24022022 first india ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 90
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CORONA CATASTROPHE
Gujarat A’Bad
NEW
CASES
123
NEW
CASES
305 NEW
DEATHS
05
Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking cancella-
tion of offline examinations for class 10th and 12th to
be conducted by all state boards, CBSE, ICSE and the
NIOS. Justice A M Khanwilkar observed that such a
petition creates “false hope” and “confusion” all over.
SC JUNKS PLEA
OF CBSE OFFLINE
BOARD EXAMS
CANCELLATION
Parts of Chandigarh have been left without electric-
ity and water for over 36 hours in a major blackout
following a three-day strike by electricity department
workers. The administration, in court, accused strik-
ing workers of “acts of sabotage”.
36-HOUR BLACKOUT
IN CHANDIGARH,
CHIEF ENGINEER
APPEARS IN COURT
Raj CM Gehlot presents 1st Agri budget,
bringsbackoldpensionplanforgovtstaff
On PM Modi’s Ukraine reference
at UP poll rally, a jibe from Jayant
Lucknow: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi,
while addressing an
election rally in Uttar
Pradesh, talked about
the “global turmoil”
and called for India to
be stronger during such
times. He was making
reference to the ongo-
ing tensions between
Russia and Ukraine,
which many western
leaders said is the big-
gest crisis since the
Cold War.
Thecommentsinvited
responsefromRashtriya
LokDal(RLD)chief Jay-
ant Chaudhary
, who
asked whether voters in
Uttar Pradesh should
ask for relief.
Addressing an elec-
tion rally in Bahraich
on Tuesday, PM Modi
said, “You can see that
there is so much tur-
moil in the world right
now. In such a situation,
it is very important for
India and the entire hu-
manity to be strong to-
day. Today your every
vote will make India
strong.”
ED arrests Nawab Malik
in money laundering
case against Dawood
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Wednesday
presented his first agri-
culture Budget, propos-
ing Rs 5,000 crore for
the CM Krishak Saathi
Yojana to implement 11
schemes on a mission
mode.
Last year, the state
government had pro-
posed Rs 2,000 crore un-
der the scheme, which
has been increased to
Rs 5,000 crore in the
Budget 2022-23. “It is
our aim to strengthen
the financial situation
of farmers and make
Rajasthan stand among
top states in the agricul-
ture sector in the next
five years. In last year’s
Budget, I had an-
nounced Rs 2,000 crore
under the CM Krishak
Saathi Yojana, which I
propose to increase to
Rs 5,000 crore,” Gehlot
said.
The chief minister
also announced to bring
back old pension
scheme from next year
for all state government
employees appointed on
or after January 1, 2004.
Mumbai: The Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED)
on Wednesday arrested
NCP leader and Maha-
rashtra minister
Nawab Malik in con-
nection with the money
laundering case
against underworld
don Dawood Ibrahim
and his aides.
Steppingoutof theED
office after questioning,
Malik told reporters
“Ladenge, jeetenge, sab
ko expose karenge. (Will
fight, win and expose
everyone)”. He was tak-
en to hospital for a medi-
cal checkup, following
which he was brought to
a special court. Malik’s
lawyers have sought
time to speak to him.
NawabMalikwaspicked
up from his house by the
probe agency at 7 am on
Wednesday for interro-
gation.
ED is looking into a
Kurla property deal of
Malik, among others. It
is probing a Rs 80 lakh
payment by Nawab Ma-
lik to Haseena Parkar,
sister of Dawood Ibra-
him, to acquire a 3-acre
land in Kurla. Out of
this Rs 80 lakh, around
Rs 25 lakh was paid
through cheque and
Rs 55 lakh in cash.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: An average
of 59.12 per cent polling
was recorded on
Wednesday in 59 As-
sembly constituencies
during the fourth of the
seven-phase elections
in Uttar Pradesh, ac-
cording to the Election
Commission.
While poll panel offi-
cialsclaimedthatvoting
waslargelypeaceful,the
Samajwadi Party has al-
leged certain irregulari-
ties in some areas of
Lucknow, Unnao, Har-
doi and Sitapur and de-
manded action.
In Lakhimpur Kheri,
where eight people, in-
cluding four farmers,
were killed during a vio-
lence in October last
year,UnionMinisterand
BJP leader Ajay Mishra
cast his vote. Mishra did
not speak to the media
before and after visiting
polling booth.
Russian forces just 20 km from Ukraine, field hospitals up
Moscow: Satellite im-
ages show new deploy-
ment of the Russian
military in areas near
the Ukrainian border,
amidfearsthatRussiais
abouttoinvadeUkraine.
Yesterday
, the Russian
parliament voted to al-
low President Vladimir
Putin to use the army
outside the country to
support separatists in
Ukraine.
Thepictures,collected
by Maxar, show deploy-
ment and movement of
additional logistics and
supplies in southern Be-
larus and at multiple
sites in western Russia
near the Ukrainian bor-
der.
A large area is being
clearedforadditionalde-
ploymentnearPochep
inWesternRussia.A
new field hospital
has been set up at a
military garrison
on the western out-
skirts of Belgorod.
Several new troops
and equipment have
beendeployedinrural
areas southwest of
Belgorod, less than 20
kilometers from the
Ukraine bor-
der.
WHO IN LORD’S NAME DOES PUTIN THINK...?:
PREZ BIDEN ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS
U
S President Joe Biden announced new sanc-
tions against Russia and called President
Vladimir Putin’s moves in eastern Ukraine the
“beginning of a Russian invasion”. This comes after
President Vladimir Putin recognized the independ-
ence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk
and ordered Russian troops there. Speaking on
the Russia-Ukraine crisis from the White House,
Biden also called Putin’s moves the “beginning of a
Russian invasion” of Ukraine as he announces new
sanctions against Moscow. “We are implementing
full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial
institutions: VEB and their military bank,” Biden said
adding, “We are implementing comprehensive sanc-
tions on Russia’s sovereign debt.
UP VOTES 59.12%
IN FOURTH PHASE
NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik outside Enforcement Directorate office before
being taken for medical examination on Wednesday.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot
presenting 2022-23 Budget.
Women hold their identification cards as they pose for a photograph after casting vote at a polling
station in Lucknow on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
In Lucknow, BSP
supremo Mayawati,
Deputy CM Dinesh
Sharma and state
minister Brijesh
Pathak were among
the early voters
MALIK REMANDED TO ENFORCEMENT
DIRECTORATE CUSTODY TILL MARCH 3
Mumbai: Nawab Malik was remanded to the
Enforcement Directorate’s custody till March 3.
According to sources, Nawab Malik’s deal with
aides of Dawood Ibrahim was under the scanner
of the ED. The ED had issued summons to Malik
to appear for questioning.
MAYA, SHAH’S
“MUTUAL PRAISE”
SETS SPECULATION
ON FIRE AMID
POLL SEASON
Lucknow: Weeks
before the Uttar
Pradesh election
result, former Chief
Minister Mayawati
and Union Home
Minister Amit Shah’s
“mutual praise” has
set speculation on
fire as the BJP faces
tough challengers in
its re-election bid in
India’s biggest and
most important state.
Asked to respond to
Amit Shah’s posi-
tive assessment of
her campaign in an
interview, Mayawati
said today: “It is his
badappan (magna-
nimity) that he has
acknowledged the
truth.”
Satellite imagery released on February 22 show more than 100 vehicles and dozens of troop
tents were seen at a small airfield in southern Belarus.
West Bengal CM
Mamata speaks
to NCP chief
Sharad Pawar,
expresses support
Raj govt to buy 1,000
drones for farmers,
`5000 assistance to
landless agri labourers
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Chief
Minister Bhupendra Pa-
tel’s cabinet on Wednes-
day decided to extend
education scholarships
to SC/ST students study-
ing in private institutes.
Also on Wednesday
, the
Gujarat Secondary and
Higher Secondary Edu-
cation Board has an-
nounced that the Board
exams for Classes X and
XII will begin March 28
and end on April 12.
Announcing the
state’sdecisiononschol-
arships, education min-
ister Jitu Vaghani--who
is also the government’s
spokesperson--said,
“Scholarships will be
given to SC/ST students
for higher education in
non-FRC private colleg-
es and universities. As
manyas6,000Scheduled
Caste students will re-
ceive benefits amount-
ingtoRs12crore,while
12,000 Scheduled Tribe
students will cu-
mulatively re-
ceive Rs24
crore.”
Earlier in the day
, CM
Patel handed over Rs1.84
lakh to 33 farmers in
Gandhinagar under the
Smart Phone Assistance
Scheme. More than 3,500
farmers from about 70
places across the state
participated in this pro-
gramme, launched with
aprovisionof Rs15crore
by the Department of
Agriculture, Farmer
Welfare and Co-opera-
tion of the State Govern-
ment. At the time of its
inception, 5,911 farmers
inGujaratreceivedassis-
tance amounting to
Rs3.37 crore.
Class X and XII
board exams to
start from March 28
SC/ST STUDENTS IN PRIVATE COLLEGES,
UNIVERSITIES TO GET SCHOLARSHIPS
BOARD EXAMS FROM MARCH
According to a GSHSEB, Class XII science stream
students will kick off their Board exams with the
physics paper on March 28, and take their last
paper—optional languages—on April 08. Class
X students will begin with the language paper
on March 28 and end with the optional
second language paper on April 04.
General stream students of Class XII
will have their first paper on March 28
and their last one on April 12.
CM Bhupendra Patel addresses
the BJP state unit working
committee meeting at the
party headquarters,
Kamalam, on
Wednesday.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
02
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Workers are seen setting up for
the upcoming DefExpo-2022 in
Gandhinagar on Wednesday. The
four-day event, the 12th edition of
Asia's largest defence exhibition,
will be inaugurated by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on March
11. The Expo will see an exhibition
at the Helipad Exhibition Center,
events & seminars at the Mahatma
Mandir Convention & Exhibition
Centre, and live demonstrations
for the public at the Sabarmati
Riverfront in Ahmedabad.
—PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
First India Bureau
Surat: The farmers of
15 villages have opposed
the upcoming railway
track connecting Go-
than and Hazira. The
government has issued
a notification under
which there is a possi-
bility of land acquisi-
tion in the coming days,
and the Khedut Samaj
strongly opposes the de-
cision.
The farmers, on
Wednesday, said that
route for the new rail-
way track has been
fixed, which will benefit
only the private compa-
nies. No government
company is going to
benefit from it. So, why
is the government in-
sisting on bringing this
railway track at such a
huge cost?
Jayesh Patel, presi-
dent of Gujarat Farm-
ers' Society said, “As
per a 2008 report by the
Center for Environmen-
tal Planning and Tech-
nology (CEPT) Univer-
sity, it was made clear
that no industrial devel-
opment can be planned,
within the area in Hazi-
ra. And now, the gov-
ernment is talking
about setting up a new
railway track. It is an
anti-farmer decision.”
Farmer Ankit Patel
said, “The government
has constantly been ac-
quiring land from us in
the name of develop-
ment within our Wadia
village, for projects like
railway line, canal, gas
line, high tension elec-
tric line, Kribhako line,
ring road, making us
landless. The new land,
demarcated for the new
railway track, is just a
conspiracy to benefit
companies like Adani
and Essar,” he added.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Reve-
nue employees have
threatened to launch
an agitation unless le-
gal action is taken
against Bharuch MP
Mansukh Vasava, who
was caught on camera
using foul language
against the Karjan
Mamlatdar and Depu-
ty Mamlatdar and
other officers over il-
legal sand mining.
