28012022 first india lucknow

YOGI ORDERS STRICTEST ACTION AFTER
JOURNALIST BEATEN TO DEATH
Saharanpur: Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath Uttar has sought
a report from the dis-
trict administration
and issued instructions
to take the strictest ac-
tion against the 3 per-
sons accused of beating
a journalist to death in
Saharanpur on Wednes-
day evening. The police
have now arrested all
the three accused, nab-
bing the third one on
Thursday evening.
According to the po-
lice, the journalist who
was on a motorbike
overtook a car in which
three persons were seat-
ed. Enraged by this, the
three men allegedly
thrashed the journalist.
“The victim, a resident
of Chilkana and a re-
porter, was coming to-
wards Saharanpur on
his motorcycle and over-
took an Alto Car in
which three persons
were seated. There was
a fight over overtaking.
Thevictimwasthrashed
by the three men, caus-
ing serious injury
,” said
Saharanpur Superin-
tendent of Police (SP)
Rajesh Kumar.
“The victim was tak-
en to the nearby hospi-
tal where he succumbed
to his injuries. The oc-
cupants of the car fled
from the spot. We have
arrested two accused,
and further legal action
is being ensured,” add-
ed the SP.
The incident took
place on Wednesday
evening. The victim has
been identified as Su-
dhir Saini while the
three accused held by
the police have been
identified as Jahangir,
Farman., and Mannan.
A case has been regis-
tered under relevant
sections of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) in the
Sikri police station of
Saharanpur.
Taking cognizance of
the incident, Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath has sought a re-
port from the district
administration, in-
formed the Chief Min-
ister’s Office. —ANI
THREE ARRESTED Development versus
anarchy in UP: Yogi
First India Bureau
Bijnor: Speaking to
residents of Bijnor on
Thursday, Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
said that they have to
make a choice between
BJP’s development and
the opposition’s anar-
chy. Campaigning for
BJP candidate Shuchi
Mausam Chaudhary,
Yogi said, “Who can
forget the riots at Kosi
Kalan in Mathura and
the disturbance in Bi-
jnor during the previ-
ous government? How
can one forget curfew
in Meerut, chaos in Bu-
landshahar, and the
Muzaffarnagar riots?
Today again the same
mafia and rioters, who
forced people of Kaira-
na to flee their homes,
are in the poll fray. SP,
BSP and Congress are
competing against one
another as to who can
give ticket to a bigger
rioter.”
SCHOOLS CLOSED
TILL FEBRUARY 15
Lucknow: All schools
will remain closed
in Uttar Pradesh till
February 15 for physi-
cal classes, to contain
the spread of Cov-
id-19, an official order
issued by the state
government said.
Educational institu-
tions were already
shut till January 30
in view of the rising
infections. Online
classes will continue
as usual in view of the
upcoming secondary
board examinations,
announced Addi-
tional Chief Secre-
tary Avnish Kumar
Awasthi in the latest
notification.
Mannan, the third accused
arrested on Thursday evening,
in police custody.
—FILE PHOTO
DELIGHTEDTATASBRING
HOME
Air India was officially handed over to the Tata
Group on Thursday shortly after Tata Sons
chairman N Chandrasekaran called on PM Modi
After a competitive bidding process, the
government had on October 8 last year sold
Air India to Talace Private Limited for `18,000 crore
1 2
LUCKNOW l FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 77
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The Arunachal youth who was captured by China’s People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) when he strayed across the border has returned. Union minister and
BJP Arunachal Pradesh leader Kiren Rijiju announced that Miram Taron had
been handed over to the Indian Army. Taron was handed over at the Wacha-
Damai interaction point in the Kibithu sector around 10.30 am.
Sensex had plunged more than 1,000 points in intra-day trading. The losses
in equity markets continued on Thursday as Sensex lost 581 points to finish
trading at 57,276. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 17,110, down 167
points (0.97%) from the previous closing mark. Amid losses in stock markets
in various countries, Sensex continues to nosedive since last several days.
CHINESE ARMY
RETURNED MISSING
ARUNACHAL YOUTH:
KIREN RIJIJU
FROM DALAL
STREET: SENSEX
FALLS 581 POINTS,
NIFTY AT 17,110
Covishield, Covaxin
to be available now
in hospitals, clinics
New Delhi: Covishield
and Covaxin have been
cleared by India’s
drugs regulator for
sale in the market,
sources have said
However, this doesn’t
mean the two COVID-19
vaccines will be availa-
bleatshopssoonthough
people would be able to
buy them from hospi-
tals and clinics, sources
have said. Key details
are awaited from the
government, they said.
For emergency use,
safety data has to be
given the Drugs Con-
troller General of India,
or DCGI, within 15 days
but for market approval
the data has to be given
to the regulator within
six months.
The market sale of
the two vaccines was
approved under the
New Drugs and Clinical
Trials Rules, 2019 after
nod by expert commit-
tee on January 19.
FOREIGN MINISTER
S JAISHANKAR
TESTS COVID +VE
New Delhi: Union
External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar Thursday
said he
has tested
positive
for Cov-
id-19 and
urged all those who have
come in recent contact
with him to take suitable
precautions. Earlier in
the day, Jaishankar had
taken part in a virtual
event — The French
Presidency: EU-India
Partnership in the Indo
Pacific — along with
French Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian.
AMIT SHAH’S DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN IN KRISHNA BHOOMI
BJP WORKS FOR THE ENTIRE
SOCIETY: SHAH IN MATHURA
Aditi Nagar
Mathura: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah hit
out at the Samajwadi
Party (SP) and the Ba-
hujan Samaj Party
(BSP)inUttarPradesh’s
Mathura during a door-
to-door poll campaign
on Thursday
.
Shah claimed that their
government only
worked for caste, add-
ing that only the BJP
has always worked for
the overall development
of society
.
Addressing a gather-
ing in Mathura, Amit
Shah said, “It is only
after Narendra Modi be-
came the PM and Yogi
Adityanath became the
Chief Minister (of UP)
that we followed ‘sabka
saath, sabka viswas,
sabka vikas’.”
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: Tata group
has officially taken over
Air India from the gov-
ernment on Thursday.
“We are totally delight-
ed to have Air India
back at the Tata group
and are committed to
making this a world-
class airline,” Tata Sons
Chairman N Chan-
drasekaran said. Chan-
drasekaran also met
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi ahead of the
official handover.
As a part of the deal,
the Tata group will also
be handed over Air India
Express and a 50 per cent
stakeingroundhandling
arm Air India SATS.
Tatas had set up Tata
Airlines in 1932, which
was in 1946 renamed as
Air India. The govern-
ment had taken control
of theairlinein1953,but
JRD Tata continued to
be its chairman till 1977.
Handover will be home-
coming of Air India to
Tatas after 69 years.
Amritsar/Jalandhar:
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi said the Con-
gress will soon an-
nounce a Chief Minis-
ter candidate in Punjab
and the decision will be
taken by workers.
With a raging Navjot
Sidhu versus Charanjit
Singh Channi rivalry
threatening to hurt the
Congress campaign for
next month’s Punjab
election, Rahul in Ja-
landhar on his daylong
visit to Punjab stressed
that “two people can’t
lead, only one can”.
Gandhi made the
comments with both
Punjab Congress chief
Navjot Sidhu and Chief
Minister Charanjit
Channi on stage; their
swipes at each other
have been getting loud-
er and more embarrass-
ing for the party by the
day
. Punjab, said Rahul,
needs now is peace and
brotherhood.
...slams SP, BSP
over casteist,
dynastic traits
Beginning visit from Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh
Rahul in Punjab raises poll pitch, slams BJP over farm laws
Union Home Minister Amit Shah being greeted during door-to-
door campaign in Mathura on Thursday.
Chairman of Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the
official handover of Air India to Tata Group in New Delhi on Thursday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit
Singh Channi and party State chief Navjot Singh Sidhu eats langar
after offering prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday.
A beneficiary receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a
jab drive with the help of Army amid snowfall in Baramulla.
1 Tata’s winning bid
for Air India was
`18,000 crore, higher
by `2,900 from the bid
made by the other
conglomerate
2 Tata has paid
`2,700 crore in
cash and taken over
debt of `15,300 crore
3 On August 31,
2021, Air India
had a total debt of
`61,562 crore. Of
this, `46,262 crore is
being transferred to a
special purpose vehicle,
or SPV. The balance
debt has been cleared
by Tata
4 Of the total
government debt
in the SPV, `14,718
crore is being serviced
with Air India’s
non-core assets
including buildings
and land
5 Tata will not keep
non-core assets
such as Vasant Vihar
housing colony and Air
India building in Delhi,
and another Air India
building in Mumbai’s
Nariman Point
‘STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT
COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY’
The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India
successfully concluded on Thursday with transfer
of 100% shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along
with management control. A new Board, led by the
Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India, said Tuhin
Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment
and Public Asset Management. ‘’Now, the new owners
(of the airline) are Talace,’’ Pandey noted. The govern-
ment has notified the agreement between Air India and
special purpose vehicle AIAHL for the transfer
of non-core assets, ahead of the national airline’s
takeover by the Tata Group.
The entire nation’s
eyes are on us,
waiting to see what
we will achieve to-
gether. To build the
airline our country
needs, we need to
look to the future
N Chandrasekaran,
Tata Sons Chairman
YOU
READ IT
FIRST
IN FIRST
INDIA
OCTOBER
09, 2021
KEY POINTS
5
or SPV. The balance
or SPV. The balance Nariman Point
Nariman Point
IN FIRST
OCTOBER
First India Bureau
Udaipur: In a show of
unity ahead of bypolls
on Rajasthan’s two as-
sembly seats, Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot,
his former
deputy
Sachin Pilot, AICC Gen-
eral Secretary Incharge
Ajay Maken and PCC
Chief Govind Singh Do-
tasra travelled together
and addressed rallies in
poll-bound Vallabhna-
gar and Dhariawad con-
stituencies in a helicop-
ter for the campaign.
Bypolls are to be held
onUdaipur’sVallabhna-
gar and Pratapgarh’s
Dhariawad seats for
which the party candi-
dates filed nomination
on Friday
.
They
reached
Vallabhnagar and ad-
dressed a meeting in
support of party candi-
date Preeti Shaktawat,
Turn to P6
Raj Congress leaders put up a show
of unity before Assembly bypolls
RAHUL HANDS OVER GUJARAT
TO AN AGGRESSIVE AND ‘YOUNG
TURK’ RAGHU SHARMA
Anita Hada
Jaipur: After a five
month long vacancy
of Gujarat Congress
Incharge at AICC, which
was created after the de-
mise of a Rahul Gandhi
confidante’ Rajiv Satav,
finally a ‘decisive’ Rahul
Gandhi, after a care-
ful consideration, has
shouldered the respon-
sibility to an old 24/7
Congress worker and
presently Health Minister
of Rajasthan, Dr Raghu
Sharma. Raghu enjoys
the goodwill and reputa-
tion of an aggressive and
young turk leader, who
has old links with the
Gandhi family. Raghu
also doesn’t mince words
while saying that his first
loyalty will always be
with the Gandhis. Only
the last week, Turn to P6
CM Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot & GS Dotasra flew together in a chopper to Vallabhnagar.
