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1. CORONA CATASTROPHE
Gujarat A’Bad
NEW
CASES
79
NEW
CASES
162 NEW
DEATHS
02
Cong promises electricity sops, jobs, gas cylinder price cap
First India Bureau
Dwarka: The Gujarat
Congress on Sunday
promised to provide
electricity free of cost
or at concessional
rates to domestic us-
ers, a cap on domestic
gas cylinder price at
Rs500, and creation of
10 lakh jobs annually
if voted to power in the
state Assembly polls
scheduled to be held
later this year.
The opposition party
also promised Rs4 lakh
assistance and a govern-
ment job to the kin of
COVID-19 victims and
said it would free farm-
ers from debt, cut their
power bills by half and
provide direct assis-
tance of Rs70,000 per
year under the ‘Nyay Yo-
jana’ to needy families.
It promised to re-in-
troduce the 2004 pension
scheme, start the ‘Ma-
hatma Gandhi Educa-
tion Complex’ model to
“liberate parents from
exploitation through
commercialization of
education” as well as set
up a “timely recruit-
ment calendar” to fill
more than five lakh gov-
ernment vacancies.
Releasing the party’s
‘Dwarka Sankalp Patra’
(resolution) on the last
day of its three-day con-
claveorganisedatDwar-
ka, state unit president
Jagdish Thakor said
people were left with no
option but to go in for a
change as the BJP gov-
ernment was witness-
ing policy paralysis.
“The administration
has also been BJP-ized,
and it is used more for
political purposes than
for the welfare of the
people. The BJP govern-
ment has not lived up to
the expectations of the
people. The condition of
the people has deterio-
rated instead of improv-
ing,”hetoldagathering.
“The Congress will
ensure nobody has to
pay more than Rs500
per gas cylinder. Provi-
sion will be made to pro-
vide electricity on free
or concessional basis
depending on the resi-
dential electricity bill,”
Thakor said.
The ‘sankalp patra’
also mentions mini-
mum wages to Angan-
wadi, ASHA and mid-
day meal workers, per-
manent jobs to those
who have remained on
a contractual basis for
10 years and more, a
subsidy of Rs5 per litre
to milk producers, and
‘Tiranga Clinic’ at the
ward level in urban ar-
eas for “service, diagno-
sis, treatment”.
The party said, if vot-
ed to power, it would re-
lieve people from infla-
tion, provide free educa-
tion to girls till gradua-
tion, and strictly imple-
ment the Right to Edu-
cation Act.
“We will ensure ade-
quate appointments and
modernisation of the
state police force, make
provisions for adequate
pay grades and facilities
to curb the exploitation
of policemen and bring
transparency in govern-
ment accounts to re-
move corruption at eve-
ry level. Corruption un-
derway will be probed
and the guilty pun-
ished,” Thakor said.
—Turn to P2
Guj Cong leaders released the 'sankalp patra' in Dwarka on Sunday.
Party issued
‘Dwarka Sankalp
Patra’ on
concluding day
of Chintan Shibir
‘US waives in-person interview for many visas for Indians till Dec’
Washington (PTI):
The United States has
waived in-person inter-
view requirements for
many visa applicants,
including students and
workers, at its diplo-
matic missions in In-
dia through December
31 this year, a senior
American diplomat
has told Indian com-
munity leaders.
These applicants eli-
gible for the waiver are
students (F, M, and aca-
demic J visas), workers
(H-1, H-2, H-3, and indi-
vidual L visas), Cul-
ture and extraordinary
ability (O, P, and Q vi-
sas).
“This is much-need-
ed support to visa ap-
plicants. This would be
very helpful to our
friends and immediate
family members and
remove a lot of their
concerns and remove
inconveniences,” Ajay
Jain Bhutoria, South
Asian Community
Leader and US Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s Advi-
sor for Asian Ameri-
cans, said after his
meeting with Assistant
Secretary of State for
South Central Asia,
Donal Lu.
Bhutoria raised the
issue of visas during
his meeting with Lu in
Silicon Valley in the US
state of California on
Friday
.
Donal Lu informed
that through December
31, of this year, the US
Department of State is
authorised to waive in-
person interview re-
quirements for certain
applicants and their
qualifying derivatives
in various non-immi-
grant visa classifica-
tions.
To be eligible for the
expanded interview
waiver programme, ap-
plicants seeking these
visa classifications
must have previously
been issued any catego-
ry of US visa; have
never been refused a
US visa and have no in-
dication of ineligibili-
ty or potential visa in-
eligibility
.
They also need to be
a resident or national
of the country in which
they are applying;
among other, the State
Department said.
The US embassy in
New Delhi and its con-
sulates in Chennai, Hy-
derabad, Kolkata and
Mumbai will release
more than 20,000 addi-
tional waiver (drop-
box) appointments for
Spring 2022 to allow
qualified applicants to
make use of the new
interview waiver au-
thority, according to a
notice posted on the
website of the US Em-
bassy in New Delhi.
During the meeting,
Bhutoria discussed
with Donal Lu to in-
crease people-to people
relationships between
the US and India. He
stressed the impor-
tance of both the US
and India working
closely together in
South Central Asia.
Assistant Secretary
Lu, Bhutoria, Indian
American Congress-
man Ro Khanna also
met at the afternoon
event to discuss with
Afghan community
leaders, elected offi-
cials the Afghanistan
refugee resettlement.
PERSPECTIVE
JAIPUR | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
04
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1ST OCTOBER, 2001…WHEN VAJPAYEE
ASKED A PERFORMER MODI TO TAKE OVER
AN EARTHQUAKE RIDDEN GUJARAT!
DOWN THE MEMORY LANE… THE MAKING OF PM MODI – PART 5
S
oon after Narendra Modi
left Gujarat and came to
Delhi over the compromise
formula, he was given the
charge of BJP’s national
secretary
. He was also made
incharge of Punjab and
Jammu & Kashmir in addi-
tion to Haryana, Chandi-
garh (UT) and Himachal
Pradesh. Modi once again
provedhispoliticalacumen
and BJP emerged as a big
political force in Haryana
and Chandigarh
during
1996 assembly elections.
His magical run contin-
ued and he managed to
form BJP government
in
Himachal Pradesh in 1998
under the leadership of
Prem Kumar Dhumal. This
gave a new height to Modi’s
stature at national level
and the BJP appointed him
as the organisational
gen-
eral secretary
.
“Modijiisalwayseagerto
learn new things. If I could
learn computers way back
in 1996, it was the inspira-
tion of Modi ji,” remembers
Manohar Lal Khattar,chief
minister of Haryana.
BJPwasgainingstrength
at national leveland in vari-
ous states. Modi’s political
strategyandorganisational
skills were playing a major
role in party’s emergence.
Just then in May
, 1999, Kar-
gilwarbrokeoutandIndian
Armed Forces gave befit-
ting reply to Pakistan’s in-
vasion. The entire world
witnessed the unique war-
fare of Indian forces, which
won the battle without
crossing the line of control.
Narendra Modi was devas-
tated with the loss of lives
of soldiers and he went to
meet the injured soldiers.
He showed solidarity with
them and praised their
courage and valour.
“A soldier had lost both
his arms in a mines blast.
Modi has gone to meet
him in the hospital.
Modi asked the sol-
dier, it must be pain-
ingbadly
.Thesoldier
replied - it was pain-
ing till last evening.
Now that we have
won back the Tiger
Hills, the
pain has
vanished. Modi was down
with tears with that reply
,”
remembered
Prem Kumar
Dhumal, chief minister,
Himachal Pradesh.
The grand victory in
Kargil war brought back
Vajpayee government
for
the third time in 1999. Modi
was also becoming power-
ful at national level with
the party gaining strength
day by day
. However, in his
home state Gujarat, Modi
was still not that influen-
tial. The party suffered
massivedefeatinlocalbody
election in 2000. In the same
year on Republic Day
, Guja-
rat suffered the worst ever
earthquake resulting into
deaths of 10,000 people.
“The situation was
dreadful specially in
Kutch region. Now if we
look at Bhuj, one can’t im-
agine that the district was
down in shambles post the
earthquake in 2000.
But Modi ji believes in find-
ingopportunityincalamity
.
He practised this key strat-
egy to rebuild and trans-
form the shredded Bhuj
into a modern city,” remi-
nisced Vishnu Pandya, a
senior journalist.
The inaction of the then
Gujarat’s chief minister
Keshubhai Pa-
tel during the relief
work was questioned.
The public also showed
its anger by defeating BJP
in the bypoll of Sabarkan-
tha Lok Sabha and Sabar-
mati Vidhansabha.
There
was unrest in the party
.
On 1st October 2001, Con-
gress leader Madhav Rao
Scindia died in a helicopter
crash. Along with him a
cameraman Gopal Singh
Bisht also lost his life. Nar-
endra Modi was attending
the cremation ceremony of
Bisht when his mobile
phonerang.Theprimemin-
ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
was on the other line. He
asked Modi to meet him in
the evening. And on that
evening Modi received
marching orders for Guja-
rat to replace chief minis-
ter Keshu Bhai Patel who
had failed miserably in re-
constructionof earthquake
ridden state.
After becoming the
chief minister, the first
lesson Modi learnt was
from his mother Heera
Bai who said “Beta koi
ghoos de to lena mat ( Nev-
er take bribe from anyone).
Four months passed
since Modi was sworn in.
As per the law, he had to be-
come member of assembly
within 6 months. So, in Feb-
ruary 2002, he contested by-
election from Rajkot-II as-
semblyseatandenteredthe
assembly where he reigned
supreme till he got into the
parliament in 2014. For
Modi, who had ensured vic-
tory for several leaders
over last one and half dec-
ades, a win for himself was
just a cakewalk.
Soon after Modi entered
the Gujarat assembly, fol-
lowing Godhra train burn-
ing case which changed the
entire political discourse in
the state. On 27th February
2002, 20 years back, rioters
set afire S-6 coach of Sabar-
mati Express which was
coming from Ayodhya. The
target was lives of karse-
vaks returning from Ayod-
hya. As many as 59 people
lost their lives which trig-
gered communal riots in
various parts of the state.
“Modi requested for po-
licehelpfromvariousstates
including Congress-ruled
states. But no one came up
for help. He also asked for
military support. The next
daymilitarycameintoforce
to control the violence. It’s
purely malicious publicity
that Modi has fanned the
violence,” said Uday Ma-
hurkar, a senior journalist.
It was a big challenge for
Modi to maintain commu-
nal harmony and peace in
Gujarat amid targeted at-
tacks from the opposition.
“The so-called secularists
from across the country ac-
cused Modi for wrong do-
ing and igniting commu-
nal violence in the state.
They did everything to de-
fame Modi. But Modi ji
never lost patience,” said
Vijay Rupani, former chief
minister of Gujarat.
The opposition sharp-
ened their attacks on Modi
and in July 2002, Governor
S S Bhandari dissolved the
Gujarat Assembly on the
recommendatio
n of the
state council of ministers
on Friday paving the way
for early election in the ri-
ot-torn state. The assembly
was dissolved nine months
ahead of its term.
Undeterred by the turn
of events, Narendra Modi
launched Gaurav Yatra
across Gujarat towns to
bring back the glory of Gu-
jarat by winning 127 seats
out of 182 assembly seg-
ments and paving the way
for his oath taking ceremo-
ny at Gandhinagar
Raj
Bhavan as the Chief Min-
ister for the second time.
To be continued….
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
Narendra Modi was
devastated with the loss of
lives of soldiers and he went
to meet the injured soldiers.
He showed solidarity with
them and praised their
courage and valour. “A
soldier had lost both his
arms in a mines blast. Modi
has gone to meet him in the
hospital. Modi asked the
soldier, it must be paining
badly. The soldier replied -
it was paining till last
evening. Now that we have
won back the Tiger Hills,
the pain has vanished. Modi
was down with tears with
that reply,” remembered
Prem Kumar Dhumal,
chief minister, Himachal
Pradesh.
Narendra Modi meeting victims of Gujarat Earthquake.
Modi visiting a devastated Bhuj.
