30122021 first india new delhi

BJP to blow poll bugle in Punjab with
PM Modi’s rally likely on January 5
SAFFRON PARTY’S PUNJAB PLAN
New Delhi: The
Bharatiya Janata Party
will begin the poll cam-
paign in Punjab with
PM Narendra Modi
likely to hold a rally on
January 5 in the state,
party sources said.
This will be the first
rallyof PMModiinPun-
jab after the repeal of
three farm laws. Earlier
in an address to the na-
tion on November 19,
Modi announced the re-
pealingof thethreeCen-
tralfarmlawsontheday
of Guru Nanak Jayanti.
The PM is also sched-
uled to inaugurate a sat-
ellite center of the Post-
graduate Institute of
Medical Education and
Research in Punjab’s
Firozpur. He is also like-
ly to address a rally af-
ter the event. Former
Punjab CM Capt Ama-
rinder Singh and Shi-
romani Akali Dal-SAD
(Sanyukt) leader Sukh-
dev Singh Dhindsa will
alsotakepartintherally
,
sources said.
Amarinder and Sukh-
dev met Union Home
Minister Amit Shah and
BJP President JP Nadda
in Delhi on Monday
, dur-
ing which seat-sharing
wasdiscussed,thesource
said. BJP will play the
role of a senior alliance
partner in Punjab and
can contest more than
half of the seats. —ANI
NATURE’S
WHITE
CARPET
COUNTDOWN TO
BIG SURGE
India heads into intense
but short-lived virus wave
According to Cambridge tracker, nation may see a
spurt in the Covid-19 growth rate within days
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: India may
see a spurt in the Cov-
id-19 growth rate within
days and head into an
intense but short-lived
virus wave as the high-
ly-infectious omicron
variant moves through
the crowded nation of
almost 1.4 billion.
“It is likely that India
will see a period of ex-
plosive growth in daily
cases and that the in-
tense growth phase will
be relatively short,”
Paul Kattuman, profes-
sor at the Judge Busi-
ness School at the Uni-
versity of Cambridge
which has developed a
Covid-19 India tracker,
wrote in an email. “New
infections will begin to
rise in a few days, pos-
sibly within this week,”
he said, adding that it
was hard to predict how
high the daily cases
could go.
Kattuman and his
team of researchers, de-
velopers of the India
Covid tracker, are see-
ing a sharp rise in infec-
tion rates across India.
The tracker spotlighted
six states as a “signifi-
cant concern” in a De-
cember 24 note, with
adjusted growth rate of
new cases exceeding
5%. This had expanded
to 11 Indian states by
December 26.
‘DATA SUPPORTING VERY HIGH IMMUNE
ESCAPE POTENTIAL OF THE OMICRON’
New Delhi: There is now clear experimental and clinical
data supporting very high immune escape potential of
Omicron, but initial estimates show
the severity of illness being lower than
what was seen in previous outbreaks,
the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics
Consortia INSACOG said in its latest
bulletin citing global data. “While
Delta continues to be the most prevalent VOC globally, the
Omicron variant has completely displaced it in southern
Africa and is on track to become the dominant variant in
U.K. and elsewhere,” INSACOG said in its bulletin.
PM MODI VISIT TO UAE
POSTPONED AMID COVID
New Delhi: The visit of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to UAE,
expected to take place in the
first week of January, has been
postponed amid a spike in Omicron
cases, sources told news agency
ANI. The sources said the PM Modi
was scheduled to visit UAE from
January 6 on his first foreign visit in
the new year.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi left for Italy via Doha on
Wednesday morning. According to
sources, he is expected to be out
of India till January 15.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
INDIA
NEW DELHI
9,195
new cases
302
new fatalities
Mon killings:
Nagaland SIT
to question
Armymen
from today
Pawar: Left Cong,
not ideology of
Nehru, Gandhi’
Kohima: The Special
Investigations Team set
up by the Nagaland gov-
ernment to probe the
Army operation at Ot-
ing village in Mon on
December 4 that left six
coal miners dead will
get access to the sol-
diers involved in the
incident. The govern-
ment had called the in-
cident a case of “mis-
taken identity”. In the
violence that followed
the incident, nine more,
including a soldier,
were killed.
Army sources said
that while the SIT was
yet to take the statement
of anyone, it would have
access starting on
Thursday to “whosoev-
er they want”. It is not
clear how many or who
all be called for ques-
tioning. The soldiers
involved will be called
to depose at the Rainfor-
est Research Institute in
Jorhat, Assam.
Pune: Speaking at the
launch of a coffee table
book on his life Wednes-
day, NCP chief Sharad
P a w a r
said while
he left the
Congress,
he never
d u m p e d
the ideolo-
gy of Mahatma Gandhi
and Jawaharlal Nehru.
Pawar also said he
never wanted to return
to Maharashtra as the
Chief Minister in 1991,
but he “accepted the
challenge”.
Corona changing form, be alert: Shah
Gandhinagar: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Wednesday
said the coronavirus
pandemic cannot be
controlled until the
masses become aware
and follow the guide-
lines issued by the gov-
ernment.
He also appealed to
those in the 15-18 age
group to get them-
selves vaccinated at
the earliest when their
turn begins from Janu-
ary 3.
Addressing a gather-
ing through video con-
ferencing after dedi-
cating and laying foun-
dation stones for vari-
ous developmental
works worth around
Rs 50 crore in his Lok
Sabha constituency of
Gandhinagar, Shah
also asked the admin-
istration to remain
alert about the rising
cases of coronavirus.
“Coronavirus is
once again rising after
changing form. This
time, all of us, be it
municipal corpora-
tions, municipalities,
district panchayats or
state governments,
will have to remain
alert,” the Union Home
Minister said.
CRUCIAL READ
EC MEETS POLITICAL
PARTIES IN UP;
LEADERS URGE NOT
TO DELAY POLLS
Lucknow: ECI team
on Tuesday met all
the major political
parties in UP where
many of them urged
ECI to not postpone
or delay 2022 polls in
state, amid concerns
over Omicron variant.
The representatives
of BJP, SP, RLD, BSP
& Congress attended
the meeting. Team led
by CEC Sushil Chan-
dra also held a review
meeting on Wednes-
day with state’s
senior officials.
2 YEARS, NO TON
923
new cases
00
new fatalities
 Indian Test skip-
per Virat Kohli ended
the year 2021 without
scoring a century in
international cricket as
he departed for 18 in the
second innings of the
first Test against South
Africa on Wednesday.
 In 2020 also, Kohli
had failed to reach the
triple-figure mark.
 The Indian skip-
per’s last international
century, his 70th, came
on November 23, 2019
in the day-night Test
against Bangladesh at
Eden Gardens.
 Commentator and
former India batting
coach Sanjay Bangar
said that the key to
Kohli regaining some
of his lost form is
to find options
elsewhere on
the ground
apart from
the key
region
between
point &
cover.
Snow-covered Kedarnath temple complex after
fresh snowfall in Kedarnath. (Inset) Tourists enjoy
amid snow in Ski Resort in Gulmarg of Kashmir.
As hill states experience heavy snowfall, tempera-
ture continues to plummet and cold wave casts its
spell over entire north India.
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD,
LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
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People not adhering to social distancing norms visit Heritage
street near Golden temple on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah during Gandhinagar
projects’ launch ceremony
via video conferencing.
NEW DELHI lTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.121

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
02
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New Delhi: Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal wrote to
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi, urging him
to “personally resolve”
the issues of protesting
doctors in the capital,
and added that when
Covid cases are rising,
doctors should be in
hospitals and not on
the streets “struggling
for a safe future”.
Kejriwal urged the
central government to
conduct NEET-PG
counselling as soon as
possible, and strongly
condemned the “police
brutality on the doc-
tors”.
Thousands of doc-
tors are protesting
against the delaying
NEET-PG counselling.
The exam was sched-
uled to be held in Janu-
ary this year, but was
postponed in view of
the first and second
Covid-19 waves. The
exam was finally held
on September 12. How-
ever, due to the legal
challenges in the Su-
preme Court the coun-
selling has been put on
hold. The protesters
have maintained that
the delay has resulted
in a shortage of 45,000
doctors.
“On one hand, the
Omicon variant of the
coronavirus is spread-
ing at an alarming
speed, on the other,
doctors in hospitals un-
der the central govern-
ment in Delhi are on
strike. Resident doc-
tors at many big gov-
ernment hospitals
such as AIIMS, Safdar-
jung, Ram Manohar
Lohia are on strike for
the last one month due
to repeated postpone-
ment of NEET-PG
counselling,” Kejriwal
said. —ANI
New Delhi: A day after
the Federation of Resi-
dent Doctors’ Associa-
tion (FORDA) proposed
three demands to end
the protest over the de-
lay in NEET-PG coun-
selling and alleged
manhandling of doc-
tors by the police, it de-
cided on Wednesday to
continue the strike un-
til the police issue a
‘’written apology for
their behaviour’’, ac-
cording to FORDA
President Dr Manish.
Addressing a press
conference on Tuesday,
Dr Manish had said,
“Firstly, we want the
concerned authorities
to ensure that we
should get a date for
counselling right after
the Supreme Court’s
hearing on January 6
concludes. Secondly, we
want an apology from
the authorities as the
police manhandled the
doctors. Thirdly, we
want the withdrawal of
FIRs registered against
protesters.” “The strike
is still underway. We
demand a written apol-
ogy for police brutality
during yesterday’s pro-
test of resident doctors
at ITO. We will hold a
meeting with all Resi-
dent Doctors Associa-
tion (RDAs) at 8 pm to-
day to decide the future
course of action,” he
said.
Meanwhile, the pa-
tients continue to bear
the brunt of the strike
by the doctors.
Speaking to ANI on
Tuesday, a patient’s
family member who
had come to the RML
Hospital said, “Due to
this strike what I am
getting is date after
date but they have
worked in a herculean
manner throughout the
pandemic.” —ANI
New Delhi: A day after
the Yellow alert was an-
nounced amid the ris-
ing number of Omicron
variant of COVID-19
cases, Medical Superin-
tendent, Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital, Nandi-
ni Duggal, directed the
protesting Resident
doctors to resume their
duties “in interest of
patient care services”.
The order further re-
iterated that an “appro-
priate action” will be
taken against the non-
reporting doctors. “In
continuation to the Or-
der dated December 27
and the yellow alert be-
ing announced in Delhi
regarding COVID-19/
Omicroncasesupsurge,
all the Resident Doctors
are hereby once again
DIRECTED to resume
back to their duties
from the ongoing strike
in the interest of pa-
tient care services,” the
order stated.
“It is reiterated that
appropriate action, as
deemed fit, shall be tak-
en against Resident
Doctors for non-report-
ing to duties,” said the
order by Medical Super-
intendent, Ram Mano-
har Lohia Hospital,
Nandini Duggal.
Minister of Health
and Family Welfare has
already assured the agi-
tating Doctors on De-
cember 28 about the
preparation for the
Supreme Court hearing
on January 1, 2022,
and the expected line
of action thereafter.
This should be
respected by all the Res-
ident Doctors, the order
stated. —ANI
New Delhi: Soon work-
ing women from Delhi
who travel long distanc-
es daily or pay hefty rent
for paying guest facili-
ties will have the option
of an affordable hostel
facility in the heart of
the city as the New Delhi
Municipal Council
(NDMC) plans to ease
the eligibility for admis-
sion.
As per the current
hostel guidelines of Del-
hi, only women from
outside the national cap-
ital can take admission.
“Several women who
are living in rural parts
of the city or outer Delhi
like Najafgarh, Bawana,
Nangloi come to the city
.
Some travel from Dil-
shad Garden to Gur-
gaon. We have also re-
ceived applications from
Delhi residents for hos-
tel admission but due to
the restrictions and
guidelines, they are not
getting admission. Thus,
the NDMC is planning to
ease the restrictions, so
those who want to stay
close to their offices get
admission in hostels,”
said an NDMC official.