IN AHMEDABAD TODAY
CRUCIAL READ
INDIAN, CHINESE PATROLS FACE-OFF IN
TAWANG BEFORE CORPS COMMANDER TALKS
JOURNALISTS MARIA RESSA AND DMITRY
MURATOV WIN 2021 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Tawang: Ahead of the next round of Corps Commander
level talks between India and China, which are supposed
to take place in eastern Ladakh, there was a minor
altercation between Indian and Chinese troops in the
eastern sector of the India-China boundary. Sources
mentioned that patrol parties of both the countries came
face-to-face in Arunachal Pradesh, which led to some
jostling before they disengaged. Sources in the defence
establishment said the Chinese had come in “sizeable”
strength near Yangtse in the Tawang sector.
Manila: Journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and
Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the 2021 Nobel Peace
Prize on Friday for their fight for freedom of expres-
sion in countries where reporters have faced persistent
attacks, harassment and even murder. “Free, independ-
ent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against
abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,” said Berit
Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Commit-
tee, explaining why the prize went to two journalists.
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JAIPUR l SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 124
CORONA CATASTROPHE
RAJASTHAN
INDIA
21,257
new cases
271
new fatalities
05
new cases
00
new fatalities
Aryan Khan, son of movie star Shah Rukh Khan, has been denied bail in the Mumbai
drugs-on-cruise case and will be spending the weekend in prison. He was sent to
judicial custody by the Magistrate’s court yesterday. Aryan Khan was supplied drugs
by one of the other men arrested in the cruise ship drug bust, the anti-drugs agency
said in court yesterday as it argued against the 23-year-old being given bail.
Sensex closed the session at 60,059 levels, up 381 points, while the Nifty50
ended at 17,895 levels, up 105 points. The RBI’s seemingly dovish policy,
with repo and reverse repo rates unchanged at 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent,
respectively, bolstered bull sentiment on Dalal Street on Friday. The central bank
also retained the GDP growth forecast at 9.5 per cent for the on-going fiscal year.
ARYAN KHAN
DENIED BAIL BY
COURT IN DRUGS
ON CRUISE CASE
RBI’S DOVISH
POLICY GIVES
BSE SENSEX
381-POINT BOOST
AS GOVT SAYS TATA TO AIR INDIA
TATA’S PRODIGAL
SON RETURNS!
What’s done not enough:
SC on Lakhimpur violence
Your seriousness is only in words and not in actions: CJI
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Friday
said it was “not satis-
fied” with the steps tak-
en by the Uttar Pradesh
government in the bru-
tal killing of eight peo-
ple in the Lakhimpur
Kheri violence, and
pulled up the state po-
lice asking whether
sending summons and
telling “please come”
was the way the accused
are treated in other
murder cases.
“The proof of the
pudding is in the eating,
a bench headed by
Chief Justice N V Ra-
mana told the UP gov-
ernment, and sharply
questioned why Union
Minister of State for
Home Ajay Mishra’s
son Ashish Mishra, an
accused in the case, has
not been arrested yet.
As the court mulled
transferring the probe
into the violence to an-
other agency, it also
said any investigations
by the CBI “may not be
the solution” because
of the persons who have
been named in the FIR.
Advocate Harish Salve,
while representing UP
government, conceded
that not enough has
been done by the au-
thorities.
1
Air India has been
sold to Tata Sons for
`18,000 crore as the
conglomerate outbid the
consortium led by
SpiceJet’s chief Ajay Singh
as the winning bidder for
the debt-laden state-run
airline by `2,900 crore.
2
TAir India’s total
debt stands at over
`60,000 crore and the
government loses nearly
`20 crore every day.
3
Tata Sons will pay
`2,700 crore in cash
to the government and
take over the remaining
debt of `15,300 crore.
After the deal, the
government will take on
debt worth `46,262 crore
and non-core assets
including land and
building worth `14,718.
All of it will be transferred
to the government’s
holding company AIAHL.
4
There will be no
retrenchment in the
first year and Air India
Afghan mosque blast
kills at least 25 people,
challenges Taliban govt
Kabul: A blast went off
Friday at a mosque
packed with Shiite Mus-
lim worshippers in
northern Afghanistan,
killing at least 25 and
wounding dozens in the
latest security
chal-
lenge to the Taliban as
they transition from in-
surgency to govern-
ance.
The explosion tore
through a mosque in
the city of Kunduz dur-
ing noon prayers, the
highlight of the Muslim
religious week. It blew
out windows, charred
the ceiling and scat-
tered debris and twisted
metal across the floor.
Rescuers carried one
body out on a stretcher
and another in a blan-
ket. Blood stains cov-
ered the front steps.
There was no imme-
diate claim of responsi-
bility for what Kunduz
police said may have
been a suicide attack.
But militants from a lo-
cal Islamic State affili-
ate have a long history
of attacking Afghani-
stan’s ethnic and reli-
gious minorities.
PM Modi has done
what Cong couldn’t
do in 70 years: Shah
If India strides,
the world will
succeed: Birla
Rome:
Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla, ad-
dressed the delegates
duringtheSecondWork-
ing Session of the G20
Parliamentary Speak-
ers’ Summit (P20), on
the theme “Rebooting
Economic Growth in
terms of Social and En-
vironmental Sustaina-
bility’’ held in Rome on
Friday
.Onthwoccasion,
Birla observed that if
India progresses, the
world succeeds.
`18,000 cr bid
Tata Sons wins
control of airlines
once again with
New Delhi: Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan
Tata today expressed delight after the salt-to-
software conglomerate won the bid to acquire
debt-laden Air India. Tata, in a statement that
he tweeted along with an old photo of former
Tata group chairman JRD Tata, said “it will take
considerable effort to rebuild Air India”, which
has a debt of over `60,000 crore and loses
`20 crore every day.
WILL MAKE EFFORT
TO REBUILD AIR
INDIA: RATAN TATA
SON RETURNS!
RETURNS! WILL MAKE EFFORT
INDIA: RATAN TATA
Tata Sons Pvt. was selected as the winning bidder for India’s flag carrier, ending
decades of attempts to privatise a money-losing and debt-laden airline, and
potentially ending years of taxpayer-bailouts that’s kept the company alive
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar:
Ap-
plauding Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi on
completing 20 years in
office, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
said, “PM Modi has
been serving the society
and nation for the last
20 years and will con-
tinue to do so.”
Shah was in Gujarat on
a 24-hour visit, where
he dedicated various
projects and also at-
tended the aarti of God-
dess Becharji at the Be-
charaji Temple in Man-
sa town of Gandhina-
gar district.
Turn to P6
Mohd Fahad
The blast site.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah & Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel
during inauguration of tea stall at Gandhinagar railway station.
THE DONE DEAL IN 5 POINTS
employees will be
given a voluntary
retirement scheme or
VRS in the second
year. Gratuity and
Provident Funds
benefits will be provid-
ed to all employees.
5
After five years,
Tata Sons can
transfer the brand but
only to an Indian
person.
YOU
READ IT
IN FIRST
INDIA
OCTOBER
8, 2021
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
Rahul: Cong will announce CM name in Punjab if
“party or Punjab” want, but two people can’t lead
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
UP
8,901
NEW
CASES
1,491
NEW CASES
IN LUCKNOW
20
NEW DEATHS

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022
02
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'GOONDA RAJ' TO RETURN IF
AKHILESH FORMS GOVT: SHAH
Mathura:Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Thursday attacked SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav,
saying “goonda raj”
will return to Uttar
Pradesh if his party
comes to power in the
Assembly polls.
Addressing “influen-
tial voters” during a
door-to-door campaign,
he also accused the Sa-
majwadi Party (SP) and
the BSP of promoting
dynastic politics and
casteism.
Shah paid obeisance
at the Banke Bihari
temple before starting
his door-to-door cam-
paign for the state As-
sembly polls.
Attacking the previ-
ous SP government, he
asked, “Wasn’t there a
goonda raj? Didn’t the
bahubalis (strongmen)
trouble people? Weren’t
the sisters and daugh-
ters humiliated?”
“Azam Khan was ar-
rested and CrPC sec-
tions fell short under
which cases were
lodged against him,” he
said referring to a Sam-
ajwadi Party leader.
He mocked Akhilesh
Yadav of his criticism
of law and order, says
he has not right to com-
plain about it.
“Chullu bhar pani
mein doob maro,” he
mocked in Hindi.
“Akhilesh Babu you
question law and order,
you should drown in
chullu handful of water.
You have no right to
speak on it,” he said tar-
geting the Samajwadi
Party leader.
If Akhilesh Yadav
comes to power, the
“goonda raj” (rule of
goons) will prevail, he
claimed attacking the
opposition party
.
But if the BJP re-
turns to power, it will
bolster development, he
said.
Home Minister Amit
Shah further said that
his party has run the
government in a trans-
parent manner and
even political adversar-
ies cannot accuse them
of corruption.
“The BJP is not the
party of a particular
caste but the entire so-
ciety,” he claimed, add-
ing that in the 2017 As-
sembly polls, people
have rejected casteism
and dynastic politics.
The previous SP and
BSP government pro-
moted casteism and dy-
nastic politics while
corruption was ram-
pant, Shah said.
“But in the past seven
years of the Modi gov-
ernment and Yogi Adi-
tyanath rule, even Ra-
hul Baba cannot level
the charge of corrup-
tion,” the Union Home
Minister said while re-
ferring to Congress’ Ra-
hul Gandhi. —PTI
Home Minister asserts that UP government has been free of corruption under CM Yogi
Crowd and fans surround Home Minister Amit Shah, as he reached Greater Noida to spearhead door
to door campaign for BJP on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
A girl applies ‘Tilak’ to the Home Minister Amit Shah during his
door to door campaign in Mathura on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
DEVELOPMENT
Jats cannot remain
annoyed with BJP,
says Rajnath Singh
Ghaziabad: Defence
Minister Rajnath
Singh here on Thurs-
day called former
prime minister
Chaudhary Charan
Singh his “idol” and
claimed that the Jat
community can’t re-
main annoyed with
the BJP.
Rajnath made the
statement in Modi
Nagar, an Assembly
segment with sizea-
ble population of
Jats, a day after Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah reached
out to the communi-
ty ahead of the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly
polls.
The Shah’s out-
reach is being seen as
an attempt to win
over the community,
members of which
had taken part in
year-long protests
against the central
farm laws.
The defence minis-
ter said since the be-
ginning of his politi-
cal career, the former
prime minister has
been his “idol”.
His party declared
the death anniversa-
ry of the former
prime minister as
Kisan Divas when he
was the chief minis-
ter of Uttar Pradesh,
Rajnath said.
The Jat communi-
ty cannot remain an-
noyed with the BJP,
he added.
Replying to a ques-
tion on Swami Pras-
ad Maurya, who quit
BJP recently and
joined the SP, Ra-
jnath said his party
is not bothered about
it.He said that law
and order improved
in UP under Yogi
Adityanath-led gov-
ernment. —PTI
Rajnath Singh —PHOTO BY ANI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The first
phase of polls in Uttar
Pradesh on February 10
will decide the fate of
nine ministers in the
UP government.
This phase of polling
is extremely crucial
since it includes dis-
tricts in western UP
where candidates in
several constituencies
are facing hostile vot-
ers, mainly due to the
farmers’ agitation.
The first minister
contesting in this phase
is Suresh Rana, minis-
ter for cane, from the
Thana Bhawan Assem-
bly seat in Shamli dis-
trict.
Rana is known as a
firebrand Hindu leader
and was an accused in
the Muzaffarnagar ri-
ots. He won from this
seat in 2012 and then in
2017.
In 2012, he had won
the seat with a razor
thin margin of 265 votes
but in 2017, his margin
increased to over 16,000
votes.
