31012022 first india new delhi

‘Only Bhagat Singh & Ambedkar
photos in govt offices in AAP govt’
First India Bureau
Amritsar: AAP Nation-
al Convenor and Delhi
CM Arvind Kejriwal
said on Sunday if Aam
Aadmi Party comes to
power in Punjab in next
month’sAssemblypolls,
photographs of BR
Ambedkar and Bhagat
Singh will be put up in
all government offices
in the state. He said
there will be no photo-
graph of any politician
in these offices.
At a press conference
with party’s Chief Min-
isterial candidate Bhag-
want Mann here, Kejri-
walmadetheannounce-
ment and said that the
Aam Aadmi Party gov-
ernment would follow
the principles and ide-
als of Baba Saheb
Ambedkar and Shaheed
Bhagat Singh and fulfill
their dreams. He said
he had announced a few
days ago that in every
Delhi government of-
fice, there will be photo-
graphs of Ambedkar
and Bhagat Singh.
Kejriwal said, “After
a long struggle and
great sacrifices, our
country got independ-
ence. Our great freedom
fighters sacrificed their
lives to liberate the
country. But today we
are forgetting their ide-
als and sacrifices.”
Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar.
CRUCIAL READ
PEGASUS ROW:
FRESH PLEA FILED
IN APEX COURT
CANADIAN PM,
FAMILY MOVED TO
SECRET LOCATION
Ottawa: Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau
and his family have left
their home in the coun-
try’s capital and shifted
to a secret location after
a large-scale protest
opposing COVID-19
vaccine mandates
converged on Parliament
Hill, media reports said.
New Delhi: A fresh plea
has been filed in the
Supreme Court on the
alleged use of Israeli
spyware Pegasus, seek-
ing that the court take
cognisance of a New
York Times report on it
and order a probe into
the 2017 defence deal
with Israel.
NEW DELHI l MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No.152
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
While hearing a habeas corpus petition moved by Gulzar Khan (27) for his
wife Arti Sahu (19), the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court
upheld the constitutional right of two adult individuals to stay together either
through marriage or in a live-in relationship. Justice Nandita Dubey made the
observation while hearing plea by Khan, a resident of Gorakhpur in Jabalpur.
NATO has no plans to deploy combat troops to non-NATO member Ukraine
in the event of a Russian invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stolten-
berg said on Sunday. “We are focusing on providing support.” “There is a
difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly
valued partner as Ukraine. There’s no doubt about that,” said Stoltenberg.
MP HIGH COURT
UPHOLDS RIGHT OF
INTER-FAITH COUPLE
TO STAY TOGETHER
NO PLANS TO SEND
COMBAT TROOPS TO
UKRAINE IF RUSSIA
INVADES: NATO CHIEF
GREATEST-EVER NADAL!
l Rafael Nadal edged
Daniil Medvedev in a classic
Australian Open final on
Sunday, roaring back from
two sets down to claim a
record 21st Grand Slam title
only months after injury.
l Surpassing Novak
Djokovic and Roger Federer,
the Spanish great is now one
major title clear of rivals after
surviving 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4
7-5 thriller in Melbourne’s
Rod Laver Arena.
BUDGET SESSION
STARTS TODAY UNDER
COVID SHADOW
On the second day, the
Union Budget for 2022-
23 will be presented in the
Lok Sabha by Finance Min-
ister Nirmala Sitaraman
The first part of the
Budget session will have
10 sittings between January
31 and February 11, while
19 sittings are scheduled
for the second part between
March 14 and April 8
Rajya Sabha will have
Zero Hour reduced by
half to 30 minutes per day
with a total time of 13 hours
30 minutes for raising is-
sues of public importance
The Budget session
beginning Monday is
the sixth to be held since
the outbreak of COVID-19
pandemic in January 2020
Rajya Sabha Chair-
man M Venkaiah
Naidu has called a virtual
meeting of leaders of
parties and groups at 5
pm tomorrow on Monday
to discuss the agenda for
this Budget session
The Budget session
of 2020 (the 251st
session of Rajya Sabha)
was curtailed by 8 sittings.
The 252nd session was
curtailed by 8 sittings
Budget session of
2021 (the 253rd
session of Rajya Sabha)
was shortened by 10 sit-
tings for the same reason
The stage is set for a
stormy Budget Ses-
sion of Parliament that
begins on Monday
The opposition set to
target the Modi gov-
ernment on issues such
as the Pegasus snooping
row, farm distress and
Chinese “incursions” in
eastern Ladakh
On the first day, Presi-
dent Ram Nath Kovind
will address members of
both houses
BOTH HOUSES WILL SIT ONE HOUR
LESS PER SESSION OF THE TOTAL
27 SESSIONS DUE TO STAGGERED
SITTINGS AMID THE PANDEMIC
THE UNION BUDGET SESSION THIS YEAR IS
A 79-HOUR WINDOW FOR THE GOVERNMENT
TO CONDUCT LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS, THE
RAJYA SABHA SECRETARIAT SAID
TOP 10
developments
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PM Modi congratulates
citizens as 75% of India’s
adults fully vaccinated
New Delhi: As India
achieved the landmark
of fully vaccinating
more than 75 per cent of
its adult population
against coronavirus
disease, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi con-
gratulated “fellow citi-
zens for the momentous
feat”.
Tagging a tweet post-
ed by Union Health
Minister Mansukh
Mandaviya on Sunday,
Modi said he was proud
of all those who are
making the vaccination
drive a success.
So far, the cumulative
number of doses of vac-
cine against Covid-19
administered in the
country has crossed
165.7 crore.
“With mantra of
‘Sabka Saath, Sabka
Prayas’, India has vac-
cinated 75% of its adult
population with both
doses of the vaccine,”
Mandaviya tweeted.
GANDHI PARIVAAR TREATS GOA
AS VACATION SPOT: AMIT SHAH
Panaji: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Sunday sharpened at-
tack on Congress and
said the party only sees
the poll-bound coastal
state as ‘Gandhi Pari-
vaar ka Goa’.
Addressing a public
meeting in Goa’s Ponda,
Amit Shah said that for
the Gandhi family, Goa
is just a “vacation spot”.
“BJP brought devel-
opment to Goa. For
Gandhi family, Goa is
just a vacation spot. We
raised state’s budget
from 432 Cr (2013-14) to
2,567 Cr (Yr 2021). Ex-
CM Digambar Kamat
did nothing on infra-
structure development.
We did what we prom-
ised,” ANI quoted
Shah as saying.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Goa CM Pramod
Sawant visits Sai Baba Temple in Shiroda of South Goa on Sunday.
EC TO DECIDE ON
EXTENDING BAN
ON POLL RALLIES
New Delhi: The Election
Commission will meet
on Monday to review its
ban on poll rallies, road
shows and processions
in the five poll-bound
states. Earlier this
month, the commission
had banned poll rallies
in order to control the
spread of Covid-19 in
India till January 31.
Cong to build
'Amar Jawan
Jyoti' in Raipur,
Rahul Gandhi to
lay foundation
Raipur: Attacking the
Centre over merging for
its decision to “extin-
guish”theeternalflame
of the Amar Jawan Jyo-
ti to merge with the Na-
tional War Memorial,
Chattisgarh Chief Min-
ister Bhupesh Baghel
said that the Centre
played with the “emo-
tions of people.”
He added that Con-
gress will now bring
‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ to
Chhatisgarh and Rahul
Gandhiwilllaythefoun-
dation on February 3.
“Amar Jawan Jyoti’
(in Delhi) has been
doused. They (Centre)
have played with the
emotions of people,”
Baghel said, ANI re-
ported.
The BJP will win
atleast 22 seats in
the upcoming
Goa Assembly
elections: Home
minister claimed
nion Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday unveiled
a grand wall mural of Mahatma Gandhi made from
2,975 clay kulhads (earthen cups) at Sabarmati
Riverfront in Ahmedabad on the 74th death anniversary
of ‘Father of the Nation’. The event was also attended by
Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane and Gujarat Chief
Minister Bhupendra Patel. The mural, commissioned by
the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), was
put together by 75 potters brought to Ahmedabad from
across the country and measured 100 square meters.
SHAH UNVEILS GANDHI’S
MURAL IN AHMEDABAD
U
—PHOTO
BY
HANIF
SINDH
ONE WAY TO JUDGE A JUDGE: JUSTICE DY
CHANDRACHUD ON TRANSPARENT COURTS
EMPHASISING PUBLIC VIEWERSHIP
New Delhi: Supreme
Court judge Justice DY
Chandrachud has
again highlighted the
need for public viewer-
ship of court proceed-
ings. Justice Chandra-
chud said judges are to
be judged not only by
the number of judg-
ments delivered and
the case disposal rate,
but also by their con-
duct within the walls
of the courtroom.
Unless judicial pro-
ceedings are open for
public viewership, it
would not be possible
for the public to under-
stand the nature of
work undertaken by
the courts, Justice
Chandrachud said at a
virtual book release
event by author Bal-
ram K Gupta.
If judicial proceed-
ings are open to the
public, Justice Chan-
drachud said, it will
not only give legitima-
cy to the judicial insti-
tution but also further
the democratic princi-
ple of accountability.
“While data on dis-
posal rate and judg-
ments is easily availa-
ble in the public do-
main, the behaviour of
a judge in the court-
room is not easily as-
certainable... Unless
this important indica-
tor of performance
evaluation is publicly
available, it would be
difficult to evaluate
the performance of a
judge and would pose
challenges to judicial
accountability,” the
Supreme Court judge
said.
He gave the example
of the Dalai Lama, who
said lack of transpar-
ency results in distrust
and a deep sense of in-
security.
“Though legal jour-
nalism is on the rise
and reporting of judi-
cial proceedings has
gained traction, it has
its limitations,” Jus-
tice Chandrachud said.
This is not the first
time Justice Chandra-
chud has supported
opening courtroom
proceedings to the pub-
lic. In October last
year, he said live
streaming rules had
been made so that
courts could live tele-
cast its proceedings.
He had also written
to the Chief Justices
of high courts to re-
quest that by this
month, cases must be
e-filed in district and
high courts.
Unless judicial proceedings are open
for public viewership, it would not be
possible for the public to understand
the nature of work undertaken by the
courts: said Justice Chandrachud
While data on
judgments is
easily available
in public domain, the
behaviour of a judge in
is not easily ascertaina-
ble. Unless performance
evaluation is publicly
available, it would be
difficult to evaluate the
performance of a judge.
Justice DY Chandrachud
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
3,674
NEW
CASES
6,954
RECOVERED
30
NEW DEATHS

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
New Delhi: Research-
ers at the Indian Insti-
tute of Technology
(IIT), Delhi have devel-
oped a real-time deci-
sion support framework
to help hospitals choose
a sustainable medical
waste disposal firm.
According to the
team, hospitals which
encounter difficulty in
disposing their medical
waste in a hygienic and
sustainable way can uti-
lise the proposed deci-
sion support framework
to choose a right firm
for themselves.
The study titled “Se-
lection of Healthcare
Waste Disposal Firms
Using a Multi Method
Approach” has been
published in the Jour-
nal of Environmental
Management.
“The research study
shows the path to facili-
tate the hospitals with a
real-time decision sup-
port framework consid-
ering numerous criteria
and constraints for the
selection of healthcare
waste disposal firm,”
said Surya Prakash Sin-
gh, Professor, Depart-
ment of Management
Studies, IIT-Delhi.
This becomes more
relevant in COVID-19
times due to the in-
creasing amount of
healthcare waste and
its hazardous and in-
fectious composition
such as syringes,
masks, PPE kits, face
shield, scalpels, band-
ages, blooded cottons,
heavy metals, and
chemicals etc, he
said.
The aim of this study
is to propose a hybrid
multi criteria decision
support framework in-
tegrated with mathe-
matical model to tackle
the issue of safe dis-
posal of hazardous and
infectious healthcare
waste, he said. —PTI
Researchers frame guidelines to sustainably dispose off medical waste
IIT DELHI
IIT-Delhi’s study aims a hybrid multi criteria decision framework
SDMC has carried out beautification drives in all its four zones in Delhi to mark 75th year of India’s Independence
FRAMEWORK TO CHOOSE A RIGHT FIRM
CRUCIAL READ
LOP ALLEGES
VIOLATION OF
NORMS IN E DELHI
STUDENTS
WARNED OVER
VULGAR MESSAGES
New Delhi: The
leader of opposition
in the East Delhi Mu-
nicipal Corporation
on Saturday alleged
that a local BJP lead-
er chairing an event
for inauguration of
some infrastructure
facilities here would
amount to “violation
of protocol”.