Gujarat Rajya Mam-
latdar Association pres-
ident Agarsinh Chau-
han in a memorandum
to Chief Minister Bhu-
pendra Patel and Reve-
nue Minister Rajendra
Trivedi has demanded
legal action against the
BJP MP.
“If action is not taken
by March 2, mamlat-
dars across the state
will stage protests with
black armbands on
March 3, and will go on
mass casual leave on
March 4,” the memo
states.
Similarly, members
of the Jilla Mehsuli
Karmachari Mandals
in Vadodara and Sabar-
kantha have also sub-
mitted memorandums
to their respective dis-
trict collectors demand-
ing legal action against
Vasava.
In a video clip that
has been doing the
rounds on social media
since Monday
, MP Vasa-
va is seen abusing offic-
ers for not taking action
against illegal mining
and owners of dumper
trucks that transport
sand while driving at
high speeds.
In his defence, Vasa-
va said that officers are
being misled.
“Illegal mining is
rampant in the area-
-under the noses of lo-
cal politicians and on
the instructions of the
local leaders. Illegal
sand mining is flourish-
ing due to the nexus be-
tween the land mafia
and local politicians,”
he said, adding that he
has raised the issue at
the highest level but in
vain.
Last week, three per-
sons were mowed down
by dumper trucks run
by the illegal miners in
the area.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: In the latest in
a long list of controver-
sies to hit the state gov-
ernment’s recruitment
process, aspirants who
failed to clear the ex-
amination for the re-
cruitment of 122 Jun-
ior Clerks in the mu-
nicipal corporation on
Wednesday alleged that
27 persons have re-
ceived job orders de-
spite failing their
exam.
They also say that
the Rajkot Municipal
Corporation has re-
vised the final order
list after the controver-
sy erupted. In the origi-
nal list, applicants who
passed the main exami-
nation as well as those
who failed it had been
included, they said.
A number of failed
aspirants who found
themselves off the orig-
inal list took up the is-
sue with the mayor and
commissioner on
Wednesday. The mayor
instructed the relevant
authorities to amend
the result in view of
the presentation.
When the issue be-
came public knowl-
edge, Congress chief
spokesperson Manish
Doshi raised several
questions, including:
“Why were orders giv-
en to 27 failed candi-
dates? When will gov-
ernment recruitment
be done in a transpar-
ent manner? Will you
take action only after
someone draws your at-
tention to irregulari-
ties? Will there be an
investigation into ir-
regularities in recruit-
ment?”
THE BIG GUNS
MORE GLITCHES UNEARTHED
IN RECRUITMENT PROCESS
As many
as 27
candidates
who failed
exam given
job orders
in Rajkot
Youths protest a leak in a previous recruitment exam. —FILE PHOTO
protest copy caption: Members of Gujarat Farmer’s Society during
their meeting on Wednesday.
Revenue employees
demand action against
BJP MP Mansukh Vasava
Farmersof15villagesoppose
Gothan-Hazirarailwayline
A still from the video showing Bharuch BJP MP Mansukh Vasava abusing officers in public. —FILE PHOTO
Bharuch MP
Mansukh Vasava was
caught on camera
hurling abuses at
officers
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: The
bloodletting in the
Gujarat Congress
continued on
Wednesday, when the
former leader of the
opposition in the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation,
Dinesh Sharma was
“terminated” by the
party amid rumours
that he is set to enter
the fold of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata
Party.
As Congress leaders
continue to defect, it is
worth considering
that at least two of
these functionaries
have publicly accused
the party leadership—
including Gujarat
Congress in-charge
Raghu Sharma—of ne-
glecting them but have
gone on to thank Bhar-
atsinh Solanki for his
support.
Dinesh Sharma
isn’t yet among those
who have crossed
over to find them-
selves in plum posi-
tions in the very BJP
they have railed and
ranted against in the
past.
Yet, his conspicuous
appreciation for Solan-
ki—who aided in his
rise to AMC LOP in the
first place—has led to
speculation that the
veteran leader might
be behind the rift in
the state Congress
unit.
Notably, when the
AMC leadership
squabbled, it was
Solanki they turned
to, even though he
does not officially hold
any post in the Gujarat
Pradesh Congress
Committee. Those
close to Dinesh Shar-
ma—who was slapped
with a notice for indis-
cipline in 2017— have
also been given posts
in the GPCC with
Solanki’s blessings.
Further, former
Congress spokesper-
son Jayrajsinh Solan-
ki who joined the BJP
on Tuesday was, or
perhaps still is, a close
Solanki aide.
While this may be
speculation, it is
worth remembering
that more than 100
Congress workers,
including many of-
fice-bearers, have
switched over to the
BJP in recent times.
Almost, if not all, of
these are known as-
sociates of Bharat-
sinh Solanki, who is
also known to have
arm-twisted senior
Congress leadership
by threatening to
quit the party in the
run-up to the last Ra-
jya Sabha elections.
Solanki refused to
respond to First In-
dia’s requests for com-
ment.
IS BHARATSINHBEHIND
RIFTINTHECONGRESS?
At least two
former Cong
functionaries
who defected
to BJP are
close aides of
the veteran
Bharatsinh Solanki. —FILE PHOTO
JUNIOR CLERK POSTS

First India Bureau
Gandhidham: A man
in his 20s entered a
class VI girl’s class-
room and forced her
into taking a selfie
with him during an
ongoing class. He was
detained by the Rapar
police station for phys-
ical contact and ad-
vancement, explicit
sexual overtures,
criminal intimidation
and under the Protec-
tion of Children from
Sexual Offences
(POSCO) Act for sexu-
al intent.
Rapar Police Inspec-
tor MN Rana and Sub-
Inspector VL Parmar
said, “Accused Rahim
Hanif Shaikh, has been
detained and que
stioned. Once his COV-
ID-19 report comes neg-
ative, he will be arrest-
ed.” Selari village is in
Rapar Taluka of Kutch
(East), and a criminal
complaint against the
youth is lodged with the
Rapar police station.
On Tuesday morn-
ing, the accused entered
class VI of Selari school
forced a girl student to
accept a birthday gift
with ‘I Love You’ writ-
ten on it, grabbed her
and forcefully took a
selfie with her. The inci-
dent was recorded on
CCTV camera.
Yet, the class teacher
turned a mute specta-
tor to this incident,
which only came to
light when the girl in-
formed her parents,
who rushed to the
school and took up the
matter with the teacher
and the principal.
Though the incident is
serious the school
teaching staff did not
make any official com-
plaints.
In her defence, the
teacher said she
thought that the person
might have been the
girl’s relative, as many
come to school to cele-
brate birthdays. Princi-
pal Govind Parmar said
he learnt of it only
when the parents com-
plained.
GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat on Wednesday
reported 305 new
COVID-19 cases,
raising its overall
tally to 12,21,581,
while five more pa-
tients succumbed to
the infection in the
state, the health de-
partment said.
Five more deaths in
the 24 hours ended 5
pm on Wednesday took
the state’s tally of COV-
ID-19 fatalities to
10,911, it said.
At the same time,
839 patients were dis-
charged, which pushed
the count of recovered
cases to 12,07,284, said
the department in a
release. There are now
3,386 active cases in
the state, of which 33
patients are on ventila-
tor support, it said.
D i s t r i c t - w i s e ,
Ahmedabad reported
123 new cases, Va-
dodara 69, and Banas-
kantha, Gandhinagar
and Surat 17 each,
among others.
Vadodara reported
two new deaths and
Bharuch, Sabarkan-
tha and Bhavnagar
one each, said the de-
partment.
As many as 1.38 lakh
people were vaccinated
against COVID-19,
which raised the num-
ber of doses adminis-
tered so far in Gujarat
to 10.26 crore, it said.
The total number of
confirmed COVID-19
cases in the Union Ter-
ritory of Dadra and
Nagar Haveli, Daman
and Diu and recoveries
remained unchanged
at 11,408 and 11,401, re-
spectively, with no ad-
ditions in the last 24
hours, officials said.
There are three ac-
tive cases in the UT,
which has reported
four deaths so far, the
officials said.
Active tally falls further to 3.4K as
downward trend continues in Guj
305 CASES, 5 DEAD
12,07,284
TOTALRECOVERED
839 MORE
IN A DAY
12,21,581
TOTAL CASES
305 CASES
IN A DAY
123 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
10,911
TOTAL DEATHS
3,386
05 DEATHS
IN A DAY
COVID-19 UPDATE
KUTCH REGISTERS MILD TREMOR
BUT NO CASUALTIES REPORTED
First India Bureau
Bhuj: A tremor of 3.4
magnitude hit Kutch
district on Wednes-
day, but there was no
report of any casu-
alty or property dam-
age, officials said.
The seismic activity
was recorded near
Bhachau at 12.05 pm,
the Gandhinagar-
based Institute of Seis-
mological Research
(ISR) said.
The tremor had its
epicentre 12 km north-
north west of Bhachau,
at a depth of 12 km, the
ISR said. An official
from the district ad-
ministration said there
was no report of any
casualty or loss of
property
.
Kutch is located in a
“very high risk” seis-
mic zone and low inten-
sity earthquakes occur
there regularly
.
The district experi-
enced two tremors of
3.4 and 3.1 magnitude
near Bhachau on Feb-
ruary 18.
In 2001, the district
witnessed a devastat-
ing earthquake of 6.9
magnitude, which had
claimed the lives of
13,800 people and in-
jured another 1.67
lakh people, as per in-
formation provided by
the Gujarat State Dis-
aster Management Au-
thority.
—FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Mehsana: Police are
questioning 28-year-
old Radhika Sanga-
da over suspicions
that she had a role
in the murder of her
t h r e e - y e a r - o l d
daughter, whose
body was found in a
field on Wednesday
morning. The cops
are also looking into
whether Radhika’s
uncle might have
had something to do
with the murder.
For the time being,
a case has been regis-
tered against un-
known persons under
sections of the Indian
Penal Code for mur-
der and kidnapping,
based on a complaint
filed by the child’s
mother.
According to police
officials, having split
from her husband,
Radhikaben lives
with her uncle in the
slums near Gokuld-
ham Flat on the
Mehsana-Gandhina-
gar link road.
On Tuesday night,
Radhikaben, a daily
wage earner, went to
sleep with her daugh-
ter Sonakshi next to
her. However, when
she woke up in the
wee hours of Wednes-
day morning, Sonak-
shi was missing.
Radhikaben then
raised an alarm and
began to look for So-
nakshi with help
from her neighbours.
However, given that it
was not yet dawn, the
search in the dark-
ness yielded no re-
sults. The search re-
sumed after the sun
rose, and Sonakshi’s
body was found at
around 7 am, in a
field just yards away.
The toddler’s neck
was covered with a
cloth, officials said.
The police have
launched an investi-
gation. As soon as the
control room received
the information, they
dispatched a team of
senior officers, and a
team from the Direc-
torate of Forensic
Sciences, which ar-
rived with a canine
unit.
Radhikaben came
under suspicion as
the police dogs kept
leading their han-
dlers to her, officials
said.
Mehsana woman being
questioned in murder
of 3-year-old daughter
Mother went to sleep with the child next to her, but toddler was
missing when she woke up in the wee hours of the morning
Police have begun an investigation, and were seen questioning the woman’s neighbours.
