26042022_First India_Ahmedabad.pdf

CM Patel reviews progress of railway projects in Gujarat
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: A high-
level meeting led by
Union Minister of
State for Railways Dar-
shana Jardosh was
held on railway pro-
jects of the state in
Gandhinagar on Mon-
day, under the chair-
manship of Chief Min-
ister Bhupendra Patel.
Jardosh called for
smooth coordination
between state and cen-
tral governments on
various railway-related
projects of Gujarat.
Speaking at the meet,
the union minister stat-
ed, “While Gujarat is at
the forefront in imple-
mentation of PM Gati
Shakti-National Master
Plan, it needs speedy
resolution of big and
small issues such as the
Dedicated Freight Cor-
ridor (DFC) High Speed
Rail project, gauge con-
version of several rail-
way lines in the state as
well as railway over-
bridges and electrifica-
tion through mutual
coordination.”
Considering Gujarat
receives the benefit of
both Centre and state
governments, impor-
tant Railways projects
should be completed in
a timely manner, she
added. Jardosh also re-
quested a review meet-
ing to be conducted
every month between
concerned officials of
the Union Railways
Ministry and senior of-
ficials of the state gov-
ernment departments.
Lauding the state for
acquisition of land for
the bullet train project,
Union Minister Jar-
dosh remarked, “Over
98.7% of land acquisi-
tion in Gujarat for the
Ahmedabad-Mumbai
High Speed Rail project
has been completed. It
has been done with the
active cooperation of
Gujarat revenue de-
partment and I want to
thank CM Bhupendra
Patel for that.”
She also extended an
invitation to Patel to
conduct a site visit of
the project when he
travels to Surat,
Bharuch and Navsari,
to review its progress.
A MoU was signed between i-Create and CSIR in presence of CM Bhupendra Patel on Monday.
Union MoS for Railways
Darshana Jardosh lauds work
done by state govt for A’bad-
Mumbai High Speed Rail project
TAKING STOCK
Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani was granted bail in Kokrajhar, but was re-arrested on Monday by Barpeta police in another case.
ARRESTED, BAILED, ARRESTED!
With bail in hand, MLA Jignesh Mevani re-arrested in Assam, this time for ‘detering public
servant from discharge of duty and criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty’
Guwahati: Even as the
Chief Judicial Magis-
trate court in the Kokra-
jhar district Monday
granted bail to Jignesh
Mevani, arrested last
weekinconnectionwith
an allegedly defamatory
tweet against Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, the Assam Police
rearrested the Gujarat
MLA in a fresh case reg-
istered in the neigh-
bouring district of Bar-
peta.
“The Barpeta police
rearrested him following
the bail order,” said Ang-
shuman Bora, Mevani’s
counsel, adding that the
sections he was booked
under (294, 354, 353 and
323 of the Indian Penal
Code) suggested that Me-
vani had “misbehaved/
assaulted”policeofficials
while in custody
.
Among others, these
sections are related to
“assault or use of crimi-
nal force to deter public
servant from discharge
of his duty” (Section
353) and “assault or
criminalforcetowoman
with intent to outrage
her modesty” (Section
354).
Mevani allegedly
“misbehaved, used
slangwordsandtouched
her (the woman police
officer) inappropriately
,
Assam Special DGP
(Law and Order) GP
Singh said. Mevani has
been booked under IPC
Sections 294 (obscene
acts and songs in public
place), 354 (assault or
criminal force to woman
with intent to outrage
her modesty), 353 (as-
saultorcriminalforceto
deter public servant
from discharge of his
duty), and 323 (voluntar-
ily causing hurt).
More on P2
Mevani
“misbehaved,
used slang
words and touched her
(the woman police
officer)
inappropriately.
—GP Singh, Assam Special
DGP (Law and Order)
AHMEDABAD l TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 150
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Benchmark indices tumbled for the second day in a row on Monday,
with the sensex tanking 617.26 points. The BSE index dived 1.08 per
cent to end at 56,579.89 after plummeting 840.28 points or 1.46 per
cent during the day. P7
SENSEX SLUMPS
617 POINTS;
NIFTY FALLS
BELOW 17,000
One importer was arrested and 205.6kg of heroin worth `1,439 crore
seized under a joint operation conducted by Gujarat anti-terrorism
squad and DRI. The consignment, which had been imported by a
Uttarakhand-based firm, is being examined by DRI. P3
HEROIN WORTH
`1,439 CR SEIZED
NEAR KANDLA
PORT IN GUJARAT
MATOSHREE-HANUMAN CHALISA ROW
Bombay HC dismisses Rana
couple’s plea to quash FIR
Mumbai: The Bombay
high court on Monday
dismissed a petition
filed by Maharashtra
MP Navneet Rana and
her MLA husband Ravi
Rana seeking cancella-
tion of an FIR regis-
tered against them in
connection with the
call for chanting of the
Hanuman Chalisa out-
side chief minister Ud-
dhav Thackeray’s resi-
dence.
A bench of Justices
PB Varale and SM
Modak said it found no
merit in the plea.
The high court, how-
ever, directed the Maha-
rashtra Police to pro-
vide a notice of 72 hours
to the Rana couple be-
fore arresting them.
Meanwhile, the cou-
ple moved the sessions
court on Monday seek-
ing bail in the FIR reg-
istered by the Mumbai
Police against them on
charges of sedition and
promoting enmity. The
bail plea is likely to be
heard on Tuesday
.
Earlier in the day, the
couple had moved the
high court to quash a
second FIR registered
against them on Sun-
day under IPC Section
353 (assault or criminal
force to deter public
servant from discharge
of his duty) at Khar po-
lice station in Mumbai.
COURT GRANTS
BAIL TO 16
SENA WORKERS
Mumbai: Sixteen Shiv
Sena workers, who
were arrested by Khar
Police on Sunday for
allegedly creating a
ruckus outside the res-
idence of Amravati MP
Navneet Rana and her
husband Ravi Rana,
an MLA, were granted
bail by a Mumbai Court
on Monday following
which the Sena were
released.
MP Navneet Rana at Santacruz Station, after she along with her husband Ravi Rana arrested.
NCP LEADER SEEKS SHAH'S NOD TO CHANT
RELIGIOUS PRAYERS NEAR PM'S RESIDENCE
Mumbai: Amid the ongoing Hanuman Chalisa row in
Maharashtra, NCP Mumbai north district working president
Fahmida Hasan Khan has written to Union home minister
Amit Shah requesting permission for chanting prayers of
every religion in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok
Kalyan Marg residence in the national capital. I, Fahmida
Hasan Khan of Kandivali, Mumbai, Maharashtra, request you
to grant permission to offer Namaz, recite Hanuman Chalisa,
Navkar Mantra, Guru Granth and Novena in front of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's residence. Kindly let me know the
date and time, Khan's letter, dated April 23, stated.
COUPLE MOVES SESSIONS COURT FOR BAIL
SC TO HEAR
PILS RELATED
TO ARTICLE
370 IN JULY
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Monday said it will
list petitions for a
hearing challenging
the abrogation of Ar-
ticle 370 and the bi-
furcation of JK in
the month of July
. A
bench headed by CJI
NV Ramana said it
will try to list a
bunch of petitions
challenging the va-
lidity of the law in
the month of July
.
Senior advocates
P Chidambaram and
Shekhar Naphade
mentioned the peti-
tions before the
court for hearing.
After poll debacles,
Cong to form group
for 2024 election
New Delhi: The Con-
gress on Monday decid-
ed to constitute an Em-
powered Action Group
to prepare for the 2024
Lok Sabha polls. The
development follows a
report submitted by an
eight-member commit-
tee on April 21.
According to sources,
the group will be a win-
dow for political strate-
gist Prashant Kishor,
known as PK in politi-
cal circles, to work for
the party till 2024 elec-
tions but there is no of-
ficial word on it.
“Congress president
Sonia Gandhi received a
report from the eight
member group on April
21. Today she discussed
the report with the
group. Based on the dis-
cussions, the Congress
president has decided to
constitute an Empow-
ered Action Group for
2024 in order to address
the political challenges
ahead,” the party said.
Randeep Singh Sur-
jewala said that he did
not want to comment on
the members till the
Congress president has
constituted the panel.
Party to hold Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir from
May 13 to 15 in Udaipur; no decision on PK yet
CBSE MEANS
CENTRAL BOARD
OF SUPPRESSING
EDUCATION: RAGA
New Delhi: Days after
the CBSE removed
several chapters from
syllabus of Classes X and
XII, former Congress
chief Rahul Gandhi on
Monday called national
level board of education
‘Central Board of
Suppressing Education’.
He further targeted RSS
over and termed it
‘Rashtriya Shiksha
Shredder’.
Anurag, other BJP
leaders meet to plan
Modi govt’s 3rd
anniv
New Delhi: A team of
senior BJP leaders, in-
cluding Union minister
Anurag Thakur, met on
Monday as the party
plans a big outreach to
mark the third anniver-
saryof theModigovern-
ment in its second term
after the COVID-19 in
2020 ruled out any major
public event during the
first two anniversaries.
Membersof acommit-
tee formed by the BJP to
decide the modalities of
the programme dis-
cussed various sugges-
tionsatameetingheldat
the party headquarters.
Union minister Thakur,
BJP general secretaries
ArunSingh,CTRaviand
D Purandareswari and
chief spokesperson Anil
Baluni, among others,
are part of the panel.
JP NADDA CHAIRS
IMPORTANT PARTY
MEETING
An important meeting was
chaired by BJP national
president JP Nadda on
Monday at his residence
wherein organisational
secretaries took part. Notably,
during the meet, the tentative
dates of working committee's
meeting was also discussed
and word is that the meet
could be held on 14th and
15th May. Interestingly, the
Congress's 'Chintan Shivir'
would also be held in Udaipur
in Rajasthan at the same time.

