25122021 first india new delhi

Haryana starts process for withdrawal of FIRs
against farmers lodged during nation-wide stir
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: The
Manohar Lal Khattar
government on Friday
started the process for
withdrawal of FIRs
against farmers that
were lodged during
farmers’ agitation since
September 9 last year
till November this year
against now-withdrawn
Farm Laws. State’s Ad-
ditional Chief Secre-
tary (Home) Rajeev
Arora has written a let-
ter to all district magis-
trates in this regard.
The letter written by
ACS Rajeev Arora reads:
“You are requested to
send your comments on
FIRs registered against
farmers in Haryana dur-
ing farmer agitation
from 09.09.2020 to till
date,alongwithfullfacts,
stageof thecaseandspe-
cific recommendation
whether the FIR regis-
tered so, can be with-
drawn in public interest
along with independent
opinion/report of Dis-
trict Attorney/Superin-
tendent of Police con-
cerned to the Govern-
ment immediately
.”
On concluding day of
state Assembly’s winter
session CM ML Khattar
had told the House: “As
per the police records,
276 cases have been reg-
istered during the farm-
ers’ agitation so far. Of
these, four cases are reg-
istered under serious of-
fences. Out of 272 cases,
chargesheet has been
prepared in 178 cases.”
NEW DELHI l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No116
‘World witnessing 4th Covid
surge, can’t lower our guard’
Haryana declares night curfew; gathering over 200 banned
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: The Union
Health Ministry on Fri-
day said that the World
is witnessing the fourth
surge in Covid-19 cases
and urged people to not
lower their guard.
“The World Health
Organisation on De-
cember 7 said that Omi-
cron has a significant
growth advantage over
Delta which means, it
has greater transmissi-
bility. Omicron cases
double within 1.5-3
days, so we have to re-
main vigilant with cov-
id appropriate behav-
iour,” Union Health
Secretary Rajesh
Bhushan said during a
briefing.
On case front, India
recorded 6,650 new cov-
id-19 cases and 374
deaths in the 24 hours
ending 8 am Friday
. The
tally of Omicron cases
in country rose to 358.
Maharashtra has re-
corded highest number
of the new variant cas-
es, at 88, followed by
Delhi with 67. P5
Pawan Lalchand &
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Ex-Uttara-
khand CM Harish Raw-
at will lead Congress’s
campaign in upcoming
Assembly elections. A
decision on next CM
will be taken by Con-
gress president Sonia
Gandhi after the elec-
tions. The decision was
taken at a meeting sen-
ior Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi had with
Rawat. Meanwhile, cr-
caks in BJP also sur-
facedwhenHarakSingh
Rawat, cabinet minister
of Uttarakhand, while
leaving cabinet meeting
midway
, resigned.
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah willinaugurateon
Saturday the ‘Bharat
Darshan Park’ in Delhi
which showcases attrac-
tive replicas of several
iconic monu-
ments of In-
dia built
with scrap
and waste
material. The recrea-
tional garden, built by
the South Delhi Munici-
pal Corporation on
‘waste-to-wealth’ model,
is being opened after
some delay and ahead of
civic polls in Delhi due
early next year.
WILL VISIT UP NEXT
WEEK, POLLS
DECISION AFTER
REVIEW, SAYS CEC
A day after Allahabad
High Court urged
Election Commission
of India to postpone
elections in UP,
Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC)
Sushil Chandra
on Friday said any
decision will be taken
only after a review of
the current situation.
The commission is
visiting Lucknow on
December 29-30 to
review the situation.
Omicron cases
double within 1.5-3
days, so we have to
remain vigilant with
covid appropriate
behaviour. It also has
significant growth
advantage over Delta
—Rajesh Bhushan
Union Health Secretary
UP CM ADITYANATH ANNOUNCES
NIGHT CURFEW FROM TODAY
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi
Adityanath on Friday announced the reintroduction
of night curfew from Saturday (11 pm to 5 am) after
chairing a Covid-19 review meeting. Adityanath
directed the reintroduction of restrictions on
gathering at weddings and other public events to
200 with adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols. P7
Home to replicas: Amit Shah to inaugurate
‘Bharat Darshan Park’ in Delhi on Saturday
HarishRawattoleadU’khandpoll
campaign,butnoCMfaceasofnow
Devendra Yadav
will remain in
charge of UPC
Cong chief Sonia
to decide on CM
after poll results
‘Disgruntled’
minister Harak
Singh resigns
WISH YOU
CHRISTMAS
MERRY
Visitors take photos with Christmas tree in the
background amid the COVID-19 pandemic at a
shopping centre in Barcelona. Spain is reporting
almost 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over
14 days, more than double the accumulated
cases before last years Christmas holidays.
The omicron strain has soared from 5% of new
cases in Spain to 47% within one week. (Inset)
A man dressed as Santa Claus greets children
at a school to celebrate Christmas in Chennai.
—PHOTOS BY PTI
New Delhi: After Gujarat’s excellent assembly poll
performance in 2017, now Sonia and Rahul hand over
an additional responsibility of supervising coming up
Uttarakhand polls as an observer to ensure a likely
Congress victory in February-March Uttarakhand
assembly elections. An old Gandhi family loyalist -
Gehlot, who has virtually emerged as number one after
Rahul in the party, after the recent Jaipur rally, looks
like a last ray of hope for the Gandhi family to sort out
complicated issues like Harish Rawat. —Aditi Nagar
AN INDISPENSABLE ASHOK GEHLOT!
NIGHT CURFEW FROM 9 PM TO 6 AM
IN MAHA, CURBS ON GATHERINGS
Harish Rawat Ashok Gehlot
Kapurthala: Five days
after the lynching of a
youth at a gurdwara in
Kapurthala district,
police Friday booked
the gurdwara granthi,
Amarjit Singh, on
murder charges and
arrested him.
The arrest followed a
statement by Chief
Minister Charanjit Sin-
gh Channi that investi-
gations into the Ka-
purthala incident had
not found any evidence
of desecration.
GRANTHI HELD
FOR ‘MURDER’
INKAPURTHALA
LYNCHING CASE
PUNJAB SEEKS HELP IN
LUDHIANA BLAST PROBE
Punjab CM Charanjit
Channi said he had
reached out to Home
Minister Amit Shah for
help in getting equipment
to check the kind of
RDX used in the blast.
Meanwhile, Union Law
and Justice Minister
Kiren Rijiju visited
Ludhiana district court
and assured all help need
from Centre in probe.
CRUCIAL READ
HARBHAJAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
FROM ALL FORMATS OF CRICKET
Veteran spinner Harbhajan
Singh, the first Indian bowler
to claim a Test hat-trick, has
announced his retirement
from all forms of cricket. He
bows out as the country’s
fourth-highest wicket-taker
(417) behind Anil Kumble,
Kapil Dev and R Ashwin.
MoS (HOME) AJAY MISHRA BLACKMAIL
ATTEMPT: FIVE BPO STAFF ARRESTED
New Delhi: Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni has alleged
an attempt to blackmail him with videos of the violence
in Lakhimpur Kheri, the police said as five people were
arrested on Friday. The arrested men, all BPO workers,
had tried to extort crores from Ajay Mishra, a junior
Home Minister, claiming they had incriminating videos
and other evidence on him linked to the violence in
Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, sources said.
Maharashtra government on Friday announced fresh
series of curbs beginning midnight. According to
government, not more than five people will be al-
lowed in public places from 9pm to 6am. Weddings
in closed spaces cannot have more than 100 people
and up-to 250 people in open to sky spaces. P5
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD,
LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
www.firstindia.co.in
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instagram.com/thefirstindia
Biggest in history: `150 cr found
at UP bizman’s home in tax raid
Kanpur: Tax raids at
premises linked to Pi-
yush Jain, a Kanpur
businessmanwhoispart
of the perfume industry
,
have recovered more
than Rs 150 crore cash,
Vivek Johri, Chairman
of the Central Board of
Indirect Taxes and Cus-
toms (CBIC) said on Fri-
day
. “This is the biggest
recovery in the history
of the CBIC,” he said.
Photos from the raid
showed two mountains
of cash stuffed into two
large wardrobes. The
bundleswereallwrapped
in paper covers. In each
photo there are over 30
such bundles visible.
Anotherphotoshowed
officials from CBIC, I-T
departmentandtheGST
Intelligence unit squat-
ting on a floral sheet
spreadinthemiddleof a
roomandsurroundedby
yet more piles of cash,
and three note-counting
machines. More on P7
Businessman Piyush Jain
276 cases were registered in Haryana during farmers’ agitation.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2021
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
New Delhi: First dose
of Covid vaccine has
been administered to all
people eligible for inoc-
ulation, Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
walsaidonFridaywhile
hailing the healthcare
and frontline workers
who have been at the
forefront of the fight
against the pandemic.
Taking to Twitter, he
shared data on the vac-
cination drive
u n d e r -
way in
t h e
city
.
"Delhi completes first
dose to 100 per cent eli-
gible people -- 148.33
lakh. Salute to doctors,
ANMs, teachers,
ASHAs, CDVs and all
other frontline workers.
Congratulations to
DMs, CDMOs, DIOs and
all district functionar-
ies," Kejriwal tweeted.
Delhi on Thursday had
achieved the milestone
of administeringatleast
one dose of Covid vac-
cine to all above 18.
According to the CoW-
IN dashboard, 1,48,27,546
people in Delhi have
taken at least one shot
of COVID-19 vac-
cine on Thursday
.
As per the draft roll
published on Nov 1,
2021, the total num-
ber of electors in
Delhi stands at
1,47,95,949.
—PTI
Kejriwal: Delhi covers 100%
vaccination of first dose
Chief Minister hails COVID warriors for fighting against pandemic in the capital
New Delhi: Delhi Envi-
ronmentMinisterGopal
Rai on Friday said the
citygovernmentwillnot
compromise on pollu-
tion and will take neces-
saryactionif airquality
keeps deteriorating.
The authorities with-
drew the emergency
measures in view of a
continuous improve-
ment in the air pollu-
tion situation, he said.
"If the situation re-
mains unfavourable, we
will consult experts and
the Commission for Air
Quality Management
(CAQM) and take neces-
sary action... We cannot
compromiseonthepollu-
tion issue," Rai said.
Drives against open
burningof garbage,dust
pollution and polluting
vehicles will continue in
the city
, he added.
"Experts have fore-
cast an improvement
from Saturday
," the min-
ister said. On Monday,
the CAQM lifted restric-
tions on construction
and demolition activi-
ties in the Delhi-NCR
and entry of trucks into
the national capital in
view of an improve-
ment in the air quality
and "favourable" mete-
orological forecast.
However, Delhi's air
quality turned 'severe'
the next day. It re-
mained in the 'severe'
zone for the fourth day
on the trot on Friday
due to low wind speed
and high humidity, the
authorities said.
The city's air quality
index read 420 at 3 pm
(Friday).The24-hourav-
erage AQI was 423 on
Thursday, 407 on
Wednesday and 402 on
Tuesday
.AnAQIbetween
zero and 50 is considered
'good', 51 and 100 'satisfac-
tory', 101 and 200 'moder-
ate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301
and 400 'very poor', and
401 and 500 'severe'.
The Ministry of
Earth Sciences' air
quality forecast agency
SAFAR said low
ventilation and high
humidity have led to
such a situation. Simi-
lar conditions will fur-
ther increase the AQI
on Friday, it said. —PTI
Cannot compromise on
pollution,saysGopalRai
‘Frightening’: HC on
Sarojini market crowd
New Delhi: Delhi HC
has taken note of the
overcrowding video in
the Sarojini Nagar mar-
ket and said that the
state of affairs is
“frightening” and that a
stampede can take
place. The court said
that Covid or no covid,
such a situation is unac-
ceptable and a stam-
pede can result in
scores of deaths. It said
that Sarojini Nagar has
also witnessed a bomb
blast in the past.
“God forbid if such a
thing happens again, it
would be difficult to
save lives,” it said.
The court also direct-
edthepoliceandauthor-
ities to watch the move-
ment of the public who
are coming to the mar-
ket. The court also
expressed anguish and
said that none of its
earlier orders to
control crowding in the
market has been com-
plied with. —PTI
New Delhi: A team of
Delhi Police, who had al-
legedly barged into a
house and staged a dog
fight,waspulledbyacity
court which noted that
the accused arrested in
that raid was subjected
to brutal assault and
atrocities during his de-
tentioninpolicecustody
.