NDMC has three hos-
tels in Delhi — in Man-
dir Marg, INA and Bhag-
wan Das Road, Mandi
House. —Agencies
New Delhi: After city
buses and Metro in Delhi
began to operate with
50% seating capacity,
people around the city
expressed their con-
cerns as they are facing
issues in commuting.
However, a few sections
of people also supported
the decision considering
the increasing number
of COVID-19 cases.
With the fresh restric-
tions imposed by the Dis-
trict DDMA, the Delhi
Metro operates at 50%
seating capacity and no
standing passengers are
allowed. A commuter
said, “We have to leave
our house 2 hours before
the scheduled time. Here
on the bus, they don’t
take passengers, but at
the bus stand, the crowd
is gathered. We have to
stand for hours because
of which we are late for
our work.” “Buses are
coming but due to less
seating capacity the
waiting time for passen-
gers has increased
causing crowding at the
bus stop,” said a com-
muter. Speaking to ANI,
Vikas, a bus marshal
said, “Our focus is to
avoid crowding inside
the bus and make sure
there is physical distanc-
ing, everyone is wearing
masks.” —ANI
New Delhi: For the citi-
zens of Delhi, the
phrase ‘condominium
living’ is of recent vin-
tage.
And to experience it,
they needed to move to
the bordering satellite
towns of Gurugram,
Noida, Faridabad and
so on. Because Delhi
just does not have the
space to build clusters
of high-rise buildings
behind tall walls and
massive gates.
But once experi-
enced, this lifestyle
seems immensely at-
tractive. Gleaming tow-
ers housing spacious
apartments with every
modern amenity and
elegant fixtures. Guar-
anteed water and power
supply, assured park-
ing, high levels of secu-
rity, shops for the fami-
ly’s daily needs, lawns
and gardens to walk in,
a clubhouse and a lot
more.
Even if one has been
fortunate enough to
grow up in a bungalow
or standalone house in
Delhi built and rebuilt
across generations, but
as an adult with a grow-
ing family, an apart-
ment in a modern con-
dominium has become
far more appealing to
Delhi-ites. —Agencies
New Delhi: The Jawa-
harlal Nehru Universi-
ty (JNU) has modified
the language of its pub-
lic invitation for coun-
selling on sexual har-
assment and removed
the line “girls are sup-
pose to know how to
draw a tangible line be-
tween them and their
male friends” that drew
the ire of students and
teachers.
The Internal Com-
plaints Committee (ICC)
of the university had
uploaded the invitation
on JNU’s website saying
that it will organise
counselling session on
sexual harassment on
January 17. It also said
that such sessions will
be organised on a
monthly basis.
Under the subhead
“why is this counselling
session required”, the
contentious point has
now been replaced with,
“Boys will be counselled
to clearly distinguish
between friendship and
behaviour that may be
considered sexual har-
assment. Girls will be
counselled how to avoid
sexual harassment.”
The move comes a
day after NCW Chair-
person Rekha Sharma
sought withdrawal of
the “misogynist” circu-
lar issued by the univer-
sity.
Under the subhead
“why is the counselling
session required”, the
invite had said that it
will make students
aware about what con-
sists of sexual harass-
ment.
It also said that stu-
dents are being
counselled during the
orientation programme
and on the inception
of each academic year,
and they need to refresh
their knowledge about
the same from time to
time. —Agencies
JNU changes language in ICC circular on sexual harassment
CRUCIAL READ
CITY’S AIR QUALITY
IN ‘POOR’ CATEGORY,
AQI AT 286
TWO HELD FOR
GANGRAPING
WOMAN IN DELHI
New Delhi: With
the overall Air Qual-
ity Index (AQI) at
286, the air quality in
the national capital
remains in the ‘poor’
category, according
to the SAFAR. The
concentrations of PM
2.5 and PM 10 stood
at 116 in the ‘poor’ and
221 in the ‘moderate’
category respectively.
While the air quality of
Noida remains in the
‘very poor’ category
with Air Quality Index
at 301, the air quality in
Gurugram has slipped
to the ‘poor’ category
with AQI at 297.
New Delhi: Two persons
were arrested in the Hari
Nagar area of the nation-
al capital for allegedly
gangraping a woman,
police said. According
to police, the incident
came to light on Monday
at around 3 am when
they received a PCR call.
“A team rushed to the
spot and found a woman
who alleged that she
was sexually assaulted,”
the officer said. Another
police officer informed
that the woman was
unable to tell them the
exact place from where
she was taken.
NDMC to
make hostels
accessible to
women within
Delhi too
Decision to run buses,
Metro at 50% capacity
receives mixed response
Delhi gets its first
Luxury High-Rise
Township
AAP Convenor in
Punjab from today till
Jan 1 ahead of polls
New Delhi: Aam Aad-
mi Party national con-
vener and Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Ke-
jriwal will be on a
three-day visit to poll-
bound Punjab from
Thursday to January
1, informed AAP.
He will lead AAP’s
‘Victory March’ in
Chandigarh on De-
cember 30 to celebrate
his party bagging the
maximum number of
seats in the civic polls.
New entrant AAP put
up a spectacular show
in Chandigarh Mu-
nicipal Corporation
polls and won 14 of 35
wards while pushing
the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) to second
place.
On December 31,
Kejriwal will start his
trip in Patiala by gar-
landing the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi at 2
pm, he will then go to
Shri Kali Devi temple
to offer his prayers.
After that, the AAP
convenor will lead a
“Shanti March”
(Peace rally), which
will be joined by the
party’s senior leader
Bhagwant Mann. —ANI
Kejriwal writes to PM,
condemns police
action on doctors
FORDA continues
strike, seeks apology
from Delhi Police
Doctors of RML hospital directed to resume
duty, warned of action for non-reporting
Arvind Kejriwal
Resident doctors stage a candle march demanding to conduct
of counseling of NEET exam at RML hospital —FILE PHOTO
FORDA President Dr. Manish addresses the media after meeting
with the Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. —FILE PHOTO
—Representative Image
Arvind Kejriwal
—Representative Image —Representative Image
NEET
CLEAN
URGING CENTRE TO CONDUCT NEET-PG COUNSELLING AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE,CM SAYS WHEN COVID CASES ARE
RISING,DOCTORS SHOULD BE IN HOSPITALS NOT ON STREETS
NOT

INDIA
03
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: The secre-
tary-level reshuffle of
eight IAS officers ef-
fected on Monday is
seen to show a signifi-
cant trend.
First and foremost,
the reshuffle opened up
the opportunity for up-
ward mobility for 1990
batch IAS officers who
have been waiting for
Secretary-level post-
ings at the Centre.
Pankaj Jain, an As-
sam-Meghalaya cadre
1990-batch IAS officer
became the first benefi-
ciary of the reshuffle
from his batch. His ap-
pointment as Secretary,
Ministry of Petroleum
& Natural Gas, might
have enthused his
batchmates because the
ministry is viewed as
an important one. His
elevation from the rank
of Additional Secretary
in the Department of
Financial Services, an-
other key ministry, may
be indicative of the ad-
ministration’s confi-
dence in his ability
.
Further, even as sev-
eral officers from the
1989 batch have been
awaiting their turn for
Secretary-level posting,
Manoj Joshi (a Kerala
Cadre IAS) was named
as the successor to Dur-
ga Shanker Mishra who
was set to hang his
boots coming Friday as
Secretary of the Hous-
ing & Urban Affairs but
in a sudden move the
Centre on Wednesday
evening announced
Mishra’s repatriation
to cadre as state chief
secretary
.
To help familiarize
Manoj Joshi with his
new assignment, he
was first appointed as
OSD before taking over
the charge from Mishra
who made a sort of re-
cord of serving for the
eight consecutive years
in the Ministry as Joint
Secretary, Additional
Secretary, and Secre-
tary. Joshi was earlier
working as Special Sec-
retary in the Ministry
of Food Processing In-
dustries.
Further, Joshi’s
batchmate Rohit Ku-
mar Singh, a Rajasthan
cadre IAS officer, was
appointed as Secretary,
Department of Con-
sumer Affairs. Singh
has also spearheaded
the newly carved-out
special-purpose Secre-
tariat for ‘Azadi Ka Am-
rit Mahotsav’ as Special
Secretary
.
Singh has replaced
Ms. Leena Nandan who
was laterally appoint-
ed/shifted to the key
ministry for Environ-
ment, Forests, and Cli-
mate Change
(MoEF&CC). Ms. Nan-
dan joins the batch of
three secretaries given
new responsibilities on
a lateral-shift basis. Ms.
Nandan will take over
from the outgoing Sec-
retary (MoEF&CC)
Rameshwar Prasad
Gupta retiring this
coming Friday
.
Further, Sanjay Ku-
mar Singh, a 1987-batch
MP cadre IAS officer,
was appointed as Secre-
tary, Ministry of Steel.
This post has fallen va-
cant after the appoint-
ment of his batchmate
Pradeep Kumar Trip-
athi as DOPT Secretary
.
While moving to Steel,
Singh will hand over
the charge of Secretary,
Department of Admin-
istrative Reforms &
Public Grievances, and
Department of Pen-
sions & Pensioners Wel-
fare to V Srinivas, a
1989-batch Rajasthan
cadre IAS officer, work-
ing in the same depart-
ment as Special Secre-
tary
.
Rajeev Ranjan
(lAS:1989:MP) has been
appointed as Secretary,
National Commission
for Backward Classes
in the rank & pay of
Secretary to the Gov-
ernment of India at a
time when the back-
ward classes issue is
politically hot. Cur-
rently, he is Special Sec-
retary, Department of
Expenditure, Ministry
of Finance.
The appointment of
former Chief Secretary
of Punjab Ms. Vini Ma-
hajan, a 1987 batch of-
ficer, as Union Secre-
tary for the Department
of Drinking Water and
Sanitation has drawn
attention for a few rea-
sons.
First, she is the only
one in the lot to be
brought from the cadre
state as a fresh entrant.
Secondly, ever since
Capt Amrinder Singh’s
Govt was toppled and
Capt joined hands with
BJP, it was presumed
that the Centre would
induct Ms. Mahajan
into the next round of
secretary-reshuffle as
she has been close to
Captain. It may be not-
ed that her husband
Dinkar Gupta, ex-DGP
of Punjab, may be the
next whom the Centre
may draft as DG in a
Central Paramilitary
Force or a Central Po-
lice Organization.
Among all, Bharat
Lal’s appointment was
very interesting. The
1988-batch Indian For-
est Service officer was
picked up as the next
Secretary of the Lokpal
Secretariat vice Brij
Kumar Agarwal who is
set to complete his term
of the contract this
coming Friday. Inter-
estingly, among all the
appointments, the noti-
fication on Lal’s was
full of officialese.
It didn’t escape any-
one’s notice that Lal got
a fresh lease of career a
month ahead of his re-
tirement(i.e.31.12.2021).
His contractual ap-
pointment was done for
a period of one year be-
yond the date of his su-
perannuation on usual
terms and conditions
applicable to re-em-
ployed Central Govern-
ment officers.
Interestingly, Lal’s
appointment was con-
trary to what officials
generally believed.
Many have expected
him to become the next
Secretary of the De-
partment of Drinking
Water & Sanitation
where he worked as Ad-
ditional Secretary for a
long and handled the
most ambitious pro-
grams of the drinking
water pipelines.
However, it is pointed
out that Lal had often
missed out on opportu-
nities for better place-
ment. Considering the
Lok Pal institution is an
important one, there is
enough reason for Lal
to be happy
.
Secy-level reshuffle indicates consolidation & entry of 1990 batch of IAS
READING BETWEEN LINES
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat on Wednes-
day said the BJP is
ready for virtual elec-
tion rallies and the par-
ty will follow the Elec-
tion Commission’s
guidelines issued re-
garding polls in the
wake of the emergence
of Omicron variant of
COVID-19 .
Speaking to media
persons here, Shekha-
wat said, “Conducting
elections is the respon-
sibility of the Election
Commission. The EC is
holding talks with the
health secretary and
the experts over the
pandemic situation of
the country. The elec-
tion commission will
make a decision on elec-
tion rallies and we will
follow the guidelines.”
