27122021 first india new delhi

PM’s steps ensured women & kids’ health
Dehradun: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) Na-
tional President Jagat
Prakash Nadda on Sun-
day said that Prime Min-
isterNarendraModihas
taken progressive steps
for the better health of
women and children.
Nadda chaired a
meeting with party
leaders in Dehradun
ahead of the upcoming
assembly elections in
the state. Uttarakhand
Chief Minister Pushkar
Singh Dhami was also
present in this meeting.
Speaking at the event,
Nadda said, “Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi has taken a very
progressive step to-
wards the better health
of women and children.
The public’s gratitude
motivates us to do bet-
ter, under the leader-
ship of PM Modi.”
Earlier in the day,
BJP National President
JP Nadda, Uttarakhand
Chief Minister Pushkar
Singh Dhami and State
party president Madan
Kaushik listened to
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s monthly ra-
dio programme ‘Mann
Ki Baat’.
Madan Kaushik said
that party national
President Jagat
Prakash Nadda gave a
victory mantra –‘Booth
Jeeta, Chunav Jeeta’–
for upcoming assembly
polls in the state.
Earlier on December
24, Chief Election Com-
missioner Sushil Chan-
dra had informed that a
total of 11,647 polling
booths have been made,
out of which, 100 booths
will be run by women
during the upcoming
Uttarakhand assembly
elections.
The Uttarakhand As-
sembly elections are
scheduled for early next
year. –ANI
BJP chief hails
progressive steps
by Modi govt for
better healthcare
Nadda, U’khand CM Dhami (R) & state BJP prez Madan Kaushik.
JP NADDA IN UTTARAKHAND
After 52 students catch corona,
Maharashtra school sealed
150 migrants held
for attacking police,
arson in Kerala
Ahmednagar: First 19
children were found to
be infected with Cov-
id-19 at Maharashtra’s
Jawahar Navodaya
school, following which
450 students were tested
for the virus. Now, 33
more children have test-
ed positive.
A total of 52 people
tested positive for Covid
at the school.
The school has been
sealed and the area has
been declared a con-
tainment zone.
The number of cases
of the fast-spreading
Omicron variant of
Covid has risen to 422 in
India, with Maharash-
tra reporting the most
number of infections.
The state has also has
reported the most num-
ber of Covid cases.
Kochi: At least 150 mi-
grant workers were
taken into custody and
two cases were regis-
tered after they at-
tacked a police team,
which went to contain a
clash that erupted
among the workers dur-
ing Christmas celebra-
tions in Kochi, police
said on Sunday
.
The incident took
place at the labour
camp of Kitex gar-
ments located in the
Kizhakkambalam area
on Saturday night.
“Around 150 migrant
workers were taken
into custody and lodged
in various stations. The
assailants would be
identified from among
them. Two cases have
been registered,” Er-
nakulam rural Superin-
tendent of Police K
Karthik said.
A special police team
was constituted to
probe the incident in
which five policemen
were attacked, one po-
lice vehicle was set
ablaze and three other
vehicles were vandal-
ized, he added.
NEW DELHI l MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.118
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
The snake bit Salman Khan’s hand on Sat-
urday night at his farmhouse near Panvel in
Raigad district. The actor was then taken to a
hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai and was
discharged on Sunday morning.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh
Tomar on Sunday said that the government
has no intention to bring back the three farm
laws. Tomar’s statement came a day after the
Congress accused Centre of a conspiracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit
Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on Monday to
inaugurate and lay the foundation stone
of hydropower projects worth over
`11,000 crore.
SALMAN KHAN
BITTEN BY
SNAKE IN
FARMHOUSE
NO INTENTION TO
BRING BACK FARM
LAWS, SAYS AGRI
MINISTER TOMAR
PM MODI IN
MANDI TODAY
FOR LAUNCH OF
POWER PLANTS
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CENTRE FORMS PANEL TO
LOOK INTO DEMAND FOR
AFSPA REPEAL IN NAGALAND
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Amid the
growing clamour for
the repeal of the
Armed Forces Special
Powers Act (AFSPA)
from Nagaland in the
aftermath of the civil-
ian killings, a state
government release
Sunday said that a
committee to look into
the demand will be in-
stituted by the cental
government.
This comes after
representatives of the
Nagaland government,
including Chief Minis-
ter Neiphiu Rio, held a
meeting with Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah in Delhi on
Thursday to discuss
the present scenario in
Nagaland in the after-
math of the incident in
Mon district’s Oting,
where 14 civilians
were killed in a secu-
rity ambush and clash-
es that followed.
The meeting, which
was chaired by Shah,
was also attended by
Nagaland Deputy
Chief Minister Y Pat-
ton former Chief Min-
ister TR Zeliang and
Assam Chief Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The committee will be chaired by the Additional Secretary,
Northeast, Ministry of Home Affairs. It would also include the
Chief Secretary and DGP of Nagaland as well as IG Assam Rifles
(North) and representatives from the Central Reserve Police Force
The panel, which has
been asked to
submit its report in
45 days, will decide
on whether AFSPA
can be repealed
from Nagaland and
the state’s
“disturbed area”
status be removed.
Casteist, family parties
of ‘Bua-Babua’ couldn’t
bring devpt in UP: Shah
First India Bureau
Kasganj: Launching a
veiled attack on the Op-
position, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Sunday said that the
past governments of
“Bua-Babua” in Uttar
Pradesh could not bring
development in the state
since they are ‘casteist’
and ‘family’ parties.
Addressing Jan Vish-
was Yatra in Kasganj of
poll-bound Uttar
Pradesh, Shah said,
'Bua and babua
ran the governments in
Uttar Pradesh. Did they
bring any development?
These are casteist par-
ties and family parties.
There were 700 riots
during Akhilesh Ya-
dav’s five-year rule. Ear-
lier the common people
were migrating from
Uttar Pradesh. Earlier
the law and order situa-
tion was so bad that
people were afraid of
sending their daughters
to schools and colleges.
Hailing the present
law and order situation
in Uttar Pradesh during
theongoingChief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath’s
tenure,Shahsaidthatno
one dared to riot in the
lastfourandahalf years.
Earlier there was a
Bahubali in every dis-
trict, today there is a
designated product
from every district,
stated Shah. Remem-
bering former Chief
Minister Kalyan Singh,
Shah said, “Kalyan Sin-
gh ji spoke of good gov-
ernance within UP for
the first time. He
worked towards giving
rights to the backward
society
. Kalyan Singh ji
chose Ram Janmabhoo-
mi over the chief minis-
ter’s chair and pave the
way for Ram Temple.”
Judges
appointing
judges myth,
others also
involved in
process: CJI
Vijayawada: Calling it
a “widely propagated
myth”, Chief Justice N
V Ramana Sunday de-
fended the judiciary
against charges that
judges were appointing
judges through the Col-
legium system.
Delivering the 5th
Late Shri Lavu Ven-
kateswarlu Endow-
ment Lecture at Sid-
dhartha Law College in
Vijayawada, Ramana
said, “It is nowadays
fashionable to reiterate
phrases like ‘judges are
themselves appointing
judges’. I consider this
to be one of the widely
propagated myths.”
Stating that filling
vacancies is one of the
challenges, the CJI ap-
preciated the Centre’s
efforts in appointing
several judges in recent
times.
AFTER OUTRAGE, MAKERS TO
CHANGE LYRICS OF LEONE SONG
‘MADHUBAN MEIN RADHIKA’
GOONS MAKING AN EXODUS UNDER
YOGI GOVERNMENT: AMIT SHAH
NIGHT CURFEW IN
DELHI FROM TODAY
Union Home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said
criminals in Uttar Pradesh are making an exodus
now, while earlier it was common man who was
forced to flee by them. He said the BJP made
a hat-trick of electoral wins since the 2014 Lok
Sabha polls in the state. “Now in 2022, BJP will
hit a ‘chaukaa’ by winning UP,” he claimed.
New Delhi: Night curfew will be
imposed in Delhi from 10 pm
to 5 am starting Monday, the
government said on Sunday as
the national capital reported 290
fresh cases of Covid - a 16 per
cent jump from Saturday - and
one related death in 24 hours.
The case positivity rate has
climbed to 0.5 per cent, which is
stated to be of a critical level.
z Music label Saregama
on Sunday said the
company will “change”
the lyrics and the name
of the song “Madhuban
mein Radhika” after
Madhya Pradesh Home
Minister Narottam Mishra
alleged that the video of
the track has hurt senti-
ments of Hindus.
z Madhya Pradesh
Home Minister Narottam
Mishra had lashed out
at a recent music video
featuring Sunny Leone,
warning that action will
be taken against the ac-
tress and makers of the
song if they don’t pull it
down from social media
platforms. Efficy of
Leone was also burned
in Mathura.
z Asking Leone to
apologise, Mishra said
the state will take action
against her and com-
poser Saqib Toshi if the
video is not removed
from YouTube within
three days. He also said
an FIR will be registered
against Leone.
z Recently, Mathura-
based priests
also demand-
ed a ban on
the video,
accusing
the Bol-
lywood
actress
of hurt-
ing their
religious
senti-
ments.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
INDIA
NEW DELHI
6,987
new cases
162
new fatalities
290
new cases
01
new fatalities
Action will be taken in accordance with law to secure justice for all, said Army on Dec 4 incident.
Christ statue vandalised in Haryana
as attacks against Christians spread
Ambala: A statue of Je-
sus Christ was vandal-
ised at a Church in
Haryana’s Ambala this
afternoon.
Police are analysing
CCTV footage but
haven’t yet been able to
identify the criminals.
Haryana’s Home
Minister Anil Vij said
that they hope to iden-
tify the criminals
thourg CCTV footage.
“We have assigned
three teams to catch the
criminals. We have
gathered CCTV footage
and two men appear to
have been involved in
this. We hope that we
will soon arrest those
involved based on the
video footage,” he said.
“Two men jumped
the boundary wall at
12:30 pm and vandalised
a Jesus Christ statue at
around 1:40 pm. They
haven’t been identified
yet, police teams have
been assigned to inves-
tigate it. A complaint is
being lodged and action
will be taken accord-
ingly,” SHO Naresh-
said.
A statue of Jesus Christ vandalised at the Holy Redeemer Church
premises of Ambala Cantt, in Ambala on Sunday.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021
02
New Delhi: The Delhi
government has post-
poned a play on the
life of Babasaheb
Ambedkar that was to
be staged from Janu-
ary 5 in view of the
rising COVID-19 cases
in the national capi-
tal, Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal said
on Sunday
.
The government
did not announce a
new date.
“Delhi Govt had
planned a grand show
on the life of Babasa-
heb Ambedkar from
5th January, in Jawa-
harlal Nehru Stadi-
um. However, this
show is being post-
poned in light of ris-
ing Covid cases. We
shall announce a new
date as soon as the
situation improves,”
Kejriwal said in a
tweet.
Delhi on Saturday
recorded 249 fresh
COVID-19 cases, the
highest single-day
rise since June 13, and
one death, while the
positivity rate mount-
ed to 0.43 per cent, ac-
cording to data shared
by the city health de-
partment.
The city had logged
255 cases on June 13.
On Friday, Delhi re-
corded 180 COVID-19
cases with a positivity
rate of 0.29 per cent,
according to official
data.
The city is
witnessing an uptick
in daily cases amid a
jump in cases of the
Omicron variant of
Covid. —PTI
New Delhi: Delhi will
publish its first ‘State
of Environment Re-
port’ next year that will
have data on all key ar-
eas, including sewage,
water quality
, waste col-
lection and segregation
etc., put together suc-
cinctly
.
The city government
is also likely to give
funds to municipal
corporations for the
first time for the man-
agement of road dust
and potholes and to pre-
vent open waste burn-
ing.
