The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh plans to roll out benefits for farmers on Kisan Diwas (Farmer's Day) on Wednesday to placate them amid protests against new farm laws. As part of a two-pronged strategy involving dialogue, the government will distribute tractors to farmers under a revived scheme. On Kisan Diwas, farmers will be honored at district and state levels, with the Chief Minister personally handing over keys to winners selected through a lucky draw. The government hopes these measures will reduce the momentum of ongoing agitations before talks with the Prime Minister on December 25.

1. Yogi Govt to roll out dole on Kisan Diwas on Wednesday
M Tariq Khan
As farmers intensified
their stir on new farm
laws ahead of ‘Kisan
Diwas’ on Wednesday,
which also happens to
be former prime Chaud-
hary Charan Singh’s
birthday – the Yogi Adi-
tyanath Government is
pulling out all stops to
placate them.
In a two-pronged
strategy, along with dia-
logue, the UP Govern-
ment has also decided to
‘dole’ out benefits to
these ‘sons of the soil’ to
take the steam out of
their agitation before
their much-hyped e-in-
teraction with Prime
MinisterNarendraModi
on December 25. While
elaborate arrangements
have been made to cele-
brate ‘Kisan Diwas’ in
alldistricts,inLucknow,
the UP CM himself will
participate in a function
to be held in Lok Bha-
wan, the seat of govern-
ment on Wednesday.
Government officers
have been told to look
outandhuntforschemes
and initiatives even out-
side the state to woo
farmers. Faced with in-
creasing pressure, the
mandarins in Bapu and
Mandi Parishad have
been browsing and dust-
ing old files in the hope
of finding an ‘attractive’
inducement to lure the
agitating farm brigade.
And one such ‘bonanza’
the Yogi Government is
expected to roll out is
distributing free trac-
tors to farmers. “It was
an old scheme and had
been lying defunct for
want of funds for quite
sometime now. But we
intend to revive it in a
big way,” said a Mandi
Parishad official re-
questing anonymity. Ac-
cording to him, six doz-
en farmers belonging to
differentdistrictswillbe
chosen for free distribu-
tion.“Sincetherewillbe
a mad rush of the appli-
cants, the winners will
be selected through
bumper lucky draws un-
der the scheme known
as ‘Mukhya Mantry
Krashak Uphar Yojana.’
Since the UP CM has a
penchant for adding a
personal touch to every-
thing he does, the keyes
of the tractor would be
handed over by him to
the winners, Turn to P6Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
THE BONANZA
z On the occasion of
‘Kisan Samman Diwas’,
farmers will be awarded
from the district level to
the state level.
z Among the farm-
ers to be awarded
at the state level, 09
women farmers are also
included.
STEPS TAKEN SO FAR
z Rs 36,000 crore loan
waiver of 86 lakh small
and marginal farmers
z Payment of Rs 1.12
lakh crore to sugar cane
farmers
z Rs 24000 crore
transferred into bank
accounts of farmers
under PM Kisan Sam-
man Nidhi
z Modernisation and
Expansion of 20 sugar
mills including the one
at Ramala.
z Rs 60,000 crore
under MSP to farmers
for crop purchase.
11°C - 26°C www.firstindia.co.in | www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia | instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No.41
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD LUCKNOW
MODIREACHESOUTTO
Muslims with New India call
M Hasan
Aligarh: Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi on
Tuesday called upon
the Muslim community
to join the efforts of the
Central government for
the overall development
and growth of every
section of the society.
Reaching out to the
community within and
outside the country
through the significant
platform of Aligarh
Muslim University
(AMU) while address-
ing online centenary
celebrations, the PM
said the NDA govern-
ment had been striving
for balanced growth ir-
respective of “religion,
caste and creed”.
It was after a long gap
of 56 years that a Prime
Minister was address-
ing the AMU fraternity
torecogniseitsvitalrole
in the nation-building.
In December 1964 the
then Prime Minister Lal
Bahadur Shashtri had
addressed the universi-
ty’s convocation func-
tion. Setting at rest all
the misgivings prevail-
ing in the AMU campus
and outside about the
NDA government, Modi
said that the centre was
committed to institu-
tion’s progress and
would generously ex-
tend all help solve its
problems. The Prime
minister also released a
postal stamp commemo-
rating 100 years of insti-
tution which had tried
to transform the Mus-
lim community from its
rigid traditionalism to
modernism. Turn to P6
Aligarh Muslim University represents ‘mini-India’ and has to its
credit 100 glorious years of excellence in education: PM
Top US honour
‘Legion of
Merit’ for PM
New strain
not seen in
India so far,
says Centre
New Delhi: After being
conferred the prestig-
ious Legion of Merit
from US President Don-
ald Trump, Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
said he was deeply hon-
oured by the award,
adding that it recognis-
es the efforts of India
and the US to improve
bilateral relations be-
tween the nations.
Taking to Twitter,
PM Modi said that the
award reflected the bi-
partisan consensus of
both countries about
the Indo-US strategic
partnership. “I am
deeply honoured to be
awarded the Legion of
Merit by @POTUS @re-
alDonaldTrump. It rec-
ognises the efforts of
the people of India
Turn to P6
New Delhi: A mutated
and more aggressive
strain of the novel coro-
navirus-whichwasfirst
identified in the United
Kingdom in September
- has not been seen in
India so far, the govern-
ment said Tuesday.
Thenewstrain-initial
datasuggestsitisatleast
70 per cent more easily
transmitted-hassparked
concern worldwide,
amid surging infection
rates in the UK and fears
the first lot of vaccines
may not be as effective
against the mutation.
“The new strain or
mutationof (the)corona-
virus in the United King-
dom has not been seen in
India,sofar,”DrVKPaul,
a member of govern-
ment think-tank NITI
Aayog, said. Turn to P6
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister and BJP
leaderAmitShahwould
be frequently visiting
the poll-bound West
Bengal from January
onwards ahead of 2021
Assembly polls. Sourc-
es informed that Shah
would be visiting West
Bengal for a week every
month from February.
This was communicat-
ed by Shah in an inter-
nal meeting with the
leaders of the state on
his recent visit.
The senior party lead-
ers in BJP said that
there are two dates that
are being finalised by
Shah’s office for his next
visit. While there is the
possibility of him visit-
ing the state on January
12 which is the birth an-
niversary of Swami
Vivekananda, the other
date that is under con-
sideration could be
around January 23, the
birth anniversary of
Subhash Chandra Bose.
“Post January 20 is a
possibility,” is what a
top leader of the state
said when asked about
Shah’snextvisit.Shah’s
visit and the pressure
on the state govern-
ment because of his
presence would grow
intense, informed a sen-
ior party leader.
“He told us that Feb-
ruary onwards he
would be spending al-
mostaweekeachmonth
in the state till Assem-
bly elections. His pres-
ence boosts the party
cadre that is reeling
Turn to P6
Shah’snextBengalvisitinJan,
tospendmoretimefromFeb
Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a roadshow in Birbhum in
West Bengal. —PTI FILE PHOTO
Mumbai: Thirty four
persons including crick-
eter Suresh Raina and
BollywoodcelebritySus-
sanne Khan were held
afteraraidataposhclub
near the Mumbai air-
port on Tuesday for vio-
lating social distancing
norms, police said.
Thirteen women who
were among those held
were allowed to leave
after being served no-
tices while the men
were shown as arrested
and granted bail later,
police said.
The raid took place at
the Dragonfly Experi-
ence club near the
Mumbai international
airport at around 3 am,
police said, adding the
34 also included seven
staffers of the club.
They were booked
under sections 188 (Dis-
obedience to order duly
promulgated by public
servant), 269 (whoever
unlawfully or negli-
gently does any act
which is, and which he
knows or has reason to
believe to be, Turn to P6
Raid in Mum club:Raina,
Sussanne,32 others held
Wasn’t aware of timing, protocol: Raina
FAROOQ MEHBOOBA
MAKE A COMEBACK
BUTAFTERHYD,NOWSAFFRON
EMERGENCEINSRINAGAR!
Kavita Pant
Srinagar: The BJP
seems to be on a roll as
was depicted in Tues-
day’s results of Dis-
trict Development
Council elections in
Jammu and Kashmir.
The Saffron party
showed a dramatic im-
provement in its posi-
tion in Kashmir al-
most immediately af-
ter making a mark in
the Municipal polls in
Hyderabad. The party
on Tuesday won an
election for the first
time from any seat in
Kashmir while facing
regional heavyweights
like the National Con-
ference and the PDP.
The DDC elections
hold significance as it
was the first major
electoral exercise in
the Valley since the ab-
rogation of Article 370
last year in August.
The People’s Alli-
ance for Gupkar Decla-
ration (PAGD), an
amalgam of seven po-
litical parties, includ-
ing the NC and the PDP
won over 90 seats while
the BJP emerged as the
single largest party
winning 65 seats as of
now. Counting of votes
for the 280 DDC in JK
is still underway. Nota-
bly, as many as 39 seats
were bagged by Inde-
pendent candidates,
while the Congress
party won 20 seats.
Lotus bloomed in
Kashmir as the people
of the Valley exhibited
theirfaithintheleader-
ship of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, said
local party leaders.
Turn to P6
BJP supporters dancing in jubilation as Ajaz Hussain of BJP won DDC election from Balahama
area in Srinagar on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM Narendra Modi addresses the centenary celebrations of
Aligarh Muslim University via video conferencing, in New Delhi,
on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
No Board exams till
February,final dates
soon: Pokhriyal
New Delhi: Union edu-
cationministerRamesh
Pokhriyal said on
Tuesday that the board
exams will not be held
in January or February.
