First india lucknow edition-14 december 2020

RAJ FARMERS MARCH TOWARDS DELHI
Jaipur: Amid the ongoing demonstration against the farm laws, the farmers’
march from Rajasthan started on Sunday morning from Shahjahanpur, which is
around 120 km from Delhi. The group of 800-900 are being led by Swaraj India
chief Yogendra Yadav. Social activist Medha Patkar is also accompanying the
group. Visuals showed farmers carrying placards and shouting slogans as they
walked slowly down the highway. Tractors pulling tarpaulin-covered trailers, and
flanked by cars with banners waved out of the windows, were also seen.
PUNJAB DIG (PRISONS)
TENDERS RESIGNATION
Chandigarh: Punjab DIG (Prisons) Lakhminder
Singh Jakhar on Sunday said he has resigned
from the service in support of farmers. Jakhar
said he tendered his resignation to state govt
on Saturday. In his resignation letter to Prin-
cipal Secretary (Home), he wrote that he was
himself a farmer. “I have always listened to my
conscience and now I earnestly feel that I should
stand by my brotherhood,” he wrote in his
resignation letter.
IN SUPPORT OF
FARMERS, KEJRIWAL
TO FAST TODAY
New Delhi: Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said on Sunday
that he will be hold-
ing a one-day fast on
Monday in support of
the protesting farmers.
He also urged all AAP
workers and support-
ers to observe one-day
fast in solidarity with
the farmers. Addressing
a virtual press brief-
ing, he said the Centre
should immediately
accept all demands of
the farmers who have
been protesting on
Delhi’s borders for the
past two weeks. He also
asked BJP-ruled Centre
to shun “arrogance”
and scrap the laws as
demanded by agitating
farmers.
DELHI-JAIPUR HIGHWAY
OPENS PARTIALLY
New Delhi: Delhi-Jaipur highway was partially
opened after a three-hour closure that started as
farmers began a tractor march from Shahjahan-
pur on the Rajasthan-Haryana border. A highway
was opened as farmers removed blockade from
the Delhi-Noida border at Chilla. Thousands of
farmers on way to Delhi, meanwhile, reached
the Rewari border of Haryana, where the police
blocked both sides of the Delhi-Jaipur highway
to stop them from entering the state.
GOVT GOES INTO A HUDDLE
AS FARMERS GO ON 9-HR FAST TODAY
New Delhi: Union min-
isters, including home
minister Amit Shah,
Agri minister Narendra
Singh Tomar and minis-
terof stateforcommerce
and industry Som
Parkash, went into a
huddle on Sunday as
farmers, who have been
camping at Delhi’s bor-
ders to demand the re-
pealof threecontentious
laws, showed no sign to
relent. The ministers
were accompanied by
BJP leaders from Pun-
jab. Tomar and Parkash,
alongwiththeirministe-
rial colleague Piyush
Goyal, had led the gov-
ernment’s negotiations
with the protesting
farmers.
Both Tomar and
Parkash met the Union
home minister at his
house and it was not im-
mediately known what
transpired in the meet-
ing, even as the farmers’
agitation in and around
Delhi entered its 18th
day with the protesters
threatening to block the
Delhi-Jaipur highway.
Meanwhile, during a
press conference, on
Sunday, at the Delhi-
Haryana Singhu Border
farmer leader Gurnam
Singh Chaduni an-
nounced that heads of
all farm unions will
hold fast from 8 am till
5 pm on Monday. “Govt
agencies have been
stopping farmers from
reaching Delhi, our pro-
tests will continue till
our demands are met,”
said farmer leader Shiv
Kumar Kakka.
Union Minister
Kailash Choudhary on
Sunday said the govern-
ment will soon decide a
date and call union lead-
ers for the next round of
talks. The government
has made it clear that it
is ready for discussion
anytime. But the farmer
unions have said they
would come for talks
only if the laws are re-
pealed. Asked when the
government will hold
the next round of meet-
ing, Chaudhary told
PTI, “The meeting will
be called soon. We are
ready for discussion.
But the date has not
beenfinalised.”Thegov-
ernment will find “some
solution” to end the
deadlock. “We have full
confidence. In the next
meeting, the issue will
be resolved,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the Su-
preme Court is sched-
uled to hear on Decem-
ber 16 a plea seeking a
direction to authorities
to immediately remove
the farmers who are
protesting at several
border points Turn to P6
UNION MINISTERS TOMAR & PARKASH MEET SHAH ON SUNDAY; DATE FOR NEXT ROUND OF TALKS SOON
Security personnel stand guard as farmers block Rajasthan-Haryana border during their protest against farm laws, at NH 48 in Rewari district on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM leads nation in paying tributes to
victims of 2001 Parliament attack
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi,
Home Minister Amit
Shah and Defence Min-
ister Rajnath Singh on
Sunday paid tributes to
those who lost their
lives in 2001 Parliament
attack.
Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu, Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Bir-
la and Leader of Oppo-
sition in Rajya Sabha
Ghulam Nabi Azad also
paid tributes on the oc-
casion. “Paid floral trib-
utes to the brave mar-
tyrs who laid down
their lives while pro-
tecting our Turn to P6
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om
Birla, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal and others pays homage to
martyrs who lost their lives in 2001 Parliament attack, in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
BJP dumps its
coalition partner
in Assam
Guwahati: The BJP on
Sunday virtually
dumped one of its coali-
tion partners in Assam,
the BPF, and picked up a
new ally to gain major-
ity and rule the Bodo-
land Territorial Council
(BTC), a self-governing
body in the Bodo-domi-
nated areas of the state.
TheBodolandPeople’s
Front (BPF), which has
three ministers in the
SarbanandaSonowal-led
coalition government in
the state, has emerged as
the single-largest party
in the just concluded
BTC polls, winning 17
seats in the 40-member
body. Turn to P6
BJP prez Nadda
tests positive
for Covid-19
New Delhi: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) na-
tional president Jagat
Prakash
N a d d a
has tested
positive
for the
novel cor-
onavirus.
Taking to Twitter,
Nadda said he is in
home isolation as per
coronavirus protocol
and is in good health.
The BJP chief also ap-
pealed to people who
came in contact with
him recently to get test-
ed for the infection.
“Observing the ini-
tial symptoms Turn to P6
13°C - 26°C www.firstindia.co.in | www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia | instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 32
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
2 PAKISTANI TERRORISTS
KILLED, 1 ASSOCIATE ARRESTED
IN J-K’S POONCH
P8
DILEMMA OF CHOOSING BETWEEN LOYALISTS
& DISSIDENTS THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT
GEHLOT FACING IN CABINET EXPANSION!
Two Pakistani terrorists
of proscribed terror outfit
LeT were gunned down
and one associate was
arrested at Durgan Poshana
area in Poonch in a joint
operation launched by
Jammu and Kashmir Police,
Indian Army and CRPF.The
slain terrorists have been
identified as Sajid and Bilal.
2 AK 47 Rifles, one UBGL
and one Thuraya Satphone
have been recovered from
their possession.
Yogi’s farmers’ outreach:
Who will blink first?
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Offense is
the best defense. And
nobody knows this bet-
ter than UP Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath,
who put the Opposition
parties stoking farm-
ers’ unrest in Western
UP on the back foot by
launching a blitzkrieg
of development and in-
frastructure projects on
Sunday in Meerut.
After launching 29
projects in Ghaziabad,
the UP CM laid founda-
tion stones of a whop-
ping 88 projects includ-
ing on Sunday in
Meerut. The shift in fo-
cus from Gorakhpur in
Purvanchal (Eastern),
where the UP CM spent
three-days, last week, to
Paschim (Western) UP
is being viewed as a
move to woo farmers’ on
the warpath over new
farm laws. Emphasising
that every penny (sugar-
cane dues) Turn to P6
Yogi Adityanath
Kisan Bhaiyon Se Miliye To Ram-Ram Kahiye: Yogi to UP Police
Vishal Srivastav
Lucknow: As media gi-
ants from across the
world keep a close
watch on the ongoing
farmers’ protest in Del-
hi putting Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi in a
bit of soup, he is gar-
nering highest degree
of support from Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath.
While there is lack of
passion and ambition in
the way BJP’s other top
leaders are reacting to
the farmer crisis, Chief
Minister has been val-
iantly fighting for his
senior like a true depu-
ty. Ever since the farm-
ers took to roads, Adity-
anath has been one man
in the whole of BJP set
up to have consistently
lent support to him.
“Unko (the opposition
and those who oppose
Modi) parehsani is baat
se hai ki aakhir kaise
KisanSammanNidhiYo-
jana Modi ji ne laagu kar
di. Fir vo bole ki lock-
downmeschemebandho
jaegi. (They were agitat-
ed as to how Modi began
theKisanSammanNidhi
Scheme? Then they said
thatitwillbeshutduring
lockdown. But Modi (Ji)
was very clear on this
thatevenduringthelock-
down, the salaries of the
MLAs and MPs may be
stopped but not the ben-
efitstofarmers,”CMsaid
on Sunday while inaugu-
rating a number of pro-
jects in Western UP.
He questioned when a
PrimeMinisterissocon-
cernedabouthisnation’s
farmers’ well being, how
can he take a decision
thatstandsagainstthem.
Speaking about how
the UP Police should
greet when they meet
farmers, the CM said,
“When our farmer
brothers meet, they first
greetwithRamRam.So,
I would like to tell the
members of the police
fraternity that whenev-
er you meet a farmer
anywhere, greet them
with Ram-Ram first.”
“And those who try
and cast evil eyes on
our sisters and moth-
ers, greet them with
Ram-Naam Satya hai,”
the CM added in his
own signature style.
Talk about consisten-
cy with which Yogi has
beenleadingthedefence
for the Prime Minister,
there cannot be a second
thought about it. “He
(Yogi) is a true leader
and he cares for the peo-
ple first and then the
party. The way he is de-
fending the BJP and the
Prime Minister in this
crisis, will certainly
reap him good results in
future,” said a BJP lead-
er from UP not wishing
to be named.
There is a very sig-
nificant characteristic
that Yogi follows in mat-
ters relating to Modi.
Yogi had recently said
that Prime Minister
Modi is a leader who is
bornonceinagesandhe
can’t hurt sentiments of
the farmers.
Then again, during
his visit to Gorakhpur
recently,theCMsaidthat
the PM truly believes
that the people of the
countryshouldgetallthe
benefits they deserve.
Like a true statesman and Modi’s
confidant, CM Yogi is doing everything
he can to defend PM’s stand on farm laws
TRUE CONFIDANT
There are a number of
top leaders in the BJP
who have not been as
vocal as Yogi Adityanath
in standing shoulder to
shoulder with the Prime
Minister. This crisis and
its outcome will further
deepen the Yogi-Modi
partnership in more
ways than one.Yogi AdityanathNarendra Modi

UTTAR PRADESHLUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
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First India Bureau
Meerut: Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath pro-
pelled the development
process in Meerut by
laying foundation of as
many as 88 projects
worth Rs 325 crores. He
also inaugurated a high-
tech Central library and
an agricultural exhibi-
tion at Sardar Vallabhb-
hai Patel Agricultural
UniversiTheCMspelled
out the priority of his
government towards
safety and security of
women and girls and
said the crime against
them will not be toler-
ated. He said that “Ba-
han betiyon ki suraksha
mein sendh lagane waal-
on ka hoga ramnam
satya, Suraksha mein
sendh lagane walon ka
hoga ramnam satya (
Those will not survive
who breach the security
of the country,women
and girls) ’.
The Chief Minister
in his address said
that a dedicated Kan-
vad Marg for kanwar
yatra will be built by
the government and is
slated to cost Rs 600
crore to the excheq-
uer. It will be dedicat-
ed to former Prime
Minister Chaudhary
Charan Singh. A
twelve lane express-
way, costing Rs 32000
crores will also be
constructed by the
government and will
reduce the distance of
the city of New Delhi.
