23042022_First India_Ahmedabad.pdf

CM DEDICATES BAGODRA-TARAPUR SIX LANE ROAD
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Chief
Minister Bhupendra
Patel has clearly stat-
ed that the strong
connectivity of the
state is the main rea-
son for people of the
country and the world
choosing Gujarat for
industry and trade in-
vestments. In this re-
gard, he said that the
best infrastructure of
rail, road, air connec-
tivity developed by
Gujarat under the
guidance of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi has established
the development of
the state as a role
model.
The Chief Minister
inaugurated the com-
pleted six lane opera-
tion of 54km Bagodra-
Tarapur-Vasad road
constructed at a cost of
Rs649 crore in the pres-
ence of Road and
Building Minister
Purneshbhai Modi on
Friday. The State Roads
and Buildings Depart-
ment has decided to
undertake the project
of 6 lanes of the entire
Bagodra-Tarapur-Vas-
ad road in two phases.
The six-lane operation
was completed in Octo-
ber 2021 at a cost of
Rs1,005 crore.
CM Patel added that
Gujarat is achieving
new milestones by giv-
ing a new impetus to
development under
the direction of PM
Modi. The Chief Min-
ister also added that
the politics of develop-
ment has shown the
people what is called
development by con-
necting the people of
remote villages with
facilities like roads,
water, education and
health. The CM said
that now people have
also accepted that Gu-
jarat means develop-
ment and development
means Gujarat.
ROAD TO SUCCESS
CM Bhupendra Patel cutting the ribbon at the inauguration ceremony.
PHASE II, FROM
TARAPUR TO VASAD,
STILL UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
‘INDIA-UK FREE TRADE PACT BY DIWALI’
...says UK PM Boris Johnson while calling Modi ‘khaas dost’
UK PM Boris Johnson with PM Narendra Modi prior to their meeting at Hyderabad House.
PM Modi and Johnson during the release of a joint statement after their meeting in New Delhi.
event
10
developments
British PM Boris Johnson met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Friday as the UK signed memorandum on new cooperation on clean &
renewable energy, and promised defence production in India. SEE ALSO P6
While addressing the
media along with his
British counterpart, PM Modi
said, “While India is celebrat-
ing the “Azadi ka Amrit Ma-
hotsav” (celebrations on the
75th year of independence),
the UK Prime Minister’s visit
is historic.” The two leaders
stressed the progress of
the Free Trade Agreement
between the two countries,
their climate commitments at
Glasgow, and the need for a
“free and open” Indo-Pacific.
1
The UK is creating an
India specific open
general export license
reducing bureaucracy and
reducing delivery times for
defence procurement: British
PM Boris Johnson in Delhi.
3 “The UK’s partnership
with India is a beacon
in stormy seas as the world
faces threats from autocratic
states which seek to under-
mine democracy, choke off
fair trade,” Johnson said.
7
“We reiterated our
support to a peaceful
and stable Afghanistan. It’s
essential that Afghan territory
is not used to spread terror
in other countries,” PM
Narendra Modi said.
6
PM Modi said that the
two leaders stressed
the need for a ceasefire in
Ukraine and the resolution
of conflicts through dialogue
and diplomacy. “We reiterat-
ed the importance of territo-
rial integrity and sovereignty
of all nations,” he said.
4 Last year, Prime Minister Johnson and PM Modi agreed
on a UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,
announcing more than 530 million pounds in investment
into the UK and committing to a deeper bilateral relationship
across trade, health, climate, defence and security, and con-
necting our people. An ambitious “Roadmap 2030” was also
launched to steer the direction of the India-UK relationship
in this decade. PM Modi said they reviewed progress on this
roadmap today and set goals for the future.
8
“We aim to have a new
Free Trade Agreement
by Diwali...I have urged
officials to get it done by Di-
wali. We appreciate the tariffs
being dropped by India on
certain goods and commod-
ities and in return, we too
are dropping some tariffs we
levy,” the British PM said.
2 Britain and India have
agreed to a “new and
expanded” defence and
security partnership, Boris
Johnson said. The two coun-
tries have a “shared interest
in keeping the Indo-Pacific
open and free”, he added,
calling the new partnership “a
decades-long commitment”.
5 PM Modi invited the
UK to join India’s “Na-
tional Hydrogen Mission”
to deepen the two country’s
climate and energy partner-
ships. “The UK and India are
launching a virtual Hydrogen
Science and Innovation
hub to accelerate affordable
green hydrogen,” said UK.
10
Johnson said he
discussed next-gener-
ation defence and security
collaboration across the
five domains - land, sea, air,
space and cyber - as the two
countries face “complex new
threats”. “UK will work with
India to boost security in the
Indo-Pacific,” Johnson said.
9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a delegation-level meeting.
WANT THEM TAKEN
BACK FOR TRIAL: UK
PM ON MALLYA, NIRAV
New Delhi: UK Prime
Minister Boris Johnson
on Friday said that his
government has ordered
the extradition of eco-
nomic fugitives wanted by
India but there are legal
technicalities that made
the task “very difficult”.
Answering a query related
to the extradition of Nirav
Modi and Vijay Mallya
at a press conference,
Mr Johnson said the UK
government wants them
to be taken back to India
for trial and it does not
welcome people who
want to use the British
legal system to evade the
law here in India.
TALKING TO MODI
MADE IT CLEAR:
JOHNSON ON INDIA’S
STAND ON RUSSIA
New Delhi: UK PM Boris
Johnson said he agrees
with India’s stand on the
Russia-Ukraine war as
India has a historic rela-
tionship with Russia that
everybody understands
and respects. Acknowl-
edging India’s strong
condemnation of what
happened to Ukraine’s
Bucha, Johnson said,
“Talking to Modi today
made it clear that he has
already intervened several
times and I am sure this
is no secret from our
Indian (media) friends,
he has talked to Vladimir
Putin several times.”
AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 147
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s plea to release him from jail
in a money laundering case was on Friday rejected by the Supreme
Court. “It is too nascent a stage to interfere with the investigation.
You (should) move the competent court,” the Apex Court said.
SUPREME COURT
REJECTS NAWAB
MALIK’S PLEA
FOR RELEASE
NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar, who was appointed to India’s
policy think tank five years ago, decided to step down on Friday.
Economist Suman Bery will be the new vice chairman. Bery will take
charge from May 1, as per Cabinet Appointments Committee order.
NITI AAYOG VICE
CHAIRMAN: RAJIV
KUMAR OUT,
SUMAN BERY IN
ANURAG THAKUR IN GUJARAT
‘Ayush will create global footprint’
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
world is changing so in
the field of medicine
science, Ayush is going
to make a remarkable
footprint on the global
market making India
number one in the med-
ical science world
hoped Union Informa-
tion and Broadcasting
Minister Anurag Singh
Thakur, he was address-
ing th the valedictory
function of the Global
Ayush Investment and
Innovation Summit
2022 in Gandhinagar.
Thakur further said
that since Narendra
Modi has become Prime
Minister of India,
Ayush, Ayurveda have
got its due importance
in the medical science,
there were days when
allopathy and Unani
professionals were giv-
ing step motherly treat-
ment to Ayurveda,
which has become past.
“Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi got the first
Global Center for Tradi-
tional Medicine, now it
is the duty of practi-
tioners and manufac-
turers to see that our
products are placed in
the global market,” said
the IB Minister.
DANGER BELLS FOR
GUJ CONGRESS AS
HARDIK PRAISES BJP
Ahmedabad: Days after
criticising his party for
hostility against him,
young Patidar leader
and Gujarat Congress
working president Hardik
Patel announced that
he has kept his options
“open”, whilst prais-
ing the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) for
their “terrific decision-
making” leadership.
Patel also hailed BJP’s
decision to abrogate Ar-
ticle 370 from Kashmir.
IB Minister Anurag Thakur
Prashant Kishor’s
entry to Congress a
done deal: Sources
New Delhi: Poll strate-
gist Prashant Kishor --
whose last attempt to
join the Con-
gress fell
through -- is
on the brink
of success
thistime,top
sources said. That he
would join the Grand
Old Party and play a key
role has almost been de-
cided, barring the con-
tours of that role, which
will be drawn up by Con-
gress chief Sonia Gan-
dhi in consultation with
Rahul Gandhi.
Bhopal: Underlining
the need to modernise
the police force, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Friday advised
the police personnel to
become tech-savvy in or-
der to remain two steps
ahead of criminals.
“Police need to be
tech-savvytoremaintwo
steps ahead of crimi-
nals,” he said.
Shah added that there
was a need to modernise
the police force in order
to strengthen country’s
internal security
.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah examines weapons on display
during inaugural session of the 48th All India Police Science
Congress at Central Academy of Police Training in Bhopal.
Become tech-savvy to remain two
steps ahead of the criminals: Shah
AMIT
SHAH IN
BIHAR
TODAY
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take part in
the first convocation program of Gopal Narayan
Singh Vishwavidyalaya at Sasaram during his
one-day visit to Bihar on Saturday. Shah will give
degrees to more than 700 students at the varsity.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022
02
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Dileep Sanghani seems unhappy with rumours of the Patidar leader defecting to BJP
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Rumours
of Congress Working
President Hardik Pa-
tel’s defection to the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) are swirling
around, after he praised
the ruling party for
their “decision-making
leadership”. This has
not gone down well
with a senior BJP lead-
er. On Friday, without
mentioning the Patidar
leader’s name, he im-
plied that the “BJP can-
not be a garbage collec-
tion bin.”
Dileep Sanghani, a
Leuva Patidar leader,
who has been associat-
ed with the party for
more than four decades,
is considered to be one
of the close confidants
of Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi. When the
PM was deputed to Del-
hi as the BJP general
secretary, he stayed at
Sanghani’s official MP
residence.
According to sources,
Sanghani is unhappy
with news that the Con-
gress working presi-
dent is planning to join
the BJP.
Addressing local me-
dia persons on Friday,
Sanghani said, “Hardik
Patel is a betrayer.
When he was with the
Patidar Anamat An-
dolan Samiti (PAAS), he
hadstatedthathewould
not join politics. But
then, he joined the Con-
gress party. Now that
Congress is not giving
him any importance, he
is unhappy and is plan-
ning to quit. He can go
anywhere, but nobody
is going to trust him.”
He also stated that
the party cannot be
treated like a garbage
collection bin, indirect-
ly referring to Patel.
Implying that the join-
ing of any leader will
not make a difference
for the BJP in upcom-
ing Assembly polls,
Sanghani asserted,
“Even Naresh Patel (of
Khodaldham Trust) is
free to join any political
party. It is not going to
make any difference to
the BJP. People vote for
BJP and PM Narendra
Modi for the develop-
mental work done un-
der his leadership over
the last 22 years.”
For the past few days,
Patel has called out the
Congress’ state leader-
ship for being unable to
make decisions and cre-
ating hurdles for people
trying to work for the
party
. He has taken to
praising the BJP for
their “decision-making”
and even appreciating
action to build the Ram
Janmabhoomi Temple
in Ayodhya and also
scrappingof Section370.
‘BJP NOT A GARBAGE BIN FOR
LEADERS LIKE HARDIK PATEL’
Dileep Sanghani with PM Narendra Modi. Hardik Patel.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: An Indian
company based out
of the United King-
dom (UK), headed by
two Gujaratis from
Vadodara, entered a
partnership deal
with the Headingley
Leeds Stadium, UK.
The Yorkshire Coun-
ty Cricket Club and
KrimpTerm’s five-
year partnership
agreement will pro-
mote cricket and the
development of play-
ers.