“The multiplicity of
departments in Delhi
impedes problem reso-
lution. Had it been Nag-
pur or Mumbai or
Chennai, it would have
been easier. So, the ob-
jective is to fix account-
ability of the concerned
departments,” an offi-
cial said. —PTI
New Delhi: Reacting to
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah’s remarks
slamming Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal for “unnecessary
spending on advertise-
ments”, the Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) on
Sunday took a
jibe at the
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) by
questioning Ut-
tar Pradesh
Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath
on giving “too
many advertise-
ments in Delhi.”
In a press statement,
AAP stated that the
Delhi government
spends `70
crore on
advertise-
ments in
a year
where-
as the Yogi government
spends `2,000 crore an-
nually
.
“The Municipal Cor-
poration of Delhi under
the BJP is the most cor-
rupt civic body in the
world. All the money of
these corporations goes
into the pockets of BJP
leaders. As far as
spending money on
advertisements is
c o n c e r n e d ,
there will be ad-
vertisemnets
of BJP lead-
ers all over
Delhi,” he
said. —ANI
Biometric verification
held in Prisons Dept
New Delhi: A biometric
verification drive was
conducted by Delhi Sub-
ordinate Services Selec-
tion Board (DSSSB) in
Delhi’s Prisons Depart-
ment in the last week of
November.
All the newly joined
candidates of Delhi Pris-
ons from 2019 onwards
recruited through the ex-
ams conducted by DSSSB
were screened by match-
ing their biometrics with
the data preserved at the
time of recruitment.
As a result of the ex-
cercise, 47 cases of pre-
liminary mismatch have
been detected.
Further action will be
taken after final report is
received from DSSSB, ac-
cording to the DG of
Tihar Jail.
However, as an imme-
diate and interim meas-
ure, the salaries of all
these officials have been
stopped and Show Cause
Notices have been issued
to them. —ANI
New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI)
Rare images of the very
first piling work done in
the national capital for
building Delhi Metro
and old newspaper clip-
pings are among the ar-
chival documents put up
on display as part of a
permanent exhibition at
the Kashmere Gate sta-
tion of the network.
The exhibition --
‘Tracing Delhi Metro’s
Journey’ -- has been
launched to mark the
Delhi Metro Rail Corpo-
ration entering into the
20th year of its opera-
tions, officials said.
The DMRC had begun
its commercial opera-
tions on December 25,
2002, a day after then
prime minister Atal Bi-
hari Vajpayee had inau-
gurated its first stretch
spanning 8.2 kilometre
from Shahdara to Tis
Hazari, with just six sta-
tions, on the Red Line.
The DMRC network’s
current span is nearly
392 km with 286 stations
(including the Noida–
Greater Noida Metro
Corridor and Rapid Met-
ro, Gurgaon). A day
after the inauguration
of the first-ever corri-
dor, the rush was so
“massive” that authori-
ties had to issue “paper
tickets” to handle the
flow of passengers, offi-
cials had told PTI earli-
er.
The introduction of
the state-of-the-art rapid
transit system was such
a novel mode of trans-
port in the city then that
many people believed it
was only there tempo-
rarily and the DMRC
had to issue newspapers
advertisements that it
was “here to stay”, they
had said.
This journey of near-
ly two decades of opera-
tions has been captured
in a exhibition, mount-
ed at the very location
from where the then
prime minister had in-
augurated the Delhi’s
first ever metro corridor
back in December 2002,
a senior official said.
The Red Line itself
has now extended on
both sides, to Rithala in
Delhi and New Bus
Stand (Shaheed Sthal)
in Ghaziabad.
“The plaque unveiled
during the Delhi Metro’s
first inauguration event
is placed right there,” a
spokesperson of DMRC
said. —PTI
DMRC expo shows rare pics of first piling work
METRO MILESTONE
WHO CARES?
Sadar Bazar market seen packed with shoppers amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi —PHOTO BY ANI
Delhi Metro exhibition at Kashmere Gate in New Delhi. —FILE PHOTO
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: One person
was killed and two were
left severely injured in a
car accident near south-
west Delhi’s Mahipalpur
Flyover in the wee hours
of Sunday morning. As
per the police, the Vasant Kunj South police station
received information about the accident at 7.40 am,
following which the police rushed to the spot and found
a damaged Skoda car. “Our police team swung into ac-
tion and pulled out three people from the car and took
them to AIIMS Trauma Centre”, said a police official.
New Delhi: A 35-year-old man was killed and
two others were severely injured after their car
rammed into a road divider and turned turtle in
Delhi on Sunday morning, police said. The de-
ceased has been identified as Ankit. The injured,
Aditya and Rajkumar, both aged 35, are
undergoing treatment at the AIIMS Trauma Cen-
tre, they said.
ONE DEAD, TWO INJURED IN CAR
ACCIDENT NEAR MAHIPALPUR FLYOVER
ONE KILLED AS CAR TURNS TURTLE
AFTER HITTING ROAD DIVIDER IN DELHI
TEENAGE BOY
JUMPS OFF 6TH
FLOOR IN DELHI
New Delhi: A 15-year-
old boy allegedly
committed suicide by
jumping off sixth floor
of a building in east
Delhi’s Mandawali area,
police said on Sunday.
The deceased is a
resident of the Com-
monwealth Games
village, police said,
adding no suicide note
was found from the
spot.
New Delhi: The Delhi
police have arrested a
30-year-old man who
masqueraded as a police
officer with the intention
to extort money from
the drivers of commer-
cial vehicles. On 24 De-
cember, two constables
noticed a suspicious
person wearing a police
uniform while patrolling
in the Kapashera police
station area.
MAN HELD FOR
IMPERSONATING
AS POLICE OFFICER
New Delhi: The
Delhi govern-
ment is going to
ask e-commerce
companies, food
delivery services
and cab aggrega-
tors to complete-
ly switch to elec-
tric vehicles as
it aims to in-
crease the EV
share in total
vehicle sales to
25 per cent by
2024 to check
air pollution,
according to of-
ficials.
It is also going to ask
dealers and petrol
pumps to not give fuel
to vehicles without a
pollution-under-check
(PUC) certificate.
Vehicle emissions
account for around 40
percent of the city’s air
pollution.
“The government is
going to take two major
steps to check vehicu-
lar pollution - we will
ask all aggregators in-
cluding Zomato, Swig-
gy, Ola, Uber,
etc. to completely
switch to electric vehi-
cles. These services ac-
count for 30 percent of
the registered vehicles
in Delhi,” an official
told PTI.
“We are also consid-
ering directing dealers
and petrol pumps not to
supply fuel to vehicles
without a (valid) PUC
certificate,” he said.
Directions under the
Environ-
ment (Pro-
tection) Act in this re-
gard are expected to be
issued this week.
Asked if a deadline
will be given to aggre-
gators to switch to EVs,
a senior official in the
transport department
said, “It will be done in
a phased manner. We
will soon publish the
draft guidelines.”
Apart from ramping
up the electric charg-
ing infra-
structure, the trans-
port department is
likely to initiate discus-
sion on having a bat-
tery swapping infra-
structure in private
space.
“The Indraprastha
Gas Limited has also
taken a decision to in-
stall 50 battery swap-
ping stations at CNG
pumps in the capital,”
the official said.
Electric vehicles
with swappable batter-
ies are considerably
cheaper.
“The most difficult
category is two-wheel-
ers... We have started a
dialogue with vehicle
aggregators to see how
we can have a regula-
tory push for them to
migrate to electric two-
wheelers,” he added.
The Delhi Electric
Vehicles policy - intro-
duced in August 2020 -
aims at increasing the
EV share in total vehi-
cle sales to 25 percent
by 2024. —PTI
Delhi Govt to ask aggregators to completely switch to
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
“We will ask all aggregators including Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Uber to completely
switch to electric vehicles. These
services account for 30 per cent
of the registered vehicles
in Delhi,”
Official
said.
COVID pulls down curtain on BR
Ambedkar play before it’s staged
Over 21k Covid vaccine doses
given to inmates of three jails
New Delhi:Over21,900
doses of COVID-19 vac-
cine were adminis-
tered to the inmates of
three jails in the na-
tional capital so far, the
Delhi Prisons Depart-
ment said on Sunday.
According to the of-
ficials, 21,970 doses --
15,152 first and 6,818
the second shot -- have
been administered till
December 25.
As on Saturday,
10,707 Tihar jail in-
mates were given the
first dose of Covid vac-
cine and 4,352 were
given the second dose.
In Rohini jail, 1,381 in-
mates got the first dose
and 412 the second dose
of vaccine, according
to data. In Mandoli jail,
3,064 inmates got their
first and 2,054 the sec-
ond dose.
The prisons depart-
ment launched a Covid
vaccination drive for
inmates over 45 years
of age on March 18,
while the inoculation
of inmates in the 18-44-
age group began on
May 18.
Officials had said
over 4,000 inmates were
released from the three
jails this year.
“We started the pro-
cess of releasing in-
mates from the second
week of May. Around
3,800 undertrial prison-
ers were released on
interim bail and
around 840 convicts
were released on emer-
gency parole,” they had
said. —PTI
AAP hits back after Shah’s jibe at
Delhi Govt’s advertisement spend
Delhi to publish first ‘State of
Environment Report’ next year
Arvind Kejriwal

INDIA
03
New Delhi: After pass-
ing away of Ahmed Pa-
tel, Con-
gress gen-
eral secre-
tary Pri-
y a n k a
G a n d h i
Vadra has
emerged
t r o u b l e
shooter
within
the par-
ty and
all com-
plainants are landing at
her door with their
grievances. Most re-
cently, when Uttara-
khand crisis loomed
this week with former
Chief Minister Harish
Rawat targeting the
party, Priyanka Gandhi
stepped in to defuse the
tension and placated
the sulking leader.
This is not the first
time the Gandhi sibling
has managed crisis in
theparty
.Shewasinstru-
mental in Punjab and
was the main brain be-
hind the removal of
Amarinder Singh and
installing Navjot Singh
Sidhu in the party appa-
ratus. She along with
Rahul prevailed upon
Ashok Gehlot to accom-
modate Sachin Pilot loy-
alistsinthegovernment.
After UP polls, analysts
feel that the Congress
willhavetoofferPriyan-
ka Gandhi a bigger role
to reach out to leaders
who are not in sync with
Rahul Gandhi. Moreo-
ver, to win back the dis-
gruntledleaders and the
G-23 group, most of the
lot praised her for the
fight she took up in UP
after the Kheri incident.
While she has been
credited with making
party visible in UP by
raising issues at a short
span of time, the cur-
rent survey shows that
Cong may not gain elec-
torally in the state.
Will PGV get bigger role in Cong after UP polls?
BIG QUESTION
ALREADY IN CRISES
PM’scleanlinessmantra:Discipline,dedication
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Mann Ki Baat programme encouraged people to follow the Swachh Bharat initiative
New Delhi: With an
aim to encourage people
to follow the ‘Swachh
Bharat’ initiative, PM
Narendra Modi on Sun-
day said that the resolve
of cleanliness will be
fulfilled only with disci-
pline, awareness and
dedication. In his Mann
Ki Baat program on
Sunday
.
PM Modi cited an ex-
ample of ‘Puneet Sagar’
campaign undertaken
by cadets for cleanliness
in which more than 30
thousand NCC cadets
participated.
“These cadets
cleaned the beaches, re-
moved plastic waste
from there and collect-
ed it for recycling. Our
beaches, our mountains
are worth visiting only
when there is cleanli-
ness at the place,” he
said. He said that it is
the responsibility of
every countryman that
the places which give us
so much joy, should not
be made dirty by us.
Speaking about ‘Ek qad-
am swachhata ki ore’
effort, Modi said.
“Special campaigns
are also being run in
ministries and depart-
ments to remove the old
and pending material.
Some very interesting
things have happened
throughthiscampaign.”
“When this cleanliness
drive was started in the
Department of Post, the
junkyard there became
completely empty and
turned into a courtyard
and cafeteria.
