26012022 first india new delhi min

Bhagwat on 3-day visit to Tripura;
TOHOISTTRICOLOURONRDAY
Agartala: Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) chief Mohan
Bhagwat met Tripura
Chief Minister Biplab
Kumar Deb in Seva
Dham of Ranirbazar on
the first day of his
three-day visit to the
state.
“The RSS chief in-
quired about various
issues pertaining to the
state’s development. In
particular, he was told
about the state govern-
ment’s initiatives to pro-
tect the indigenous
groups and promote the
rich culture tribes in
the national as well as
in the international lev-
els,” said a source.
“He will meet Sangh
pracharaks and kar-
yakartas here for organ-
izational review. These
are routine pro-
grammes. On January
26, he will hoist the na-
tional flag at Seva Dham
Ashram,” the source,
who didn’t wish to be
named, said. —ANI
CM TO UNFURL
115-FT NAT’L
FLAG AT 75
PLACES ON THU
New Delhi: Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal will
unfurl 115 feet high
national flag at 75 places
in Delhi on January 27
in order to celebrate 75
years of Independence.
Health Minister Satyen-
dar Jain tweeted in Hindi,
“Under the leadership
of CM Arvind Kejriwal,
the Delhi govt will unfurl
115-ft national flag on
January 27. —ANI
RSS chief Bhagwat meets Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb (c)
NEW DELHI lWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.148
PM lauds EC,India’s electoral
process at BJP’s workers meet
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday while interact-
ingwithmembersof the
Bharatiya Janata Party
lauded Election Com-
mission and said that
India’s electoral process
has set a benchmark for
various counties.
“India is one of the
countries where the
Election Commission
(EC) can issue notices
to people and transfer
officials. Our EC and
electoral process set a
benchmark for various
countries,” said PM
Modi. PM Modi’s re-
mark on the election
commission comes on
the same day as India
celebrates National Vot-
ers Day
.
PM Modi was inter-
acting with panna sami-
ti members from Guja-
rat on audio via the
NaMo app. —ANI
NATIONAL
VOTERS’ DAY
MAJOR BLOW TO CONGRESS
SURGE IN HOME ISOLATION CASES
CRUCIAL READ
SENSEX SOARS
366.64 PTS TO
END AT 57,858
DELHI: 8-YR-OLD
GIRL GANG-
RAPED, TWO
DETAINED
New Delhi: On Tues-
day, he BSE Sensex
ended 366.64 points or
0.64 per cent higher at
57,858.15. Similarly,
the NSE Nifty rose
128.85 points or 0.75
per cent to close at
17,277.95. P6
New Delhi: The
Delhi Commission for
Women (DCW) has
sent a notice to the
police seeking imme-
diate action against a
group of unidentified
men who allegedly
raped an eight-year-
old girl. The girl is
currently in the ICU
“battling for life”,
according to DCW
chairperson Swati
Maliwal. The police
said they received
the notice and have
started investigation.
Two suspects have
been detained.
Anewbeginningforme:Cong’s
RPNSinghjumpsship,joinsBJP
New Delhi: In a major
setbacktoCongress,spe-
cially the Gandhi sib-
lings, and its aggressive
election efforts in UP,
CWC member & AICC
office bearer RPN Singh
quit the party on Tues-
day and joined the BJP.
Singh was a minister of
state in the UPA II gov-
ernment.
“Today, at a time, we
are celebrating forma-
tion of our great Repub-
lic, I begin a new chap-
ter in my political jour-
ney
. Jai Hind,” he tweet-
ed along with his resig-
nation letter addressed
to Cong Prez Sonia Gan-
dhi. “This is a new be-
ginning for me & I look
forward to my contribu-
tion to nation-building
under visionary leader-
ship & guidance of PM
Modi, BJP Prez JP Na-
dda & Home Minister
Amit Shah,”Singh
tweeted. —PTI
‘BJP leadership
‘cutting Yogi to
size’: Priyanka
Gandhi
New Delhi: Congress
leader Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra said fielding CM
Yogi from his home turf
Gorakhpur Priyanka
said, “Looks to me like
his leadership is at-
tempting
to cut him
to size. It’s
an open
s e c r e t
that they
have been
wanting to do so for
sometime. Their inter-
nal pushes & pulls are
beginning to reveal
themselves in public
now. I suppose in an au-
tocratic system like
theirs, there can only be
one supreme leader,”
Cong gen secy said.—PTI
RPN’s IMPACT ON POLLS & PARTY
Electorally, his exit from the grand old party will have
limited impact given that he is not a pan-UP leader
& his sphere of influence is confined to Kushi Nagar
LS seat, adjoining Gorakhpur, which he represented in
2009. His old Assembly seat of Padrauna, which he rep-
resented thrice from 1996 - 2009, falls in Kushi Nagar.
But Singh’s exit is politically damaging to Congress as
he is considered to be one of the ‘Gen Next’ leaders.
Though he is 57 yrs old, he was seen as among leaders
who would be part of Rahul Gandhi’s future Congress.
The battle which Congress party is
fighting can be fought only with brav-
ery ... It requires courage, strength and
Priyanka Gandhi Ji has said that coward people
can’t fight it —Supriya Shrinate, Congress spokesperson
Foreignfundinglicence:
NoSCrelieffor6kNGOs
SC seeks Centre,
EC response on
poll freebies
New Delhi: SC on Tues-
day issued notices to
Centre & EC seeking
their response to a PIL
seeking a direction to
seize election symbol or
de-register a political
party that promises or
distributes ‘irrational
freebies’ from public
funds before polls. A
bench comprising CJI
NV Ramana & Justices
AS Bopanna & Hima
Kohli observed, “It is a
serious issue & freebies
budget goes beyond reg-
ular budget. Eventhough
its not a corrupt practice,
but it creates a uneven
playing field.” —PTI
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court has de-
clined immediate relief
to NGOs including Mis-
sionaries of Charity
who lost FCRA registra-
tion after the Centre
said that the extension
of the licence was given
to NGOs which filed ap-
plications.
Refusing to pass an
interim order to protect
the 6,000 NGOs, the
court asked them to
make a presentation be-
fore the Centre for the
renewal, which would
then take a decision as
per the law.
The top court said it
does not want to inter-
fere in the matter and
that the NGOs should
first approach the gov-
ernment. If they are
unhappy with deci-
sions, the matter could
be heard in court. —PTI
Union Minister Mandaviya directs
states, UTs to bolster teleconsultations
New Delhi: In view of
a substantial number
of COVID-19 patients
recuperating in home
isolation,UnionHealth
Minister Mansukh
Mandaviyainteracting
with health mins, bu-
reaucrats & adminis-
trators of 9 states &
UTs asked to focus on
expanding reach of tel-
econsultation services
to provide timely
healthcare. —PTI
STEALTH OMICRON SYMPTOMS DIFFICULT
TO DISCERN FROM DELTA, SAYS EXPERT
In recent findings, it came to light that it is difficult
to differentiate between Delta & BA.2, infectious
sub-variant Omicron, or so-called stealth variant un-
less genome sequencing is done. Explaining this, Dr
Harsh Mahajan, Founder-Chief Radiologist, Mahajan
Imaging said, “What happens in BA.2, an Omicron
sub-variant, is that S-gene drop-off doesn’t happen
with RT-PCR. It’s also known as ‘stealth variant’ as
it’s similar on thermo fisher RT-PCR kit, to what
Delta was.”“Hence if we don’t do genome sequenc-
ing, we won’t be able to differentiate between Delta
& this so-called stealth variant or BA.2”. —ANI
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
6,028
NEW
CASES
9,127
RECOVERED
31
NEW DEATHS
The press and offices of
First India will remain
closed on January 26,
2022, on account of
Republic Day. There will,
therefore, be no edition of
the paper on January 27,
2022. —Editor
HOLIDAY NOTICE OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD,
LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
www.firstindia.co.in
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REPUBLIC DAY 2022
PADMA AWARDS ANNOUNCED
The Padma Bhushan will also be conferred on Congress
leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella,
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and SII MD Cyrus Poonawalla
PadmaVibhushantoGen
Rawat,KalyanSingh
n the eve of the
Republic Day,
the Centre on
Tuesday an-
nounced the
list of recipients of
Padma awards. Among
other honours, first
CDS late General Bipin
Rawat & former Uttar
Pradesh CM Kalyan
Singh have been award-
ed the Padma Vibhush-
an.
The Padma Bhushan
will be conferred on
Cong leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad, ex-WB CM
Buddhadeb Bhattachar-
jee, Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella, Alpha-
bet CEO Sundar Pichai
& SII MD Cyrus Poona-
walla. Covaxin maker
Bharat Biotech Chair-
man Krishna Ella, his
co-founder wife Suchi-
tra Ella.
Olympians Neeraj
Chopra, Pramod Bha-
gat Vandana Kataria,
and singer Sonu Nigam
will be awarded the
Padma Shri.
R-Day: President Kovind remembers
contribution of India’s freedom fighters
New Delhi: During his
address to the country
on Republic Day eve,
President Ram Nath
Kovind remembered the
contribution of freedom
fighters in India’s inde-
pendence movement.
“On this occasion, let us
also remember the great
freedom fighters who
showed incomparable
courage in their pursuit
of the dream of Swaraj
and fired up the people
to fight for it”. “Two
days ago, on January
23, all of us observed
the 125th birth anniver-
sary of Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose who had
adopted the energising
salutation of ‘Jai Hind’.
His quest for independ-
ence and his ambition
to make India proud
inspired all of us,” said
president Kovind while
remembering Netaji.
O
RAJIV MEHRISHI AND 4 OTHERS
FROM RAJ GET PADMA AWARDS
Mehrishi gets Padma Bhushan. Four others -
Paralympian Devendra Jhajharia, Avani Lekhara;
Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Ramdayal Sharma
for arts, also named for Padma awards
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Former
Rajasthan Chief Sec-
retary- IAS Rajiv
Mehrishi - has been
named as a recipient
of the prestigious
Padma Bhushan
award. On Tuesday
,
President Ram Nath
Kovind gave his ap-
proval to this effect
after which Home
Secretary called and
congratulated Mehri-
shi, who has been
named for the award
for excellent services
as a bureaucrat.
Mehrishi has been
the former Home Sec-
retary& FinanceSec-
retary of the country
& also served as CAG
from 2017 to 2020.
Mehrishi has been
appointed as Chair-
man of NSE IFSC, a
wholly owned sub-
sidiary of National
Stock Exchange.
Turn to P8
OLYMPIAN NEERAJ CHOPRA GETS
PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL
SECURITY BEEFED UP AHEAD OF R-DAY,
FRS INSTALLED @ 30 LOCATIONS
939 POLICE MEDALS
ANNOUNCED
Subedar Neeraj Chopra, first Indian
track & field athlete to win a gold
medal at Olympic games & serv-
ing in Indian Army’s 4 Rajputana
Rifles, has been awarded Param
Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for
his distinguished service. Chopra’s
name figures in list of Army per-
sonnel awarded for their gallantry.
In order to keep check on people coming to watch
R-Day Parade, Delhi cops installed Facial Recognition
Systems & CCTV cameras to strengthen security. “We
have installed Facial Recognition Systems at 30 different
locations, including 6 entry points for frisking. FRS has a
database of 50,000 suspected criminals,” they said.
A total of 939 service
medals, including 189 for
gallantry, was announced
by Centre for personnel
of various central & state
police forces on the eve of
Republic Day.
COPS PUT POSTERS
OF TERRORISTS
Delhi Police put up 4
posters of suspected
Al-Qaeda terrorists near
Hanuman Mandir in
Connaught Place, that
mentioned 4 individuals
having links with group.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2022
02
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Government offices will henceforth not even have the Chief Minister’s picture in Delhi offices
GOVT OFFICES TO HAVE PHOTOS OF
ONLY AMBEDKAR, BHAGAT SINGH: CM
New Delhi: Hence-
forth, all Delhi govern-
ment offices will carry
photos of Babasaheb
Ambedkar and Bhagat
Singh, and no pictures
of any political leader,
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal said
on Tuesday
.
Kejriwal, also the
AamAadmiPartychief,
made the announce-
ment during the Delhi
government’s Republic
Day programme. He
said the government of-
fices will henceforth
not even have the chief
minister’s picture.