The event is to be
held on January 31
and former council-
or Mahak Singh is
slated to chair it.
East Delhi Mayor
Shyam Sunder
Aggarwal, however,
rejected the charge,
and said, “No proto-
col has been violated
by making him the
chair of the event”.
According to the
invitation card of the
event, shared by the
mayor, a classroom
block, 2 toilet blocks
and a hall is to be
inaugurated in Brah-
mapuri, by Delhi BJP
chief Adesh Gupta.
New Delhi: Delhi
University has
warned to take
disciplinary action
against those stu-
dents found posting
vulgar messages or
comments during
online classes.
In an advisory issued
by the proctor’s
office of the varsity,
it said admissions of
students may even
be cancelled in such
a scenario. “These
are very difficult
times keeping in
mind the pandemic,
the classes are going
online. All students
are directed to main-
tain dignity and not
indulge in any kind
of activity (i.e. vulgar
message, comment
which is not permis-
sible as per rules
and regulations of
University of Delhi.
New Delhi: Municipal
buildings have been
decked up with themat-
ic murals, metro pillars
decorated with images
of various dance forms
of India and martyrs’
memorials beautified
in Delhi to mark the
75th year of India’s In-
dependence.
The three civic bod-
ies in the national capi-
tal — North, South and
East corporations, have
come up with a host of
activities as part of the
ongoing Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav celebrations.
From school build-
ings to hospital struc-
tures and parks to pub-
lic roundabout, themat-
ic decorations are done
to mark the occasion.
“To commemorate 75
years of progressive In-
dia and Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav, SDMC has
beautified corporation
buildings, metro pil-
lars, schools, parks and
roundabouts with mu-
rals and other art-
works,” a senior official
said. The civic agency is
making the city more
beautiful and cleaner
through ‘Swachhta’
campaigns, they said.
SDMC has carried
out beautification
drives in all its four
zones. South Zone has
also portrayed the na-
tional bird peacock
through art on the wall
of a six-storey building
of SDMC’S House Tax
department in RK
Puram, the official said.
The bird has been
painted on the wall
measuring 70 ft in
length and 26 ft in
width, and is a symbol
of grace and beauty, he
said. As part of the ef-
forts towards environ-
mental sustainability,
the SDMC has taken
various initiatives to
overcome the challeng-
es of waste manage-
ment, so as to build a
sustainable country for
the next generation of
India. At its recently-
inaugurated Bharat
Darshan Park, a ‘Tree
of Unity’ has been cre-
ated using electric
poles, tyres and other
scarp material. Besides,
a chariot has been made
from parts of a discard-
ed car body frame at an
upcoming Shaheedi
Park.InNajafgarhZone,
Kargil Chowk at Dwar-
ka has been beautified.
The artifacts are fresh-
ly painted, a wall of an
adjacant park is painted
in a tricolour theme,
and boards showing
‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahot-
sav’ have been installed,
officials said. –PTI
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
South Zone has
also portrayed the
national bird
peacock through
art on the wall of a
six-storey building
of SDMC’S House
Tax department in
RK Puram.
—A senior official,
SDMC
EXTERIOR OF DELHI
METRO DECORATED
Several metro pillars in
SDMC’S Najafgarh Zone
are painted to portray the
dance forms of India and its
rich cultural diversity. The
Delhi Metro also marked
the occasion by launching
a specially decorated train.
Tri-colour theme is used
for decoration of the body
of the coaches and bear
slogans like ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 75
years of progressive India’.
NDMC plans to install sculptures
at 12 roundabouts in New Delhi
New Delhi: To promote
Indian art and culture’
and beautify Lutyens’
Delhi, the New Delhi
Municipal Council
(NDMC) is planning to
install theme-based
sculptures at 12 major
roundabouts and other
prominent places in the
New Delhi area under
the Centre’s ‘Azadi Ka
Amrit Mahotsav’ — an
initiative to celebrate 75
years of independence.
The sculptures, six to
eight feet tall, will be
made by renowned arti-
sans and installed in
collaboration with Sa-
hitya Kala Parishad.
NDMC vice-chair-
man Satish Upadhyay
said: “The purpose is to
create a ‘Sculpture
Camp’ in the NDMC
area. Around 12 differ-
ent sculpture artisans
will carve out 12 black
marble stone sculptures
which will be displayed
at different locations in
the New Delhi area.”
“Renowned artisans
will produce their sculp-
tures on the Indian cul-
ture, heritage and differ-
ent subjects of walks of
life with the close inter-
action of their Indian
counterparts to show-
case 75 years of progres-
sive India and the glori-
ous history of its people,
culture and achieve-
ments. It will also en-
hance the aesthetic look
of urban landscaping of
the New Delhi area,” said
Upadhyay. The NDMC
will identify the location
and will submit the list to
Sahitya Kala Parishad to
install these sculptures.
“Apart from enhanc-
ing the aesthetic look of
the New Delhi area, it
also gives a good chance
for artisans to showcase
their natural and funda-
mental talent and will
give a good experience to
the commuters and peo-
ple visiting the New Del-
hi area. Such initiative
will give the city its iden-
tity and culture by pro-
viding permanent public
artwork for the capital
under this special art
project,” he said. –PTI
NTPC urges railways
to rename rail tests
New Delhi:“Caught in
thecrossfire”overtherail
exams, NTPC, the coun-
try’s largest power pro-
ducer has written to the
Railways to rename its
Non-Technical Popular
Categories (NTPC) tests
organised by the Railway
Board.
The Railway exams are
in the news for the last
week over large-scale pro-
tests over certain irregu-
larities in its screening
process.
The abbreviation of
the exams which is the
same as the one used for
the power producer has
been widely used to refer
to the controversial test
during the reportage on
the issue.
“This is with reference
to the recent protest in
somepartsof thecountry
with respect to Railway
Recruitment Board Non-
Technical Popular Cate-
gories exam of Indian
Railways,” a letter from
NTPC states. “While we
are confident that the
Railwaysistakingallnec-
essary steps to address
thesituation,wejustwish
to bring to your notice
that NTPC Limited has
inadvertently been
caught in the crossfire.
Themediahasbeenusing
the abbreviated form
NTPC, which gives the
impression that the ex-
ams are linked to India’s
largest power producer,”
the NTPC said.“This, you
would agree, is also hurt-
ing our reputation,” it
pointed out. It further re-
quested that the full form
of the tests be used by the
national transporter.
“Use full form of the
Railway Recruitment
Scheme in your press re-
leases/statementssothat
this misconception is not
carriedoncreatingwrong
impression amongst the
users of social media and
also public at large,” the
NTPC said. –PTI
AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV
NDMC VICE-CHAIRMAN SAYS
Runaway Delhi
girl reunited with
kin in Maha
Palghar: A 14-year-old
girl, who ran away
from her home in New
Delhi after being pres-
sured by parents to fo-
cus on studies, was re-
united with family
here in Maharashtra
after an auto-rickshaw
driver promptly alert-
ed police, an official
said on Sunday.
On Saturday morn-
ing, the auto-rickshaw
driver, Raju Karwade
(35), was waiting out-
side Vasai station here
for passengers when the
girl approached him
and asked if she could
get a room to stay in the
area, Manickpur police
station’s senior inspec-
tor Bhausaheb K Aher
said. –PTI
COVID SCARE
Acceptanceletternotneededforlicence
underAtalAaharYojana:SDMC
New Delhi: The South
Delhi Municipal Corpo-
ration (SDMC) has re-
moved the condition of
producing acceptance
letter from councillors
to apply for a license un-
der the ‘Atal Aahar Yo-
jana’, which aims to
provide subsidised food
to the poor, it said on
Sunday
.
A proposal in this
connection was ap-
proved by the SDMC’s
standing committee on
Friday
.
Under the scheme,
nearly 40 food kiosks
having inbuilt kitchens
will be set up to provide
food at “extremely
cheaper prices”. People
will get a thali (food
plate) at a subsidised
rate of Rs 15.
Standing Committee
Chairman B K Oberoi
said this scheme was
first implemented on
pilot basis in 2018-19 but
was put on hold due to
Covid.
He said the corpora-
tion wants to restart the
scheme with certain
modifications like
allowing anyone to ap-
ply for a license unlike
earlier when only mu-
nicipal workers could
do so. –PTI
A healthcare worker sanitise a temporarily converted isolation ward for Covid-19 patients at Shehnai Banquet Hall in New Delhi
—PHOTO BY ANI

INDIA
03
PROTESTS,
RESIGNATIONS...
BJP OFFICES WERE
RANSACKED AND
THE PROTESTERS
GATHERED IN MANY
AREAS AS THE BJP
NAMED CANDIDATES
IN MANIPUR AREA
Guwahati: BJP
supporters burnt
effigies of PM
Narendra Modi
and Manipur CM
N Biren Singh and
shouted slogans as pro-
tests erupted on Sunday
after the party named
candidates for next
month’s elections, leav-
ing many disappointed.
Security has been
stepped up around the
BJP headquarters in
Imphal.
Several leaders have
resigned though the ex-
act number remained
unclear, reports said.
According to sources,
most of the disgruntled
leaders were those who
were not selected to ac-
commodate defectors
from Congress.
BIREN TO CONTEST
FROM HEINGANG
Final list of 60 candi-
dates includes only 3
women, while party has
denied tickets to 3
MLAs. CM N Biren Sin-
gh to contest from his
home constituency of
Heingang, Biswajit Sin-
gh to contest from
Thongju, Somatai to
contest from Ukhrul.
MLAs who were denied
tickets are senior legis-
lator Y Irabot Singh of
Wangkhei, P Saratch-
andra of Moirang and
M Rameshwar Singh of
Kakching. These tick-
ets have been allotted to
Cong turncoats. —ANI
BJP
supporters burnt
Narendra Modi
and Manipur CM
N Biren Singh and
MANIPUR
MANIPUR
ONLY CONGRESS
CAN DEFEAT ITSELF
Amritsar: Express-
ing confidence in
Congress’ victory in
upcoming Punjab As-
sembly election 2022,
party’s state unit
chief Navjot Singh
Sidhu on Sunday
said voters know
that Congress
will give a strong
and secure gov-
ernment in the state.
Sidhu said, “No one
can defeat Congress.
Only Congress can de-
feat itself.”
NAVJOT SIDHU
SLAMS MAJITHIA
Addressing press
conference in his As-
sembly constituency
Amritsar east, Sind-
hu also slammed his
opponent from Shi-
romani Akali Dal
(SAD) and former
state minister
Bikram Singh Ma-
jithia and called
him a ‘Parcha
Mafia’.
“He (Majithia)
is ‘Parcha ma-
fia’. He has filed
cases against so many
people. I haven’t
lodged a single case
against anyone. Eve-
ryone knows that
Congress will give a
strong and secure
government. We will
make a new Punjab,”
he said. —ANI
...says Sidhu when
asked about
factionalism in
Congress’ Punjab
unit, Navjot Sidhu
said.“No one can
defeat Congress.
Only Congress can
defeat itself”
New Delhi: BJP na-
tional president JP Na-
dda on Sunday accused
Akhilesh Yadav’s SP of
politics of appeasement
while doing injustice to
Muslim sisters. Ad-
dressing a gather-
ing in Hathras,
he said that when
the Modi govt was
making a law on Tri-
ple Talaq to help Mus-
lim women in Parl, SP
was shedding tears.
JINNAH COMMENT
Targeting Akhilesh for
his Jinnah comment,
the 61-year-old said,
“Opposition likes lead-
ers from outside the
country, not from our
country. The people
who played a major role
in the partition of the
country live on his
tongue.” —ANI
Navjot Singh Sidhu addresses a press conference ahead of
the Punjab Assembly Elections in Amritsar on Sunday.
chief Navjot Singh
Sidhu on Sunday
said voters know
that Congress
will give a strong
and secure gov-
ernment in the state.
Bikram Singh Ma-
jithia and called
him a ‘Parcha
Mafia’.
