First india lucknow edition-18 march 2021

Congress gave rise to terrorism in J&K,
infiltration in Northeast: CM Yogi in Assam
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath
slammed Congress for
giving rise to terrorism
in Jammu and Kashmir
and insurgency in the
Northeast and linked
the vexed issue of ille-
gal migration with the
revered 15th century
Vaishnavite saint from
Assam.
On a whirlwind tour
of poll-bound Assam,
the UP CM, who is BJPs
star campaigner ad-
dressed three back-to-
back rallies on Tuesday
to boost his party’s
prospects at the hus-
tings. He said that Srim-
anta Sankardeva was a
visionary, who promot-
ed cultural national-
ism’ and highlighted
the issue of infiltration
during his time.
Launching a scathing
attack on Congress and
AIUDF (All India Unit-
ed Democratic Front)
from Assam, he said
that this land belongs to
Shankardev, who was
the torchbearer of the
neo-Vaishnavite move-
ment in the region. It
has been saved only be-
cause of Shankardev,
the hero of India’s na-
tionalism, Turn to P6
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath being felicitated by party
workers during an Election Campaign rally ahead of the Assam
Assembly polls, in Hojai District on Wednesday.
People in Assam are reaping benefits
from the schemes like Kisan Nidhi,
PM Housing, Ayushman Bharat, and
others of the BJP Govt, CM said
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 124
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
PM’s VC WARNS CMs ON CORONA ‘SECOND WAVE’
EMERGING
SECOND WAVE
OF CORONA
INVESTOR
WEALTH
TUMBLES
New Delhi: Investors have
lost over Rs 5.55 lakh crore
in four days of declines
in the domestic equity
markets. Rising domes-
tic COVID-19 cases and
selling in RIL and bank-
ing stocks dragged down
the 30-share BSE Sensex
by 562.34 points or 1.12
per cent to 49,801.62
on Wednesday. In four
days, the benchamark has
fallen by 1,477.89 points
or 2.88 per cent. The
market capitalisation of
BSE-listed companies has
tanked by Rs 5,55,400.52
crore in four days to reach
Rs 2,03,71,252.94 crore.
“News of rising COVID
cases in India and caution
ahead of the US Fed meet
were weighing on inves-
tors’’ sentiment,” said Ajit
Mishra, VP - Research,
Religare Broking Ltd.
New Delhi: Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi on
Wednesday urged Chief
Ministers of all States
to increase the number
of vaccination centres
and the RT-PCR tests to
curb the ‘emerging sec-
ond wave’ of the coronavi-
rus. The Prime Minister
urged to increase testing
and to pay special atten-
tion to the “referral sys-
tem” and “ambulance net-
work” in small cities.
“It is very important to
track every infected per-
son’s contacts in the
shortest time and keep the
RT-PCR test rate above 70
percent,” PM Modi
said while ad-
dressing the meet-
ing held with
Chief Ministers
of States. “The
whole country has
opened up for trav-
el and the number of peo-
ple travelling has also in-
creased. There is a need
for a new mechanism for
sharing information
among themselves. Simi-
larly, the responsibility of
following the SOP for sur-
veillance of the contacts
of the travellers coming
from abroad has also in-
creased,” he said.
“It has now become
necessary for us to be-
come pro-active. Making
micro-containment zones,
wherever necessary,
is very important if
we want to limit the
spread of the COV-
ID-19 wave. We must
not put our guards
downatthiscrucialhour,”
he added
The PM also expressed
concern over the rise in
cases of infection in tier-2
and tier-3 cities.
“Significant increase is
being seen in many dis-
tricts that had protected
themselves so far and
were kind of safe-zones.
70 districts of the country
have seen an increase of
more than 150% in the last
few weeks. If we don’t
stop it here, a situation of
the nationwide outbreak
can come up,” he added.
Along with these, one
of the points that he laid
special importance is the
wastage of vaccine doses.
Turn to P6
150%
More than 150% rise in
Covid cases in 70 districts,
says govt
400 CASES
In the last 24 hours, more
than 400 cases have been
reported in Delhi. Positiv-
ity rate is less than 1%,
however, it has increased
from 0.4% to 0.6%.
23,179
Maharashtra reported
23,179 new Covid-19
cases, 9,138 discharges
and 84 deaths in the
last 24 hours.
1,275
Karnataka re-
ported 1,275 new
Covid-19 cases,
479 recoveries, and 4
deaths in the last 24 hours.
30 TRIBAL
Students test positive for
Covid-19, all hostels in
Palghar district to be shut
from next week
8.34 MILLION
On 15th March, 8.34
million Covid-19
vaccine doses were
administered world-
wide, of which India
alone administered
36% of doses: Health
ministry
Mosque buries Azaan
hatchet after VC’s plea
Vishal Srivastav
Prayagraj: Allahabad
University Vice Chan-
cellor Sangita Srivasta-
va’s apprehensiveness
abouttheearly-morning
‘Azaan’ disturbing her
sleep, has yet again dug
out the buried devil fea-
turing renowned singer
Sonu Nigam. In 2017,
Nigamhadsoundedsim-
ilar concerns in Mum-
bai stating the sound
coming from the dawn
Azaan, breaks his peace.
However, the recent
issue was buried under
the hatchet on Wednes-
day with the Prayagraj
Mosque administration
doing the needful and
cooperating with the
administration.
VC Srivastava had
written to the Prayagraj
administration about
the loud sound of Azaan
breaching her early
morning sleep. After
this,theadministration,
led by district magis-
trate Chandra Goswa-
mi, flung into action.
Without any delay
, a sen-
ior police officer was
sent to the Mosque, situ-
ated in Civil Lines area,
where Mohommad Kal-
eem, who takes care of
the Mosque administra-
tion, was contacted.
Kaleem told media
persons that a police-
man came to the
mosque and he told
about the Turn to P6
Mumbai top
cop shunted,
Nagrale is the
new CP
Mumbai: Under flak
for ‘mishandling’ of the
bomb scare outside in-
dustrialist Mukesh Am-
bani’s house in Mum-
bai, Maharashtra Gov-
ernment on Wednesday
transferred city Police
Commissioner Param
Bir Singh to the low-key
Home Guard.
Senior IPS officer He-
mant Nagrale, holding
additional charge of the
state Director General
of Police (DGP) post,
will be the new Mumbai
Police Commissioner,
Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh said.
Singh’s transfer
came even as the case
of recovery of gelatin
sticks near Ambani’s
residence turned
murkier with the Na-
tional Investigation
Agency (NIA) claim-
ing there were “other
players” who had been
allegedly instructing
arrested policeman
Sachin Waze.
Turn to P6
Woman gives birth to girl
onboard IndiGo flight!
Jaipur: A woman gave
birth to a girl mid-air in
a flight from Bengaluru
to Jaipur on Wednes-
day with the help of
cabin crew and a doc-
tor, officials said. The
pregnant woman went
into labour pain mid-air
on the IndiGo flight 6E-
469, according to the
airline statement. The
flight staff announced
for help if any doctor
was travelling onboard.
Subhana Nazir, posted
at NWR, came forward
Turn to P6
New Delhi: The
Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) MP
from Mandi, Ram
Swaroop Sharma
died allegedly by
suicide in the na-
tional capital on
Wednesday
. Accord-
ing to Delhi Police
sources, “No sui-
cide note has been
found yet.” PM
Modi, Amit Shah
condoled the de-
mise. BJP cancelled
its scheduled par-
liamentary party
meeting in the wake
of Sharma’s death.
Turn to P6
TEST, TRACK & TREAT
MODI URGES CMs TO TAKE DECISIVE STEPS
The woman and new born pose with the IndiGo flight 6E-469
cabin crew upon landing in Jaipur Airport on Wednesday.
Shah briefs Bengal leaders to
quell unrest within party
Kolkata: Bharatiya
JanataParty(BJP)on
Wednesday intensi-
fied its battle to win
‘Sonar Bangla’ after
UnionHomeMinister
Amit Shah asked the
local leaders in the
poll-bound state to
put their act together
in a meeting on the
intervening night of
March 15 and 16.
The former BJP
President is learnt to
have instructed the
party leaders to start
working on quelling
the unrest within par-
ty cadre, genuine or
sponsored. “Part of
these protests are be-
ing sponsored by Tri-
namool Congress
(TMC). We are trying
to talk to the workers
and these are small is-
sues which will be
sorted out soon,” stat-
ed a senior party lead-
er.Soonafterthemeet-
ing, the party jumped
into action. Turn to P6
TMC MANIFESTO PROMISES
STUDENT CREDIT CARD & MORE
EC TO DIDI:
REFRAIN
FROM
ACCUSATIONS
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee Wednesday released the manifesto of
the Trinamool Congress for the assembly elec-
tions, promising a minimum basic income every
month if voted to power. Every family in Bengal
will now be provided a minimum basic income
under which general category families will get
a monthly cash transfer of Rs 500 while SC/
ST category family will get a cash amount of Rs
1,000 monthly. Trinamool manifesto promised to
introduce a Student Credit Card which will have
a Rs 10 lakh credit limit. Students will be able to
borrow the amount at the rate of 4% interest. P5
Soon after West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Tuesday
alleged that the Elec-
tion Commission (EC)
is working for Amit
Shah, Deputy Election
Commissioner Sudeep
Jain wrote to the TMC
supremo asking her to
refrain from making
accusations against ECI.
“Commission maintains
the position that they
would not to like keep
on being put in the dock
for alleged proximity to
any political entity. How-
ever, if the Hon’ble CM
persists in creating and
attempting to perpetuate
this myth fo rreasons
best know to her, it is
singularly unfortunte,
and it is only for Hon’ble
CM to adjudge as to
why is she doing so,”
Jain said in the letter
clarifying ECI’s position. Mandi BJP
MP Sharma
found dead
in house
PM Narendra Modi interacting with
CMs on Covid-19 situation, via video
conferencing on Wednesday. —ANI
VACCINE WASTAGE MUST BE STOPPED, HE SAID

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The ruling
BJP’s decision to con-
test all 826 seats of
block pramukhs in
panchayat election is
aimed at galvanizing
the organisation at the
grassroot level in the
run up to big electoral
battle in 2022.
Initially the BJP
had decided to field
candidates for dis-
trict panchayat mem-
bership in all 3051
seats, but the party
executive committee
at its meeting on
March 15 gave clear-
ance to contest even
block pramukh level
polls also.
“In the three-tier
elections fielding can-
didates at village and
block level would give
the right message to
the workers and attract
them for more involve-
ment in organisation”,
commented a party
leader here. It would
gear up the workers
even up to the booth
level in villages which
would help in 2022.
The party has also
planned to reach out to
the rural masses with
four-year achieve-
ments of Yogi Adity-
anath government for
which elaborate ar-
rangements are being
made.
The state executive
has also issued neces-
sary directives to the
district organisations
in this connection. The
workers would fan out
in rural areas with the
programmes and poli-
cies of the Yogi govern-
ment, which completes
four successful years
in office on March 19.
There is a feeling in
the party that by going
up to block pramukh
level large numbers of
workers would join the
fray for the block devel-
opment committee
(BDC) elections. There
are 75255 posts of BDC
in the state and the
block pramukh would
also be elected from
amongst them. BDC
members elect block
pramukhs. It has also
given a message to the
opposition parties
about the seriousness
of the BJP in these
elections.