LAST EDITION OF MANN KI BAAT IN 2021
New Delhi: PM will
hold Pariksha Pe Char-
cha with students be-
fore the annual exams
in 2022. Addressing the
nation in the 84th epi-
sode of his monthly ra-
dio programme 'Mann
Ki Baat' on Sunday,
PM said, "I discuss
such similar topics
with students on ex-
ams. This year also I am
planning to discuss
with the students be-
fore the exams. The reg-
istration for this pro-
gramme is also going to
start two days later, Dec
28 onwards on Mygov.
in. The registration will
be from Dec 28 to Jan
20."Modi said an online
competition will also be
organized for teachers,
and parents of class IX
to XII students. "I would
like you all to take part
in this. I will get an op-
portunity to meet you.
Together we will brain-
storm on many aspects
related to examination.
PM Modi to hold Pariksha Pe Charcha
2022: Registration begins on Dec 28
‘AWARENESS, DISCIPLINE OUR
STRENGTH IN FIGHTING OMICRON’
MODI LAUDS AP
AIRGUN SURRENDER
CAMPAIGN New Delhi: Amid the spread of the Omicron variant
of coronavirus, PM Modi on Sunday said self-
awareness and self-discipline are the country's
strengths in fighting against the novel variant
of the COVID. Addressing the nation in the 84th
episode of his monthly radio programme 'Mann
Ki Baat' on Sunday, Prime Minister said, "Friends,
we also have to keep in mind that a new variant of
coronavirus has already knocked at the door. Our
scientists are continuously studying this new Omi-
cron variant. They are getting new data every day,
their suggestions are being worked upon. In such a
situation, self-awareness and self-discipline are the
country's strengths in fighting against this variant
of coronavirus. It is this very collective strength of
ours that will defeat COVID; with this very sense of
responsibility, we have to enter into 2022."
New Delhi: Prime
Minister on Sunday
congratulated the people
of Arunachal Pradesh for
adopting "Airgun Sur-
render Campaign" and
stated that more than
1,600 airguns have been
surrendered voluntarily
by the people here, "In
this campaign, people
are voluntarily surrender-
ing their airguns, so that
indiscriminate hunting of
birds can be stopped in
Arunachal Pradesh.
Dispur: Hours after ex-
horting BJP's state unit
leaders to surrender
their "security cover",
Assam CM Himanta
Biswa Sarma on Sun-
day revealed that BJPs'
Karimganj President
Subrata Bhattacharjee
has surrendered his
Personal Security Of-
ficer (PSO) on Saturday
.
The decision came
after Sarma asked BJP's
state unit leaders to sur-
render their security.
The CM had reportedly
said that having a PSO
is "Congress culture"
and "we do not have any
threat of life for we
have done nothing
wrong". Sarma tweeted,
"I am in deep gratitude,
& grateful to Sri Subra-
ta Bhattacharjee, Presi-
dent BJP Karimganj for
having given up his
PSO on my request.
HIMANTA LAUDS BJP
KARIMGANJ CHIEF
New Delhi: An Indian
Army officer would
face a general court-
martial on 12 different
charges of corruption
and wrongdoings dur-
ing the demonetisation
exercise carried out in
Nov 2016 when some
new currency notes
were introduced and
old notes taken out of
circulation.
The GCM is sched-
uled to begin from Janu-
ary 10, 2022, at the West-
ern Command head-
quarters where discipli-
nary proceedings in the
cases related to corrup-
tion in demonetisation
have been going on. The
Army Captain was post-
ed in the Army Postal
Services in the Delhi
area during the demon-
etisation process when
the alleged acts of cor-
ruption took place, govt
sources told ANI. As
per the charges against
the Captain, through
"illegal means", he al-
lowed an exchange of
old currency notes for
new notes on various
occasions on days when
no transaction was al-
lowed.The Indian
Army has been taking
strict action.
ARMY CAPTAIN
FACES COURT
MARTIAL FOR
CHEATING
New Delhi: Congress
MP Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury has writ-
ten a letter to PM Modi
regarding Covid Hos-
pital in West Bengal's
Murshidabad and
Kalyani.
"I am very thankful
to you for sanctioning
two covid hospitals,
one for Murshidabad
and another for Kalya-
ni on my request
through the PM-Cares
Fund," the release
read. "However, six
months have passed,
but no progress has
been made in the con-
struction/establish-
ment of the said hospi-
tals," Chowdhury said.
"In view of third-wave
lurking around, I
would request you to
kindly instruct the
state govt to do the
needful on their part
in respect of the es-
tablishment of the
a b ove - m e n t i o n e d
makeshift covid hos-
pital and you may
also like to instruct
the concerned depart-
ment for the same.
Cong’s Adhir Ranjan writes to PM
regarding two Covid Hosps in WB
Bengaluru: With the
state witnessing a rise
in Omicron cases, the
Karnataka govt has
decided to impose a
night curfew from Dec
28 from 10 pm to 5 am
for ten days.
The announcement
came after Karnataka
CM Basavaraj Bommai
chaired a meeting with
cabinet colleagues, the
state chief secretary,
and other senior offi-
cials from health and
police departments.
Addressing a press
conferenceon Sunday ,
Karnataka Health Min
K Sudhakar said,. New
Year celebrations at
pubs, restaurants and
hotels are banned. Sec-
tion 144 will be im-
posed in the state from
December 28.” Sudha-
kar added, “Only 50
per cent seating ar-
rangements are al-
lowed in hotels.
He also said the
COVID-19 vaccine will
be administered to
children aged 15 to 18
and booster shot to
those above 60 years
and have comorbidity
conditions.
NIGHTCURFEWINK’TAKAFOR10 DAYS
35% OF ADULT POPULATION
YET TO BE VACCINATED: CONG
New Delhi: With the number of Omicron cases
rising in India, the Congress attacked the Centre
and asked by when the govt is intending to vac-
cinate the remaining 35 per
cent of the adult population
of the country.Speaking
at the press conference,
Congress spokesperson
Randeep Surjewala said,
“According to the PIB data
and affidavit submitted in
the Supreme Court, around 36 crore of the
eligible population is yet to receive the second
dose of COVID dose while 11 crores to get both
the doses. By when the govt will inoculate this
population? The govt had promised to vaccinate
the adult population by December 31. However,
it has not fulfilled the promise.”The Congress
party also questioned why the government is
administering vaccines to children.
New Delhi: Modi
on Sunday praised
the "Drone show"
organized in the
Residency area
of Lucknow and
said that different
aspects of the Indian
freedom struggle
were brought to life
by the show. This
drone show was
organized in the
Residency area of
Lucknow."Describing
the 'Drone show',
the PM said that
different aspects of
the Indian free-
dom struggle were
brought to life during
the show."Similarly,
you can also bring
to the people the
unique aspects re-
lated to the freedom
movement con-
nected to your cities,
villages.
PM MODI
PRAISES
‘DRONE SHOW’
ORGANIZED IN
LUCKNOW
PM recalls
late Group
Captain Varun
Singh’s letter
New Delhi: Modi
on Sunday lauded
late Group Captain
Varun Singh for
giving the mantra
of turning “ordi-
nary into extraordi-
nary” in a letter
written to his
School Principal af-
ter receiving Shau-
rya Chakra by Pres-
ident Ram Nath
Kovind for his act
of exceptional gal-
lantry. “Many peo-
ple are engaged in
serving ‘Maa
Bharati’ and touch-
es heights with
pride everyday.
They teach us a lot
of things. This was
the life of our
Group Captain
Varun Singh who
died in Tamil Nadu
chopper crash.
He informed that the Ministry of Envi-
ronment has also converted its vacant
junkyard into a wellness centre and the
Ministry of Urban Affairs has installed a
Swachh ATM too. —Narendra Modi, PM
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: The sudden
premature repatriation
on Sunday of Special
Director in the Intelli-
gence Bureau Sunil Ku-
mar Bansal, a 1987
batch IPS, to the parent
cadre of Odisha is seen
to have been done with
a view to making him
the next state DGP as
the incumbent Abhay, a
1986 batch IPS officer, is
scheduled to retire on
December 31 after com-
pleting his two-year
term (including six
months of extension).
Bansal’s repatriation
is seen similar to an-
other Special Director
N K Mishra (1988 batch
IPS) who was repatri-
ated from IB to the cad-
re (Sikkim) state on No-
vember 11, 2021. Three
weeks later Mishra was
made the interim-DGP
of the state.
It may be pointed that
earlier Special Director
(IB) Sheel Vardhan Sin-
gh (IPS:1986:BH) was
drafted as DG, CISF on
November 09, 2021.
Singh’s appointment
in CISF and simultane-
ous repatriation of NK
Mishra was seen in of-
ficial circles as part of
a plan to pave the way
for appointing the next
IB Chief. However, soon
after (on November 16,
2021) the government
empowered itself to ex-
tend the services of
certain key investigat-
ing officials including
the IB chief. This
cleared the fog on the
succession issue in the
IB and necessitated the
suitable accommoda-
tion of its senior offi-
cials. Bansal’s repatria-
tion followed this
scheme of things.
To settle the matter,
the UPSC on December
09, 2021, conducted a
meeting joined by state
chief secretary Suresh
Chandra Mahapatra
and outgoing DGP Ab-
hay, both 1986 batch of-
ficers, at its Delhi office.
It may be noted that
the Odisha government
had already issued a no-
tification in November,
allowing Abhay to su-
perannuate on Decem-
ber 31. It may be under-
lined that Abhay is the
first Odisha DGP to
serve for two full years
as stipulated by the Su-
preme Court. The state
government also sub-
mitted a list of three
prospective candidates
for selection as the next
state DGP. Bansal’s
name figured in the list.
Though, initially
Sunil Kumar Bansal’s
appointment for the
DGP post seemed bleak
as he has been away
from Odisha for more
than 15 years on central
deputation. But finally,
with repatriation or-
ders notified by the
Centre on Sunday,
Bansal is set to succeed
Abhay as Odisha DGP.
IB’s Spl Dir prematurely
repatriated, set to take
over as Odisha DGP
CM Himanta Biswa
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
MP Adhir Ranjan
Sunil Kumar Bansal

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 118
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
The life and work of Dr. Kurella
Vittalacharya shows it is never late to
fulfil one’s desires and that there is no
bigger happiness than furthering the
joys of learning. #MannKiBaat
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Congratulations to all the winners
of YUVA: Prime Minister’s Scheme
for Mentoring Young Authors! I’m
sure they will go on to become
ambassadors of Indian literature,
culture and heritage.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
A person can rise through
the efforts of his own mind;
or draw himself down, in
the same manner. Because
each person is his own
friend or enemy.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
CJI RAMANA
SPEAKS SOME
HARSH TRUTHS
ABOUT POWERS OF
JUDICIAL REVIEW
hat the Central and
several state govern-
ments are becoming
authoritarian is no
secret. Nothing ex-
emplifies that better than the
CEC being told to be present at a
meeting chaired by the Principal
Secretary in the PMO. It amount-
ed to the subordination of a con-
stitutional body by the execu-
tive. Warning against this ten-
dency Chief Justice of India NV
Ramana said that having brute
majority in parliament does not
allow a government to take arbi-
trary actions. He also made it
clear that functioning democra-
cy in the country hinges upon
judicial review, which the judici-
ary has been entrusted with.
Judicial review is the power
given to courts to examine deci-
sions of the legislature, execu-
tive and the administration. In
recent times this power has
been criticised as judicial over-
reach or activism by the govern-
ment which prefers all constitu-
tional bodies to be subservient
to it. If the judiciary continues
to be under constant malicious
attacks threatening its inde-
pendence, democracy will be
reduced to a farce.
TOP TWEETS
T
igns are ominous.
Bajrang Dal and
other hard right
wing Hindu out-
fits, which are
close to running a parallel ad-
ministration in some places,
are out to make India unliva-
ble for Christians Muslims.