The second minister
contesting in this phase
is Atul Garg from Gha-
ziabad. He had defeated
the BSP candidate with
a margin of over 70,000
votes in 2017 and now
faces the challenge of
retaining his seat.
Shrikant Sharma, UP
Power Minister, is also
facing a crucial test in
his constituency
Mathura. In 2017, Shar-
ma defeated Pradeep
Mathur of Congress
with a margin of over
1.43 lakh votes.
Mathur is a three-term
MLA from this seat and
has been working over-
time to regain his seat
this time. With Mathu-
ra now moving on to the
BJP’s political agenda,
the contest in this con-
stituency is bound to be
interesting.
Anil Sharma, minis-
ter of state for environ-
ment, is seeking re-elec-
tion from Shikarpur
seat in Bulandshahr
district. The seat is con-
sidered to be a BJP bas-
tion and the party has
won from here in the
past five elections. This
is Anil Sharma’s sec-
ond election.
The sixth minister in
the first phase of polls
is Kapil Dev Agarwal
from Muzaffarnagar
Sadar seat. The seat has
been the epicentre of
farmers’ agitation and
Agarwal faces a tough
challenge this time.
Dinesh Khatik, who
holds the flood control
portfolio, was appoint-
edministerfourmonths
ago in September 2021.
He represents the Hast-
inapur constituency in
the UP Assembly
. Hasti-
napur has a history of
not repeating its repre-
sentatives and this fac-
tor plays heavily on the
minds of voters here.
Khatik comes from an
RSS background and
owns brick kilns in the
area.
Dr G.S. Dharmesh,
social welfare minister,
is seeking re-election
from his Agra Cantt
seat which is in the re-
served category. Dr
Dharmesh runs his
clinic on the
Agra-Gwalior highway
.
His main contender on
this seat has been the
BSP. Another minister
in the first phase is
Chaudhary Laxmi
Narain, minister for
dairy development. He
is contesting from the
Chhata Assembly seat
in Mathura. He first
won the election in 1996
on a Congress ricket
and then went on to be-
come minister in the
Kalyan Singh govern-
ment after the split in
the Congress. In 2007,
he won on a BSP and
then in 2017, he won on
a BJP ticket.
Phase 1 on Feb 10 to determine fate of nine BJP ministers in UP
POLL WATCH

Phase I of
the UP
Assembly
elections
covers 11
districts
containing
58 seats,
where some
leaders have
been facing
hostile
situations
Tight security outside the nomination filing centre in Lucknow
on Thursday, the first day of nomination for Lucknow assembly
seats. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
KALYAN’S LEGACY
Slogans
raised against
UP BJP chief
in Khatoli
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh BJP chief
Swatantra Dev
faced the ire of
people at Khatoli
town here during
door-to-door cam-
paigning for the
upcoming Uttar
Pradesh assembly
polls.
Slogans were
raised against Dev,
who had gone to
Khatoli to support
BJP candidate
Vikram Saini on
Wednesday
.
In a video which
has gone viral on
social media, the
state BJP chief is
seen coming out
of a house of a
Dalit after having
lunch there. He is
then surrounded
by people from the
community who
raised slogans
against him.
UP will go to
polls in seven
phases beginning
February 10. —PTI
Swatantra Dev Singh in
Khatoli.
PartieslikelytorebootpollcampaignsinFeb
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Political
parties in Uttar Pradesh
are hopeful that the
Election Commission
(EC) would allow public
meetings with restric-
tions after January 31
and have started mak-
ing plans accordingly.
Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) president
Mayawati has become
the first to announce
her party’s poll cam-
paign launch from Agra
through a public meet-
ing on February 2.
Major parties are
finding it difficult to
connect virtually with
voters, especially in the
rural areas where digi-
tal penetration is still
not sufficient.
“Physical campaign-
ing cannot be replaced
with virtual campaign-
ing at a short notice,”
said a candidate in Sul-
tanpur.
The campaigning had
been restricted after the
election notification on
January 8 when the EC
banned rallies, public
meetings and road-
shows -- first till Janu-
ary 15 and then till Jan-
uary 31.
The BJP that was ap-
parently well prepared
for the situation, hit the
streets first from Janu-
ary 21 onwards with
door-to-door campaign-
ing by several top party
leaders. The top leaders
of other parties are now
planning a re-launch of
their campaigns.
The SP withdrew its
physical campaigns af-
ter the January 14 event
at the SP state head-
quarters in which the
former BJP minister
Swami Prasad Maurya
and Dharam Singh
Saini joined the party
.
The Lucknow police
had filed an FIR and the
ECI had issued a notice
to the SP over the event.
SP spokesperson Abdul
Hafiz Gandhi, said, “Our
national president Akh-
ileshYadavandtheallies
were doing intensive
campaigning. The Vijay
Rath Yatra was so suc-
cessful that it became a
talkingpointallover.But
the SP and ally leaders
withdrew from the cam-
paignscenefollowingthe
ECI’s guidelines. ”
Rashtriya Lok Dal
(RLD) spokesperson also
saidthatpartychief Jay-
ant Chaudhary will
plungeintocampaigning
as soon as the curbs are
relaxed.“Tillthenweare
campaigning door-to-
door,” he added.
The Congress, how-
ever, was being cau-
tious. Congress spokes-
person Anshu Awasthi
went on to say, “If ac-
tual campaigning is al-
lowed once again, then
once again our leader
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra and other star
campaigners will hit
the roads.
EC had initially
banned public
rallies, public
meetings and
road shows till
Jan 15 and then
till Jan 31
ON REPUBLIC DAY
Governor Anandiben Patel salutes the
national flag at the Republic Day flag
hoisting ceremony at Raj Bhavan.
—PHOTOS BY SUMIT KUMAR
CM Yogi Adityanath along with cabinet ministers Brajesh Pathak, Ashutosh Tandon,
Mohsin Raza and Lko Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia at the Republic Day flag hoisting
ceremony at Vidhan Sabha.
ACS, Info & MSME, Navneet Sehgal observes the national anthem at an official
R-Day function in Dalibagh.

UTTAR PRADESH
03
REPUBLIC DAY
The participants in the Republic Day Parade leaving Hazratganj a day after
giving the salute in front of Vidhan Bhawan, in Lucknow on Thursday
morning.
—PHOTOS BY ASHOK DUTTA
CRUCIAL READ
PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA INTERACTS
WITH STUDENTS BEATEN UP BY POLICE
Prayagraj: Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday interacted with
the students who were allegedly beaten up by police in
Prayagraj via
video confer-
ence. Gandhi
assured the
students to
raise their
issues at every
forum and
promised to
meet them in
person. “Do
not be afraid.
We stand with students. I will raise this issue in every
forum. Ensure that elections are held on real issues like
employment. The government does not give a job rather
oppresses students. Now when leaders come to ask for
votes, fix their accountability,” PGV told.
BJP FIELDS SALIL
VISHNOI FROM
SISAMAU SEAT
Kanpur: The BJP has
announced its candi-
dates for the Kanpur
assembly. Among the
candidates, the party
has fielded Salil Vishnoi
from Sisamau assembly
following which Salil
Vishnoi and his support-
ers performed pooja at
Baba Bankhandeshwar
praying for his win. Salil
on the occasion said that
he hopes to win from
the seat with the help of
everyone’s support and
that he hopes to ensure
BJP’s win in the Sisamau
as the party has never
won from the seat of
Sisamau assembly.
2 GET LIFE TERM
FOR MURDERING
12-YR-OLD
Muzaffarnagar:A local
court here on Thursday
convicted two people
of murdering a 12-year-
old boy and sentenced
them to life imprison-
ment. On Sept 6, 2019,
the convicts Shibu and
Haroon had abducted
Abu Zar (12), who
was playing outside
his house and hacked
him to death. Holding
the duo guilty under
sections 364 (kidnap-
ping) and 302 (murder),
the additional district
sessions judge Ashok
Kumar also imposed a
fine of Rs 80,000 each
on them.
BJP DENIES TICKET TO MAYANK JOSHI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With Bhara-
tiya Janata Party (BJP)
reportedly denying
ticket to party MP Rita
Bahuguna Joshi’s son
from Lucknow Canton-
ment assembly seat, all
eyes now are on the
MP’s next move as she
had offered to give up
her Lok Sabha member-
ship if the party fields
her son.
Joshi, who is present-
ly in New Delhi, con-
firmed to a news chan-
nel that the party has
not decided to give tick-
et to his son Mayank
Joshi from Lucknow
Cantt seat.
She said while she
will not contest elec-
tions after 2024 when
her tenure as MP comes
to an end, all political
options for her son were
open indicating he may
quit the party
.
“There is too much
pressure on me from
my supporters who
want ticket for my son.
I am waiting for a for-
mal announcement
from the party on who it
is going to field from
Lucknow seat before i
will return to the State
capital,” she said.
She has already met
party’s Uttar Pradesh
in-charge Dharmendra
Pradhan in Delhi and
said her son had been
active in the Assembly
constituency and
should get party ticket.
She, however, denied
that she was lobbying
forhim.AnotherBhara-
tiya Janata Party
heavyweight deputy
chief minister Dinesh
Sharma, whose name
was also doing the
rounds for Cantt seat
seems to have bowed
out of the contest. “My
tenure as an MLC is till
2027.
However, it is for the
party to decide what
role it wants me to play,
if asked i will do what i
am told to,” was his
cryptic reply
.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The active
cases of Covid 19 have
been coming down in
UP. Maintaining the
positive recovery trend
high recoveries and a
low number of fresh
Covid-19 cases have re-
duced the Active Covid
CaseloadinUPto72,393.
Out of as many as
1,93,419 samples tested
in the last 24 hours, UP
limited the number of
fresh infections to 8,901,
indicating consistent
drop in the number of
daily cases. In the same
period, another 16,786
patients recovered from
the infection. The state
is also leading India’s
vaccination drive with
over 25.35 crore total
doses administered so
far. UPis followed by
Maharashtra with 14.70
cr doses administered
till date.
In terms of percent-
age, about 67 per cent of
the adult population is
fully vaccinated and
nearly 99 percent have
received one vac dose.
Strengthening its fight
against the Covid the
state of UP has also ad-
ministered over 9.67
lakh ‘precaution doses’
to healthcare, frontline
workersandthoseabove
60 years. Committed to
providing protection
cover to children, the
states has so far admin-
istered vaccine doses to
over 61 %teenagers.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi with son Mayank Joshi. —FILE PHOTO
All eyes on MP
Rita Joshi’s next
move as her son
doesn’t get ticket
from Lko Cantt
CANTT HAS 1.5 LAKH BJP SUPPORTERS
AAP releases manifesto
with tempting promises
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
on Thursday un-
veiled a bag of good-
ies for the people of
Uttar Pradesh in its
manifesto for the up-
coming assembly
elections. The party
manifesto promises
300 units of free elec-
tricity and waiver of
all power dues.
The party also
promises 24-hour
power supply and
free electricity for
farmers. Farmers
will also get the ben-
efit of loan waiver.
For the youth, the
AAP has assured 10
lakh jobs and an un-
employment allow-
ance of Rs 5,000.
Women will get Rs
1,000 per month, as
announced earlier.
Releasing the mani-
festo, (AAP) Aam
Aadmi Party MP
Sanjay Singh said
that the party would
spend 25 per cent
of the budget on
education.
He said that the
families of martyrs
would be given a
compensation of Rs
one crore.
Singh also prom-
ised that the old pen-
sion scheme would
be revived for gov-
ernment employees.