During his speech,
the chief minister said
he is most inspired by
Ambedkar, who was
born in a Dalit family
and went on to head the
drafting committee of
India’s Constitution,
and Bhagat Singh, a
revolutionary freedom
fighter, as they charted
different courses for a
common purpose.
“I announce today
that in every office of
the Delhi government,
pictures of Babasaheb
Ambedkar and
Shaheed-E-Azam Bha-
gat Singh will be put up.
Now, we will not put up
pictures of politicians,
including the chief
minister,” Kejriwal
said.
“The Delhi govern-
ment will function on
the principles of these
two freedom fighters,”
he stated.
Kejriwal said he felt
amazed every time he
thought about how
Ambedkar would have
even applied to Colum-
bia University and then
went to the London
School of Economics
when there was no in-
ternet, around 100 years
ago.
He then played a cru-
cial role in writing the
country’s Constitution
and became the first
law minister.
The chief minister
said Ambedkar had a
dream that every child
should get the best edu-
cation. “But even after
75 years of Independ-
ence, we could not fulfil
this. Today, on Republic
Day, we all pledge to ful-
fil this dream,” Kejri-
wal said. –PTI
New Delhi: After in-
stalling a six-feet-high
Ashoka Emblem atop
the building, the Delhi
Government will now
install an 18-feet-long
and six-feet-wide ‘In-
quilab Zindabad’ fibre-
glass mural near the
Jallianwala Bagh mu-
ral on the roof of the
green room behind the
reception in the prem-
ises of the Delhi legis-
lative Assembly.
The mural will be in-
stalled on an entire
wall of the building of
the Delhi Vidhan Sab-
ha at the Old Secretari-
at in Civil Lines. The
project is being moni-
tored by Speaker of
Delhi Assembly Ram
Niwas Goel.
“The mural will be
installed inside the
building. At Vidhan
Sabha, there are pic-
tures and murals of
Jhansi Ki Rani and oth-
ers, Goel wanted to in-
stall an ‘Inquilab
Zindabad’ mural to re-
member Shaheed Bha-
gat Singh who fought
for India’s freedom. It
will also instill patriot-
ism in the common peo-
ple and leaders visiting
the assembly and moti-
vate them to work for
good and fight against
corruption,” said a sen-
ior official at Delhi As-
sembly.
The plan was to com-
plete the work in Janu-
ary and inaugurate it
on Republic Day but
the surge in the Cov-
id-19 figures delayed
the work. “Now, ten-
ders have been floated
and the target is to
complete the work by
February. The mural
will be inaugurated
during the upcoming
Budget session (2022-
23),” said the official.A
senior PWD official
said, “The mural will
be a high relief mural,
in clear white fibre-
glass glass resin with
a minimum thickness
5 mm-10mm, includ-
ing fixing on the wall
of the building.” The
estimated cost of the
project is Rs 9,11,529.
Last year, the Delhi
Legislative Assembly
was crowned with the
Ashoka Emblem. The
bronze emblem was
450 kg and installed
on a four-feet-long pil-
lar. –Agencies
Delhi Govt to install 18-feet ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ mural
VIDHAN SABHA
Delhi Legislative Assembly. —FILE PHOTO
DELHI WOMAN TRIES TO SELL HER
ONE-MONTH-OLD CHILD, ARRESTED
New Delhi: A woman and three others were
arrested for allegedly trying to sell her one-
month-old child for 2 lakh, police said.To catch
the suspects and recover the baby safely, two
police personnel posed as decoy customers and
struck a deal of 2 lakh to purchase the baby.The
accused have been identified as Praveen Khatoon
(45), Santosh (35), Madhu Singh (30) and their
associate Satish (35), they said.A resident of Ut-
tam Nagar, Singh wanted to sell her baby for cash
through the three alleged brokers, police said.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested a sus-
pected sharp shooter in a recent case of firing at
the office of a property
dealer in Uttam Nagar here,
officials said on Tuesday.
The accused is identified as
Shekhar alias Sonu (28), a
resident of Rohtak district
in Haryana, and he is a member of the notorious
Nandu gang. The gang is run by Kapil Sangwan
alias Nandu and has its base Europe, police said.
On January 11, two motorcycle-borne persons fired
indiscriminately at the office of Rahul Goel at Dayal-
sar Road in Uttam Nagar. The firing was intended to
scare Goel and extort money from him, police said.
28-YR-OLD HELD FOR FIRING AT PROPERTY
DEALER’S OFFICE IN UTTAM NAGAR
NATIONAL
CAPITAL SHIVERS
AT 6.2 DEG C
GAUTAM GAMBHIR
TESTS POSITIVE
FOR COVID-19
New Delhi: The na-
tional capital shiv-
ered on Tuesday un-
der harsh winter con-
ditions as the mini-
mum temperature
dropped to 6.2 de-
grees Celsius, a notch
below normal.
Delhi had experi-
enced cold day condi-
tions on Monday
with the maximum
temperature settling
at 14.8 degrees Celsi-
us, seven notches
below the season’s
average, and mini-
mum at eight degrees
Celsius.
New Delhi: Lok Sab-
ha member from East
Delhi Gautam Gamb-
hir on Tuesday said he
has tested positive for
COVID-19 and has
mild symptoms. “After
experiencing mild
symptoms, I tested
positive for Covid to-
day. Requesting every-
one who came into my
contact to get them-
selves tested,” he
tweeted. In November
last year, Gambhir
had isolated himself
at home after a family
member tested posi-
tive for the virus.
CRUCIAL READ
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal salutes after hoisting the National flag during the state-level
Republic Day celebrations at Secretariat in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
COVID CURBS TO BE EASED AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE, SAYS KEJRIWAL
PATIALA: SACRILEGE ATTEMPT AT
SHRI KALI MATA MANDIR CONDEMNED
New Delhi: The Delhi
government does not
want livelihood of people
to be affected and Covid
restrictions will be eased
as soon as possible, CM
Arvind Kejriwal asserted
on Tuesday, saying the
city’s positivity rate has
reduced to 10 pc in 10
days. Restrictions were
put in place in view of
people’s health, Kejriwal
said after hoisting the
national flag at the Delhi
government’s Republic
Day function.“Delhiites
have suffered the most
due to Covid. We don’t
want that your livelihood
is affected but your health
is important, so we had
to put restrictions,” he
said. Recently, the Delhi
government’s proposal to
lift weekend curfew and
odd-even rule of opening
shops was turned down
by the LG. –PTI
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national con-
venor Arvind Kejriwal condemned the alleged sacrilege
attempt at Shri Kali Mata Mandir in Patiala and said that
a plot is going on to disturb the peace of Punjab. “Plot
to disturb the atmosphere
of Punjab is ongoing. The
attempt of sacrilege in Shri
Kali Mata Mandir of Patiala
is highly condemnable. The
accused should be given
strict punishment,” Kejriwal
tweeted. “A few days ago
there was an attempt of sacrilege in Harmandir Sahib.
Conspirators behind the incidents of sacrilege should be
exposed and punished severely,” he added. –PTI
DMRC launches special
train to commemorate
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’
New Delhi: As part
of the ongoing ‘Azadi
Ka Amrit Mahotsav-
celebrating 75 years
of India’s Independ-
ence’, Delhi Metro
Rail Corporation on
Tuesday launched a
specially decorated
metro at Yamuna
Bank Metro Station
on the Blue Line.
The train was in-
ducted into passen-
ger services immedi-
ately after the
launch. As per the
DMRC, the exterior
of this eight-coach
special train has
been exclusively
wrapped and deco-
rated with collage of
photographs and slo-
gans depicting the
glorious history of
its people, culture
and achievements in
the last 75 years sig-
nifying the spirit of
‘A a t m n i r b h a r
Bharat’. “The train
has been symboli-
cally launched on the
occasion of Republic
Day Celebrations to
spread the idea of na-
tionalism and unity
amongst the general
public. This special
train will continue to
remain in service
throughout the com-
memorative period
of ‘AzadiKaAmrit-
Mahotsav’,” they in-
formed in a press re-
lease. DMRC has
been organising a
host of activities to
commemorate the
‘AzadikaAmritMa-
hotsav - 75 years of
India’s independen-
ce’ celebrations since
last year. –ANI
Specially decorated Metro train was launched in the
presence of Dr. Mangu Singh, MD, DMRC and other senior
officials at Yamuna Bank Metro Station. —Twitter
READY FOR R-DAY
People click pictures of Rajpath as the security tightens on the eve of Republic Day
celebrations 2022 in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
Minor girl gang-raped in
Delhi, two suspects detained
Commission for Women
(DCW) has sent a notice
to the police seeking im-
mediate action against
a group of unidentified
men who allegedly
raped an eight-year-old
girl. The girl is current-
ly in the ICU “battling
for life”, according to
DCW chairperson Swa-
ti Maliwal.
The police said they
received the notice and
have started investiga-
tion. Two suspects have
been detained.
Officials said the
eight-year-old girl lives
with her family in
northeast Delhi. On
Monday, she stepped
out of her home to play
with a friend, but two
men picked her up and
gang-raped her. She re-
turned home later and
complained of severe
stomach pain. Her par-
ents then found that she
was injured and bleed-
ing. The girl was rushed
to a hospital where she
is undergoing treat-
ment.
“She has multiple in-
juries on her private
parts and is bleeding
profusely
. This is a case
of gang rape. Her par-
ents called us on our
helpline,” the DCW said
in a statement. The
commission has asked
the Delhi Police to reg-
ister a case within two
days and submit details
of the FIR. –Agencies
Cryptocurrencies stolen
from Delhi businessman
Police’s Cyber Cell on
Monday said a Delhi-
based businessman’s
cryptocurrencies were
allegedly stolen and
transferred to the wal-
lets of Al-Qassam Bri-
gades, the military wing
of Palestinian organisa-
tion Hamas. The matter
came to light in 2019
when the businessman
reported at Paschim Vi-
har police station that
some unknown persons
had fraudulently trans-
ferred cryptocurrencies
from his wallet, they
said. The cryptocurren-
cies were worth about
Rs 30 lakh and its cur-
rent value is Rs 4 crore,
police said. –ANI
Anti-CAA protest sites were chosen near
madrasas,mosques,claims prosecution
New Delhi: A total of
25 protest sites were cre-
ated during anti-CAA
protest by organisers in
the vicinity of madra-
sas and mosques but
they purportedly gave
them a different name
to give them a secular
colour, claimed prosecu-
tion opposing the bail
plea of Umar Khalid, an
accused in Northeast
Delhi violence case.
Amit Prasad, Special
Public prosecutor, ar-
gued before Additional
Sessions Judge Amitabh
Rawat that 25 protest
sites including Khureji,
Sadar Bazar, Gandhi
Park, Shriram Colony
and others were created
near local mosques but
with different names.
SPP said that first site
was at Shaheen Bagh
near the Habibi Masjid.
He said the Sadar
Bazar protest site was
Shahi Idgaah. Shastri
ParksitewasnearWahid
Jama Masjid, Shriram
colonysiteswasNoorani
Masjid.GandhiParksite
was near Jamila Masjid.
These sites were created
near the Madrasas and
Mosques for the purpose
of identification. –ANI

INDIA
03
JD(U) releases first list
of 20 candidates for UP
Lucknow: Janata
Dal (United) on
Tuesday released its
first list of 20 candi-
dates for the upcom-
ing Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections.
In December last
year, Janata Dal
(United) National
President of JD(U)
Rajeev Ranjan Sin-
gh alias Lalan Singh
said his party was
informed that BJP
is ready for an alli-
ance with them for
the upcoming as-
sembly elections in
UP and hoped to win
the elections. “We
hope to win the up-
coming elections,”
Singh had said.
—ANI
Chandigarh: The Aam
Aadmi Party’s (AAP)
chief ministerial candi-
date in Punjab, Bhag-
want Mann, on Tuesday
said that if Captain
Amarinder Singh was
receiving calls and mes-
sages from Pakistan to
make Navjot Singh Sid-
hu a minister, then why
did he keep it a secret
for so long.
Was it at the behest
of Pakistan that the
Captain later offered a
ministry to Sidhu,
Mann sought to know.