Directors Anand
Shah and Darshan Pa-
tel are directors of
KrimpTerm and, man-
aging its operations
for 10 years. Under the
five-year partnership
with the Yorkshire
County Cricket Club
they will be the key
sponsor for future
events. Both of them
aim to promote vari-
ous sports and cricket
through this partner-
ship. County cricket at
the Headingley Leeds
Stadium provides a
platform for nine to
15-year-olds to advance
in the game.
Following the part-
nership with York-
shire County Cricket
Club, the Indian com-
pany will be instru-
mental in providing
opportunities to young
players in different
groups. Shah and Patel
said: “We are proud to
be associated with the
Club, which has a won-
derful system that pro-
vides opportunities to
a diverse group of
young players. It also
has a series of events
run by the Yorkshire
Cricket Foundation. It
has a significant im-
pact on local commu-
nities. We want to
strengthen our part-
nership in the coming
years.”
Maruf Khan, Busi-
ness Development Di-
rector, Yorkshire
County Cricket Club,
said, “We are grateful
for the support given
by KrimpTerm over
the last four years.
It’s great that they’ve
expanded their part-
nership with us.”
Firm headed by two youths from Vadodara partners with UK stadium
IT’S A SIX!
lll
The five-year
partnership with
Headingley
Leeds
will promote
cricket and also
development
of players, in
addition to
other sports
Youth to change ‘India at 75’ with actions
First India Bureau
Vadodara: The fifth
edition of the Gujarat
Chhatra Sansad Con-
clave, an initiative by
Zero Hour Foundation,
will be held on April 24.
It will be presided over
by dignitaries and will
see participation from
over 15,000 students
representing the youth
of Gujarat. In the end,
five resolutions will be
passed based on the
speakers’ discussions.
They will be compiled
and sent to the relevant
policy-making organi-
zations in the country—
the Union and state gov-
ernments and NITI
Aayog.
Speakers at the con-
clave will include
Kailash Vijayvargiya
(national general secre-
tary of BJP), Ranjan
Gogoi (46th Chief Jus-
tice of India), Kiran
Bedi (first woman IPS
officer, former Gover-
nor of Puducherry),
Maa Anand Sheela
(spokesperson of the
Rajneesh movement),
Shakun Batra (Indian
film director), Anand
Narasimhan (executive
editor, CNN Network
18), Prakash Belawadi
(actor), Uday Mahurkar
(chief information
commissioner, CIC),
MaulanaKalbeRushaid
Rizvi (Islamic scholar),
Anil Shetty (social lead-
er) and Charu Pragya
(advocate national
media panellist - BJP).
“For the fifth edition,
the aim is to gather
young minds from
across the country at
one place to discuss, de-
bate and put forward
ideas on a common
theme—India at 75,”
said Kunal Sharma,
Founding President,
Chhatra Sansad India.
“Resolutions passed
after speakers’ discus-
sions at the concluding
event, such as the aver-
age age of political can-
didates, why India is still
adevelopingcountryand
factorscontributingtoit,
youth vision for 2022, et
al, will be shared with
change-makers,” added
AdityaVegda,VicePresi-
dent, Chhatra Sansad.
Furthermore, the
15,000 students will also
take part in execution
of the declaration in
different cities, by form-
ing teams.
First India Bureau
Kokrajhar: A day af-
ter a court in As-
sam’s Kokrajhar
district sent Gujarat
MLA Jignesh Meva-
ni to police custody,
the Congress on Fri-
day staged a demon-
stration outside
Kokrajhar Police
Station, where the
Dalit leader was be-
ing held.
Opposing Mevani’s
“illegal arrest”, mem-
bers of the party de-
manded his immedi-
ate release.
They raised slo-
gans against the BJP
government and
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi.
Mevani, an Inde-
pendent MLA sup-
ported by the Con-
gress, was apprehend-
ed from Palanpur
town in Gujarat on
Wednesday night af-
ter a First Informa-
tion Report (FIR) un-
der various sections
of the IPC and the IT
Act was filed in
Kokrajhar Police Sta-
tion over his purport-
ed tweet against the
prime minister.
According to the
FIR, he had purported-
lypostedatweet,claim-
ing Prime Minister
Narendra Modi “con-
sidered (Nathuram)
Godse as God”.
Mevani was flown
to Guwahati from Gu-
jarat on Thursday
morning and then
taken to Kokrajhar by
road, where he was
produced at the chief
judicial magistrate’s
court, which remand-
ed him in three days’
police custody
.
Assam Pradesh
Congress Committee
(APCC) working pres-
ident and MLA Jakir
Hussain Sikdar, lead-
ing the protest,
claimed that Mevani
had been arrested to
“thwart his influ-
ence” in Gujarat.
“Narendra Modi’s
pride is going to take a
beating when the BJP
loses Gujarat soon.
Mevani has great in-
fluence on people
there. This has been
done to keep him
away
,”Sikdarclaimed.
Independent As-
sam MLA Akhil Go-
goi, also here, alleged
that Assam chief min-
ister and the chief of
Bodoland Territorial
Council (BTC), of
which Kokrajhar is
the headquarters, are
working in conniv-
ance in this matter.
“It is strange that a
person from Gujarat
is arrested by Assam
Police for a tweet it’s
like opening an um-
brella in Assam when
it’s raining in Guja-
rat,” the Raijor Dal
president said.
A team of three
lawyers, led by the
head of the legal cell
of Assam Pradesh
Congress Committee
Manoj Bhagawati, is
representing the Gu-
jarat MLA.
Chief Minister
Himanta Biswa Sar-
ma had on Thursday
claimed that he was
not aware who Meva-
ni was.
5th Guj Chhatra
Sansad Conclave
will see
participation
from dignitaries
as well as
15,000 students
The Vadgam
MLA was sent
to custody in
Assam on
Thursday
Organizers of the 5th Gujarat Chhatra Sansad Conclave.
Congress holds protest
seeking Mevani’s release
The Congress in Guj had held protests to show their solidarity with Mevani in A’bad, on Thursday.

—
FILE
PHOTO
—FILE
PHOTO
As the sun rises on Friday morning over the Indira Bridge in Ahmedabad, let
us all make a pledge to abide by this year’s Earth Day theme and ‘Invest in
Our Planet’. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
CONSCIENTIOUS
Members of KrimpTerm and Yorkshire County Cricket Club pose at the Leeds Stadium after signing
their five-year partnership agreement.

GUJARAT
03
Fresh set of papers issued for Class VII, exam rescheduled for April 29-30
First India Bureau
G a n d h i n a g a r /
Bhavnagar: For the
past few months, the
government has been
on the backfoot, after
being bogged down by
multiple paper leaks
and mass copy cases
controversies in com-
petitive exams. Now, the
final examination pa-
pers of Class VI, VII
and VIII have been sto-
len from a primary
school in Bhavnagar
district. This revelation
has resulted in cancel-
lation of exams in the
entire state as the pa-
pers had been set by the
Gujarat Council of Edu-
cation, Research
Training (GCERT).
However, the Class VII
examinations that were
scheduled to be held on
April 22 and 23, will
now be held on April 29
and 30.
Devraj Dhadhla,
principal of Nesvad
Primary School, stated
in his complaint at Ta-
laja police station, “On
April 20-21, between
12.30 pm and 7 am,
someone broke through
the main door of the
school office to access
the cupboard where the
papers were stored. We
found the broken lock
and discovered that
sealed envelopes with
papers of Class VI, VII
and VIII were lying on
the floor. On checking,
we found that a total of
22 question papers of
all subjects were miss-
ing.”
The education direc-
tor announced cancella-
tion of Class VI and
VIII scheduled for April
22 and 23. Under the
new guidelines, Class
VII exams will be held
on April 29 and 30. It has
been clarified when ex-
ams for Class VI and
VIII will be conducted
next.
In a circular, the
GCERT has asked CRC
coordinators to collect
fresh questions papers
for the Class VII exami-
nations from the head
office in Gandhinagar.
They will be distributed
to schools that fall un-
der their respective ju-
risdiction.
First India Bureau
Surat: With an eye
on the increase in
population and re-
duction in the water
level in the Tapi, the
Surat Municipal Cor-
poration has come up
with a plan to make
seawater potable.
According to a pro-
posal from the SMC,
the civic body plans
to set up a desalina-
tion plant along the
lines of the one at
Chennai in Tamil
Nadu, at a cost of
Rs800 crore.
SMC engineers
and experts will be
sent to Chennai to
understand the tech-
nology in the coming
days, an official said.
The plant is ex-
pected to be made in
the Magdalla area
and will have a ca-
pacity to produce 40
crore litres of drink-
ing water. The cost
for 1,000 litres will be
around Rs57. Mega
tanks will also be
made near the plant
to store water. Cur-
rently, there are two
such plants in Chen-
nai, and one is under
construction at Da-
hej, Bharuch.
The municipal
c o m m i s s i o n e r
Banchhanidhi Pani
said, “We are pri-
marily focusing on
the construction of
the barrage. Once it
is constructed, wa-
ter issues will be
eased out. However,
we are looking at
alternative sources
of water as well. We
have discussed the
distillation project
but are keeping it
as a last option,
since it is quite ex-
pensive.”
First India Bureau
Sabarkantha: Son,
who bludgeoned his
father to death, was
sentenced to life in
jail by the additional
sessions court of
Idar in Sabarkantha.
According to the
prosecution,Shakraji
Laluji Tabiyad, a resi-
dent of Dantod near
Vijaynagar, had al-
ways fought with his
son Amrutbhai Tabi-
yad, who used to beat
his children frequent-
ly on minor house-
holdissues.OnMarch
14, 2018, when Am-
rutbhai was beating
hischildren,Shakraji
rushed to save the
children locked them
in a room, away from
his son. Angry that
Shakraji took away
the children from get-
ting beaten, Amrutb-
hai started beating
his father with a
wooden log resulting
in his death.
The complaint was
filed at Chithoda po-
lice station against
Amrutbhai Tabiyad,
who had fled from
the scene after com-
mitting the crime.
On the basis of the
evidence placed by
the prosecution led
by assistant public
prosecutor NN Barot
and PJ Soni court of
additional sessions,
judge TS Brahmb-
hatt found Amrutb-
hai guilty of commit-
ting the crime and
sentenced him to life
imprisonment.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Gujarat
reported 11 new COV-
ID-19 cases in the 24
hours ended 5 pm on
Friday, to take the total
case tally to 12,24,225
since the pandemic first
hit the state. The death
toll stood unchanged at
10,944, a state health de-
partment official said.
So far, 12,13,184 people
have been discharged
post-recovery
, including
10 during the day, leav-
ing the state with an ac-
tive caseload of 68, he
said. None of these pa-
tients is in a critical con-
dition, he added.
Of the day’s new ad-
ditions, five cases were
recorded in Vadodara
district, while
Ahmedabad witnessed
four and Banaskantha
and Gandhinagar saw
one case each. Interest-
ingly, Ahmedabad saw
seven patients being
discharged through the
day, while Vadodara ac-
counted for three.
A government release
said 88,648 people were
vaccinated against
COVID-19 on Wednes-
day, taking the total
number of doses admin-
istered in the state so far
to more than 10.71 crore.
The state now has a
recovery rate of 99.10%,
the official also said.
First India Bureau
Kutch: An old lady
wanted to attend Mora-
ri Bapu’s Ram Katha up
a hill in Kutch. Solving
her ordeal, a lady police
constable from Rapar
police station carried
her on her shoulders
and helped her attend
the Katha.