He also said that the
trend of outsourcing
in the government
would be stopped.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh releases the manifesto along
with other party leaders at the AAP office in Gomati Nagar
Lucknow on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ASHOK DUTTA
A health worker taking swab sample from a UP police personnel
for Covid-19 RT-PCR test outside the nomination filing centre in
Lucknow on Thursday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Undaunted
by the prospect of tak-
ing on Yogi Adiyanath
in his stronghold, Azad
Samaj Party president
Chandra Shekhar
Aazad says the people
of Gorakhpur will re-
peat the history of 1971
when a chief minister
of UP lost elections
from the assembly con-
stituency
.
Confident that victo-
ry will be his, Aazad,
whose party is heading
the Samajik Parivartan
Morcha of 36 small out-
fits, also pitched him-
self as a chief ministe-
rial candidate from the
alliance that is contest-
ing 403 seats in the UP
polls beginning next
month.
”We need to go back
to the history of Gora-
khpur In 1971, a sitting
chief minister, T N
Singh, was defeated by
the people of Gorakh-
pur. Similarly, Aditya-
nath is the CM now
and is responsible for
the destruction of UP
and Gorakhpur in the
last five years,” Aazad,
who is popularly called
‘Ravan’.
After talks of an al-
liance with the Sama-
jwadi Party failed, the
AzadSamajParty(ASP)
decided to forge a coali-
tion of small parties
based on its not-so-good
experiences with big
and established parties.
According to him, peo-
ple in Uttar Pradesh
saw the SP rule from
2012 to 2017 and the BJP
from 2017 to 2022. After
being disappointed
with the SP govern-
ment, people voted for
BJP
. So, the BJP came to
power because of them
(SP).” People will not
make the same mistake
again, the ASP chief
added. —PTI
Will defeat Yogi in Gorakhpur, says Chandra Shekhar
CONFIDENT MAN
Chandrashekhar Azad announces the formation of Samajik Nyay
Morcha in alliance with other parties in Lucknow.
—PHOTO BY ANI
Nearly 99 pc adult population vaccinated
Lucknow:The state capital continued to report the
maximum cases among all districts, with 1,491, while 20
Covid related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours in
the state, two each in Gautam Budh Nagar, Varanasi, Gor-
akhpur, Moradabad, Bijnor, and Hapur districts. One death
each was reported in Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar,
Hardoi, Gonda, Ballia, Banda, and Auraiyya districts. The
number of active cases in Lucknow is now at 13,352 and
in UP at 72, 393. Also, 16,786 recoveries were reported in
the state in the last 24 hours, including 2,777 in Lucknow.
20 MORE COVID DEATHS IN UP

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 2 Issue No. 77
RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi
Industrial Area Kanpur Road Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Vishal Srivastav
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Promoted by First India
News International Pvt. Ltd.
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Birthday greetings to Meghalaya’s
Chief Minister Shri @SangmaConrad.
Praying that he is blessed with
a long and healthy life.
Ashwini Vaishnaw
@AshwiniVaishnaw
Reviewed various railway
projects of Himachal Pradesh with
Shri @jairamthakurbjp Ji and@
ianuragthakur Ji.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
The peace of God is with
them whose mind and soul
are in harmony, who are
free from desire and wrath,
who know their own soul.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
TOP TWEETS
HERCULEAN
TASK FOR BJP IN
WESTERN UTTAR
PRADESH?
nion Home Minister
Amit Shah visiting
door-to-door in one
of the western UP
districts, makes for a
worrisome picture for BJP in
Western UP. As Shah has taken
on this Herlecuean task, it sug-
gests a feeling of disquietude in
the party. Watching Shah seek-
ing votes for his party in Ma-
thura-Vrindavan and earlier
trying to entice Jayant Chaud-
hary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal
into his party when one cannot
recall seeing such visuals in ei-
ther 2014 or 2019, gives a hint of
the picture. Western UP is cen-
tral to BJP’s election strategy.
Of the 70 seats in 20 districts of
Meerut, Saharanpur and Mo-
radabad, the party had won 51
in 2017. The region goes to vote
in the first two phases on Febru-
ary 10 and 14.
Deaths of about 700 farmers
during their year-long protest
against the controversial farm
laws may make it difficult for
BJP to repeat that performance.
To BJP’s disadvantage, the-Jat-
Muslim communal divide has
apparently been bridged to an
extent. The SP-RLD tie-up may
also queer the pitch for BJP.
U
tudents and job-
seekers vent their
anger over Rail-
way Recruitment
Board’s incompe-
tence by burning trains and
damaging railways property
.
As a double whammy, they
were chased and beaten up by
the police. Those protesting
were students from Bihar
and poll-bound Uttar
Pradesh. The violent protests
began on January 24, after
RRB declared the results of
the first phase of examina-
tions held across the country
on January 10. The RRB fi-
asco is a cruel joke on thou-
sands of unemployed youth.
Around the time of parlia-
mentary elections in 2019,
railways invited applica-
tions for a little over 35000
Non-Technical Popular Cat-
egory (NTPC) posts and re-
ceived about 1.25 crore appli-
cations for the Level 2 to
Level 6 posts. These exams
were held in phases between
December 28, 2020 and July
31, 2021. Violence erupted af-
ter candidates found that
same names were there in
results of different catego-
ries. Some of the applicants
point to the lack of transpar-
ency in the entire recruit-
ment process. The Railways
Ministry has formed a com-
mittee to look into the stu-
dents’ grievances but that
won’t be of much help as by
the time its findings are out,
hundreds of candidates may
lose out on the basis of age
eligibility criteria.
Those vandalising govern-
ment’s property must be pe-
nalised as even the Supreme
Court has been firm on that
view. At the same time the
railways owe an apology to
the candidates, who stand to
lose due to the RRB’s incom-
petence at a time when, as
per CMIE data, India had a
force of 530 lakh jobless peo-
ple as of December 2021.
RRB’S CRUEL
JOKE ON THE
JOBLESS YOUTH
The Railways Ministry
has formed a committee
to look into the students’
grievances but that
won’t be of much help as
by the time its findings
are out, hundreds of
candidates may lose
out on the basis of age
eligibility criteria
S
PADMA AWARD:
LET’S NOT
POLITICIZE
BUDDHABABU’S
DECISION
n the chilly evening of Janu-
ary 25, 2022 veteran Left lead-
er and former Chief Minister
of West Bengal, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee made head-
lines, again through his mod-
est ways!
The former CM had said, “I
don’t know anything about a
Padma Bhushan award. No
one told me anything about
it. If they have given me a
Padma Bhushan award, I am
rejecting it.”
Having said that on Tues-
day evening, Buddhadeb on
Wednesday requested gov-
ernment officials not to call
or visit him regarding the
matter of Padma Bhushan.
West Bengal CPM state sec-
retary Surjya Kanta Misra
issued the statement on Bud-
dha’s behalf and said he can
be reached via post because
of his physical condition.
Explaining the party’s
stand, CPM leadership had
said that, “We, as a party,
don’t support the political
stand and economic policies
of the people who are confer-
ring the award. So, if we take
the award from them, we are
supporting them. Thus, we
refuse such awards. This is
our party’s stand. There is
individual opinion as well.
“Former UP CM Kalyan
Singh has received the Pad-
ma Vibhushan for public af-
fairs while Bhattacharya was
conferred Padma Bhushan.
In a way, Singh had a bad
historical background as,
during his tenure, Babri Mas-
jid was demolished while Bh-
attacharyahadacleanrecord.
Had Bhattacharya accepted
the award, it would have justi-
fied Singh’s award,” a senior
CPM leader was quoted.
According to the 1954 Pad-
ma awards order, a resident
may cancel and annual Pad-
ma Award. For withdrawal
or cancellation of awards,
the request can be examined
by the government.
However, No ‘formal’ con-
sent is required for a person
to be bestowed the Padma
awards but, as per the nor-
mal practice, the “willing-
ness of the person proposed
to be conferred with the title,
is informally ascertained”
before the announcement,
Union home ministry offi-
cials had confirmed.
However, “In accordance
with the normal practice,
willingness of the person pro-
posed to be conferred Padma
Awards is informally ascer-
tained (to the extent possible)
before the announcement of
the Award,” the Government
had told Rajya Sabha in 2015
while answering a question.
Political Grapevine has it
that soon after the announce-
ment, the CPM top leadership
in New Delhi had approached
Bhattacharya’s family and
persuaded them to refuse it
since the party as per the tra-
dition doesn’t accept such
honours. Mishra did appar-
ently discuss the award with
Bhattacharya’s family
.
Meanwhile, unfortunately,
The news of Buddhababu’s
Padma-rejection is creating
ripples in the political cir-
cles.If theLeftcamp“claims”
it is a political stunt of the
Centre, Trinamool Congress,
on the other hand, has (coun-
ter) claimed that the “addi-
tion of left-wingers is clear in
paying homage to Buddha
Babu.”
BJP state president Sukan-
ta Majumder, had said, “Bud-
dhadeb Bhattacharya is the
former chief minister of the
state. Keeping in mind his
social and administrative
contribution, the central gov-
ernment felt that he should
be honoured with the Padma
Bhushan. There is no need
for politics to reject the
award. It’s unwanted.”
BJP’s national vice-presi-
dent, Dilip Ghosh, said, “Bud-
dhababu’s rejection of the
award is his personal matter.
However, the CPM has never
maintainedthattradition.The
communists have always in-
sulted the culture of the coun-
try
. So not taking the award is
also a sign of that insult. ”
The matter was also all
over social media. CPM’s Fa-
cebook handle stated, “The
CPI(M)’s policy is consistent
in rejecting such awards
from the state. Our work is
for the people, not for re-
wards.” Everyone mentions
another former Chief Minis-
ter Jyoti Basu. Bharat Ratna
was rejected by Jyoti Basu.”
Alleging Ram-Bam “nex-
us”, Trinamool Congress
HAD CLAIMED THAT LEFT
VOTERS HAVE BEEN
THANKED NOW FOR HAV-
ING VOTED FOR THE BJP.
APART FROM THIS, TRINA-
MOOL’S MOUTHPIECE
‘JAGO BANGLA’ HAD SAID
ON WEDNESDAY THAT
BUDDHADEB HAS BEEN
RECOGNISED FOR CRUSH-
ING THE LAND ACQUISI-
TION MOVEMENT.
TMC also raised the point
of honouring three former
CMs together. It may be re-
called that Buddhadeb Bhat-
tacharjee from West Bengal,
Ghulam Nabi Azad from
Kashmir and Kalyan Singh
(posthumously) from Uttar
Pradesh were named.
TMC said Kalyan Singh
was accused of helping in
demolition of Babri Masjid,
while former Kashmir Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,
for some time now… has
been facing opposition from
Congress itself and the party
(TMC) also claimed that the
BJP’s “closeness” was
“CLEARLY EVIDENT” in
the matter. TMC also went on
to say that Buddhadeb was
once close to LK Advani.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
O
In a way, former UP CM
Kalyan Singh had a bad
historical background as,
during his tenure, Babri
Masjid was demolished while
Bhattacharya had a clean
record. Had Bhattacharya
accepted the award, it would
have justified Singh’s
award,” a senior CPM
leader was quoted
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India
The former Chief Minister had said, “I don’t know
anything about a Padma Bhushan award. No one told me
anything about it. If they have given me Padma Bhushan
award, I am rejecting it. Buddhadeb on Wednesday
requested government officials not to call or visit
him regarding the matter of Padma Bhushan

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INDIA
06
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The SC on Thursday orally asked the
Punjab govt not to take any coercive step against SAD
leader Bikram Singh Majithia till Jan 31 when it hears
his pre-arrest bail plea in a drugs case. A bench com-
prising CJI NV Ramana Justices AS Bopanna Hima
Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate
Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Majithia, that the plea
seeking anticipatory bail plea needed urgent hearing as
the accused has been facing “political vendetta”.
