air force launched
airstrikes in Pakistan’s
Balakot region and de-
stroyed launch pads of ter-
rorists. A large number of
militants were killed and
spirit of terrorists damp-
ened completely after the
bold move of Modi.
2019 was the election
year and Modi was target-
ing a second term with
more than 300 seats. ‘Abki
baar 300 paar’ was the slo-
gan of BJP when it went
for polls in the biggest fes-
tival of democracy. On
May 23, 2019 when the
counting of votes ended,
BJP emerged a clear win-
ner with 303 seats while
the tally for its coalition
NDA went up to 353 seats.
Thedecisivemajorityem-
powered Modi even more,
who looked determined to
roll out bigger reforms and
take big decisions in public
interest at large.
On August 5, 2019, the
Parliament of India voted
in favour of a resolution
tabled by Home Minister
Amit Shah to revoke the
temporary special status,
or autonomy, granted un-
der Article 370 of the In-
dian Constitution to Jam-
mu and Kashmir - an agen-
da which was there in BJP
manifesto for long. With
this Modi also fulfilled his
17-year old promise which
he had made to people of
JKduringhisEktaYatra.
Just after 3 months on
November 2019 five-judge
bench of Supreme Court
in its ruling ordered con-
struction of Ram Mandir
on the disputed land in
Ayodhya. The path for con-
struction of Mandir was
clear now. On August 5,
2020, Narendra Modi went
to Ayodhya for bhoomi pu-
jan of Ram Mandir. Modi
sent out a message and
clear to everyone - Modi
hai to Mumkin hai.
To be continued...
Corruption-free governance,
transparency, public
partnership and reaching out
to people standing last in the
line… Modi government has
fulfilled all four-five basic
rules of governance…This also
shows Modi ji’s leaning
towards new technology and
scientific temperament. Every
reform and improvement
show optimum use of
technology.
Dr Jitendra Singh,
Union cabinet minister
Earlier people couldn’t open
bank accounts due to lack of
KYC documents. Aadhar
provided identity to such
people and they started getting
cash benefits and other
subsidies directly in their bank
accounts. Leakage was plugged.
RS Sharma, CEO,
Aayushman Bharat Scheme
He gave us more than
whatever we had demanded.
Now you see we are the best
centre in the world … centre of
excellence… which are
manufacturing everything
including weapons.
Harivansh Narayan Singh,
deputy chairman, Rajya Sabha
DOWN THE MEMORY LANE … PART 9
NARENDRA MODI AS PRADHAN SEVAK… PM OF INDIA
Majority of 140 crore Indians now believe…
‘MODIHAITOMUMKINHAI’
S
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India LET THE TERRORISTS HEAR
IT OUT… THE COUNTRY IS
NOT GOING TO FORGET
THIS GHASTLY ACT:
NARENDRA MODI
INDIAN ARMY’S SURGICAL STRIKE
“The Indian Army conducted surgical strike last
night at the launch pads,  Lt Gen Ranveer Singh,
DGMO, IA declared. In that operation, the Army
conducted surgical strikes in Pak-occupied Kash-
mir and destroyed terror launch pads killing a large
number of terrorists. That was a big demonstration
of PM Modi’s courage and risk-taking ability. His
decision was hailed by everyone in the country as
Modi defied the nuclear threat posed by Pakistan.
RAM TEMPLE'S CONSTRUCTION
Just after 3 months on November 2019
five-judge bench of Supreme Court in its
ruling ordered construction of Ram Mandir
on the disputed land in Ayodhya. The path
for construction of Mandir was clear now. On
August 5, 2020, Narendra Modi went to Ayo-
dhya for bhoomi pujan of Ram Mandir. Modi
sent out a message and clear to everyone -
Modi hai to Mumkin hai.
YOU READ PART-8
IN FIRST INDIA ON
MARCH 14, 2022
PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 201 l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301.
Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Sharat K Verma responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
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Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Angry with
the Congress high com-
mand, some leaders of
the grand-old party met
at the house of Ghulam
Nabi Azad and after
that issued a statement,
in which many things
have been said. Howev-
er, most things don’t
make sense. Congress
leaders are also sur-
prised as to what was
the need for so much
frills to issue such a
statement. Like it said
that to defeat BJP, Con-
gress needs to be
strengthened and Con-
gress should talk to
like-minded parties.
This is a very generic
thing, which everyone
knows and everyone
also knows the prob-
lems surrounding this
idea. In this, it was spe-
cifically said that the
Congress should pre-
pare a collective and
inclusive leadership
and adopt a collective
and inclusive approach
before taking decisions
at all levels.
Think, what could be
a collective or inclusive
way of making deci-
sions at every level? If
the Congress has to de-
cide the candidate of
the Legislative Assem-
bly in a state, then all
the leaders of the party
should be asked the
names of the candi-
dates on each seat or the
names should be told
and the name is decided
with the consent of all?
Like all parties do, the
Congress also forms a
sorting committee for
the candidates. Based
on the opinion of the
State Committee, the
Sorting Committee pre-
pares a list of names,
which is approved by
the Central Election
Committee. The same
method is adopted in
other parties as well.
Similarly, do the an-
gry leaders want the
Congress high com-
mand to take approval
from the working com-
mittee and all the lead-
ers from outside before
appointing the presi-
dent or making any of-
fice bearer in any state?
Is it the intention of the
collective leadership of
the leaders of this so-
called G-21 that the par-
ty high command
should tell them about
every decision and de-
cide with their consent?
Can these leaders tell
how the current organi-
zation of the Congress,
the current office bear-
ers or the current work-
ing committee is not in-
clusive? Does it not have
leaders from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari and from
Gujarat to Bengal?
In fact, these leaders
have said very superfi-
cial things, the sole pur-
pose of which was to
show that they are op-
posing something, with-
out saying anything
meaningful or con-
structive. Sibal ex-
pressed great displeas-
ure questioning the au-
thority of Rahul, to
have announced the
name of Charanjit Sin-
gh Channi? Think, what
a stupid question? Ra-
hul Gandhi is the for-
mer President of Con-
gress and the only sur-
viving former Presi-
dent. Does anyone in
BJP ask who is Amit
Shah, who makes all the
policy announcements
of the party? Sibal
wants victory like BJP
but Congress doesn’t
want that kind of or-
ganization or that kind
of system.
A PROTEST JUST FOR THE SAKE OF PROTESTING!
New Delhi (PTI): India
has received praise
from across the board
for many of its foreign
policy initiatives, For-
eign Secretary Harsh
Vardhan Shringla said
on Monday, a day after
Pakistan PM Imran
Khan lauded India for
its foreign policy
.
When asked at a me-
dia briefing about
Khan’s comments,
Shringla said India’s re-
cordspeaksforitself and
suggested that it would
bewrongtosaythatonly
one leader compliment-
ed New Delhi.
“To say that one per-
son would be wrong. I
think we have received
praise across the board
for many of our foreign
policy initiatives. I
think our record speaks
for itself,” the foreign
secretary said.
At a public rally,
Khan lauded India for
following an independ-
ent foreign policy say-
ing New Delhi imported
crude oil from Russia
despite American sanc-
tions on Moscow for its
attack on Ukraine.
Thiruvananthapuram:
Shashi Tharoor, or-
dered to stay away from
a CPM seminar next
month by Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi,
took a step back today.
But his statement mak-
ing the announcement
had a sting in the tail.
Recounting that he had
earlier turned down a
similar CPM invite af-
ter a discussion with
Mrs Gandhi — “a suit-
able decision... taken
without media contro-
versy” — he added that
a similar procedure
“could have been easily
followed this time”.
“I regret that some
preferred the unseemly
public airing of inter-
nal differences, thereby
creating a needless con-
troversy in a matter in
which AICC’s view was
binding. I hope wisdom
will prevail in future,”
he added.
The admonition was
apparently meant for
colleagues in the Con-
gress in Kerala, who
had flagged the issue to
Sonia Gandhi at the
party’s parliamentary
office in Delhi.
New Delhi: India’s first
Chief of Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat,
who died in a chopper
crash last December,
late Radheshyam
Khemka, former chair-
man of Gita Press that
publishes Hindu reli-
gious books, and Con-
gress leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad were among
54 personalities who
were conferred Padma
awards by President
Ram Nath Kovind on
Monday
.
While Rawat and
Khemka were given
Padma Vibhushan, the
country’s second-high-
est civilian award, post-
humously, Azad, Tata
Sons chairman N Chan-
drasekharan, former
CAG Rajiv Mehrishi,
founder of Serum Insti-
tute of India that made
Covid-19 vaccine Cov-
ishield Cyrus Poona-
walla were among the
eight honoured with
Padma Bhushan, the
country’s third-highest
civilian award, at a civil
investiture ceremony
.
The award for Rawat
was received by his
daughters while a close
family member re-
ceived the award for
Khemka. Many of those
who received the Pad-
ma awards were “un-
sung heroes”, including
125-year-old yoga prac-
titioner Swami Si-
vananda. Members of
the audience clapped as
a bare-feet Sivananda,
dressed in a simple
white kurta and dhoti,
knelt before PM Naren-
dra Modi who promptly
got up and bowed,
touching the ground as
he returned the greet-
ing. These awards are
given in various disci-
plines and fields such as
art, social work, public
affairs, science and en-
gineering, trade and
industry, medicine, lit-
erature and education,
sports, civil service, etc.
New Delhi (ANI): Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Bir-
la flagged off the Pras-
adam Raths from his
residence here to pro-
vide free food to the at-
tendants of the patients
in 6 hospitals of Delhi.
In the spirit of Azadi
ka Amrit Mahotsav, ini-
tiatives like this one are
bringing free fresh food
for the underprivileged
and the poor sections of
society, said Birla on
the occasion of the ini-
tiative Prasadam Rath.
Apart from the other
hospitals in the coming
times, this facility
would be extended at
bus stations, railway
stations, etc., he added.
New Delhi (PTI): Drug
firm Hetero on Monday
said its biologics arm
has received approval
from the Central Drugs
Standard Control Or-
ganisation (CDSCO) to
manufacture and sell
Sputnik Light for re-
stricted emergency use
in India.
Hetero is the first bi-
opharmaceutical com-
pany in India to receive
Manufacturing and
Marketing (MM) ap-
proval for the product
manufactured locally
for the prevention of
Covid-19 in adults aged
over 18 years, adminis-
tered in a single dose of
0.5 ml, the company
said in a statement. All
other currently ap-
proved vaccines in In-
dia require two doses of
administration, it add-
ed. Sputnik Light is the
first component (recom-
binant human adenovi-
rus serotype number 26
(rAd26)) of Sputnik V
.
In February 2022, the
DCGI granted emergen-
cy use permission to
single-dose Sputnik
Light Covid-19 vaccine
in India.
Kabul (Agencies):
Khalid Payenda who
once oversaw and pre-
sented a 6 billion dollar
budget as Afghanistan's
Finance Minister in Ka-
bul is now an Uber driv-
er in Washington DC to
support his family.
Talking to The Wash-
ington Post he said he
earns “a little over 150
dollars for six hours'
work, not counting his
commute”.
Afghanistan is cur-
rently facing a financial
and humanitarian cri-
sis, with many coun-
tries around the world
hesitant to recognize
the Taliban govern-
ment that overthrew
the US backed regime.
Payenda had resigned
as the Finance Minister
of the country
.
—FILE PHOTO
Prez Kovind confers Padma
awards to 54 personalities
Late Gen Rawat, Ghulam Nabi Azad, SII’s Cyrus Poonawalla honoured; Devendra Jhajharia
receives Padma Bhushan, first para athlete to do so; 125-yr-old yoga guru receives Padma Shri
President Ram Nath Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Padma Shri to Swami Sivananda for Yoga, in New
Delhi on Monday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
India’s record speaks
for itself, says Shringla
Af’s ex-Fin Min
now drives an
Uber cab in US
Khalid Payenda
Harsh Vardhan Shringla Imran Khan, Pakistan PM
Hope wisdom
prevails: Tharoor
after Sonia’s msg
Sonia’s message
was to listen to
the state Cong
and came days
after Tharoor
brushed the dust
off his G-21
credentials
BIRLA FLAGS
OFF ‘RATHS’
FOR PATIENTS
SC TO HEAR REVIEW
PLEA IN ROAD RAGE
CASE AGAINST SIDHU
NAWAB MALIK’S
JUDICIAL CUSTODY
EXTENDED
New Delhi: The SC said it
would hear on March 25
the plea seeking review of
the sentence awarded by
it in May 2018 to Navjot
Singh Sidhu in a 1988
road rage case. The mat-
ter was listed for hearing
before a special bench.
As soon the bench of Jus-
tices Khanwilkar and AS
Oka assembled for hear-
ing, Justice Khanwilkar
said the special bench
would hear the review
plea on Friday.
Mumbai: Special
PMLA court on
Monday extended the
judicial custody of
Maharashtra minis-
ter and Nationalist
Congress Party leader
Nawab Malik who was
arrested in a money
laundering case till
April 4. The court has
also allowed Malik
to be provided with
a bed, mattress, and
chair during his judicial
custody.
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday
closed two cases after the Centre said it had
completed the “mammoth job” of evacuating
22,500 stranded Indian
students from the war
zone in Ukraine. A
bench comprising Chief
Justice NV Ramana and
Justice Krishna Murari
took note of Attorney
General K K Venugopal’s
submissions that the
Centre, besides bringing
back stranded students,
is also looking into the representation on their
studies being hit by the ongoing war.
SC CLOSES CASES ON EVACUATION
OF STUDENTS FROM UKRAINE
HETERO GETS NOD TO PRODUCE, SELL SPUTNIK LIGHT VAX
z India’s daily Covid-19
infections drop to
1,549; positivity rate at
0.4 pc
z Clear guidelines on
booster dose for under
60 yrs sought in Rajya
Sabha
z Maharashtra court
asks State if banning un-
vaccinated people from
local trains justified
z Defence recruitment
restricted due to Covid
pandemic: MoS Ajay
Bhatt
HIGHLIGHTS
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
flags off ‘Prasadam Raths’
from his residence.
Shashi Tharoor
Doha(ANI): Over 100
passengers who were
on a Qatar Airways
Delhi-Doha flight
which made an emer-
gency landing in Pa-
kistan’s Karachi on
Mondayduetotechni-
cal reasons, have tak-
enoff inarelief flight
for Doha.
Qatar Airways pro-
vided an update of the
flight which had land-
edinKarachi’sJinnah
InternationalAirport.
“Passengers on the di-
verted flight to Kara-
chi, QR579, have now
departed on a relief
flight  will land in
Doha at 4.15 PM local
time where they will
be assisted with their
onward connections.
Passengers were
served refreshments
throughout their time
in KHI,” Qatar Air-
ways tweeted.
Delhi-Doha flight takes off from
Karachi after emergency landing
BIZ BUZZ
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
06
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Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
Indian economy better
placed to deal with any
challenge: RBI Governor
Mumbai (PTI): Re-
serve Bank Governor
Shaktikanta Das on
Monday said the RBI
will continue to ensure
adequate liquidity to
support the economy,
which is facing many
headwinds in the form
of soaring crude oil and
key commodity prices
following the Russian
invasion of Ukraine.
Das, while address-
ing an industry meet
organised by CII here
this evening, said since
the pandemic-hit the
economy in March 2020,
the central bank has
pumped in a whopping
`17 lakh crore into the
economy and assured
the industry that the
RBI will continue to en-
sure that the economy
is well oiled with funds.
The governor further
said banks at the sys-
tem level are in better
health now with the
capital adequacy ratio
at 16%, and gross NPAs
falling to a record low
of 6.5%.
He said despite the
headwinds arising from
the Russia-Ukraine war,
the economy is better
placed given the high
forex reserves and low
current account gap.
“We are comfortably
placed to deal with any
challenges with regard
to financing the CAD,
and the RBI stands com-
mitted to deal with any
challenges on this
front,” he said.
LIC IPO: Govt files
updated draft papers
with Q3 financials
New Delhi (PTI): The
government has filed
updated draft papers
with market regulator
Sebi for an initial pub-
lic offer of LIC, incor-
porating December
quarter financials of
the insurance behe-
moth, an official said
on Monday
.
In the run-up to the
mega IPO, on Febru-
ary 13, the govern-
ment had filed the
DRHP with the regula-
tor giving details of
financial results till
September. The DRHP
got Sebi approval ear-
ly this month.
“Updated DRHP of
LIC with December
financials has been
filed,” an official said,
adding it was re-
quired to be done
as per Sebi ob-
servations.
As per the up-
dated finan-
cials, the LIC
reported a net
profit of `235
crore in the
October-De-
c e m b e r
quarter. The net profit
in April-December,
2021, increased to
`1,671.57 crore from
`7.08 crore a year ago.
The government is
expecting to garner
over `60,000 crore by
selling about 31.6
crore or 5% stake in
the life insurance firm
to meet the curtailed
disinvestment target
of `78,000 crore in the
current fiscal.
The IPO was origi-
nally planned to be
launched in March,
but the Russia-
Ukraine crisis has de-
railed the plans as
stock markets are
highly volatile.
Crypto mining cost not to
be allowed as deduction
under I-T Act: FinMin
New Delhi (PTI):
Infrastructure cost
incurred in the min-
ing of cryptocurren-
cies or any virtual
digital assets will
not be allowed as de-
duction under the
income tax act, Min-
ister of State for Fi-
nance Pankaj
Chaudhary said on
Monday
.
In a written reply
to the Lok Sabha,
Chaudhary said the
government will
come out with a defi-
nition of virtual
digital assets (VDA)
with a view to levy
30% tax on income
from the transfer of
such assets.