Even the BSP, which
normally kept away
from panchayat elec-
tions, has now decided
to contest it.
Other opposition
parties including the
Samajwadi Party and
Congress too have
started preparations
for the upcoming rural
elections in Uttar
Pradesh.
Meanwhile after late
last night cabinet deci-
sion to go for 2015 as
base year for the reser-
vation moves are afoot
in the panchayat de-
partment to finalise
the reserved seats by
March 27 so that fur-
ther action could be
taken by the state elec-
tion commission.
BJP to test political waters in all 826 Block Pramukh seats
LOW STATE
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav.
UPCMofferedprayersatKamakhyaTemplebeforeaddressingtherally
YOGI RAISES POLL FEVER IN
ASSAM, STRIKES EMOTIONS
First India Bureau
Lucknow/Guwahati:
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minster Yogi Adity-
anath started his day-
long campaign in poll-
bound Assam by first
offering prayers at the
historic Kamakhya
Temple in Guwahati.
“I have come from a
holy land of Lord Rama
to the holy land of
Shankaradeva. From
the pure soil of Maa
Kamakhya, I welcome
everyone,” he said be-
fore embarking on his
campaign trail.
The UP CM said
that the land of As-
sam originated with
the happiness of Lord
Shankradeva.” Em-
phasising on the im-
pact of chanting “Jai
Shri Ram”, he assert-
ed, “it was a pleasure
to hear the slogans of
‘Jai Shri Ram’ in the
Kamakhya temple.”
Adityanath noted
that the people of India
cannot work without
the blessing of Lord
Ram. He added that the
dream of a Ram Man-
dir at Ayodhya was ful-
filled under the leader-
ship of Prime Minister
Modi.
“The Modi-led gov-
ernment passed Triple
Talaq law so that no
Muslim woman can be
misled. Today anyone
who will talk about Tri-
ple talaq will be put be-
hind the bars. Prison
cells are ready for such
men,” he warned.
He said actions were
being taken under this
law and the criminals
are facing strict punish-
ments, adding that the
BJP government works
on the principle of ‘Sab-
ka Sath, Sabka Vikas,
Sabka Vishwas’ and be-
lieves that appeasement
belongs to no one.
However, he made it
clear that ‘Ek Desh
Mein Do Vidhan, do Ni-
shan Nahin Chalenge,
Nahin Chalenge’ (Two
Constitutions and two
flags in one country are
not acceptable).
CM Yogi’s daredevil speeches at poll rallies citing UP model have been the talk of the nation.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
AAP’S BREAKNECK MOVE IN UP!
Acquisition of additional
1363 hectares land for
Jewar Airport okayed
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh cabinet has
approved a proposal
for acquisition of an-
other 1,365 hectare
land in Jewar for the
second phase of the
upcoming Noida In-
ternational Airport.
The cabinet also
approved an expendi-
ture of 2,890 crore for
the land acquisition,
besides resettlement
and rehabilitation of
the people who will
be affected by the ex-
pansion of the green-
field project, accord-
ing to an official
statement.
The decision was
taken by the cabi-
net at a meeting in
Lucknow on Tues-
day evening.
S P Goyal, the addi-
tional chief secre-
tary to Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adity-
anath, tweeted on
Tuesday, “The State
Cabinet has today
approved the pro-
posal to acquire an-
other 1,365 hectares
of land for the fu-
ture expansion of
Noida Internation-
al Airport at Jew-
ar.”
Currently work is
underway for the first
phase of development
of the Noida Interna-
tional Airport in the
Jewar area of Gau-
tam Buddh Nagar dis-
trict in western Uttar
Pradesh, according to
officials.
The greenfield air-
port is being devel-
oped in four phases
and billed to be the
biggest when com-
pleted with five or six
runways spread in an
area of 5,000 hectare,
the officials said.
The first phase of
the project is coming
up on over 1,300 hec-
tare land and com-
mercial operations
from the airport are
expected to begin by
December 2023 or
January 2024, they
said. Swiss-developer
Zurich International
Airport AG is devel-
oping the airport at
an estimated cost of
29,560 crore, they
added.
Webinarondomestic
violence held at LU
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A Webinar
was organised on the
topic ”Domestic Vio-
lence: Issues and Solu-
tions” on Wednesday in
the University of Luc-
know under the Mission
Shakti initiative of UP
government.
The webinar was or-
ganized by the National
Cadet Corps of the uni-
versity
. Dr. Indu Sub-
hash, Chief Counsellor,
DGP Pre-Police Senior
Citizen Cell, Lucknow
delivered the lecture.
Hon’ble Vice-Chancel-
lor, University of Luc-
know is the chief patron
of the Mission Shakti
programmeof Lucknow
University under whose
patronage a spate of lec-
tures and activities are
being organized in the
university
.
Prof. Sheela Mishra,
Chairperson, ICC and
Coordinator of Mission
Shakti, University of
Lucknow inaugurated
the webinar. Underlin-
ing the need for the
Shakti Mission pro-
gramme, she explained
how violence against
women in general, and
domestic violence in
particular have phe-
nomenally increased
during the ongoing pan-
demic,bothinIndia and
all across the world.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Samajwadi
Party president Akhile-
sh Yadav mocked Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath over his visits to
the poll-bound states, al-
leging that criminals
were having a field day
in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav claimed that
criminals were freely at-
tacking the police under
the BJP rule and the mo-
rale of the security forc-
es was down.
“Criminals who are
enjoying patronage are
fearless, while police
personnel taking action
against them are being
suspended,” the former
chief minister said.
The SP leader added
that the Adityanath gov-
ernment’s tall claims of
controlling crime
against women have
“failed” completely
.
Unawareof theactual
situation in the state,
Adityanath is busy in
improving the situation
in West Bengal and As-
sam, Yadav alleged.
Adityanath has ad-
dressed three rallies in
West Bengal’s Purulia,
Bankura and Paschim
Medinipur districts on
Tuesday, while he visit-
ed Assam for public
meetings on Wednesday
.
Criminals having
field day: SP Chief
DM reviews govt’s 4th anniv preparations
First India Bureau
Lucknow:DistrictMag-
istrate Abhishek
Prakash chaired a meet-
ing in Collectorate Audi-
torium to review prepa-
rations of various pro-
gramme planned in the
district to celebrate
completion of 4-year
tenure of the state gov-
ernment.
The DM said that on
19th March, various ex-
hibition showcasing
welfare schemes will be
organized and a the dis-
trict level development
booklet prepared on
completionof fouryears
along with various wel-
fare schemes will be dis-
tributed.
On March 20, the
foundation stones for
the proposed work in
the assembly constitu-
encies will be laid in
presence of MLAs, MPs
and other senior mem-
bers of BJP
. Dr Indu Subhash, Prof Sheela Mishra and others at the webinar.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offers prayers at Kamakhya temple on Wednesday.
—FILE PHOTO
Lucknow police
personnel hold
an unarmed
AAP worker
by neck as
they resort to
lathi charge on
party workers.
Police detained
a number of
workers as
they protested
against Centre’s
(NCT) National
Capital Territory
of Delhi
(Amendment)
Bill at 1090
crossing in
Lucknow on
Wednesday.
A number of
AAP workers
were grievously
injured.
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has
mourned the passing
away of former Union
Minister Dilip Gan-
dhi. Praying for peace
to the departed soul,
the Chief Minister also
extended his heartfelt
condolences to the
bereaved family.
CM Yogi has
mourned the pass-
ing away of Mandi
(Himachal Pradesh)
Lok Sabha MP Ram
Swaroop Sharma.
Praying for peace to
the departed soul, the
Chief Minister also
extended his heartfelt
condolences to the
bereaved family.
—FILE PHOTO
—PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR

UTTAR PRADESH
03
FARMER BEATEN
TO DEATH OVER
PETTY ISSUES
TWO AIDES OF MAFIA SUNDAR
BHATI ARRESTED BY UP POLICE
COPS ARREST NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL
FOLLOWING AN ENCOUNTER IN KNP
Noida: Two aides of mafia Sundar Bhati were ar-
rested by police in Noida on Wednesday for an al-
legedextortionbidandissuingdeaththreatstoscrap
dealers, officials said.The accused had sought an
extortion of Rs 50,000 per month from dealers en-
gaged in scrap collection from firms on contract ba-
sis. They had issued death threats to the dealers in-
casetheydidnotmeettheirdemands,thepolicesaid.
Gonda: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar
Pradesh police arrested a notorious criminal fol-
lowing an encounter in Kanpur on Wednesday
, STF
sources here said. Ravi Soni, who was carrying a
reward of Rs 1 lakh on information leading to his
arrest and who had escaped after his arrest in a
2015 murder case in Kanpur, was held from the
city’s Panki area of following an encounter.
Barabanki: A farm-
er was beaten to
death for opposing
use of pump set in
his farms. Sources
said Mahadev was
watering his field us-
ing a pumping set fit-
ted in Shatrohan’s
farm (70) on Wednes-
day morning in Man-
pur Dehava village.
When Shatrohan op-
posed Mahadev he
attacked on Shatro-
han and allegedly
beat him to death.
Cops have arrested
the accused.
CRIME ROUND UP
‘Next one month crucial for
keeping COVID-19 in check’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chairing
a meeting to review
implementation of
measures to control
Covid 19, District
Magistrate Abhishek
Prakash along with
Commissioner of Po-
lice DK Thakur direct-
ed officials to strictly
follow wearing of
mask, social distanc-
ing and other Covid
protocols.
He said the next one
month was crucial to
checking the spread of
infection.
In the meeting
Prakash said several
states were witnessing
fresh rise in cases which
had to be checked.
While reviewing pro-
gress in contact tracing
and testing he directed
that expedited work
done by RRT teams be-
sides at CHC surveil-
lance team should be
activated and a door-to-
door survey should be
done to detect patients
with ILI and SARI
symptoms.
He ordered that a dai-
ly meeting of all CHC
nodal RRT teams should
be held.
He appealed to follow
protocol which was not
complied due to non-
admission of patients
in hospital besides di-
rected for making an-
nouncements regard-
ing continuous vacci-
nations at railway sta-
tion and airport as it
was mandatory for peo-
ple above 45 years (who
are sick) and above 60
years.
Police Commission-
er DK Thakur direct-
ed massive enforce-
ment of masking and
social distancing be-
sides organizing sur-
prise checking cam-
paigns to ensure com-
pliance of Covid pro-
tocol across the state
capital.
He said barricading
should be ensured in
areas with new cases
besides stickers be
pasted by Municipal
Corporation at homes
of patients with home
isolation.
First India Bureau
Bhadohi: In an inci-
dent has sent shock-
waves across the
Bhadohi region, where
in a young woman and
his lover allegedly
committed suicide in
Uttar Pradesh’s
Bhadohi district after
opposition by man’s
family to their rela-
tionship, police said
on Wednesday.
Superintendent of
Police Ram Badan Sin-
gh said Urmila (30)
and Vikram Bahadur
(24), a resident of Raj-
garh district in Nepal,
were found hanging
from a tree in Gopi-
ganj area on Wednes-
day.
According to police,
Bahadur’s father is a
weaver at a carpet fac-
tory here.
The SP said Urmila,
also from Nepal, was
living with Bahadur in
Bhadohi after leaving
her husband and two
children.
Bhadur’s family
members were op-
posed to his relation-
ship with Urmila.
