27122022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

RAHUL GANDHI HONOURS VAJPAYEE,
WHILE CONGRESS LEADER INSULTS
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The BJP on
Monday attacked the
Congressanddemanded
an apology over an in-
sulting tweet made
against former prime
minister Atal Bihari Va-
jpayee by party leader
Gaurav Pandhi, even as
Rahul Gandhi visited
the ‘samadhi’ of Vajpay-
ee whose birth anniver-
sary was on Sunday
.
Pandhi, who is a coor-
dinator with Congress
president Mallikarjun
Kharge’s office and han-
dles social media for
him, had put out a tweet
alleging that Vajpayee
had sided with the Brit-
ish. He later deleted it as
the BJP accused Rahul
Gandhi of “doing a dra-
ma” of paying homage
at Vajpayee’s memorial.
BJP spokesperson
Shehzad Poonawala de-
manded that the Con-
gress should apologise
for Pandhi’s remarks,
“else one will be forced
to believe that the words
of Congress leader
Gaurav Pandhi are Ra-
hul Gandhi’s thoughts”.
Anotherpartyspokes-
person Gaurav Bhatia
said Vajpayee was an
epitome of honesty
whileRahulGandhiwas
involved in “defaming”
Indiaand“spreadingha-
tred”.HesaidthatRahul
Gandhi was only “doing
a drama”.
Rahul Gandhi performs parikrama of Sadaiv Atal, the samadhi of
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
DELHI SHIVERS ON
‘SEVERE’ COLD DAY,
WIND ADDS TO CHILL
New Delhi: The maximum
temperature dropped 10
notches below normal at
some places in Delhi on
Monday, making it a “severe”
cold day. The Safdarjung
observatory logged a
minimum temperature of 5
degrees Celsius while Palam
observatory recorded a
maximum of 12.5 Celsius.
Jafarpur station logged a
minimum of 4.2 Celsius and
a maximum of 11 Celsius.
The wind chill factor was
also high with wind speed
clocked at 15 km per hour.
First India Bureau
Mumbai: The CBI on
Monday arrested busi-
nessman and promoter
of Videocon Group
Venugopal Dhoot in a
case pertaining to a
loan of Rs 3,250 crore
from ICICI Bank. The
arrest came three days
after federal probe
agency arrested ICICI
Bank’s former Manag-
ing Director and CEO
Chanda Kochhar and
her husband Deepak
Kochhar in this case.
According to sources,
Chanda Kochhar and
Deepak Kochhar had
close relationship and
prior acquaintance
with Venugopal Dhoot
V (Chairman and MD
of Videocon Industries
Limited (VIL) and Pro-
moter of Videocon
Group) and Videocon
Group of Companies.
Chanda Kochhar was
also a shareholder in a
company in which
Dhoot had a substantial
shareholding.
NEW DELHI lTUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 2 l Issue No.118
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI MUMBAI BSE SENSEX 60,566.42 721.13 | NSE NIFTY 18,014.60 207.80
MINOR STOMACH
INFECTION: FM
SITHA ADMITTED
TO DELHI AIIMS
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman was admitted to AIIMS, New Delhi,
on Monday reportedly due to a minor stomach
infection and for a routine. 63-year-old will be
discharged soon as her condition is stable.
ICICI `3,250 CR LOAN FRAUD CASE
AFTER KOCHHARS, CBI
ARRESTS VIDEOCON CEO
Kochhar couple were close to Dhoot, Chanda was also a shareholder
in a company in which VIL MD had a substantial shareholding
On the first ever Veer Baal Diwas, PM says India needs to break
free from narrow views of past to achieve heights of success
THE TRIO IN
CBI CUSTODY
TILL DEC 28
The CBI officials produce Chanda and Deepak
Kochhar before court in Mumbai on Monday.
The CBI officials produce Venugopal Dhoot
before the CBI court in Mumbai on Monday.
EVIDENCE RECEIVED AGAINST
KOCHHARS AND VENU DHOOT
HOW DID KOCHHARS AND
DHOOT CHEAT ICICI BANK?
Sources have told that Dhoot was arrested based on
the material evidence gathered against him by the CBI
during probe. Bank account statements, books of Dhoot’s
firm indicate that Rs 64 crore loan to Deepak Kochhar’s
firm was nothing but kickbacks in exchange of receiving
loans from ICICI which was then being headed by Chanda.
CBI sources claim that they have evidence to prove that all
three - Chanda, Deepak and Venugopal conspired together.
She allegedly neither disclosed these facts to ICICI nor
recused herself from committees of ICICI Bank, rec-
ommending or sanctioning loans to Videocon. Kochhar
in criminal conspiracy abused her position as MD and
sanctioned loan to VIEL to cheat bank in lieu of illegal
gratification and undue benefit received in firm of her
husband for sanctioning loans firms linked to Dhoot.
l FIR registered by
the CBI also alleges
that loan of Rs 300
crore was sanctioned
to Videocon Inter-
national Electronics
Limited (VIEL) by
ICICI Bank on August
26, 2009 and on Sep-
tember 7, 2009 the
same was disbursed
to the firm VIEL
l Loan of Rs 300
crore, fiver other
high value loans
worth Rs 1,575 crore
were sanctioned and
disbursed by ICICI to
Videocon Group dur-
ing 2009 to 2011
Veer Baal Diwas stands for
‘Shaurya’, ‘Sikh balidan’: PM
PM Narendra Modi attends ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ programme, at Major Dhyanchand Stadium on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves in presence of Hardeep
Singh Puri, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Meenakshi Lekhi and others
during ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ programme in New Delhi on Monday.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
during the programme
organised to mark the
remembrance of the su-
preme sacrifice by the
sons of Guru Gobind
Singh-- Sahibzades, and
Mata Gujri Ji on the oc-
casion of Veer Baal Di-
was on Monday said
that we need to come
out of the narrow per-
spectives of the past if
we want to take our
country to reach newer
heights of success.
‘The day will help us
celebrate the past and
would inspire us to
build the future en-
courage the youth,’ PM
Modi said this day will
forever remind us of
the contribution of 10
Gurus, sacrifices of
Sikhs for the pride and
glory of the country
.
On one hand, there was terrorism, and spiri-
tualism, and communal mayhem while on the
other hand there was liberalism...on one hand
there were forces of lakhs whereas on the other hand
there was Veer Sahibzaade who did not relent at all.
—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
US WINTER STORM
CLAIMS 32 LIVES
New York: A deadly winter
storm, that swept the
United States on Christmas
week, has so far claimed
32 lives and left over 20
lakh people without power.
Life-threatening chills and
icy winds have lunhed
millions of Americans
into deep freeze with
temperatures dropping as
low as minus 45 degrees
Celsius in some areas.
BSF JAWAN BEATEN
TO DEATH IN GUJARAT
Nadiad: A BSF officer was
lynched to death in Nadiad,
Gujarat, after he protested
against the ciruclation of
an obscene video of his
daughter. Meljibhai Vaghela,
a BSF jawan, went to the
house of a 15-year-old
boy and complained to his
family about his daughter’s
objectionable video being
circulated online by the boy.
READ
Crucial
Crucial
BJP’S GUJ WIN TO
HAVE “POSITIVE
IMPACT” ON 2024
ELECTIONS: SHAH
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah
on Sunday noted that BJP’s massive victory in
recent Gujarat Assembly polls will change “entire
political picture”, while also confiding that it will
have a “positive impact” on 2024 LS elections.
ZELENSKYY SPEAKS WITH PM MODI,
THANKS INDIA FOR HUMANITARIAN AID
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought India’s
support on Monday in implementation of his “peace for-
mula” during a telecon with Modi, who strongly reiterated
his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between
Ukraine and Russia. Modi said both sides should revert to
dialogue and diplomacy to find a solution to their differ-
ences and conveyed India’s support for any peace efforts.
BAFFLING BOLLYWOOD DEATHS
Moni Sharma
Mumbai: Bollywoodac-
tor Sushant Singh Ra-
jput was found dead un-
der mysterious circum-
stancesathisapartment
on June 14, 2020, a Coop-
er Hospital employee,
Roopkumar Shah - who
was a part of team that
conducted the post-mor-
tem in the high-profile
case - claimed that the
actor did not commit
suicide but was mur-
dered. Reportedly,
postmortem had
stated that cause
of his death was asphyx-
ia due to hanging, and
called it a clear suicide.
Shah said, when Su-
shant passed away, we
had received 5 dead bod-
ies for postmortem. Out
of those, one was a VIP
body
. While postmortem
process of Sushant, we
saw there were several
marks on his body and 2
to3marksonhisneckas
well. Postmortem need-
ed to be recorded but
authorities were asked
to only click pics of the
body
. Hence, we did that
as per their order.
Shah said that while
performing the
postmortem we
learnt there were
several marks on his
body and 2 to 3
marks on his
neck as
well
Sushant Singh Rajput was murdered: Autopsy staff
When I first saw the
body of Sushant, I
quickly informed my
seniors that it is not suicide
but a murder and even asked
them they should work as per
the rules. However, my seniors
told me to click pictures as
soon as possible and give the
body to the cops. Hence, we
performed the postmortem in the night only.
—Roopkumar Shah, Autopsy staff
I will not be able to comment on the same
as the sisters have not told me about it. But
I maintain that Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
was not a simple suicide as there was a conspiracy
behind it. And only CBI will be able to unravel the con-
spiracy behind his death. —Vikas Singh, SSR’s lawyer
Tunisha had
recently tried
to commit
suicide a few days before
her death, but at that
time I saved her and told
Tunisha’s mother to take
special care of her.
—Sheezan Khan
SSR
DEATH:
SHOCKING CLAIM
AFTER 2 YEARS
6 MONTHS
SHRADDHA MURDER FORCED BREAKUP
WITH TUNISHA: SHEEZAN TELLS COPS
Mumbai: Amid probe of
Tunisha’s death case, her
ex-boyfriend Sheezan
Khan told police that he
was ‘so disturbed by the
atmosphere in the country’
after the murder of Shrad-
dha Walkar by her live-in
partner Aaftab Poonawala,
that he decided to end his
relationship with the late
actor. The actor reportedly
said that he told Tunisha
that their relationship was
not sustainable due to
their different religions
and age gap. More on P6
COVID-19 MOCK DRILLS
ACROSS NATION TODAY
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A drill will
be held today across a
number of health facili-
tiesinseveralStatesand
Union territories to en-
sure their readiness to
deal with any eventuali-
ty related to Covid-19,
followinganadvisoryby
the Centre.
Union Health Minis-
terMansukhMandaviya
will visit Safdarjung
Hospital in Delih. The
drill is being conducted
in view of rising Covid
cases in some countries
including China. P6
HIGHLIGHTS
l 5 foreigners test posi-
tive in Bodh Gaya, Man-
daviya holds virtual meet
with top IMA doctors
l 12 of the passengers
returning from high-
risk countries including
China test positive for
Covid in Bengaluru
l 2 Covid positive cases
detected at Kolkata airport
l Hetero’s Covid-19 oral
drug Nirmacom gets
WHO prequalification
l China to scrap Covid
quarantine for overseas
arrivals from January 8
‘PRACHANDA’ TAKES OATH AS
NEPAL PM FOR THIRD TIME!
Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” was on Monday sworn
in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time, a
day after the former guerrilla leader dramatically walked
out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and
joined hands with opposition leader KP Sharma Oli.
Newly appointed Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal poses for
a photo as he takes charge of his office, in Kathmandu.

New Delhi (ANI): The
Delhi Sikh Gurudwara
Management Commit-
tee on Monday felt pride
in the recognition of
the sacrifice of ‘Sa-
hibzades’ as the ‘Veer
Baal Diwas’ by Prime
Minister Narender
Modi.