“No board examina-
tions will be conducted
in January or February.
A decision on the con-
duct of examinations
will be taken later,”
Pokhriyal said during a
virtual interaction with
teachers.
He also said that it is
not possible to conduct
the board exams in on-
line mode.
The Central Board of
Secondary Education
(CBSE) had earlier this
month announced that
board exams in 2021 will
be conducted in written
mode and not online.
Schools across the coun-
trywereclosedinMarch
to contain the spread of
the Covid-19 pandemic.
They were partially reo-
pened in some states
from October 15.
However, a few states
have decided to keep
them closed in view of a
spike in the number of
infections.
Not possible to
hold exams
online: Min
A delegation of Congress leaders, led by
former party chief Rahul Gandhi, will meet
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday
to submit around 20 million signatures col-
lected from across the country in the past
three months seeking repeal of three farm
laws. Congress general secretary in-charge
of organisation KC Venugopal said the party
had launched a nationwide campaign in
September for collecting memoranda of
appeals addressed to the President signed
by farmers, farm labourers and other stake
holders opposing the three new farm legis-
lations. He said around 20 million signatures
have been collected till now.
RAGA TO MEET PREZ
WITH 20 MM SIGNATURES
AGAINST FARM LAWS

2. UTTAR PRADESHLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
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First India Bureau
Lucknow: Five dis-
tricts of the state have
been listed as the best
performing aspiration-
al districts of the coun-
try in an assessment
that was conducted by
the government think
tank Niti Aayog.
The assessment,
based on review based
on performance of
schemes on six themat-
ic areas consisting of
health and nutrition,
education, agriculture
and water resources, fi-
nancial inclusion, skill
development and basic
infrastructure, found
that Balrampur, Sid-
dharthnagar, Sonbhad-
ra, Chandauli and
Fatehpur districts of
Uttar Pradesh fared
quite well.
The review was based
on the information pro-
vided by NITI Ayog on
the real time monitor-
ing dashboard http://
championsofchange.
gov.in since the initia-
tion of the programme
in April 2018 to October
2020.
In terms of improve-
ment in health and nu-
trition, five districts of
Uttar Pradesh that were
among the top 10 dis-
tricts in the country are
Balrampur, Sid-
dharthnagar, Chandau-
li, Sonbhadra and
Shravasti while in edu-
cation arena, four dis-
tricts-- Balrampur, Sid-
dharthnagar, Shravasti
and Sonbhadra have
managed to grab ranks
among the top 10 dis-
tricts.
Fatehpur appeared
on the 9th position in
terms of basic infra-
structure. In the delta
ranking, the the dis-
tricts of the state along
with their ranks are
Siddharthnagar (11),
Shravasti (47), Sonb-
hadra (48), Chandauli
(69), Chitrakoot (91),
Fatehpur (93), Balram-
pur (100) and Bahraich
(104).
Aamod Kumar, Prin-
cipal Secretary, Plan-
ning Department, in-
formed that the delta
ranking signifies the
efforts undertaken by
the district magistrates
for the past 2-3 months.
“The DMs must con-
duct detailed study of
all the 6 thematic areas
along with the district-
level officers and try to
figure out the reasons
for the decline in quali-
ty level of any thematic
area,” he said.
A sum of Rs 3 crore
has been allocated for
Siddharthnagar dis-
trict that managed to
grab 11th rank on an
overall basis, for getting
good ranks in financial
inclusion. Workplan for
the same has been sent
to the NITI Ayog. Like-
wise, Rs 2 crore was ap-
proved for the district
after it attained the sec-
ond rank in February.
Similarly, District
Magistrate of Balram-
pur, Krishna Karunesh
informed that out of Rs
2.47 crore allocated by
the Niti Aayog, for get-
ting good ranks in edu-
cational fields, Rs 21.88
lakh has been utilised.
Niti Aayog tags five UP districts as best performing ones
RANKING HIGH

The review
covered key
areas under
heads such as
health, nutrition,
education,
agriculture,
water resources,
financial
inclusion, skill
development
and basic
infrastructure
Balrampur is one the districts that have been performing well.
Now,holyVaranasisettobe
epicentreofagriculturalexports
First India Bureau
Varanasi: Varanasi,
the holy city of Uttar
Pradesh is being trans-
formed into an impor-
tant center for agricul-
ture export and food
processing, is slated to
blossom faces of farm-
ers, who toil hard to
get their produce ready
for markets.
Joint efforts of Yogi-
led Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment and the Modi
government at the cen-
tre will soon be setting
up a pack house match-
ing global standards.
The city has regis-
tered an exponential
increase in exports.
Farmers Producer Or-
ganisation (FPO) has
been one of the funda-
mental forces result-
ing in export of prod-
ucts such as Banarasi
mango, black rice and
green chilies.
While business
across the country
plummeted downhill
during the lockdown,
Agriculture and Pro-
cessed Food Products
Export Development
Authority (APEDA),
Ministry of Commerce
and Industry under
Government of India,
earned almost double
under the direction
Yogi Adityanath.
APEDA has also
opened its regional of-
fice in Varanasi. Re-
gional in-charge Dr C.B
Singh heading the of-
fice says, “The proposal
to make Varanasi an
Agri Export Center was
floated on November 1,
2019, during the Buyer
and Vendor Meet. After
this, an MoU between
four FPOs and the
Fresh Vegetable and
Fruits Export Associa-
tion (Wafa) Mumbai has
been signed. The en-
deavour has resulted in
export of 14 metric tons
of green chilies to
Dubai in the year 2019.”
APEDA is also train-
ing farmers in Varana-
si, Chandauli, Ghazipur
districts of the state in
to provide export relat-
ed information to farm-
ers of the region.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Delhi
Deputy Chief Minis-
ter Manish Sisodia
on Tuesday dared Ut-
tar Pradesh Minister
Siddharth Nath Sin-
gh to join him in a
debate. He also tried
visiting a govern-
ment school, but was
stopped by the ad-
ministration.
Sisodia, who
reached the state cap-
ital along with Aam
Aadmi Party’s Uttar
Pradesh in-charge
and Rajya Sabha MP
Sanjay Singh flung
the challenge at the
UP minister with a
touch of drama.
He held an open
debate on State of
Education Kejriwal’s
Delhi Model versus
Yogi’s UP Model at
Gandhi Bhawan in
Kaiserbagh area
here, keeping a va-
cant chair waiting
for Siddharth Singh
with his name writ-
ten over it. His photo-
graph was also kept
on it.
“I will wait for Sid-
dharth Nath Singh
and I am sure he will
come forward for the
debate, Sisodia told
reporters, pointing
at the vacant chair.
Sisodia descended
upon Lucknow a
week after Delhi
Chief Minister and
AAP supremo
Arvind Kejriwal on
December 15 an-
nounced his party’s
intention to fight
various elections in
Uttar Pradesh.
Varanasi, known for its spiritual presence across the world, will soon be
an export hub, exporting Purvanchal’s produce.
Delhi Deputy CM waits for Siddharth Nath Singh.
Walkover! Sisodia
keeps waiting for
SN Singh on debate
Make way! Purvanchal
readies itself for exports
First India Bureau
Varanasi: While organ-
ic farming products are
catching up in market,
Yogi government is cap-
italising on the oppor-
tunity to training farm-
ers in Poorvanchal for
the same.
Dr Rajnikant, an ex-
pert who deals in speci-
fying Geographical In-
dications (GI) of the
produce to identify
where it comes from,
informed that NAB-
ARD’s collaboration is
playing an instrumen-
tal role in the GI regis-
tration process in for
agricultural products
in Purvanchal such as
banana, amla and even
flowers that are likely
to be exported.
Exporters of agricul-
tural products also reap
dividends because of
the trainings received
from the government
institutions.
One of the exporters
Ramkumar Rai stated,
“If one farms in a bal-
anced way just like oth-
er industries, then you
can earn more profits.”
Varanasi Commis-
sioner Deepak Aggar-
wal said, “Through
APEDA and Horticul-
ture Department are
training farmers so
that they can increase
their yield according to
export standards.”
“A five-tonne capaci-
ty cold chamber has
been built at Lal Baha-
dur Shastri Airport to
make Varanasi an Agri
Export Hub. River
Port on river Ganga is
already in place to
transport containers
from Varanasi to Kolk-
ata for export to South
East Asia.
Farmers will be given required training to produce products qualifying for
exports across the world.
Incomes have
doubled because of
export of agricultural
products coming from
Purvanchal farmers
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
new coronavirus
straintakingthewhole
world by storm and
India banning all
flights to and from
United Kingdom, Ut-
tar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath on Tuesday di-
rected state officials
to trace people who
came from abroad in
the past 15 days.
The CM, in a meet-
ing held at the Lok
Bhawan stated that
people in the state need
not panic as the state
government will
ensure that those
who have re-
t u r n e d
f r o m
the
UK in the past 15 days,
would be given the re-
quired treatment and
would be made to fol-
low protocols laid
down by the health
ministry.
“The people, who
came in the past 15
days from the coun-
tries where a new COV-
ID-19 strain has been
found, should be quar-
antined and their con-
tacts be traced,” the
CM said at a review
meeting adding that in
all districts, the admin-
istration should en-
sure compulsory con-
tact tracing.
He directed the
Health Department
to issue a separate
helpline and said
private labs should not
charge more than Rs
700 for a RT-PCR (re-
verse transcription
polymerase chain reac-
tion) test.