Commenting on the
ongoing farmers pro-
test, Adityanath said
that the three ordinanc-
es are for the benefit of
farmers. They can sell
their crop wherever
they want to and will
remain the owner of
the produce.
He said that the cen-
tral government headed
by Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi wants to
double the income of
the country’s farmers
but Leftists and people
who do not like India
are trying to create
roadblocks and hatch-
ing a conspiracy in the
name of farmers. Peo-
living in in foreign
countries are trying to
trick farmers as they do
not want the farmers of
the country to progress.
DIALOGUE IS THE
SOLUTION, SAYS CM
Reminding farmers
that the issue can be
solved through dia-
logue and not conflict,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath said that ad-
vocacy of people en-
gaged in anti-India ac-
tivities is being done
from the Kisan Manch.
CM lays foundation of projects worth `325 cr in Meerut
CM’S VISIT
Yogi Adiyanath assures infrastructural
development, women safety and
farmers’ benefit, slams opposition parties
Yogi Adityanath inaugurating the Central library at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Agricultural University in Meerut.
First India Bureau
Meerut: Speaking
tough against the
vested interests who
are compromising
unity, security and
the integrity of the
country by using in-
nocent farmers, the
UP Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath on
Sunday said that such
elements will be dealt
with a heavy hand.
Addressing a public
rallyinAgricultureUni-
versity in Meerut, he
said that those who are
perpetrating the con-
spiracy do not want to
see the farmers prosper-
ing and also our. “It is
for everyone to see that
the `some’ are advocat-
ing the anti-India voices
in the name of farmers
movement,” he pointed
out calling upon the
farmers “stand with the
integrity of the country
because solution of a
problem lies in the
dialogue not in the
struggle.”
“We are committed to
the development of this
region as well. We have
already in the process
of building Rs 32000
crore Rapid Rail project
from Delhi to Meerut
while sent a proposal to
another rapid Rail pro-
ject from Meerut to Mu-
zaffarnagar, ‘’ he said
while adding 12-lane
expressway will bring
Delhi closer and simi-
larly mulling to make
Kanwad road till Harid-
war to reduce the dis-
tance from Uttara-
khand town.”
He said that the UP
government has made
payment to the tune of
more than Rs 1.12 lakh
crore to cane farmers
during last three years
beside expanding the
Ramal sugar mill and
giving license to 300
khandsari units in the
state. He pledged to
make payment of every
single paisa due to
farmers. The cane will
also be used to produce
ethanol and for this, the
ethanol plants will be
set up, he further said.
Deploring the Con-
gress for its stand on
farmers issue, the UP
CM said they could not
comprehend that the
vexed problems of Ayo-
dhya and Kahsmir
could be solved. “In-
stead of being thankful
to the PM Modi for his
pro-farmers policies,
they are instigating the
farmers unnecessarily,
‘he said.
He said the three acts
of farmers are aimed at
doubling income of the
farmers, accord them
freedom to sell their
produce anywhere they
want and keep their
ownership intact.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Sec-
retary of Uttar
Pradesh, RK Tiwari
has issued directions
to Additional Chief
Secretaries and Prin-
cipal Secretaries of
all related depart-
ments to ensure that
applications of entre-
preneurs for obtain-
ing various clearanc-
es for establishing or
running of their busi-
ness or industrial
units must be accept-
ed exclusively online
without exception.
Warning of stringent
departmental and disci-
plinary action, the
Chief Secretary has in-
structed the depart-
ments to issue govern-
ment orders prohibit-
ing offline acceptance
of entrepreneurs’ appli-
cations for the services
available online on sin-
gle window portal,
Nivesh Mitra.
He has further stated
that despite clear orders
issued earlier, it had
been noticed that a few
departments were ei-
ther accepting offline
applications or doing of-
fline processing of ap-
plications received on-
line through Nivesh
Mitra. And entrepre-
neurs were being com-
pelledtopersonallyvisit
departmental offices to
submit hardcopies of
required documents.
Tiwari said that this
practice is unacceptable
and contrary to State
government’s commit-
ment to improve ease of
doing business in Uttar
Pradesh.
Hence, the Addition-
al Chief Secretaries or
Principal Secretaries of
departments concerned
have been directed to is-
sue government orders
without delay to forbid
offline acceptance of
applications.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Door-to-
door information will
be given about who
will get the coronavi-
rus vaccine, where it
will be administered
and at what time will
one have to visit the
vaccination centre.
ANM, Asha workers
and Anganwadi work-
ers will visit those who
have been identified as
first recipients of the
vaccine and issue a slip
which will contain all
necessary information
including the name of
person who would be
given the dose.
The state govern-
ment is preparing for
vaccination on a war
footing. A list of benefi-
ciaries for safe immuni-
sation is being made.
One thousand vacci-
nation centres are being
built to vaccinate health
workers. About two
thousand centres are be-
ing arranged for front-
line workers and three
thousand for people
above 50 years of age.
The data for vaccina-
tion is being recorded
on computer at the
block level, which will
record the name, age,
address, mobile num-
ber of the beneficiary. It
is based on this data
that people will be in-
formed about door-to-
door vaccinations.
A surveillance has
been done of 3,02,87,276
houses in 1,72,724 areas
of the state. A total of
14,77,02,118 people are
present in these houses.
This data is being up-
loaded. As soon as a per-
son will be vaccinated, a
message will be sent on
their mobile phone.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: 12-year-old
boy from Banda--Shi-
vansh Tripathi has
written a letter to Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath for set-
ting up a sewage plant
in his region, stating
that clean water is one
of the biggest necessi-
ties over there.
In his hand-written
to the Chief Minister,
the boy has highlighted
the importance of wa-
ter conservation.
Shivansh through
his letter, sought to
attract the attention
of the Minister of Jal
Shakti Gajendra Sin-
gh Shekhawat, using
the platform of Digi-
tal Baal Mela--a plat-
form sponsored by
Life Insurance Corpo-
ration of the nation.
The platform has pro-
pelled Shivansh’s role
from a student of class
6th of St. Mary’s School,
to be come a part of Wa-
ter Life Mission of the
state.
Shivansh, who is
fond of cooking took
part in a cooking com-
peitition, where is pre-
pared decoction that
helps in getting rid of
Corona.Shivansh not
only made a decoc-
tion, but also ex-
plained as to why is it
ia part of the Indian
archaic culture.
The letter sent to the
social media account of
Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh, , by Digital
Bal Mela has mentioned
the importance of
water conservation.
Yogi Adityanath says that the farmer protests are being used as a tool by the opposition parties.
Chief Secretary RK Tiwari advocates ease of doing business in the state.
Farmer protest: Yogi govt to
act against ‘vested interests’
CM enumerates Delhi to Meerut Rapid Rail project, development plans for the region
FARMERS PRAISED
Easy, online processes for
entrepreneurs, orders CS
Chief Secretary RK
Tiwari said that the
practice of accepting
offline applications,
as witnessed in some
depts is unacceptable
Varanasi girl’s art shows govt
work on Covid, gets UK honour
12-year-old Banda boy pens down letter
to CM on need for water conservation
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Varanasi
girl Anjani Mishra
has brought laurels
to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s con-
stituency for win-
ning global acclaim
over her unique way
in creating aware-
ness through doodle
art (paintings) about
steps taken by Yogi
Adityanath Govern-
ment to prevent
Covid-19.
Anjani has been
honoured by United
Kingdom for her ‘doo-
dle art’ that she con-
tributed in the United
Against Corona Exhi-
bition organised on-
line by the Interna-
tional Art and Imagi-
nation Forum. About
30,000 artists from 50
countries showcased
their talent in the ex-
hibition and Anjani
was the lone partici-
pant from Uttar
Pradesh. Through her
creative approach, An-
jani not only managed
to win the award
but won the hearts of
people over there.
She drew everyone’s
attention by giving a
message of prevention
form corona infection
by showing a glimpse
of the guidelines is-
sued by the UP Gov-
ernment through her
painting she high-
lighted in the doodle.
It is to be noted that
her painting also at-
tracted the attention
of the foreign jury
members.
“I was very excited
as for the first time I
was getting an oppor-
tunity to participate
in an international
competition. I got an
opportunity to show-
case the art of UP
through my painting
and besides winning
the award, I also won
the hearts of art lov-
ers”, says Anjani.
“For the past four
years, I have been edu-
cating poor children
free of cost and am
also training about 50
children in the field of
art and craft. I also
want to open a train-
ing centre in future so
that I can give my con-
tribution in making
women and girls self
reliant”, Anjani said.
Anjani Mishra displays honours earned for her doodle art paintings.
Anganwadi workers play a vital role in administering polio vaccines and
would be required to plug the holes when Corona Vaccine arrives.
Covid Vax takers info to be recorded in detail
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Stressing
that the government is
committed to ensure
fair examinations, Dep-
uty Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh, Dinesh
Sharma hinted at more
strictness in future
board examinations.
In a meeting of sec-
ondary and higher edu-
cation officials at the
guest house of Purvan-
chal University in Jaun-
pur, Sharma said that
classes have been start-
ed in both online and
offline modes in colleg-
es while adhering to
COVID-19 protocols,
registering more than
50% attendance being
recorded in
offline classes, said the
Deputy Chief Minister.
Vice Chancellor of
the University Prof.
Nirmala S. Maurya, DM
Dinesh Kumar Singh,
SP Rajkaran Nayyar,
Regional Higher Educa-
tion Officer Ajay Ku-
mar Dwivedi, Finance
Officer MK Singh, Ex-
amination Controller
Beas Narayan Singh
and in-charge DIOS
Praveen Kumar Tiwari
were among those pre-
sent in the meeting.
Deputy CM
hints at
stricter
boards
Shivansh showcasing the letter
written to the CM Yogi Adityanath.

UTTAR PRADESHLUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
BRIEF
in
1 held for posting offensive pics of PM, CM
Police arrested a man in Barabanki district on Sunday
for allegedly posting objectionable photos of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adi-
tyanath on social media. A case against the accused was
lodged at Zaidpur police station. SP Arvind Chaturvedi
said Zaidpur police got information that Sageer Ahmed
had posted objectionable photos of Modi and Adity-
anath on Facebook, triggering anger among different
sections of the society.
Man held for killing
lover’s paramour
A man was arrested for
allegedly killing the
husband-to-be of his
lover in Sultanpur dis-
trict, the police said on
Sunday. SP Shiv Hari
Meena said Paramjeet
killed Deepak on De-
cember 8 in Rankedeeh
village. “Police arrested
Paramjeet on Saturday.
He said he killed Deep-
ak as he did not want
him to marry his lover,”
the SP said.
CM for random
covid test
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has stressed
on conducting random
COVID-19 tests of peo-
ple on state borders. Af-
ter inaugurating
Kailash Mansarover
Bhawan in Indirapuram
on Saturday, he held a
meeting with officials
and took stock of the
COVID-19 situation
here, District Informa-
tion Officer (DIO) Rake-
sh Chauhan said.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Within
months of its launch,
Uttar Pradesh Scheme
for Adolescent Girls
(SAG) has already
reached out to about
3.50 lakh girls (aged be-
tween 11 and 14 years)
against a target of 5
lakh in a year. The
scheme is primarily
providing them supple-
mentary diet.
The broad objectives
of SAG scheme in UP
are to improve the nu-
tritional, health and
development status of
girls and promote
awareness of health,
hygiene, nutrition and
family care. Moreover,
the scheme would also
be providing them op-
portunities for learn-
ing life skills, going
back to schools, help
them in gaining a bet-
ter understanding of
social environment
and take initiatives to
become productive
members of the society.