He also reacted to
Amarinder Singh’s
comment calling him a
comedian, by saying
that this comedian has
always raised the issues
of Punjab’s water, agri-
culture, farmers and
mafia in Parliament.
Addressing the me-
dia here, Mann said on
Tuesday that Captain
was making such state-
ments to disturb the at-
mosphere of Punjab
during the elections as
he had nothing left now.
Without naming any-
one, the AAP leader re-
marked that “Pakistan”
himself used to live
with him in his house.
“Captain used to ap-
point ministers, DGP
and CS of the state only
after asking Pakistan.
Captain used the ser-
vices of senior officers
of Punjab to take care
of the sitaphal and chi-
ku at his Siswan farm-
house,” he added.
“When Captain Ama-
rinder was an MP, he
did not even go to Par-
liament. His attendance
was the worst, let alone
his chances of raising
any issue pertaining to
Punjab and its people.
Even as the CM, he de-
ceived the people of
Punjab. Instead of ful-
filling promises, he was
spending time in his
farm house. Today he is
getting punished for his
betrayal,” he said. He
also strongly con-
demned the sacrilege
incident at Kali Mata
temple in Patiala.
IN THE COURTYARD
PUNJAB & HARYANA
HC STAYS MAJITHIA’S
ARREST FOR 3 DAYS
New Delhi: Punjab and
Haryana High Court stays
Bikram Majithia’s arrest
for three days. HC gave
time to the Akali Dal
leader so that he could
appeal the court’s order
dismissing his anticipato-
ry bail plea in SC. Punjab
and Haryana High Court,
on Tuesday, granted
protection to SAD leader
Bikram Singh Majithia.
HC PROPOSES TO
REDUCE COSTS ON
JUHI CHAWLA
High Court Tuesday
proposed to reduce from
Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 lakh
the costs imposed on
actress Juhi Chawla and
2 others by a single judge
while dismissing her plea
against 5G roll out, with a
condition that she would
have to do some work for
public cause, considering
that she is a celebrity.
MUMBAI COURT
DISCHARGES SHILPA
IN GERE CASE
Mumbai:
Almost 15
years after
Shilpa Shetty
landed in an
obscenity
case when
Hollywood star Richard
Gere kissed her on her
cheeks at a public event,
the actress was dis-
charged from the case by
a Mumbai court.
ACTRESS ASSAULT
CASE: KERALA HC
GRANTS 10 DAYS
Kerala: The Kerala HC on
Tuesday granted ten days
to prosecution to com-
plete examination of wit-
nesses in case pertaining
to the alleged abduction &
sexual assault of a woman
actor in 2017. Prominent
Malayalam actor Dileep is
one of the accused in the
case. HC directive after SC
turned down govt’s plea
to extend the trial time.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday
opposed the bail plea of Niraj Bishnoi,
alleged creator of the Bulli Bai app, in
the Patiala House Court saying that the
investigation is at a “very nascent” stage.
Public Prosecutor Advocate Irfan Ahmed
appearing for Delhi Police submitted that
contents on accused’s Twitter handles were deroga-
tory, and was targeting women of a community.
DELHI POLICE OPPOSES BAIL PLEA OF
BULLI BAI APP CREATOR BISHNOI
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: There is no
challenge within the
Trinamool Congress to
the leadership of Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee but her nephew
Abhishek Banerjee will
have to prove himself to
become the leader of
the party
.
The voices of resent-
ment against him have
started rising in the
party. He has also been
accused of running
contrary to the policies
of the party and the
state government re-
garding Corona. So far,
only one party MP,
Kalyan Banerjee has
raised the voice, but in
the coming days, this
voice may get more
strength.
Kalyan Banerjee has
said that Abhishek will
be considered a leader
only if the party wins
the assembly elections
in Tripura and Goa un-
der his command.
There are elections in
Tripura next year but
the results for Goa will
come in two months.
If the party is unable
to open an account or
win more than one or
two seats in Goa, then
the voice against Ab-
hishek will gain in
strength. Abhishek and
his team also under-
stand this, only then
Mamta Banerjee’s sec-
ond nephew Akash Ba-
nerjee has been brought
forward.
He has opened a front
against Kalyan Baner-
jee and has told the
need for a new MP in
place of Kalyan Baner-
jee from Shrirampur.
But Abhishek’s work
will not be cut out due
to his brother making
statements. If he as-
pires to leadership, he
will have to show by
winning the election.
Abhishek will be a leader only if TMC wins Tripura and Goa!
CHALLENGING TIME

Abhishek
Banerjee will
have to prove
himself to
become the
leader of the
party. Although
there is no
challenge within
the party.
New Delhi: Aam Aad-
mi Party on Friday re-
leased first list of can-
didates for the upcom-
ing Uttarakhand polls
scheduled for 2022.
AAP Uttarakhand in
charge Dinesh Mo-
haniya shared the list
on Twitter. The devel-
opment comes ahead
of Delhi Environment
Minister and senior
AAP leader Gopal
Rai’s five-day visit to
Uttarakhand from Sat-
urday, during which he
will address a series of
public meetings and
pitch for a “novel
change” in the state
ahead of the assembly
polls in the coming
months.
Ahead of Assembly
polls, Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party (BJP) has
planned to convene 10
meetings at every
booth in Uttarakhand.
AAP releases fourth list of 10 candidates
Panaji: Ahead of Goa
Assembly elections,
Former Cong leader Jo-
seph Robert Sequeira
who is an ex-Sarpanch
from Calangute constit-
uency on Tuesday
joined BJP. “We are
winning the upcoming
Assembly elections in
Goa,” said Goa CM
Pramod Sawant, who
was also present.
Ex-Cong leader Sequeira
joins BJP ahead of Goa polls
PUNJAB POLLS
Comedian has always put
up Punjab’s issues: Mann
The AAP leader asked that if Amarinder Singh was receiving calls from
Pakistan to make Navjot Singh Sidhu a minister, why did he keep it a secret
Bhagwant Mann addressing media in Chandigarh. —File Photo
RAHUL TO VISIT PUNJAB ON JANUARY 27
Chandigarh: Congress will be routed in next
month’s Punjab Assembly polls while his party’s
alliance will sweep the polls, winning over 80
seats, Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir
Singh Badal claimed on Tuesday. The Aam Aadmi
Party will win less than 10 seats, he said. SAD is
contesting the polls in alliance with Mayawati’s Ba-
hujan Samaj Party. According to the seat-sharing
arrangement between the two parties, the BSP is
contesting 20 of 117 Assembly seats in Punjab,
while the rest will be contested by the Akalis.
SAD-BSP TO SWEEP PUNJAB POLLS: BADAL
MANN RIDICULES
SIDHU ON AAP’S
POLLS FEEDBACK
Chandigarh: AAP
leader Bhagwant
Mann on Tuesday
ridiculed Navjot Singh
Sidhu for question-
ing the survey for
selecting the CM face
and asked him not to
interfere in the inter-
nal affairs of the Aam
Aadmi Party. Mann
asked Sidhu to get a
survey done from his
own party for choos-
ing the CM candi-
date. Addressing the
media here, Mann
said Mr Sidhu is
now questioning the
AAP’s survey ‘Janta
Chunegi Apna CM.’
Mr Sidhu on Monday
had dubbed AAP’s
survey a “scam” and
“a deceptive scheme”
and had said his
party had lodged a
complaint with the
Election Commission
against it.
Chandigarh: Punjab Con-
gress President Navjot
Singh Sidhu on Tues-
day condemned the al-
leged sacrilege bid at
Shri Kali Mata Mandir
in Patiala on Monday by
saying that the politics
of fear, polarisation and
hate is intruding the
northern state.
Taking to Twitter,
Sidhu wrote, “Incident
of sacrilege at Mata
Kali Devi temple is de-
plorable, divisive forces
can never tear into the
socio-economic fabric
of Punjabiyat.”
The Punjab Cong
president added that
Punjabiyat’s armour is
universal brotherhood
& respect for religions.
On Monday, a man was
arrested in connection
of sacrilege bid. —ANI
Sidhu condemns ‘sacrilege
attempt’ at Kali temple in Patiala
Navjot Singh Sidhu addressing media. —File Photo
SACRILEGE ATTACK
UP POLLS
New Delhi: UP
Deputy Chief Min-
ister Keshav Prasad
Maurya on Tuesday
slammed Samajwadi
Party chief Akhilesh
Yadav saying that
his party and his
allies cannot stop
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) from
returning to power
in the upcoming as-
sembly elections in
the state and alleged
that SP is giving
tickets to criminals.
“SP is not able
enough to stop the
lotus of BJP from
blooming. The list
of candidates that
the SP has released
for the upcoming
elections shows that
it is not a political
party but party of
gangsters, crimi-
nals, mafias. They
are not fighting
polls but threatening
people of the state,”
Deputy CM said.
‘AKHILESH GAVE
TICKETS TO
CRIMINALS’
APNA DAL (SONELAL) RELEASES LIST OF
STAR CAMPAIGNERS FOR 2 PHASES
BSP PRESIDENT MAYAWATI TO ADDRESS
PUBLIC RALLY IN AGRA ON FEBRUARY 2
Lucknow : Apna Dal, an ally of the ruling BJP,
has also laid down its life in the upcoming as-
sembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Your party
does not want to be left behind in the election
campaign. In this order, the party has released
the list of its star campaigners. Apna Dal has an-
nounced the names of star campaigners for the
first and second phase of voting. The list of star
campaigners also includes the names of party
president Anupriya Patel and her husband Ashish
Patel. The list of Apna Dal(S) includes Anupriya
Patel, Ashish Patel, Dr Jamuna Prasad Saroj, Neil
Ratan Singh Patel, Pakori Lal, R.B. The names of
15 leaders like Singh Patel, Avadh Naresh Verma,
Rekha Verma, Raj Kumar Pal, Ajit Singh Baisla,
Mahesh Chaudhary, Mohammad Vakil, Ahmed
Khan Mansoori, Zaki UI Nasir and Nadeem
Ashraf are included. Patel said whichever seat
comes candidates will be fielded on it.
Lucknow: BSP president
Mayawati will hold a public
meeting in Agra on February
2, formally kicking off the
party’s campaign for the Uttar
Pradesh assembly elections.
The BSP president will address the meeting, strictly
following the Covid protocol, party general secretary
Satish Chandra Mishra said in a tweet. “It is to be
informed that BSP national president and former
chief minister of UP, Behen Kumari Mayawatiji will
address a public meeting in Agra on February 2 fol-
lowing all Covid rules. Time and place of the public
meeting will be made available to the media soon,”
Mishra said in his tweet in Hindi.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday
released the list of campaigners
for the Uttarakhand Assembly
elections. The names of Akhilesh
Yadav, Kiranmoy Nanda and Jaya
Bachchan are included in the list with 12 other lead-
ers. List of Samajwadi Party’s star campaigners for
Uttarakhand elections Earlier, the party had announced
that it will contest assembly elections on all 70 seats.
The Uttarakhand Assembly election 2022 will be held
in a single phase on February 14. The last day of filing
nominations is January 28. The counting of votes will
take place on March 10. —ANI
AKHILESH YADAV, JAYA BACHCHAN AMONG
SP’S STAR CAMPAIGNERS FOR UTTARAKHAND
RAHUL UNFOLLOWS
RPN SINGH ON
TWITTER
New Delhi: Hours after
former Union Minister
RPN Singh joined BJP
after quitting Congress,
party leader Rahul
Gandhi on Tuesday unfol-
lowed him on Twitter.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
still follows Singh on the
microblogging site.

PERSPECTIVE
04
REPUBLIC SHOULD BECOME
STRONGER IN THE LIGHT OF
Amrit Mahotsav of Independence is a festival to make us realize the real secret of freedom
in the light of the glorious traditions of our national love, harmony, and spirituality
‘AmritMahotsav’
hen the country became inde-
pendent, we did not have any sov-
ereign constitution of our own.
Republic Day is very important
because the Constitution came
into force on this day
. The Indian
Constitution is the largest hand-
written constitution in the world.
I consider it a global document of
human rights and duties. If there
is a reliable system for the protec-
tion of human rights, then it is in
the Indian Constitution itself.
Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of
the Nation, had once said that ‘the
Ganges of rights flows from the
Himalayas of duties’. The Consti-
tution is the decorum of freedom.
The whole country is celebrat-
ing the Amrit Mahotsav of Inde-
pendence at this time. There is
also a need to think deeply in the
context of this Mahotsav on the
occasion of Republic Day. Be-
cause, for the first time this has
happened when the Mahotsav is
being celebrated at various levels
across the country for keeping
the memory of our freedom fight-
ers alive, to keep the culture and
glorious history of the country
intact in the light of the events
related to the freedom movement.
Consider that we are all illumi-
nated by the sun and the light of
the sun is reflected on the earth
by becoming moonlight. Moon is
immortal. Having nectar-like
rays. Its rays never fade. It is in-
destructible due to being imbued
with the nectar element. I also
consider Indian culture to be in-
exhaustible in the same way
.
The Amrit Mahotsav of Inde-
pendence is a festival to make us
realize the real secret of freedom
in the light of the glorious tradi-
tions of our national love, har-
mony, and spirituality
. It is dedi-
catedtothosepeople,duetowhich
the country became self-reliant in
various fields. It is dedicated to
the achievements of those who
wrote incredible success stories
to make the country strong and
prosperous. Public participation
hasbeenensuredintheall-around
development of the country
. The
aim is that the small efforts and
changes that have been made for
the pride of the country at the lo-
cal level for the spirit of self-reli-
ant India can take the form of
national achievement. The real
objective of this festival is to pre-
serve the history of efforts made
for great successes in each state
and every region of India so as to
inspire future generations. I also
call it the inspirational festival of
the new generation.
After independence, a strong
foundation of development in the
country was laid based on
planned development in each
area under the constitution. The
philosophy associated with Indi-
an culture, the lofty life tradi-
tions we have - the Constitution
explains it in a way
. I believe that
a nation is not just a landmass. It
is a thought in itself. The mean-
ing of seeing the country in the
noun of thought is a nation in
which there is no distinction be-
tween men and women based on
caste and religion. Where experi-
ence and knowledge are partners.
Bharat itself means that great
tradition of knowledge and phi-
losophy in which the essence
from the Vedic hymns to the Ad-
vaita philosophy of Adi Shanka-
racharya comes. Our nation has
given the message of considering
the whole world as our family
with the formula of ‘Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam’.
Today the country is progress-
ing rapidly by providing social,
economic, mental, political free-
dom to women, social and eco-
nomic backward, disabled, and
tribals. But I believe that the real
goal will be accomplished only
when the person standing in the
last row gets equality and justice.
It is imperative that our new gen-
eration become self-reliant, and
be educated in human values. It
is the duty of all of us that we
should be fully engaged in achiev-
ing the bigger goals of self-reli-
ance. Post-covid pandemic, the
world will be new. There will be a
new system, and I am sure this
new system will be inspired by
the lofty values of Indian culture.
Because even in the difficult
times of covid, we supplied med-
icines and vaccines not only for
ours but to other countries of the
world keeping in view the world
humanity
.
The country has achieved
great successes in various fields
in the last 75 years despite diffi-
cult challenges. India, which
once faced a shortage of food
grains, is today the world’s larg-
est exporter of food grains. The
country has today become a glob-
al supplier of vaccines in the era
of the pandemic, recovering from
the lack of health services. With
the emerging nationalism, today
the country has taken a big leap
in information technology and
special knowledge-based indus-
tries. We have achieved food secu-
rity for a large population. There
is no area in which India is not
moving fast.
Come, on Republic Day today
, in
the light of ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Ma-
hotsav’,letusalltrywithdetermi-
nation to take the nation on the
path of knowledge and develop-
ment. Create new avenues for the
progress of the country
. May eve-
ryone’s happiness be collective
happiness and sorrow collective
sorrow. We should be proud of the
nation’s pride, with this collective
spirit, on Republic Day, let us all
pave the way for the all-around
development of the country
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
Come, on Republic Day
today, in the light of
‘Azadi Ke Amrit
Mahotsav’, let us all try
with determination to
take the nation on the
path of knowledge and
development. Create new
avenues for the progress
of the country. May
everyone’s happiness be
collective happiness and
sorrow collective sorrow.
We should be proud of the
nation’s pride, with this
collective spirit, on
Republic Day, let us
all pave the way for the
all-around development
of the country
W
KALRAJ MISHRA
The writer is Governor of Rajasthan
The whole country is celebrating the Amrit
Mahotsav of Independence at this time. There is also a
need to think deeply in the context of this Mahotsav on the
occasion of Republic Day. Because, for the first time this
has happened when the Mahotsav is being
celebrated at various levels across the country for
keeping the memory of our freedom fighters alive, to keep
the culture and glorious history of the country intact
in the light of the events related to the freedom movement
Vol 1 Issue No. 148
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
In this 75th
year of
Independence,
let us re-
discover the
values that
animated
our glorious
national
movement.
President of India
@rashtrapatibhvn SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Just as the boyhood, youth and old
age come to the embodied Soul in
this body, in the same manner, is
the attaining of another body; the
wise man is not deluded at that.
— Bhagavad Gita
TOP
TWEETS
India’s first CDS Late Bipin
Rawat ji was a unique patriot,
who served the country with full
devotion and dedication. Prime
Minister @NarendraModi Ji
has honored his service to the
nation in true sense by giving
him Padma Vibhushan. For this,
I congratulate Modi ji on behalf
of the country.
Amit Shah
@AmitShah

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New Delhi: Kerala on
Tuesday reported 55,475
new Covid-19 cases with
a test positivity rate of
49.9 per cent.
This is the first time
that the TPR is almost
at 50 per cent, meaning
one of the two persons
tested for Covid in Ker-
ala is diagnosed with
the infection.
70 related deaths and
84 deaths that were
newly certified as Cov-
id-19 deaths based on
the revised rules, were
also recorded pushing
the death toll to 52,141
in the state. Kerala has
been witnessing drastic
increase in fresh infec-
tions for the past few
days. There are 2,85,365
active Covid cases in
the state.
Union Health Minis-
ter Dr Mansukh Man-
daviya on Tuesday
asked states and Union
Territories to ramp up
testing in areas where it
has gone down.
In a meeting with of-
ficials from these states
and UTs, Mandaviya
also urged them to send
Covid-19 testing and
vaccination data timely
.
The health minister
also told the states that
as a large number of
people are opting for
home isolation, they
should be monitored as
per national guidelines.
India Tuesday report-
ed 2,55,874 cases in the
last 24 hours down from
3,06,064 infections a day
before, Health Family
Welfare data.
With55,475newCovidcases,
Kerala’sTPRsurgesto49.4%
India Tuesday reported 2,55,874 cases in the last 24 hours down from 3,06,064 infections
A patient wearing an oxygen mask is being taken for treatment at a hospital. —PHOTO BY ANI
Agartala: BSF Tripura Frontier IG Sushanta Kumar
Nath on Tuesday said that the cross border
infiltration has reduced since 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing a press confer-
ence at BSF headquarters Shalbagan in West
Tripura, Nath said, “A total of 221 infiltrators
have been arrested while attempting to cross the
borders illegally. Among the detained persons,
118 were Indian nationals, 97 were identified as
Bangladeshi nationals and six were from other na-
tionalities.” “In comparison to 2020, the detection
rate is higher as 128 persons were intercepted for
unlawfully breaching the Indo-Bangla borders.”
CROSS BORDER INFILTRATION HAS
REDUCED DUE TO COVID-19: NATH
New Delhi: Chief Jus-
tice of India NV Rama-
na on Tuesday said that
13 judges of the Su-
preme Court and 400
people in the registry
were infected with
COVID-19 during the
third surge. CJI Rama-
na shared these facts
when one of the law-
yers complained that
his matter was not ur-
gently listed by the reg-
istry. CJI Ramana in-
formed the lawyer that
13 judges of the top
court were infected
with COVID-19 and a
number of officers in
the registry were also
positive. CJI said that
they are working even
though their bodies
were not cooperating.
“If you don’t know
the problems what can
we do,” CJI said.
13 SC judges,400 people in
registry infected in 3rd wave:CJI
COVID HIGHLIGHTS
Srinagar (JK): Sus-
pected militants hurled
a grenade in Hari Singh
High street area of Sri-
nagar Jammu and
Kashmir on Tuesday
.
Further details are
awaited. Earlier, BSF IG
DK Boora had said that
the forces have received
some input and are on
high alert and further
assured the population
that they should have
nothing to fear.
Addressing the me-
dia on Monday, Boora
said, “During this peri-
od, almost every time,
there is stress on the
security situation along
the border. But we are
here to meet all the
challenges. We have got
some input from the in-
telligence department.
We are very alert on
and along the border in-
cluding LC and have
heightened our vigil on
the border. A maximum
number of troops and
officers are present on
the border.” The IG said
that they are “exten-
sively carrying out op-
erations including the
anti-drone exercises”
and will do everything
to ensure safety
. —ANI
GRENADE ATTACK IN
SRINAGAR, 4 INJURED
New Delhi, Jan 25: The
Chief Election Com-
missioner Sushil
Chandra, during an
event on the occasion of
National Voter’s Day in
Delhi, on Tuesday
.
He informed that
there are more than 95.3
crore voters in India,
out of which 49 crore
are male and 46 crore
are female voters.
Addressing the event
today, CEC Chandra
said, “Today there are
more than 95.3 crore
voters of which 49 crore
are male voters and 46
crore are female voters.
Among these registered
voters, there are 1.92
crore senior citizens.”
He added that the
right to vote was be-
stowed upon every
adult citizen of India at
the same time as India
won her freedom.
“For a newly-inde-
pendent country with a
literacy rate of 18 per
cent, this was a truly
radical move,” Election
Commission chief said.
Speaking about the
arrangements made in
five-poll bound states,
he stated that EC has
emphasised increasing
the pace of COVID-19
vaccination in Punjab,
UP, Uttarakhand, Goa
and Manipur and all ar-
rangements will be
made to ensure that
election is safe. —ANI
National Voters Day: India has
more than 95.3 cr voters, says CEC
RANKINGS: SHAFALI VERMA REGAINS TOP
SPOT, MANDHANA DROPS TO FOURTH
CUSTOMS DEPT
CAUTIONS PUBLIC
AGAINST CONMEN
NEW DELHI: The Delhi
Customs Office this
week issued a public
notice warning against
individuals impersonat-
ing as customs officers
to extort money after
the department was
informed about such
instances. The con
persons first become
friendly with their vic-
tims and subsequently
promise them to send
parcels to India. They
then impersonate as
customs officers by
using their names and
instruct them to deposit
money in the bank ac-
count created by them.
Mumbai: Amazon.com
Inc. and Netflix Inc.
are among platforms
partnering with Clean
Slate Filmz Pvt. to push
out movies and web
series worth about 4
billion rupees ($54 mil-
lion). Clean Slate Filmz
will release eight films
and series on these
over-the-top streaming
sites as well as some
others in the next 18
months, the studio’s
37-year-old co-founder
and anoshka’s brother,
Karnesh Sharma said.
Sharma declined to
provide a full list before
officially announced.
Dubai: Australia captain Meg Lanning and Tahlia McGrath
have advanced in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rank-
ings after helping their team clinch the three-match home
series against England 1-0 with outstanding performances
in the first match in Adelaide. The pair was associated in
a 144-run unbroken stand for the second wicket in the
only match that saw a result, Lanning’s 44-ball 64 helping
her overtake India’s Smriti Mandhana to third place and
McGrath’s Player of the Match effort of 91 off 49 propelling
her 29 places to 28th position. Mandhana’s opening part-
ner Shafali Verma though is back on top of the rankings.