The Variant of Con-
cern 202012/01 (VOC)
which was previously
known as the first Var-
iant Under Investiga-
tion in December 2020
(VUI), and also known
as lineage B117, is a
variant of SARS-CoV-2,
the virus that causes
COVID-19.
The variant was first
detected in the United
Kingdom in October
2020 from a sample tak-
en in September, 2020,
and it quickly began to
spread by mid-Decem-
ber. It is correlated
with a significant in-
crease in the rate of
COVID-19 infection in
England.
Meanwhile, the
COVID-19 death toll in
Uttar Pradesh rose to
8,224 on Tuesday with
13 more people suc-
cumbing to the disease,
while 1,277 fresh cases
pushed the infection
tally to 5,76,832.
In a statement is-
sued by the health de-
partment, of the 13
fresh COVID-19 deaths
reported in the state,
two were from Ballia.
Of the 1,277 fresh
COVID-19 cases report-
ed in a day, state capital
Lucknow accounted
for 197. During the
same period, 1,330
COVID-19 patients re-
covered from the dis-
ease.
So far, 5,51,917 COV-
ID-19 patients have re-
covered from the dis-
ease. The state now has
16,691 active cases of
COVID-19, the state-
ment said.
CM TO PAY TRIBUTES TO CHARAN SINGH
First India Bureau
Rampur: Samajwadi
Party leader and Ram-
pur MP Azam Khan and
his son Abdullah Azam
were produced in Mo-
radabad’s MP MLA
court on Tuesday. Both
have been booked for
Chhajlat incident and
for making controver-
sial comments on the
BJP leader Jayaprada.
Both of them were
been sent to custody in
relation to the Jayapra-
da case, the defence
counsel argued against
the charges levelled
against them in the 2008
Chhajlat incident.
Azam Khan, Abdul-
lah Azam and MP Dr ST
Hussain, were of ac-
cused of making con-
troversial remarks on
BJP leader and former
MPof Rampur,Jayapra-
da, in case registered
on June 30, 2019.
Azam, son,
produced
before court
With new strain, alert UP CM
swings in action to nip it in budYogi asks officials to trace recent UK-returnees, initiate preventive actions
Yogi Adityanath

3. UTTAR PRADESHLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
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BRIEF
inin
Cong state-wide protests for farmers today
The Congress will hold protests across Uttar Pradesh
in support of the farmers’ agitation on Wednesday
marking the birth anniversary of Prime Minister
Chaudhary Charan Singh. In a statement on Tuesday,
the UP Congress said party workers will ‘gherao’ of-
fices and residences of BJP MPs, MLAs and public
representatives in support of protesting farmers, and
also demonstrate by clapping and beating steel plates.
Jal Nigam officials
face graft charges
The EOW has filed a
case against 22 people,
including Jal Nigam en-
gineers and contractors
for reportedly siphon-
ing off Rs 20 crore in-
works related to the de-
partment in Chitrakoot
from 2010 to 2012 under
the BSP regime. Jindal
Water Infra had got ten-
ders for the work. The
case was registered at
Lucknow under Sec-
tions 409/120, 13 (2) IPC.
Protestors block
highway
Hundreds of protestors
blocked NH 24 to Delhi
in western UP on Tues-
day after being stopped
by cops from moving to
the national capital to
join the farmers’ stir.
Some protesters mobbed
the official vehicle of a
senior police officer
while others confronted
other personnel that led
to a long traffic jam, ac-
cording to purported
videos on social media.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The interest
of farmers is para-
mount for the Yogi gov-
ernment. After assum-
ing power, Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
proved his commitment
by waiving loans of up
to Rs one lakh to small-
marginal farmers. The
decision to waive off
loans worth Rs 36,000
crore was taken in the
the worst financial cir-
cumstances in the first
cabinet meeting of Yogi
government in 2017 to
the benefit of about 86
lakh farmers. Since
then, this process has
continued.
Even during the test-
ing times of of Covid-19,
for purchasing the Rabi
crops of farmers, 5,953
government purchase
centres have been estab-
lished where purchase
of 35.75 L metric tonnes
of wheat and 38,717 MT
of gram was done.
The price of these
purchases of the farm-
ers’ yield was trans-
ferred to their accounts
by DBT. During this
time, to provide techni-
cal information to the
farmers, experts from
NIC Centre of Lucknow
were communicating
directly with farmers of
all the districts through
live streaming.
Even in his recent
visit to Mumbai, CM
Yogi did not forget the
farmers. During the
meeting with Govind
Rajula Chintala, Chair-
man of NABARD (Na-
tional Bank for Agricul-
ture and Rural Develop-
ment), he had a serious
discussion about this.
After returning to
Lucknow, he discussed
it in a meeting with the
top officials of the gov-
ernment. The CM has
said that maximum co-
operation and help
should be taken from
NABARD in the con-
struction of rural roads
and development of use-
ful infrastructure facili-
ties for agriculture.
He also instructed the
Commissioner of Agri-
cultural Production to
prepare an action plan
with regards to this.
Sugar mills will be
upgraded to make etha-
nol with NABARD help.
The CM had also
asked him to finance
projects like the Saryu
Canal and the Arjuna
tributary canals, which
have been hanging fire
for many years now, in
order to fulfil the slogan
of ‘Per Crop More Drop’
of PM Narendra Modi.
This will benefit
lakhs of farmers from
many districts of
Purvanchal. The chair-
man assured to help in
upgrading the sugar
mills, crusher units,
MSME units and dairy
industries related to
making ethanol.
For farmer boost, Yogi eyes NABARD help for infra, ethanol production
RESURGENT UP
NABARD has assured help in upgrading sugar mills in ethanol production.

In his recent
visit to Mumbai,
CM Yogi had
met NABARD
chairman
Govind Rajula
Chintala on
ways to boost
the state’s
infrastructure
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With a mis-
sion to effectively imple-
ment bio-energy and
organic fertiliser in the
state,apresentationwas
made by Bharat Patel, a
bio-gas expert from Gu-
jarat, under the chair-
manship of Governor
Anandiben Patel and in
the presence of Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath. While presenting
he said due to the abun-
dant use of chemical
fertilisers, pesticides,
etc., people were suffer-
ing from various seri-
ous diseases. “It is im-
portant that today we
motivate farmers to use
organic fertilisers,” he
said. Patel said biogas
could be successfully
prepared by mixing par-
samad, dung and parali,
which can be used as
bio-fertiliser and CNG.
CM Yogi appreciated
the presentation and
said it would be first in-
stalled in gaushalas in
eachdistrictof thestate.
Farmers will be encour-
aged to use organic ma-
nure in their fields. Un-
der the Organic Mis-
sion, these works would
be done in every district
of UP, he added.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Minis-
ter for Khadi and village
industry Sidharth Nath
Singh and additional
chief secretary Navneet
Sehgal reviewed the
functioning of the de-
partment here on Tues-
day. While taking stock
of budget allocations
and other schemes, the
minister took serious
viewof slacknessinper-
formance of four dis-
trict khadi and village
industries officers and
ordered their suspen-
sion. The minister also
orderedadverseentryin
ACR of an officer.
During review of the
meeting of Gramudyog,
PM employment
scheme and CM artisan
employeent it was
found there was utter
negligence in the com-
pletion of these
schemes in Etah, Shra-
wasti, Maharajganj and
Gautambudhdhnagar.
As against the target of
these projects in all 75
districts, these four dis-
tricts could not achieve
it. At an earlier meeting
the officers of these dis-
tricts were warned.
The district gramo-
dayaofficerof Sultanpur
and DVIO of Gorakhpur
were given adverse entry
in the ACR. They have
also been transferred to
other districts. The min-
ister said to help the
weaker sections, the
Central and state gov-
ernments had launched
welfare schemes and of-
ficial slackness would
not be tolerated at any
level. He said all the of-
ficers would have to
change their attitude
and style of functioning
and there should be
100% utilisation of allo-
cated funds. He said
without proper reason
fund should not be sur-
rendered in any scheme.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: LucknowDe-
velopment Authority
VicePresidentAbhishek
Prakash has asked to set
up camps to address the
grievances of the au-
thority allottees.
To end disputes relat-
ed to the allocation and
physical possession in
Gomti Nagar Extension
Scheme, a camp will be
held at the site office
near Kaveri Apartment
on December 24-25 be-
tween 12-4 pm.
To address Kanpur
Road and Sharda Nagar
scheme related alloca-
tionandphysicalposses-
sion issues, a camp will
be organised at Bharani
Apartment Sector-P
Mansarovar Yojna, Kan-
pur Road between 12-4
pm on 24-25 December.
Further, he ex-
pressedresentmentover
no effective action taken
to stop illegal construc-
tions. He said public
feedback will be taken
and action against con-
cerned engineers, who
do not stop illegal con-
struction, will be taken.
Moreover, allotment of
platforms was done to
the farmers of Sitapur
Road and Aliganj
Prasar Yojana land ac-
quisition through a lot-
tery system.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Police here
arrested eight people on
charges of forcible con-
version of a 21-yr-old
girlandthenconducting
hermarriage,according
to the police on Tuesday.
In Azamgarh, three
other people were ar-
rested under the state’s
anti-conversion law.
According to Etah po-
lice, the eight accused,
including a woman,
were arrested from near
Agra crossing.
On November 17, the
girl’s father had told po-
lice that his daughter
had gone to the market
to buy some items but
did not return home.
The complainant sub-
sequently came to know
that the eight people ab-
ducted her for marriage
and forcible conversion,
the police added.