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Panaji/Bengaluru
(PTI): The Goa Con-
gress on Monday con-
demned the arrest of
Gujarat Independent
MLA from Vadgam
Jignesh Mevani, by stat-
ing that the treatment
being meted out to him
showed the country was
under “undeclared
Emergency”. Former
Karnataka Chief Minis-
ter Siddaramaiah also
spoke out against the
arrest in a series of
tweets.
Goa Congress lead-
ers, including state unit
chief Amit Palekar,
Leader of Opposition
Michael Lobo and Con-
gress Working Commit-
tee member Digambar
Kamat, met at Porvorim
to discuss the issue.
Addressing reporters
after the meeting, Pale-
kar said, “The arrest
sets a wrong precedent.
There is no freedom of
speech in the country.
The incident shows
there is undeclared
Emergency in the coun-
try
.”
Lobo said Mevani
was arrested on “flimsy
grounds” and such de-
tentions could happen
in Goa as well under
this government.
In a set of tweets, the
senior Congress leader
flayed the BJP for si-
lencing the dissent
through immoral
means.
“I condemn @BJP4In-
dia govt’s act to snatch
away freedom of speech
by arresting Gujarat
MLA Dalit leader @
jigneshmevani80. Si-
lencing the dissent
critics through immor-
al means is an autocrat-
ic approach,” tweeted
Siddaramaiah.
He called upon “all
true Indians” who re-
spect Constitution of
India to stand with Me-
vani.
Siddaramaiah said,
“many more Jignesh
Mevanis will emerge to
fight against the fascist
BJP government.”
Mevani was rearrest-
ed by Assam police on
Monday for allegedly as-
saulting a female police
officer after a court in
Kokrajhar in the north-
eastern state granted
him bail in a case relat-
ed to a tweet by him
against Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
The Gujarat legisla-
tor was arrested on
April 19 from Palanpur
town in Gujarat after an
FIR was registered
against him in Kokra-
jhar.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Members
of the city Congress
unit held a silent pro-
test outside the Col-
lectorate on Monday.
With chants of ‘Lok-
shahi Bachao Sam-
vidhan Bachao’ (Save
Democracy, Save the
Constitution), they
raised their voice
against inflation and
other issues under
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) rule. Lo-
cal leaders also con-
demned the arrest of
Vadgam MLA
Jignesh Mevani by
Assam police.
Addressing media
persons, Vadodara
Congress President
Rutvij Joshi said, “It
is a crime to raise
voice against infla-
tion and other issues
prevalent under the
BJP regime. As for
Mevani’s arrest, it is
an attack on the Con-
stitution of India”.
Armed with plac-
ards and posters,
Congress leaders
tried to present their
demands before the
district administra-
tion. “The people are
suffering due to in-
flation, unemploy-
ment. Crime rate is
gradually increasing
and when a MLA
(Mevani) raises his
voice to address
these grievances, the
government wants to
shut him down. It is
an attack on our Con-
stitution and democ-
racy and reminds us
of British rule,” said
Joshi.
He was joined by
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation (VMC)
Ami Ravat, senior
leader Chandrakant
Srivastava and oth-
ers, at the demon-
stration.
VADODARA CONGRESS HOLDS PROTEST
AGAINST INFLATION, MEVANI’S ARREST
First India Bureau
Rajkot: With Gujarat
Congress leaders wa-
vering in their loyalty
to the party owing to
anger against state
and/or national leader-
ship for their decisions,
the party has gone into
damage control mode.
Congress party leader-
ship is apprehensive
that many more lead-
ers, incumbent MLAs
as well as workers will
quit the party either to
join the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) or the
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP).
On Monday, Gujarat
In-charge Dr Raghu
Sharma and former
Paresh Dhanani met
with Rajkot city and
district leaders to ad-
dress their grievances.
“They tried to pacify
them and listened to
their concerns. Both
leaders assured them
that they will be taken
care of, and that no one
will be sidelined but get
an equal role to play in
theparty
,”saidasource.
Addressing media
persons after the meet-
ing, Sharma said, “If
any party worker or
leader has any issue or
differences, they will be
addressed. Patidar lead-
er Hardik Patel’s con-
cerns will also be taken
care of. I am confident
that the party will fare
much better in upcom-
ing polls, than the 2017
state Assembly elec-
tions.”
Terming the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) and
All India Majlis-e-Itte-
hadul Muslimeen
(AIMIM) as the B-teams
of the BJP, Sharma fur-
ther stated, “They erupt
on the eve of elections
and vanish after they
culminate. Their pres-
ence in the election is
purely to damage Con-
gress’ prospects. People
will never take them
seriously
.”
Meanwhile, sources
from the party have in-
dicated that if incum-
bent Working President
Hardik Patel quits Con-
gress, he will not be do-
ing so alone. “At least 10
MLAs will quit if he
goes. The names that
are making the rounds
are Lalit Kagathra
(Tankara), Lalit Vasoya
(Dhoraji), Kirit Patel,
(Patan) Ashwin Kotwal
(Khedbrahma), Pratap
Dudhat (Savarkundla),
Amrish Der (Rajula),
Santokben Arathiya
(Rapar), and others,”
added the sources.
Der and Dudhat feel
that if they continue in
Congress, there will be
no growth in their po-
litical careers, because
of leaders such as
Paresh Dhanani and
Virji Thummar.
Lalit Kagathra, Lalit
Vasoya, and Kirit Patel
have a strong bond
with Hardik Patel.
They will quit Con-
gress to showcase their
affection and loyalty to
the Patidar leader, add-
ed a source.
The big question that
arises is whether Con-
gress can sustain any
damage if Hardik and
his ‘team’ choose to
leave the party. As per
senior leaders, the
Patidar Anamat An-
dolan Samiti (PAAS)
helped them win elec-
tions, which has long
since faded. They be-
lieve that now these
leaders have to win on
their own and Hardik’s
reputations, influence
and political clout, said
sources.
CONG IN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE AS LEADERS WAVER
ATTEMPT TO PACIFY
lll
Guj
Incharge Dr
Raghu
Sharma, ex-
LoP Paresh
Dhanani
met with
Rajkot city
district
leaders to
address
concerns
Youth Cong organized a ‘Yuva Swabhiman Rally’ in Songadh town of Tapi dist on Monday. Yuva
Morcha National President BV Srinivas, state unit Working President Hardik Patel and other leaders
were in attendance.
Politicos condemn Mevani’s rearrest
The Vadgam MLA’s legal troubles do not seem to have an end in
sight. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) na-
tional leader and Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal will be visit-
ing Gujarat on May 01.
Though his detailed
itinerary has not been
disclosed, he is most
likely to attend a public
rally in Surat district,
wherehemayannounce
AAP’s alliance with the
Bharatiya Tribal Party
(BTP).
Last month, BTP
leaders Chhotu Vasava
and his son Mahesh
Vasava had a closed-
door meeting with Ke-
jriwal in Delhi. A week
ago, while speaking to
media persons, Mahesh
had hinted of an alli-
ance with the AAP. “A
massive tribal rally will
soon be organized in
Surat district and it will
be jointly addressed by
me and Arvind Kejri-
wal,” he had said.
If the AAP-BTP alli-
ance works out, it will
be interesting to see
how seats are shared
between the two parties
in the Assembly polls.
There is a possibility
that BTP will demand a
minimum of 27 to 35
seats, and will contest
from the entire tribal
belt from Danta to
Dang, said a source,
adding, “They may even
ask for a few non-reser-
vationseatsinBharuch,
Narmada, Chhota
Udepur and Panchma-
hal districts.”
According to political
experts, the alliance
can be a strategy to dent
Congress’ vote bank in
the election. With the
lead opposition party
holding sway over the
tribal belt for many
years, it could be affect-
ed by the AAP-BTP alli-
ance. “The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is
targeting each set of
vote banks. It began
with urban voters and
then went on to the
Patidar community.
Then, it shifted focus to
the Scheduled Castes
(SC) and Other Back-
ward Classes (OBC). If
it can manage to cover
the vote bank of Sched-
uled Tribes (ST), Con-
gress may be looking at
a major washout in
polls,” concluded an ex-
pert.
Vadodara city leaders at the protest.
A similar demonstration was held by Bhim Sena outside A’bad Collectorate. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Goa Cong leaders, former Karnataka
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah call
out BJP government for move
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Three
people were arrested by
Gandhinagar police for
allegedly processing
Aadhaar cards using
forged documents.
Dhrupenkumar Pa-
tel, Viren Rathod, and
Jagdish Bavri were ar-
rested under various
sections of the Indian
Penal Code for forgery
of government records,
forgery for the purpose
of cheating, dishonest-
ly using genuine docu-
ments for cheating, and
counterfeiting a mark
used by a public serv-
ant, according to a com-
plaint filed by the depu-
ty mamlatdar.
During an internal
investigation, police
discovered that several
Aadhaar cards were
missing their seals and
signatures.
In a complaint filed
on Sunday night, Depu-
ty Mamlatdar Prashan-
tsinh Parmar alleged
that on April 19, while
visiting the Collector-
ate office, he discovered
certain letterheads
with fake seals and sig-
natures. He filed a com-
plaint against the three
accused after investi-
gating the situation.
Viren and Jagdish
had been hired as oper-
ators by Dhrupen Patel,
a government contrac-
tor. New cards are is-
sued or updates to exist-
ing cards are done from
this centre.
AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal. —FILE PHOTO
He is likely to
address a rally in
Surat, may also
announce
alliance with
BTP
G’nagar police nab 3 for issuing
Aadhaar cards with fake docs
Delhi CM Kejriwal to visit Guj on May 1