“It is a proud day for
us when the sacrifice of
‘Sahibzades’ has been
recognised as ‘Veer Bal
Diwas’. This way people
all over the world will
know about their sacri-
fice and its impor-
tance,” Member of Del-
hi Sikh Gurudwara
Management Commit-
tee, Bhupinder Singh
Bhullar said in a con-
versation with ANI.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi PM Modi on
the day of the Prakash
Purab of Sri Guru Gob-
ind Singh Ji, on Janu-
ary 9, 2022, had an-
nounced to mark this
day as ‘Veer Baal Di-
was’ to pay homage to
the courage of the ‘Sa-
hibzades’, the four sons
of the last Sikh guru-
Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
On the occasion, PM
Modi took part in a pro-
gramme organised to
mark the sacrifice of
Sahibzades at Major
Dhyan Chand Stadium
in the national capital.
PM Modi attended
the ‘Shabad Kirtan’ be-
ing performed by
around 300 Baal Kir-
tanis. Later, PM Modi
flagged off a march-
past by around 3,000
children in Delhi.
One of the attendees
of the programme said
that it is the first time
since Independence
that a Prime Minister
has come to honour the
Sahibzades. “We are
happy that after 75
years of independence
a PM has come who has
honoured the sacrifice
of the Sahibzade,” an
attendee said.
While all four sons of
Guru Gobind Singh Ji
made their supreme
sacrifice, the date is ob-
served as the martyr-
dom day of the Sahibza-
das Zorawar Singh and
Fateh Singh who are
said to have made their
sacrifice at the ages of
six and nine in Sirhind
(Punjab) before Mughal
forces on orders of Au-
rangzeb.
CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022
02
‘A proud day’: Sikh Gurudwara panel
PM Modi attends Shabad Kirtan: ‘First time that a Prime Minister has come to honour the Sahibzades’ sacrifice’
PM Modi participates in ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ programme at Major Dhyanchand Stadium on Monday. School students participate in a parade marking the ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ at India Gate on Monday.
BRAVERY OF GURU GOBIND’S SONS IS COUNTRY’S HERITAGE: SHAH
New Delhi (PTI): Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Monday paid
tributes to Guru Gobind
Singh, his two sons and
wife Mata Gujri on ‘Veer
Bal Diwas’. Zorawar
Singh and
Fateh Singh, Guru Gobind
Singh’s sons, laid down
their lives while defending
their faith. Their martyrdom
day is observed as ‘Veer
Baal Diwas’. In a tweet in
Hindi, Shah said Guru Gob-
ind Singh’s sons bravely
faced enemies at a young
age to protect the mother-
land and religion. The home
minister said their bravery
is the country’s heritage, re-
membering which the Modi
government is observing
‘Veer Bal Diwas’.
‘Transfer Batla House encounter
convict from GTB to Safdarjung’
New Delhi (ANI): The
Delhi High court on
Monday directed the
authorities to transfer
the convict of the Batla
House encounter case,
Shahzad Ahmed, from
GTB hospital to Safdar-
jung hospital. An appli-
cation seeking transfer
to AIIMS or Safdarjung
hospital was moved on
his behalf.
It was stated that his
condition is deteriorat-
ing in the GTB hospital
where he was on a ven-
tilator for two days. The
vacation division bench
comprising justices
Vibhu Bakhru and
Amit Sharma directed
the authorities to trans-
fer Ahmed from GTB
hospital to Safdarjung
hospital expeditiously
.
The bench noted the
submission of advocate
Aman Naqvi that the
applicant was admitted
to the hospital 18 days
back with a complaint
of abdomen pain but
his condition was dete-
riorating.
The counsel also sub-
mitted that there is no
specialised endocrinol-
ogy department in the
GTB hospital. Neces-
sary nutrition is also
not being provided to
the applicant. His fam-
ily members are not al-
lowed to meet him, stat-
ed the counsel.
The bench also con-
sidered the medical re-
port filed by Additional
Public Prosecutor
Rajesh Mahajan which
stated that the appli-
cant is being given the
best possible treatment,
there is a specialised
endocrinology depart-
ment, and the applicant
is satisfied with the
treatment. Ahmed’s
counsel, however, in-
sisted on the transfer.
HC orders authorities after application moved on behalf of Shahzad Ahmad
Kunal Dutt
New Delhi: City-based
teacher Geeta Kaushik
is filled with pride and
joy whenever she sees
the Delhi Metro, for the
urban transporter and
her daughter were born
the same year — 2002.
A permanent exhibi-
tion has been opened at
Welcome station on Red
Line to mark two dec-
ades of the Delhi Metro.
Geeta Kaushik, 46,
and her husband Ravi
Kaushik, 53, an astrolo-
ger, both were ecstatic
when they passed by
the exhibition area.
“For us, Delhi Metro
and its eventful 20-year
journey is even more
joyful, as our daughter
was born the same year.
Every year, when I
think of my daughter’s
birthday, I also immedi-
ately think of the birth
of this amazing trans-
port service, which has
served us for two dec-
ades and made our lives
comfortable,” she said.
“I never miss the Delhi
Metro’s anniversary
.”
“Just as Tushita took
baby steps, and then
walked, and ran, the
Delhi Metro too took
baby steps in 2002, and
now has grown into a
major urban transport-
er. It gives us double joy
to see Delhi Metro
grow,” Geeta said.
Tushita, literally
means ‘satisfaction’,
the Kaushiks said, add-
ing, Delhi Metro too has
given its riders a lot of
satisfaction.
The mascot of Delhi
Metro is also a girl, says
Ravi Kaushik with a
smile, as he and his wife
took a round of the ex-
hibition that was
opened on Saturday by
Japan’s Ambassador to
India. —PTI
20 years of Delhi Metro and also of their daughter
SHARED JOURNEY
lll
Tushita, the
daughter of city-
based teacher
and astrologer
couple, was
born around the
same time when
the Delhi Metro
began its
operations
Shahzad Ahmed in police custody. —FILE PHOTO
Geeta Kaushik with her husband Ravi Kaushik at the exhibition
hosted at Welcome Station to mark 20 years of the Delhi Metro.
New Delhi (PTI):
Mother Dairy has de-
cided to hike milk pric-
es by Rs 2 per litre in
Delhi-NCR market with
effect from Tuesday, cit-
ing rise in input costs.
This is the fifth round
of hike in milk prices
this year by Mother
Dairy. The prices of
full-cream milk have
been hiked by Rs 2 to Rs
66 per litre, while toned
milk rate has been re-
vised to Rs 53 per litre
from Rs 51 per litre.
Double-toned milk
rate has been increased
to Rs 47 per litre from
Rs 45 per litre.
Festival at IIC
to honour
poet Fehmi
Badayuni
New Delhi (PTI): Har-
fkar foundation will
pay a tribute to cele-
brated poet Fehmi Bad-
ayuni for his contribu-
tioninUrdu
literature at
the upcom-
ing event
“Jashn-e-
Fehmi”.
The pro-
gramme, to be held at
the India International
Centre (IIC) on Decem-
ber 30, promises to host
a soulful evening fea-
turing ghazals and cou-
plets of well-known
poets.
Zama Sher Khan,
popularly known as Fe-
hmi Badayuni, was
born on January 4, 1952,
in Badaun. His emo-
tional, sensitive and
empathetic poetry won
the hearts of many
.
The event will fea-
ture Urdu poets Shariq
Kaifi, Abhishek Shuk-
la, Vikas Sharma Raaz,
Azhar Iqbal, Dr. Na-
deem Shad, Irshad
Khan Sikandar and
Badayuni himself.
TORMENTED BY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, 70-YR-OLD WOMAN
CHALLENGES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW IN HIGH COURT
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi High Court has
sought the stand of the
Centre on a 70-year-old
woman’s challenge to
a provision under the
law against domestic
violence which pro-
tects even aggressor
women from being
removed from a shared
household. The senior
citizen said that in spite
of continuously being
subjected to domes-
tic violence by her
daughter-in-law, a trial
court refused to pass
an order of eviction in
light of the latter’s “right
to residence”. A bench
of Chief Justice Satish
Chandra Sharma and
Justice Subramonium
Prasad issued notice
on the petition and also
sought the stand of the
National Commission of
Women and the daugh-
ter-in-law. The court
also appointed senior
advocate Rebecca John
as amicus curiae to
assist it in the matter.
The court will hear the
matter on April 18.
SENTENCED TO LIFE
IMPRISONMENT
Shahzad Ahmed is a
convict in the Batla
House Encounter case.
He was convicted and
sentenced to life imprison-
ment by the trial court. His
appeal against the convic-
tion is pending before
the High court. The order
has been reserved on the
appeal. The HC was told
that Ahmed’s condition is
deteriorating in hospital.
Mother Dairy milk
prices hiked by
`2/litre in NCR
Youth Cong to take message
of Bharat Jodo across India
Indian Youth Congress
will take the message of
the Bharat Jodo Yatra,
led by party leader Ra-
hul Gandhi, to every
part of the country, it
said on Monday
.
In a statement, the
IYC said it held a three-
day meeting of its na-
tional executive, which
concluded with the res-
olution to “take the
message of Bharat Jodo
Yatra to every part of
the country”.
IYC National Presi-
dent Srinivas BV and
National In-Charge
Krishna Allavaru urged
in the meeting to pre-
serve the unity in diver-
sity of India “for which
Rahul Gandhi has start-
ed the yatra.”
Rahul and Priyanka walk with children during the Bharat Jodo
Yatra in Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Urban Shelter Board to start awareness
drive about facilities for the homeless
Delhi Urban Shelter Im-
provement Board
(DUSIB) will conduct
an awareness drive this
week to inform the
homeless about the fa-
cilities being provided
by it under its winter
action plan, officials
said on Monday
.
Thirty volunteers
have been working for
rescue drives and 15
rescue vans have been
deployed at several lo-
cations in the city,
DUSIB member Bipin
Rai told PTI.
The awareness drive
will be started by
Wednesday
.
LG FLAGGED LACK OF
TOILETS AT SHELTERS
Lieutenant Governor
VK Saxena had paid
a surprise visit to night
shelters at ISBT and
near Hanuman Mandir
on Saturday. He had
claimed that there is a
lack of sanitation and
toilets, “forcing people to
defecate in open.” “While
about 5,000 homeless
people inhabited the area,
the total capacity was
only 600,” he said.
LG Vinai Kumar Saxena meets a homeless person during his visit
to a night shelter in New Delhi on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI
BJP urges LG to call
Assembly session
BJP accused the Delhi
government on Monday
of running away from a
discussion on impor-
tant issues and urged
Lieutenant Governor
VK Saxena to convene
an Assembly session
immediately
.
The BJP also alleged
that the Kejriwal gov-
ernment was flouting
the rule of holding
three major Assembly
sessions in a calendar
year and said while the
winter sessions of most
of the state assemblies
as well as Parliament
have been held, “noth-
ing is known about the
winter session of the
Delhi Assembly”.
Independent MCD candidate
Gajender Singh Daral (2L) from
Ward Mundka joins BJP in
presence of Delhi BJP interim
president Virendra Sachdeva
(2R) and party MLA Vijender
Gupta (L), on Monday.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
—PHOTOS
BY
ANI

CAPITOL
03
(Clockwise from top left): Children ride a tricycle through a field amid dense fog at Yamuna Khadar in New Delhi on Monday morning. People gather around a bonfire at Yamuna Khadar. Navy personnel rehearse for Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path. A man takes a walk
at Raj Ghat. A man feeds a flock of pigeons on outside Atal Bihari Vajpayee Samadhi. Women labourers covered in warm clothes walk at Kartavya Path. —PHOTOS BY AMIT SHARMA SHRIKANT SINGH/ANI
Happening on a morning
Happening on a morning
New Delhi (PTI): A
cold wave swept
through parts of Delhi
on Monday and dense
fog lowered visibility to
50 metres in some areas
of the city, affecting
road and rail traffic.