AdditionalChief Met-
ropolitan Magistrate
Babru Bhan observed
that the injuries on the
accused were apparent-
ly a result of a 'calculat-
ed assault' after over-
powering the accused.
The Court has directed
the DCP of Rohini dis-
trict to lodge a First In-
formation Report (FIR)
against the concerned
Station House Officer
(SHO) and erring police
personnel for offences
under sections 323 (vol-
untarily causing hurt),
342(Wrongful confine-
ment),506 (criminal in-
timidation), 509 (intend-
ingtoinsultthemodesty
of any woman), 354 (As-
sault or criminal force
to woman with intent to
outrage her modesty),
429 (Mischief by killing
or maiming cattle), 166A
(Public servant disobey-
ing law) of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and
other relevant provi-
sions. —PTI
Rohini SHO, police personnel booked
for ‘brutal assault’ on suspect in Delhi New Delhi: Amid ris-
ing Covid cases in the
national capital, the
Delhi Police has sealed
a restaurant in Meh-
rauli for allegedly vio-
lating DDMA guide-
lines, officials said on
Friday
.
As part of a series of
inspections conducted
in view of latest DDMA
orders for prohibiting
large congregations, a
flying squad team went
for a surprise inspec-
tion at Diablo restau-
rant in Mehrauli, Dis-
trict Magistrate Sona-
lika Jivani said.
There were around
600 people at the restau-
rant around 10.45 pm on
Thursday. The restau-
rant had organised an
event in complete viola-
tion of prevalent Covid
protocols, she said.
“Immediately, the
crowd was dispersed by
the tehsildar (Mehrau-
li) and the premises
were sealed on spot for
gross violation of
DDMA guidelines, espe-
cially in wake of the
emerging Omicron var-
iant of Covid,” Jivani
said.
Additional Deputy
Commissioner of Po-
lice (south) M Harsha
Vardhan said an FIR
under sections 188 (dis-
obedience to order duly
promulgated by public
servant) and 269 (negli-
gent act likely to spread
infection of disease
dangerous to life) of the
IPC has been registered
against Diablo restau-
rant at Mehrauli police
station.
In view of the rising
coronavirus cases, the
Delhi Disaster Manage-
ment Authority
(DDMA) had directed
district magistrates to
ensure that no gather-
ings to celebrate Christ-
mas and New Year take
place in the city
. —PTI
Restaurant sealed for violating DDMA SOPs
New Delhi: Delhi Metro
on Friday entered into
the 20th year of its opera-
tions and marked the oc-
casion by commencing a
field trial of a first-ever
indigenously developed
signalling technology,
and unveiling an exhibi-
tion on its journey at
Kashmere Gate station.
The field trial of the
first-ever indigenously
developed i-ATS technol-
ogy (Indigenous – Auto-
matic Train Supervi-
sion) for Delhi Metro’s
Red Line (Rithala-New
Bus Stand (Shaheed
Sthal)) was inaugurated
by Durga Shanker
Mishra, secretary in the
Union Ministry of Hous-
ing and Urban Affairs,
and Chairman, DMRC
via video conferencing,
officials said.
On the occasion of the
Delhi Metro operations
entering into its 20th
year, Mishra also inau-
gurated an exhibition
themed ‘Tracing Delhi
Metro’s Journey’, hosted
at the Kashmere Gate
metro station, they said.
Delhi Metro had be-
gun its commercial op-
erations on December 25,
2002, a day after then
prime minister Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee had inau-
gurated DMRC’s first
stretch, spanning 8.2 kil-
ometre from Shahdara to
Tis Hazari, with just six
stations.
The location from
where, the then prime
minister had inaugurat-
ed the first-ever metro
corridor in the national
capital, has been “rede-
velopedintoafull-fledged
exhibition with priceless
photographs and anec-
dotes which shall take
the visitors on a ride
down memory lane of
that historic day which
ignited a new revolution
in India’s mass transit
history,” the DMRC said
in a statement.
This shall be a “per-
manent exhibition” and
passengers using Delhi
Metro network’s largest
interchange facility shall
be able to visit this exhi-
bition without any addi-
tional cost, officials said.
Mangu Singh, Manag-
ing Director, DMRC;
Anandi Ramalingam,
CMD, Bharat Electronics
Limited (BEL) and
other senior officials
were also present during
the event. —PTI
Field trial of indigenous signalling tech begins
DMRC JOURNEY CONTINUES
New Delhi: A Delhi court discharged a 45-year-old
man accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-
old boy noting that he was suffering from mental
illness and was incapable of understanding the con-
sequences of his acts. Additional Sessions Judge
Ashutosh Kumar discharged the accused in an
order passed on December 15. The Delhi Police had
filed a chargesheet in this case against the accused
under section 8 of POCSO Act. The court said,
“From the said medical documents of the accused,
it prima facie appears that the accused was suffer-
ing from mental illness to the extent that he was
incapable of understanding the consequences.”
COURT RELEASES MAN WITH MENTAL
ILLNESS FOR RAPING MINOR
New Delhi: The national capital woke up to a cold
morning on Friday as the minimum temperature settled
at 6.9 degrees Celsius, a
notch below normal, accord-
ing to the India Meteorologi-
cal Department (IMD). The
air quality index (AQI) was
recorded in the ‘severe’
category for the fourth consecutive day. As per the
Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality forecast agency
SAFAR, the AQI was 411 at 9 am. An AQI between zero
and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’,
101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and
400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
New Delhi: A 24-year-old man was allegedly beaten to
death and his friend was severely injured for resisting a
robbery bid in South Delhi’s
Sangam Vihar. Police said
one of the accused has been
arrested. CCTV footage of
the incident, uploaded on
social media, shows five
men approaching the two victims who are walking on
the street. The men get into a scuffle. Later, two of the
accused are seen kicking and thrashing the victim.
They pick up stones and bricks and hit the victim on his
face and other parts multiple times.
DELHI’S MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SETTLES
AT 6.9 DEG C, AIR QUALITY ‘SEVERE’
MAN KILLED FOR RESISTING ROBBERY
BID IN SANGAM VIHAR
CRUCIAL READ
AWARD CEREMONY
Kathak Dancer Vidha Lal receiving Atal Award from Union Minister of Steel RCP Singh and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari at the 8th
National Atal Award ceremony in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
Delhi Metro officials at the exhibition displayed at Kashmere Gate
as DMRC completes 20 years of operations in New Delhi.
CM slams Punjab Govt
over sacrilege, drugs cases
Chandigarh: AAP
national convener
Arvind Kejriwal on
Friday alleged a con-
spiracy behind the
recent cases of sacri-
lege and explosion,
and said the “weak
government” ruling
Punjab has failed to
crack the whip.
He also called the
drug case against Shi-
romani Akali Dal
leader Bikram Singh
Majithia a “political
stunt”.
A bomb exploded in
the district court com-
plex in Ludhiana on
Thursday, killing one
person and injuring
six others, prompting
the Punjab govern-
ment to declare a high
alert in the state. Po-
lice suspect that the
man killed in the blast
may have been trying
to assemble or plant
the explosive device.
“Few days ago,
there were cases of
sacrilege. Now, there
is a blast in Ludhiana.
Such incidents before
polls are being done
under a conspiracy to
vitiate the peaceful
atmosphere in the
state,” Kejriwal
said during an inter-
action with reporters
in Amritsar. —PTI
Few days ago, there were cases
of sacrilege. Now, there is a
blast in Ludhiana. Such inci-
dents before polls are being
done under a conspiracy to vitiate the
peaceful atmosphere in the state
—Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM
If the situation re-
mains unfavoura-
ble, we will consult
the Commission
for Air Quality
Management and
take necessary ac-
tion... We cannot
compromise on the
pollution issue
—Gopal Rai,
Environment Minister
ACTING TOUGH

INDIA
03
Guwahati: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla on
Firday expressed con-
cern over “continuous
disruption” of proceed-
ings and “lack of deco-
rum” in Parliament and
State legislatures.
Calling obstruction
of proceedings ethical-
ly and constitutionally
wrong, he said, it was
even more disturbing
when such disruptions
are pre-planned.
Addressing the As-
sam Assembly, Birla
said, “Democracy is
based on debates and
dialogue. But continu-
ous disruption in the
House and lack of deco-
rum is a matter of con-
cern.” While it is natu-
ral for treasury and op-
position benches to
disagree, “dissidence
should not lead to im-
passe”, he added.
The Speaker advised
political parties to hold
discussions on intracta-
ble issues and ensure
the House functions in
a manner that it can ful-
fil the hopes and aspira-
tions of the people.
“To obstruct the pro-
ceedings of the House is
not right, ethically and
constitutionally. Many
a time, disruptions are
not organic but pre-
planned. Such conduct
is even more disturb-
ing,” Birla said.
He said disruption
and adjournment of
proceedings are not
part of democratic tra-
ditions, and asked the
legislators to come true
to the hopes of
the people.
Birla said a diverse
country like India is
bound together by par-
liamentary democracy,
and as the nation cele-
brates 75 years of Inde-
pendence, it has become
necessary to revisit
how the House, which is
an integral part of the
system, functions.
The first Lok Sabha
Speaker to address the
Assam Assembly, Birla
said, the state is a vi-
brant example of unity
in diversity
.
“Assam is the bridge
that connects the richly
diverse North-East with
the rest of India. This
diversity makes our de-
mocracy even more re-
silient,” he added. —ANI
BIRLA VOICES CONCERN OVER
DISRUPTIONS IN PARLIAMENT
Democracy is based on debates and dialogue, says Lok Sabha Speaker
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla being felicitated with traditional Assamese Japi (hat) and Gamocha
by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at the official launch of the Assam Legislative
Digital TV Assam Legislative Assembly, in the Central Hall of the Assam Legislative Assembly in
Guwahati on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Mumbai: Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Narhari
Zirwal, on Friday asked the legislature secretary not to respond to the Supreme
Court’s notice on the plea filed by 12 BJP MLAs challenging their one-year
suspension. The 12 MLAs were suspended on July 5 this year after they al-
legedly misbehaved with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav. Zirwal directed the
government to apprise the SC of the developments that led to the suspension
of BJP MLAs. BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar wondered how the government
can hold the speaker’s election by keeping 12 voters suspended. Leader of
Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said the 12 MLAs have applied to the speaker’s
office requesting their suspension be reconsidered. “I hope their suspension is
revoked before the speaker’s election next week,” he said.
MAHA HOUSE SECRETARIAT NOT TO REPLY TO
SC NOTICE ON SUSPENSION OF 12 BJP MLAs
PMtochairCouncil
ofMinisters’meet
onDecember29
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi will be holding
a Council of Minis-
ters meeting on De-
cember 29. Mean-
whie,PMModiwould
virtually address the
Gurpurab celebra-
tions of Guru Nanak
Dev Ji at Gurudwara
Lakhpat Sahib in
Kutch of Gujarat on
December 25.
As per the PMO,
PM will address the
Gurpurab celebra-
tions at 12:30 pm.
Every year, from Dec
23 to Dec 25, Sikh
Sangat of Gujarat
celebrate the Gur-
purab of Guru
Nanak Dev Ji.
Guru Nanak Dev ji
had stayed at Lakh-
pat during the course
of his travels. Gurud-
wara Lakhpat Sahib
has his relics includ-
ing wooden footwear
and palki (cradle) as
well as manuscripts
and markings scripts
of Gurmukhi.
As per the PMO,
the Gurudwara had
suffered damages
duringthe2001earth-
quake. “The then Gu-
jarat CM, Narendra
Modi, had undertak-
en efforts to ensure
repair of the damag-
es,” the PMO said.
“This step showed
the deep reverence of
the PM for the faith,
as also reflected in
multiple recent en-
deavours, including
the celebrations of
550th Parkash Purab
of Guru Nanak Dev
Ji, 350th Parkash Pur-
ab of Guru Gobind
Singh Ji, and 400th
Parkash Purab
of Guru Tegh
Bahadur ji,”
it further
added. —ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI: Reacting
sharply to hate speech-
es allegedly made at a
‘Dharma Sansad’ held
recently in Haridwar,
Congress leader Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra on
Friday demanded the
strictest action against
those who incite vio-
lence, saying such acts
violate the Constitution
and the law.