Morari Bapu’s Ram
Katha was held at Bhan-
jda Dada temple on
Khadir Island, which is
10 km from World Herit-
age Site Dholavira. The
temple is atop a hill
roughly 5 km from the
new Bhanjda Dada
Temple on the white
Rann of
Kutch. Thousands of
people often climb the
hill to listen to Morari
Bapu. The 86-year-old
woman was one of
them.
She had successfully
covered half the hill on
foot but fell uncon-
scious due to heat and
lack of water. Due to the
Katha, the police force
was deputed there, and
among them was Rapar
police constable
Varshaben Majiwabhai
Parmar. As soon as she
learnt about the old
lady she ran 5 km with
water for her.
After waking her up
and helping her drink
water, Parmar then car-
ried the old lady on her
shoulder and walked.
EXAM PAPERS OF CLASS VI, VII
VIII STOLEN FROM B’NAGAR SCHOOL
Talaja police station where the complaint was lodged.
—FILE PHOTO
Rapar police constable Varshaben Majiwabhai Parmar carrying the 86-year-old woman up the hill.
THE RECOURSE
SMCconsidering
desalinationplant
tomeetwaterneeds
Man sentenced
to life in prison
for killing father
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: During
the proceedings of
the discharge of un-
treated effluents into
the Sabarmati River
by industries on Fri-
day, a Gujarat High
Court division bench
was shocked to learn
from the amicus cu-
riae that industries
had taken to dispos-
ing effluents through
storm water pipe-
lines. Following the
revelation, the court
advised the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC) to put together
an action plan to rem-
edy the status quo.
“If the corporation
does not have a holis-
tic action plan in
place, all the work
done in the past year
will go down the
drain,” said the
bench.
The court was hear-
ing its suo motu peti-
tion on non-functional
Sewage Treatment
Plants (STPs) and dis-
charge of untreated ef-
fluents into the Sabar-
mati River. On Friday,
the amicus curiae (im-
partial advisor) ap-
pointed by the court
informed, “Out of 10
STPs, five are function-
ing effectively and
meeting the required
standards. But the re-
maining five are non-
functional or ineffec-
tive.”
Most of the CETPs
are not functioning ef-
fectively, and as the dis-
charge points are locat-
ed at very awkward
places, we cannot carry
out an inspection. The
situation is very bad be-
tween the Vasna Bar-
rage and Khambhat,
due to untreated efflu-
ents, he added.
R e c o m m e n d i n g
changes in the designs
of the ETP, CETP and
STP buildings, the ami-
cus curiae said, “There
is a need to conduct
groundwater testing as
it has been badly pol-
luted. A pre-monsoon
study of water pollu-
tion in the Sabarmati
River should also be pri-
oritized.”
During the hearing,
AMC submitted that
the stormwater drain-
age network in the city
was 970 kilometres,
with 97 outfalls into
the river. The court
has asked the civic
body to prepare a con-
crete plan to control
further damage to the
environment.
AMC must keep action plan ready for effluent pollution: HC
NO TIME TO WASTE
Amicus curiae informs court
industries disposing of effluents
through stormwater network
Dumping of untreated effluents into the Sabarmati River has rendered it polluted. —FILE PHOTO
Plant expected
to come up in
Surat’s
Magdalla
area is
estimated
to cost Rs800cr
and produce
40 cr litres of
potable water
Total nCoV case tally now 12,24,225
as state witnesses 11 new additions
Cop gets old woman to temple
by carrying her on her back
—FILE PHOTO
COVID-19 testing in Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 3 l Issue No. 147
l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Bhaskar Printing Planet
Survey No.148P, Changodar-
Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302
3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium
Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej
Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
The power of God is with
you at all times; through the
activities of mind, senses,
breathing, and emotions;
and is constantly doing all
the work using you as a
mere instrument.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
#EarthDay is about expressing
gratitude to Mother Earth for
her kindness and reiterating our
commitment to care for our planet.
Bhupender Yadav
@byadavbjp
I’ve the Indian jab in my arm...
Many thanks to India: UK PM Mr @
BorisJohnson Under the leadership
of PM Shri @NarendraModi
ji, India has emerged as the
pharmacy of the world.
TOP TWEETS
HIJAB ROW: FROM
KARNATAKA SCHOOL
PRESIDENTIAL POLL
IN FARAWAY FRANCE
ijab row is back to
haunt in Karnataka
with two Muslim stu-
dents who reached
their examination
centre in Udupi wearing burqas
being turned back from the cen-
tre. The Karnataka government
has banned hijab in classrooms.
The state high court upheld the
ban. The two class 12 students
wanted to write their exams
wearing burqas but when they
were denied permission, they
returned. However, other Mus-
lim students agreed to take off
the head scarf before entering
their class rooms.
Thousands of miles away in
France, the simple hijab may de-
cide the fate of far-right candi-
date Marie Le Pen who has
promised to ban the covering of
face by Muslim women in public
places.PresidentEmmanuelMa-
cron is against the ban. In their
televised debate before Sunday’s
vote, Macron told Le Pen that her
move will lead France to a “civil
war”. France has the largest
Muslim population in Western
Europe. Wearing of the Islamic
covering is already illegal in
French schools.
H
ndia couldn’t
have made its pro-
Russia stand
clearer than the
way it did at the
G20 meet on Wednesday
when Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman did not join
the western bloc in boycott-
ing Russian finance minister
Antony Siluanov’s virtual
address. At least 10 other who
stayed on during the Russian
leader’s speech despite the
US call for boycott included
Indonesia’s finance minister
Sri Mulyani Indrawati who
was chairing the session,
China, Brazil, South Africa
and Saudi Arabia. The boy-
cott led by US treasury secre-
tary Janet Yellen over inva-
sion of Ukraine was backed
by the UK, Canada, Germany
and France among others.
The vertical split in the
group on economic coopera-
tion indicated that the Amer-
ican effort to isolate Russia
over Ukraine only has the
backing of the western bloc,
Japan and UK. If the war
continues, the chasm will
present an awkward sight
when the G20 heads of state
meet at Bali in November.
With India and China on
its side, ousting Russia from
G20, as desired by US Presi-
dent Joe Biden, will be im-
possible. And that has creat-
ed another issue for the G20
Common Framework which
is meant to resolve the prob-
lem of debt incurred by na-
tions during the pandemic.
Debt restructuring of coun-
tries like Sri Lanka, which is
in a deep economic crisis,
may face hurdles. Colombo is
in talks with the IMF for a
bailout package but has been
bluntly told that its $51 bil-
lion loan was unsustainable
and required restructuring.
Lankan crisis is due to
poor management of the
economy and the pandemic.
It is for such situations that a
united G20 is needed.
RUSSIA’S ISOLATION
AT G20 IS DIFFICULT
If the war continues, the
chasm will present an
awkward sight when the
G20 heads of state meet at
Bali in November. With
India China on its side,
ousting Russia from G20,
as desired by US Prez Joe
Biden, will be impossible
I
RISING SEAS, VANISHING LANDS
THREAT TO INDIA’S FINANCIAL
CAPITAL EDGES CLOSER
The Maharashtra Shoreline
Management Plan (MSMP)
2017, a document that
looked at the extent of coastal
erosion, could be amended
this year as per government
sources to account for new
changes (due to erosion)
throughout the state’s
720-kilometre coastline
The MSMP evaluates natural
coastal processes, land use,
and environmental details
for coastal developments, and
this time will include the
direct effects of sea-level rise
verthoughtaboutthatsinking
feeling? Imagine this. You are
lounging in your lavish home
ontheMumbaiseaface,enjoy-
ing the view of the sea on a
monsoon morning. Suddenly
,
the waves swell and start get-
ting dangerously close to the
streets,surpassingthetripods.
Before you know, its crashing
on the streets, and now its
near your doorway
. As you sit
up and take notice of your
beautiful morning turning
intoanimminentlyfatalpaint-
ing,thingsstartgettingworse.
Reads just like one of those
movies like ‘2012’, right? How-
ever, this is not fiction. As
Mumbai grapples with its un-
precedentedpopulationburst,
it has stood out as a severely
threatened city along the
western coast of India. Why?
The bulk of the coastal zones
around the financial capital
have witnessed the highest
amountof erosionasrevealed
after the Union Environment
Ministry presented stunning
statistics on ecological chal-
lenges impacting India’s
coastal regions before the Ra-
jya Sabha earlier this month.
TheNationalCentreforSus-
tainableCoastalManagement,
Chennai had undertaken
shorelinechangestudiesusing
satellite data from the past 38
years, identifying locations
badly impacted by erosion. In
Mumbai, the coastline along
the Mahul village towards the
eastern suburbs shrunk by
146.16metres(themostforany
location across Maharashtra).
SHRINKING SPACES BY
2050 IN MUMBAI
Taking it a step further, in-
creased erosion puts infra-
structure in jeopardy, and
whenpairedwiththeprospect
of risingsealevels,itbecomes
much more so. According to a
study conducted by Noida-
based IT consulting firm
RMSI (based on Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate
Change reports) for six major
coastal cities in India, by 2050,
a large portion of the people,
property, and infrastructure
would be at risk of submer-
sion due to rising sea levels.
Risingsealevelsmaydrown
portions of Mumbai’s essen-
tial road and infrastructure
by 2050, including parts of the
Western Express Highway,
the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link,
andtheMumbaiCoastalRoad
Phases I and II, which are cur-
rently being developed.
THE CRZ CONUNDRUM
The Coastal Regulation Zone
(CRZ) notice was issued by
the Ministry of Environment
and Forests in 1991 under the
Environmental Protection
Act, 1986, to regulate activi-
ties in India’s coastal zones.
The legislation has been re-
vised multiple times since
then, most recently with the
CRZ 2019 notification.
As highlighted by Mum-
bai-based group Conserva-
tion Action Trust, CZMP
maps for Mumbai city and
suburbs produced recently
failed to include all CRZ IA
categories, and there is no
distinction between man-
groves and mudflats.
RESTRICT CONSTRUCTION
IN MUMBAI’S
LOW-LYING AREAS
Low-lying locations, in com-
parison to high places, would
see a direct and immediate
impact, according to RMSI’s
research. Building in Mum-
bai’s low-lying regions should
besuspendedimmediately
,ac-
cordingtotheMCAP
,launched
inMarchthisyear,tolimitthe
risk of erosion and sea-level
rise. In addition, the plan,
overthenexteightyears,calls
for improving data monitor-
ing and consistency to close
gapsinlocalweatherforecast-
ing and tidal changes for sea-
levelrise,planningandimple-
menting climate-proofing in-
frastructure, and, most im-
portantly, empowering vul-
nerablecommunitiestobetter
understand and integrate
early warning systems.
THREE-PRONGED
APPROACH NEEDED
BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
In view of the increased sea-
level rise projections for 2050,
RMSI has proposed that the
Centre launch a project to cre-
ateanewshoreline,inundation
mapping, and disaster prepar-
edness throughout the whole
Indian coastline. All locations
to the left of the new coastline
(towards the ocean), whether
residential,industrial,orinfra-
structural,mustbemovedonce
the new coastline mapping is
ready
. All the data should be
includedinaDecisionSupport
System(DSS)toassistplanners
inrelocatingassetstotheleftof
the new shoreline, planning
newbuildingsinlightof thelat-
est flood risk maps, and deter-
miningplinthlevels,basements,
and other issues.