GUJARAT
03
First India Bureau
Gurugram (PTI): A
team of state vigilance
bureau nabbed a Guja-
rat Police inspector on
charges of taking a Rs2
lakh bribe from a Gur-
ugram resident to
weaken a cheating case
involving the com-
plainant’s nephew, of-
ficials said on Monday.
Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police Sumit
Kumar, state vigilance
bureau (Rohtak Range),
said that Jagdish
Chaudhary (31), SHO at
Rajpipla police station
in Narmada district of
the state, was caught
red-handed while ac-
cepting the money in
Sector 49 on Sunday.
Chaudhary flew
down to the city to ac-
cept the bribe and was
staying in a guest house
in Sector 49, said offi-
cials.
An FIR has been reg-
istered against Chaud-
hary at state vigilance
bureau, Gurugram.
According to the of-
ficials, Chaudhary
, a na-
tive of Banaskantha
district, demanded a
bribe of Rs3 lakh in a
case registered on Feb-
ruary 14 against
Faridabad resident Am-
arinder Puri in Gujarat
under IPC sections of
cheating and sections
of IT Act for allegedly
providing fake degrees
of a Gujarat university
.
Amarinder was arrest-
ed later in the case, they
said.
Amarinder’s uncle
Sandeep Puri, a resi-
dent of DLF phase-1 in
Gurugram, filed a com-
plaint with the state
vigilance bureau,
Rohtak, alleging that
inspector Chaudhary
assured him that he
will weaken the case
and also not file any
s u p p l e m e n t a r y
chargesheet against
Amarinder if he gives
Rs3 lakh as bribe.
“I already handed
over Rs1 lakh to Inspec-
tor Jagdish on April 12
at Rajpipla in Gujarat.
To collect the remain-
ing Rs2 lakh, he came
to Delhi by air on Sun-
day, from where he
reached Gurugram,”
said Sandeep, in his
complaint.
After receiving the
complaint, a team of
vigilance bureau,
Rohtak, led by DSP Ku-
mar, along with duty
magistrate Akhtar
Hussain, laid a trap.
The Gujarat SHO
called the complainant
with Rs2 lakh to a guest
house in Sector 49 and
we caught him red-
handed while accept-
ing a bribe. The cash
was recovered from his
possession by the duty
magistrate. We will
produce him in a city
court soon, said DSP
Kumar.
Gujarat Police inspector nabbed for taking bribe to weaken case
RED-HANDED
lll
Jagdish
Chaudhary of
Rajpipla
police station
was caught
by vigilance
bureau after a
complaint
was lodged
against him
Rajkot police arrest 4
for attack on lawyer, fam
Chaos at AMC gen board
meeting over corruption
HEROIN WORTH `1.4K CR SEIZED NEAR
KANDLA PORT, IMPORTER APPREHENDED
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Four people
armed with sticks, rods,
and knives allegedly
broke into a public
prosecutor’s residence
on Sunday night and at-
tacked him and his fam-
ily over petty parking
concerns. They were
arrested by city police
for their alleged in-
volvement in the crime
on Monday
.
Ripen Gokani and his
family were at home
around 11 pm when the
complainant’s neigh-
bour and two to three
other people armed
with sticks, iron rods,
and knives started ver-
bally abusing them.
They then attached the
family with the weap-
ons, according to the
complaint lodged with
police.
As the family began
shouting for help, other
neighbours came to
their aid, and the ac-
cused escaped from the
scene, according to po-
lice officials.
According to the
complainant, the issue
started with parking
when his vehicle was
hit by the neighbour’s
son-in-law. When he
asked him to be careful
while parking his vehi-
cle, the complainant
was met with abuses
from the perpetrator.
Jasmin Madhak and
four other people have
been detained, and they
will appear in court on
Tuesday. According to
police, the accused and
his friends were each
carrying a single coun-
try-made pistol. Inci-
dentally, Jasmin Mad-
hak’s wife works for the
Rajkot police depart-
ment as an assistant
sub-inspector.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The gen-
eral board meeting
of the Ahmedabad
Municipal Corpora-
tion (AMC) witnessed
a ruckus on Monday
over allegations of
corruption against
the Leader of Opposi-
tion Shehzadkhan
Pathan.
As soon as the gener-
al board was in motion,
Bhaskar Bhatt, a coun-
cillor of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), said that the op-
position leader was al-
legedly profiting from
the Economically
Weaker Section (EWS)
housing scheme.
Pathan quickly refut-
ed the charges, claiming
that since the BJP took
controlof themunicipal
corporation, corruption
has been the norm, and
that no job is approved
or paid without bribing
office-bearers and other
officials.
A war of words erupt-
ed between the two lead-
ers, with Bhatt levelling
new claims, stating that
as a builder, he is aware
that he is profiting from
the plan. Pathan rebut-
ted the charge, saying
that he, too, is a builder
and is aware of how
BJP politicians alleg-
edly profit from con-
struction work.
Then, in protest, Con-
gress and BJP council-
lors rushed to the may-
or’s chair.
A female Congress
councillor claimed that
BJP female councillors
physically assaulted
her.
All resolutions and
work proposals were
passed by the ruling
party, and the general
board meeting was ad-
journed in a matter of
minutes.
Issue began with
parking tussle
between the
victim and the
perpetrator
FORENSIC EXPERTS RECOVERED CONTRABAND FROM A CONTAINER IMPORTED BY AN UTTARAKHAND-BASED FIRM
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Di-
rectorate of Revenue
Intelligence (DRI) has
seized 205.6 kg heroin
worth Rs1,439 crore
from a container near
Kandla Port and arrest-
ed an importer from
Punjab in this connec-
tion following an exten-
sive search operation,
said the DRI on Monday
.
According to a senior
police official, the con-
traband was recovered
from one of the 17 con-
tainers which had ar-
rived at the Kandla Port
from Iran between Sep-
tember and October last
year.
Earlier on April 21,
the Gujarat Anti-Ter-
rorist Squad (ATS) had
announcedthattheDRI,
in a joint operation with
the ATS, seized over 200
kg of heroin worth
Rs1,300 crore after con-
ducting a raid at a con-
tainer station near
Kandla port in Kutch
district of the state.
On Monday, the DRI
in a release said, “Based
on intelligence devel-
oped jointly with offic-
ers of the Gujarat ATS,
officers of the Directo-
rate of Revenue Intelli-
gence are currently ex-
aminingaconsignment,
imported by an Uttara-
khand-based firm at
Kandla port.”
The consignment ar-
rived at the Kandla port
from the Bandar Abbas
Port of Iran. It was im-
ported in 17 containers,
had 10,318 bags, and a
gross weight of 394 met-
ric tonnes. It was de-
clared as “gypsum pow-
der”, said the release.
“The importer was
not found at the regis-
tered address in Uttara-
khand. Accordingly, a
manhunt was launched
across the country to
nab the importer,” add-
ed the agency
, which has
not revealed the import-
er’s identity
.
The DRI conducted
searches at various
places across India to
locate the importer, who
was changing locations
and hiding to evade
identification.
He was eventually ar-
rested from a small vil-
lage in Punjab under
provisions of the Nar-
cotic Drugs and Psycho-
tropic Substances
(NDPS) Act. The im-
porter had tried to re-
sist and flee, but he was
nabbed by the DRI offic-
ers.
The DRI acquired his
transit remand from a
special court in Amrit-
sar on Sunday. He will
be produced before a ju-
risdictional court in
Bhuj town of Kutch on
Monday
.
Commenting on the
development, Gujarat
Director General of Po-
lice Ashish Bhatia said,
“Though the containers
were searched back
then also, nothing sus-
picious was found by
the authorities. Later,
based on a specific in-
put by the ATS that one
container carried the
contraband, the DRI,
with the help of foren-
sic experts, recovered
205.6 kg of heroin from
that container.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Indian Coast Guard
(ICG) and the Guja-
rat Anti-Terrorist
Squad (ATS) have ap-
prehended a Paki-
stani boat with nine
crew members on
board in the Arabian
Sea near the state
coast and seized her-
oin worth Rs280
crore from the vessel,
a defence spokesper-
son said on Monday
.
Coast Guard ships
intercepted and ap-
prehended the Paki-
stani boat ‘Al Haj’
when it ventured
into the Indian wa-
ters, added the
spokesperson in a
statement.
Officials found
heroin worth Rs280
crore on the boat, the
statement said, add-
ing that the boat as
well as its crew mem-
bers were brought to
Jakhau port in the
Kutch district for fur-
ther investigation.
Pak boat detained, heroin
worth `280 cr impounded
Six of the nine people apprehended by officials.
NABBED
Neighbours gathered after the attack.
All banners were confiscated by security personnel.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Guja-
rat reported 12 new
COVID-19 cases in
the 24 hours ended 5
pm on Monday, to
take the total case
tally to 12,24,248
since the pandemic
first hit the state. The
death toll remained
at 10,943, as no casu-
alty was reported,
said a state health
department official.
So far, 12,13,221
people have been dis-
charged post recov-
ery, including 17 dur-
ing the day, leaving
the state with an ac-
tive caseload of 93.
None of these pa-
tients are in a critical
condition, he added.
Of the day’s new
additions, A’bad wit-
nessed 09 cases, fol-
lowed by Vadodara
with two, and Banas-
kantha with one.
I n t e r e s t i n g l y,
Ahmedabad also
saw 08 patients be-
ing discharged
through the day. A
government release
said 85,733 people
were vaccinated
against COVID-19 on
Monday, taking the
total number of dos-
es administered so
far to more than
10.72 crore.
Gujarat sees 12 cases,
no death; 17 recoveries
keep active tally at 93
COVID-19 testing in A’bad. —FILE PHOTO
Seizure operation was carried out in collab with the Indian Coast Guard.
—FILE
PHOTO

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 3 l Issue No. 150
l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf
of First Express Publishers.
Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet
Survey No.148P, Changodar-
Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302
3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium
Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej
Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
We are kept from our goal
not by obstacles, but by a
clear path to a lesser goal.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
To provide quality medicines at
affordable rates, the Pradhan Mantri
Jan Aushadhi Kendra started by
Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @
narendramodi has proved to be a boon
for the poor and middle-class today.
By purchasing medicines from these
centers, this section has saved more
than `13,000 crore.
Dr Jitendra Singh
@DrJitendraSingh
Some of these agencies have track
record of selective condemnation
of human rights violation. Biggest
violation of human rights is terrorism.
In 2014, when PM @narendramodi
spent Diwali with flood victims in
Kashmir, he never asked how many of
them belonged to which religion.
TOP TWEETS
MAHARASHTRA
POLITICS OVER
LOUDSPEAKERS
TURNS DEAFENING
uss over the reading
of Hanuman Chalisa
outside mosques and
use of loudspeakers
to offer namaz is get-
ting a bit too far. Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena led by Raj
Thackeray has woken up to lead
the charge against loudspeakers
in mosques. He is the same Raj
Thackeray who at one point of
time was busy chasing out auto
drivers from UP to keep Maha-
rashtra safe for Marathis. Hav-
ing lost his hold on Shiv Sena he
now wants to make a political
comeback by raising the loud-
speaker issue. He has found a
strong ally in the BJP.
Instead of locking horns over
loudspeaker politics and arrest-
ing a BJP MP and MLA couple,
Uddhav Thackeray could advise
Raj Thackeray and former CM
Devendra Fadnavis to learn
from Uttar Pradesh where loud-
speakers are allowed in temples
and mosques but with lower vol-
umes. Anybody reciting Hanu-
man Chalisa outside a mosque
is as likely to be arrested as
those in mosques who raise dec-
ibels of loudspeakers.
F
rance was saved
from a tectonic
shift when voters
chose Emmanuel
Macron for a sec-
ond term as President simply
to prevent the Putin support-
er and far-right leader Marie
Le Pen from winning. Ma-
cron, whose popularity had
nosedived over rising prices,
retirement age and his “elit-
ist” behaviour, acknowledged
the role of negative votes in
his victory and promised to
resolve issues. He hardly has
timeforchangeasFrancewill
go to the polls in June to elect
its parliamentarians. Marie
Le Pen, who polled a healthy
41.5 percent of votes, has
vowed to take on Macron in
the June legislative elections.
Such is the disaffection that
approximately 28 percent of
voters did not cast their votes.
His 58.5 per cent vote percent-
age was consequently lower
than the 68 per cent he polled
in his first term.
By blocking Marie Le Pen
voters ensured that a Donald
Trump-like moment was
averted in Paris. She is said
to be anti-NATO and wants to
change the contours of the
European Union. European
Union nations, especially
Germany, heaved a sigh of
relief after Macron was de-
clared the winner. A different
result would have dramati-
cally altered France’s stand
on the Ukraine war.
One major take-away from
the French election results
was the voters’ rejection of
Le Pen only because of her
extremist policies, including
the one on wearing of hijab
in public places and immi-
gration which she promised
to ban. Macron was opposed
to the idea and had told Le
Pen that it will prove to be
disruptive for society. In the
end voters upheld the French
motto of Liberty, Equality
and Fraternity
.
FRANCE REJECTS
FAR-RIGHT, FOR NOW
One major take-away from
the French election results
was the voters’ rejection
of Le Pen only because of
her extreme policies,
including the one on wearing of
hijab in public places and
immigration which she
promised to ban. Macron was
opposed to the idea and had
told Le Pen that it would prove
to be disruptive
F
SEVENTH SENSE
A business mantra for long-term success
In one of the books written
by him, Jobs presented idea
of the soul. Steve Jobs wrote
that “In the 23rd year I made
$ 1 million in the year, in
24th year it became $ 10
million and in 25th year the
amount became one billion.
Despite earning all these
money together, I’ve never
thought of present, I always
took actions after considering
its consequences for five or
ten years, and because of
this decision making, not
only I got the profits but
also the shareholder received
huge profits
t is often said that business
leaderstakeprofessionaldeci-
sions based on “stronghold
gutfeeling”.Thedecisionsare
always taken on the basis of
market conditions, company
policies and inner strengths.
But sometimes the promoters
listen to their Sixth Sense and
take tough decisions about
their businesses. This is also
be called fortress feeling
which can help take tough de-
cisions in tough situations.
The Sixth Sense can also be
referred to as a matter of
mind when the inner gut says
thisisit.Takingdecisionwith
Sixth Sense can help you get
better business results. The
confidence of leader and his
experience comes out to be
very helpful in taking such
decisions. Sixth Sense is very
useful for decision-making in
the most indecisive situation,
but its support relies more on
the leader’s mental strength
and self-confidence.
After sixth sense, now a
new theory is coming into ef-
fect called “Seventh Sense”.
This theory says that there is
a rapid change in external
conditions around the world.
Events occurring are inci-
dental and sudden. Today is
the time when system gets
out of the odds, from all the
heavy losses and suddenly
earn good profits. Prior to the
time, most of the things get
in control but after some
time the situation gradually
changes. In such situations,
“feel your stronghold, keep-
ing in mind the stability of
the outside world and think
ahead of the world, finally
taking strong decisions” is
called Seventh Sense.
The concept of Seventh
Sense is currently been
adopted by many business
leaders. This concept is being
altered in different ways and
adopted in different forms.
Those business leaders who
are able to predict near fu-
ture, majority of their com-
panies have started getting
advantages.
STATING AN EXAMPLE
Steve Jobs, the founder CEO
of world’s most famous Ap-
ple computers, was pleased
that he could think of the
market after 5 or 10 years
later. He came up with the
very first concept of the
world’s technological change
that was about to come some
years later. He also got a well-
estimate about the inconven-
ient situations to come in the
market. Many a times he was
been criticized for calling out
his thoughts in board meet-
ings which sometimes made
him suffer from insults. But
ultimately, the company had
no option other than imple-
menting his thoughts and
principles.
In one of the books written
by him, Jobs presented idea
of the soul. Steve Jobs wrote
that “In the 23rd year I made
$ 1 million in the year, in 24th
year it became $ 10 million
and in 25th year the amount
became one billion. Despite
earning all these money to-
gether, I’ve never thought of
present, I always took actions
after considering its conse-
quences for five or ten years,
and because of this decision
making, not only I got the
profits but also the share-
holder received huge profits.
Giving more detail Steve
Jobs wrote that due to his the
power to see future, he always
worked on the thoughts to
make the future clear. He fur-
ther added “My work has al-
ways been my priority
. The
biggest strength of mine were
my colleagues who worked
very hard and loved working.
I always felt the constant pro-
gress of my fellow employees
and we took Apple to such a
peak that was impossible for
the competitors to face.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
BHAVESH
UPADHYAY
The writer is a Businessman
and HR Expert
There is a rapid change in external conditions all around
the world, sudden and incidental happenings face all of
us every now and then. The theory of Seventh
Sense helps us buck the odds, overcome even
heavy losses and earn good profits
JOBS ADHERED TO HIS
7TH
SENSE ALWAYS...
Steve Jobs took a lot of tough and
uncomfortable decisions in life
based on his Seventh Sense. The
world will always remember his
power and reliability and market
identity. If you are a business leader,
you need to make a habit of taking
decisions from Seventh Sense, then
stay strong in the long run.