Thearrested are Ram-
jani of Etah, Aamreen
of Aligarh, Mahmood
Ali,MahfoozAli,Haidar
Ali, Antar Hussain, An-
sar Hussain and Shahid
Hussain of Kasganj.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Nowtech-
nical institutes of the
statewillgrantadmis-
sions through JEE-
Mains instead of the
state entrance exam.
The Yogi govern-
ment has asked to en-
sure it in order to im-
prove the quality of
education by admit-
tingstudentsthrough
online exam.
At the same time,
for the first time un-
dergraduate Phar-
macy Aptitude Test
(UGPAT) will be or-
ganised at the nation-
al level for admission
in B.Pharma colleges
of the state. The Na-
tional Testing Agen-
cy, NTA will organise
it at the national level
following the sugges-
tion by the Dr APJ
Abdul Kalam Techni-
cal University.
AKTU has got per-
mission for admis-
sion in technical in-
stitutes through JEE
and the proposal has
been sent to the gov-
ernment for approval
to conduct B.Pharma
and other exams.
According to offi-
cials there are about
270 institutes of
B.Pharma in UP.
Where admissions to
21,000 seats of B.
Pharma with engi-
neering were given
through the state en-
trance exam. From
the new session, the
process of admis-
sion to technical in-
stitutions through
JEE Mains will be
conducted. NTA will
conduct the exami-
nation.
Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath along with officials at the presentation by bio-gas expert
from Gujarat Bharat Patel on Tuesday.
Minister for Khadi and Village Industries Sidharth Nath Singh and ACS,
Khadi and Village Industries Navneet Sehgal revewing the dept. work
CM Yogi stresses need for
promoting organic fertiliser
Four officers of khadi department
suspended for poor performance
LDA to hold housing grievance
redressal camps on Dec 24-25
8 held on charges of forcible
conversion, marriage
UP tech institutes
to give admission
through JEE-Mains
Vishal Srivastav
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: Pegged as
one of the dream pro-
jects of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, the
Purvanchal Express-
way is all set to open in
all its grandeur in Jan-
uary next year.
The mega Rs 22494.66
crore project is being
led by one of his key
men Additional Chief
Secretary (Home) and
Uttar Pradesh Express-
ways Industrial Devel-
opment Authority (UP-
EIDA) Chairman
Awanish Awasthi.
Till December 21,
2020, approximately 70
per cent of the work on
the expressway is done
and dusted. The clear-
ing and grubbing work
has been 100 per cent
completed while work
on the soil is nearing 92
per cent mark. The sub-
grade work has been
completed by 79.54 per
cent, GSB work is 77.76
per cent completed,
WMM work is done by
73.79 per cent, the DBM
work is done by 71 per
cent while BC work
stands at 45 per cent
completion rate. The
work of moulds has
been completed by 90
per cent.
The expressway is
slated to be completely
functional by March
2021 while the main car-
riageway will be opened
by January 2021.
The expressway’s
main carriageway will
have as many as 18 flyo-
vers, seven railway
overbridges, seven over
bridges, 13 interchang-
es (with 6 toll plazas),
five ramp plazas, 271
underpasses while 503
small bridges (Pulias)
are being constructed.
What is interesting
is the fact that like the
Lucknow-Agra ex-
pressway, this express-
way too will boast of a
3.2 kilometre long air
strip for the emergecy
usage by the Indian Air
Force (IAF) where al-
most all the fighter jets
will be able to land and
take off.
The 341-km, six-lane
(can be extended to
eight lanes) Purvan-
chal Expressway is be-
ing pegged as the long-
est in the country.
Starting from Luc-
know, along the Luc-
know-Sultanpur road
(NH-731), it will be
routed through Bara-
banki, Amethi, Ayod-
hya, Sultanpur, Ambed-
kar Nagar, Azamgarh
and Mau to terminate
at Ghazipur. The Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment is projecting the
highway as one of its
flagship projects to
usher in development
in the state.
The project is being led by ACS (Home) and UPEIDA Chairman Awanish Awasthi (L). The work in progress (R)
AmbitiousPurvanchalExpressway
allset to be rolled out in Jan 2021
The 341-km, six-lane expressway is being pegged as the longest in the country
The Yogi govt has asked to ensure improving quality of education.
Police here arrested
eight people on
the charge of
forcible conversion
NEW WEBSITE

4. l Vol 1 l Issue No. 41 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
PERSPECTIVELUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
ven after Asia’s
e c o n o m i e s
climb out of the
COVID-19 re-
cession, Chi-
na’s strategy of frenetical-
ly building dams and reser-
voirs on transnational riv-
ers will confront them with
a more permanent barrier
to long-term economic
prosperity: water scarcity.
China’s recently unveiled
plan to construct a mega-
dam on the Yarlung Zangbo
river, better known as the
Brahmaputra, may be the
biggest threat yet.
China dominates Asia’s
water map, owing to its an-
nexation of ethnic-minori-
ty homelands, such as the
water-rich Tibetan Plateau
and Xinjiang. China’s ter-
ritorial aggrandizement in
theSouthChinaSeaandthe
Himalayas,whereithastar-
geted even tiny Bhutan, has
been accompanied by
stealthier efforts to appro-
priate water resources in
transnational river basins
– a strategy that hasn’t
spared even friendly or pli-
antneighbors,suchasThai-
land, Laos, Cambodia, Ne-
pal, Kazakhstan, and North
Korea. Indeed, China has
not hesitated to use its hy-
dro-hegemonyagainstits18
downstream neighbors.
The consequences have
been serious. For example,
China’s 11 mega-dams on
theMekongriver,Southeast
Asia’s arterial waterway,
have led to recurrent
drought downriver, and
turned the Mekong Basin
into a security and environ-
mental hot spot. Mean-
while, in largely arid Cen-
tral Asia, China has divert-
ed waters from the Illy and
Irtysh rivers, which origi-
nate in China-annexed Xin-
jiang. Its diversion of water
from the Illy threatens to
turn Kazakhstan’s Lake
Balkhash into another Aral
Sea, which has all but dried
upinlessthanfourdecades.
Against this back-
ground, China’s plan to
dam the Brahmaputra
near its disputed – and
heavily militarized – bor-
der with India should be no
surprise. The Chinese com-
munist publication Huan-
qiu Shibao, citing an arti-
cle that appeared in Aus-
tralia, recently urged In-
dia’s government to assess
how China could “weap-
onize” its control over
transboundary waters and
potentially “choke” the In-
dian economy. With the
Brahmaputra megapro-
ject, China has provided an
answer.
The planned 60-giga-
watts project, which will be
integrated into China’s
next Five-Year Plan start-
ing in January, will report-
edly dwarf China’s Three
Gorges Dam – currently the
world’s largest – on the
Yangtze River, generating
almost three times as much
electricity. China will
achieve this by harnessing
the power of a 2,800-meter
(3,062-yard) drop just before
the river crosses into India.
What the chairman of
China’s state-run Power
Construction Corp, Yan
Zhiyong, calls an “historic
opportunity” for his coun-
try will be devastating for
India. Just before crossing
into India, the Brahmapu-
tra curves sharply around
the Himalayas, forming
the world’s longest and
steepest canyon – twice as
deep as America’s Grand
Canyon – and holding
Asia’s largest untapped
water resources.
Experience suggests
that the proposed megapro-
ject threatens those re-
sources – and China’s
downstream neighbors.
China’s past upstream ac-
tivities have triggered
flash floods in the Indian
states of Arunachal and
Himachal. More recently,
such activity turned the
water in the once-pristine
Siang – the Brahmaputra’s
main artery – dirty and
gray as it entered India.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
WILL CHINA TURN OFF ASIA’S TAP?
E
nthesky,thereisnodistinction
of east and west; people create
distinctions out of their own
minds and then believe them
to be true. —Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Ravi Shankar Prasad
@rsprasad
It is a matter of great pride and
honour for India that our Prime
Minister @narendramodi Ji has been
awarded the ‘Legion of Merit’ by the
President of USA. His charismatic
leadership and contributions have
elevated the India-US strategic
partnership to greater heights.
K C Venugopal
@kcvenugopalmp
A delegation of @INCIndia leaders
led by former Congress President
@RahulGandhi will submit a
memoranda of appeal signed
by around 2 crore farmers from
across the nation to Hon’ble
Rashtrapati ji on 24th December,
2020 urging his intervention to
annul the black anti-farmer laws.
he old order changeth, yield-
ing place to new’ has proved
true in respect of the Union
Territory (UT) of Jammu
Kashmir with the successful
completion of first ever third
tier elections of District De-
velopment Councils (DDCs).
A challenging and mammoth
task executed brilliantly by
the newly formed State Elec-
tion Commission (SEC) with
the help of vigilant and dedi-
catedmembersof thesecurity
forcesandJKPolice.Afterthe
election of the DDC Chair-
men and formation of the se-
lect committees and District
Planning Commission, the
DDCs will become fully func-
tional and work in unison
withtheothertwotiers,Halqa
Panchayats and Block Devel-
opment Councils (BDCs), to
ensure that Panchayat Raj In-
stitutions (PRIs) are fully bed-
ded in the UT ushering Naya
Jammu Kashmir.
With the PRIs fully func-
tional, the centre of power in
the UT will shift from the high
profileGupkarRoadtothevil-
lages and towns with the ac-
tual stakeholders planning
and executing the local area
development. It was for this
very reason that the Kashmir
based political leadership
which remained at the helm
for the last seven decades was
unwilling to promote the Pan-
chayat Raj because it went
against the tenets of Dynastic
Rule. For the Gupkaris self-
interestandpreservation/pro-
motion of dynastic rule was
always the paramount consid-
eration since devolution of
power would have meant the
empowermentof thecommon
man considered as an existen-
tial threat by the Gupkar elite.