Ten trains were re-
ported running late by
1:45 to 3:30 hours, a rail-
way spokesperson said.
The Safdarjung ob-
servatory, Delhi’s pri-
mary weather station,
logged a minimum tem-
perature of 5 degrees
Celsius -- three notches
below normal. The
Ridge and the Ayanagar
weather stations re-
corded a minimum tem-
perature of 4 degrees
Celsius and 4.1 degrees
Celsius respectively
.
On Sunday, the capi-
tal reported a cold day.
According to the weath-
er office, a cold day is
when the minimum
temperature is less
than or equal to 10 de-
grees Celsius and the
maximum temperature
is at least 4.5 degrees
Celsius below normal.
The maximum tem-
perature at Safdarjung
on Sunday had settled
at 16.2 degrees Celsius,
five notches below nor-
mal and the lowest so
far this season.
The mercury had
dropped to 3 degrees
Celsius in the Ridge
area, 4.9 degrees below
normal, making it the
coldest place in Delhi.
On Monday, dense to
verydensefogprevailed
in some parts of the Na-
tional Capital Region.
Foggy conditions will
persist in north and
northwest India over
the next few days, the
India Meteorological
Department (IMD) said.
Cold wave, fog keep both
mercury visibility low
Ten trains
running late by
1:45 to 3:30 hrs
People sit around a bonfire to warm themselves on a cold winter
day in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Man asphyxiates
roommate in
drunken scuffle
New Delhi (PTI): A
26-year-old man was ar-
rested for allegedly
smothering to death his
22-year-old roommate
after an altercation
broke out between them
when they were drunk,
police said on Monday
.
The accused -- Binay
Lama, a resident of Tin-
sukia district of Assam
-- used to work as a
housekeeper in Chen-
nai. He came to Delhi on
December 6 in search of
a job. Here, he came in
contact with the victim,
Resham Kumar, and
was residing with him
for the last three-four
days.
An altercation broke
out between them and
Lama smothered Ku-
mar, Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police (South-
west) Manoj C said.
Four Myanmar nationals test
Covid positive at Delhi airport
Aaftab taken to central forensic
lab for recording voice sample
New Delhi (ANI): Four
international travellers
from Myanmar tested
positive for the Corona-
virus infection at the
Delhi airport. The ge-
nome sequencing of
their samples is being
done, the sources said.
“Four of the 690 Cov-
id-19 sample tests of the
International travellers
from Myanmar at Delhi
Airport have tested pos-
itive for the infection.
The infected persons
have been admitted at
the Dr Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital (RML)
hospital in Delhi and
their samples have been
taken for genome se-
quencing,” people
aware of the matter
said. Following the ad-
visory ‘Guidelines for
International Arrivals’,
issued by the Ministry
of Health and Family
Welfare, the Ministry
of Civil Aviation has
commenced random
post-arrival testing for
international arrivals
at Delhi Airport, said
Dr Gauri Agarwal,
Founder of Genestrings
Diagnostic Center.
Earlier in the day,
four foreign nationals
who came to attend the
religious preaching of
Tibetan Spiritual Lead-
er Dalai Lama at Bi-
har’s Gaya were found
to be Covid positive.
According to instruc-
tions by the govern-
ment, 2 per cent of all
passengers arriving at
international airports
have to go through ran-
dom testing.
New Delhi (PTI): Mur-
der accused Aaftab
Amin Poonawala was
on Monday taken to the
Central Forensic Sci-
ence Laboratory here to
record his voice sample
after police came across
an audio clip in which
he was purportedly
heard fighting with
Shraddha Walkar.
According to sources,
police came across the
audio recording of a
purported heated argu-
ment between Walkar
and Poonawala while
investigating the case.
The sources also said
the investigating team
has got a purported vid-
eo of the duo in which
Poonawala is allegedly
seen being counselled.
This purported video
was shot in Mumbai.
The investigating
team is also in the pro-
cess of getting Poon-
awala’s face recogni-
tion test done.
Passengers being tested for Covid at IGI Airport on Monday.
After man sets fire to car, 20 cars gutted
New Delhi (PTI):
Twenty cars were gut-
ted at a multi-level park-
ing facility in west Del-
hi’s Subhash Nagar on
Monday morning fol-
lowing a blaze that
started allegedly after a
23-year-old man set
afire one of the vehicles
to take revenge on its
owner, police said.
Fire officials said a
call was received about
the fire in the basement
of the four-level MCD
parking facility around
4 am and seven fire ten-
ders were rushed to the
spot. The blaze was
brought under control
by 6:10 am, a senior fire
official said.
With the help of
CCTV footage, the cul-
prit identified as Yash
Arora, a resident of
Subhash Nagar, was ar-
rested. “During inter-
rogation, he told the po-
lice that he had person-
al enmity with the own-
er of an Ertiga car and
to take revenge on him,
Arora burnt the car
which was parked at the
MCD parking facility,”
a police officer said.
A case was registered
under sections 436 (Mis-
chief by fire or explo-
sive substance with in-
tent to destroy house,
etc) and 427 (Mischief
causing damage to the
amount of fifty rupees)
of the IPC and that of
the Prevention of Dam-
age to Public Property
in connection with the
incident, police said.
Charred remains of cars after the fire at a multi-storey parking lot
at Subhash Nagar, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
TAXI CATCHES FIRE NEAR ITO
CROSSING, NO CASUALTIES
New Delhi (PTI): A
taxi caught fire near
the ITO crossing here
on Monday morning,
Delhi Fire Services
officials said. They said
a call was received at
8:55 am and two fire
tenders were rushed to
the spot. The fire was
doused by 9:20 am,
a senior official said,
adding that no casual-
ties were reported.
The taxi that caught fire near ITO Chowk in New Delhi on
Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
`30-CRORE HEIST: COURT ALLOWS STF
TO TAKE VOICE SAMPLE OF GANGSTER
Gurugram (PTI): A
city court on Monday
allowed the Haryana
Special Task Force
(STF) to take the voice
sample of gangster
Vikas Lagarpuria, the
alleged mastermind in a
multi-crore heist here,
police said. After his
10-day police remand
ended, Lagarpuria was
produced in the court
on Monday which sent
him to judicial custody.
In a statement, the STF
said it has recovered Rs
4.12 crore of the Rs 30
crore heist on the in-
puts of Lagarpuria. The
heist had taken place on
August 4, 2021.

PERSPECTIVE
04
fter a gap of 9
days the Bharat
Jodo Yatra
(BJY) will en-
ter Uttar
Pradesh on January 3 for
a short journey to three
districts in the western
part of the state. Congress
has invited the Samajwadi
Party leader Akhilesh Ya-
dav and Mayawati of the
Bahujan Samaj Party to
join the rally
. Om Prakash
Rajbhar of Suheldev
Bharatiya Samaj Party
has also been urged to join
the march which is out to
spread the message of love
and brotherhood to coun-
ter the hate being alleged-
ly peddled by the BJP. Will
Akhilesh and Mayawati
accept the invite and send
their representatives to
join the march? The SP’s
alliance partner the Rash-
triya Lok Dal is under-
stood to have confirmed
its participation.
The BJY will traverse
the districts of Baghpat,
Shamli and Kairana. Any
hint of SP and BSP joining
the second-leg of the
march will be of extreme
political significance for
2024. So far Mayawati has
distanced herself from the
SP and the Congress and
chances of their coming
together seem remote. To-
wards the end of 2022 the
possibility which seems
strong is of a three-cor-
nered contest. Those try-
ing to smell the coffee read
much into the BSP MP
from Jaunpur, Shyam Sin-
gh Yadav, joining Rahul
Gandhi’s foot march in
Delhi for about three
hours. On any normal day
Mayawati would have
called for his explanation.
That makes one suspect
that a tripartite arrange-
ment between the three
main players could be in
the offing for 2024. The
RLD, it is believed, will
readily play tango. That
should make the contest
somewhat lip-smacking.
WILL SP, BSP BACK
BHARAT JODO IN UP
Congress has invited
SP leader Akhilesh
and Mayawati of BSP
to join the rally. Om
Prakash Rajbhar of
Suheldev Bharatiya
Samaj Party has also
been urged to join the
march which is out to
spread the message of
love and brotherhood
to counter the hate
being allegedly
peddled by the BJP
A
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Winter, summer, happiness, and pain;
Giving, appearing, disappearing; Non-
permanent, all of them; Just try to tolerate.
— Bhagavad Gita
Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda
I bow down to ‘Veer Bal Diwas’
dedicated to the martyrdom of
Sahibzade Zorawar Singh ji and Fateh
Singh ji of Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji.
Your patriotism and piety will always
inspire every Indian to dedicate
everything for the nation and culture.
Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh
On the martyrdom day of Baba Zorawar
Singh ji and Baba Fateh Singh ji, I bow
down to their martyrdom. He sacrificed
his life, not bowing down against
oppression and tyranny. Celebrated
today #VeerBaalDiwas will continue to
inspire the future generations of the
country with the success story of his bravery.
TOP TWEETS
INDIABEATS BANGLADESH,STAYSINHUNTTO
REACHWORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIPFINAL
Despite the hiccups
and headaches, Team
India still has a
strong chance of
qualifying for
the World Test
Championship final
provided they win 3
out of 4 Tests against
Australia who are
currently the table
toppers. If Indian
batsmen can start
firing at their best
and the bowlers can
retain the striking
ability they have
displayed in recent
matches, Team India
could well make it to
the World Test
Championship final
in June 2023
ndia pipped Bangladesh by three
wickets in an exciting 2nd Test to
register a clean sweep in the two-
match series. With this victory,
India retained their second spot
on the World Test Championship
table. But the close shave in the
Mirpur game, which could have
gone either way till the last mo-
ment, reflects that Team India
has had an ordinary year. As the
New Year beckons, there are seri-
ous concerns and challenges that
confront India in test cricket.
India’s batting approach in the
series with Bangladesh was a far
cry from the aggression prom-
ised by KL Rahul and the team
management. Knocking off the
modest target of 145 should have
been an easy task for India. It
was only a superb stand between
Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran
Ashwin that saved India from an
embarrassing first-ever loss to
Bangladesh in Test cricket. In-
dian batting in recent tests has
often left a lot to be desired.
While KL Rahul is going through
a horror patch, even Virat Kohli
has been far from his best in test
cricket despite his recent resur-
gence in white ball format.
The disappointing perfor-
mance of the batting unit and
some tactical mistakes raise lots
of questions just before the up-
coming home series against Aus-
tralia. While Indian batters need
not copy England’s aggressive
batting style, known as ‘Bazball’,
they can take a leaf out of their
book in chasing 145. Just a few
days earlier on a tricky Karachi
pitch, England had chased down
a target of 167 in barely 28.1 overs
for the loss of only two wickets.
The Indian top-order could sure-
ly learn a few valuable lessons
instead of looking like rookies
against the Bangladesh spinners.
The below par show in Bang-
ladeshreflects clearly thatthings
haven’t exactly gone as per plans
in 2022 which has been a bitter-
sweet year for Indian cricket.
The year had begun on a promis-
ing note as India defeated South
Africa in a convincing fashion in
their first test at Centurion. But
these were followed by two suc-
cessive losses as the Proteas ran
away with the series that India
initially seemed set to win.