First India Bureau
Shahjahanpur: Fire
broke out after LPG cyl-
inder leak in the house
of Anil Kumar in Dani-
yapur village under RC
Mission area and six
people including four
children received severe
burn injuries in the ac-
cident.
Injured were rushed
to district hospital from
where they were re-
ferred to Civil hospital
Lucknow for further
treatment.
Sources here said that
Anil Kumar (30), street
vendor had a major ac-
cident in his house
when an LPG gas cylin-
der leaked and fire
broke out. Anil, his wife
Ruby (28) , their chil-
dren Abhishek (7), Vish-
nu (3), Saurabh (2) and
his brother Sanju (24)
received severe injuries.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Special
Chief Judicial Magis-
trate Lucknow has
awarded four years im-
prisonment along with
Rs 5,000 fine to five
Bangladeshi nationals
residing here in India
on fake documents.
The UP Anti-Terrorist
Squad had arrested six
Bangladeshi nationals
in May 2019 and case
was registered against
themundersections419,
420, 467, 468, 471 of IPC
and 14 Foreigners Act.
Arrested accused Ha-
biburrehman, Ka-
maluddin, Kabil, Zakir
and Tazul confessed to
their crime in front of
the court while proceed-
ings for one other were
underway
.
In January, a special
court in Lucknow con-
victed three Bangla-
deshis, arrested in 2017
for living without valid
documents.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Special Task
Force (STF) has arrest-
ed dreaded criminal
carrying reward of Rs
25,000 on his head after
encounter in Azam-
garh district.
STF sources here
said that acting on tip-
off STF team inter-
cepted two motorbike-
born suspects in Mar-
tinganj under Deedar-
ganj police station
area but they opened
fire on police team
which was following
the accused with a re-
ward on his head. One
criminal was arrested
after retaliatory firing
while other managed
to escape.
The Arrested crimi-
nal was identified as
Badre Alam alias Kal-
lu and one country-
made pistol and three
cartages were received
from him.
It is to be noted that
more than 20 criminal
cases were registered
against Badre Alam
and reward of Rs
25,000 was announced
on his arrest.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Secre-
tary Rajendra Kumar
Tiwari chaired a meet-
ing of the committee
constituted for setting
up Compressed Biogas
(CBG) Plants on
Wednesday
.
The meeting was
called to discuss ways to
promote the establish-
ment of compressed bi-
ogas (CBG) plants.
In the meeting, the
committee was in-
formed that according
to the draft “UP State
Bio-Energy Policy-2020”
, proposed by Depart-
ment of Additional
Sources of Energy, a
provision has been
made to include the
points indicated by the
Ministry of Petroleum
and Natural Gas, Gov-
ernment of India.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: More Mus-
lim organisations on
Wednesday slammed
former UP Shia Waqf
Board chairman Wa-
seem Rizvi, while his
family members ap-
peared to shun him for
his PIL in the Supreme
Court seeking removal
of some Quranic vers-
es which he claimed
promoted terrorism.
The All India Shia
Personal Law Board
has called an emergen-
cy meeting on Thurs-
day to discuss the is-
sue and decide on a
plan of action, its
spokesperson Maula-
na Yasoob Abbas said
on Wednesday.
An FIR was regis-
tered against Rizvi in
Bareilly on Monday
evening for allegedly
hurting religious sen-
timents of Muslims
across the country
with his petition.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A high lev-
el meeting was chaired
by ACS, Home Awan-
ish Kumar Awasthi
and DGP Hitesh Chan-
dra Awasthy at the
Command Centre in
Lok Bhawan. This
meeting was held un-
der Chief Minister’s
orders to expedite the
process related to set-
ting up of the “Uttar
Pradesh State Insti-
tute of Forensic Sci-
ences”.
A detailed discussion
was held for establish-
ment of Centre of Ex-
cellence in DNA analy-
sis under the National
Forensic Sciences Uni-
versity (NFSU) based
in Gandhinagar. In
this regard, a presen-
tation by a team led by
Campus Director of
NFSU, Dr. SO Junare
was presented in the
meeting.
First India Bureau
LUCKNOW: Former
Vice Chancellor of
MJPRohilkhandUni-
versity
, Bareilly Prof
Anil Shukla said
physical education
and sports are main
part of new National
Education Policy
2020.
Stressing on the
importance of physi-
cal education in new
education policy he
said without all-
round development
of youth progress of
the country was not
possible.
He was speaking at
the concluding ses-
sion of two-day Na-
tional Seminar on
Physical Education
and Sports Present
status and future
prospects at Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyay
Government Women
Postgraduate Col-
lege, Rajajipuram,
Lucknow. The two-
day seminar was in-
augurated by Minis-
terof StateforHigher
Education Neelima
Katiyar on March 16.
On the occasion
Prof Gopal Krishna
Dubeystatedtheneed
for making physical
education and sports
compulsory in higher
education institu-
tions while Dr Sheild-
har Dubey, Organiz-
ing Secretary pre-
sented a detailed re-
port of two day Na-
tional Seminar.
District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash stresses on door to door survey to detect patients
DM Abhishek Prakash chairs the meet to review preparedness against COVID-19.
—FILE PHOTO
Couple found hanging
from a tree in Bhadohi
Six injured in fire
after LPG gas leak
Man with `25K bounty
on his head caught
CS chairs committee meet for
setting up CBG plants in UP
More Muslim bodies join
chorus against Rizvi
Awasthi chairs high level meet
Four years jail
for B’deshis
using fake IDs
ALL DISTRICT MAGISTRATES, COMMISSIONERS ON ALERT
VC lays emphasis
on physical edu
Anil Shukla, VC Rohilkhand University feting the students.
ACS Awanish Kumar Awasthi at the meet.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Agriculture
Minister Surya Pratap
Shahi on Wednesday ad-
dressed a press confer-
ence and was seconded
by Director of Agricul-
ture Dr Devesh Chatur-
vedui and Dr AP Srivas-
tava, where achieve-
ments of the depart-
ment in the last four
years were highlighted
in a planned manner.
The Agriculural Min-
ister further informed
that UP topped in pro-
duction of wheat, po-
tato and sugarcane in
the country in year
2018 adding that Uttar
Pradesh has been
been honored with the
Krishi Karman Award
by the Hon’ble Prime
Minister for the high-
est production of food
grains and oilseeds at
the national level.
Shahi informed that a
provision of loan waiv-
er amounting to Rs 36
thousand crores was ex-
tended to 86 lakh farm-
ers till March 31, 2016.
Shahi stated the Prad-
han Mantri Kisan Sam-
man Nidhi Yojana,
where money amount-
ing to Rs. 27,332 crore
was transferred to the
accounts of more than
240 lakh farmers, add-
ing that UP is the first
state to implement the
scheme on a quick note,
for which the Uttar
Pradesh was awarded.
Shahi said that the
government will estab-
lish soil testing labora-
tory in 73 districts and
will be certified through
a Soil Health Card.
“ Agriculture is the
first department to pro-
vide grants for all its
schemes through DBT.”,
Shahi added.
Shahi enlists achievements of Agriculture dept
FOUR YEARS OF YOGI GOVT
Agricultural Minister Surya Pratap Shahi along with Director,
Agriculture, Dr Devesh Chaturvedi and Dr AP Srivastav.
— PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR.
CS RK Tiwari at the meet.

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 124 l 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
PERSPECTIVE
04
hanks to the
rapid deploy-
ment of vac-
cines, COVID-19
infections, hos-
pitalizations, and deaths in
the United States are de-
clining, and pandemic re-
strictions on economic ac-
tivity are being eased. But
even with labor markets
gradually improving, the
economic recovery has
been slow and uneven, and
there is a long way to go.
According to the latest
official figures, overall US
employment is still down
by about 9.5 million jobs
from when the recession
hit, and by nearly 12 mil-
lion from its pre-pandemic
trend. Unemployment, ad-
justed for the sharp drop in
labor-force participation,
is around 10%, and the rate
is even higher for African-
Americans, Hispanics,
women, and the less edu-
cated, reflecting both the
dual nature of the pandem-
ic and longer-running la-
bor-market disparities.
Another trend that pre-
dates COVID-19 is the
transformation of work
through automation and
digitalization – processes
accelerated by how busi-
nesses and consumers have
responded to the pandemic.
This trend, too, threatens
to deepen pre-existing ine-
qualities, because black
and Hispanic workers are
overrepresented in the jobs
that are at the greatest risk
from automation.
A sustained recovery to
an economy with full em-
ployment and ample “good
jobs” will require a signifi-
cant reallocation of work-
ers from the low-wage, low-
skill positions that have
disappeared as a result of
the pandemic to new ones
requiring higher skills and
more training. A recent
study by the McKinsey
Global Institute (MGI)
finds that up to 25% “more
workers than previously
estimated” may need “to
switch occupations.”
The pandemic has had a
particularly severe impact
on jobs requiring high lev-
els of physical proximity
and face-to-face contact,
including waiters, shop
clerks, hotel receptionists,
stadium workers, stylists,
and other low-wage posi-
tions. Again, women, mi-
norities, and the less edu-
cated are overrepresented
among these frontline
workers.
Many of the physical-
distancing practices adopt-
ed by consumers and busi-
nesses during the pandem-
ic will likely persist. In
2020, e-commerce sales in-
creased more than 32%,
growing 2-5 times faster
than their average rate
over the previous five
years. And now, many con-
sumers say they will con-
tinue to shop online even
after the pandemic is over.
Likewise, many compa-
nies’ survival now depends
on their ability to shift to
remote work, a practice
theyhadlongresisted.With
emerging evidence indicat-
ing that remote-working
employees are sometimes
working longer hours and
are more productive, many
businesses are planning to
allow for various types of
hybrid arrangements after
the pandemic.
According to MGI’s anal-
ysis of more than 2,000 ac-
tivities across some 800 oc-
cupations, as many as one-
quarter of workers in ad-
vanced economies could
perform their jobs remote-
ly 3-5 days per week with-
out losing effectiveness.
That would translate into
4-5 times more people regu-
larly working from home.
Remote work, however,
is concentrated in higher-
wage jobs. According to a
survey conducted in the US
last April, approximately
60% of high-earning work-
ers could do their jobs ef-
fectively from home, com-
pared to 34% of low-earn-
ing workers. Not surpris-
ingly, high-wage occupa-
tions in the US have suf-
fered much smaller de-
clines in employment than
low-wage categories.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
The post-pandemic labor market’s long-term scars
T
ree services are considered
inefficient and untenable in
modern policy planning. But
sometimes, they can lead to
productivity gains that can
more than offset their costs.
Travel and traffic within cit-
ies is often considered a sig-
nificant source of pollution of
the air. More the vehicles on
the road, be they four, three, or
two-wheelers, more is the con-
gestion. The congestion leads
to slow speeds, excess utilisa-
tion of fuel due to waiting time,
frequent use of brakes, and
more than that, causes outrage,
fights, noise caused by honking
horns, and, unfortunately, ac-
cidents.
Sometimes providing free
services is considered an in-
efficient way of utilisation
of resources by many think-
ers and analysts and is
against the very principle of
each one paying for goods
and services. However, while
understanding these argu-
ments fully well, realising
the problems of present-day
city traffic, a few sugges-
tions are being made for con-
sideration.