He said currently
cryptocurrencies
are unregulated in
India.
The 2022-23 Budg-
et has brought in
clarity concerning
the levy of income
tax on crypto assets.
From April 1, a 30
per cent I-T plus cess
and surcharges, will
be levied on such
transactions in the
same manner as it
treats winnings
from horse races or
other speculative
transactions.
The minister said
while computing the
income from trans-
fer of VDA, no de-
duction in respect of
any expenditure
(other than the cost
of acquisition) or al-
lowance is allowed.
Banks recover `61K cr via one-time settlement
New Delhi (PTI): As
many as 11 banks have
recovered nearly
`61,000 crore by way of
one-time settlement in
nearly four financial
years, the government
informed Parliament
on Monday.
The figures are for
the last three financial
years and up to Decem-
ber 2021 of the current
fiscal.
As per instructions
of the Reserve Bank,
banks are required to
have a board-approved
loan recovery policy,
which may cover nego-
tiated settlements
through compromise,
including one-time set-
tlement (OTS) under
which recovery in
non-performing assets
(NPA) loan accounts
are to be effected to the
maximum extent pos-
sible at minimum ex-
pense, Minister of
State for Finance
Bhagwat Karad said in
a written a reply to the
Lok Sabha.
He said the
intent of
such meas-
ures is to
h e l p
b a n k s
promptly recycle their
funds with advantage.
“All nationalised
banks have board-ap-
proved loan recovery
policy in place. As per
input received from
the 11 nationalised
b a n k s ,
OTS was approved in
38,23,432 cases during
the last three financial
years. Further, the ag-
gregate amount of
`60,940 crore has been
recovered through
OTS by these national-
ised banks during the
last three financial
years and up to Decem-
ber 2021 of the current
financial year,” Karad
said.
These 11 banks are,
Punjab National Bank
recorded the highest
number of OTS at 8.87
lakh, followed by Bank
of India 4.97 lakh;
Bank of Baroda 4.34
lakh; Indian Bank 4.27
lakh; Canara Bank
4.18 lakh; and Central
Bank of India 4.02
lakh. The others are
Union Bank of India
2.99 lakh; UCO Bank
2.38 lakh; Indian Over-
seas Bank 1.33 lakh;
Bank of Maharashtra
63,202 and Punjab 
Sind Bank 20,607.
INSTRUCTIONS
Puri allays fears of short supplies; says
crude import from Russia miniscule
New Delhi (PTI): Oil
minister Hardeep Sin-
gh Puri on Monday al-
layed fears of short
supply of crude oil
amid the Russia-
Ukraine conflict and
said that crude oil im-
ports from Russia are
miniscule at just 0.2%
of total such imports
tillJanuarythisfiscal.
“About the in-
creased oil import
concerns...We require
total of five million
barrels per day. 60%
of it comes from Gulf.
We have imported
from Russia, just 0.419
million metric
tonnes...That is 0.2%
of total requirement
(during April-Jan this
fiscal),” Puri said.
“We are monitoring
the situation. As far
as oil imports are con-
cerned from Russia,
contrary to what
played up in media, it
is miniscule,” the
minister said.
According to the
written reply tabled
in the House, in finan-
cial year 2020-21, In-
dia imported 85% of
its crude oil require-
ments and 54% of its
natural gas require-
ment.
Sensex,Nifty
tumble nearly 1%
Mumbai (PTI): Re-
versing its early gains,
benchmark BSE
Sensex plunged by 571
points or nearly 1 per
cent at close on Mon-
day following losses in
banking, oil, FMCG
and IT stocks as surg-
ing oil prices played
spoilsport amid pro-
longed Russia-
Ukraine war.
The 30-share Sensex
opened higher and
rose over 260 points to
touch the day’s high of
58,127.95. However,
losses in banking, oil
and FMCG stocks
dragged the index
down by 634 points to
touch a low of
57,229.08.
The barometer set-
tled at 57,292.49, down
by 571.44 points or 0.99
per cent. The index
had rallied over 2,000
points in the previous
two sessions.
The broader NSE
Nifty declined by
169.45 points or 0.98
per cent to finish at
17,117.60 after rallying
over 620 points in the
past two sessions. It
touched a high of
17,353.35 points and a
low of 17,096.40 in the
day trade.
Among Sensex con-
stituents, Power Grid
fell the most by 2.93
per cent, followed by
Asian Paints (2.85 per
cent), UltraTech Ce-
ment (2.81%), Nestle
(2.49 per cent), Kotak
Bank (2.42%) Hindu-
stan Unilever (2.41%)
and HCL Technologies
(2.32%).
New Delhi: Shares
of Future group of
companies were under
pressure on Monday
with Future Lifestyle
Fashions  Future Re-
tail tanking the most
in tandem with a weak
broader market. Fu-
ture Lifestyle Fashions
Ltd tumbled 9.08%
while Future Retail Ltd
tanked 7.88%. Simi-
larly, Future Consumer
Ltd declined 3.48%,
Future Supply Chain
Solutions dipped
2.37%.
Future Group shares under pressure;
Future Retail Ltd tanks 7.88 per cent
LTTS aims for carbon, water neutrality by 2030
New Delhi (PTI): LT
Technology Services
(LTTS) aims to achieve
carbon and water neu-
trality by 2030 and has
unveiled its first sus-
tainability report, the
company said on Mon-
day. The report, con-
forming to the Global
Reporting Initiative
(GRI), presents LTTS’
sustainability efforts
across its key elements
for fiscal 2020-21.
“LT Technology
Services Limited, a
leading global pure-
play engineering ser-
vices company, re-
leased its first Sustain-
ability Report for the
year 2020-21, with a
roadmap to achieve
carbon and water neu-
trality by 2030,” the
company said.
LTTS has identified
sustainability as one of
its six ‘Big Bets’ on
emerging technology
areas and one that cuts
across the other 5 ‘Big
Bets’ comprising Elec-
tric Autonomous and
Connected Vehicles
(EACV), 5G, MedTech,
Artificial Intelligence
and digital products
and digital manufac-
turing.
LTTS’ sustainability
practice is building en-
gineering services-
based innovative digi-
tal solutions that align
with the customers’
sustainability road-
map. The company has
embraced net-zero as a
core sustainability fo-
cus and will leverage
its deep capabilities
around energy transi-
tion and management,
water and waste man-
agement, circular prod-
uct design, digital in-
tervention, sustainabil-
ity consulting, and cli-
mate action towards
this goal, the statement
added.
Amit Chadha, CEO
and Managing Director
at LT Technology Ser-
vices, said, “With our
distinct pure-play engi-
neering services propo-
sition, our vision on
sustainability is to
have organisational
level involvement to
better realise the goals
for our global custom-
ers”.
PATANJALI SAYS `4,300
CRORE RUCHI SOYA FPO
TO OPEN ON MAR 24
TATA MOTORS DRIVES IN
ALTROZ DCA; PRICE
STARTS AT `8.09 LAKH
Mumbai (PTI): Patanjali Ayurved
group-controlled Ruchi Soya
Industries will hit the capital mar-
kets with a `4,300-crore follow-
on offer on March 24, making
the country’s largest edible
oil-maker the first to be re-listed
after the bankruptcy process. The
management led by Ruchi Soya
chairman Acharya Balakrishna
and Baba Ramdev, non-executive
director, on Monday announced
the price-band for the issue at
`615-650. At the upper end,
Patanjali, which now owns 98.9
per cent of the company, will
dilute around 19 per cent and 18
per cent at the lower end of the
price band.
New Delhi (PTI): Tata Motors on
Monday said it has launched its
premium hatchback Altroz with
dual-clutch automatic transmis-
sion, priced between `8.09
lakh and `9.89 lakh. Altroz DCA
comes equipped with several
segment-first features, such as
a wet clutch with active cooling
technology, machine learning,
shift by wire technology, self-
healing mechanism, and auto
park lock. The model is powered
by a 1.2-litre petrol engine. The
model comes with various fea-
tures like leatherette seats, auto
headlamps, 7-inch touchscreen
by Harman, rear ac vents, and
iRA connected car technology.
New Delhi (PTI): Adani Green Energy has raised $288 million (about `2,188 crore)
for the construction of its renewable energy projects. “Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL)
has extended its Construction Financing Framework to $1.64 billion by raising a $288
million facility for its under-construction renewable asset portfolio through definitive
agreements signed with a group of leading international lenders,” a company statement
said. The facility will initially finance the 450 MW hybrid portfolio of solar and wind re-
newable projects that AGEL is setting up in Rajasthan. In March 2021, AGEL had closed
a $1.35 billion construction revolver facility in one of Asia’s largest project financing
deals, it added.
New Delhi (PTI): The government is holding roadshows for IDBI Bank privatisation
and will come out with EoI after assessing investor interest. The Cabinet Commit-
tee on Economic Affairs had in May last year given in-principle approval for strategic
disinvestment and transfer of management control in IDBI Bank. The government and
LIC together own more than 94% equity of IDBI Bank. However, the exact quantum of
stake dilution is yet to be decided. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said it
is expected that the strategic buyer will infuse funds, bring new technology and best
management practices in IDBI Bank.
AGEL RAISES $288 MILLION FOR RE PROJECTS
GOVT HOLDING ROADSHOWS FOR IDBI BANK PRIVATISATION
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
07
NEWS
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PM Modi inspects 29 antiquities repatriated to India from Australia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the antiquities, in New Delhi on Monday.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Ahead of
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s virtual
summit with his Aus-
tralian counterpart
Scott Morrison on
Monday, Australia
has handed over as
many as 29 antiqui-
ties to India, which is
seen as a boost to
New Delhi`s bid to
get back the coun-
try’s heritage from
across the world.
The antiquities
range in six broad cat-
egories as per themes
- Shiva and his disci-
ples, Worshiping
Shakti, Lord Vishnu
and his forms, Jain
traditions, portraits
and decorative ob-
jects. These antiqui-
ties come from differ-
ent time periods, with
earlier ones dating to
9-10 century CE.
These are primarily
sculptures and paint-
ings executed in a vari-
ety of materials - sand-
stone, marble, bronze,
brass, paper. Repre-
senting a large geo-
graphical region in In-
dia, antiquities are
from Rajasthan, Guja-
rat, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana and
West Bengal. Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi has inspected the
antiquities returned
by Australia.
The repatriated an-
tiquities include Shiva
Bhairav, a 9th-10th cen-
tury CE Rajasthan
Sandstone, the child-
saint Sambandar from
12th century CE, and
seated Jina sculpture
from Mount Abu re-
gion, Rajasthan.
Other antiquities re-
patriated include the
portrait of Maharaja
Sir Kishen Pershad
Yamin Lala Deen Day-
al, memorial portrait
of Hiralal A. Gandhi,
an untitled ‘Manorath’
portrait of donors and
priests before Shri
Nathji, Nathdwara.
—With inputs from Agencies
First India Bureau
Lucknow: After a plac-
atory note from Uttar
Pradesh BJP chief to
party leaders who lost
polls, the ruling party
has come out with an
advisory specifying dos
and don’t to be followed
by workers coming to
attend the grand swear-
ing-in ceremony of
Yogi 2 government on
March 25
BJP workers, who
wanttoattendthegrand
swearing-in ceremony
of Yogi Adityanath and
his Cabinet colleagues
scheduled to be held at
the Ekana Stadium on
Friday, will have to per-
form 'puja' at temples
before attending the
same and put party
flags atop their vehicles
while travelling to the
venue. In a party com-
munique to its district
units, the saffron party
has also asked the local
leadership to reach out
to the writers, profes-
sionals, doctors, engi-
neers, seers and reli-
gious leaders and send
them invites to attend
the ceremony
. The com-
munique said that two
workers each from the
403 assembly constitu-
enciesinthestatewould
be allowed to attend the
swearing-in ceremony
in which top leaders of
the party, including
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi, Union Home
MinisterAmitShahand
chief ministers of the
BJP-ruled states are
likely to be present.
''The workers should
perform puja at local
temples between 8-10
am before proceeding to
attend the oath taking
ceremony,” said the
communique.
YOGI's SWEARING IN CEREMONY:
DOs  DON'Ts FOR BJP WORKERS
Ceremony will be held at the Ekana Stadium
First India Bureau
New Delhi: In an at-
tempt towards achiev-
ing carbon neutrality,
Centre is making all ef-
forts to promote the use
of green energy at the
airports across the
country
.
Replying to a ques-
tion in Rajya Sabha on
Monday, Minister of
State (Mos) in the Min-
istry of Civil Aviation
Gen VK Singh said that
the Ministry of Civil
Aviation (MoCA) has
taken initiatives for
working towards car-
bon neutrality and
achieving net zero car-
bon emission at air-
ports in the country
.
To encourage the
same, the airport op-
erators including Air-
ports Authority of In-
dia (AAI) have in-
stalled solar power
plants under net me-
tering / captive mode
at various locations/
airports for generation
and self-consumption
of green and renewa-
ble energy. In addition,
few airports are pro-
curing green energy
through open access.
Maharashtra, with
eight airports, is the
leading state where so-
lar plants have been
installed, followed by
Assam, Gujarat, Ra-
jasthan, Uttar Pradesh
with 4 plants each.
Singh also said that
state of art technolo-
gies are being used for
better security at air-
ports. He also told the
Parliament that to en-
hance air connectivity
for North-Eastern Re-
gion (NER), budgetary
allocation of approxi-
mately Rs. 24 crores has
been made in the Finan-
cial Year 2021-22 to sup-
port the airlines.
Centre pushing for green
energy at airports:VK Singh
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Punjab
Governor Banwarilal
Purohit on Monday as-
serted that the Punjab
government will work
hard to restore pristine
glory of state and
emerge Punjab as a
front ranking state in
the country
.
“This will be a revo-
lutionary model of in-
clusive governance in
partnership with citi-
zens, he added”
In his address during
the first session of the
16th Punjab Vidhan
Sabha, the Governor
said that the state gov-
ernment firmly be-
lieved that in a demo-
cratic set up people are
the real king (Janta Raj
Mein Janta Hi Raja) and
the entire focus of the
government will be on
ensuring the well being
of people. He said that
the government will
adopt a Zero Tolerance
policy towards corrup-
tion adding that a trans-
parent and corruption-
free administration gov-
ernance would be en-
sured to people. Purohit
said that The govern-
ment is committed to
end all sorts of illegal
syndicates in transport,
liquor and sand mining
in the State.
The Governor said
that these anti-social
elements have looted
Punjab during the pre-
vious regimes and de-
prived the state excheq-
uer of the funds to the
tune of thousands of
crores which could have
been used for the wel-
fare of the common peo-
ple. He said that Health
and education are bed-
rock of human and so-
cial development and
empowerment.
Punjab Guv vows to restore pristine glory
Chandigarh: On the advice
and recommendation of
Chief Minister Bhagwant
Mann, Punjab Governor
Banwarilal Purohit on
Monday allotted portfolios to
the newly inducted Ministers.
According to a spokesper-
son of the Chief Minister's
Office, CM Bhagwant Mann
would hold the portfolios of
Administrative Reforms, Civil
Aviation, General Administra-
tion, Home Affairs  Justice,
Personnel, Vigilance, Hous-
ing and Urban Development,
Local Government, Indus-
tries  Commerce, Agricul-
ture and Farmers’ Welfare,
Horticulture, Conservation of
Land  Water, Food Process-
ing, Investment Promotion,
among others.
PUNJAB GUV
ALLOTS
PORTFOLIOS TO
NEW MINISTERS
These
antiquities
come from
different time
periods, with
earlier ones
dating to 9-10
century CE
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Main-
taining its supremacy
in the world of Sports
Haryana has been
awarded the ‘Best State
Award for Promotion of
Sports’. Haryana has
received this award af-
ter beating all States,
including the state of
Odisha which has been
winning this Award for
three in a row.
Sharing more infor-
mation in this regard
an official spokesper-
son of the Sports De-
partment said that
ACES Sports Star
Awards is an initiative
by Hindu Group to or-
ganize the Annual
Sports Awards func-
tion where Minister of
State for Sports Sand-
eep Singh received the
‘Best State Award for
Promotion of Sports’
on behalf of the State.
Besides this, the play-
ers of Haryana
brought laurels to the
State by winning
awards in eight other
categories as well.
This year the jury
has selected Haryana
as the winner of the
Award for its role in
promoting sports at the
grassroots-level and
supporting the Olym-
pic Movement as well.
The jury headed by
Sunil Gavaskar was
particularly impressed
by Haryana’s long-
standing commitment
to sports and the state’s
incline towards groom-
ing Olympians.
The Haryana govern-
ment has been making
continuous efforts to
promote sports for
years. The government
is taking concrete steps
to promote sports in the
State and attract chil-
dren towards sports
since childhood.
Haryana wins State Award for promotion of sports
MAINTAINING SUPREMACY

Haryana got the
award for its
role in
promoting
sports at the
grassroots-level
and supporting
the Olympic
Movement
as well
Hike in monthly pension
first post-poll gift of Yogi
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Hike in
monthly pension of
aged, widows, desti-
tute and the handi-
capped would be
among the first post-
poll gifts of Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment in Uttar
Pradesh. In its poll
manifesto, the rul-
ing BJP had pledged
that the pension for
the aged would be
increased to Rs 1500
per month. In his
previous tenure, the
Yogi government
had doubled the
monthly pension for
the aged living be-
low the poverty line
from Rs 500 to Rs
1000. Similarly, pen-
sion for widows was
increased from Rs
400 to Rs 1000. Ac-
cording to officials,
before authorising
the increase, the
government had
asked for scrutiny
of the list of benefi-
ciaries. As a part of
this exercise, the
government has
started linking the
Aadhar number of
eligible pensioners
with their bank ac-
counts. The names
of fake and ineligi-
ble beneficiaries
would be weeded out
of the list
At present, 56 lakh
are availing old age
pension,while31lakh
widows are being
provided financial as-
sistance. Around 11
lakh handi capped
people are also draw-
ing pension.