SC ASKS PUNJAB GOVT NOT TO ARREST
MAJITHIA IN DRUGS CASE TILL JAN 31
KERALA HC GRANTS
DILEEP RELIEF
FROM ARREST
Kochi: The Kerala High
Court Thursday granted
Malayalam actor Dileep
and four others protec-
tion from arrest till next
Wednesday (February 2)
in the case pertaining to
the alleged conspiracy
to kill the police offic-
ers who had probed the
abduction and sexual
assault case of a woman
actor in which Dileep is
an accused.
New Delhi: The
Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) on Thursday
said it has arrested
Karvy Stock Broking
Limited (KSBL) CMD
C Parthasarathy and
group CFO G Krishna
Hari in connection with
a money laundering
investigation linked to
alleged diversion of
clients’ securities of
over Rs 2,873 crore.
GRAFT: KARVY
STOCK BROKING
CMD, CFO HELD
Mumbai: The SC on Thursday directed Maha Police
not to arrest BJP MLA Nitesh Rane for 10 days in an
attempt-to-murder case registered. Disposing of the
pre-arrest bail plea of Rane, son of Union minister
Narayan Rane, a bench headed by Chief Justice NV
Ramana asked him to surrender before the trial court
in the meanwhile, and seek regular bail in the matter.
SURRENDER AND SEEK BAIL: NITESH
RANE GETS 10-DAY SC ARREST SHIELD
CORONAVIRUS: SC ADJOURNS HEARING ON
BOMBAY HC’S REDUCED WORKING HOURS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned a
hearing on a plea challenging circular issued by the Bom-
bay HC reducing its working hours to three hours a day in
view of COVID. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandra-
chud listed the matter for Feb 4 for hearing. The plea filed
by activist Ghanshyam Upadhyay stated that due to the
Standard Operating Procedure(SOP), the principal bench
of the High Court has been “functioning only for name-
sake” causing hardships to the litigants and advocates.
NHRC’S OBSERVATION FOR WB JUSTIFIED BY CM’S ACTIONS: GUV
ANTILIA BOMB
CASE: EX-COP
WAZE CHALLENGES
SANCTION ORDER
HOCKEY PLAYER
CHARANJIT DIES
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court has the ter-
ritorial jurisdiction to
entertain the petition in
view of Article 226(2) of
the Constitution as or-
der granting sanction to
prosecute was passed
by an Authority in New
Delhi argued Mumbai’s
former cop Sachin Waze
while challenging sanc-
tion order to prosecute
him under UAPA.
Shimla: Captain of
India’s 1964 Tokyo
Olympics gold medal-
winning hockey team,
Charanjit Singh, died
on Thursday at his
home in Una, Himachal
Pradesh after suffering
a cardiac arrest.
Kolkata: Firing a fresh salvo at the Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has accused the Chief Minister of “extreme trans-
gressions” of constitutional prescriptions, claiming that such actions justify the
observation of an NHRC panel on post-poll violence that law of ruler and not rule of
law prevails in the state. “There have been continually and serially extreme trans-
gressions of constitutional prescriptions — justifying NHRC observation that in the
state there is ‘law of the ruler, not rule of law’,” Dhankhar wrote to Banerjee.
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: Omicron is
now the dominant vari-
ant of Covid-19 in In-
dia, the government
said on Thursday.
There are also early in-
dications of a plateau
in the number of cases,
with just the top 10
states contributing to
77 per cent of total ac-
tive cases in the coun-
try, the health ministry
told reporters.
The percentage of
the Omicron variant
increased rapidly in
Dec Jan and the prev-
alence of the Omicron
subvariant called BA.2
is increasing in our
community, it added.
The govt credited
wide vaccination cover-
age for low death rate.
“Active case numbers
and corresponding
deaths are much lower
in this wave,” it said.
More than 90 per
cent of cases are in
home isolation with
mild to moderate sever-
ity and there are a low-
er number of cases
needing oxygen and
ICU beds, it said. —PTI
Omicron dominant variant
in country, says Health Min
A special Omicron ward in a hospital.
MARKET NOD TO COVAXIN, COVISHIELD
Goa Assy polls: Parrikar’s son
files nomination independently New Delhi: Two days
after China held a vir-
tual summit with Cen-
tral Asian countries,
India too stepped in and
dra Modi pitched for
“an integrated ap-
proach for regional con-
nectivity and coopera-
tion for the next 30
years”.
He also flagged Af-
ghanistan as a common
concern and said that
their “mutual coopera-
tion has become even
more important for re-
gional security and sta-
bility”.
“We all have the same
concerns and objectives
for regional security
. We
are all concerned about
the developments in Af-
ghanistan,” Modi said
at the first virtual sum-
mit with the Central
Asian leaders. “In this
context also, our mutual
cooperation has become
even more important
for regional security
and stability
,” he said.
The virtual summit
saw the participation of
the five presidents —
Kazakhstan’s Kassym-
Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek-
istan’s Shavkat Mirzi-
yoyev, Emomali Rah-
mon of Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan’s Gur-
banguly Berdimuhame-
dow and Sadyr Japarov
of Kyrgyz Republic.
—Agencies
BMC polls: 27 corporators
of Congress join NCP
Malegaon: As many as 27 corporators of the Con-
gress party joined the Nationalist Congress Party
on Thursday. All the corporators joined the party
in the presence of party leader and Deputy Chief
Minister Ajit Pawar. Malegaon Mayor Tahira Shaikh
is among the 27 corporators who joined the party.
This development holds importance ahead of the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elec-
tion that is scheduled to held this year. —ANI
Days after China, PM
holds summit with five
Central Asian countries
Panaji: Utpal Parrikar,
the son of former Goa
Chief Minister Mano-
har Parrikar, has joined
the race for his father’s
constituency Panaji as
an independent candi-
date after the BJP de-
nied him a ticket.
Utpal Parrikar of-
fered prayers at a tem-
ple this morning before
filing his nomination
papers from Panaji.
He will take on sit-
ting MLA Atanasio ‘Ba-
bush’ Monserrate, who
was chosen over him by
the BJP for the Panaji
contest.
An upset Utpal Par-
rikar quit the BJP last
week and declared that
he would contest from
his father’s constituen-
cy anyway
.
Manohar Parrikar, a
three-time Chief Minis-
ter, died in 2019. He held
the Panaji seat for 25
years. In the by-election
after Mr Parrikar’s
death, his long-time ri-
val Babush Monserrate,
accused in a rape case,
won as a Congress can-
didate but later
switched to the BJP.
Utpal Parrikar quit
last Friday, and said he
would readily withdraw
from the contest if the
BJP fielded “an honest
candidate with integri-
ty and no criminal re-
cords” from Panaji. He
did not name Mr Mon-
serrate.
Talking to media, Ut-
pal Parrikar, the elder
son of Manohar Parri-
kar, said the decision
to quit the BJP was
“most difficult”. —PTI



POLL SNIPPETS
Utpal addressing a press conference in Panaji. —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi: A TMC del-
egation met the Elec-
tion Commission (EC)
in Delhi regarding the
upcoming Goa assem-
bly polls.
“On January 21 a
team from EC raided
the TMC party office in
Goa at around 11 pm
and vandalised hoard-
ings and flexes while
the office staff was kept
on hold. Our meeting
with the Election Com-
mission was regarding
that incident. We spoke
for25minutes”,claimed
TMC leader and MP
Saugata Roy
.
“We told the EC that
despite being aware of
the new TMC office in
Goa, vandalisation on
their part was not
right”, alleged Roy
.
TMC delegation meets
EC regarding Goa polls
Pb: New entrants spice
up contest in Mansa
Chandigarh: Fielding
of new faces by major
political parties in the
semi-rural constituency
of Mansa has spiced up
the contest in this cotton
belt for the next month’s
Punjab assembly polls.
While the ruling Con-
gress has fielded popu-
lar Punjabi singer
Shubhdeep Singh Sid-
hu, better known as
‘Sidhu Moosewala’, the
opposition Aam Aadmi
Party’s candidate is Vi-
jay Singla and Shirom-
ani Akali Dal has field-
ed Prem Arora in Man-
sa. Mansa, where peo-
ple mainly grow cotton,
paddy and vegetables, is
known for electing leg-
islators on many occa-
sions in the past from
opposition parties.
SNUBBED BY BJP
EX-VP ANSARI, US SENATORS WARY OF
HUMAN RIGHTS SCENE IN INDIA
Washington: Former
vice-president Hamid
Ansari and four US law-
makers have expressed
concern over the current
human rights situation in
India. They were speak-
ing at a virtual panel dis-
cussion organised by the
Indian American Muslim
Council on Wednesday.
“As the Indian gov-
ernment continues to
target the practices of
minority faiths, it creates
an atmosphere where
discrimination and
violence can take root,”
said Democratic Senator
Ed Markey. Former vice
president Ansari also
expressed his concern.
“In recent years, we
have experienced the
emergence of trends and
practises that dispute
the well established
principle of civic nation-
alism, and interposes
a new and imaginary
practice of cultural na-
tionalism,” Ansari said,
adding that “almost 20
per cent of our people
belong to religious mi-
norities”. Union Minority
Affairs Minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi hit out at
Ansari saying the event
attended by Ansari on
the Republic Day was
organised by a group
that had a “link with
SIMI and ISI.
Hamid Ansari
New Delhi: Amid inter-
nal rumblings within
the Congress over Ghu-
lam Nabi Azad being
awarded Padma Bhush-
an, senior Congress
leader Karan Singh on
Thursday said national
awards should not be-
come subject of intra-
partycontroversyandif
“one of our colleagues”
is honoured, he should
be greeted with warm
appreciation rather
than “snide remarks”.
Singh’s comments
come amid a controver-
sy triggered soon after
the announcement of
the Padma awards on
Tuesday evening when
Congress leader Jairam
Ramesh, while com-
menting on CPI (M)
leader Buddhadeb Bh-
attacharya’s refusal to
accept the award, said,
“He wants to be Azad
not Ghulam”. Several
members of the group
of 23 leaders who had
written to Sonia Gan-
dhi demanding an or-
ganisational overhaul
in the Congress con-
gratulated Azad for be-
ing awarded Padma
Bhushan, saying it was
“well-deserved”. Re-
acting to the row, Singh
said he was distressed
at the “unseemly con-
troversy” over the well
deserved Padma Award
to Azad. “These Na-
tional Awards should
not become subject of
inter-party controversy
,
far less of intra-party
ones,” Singh, a former
Union minister and
party stalwart, said in a
statement.
“I have known Ghu-
lam Nabi for half a cen-
tury since he first start-
ed his political career
as an active participant
in my second election
campaign for the Lok
Sabha in 1971 from the
Udhampur constituen-
cy
, to which he belongs,”
he said. Since then,
Singh said, he has seen
Azad rise through sheer
dint of hard work, dedi-
cation and administra-
tive ability to becoming
a Cabinet Minister, both
with PV Narasimha
Rao and Dr Manmohan
Singh. —PTI
If colleague honoured, greet him with appreciation:Karan Singh
PADMA AWARD TO GHULAM NABI AZAD

The award was
well-deserved
and these
National
Awards should
not become
subject of inter-
party
controversy, far
less of intra-
party ones
‘DECISION POLITICAL, NOT ON MERIT’
Karan Singh Ghulam Nabi Azad
Punjab police
arrest 2 with
`7L drug
money
First India Bureau
Moga: The Moga Police
has tightened the noose
against anti-social ele-
ments by undertaking
special operations
against drug peddlers
keeping impending
elections in view.