Under SAG, current-
ly covering 53 districts,
the food containing
grains like millet,
wheat, corn, black
gram and Deshi Ghee is
being provided to the
girls as supplementary
diets. Besides this, girls
in the 22 districts are
being provided with
Daliya and Ladoo pre-
mix every month. In ad-
dition, the girls are also
being given pills of
iron, calcium, folic
acid, vitamin C. etc.
During the ongoing
Covid-19 restrictions,
the scheme is being
carried out with the
help of Self Help
Groups (SHG) which
are facilitating door-to-
door services with the
help of Anganwadi
workers. They have
been distributing dry
ration like rice, pulses,
lentils, skimmed milk
powder, Deshi Ghee,
etc. to the girls.
Besides this, over
1.67 lakh Anganwadi
centres and over 22,000
mini Anganwadi cen-
tres of 987 schemes un-
der the Integrated
Child Development
Scheme (ICDS) are be-
ing successfully operat-
ing in the state, focus-
ing at the all round de-
velopment of kids aged
between six months to
six years, pregnant
women and midwives
through various pro-
grammes.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath has
instructed the officials
to start flood control re-
lated works in the state
from January 15, 2021.
Hesaidallformalitiesin
this regard should be
completed at the earli-
est, so that the works
should be completed by
May 2021. He said pro-
jects related to the cen-
tral government should
be taken up on priority.
The Chief Minister
was reviewing the work
of Department of Irri-
gation and Water Re-
sources at his govern-
ment residence here on
Sunday. He said it was
the responsibility of the
state government to
take quick steps to pre-
vent loss of public mon-
ey. No laxity should be
taken in this regard. He
said funds should also
be arranged to complete
the projects.
Hesaidresidualwork
of EastYamunainSaha-
ranpur should be com-
pleted at the earliest, so
that the benefit of the
project can be received
by the public. He in-
structed the district ad-
ministration to make an
embankment and save
the old water reservoir
to save the district
Hamirpur from floods.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Address-
ing a large number of
Indian diaspora set-
tled in Northern part
of United States of
America (USA) in Ut-
tar Pradesh Focused
tourism and invest-
ment event, organised
by UP Association of
North America (UPA-
NA), Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath said
24 crore people’ in UP
is a huge market for
investment that has
huge capabilities.
“24 crore people in
UP is a huge market
for people of the US to
invest in. There are
huge possibilities
vested in the state.
Though the state did
not get what it de-
served in the past, we
won’t let that happen
again,” said the CM in
his address.
He also urged NRIs
fromUPtoactasbrand
ambassadors. “I invite
everyone to come to
UP. See new Ayodhya,
takeadipinKashiand
Sangam in Prayagraj
and enjoy their jour-
ney from there to Ma-
thura, Vrindavan. You
will get new joy and
a sense of pride to-
wards the mother-
land,” he said.
UP has secured sec-
ondpositioninEaseof
Doing Business said
CM Yogi informing
about the steps taken
by his government to
improve and strength-
en the civic, medical
and road infrastruc-
ture, Yogi said.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Ram
Temple Construction
Committee has issued a
notification regarding
the constitution of a
new eight-member ex-
pert committee for the
construction of the
Ram Temple at Ayod-
hya. Some of the coun-
try’s top engineers have
been included in the
new committee.
The purpose is to con-
struct the temple adher-
ing to various geo-tech-
nical suggestions given
by the experts, that will
help maintain the high-
est possible quality of
the temple, also ensur-
ing its longevity.
The team comprises,
Prof VS Raju, Former
Director, IIT Delhi -
Chairman, Prof N Go-
palakrishnan, Director,
CBRI, Roorkee - Con-
veyor, Prof SR Gandhi,
Director, NIT, Surat -
Member, Prof TG Sita-
ram, Director, IIT,
Guwahati - Member,
Prof B Bhattacharjee
Emeritus-Professor, IIT,
Delhi - Member, AP
Mool, Consultant TCE -
Member, Prof Manu
Santhanam, IIT, Ma-
dras - Member, Prof
Pradipta Banerjee, IIT,
Mumbai - Member
The Ram Temple con-
struction in Ayodhya
will begin after the sub-
mission of a report on
construction-related
plans filed by the tech-
nical experts.
According to Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi
Teerth Kshetra Trust,
the Ram Temple will
have 1,200 pillars which
will go 200 feet deep. It is
expected to be 161-ft tall.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Covid toll in
Uttar Pradesh rose to
8,056 on Saturday with
32 more fatalities, while
1,520 new cases pushed
the infection tally to
5,64,132, a health depart-
ment bulletin said.
The number of those
who have recovered and
discharged from hospi-
tals rose to 5,35,985 with
1,761 patients fully re-
covering in the past 24
hours, it said.
The number of active
cases in the state cur-
rently stands at 20,091,
the bulletin said.
During the past 24
hours. seven deaths
have been reported from
Lucknow, five from Var-
anasi, three from Gora-
khpur and two each
from Kanpur Nagar,
Prayagraj, Azamgarh
and Ghazipur.
Total 267 new cases
were reported from Luc-
know and 176 from
Meerut. On Friday, over
1.55 lakh tests were con-
ducted in the state, tak-
ing the total tests done
so far to over 2.12 crore,
the bulletin added.
CM Yogi felicitates a visually-impaired girl at a function as BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi looks on.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram
Temple in Ayodhya on August 5 this year.
CM Yogi addressing the NRIs
Girl Power: Yogi govt’s
boost tonutrition,health
New scheme benefits over 3.5 lakh girls within months of its launch
Eight-member team of experts to
guide Ram Mandir construction
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The mys-
tique of Varanasi,
one of the oldest sur-
viving cities of the
world, has been mes-
merising tourists,
scholars, researchers
from across the globe
for its religious tradi-
tions, art, culture
and spirituality.
The Banaras Hindu
University (BHU), in a
unique initiative is go-
ing to make it easy with
a new post-graduate
course on ‘Kashi
Studies’ starting next
session.
In sync with the
emphasis of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
on the indigenous
culture and ethos,
the two-year PG
course will encom-
pass all facets of the
‘Kashi’ which has
been fascinating the
domestic and foreign
scholars and re-
searchers since long.
The history depart-
ment under the Social
Sciences faculty of
BHU will start the
course which will be
open to foreign stu-
dents as well.
Prof Kaushal
Kishore Mishra said
that the committee set
up by the University
Administration would
give final touches to the
syllabus of this course
which would be ratified
by the Executive Coun-
cil of BHU.
Spread over four se-
mesters, the entire
course curriculum will
give an insight into the
history, religious tradi-
tions, spirituality to
the art of banarasi silk,
the rich music heritage
of likes of Bismillah
Khan, apart from
the literary and histor-
ical personalities such
as Tulsidas, Kabir,
Premchand, Buddha,
Raidas etc.
The course, in pursu-
ance of the policy of
‘atma nirbhar Uttar
Pradesh’ by the Yogi
government, will be
employment-oriented.
The coruse is likely to
start at the coveted uni-
versity from July, 2021.
BHU’s new ‘Kashi Studies’ to demystify Varanasi
BACK TO THE ROOTS
Initiative in sync with PM Modi and CM
Yogi’s stress on indigenous culture
CM Yogi has long been stressing the importane of Indian ethos.
Start flood control related works from Jan 15:CM
Opportunities
galoreinUP:CMto
NorthAmericans
First India Bureau
Lucknow: There was
very light to light rain
at isolated places in Ut-
tar Pradesh on Satur-
day, while dense fog
was also observed in
scattered areas, the me-
teorological depart-
ment here said.
The weather office
said thunderstorms oc-
curred at isolated plac-
es in the western part
of the state.
Rainfall was record-
ed in Mawana (Meerut
district) and Nakur
(Saharanpur district),
it added.
State capital Luc-
know recorded a mini-
mum temperature of
15.5 degrees Celsius,
while Allahabad re-
corded a minimum of
16.7 degrees Celsius
and Kanpur 10.2 de-
grees Celsius.
Banda was recorded
as the coldest place in
the state at 9 degrees
Celsius.
It is most likely to re-
main dry over the state
from December 13 to
December 15.
Dense to very dense
fog is very likely at iso-
lated places over the
state on Saturday.
Light rains
and dense
fog continue
in state
1,520 new covid cases in UP
The CM instructed to
prepare an action plan
regarding the Ganga
in Bijnor, Meerut and
Bulandshahr districts
NO LAXITY
Lucknow Commissioner of Police DK Thakur held a meeting with all gazetted ofﬁcers of
Lucknow in view of the farmers’ protest and reviewed the security arrangements related to
it. He ordered immediate action against those causing trouble in maintaining law and order.
Naveen Arora, Joint CP Law and Order, was also present in the meeting.
Dist-level integrated div
offices to be in Gkp, Vns
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Integrated
divisional office com-
plex will be constructed
at divisional level in
Gorakhpur and Varana-
sidistricts.Therewillbe
board level / state level
committees for disposal
/decisionmakingasper
rules of various cases.
These divisional offices
will be constructed as
pilot projects.
In this regard, Princi-
pal Secretary Housing
and Urban Planning has
written a letter to the
commissioners Gorakh-
pur and Varanasi and
informed them about
the decisions taken on
the basis of highest pri-
ority. Instructions have
also been given to pre-
pare DPR for the con-
structionof theseoffices
soon and to implement
the project.
A government
spokesman said at pre-
sent, it was not feasible
to visit the divisional
offices located in dif-
ferent divisions and
coordination between
them is also not done
properly. Gorakhpur
Development Authori-
ty and Varanasi Devel-
opment Authority will
be nodal agencies for
the constructions.
—FILEPHOTO

G Vol 1 G Issue No. 32 G RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi Industrial Area Kanpur Road Lucknow.
Published at 98, Friend’’s Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP). Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVELUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
You should perform your
duty with a view to guide
people and for universal
welfare. —Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
edition is perhaps the very
vaguestof alloffencesknownto
the criminal law. The offence of
sedition was pitchforked in the
newsrecently,beit“Delhiriots”
during President Trump’s visit
in February this year; be it the
“Tukade-Tukade” gang of JNU
which advocated fragmentation
of India,orbeittheprosecution
of dissident MLAs in Rajasthan
in June-July this year under
Section 124-A of the Indian Pe-
nal Code, 1860.
It was rightly observed by
Counsel Paulus Pleydell in
“Guy Mannering; or The As-
trologer” (a second of the Wa-
verly novels by Sir Walter
Scott) that “a lawyer without
history or literature is a me-
chanic, a mere working mason;
if he possesses some knowl-
edge of these, he may venture
to call himself an architect.”
For analytical jurists the pre-
sent is more important, for
philosophical jurists the fu-
ture, but the historical jurists
attach greater importance to
the past. Law is not a disjointed
phenomenon or a static entity
but an organic and a living
mechanism to keep pace with
society. Let us track down the
historical evolution of the of-
fence of ‘sedition’ in India.
The offence of sedition was
extant in ancient India. Dhar-
ma-Sutras” bear ample testi-
mony to this. From very early
times, the lawgivers treated the
king as the embodiment of the
state. There were two entities
– one the king, the individual
and two the kingship, the insti-
tution - which represented the
state. Arthur Coke Burnell,
who has translated ‘Manu Sm-
riti’ in ‘The Ordinances of
Manu’, has cited Manu – the
ancient lawgiver – to the effect
that ‘a king is not to be de-
spised’….. (pp 227-228). Kau-
tilya has also echoed similar
views in his ‘Artha Shastra’
(1.13). Even in such early works
as the ‘Rig Ved’ there are
hymns glorifying the office of
king (Rig Ved IV 42). It should
be noted that it was not the
king but the kingly office that
actually carried special dignity
and sanctity and invoked re-
spect and any offence against
this office was treated very se-
verely indeed. For offences
against the royal office Narada
has prescribed monetary and
corporal punishment (Narada
Smriti, Parikirnaka, 13). The
‘Matsya Puran’ advocates ag-
gravated punishment for inter-
fering with the authority of the
king (‘Matsya Puran’ 227.185).