Youth held for making unwanted
advances toward Class VI student
Rahim Hanif Shaikh in police custody.
Harassing ex gets
youth beaten up by
the public in Rajkot
First India Bureau
Rajkot: A youth
was beaten by the
public near
Dwarkadhish hotel
on Tuesday evening
after they learned
that the boy was
publicly harassing
a girl. The boy stud-
ying in a college on
Morvi road was in
love with a girl, also
studying, in the
same college. Their
relationship had
ended just a few
days ago.
However, the boy
wanted to continue
the relationship, for
which he kept forc-
ing the girl. On Tues-
day, when he found
her near Dwarka-
dhish hotel, he again
pressured her and
was also found forc-
ing her to sit with
him on his scooter.
When the girl re-
fused, he uploaded
her unpleasant pho-
tographs on social
media.
The entire episode
was happening in a
public place. To save
the girl from harass-
ment, the people
around started beat-
ing the boy till he was
half-naked, and the
University police had
to rush to the spot.
In a video circu-
lated across social
media, the half-na-
ked boy can be seen
saying that he was
badly beaten by peo-
plebecauseheshared
the girl’s unpleasant
photographs on so-
cial media.
No official com-
plaint was lodged by
anyone. The boy was
rushed to a hospital
for suffering injuries.
A video of the incident
was widerly shared on
Wednesday.
Cops became
suspicious of
toddler’s
mother as the
police dogs
kept leading
their handlers
to her

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.90
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Silence the angry man with
love. Silence the ill-natured
man with kindness. Silence
the miser with generosity.
Silence the liar with truth.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Pralhad Joshi
@JoshiPralhad
@CoalIndiaHQ and its subsidiaries are
also incorporating the female workforce
into aspects of their operations that
were hitherto beyond the reach of
women. With their inclusive approach,
coal companies are writing a
new story of women empowerment. @
mahanadicoal Look at the example!
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
World wants ‘Made In India’. 88%
jump in exports of Electronic Goods in
Apr-Jan 2021-22 over same period in
2013-14. Government’s initiatives are
boosting domestic manufacturing of
quality globally competitive products.
TOP TWEETS
TEENAGER PRAGGU’S
STERLING PLAY
STUNS CARLSEN, THE
WORLD CHAMPION
eating Magnus Carls-
en, world champion
since 2013, was a
memorable event for
chess lovers in India.
For R. Praggnanandhaa, Praggu
in short, it was an incredible win
in39movesintheAirthingsMas-
ters online rapid chess tourna-
ment. To put the 16-year-old’s
achievement in perspective,
Carlsen has been beaten only by
twootherIndians---formerworld
champion Vishwanathan Anand
and another top player P.
Harikrishna. Praggu has been
the world champion in Under-8
and Under 18, so it is easy to look
at the chess prodigy as the cham-
pion of tomorrow. In an earlier
encounter Carlsen and Praggu
played “a memorable” 80-move
game which eventually ended in
a draw which must have given
the Norwegian a feel of his prow-
ess. But beating the world cham-
pion was one of the big dreams
of Praggu, who became the
youngest Grandmaster in 2018.
The stunning win will go a
long way in popularising the
game, which now offers big prize
money
,amongtheyouthinIndia.
B
umbaihasbecome
a hunting ground
for the Enforce-
ment Directorate
which has been
taking on leaders of the
Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP). The
latest to fall in ED’s net is
Nawab Malik, Maharashtra’s
Minister for Minority Devel-
opment, who has been arrest-
ed for alleged money launder-
ing in a property deal and
links with Dawood Ibrahim
aides. Dawood’s brother Iqbal
Kaskar was arrested earlier.
Last year the Narcotics Con-
trol Bureau (NCB) had arrest-
ed Malik’s son-in-law Sameer
Khan in a drug-related case.
More than Malik it is the
NCP and the Uddhav Thack-
eray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) government which
the ED is chipping away at
and leaders of the coalition
know that. Before swooping
down on Malik the ED had
arrested the state’s Home
Minister Anil Deshmukh,
also a senior leader of the
NCP. Malik was the most vo-
cal critic of the ED, NCB and
CBI when they arrested
Deshmukh and Aryan Khan,
actor Shahrukh Khan’s son.
Defending Deshmukh, Malik
had described his arrest as
“politically motivated”. “It is
aimed at scaring leaders of
the MVA,” Malik said.
Deshmukh’s arrest was a
setbackfortheNCP
,butthatof
Malik has come as a jolt.
Sharad Pawar has accused
China of using Central agen-
cies to target MVA. His daugh-
terSupriyaSulecalleditanew
brand of politics. There’s little
else Pawar, Sule and Sanjay
Rautcando,otherthanwaitto
seewho’snextinEDandCBI’s
cross-hairs.Or,maybe,quickly
form a national alliance.
ED DEALS
STAGGERING BLOW
TO MVA, NCP
NAWAB MALIK SUPRIYA SULE SANJAY RAUT
The latest to fall in ED’s net
is Nawab Malik,
Maharashtra’s Minister
for Minority
Development, who has
been arrested for
alleged money
laundering in a property
deal and links with Dawood
Ibrahim aides. Dawood’s
brother Iqbal Kaskar was
arrested earlier. Last year
the NCB had arrested Malik’s
son-in-law Sameer Khan in a
drug-related case
M
unich – The world is not en-
during a “Ukraine crisis,”
but rather a Russia crisis. So
said Germany’s new foreign
minister, Annalena Baer-
bock, at the most recent Mu-
nich Security Conference,
which was dominated by the
situation in eastern Europe.
In fact, Russia’s crisis goes
even deeper than Baerbock
probably meant. We are wit-
nessing the latest install-
ment in a longer process.
Russia is trying to decide
whether it is a nation-state or
an aspiring empire, and until
this fundamental question is
resolved, conflicts like the
one over Ukraine will con-
tinue in various forms.
On paper, the Soviet Union
was a multinational federa-
tion of republics. In reality,
Russians were solidly in
command of a tightly con-
trolled regime headed by the
Communist Party. One rea-
son for the Soviet collapse
was that many of its con-
stituent republics had
become aspiring nation-
states, or, as with the
Baltic republics,
sought to recover
their independence.
The single most im-
portant factor was
Ukraine’s Decem-
ber 1991 referendum, in
which an overwhelming ma-
jority voted for independ-
ence. But then-Russian Presi-
dent Boris Yeltsin’s behind-
the-scenes efforts to assert
Russia’s own sovereignty
were also important.
At the time, Soviet Presi-
dent Mikhail Gorbachev was
still struggling to preserve
certain state structures, and
he responded with hostility
to the three Baltic republics’
expressed aspirations. But he
was undercut by Yeltsin, who
had recognized the independ-
ence of Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania even before the
Ukrainian referendum.
That was the start of to-
day’s Russia crisis, fueled by
the conflict between building
a modern state and economy,
on one hand, and indulging
imperial nostalgia, on the
other. As a result, Russia’s
economic and political mod-
ernization has been ham-
pered, and its neighbors’ se-
curity has been in doubt.
The best way for Russia to
guarantee its own security
would be to foster friendly
relations with its neighbors,
so that they can feel secure
and stable themselves. But it
has not done that, and now a
growing number of Ukrain-
ians want to join NATO. Un-
realistic as that seems, they
recognize that their own na-
tional aspirations are direct-
ly threatened by Russian im-
perial revanchism.
To be sure, the road to es-
tablishing the same kind of
relationship between Russia
and Ukraine is much longer.
Putin’s behavior has under-
standably left Ukrainians
skeptical of Russia, if not
hostile toward it. Unless Rus-
sia refocuses on building its
future solely within its own
borders, the region will re-
main under a cloud of inse-
curity, ultimately to Russia’s
detriment.
Istillrememberaconversa-
tion I had decades ago with
former German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl, a statesman
well versed in European his-
tory
.DiscussingLuxembourg,
he noted that Germany is
secure because even
its smallest neighbor
sees it as a close
friend. Germany
has come to terms
with its past. Rus-
sia has not. Until it
does,allof Europe,
butespeciallyRus-
siaitself,willcon-
tinue to suffer.
SOURCE:
PROJECT SYNDICATE
RUSSIA’S LETHAL
IDENTITY CRISIS
M
CARL BILDT,
The writer is former
Prime Minister of Sweden
In fact, Russia’s crisis goes
even deeper than Baerbock
probably meant. We are
witnessing the latest
installment in a longer
process. Russia is trying to
decide whether it is a
nation-state or an aspiring
empire, and until this
fundamental question is
resolved, conflicts like the
one over Ukraine will
continue in various forms
The irony of this history-driven strategy is that if one
were to survey the Europe of a thousand years ago, there
would be no Russia to speak of. Rudimentary Slavic
state structures had begun to emerge in the
region stretching from Novgorod to Kyiv, along
the old trading routes between the Baltic and Black Seas

INDIA
05
Kaushambi: In a veiled
attack at the previous
Uttar Pradesh govern-
ments, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on
Wednesday said that
history has shown that
State is not secure in the
hands of family-orient-
ed political parties.
History shows that
the state is not secure in
the hands of family-ori-
ented political parties.
Therewereback-to-back
terrorist attacks in Ut-
tarPradeshduringtheir
rules. Unfortunately
, in-
stead of punishing the
terrorists of these
blasts, the Samajwadi
government worked to
get them released, said
while addressing an
election rally in Kaush-
ambi.
He further said that
dynastic politics de-
prived Kaushambi of
development.
During the reign of
the past governments,
criminals roamed freely
and forcefully took pos-
session of other people's
land and properties.
Ourmothersanddaugh-
ters felt unsafe while
coming out of their
homes. Instead of pro-
vidinggoodgovernance,
the past govts exploited
the people and their
leaders built lavish pal-
aces. We on the other
hand have made homes
for the poor.
Taking a jibe at Akh-
ilesh Yadav, he said sev-
eral scams came to light
including mining, am-
bulance, food grain and
riverfront during the
Samajwadi party's rule.
Scams were the se-
cret of their rule. Min-
ing Scam, Food Scam,
Ambulance Scam, River
Front Scam. Today eve-
ry penny of the State is
being spent on the wel-
fare of the people. This
govt has done the work
of saving terrorists. To-
day, talent is being re-
spected and industries
are being set up in every
district of the state.
Taking a dig at Oppo-
sitionleaders,thePrime
Minister said that the
'mausami' (seasonal)
leaders disappeared
during the Covid-19
peak, reappeared at the
time of the election and
will again disappear af-
ter election results will
be announced. —Agencies
State not secure in hands of
‘Parivarwadis’: Modi in UP
Samajwadi Party worked to get blast terrorists released, PM said in Kaushambi
Lucknow: Voting for
the fourth phase of Ut-
tar Pradesh (UP) As-
sembly elections ended
at 6 pm on Wednesday,
23Februarywitha59.12
per cent voter turnout
recorded. Counting of
the votes will be done
on 10 March.
Many high-profile
leaders including Un-
ion Minister Rajnath
Singh and Bahujan Sa-
maj Party (BSP) chief
Mayawati cast their
votes in the capital city
.
Minister of State
Home Affairs Ajay
Mishra Teni cast his
vote in a polling booth
in Banbirpur of Lakh-
impurKheri.Teni'sson,
Ashish Mishra, is the
prime accused in the
murder of four farm-
ers, who were crushed
under one of his cars.