All-India Trinamool
Congress national
spokesperson Saket
Gokhale has also de-
manded action against
the organisers and the
speakers of the ‘Dhar-
ma Sansad’ held in
Haridwar, where “hate
speeches” were alleged-
ly made. He has lodged
a complaint against it at
the Jwalapur police sta-
tion in Haridwar.
Hitting out at the re-
marks, Priyanka Gan-
dhi said, “Strictest ac-
tion should be taken
against those who in-
cite hatred and violence
of this kind.” —PTI
Priyanka slams
‘hate speeches’,
demands action
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
Imphal: BJP president
JP Nadda on Friday
claimed that fear had
been dispelled from
among the people in
Manipur by the BJP
helmed Government of
N Biren Singh, which
has ensured “innova-
tion, infrastructure and
integration” in the
north eastern State.
Manipur had wit-
nessed “instability, in-
surgency and inequali-
ty” in the Congress re-
gime, he said at a rally
organsied by women ac-
tivists of the party here.
State poll in Manipur
is due in March 2022.
The government has
allayed the fear that
was prevalent among
the people, he said.
“There was an atmos-
phereof fearinthestate.
A mother used to fear
whether her son would
be return to the state
andasisterdidnotknow
whetherherbrotherwill
returnornot.Now,there
is no fear after the BJP
came to power.
“I now see a new Ma-
nipur which has pro-
gressed due to the
power of women,” Na-
dda said. —ANI
‘BJP has dispelled fear in Manipur’
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh (L), BJP national president
JP Nadda (2L sitting) and other dignitaries have lunch at Luxmi
Kitchen, in Imphal on Friday. — PHOTO BY ANI
Panaji: Nearly three
months after joining
the Trinamool Con-
gress, Goa's former leg-
islator Lavoo Mamledar
on Friday resigned
from TMC, accusing it
of being communal and
trying to create a divide
between Hindus and
Christians for votes
ahead of polls.
The former Ponda
MLA had joined the Tri-
namool Congress in the
last week of September.
He was among the first
few local leaders in the
state to join the TMC,
which has decided to
contest all 40 seats in
the Goa Assembly polls,
due in February 2022.
He also alleged that
the Trinamool Con-
gress was collecting the
data of people in the
name of rolling out a
welfare scheme for
women in the state if it
is voted to power after
the elections. —PTI
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister Anurag Thakur on
Friday slammed Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi by calling him
‘Raul Vinci’.
In a tweet, Thakur
wrote, “Afsarwaadi Hin-
du, Raul Vinci (loosely
translated as Opportun-
istic Hindu Raul Vin-
ci)” This tweet by
Thakur was in response
to a tweet by Gandhi to-
day. The Congress MP
wrote, “Hindutvawadi
always spread hatred
and violence. Hindu-
Muslim-Sikh-Christian
pay the price. But not
anymore! #IndiaAgain-
stHindutva #Harid-
warHateAssembly
.”
Referring to the re-
cently registered case
against Wasim Rizvi
aka Jitendra Tyagi and
others for ‘hate speech’
against Islam during an
event in Haridwar,
Uttarakhand DGP
Ashok Kumar on Fri-
day said that incidents
of ‘hate speech’ will not
be tolerated in the state.
— ANI
TMC ‘WORSE THAN BJP’:
GOA LEADER QUITS PARTY
ANURAG THAKUR CALLS
RAHUL ‘RAUL VINCI’
Sonia Gandhi holds
meet with Cong MPs
from poll-bound Punjab
New Delhi: Ahead of
Punjab Assembly polls,
the Congress MPs from
the State unit of the
party on Thursday met
Congress interim presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi and
raised several issues
including the bomb
blast in Ludhiana and
mob lynching incidents
in the state.
According to the
sources, the MPs also
criticised Punjab Chief
Minister Charanjit Sin-
gh Channi and the State
Home Minister for not
condemning the lynch-
ing incidents in the
State and the conse-
quent action to stem
such violent incidents.
The sources further
stated that MPs also
stressed the need to
maintain communal
peace in the State.
Apart from security
and law and order is-
sues dominated the dis-
cussion, governance
challenges, electoral
strategy for Assembly
elections. —ANI
Sonia Gandhi
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Janata
Dal-(United), an ally of
the BJP in the Bihar gov-
ernment, and the state’s
main Opposition party
,
RJD, are coming togeth-
er. While there are many
issues on which agree-
ment between the JDU
and the RJD is visible,
but such is not visible be-
tween the JDU and the
BJP
. On the contrary
, the
demand of the JDU,
which the BJP leaders
are opposing, is being
supportedbytheRJD.Al-
though it is not that any
political equation is be-
ingcreatedimmediately
,
but the possibility of a
miracle cannot be ruled
out in the coming days.
Especially after seeing
the attitude of two small
partiesinvolvedinNDA,
HUM and VIP
.
However, JDU and
RJD had already agreed
on the caste census.
When Nitish Kumar
had gone to meet Prime
Minister Modi with an
all-party delegation on
this issue, Tejashwi Ya-
dav had accompanied
him. Later, Nitish gave
credit to Tejashwi for
the idea of meeting the
Prime Minister with an
all-party delegation.
When the central gov-
ernment did not agree
to the caste census, Nit-
ish made a unilateral
announcement and said
that the state govern-
ment would get the
castes census done and
would bear its expenses.
On this issue, RJD-JDU
are together and the
BJP is in opposition.
Similar is the case of
specialstatestatusof Bi-
har, Nitish Kumar had
raised the issue long
back but was silent on it
for four years. Now he
hasagaindemandedthis
from the Centre, so RJD
has supported him. BJP
is also opposing this.
Renu Devi, deputy chief
minister in Nitish gov-
ernmentandBJPleader,
has opposed this and
said that the central gov-
ernment is giving more
funds to Bihar than un-
der the special state sta-
tus, so there is no need
for special state status.
The growing closeness of RJD and JDU!
CRUCIAL READ
INDORE-SHARJAH
FLIGHTS FROM
MAR 27: SCINDIA
LENSMAN TO
GET AWARD
New Delhi: Air India
Express will start
operating flights on
Indore-Sharjah route
from March 27 next
year, Aviation Minister
Jyotiraditya Scin-
dia said on Friday. On
October 8, the Centre
had announced that
Talace Private Limited
— a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Tata Sons
— has won the bid to
acquire Air India and
its subsidiary Air India
Express. —PTI
Mumbai: Photo-
journalist Danish
Siddiqui, who died
in Afghanistan, will
be posthumously
awarded as the ‘Jour-
nalist of the Year’ for
2020 by the Mumbai
Press Club.Siddiqui,
who had a long stint of
working, was the chief
photographer for the
news agency Reuters.
GOLD CLIMBS `57; SILVER GAINS `183
New Delhi: Gold price in the national Capital on Friday
gained Rs 57 to Rs 47,263 per 10 gram tracking firm
international trends, according to HDFC Securities. In
the previous trade, the precious metal settled at Rs
47,206 per 10 gram. “Spot gold prices for 24 carat at
Delhi were trading up by Rs 57 in line with global gold
prices,” HDFC Securities, Senior Analyst (Commodi-
ties), Tapan Patel said.
MAHA PLANS TO DEVELOP KOREGAON
Mumbai: A high-level committee has been set up to
prepare a draft plan for the development and beautifi-
cation of the Koregaon Bhima memorial in Pune dis-
trict, the Maharashtra government told the Legislative
Assembly on Friday. Social Justice Minister Dhananjay
Munde made this announcement. “The social justice
department has set up a high-level committee. Its
report is expected in two months,” he said.
NC TO APPROACH SC AGAINST DELIMITATION: FAROOQ
New Delhi: National Conference president and former Jammu and
Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Friday that his
party is preparing to approach the Supreme Court against the
Delimitation Commission’s recommendations as it believes
that the very basis of the exercise is “illegal”.
SC REJECTS APPEAL IN 38-YR-OLD CASE!
New Delhi: The SC has dismissed an appeal filed
against a verdict of the Patna HC modifying the
conviction and sentence awarded to a man from life
term to five years in a 38-year-old case in which a
person had died after fight over grazing of crops.
NALINI AND PERARIVALAN GET PAROLE
Tamil Nadu: Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts Nalini
Sriharan and AG Perarivalan were granted one month of
parole by the Tamil Nadu Government. Nalini was given
a month of parole, while her fellow convict Perarivalan
received an extension on his one-month parole. Perari-
valan’s parole had been extended twice in succession.
PLEA SEEKS UNIFORM
JUDICIAL CODE
New Delhi: A petition
has been filed in the
SC seeking directions
to HC across India to
adopt a uniform judi-
cial code. The plea filed
by advocate Ashwini
Kumar Upadhyay said
such step will contrib-
ute to access to justice
for the citizenry.
IN THE COURTYARD
CAPT’S WIFE
PRENEET KAUR
SKIPS MEET
WITH SONIA
New Delhi: Con-
gress MP and wife
of former Punjab
Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder
Singh, Preneet
Kaur missed a
crucial meeting
called by Congress
interim president
Sonia Gandhi at
10 Janpath on
Thursday. Congress
MP Preneet Kaur
remained absent in
meeting where all
MPs from Punjab
were present. —ANI

PERSPECTIVE
04
tal Bihari Vajpayee ji is well-
known in politics and more than
thatalso.Perhapsbecauseasmuch
as he was deeply concerned with
politics, he was also concerned
with the sensitivity of literature. I
have felt many times that what he
could not say directly while in
politics, his poetic mind used to
say it. We can read his mind by po-
ems. This was the biggest quality
of his personality that he believed
in taking people of different ide-
ologies along. I had constant close-
ness to him. During this, I also re-
alizedthathewasverybigatheart.
Even if there was any dispute or
displeasurewithanyone,hewould
not keep it in his mind. I have al-
ways seen a feeling of respect in
his mind towards his opponents
and rivals too.
While taking everyone along
under the democratic vision, he
never cared about anyone in ex-
pressing his views. I think, not
everyone has the courage to tell
the truth, but Vajpayeeji had this
quality. He used to appreciate it
openly even if the leader of any
Opposition party did good work.
But he never shied away from op-
posing extremism.
Remember, when Bangladesh
was created in 1971, Atalji was
the leader of the front line in the
Opposition. He even gave the title
of ‘Abhinav Chandi Durga’ to the
then Prime Minister Indira Gan-
dhi in the House for the efforts
made for the creation of Bangla-
desh with the crushing defeat of
Pakistan. But on the intention of
concentrating power only in her
hands, he did not reduce the at-
tack on Mrs Gandhi by writing
poems in sarcasm on her in pub-
lic meetings in the eighties.
I still remember the poems re-
cited by him during that period,
‘Indira Gandhi number ek/ num-
ber do hai kaun? /Nari number ek
/ baki sab 10 numbari.’ He used to
do it. He didn’t keep anything in
mind. Whatever is there, if not
said, he used to convey it easily to
the people in impeccable poetry
.
Atalji had faith in the lofty val-
ues of life from the very begin-
ning. Be it politics or life outside,
he used to always stay away from
smallness. These lines of his
poem are very dear to me even
today, ‘Hey prabhu! Mujhe itni
unchain kabhi mat dena/ gairon
ko gale na laga saku/itni rukhai
kabhi mat dena.” I think he al-
ways kept himself attached to
himself. He was skilful and witty
.
He became a Member of Parlia-
mentforthefirsttimein1957atthe
age of 33. His speeches in the Lok
Sabhaarerememberedeventoday
because he used to delve into the
subject very deeply and speak his
words in the contexts of the time.
I still remember his speech in the
House in 1959, in which he talked
about China completely destroy-
ingthepersonalityof thepeopleof
Tibet and spreading a new type of
imperialism. This speech of his
later became very popular. We all
knowwhathismindsawthattime,
the same thing happened later.
China has not only captured Tibet
and made its right there, but has
also continuously exploited Tibet-
ans by making them a minority in
their own country
.
Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee’s
energetic personality has had a
deep impact on Atalji from the
very beginning. Dr. Syamaprasad
Mukherjee’s speech on Kashmir,
hisideologyandthinkinginspired
Atalji probably from the very be-
ginning. That is why this glimpse
also emerges again and again in
his contemplation. After Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyayji, when he
got the post of President of Jana
Sangh,hetookeveryonealongand
did very important work for the
organisation. I have experienced
thathealsohadtheabilitytobring
those, who opposed him, towards
him. Perhaps the main reason for
this was that he used to go directly
to the opponent himself without
anyformalityandaskforcoopera-
tion. This vision and spontaneity
is not there in everyone, but Atalji
was full of this quality
.
A lot is being said and heard on
Hindu,HindutvaandIndiancul-
tureatthistime.Ataljiwasnot
only associated with the ide-
ology of Hindutva, he has
also made it public again
and again. Everyone
knows that ‘Hindu’ is
derived from the Vedic
word Sindhu. The
basis of word ori-
gin in Vedic gram-
mar is the science
of phonetics. On
the basis of this,
Sindhu is the Hin-
du of today
. At many levels in pro-
nunciation, the ‘s’ is changed to
the ‘h’ sound. On the basis of the
grammar of Vedic Sanskrit, we
can assume that there was a tem-
poral transformation of Hindu
from Indus itself. Atalji had once
written a poem with a coloured
mind in the concerns of Indian
culture and Hindutva. Voices
were raised on it, but he was al-
ways firm. I think his poem ex-
plains Hindutva in a way
.
Just a few days ago, when I was
re-reading his collection of fifty
one poems, his same poem came
to mind. In the rare shades of
meaning, he has said a lot in a few
words while transforming Hin-
dutva in Hindustan. See the lines,
‘Hindu tan-man, Hindu jeevan,
rag-rag mera Hindu mera
parichay / main akhil vishwa
guru mahan, deta vidya ka am-
ardan/samashti ke liye vyasti ka
kar sakta balidan’. Those who do
not understand the deep meaning
of the sublime of Hindutva, they
should understand that Hindu
means the tradition of tolerance
in which the values of Sanatan
culture are deeply embedded.
Another important aspect of
Vajpayeeji has always fascinated
me. That is, he was closely relat-
ed to healthy parliamentary tra-
ditions. Heard him many
times in the Lok Sabha and
every time I felt that he had
lived the sub-
ject deeply.
Not only this,
instead of cov-
ering himself
with serious-
ness in the par-
liamentary tradition, he believed
in being straight, simple. I used
to interact with him many times
on the traditions of the House. He
knew that I have a deep attach-
ment to the Constitution and cul-
ture, so if there was a discussion
on this subject, we used to talk for
a long time. Every time I also felt
that he was in favour of preserv-
ing the values of the Constitution
and its associated culture under
any circumstances.
I have also noticed several
times in my interactions with
him that he used to get distracted
when there was a lot of unneces-
sary noise in Parliament and im-
portant issues could not be de-
bated. He used to get disturbed
many times with members speak-
ing loudly in the House and with
their struggle to get a place in the
media. On this, sarcastic lan-
guage was also heard from his
mouth many times. When he was
the Leader of the Opposition in
the Lok Sabha, he used to say re-
peatedly, “The members of the
House consider making noise as
an easy means to get into the
limelight. That is not good. Do a
deep study on a topic, collect
facts, keep arguments and give
an effective speech even then
there is an apprehension that it
is not known how much will be
printed. That’s why the members
have started finding a simple way
to say something in the zero hour
at 11 o’clock or 12 o’clock which
will attract the attention of the
journalists sitting in the gallery
and get a good place in the news-
papers on the second day
.”
Healsousedtosayjokinglythat
as a man feels thirsty
, in the same
way politicians and public repre-
sentatives feel ‘Chhapas’ (a strong
desiretogetprintedinthemedia).
In the House, Vajpayeeji’s hu-
mour and sarcasm as well as wit
was always in the discussion.
When Vajpayee reached the Par-
liament from Balrampur, Uttar
Pradesh on the seat of Jana
Sangh, then Nehruji’s lot of dif-
ficult postures like Shirshasana
yoga used to get printed in news-
papers. One day, during the de-
bate in Parliament, Pt. Jawahar-
lal Nehru spoke very effectively
on some issues. Everyone appre-
ciated his speech. Looking at Va-
jpayeeji sitting in the Opposition,
Nehru ji smiled and said, now tell
me, what do you have to say?
Atalji was not going to remain
silent. He said, “I know that Pan-
ditji does Shirshasana yoga. It
should also be done but it does
not mean that he should also look
at the solution of problems in re-
verse.” I think the house used to
be always alive whenever he was
in the House.
Personalities like Vajpayeeji
are rare in this era. I wonder
where such personalities have left
in politics, who, while taking eve-
ryone along, always keep the
house illuminated with their
presence. He was such a personal-
ity associated with the sensitivity
of parliamentary traditions, cul-
ture and literature who despite
being in politics, kept herself
away from its quagmire. He made
his mark as a leader. I have been
fortunate enough to have such
closeness with him that every
now and then I used to communi-
cate with him on many subjects
other than politics. Whenever
there was a gap in our meeting, he
used to reprimand me. Sweet re-
bukes and listening to a lot. There
aresomanythingsandmemories
that if I write, I do not know
where it will reach. I will say only
one thing for a hundred things
that Atalji was ‘Atal’ in
politics and will always
remain so.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
Another important aspect
of Vajpayeeji has always
fascinated me. That is, he
was closely related to
healthy parliamentary
traditions. Heard him
many times in the Lok
Sabha and every time I
felt that he had lived the
subject deeply. Not only
this, instead of covering
himself with seriousness
in the parliamentary
tradition, he believed in
being straight, simple. I
used to interact with him
many times on the
traditions of the House.
A
While taking everyone
along under the
democratic vision, he
never cared about anyone
in expressing his views. I
think, not everyone has the
courage to tell the truth, but
Vajpayeeji had this quality.
He used to appreciate it
openly even if the leader
of any Opposition party
did good work
KALRAJ MISHRA
The writer is Governor of Rajasthan
REMEMBERING AB VAJPAYEE ON HIS BIRTH ANNIVERSARY TODAY
ATALJI WAS ‘ATAL’ IN POLITICS
AND WILL ALWAYS REMAIN SO!
Vol 1 Issue No. 116
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express
Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing
and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor,
309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone
011-49846474. Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh
Chandra. Editor: Sharat K Verma responsible
for selection of news under the PRB Act
Projects dedicated to
memory of Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana
Pratap, Veer Abdul Hameed
and General Bipin Rawat
were inaugurated in
Dodaicha, Maharashtra
today. I bow to the
memories of all these
majestic generals and
heroes who contributed for
the country.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Jesus answered, ‘I am the
way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.
—Bible
TOP
TWEETS
Addressed a women’s rally
in Imphal today. Manipur is
another name for women
empowerment. The social
and economic contribution
of the mother power
here is very deep. Be it
Commonwealth Games or
Olympic Games, the players
of Manipur have brought
laurels to the country by
flaunting medals.
Jagat Prakash
Nadda @JPNadda

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INDIA
05
Asaduddin Owaisi’s remarks trigger controversy
New Delhi: AIMIM’s
Asaduddin Owaisi’s re-
marks at a poll rally cau-
tioning UP Police trig-
gered a controversy on
Friday with the BJP
comparing him to Jin-
nah, even though he
clarified that the context
of his remarks was de-
liberately edited out to
misrepresent it.
In a series of tweets,
Owaisi shared a clip
which has been widely
circulated on social me-
dia and said the remarks
made by him were in the
context of atrocities
against Muslims by the
state police, which has
been edited out of the
clip. In the video clip
shared by him, Owaisi is
heard saying that Yogi
Adityanath will not al-
ways be the CM and Nar-
endra Modi the PM. “We
will not forget the injus-
tice. We will remember
this injustice. Allah will
destroy you through his
strength. Things will
change.Whowillcometo
saveyouthen?WhenYogi
will return to his mutt
and Modi will retreat to
the mountains, then who
will come?” he said.
Owaisi said the edited
clip of his 45-minute
speech was being circu-
lated to divert the atten-
tion from the alleged
hate speeches made at a
Dharma Sansad in
Haridwar which he al-
leged as “genocidal
meet”. “I did not incite
violence or give threats.
I talked about police
atrocities.... I said we
will remember these
police atrocities. Is this
objectionable? Why is
it offensive to remem-
ber how police have
treated Muslims in UP?
I asked cops: who will
come to save them
when Modi-Yogi retire?
Indeed, who will? —PTI
Asaduddin Owaisi
New Delhi: Noting that
the world is witnessing
a fourth surge in Covid
-19 cases, the govern-
ment on Friday cau-
tioned people against
lowering the guard, par-
ticulary during year-
end festivities.
It urged people to
avoid crowding and un-
necessary travel and
stressed on COVID-
19-appropriate behav-
iour and expedited vac-
cination.
Addressing a joint
press conference on the
pandemic, a senior of-
ficial said the predomi-
nant strain in India
continued to be Delta,
including in recently
identified clusters.
India has so far re-
ported 358 cases of the
Omicron variant, of
which 183 were ana-
lysed and 121 of them
were found to have for-
eign travel history
.
The Health Ministry
on Friday said that 61
per cent of the adult
population is fully vac-
cinated, while 89 per
cent has received their
first COVID-19 vaccine
dose.
Addressing a joint
press conference on the
pandemic, Union
Health Secretary
Rajesh Bhushan said,
“89 per cent of the eli-
gible population in In-
dia have received at
least the first vaccine
dose. 61 per cent of the
eligible population has
received the second
dose.” He further said
that the cause of con-
cern is 11 states where
vaccination is less than
the national average.
The 11 states are Odi-
sha, Maharashtra, Ta-
mil Nadu, Bihar, Pu-
ducherry, Uttar
Pradesh, Meghalaya,
Jharkhand, Manipur,
Punjab, and Nagaland.
The national average
of the first dose is 88.7
per cent, while of the
second dose is 60.7 per
cent. On a policy for
booster dose, the Indi-
an Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) said
that deliberations are
underway and it is re-
viewing scientific data.
“Deliberations are
underway. We are re-
viewing scientific data
to formulate a policy,”
said Dr Balram Bhar-
gava, Director General
of ICMR on vaccine
booster shots.
He said that the
world is witnessing the
fourth surge in COV-
ID-19 cases and the
overall positivity rate
stands at 6.1 per cent.
—PTI
358 Omicron cases in India,
114 have recovered, says government
New Delhi: The government will
conduct a medical study - on 3,000
fully vaccinated individuals - to
assess the efficacy of a Covid vac-
cine booster against the Omicron
variant, Health Ministry sources
said Friday. To be carried out by the
Translational Health Science and
Technology Institute in Haryana’s
Faridabad, news of the study comes
amid increasing global worry over
the Omicron strain, which the
World Health Organization has said
is more transmissible than Delta
and reduces vaccine efficacy.
GOVT TO STUDY BENEFIT OF
BOOSTER DOSE: SOURCES
Beed: In a goof-up, the names of
two persons, who are still alive,
have figured in the list of those who
died due to COVID-19 infection in
Ambejogai tehsil of Maharashtra’s
Beed district, an official said on
Friday. The list of the deceased has
been prepared by revenue depart-
ment based on the information given
by the district health department, the
official said. The Maha govt had an-
nounced that a financial assistance
of Rs 50,000 would be provided to
the families of each of those who
succumbed to coronavirus infection.
NAMES OF LIVING FOUND ON
LIST OF COVID-19 DEAD
Mumbai: Amid rising Omicron cases in the state, the Maharashtra government has prohibited the gathering of
more than five people in public places between 9 pm to 6 am. In the new guidelines, only 100 people are allowed
in indoor weddings and not more than 250 in outdoor weddings. Gyms, spas, hotels, theatres and cinema halls in
the state can only allow 50 per cent of the full capacity. Maharashtra reported 23 new cases of the Omicron variant
of Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the state’s tally to 88, the highest in India. Of the 23 new cases, 13 are from Pune
district, including three each from Pune city and Pune Rural, and seven from Pimpri-Chinchwad. The BMC on Friday
made a 7-day home quarantine compulsory for all passengers taking a flight from Dubai and arriving in Mumbai,
said BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal. The civic body said that an RT-PCR test will be done on the seventh
day of home quarantine. If the test is negative, the traveller needs to self-monitor for seven more days.