He slammed Punjab
Chief Minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi for al-
leging BJP of creating
panic over the pandem-
ic situation after the
rise in the cases of
COVID across the coun-
try ahead of the Assem-
bly elections.
“Centre has not is-
sued any fresh guide-
lines over COVID-19 ,
but many states have
done it unilaterally
. I
think Channi sahib is
pointing towards AAP
andKejriwal,”headded.
Shekhawat says BJP ready
for virtual election rallies
He slammed Channi for alleging BJP is creating panic over pandemic situation
ANDHRA PRADESH BJP PROMISES LIQUOR
AT `50 A BOTTLE IF VOTED TO POWER
Amaravati: The BJP in Andhra Pradesh has prom-
ised to offer liquor at `50
per bottle, besides several
initiatives. BJP Chief Somu
Veeraju, lashing out at CM
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and
opposition Telugu Desam
Party, Veerraju said the po-
litical forces in the state failed to develop the state.
New Delhi: Karnataka Congress president DK Shiva-
kumar on Wednesday scolded a man for trying to take
a selfie with him in Mandya district. In a clip shared
by ANI, he can be seen grabbing the mobile phone of
the man and moving the device away from his face.
Shivakumar later cited the assassination of former PM
Rajiv Gandhi to defend his act. He said one cannot be
sure what the other person is carrying in his hand.
“You know what happened to Rajiv Gandhi. Some-
times, human anger and emotions come out, nothing
wrong in that,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Ranchi: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on Wednesday
announced the state govt will provide a subsidy of Rs
25 per litre to the poor ration-card holding families in
the state for petrol used in two-wheelers, saying that the
poor and middle classes have been hit hard by the rising
prices of petroleum products. The subsidy will be appli-
cable for 10 litres of petrol in a month for poor families.
“The price of petrol and diesel is increasing. Poor and
middle classes are affected. The govt has decided to give
relief of Rs 25 per litre on petrol for two-wheelers. The
benefit will start from January 26, 2022,” he said.
SHIVAKUMAR SCOLDS MAN FOR TRYING TO
TAKE SELFIE WITH HIM, CITES RAJIV GANDHI
J’KHAND TO GIVE `25/LITRE SUBSIDY
ON PETROL FOR 2-WHEELER OWNERS
NEWS DIGEST
MLA Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi
gets ‘Z’ category security by MHA
New Delhi: Punjab
MLA Rana Gurmit
Singh Sodhi, who
recently joined the
BJP from Congress
has been given ‘Z’
category security
in Delhi and Pun-
jab, said a MHA of-
ficial on Wednesday
.
“We have provided Z
category security to So-
dhi in Delhi and Pun-
jab. He was given secu-
rity on December 26,”
said senior MHA
official.
Sodhi, an MLA
from Guru Har
Sahai in
Ferozpur district
joinedBJPonDe-
cember 21 ahead of the
Punjab Assembly elec-
tions which are slated
for early next year.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
DECISION ON SEAT-SHARING
FOR PUNJAB POLLS SOON
MANIPUR MINISTER LETPAO
HAOKIP JOINS BJP IN DELHI
New Delhi: Union Minister of State
Som Parkash on Wednesday said that
the seat-sharing with BJP alliance
parties will be decoded in two to three
days. His statement came after BJP
announced its alliance with Cpt Ama-
rinder Singh’s party and former Akali
Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s
new outfit for upcoming Punjab polls.
New Delhi: Manipur minister and NPP
leader Letpao Haokip on Wednesday
joined BJP in the presence of Union
minister Bhupender Yadav. NPP is
BJP’s ally in Manipur and Hakoip is the
youth affairs and sports minister in the
BJP-led govt. Hakoip joined the BJP in
presence of party’s national spokesper-
son Sambit Patra & the Union minister.
In blow to Sidhu,
Congress won’t
announce CM
face in Punjab
Chandigarh: In a blow
to Punjab Congress
chief Navjot Singh Sid-
hu, who is said to have
been positioning him-
self asthechief minister
candidateof Congressin
the state, a senior party
leader confirmed ru-
mors that Congress
won’t announce a CM
face for the upcoming
stateassemblyelections.
Sunil Jakhar, Chair-
man of campaign com-
mittee of Punjab Con-
gress, said party will
contest under a “joint
leadership”. The move
is aimed at balancing
caste equations in the
state and preventing in-
fighting within the par-
ty. The top faces of the
party in Punjab come
from diverse communi-
ties, aimed at strength-
ening numbers by tap-
ping into vote banks of
all electorally signifi-
cant groups.
Sidhu had demanded
that his party declare a
chief minister candi-
date as recently as
Wednesday morning.
—ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
Court seeks Centre’s report on 68
fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy
Chennai: Madurai
bench of the Madras
HC sought a detailed
report from the Cen-
tral govt about the
steps taken to bring
back the 68 fishermen
who were arrested by
the Sri Lankan Navy
.
An advocate from
Rameshwaram moved
a petition before the
Madurai bench regard-
ing the recent arrest of
68 fishermen from
Rameshwaram and
Pudukkottai.
In the petition, he
has stated that when
Gujarat fishermen
were shot by the Paki-
stan Navy, the Central
govt immediately sum-
moned the Pakistan
HighCommissionerfor
India and registered its
condemnation.
Madras HC orders 3-hrs ban
on liquor sale for 31st
night
Puducherry: Madras
High Court on Wednes-
day ordered a ban on
liquor sale in Puduch-
erry from 10 pm on De-
cember 31 till 1 am on
January 1. The vaca-
tion bench of Madras
High Court with Jus-
tices S Vaidyanathan &
DBharathaChakravar-
thy heard a petition
seeking a ban on cele-
brations to contain the
spread of COVID-19 in
view of the emergence
of the Omicron vari-
ant. Counsel for Pu-
ducherry UT said the
govt has imposed se-
vere restrictions and
has taken preventive
measures to ensure
COVID-appropriate be-
haviourduringthenew
year celebrations. —ANI
Case can’t be
stopped as others
not charged: SC
New Delhi: Criminal
proceedings against an
accused cannot be
stopped merely be-
cause some of the per-
sons who might have
committed the offenc-
es are not charge-
sheeted, SC said while
hearing an appeal filed
by Suvarna Coopera-
tive Bank Ltd against a
Karnataka HC order.
WITH MISHRA REPATRIATED AS ‘UP
CS’, CENTRE’S POLITICS ROLLS ON
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: Wednes-
day’s ACC announce-
ment of the repatria-
tion of Union Secretary
for Housing & Urban
Affairs Durga Shanker
Mishra, a 1984 batch UP
cadre IAS officer, who is
set to retire two days
later, has drawn the at-
tention of one and all
for its unique wording.
The notification
reads, “The Appoint-
ments Committee of
the Cabinet has ap-
proved repatriation of
Shri Durga Shanker
Mishra, lAS (UP:1984)
to his cadre for his pro-
posed appointment as
Chief Secretary, Uttar
Pradesh by the State
Government of Uttar
Pradesh.”
Normally, when an
officer is repatriated,
the ACC never states
the posting the officer
will get in his state cad-
re.
The wording of the
notification suggests
that the central govern-
ment is repatriating
Mishra because the
state government has
‘proposed’ to make him
the CS and therefore the
centre was complying
with a request from the
UP government. Not
surprisingly
, the Centre
issued another notifica-
tion extending Mishra’s
service by a year.
Not unusual because
both the central and UP
governments are run by
the same party. It is
quite likely that both
governments might
have consulted each
other on the issue and
might have felt that
Mishra may be more
useful as the CS since
the state is scheduled to
face elections in a few
months that appears in-
creasingly complex for
the ruling dispensation.
Since Mishra will re-
place Rajendra Kumar
Tiwari (1985 batch IAS)
as state CS, it may be
considered necessary to
bring Tiwari to the Cen-
tre, unless there is
something more inter-
esting for his accommo-
dation in the state itself.
Mishra’s repatriation
as CS has triggered a lot
of political specula-
tions. He was once a PS
to BSP supremo
Mayawati. So, it is spec-
ulated whether
Mishra’s appointment
is part of BJP’s out-
reach programme to the
BSP leader. In this con-
text, it is pointed out
that when the BJP won
the state election last
time, there was a plan
then to make Mishra
the state chief secre-
tary in the belief at the
Centre that Adityanath
may not measure up to
the stupendous task
that lay ahead in UP.
However, to maintain
the public image of har-
mony within the party,
the Centre scuttled its
own plan as it had scut-
tled the plan to make
Manoj Sinha the CM.
But, now, in the face
of an impending elec-
tion, the state CM finds
himself on a weak wick-
et having estranged a
lot of party workers
and leaders. So the Cen-
tre is seen to have
stepped into managing
the state administra-
tion. It could also be the
Centre’s way of show-
ing Adityanath his
place.
Durga Shankar Mishra

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 121
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
A positive indigenisation list of sub-
systems components has been
notified by the Department of Defence
Production as part of the MoD’s
efforts to achieve self-reliance in
defence manufacturing and minimise
imports by DPSU.
Nirmala Sitharaman
@nsitharaman
“The over `1.49 trillion tax refund
made between 1 April and 27
December has gone to 14.5 million
taxpayers…refund of `50,793 crore
has been issued in 1,42,48,302
cases and corporate tax refund of
`98,504 crore has been issued in
2,19,357cases.”
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
My soul melts away for
sorrow; strengthen me
according to your word!
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
TOP TWEETS
COVID CASES
ARE RISING,
HOSPITALS TO
FACE ANOTHER
CHALLENGE NOW
ountry is all geared
up to face Omicron,
or is in the process of
putting up its defenc-
es against the vari-
ant which is multiplying at a
rapid pace. Though not lethal,
there have been only a few fa-
talities due to Omicron, it is
feared that its spread could lead
to further mutation of the virus.
As the highly infectious virus
spreads in the country
, the Cam-
bridge University’s India track-
er has warned that India was
likely to “see a period of explo-
sive growth in daily cases and
that the intense growth phase
will be relatively short”. Cam-
bridge University has developed
a Covid-19 India tracker. Over
9,000 new cases were reported in
the country on Wednesday
. With
cases rising hospitals will once
again be under strain. Hopefully
,
people won’t be denied medical
care due to shortage of beds and
we are better prepared this time
Young and old will rush for
vaccines now. Are there enough
jabs available?
C
his is one decision
of the Central
g o v e r n m e n t
which should be
neither politi-
cised nor criticised as it only
aims to promote Indian mu-
sic. Whether it is classical or
filmy Indian music has its
own melodious charm which
enthrals all of us, and also
some foreigners. The minis-
try’s joint secretary Usha
Padhee’s letter to airlines
and airport operators ex-
plains the reasons why in-
stead of foreign Indian music
should be played. “Music
played by most of the airlines
across the globe is quintes-
sential of the country to
which the airline belongs, for
example, jazz in American
airlines or Mozart in Austral-
ian airlines and Arab music
in an airline from the Middle
East.” The letter rightly
pointed out that Indian mu-
sic is seldom played in flights
operating on domestic or in-
ternational air routes.
Urging all airport opera-
tors and airlines to play In-
dian music at airports and
when airborne, the Civil
Aviation ministry pointed
out the rich heritage of In-
dian music and Indians are
generally proud of it. If one
goes by the joint secretary
Padhee’s letter, the music
played in other airlines is
classical (jazz and Mozart).
Therefore, playing classical
Indian music, hopefully both
instrumental and vocal, will
be a welcome move. Those
who do not relish classical
music should also be provid-
ed the option of listening to
film music of their choice.
The government must si-
multaneously promote train-
ing in classical music. Look
back and you will wonder
who’s there to replace MS
Subbulakshmi, Kumar Gan-
dharv, M. Balamuralikrish-
na, Girija Devi, Bhimsen
Joshi, Kishori Amonkar and
a host of other stalwarts or
come anywhere close.
CIVIL AVIATION STRIKES
THE RIGHT CHORD
The ministry’s joint
secretary Usha
Padhee’s letter to
airlines and airport
operators explains the
reasons why instead
of foreign Indian music
should be played
T
IS STRATEGIC
COOPERATION WITH
CHINA POSSIBLE?