Mahesh Kumar
Ludhiana: Taking a
new initiative to set-
tle the complaints of
the general public
promptly without
any inconvenience to
them, the Ludhiana
Commissionerate
Police observed Dis-
posal of Public Com-
plaints Day in all po-
lice stations under
its jurisdiction.
Divulging the de-
tails, Commissioner
of Police (CP) Gur-
preet Singh Bhullar
said that special
camps were organ-
ized in all 29 police
stations of Ludhi-
ana Commissioner-
ate and 1251 com-
plaints were settled
on the spot.
He said that 29 po-
lice stations were di-
vided among 15 ACPs
who were tasked to
personally visit their
areas and solve peo-
ple's grievances at
the earliest. He added
that five of ADCPs
were deputed to su-
pervise the function-
ing of these camps.
He said that ACPs/
SHOs were asked to
pay special attention
to all the concerns
raised by the people.
Ludhiana cops observe
Disposal of Public
Complaints Day
FOR GENERAL PUBLIC
Special camps were organized in all 29 police stations,
1251 complaints were settled on the spot.
Yogi Adityanath
Punajb CM Bhagwant Mann greets Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
Haryana's Sports Minister Sandeep Singh, Sports Director Pankaj
Nain alongwith Neeraj Chopra, Sumit Antil and Savita Puniya.
Minister of State (Mos) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen VK
Singh speaks in Rajya Sabha. —FILE PHOTO
To enhance air
connectivity for
NER budgetary
allocation of
approximately
`24 crores has
been made
GRIEVANCES
ZERO TOLERANCE
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
08
2NDFRONT
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z Renowned faces lost
the election in the As-
sembly polls for 5
states. How do you
analyse this loss of
established leaders?
Jagdeesh Chandra:
Let’s take these one by
one. Firstly, Charanjit
Singh Channi. His de-
feat is extremely shame-
fulforCongress,moreso
since he contested from
2 seats. His image was
destroyedandthenraids
were carried out on his
brother. He crashed on
the runway, even before
take-off. The comes Nav-
jot Singh Sidhu. Well,
this had to happen to
him. The people of Pun-
jab have grown tired of
Sidhu’s barbs and at-
tacks at party. So, they
thought they will teach a
lesson to Sidhu. Captain
Amarinder Singh de-
served a more humiliat-
ing defeat than this. He
proved to be the biggest
villaininPunjab.Noone
cried on Captain’s de-
feat. Dhami too lost, but
the real reason for his
loss is still a mystery al-
thoughpeopleclaimthat
he worked a lot for the
party hence he could not
give time to his constitu-
ency. However, the un-
dercurrent in this case
is that his relation with
a few businessmen were
not cordial, that is what
is being said. Some com-
mitmentsweremadebut
the work did not happen.
So, there was an under-
current and they affect-
ed the election. Similar-
ly, Harish Rawat also
lost. He was a party in
Congress’ defeat in Pun-
jab. KP Maurya’s defeat
is also surprising.
	
z After Punjab elec-
tions and dismal per-
formance of both
Congress and BJP
, do
you think the politi-
cal graph and hon-
our of both parties
in-charges - Harish
Choudhary and Ga-
jendra Singh Shekha-
wat - will come down?
See, the individual’s
honour does take a hit.
But in politics, honour
can be regained and
through wrong acts, lost
also. But what happens
at the end of the day
, gets
counted. See, Rajasthan
will undergo elections
next year and Gajendra
Singh Shekhawat is still
the CM face, if Gehlot is
unable to form govern-
ment. So, he was a CM
candidate and will re-
main so. He still has ac-
cess to PM. Moreover,
what has happened in
Punjab cannot be put on
just one person because
it was a clean sweep. But
yes, he had to face a
slight disappointment
from PM and Home Min-
ister’s side due to the
security lapse when PM
had visited Punjab. I
have heard that he had
promised that one lakh
people will be present
for the rally, but there
were about five to ten
thousand people, over
which PM and Amit
Shah conveyed their dis-
pleasure. So yes, there
hasbeenaslightdamage
but for Punjab’s loss, he
cannot be made fully re-
sponsible. So, the blame
on leaders like Shekha-
wat, Harish Choudhary
and even Ajay Maken
who was not directly
and openly involved,
does not stand since it
was a Tsunami of AAP
.
	
z Can the Union gov-
ernment bring back
the agricultural laws
before 2024, that were
withdrawn few
months back?
It does not appear so. It
is ruled out till 2024.
	
z How do you visual-
ise the political land-
scape in Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh
and Rajasthan?
Let’sbeginwithGujarat.
That state will witness
BJP’s clean sweep once
again. Although Con-
gress too will improve
over its current situa-
tion as Raghu Sharma,
as Congress in-charge,
will make certain im-
provements. Only in
ticket distribution will
one find out how much
of a say Raghu Sharma
has and how much free
hand Rahul Gandhi has
given him. As of now he
is doing good because he
talks convincingly
. But
for BJP, with Modi and
Shah, it will be more or
less like clean sweep.
Just imagine, after a
grand victory on 10
March Modi gave a
speech to party workers
frompartyheadquarters
and went back. At a time
when all other party
leaders were busy rest-
ing from the tiring work
of all the past months,
Modi set an agenda for
next day and flew to
Ahmedabad. He carried
out a 9 km long rally
from Ahmedabad to
Gandhinagar which 4
lakh people attended
and that moment has set
the tone for Gujarat, he
is the hero of Gujarat so
the election is a mere
formality now. Secondly
,
the situation in
Himachal is bad. But
even though the locals
may be disgruntled with
the CM there, but again
it will be the central
leadership of BJP i.e.
Modi-Shah who will car-
ry out the strategy and
conduct the poll. For Ra-
jasthan, there was a per-
ception that through his
budget, his strategy and
the undeclared Raje fac-
tor in BJP, will make it
easyforGehlottoreturn
to power. It will be ex-
tremely hard to beat
Ashok Gehlot on strate-
gic level for BJP
. But the
new theory that state
leaders have no rele-
vance, and there are
questions on efficacy of
Rajefactor.Electionsare
contested on political at-
mosphereandInowcon-
sider that in the current
environment, Gehlot
has fifty percent chance
of repeating the govern-
ment, which I earlier
considered to be 90%.
Because now even in
state elections, votes are
being cast on Narendra
Modi’s name. This is the
situationtodaybutsince
there is a little over a
year left to election, the
situation may change.
	
z How do you rate
Modi as a Prime
Minister and also as
a game-changer po-
litical leader of the
Nation?
People of the land rate a
leader and as a citizen, I
can, without doubt, rate
him as an outstanding
leader, and as a Prime
Minister also. Every-
thing is before us. At the
end of the day delivery
counts and results are
in his favour.
	
z Are Modi and Shah
made for each other
as political support
system?
100%! The wavelength,
the ideology matches.
He is like a ‘Hanuman’
for Narendra Modi and
even though Shah is the
Home Minister and a
powerful force in politi-
cal sphere of the nation,
yet for him Narendra
Modi is his ‘Ram’. That
is his faith and trust in
Modi. Secondly, Shah is
Narendra Modi’s all-
weather friend. He is
not like the ‘good weath-
er friend’ that as long as
someone is in power,
they will stay with
them. Does any state
have a second in com-
mand like him where
the CM may rest and
hand over the reins to
the second in command
that they can handle the
state and not backstab, I
don’t see anyone. There
is no vacuum between
the number 1 and num-
ber 2 in leadership.
	
z BJP was defeated
in 3 Assembly and
one Lok Sabha by-
elections held in
Himachal last year.
Can there be a change
of leadership after
the defeat in these
elections?
There is a possibility of
this happening. I have
information from inter-
nal sources that BJP
national president JP
Nadda has been told to
go to Himachal since he
has a good image. He is
in two minds and has
tried to approach PM for
not sending him there.
as such it is like walk-
ing on a sword, firstly to
bring a mandate and to
work on Modi-Shah’s
mandate. He may have
to go but as of now he
has denied. If Nadda
does not go to Himachal,
then Anurag Thakur
may be a choice.
	
z If JP Nadda is
brought to Shimla
from Delhi, then who
will be the next Chief
of BJP?
See, BJP can surprise
anyone on this aspect.
But one person who I
think can fit the bill is
Dharmendra Pradhan,
since he enjoys trust of
both Narendra Modi
and Amit Shah. He is a
hardworking party
worker, is connected
with Sangh, has carried
out responsibilities in
Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh, as Petroleum
minister he removed
the corporates and
opened the ministry for
poor through his gas
connection scheme. His
ministry achieved the
same feat as what NRE-
GA had achieved in
UPA. So, I think he is a
strong candidate and if
he becomes, he will be a
good choice.
	
z Can Narendra
Modi give Amit Shah
the responsibility of
BJP President yet
again? If so, how will
he align his work be-
tween Home Ministry
and BJP?
Who so ever becomes
the party president will
ascend to the position
only with acceptance of
Narendra Modi and
Amit Shah. Like I said,
for Shah , Modi is like
Ram, so if Ram says
that you will have to
take responsibility of
the party also, he will
accept it. He is a worka-
holic. If he is working
for 20 hours now, he will
still increase his work
time to make time for
party
. He was unwell af-
ter corona but still went
on a tour. He is the best
choice, if the situation
ever comes to this.
	
z To whom would you
like to give the credit
for the historic victo-
ry in Manipur? How
do you see the role of
Bhupender Yadav as
Manipur in-charge?
Manipur victory is, in a
way, a collective victory
.
The CM there is popular
as he has done good
work there. People
thought that it will be a
hung assembly, but the
results proved to be dif-
ferent. When Bhupen-
dra Yadav was made
Manipur in-charge, I
questioned the move,
thinking if he has been
side-lined, since he held
powerful positions pri-
or to that as in-charge
of Bihar, UP and other
responsibilities. After
Amit Shah, he is the one
who understands the in-
ner workings of the
party and the political
sphere also. It was after
the BJP won the Ma-
nipur election that I re-
alised he was given an
extremely critical as-
signment and he has
done well. BJP has its
government again.
	
z What are the chal-
lenges before the new
BJP government of
Goa today? Who do
you consider to be a
serious candidate
among the possible
chief ministerial fac-
es for Uttarakhand,
Goa and Manipur?
Goa is a major tourism
centre and one of the
prime challenges before
the government will be
how to boost tourism
that has been majorly af-
fected by Corona pan-
demic. Then a new pseu-
do-culture is taking over
that opposes the night
life in Goa, so if one
takes out that part from
Goa, then who will go
there? This is what Goa
has sold to tourists for
all these years. So, if you
ban activities which are
actually the ones that
generate revenue not
just for government but
for people, how will any-
thing work then? The
government faces a
challenge from people
with extreme views and
then it also has to pro-
ject its liberal image too.
Additionally, mining is
a major sector there but
it gets all sorts of stays
in courts. So, CM will
have to fight legal bat-
tles and win too. Thirdly
,
the BJP CM will have to
counter growing influ-
ence of AAP also.
During the show
#JConModiUPWave
trended top All-India
on Twitter
TO BE CONTINUED...
Jagdeesh Chandra with Shweta Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Poonam Sharma, Tripti Arora
and Khushi Ajwani on the New JC Show.  —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA
FOR SHAH, MODI IS RAM
ANDHISWORD,THE FINALITY,IN ANY ASPECT...
YOU READ PART-2 ON
MARCH 21, 2022
An 11th March, 9 km long Modi Ahmedabad road show only indicates a likely BJP sweep in upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls
Editor-In-Chief of First India,
Jagdeesh Chandra, in The New JC Show,
speaks about the political landscape in Guj,
Raj and Himachal and also the special bond
between Modi and Shah and more... (Part 3)
The most beautiful part of life is
that we have a choice, every day,
how to lead it.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO  Editor-in-Chief, First India
he roads of
success often
start with a
bumpy ride,
e s p e c i a l l y
when you’re
a teenager
but passion and dedi-
cation to one’s craft
makes it all bearable.
Simran Modi, partic-
ipating model at Elite
Miss Rajasthan 2021
India shared her
journey in an exclu-
sive interview with
City First.
When asked about
her journey, the diva
said, “I was born and
brought up in Jaipur
itself. I live in a nu-
clear family which
includes my mother,
father and my won-
derful younger broth-
er.” She further add-
ed, “I am a master’s
degree graduate.
Though, with the un-
conditional support
that my mother gave
me, my journey has
become much easier.
I strongly believe in
never giving up on
dreams. When the
time is right, it will
all come together and
the struggle you went
through will finally
make sense.”
When asked about
what interests her,
Simran said, “Other
than modelling, I en-
joy reading and danc-
ing. It is the perfect
combination since
one keeps my mind
busy, and the other
keeps my body fit.”
I do my best to grow
myself as much as I
can in a short span
and through this tal-
ent, I will one day be
a successful model.
Paying immense
gratitude to Gaurav
Gaur, Director Elite
Miss Rajasthan, the
ravishing diva said,
“I am glad to be a part
of Elite Miss Ra-
jasthan and my
mentor, Gaurav
Gaur. His support
has been truly
fruitful.”
Sharing her two
cents for aspiring
models, Simran
Modi said, “A lot
of rejection
may come
your way but
always believe
inyourself.”
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Living the
Dream Life
CITY FIRST ENGAGED IN A TÊTE-
À-TÊTE WITH SIMRAN MODI,
HAILING FROM JAIPUR , WHERE
SHE SPILT THE BEANS ABOUT
HER CAREER TRAJECTORY,
ASPIRATIONS AND WHAT’S
NEXT ON HER BUCKET LIST!
DEVANSHI MUDGAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
T
NEW DELHI, TUESDAY,
MARCH 22, 2022
City First brings to you
some more glimpses of
the First India Queen of
Cosmos and the Lifestyle
Luxury Awards held at
Oaks Ibn Batutta Gate Ho-
tel, Dubai on March 10.
Jagdeesh Chandra
congratulated all the
winners and wished
them success. Su-
perstar Daisy Shah
also appreciated the
supermodels and the
winners of the interna-
tional beauty pageant.
10-11
ETC
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Racha, Aparna, Franko, Rishee Miglani, Deepak Agarwal, Anastasia and Alia
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Farah Ansari
for the Best Khadi Designer (Sewa) Also seen are Rupa Khurana,
Anita Hada  Daisy Shah
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Dr Makkar for the Best Hospital (EHCC) Stunning supermodels flaunt their gorgeous gowns during the rampwalk
Clockwise: Larisa, Sophie, Olga, Elisabeth and Daphnila
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Ayan Chugh for the Best
Salon (Sizzlin Scissors). Also seen are Rupa Khurana,
Anita Hada and Daisy Shah
Jagdeesh Chandra and Daisy Shah confer the Lifetstyle
Award to Deepak Sankit for the Best Social Entrepreneur. Also seen are
Rupa Khurana  Anita Hada
Daisy Shah confers the Lifetstyle
Award to Mayuri Sogani
for Best Jewellery Brand
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Mukund Maheshwari for the Best Outdoor Publicity Co.
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury
Lifestyle award to Dr Purva (Amara) for the
Best Skin  Hair Clinic
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle
award to Khushi Sonkhiya (Paavaki Jewels) for
the Best Emerging Bespoke Jewellery Designer
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Swati Bhandari for the Emerging make-up artist of the year
Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Ajay Singh for the Best Fitness Coach
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Poonam Madan for the Best Social Influencer
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle
award to Z Haus for the Best Makeup Service
Provider (International)
Yaqoob Al Ali confers the Luxury Lifestyle award to Vineet Jain for the Best Production
for events while Daisy Shah confers the Luxury Lifestyle award to Gunjan Singhal for
the Best Set Designer. Also seen is Rupa
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle
award to Jassi Chhabra (Shades Skin  Hair care) for
the Best Salon Chain of Raj
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to
Rehan Ahmad Baley (Baley Fashion) for the
Best Fashion Designer (International)
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award
to Soundkraft LLC for AV Production, Staging and Rental Company
of the year 2021
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra presents a memento
of welcome to Aparna
Jagdeesh Chandra presents a memento
of welcome to Vijay Samyani
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Rajiv Kapoor,
GM Fairmont Jaipur for Most Dynamic GM.Also seen are
Rupa Khurana,Anita Hada and Daisy Shah
Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Vaibhav Gupta,
(Jaipur Bagh) for Best Wedding Destination.
Also seen are Anita Hada and Daisy Shah
Kewal and Anjana Miglani bagged the Best Furniture Designer
award for AK furniture. Also seen are Rupa Khurana,
Rizwan Sajan, Rishee Miglani and Daisy Shah
Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Arvind
and Puja Arya (Arya Group of Colleges) for the Best Engineering College
PAILLETTES ET
PAILLETTES ET
GLAMOUR
GLAMOUR
Dhanushree Vyas
S
ehgal Jewellers by Bobby
Sehgal, a high-end luxury
jewellery brand, launched a
unique Concept Boutique
in South Extension Part 1 recently
.
The brand provides authentic
craftsmanship which imbibes the
dedication and creativity of four
generations. They provide their
vast and loyal customer base with
unparalleled and distinctive qual-
ity designs. The launch was hosted
by founder Bobby Sehgal and
Anushka Sehgal. The evening was
attended by Delhi’s social and fash-
ion glitterati.