—Agencies
MAHA ANNOUNCES FRESH CURBS, LIMITS OVERNIGHT GATHERING; 50% CAP FOR CINEMA HALLS, RESTAURANTS
Image for representational purpose only
Third Covid wave
may peak in early
Feb: IIT-Kanpur
New Delhi: The third
wave of the COVID-19
pandemic in India may
peak by February 3,
2022, claims a model-
ling study by research-
ers at Indian Institute
of Technology Kanpur.
However, the forecast
is based on the assump-
tion that India will fol-
low the trends of rise
in cases seen in many
countries globally driv-
en by the Omicron var-
iant of coronavirus.
The yet-to-be peer-
reviewed study, posted
on the preprint reposi-
tory MedRxiv on De-
cember 21, used a sta-
tistical tool named the
Gaussian Mixture mod-
el to forecast the third
wave.
In their study, the re-
searchers used data
from countries such as
the US, UK, Germany,
and Russia that are al-
ready facing the third
COVID-19 wave.
They modelled the
daily data of cases in
these countries to pre-
dict the impact and
timeline for the third
wave in India.
The study also used
the data from the first
and second waves in In-
dia, considering the
number of cases with
respect to time.
“The cases start ris-
ing around 15 Decem-
ber 2021 and the peak
of the third wave will
occur on Thursday, 3
February 2022,” they
wrote in the research
paper.
The authors of the
study noted that the
conclusions are based
on the assumptions
that “a third wave of
COVID-19 may hit the
country, and will follow
the trends happening
around the world. —PTI
Mumbai: Kareena
Kapoor’s genome
sequencing report for
Omicron is negative, the
Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) said
on Friday, according to
news agency ANI. She
is currently recovering
from Covid-19 and is on
day 13 of her quarantine.
Earlier this month, Ka-
reena and her best friend
Amrita Arora tested posi-
tive for the virus.
KAREENA KAPOOR
TESTS -VE FOR COVID
Channi rules out sacrilege in Kapurthala
No evidence of sacrilege has been found in the Kapurthala wherein a man was lynched
New Delhi: Punjab
Chief Minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi on Fri-
day said that no evi-
dence of sacrilege has
been found in the Ka-
purthala case, wherein
a man was lynched.
Channi also said that
the FIR in the case will
be amended and probed
accordingly
.
Addressing a press
conference,Channisaid,
“In Kapurthala (killing
of a man for alleged sac-
rilege), no evidence that
sacrilege was done. The
matter is being probed...
FIR to be amended.”
The postmortem of
the unidentified man
has revealed an attack
with a sharp weapon.
“It has been revealed
in the postmortem that
he was attacked over
with a sharp weapon
leading to multiple inju-
ries. There are over 30
sharp cut marks on the
body including neck,
head and hip,” execu-
tive Senior Medical Of-
ficer (SMO) Dr Nar-
inder Singh informed
on Thursday
.
“There is also a mark
of inserting a sharp ob-
ject into the chest,” he
added while also saying
that the cut mark on the
left side of his throat
reveals that his breath-
ing tube was cut.
“We have taken DNA
samples for identifica-
tion of the body,” he
added. The last rites of
themanwereperformed
by the Municipal Corpo-
ration after the post-
mortem. —Agencies
J-K: Budgam
Police arrests
2 Lashkar terror
associates
Srinagar: Budgam Se-
curity forces on Friday
(December 24) arrested
two individuals linked
with the terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT)in
JK`s Budgam district.
The arrests were
made in a joint opera-
tion by the police, coun-
ter insurgency force
Rashtriya Rifles, and
the CRPF in Chadoora
area of Budgam, offi-
cials said.“The arrested
persons are Imran Ma-
jeed Khandey and Aqib
Amin, both resident of
Mochwa in Budgam.
Two hand grenades,
two AK-47 magazines,
30 AK-47 rounds and in-
criminating material of
LeT were recovered
from them,” said police.
Friday`s arrests have
been made a day after
two persons were ar-
rested as terror associ-
ates in Magam area of
the same district.
During preliminary
investigation, it sur-
faced that both the ar-
rested terrorist associ-
ates have been in touch
with LeT commanders
and were involved in
providing logistics,
shelter ad transporta-
tion of arms and am-
munition. —ANI
CRUCIAL READ
INDIAN ENGINEERING EXPORTS TO
CHINA DOUBLES IN NOVEMBER 2021
New Delhi: Engineering goods shipments to China has
more than doubled in November, 2021 to USD 434.6
million (Rs 32,60 crore approximately) as compared to
USD 205.3 million (Rs 1540 crore) in the same month
last year, sector export
promotion body EEPC
said on Friday. The US,
however, remained the
top importer of Indian
engineering goods at
USD 1196 million during
this period, registering a
growth of 36.6 per cent over USD 875 million in No-
vember, 2020. The UAE was the third biggest market
for Indian engineering goods with a total shipment
value of USD 404.4 million in the previous month.
RAILWAYS TO
MONETISE NEW
JALPAIGURI
New Delhi: Indian
Railways invited bids for
the redevelopment of the
existing railway housing
complex and develop-
ment of the commercial
and residential space lo-
cated at Barrack Colony,
New Jalpaiguri in West
Bengal. The RLDA said
in a statement today that
the bid carries a reserve
price of `26.7 crore for
the area of 16,222 square
metre to be leased out
for 99 years. The online
pre-bid meeting was held
where prominent national
and local level develop-
ers participated. The
proposed plot of land is
square in shape and well
connected to the rail and
road network.
z Kerala reports 8 new
cases of Omicron, total
rises to 37
z Health ministry: 3 out
of 183 Omicron+ve cases
had taken 3d vax dose
z IT biggies TCS, HCL,
Infosys to continue work
from home as Omicron
scare looms large.
Blast case: NIA
chargesheet
against LeT
New Delhi: Pakistan-
based LeT operative Ha-
feez Iqbal along with
two other associates
fabricated the Darb-
hanga railway station
IED blast that occurred
in mid-June this year, a
chargesheet filed by the
National Investigation
Agency (NIA) reveals.
Chargesheet mentions
name of Hafeez Iqbal
and 4 associates. —ANI
Will night curfew and other restrictions
mar electoral ‘atmosphere’?
Aditi Nagar
Dehradun: A day after
the Allahabad HC sug-
gested deferring the Ut-
tar Pradesh assembly
elections due to a possi-
ble Omicron-led third
Covid wave, Chief Elec-
tion Commissioner Su-
shil Chandra onFriday
saidanappropriatedeci-
sion will be taken on the
issue after his UP visit
next week.“I will be vis-
iting UP next week. An
appropriate decision as
required by the situa-
tion will be taken after
we review it,” Chandra
told reporters here.
Meanwhile, with the
suspicion that election
buglemaybeblownsoon
as ECI may announce
dates on December 30
and on the other hand
the cases of corona are
increasing continuously
,
politicalobservers,party
leaders and general pub-
lic alike is raising one
pertinent question, as to
howwillpollactivitiesbe
carried out at night after
night curfew has been
imposedinUP
.Generally
poll strategies are made
in night and banners,
posters too are put up by
workersinnightbutnow
night curfew may prove
a dampener.
EC WILL VISIT UP NEXT WEEK,
TAKE APPROPRIATE DECISION: CEC
Man Killed In Ludhiana Court Blast Was Bomber, An Ex-Cop: Sources
Chandigarh: The body of the man who was
killed in the blast at a court in Punjab’s Lu-
dhiana has been identified and is believed to
be that of the bomber, and more startlingly,
a former police officer, sources said on
Friday. According to sources, the body of
the bomber was identified as Gagandeep
Singh, a former cop. A head constable, he
was dismissed from service in 2019 and
spent two years in jail following his arrest
in a drug-trafficking case. He was released
in September. His SIM card and a wireless
dongle helped identify him and the family
too have confirmed that the body was of
Singh, sources said. The disclosure bol-
stered CM Charanjit Singh Channi’s state-
ment that there appeared to be no evidence
of the involvement of Pakistani agencies or
Khalistani groups in the blast. “It is a possi-
bility. The blast happened in Ludhiana when
the hearing in the Majithia case was taking
place in Mohali,” the CM said. —Agencies
NO COLD WAVE CONDITION OVER ANY PART
OF INDIA, RAIN LIKELY IN NORTHERN STATES
New Delhi: There is no cold wave condition over any
part of India, but there are chances of rain in the plains
particularly in Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan,
Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, said the Indian Meteorological
Department on Friday. As
per IMD, all these areas
will receive rainfall from
the intervening night of
December 26 and 27 and
the spell will continue till
December 28. IMD said,
“As of December 24, the
temperature has been normal or above normal, both
night and day temperature. There is no cold wave
over any parts of India and as we have predicted from
December 22, mostly it has been withdrawn.
CAUGHT ON CCTV,
MAN’S RAMPAGE
OVER ICE CREAM
Mumbai: How far can
one go if children are
denied ice-cream? A man
in Mumbai suburb Vasai
gave a shocking answer
to this when he damaged
a shop’s entire ice cream
stock after the owner re-
fused to sell them dessert
two hours after midnight.
The episode, which took
late night ice cream
craving to a whole new
level, was captured by a
CCTV camera installed
next to the medical store
in Vasai’s Kaul Heritage
City that also stocked
ice cream. In the foot-
age from 2.11 am on
December 19, a man
is seen speaking to the
shop owner from across
the counter.

06
Mumbai: The coun-
try’s monetary policy
is, by design, financial-
ly inclusive and this
strategy will result in
policy effectiveness and
welfare maximisation
going ahead, Reserve
Bank of India’s Deputy
Governor Michael D
Patra said on Friday
.
Financial inclusion
appears to have gone
up, with the level of the
RBI’s financial inclu-
sion index rising from
49.9 in March 2019 to
53.1 in March 2020 and
further to 53.9 in March
2021, Patra said at an
event organised at In-
dian Institute of Man-
agement, Ahmedabad.
“The evidence is still
formingandstrongcon-
clusions from its analy-
sis may be premature,
but India’s monetary
policy is, by design, fi-
nancially inclusive and
it will reap the benefits
of this strategy in the
future...,” he stated.
An economy with all
consumers financially
included would expect
to experience less out-
put volatility due to
lower consumption
volatility
. In an econo-
my with financially ex-
cluded consumers,
monetary
policy has to
assign a greater
weight to stabilis-
ing output, he said.
Patra said going
ahead as financial in-
clusion rises even fur-
ther in India, consump-
tion volatility as a
source of output vola-
tility can be expected to
wane.
This will provide
headroomformonetary
policy to remain fo-
cused on minimising
inflation volatility,
which brings welfare
gains for all, he added.
—PTI
New Delhi: Depart-
ment of Telecom (DoT)
has extended the dura-
tion of archiving call
data and internet usage
records of subscribers
to two years from one
year due to security rea-
sons.
The amendments in
the licences were issued
on December 21 and ex-
tended to other forms
of telecom permits on
December 22.
“The licensee shall
maintain all commer-
cial records/call detail
record/exchange detail
record/IP detail record
with record to the com-
munications exchanged
on the net-
work. Such re-
cords shall be
archived for at
least two
years for
scrutiny by
the licensor
for securi-
ty rea-
s o n s . . . , ”
the DoT cir-
cular said. —PTI
New Delhi: After wit-
nessing cloudy skies
this year, the coun-
try’s renewable ener-
gy sector is expected
to boom with a likely
investment of over $15
billion in 2022 as the
government focusses
on electric vehicles,
green hydrogen, man-
ufacturing of solar
equipment as well
as achieving
the am-
bitious 175GW renew-
able capacity target.
India, which has an
installed renewable
energy generation ca-
pacity of a little over
150GW, aims to reach
175GW in 2022. Out of
the total mix, 100GW
would be from solar,
60GW from wind,
10GW from bio-power
and 5GW from small
hydropower pro-
jects. “In 2022, we
expect the in-
vestment in re-
newable ener-
gy to cross at
least $15 billion,”
Power and New and
Renewable Energy
said. According to
BNEF reports, new
investment made
in the clean ener-
gy sector in the
country stood at $6.2
billion in 2020. —PTI
Mumbai: The BSE
benchmark Sensex
tumbled 191 points on
Friday, tracking losses
in index-heavyweights
HDFC twins, Kotak
Bank and Axis Bank
amid mixed cues from
global markets.