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Questions
are being raised about
the timing of the com-
munal riots in the na-
tional Capital. Commu-
nal riots took place just
before the visit of Brit-
ish Prime Minister Bo-
ris Johnson to India. It
can be said that it was a
coincidence because be-
fore that there was Ha-
numan Jayanti and
stone pelting took place
on the procession,
which was followed by
riots and bulldozing of
illegal construction by
the municipal team.
But remember how two
years ago there were ri-
ots in Delhi even during
the visit of the then US
President Donald
Trump. The riots start-
ed in Delhi on 23 Febru-
ary and Trump reached
India the very next day
.
He first went to Gujarat
and after attending the
Namaste Trump pro-
gram there, reached
Delhi the next day
.
At the time when
Trump was in Delhi, a
part of Delhi was in
the grip of riots. This
riot that started over
the citizenship law
continued for many
days even after
Trump’s visit. Ques-
tion of timing of Del-
hi riots is also being
done because Delhi
Municipal Corpora-
tion elections have
been postponed just
prior to the riots. On
the other hand, Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
won in Punjab and in
Delhi elections were
postponed, after
which communal riots
broke out and several
structures were bull-
dozed. So somewhere
it seems to be part of
some experiment.
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Do political
parties have workers or
employees? This ques-
tion is pertinent be-
cause the state presi-
dent of Gujarat BJP has
announced to give
three-day leave to the
party workers. Not to
the employees working
in the party office, but
to the party workers,
which is an astonishing
development and begs
the questions : Does the
party have full time
workers who need
leave? Keep in mind
that the state president
of Gujarat is CR Patil,
whose model of work-
ing is famous all over
the country
. Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
has mentioned this
many times. As a leader,
the way he works for
the people of his area is
amazing.
So when he an-
nounced a holiday for
party workers, ques-
tions were raised on it.
He has asked the party
workers to take leave
from May 2 to 4 as they
have to work non-stop
for the next six months.
Keep in mind that the
assembly elections are
going to be held in Gu-
jarat in December and
perhaps that is why,
Patil has given leave to
the workers before the
preparations begin. If
the workers are em-
ployees then they
should have been giv-
en leave from May 1,
i.e. Labour Day itself,
but that is not ideolog-
ically correct. Howev-
er, it is believed that
this is a psychologi-
cal initiative to put
pressure on the oppo-
sition parties as no
worker is doing party
work every day and
all the time. So there
is no point in giving
him three days off.
Were Delhi riots part of an ‘experiment’? Does BJP have workers or employees?
Perhaps only CR Patil can answer that!
Yadgir (Agencies):
Refusing to take off
their hijab, six stu-
dents in Karnataka’s
Yadgir district re-
turned home without
writing their Class 12
exams on Monday.
The incident took
place at the Govern-
ment Pre-University
College in Yadgir.
The girl students,
who had come to write
their economics exam,
insisted with the au-
thorities to let them
write the paper wearing
hijab. After their re-
quest was turned down,
the students walked out
from the examination
centre, refusing to take
off their hijab.
The crucial Class 12
exams are being con-
ducted peacefully
across the state. The
students, especially
the Muslim girls, are
following the uniform
rules and writing their
papers without wear-
ing hijab.
As many as 68,84,255
students have enrolled
for the board exams,
which began on April
22 amid tight security
in the backdrop of the
hijab row. The special
bench of the Karnataka
High Court had earlier
dismissed the petitions
seeking to allow stu-
dents to attend classes
wearing hijab. It also
mentioned that wear-
ing the hijab is not an
essential part of Islam.
Following the court
order, the Karnataka
government banned the
hijab in classrooms and
announced that hijab-
clad students and teach-
ers will not be allowed
inside the centres.
Aliya Assadi, one of
the petitioners, took to
Twitter to slam the de-
cision to ban the entry
of hijab-clad students.
“What is the crime
here? Where is our
country headed to,” she
had questioned.
6 STUDENTS RETURN WITHOUT
WRITING CLASS 12 EXAMS
Chennai (Agen-
cies): The Tamil
Nadu assembly on
Monday unani-
mously passed a
resolution that em-
powered the MK
Stalin-led govern-
ment to appoint
vice-chancellors to
various universities
in the state, a move
aimed at curbing
the governor’s say
in the matter.
Legislators of the
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) walked
out of the House af-
ter higher education
Minister K Pon-
mudy tabled the Bill
to amend the exist-
ing Tamil Nadu Uni-
versities Laws.
A media report
said the chief minis-
ter, while appealing
to legislators in
House to support the
government’s initia-
tive, said that even
in Gujarat, the
home-state of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, vice-chancel-
lors are not appoint-
ed by the governor
but the state. Same
was the case with
other states includ-
ing Telangana and
Karnataka.
The ruling DMK’s
move will allow the
state government to
appoint VCs to state
universities. The
government said the
bill was tabled based
on recommendations
by the University
Search committee.
The chief minis-
ter said the gover-
nor was the chancel-
lor of 13 universities
in the state, with the
higher education
minister being the
pro-chancellor. The
state government
being not empow-
ered to select the
vice chancellors had
created a “big im-
pact” on higher edu-
cation, he added.
TN Guv’s power clipped;
Bill empowering Govt
to appoint VCs passed
PM doing nothing over
‘targetting’ of Muslims
in parts of India: Mufti
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in State Assembly.
The girl students, who had come to write their economics exam, insisted with the authorities to let
them write the paper wearing hijab. —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi (PTI):
PrimeMinisterModi
on Monday congrat-
ulated French Presi-
dent Emmanuel Ma-
cron on his re-elec-
tion, and said he
looked forward to
continue working
together to deepen
the India-France
strategic partner-
ship. Macron com-
fortably won a sec-
ond term on Sunday
.
“Congratulations
to my friend Emma-
nuel Macron on be-
ing re-elected as the
President of
France! I look for-
ward to continue
working together to
deepen the India-
France Strategic
Partnership,” PM
Modi tweeted.
Rameswaram (PTI):
As many as 15 more Sri
Lankan Tamils includ-
ing 4 babies arrived
here on Monday fleeing
from their crisis- hit na-
tion by boat, officials
said.
The group of Sri Lan-
kan Tamils reached
Arichalmunai point off
Dhanushkodi near here
and they were brought
to the Mandapam camp
by police, they said.
During enquiry by
the police, the five
women and six men
from the island nation
said they reached Ta-
mil Nadu by a boat.
Srinagar (PTI): For-
mer Jammu and Kash-
mir Chief Minister Me-
hbooba Mufti on Mon-
day said Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi is
doing nothing over the
alleged targetting of
Muslims in some parts
of the country
.
She said this while
talking to reporters in
Srinagar, over PM
Modi’s visit to Jammu
and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister
was in Pali village of
Samba in Jammu on
Sunday where he par-
ticipated in the celebra-
tion of the National
Panchayati Raj Day and
addressed ‘Gram Sab-
has’ across the country
.
In his address, the
Prime Minister said
that the youth will not
see the miseries that
their parents and
grandparents have seen
in the past.
Mehbooba Mufti
said India is a secular
country but the largest
minority of the coun-
try “is being bull-
dozed, their houses
and livelihoods are be-
ing bulldozed.”
“Jammu and Kash-
mir despite being a
Muslim majority state
joined a secular coun-
try where people be-
longing to all religions
live together, but that is
not the case now. Mus-
lims are feeling low
now,” she said.
Mumbai (Agencies):
The Mumbai Police on
Monday arrested four
accused, including Shiv
Sena leader and former
city mayor Vishwanath
Mahadeshwar, in con-
nection with the attack
on Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader Kirit
Somaiya, whose car was
pelted with stones on
Saturday at the Khar po-
lice station where he
went to meet arrested
lawmaker couple from
Amravati, MP Navneet
Rana, and her MLA hus-
band Ravi Rana.
The arrests took
place on a day when a
Somaiya-led BJP dele-
gation met officials of
the Union Home Minis-
try, including Minister
of State (home), Nity-
anand Rai, and Home
Secretary Ajay Bhalla,
in connection with the
incident. “Nityanand
Rai assured BJP Delega-
tion to take appropriate
steps to Stop Abuse of
Power Assault,” the
former Mumbai North-
East MP posted on Twit-
ter after the meeting.
Somaiya, had ac-
cused ‘100 Shivsena
Gundas’ of pelting
stones at his car. On
Sunday, Maharashtra
home minister Dilip
Walse Patel confirmed
that stones were indeed
pelted at the BJP lead-
er’s vehicle, adding that
a case had been regis-
tered in the matter.
The attack on So-
maiya as well as the
ongoing Hanuman
Chalisa row involving
the Ranas, are likely to
be yet another flash-
point between the
MVA government and
the Opposition BJP.
New Delhi (PTI): The
Information Broad-
casting (IB) Ministry
has got blocked 16 You-
Tube news channels,
including six from Pa-
kistan, on charges of
spreading false and un-
verified information to
create panic, incite
communal disharmo-
ny and disturb public
order in the country.
The action has been
taken using emergency
powers under the IT
Rules. These channels
had a cumulative view-
ership of over 68 crore.
A Facebook account
has also been blocked.
“It was observed
that these channels
were used to spread
fake news over social
media on matters re-
lated to national secu-
rity, India’s foreign re-
lations, communal
harmony in the coun-
try, and public order.
None of the digital
news publishers had
furnished information
to the Ministry as re-
quired under Rule 18
of the IT Rules, 2021,”
the Ministry said.
As alleged, the con-
tent published by
some of the India-
based YouTube chan-
nels referred to a com-
munity as terrorists,
and incited hatred
among the members
of various religious
communities.
“Such content was
found to have the po-
tential to create com-
munal disharmony,
and disturb public or-
der,” it stated.
Shimla (PTI): Terming
theUniformCivilCodea
“good step”, Himachal
Pradesh Chief Minister
Jairam Thakur on Mon-
day said the state gov-
ernment is examining
the concept and is open
to implementing it.
Healsocommentedon
the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) emerging as the
third political player in
the state where the as-
sembly polls are sched-
uled later this year.
“Himachal Pradesh
is a peaceful state.
AAP’s style of politics
will not work there.
The state will not ac-
cept any third alterna-
tive,” he said.
Asked to comment on
BJP-ruled Uttara-
khand’s willingness to
implement the Uniform
Civil Code (UCC),
Thakur said, “UCC is a
good step. It is being ex-
amined in the state. We
are open to implement it
in Himachal Pradesh.”
Kolkata (Agencies):
Trinamool Congress
strongman Anubrata
Mondal has set some
conditions to appear
for questioning by the
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation (CBI) in
connection with the
twin cases of cattle
and coal smuggling
and post-poll violence
in West bengal.
At5.30p.m.onMon-
day
, a letter from Mon-
dal reached the offices
of the Anti-Corrup-
tion Branch (ACB)
and the Special Crime
Branch (SCB) of CBI,
wherein Mondal, the
Trinamool district
president for Birb-
hum, gave two condi-
tions relating to the
time and place of his
appearanceforcentral
agency interrogation.
In the letter, Mon-
dal said that he will
be able to appear be-
fore the CBI sleuths
only after May 21. As
regards the place of
integration, Mondal
insisted that it would
be decided only after
mutual discussions.
Modi’s message
to Macron on poll
win:‘Look forward
to deepen ties’
15 more Lankan
refugees reach
Rameswaram
IB Ministry blocks 16 more
YouTube news channels
Jairam bats for UCC,
terms it a ‘good step’
TMC leader puts condition
to meet CBI investigators
BENGAL POST-POLL VIOLENCE
EX-MUMBAI MAYOR MAHADESHWAR, 3
OTHERS HELD FOR ATTACK ON SOMAIYA
Again and
again we face
disappoint-
ment! BJP MLA
Raghupathy Bhat had
threatened us with
criminal cases against
us if we go to attend
exams tomorrow.
—Aliya Assadi, Hijab petitioner
BJP Leader Kirit Somaiya —FILE PHOTO
HIJAB BAN
Former JK Chief Minister and
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Himachal CM Jairam Thakur
CR Patil