Christmas celebrations were
disrupted in several states by
Bajrang Dal. The vandalism
came about a week after some
speakers at the Dharm San-
sad held at Haridwar from
December 17-19, threatened to
ransack hotels commercial
establishments where Christ-
mas celebrations were being
held. Festival of joy turned
into one of fear gloom as
right-wing hoodlums went
about disrupting revelry in
Haryana’s Gurugram Ku-
rukshetra, at a school in Kar-
nataka’s Mandya district by
Hindu Jagarana Vedike and
Assam’s Cachar and Silchar
districts. The reasons given
for disruptions varied from
alleged conversion to absence
of pictures of Hindu gods and
goddesses on the walls and for
not celebrating Tulsi Diwas.
With police not registering
any case these forces only get
emboldened joie de vivre
of Christian Muslim fes-
tivities is gradually losing its
fervour. Using strong-arm
tactics is aimed at marginal-
ising these communities and
preventing participation by
others. These outfits thus
seem to be succeeding as law
enforcement agencies prefer
to remain mute spectators as
happened in Assam, Karna-
taka and Haryana.
With Bajrang Dal, Hindu
Jagarana Vedike sundry
othersuchoutfitsontheprowl,
India is trying to make its way
to becoming a Hindu rashtra,
where Hinduism’s peaceful co-
existence with other religions
may become difficult.
XMAS DISRUPTIONS
A GRIM POINTER
Reasons given for
disruptions varied from
alleged conversion to
absence of pictures of
Hindu gods
goddesses on walls
and for not celebrating
Tulsi Diwas. With police
not registering any case
these forces only get
emboldened
S
Jinnah: The man who created
Pakistan the way he wanted!
he date of the birth of Mo-
hammed Ali Jinnah remains
somethingof amystery
.Inthe
registerof hisschool,inKara-
chi, the date given is October
20, 1875. M.A. Jinnah always
maintained that he was born
on Christmas Day in 1876.
Why am I writing about
Jinnah? Yesterday I finished
reading, “Jinnah”: His Suc-
cesses, Failures and Role in
History. The volume is 808
pages long. The author is,
Ishtiaq Ahmed, who is cur-
rently professor emeritus of
political science at Stock-
holm University
.
Whenever I am asked,
“Whowasthemostsuccessful
pre-1947 Indian politician”,
my answer is “M.A. Jinnah.”
Jinnah was a brilliant law-
yer, before becoming an as-
tute and brilliant politician.
Almost all his life he lived
in Bombay
. By the age of 35 he
was a millionaire. He lived in
a palatial house in Malabar
Hill. He married late in life.
His wife came from an emi-
nent Parsi family. The mar-
riage was not a happy one.
Jinnah at one time was
called the “ambassador” of
Hindu-Muslim Unity”, by no
less a person than Sarojini
Naidu. He was member of
the newly founded Muslim
League and also of Congress.
When Gandhiji finally re-
turned to India from South
Africa in January 1915, Jin-
nah warmly welcomed him.
By 1920 Gandhiji had be-
come the Congress supremo.
Jinnah did not participate in
the non-cooperation move-
ment. He was for achieving
India’sindependencethrough
constitutional means.
He finally left the Congress
in 1928. Feeling politically
frustrated, he left for London
in 1930. He bought a house in
the upper class part of Lon-
don- Hampstead, was driven
byanEnglishChauffeurinhis
master’sRollsRoyce.Jinnah’s
lawpracticeflourished.Heap-
parently made a lot of money
.
The Muslim League was
rudderless, an elitist party of
Muslim Talukdars and rich
land owners. On the pleading
of Liaquat Ali Khan and oth-
er leaders, Jinnah was per-
suaded to return to India.
This he did in 1935.
Single handedly, he con-
verted the Muslim League
into a mass organisation.
The Congress did not take
him too seriously. Major po-
litical misjudgment. In the
1937 provincial elections the
performance of the Muslim
League was dismal. The Con-
gress did exceptionally well
and formed governments in
six out of eleven provinces.
In 1938-39 the Congress
faced serious internal prob-
lem. The Mahatma and Sub-
hash Chandra Bose did not
get on. Eventually Gandhi
had his way
.
GandhijilaunchedtheQuit
India movement on August 8,
1942. On the 9th he and all
members of the Congress
Working Committee were ar-
rested. The Mahatma for once
got it wrong. The Quit India
movement lasted for seven to
eight months and was bru-
tally suppressed by the Vice-
roy. The political field was
now at Jinnah’s hands.
From 1942 to 1947 The Mus-
lim League became a major
factor in India’s politics.
The Muslims were not a
minority but a nation, was
Jinnah’s unbeatable slogan.
India had to be divided. It was
on August 14-15 1947. Hence,
the India Freedom Movement
ended in partial failure.
Nehru himself conceded this.
M.A Jinnah did not spend
even a day in jail, did not face
a lathi charge nor took part
in a political hurtle. By 1946
he abandoned constitutional-
ism and resorted to Direct
Action. Recall the Calcutta
killings. Almost single- hand-
edly (the British behind the
curtain did help him) he cre-
ated Pakistan. Steadfast big-
otry and communalism suc-
ceeded. Millions of innocent
lives were lost when India
was partitioned.
Was Jinnah a great man?
In many ways, ‘he was.’ He
created a nation. However, he
could be disagreeably petty.
When Gandhiji was assassi-
nated, Jinnah issued the fol-
lowing incredible and grace-
less statement:
“Whatever our political
differences, he was one of the
greatest man produced by the
Hindu community, and a
leader who commanded their
universal confidence and re-
spect.
“I wish to express my sor-
row, and sincerely sympa-
thize with the great Hindu
Community and his family in
their bereavement at this mo-
mentous, historical and criti-
cal juncture so soon after the
birth of freedom and freedom
of Hindustan and Pakistan.
“The loss to the Dominion
of India is irreparable, and it
will be very difficult to fill
the vacuum created by the
passing away of such a great
man at this moment.”
But deeply moving and sin-
cere homage was paid to Gan-
dhiji in the Pakistan Constit-
uent Assembly by Prime
Minister Liaquat Ali Khan,
by the East Bengal premier,
Khwaja Nizamuddin, Mian
Mumtaz Daulatana, Premier
of Punjab, M.A. Khuhro, Pre-
mier of Sind.
M.A. Jinnah heard the
tributes to Gandhiji. Finally
he stood up and to some ex-
tent made up for atrocious
earlier statement.
“I have heard the deep ex-
pression of sorrow and grief
and I associate myself with
the tributes that have been
paid to this great man and his
greatness. He died in the dis-
charge of duty in which he
was engaged. He was man of
principles and when he be-
lieved that it was his duty he
took it up and performed it.
His tragic death, however,
much as we may deplore and
condemn it, was a noble
death for he died in the dis-
charge of the duty in which
he believed. I will convey the
message as desired by you,
Mr. Prime Minister, to the In-
dian people in due course.”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
Jinnah at one time was
called the “ambassador” of
Hindu-Muslim Unity”, by
no less a person than
Sarojini Naidu. He was
member of the newly
founded Muslim League
and also of Congress. By
1920 Gandhiji had become
the Congress supremo.
Jinnah did not participate
in the non-cooperation
movement.
The Muslim were not a
minority but a nation, was
Jinnah’s unbeatable
slogan. India had to be
divided. It was on August
14-15 1947. Hence, the
India Freedom
Movement ended in
partial failure. Nehru
himself conceded this.
M.A. Jinnah did not spend
even a day in jail, didn’t
face a lathi charge nor took
part in a political hurtle. By
1946, he abandoned
constitutionalism and
resorted to Direct Action.
K NATWAR SINGH
The author is Former Minister
of External Affairs of India

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INDIA
05
New Delhi: A day after
dra Modi authorised
booster dose and vacci-
nation of those above 15
years of age, the Con-
gress has questioned
the availability of jabs.
The party demanded
vaccination for all
above 3 years of age.
Addressing a press
conference, party Gen-
eral Secretary Randeep
Singh Surjewala said:
“Is Modi Govt failing
India by tepid response
to Omicron variant bor-
dering on directionless
drift? Is India’s Covid-19
vaccine policy marred
by failure of leadership,
rudderless response
and planless prepara-
tion?”
Wounds inflicted by
the pandemic will not
be healed by lip service
or coming on the televi-
sion and the govern-
ment cannot run away
from its responsibilities
by changing vaccina-
tion policy each day, he
said.
The Congress alleged
that the government is
playing with the lives
of the people.
Surjewala asked
when will 47.95 crore
people, whose second
dose is due, be vacci-
nated?
“As per the govern-
ment, the population of
those over 18 years is 94
crore. But according to
the government data till
December 25, 36.50
crore people have not
received the second
dose, while 11.45 crore
have not received even
one dose,” he claimed.
“The government
said that the vaccine
manufacturing capaci-
ty will be 16.80 crore per
month but the required
dose is 95 crore. How is
it possible to vaccinate
people in 149 days?”
Surjewala asked.
PM Modi on Saturday
announced that people
in the age group of 15-18
years will be eligible to
get vaccine against nov-
el coronavirus from
January 3, 2022. “The
decision to vaccinate
children will not only
strengthen our fight
against COVID, rather
it would also reduce the
worries of parents
whose children are go-
ing to schools,” the
Prime Minister said
while announcing the
major decision. Apart
from children’s vac-
cine, a precaution dose
for healthcare workers
will also start from Jan-
uary 10. —AGENCIES
Srinagar: The killer of
a police official was
among the six terrorists
neutralised in the last 48
hours in four anti-ter-
rorist operations in
Kashmir, officials said
on Sunday
.
Police said based on
intelligence regarding
the presence of a terror-
ist in a Anantnag’s vil-
lage, a joint cordon and
search operation was
launched by the police
and army’s 3 RR on Sat-
urday
.
“During the search
operation, presence of
terrorist was ascer-
tained, we’ve asked him
to surrender. But in-
stead of surrender he
fired indiscriminately
upon the joint search
party which retaliated
leading to an encoun-
ter,” police said.
In the ensuing en-
counter, the trapped ter-
rorist was killed. “He
has been identified as
Faheem Bhat, a resident
of Kandipora, Anant-
nag.” police said
Incriminating mate-
rials, including arms
and ammunition, were
recovered from his pos-
session.
Pertinently
, in the last
48 hours, joint teams of
police and the security
forces neutralised six
terrorists in four suc-
cessful anti-terrorist op-
erations without any
collateral damage.
6 terrorists killed in 48-hrs in Kashmir security ops
TENSION IN VALLEY
When will 47.95 crore people with second dose due be vaccinated? asks Surjewala
AS INDIA OPENS VAX FOR 15-18,
CONG QUESTIONS AVAILABILITY
‘PM present at campaigns
but absent in Parliament’
Kalaburagi (Karna-
taka) : Leader of the
Opposition in Rajya
Sabha Mallikarjun
Kharge took a dig at
dra Modi on Sunday by
saying that the “PM
could make himself
available for the elec-
tion campaign every
day but he chose to be
absent in the Parlia-
ment for all the days.”
“There was logjam in
the Rajya Sabha. He
could have come and
eased it out but he
didn’t,” said Kharge.
On PM Modi’s an-
nouncement of a vacci-
nation drive for chil-
dren between 15 and 18
years of age from Janu-
ary 3 and booster doses
for healthcare and
frontline workers,
Kharge said that there
is nothing to talk about
it as the COVID-19 third
wave is the same
throughout the world
and all the Prime Min-
isters and Presidents
around the world are
taking necessary pre-
cautions.
“It is just that our
PM talks about his
achievements and be-
lieves in addressing the
nation rather than do-
ing actual work on
COVID-19. He had even
decreased the deaths
due to COVID-19 infec-
tion”, the leader of Op-
position added.
“Before this never
have a Prime Minis-
ters ever done public-
ity for his party just
like PM Narendra
Modi does for BJP”,
added Kharge.
Kharge opined that a
leader should think
about making common
people’s lives better in-
stead of “dictating
them about what to eat
and how to live.” —ANI
‘Tell RaGa that respect being
commanded, not demanded’
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister of Parliamentary
Affairs Pralhad Joshi on
Sunday slammed Con-
gress MP Jairam
Ramesh and his col-
leagues for allegedly in-
dulging in hooliganism
duringmonsoonsession.