SSP Charanjit Singh
Sohal SSP Moga briefed
the media that, two per-
sons namely Amandeep
Singh (26) of Kot Budda
inTarntarandistrictand
Sukhchain Singh (24) of
Jallo Ke in Tarntaran
district were apprehend-
ed at special nakabandi
done on receiving credi-
ble source information.
50 gms of heroin was re-
coveredfromthemalong
with one motorcycle PB
38 D, 2666 and they were
arrested in an FIR under
the NDPS Act.
SSP said that police
worked on forward and
backward linkages re-
vealed by the accused
during interrogation.
One Sukhwant Singh
(28) and Gurpreet Singh
(28) both residents of
Tarntaran were nomi-
nated in the FIR based
on allegations of selling
narcotic drugs.

NEWS
07
UP IAS
ASSOCIATION
TONGUE
TIED ON NEW
CADRE RULES
The Indian Administrative
Service has been making big
headlines with the chief
ministers of West Bengal,
Chattisgarh and Rajasthan
taking serious objections to the
central government’s proposed
amendments to the rules
governing the deputation of IAS
officers. The Uttar Pradesh
Indian Administrative Service
Association (UP IAS
Association) , however, has
maintained a studied silence on
the Centre’s move so far.
Individually, officers find
themselves caught in the
crossfire. Some see it as an ego
tussle between the Centre and
the States. They feel that they
belong to All India Service, so
there cannot be any ownership.
They argue that there are
services that belong to Central
and State Services, so for those
belonging to All India Service, it
should be their choice where to
work. “The Centre’s new found
love for All India Services is
baffling. Not very long ago they
were being ridiculed and called
names in Parliament. The
positions hitherto being
occupied by the IAS were being
handed over to others. No
wonder the states smell a rat in
the amendment to the rules,”
said Anil Swarup, a former
secretary at the Centre, in a post
on Twitter.There is no reason for
the Centre to go for this
amendment. A provision is
already in the service rules that
provide for the Centre’s opinion
to prevail in case of difference
between the Centre and the
states. There is no need for the
Centre to indulge in a game of
political one-upmanship on the
issue,” said VS Pandey, former
secretary to the Union
government. —M Tariq Khan
SP ANNOUNCES
NAME OF 7 NEW
CANDIDATES
Keeping the speculation alive,
Samajwadi Party announced
the name of seven candidates out
of nine assembly segments of the
district on Thursday. Leaving the
GKP Sadar seat, Samajwadi Party
has triggered speculations. SP
leader said it is a game plan of the
party and the search for a
winnable candidate against Yogi
Adityanath is going on. People
were of the view that the widow of
former BJP leader Upendra Dat
Shukla, Subhavati Shukla, might
contest on the SP ticket from
Gorakhpur Sadar seat but
Samajwadi Party has not yet
opened its cards on this seat. SP
has fielded two Nishad Candidates
in Gorakhpur District- Kajal
Nishad will contest from
Campierganj and Amrinder Nishad
will contest on SP ticket from
Pipraich. The only BSP MLA from
the Chillupar Assembly segment
of the district Vinay Shankar
Tiwari will contest on SP tickets
from the same constituency. It is
notable that a foreign minister and
a Brahmin face in Purvanchal
Harishankar Tiwari along with
their relatives has quit BSP and
joined the Samajwadi party. SP
has also announced the name of
its candidates from three
constituencies of Deoria. Former
Minister Brahma Shankar Tiwari
will be in the fray from Pathardeva
seat while from Rampur Karkhana
Ghazala Lari and from Bhatpar
Rani Ashutosh Upadhyay will
contest the elections on the SP
ticket. —Qazi Abdur Rahman
DAUGHTER OF SP CANDIDATE DRAWS
OVERWHELMINGRESPONSEIN AYODHYA
Ayodhya: Gauri Pan-
dey is not eligible to
vote, but she is rooting
for her father and SP
candidate Pawan Pan-
dey in the eagerly
watched election in UP’s
Ayodhya constituency
.
Every morning, the
7-year-old girl religious-
ly accompanies her fa-
ther to his door-to-door
campaigning before re-
turning home for her
online classes.
Uncle, mere Papa ko
vote dijiyega. Akhilesh
(Yadav) ji CM banenge,
to sab kaam hoga
(Please vote for my fa-
ther. When Akhilesh
Yadav will become
Chief Minister, all your
problems will get re-
solved), is how the
young girl greets those
who open their doors to
the father-daughter duo.
While the opposition
Samajwadi Party (SP)
has declared the candi-
dature of Pawan Pan-
dey, the BJP is yet to
come out with its nomi-
nee after reports
claimed that Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath may
enter the fray from the
temple town, symbolis-
ing the surge of Hindu-
tva not only in the state,
but across the country
in recent years.
Pandey, as a student
leader of Lucknow Uni-
versity had won 2012 as-
sembly polls from the
seat by defeating BJP’s
Lallu Singh and also be-
came a minister in Akh-
ilesh Yadav’s cabinet.
He, however, lost to
BJP’s Ved Prakash Gup-
ta in 2017. Considering
that the stakes are high
for her father, Pandey’s
daughter is also doing
her bit to see him
emerge victorious in
the upcoming polls.
“Gauri wakes up at 6
am without any wake up
call and gets ready
. As
her online classes start
after 9.30 am, she goes
out for campaigning
with her father before
that. Though these are
difficult times due to the
coronavirus pandemic,
we let her go out after
taking all precautions as
she is too excited to be a
partof thecampaigning,
Pandey’s wife told PTI.
Although Gauri’s
presence usually draws
overwhelming response
from people, there are
timeswhenresidentsget
angry when candidates
knock at their doors ear-
lyinthemorningaspart
of the campaigning.
Though she is aware
of those who are in op-
position to her father,
the young girl does not
like to comment on
dra Modi or Yogi Adity-
anath. She innocently
adds that her “Papa is
the best candidate and
Akhilesh Yadav will be
the best CM”.
Asked about his
daughter’s campaign-
ing, Pawan Pandey
said, “I have been in
Ayodhya since 2012. I
am there for the cause
of people. In this diffi-
cult Covid period,
though me and my wife
insist her to remain at
home, she gets ready for
campaigning in the
morning before us.”
Uttar Pradesh will go
to polls in seven phases
beginning February 10.
The election in Ayodhya
constituency will be
held in the fifth phase
on February 27. —PTI
The 7-year-old girl is also doing her bit to see her father emerge as victorious in the upcoming polls
Gauri Pandey on the campaign trail in Ayodhya.
SYMBOLISING THE SURGE OF HINDUTVA
Letter petition seeks
action against police
for violence against
protesting students
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: A letter
petition has been
filed in the Allahabad
High Court in con-
nection with the
lathicharging of stu-
dents by police in the
hostel and lounge in
Baghada, Prayagraj
on Tuesday
. The peti-
tion has demanded a
judicial inquiry into
the matter and action
against the guilty po-
licemen. The letter
petition has been
filed by Advocates
Shailjakant Tripathi,
A.P. Pal, P.K. Jaiswar
and two other law-
yers. The advocates
said that the manner
in which the students
were thrashed by the
police after entering
the hostel and lounge
in Baghada, Praya-
graj, is absolutely
wrong. Advocate
Shailjakant Tripathi
said that through the
petition, he has re-
quested the High
Court to take suo
motu cognizance of
the matter. Along
with this, a commit-
tee has been consti-
tuted to investigate
the matter and appeal
for action against the
guilty policemen.
Alld HC —FILE PHOTO
6 cops
have been
suspended by
SSP Prayagraj
in this case
BJPhasnarrowmindsetof
makingyouth‘sellpakoras’:
Mayawationviolence
Lucknow: Amidst con-
tinuing unrest among
railway job aspirants in
Uttar Pradesh and Bi-
har, BSP chief Mayawa-
ti on Thursday accused
the BJP of having a
narrow mindset of
making the youth sell
pakoras. There has
been a huge uproar in
Uttar Pradesh and Bi-
har over UPTNT and
now over Railways’
RRB-NTPC results, this
is a proof of the failure
of the governments.
Beating up poor and un-
employed youths for
protesting, and playing
with their future is to-
tally unjustified, she
said in a tweet in Hindi.
Due to the wrong pol-
icies of the government,
poverty and unemploy-
ment have reached the
peak. Government jobs
and reservation facility
in them have become
secondary. In such a
situation, it is unjust to
not have the examina-
tion even for small gov-
ernment jobs for years.
BJP should change its
narrow mindset of
making the youth sell
pakoras’ (snacks),” she
added. —PTI
BSP chief Mayawati —FILE PHOTO
BSP FIELDS SC CANDIDATES AGAINST YADAVS
Congress Shekhupura
candidate resigns over
‘sexist’ comments
Budaun: Congress
Shekhupura assem-
bly candidate Farha
Naeem on Thursday
resigned from the
party and returned
her ticket accusing
district president of
making indecent
comments against
women. Addressing
a press conference
here, Naeem made
allegations against
the character of par-
ty district president
Onkar Singh and an-
nounced her resig-
nation.
“Iwasimpressedwith
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra’s slogan ‘Ladki
Hun Lad Sakti Hun’
and got the ticket as
voice of girls and
women but we are hu-
miliated here. The
district president
makes indecent com-
ments on character
of women. When
asked about allega-
tions against him,
Onkar Singh said he
considers women as
her mother and has
never humiliated
them. “The allega-
tions are baseless. If
she has any proof she
should come forward
with it. She has
reached an under-
standing with BSP
candidate Muslim
Khan that is why she
is making such alle-
gations,” he said. —PTI
Farha Naeem
NO ACTION
Have stopped migration of talent
from UP: Dy CM Dinesh Sharma
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Accusing
the opposition of mis-
leading the people of
UP, Deputy CM Dinesh
Sharma on Thursday
said that the opposition,
being issueless, in-
dulged itself in making
false statements. ”In the
last five years, UP has
made leaps in every as-
pect of development
leaving the opposition
high and dry, “ he said
while addressing a
press conference. He
said that the BJP had
identified the state with
ease of doing business.
“We have improved
the image of Uttar
Pradesh by changing
the educational envi-
ronment and bringing
investments. Today, the
migration of talent has
stopped owing to ample
of opportunities for the
meritorious students,
“the Deputy CM point-
ed out. Dr Sharma said
that this time, the BJP
would break its own re-
cord in the election
while the entire opposi-
tion parties including
SP, BSP, Congress to-
gether would not reach
even three digits.
Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma holds a press conference at BJP state
headquarters in Lko on Thursday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
PROBE ORDERED AFTER VIDEO OF KIDS
MADE TO PRAISE PM UP CM GOES VIRAL
Siddharthnagar: The dis-
trict authorities on Thursday
ordered a probe after school
children were allegedly made
to raise slogans hailing Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
by their principal and teachers
on Republic Day. A video of
the event, held on Wednesday
at a primary school in Sohrat-
garh Block of Siddharthnagar
district, has gone viral. In the
video, students after singing
the national anthem are seen
raising slogans in the name of
freedom fighters as well as of
Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath
on the directions of teachers, violating the model
code of conduct currently in place in poll-bound
Uttar Pradesh. District Magistrate, Siddharthnagar,
Deepak Meena told reporters that he came to know
about the video through social media. —PTI
PM Narendra Modi
CM Yogi Adityanath

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,647,735
TOTAL DEATHS
287,953,257
TOTAL RECOVERED
70,232,956
ACTIVE CASES
363,833,948
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
491,729
TOTAL DEATHS
37,677,328
TOTAL RECOVERED
2,202,443
ACTIVE CASES
40,371,500
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
When life seems to be speeding
by, pause to watch the sunset
and the sparrow take flight!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
TURNCOATS POSE SERIOUS
CHALLENGES TO CONGRESS
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: The voting
schedule for the first
phase of the UP elec-
tions is getting closer,
but the challenges of the
Congress do not seem to
be diminishing. In west-
ern UP
, the party has be-
come faceless after Im-
ran Masood left the par-
ty
, while RPN Singh’s
changeof sidehasweak-
ened its position in the
eastern region as well.
FormerUnionMinister
RPN Singh was a veter-
an Congress leader in
eastern UP
. His joining
BJP by breaking ties
with the party is a blow
to the Congress in
Purvanchal. Singh, for-
mer MP of Kushinagar,
belongstotheSainthwar
caste.Significantpartof
this OBC community re-
sidesinGorakhpur,Deo-
ria, Kushinagar and Ma-
harajganj.
Political experts are
assessing the inclusion
of RPN Singh in the BJP
as a damage control ex-
ercisetothepossibleloss
to the BJP which could
have been caused by the
rebellionof SwamiPras-
ad Maurya faction.
Earlier,inwesternUP
,
the Priyanka-led party
suffered heavy losses af-
ter Imran Masood
switchedsidestojointhe
SP from the Congress.
Masood played an im-
portant role in the vic-
tory of Congress in the
2017 assembly elections
in Behat and Saharan-
pur Dehat seats. Where-
as this time also the fo-
cusof theCongresscam-
paign in the western
part of the state was
based on the influential
Muslim face Masood.
Obviously
, the Con-
gress’s strategy got a set-
back due to Masood
turning into a turncoat.
Accordingtopolitical
analyst Arvind Mohan,
leaving the party one af-
ter the other raises seri-
ous questions; whereas
in the election period, it
is very important to give
the message of solidar-
ity to the workers in the
party
. But surprisingly,
the Congress leadership
does not seem to be mak-
ing any concerted effort
in preventing the exo-
dus of strong leaders.
The senior leaders of
the party have a chal-
lenge to save their politi-
cal existence, so they are
searching for safe plac-
es, Arvind added.
Earlier,LaliteshpatiTri-
pathi, the great-grand-
son of former CM Ka-
malapati Tripathi, left
the Congress and joined
theTrinamoolCongress,
causing the party to lose
an influential Brahmin
face in Purvanchal.
Recently
, Supriya
Aron,whowasfieldedby
Priyanka as a candidate
from Bareilly Cantt, also
joined the SP along with
her husband Praveen
Singh Aron.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Sama-
jwadi Party (SP) on
Thursday released its
third list of 56 candi-
dates for the upcoming
Uttar Pradesh assembly
elections.
One of the noted
names in the list is that
of Dara Singh Chau-
han, who has been
fielded from Ghosi
constituency. Chauhan
recently quit the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty (BJP) and chief min-
ister Yogi Adityanath’s
cabinet.
With the latest list,
the Akhilesh Yadav-
led camp has so far de-
clared the names of
254 candidates for the
403 seats of the UP
assembly.
Senior SP leader
Beni Prasad Verma’s
son Rakesh Verma got
the ticket from Kursi
constituency, while
former minister in the
Akhilesh government,
Arvind Singh Gope,
and Fareed Mehfooz
Kidwai have been field-
ed from Dariyabad and
Ram Nagar seats, re-
spectively, of Baraban-
ki district.
The list names BSP
turncoats Ram Achal
Rajbhar and Lalji Ver-
ma from Akbarpur and
Katehari seats respec-
tively of Ambedkar Na-
gar, Vinay Tiwari from
Chillupar and Leader
of opposition Ram Go-
vind Chowdhury from
his Bansdeeh seat of
Ballia district.
SP leader Beni Pras-
ad Verma’s son Rakesh
Verma has been fielded
from Kursi seat (Bara-
banki) while former
minister Arvind Singh
Gope and Fareed Me-
hfooz Kidwai got tick-
ets from Dariyabad
and Ram Nagar seats
respectively. Former
assembly speaker Mata
Prasad Pandey has got
ticket from Etwa (Sid-
dharth Nagar) while
former MLA Abhay
Singh and Lucknow
Yadav, son of former
minister Parasnath Ya-
dav, were once again
fielded from Gosaiganj
seat (Ayodhya) and
Malhani (Jaunpur)
seats respectively.
The SP is yet to an-
nounce a candidate’s
name from Gorakhpur
(Urban) and Sirathu
constituencies from
where CM Yogi, and
state’s deputy CM Kes-
hav Prasad Maurya
have been fielded by
the BJP.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Intense
battle has ensued be-
tween ruling BJP and
Rashtriya Lok Dal-Sa-
majwadi Party (RLD-
SP) alliance over well-
entrenched Jat votes
in west UP. Both have
been trying to wrest
control over them to
make headway in elec-
toral fight in west UP
which goes to polls on
February 10, 14.
As a part of BJP exer-
cise to woo restive Jat
community the Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah held meeting of
Jat leaders in Delhi on
January 26 to sort out
differences with the
community. The party
has been trying to rec-
tify their grievances to
bring them back to the
BJP-fold. Around 250
prominent Jat leaders
of West UP met Shah
at the residence of
Delhi BJP MP Parvesh
Verma.
While laying stress
on reunion with the Jat
community during the
meeting, Shah is learnt
to have sent feelers to
RashtriyaLokDalchief
Jayant Chaudhury also
for alliance.
“Chaudhury has
chosen a wrong path by
aligning with Sama-
jwadi Party and BJP
doors are open for
him”, Shah has report-
edly commented. Shah
told the Jat leaders that
the community had
been a strong ally of
the party for a long
time and had ensured
the victory of BJP in
three previous elec-
tions. He said the BJP
was open to their de-
mands and their prob-
lems would be solved.
“You (Jats) fought
for 650 years against
Mughals and we also
fighting against them
now,” Shah comment-
ed to connect with Jat
history. Shah said the
community supported
the BJP even “we did
not accept some of
your demands”.
Later briefing news-
men Parvesh Verma
said that Amit Shah
had appealed to the
community not to go
anywhere and support
the party as they did
not past. Verma said
the community’s griev-
ances would be solved.
However sharply re-
acting to Shah’s offer
the RLD president Jay-
ant Chaudhury, refer-
ring to the farmers
families who suffered
losses during one-year
farmers stir, tweeted:
“the invitation should
not be for me…you
should give it to those
700 plus farmers whose
families you have de-
stroyed”.
It is to be noted that
Jayant Chaudhury is
alliance with SP has
fielded 33 candidates in
west UP.
Former Union Minister and Cong leader RPN Singh being feted by
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as he joins BJP, as Deputy
Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya looks on, at the party
headquarters, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting with Jat leaders from UP at the residence of
BJP MP Pravesh Verma (2nd L) in New Delhi on Wednesday —PHOTO BY ANI
Cong’s turmoils
have multiplied
after some
renowned faces
left the party
Aditi Singh, MLA from
Rae Bareli Sadar, has
blown the bugle of re-
bellion against party’s
leadership. Former
MPs Rajarampal and
Anu Tandon have also
left Congress and
joined SP. Veterans
like Harendra Malik,
Pankaj Malik, Yusuf
Ali, Hamza Mian and
Haider Ali Khan have
left the party.
THOSE WHO BID
ADIEU TO CONG
Intense battle for Jat votes across
WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH
CHALLENGE
R-DAY SPECIAL
Tableau from various departments/ institutes participating in the Republic Day Parade in
Lucknow on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Our govt coming, will avenge
moves against us: SP leader
Meerut: Soon after a
viral video of Samajwa-
di Party leader Adil
Chaudhary surfaced on
social media where he is
allegedly heard issuing
threats claiming, “Our
government will be
formedinUttarPradesh.
Wewillnotsparethem.”,
the BJP slammed SP for
fielding anti-majority
candidates in UP
.
In the video, Chaud-
hary is reportedly heard
saying that not a single
person will be spared
when his party is voted
to power in the upcom-
ing Uttar Pradesh As-
sembly elections.
“You all remain tension
free! Our government
will be formed in UP
. In-
shallah, we will not
spare them. The way
they are carrying out
crimes against us....We
will take avenge against
all these moves. They
(Opposition) will realise
theirmistakes.Theywill
then, think 100 times be-
fore harming us. They
will fear stepping out-
side their homes.,” he is
reportedlyheardsaying.
Chaudhary’s remarks
weregreetedbyapplause
fromthesmallgathering
of people who were lis-
tening to his speech.
Hours after the video
of the SP leader went vi-
ral on social media,
BJP’s National Informa-
tion and Technology De-
partment chief, Amit
Malviya tweeted the
video and said, “Adil
Choudhary
, SP candi-
date from Meerut South,
threatenedHindus,said,
‘If our government
comes, we will not leave
it...willbeavengedselec-
tively’. —ANI
Dara Singh Chauhan gets Ghosi in SP’s third list
Akhilesh Yadav. —FILE PHOTO
Sachin Pilot
targets BJP
government
Ghaziabad: Congress
leader Sachin Pilot on
Thursday conducted
door-to-door campaign
here for party candidate
Sushant Goel, accusing
BJP of exploiting every
section in its govern-
ance. Goel is son of for-
mercongressparliamen-
tarian Surendra Goel
who died during the sec-
ond wave of COVID-19.
Pilot read the party’s
manifesto to the public
and urged them to oust
the BJP from power.
Sachin Pilot said that
in the last five years, the
state government had
exploitedthetradersand
all other sections of the
society
. —PTI
AMIT SHAH SETS THE BALL ROLLING
BJP leaders continue to face
resistance from angry farmers
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The after-
effects of the farmers’
agitation have yet not
worn off in western
Uttar Pradesh where
saffron party leaders
are facing resistance
in their attempts to
“reach-out” to their
supportbase,especial-
ly Jats in rural areas.
Yet another BJP can-
didate was chased
away by angry locals
while he was cam-
paigning in the Sha-
karpur village in As-
moli constituency in
Sambhal district.
In a widely circulated
video, BJP candidate
Harendra Singh
Rinku can be seen be-
ing heckled by locals
who can be heard pur-
portedly saying that
BJP had ‘planted
spikes at the Ghaz-
ipur border to disrupt
the peaceful farmers’
agitation’.
They alleged that
the BJP workers
‘opened fire’ at pro-
testing farmers in
Lakhimpur Kheri, be-
sides ‘using water
cannonsandteargas’.
One of them is heard
saying,“Wewouldnot
allow any BJP leader
to enter the village.”
Sources said that the
people who protested
againsttheBJPcandi-
dates were from a
farmers’ union. The
sitting MLA from As-
moli is the SP’s Pinki
Yadav. She had won
the seat in 2012 too.
A couple of days
ago, stones were
hurled at the convoy
of Manindarpal Sin-
gh, BJP candidate
from Siwalkhas in
Jaat dominated vil-
lage in Meerut.
Again in Shamli dis-
trict, villagers are
opposing BJP lead-
ers and workers and
preventing them
from campaigning.
BJP’s UP chief Swatantra Dev Singh during door-to-door
campaign with BJP candidate for Meerut Cantt, Amit
Agarwal, in Meerut on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Adil Chaudhary.