INDIA
06
New Delhi (PTI): Agri-
culture Minister Naren-
dra Singh Tomar on
Monday said about 4
lakh hectare has been
brought under natural
farming so far as part
of a sub-scheme of the
Paramparagat Krishi
Vikas Yojana and think-
tank Niti Aayog will
prepare a roadmap to
scale this up. Tomar,
while addressing a na-
tional workshop on in-
novative agriculture
here, said the need of
the hour is to do farm-
ing that works in har-
mony with nature, re-
duces the cost of pro-
duction, ensures good-
quality produce and
profits to farmers.
Andhra Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
parts of Haryana and
Gujarat are gradually
adapting to natural
farming. More farmers
will join after seeing the
success stories, he said.
Tomar said Niti Aay-
og will prepare a road-
map on natural farming
after deliberation with
farmers, scientists and
agricultural varsities’
vice-chancellors in to-
day’s workshop and the
ministry will move for-
ward accordingly
.
Natural farming
should be promoted in
areas first where less or
no chemicals are used
in farming, he added.
According to the min-
ister, about 38 lakh hec-
tares have been brought
under organic farming
at present. About 4 lakh
hectares of area is un-
der natural farming so
far as part of a sub-
scheme of the Param-
paragat Krishi Vikas
Yojana.
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Jharkhand
has been a land of po-
litical experimentation.
Since coming into exist-
ence in November 2000,
the number of experi-
ments that have been
done in Jharkhand in
the last 22 years have
not been done in other
‘older’ states. First of
all, in Jharkhand itself,
an independent MLA
became the Chief Min-
ister and successfully
ran the government for
two years. Thereafter,
be it the case of taking a
bribe to vote in the Par-
liament or the loss of
the Chief Minister in
the by-election, that too
happened in Jharkhand
itself. It too has hap-
pened in Jharkhand
that the mine was allot-
ted in the name of a
Chief Minister, while
the Chief Minister also
held the Mining portfo-
lio. Later, when there
was a dispute over this,
the mine was returned.
In this way the mistake
was also accepted.
Meanwhile, political
agitation has increased
inJharkhand.Although
there is a stir in the
state, but this time it is
not because of the BJP,
the opposition party of
the state, but because of
the central agencies,
constitutional institu-
tions and courts.
Itisnotknownwheth-
er it is a coincidence or
any experiment that all
the agencies have be-
come active simultane-
ously. When the com-
plaint reached the Gov-
ernor regarding the al-
location of mines, the
Governor immediately
sent it to the Election
Commission and the
Commission issued a
notice to the State Gov-
ernment under Rule 192
asking whether the
mine was actually allot-
ted to the Chief Minis-
ter. If this is proved,
which is likely, then
there will be a case of
abuse of office and the
Chief Minister will
have to resign. However,
it is not certain whether
there will be only resig-
nation in this case or
will he face a ban on
contesting elections.
When Sonia Gandhi
had resigned in the mat-
ter of office of profit,
there was no bar to con-
test the elections. But it
is a case of misuse of
office for profit.
Meanwhile, hearing
an old PIL, the High
Court has sought a re-
port on the assets and
companies of the Chief
Minister, his MLA
brother and some of his
close associates. For
this, the court has given
two weeks to the En-
forcement Directorate
and the Registrar of
Companies. The Regis-
trar of Companies has
the data of companies,
which he will give to the
court, but what report
will the ED give without
investigation. There-
fore, it is believed that
ED will initiate an in-
vestigation. So, from the
High Court to the Gov-
ernor and the Election
Commission to the Cen-
tral Investigative Agen-
cies all have become ac-
tive in Jharkhand.
Looking at their com-
mon action, it seems
that some new political
experiment will take
place in Jharkhand in
the coming days.
JHARKHAND: THE POLITICAL EXPERIMENT STATE!
INDIA, EU TO LAUNCH TRADE
AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
Decision to set up TTC will be first for India with any of its partners
New Delhi (PTI):
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi and European
Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen
on Monday agreed to
launch an EU-India
trade and technology
council to address the
challenges of ensuring
trusted technology and
security in the wake of
rapid geopolitical
changes.
The decision was tak-
en during talks between
PM Modi and von der
Leyen.
The European Union
said the strategic coor-
dination mechanism
will allow both partners
to tackle challenges “at
the nexus of trade,
trusted technology and
security, and thus deep-
en cooperation in these
fields.” It said both
sides agreed that rapid
changes in the geopo-
litical environment
highlight the need for
joint in-depth strategic
engagement. “The
Trade and Technology
Council will provide the
political steer and the
necessary structure to
operationalise political
decisions, coordinate
technical work, and re-
port to the political lev-
el,” the EU said.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. —FILE PHOTO
PM Narendra Modi with President of the European Commission
Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting. —PHOTO BY PTI
EU CHIEF URSULA,
EAM JAISHANKAR
DISCUSS TIES,
UKRAINE WAR
New Delhi: European
Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen
met EAM S Jaishankar
on Monday and dis-
cussed ways to take
the India-EU partner-
ship forward and ex-
changed views on the
impact of the Ukraine
conflict. “Pleased
to call on President
of European Com-
mission. Discussed
taking forward the
India-EU partnership.
Also exchanged views
on the economic and
political implications of
the Ukraine conflict,”
Jaishankar tweeted.
India’s 900m workforce,particularly women,
have stopped looking for jobs,says report
Mumbai: India’s job
creation problem is
morphing into a greater
threat: a growing num-
ber of people are no
longer even looking for
work.
Frustrated at not be-
ing able to find the right
kind of job, millions of
Indians, particularly
women, are exiting the
labour force entirely
, ac-
cording to new data
from the Centre for
Monitoring Indian
Economy Pvt, a private
research firm in Mum-
bai. With India betting
on young workers to
drive growth in one of
the world’s fastest-ex-
panding economies, the
latest numbers are an
ominous harbinger. Be-
tween 2017 and 2022, the
overall labour partici-
pation rate dropped
from 46 per cent to 40
per cent. Among wom-
en, the data is even
starker. About 21 mil-
lion disappeared from
the workforce, leaving
only 9 per cent of the
eligible population em-
ployed or looking for
positions.
Now, more than half
of the 900 million Indi-
ans of legal working
age — roughly the pop-
ulation of the US and
Russia combined —
don’t want a job, accord-
ing to the CMIE.
New Delhi: With term II board examinations starting
on Tuesday amid a spike in daily Covid cases, the
CBSE has said it will prepare final results of students
based on their scores in any one of the term exams
in case they are forced to be absent for the other. For
the 2021-2022 academic session. The examinations
will be conducted in a total of 7,413 centres — 7,279
in India and 133 abroad. With the examinations set
to start amid a spike in the daily Covid-19 cases, the
CBSE board has directed that only 18 students be
seated in a examination room.
Kathmandu (PTI): Five people, including four Indian
tourists, were killed after their car collided head-on with
a bus in Nepal’s Dhading district, the police said on
Monday. The accident occurred
on Sunday night along the Prithvi
Highway in the Thakre area,
according to the police. The four
Indian nationals were returning to
Kathmandu after visiting Pokhara. The Nepalese driver
of the car was also killed in the accident. The bus was
heading towards Dhading from Kathmandu.
Pune (PTI): Former Union home secretary Madhav
Godbole died due to cardiac failure at his residence
in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Monday, family
sources said. He was 85. Before taking voluntary
retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in
March 1993, Mr Godbole served as the Union home
secretary. He had also worked as the secretary of
Petroleum Natural Gas and Urban Development
Departments at the Centre, and principal finance
secretary of the Maharashtra government.
CBSE BOARD EXAMS START TODAY: OVER
7.400 CENTRES, 18 STUDENTS IN A ROOM
5 PEOPLE INCLUDING 4 INDIANS KILLED
IN CAR-BUS COLLISION IN NEPAL
FORMER UNION HOME SECY MADHAV
GODBOLE DIES OF CARDIAC FAILURE
CRUCIAL READ
4L ha under natural farming,
NITI to prepare roadmap: Min
Union Agriculture Minister
Narendra Singh Tomar.
`13K cr credited
to farmers’ a/cs
in Pb for wheat
Chandigarh: In a
record, the Punjab
Government said it
cleared payments of
Rs 13,000 crore of
farmers for procure-
ment of wheat till
Monday, state Food
and Civil Supplies
Minister Lal Chand
Kataruchak said. He
said this was the
highest in the past
decade. The Minister
said the total MSP
payments released
this year were three
times of what was
paid last year.
IN THE COURTYARD
‘LIKE YOU HAVE CENTRAL VISTA’: TOP COURT
SEEKS CENTRE’S STAND ON ‘JUDICIAL VISTA’
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Cen-
tre’s stand on a plea seeking direction for the construction
of “Judicial Vista”, for better functioning of the SC. A bench
of Justices Vineet Saran and JK Maheshwari orally observed
that it is a matter, where the court would not be inclined to
pass directions but would want the Centre to consider it. Ad-
vocate Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, petitioner-in-person,
urged the bench to see “how lawyers are standing outside”.
The bench said, “It is a logical and correct thing that there
should be judicial vista in a planned manner”, and pointed
out that the growth of buildings is not well planned.
MENACE TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT: STATES MUST
ACT ON MUSHROOMING ILLEGAL COLONIES: SC
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday observed
that mushrooming of illegal colonies across the country
is a menace to urban development.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara
Rao and BR Gavai appointed
senior advocate Gopal Sankara-
narayanan as amicus curiae in
the matter. “We will have to find
some way of making state governments act on this. This
is a menace to urban development,” it noted. Advocate
Sravan Kumar, contended before the bench that a large
number of unregular establishments are being regular-
ised, which results in development which is unregulated.
Amid shortages, Railways
deploy rakes to transport coal
New Delhi: Amid coal
shortages reported in
the country, the Indian
Railways said on Mon-
day it has deployed ad-
ditional rakes to trans-
port coal to power
plants.
To ensure a swift sup-
ply of coal across power
plants, additional
trains and rakes by In-
dian Railways have
been initiated to aug-
ment the transporta-
tion of coal through its
network, the Ministry
of Railways said in a
statement.
Indian Railways has
ramped up the coal
transportation result-
ing in 32 per cent more
coal freight loading be-
tween September 2021
and March 2022.
There has also been
an increase in 10 per
cent freight, by effi-
ciently mobilising re-
sources after April 2022,
the ministry said.
Let Panchen live
a free life: Tibetan
Govt-in-exile to
Chinese Govt
Dharamshala: The
central tibetan adminis-
tration (CTA) on Mon-
day asked
the Chi-
nese gov-
ernment
to allow
the 11th
Panchen
Lama and his family
members, taken into
custody by China 27
years ago and not seen
in public since then, to
live a free life.
The CTA’s appeal
comes on the 33rd birth
anniversary of Gedhun
Choekyi Nyima, who
was recognised by the
Dalai Lama as the rein-
carnation of the 10th
Panchen Lama when he
was six-year-old. The
CTA said it intends to
sendastrongmessageto
Beijing that the world
has not forgotten about
Nyima to erase him
from history
.
At $76.6 bn, India is third highest
military spender in world: Report
New Delhi: India’s mil-
itary spending in 2021
was the third highest in
the world, according to
the Stockholm Interna-
tional Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI). In-
dia’s military expendi-
ture was $76.6 billion in
2021, up 0.9 per cent
from 2020 and 33 per
cent from 2012.
In a push to strength-
en the indigenous arms
industry, 64 per cent of
capital outlays in In-
dia’s military budget of
2021 was earmarked for
acquisitions of domes-
tically produced arms.
The US and China,
meanwhile, occupied
the first and second
spots in the list of
world’s largest military
spenders. US military
spending reached $801
billion in 2021, a drop of
1.4 per cent from 2020.
China, on the other
hand, spent $293 billion
on defence, an increase
of 4.7 per cent com-
pared with 2020. World
military expenditure
has reached an all-time
high of $2.1 trillion in
2021, as per SIPRI.
INDIA EXPORTED ARMS TO MYANMAR
Asthma drug can
block crucial
SARS-CoV-2
protein, says IISc
Bengaluru: The Indian
Institute of Science
(IISc) on Monday said
that a drug used to treat
asthma and allergies
can bind to and block a
crucial protein pro-
duced by SARS-CoV-2
— the virus causing
Covid-19 pandemic —
and reduce viral repli-
cation in human im-
mune cells.
Approved by the US
Food and Drug Admin-
istration (FDA), the
drug, called montelu-
kast, has been around
for more than 20 years
and is usually pre-
scribed to reduce in-
flammation caused by
conditions like asthma,
hay fever and hives.
Sports Minister
Anurag Thakur
clicks a selfie
with athletes
during the send
off ceremony
of the Indian
contingent for
Deaf Olympic
Games to be
held in Brazil
from May 1.
—FILE PHOTO