Sharing a video of
the monsoon session of
the Parliament, Joshi in
a tweet said, “As peo-
ple’s representatives, it
is the duty of Parlia-
mentarians to respect
the Chair and behave in
a manner worthy of
their standing. Howev-
er Jairam Ramesh,
your colleagues chose
disruption over debate.
It was unfortunate as
the whole country wit-
nessed their sheer hoo-
liganism.”
Joshi further
slammed Rahul Gandhi
and said that respect is
commanded and not de-
manded,
“To err is human but
to repeatedly justify it
is foolish. We were al-
ways ready to withdraw
suspension had your
colleagues apologised,
but they were only jus-
tifying. You must not
lose your way while
pleasing RaGa. Do tell
him about respect being
commanded and not de-
manded,” he said. —ANI
CRUCIAL READ
MAHA GOVT DENIED NOD FOR NADDA’S
VISIT TO VAJPAYEE STATUE EVENT : BJP
Mumbai: BJP president J P Nadda’s visit to Mumbai to
unveil a statue of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vaj-
payee was cancelled, following which the party claimed
the Maharashtra government denied permission for
the event at the last minute.
The event was scheduled on
Saturday, on the occasion of
Vajpayee’s birth anniversary,
at a sports complex in sub-
urban Kandivali. Maharashtra
is currently governed by the
three-party alliance of the Shiv
Sena, NCP and Congress. BJP
Lok Sabha member from north Mumbai Gopal Shetty
claimed that state Sports Minister Sunil Kedar “denied
permission for the event at the last minute”.
PRESIDENT KOVIND GIVES ASSENT TO
SURROGACY (REGULATION) ACT, 2021
New Delhi: The Presidential assent, which came on
Saturday, was published in the government gazette
immediately. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on
Dec 17 after the Rajya Sabha passed it on Dec 8. The
Act defines surrogacy
as a practice where a
woman gives birth to a
child for an intending
couple with the intention
of handing over the child
to the couple after its
birth. The Bill prohibits
commercial surrogacy and allows only altruistic sur-
rogacy which involves no monetary compensation to
the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses
and insurance coverage during pregnancy.
THAROOR CAN GO
OUT OF PARTY:
KERALA CONG CHIEF
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala Pradesh Con-
gress Committee Chief K
Sudhakaran on Sunday
threatened to take ac-
tion against his party
MP Shashi Tharoor,
saying he was only an
individual in the party
and if he does not abide
by the party line ‘he will
have to go out of the
party’. Keral’s Congress
chief Sudhakaran was
speaking to reporters in
his hometown Kannur
while responding to the
political stand taken by
Tharoor that he required
more time to study on
the controversial high-
speed rail project which
is being implemented by
the state government.
AIDE OF FORMER
CM’S PA HELD FOR
TAKING BRIBE
Chennai: The Salem Dis-
trict Crime Branch (DCB)
has arrested a person
who was an aide of for-
mer CM K. Palaniswami’s
personal assistant, for
allegedly taking bribe
from an engineer promis-
ing him a govt job during
the previous AIADMK
regime. The accused K.
Selvakumar (45) of Ka-
dayampatty was arrested
on Saturday. Selvakumar
was a close aide of G.
Mani alias Nadupetti Mani
who was the personal
assistant of Palniswami.
According to the Crime
Branch, Tamil Selvan
(29), was approached by
the duo, demanding Rs
17 lakh bribe in leu of a
job at TNTC.
2 more names in
police complaint
in Haridwar Hate
speech case
Haridwar: Haridwar
Superintendent of Po-
lice (SP) City Shekhar
Suyal on Saturday said
that two more persons
have been named in the
FIR in connection with
the alleged hate speech
in the Dharma Sansad
in Haridwar.
The police have
named Dharm Das and
Annapurna, a woman
in the hate speech case.
Earlier on Wednesday,
police said it had
booked Wasim Rizvi
aka Jitendra Tyagi, and
others under Section
153A Indian Penal Code
in the case.
Meanwhile, Anand
Swaroop, an attendee of
Dharma Sansad said,
“We stand by our state-
ments that are well
thought out. If a person
rapes our sister, won’t
we kill him? Speakers
talkedaboutkillingsuch
persons, not ordinary
Muslims who are our
friends. No one can stop
India from becoming
Hindu Rashtra”. —ANI
TWO COPS INJURED IN GRENADE
ATTACK IN JK’S PULWAMA
RAHUL GANDHI TO LAUNCH PUNJAB
POLL CAMPAIGN ON JAN 3 FROM MOGA
Pulwama: Two policemen were injured in a
militant attack, as a grenade was hurled towards a
police party in south
Kashmir’s Pulwama
district on Sunday.
Reports said the
militants lobbed the
grenade towards a
police party near the
Pulwama Post Office,
causing splinter injuries to two policemen. The
injured cops were immediately shifted to a hospital
while the area was cordoned off to nab the attack-
ers, according to reports.
New Delhi: Cong leader Rahul Gandhi
will start campaigning for the Punjab
assembly election from January 3,
sources reported. He will address
a rally in Moga on January 3. Pun-
jab assembly polls will be held in
2022. In the 2017 Punjab Assem-
bly polls, Congress won
an absolute major-
ity in the state by
winning 77 seats
and ousted
the SAD-BJP
govt. —ANI
Joint teams of police and the security forces have neutralised six
terrorists so far. —FILE PHOTO
Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
New Delhi: The Indian
Medical Association
(IMA) on Sunday said
that the Centre should
ensure the large-scale
availability of Cov-
axin if a mixed match
policy is adopted
for booster doses
for healthcare work-
ers, as the majority
of the people have
taken Covishield as
their first and second
doses. “On behalf
of the frontline and
healthcare workers,
we hail the announce-
ment of the Prime
Minister for the
precautionary booster
dose for healthcare
and frontline work-
ers. It is the right
step as the imminent
third wave by the new
variant is a matter of
concern. “Omicron is
at our doorstep and
we need to protect our
healthcare and front-
line workers in all pos-
sible ways”, the IMA
said in a statement.
On the ongoing RDA
strike which has hit all
the medical services
in the national capital,
the IMA said that the
issue of expediting
PG counseling is the
need of the hour to
increase manpower
ahead of the looming
third wave threat. The
infrastructure without
manpower is a futile
measure, it added.
The association has
also welcomed the
government’s decision
to inoculate children
between 15-18 years
of age. J A Jayalal,
National President of
the IMA, said: “The
IMA also welcomes the
much-awaited decision
of vaccination for chil-
dren from January 3.
At this moment of reo-
pening of schools, this
will be the welcome
step to bring additional
safety to children. The
vaccination process
for children must be
handled with much
more care and con-
stant monitoring and
surveillance must be
ensured.” —PTI
ENSURE
AVAILABILITY
OF COVAXIN
IF MIXED
MATCH
POLICY FOR
BOOSTER
IS ADOPTED:
IMA
“As per the government,
the population of those
over 18 years is 94 crore.
But according to the
government data till De-
cember 25, 36.50 crore
people have not received
the second dose, while
11.45 crore have not re-
ceived even one dose”
—Randeep Surjewala,
Gen Secy
INDIA’S
OMICRON TALLY
TOUCHES 422
CHINA’SSINOVACINSUFFICIENTAGAINSTOMICRON:STUDY
As many as 422
Omicron cases
have been detected
across 17 states and
UTs in India so far and
130 of these people
have recovered or
migrated, according to
Union health ministry
data updated on Sun-
day. Maharashtra has
recorded the highest
number of Omicron
cases at 108, fol-
lowed by Delhi at 79,
Gujarat 43, Telangana
41, Kerala 38, Tamil
Nadu 34 and Karna-
taka 31. India’s total
caseload increased to
3,47,86,802.
Contradicting the vaccine maker’s pro-
nouncement, a new study has found
that third dose of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vax
does not provide sufficient protection
against the Omicron variant. According to
Nikkei Asia, the University of Hong Kong
(HKU) and the Chinese University study,
a third shot of what is one of the world’s
most widely used Covid-19 vaccines does
not produce enough levels of virus-neu-
tralising antibodies. Sinovac last week said
its own study had found that a third dose
was “effective in improving the serum
neutralising against the omicron strain”.
Rahul Gandhi
Mallikarjun Kharge

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: The GST
regime will see a host
of tax rate and proce-
dural changes coming
into effect from Janu-
ary 1, including liabil-
ity on e-commerce op-
erators to pay tax on
services provided
through them by way
of passenger transport
or restaurant services.
Also, the correction in
inverted duty structure
in footwear and textile
sectors would come
into effect from Satur-
day wherein all foot-
wear, irrespective of
prices will attract GST
at 12% while all textile
products, except cot-
ton, including ready-
made garments will
have 12% GST.
While the passenger
transport services pro-
vided by auto rickshaw
d r iv -
e r s t h ro u g h
offline/ manual mode
would continue to be
exempt, such services
whenprovidedthrough
any e-commerce plat-
form would become
taxable effective Janu-
ary 1, 2022, at 5% rate.
The procedural
changes that would
come into effect in-
clude e-commerce op-
erators, such as Swiggy
and Zomato, being
made liable to collect
and deposit GST with
the government on res-
taurant services sup-
plied through them
from January 1. They
would also be required
to issue invoices in re-
spect of such services.
There would be no
extra tax burden on the
end consumer as cur-
r e n t l y r e s -
taurants are collecting
and depositing GST.
Only, the compliance
of deposit and invoice
raising has now been
shifted to food delivery
platforms.
The move comes af-
ter government esti-
mates showed that tax
loss to exchequer due
to alleged underreport-
ing by food delivery ag-
gregators is `2,000 over
the past two years.
Making these plat-
forms liable for GST
deposits would curb
tax evasion.
The other anti-eva-
sion measures which
would come into effect
from the new year in-
clude mandatory Aad-
haar authentication for
claiming GST refund.
—PTI
to come into
effect from
January 1
Host of changes in GST law
GST @ 12%
Reducecustomdutyonraw
materials:Aluminiumindustry
New Delhi: The do-
mestic aluminium in-
dustry has sought re-
duction in basic cus-
tom duty and correc-
tion in inverted duty
structure on critical
raw materials, includ-
ing pet coke, caustic
soda, aluminium fluo-
ride and alumina, to
encourage cost com-
petitiveness in the sec-
tor.
The domestic alu-
minium industry, un-
der representation
from the Aluminium
Association of India
(AAI), has sought im-
mediate government
support through the
forthcoming Union
Budget 2022-23.
It has also requested
an increase in tariff
rate of basic custom
duty for aluminium
and articles from 10 to
15% in line with the
steel sector, according
to pre budget expecta-
tions from the AAI.
An increase in the
basic custom duty of
primary aluminium
from 7.5 per cent to 10
per cent, aluminium
scrap from 2.5% to 10%
and downstream alu-
minium products from
7.5% to 10% has also
been requested, it said.
The primary alu-
minium industry is
facing severe threat
from the increasing
import of aluminium
and scrap.
The share of scrap
in total imports in-
creased from 52% in
FY’16 to 71 % in the
first half of FY’22 and
is resulting in a forex
outgo of $ 2 billion (Rs
15,000 crore) per an-
num. —PTI
The primary
aluminium industry
is facing severe
threat from the
increasing import
of aluminium and
scrap
World economy to top
$100 trillion in 2022
London: The world’s
economic output will
exceed $100 trillion for
the first time next year
and it will take China
a little longer than pre-
viously thought to
overtake the United
States as the No 1 econ-
omy, a report showed
on Sunday
.
British consultancy
Cebr predicted China
will become the
world’s top econo-
my in dollar
terms in 2030,
two years later
than forecast in
last year’s World
Economic League
Table report.
India looks set to
overtake France next
year and then Britain
in 2023 to regain its
place as the world’s
sixth biggest economy,
Cebr said.