“He (Majithia)
is ‘Parcha ma-
fia’. He has filed
PUNJAB
Sambit Patra and Bhupender Yadav release candidate list for the
elections of Manipur, at party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
Protesters raised slogans in many parts of Manipur on Sunday.
(Inset) Burnt effigies of PM Narendra Modi and CM N Biren Singh. Punjab Chief
Minister
Charanjit Channi
will contest from 2
seats in the state
assembly elections
– Bhadaur and
Chamkaur Sahib.
Chamkaur Sahib
is Channi’s home
turf, while Bhadaur
falls in Sangrur Lok
Sabha constituency.
Bhadaur, a reserved
seat, is an AAP
stronghold and a
unknown terrain for
the Congress.
CM CHANNI
TO CONTEST
POLLS FROM
TWO SEATS
Amritsar: AAP national convenor
Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday took a
dig at Sidhu and Majithia who are
contesting against each other on
Amritsar East seat by calling them
“big political elephants” crushing
common people’s issues. He fur-
ther claimed that Sidhu has done
nothing for people while Majithia
has nothing to do with Amritsar
East and he has only come to
defeat Punjab Congress chief.
SIDHU, MAJITHIA ‘BIG POLITICAL’ ELEPHANTS
CRUSHING COMMON PEOPLE’S ISSUES: KEJRI
Arvind Kejriwal adjusts his muffler during
a press conference ahead of the assembly
election in Amritsar on Sunday.
Nadda slams SP for doing injustice
to Muslim women, appeasement pol
JP Nadda holds a Door-to-Door campaign ahead of
assembly election in Hathras on Sunday.
Bulandshahr: CM Yogi Adity-
anath on Sunday said that
BJP is the only option for the
development in the state. He
said, this is a double engine
govt, there is no place for
criminals and mafias here.
BJP works for women, youth
employment and farmers.
New Delhi: Abdullah Azam
Khan, son of SP politician
Azam Khan, said that a “con-
spiracy” is in works on part
of BJP to put him “behind
bars” in a fake case. He also
said that BJP candidates
“could orchestrate an attack
or road accident” to kill him.
New Delhi: BJP’s Sanghamitra Maurya - daughter of ex-UP
min SP Maurya - has claimed that she will not quit party
and campaign for it anywhere in the state except against her
father. She earlier said PM Modi is like a father to her, she
made it clear that she would not campaign against her father.
Will not quit BJP: Ex-UP Min’s daughter
BJP is only option
for devp in UP: Yogi
‘BJP may orchestrate
an attack to kill me’
‘Will Remain
Friends despite
no tie up with
NCP-Sena in Goa’
New Delhi: Senior
Congress leader P Chi-
dambaram on Sunday
said an alliance could
not be forged be-
tween his par-
ty & NCP-Se-
na for polls
despite best
efforts but as-
serted that they
“will remain friends”
and after polls, Con-
gress would continue to
explore opportunities
to “work together” with
them. Chidambaram,
who is Cong senior ob-
server for Goa polls,
also hit out at TMC for
its barbs at Cong for not
forging alliance with it,
saying the party contin-
ued to poach Congress
leaders, despite making
an offer of a tie-up.
not be forged be-
tween his par-
ty & NCP-Se-
na for polls
despite best
efforts but as-
GOA
GOA
while doing injustice to
Muslim sisters. Ad-
dressing a gather-
ing in Hathras,
he said that when
the Modi govt was
making a law on Tri-
JP Nadda holds a Door-to-Door campaign ahead of
assembly election in Hathras on Sunday.
UP
UP
BJP TO LAUNCH MEGA ELECTION CAMPAIGN ON FEB 1
New Delhi: BJP’s Utta-
rakhand election in-
charge and Union Min-
ister Pralhad Joshi on
Sunday said that BJP
will be launching its
mega election cam-
paign in the state on
February 1. Narendra
Modi, Amit Shah, Ra-
jnath Singh and Yogi
Adityanath are among
30-star campaigners of
the BJP for the upcom-
ing polls.
Joshi also said that
Chief Minister Push-
kar Singh Dhami, Hary-
ana CM Manohar Lal
Khattar and HP CM Jai
Ram Thakur will
be addressing ral-
lies of 500 people
on that day. Pral-
had Joshi further
said that BJP chief JP
Nadda will also cam-
paign in the state.
Joshi said that the
PM has agreed but the
modalities will be final-
ised in line with the
Election Commission’s
guidelines that are ex-
pected to be released
soon. —ANI
You can loot,
I will close
my eyes”
statement in 2017,
people will not believe
in the ‘Char Dham-
Char Kaam’ of Con-
gress. When they were
in power, they misled
the people. They have
not even issued a
clarification for that
video.
—Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister
Jageshwar: CM
Pushkar Singh
Dhami held a door-
to-door campaign at
Ganghet in Jagesh-
war of Uttarakhand
on Sunday. After
offering prayers at
the Jageshwar Dham
temple, Dhami said,
“Prayed to the Almighty for so that the election is done
properly and the all the candidates get to contest the
election. Sought his blessings so that we can form a
BJP government in Uttarakhand once again.”
DHAMI HOLDS DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN
Ram Thakur will
be addressing ral-
lies of 500 people
on that day. Pral-
had Joshi further
said that BJP chief JP
U’KHAND
U’KHAND
U’KHAND
 Akhilesh Yadav
to file nomination
from Karhal today,
BJP candidate from
the seat not yet
announced
 UP govt functions
way Gujarat govt
functions using
police force: Hardik
 332 candidates in
fray for 2022 Goa
Assembly elections
 Cong releases 4th
list of 61 names, 24
women get tickets
 VIP culture changed
into ‘Every Person
is Imp’ under BJP-
ruled UP: Rajnath
 Nominations of few
candidates in UP
rejected illegally,
says Sanjay Raut
 Congress Leader
Rahul Gandhi to
visit Goa on Febru-
ary 2; hold virtual
rally to support
 Congress releases
3rd list of 8 candi-
dates in Punjab
POLL HIGHLIGHTS
Anita Hada
New Delhi: Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra is spear-
heading the Congress
party’s assembly elec-
tions in UP. Three years
ago, party also fought
LS elections under her
command. She was
thrown into active poli-
tics just before LS polls
and became the general
secretary and in-charge
of UP. Everyone knows
what happened to Con-
gress in those elections.
Rahul was defeated in
Amethi, one of 2 tradi-
tional seats. After that
Priyanka remained
missing for a long time
and became active just
before the assembly
elections. But in the last
one year, the stampede
that has broken out in
UP and with a huge
number of leaders who
have left the party, one
is bound to wonder how
Priyanka will contest
polls? Imran Masood,
who was the Muslim
face of Congress in
western UP, has also
left the Congress
and before that
Masood Akhtar
also left the party.
The party had in-
c l u d e d
Aditi Sin-
gh in the
C o n -
gress
w i t h
great fanfare, but before
the elections, she too
has left the Congress.
Many leaders including
former MP Praveen
Eron’s wife Su-
priya Eron,
MLA Naresh
Saini and
R a m k u m a r
Singh have
left party. In
t h e i r
p l a c e ,
new fac-
e s
have been created from
the Congress side, but
are new faces joining
Cong because of any
ideological commit-
ment or are they joining
Cong just to contest
elections?
Big question is that
despite Priyanka’s
much talked about ‘ac-
tivism’ on media and
SM to create perception
and women’s political
ruckus, why so many
leaders are fleeing from
the party? Why is Pri-
yanka not able to instill
confidence in the party
leaders? Doesn’t this
mean that whatever the
perception that Priyan-
ka may try to create
through her press con-
ferences, Cong does not
have a grassroots base
and therefore Congress
leaders are fleeing par-
ty seeing no prospect
for themselves?
TALKS OVER BUDGET SESSION! Ahead of the budget session
starting from today, Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla meets Vice
President M Venkaiah Naidu
in New Delhi on Sunday and
reviews the preparations for
the session. Om Birla said that
in the midst of the challenge of
Covid, elaborate arrangements
have been made so that all
the honorable members can
discharge their constitutional
obligations uninterruptedly.
With leaders defecting to other parties,
how will Priyanka contest election in UP?
CONG IS HARMING ITSELF IN U’KHAND
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: The Con-
gress party seems to
have forgotten all the
traditional and estab-
lished methods of con-
testing elections. Other-
wise, there was no rea-
son why such a large
number of candidates
should be swapped after
the announcement of
tickets in Uttarakhand.
There has been a ticket
distribution system in
Congress, which all par-
ties follow. According to
this, the leaders of the
state, in-charge and
members of the Sorting
Committee together
make a long list of can-
didates. Finally, names
of 3 candidates for each
seat are sent to the Cen-
tral EC and one name is
decided there. Even af-
ter so many filters, this
time in U’khand, Con-
gress had to change can-
didates on half a dozen
seats, including one seat
of HarishRawat.Harish
Rawat left his Haridwar
and Kichha seat and
went to fight from Ram-
nagar, but later he left it
too and is now fighting
from Lalkuan. He cut
the ticket of Ramnagar
candidate Ranjit Rawat
and sent him to Salt and
now gave ticket to Ma-
hender Pal Singh on
Ramnagar seat. Ma-
hender Pal was earlier
given ticket from Kala-
dungi but now Mahesh
Sharma has been sent to
that seat. Mahesh Uni-
yalwasfieldedfromDoi-
wala seat, but subse-
quently
, his candidature
was cut short and in-
stead Gaurav has been
fielded. On the insist-
ence of Harish Rawat,
his daughter has been
made a candidate from
Haridwar Rural seat.
A dozen big leaders left the party in the last one year.
Five of party’s seven MLAs, from the 2017 assembly
poll, have switched sides. Many of the candidates who
fought strongly last time have also left the party. Cong’s
J’khand in-charge RPN Singh has also recently shifted
allegiance to BJP. Another Union min, Jitin Prasad,
switched sides last year and is currently a minister in
Yogi’s govt. Late Kamalapati Tripathi’s family members -
Rajesh & Lalitesh Pati Tripathi - have left the Congress
and Lalitesh is contesting this time on TMC ticket
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 152
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
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
He who experiences the unity of
life sees his own Self in all
beings, and all beings in his own
Self, and looks on everything
with an impartial eye.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
We do not have to forget the
cleanliness campaign, it is necessary to
accelerate the campaign against single
use plastic. The mantra of #Vocal4Local
is our responsibility, we have to work
wholeheartedly for the self-reliant India
campaign. With the efforts of all of us,
the country will reach new heights of
development: PM@NarendraModiji
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Full vaccination of over 75% of the
eligible adult population is a significant
feat in India’s fight against the
#Covid19.Congratulations IndiaFlag
of India on achieving this landmark.
Together, we shall overcome.
#IndiaFightsCorona
TOP TWEETS
INCREDIBLE RAFA
STEALS A MARCH
OVER FEDERER
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
afael Nadal was ex-
pected to make tennis
history at Australian
Open and on Sunday
he lived up to those
expectations when he defeated
Russian Dimitri Medvedev in a
hardfoughttowinhis21stGrand
Slam title and become one of the
greatest tennis players in the
sport’s history
. With this win
Rafa edged ahead of Roger
Federer and Novak Djokovic,
both with 20 titles each to demon-
stratehistenacityandresilience.
TheinjuryproneSpaniardsailed
through the tournament without
any recurrence of his foot injury
.
After his semi-final win Rafa
had down played the statistical
advantagehenowenjoysoverhis
closestrivalsDjokovicandFeder-
er. “In some ways it doesn’t mat-
terif someoneachievesonemore
or less,” Rafa said. But it does put
Rafa on a high pedestal. What
was noticeable in Sunday’s final
was the absence of Djokovic who
will get a chance to catch up with
Rafa at next year’s Australian
Open to keep alive a great rivalry
.
R
all it dread of vac-
cine or defiance,
resistance to the
jab at several plac-
es has been shock-
ing. But nothing can be as
shocking as in Canada where
protests have grown to such
an extent that Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau and his fam-
ily were forced to move to “a
secret” location for their safe-
ty. The protesters are oppos-
ing mandatory Covid-19 vac-
cination for cross-border
truckers. Thousands of pro-
testers, including truckers
and children, converged on
Parliament Hill to give the
protest dubbed Freedom Con-
voy a serious new turn.