This DSS will also help pre-
dict the dangers of heavy
rains and cyclones. In addi-
tion, all rivers and streams
should have their water levels
modelled, and locations at
risk of permanent submer-
gence marked. With this new
reality, inundation mapping
for Mumbai and other cities
in danger from increasing sea
levels becomes a top concern.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
E
BADRI CHATTERJEE
The writer is a Contributing Author to
First India as well as Communications
Engagement Strategist with Asar, which is a
research and communications startup that
seeks to address the big environmental and
social challenges facing India
The Mumbai Municipal Corporation, with the help of
the forest department, plans to identify barren
land along the city’s shore, increase green cover
for mangrove planting, and strengthen a ‘green wall’
surrounding the city as a buffer against coastal
inundation through MCAP
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INDIA
05
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Delhi High Court
Friday said student ac-
tivist Umar Khalid’s
speech at Amravati in
February 2020, which
forms a part of the
chargesheet against
him in the ‘larger con-
spiracy’ case of North-
east Delhi riots, was of-
fensive and obnoxious.
“This is offensive, ob-
noxious. Don’t you
think? These expres-
sions being used, don’t
you think they incite
people? You say things
like aapke purvaj angr-
ezon ki dalali kar rahe
the, you don’t think it is
offensive. It is offensive
per se. This is not the
first time that you said
so in this speech. You
said this at least five
times. It is almost as if
we distinctly get the im-
pression that it was
only one particular
community that fought
for India’s independ-
ence,” said the division
bench of Justice Sid-
dharth Mridul and Jus-
tice Rajnish Bhatnagar
after Khalid’s lawyers
read the contents of his
speech before the court.
The court made the
observation when the
counsel representing
Khalid was reading the
portion where he is re-
ported to have said Ma-
hatma Gandhi had
launchedanon-coopera-
tion movement against
the British in 1920, and
Jamia Millia Islamia
University was one of
the first educational in-
stitutestobeestablished
after Gandhi’s call.
Srinagar (Agencies): A
fierce gun battle erupted
between security forces
and terrorists near an
army installation in
Jammu early Friday
morning,twodaysahead
of a visit by Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi to
the region. Two terror-
ists have been killed
while a security officer
has lost his life and four
others injured in the
shoot-out, officials said.
The encounter started
after security forces
launched a pre-dawn op-
eration at the Sunjwan
cantonmentareainJam-
mu city
. The police said
they had information
thatterroristswereplan-
ninganattackinthecity
.
The CISF, however, said
terrorists targeted a bus
carrying its personnel
and an Assistant Sub In-
spector was killed.
The attack comes
ahead of PM Modi’s ar-
rival in Jammu on Sun-
day
. The presence of ter-
rorists near a vital mili-
tary installation in the
city is a major security
concern ahead of his
first political visit to
Jammu and Kashmir af-
tertheformerstate’sspe-
cial status was revoked
in August 2019.
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: There is go-
ing to be some upheaval
in the politics of Bihar.
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar recently ex-
pressed his desire to go
to the Rajya Sabha and
then turned against it.
After that it is reported
that they are leaving the
official residence of
Chief Minister and go-
ing to a bungalow at
Seven, Circular Road. It
isbeingsaidthatrenova-
tion work is going on at
CMR. Meanwhile, the
discussionhasalsostart-
ed that a BJP leader will
be seated in BIhar CMR
while Nitish Kumar will
go to Delhi. Earlier there
was talk of him becom-
ing the Vice President,
but BJP will hardly give
him this post. There is
talk of a veteran BJP
leader and Union Minis-
ter becoming the Vice
PresidentandNitishKu-
marcanjointhetopmin-
isters of the Centre in
his place. But this is also
speculation.
On the other hand,
the tone of BJP leaders
has started changing.
State President Sanjay
Jaiswal, who had been
targeting the Nitish Ku-
mar government till
now, has said that Nit-
ish Kumar will remain
our Chief Minister till
the next assembly elec-
tions. The state govern-
ment’s powerful minis-
ter Samrat Chaudhary,
who kept finding faults
in the functioning of
his government, also
said that there is no
question on the leader-
ship of Nitish Kumar.
Thusononesidethere
is discussion of Nitish
moving to Delhi while
on the other hand, BJP
leaders are making
statements considering
him as a leader; which is
actually a contradictory
reality
. But there is also
the possibility of some
change from the contra-
diction. Keep in mind
thatinthebypollheldon
one seat recently, when
BJP lost, Nitish Kumar
had said that the public
is the mightiest, which,
accordingtopoliticalob-
servers, may be a silent
threat to those challeng-
ing Nitish’s authority
.
HASNITISHKUMARBROUGHT
BIHARBJPONTHEBACKFOOT?
Khalid’s speech obnoxious, offensive: Delhi HC
JK: 2 ultras killed, officer dead
in encounter ahead of PM’s visit
Mulling postal ballots
for overseas voters: EC
CONGRESS CLUELESS ABOUT
ITS OWN HOME AFFAIRS!
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The Con-
gress party had given a
Rajya Sabha ticket to its
former president Ripun
Bora in Assam. It is a
different matter that
the party did not put
much emphasis to en-
sure his victory. The
Congress and ally AI-
UDF combined had 44
votes, while 43 votes
were needed to win the
seat. Despite this, Con-
gress candidate Ripun
Bora got only 35 votes
and lost. For this Bora
is blaming the party,
while in reality it was
also the lack of man-
agement since he too
could not unite the
votes. He had been the
state president and the
party had given him a
Rajya Sabha ticket, so it
was his responsibility
to win the seat. But he
lost the election and
within a week of his de-
feat left the party accus-
ing the party and went
to Trinamool Congress.
Just think, while giv-
ing him ticket in mid-
March, did the party
high command have no
idea that he is in touch
with Trinamool leaders
and he should not be
given tickets? He was in
touch with Sushmita
Deb, who left the party.
But Congress had no
idea. Similarly, Con-
gress did not get any
idea about RPN Singh.
The party made him a
star campaigner in the
Uttar Pradesh elections
and two days after the
release of the list of
star campaigners, he
joined the Bharatiya
Janata Party. It is the
lack of the organisa-
tion general secretary
of the Congress as well
as the state committee
and everyone in charge
that they do not know
anything about their
own leaders. If the top
leaders of the party
just keep their eyes and
ears open, then they
will know in time
which of their leaders
are soon going to ‘aban-
don ship’.
K’taka: 2 Hijab-clad students
denied entry to exam centre
Udupi (PTI):In another
dramatic development
in the Karnataka Hijab
ban row, the two stu-
dents who had first peti-
tioned the court to allow
Hijab inside classrooms
were on Friday turned
away from the examina-
tion centre of their final
class 12 board examina-
tion after they insisted
on taking the exams
wearing burqas.
Aliya Assadi and Re-
shamhadcollectedtheir
hall tickets and turned
up donning burqas to
take the exams at the
VidyodayaPUCollegein
Udupi. They tried to
convince the invigila-
tors and the college
principal for around 45
minutes but were even-
tually not allowed any
exception to the court
order upholding the
state government’s ban.
They were then seen
quietly leaving the
premises without tak-
ing the exams.
The principal of Vidy-
odaya college which was
the designated examina-
tion centre blamed it on
the girls.
“We are following
the rule. Our exam in-
vigilator tried convinc-
ing them but they re-
fused to budge. They
clearly had no inten-
tion of giving their ex-
ams. They just wanted
to create an issue,” col-
lege Principal Sandeep
Kumar said.
Meanwhile, BJP OBC
Morcha General Secre-
taryYashpalSuvarnaon
Friday said that in fu-
ture,hijabwillbebanned
notjustincollegesbutin
public places as well.
Callingitabigissuein
Europe, Suvarna said
that once the hijab is
banned it will send a
good message globally
.
The exam which be-
gan on Friday will go
on till May 18. The first
paper was Business
Studies. The exams will
be held at 1,076 centres
across the state amid
tight security with cops
deployed at various
centres to ensure there
are no untoward inci-
dents with regard to
students following the
dress code.
The state Education
Minister BC Nagesh
has categorically said
that students won’t be
allowed to take their ex-
ams in the hijab. This
comes in the wake of
many Muslim female
students requesting the
Minister to allow them
to wear their hijabs
during the final exams.
Bengaluru (Agencies): The Karnataka government
is all set to strictly implement the law in connection
with Azaan. The move is likely to add to the existing
social unrest in the state. Karnataka Chief Minis-
ter Basavaraj Bommai and the state DG and IGP
Praveen Sood made it clear on Friday that everyone
should follow the law in this regard. Meanwhile,
Sri Ram Sena founder Pramod Muthalik has stated
that he has launched a “Azaan se Azadi” campaign
in the state. He had demanded that the government
should ensure implementation of the law on viola-
tion of rules while performing Azaan in mosques.
LAW ON AZAAN IN K’TAKA SOON
Aliya Assadi and Resham had collected their hall tickets and then
denied entry into the hall.
Patna (Agencies):
The Iftar party
, hosted
by the RJD at the offi-
cial residence of for-
mer Chief Minister
Rabri Devi on Friday,
attracted attention of
every political party
in the state.
Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar, accepting
the invitation sent to
him by Rabri Devi,
and her sons Tejashwi
Yadav and Tej Pratap
Yadav, walked from
his 7 Circular Road
bungalow to her 10
Circular Road resi-
dence – a mere bunga-
low away
.
He was seen meet-
ing Rabri Devi and
Tejashwi Yadav.
Nitish Kumar’s
meeting with Tejash-
wi Yadav has a big
message for BJP top
leadership – coming
it is a day before Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah’s visit to
the state.
Sources have said
that Nitish Kumar is
coming closer to the
RJD especially at a
time when its supre-
mo Lalu Prasad has
been granted bail by
the Jharkhand High
Court in a fodder
scam case. It will be
interesting to see the
next move of Nitish
Kumar.
CM Nitish walks to Rabri’s
residence for Iftar party
In coming days,
hijab will be
banned in public
places as well,
says BJP leader
LALU PRASAD YADAV GRANTED BAIL
IN `139 CRORE FODDER SCAM CASE
Ranchi (PTI): Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted
bail to Rashtriya Janata Jal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad
Yadav in the 139 crore Doranda Treasury scam case
in which a CBI special court had sentenced him to five
years in prison. 73-year-old Lalu Prasad Yadav is in
custody following his conviction and sentencing by a
CBI court in February in a fodder scam case involving
embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore from Doranda
treasury. The high court order is expected to be com-
municated to the lower court by Tuesday and we will
submit the bail bond and obtain release order, Prabhat
Kumar, counsel of Lalu Prasad, said.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with RJD’s Tejashwi and Tej Pratap.
CRUCIAL READ
MAHA GOVT TO IMPORT COAL AMID
ELECTRICITY CRISIS: AJIT PAWAR
Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar on Friday said that in order to tide over the
current load shedding
crisis in the state,
the government has
decided to import coal
to some extent from
outside the country
for power genera-
tion. He also said that efforts were on to get one
coal mine in Chhattisgarh allocated to the power
department in Maharashtra.
SUPPLY 72,000
TONNE OF COAL
PER DAY: STALIN
Chennai: Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister MK Sta-
lin on Friday requested
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi to supply
72,000 tonne of coal
daily to maintain unin-
terrupted power sup-
ply in the state. Stalin
in a letter to Modi said:
“I request you to direct
the Ministry of Coal
to ensure the supply
of 72,000 MT coal per
day as per the FSA
(Fuel Supply Agree-
ment) at Paradip and
Vishakhapatnam ports.
Only this step can
enable us to maintain
uninterrupted power
supply in the State and
hence I solicit your
personal intervention
in this regard.”