“The important is-
sue for the 2020s is how
the
world
economies cope with
inflation, which has
now reached 6.8% in
the US,” said Cebr dep-
uty chairman Douglas
McWilliams.
“We hope that a rela-
tively modest adjust-
ment to the tiller will
bring the non-transi-
tory elements under
control. If not, then
the world will need to
brace itself for a re-
cession in 2023 or
2024.”
The report showed
Germany was on track
to overtake Japan in
terms of economic
output in 2033. Russia
could become a Top 10
economy by 2036 and
Indonesia looks on
track for ninth place in
2034. —Agencies
British
consultancy
Cebr predicted
China will become the
world’s top economy
in dollar terms in
2030
India imposes antidumping duty on 5 Chinese goods
New Delhi: India has
imposed antidumping
duties on five Chinese
products, including
certain aluminium
goods and some chemi-
cals, for five years to
guard local manufac-
turers from cheap im-
ports from the neigh-
bouring country. Ac-
cording to separate
notifications of the
Central Board of Indi-
rect Taxes and Cus-
toms (CBIC), the duties
have been imposed on
certain flat rolled prod-
ucts of aluminium; so-
dium hydrosulphite
(used on dye industry);
silicone sealant (used
in manufacturing of
solar photovoltaic mod-
ules, and thermal pow-
er applications); hydro-
fluorocarbon (HFC)
component R-32; and
hydrofluorocarbon
blends (both have uses
in refrigeration indus-
try).
These duties were
imposed following rec-
ommendations of the
commerce ministry’s
investigation arm Di-
rectorate General of
Trade Remedies
(DGTR).
The DGTR in sepa-
rate probes have con-
cluded that these prod-
ucts have been export-
ed at a price below nor-
mal value in Indian
markets, which has re-
sulted in dumping.
The domestic indus-
try has suffered mate-
rial injury due to the
dumping, the DGTR
has said.
The CBIC has also
imposed the duty on a
vehicle component -
Axle for Trailers in
CKD/SKD (complete
and semi knocked
down) to protect do-
mestic makers from
cheap Chinese imports.
Similarly it has also
slapped the duty on im-
ports of calcined gyp-
sum powder from Iran,
Oman, Saudi Arabia
and United Arab Emir-
ates (UAE) for five
years. —PTI
Omicron situation,
global trends to guide
equities this week
Mumbai: Stock
markets are expect-
ed to see volatility
this week due to po-
tential risk from
Omicron variant
and monthly deriva-
tives expiry, say an-
alysts.
“Markets will
continue to see vola-
tility and whipsaw-
like movements as
they respond to
Omicron-related de-
velopment and the
monthly expiry,”
said Yesha Shah,
Head of Equity Re-
search, Samco Secu-
rities.
Ajit Mishra, VP
– Research, Religare
Broking Ltd said,
“Markets are close-
ly eyeing the COVID
situation and any
positive news could
only help the index
to make any sus-
tainable up move
else volatility will
continue.” Invest-
ment trend of for-
eign investors,
movement of the
rupee and Brent
crude would also be
crucial for markets
direction.
“While the relief
rally might contin-
ue for some more
time, volatility can-
not be ruled out on
account of potential
risk from Omicron
variant and fragile
global cues,” said
Siddhartha Khem-
ka, Head – Retail Re-
search, Motilal Os-
wal Financial Ser-
vices Ltd.
The BSE bench-
mark gained 112.57
points or 0.10 per
cent in the last
week.
—PTI
New Delhi: The National Company
Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
has imposed a stay on
the orders passed by
fair trade regulator CCI
slapping penalties on
several beer makers,
including United Brewer-
ies which faces a fine of
`751.8 crore. Passing an
interim order, a two-mem-
ber NCLAT bench has directed parties,
including United Breweries, to deposit
10% of the penalty amount by way of
‘Fixed Deposit Receipt’ within three
weeks. The CCI on Sept 24, 2021,
imposed penalties totalling over
`873 crore on UBL, Carlsberg
India, All India Brewers’ Associ-
ation (AIBA) and 11 individuals
for cartelisation in the sale and
supply of beer. —PTI
NCLAT STAYS `873 CRORE CCI PENALTY ON BEER MAKERS
Major Indian carriers’
dues to AAI doubled
New Delhi: Dues of
four major domestic
airlines -- IndiGo,
SpiceJet, Go First and
AirAsia India -- to the
Airports Authority of
India (AAI) more than
doubled between Jan-
uary 2020 and Oct 2021,
according to internal
AAI documents.
Air India, however,
continues to be the do-
mestic carrier with
the highest amount of
dues to the AAI. As
per the documents,
Air India’s dues to the
AAI have increased
from `2,183.71 crore as
on January 1, 2020, to
`2,362.36 crore as on
October 31, 2021.
An airline has to
pay various charges
like air navigation,
landing, parking etc to
the AAI to use facili-
ties at any of its more
than 100 airports.
Both Air India and the
AAI work under the
Civil Aviation Minis-
try
.
India has six major
domestic carriers, In-
diGo, SpiceJet, GoAir,
AirAsia India, Air In-
dia and Vistara, which
owed the AAI a total of
`2,306.59 crore as on
Jan 1, 2020. —PTI
439 infrastructure projects show
cost overrun of `4.38 trillion
New Delhi: As many as
439 infrastructure pro-
jects, each entailing in-
vestment of `150 crore
or more, have been hit
by cost overruns total-
ling more than `4.38
lakh crore.
The Ministry of Sta-
tistics and Programme
Implementation moni-
tors infrastructure pro-
jects of `150 crore and
above. Of 1,679 such
projects, 439 projects re-
ported cost over-
runs and 541
projects were
delayed.
“Total origi-
nal cost of im-
plementation
of the 1,679 pro-
jects was
` 22,29,544.27
crore and their
a n t i c i p a t e d
c o m p l e t i o n
cost is likely
to be `26,67,593.85 crore,
which reflects overall
cost overruns of
4,38,049.58 crore (19.65%
of original cost),” the
ministry’s latest report
for November 2021 said.
According to the re-
port, the expenditure
incurred on these pro-
jects till Nov 2021 is
`12,88,558.49 crore,
which is
48.30%of
the anticipated cost of
the projects.
However, the report
said that the number of
delayed projects de-
creases to 385 projects if
delay is calculated on
the basis of latest sched-
ule of completion.
Further, for 835 pro-
jects neither the year of
commissioning nor the
tentative gestation pe-
riod has been reported.
Out of the 541 delayed
projects, 90 projects
have overall delay in the
range of 1-12 months,
113 projects have been
delayed for 13-24
months, 212 projects
for 25-60 months and
126 projects have de-
lays of 61 months
and above. The av-
erage time over-
run in these 541
projects is 32.22
months. —PTI
CAUSE FOR DELAY

07
NEWS
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi will visit Kanpur
on December 28 to in-
augurate the complet-
ed section of the Kan-
pur Metro Rail Project
at around 1:30 pm.
During the pro-
gramme, the Prime
Minister will also in-
augurate the Bina-
Panki Multiproduct
Pipeline Project. Ac-
cording to the
Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO), prior to this,
PM Modi will also at-
tend the 54th Convoca-
tion Ceremony of Indi-
an Institutes of Tech-
nology (IIT) Kanpur at
around 11 am.
“Improving urban
mobility has been one
of the key focus areas
of the Prime Minister.
The inauguration of
the completed section
of the Kanpur Metro
Rail Project is yet an-
other step in this direc-
tion. This completed 9
Km long section is from
IIT Kanpur to Moti
Jheel,” it said.
PM Modi will also in-
spect the Kanpur Metro
Rail Project and under-
take a metro ride from
the IIT metro station to
Geeta Nagar.
The entire length of
the Metro Rail Project
in Kanpur is 32 km and
is being built at a cost
of over Rs 11,000 crore.
As per the PMO, the
356 Km long Bina-Pan-
ki Multi Product Pipe-
line Project has a ca-
pacity of around 3.45
million metric tons per
annum.
“Extending from
Bina refinery in Mad-
hya Pradesh to Panki
in Kanpur, the project
has been built at a cost
of over Rs 1500 crore. It
will help the region ac-
cess petroleum prod-
ucts from the Bina re-
finery
,” the PMO added.
During his visit, the
Prime Minister will be
the Chief Guest of the
54th Convocation of IIT
Kanpur.
At the convocation,
all the students will be
issued digital degrees
through an in-house
blockchain-driven
technology developed
at the Institute. —ANI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh is heading to-
wards a no-holds-
barred electoral battle
between ruling BJP and
Samajwadi Party as the
prospects of bipolar
elections in the 2022 as-
sembly elections have
become quite clear.
Both parties have sewed
up a comfortable caste-
based alliance with
smaller parties to up-
stage each other.
While caste strate-
gies are vital for the two
parties and both have
come up with formida-
ble combinations, the
BJP has pushed an ar-
ray of senior leaders
into the campaigning
with unmatched organ-
isational machinery to
counter the SP where
Akhilesh Yadav as of
now is the only star
campaigner.
The recent poll sur-
vey of ABP-C-Voter has
once indicated direct
fight between the two
parties with BJP hav-
ing a clear edge over the
rival SP. The survey in-
dicated 48 per cent peo-
ple preferred BJP to 31
per cent for the SP.
As a part of the nar-
rative, the BJP has also
been trying to revive
the memory of people
about “bad law and or-
der” during the SP re-
gime in 2012-17. Almost
in every speech be it
dra Modi, Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath or
any other leader “SP’s
so-called Mafiosi rule”
has become a regular
phenomenon. The SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav
has been targeting
“five-year misrule of
Baba (Adityanath).”
Mumbai: A delegation
of Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) leaders in Maha-
rashtra, including Ur-
ban Development Min-
ister Eknath Shinde,
Revenue Minister Bala-
saheb Thorat and Food
and Civil Supplies Min-
ister Chhagan Bhujbal,
called on Governor
Bhagat Singh Koshyari
at Raj Bhavan on Sun-
day
.
While the reason for
the meeting remains
unannounced as yet,
the schedule of the elec-
tion to the post of As-
sembly speaker is likely
during the ongoing win-
ter session of the Legis-
lature, which is slated
to end on December 28.
The Governor, inci-
dentally, is yet to ap-
prove 12 names given by
the state government
for nomination to the
Legislative Council
through his quota.
While Shinde is part
of theShivSena,Thorat
is from the Congress
and Bhujbal from the
NCP.
The Sena, Congress
and NCP are the three
main constituents of
the MVA led by Chief
Minister Uddhav
Thackeray
. —PTI
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Industry
leaders from 30 major
sectors participated in
job fairs organised
across the country be-
tween December 17
to 23 as part of the Aza-
di ka Amrit Mahotsav
Campaign.
These job fairs, or-
ganised under the Deen
Dayal Upadhyaya Gra-
meen Kaushalya Yojana
(DDU-GKY)programme
by the Ministry of Ru-
ral Development, were
facilitated by various
State Rural Livelihood
Missions (SRLM) and
Project Implementation
Agencies (PIA). The
programme is current-
ly being implemented
in 27 States and 4 UTs
and has over 2369 Train-
ing Centres in 1891 pro-
jects, in partnership
with over 877 Project
Implementing Agencies
conducting training
across 57 sectors, and
over 616 job-roles.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Deen-
dayal Antyodaya Yojana
- National Rural Liveli-
hoods Mission (DAY-
NRLM) on Sunday or-
ganised “Discourse on
Rural Financial Inclu-
sion” through virtual
mode to celebrate 75
years of the Independ-
ence under Azadi Ka
Amrit Mahotsav.
Executive Directors,
Chief General Manag-
ers and General Manag-
ers, other senior Offi-
cials of the banks and
Chief Executive Offic-
ers and State Managing
Directors from the State
Rural Livelihoods Mis-
sions participated in
the programme.