Asha Singh, Con-
gress candidate and the
mother of the girl who
was allegedly raped by
former BJP MLA Kul-
deep Singh Sengar, also
cast her vote in Unnao.
In 2017, 62.55 per cent
polling was reported
across these seats,
while in the 2019 Lok
Sabha polls, it was
60.03%. —Agencies
Kheri records highest turnout at 62.42%
Voters take a selfie while showing their ink marked fingers
after casting their votes during the fourth phase of the UP
Assembly polls, in Lucknow on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Churachandpur: On
his maiden poll visit to
Manipur, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Wednesday said that the
focus of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Gov-
ernment at the Centre is
to take the State on the
path of innovation, in-
frastructure and inte-
gration.
Ourfocusistoensure
that we take forward the
dream of Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi. He
has always kept the de-
velopment of Northeast
and Manipur a priority
.
We want to take the state
on the path of innova-
tion, infrastructure and
integration, said Shah
at a rally in Churachan-
dpur. He has visited the
district almost after 4.5
years. “Improving the
sports infrastructure is
the focal point of both
state as well the central
government,”said Shah.
—PTI
Manipur devp PM’s
priority,says Shah
Lucknow: BSP presi-
dent Mayawati on
Wednesday exuded con-
fidence that her party
will repeat its show of
2007 and SP president
Akhilesh Yadav's
dreams of forming gov-
ernment will be shat-
tered.
She also thanked the
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah for acknowl-
edging BSP's relevance
in the state, saying her
party is getting votes of
all sections of society
.
When the results are
declared on March 10,
BSPwillformitsgovern-
ment like it did in 2007
with full majority,
Mayawati told media af-
ter casting her vote.
Asked about Akhilesh's
claims about Samajwa-
di Party getting Muslim
voters' support, she said
the ground reality can-
not be more different
and can be known by
visiting villages. —ANI
Mayawati sure of
forming govt,
says SP ‘dreams’
will be shattered
New Delhi: An amount
of `18,000crorehasbeen
returned to banks from
fugitive tycoons Vijay
Mallya, Nirav Modi and
Mehul Choksi, the gov-
ernment has told the
Supreme Court, which
is hearing a batch of pe-
titions challenging the
wide scope of powers
given to the Enforce-
mentDirectorateincon-
nection to money laun-
dering cases.
Over the last weeks,
several senior advo-
cates, including Kapil
Sibal, Abhishek Manu
Singhvi and Mukul Ro-
hatgi have made sub-
missions before the
Supreme Court on po-
tential misuse of the
recent amendments to
the Prevention of
Money Laundering
Act or PMLA.
The law has been crit-
icised over a range of
issues — stringent bail
conditions, non-com-
munication of grounds
of arrest, arrest of per-
sons without supply of
ECIR (parallel to a First
Information Report
filed by the police), the
broadening of the defi-
nition of money laun-
dering, proceeds of
crime, and statements
given by accused during
investigation made ad-
missible as evidence
during trial.
A very small number
of cases are being taken
up for investigation un-
der the PMLA in India,
compared to the situa-
tion abroad, the Centre
told a bench of Justices
AMKhanwilkar,Dinesh
Maheshwari and CT Ra-
vikumar.
As examples, the Cen-
tre cited the UK, where
7,900 cases have been
filed under the PMLA in
a year, the US (1,532),
China (4,691), Austria
(1,036), Hongkong
(1,823), Belgium (1,862)
and Russia (2,764).
In India, 4,700 PMLA
cases are being investi-
gated by the Enforce-
mentDirectorateandthe
total proceeds of crimes
pending before the court
amountsto`67,000crore,
the Centre said.
The number of cases
taken up for investiga-
tion each year in the
last 5 years varies from
111 cases in 2015-16 to
981 in 2020-21, the Cen-
tre said. Over the last
five years (2016-17 to
2020-21), 33 lakh FIRs
have been filed for such
offences. But only 2,086
cases were taken up for
investigation, the Cen-
tre said. —PTI
`18,000 crore returned to banks from Vijay Mallya, others: Centre
IN THE SUPREME COURT
lll
In India, 4,700
PMLA cases are
being probed by
the Enforcement
Directorate and
total proceeds of
crimes pending
before the court
amounts to
` 67,000 crore
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: It seems
that the Congress par-
ty has no hope from
Uttar Pradesh, be-
cause if the Congress
had any hope of even
making a dent in the
results, it would not
have happened that
Punjab Chief Minis-
ter Charanjit Singh
Channi, would have
abused the people of
Bihar and UP and ap-
pealed to them to stop
coming to Punjab, all
while when Priyanka
was sitting on the
stage and she kept
smiling on while lis-
tening to the speech!
Priyanka kept listen-
ing to this speech be-
cause she knows that
nothing is to be
achieved in UP, while
in Punjab Channi may
bring Congress back
to power. So why
should the power of
Punjab be lost in the
affair of UP Bihar?
Just imagine, Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
even reached Uttar
Pradesh with Channi,
who gave a speech to
stop the 'Bhaiya' from
BiharUttarPradesh,
and joined with Chan-
ni in Ravidas Jayanti
and also gave an elec-
tion message to the
Dalit society
. Earlier,
in the presence of Pri-
yanka, Channi had
said on the stage that
'Brothers' from UP
should not be allowed
to even move about in
Punjab.
When Channi said
this, the crowd raised
slogans of 'Jo Bole So
Nihal'. Priyanka also
joined this sloganeer-
ing.Latersheremoved
her 'shyness' and said
thatthosecomingfrom
outside should be
taught 'Punjabiyat'.
Congress does not have
hope from itself in UP!
DEMOCRATIC EXERCISE
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his family members show their ink marked fingers after
casting their votes for the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, in Lucknow on
Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
MATHURA: DALITS ATTACKED
FOR CASTING VOTE, 6 HURT
Agra: As the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election
enters its fourth phase, it has been reported that peo-
ple of the Dalit community in Adda village of Magorra
area were attacked in which about a dozen people
were left injured. It is
alleged that the victims
were attacked for not
voting for a particular
political party. The in-
cident took place in the
Govardhan and Saunkh
areas of Mathura district, which falls under Agra
division. The polling in Agra and Mathura districts
was completed in the first phase of the Assembly
elections, on February 10. The victims approached the
police station to register a complaint, but were chased
away. It was only after the intervention of the senior
officials that a case was registered against seven
accused. All those injured are reported to be of the
“Jatav” caste. One of the victims of the attack, Bobby,
spoke to media. —Agencies
Mayawati casts vote in
Lucknow on Wednesday.
Home Minister Amit Shah
Cutouts of Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul
Gandhi at a poll rally. —FILE PHOTO
PM Modi addresses a public meeting for the Uttar Pradesh
assembly polls in Kaushambi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
During the reign of the
past governments,
criminals roamed
freely and forcefully
took possession of oth-
er people’s land. Our
mothers daughters
felt unsafe while com-
ing out of their homes.
—Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Bahraich: Akhilesh
Yadav on Wednesday
said the Samajwadi
Party-led alliance
will score a double-
century of seats by
the fourth phase of
Uttar Pradesh polls
and asked people to
ensure a historic
win for the coalition.
He also took a dig
at Union Home Min-
ister Amit Shah over
his reported prom-
ise of providing lap-
tops to those who
take admission in
Inter after passing
class 12.
Inter is the short
form of Intermedi-
ate and refers to
classes 11 and 12.
There is a leader
in the BJP who...
made a statement on
distributing laptops
and whoever heard
it has gone 'lotpot'
(split their sides
laughing). He said
those who take ad-
mission in Inter af-
ter Class 12 will be
given laptops. Good
that he did not say
those doing class 10
after Inter will get a
laptop, else people
would be perturbed,
Mr Yadav said at an
election meeting
here.
Making light of
the BJP targeting
the Samajwadi party
with new sobriquets,
he said, They are
going A for this, B
for that ... and read-
ing ABCD these
days. I want to
make them learn
Hindi... 'kaka' stands
for 'kala kanoon'
(black agri laws)
which have gone and
so will 'Baba' (Yogi
Adityanath). —PTI
SP supremo claims
double century
seats by 4th phase
UP ASSEMBLY POLLS
Mehul Choksi Nirav Modi Vijay Mallya

INDIA
06
Mumbai: After Maha-
rashtra Minister
Nawab Malik’s arrest in
a money laundering
case, the BJP has de-
manded the NCP lead-
er’s resignation and
warned of protests if
he did not step down.
Speaking to media
persons, Maharashtra
BJP chief Chandrakant
Patil said, “Nawab Ma-
lik has been arrested,
he should resign now.
We demand his resigna-
tion. If he doesn’t, we
will protest. How are
they running the gov-
ernment? There’s a
long list of allegations
against Maharashtra
Ministers, will get tired
reading it.” Speaking to
media persons, Maha-
rashtra BJP chief
Chandrakant Patil said,
“Nawab Malik has been
arrested, he should re-
sign now. We demand
his resignation. If he
doesn’t, we will protest.
There’s a long list of al-
legations against Maha-
rashtra Ministers.”
Earlier in day
, ED had
arrested Nationalist
Cong Party leader in
connection with under-
world don Dawood Ibra-
him’s money launder-
ing case.
BJP demands Nawab Malik's
resignation, warns of protests
EXPANSION OF WOMEN
LED SHGS NEEDED: MODI
HE WAS ADDRESSING A WEBINAR ON BUDGET
2022, THEME“LEAVING NO CITIZEN BEHIND”
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Wednesday
said that financial in-
clusion has ensured
greater participation
of women in economic
decisions. PM Modi
also said that women
are major pillars of the
rural economy.
Prime Minister stat-
ed that there is a need to
increase efforts to en-
sure more and more
Startups in rural parts
of India. He also
stressed that the partici-
pation of women
through Self Help
Groups (SHGs) needs to
be expanded further.
Women's power is a
major pillar of the rural
economy. Financial in-
clusion has ensured
greater participation of
women in economic de-
cisions in households.
This participation of
women through SHGs
needs to be expanded
further, said PM Modi
while addressing a we-
binar on the Union
Budget 2022 with the
theme of Leaving No
Citizen Behind.
PM Modi also empha-
sised for more Startups
to come up in rural In-
dia. The target of 'Leav-
ing no citizen behind'
can only be achievable
with such, he added.
Today, in most of the
states of India, there is
a need to emphasize the
outcome more than the
output. Today, a lot of
money goes to the vil-
lages. If that money is
used at the right time,
then the situation of
the villages can
change, he said. —ANI
New Delhi: Digital connectivity of
villages is no longer an aspiration but
the need of the day, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.
Digital connectivity of villages is no
longer an aspiration but the need of
the day. Broadband connectivity will
not only provide facilities in the vil-
lages, but it will also help in creating
a large pool of skilled youth in the vil-
lages, said Prime Minister Narendra
Modi while addressing a programme
on the Union Budget 2022. When
the service sector expands with
broadband connectivity in the vil-
lage, the country's potential will
increase further. If there are
any problems in optical fiber
connectivity, then we have
to identify them and find
solutions, the Prime
Minister said. He said
that the citizens of
the country need to inform the rural
population about the proper usage
of optical fibre networks. We need
to identify and solve all optical fibre
connectivity issues across the na-
tion's rural areas. We also need to in-
f o r m the rural population
about the proper
usage of optical
fibre networks
in villages
that are now
connected,
he said.
DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY OF VILLAGES NEED OF DAY,
WILL CREATE POOL OF SKILLED YOUTH: PM MODI
Vibrant Village
Programme in
budget is
important: PM
‘OVER 172.68
CR DOSES
WITH
STATES/UTS’
New Delhi: PM Modi
on Wednesday said that
the 'Vibrant Village
Programme' an-
nounced in the budget
is very important for
the development of our
border villages.
Addressing a webi-
nar on the Union Budg-
et 2022, he said, Vi-
brant Village Pro-
gramme announced in
budget is very impor-
tant for development of
our border villages. On
Feb 1, Union FM Nir-
mala Sitharaman had
proposed to cover vil-
lages on northern bor-
der under new Vibrant
Villages Programme.
Speaking further, the
PM said, In this budg-
et, a clear roadmap has
been given by govt to
achieve this lofty goal
of saturation. 'Sabka
Saath, Sabka Vikas,
Sabka Vishwas Sab-
ka Prayas' are driving
force.” —ANI
New Delhi: More
than 172.68 crore
doses of COVID-19
vaccines have been
provided to the States
and Union Territories,
said the Union Ministry
of Health Family
Welfare on Wednesday.
A balance of more than
10.98 cr vaccination
doses is still available
with States Union
Territories, added
ministry. More than
172.68 crores vac-
cine doses have been
provided to States/
UTs so far through
Government of India
through direct state
procurement category.
More than 10.98 Cr
(10,98,57,832) balance
unutilized COVID
Vaccine doses are still
available, ministry.
PM Modi addressing a webinar on Wednesday.
15,102 new Covid cases
recorded, 278 deaths
New Delhi: India re-
ported as many as
15,102 fresh COVID-19
infections and 278 fa-
talities in the last 24
hours, the Ministry of
Health and Family
Welfare informed on
Wednesday
.
With this single-day
rise of COVID-19 in-
fections, the country's
tally of cases touched
4,28,67,031 in the coun-
try
. Active cases stand
at 1,64,522 which ac-
count for 0.38 per cent
of the total cases. The
ministry informed
that 31,377 fresh recov-
eries from Coronavi-
rus were logged in the
last 24 hours thereby
increasing the total re-
coveries to 4,21,89,887
in India.
The recovery rate
is currently at 98.42
percent.
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Assembly
elections are over in
three states. All the
seats in Uttarakhand
and Goa went to the
polls on Feb 14 and in
Punjab, polls on all the
seats ended on Sunday
.
But instead of Congress'
concerns ending, it has
increased drastically
.
Not much about Punjab,
but the Congress leader-
ship in Uttarakhand
and Goa is worried.
There is no worry in
Punjab because BJP is
not contesting as a ma-
jor force there, so there
is no situation that the
government will be
formed by BJP, whatev-
er the outcome after the
elections.
Two issues are trou-
bling the Congress in Ut-
tarakhand and Goa. The
first issue is the possibil-
ity of EVMs being re-
placed or any malprac-
tices in them and per-
haps that is why Con-
gress party leaders are
guarding every place
where EVM machines
have been kept. In every
district where counting
centers have been set up,
EVMs are kept in strong
rooms and Congress
leaders are guarding
them outside. This rais-
es a big question on the
credibility of the Elec-
tion Commission, how-
ever, the commission ap-
pears to be not a bit wor-
ried about its credibility
.
However, the state
BJP leaders are attack-
ing the Congress party
for guarding the strong
room saying that Con-
gressislosingbutisnow
doing drama to blame
on EVMs. But remem-
ber, this is not a unique
thing. In many other
states also it was seen
that the leaders of the
opposition parties stood
guard outside the strong
room from the day of
polling till the day of
counting. Think, what
kindof distrusthasaris-
en in the entire process
of voting and counting.
The way the Congress
is concerned about the
guarding of the strong
room, in the same way
there is concern in the
Congress about its po-
tentialMLAs.InGoa,the
Congress is busy guard-
ing all its candidates
who are likely to win the
assembly elections. The
Congress has also ac-
cused the BJP and said
that the BJP leaders
have already started
working to break the po-
tential Congress MLAs.
However, this time Con-
gresshasgiventicketsto
lessnumberof defectors
and has also got them to
file affidavits and still
the Congress party is
worried. Then party
leaders said that Chief
Minister Pramod
Sawant and Health Min-
ister Vishwajit Rane are
in touch with some Con-
gress leaders and are al-
ready trying to break
them. In Manipur too,
Congresspartyisworry-
ing about same thing.
The modern age
Congress dilemma:
Strong rooms and
defecting MLAs
Bengaluru: The
Karnataka govern-
ment said the state
has crossed 10
crore COVID vac-
cination doses on
Wednesday. State
Health Minister Dr
Sudhakar K said
on Wednesday,
Karnataka has
crossed 10 crore
COVID vaccina-
tions doses today.
Dr Sudhakar said
that to achieve
this milestone,
the state took 1
year and 39 days.
The state health
minister also
congratulated all
the health workers
and the district ad-
ministration. —ANI
Puducherry: The Puducherry Assembly was ad-
journed sine die after a brief session of 22 minutes
on Wednesday.
After transacting the
scheduled business,
Puducherry Assembly
Speaker R Selvam
adjourned the House
sine die. As the
Assembly session began, the MLAs of DMK and
Congress staged a protest, demanding exemption
in NEET examination.
Mumbai: Former Mumbai NCB Zonal Director
Sameer Wankhede arrived at Kopri Police Station in
Thane on February 23 in connection with an alleged
forgery case. A complaint was filed by Maharashtra
Excise Department official Shankar Gogavale, in
which he alleged that Wankhede was below 18 years
of age in 1996-97 while obtaining a licence for Sad-
guru Bar in the city. Bombay High Court has granted
Wankhede interim protection till February 28.
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chair-
man Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said India
is likely to become world’s third largest economy
by 2030. He also exuded confidence that India
would take over Japan to become the second
largest economy in Asia.”India is likely to over-
take Japan as Asia’s second largest economy,
and the world’s third largest economy by 2030,”
Ambani said while speaking at the Asia Economic
Dialogue (AED) 2022. India could become a
global green energy superpower, he added.
KARNATAKA
CROSSES 10
CRORE CASES
PUDUCHERRY ASSEMBLY ADJOURNED
SINE DIE AFTER MEETING FOR 22 MINS
SAMEER WANKHEDE ARRIVES AT KOPRI
POLICE STATION IN FORGERY CASE
INDIA LIKELY TO BECOME 3RD
LARGEST ECONOMY BY 2030: AMBANI
New Delhi: Flight
AI 1946 comprised
mostly of stu-
dents. Indian em-
bassy in Kyiv had
earlier asked stu-
dents to temporar-
ily leave the coun-
try amid the rising
tensions in region
after President Pu-
tin said his regime
would recognise 2
areas in eastern
Ukraine escalat-
ing tensions with
the West. Delhi.
New Delhi: Amid ris-
ing popularity of cryp-
tocurrencies in India,
the Advertising Stand-
ards Council of India
(ASCI) has framed
guidelines for virtual
digital asset advertise-
ment. The ASCI noted
that crypto advertise-
ments often do not ade-
quately disclose the
risk associated with
cryptocurrency and
NFTs. To ensure that
these ads do not exploit
consumers, the body in-
troduced new guide-
lines to carry necessary
disclaimer.
Indians arrive
in AI flight
from Ukraine
CRYPTO CURRENCY
ADS CAN'T USE
'CURRENCY': ASCI
CRUCIAL READ
Delhi HC on Wednesday issued notice
to Centre Judo Federation of India
(JFI) on the plea by the Bombay Judo
Association seeking restoration of
voting rights. Justice V Kameswar Rao
issued notice.
Mumbai: Bombay HC on
Wednesday dismissed
2 petitions against Alia
Bhatt-starrer movie 'Gan-
gubai Kathiawadi' and
disposed off another peti-
tion against it. Dismissed
petitions include one filed
by Cong MLA Amin Patel.
The HC has disposed off
the petition of Hiten Me-
hta. The film directed by
Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
On Wednesday, Delhi HC dismissed a PIL
seeking direction to the Union of India,
for implementation of Whistle-Blowers
Protection Act, 2014. Union of India has
not brought any notification under the
provision of Whistle-Blowers, said plea.
NOTICE TO MINISTRY
HC ON 'GANGUBAI
KATHIAWADI' PLEA
DELHI HC DISMISSES PIL
IN THE COURTYARD
A Delhi HC judge on Wednesday
recused from hearing an appeal
moved by social media platforms
challenging a single judge order
which had asked to remove video
content. Next hearing on March 21.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on
Wednesday said it will hear on March
9 a plea of BJP leader Subramanian
Swamy seeking direction to the Cen-
tre to declare 'Ram Setu' as a national
heritage monument.
SOCIAL MEDIA APPEAL SWAMY'S PLEA ON MARCH 9
Polling staff marks a voter’s
finger with ink at polling
station. —PHOTO BY ANI
A beneficiary reacts as she gets inoculated.
Nawab Malik raise slogans as he is being taken for medical
examination, in Mumbai. —PHOTO BY ANI
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Shivamogga: A friend of Bajrang Dal
activist Harsha, who was stabbed to
death in Karnataka's Shivamogga,
said Harsha received repeated calls
from unknown numbers asking him
to come outside. He said they were
together till around 7-8 pm when
Harsha received video calls.
Hyderabad: Activists of Vishwa
Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal held a
‘Mashal Rally’ here on Wednesday in
memory of a Bajrang Dal worker who
was allegedly murdered in Shivamog-
ga on Sunday Calls to ban the Popular
Front of India (PFI) and the Students’
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
SAKSHI MAHARAJ
WANTS BAN ON HIJAB
CALL FROM UNKNOWN NO. MASHAL RALLY HELD
8 arrested in Bajrang Dal case
Bengaluru: As many
as 8 people have been
arrested in connection
with the murder of Ba-
jrang Dal activist Har-
sha in Shivamogga,
Karnataka Home Min-
ister Araga Jnanendra
said on Wednesday
.
Speaking to report-
ers, Karnataka Home
Minister said, Until
last night, six suspects
were arrested and today
two more arrests.
Eight persons have
been arrested as of now
officially, others are be-
ing interrogated, inves-
tigation going on.”—ANI
Unnao: BJP MP from
Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj,
on Wednesday demanded
a law to ban wearing of
hijab across country. He
also slammed the Opposi-
tion for stoking hijab row.
Members of Rashtriya Bajrang Dal burn an effigy. —PHOTO BY ANI

BIZ BUZZ
07
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
India could export $500 bn in green
energy over 20 yrs: MukeshAmbani
New Delhi: India could
become a global green
energy superpower
with exports of clean
energy rising to $500
billion over the next 20
years, Mukesh Amba-
ni, chairman of Reli-
ance Industries, said
on Wednesday
.
Speaking at the Asia
Economic Dialogue,
Ambani said, India
should have a strategy
to end dependence on
fossil fuels in the next
two to three decades.
India is one of the
most attractive destina-
tions for renewable en-
ergy investments, Am-
bani said, adding that
he believes the union
government is ex-
tremely committed to
promote green energy
and is one of the most
proactive in world.
Ambani has already
announced plans last
month to invest $75 bil-
lion in renewables in-
frastructure including
generation plants, so-
lar panels and elec-
trolyzers.