Defeat in South Africa led to
Virat Kohli suddenly resigning
as the Test captain, clearing the
way for Rohit Sharma to become
the skipper in all three formats.
But with Rohit remaining injury-
prone at 35, the year saw a virtual
musical chairs over captaincy
.
Kohli’s resignation and Rohit’s
injuries have created a situation
whereby six players have led the
team across formats this year.
Rohit Sharma’s injury-in-
duced absence highlights one of
the biggest headaches for the In-
dian team in 2022 – the non-avail-
ability of several key perform-
ers. Perhaps the most notable
absence that has hurt India’s
chances in a big way is that of
ace-pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, who
has hardly played for Team India
since the tour of South Africa in
January
. The other huge loss has
been the injury to Ravindra
Jadeja which has affected the
team’s morale and its balance.
The growing list of injured play-
ers reflects the urgent need for
more effective workload man-
agement and greater emphasis
on fitness regimens.
After the defeat to South Af-
rica in January, the team
thrashed Sri Lanka comprehen-
sively in the two-test series in
March. But in the only test
against England this year, Team
India floundered badly and were
defeated by the Ben Stokes-led
unit by seven wickets.
Despite the mixed bag in
terms of results, India’s under-
rated bowling unit has done
rather well. Even in the Bangla-
desh series, Indian bowlers got
40wicketsinthetwoteststhough
their propensity to let the oppo-
sition tail wag nearly cost them
the second Test. To win in Test
cricket, a side needs to take 20
wickets and Indian bowlers
struck with regularity through-
out the Test series.
This brings us to the ticklish
issue of arbitrary selections. Un-
doubtedly, the worst and most
controversial was the dropping
of left arm spinner Kuldeep Ya-
dav from the second test against
Bangladesh. Despite taking 8
wickets, scoring 40 runs and
winning the Man of The Match
award in the first test, Yadav was
axed to include a trundler like
Jayadev Unadkat – a decision
that defied all cricketing logic.
Despite the hiccups and head-
aches, Team India still has a
strong chance of qualifying for
the World Test Championship
final provided they win 3 out of
4 Tests against Australia who
are currently the table toppers.
If Indian batsmen can start fir-
ing at their best and the bowlers
can retain the striking ability
they have displayed in recent
matches, Team India could well
make it to the World Test Cham-
pionship final in June 2023.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry
India pipped
Bangladesh by three
wickets in an exciting
2nd Test to register a
clean sweep in the two-
match series. With
this victory, India
retained their
second spot on the
World Test
Championship table.
But the close shave in
the Mirpur game, which
could have gone either
way till the last
moment, reflects that
Team India has had an
ordinary year
SUPERB STAND BETWEEN IYER
AND ASHWIN SAVED TEAM INDIA
ndia’s batting approach in the series with Bangladesh was a far cry
from the aggression promised by KL Rahul and the team manage-
ment. Knocking off the modest target of 145 should have been an
easy task for India. It was only a superb stand between Shreyas Iyer
and Ravichandran Ashwin that saved India from an embarrassing first-ever
loss to Bangladesh in Test cricket. Indian batting in recent tests has often
left a lot to be desired. While KL Rahul is going through a horror patch,
even Virat Kohli has been far from his best in test cricket despite his recent
resurgence in white ball format.
I
l Vol 2 l Issue No.118 l 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: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022 05
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INDIA
06
Rourkela (PTI): The
Rourkela hockey sta-
dium, India’s biggest
with a seating capaci-
ty of 21,000, will be in-
augurated early Janu-
ary. (Express photo by
Sujit Bisoyi)
When Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik laid the
foundation stone for a
new hockey stadium at
Rourkela on February
16, 2021 — in the middle
of a pandemic — and
announced that it
would be a second ven-
ue for the Men’s FIH
Hockey World Cup,
many, even within the
government, were
sceptical about its
timely completion. So
much so that the Inter-
national Hockey Fed-
eration had to give the
state a deadline of No-
vember 30 to complete
the main structure and
lay the turf.
For two years since
then, over 1,200 migrant
workers — many of
them from Bihar,
Jharkhand and West
Bengal — worked round
the clock in three shifts
to construct the stadi-
um. And less than three
weeks before the first
match, the grand sau-
cer-shaped steel struc-
ture, with a seating ca-
pacity of around 21,000,
stands tall over 16 acres
of land.
A total of 20 matches
will be played in the
new stadium to be
named after freedom
fighter and tribal icon
Birsa Munda.
The Chief Minister is
expected to inaugurate
the structure, the coun-
try’s biggest hockey sta-
dium, early in January
.
Along with the Kalinga
Stadium in Bhubane-
swar, it will host the
World Cup from Janu-
ary 13 to 29. A total of 20
matches will be played
in the new stadium to
be named after freedom
fighter and tribal icon
Birsa Munda.
At the stadium site,
workers continue to toil
round the clock to put
things together. Though
the stadium work has
already been completed
and the ground was
used for a practice
match between junior
teams of India and
South Korea, large
cranes have been de-
ployed to fix the alu-
minium facades and
glass windows.
1,200 workers, 24×7 shifts; Rourkela all set to host
PREP FOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP
New Delhi (ANI): Tun-
isha Sharma’s mother
Vanita has revealed
new details about the
actor’s relationship
with her co-star
S h e e z a n
Khan. Tuni-
sha alleged-
ly commit-
ted suicide
on the sets
of her serial Alibaba –
Dastaan-e-Kabul on Sat-
urday. A case of abet-
ment to suicide was
registered against
Sheezan under Section
306 of the IPC.
In a statement on
Monday, Vanita, who
had filed a complaint
against Sheezan, said,
“I want to tell you that
Sheezan cheated Tani-
sha. First, he had a rela-
tionship with her say-
ing that he will marry
her and later broke up
with her. He already
was involved with an-
other woman in spite of
which he got involved
with Tunisha and used
her for three to four
months. He should be
punished for that. I
have lost my daughter.”
Police allege the rea-
son behind Tunisha
Sharma’s alleged ex-
treme step could be her
breakup with Sheezan
Khan. Vasai court has
sent Sheezan to police
custody for four days in
connection with death.
TUNISHA’S MOTHER ACCUSES
SHEEZAN OF CHEATING ON ACTOR
Deceased’s
mother accuses
Sheezan Khan of
cheating on actor
TMC BLASTS BJP
FOR LINKING
TUNISHA’S DEATH
TO ‘LOVE JIHAD’
New Delhi: To call the
BJP a ‘sick monster’
would be an understate-
ment, Trinamool Con-
gress (TMC) spokesper-
son Saket
Gokhale said
on Monday,
as he lam-
basted the
party over
claims by
some of its leaders that
the death of TV actor Tun-
isha Sharma, who died by
suicide on Saturday, was
a case of ‘love jihad.’ “The
post mortem on the poor
woman's body isn't even
complete yet let alone her
being laid to rest. And the
BJP has already begun to
user her tragic death for
their own hateful political
agenda. To call the BJP
sick monsters would
be an understatement,”
tweeted Gokhale.
Kurnool (PTI): Presi-
dent Droupadi Murmu
on Monday offered
prayersatSrisailamtem-
ple in Andhra Pradesh's
Kurnool district and laid
foundationstoneforvari-
ous development works.
Arriving at Sun-
nipenta helipad from
Hyderabad, she was re-
ceived by Andhra
Pradesh Endowments
Minister Kottu
Satyanarayana, Fi-
nance Minister Bugga-
na Rajendranath, local
MLA Shilpa Chakrapa-
ni Reddy, and senior of-
ficials.
From there, the Pres-
ident reached Srisailam
temple by road.
Telangana Governor
Tamilisai Soundarara-
jan and Union Tourism
and Culture Minister G.
Kishan Reddy also
reached Srisailam
along with the Presi-
dent from Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh's
Tourism Minister R. K.
Roja, other public rep-
resentatives and senior
officials received Presi-
dent Murmu.
Priests and temple of-
ficials accorded a tradi-
tional welcome to her.
She had darshan at Rat-
nagarbha Ganapathi
Swamy temple.
The President later
performed Rudrab-
hishekam to Srisailam
Mallikarjuna Swamy
and Kumkumarchana
to Bramarambika Devi.
She launched various
projects related to the
development of Srisail-
am Temple.
Works worth Rs 43
crore were launched
under National Mis-
sion of Pilgrimage Re-
juvenational and Spir-
itual Heritage Augmen-
tation Drive (PRA-
SHAD) scheme of the
Union Tourism Minis-
try. She also visited Sri
Shivaji Spoorthy Kend-
ram at Srisailam.
Murmu later re-
turned to Hyderabad
for five-day winter so-
journ.
Earlier, she had ar-
rived at Rajiv Gandhi
International Airport,
Shamshabad, in a spe-
cial aircraft and later
left for Srisailam by a
helicopter. Tight secu-
rity arrangements were
made at Srisailam for
the President's visit.
The temple authori-
ties had suspended dar-
shan for devotees and
diverted traffic as part
of the arrangements.
PRESIDENT OFFERS PRAYERS AT SRISAILAM TEMPLE
Patna (ANI): Five for-
eign nationals, four of
them from Thailand
and one from Myan-
mar, have tested posi-
tive for COVID-19 upon
arrival in Bihar on a
pilgrimage, official
said on Monday.
According to Dr Ran-
jan Kumar Singh, medi-
cal officer in charge of
Gaya district, the for-
eigners were tested at
the international air-
port here in the week-
end as part of a drill
that is being followed
for those visiting Bodh
Gaya to attend the Dalai
Lama's discourses
scheduled this week.
Altogether 33 foreign-
ers were tested during
weekend, out of whom
four of them females,
have tested positive,
said Singh. Their condi-
tion is stable.
5 foreigners test Covid positive in Bodh Gaya
MANDAVIYA HOLDS MEETING WITH IMA
KARNATAKA MAKES MASKS MANDATORY
New Delhi: Union Health and Family Welfare Dr Man-
sukh Mandaviya on Monday interacted with doctors and
representatives from Indian Medical Association (IMA)
regarding the COVID-19 situation and preparedness.
During the meeting, Mandaviya urged participants to
refrain from making speculations.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka gov-
ernment on Monday announced
that wearing face masks inside
theatres, schools and colleges
will be mandatory. Fresh guide-
lines were announced.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Health department was concerned
over the development of 12 passengers arriving from high-
risk countries testing positive for Covid at the Kempe Gowda
International Airport Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Mon-
day. According to authorities, a 37-year-old man, who arrived
from China, had tested positive for Covid at Bengaluru. The
other 11 passengers came from high-risk countries. Four of
them have been quarantined in a private hospital and the rest
passengers have been kept in home quarantine. All the sam-
ples have been sent to genomic sequencing to the National
Institute of Virology and results expected by Tuesday.
12 PASSENGERS RETURNING FROM HIGH-RISK
COUNTRIES INCLUDING CHINA TEST POSITIVE
Kolkata: Two persons re-
turning from abroad have
tested positive for the
Coronavirus infection at
the Kolkata Aiport, airport
sources said on Monday.
According to sources, one
of the positive passengers
came from Dubai on Sat-
urday while another came
from Kuala Lumpur.
New Delhi (PTI): Phar-
maceuticals firm Hetero
on Monday said it has
received World Health
Organisation Prequali-
fication of medicines
programme (WHO PQ)
approval for its generic
version of COVID-19 oral
antiviral treatment candi-
date ‘Nirmatrelvir.’
2 COVID POSITIVE
CASES DETECTED AT
KOLKATA AIRPORT
NIRMACOM GETS
PREQUALIFICATION
FROM THE WHO
New Delhi (ANI): As
biting cold conditions
engulfed entire North
India, fog and poor vis-
ibility remained a se-
vere cause of concern
on Monday
.