Charanjit Singh,
Joint Secretary, Rural
Livelihoods, Ministry
of Rural Development,
welcomed all the par-
ticipants and Nagendra
Nath Sinha, Secretary,
Department of Rural
Development, Ministry
inaugurated the pro-
gramme. As a part of
the event, the facility
for overdraft (OD) of Rs
5,000 to verified SHG
members under DAY –
NRLM having accounts
under the Prime Minis-
ter Jan Dhan Yojana
with Banks was
launched by Nagendra
Nath Sinha, Secretary
of Department of Rural
Development. This fa-
cility has been initiated
in pursuance of the an-
nouncement made by
the Finance Minister in
her budget speech of
2019-20. Six Women
SHG members from
three States namely Ra-
jasthan, Jharkhand and
Uttar Pradesh (Two
from each State) were
provided with a cheque
of Rs 5,000 to mark the
start of the scheme by
the senior officials of
the Banks in the pres-
ence of Chief Executive
Officers/senior officers
State Rural Livelihoods
Missions at functions
organised at State
HeadQuarters of the re-
spective States. It is es-
timated that about 5
crore women SHG
members under DAY-
NRLM would be bene-
fitted from this facility
eventually
.
After the launch of
the OD facility, a pres-
entation on “Reviving
Rural Economy” was
made by Nita Kejrewal,
Joint Secretary, Rural
Livelihoods, Ministry
covering various initia-
tives.
5 cr women SHG members to get overdraft facility in country
RURAL LIVELIHOODS MISSION
Woman SHG members receive a cheque of `5,000 in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. —FILE PHOTO
PM Modi to inaugurate Kanpur Metro Rail Project tomorrow
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
also inaugurate the Bina-Panki
Multiproduct Pipeline Project
NO HOLDS BARRED AS UP HEADS FOR
BIPOLAR CONTEST BETWEEN BJP, SP
YOGI TAKES A JIBE
ON SP OVER ‘CASH
SEIZURE’ IN UP
Lucknow/Prayagraj:
Hitting out at previ-
ous Samajwadi Party
government for handing
over the state to the
Mafioso, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath said that
their government has
finally put an end to the
atrocities caused by
these unscrupulous ele-
ments on the common
man and is building
homes for the poor and
the needy by destruct-
ing their ‘havelis’. In
wake of the seizure of
unaccounted money in
Kanpur and Kannauj,
the CM commented,
‘Ye itra ki khushboo
nahi, badboo hai’. On
Sunday, CM laid the
foundation stone of 75
houses being built on
a land plot freed from
the illegal possession
of ex-MP Atiq Ahmed in
Prayagraj.
ABP-C-VOTER SURVEY SAYS 48% PEOPLE PREFER BJP AGAINST 31% FAVOURING SP
MVA leaders meet Maha
Guv at Raj Bhavan
Rural Development
Ministry organises job
fairs across the country
FIRforfloutingCovidSOPsatXmasparty
First India Bureau
Surat: Police have reg-
istered an FIR against
the organizer of a
Christmas party and
two other persons, for
allegedly violating
COVID-19 guidelines,
officials said on Sunday
.
The action was taken
after police came
across a video which
purportedly showed
several men, women
and children swaying
to music at a DJ party
organized at a plot
(open space) in Umra
locality of Surat on
Saturday night.
“The organizers had
sought permission
from authorities to
hold an exhibition,
which was granted.
But, they were found
violating COVID-19
guidelines pertaining
to social distancing and
other norms. After the
video came to the no-
tice of the Umra police,
an FIR was registered
against three persons,
including the event or-
ganizer,” confirmed an
official from Umra po-
lice station. Further
investigation is under-
way on the basis of the
video, he added.
A case has been reg-
istered against the
event organizer, Vipul
Joshi, and two others
under Section 188 (dis-
obedience to order
duly promulgated by
public servant) of the
Indian Penal Code
(IPC), and provisions
of the Epidemic Dis-
eases Act.
Surat city has so far
reported two cases of
the Omicron variant of
COVID-19.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari being presented with
a bouquet.
Industry leaders from 30 sectors participated in job fairs.
Guj CM flags off cyclothon
to create health awareness A DJ party was held at an open plot in Umra area of Surat on Christmas Day
Surat: Chief Minister
Bhupendra Patel on
Sunday flagged off ‘Fit
India, Fit Gujarat Cy-
clothon’ competition
organised by the state
government’s health
and family welfare de-
partment and Surat dis-
trict administration as
part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav’ programme.
It followed Route 10 and
ended at Bhagwan Ma-
havir College.
More than 7,500 peo-
ple participated in the
competition. After the
event, the CM also par-
ticipated in ‘Nadi Ma-
hotsav’. Addressing the
gathering, Patel said,
“It is necessary for eve-
ry person to be pre-
pared to fight the pan-
demic with physical
and mental readiness.
The state government
has begun preparations
to administer precau-
tionary doses of COV-
ID-19 vaccine to senior
citizens as well as peo-
ple with comorbidities
along with preparation
of a probation force
against possible COV-
ID-19 disaster.”
Enthusiastic participants included citizens from across the state.
BJP SURAT DIST CHIEF TESTS
POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
Surat: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) district president
Sandeep Desai has tested positive for COVID-19. His
RT-PCR test report came in late on Sunday. Earlier in
the day, Desai had attended various events with state
Roads and Buildings Minister Purnesh Modi and MLA
Zankhana Patel. In fact, MLA Patel was even spotted
on stage with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at the ‘Fit
India, Fit Gujarat Cyclothon’ event in Surat. With several
elected officials under threat of COVID-19, the state will
have to initiate contact tracing and conduct RT-PCR
tests of all those who came in contact with Desai. This
will especially include Modi and Patel. Other office-bear-
ers as well as security personnel will also likely undergo
testing to rule out or confirm COVID-19 infection.
Narendra Modi
A video showing people swaying to music had come to the
attention of police officials.

08
2NDFRONT
UP gets Rajnath lays foundation stone of
BrahMos Missile production unit
First India Bureau
Lucknow:WithDefence
Minister Rajnath Singh
laying the foundation
stone of BrahMos Mis-
siles production unit
and Defence Research
and Development Or-
ganisation (DRDO) lab
in Lucknow, Uttar
Pradesh is set to scale
new heights in weapon-
ry manufacturing.
Recalling India’s his-
tory
,Singhsaid“wehave
neverbeenanaggressor,
but are ready to defend
our people against any
nation with hostile in-
tentions.” He added that
the purpose of the
BrahMos supersonic
cruise missile system is
to act as a deterrent.
“A first of its kind De-
fence Technologies
Test Centre (DTTC),
over approximately 22
acres is being set up to
accelerate the growth
of the defence and aero-
space manufacturing
clusters in Uttar
Pradesh Defence Indus-
trial Corridor (UP
DIC),” a Defence Minis-
try statement said.
It will consist of six
sub-centres—Deep-Tech
Innovation Startup In-
cubation Centre, Design
Simulation Centre,
Testing Evaluation
Centre, Centre for Indus-
try 4.0/Digital Manufac-
turing, Skill Develop-
ment Centre and busi-
nessdevelopmentcentre.
The Brahmos manu-
facturing centre, an-
nounced by BrahMos
Aerospace, is a modern,
state-of-art facility in
theLucknownodeof UP
DIC, the statement said.
It will cover over 200
acres and produce the
new BrahMos-NG (Next
Generation) cruise mis-
sile variant under devel-
opment. “This new cen-
trewillbereadyoverthe
next two to three years
and will commence pro-
duction at a rate of 80-
100 BRAHMOS-NG mis-
siles per year.”
Speakingattheevent,
Singh said, “At the time
of its inauguration, we
had estimated an in-
vestment of 3,732
crore. Investment of
more than 1,400 crore
has already been re-
ceived and the process
is progressing rapidly
.”
—With ANI inputs
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Department of Defence, Secretary G Satheesh Reddy (R) and other dignitaries visit an exhibition
at the foundation stone laying ceremony of BrahMos Missiles production unit and DRDO Lab, in Lucknow on Sunday. –PHOTO BY ANI
DharmaSansadrow:Hate
speechesinGandhi’sland
unacceptable,saysGehlot
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Targeting the
prime minister and
other leaders for their
‘silence’ over alleged
hate speeches at a
Dharma Sansad in
Haridwar, Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Sunday said
such acts in the land of
Mahatma Gandhi can-
not be tolerated.
He said the ‘language
of violence’ allegedly
used by the speakers is
against Indian culture
and is unacceptable. Ge-
hlot said it was surpris-
ing that the prime min-
ister, home minister
and the chief minister
of Uttarakhand were
silent on the issue and
the government did not
take any action against
them.
The Dharma Sansad
held in Uttarakhand
has shaken the country
.
Use of the language of
violence is against our
culture. The prime
minister and the chief
minister are silent, and
the home minister is
keeping mum. Why is
action not being taken?
Gehlot told reporters
after attending the par-
ty’s training camp at
Shivdaspura near
Jaipur.
He said while Gan-
dhi’s birth anniversary
is observed across the
globe as the Interna-
tional Day of Non-Vio-
lence, it is unfortunate
that such hate speeches
were delivered in his
country
.
If we do not live with
love and harmony, how
will the country remain
united? Whether it is
Hindu, Muslim, Sikh,
Christian, Jain, Parsi...
everyone has to live to-
gether, he said.
Gehlotalsoexpressed
concern over the rising
number of COVID-19
cases and said the Cen-
tre finally announced
the booster dose after
his government mount-
ed pressure.
I had been telling
them (Centre) for one-
and-a-half to two
months that they
should allow booster
dose to people above 60
years and those ill. The
booster dose is being
administered in several
countries. Yesterday,
the prime minister an-
nounced this and we
are happy that he, at
least, accepted our
point, Gehlot said.
UP TO BECOME DEFENCE PRODUCTION HUB
5 dead, 6 injured in
boiler blast at noodle
factory in Muzaffarpur
Birla, Raj Minister Dhariwal join
hands for pensioners’ welfare!
AAP raps Punjab govt
over BPL cards’ issue
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
Punjab has criticized
the ruling party Con-
gress in state over the
issue of barcode on BPL
cards and said that poor
people have to go to the
houses of congress
MLAs and leaders to get
a sticker of barcode on
their cards so that they
can get ration.
In a statement issued
from the party head-
quarters on Sunday
AAP leader and MLA
Gurmeet Singh Meet
Hayer slammed the
move of Congress and
alleged them of misus-
ing the power against
the people, invested in
them by the same peo-
ple through voting.
Meet Hayer said, “Be-
fore coming to power in
2017, Congress party
had made tall promises
to the people of state,
but after forming the
government they forgot
their promises and did
nothing. Instead of pro-
viding employment,
free plots etc. they
canceled lakhs of BPL
cards of poor families.”
First India Bureau
Kota: LS Speaker Om
Birla said that the expe-
rience of pensioners is
an invaluable treasure
of the country and they
should pave the way for
society’s welfare by
contributing to policy
making development
with their experience.
In the annual conven-
tion of Rajasthan Pen-
sioners’ Society in Kota,
Birla said pensioners
havebeenthe‘axisof de-
velopment’ and they
have dedicated valuable
time of their life to the
progress of the state and
thecountry
. “Pensioners
can make a significant
contribution in prepar-
ingtheroadmapforideal
development,” he said.
Speaking on this oc-
casion, Rajasthan UDH
Minister Shanti Dhari-
wal announced that en-
try to Chambal Garden,
will be entirely free for
senior citizens.
Muzaffarpur: At
least five people were
killed and six others
were injured in a
boiler blast in a noo-
dle factory in Bihar’s
Muzaffarpur on Sun-
day, informed Dis-
trict Magistrate Pra-
nav Kumar.
He stated that Fur-
ther investigation
into the mishap is un-
derway.
According to Sen-
ior Superintendent
of Police (SSP) Jay-
ant Kant, five fire ten-
ders are present at
the site to douse the
flames and a rescue
operation is under-
way.
As per locals, the
explosion was so
strong that it was
heard 5 km away
from the blast site.