Under these circumstances,
we don’t really have the
luxury of focusing exclusively
on competition or picking
fights for domestic political
gain. The risks to global
health and prosperity are too
high. Escaping the dangerous
path of competition without
cooperation will require
sustained leadership on both
sides and from all sectors of
society. There is no guarantee
of success, but there is no
alternative to trying
romclimatechangeandrising
inequality to the pandemic
and the digital revolution,
there is ample common
groundforrivalpowerstopur-
sue mutually beneficial forms
of collaboration. Unfortunate-
ly
, the opposite has happened,
raising doubts about the cur-
rent recovery and the world’s
future health and prosperity
.
Looking at the economic
landscape as 2021 draws to a
close, one cannot help but no-
tice the emergence of new ob-
staclestoarobustrecovery
.The
United States, Europe, China,
and others face a growing list
of remarkably similar short-
and longer-term challenges.
The pandemic remains the
most immediate concern.
Without full global vaccina-
tion, new COVID-19 variants
will continue to emerge, po-
tentially forcing governments
to renew partial or full lock-
downs. The coronavirus thus
represents a permanent drag
on the recovery
.
A second challenge is the
blockage of global supply
chains, which, together with
supply-sideshiftsinlabormar-
kets, has created persistent
inflationary pressures unlike
anythingseeninoveradecade.
Withoutcross-bordereffortsto
resolvesupplybottlenecksand
shortages, central banks may
be forced to curtail today’s
surging demand by tightening
monetary policy
.
Anothercommonissueisthe
complex task of properly regu-
lating the digital technologies
and sectors that now account
for an increasingly large share
of most economies. Regulators
in Europe, the US, China, and
India have been intensifying
their efforts on this front, writ-
ing new rules for data security
,
access, and usage, and launch-
inginvestigationsintopotential
abuses of market power, espe-
cially by the mega-platforms.
As the financial sector shifts to
digital payments and curren-
cies, and as new entrants
emerge in credit, insurance,
and asset-management mar-
kets, there is an urgent need to
adaptregulationstoensurefair
competition, access to valuable
data, and financial stability
.
It is no secret that a sub-
stantial share of incremental
wealth creation in recent dec-
ades has occurred in technol-
ogy sectors such as e-com-
merce, payments, fintech, and
social media. The result has
been high concentrations of
new wealth, which in turn
raises concerns about undue
influence over policy. Such
worries are particularly evi-
dent in the US and China,
even though the two coun-
tries have very different sys-
tems of governance, and thus
different channels through
which influence is exercised.
Similarly, although the ter-
minology differs in the US
and China, both countries are
struggling to reverse rising
income and wealth inequality
and declining social mobility
.
In the US, many politicians
speak of delivering more in-
clusive growth. In China, the
government has launched a
new campaign to achieve
“common prosperity
.”
Heated debates in both
countries about how best to
pursue these goals reflect con-
cerns that an excessive or
overly narrow approach to
redistribution could adverse-
ly affect economic efficiency
and dynamism.
The similarity between
these national policymaking
efforts suggests that the US
and China have a common in-
terest in establishing new
rules of engagement in the
global economy and the finan-
cial sector. Both must adapt to
the new realities implied by
the digital revolution and
shifting global power balanc-
es. There is also a clear need
for new agreements to limit
the offensive use of digital
and cyber technologies, and
to free up benign cross-border
flows of technology (in
health, education, and other
sectors) that are at risk of be-
ing blocked by national-secu-
rity considerations.
Finally, there is the global
challenge of climate change.
Without the free and friction-
less movement of the neces-
sary technologies and financ-
ing, the world will have no
chance of limiting global
warming to 1.5° Celsius above
pre-industrial levels. Here,
too, success will depend on
whether the US and China
can work together.
Withsomanycommonchal-
lenges, one might have expect-
ed the world’s leading powers
to pursue a difficult but rea-
sonable balance between stra-
tegic competition and strate-
gic cooperation. After all, both
China and the US would ben-
efit from acknowledging that
theyhavecompellingcommon
interests, not just unavoidable
disagreements.
But, for the most part, this
has not happened. Although
US President Joe Biden and
Chinese President Xi Jinping
recently agreed to carve out
space for cooperation on cli-
mate change and the energy
transition, the US nonethe-
less has doubled down on stra-
tegic competition, citing na-
tional-security concerns.
We are still a long way from
enjoying the free flow of tech-
nology needed to reduce glob-
al emissions to net-zero by
mid-century. On the Chinese
side, US strategy is seen as an
effort to impede or even re-
verse China’s economic and
technological progress. Amer-
ica’spartisanpolarizationand
social divisions are presented
as evidence of a failing politi-
cal and economic system.
WWW.PROJECT-SYNDICATE.ORG
F
MICHAEL SPENCE
The writer is a Nobel laureate in economics,
is Professor of Economics Emeritus and
a former dean of the Graduate School of
Business at Stanford University
The pandemic
remains the most
immediate concern.
Without full global
vaccination, new
COVID-19 variants will
continue to emerge,
potentially forcing
governments to
renew partial or
full lockdowns

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INDIA
05
COVID RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN
IN MUMBAI, 2.5K CASES IN 24-HRS
Mumbai: With the ris-
ing case of Covid-19 in
Mumbai, Aditya Thack-
eray, who is the Guard-
ian Minister of the city,
chaired a meeting.
In the meeting, BMC
Commissioner Iqbal
Singh Chahal, Mumbai
Mayor Kishori Ped-
nekar and other health
officials were also pre-
sent. Mumbai reported
2,510 Covid-19 cases in
the past 24 hours an 82
per cent jump over
Tuesday’s 1,377 cases.
Mumbai is prepping for
a massive rise in Covid
cases. “Covid restric-
tions must be complied
with by all. If hotels are
violating Covid-19 pro-
tocols and restrictions,
action will be taken
against them,” Aaditya
said. —ANI
Kolkata: West Bengal
chief minister Mamata
Banerjee said on
Wednesday schools and
colleges in the state
could be closed for some
time amid rising num-
ber of Covid-19 cases.
Banerjee held an ad-
ministrative meeting
wherein she asked offi-
cials to review the cur-
rent pandemic situa-
tion in the state and
also begin identifying
containment zones in
Kolkata given the high
rate of infection in the
city
.
Educational institu-
tions reopened in the
state on November 16
after a gap of about 20
months.
Bengal on Tuesday
witnessed a massive
jump in single-day Cov-
id-19 cases having
logged 752 infections,
up from 439 reported on
the preceding day. Of
the 752 fresh cases, Kol-
kata accounted for 382
infections, followed by
North 24 Parganas with
102. On Monday, Kolka-
ta recorded 204
infections, the state
health bulletin data
showed. —PTI
New Delhi: Amid the
rise in cases of Omi-
cron variant of corona-
virus, CRPF on Wednes-
day has reactivated
their Covid care centre
in Bawana in Delhi.
The 50-bed dedicated
Covid care centre in
Bawana has been reac-
tivated. A Covid moni-
toring cell at CRPF
headquarters and at 23
other establishments of
the force has been acti-
vated.
Total 99.74 per cent
CRPF personnel are
fully vaccinated, the re-
maining cannot be ad-
ministered vaccines
due to comorbidities.
CRPF will administer
booster dose to all per-
sonnel. —ANI
Didi mulls shutting
schools as Covid-19
cases rise unabated
Amid Omicron
threat, CRPF
reactivates its
Covid facility
Dr Dangs Lab as central lab conducted tests in
all 3 trial phases of Corbevax vaccine: Dr Dang
Action will be taken if hotels, restaurants violate Covid-19
norms, says Maha Environment Min Aaditya Thackeray
New Delhi: With the
Drug Controller General
of India (DCGI) approv-
ing two new COVID-19
vaccines and one anti-
viral drug for emergency
use on Tuesday, Dr
Arjun Dang, CEO, Dr
Dangs Lab, welcomed
the announcement and
said they feel immensely
proud “to have been a
part of this momentous
journey as the central lab
of choice for an end-to-
end services” concerning
Corbevax vaccine. “Dr
Dangs Lab conducted
screening, safety and
several immunogenic-
ity tests for all the three
phases of the Corbevax
which were multi-centric,
ensuring seamless man-
agement, timely submis-
sion of results. —ANI
OPS urges Stalin to take ‘appropriate action’
to curb spread of Omicron in Tamil Nadu
Chennai: All India
Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (AIADMK)
Coordinator and former
deputy Chief Minister
O Panneerselvam on
Wednesday urged Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister MK
Stalin to take “appropri-
ate action” to curb the
spread of the Omicron
variant of Covid-19 in
the State. Panneersel-
vam said, “The number
of Omicron confirmed
cases in Tamil Nadu
has risen to 45 on
Wednesday. Doctors
expect schools, colleg-
es, Government offices,
banks, private offices
and factories to ensure
100 per cent face
masks and adherence
to community spaces.”
“Therefore, I urge the
CM to take appropriate
action to prevent the
further spread of the
Omicron,” he added.
Lucknow: A shock-
ing viral video of a
man thrashing a
Dalit minor girl in
Uttar Pradesh’s Am-
ethi has triggered
outrage, prompting
the police to register
a case and make an
arrest. Two men
were arrested in Am-
ethi on Wednesday
for assaulting a
16-year-old Dalit girl
in Raipur Phulwari
town on suspicion of
theft, police said.
The video shows
two men holding the
teenaged girl to the
floor while a third
rains blows on the
soles of her feet with
a stick. The girl was
reportedly accused
of theft; three wom-
en seen in the video
are heard question-
ing her. She cries out
in pain, but the blows
don’t stop. At one
point, the man hit-
ting the girl drags
her on the floor,
grabs her by the hair
and shakes her in a
brutal show.
In a statement
shared on Twitter by
the official handle of
Amethi Police, Circle
Officer Arpit Kapoor
has said they have
registered a case un-
der the Protection of
Children from Sexu-
al Offences (POCSO)
Act and the SC/ST
(Prevention of Atroc-
ities) Act and arrest-
ed one Naman Soni
so far. He added that
the other accused in
the case will be ar-
rested soon.
Condemning the
incident, Congress
leader Priyanka Gan-
dhiVadrahastrained
guns at the Yogi Gov-
ernment. —PTI
2 held in UP after
video of girl being
tortured goes viral
Thiruvananthapuram: A 19-year-old youth was
stabbed to death allegedly by the owner of a
house, which he broke into early on Wednesday,
police said. The accused later surrendered at the
nearby police station and admitted that he killed
the youth suspecting him to be a thief.
Anish George, a native of Pettah in the heart of
the city, was killed by Lalu, who also hails from
the same place. According to the accused, the
shocking incident took place by around 3.30 am.
Lalu said he woke up to some noise in one of the
rooms on the first floor of the house and found
George there. Suspecting him to be a thief, he
attacked the person using a sharp weapon. —PTI
KERALA TEEN STABBED TO DEATH IN
ALLEGED ROBBERY ATTEMPT
New Delhi: Refuting
media reports on the
price of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s new
Merc-Maybach S650
guard-armoured cars,
sources in the know
stated that the cars cost
lesser than the appar-
ently inflated prices
quoted in some media
reports. Sources added
that the price was in
fact “a third” of the
range of prices being
quoted in various me-
dia portals.
Earlier, some media
portals reported that
the top of the line May-
bach S650 guard which
had enhanced security
features was in excess
of Rs 12 crore.
However, decisions
makers privy to infor-
mation of this particu-
lar security upgrade
told ANI on the condi-
tion of anonymity that
media reports were
quoting an inflated
priceandalsoexpressed
concern that specula-
tion on security fea-
tures of this particular
car was not in the na-
tional interest. —ANI
New Delhi: The In-
come Tax Department
carried out search-
and-seizure operations
on 22 December on two
prominent business
groups of Raipur and
Korba, engaged in the
businesses of manu-
facturing iron and
steel products, coal
washery.