CRUCIAL READ
“STUPID SON OF A B**” - BIDEN CAUGHT
ON HOT MIC MOCKING REPORTER
ANUSHKA’S $54 MN
DEAL WITH
AMAZON, NETFLIX
NO DISCONTENT OVER APPOINTMENT
OF MINS AS DISTRICT IN-CHARGES: CM
TO HELP TSUNAMI-HIT TONGA, INDIA
ANNOUNCES IMMEDIATE AID OF $200,000
MOB ALLEGES ;LOVE JIHAD’ CASE, MAN
BOOKED UNDER ANTI -CONVERSION LAW
STALIN WRITES TO PM MODI OVER REPORTS OF SRI LANKAN
GOVERNMENT AUCTIONING BOATS OF TAMIL NADU FISHERMEN
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden
used an epithet to describe a reporter
who shouted a question about inflation
during a White House meeting with
members of his Cabinet on pricing. Fox
News’ Peter Doocy asked the president
whether he thought inflation would be a “political li-
ability” ahead of midterm elections. Biden’s reaction was
caught on a hot mic. “That’s a great asset, more infla-
tion,” Biden said. “What a stupid son of a b—-.” Last
week, Biden was heard mocking another reporter for a
“stupid question” on why he was waiting on Russian
Pres Vladimir Putin “to make the first move” in Ukraine.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu CM
MK Stalin on Tuesday
wrote to PM Narendra
Modi, urging him to regis-
ter its protest against the
Sri Lankan govt’s decision
to reportedly auction fish-
ing boats belonging to the
state. He urged the Centre
to “register its disapproval
in strongest possible terms
at appropriate level and
to prevail upon the Sri
Lankan Govt to recall the
advertisement published
for auctioning TN fishing
boats on which they do not
have any legal rights”. The
auctioning is slated to take
place between February 7
and 11. —PTI
Bengaluru: Karnataka CM Basavaraj
Bommai on Tuesday said there is no
discontent among his cabinet colleagues
following their appointment as district
in-charge mins and added that he has
discussed it with them. “They are all
united and there is no discontent. We are all committed
to work for the welfare of the people and run the govt
in the most appropriate way,” Bommai told mediaper-
sons. Nearly six months after his government came to
office, Bommai Monday had assigned districts to 28
cabinet ministers of which they will be in-charge while
keeping the Bengaluru Urban district with himself.
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday announced immedi-
ate assistance of $200,000 for relief and rehabilita-
tion efforts in Tonga, which was hit by a massive
volcanic eruption and a tsunami on January 15. The
eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano
sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and
was heard 2,300 km away in New Zealand. Accord-
ing to NASA, the volcanic eruption was hundreds of
times more powerful than the atomic bomb the US
dropped on Hiroshima during World War 2.
Ujjain: A Muslim man, who was allegedly beaten by
a mob for travelling on a train with a Hindu woman
in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, was on Monday booked
under anti-conversion law based on the woman’s
complaint. The woman claimed the accused had
taken her “objectionable photos”. Earlier, police said
that the mob had alleged it was a case of ‘love jihad’.
INDIA
05
VERY DENSE FOG EXPECTED OVER
NORTH INDIA FOR NEXT TWO DAYS
New Delhi: Severe cold
accompanied by very dense fog
is likely to hamper life in Punjab,
Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh
over the next two days, Indian
Meteorological Department said
on Tuesday. The weatherman
said that Punjab, Haryana,
Chandigarh, Delhi and West UP
will reel under cold to severe
cold day conditions for the next
three to four days. The very dense
fog cover will affect lives in the
region during nights and morning
on Wednesday and Thursday,
the IMD alert said, Rajasthan is
expected to experience dense fog
on the same dates. —PHOTO BY ANI

BIZ BUZZ
06
FUTURE’S INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS
turn down Amazon’s bailout offer
New Delhi: Independ-
ent directors of Future
Retail Ltd (FRL) have
turned down Amazon’s
offer of financial sup-
port to the company
through a deal with pri-
vate equity firm Sa-
mara Capital, saying
the offer is “plainly an
attempt to buy the FRL
assets on the cheap”.
FRL’s independent
directors had last week
asked Amazon if the e-
commerce giant was
willing to give a long-
term loan to avoid de-
fault on repayment of
`3,500 crore loan due on
Jan 29. Amazon replied
that it was willing to
financially assist Fu-
ture Retail through the
Samara Capital deal
but the retailer must
shelve `24,713 crore
deal with Reliance.
The independent di-
rectors of FRL, in a let-
ter on Tuesday, said it
is now clear that Ama-
zon’s letters were “just
a game of smoke and
mirrors.”
“Accordingly, we will
not be assessing any
proposals from you, un-
til an actual solution
which meets FRL’s cap-
ital requirements and
addresses concerns of
its stakeholders, in a
legally-compliant man-
ner, is tabled,” said the
letter. The independent
directors said the price
of `7,000 crore is “sig-
nificantly below the
amount needed to dis-
charge FRL’s total lia-
bilities”.
“...FRL’s Bank liabil-
ities and part of the
committed vendors
payments till just
March 2022 itself ag-
gregate to Rs 12,027.31
crores. When seen in
the context of the fi-
nancials of the Reli-
ance transaction by
way of the Scheme of
Arrangement, your of-
fer is plainly an at-
tempt to buy the FRL
assets on the cheap,”
the letter stated. —PTI
New Delhi: Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd
(FRL) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court re-
questing it to pass a direction to restrain its lenders
from declaring the company as a non-performing
asset (NPA) in case of a default of `3,494.56 crore.
Earlier this month, FRL had said it had missed the
due date for the payment to banks and lenders as it
could not sell assets due to its ongoing litigation with Amazon, impacting its
monetisation plans. Moving an urgent petition on Tuesday, FRL has request-
ed the apex court to issue a “direction restraining Respondent Nos.2-28
(lenders) from declaring the Petitioner No 1 (FRL) as a NPA.” —PTI
FRL LAUNCHES SC CHALLENGE AGAINST OWN LENDERS
OKAY TO RIL
Maruti Suzuki Q3
profit falls 48%
on chip crunch
New Delhi: India’s
largest carmaker
Maruti Suzuki on
Tuesday reported a
net profit of `1,011
crore, down 47.90%
year-on-year (YoY)
against a profit of
`1,941.4 crore in the
same quarter last
year.
The company said
despite cost reduc-
tion efforts, due to
lower sales volume,
high commodity
prices and lower
non-operating in-
come on account of
mark-to-market im-
pact, its profits were
comparatively lower.
The revenue from
the sale of products
came in at `22,187
crore against ` 22,236
crore in the corre-
sponding quarter
last year.
The company in-
sisted that its results
were not comparable
given in the second
and third quarter,
the performance of
the company was im-
pacted due to elec-
tronic component
shortages. The com-
pany sold a total of
4,30,668 units during
the quarter. In the
domestic market,
the sales stood at
3,65,673 units against
467,369 units in
Q3FY21. —PTI
Due to lower sales
volume, high
commodity prices,
Maruti Suzuki
India’s profit were
comparatively lower
Sensexsnaps5-dayrout,rebounds367points
Mumbai: Snapping its five-session losing
streak, equity benchmark Sensex re-
bounded 367 points on Tuesday,
boosted by strong gains in Maruti,
Axis Bank and SBI amid a sup-
portive trend in European equi-
ties. The BSE gauge ended
366.64 points or 0.64% higher
at 57,858.15. Similarly, the
NSE Nifty rose 128.85 points
or 0.75% to close at 17,277.95.
Maruti was the top gainer
in the Sensex pack, rising
around 7%, followed by Axis
Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank,
Bharti Airtel and NTPC.
On the other hand, Wipro, Ba-
jaj Finserv, HDFC twins and RIL
were among the laggards.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul
ended sharply lower. —PTI
New Delhi: Life
Insurance Corp of
India said its net
profit zoomed to
`1,437 crore in
the first half of
the fiscal 2021-
22 from a mere
`6 crore in the
same period of fiscal 2020-21 led
by a sharp increase in income from
investments despite a rise in benefits
and bonuses paid even a net premi-
um growth remained tepid. Net profit
increased led by a 12% in income from
investments including profit from the sale
of investments, interest, dividends and rent
during the six months ended Sept 2021. —PTI
LIC FIRST HALF PROFIT ZOOMS
AHEAD OF IPO
Mumbai: Shares of Reli-
ance Industries (RIL) were
down 3% at `2,305 on the
BSE in Tuesday’s intra-day,
falling 7% in the past two
trading sessions, despite
the company’s clarification
on loan of `750 crore
granted to Shapoorji Pal-
lonji Company by its arm
Reliance Ventures Limited (RVL). A sharp decline
in stock price has seen, RIL’s market capitalisa-
tion decline by `1.17 trillion in past two trading
days. At 10:30 am, the stock traded 2.4% lower at
`2,321 on the BSE, as compared to 0.47% decline
in the SP BSE Sensex. The company’s market
capitalisation stood at `15.69 trillion, the BSE data
showed. —Agencies
RIL SLIPS 7% IN 2 DAYS, LOSES OVER
`1 TN IN M-CAP
Rupee falls by 16 paise to 74.76 against $ Adani Wilmar GMP fizzles out ahead of IPO
Mumbai: The rupee on Tuesday depreciated by 16 paise to close at 74.76
(provisional) against the US dollar due to month-end dollar demand from
oil importers and a stronger dollar in overseas markets. Investors’ weak ap-
petite for riskier assets also weighed on the rupee. At the interbank foreign
exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.60 against the greenback
and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.57 and a low of 74.80 during the ses-
sion. The rupee finally settled at 74.76, down by 16 paise over its previous
close of 74.60. —PTI
New Delhi: The latest rout in the broader markets has
impacted sentiments of the primary markets, with the
grey market premiums for latest debutants erod-
ing sharply. The premium for Adani Wilmar, a joint
venture between Gautam Adani led Adani Group and
Singapore’s Wilmar Group, has halved during the recent market correction.
It is commanding a premium of `45-50 or 20% over its higher range of
the price in the grey market, which was around `100 earlier. —Agencies
Unilever to
cut 1,500
mgmt jobs
in overhaul
New Delhi: Unilever
unveiled plans on
Tuesday to cut about
1,500 management
jobs in an overhaul
aimed at easing
shareholders’ con-
cerns after a failed
takeover bid and
news that an activist
investor had built a
stake in the consum-
er goods giant.
The company
which employs about
149,000peoplearound
the world, said it
would organise its
business into five
new divisions - beau-
ty and wellbeing, per-
sonal care, home
care, nutrition, and
ice cream. “Our new
organisational mod-
el has been developed
over the last year ...
Moving to five cate-
gory-focused Busi-
ness Groups will en-
able us to be more
responsive to con-
sumer and channel
trends, with crystal-
clear accountability
for delivery,” CEO
said. Unilever, whose
shares have fallen
about 13%, last week
effectively abandon
plans to buy GlaxoS-
mithKline’s consum-
er healthcare busi-
ness. —Agencies
Unilever would
organise its biz into
beauty wellbeing,
personal care, home
care, nutrition and
ice cream
BPCL to invest `10K crore
in six new city gas licences
New Delhi: Bharat Pe-
troleum Corporation
Ltd on Tuesday said it
will invest `10,000 crore
over the next five years
in setting up city gas
distribution networks
in the cities for which it
secured licences in the
latest bidding round.
BPCL won licences to
retail CNG to automo-
biles and piped natural
gas for cooking purpos-
es in six geographical
areas in the latest 11th
bidding round.
“After announcement
of results of bidding,
BPCL’s committed in-
vestment in city gas dis-
tribution (CGD) net-
work, on a standalone
basis, would increase to
over Rs 22,000 crore for
development of 23 GAs,
including Rs 10,000
crore for the 6 new
GAs,” BPCL said in a
stock exchange filing.
BPCL had won 6 GAs
in 19 districts for set-
ting up City Gas Distri-
bution (CGD) networks,
in the 11th bidding
round of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Regulatory
(PNGRB).
“The CGD footprints
of BPCL, along with its
JVs, will now extend to
48 GAs covering 94 dis-
tricts in 18 states, across
India,” it said. —PTI
33% MKT SHARE
IMF cuts India’s economy
growth forecast to 9% in FY22
New Delhi: The Inter-
nationalMonetaryFund
(IMF)hascutIndia’seco-
nomicgrowthforecastto
9% for the current fiscal
year ending March 31,
joining a host of agen-
cies which have down-
graded their projections
on concerns over the
impact of a spread of
newvariantof coronavi-
rus on business activity
and mobility
.