MAMATA HOPES
TO MEET PM
MODI IN DELHI
New Delhi: West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee will
be going to New Del-
hi to attend the “Chief
Ministers-Chief
Justices’ Conference
on Judiciary”, to be
inaugurated by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, on April 30.
Speculations are rife
on what observations
Banerjee is likely to
make at the event
against the backdrop
of so many orders
of the Calcutta High
Court - that have
gone against the
State Government —
for Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI)
enquiries on various
issues.
NOTICE TO DELHI POLICE OVER UMAR’S
APPEAL CHALLENGING BAIL REFUSAL
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued
notice to Delhi Police on an appeal moved by a
former student leader of JNU Umar Khalid, chal-
lenging trial court order that refused his bail appli-
cation in a larger conspiracy case related to North
East Delhi violence. Umar Khalid is an accused in
northeast Delhi violence larger conspiracy case.
Mumbai: The State
police on Friday is-
sued a notice to MP
Navneet Rana and
her husband MLA
Ravi Rana, asking
them not to disrupt
the law and order
situation as they
plan to recite Hanu-
man Chalisa out-
side Maharashtra
Chief Minister Ud-
dhav Thackeray’s
residence here on
April 23.
On Thursday,
Ravi Rana had an-
nounced that he
was firm on his
plan to recite Ha-
numan Chalisa
outside ‘Ma-
toshree’, the pri-
vate residence of
Mr Thackeray, who
is also the presi-
dent of the Shiv
Sena on Saturday.
In view of his an-
nouncement, a
large number of
Shiv Sena workers
gathered outside
‘Matoshree’ in sub-
urban Bandra in
Mumbai on Friday
and raised slogans
in support of the
chief minister.
MP, MLA get notice
over plan to chant
Hanuman Chalisa
outside CM house
New Delhi: Lamenting
that the number of reg-
istered overseas voters
is “abysmally low”,
Chief Election Commis-
sioner Sushil Chandra
has told members of the
Indian community in
South Africa and Mau-
ritius that the facility to
extend postal ballot fa-
cility for NRI electors is
being contemplated. Ac-
cording to an official
statement issued by the
Election Commission,
Chandra interacted
with members of the In-
dian community during
his official visit to the
two countries and urged
them to register as over-
seas voters as the pre-
sent numbers are “abys-
mally low”.
In 2020, the EC had
proposed to the gov-
ernment to extend the
ETPBS facility to eligi-
ble overseas Indian
voters as well.
Sushil Chandra
Umar Khalid
MUMBAI

INDIA
06
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: The lead-
ers of Trinamool Con-
gress and Telangana
Rashtra Samithi are
upset and complaining
over two issues. Word is
that some senior lead-
ers of Trinamool have
met Mamata Banerjee
and complained about
Prashant Kishor while
objecting to his meet-
ings with Congress
party leaders. Their
first complaint is that
when Prashant Kishor
has an agreement with
the Trinamool Con-
gress, hence how can he
talk to the Congress
party. Secondly, these
leaders have objected
as to how has he as-
sured the Congress that
he will bring harmony
in West Bengal without
talking to the Trina-
mool Congress.
In fact, Trinamool
Congress wants to fight
alone in West Bengal.
He knows that if the
card of Bengali identi-
ty is played by raising
the issue of making
Mamata Banerjee the
Prime Minister, the
party can win maxi-
mum seats. The party
leaders are also looking
at the possibility of
winning all the seats in
Gujarat like the BJP.
They feel that if there
is a campaign to make
the first Prime Minis-
ter from Bengal, Mamta
can win all the seats. In
such a situation, they
are displeased with
Prashant Kishor’s
claim of reconciliation.
However, Mamta has
not taken these com-
plaints seriously, yet.
She knows that her
agreement is not with
Prashant Kishor, but
with the Indian Politi-
cal Action Committee
(I-PAC). She also knows
that Prashant Kishor
has separated himself
from this company. So,
Trinamool Congress’s
deal with this company
is till 2026 elections but
technically not with
Prashant Kishor and
hence Kishor is free to
do his politics. Yes, she
too has raised an eye-
brow over Kishor’s
claim of coordination
with other parties.
On the other hand,
Prashant Kishor has
also had talks with Tel-
angana Rashtra
Samithi. Recently,
Kishor had gone to Hy-
derabad and he also
met Chief Minister
Chandrashekhar Rao.
Telangana Rashtra
Samithi leaders also
have the same problem
as the Trinamool and
are also not ready to
align with the Con-
gress. Congress leaders
of Telangana have also
objected to this. State
Congress President Re-
vanth Reddy has said
that Congress will fight
the elections on its own
and will make a come-
back.
So, the question is
how Prashant Kishor
will bring a cohesive
coordination between
the Congress and TRS
in Telangana and if he
does, will the BJP not
automatically become
the only opposition par-
ty. There is no confron-
tation in the rest of the
states regarding
Prashant Kishor. Be-
cause the Congress al-
ready has coordination
in the states like Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand etc. But
there is a problem in
West Bengal and Telan-
gana.
TMC TRS upset over PK’s ‘role’ both within outside party lines!
Prashant Kishor
India, UK call for ceasefire in Ukraine
Both sides discussed situation in Ukraine, underscoring importance of diplomacy and dialogue
New Delhi (AP): India
and Britain on Friday
called on Russia for an
immediate ceasefire in
Ukraine as British
Prime Minister Boris
Johnson announced
steps to help move New
Delhi away from its de-
pendence on Russia by
expanding economic
and defense ties.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi said that
both sides discussed the
situation in Ukraine,
underscoring the im-
portance of dialogue to
settle issues.
“Both sides also
called for a free, open,
inclusive and rule-
based order in the Indo-
Pacific,’’ Modi said an
apparent reference to
China’s aggressiveness
in the region.
Johnson switched
over to Hindi language
to describe Modi as a
“Khaas-Dost,” or spe-
cial friend, and said,
“Our relations have
never been as strong or
as good between us as
they are now,’’
Johnson said Britain
will issue an Open Gen-
eral Export License to
India, reducing bureau-
cracy and shortening
delivery times for de-
fense procurement.
Johnson also an-
nounced $1.29 billion in
new investments and
export deals in areas
from software engineer-
ing and artificial intel-
ligence to health, creat-
ing almost 11,000 jobs
across the United King-
dom.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with UK PM Boris Johnson
at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
JAISHANKAR CALLS ON BORIS JOHNSON,
DISCUSSES INDIA-UK ROADMAP 2030
AMERICA
SLAMS CHINA’S
SUPPORT
FOR RUSSIA
Washingto: A senior
US diplomat again
warned China of
sanctions if it offers
“material support”
for Vladimir Putin’s
war in Ukraine, while
also pledging to help
India end its depend-
ence on Russian
weapons. China
wasn’t helping the
situation in Ukraine
by doing things like
amplifying Russian
disinformation cam-
paigns, US Deputy
Secretary of State
Wendy Sherman
said at an event in
Brussels. She said
she hoped Beijing
will learn the “right
lessons” from Rus-
sia’s war, including
that it can’t separate
US from its allies.
BRITAIN SETS UP TASK FORCE AGAINST
PRO-KHALISTAN, OTHER EXTREME GROUPS
New Delhi (ANI): EAM
S Jaishankar on Friday
called on British PM
Boris Johnson here and
discussed bilateral ties
and implementation of
the India-UK Roadmap
2030. “Delighted to call
on UK PM @BorisJohn-
son during his India
visit. Discussed our ex-
panding partnership and
implementing the #In-
diaUK Roadmap 2030,”
Jaishankar tweeted.
New Delhi (ANI): Pro-
Khalistan and other
extremist groups in the
UK may face heat in the
coming days. British PM
Boris Johnson, during
his visit to India, an-
nounced that the UK has
set up Anti-Extremist
Task Force. “We have a
very strong view that we
don’t tolerate extremist
groups threatening other
countries, threatening
India. We’ve set up an
Anti-Extremist Task
Force,” Boris Johnson
said. Pro-Khalistan
groups have time and
again resorted to violent
protests outside the
High Commission of In-
dia. Recently, UK police
also conducted raids
against pro-Khalistan
organisation in the
‘NO PRESSURE’
FROM UK OVER
RUSSIA: INDIA
New Delhi (Agencies):
British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson put no
pressure on his Indian
counterpart Narendra
Modi over New Delhi’s
position on Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine when
they met on Friday, India’s
foreign secretary told
reporters. India has not
explicitly condemned
the invasion by Russia,
its biggest supplier of
military hardware.
Hate speech case: SC
directs Delhi Police to
file ‘better affidavit’
New Delhi (PTI): The
Supreme Court on Fri-
day expressed its dis-
pleasure over a Delhi
Police affidavit which
said “no hate speech
was made” during an
event held here by a
right-wing outfit, and
wondered whether the
officer who filed the
document had applied
his mind or merely re-
produced the inquiry
report.
Posing searching
questions, the court
also directed the police
to file a “better affida-
vit” after which Addi-
tional Solicitor General
(ASG) KM Nataraj, ap-
pearing for the Delhi
Police, said they will
have a “re-look” of the
matter and file a fresh
affidavit.
The Delhi Police had
told the top court that
“no specific words
against any community
were uttered” at the
event organised by the
‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’ on
December 19 last.
“The affidavit has
been filed by the Deputy
Commissioner of Po-
lice. We hope he has un-
derstood the nuances.
Has he merely repro-
duced the inquiry re-
port or applied his
mind? Is it your stand
as well or the reproduc-
tion of inquiry report
of sub-inspector level
officer?” a bench of Jus-
tices AM Khanwilkar
and Abhay S Oka asked.
The bench ques-
tioned can such a stand
be taken on an affidavit
before the court and
wanted to know who
verified the affidavit.
Birla: Need to enhance trade
betweenIndiaandCambodia
Shah: Tribal welfare funds
increase to `78,000 crore
Phnom Penh: Indian
Parliamentary Delega-
tion led by Lok Sabha
Speaker, Shri Om Birla,
which concluded its
three-day visit to Viet-
nam yesterday, arrived
in Phnom Penh.
Underlining that
trade relations between
India and Cambodia are
yet to reach to their po-
tential, Birla stressed
the need for increasing
bilateral trade between
the two countries. New
areas of cooperation
need to be explored and
tapped, said Birla.
The Delegation in-
cludes Ravneet Singh,
Member of Parliament
(Lok Sabha); Saroj Pan-
dey, MP (Rajya Sabha);
Locket Chatterjee,
Member of Parliament
(Lok Sabha); Sarmistha
Sethi, Member of Par-
liament (Lok Sabha);
Dr. Santanu Sen, Mem-
ber of Parliament (Ra-
jya Sabha) and Utpal
Kumar Singh, General
Secretary, Lok Sabha.
Bhopal (PTI): Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi increased the al-
location of funds for the
welfare of tribal com-
munities drastically af-
ter coming to power in
the Centre, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
said on Friday
.
He was speaking at
‘Van Samiti Sammelan’,
a program where bonus
was distributed to col-
lectors of forest pro-
duce such as Tendu
leaves. “This is a gov-
ernment of the poor,
Scheduled Tribes, dal-
its and backward class-
es. During Congress
government’s time,
only Rs 21,000 crore
were provided for the
welfare of (tribal com-
munities) people, but
after Modi came to pow-
er in 2014, it has been
enhanced to Rs 78,000
crore,” Shah said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla meets King of Cambodia, Preah Bat
Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni in Phnom Penh.
Home Minister Amit Shah
addresses the ‘Van Samiti
Sammelan’ in Bhopal.