Boddy Sehgal said, “The vision
to create a one-of-a-kind concept
jewellery boutique was the goal
which took years. Situated in the
heart of Delhi’s finest jewellery
market, we distinctively cater to
providing a regal and luxurious
experience, through our bespoke
designsthatspeakforthemselves.”
“Our heritage jewels, inspired by
the adornments of kings and
queens of India’s majestic past,
capture the essence of our rich
and vibrant culture,” Anushka Se-
hgal said. —Cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
Sehgal Jewellers
Launch Concept Boutique
 CITY FIRST DELHI
ELECRAMA, the larg-
est stand-alone show-
case of the Indian Elec-
trical and Allied Elec-
tronics Industry by
IEEMA is slated to
commence from Feb-
ruary 18 to 22, 2023 at
India Expo Mart,
Greater Noida. IEEMA
and its members will
work together with the
Government of India
to achieve a 100-year
partnership of electri-
fying, digitalizing, and
greening India. The
theme of ELECRAMA
2023 is “ReImagine En-
ergy - For Sustainable
Future” and will be
heavily based on show-
casing innovation and
future technologies in
many areas including
Storage, Green Hydro-
gen, Fuel Cells, AI, and
IoT. This edition will
also focus on sustaina-
bility through Energy
Conservation, Carbon
Net Zero, and Smart
Consumption.
R K Singh, Minister
of Power  New and
Renewable Energy,
said, “I congratulate
IEEMA on the an-
nouncement and
launch of ELECRA-
MA 2023 – the 15th edi-
tion of the world-class
exhibition of electri-
cal, industrial elec-
tronics and allied in-
dustry.
Rotary District 3011
organised a Conclave
22 District Conference
2022 at Thyagraj Stadium,
Delhi on Sunday. The
inauguration of the event
was done by Om Birla
(speaker of Loksabha)
Panel discussion was
held with various topics
related to environmental
concerns. During the
occasion, Nitin Mukesh
performed live music
while Kumar Vishwas
commenced a poetry
session which enthralled
the audience. While
addressing the public
Anup Mittal District
governer said After the
eradication of Polio, the
next big thrust area that
rotary has adopted is the
goal of ‘Total Literacy’.
Forever Living Products India distributed N-95 masks to Delhi Police Personnel under
their CSR initiative in association with Abhinandan educational and welfare society. Harish
Singla, CSM FLP India, Manisha Bhatia, founder Abhinandan educational and Welfare
society and traffic inspector Col Kuldeep Singh were present on the occasion.
—PHOTOS
BY
MANOJ
KESHARWANI
ALL WHITE HOLI
CELEBRATIONS
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
ntrepreneur  So-
cialite Rajan Jain
recently hosted an
All-White Holi
Bash in the capital
recently. The
crème de la crème
of the city was in attend-
ance at this chic do with
flamboyant décor making
it for a perfect Holi soiree.
Dressed in hues of
white Designers Amit
Talwar, Rochika Agar-
wal, Malvi-
ka Sehgaal Kaura; Social-
ites Rekha Gupta, Payal
Singh, Shuweta Kapoor,
Shilpa Taluja, Twinkle Vi-
nayak, Seitu Kumar;
Hair  Beauty Ex-
perts Sylvie Rodg-
ers, Bharti Taneja;
Actresses Akriti
Bharti  Ishika Tane-
ja including many oth-
ers were seen enjoying
the lavish food spread,
free flowing cham-
pagnes  traditional
dance performances
which sure did add the
much-needed colours in
this All-White Party.
E
REIMAGINE ENERGY
TWITTER UPDATES
DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2022
Raj Chahar and Anchal
Twinkle Vinayak and Jatin
(L-R) Arti Mehrotra, Alka and Akriti Bharti Sikandar Nawaz and Faisal Khan
Bharat Sadana, Nalin Gupta and Rajat Bedi
Anuj Lalwani and Preeti
Swapnil Jolie showcasing Sehgal designed jewellery
Karishma Kambo, Venika Sehgal,
Anushka Sehgal and Kartika Bali
Venika, Bobby, Vibha and Anushka Sehgal
Venika, Bobby and Anushka Sehgal
Sukhmani Sakhi
Vernika, Vibha and Anushka Sehgal
(L to R) Charu Mathur, Rohit Pathak, Jitendra K Agarwal,
RK Singh, Vipul Ray, Alok Kumar, Hamza Arsiwala
During the event
DG Anup and Shruti
Nitin Mukesh
Pandit Shubendru Rao Maestro Saskia Rao
Simran Arya
Naima Ait-Ali and Amit
Anjali Lal Gulati
Pragati Pankaj Nagpal
and Seema Gumber
Shilpa Taluja
and Rahul Taluja
Utkarsh Verma and Swapnil Jolie
—PHOTOS
BYSHAZID
CHAUHAN
—PHOTOS BYSHAZID CHAUHAN
Karishma
Kambo
Ruby Bhatia
—PHOTOS BYSHAZID CHAUHAN
Laxmi
Pandey
Vanndana Vaadera
12
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED

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  • 1. AMIT SHAH TO GIVE FINAL SHAPE TO NEW YOGI CABINET WITH AN EYE ON 2024 First India Bureau Lucknow: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Lucknow on Wednesday ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state legislature party meeting on 24 March, said sources in the party . According to the sources, Shah, who is the party’s will give final shape to the nature and composition of the new Yogi Adityanath cabinet that will lay the saffron outfit’s template for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections whenPMNarendraModi will seek to return to of- ficeforthethirdconsecu- tive time. The party , as a matter of fact, is keeping its card close to its chest about the number of Deputy CMs who will take oath along with Yogi. Sources said that the party considers that the step to appoint at least two deputy CMs paid off well for the par- ty . The oath-taking cere- monyof YogiAdityanath will take place on 25 March, sources said. This will be his second term as the CM of the state. Sources said PM Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP Na- tional President JP Na- dda are on the list of in- vitees for the scheduled oath-taking ceremony of Yogi Adityanath. Earlier, PM Modi held a high-level meeting of theBJPtopleadersathis residence in New Delhi to discuss government formation in four states where the party won in the Assembly elections held recently . Union Home Minister Amit Shah will give final shape to the nature and composition of the new Yogi Adityanath cabinet NEW DELHI l TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No.201 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 CDS GETS PADMA VIBHUSHAN CHINA PLANE CRASHES WITH 132 ON BOARD; NO SIGN OF SURVIVORS BJP resurrects ‘loser’ Dhami as U’khand CM, Sawant retains Goa Dehradun: Putting all speculations to rest, the BJP on Monday an- nounced that Pushkar Singh Dhami will return as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Dhami will take oath as the 11th CM of the state on Wednesday . The announcement was made after newly electedBJPMLAsmetat thepartyofficeinDehra- dun to choose their lead- er. The meeting was at- tended by Union Minis- ter Rajnath Singh, who was appointed as BJP’s observer, and minister Meenakshi Lekhi. Australian PM expressed ‘understanding of India’s Ukraine position’, says foreign secy New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Scott MorrisononMondayex- pressed his understand- ing of India’s position on the crisis in Ukraine, and he and PM Naren- dra Modi felt the conflict should not be a reason for diverting attention from the Indo-Pacific, ForeignSecretaryHarsh Vardhan Shringla said. The Russian invasion of Ukraine figured at a virtual summit between thetwoprimeministers, news agency PTI report- ed. Shringlaalsosaidthat IndiaandAustraliawere keentofinalisetheCom- prehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement as it will unlock new op- portunities to expand bilateral trade and in- vestment ties. Unlike its Quad part- ners — the US, Japan and Australia — India has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More on P7 DEATH IN THE AIR According to broadcaster CCTV, the accident involving a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 took place near the city of Wuzhou in Teng county China Eastern Airlines grounds Boeing 737-800 fleet post crash Guangxi: A Chinese airliner with 132 pas- sengers on board Mon- day crashed in the southern province of Guangxi, the Chinese media has reported. The aircraft, with 123 passengers and nine crew on board, lost con- tact over the city of Wuzhou, China’s Civil Aviation Administra- tion of China (CAAC) and the airline said. The crash, in which the plane descended at a final rate of 31,000 feet a minute according to FlightRadar24, sparked a mountainside fire. China Eastern said the cause of the crash wasunderinvestigation. ‘SHOCKED’ XI ORDERS PROBE AIRLINE’S WEBSITE TURNS INTO BW FI ANALYSIS Chinese President Xi Jin- ping said he was “shocked” after a China Eastern Boe- ing 737-800 crashed in the southern province of Guangxi on Monday. He has called for an investigation into the accident, as per reports. After the crash, the website of China Eastern Airlines, mobile app and some of its other social media platforms were presented in black and white - what airlines do as a sign of respect or mourning for the assumed victims. The ill-fated China Eastern flight MU5735 was traveling from Kunming to Guangzhou. Pushkar S Dhami - the BJP warrior that went down fight- ing while handing his party another term in Uttarakhand was given another shot at the top post by Central leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah. Both believed that it was not very long ago before polls that Dhami was appointed CM, but in short span of time, despite facing internal revolt, he still ensured victory for the party. Most of the state leaders favoured him for the top job. 26,000 FEET LOST IN UNDER 3 MINUTES Smoke rises from a fire after a China Eastern Airlines passenger plane crashed near Wuzhou city in the Guangxi region. 1 2 Narendra Modi@narendramodi Deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the crash of the pas- senger flight MU5735 with 132 on board in China’s Guangxi. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the crash and their family members. President Kovind presents Padma Vibhushan to General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous) for Civil Service. As the first Chief of Defence Staff and Secretary, Department of Military Affairs, he was pivotal in ushering transformative reforms in Indian Armed Forces. Rawat’s daughters received the award. President Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Rajiv Mehrishi for Civil Service. More on P5 Pushkar Singh Dhami Pramod Sawant Biren Singh takes oath as Manipur CM Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects antiquities which have returned from Australia in New Delhi. In a historic move, 29 antiquities have been repatriated to India by the Australia. Most of the farmers’ organisations, that the Supreme Court-appointed body for studying the now-rolled-back farm laws interacted with, supported the legislation, the report of the committee that was made public on Mon- day revealed, although now holding little significance. MOST FARMERS’ BODIES FOR 3 FARM LAWS, SC PANEL’S REPORT RUSSIAN COURT BANS INSTA, FB AS ‘EXTREMIST’ A Russian court on Monday banned Facebook and Insta- gram in country after finding Meta Platforms Inc “ex- tremist”. Instagram was blocked after Meta said it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages. Admission to undergraduate programmes across all 45 central universities will be held through a common entrance test starting this year, and the test will be held in the first week of July, University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Jagadesh Kumar told reporters. UGC: COMMON ENTRANCE TEST FOR ALL CENTRAL VARSITIES IN JULY KCR: IN TALKS WITH PRASHANT KISHOR TO BRING NATIONAL CHANGE Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chan- drasekhar Rao, popu- larly known as KCR, on Monday announced that he is in talks with politi- cal strategist Prashant Kishor “to bring a na- tional change”, capping off months of attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which rules at the centre. “I am in talks with Prashant Kishor to bring a national change. Prashant Kishor is working with me on this. Who can have a problem with this? Why are they seeing him as a bomb? Why are they cry- ing?” he said, speaking at a news conference. HARBHAJAN, RAGHAV, LPU FOUNDER ASHOK MITTAL INCLUDE AAP’S 5 RAJYA SABHA PICK Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has picked former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, IIT Delhi associate professor Sand- eep Pathak, Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, Lovely Professional University (LPU) founder and chan- cellor Ashok Mittal and industrialist Sanjeev Arora as its representatives in the Rajya Sabha, party officials confirmed on Monday.Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann accompanied the party nominees to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat to file the nominations. The elections will be held on March 31. The oath-taking ceremony of Yogi Adityanath will take place on 25 March, sources said.
  • 2. CAPITOL NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 02 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia New Delhi (PTI): Del- hi Deputy Chief Min- ister Manish Sisodia on Monday conducted site inspection of Pra- gati Maidan tunnel project and road cor- ridor and said the fa- cility will be opened within a month. Sisodia also posted pictures of the Pragati Maidan tunnel and un- derpasses on Bhairon Marg and the Ring Road on Twitter. “Reviewed the con- struction of the roads and tunnel around/un- der Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg, Mathu- ra Road and Ring Road. This corridor will soon ease traffic in and around Ring Road and India Gate. The work is almost complete and will be ready to be opened in a month,” Sisodia said in a tweet. In the pictures, major construction works along with painting on walls of the tunnel and underpasses have been completed. Earlier this month, Sisodia, who also holds Public Works Depart- ment (PWD) portfolio, had convened a review meeting department officials on the project and had directed offi- cials to expedite the construction work. He had said the facility will be opened by May. Under the project, the PWD is construct- ing a 1.2-km-long tun- nel and six underpass- es at an estimated cost of Rs 777 crore. The tunnel will start near National Sports Complex of India (NSCI) on Purana Qila Road and pass under- neath the redeveloped Pragati Maidan to cul- minate at the Ring Road near Pragati Power sta- tion. The construction work of the tunnel was started in March 2018. DYCM INSPECTSWORKPROGRESS AT PRAGATI MAIDAN CORRIDOR This corridor will soon ease traffic in and around Ring Road and India Gate Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reviews the construction of the roads and tunnel around and under Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg, Mathura Road and Ring Road in New Delhi. SISODIASPEAK New Delhi (PTI): Five more Delhi government schools will start func- tioning as ‘Sarvodaya Vidyalayas’ – with pri- mary and pre-primary classes – from the aca- demic year 2022-23. Of the 1,067 schools run by the Delhi gov- ernment, 442 are classi- fied as ‘Sarvodaya’ schools which start from either class 1 or nursery . In an action plan called ‘Vision 2030’ is- sued in 2020, the Direc- torate of Education had emphasised its goal to provide quality pre-pri- mary education to chil- dren below 6 years of age and begin admis- sion in the nursery for all its ‘Sarvodaya’ schools. Now, it has been ap- proved for five senior secondary schools to have a primary wing setup and for them to be converted to ‘Sarvo- daya’ schools. Of these, three will begin at nurs- ery and two will begin at class 1. The schools have been asked to address issues relating to school furniture, water, sanitation and electric- ity with the depart- ment. With the construc- tion of new classrooms and school buildings, this is a part of capacity enhancement in several schools for the upcom- ing academic year. From 2022-23, five more Govt schools to functionasSarvodaya New Delhi (PTI): In- dustries in NCR areas where PNG infrastruc- ture is not available have to completely switch over to biomass fuels by the year end, the CAQM has directed. It also said that the maximum permissible emission standards for particulate matter for the biomass-fuelled boil- ers should be 80 milli- grams per cubic metre. “However, such in- dustries shall aim for an emission level of 50 mil- ligrams per cubic metre, through suitable tech- nology upgrades and installation of requisite air pollution control de- vices such as bag filters, cyclonic filters, wet scrubbers, etc., to be de- cided by the individual units based on their onsite technical require- ments,”thelatestCAQM directions read. While switching to the use of agro-residue, biomass fuels on a regu- lar basis, all such indus- tries in NCR have to ap- ply for and obtain a re- vised consent to operate from the respective pol- lution control board with added conditions to the effect viz., per- mission to use bio-fuels and prescribed level of emission standards, particularly for control- ling the particulate matter emissions. The panel had earlier restricted the opera- tions of industries not using PNG or cleaner fuels in NCR to only 5 days a week. Later, it received rep- resentations from vari- ous organisations, asso- ciations and individuals for permitting the use of biomass fuels in addi- tion to PNG, citing that biomass fuels are much more environment friendly than fossil fuels such as coal. The CAQM said that an analysis of PM emis- sions from industries presently using biomass fuels for boiler opera- tions indicates that bio- mass fuels are much superior than conven- tional fossil fuels. IndustriessansPNGshouldswitchtobiomassbyyearend:CAQM New Delhi (Agencies): Delhi’s State Wetland Authority (SWA) has asked all land-owning agencies in the Nation- al Capital to test sam- ples from water bodies to assess how many fail to meet pollution stand- ards in order to take corrective action. While it is mandatory to test water samples monthly as per the Cen- tral Pollution Control Board’s Guidelines for Restoration of Water Bodies, 2019, such an as- sessment was last done in Delhi only from March until May 2020, with 115 water bodies then found to be meet- ing the Class D criteri- on (propagation of wildlife and fisheries), officials said. The Central Pollu- tion Control Board (CPCB) has specified different categories for water quality, and allot- ted Class D to water bodies which require pH (potential of hydro- gen) between 6.5 and 8.5, dissolved oxygen (DO) to be 4mg/l or higher and free ammo- nia to be 1.2mg/l or less – all needed to sustain aquatic life. The CPCB’s other cri- teria are Class A (drink- ing water sources with- out treatment), Class B (outdoor bathing), Class C (drinking water sources after treat- ment) and Class E (ir- rigation, industries and waste disposal). In a meeting with Delhi’s lieutenant gov- ernor Anil Baijal last Thursday, the SWA said that the second such as- sessment had com- menced in Delhi last month, with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) having tested 44 water bodies so far un- der its jurisdiction. All of them met the water quality criterion of Class D, officials said. As per CPCB’s indica- tive guidelines to pro- tect and revive water bodies across the coun- try, water samples need to be collected each month, or at least eight times a year, so states can ascertain the chang- es in the water quality and their reasons. Test water samples to check pollution, orders SWA DELHI’S WETLAND New Delhi (PTI): A cluster bus caught fire on Monday morning in northwest Delhi's Kanjhawala area, offi- cials said. The information about the blaze was re- ceived around 8.30 am following which two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, fire depart- ment officials said. The fire was brought under control by around 9 am. No casu- alty has been reported, they said. A senior police offic- er said the bus had en- countered a technical issue and when the driver came out to check, the vehicle caught fire. New Delhi (PTI): Two men suffocated to death after they slipped and fell into a basement filled with wooden logs at a fac- tory in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the logs were sprayed with chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used to prevent foliage and insect growth on wood, and the strong chemical led to the deaths. The victims were identified as Vaibhav Kathuria (22) and Zakir (40). The duo worked at a cycle rickshaw assem- bling factory owned by Vaibhav’s father. Cluster bus catches fire in northwest Delhi Two men die of asphyxia after falling into factory basement New Delhi (Agencies): Residents of Chintels Paradiso housing soci- ety said that they have roped in prominent law- yer Prashant Bhushan to file a petition against the developer and the Haryana government authorities. The residents are planning to seek a court monitored structural audit, a thorough inves- tigation by a central agency along with suit- able compensation for the losses suffered by them. They, however, said that they are still open to mediation and settle- ment, provided a rea- sonable offer is made by the developer. Six floors of Tower D at the Chintels Paradiso condominium had col- lapsed partially on Feb- ruary 10, killing two residents. After the incident, residents of the com- plex have been demand- ing a structural audit of the buildings, a probe by the CBI and reason- able compensation from the developer. The authorities have also asked the occu- pants of Towers E,F,G and H to vacate the flats till a structural audit is carried out by experts from the Indian Insti- tute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Chintels residents seek justice, will move SC Chintels Paradiso Housing Society residents holding protest. New Delhi (Agen- cies): Delhi has been facing a backlog of ap- pointments for driver’s licence tests amid the pandemic, with several people complaining of a wait time of three- four months. According to officials, technical glitches and heavy traffic on the website have created hurdles. Pushpal Singh, a resi- dent of Mayur Vihar Phase-I, said: “I had a licence from Uttar Pradesh but it has ex- pired. I also moved to Delhi recently . I applied for the test four months ago and I’m still waiting for the appointment. The grievance cell is also not very support- ive, they keep asking me to try again. Because of this, I have to use cabs to go anywhere despite having a car and a bike.” Another resident, who lives in Safdarjung Enclave, said, “I want to get my RC renewed and my daughter has ap- plied for a licence. We have been waiting for an appointment… I even went to the RTO office to file a complaint but to no avail.” Appointments for driver’s licence tests pile up, applicants complain PERMISSION NEEDED While switching to the use of agro-residue, biomass fuels on a regular basis, all such industries in NCR have to apply for and obtain a revised consent to operate from the respective pollution control board with added conditions to the effect viz., permission to use bio-fuels and prescribed level of emission standards, particularly for controlling the PM emissions. The panel had earlier restricted the operations of industries not using PNG or cleaner fuels in NCR to only 5 days a week. DU’s minority colleges may have to follow admissions by test rule New Delhi (PTI): Admissions to Delhi University’s minori- ty colleges such as St. Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College among oth- ers from the next aca- demic year could be solely based on the CUET scores, if a proposal in this re- gard is cleared by the varsity’s statutory decision making bod- ies this week. Besides admission to minority colleges, other modalities per- taining to the imple- mentation of the common entrance test for admissions to u n d e r g r a d u a t e courses from this year will also come up for discussion in the university’s AC meeting on Tuesday . “It was decided that admissions to all minority colleges (including St. Ste- phen’s College and Jesus and Mary Col- lege) affiliated of the Delhi University will be only done through CUET. During cen- tralized counselling, separate merit lists will be generated for unreserved and mi- nority candidates as per the reservation policy,” according to the minutes of the academic council’s standing committee meeting held on March 17. Fifty pc of the seats in various courses offered by minority colleges are reserved for students belonging to specific minority communi- ties. St Stephen’s Col- lege and Jesus and Mary College are two of the Christian mi- nority institutes un- der Delhi University . FLASHBACK
  • 3. INDIA NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 03 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Sharat K Verma New Delhi: Patiala MP Preneet Kaur has also joined the ‘gathering’ of angry Congress leaders and many Congress l e a d - ers have questioned this. An in- formed Congress leader has pointed out that the statement issued after the five-hour meeting at Ghulam Nabi Azad’s house said that ‘Con- gress leaders met’, but should Preneet Kaur now considered a Con- gress leader, when she has openly campaigned for BJP in Punjab and sought votes? A mem- ber of the Congress Working Committee says it is one thing to be angry with the Con- gress and another to campaign for the BJP . Keep in mind that Preneet Kaur’s hus- band Captain Ama- rinder Singh left the Congress and formed a separate party and con- tested the elections in coordination with the BJP. After her aligning with the BJP, Preneet Kaur said many times that family is more im- portant to her than the party .Thatis,sheisCon- gress MP later and Capt’s wife is first. Kaur also attended the BJP meeting held in Patiala in connection with the preparations for Amit Shah’s programme and sought votes for the BJP during the campaign. Only then the Congress leaders say that her at- tending the meeting means that the meeting is in support of the BJP . Therefore, if the mem- bers of the meeting at Azad’s residence were sincerely with the Con- gress, they would have stopped Preneet Kaur. Similarly, this question is also being asked that since when did Shankar Singh Vaghela become a Congressman? He had left the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections and later moved to the NCP . Therefore, by what authority has he signed the roll call of leaders as a Congress man? Why not stop Preneet Kaur? STILL A CONG MEMBER? New Delhi: In a refer- ence to the border standoff with China, Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi on Monday emphasised that peace and tranquillity at the border area was an es- sential prerequisite for normalisation of rela- tions with the neigh- bouring country . PM Modi made these remarks during the vir- tual summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, during which the two leaders exchanged views on im- portant regional and global issues. Shringla said that there was equal empha- sis on the fact that in- ternational orders stand on the UN Char- ter on the rule of law and respect for the ter- ritorial integrity and sovereignty of states. The conflict in Eu- rope should not be a re- gion for us to divert our attention from the Indo- Pacific region, and our position, far as Quad is concerned, also was on similar lines, the For- eign Secretary said. Shringla informed that PM Modi and PM Morrison exchanged perspectives about re- gional and multilateral matters and global is- sues of mutual interest including shared con- cerns such as terrorism. PM Modi referred to LAC (Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh, the incidents of the previ- ous year and he empha- sised that peace and tranquillity in the bor- der area was an essen- tial prerequisite for normalisation of rela- tions with China, said Foreign Secretary . Morrison also gave a fairly detailed perspec- tiveof howhesawChina and its actions in the re- gion and he spoke in par- ticular about the South ChinaSea,headded.Ear- lier this month, the 15th round of Corps Com- mander level talks be- tween India and China was held at the Chushul- Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on March 11, 2022. BORDER PEACE KEY FOR TIES WITH CHINA, SAYS PM MODI PM also discussed crucial regional, global issues with Australian PM Scott Morrison Kolkata (PTI): Trina- mool Congress candi- dates Shatrughan Sin- ha and Babul Supriyo on Monday filed their nominations for by- polls to a Lok Sabha and an assembly seat to be held on April 12 in West Bengal. Sinha has been field- ed for by-election to the Asansol Lok Sabha con- stituency, while Supri- yo was nominated for the Ballygunge Assem- bly seat. Speaking to reporters after filing his nomina- tion at Alipore Survey Building, Supriyo said, I am thankful to 'Didi' (TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee) for giving me this opportunity to con- test from the presiti- gious Ballygunge con- stituency. I am really honoured and accept the challenge. The bypoll to Asansol was necessitated as Su- priyo resigned as the BJP MP after joining the TMC in September last year. The Bally- gunge Assembly seat is going for polls as in- cumbent MLA and state minister Subrata Mukherjee died in No- vember 2021. TMCcandidates Shatrughan,Babul filenominations BENGAL BYPOLLS Kohima (PTI): BJP leader S Phangnon Konyak has become the first woman Rajya Sabha MP from Naga- land after winning the Rajya Sabha seat on March 21. She is the Mahila Morcha presi- dent of BJP’s Naga- land unit. She filed her nomi- nation earlier in the morning of March 21 in presence of Naga- land Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and BJP state president Temjen Imna Along. The elec- tion was slated for March 31 but Konyak was elected unopposed to the seat. The election for the lone Nagaland seat was to be held on March 31 but Konyak was elected unopposed to the seat. The seats are spread across six states - five in Punjab, three in Kerala, two in Assam, and one each in Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. Now, elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in two other Northeastern states: two seats in Assam and one each in Tripura are slated for March 31. Srinagar (PTI): Ter- rorists on Monday shot dead a civilian and in- jured a non-local ven- dor in two separate in- cidents in Budgam and Pulwama districts of JK, police said. “Around 7:20 pm, ter- rorists fired at and in- juredacivilian,Tajamul Mohiuddin Rather, near his residence in Goth- pora area of Budgam in central Kashmir,” a po- lice official said. In the second inci- dent in Pulwama, a non- local vendor, Bisujeet Kumar from Bihar, was injured after militants fired at him at Circular Road, the official said. BJP’s Phangnon Nagaland’s first woman Rajya Sabha MP JK: Civilian killed, non-local vendor hurt by terrorists S Phangnon Konyak, Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland. New Delhi (ANI): Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday dismissed the possibility of an alli- ance with Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Maj- lis-e-Ittehadul Musli- meen (AIMIM) and dubbed it as Bharatiya JanataParty'sB-team. Slamming AIMIM, Kharge said that Con- gress needs to be cau- tious of such parties which try to defeat sec- ular parties. Congress has not yet received any proposal (of an alli- ance), Kharge told ANI. A strategy for an alli- ance is decided within the party, he said, add- ing that there is a need to be cautious of such parties which attempt to defeat secular par- ties. Kharge further al- leged that the AIMIM is working at the behest of the BJP. His remarks come after Shiv Sena also termed AIMIM as BJP's B team while re- jecting scope for an alli- ance with AIMIM. Kharge dubs AIMIM ‘B team’ of BJP, rejects scope of any alliance Dehradun (ANI): BJP MLA from Kaladhungi, Bansidhar Bhagat was on Monday sworn in as the pro tem speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly . The oath of office was administered by Gover- norLtGen(retd)Gurmit SinghatafunctionatRaj Bhawan which was at- tended by caretaker CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief SecretarySSSand- hu, Principal Secretary Ananad Vardhan and secretary to the gover- nor,RanjitKumarSinha. Soon after being sworn in, Bhagat rushed to the Vidhan Bhawan here to administer oath to the newly elected MLAs. Bhagat is one of the senior most BJP leaders from the state who was state party president till March, 2021 when he be- came a minister in Dha- mi's cabinet. The BJP won the pop- ular mandate for the sec- ond consecutive term in Uttarakhand,bagging47 seats in the 70-member Assembly . U’khand: BJP’s Bansidhar Bhagat takes oath as Protem Speaker TO STOP MEKEDATU DAM PROJECT Tamil Nadu Assy moves resolution against K’taka Chennai (Agencies): The Tamil Nadu As- sembly adopted a res- olution against the Karnataka govern- ment’s attempt to build the Mekedatu Dam across the Cau- very river, in what is the latest develop- ment in the row be- tween the two states. Earlier this month, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had ruled out negotiations with his Tamil Nadu coun- terpart. The resolu- tion adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assem- bly was unanimous, with the support of the Tamil Nadu BJP and the Congress. The resolution, moved by Water Re- sources Minister V Duraimurugam, said that the Karnataka government did not respect the order of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal or Supreme Court and without receiving clearances from co- basin state or the gov- ernment of India is proposing to construct the dam unilaterally, which is not accepta- ble. “Hence, the action of Government of Karnataka is strongly condemnedbythisAu- gust House,” it said. The resolution also urged the Union gov- ernment to not give technical, environ- mental or any other clearance to the Kar- nataka government. Stating that the matter is a sensitive dispute, the resolu- tion asks the Union government to “ad- vise the Karnataka government not to take up the proposal of constructing the reservoir at Mekedatu or at any other place in the Cauvery basin, without getting the concurrence of the co-basin States and obtaining the clear- ance from the Union Government.” Patna (PTI): The death toll due to consumption of illicit liquor continue inBihar.Accordingtoan official of Bihar police, so far 37 persons have died after consuming spurious liquor in the three districts of Bihar since the day of Holi. Maximum number of deaths took place in Bhagalpur district where so far 22 persons have died since March 19. Besides, 12 persons lost their lives in Ban- ka district and 3 in Madhepura. Preliminary probe reveals that some peo- ple died after report- edly consuming poi- sonous liquor while others were suffering from some kind of ill- ness. We are waiting for the post-mortem re- ports to ascertain the actual cause of deaths, Gangwar said. Bihar hooch tragedy: Death toll reaches 37 Washington (Agen- cies): Violentrepression of the largely Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar amounts to genocide, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, a declara- tion intended to both generate international pressure and lay the groundwork for poten- tial legal action. Authorities made the determination based on confirmed accounts of mass atrocities on civil- ians by Myanmar’s military in a wide- spread and systematic campaign against the ethnic minority, Blinken said in a speech at the US Holocaust Me- morial Museum. It is the eighth time since the Holocaust that the US has concluded a genocide has occurred. The secretary of state noted the importance of calling attention to inhumanity even as horrific attacks occur elsewhere in the world, including Ukraine. “Yes, we stand with the people of Ukraine,” he said. “And we must also stand with people who are suffering atroc- ities in other places.” The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is already under multiple layers of US sanctions since a military coup ousted the democratically elected government in February 2021. Thou- sands of civilians throughout the country have been killed and imprisoned as part of ongoing repression of anyone opposed to the ruling junta. US: MYANMAR REPRESSION OF ROHINGYA IS GENOCIDE Rohingya refugees crossing into Bangladesh. —FILE PHOTO Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison during India- Australia virtual summit on Monday. Kathmandu: Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi will embark on a vis- it to Nepal from March 25 to 27, the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu announced on Monday. Wang is the first top- level foreign dignitary to visit Nepal after the Sher Bahadur Deuba government was formed on July 13 last year. According to the Ministry, Wang's visit comes on an invitation by Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka. During the visit, some agreements could be signed includ- ing implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the flagship initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. CHINESE FM WANG YI TO VISIT NEPAL THIS WEEK Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge Bansidhar Bhagat Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in the State Assembly. Preneet Kaur Babul Supriyo Shatrughan Sinha India China agreed to maintain peace along the LAC in the Western Sector during the 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level talks
  • 4. oon after Narendra Modi took over the reins of the country, he went heavily after corruption. Right from tightening the noose on shell companies to ini- tiating legal action against bank loan defaulters, Modi lived up to and still does, of his image of “Na Khata Hun Na Khane Doonga”. Narendra Modi always knew the power of new technology and its inter- vention towards bringing transparency in govern- ance. He introduced tech- nology and IT-led innova- tions and initiatives to make the governance effec- tive and at the same time ease the lives of people. He launched Digital India Mis- sion and the rest is history . “Corruption-free gov- ernance, transparency, public partnership and reaching out to people standing last in the line… Modi government has ful- filled all four-five basic rules of governance…This also shows Modi ji’s lean- ing towards new technol- ogy and scientific temper- ament. Every reform and improvement show opti- mum use of technology,” union cabinet minister Dr Jitendra Singh was quoted as saying. The Digital India Mis- sion, which was launched onJuly1,2015,expandedits wings and utility with the introduction of Apps and digital platforms like Umang, DG Locker, Bhim, Rupay and UPI. The coun- try , which used to rely com- pletely on physical transac- tions was ready to embrace thetechnology-drivencash- less transaction system. The aim was to put a curb onblackmoneyandenforce transparencyinthesystem, which Modi had already initiatedthroughdemoneti- sation. He gave a new di- mension to the Aadhar Card scheme launched by the predecessor UPA gov- ernment and linked every government-run schemes with Aadhar for transfer- ring benefits directly to the beneficiaries eliminating any intermediary . “Earlier people couldn’t open bank accounts due to lack of KYC documents. Aadharprovidedidentityto such people and they start- ed getting cash benefits and other subsidies directly in their bank accounts. Leak- age was plugged,” said RS Sharma, CEO of Aayush- man Bharat Scheme. The PM Modi also fo- cused on education, health and employment to serve theinterestsof poorpeople. He started new IIMs, IITs and launched AIIMS in various parts of the coun- try . He also launched Skill India Mission to hone the skills of youth and make them employment ready . On November 7, 2015, Modi fulfilled one of his impor- tant poll promises… he re- alised the dreams of thou- sands of ex-servicemen by launching One rank One pension … a long pending demand which had not beenfulfilledsince40years. It was a tribute to the Armedforcesfromaperson who used to dream to join the Army for serving the country . Apart from that, Modi also resolved prob- lems of Armed forces whichhadbeenhangingon fire for long. Right from the slowpaceof modernisation to shortage of modern sub- marinesandfighterplanes, the country was facing acute shortage of weapons. “He gave us more than whatever we had demand- ed. Now you see we are the best centre in the world … centre of excellence… which are manufactur- ing everything includ- ing weapons,” said Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chair- man of RS. While resolving problems and difficulties of Armed forces, Modi celebrated thefestivalof Di- wali with sol- diers at the fron- tiers … some- times in Pun- jab, some- times in Kashmir or R a j a s t h a n and some- times in Ladakh. The solider in Modi saluted the high spirit of Indian Army deployed in difficult ter- rainstoprotectthecountry . On September 18, 2016, in the wee hours of the morning at 5.30 am, an un- fortunate incident hap- pened at Uri when Paki- stan-sponsored terrorists carried an ambush against Indian soldiers, who were caught sleeping in their camps.Inthatoperation,18 Indian soldiers laid down their lives before killing the terrorists. That en- raged the entire nation and people called for revenge. Moved by the public