First of all, the Municipal
authority in charge of the city
or town should consider pro-
viding free and safe bus ser-
vice, of a certain minimum
level, to all the residents and
visitors to the jurisdiction.
Such a service may at first
seem utopian. There will be
questions as to where the budg-
et would come from. Still, the
idea needs to be thought over
seriously because of its im-
mense benefits, which will ul-
timately help the finances of
the authorities and the indi-
viduals.
A well-oiled free service
providing connectivity to in-
ner and outer areas would
significantly enhance public
transport and lead to lesser
use of private cars and mo-
torcycles. Such a service
would reduce air pollution
and traffic congestion and
facilitate women, children,
and senior citizens. Some of
the busses could be ear-
marked for women and sen-
ior citizens. It would make
for cleaner and better cities
and add to the ease of living
index. A massive number of
vehicles on the road and the
snarling traffic is anyone’s
nightmare and even reduces
visitors and tourists, there-
by adversely affecting the
overall economy.
Such bus service could con-
stitute buses of different sizes
and seating capacities, depend-
ing on the area in which it is
running. The buses’ entry
could be through Aadhar or
any other reliable identity card
so that there is an element of
safety and security. This pro-
cess would necessarily involve
coordination of routes, fre-
quency, and the designated
stops and stands. Still, it is not
difficult with a little planning
as the existing city bus services
have already shown.
It’s an idea whose time has
come.
Some citizens could even be
asked to travel and guide the
travelers as they pass through
various colonies, markets, and
other important landmark
buildings. Such a participatory
system would strengthen the
participatory aspect of the con-
cept and increase the people’s
faith and confidence in the
Government system.
Apart from this free travel
service, there could also be a
paid bus service as is the cur-
rent position in most cities.
Travelers would have the op-
tion to use that if they so
wish to do so. A free-paid co-
existence can be a successful
experiment, as we have seen
in the vaccination system
against COVID19. The people
can go to a free hospital facil-
ity of Government or go to a
private hospital on a very
reasonable payment basis.
The Municipal authorities
don’t need to run the services
themselves. They can out-
source to private players
through a robust tendering
process but with strict enforce-
ment of terms and conditions.
The citizens and visitors could
also utilise the paid services by
purchasing annual or six-
monthly passes. The pass sys-
tem dispenses with the need to
spend every time and the labor
cost of such transactions. Reg-
ular travelers would use this
service most happily, while the
service provided would get a
pre-paid interest-free deposit.
I was there in Oxford on a
Visiting fellowship in 1999-
2000 and found that there
were two bus services in the
city for which you could,
apart from paying on every
trip basis, buy monthly, six-
monthly or annual passes.
Both the services had even
agreed to issue a common
pass valid for either service,
anytime, or destination. The
shared pass system was a
huge convenience and added
to traveling within the city
area.
It is quite likely that with the
increase of public transport
facility of buses, the produc-
tion and sale of cars and motor-
cycles and even auto-rickshaws
would come down. This would
be greatly outweighed by the
facility of safe and reliable
travel, healthier air for breath-
ing, less congestion, and better
environment, and reduced traf-
fic hazards and accidents. It is
important to begin this on a
small scale and have a pilot and
cautionary experiment in some
pockets, and watch the initial
phases’ performance. That
said, free public transport is an
idea whose time has come!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
FACILITATING TRAVEL
WITHIN CITIES
F
The Municipal
authorities
don’t need to
run the services
themselves.
They can
outsource to
private players
through a
robust
tendering
process but
with strict
enforcement of
terms and
conditions. The
citizens and
visitors could
also utilise the
paid services by
purchasing
annual or six-
monthly passes
SOMETIMES PROVIDING
FREE SERVICES IS
CONSIDERED AN
INEFFICIENT WAY OF
UTILISATION OF
RESOURCES BY MANY
THINKERS AND ANALYSTS
AND IS AGAINST THE
VERY PRINCIPLE OF EACH
ONE PAYING FOR GOODS
AND SERVICES
MEENAKSHI
HOOJA
The writer is a Retd IAS officer
and former Member, Central
Administrative Tribunal
UP CITIES AMONG
MOST POLLUTED
ir pollution has been an issue that comes
up for heated debate every winter be-
tween the Centre, Delhi and Punjab. The
dispute has also seen the Supreme Court
issue orders directing governments to
clean up the air. Most of the allegations have cen-
tered on burning of stubble by farmers which leave
Delhi’s air unbreathable in the months of October-
November. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
has always been held responsible for the poor qual-
ity of Delhi air. When he experimented with an odd-
even number of cars on Delhi’s roads he was lam-
pooned. Centre has also been given its due share of
flak for not caring much about the environment.
Hopefully
, by the time winter approaches a solution
would be found to keep the air pollution-free.
But why are 10 cities in Uttar Pradesh among
the world’s 20 most polluted places. Ghaziabad,
which is part of the National Capital Region, has
the dubious distinction of being the world’s second
most polluted city
. Bulandshahr was placed third.
Kanpur and Lucknow occupy the eighth and ninth
places, respectively. These are the findings of
IQAir, a Swiss air quality solution company. The
findings are based on an assessment of average air
quality parameters of 7,700 cities across 106 coun-
tries in 2020. Lucknow’s average particulate mat-
ter (PM) was recorded at 2.5. According to the
World Health Organisation all PM 2.5 exposure has
an adverse effect on health.
Sadly
, despite its poor air quality Lucknow does
not have enough air quality monitoring stations.
While the clean air action plan needs to be fully
implemented, it is time to bring in electric vehicles.
A
IN-DEPTH
RAMP UP RT-PCR
TESTS, SAYS PM
or the first time in his video conference
with chief ministers of states, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Ut-
tar Pradesh along with some other states
which depended heavily on antigen tests
for Covid-19. He said that States like Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Odisha “have been large-
ly dependent on antigen tests” and advised that the
RT-PCR tests should form at least 70 percent of the
total coronavirus tests. At the daily health ministry
briefing, the Union Health secretary said that the
percentage can even be ramped up to 90 percent.
Antigen tests, though quicker, are considered less
reliable than the laboratory-based RT-PCR test. Be-
ing busy electioneering in Assam, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath could not attend the meeting.
As the pace of testing and tracking has slackened
across most of the States and people also have dis-
carded behaviour appropriate during the pandem-
ic, Modi said that the three ‘Ts’---Testing, Tracking
and Treating---should be carried out with as much
seriousness as was being done until last year.
The prime minister’s word of advice came on a
day when the daily coronavirus cases rose by 28,903
in the country on Wednesday. This is the highest
increase since December 2013. Five states---Maha-
rashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil
Nadu - accounted for over 71 percent of these cases.
Modi warned, “70 districts in 16 states have seen an
increase in the positivity rate by 150 percent in last
15 days. If we do not stop it here then a condition
for a nationwide outbreak may emerge.” Time to
stop the second wave from engulfing us.
F
And above all things have
fervent love for one another,
for love will cover a multitude
of sins. —1 Peter 4:8
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Congratulate @IndianOilcl and
Phinergy for this new journey
towards enhancing availability
of clean, sustainable, affordable
and safe energy solution. This
collaboration paves the way for
making energy a new frontier of
India-Israel strategic cooperation.
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says
that the Congress party can’t be
trusted in Kerala, but his party
CPM has an alliance with the
same Congress in West Bengal.
There’s no sanity left with both
Left and Congress.

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INDIA
05
NO PROPERTY TAX IN HARYANA ON
AGRI LAND IN URBAN AREA
Haryana: The Manohar
Lal Khattar- led Haryana
government has de-
cided not to levy any
property tax on the land
used for agriculture in
urban areas. For this, the
Haryana government on
Monday passed a Bill in
the Assembly during the
ongoing budget session.
With this, Haryana has
become the first state in
the country to exclude
land used for agriculture
only from the purview of
tax by making amend-
ments in the section of
the property tax itself,
spokesperson said. Giving
details in this regard, the
spokesperson said that
according to the provi-
sions, state governments
have the right to levy
property tax on lands.
DELHI GETS ITS OWN
EDUCATION BOARD ‘DBSE’
New Delhi: Delhi
Board of School
Education, DBSE was
formally registered
yesterday. With this,
Delhi now officially
has its own education
board. About 20-25
schools would be
moved under the new
board for 2021-22
session.The Kejriwal
government on Tues-
day has announced
the setting up of the
Delhi Board of School
Education (DBSE).
Taking to Twitter,
Delhi’s Directorate of
Education announced,
“Now Delhi has its own
education board.”
OBJECTIVE OF CHANDRAYAAN-2
MISSION ATTAINED’: JITENDRA
New Delhi: The objec-
tives of Chandrayaan-2
have been significantly
attained, said Union
Minister of State
(Atomic Energy and
Space) Jitendra Singh
on Wednesday, adding
that detailed study of
topography, mineralo-
gy, among others had
led to a better under-
standing of the origin
and evolution of the
moon. “Objectives of
the mission have been
significantly attained.
Against an initially
envisaged one-year life
of orbiter, we expect it
to be serving for seven
years,” Singh said.
TWO CHINESE NATIONALS WITH
FORGED AADHAAR CARDS HELD
New Delhi: The Central
Industrial Security Force
(CISF) held two Chinese
nationals with forged
Aadhaar cards at Silig-
uri’s Bagdogra Airport.
The CISF informed that
while checking tickets
and identity documents
at the departure gate of
the Bagdogra airport on
Tuesday, a CISF consta-
ble noticed two pas-
sengers who appeared
to be Chinese nationals.
They came at departure
gate and produced their
tickets and identification
document to gain access
into the terminal build-
ing. “During checking
of travelling documents
of both the passengers,
Aadhaar cards appeared
to be forged,” CISF said in
an official statement.
Didi’s manifesto eyes youth, farmers more
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Wednesday
released her party’s poll
manifesto for the up-
coming Assembly elec-
tions. Among some
prominent promises,
Banerjee said that the
manifesto was meant
for ‘all religions’.
From doorstep deliv-
ery of ration, Ma, Mati,
Manush to financial as-
sistance to poor and
widows are some of the
other focus areas.
“This is not a politi-
cal manifesto, it is a de-
velopment-oriented
manifesto. This a mani-
festo of the people, for
the people, and by the
people,” Banerjee said
while releasing the
manifesto. Elaborating
upon the achievements
of her gov, Banerjee
said that when the TMC
came to power, the state
revenue was about Rs
25,000 crores. “It is now
over Rs 75,000 crores,”
she said.
Addresing the media,
Banerjeesaid,“Ourwork
has caught the attention
of the world. For Kan-
yashree, we were award-
ed the first position by
UNESCO.”
The release date of
the manifesto was post-
poned after Banerjee
was injured. —ANI
TMC RELEASES POLL MANIFESTO
Tit for tat in Nandigram: TMC demands
EC to delete Suvendu’s electoral roll
Kolkata: In a tit for tat
attempt, the All India
Trinamool Congress
(AITC) wrote to the
Chief Electoral Officer
on Wednesday demand-
ing to delete Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
leader Suvendu Adhi-
kari’s electoral roll
from Nandigram seat
claiming the latter had
filed false residence de-
tails in the nomination
for the upcoming West
Bengal assembly polls.
The AITC’s move
comes days after the
BJP delegation visited
the office of the Chief
Electoral Officer in Kol-
kata demanding the
cancellation of Mamata
Banerjee’s nomination
from Nandigram.