No choice but to make nation stronger
amid altering world order, says Rajnath
New Delhi (PTI): India
has no option but to
make itself stronger to
ensure its defence,
peace and stability as
the world order is
changing rapidly, De-
fence Minister Rajnath
Singh said on Friday in
the context of the
Ukraine-Russia war.
A lot of things are
happening in the world
that are affecting India,
Singh said at the inau-
guration of DefCon-
nect 2.0.
DefConnect 2.0 is a
one-day event to bring
together start-ups, big
companies and armed
forces personnel to
boost indigenous inno-
vation in the defence
sector.
“When we met at
Aero India 2021 (Febru-
ary 21), from then to
now, the world has
changed so much that it
cannot be accounted for
or measured. Every
new danger is looking
more complex and chal-
lenging than the previ-
ous one,” Singh told the
gathering.
“We did not even re-
cover fully from the
Covid-induced crisis
but the world is now fac-
ing the issue of the
Ukrainian conflict,” he
said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inspecting the display of electric
vehicles in New Delhi on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi (ANI): The ED has attached assets worth Rs
6.28 crore of Saradha Group of Companies in Assam
for running illegal Ponzi schemes by befooling com-
mon people. The properties
were attached under the
PMLA, 2002 in connection
with a case. The ED initi-
ated a money-laundering
investigation on the basis of
various FIRs and chargesheets filed by different law
enforcement agencies under Section 120B and Section
420 (cheating) of the IPC against Saradha Group.
New Delhi: NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar,
who was appointed to India’s policy think tank five
years ago, has decided to step down, people familiar
with the matter said on Friday. Kumar is likely to be
replaced by economist Suman Bery. Kumar took over
as vice chairman in August 2017 after his predeces-
sor Arvind Panagariya exited the National Institution
for Transforming India, better known as NITI Aayog.
Suman Bery, who is likely to succeed Rajiv Kumar, was
the director-general of the National Council of Applied
Economic Research, or NCAER, one of the country’s
leading independent policy research institution.
ED ATTACHES ASSETS WORTH `6.28 CR
OF SARADHA GROUP OF COS IN ASSAM
NITI AAYOG VC RAJIV KUMAR TO STEP DOWN,
ECONOMIST SUMAN BERY MAY REPLACE HIM
ISRO CHAIRMAN,
MAHA MP GIVEN
VIP SECURITY
COVER BY CENTRE
New Delhi (PTI): Ma-
harashtra MP Navneet
Rana and ISRO chair-
man S Somanath have
been provided a central
armed VIP security
cover by the Union gov-
ernment. The Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA)
accorded the security
cover last week to the
two after accepting sep-
arate recommendations
of central intelligence
agencies.
2 UKRAINIANS
HELD IN ASSAM
WITH INVALID
PASSPORTS
Guwahati (Agencies):
Two Ukrainian nationals
who carried invalid
passports have been
detained by the railway
police in Assam’s
Karimganj district.
The two Ukrainians,
Chrisinsky Volodimir,
39, and Nazari Voznyuk,
21, were travelling in
Agartala-New Delhi
(Anand Vihar) Tripura
Sundari Express on
Thursday night.
CRUCIAL READ 18 more at IIT
Madras test
+ve for Covid
Chennai: Eighteen peo-
ple have tested positive
for Covid-19 at IIT Ma-
dras, taking the total to
30 cases in two days, of-
ficials said on Friday,
amid a spike in corona-
virus infections in some
parts of the country
.
Tamil Nadu on
Thursday reported 39
fresh Covid-19 cases,
pushing the caseload to
34,53,390 as the State
continued to witness an
increasing trend. The
number of deaths re-
mained 38,025 with zero
fatalities being record-
ed in the last 24 hours, a
medical bulletin said.
HOMING IN ON HP!
BJP national president JP Nadda, waves to the
supporters during a roadshow at Nagrota Bagwan Bazar,
in Kangra on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

BIZ BUZZ
07
New Delhi (PTI): The
drone service sector
holds tremendous
promise and will pro-
vide about one lakh
jobs in the next four-
five years, Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya
Scindia said on Friday
.
“We took out a pro-
d u c t i v i t y - l i n k e d
scheme for the drone
sector where a nascent
industry of drone man-
ufacturing -- which had
a total revenue of Rs 60
crore -- was given an in-
centive of Rs 120 crore
over the next three
years,” the minister
said in his speech at an
event organised by the
Indo-American Cham-
ber of Commerce
(IACC).
Under the PLI
scheme that was an-
nounced last year, the
incentive for a manu-
facturer of drones and
drone components will
be 20 per cent of the
value addition made by
the company during
the next three years.
The value addition is
calculatedastheannual
sales revenue from
drones and drone com-
ponents (net of GST)
minusthepurchasecost
(net of GST) of drone
and drone components.
The ministry has re-
leased the names of 14
drone companies se-
lected as beneficiaries
of the PLI scheme.
Scindia said on Fri-
day
, “We look at a rapid
expansion of almost Rs
5,000 crore in terms of
investment into the
drone manufacturing
space.”
“The drone service
sector...we are looking
at the creation of
1,00,000 jobs over the
next four-five years. It is
an area of tremendous
promise,” he added.
Drone service sector holds huge promise: Scindia
Under the PLI scheme that was
announced last year, the incentive for a
manufacturer of drones and drone
components will be 20 per cent of the
value addition made by the company
during the next three years.
New Delhi ( Agencies):
Reliance Industries Ltd ,
operator of the world’s
biggest oil refining com-
plex, has ordered at least
15 million barrels of
Russian oil since Russia
invaded Ukraine in Feb-
ruary
,tradesourcessaid.
Reliance has bought
an average 5 million
barrels a month for the
June quarter, the sourc-
es said. Reliance did not
immediately respond to
a Reuters’ email seek-
ing comment.
Before the Ukraine
war, Indian refiners, in-
cluding Reliance, rarely
bought Russian oil ow-
ing to high freight costs.
But Western sanctions
against Russia since its
Ukraineinvasion,which
Moscow calls a “special
operation”, have
prompted many oil im-
porters to shun trade
with Moscow, depress-
ing its crude prices to
record discount levels .
Indian refiners have
snapped up the cheap
barrels as India, the
world’s third-biggest oil
importer and consumer,
is hit hard by high oil
prices. India imports
about85%of its5million
barrelsperdayoilneeds.
While New Delhi has
called for an immediate
ceasefire in Ukraine, it
has not explicitly con-
demned Moscow’s ac-
tions. India has also
abstained from voting
on multiple United Na-
tions resolutions on the
invasion.
Refinitiv’s tanker flow
data shows a supply of
about8millionbarrelsof
Russian oil, mainly
Urals, at the Reliance-op-
eratedSikkaportinwest-
ern India, for arrival be-
tween April 5 and May 9.
AMID UKRAINE WAR RELIANCE BUYS 15
MN BARRELS OF RUSSIAN OIL: REPORT
RELIANCE HAS BOUGHT AN AVERAGE 5 MILLION BARRELS A MONTH FOR THE JUNE QUARTER
SNAPPING UP THE CHEAP BARRELS
Govt may cut LIC
IPO size by 40% on
Ukraine war woes
Mumbai (Agencies) :
The government is
likely to cut the initial
public offering of Life
Insurance Corpora-
tion (LIC) by 40 per
cent to Rs 30,000 crore
as the Russia-Ukraine
war continues to dent
the global supply
chain as well as damp-
en the global econo-
my, Bloomberg report-
ed citing sources.
Touted as India’s
biggest IPO, the gov-
ernment was earlier
planning to sell its 5
per cent stake in LIC to
raise Rs 63,000 crore.
The LIC IPO was earli-
ersupposedtobetaken
place on March 11, to
meetthedisinvestment
target of Rs 78,000
crore for FY2022. How-
ever, the Russian inva-
sion of Ukraine de-
railed the LIC IPO. The
report said that now
the stake sale could be
a little over 5 per cent.
BusinessStandardhad
last week reported that
thegovernment’sstake
sale could be as much
as 7 per cent.
LIC IPO is likely to
place within the next
two weeks at a valua-
tion of Rs 6 lakh crore.
Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment’s offer for
sale including the
draft herring prospec-
tus expires on May 12.
Sensex
slumps 714
points on
weak
global cues
Mumbai (ANI):
The Indian equi-
ties markets key
indices, Sensex
and Nifty,
slumped by more
than 1.2 per cent
on Friday
dragged by heavy
selling pressure
in banking fi-
nancial, IT and
FMCG stocks.
The 30 stock
SP BSE Sensex
slumped 714.53
points or 1.23 per
cent to 57,197.15
points against its
previous day’s
close at 57,911.68
points. The
Sensex started
the day in the
negative at
57,531.95 points
and slumped to a
low of 57,134.72
points in the in-
tra-day
.
The index wit-
nessed heavy
selling pressure
in the last hour
of trading due to
weakness in the
global markets.
The Sensex
closed in the red
for the first time
inthreedays.The
index had rallied
874.18 points or
1.53 per cent on
Thursday
.
The broader
Nifty 50 of the
National Stock
E x c h a n g e
slumped 220.65
points or 1.27 per
cent to 17,171.95
points against its
previous day’s
close at 17,392.60
points.
The index
came under sell-
ing pressure after
two days of the
rally
. The Nifty 50
had gained 256.05
points or 1.49 per
cent on Thursday
.
UBS cuts India FY2023 GDP growth
forecast to 7%, flags risk of RBI failing
New Delhi (agenices):
UBS has downgraded its
GDP growth forecast for
India for the current fi-
nancial year from 7.7 to
7.0 percent, adding that
the Reserve Bank of In-
dia’s (RBI) Monetary
PolicyCommittee(MPC)
risks failing to meet its
inflation mandate.
The reduced forecast
is one of the lowest ex-
pected by economists.
Earlier this month, the
RBI had surprised by
lowering its own projec-
tion from 7.8 to 7.2 per-
cent on risks from Rus-
sia’s invasion of
Ukraine.
The central bank’s
survey of professional
forecasters released on
April 8 pegged GDP
growth for this year at
7.5 percent.
India’s economy like-
ly grew 8.9 percent in
FY22, as per the statis-
tics ministry’s second
advance estimate.
According to UBS,
high global commodity
prices, slower global
growth, hit to domestic
demandfromtheincome
shock of high fuel prices
and elevated inflation.
Adani Ports to acquire 100% stake in
Ocean Sparkle for `1700 core
Mumbai (Agencies):
Adani Ports and Spe-
cial Economic Zone
(APSEZ) through its
subsidiary, Adani Har-
bour Services is acquir-
ing 100 per cent stake in
Ocean Sparkle (OSL), a
leading third-party ma-
rine services provider,
at an enterprise valua-
tion of Rs 1700 crore
Ocean Sparkle is a
leading player in tow-
age, pilotage, and
dredging with an asset
base of 94 own vessels
and 13 third-party-
owned vessels. The
company has Rs 300
crore of free cash and
was established by a
group of marine tech-
nocrats with P Jairaj
Kumar as the chair-
man and MD, in 1995.
Kumar will continue as
the chairman of the
OSL board.
“Given the synergies
of OSL and Adani Har-
bour Services, the con-
solidated business is
likely to double in five
years with improved
margins, thereby creat-
ingsignificantvaluefor
APSEZ’s sharehold-
ers,” said Karan Adani,
CEO and Whole-time
Director, APSEZ.