senti- mentsPMModiannounced - “Let the terrorists hear it out… the country is not go- ing to forget this ghastly act.” And within 15 days on September 29, 2016 the In- dian army avenged the Uri attack. “The Indian Army con- ducted surgical strike last night at the launch pads, “ Lt General Ranveer Singh, DGMO, IA declared. In that operation, the army conducted sur- gical strikes in the P a k - o c c u p i e d Kashmir and de- stroyed terror launch pads kill- ing a large num- ber of terrorists. That was a big demonstration of PM Modi’s courage and risk-taking abil- ity. His deci- sion was hailed by eve- ryone in the country as Modi defied the nuclear threat posed by Pakistan. The confi- dent Modi then conquered another front. This time he an- nounced to roll out GST in the country, marking the entry of long awaited One Nation One Tax system. This was the biggest re- form in the field of taxa- tion in Independent India. And Modi made it histori- cal by announcing it at the stroke of 12 midnight in the intervening night of June 30 and July 1, 2017 from the central hall of the parliament. Modi never held him- self back from rolling out big decisions and mega reforms. He didn’t shy away from getting the law of Triple Talaq passed in the parliament on Septem- ber 19, 2018 which brought great relief in the lives of Muslim women. Modi didn’t stop there. He went on to launch sev- eral public-friendly schemes and programmes including Namami Gange, Jan Aushadhi Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Start-up In- dia and Make in India among others. Apart from that healso focusedspecial- ly on the development of northeastern states. Under Look East policy , he set up a separate ministry DoNER to develop infrastructure and establish connectivity of northeastern states with rest of the country . The country was on its way to economic develop- ment. Just then Pakistan came into picture once again. This time Pakistan backed militants of JeM conducted a ‘Fidayin’ at- tack on the convoy of CRPF killing 18 jawans in Pulwama on February 14, 2019. After Uri, this was the second occasion when the entire country was boiling with anger. And Modi was no exception. On February 26, 2019, Indian Air force launched airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot region and de- stroyed launch pads of ter- rorists. A large number of militants were killed and spirit of terrorists damp- ened completely after the bold move of Modi. 2019 was the election year and Modi was target- ing a second term with more than 300 seats. ‘Abki baar 300 paar’ was the slo- gan of BJP when it went for polls in the biggest fes- tival of democracy. On May 23, 2019 when the counting of votes ended, BJP emerged a clear win- ner with 303 seats while the tally for its coalition NDA went up to 353 seats. Thedecisivemajorityem- powered Modi even more, who looked determined to roll out bigger reforms and take big decisions in public interest at large. On August 5, 2019, the Parliament of India voted in favour of a resolution tabled by Home Minister Amit Shah to revoke the temporary special status, or autonomy, granted un- der Article 370 of the In- dian Constitution to Jam- mu and Kashmir - an agen- da which was there in BJP manifesto for long. With this Modi also fulfilled his 17-year old promise which he had made to people of JKduringhisEktaYatra. Just after 3 months on November 2019 five-judge bench of Supreme Court in its ruling ordered con- struction of Ram Mandir on the disputed land in Ayodhya. The path for con- struction of Mandir was clear now. On August 5, 2020, Narendra Modi went to Ayodhya for bhoomi pu- jan of Ram Mandir. Modi sent out a message and clear to everyone - Modi hai to Mumkin hai. To be continued... Corruption-free governance, transparency, public partnership and reaching out to people standing last in the line… Modi government has fulfilled all four-five basic rules of governance…This also shows Modi ji’s leaning towards new technology and scientific temperament. Every reform and improvement show optimum use of technology. Dr Jitendra Singh, Union cabinet minister Earlier people couldn’t open bank accounts due to lack of KYC documents. Aadhar provided identity to such people and they started getting cash benefits and other subsidies directly in their bank accounts. Leakage was plugged. RS Sharma, CEO, Aayushman Bharat Scheme He gave us more than whatever we had demanded. Now you see we are the best centre in the world … centre of excellence… which are manufacturing everything including weapons. Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chairman, Rajya Sabha DOWN THE MEMORY LANE … PART 9 NARENDRA MODI AS PRADHAN SEVAK… PM OF INDIA Majority of 140 crore Indians now believe… ‘MODIHAITOMUMKINHAI’ S SHASHIKANT SHARMA The writer is Consulting Editor, First India LET THE TERRORISTS HEAR IT OUT… THE COUNTRY IS NOT GOING TO FORGET THIS GHASTLY ACT: NARENDRA MODI INDIAN ARMY’S SURGICAL STRIKE “The Indian Army conducted surgical strike last night at the launch pads, Lt Gen Ranveer Singh, DGMO, IA declared. In that operation, the Army conducted surgical strikes in Pak-occupied Kash- mir and destroyed terror launch pads killing a large number of terrorists. That was a big demonstration of PM Modi’s courage and risk-taking ability. His decision was hailed by everyone in the country as Modi defied the nuclear threat posed by Pakistan. RAM TEMPLE'S CONSTRUCTION Just after 3 months on November 2019 five-judge bench of Supreme Court in its ruling ordered construction of Ram Mandir on the disputed land in Ayodhya. The path for construction of Mandir was clear now. On August 5, 2020, Narendra Modi went to Ayo- dhya for bhoomi pujan of Ram Mandir. Modi sent out a message and clear to everyone - Modi hai to Mumkin hai. YOU READ PART-8 IN FIRST INDIA ON MARCH 14, 2022 PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI l Vol 1 l Issue No. 201 l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Sharat K Verma responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act PERSPECTIVE NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 04 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
  • 5. To Receive Free Newspaper PDF Daily Whatsapp: http://bit.ly/whatsappdelhi Telegram: https://t.me/firstindianewdelhi Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your preferred platform.
  • 6. INDIA NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 05 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Mahesh Sharma New Delhi: Angry with the Congress high com- mand, some leaders of the grand-old party met at the house of Ghulam Nabi Azad and after that issued a statement, in which many things have been said. Howev- er, most things don’t make sense. Congress leaders are also sur- prised as to what was the need for so much frills to issue such a statement. Like it said that to defeat BJP, Con- gress needs to be strengthened and Con- gress should talk to like-minded parties. This is a very generic thing, which everyone knows and everyone also knows the prob- lems surrounding this idea. In this, it was spe- cifically said that the Congress should pre- pare a collective and inclusive leadership and adopt a collective and inclusive approach before taking decisions at all levels. Think, what could be a collective or inclusive way of making deci- sions at every level? If the Congress has to de- cide the candidate of the Legislative Assem- bly in a state, then all the leaders of the party should be asked the names of the candi- dates on each seat or the names should be told and the name is decided with the consent of all? Like all parties do, the Congress also forms a sorting committee for the candidates. Based on the opinion of the State Committee, the Sorting Committee pre- pares a list of names, which is approved by the Central Election Committee. The same method is adopted in other parties as well. Similarly, do the an- gry leaders want the Congress high com- mand to take approval from the working com- mittee and all the lead- ers from outside before appointing the presi- dent or making any of- fice bearer in any state? Is it the intention of the collective leadership of the leaders of this so- called G-21 that the par- ty high command should tell them about every decision and de- cide with their consent? Can these leaders tell how the current organi- zation of the Congress, the current office bear- ers or the current work- ing committee is not in- clusive? Does it not have leaders from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Bengal? In fact, these leaders have said very superfi- cial things, the sole pur- pose of which was to show that they are op- posing something, with- out saying anything meaningful or con- structive. Sibal ex- pressed great displeas- ure questioning the au- thority of Rahul, to have announced the name of Charanjit Sin- gh Channi? Think, what a stupid question? Ra- hul Gandhi is the for- mer President of Con- gress and the only sur- viving former Presi- dent. Does anyone in BJP ask who is Amit Shah, who makes all the policy announcements of the party? Sibal wants victory like BJP but Congress doesn’t want that kind of or- ganization or that kind of system. A PROTEST JUST FOR THE SAKE OF PROTESTING! New Delhi (PTI): India has received praise from across the board for many of its foreign policy initiatives, For- eign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday, a day after Pakistan PM Imran Khan lauded India for its foreign policy . When asked at a me- dia briefing about Khan’s comments, Shringla said India’s re- cordspeaksforitself and suggested that it would bewrongtosaythatonly one leader compliment- ed New Delhi. “To say that one per- son would be wrong. I think we have received praise across the board for many of our foreign policy initiatives. I think our record speaks for itself,” the foreign secretary said. At a public rally, Khan lauded India for following an independ- ent foreign policy say- ing New Delhi imported crude oil from Russia despite American sanc- tions on Moscow for its attack on Ukraine. Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor, or- dered to stay away from a CPM seminar next month by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, took a step back today. But his statement mak- ing the announcement had a sting in the tail. Recounting that he had earlier turned down a similar CPM invite af- ter a discussion with Mrs Gandhi — “a suit- able decision... taken without media contro- versy” — he added that a similar procedure “could have been easily followed this time”. “I regret that some preferred the unseemly public airing of inter- nal differences, thereby creating a needless con- troversy in a matter in which AICC’s view was binding. I hope wisdom will prevail in future,” he added. The admonition was apparently meant for colleagues in the Con- gress in Kerala, who had flagged the issue to Sonia Gandhi at the party’s parliamentary office in Delhi. New Delhi: India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who died in a chopper crash last December, late Radheshyam Khemka, former chair- man of Gita Press that publishes Hindu reli- gious books, and Con- gress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad were among 54 personalities who were conferred Padma awards by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday . While Rawat and Khemka were given Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-high- est civilian award, post- humously, Azad, Tata Sons chairman N Chan- drasekharan, former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi, founder of Serum Insti- tute of India that made Covid-19 vaccine Cov- ishield Cyrus Poona- walla were among the eight honoured with Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian award, at a civil investiture ceremony . The award for Rawat was received by his daughters while a close family member re- ceived the award for Khemka. Many of those who received the Pad- ma awards were “un- sung heroes”, including 125-year-old yoga prac- titioner Swami Si- vananda. Members of the audience clapped as a bare-feet Sivananda, dressed in a simple white kurta and dhoti, knelt before PM Naren- dra Modi who promptly got up and bowed, touching the ground as he returned the greet- ing. These awards are given in various disci- plines and fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and en- gineering, trade and industry, medicine, lit- erature and education, sports, civil service, etc. New Delhi (ANI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Bir- la flagged off the Pras- adam Raths from his residence here to pro- vide free food to the at- tendants of the patients in 6 hospitals of Delhi. In the spirit of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, ini- tiatives like this one are bringing free fresh food for the underprivileged and the poor sections of society, said Birla on the occasion of the ini- tiative Prasadam Rath. Apart from the other hospitals in the coming times, this facility would be extended at bus stations, railway stations, etc., he added. New Delhi (PTI): Drug firm Hetero on Monday said its biologics arm has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Or- ganisation (CDSCO) to manufacture and sell Sputnik Light for re- stricted emergency use in India. Hetero is the first bi- opharmaceutical com- pany in India to receive Manufacturing and Marketing (MM) ap- proval for the product manufactured locally for the prevention of Covid-19 in adults aged over 18 years, adminis- tered in a single dose of 0.5 ml, the company said in a statement. All other currently ap- proved vaccines in In- dia require two doses of administration, it add- ed. Sputnik Light is the first component (recom- binant human adenovi- rus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of Sputnik V . In February 2022, the DCGI granted emergen- cy use permission to single-dose Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine in India. Kabul (Agencies): Khalid Payenda who once oversaw and pre- sented a 6 billion dollar budget as Afghanistan's Finance Minister in Ka- bul is now an Uber driv- er in Washington DC to support his family. Talking to The Wash- ington Post he said he earns “a little over 150 dollars for six hours' work, not counting his commute”. Afghanistan is cur- rently facing a financial and humanitarian cri- sis, with many coun- tries around the world hesitant to recognize the Taliban govern- ment that overthrew the US backed regime. Payenda had resigned as the Finance Minister of the country . —FILE PHOTO Prez Kovind confers Padma awards to 54 personalities Late Gen Rawat, Ghulam Nabi Azad, SII’s Cyrus Poonawalla honoured; Devendra Jhajharia receives Padma Bhushan, first para athlete to do so; 125-yr-old yoga guru receives Padma Shri President Ram Nath Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Padma Shri to Swami Sivananda for Yoga, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTOS BY ANI India’s record speaks for itself, says Shringla Af’s ex-Fin Min now drives an Uber cab in US Khalid Payenda Harsh Vardhan Shringla Imran Khan, Pakistan PM Hope wisdom prevails: Tharoor after Sonia’s msg Sonia’s message was to listen to the state Cong and came days after Tharoor brushed the dust off his G-21 credentials BIRLA FLAGS OFF ‘RATHS’ FOR PATIENTS SC TO HEAR REVIEW PLEA IN ROAD RAGE CASE AGAINST SIDHU NAWAB MALIK’S JUDICIAL CUSTODY EXTENDED New Delhi: The SC said it would hear on March 25 the plea seeking review of the sentence awarded by it in May 2018 to Navjot Singh Sidhu in a 1988 road rage case. The mat- ter was listed for hearing before a special bench. As soon the bench of Jus- tices Khanwilkar and AS Oka assembled for hear- ing, Justice Khanwilkar said the special bench would hear the review plea on Friday. Mumbai: Special PMLA court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Maharashtra minis- ter and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik who was arrested in a money laundering case till April 4. The court has also allowed Malik to be provided with a bed, mattress, and chair during his judicial custody. IN THE COURTYARD New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday closed two cases after the Centre said it had completed the “mammoth job” of evacuating 22,500 stranded Indian students from the war zone in Ukraine. A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari took note of Attorney General K K Venugopal’s submissions that the Centre, besides bringing back stranded students, is also looking into the representation on their studies being hit by the ongoing war. SC CLOSES CASES ON EVACUATION OF STUDENTS FROM UKRAINE HETERO GETS NOD TO PRODUCE, SELL SPUTNIK LIGHT VAX z India’s daily Covid-19 infections drop to 1,549; positivity rate at 0.4 pc z Clear guidelines on booster dose for under 60 yrs sought in Rajya Sabha z Maharashtra court asks State if banning un- vaccinated people from local trains justified z Defence recruitment restricted due to Covid pandemic: MoS Ajay Bhatt HIGHLIGHTS Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla flags off ‘Prasadam Raths’ from his residence. Shashi Tharoor Doha(ANI): Over 100 passengers who were on a Qatar Airways Delhi-Doha flight which made an emer- gency landing in Pa- kistan’s Karachi on Mondayduetotechni- cal reasons, have tak- enoff inarelief flight for Doha. Qatar Airways pro- vided an update of the flight which had land- edinKarachi’sJinnah InternationalAirport. “Passengers on the di- verted flight to Kara- chi, QR579, have now departed on a relief flight will land in Doha at 4.15 PM local time where they will be assisted with their onward connections. Passengers were served refreshments throughout their time in KHI,” Qatar Air- ways tweeted. Delhi-Doha flight takes off from Karachi after emergency landing