BIZ BUZZ
07
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
Twitter set to accept Elon Musk’s
$43 BN ‘BEST AND FINAL’ OFFER
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Twitter Inc is
poised to agree a sale
to Elon Musk for
around $43 billion in
cash, the price the chief
executive of Tesla Inc
has called his “best and
final” offer for the so-
cial media company,
people familiar with
the matter said.
Twitter may an-
nounce the $54.20-per-
share deal later on
Monday once its board
has met to recommend
the transaction to Twit-
ter shareholders, the
sources said. It is al-
ways possible that the
deal collapses at the
last minute, the sourc-
es added.
Musk, the world’s
richest person accord-
ing to a tally by Forbes,
is negotiating to buy
Twitter in a personal
capacity and Tesla is
not involved in the deal.
Twitter has not been
able to secure so far a
‘go-shop’ provision un-
der its agreement with
Musk that would allow
it to solicit other bids
once the deal is signed,
the sources said.
Still, Twitter would
be allowed to accept an
offer from another par-
ty by paying Musk a
break-up fee, the sourc-
es added.
The sources request-
ed anonymity because
the matter is confiden-
tial. Twitter and Musk
did not immediately
respond to requests for
comment.
Twitter shares were
up 4.5% in pre-market
trading in New York on
Monday at $51.15.
Musk has said Twit-
ter needs to be taken
private to grow and be-
come a genuine plat-
form for free speech.
The deal would come
just four days after
Musk unveiled a fi-
nancing package to
back the acquisition.
This led Twitter’s
board to take the deal
more seriously and
many shareholders to
ask the company not to
let the opportunity for a
deal to slip away, Reu-
ters reported on Sun-
day
.
The sale would repre-
sent an admission by
Twitter that its new
chief executive Parag
Agrawal, who took the
helm in November, is
not making enough
traction in making the
company more profita-
ble, despite being on
track to meet ambitious
financial goals the com-
pany set for 2023. Twit-
ter’s shares were trad-
ing higher than Musk’s
offer price as recently
as November.
Musk’s negotiating
tactics — making one
offer and sticking with
it — resembles how an-
other billionaire, War-
ren Buffett, negotiates
acquisitions. Musk did
not provide any financ-
ing details when he
first disclosed his offer
for Twitter, making the
market skeptical about
its prospects.
Twitter shares were up
4.5% in pre-market
trading in New York on
Monday at $51.15.
Musk has said Twitter
needs to be taken
private to grow and
become a genuine
platform for free
speech.
Adani surpasses Buffett
to become fifth-richest
person: Forbes
New Delhi (ANI):
Adani Group Chair-
man Gautam Adani
has become the
world’s fifth-richest
person overtaking
legendary investor
Warren Buffett, ac-
cording to Forbes.
According to
Forbes estimates, the
net worth of 59-year-
old Gautam Adani
surged to $123.7 bil-
lion as of Friday’s
market close, while
Warren Buffett’s net
worth stood at $121.7
billion. Buffett is 91
years old. Adani’s es-
timated $123.7 billion
net worth makes him
the richest person in
India, $19 billion
wealthier than the
country’s number 2,
Mukesh Ambani,
Forbes said in a re-
port. Adani surpassed
Buffett as shares
of the famed inves-
tor’s Berkshire Hatha-
way dropped by 2 per
cent.
Sensextumbles785pointsinearly
tradetrackingweakAsianmarkets
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
markets opened the
trade on a lower note
on Monday, extending
the previous day’s fall,
with the Sensex tank-
ing 785 points in early
trade, mirroring an ex-
tremely weak trend in
Asian markets.
Also, unabated for-
eign fund outflows and
selling in index majors
Reliance Industries, In-
fosys and TCS added to
the weak sentiment.
The BSE benchmark
Sensex was trading 785
points lower at
56,412.14. The NSE Nif-
ty declined 243.35
points to 16,928.60.
Among the 30-share
Sensex pack, Hindu-
stan Unilever, Tata
Steel, IndusInd Bank,
Wipro, Larsen Tou-
bro, Tech Mahindra,
Titan, TCS, Asian
Paints and Infosys
were the major lag-
gards in early trade.
In contrast, ICICI
Bank and Maruti were
the gainers.
On Friday, the
Sensex tanked 714.53
points or 1.23 per cent
to settle at 57,197.15 and
the Nifty declined
220.65 points or 1.27 per
cent to 17,171.95.
Elsewhere in Asia,
markets in Tokyo,
Hong Kong, Seoul and
Shanghai were trading
with deep cuts in mid-
session deals.
Stocks in the
US had also
ended sharply
lower on
Friday
.
Mean-
w h i l e,
i n t e r -
nation-
al oil
bench-
m a rk
Brent
crude declined 2.88 per
cent to USD 103.58 per
barrel.
Foreign institution-
al investors continued
their selling spree, off-
loading shares worth
Rs 2,461.72 crore on
Friday, according to
stock exchange
data.
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined 23 paise to
76.65 against the US dollar in the opening trade
on Monday tracking the strength of the dollar
in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign
exchange, the rupee opened on a muted note at
76.58 against the American dollar, then fell and
touched an early low of 76.65 in initial deals, reg-
istering a fall of 23 paise over its previous close.
Friday, The rupee declined by 25 paise to close at
76.42 against the US currency.
RUPEE SLUMPS 23 PAISE TO 76.65
AGAINST US DOLLAR IN EARLY TRADE
India’s GDP may grow 7.5-8% in FY23 on
enhanced exports: CII President TV Narendran
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s economy is expect-
ed to grow 7.5-8 per cent
this fiscal year with ex-
ports playing a key role
in the country’s success
story, CII President TV
Narendran said on
Monday
.
However, he said the
country needs to re-
main prepared for any
fallout of next wave of
COVID-19 pandemic,
and the impact of the
ongoingRussia-Ukraine
war.
“We are confident
that the economy can
retain a high growth
trajectory this year.
So, we are very
optimistic on
the export
front. Exports
will be a key
component of India’s
success story going for-
ward,” Narendran said.
In an interview to
PTI, the P r e s i -
dent of
the industry body said
the resurgence of COV-
ID globally will have an
impact on the global
supply chain and CII’s
India economic growth
estimate of 7.5-8 per
cent in the current fis-
cal factors these devel-
opments.
“The experience
with COVID shows
that every time there
is a fresh wave glob-
ally, it does
h i t
India as well. Therefore,
we must be prepared for
the future waves,” he
said.
According to him, the
industry has in place
well defined safety pro-
tocols and has really
moved up the learn-
ing curve in
m a n a g i n g
COVID and in
its ability to
continue to op-
erate safely
even as infec-
tions rise.
“Therefore, in our
view we are
much bet-
ter pre-
p a r e d
to deal
with the
next wave. In
terms of immedi-
ate action, administra-
tion of precautionary
dose and the vaccina-
tion of below 18 years
could be expedited. Peo-
ple need to be reminded
of the importance of
COVID appropriate be-
haviour and hence re-
minder campaigns are
i m p o r t a n t , ”
the CII President said.
He said in the past the
strategy of micro-con-
tainment has worked
well for India, adding
that the industry body
does not anticipate a
scenario of re-imposi-
tion of major lock-
downs.
“The widely accepted
principle of managing
COVID globally is to
learn to live with it,
rather than go in for
strict lockdowns,” said
Narendran.
Observing that the
rise in oil and other
commodity prices has
impacted margins of in-
dustries and purchas-
ing power of consum-
ers, the CII President,
however, said there is no
call for using a term like
stagflation in the Indian
context. “Growth for the
current fiscal remains
within the 7.5-8 per cent
range. The IMF is look-
ing at 8.2 per cent
growth for India and ex-
pects it to continue to
remain the fastest grow-
ing major economy in
the world. Average infla-
tion for the year is ex-
pected to remain within
the RBI’s target range,”
Narendran said.
SBI Card
engages TCS
for digital
transformation
Mumbai (PTI): TCS on
Monday said it has
signed a deal with SBI
Card that will help digi-
talise and transform on-
line onboarding process-
es of the latter’s custom-
ers and will further ena-
ble the client to expand
its e-card issuance.
It, however, did not dis-
close value of the deal.
TCS has been serving
the largest pure play
credit card issuer in the
country for a decade and
the new deal is an expan-
sion of the engagement,
the IT company said in a
statement. The deal will
help digitalise and trans-
form online onboarding
processes of customers
for SBI Card and will fur-
ther enable the client to
expand its e-card issu-
ance, it said.
TCS as a strategic
partner has played an
important role in this
digital journey for us, es-
pecially in digitizing our
core cards sourcing plat-
form, implementation of
Video KYC and eSigna-
ture features during
COVID-19 period, Rama
Mohan Rao Amara, MD
and CE of SBI Card said.
BHEL to supply 6 electric locomotives to
NTPC for material handling operations
New Delhi (PTI):
State-owned BHEL on
Monday said it has re-
ceived an order from
NTPC for six electric
locomotives to be used
for the first time in the
country for industrial
application.
The locomotives will
be manufactured at the
company’s facility in
Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
While the traction
motors for the locomo-
tives will be supplied
from its Bhopal plant,
IGBT (Insulated Gate
Bipolar Transistors)
based propulsion
equipment will be de-
veloped and supplied
by the Bengaluru unit,
BHEL said in a state-
ment.
“BHEL has achieved
a major breakthrough
in the rolling stock
business by securing
the order for 6,000 HP
electric locomotives,
first ever in the coun-
try for industrial appli-
cation,” the statement
said.
The order has been
placed by NTPC for
supply of six 6,000 HP
electric locomotives for
material handling op-
erations at Lara Ther-
mal Power Project
site in Chhattisgarh, it
said without divulging
any further informa-
tion.
Major brands sign up
with Market of India; 65
pc of construction done
Chennai (ANI): A host of big brands
have recently signed up and pur-
chased shops and office space at the
ambitious Market of India project
here in Chennai. The SPR City -
Market of India, is a first-of-its-kind
organized wholesale retail centre,
designed to build a self-sustained
community of traders. Currently over
2000 plus shops have been sold at
this project and 65 percent of con-
struction achieved. Shops begin at
Rs. 40 lakhs onwards.The ambitious
5000+ shops project to be built in
phases is aimed at making Chennai
a global trading capital and giving
Indian traders a global platform to
showcase and sell their products.
ICICI Bank stock jumps
nearly 2 per cent after
earnings
New Delhi (PTI): Shares of ICICI
Bank on Monday gained nearly
2 per cent after the company
reported a 59 per cent jump
in standalone net profit for the
fourth quarter of 2021-22. The
stock jumped 1.89 per cent to
Rs 761.50 on the BSE. At the
NSE, it went up by 1.83 per cent
to Rs 761.35. The private sector
lender on Saturday reported a
59 per cent jump in standalone
net profit to Rs 7,019 crore for
the fourth quarter of 2021-22.
The bank had earned a profit of
Rs 4,403 crore in the corre-
sponding January-March period
of the last year.
Six groups set up to
improve PSB functioning
to submit report by Dec
New Delhi (PTI): Six work-
ing groups created to suggest
ways to improve digitisation
in the state-owned banks and
strengthen their balance sheets
have been asked to submit their
respective reports by Decem-
ber, according to a senior bank-
er. Participating in the meeting,
Financial Services Secretary
Sanjay Malhotra recently asked
the banks to explore strategies
for long-term profitability and
adopt a more customer-centric
approach. The working groups
are expected to submit their
respective reports by the end of
the year, the banker said.
Alliance Group adds Rajendra
Joshi to Board of Directors
Chennai (ANI):
South India’s Largest
Real Estate Developer,
Alliance Group Ur-
banrise, on Monday
announced that the
company has appoint-
ed Rajendra Joshi to
its Board of Directors
as a Whole Time Di-
rector, with effect from
April 6, 2022.
A veteran with 30
years of experience,
Rajendra Joshi has led
many leading brands
in the country and has
been instrumental in
launching many
brands and firms
with respect to finan-
cial services and the
real estate industry in
the South Indian met-
ros.
Rajendra Joshi
comes with an educa-
tional background of
Masters in Physics
from the University of
Jodhpur and an MBA
from the University of
Ajmer.
Having joined the
Alliance Group in the
year 2016, as the Exec-
utive Director of Sales
and Marketing, Rajen-
dra Joshi, with his
high level of adminis-
trative and Sales
Marketing acumen
has guided the com-
pany in launching
over 25 million sq ft of
residential communi-
ty and developing over
22,000 homes.
Gautam Adani
CII President TV Narendran
Rajendra Joshi