Thousands recently pro-
tested in France against the
proposed law that would al-
low those aged 16 and above
access to restaurants, bars,
inter-regional transport or
leisure activities only after
they show proof of being
fully vaccinated. Critics
called it social apartheid and
“shameful” and said it trans-
gressed against their free-
dom. Some defiant protesters
at a rally shouted, “Vaccine
pass-total resistance” at a
time when Omicron case-
loads were at a record high.
This is the situation in al-
most all other major western
European countries. Austria
wasalsomullingtobantheun-
vaccinatedfrompublicvenues
andinEnglandPrimeMinister
Boris Johnson “blasted the
mumbo-jumbobeingspreadon
social media” against vaccine.
Countries are tightening
theirnovaccine-noentryrules
andpeopleareinconvenienced
because of their strict imple-
mentation.Rulesdidnotallow
a pregnant New Zealand jour-
nalist to return to her home
countryfromAfghanistandue
to “a bottleneck of people” in
its Covid-19 quarantine sys-
tem. A few weeks back Novak
Djokovic was sent back from
Melbourne for not having the
mandatory vaccination proof.
PEOPLE UP IN ARMS
OVER JAB MANDATE
Critics called it social
apartheid “shameful”
said it transgressed against
their freedom. Some
defiant protesters at a rally
shouted, “Vaccine pass-
total resistance” at a time
when Omicron caseloads
were at a record high
C
ndia celebrates 75 years of her
independent existence, her
north-westernpart,nowcalled
Pakistan, now appears to be
readyingforfinallywelcoming
true democracy
. It, thus, is ex-
pectedtofinditsgenuineiden-
tity comprising multi-ethnic
society of 220 million people.
Pakistan’s struggle for democ-
racy has been tortuous, espe-
cially under the shadow of the
gun patronizing radical Islam.
During the past, more than
seven decades, when it was
carved out from the united In-
dia, the people of this new na-
tion have either been directly
under the military rule or
through its proxies. It suffered
further fragmentation in 1971,
when its majority
, the Bengali
Muslims, seceded to form
Bangladesh.Itsarmy
,support-
ed by the US-President Rich-
ard Nixon, endorsed the geno-
cide of about 10 millions of
Muslims and the rape of their
more than two million women
in East Pakistan. He had even
sent its formidable Seventh
Fleet with nuclear weapons to
crush the democracy
. With the
reduced interest of the west-
ern powers in Pakistan, de-
mocracy is expected to be es-
tablishedinthecountry
,which
willgiverelief tothedemocra-
cy-loving people. The indica-
tions are that the countdown
of the hybrid government of
the Imran Khan, a cricketer-
turned politician, has finally
begun.Thedemocracyisbeing
awaited from a large number
of journalists and lawyers
fromNewDelhitothewestern
capitals of London and Wash-
ington, who also admire the
lifelong struggle of the Paki-
stan’s civil society
, its journal-
istsandlawyers,civilservants
and even of the members of
judiciary
,who could dare to
pick up the gauntlet of the
GHQ, Rawalpindi. The news
percolating down from across
theborderviaLondonindicate
thatthePakistaniarmyunder
General Qamar Bajwa, has as-
sured that in future the de-
fence establishment would re-
main neutral and would not
patronize any political outfit,
whetheritisImranKhan’s Pa-
kistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI),
Pakistan Muslim League –
Noon (PML-N) or the Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP). It is dif-
ficult to trust the generals, but
confrontation might trigger
off unprecedented blood bath.
Since 1958, when General
Ayub Khan took over power,
thearmyhassuccessfullypen-
etrated in the judicial system,
media, and academia and also
in the field of traand indus-
tries. Ayub Khan’s coup was
endorsed by the Pakistani Su-
preme Court under the doc-
trine of the philosophy of ne-
cessity
. In 2018, the then chief
justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nis-
sar, telephoned his brother
judges to ensure that keep the
three-time Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and his daugh-
ter, Maryam, behind the bars
till the elections are finally
over.Thisconspiracyhasbeen
revealedinanaffidavitfiledby
the former chief judge of
Gilgit-Baltistan, Rana
Shamim. Shamim is facing
wrath of the government, but
he might escape if the new fo-
rensic report also confirms
that the audio is the voice of
Saqib Nissar.
IN HOUSE CHANGES
In the 342-strong Pakistan Na-
tional Assembly (PNA), the
PTI has only 156 members;
the Khan government de-
pends upon smaller regional
parties such as Muttahida
Quami Movement of the Mo-
hajirs and Wqali Khan’s Awa-
mi National Party of Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa, for establish-
ing majority in the House.
The non-performance of
the Khan Government has
alienated the establishment.
Therefore, the allies of the
government are withdraw-
ing their crucial support;
thus making the collapse of
the government definite. The
senior journalists like Najam
Sethi, who has recently been
in London and had met
Nawaz Sharif, have indicated
that a new government for
three months would be con-
stituted and the elections
would be held as early as pos-
sible. These elections will be
held without the interference
of the ISI and its protégés.
In India, a democratic peo-
ple-oriented government in
Pakistan is keenly awaited,
because for most of Indians,
the people of Pakistan and
Bangladesh are brothers not
neighbours. They may not
be under one roof due to cer-
tain political developments
during the post World War-II
years, but concern of Indi-
ans have never dwindled
about the new neighbours. It
is also significant that the
Indian Diaspora is celebrat-
ing the 125th birth anniver-
sary of Subhas Chandra
Bose, who had declared In-
dia’s freedom in 1943 in Sin-
gapore, four years before our
motherland was partitioned.
One of his commanders,
Colonel Shaukat Malik, had
hoisted the Indian flag on
April 14, 1944. However, Ma-
lik ignored in India returned
to Multan, now in Pakistan,
where he died in utter pov-
erty. The governments of
Pakistan and India deliber-
ately ignored the sacrifices
of the INA, but it is hoped
that once democracy is es-
tablished in Pakistan, the
truth will be known to the
people; thus ending animos-
ity between the twins, India
and Pakistan. They were
born from the womb of a
white mother, the House of
Commons, which had enact-
ed the India Independence
Act 1947, on a communal
narrative that is also expect-
ed to be finally buried.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
DEMOCRACY NOW FINALLY KNOCKS
AT THE DOOR OF PAKISTAN
IMRAN KHAN GOVERNMENT’S FALL IMMINENT
I
The governments of
Pakistan and India
deliberately ignored the
sacrifices of the INA,
but it is hoped that
once democracy is
established in
Pakistan, the truth will
be known to the people
GOPAL MISRA
The writer is accredited as a journalist
of long and distinguished service with
the Press Information Bureau of the
Information and Broadcasting Ministry
In India, a democratic
people-oriented govt in
Pakistan is keenly
awaited, because for
most Indians, the people
of Pakistan and
Bangladesh are brothers,
not neighbours. They
may not be under one roof
due to certain political
developments during the
post World War-II years,
but concern of Indians
have never dwindled about
new neighbours

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INDIA
05
Aditi Nagar, Rajendra
Chhabra Rituraj Sharma
Jaipur: The afternoon
of Monday, January 31,
2022 will be a ‘once in a
blue moon’ moment for
Rajasthan and its bu-
reaucracy, for in the af-
ternoon, only the sec-
ond woman Chief Sec-
retary of the state, in
decades since Ra-
jasthan was formed,
will take over the reins
of the highest bureau-
cratic office of the
state. Usha Sharma, a
1985 batch officer of
the Indian Adminis-
trative Service, will be
the 46th Chief Secre-
tary of the state and
only the second wom-
an ever to reach this
coveted position.
Now Usha joins Gehlot’s
‘women empowerment
brigade’ as Raj’s new CS
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Why did
the central govt give the
Padma Bhushan award
to the Communist Party
leader and former WB
CM Buddhadeb Bhat-
tacharjee? Did the govt
really think that he
should be given the Pad-
ma award for his contri-
bution? If so, why did it
not happen for any oth-
er communist leader
like VS Achuthanan-
dan or Prakash Karat
and even Sitaram
Yechury? The biggest
question is that the govt
knows that the leaders
of communist parties
do not take such awards
from the govt, then why
was Bhattacharjee’s
name announced? Did
the government con-
sciously announce his
name so that he would
refuse and then a cam-
paign to call the com-
munists as anti-nation-
als can be run? Keep in
mind that as soon as
Buddhadeb Bhattachar-
jee declined the award,
this campaign broke
out that communists
are anti-national. Ac-
cording to political ob-
servers, it was a ‘politi-
caltrap’andBuddhadeb
fell in it. Govt has
caught and imprisoned
communist activists
from all over the coun-
try and on the other
hand, gave the Padma
Bhushan award to a
communist leader! In
fact, Modi govt was not
1st one who announced
Padma award to a Com-
munist leader. Govt and
its agencies are aware
that a similar award
was announced by PV
Narasimha Rao govt in
1992 to former Kerala
CM and veteran com-
munist leader EMS
Namboodiripad and he
declined. Similarly, in
2007, Manmohan govt
had announced the
award to Jyoti Basu
and he refused. Then
why was announce-
ment of awarding Bud-
dhadeb Bhattachar-
jee made? Per-
haps it was a
ploy to convey a mes-
sage that government is
not against the commu-
nists. The second mo-
tive was to spread the
message that commu-
nists are anti-nationals
and on both fronts, per-
haps the central gov-
ernment achieved what
it wanted.
WhywasBuddhadebBabugiventhePadma
award? Did Modi make a political trap?
PADMA BHUSHAN AWARD TO COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER
KEY POINTS TO BE NOTED...
 Why did the central govt give the
Padma Bhushan award to the Com-
munist Party leader and former WB
CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?
 Did the govt really think that he
should be given the Padma award
for his contribution?
 If so, why did it not happen for any
other communist leader like VS
Achuthanandan or Prakash Karat
and even Sitaram Yechury?
 The biggest question is that the govt
knows that the leaders of commu-
nist parties do not take such awards
from the govt, then why was Bhat-
tacharjee’s name announced?
 Did govt consciously announce his
name so that he would refuse and
then a campaign to call the commu-
nists as anti-nationals can be run?
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
PM’S 1ST
'MANN KI BAAT' ADDRESS OF 2022
PM Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation in the 85th episode of his monthly radio
programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’. This Mann Ki Baat programme is the first episode of this year.
This time, PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat comes on Martyrs’ day which is observed on the death
anniv of Mahatma Gandhi to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country.
VETERANS LAUD
AMAR JAWAN
JYOTI BEING LIT
@ MEMORIAL
New Delhi: Address-
ing the first episode
of this year’s Mann
Ki Baat, the PM said,
“In the ‘National War
Memorial’ the names
of all the bravehearts
of the country who
have been martyred
since independence
are inscribed. Some
former soldiers of the
army have written to
me saying that the
‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’
being lit in front of
the memory of the
martyrs is a symbol
of the immortality of
the martyrs”.
(T) President Ram Nath Kovind paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on Martyrs’ Day. (L) PM Narendra
Modi pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniv. LS Speaker Om Birla pays tribute to Gandhi.
LEADERS PAY TRIBUTE!
ä He also talked about
the 2022 Republic Day
celebrations and ex-
pressed that the display
of the nation’s valour
and strength, which we
witnessed on Rajpath in
Delhi, filled everyone with
pride and enthusiasm.
ä PM said that in the Azadi
Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the
country is re-establish-
ing its national symbols
through these efforts.
ä He spoke on corruption
and said that it hollows
the country like a termite.
“Where duty is felt, Duty
is paramount, corrup-
tion cannot even think of
entering there,” he said
while responding to a
postcard he received.
ä The PM said that India
has been the sacred
land of education and
knowledge. He also
talked about Pandit
Madan Mohan
Malviya, Ma-
hatma Gandhi,
Sard-
ar Patel, Rabindranath
Tagore, Maharaja
Gaikwad Ambedkar.
ä Modi applauded the
inclination towards
education of a TN
woman, who donated
1 lakh for improvement
of a school by selling
coconuts.
ä PM spoke about a
culture of fitness as
he cited the popularity
of sports across the
country starting from
Manipur to Ladakh.
Modi said Ladakh will
soon have an open syn-
thetic track and astro
turf football stadium.
ä PM lauds horse Virat
who retired after 13
years of service in
President’s Bodyguard.
New Delhi: Kerala on
Sunday recorded 51,570
new Covid-19 cases
with a test positivity
rate of 49.89 per cent. 14
related deaths were
also reported in Kerala
as the tally of active
cases rose to 3,54,595.