“We demanded EC to
cancel the Banerjee’s
nomination as she has
six cases but her affida-
vit does not mention
them.” Bajoria said.
NDA DID NOT GIVE A SINGLE
SEAT: PC THOMAS ON EXIT
BJP RELEASES LIST OF
REMAINING 4 CANDIDATES
Kochi: Chief of the Kerala Congress, PC
Thomas on Wednesday said that his
decision to quit NDA was because it did
not give a single seat to his party for the
ensuing Assembly
polls. He said that
NDA was adamant
in only giving Pala
seat to PC Thomas
led Kerala Congress
and that too on
the condition that
Thomas himself
should contest
from the constituency. Thomas said,
“We have been working with NDA as a
partner for quite some years, but the
NDA has denied seats for us. We are not
given even a single seat.”
Kerala: The BJP’s Central Election Com-
mittee released a fresh list of candidates
for Kerala Assembly Election 2021.
Mukundan Palliyara will contest from
Mananthavady Assembly constituency,
Bitty Sudheer will contest from Karuna-
gappally, M Sunil will contest from
Kollam Assembly, and Sobha Surendran
will contest from Kazhakoottam.
ECI reveals record
`331 cr seizure from
POLL-BOUNDSTATES
Kolkata: The Elec-
tion Commission of
India (ECI) has re-
vealed a record sei-
zure worth Rs 331
crores during the Ex-
penditure Monitor-
ing Process ahead of
the Assembly Elec-
tions in four states
and five Union Terri-
tory in 2021.
The Commission’s
release informed that
record seiures have
been made even
though polling is yet
to start. Data shows
that in 2016 record
seizures were worth
Rs 225.77 crores. As-
sam’s total seizure is
Rs 63.75 crores with
Rs 27.09 crores of
drugs. In West Bengal
drugs worth Rs 47.70
crores have been
seized in a total sei-
zure of Rs 112.59
crores. In TN, Kerala
and Puducherry most
seizures were done in
the form of precious
metal worth Rs 61.04
crores, Rs 15.23
crores, and Rs 2.85
crores. It is to be not-
ed that there is elec-
tioninallthesestates.
BIENNIAL POLLS
FOR 3 KERALA
SEATS: EC
The Election Com-
mission said that the
biennial elections are
being held as the term
of three members of
the Rajya Sabha elected
from Kerala is due to
end in April because of
their retirement. Indian
Union Muslim League
(IUML) leader Abdul
Wahab, Communist
Party of India (Marx-
ist) leader K.K. Ragesh
and Congress’s Vayalar
Ravi are due to retire
on April 21.
BJP running ‘factory of
Dushasans’: Mamata
Jhargarm: Continuing her attack at the Centre,
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on
Wednesday accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
of repeatedly targeting her by hurting her physically.
Addressing a public meeting in the Gopiballavpur,
Jhargram, Mamata -- while sitting on a wheelchair
-- said the BJP is running a “factory of Dushasans”
in the country, deceiving the common people with
false promises and bribery. “Today they (BJP) have
injured me, my head has been hurt, my hands
were broken, I had to undergo an operation in the
abdomen,” she said. “CPM used to hit me before,
now it’s BJP,” she added. The Chief Minister further
alleged that the BJP had rigged two voting booths in
the Goaltore area in the last Lok Sabha elections and
won. She further requested the people of Jhargram
to vote for her party as TMC would bring develop-
ment to the district. She also recalled the develop-
ment schemes and programs.
Dilip Gandhi
dies at 70
due to Covid
Situation much worse: Rahul
on NGOs criticism of FOE
Insult to 80 cr voters:
Min on RaGa remarks
RS passes MTP Bill! To
ensure wellbeing, dignity
of women: Vardhan
New Delhi: After two
foreign organisations
criticised India on free-
dom and democracy,
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Tuesday said
the “situation is much
worse than they have
imagined”. He also said
he was protecting a cer-
tain ideology in the
Congress party and
would not step aside
just because someone
else does not like it and
continue to fight the
RSS.
He also said he fa-
voured internal democ-
racy in the Congress
and has promoted many
leaders within the par-
ty
. In an online interac-
tion with Professor
Ashutosh Varshney of
the Brown University
in the US, Gandhi said
electoral democracy
can be “destroyed” in
the 21st century if one
can control the social
media and institutions
and has financial domi-
nance, while citing the
examples of Saddam
Hussain and Muammar
Gaddafi.
Asked about Swe-
den’s V-Dem Institute’s
democracy report that
has downgraded India
from the “world’s larg-
est democracy” to an
“electoral autocracy”
and the US government-
funded NGO, Freedom
House, downgrading
the country’s status
from “free” to “partly
free”, he said these for-
eign institutions have
their view, but “frankly,
we do not need a stamp
from them”. —ANI
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi’s
comments comparing
India’s democracy with
Iraq under dictator
Saddam Hussein and
Libya’s Muammar
Gaddafi is an insult to
the 80 crore voters in
the country, Union
Minister Prakash
Javadekar said.
The only time the coun-
try faced such a situa-
tion was during the
Emergency, said Mr Ja-
vadekar, without nam-
ing Mr Gandhi’s grand-
mother and former
Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi who had im-
posed it.
“Giving comment on
Rahul Gandhi’s opinion
is worthless. Compar-
ing India’s democracy
with Gaddafi and
Saddam Hussein is an
insult to the 80 crore
voters. Only during the
year of emergency, we
witnessed a time like
that of Gaddafi and
Saddam,”MrJavadekar
said, reacting to Mr
Gandhi’s comments
made during an online
interaction with faculty
members and students
of Brown University in
the US.
During the Emergen-
cy from 1975 to ‘77, con-
stitutional rights awere
suspended, he added.
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Harsh
Vardhan has termed as
“historic” the Medical
Termination of Preg-
nancy (Amendment)
Bill, recently passed by
Rajya Sabha.
“A historic bill ensur-
ing dignity, safety and
wellbeing of women!
The Medical Termina-
tion of Pregnancy
(Amendment) Bill 2020
passed in Rajya Sabha
yesterday will enhance
access to comprehen-
sive abortion care for
women in need and
strengthen confidenti-
ality clause as well,”
Minister tweeted.
On Tuesday, Rajya
Sabha passed the bill
that seeks to allow spe-
cial categories of wom-
en to undergo abortion
up to 24 weeks. It earlier
mandated an upper ges-
tation limit of 20 weeks.
The special categories
include rape survivors,
victims of incest, differ-
ently-abled, and mi-
nors. The bill also re-
moves the upper gesta-
tion limit in cases of
substantial foetal ab-
normalities diagnosed
by the Medical Board.
The Medical Termi-
nation of Pregnancy
(Amendment) Bill, 2020
was passed in the Upper
House by a voice vote.
New Delhi: Former Un-
ion minister and BJP
leader Dilip Gandhi
passed away at a private
hospital in Delhi on
Wednesday
. The 70-year-
old had tested positive
for Covid-19 on Tuesday
.
He was admitted to a
private hospital in the
national capital where
he was put on a ventila-
tor. He breathed his last
around 3 am on Wednes-
day morning.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi extended
his condolences. “He’ll
be remembered for his
rich contributions to
community service.”
Banerjee calls
the manifesto
‘development-
oriented’

INDIA
06
New Delhi: Dropping
for the fourth session,
equity benchmark
Sensex tumbled 562.34
points on Wednesday
following losses in in-
dex majors Reliance In-
dustries, HDFC Bank
and ICICI Bank amid a
weak trend in global
markets ahead of US
Federal Reserve’s policy
outcome. The 30-share
BSE index tanked 562.34
points or 1.12 per cent to
close at 49,801.62.
Sensex tanks 562 pts; Nifty
cracks below 14,800
Congress gave
rise...
otherwise, he was nev-
er respected by the
Congress. He made
these comments at an
election rally at
Kalaigaon. Assam, he
said, had suffered for
decades under Con-
gress misrule. “But
thanks to Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi’s
Look East policy and
initiatives for the re-
gion the Northeast was
now on the road to de-
velopment,” he said.
He addressed three
public rallies at Hojai,
Kalaigaon, and Rangi-
ya assembly constitu-
encies on Wednesday.
The UP CM said that
the people of Assam
have to face the wrath
of the flood every year.
To make the state flood
free in the next five
years, the Central Gov-
ernment and the Gov-
ernment of Assam are
working together and
preparing an action
plan in this regard.
“It was really nice to
hear the people chant
Jai Shree Ram in As-
sam the moment they
saw me in the temple. It
is indeed a matter of
pride for us,” he said.
Test, track...
He said more than 10
per cent of vaccine is
being wasted in Telan-
gana and vaccine wast-
age has also been seen
in Uttar Pradesh.Giv-
ing the mantra of
‘Dawai bhi, Kadai bhi’,
he said we must not put
the people in panic
mode while combat-
ting the virus.
Shah briefs...
The leaders have been
asked to hold meetings
with the dissidents and
pacify them.“As the
party has given tickets
on the parameter of
win ability, there are
quite a few who joined
BJP just days or
months before the tick-
ets were announced.
The workers have been
fighting against them
for long. But such
things happen in every
election. We will work
this out among our-
selves,” stated the
source.
Mumbai top...
NIA sources said the
case had virtually been
cracked and soon the
“entire conspiracy” be-
hind would be unrav-
elled. Waze is at the fo-
cus of NIA’s probe in
the recovery of an SUV
with explosives near
Ambani’s house. Ar-
rested in the case on
March 13 for his al-
leged role in the crime,
Waze was attached to
the Crime Intelligence
Unit (CIU) till recently.
He was suspended af-
ter NIA arrested him.
Woman gives...
and assisted in deliv-
ery using medical aid
available with the
flight staff, NWR
spokesperson Gaurav
Gaur said. Medical
care of the newborn
was also taken by the
doctor, the spokesper-
son said. Jaipur air-
port was immediately
informed to arrange
for a doctor and an am-
bulance. The two were
taken to a hospital af-
ter arrival and both are
healthy, the officials
said. The flight depart-
ed from Bengaluru
around 5.45 am and
landed in Jaipur
around 8 am, the air-
line said.
—PTI
Mosque buries...
issue of high volume
of speakers from the
mosque, disturbing
peace of people. “When
the officer told us
about the issue, we
took cognisance of it
and immediately low-
ered the volume and
now the loudspeakers
do not even face the
VC’s house,” Kaleem
said. Vice-Chancellor
Sangita Srivastava had
on Tuesday written to
the district magistrate
urging for a ban on the
using loudspeakers for
‘Azaan’, citing a high
court order in this re-
gard, and stating that it
disturbs her sleep and
affects her work effi-
ciency.
“An old adage says
‘your freedom ends
where my nose begins’
this holds true here. I
am not against any re-
ligion, caste or creed.
They may perform the
Azaan without the
mike so that others are
not disturbed. Even be-
fore Eid, they an-
nounce Sehri on the
mike at 4:00 am. This
practice also creates a
disturbance to other
people. The constitu-
tion of India envisages
a secular and peaceful
co-existence of all com-
munities, which needs
to be practised in letter
and spirit,” Srivastava
had mentioned.
Mandi BJP...