Narendra Modi visiting Kargil in 1999
to show solidarity with the soldiers.
FEB 23,
2022
Vol 3 Issue No. 263
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/7776
4.
Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan
on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed
at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B. Corp Limited,
Shivdaspura, Tonk Road, Jaipur. Published at
304, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das Road,
C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001, Rajasthan. Phone
0141-4920504.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for
selection of news under the PRB Act
Today in the country
right from Parliament to
Panchayat, women are
attaining new heights. In
new and bigger roles in
the Army, daughters are
protecting the country.
Women are the directors of
thousands of new start-ups
that have started over the
years.-Prime Minister Shri @
narendramodi #MannKiBaat
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Perform your obligatory
duty, because action is
indeed better than
inaction.
—The Bhagavad Gita
TOP
TWEETS
Lauded the efforts
of our hardworking
Indian physicians
highlighted their
abiding sense of service
towards humanity
during #COVID19
pandemic at the XII
Annual Conference of
Global Association of
Physicians of Indian
Origin.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmand
viya
Promoted by
Unique Shri LLP
AHMEDABAD l MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 94
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Chandigarh Police officials were on toes after two
bullet shells were recovered from a private bus being
used to ferry the Sri Lankan cricket team. The police
during a routine check recovered two bullet shells
from luggage compartment of a private bus.
POLICE ON ALERT
AFTER 2 BULLET
SHELLS ON SRI
LANKAN TEAM BUS
India completed a clean sweep beating Sri Lanka by
six wickets in third T20 International in Dharamsala
on Sunday. Chasing a target of 147, it was like a walk
in the park for Shreyas Iyer, who smashed 73 not out
off 45 balls to complete the chase in 16.5 overs.
IYER’S THIRD
FIFTY IN A ROW
HANDS INDIA 3-0
SWEEP VS LANKA
P4
Imphal (Agencies):
Thefirstphaseof polling
for the Manipur Assem-
bly election will be held
on Monday
, February 28.
In the first of the two
phase election, 38 assem-
bly constituencies of the
state will go to polls.
Of the 38 seats, 29 are
in districts of Imphal
East, Imphal West and
Bishnupur, while nine
seats are spread across
Churchandpur, Kang-
pokpi and Pherzawl.
Moirang constituency
will witness a three-cor-
nered fight between BJP
,
Congress and National
People’s Party
. Sitting
MLAPukhremSharatch-
andraSingh,whowonon
BJP ticket in the last
term, is contesting as a
Congress candidate this
time while former Con-
gress member Mairem-
bam Prithviraj Singh is
the BJP candidate, with
Thongam Shanti Singh
of National People’s Par-
ty the third candidate.
Meanwhile, for Olym-
pic medallist Mirabai
Chanu’svillage,drinking
water supply and poor
road condition tops list.
MANIPUR VOTES TODAY;
JD(U) CANDIDATE ‘BULLET’ SHOT AT
Chief Minister and BJP candidate
from Heingang seat N Biren Singh,
Assembly Speaker Y Khemchand
Singh from the Singjamei seat, Deputy
CM and NPP candidate Yumnam
Joykumar from the Uripok seat and
Manipur Congress president N Lokesh
Singh from the Nambol seat.
KEY PLAYERS’ FATE AT STAKE
UP records 54.98%
voting in 5th phase
Around 55 per cent polling was recorded on Sunday in
the fifth phase of UP Assembly polls. According to Elec-
tion Commission, the polling percentage was 54.98. Police
said voting was largely peaceful, barring in Pratapgarh’s
Kunda seat where Samajwadi Party candidate Gulshan Ya-
dav’s convoy was allegedly attacked by some people. Party
workers claimed that Yadav sustained minor injuries. SP
state president Naresh Uttam and party national spokesper-
son Rajendra Chowdhury have sent a complained to EC.
MANIPUR PHASE-1
WHEN PRAYERS WERE SAID FOR MY
DEATH IN KASHI...: PM IN VARANASI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the people in
Varanasi today that “prayers for my death were
done” by his political rivals. “We have seen how
much people have stooped low in Indian politics but
when in Kashi prayers for my death were
done, I felt elated,” he was quoted as
saying by news agency ANI at a rally
in Varanasi. “This meant that till my
death neither will I leave Kashi nor
its people will leave me,” PM added.
The swipe was at SP chief
Akhilesh Yadav, who
had directed a barb at
PM over his many
official functions in
Varanasi last year.
Moscow (Agencies):
Russian President
Vladimir Putin ordered
his defence chiefs to put
the country’s nuclear
“deterrence forces” on
highalertSundayandac-
cused the West of taking
“unfriendly” steps
against his country
.
Internationaltensions
are already soaring over
Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, and Putin’s or-
der will cause further
alarm.
Moscow has the
world’s second-largest
arsenal of nuclear
weapons and a huge
cache of ballistic mis-
siles which form the
backbone of the coun-
try’s deterrence forces.
NOW, UKRAINE AGREES TO TALKS
WITH RUSSIA ON BELARUS BORDER
AI EVACUATION FLIGHTS COSTING `7-8 L/HR;
ANOTHER AIR INDIA FLIGHT LANDS IN DELHI
UKRAINE KNOCKS
ON ICJ DOOR
MODI HOLDS HIGH
LEVEL MEETING
Moscow: Ukraine on Sunday agreed to hold talks with
Russia in Belarus, the Russian state media said quoting
officials in Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy’s office said the two sides would meet at an
unspecified location along the Belarusian border and did
not give a precise time for the meeting.
As Air India ferries hundreds of Indians stranded in
Ukraine, the cost of operating a two-way evacuation
flight will be more than Rs 1.10 crore and the amount
will go up depending on the duration of the flights. The
airline is operating the services with wide-body Boeing
787 plane, better known as Dreamliner. Meanwhile,
the second evacuation flight of Air India, carrying 250
Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, landed in Delhi.
Ukraine approached the
International Court of Jus-
tice against Russia to hold
Russia accountable for its
actions against Ukraine.
President Volodymyr
Zelensky tweeted that
Russia must be account-
able for “manipulating
the notion of genocide to
justify aggression”.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi upon his return from
UP poll campaign held a
high-level meeting on the
Ukraine crisis on Sunday,
official sources said.
External Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar was part of the
meeting which was also
attended by top govern-
ment officials.
CANDIDATE SHOT AT IN IMPHAL EAST
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) candidate
Wanglembam Rohit Singh, also known as
Bullet and contesting from the Kshetrigao
constituency in Imphal East district, was
shot at late on Saturday, the police said.
Kshetrigao constituency goes to polls on Monday. Police
said the incident occurred at around 11.30 pm when the
candidate was meeting some of his supporters at Naha-
rup Makhapat, about 3 km from his residence. Sapam
Ronaldo, the driver of the candidate, said Rohit was shot
at by one of the two assailants who came on a scooter.
38
Constituencies
05
Districts
20
lakh voters
173
Candidates
in the fray
7AM
Polling
begins
In 2017 polls, Congress emerged the
largest party with 28 MLAs, Later, eight
Congress MLAs left the party. BJP won
21 seats, formed govt with more support.
Development,
welfare of youth
and women top
wishlist of voters
NUCLEAR
THREAT
Russian Prez Putin puts nuclear
“deterrent” forces on high alert
France had warned Putin that
NATO has nuclear weapons
I order the defence min-
ister and the chief of the
general staff of the Rus-
sian armed forces to put
deterrence forces of Rus-
sian army into a special
mode of combat service
—Vladimir Putin,
Russian President
A women holds a child and a dog in a shelter inside a building in
Mariupol, Ukraine on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
EU TO BUY WEAPONS
FOR UKRAINE, BANS
RUSSIA IN AIR, ON-AIR
The EU on announced
new sanctions against
Russia over its invasion
of Ukraine, closing its air-
space to Russian aircraft
and banning Russian state
media outlets broadcast-
ing in the bloc. It will also
buy weapons for Ukraine.
2. NEWS
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Prof. Er-
rol D’Souza, the direc-
tor of the Indian Insti-
tute of Management,
Ahmedabad, on Satur-
day released MICA’s
maiden publication
‘Brand Magic: The Art
Science of Creating
Successful Brands’—
an extensively re-
searched book that
delves into 10 notable
brands that emerged
from Gujarat.
Speaking at the
event held on Saturday
at the Ahmedabad
Management Associa-
tion to mark the re-
lease, Prof. D’Souza
said: “The book Brand
Magic is the testimony
of courage, mettle,
hard work, and ideas to
make things happen.
All the stories are
about how these home-
grown brands provided
authenticity, the value
of money, and quality
during the controlled
era of the Indian Econ-
omy, when consumers
were not sure whom to
trust. Likability and
trustworthiness al-
ways help brands to be
exponentially success-
ful. Everything is con-
veyed in an interesting
storytelling format in
the book.”
The book, published
byMI-Press,MICA’saca-
demicpublishinghouse,
showcases how Market-
ing Communications
has played a significant
roleintakingthebrands
namely AMUL, Astral
Pipes, Balaji Wafers,
Fogg, Havmor, Jio, Ras-
na, Sugar-Free, Sym-
phony
, and Wagh Bakri,
from state-level to na-
tional and international
levels.
The book is co-au-
thored by Prof. Alan
D’Souza, former Execu-
tive Director at Mudra
Communications and
one of the Founding
Members of MICA, and
Dr Prashant Pareek,
Faculty in the Area of
Marketing and Entre-
preneurship at Shanti
Business School.
IIMA DIRECTOR RELEASES MICA’S MAIDEN PUBLICATION
‘BRAND MAGIC’
The
extensively
researched
book delves
into 10
notable
brands that
have emerged
from Guj
CM Patel, Guv Devvrat felicitate students at BAOU convocation
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The 7th
convocation ceremo-
ny of Babasaheb
Ambedkar Open Uni-
versity (BAOU) was
held at the Jyotirmaya
campusinAhmedabad
on Sunday. Chief Min-
ister Bhupendra Patel
and Governor Achar-
ya Devvrat-- who were
the chief guests at the
event—gave away 20
PhDs, 3,172 postgradu-
ates, 6,789 graduates,
181 postgraduate di-
plomas, 5,299 diplo-
mas and certificates,
and a total of 15,461
degree to students
across the state.
Along with the cer-
emony, the newly con-
structed ‘Agatsya
Atithi Niwas’ and
‘Maitreyi Mulyankan
Bhavan’ were also in-
augurated on the uni-
versity campus. Edu-
cation Minister Jitu
Vaghani and Minister
of State for Higher
and Technical Educa-
tion Kuber Dindor
were also present as
special guests.
Addressing the
gathering, CM Patel
spoke about Gujarat
as an education hub in
the country. “Educa-
tion was affected ad-
versely due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, more than
100 million vaccines
have been adminis-
tered in Gujarat. Uni-
versities have been
replaced by the an-
cient practice of gu-
rukul shiksha. Guja-
rat has become a hub
of education.”
Minister Vaghani,
on the other hand, enu-
merated efforts put in
by the government for
education. “This
(BAOU) is the only uni-
versity that covers Gu-
jarat and has been pro-
vided with land and
infrastructure by the
government. State uni-
versities are moving
forward, in accordance
with the road map pre-
pared at the medita-
tion camp held at the
Statue of Unity. The
central government
has also worked out a
new education policy,
which has been adopt-
ed by all states. By
2030, 80% of the new
education policy will
be implemented in the
state,” he assured.
Presenting degree to one of the students. CM Bhupendra Patel paying a floral tribute to Babasaheb Ambedkar.
MCC DEMANDS `19,300 CR
ALLOCATION FOR MINORITIES
River bridges upgraded,
300 roads built in Umargam
The Vadodara district Social Security Office under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has sanctioned wheelchairs for a five-year-old
girl named Kavya under the Disability Assistance schemes. The child’s medical report showed that she had congestion in the veins of her brain, which is why
she faced difficulty speaking and walking. The Garib Kalyan Mela proved to be a relief for her family, as they received a wheelchair for their daughter at an
event held on Saturday. Minister for Women and Child Development, Manisha Vakil, presented the wheelchair to the little girl. Other beneficiaries included 64
divyang who also received aid under the Saadhan Sahay Yojana.