Brhaspati was much lenient
and suggested lighter punish-
ment for a person inimically
disposed towards king (Brhas-
pati Smriti XVII).
It is significant that Kaman-
daka emphasised that there
was no punishment, other than
death, for the offence of sub-
verting the state (Kamandaka
Nitisara XIV 16). In Mudrarak-
shasa there is an instance of
Sreshthi Canadandasa being
taken to the execution ground
for doing what was politically
unwholesome - Rajapathyaka-
rinam (Mudrarakshasam VII).
Manu has stated that in a king’s
realm there is no thief, nor
adulteror, nor libellor. Accord-
ing to Burnell ‘libellor’ here
means ‘one with an injurious
voice and sentiments towards
the king’ (‘The Ordinances of
Manu’ p. 239). Medhatithi has
opined that no communication
must be had with the man who
excites hatred towards the king
nor should he be allowed to en-
ter the house. Disloyal feudato-
ries were kept under check af-
ter the failures of rebellion and
were subjected to various in-
dignities (Epigraphia Indica
XVIII pp. 43-46). It is quite clear
that royal policy measures
were not always liked by the
people and that some political
crimes were committed during
outbursts of resentments.
Thus, our ancient legal texts
prohibited the people from de-
spising and diffusing hatred
against the office. There are
various references to instances
where people were punished
for exciting disaffection to-
wards the king (Mrcchhakati-
kam VI). The ancient regimes
in our country realised that a
government has the right to
object when its populace wan-
der off from criticism to cal-
umny. Those who excited evil
prejudices and stirred up dis-
content against the king and
the kingdom were the produc-
ers of mischief of the gravest
character. Those who distilled
and sold the poisonous product
of ferment to saturate the gul-
lible masses with evil thoughts
of king and kingdom were re-
pressed with a strong hand.
During the medieval period
there was a disintegration of
theancientIndianempire.Mus-
lim invaders captured our terri-
tory and a cultural conflict en-
sued wherein the ancient legal
mores were subdued. Conse-
quently, the laws of these invad-
ers held sway and added to the
extreme fluidity of the contem-
porary legal system. Muslim
laws had an ethico-religious
tinge and were prone to subjec-
tive application. Strictly speak-
ing, Islamic law did not have a
distinct corpus of “criminal
law”. It divided crimes into dif-
ferent categories depending on
the offence. Huddud were
crimes against God. Their pun-
ishment was prescribed in the
Quran and Hadiths. Qisas were
crimes against an individual or
family. Their punishment was
equal retaliation as per the
Quran and the Hadiths. Tazir
were crimes whose punishment
was left to the discretion of the
ruler or judge. Siyasah were
crimes against the government.
The offence of sedition, as
such, was not in vogue but we
find instances of revolt by the
Muslims themselves against
their rulers. Aram Shah pro-
voked rebellion against the re-
gime of Altmish. Similarly, re-
bellion incited by Ali Mardan,
again against Altmish, was
quelled. Razia Sultana had to
suppress the upsurge of sol-
diers against her regime. It is,
therefore, noticeable that the
offence of exciting disaffec-
tion, which included disloyalty
and all feelings of enmity,
against the Muslim rulers was
not unknown in the medieval
period also. Any incitement
and disparaging exhortation
against the Muslim kings was
dealt with an iron hand.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SEDITION IN INDIA – A
HISTORICAL RETROSPECT
S
The offence of
sedition, as such,
was not in vogue
but we find
instances of
revolt by the
Muslims
themselves
against their
rulers. Aram
Shah provoked
rebellion against
the regime of
Altmish.
Similarly,
rebellion incited
by Ali Mardan,
again against
Altmish, was
quelled. Razia
Sultana had to
suppress the
upsurge of
soldiers against
her regime
SHRAWAN
SAWHNEY
THE OFFENCE OF
SEDITION WAS EXTANT
IN ANCIENT INDIA.
DHARMA-SUTRAS”
BEAR AMPLE
TESTIMONY TO THIS.
FROM VERY EARLY
TIMES, THE LAWGIVERS
TREATED THE KING
AS THE EMBODIMENT
OF THE STATE
IAS (RETD.) SOLICITOR
& LEGAL CONSULTANT
oday’s growing
world popula-
tion and a privi-
leged minority’s
rapidly rising
living standards are driving
resource consumption and
waste production at a rate
requiring the capacities of
1.7 Earths and fuels alarm-
ing levels of global warm-
ing. And the ocean is in-
creasingly suffering the
consequences – not only the
well-known large-scale
bleaching of tropical corals
caused by rising tempera-
tures, but also the less visi-
ble risks of ocean-water
acidification and temporal
and spatial discrepancies in
productivity patterns due to
species-specificadaptability.
Earth, and especially the
ocean, is thus approaching
the tipping point of irre-
versible degradation. That
would be a tragedy, marked
bytheocean’sincreasingin-
ability to provide us and fu-
turegenerationswithneces-
sities such as healthy food,
the carbon cycle, nutrient
regeneration, and mitiga-
tion of global warming.
A recent studies and as-
sessments indicate, the
world is still able to change
course in the face of this
threat,if majorpressures—
including climate change—
are mitigated and marine
ecosystems restored. But a
new risk is looming on the
horizon: commercial deep-
seabed mining for in-de-
mand minerals.
The industry’s prevail-
ing narrative today is that
the world needs deep-sea
minerals – including rare-
earth elements, cobalt,
manganese, and tellurium
– to enable the renewable-
energy transition and de-
carbonize the global econ-
omy. But recent economic
analyses suggest that exist-
ing land-based mining and
a transition towards a cir-
cular economy can fill pos-
sible gaps in mineral sup-
ply, and even indicate that
surplus mineral produc-
tion, such as from the deep
sea, may cause prices to
collapse. So, who will gain
from mining the seafloor?
The mining of mineral-
rich substrates will poten-
tially affect the largely un-
touched deep sea at depths
of 2,000-4,000 meters in
some national waters, as
well as the international
seabed, known legally as
“the Area.” The 1982 Unit-
ed Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea (UNC-
LOS) declared the Area
and its mineral resources
to be the “common herit-
age of mankind,” and es-
tablished the International
Seabed Authority (ISA) – a
Jamaica-based body that
currently has 168 member
states – to manage them.
Since it came into exist-
ence in 1994, the ISA has
signed 30 mineral-explora-
tion contracts with 21 enti-
ties – sponsored by 16 states
and one consortium. And
industry pressure to start
commercialexploitationhas
increased in recent years.
Although this impa-
tience is perhaps under-
standable, seabed mineral
depositsaretypicallyfound
in highly specific and sen-
sitive ecosystems. Older
and more ecologically sta-
ble locations have more
concentrated deposits and
thus attract greater mining
interest, but the associated
ecosystems are more spe-
cialized and diverse.
Recent research has rev-
olutionized our view of the
deep sea and revealed an
extraordinary diversity of
small-scale habitats, life
forms, and strategies. But
we have yet to uncover
most of these ecosystems’
secrets, and our under-
standing of their complex-
ity and functional relation-
ships is still in its infancy.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
Must we risk destroying the ocean to save the planet?
T
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Welcome the round-the-clock
availability of RTGS money
transfer services on all days
from today 12:30 PM. This will
facilitate global integration of
Indian ﬁnancial markets, lead
to development of international
ﬁnancial centers in the country
and facilitate seamless payments.
Smriti Z Irani @smritiirani
NDA victory in Assam BTC polls is
validation of PM @narendramodi
Ji’s development agenda for
the State. I congratulate CM
@sarbanandsonwal Ji, @
himantabiswa, @RanjeetkrDass &
UPPL for the victory and express
gratitude towards the people of
Assam for their support.
IN-DEPTH
FARMERS’ STIR CAN’T
CONTINUE FOREVER
here’s no end in sight to protest by farm-
ers who began converging on the Delhi-
Jaipur Highway to block access to Delhi
while refusing to compromise on their
demand for the repeal of the three new
farm laws. The government, on the other hand, is
resorting to the usual tactic of maligning the pro-
testers by calling them Khalistanis and tukde-
tukde gang besides staying firm on its no rollback
stand. The ranks of agitators and their sympathiz-
ers are, meanwhile, swelling. Punjab’s DIG Prisons
Lakhminder Singh resigned in farmers’ support
and next in line are 5000 army veterans who have
threatened to return their gallantry medals.
The government is not just waiting for farmers
to come forward for talks and calling them names
but it is also trying to create a split among farmers.
A group of farmers met Agriculture Minister Nar-
endra Singh Tomar and threatened to start their
own agitation if the new laws are repealed. The
petition filed in the Supreme Court by a faction of
the Bharatiya Kisan Union challenging the validity
of the three Acts passed in September this year is
also being viewed with skepticism. Validation of
theActsfromtheApexCourtwouldgivethegovern-
ment the handle to crack down on the protesters.
With all the power at its command, the govern-
ment will eventually win this fight against farm-
ers who must understand that there is a difference
between the National Democratic Alliance and the
earlier government of United Progressive Alli-
ance. They must realise that no BJP-ruled the state
will allow their protest to succeed and plan their
strategy accordingly.
T
ALL EYES ARE ON COVID
VACCINE CANDIDATES
n India the Covid-19 caseload is now a lit-
tle over 3 percent and the situation looks
much under control but life is far from
normal as the fear of the virus is still
haunting us. With the necessary proto-
cols in place this is bound to decline further. The
goal, however, is to protect the virus from infecting
the people. The government and pharmaceutical
companiesare,therefore,arestrivingtomakeavac-
cine available to the masses at the earliest.
Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute
of India, has said that the Covid-19 vaccination
drive was likely to begin in January. The SII is test-
ing the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine and expects
clearance for emergency trial later this month.
Last week the Subject Expert Committee asked the
SII and Bharat Biotech for further study on the
safety and efficacy of their vaccine as risk-free
vaccination is important for restoring people’s
confidence so badly eroded by the pandemic.
Although Pfizer and Sputnik V are already be-
ing used, India could wait for SII and Bharat Bio-
tech vaccines as they’ll be not only cheaper but
will also be easier to maintain. Pfizer’s being an
RNA vaccine there were apprehensions of adverse
side-effects in the long run. Those fears have been
addressed but its price and low temperatures of
minus 70 degrees required for maintenance makes
it unsuitable.
That is why all eyes are on the vaccines being
developed by Bharat Biotech and the SII which are
in a critical stage of trials. States are already
geared up for the task of vaccination.
I

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NEWSLUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
BJP dumps...
BPFpresidentHagrama
Mohilary said his party
repeatedly appealed to
the BJP to follow the
“coalition” norms and
help it to form a “gov-
ernment” in the BTC,
but the BJP ignored the
pleas.
The BJP and BPF,
along with the AGP,
fought the 2016 assem-
bly elections together in
which BPF got 12 seats,
winning all they has
contested. Three of its
MLAs are still minis-
ters in the Sonowal gov-
ernment. —PTI
Yogi’s farmers’...
owed would be paid to
farmers even if it re-
quires stopping emolu-
ments of MLAs and
MPs, Yogi has vowed to
unshackle them from
the chains of vested in-
terests and bring them
on the path of prosperi-
ty. Whether or not Yo-
gi’s outreach to farmers
will ultimately help in
breaking the 18-day-old
deadlock and furore on
the new farm laws re-
mains to be seen but the
strategy does seem to
have galvanised the
main Opposition party
Samajwadi Party (SP)
in the State into action.