Meanwhile, India re-
ported 2,34,281 new Cov-
id-19 cases, 893 deaths
and 3,52,784 recoveries
in the last 24 hours, ac-
cording to the Union
MoHFW on Sunday
. The
fresh cases of Covid-19
reported on Sunday
morning are marginal-
ly lower than those
logged on Saturday
.
Kerala’s daily spike continues to 50k, TPR nears 50%
TOP 5 STATES
STATE CASES
BENGALURU 11,938
CHENNAI 3,398
DELHI 3,674
MUMBAI 1,160
KOLKATA 521
Pune: Five people were
killed in an accident
along the old Pune-
Mumbai highway
stretch after the car
that they were travel-
ling in rammed into a
container truck near
Shilatne village in Lon-
avla area of Pune on
Sunday morning, con-
firmed police officials.
The accident took place
around 7.30 am as the
car was going from
Mumbai to Pune.
The deceased were
identified as Masidevi
Tilok, 42, Seema Raj, 32,
Shalini Rupnarayan
Raj, 19, Mahavir Raj, 38,
all residents of Mira
road in Mumbai, and
the driver Rehan Ri-
zwan Ansari, a resident
of Kurla area of Mum-
bai, according to the
police.
“The car, in which all
deceased were, was
heading from Lonavla
towards Pune. In the op-
posite direction, a con-
tainer was heading to-
wards Mumbai, paral-
lelly. The car lost con-
trol and broke through
divider and crashed
onto the other side and
then onto the oncoming
container truck,” said
police SI Bankar. —PTI
Five killed as car crashes into container
truck along old Pune-Mumbai highway
Mangled remains of a car after it collided with container truck.
DOES COVID-19 EXIST? People throng Sadar Bazar market
after the DDMA lifts the weekend curfew and relaxes restriction.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM MANN KI BAAT...
MODI LAUDS
NATION FOR
FIGHTING NEW
COVID WAVE
New Delhi: PM Narendra
Modi on Sunday said that
India is fighting with great
success with the new wave
of Covid-19 adding that
the cases of the virus have
started decreasing, which is
a good sign. Emphasising
on maintaining the pace of
economic activities amid
the pandemic, the PM
said, “Now the cases of
corona infection have also
started decreasing - this is
a very positive sign. People
should be safe, the pace of
economic activities of the
country should be main-
tained - this is the wish of
every countryman.”
HIGHLIGHTS
l India logs 2.34 lakh
new cases; positivity
rate at 14.50%
l Kajol tests Covid-19
positive
l Manipur imposes new
Covid restrictions, night
curfew to continue till
Feb 28
l Kerala witnesses total
shutdown during Sunday
lockdown imposed amid
rising cases
l Ardern isolating,
journalist case highlights
tough Covid curbs
l Researchers create
new test to quickly
identify COVID-19
infection and severity
l Hyperimmune intravenous
immunoglobulin
doesn't help COVID-19
patients: Study
Usha Sharma
PM Narendra Modi
COURT REJECTS BAIL
PLEA OF ‘BULLI BAI’
APP CREATOR NIRAJ
BENGAL GUV ATTACKS
MAMATA GOVT AGAIN,
ALLEGES VIOLENCE
New Delhi: Delhi court
has dismissed the bail ap-
plication of Niraj Bishnoi,
the alleged creator of
the Bulli Bai app, say-
ing his offence was not
only against the essence
of womanhood but was
also designed to disturb
communal harmony. Ad-
ditional Sessions Judge
Dharmender Rana denied
the relief to the accused
on January 29, noting that
the allegations against him
were serious in nature and
the investigation was at
a nascent stage. Several
complaints were received
in the country regarding
the listing of Muslim wom-
en for “auction” on ‘Bulli
Bai’ mobile application.
Kolkata: West Bengal Gov-
ernor Jagdeep Dhankhar
on Sunday paid tribute to
Mahatma Gandhi on his
death anniversary, and
launched another attack
on the Mamata Banerjee
government, stating that
he cannot see “trampling
of human rights” and the
state “getting drenched”
in violence. Asserting that
no amount of “insults” will
deter him from performing
his duties, Dhankhar said
violence and democracy
do not go together, and
urged all to become
messenger of peace and
non-violence as a tribute
to the father of the nation.
—PTI
WHO SHOWING
WRONG MAP OF IND:
TMC MP TO MODI
BENGALURU COP
SUSPENDED SEEN
KICKING WOMAN
Kolkata: Trinamool MP Dr
Santanu Sen has written to
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi that the World Health
Organization is showing a
wrong map of India. “When
I clicked the site WHO
Covid19.int, a world map
was displayed and when
I zoomed the portion of
India, it was showing a blue
map with surprisingly two
different colours for JK,”
MP wrote. He said when he
clicked over the blue por-
tion, the map was showing
him India’s data, but other
portion was showing the
data of Pakistan, he said.
“Moreoever, in our said Indi-
an map, the portion of state
of AP is also demarcated
separately,” the MP wrote.
New Delhi: A Bengaluru
traffic policeman was
caught on camera furiously
kicking a woman who had
allegedly attacked him with
a stone after her car was
towed away. The cop has
been suspended, said the
city traffic police. The wom-
an has been sent to judicial
custody, said the police. The
incident is from January 24
near the Town Hall under the
SJ Park PS limits. “Traffic
ASI Mr Narayan who alleg-
edly assaulted a woman is
suspended from yesterday
pending enquiry,” said the
traffic police in a statement.
Cop was reportedly towing
vehicles parked in no park-
ing zones.
Ahmedabad: A Muslim cleric was arrested from Delhi
by the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad in connection with
murder of a man in Gujarat’s
Dhandhuka town recently
over an alleged objection-
able Facebook post that the
accused claimed hurt their
religious sentiments, an official
said. Kishan Boliya was shot
dead by motorcycle-borne men on January 25 in retaliation
for a Facebook post he had shared on January 6, for which
some Muslim community members had filed a police
complaint claiming it hurt their religious sentiments.
INGUJARATMAN’SKILLINGOVERFACEBOOK
POST, MUSLIM CLERIC ARRESTED
CRUCIAL READ
‘PYAARA JAMMU-KASHMIR’
Northern Command of Indian Army on Sunday launched national
integration song called “Pyaara JammuKashmir”. The song is
based on natural beauty, cultural heritage, and diversity of JK. It
has been composed by Sonu Nigam, Javed Ali Harshdeep Kaur.

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: The pre-
budget Economic Sur-
vey, which is tabled in
Parliament ahead of
the Union Budget to
present the state of the
economy and suggest
policy prescriptions,
quite often misses on
the GDP forecast, some-
times by a significant
margin. This time, Fi-
nance Minister Nirma-
la Sitharaman will ta-
ble the Economic Sur-
vey for 2021-22 in the
Lok Sabha on Monday
soon after the Presi-
dent's Address to both
Houses of Parliament.
She will present the
Union Budget for the
next financial year be-
ginning April 1, 2022,
on Tuesday
.
One of the most-
watched numbers in
the pre-Budget Eco-
nomic Survey, au-
thored by a team led by
Chief Economic Advi-
sor (CEA), is the projec-
tion of the GDP for the
next fiscal.
The previous eco-
nomic survey was pre-
sented in the midst of
the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ray of optimism as
the country recovers
from the impact of the
pandemic is likely to
figure prominently in
the current year's eco-
nomic survey
. However,
various high-frequen-
cy indicators like GST
collections and corpo-
rate profitability are
pointing towards sig-
nificant upward move-
ment.
The Economic Sur-
vey for 2021-22 is ex-
pected to give a growth
projection of around
9% for the next finan-
cial year as India’s
economy is showing
signs of recovery from
the pandemic.
The last survey, pre-
sented in January 2021
amid the Covid pan-
demic, had projected
the economic growth
for 2021-22 at 11%. How-
ever, India's statistics
ministry has estimated
the economic growth at
only 9.2% for the cur-
rent fiscal.
The economy had
contracted by 7.3% dur-
ing 2020-21 as against
the projection of 6-6.5%
in the Economic Sur-
vey presented in Par-
liament months before
the outbreak of the
Covid in 2020.
Economic activities
were severely impacted
as India imposed a
strict lockdown in the
latter part of March
2020 to check the spread
of the virus. The gov-
ernment and the Re-
serve Bank of India
rolled out several meas-
ures to support the
economy
.
India is poised to
grow as the fastest
large economy in the
world during the cur-
rent financial year
with the economy pro-
jected to grow around
9% despite Covid. —PTI
ALL EYES ON GDP FORECAST
BY ECO SURVEY
One of the most-watched numbers in the pre-Budget
Economic Survey, authored by a team led by Chief
Economic Advisor (CEA), is the projection of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) for the next fiscal.
FPIs withdraw `28,243
cr from Indian equities
New Delhi: Foreign
portfolio investors
(FPIs) pulled out a
whopping `28,243 crore
from Indian equities in
January as US Fed sig-
nalled interest rate
hike. As per the depos-
itories data, FPIs took
out `28,243 crore from
equities between Janu-
ary 3-28.
During the same pe-
riod, they pumped in
`2,210 crore into debt
segment and `1,696
crore into hybrid in-
struments.
The total net outflow
stood at `24,337 crore.
With the latest pull
out of funds from In-
dian markets, FPIs
have become net sell-
ers for fourth consecu-
tive month.
“With US Fed signal-
ling that it will start
hiking interest rates
soon and shrink its
bond holdings, FPIs
went on a selling spree
in the Indian equity
markets,” said Himan-
shu Srivastava, Associ-
ate Director - Manager
Research, Morning-
star India.
This is indicative of
an end to the ultra-
loose monetary policy
regime.
“FPIs have been
booking profits in IT
where they have been
sitting on big profits
after the huge appre-
ciation in the last two
years,” VK Vijayaku-
mar, Chief Investment
Strategist at Geojit Fi-
nancial Services, not-
ed.
FPI selling has de-
pressed the stock pric-
es of financials, par-
ticularly that of lead-
ing banks, he added.
—PTI
NET OUTFLOW
9mostvaluedcompanies’
M-caperodesby`3Lcrore
New Delhi: Nine of
the top-10 most valued
companies together
lost a whopping
`3,09,178.44 crore in
market valuation last
week as selloffs contin-
ued. In a holiday-short-
ened past week, the
30-share BSE Sensex
plummeted 1,836.95
points amid geopoliti-
cal tensions, global
sell-off triggered by a
hawkish US Federal
Reserve and unabated
foreign fund outflows.
From the top-10 list,
SBI was the lone gain-
er as its valuation
jumped `18,340.07
crore to reach
`4,67,069.54 crore.
Coming to those
whose valuation
got eroded were
Reliance Indus-
tries Limited,
Tata Consultan-
cy Services,
HDFC Bank, In-
fosys, ICICI
Bank, Hindustan
Unilever Ltd,
HDFC, Bajaj Finance
and Bharti Airtel.
The market valua-
tion of RIL diminished
by `96,512.22 crore to
`15,79,779.47 crore,
taking the biggest hit
among the top-10
firms.
TCS suffered an ero-
sion of `53,488.29 crore
to `13,65,042.43 crore
from its valuation.
The mcap of Infosys
tumbled `42,392.63
crore to `7,08,751.77
crore and
that of HDFC Bank
tanked `31,815.01 crore
to reach `8,11,061.12
crore. The valuation
of Bajaj Finance de-
clined by `30,333.64
crore to `4,14,699.49
crore and that of ICICI
Bank dipped by
`16,291.53 crore to
`5,42,407.86 crore.
Bharti Airtel’s mar-
ket capitalisation
plunged `15,814.77
crore to `3,93,174.23
crore. The valuation
of HDFC diminished
by `13,319.96 crore to
`4,56,102.42 crore and
that of HUL went low-
er by `9,210.39 crore.
—PTI
TOP 10 FIRMS
Investment via P-notes rises to `95,501 cr till Dec
New Delhi: Invest-
ments in Indian capital
through participatory
notes (P-notes) rose to
`95,501 crore till De-
cember-end and ex-
perts believe that flow
is expected to be “flat to
negative” next month.
P-notes are issued by
registered foreign port-
folio investors (FPIs) to
overseas investors who
wish to be a part of the
Indian stock market
without registering
themselves directly.