From left: Dr Shailendra Raj Mehta, President Director, MICA, Prof. Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA
along with co-authors of the book, Prof. Alan D’Souza and Dr Prashant Pareek.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: At a pre-
budget dialogue organ-
ized by the Minority
Coordination Commit-
tee (MCC) on February
26, members discussed
the expectations and
provisions allocated to
people belonging to mi-
nority communities in
the state budget.
Leading the discus-
sion, MCC convener Mu-
jahid Nafees said, “Mi-
norities constitute
around11.5%of thetotal
populationinthestate,of
which, Muslims account
for 9.7%, Jains (1%),
Christians (0.5%), Sikhs
(0.1%), Buddhists (0.1%)
and others (0.1%).”
Presenting official
data, Nafees further
stated, “A report tabled
in the Parliament by the
Ministry of Minority
Affairs states that
10.18% of girls from the
Muslim community
dropped out of school at
the primary level in
2016-17 in Gujarat. If we
look at the unemploy-
ment rate in the Mus-
lim society as a whole,
it is 6.7% for men and
5.7% for women in rural
India. As for urban ar-
eas, it is 7.5% for men,
and 14.5% for women.
The allocation made for
the development of the
minority communities
was very nominal in the
2021-22 state budget.”
The Minority Coordi-
nation Committee has
written to Chief Minis-
ter Bhupendra Patel,
Finance Minister Kan-
ubhai Patel, Leader of
Opposition Jagdish
Thakor and the secre-
tary of the finance de-
partment requesting
solid allocation of
Rs19,300 crore for devel-
opment of the minority
communities.
In the coming days,
during the state budget
session, details of the
provision expectations
will be handed over to
the government, ad-
ministration and politi-
cal parties, he added.
First India Bureau
Umargam: One of the
182 legislative assem-
bly constituencies of
the Gujarat state is
Umargam, which is
part of the Valsad dis-
trict. Part of the Vals-
ad Lok Sabha constitu-
ency, Umargam is
home to studios, where
television serials are
shot, especially mytho-
logical ones.
The constituency
consists of Umargam
taluka and two villages
of Pardi taluka. Con-
sidered a Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) bas-
tion, the seat has been
with the party since
1995, with the exception
of 2002. MLA Raman
Patkar of the BJP won
from the seat in the 2017
assembly elections,
with a total of
96,004 votes.
The Indian Na-
tional Congress
(INC) candidate
Ashokbhai Mo-
hanbhai Patel
secured 54,314
votes in the
polls.
S p e a k i n g
with First India
on developmen-
tal projects, MLA Pat-
kar said, “Each village
in my constituency is
Gokul gram. They are
equipped with the infra-
structure they need.
This year, we have built
358 roads to connect the
villages, widened roads
and upgraded some of
the river bridges.”
My constituency has
everything. Even dur-
ing the COVID-19 pan-
demic crisis, we (local
authorities) were there
to help the locals, and
support them with med-
ical aid and ration, he
added.
However, there are
few people who believe
that the location is ide-
al for tourism, but has
not been promoted like
that. “There are some
demands of the fisher-
men community. In-
dustrial pollution is
affecting the fish crop,
which needs to be ad-
dressed on a priority
basis,” said Ramesh
Tandel, one of the fish-
ermen.
Local police officers paying their respects to maulana of Ahmedabad’s Jama Masjid on Eid last year.
Umargam MLA Raman Patkar with BJP workers. —FILE PHOTO
NUMBERS GAME
MEMBERS HAVE WRITTEN TO CM, OTHERS SEEKING
UPLIFTMENT OF THE MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN GUJ
LENDING A HELPING HAND
Cong promises...
Thetaxstructurewillbe
simplified by rooting
out “tax terrorism” be-
ing imposed on small
businesses and 10 lakh
jobs will be created an-
nually
, he said.
The ‘sankalp patra’
also focused on the uti-
lization of funds for
SC/ST communities,
implementation of
Forest Land Act, de-
velopment of urban
areas in an integrated
manner, nutrition and
self-reliance to wom-
en, as well as policy
for purification of pol-
luted rivers in the ur-
ban areas, including
Sabarmati, Tapi, Vish-
wamitri.
FROM PG 1
FOR THE PEOPLE
—FILE
PHOTO
from the seat in the 2017
assembly elections,
with a total of
96,004 votes.
The Indian Na-
tional Congress
(INC) candidate
Ashokbhai Mo-
hanbhai Patel
secured 54,314
votes in the
S p e a k i n g
with First India
on developmen- 358 roads to connect the
authorities) were there
to help the locals, and
support them with med-
ical aid and ration, he
added.
few people who believe
that the location is ide-
al for tourism, but has
not been promoted like
that. “There are some
demands of the fisher-
men community. In-
REPORT
CARD
MLA
MLA
If we look at
the unem-
ployment
rate in the Muslim
society as a whole,
it is 6.7% for men
and 5.7% for wom-
en in rural India.
As for urban areas,
it is 7.5% for men,
and 14.5% for
women. The alloca-
tion made for the
development of the
minority commu-
nities was very
nominal in 2021-
22 state budget.
—Mujahid Nafees,
Convener, MCC
Newly constructed ‘Agatsya
Atithi Niwas’ and ‘Maitreyi
Mulyankan Bhavan’ were also
inaugurated on Sunday
3. GUJARAT
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
03
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‘FORTUNATETOBEBACKHOME’
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Tears of
joy, happy faces and
smiles marked the ar-
rival of the first batch
of 56 students to their
home state Gujarat
from Ukraine on Sun-
day, as anxious par-
ents welcomed them
upon arrival from
Mumbai after an
overnight journey.
Two special buses ar-
ranged by the Gujarat
government brought
these students from
Mumbai, where they
had arrived on Satur-
day evening after being
evacuated by a special
Air India flight from
Bucharest in Romania.
These students had
gone to Ukraine to pur-
sue higher studies, but
got stranded after Rus-
sia launched a military
offensive there.
As they alighted from
the buses in Surat, Va-
dodara and Ahmedabad
on Sunday, local politi-
cians and government
officials greeted them
with flowers.
Some students wept
as they hugged their
parents, while others
flashed a smile of re-
lief. Some also shared
details of their three-
day journeys: walking
for several kilometres
to cross the border
into Romania before
boarding the special
planes, and then an
overnight bus journey
to get home.
One of the evacuees,
Puja Patel, who reached
Surat on Sunday, said
she had gone to Cher-
nivtsi in Ukraine to
pursueamedicalcourse
in December last year.
But, she had to rush
back home after just
two months.
“We were trying to
come back ever since
talks of war started. We
were provided with sup-
port by the Indian Em-
bassy, but a lot of our
friends are still there,
terrified. I will truly be
happy when all of them
are brought back safe-
ly,” she said.
Another Surat native
Araswi Shah, who was
studying in Chernivtsi,
said many students
were hopeful that there
would be no war, until it
actually broke out.
“People are rushing
to the Romanian border,
but we managed to
move out early as we
lived not too far from
the border. Many of our
friends are still there.
With the cold weather
and crowds at the bor-
der, which is being
sealed, they are facing
difficulties,” said an-
other student.
The Vadodara-based
father of a student,
whose daughter man-
aged to come back, said
the family had forgot-
ten to smile ever since
they got the news of the
war in Ukraine.
“Wecansmileagain,”
he said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Un-
ion government has
earmarked Rs 1,200
crore for academic re-
search in defence, G
Satheesh Reddy
,
chairman of the De-
fence Research and
Development Organi-
sation (DRDO) said on
Sunday
.
Addressing in online
mode the third edition
of the Ahmedabad De-
sign Week being organ-
ized at Karnavati Uni-
versity, Reddy said
there was vast scope
for youngsters to work
on innovative products
in the defence sector.
“Universitiesarefun-
damental for develop-
ment of technology
.
DRDO has been work-
ing with about 300 aca-
demic institutions and
1,200 scholars are asso-
ciated with defence re-
search across these in-
stitutions. Nearly
Rs1,200 crore has been
allocated to support
theseinstitutions,Guja-
ratUniversitybeingone
of them,” said Reddy
.
Reddy, who is also
secretary of Depart-
ment of Defence RD,
said the need is to
make not just for India
but for the world, and
this required advanced
technology to produce
high quality products.
Speaking on the oc-
casion, Rear Admiral
Rahul Kumar Shrawat,
who is CMD of Naval
Group India, said there
is a great scope for
modern technologies
like artificial intelli-
gence (AI) and cyber
security in the Indian
Navy
.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat reported 162
fresh COVID-19 cas-
es and two deaths
due to the infection
on Sunday, increas-
ing its tally to
12,22,511 and the
toll to 10,928, a state
health department
official said.
With 386 patients
getting discharged
during the day, the re-
covery count rose to
12,09,534, leaving Guja-
rat with 2,049 active
cases, including 23 pa-
tients on ventilator
support, he said.
Ahmedabad report-
ed the maximum 79
cases, followed by 35 in
Vadodara, nine in Su-
rat, seven in Rajkot,
among other districts.
The two COVID-19 fa-
talities occurred in
Vadodara, he said.
A state government
release said 28,118 peo-
ple received their
COVID-19 vaccination
jabs during the day, in-
creasing the total
number of doses ad-
ministered so far in
Gujarat to 10.29 crore.
The COVID-19 tally
in adjoining Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, Da-
man and Diu stands at
11,408, including four
deaths so far, and the
number of people dis-
charged until now is
11,403, leaving the Un-
ion Territory with an
active caseload of one,
a local official in-
formed.
In addition to their parents and loved ones, the returning students were met by politicians and government officials, including Education
Minister Jitu Vaghani in Ahmedabad, and MoS (Women and Child Development) Manisha Vakil in Vadodara. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
‘Why is govt celebrating when 18K
Indians still stranded in Ukraine?’
First India Bureau
Dwarka: Rajya Sab-
ha MP Shaktisinh
Gohil on Sunday
slammed the gov-
ernment for its “in-
decisiveness” on
the Ukraine-Rus-
sian crisis and for
celebrating when
18,000 Indians are
still stranded in the
war-torn nation.
“The government
could have begun
evacuations sooner,
but it risked the lives
of people to get cred-
it when the war was
over. Timely action
could have saved
lives. Now, 18,000 In-
dians are trapped in
Ukraine, and you are
celebrating for bring-
ing just 270 home.
You should aplogize
for these celebra-
tions,” he said.
“People are mak-
ing videos and telling
us about the situa-
tion there but the
government is not
taking any action.
People are walking
35-40 miles in -5 °C.
They don’t even have
water to drink be-
cause water is freez-
ing in their waterbot-
tles. It is hard even to
watch those videos
and see their plight
but the government
is not doing any-
thing,” he added.
He further said
that the Congress
government had sped
up the repatriation
of 18,000 Indians
when war broke out
in Libya in 2011.
G Satheesh Reddy. —FILE PHOTO
Daily jump falls to below 200 new cases
SITUATION IMPROVING
Ahmedabad still
tops, with 79 new
COVID-19 cases
recorded in a
span of 24 hours
on Sunday
`1,200 cr earmarked for academic
research in defence: DRDO chief
12,09,534
TOTAL RECOVERED
386
RECOVERED
IN A DAY
12,22,511
TOTAL CASES
162 CASES
IN A DAY
10,928
TOTAL DEATHS
02 DEATHS
IN A DAY
2,049
79 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
COVID-19
UPDATE
12,09,534
GUJ STUDENTS THANK AUTHORITIES ON RETURN FROM UKRAINE
Shaktisinh Solanki.
—FILE
PHOTO
4. PERSPECTIVE
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
04
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1ST
OCTOBER, 2001…WHEN VAJPAYEE
ASKED A PERFORMER MODI TO TAKE OVER
AN EARTHQUAKE RIDDEN GUJARAT!