After a choppy ses-
sion, the 30-share index
ended 190.97 points or
0.33%lowerat57,124.31.
Similarly, the NSE Nif-
ty declined 68.85 points
or 0.40% to 17,003.75.
NTPC was the top
loser in the Sensex
pack, shedding around
3%, followed by MM,
Axis Bank, PowerGrid,
Kotak Bank, Dr Red-
dy’s, Bajaj Finserv and
HDFC. On the other
hand, HCL Tech, Tech
Mahindra, Asian
Paints, Wipro, Infosys
were among gainers.
Elsewhere in Asia,
bourses in Hong Kong
and Seoul ended with
gains. —PTI
New Delhi: Microfi-
nance industry (MFI)
is one of the most im-
portant paradigms of
the Indian financial
sector due to its grass-
root coverage and its
overarching vision of
providing credit to the
relatively unbanked
sections of the society
.
This transformative
effort constitutes an
integral part of the
mainframe economics
and the well-being
of the overall soci-
ety
. The amount of
loan disbursed, dipped
in the wake of the dev-
astating COVID pan-
demic. However, the
num-
ber o f
SHG’s with saving
linkage increased
from about 100 lakhs to
about 112 lakhs.
The All-India NPA
as percentage to loan
outstanding under
SHG-BLP declined
from 5.19% in 2018-19
to 4.73% in 2020-21.
West Bengal re-
tained its
spot as
the larg-
est state in
terms of portfo-
lio outstanding
(`34,587 crore). —PTI
New Delhi: India’s
startup ecosystem has
notched up record in-
vestment of nearly $ 36
billion in privately
held companies this
year as demand for dig-
itisation grew mani-
fold amid the Covid-19
pandemic. UK-based
Investment data plat-
form Preqin estimates
that venture and pri-
vate equity invest-
ments increased three-
fold during the year up
from the $11 billion
mopped up by Indian
startups in 2020.
This year, the vol-
ume of seed-stage
deals dominated with
nearly 396 deals aggre-
gating to $705.86 mil-
lion while about 166
investments at series A
amounted to about
$1.67 billion, data until
Dec 20, showed. How-
ever, the bulk of the
investments were di-
rected towards pre-IPO
financing rounds. —PTI
BIZ BUZZ
New Delhi:
India’s first
5G technolo-
gy trials for
rural broad-
band began on
Thursday at
Ajol village in
Gujarat with a
base trans-
c e i v e r
sta-
tion (BTS) installed
17km away at Unava
town in the Gandhi-
nagar district.
A team of repre-
sentatives from the
department of tele-
com (DoT) and two
private mobile ser-
vice providers visited
the village to meas-
ure speeds, recording
a 105.47 Mbps down-
load speed and a
58.77 Mbps
u p l o a d
speed.
Among the tech-
nologies being tested
are 360 degrees vir-
tual reality content
playback, a virtual-
reality connected
classroom, 5G immer-
sive gaming. —Agencies
New Delhi: Pre-
owned vehicle market
in India is expected to
reach 8.2 million
units by FY’26 from
around 4 million
units in the financial
year ended March
2021, driven by higher
demand from smaller
cities coupled with
increasing new vehi-
cle prices and cus-
tomers’ changing
preferences, a report
said on Friday
. It also
said that the market
size is expected to
grow to $70.8 billion
by 2030 at a Com-
pounded Annual
Growth Rate of 14.8
per cent between 2021
and 2030.
The cost of owner-
ship for a pre-owned/
used vehicle is sig-
nificantly less in com-
parison to a new one,
mainly due to high
depreciation, higher
taxes, RTO/ registra-
tion fee, and expen-
sive vehicle insur-
ance policies,
Grant Thorn-
ton Bharat said.
Noting that with
increased new vehi-
cleprices,pre-owned/
used vehicles are ex-
pected to become a
more popular choice
among Indian con-
sumers, the report
said, “the pre-owned
vehicle market in In-
dia is expected to
reach 8.2 million
units by FY26, a two-
fold increase from ap-
proximate 4-million
units in FY21.”
—PTI
India’s first rural 5G
trial starts at Ajol
Huge potential for
pre-owned car market
record/IP detail record
with record to the com-
munications exchanged
on the net-
work. Such re-
cords shall be
archived for at
least two
years for
scrutiny by
the licensor
the DoT cir-
—PTI
said that the market
size is expected to
ance policies,
Grant Thorn-
units in FY21.”
—PTI
New Delhi: Santa ar-
rived early at the In-
dian Institute of
Technology campus-
es this year, where
crore-plus offers dur-
ing final placements
at 185-odd marked a
new all-time high.
For the first time
ever, domestic offers
accounted for a sig-
nificant chunk of
these crore-plus pack-
ages, as companies
went all out in their
bid to bag the best of
tech talent.
Among the IITs of
Delhi, Bombay, Kan-
pur, Madras, Kharag-
pur, Roorkee, Guwa-
hati, the highest do-
mestic packages were
`1.8 crore a year. In-
ternational packages
ranged as high as
`2.15-2.4 crore.
Students at IIT-Del-
hi received around 60
offers with salaries of
more than `1 crore,
while other IITs with
crore-plus packages
included Kanpur (49),
Madras (27), Bombay
(12), Roorkee (11),
Guwahati (5) and
BHU (1). IIT-Kharag-
pur said it had 22-plus
packages in the `90
lakh-2.4 crore range,
of which 1-2 were in
the `90 lakh-1 crore
range. —PTI
IITs SEE RECORD
CRORE-PLUS OFFERS
MFI LOAN PORTFOLIO
STOOD AT `2,37,369 CR
BRIGHTER DAYS
AWAIT RENEWABLE
ENERGY SPACE
INDIAN STARTUPS BAG
RECORD $36 BN IN 2021
SENSEX DROPS 191 POINTS;
NIFTY ENDS NEAR 17K LEVEL
New Delhi: SBI
Cards and Payment
Services (SBI Card)
on Friday said it has
raised Rs 650 crore
by issuing bonds on
a private placement
basis. We hereby
inform that stake-
holders' relation-
ship and customer
experience commit-
tee of the company
has approved the
allotment of 6,500
fixed rate, unse-
cured, rated, taxable,
redeemable, senior,
listed non-convertible
debentures (NCDs)
aggregating to Rs
650 crore on private
placement basis, SBI
Card said in a release
The bonds, bearing
interest at 5.82 per
cent, have a tenure
of three years and
are set for matu-
rity on December 24,
2024.—PTI
Telecom companies to archive
data for two years: DoT
financially inclusive: RBI
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India will
conduct another three-day Variable Rate Reverse
Repo (VRRR) auction on Monday when it will aim
to suck out up to Rs 2,00,000 crore. The move is
in line with the central bank’s stated policy as the
RBI governor earlier hinted at unwinding excess
cash through auctions. Earlier in the week in a
surprise move, it conducted a similar auction
through which it removed Rs 81,160 crore liquid-
ity from the system on December 20.—Agencies
MONETARY
POLICY
India’s
RBI ANNOUNCES ANOTHER
3-DAY VRRR AUCTION FOR `2 L CRORE
SBI CARD RAISES `650 CR
THROUGH PVT PLACEMENT

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: After prom-
ising materialist bene-
fits to woo the female
voters, AICC General
Secy Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra has tried to strike
an emotional chord
with them by re-phras-
ing the iconic dialogue
from yesteryears Bolly-
wood Blockbuster mov-
ie ‘Deewar’. The Con-
gress leader twisted the
Shashi Kapoor dialogue
“Mere paas maa hai” to
“Mere Paas Behen Hai”
(I have a sister). Earli-
er, Priyanka had prom-
ised benefits like 40%
party tickets, monthly
10,000 for Asha and
Anganwadi workers,
widow pension of 1,000
per month, 75 vocation-
al schools and scooty
for girls.
In a video clip up-
loaded on her twitter
handle, a journalist is
seen seeking her re-
sponse to the rival par-
ties' remarks that the
Congress had been
speaking about women
in its rallies as it had no
base left in Uttar
Pradesh. To this, she
asks the journalist
whether he has heard
the dialogue from Film
Deewar in which Am-
itabh Bachchan and
Shashi Kapoor played
brothers. Amitabh
tells Shashi Kapoor,
'mere paas gaadi hai,
mere paas bangla hai,
yeh hai, woh hai’, toh
Shashi Kapoor ne kaha,
‘mere paas maa hai’ (I
have a car, I have a bun-
galow... so Shashi Ka-
poor says, I have moth-
er).
Toh main keh rahin
hun, mere paas behen
hai (I have sister), Pri-
yanka said in a appar-
ent reference to women
in UP. I have sisters ...
sisters will bring
change in politics. #lad-
ki hoon lad sakti hoon,
her tweet in Hindi read.
In the poll bound Ut-
tarpradesh, Congress
Gen Secy Priyanka
Gandhi is seen busy re-
viving the party organi-
sation in the state and
has coined the phrase
as a symbol of women
empowerment in the
state that has a high
number of crime
against women.
On December 21,
Madhya Pradesh Con-
gress chief Kamal
Nath, who was in Luc-
know to take part in
election campaigns said
that he was impressed
by the way Priyanka’s
slogan had infused the
cadre with enthusiasm
in the neighbouring
state. Women were
aligning with the party
in large numbers due to
the slogan, Nath added.
He further told media
that he had invited Pri-
yanka to MP and her
tour programme will
shortly be finalised.
Priyanka has already
made her presence felt
in MP after she organ-
ised a ‘mahila samvad’
last month at Chitra-
koot, a pilgrimage re-
gion on the MP-UP
border. She had ex-
horted women to make
their might felt in pol-
itics by getting elected
as MLAs.
Notably, Congress
has promised women
40% of tickets and a
similar quota in jobs if
the party comes to pow-
er in the Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka Gandhi has
been at the forefront of
the attempts to revive
the party there.
She also identifies po-
tential candidates in
the respective areas by
organizing Mahila
Samvad rallies in vari-
ous areas. At the same
time, in view of the
prominently raising the
issues of women in
these rallies, the Con-
gress is trying to get the
votes of half the popu-
lation in its favour in
the Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka uses Deewar’s dialogue to connect with UP women
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Di-
rectorate of Central
Goods and Service Tax
(CGST-Intelligence)
wing, while searching
for tax evasion of
Trimurti Fragrance Pvt
Ltd, found Rs 150 crore
cash—collected from
tax evasion. Samajwadi
Party leader Piyush
Jain, considered a close
aide of Akhilesh Yadav,
owns the company
.
CGST-Intelligence
had initiated raids for
tax evasion. Upon reve-
lation, they also in-
formed the Income Tax
Department. CGST of-
ficials said the money
was linked to the dis-
patch of goods via fake
invoices and the ab-
sence of e-way bills.
Fake invoices created
on names of imaginary
firms were Rs 50,000
each. Officials found
over 200 such invoices
in four trucks inside the
trader's warehouse.
The factory premises
and the premises be-
longing to a pan masala
manufacturer and a
transporter, Ganpati
Road Carriers, involved
in the transportation of
goods under the garb of
fake invoices, without
generating e-way bills
were raided. Searches
were carried out at
Ahmedabad, Kanpur,
Mumbai, and other
places of the tobacco
manufacturer and
transporter.
CGST team had also
carried out searches at
Odochem Industries in
Kannauj in UP. The
company supplied per-
fumery compounds to
Trimurti Fragrance
Pvt Ltd and dealt most-
ly in cash. CGST has
already recovered Rs
3.09 crores towards tax
dues from Trimurti
Fragrance Ltd.
Officials of Income
Tax are further investi-
gating Rs 150 crore cash
seized from Piyush
Jain's residence, facto-
ries and offices.
CRORES OF TAX EVASION
CGST INTELLIGENCE SEIZES
`150 CR FROM SP LEADER
UPgovttocelebrateVajpayee’s
b’daywith1crphonestoyouth
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh CM Yogi Adity-
anath will commence
the distribution of one
crore free smartphones
and tablets on the birth
anniversary of former
Prime Minister Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee today
. On
Saturday, one lakh
smartphones and tab-
lets will be given to fi-
nal year students at
Bharat Ratna Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee Ekana
Stadium in Lucknow.