According to the In-
dia Meteorological De-
partment, visibility
across most of the
northern states re-
mained poor with
Bhatinda in Punjab and
Bikaner in Rajasthan
recording zero visibil-
ity. The visibility in
the national capital
here at just 50 meters.
Not only in Bhatinda,
visibility remained low
throughout Punjab,
with Amritsar record-
ing visibility of 25 me-
tres and Ambala 50.
Haryana too recorded
low visibility
. While
places like Ambala and
Hissar recorded a low of
25m and 50m respective-
ly, visibility in Chandi-
garh was 200 metres.
According to IMD
data,placeslikeSriGan-
ganagar and Churu in
Rajasthan also recorded
low visibility of 25 and
50 meters, respectively
.
Uttar Pradesh, Odi-
sha and West Bengal
also recorded very low
visibility on the day
with number dipping
to 50 metres in Uttar
Pradesh and Odisha,
while North Bengal re-
corded visibility of
200 meters.
Zerovisibilityinmanyplaces
afterfogengulfsNorthIndia
New Delhi: National
Green Tribunal has ex-
tended the stay on a Un-
ion Ministry of Envi-
ronment, Forests and
Climate Change notifi-
cation modifying the
Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) con-
ditions for certain con-
struction projects.
According to the no-
tification dated Nov 14,
2018, the Union govern-
ment delegated the
power to ensure com-
pliance with environ-
mental conditions to
local bodies.
Stay on EIA for
the construction
projects to
continue: NGT
GRENADES’ CACHE
RECOVERED FROM
ASSAM TEA GARDEN
K’TAKA: ILLEGAL
SLAUGHTERHOUSE
RAIDED; BEEF SEIZED
2 AFRICAN CITIZENS
HELD FOR DUPING
GUJARAT WOMAN
DRUG TRAFFICKERS’
PROPERTIES RAZED,
SAYS HARYANA CM
Dibrugarh: A cache of
grenades and ammunition
were recovered from a
tea garden in Assam's
Dibrugarh district, a senior
police official said on
December 26. Two Chinese
grenades, two magazines
of AK-series rifles, 12
bullets and a pistol silencer
were recovered from South
Jalan tea estate. Items were
spotted by garden workers
on Sunday night, Dibrugarh
SP Shwetank Mishra. “We
have interrogated some
people,” Mishra added.
Mangaluru (PTI): An
illegal cattle slaughterhouse
was raided in a village in
Dakshina Kannada district
of Karnataka and around
100 kilograms of beef were
seized from the place, police
said on Monday. A team of
Konaje police station raided
the slaughterhouse at Malar
under Pavoor village in the
district and confiscated the
meat, valued at Rs 25,000 in
market. Police said accused
Jafar Sadiq, a resident of
Malar Badriyanagar, man-
aged to escape the raid.
Ahmedabad: Two African
nationals were arrested for
allegedly duping an elderly
woman from Gujarat's
Ahmedabad of Rs 34 lakh by
befriending her online using
fake identities and asking
her to pay money to get gifts
and foreign currency re-
leased from Customs, police
said on Monday. Some other
gang members involved
in the crime are yet to be
arrested, he said. According
to official, a 63-year-old
woman approached Cyber
Crime Branch on Dec 23.
Chandigarh (Agencies):
Haryana CM Manohar Lal
Khattar on Monday said
legal action has been taken
against those involved in
drug trafficking and illegal
properties of all such people
have also been identified.
Replying to a question by
member Abhay Singh Chau-
tala, regarding demolition of
houses of people involved
in drug peddling, on first
day of Winter session,
Khattar said action of
demolishing properties as
ethically wrong.
CRUCIAL READ
President Droupadi Murmu arrives to offer prayers at Srisailam
temple, in Nandyala district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
A healthcare worker takes swab sample of a passenger for
COVID-19 testing at railway station in Jalandhar.
A train runs at slow pace due
to low visibility due to a thick
fog on a cold winter day, in
Gurugram on Monday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
IMD PREDICTS
HEAVY TO VERY
HEAVY RAINS IN 10
TAMIL NADU DISTS
Kanyakumari: The IMD’s
Regional Meteorological
Centre (RMC) has predicted
heavy to very heavy rains in
10 districts of Tamil Nadu
on Monday as the deep de-
pressions that have prevailed
over Sri Lanka are likely to
become a depression over
the Kanyakumari sea and ad-
joining areas. The depression,
according to the India Meteo-
rological Department, is likely
to move further west-north-
westwards and weaken over
the southeast Arabian Sea.
This depression would lead to
heavy to very heavy rains in
many regions of south Tamil
Nadu and in some places of
north Tamil Nadu. Heavy to
very heavy rains are expected
in Theni, Dindigul, Madurai,
Sivaganga, Ramanathapur-
am, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi,
Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli,
and Kanniyakumari districts.
Chennai and its suburbs are
likely to have partly cloudy
conditions in the next 48
hours, and light to moderate
rains is likely to occur.
SHE HAD TRIED
SUICIDE EARLIER
ALSO, SAYS KHAN
New Delhi: Tuni-
sha Sharma tried to
commit suicide even
before she actu-
ally ended her life on
December 24. And her
ex-boyfriend and 'Ali
Baba: Dastaan-e-Ka-
bul' co-star Sheezan
Mohammed Khan had
informed her family
about it. Sheezan is
now in police custody,
having been accused
by Tunisha's mother
of causing her daugh-
ter mental trauma
and driving her to
commit suicide.
Mumbai: TV actor Tunisha Sharma had lunch
with the main accused and co-actor Sheezan
Khan before hanging herself, sources said. The
First Information Report, or FIR, in a case regis-
tered by the police, charging Sheezan Khan for
abetment to suicide, revealed that the duo were
in a relationship and had broken up 15 days
before Tunisha's death.
SHEEZAN KHAN HAD LUNCH WITH
TUNISHA ON THE DAY OF SUICIDE
She launched various
projects related to
development of
Srisailam Temple
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Kolkata (ANI): A court in Kolkata has taken cognisance
of a charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate
against arrested Trinamool Congress
(TMC) MLA Manik Bhattacharya and
others in connection with the West
Bengal teachers recruitment 'scam'
money laundering case, the agency
said Friday. ED had named six enti-
ties including the legislator, his wife
Satarupa Bhattacharya, their son Souvik Bhattacharya,
Tapas Kumar Mondal (owner of a teacher training
centre), firms like Acuere Consultancy.
TEACHERS' SCAM: NAME OF TRINAMOOL
PANCHAYAT MEMBER'S SON SURFACES

07
Commodity Price Change % Chg
GOLD 54,721.00 121.00 0.22 (Per 10g)
SILVER 69,050.00 100.00 0.14 (Per 1kg)
COMMODITIES
Currency Price Change % Chg
USDINR 82.65 0.17 0.20
GBPINR 99.66 0.33 0.33
CURRENCIES
INDIAN WORKERS DEMANDING MORE FLEXIBILITY
New Delhi (PTI): A signifi-
cant percentage of employ-
ees are demanding more
flexibility in their working
lives, and they are prepared
to make compromises to get
it, as per a report.
According to the ADP
Research Institute’s People
at Work 2022: A Global
Workforce View, which sur-
veyed almost 33,000 work-
ers across 17 countries,
more than 7 in 10 are seek-
ing more flexibility in how
they structure their work-
ing time.
In India, 76.07% of em-
ployees would prefer hav-
ing control over their work-
ing hours, the report said,
adding that they would
take a pay cut to guarantee
the flexibility of working
remotely or have the oppor-
tunity to alternate between
home and office. As per the
report, around 76.38% of
employees in India would
look for a new job if asked
to return to work full-time.
“Currently, there is a
need for innovative alter-
native options to the tradi-
tional nine-to-five to keep
employees satisfied at
work.
“Offering more flexibil-
ity and control over em-
ployees’ work-life is worth
considering as they have
endured immense pres-
sure during the pandemic
and have proved to be im-
portant assets through
their continuous perfor-
mance,” Rahul Goyal, MD,
South East Asia India,
ADP, said.
IN WORKING LIVES
MAJOR
FINDINGS
z In India, 76.07% of
employees would prefer
having control over their
working hours.
z They would take a pay cut
to guarantee the flexibility
of working remotely or
have the opportunity to
alternate between home
and office.
z 76.38% of employees
would look for a new job
business
BRIEFS
New Delhi (PTI): The Ki-
netic Group will be
launching the electric ver-
sion of its once popular
moped Luna, according
to a regulatory filing by
Kinetic Engineering. The
E-Luna will be launched
shortly by sister company
Kinetic Green Energy
Power Solutions, the
company said on Mon-
day. Kinetic Engineering
Ltd (KEL) has com-
menced production of
chassis and other assem-
blies for the electric ava-
tar of the Luna, it added.
The company has devel-
oped all the major subas-
semblies for E-Luna.
New Delhi (PTI): Power
Mech Projects (Power
Mech) on Monday said it
has bagged three projects,
including one from the
Adani Group, totalling
`1,034.13 crore. In a reg-
ulatory filing, the compa-
ny said it has received
service order/letters of
award (LOA) worth
`1,034.13 crore. A service
order for execution of ret-
rofitting of flue gas desul-
phurisation (FGD) system
is from the Adani Group
for its thermal power
plants located at Mahan
(MP), Raigarh and Raipur.
POWER MECH GETS
ORDERS FROM ADANI
GROUP,OTHERS
KINETIC GROUP TO
LAUNCH ELECTRIC
VERSION OF LUNA
New Delhi (PTI): Gold
prices rose by `121 to
`54,721/10 grams in the
national capital on Mon-
day, according to HDFC
Securities. Silver also rose
by `100 to `69,050/kg.
“Gold price traded steady
in the domestic market
due to lack of cues from
the global market due to
holiday season,” said Dilip
Parmar, Research Analyst
at HDFC Securities. Gold
prices are likely to trade
sideways due to lack of
market participants. How-
ever short-term trend is
still bullish in gold, Par-
mar added.
GOLD RISES `121;
SILVER ADVANCES
BY RUPEES 100
New Delhi (PTI): Inox
Green Energy Services on
Monday said it will ac-
quire a majority stake in
an independent wind ser-
vice provider that oper-
ates majorly in South In-
dia with a 230+MW fleet.
However, the company
did not disclose the value
of the transaction and the
name of the target com-
pany. The transaction is
subject to certain regula-
tory and other customary
closing conditions and is
expected to conclude by
the end of January 2023,
a company statement
said.
INOX GREEN TO HAVE
STAKE IN WIND
SERVICE PROVIDER
*Rates till the edition went to print.
CENTRAL BANK OF
INDIA TO RAISE UP TO
`1,500 CR THIS FISCAL
New Delhi (PTI): State-
owned Central Bank of India
will raise up to `1,500 crore
this fiscal by
issuing Basel
III compliant
bonds. The
decision was
taken at the bank’s board
meeting held on Monday. The
board of directors consid-
ered and approved to raise
capital through an issuance of
non-convertible redeemable
unsecured Basel III compliant
tier II bonds for amount up to
`1,500 crore, the bank said in
a regulatory filing.
GODREJ PROPERTIES
EYES `550 CRORE
REVENUE
New Delhi (PTI): Realty
firm Godrej Properties has
purchased
about 62 acres
of land in
Kurukshetra,
Haryana for
over `100 crore to develop
a plotted residential project
and is targeting around `550
crore revenue from this
property. In a regulatory filing,
the company informed that
this project will offer about 1.4
million square feet of plotted
residential development. The
company did not mention the
total deal value.