DOWN THE MEMORY LANE… THE MAKING OF PM MODI – PART 5
S
oon after Narendra Modi
left Gujarat and came to
Delhi over the compromise
formula, he was given the
charge of BJP’s national
secretary
. He was also made
incharge of Punjab and
Jammu Kashmir in addi-
tion to Haryana, Chandi-
garh (UT) and Himachal
Pradesh. Modi once again
provedhispoliticalacumen
and BJP emerged as a big
political force in Haryana
and Chandigarh during
1996 assembly elections.
His magical run contin-
ued and he managed to
form BJP government in
Himachal Pradesh in 1998
under the leadership of
Prem Kumar Dhumal. This
gave a new height to Modi’s
stature at national level
and the BJP appointed him
as the organisational gen-
eral secretary
.
“Modijiisalwayseagerto
learn new things. If I could
learn computers way back
in 1996, it was the inspira-
tion of Modi ji,” remembers
Manohar Lal Khattar,chief
minister of Haryana.
BJPwasgainingstrength
at national level and in vari-
ous states. Modi’s political
strategyandorganisational
skills were playing a major
role in party’s emergence.
Just then in May
, 1999, Kar-
gilwarbrokeoutandIndian
Armed Forces gave befit-
ting reply to Pakistan’s in-
vasion. The entire world
witnessed the unique war-
fare of Indian forces, which
won the battle without
crossing the line of control.
Narendra Modi was devas-
tated with the loss of lives
of soldiers and he went to
meet the injured soldiers.
He showed solidarity with
them and praised their
courage and valour.
“A soldier had lost both
his arms in a mines blast.
Modi has gone to meet
him in the hospital.
Modi asked the sol-
dier, it must be pain-
ingbadly
.Thesoldier
replied - it was pain-
ing till last evening.
Now that we have
won back the Tiger
Hills, the
pain has
vanished. Modi was down
with tears with that reply
,”
remembered Prem Kumar
Dhumal, chief minister,
Himachal Pradesh.
The grand victory in
Kargil war brought back
Vajpayee government for
the third time in 1999. Modi
was also becoming power-
ful at national level with
the party gaining strength
day by day
. However, in his
home state Gujarat, Modi
was still not that influen-
tial. The party suffered
massivedefeatinlocalbody
election in 2000. In the same
year on Republic Day
, Guja-
rat suffered the worst ever
earthquake resulting into
deaths of 10,000 people.
“The situation was
dreadful specially in
Kutch region. Now if we
look at Bhuj, one can’t im-
agine that the district was
down in shambles post the
earthquake in 2000.
But Modi ji believes in find-
ingopportunityincalamity
.
He practised this key strat-
egy to rebuild and trans-
form the shredded Bhuj
into a modern city,” remi-
nisced Vishnu Pandya, a
senior journalist.
The inaction of the then
Gujarat’s chief minister
Keshubhai Pa-
tel during the relief
work was questioned.
The public also showed
its anger by defeating BJP
in the bypoll of Sabarkan-
tha Lok Sabha and Sabar-
mati Vidhansabha. There
was unrest in the party
.
On 1st October 2001, Con-
gress leader Madhav Rao
Scindia died in a helicopter
crash. Along with him a
cameraman Gopal Singh
Bisht also lost his life. Nar-
endra Modi was attending
the cremation ceremony of
Bisht when his mobile
phonerang.Theprimemin-
ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
was on the other line. He
asked Modi to meet him in
the evening. And on that
evening Modi received
marching orders for Guja-
rat to replace chief minis-
ter Keshu Bhai Patel who
had failed miserably in re-
constructionof earthquake
ridden state.
After becoming the
chief minister, the first
lesson Modi learnt was
from his mother Heera
Bai who said “Beta koi
ghoos de to lena mat ( Nev-
er take bribe from anyone).
Four months passed
since Modi was sworn in.
As per the law, he had to be-
come member of assembly
within 6 months. So, in Feb-
ruary 2002, he contested by-
election from Rajkot-II as-
semblyseatandenteredthe
assembly where he reigned
supreme till he got into the
parliament in 2014. For
Modi, who had ensured vic-
tory for several leaders
over last one and half dec-
ades, a win for himself was
just a cakewalk.
Soon after Modi entered
the Gujarat assembly, fol-
lowing Godhra train burn-
ing case which changed the
entire political discourse in
the state. On 27th February
2002, 20 years back, rioters
set afire S-6 coach of Sabar-
mati Express which was
coming from Ayodhya. The
target was lives of karse-
vaks returning from Ayod-
hya. As many as 59 people
lost their lives which trig-
gered communal riots in
various parts of the state.
“Modi requested for po-
licehelpfromvariousstates
including Congress-ruled
states. But no one came up
for help. He also asked for
military support. The next
daymilitarycameintoforce
to control the violence. It’s
purely malicious publicity
that Modi has fanned the
violence,” said Uday Ma-
hurkar, a senior journalist.
It was a big challenge for
Modi to maintain commu-
nal harmony and peace in
Gujarat amid targeted at-
tacks from the opposition.
“The so-called secularists
from across the country ac-
cused Modi for wrong do-
ing and igniting commu-
nal violence in the state.
They did everything to de-
fame Modi. But Modi ji
never lost patience,” said
Vijay Rupani, former chief
minister of Gujarat.
The opposition sharp-
ened their attacks on Modi
and in July 2002, Governor
S S Bhandari dissolved the
Gujarat Assembly on the
recommendation of the
state council of ministers
on Friday paving the way
for early election in the ri-
ot-torn state. The assembly
was dissolved nine months
ahead of its term.
Undeterred by the turn
of events, Narendra Modi
launched Gaurav Yatra
across Gujarat towns to
bring back the glory of Gu-
jarat by winning 127 seats
out of 182 assembly seg-
ments and paving the way
for his oath taking ceremo-
ny at Gandhinagar Raj
Bhavan as the Chief Min-
ister for the second time.
To be continued….
SHASHIKANT
SHARMA
The writer is Consulting
Editor, First India
Narendra Modi was
devastated with the loss of
lives of soldiers and he went
to meet the injured soldiers.
He showed solidarity with
them and praised their
courage and valour. “A
soldier had lost both his
arms in a mines blast. Modi
has gone to meet him in the
hospital. Modi asked the
soldier, it must be paining
badly. The soldier replied -
it was paining till last
evening. Now that we have
won back the Tiger Hills,
the pain has vanished. Modi
was down with tears with
that reply,” remembered
Prem Kumar Dhumal,
chief minister, Himachal
Pradesh.
Narendra Modi meeting victims of Gujarat Earthquake.
Modi visiting a devastated Bhuj.
Narendra Modi visiting Kargil in 1999
to show solidarity with the soldiers.
FEB 23,
2022
Vol 3 Issue No. 94
RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050. Printed
and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on
behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed
at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist.
Ahmedabad. Published at D/302 3rd Floor
Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2,
Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news under the
PRB Act
Today in the country
right from Parliament to
Panchayat, women are
attaining new heights. In
new and bigger roles in
the Army, daughters are
protecting the country.
Women are the directors of
thousands of new start-ups
that have started over the
years.-Prime Minister Shri @
narendramodi #MannKiBaat
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Perform your obligatory
duty, because action is
indeed better than
inaction.
—The Bhagavad Gita
TOP
TWEETS
Lauded the efforts
of our hardworking
Indian physicians
highlighted their
abiding sense of service
towards humanity
during #COVID19
pandemic at the XII
Annual Conference of
Global Association of
Physicians of Indian
Origin.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
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6. INDIA
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
05
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Lucknow (PTI): The
vital issue of clean air
and water is missing
from the Uttar Pradesh
elections though several
cities here often figure
in the list of the world’s
10 most polluted.
Despite clean water
and air being the main-
stay of life, major politi-
cal parties, except for
the Samajwadi Party,
Congress and the Rash-
triya Lok Dal, have not
included the issue of en-
vironmental protection
prominently in their
election manifestos.
Even for the parties
that mentioned it, the
concern for environ-
ment remains on paper
as everyone is busy talk-
ing about Jinnah, Paki-
stan, vote bank politics
and‘pariwarvad’tosway
voters to their sides.
Samajwadi Party
president Akhilesh Ya-
dav has a degree in en-
vironmental engineer-
ing from Australia but
his party manifesto just
has a reference about
climate issue sans any
major announcement to
deal with the problem.
Even the Congress
has touched on some as-
pects of climate change
in its manifesto, but has
not spoken of any con-
crete initiative.
The issue hasn’t got
much importance in
BJP poll manifesto.
The saffron party has
mentioned cleaning of
the river Ganga but has
not mentioned any-
thing about countering
climate change.
According to a report
by climate think tank
‘Climate Trends’, the
Indus-Gangetic plains
are the most polluted
areas in the country in
terms of air. At the
heart of this vast land-
mass, 99.4 per cent of
the population of Uttar
Pradesh lives in areas
where air pollution lev-
els exceed safe limits.
Senior state BJP lead-
er and State Pollution
Control Board chair-
man JPS Rathore told
media why scientists
have repeatedly ex-
pressed concerns about
poor air quality
.
“The issues which are
liked by the public have
to be taken forward. The
issue of environmental
protection will become
the public’s issue after
10 years. Right now, em-
ployment and develop-
ment are the main is-
sues for the people.”
Promise of clean air and water missing from UP poll agenda
CLIMATE CHANGE
The vital issue
of clean air and
water is missing
from the UP
elections though
several cities
here often figure
in the list of the
world’s 10 most
polluted.
Ballia (ANI): Accusing
the Samajwadi Party
(SP) of doing appease-
ment politics, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Sunday said its
government earlier did
not provide electricity
to people on Ram Nava-
mi and Sri Krishna Jan-
motsav, but power used
to be supplied during
Muharram.
Addressing an elec-
tion meeting in UP's Bal-
lia, Shah if people vote
for the SP again, elec-
tricity will not come to
Uttar Pradesh.
“Earlier, when there
was Muharram elec-
tricity used to come to
Uttar Pradesh, but on
Parshuram Jayanti, Sri
Ram Navami and Sri
Krishna Janmotsav
there was no electricity
supply,” he said.
Shah took a jibe at Sa-
majwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav, saying
his goons used to make
'katta', or country-made
pistols,inBundelkhand,
but PM Narendra Modi
is establishing defence
industry to make shells.
Shah also exuded con-
fidence that the BJP will
form the govt in the
state again and the four
phases of polling have
paved the way for it.
SPsuppliedpoweronMuharram,
not Ram Navami: Amit Shah in UP
‘Akhilesh’s goons used to make ‘Katta’, PM establishing defence industry in Bundelkhand’
Union Home Minister Amit Shah waves to the supporters during a public meeting for the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly elections, at Phephna, in Ballia on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Senior Cong leaders meet
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka
New Delhi (ANI): Sen-
ior Congress leaders
held a meeting on Sun-
day where they dis-
cussed the ongoing as-
sembly elections as
well the party’s strate-
gy regarding poll re-
sults to be announced
on March 10.
The meeting was at-
tended by Rahul Gan-
dhi, Priyanka Gandhi,
Rajasthan CM Ashok
Gehlot, Chhatisgarh
CM Bhupesh Baghel,
and MP KC Venugopal.
After the meeting,
Chhatisgarh CM Bhu-
pesh Baghel revealed
that the ongoing assem-
bly elections of the five
states were discussed in
the meeting.
“Had a meeting with
KC Venugopal. Rahul
Gandhi, Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra and Ashok
Gehlot today. Detailed
discussion on Assem-
bly Elections in the five
states was taken up.
Strategy regarding re-
sults that will be an-
nounced on 10th March
was also discussed,”
Baghel said, as quoted
by media.
Rajasthan govern-
ment’s decision to re-
vert to OPS has some-
how become an election
issue as well. Last week,
Priyanka Gandhi hailed
the Rajasthan govern-
ment’s decision.
Rajya Sabha elections
are also around and
with veteran leaders of
Congress like Kapil
Sibal and P Chidambar-
am along with many
other leaders will be fin-
ishing their term in ei-
ther June or July this
year, it is believed that
Congress party also dis-
cussed the vacant seats
in the Rajya Sabha.
Kolkata (PTI): Cases
of violence and mal-
practices marred elec-
tions to 107 municipali-
ties across West Bengal
on Sunday even as a
voter turnout of around
76.51 per cent was re-
corded till 5 PM, elec-
tion officials said.