“This acquisition not
only provides APSEZ a
significant share of In-
dia’s marine services
market but also pro-
vides us a platform for
building presence in
other countries, there-
by facilitating APSEZ’s
journey towards be-
coming the largest port
operator globally by
2030 and largest inte-
grated transport utility
in India,” he said.
Govt to finalise
Pawan Hans sale
this week: Report
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): India will final-
ize the sale of state-
owned helicopter ser-
vice provider Pawan
Hans Ltd. this week
and has received bids
from companies in-
cluding JSW Steel Ltd.
and Jindal Steel
Power Ltd., according
to people with the
knowledge of the mat-
ter.
A group of officials
headed by Cabinet
Secretary Rajiv Gauba
is meeting on Satur-
day to pick the win-
ning bid, the people
said, asking not to be
identified as the mat-
ter is private. A final
announcement will be
made after the approv-
al by a ministerial
panel which is largely
procedural, they said.
The asset sale plan
will help bridge the
budget gap and meet
spending targets as
the economy faces
fresh headwinds from
the geopolitical ten-
sions. The govern-
ment is targeting to
garner 650 billions ru-
pees ($8.5 billion) from
disinvestment, includ-
ing sale of minority
stake in some compa-
nies, in the year to
March 2023.
Mumbai (PTI): The Re-
serve Bank on Thurs-
day asked Urban Coop-
erative Banks (UCBs)
not to create create any
honorary position or
title such Chairman
Emeritus and Group
Chairman at the board
level as it results in cre-
ation of a shadow au-
thority
.
The RBI has directed
these banks to elimi-
nate such positions
within one year.
“Such positions may
be seen as creating con-
flicts of interest”, RBI
said.
RBI directs UCBs
to eliminate
honorary positions
within one year
SECURED CREDITORS OF FUTURE RETAIL
REJECT DEAL WITH RELIANCE RETAIL
New Delhi (PTI): A majority of secured creditors
of Future Retail Ltd (FRL) have rejected the Rs
24,713-crore deal between the Kishore Biyani-led
retail major and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s
Reliance Retail, according to a regulatory filing.
While more than 75 per cent of shareholders
and unsecured creditors supported the deal, FRL
did not get the requisite 75 per cent favourable
voting from secured creditors. A majority of
69.29 per cent of secured creditors of FRL voted
against the resolution while 30.71 per cent voted
in favour of it, FRL said in a regulatory filing.
While 85.94 per cent of shareholders have voted
in favour of the deal with Reliance, 14.06 per cent
of shareholders opposed it.
ZOMATO OFFSET ABOUT 500,000 METRIC
TONNES OF CARBON EMISSIONS LAST YR
Bengaluru: (Agencies): Food delivery company
Zomato said on Friday that it offset around 500,000
metric tonnes last year and has introduced 100 per
cent plastic neutral deliveries.“Last year, we took
our first step towards long-term sustainability by
launching ‘Climate Conscious Delivery’ – we started
funding local environmental projects to offset the
carbon footprint of all our deliveries and packaging
in India,” said Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal in a
blog. “We also made ‘no cutlery required’ the default
option on our app. This helped ensure 74 per cent
of orders go without cutlery preventing tonnes of
single-use plastic from reaching landfills. We signed
up for the EV100 initiative, and have committed to
move to a 100% EV fleet by 2030,” he added.
HERO ELECTRIC JOINS HANDS WITH INDIA’S FRIST
WOMEN-ONLY DELIVERY PLATFORM EVEN CARGO
New Delhi (PTI): Hero Electric on Friday said it has joined hands
with Even Cargo, the country’s first women-only delivery platform,
to strengthen the last-mile deliv-
ery segment. The collaboration
envisages women to play a crucial
role in accelerating electric mobility
adoption and increasing penetration
in low-income communities. As part
of the tie-up, Hero Electric will aid Even Cargo to create the first-ever
women-only delivery EV fleet by bringing over 10,000 women riders
on the platform by 2025, further empowering them and creating em-
ployment opportunities. The fleet will be allocated across major cities,
including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderaba.
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank

Once we learn to focus on what is
most significant and important,
we gain impact in relationships
and all tasks.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Navi Mumbai: Former
champions Kolkata
Knight Riders will be
desperate to bring their
flagging campaign back
on track when they face
leaders Gujarat Titans
in the IPL here on Sat-
urday. Having suffered
three defeats in a row,
the Shreyas Iyer-led
outfit has slipped to sev-
enth in the table and the
task gets tougher
against the Titans, who
have been a revelation
in their maiden season.
The Hardik Pandya-
led Gujarat Titans have
been firing on all cylin-
ders, with their batting
prowess and bowling
might.
Pandya pulled out of
their last match against
Chennai Super Kings
owing to a groin injury
but it was business as
usual for the Titans as
stand-in skipper Rashid
Khan led the team to a
three-wicket win over
the four-time champi-
ons.The biggest plus in
their win against CSK
was Rashid’s sensation-
al form with the bat as
he smashed a 21-ball 40
to help his team chase
down the target with a
ball spare.
GT’s opening combi-
nation may not have
given them the desired
start and most of the
times the middle-order
has rescued the Titans.
It was David Miller
(94 not out from 51 balls)
who anchored the show
against Chennai after
half the side were back
in the pavilion with 87
runs inside 13 overs.
According to Rashid,
Pandya’s injury was
“not serious and there’s
nothing to be worried
about”.
Pandya has been in
superlative form with
228 runs from five in-
nings at an average of
76.00.
The onus would be on
Kolkata’s bowlers to
seize the momentum
and stop the Titans’
three-match winning
run.
KKR’s pace attack led
by Pat Cummins and
Umesh Yadav and spin-
ner Varun Chakravar-
thy (30 runs from two
overs) were taken to
cleaners by the Ra-
jasthan Royals batters
in their last match.
It remains to be seen
if the team think-tank
would bring back Tim
Southee in the XI as the
key lies in getting early
breakthroughs and giv-
ing Sunil Narine a per-
fect stage to restrict the
flow of runs.
Narine, a vital cog in
KKR’s wheel for long,
has once again been
their go-to man and
boasts of the best econ-
omy rate of 5.03 after
seven matches.
The game also throws
an interesting match-up
between former KKR
batter Shubman Gill
and Narine.
Gill had a fine start to
the tournament and
scored 84 (vs Delhi) and
96 (vs Punjab) but has
gone quiet since then.
STRUGGLING KKR FACE STERN GUJARAT TITANS TEST
IPL 2022
David Miller of Gujarat Titans celebrates after their win against CSK in Pune on April 17. —FILE PHOTO
Two-storeystructurenearSheetalcinemainRanderwasdemolishedamidpolicedeployment
First India Bureau
Surat: The police in
Surat city on Friday
demolished an illegal
building once used as
a gambling den by a
dreaded criminal
who escaped from the
clutches of the police
after his men at-
tacked and injured
policemen earlier
this week, an official
said.
The two-storey struc-
ture near Sheetal cine-
ma in Rander was bull-
dozed amid police de-
ployment, inspector PL
Chaudhary of Rander
police station said.
The building was
used by Arif, who lives
in a Nehrunagar hut-
ment near Sheetal cin-
ema, and his brother
Sajju, who are dreaded
criminals.
While Sajju was ar-
rested recently, Arif,
who was evading the
police for some time in
a recent case of ob-
structing government
officials in Sachin
area, was caught by a
team from Rander po-
lice station on Tuesday
night, he said.
“However, when
Arif was being taken
to the police station,
he started shouting
and called his men to
help him escape. A
mob of around 30 men
charged towards the
policemen and helped
Arif escape after as-
saulting our staff,” the
official said.An FIR
has been registered in
this regard and teams
have been formed to
nab Arif and other ac-
cused, he added.
During investigation
about Arif’s activities,
Rander police learnt
about the illegal build-
ing, which was once
used as a gambling den.
The locals had also com-
plained about the build-
ing, Chaudhary said.
“When civic authori-
ties also confirmed
that the building was
illegal, we had called
in a bulldozer and
razed it to ensure that
it is not used for any il-
legal activity in the fu-
ture,” he added.
SURAT COPS BULLDOZE ILLEGAL
BUILDING USED BY CRIMINAL
DREADED CRIMINALS
Cong’s Kailash Gadhvi,
NCP’s Kandhal Jadeja
planning to join BJP?
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: With
Gujarat gearing up
for Assembly elec-
tions, political lead-
ers are fast metamor-
phosing into turn-
coats. On Friday,
Congress Spokesper-
son Kailash Gadhvi
hinted at his inten-
tions to quit the par-
ty and join another,
through social me-
dia. He also an-
nounced that he will
disclose his future
political plans with-
in a day or two.
Meanwhile, Nation-
alist Congress Party
(NCP) leader Kand-
hal Jadeja stated his
plan to join the
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) on the
day
.
Sharing his griev-
ances, Gadhvi said,
“The (Congress) par-
ty does not value its
assets and is only
concerned with a few
leaders, who are
more focused on
their personal ambi-
tions than the party’s
future. Till the party
is in the hands of
such leaders, even
Prashant Kishor (po-
litical strategist) or
Naresh Patel (Khod-
aldham Trust
Patidar leader) can-
not lead Congress to
victory
.”
In another politi-
cal development,
NCP’s only incum-
bent MLA Kandhal
Jadeja is all set to
join the BJP and, if
sources are to be be-
lieved, contest 2022
elections on a BJP
ticket. Jadeja, who
has several murder,
extortion, assault
and arms cases to his
name, has won the
Kutiyana seat since
2012.
According to
sources in the BJP,
former Chief Minis-
ter Vijay Rupani
played a role in con-
vincing Kandhal to
join BJP. Interest-
ingly, he was spotted
accompanying cur-
rent CM Bhupendra
Patel during his re-
cent Saurashtra tour.
Having suffered three defeats in a row, the former
champs are in a tight spot so far this season
5 of family held for trying to ‘convert’ 2 tribal women
First India Bureau
Vyara: A couple and
their three sons were
arrested on Friday for
allegedly attempting to
convert two tribal wom-
en to Christianity in
Tapi district, police
said. Rakesh Vasava,
his wife Rekha, sons Yo-
han, Yakub and Rasin,
residents of Vyara
town, were booked un-
der IPC sections 342 (il-
legal confinement), 417
(punishment for cheat-
ing), 120b (criminal con-
spiracy) and under rel-
evant provisions of the
Gujarat Freedom of
Religion Act, 2003, in-
spector Hitendra Sinh
Gohil of the Vyara po-
lice station said.
The Act seeks to stop
religious conversions
by use of force or
through allurement.
“An FIR was regis-
tered on Thursday
night. The family fol-
lows Christianity and
has been accused of try-
ing to forcibly convert
two local tribal women
to their faith by per-
forming some rituals at
their house between
Wednesday and Thurs-
day,” Gohil said.
In her complaint, one
of the women, a 20-year-
old student of BCom,
claimed that she was in
a relationship with Yo-
han Vasava since the
last three years and
they live in the same
town and go to the same
college. As both fami-
lies knew about the re-
lationship, the com-
plainant and Yohan
Vasava used to visit
each other’s homes, the
FIR stated.
On Wednesday morn-
ing, Yohan Vasava
called the complainant
to his house claiming
that his father wanted
to meet her. However,
as soon as she reached
their house, Rakesh
Vasava allegedly forci-
bly cut off a sacred
thread from her wrist
and switched off her
mobile phone, it said.
“At the time, Rasin
Vasava’s girlfriend had
also arrived at the
Vasava residence. The
family members forci-
bly applied oil on the
legs and forehead of
both the girls and tied
their hair with a piece
of cloth,” the official
said.