INDIA’S AGRI ALLIED
COMMODITIES EXPORT
UP 12 PER CENT
New Delhi (PTI): India’s
export of agriculture and allied
commodities
rose 11.97%
to $30.21
billion during
April-October
period of current fiscal year,
the agriculture ministry said
on Monday. Wheat, basmati
rice, raw cotton, castor oil,
coffee, and fresh fruits were
major commodities exported
from India. The overall export
of agri and allied commodities
rose 20% to $50.24 billion in
2021-22, when compared with
$41.86 bn in the previous year.
LICHF HIKES LENDING
RATE BY 0.35%, HOME
LOANS TO COST 8.65%
Mumbai (PTI): Mortgage
lender LIC Housing Finance
joined peers and hiked its
lending rate
by 0.35%. The
move, which
comes a week
after an in-
crease by bigger rival HDFC by
a similar quantum, entails that
the minimum rate of interest
will get revised to 8.65% for
the best-rated borrower. In a
statement, the company said it
has increased the LIC Housing
Prime Lending Rate (LHPLR),
to which the interest rate on
its loans is linked, by 0.35%.
WEWORK INDIA RAISES `550 CRORE FROM BPEA
CREDIT-MANAGED FUND FOR FUTURE GROWTH
New Delhi (PTI): Co-working major WeWork India on Monday
said it has raised `550 crore from funds managed by BPEA Credit
for future growth and acquisition
opportunities as it seeks to tap rising
demand for flexible spaces. In 2017,
WeWork Global had partnered with
Bengaluru-based real estate firm
Embassy Group to enter the Indian
market. At present, WeWork India
has a portfolio of around 70,000
desks spread over 6 million square feet area in 41 centres across
B’luru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, and Pune.
OTHER STORIES
‘India well placed amid
global uncertainties’
New Delhi (PTI): India is
well positioned to continue
to be the fastest-growing
major economy next year,
which may mark the lowest
global growth since the
millennium began barring
the pandemic and the glob-
al financial crisis, accord-
ing to Tata Sons Chairman
N Chandrasekaran.
In his New Year message
to around 9.35 lakh employ-
ees of the Tata Group, he
said increasing consump-
tion, consumer confidence
and investment will sup-
port India’s growth story
although the global envi-
ronment has several risk
factors, including the en-
ergy crisis in Europe, the
battle to contain inflation
to avoid recession, and on-
going geopolitical conflicts.
“Post-pandemic, India
opened up, and we have re-
turned to living our daily
lives normally, in a year
that saw the nation turn 75
years old. Business mo-
mentum has been strong
for many of our compa-
nies,” he wrote.
In the next year, Chan-
drasekaran said, “we are
likely to see inflation grad-
ually moderate. India is
well positioned, and we
will continue to be the fast-
est growing major econo-
my, supported by increas-
ing consumption, consum-
er confidence and invest-
ment.”
However, he added,
“Slowing global growth
may act as a drag on out-
put, but our rising share of
global manufacturing
should provide some buff-
er/insulation.”
The global environment
has several risk factors, in-
cluding the energy crisis in
Europe, the battle to con-
tain inflation to avoid re-
cession, and ongoing geo-
political conflicts, he point-
ed out.
“Barring the pandemic
and the global financial cri-
sis, next year may mark the
lowest global growth since
the millennium began. We
will need to keep careful
watch on commodity price
rises, in particular,” Chan-
drasekaran said.
PLI scheme for textiles
attracts `1,536 crore
`10,683-crore production-
linked incentive scheme
for India’s textiles sector
attracted investments of
`1,536 crore as approval let-
ters were issued to 56 appli-
cants who met the eligibil-
ity criteria, the govern-
ment said on Monday
.
Applications under the
PLI Scheme for textiles
were received through a
web portal from January 1,
2022, to February 28, 2022.
The Centre launched
the PLI Scheme with an
approved outlay of `10,683
crore to promote the pro-
duction of MMF apparel,
MMF fabrics and Prod-
ucts of Technical Textiles
in the country to enable
the textiles industry to
achieve size and scale and
to become competitive.
“Selection Committee
chaired by Secretary (Tex-
tiles) has selected 64 appli-
cants under the scheme.
56 applicants have com-
pleted the mandatory cri-
teria for the formation of
a new company and ap-
proval letters have been
issued to them. Invest-
ment to the tune of `1,536
crore has been made so
far,” an official statement
said.
Sensex, Nifty jump over 1%
after four days of decline
Mumbai (PTI): Equity
benchmarks ended with a
jump of over 1% on Mon-
day after four days of loss-
es amid a positive trend in
global markets.
The 30-share BSE bench-
mark rallied 721.13 points
or 1.20% to settle at
60,566.42. During the day, it
jumped 988.49 points or
1.65% to 60,833.78.
On similar lines, the
broader NSE Nifty ad-
vanced 207.80 points or
1.17% to end at 18,014.60.
From the Sensex pack,
State Bank of India, In-
dusInd Bank, Bajaj Fin-
serv, Tata Steel, ITC, Axis
Bank, HDFC Bank, UltraT-
ech Cement, NTPC and
Tata Motors were the ma-
jor winners.
Nestle, Kotak Mahindra
Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL
Technologies and Hindu-
stan Unilever were the lag-
gards.
Fund mobilisation
through equity,
debt routes down
20 per cent
New Delhi (PTI): Fund
mobilisation by companies
through equity and debt
routes has dropped 20% in
2022 to nearly `11 lakh
crore, as exuberance dwin-
dled this year due to expen-
sive credit avenues and
volatile markets. The first
half of 2023 could continue
to remain challenging.
The year 2021 was ex-
traordinary for fundrais-
ing from the equity and
debt routes, while 2022 has
seen a slowdown in capital
raising owing to elevated
volatility provoked by un-
precedented inflation glob-
ally and the Russia-
Ukraine war.
“The first half of 2023
could continue to be chal-
lenging, largely driven by
global macro develop-
ments. If the slowdown/
recession in the US is mild,
then we could see a rally in
global markets in the sec-
ond half of next year,
which would aid investor
sentiment and the Indian
markets as well,” said
Vishal Chandiramani,
Managing Partner Prod-
ucts and COO, TrustPlutus
Wealth (India) Pvt Ltd.
Even with a bounce back
in markets, it will be more
difficulttogarnerfundsover
the next few years as com-
pared to earlier, he noted.
TATA SONS CHAIRMAN ASSURES
SEVERAL RISK
FACTORS
z N Chandrasekaran said
increasing consumption,
consumer confidence and
investment will support India’s
growth story although the
global environment has several
risk factors
z The global environment has
several risk factors, including
the energy crisis in Europe, the
battle to contain inflation to
avoid recession
z Barring the pandemic the
global financial crisis, next year
may mark the lowest growth
since the millennium began
` GAINS 17 PAISE TO
CLOSE AT 82.65
AGAINST US DOLLAR
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appre-
ciated 17 paise to close at 82.65
(provisional) against the US
dollar on Monday, tracking posi-
tive domestic equities and the
weakening of the American cur-
rency in the overseas market.At
the interbank foreign exchange
market, the local unit opened at
82.79 and touched an intra-day
high of 82.63 and a low of 82.83
against the greenback.It finally
settled at 82.65, registering a
rise of 17 paise over its previous
close of 82.82.

08
2NDFRONT
Record number of students go abroad in 2022
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment lauds the In-
dian education system
for its quality all the
time and yet, the first 11
months of 2022 have
witnessed a record
number of students go
abroad on student visas.
As per statistics pre-
sented before the Parlia-
ment by Bureau of Im-
migration, as many as
6,48,678 students have
gone abroad on student
visas up to November
30, 2022, which is an all-
time high compared
with the student move-
ment figures in the past
5 years.Also, the popu-
lar study destinations
for Indian students like
Canada, Australia,
New Zealand have seen
the number of students
decreasing over the last
3 years while popularity
of the United Kingdom
has gone up.
MORE INDIANS PREFER TO STUDY ABROAD
THE UGLY TRUTH
OF EDUCATION
SYSTEM IN INDIA
On the other side, where
students are choosing
destinations to study
abroad, one of the biggest
examples of inequality in
the Indian education sys-
tem is that many children
living in poverty can’t even
afford to go to school.
Even school-going chil-
dren belonging to families
with limited resources do
not have access to basic
education, let alone quality
education mainly due to a
lack of internet and access
to digital devices.
Year New
Zealand
2019-2020 10297
2020-2021 5321
2021-2022 64
Year Australia
2019-2020 73808
2020-2021 —
2021-2022 8950
Year Canada
2019-2020 132620
2020-2021 —
2021-2022 102688
Year UK
2019-2020 36612
2020-2021 44901
2021-2022 77855
Year US
2019-2020 122535
2020-2021 62415
2021-2022 125115
z The data shows New
Zealand saw the numbers
declining, with only 64
students going in 2021-22.
RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary, SP MLA Shivpal Yadav also invited to join
CONGINVITESSP,BSPCHIEFS
TOBHARATJODOYATRAINUP
Lucknow (PTI): The
Congress has invited
several leaders of non-
BJP parties, including
Samajwadi Party presi-
dent Akhilesh Yadav,
BSP supremo Mayawati
RLD’s Jayant Chaud-
hary, to take part in the
Uttar Pradesh leg of
the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
An exception is for-
mer deputy chief min-
ister Dinesh Sharma
who has been invited to
the yatra in his capacity
as a professor at Luc-
know University. An-
other professor of the
university, Ravikant,
has also been invited.
The Rahul Gandhi-
led Bharat Jodo Yatra
willenterUttarPradesh
on January 3 through
Loni in Ghaziabad.
It will then pass
through Baghpat and
Shamli to enter Hary-
ana. Congress spokes-
person Ashok Singh
told PTI that the party
has extended invita-
tions to prominent op-
position leaders in the
state to attend the yatra.
In the present times
when people are not al-
lowed to raise their
views, this yatra is the
only option to know
people’s minds, the
spokesperson said.
The entire opposition
has almost the same
view about this govern-
ment so they have been
invited to participate in
the yatra, the party
spokesman said.
The Congress has in-
vited SP MLA Shivpal
Singh Yadav, BSP gen-
eral secretary Satish
Mishra, Suheldev
Bharatiya Samaj Party
chief Omprakash Rajb-
har and Communist
Party of India secretary
Atul Anjan, he said.
Former Union minis-
ter Salman Khurshid,
who is the state coordi-
nator of the yatra, had
told media last week
that Bharat Jodo Yatra
is not of any party but
of the whole country
and leaders of various
parties will be invited
to attend it.
He, however, had not
shared the names of
leaders who would be
invited then.
Cong general secre-
tary Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra, who had led the
party’s campaign in the
UP assembly elections
earlier this year, will
join the yatra in the
state on all 3 days.
The Kanyakumari-
to-Kashmir yatra,
which has so far tra-
versed more than 2,800
km through 10 states,
is on a nine-day winter
break and will resume
on January 3.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and party National
Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate address a press conference at
party headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
HC protection to Unnao rape survivor
Delhi HC has granted
interim protection
from “precipitate ac-
tion” to the 2017 Unnao
rape survivor in an FIR
registered by the Uttar
Pradesh police for al-
legedly forging her
date of birth to attract
provisions of the POC-
SO Act in the case in
which the now expelled
BJP leader Kuldeep
Singh Sengar was con-
victed. Sengar has
since been disqualified
as an MLA.
Justice Anup Jairam
Bhambhani issued no-
tice on the anticipatory
bail plea by the 21-year-
old and directed that
subject to the petitioner
appearing before the
trial court when re-
quired, “no precipitate
action affecting the pe-
titioner’s liberty shall
be taken by the trial
court, till the next date
of hearing”.