SP chief Akhilesh Ya-
dav, who set out to visit
his Parliamentary con-
stituency Azamgarh af-
ter a long gap on Sun-
day, stopped en-route on
the highway to have a
tete-a-tete with farmers
carrying their crop to
the market. The former
UP CM had initially lent
support to the stir but
later perhaps sensing
the mood and in a bid to
capitalise on the farm-
er’s angst against the
government, the SP has
decided to participate in
the agitation and hold-
ing protest demonstra-
tions in various dis-
tricts.
Instead of directly
locking horns with the
opposition parties, or
for that matter, farmers,
Yogi has deftly couched
his counter-campaign
and using his a vocabu-
lary of ‘development
and empowerment.’ He
is keeping his ear to the
ground. If sources in
BJP are to be believed,
the party may soon hold
‘Kisan Chuapals’ in
western districts soon
to spread awareness
about the farmers wel-
fare schemes and work
it has done for them.
What, however, is mak-
ing UP CM’s task diffi-
cult is the support of
some BJP allies and
RSS outfits to the agita-
tion. The million dollar
question is: who will
blink first?
BJP prez...
of coronavirus, I got
myself tested and the
report came back posi-
tive. My health is fine, I
am following all the
guidelines and I am in
home isolation on the
advice of doctors. My
request is, whoever has
come in contact in the
last few days, please iso-
late yourself and get
yourself tested,” his
tweet read.
Recently, he visited
West Bengal as part of
his 120-days nationwide
tour. —ANI
PM leads...
Parliament in the 2001
terrorist attack. I bow to
their exemplary cour-
age and sacrifice,” Shah
tweeted.
“My humble tribute
to personnel from police
and Parliament who
lost their lives on this
day in 2001, in a bid to
protect the House. Their
loyalty and valour will
continue to inspire us
and further strengthen
our resolve to fight
against terrorism,” Om
Birla tweeted (roughly
translated from Hindi).
“We will never forget
the cowardly attack on
our Parliament on this
day in 2001. We recall
the valour and sacrifice
of those who lost their
lives protecting our Par-
liament. India will al-
ways be thankful to
them,” PM Modi tweet-
ed. On December 13,
2001, five heavily-armed
terrorists belonging to
terror outfit Lashkar-e-
Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-
Mohammed (JeM),
stormed the Parliament
complex in New Delhi
and opened fire indis-
criminately. Around 14
people, mostly security
forces and one civilian,
were killed in the at-
tack. —ANI
Govt goes...
of Delhi against three
new farm laws, saying
commuters are facing
hardships due to the
road blockades and the
gatherings might lead
to an increase in the
number of COVID-19
cases. As per apex court
website, a bench of
Chief Justice S A Bobde
and justices A S Bopan-
na and V Ramasubra-
manian will hear the
plea filed by law student
Rishabh Sharma, who
has also sought direc-
tions to authorities to
open the roads at Del-
hi’s borders, shift the
protesters to the allot-
ted place and provide
guidelines on social dis-
tancing and use of
masks at the protest site
in order to curb the
spread of COVID-19.
FROM PG 1
New Delhi: Senior Con-
gress leader P Chidam-
baram slammed the
Central government
and alleged that some of
its Ministers had allud-
ed to the presence of
“separatist” elements
in ongoing farmers’ pro-
test against the agricul-
ture reforms. “Minis-
ters have described the
protesters against the
Farm Laws as Khal-
istanis; agents of Paki-
stan & China; Maoists;
&, the latest, tukde tuk-
de gang,” the Congress
leader tweeted. “If you
exhaust all these catego-
ries, it means there are
no farmers among the
thousands of protest-
ers. If there are no farm-
ers, why is the govern-
ment talking to them?”
he asked.
Meanwhile, several
rounds of talks have
taken place between the
Centre and farmer lead-
ers regarding the laws
but no headway has
been made on the front
Farmers are protesting
against the Farmer’s
Produce Trade & Com-
merce (Promotion and
Facilitation) Act, 2020,
the Farmer (Empower-
ment and Protection)
Agreement of Price As-
surance & Farm Ser-
vices Act, 2020 & Essen-
tial Commodities
(Amendment) Act, 2020.
‘If there are no farmers,
why govt talking to them?’Chidambaram slams the Central government over issue of ongoing farmers’ protest
Jammu: The sixth
phase of District De-
velopment Council
(DDC) elections record-
ed voter percentage of
42.79 per cent across 31
constituencies spread
over different districts
of Jammu and Kash-
mir till 1 pm on Sunday.
As per the figures
given by the office of
State Election Commis-
sioner, in Kashmir Di-
vision, Pulwama has
recorded a voting per-
centage of 6.80 per
cent, Baramulla 26.68
per cent, Kulgam 32.71
per cent, Shopian 3.66
per cent, Anantnag
20.95 per cent, Bandip-
ora 40.57 per cent, Gan-
derbal 45.89 per cent,
Kupwara 41.21 per cent
and Budgam 27.44 per
cent till 1 pm.
Similarly, in Jammu
and Kashmir division,
Udhampur has record-
ed a voting percentage
of 54.69 per cent, Jam-
mu 55.62 per cent,
Kathua 50.09 per cent,
Ramban 61.91 per cent,
Doda 53.39 per cent,
Samba 60.61 per cent,
Poonch 60.73 per cent,
Rajouri 63.07 per cent
and Reasi 61.21 per
cent till 1 pm.
DDC elections:
42.79 pc
votes polled till
1 pm in J-K
New Delhi: With contin-
ued farmers protests
regarding the Central
farm laws, Union Min-
ister of State for Fi-
nance Anurag Thakur
has said that the gov-
ernment led by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi brought three
laws to double the in-
come of farmers and
that the present gov-
ernment paid Mini-
mum Support Price
(MSP), double than
what was paid by the
previous UPA govern-
ment.
"The three agricul-
ture laws were brought
so as to double the in-
come of farmers. In the
last six years, Modi
government paid more
than double MSP, then
what was paid in the
UPA time. During 2009-
2014, the UPA govern-
ment paid Rs 3,75,000
crore whereas the NDA
government has paid
over Rs 8,00,000 crore,"
the Minister said.
"The farmers have
been given the freedom
to sell their products to
anybody in the country
at any cost. They will
own their farmlands,
only their crops will be
on contracts. The gov-
ernment has made this
arrangement too. The
Centre is working hard
to double their income
by 2022," he added.
New farm laws to double
income of farmers: Thakur
Bolpur: Claiming that
Trinamool Congress su-
premo Mamata Baner-
jee is "banking on vio-
lence" to return to pow-
er, BJP national general
secretary Kailash Vi-
jayvargiya on Sunday
said central forces
should be deployed im-
mediately in West Ben-
gal to put an end to the
prevailing atmosphere
of political violence
and terror in the state.
With Assembly polls
due in the state in April-
May next year, the BJP
Bengal minder ap-
pealed to the Election
Commission to ensure
free and fair elections,
saying there should not
be any place for fear
and violence.
"Mamata Banerjee
knows that the land un-
der her feet has slipped
and so she is trying to
return to power in the
state on the strength of
violence.
"I urge the Election
Commission to deploy
central forces from now
itself in order to put an
end to the prevailing at-
mosphere of political
violence and terror in
the state," Vijayvargiya
said. The ruling TMC
and the BJP have been
engaged in a war of
words over the attack
on BJP national presi-
dent J P Nadda''s con-
voy by alleged TMC
supporters.
‘Deploy central forces
immediately in Bengal’
Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla releases
book on Parl attack
Om Birla during the release of the book ‘The Shaurya Unbound’,
which narrates stories of exemplary courage of CRPF India
Bravehearts, in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla re-
leased a book on occa-
sion of 19th anniversa-
ry of the Parliament
attack.
He released the book
‘The Shaurya Unbound’
(English Version) and
‘Samundar Samawe
Boond Mein’ (Hindi
Version) in the national
capital on December 13.
Central Reserve Po-
lice Force (CRPF) DG
Dr Anand Prakash Ma-
heshwari also attended
the book launch cere-
mony along with other
officers.
Addressing the me-
dia, Central Reserve
Police Force DG said,
“We are fully prepared
to face any challenge
now and are updated
with all the relevant in-
telligence.
All the concerned
agencies are in synergy
with each other and
best possible security
systems will be given to
new Parliament.”
Chadha among 3 MLAs
detained by Delhi Police
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police detained 3 AAP
MLAs with Raghav
Chadha ahead of their
plannedprotestatHome
Minister Amit Shah’s
residence. This comes
after Police had rejected
Raghav Chadha’s re-
quest for permission to
hold a demonstration at
Union Minister Shah’s
residence on Sunday in
view of the pandemic.
On Saturday, Chadha
has written a letter to
Delhi Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police request-
ing for permission to
hold a dharna outside
the residence of Union
Home Minister against
alleging misappropria-
tion of funds by New
Delhi Municipal Coun-
cil (NDMC).
Mumbai: The Mumbai
Police has arrested Re-
public TV CEO Vikas
Khanchandani in the
alleged TRP manipula-
tion case. Recently, Re-
public TV Network has
alleged that its Assis-
tant Vice President
(Distribution) Ghan-
shyam Singh, who was
released on bail on De-
cember 5, was “tor-
tured and assaulted”
during interrogation
by Mumbai police. An
interim application
has been filed by Re-
public Media Network
before Bombay HC stat-
ing that Singh was
lashed with “chakki
belt” while he was in
the custody of Mumbai
Police. He was arrested
on November 10 in con-
nection with the al-
leged Television Rat-
ing Point (TRP) scam.
The interim applica-
tion says that police
force was saying in
Marathi “inko maaro
maro maro”. It says
that Singh was forced
to extend his hand be-
fore the police officers
& he was whipped by a
chakki belt three times
(twice on the right
hand and once on the
left hand).
Mum Police arrests Republic TV
CEO in TRP manipulation case
P Chidambaram
New Delhi: Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD) leader
Manoj Jha has urged
the government to
speak to farmer leaders
protesting against the
three farm laws passed
in the Parliament
recently. "I am very
sorry to say that I have
never seen such an
insensitive government
in my lifetime. They
are calling the protes-
tors Khalistanis and
Pakistanis. Then why is
the government talking
with farmers," Jha said.
"The farmers and the
rest of the society are
not demanding the
moon from the govern-
ment. They just want
proper arrangements,
but the government is
not listening to them. I
urge the government to
listen to them so that
things do not go out of
hand," RJD leader said.
He added that if the
government listens to
farmers, its reputation
will not be affected, but
instead, their stature
will increase in history.
RJD LEADER MANOJ JHA URGES
GOVT TO LISTEN TO FARMERS
New Delhi: Amid the
rise in fuel prices, Con-
gress General Secre-
tary in-charge of Uttar
Pradesh Priyanka
Gandhi slammed BJP
saying that the party
has earned around Rs
3 lakh crore additional
revenue by increasing
the excise duty on fuel
in 2020. “Petrol and
diesel prices are sky-
rocketing. By increas-
ing excise duty on fuel
in 2020, the BJP gov-
ernment has earned
around 3 lakh crore ad-
ditional revenue. But
instead of providing
relief to the people
where is this money
going? Please explain.
Rs 20,000 crore on Par-
liament Corridor. Rs
16,000 crore for Prime
Minister’s plane and
Rs 2 crores being spent
on advertising daily,”
Priyanka Gandhi
tweeted Minister of
Petroleum & Natural
Gas, Dharmendra
Pradhan said there
has been a rise in fuel
prices in the interna-
tional market because
of recent elections in
USA & other reasons.
Priyanka Gandhi slams Centre for hike in fuel prices
Priyanka Gandhi
Vikas Khanchandani
Raghav Chadha
Kailash Vijayvargiya
‘HINDU RAJ IN WEST BENGAL SOON’
Pragya Singh Thakur

NEWSLUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: Officers of
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment are now rais-
ing fingers at the Ap-
pointment and Person-
nel Department over
transfers. Many PCS
officers in UP are hav-
ing grievances due to
not being transferred
or promoted on time.