It is therefore not surprising
that despite huge amounts of
central assistance the com-
monmenarestillyearningfor
thethreebasicamenities;con-
nectivity,waterandelectricity.
TheGupkarisexcelledinemo-
tional exploitation of the peo-
plethroughloftyslogans,false
promises and manufactured
narratives spin doctoring his-
torical facts to suit their nar-
ratives. The successive gov-
ernments in New Delhi were
treated as “milch cows” by
these leaders while at the
same time widening the rift
between the people and New
Delhi. It was all fine as long as
New Delhi submitted to their
demands and pressures but
moment it adopted a different
approach or squeezed liberal
flow of funds, New Delhi was
portrayed as the enemy of the
Kashmiris. Even New Delhi
hardly ventured to establish a
direct contact with the people
and hence failed to read the
pulse of the people.
Behind the shield of Arti-
cles 370 and 35A, the Kash-
miri leadership began to feel
indispensable and invinci-
ble. They even began to hold
New Delhi at ransom de-
manding greater autonomy
legitimising exclusivity
which had resulted due to
mass exodus of indigenous
Kashmiri Hindus and other
minorities gradually con-
verting Jammu Kashmir
with a distinct identity of
Muslim majority state enjoy-
ing special status of a “state
within a state”. This trend
needed to be reversed before
it became irreversible.
The epoch making decision
takenbyModigovernmenton
05 August 2019, which ulti-
mately reversed the trend,
has now become a part of his-
tory of Naya Jammu Kash-
mir. The three decades of vio-
lence also needed to be con-
trolled and ultimately
brought to an end. Father of
the nation Mahatma Gandhi
had said, “When the panchay-
at raj is established, public
opinion will do what violence
can never do.” With JK fully
integrated with the idea of
One India One Nation, it was
a matter of time before the
panchayat raj was introduced
and made functional like the
restof thecountryinthenew-
ly formed UT as well. The pro-
cess in fact had begun earlier
after the application of the
President’s rule under the
governorship of Satya Pal
Malik who successfully con-
ducted the elections to the
first tier of halqa panchayats
and urban local bodies. The
concept was nascent hence
took time to mature and gath-
ered full steam only post 05
August 2019. JK entered
2020 with rays of new hopes
and aspirations.
Things were moving pretty
when the deadly pandemic
engulfed the entire world in
the beginning of 2020 itself.
In the UT, its impact began to
be felt from March onwards.
Undeterred by the pandem-
ic UT administration realised
thatitwasracingagainsttime
since it had something to
prove. The administration be-
gan to take many steps to
strengthen the nascent Pan-
chayat Raj Institutions (PRIs)
through their financial em-
powerment through direct
funding and delegation of
powers in keeping with the
73rd and 74th Amendments
which had not been imple-
mented earlier due to Article
370. The elected representa-
tives were given training un-
der the centrally sponsored
scheme of Rashtriya Gram
SwarajAbhiyanforthecapac-
ity building to enhance capa-
bilities of Panchayats for in-
clusive local governance.
Much needed protocol status
wasaccordedtotheChairman
of Block Development Coun-
cils (BDCs) to enable them
function with authority. The
centre’sflagshipe-governance
programme for rural govern-
ance, the e-panchayat project
toautomatethefunctioningof
the panchayats has also been
implemented. Local govern-
ance through devolution of
power to PRIs is the key to ru-
ral development, the area in
which the UT lacks woefully.
The highlight and major
achievement of the year has
been the conduct of local bod-
ies’ elections in November-
December. A major gamble
whichhasprovedtobeagame
changer. In keeping with its
intent of promoting Panchay-
at Raj, the administration an-
nounced elections to the
DDCs. A very big challenge
since the elections were to be
held on an adult franchise ba-
sis. The newly introduced
DDCs were to replace the ear-
lier District Development
Boards which were nominat-
ed as against the DDC which
will be an elected body.
The Peoples’ Alliance for
Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)
also referred to as Gupkar Al-
liance, formed by the leaders
of six mainstream Kashmir
based political parties to
fight for status quo, also par-
ticipated in the elections de-
spite initial theatrics and
gimmicks.
Allayingallfearsandappre-
hensions,theelectionsproved
a great success. The gusto
with which people of all ages
came out of their houses ig-
noring the challenges of bad
weather,harshwinterandter-
roristthreatprovedtheirfaith
in the Panchayat Raj system.
The participation in Kashmir
hassurprisedmanyincluding
the Gupkar Alliance. It has re-
corded massive increase
across all ten districts in com-
parison to the 2018 Panchayat
elections and 2019 Parliamen-
tary elections. An achieve-
ment beyond expectations.
The election also had many
firsts to its credit; no boycott
call, first electoral exercise of
the new UT, first elections un-
der newly formed State Elec-
tion Commission, West Paki-
stan refugees, Valmikis,
Gorkhas exercised their fran-
chise for the first time in local
elections, reserved seats for
STs and newly formed politi-
cal party JK Apni party mak-
ing its maiden electoral fray.
The ballot has ultimately
emerged victorious over the
bullet and grassroots democ-
racy has begun to take firm
roots in the UT. The people of
JK also need to be compli-
mented for their wholeheart-
ed participation in this car-
nival of democracy. Political
parties will interpret the
election results based on the
narrative they want to set
post elections and claim vic-
tory but one thing is certain
that democracy has already
emerged victorious. The peo-
ple have also given a befitting
reply to those who were mak-
ing loud noises like the com-
plete loss of faith of the peo-
ple in Indian democracy. The
message is loud and clear
that no place for “sub-nation-
alism” exists in Naya Jammu
Kashmir.
2020isendingonahighnote
of successful resumption of
the political process with peo-
ple pinning high hopes on
their new leaders and the pan-
chayat raj system. They hope
thatthenewsystemwilldawn
aneraof changewithfocuson
mitigating their problems
through effective planning at
grassroots level and judicious
use of resources. The attempt
by the Gupkar Alliance to use
the new system for forced ver-
ification of their retrograde
ideology of return to status
quo will have to be curbed by
the people lest the entire exer-
cise is hijacked away from its
main aim by the vested inter-
ests. Nothing is static in this
dynamic world. Change is the
law of nature. Sooner the
change is accepted by the sta-
tus quo lobby, the better it
would be for the future.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
NAYA JK EMBRACES PANCHAYAT RAJ
WINDS OF CHANGE
T
With the PRIs
fully functional,
the centre of
power in the UT
will shift from the
high profile
Gupkar Road to
the villages and
towns with the
actual
stakeholders
planning and
executing the
local area
development. It
was for this very
reason that the
Kashmir based
political
leadership which
remained at the
helm for the last
seven decades
was unwilling to
promote the
Panchayat Raj
because it went
against the tenets
of Dynastic Rule
THE HIGHLIGHT AND MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE
YEAR HAS BEEN THE CONDUCT OF LOCAL BODIES’
ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER-DECEMBER. A MAJOR
GAMBLE WHICH HAS PROVED TO BE A GAME
CHANGER. IN KEEPING WITH ITS INTENT OF
PROMOTING PANCHAYAT RAJ, THE ADMINISTRATION
ANNOUNCED ELECTIONS TO THE DDCS
BRIG VETERAN
ANIL GUPTA
The author is a Jammu
based veteran, political
commentator, columnist, security
and strategic analyst

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6. INDIALUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
05www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
591 PASSENGERS FROM UK LAND
IN MUMBAI IN THREE FLIGHTS
Mumbai: As many as
591 passengers landed in
Mumbai in three flights
from the UK on Tues-
day, a civic official said,
adding none of them has
been found symptomatic
so far. While 299 have
been sent to various
hotels for the mandatory
quarantine, 292 are at the
airport, the official said.
“With reports of distinct
phylogenetic cluster of
coronavirus detected and
rapidly growing in UK, all
flights originating from
UK to India have been
suspended temporarily
as per orders of GoI,” the
BrihanMumbai Municipal
Corporation tweeted.”In
order to prevent spread of
the new mutant, BMC has
issued orders to follow
quarantine of seven days.
CONG WILL BOUNCE BACK: GOA
CHIEF AFTER ZP POLL LOSS
Panaji: Days after Con-
gress was trounced
in Zilla Parishad polls
in Goa, the party’s
state in charge Dinesh
Gundu Rao said it
would bounce back.
BJP won 32 out of
49 seats while the
Congress was left with
just four, less than the
seven won by Inde-
pendents. “I don’t think
ZP polls are a signal
towards Assembly
polls. We have seen so
many elections for lo-
cal bodies, that should
not be the barometer.
We have lot of work to
do convince people
about our work.”
INDIAN ARMY, BOB SIGN MOU
FOR MILITARY SALARY PACKAGE
New Delhi: Ministry of
Defence said that the
Indian Army and Bank
of Baroda have entered
into an MoU for Baroda
Military Salary Package
under which services
will be offered to serv-
ing and retired person-
nel of Indian Army
through the bank’s
network of over 8,200
domestic branches
and around 20,000
business correspond-
ent touchpoints. The
MoU was signed by Lt
General Ravin Khosla,
DG and Vikramaditya
Singh Khichi, Execu-
tive Director, Bank of
Baroda.