Elections were
scheduled in 108 mu-
nicipalities. However,
with TMC winning one
civic body uncontested
in Dinhata in Coochbe-
har district, elections
were held in 107 towns
Sunday, a State Elec-
tion Commission offi-
cial said.
The opposition BJP,
which dubbed the poll
process as a “mockery
of democracy” has
called a 12-hour shut-
down on Monday to pro-
test the violence. The
TMC has dubbed the al-
legations as baseless
and said opposition par-
ties are trying to find
excuses sensing defeat.
Till 5 PM, 76.51 per
cent of 95.6 lakh voters
exercised their fran-
chise in more than
2,000 wards amid tight
security and strict ad-
herence to COVID-19
guidelines.
Violence mars Bengal civic elections
PM, Yogi, people ‘Triple
Engine’ of UP: Rajnath
Ballia (PTI): In the
backdrop of Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine,
Defence Minister Ra-
jnath Singh on Sunday
said India favours
world peace.
“Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s role is be-
ing appreciated on the
matter. India is peace-
lover. India has never
attacked any country
and never grabbed land
of other country
.
“Now triple engine
will run in the state
with PM Modi’s vision,
Yogi’s mission and peo-
ple’s support,” he said.
Terming PM Modi as
“true samajwadi’, Ra-
jnath Singh said no one
has repeated the gov-
ernment in UP but BJP
is going to do it.
“We want world peace
and everyone should ac-
cept it,” Rajnath Singh
said addressing an elec-
tion rally here in Bairia.
He said after surgical
and air strike on Paki-
stan India’s image
changed in the world.
4 jawans summoned for
tampering postal ballots
Pithoragarh (PTI): Af-
ter former Uttarakhand
chief minister Harish
Rawatsharedapurport-
edvideoof thearmy
personnel allegedly
tampering with the
postal ballots in an
army centre in Jam-
mu, the Pithoragarh po-
lice have summoned four
personnel in the matter.
Thesoldiersbelongtothe
2 Kumaon regiment and
are posted in Jammu.
Superintendent of
Police Lokeshwar Singh
said, “This viral video is
of four soldiers of two
Kumaon regiments of
thearmy
.Itwasmade
viral by making a
video in Jammu.
The person who
sent and made the
video is also a
young man from 2 Ku-
maon. The police have
sent a summon to all un-
der 161 CrPC.”
The SP further in-
formedthatthenamesof
thearmypersonnelhave
been identified.
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Postal bal-
lot is never considered
very important in elec-
toral politics. Rarely
would this have even af-
fected the results. But
suddenly the impor-
tance of postal ballot is
increasing. Anti-BJP
parties contesting the
elections are worried
over postal ballots as
they are casting unveri-
fied doubts on the Elec-
tion Commission as
well as the administra-
tion. That is because
they feel that BJP or a
ruling party can influ-
ence the results with the
help of postal ballot, by
taking advantage of the
system. Keep in mind
that earlier, the right to
vote by postal ballot was
only for the army per-
sonnel-officers and the
employees conducting
elections. Now, people
above 80 years of age
have been allowed to
vote by postal ballot.
Earlier, when the
counting of votes start-
ed, the postal ballots
were counted first and
after that the EVMs
were opened but now
the postal ballots are
counted alongside, till
the counting is over. An-
other change is that
postalballotsweregiven
through Booth Level Of-
ficer (BLO) earlier but
now they are being sent
by post. A worrying
thing which has come
up is that government
servants who vote by
postal ballot have to car-
ry a copy of their iden-
tity card with them to
ensure transparency
but at the same time this
breaches the secrecy of
the vote and a govern-
ment servant who is vot-
ing for the opposition
may feel compromised.
During the first phase
of polling in Uttar
Pradesh, such an inci-
dent happened on at
least one booth in Gha-
ziabad that the votes of
many members of the
Muslim family
, who had
come to cast their votes,
had supposedly already
been cast by postal bal-
lot, while they were not
aware of it.
That's how the oppo-
sition feel that there can
be some play with the
postal ballot, especially
in those seats where the
margin of victory and
defeat will be less.
Oppositionpartiesfearpostalballots!
Jammu: Senior Con-
gress leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad's nephew
Mubashir Azad joined
the BJP on Sunday and
said he was influenced
by PM Narendra Modi's
developmental works
at the ground level.
Mubashir Azad, the son
of Ghulam Nabi Azad's
youngest brother Liaqat
Ali, also said his uncle
was disrespected by
the Congress leadership
which hurt him and led
to him parting ways
with the grand old party.
JK: GHULAM
NABI AZAD'S
NEPHEW
JOINS BJP
Mubashar Azad with JK
BJP chief Ravinder Raina.
SII seeks nod for
phase-3 study of
Covovax vaccine
New Delhi (PTI):
Serum Institute of
India has sought per-
mission from India’s
drug regulator to
conduct a phase-3
study of its COVID
vaccine Covovax as a
booster dose in
adults, official sourc-
es said on Sunday
.
TheDrugsControl-
ler General Of India
(DCGI) had approved
Covovax for restrict-
ed use in emergency
situations in adults
on December 28. The
vaccine is yet to be
included in the coun-
try’s inoculation pro-
gramme.
Prakash Kumar
Singh, Director, Gov-
ernment and Regula-
tory Affairs at SII had
last week submitted
an application to
DCGI seeking nod for
phase-3, observer-
blind, randomised,
controlled study to
evaluate the safety
and immunogenicity
of Covovax as boost-
er dose on those who
have received prima-
ry vaccination either
with Covishield or
Covaxinatleastthree
months ago, an offi-
cial source said.
Singh has stated
that many countries
are already adminis-
tering booster doses
to their citizens con-
sidering the uncer-
tainties of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
BOOSTER DOSE IN ADULTS
Mumbai: Though
the curve of the third
COVID-19 wave
almost flattened, the
decision regarding
the face mask rule
will be taken care-
fully, Maha Health
Min Rajesh Tope said
on Sunday. Tope’s
comments come a
day after Maharash-
tra reported 893
COVID-19 cases and
eight fatalities due to
the infection.
“The peak of the
third wave had seen
48,000 cases per
day in Maharashtra.
Now the number of
fresh cases is not
even ten per cent (as
compared with the
peak). The number
of active cases is
around 9,000 now,
Tope said.
WILL THINK
CAREFULLY
ON MASK
RULE: MAHA
New Delhi (ANI): BJP president JP Nadda’s Twitter ac-
count was hacked on Sunday morning. A
tweet asking for cryptocurrency donations
for Ukraine was posted from Nadda’s
Twitter account, according to a screenshot
shared by news agency ANI. “Stand with
the people of Ukraine. Now accepting
cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin and
Ethereum,” one of the tweets read.
JP NADDA’S TWITTER ACCOUNT
HACKED, LATER RESTORED
Senior Cong leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The Congress government
of Rajasthan has taken a
big decision in the interest
of government employees
by implementing the Old
Pension Scheme. The Con-
gress party is fully dedi-
cated to the interests of
government employees.
—Priyanka Gandhi,
Congress leader
Police personnel detain a BJP supporter during a protest against
the alleged poll violence during the West Bengal Municipal
Elections, in Kolkata on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Defence Min Rajnath Singh
Everyone is busy
talking about
Jinnah,
Pakistan, vote
bank politics and
‘pariwarvad’ to
sway voters to
their sides.
Discuss strategy
for Assembly
poll results
BJP says mockery
of democracy, calls
for Bengal Bandh Rawatsharedapurport-
edvideoof thearmy
personnel allegedly
postal ballots in an
army centre in Jam-
thearmy
.Itwasmade
viral by making a
video in Jammu.
The person who
sent and made the
video is also a
U’KHAND
U’KHAND
7. INDIA
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
06
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Mahesh Sharma
Lucknow:Theelectoral
strategy of the Bharati-
ya Janata Party has un-
dergone a change in Ut-
tar Pradesh. By its very
nature, BJP does mid-
course correction at the
time of any election.
Four phases of voting
have been completed in
the Uttar Pradesh elec-
tions and before the
fourth phase of polling,
it seems that BJP has
changed its strategy
. Be-
fore the campaigning
for the fourth phase
ended, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi started
asking for votes in his
name. He asked people
in their meetings that
will the people vote for
him? This strategy to
askforvotesinhisname
raises two points to keep
in mind. The first is to
unite the beneficiaries
of the central govern-
ment’s schemes in fa-
vour of the BJP and sec-
ondly to give a message
to the voters of the back-
ward castes.
It seems that the
BJP’s internal assess-
ment is that Yogi Adi-
tyanath’s face may not
able to polarise more
votes at this point and
has reached its limit in
that regard, while even
issue of anti-incum-
bency is also being ob-
served. On the other
hand, Prime Minister
Modi has heard people
say that since they
have eaten Modi’s salt,
then they will not cheat
on him. This means
that the distribution of
ration, salt and oil to
the most backward and
deprived sections of
the society has had the
desired effect and this
is when PM Modi has
started giving a mes-
sage to that voter. By
playing the stake of his
face, he has again
started an attempt to
connect the backward
and most backward
castes closely with the
BJP. How much suc-
cess will be achieved in
this, it cannot be said
right now but BJP has
started a bid to ‘change
the winds’.
BJP eyes the beneficiary and the backward Govt cancels `19K-cr tender for
connecting villages in 16 States
New Delhi (PTI):
State-owned Bharat
Broadband Nigam Ltd
has cancelled a Rs
19,000-crore tender that
was floated for connect-
ing villages across 16
states with an optical
fibre-based high-speed
broadband network,
following the lack of
participation of eligi-
ble bidders.
The project was ap-
proved in June last year
to roll out an optical fi-
bre network under
BharatNet in 16 states
in a public-private part-
nership (PPP) model
with a total expense of
Rs 29,430 crore.
The Centre had ap-
proved a viability gap
fund of Rs 19,041 crore
for the project that
aimed to connect 3.61
lakh villages across 16
states.
The project was di-
vided into nine pack-
ages, and tenders for
each of the packages
were floated separately
.
For each of the nine
tenders, BBNL on Feb-
ruary 8 said the tender
of the corresponding
package “with all its
corrigenda is hereby
cancelled on account of
non-participation by
any bidder”.
An e-mail query sent
to BBNL elicited no re-
sponse.
‘In the Army too, daughters are now taking responsibilities in new and bigger roles’
FROM PARLIAMENT TO PANCHAYAT
New Delhi (PTI):Prime
MinisterNarendraModi
on Sunday said that
women in India are
reaching new heights in
different fields and they
are dispelling old myths.
Referring to the Inter-
national Women’s Day
on March 8, he said that
the women in the coun-
try have taken the lead
everywherewhetheritis
Skill India, Self Help
Group, small or big in-
dustries.
“From Parliament to
Panchayat, women are
reaching newer heights
in different fields. In the
Army too, daughters are
now taking responsibili-
ties in new and bigger
roles and are protecting
the country
,” he said in
his monthly radio pro-
gramme ‘Mann ki Baat’.
He also said that on
Republic Day
, the daugh-
ters were flying modern
fighterplanes.Thecoun-
try also lifted the restric-
tions on the admission
of daughters in Sainik
Schools, and daughters
aretakingadmissionsin
thoseschoolsalloverthe
country
, he added.
‘30 Predator
drones deal
with US
advances’
Naqvi: There
is no ban on
wearing
Hijab in India
ROLE OF INDIAN SCIENTISTS IN FIGHT AGAINST
COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS PRAISEWORTHY: MODI
New Delhi (PTI):
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi on Sun-
day said that the role
of Indian scientists in
the fight against Cov-
id-19 was praisewor-
thy and due to their
hard work, it was pos-
sible to manufacture
the ‘Made in India
vaccine’.