In a latest incident,
the issue has emerged
in becoming city mag-
istrate from SDM.
Of the 2013 batch in
Uttar Pradesh, 15 out
of 29 PCS officers have
been promoted to City
Magistrate from
SDM but 14 PCS offic-
ers are still serving as
SDM.
Sources in the bu-
reaucracy say that the
14 PCS officers include
seven Yadavs, two
Muslims, two SCs, two
women and one Brah-
min.
Some officers of the
2014 batch are already
being made the city
magistrate.
The first such officer
to have been elevated
is Ranjan Srivastava,
who has been made
City Magistrate Gora-
khpur.
The others include
MP Singh, who has
been made City Magis-
trate Moradabad, and
Vinay Singh, who is
City Magistrate Mir-
zapur.
This is Vinay Sin-
gh’s third transfer in
one week. He was first
sent to Prayagraj and
then to Bulandshahr
before his current
posting.
According to sourc-
es in the bureaucracy,
the 2014 batches should
have been elevated
only after all officers
of the 2013 batch had
been made city magis-
trates.
In some districts, a
junior officer is a city
magistrate while a sen-
ior officer is an SDM.
The department is
promoting an officer to
City Magistrate on the
basis of Rs. 6600 grade
pay and five years of
service. But the issue
over seniority has left
PCS officers con-
cerned.
First India Bureau
Moradabad: The Indi-
an Air Force has ex-
pressed interest in ac-
quiring a World War II
era Hawker Hurricane
aircraft in possession
with the UP Police since
the late 1960s. In ex-
change, the IAF is ready
to hand over a MiG-21
fighter aircraft.
The process of trans-
fer of one-seater bomb-
er aircraft has been ini-
tiated. The proposal re-
lated to this is currently
pending with the gov-
ernment.
The World War II
Hawker Hurricane air-
craft is an invaluable
heritage of the UP Po-
lice.
The Hurricane air-
craft was forced to make
an emergency landing
in 1967 in the vicinity of
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
Police Academy’s Rid-
ing Ground. It was then
handed over to the 23rd
Corps PAC.
C.B. Satpathy, the
then Director of the Po-
lice Academy, got the
aircraft renovated and
re-installed in the Po-
lice Academy on De-
cember 21, 2006.
The aircraft is cur-
rently displayed in the
Police Academy Officer
Mess and is a cynosure
of all eyes with people
eager to know and un-
derstand its golden
past.
Dr. Bhimrao Ambed-
kar Police Academy Di-
rector Rajiv Krishna
said that in exchange
for the Hurricane air-
craft, the UP Police will
be given a MiG-21. A let-
ter related to this has
been sent by the Air
Force to the Police
Academy and the Gov-
ernment of UP.
The World War II air-
craft will be handed
over to the Indian Air
Force soon after per-
mission from the gov-
ernment.
The Hawker Hurri-
cane aircraft at the Po-
lice Academy is the
only one in India. No
other model of the air-
craft is currently avail-
able.
YOGI GOVT, CENTRE CHALLENGE
HC ORDER IN SC ON KAFEEL KHAN
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Centre
and the Uttar Pradesh
government have ap-
pealed in the Supreme
Court against quashing
of Dr Kafeel Khan’s de-
tention order under the
National Security Act
(NSA).
Khan, a paediatri-
cian whose brush with
controversy began with
the 2017 Gorakhpur
hospital tragedy in
which more than a hun-
dred children died re-
portedly due to short-
age of oxygen and he
was suspended, was
booked under the NSA
last year over an alleg-
edly inflammatory
speech against the Citi-
zenship Amendment
Act (CAA) at Aligarh
Muslim University
(AMU).
After severely indict-
ing the state govern-
ment for booking Khan
under the NSA, the Al-
lahabad high court had
in September quashed
the detention order and
allowed the habeas cor-
pus petition filed by his
mother, Nuzhat Par-
ween. Khan was re-
leased after spending
seven months in jail.
Challenging this or-
der by the high court,
the central government
and the Uttar Pradesh
government have joint-
ly filed an appeal, main-
taining that Khan flout-
ed prohibitory orders
and delivered a provoc-
ative speech to AMU
students with an at-
tempt to disturb law
and order in Aligarh by
inciting Muslim stu-
dents against other
communities.
The petition added
that Khan’s speech, on
December 13, 2019, in-
cited about 10,000 AMU
students to march to-
wards Aligarh city.
“Had the violent stu-
dents not been talked to
stopped, this crowd
would have disturbed
the public order and the
communal harmony of
the district by entering
Aligarh city,” it said.
The plea further stat-
ed that Khan has a his-
tory of committing
various offences, which
had led to disciplinary
action, his suspension
from service, registra-
tion of FIRs against
him and the invocation
of the NSA. The peti-
tion said it was not open
to the high court to ex-
amine the detention or-
der on merits since it
was based on subjective
satisfaction of the dis-
trict magistrate, Ali-
garh, who had suffi-
cient reasons to pass
the detention order. The
appeal is likely to be
heard on December 17.
Meerut police nab smugglers
with charas worth `5 croreFirst India Bureau
Meerut: Police caught
four smugglers carry-
ing charas worth Rs 5
crore in a Volvo bus
from Orissa. About
400kg of charas has
been recovered from
the possession of the ac-
cused. Internationally,
its price is estimated to
be around 5 crores. Ac-
cording to the police,
theaccusedhadbrought
charas from Orissa.
UP’s Meerut police has
disclosed large-scale
drug trafficking from
Orissa.
Meanwhile, the SSP
has announced a re-
ward of Rs 20,000 to the
police team. Acting on
the information of an
informer, Kankarkheda
police laid siege on Ji-
touli Highway on Satur-
day evening. In the
meantime, a Volvo bus
coming from Delhi was
stopped which created
panic among the occu-
pants.
Police arrested four
miscreants including
the driver from the spot.
When the bus was
searched, it found sev-
eral packets hidden un-
der the seats possessing
370 kg of charas. The
recovery of a massive
quantity of charas sur-
prised the police team
as well.
Inspector Tapeshwar
Sagar said that during
interrogation, the
smugglers revealed
their names as Arjun
Saini resident of Phala-
vada, Rishipal resident
Rajpura, Ankit resident
Mursana and Naresh
resident Amroha.
Miffed PCS officers showing
displeasure for not getting
promotion, transfer on time
IAF wants to acquire
Hawker Hurricane
from UP Police
First India Bureau
Ayodhya: A harsh win-
ter is here in Uttar
Pradesh and Ram Lalla,
too,isnotleftuntouched
by the changed mood of
the weather.
In Ayodhya, Ram Lal-
la is being covered in
quilts and provided ad-
ditional warmth
through blowers.
However, this time
there will not be much
effect on Ram Lalla at
Shri Ram’s birthplace
as the God has now been
moved from his tent and
placed in a temporary
shrine.
Ram Lalla has been
seated in the makeshift
temple for 27 years since
December 6, 1992. The
lack of proper resources
has also been felt during
worship.
While the prepara-
tions for the construc-
tion of the grand temple
beganaftertheSupreme
Court’s judgment on No-
vember 9 last year, an
attempt was also initi-
ated to install Ram Lalla
in an alternate sanctum
till the construction of
the temple is completed.
On March 25 this year,
efforts to establish Ram
Lalla in an alternate
sanctum bore fruit and
the arrangements for
Ramlala’s worship and
bhaga-raga were also
ensured.
Due to this, proper re-
sources to beat the cold
could be arranged in the
service of Ram Lalla.
When Ram Lalla, who
resides in the Sri Ram
Janmabhoomi complex
in Ayodhya, was in a
tent, only warm winter
clothing could be pro-
vided. The use of any
type of machine and
heating system was pro-
hibited in the tent due to
security reasons.
Three pairs of quilt
mattresses and warm
clothes have been made
for Ram Lalla in view of
the cold.
Ram Lalla covered in quilts
to shield from cold weather
ALL FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE
Applicants undergo thermal screening as they arrive to appear in Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission Combined State
Engineering Services Examination, in Prayagraj on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Dr Kafeel Khan
Accused in police custody with the seized consignment.
HC had quashed Dr Kafeel’s detention order under NSA
The aircraft was forced to make emergency
landing in 1967 in Police Academy grounds
PCS officer of 2013
batch yet to become
City Magistrate
T Rajesh Kumar Ya-
dav, Maya Ram Ya-
dav, Sukhvir Singh
Yadav, Dhirendra
Yadav, Surendra Ya-
dav, Amitabh Yadav,
Rahul Yadav, Moin
Islam, Jubeir Baig,
Santosh Tribhuvan,
Mamta Malaviya,
Shrishti Dhawan,
Amitabh Bhat
BJP to hold farmers’ meets in UP to
raise awareness on agricultural laws
WITH CM ON
WHIRLWIND,
“BABUS” TAKE A
BREAK FROM
WORK
When the cats is away,
the mice will play.
With UP chief minister
Yogi Adityanath on a
whirlwind tour of the State
meeting party workers
and inaugurating projects,
the “Babus” in Bapu and
Lok Bhavan (the seat of
government) are enjoying
the “break” from work. The
past few days have kept the
UP CM away from Lucknow
and while he is working to
get the party battle-ready
for Mission 2022 when
assembly elections are
due, many a mandarin in
power corridors have taken
a French leave. Afternoons
in the offices are devoted
to exchange of gossip
over a hot cuppa of tea
on the possible fallout of
ongoing farmers stir on the
BJP’s political fortune in
the State. Even the ruling
party’s headquarters too are
not immune to the “lull”.
Generally brimming with
party workers and crammed
with SUVs, the party office
no longer appears a beehive
of activity. “Its the proverbial
lull before the storm,” said
BJP functionary with a grin
adding that the UP CM
would crack the whip on
his return from Western UP
tour. “You wait and watch.
This self-induced slumber
would vanish both in the
party and the government
machinery in a couple
of days in preparation of
national party president JP
Nadda ji visit who is arriving
on December 28 in the
State capital,” he quipped.
—M Tariq Khan
THE AGONY OF
FARMERS
Looking at the ongoing
farmer’s agitation in
the country all the political
parties are on high alert.
At one end the opposition
has got a ‘chance’, BJP is
also stepping gingerly. BJP
leaders also believe that
it will finish their politics
in the coming time if they
make the farmer leaders
angry and dissatisfied.
Somewhere or the other the
leaders are talking about the
agony of the farmers, Sanjiv
Baliyan MP Muzaffarnagar
felt very keenly and put forth
the pain of the farmers in
front of the CM from the
dais of CM Yogi Adityanath
himself. He put the demand
of increasing the price of
sugarcane in front of the
CM. The price of sugarcane
has not been increased in
Uttar Pradesh since last
year and the BJP leaders
are well aware that with
elections in 2022 no political
party that antagonises
farmers can win.
—Ahtesham Siddiqui
First India Bureau
Lucknow: To make
people aware about the
recent farm laws
brought by the Centre,
the ruling BJP will or-
ganise farmers’ meets
at various places in Ut-
tar Pradesh, the party
said in a statement is-
sued here on Sunday.
These “kisan sam-
melan” will begin on
Monday and continue
till December 18.
Uttar Pradesh BJP
general secretary Go-
vind Narayan Shukla
said the party’s state in-
charge, Radha Mohan
Singh, will address the
“kisan sammelan” at
Ayodhya and Basti,
state party chief Swa-
tantra Dev Singh will
address the farmers’
meet in Gonda on De-
cember 15 and Deputy
Chief Minister Keshav
Prasad Maurya will ad-
dress another “kisan
sammelan” in Varanasi
also on December 15.