he annual cal-
endars of
First India
2022 were
l a u n c h e d
amid fanfare
on Thursday
by Jagdeesh Chandra
in a low-profile func-
tion, as per corona pro-
tocol, at Club Haven,
Jaipur. This year, First
India has launched two
calendars and both of
them are equally beau-
tiful. It was a graceful
merging of the tradi-
tional and modernity,
Indian and Western
cultures, the ethnic
and contemporary,
withbeautyallaround.
The Rajasthani cal-
endar showcases in
great elegance the un-
surpassed allure of
our beloved desert
state with each month
a picturesque state-
ment of pulchritude
and exquisiteness. At
the same time, the
beauties of the glam-
our calendar are so
awesome that one
doesn’t feel like turn-
ing the month.
Gaurav Gaur, Ashok
Singh, Nikhil Anand,
Rishee Miglani,
Shaan, Lokesh Shar-
ma, Yogesh Mishra,
Kapil Raj Akanksha
Bhalla, Mona Gautam,
Swati Jangid, Poonam
Sharma and Mannat
Siwach who recently
won the Miss Teen In-
ternational India 2021
title along with many
of the page 3 celebri-
ties of Jaipur attended
the launch as did the
models whose faces
adorn the calendars.
The concept and
styling is by Shaan and
Elite Miss Rajasthan
Director Gaurav Gaur
while the entire shoot
has been done by
Shaan. The design and
print is by Ashok Sin-
gh of Big Boss Studio.
Prashant of Manda-
kani whose traditional
wear has been show-
cased also attended
the event. Elite
Miss Rajasthan,
Glamanand Miss
India, Faspro
Fashion Acade-
my, Style Skool
and KP Produc-
tions supported
the shoot as did
Manmeet Singh.
Moon Bohra,
Aditi Dabhai,
Sunil Parihar,
Manav Golecha,
Aman Singh and
Kishan who all are
closely associated
with the calendars
sent their best wishes.
The exquisite loca-
tions of the shoot are
Sawai Vilas, Rantham-
bore and Chomu
Palace with a couple
of photographs at
some undisclosed
heritage properties
of Rajasthan.
LUCKNOW, FRIDAY
JANUARY 28, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
The Annual Calendar of First India 2022 has a dual avatar this year, one of fashion
and glamour and another which exuberantly celebrates and promotes the tradition,
culture and heritage of Rajasthan. Jagdeesh Chandra launched both the calendars
on Thursday at Club Haven, Jaipur!
UNRIVALLED GLAMOUR!
The traditional calendar will not
only promote the culture and
heritage of Rajasthan across the
national and international audi-
ence in a hitherto unique manner
but will also provide Rajasthani girls with a
chance at employment in the national and
international fashion arena. This calendar
will ensure a place and platform for the
rural and young talent from the districts of
Rajasthan on the runways of international
repute.” —JAGDEESH CHANDRA
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
T
—MORE IN CITY
FIRST TOMORROW
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Muskan Kamdar, Swati Jangid, Poonam Sharma, Tanu Choudhary, Akanksha Bhalla, Neelanjana Jangid, Rewati Upadhyay, Mansi Bachani,
Mannat Siwach, Yogesh Mishra, Lokesh Sharma, Nikhil Anand, Rishee Miglani, Ashok Singh, Prashant Poddar, Shaan, Gaurav Gaur, Saurabh Verma, Anita Hada, Mona Gautam,
Aanchal Ajaipal, Soni Kumari, Himakshi Choudhary, Simran Kashyap, Shubdha Panwar and Megha Shyam Soni during the First India Annual Calender 2022 launch
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA MUKESH KIRADOO
(L-R) Tanu, Soni, Akanksha, Swati, Himakshi, Simran, Neelanjana, Simran, Aanchal, Mannat,
Muskan, Shubdha, Rewati, Megha, Poonam, Riya, Angel and Srishti pose with the calendars
(L-R) Riya Rarh Choudhary, Astha Khandelwal and Poonam Sharma
FIRSTINDIAANNUALCALENDER2022

10-11
ETC
FIRST INDIA ANNUAL
CALENDER 2022
A glimpse of the traditional Rajasthani calender with (Standing) L-R: Swati Jangid, Astha Khandelwal,
Himakshi Choudhary, Akanksha Bhalla, Mona Gautam, Shrishti Khatri and Rutvi Tiwari; (Sitting)
L-R: Simran Modi, Radhika Rarh Choudhary, Poonam Sharma, Divisha Paliwal and Muskan Kamdar

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
MONOCHROMATIC
MONOCHROMATIC
TURNAROUNDS
TURNAROUNDS
WITH THE RECENT RUN-
WAYS LINING UP STYLES
IN SINGLE COLOUR OR
HUES OF ONE COLOUR, IT
ONLY PROVES THAT
MONOCHROME LOOKS
AREN’T GOING
ANYWHERE.
he trends of
m y r i a d
prints and
patterns rise
and fall with
c h a n g i n g
seasons but
the classic staple of
monochrome stays in
vogue. Monochrome
or single colour domi-
nant outfits are the
epitomai of style,
luxury and debonair.
And with the re-
cent runways lining
up styles in single
colour or hues of
one colour, it only
solidifies that mon-
o c h r o m e
looks aren’t
going any-
where.
The return of
one hue head-to-toe
look as the spring col-
lection embarks the
fashion scene the col-
ours are the real
players here. With
Gucci, Versace
and Dior making
statements with
colours like
b l a c k ,
w h i t e ,
pur- ple, and oth-
ers like Bottega Ven-
etta and Max Mara
are still keeping
track with hues of
yellow, green
and blue (mostly, in
the pastel family).
Below are some of
the colours to look out
for, according to the
city’s finest fashion
influencers.
• The shades
of Yellow and
Pink
Mohd. Aquib,
a Lifestyle and
fashion influ-
encer said, “As
the summers
are near,
F e b r u a r y
and March
are the perfect
time to opt for the
shades of yellow as
they not only elevate
the mood, it also
matches with the
bright outdoors. Tak-
ing a look at Tom
Ford’s latest collec-
tion, I’m sure, the
shades of yellow like
mustard, canary and
gold along with
shades of pink like
rouge, rose and taffy
will be in fashion.”
• B e w i t c h i n g
Black and Green
Shubhi Garg, a
fashion blogger sug-
gested, “The hues of
classic black are
back and with what
force. They are all
over from Chanel,
Dior to Mugler. Black
is again most sought
after and this time is
bejewelled too. An-
other colour is green,
the shades like olive,
moss, juniper and
even khaki are on a
rise. These
are muted tones if
you like a touch of
subtlety to your en-
semble.”
• Fittingly White
Aqsa Shad, a digi-
tal fashion content
creator said, “After
2021, people want
restitution from
the trauma hence
more colours in-
corporated into
the wardrobe but
nothing beats the
tranquillity of
white. White,
soothes the eyes and
is one of the easiest
colours to style,
goes with
almost
every-
thing a n d
with every body
shape. To elevate an
all-white look, pair it
with a floral crop top
or add more gold
jewellery. Other
colours like solid
red and blue are
safe and effec-
tive choices
too.”
MONICA PRABHAKAR
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
T
COLOURFUL CONCLUSIONS
The four-day Fresco Mural
painting workshop concluded
on Thursday at the Faculty of
Architecture Planning,AKTU.
The workshop was conducted by
eminent Mural artist,Ajit Varma
who showcased a handmade
mural art piece at the end of
the workshop on Thursday,
January 27.The workshop was
completed by presenting a shawl
to Vadodara based artist Ajit
Varma by principal Dean, FOAP,
AKTU, Dr Vandana Sehgal as a
token of respect, in the presence
of many art students.
WEDDING BELLS!
With the blessings of their friends and family, Mouni Roy and
Suraj Nambiar tie the knot at their wedding ceremony. Mouni
Roy shared their priceless pictures of feeling blessed, on
Instagram and expressed her love for marrying her best friend
“I found him at last.”
T
he 73rd Republic
Day of India was
celebrated on 26
January 2022 in the
premises of the Central
Sector, CRPF, Vibhuti
Khand, Gomati Nagar
with great patriotic
zeal, gaiety and fervour.
Prakash D. IPS un-
furled the National
flag and conveyed
greetings to all Force
personnel. When speak-
ing to the officers and
jawans, the IGP empha-
sised the significance of
Indianconstitution,stat-
ing that India is blessed
tohaveoneof theworld’s
largest and greatest con-
stitutionsanddemocrat-
ic countries. He also
stated that the CRPF is a
long-established agency
taskedwithmaintaining
internal security and
country’s peace and eve-
ry member of the force
understandsthattheNa-
tion comes first. They
putthecountryaheadof
themselvesanddoevery-
thing in their power
to maintain peace.
The CRPF re-
ceived a total of 36
gallantry awards in-
cluding; 6 Shaurya
Chakra and 5 President
Police medals for distin-
guished service, as well
as 57 police medals for
outstanding service.
ASI/M Nandan Singh
and Nishat Ahmad were
awarded the Urikshit
Seva Medal.
Awarding the
Heroes!
Mere Vatan Ke Kavi
D
ubai witnessed
the Indian Re-
public Day cele-
bration, Kavi Sam-
melan and mushaira
held in Sheikh Rashid
Indian school. The pro-
gramme was organised
by Syed Salahuddin,
the key organiser of In-
dian Republic Day in
Dubai for the last 20
years. Nineteen Indi-
ans gathered in the
Great Hall and recited
their story celebrations
of Indian Independ-
ence Day on the Jan-
uary 22, 2022. Poets
from all around the
globe attended the
event, including poets
from India headed by
Akhilesh Kumar
Mishra, special secre-
tary for transporta-
tion in Uttar
Pradesh, Rakesh
Toofan, additional SP
in UP, and Jauhar Kan-
puri. Sabeena Adeeb,
Ekta Bharti, Hashim
Firozabadi, Nayar
Jalalpur, and other dig-
nitaries from the Indi-
an consulate, Justice
Mohammed Babar, and
Aziz Ur Rahman were
amongst those present.
AIRLINES PATRIOTISM
With patriotic spirit, the occasion of
Republic Day was celebrated with
great enthusiasm at Chaudhary
Charan Singh International Airport,
Lucknow.Addressing the gathering
over the importance of this
prestigious occasion, Chief
Airport officer Suresh Chandra
Hota hosted the national flag
and took a salute of the march
past.The employees of Indigo
Airlines enthralled the passengers
by a dance on the theme of
patriotic songs and organised
various programs.
Nandan Singh receiving the medal
During the dog show
Suresh Chandra Hota
hosting the national flag
Akhilesh Kumar Mishra
Sabeena Adeeb
Ekta Bharti
Jauhar Kanpuri
Mohd. Aquib Aqsa Shad
Shubhi Garg
Nishat Ahmad receiving the medal
Vandana Sehgal honouring Ajit Varma
26 JAN
26 JAN CELEBRATIONS!
CELEBRATIONS!
Jagdeesh Chandra unfurled the Tricolour at the First India News channel office on the
morning of January 26, Wednesday. The entire First India family was present in true
patriotic spirit and the entire atmosphere was replete with the fervour of Bharat Mata ki Jai!
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO
Jagdeesh Chandra unfurling the Tricolour at the First India
News channel office on Republic Day. Also seen are Senior
Editor Sudhanshu Mathur, Anita Hada. Jinendra Shekhawat,
Nitesh Singh Goyal, Mukesh Sharma and Dinesh Mathur.

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