As per officials, the
blast took place at 10
am. The adjacent fac-
tories were also dam-
aged in the explosion.
The police said that
the Identities of the
laborers who died in
the accident are yet to
be ascertained as the
body parts of the de-
ceased were blown
away in the blast.
Meanwhile, Bihar
Chief Minister Nit-
ish Kumar an-
nounced an ex-gratia
amount of Rs 4 lakhs
each to the families
of the deceased in the
boiler blast incident.
—ANI
THE EXPLOSION
No entry for unvaccinated people at
public places in Haryana from Jan 1
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: There
would be no entry for
unvaccinated or single-
vaccinated people to
public places in Hary-
ana from January 1. A
recent Haryana govern-
ment directive makes it
mandatory for everyone
to have both doses of
anti-COVID-19 for being
allowed to enter public
places like restaurants,
banks, malls, offices,
and other public places.
This order will come in
force from new year.
The government di-
rective is believed to
have been issued in
view of a low vaccina-
tion rate in Haryana.
State’s Additional Chief
Secretary (Home and
Health departments)
Rajeev Arora, only 60
per cent of the state’s
eligible population has
received both the doses.
“As the dose of COVID
vaccinationhasreached
93 per cent whereas the
second dose is still lag-
ging behind at 60 per
cent (till December 22,
2021). Large numbers of
beneficiaries are due
and overdue since long
for the second dose of
Covid vaccination,”
ACS Arora said.
Thedecisionhasbeen
taken since Omicron
cases are on the rise in
the country
, and it is im-
perative that further
spread is curbed at the
earliest. ACS Arora also
said that the emerging
situation begs for moni-
toring and focused im-
plementation or vacci-
nations.
Haryana Health Min-
ister Anil Vij had also
recently stated in the
Haryana Vidhan Sabha:
“From January 1, 2022,
the people who have not
taken both doses will
not be allowed to enter
marriage halls, hotels,
restaurants, offices,
banks, or any other pub-
lic places. This is to pro-
tect ourselves from
Omicron and the third
wave of Covid.”
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij (L) with ACS Rajeev Arora. —FILE
Bihar Industries Minister Shanawaz Hussain at the explosion
site, in Muzaffarpur on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Choose to spend these last few
days of 2021 mending bridges
and reaching out to others.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Om Birla,Shanti Dhariwal,Sandeep and Madan Dilawar at programme
of Pensioners’ Society in Kota.—PHOTO BY AKSHAY PAREEK
MEET GREET...
Jagdeesh Chandra in conversation with Commissioner of Rajasthan Foundation Dhiraj
Srivastava at The Westin Hotel in Chennai on Sunday, during his one-day trip to the city.
CM Ashok Gehlot
Rajasthan Chief Minister says the ‘language of
violence’ allegedly used by the speakers is against
Indian culture and is unacceptable

NEW DELHI, MONDAY
DECEMBER 27, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Breaking the shackles of
patriarchy, Sonali Yadav, hailing
from Alwar, is a proud model and
believes in the strength of hard-
work and passion!
onali Yadav was very
active since her
childhood and par-
ticipated in various
competitions in my
school and college
like dancing, singing
drawing. Her good height
and passion for fitness moti-
vated her to get into the field
of modelling.
Sonali recalls how it was
hard getting into the field of
modelling coming from a so-
ciety where girls aren’t al-
lowed to get basic education
and are married at a young
age. She belongs to a middle-
class joint family.
However, she was fascinated
by watching models on the
runway and it was something
even she aspired to do. Wear-
ing stylish and unique de-
signs and get a chance to
walk the ramp is a dream
come true for Yadav.
She won the title of Miss
Top Model India 2021 and
credits her mentor Pawan
Tank who supported her
throughout. Sonali says that
Sushmita Sen is her role mod-
el as she is a versatile model
and the attitude she car-
ries is something she ad-
mires.
When asked about
alternative career
goals, Yadav remarks
that if not a model,
she would like to be
in the field of agri-
culture.
Coming from a
financially weak
background and
working at a
young age,
b a c k w a r d
thinking of
her society
was a
huge chal-
lenge for
Sonali.
But, with
much vigour,
she broke the
shackles and
emerged victori-
ous.
Woman
of vigour POORVI SINGHAL
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
S

10
ETC
NIPAKSHI,
Actor
FACE
OF
THE
DAY!
Aries
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20
You will succeed in
putting your stagnant
love life back on the
track. Professionals will
be able to give their
best in a new situation. Financially, this
day may prove lucky for you, so go ask
for the raise that is keeping you on
tenterhooks. Don’t take any chances
with your health today.
Gemini
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
A change of job is likely
to give you better perks.
This is the time when
you enjoy yourself with
a new group of friends
or colleagues. Those in business will
soon get a chance to make profits. A
new deal is likely to come through and
give you a taste of success. Spending
time with lover proves most fulfilling.
Leo
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Those looking for
buying a house can get
a good bargain.
Appreciation is in store
for some homemakers.
A professional victory is yours if you
play your cards well today. Those in
business will be able to maintain good
earning. Young lovers are likely to
enjoy total bliss.
Libra
SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22
Your professionalism in
handling problem areas
will be appreciated. You
will find fulfilling family.
A senior is likely to put
in a good word for you to the higher
ups. Financially, you will be able to
consolidate your position. Exercise
care in matters of health. Lover may
become your pillar of strength.
Sagittarius
NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22
Remaining on the good
side of those who
matter on the academic
front will help you
achieve much. Good
tidings of your well wishers will keep
you going on the professional front. A
family elder may look up to you for
guidance. Spending time with lover
proves most fulfilling.
Aquarius
JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19
You may get busy
organising something
on the social front. You
may need to put your
ideas into action, if you
want to prove yourself. A party may be
thrown in your honour at work. Your
good performance is likely to be
noticed by higher ups. Health-wise a
good day is foreseen.
Taurus
APRIL 21 - MAY 20
On the social front, the
day finds you in your
element. Something
special awaits you on
the romantic front today.
Your strategy to promote yourself on
the professional front will bear fruits.
You may need to speed things on the
academic front to remain ahead. Your
love life will bring you immense joy.
Cancer
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Those in love with the
adventures are likely to
chase the excitement
very soon. Your own
happiness is in your
hands today. This is a favourable day
for completing pending jobs.
Financially, no problems are foreseen.
It is best to avoid outside food. Much
fun is in store on the social front.
Virgo
AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23
Some positive changes
can be expected on the
home front. This seems
a good day for job
seekers. New avenues
for earning open up as you get more
determined. Fitness through extra
efforts is assured. If you are in love,
chances of making an exciting plan
together is possible.
Scorpio
OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Buying new furniture or
a major appliance is
possible. With good
networking, a prized
posting can be yours .
Those trying to get back their money
will succeed. A healthy phase of life
begins for some. Your love life is likely
to give you immense joy, so make the
right moves.
Capricorn
DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20
Your reputation is likely
to boost your image on
the social front. This is
an excellent day to
spend time with family.
Good planning will see you complete a
task at work in record time. Monetary
front grows strong for some. You
enjoy excellent health. Those seeking
love are likely to get lucky.
Pisces
FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20
Honours are likely to
greet you in something
that you have managed
to achieve. You will be a
pillar of strength to a
friend or associate. A good day at work
is foreseen as you make your mark in
front of those who matter. Financial
front remains stable. Health remains
fine.
YOUR DAY Horoscopeby
SaurabbhSachdeva
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the Power Corridors of Rajasthan Delhi.
heneverwetalkabout
the professional
mournersalsoknown
as Rudali, who are
hired to weep profes-
sionally at the death
of a male relative in
royal families and later in the
Rajput Landlords’ families in
Sirohi, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jais-
almer and other border areas of
Rajasthan, we immediately
think about the famous Kalpana
Lajmi’s movie “Rudali”, pro-
duced in 1993, based on the nov-
el written by Mahasweta Devi.
Through its protagonist San-
ichari, Mahasweta Devi talks
about Rudalis who are always
dressed in black and have to sit
and cry, beating the ground and
their chests, screaming and cry-
ing. They have to continue
mourning the death for the next
12 days. It is believed that the
more dramatic and theatrical
the mourning is, the more it is
talked about amongst the soci-
ety
. However, due to an increase
in literacy, the Rudali tradition
is not as prevalent as it was
years ago. The people now pre-
fer quieter funerals, because of
which the Rudalis are now los-
ing their importance. They find
it hard to make ends meet by
practicing this profession now.
Some even say that Rudalis
don’t exist anymore. Their dis-
cussion in the film is more im-
aginative, less real.
Rudalis still do exist in vil-
lages like Revdar of Sirohi,
Shergarh Patodi of Jodhpur,
Chhittar ka paar, Kotda, Chuli,
and Fatehgarh of Barmer, Ram-
devra and Pokharan of Jaisalm-
er. However, their scope of work
has now narrowed to a great
extent. The reason behind this
is that the Rajput landlords
don’t have the same impact in
the society, as they used to have
before. And a few that are left,
do not give as much attention to
an economic status like earlier.
These Rudaalis not only belong
to the Ganju and Dusaad caste
but also come from Bhil and
other communities. In reality,
all the Rudaalis are widows.
They are still considered inaus-
picious and the society keeps an
eye on them as they do on a
woman, whose husband is no
more.
Most of the widow Rudalis
have bowed their heads to the
judgment of village-council
members and have accepted the
Naata tradition (the woman is
married in the same family to
her elder or younger brother in
law). Others are still entangled
in the vortex of life and keep liv-
ing with the social stigma of be-
ing a widow. Even though they
have accepted the weepers’ pro-
fession, it doesn’t earn them
bread every day. Death doesn’t
happen every day, then how can
they cry theatrically every day
.
When there’s no work, there’s
no money
. To make living, they
are also doing the work of wag-
es, farming, and animal hus-
bandry
. Rudaalis are even called
to do illegal activities like, cut-
ting down the restricted trees
like Khejri and Rohida in ex-
change for money. In some vil-
lages, the Rudalis have been in-
structed not to step out of the
house early in the morning, as
they are still considered un-
lucky and wretched.
The attire of Rudalis are de-
cided based on their age. For
instance a young widow has to
wear green color clothes where-
as if the widow is in her old age,
she has to wear dark red color
long blouse (kurti-kaanchli)
with same color border paired
with a skirt (dhaabla) and dark
red stole (chunar) that is en-
graved with black peacock
feathers. It is often said that Ru-
dalis always live outside the vil-
lage area but it is not the whole
truth. In reality, initially the
royal families owned large
amount of land outside the vil-
lage, where they could shelter
the Rudalis as they were consid-
ered inauspicious. But with
change in times, Rudalis live
outside as well as inside the vil-
lages. Their competence and
inefficiency contribute a lot to
this. For instance, the Rudalis
who are capable of doing farm-
ing and animal husbandry earn
a lot more than the only ones
dependent on the weeping pro-
fession.
As far as living outside the
village is concerned, in some
parts of Sirohi, Jodhpur, Bar-
mer, and Jaisalmer, they are
given shelter in the outskirts of
the village. Meaning, Rudalis’
first house starts from the end
of the villages’ last house. Their
houses are made of thatch and
mud. Their truth of life is quite
obvious from their pale-looking
houses. Even though they are
ostracized because they are ‘un-
touchables’, it does not spare
them from the dirty eyes of the
upper-caste men. They are ex-
tremely vulnerable to exploita-
tion from society. They can
never show what pains they are
going through and the society
couldn’t care less. But they can
be seen sitting in groups sing-
ing songs and expressing their
grief in the form of these songs.
They now want rights and
equality and not pity in the eyes
of society. They demand the
freedom to do something mean-
ingful, to live freely and to be
able to read and write, to choose
their life partner and of course
to be able to live on their terms
after losing their husband and
NOT to live by the imposed way
of the society
.
AMIT BAIJNATH GARG
Senior Journalist-Writer
RUDALI
The Sad Disappearance of
W

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