The court, in a recent
order, granted six weeks
to the prosecution to file
a status report and list-
ed the case for further
hearing on March 1.
The FIR was regis-
tered by Makhi police
station in Unnao on De-
cember 23, 2018, under
sections 419/ 420/ 467/
468/471 IPC for the al-
leged offence of cheat-
ing and forgery after the
husband of an accused
in the main rape case
claimed the petitioner
and her mother forged
the date on the birth cer-
tificate so they could
press the charge under
the POCSO Act.
SC notice to ED on bail
plea of suspended IAS
officer Pooja Singhal
Supreme Court has
sought the response of
the Enforcement Direc-
torate to a plea filed by
suspended IAS officer
Pooja Singhal in a mon-
ey laundering case
seeking interim bail to
look after her daughter
who is ill.
A bench of Justices
SK Kaul and Abhay S
Oka issued a notice to
the ED and others and
sought their replies.
“Issue notice return-
able in the re-opening
miscellaneous week of
January 2023 both in
the SLP as well as on
the application for in-
terim bail.
“In the meantime, the
respondent is directed
to verify the medical
status of the daughter
of the petitioner,” the
bench said.
The top court was
hearing an appeal filed
bySinghal,aJharkhand
cadre Indian Adminis-
trative Service (IAS) of-
ficer, against the Jhara-
khand high court order
dismissing her bail plea.
Singhal has been in
custody since May 11
after raids were con-
ducted at properties
linked to her. The En-
forcement Directorate
has accused Singhal, a
former state mines de-
partment secretary, of
money laundering.
The ED has said more
than Rs 36 crore cash,
linked to alleged illegal
mining, was seized by
its teams as part of two
separate money laun-
dering investigations.
Singhal was suspended
by the state government
following her arrest.
BJP returns to power,
disasters take their toll
Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacts with a child during his door-to-door campaign
ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, in Rudraprayag. —PHOTO BY PTI
UTTARAKHAND 2022
Alok Mishra
Dehradun: The
BJP’s gamble in Utta-
rakhand on Pushkar
SinghDhamiworked.
Just months before
the assembly polls,
the party installed
him as the chief min-
ister,replacingTirath
Singh Rawat. And in
February
, the BJP
won a second succes-
sive term in the state
knownforbootingout
the party in power in
every time.
Dhami, however,
lost his own Khatima
seat and had to wait
for a bypoll to con-
firm his appoint-
ment as CM.
Politics aside, 2022
was a year of disas-
ters -- a road accident
that killed 33, an ava-
lanche that took at
least 27 lives, and a
helicopter crash on
the Kedarnath pil-
grimage route. The
government also
faced the heat over
past recruitment
scams, concerns over
ecology resurfaced,
and the murder of a
hotel receptionist
brought people out
on to the streets.
The BJP govt that
returned to power
with a shrunken ma-
jority 47 seats com-
pared to 57 in a House
of 70 in 2017, Cong got
just 19 got down to
business quickly
. At
its first meeting, the
state cabinet cleared
a proposal to consti-
tute a panel of ex-
perts to draft a Uni-
form Civil Code, ful-
filling an election
commitment. —PTI
FROM ANKITA MURDER CASE
TO OTHER CONTROVERSIES
The murder of a young
receptionist, alleg-
edly by the owner of the
resort near Rishikesh
she worked, triggered
outrage. The father of
the owner was a BJP
leader, an embarrass-
ment for the party which
later suspended him.
The government also
introduced a stricter anti-
conversion law, taking a
cue from other BJP-ruled
states like Uttar Pradesh.
Another major legisla-
tion passed by the state
assembly granted 30%
reservation in govern-
ment jobs to women
domiciled in the state,
an issue that has been
before the courts earlier.
Uttarakhand Subordinate
Services Selection Com-
mission faced flak over
three alleged scams,
involving exam paper
leaks. A special inves-
tigation team probed
the allegations and 45
people, including senior
UKSSSC officials, were
arrested. Dhami stressed
that the scams date back
to the period when he
wasn’t in power. “They
took place in 2014-16.
We are only cleaning up
the system by getting
them investigated and
sending the guilty behind
bars,” he said. Also,
this time, over 61 lakh
pilgrims visited the four
shrine spots, breaking
past records. But, there
was an unusually high
number of deaths among
the pilgrims. Altogether,
281 Char Dham pilgrims
died this year. —PTI
BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son, Pulkit Arya (R), was arrested for
the murder of 19-year-old girl Ankita Bhandari (L).
Artists perform during the Mussoorie Winterline Carnival 2022,
in Mussoorie on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
IAS officer Pooja Singhal
COURTESY MEET
Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui during a
courtesy meeting in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Teachers given
Covid duty at
Delhi airport
New Delhi (PTI): Del-
hi government school
teachers will be de-
ployed at Indira Gan-
dhi International Air-
port to ensure people
there follow COVID
protocols, officials
said on Monday. The
order was issued by
the District Magistrate
on behalf of the Dis-
trict Disaster Manage-
ment Authority.
BAIL ON MEDICAL
CONDITION
SATISH MISHRA,
RAJBHAR ON LIST
Getting up early is a gift - to
your own self-it has the power
to transform your life.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/
thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
NEW DELHI, TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 27, 2022
hat lies
b e h i n d
us and
what lies
before us
are tiny
matters
compared to
what lies
within us.
If you look
at what you
don’t have in
life, you’ll nev-
erhaveenough.
And I believe
that we only live
once, but if we do it
right, once is
enough. And in
three words I can
sum up everything I
have learned about
life: ‘It goes on’ said
by a ravishing beau-
ty Sneha Chaturve-
di’s, whose inspir-
ing story is a major
source of inspira-
tion for others, who
wants to make their
name shine. When
asked about herself
Sneha said, “One of
the most vital skills
I possess which is
gonna help me to
make it in the mod-
elling world is my
passion which I
hold for modelling.
I am extremely de-
termined in making
my dreams come
true may happen
whatever. The fact
that I used to be a
fat chubby teen and
I worked so hard to
get myself into
shape so as to par-
ticipate in pageants
and start my model-
ling career, speaks
volumes about my
determination.”
When asked
about her journey
the beauty said, “I
always since my
childhood had a pas-
sion for modelling
but due to a lack of
family support, I
couldn’t confess it
to them. But it was
only a few years
back during lock-
down when my sis-
ter and mother saw
a few of my pictures
and persuaded me
to start my career in
modelling, that I
was finally able to
start my career. And
it’s only their sup-
port and blessings
that have kept me
going since then.”
The diva strongly
believes that hard
work teaches us dis-
cipline, dedication
and determination
while sharing her
vision and rookie
mistakes, she said
“If I could go in fu-
ture, and tell my-
self one thing about
my career it would
be becoming a suc-
cessful top model
and the biggest mis-
take I feel I did was
that I undermined
myself and felt that
I was a little less
than others.”
The exquisite
beauty further
said, “I am im-
mensely grateful to
Dr Jagdeesh Chan-
dra and Gaurav
Gaur for providing
us with this won-
derful platform
who made me be-
lieve that I got the
potential to be a su-
permodel and sup-
ported me as well.”
The diva also
shared that her re-
warding moment
was being a finalist
in the reputed
and well-known
pageant Elite
Miss Rajasthan
which literally
changed her life
for good.
W
YOU’RE
IRRESISTIBLE
WHEN YOU
BLUSH
I believe that we only live
once, but if we do it right,
once is enough expressed
Ravishing beauty Sneha
Chaturvedi while sharing her
inspiring journey in a candid
conversation with City First!
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO

10
ETC
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F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
MANALI SHARMA, Model
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Today is a
favourable day
for business.
Listening to
someone’s
advice on the
professional front
will be in your
interest. You are
very generous by nature and also you are
the backbone of your family. Be careful of
the words that come out of your mouth.
Your lover may finally say yes.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Fortunes are set
to rise for those
in trade and
business. You
love to live close
to your family.
You are a child at
heart and never
let this child die.
You have a big heart and you always help
someone if you can. Expected payments
are likely to get released soon. You are a
very grounded person.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You will enjoy
good health by
remaining regular
in your workouts.
It will be in
your interest to
guide a family
youngster on the
academic front.
Scrumptious food is what you are craving
for today. You may start a side business
to earn extra money. You are not a jealous
kind and you feel happy for others.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Family will be
supportive of
your ideas, but
only to an extent.
You give tough
competition
to people. You
will get special
treatment from
your dear ones. Good health is assured
through own efforts. Meeting people you
get along with well may make the day
enjoyable for you.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Your spouse
is someone
who can do
anything for
your happiness.
You are happy
spending whole
day at home.
Tensions on the
family front may get sorted out. Help your
mothers at home today and give them a
reason to smile. You are opportunist and
this will make you successful.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You are very
fortunate to have
a great friend
circle. Whatever
you have in mind,
you will manage
to implement it
at work. You may
feel much healthy
and energetic today. Visit a doctor if you
have any doubts about your health. You
want to have your own house and you will
work hard to make your dream come true.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You must create
an environment
of understanding
at home. Your
regular exercise
routine promises
to keep you fit
and energetic.
You will succeed
in any sort of examination if you put your
heart and soul to it. You need a break
from day to tensions and the way to cope
up with stress is to meditate.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You make sure to
make things work
your way. You are
most wanted by
your friends. You
can have romantic
affair in office and
a serious one. You
will invest money
in clothes and accessories today. You are
a God fearing person. Never demotivate
someone even if someone is not capable
of doing something.
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Pending
paperwork
concerning a
property will be
completed. Your
spouse may
make you spend
more than you
expected. Admit
your faults in relationship. Fantastic day
for investing money in stock market as
you can make fortune. You miss your
parents and have a fear to loose them.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
This is the
best time try
something new
with life give
yourself a new
purpose. You
will feel amorous
towards your
wife. Work on
your limitations, there can be no better
time than this. You have more opposite
sex friends than the same and you may
be judged sometimes but don’t care.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Don’t make
friends for money
and status rather
make friends who
will stick with you
forever. You care
about you lover
but somehow
hesitate in
expressing that care. On social front, you
may have to spend some extra money
in buying gifts for someone for some
specific occasion.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Some family
issues may need
urgent resolution.
Some of you are
likely to enjoy an
excursion with
friends. You will
feel financially
comfortable.
Your personality will attract many eligible
bachelors. Spend time talking with
likeminded people as it will make you feel
good for now.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
TWO CONTRASTING
TWO CONTRASTING
ASPECTS OF SLEEP
ASPECTS OF SLEEP

leep is a thing
of joy
, so bliss-
ful and so re-
laxing. But
sleep is not a
c o m m o d i t y
which you can
buy
. It is a bliss that na-
ture has provided
within yourself. It is a
gift which should be
preserved for life.
Sleep is also a fascinat-
ing biological process
that its innumerable
users can neither con-
trol nor understand. A
lion sleeps almost 20
hours a day, many
birds sleep while fly-
ing, a horse sleeps
standing with its knees
locked, and seals sleep
differently while in wa-
ter than when on land.
Sleep makes life better
to live and vibrant to
enjoy just like your
mobile performs better
after a switch off and
restart. The brain rests
and recuperates dur-
ing sleep to function
optimally for a longer
period of time. Since
the brain is a master
organ, its optimum
function ensures bet-
ter body performance
and organ optimiza-
tion.
For a body to func-
tion at its best capabili-
ties, it should sleep for
seven to eight hours a
day, mostly during the
night at a single
stretch. Optimum
sleep is not a waste of
time and shouldn’t be
discouraged because
inadequate sleep may
lead to early life heart
attack or even death.