In its latest update of
World Economic Out-
look on Tuesday, the
Washington-basedinter-
national financial insti-
tution, which had in Oc-
tober last year projected
a 9.5% GDP growth for
India, put the forecast
for the next fiscal FY23
(April 2022 to March
2023) at 7.1%.
The Indian economy
had contracted by 7.3%
in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
The IMF’s forecast for
the current financial
year is less than 9.2%
that the government’s
Central Statistics Office
has predicted and 9.5%
thattheReserveBankof
India has estimated.
According to the IMF,
India’sprospectsfor2023
aremarkeduponexpect-
ed improvements to
credit growth and, sub-
sequently, investment
and consumption, build-
ing on better-than-antic-
ipated performance of
the financial sector.
The IMF said that
global growth is expect-
ed to moderate from 5.9
in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022,
half a percentage point
lowerfor2022thaninthe
October .

07
NEWS
BJP Guj chief dismisses rumours of strife within party
Polarisation suits both BJP, SP to consolidate
vote bases in Uttar Pradesh: Priyanka Gandhi
New Delhi: Alleging
that polarisation suits
both the BJP and the SP
to consolidate their vote
bases in UP, Congress
leader Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra on Tuesday
said the ruling party
may end up being the
largest beneficiary of
this divisive rhetoric
and therefore people
needtobegivenachoice
of another kind of poli-
tics that doesn’t divide
society on religious or
caste lines.
Citing that farm laws
and the Lakhimpur
Kheri incident caused
“immense pain” to
farmers, she also said
the government’s “in-
difference’’ and “hos-
tile” approach towards
the farmers will play an
important part in deter-
mining the outcome of
the assembly polls in
UP’s western belt.
Priyanka Gandhi
said her party will take
a call on whether to
forge a post-poll alli-
ance once the election
results are out and if
and when such a situa-
tion should arise.
With her party going
to the polls with a focus
on women and an-
nouncing that it will
give 40% of tickets to
them, she said women
are 50% of the popula-
tion and if they consoli-
date into a political and
electoral force by recog-
nising their own value
and strength in politi-
cal terms, they can
change the politics of
our nation. Asked about
the key issues in UP
polls and whether the
farm bills and the Lakh-
impur Kheri incident
will have an impact, she
said different political
parties are highlighting
different issues, some
of these are divisive
and intended to polar-
ise the debate along re-
ligious or caste lines.
“It is a reality of pol-
itics in UP that elec-
tions are fought and
often won in this man-
ner but I firmly believe
that this has to change.
Elections must be
fought on issues of de-
velopment, employ-
ment, job creation,
health services, educa-
tion. These should be
central to our discus-
sion and debate.”
The Congress in UP is
working on a positive
and progressive agenda,
Priyanka said, adding
that “we have refused to
engage in a negative dis-
course”. —PTI
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment on Tuesday
imposed restrictions
on the export of human
hair, a move, according
to the hair industry,
would help in checking
alleged smuggling of
the product from India.
Hair exports were
earlier allowed without
any restriction. But
now an exporter would
have to seek permis-
sion or licence from the
Directorate General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT)
under the Commerce
Ministry.
“The export policy of
human hair, unworked,
whether or not washed
or scoured; waste of
human hair or any oth-
er form of raw human
hair...has been put un-
der restricted category,
with immediate effect,”
Director General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT)
Santosh Kumar Saran-
gi said in a notification.
Welcoming the move,
member of Human
Hair and Hair Products
Manufacturers and Ex-
porters Association of
India Sunil Eamani
said that it was their
long-pending demand.
Time and again, he
has alleged that this la-
bour intensive indus-
try was facing a pecu-
liar challenge of smug-
gling of raw human
hair to countries like
Myanmar and China,
which is hurting local
industries and exports.
“Now with this re-
striction, only genuine
exporters will be able
to export the product,”
he said. In India, West
Bengal is the major
hub for the industry be-
sides Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana and Tamil
Nadu. Major competi-
tors of India are China,
Cambodia, Vietnam
and Myanmar.
Raw human hair is
mainly collected from
households and tem-
ples of these states and
these primarily cater to
the beauty market glob-
ally.
Two types of hair are
collected in India -
remy and non-remy
hair. Remy hair, the
best grade, is collected
from temples where pil-
grims donate their hair
as part of a religious
vow. This quality is
mainly used to make
hairpieces and wigs.
Non-Remy hair is a
household waste col-
lected by small groups
of people in villages
and cities. They segre-
gate that and sell to
dealers.
During April-No-
vember this fiscal, hair
exports stood at USD
144.26 million, while it
was only USD 15.28 mil-
lion in 2020-21. —PTI
Govt imposes curbs on export of human hair
UNDER CHECK NOW
Human Hair Representational Image
BJP holds meeting to
discuss BMC poll plans
TN Governer RN Ravi
hails Tamil language
Mumbai: The BJP held
a meeting on Tuesday to
chalk out plans for the
BMC polls expected to
take place in a few
months time.
All MLAs and MPs as
well as other leaders
from Mumbai took part
in the meeting chaired
by former CM and Lead-
er of Opposition Deven-
dra Fadnavis, said city
MLA Ashish Shelar.
“All the plans related
to campaigning and mo-
bilising of party work-
ers were chalked out in
the meeting. The BJP
will face the civic polls
with fresh vigour,”
Shelar said. —PTI
Chennai: Tamil Nadu
Governor RN Ravi on
Tuesday paid glowing
tributes to Tamil lan-
guage, batting for its
wider spread in the
country and also
stressed the need for
students in the state to
learn other Indian lan-
guages. In his message
on the eve of the 73rd
Republic Day
, Ravi cred-
ited the state govern-
ment’s “affirmative ac-
tion” of providing 7.5%
quota in enabling more
govt school students to
enroll in medical ad-
missions in the state
post introduction of
NEET. “Tamil is the old-
est living language in
the world. It is enor-
mously rich in literary,
cultural and spiritual
contents. It has en-
riched several Bharati-
ya languages. Its spread
in the rest of the coun-
try must be encour-
aged,” he said. —PTI
Students protest, block
railway tracks for 5 hrs
Kumar Pramod
Patna: Rail services
were affected here as
students who appeared
for Railway Recruit-
ment Board’s Non-Tech-
nical Popular Catego-
ries exam 2021 staged a
protest against “inaccu-
rate exam results”.
Hundreds of students
blocked the Kolkata-
New Delhi main rail-
way line at Rajendra
Nagar Terminal in Pat-
na.
Notably, the results
of the RRB NTPC for
CBT-1 exam was re-
leased on January 15 for
shortlisting the candi-
dates for the CBT-2.
“The Railway Re-
cruitment Board has
created a discrepancy
in the results of group
D. Our future appears
bleak now,” said a pro-
testor Ajit Kumar.
“People have gath-
ered here due to which
train services were dis-
rupted for some time
but now trains are run-
ning normally,” says
Mukul Pankaj Mani,
Additional SDM, Bihar
Sharif.
Patna district magis-
trate (DM) Dr Chan-
drashekhar Singh in-
formed that the protes-
tors had hampered the
train services for nearly
five hours and said that
action will be taken
against the culprits.
OUR PARTY IS LIKE A FAMILY,
THERE IS NO GROUPISM: PATIL
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: A day af-
ter it was reported that
former Gujarat CM Vi-
jay Rupani was side-
lined and/or not invited
for the Rajkot BJP
event, Gujarat BJP
President CR Patil on
Tuesday attempted to
downplay rumours of
groupism. Addressing
media persons on the
day, he said, “We (the
party) function like a
family. And, Vijay Ru-
pani was very much
part of the PM’s virtual
event, where he ad-
dressed lakhs of page
committee members.”
On Monday, Gujarat
CM Bhupendra Patel
virtually inaugurated
and dedicated an under-
bridge in Rajkot. Party
sources said that
though former CM Ru-
pani was in the city, he
was neither invited to
the event nor his name
was on the host list.
This development has
sparked controversy
that Rupani has been
sidelined in the party
and that whenever Patil
is in Rajkot, he remains
absent at every event.
Last month, when
Chief Minister Patel’s
roadshow was organ-
ized in Rajkot, Rupani
did not show up for the
event till Patil was pre-
sent. This was a clear
indication of differenc-
es between the two lead-
ers.
Since Patil’s last me-
dia address, specula-
tions were rife that the
BJP was preparing for
early elections. Howev-
er, he poured cold water
on it by clarifying that
the state assembly elec-
tions will be held as
scheduled in December.
The BJP Gujarat
chief also announced
on Wednesday that the
party was planning to
fight polls by making
developmental projects
as its main issue.
Last week, the state
BJP unit selected its
parliamentary board
members. However, the
absence of a represent-
ative from the Brahmin
community has not
gone down well with
community leaders.
They have decided to
take up the matter with
senior party leaders
and request inclusion
of a Brahmin leader in
the board.
UNITED COLOURS OF INDIA
A potter gives shape to an earthern lamp on his wheel on the eve of Republic Day in Vir
village in Pune district of Maharashtra. —PHOTO BY VIJAYKUMAR HARISHCHANDRE
Ex-IASofficers’lovetojump
inpollfrayfromPhagwara
Ashok Kaura
Phagwara: Most of
the Bureaucrats espe-
cially IAS officers
have much more at-
traction to enter in
politics from Phag-
wara assembly Con-
stituency (Reserve).
After Som Parkash
(BJP) and Balwinder
Singh Dhaliwal (Con-
gress), now it was the
turn of Khushi Ram
IAS (retired) who en-
tered in politics in
Phagwara and has
been declared candi-
date from “Sanyukat
Samaj Morcha”.
He is the third IAS
officer who prefered
Phagwara, to contest
assembly elections.
Som Prakash IAS
(retired) had been
elected MLA twice
from this important
constituency from
BJP ticket, Balwinder
Singh Dhaliwal IAS
(retired) is the sitting
MLA from Congress
who won by-elections
two and half years
back when then MLA
Som Parkash contest-
ed and won Lok Sabha
elections and now en-
joying Union Minis-
ter’s status. The seat
was vacant, then
Dhaliwal entered the
poll fray and defeated
BJP Candidate Rajesh
Bagha with a big mar-
gin of more than 22K
votes.
Now Samyukta Sa-
maj Morcha has de-
clared Khushi Ram
IAS (retired) as its
candidate from this
constituency
. Notably
Khushi Ram has been
the SDM of this city
and has served as
Deputy Commission-
er in several cities in-
cluding Hoshiarpur,
Tarn Taran and Am-
ritsar and has also
been the Head of vari-
ous Departments. He
was the Chairman of
IAS Association for
Dalits and has
received a special
award for good perfor-
mance from the Cen-
tral Government.
Som Parkash IAS
(retired) has served as
the Deputy commis-
sioner of Faridkot,
Hoshiarpur and Ja-
landhar and has also
held posts like the La-
bour Commissioner,
Punjab Urban Plan-
ning and Develop-
ment Authority chief
administrator, man-
aging director of the
Punjab Financial
Similarly Sitting
MLA Balwinder Sin-
gh Dhaliwal remained
Deputy Commission-
er at different places,
worked as SDM Phag-
wara also and was Di-
rector Land Records
Jalandhar before join-
ing politics in the year
2019.
BJP Gujarat unit President CR Patil
Mumbai NSUI leader Suraj Singh Thakur meets Congress General
Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in New Delhi on Tuesday ANI
Devendra Fadnavis chairs a meeting with BJP MLAs MPs ANI
Tamil Nadu Guv RN Ravi
Retd IAS BS Dhaliwal Retd IAS Som Parkash Retd IAS Kushi Ram
KHUSHI RAM- 3RD FORMER IAS

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
56,25,139
TOTAL DEATHS
28,25,69,077
TOTAL RECOVERED
6,80,95,714
ACTIVE CASES
35,62,89,930
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,90,462
TOTAL DEATHS
3,70,71,898
TOTAL RECOVERED
22,36,842
ACTIVE CASES
3,97,99,202
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Happy Republic Day
to all of us! JAI HIND!
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Apexcourtadjournshearingonplea
challengingAsthana’sappointment
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Tues-
day adjourned till Feb-
ruary 9, the hearing of
a plea challenging the
appointment of Indian
Police Service (IPS) of-
ficer Rakesh Asthana
as Delhi Police Com-
missioner.