On the occasion, UP
CM will also launch
Digi Shakti Portal and
Digi Shakti Adhyayan
App, which is pre-in-
stalled on all smart-
phones and tablets that
are being distributed.
Students from every
district will partici-
pate in the programme.
Through these smart-
phones and tablets,
they will not only get
content for studies, but
information related to
employment will also
be given.
Through the Digi
Shakti Adhyayan App,
the concerned univer-
sity or department will
provide study material
to the students.
Earlier in Septemebr, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath distributed smartphones to 1,23,000
Anganwadi workers to make their work easy and smart. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh govt on Friday
decided to impose a
night curfew across the
state starting from De-
cember 25. The restric-
tions will be in place
from 11pm to 5am. The
decision was taken in
view of the surge in
Covid-19 and Omicron
cases across several
states in the country
.
The surveillance
committees, that
played an effective role
in bringing down the
spread of Covid-19, are
being reactivated in
both urban and rural
areas in light of the
third wave. Industrial
units have been asked
to set up Covid help
desks and day care
centres.
UP CM Yogi have in-
structed that every sin-
gle passenger coming in
the state should be duly
traced. RTPCR testing
should be mandated.
New Delhi: The Nation-
al Investigation Agency
(NIA) on Friday filed a
chargesheet against five
people in the Jehanabad
arms recovery case.
NIA filed the
chargesheet against the
accused in Patna court
under charges of vari-
ous sections of IPC and
UAPA. Parshuram Sin-
gh, Sanjay Singh, Prem
Raj, Rakesh Kumar and
Mohd. Badruddin. The
case pertains to the re-
covery and seizure of
arms and ammunition
from Jehanabad on
March 31. —ANI
UP govt imposes state-wide night
curfew to slow down Covid spread
NIA books 5 in
Jehanabad arms
recovery case
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Gallery of Mod-
ern Art, New Delhi will
celebrate Azadi ka Am-
rit Mahotsav with Kala
Kumbh- artist work-
shops for painting
scrolls in Chandigarh
from December 25 to
January 2, 2022.The cel-
ebration is based on
representing the tales
of valor of unsung he-
roes of India’s freedom
movement. These will
form an integral part of
the Republic day cele-
brations 2022, analyz-
ing the potential of art
as a means to express
National pride.
These celebrations
with artist workshops
for painting five scrolls
of seventy-five meters
and other substantial
ones portraying indig-
enous arts of India is
being organized in
Chandigarh. Similar
workshops have also
been organized in oth-
er parts of the country.
Approximately 250 art-
ists from entire coun-
try will portray the
heroic lives and strug-
gles of unsung heroes
of India’s freedom
movement. The artists
will be carefully men-
tored by eminent sen-
ior artists alongwith
the Director- General
of National Gallery of
Modern Art.
NGMA to celebrate Kala Kumbh @Azadi ka
Amrit Mahotsav at Chandigarh from today
First India Bureau
New Delhi: TheDepart-
ment of Consumer Af-
fairs celebrated the Na-
tional Consumer Day
2021 with the theme
“Consumer–Knowyour
Rights” on Friday
.
Union Minister of
Consumer Affairs, Food
Public Distribution,
Textiles and Commerce
IndustryPiyushGoyal
inaugurated the event
by releasing e-books and
flagging National Test
House (NTH) Mobile
Van for Drinking Water
Testing.
In his address, Goyal
emphasized on Protec-
tionof ConsumerRights
and ensuring Quality to
Consumers. “Following
the mantra of ‘Consum-
er is King’, we have tran-
sitioned from ‘Consum-
er Protection’ to ‘Con-
sumer Empowerment’,
he said.
“December 25 is the
birthday of former PM,
late Atal Bihari Vajpay-
eewhichisalsoobserved
as the Good Governance
Day
. When we talk of
Good Governance, the
consumers-which in-
cludes 135 crore citizens
are driving “
Aatmanirb-
har Bharat” by being
‘Vocal for Local’,” he
said.
Hementionedthatthe
demand by consumers
for high quality prod-
ucts have spurred Indi-
an companies to be big-
ger better and the fo-
cus of the companies
should be on quality
. He
said, “India should take
lead in One Nation One
Standard,” emphasizing
that BIS is already work-
ing on standard setting
and ensuring quality
standards.
He added that it’s a
myththatqualitymeans
high price. He stressed
on simplifying proce-
dures of filing com-
plaintstherebyensuring
time-bound redressal of
the complaints. Union
MoS for Ministry of
Consumer Affairs Ash-
wini Kumar Choubey
also participated in the
event. Three E-Books
namely
,LandmarkJudg-
ments on Consumer
Law and Practice, Hand-
book on Mediation un-
der Consumer Protec-
tion Act 2019 and Hand-
book on E-filing before
Consumer Redressal
Commission were virtu-
ally inaugurated.
Aim to strengthen 5 pillars of Consumer Rights, says Piyush Goyal
NATIONAL CONSUMER DAY
E-DAAKHIL PORTAL IS SAVIOUR
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
@priyankagandhi
I have sisters...
Sisters will bring
change in politics.
#ladki_hoon_lad_
sakti_hoon
SP leader Piyush Jain had allegedly evaded tax by generating fake invoices
CGST officials at UP SP leader Piyush Jain’s house with the seized Rs 150 crores in cash.
Night curfew have been effective in stopping virus, earlier.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal during the virtual celebration.
Artist workshops
for painting scrolls
on unsung heroes of
freedom movement
to be organised
A visual from NGMA workshop. —FILE PHOTO
1 LAKH TODAY

08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Taking
forward Haryana CM
Manohar Lal Khattar’s
vision of digitization,
Uttar Haryana Bijli
Vitran Nigam has
started a scheme to
provide incentives to
rural consumers on
digital payment of
their bills on the lines
of urban areas.
Giving information,
an official spokesper-
son said that under
‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag
Gaon Yojana’, more
than 75 percent villages
of the State are being
supplied 24 hours elec-
tricity
. He said that the
main objective of this
scheme is to encourage
rural consumers to
make digital payments.
Digital payments will
savethetimeof thecon-
sumers as well as bene-
fit them. Consumers
can pay electricity bills
digitally through their
DebitCard,CreditCard,
Internet Banking, Mo-
bile Banking, Mobile
WalletApplicationslike
Paytm, Amazon etc.
The spokesperson
further said that for the
first time on digital
payment of electricity
bills by rural consum-
ers, Rs 20 would be giv-
en as incentive. After
this, on making digital
payment of electricity
bill up to Rs 2,000/-, an
incentive amount of 0.5
percent of the bill
amount (up to a maxi-
mum of Rs. 10) will be
given. Apart from this,
an incentive amount of
Rs. 50 will be given for
digital payment of 6
consecutive bills by the
consumer. Panchayats
of villages having more
than 90 percent elec-
tricity bill payment
and more than 90 per-
cent of them through
digital medium will be
honoured by the corpo-
ration by giving an
amount of Rs. 2 lakh,
which can be spent on
development works of
the village.
Hesaidfromeachsub-
division, 5 consumers
would be selected for
making digital pay-
mentsonquarterlybasis
and each consumer
would be awarded an
amount of Rs. 2,100/-.
The consumers will be
selected by lottery sys-
tem in the presence of
the sub-divisional offic-
er at the village school/
chaupal/panchayat
ghar or any other public
place. The selected con-
sumer will be given a ci-
tation issued by the
Managing Director of
the corporation as a
mark of respect. For
more information, con-
sumerscancontacttheir
nearest sub-divisional
officer or can get infor-
mation by visiting the
website of the corpora-
tion www.uhbvn.org.in.
He said that the Elec-
tricity Corporation is
committed to provide
uninterrupted power
supply, quality and
transparent service to
the consumers through
digital medium.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: INS Su-
darshini is on its culmi-
nation phase of deploy-
ment to Gulf region as
part of Indian Navy’s ef-
forts towards familiaris-
ing friendly foreign na-
vies on various facets of
operations and training
on board sail training
platforms and extending
‘Bridges of Friendship’.
The ship was escorted
by IRIS Zereh to Port Sa-
hidBahonar,BandarAb-
bas (Iran) on December
22. The ship was accord-
ed a warm welcome by
the Naval band of IRI
Navy at the jetty
. A del-
egation of the IRI Navy
1stNavalRegionandNa-
val Attaché Indian em-
bassy received the ship.
The reception was fol-
lowed by an onboard
visit by Gaddam Dhar-
mendra, Ambassador of
India to Iran. He along
with his team were pro-
vided a guided tour of
the ship. The ship’s staff
werehostedatabanquet
lunch on invitation of
theAmbassador.Person-
nel from IRI Navy were
alsoinvitedfortheevent.
The Commanding Of-
ficer accompanied by
Naval attaché India
called on Commander
IRI Navy 1st District.
Historical maritime
linkages, mutual co-op-
eration between both
the Navies on the sub-
ject of training cadets
and young officers and
various aspects of sail
training were discussed
during the call-on.
Capt Hamza, Director
of Training (IRI Navy)
visited the ship with a
team of Officers from
IRI Navy. They were
provided an in-depth
overview of the func-
tioning and features of
the ship during har-
bour training of IRI
Navy Cadets.
Visakhapatnam: INS
Khukri, the first of
the indigenously built
Missile Corvettes, was
decommissioned after
32 years of service. The
ceremony was held at
Visakhapatnam wherein
the national flag, naval
ensign, and the decom-
missioning pennant were
lowered at sunset in the
presence of Vice Admiral
Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag
Officer Commanding-
in-Chief Eastern Naval
Command the Chief
Guest and some serving
and retired former com-
manding officers of the
ship. The corvette was
built by the Mazagaon
Dock Shipbuilders on
Aug 23, 1989 and had
the distinction of being
part of both the Western
and Eastern Fleets. The
ship was commissioned
in Mumbai by Krishna
Chandra Pant, the then
Defence Minister and
Sudha Mulla, wife of late
Capt Mahendra Nath
Mulla, with Commander
(now Vice Admiral
Retd) Sanjeev Bhasin
as her first Command-
ing Officer. The ship
was commanded by 28
Commanding Officers
and traversed a dis-
tance of over 6,44,897
nautical miles, which is
equivalent to navigating
around the world 30
times.
Ahmedabad: The
standing committee of
the Ahmedabad Munic-
ipal Corporation (AMC)
has approved different
works worth Rs 235
crore for the Gandhi
Ashram Precinct Devel-
opment project, an offi-
cial said Friday
.
The Gandhi Ashram,
located in Ahmedabad
city, is also known as
Sabarmati Ashram.
The AMC’s standing
committee on Thursday
granted permission for
the works, which in-
cludes construction of
roads, drainage net-
works and filling of
land, the official said.
To make way for the
development works, the
civic body has started
demolishing the struc-
tures that are coming in
the way of the project.
TheRs1,200crore-worth
Gandhi Ashram Memo-
rial and Precinct Devel-
opment Project, has
been jointly undertaken
by the state and central
government by develop-
ing the Ashram, where
Mahatma Gandhi lived
from 1917 to 1930. The
project would be devel-
oped over an area of 55
acres from the existing
five acres by bringing
together heritage build-
ings and restoring the
surrounding.
On Thursday, the
AMC started razing
buildings near the Ash-
ram. The demolition
has been taken up after
the families residing
there accepted compen-
sation offered by the
government for their
relocation. Many of the
residents are descend-
ants of the people who
came to settle here
along with Mahatma
Gandhi. —PTI
Haryana starts incentives to rural consumers on digital payment of bills
Worksworth`235crokayedforGandhiAshramdevelopmentproject
Norelaxationfromprohibitionfor
thosecomingfromelsewhere:Nitish
Gopalganj: Demands
for relaxing the strin-
gent prohibition law in
Bihar for those coming
to the state from outside
were on Friday dis-
missed outright by Bi-
har CM Nitish Kumar.
He also rubbished
suggestions that an ex-
ceptionbemadeonmed-
ical grounds for certi-
fied alcoholics, assert-
ing that people spoiled
their health by drinking
and not by being pre-
vented from doing so.