The “kisan sam-
melan” of the saffron
party will coincide with
the daylong hunger
strike, which will be ob-
served by all farmer un-
ions. The heads of all
the farmer unions pro-
testing against the new
farm laws will observe
a daylong hunger strike
on Monday, farmer
leader Gurnam Singh
Chaduni said in Delhi.
The hunger strike
from 8 am to 5 pm is
part of the farmers’
plan to intensify their
agitation from Monday.
Yogi Adityanath

Belief is good. Belief in
goodness and love is better.
Anything which promotes
hate does not deserve your belief.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
LUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
Dilemma of choosing between loyalists & dissidents, the
biggest impediment Gehlot facing in cabinet expansion!
z How would you de-
cipher the mirage of
PCC re-constitution,
political appoint-
ments and the cabinet
expansion, which
seems to have blurred
the vision of every-
body concerned?
The answer to all the
questions related to is-
sues pointed out by you,
are with CM Ashok Ge-
hlot and yet due to the
fog of multiple uncer-
tainties like pulls &
pressures, caste factors,
political factors, dissi-
dence against the state
government and Corona
have created such a situ-
ation. This forces one to
wonder whether the
long pending issues like
PCC re-constitution, po-
litical appointments,
ministerial reshuffle
and some other impor-
tant decisions will ever
find a solution or not.
Let us simply hope that
the Congress High Com-
mand and CM Gehlot,
soon enough, one day
realise that they have all
the solutions and they
unveil them to end the
mirage and clear the vi-
sion.
z What according to
you is CM Gehlot’s in-
ner thought in all
this?
I feel he is in a dilemma.
Dilemma of annoying a
large number of his sup-
porters, who stood by
him in the hour of need,
for the sake of those
handful, who revolted
againstthepartyandthe
state government and
had virtually knocked
the doors of BJP. These
102 supporters, who
helped Gehlot govern-
ment survive, are with
him in thick and thin,
but only until Gehlot
doesn’t resort to ap-
peasement of the dissi-
dents, who are back in
the party fold now. Such
an appeasement might
even lead to a big revolt
in the party, which even
a highly skilful & experi-
enced Gehlot may fail to
manage. Some may al-
lege that such a revolt
would be stage-managed
by Gehlot himself, but it
would be a genuine re-
volt by his supporters
‘hurt’deepinside.So,the
day, CM Gehlot is able to
differentiate between
these loyalists and those
handful, who had shown
open dissidence and
came out of his dilem-
ma,thenitwouldn’ttake
even24hoursforthenew
ministers to take oath at
the Raj Bhawan.
z What are the im-
pediments holding
Gehlot back and don’t
you find it unusual
that AICC state in-
charge Ajay Maken
conveyed the dead-
lines for the party &
political appoint-
ments to CM Gehlot
through an interview
given to PTI?
The dilemma of choos-
ing between the loyal-
ists and dissidents, is
the topmost reason fol-
lowed by the unprece-
dented corona crisis,
coupled with the finan-
cial crunch and then the
critical caste & group
balancing in the event
of inclusion of the dis-
sidents, form the wall of
multiple reasons hold-
ing Gehlot back. Con-
sidering the experience,
stature and command
of Ashok Gehlot and his
access to Gandhi family,
it was extra ordinary
for the party High Com-
mand to route its mes-
sage through party Gen-
eral Secretary who in
turn, chose PTI to carry
forward it rather than a
‘direct approach.’ Con-
sidering the kind of sea-
soned & mature politi-
cian Maken is along
with his personal admi-
ration of Gehlot’s sen-
iority and skills plus
according to my person-
al knowledge, I am sure
that Maken did this on
the instructions of So-
nia Gandhi, who want-
ed Gehlot to come out of
his dilemma now.
z What was the ‘chro-
nology’ of the events
according to you, did
the Congress High
Command first in-
form CM Gehlot of
the deadlines for ap-
pointments and then
asked Maken to go
public or was it Mak-
en trying to pacify Pi-
lot camp after CM all
of a sudden, resur-
rected the ‘Conspiracy
Still at Work’ theory?
Mark my words, Con-
gress High Command
willneverdoanythingin
Rajasthan without first
taking Gehlot in confi-
dence. So, Gehlot knew
of the ‘deadline’ issue. It
was surprising for Ge-
hlot to rake up the dissi-
dence episode from an
unusual platform of
MLA Sanyam Lodha’s
function, but what actu-
ally happened according
to my sources, is that af-
ter Gehlot raised the is-
sue of yet another at-
tempt to topple his gov-
ernment, Pilot himself
called Maken and told
himthathewouldliketo
finally break his silence
and demeanour and re-
act to the CM’s state-
ment.ThisforcedMaken
to stop Pilot and go pub-
licwiththeappointment
deadline dates after due
permission from the
High Command and
which I think was a
‘smart move’ to satisfy
all the stakeholders in-
cluding the aspirant
partyworkers,loyalsup-
porters and the Pilot
camp.
z Do you think now
the deadlines for the
political appoint-
ments and cabinet ex-
pansion will be fol-
lowed?
Let’s keep our fingers
crossed and hope that
everything happens
keeping the sanctity of
the High Command’s
instructions, but these
are complex issues and
may stretch a bit, but I
am certain that before
the actual announce-
ments, Gehlot will sit
and double check with
the High Command that
no untoward incident
occurs during the entire
complicated process.
z Do you think Ajay
Maken’s going public
with the deadlines for
appointments has en-
thused the Pilot camp
while discouraging
the Gehlot loyalists
and will Gehlot even-
tually manage & af-
ford the re-induction
of the two suspended
ministers of the Pilot
camp?
This has been the first
ray of hope for the Pilot
supporters post home
coming after the open
defiance, so being en-
thused is but natural,
as it re-affirms their
faith in Pilot still hav-
ing sway in Delhi and
on the other hand, disil-
lusionment of Gehlot
loyalists, who are a si-
lent & disciplined lot, is
also natural for paying
the price despite stand-
ing firm and saving the
government from the
imminent fall. Now,
this is the biggest di-
lemma for Gehlot as
how to make himself
and his firm loyalists
comprehend the ulti-
mate decision to re-in-
duct the suspended
ministers in the cabi-
net, who were actually
suspended to save the
government. Let’s see
how this ultimate puz-
zle unfolds eventually
because you can’t rule
last minute changes on
this particular issue
due to the equations be-
tween Gehlot and the
High Command.
z Can you confirm
that Ahmed Bhai
had, just before his
untimely sudden de-
mise, fixed November
20 as the date of oath
taking for the new
ministers in Ra-
jasthan?
Yes, this information is
near totally true that de-
spite being hospitalised,
Ahmed Bhai was active
in his usual crisis man-
agement of Congress
through his mobile and
since the three-member
committee appointed
for Rajasthan hadn’t
met for almost four
months, the High Com-
mand asked Ahmed
Bhai to look into the
matter. It is said that
Ahmed Bhai conveyed
that he would be dis-
charged from the hospi-
tal by November 15 and
would hold a VC with all
concerned from Ra-
jasthan and make new
ministers take oath on
November 20. But des-
tiny had other plans, he
tragically passed away.
z What are the big-
gest challenges be-
fore CM Gehlot and
state in-charge Ajay
Maken?
CM Gehlot clearly has
the biggest challenge of
thwarting what is now
infamously called ‘Op-
eration Lotus-2,’ which
may in form of BJP or
any other external pow-
er, trying to destabilise
his government or it
might be Pilot camp or
some other internal
group taking a second
shot at bringing down
Gehlot government. On
the other hand, Maken
comparatively has an
easier challenge of tak-
ing both, Gehlot and Pi-
lot together amicably
and ensuring nothing
overturns this apple
cart.
z When Pilot came
back to the party fold
after the Manesar ad-
venture, the 3 member
committee had clearly
said that their ‘home-
coming’ was uncondi-
tional and ‘bargain
free,’ but the pressure
being built by the Pi-
lot camp for rehabili-
tation points to some-
thing else. How do
you see it?
This is a major contra-
diction in the party. The
three- member commit-
tee openly said then that
there were no condi-
tions for the comeback
of the Pilot camp, so ei-
ther they were unaware
of the conditions or ob-
viously kept those as a
secret, keeping the dig-
nity of their High Com-
mand, but the subse-
quent behaviour of the
High Command of not
only insisting on the re-
habilitation, but also on
a time -bound rehabili-
tation, clearly indicates
the fact that there was
some kind of under-
standing or MoU be-
tween Pilot camp and
the Gandhi family,
which is being hon-
oured now.
z What according to
you is the future of
Sachin Pilot in Con-
gress? If somehow the
Gehlot government
falls in coming
months, even then the
most probable names
for CM are Gajendra
Singh Shekhawat or
Satish Poonia or may
be some third person,
but what happens to
Pilot’s ambition of
bagging the coveted
chair then?
If Pilot had to become
CM of Rajasthan, then it
had to be when he de-
fected with his support-
ers and had the support
of BJP although that
washighlyunlikelyeven
then. Now his future is
with Congress because
in case, the Gehlot gov-
ernment falls prema-
turely,thenBJPwillonly
placate him with a cen-
tral minister portfolio
for which Pilot will have
to swallow the bitter pill
of joining BJP first,
which would be difficult
for him. In Congress, his
future is in Delhi as its
General Secretary or
Working President. The
‘so-called understand-
ing’ with Gandhi family
at the time of homecom-
ing, also had the essen-
tial clause of ‘no hyper-
active’roleinRajasthan.
Of course, being the
third most popular face
in the state after Gehlot
andVasundharaRaje,he
would have some extra
constitutional authority
in Rajasthan with his
supporters involved in
active politics of the
state. As far as BJP is
concerned, as of now,
Gajendra Singh Shekha-
wat is the one, who is
fully conducting like a
CM designate with the
blessings of his central
leadership. Though Sat-
ish Poonia can also be
considered as his alter-
native, if Raje or some
other forces obstruct
Shekhawat’s way.
z Rumour mill had it
some time ago that
the BJP High Com-
mand has now en-
trusted Vasundhara
Raje with the task of
toppling the Gehlot
government and she
herself has also as-
sured the party lead-
ership of accomplish-
ing the mission in
coming 3 months.
How credible do you
find these rumours?
Somebody added fuel to
this fire by attaching
CM Gehlot’s statement
regarding the renewed
efforts to topple his gov-
ernment with the ‘Raje
Contract Theory.’ De-
spite a strong disbelief
in this theory, on check-
ing the rumour, I found
it utterly ‘baseless,’ as I
feel, Madam will now
initiate all her efforts in
2022 so, if at all, some
body is in the game, it
might be Gajendra Sin-
gh or Satish Poonia, but
not Vasundhara Raje. I
say this with extra con-
fidence because Raje
has always found it ‘im-
moral’ to topple a gov-
ernment with however
thin a majority. Al-
though, during the re-
cent crisis, somebody
alleged that she helped
Gehlot government sur-
vive and later, some evi-
dencewasalsoproduced
to support these claims,
but that is altogether a
different ball game.
z Do you think that
the communication-
gap or ‘trust deficit’
between Raje and
BJP High Command
has narrowed down?
The answer to this will
decide the fate of
Vasundhara Raje in the
state politics, but this is
true that in a series of
meetings in Delhi with
JP Nadda, she conveyed
that she was within the
party system and was
not involved in shield-
ing Gehlot government
in the state along with
sharing her pain of
BJP’spoliticalnobodies,
taking pot-shots at her.