“If the last 20
years, we were
known for India’s
emergence as an IT
superpower, next 20
years, I believe, along
with technology, will
mark our emergence as
a superpower in ener-
gy and life sciences,”
the oil-to-telecom con-
glomerate’s chief said.
The government has
recently unveiled a
green hydrogen policy
un-
d e r
which it seeks to manu-
facture five million
tonnes of green hydro-
gen per annum by 2030,
aiming to meet its cli-
mate targets and be-
come a production
and export hub for the
fuel.
Green hydrogen --
made from water and
clean electricity -- is
seen as crucial for the
world’s emissions re-
duction goals, helping
consumers and key in-
dustries such as steel
transition to lower-car-
bon fuels.
While Reliance
hasn’t broken out how
much will be devoted to
hydrogen, the $75 bil-
lion investment in
clean energy is by far
the biggest in the coun-
try
.
The government will
set up separate manu-
facturing zones, waive
inter-state power trans-
mission charges for 25
years and provide pri-
ority connectivity to
electric grids to green
hydrogen and ammo-
nia producers in a bid
to incentivise produc-
tion.
—Agencies
Advertiserswillput
disclaimersfor
‘highlyrisky’cryptos
Mumbai: Advertis-
ers will have to
prominently carry a
disclaimer for cryp-
to products and non-
fungible tokens
mentioning that
these products are
“unregulated and
canbehighlyrisky”,
according to the Ad-
vertising Standards
Council of India.
Besides, the self-
regulatory has said
that such advertise-
ments should men-
tion that there may
be no regulatory re-
course for any loss
from such transac-
tions. All VDAs,
which are common-
ly referred to as
crypto or NFTs, will
have to put the dis-
claimer in a “promi-
nent and unmissa-
ble” way in cam-
paigns for products
and services. The
announcement of
the guidelines, done
after consultations
with industry stake-
holders, govt and fi-
nancial regulators
as well, comes as the
advertising for the
controversial prod-
ucts and services is
on the upswing.—PTI
VI in talks
withAirtel to
sell 5% stake
New Delhi: British
telecom giant Voda-
fone is in discussions
to sell around 5%
stake in Indus Tow-
ers to Bharti Airtel,
according to sources.
The industry
sources said that
Vodafone is in talks
to sell its about 5%
stake in Indus Tow-
ers, valued at over
`3,300 crore, to Bhar-
ti Airtel. The pro-
ceeds will be pumped
into the Indian entity
Vodafone Idea.
Indus Towers Lim-
ited provides passive
telecom infrastruc-
ture. It deploys, owns
and manages tele-
com towers and com-
munication struc-
tures for various mo-
bile operators.
The company's
portfolio of over
1,84,748 telecom tow-
ers makes it one of
the largest tower in-
frastructure provid-
ers in the country
with presence in all
22 telecom circles. In-
dus Towers caters to
all wireless telecom-
munication service
providers in India.
—PTI
Four in 10 employees may switch jobs in India this year: Survey
New Delhi: Nearly
40% of workers could
switch jobs this year in
India, a report said on
Wednesday
.
According to experi-
ence management firm
Qualtrics, despite re-
spondents in India re-
porting some of the
highest levels of en-
gagement (85 per cent)
and wellbeing (89 per
cent) at work globally,
just 62 per cent plan to
stay with their current
employer for the next
12 months.
“As seen in the Qual-
trics research, address-
ing the challenges
faced are not as simple
as setting new work
schedules or boosting
engagement,” Lauren
Huntington, Employee
Experience Solutions
Strategist for Qualtrics
in India, said in a state-
ment.
“People are making
career decisions based
on multiple factors,
meaning the ability to
quickly and easily
identify and respond to
the issues having the
biggest impact with
tools like Qualtrics is a
significant advantage,”
Huntington added.
At a time when tier-
II and tier-III cities are
emerging as talent
hubs, and high levels
of hiring sentiment,
the findings highlight
the critical need for
employers to prioritise
improving the employ-
ee experience to attract
and retain talent in In-
dia’s competitive job
market.
For employers look-
ing to increase intent
to stay among their em-
ployees in hybrid or
remote environments,
ensuring individuals
are aligned with the
strategic goals of the
organisation is key
.
Prioritising employ-
ee wellbeing, creating a
culture of belonging,
and ensuring employ-
ees feel like their ca-
reer goals can be met
are also important
drivers of intent to
stay in India, the sur-
vey, which included
1,024 respondents, said.
—PTI
Prioritise improving
employee experience
India Ratings pegs FY22 GDP growth at 8.6%
New Delhi: India Rat-
ings has revised
downwards its Gross
Domestic Products
(GDP) growth fore-
cast for 2021-22 to
8.6% from the con-
sensus 9.2% pro-
jected earlier.
The National Sta-
tistical Organisation
(NSO), which has fore-
cast 9.2% real GDP
growth for the year,
will release the second
advance estimate of
national income on
Monday
.
According to an In-
d i a
R a t -
i n g s
analysis, NSO
is likely to peg the FY22
real gross domestic
product growth at Rs
147.2 lakh
crore. This trans-
lates into a GDP growth
rate of 8.6%, down
from 9.2% forecast in
the first advance esti-
mate released on Janu-
ary 7, 2022.
The major reason for
the likely downward
revision is the upward
revision of FY21 GDP
to Rs 135.6 lakh crore
in the first revised
estimate of national
income for FY21,
which was released
on January 31, 2022,
the agency said.
As a result, GDP for
FY21 is improved to (-)
6.6% from the provi-
sional estimate of
(-)7.3% released on
May 31, 2021. Besides
this, the second revised
estimate of national
income for FY20 stood
at 3.7% compared to
4% projected earlier
while the third esti-
mate retained FY19
growth at 6.5%.
The growth rates of
GDP drivers from the
demand side namely
private final consump-
tion expenditure, gov-
ernment’s final con-
sumption expenditure,
gross fixed capital for-
mation have under-
gone a change due to
these revisions, and
quarterly GDP growth
numbers are also ex-
pected to undergo a
change this year. —PTI
BhartaPe sacks
Ashneer Grover’s
wife, cancels ESOPs
New Delhi: BharatPe
has sacked its head of
controls
Madhuri
Jain Grover
– wife of
embattled
co-founder
Ashneer
Grover
– for alleged financial
irregularities ranging
from producing fake
invoices to billing the
company for personal
beauty treatment and
trips abroad.While a
company spokesperson
confirmed the
termination, sources with
direct knowledge of the
matter said BharatPe
has cancelled all the 244
unvested and 56 vested
ESOPs. —PTI
Tata Housing to
invest $36 mn to
develop 2 residential
projects in Maldives
New Delhi: Tata
Housing on Wednesday
announced an
investment of $36 million
to develop two luxury
residential projects
in Maldives. “With
an investment of $36
million, Tata Housing
will develop 2 residential
projects at Nadhee and
Odean in the city of
Male, which will offer
approximately 117 units
of luxurious 3 bedroom
apartments in the
region,” it
said. —PTI
New Delhi: Two and three wheeler major TVS
Motor Company on Wednesday said its exports
in two wheeler segment clocked sales of one
million units, marking a significant milestone in
the current financial year for the first time. The
exports include the sales from TVS Motor and also from Indonesian unit
PT TVS. “The key exports include TVS Apache series, TVS HLX Series,
TVS Raider TVS Neo Series. An increase in sales in global motorcycles
significantly contributed to this achievement”, the company said. —PTI
TVS MOTOR CLOCKS 1 MN EXPORTS IN TWO WHEELERS
New Delhi: Bikaji
Foods Interna-
tional, a leading
manufacturer
of snacks and
sweets, has filed
preliminary pa-
pers with markets regulator Sebi
for an IPO estimated to be worth
`1,000 crore. Certain sharehold-
ers of the Rajasthan-based com-
pany, including two promoters,
plan to offload around 2.94 crore
shares through OFS route. —PTI
BIKAJI FOODS FILES IPO
PAPERS WITH SEBI
New Delhi: Tata Motors on
Wednesday rolled out spe-
cial edition version of its SUV
models. The ‘Untamed Kaziranga
Edition’ range starts with Punch,
which is priced at `8.58 lakh,
Nexon at `11.78 lakh, Harrier at
`20.4 lakh and Safari at ` 20.99
lakh. —PTI
TATA MOTORS ROLLS OUT
KAZIRANGA EDITIONS
Sensex takes losing run
to 6th day, falls 69 points
Mumbai: Market
gauges Sensex and
Nifty extended their
losing streak to the
sixth session on
Wednesday as linger-
ing Ukraine crisis con-
tinued to dent investor
sentiment.
The Sensex closed
68.62 points or 0.12%
lower at 57,232.06 and
the Nifty ended 28.95
points or 0.12% down
at 17,063.25.
NTPC, LT, Nestle
and ICICI Bank shares
dropped the most on
the index.
Elsewhere in Asia,
bourses closed mostly
higher, hoping that
war in Ukraine can be
avoided after the US,
Japan and European
powers imposed sanc-
tions on Russia. —PTI
` rallies 25
paise to 74.59
against $
Mumbai: The
rupee appreciated
by 25 paise to 74.59
against the US dol-
lar on Wednesday
due to a pullback in
the greenback and
crude oil prices after
Western countries
imposed several
sanctions on Russia
for sending troops
into separatist-held
regions in Ukraine.At
the interbank forex
market, the local
unit opened at 74.64
against the green-
back and witnessed
an intra-day high of
74.54 and a low of
74.73. It finally set-
tled at 74.59 —PTI
India should have a strate-
gy to end dependence on fossil
fuels in the next two to three dec-
ades. India is one of the most at-
tractive destinations for renew-
able energy investments.
—Mukesh Ambani, chairman
of Reliance Industries
Urge NCLAT to decide on
plea: SC to Amazon, FRL
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday asked
Amazon and Future
group to request the
NCLAT to decide a
plea challenging the
revocation of sanc-
tion to the US e-com-
merce major for its
deal with Future
group’s firm by the
CompetitionCommis-
sion of India. The
suggestion was moot-
ed by a bench headed
by Chief Justice N V
Ramana while ad-
journing to March 9
the hearing on Ama-
zon’s appeal against
the Jan 5 order of the
Delhi High Court
staying ongoing arbi-
tration proceedings
before an arbitral tri-
bunal over Future Re-
tail’s `24,500 crore
merger deal with Re-
liance Retail. —PTI

08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court has
sought a response
from the director gen-
eral of police (DGP)
on the compliance of
the Supreme Court’s
direction for police
stations to keep a list
of advocates to pro-
vide legal assistance
to the victims of sex-
ual assault.
In its order last
week, the division
bench of Justices So-
nia Gokani and Anir-
uddha Mayee observed
that the Apex court’s
order regarding legal
representation for
complainants of sexu-
al assault cases at the
police station “is often
observed in breach”.
As per the Supreme
Court’s order, the vic-
tim should be provided
with legal assistance at
the police station,
where an advocate
would explain to her the
nature of the proceed-
ings, prepare her for the
case and assist her at
the police station and in
court.
A list of advocates
willing to act in these
cases should be kept at
police stations for vic-
tims who do not have a
particular lawyer in
mind or whose own law-
yer is unavailable.
The advocate would
also provide the victim
with guidance on ob-
taining help about
counselling or medical
assistance, etc., the 1995
order of the Supreme
Court stated.