They, however, need to
go through a due dili-
gence process.
According to Securi-
ties and Exchange
Board of India data,
the value of P-note in-
vestments in Indian
markets-- equity, debt
and hybrid securities
-- was at `95,501 crore
by December-end as
compared to `94,826 by
November-end.
Prior to that, invest-
ment level was at `1.02
lakh crore in October
end, which was the
highest since March
2018, when P-notes had
invested to the tune of
`1.06 lakh crore.
Abhay Agarwal,
Founder and Fund
Manager, Piper Serica,
a Sebi-registered PMS,
said P-notes data for
December suggest a
flattish trend. It sug-
gests equity inflows of
about `675 crore and
debt inflows of about
`716 crore.
This positive inflow
is surprising since
FPIs were aggressive
sellers in equity and
debt segment through-
out December with net
outflows of `19,026
crore and `11,799 crore,
respectively
. —PTI
INDIA’S Q3 MANUFACTURING OUTLOOK IMPROVES: FICCI
New Delhi: The out-
look for India’s manu-
facturing sector seems
to have improved in the
October-December
2021 quarter even as
the cost of doing busi-
ness remains a cause
for concern and hiring
prospects remain sub-
dued, according to a
FICCI survey
. The find-
ings of the latest quar-
terly survey on manu-
facturing unveiled on
Sunday also reflect sus-
tained economic activ-
ity in the sector, with
existing average capac-
ity utilisation in the
range of 65 to 70%.
It also highlighted
that manufacturers are
looking forward to the
upcoming Union Budg-
et to enhance growth
and investments in the
sector.
The percentage of
respondents reporting
higher production in
the third quarter of
2021-22 (Oct-Dec 2021-
22) was around 63%.
High raw material
prices, high cost of fi-
nance, the uncertainty
of demand, shortage of
working capital, high
logistics cost, low do-
mestic and global de-
mand due to supply
chain disruptions are
some of the major con-
straints that are affect-
ing the expansion
plans of the respond-
ents, it said.
The survey assessed
the performance and
sentiments of manu-
facturers for Q3 for 12
major sectors namely
automotive, capital
goods, cement, chemi-
cals, fertilisers and
pharmaceuticals, elec-
tronics electricals,
medical devices, metal
metal products, pa-
per products, textiles,
textiles machinery and
miscellaneous.
Responses have been
drawn from over 300
manufacturing units
from both large and
SME segments with a
combined annual turn-
over of over `2.7 lakh
crore. —PTI
But the cost of doing
business remains a
cause for concern and
hiring prospects
remain subdued
New Delhi: The govern-
ment has extended the
tenure of chairman of
IPO-bound Life Insur-
ance Corporation (LIC)
by one more year with a
view to facilitate smooth
listing of the insurance
behemoth, sources said.
Besides, the govern-
ment has also extended
the tenure of one of the
managing directors, Raj
Kumar, for one year.
With the extension, M
R Kumar will continue
as chairman of LIC till
March 2023.
This is the second
extension for the LIC
chairman. Last year in
June, he was given a
nine-month extension in
a view of LIC’s proposed
initial public offering
towards the end of the
current financial year.
The government
is looking to list LIC
during the current finan-
cial year in line with the
Budget announcement.
—PTI
GOVT EXTENDS TENURE OF IPO-BOUND
LIC’S CHAIRMAN FOR ONE YEAR
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment has mandated
storage of international
calls, satellite phone
calls, conference calls
and messages made
over normal networks
as well as on the
internet for a period
of at least two years,
according to circulars
issued by the telecom
department.
The move follows an
amendment made in
the unified licence (UL)
in December by the De-
partment of Telecom
(DoT) which extended
storage of call data
records as well as in-
ternet logs to two years
from earlier provision
of one year.
UL holders are telecom
companies like Bharti
Airtel, Reliance Jio,
Vodafone Idea, BSNL
for providing all kinds
of telecom services,
except satellite phone
services.
“The licensee shall
maintain all commer-
cial records, call data
record, exchange detail
record, IP detail record
with regard to the com-
munications exchanged
on the network. Such
records shall be ar-
chived for at least two
years for scrutiny by
the licensor for security
reasons and may be
destroyed thereafter
unless directed other-
wise directed by the
licensor,” the circular
dated Jan 27 said. —PTI
GOVERNMENT MANDATES STORAGE OF ISD, SATPHONE,
CONFERENCE CALLS, MESSAGES DETAILS FOR 2 YRS

07
NEWS
AttackingSPinpoll-boundUP,BJPleaders,including Adityanath,havebeenrepeatedlytargetingtheparty’sredcap
SP’S RED CAPS PAINTED IN BLOOD
OF KARSEVAKS: YOGI ADITYANATH
Lucknow: The Sama-
jwadi Party’s red caps
are painted in the blood
of victims of Muzaffar-
nagar riots and ‘karse-
waks’ shot dead in Ayo-
dhya, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has said.
Attacking the SP in
poll-bound UP, BJP
leaders, including PM
Narendra Modi and
Adityanath, have been
repeatedly targeting
the party’s red cap.
“The red cap of the
Samajwadi Party is
painted in the blood of
victims of Muzaffarna-
gar riots and karsewaks
who were shot in Ayod-
hya,” Adityanath said
while speaking at an
event organised by a
channel on Saturday
evening. Addressing a
rally in Gorakhpur in
December last year,
Modi had targeted the
SP, saying those in red
caps were a “red alert”
and “sign of danger”
for the state, while Adi-
tyanath had in Febru-
ary last year, said every
child sees those wear-
ing red caps as “goons”.
The CM said his gov-
ernment has been work-
ing to protect the mass-
es and instill a sense of
safety among them
while ensuring that
“criminals feel scared”
and surrender before
police with folded
hands.
Accusing the previ-
ous SP government of
neglecting the poor peo-
ple of the state, the CM
alleged that the Akh-
ilesh Yadav-led govern-
ment worked only for a
few friends involved in
the perfume business.
“They can deny (alle-
gations) but can’t
change what is true,” he
said. “They (SP) never
considered UP and its
people as their own.
Their views are family-
centric and Pakistan-
centric. Before 2017, ri-
ots used to occur every
third day in the state
and girls used to fear for
their safety. This has
changed under the BJP
rule,” Adityanath said.
Claiming that his
government has pro-
vided a new identity to
UP, he said, “Now busi-
nessmen and people are
not forced to migrate
from the state. Busi-
nessmen are now re-
turning to the state and
contributing to its de-
velopment.”
Reacting to accusa-
tions that the BJP gov-
ernment has targeted
the people of a particu-
lar religion and why
over 80 cases were
lodged against SP lead-
er Azam Khan, Adity-
anath said, “Our gov-
ernment has not lodged
any politically motivat-
ed FIR against anyone.”
“The cases against
Azam Khan are a result
of his wrongdoings. If
anyone tries to en-
croach land belonging
to the poor and build an
institution there, then
action will be taken
against that person,” he
said. —PTI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Amidst re-
ports of his possible re-
turn to his former party
,
Akhilesh Yadav’s Sama-
jwadi Party, ahead of
the Uttar Pradesh elec-
tion Congress leader
Raj Babbar and many
other senior colleagues
have so far been miss-
ing in action in the par-
ty’s poll campaign in
Uttar Pradesh.
This is when Babbar
has been named as one
of the star campaigners
of the Congress in UP.
“So was RPN Singh also
but look where he is
now,” quipped an office-
bearer of the UP Con-
gress requesting ano-
nymity
.
The Congress has
been struggling to hold
on to its top leaders for
a while now.
Babbar made his de-
but in politics in the
late 1980s with the Ja-
nata Dal. He later
switched to the Sama-
jwadi Party
. He won the
1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha
elections from Agra.
But in 2006, he was sus-
pended from the Sama-
jwadi Party. Two years
later, he joined the Con-
gress. In 2009, Babbar
won the by-election
from Firozabad. But he
lost both the 2014 and
2019 elections.
“Yes, we have not
seen many senior Con-
gress leaders from the
state active in UP. We
have not seen Raj Bab-
bar, too,” said a senior
Congress office bearer
on condition of ano-
nymity. Babbar could
not be reached for his
comments.
Raj Babbar was the
Uttar Pradesh Congress
Committee (UPCC)
president in the 2017 as-
sembly elections and
the 2019 Lok Sabha
polls.
Is Raj Babbar also on his way out of Congress? Speculation rife
STARING EXIT
Raj Babbar has so far been missing at Congress’ UP poll campaign.
OUTSIDERS JOINS POLL CAMPAIGN
‘GOONS ROAMED FREELY IN
UP WHEN SP WAS IN POWER’
JOURNALIST HELD FOR
IMPERSONATING YOGI
Kasganj: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
on Sunday said while
the BJP has ensured
good law and order as
well as development in
Uttar Pradesh, goons
used to roam freely
and there were riots
when the Samajwadi
Party was in power.
He also said that now
goons and the mafia
do not get protection,
“but bulldozers are
run over their illegal
properties”. “I want to
know why riots always
happen during the SP’s
(Samajwadi Party)
government. Why did
goons and miscreants
roam freely in their
regime,” Singh said
while campaigning
here for next month’s
assembly elections in
the state. —PTI
New Delhi: A free-
lance journalist was
arrested for allegedly
impersonating Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath and
sending forged letters
to several public sector
units in a bid to obtain
advertisements for his
newspaper in 2016,
police said on Sunday.
Adityanath was then
a Lok Sabha MP from
Gorakhpur. Accused
Manoj Kumar Seth
(41) was arrested from
his native Bhubanesh-
war in Odisha by the
Intelligence Fusion and
Strategic Operations
(IFSO) unit of Delhi Po-
lice’s Special Cell, they
said. —PTI
LeopardrescuedinJaipurcolony
Jaipur: A leopard was
rescued from a residen-
tial area here on Sun-
day, officials said.
Panic gripped the
NRI colony in Jagatpu-
ra area of the city after
locals spotted the leop-
ard on Saturday night,
they said.
The residents in-
formed the forest de-
partment following
which a team rushed to
the spot and tracked the
animal.
The leopard could not
be tranquilised last
night. He kept moving
around and was tran-
quilised in an open area
of a house today, a for-
est department official
said. Jagatpura is close
to Jhalana forest area,
which is famous for its
leopard safaris. —PTI
Punjab Dy CM confirms our claim
of politicians-drug mafia nexus:AAP
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Senior
leader of AAP Punjab
and leader of opposi-
tion (LoP) Harpal Singh
Cheema welcoming the
statement of Deputy
CM and Congress lead-
er Sukhwinder Singh
Randhawa in which
Randhawa admitted
that the alliance is go-
ing on between the poli-
ticians and drug smug-
glers in Punjab.
Cheema appealed to
Deputy CM Sukhjinder
Singh Randhawa, CM
Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni, Congress State Pres-
ident Navjot Singh Sid-
hu, former Chief Min-
ister Capt Amarinder
Singh and other Con-
gress leaders to stop
worrying about Punjab
now as people of Pun-
jab have decided to
give the reins of
the state to Aam
Aadmi Party
with the faith
that they would
solve all the prob-
lems of the state
including the ma-
fia issue.
In a statement is-
sued on Sunday,
Cheema said, “The
Aam Aadmi Party has
been alleging for a
long time that the
leaders of the
ruling par-
ties and the
other min-
isters of
Punjab have joined
hands with drug smug-
glers”. MLAs and other
members of govern-
ment are encouraging
and providing shelter
plus protection to the
drug smugglers. This is
the reason the drug
menace is expanding its
tentacles in Punjab in
which youngsters are
falling into it,” said
Cheema.
These political par-
ties and leaders ruled
the state and patronized
all kinds of mafias. The
drug smugglers had
been operating un-
checked for a long time
but neither the Akali
Dal Badal nor the Con-
gress government had
taken any step to curb
these smugglers as the
leaders themselves are
patronizing the drug
smugglers.
Cheema accused the
ruling party leaders
Sukhjinder Randhawa,
Navjot Sidhu, Charan-
jit Channi, Capt Ama-
rinder Singh that the
members of Congress
failed to break the ties
with drug smugglers
nor punish the crimi-
nals of sacrilege Sri
Guru Granth Sahib.
The culprits as well as
the conspirators
behind the sac-
rilege need to
be pun-
ished, said
Cheema.