These messages appar-
ently were conveyed to
PM Modi, who then is
said to have told Nadda
to take Amit Shah in the
loop as he was the man,
who oversaw party af-
fairs. Later, Raje herself
had courtesy meetings
with Amit Shah, so we
can say that the misun-
derstandings and ‘trust
deficit’ between her and
the Centre have reduced
and softening has taken
place although the ex-
tent of softening is un-
known. Meanwhile, the
opposite camp report-
edly gave a tape to the
central leadership,
which allegedly had
some ‘Raje supporting’
leaders claiming that
she would break away
with her 40 MLAs, if Ga-
jendra Singh was made
CM in case the Gehlot
government ‘fell.’ But
tapes can be doctored
and all these are politi-
cal games, which go on
endlessly.
z After watching PCC
chief Govind Singh
Dotasra perform for 5
months now, do you
think he is being ‘re-
mote- controlled’ by
CM Gehlot?
Well, people expected
this to happen and since
Gehlothimself hasbeen
party chief in the state
more than once, this was
most likely to happen, as
Gehlot has firm grip on
the party organisation,
which he had loosened
to give free hand to Pilot,
when he was made the
PCC chief. I think Do-
tasra has performed
well until now and being
a grateful man to his
senior like Gehlot, he
has lived up to his expec-
tations so far. So, the
term ‘remote control’ is
wrong to use and it
would be more precise to
say that both share a
very comfortable rela-
tionship.
z With the vacuum in
Congress leadership in
Delhi, do you think
that Rahul Gandhi will
take over the charge of
the party in February-
March next year and if
that happens, how will
it affect the politics of
the state?
First, will the reluctant
Rahul take over? My call
is that Sonia Gandhi will,
due to her failing health,
transfer the power to
someone else for sure.
Now there are ‘50-50’
chances that Rahul may
take the charge or may
stick to his old stand of a
‘Non-Gandhi’ party presi-
dent. As far as impact on
state politics is con-
cerned, I don’t think Ra-
hul’s coronation will in
any way prove negative
for Gehlot because firstly,
why would he himself
destabilise a Congress
state government, which
is already numbered in
the country. Secondly, I,
contrary to popular be-
lief, don’t think that he is
completely averse to Ge-
hlot’s leadership and last-
ly, very few people know,
but Pilot, after the recent
defiance, has a new ‘God-
father’ in Priyanka Gan-
dhi and not Rahul Gan-
dhi. It was Priyanka, who
pacified Rahul,who was
upset due to Pilot’s dissi-
dence.
During the show #JC
onAshokGehlot
trended Top 10
All India
Editor-In-Chief of First India, Jagdeesh Chandra, in The New JC Show, talks about the likely
re-constitution of PCC, political appointments and reshuffle of the cabinet, which are said to be the
biggest challenges before CM Ashok Gehlot, in thwarting what is infamously called ‘Operation
Lotus-2,’ significance of Gehlot as Congress High Command’s confidante, of Sachin Pilot’s future
in Congress & how he has found a new ‘Godfather’ in Priyanka Gandhi and much more...
‘I DON’T THINK RAHUL’S CORONATION WILL IN ANY WAY PROVE NEGATIVE FOR GEHLOT’
Jagdeesh Chandra with Shweta Mishra, Aditi Nagar, Kriti Garg, Akanksha Bhalla and Aayushi Shekhawat. —PHOTO BY SANTOSH SHARMA

urning dreams into
passion needs a lot
of courage, as there
are various obsta-
cles that tend to
come on the way.
Miss Rajasthan, Ra-
jasthan’s oldest beauty pag-
eant provides a platform to
all the aspiring models to
fulfil their dreams. The audi-
tions of this pageant were
being done virtually, keeping
the current scenario in mind.
Out of 5600 girls who had
participated to be a part of
the pageant, the top 28 final-
ists were announced by Yo-
gesh and Nimisha Mishra
from Fusion Group on Sun-
day at Hotel Hilton. AJ
Dance Group kick-started
the event with their graceful
performance.
Jagdeesh Chandra was the
chief guest of the event and
congratulated all the finalists
on the great achievement. He
also wished them all the best
fortheirfuture.Variousother
renowned people like SSBC
Group’s MD Madan Yadav,
Hotel Hilton’s GM Vivek Gup-
ta, Jaipur Marathon’s CEO
MukeshMishra,ArshanHus-
sain and Pawan Goyal.
Yogesh and Nimisha
Mishra said, “The sash cere-
mony was organised follow-
ing all the COVID guidelines,
and the grooming sessions of
the top finalists will be organ-
ised in the coming months.”
There will be a month of
various grooming sessions
for all the participants, to
make them compete with
confidence with each other,
and also to compete with
other states, nations in the
coming future.
Queen Chaperon Simran
Sharma,ChaperonsKanchan
Khatana and Aruna Beniwal,
Buddy Chaperons Mansi
Bainada, Mansi Bachani and
Mitali Kaur will guide the top
finalists throughout.
LUCKNOW, MONDAY
DECEMBER 14, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
BEST OF THE BESTRajasthan’s oldest beauty pageant, Miss Rajasthan announced its top 28
finalists who will be competing to attain the title of ‘Miss Rajasthan 2020’
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
T
Top 28 finalists of Miss Rajasthan 2020
Jagdeesh Chandra with (from left) Mitali Kaur, Kanchan Khatana,
Mansi Bachani, Simran Sharma, Nikita Shekhawat and Amisha Raj
Miss Rajasthan 2019 Kanchan Khatana Miss Rajasthan 2017 Simran Sharma
—PHOTOSBYSANTOSHSHARMA
Ganesh Vandana by AJ Dance Group Yogesh Mishra

10
ETCLUCKNOW | MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
AASHIKA BHATIA, Content Creator
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Those ailing for long can
expect a miraculous
recovery. Keeping a check
on expenses is your only
hope to save for purchasing a major
item. Those in a creative field will
achieve much in terms of clientele.
Spouse may differ with your opinion
about a social situation.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
Timely treatment of a
minor ailment will prevent
it getting aggravated.
Returns from previous
investments will manage to finance
something you desire. Things may
not be completely hunky dory on the
professional front. Resetting the
house may be on the minds.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Dancing and doing fun
things will keep some in
perfect health. Timely help
from someone close will
be a boon for those financially tight
at the moment. However, the same
cannot be said about business
owners, especially where profits are
concerned.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Health remains satisfactory,
but aim for total fitness.
Make any excuse, but don’t
lend money to anyone today.
Maintaining a working relationship with
those you don’t particularly like will be
a better option. Home remedy may
come in handy in countering a malady.
Shifting into a bigger house is possible.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
A family reunion is
indicated and promises
much enjoyment. Religious
minded can go on a
spiritually elevating journey. Some of
you may get embroiled in a legal
battle over property. You will be able
to keep up the pace with others on
the academic front.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Health of a family member
may cause a bit of a concern,
but will be nothing serious.
Money comes to you from
various sources to fill your coffers.
Your strategy for promoting business is
likely to be on the right lines and lead to
good profits. You can feel hurt at not
being invited somewhere.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
Some of you will have to
adopt measures to blunt
the impact of a lifestyle
disease. Consider betting
and speculation a big no-no, if you
don’t want to ruin yourself financially.
Your performance is likely to improve
manifold on the professional front
and get noticed.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Those doing their bit to
shed weight will succeed
beyond their expectations!
You will be able to remain
strong on the financial front.
Thinking out of the box is likely to get
the spotlight on you on the
professional front. A pending
property issue will be completed.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
An exercise buddy can be a
blessing in disguise for
some. Purchasing
expensive items may need
to be put on hold. This is the day
when you will achieve unprecedented
success in your current occupation.
Some of you may not be able to
devote much time to family.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Adequate health measures
will keep you in a fine
fettle. You are likely to
remain in the saving mode
for some more time. Positive
developments at work can keep you
in an upbeat mood. Differences with
your spouse should be best avoided
or they may take an ugly turn.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Rest and relaxation are
yours as you manage to
find the perfect getaway.
You may be compelled to
spend more on something, but it will
be worth it. Keeping a low profile on
the professional front may keep you
from coming into the notice of those
who matter.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Choosing a healthy lifestyle
at this juncture becomes
most essential for some.
Judicious spending and
not succumbing to temptations
promise to keep your financial
situation intact. Market trends can
tempt you into playing the stocks,
which may prove to be profitable.
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
VETTHEVET
am convinced that the In-
dian educational system
needs reviving. But I am
also sure that the deci-
sion-makers from
amongst the Ministry of
Educationdonotreadmy
articles, so the chances that I can
bring about change in the way we
impart education are slim. The
children whose parents can afford
an international education for
them are fortunate. Those who
cannotarealmostdoomedastheir
future is pretty much decided for
them. In India, you can either
study to be a doctor, engineer, ac-
countant, or businessman. You
can only choose from Arts, Sci-
ences,andCommerce.Everything
hasanentranceexam,andseatsof
colleges can be purchased. And
then there is the reservation sys-
tem. Sadly, this is the state of our
country.
Until recently, I believed that
only those who loved animals
choosetobecomevets.Howwrong
Ihavebeen.Whilesomechoosethe
stream because they want to help
animals, many are veterinarians
because they had no choice but to
be pushed into studying veteri-
nary science by a flawed system
thatsaysif youfailtheMBBS,you
are bound to take up Veterinary
science. And then it goes all down-
hill from there for the vets and for
the animals they treat.
So if you are one of those who
doesn’t like animals, I suggest you
do not get into it. Veterinarians
have an obligation towards ani-
mals. The Veterinarian’s oath
should be adhered. The job of a
veterinary surgeon is tougher.
Their patients do not express
themselves as human patients do.
So the task becomes a lot more
challenging and this is why the
veterinary profession is more
grounded in compassion. How
thencansomeonewhodoesn’tlike
animals do justice to the oath?
Forsomeonewhobecomesavet
just for the sake of staying in the
medical profession, it won’t make
a difference if an animal lives or
dies.Forthem,theprofessionisn’t
as gratifying as it would be had
they saved a human life. This is
why I always ensure I find out if
the vet I seek services from is an
animalloverfirst.Isuggestyoudo
too. After all, your pet is your fam-
ily member and you would want
them to be in safe hands.
We all get this one life we are
sure of living. Why would you
want to spend it doing something
you don’t enjoy? If you don’t make
the MBBS, and you ain’t fond of
animals, opt for something else
insteadwhichwouldnotentailyou
putting a life at risk because you
feel you have no choice.
For those who are already vets
and are the victim of our flawed
system, I would recommend they
put in their heart and do their ut-
most to treat their patients. Trust
me it shows when a vet cares and
whenheorshedoesn’t.Soyoucan-
not fool your clients. For them, the
animal is their child. If you would
not care less for a human child,
then why such discrimination is
practiced with animals? Well, you
have taken the oath. Live up to it.
Veterinary clinics are growing
exponentially in the city. This is
usually a good thing, but we don’t
live in Utopia. There are many
cases of negligence
and man-
handling
of animals.
Fortunately,
somevetsare
passionate
animal lovers.
I hope you find
one of them for
your pet. I hope
our educational
system gives us
more kindness-led
vets. I hope the gov-
ernment gives Vet-
erinary Science as
much attention as it does to the
medical field. Schools should im-
bibe more kindness education.
Animal shelters should vet the
vets they wish to hire as they exist
for the sake of the community
animals.
An animal is a life after all.
Choosewisely.Itisalsoamatterof
yourlife.If youchosewronglyyou
will only be frustrated. Passion
will bear fruit, and force will only
kill it and the life it is being as-
signedtosave. Tothoseof youwho
have dedicated your life to serving
animals, I express my gratitude.
MARIAM ABUHAIDERI
thepersianladki@gmail.com
I
usually a good thing, but we don’t
live in Utopia. There are many
cases of negligence
of animals.
Fortunately,
somevetsare
passionate
animal lovers.
I hope you find
one of them for
your pet. I hope
our educational
system gives us
more kindness-led
vets. I hope the gov-
ernment gives Vet-
erinary Science as

First india lucknow edition-14 december 2020

First india lucknow edition-14 december 2020

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First india lucknow edition-14 december 2020