As per an official re-
lease, the search ac-
tion covered more than
35 premises spread
over Raipur, Korba, Bi-
laspur and Raigarh
districts of Chhattis-
garh.
During the course of
the search action
against one of the
groups, various in-
criminating docu-
ments and digital evi-
dence were found, in-
cluding a parallel set
of cash books. The pre-
liminary analysis of
these parallel sets of
cash books revealed a
systematic record of
unaccounted transac-
tions of more than Rs.
200 crore.
Later, it came to
light that certain enti-
ties of this group were
indulged in hiding re-
crods of actual pro-
duction and unac-
counted sales made in
cash. In the case of
one such entity, a par-
allel set of books of ac-
count bore evidence of
transactions of about
Rs.50 crore, which is
not reflected in the
regular books of ac-
count. —ANI
New Delhi: In what
could be a major suc-
cess for PM Modi Govt’s
defence export push,
India is expected to
soon get export order
from Philippines for
BrahMos supersonic
cruise missiles.
“India and Philippines
are in an advanced
stage of negotiations
over the sale of
BrahMos supersonic
cruise missile. Export
order likely to be placed
soon,” government
sources told ANI.
“DRDO and BrahMos
Aerospace together
have been pushing hard
for exports of this mis-
sile to friendly foreign
countries: for the last
few months,” sources
said. —ANI
Chennai: Apple suppli-
er Foxconn Technology
Group on Wednesday,
said that it is restruc-
turing its local manage-
ment team, after the re-
cent mass food-poison-
ing incident at Sripe-
rumbudur factory’s off-
site dormitory facility.
An Apple spokesperson
said Foxconn’s Sripe-
rumbudur facility
placed on probation.
In a statement on
Wednesday, Foxconn
said that all employees
will continue to be paid
while “necessary im-
provements” are under-
taken before restarting
operations.
Foxconn said it will
continue to provide
support for staff as they
return to work. “We are
also restructuring our
local management team
and our management
systems to ensure we
can achieve and main-
tain the high standards
that are needed,” a
statement by Foxconn
Technology Group said.
— Agencies
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi repealed the
three agriculture laws
by putting his reputa-
tion at stake and agreed
to accept everything the
farmers said.
But the demand for
removal of Union MoS
for Home Ajay Mishra
alias Teni Maharaj from
the government was not
accepted. The farmers
kept pushing for this
and the entire Opposi-
tion was adamant about
this in Parliament but
the government did not
budge. Teni Maharaj
was definitely kept out
of someeventsandsome
days from Parliament
but he was not removed.
BJPbelievesthatTeni
Maharaj will mobilise
Brahmin votes in UP
, so
hewasnotremoved.Sig-
nificantly, the BJP is
worrying over the Brah-
min vote. In the areas of
Purvanchal and Bun-
delkhand, there is news
of Brahmins getting an-
gry with the BJP
.
Only then, on the pre-
text of the ‘Prabudh
Varg Sammelan’, the
BJP had organised
Brahmin conferences
and now a committee of
Brahmin leaders has
been formed, which will
go to the area and con-
vince the angry Brah-
mins. Ajay Mishra has
also been included in
this committee.
A meeting of Brah-
min leaders was held at
the residence of Union
Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan in Delhi, in
which this committee
was formed. Apart from
Teni Maharaj, Deputy
CM Dinesh Sharma,
Minister Shrikant Shar-
ma and Jitin Prasad are
also included in this.
CONGRESS HAS
HATRED FOR
HINDUS: SAMBIT
BSF SEIZES YABA
TABLETS WORTH
`1.47 CR, 4 HELD
New Delhi: Slamming
the Congress over the
Malegaon case, BJP
spokesperson Sambit
Patra said the grand-old
party has a hatred for
Hindus. The BJP spokes-
persons remarks came
a day after a witness of
2008 Malegaon bomb
blast case turned hostile
and told the court that
Maharashtra ATS had
forced him to falsely take
UP CM Yogi Adityanath
and five RSS members’
names in the case.
Agartala: The BSF on
Tuesday seized 29,580
Yaba tablets worth Rs
1.47 crore near the
Indo-Bangladesh border
in Tripura. Earlier on
Tuesday night, the BSF
troops confiscated
contraband items worth
Rs 15,78,138. Acting
on specific intelligence
inputs, BSF troops of
Gokulnagar foiled the
trans-border attempt
and apprehended four
Bangladeshi nationals.
ITBP CHIEF GETS
ADDITIONAL
CHARGE OF SSB DG
BAGHEL TO VISIT
DELHI, ATTEND PRE-
BUDGET MEETING
New Delhi: ITBP
chief Sanjay Arora on
Wednesday was given
additional charge of the
post of Director General
SSB. The MHA issued
an office memorandum
directing to refer to the
subject and to convey
the approval of the
competent authority
that consequent upon
the superannuation of
Kumar Rajesh Chandra
as Director-General of
the SSB in December
this year.
New Delhi: Chattisgarh
Chief Minister Bhupesh
Baghel will visit Delhi on
Thursday to attend the
pre-budget meeting with
Finance Ministers of all
States and UTs sched-
uled tomorrow.
The meeting is to be
held at Vigyan Bhawan
in the national capital.
According to sources
Chief Minister Bhupesh
Baghel is also likely to
meet Congress High
command.
‘WHY TROUBLED’: MINISTER’S JIBE AT
AKHILESH ON UP BUSINESSMAN RAIDS
Ballia: Taking a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav, Union
Minister Anurag Thakur said the Samajwadi
Party (SP) chief was
“troubled” over raids
at a perfume trader’s
properties but did not
feel for the poor. He
also sought to know
whether Congress
president Sonia Gandhi, senior leaders Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Yadav
had taken the “BJP vaccine” for Covid-19.
CRUCIAL READ I-T dept conducts searches on
business houses of Chhattisgarh
Sources clarify on car
added to PM’s security
India, Philippines
close to finalising
BrahMos missile
deal soon
Apple puts Foxconn’s
facility on probation
Will Teni Maharaj successfully mobilise
Brahmin votes for BJP in UP elections
Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray holds a meeting at the BMC office to review the situation.
Ajay Mishra alias Teni Maharaj
MASS FOOD POSIONING IN TN

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: Waves of
foreign portfolio invest-
ments worth over
`51,000 crore splashed
into the Indian market
in 2021 as overseas in-
vestors turned net buy-
ers of domestic securi-
ties for the third
straight year while ex-
cess global liquidity
and other factors
steered the ebb and
flow of their investing
ways.
With the global fi-
nancial system still
flush with liquidity,
emerging market as-
sets, especially equi-
ties, might well remain
the preferred invest-
ment avenue for many
more months to come,
experts opined.
As the equities siz-
zled during most of
2021, that also saw
economy slowly com-
ing back into the recov-
ery path, Foreign Port-
folio Investors (FPIs)
turned net buyers but
their investment is
much less compared to
net inflows of `1.03
lakh crore in 2020. And
last year's quantum
was lower than `1.35
lakh crore investments
made by them in 2019.
Mirroring the roller-
coaster ride for foreign
portfolio investment
flows in the Indian
market this year, FPIs
emerged as net buyers
for six months, includ-
ing three months con-
tinuously starting from
Jan. In June, August
and Sept also, these in-
vestors made net in-
vestments and the re-
maining six months
witnessed net FPI out-
flows. Excess liquidity
in the global financial
system, resurgence of
concerns over the coro-
navirus pandemic, ris-
ing global inflation as
well as higher valua-
tion of Indian equity
markets are among the
mix of factors that in-
fluenced FPIs.
Data with the deposi-
tories showed that
overseas investors
pumped in `26,001
crore into equities,
`23,222 crore into debt
segment and `1,848
crore in hybrid instru-
ments.
This took the total
net inflow between Jan-
uary and December 28,
2021 to `51,068 crore.
About the relatively
lower FPI inflows this
year, Milind Muchhala,
Executive Director at
Julius Baer, cited
strengthening of the
dollar index, outflows
from various emerging
markets, including In-
dia, and profit-booking
on account of the coun-
try being a large out-
performer in compari-
son to other emerging
markets till the end of
September quarter, as
the key factors. —PTI
Excess liquidity in the global
financial system, rising global
inflation are among the mix of
factors that influenced FPIs
FPIs’ net investments cross
FBI STATS
DATA SHOWED
26,001
crore rupees
investors pumped
into equities
23,222
crore rupees
into debt
segment
`51,000crin2021
Air India lenders
offer `35,000 cr
in loan to Talace
New Delhi: Lenders
to Air India have of-
fered to extend more
than `35,000 crore to
the Tatas at a weight-
ed-average yield of
4.25% - the rate at
which the sovereign
borrows for a year.
Tata Sons-promoted
Talace, which will be
taking over Air India
following privatisa-
tion, had invited bids
for a one-year general
purpose loan of
`23,000 crore from the
airline’s existing lend-
ers. This includes
`18,000 crore for tak-
ing over Air India’s
debt and an additional
`5,000 crore for initial
operating costs.
The weighted-aver-
age yield of 4.25% is
the cut-off rate at
which the government
last raised one-year
money through an
auction of 364-days
treasury bills.
“It is an overwhelm-
ing response consider-
ing that the loan is
unrated and unse-
cured and yet the pric-
ing is near sovereign,”
said an executive at
one of the lenders,
which has sanctioned
nearly `3,000 crore.
“Further, it shows
lenders’ confidence in
the Tatas despite them
informing banks that
it would be at least six
months before they
can make any projec-
tions for the busi-
ness.” —Agencies
Sensex drops 91
points, Nifty at
17, 214
Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped by near-
ly 91 points on Wednesday due to profit booking in
HDFC Bank, SBI and ITC after a two-day rally
.
The 30-share index ended 90.99 points or 0.16 per cent
lower at 57,806.49 in a volatile trade.
The broader Nifty fell by 19.65 points or 0.11 per
cent to 17,213.60.
SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shed-
ding over 1 per cent, followed by ITC, NTPC, Tech
Mahindra, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and MM.
Ontheotherhand,SunPharma,IndusInd
Bank, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Finserv were
among the gainers. —PTI
Date extended to
complete online
verification of FY’
2019-20 ITRs
New Delhi: Taxpayers
who have not e-verified
their ITRs for 2019-20
fiscal can complete the
verification process by
February 28, 2022, as
the Income Tax depart-
ment has given a one-
time relaxation to as-
sessees.
“In respect of all
lTRs for Assessment
Year 2020-21 (fiscal 2019-
20) which were upload-
ed electronically by the
taxpayers within the
time allowed… and
which have remained
incomplete due to non-
submission of ITR-V
Form… the Board…
hereby permits verifi-
cation of such returns
either by sending a duly
signed physical copy of
ITR-V to CPC, Bengalu-
ru through speed post
or through EVC/OTP
modes.
“Such verification
process must be com-
pleted by February
28,2022,” the CBDT said.
This relaxation shall
not apply in those cas-
es, where during the
intervening period, I-T
department has al-
ready taken recourse to
any other measure for
ensuring filing of tax
return by the taxpayer
concerned after declar-
ing that the return has
not been filed, it added.
—PTI
I-T dept eases norms for
personal hearing via VC
New Delhi: The in-
come tax department
has brought in chang-
es to the existing face-
less appeal scheme,
easing the process for
taxpayers wanting a
personal hearing
through video confer-
ence while appealing
against a tax demand
by the department.
The Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT)
on December 28, noti-
fied the ‘Faceless Ap-
peal Scheme, 2021’ and
said that the Commis-
sioner (Appeals) shall
allow the request for
personal hearing via
video conference and
communicate the date
and time of hearing to
the appellant through
the National Faceless
Appeal Centre. —PTI
New Delhi: Over 4.86 crore Income Tax Returns
for 2020-21 fiscal have been filed so far includ-
ing over 18.89 lakh ITRs filed on Dec 28 alone,.