Lok Sabha Speaker Om
Birla informed the
House about the de-
mise of Sharma. Mak-
ing the announcement,
a grim Birla made obit-
uary reference and ad-
journed the House till
1 pm. —ANI
FROM PG 1
ANANT MITTAL SHIFTED TO
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Anant Mittal has been shifted from Andaman and
Nicobar Islands to Arunachal Pradesh. He is a
2015 batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre.
THREE EX-IPS OFFICERS APPOINTED
AS SPECIAL OBSERVERS
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has
appointed three retired IPS officers of 1984 batch
as Special Observers for assembly elections.
Accordingly, Deepak Mishra has been appointed
as Special Observer for Kerala assembly
elections, while Dharmendra Kumar for Tamil
Nadu and Ramesh Sharma is being deputed as
Special Observer for Kolkata.
2017 BATCH OFFICERS OF UP
CADRE CONFIRMED IN IAS
As many as 17 officers of 2017 batch of Uttar
Pradesh cadre have been confirmed in Indian
Administrative Service (IAS). The officers
are: Akansha Rana, Akshat Verma, Anand
Vardhan, Ankit Khandelwal, Anuj Malik, Ekta
Singh, Gaurav Singh Sogarwal, Eshan Pratap
Singh, Manicnanadan A, ,Prabhash kumar,
Praveen Verma, Prerna Singh, Soumya Pandey,
Shashank Chaudhay, Shipu Giri, Srilakshami V S
and Riya Kejariwal.
ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR
IRS OFFICER IN JK
IRS officer Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary,
Youth Services and Sports, will also hold the
charge of PS, Science and Technology and Chief
Executive Officer, Jammu and Kashmir Energy
Development Agency (JAKEDA).
RAJNISH KUMAR TO LOOK AFTER
AS CONTROLLER GENERAL OF
DEFENCE ACCOUNTS
Rajnish Kumar, ACG, Defence Accounts, has been
assigned an additional charge of Controller General
of Defence Accounts till the appointment of a
regular incumbent. He is a 1984 batch IDAS officer.
LT. GEN. D P PANDEY TO HOLD
COMMAND OF 15 CORPS
Lt. General B S Raju has handed over the
command of the strategic Kashmir-based 15
Corps to Lt. General D P Pandey.
LT. GEN. B S RAJU IS NEW DG OF DGMO
Lt. General B S Raju will be the new Director General
of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Indian Army.
TENURE OF RAJEEV YADAV AS
FINANCE EXPERT, UN PANEL OF
EXPERTS EXTENDED
The tenure of Rajeev Yadav as Finance Expert on
the UN Panel of Experts has been extended for
a further period of one year beyond March 12,
2021. He is a 1994 batch IRS-CIT officer.
RAJNEESH SETH IS ALSO DGP,
MAHARASHTRA
Rajneesh Seth has been assigned an additional
charge of Director General of Police (DGP),
Maharashtra. He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of
Maharashtra cadre.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi: The Union
health ministry has
asked all states and Un-
ion territories to step
up their tracking and
testing mechanism and
said at least 30 close
contacts of a Covid-19
infected person should
be tested, isolated with-
in 72 hours. This is
nothing new, but states
have been lagging in
contact tracing, health
secretary Rajesh
Bhushan said on
Wednesday
. Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday held a video
conference with the
heads of states and Un-
ion territories and
urged the authorities
that this second peak
needs to be stopped.
“Close contacts do
not mean only family
members. Close con-
tacts are people with
whom we are counter-
acting daily. They may
be our officer workers,
our newspaper vendor,
our vegetable vendor.
This was done last year.
But now district admin-
istrations have become
lax and are only testing
family members just for
the sake of it. As a re-
sult, other close con-
tacts are moving freely
spreading the infection
to more people,” Rajesh
Bhushan said.
“We are also asking
states if the number of
cases is on the rise, then
why the number of con-
tainment zones is not
going up,” the secretary
said. Urging states to
minimise reliance on
antigen test and in-
crease RT-PCR tests, the
secretary said at least
70% of tests should be
RT-PCR, but states have
even less than 40 per
cent of RT-PCR share.
PM too emphasised
the point of increasing
RT-PCR tests said
states like Kerala, Odi-
sha are largely depend-
ent on rapid antigen
tests, but it is not the
ideal scenario, as the
country has adequate
infrastructure for RT-
PCR tests. —Agencies
Within3days:Centre’sorderto
trackcontactsofCovidpatients
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said states have become lax in tracking cases
Mumbai: NIA con-
firmed that the person,
seen in a CCTV grab
walking near Mukesh
Ambani's residence on
the night of February
25 when an explosive-
laden vehicle was
found, was Sachin Vaze.
In the CCTV footage,
Sachin Vaze could be
seen with his head cov-
ered with a large hand-
kerchief so that no one
could identify him. He
was wearing an over-
sized kurta-pajama,
and not PPE coverall, in
an attempt to mask his
body language and
face, NIA added.
A laptop was seized
from the cabin of
Sachin Waze in a raid
day before yesterday
but all the data in it was
already deleted. He was
asked for his cellphone
and he had said that he
had dropped it some-
where. But the fact is
that he had intention-
ally thrown it away,
NIA said. NIA was in-
vestigating a CCTV
visual showing a per-
son walking near Am-
bani's residence on the
night an explosive-lad-
en vehicle was found
wearing PPE like thing.
NIAconfirmsmanin
CCTVwasSachinVaze
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday dismissed
a petition filed by
BharatBhoomiBachao
Sangharsh Samiti
(BBBSS), seeking di-
rections to the authori-
ties concerned to en-
sure equal opportunity
of dialogue and of be-
ing heard in connec-
tion with farmers' is-
sues relating to forci-
ble land acquisition.
A three-judge bench
of the Apex Court,
headed by the Chief
Justice of India (CJI)
Sharad Arvind Bobde,
and comprising justic-
es A S Bopanna and V
Ramasubramanian,
refused to entertain
the petition.
We are dismissing
the petition, we are not
casting any aspersions
on you, Bench said.
The plea also sought
the formation of a
high-powered Commit-
tee in the matter.
SCdismissespleaonfarmers’issues
Mumbai: The Narcot-
ics Control Bureau
(NCB) has approached
theBombayHighCourt
seeking cancellation of
bail granted to Showik
Chakraborty
, brother
of actor Rhea
Chakraborty
, in a drugs
caseprobedbytheagen-
cy following the death
of Bollywood actor Su-
shant Singh Rajput. In
its plea filed in the
high court last month,
the NCB said the spe-
cial court hearing cas-
es related to the Nar-
cotic Drugs and Psy-
chotropic Substances
(NDPS) Act had ig-
nored previous obser-
vations made by the
HC and erred in grant-
ing bail to Showik
Chakraborty and other
accused in the case.
Anti-Drugs agency asks High Court
to cancel Showik Chakraborty’s bail
New Delhi: TDP Na-
tional president N
Chandrababu Naidu
is likely to file a petition
in Andhra Pradesh
High Court seeking
scrapping of cases filed
by AP CID in connec-
tion with the Amarava-
ti land scam. It may be
mentioned that the CID
officials served notices
to Chandrababu re-
questing him to attend
CID office in Vijayawa-
da on March 23. After
consulting his lawyers
Chandrababu Naidu is
likely to file a petition
in AP High Court.
CHANDRABABU
LIKELY TO MOVE
AP HC AGAINST
CID NOTICES
New Delhi: The SC
termed the cancellation
of around three crore
ration cards by the Cen-
tre due to non-linking
with Aadhaar card as
too serious, and
sought response from
the Central government
and all states on the is-
sue. A bench of Chief
Justice SA Bobde and
justices AS Bopanna
and V Ramasubrama-
nian said this matter
should not be treated as
adversarial as it is too
serious a matter.
CANCELLING3CRORERATION
CARDS IS TOO SERIOUS: SC
Varanasi: Dismissing
all news reports of the
appointment of Reli-
ance chairperson Nita
Ambani as visiting pro-
fessorinBanarasHindu
University (BHU), the
university administra-
tion clarified that no
such decision or pro-
posal has been taken by
the latter. No such offi-
cial decision has been
taken by the University
to appoint Nita Ambani
as a visiting professor
in any faculty/class/
centre of University.
Neither any such order
has been issued. —ANI
Nita Ambani not
made visiting
professor,
clarifies BHU
M
M
M
‘SENT VACCINES TO 150 NATIONS’
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: One
Group Captain has
lost his life after a
MiG-21 Bison air-
craft of the Indian
Air Force was in-
volved in a fatal ac-
cident on Wednesday
,
said the Indian Air
Force. “A MiG-21 Bi-
son aircraft of IAF
was involved in a fa-
tal accident this
morning, while tak-
ing off for a combat
training mission at
an airbase in central
India. The IAF ex-
presses deep condo-
lences and stands
firmly with the fam-
ily members,” Indian
Air Force said. —ANI
IAF Group commander
killed in MiG-21 crash
New Delhi: The SC
agreed to hear a PIL
seeking directions
for mandatory provi-
sion for construction
of a common utility
duct in the construc-
tion plan of National
Highways and roads
to avoid re-digging
for large infrastruc-
ture projects. A
bench of Chief Jus-
tice SA Bobde and
Justices AS Bopanna
V Ramasubrama-
nian issued notice to
Centre, National
Highway Authority
of India others
sought response.
SC NOTICE
OVER COMMON
UTILITY DUCTS
ON HIGHWAYS
Violation of social distancing norms is being committed before
taking a State Transport Bus amid the city reported a surge in
COVID-19 cases, in Nagpur on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

NEWS
07
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the an-
nouncement of holding
Uttar Pradesh Teacher
Eligibility Test (UP-
TET) 2020 by Basic Edu-
cation department,
path for recruiting new
teachers in primary
schools of basic educa-
tion presently having
51,112 vacancies has
been cleared. The UP
government had al-
ready made claim about
the same in Supreme
Court.
The UPTET is sched-
uled to be held on July
25. Earlier plans were to
fill up vacancies in aid-
ed junior high school
and primary schools
after UPTET, but since
there had not been di-
rect recruitment in jun-
ior schools for a long
time and in view of
large number of candi-
dates having passed up-
per primary level ex-
amination, it was de-
cided to get the recruit-
ment completed with-
out TET.
The recruitment in
primary schools was be-
ing done at fixed inter-
vals, for which holding
of eligibility test was
necessary and hence
announcement of
teacher recruitment
was expected in July or
August, so as to declare
results in a few days by
conducting a written
examination and ap-
pointment letters could
be issued before assem-
bly elections.
Aspirants have been
demanding new teacher
recruitment for a long
time as the unemployed
say that the govern-
ment had assured to
launch new recruit-
ment after completion
of recruitment on 69000
teachers post. The gov-
ernment has also ad-
mitted existence of
51,112 posts of assistant
teachers in primary
schools in Supreme
Court.
Presently over 2 lakh
DLED trainees were
waiting for new job op-
portunities.
Also Shiksha Mitras
were waiting for next
recruitment as the Su-
preme Court on Novem-
ber 18 has ordered for
providing new opportu-
nities to them through
another recruitment as
barely 15000 shikshami-
tras could get jobs in
68,500 and 69,000 re-
cruitments made earli-
er. In July 2017, the ad-
justments of 1.37 lakh
Shikshamitras was can-
celled and since then
Shikshamitra have
been waiting for new
recruitment.
The UPTET would be
held on July 25 this year
in two shifts.