A bench headed by
Justice Justice DY
Chandrachud listed the
matter for February 9
for final argument on
the NGO Centre for Pub-
lic Interest Litigation’s
(CPIL) petition chal-
lenging Asthana’s ap-
pointment as Delhi Po-
lice chief. The Court
said that it is keeping
two days - February 9
and February 10 - for the
hearing on the petition.
Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta appeared
for the Centre while
Senior Advocate Mukul
Rohatgi was represent-
ing Asthana.
The NGO CPIL
through its advocate
Prashant Bhushan had
approached the apex
court in an appeal
against the October 12,
2021 order of the Delhi
High Court which had
upheld the Centre’s de-
cision to appoint Astha-
na, Gujarat cadre
1984-batch IPS officer, as
Delhi Police Commis-
sioner four days before
his superannuation on
July 31, saying there
was “no irregularity, il-
legality or infirmity” in
his selection.
In the affidavit filed
by the Centre, it has
been maintained that he
was picked “to provide
effective policing on the
recent law and order
situation which arose in
the National Capital
Territory of Delhi”.
The Central Govern-
ment has informed the
Supreme Court that
there was a “compelling
need” to appoint Indian
Police Service Rakesh
Asthana as the Delhi Po-
lice Commissioner tak-
ing into consideration
the national capital’s
“extremely challenging
situations” of public or-
der, policing issues, and
their implications on
national security
.
TheMinistryof Home
Affairs(MHA)whilejus-
tifying the appointment
of Asthana as the Delhi
Police commissioner, in-
formed the apex court
throughanaffidavitthat
Asthana was appointed
police chief of Delhi as
a “special case of public
interest”.
Theaffidavitwasfiled
on a plea of NGO CPIL
against the Delhi High
Court order of uphold-
ing Asthana’s appoint-
ment as police chief.
Eight Delhi Police
Commissioners had
been appointed by the
sameprocedurewithout
any complaints from the
petitioner, the Centre
said while accusing the
petitioner of harbour-
ing a personal vendetta
against Asthana.
The affidavit stated,
“Delhi is the capital of
the country has a spe-
cificandspecialrequire-
ment which witnessed
certain untoward and
extremely challenging
public order problems/
riots/crimeswhichhave
an international impli-
cation. This necessitat-
ed the appointment of
an experienced officer
having diverse, multi-
farious experience of
heading a police force in
any large State/Central
Investigating Agency/
Para-military Security
Forces, etc, to head the
Delhi Police force.” It
sought that the petitions
challenging the appoint-
ment to be dismissed.
Asthana also filed
separate affidavits in
the plea saying peti-
tions were filed in the
top court following a
scathing social media
campaign to malign his
reputation and that pe-
titioner NGO and
Prashant Bhushan har-
boured a personal ven-
detta against him.
The Delhi High Court
while dismissing a PIL
challenging Asthana’s
selection had said the
justification and rea-
sons given by the Cen-
tre for appointing
Asthana are plausible,
calling for no interfer-
ence in judicial review.
—ANI
THE PETITION
Willensuremerit
basedrecruitment
inPunjabgovt:AAP
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Senior
AAP leaders Harpal
SinghCheemaandsen-
iorleaderAmanArora
have said that major
reforms were needed
intherecruitmentpro-
cess of Punjab govern-
ment departments and
educational institu-
tions and the AAP
would bring these re-
forms after forming
the government in the
state. The evil of tem-
porary employment
andoutsourcingof em-
ployees,throughwhich
SAD-BJPandCongress
govts have been ex-
ploiting the youth of
Punjab,willbebrought
to an end. They said
that AAP govt would
recruit people for the
government jobs in
Punjab on the basis of
merit and the waiting
list process, which was
stopped by the previ-
ous governments.
Cheema said, “Tra-
ditional parties’ govts
are reluctant to issue
merit lists especially
waiting lists due to
nepotism. They have
to give govt jobs to
their recommenda-
tions or their rela-
tives. But, in AAP
govt all the rights of
common people will
be protected.”
At -9.2 Cel, Gulmarg
coldest place in JK
Srinagar: As Chilla-i-
Kalan entered its last
week on Tuesday, the
minimumtemperature
in most parts of Kash-
mir stayed several de-
greesabovethenormal
for this time of the sea-
son, except in the tour-
ist resort of Gulmarg,
officials said here.
Srinagar, the sum-
mer capital of Jammu
and Kashmir, record-
ed a low of 1.8 degrees
Celsius down from 2.8
degrees Celsius the
previous night, they
said.
Gulmarg recorded a
low of minus 9.2 de-
grees Celsius up
slightly from minus
9.5 degrees Celsius the
previous night.
Pahalgam, which
also serves as the base
camp for the annual
Amarnath yatra, re-
corded a low of minus
2.8 degrees Celsius
down from the previ-
ous night’s minus 0.8
degrees Celsius, they
said.
The officials said
Qazigund recorded
the minimum of zero
degrees Celsius, while
the nearby south
Kashmir town of Kok-
ernag recorded a low
of minus 0.4 degrees
Celsius.
The mercury in
Kupwara in north
Kashmir settled at a
low of 0.4 degrees Cel-
sius.
The MeT Office said
there was fresh light
snowfall at isolated
places.
It forecast light
rain/snow at isolated
places over next 24
hours as well.
Afterwards, the
weather is likely to
stay mainly dry till the
end of the month and
there is no forecast of
any major rain/snow
till the end of January
,
it said.
Kashmir valley is
currently under the
grip of the 40-day
harshest winter peri-
od known as ‘Chilla-i-
Kalan’ which began on
December 21 last year.
‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ is a
period when a cold
wave grips the region
and the temperature
drops considerably
leading to the freezing
of water bodies in-
cluding the famous
Dal Lake here as well
as the water supply
lines in several parts
of the valley
.. —PTI
Political condition in WB “frightening”: Guv Dhankhar
Kolkata: Calling the
political condition pre-
vailing in West Bengal
“horrible and frighten-
ing”, Goveror Jagdeep
Dhankhar alleged on
Tuesday the people of
the state do not have the
freedom to exercise
their franchise freely
and fearlessly
.
He also accused state
assembly Speaker Bi-
man Banerjee of trans-
gressing constitutional
norms, provoking sharp
reactions from the rul-
ing TMC dispensation.
“We have seen post-
poll violence of unprec-
edentedlevel.Thosewho
dared to vote according
to their own volition had
to pay the price with
their life,” Dhankhar
said after paying trib-
utes at the statue of B R
Ambedkarontheassem-
bly premises on the Na-
tional Voters Day
.
Noting that a fact-
finding committee ap-
pointed by the chairper-
son of the National Hu-
man Rights Commis-
sion had observed that
rule of the ruler and not
the law prevails in the
state, —PTI
Rajiv Mehrishi ...
From P1…
Mehrishi, a resident
of Jaipur, has been
awarded Padma
Bhushan for the ex-
ceptional services he
has rendered while
holding various cov-
eted positions. A 1978
batch IAS officer be-
longing to the Ra-
jasthan cadre, Mehri-
shi was the 13th Comp-
troller and Auditor
General of India
(CAG) and Vice-Chair-
man of the United Na-
tions Panel of Exter-
nal Auditors. Prior to
that, he also held high
positions like Union
Home Secretary, Un-
ion Finance Secretary
and Chief Secretary
of Rajasthan. After
President Ramnath
Kovind gave his ap-
proval to bestow the
honour, the Home Sec-
retary called up
Mehrishi to inform
about it and congratu-
late him. Rajasthan
CM Ashok Gehlot also
tweeted his congratu-
lations for Mehrishi
and others. It has been
announced to posthu-
mously confer Padma
Vibhushan to Kalyan
Singh, former Gover-
nor of Rajasthan.
C h a n d r a p r a k a s h
Dwivedi will be con-
ferred with Padma
Shri in the field of
arts. Prithviraj movie
director Dwivedi is a
resident of from Dod-
wa village Sirohi. He
has made famous
movies like Pinjar,
Mohalla Assi and
Chanakya serial.
WB Goveror Jagdeep Dhankhar
Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana
AAP leaders Harpal S Cheema (L) and Aman Arora
Bainsla, a ‘bhakta’ of Gehlot!
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Ailing Gurjar
leader Colonel Kirodi
Singh Bainsla was
called upon by senior
Congress leaders on
Tuesday who enquired
about Bainsla’s
health. The leaders
had made a beeline for
the Gurjar leader’s
residence and promi-
nent leaders like Dr
Raghu Sharma, Lal-
chand Kataria and
Dharmendra Rathore
interacted with Bain-
sla. Additionally, Min-
isters Rajendra Yadav
and Naurat Gurjar
also accompanied the
leaders.
Themovecameabout
as Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok gehlot
wanted to ensure that
Bainsla is assured of
all medical help from
the state government.
In fact, during their
conversation, Rathore
also made Bainsla
speak to the Chief Min-
ister over the phone
and Gehlot, who has
not been moving out of
CMR since contracting
Covid again recently,
spoke to the Gurjar agi-
tation leader at length,
inquiring about Colo-
nel Bainsla’s health
condition.
The Chief Minister
also spoke to Colonel
Bainsla’s daughter - IRS
Sunita Bainsla and as-
sured of all possible
help for the treatment
of Colonel Bainsla.
But perhaps the big-
gest takeaway and sur-
prising factor from this
impormptu meet was
Bainsla’s claim that he
was a devout ‘bhakta’ of
CM Gehlot and also ex-
pressed his gratitude
fortheMBCreservation
given to the Gurjars.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Colonel Kirodi Singh Bainsla
The ailing Gurjar
leader terms
himself a devout
devotee of Raj
Chief Minister!
Chandraprakash Dwivedi

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
s a nation we are
young and it is to the
youngsters, the
youth that we look
to, to drive the na-
tion to reach unsur-
passable heights, to
ensure that the tenets of our
democracy live on beyond
ourselves and to keep our Ti-
ranga flying high.
Freedom was won the hard
way and a democratic nation
requires daily sacrifices too
for keeping democracy alive
and kicking.
The present generation
with a global outlook and go-
getter philosophy will be the
one which will make India
into a superpower, ably guid-
ed by the elders of the society
and the nation.
I have great faith that the
youth with its modern out-
look, will rebuff the bindings
of casteism, discrimination,
injustice, inequality and
keep the flag flying high with
the commitment to Justice,
Liberty for all in thought, be-
lief and faith. For the nation
to truly progress Equality of
status and opportunity is a
must and the dignity of the
individual has to be main-
tained at all costs.
We are fortunate to have
idols in this nation from the
yesteryears whose philoso-
phy we can follow and imbibe
even today and work unitedly,
hand in hand for the Unity
and Integrity of the Nation.
The words that I put
here were written years ago
in the Preamble to our
Constitution and more than
that, they formed the path of
living for our political, social
and spiritual leaders for cen-
turies.
It is time to recommit, to-
day, to be the secular demo-
cratic republic and as citi-
zens ensure that our day to
day thoughts, speech and ac-
tions are towards a common
goal- A Rising Shining India!
A nation in which freedom,
safety, expression and oppor-
tunity is for one and all, not a
few. Together- we can.
JAI HIND!
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
Greetings to all
our readers on the
73rd Republic Day
of our beloved
nation, a day that
commemorates
the enactment of
the constitution of
India which came
into effect on
January 26, 1950,
and made the
nation into a
republic.
A
ensure that the tenets of our
democracy live on beyond
ourselves and to keep our Ti-
ranga flying high.
Freedom was won the hard
way and a democratic nation
requires daily sacrifices too
Greetings to all
our readers on the
73rd Republic Day
of our beloved
nation, a day that
commemorates
the enactment of
the constitution of
India which came
into effect on
January 26, 1950,
and made the
nation into a
republic.