“Today, I will like to
praise the role of In-
dian scientists in the
fight against Corona,
and because of their
hard work, the manu-
facturing of ‘Made in
India vaccines’ was
possible which gave a
great relief to the
world. This is the gift
of science to humani-
ty,” he said in his 86th
episode of the month-
ly radio address of
‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Talking about the
‘National Science Day’
on February 28, he
said that this day is
also known for the dis-
covery of the Raman
Effect. “Along with CV
Raman ji, I pay my re-
spectful tribute to all
the scientists who
have contributed sig-
nificantly in enriching
our scientific jour-
ney,” he said.
Washington (PTI):
The discussions on the
sale of 30 Predator
armed drones by the US
to India, the first to a
non-NATO ally, at an
estimated cost of USD 3
billion are at an ad-
vanced stage, multiple
sources have con-
firmed.
The major defence
deal was announced
under the previous
Trump administration
during the visit of
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi to the White
House in 2017. Thereaf-
ter, the two countries
have intensified the dis-
cussions and increased
the number of such
drones to be sold to In-
dia from 10 to 30 - 10
each for navy, air force
and army
.
Governmental sourc-
es told media that the
Predator/MQ9B acqui-
sition program of 30
aircraft is at an ad-
vanced stage of discus-
sion between the Indian
and US governments.
New Delhi (PTI): Amid
the hijab controversy in
Karnataka, Union Min-
ister Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi on Sunday said
there is no ban on wear-
ing the headscarf in the
country, and people
need to understand that
constitutional rights
and duties are equally
important.
Speaking to reporters
here, the Minister for
Minority Affairs said,
“The matter is in the
court… There is no ban
on (wearing of) Hijab in
India. It is clear.. Of
course, some institu-
tions have their disci-
pline, dress code and
uniform. When we talk
of rights of Constitu-
tion then we have to
talk (understand impor-
tance) of Constitutional
duties also.”
New Delhi (ANI): The
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation (CBI), prob-
ing National Stock Ex-
change Fraud case, has
found more evidence
that the mysterious
“Himalayan yogi”,
whom then bourse
chief Chitra Ramkrish-
na relied upon for “ad-
vice”, could be the
NSE’s former Group
Operating Officer
Anand Subramanian
only, as per sources.
A few locations of the
mobile device of Subra-
manian were accessed
by the CBI, and found to
be from nearby Subra-
manian’s Chennai resi-
dence, a source said.
“A few electronic evi-
dence have been found.
We suspect that Subra-
manian used to edit the
emails before sending
them as the yogi. We are
currently recording his
statements,” said the
source.
CBI sources has said
that since he had access
to the emails sent to the
yogi, they suspect they
can be the same. How-
ever, the agency did not
officially confirm it.
Subramanian, who
has been arrested after
questioning, was sent to
CBI custody till March
6 after the agency told a
Delhi court that they
needed custodial inter-
rogation to confront
him with seized articles
and others involved in
the case.
A source told media
that his statements was
recorded for three con-
secutive days at Chen-
nai, but was found to be
“evasive”.
Subramanian
could be Yogi
Baba, hints CBI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation through Mann Ki Baat on Sunday.
KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and others during the Padayatra.
Women reaching new heights
in different fields: PM Modi
K’taka Cong kickstarts
Mekedatu padayatra 2.0
Ramnagar (ANI): Kar-
nataka Congress kick-
started the Mekedatu
‘padayatra’ (foot march)
onSundaywiththebeat-
ing of drums and recital
of ‘Vande Mataram’ in
Ramnagar district. The
padayatra is being or-
ganised demanding
commencement of Me-
kedatu reservoir work
to“providedrinkingwa-
ter to Bengaluru and
surrounding areas”.
AICC General Secre-
taryRandeepSinghSur-
jewala inaugurated the
padayatra by beating
drums along with State
Congress president DK
Shivakumar,Opposition
leader Siddaramaiah,
Legislative Council Op-
position leader BK
Hariprasad and other
prominent leaders.
Shivakumar stated
that it is a “historical
walk”, taken up as per
the highest traditions of
the struggle of the Con-
gress party
,and hewon’t
bother about the criti-
cism by the ruling BJP
government. The walka-
thon is being inaugurat-
ed in the most auspi-
cious time, he said.
“This is not our strug-
gle, this is a struggle for
the lives of the people of
the state. It is a struggle
launched to provide
drinking water to Ban-
galoreans. We should
brave the sun for these
five days,” he urged.
Seeking BSY’s guidance to retain power: Bommai
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj
Bommai said on Sunday
that the state BJP lead-
ers will work as per the
‘guidance’ of former
Chief Minister BS Yedi-
yurappa to retain power.
After wishing Yedi-
yurappa on his 79th
birthday on Sunday at
hisresidence,alongwith
Minister for Large and
Medium Industries Mu-
rugesh Nirani and Lin-
gayat Seer Vachananan-
daSwamiji,CMBommai
showered praises on
Yediyurappa. “Yedi-
yurappa has come with
great struggle. He is a
leaderwhoalwaysfought
for the welfare of farm-
ersandthepoor.AllKan-
nadigasarewithhim.He
startedhisstrugglealone
and went on to contrib-
ute immensely to the
state of Karnataka.
“If at all anyone is
there who has not gone
back on his words, it is
Yediyurappa. He had
taken up many pro-peo-
ple projects and initia-
tives. Under his bless-
ings we will march
ahead,” Bommai said.
After the felicitation,
Yediyurappa said that
all leaders will put col-
lective effort to bring
back BJP to power and
he was sure of getting
the blessings of the peo-
ple again. “I am not in
power. Despite that,
thousands of people
have come and blessed
me. I will take up a state-
wide tour again. The
politicking of Congress
won’t work,” he said.
Another Beijing Olympics
Uyghur torchbearer detained
Beijing (Agencies): A
Uyghur doctor, who
served as a torchbearer
in the 2008 Summer
Olympics in Beijing, is
serving an 18-year jail
sentence, said a media
report.
Abduqeyum Semet, a
doctor in Kashgar, had
been detained, received
a lengthy prison sen-
tence, and was serving
his term in a detention
centre administered by
the Xinjiang Production
and Construction Corps
(XPCC), Radio Free
Asia reported citing Ab-
duweli Ayup, an Uyghur
activist and linguist liv-
ing in Norway
, who con-
firmed the news from
Uyghurs living in exile.
Notably
, the XPCC is a
state-owned economic
andparamilitaryorgani-
zation sanctioned by the
US government for its
involvement in human
rights violations against
Uyghurs in China’s Xin-
jiang Uyghur Autono-
mous Region (XUAR).
Disha Salian death: Action sought
against Min Narayan Rane, son
Mumbai (ANI): Ma-
harashtra State Com-
mission for Women
(MSCW) on Sunday
said it has asked police
to block the social me-
diaaccountsspreading
false information
about the death Disha
Salian, the former
manager of late actor
Sushant Singh Rajput,
and also sought action
againstUnionminister
Narayan Rane and his
MLA son Nitesh Rane
in this connection.
BJP leader Narayan
Rane had questioned
the circumstances sur-
rounding the death of
Salian(28)inJune2020.
In a series of tweets
on Sunday, MSCW
chairperson Rupali
Chakankar said the
Malvani police (in
Mumbai) had told the
commission that
Salian’s postmortem
report stated that she
was not raped and was
not pregnant.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai with former CM Yediyurappa.
Ever since the law
against triple talaq
has come into
being, there has
been a reduction of
80 per cent in
triple talaq cases
in the country.
—Narendra Modi,
Prime Minister
MORE EVIDENCE...
8. BIZ BUZZ
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
07
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Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
Weak PSBs to get most of the
`15K crore capital support
New Delhi (PTI):
Weak public sector
lenders like Central
Bank of India and Pun-
jab Sind Bank will
get the lion’s share of
the `15,000 crore ear-
marked for capital in-
fusion in state-owned
banks for the current
fiscal.
This will help these
public sector banks
(PSBs) meet regulatory
requirements.
The capital infusion
of `15,000 crore would
go mostly to banks
which had got money
through non-interest-
bearing bonds in the
previous year as the
RBI had raised some
concerns on the fair
valuation of these in-
struments, sources say
.
As per the RBI, the
net present value of in-
fusion made last year
through zero-coupon
bonds is much lower
than face value as they
were issued at dis-
count, sources added.
These special securi-
ties with tenure of 10-
15 years are non-inter-
est bearing and valued
at par. Such bonds usu-
ally are non-interest
bearing and issued at a
deep discount to the
face value. So, the effec-
tive Tier 1 capital levels
for the banks could be
lower than the regula-
tory requirement.
According to India
Ratings and Research,
fair valuing of the eq-
uity infused by the
Government of India
(GoI) in five PSBs last
year through zero-
coupon bonds could
lower the banks’ effec-
tive Tier 1 capital lev-
els in the range of 50-
175 basis points than
reported.
New Delhi (PTI): The
commerce ministry
has made
it manda-
tory for
export-
ers to
file registra-
tion-cum-mem-
bership certificate
(RCMC) applications
through a common
digital portal, a move
aimed at promoting
ease of doing busi-
ness for the trading
community. Accord-
ing to a communica-
tion of the Directorate
General of Foreign
Trade (DGFT), the
electronic platform
to facilitate electronic
issuance/renewal/
amendment of RCMC/
registration certificate
(RC) has been imple-
mented. The objective
of the platform is to
provide an electronic,
contact-less single
window for RCMC/RC
related processes.
Govt to accept
RCMC
application from
exporters via
online mode only
New Delhi (PTI): The government is
looking to hire a person to manage
and monetise land as well as other
immovable properties of AI Assets
Holding Ltd (AIAHL) that are estimat-
ed to be worth around `14,000
crore. The designation of the person will be ‘Chief
of Properties and Monetisation Officer’ and will
report to the board of AIAHL, which was set up in
2019 for holding the debt and non-core assets of
Air India. Air India, which was state-owned at that
time, was acquired by Tatas in January this year.
The non-core assets of Air India, including land
and building, valued at `14,718 crore are with
AIAHL.
Govt scouts for chief of properties
monetisation officer for AIAHL
India’s oil import bill
to top $100 bn in FY22
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s crude oil import
bill is set to exceed $100
billion in the current
fiscal year ending
March 31, almost dou-
ble its spending last
year, as international
oil prices trade at sev-
en-year highs.
India spent $94.3 bil-
lion in the first 10
months (April-Jan) of
the ongoing financial
year that started April
1, 2021, according to
data from the oil min-
istry’s Petroleum Plan-
ning Analysis Cell
(PPAC).
It spent $11.6 billion
in January alone when
oil prices had started
to surge. This com-
pared with $7.7 billion
spending in the same
month last year.
In February, oil pric-
es crossed $100 per bar-
rel, and going at this
rate, India, which im-
ports 85% of its crude
oil requirements, is
expected to almost
double its import bill
to $110-115 billion by
the end of the fiscal
year 2021-2022.
The imported crude
oil is turned into val-
ue-added products like
petrol and diesel at oil
refineries, before be-
ing sold to automobiles
and other users. India
has a surplus refining
capacity and it exports
some petroleum prod-
ucts but is short on the
production of cooking
gas LPG, which is im-
ported from nations
like Saudi Arabia.
Import of petroleum
products in April-Jan-
uary of 2021-22 fiscal
was 33.6 million tonnes
worth $19.9 billion. On
the other hand, 51.1
million tonnes of pe-
troleum products were
also exported for $33.4
billion.
India had spent $62.2
billion on the import
of 196.5 million tonnes
of crude oil in the pre-
vious 2020-21 fiscal
when global oil prices
remained subdued in
the wake of the Cov-
id-19 pandemic.
In the current year,
it has already import-
ed 175.9 million tonnes
of crude oil.
Reliance Retail: King of India Retail
New Delh: Reliance
Retail - which grew its
retail footprint by 39
per cent (in square feet)
since the pandemic,
added multiple brands
and expanded its digi-
tal commerce - will fur-
ther swell its network
with the addition of
Future Retail stores
that came under its fold
aftertheownercouldn’t
pay lease rent, analysts
said. Bernstein in a re-
port said Reliance Re-
tail is India’s largest
organised retailer both
in terms of revenue
and store network. It
has 14,412 stores in In-
dia spread over 40 mil-
lion square f ..