RUPEE SETTLES 5 PAISE LOWER AT
73.84 AGAINST US DOLLAR
Mumbai: The rupee pared
most of its initial losses
and settled for the day
5 paise lower at 73.84
against the US dollar on,
tracking a rebound in
domestic equities. At the
interbank forex market,
the domestic unit opened
at 73.95 against US dollar
and witnessed an intra-
day high of 73.82 and a
low of 73.95. The local
unit finally closed at 73.84
against the American cur-
rency, registering a fall of
5 paise over its previous
close. On Monday, rupee
plunged 23 paise to end
at a two-week low of
73.79 against US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar in-
dex, which gauges green-
back’s strength against a
basket of six currencies,
was trading 0.29%.
IN THE COURTYARD
Resources of country belong
to every citizen, says PM ModiPolicies which are being framed today are reaching all without discrimination, he said
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday said that re-
sources of the country
belong to every citizen
and every one of them
should benefit from it.
“Jo desh ka hai woh
har deshvaasi ka hai
(Resources of the coun-
try belongs to every
citizen). Everyone
should benefit from it,
that’s the spirit our gov-
ernment is working
with,” PM Modi said
“The policies which are
being framed today are
reaching every section
without discrimination
on the basis of religion.
Bank accounts of over
40 crore poor were
opened without any dis-
crimination. Without
discrimination, more
than 2 crore poor were
provided pucca houses.
More than 8 crore wom-
en got gas connections
without discrimina-
tion. 50 crore people got
free medical treatment
up to Rs 5 lakh under
Ayushman scheme
without any discrimi-
nation,” he said.
“The country is on
the path where every
citizen should rest as-
sured about their con-
stitutional rights
their future. The coun-
try is on the path where
no citizen would be left
behind because of their
religion and everyone
would get equal oppor-
tunities so that every-
one can fulfil their
dreams. Sabka Sath,
Sabka Vikas, Sabka
Vishwas is the mantra
behind it,” he said.—ANI
New Delhi: A forum of
women lawyers, social
Group of Lawyers of
Delhi High Court have
decided to fast on
Wednesday in solidari-
ty with the ongoing
“Satyagrah” by farmers
demanding to roll back
the recently passed
farm laws.
Lawyers associated
with the forum demand-
ed to repeal the three
farm laws on December
23, the day which is ob-
served as Kisan Diwas.
“It is our belief that
while the issue of the
Constitutionality of the
farm laws being enact-
ed by the Centre when
agriculture is a state
subject is subjudice be-
fore the Supreme Court
and the issue of the le-
gality of the enactment
by a voice vote in the
Rajya Sabha is also be-
ing heard by the Su-
preme Court, imple-
mentation of irreversi-
ble and far-reaching
farm laws would render
these petitions infruc-
tuous and could cause
irreparable damage to
the farm sector in In-
dia,” the forum said
The forum includes sen-
ior advocates Indira
Jaising, Mahalakshmi
Pawani, Biswajit Bhat-
tacharyaMohan Katar-
ki, Anand Grover and
advocates Shadan Fara-
syat, Prashant Pad-
manabham, Ritu di-
wan, etc. It also includes
members Shweta Ka-
poor, Zeba Khair Iram
Majid among others.
Delhi HC’s women legal
forum to observe fast today
JetAirways’promoter:
Closurereportaccepted
Sister Abhaya murder:
Priest, nun found guilty
Bengal ahead of other states on all
development indices: CM Mamata
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi
praised the Aligarh Muslim
University and said it has worked
to strengthen India’s relations
with many countries of the world.
“The way AMU has helped society
during the coronavirus crisis is
unprecedented - free tests, build-
ing isolation wards, plasma banks
and contributing a large amount
to the PM CARES Fund shows
the seriousness of fulfilling your
obligations to the society.”
PM LAUDS AMU FOR
STRENGTHENING TIES
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi
said that dropout rate of Muslim
girl students has reduced due
to government policies. “School
dropout rate among Muslim girls
was more than 70% and this situ-
ation persisted for 70 years. In
these circumstances, the govern-
ment started Swachh Bharat Mis-
sion, built toilets in villages and
toilets for school-going girls. Now
the dropout rate from 70 per cent
has fallen to nearly 30 per cent.
New Delhi: PM Modi re-
leased a postal stamp as part
of centenary celebrations of
Aligarh Muslim University
(AMU). Chancellor of the
University Syedna Mu-
faddal Saifuddin and Union
Education Minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal Nishank were also
present on the occasion.
PM RELEASES POSTAL
STAMP TO MARK
AMU’S CENTENARY
‘DROPOUT OF MUSLIM
GIRL STUDENTS REDUCED’
Farmers sit on the road as they block Delhi-Meerut Highway
during an ongoing protest against the new farm laws, at the
Ghazipur border in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM Narendra Modi addresses during the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University via VC.
Kolkata: Slamming
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah for “deliber-
ately trying to project a
dismal and gloomy pic-
ture” of West Bengal,
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Tuesday
contended that the state
has fared well on all de-
velopment indices.
Issuing a point-by-
point rebuttal to asser-
tions made by Shah
against her dispensa-
tion, during his visit to
Bengal last week, Ba-
nerjee cited NCRB data
to state that political
killings and other
crimes have decreased
in the last ten years un-
der the TMC rule.
“When the home
minister of the country
says something, it
should be backed by
data, facts and figures.
Bengal is ahead of oth-
er states on all develop-
ment indices. But Amit
Shah ji deliberately
tried to depict a gloomy
and dismal picture of
the state. I was chal-
lenged... here is my re-
ply,” Banerjee said at a
press meet here.
Kolkata has twice been
accorded the ‘safest city’
taginthecountry,shesaid.
“According to NCRB
data, political killings, oth-
er incidents of crime and
rape cases have decreased
during the TMC rule. —PTI
Srinagar: PDP youth
president Waheed Para,
who is in custody of the
NIA for alleged links
with militants, won the
District Development
Council (DDC) elections
from Pulwama district
in JK. Para defeated
BJP candidate Sajad
Ahmad Raina.
PDP president Me-
hbooba Mufti said she
was proud of her par-
ty’s youth leader to reg-
ister a win. Para was
arrested by the NIA on
November 25, a few
days after filing nomi-
nation papers as a
PAGD candidate. —PTI
New Delhi: A fall in
minimum temperature
by 1 to 3-degree Celsius
is likely over the plains
of northwest and cen-
tral India during the
next three days, the In-
dia Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) pre-
dicted on Tuesday.
“Fall in minimum
temperature by 1-3°C
over some parts of
plains of northwest In-
dia and central India
during next 3 days. No
significant change in
minimum temperature
over some parts of west
India during next 2 days
and rise by 2-3°C there-
after for subsequent 3
days,” the IMD said.
Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Bihar,
Punjab, Haryana, Chan-
digarh, Delhi and West
Uttar Pradesh will most
likely witness cold wave
conditions at isolated
pockets today, while se-
vere cold wave condi-
tions will prevail on
December 23 and 24 in
some parts.
The same is likely
over Odisha, East Uttar
Pradesh, Gangetic West
Bengal, Chhattisgarh
and Telangana today.
Dense fog will be seen
in the morning over
Punjab, Haryana, Chan-
digarh and Delhi on De-
cember 23, and dense to
very dense fog will be
seen at isolated pockets
from 24th to 26th De-
cember. —ANI
COURTESY MEET
Army Chief Gen MM Naravane calls on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at his residence in
New Delhi. —PHOTO BY PTI
Thiruvananthapuram:
Twenty eight years af-
ter the mysterious
death of Sister Abhaya,
an inmate of St.Pious
convent at Kottayam in
Kerala, a CBI special
court here on Tuesday
held it was a case of
murder and found a
priest and nun guilty of
killing her.
Special CBI Judge K
Sanal Kumar, while pro-
nouncing the verdict,
said the murder charg-
es against the two will
stand.
The court held that
Fr Thomas Kottoor and
Sister Sephy of the-
Catholic Church were
guilty of murder under
Sections 302 and 201 of
the IPC. It also found
Father Kottoor guilty of
offence under Section
449 of the Indian Penal
Code.The court will
pronounce the quan-
tum of sentence on
Wednesday. —PTI
‘Cold wave conditions prevail over North India’
Mumbai: A metropoli-
tan court accepted the
closure report filed by
Mumbai police in a
cheating case against
Jet Airways, which has
been grounded since
April last year, its pro-
moter Naresh Goyal
and his wife.
The order came a day
after theBombay High
Court rejected a plea of
ED, which is also prob-
ing the case, to inter-
vene into the matter.
Earlier, a similar
plea by ED had been re-
jected by the metropoli-
tan court and a sessions
court here. The MRA
Marg police here in
February this year reg-
istered a case against
the Jet Airways, Goyal
and his wife on charg-
es of cheating and
criminal beach of
trust, on a complaint
filed by city-based Ak-
bar Travels India Pri-
vate Limited. —PTI
CHILLA, GAZIPUR BORDERS TO REMAIN
CLOSED FOR TRAFFIC, INFORMS DTP
Jailed PDP
youth leader
Waheed Para
wins DDC polls
A train runs slowly on its tracks during a foggy winter morning.
Mamata Banerjee

7. INDIALUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Modi reaches...
Modi was all praise for
the role played by AMU
founder Sir Syed Ah-
mad Khan.
Since the Muslims of
the country closely as-
sociate themselves with
this institution, PM’s
positive vibes were
largely aimed at con-
necting with the com-
munity’s intellectuals.
AMU known as intellec-
tual capital of Muslims
has always played con-
siderable political role.