The High Court said
that while hearing the
present case of the vic-
tim of sexual violence,
it found that even the
investigating officer
pleaded her ignorance
about the said order of
the Apex court.
“There is no list of
empanelled advocates
noticed in the police sta-
tions,” the court ob-
served in its order.
The bench directed
the DGP to file an affida-
vit for the purpose of
issuing the necessary
circular, direction or
notification for every
police station of the
state to maintain, for ef-
fective implementation
of the directions issued
in 1995, without further
loss of time, it said.
The minor daughter
of the petitioner had
gone missing on June
10, 2021, after which she
approached Visnagar
police station in the
state’s Mehsana district
with the request to
lodge an FIR.
The victim was found
to be have been kept in
illegal custody and sex-
ually abused, and her
medical report revealed
that she was 10-weeks
pregnant.
The victim and her
parents then urged that
the foetus be terminat-
ed, which was allowed
under the provisions of
the Termination of
Pregnancy Act.
The court allowed
the corpus to join her
parents as per her
wishes and directed the
authorities to provide
her legal aid.
HC seeks DGP's reply on legal
aid for sexual assault victims
Shepherd feted for
averting accident
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A
30-year-old shep-
herd, Rakesh Bar-
ia, was honoured
by the Ratlam divi-
sion railway offi-
cials with a cash
reward of Rs 5,000
and a citation on
Wednesday, two
days after he avert-
ed an accident in
Dahod district.
Officials said Baria
heranforaboutakilo-
metrealongtheDelhi-
Mumbai route before
flaggingdownagoods
train after he spotted
a broken piece of rail-
way track.
The incident oc-
curred on February
21, in which Baria
flagged down a goods
train by waving a red
cloth after seeing the
broken track in Da-
hod, due to which an
accident was averted,
the officials said.
Ratlam’sDivisional
Railway Manager
(DRM)VinitGuptaon
Wednesday honoured
him with Rs5,000 and
a citation, praising
his presence of mind
and promptness,
whichhelpedavertan
accident.
After being hon-
oured, Baria said he
noticed the broken
track while grazing
his goats, after which
he ran for a kilometre
to raise an alarm, but
did not see any rail-
way employee there.
Aftertryingtocontact
railway personnel on
the phone, he then
went home and came
back with the piece of
red fabric, which he
used to wave down a
goods train.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Students of
the Faculty of Tech-
nology and Engineer-
ing, MSU Baroda, on
Wednesday
, protested
against the adminis-
tration for hostel fee
hike and for failing to
give hostel accommo-
dation to students.
They said offline
classes have begun, but
students who are from
outside Vadodara do not
have hostel accommoda-
tion. Moreover, with the
internal exams starting
from March 10, students
are left high and dry
whether to study or find
accommodation.
On Wednesday
, more
than 100 students gath-
ered outside the dean’s
office at the faculty and
raised both the issues.
They shouted slogans
againstthemanagement
demanding a solution.
“From February 21,
offline classes have be-
gun. Students coming
from outside Vadodara
do not have any hostel
accommodation. Sec-
ondly
, the hostel fees in-
creasedbytheuniversity
ishigherthanPGaccom-
modation. Internal ex-
ams will begin from
March 10, but these is-
sues have made it diffi-
cult for the students to
focus on their studies.
We have submitted a
memorandum to the
dean Prof. CN Murty in
this regard,” said stu-
dent leader Sameer
Chauhan.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A coal
scam worth Rs6,000
crore has gone un-
checked in the state
over the past 14 years,
an investigation by a
local daily has re-
vealed.
As much as 60 lakh
tonnes of coal meant
for small and medium
industries in Gujarat
has been siphoned off
and sold in other states,
the report said.
“We have documents
showing that coal
sourced from the mines
of Coal India and sent
to be used by the SME
sector—at a cost of
Rs3,000 per tonne—has
been sold on the black
market in other states
at a huge markup of
Rs8,000-Rs10,000 per
tonne,” the article in Di-
vya Bhaskar said, add-
ing that the scale of the
scam indicates complic-
ity among dummy agen-
cies and Gujarat gov-
ernment officials.
“When the scam and
black-marketing was
mentioned to Anil Jain,
secretary of central
coal ministry, he said
the coal was given to the
agencies appointed by
the state government,”
it also said.
On the other hand,
Coal India director
Satyendra Tiwari
turned the onus onto
the state’s industries
department. He said
that any discrepancy
arising should have
been brought to the im-
mediate notice of the
state home department.
Meanwhile, the oppo-
sition Congress has
latched onto the issue
and demanded a time-
bound investigation.
Interestingly, the
Congress has pointed
out that three consecu-
tive chief ministers in-
cluding CM Bhupendra
Patel all kept the Indus-
try, Mines and Minerals
Department portfolio
for themselves during
this period.
First India Bureau
Surat: The fire de-
partment averted a
major tragedy on
Wednesday evening,
when personnel res-
cued 20 students who
were trapped in the
third floor of a high-
rise building, where a
fire broke out in the
basement.
Fire officials said that
smoke from the fire had
reached the third floor,
where the students were
preparing for the Board
exams, slated to begin
March 28.
“There was no ex-
haust system in the
basement, and this
made the rescue opera-
tion a little difficult. We
had to break a wall to let
the smoke out,” one of-
ficial said.
“We started calling
for help when we start-
ing feeling suffocated by
the smoke,” one rescued
students told reporters.
Notably, 12 students
in a tuition centre lost
their lives in a similar
incident at the Tak-
shashila building in Su-
rat in 2019.
As news of Wednes-
day’s rescue spread, the
mayor and deputy may-
ortoorushedtothespot.
Students seen protesting outside Dean Prof CN Murty's office.
The Vadodara 03 Gujarat Battalion NCC unit felicitated 43 cadets with cash and medals for
their exceptional performance. Junior Under Officer (JUO) Sumit Parmar received the Defence
Secretary Commendation card, ANO Lieutenant Ravi Nayak and one Civil staff received the DG NCC
Commendation, five cadets attended RDC (the highest number for any camp/unit), Best Cadet in
group-level at Senior and Junior Division wing are some of the achievements by this unit.
—FILE PHOTO
The fire broke out in a
basement with poor ventilation.
20 students
saved from
fire in Surat
MSU students protest hostel
fee hike no accommodation
‘`6,000 cr coal scam has continued
unchecked in Gujarat over 14 years’
SC had directed police stations to provide list of advocates to survivors
APEX COURT SAID…
The victim should be provided with legal as-
sistance at the police station, where an advocate
would explain to her the proceedings, prepare her
for the case and assist her at the police station
and in court. A list of advocates willing to act in
these cases should be kept at police stations for
victims who do not have a particular lawyer in
mind or whose own lawyer is unavailable. The
advocate would also provide the victim with guid-
ance on obtaining help about counselling or medi-
cal assistance, etc., a 1995 order of the Supreme
Court stated.
WELL-DESERVED
RECOGNITION
Rakesh Baria ran a
km to flag down a
loco pilot and tell
of a broken track
COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,928,314
TOTAL DEATHS
356,844,538
TOTAL RECOVERED
65,948,710
ACTIVE CASES
428,721,562
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
512,652
TOTAL DEATHS
42,189,887
TOTAL RECOVERED
164,492
ACTIVE CASES
42,867,031
TOTAL CASES
Humility is a virtue but
don’t undervalue what you do
or the world will place little
value on you.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
GUDDI
The good girl...
This Throwback Thursday we take a peek at
one of the first reel-real films which threw
light upon the world of Bollywood vs reality
and in the hands of Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
Jaya Bhaduri nee’ Bachhan’s debut film
became one of her best till date!
umkomanki
shakti dena
was actually
a prayer in
our school
and every
time I would
close my eyes in the
morning assembly,
Guddi would imp-
ishly peek and wink
at me- Jaya Bhaduri
actually immortal-
ised Guddi with her
charm and sheer bril-
liant essaying of the
schoolgirl with a
crush on her favour-
ite star Dharmendra,
a young chirpy, fun-
loving girl on the
cusp of becoming a
beautiful and viva-
cious young woman.
What a transition the
consummate actress
displayed, and in her
debut film too.
Guddi is a movie
with many layers and
delicately handles
the issues of Bolly-
wood Stardom and its
pitfalls with the real-
ity of behind the
screen sensitively
handled, raising the
concerns of disen-
chantment, inequali-
ty
, failure and monot-
onous hard work.
Hrishikesh Da high-
lights h o w
movies are teamwork
and the old adage- all
that glitters is not
gold. At that time,
most of the public
had zero ideas how
films are actually
made and Guddi
threw real light on
this world. Written
by Gulzar the movie
abounds in meta-
phors and stays close
to the theme.
Dharmendra is
heart-stoppingly
handsome and we
mooned over him as
much as Jaya did,
coupled with humili-
ty
, sensitivity and su-
per-cuteness- he is
totally lovable in the
movie. Utpal Dutt,
Samit and Smita San-
yal have good strong
characters, I quite
like Smita Sanyal
both in Guddi and in
Chupke Chupke too.
And frankly, we all
need an Uncle like Ut-
pal Dutt in our lives.
But Guddi belongs
to Jaya Bhaduri. She
is hilarious as the
schoolgirl, I can think
no other actress who
would do justice.
Watch the play of
emotions as she
sings Bole re
Papihara,unre-
quited love for
Dharmendra
flashes across
the eyes and
her smile
s u b c o n -
sciously woos
Samit. We watch
her grow, subtly
,
fromatonguein
cheek naugh-
ty school-
girl
wearing skirts and
sporting pigtails to a
perky young woman
whounderstandslove.
I loved the scene
where she first wears
a saree, of the natural
awkwardness, so
charming. Jaya was
like a breath of fresh
air in the 1970s of
bouffant-ed and jew-
elled decked up hero-
ines.
The special appear-
ances of Ashok Ku-
mar, Mala Sinha, Am-
itabh Bachhan and
Vinod Khanna make
it very interesting. In
Guddi, we have a
family drama that
showcases the effect
movies have on the
real-life of people,
still a watch.
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
H
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
STATUE!
In the movie the
characters play this
game with various
in-depth meanings,
we started play-
ing this game after
watching Guddi,
though we did not
use the game to
profess love as she
does, it was a lot of
fun.

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
DIVYANJALI, Influencer
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Health tips from an expert
will enable you to get closer
to your fitness goals.
Chances of being misled by
competitors in business are high, so
remain alert. Your generous behavior
would enable to enjoy some lovely
moments with family. Love comes
your way.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Some of you are going to
experience emotional
fulfillment on romantic
front. Yoga would help in
raising energy levels and improve
your metabolism. Place emphasis on
domestic affairs to enhance the
domestic tranquility. Associate
yourself with social groups.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
On professional front,
recognition for good work
would motivate you to
work harder. Efforts made
to improve looks or personality will
bring desired results. Those awaiting
an affirmation on romantic front are
likely to get lucky today, as partner
responds positively.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Your hard work and
dedication are likely to be
noticed by seniors, paving
way for promotion or
increment. Family will be supportive of
career aspirations. A promising day
overall as you stay in limelight without
any efforts. Harsh words may create a
rift in your romantic relationship.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
A sound financial health of
businessmen would enable
to give monetary benefits
to employees. Your sole
dependency on friends may fail to
bring any respite from loneliness
today. It is good day to confess your
love as stars appear favourable for
positive reply.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
You will succeed in resolving
misunderstanding with
family members,
normalizing ties. Seek
proper valuation of the property you
are planning to buy. You will remain
much in demand on social front. You
need to stand by romantic partner
during testing times.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You succeed in completing
an important project well
before deadline.