At this point of time,
sleep deprivation has
attained a pandemic
proportion with people
glued to their mobile
with sleep-filled eyes.
This behaviour is anti-
nature and might be
responsible for many
casesof suddendeaths.
This same behaviour
is responsible for so
many cases
of anxiety,
depression
and atten-
tion deficit
issues. Be-
ware of exces-
sive LED light
exposure.
Stress, a
sedentary life-
style and sub-
sequent obesity
have emerged
as a dangerous
triad affecting
the lives of young peo-
ple who are becoming
victims of sleep disor-
ders with a lot of life
complications. Two
major sleep disorders
are being witnessed by
medical professionals
- insomnia and hyper-
somnia.
Insomnia is caused
by poor sleep induc-
tion and then equally
poor maintenance of
sleep. As a result of
this, even the daytime
becomes stressful be-
cause the concerned
person remains appre-
hensive about night
sleep. Sleeping pills,
too, become ineffectual
and even burdensome
in younger people. The
pill-induced sleep is
not significantly rest-
ful and there might be
a hangover the next
morning and a feel-
ing of low self-es-
teem. Children
and very young
adults might
have episodes of
sleepwalking and
sleeptalking, both are
actually signs of sleep
deprivation. All these
disorders are matters
of grave concern.
On the other side of
the sleep spectrum,
there are people who
sleep and sleep. This
condition of excessive
and uncontrollable
sleep is called hyper-
somnia. A person may
sleep continuously for
48 hours yet doest feel
awake and fresh. This
type of sleep is not re-
storative.
Such a person can
doze off during driv-
ing, talking, walking,
working or even when
having meals!
This is a really dan-
gerous and highly em-
barrassing situation.
Both these contrasting
situations have no tai-
lored treatment and
are very complex situ-
ations to manage.
Nothing works defi-
nitely for hypersom-
nia and for managing
insomnia only sleep-
ing pills are pre-
scribed. There are
very few competent
sleep professionals,
and most of the so-
called sleep clinics
are mere farces with
the prime motive of
making money
. Still,
there are some gen-
uine professionals
but one has to find
them. Manage-
ment of sleep in
many people may re-
quire multiple profes-
sionals like cognitive
behaviour therapists,
psychoanalysts, physi-
cians to rule out un-
derlying medical con-
ditions, weight man-
agement experts and
expert sleep thera-
pists.
India needs lots of
such people because of
its rapid urbanization
but most of the bril-
liant students know of
only 7-8 professions
and are wasting their
energies there.
At this juncture,
only a medical practi-
tioner with extra inter-
est in sleep disorders
or a few specialized
clinics is of some help.
S
DR. RAMAVATAR SHARMA
ramawatarf132@gmail.com

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022
11
Christmas is, indeed, a magical
festival that is all about sharing
joy and happiness. The cute
kids wait for the whole year to
receive gifts from their
favourite Santa. People across
the world love to celebrate this
festival in their way. Some like
to decorate their house and tree
with ornaments, gifts etc. Some
people like to dress up in Santa
Claus costumes and distribute
gifts to children and spread joy
all around. City First brings to
you glimpses of the enchanting
festival shared by our avid
readers from all across!
The grand Christmas
celebrations at Sudhir
Mathur’s place
Sudhir Mathur celebrated the festival specially abled children of UMANG
along with children of different NGO’s
Dhairya Sharma
Srishti Khandelwal
Angel
Jayesh Gwalani with other kids at St. Edmunds School, Jaipur
Kuhu and Pihu with Ishu
Aarudra Modi
Aaradhya Singh Bhati
Vivaan Baliyan Isha Singh and Harshita Sharma
Aarudra Modi with other children of MPS Sanskriti Pre Primary School
Aarvi Kedia

12
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CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
CITY FIRST
ith the new
year approach-
ing, new bridal
makeup trends
are also set in.
It is important
to stay updated
with the trends if you
are a new-age bride who
loves to look every-
thing trendy and
classy
. Brides-to-be
who are going to
walk down the aisle
in the coming months
must bookmark the
newest makeup trends
to look all glam. Here is
Priya Gulati, a make-up
artist based in Delhi
sharing some of the hot
makeup trends for the
coming 2023.
NATURAL EARTHY
TONES
Remember Alia Bhatt’s
bridal look? She set the
benchmark for donning
natural makeup and
earthy tone and still
looks exceptionally
beautiful. Believe it
or not, natural
makeup never goes
out of fashion. If
you are sceptical about
playing with colours on
your face, opt for de-
glam makeup and you’ll
adore it for the rest of
your life. Go for nude or
rosy lips, peachy nude
blush on the cheeks and
nude shade or muted
pink nail paint.
BRIGHT COLOURS FOR
THE BRIDE
If you are a bubbly
bride who does not shy
away from playing with
colours, you can go for a
bright makeup palette.
Apply bold or dramatic
eyeliner and highlight
your eyes with an elec-
tric green, blue or pink
colour. Also, don’t for-
get to apply fake lashes
to give some volume.
MATTE LIPS
To achieve the perfect
classic, elegant and
timeless look, do matte
lips. You can never fail
with a subtle lip shade
as this would keep your
look lasting for a long
time. A wedding day is
a once-in-a-lifetime
event that you need to
make memorable by
lookingyourbest.Stand
out from the crowd
while keeping it subtle.
W
‘be the voice,
not the noise’
CITY FIRST
A
ward-winning
playback sing-
er and song-
writer, Vibha
Saraf took centre
stage during Protium
Amp’d at the Delhi
Protium campus on
Saturday, December
24. Vibha hails from
Kashmir and is well-
known in the Indian
music industry for
performing folk-
inspired songs.
She trained in
Hindustani classi-
cal at Shriram
Bharatiya Kala Ken-
dra for four years and
studied pop music for
five years. Vibha
Saraf has won acco-
lades for her singing
and was recognized
as ‘IIFA Best Female
Playback Singer’ and
‘Best Female Play-
back Singer’ in 2019
for the song ‘Dilbaro’
from the film ‘Raazi’.
She was nominated
again in 2020 as ‘IIFA
Best Female Playback
Singer’ for her song
‘Kab Se kab Tak’ from
‘Gullyboy’ which she
co-sung with Ranveer
Singh. She has sung
many soundtracks for
various films and web
shows such as Mis-
sion Mangal, Note-
book, Dhanak, Nail-
polish, Jia O Jia,
Made in Heaven and
Chaman Bahaar, to
name a few.
During Protium
Amp’d, Vibha was ac-
companied by the ac-
complished Indian
classical guitarist,
Owais Khan, who be-
longs to the Dilli
Gharana. Owais
has been part of
the Indian music
industry for the
last ten years and
has performed with
the likes of Amit
Trivedi, Sonu Nigam,
Ghulam Ali Khan and
multiple Punjabi art-
ists.
Vibha and Owais
performed a total of 9
songs which were a
beautiful mix of Vib-
ha’s original composi-
tions and covers in
both Kashmiri and
Hindi languages.
While performing,
the duo interacted
with the audience and
narrated Kashmiri
folklore through their
songs, which got the
crowd to connect with
the songs and under-
stand the stories be-
hind them.
DURING
THE
DAY!
The official Twitter handle of DCP Central Delhi shared a few glimpses of Esha Pandey/DCP, SED celebrating Christmas eve with the students and
inaugurating the Delhi Police Public Library in PS New Friends Colony. 50 students from all sections of society have been already enrolled in the library.
In the holy spirit of Christmas, books, gifts and refreshments were distributed among the students.
CHRISTMAS CHEER
WITH LITTLE ONES
CITY FIRST
T
heGoldenJubilee
concert was or-
ganised at The
Study School on
Saturday, December 24.
The students of The
Study School celebrated
Christmas with a lot of
spirit and euphoria
while enjoying the mes-
merizing Golden Jubi-
lee Concert. Presiding
over the merriment was
Chief Guest Gowri Ish-
waran (Founder and
Principal of Sanskriti
School, Advisor to
the Shiv Nadar
Foundation and
Vice Chair of The
Global Education
AND Leadership
Foundation).
Eminent guests
including British
High Commissioner,
H.E. Alex Ellis and
his wife Teresa Adegas
graced the event with
their presence. His Ex-
cellency spoke about the
focus on early childhood
education in the UK.
The Deputy High
Commissioner for Can-
ada, Amada Strohan
talked about the impor-
tance of proper nutri-
tion and fitness for
young children.
Some of the other
guests present at the oc-
casion were George Eti-
yal, (Head of Lufthansa
German Airlines in In-
dia), Monika Mohta
(Former Indian Ambas-
sador to Switzerland)
well know Aniruddha
Das (Odissi dancer
Guru) and the vice
chancellor of Najma
Akhtar (Jamia Milia Is-
lamia, Professor.)
On this occasion
school Director, Shi-
vani Wazir Pasrich
remarked, “It is a
golden opportunity
for us to celebrate
this day with those
who have dedicated
themselves to pro-
viding world-class
early education.”
The school’s Sec-
retary Amir Singh Pas-
rich, an alumnus of the
school, remarked, “The
Study has employed
methodologies to equip
early learners not only
to think out of the sand-
box but to start life with
a problem-solving ap-
proach.”
American Restaurants You Need To Visit ASAP!
American Restaurants You Need To Visit ASAP!
CITY FIRST
W
hat exactly is
A m e r i c a n
food? When
this topic is
posed, we might quick-
ly picture calorie-dense
hamburgers and diabe-
tes-causing pies, or
perhaps milk-
shakes and sand-
wiches at an Amer-
ican diner with
Riverdale-style decor.
But there is so much
more to American food
than that. Since Amer-
ica is a melting pot
of cultures, foods
from throughout
the world like tacos
and “samosas” are as
much American as
they are Mexican or In-
dian, respectively. To
put it another way,
American food offers a
wide variety of mouth-
watering delicacies
that will be a true de-
light for your taste
buds. In light of this,
we’ve put together a list
of some of the top
American restaurants
in Delhi NCR if you’re
itching to experience
some authentic Ameri-
can cuisine.
INDIA HABITAT CENTRE
The American Diner is one
of those iconic American-
style eateries and the
model for several other
ones in the area. The
American Diner, one of
the oldest eateries serving
American food in Delhi
NCR, is situated inside
the India Habitat Centre.
There’s a solid reason why
the breakfast menu here is
so well-regarded.
THE AMERICAN
CONNECTION DINER
The American Connection
Diner is the place to go if
you’re a college student
looking to treat yourself
to a meal that’s well worth
the money. This restaurant
offers generous serving
amounts for a reasonable
price.
SMOKEY’S BBQ GRILL
Smokey’s is the place to
go if you love barbecue! It
is a little more expensive
because it is in Khan
Market. But it’s worth it
if you want a spot with a
welcoming atmosphere,
delectable cuisine, and an
Instagram-able design. We
suggest tasting the vegan
burger, cucumber hummus
toast, and kimchi here.
DUDLEYS
Although seasoned
Potterheads may be
reminded of the hated
relative of the Chosen One,
eating at this restaurant
is a far more pleasant
(and much less irritating!)
experience.
PIN THESE BRIDAL MAKEUP
TRENDSFOR2023 Vibha Saraf and Owais Khan during the performance
Ravishing models showcasing the bridal makeover by Priya Gulati
Ayesha Pasrich, Monika Mohta, Gowri Ishwaran, Shivani
Wazir Pasrich and Ameera Pasrich with others
(L-R) Ayesha Pasrich, Monika Mohta, Gowri
Ishwaran, Shivani Wazir Pasrich and Ameera Pasrich
(L-R) Amada Strohan, Alex Ellis and
Gowri Ishwaran
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN
Priya Gulati

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