4, including 3
kids, killed in
fire in Jaipur
Jaipur: Four persons,
including three chil-
dren, were killed on
Sunday after a fire
broke out in a small
painting material pack-
aging unit in the Jam-
waramgarh area of
Jaipur, officials said.
The fire broke out in a
hall constructed on
farmland. A man and
three children, includ-
ing his daughter, were
burnt alive in the inci-
dent, said Jamwaram-
garh Circle Officer Shiv
Kumar. The deceased
were identified as
Ramesh (25), his daugh-
ter Jaya (3) and two
other children - Garima
(3) and Kalu (4), Kumar
said. He said three per-
sons, including a minor,
were also injured. Short
circuit is being termed
as the prima facie rea-
son for fire. —PTI
MLANeerajSharmaappointedAPRO
forCong’sorganisationalpolls2022
First India Bureau
Faridabad: NIT MLA
Neeraj Sharma has been
appointed as the Assis-
tant Pradesh Returning
Officer (APRO) for Con-
gress’ organisational
elections2022forPunjab.
A letter from Madhu-
sudan Mistry
, chairman
of the All India Con-
gress Committee (AICC)
Central Election Au-
thority, to NIT MLA
Neeraj Sharma an-
nounced his appoint-
ment as the Assistant
Pradesh Returning Of-
ficer for Punjab to con-
duct the Organisational
Election 2022. The letter
said that MLA Sharma
has to take necessary
steps to supervise the
membership drive and
see that full information
about the membership
enrolment is sent to the
party high command at
the earliest.
“You are requested to
kindlyproceedtothestate
allotted to you as early as
possible and take all nec-
essary steps to complete
variousstagesof theElec-
tion as per schedule,” the
letter read.
NIT MLA Neeraj
Sharmahasthankedthe
party high command for
this new responsibility
given to him and said
that he will leave no
stone unturned to fulfil
his duties.
MLAs and other
members of gov-
ernment are en-
couraging and
providing shelter
plus protection to
the drug smug-
glers. This is the
reason the drug
menace is ex-
panding its ten-
tacles in Punjab
in which young-
sters are falling
into it
Harpal Singh Cheema,
Senior leader of Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) Punjab and
leader of Opposition
‘BJP in Centre
did a lot to
develop Punjab’
First India Bureau
L u d h i a n a :
Though the BJP
was not in power
in Punjab yet mas-
sive development
works were car-
ried out through
the BJP led Gov-
ernment in the
Centre, said
Meenakshi Lekhi,
Union Minister of
State (MoS) while
addressing the me-
dia persons here
on Sunday
.
She elaborated
the extensive
works carried out
in the State from
the funds received
under various
missions and
schemes of Gov-
ernment of India.
She termed the
people of Punjab
as aspirational,”
If good govern-
ance is provided
then ranking of
Punjab on the de-
velopment index
will rise from the
current place of 23
to top.” This is pos-
sible only by the
BJP government
in the state , she
added .
NIT MLA Neeraj Sharma
Yogi Adityanath pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary, in Lucknow on Sunday.
Harpal Singh Cheema

Each one of us strives to live a
life where we ‘make a mark,’ a
few manage it who turn
‘chance’ into ‘opportunity!’
—JagdeeshChandra,CEOEditor-in-Chief,FirstIndia
COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,677,545
TOTAL DEATHS
295,002,744
TOTAL RECOVERED
72,910,991
ACTIVE CASES
373,591,280
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
494,110
TOTAL DEATHS
38,713,494
TOTAL RECOVERED
1,884,918
ACTIVE CASES
41,092,522
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
H1-B registration for FY2023 to start from March 1: USCIS
Washington: The reg-
istration for the much
sought-after H-1B visa
for the fiscal year 2023
will begin from March 1
and the successful ap-
plicants will be random-
ly selected and notified
online by March 31, ac-
cording to the US feder-
al immigration agency
.
The H-1B visa is a
non-immigrant visa
that allows US compa-
nies to employ foreign
workers in speciality oc-
cupations that require
theoretical or technical
expertise. The technol-
ogy companies depend
on it to hire tens of thou-
sandsof employeeseach
year from countries like
India and China.
The US Citizenship
and Immigration Ser-
vices (USCIS) in a state-
ment said the initial
registration period for
the fiscal year 2023 H-1B
cap will open at noon
Eastern on March 1 and
run through noon East-
ern on March 18, 2022.
During the period,
prospective petitioners
and representatives will
be able to complete and
submit their registra-
tions using the online
H-1B registration sys-
tem, the agency said in
a statement on Friday
.
“If we receive enough
registrations by March
18, we will randomly se-
lect registrations and
send selection notifica-
tions via users’ myUS-
CIS online accounts. We
intend to notify account
holders by March 31,”
the USCIS said.
As mandated by the
Congress, USCIS can is-
sue a maximum of
65,000 H-1B visas in a
year. It can also issue
another 20,000 H-1B vi-
sas to foreign students
who have completed
higher studies from a
US university in Sci-
ence, Technology, Engi-
neering and Mathemat-
ics (STEM) subjects.
The USCIS will as-
sign a confirmation
number to each regis-
tration submitted for
the FY 2023 H-1B cap.
—PTI
Houston: Former US President Don-
ald Trump has said that if he returns
to the White House after the 2024
election he will ensure the partici-
pants of the January 6 Capitol Riots
are treated fairly, and may even con-
sider the prospect of a pardon for de-
serving cases. Speaking at the mega
“Save America” rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday,
Trump said: “So many people have been asking me
about it: (yes) if I run and win (2024 Presidential
election), we will treat those people from January
6 fairly.” “We will treat them fairly. And if it requires
pardons we will give them pardons.” —PTI
MAY PARDON JAN 6 CAPITOL RIOTERS
IF RETURN TO THE OVAL OFFICE: TRUMP
N KOREA TESTS LONGEST
RANGE MISSILE SINCE 2017
Seoul: North Korea on
Sunday fired what ap-
peared to be the most
powerful missile it has
tested since President
Joe Biden took office, as
it revives its old play-
bookinbrinkmanshipto
wrest concessions from
Washington and neigh-
bors amid a prolonged
stalemate in diplomacy
.
The Japanese and
South Korean militar-
ies said the missile was
launched on a lofted
trajectory, apparently
to avoid the territorial
spaces of neighbors,
and reached a maxi-
mum altitude of 2,000
kilometers(1,242miles)
and traveled 800 kilom-
eters (497 miles) before
landing in the sea.
Theflightdetailssug-
gest the North tested its
longest-range ballistic
missilesince2017,when
it twice flew intermedi-
ate-range ballistic mis-
siles over Japan and,
separately
, three inter-
continental ballistic
missiles that demon-
strated the potential to
reach deep into the
American homeland.
Sunday’s test was
North Korea’s seventh
round of launches this
month. The unusually
fast pace of tests indi-
cates its intent to pres-
suretheBidenadminis-
trationoverlong-stalled
nuclear negotiations as
pandemic-related diffi-
culties put further
stress on an economy
broken by decades of
mismanagement and
crippling U.S.-led sanc-
tions over its nuclear
weapons programme.
South Korean Presi-
dent Moon Jae-in
called an emergency
National Security
Council meeting where
he described the test as
a possible mid-range
ballistic missile launch
that brought North Ko-
rea to the brink of
breaking its 2018 self-
imposed moratorium
on the testing of nu-
clear devices and long-
er-range missiles.
Japanese Defense
Minister Nobuo Kishi
also told reporters that
the missile was the
longest-range the
North has tested since
its Hwasong-15 ICBM
in November 2017.
North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un chaired a
ruling party meeting on
Jan. 20, where senior
party members made a
veiled threat to lift the
moratorium,citingwhat
they perceived as U.S.
hostility and threats.
The latest launch
suggests Kim’s morato-
rium is already bro-
ken, said Lee Choon
Geun, a missile expert
and honorary research
fellow at South Korea’s
Science and Technolo-
gy Policy Institute.
In his strongest com-
mentstowardtheNorth,
Moon said the situation
around Korean Penin-
sula is beginning to re-
semble2017,whenNorth
Korea’s provocative run
in nuclear and long-
range missile testing
resulted in an exchange
of war threats between
Kim and Trump.
Moon said the
North’s latest moves
violated U.N. Security
Council resolutions
and were a challenge
towardtheinternation-
al community’s efforts
to denuclearizing the
Korean Peninsula, sta-
bilize peace and find a
diplomatic solution to
the nuclear standoff.
The North should
stop its actions that cre-
ate tensions and pres-
sure and respond to the
dialogue offered by the
international commu-
nity including South
Korea and the United
States, Moon said, ac-
cording to his office.
Moon had ambi-
tiously pushed for in-
ter-Korean engage-
ment and held three
summits with Kim in
2018 while also lobby-
ing to set up Kim’s first
summit with Trump in
2018, where they issued
vague aspirations for a
nuclear-free peninsu-
la.
But the diplomacy
derailed after the col-
lapse of the second
Kim-Trump meeting in
2019, when the Ameri-
cans rejected North
Korea’s demand for
major sanctions relief
in exchange for a par-
tial surrender of its
nuclear capabilities.
Japanese Chief Cab-
inet Secretary Hiroka-
zu Matsuno said Sun-
day’s missile flew for
around 30 minutes and
landed in waters out-
side Japan’s exclusive
economic zone. There
were no immediate re-
ports of damage to
boats or aircraft. —AP
5terroristskilledinseparate
encountersinKashmir
Srinagar: In a major
success for the security
forces in Jammu and
Kashmir, a top self-
styled commander of
the Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) outfit was among
five terrorists killed in
two separate overnight
encounters in Pulwama
and Budgam districts
of the valley, officials
said on Sunday
.
The JeM chief Zahid
Wani was active since
2017 and was involved
in several killings and
recruitment of youth
into terrorist ranks.
Speaking to reporters
at a joint press confer-
ence in Pulwama, IGP
Kashmir, Vijay Kumar,
and GoC of the army’s
Victor Force, Major
General Prashant Sriv-
astava, said the gun-
fights, which broke out
on Saturday, took place
in Pulwama and Bud-
gam districts of the
Kashmir valley after
the security forces re-
ceived specific inputs
about the presence of
terrorists.
While four JeM ter-
rorists were killed in
the encounter in Naira
area of Pulwama, in
south Kashmir, one ul-
tra of Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) was killed in
Chrar-i-Sharief area of
the central Kashmir’s
Budgam district.
Zahid Wani was a top
commander of the
Jaish. His brother was
involved in the Ban Pla-
za attack (in Jammu)
and is in jail. Wani has
been active since 2017,
involved in several kill-
ings, recruitment. After
the killing of Sameer
Dar, he became the dis-
trict commander of
JeM. —PTI
GoC of the Victor Force, Major General Prashant Srivastava along with Kashmir Inspector General of
Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar addressing a press conference, in Shopian on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
FORCES ON HUNT
OF TERRORISTS
SmritiIranicampaigns
forpartycandidates
First India Bureau
Agra: On Sunday, Un-
ion Minister Smriti Ira-
ni reached Agra where
she communicated with
the public, as well as tar-
geted the Samajwadi
Party and said that the
SP does the politics of
revenge and the BJP
does the politics of
change. She said, Devel-
opment is taking place
in the state, so criminals
are migrating.
The Union Minister
of Textiles, Women and
Child Welfare addressed
the conversation pro-
gram at Ramlila Maid-
an, Jaipur House, Agra.
She said that people
troubled by crime and
nepotism are giving
their support to BJP
while appreciating the
development works.
Along withthis,shesaid
thatduetothegrowthof
BJP, SP is doing the
work of threatening
BJPworkersandsociety
in some assembly con-
stituencies through
criminal elements.
HaryanareducesCovid
rapidantigentestprice
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: The Har-
yana government has
reduced the price of
the Covid rapid anti-
gen tests (RAT) to Rs
50, which was earlier
priced at Rs 250. Addi-
tional Chief Secretary
(ACS) (Health Depart-
ment) Rajeev Arora is-
sued an order in this
regard.