“A total of 4,86,34,306 #ITRs have been filed
upto 28.12.2021 including 18,89,057 #ITRs hav-
ing been filed on the day itself,” the department
tweeted giving details of ITRs filed for Assess-
ment Year 2021-22 (2020-21 fiscal year). —PTI
4.86 CR+ ITRS FILED FOR FY21 SO FAR,
NEARLY 19 LAKH FILED ON DEC 28
Ahmedabad most affordable housing
market; Mumbai unaffordable
NewDelhi:Ahmedabad
is the most affordable
housing market among
eight major cities while
Mumbai is unafforda-
ble due to high EMI to
total income ratio, ac-
cording to Knight
Frank.
According to Knight
Frank’s Affordability
Index 2021 report re-
leased on Wednesday,
Indian markets are at
their decadal best in
terms of housing af-
fordability
.
Decline in house
prices and multi-dec-
ade low home loan in-
terest rates have helped
improve housing af-
fordability in 2021, it
added.
The affordability
index indicates the
proportion of in-
come that a house-
hold requires, to fund
the equated monthly
instalment (EMI) of a
housing unit in a par-
ticular city
.
So, the index level of
40 per cent for a city im-
plies that on an aver-
age, households in that
city need to spend 40
per cent of their in-
come to fund the EMI
of housing loan for that
unit.
An EMI to total in-
come ratio over 50 per
cent is considered unaf-
fordable.
Knight Frank said
that the affordability
ratio in Delhi-NCR
improved maxi-
m u m ,
from 38
percent
in 2020
to 28 per cent in 2021.
“All markets, except
Mumbai, are recorded
to be well below the
threshold of affordabil-
ity set at 50 per cent ra-
tio,” it said.
A h m e d a b a d
emerged as the most af-
fordable housing
market in
the coun-
try with
an afford-
a b i l i t y
r a t i o
of
20 per cent followed by
Pune at 24 per cent in
2021.
Mumbai’s affordabil-
ity ratio stood at 53 per
cent. But, the city’s af-
fordability has im-
proved the most since
2011.
The affordability in-
dex of Hyderabad
stood at 29 per cent, and
Bengaluru 26 per cent.
Both, Chennai and Kol-
kata scored 25 per cent.
—PTI
Indian travellers indulged in
‘workcation’ mode this year
New Delhi: Indian
travellers were busy in-
dulging in ‘workcation’
-- working away from
home in a scenic loca-
tion -- this year as they
tried to adapt and make
up for lost vacations
while working remote-
ly after the coronavirus
pandemic upended
travel and tourism sec-
tor in 2020, according to
OYOTravelopedia2021.
Around 65% of re-
spondents in India
have travelled in the
past six months and a
majority of them visit-
ed their loved ones,
while some went for a
getaway from their dai-
ly routines and trav-
elled for leisure.
“Nearly 48% of Indi-
ans worked from home
during the year, out of
which a whopping 85%
preferred taking work-
cations or working
away from home in a
scenic location. And
o u t
o f
these, 61% took a work-
cation,” according to
Travelopedia 2021.
Interestingly, nearly
27% took a month-long
workcation. Hill sta-
tions ranked top on the
list of spots for these
work and travel trips,
followed by many who
visited their home-
towns and beach desti-
nations. It was found
that with mass vacci-
nation drives, travel
intent and confidence
among Indians is back
with 60% of respond-
ents have planned va-
cations for the winter
holiday season. —PTI
Around 65% of respondents have travelled in
the past six months and a majority of them
visited their loved ones while some went for a
getaway from their daily routines
APPROVED LIMITS

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Allahabad: The web-
site of UP Higher Edu-
cation Service Commis-
sion (UPHESC) was
hacked on Tuesday
with the hackers replac-
ing the last name “Alla-
habadi” of some re-
nowned poets with
“Praygaraj” in an “ap-
parent resentment” of
the change of the name
of this historical city,
an official said.
The Prayagraj-based
Commission, however,
was able to restore its
Hindi website and the
work is on to restore its
English portal, Com-
mission chairman Ish-
war Charan Vishva
Karma adding that the
commission had no role
to play this.
Last name “Allahaba-
di” of renowned poets
was replaced by “Praya-
graj” including that of
Akbar Allahabadi.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Congress
leader Priyanka Gan-
dhi on Wednesday criti-
cised the Yogi Adity-
anath government over
the thrashing of a Dalit
girl in Amethi.
Attaching the video
of the incident, the
Congress General Sec-
retary tweeted, “If the
criminals who commit-
ted this inhuman act
are not caught within
24 hours, then the
Congress will work to
wake you up by vigor-
ous agitation.”
“This inci-
dent of
r u t h l e s s
thrashing
of a Dalit
girl in
Amethi
is condemnable. @MY-
OGIADITYANATH Sir
on an average 34 crime
incidents against Dalits
take place every day un-
der your rule and 135
against women, yet
your law and order is
sleeping,” she said.
Amethi Deputy Su-
perintendent of Police
Arpit Kapoor said that
one ac-
c u s e d
h a s
been ar-
r e s t e d
in the
case.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: In a display
of tremendous alacrity,
the Customs officers at
Indira Gandhi Interna-
tional Airport (IGIA),
New Delhi, unravelled
yet another case of co-
caine smuggling by de-
tecting a case of human
ingestion of specially
designed pellets con-
taining cocaine.
Customs officers
identified one Ugandan
passenger, who arrived
at Terminal-3, IGIA a
few days back. The gait
and body movements of
the passenger were un-
usual. The customs of-
ficer, out of sheer good-
will, approached her if
she needed any help.
However, the passenger
refused to accept any
help. Sensing the unu-
sual behaviour of the
passenger, the Customs
officers maintained a
vigil on her.
After a while, the pas-
senger crossed the
green channel and was
approaching exit gate
of International Arriv-
al hall, when the cus-
toms officers finally in-
tercepted her. Upon
questioning, the pas-
senger finally divulged
that she had swallowed
91 capsules of narcotic
substance.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath’s
announcement to give
Rs 500 per month to la-
bourers of unorganised
sector registered on e-
Shram portal has tig-
gered a rush among the
sons of toil making a
beeline to get them-
selves listed on the web-
site.
The UP CM is set to
release the first Rs 500
instalment on Decem-
ber 31, to about 2.5 crore
labourers and about 60
lakh registered labour-
ers in the unorganised
sector.
The amount will be
paid each month till
March 2022 in the poll-
bound state. On Tues-
day, UP was the State
with the most number
of listing, with 31.60
lakh labourers from un-
organised sector regis-
tering on the Centre’s
portal. The idea behind
the registration is to
form a country-wide da-
tabase of unorganised
sector workers and the
portal has crossed the
15-crore mark with
over 15.53 enrolments.
The e-Shram portal,
launched on August 25,
had issued over
15.53-crore e-Shram
cards by Tuesday even-
ing,thewebsiteshowed.
The Labour and Em-
ployment Ministry’s e-
Shram dashboard
showed that out of 44.48
lakh registrations on
Monday, Uttar Pradesh
was the State with the
most number of listing,
with 31.60 lakh; fol-
lowed by Bihar with
2.48 lakh and Tamil
Nadu (1.34 lakh).
Among the sectors
the workers came from,
agriculture was at the
top with 22.23 lakh reg-
istrations, while domes-
tic and household work
was at the second place
with 6.20 lakh, followed
by 3.09 lakh in construc-
tion.
First India Bureau
Imphal: Denlang SHG
(Self Help Group) was
formed at H MAKHAO
village in 2014 with help
of North Eastern Re-
gion Community Re-
source Management
Project (NERCORMP)
through Sahei Founda-
tion. There are 15 mem-
bers including Presi-
dent, Secretary and
Treasurer in the Den-
lang SHG. The SHG
meeting is organised
twice a month in which
each member contribu-
tion Rs 40. Since its in-
ception, the SHG is pro-
gressing without any
constraint. Apart from
earning income, many
activities like maintain-
ing cleanliness and
medical treatment fa-
cilities are being con-
ducted through this
SHG in the village by
putting small dustbins.
Some of the group in-
come generating activi-
ties that were done in
the previous years were
mushroom culture, cul-
tivating leafy vegeta-
bles, weaving and poul-
try. These activities
were voluntarily initi-
ated by the SHG. In-
come generated from
the activities goes in the
group account.
The SHG was formed
with zero balance in
2014, but as it pro-
gressed, in 2021 the
group members have
more than Rs 2.5 lakh as
their corpus fund. The
money was used as re-
volving fund among the
members at 2 percent
rate of interest. The re-
volving fund benefits in
economic uplift, open-
ing of small and medi-
umbusiness enterpris-
es and as a security in
times of shocks and
emergency
.
The SHG functions as
a valuable bank that
supports the customers
to promote their daily
income based activity.
At individual level, the
members used the mon-
ey without any hesita-
tion and initiate ven-
tures that could benefit
them. Moreover, at the
low interest of 2 per
cent, they could repay
the loan. The rules and
regulation were prop-
erly followed in distri-
bution, allocation, in-
terest, repayment and
disbursement of money
.
The SHG also pro-
vides more rigid social
bonding among the
members by sharing
their problems and
helping each other in
times of need.
Women SHG write own success story in North Eastern Region
ROLE MODELS
Denlang SHG members at H MAKHAO village; (right) the SHG members operating a feed block machine.
First India Bureau
Vadtal: Governor
Acharya Devvrat on
Wednesday inaugurat-
ed the three-day Sub-
hash Palekar Natural
Agriculture Training
for farmers of Central
Gujarat districts at
Vadtal in Kheda dis-
trict.
Speaking about the
benefits of natural
farming, he said, “Nat-
ural farming is a radi-
cal change to counter
the ill effects of irra-
tional use of chemicals
on nature. It will be a
turning point in nature
conservation and also
help raise the income
of farmers. The state
government has taken
the lead in this grand
campaign to direct
farmers of Gujarat to-
wards natural farm-
ing.” The training
event is a joint venture
of the agriculture de-
partment, farmer wel-
fare and co-operation
department, ATM pro-
ject and natural farm-
ing coordinating com-
mittee, Gandhinagar.
Farmers from Suren-
dranagar and Narma-
da districts including
Central Gujarat will
participate in the work-
shop.
On this occasion, the
governor also hon-
oured farmers of vari-
ous districts engaged
in natural farming by
giving away certifi-
cates. “Natural farm-
ing will help save the
environment, water
and land. It will also
increase the income of
farmers, as people will
purchase their produce
for good prices. Around
3,000 farmers are ex-
pected to attend this
three-day training
camp at Vadtal. We are
hopeful to take Gujarat
towards becoming a
‘poison-free’ state.
Through natural farm-
ing, consumers will
also get ‘poison-free’
food,” said Governor
Devvrat.
First India Bureau
Surat: A Surat court on
Wednesday sentenced a
27-year-old man to life
imprisonment “for the
remainder of his natu-
ral life” in a case of
rape and murder of a
five-year-old girl in
April this year.
After the court of
special POCSO judge
PS Kala pronounced
the sentence, the con-
vict, Sujit Saket, got en-
raged and hurled his
slippers towards the
judge. But, the footwear
missed the target and
fell near the witness
box.
According to the
prosecution, the con-
vict, a native of Mad-
hya Pradesh, raped and
murdered the girl--the
daughter of a migrant
labourer--on April 30.
On finding the child
alone, the convict kid-
napped her under the
pretext of getting her a
chocolate.
He took the girl to an
isolated place where he
raped her and then
strangulated her to
death, as per the prose-
cution.
An FIR was lodged
against the man under
relevant provisions, in-
cluding the Protection
of Children from Sexu-
al Offences (POCSO)
Act, at Hazira police
station here.
The court took into
account statements of
26 witnesses examined
by the prosecution and
also considered 53 doc-
umentary evidences
before pronouncing the
order.
Guv Devvrat opens 3-day farmer training camp in Guj’s Kheda
Governor Acharya Devvrat lighting the lamp at inauguration ceremony.
SENTENCED TO LIFE, CONVICT
HURLS FOOTWEAR AT JUDGE
Devbhumi Dwarka: A
special court in Devb-
humi Dwarka district
sentenced a witch
doctor to 20 years of
rigorous imprisonment
for raping a minor on
the pretext of treating
her for an ailment. The
Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act court
of additional district
judge DD Buddhadev
on Tuesday sentenced
Bharat Songara to
20 years of rigorous
imprisonment and
fined him Rs10,000.