Rakesh Vasava told
the girls that they are
“impure” and a ritual
will be performed to
“purify” them, Gohil
said, citing the FIR.
When the complain-
ant started crying and
urged them to let her go
home, Rakesh Vasava
told the women they
will have to stay here
for the next four days.
He also claimed that
“Jesus had deposited
Rs2 lakh” in his bank
account so that they can
buy mobile phones and
car, the official said.
Rakesh Vasava then
started a ritual after
lighting a candle and it
went on till 5 am on
Thursday, he said.
After reaching home,
the woman (the com-
plainant) narrated her
ordeal to family mem-
bers, following which a
complaint was lodged
against the Vasavas on
Thursday night, Gohil
said.
Kandhal Jadeja Kailash Gadhvi

AHMEDABAD , SATURDAY,
APRIL 23, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
he level of
a r t i s t r y
and intri-
c a c y
achieved by
Indian han-
dloom fab-
rics is supreme
and beyond the
reach of mod-
ern machinery,
preserving its
heritage and
culture.
Super mod-
els Deepti Gu-
jral and Can-
dice Pinto
walked the
ramp as
showstop-
pers. The
organiser
of the
show and
CMD of
RSHDC, Neha Giri in-
formed that 30 IAS
and IPS wives came
together on stage in
the show. These in-
cluded wives of for-
mer and present IAS
officers.
Isha Swarup, wife
of IAS Rajiv Swarup
said, “I always be-
lieve in Indian skills
and craftsmanship,
they are our culture
and we should be
proud of them. One
can see me always
wearing either cotton
or khadi. For me the
Indian Handloom in-
dustry’s journey is a
unique effort to com-
bine art, craft and
handmade textiles
with multiple forms
of creative expres-
sions”. Celebrity
Fashion Stylist Ab-
himanyu Singh
Tomar directed the
show. He informed
that these women
were given ramp walk
training under spe-
cial sessions.
Neha Giri further
added that the hand-
loom fabrics like
Weavers Kota Doria,
Chanderi, Cotton
were introduced on
the ramp with new
combinations in the
form of Indian wear
Sarees, Suits, Indo-
Western Concepts,
Trousers Jackets in
the show.
Isha Swarup w/o
IAS Rajiv Swarup,
Arshdeep Brar (RAS
Officer), Varsha Gup-
ta w/o IAS Rajesh Ya-
dav, Dr Varsha Tanu
w/o IPS Prafull Ku-
mar, Vijaylakshmi
w/o IPS Dinesh MN,
Harshla Meherda
w/o IPS Ravi Prakash
Meherda, Apoorva
Singh w/o IAS KK
Pathak, Rekha Singh
w/o IAS Manjit Sin-
gh, Aakriti Periwal,
Educationist, Neeli-
ma Chaudhary w/o
IPS Suresh Chaud-
hary, Neeta Galhotra
w/o IPS OP Galhotra
and Sundra Bains
w/o IPS Kuljeet Bains
among many other
dignitaries walked
the ramp.
A HANDCRAFTED
A HANDCRAFTED
REVOLUTION
REVOLUTION
A ONE OF A KIND FASHION SHOW ON ‘TIME TRAVEL’
A ONE OF A KIND FASHION SHOW ON ‘TIME TRAVEL’
THEME, BY THE RAJASTHAN STATE HANDLOOM
THEME, BY THE RAJASTHAN STATE HANDLOOM
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WAS ORGANISED
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WAS ORGANISED
RECENTLY IN PINK CITY, WHERE 30 WOMEN
RECENTLY IN PINK CITY, WHERE 30 WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURS, WALKED THE RAMP AND
ENTREPRENEURS, WALKED THE RAMP AND
SHOWCASED THE EXCLUSIVE HANDLOOM COLLECTION!
SHOWCASED THE EXCLUSIVE HANDLOOM COLLECTION!
T
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Arshdeep Brar
Harshla Meherda
Neeta Galhotra
Neelima Chaudhary
Varsha Gupta
Dr Varsha Tanu
Vijaylakshmi Isha Swarup
Apoorva Singh Rekha Singh Sundra Bains
Aakriti
Periwal
Deepali Chugh the Make up
Hair Partner from Siz-
zlin Scizzors created spe-
cial looks for them to look
glamorous. The event was
managed by Vanamo Enter-
tainment by Abhishek Singh.
Diggi Palace was the official
hospitality partner. The
backstage for the show was
managed by Arpita Parihar
and her team from Neewara
Academy of Design. The
Show was beautifully cap-
tured by celebrity photogra-
pher Yash Jangid.

10
ETC
CITY FIRST
radip Kr Dugar,
son of Rabindra
Singh Dugar
(resident of Kol-
kata), is a profes-
sional Chartered
Accountant and
Real Estate Industry vet-
eran with 40+ years of
experience. He is married
to Mrs Pramila Dugar
and blessed with two
daughters, married and
settled in Bangalore and
one son, recently mar-
ried, all Chartered Ac-
countants (including son
and daughter in law and
working with MNCs of
repute. He is also blessed
with a beautiful grand-
daughter, aged 13. Coined
in the 18th Century, the
word Sheherwalis means
“City dwellers” A long
time ago, a community or
businessman from Ra-
jasthan migrated to the
(then) land of opportuni-
ties, Murshidabad. These
Rajasthani businessmen
called themselves “She-
herwalis” and worked
tirelessly to create their
empires in textile and
banking and went on to
become Zamindars. The
Sheherwalis, over gener-
ations, adapted to the
then prevalent cultural
influences in the region
namely, Mughal, British,
Bengali and European
and as such created their
own unique culture,
which was a melange of
all these global influences
The Sheherwalis settled
in the twin cities of Azim-
ganj Jiaganj and made
the towns famous for hav-
ing more wealth than the
combined wealth of the
(then) British aristocracy
.
The rich Jain merchant
families even financed
companies in France and
Britain and bankrolled
Nawabs in India.
LIFESTYLE
Migrated from one city to
the other, all these fami-
lies became close to each
other and adapted to their
new local environment in
terms of their food, val-
ues and practices. Ben-
gali and Nawabi influ-
ences are seen in their
fashion and style of
dressing the Sheherwali
women adorned them-
selves with Rajasthani
bore (head ornament)
and heavy meenakari
jewellery studded with
precious stones. While
the Sheherwall men wore
Rajasthani kurta, hand
frilled and pleated dhoti
(Bengali) paired with an
embroidered shawl
thrown over one shoulder
and a distinctive pagdi
(headdress):
FOOD
Like the melange of cul-
tures in their clothing,
Sheherwali cuisine is
also deeply influenced by
Rajasthani Mughal and
Bengali favours and in-
gredients. Being staunch
Jains, the cuisine only
uses non-root vegetables
and has a strong Guju-
rati influence in its dish-
es Despite generating
huge wealth, the She-
herwalis did not forget
their society and its peo-
ple. They established
many schools, temples,
markets and training
centres. Even today
many families devote
their time and effort
toward preserving
the region and its
heritage for the gen-
erations to come.
ABOUT US
Similar to the larger
community, our forefa-
thers moved to Murshi-
dabad 250-300 years
back. Post-independ-
ence, the community
have transitioned from
being Zamindars and
Merchants to successful
professionals across the
globe. As we speak, we
are a family comprising
of 11 CAS, 2 CFA and 1
CS - all holding respect-
able positions in various
MNCs. While we have
modernized, we contin-
ue to live in letter and
spirit and endorse the
rich legacy of our great
forefathers across vari-
ous acts of our life be it
lifestyle or food or phi-
lanthropy.
P
SHEHERWALI
SHEHERWALI
Sudip (Groom) and Arnika (Bride)
at the wedding reception in Kolkata
Bride and Groom being blessed by their parents at the wedding in Jaipur
Arnika and Sudip
Dugar and Khicha family enjoying the wedding celebrations
The couple seeking blessings from
the almighty at Satra Vedi Pooja
The beautiful couple arriving for the Varmala
Sudip (atop Ghodi) dancing along
with the baaraat to get Arnika home !!
The couple seeking blessing from the Khicha family
The beautiful bride
decked up in red for the big day
Sudip - all excited
and beaming with joy as
he begins a new chapter of his life
Arnika and Sudip arriving for the musical evening amidst lighting, crackers and soulful music
Time for some photoshoot amidst the beautiful flowery background

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022
11
City First
brings to you
information
about your
all-time
favourite ice
creams as
happiness
and ice
cream are
pretty much
the same
thing for all.
DHANUSHREE VYAS
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
India’s traditional ice
creams are similar to
custard because they are
thick and very dense. These
ice creams take a longer
time to melt which makes
them perfect to serve
on a stick. The available
flavours are more on the
savoury side with options
such as saffron, cardamom,
pistachio, rabdi and rose etc.
As the name says soft-
serve is all about the
super-smooth texture. The
air is introduced into it and
thus the frozen ingredients
become very soft. These
are available in different
flavours and served in
cones dipped in chocolate
or rainbow sprinkles. It is
a delight for all ice cream
lovers.
KULFI SOFT SERVE
FALOODEH
These rolled-up strips of
ice cream are very popular
among people these days.
The process of making
this ice cream is as fun as
eating it. The ice cream
mixture is poured, chopped
and mixed with different
fruit flavours to create tasty
rolls. They are commonly
eaten as street food in
Thailand, Malaysia, and
Cambodia.
ROLLED
ICE CREAM
As the name suggests, snow ice cream
tastes like sweets from heaven. It is
a frozen giant cube of milk and water
which is shaved into very thin strips.
These strips are then topped with add
ons such as fresh fruits, sweetened
condensed milk, chocolate sprinkles.
Sorbet contains no dairy
products. It is all about fruits
so is rich in taste than regular
ice creams. At times alcohol is
added to the recipe to reduce
the freezing temperature to
create its soft and icy texture.
Dollops of ice cream are
wrapped in sweet and sticky
rice dough in Japan. These ice
creams are available in different
very healthy flavours such as
green tea, red bean, vanilla and
strawberry etc.
SNOW CREAM
SORBET
MOCHI
Italian gelato ice cream is denser as it contains a
higher volume of milk than cream. It’s churned at a
slower rate hence less air gets incorporated which
leads to the formation of ripples and imperfect
scoops. This contains very less eggs giving it a
wonderfully pure flavour.
Turkish ice creams are different in both
flavour as well the texture. It contains
salep flour and mastic which makes it
chewy. It is wonderfully malleable ice
cream. All it requires is constant churning
and pulling to attain the tasty and unique
texture.
It is an icy delight that
is a mix of sugar, water
and various flavourings
from fruit, nuts and herbs
such as strawberry,
almond and mint. Its super
texture makes it best for
consumption with a spoon
from a cup or bowl. They
are very popular among
health freaks.
GELATO
DONDURMA
GRANITA
This is fruit-based ice cream with a very
smooth texture that is produced just like
standard ice cream where the ingredients
are put at lower temperatures while mixing
them. No dairy product is used in the
making of this ice cream however, it might
contain eggs at times. The general flavours
include lemon, cherry, blue raspberry and
watermelon which are enjoyed by people of
all age groups.
ITALIAN ICE
A SURPRISE IN EVERY
A SURPRISE IN EVERY LICK!
LICK!
This ice cream hails from Iran and resembles
all-time favourite noodles. It is a blend of rose
water, sugar, cream and lime juice. These rice
noodles are a perfect frozen treat for all. This is
very popular among all the age groups.
ICE CREAM
ICE CREAM

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