The CM, who made
the state dry in April
2016, made his views
known at a gathering in
this north Bihar dis-
trict, which he visited
as part of a statewide
socialreformcampaign.
Though the main
thrust of Kumar was on
thevirtuesof abstinence
and the necessity for a
prohibition law, he also
touched upon the need to
eradicate illegalised, but
prevalent nonetheless,
social evils like child
marriageanddowry
.—PTI
INS SUDARSHINI
INS KHUKRI
Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran
Nigam starts incentives to
rural consumers on digital
payment of their bills on the
lines of urban areas
IN CULMINATION PHASE OF
DEPLOYMENT TO GULF COUNTRIES
first of the indigenously built Missile Corvettes,
decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addresses the ‘Samaj Sudhar
Yatra’ in Gopalganj, on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
The ship solemn ceremony was held at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
IRI Navy Trainee officers designated
to undergo sail training visited the
ship for familiarisation tour.
Vax mandatory from Feb 1 for
public places facilities: Gehlot
First India Bureau
Jaipur:Covidvaccina-
tion will be made man-
datory for entry and
use of facilities at vari-
ousplacesinRajasthan
from February 1 next
year. Likewise, strict-
ness on not wearing
masks will be reintro-
duced from first week
of January
. The deci-
sion was taken at a
meeting in which Ra-
jasthan Chief minister
Ashok Gehlot held de-
tailed discussion with
divisionalcommission-
ers, district collectors,
principals of medical
colleges and CMHOs
through video confer-
encing about the covid
situation on Friday
evening.
Earlierintheday
,Ge-
hlot held a covid an
open review meeting
with senior officials
and doctors in which it
was decided that amid
the threat of new Omi-
cronvariantof Corona,
it will now be mandato-
ry in Rajasthan to get
the corona vaccines ad-
ministered. Gehlot
said that it should be
made mandatory to
have Corona vaccine
in the state. Gehlot in-
structed the officials
to take strict action
against those who do
not wear masks, do
not follow the night
curfew.
“After giving warn-
ingforthree-fourdays,
start getting strict on
it. People have not for-
gotten the pain of the
devastation caused by
thesecondwaveof Co-
rona. To ensure that
such a situation does
not arise yet again, we
shouldtakeallstepsto
avoid it,” Gehlot said.
Regarding the sug-
gestion of the Alla-
habad High Court to
postpone the UP elec-
tions, he said that if
this remark has come
at such a time, then it
is a big deal.
SABARMATI ASHRAM
Ahmedabad civic body grants permission for works, including
construction of roads, drainage networks and filling of land
A Merry Christmas
to all of us!
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

NEW DELHI, SATURDAY
DECEMBER 25, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
The riders Cafe
PITSTOP
elebrating the be-
ginning of the In-
ternational pag-
eant Queen of
Cosmos, an initia-
tive by Jagdeesh
Chandra to be
held on March 10, 2022
in Dubai and Fashion
Connect Season 11 cu-
rated by brand ambas-
sador Rishee Miglani
which is also marking
its second interna-
tional venture in
March 2022 in Dubai,
a pre-launch bloggers
meet was held at Pit-
Stop- the riders cafe
on Friday. Show
Director Lokesh Sharma
was also present.
Jagdeesh Chandra also
graced the occasion. He fe-
licitated the entire team of
PitStop for their new ven-
ture and wished them great
success.
The sumptuous desserts
which was enjoyed by the
who’swhoof thePinkcity
,as
well as ingenious entrepre-
neurswashostedbytheown-
ers of Pitstop, Nishant Lohi-
yaandAbhishekChoudhary
.
Nishant Lohiya and Ab-
hishek Choudhary
, owners,
PitStop said, “We care as
much about what is on the
table in front of us as what
is around us. We got this
unique concept when we
travelled to Jammu and
Kashmir.PitStop,theriders
cafe is our brainchild and
has borne out of our sheer
passion for bikes. Unfortu-
nately, we didn’t come
across a place in Pink City
and wanted a remedy for
the food and caffeine lovers
in Jaipur. We are grateful to
our friends and family for
their support and are be-
yond excited to host the
lovely crowd.”
Sports-themed cafes are
popular choices because
they have a ready-made
customer base; sports fans
love to congregate in
drinking and eating estab-
lishments with friends.
Major sports leagues’ sea-
sons overlap, making it
possible for this riders
cafe to be popular through-
out the year.
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
CHRISTMAS EVE BECAME MEMORABLE
AS THE FASHION BLOGGERS GATHERED
AT PITSTOP- THE RIDERS CAFE, JAIPUR
FOR THE PRE LAUNCH OF FIRST INDIA
FASHION CONNECT SEASON 11!
C
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Neha Choudhary, Aaliya Seth, Pankhuri Nag, Shaina Ahuja,
Lokesh Sharma, Rishee Miglani, Khushi Sonkhiya, Shreya Jain and Juhi Agarwal
Neha Choudhary, Abhishek Choudhary, Juhi Agarwal and Nishant Lohiya
(From top) Khushi Sonkhiya and Aasawari Sahni
Harsh, Shaina Ahuja, Pankhuri Nag, Aaliya Seth and Ayan Chugh Apoorva Sharma
Twinkle Sethi
(From top) Shaina Ahuja and Payal Samal

10-11
ETC
WITH A PINCH
OF GLAM!
POORVI SINGHAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
s a kid, Christmas
was always about
exchanging (ma-
jorly receiving)
presents, thrust-
ing chocolates in
stockings, decking
up the tree and reluctantly
dressing up as Santa for
school celebrations. Talk-
ingof dressingup,theterm
gets redefined for adults,
especially for the Holiday
season, courtesy cinema.
Think: skimpy red dress,
white garters, scarlet lips
and bralette.
FromKardashiansisters
to Urvashi Rautela, Ariana
GrandetoSunnyLeone,we
have enough spicy Santas
to draw inspiration from.
Withcandycanes,reindeer
tentacles and mesh stock-
ings as their partners in
debauchery, they serve us
the ultimate Christmas
looks for holiday parties,
not necessarily for the
church.
However, come to think
of it, adulting has also re-
defined the way we look at
Christmas, way beyond
donning reds and whites. I
remember doing secret
santa with a group of
friends in ’20 and the year
before that, being a part of
the cake-making process
with a friend’s family
. I re-
alised that indulging in
such experiences and shar-
ing a piece of warmth can
bring us so much joy, just
what we need for the Holi-
days, right?
JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS,
JINGLE ALL THE WAY…
Gorgeous chics from movie
world are finally here to slay!
A
Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani and Diljeet Dosanjh
Jacqueline Fernandez Tara Reid
The
iconic
‘Mean
Girls’
Selena Gomez Katy Perry
Sherlyn Chopra
Ariana Grande Bethany Mota
Christiana Milan
Sunny Leone
Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner
Diana Penty
Kylie Jenner and Michael Buble
Miley Cyrus
Khloe Kardashian, Kendal Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner
Dove Cameron
Lea Michele, Naya Rivera and Chris Colfer as Santa’s elves

12
CITY BUZZ
APEEJAYKOLKATALITERARYFESTIVAL
CITY FIRST
T
he Apeejay Kol-
kata Literary
Festival (AKLF),
organised by Ox-
ford Bookstore, will be
held from January 21
to 23. At the AKLF
Curtain Raiser
held at ‘The Park’
New Delhi on Fri-
day, Maina Bhagat,
Director, Apeejay Kol-
kata Literary Festival,
gave a sneak peek into
the three-day literary
feast, followed by the
announcement of the
Longlist for the sev-
enth edition of the Ox-
ford Bookstore Book
Cover Prize. 21 book
covers were an-
nounced during the
event by Jurors Dr
Shashi Tharoor and Dr
Alka Pande.
A book discussion on
Dr Shashi Tharoor’s
newly released book
Pride, Prejudice, and
Punditry, published by
Aleph Book Company,
was also held during
the evening. Dr Shashi
Tharoor was in con-
versation with Sa-
garika Ghose, a
well-known journal-
ist, writer, and author.
‘Pride, Prejudice, and
Punditry’ explores
current Indian history,
politics, cricket, di-
plomacy, Hinduism,
and humor. Sagarika
Gosh, Aman Nath,
Rama Pandey, Alka
Pande, Maina Bhagat,
Bhai Chand Patel,
Vandana Kohli, San-
jay Arora, Dolly Sin-
gh and Poonam Sahi
graced the occasion
with their presence.
—PHOTOS
BY
SHAZID
CHAUHAN
COLLECTIVELY
INDEPENDENT
CITY FIRST
T
he preview of the
art show, Collec-
tively Independ-
ent 2021, curated
by Ruchi Chadha and
Gaurav Chawla of Inner
Konnect Art, was held on
Thursday at Visual Art
Gallery
, India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road. Col-
lectively Independent
2021 is an annual show
dedicatedtoexploringthe
delicate threads of affini-
ty between creativity and
its versatile approach to-
wards the realistic world,
in diverse emotions. This
exhibition is made up of
constructive styles by dif-
ferent artists, through a
variety of mediums.
Theexhibitionwasinau-
gurated by Rajesh
Tailang, Sharan Lowen,
Naresh Kanpuria.
Guests attending the
event included Manisha
Gawade, Aarti Zaveri,
Sangeetha Murthi and
participating artists
were Bharti Verma, Ab-
hinav Goyal, Soumick
Nag, Siddharth Jharia,
SonaliChaudhari,Sonia
Sareen, and Vrinda Jha-
ria were all present at
the gallery
.
BOWLED OVER BY 83!
T
he film 83 is the
re-creation of
the Indian
cricket team’s
first ever world cup
championship victory
led by Kapil’s devils. 83
recounts the doughti-
ness and buoyancy of
the Indian team to
overcome not just its
adversaries but also
the critics references
to the team as the un-
derdogs.
Kabir Khan effort-
lessly transports the
cheering viewers to
the 80’s participating
in the Indian team’s
phenomenal triumph.
The happenings on the
screen look real most
of the times, due to the
wonderful cast.
Ranveer is fan-
tastic as Kapil Dev
and this is easily
one of his top 3 perfor-
mances. He is ably
supported by the en-
tire team of actors.
Theylookgenuineand
real. 83 relives
through Ranveer
and his team.
For the love of
films, for the love of
cricket, for the love of
honor, WATCH IT.
KAVITA CHAUHAN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
DIRECTOR
Kabir Khan
CAST CREW
Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone,
Jiiva, Harddy Sandhu, Tahir Bhasin,
Pankaj Tripath, Saqeb Salim etc.
83
RATING:
—PHOTOS
BY
SHAZID
CHAUHAN
THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS!
Christmas being the most awaited time of the year is
celebrated with utmost zeal and happiness. The bright lights,
the twinkling stars, Santa Claus and the joy of being present
with our family, all of these add up to the spirit of Christmas.
City First brings to you some snippets of how the people of
Delhi celebrated this season!
Children's Meditation Camp
CITY FIRST
F
or a wholesome
growth of chil-
dren Osho Dham
organised Chil-
dren’sMeditationCamp
that is scheduled FROM
December 24 to 26 at the
Osho Dham premises.
Facilitated by Prem
Devyani and Swami
Amit Saraswati, the
camp is designed to
children a taste of med-
itation with fun activi-
ties coupled with silent
ones; so while they will
see themselves laugh-
ing, dancing or creating
beautiful artworks and
crafts, they will also be
practising the
unique Kundalini,
breathing techniques,
Nadabrahma, yoga and
listening to Osho Dis-
courses.
Kalyani Chawla with her daughter Tahira
Santa Claus’ dummy inviting everyone to shop at
the INA Delhi Market
Women buying decorative items at INA Delhi Market
The grand Christmas tree at the Select Citywalk
Its gift time!
A corner of hope
Kalyani Tahira deck up their Christmas tree as their furry kido lies on
the ground being pet by Kalyani
—PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI, SHAZID CHAUHAN AND NITIKA PANJWANI
During the event Maina Bhagat and Shashi Tharoor
Shabri Prasad and Kena Shree Shashi Tharoor addressing the gathering
Aman Nath
Artworks at the exhibition
Ruchi Chadda and Gaurav Chawla
Naresh Kapuria and
Rajesh Tailang Sharan Lowen
A still from the movie
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

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