The judge also ordered
the district authority
to pay Rs5 lakh to the
victim under a govern-
ment compensation
scheme. The incident
reportedly took place
at Bhatvadia village in
Kalyanpur taluka of
the district in March
2019. The 14-year-old
victim’s parents had
approached Songara
as the girl had been
unwell. On one such
occasion, he took the
girl to an isolated area
behind a temple in
her parents’ absence
and raped her on the
pretext of treating her,
it was stated. When
the victim’s parents
questioned her about
the change in her
behaviour, she told
them about the abuse,
following which a case
was registered.
Sujit Saket was convicted of raping
murdering a five-year-old girl in April
WITCH DOCTOR
GETS 20-YEAR RI
FOR RAPING MINOR
Akbar Prayagraji: Hackers
behind the name-change,
clarifies UPHESC office
`500 dole triggers registration rush in UP
CM Yogi Adityanath has announced to give Rs 500 per month to
labourers of unorganised sector registered on e-Shram portal.
1 kg cocaine ingested by
Ugandan passenger
seized at IGI Airport
Priyanka flays Yogi govt
after viral video of Dalit
girl thrashing in Amethi
Priyanka Gandhi
Akbar Allahabadi

08
2NDFRONT
Warm welcome awaits Amit Shah in Ayodhya on Dec 31
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Hectic prep-
arations have been
launched in Ayodhya to
accord warm welcome
to Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah on De-
cember 31. Shah, who
will visit Ram temple
and Hanumangarhi,
will address a rally at
Govt Inter College.
The BJP MLA Ved
Prakash Gupta on
Wednesday held a re-
view meet of BJP office-
bearers and workers.
He said efforts were
made to mobilize people
in large numbers to
make the rally memora-
ble, which is scheduled
in Ayodhya Sadar as-
sembly constituency.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi
Adityanath, Deputy CM
Keshav Prasad Maurya
and state BJP chief
Swatantra Deo Singh
are likely to attend the
rally. It will be the first
rally by a top BJP lead-
er ahead of the UP elec-
tion. Earlier this month
national BJP president
JP Nadda had visited
the temple town along
with chief ministers of
BJP ruled states to visit
Ram Temple and other
holy shrines. In August
2020 prime minister
Narendra Modi visited
the town to lay the foun-
dation stone of the Ram
temple.
Shah had last visited
Ayodhya in 2013 as in-
charge of UP for 2014
Lok Sabha elections.
Under his effective
guidance the BJP had
routed the opposition
parties to win 72 Lok
Sabha seats.
With Ayodhya top in
BJP’s Hindutva agenda,
Shah’s visit is set to give
further fillip to the par-
ty’s campaign. The Yogi
government has under-
taken massive develop-
ment work in the tem-
ple town. The BJP has
been making deft ef-
forts to win all the as-
sembly seats. Gupta
said that Shah’s visit
was vital for the party
to widen the party’s
base in the region. Gup-
ta said a door-to-door
campaign had been
launched to mobilize
the people for the rally.
Gupta said Shah would
be in town after a long
gap to see for himself to
development work done
by central and state gov-
ernments. Gupta said
all the “Shakti kend-
ras” had been activated
to ensure the success of
the rally
.
FIRST BIG RALLY AHEAD OF UP ELECTION
Alliance of Captain Amarinder, BJP
Dhindsa will prove to be a zero: AAP
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) Punjab
President and Member
of ParliamentBhagwant
Mann has termed the al-
liance between former
CM Capt Amarinder
Singh, SAD (United)
President Sukhdev Sin-
gh Dhindsa and BJP as
political opportunism.
He said that the people’s
court would show that
no matter how many ze-
ros are added, the sum
will remain zero.
In a statement issued
on Wednesday
, Mann
quoted the teachings of
the Holy Gita, “Whatev-
er’shappening,itisgood
and what’ll happen, that
would be good too; be-
cause, people are watch-
ing closely
, seeing these
political opportunists,
people are sure that this
time past mistakes will
not be repeated and a
chance will be given to
the AAP
.
Mann lashed out at
the BJP
, Captain and
Dhindsa group, saying,
“Now that your old ne-
farious alliance has
come to light, add the
Badal zero to your zeros
too, but the result will
still be zero.” Mann
asked Capt. Amarinder
SinghtotellthePunjabis
why they should give
him a single vote.
Describing the BJP as
a political shark, Mann
said that today the BJP
has become the biggest
threat to the country’s
constitution, democracy
and brotherhood as well
as political values. He
added that people will
definitely give a chance
to Arvind Kejriwal’s de-
velopment model this
time.
Whatever’s happening and what’ll happen,
it is all good. Now that your old nefarious
alliance has come to light, add the Badal
zero to your zeros too, but the result will still be zero.
—Bhagwant Mann, AAP Punjab State President
Punjab CM Channi in
driver’s seat, literally!
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: On
Wednesday, Punjab
CM Charanjit Singh
Channi was in the
driver’s seat, literally
on the occasion of the
induction of 842 new
buses in state trans-
ports’ fleet. Channi
drove a new Punbus
for a short distance as
part of the induction
of 58 new buses into
the state fleet. A total
of 842 modern vehi-
cles are being added
into the state fleet in
one go for the first
time ever at a cost of
Rs 400 crore.
Flagging off the
first tranche of 30
buses for PRTC and 28
buses for PUNBUS,
Channi said the last
two months had wit-
nessed the transport
department’s revival
as a result of strin-
gent action against
erring bus operators
and tax evaders.
He also announced
a free bus travel facil-
ity for college stu-
dents. The decision
will benefit lakhs of
students across Pun-
jab in ensuring edu-
cation to them.
Chandigarh: AAP’s Punjab affairs co-in-
charge and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha
has termed the remarks by PPCC Presi-
dent Navjot Singh Sidhu on Punjab Police
personnel as unfortunate and shameful.
Chadha also dared Sidhu to leave the se-
curity of police if he doesn’t have respect
for Punjab Police. At a press conference at
the party HQ on Wednesday, Chadha con-
demned Sidhu’s remarks and raised the is-
sue of long hours and minimal allowances
of Punjab Police personnel. Chadha told
Sidhu that they are the same officers who
are on duty day and night for his safety.
AAP DARES SIDHU TO LEAVE SECURITY IF HE DOESN’T RESPECT PUNJAB POLICE
Indian Army sets up Quantum
Lab, AI Centre at Mhow MP
Workforpublic
welfare:OmBirla
Bhanwar S Charan
Kota: Lok Sabha Speak-
er Om Birla on Wednes-
day was felicitated by
the public representa-
tives who were victori-
ous in the recently con-
cluded Panchayat Raj
elections. Speaker Birla
told everyone to work in
the direction of public
welfare and do not let
self interest come in it.
Addressing the func-
tion organized at
Dharanidhar Garden,
Birla said that victory
in the election should
not make us proud and
one should not be dis-
tracted by defeat. “If we
win it is God’s blessing
and if we lose it is also
God’s will. In both the
circumstances our aim
should be to serve the
people. If you work
keeping these things in
mind, then the mind
will never suffer,” he
said and further added,
“You should keep kar-
ma above all but do not
wish for its fruits. If
you keep doing the
work, then one day you
will definitely get the
fruits. While doing our
work, we should have a
feeling that we are
working in social life
and if we are deter-
mined, then no matter
what the situation may
be, we can change them.
Our effort should now
be to make our village a
model village in the
next two years. You
should lead develop-
ment in every field of
education, medicine,
health, drinking water,
agriculture. You are the
representative of every
person in your area af-
ter the election is over.
Be kind to them and re-
spect their words.”
First India Bureau
Mhow: The Indian
Army is making steady
,
yet significant strides in
the field of emerging
technology domains.
The Army
, with support
from the National Secu-
rity Council Secretariat
(NSCS) has recently es-
tablished the Quantum
Lab at Military College
of Telecommunication
Engineering, Mhow
(MP) MCTE to spear-
head research and
training in this key de-
veloping field. Gen MM
Naravane, the Chief of
Army Staff was briefed
on the facility during
his recent visit to Mhow.
Indian Army has also
established an Artificial
Intelligence (AI) Centre
at the same institution
with over 140 deploy-
ments in forward areas
and active support of
industry and academia.
Training on cyber war-
fare is being imparted
through a state of art
cyber range, and cyber
security labs. Ideation
for involvement in Elec-
tromagnetic Spectrum
Operations was done in
a seminar organized in
October last year.
ALL ROADS TO AI
Haryana govt coming up with new schemes
to increase the income of poor, says Khattar
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Haryana
CM Manohar Lal Khat-
tar has said that the
Haryana Government
will come up with new
schemes in the coming
days to increase the in-
come of poor families.
Along with this, old
schemes will also be re-
viewed.
Khattar said that the
goal of the govt is to de-
liver the benefits of the
schemes to the last per-
son standing in the line.
The second phase of
Antyodaya Melas will
start across the state
from Jan 7. In the first
phase 156 fairs were or-
ganized. In this, 90,000
out of 1.5 lakh families
took part. The loans of
many people who came
to these Melas have also
been approved. The
purpose of these melas
is to encourage poor
families to take up em-
ployment.
The Haryana CM
held a meeting with Ad-
ditional Deputy Com-
missioners across the
state at Haryana Niwas.
During this, Principal
Secy to the Chief Minis-
ter, V Umashankar and
all the Deputy Commis-
sioners were connected
virtually
.
During the meeting,
while giving instruc-
tions to the Additional
Deputy Commission-
ers, the CM said that the
Parivar Pehchan Patra
is being appreciated not
only in the state but it is
being discussed all over
the country. People
from other states are
coming to study this
model.
He instructed ADCs
to carry out this job
with sensitivity. Every-
one’s goal is to help the
poor and needy fami-
lies, he added. Different
ideas should be worked
on related to this, so
that the goal can be
achieved in time. He
further said that efforts
have to be made to make
the entire district self-
reliant, take the youth,
not towards jobs but to-
wards employment.
Goal of the
government is
to deliver the
benefits of the schemes
to the last person
standing in the line. In
view of this the second
phase of Antyodaya
Melas will start across
the state of Haryana
from January 7. Pari-
var Pehchan Patra is
being discussed all over
the country
—Manohar Lal Khattar,
Chief Minister Haryana
Haryana CM holding meeting with Additional Deputy Commissioners at Haryana Niwas.
(COAS) General MM Naravane
being briefed at Army facility
during his visit to Mhow.
Om Birla meets public in the camp office in Kota on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah
AAP’s National Convener Arvind Kejriwal and AAP’s Punjab State
President Bhagwant Mann. —FILEPHOTO
Punjab CM Channi launching new PUNBUS on Wednesday.
Theaimoflifeisgrowth-physical,mental,
emotionalandspiritual-attheendofthe
yearwesimplymustlookbacktoseeour
growthpatternsinthepreviousyear!
—Jagdeesh Chandra,CEO Editor-in-Chief,First India

NEW DELHI, THURSDAY
DECEMBER 30, 2021
09
n ace model and a
stunning fashion afi-
cionado, Akanksha is a
young woman with
vivid dreams and a
fierce passion to
achieve all that she
aims for. She walks with grace,
poses with panache and moves
like melodies. As she swayed to
the new track, ‘Aag Laga Do’,
she left a lot of mouths gawking
in absolute awe and fascination.
In conversation with City First,
Akanksha spills the beans
about her career trajectory, her
experiences with ‘Aag Laga Do’,
and the next chapter of her life.
In just ten days, Bhalla’s video
had over 5.1 million views. This
is her debut item number after
5 years in the modelling indus-
try, and it is safe to say it has
received a great response from
the public. While expressing im-
mense gratitude, Akanksha
said, “Kamal Kumawat, Direc-
tor; Rahul Meena from V pro-
duction; Vidhi Joshi, choreog-
rapher; Monish Raja; Vashika
Sethi, make up artist and the
entire team did a fabulous job
that led to the success of the
video.” She further added,
“Since my journey started,
Gaurav Gaur, my mentor and
director Elite Miss Rajasthan,
has been my greatest support.