Its revenue has
grown 5x in the last five
years. Core retail reve-
nue of USD 18 billion is
greater than competi-
tors combined, it said
adding a 40 per cent
compound annual
growth rate (CAGR)
has been best in class.
“The company has
built an end-to-end re-
tail strategy across
‘new commerce’, of-
fline retail and e-com-
merce,” Bernstein said.
It is 3x of the nearest
competitionandhasde-
livered consistent
growth across catego-
ries. “Grocery grew at
double digit, apparel
and electronics up 2x
year-on-year. Digital/
new commerce account
for 20 per cent of core
retail.”
Core retail catego-
ries including grocery,
consumer electronics
and apparel have con-
tinued to scale strongly
.
Non-core retail has the
‘connectivity business’
which is the master dis-
tributor for Jio Servic-
es (recharge and cus-
tomer acquisition) via
Jio Stores / retail part-
ners.
“We expect Reliance
Retail to grow at 30 per
cent CAGR over FY22-
25 while expanding
margins,” it said.
BIZ BRIEFS
443 PROJECTS SHOW COST
OVERRUNS OF `4.45 LAKH CR
‘AI EVACUATION FLIGHTS
COSTING `7-8 LAKH PER HOUR’
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 443 infrastructure
projects, each entailing investment of `150
crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns
totalling more than `4.45 lakh crore, according
to the ministry’s latest report for January 2022.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation monitors infrastructure pro-
jects of `150 crore and above. Of 1,671 such
projects, 443 projects reported cost overruns
and 514 projects were delayed.
New Delhi (PTI): As Air India ferries hundreds
of Indians stranded in Ukraine, the cost of
operating a two-way evacuation flight will be
more than `1.10 crore and the amount will go
up depending on the duration of the flights.The
airline is operating the services with wide-body
Boeing 787 plane from neighbouring countries
of conflict-ridden Ukraine, including Roma-
nia and Hungary.It has already brought back
hundreds of Indians. The flights have been
chartered by the Indian govt.
TOP 10 COS
LOSE OVER
`3.3 LAKH CR
New Delhi (PTI):
Equity market
capitalisation dropped
to a seven-month
low in February
this year, with the
top 10 companies
losing a whopping
`3,33,307.62 crore in
market valuation last
week. The total equity
market capitalisa-
tion (market-cap) in
February 2022 stood
at `2,49,97,053.39
crore. The previous
low was in July 2021.
FPIS PULL
OUT `35,506
CR IN FEB
New Delhi (PTI):
Continuing the selling
streak for the fifth
consecutive month,
foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs)
pulled out as much
as `35,506 crore out
of the Indian markets
in February. FPIs
have been pulling
funds out of the
Indian markets since
October 2021 and the
quantum of outflow
in Feb 2022 is highest
since March 2020.
MCA to enter all complaints in
electronic registry
New Delhi (PTI): In efforts to curb possible
instances of unauthentic communications tar-
geting stakeholders, the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs has directed Registrars of Companies
and Regional Directors to enter all complaints
received against companies and LLPs in the
ministry’s electronic registry. Once the details
are entered in the electronic registry MCA21,
then a Service Request Number (SRN) is gener-
ated for the particular complaint and going
forward, the same will be used in all communi-
cations related to that case.
FRLsuspendssupermarket
opsasRILplanstakeover
New Delhi (Agencies):
Future Retail Ltd, In-
dia’s second-largest re-
tailer, suspended most
of its online and offline
operations as stores re-
mained shut on Sunday,
after rival Reliance bid
to take over its flagship
supermarkets for
missed lease payments.
Reliance Industries
Ltd will rebrand the Fu-
ture stores after the
company failed to make
payments for them to
Reliance, sources told
Reuters on Saturday,
closing most outlets of
the popular Big Bazaar
chain.Though Future
has more than 1,700 out-
lets, all the 200 stores
that Reliance will re-
brand as its own will be
Big Bazaars.
New Delhi (ANI):
Kishore Biyani’s
Future Retail said in a
press release that the
company is finding it
difficult to finance the
working capital needs
as it is going through
an acute financial cri-
sis. The Future Retail
said, “The sharehold-
ers are aware that FRL
is going through an
acute financial crisis.
The company has de-
faulted on its loan ser-
vicing and as already
informed, the account
of the Company has
been classified as NPA
by the banks.
Going through
acute financial
crisis, says FRL
RBI to assess
impact of ‘RBI
Kehta Hai’
campaign
New Delhi (PTI):
RBI is proposing to
assess the impact of
the multi-media
awareness cam-
paigns launched by it
to promote financial
literacy and also safe
banking practices.
The RBI runs the
‘RBI Kehta Hai’ cam-
paign to educate and
empower the public
about banking regu-
lations, and also to
make them aware of
good and safe bank-
ing practices. It was
a multi-media multi-
lingual campaign us-
ing SMSes, print, tel-
evision channels, ra-
dio, hoardings, web-
sites social media.
Inviting the RFP
from certain short-
listed entities, the
RBI said they would
be required to under-
take outcome and im-
pact assessment it.
CONVERSION
Macrodatatosettoneforequitymkt
Mumbai (PTI): The
Russia-Ukraine con-
flict, which has rocked
global financial mar-
kets, will set the tone
for Dalal Street this
week amid con-
cerns over energy
prices and foreign
funds inflows,
analysts say
.
P a r t i c i -
pants will also
track key mac-
roeconomic sig-
nals such as
GDP estimates and
PMI data for the man-
ufacturing and ser-
vices sectors an-
nounced this week,
they added.
“With the rev-
enue sea-
son be-
hind us
and over-
all senti-
m e n t ,
the mar-
kets are
expected
to move in line with
their global counter-
parts next week.
“Developments re-
lated to the Russia-
Ukraine crisis will be
closely monitored and
market participants
will also monitor the
movement of energy
prices considering the
inflation overhang,”
said Srikant Chauhan,
Head of Equity Re-
search (Retail), Kotak
Securities Ltd.
IOC to ramp up LPG output in
NE to 8 cr cylinders by 2030
Googleinvestment
okayed by Airtel
shareholders
New Delhi: Bharti Air-
tel shareholders have
cleared the issue of eq-
uity shares by the com-
pany to Google on “a
preferential basis” fol-
lowing the Tech giant’s
recent purchase of a
1.28% stake in the telco
for $700Mn. They have
alsobacked telco’splans
to spend a whopping Rs
1.17 lakh-cr in related-
party expenses, includ-
ing opex, via joint ven-
ture, Indus Towers, and
subsidiaries – Nxtra
Data and Bharti Hexa-
com – over next 4 years.
Guwahati (PTI): PSU
major IOC is planning
three new plants in the
Northeast to increase
its LPG bottling capac-
ity by nearly 53% to
eight crore cylinders
annually by 2030 to
meet the growing de-
mand in the region.
IOC Executive Direc-
tor G Ramesh said the
proposed new LPG bot-
tling plants will come
up in Mizoram, Megha-
laya and AP at a total
investment of `325-350
crore in a combination
of wholly-owned and
PPP models.
Mukesh Ambani
9. COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,965,551
TOTAL DEATHS
365,406,026
TOTAL RECOVERED
63,844,358
ACTIVE CASES
435,215,935
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
513,756
TOTAL DEATHS
42,290,921
TOTAL RECOVERED
111,440
ACTIVE CASES
42,916,117
TOTAL CASES
AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
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08
2NDFRONT
Rajkot: Kerala rode on
opener Rohan Kunnum-
mal’saggressiveunbeat-
en hundred to stun Gu-
jarat by eight wickets in
their Elite Group A
Ranji Trophy game here
on Sunday
.
Chasing a stiff 214 for
a win, Kerala lost open-
er Rahul P (7) cheaply
.
But Rohan Kunnummal
(106 not out off 87 balls)
and skipper Sachin
Baby (62; 5x4; 2x6) had
different plans as they
pummelled the Gujarat
attack to submission at
the Saurashtra Cricket
Association stadium.
The two forged a vital
143-run stand in just 135
balls for the second
wicket to take Kerala
closer to victory
.
While Kunnummal
was the more aggressive
one, Baby played his
part to perfection. When
Baby was dismissed by
Siddharth Desai, Kerala
needed just 44 runs.
Kunnummal, who ham-
mered 12 boundaries
and three maximums,
then led the team home
in the company of Sal-
man Nazir (28 not out;
2x4, 2x6) in just 35.4
overs.
Kunnummal, who
had also scored a centu-
ry in the first essay
, was
adjudged as the player
of the match.
Kerala bagged all six
points on offer.
Earlier, Kerala first
shot out Gujarat for 388
before gaining a slender
first-innings lead as
they were bowled out for
439 in their first essay,
riding on centuries by
Kunnummal and Vish-
nu Vinod.
Kerala bowlers had
reduced Gujarat to 84/5,
with pacer Basil Tham-
pi (2/45) wreaking havoc
at the beginning.
However,Gujaratlow-
er-order batters Karan
Patel (81 off 150 balls)
andUmangRohitkumar
(70 off 175 balls) con-
jured a 138-run stand for
the sixth wicket to post
a fighting total on the
board.
But once left-arm
spinner Sijoman Jo-
seph (3/48) dismissed
Karan Patel, the other
Kerala bowlers ran
through the Gujarat
tail to eventually bun-
dle them out for 264 in
their second essay
.
Given that this was
Gujarat’s second succes-
sivedefeat,aftertheylost
to Madhya Pradesh, the
team now cannot make
the knock-outs. —PTI
KERALA STUN GUJARAT BY EIGHT WICKETS
RANJI TROPHY
Southern
state sailed
through
with
unbeaten
ton from
Rohan
Kunnummal Rohan Kunnummal acknowledges his century on Sunday.
Ittook25firetenders18hourstoputoutthefire,butluckily,nocasualtieshavebeenreported
BSF ADG visits Kutch,
reviews op preparedness
Unrealistic?SMCaimsto
spend`1Kcrin1month First India Bureau
Bhuj: Additional Direc-
tor General of BSF
Western Command vis-
ited the creek area of
Kutch and reviewed op-
erational preparedness,
the paramilitary force
said on Saturday
.
PV Rama Sastry,
ADG, BSF Western
Command, visited the
Creek area, particular-
ly the Harami Nala,
with IG BSF Gujarat
and DIG BSF Bhuj on
February 25 and re-
viewed the operational
domination and opera-
tional preparedness to
take on any challenge, it
said in a statement.
Incidentally, the BSF
had early this month
seized 18 Pakistani fish-
ing boats and arrested
six fishermen from the
same area. It had de-
ployed ‘Creek Crocodile
Commandos’ from an
Indian Air Force heli-
copter to search for hid-
ing fishermen.
“Sastry arrived at
Frontier HQ BSF Guja-
rat on February 24 and
was briefed by IG, BSF
Gujarat, GS Malik. On
February 25, he left for
the Bhuj Creek area and
extensively visited the
area, particularly the
Harami Nala, with IG
BSF Gujarat and DIG
BSF Bhuj,” it said.
The ADG BSF, who
was briefed by field
commanders regarding
operational, logistical
and training matters,
expressed satisfaction
over the way BSF Guja-
rat was dominating the
international borders,
the statement added.
Pakistani fishermen
have been found enter-
ing the Indian side of
the Creek area to catch
fish, and tend to escape
towards the Pakistan
side after abandoning
their boats on spotting
BSF patrol boats.
First India Bureau
Surat: Having spent
Rs1,000 crore on de-
velopmental projects
in the past 11 months
of financial year 2021-
22, the Surat Munici-
pal Corporation is
racing to invest an-
other Rs1,000 crore in
the last month of the
current fiscal.
While that already
seems like a massive
undertaking, the civic
body has no concrete
plans on how to spend
this amount, according
to highly placed sourc-
es in the civic body..
“There is a rough
idea to spend Rs150
crore for drainage
upgradation, Rs125
crore for PMAY, Rs80
crore to clean up the
Tapi river, and around
Rs40 crore on hydrau-
lic department. But it
is hard to beleive they
can spend Rs1,000
crore in one month.