  • 7. BIZ BUZZ NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 06 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Promoted by AU Small Finance Bank Indian economy better placed to deal with any challenge: RBI Governor Mumbai (PTI): Re- serve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said the RBI will continue to ensure adequate liquidity to support the economy, which is facing many headwinds in the form of soaring crude oil and key commodity prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Das, while address- ing an industry meet organised by CII here this evening, said since the pandemic-hit the economy in March 2020, the central bank has pumped in a whopping `17 lakh crore into the economy and assured the industry that the RBI will continue to en- sure that the economy is well oiled with funds. The governor further said banks at the sys- tem level are in better health now with the capital adequacy ratio at 16%, and gross NPAs falling to a record low of 6.5%. He said despite the headwinds arising from the Russia-Ukraine war, the economy is better placed given the high forex reserves and low current account gap. “We are comfortably placed to deal with any challenges with regard to financing the CAD, and the RBI stands com- mitted to deal with any challenges on this front,” he said. LIC IPO: Govt files updated draft papers with Q3 financials New Delhi (PTI): The government has filed updated draft papers with market regulator Sebi for an initial pub- lic offer of LIC, incor- porating December quarter financials of the insurance behe- moth, an official said on Monday . In the run-up to the mega IPO, on Febru- ary 13, the govern- ment had filed the DRHP with the regula- tor giving details of financial results till September. The DRHP got Sebi approval ear- ly this month. “Updated DRHP of LIC with December financials has been filed,” an official said, adding it was re- quired to be done as per Sebi ob- servations. As per the up- dated finan- cials, the LIC reported a net profit of `235 crore in the October-De- c e m b e r quarter. The net profit in April-December, 2021, increased to `1,671.57 crore from `7.08 crore a year ago. The government is expecting to garner over `60,000 crore by selling about 31.6 crore or 5% stake in the life insurance firm to meet the curtailed disinvestment target of `78,000 crore in the current fiscal. The IPO was origi- nally planned to be launched in March, but the Russia- Ukraine crisis has de- railed the plans as stock markets are highly volatile. Crypto mining cost not to be allowed as deduction under I-T Act: FinMin New Delhi (PTI): Infrastructure cost incurred in the min- ing of cryptocurren- cies or any virtual digital assets will not be allowed as de- duction under the income tax act, Min- ister of State for Fi- nance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday . In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said the government will come out with a defi- nition of virtual digital assets (VDA) with a view to levy 30% tax on income from the transfer of such assets. He said currently cryptocurrencies are unregulated in India. The 2022-23 Budg- et has brought in clarity concerning the levy of income tax on crypto assets. From April 1, a 30 per cent I-T plus cess and surcharges, will be levied on such transactions in the same manner as it treats winnings from horse races or other speculative transactions. The minister said while computing the income from trans- fer of VDA, no de- duction in respect of any expenditure (other than the cost of acquisition) or al- lowance is allowed. Banks recover `61K cr via one-time settlement New Delhi (PTI): As many as 11 banks have recovered nearly `61,000 crore by way of one-time settlement in nearly four financial years, the government informed Parliament on Monday. The figures are for the last three financial years and up to Decem- ber 2021 of the current fiscal. As per instructions of the Reserve Bank, banks are required to have a board-approved loan recovery policy, which may cover nego- tiated settlements through compromise, including one-time set- tlement (OTS) under which recovery in non-performing assets (NPA) loan accounts are to be effected to the maximum extent pos- sible at minimum ex- pense, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written a reply to the Lok Sabha. He said the intent of such meas- ures is to h e l p b a n k s promptly recycle their funds with advantage. “All nationalised banks have board-ap- proved loan recovery policy in place. As per input received from the 11 nationalised b a n k s , OTS was approved in 38,23,432 cases during the last three financial years. Further, the ag- gregate amount of `60,940 crore has been recovered through OTS by these national- ised banks during the last three financial years and up to Decem- ber 2021 of the current financial year,” Karad said. These 11 banks are, Punjab National Bank recorded the highest number of OTS at 8.87 lakh, followed by Bank of India 4.97 lakh; Bank of Baroda 4.34 lakh; Indian Bank 4.27 lakh; Canara Bank 4.18 lakh; and Central Bank of India 4.02 lakh. The others are Union Bank of India 2.99 lakh; UCO Bank 2.38 lakh; Indian Over- seas Bank 1.33 lakh; Bank of Maharashtra 63,202 and Punjab Sind Bank 20,607. INSTRUCTIONS Puri allays fears of short supplies; says crude import from Russia miniscule New Delhi (PTI): Oil minister Hardeep Sin- gh Puri on Monday al- layed fears of short supply of crude oil amid the Russia- Ukraine conflict and said that crude oil im- ports from Russia are miniscule at just 0.2% of total such imports tillJanuarythisfiscal. “About the in- creased oil import concerns...We require total of five million barrels per day. 60% of it comes from Gulf. We have imported from Russia, just 0.419 million metric tonnes...That is 0.2% of total requirement (during April-Jan this fiscal),” Puri said. “We are monitoring the situation. As far as oil imports are con- cerned from Russia, contrary to what played up in media, it is miniscule,” the minister said. According to the written reply tabled in the House, in finan- cial year 2020-21, In- dia imported 85% of its crude oil require- ments and 54% of its natural gas require- ment. Sensex,Nifty tumble nearly 1% Mumbai (PTI): Re- versing its early gains, benchmark BSE Sensex plunged by 571 points or nearly 1 per cent at close on Mon- day following losses in banking, oil, FMCG and IT stocks as surg- ing oil prices played spoilsport amid pro- longed Russia- Ukraine war. The 30-share Sensex opened higher and rose over 260 points to touch the day’s high of 58,127.95. However, losses in banking, oil and FMCG stocks dragged the index down by 634 points to touch a low of 57,229.08. The barometer set- tled at 57,292.49, down by 571.44 points or 0.99 per cent. The index had rallied over 2,000 points in the previous two sessions. The broader NSE Nifty declined by 169.45 points or 0.98 per cent to finish at 17,117.60 after rallying over 620 points in the past two sessions. It touched a high of 17,353.35 points and a low of 17,096.40 in the day trade. Among Sensex con- stituents, Power Grid fell the most by 2.93 per cent, followed by Asian Paints (2.85 per cent), UltraTech Ce- ment (2.81%), Nestle (2.49 per cent), Kotak Bank (2.42%) Hindu- stan Unilever (2.41%) and HCL Technologies (2.32%). New Delhi: Shares of Future group of companies were under pressure on Monday with Future Lifestyle Fashions Future Re- tail tanking the most in tandem with a weak broader market. Fu- ture Lifestyle Fashions Ltd tumbled 9.08% while Future Retail Ltd tanked 7.88%. Simi- larly, Future Consumer Ltd declined 3.48%, Future Supply Chain Solutions dipped 2.37%. Future Group shares under pressure; Future Retail Ltd tanks 7.88 per cent LTTS aims for carbon, water neutrality by 2030 New Delhi (PTI): LT Technology Services (LTTS) aims to achieve carbon and water neu- trality by 2030 and has unveiled its first sus- tainability report, the company said on Mon- day. The report, con- forming to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), presents LTTS’ sustainability efforts across its key elements for fiscal 2020-21. “LT Technology Services Limited, a leading global pure- play engineering ser- vices company, re- leased its first Sustain- ability Report for the year 2020-21, with a roadmap to achieve carbon and water neu- trality by 2030,” the company said. LTTS has identified sustainability as one of its six ‘Big Bets’ on emerging technology areas and one that cuts across the other 5 ‘Big Bets’ comprising Elec- tric Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (EACV), 5G, MedTech, Artificial Intelligence and digital products and digital manufac- turing. LTTS’ sustainability practice is building en- gineering services- based innovative digi- tal solutions that align with the customers’ sustainability road- map. The company has embraced net-zero as a core sustainability fo- cus and will leverage its deep capabilities around energy transi- tion and management, water and waste man- agement, circular prod- uct design, digital in- tervention, sustainabil- ity consulting, and cli- mate action towards this goal, the statement added. Amit Chadha, CEO and Managing Director at LT Technology Ser- vices, said, “With our distinct pure-play engi- neering services propo- sition, our vision on sustainability is to have organisational level involvement to better realise the goals for our global custom- ers”. PATANJALI SAYS `4,300 CRORE RUCHI SOYA FPO TO OPEN ON MAR 24 TATA MOTORS DRIVES IN ALTROZ DCA; PRICE STARTS AT `8.09 LAKH Mumbai (PTI): Patanjali Ayurved group-controlled Ruchi Soya Industries will hit the capital mar- kets with a `4,300-crore follow- on offer on March 24, making the country’s largest edible oil-maker the first to be re-listed after the bankruptcy process. The management led by Ruchi Soya chairman Acharya Balakrishna and Baba Ramdev, non-executive director, on Monday announced the price-band for the issue at `615-650. At the upper end, Patanjali, which now owns 98.9 per cent of the company, will dilute around 19 per cent and 18 per cent at the lower end of the price band. New Delhi (PTI): Tata Motors on Monday said it has launched its premium hatchback Altroz with dual-clutch automatic transmis- sion, priced between `8.09 lakh and `9.89 lakh. Altroz DCA comes equipped with several segment-first features, such as a wet clutch with active cooling technology, machine learning, shift by wire technology, self- healing mechanism, and auto park lock. The model is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine. The model comes with various fea- tures like leatherette seats, auto headlamps, 7-inch touchscreen by Harman, rear ac vents, and iRA connected car technology. New Delhi (PTI): Adani Green Energy has raised $288 million (about `2,188 crore) for the construction of its renewable energy projects. “Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has extended its Construction Financing Framework to $1.64 billion by raising a $288 million facility for its under-construction renewable asset portfolio through definitive agreements signed with a group of leading international lenders,” a company statement said. The facility will initially finance the 450 MW hybrid portfolio of solar and wind re- newable projects that AGEL is setting up in Rajasthan. In March 2021, AGEL had closed a $1.35 billion construction revolver facility in one of Asia’s largest project financing deals, it added. New Delhi (PTI): The government is holding roadshows for IDBI Bank privatisation and will come out with EoI after assessing investor interest. The Cabinet Commit- tee on Economic Affairs had in May last year given in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment and transfer of management control in IDBI Bank. The government and LIC together own more than 94% equity of IDBI Bank. However, the exact quantum of stake dilution is yet to be decided. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said it is expected that the strategic buyer will infuse funds, bring new technology and best management practices in IDBI Bank. AGEL RAISES $288 MILLION FOR RE PROJECTS GOVT HOLDING ROADSHOWS FOR IDBI BANK PRIVATISATION
  • 8. NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 07 NEWS www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia PM Modi inspects 29 antiquities repatriated to India from Australia Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the antiquities, in New Delhi on Monday. First India Bureau New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Nar- endra Modi’s virtual summit with his Aus- tralian counterpart Scott Morrison on Monday, Australia has handed over as many as 29 antiqui- ties to India, which is seen as a boost to New Delhi`s bid to get back the coun- try’s heritage from across the world. The antiquities range in six broad cat- egories as per themes - Shiva and his disci- ples, Worshiping Shakti, Lord Vishnu and his forms, Jain traditions, portraits and decorative ob- jects. These antiqui- ties come from differ- ent time periods, with earlier ones dating to 9-10 century CE. These are primarily sculptures and paint- ings executed in a vari- ety of materials - sand- stone, marble, bronze, brass, paper. Repre- senting a large geo- graphical region in In- dia, antiquities are from Rajasthan, Guja- rat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inspected the antiquities returned by Australia. The repatriated an- tiquities include Shiva Bhairav, a 9th-10th cen- tury CE Rajasthan Sandstone, the child- saint Sambandar from 12th century CE, and seated Jina sculpture from Mount Abu re- gion, Rajasthan. Other antiquities re- patriated include the portrait of Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Yamin Lala Deen Day- al, memorial portrait of Hiralal A. Gandhi, an untitled ‘Manorath’ portrait of donors and priests before Shri Nathji, Nathdwara. —With inputs from Agencies First India Bureau Lucknow: After a plac- atory note from Uttar Pradesh BJP chief to party leaders who lost polls, the ruling party has come out with an advisory specifying dos and don’t to be followed by workers coming to attend the grand swear- ing-in ceremony of Yogi 2 government on March 25 BJP workers, who wanttoattendthegrand swearing-in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath and his Cabinet colleagues scheduled to be held at the Ekana Stadium on Friday, will have to per- form 'puja' at temples before attending the same and put party flags atop their vehicles while travelling to the venue. In a party com- munique to its district units, the saffron party has also asked the local leadership to reach out to the writers, profes- sionals, doctors, engi- neers, seers and reli- gious leaders and send them invites to attend the ceremony . The com- munique said that two workers each from the 403 assembly constitu- enciesinthestatewould be allowed to attend the swearing-in ceremony in which top leaders of the party, including Prime Minister Naren- dra Modi, Union Home MinisterAmitShahand chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states are likely to be present. ''The workers should perform puja at local temples between 8-10 am before proceeding to attend the oath taking ceremony,” said the communique. YOGI's SWEARING IN CEREMONY: DOs DON'Ts FOR BJP WORKERS Ceremony will be held at the Ekana Stadium First India Bureau New Delhi: In an at- tempt towards achiev- ing carbon neutrality, Centre is making all ef- forts to promote the use of green energy at the airports across the country . Replying to a ques- tion in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State (Mos) in the Min- istry of Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has taken initiatives for working towards car- bon neutrality and achieving net zero car- bon emission at air- ports in the country . To encourage the same, the airport op- erators including Air- ports Authority of In- dia (AAI) have in- stalled solar power plants under net me- tering / captive mode at various locations/ airports for generation and self-consumption of green and renewa- ble energy. In addition, few airports are pro- curing green energy through open access. Maharashtra, with eight airports, is the leading state where so- lar plants have been installed, followed by Assam, Gujarat, Ra- jasthan, Uttar Pradesh with 4 plants each. Singh also said that state of art technolo- gies are being used for better security at air- ports. He also told the Parliament that to en- hance air connectivity for North-Eastern Re- gion (NER), budgetary allocation of approxi- mately Rs. 24 crores has been made in the Finan- cial Year 2021-22 to sup- port the airlines. Centre pushing for green energy at airports:VK Singh Mahesh Kumar Chandigarh: Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday as- serted that the Punjab government will work hard to restore pristine glory of state and emerge Punjab as a front ranking state in the country . “This will be a revo- lutionary model of in- clusive governance in partnership with citi- zens, he added” In his address during the first session of the 16th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Governor said that the state gov- ernment firmly be- lieved that in a demo- cratic set up people are the real king (Janta Raj Mein Janta Hi Raja) and the entire focus of the government will be on ensuring the well being of people. He said that the government will adopt a Zero Tolerance policy towards corrup- tion adding that a trans- parent and corruption- free administration gov- ernance would be en- sured to people. Purohit said that The govern- ment is committed to end all sorts of illegal syndicates in transport, liquor and sand mining in the State. The Governor said that these anti-social elements have looted Punjab during the pre- vious regimes and de- prived the state excheq- uer of the funds to the tune of thousands of crores which could have been used for the wel- fare of the common peo- ple. He said that Health and education are bed- rock of human and so- cial development and empowerment. Punjab Guv vows to restore pristine glory Chandigarh: On the advice and recommendation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Monday allotted portfolios to the newly inducted Ministers. According to a spokesper- son of the Chief Minister's Office, CM Bhagwant Mann would hold the portfolios of Administrative Reforms, Civil Aviation, General Administra- tion, Home Affairs Justice, Personnel, Vigilance, Hous- ing and Urban Development, Local Government, Indus- tries Commerce, Agricul- ture and Farmers’ Welfare, Horticulture, Conservation of Land Water, Food Process- ing, Investment Promotion, among others. PUNJAB GUV ALLOTS PORTFOLIOS TO NEW MINISTERS These antiquities come from different time periods, with earlier ones dating to 9-10 century CE First India Bureau Chandigarh: Main- taining its supremacy in the world of Sports Haryana has been awarded the ‘Best State Award for Promotion of Sports’. Haryana has received this award af- ter beating all States, including the state of Odisha which has been winning this Award for three in a row. Sharing more infor- mation in this regard an official spokesper- son of the Sports De- partment said that ACES Sports Star Awards is an initiative by Hindu Group to or- ganize the Annual Sports Awards func- tion where Minister of State for Sports Sand- eep Singh received the ‘Best State Award for Promotion of Sports’ on behalf of the State. Besides this, the play- ers of Haryana brought laurels to the State by winning awards in eight other categories as well. This year the jury has selected Haryana as the winner of the Award for its role in promoting sports at the grassroots-level and supporting the Olym- pic Movement as well. The jury headed by Sunil Gavaskar was particularly impressed by Haryana’s long- standing commitment to sports and the state’s incline towards groom- ing Olympians. The Haryana govern- ment has been making continuous efforts to promote sports for years. The government is taking concrete steps to promote sports in the State and attract chil- dren towards sports since childhood. Haryana wins State Award for promotion of sports MAINTAINING SUPREMACY  Haryana got the award for its role in promoting sports at the grassroots-level and supporting the Olympic Movement as well Hike in monthly pension first post-poll gift of Yogi First India Bureau Lucknow: Hike in monthly pension of aged, widows, desti- tute and the handi- capped would be among the first post- poll gifts of Yogi Adityanath govern- ment in Uttar Pradesh. In its poll manifesto, the rul- ing BJP had pledged that the pension for the aged would be increased to Rs 1500 per month. In his previous tenure, the Yogi government had doubled the monthly pension for the aged living be- low the poverty line from Rs 500 to Rs 1000. Similarly, pen- sion for widows was increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1000. Ac- cording to officials, before authorising the increase, the government had asked for scrutiny of the list of benefi- ciaries. As a part of this exercise, the government has started linking the Aadhar number of eligible pensioners with their bank ac- counts. The names of fake and ineligi- ble beneficiaries would be weeded out of the list At present, 56 lakh are availing old age pension,while31lakh widows are being provided financial as- sistance. Around 11 lakh handi capped people are also draw- ing pension. Mahesh Kumar Ludhiana: Taking a new initiative to set- tle the complaints of the general public promptly without any inconvenience to them, the Ludhiana Commissionerate Police observed Dis- posal of Public Com- plaints Day in all po- lice stations under its jurisdiction. Divulging the de- tails, Commissioner of Police (CP) Gur- preet Singh Bhullar said that special camps were organ- ized in all 29 police stations of Ludhi- ana Commissioner- ate and 1251 com- plaints were settled on the spot. He said that 29 po- lice stations were di- vided among 15 ACPs who were tasked to personally visit their areas and solve peo- ple's grievances at the earliest. He added that five of ADCPs were deputed to su- pervise the function- ing of these camps. He said that ACPs/ SHOs were asked to pay special attention to all the concerns raised by the people. Ludhiana cops observe Disposal of Public Complaints Day FOR GENERAL PUBLIC Special camps were organized in all 29 police stations, 1251 complaints were settled on the spot. Yogi Adityanath Punajb CM Bhagwant Mann greets Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Haryana's Sports Minister Sandeep Singh, Sports Director Pankaj Nain alongwith Neeraj Chopra, Sumit Antil and Savita Puniya. Minister of State (Mos) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen VK Singh speaks in Rajya Sabha. —FILE PHOTO To enhance air connectivity for NER budgetary allocation of approximately `24 crores has been made GRIEVANCES ZERO TOLERANCE