An order by ACS Ra-
jeev Arora, reads: “Af-
ter due consideration
on the matter and ad-
vice of experts, taking
into account the cost
of kits and consuma-
bles and consent of
leading private labora-
tories, the state gov-
ernment, in exercise
of the powers bestowed
under the Epidemic
Diseases Act, 1897; di-
rects that no private
laboratory should
charge any amount
more than Rs 50 for an-
tigen for COVID-19
testing, inclusive of
GST/taxes, if any, cost
involved in pick-up,
PPE, packing, trans-
portation of samples,
documentation and re-
porting, in Haryana.”
PM Modi should address nation on
Pegasus issue: Raj CM Ashok Gehlot
Jaipur: Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Sunday de-
manded Prime Minister
Narendra Modi address
the nation on the
Pegasus issue to end
any confusion on the
matter.
After paying tributes
to Mahatma Gandhi at
the secretariat here on
Shaheed Diwas, Gehlot
said those who follow
the ideology of the man
who assassinated the
Father of the Nation
are ruling the country
and are entering the
parliament as MPs.
Reacting to a media
report claiming that In-
dia bought the Pegasus
spyware from Israel as
part of a defence deal in
2017, the Congress lead-
er said, “The Central
government should give
a clarification. If the
government is clean,
thenthePMshouldhim-
self address the nation.”
“The Supreme Court
is not able to do hear-
ings on the matter on
priority
, which it should
have done. Who should
be blamed?” he said.
Gehlot said that Rich-
ard Nixon had to resign
as US president in a
matter of spying.
He also alleged there
is such an environment
in the country that any-
one who expresses disa-
greement with the rul-
ing dispensation is tar-
geted, and the CBI, En-
forcement Directorate
go after them.
He also alleged that
the RSS and BJP have
created a “troll army”
across the country to at-
tack people on social
media for writing any-
thing which is against
their ideology
. —PTI
PM Modi and Raj CM Gehlot at ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat Ki Ore’. —FILE PHOTO
Smriti Irani campaigns in Agra
on Sunday.
The order directed
all the laboratories
to adhere to the
Covid SOPs

09
NEW DELHI, MONDAY
JANUARY 31, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ajasthan is
not only
known for its
Raja Ma-
harajas but
also its beau-
tiful
strong Maharanis.
Inspired by the royal-
ty and beauty of Ma-
haranis,DesignerPal-
lavi Madesiya Yadav
from Polka Dots Cou-
ture came up with her
collection ‘Rani Sa’.
The couture bridal
collection can make
any ordinary girl look
like a queen on her
day
. The various
shades of Red and
Pink made this collec-
tion look eye catchy
and the heavy work
on the garments have
left everyone awe-
struck. With the
drapes and motifs one
can feel the flavour of
Marwar.
All these years
their clothing is push-
ing boundaries of
comfort, beauty, fit-
tings and elegance. It
is creating an ambi-
ence of royalty for
everyone. The mysti-
cal drapes, zardozi
work, intricate em-
broidery add volumes
to the garment. As a
beautifullyhandcraft-
ed attire is a joy for-
ever which becomes a
memoryforalifetime.
The collection was
shot in a palace at
Jodhpur which made
it look grander than
ever. The Campaign is
styled and art direct-
ed by famous Bolly-
wood stylist Ab-
himanyu Singh
Tomar assisted by
Arpita Parihar. The
Campaign is shot by
p h o t o g r a p h e r s
MananKulshrestha
Yash Jangid. The cre-
ative make-up hair
was done by Kunjal,
Himanshi, and Aman
Rawal from Classic
Make-up Studio. Style
Skool Supermodels
Zara Sheikh, Netra
Patel, Rajveer Bhul-
lar, Priya Choudhary
,
Aasawari Sahni and
Anjali Khandal
brought the garments
to life with their fluid
posing techniques.
Accessories from
Guls Gallery gave a
royal vintage feel to
the look. The cinema-
tography was done by
Dipesh and Divesh
from D Studios.
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
GRANDEUR
LUXURY
THE WEDDING RITUALS AND CLOTHES MAKE THE
WEDDING AS MUCH AS THE BRIDE AND HER GROOM.
BOTH LOOK THEIR SPLENDID BEST IN GORGEOUS
OUTFITS. WE KNOW HOW MOVIES LIKE RAM-LEELA,
JODHA AKBAR AND PADMAVATI HAVE HAD US
DROOLING OVER GORGEOUS RAJASTHANI DRESSES
FOR WEDDINGS! THIS EXCLUSIVE ‘RANI SA’
COLLECTION IS DEFINITELY WEDDING GOALS!
R

10
ETC
GUNISHIKA
BINDRA,
Model
FACE
OF
THE
DAY!
Aries
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20
You are likely to have
fun at work today. A
changed lifestyle
promises good health.
You may not be in the
best of financial situations, but things
are likely to improve. Much excitement
is foreseen on the family front. There is
some scope of improving your scores
on the academic front.
Gemini
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Focussing on your
career graph at this
juncture will be a step
that will take you far. A
rethink is in order for
those going in for a heavy investment.
Recovering a loaned amount from
someone will not pose much difficulty.
You will manage to defuse tensions
prevailing at home.
Leo
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Job prospects for those
freshly out of profes-
sional institutes are set
to brighten up soon. A
positive outlook will
help you throw out the negativity
within. You will manage to ignore
distractions and interruptions at work
to complete a pending task in time. is
so miffed.
Libra
SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22
This is the day to play
your winning card on
the professional front. A
lot of time may be
wasted in socialising,
but you will love every moment of it!
Time is ripe for investing in a scheme
you have been considering for long.
Your upbeat mood and a happy
demeanour will brighten atmosphere.
Sagittarius
NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22
Sticking to workout
routine may benefit you
on the health front.
Meeting relatives at a
marriage or party cannot
be ruled out. Accompanying someone
you click with is likely to make your
business journey entertaining. Support
from the family may seem most
encouraging.
Aquarius
JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19
Balancing act between
home and office will
remain most smooth
for working women.
You succeed in putting
an ambitious project on the tracks and
cross all hurdles in making it a
success. Love beckons and promises
to give immense joy and fulfillment.
Homemakers can exceed budget.
Taurus
APRIL 21 - MAY 20
A major purchase may
make a dent in your
savings, but will help in
keeping up with the
jonesses. Speculation
may not be profitable and you can very
well burn your fingers. Some of you
may get hard pressed to find a good
match for someone eligible in the family
down, Saturn will save you.
Cancer
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Homemakers will get a
chance to implement
their ideas. You are
likely to be recognised
for your efforts on the
professional front. Some of you can be
invited for guidance or consultancy.
Chance of a raise is possible for some.
Timely and correct decision will help
you in saving a lot of money.
Virgo
AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23
Satisfaction is foreseen
for the image conscious
people trying to achieve
perfect figure and
physique. You will
succeed in surmounting the odds to get
a stalled job back on the tracks. Your
efforts on the academic front will keep
you in contention. You are likely to
spend an enjoyable time.
Scorpio
OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will succeed and
move ahead in your
professional life, as the
year begins. Be careful,
though, as your daily
routine may be affected adversely.
Your boss may be the reason for your
annoyance. Pressure tactics can
infuriate you. Probably, by 5th or 6th,
you may think of taking up a new job.
Capricorn
DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20
You may get motivated
to shake a leg just to get
on the fitness trail. It will
be important to keep a
tab of your expenses
today. Some shuffling on the work front
is likely but will not affect you. Peace
and tranquillity prevail on the home
front and will help you unwind.
Romance seems on the upswing.
Pisces
FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20
Financial condition of
those down in the
dumps is set to
improve. Your
efficiency at work is
likely to impress those who matter at
work. Your biggest asset is your sense
of humor try to use it to cure your not
so good health. Spending time with
family.
YOUR DAY Horoscopeby
SaurabbhSachdeva
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DANIA KHAN:
THE PRODIGY POET
hen one meets
Dania, the prodi-
gy poet with a
book published
from Roopa Pub-
lication, the first
reaction is that
of amazement . Her Baby
face is more highlighted
due to the fringe she
sports, though the eyes
under the fringe are seri-
ous. She is a child of bare-
ly 12 years with a wizened
old soul. Her first book of
poetry ‘ The Labyrinth’ is
well appreciated yet she
seems untouched by the
eulogies that have come
for the book. The For-
ward to her poetry book
Labyrinth is written by
the celebrated writer,
Ruskin Bond who says,
‘In some of the poems the
reader might find him-
self/herself submerged
in the whirlpool of con-
flicting emotions while in
some the reader will feel
emancipated. Such is the
young poetess’s construct
of words that it leaves
you both chained and lib-
erated, all at once’
The parental age
group’s grossly precon-
ceived notions about chil-
dren are challenged by
Dania’s intelligence. She
is not only well read she
is also extremely diversi-
fied and unique in her
pursuits and interests.
Take for example the
facts that she is a biblio-
phile, a linguaphile ,
writes an Instagram ac-
count, @bookomaniacal
reviewing books, loves
calligraphy and is a
Quantum Physics enthu-
siast!! The subject con-
tent of Quantum Physics
seems too heavy for her
frail shoulders and I ask
her why this choice of
subject.
She explains, ‘Quan-
tum physics doesn’t ex-
actly enter my writing
content because I like to
keep a sharp divide be-
tween it and my writing.
But Quantum physics
also talks about endless
possibilities and proba-
bilities which I find very
interesting. I inculcate
this interest into my po-
ems by always adding a
glimmer of hope in them,
thus showing that there
are always endless possi-
bilities.’ It is interesting
to see her interpret Quan-
tum Physics in a rare in-
tellectual vein.
It has something to do
with the subliminal con-
nections of literature and
science, the unexplored
sense of a word written,
unwritten, said or un-
said. She believes in the
potent power of words,
said or unsaid, they carry
loads of meanings and a
cryptic message for her
and her readers. Her
writing unfolds the mean-
ing of a word and it is a
powerful tool to her to de-
cipher the logic of vio-
lence, wars, the mindless
and most insensitive mis-
use of natural resources,
the cruelty humans
wreak on other weaker
humans . The perennial
child in all of us is struck
by the double standards
of people and nations so
what is there for a young
soul to celebrate? It is no
wonder that a Greta
Thunberg protests loud
for environment and a
Malala Yousafzai stands
up for Girl Education
harking back to the Ger-
man –jewish Anne
Frank’s Diary’s heart
wrenching words!!
Her Instagram account
@Bookomaiacal gives her
a chance to share her pas-
sion for books with other
likeminded people. She
shares that choosing po-
etry was not a conscious
choice as it came natu-
rally to her. As she broke
the bondage of rhyming,
words just flowed.
Though currently she is
trying her hand at prose
too. She denies that her
poetry is dark while ad-
mitting the frequent de-
scription of her poetry as
too sombre.
In spite of her denial,
her poetry is close to real-
ity which is turning ug-
lier every day
. There is an
innate desire in young
Dania to express, string
together words to form a
metaphor that will pro-
ject a poignant world full
of unhappy things. As
she puts it in her intro-
duction there is a compul-
sion to say, to articulate
the darkness inside her,
to reach out to every sen-
sitive heart. She does not
write for herself but for
‘all the kids who were
about to give up’After
talking to her for a while,
it does feel redundant to
ask why such dark poet-
ry? Poems like Hope, I
Couldn’t See Myself,
Light , looking For Some-
one to Love, Corpse and
other titles tell us about
the disillusionment of an
honest individual who
can see the reality
wrapped in words, ideolo-
gies and pontifications.
Dania Khan’s book
launch in Mumbai was
done by the esoteric, ac-
tor-intellectual Naserud-
din Shah at the historic
Kitabghar in South Mum-
bai, attended by intellec-
tuals who were all Da-
nia’s literary friends on
social media. So there
were Mr. Ranjit Haskote
and Ms. Nitya Satyani
with Naseeruddin Shah
and there were Ms Ratna
Pathak Shah, Ms. Shab-
nam Minawala (Writer
for children whose style
is emulated by Dania),Mr.
Suhit Kelkar, Kaiwan Me-
hta and Samir Somaiyya
- celebrities in the field.
‘In this world, people
may live
Their entire lives
Searching for who
they are,
While some may live
through their entire lives
afraid of who they are ‘ -
the lines of one of her
poems sum up the
enigmatic Dania Khan.
MRIDUL BHASIN
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
W
(L-R) Nitya Satyani, Dania Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Ranjit Haskote
Dania Khan

31012022 first india new delhi

31012022 first india new delhi

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