Even if we push it,
Rs500 crore seems
more doable,” an SMC
official said.
SMC had proposed a
budget of Rs3.8 crore
for development work,
which was later re-
vised to Rs2.20 crore
due to delays caused by
the pandemic.
“We cannot start any
project just to use up
the budget. The pan-
demic has caused sev-
eral projects to slow
down,” the official
added.
“We have managed
to maintain the pace of
several projects de-
spite COVID-19, with
only a few being de-
layed. As for unused
funds, we are looking
into the matter,” city
engineer Ashish
Dubey said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Gandhi-
nagar: It took fire-
fighters 18 hours to
put out a fire that
broke out at the go-
down housing plastic
pipes on the inter-
vening night of Sat-
urday and Sunday.
As many as 25 fire
tenders from both Ah-
meadbad and Gandhi-
nagar were pressed
into service after the
Fire and Emergency
Services were in-
formed of the “major
fire” at the property
held by Resinova Che-
mie Ltd at the Santej
GIDC area of Gandhi-
nagar. While the fire is
believed to have start-
ed around midnight,
firefighters were seen
trying to control the
blaze well into Sunday
morning.
Luckily though, the
fire was contained on
Sunday afternoon, and
no deaths or injuries
were reported. Howev-
er, the entire property
was gutted, leaving
massive losses in
terms of material
goods.
Officials are as yet
unclear as to the cause
of the fire, but say it
spread quickly since
chemicals used in the
production of plastic
were present.
Witnesses also re-
ported hearing several
explosions even as fire-
fighters battled the
blaze.
Fire department of-
ficials say they are
awaiting the results of
a detailed investiga-
tion to discover what
sparked the blaze.
The property was gutted, officials said, adding that the cause of the fire is still a mystery.
40 persons fall ill after
toxic gas leak in Kadi
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: About
40 residents of Kadi
town on Sunday
night suffered from
shortness of breath,
eye and throat prob-
lems after a toxic
gas leaked at a pri-
vate company in
Kadi, which has be-
come infamous for
its many companies
that flout basic safe-
ty rules, thus im-
pacting the health
of area residents.
Locals say even the
pollution department
is struggling to find
the source of the tox-
ic fumes.
Khushbu Makwa-
na, a resident of Nani
Kadi Mahadev Resi-
dency, said, “More
than 40 people in our
residential society
were complaining of
inflammation in the
eyes and throat and
difficulties in breath-
ing. They are all un-
der treatment now,
but such gas leaks
have beome quite
normal. The authori-
ties seem powerless
to control pollution.”
ADG PV Rama Sastry extensively visited the area, particularly the
Harami Nala, with IG BSF Gujarat and DIG BSF Bhuj.
Apart from marijuana, cops found valuables worth Rs1.1 lakh.
Surat Municipal Corporation. —FILE PHOTO
Auto driver held with
2kg ganja in Rajkot
First India Bureau
Rajkot: The Spe-
cial Operations
Group (SOG) on
Sunday arrested
an auto-rickshaw
driver, Vinodsinh
alias Raju, and re-
covered 1.9kg mar-
ijuana from his
possession while
on patrol near Lal-
pari Lake.
Police are investi-
gating further, offi-
cials said.
The team had ini-
tially suspected the
auto-rickshaw driv-
er and during inves-
tigation, discovered
the illegal substance
in his possession.
Raju was also
found to be in pos-
session of Rs 50,000
in cash and vaula-
bles worth Rs1.10
lakh, all of which
have now been seized
by the police.
This is the second
drug seizure in the
state in three days.
Gujarat Anti Terror-
ist Squad (ATS) on
Friday said it had
caught two drug ped-
dlers hailing from
Rajasthan and seized
from them mephed-
rone, a psychoactive
drug, worth Rs20
lakh in the interna-
tional market.
To be calm in your heart in the
midst of noise, trouble and work is
to be at ‘peace.’
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
MAJOR BLAZE BREAKS OUT AT
SANTEJ PLASTIC PIPE GODOWN
10. he Jaipur Winter
Polo Season 2022
came to an end with
the final match of
the Carysil Jaipur
Open for HH Briga-
dier Maharaja Sawai
Bhawani Singh, MVC being
played at the Rajasthan Polo
Club on Sunday. This 16 goal
tournament concluded with
the Vimal Arion Achievers
defeating Sona Polo by one
goal to claim the trophy
.
This tournament was the
highlight of the Jaipur Polo
Season and its finale was just
as spectacular with 3 players
scoring hattricks in one
match! But without any doubt
the hero of the evening was
Padmanabh Singh of the erst-
while royal family of Jaipur.
Jagdeesh Chandra graced
the event as the special guest
and congratulated the win-
ning team.
Singer, Harman Kaur per-
formed various popular
songs. The trophy was award-
ed to the winner and runner-
up teams of the tournament
by Jagdeesh Chandra,
popular cine actor Zayed
Khan along with Ravindra
Singal, ADG Maharashtra
Police and Vinita Singal,
Principal Secy Maharashtra
as well as Chirag Parekh,
M.D Acrysil Ltd Sheetal
Parekh, and also Narendra
Singh and Digvijay Singh.
The winning team had Raj
Sports Min Ashok Chandna,
Padmanabh Singh, Juan Cruz
Losada and Chris Mackenzie.
Veteran film-maker and pro-
ducer, Akbar Khan, well
know musicians DJ Aqeel
and Malaika Parekh Khan
were also present at the
presentation ceremony.
The match saw many
faces from the Pink
City's glitterati to
cheer the teams such
as Rajeev Arora,
Bhim Singh, Dinesh
MN, Siddhant
Singh, Samarth
Kasliwal, Archa-
na Saboo and KS
Garcha among
others.
T
POLO
POLO
KAVITA CHAUHAN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
KING OF
GAMES
GAMES
THERE IS SOMETHING REGAL ABOUT POLO
AND AS THE JAIPUR POLO SEASON COMES
TO A GLITTERING END, SUNDAY EVENING
WAS BATHED IN TRUE-BLUE ROYAL
FLAVOUR AND FERVOUR!
GAME OF KINGS
GAME OF KINGS
Narendra Singh, Padmanabh Singh, Digvijay Singh, Jagdeesh Chandra and
Zayed Khan with ‘Salsa’, the Best Polo Pony of the tournament
Narendra Singh and Gauravi Kumari
THE MAHARAJA OF GOODWILL: Padmanabh Singh hoisted on shoulders by his enthusiastic supporters after the victory
Jagdeesh Chandra, Zayed Khan and Chirag Parekh award the winning trophy to Ashok Chandna, Padmanabh Singh, Juan Cruz Losada and Chris Mackenzie of the winning ‘Vimal Arion Achievers’ team.
Also seen are (L-R) IV Rohet, Vikram Singh Rathore, Parul Rai, Digvijay Singh, Narendra singh and Sheetal Parekh
Padmanabh Singh
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA
SUNIL
SHARMA
AHMEDABAD, MONDAY,
FEBRUARY 28, 2022
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facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
11. ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
10
FASHION CONNECT SEASON 11
FASHION CONNECT SEASON 11
LUXURY AND GLAMOUR
rom the ravishing
models’ epically-
coiffed curls to
their teetering
high heels, First
India FC Season
11, to be held on
March 12 at Oaks Ibn Ba-
tutta Gate Hotel, Dubai.
The much-awaited night,
full of glitz and glamour,
front-row gossip, witness-
ing jaw-dropping catwalks,
designers walking through
the ramp, lavish produc-
tion and grand sets are al-
ready the talk of the town!
As the FC team revs up for
the stunning show, City
First brings to you the jour-
ney and achievements of
Dr Poonam Madan, a wom-
an who has carved a niche
for herself and Dr Purva, a
multi-talented
woman, who
are the of-
f i c i a l
partners
of First
India FC
S e a s o n
11!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
F
AMARA: A ONE STOP SOLUTION
D
r Purva Jingar,
founder of Amara
specialises in provid-
ing individuals with den-
tal, skin, and hair-related
solutions. She has ob-
tained multiple degrees,
including BDS, PGDCC,
PGDMT, laser aestheti-
cian which goes on to wit-
ness her expertise in the
realm of dentistry, cosme-
tology, and trichology
.
Dr Jingar
aims to make
such treatment
accessible to
everyone at a
cost-effective
rate. Her zeal to
provide the best
of dental and
c o s m e t o l o g y
treatment can
be witnessed
through the
awards she has
won. So far she has bagged
many accolades namely
‘Global Achievers Award’
for the best skin and hair
care clinic, WASME SME
Award, the best skin doc-
tor in Rajasthan by Ra-
jasthan Fashion Awards,
Jaipur, Best skin doctor,
Jaipur by Creare Heritage
Award, Jaipur, ASV Pro-
duction Award for the
Best Skin Care Doctor.
Amara looks forward to
bringing in experts spe-
cialising in dentistry, cos-
metology, and trichology.
Her team at Amara shares
her view that optimum
performance and innate
knowledge. With that in
mind, Dr Purva has been
running the centre for
more than seven years.
Some of her clients in-
clude the Big Boss par-
ticipant, Saba Khan,
a renowned singer
Shibani Kashyap,
Aditi Hundia who
happens to be a
fashion mod-
el, Meera
Bhandari, a
m a k e u p
artist by
p r o f e s -
sion, and
m a n y
more.
D
r Poonam
Madan is an
educationist
by academics, an
entrepreneur and
a businesswoman
by choice and a so-
cial influencer by
passion.
Her story is one of
deter mination,
passion and hard
work.
She stands tall
with firm convic-
tions, boundless
ideas and a posi-
tive attitude.
She embarked
on her journey as
an entrepreneur
by entering into
the pharmaceuti-
cal business.
She is the Owner
and Founder of
Pristine Global
Healthcare which
deals with medici-
nal formulations,
prescriptive drugs,
over the counter
products, health
drinks, multivita-
min supplements
etc. Pristine Global
Healthcare is
aligned towards
s t r e n g t h e n i n g
health care and
medical facilities
in Rural India by
making affordable
quality medical
products and ser-
vices accessible to
rural communi-
ties.
There is a very
old and famous
saying, “behind
every successful
man, there stands
a woman” But Dr
Poonam Madan
prefers to intro-
duce a different
spectrum to the
whole concept that
“there’s a man be-
hind every suc-
cessful woman”
and she gives all
the credit of her
success to her hus-
band Sanjay
Madan. She always
says “whatever I
am today
, I owe it to
my husband. My
husband is the rea-
son behind my suc-
cess and yes today
I can proudly say,
that there’s a man
behind every suc-
cessful woman.”
FIERCE AND FABULOUS
A still from the Fashion Connect Season 9 held at Oaks Ibn Batutta Gate Hotel
Poonam Madan
Dr Purva Jingar
12. ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2022
11
POLO: ROI DES JEUX
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Ankur, Padmanabh Singh, Digvijay Singh, Narendra Singh, Chirag Parekh, Akbar Khan and Zayed Khan
during the launch of the Spring 2022 edition of JAIPUR POLO magazine which features Padmanabh Singh on the cover, as Padmanabh takes a quick look
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Rajiv Arora, Chirag Parekh and Zayed Khan Army Band gives a wonderful performance
Jagdeesh Chandra in conversation with
Padmanabh Singh and Narendra Singh
Jagdeesh Chandra caught in a candid moment with Zayed Khan
Also seen are Akbar Khan and Sheetal Parekh
Ashvini, Vijaylakshmi, Dinesh MN and Col. Garcha
Gayatri and Pratik with Sudhir Mathur the captivated audience
Enthusiastic kids enjoying the match
Ashok Chandna, Chris Mackenzie, Juan Agustin Garcia Grossi, Gonzalo Fucci, Padmanabh Singh and Sunjay Kapur during the thrilling match
Padmanabh Singh Singer Harman Kaur Charu Sachdev and Devyani Jaipuria
Vanshika and Medhavi
Sheetal and Malaika Parekh Jagdeesh Chandra with Tripti Pandey
Mohan Singh Tada
with Mr Gyula
Yogesh Mishra and Akbar Khan
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA
SUNIL
SHARMA