He has helped me tap my poten-
tial at every step of my life.”
When asked whom she looked
up to as her inspiration, the
diva said,” Priyanka Chopra.
She is someone I can connect to.
Deepika Padukone and Nora
Fatehi were her inspirations for
this video in particular.
The entire crew was from Ra-
jasthan and I had a terrific time
with them.”
When questioned about her
ambitions, she stated that mod-
elling is both her profession and
her passion. She’s hoping to
widen her horizons with these
videos, and she’s already gotten
several offers in the 10 days
since her debut.
Aag Laga Do..
SUPERMODEL AND
ACTRESS,
AKANKSHA
BHALLA IS
SETTING NEW
BENCHMARKS
WITH HER
NEW MUSIC
VIDEO, ‘AAG
LAGA DO’
THAT HIT 5.1
MILLION
VIEWS IN JUST 10
DAYS. CITY FIRST
IN CONVERSATION
WITH AN
UNFETTERED
SPIRIT, BHALLA!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
A
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Akanksha Bhalla with Kamal Kumawat and Rahul Meena

ETC
10
I STILL WONDER WONDER
BEAUTIFUL STORY
Kim Taehyung aka V has come a long way.While this living legend’s name will be carved with
gold in the history of music as the phenomenon that changed the world and thoughts of society!
Kim Taehyung, he’s not
just a singer or a BTS
group member for me
but my comfort place
my safe zone. The
person who comforts
me( many people out
there) with his voice/
music. The person who
wants everyone to be
healthy and happy and
has a warm heart. That
boxy smile makes me
forget all my pain, sor-
rows and gives me the
strength to never give
up on anything. This hu-
man is my universe.
—AMRIN
CHOUDHARY
saw a glorious
dream of a charm-
ing Merman com-
ing from the wild
ocean. The gor-
geous, untamed
man adorned shiny
, silky
hair that blew lusciously in
thebreeze.Wallowedonadol-
phin’s tail, he hummed such
dulcet and melodious words,
causing the violent nature of
the sea to yield to his hymn,
civil on the tunes of his melo-
dies. Even the stars plunged
slapdashtohearthatglorious
creature’s rhythm.
Then, just like the first
snowfall, he arrived on
earth, blessing the world
with his charm five days af-
ter Christmas, our little
Winter was born!
In the city of Bisan-dong,
a human is just as pure as a
love song.
He was brought up and
raised in the embrace of
his beloved grandma,
years passed day by day
and that temple of love
left the boy alone to stay
.
It’s true that over time
Kim Taehyung has trans-
lated his experiential
curve from his foetus self to
the most strongest man
alive. From the blue and
grey air of debut days, his
singing, dancing and musi-
cality now shimmied in bril-
liant excellence. Over the
years, he has battled hate
and mastered the warfare to
tackle down haters who
come his way. Today, he
stands unbeatable in the
world of artistry where peo-
ple would pay an arm and a
leg just to watch him per-
form. Regardless, of how he
caterpillarly evolved to a but-
terfly, armies are still going
to protect him and nurture
him with all the purple love
their hearts can contain!
He received his first au-
thorised accreditation for
music composition in 2015
for co-writing and co-produc-
ing the song ‘Hold Me Tight’
from ‘The Most Beautiful
Moment in Life, Part 1’.
Nothing expresses the dis-
tress of a lonely lover than
the soft and slow track and
uniform knocking element
of ‘Hold Me Tight’. The lyr-
ics feel like home for people
who have ever felt a touch of
love and loss. This song de-
picts a constant sense of
time rushing out while also
trying to hold it back. At
such a young age, Taehyung
did nothing less than a mind-
blowing job with this. With
‘Hold me Tight’ to his most-
streamed song ‘Sweet Night’
reflects the breathy
, ethereal
tone of Taehyung’s unique
voice. There is a strong sense
of vulnerability, dainty and
fragility in this song which
expresses perfectly the frag-
ile but real fear of missing,
of losing a chance, of letting
go of someone you must hold
on to. The “fragile truth” has
to be taken with care and one
pair of hands can’t do that
anymore. Apart from the
meaning V’s soulful voice
has intimated this soft truth
with a delicate elegance in
the most beautiful way
.
I
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
Cityfirst@firstindia.com
with his charm five days af-
ter Christmas, our little
Winter was born!
a human is just as pure as a
love song.
raised in the embrace of
his beloved grandma,
curve from his foetus self to
the most strongest man
—ART
WORK
BY
UTTKARSHA
SHEKHAR
AND
DISHA
AJMANI

ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
11
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR
THE NEW YEAR?
nd moment hustles are the
best, especially when it’s
New Year. Our not so per-
fect plans must never be
perfect perhaps so that we
always have room for im-
provement. Just a couple
of days ago all of us were prepping
up for Christmas or not perhaps we
were just waiting for this season to
begin. Now that we have almost
stepped into the next year, I am
pretty sure that we must have
thought for something or the
thought of thinking about a plan
must have come at least once in our
minds.
Whatever the plan may be, let’s
just remember this moment right
here, right now, all the changes that
we have adapted this year, all that
we have lost and gained with an-
other year and all the things that
are waiting for us which are not too
far now.
WITH NEW YEAR JUST AROUND THE
CORNER, MOST OF US ARE EXCITED AS
WE ARE GOING TO STEP INTO A NEW
JOURNEY. HOW ARE WE PLANNING TO
KICK OFF 2021? HOP INTO A COUPLE OF
DISCOS AND DANCE THE NIGHT OFF OR
SPEND A SERENE EVE THANKING OUR
STARS FOR BLESSING US? CITY FIRST GOT
IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO SHARED
THEIR PLANS TO WISH 2021 GOODBYE!
SUSHMITA AIND
sushmita.aind@firstindia.co.in
E It’s hard to choose some-
times, I don’t know what
will bring me joy partying or
visiting my parents. I haven’t
seen them for long now be-
cause of the travel ban but I am
hopeful and willing to see them,
maybe that would bring me joy!
—BASHAR RAHME
We are definitely going
to the Church, spend
some time thanking the
Lord, which we do not often
do. apart from that, yes we
love to party, just a small
together with my brothers and
close friends.
—RISHY AND TARUN MATHEW
I am going to just lay
down and overthink most
probably, kidding. I love
partying but because of the
restrictions i am planning to
sit at home, binge watch, talk to
my best of friends, thing, retro-
spect and just have a soulful day.
—MONA BHARDWAJ
Dance the night off? I
wish that would have
been an option. But,
nonetheless, some food and
beverages and a whole lotta
good music and me singing
with all my might as I welcome
the new year.
—SYMROZ DEBARA
I’ll be pretty much doing
what I do most of the time.
Sit and reflect and watch
the world go by and most
importantly enjoy my cup of
tea. That’s important. Most
things that happen in my daily
life shape me. Appreciate the daily
tidings. —NADEEM KHAN
I am hoping that this year
would be more challenging
because that’s what interests
me. I strongly believe challeng-
es make one mentally strong.
So, I will be prepping up for all of
that with a huge party! Fun is all a
part of it indeed.
—ZEBA MIRZA

12
CAKES AND COCKTAILS!
T
anisha Mo-
han’s Delhi
based social-
ite celebratedher
birthday with much
pomp and show at Ophe-
lia at the Ashoka,
Chanakyapuri, New
Delhi on Wednesday
.
The party went on till
wee hours saw guests
tapping their feet on
scintillating music,
along with savouring
scrumptious canapes
and exotic cocktails.
Many renowned person-
alities including Rid-
dhima Kapoor Sahani,
Vikram Sharma, Aman-
preet Wahi and others
graced the celebration
with their presence.
POLLO ALLA
TOSACANA
MEET AND GREET!
CHRISTMAS BLAST!
Former Chief Election
Commissioner Sunil
Arora with Advocate
Rajesh Tandon at his
residence in New
Delhi on Wednesday.
RajeshTandonpaid
acourtesyvisitto
SunilAroraonhisway
backfromatourof
holyplacesnamely
NainaDevi,Golden
TempleandFatehgar
sahab, his two sons
Mayank and Anupam
accompanied him.
The official handle of the Police Families Welfare Society shared glimpses of the Fancy
Dress competition held recently. The event was for Delhi Police children on the theme of
Christmas. All the children participated wholeheartedly and enjoyed it a lot.
DEVELOPING WORTH AND
VALUES WITH WASTE!
Parth
A
fter a wait of 22
months, the
Bharat Darshan
Park at Punjabi
Baghwasfinallythrown
open to the public after
its inauguration. The
garden, which has a rep-
lica of 22 historical
monuments from 14
states, is remarkable in
many ways. The venue
also has solar trees to
satisfy its energy re-
quirements. This is the
first part of India in
which replicas of 22 his-
torical monuments are
displayed in one place
beautifully and attrac-
tively
. The monuments
were constructed with
scrap and waste mate-
rial like old vehicles,
fans, iron rods, nuts
bolts, etc, which
were lying unused
andabandonedatSDMC
stores. These replicas
have been made under
the waste to art initia-
tive.
The park is based on
the concept of ‘waste-to-
wealth’ where replicas
of historical monu-
ments are made. ‘Unity
inDiversityisthetheme
of the park, where the
diversified culture and
rich heritage of India
are reflected through
monuments.
The park will be pow-
ered by solar panels, it
will also host a 1.5-km
walking track, a
specified children’s
zone, and an amphi-
theatre.
A separate zone has
been earmarked to es-
tablish stalls to organise
cultural programmes
and, food courts. A sen-
ior official overseeing
the project implementa-
tion said that the provi-
sion of audio tours and
selfie points have been
made in the park.
MISS TEEN DIVA 2021:
GRAND FINALE!
CITY FIRST
T
he grand finale of Miss
Teen Diva pageant 2021
was held on Wednesday
,
December 29 at Kingdom
of Dreams, Gurugram. 36 Ravish-
ing models competed for the cov-
eted crown! Jagdeesh Chan-
dra graced the occasion as
the special guest.
Miss Teen Diva 2021 is In-
dia’s largest teen pageant and
a national qualifier for the
world’smostrenownedpageants,
includingMissTeenInternation-
al,MissTeenUniverse,MissTeen
Earth,andMissTeenMultination-
al. Miss Teen International India’s
Rashi Parasrampuria, Miss Teen
Universe India’s Wachi Pareek,
Miss Teen Earth India’s Aish-
warya Vinu Nair, and Miss
Teen Multinational India’s
Sayali Ayre will crown their
successors. The winners
were yet to be crowned till
we went to print. Stay tuned
for the detailed report in
City First tomorrow! First
India has become the Title
Sponsor for Miss Teen Diva
and Glamanand Super-
model India 2022!
(L-R) Tanishqa Bhosale, Tanya Sinha, Tanvi Malhara,
Anisha Sharma, Divija Gambhir and Nishi Bhardwaj
Divija and Anisha
—PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI
Zoya Afroze
Uber-stylish chef Ravi Bajaj took over the steaming kitchens
of Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi to curate a special menu for the
guests for Christmas and New Year’s eve. He presided over as the
guest chef and presented his glorious ‘Pollo alla Tosacana’ dish.
Tanisha Mohan with a guest
Ravi Bajaj and
Ambreen Khan with friends
Vikram Sharma
and Riddhima Sahani
Amanpreet wahi
and Krishna Somany
Anjalee Kapoor with her friends
Tanisha Mohan, Riddhima Kapoor with guests
Ambreen Khan
and Shampa Kamath Rahul Vohra and Ambreen Khan
Mrs H.E. Ganbold Dambajav, Mrs Mr Shombi Sharp,
Ravi Bajaj, Arun Sundararaj with guests
Replica of Taj Mahal Replica of Hawa Mahal
Replica of Sanchi Stupa Replica of Konark Temple
Replica of Victoria Memorial
Pushpita Singh, Ambreen Khan
and Shruti Kumar
—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED

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