Noida: Schools in Noi-
da and Greater Noida
cannot increase fees in
the academic year 2021-
22 owing to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic situa-
tion, according to a
Gautam Buddh Nagar
district administration
order.
The schools have also
been directed to charge
fees only on monthly
basis and not force or
insist payment of fees
on quarterly or half
yearly or yearly basis
on any student, stated
the order by the District
Fee Regulation Com-
mittee (DRFC).
The decisions were
taken during a meeting
of the DFRC, chaired by
District Magistrate Su-
has LY on Tuesday,
which discussed, delib-
erated and reviewed is-
sues pertaining to an-
nual fees increment re-
ported by the schools
for the academic year
2021-2022 and other is-
sues. The committee
has reviewed the cur-
rent pandemic situa-
tion and other overall
situation prevailing
and unanimously de-
cided that for the aca-
demic year 2021-2022 no
fee increment shall be
permitted and all the
schools are directed to
charge the fees prevail-
ing in the academic
year 2020-2021 only
(which is not more than
the fees charged in aca-
demic year 2019-2020),
the order stated.
Regarding issues
concerning quarterly
charges or annual
charges, the order stat-
ed, the DFRC has dis-
cussed the matter ...
schools are hereby di-
rected to charge fees
only on monthly basis
and shall not force or
insist payment of fees
on quarterly or half
yearly or yearly basis to
any student. The order
further advised all
stakeholders that due to
COVID-19 pandemic
situation, invocation of
National Disaster Man-
agement Act 2005 is still
continuing and all the
schools are advised to
strictly follow the direc-
tions of the DFRC and
the District Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) in this regard.
In case of any future
direction, advisory, or-
der or notification to be
issued by the Uttar
Pradesh government
shall be applicable and
it shall be notified by
the DFRC, it added. —PTI
Announcement of
UPTET-2020 brings
cheers to aspirants
Noida, G Noida schools
can’t up fees in academic
year 2021-22: Admin
Nostalgic businessman from London
wishes to develop beautify Kanpur
First India Bureau
Kanpur: Ravi Kumar
Mehrotra, a well-known
shipping businessman
based in London has ex-
pressed his interest in
the development of
Kanpur.
Ravi Kumar had
spent his childhood
days sitting in the ghats
of the city and soaking
in the panoramic views
offered by the ghat. In
his early days he used to
visit the Rani Ghat
along with his mother
Amar Devi Mehrotra to
take a dip in the holy
River as well as perform
puja. The businessman
has always made sure to
spend time in the Ghats
whenever he visits Kan-
pur.
The city is so close to
his heart that he wants
to further help it devel-
op and has offered to
beautify the city begin-
ning from the River
Ganga.
Devendra Singh, co-
ordinator of the Amar
Maritime Training
Academy said that Dr.
Ravi Kumar Mehrotra,
founder of Foresite
Group has asked the
government for land
along the River Ganges
for development. He
added that no decision
has been taken by the
government as of now
over the interest shown
by the businessman. He
further added that after
the construction of the
ghat on River Ganges,
the group will also take
up maintenance of the
ghat for 30 years which
will help boost the tour-
ism industry of the city
.
Lucknow: South Africa
added salt to India’s
wounds by registering a
five-wicket win over the
hosts in the low-scoring
fifth and final women’s
ODI to seal the series 4-1
here on Wednesday
.
Mithali Raj played a
captain’s knock by hit-
ting a well-crafted 79 not
out but it was only
enough to take India to
188 all out.
South Africa then
rode on Anneke Bosch
(58) and Mignon du
Preez’s (57) half-centu-
ries to chase down the
target in 48.2 overs.
The series marked In-
dia’s return to interna-
tional cricket after 12
months. They were nat-
urallyrustytostartwith
and by the end of the
series, it seemed that
theyhavealotof workto
doif theywanttobetitle
contendersfortheWorld
Cup early next year.
The batting needs
more firepower and
bowling concerns too
need to be addressed as
spinners, traditionally
India’s strength, strug-
gled against South Afri-
ca.
Coming back after a
long break, the India
players had only a hand-
ful of training sessions
ahead of the series as
they also had to undergo
a mandatory one week
quarantine.
“Clearly, we do need
some camps before se-
ries. We were underpre-
pared, coming from a
gap. The batting unit
tried to improve consist-
ently match by match.
Ourspinnersneedtoim-
prove,” said Mithali at
thepost-matchpresenta-
tion.
“Other than the re-
sult, it’s been a good se-
ries for us. Exposure for
the young players, and
opportunity to those
players looking for
rhythm. Congratula-
tions to South Africa for
doing so well in our con-
ditions,” she added.
South Africa’s chase
got off to a disastrous
start as the visitors lost
their top three batters
including skipper Sune
Luus(10)forjust27runs.
Du Preez (57) and
Bosch (58) the stabilised
SouthAfrica’srunchase
with a 96-run partner-
ship for the fourth wick-
et before Indian bowlers
pulled things back, dis-
missing both the set bat-
tersinquicksuccession.
At that stage South
Africa were 131 for five,
still needing 58 runs in
13 overs for a win.
While Bosch’s knock
was laced with eight
fours and came off 70
balls, du Preez was a tad
slower as she took 10
balls for her innings and
struck just four bounda-
ries in the process.
Marizanne Kapp (36
not out) and Nadine de
Klerk (19 not out), how-
ever, ensured there was
no further hiccups as
the duo shared unbeat-
en 58 runs for the sixth
wicket to guide South
Africa home. For India,
left-arm spinner Rajesh-
wari Gayakwad picked
up three wickets con-
ceding just 13 runs off
her 10 overs.
Earlier, Mithali
steered India’s innings
after India lost three
early wickets with the
scoreboardreading53in
the 13th over. Together
withHarmanpreetKaur
(30), who retired hurt
due to an injury
, Mithali
shared 71 runs for the
fourth wicket before the
formerleftthegroundin
the 31st over.
India lost opener Pri-
ya Punia (18) early be-
fore India’s star bats-
woman of the series
Punam Raut (10) and
Smriti Mandhana (18)
departed in successive
overs.
Dayalan Hemalatha
(2) and Sushma Verma
(0) failed to provide the
much-needed support to
Mithali as the veteran
Indianbatterbroughtup
her second fifty of the
seriesand55thoverallin
78 balls in the 38th over.
Jhulan Goswami (5)
and Monica Patel (9) too
didn’t trouble the scor-
ersmuchasMithalikept
India’s innings going
single-handedly
.
Debutant Challuru
Prathyusha (2) also
failed to make a mark as
India slumped to 176 for
eight by the end of the
47th over. Mithali was
leftstrandedatonehand
as India kept on losing
wickets at regular inter-
vals and were bowled
out in 49.3 overs. Medi-
um pacer de Klerk was
the pick of the bowlers
forSouthAfricawithfig-
ures of three for 35.—PTI
SOUTH AFRICA WOMEN STEAMROLL INDIA TO
CLINCH SERIES 4-1 AFTER LOW-SCORE FINAL
‘HIGH-PROFILE’
LAND SCAM
COMES UNDER
JUDICIARY
LENS AFTER
20 YEARS
It has taken 20 years
for the judicial
system to take note
of a land scam under
the guise of the much
known Kamla Nehru
Educational Society
of Rae Bareli. What is
even more surprising
is the involvement of
people close to the
‘Gandhi family’. Former
Prime Minister, Indira
Gandhi had expressed
her desire to establish a
girl’s college in the Rae
Bareli district to help
the daughters of the
district to pursue their
higher education and in
1976, the Kamla Nehru
Educational Society was
given a land of around
3 acre in the civil lines
on rent. A lot of issues
arose while setting up
the college and hence it
was never built. In year
2001, the officials of the
society in connivance
with the erstwhile
officials and employees
somehow declared the
land to be free-hold and
made plans to sell it off.
The issue with the land
came up only when the
office bearers of the
society tried to sell the
land to a gangster named
Dadua but were thwarted
by the locals who put
up a protest. An FIR has
been lodged in the scam
case which includes
the names of 12 people
including Vikram Kaul,
son of former Governor
and Union Minister
Sheela Kaul, Sunil Dev,
secretary of Kamala
Nehru Educational
Society, then ADM
Madanpal.
—Amit Bailyan
TP NAGAR
POLICE
STATION: A
PRIDE FOR
MEERUT CITY
Police Station
has always been
synchronous with an old
red-yellow building but
this will change when
people see the newly
renovated TP Nagar
Police Station. The
police station which was
recently renovated has
been given a new color
scheme which gives the
look of a multinational
company. SSP Ajay Sahni
has been tirelessly talking
about the police station
and even asked the
government to include the
police station among the
top-10 in the country. The
original TP Nagar Police
Station was built in 1972
and has been renovated
in 2021 at a cost of Rs.
12 lakh with contribution
from public too. The
station is equipped with
Wi-Fi and the entire
police station is covered
by 16 CCTV cameras.
The police station has
put technology to good
use with computerized
storeroom as well as
using speakers for mass
announcement. The
lock-ups have also been
renovated and made
much cleaner. There is
also separate women’s
room with help desk
along with other excellent
facilities. —First India Bureau
Mithali Raj played a captain’s knock by hitting a well-crafted 79 not out but it went in vain.
Ravi Kumar Mehrotra
Nita Ambani as visiting faculty? BHU,
Reliance say no as students protest
First India Bureau
Varanasi: A rebuttal
has been issued by Re-
liance Industries after
news of Nita Ambani
being made a visiting
professor at Banaras
Hindu University
(BHU) surfaced. Ac-
cording to ANI, she has
not received any invi-
tation from BHU and
the reports are false,
mentions the rebuttal.
Earlier, a letter of
consent was issued on
behalf of department
and sent to vice-chan-
cellor informing him
about making of Nita
Ambani as a visiting
professor. However af-
ter students started
protesting on the issue,
a top level meeting was
held in university on
Tuesday to investigate
the matter.
On the other hand,
BHU faculty head of
Social Sciences Prof
KK Mishra confirmed
that a proposal had
been sent to her, suffi-
cient evidence of
which was available
with him. Prof Mishra
also shared a two-page
letter which had been
sent to Vice Chancellor
nearing his signature
as-well-as that of Coor-
dinator Nidhi Sharma.
AS the news spread
in BHU, students
reached the Vice Chan-
cellor’s residence on
Tuesday and started
protesting. Further a
campaign was started
by students in internet
media as well leading
to political discus-
sions.
The students re-
turned after reassur-
ance while a rebuttal
from Reliance Indus-
tries also cooled the is-
sue. On the other hand,
a letter from the BHU
administration has de-
nied any official infor-
mation regarding the
appointment.
Also a letter issued
by BHU administra-
tion denies any official
information regarding
the appointment.
Nita Ambani

08
2NDFRONT
Give it your ALL! Everything,
from the smallest thing that you do
to the largest project you undertake,
make it a habit to sign it with excellence!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Tripartite struggle for BJP
as Cong, SP, BSP weigh in
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Yogi
Government is soon go-
ingtocompleteits4-year
tenure in the state and
the political roadmap
willsoonbelaiddownin
view of the next year’s
Assembly elections.
TheupcomingAssem-
bly election is going to
beseesawbattlebetween
BJP and the opposition
parties. One of the nota-
ble observation to be
seen is out of SP, BSP
and Congress which
party will give BJP the
run for the money
.