Top US...
the US to improve bi-
lateral ties, reflected in
the bipartisan consen-
sus in both countries
about the Indo-US Stra-
tegic Partnership,” he
tweeted.
In another tweet, the
Prime Minister said
that the Indo-US rela-
tionship can leverage
the vast potential of the
people to provide global
leadership for the ben-
efit of the entire hu-
manity.
The Legion of Merit
Medal is a five-rayed
white cross, edged with
red, resting on a green
wreath with a blue cen-
tre containing 13 white
stars. (ANI)
Farooq ...
BJP won four seats in
Kashmir including that
of Srinagar. Kakpora-
Pulwama, Tulel-Bandi-
pora, Gurez-Bandipora.
The saffron brigade is
also leading in two seats
in Kupwara and Anant-
nag.
Senior BJP leader
and Union minister
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
had campaigned for the
BJP candidate in the
predominantly Shia
area of Balahama in the
Srinagar district pe-
riphery. The BJP also
put up a good fight
against the regional
parties in the valley
who had come together
on a single platform --
Peoples Alliance for
Gupkar Declaration.
Shah’s next...
under the oppression
by the state for quite
some time now,” stated
a senior BJP MP from
West Bengal.
Sources said Shah
would be camping in
the state for two days.
Shah has set a target
of 200 seats in the elec-
tions for 294-member
West Bengal Assembly.
He has recently re-
turned from a two-day
visit to the state.
West Bengal is sched-
uled to go for Assembly
polls in mid-2021. The
dates have not been an-
nounced yet. —ANI
New strain...
“(And) as of now, it has
no impact on the poten-
tial of vaccines being
developed in our coun-
try and (which) are
available in other coun-
tries,” he added.
Raid in...
likely to spread the in-
fection of any disease
dangerous to life), and
34 (Acts done by several
persons in furtherance
of common intention)
of IPC, police said.
“Suresh was in Mum-
bai for a shoot which
extended to late hours
and was invited by a
friend for a quick din-
ner post the same prior
to him taking his flight
back to Delhi. He was
not aware of the local
timings and protocols,”
a statement on behalf
of Raina said.
“Once pointed out, he
immediately complied
with the procedures
laid out by the authori-
ties and regrets the un-
fortunate and uninten-
tional incident. He al-
ways holds rules and
laws laid down by gov-
erning bodies with the
highest regard and will
continue to do so in the
future as well,” it said.
PTI
Yogi Govt...
according to the plan.
Here it is pertinent to
mention that the chief
minister is also ex-offi-
cio chairman of the Ut-
tar Pradesh State Agri-
cultural Produce Mar-
ket Board of Mandi
Parishad.
The much-touted Up-
har Yojana launched in
2003 with a view to en-
couraging farmers to
bring their agri pro-
duce to market produce
committees (mandis)
for the sale too is being
revisited. The scheme
sought to give prize cou-
pons on monthly, quar-
terly and half-yearly
basis to farmers on
their mandi transac-
tion of Rs 5,000 and
above. The scheme has
been amended and up-
graded gradually with
the time and six-month-
ly bumper lucky draws
will now be held twice a
year to distribute two
tractors (35 HP) each in
all the 18 divisions to
the farmers winning
the first prize. “At a
time when the state gov-
ernment has suspended
many schemes with fi-
nancial implications
due the funds being di-
verted to fight the pan-
demic, the govern-
ment’s decision to dis-
tribute tractors certain-
ly is an attempt to send
a positive message to
farmers,” said the Man-
di Parishad official.
FROM PG 1
EMPANELMENT FILE OF 1989 IAS
BATCH REACHES CVC
File of the names of 1989 batch IAS officers who
figure in the empanelment list for the post of Sec-
retary in the GoI has now reached to the CVC.
ABOUT 40 IRS (IT ) OFFICERS OF
1988 BATCH TO BE EMPANELLED?
According to informed sources, 35 to 40 IRS (IT)
officers are being promoted to the rank of Chief
Commissioner.
FIRST JS OF LATERAL ENTRY RESIGNS
Arun Goel, who was appointed on lateral entry as
Joint Secretary, has resigned from the govern-
ment service. He joined the Commerce ministry
last year and looking after e - commerce. He had
come from Shopeclus.
WILL AN OFFICER IN ED GET
LONG EXTENSION?
Rumour mill says, one senior officer of ED is likely to
get long extension - say two to three years. The said
officer’s term is going to complete in few months.
DR. AJAY KUMAR CONTINUES
AS PS TO DHARMENDRA PRADHAN
TILL JULY 2024
Dr. Ajay Kumar will continue working as Private
Secretary to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
till July 2024. He is a 2006 batch IAS officer of
Gujarat cadre.
SBI TO GET TWO NEW MDS NEXT WEEK!
File of Swaminthan Janakiraman and Ashwini Ku-
mar Tewari for the two posts of Managing Director
at the State Bank of India has reached to the DoPT.
Official announcement is likely next week.
KAPIL PATIDAR APPOINTED DEPUTY
SECRETARY, ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Kapil Patidar has been appointed Deputy Sec-
retary, Department of Economic Affairs. He is a
2011 batch IES officer.
MOU SIGNS BETWEEN HUDCO AND
MOHUA
HUDCO has signed a Memorandum of Under-
standing (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for setting key targets for
the financial year 2020-21. The MoU was signed
between Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA
and Kamran Rizvi, Chairman and Managing Director,
HUDCO in the presence of M Nagaraj, Director(Cor-
porate Planning) and D Guhan, Director(Finance).
SIX SPS OFFICERS AWARDED IPS
CADRE IN BIHAR
Six officers of Bihar State Police Service have
been appointed to the Indian Police Service and
allocated Bihar cadre. The officers are: Rakesh
Kumar Dubey, Sanjay Bharti, Chandra Shekhar
Prasad Vidyarthy, Hari Mohan Shukla, Sheela Irani
and Baliram Kumar Choudhary.
10 COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS,
GST CENTRAL EXCISE GET NEW
ASSIGNMENT
As many as 10 officers in the grade of Principal
Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs, GST
Central Excise have been transferred. Accordingly,
Nirmal Kumar Soren has been posted to Directorate
of Logistics, Delhi and K Ashi Khieya wais shifted to
Dimapur GST CX and Abhai Kumar Srivastav will
join Bhopal GST CX. Similarly, S K Vimalanathan
was shifted to Mumbai-II Nhava Sheva-II Cus; Nit-
ish Kumar Sinha to DGGI Hqrs. Delhi; Anice Joseph
Chandra to DG Vigilance, Delhi Hqrs-III; Manas
Ranjan Mohanty to Authority of Advance Ruling for
Customs, Mumbai; Vijay Singh Chauhan to Author-
ity of Advance Ruling for Customs, Delhi; Yogendra
Garg to DG NACIN. COE. Delhi and Hardeep Batra
was posted to . Ludhiana (Audit) GST CX.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi: The num-
ber of daily new corona-
virus infections report-
ed in the country was
recorded below 20,000
after nearly 6 months
while the COVID-19 ac-
tive caseload fell below
3 lakh, as per the Union
Health Ministry data
updated on Tuesday.
India’s COVID-19
caseload rose to
1,00,75,116 with 19,556
new infections being re-
ported in a day.
The death toll in-
creased to 1,46,111 with
301 new fatalities, the
data updated at 8 am
showed.
The number of peo-
ple who have recuper-
ated from the disease
surged to 96,36,487
pushing the national
recovery rate to 95.65
per cent, while the COV-
ID-19 case fatality rate
stands at 1.45 per cent.
The COVID-19 active
caseload has fallen be-
low 3 lakh. There are
2,92,518 active corona-
virus infections in the
country which com-
prises 2.90 per cent of
the total caseload, the
data stated. India’s
COVID-19 tally had
crossed the 20-lakh
mark on August 7, 30
lakh on August 23, 40
lakh on September 5
and 50 lakh on Septem-
ber 16. —PTI
Virusweakensaslowestone-dayrise
innewcasesrecordedinsixmonths
COVID-19: Number of daily new infections reported in the country was recorded below 20,000
Members of NITI Aayog Dr.Vinod K. Paul along with the Secretary, Ministry of Health Family Welfare,
Rajesh Bhushan during a press conference on the updates on COVID-19, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
New Delhi: The Union
health ministry on
Tuesday issued a set of
standard operating pro-
cedures (SOPs) for pas-
sengers arriving from
the United Kingdom
(UK) amid the detection
of a new variant of the
novel coronavirus dis-
ease. On Monday, the
Centre had announced
a temporary ban on
flights from the UK into
India which would con-
tinue till December 31.
Several other coun-
tries have also an-
nounced travel bans to
and from the UKwith a
view to prevent the
spread of the new vari-
ant (B117), which is said
to be 70 per cent more
transmissible, as esti-
mated by the European
Centre for Disease Con-
trol. As per the SOPs is-
sued by the health min-
istry, all international
travellers will be re-
quired to declare their
travel history of the last
14 days and fill up a self-
declaration form to be
screened for Covid-19.
Centre releases SOPs
for flyers from UK
‘HOPEFUL OF PROTESTING UNIONS
RESUMING TALKS WITH GOVT SOON’
New Delhi: As farmers’
agitation against three
farm laws entered its
27th day, Agriculture
Minister Narendra Sin-
gh Tomar said on Tues-
day he is hopeful that
protestingunionswould
soon complete their in-
ternal discussions and
resume talks with the
government to resolve
the crisis.
He met two more
peasants’ bodies from
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh
that extended support to
the legislations.