  • 9. NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 08 2NDFRONT www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia z Renowned faces lost the election in the As- sembly polls for 5 states. How do you analyse this loss of established leaders? Jagdeesh Chandra: Let’s take these one by one. Firstly, Charanjit Singh Channi. His de- feat is extremely shame- fulforCongress,moreso since he contested from 2 seats. His image was destroyedandthenraids were carried out on his brother. He crashed on the runway, even before take-off. The comes Nav- jot Singh Sidhu. Well, this had to happen to him. The people of Pun- jab have grown tired of Sidhu’s barbs and at- tacks at party. So, they thought they will teach a lesson to Sidhu. Captain Amarinder Singh de- served a more humiliat- ing defeat than this. He proved to be the biggest villaininPunjab.Noone cried on Captain’s de- feat. Dhami too lost, but the real reason for his loss is still a mystery al- thoughpeopleclaimthat he worked a lot for the party hence he could not give time to his constitu- ency. However, the un- dercurrent in this case is that his relation with a few businessmen were not cordial, that is what is being said. Some com- mitmentsweremadebut the work did not happen. So, there was an under- current and they affect- ed the election. Similar- ly, Harish Rawat also lost. He was a party in Congress’ defeat in Pun- jab. KP Maurya’s defeat is also surprising. z After Punjab elec- tions and dismal per- formance of both Congress and BJP , do you think the politi- cal graph and hon- our of both parties in-charges - Harish Choudhary and Ga- jendra Singh Shekha- wat - will come down? See, the individual’s honour does take a hit. But in politics, honour can be regained and through wrong acts, lost also. But what happens at the end of the day , gets counted. See, Rajasthan will undergo elections next year and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is still the CM face, if Gehlot is unable to form govern- ment. So, he was a CM candidate and will re- main so. He still has ac- cess to PM. Moreover, what has happened in Punjab cannot be put on just one person because it was a clean sweep. But yes, he had to face a slight disappointment from PM and Home Min- ister’s side due to the security lapse when PM had visited Punjab. I have heard that he had promised that one lakh people will be present for the rally, but there were about five to ten thousand people, over which PM and Amit Shah conveyed their dis- pleasure. So yes, there hasbeenaslightdamage but for Punjab’s loss, he cannot be made fully re- sponsible. So, the blame on leaders like Shekha- wat, Harish Choudhary and even Ajay Maken who was not directly and openly involved, does not stand since it was a Tsunami of AAP . z Can the Union gov- ernment bring back the agricultural laws before 2024, that were withdrawn few months back? It does not appear so. It is ruled out till 2024. z How do you visual- ise the political land- scape in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan? Let’sbeginwithGujarat. That state will witness BJP’s clean sweep once again. Although Con- gress too will improve over its current situa- tion as Raghu Sharma, as Congress in-charge, will make certain im- provements. Only in ticket distribution will one find out how much of a say Raghu Sharma has and how much free hand Rahul Gandhi has given him. As of now he is doing good because he talks convincingly . But for BJP, with Modi and Shah, it will be more or less like clean sweep. Just imagine, after a grand victory on 10 March Modi gave a speech to party workers frompartyheadquarters and went back. At a time when all other party leaders were busy rest- ing from the tiring work of all the past months, Modi set an agenda for next day and flew to Ahmedabad. He carried out a 9 km long rally from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar which 4 lakh people attended and that moment has set the tone for Gujarat, he is the hero of Gujarat so the election is a mere formality now. Secondly , the situation in Himachal is bad. But even though the locals may be disgruntled with the CM there, but again it will be the central leadership of BJP i.e. Modi-Shah who will car- ry out the strategy and conduct the poll. For Ra- jasthan, there was a per- ception that through his budget, his strategy and the undeclared Raje fac- tor in BJP, will make it easyforGehlottoreturn to power. It will be ex- tremely hard to beat Ashok Gehlot on strate- gic level for BJP . But the new theory that state leaders have no rele- vance, and there are questions on efficacy of Rajefactor.Electionsare contested on political at- mosphereandInowcon- sider that in the current environment, Gehlot has fifty percent chance of repeating the govern- ment, which I earlier considered to be 90%. Because now even in state elections, votes are being cast on Narendra Modi’s name. This is the situationtodaybutsince there is a little over a year left to election, the situation may change. z How do you rate Modi as a Prime Minister and also as a game-changer po- litical leader of the Nation? People of the land rate a leader and as a citizen, I can, without doubt, rate him as an outstanding leader, and as a Prime Minister also. Every- thing is before us. At the end of the day delivery counts and results are in his favour. z Are Modi and Shah made for each other as political support system? 100%! The wavelength, the ideology matches. He is like a ‘Hanuman’ for Narendra Modi and even though Shah is the Home Minister and a powerful force in politi- cal sphere of the nation, yet for him Narendra Modi is his ‘Ram’. That is his faith and trust in Modi. Secondly, Shah is Narendra Modi’s all- weather friend. He is not like the ‘good weath- er friend’ that as long as someone is in power, they will stay with them. Does any state have a second in com- mand like him where the CM may rest and hand over the reins to the second in command that they can handle the state and not backstab, I don’t see anyone. There is no vacuum between the number 1 and num- ber 2 in leadership. z BJP was defeated in 3 Assembly and one Lok Sabha by- elections held in Himachal last year. Can there be a change of leadership after the defeat in these elections? There is a possibility of this happening. I have information from inter- nal sources that BJP national president JP Nadda has been told to go to Himachal since he has a good image. He is in two minds and has tried to approach PM for not sending him there. as such it is like walk- ing on a sword, firstly to bring a mandate and to work on Modi-Shah’s mandate. He may have to go but as of now he has denied. If Nadda does not go to Himachal, then Anurag Thakur may be a choice. z If JP Nadda is brought to Shimla from Delhi, then who will be the next Chief of BJP? See, BJP can surprise anyone on this aspect. But one person who I think can fit the bill is Dharmendra Pradhan, since he enjoys trust of both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. He is a hardworking party worker, is connected with Sangh, has carried out responsibilities in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as Petroleum minister he removed the corporates and opened the ministry for poor through his gas connection scheme. His ministry achieved the same feat as what NRE- GA had achieved in UPA. So, I think he is a strong candidate and if he becomes, he will be a good choice. z Can Narendra Modi give Amit Shah the responsibility of BJP President yet again? If so, how will he align his work be- tween Home Ministry and BJP? Who so ever becomes the party president will ascend to the position only with acceptance of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Like I said, for Shah , Modi is like Ram, so if Ram says that you will have to take responsibility of the party also, he will accept it. He is a worka- holic. If he is working for 20 hours now, he will still increase his work time to make time for party . He was unwell af- ter corona but still went on a tour. He is the best choice, if the situation ever comes to this. z To whom would you like to give the credit for the historic victo- ry in Manipur? How do you see the role of Bhupender Yadav as Manipur in-charge? Manipur victory is, in a way, a collective victory . The CM there is popular as he has done good work there. People thought that it will be a hung assembly, but the results proved to be dif- ferent. When Bhupen- dra Yadav was made Manipur in-charge, I questioned the move, thinking if he has been side-lined, since he held powerful positions pri- or to that as in-charge of Bihar, UP and other responsibilities. After Amit Shah, he is the one who understands the in- ner workings of the party and the political sphere also. It was after the BJP won the Ma- nipur election that I re- alised he was given an extremely critical as- signment and he has done well. BJP has its government again. z What are the chal- lenges before the new BJP government of Goa today? Who do you consider to be a serious candidate among the possible chief ministerial fac- es for Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur? Goa is a major tourism centre and one of the prime challenges before the government will be how to boost tourism that has been majorly af- fected by Corona pan- demic. Then a new pseu- do-culture is taking over that opposes the night life in Goa, so if one takes out that part from Goa, then who will go there? This is what Goa has sold to tourists for all these years. So, if you ban activities which are actually the ones that generate revenue not just for government but for people, how will any- thing work then? The government faces a challenge from people with extreme views and then it also has to pro- ject its liberal image too. Additionally, mining is a major sector there but it gets all sorts of stays in courts. So, CM will have to fight legal bat- tles and win too. Thirdly , the BJP CM will have to counter growing influ- ence of AAP also. During the show #JConModiUPWave trended top All-India on Twitter TO BE CONTINUED... Jagdeesh Chandra with Shweta Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Poonam Sharma, Tripti Arora and Khushi Ajwani on the New JC Show. —PHOTO BY SUNIL SHARMA FOR SHAH, MODI IS RAM ANDHISWORD,THE FINALITY,IN ANY ASPECT... YOU READ PART-2 ON MARCH 21, 2022 An 11th March, 9 km long Modi Ahmedabad road show only indicates a likely BJP sweep in upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls Editor-In-Chief of First India, Jagdeesh Chandra, in The New JC Show, speaks about the political landscape in Guj, Raj and Himachal and also the special bond between Modi and Shah and more... (Part 3) The most beautiful part of life is that we have a choice, every day, how to lead it. —Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
  • 10. he roads of success often start with a bumpy ride, e s p e c i a l l y when you’re a teenager but passion and dedi- cation to one’s craft makes it all bearable. Simran Modi, partic- ipating model at Elite Miss Rajasthan 2021 India shared her journey in an exclu- sive interview with City First. When asked about her journey, the diva said, “I was born and brought up in Jaipur itself. I live in a nu- clear family which includes my mother, father and my won- derful younger broth- er.” She further add- ed, “I am a master’s degree graduate. Though, with the un- conditional support that my mother gave me, my journey has become much easier. I strongly believe in never giving up on dreams. When the time is right, it will all come together and the struggle you went through will finally make sense.” When asked about what interests her, Simran said, “Other than modelling, I en- joy reading and danc- ing. It is the perfect combination since one keeps my mind busy, and the other keeps my body fit.” I do my best to grow myself as much as I can in a short span and through this tal- ent, I will one day be a successful model. Paying immense gratitude to Gaurav Gaur, Director Elite Miss Rajasthan, the ravishing diva said, “I am glad to be a part of Elite Miss Ra- jasthan and my mentor, Gaurav Gaur. His support has been truly fruitful.” Sharing her two cents for aspiring models, Simran Modi said, “A lot of rejection may come your way but always believe inyourself.” www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09 Living the Dream Life CITY FIRST ENGAGED IN A TÊTE- À-TÊTE WITH SIMRAN MODI, HAILING FROM JAIPUR , WHERE SHE SPILT THE BEANS ABOUT HER CAREER TRAJECTORY, ASPIRATIONS AND WHAT’S NEXT ON HER BUCKET LIST! DEVANSHI MUDGAL cityfirst@firstindia.co.in T NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022
  • 11. City First brings to you some more glimpses of the First India Queen of Cosmos and the Lifestyle Luxury Awards held at Oaks Ibn Batutta Gate Ho- tel, Dubai on March 10. Jagdeesh Chandra congratulated all the winners and wished them success. Su- perstar Daisy Shah also appreciated the supermodels and the winners of the interna- tional beauty pageant. 10-11 ETC NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Racha, Aparna, Franko, Rishee Miglani, Deepak Agarwal, Anastasia and Alia Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Farah Ansari for the Best Khadi Designer (Sewa) Also seen are Rupa Khurana, Anita Hada Daisy Shah Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Dr Makkar for the Best Hospital (EHCC) Stunning supermodels flaunt their gorgeous gowns during the rampwalk Clockwise: Larisa, Sophie, Olga, Elisabeth and Daphnila Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Ayan Chugh for the Best Salon (Sizzlin Scissors). Also seen are Rupa Khurana, Anita Hada and Daisy Shah Jagdeesh Chandra and Daisy Shah confer the Lifetstyle Award to Deepak Sankit for the Best Social Entrepreneur. Also seen are Rupa Khurana Anita Hada Daisy Shah confers the Lifetstyle Award to Mayuri Sogani for Best Jewellery Brand Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Mukund Maheshwari for the Best Outdoor Publicity Co. Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Dr Purva (Amara) for the Best Skin Hair Clinic Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Khushi Sonkhiya (Paavaki Jewels) for the Best Emerging Bespoke Jewellery Designer Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Swati Bhandari for the Emerging make-up artist of the year Rizwan Sajan and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Ajay Singh for the Best Fitness Coach Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Poonam Madan for the Best Social Influencer Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Z Haus for the Best Makeup Service Provider (International) Yaqoob Al Ali confers the Luxury Lifestyle award to Vineet Jain for the Best Production for events while Daisy Shah confers the Luxury Lifestyle award to Gunjan Singhal for the Best Set Designer. Also seen is Rupa Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Jassi Chhabra (Shades Skin Hair care) for the Best Salon Chain of Raj Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Rehan Ahmad Baley (Baley Fashion) for the Best Fashion Designer (International) Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Soundkraft LLC for AV Production, Staging and Rental Company of the year 2021 —PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA Jagdeesh Chandra presents a memento of welcome to Aparna Jagdeesh Chandra presents a memento of welcome to Vijay Samyani Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Rajiv Kapoor, GM Fairmont Jaipur for Most Dynamic GM.Also seen are Rupa Khurana,Anita Hada and Daisy Shah Jagdeesh Chandra confers the Lifetstyle Award to Vaibhav Gupta, (Jaipur Bagh) for Best Wedding Destination. Also seen are Anita Hada and Daisy Shah Kewal and Anjana Miglani bagged the Best Furniture Designer award for AK furniture. Also seen are Rupa Khurana, Rizwan Sajan, Rishee Miglani and Daisy Shah Yaqoob Al Ali and Daisy Shah confer the Luxury Lifestyle award to Arvind and Puja Arya (Arya Group of Colleges) for the Best Engineering College PAILLETTES ET PAILLETTES ET GLAMOUR GLAMOUR
  • 12. Dhanushree Vyas S ehgal Jewellers by Bobby Sehgal, a high-end luxury jewellery brand, launched a unique Concept Boutique in South Extension Part 1 recently . The brand provides authentic craftsmanship which imbibes the dedication and creativity of four generations. They provide their vast and loyal customer base with unparalleled and distinctive qual- ity designs. The launch was hosted by founder Bobby Sehgal and Anushka Sehgal. The evening was attended by Delhi’s social and fash- ion glitterati. Boddy Sehgal said, “The vision to create a one-of-a-kind concept jewellery boutique was the goal which took years. Situated in the heart of Delhi’s finest jewellery market, we distinctively cater to providing a regal and luxurious experience, through our bespoke designsthatspeakforthemselves.” “Our heritage jewels, inspired by the adornments of kings and queens of India’s majestic past, capture the essence of our rich and vibrant culture,” Anushka Se- hgal said. —Cityfirst@firstindia.co.in Sehgal Jewellers Launch Concept Boutique  CITY FIRST DELHI ELECRAMA, the larg- est stand-alone show- case of the Indian Elec- trical and Allied Elec- tronics Industry by IEEMA is slated to commence from Feb- ruary 18 to 22, 2023 at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. IEEMA and its members will work together with the Government of India to achieve a 100-year partnership of electri- fying, digitalizing, and greening India. The theme of ELECRAMA 2023 is “ReImagine En- ergy - For Sustainable Future” and will be heavily based on show- casing innovation and future technologies in many areas including Storage, Green Hydro- gen, Fuel Cells, AI, and IoT. This edition will also focus on sustaina- bility through Energy Conservation, Carbon Net Zero, and Smart Consumption. R K Singh, Minister of Power New and Renewable Energy, said, “I congratulate IEEMA on the an- nouncement and launch of ELECRA- MA 2023 – the 15th edi- tion of the world-class exhibition of electri- cal, industrial elec- tronics and allied in- dustry. Rotary District 3011 organised a Conclave 22 District Conference 2022 at Thyagraj Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. The inauguration of the event was done by Om Birla (speaker of Loksabha) Panel discussion was held with various topics related to environmental concerns. During the occasion, Nitin Mukesh performed live music while Kumar Vishwas commenced a poetry session which enthralled the audience. While addressing the public Anup Mittal District governer said After the eradication of Polio, the next big thrust area that rotary has adopted is the goal of ‘Total Literacy’. Forever Living Products India distributed N-95 masks to Delhi Police Personnel under their CSR initiative in association with Abhinandan educational and welfare society. Harish Singla, CSM FLP India, Manisha Bhatia, founder Abhinandan educational and Welfare society and traffic inspector Col Kuldeep Singh were present on the occasion. —PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI ALL WHITE HOLI CELEBRATIONS UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR ntrepreneur So- cialite Rajan Jain recently hosted an All-White Holi Bash in the capital recently. The crème de la crème of the city was in attend- ance at this chic do with flamboyant décor making it for a perfect Holi soiree. Dressed in hues of white Designers Amit Talwar, Rochika Agar- wal, Malvi- ka Sehgaal Kaura; Social- ites Rekha Gupta, Payal Singh, Shuweta Kapoor, Shilpa Taluja, Twinkle Vi- nayak, Seitu Kumar; Hair Beauty Ex- perts Sylvie Rodg- ers, Bharti Taneja; Actresses Akriti Bharti Ishika Tane- ja including many oth- ers were seen enjoying the lavish food spread, free flowing cham- pagnes traditional dance performances which sure did add the much-needed colours in this All-White Party. E REIMAGINE ENERGY TWITTER UPDATES DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2022 Raj Chahar and Anchal Twinkle Vinayak and Jatin (L-R) Arti Mehrotra, Alka and Akriti Bharti Sikandar Nawaz and Faisal Khan Bharat Sadana, Nalin Gupta and Rajat Bedi Anuj Lalwani and Preeti Swapnil Jolie showcasing Sehgal designed jewellery Karishma Kambo, Venika Sehgal, Anushka Sehgal and Kartika Bali Venika, Bobby, Vibha and Anushka Sehgal Venika, Bobby and Anushka Sehgal Sukhmani Sakhi Vernika, Vibha and Anushka Sehgal (L to R) Charu Mathur, Rohit Pathak, Jitendra K Agarwal, RK Singh, Vipul Ray, Alok Kumar, Hamza Arsiwala During the event DG Anup and Shruti Nitin Mukesh Pandit Shubendru Rao Maestro Saskia Rao Simran Arya Naima Ait-Ali and Amit Anjali Lal Gulati Pragati Pankaj Nagpal and Seema Gumber Shilpa Taluja and Rahul Taluja Utkarsh Verma and Swapnil Jolie —PHOTOS BYSHAZID CHAUHAN —PHOTOS BYSHAZID CHAUHAN Karishma Kambo Ruby Bhatia —PHOTOS BYSHAZID CHAUHAN Laxmi Pandey Vanndana Vaadera 12 NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2022 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY BUZZ GET VACCINATED STAY MASKED