08
2NDFRONT
Blast at Gondal cement
factory in Rajkot dist
kills three labourers
Incident occurred when they were carrying out
welding work on a tank filled with chemicals
Three workers died in a blast in the cement factory in Gondal taluka, Rajkot, in the wee hours of Monday.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: In the wee
hours of Monday, a
blast occurred in a ce-
ment factory
, in which
three workers died in
the Rajkot district. The
Gondal police have
registered a case
against the company
owner and the shift su-
pervisorfornegligence
and not providing safe-
ty guards to labourers.
Along with police, the
DFS team, labour and
factory inspectors
rushed to the plant and
started an inquiry into
the accident.
According to sourc-
es, the Hi-Bond ce-
ment factory was situ-
ated near Gomta
Square on the Gondal-
Jetpur highway
, where
three workers were
carrying out welding
work on a tank filled
with the chemical.
When the work was in
progress, around 4.30
am, a blast occurred in
which one worker died
on the spot, but the
other two died at the
Gondal government
hospital while being
treated. Police have
identified the de-
ceased as Ashish
Solanki, Rahul Pam-
pania, and Amar Vish-
wakarma.
Gondal Taluka Po-
lice Sub-Inspector SG
Keshwalaandhisteam
rushed to the plant and
started investigations.
Keshwala said it was
difficult to identify the
labourer who died on
the spot, as the face
was smashed. Two oth-
ers died in the hospi-
tal. All three bodies
weresenttotheGondal
government hospital
for post mortem, and
family members are
informed about the in-
cident.
First India Bureau
Surat: The team of Su-
rat Municipal Corpora-
tion faced a protest
when they reached Par-
shotam Nagar Society
in Katargam to carry
out the demolition.
Most of the women
were out on the road
and had blocked the
way of SMC officials.
The situation became
tense, and SMC officials
had to call the police for
support.
A resident, Ashok
Zanzmera, alleged to
the Municipal Corpora-
tion officials that they
had lodged a complaint
in the ongoing con-
struction case in the
COP (common occupied
plot). Instead of taking
action on that, the SMC
officials had reached
their house to take ac-
tion. A complaint was
lodged in the Katargam
zone by Ashok and oth-
er members about the
ongoing construction
in the COP.
“This is a regular pro-
cedure to demolish ille-
gal encroachment. All
the zones are working
towards it. The same
was carried out in Ka-
targam when women
came in the middle of
our operation to stop the
work,” said an SMC of-
ficer, Hemant Patel, who
had to call the police.
Patel added, “Our op-
erations were ham-
pered by women. A PCR
van of Katargam police
reached the spot and de-
tained people obstruct-
ing the demolition. Af-
ter the arrival of the
police, the demolition
work was completed.”
First India Bureau
Surat: A fire broke
out in a commercial
building in the Rani
talav area of Surat.
The fire was reported
in a cloth godown in a
commercial complex.
Two firefighting
teams reached the
spot, and it took them
an hour to control the
fire. As soon as the fire
was seen, people
rushed out of the
building, and no casu-
alties were reported.
According to the
fire department offi-
cial Hardik Patel,
“There was a shop
named Dawood in the
building that made
ready-to-wear appar-
els. The reason for the
fire is yet to be known.
The quick action and
on-time intimation
have helped us control
the fire before it could
engulf the entire
building.
The shop contained
a huge stock of
clothes and other in-
flammable substanc-
es, which spread the
fire faster.”
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Accord-
ing to officials at the
India Meteorological
Department (IMD),
heatwave conditions
are likely to prevail
over isolated pockets
in the district of
South Gujarat region
namely Valsad; in the
districts of Saurash-
tra-Kutch namely
Porbandar, Gir Som-
nath, Junagadh and
Kutch, over the next
five days. The depart-
ment has sounded an
orange alert for the
city of Ahmedabad as
temperature during
the day continues to
hover around 43 de-
gree Celsius.
Officials at IMD have
deemed the weather to
be potentially tolerable
for the general public
but expressed moderate
health concern for vul-
nerable groups such as
infants, elderly, people
with chronic diseases.
Officials have recom-
mended that citizens
avoid exposure to heat,
cover their head while
stepping out of their
homes and wear light-
coloured, loose clothing
of organic fabrics.
With rainfall being
forecast for other parts
of the country, Gujarat
will witness dry weath-
er over the next five
days. Temperature will
be tolerable for citizens
and is forecast to touch
42 degree Celsius.
North-westerly to
Northerly winds are
prevailing at lower lev-
els over the region,
which will contribute to
the summer heat.
No large departures
from maximum tem-
peratures of 42 degree
Celsius have been pre-
dicted by the weather-
man for the remainder
of the week.
First India Bureau
Surat: The Godadara
police have regis-
tered a case of an at-
tempt to murder
against Durgesh Bon-
agiri, resident of Wa-
rangal district, Tel-
angana, who tried to
kill a three-month
pregnant lady Swati
(name changed) by
forcing her to con-
sume poison. After
that, he drank poi-
son.
The accused and vic-
tim were rushed to the
hospital, where both
survived, but the foetus
in the womb died. The
girl’s parents have reg-
istered a case of an at-
tempt to murder,
against the accused, at
Godadara police sta-
tion. Bonagiri was in
one-sided love with
Swati.
A couple of months
ago, Swati came to
Surat to look for a
job and lived with
her family. On Sun-
day, the accused went
to her house to fight
as she refused to
marry him. He then
forced her to drink
poison, and on find-
ing that she was
pregnant, he too con-
sumed poison. When
the family reached
home, they found
both unconscious
and rushed them to
the hospital.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Baroda
Women’s Team has
qualified for the Knock-
out matches of the
BCCI Senior Women’s
T-20 league. The quar-
terfinal round or the
knockout will be played
at Surat on April 29,
2022, against the Mum-
bai Team. Team Baroda
won four out of five
matches in the T-20
leagues held at Mohali
and became Group
Champions of Elite D.
Baroda lost their first
match to Uttarakhand
but went on to win four
matches in a row to
reach the knockout
stage. They beat Vid-
arbha by 37 runs, Uttar
Pradesh by six wickets,
Gujarat by 20 runs and
Goa by 10 in the leagues
to become the top per-
formers of their group.
Baroda Cricket Associ-
ation’s women will now
play against Mumbai
Women’s Cricket team
on April 29 at Surat for
the Knockout match.
“After the loss to Utta-
rakhand, we knew we
had to play well in the
remaining matches. We
are a team with good
players, but we all need
to play well and win the
remaining matches. It
will help keep our mo-
rale and standards high.
Keeping it in mind we
played and won all four
matches. The knockout
match is important for
us. We are playing
against the strong
Mumbai team, and we
need to perform well in
our fielding as we did in
our league matches,”
said the captain of the
Baroda Women’s Team
Radha Yadav.
Baroda team qualifies for BCCI Senior Women’s T-20 Knockouts
IT’S, IN OR OUT!
lll
The quarter
finals will be
in Surat on
April 29, and
the team will
play against
Mumbai
Team
OFFICIALS POINT OUT NEGLIGENCE
The Deputy collector and other officers who reached the accident site felt
that the company owner should not have asked the labourers to carry
out welding work when the tank was filled with the chemical. It sure was
a threat. Deputy Superintendent of Police PA Zala said, “All three work-
ers were welders and must be hired for this specific work and may not be
regular employees of the company. The labour department must confirm
whether they were on a contract or if they were regular employees.”
WOMEN PROTEST AGAINST
DEMOLITION BY SMC TEAM
—FILE PHOTO
The Baroda Women's Cricket Team that qualified for the knockout match to be held in Surat on April 29.
Fire breaks out in Surat
cloth godown, no casualties
JILTED LOVER
TRIES TO KILL
PREGNANT
WOMAN
Severe heatwave to hit Gujarat over next five days
Local residents
stopped SMC
officials from
carrying out a
demolition drive
at Katargam
A man spotted crossing Shivranjani Cross Roads during
the hot summer afternoon in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Keep your anger only to fight
against the evil you see in this
world.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