A
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 26, 2022
Celebrating the patriotic spirit with First
India are Sanya Hissaria, Simran Modi,
Upadhi Jolotia, Tanu Choudhary, Astha
Khandelwal, Devanshi Bugalia, Srishti
Khatri, Rewati Upadhyay, Soumya Goyal,
Megha Shyam Soni, Muskan Kamdar,
Shubhda Panwar, Vasudha Tiwari,
Vishakha Mathur and Sapna Bundwal
—CONCEPT BY SHAAN AND PHOTOGRAPH BY SANTOSH SHARMA

10-11
ETC
REPUBLIC DAY IS ALL ABOUT CELEBRATING PATRIOTISM. NO MATTER WHERE WE STAY, IN WHICH
PART OF THE COUNTRY OR WORLD, IT’S THE SAME AMOUNT OF ENTHUSIASM THAT WE SHARE. FROM
HOISTING THE INDIAN FLAG TO THE PARADE, FROM UPDATING SOCIAL SITES WITH PATRIOTIC POSTS
OR WEARING TRICOLOURED ATTIRE AND CAPS, WE EXPRESS OUR LOVE, RESPECT AND GRATITUDE
TOWARDS OUR INDIA IN VARIOUS WAYS. CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU SOME FAVOURITE SONGS OF
OUR READERS WHICH LED A GENERATION TO THE LOFTY IDEALS OF PATRIOTISM AND FREEDOM!
‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo...Zara Aankh Mein Bhar Lo Paani..Jo
Shaeed Hue Hai Unki, Zara Yaad Karo Kurbaani...’ I can never
stop singing this song once I hear it or think about it. What a
song by Lata Mangeshwar! I really hope today’s generation
develops this feeling of patriotism and serves the nation
with honour, pride and dignity. I have always been so fond
of Republic Day parade. Since my school days, this occasion
holds a special place in my heart. —MAHIMA SHARMA
Since childhood, we are not just listening to patriotic songs,
but performing on those songs. One song has always been
one of my favourite ones. ‘Aao baccho tumhe dikhaye”,
from the movie Jagriti. This song is something we per-
formed on stage in school, so it has even a more special
memory. Now, I see it as a travel song, and I wonder if I can
write a similar song someday to show the glory of my land.
—ABHILASHA GARG
AE WATAN WATAN MERE
AABAAD RAHE TU..
‘Teri Mitti’ is my first pick always when it comes to finding
motivation in music. It evokes a thought of courage and the
will to take on the world with a brave face. On days like Re-
public Day and Independence Day, it only becomes all the
more important and special to listen to it and may I add, on
a cranked-up volume. I really wish people understand the
value of patriotism and spread good vibes for the betterment
of the nation. —ISHA PATEL
‘Hai Preet Jahan ki Reet Sada’, a song that never fails to
make me happy. This song starts with recounting the incred-
ible achievements of our nation, ‘Jab zero diya mere Bharat
ne.’ and went on to dedicate the whole song towards the
beautiful culture of our holy Land. It also reflects on us that
we should seek inspiration from other countries, but at the
same time keep that ‘Proud of Being Indian’ flame alive in
our hearts. —AWADHESH PAREEK
What a marvellous occasion to cherish and remember our
favourite songs, our love for the nation. My favourite song is
‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’, it depicts the true spirit of patriotism,
in my opinion, it reminds us that no matter what, wherever
we are INDIA, will always be the best place to live. No mat-
ter what happens in my life, this song will always remind
me that I am a part of this great nation and its beautiful rich
culture. —AASTHA VASHISTH
The song, ‘Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera’ is my favourite patriotic song
as not only does it perfectly describe one’s loyalty towards
the country but also sings the harmony of great India. It has
to be one of the best songs and almost a ritual to listen to
it on Republic Day after I watch the Parade on TV. Truly an
inspiring song, infact, not just on occasions like Independ-
ence Day or Republic Day, but generally too one can enjoy
the lovely song. —SHAHAN ANSARI
ndia is celebrating
its 73rd Republic
Day this year, a com-
memoration of the
date of January 26,
1950, when the Con-
stitution of India
came into effect. This day is
celebrated with great pomp
by organising an awe-inspir-
ing ceremonious
parade at the Raj-
path, New Delhi.
Apart from this,
the Indian cinema
industry has also
played a major
role in churning
out real-life and untold sto-
ries related to the freedom
struggle. Along with, movies
they have churned out some
amazing songs that evoke
patriotism. These tracks re-
mind us of our historic past
and the sacrifices made by
the brave soldiers to protect
the country and its citizens.
Songs have always played
an undisputed role in incit-
ing the spirit of nationalism
in the hearts of millions of
Indians. Many patriotic
songs, written by the liter-
ary stalwarts of India have
acquired legendary status
and are still sung by people
around the country. As India
celebrates the 73rd Republic
Day, City First brings to you
our readers’ favourite songs
which led a generation to the
lofty ideals of patriotism
and freedom.
I
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta from ‘Aisa Des Mera’ song of Veer Zaara
Sunny Deol from the iconic film ‘Border’
Akshay Kumar from the patriotic film ‘Kesari’
Shahrukh Khan’s still from ‘Chak De India’
Ajay Devgn’s still from ‘BHUJ: The Pride of India’
Sidharth Malhotra from ‘Shershah’
Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta from ‘Yeh Hum Khaan Aa Gaye Hai’ song of Veer Zaara
The iconic moment of Lata Mangeshkar with Late Jawahar Lal Nehru during the song ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’ written by the great poet Kavi Pradeep
Kangana Ranaut’s bold avatar from Manikarnika
Photojournalist Mukesh Kiradoo captured the Elite Miss Rajasthan’s models’ true spirit of patriotism at Statue Circle, Jaipur
Tanu Choudhary and Muskan Kamdar show their patriotic colours

CITY FIRST
S
awan Gandhi, a leading fashion
designer from Delhi launched his
new collection - illume, inspired
by the magical illumination
caused by the onset of the night.
The eponymous label by the self-
taught designer aspires to create
classy designs which are elegant
and youthful with a touch of tra-
ditional Indian design sensibility
across menswear and womens-
wear. The cocktail collection re-
visits the gran-
deur of glamour
and melodramatic
celebrations, craft-
ed in flowy silhou-
ettes and elevated
withthedesigner’s
signature sequin
embroidery, is an
ode to winter con-
tours. As a contin-
uation of the la-
bel’s work with the finest of artisans,
the focus has been on drama and
glamour with exquisite hand-crafts-
manship over embroidered crystal
glass beads, adding a slight edge
to an otherwise clean monochro-
matic cocktail wear outfit. These
techniques and colours have
been adored and loved by ce-
lebrities like Miss Universe
- Harnaaz Sandhu, Alia Bhatt,
Varun Dhawan, Madhuri Dixit,
Kriti Kharbanda, amongst others.
Delhi experienced cold day conditions with the maximum
temperature settling at 14.8 degrees Celsius, seven notches
below the season’s average on Tuesday.
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN
COLD DAY!
AN UNSUNG FIGHTER!
Mansi Agrawal
U
mabhai Kun-
dapur was an
unsung woman
freedom fighter
who fought for India’s
freedom movement.
For her, India’s inde-
pendence meant more
than dethroning the co-
lonial powers and em-
phasised social reforms
such as education, af-
fordable healthcare
and women empower-
ment. Amidst main-
taining a low profile,
she made an invaluable
contribution to the
freedom movement and
was instrumental in
laying the foundation
for one of the largest
voluntary organisa-
tions in the country.
She selflessly served
the country and re-
fused any honours or
awards that came her
way. Her initial step
against the British was
to give up the foreign
goods and mobilise
women through a door
to door campaign.
Amidst the tragedies
she faced along with
her life, she ended up
acquiring a strong re-
solve to uplift society
and worked harder for
her rights and free-
dom. She also went
through imprison-
ment in Pune’s Ye-
rvada Jail during
the Dandi March.
Unafraid of the Brit-
ish, she even took the
risk that one could
only think of by the
courage she had gath-
ered for opening her
home to the freedom
fighters who sought
refuge and a place to
hide. However, Umbai’s
bravery did not go un-
noticed. In 1946, Gan-
dhi appointed her as the
head of Kasturba Trust.
Under the Trust, she
trained several women
including young wid-
ows and destitute in
arts and crafts to
make them self-suffi-
cient. Umabai, who
was defiant, a revolu-
tionary
, and a champion
for disempowered wom-
en, was hailed by Gan-
dhi, admired by the free-
dom fighters, and will
always be celebrated by
every generation for her
extraordinary con-
tribution.
Grandeur of Glamour
THE ERA OF FEMALE
ENTREPRENEURS!
odern Myth is
a handcrafted,
vegan leather
and fashiona-
ble bags brand
made in India. Her
brand has received im-
mense appreciation
from millennials for its
design aesthetics and
quality. Recently Oshi-
na was seen raising
funding with Saurabh
on the popular Business
reality show ‘Shark
Tank’.
What inspired you
to develop your
idea?
Having worked in an
export house(home de-
cor) for over a year, I
was pretty confident
about my design aes-
thetics. That is when I
decided to start my lit-
tle venture and hop on
this beautiful entre-
preneurial journey
with my partner, Sau-
rabh.
Would you like to
share a business tip
for upcoming entre-
preneurs?
The best tip I would
want to give upcom-
ing women entrepre-
neurs is to never un-
dervalue yourself or
your work. Start sav-
ing, once you have the
funds and the zeal to
start, nothing can
stop you from achiev-
ing your dream.
Do you think rais-
ing funding as a
women entrepre-
neur is a challenge?
As of now, I wouldn’t
call myself an expert in
raising funds since
shark tank was our first
experience in front of
any investor. However, I
would say that being a
woman entrepreneur is
a huge challenge in it-
self.
How was your expe-
rience at the shark
tank and one takea-
way that you would
want to share?
Loved and adored four
sharks out of 5 and
their feedback is what
we’re trying to imple-
ment at Modern Myth.
The fact that we got to
present ourselves in
front of the entire na-
tion, is a matter of
pride in itself.
What is your take
on the term ‘Rela-
tionship Risk’?
Being business part-
ners we know how we
have to draw a line be-
tween our professional
and personal lives. Eve-
ry partnership has a
risk, and can part ways
but if you align well
with your partner, eve-
rything else becomes
irrelevant. Saurabh
and I, have a vision for
Modern Myth, and we
shall achieve it one day,
TOGETHER.
NITIKA PANJWANI
cityfirstdel@gmail.com
Indian businesses are getting a much-needed non-androgenic perspective.Women are coming up to
celebrate entrepreneurial ideas. Despite these successes, women continue to face more challenges than
men. First India talked to Oshina Hans, Founder of Modern Myth about her journey as a businesswoman.
M
Oshina and Saurabh with Rannvijay Singha
Umabhai Kundapur
EXTENSIVE EXPOSURE
W
adhwani Foundation and the National Entrepreneurship Network
announcedthelaunchof theWadhwaniTakeoff ProgramonMonday
.
The Wadhwani TakeOff program will give shortlisted participants
extensive exposure to the famed entrepreneurial ecosystem of
theValleythroughnetworkingexposurewithentrepreneurs,
mentorship by business leaders and entrepreneurs, and
agoldenopportunitytopitchideastoinvestors.Speaking
on the Wadhwani TakeOff launch, Sanjay Shah, Chief
Operating Officer, said, “The Indian startup ecosystem
skyrocketedin2021with78unicornsand8IPOstobecome
the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world.” Wad-
hwani Takeoff seeks to encourage and excite students al-
ready enrolled in the NEN entrepreneurship course.
—CITY FIRST
EMPOWERED!
Seven year old Abdija Singh, a resident of
Dwarka, New Delhi studies in class 2. She
is an extraordinary child with an astonishing
ability to grasp and at the age of 2 she
learnt to recite complex Sanskrit Shlokas
with utmost ease. She has now made her
mark at public speaking, winning various
events and competitions at school, state and
global levels. She is an avid reader, enjoys
dancing, a passionate singer and is able to
play the keyboard very well. Her Grandfather
being a veteran IAF officer, she has been
provided with best of opportunities and an
environment conducive for her progress. Her
proud parents Capt Vishal and Neha, family
and school have all contributed towards
her assiduous upbringing, providing her a
safe stimulating environment, that promotes
natural growth and development. Her
YouTube videos garner a lot of likes too.
Abdija Singh
Sawan Gandhi
12
CITY BUZZ
Sanjay Shah

26012022 first india new delhi min

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