Disagreements on the
family front are foreseen. Be careful
about the legal apprehensions in the
property you are planning to buy.
Your intuition will save you from a
tricky spot today.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Those suffering from
chronic ailments may find
remarkable improvement
in their health with home
remedies. Today you will enjoy the
trust of senior management. Minor
domestic disputes may snowball into
a major row, so give attention to the
family.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Implementation of new
ideas and projects would
add to your prestige on the
professional front. A sound
monetary position would enable you
to keep pace with changing times.
Avoid raising controversial issues at
home to maintain harmony. It is a
wonderful day to build connections.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You will have an awesome
day today .Continue to put
in efforts at work and you
will see promising
opportunities coming your way.
Matrimonial match for siblings will
bring happiness for entire family. You
will get a good price for your
property.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Paying special attention to
plan your career would
give immense joy. You are
likely to get clearance or
approval for your construction plans.
You find things moving in the way
you want them. Gifting something to
your beloved is likely to make the day
memorable.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Seek the opinion of your
family before finalizing a
property deal. An
impromptu invitation to a
function from an unexpected friend is
likely to be received. Your bold
initiatives on romantic front bring
back passion and spark in romantic
relationship.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
Travelling Time:
A State Amalgamating
Multiple Centuries!
efining Rajasthan
has never been easy
for the natives who
dwelled on its dunes
for centuries. From
the magnificent pal-
aces and havalies to
the golden spread of Thar,
Rajasthan is a charmer who
spells its divination not only
to its own born but to every
voyager who beholds it for
the twinkling of an eye.
Among the high sought-after
tourist destinations, Ra-
jasthan stands tall, but the
fact cannot be brushed off
that it is a crucial segment
of the economic lifeline of
India. It has modernized
state of art industries and it
nurtures the 21st century’s
commercialized enterprise.
It is phenomenal to ponder
how Rajasthan lives in mul-
tiple centuries every day,
fabricating it as its strength
and vulnerability in the
same breath.
There are conglomerate
cultsof musicanddancethat
have evolved in this magical
state. Some eco the senti-
ments of its bygone legacy
that is told through mesmer-
izing songs picturing the
bravery of its kings and
queens. These can be heard
in the streets of Rajasthan
and you don’t have to possess
that eye of a tourist or rotate
your premier cameras to for-
ever freeze that fascinating
nostalgia. Not far away,
around the corner is the new
rock company which repre-
sents the youth of the 21st
centurywhoknowsthelatest
launched trend lingering
around the globe and can
twist that high stilettos in
the symphony of universal
notes of a contemporary era
on online streaming tools.
This is the state which has
gifted some of the finest fe-
male talents in various
fields. Yet it is ironically also
the state which sometimes
struggles to match the edu-
cation aspirations of its
female segment due to
the engulfed mindset.
A journey through
the tribal Rajasthan
to metropolitan
look-alike Ra-
jasthan seems like
t r a v e l l i n g
through time in
terms of how
much has
changed and how
much remains to
be changed.
Handcraft has
always been patron-
ized by the soil of
Rajasthan. It is not
laying it on thick that prob-
ably it is the soul of this
state. In handcrafted items,
it may be in fabric or other,
this state breaths its spirit
in alpha and omega? Consid-
ered a crucial segment of
economic wellbeing this
area engages a massive
amount of locals who have
inherited and skilled into
this loom from generations.
Juxtaposed to its contempo-
rary competitors it wran-
gles to meet the
pepped-up demands of
the encyclopedic industry.
From a clothing shop in the
village of Bagru to the on-
line sale portals, this state
breath in several centuries
in a moment.
Over time Rajasthan has
lived the sectoral growth in
this segment and has wit-
nessed a remarkable perfor-
mance in other manufactur-
ing domains too. This also
derives attention to the agri-
culture, or construction sec-
tor where one sees greater
possibilities of change as
there remains awaiting re-
sponse which may be a pos-
sible explanation of poverty
and lesser development. In
the same line, it has gradu-
ally groomed the informa-
tion technology industry
which needs surely a facelift
toengageitspowerfulyouth’s
capacity and would also help
in barricading the talent
drain from the state.
A state enriched in
wonderful world herit-
age sites offers a treat
to the soul. It has
more to offer the
world than desti-
nation wedding
venues. Promot-
ing the beautiful
sites in Ra-
jasthan for the
event industry
will not only buck
up the penny val-
ue but also push
up the local talent
of music, food,
art, and so on. The
uniqueness of cultural be-
quest, if bridged with the au
courant demand of trade
can bring Rajasthan to the
forefront. Its absolute
strength of keeping alive the
gone by centuries can be its
successful strategy. This
unique charm can be a
game-changer. An umpteen
number of people still envis-
age Rajasthan as a state
holding on to its gone-by era.
Whether it is food, clothing,
its signature hospitality Ra-
jasthan is viewed as mirror-
ing the sentiments of previ-
ous centuries which is
equally the case of many
cultures and countries. The
threshold of the difference
comes in when the contem-
porary takes over the posi-
tivity of the previous centu-
ries and cements the devel-
opment. Rajasthan has a
captivating culture. Would
not it be a mesmerizing ex-
perience for the people liv-
ing and visiting Rajasthan
when they catch a glimpse
of how Rajasthan has blend-
ed its culturally diverse fac-
ets with the ever changing
pace of the developing
world: be it education, in-
dustry, or civic manage-
ment? “What should modern
cities offer to people? What
are some of the most impor-
tant factors that determine a
city’s success?” It may seem
unbelievable but, ancient
cities like Rajasthan offer
many such answers.
DR JYOTI JOSHI
jyoti.joshi.jpr@gmail.com
D

K
atrina Kaif will soon start shooting
for the final schedule of Tiger 3 with
Salman Khan. The two actors were sup-
posed to start shooting for the film in
Delhi from early January but due to the surge in
Covid-19 cases in the country including the
capital city, several cities are now under par-
tial lockdown and several restrictions, be-
cause of which the shoot was pushed.
Katrina and Salman are going to
shoot for some dramatic sequenc-
es in this schedule which is
expected to be for about 15
days. —Agency
S
ophie Turner cele-
brated her 26th birth-
day on February 21
and the actress decid-
ed to drop a glimpse of her
celebrations for the same on
Instagram. Taking to her Ins-
tagram story, Turner posted a
photo of herself posing along-
side a giant cake with a cake
topper that was designed
like Queen Elizabeth’s crown.
Sophie’s five-tiered British
themed cake celebrated all
English things including
the UK flag, the Lon-
don skyline and
more,
—Agency
Pooja Banerjee to exit
Kumkum Bhagya
P
ooja Banerjee is presently seen portraying
the character of Rhea in the popular show
Kumkum Bhagya. The actress today shared
that she has quit the show. She is expecting
her first baby, and is in her last month of pregnancy,
due to which she has decided to bid adieu to the
show. She wrapped shooting for the show on Febru-
ary 21. She got a surprise from her Kumkum Bhagya
team on the last day of her shoot.The team planned
a farewell party for the mom-to-be
Pooja. She shared pictures and
videos of the party with her fans.
She took to her Instagram ac-
count and shared a video of
the surprise farewell party,
along with an emotional
note thanking everyone
for their constant sup-
port and love. In the
post, she mentioned
that she will always
be grateful to the
entire team for
making her feel
special.
—Agency
King Khan to make a
COMEBACK
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
11
THAT RUMOURED BF!
ollowing engage-
ment rumours, Adele
has now been spotted
cosying up with boy-
friend Rich Paul.
The couple was
snapped sitting be-
side each other at the 2022
NBA All-Star Game in Cleve-
land, Ohio on February 20 as
per ET. The two had a good
time on their date night by
the court. Beside Adele was
another big name, Mary J.
Blige who recently head-
lined the Super Bowl Half-
time show.
Subsequently, in February
the Grammy Award winner
created a further buzz on the
Brit Awards 2022. Not only
did she win big at the award
show but she also stepped on
the red carpet with the most
gorgeous ring on her left
ring finger. Fans and specta-
tors alike made many specu-
lations, “did Adele get en-
gaged?” —Agency
F
S
inger Billie Eilish was
performing in New York
City over the weekend
when she urged the
crowd to “sit down” if they
needed to, and take a moment to
compose themselves. In footage
shared by TMZ, she said: “If you
want to sit down, you are al-
lowed. Go ahead, sit
down, take a
breath.” The in-
cident comes
after Eilish
stopped her
show at the
State Farm
Arena in Atlanta,
Georgia earlier this
month when she
spotted an audience
member struggling
to breathe and ap-
pealed to her crew to
get an inhaler for the
female fan. Fans sure-
ly go gaga over this
gorgeous beauty
.
—Agency
W
ith less than two months until Fantas-
tic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
hits cinemas, the threequel’s marketing
machine is ramping up, with a brand-new
trailer coming this week. To heighten fan excitement,
Warner Bros. has chosen to unveil a slew of character
posters featuring the cast of characters that will be
returning to the Wizarding World. Eddie Redmayne and
Jude Law reprise their roles as Newt Scamander and
the eponymous Hogwarts professor, respectively, in
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, starring
Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner,
Jessica Williams, and Katherine Waterston. —Agency
SECRETS TO BE REVEALED SOON!
I
n Wednesday’s episode, Priya wakes up and
wonders where Ram is. Ram thanks Vedika for
coming with him. She asks him if he bought
something for Priya. He tells Priya doesn’t like
clothes from expensive places. Vedika tells Priya’s
clothes are simple like a uniform. Ram tells they
look really good on Priya. Akshay asks Shivina why
did she disturb Ram and ask him to get clothes for
him and asks which shop will be open early in the
morning. Shivina tells they shop from malls and not
shops. Akshay tells he doesn’t care. Akshay tells
Nandini that he doesn’t want new clothes. Ram
comes with shopping bags and Mami sees the bill
and tells the bill is only 4 lakhs. Ram tears a button
of his shirt. Priya stitches his shirt and they have a
moment. Priya thinks Ram does so much for her, so
the kachoris aren’t even a big deal. —Agency
Saucy insights on
Bade ache lagte hain 2
HEART OF
GOLD!
QUEEN OF HAPPINESS!
Adele
Prem Bhandhari addressing the audience
Prem Bhandhari addressing the audience
Sophie Turner
...her IG story
Deepika Padukone Pooja Banerjee
W
hile Shah Rukh Khan’s fans are ea-
gerly waiting for the actor to make a
comeback, they are more excited as
SRK will be seen with Deepika Padu-
kone in his upcoming movie. For those unaware,
DeepikasharedthescreenspacewithShahRukh
Khan in Farah Khan’s directorial Om Shanti Om.
And the on-screen pair is now all set to return with
this actioner. SRK will resume shooting for Pathan
in Spain with Deepika Padukone in a few days. Re-
cently
, Deepika Padukone got in touch with a news
portal and opened up about her reunion with SRK.
While Shah Rukh Khan’s fans are eagerly waiting
for the actor to make a comeback, they are more
excited as SRK will be seen with Deepika Padukone
in his upcoming movie. —Agency
SWAGAT NAHI
SWAGAT NAHI
karoge humara
karoge humara
Billie Eilish
Katrina Kaif

24022022 first india ahmedabad

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