If the politics of the
state are to be under-
stood, then Akhilesh
Yadav-led Samajwadi
Party is naturally the
main opposition party
as SP is the largest
opposition par-
ty in the
L e g i s l a -
tive As-
s e m bly
with 49 MLAs and sec-
ond only to BJP
.
Akhilesh who has be-
come active after the Co-
rona pandemic period
has been besieging the
governmentonallissues
of UP and has been pre-
senting themselves as
the alternative to Yogi.
Samajwadi Party
along with repairing its
organisation can be
seen getting in touch
with the people of the
state and Akhilesh Ya-
dav has been visiting
temples and tombs to
showcase the secular
mindset of his.
The SP which had
been silent about MP
Azam Khan for so long
recently took out a cycle
rally from Rampur in
support of the MP
. Akh-
ilesh was also seen ad-
dressing rallies through
Kisan Panchayat and
has at all time raised his
voice against the three
agricultural laws.
BSP supremo
Mayawati who up to
now had been targeting
BJP via the social me-
dia has begun actively
taking part in the prep-
arations of the UP elec-
tions. She has clearly
stated that BSP will try
its luck alone this time
and the party has also
started preparing for
the Panchayat elections.
Under Priyanka Gan-
dhi, Congress General
Secretary and in-charge
of UP, the Congress has
been become very ac-
tive in UP. The Con-
gress raised the issue of
apathy of the migrant
workers during the Co-
rona crisis and has
corned the Yogi govern-
ment for various issues.
Priyanka Gandhi has
also been constantly
raising her voice
against the Yogi Gov-
ernment as well the
Central Government on
the topic of the agricul-
ture laws and could be
seen attending Ma-
hapanchayats to make
her presence known
amongst the farmers of
the state.
Akhilesh Yadav Mayawati
With eye on
polls oppn
aggressively
trying to
corner Yogi
govt on
issues like
farm stir
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Yogi Gov-
ernment has been con-
stantly making efforts to
make aware the people
of the state of the
achievements as well as
theamountof workthey
have done for the state.
The UP government
has now revealed that it
had killed 135 criminals
fromyear2017tillnowin
encounters and the UP
Police have claimed that
ithaseliminatedmostof
the crooks with prize
money on their head
who posed threat to the
law and order of the
state. The first encoun-
terinrecordmadebythe
UP Police under the BJP
rule was on September
27, 2017 in which Man-
soor Pahalwan of Saha-
ranpur was killed and
the last encounter is of
crook named Moti in
Kasganj who had a re-
wardof Rs1lakhrupees.
One important talk-
ing point of the encoun-
ters is that out of 135
dreaded criminals
killed, the number of
Muslim criminals stood
at 51. This number has
become a hot topic in
UP politics with AIMIM
President Asaduddin
Owaisi targeting the UP
government alleging
that the state govern-
ment has been deliber-
ately targeting Muslims
and because of which
there has been in-
creased death of Mus-
lim in encounters. The
allegation was though
strongly rejected by the
BJP who went on to say
that the government
treats all religion equal-
ly and that criminals
have no religion.
The UP government
has also come under
fire for conducting a
large number of police
encounters. In the first
two years itself, the UP
police had killed more
than 100 criminals in an
encounter which
caused an uproar after
which strict instruc-
tions were given to
make efforts to catch
the culprits live even in
encounters. In the next
2 year, the police re-
duced the number of
encounters and have
also managed to catch
criminals live.
However, the record
goes on to show that the
criminals were not only
mischievous but were
also sowing seeds of
fear in the society for a
long time and the en-
counters sure have
brought a better envi-
ronment of law and or-
der in the state.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Luc-
know bench of the Al-
lahabad High Court re-
cently ruled that if the
candidate has passed B.
Tech or BCA in com-
puter subjects then he/
she will be considered
qualified even if he/she
does not have CCC
(Course on Computer
Concept) certificate.
The Court also dis-
missed a January 15,
2020 order of the Sugar-
cane and Sugar Com-
missioner in which can-
didates receiving com-
puter education equiva-
lent to the CCC certifi-
cate issued were not
considered eligible for
the post of Sugarcane
Supervisor.
The order was passed
by a Single-Judge
Bench of Justice Chan-
dra Dhari Singh on a
petition filed on behalf
of Mohit Kumar and
others.
The petitioners ap-
proached the Court
challenging the order
dated on January 15,
2020 by which the Com-
missioner, Sugarcane
and Sugar, Lucknow,
has clarified that the
candidates who possess
equivalent qualifica-
tion to CCC Certificate
issued by DOEACC So-
ciety are not entitled to
participate in the inter-
view held for the Sugar-
cane Supervisor post.
Counsel for the peti-
tioners submitted that
an advertisement was
issued on October 5,
2016 by UP Subordinate
Service Selection Com-
mission inviting online
applications for vari-
ous posts including
the post of Sugarcane
Supervisor.
First India Bureau
Ayodhya: Dr Ram
Manohar Lohia Awadh
University is working
on developing a library
of manuscripts, ancient
texts, books based on
Shri Ram and Ramaya-
na in different languag-
escollectedfromallover
the country as-well-as
abroad. Also students
are doing PhD on Shri
Ram and Ramayana in
Sri Ram Shodh Peeth of
the University estab-
lished in 2005.
Butinabsenceof aprop-
er library and lack of
government support,
there was a shortage of
books.
The construction of
Ram temple in Ayodhya
has started and tourist
count has also increased
and ways are being
planned for research on
Shri Ram. Sri Ram
ShodhPeethcoordinator
Prof Ajay Pratap Singh
said that Awadh Univer-
sity is set to establish
large library in Peeth
whereinbooksof alllan-
guages related to Shri
Ram and Ramayana of
different languages will
be collected and made
available to students for
research.
He said manuscripts
related to Lord Rama in
country and abroad
would be collected and
kept in the library so
that the ideals, life and
character of Lord Rama
could be studied.
He informed that a mu-
seum would also be
made for exhibiting
coins of any period
found in Uttar Pradesh
for tourists coming to
Ayodhya.
Professor Singh said
he wished that a temple
of Ram was established
in Sri Ram Shodh Peeth
but so far no financial
support was received
from UP Government.
He said if state govern-
ment provided financial
support the Shodh Peeth
could be expanded.
135 criminals killed in police
encounters in four years
Out of 135 dreaded
criminals killed, the
number of Muslim
criminals stood at 51
DEVELOPMENT MANTRA
Minister for Industrial Development Satish Mahana discussing development works being
carried out in Kanpur with Urban Development Minister Ashutosh Tandon in Lucknow on
Wednesday.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The allot-
ment of 28 plots to bu-
reaucrats and politi-
cians in posh Vipul
Khand area of Gomti
Nagar in Lucknow has
come to haunt its own-
ers again.
The case under anti-
corruption Act which
has been dragging on
for 15-years is now
scheduled to come up
for hearing again in
Lucknow on April 5.
This is giving sleepless
nights to half-a-dozen
civil servants including
senior IPS officers, who
were beneficiaries of
the alleged largesse
during former CM Mu-
layam Singh Yadav’s
regime in 2005.
A committee headed
by former Divisional
Commissioner, Luc-
know, Vijay Shankar
Pandey
,hadrecommend-
ed cancellation of allot-
ments and registration
of FIRs against all the
allottees and nine Luc-
know Development Au-
thority officials during
Mayawati’s regime.
But the matter was
relegated to the back-
burner with a change of
political guard in UP
.
The 28 allottees included
SP leader (late) Amar
Singh.
The then Secretary to
the CM Anita Singh, the
then SSP (Lucknow)
Navneet Sikera, wife of
the then Revenue Minis-
ter Ambika Chowdhury
,
Chief Town Planner
(LDA) C P Sharma, Re-
tired IAS officer S D
Bagla and son of the
then Divisional Com-
missioner (Lucknow).
Besides recommending
lodging of FIRs against
LDA officials, including
its former Vice-Chair-
man BB Singh, the Com-
mittee had recommend-
ed disciplinary action
against them saying
that state has incurred a
loss of over Rs 2.30 crore
duetoillegalandirregu-
lar allotments.
15-year old plot allotment case comes to haunt VVIPs again
ILLEGAL DEALS
lll
The case under
anti-corruption
Act is now
scheduled to
come up for
hearing on
April 5
B.Tech, BCA candidates
will qualify for Sugarcane
Supervisor post: HC
Univ needs govt support for promoting research
Allahabad High Court
—FILE
PHOTO
BJP MLA writes to Priyanka,
alleges life threat from Mukhtar
First India Bureau
Gorakhpur/Luc-
know:Inanotheremo-
tional letter to Con-
gress leader Priyanka
Gandhi, BJP MLA
Alka Rai, widow of
slain MLA Krishnana-
nd Rai, repeatedly
urged her not to save
BSP MLA Mukhtar
Ansari.
Alka Rai, wife of
late BJP MLA Krish-
nanand Rai who was
murderedinGhazipur
in 2005, wrote to Con-
gress general secre-
tary Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra and accused the
Punjabgovernmentof
blatantly providing
protection to accused
Mukhtar Ansari.
She further ex-
pressed her agony
and struggle while
fighting for justice for
the past 14 years.Alka
further wrote that
several like her have
been anxiously wait-
ing for Mukhtar An-
sari to be punished
for his crimes and
urged Priyanka to
show some sensitivity
towards the suffering
of common people.
—FILE
PHOTO
—FILE
PHOTO

t was one of those days
when she travelled to In-
dia for the very first time
after she was born and
had a quest in herself to
make a change. Born in
India and hailing from
Dubai, the journey of Rehaa
Khann is one of the most aspir-
ing. Talking about her journey
Rehaa mentioned, “Unlike most
families, it wasn’t in our tradi-
tion to step into the world of
glamour. I belong to a fairly con-
servative family. My father is a
pathan from Dubai and my
mother is from India, but I want-
ed to break the stereotype and
explore myself as an artist.”
It was back in the year 2013,
when Rehaa visited the city of
dreams, Mumbai, where she
was born. The city of dreams
brought forward challenges, a
struggle that made her decide
that she will push her limits
and establish a name of herself
in this very own city. She fur-
ther stepped into the world of
modelling, she coveted the title
of Miss Mermaid International
Asia (2019) in Egypt. She has
represented India in Top model
Asia 2018 in Korea. Apart from
her modelling ventures, Rehaa
has also been a part of some
well renowned Hindi, Punjabi
and Telugu blockbusters. Re-
haa will be next seen in an up-
coming web series, titled, In-
spector Avinash. With her
NGO, Farishta Social Foun-
dation, Rehaa also advo-
cates charity by distribut-
ing food to the less priv-
iledged.
Rehaa Khann further
comments, “I have enjoyed
exploring cultures and my
varied roles. As I move for-
ward in the world of act-
ing, I realize that the best
thing about acting is
that it allows you to
express your-
self.”
LUCKNOW, THURSDAY
MARCH 18, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
SUSHMITA AIND
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
I
CITY FIRST IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH
REHAA KHANN, A MODEL, A STYLE ICON, AN ACTOR, A
DREAMER AND AN EXPLORER. A MODEL TURNED SOCIAL
WORKER WHOSE MOTTO OF LIFE IS LIVE AND LET LIVE!
CITY FIRST IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH
THE ARAB
THE ARAB

First india lucknow edition-18 march 2021

First india lucknow edition-18 march 2021

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