ity First
brings to you
a brave and
confident diva
Kashika Bassi
and her in-
spiring journey
.

z Tell us something
about yourself
When you really want
something, the whole
universe conspires in
helping you to achieve
it. I am a cinema kid,
I have grown up
watching Sharuk’s
movies and that
has given a bub-
b l y - f i l m y
touch to my
nature.
Katrina Kaif
was my inspiration
during my childhood
days, and I wanted to
be like her.
Dancing has always
been in my heart, my
mother Renu Pahadi
Bassi is a Kathak ex-
ponent. I have gained
interest in dance be-
cause of her, she nev-
er restricted me from
trying new things.
Not only this, my
grandfather Pt Man-
mohan Pahadi was a
classical singer. Com-
ing from an artistic
family I believe it’s
my duty to work as
hard as I can so that I
can match their level
and inspire people.

z How did your
journey begin?
My journey began in
2020 when I partici-
pated in a pageant ti-
tled Miss Delhi,
which changed my
life, from a complete-
ly normal life to a
glamorous one.

z What were some
of the battles you
fought?
We all are fighting our
battles everyday I
guess it is something
that is part of our
life we rise, we
fall, we learn
and rise
again one of
the biggest bat-
tles I could ever
think of is losing
hope and I’m fortu-
nate enough that I al-
ways have my mother
by my side to guide
me and support me.

z Talk to us about
your achievements?
When I was crowned
the winner of Miss
Delhi 2020, it was
like dream come
true. After that, I
won many titles
including Miss
teen capital of
India 2021, Miss
Beautiful Skin
(Queen of Cosmos) ,
etc. I have also
worked in a music
video ‘Dill Di Gall’.

z Where do you
see yourself 5
years down the
lane?
5 years from
now, I believe I
would be fi-
nancially in-
d e p e n d e n t
andlivingmy
dream life. It
is my dream
to give my
mother a
lavish life
because she
h a s
wo rke d
all her
life for
me.
AHMEDABAD, TUESDAY,
APRIL 26, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/ahmedabad I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
SHE IS THE
BUILDER OF HER
DREAMVERSE
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
C
A REALLY POWERFUL WOMAN
ACCEPTS HER BATTLES AND
COMES OUT STRONGER AS DID
OUR VERY OWN KASHIKA BASSI

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
SHARON ALEXANDER, Model
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Spirituality will
have a special
allure for you.
Your innovative
ideas on the
professional front
are likely to be
well received.
Good health will
keep you fit and energetic. You are likely
to expand your social circle. You are likely
to get immense fulfillment in your current
romantic relationship.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Homemakers
will get a chance
to implement
their ideas. You
are likely to be
recognised for
your efforts on
the professional
front. Chance of
a raise is possible for some. Timely and
correct decision will help you in saving a
lot of money. You will be able to de-stress
yourself completely today.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Homemakers can
exceed budget
in doing up
their homes. An
old friend or a
relative is likely
to pay you a visit.
You succeed
in putting an
ambitious project on the tracks and cross
all hurdles in making it a success. Love
beckons and promises to give immense
joy and fulfillment.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
A major
purchase may
make a dent in
your savings,
but will help
in keeping up
with the flow.
Speculation may
not be profitable
and you can very well burn your fingers.
Some of you might get hard pressed
to find a very good match for someone
eligible in your family.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
It is one of those
days when you
will feel satisfied
with whatever
you do today on
the social front.
Those seeking
love may not
get lucky,
but persistence will pay! A friend or
relative can touch a sensitive nerve and
get you all upset. A job switch needs to
be considered.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
A profitable day
for entrepreneurs
is envisaged.
You may be
played upon
for spending
on someone
else’s needs
and desires.
Homemakers are likely to enjoy the day
in the company of neighbors and friends.
Fatigue threatens in a long journey, but
adequate breaks will keep you going.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Financial worries
evaporate as
new avenues of
earning open up.
You will put in
extra efforts to
complete a task
entrusted to you.
Your academic
aspirations may take some time to get
realised. A contentious property issue
may not show any signs of getting sorted
out amicably, so have a backup ready.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Satisfaction is
foreseen for the
image conscious
people trying to
achieve perfect
figure and
physique. Your
efforts on the
academic front
will keep you in contention. You are likely
to spend an enjoyable time with a close
relation today. Your helping hand to
someone in need will be appreciated.
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Sticking to
workout routine
may benefit you
on the health
front. Meeting
relatives at a
marriage or party
cannot be ruled
out. Support from
the family may seem most encouraging
for those aiming an academic pursuit.
A passion-filled evening is foreseen, as
romantic front brightens.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
A lot of time
may be wasted
in socialising,
but you will love
every moment
of it. You will
succeed in
surmounting the
odds to get a
stalled job back on the tracks. Something
concerning property will work out in your
favour. A romantic outing is on the cards
and promises much fun and frolic.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You will manage
to ignore
distractions and
interruptions at
work to complete
a pending
task in time.
Jobs for those
freshly out of
professional institutes are set to brighten
up. Those not in a stable job can expect
permanency. Health will be satisfactory,
but remain regular in workouts.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
A rethink is in
order for those
going in for a
heavy investment.
Recovering a
loaned amount
from someone
will not pose
much difficulty.
You will manage to defuse tensions
prevailing at home by your tactful ways. A
work trip is on the cards. You manage to
weave your magic on your love.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
eople are of-
ten surprised
when I tell
them that I
wasn’t always
a reader. At
school, my li-
brary time would of-
ten be spent catching
up on sleep, or flipping
through the pages of a
National Geographic
magazine, merely
looking at the pictures
therein. While many
of my contemporaries
read voraciously, I
couldn’t get myself to
ingest these seemingly
unending novels and
books that intimidated
me!
As I grew older
though, I realized that
people around me
were a lot more aware,
better informed, and
more interesting, en-
gaging conversation-
aliststhanIwas.When
I asked them how – the
almost unanimous an-
swer was, reading.
With much reluctance,
I set out to become a
reader; try and finally
embrace a habit I had
shunned thus far. So
how did I do it? What
did I read? And how
did it change me?
These are all answers
that transformed me
as a person, and could
well have the same ef-
fect on young learners
today
.
START OUT SMALL
I found this method
works for many peo-
ple including myself
– those fearful of the
thought of reading
big fat novels, start
small. I found in my
case, that collections
and anthologies of
Short Stories were
much more palatable.
A short story gives
you almost all of the
fun and immersive el-
ements of a long-for-
mat read – characters,
conflict, plot; all in a
compressed package
that is quick to read
does not seem scary to
navigate and sustains
an otherwise impa-
tient reader’s interest.
By reading short sto-
ries extensively, not
only did I get over
my ‘fear’ of reading
but it also proved
to be a great ice-
breaker in the
world of fic-
tion.
READ WHAT YOU LOVE
The other strategy to
become an avid reader
that came in very
handy for me was to
curate the reading ex-
perience. It isn’t neces-
sary to read a specific
set or type of books. It
is a deeply personal
choice. So why not
read about what one
loves. I did the same
and often advised stu-
dents likewise. Let us
say you are not fond of
reading but are very
passionate about pho-
tography
. Chances are
that if you picked up
an autobiography of a
photographer you ad-
mire or have heard of,
you will enjoy that
book, despite not en-
joying reading par-
ticularly. That’s be-
cause at its core is
something you love –
photography. Pick
books on subjects and
about people that in-
herently engage
you, and the
‘reading’ part
of it will not
feel like some
burdensome
chore any
longer.
AN INSIGHT INTO
THE SELF
First and foremost, a
reading habit is self-
reflective. When we
read a piece of fiction
or non-fiction, we are
compelled to form
opinions on the char-
acters, the subjects
and the various points
of view. This helps us
shape our self-image.
It is an introspective,
get-to-know-yourself
process that uncon-
sciously takes place.
Our leanings, our sen-
sibilities social, politi-
cal, start to take shape.
We become more self-
aware, self-assured in-
dividuals.
A WORLD-VIEW
Not everyone has the
luxury of travelling
the world, meeting and
mingling with people
from different regions,
cultures and coun-
tries, or experiencing
landscapes and ways
of life. Books are the
best resource to be-
come aware and ex-
pose oneself to a myr-
iad of people, places,
cultures, and move-
ments. Ultimately,
they shape us, our
minds into aware, sen-
sitive, well-informed
beings that are then
capable of developing
a well-thought-out,
unique, individualis-
tic, and personal per-
spective about the
world and its various
issues.
READING MAKETH
THE MAN
Ultimately, all that
knowledge, of the self,
and things external,
makes its way into our
opinions, and fuels an
intellectual awareness
and confidence where-
in we can present our-
selves as interesting
and engaging individ-
uals in a variety of
personal and profes-
sional public-interac-
tion situations. To be a
thinking, knowing,
and interacting per-
son, it is the awareness
that tops the priority
list, not, unlike popu-
lar perception, great
language or vocabu-
lary (which anyway is
a happy byproduct of
reading).
For students, today
especially, faced with
challenges perhaps
much more trying
than we ever did, it is
even more important
to be self-aware and
world-aware. While
the entire world has
gone visual, the simple
fact of the matter is
that videos do not en-
dow us with even a
fraction of the knowl-
edge or creativity than
reading does. Reading
is one of the few ways
you will be able to
distinguish your-
self. Building your-
self into a strong
reader will pay
rich dividends.
HOWSTUDENTS
CAN BECOME
AVID READERS
BY KARTIK BAJORIA
(The author is a Jaipur-based
Communication Skills
Educator Writer)
P

26042022_First India_Ahmedabad.pdf

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