“Representatives of
different farmers’ bod-
ies had come to tell that
the laws are good and
are in the interest of
farmers. They had
cometourgethegovern-
ment not make any
amendments to the
laws,” Tomar said after
meeting the two groups.
“I am hopeful they
(protesting farmers’ un-
ions) will soon complete
their internal discus-
sions and come forward
for talks. We will be
able to find a solution
successfully,” the min-
ister said. Agriculture
Ministry had written to
the protesting groups
on Sunday, urging them
to specify their con-
cerns on the govern-
ment’s proposal and fi-
nalise a date for the
next round of talks to
end the protests. At
least five rounds of for-
mal talks have failed to
break the deadlock as
the agitating unions
have not agreed to any-
thing less than repeal
of the laws. —PTI
Panaji: A Congress
leader from Karnataka
appealed to the Naren-
dra Modi government to
ban the export of beef,
saying such move would
ensure that cow are not
slaughtered. These re-
marks of MLA Dinesh
Gundu Rao, who is the
Goa desk incharge of
the Congress, came
against the backdrop of
shortage of beef in the
coastal state due to sup-
ply crunch from neigh-
bouring Karnataka.
Let PM Narendra Modi
ban the export of beef.
If that happens, cows
will not be slaughtered,
he told reporters. —PTI
‘Ban export of beef if
you think for cows’
LARGEST CENTRE TREATING 59 PATIENTS
Kochi: Cochin Carnival,
the biggest year-end
celebration in Kerala
cancelled in a wake of
the coronavirus situa-
tion in the state, said
the founding chair-
man of the Carnival
KJ Sohan. He said the
Carnival which used to
held at the Vasco da
Gama Square in Fort
Kochi every year has
been cancelled.
COCHIN CARNIVAL
CANCELLED DUE
TO COVID SCARE
COVID CURBS
New Delhi: The eco-
nomic loss due to pre-
mature deaths mor-
bidity from air pollu-
tion was Rs 2,60,000
crore or 1.4 % of the
GDP in India in 2019,
as per new scientific
paper. It also said that
1.7 million deaths
(18% of total deaths)
in the country were
attributable to air pol-
lution last year. As
per the scientific pa-
per on health and eco-
nomic impact of air
pollution published
in Lancet Planetary
Health on Tuesday,
household air pollu-
tion decreased in In-
dia resulting in 64 %
reduction in the death
rate attributable to it
from 1990 to 2019. —PTI
Air Pollution killed 1.7
million Indians in 2019
PROTESTING FARMERS SHOW
BLACK FLAGS TO HARYANA CM
INDIAN-CANADIAN SINGER
JAZZY B JOINS PROTEST
Ambala: A group of farmers protest-
ing against the Centre's new agri
laws on Tuesday showed black flags
to Haryana Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar when his convoy
was passing through Ambala City,
sources said. Some of the farmers
allegedly tried to block Khattar's
motorcade but police managed to
provide a safe passage to the chief
minister, sources said. The farmers
waived black flags at CM’s convoy.
Singhu Border: Indian-Canadian
singer Jaswinder Singh Bains a.k.a
Jazzy B addressed agitating farmers
at the Singhu border. In his address,
Jazzy B said that the farm protest has
united farmers from all over the coun-
try. This protest has united all the
farmers from the country. The farmers
from Punjab, Haryana and many
other states are coming out from their
areas. I am thankful to the youth who
came to support them , Jazzy said.
A poster of Bhagat Singh is seen during a protest against the new farm laws at Singhu border in
New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
KISAN DIWAS: Thousands of farmer protesters gather at Delhi’s borders
—PHOTOBYANI

8. NEWSLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
07www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Despitesmartmeters,STFtoprobe‘shock’
onconsumerbillamount,assuresenergymin
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The truth
will be out after the
investigation report
of the STF on the
shortcomings of
smart meters in vari-
ous districts of the
state.
Based on the report,
action will be taken
against the guilty offic-
ers along with strict ac-
tion against the meter
supplying firms.
Energy Minister Shri-
kant Sharma was ad-
dressing the DVVNL of-
ficials at the headquar-
ters of Dakshinchal Vid-
yut Vitran Nigam Limit-
ed (DVVNL) regarding
revenue and dues.
The Energy Minister
said in a press confer-
ence that there was a
complaint of complete
reading error and
jumping of smart me-
ters in many districts
of the state.
An investigation is
being conducted from
STF as per the instruc-
tions of Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath.
He said that a large
number of consumer
bills have been issued
incorrectly. These will
be revised by 31 Janu-
ary and from next time
onwards, a meter read-
er will deliver the bill
to consumer’s home.
Action will be taken at
the level of MD for the
delay in giving bills to
consumers. Electricity
supply at city, country-
side and tehsil levels
has been ensured as
per schedule.
He said that tube
wells of farmers, ben-
efiting from Covid-19
Lump Sum Solution
Scheme, will be started
in between 30 to 60
days. The equipment of
the store in the electric-
ity department will be
reviewed and the pur-
chase slips of equip-
ment will be uploaded
on its website.
These slips will in-
clude complete infor-
mation related to the
company such as name,
equipment quality, etc.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Bahujan Sa-
maj Party (BSP) state
president Bhim Rajb-
har gave an absurd
statement in Ballia dis-
trict on Tuesday. He ad-
vised people to drink
toddy to prevent corona
virus infection.
Addressing the peo-
ple from the forum, he
said that drinking tod-
dy would not cause the
infection. He even com-
pared toddy with Gan-
ga’s water.
He said that toddy’s
drop was even holier
than Ganga’s water. Ra-
jbhar said that people
of Rajbhar society
raised their children by
giving them toddy. Bhi-
ma Rajbhar visited Bal-
lia for the first time af-
ter becoming the state
president of the Bahu-
jan Samaj Party. He
was welcomed warmly
in the district.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Crime
against women con-
tinues to soar in the
state. In another case
of acid attack, youths
on a bike threw acid
on a rape victim in
Swar town of Rampur
district.
There was chaos on
the spot after the inci-
dent. The police are
trying to arrest the
accused.
A young girl from a
neighbouring village
of Swar had been in
love from many years.
The accused is said to
be a government em-
ployee. He made physi-
cal relations with the
girl on the pretext of
marrying her later.
Later, he refused.
Later, the woman
registered a rape case
against the accused.
Taking action against
him, the police put him
behind the bars. He
was later released on
bail. On Monday night,
the bike riders threw
acid on the girl. The po-
lice reached the spot as
soon as the informa-
tion was received.
They started efforts
to nab the accused. It
also carried out a
checking campaign,
but they could not be
nabbed.
After the press conference, Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma, MP SP Singh,
Rajkumar Chahar went by bicycle from MD office to Sikandra Sub Station.
Bikers splash acid
on rape victim,hunt
on for accused
5 charred to death as car hits tanker, catches fire
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Five peo-
ple were charred to
death on Tuesday
after their car
caught fire on col-
liding with a tanker
truck carrying die-
sel on the Yamuna
Expressway near
Agra, police said.
Etmadpur Deputy
Superintendent of
Police Archana Sin-
gh said the truck took
a wrong turn while
moving at a high
speed, following
which the car head-
ing to Lucknow from
Agra collided with it.
The occupants of the
car got trapped in-
side it after the crash
because of its central
lock system, she said.
Singh said a work-
er of a booth on the
Yamuna Expressway
reported the accident
to the police, and the
fire brigade was
called in, but by the
time the fire was con-
trolled, all five occu-
pants of the car were
badly burnt.
The officer said the
truck driver fled the
scene after the crash,
and a search was un-
derway to nab him.
An investigation is
being conducted from
STF as per the
instructions of Chief
Minister Yogi
Adityanath
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Defection,
disinformation/mis-
information and in-
ducing fear of defeat
are among the essen-
tial instruments of
statecraft, which po-
litical parties love to
settle scores with
their adversaries.
Something of this
sort is very much in evi-
dence in West Bengal
where Assembly polls
are due in about three
months from now.
It is here the cut-throat
politics would test the
larger efficacy of BJP’s
Hindutva in its con-
quest of the east.
So far, so good for BJP
by all indications -- the
grandstanding has paid
off: starting from the ac-
tivist Governor to pro-
jecting the rancorous
Trinamool Congress
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee, it all seems to
add up to saffron calcu-
lations.
When Suvendu Adhi-
kari switched sides
along with a sitting MP
and nine MLAs besides
others, including local
Muslimleaders,atapub-
lic rally last week, the
perceptioninthesaffron
camp was south Bengal
is more or less won.
Didi, the once stormy
petrel, isn’t a pushover.
She struck back on
Monday, leaving the
BJP MP from Bishnu-
pur in Bankura district,
Saumitra Khan, in
tears. Though the MP
has vowed to divorce his
wife Sujata Mondal
Khan for joining the
“enemy” TMC, Mamata
again looks menacing
enough to put the BJP
in its place. The battle
of perception has begun
in earnest.
Mamata then sum-
moned her poll strate-
gist Prashant Kishor to
do some plain-speak:
the BJP won’t cross the
double-digit figure in
the 294-member Assem-
bly else he’d quit Twit-
ter! On her part, the CM
spoke to NCP boss
Sharad Pawar and tried
to win his sympathy
over the alleged at-
tempts by the Centre to
destabilize opposition-
ruled states.
The Gorkha Janmuk-
ti Morcha has resur-
faced with the emer-
gence of Bimal Gurung,
who had been under-
ground for over three
years after a violent
clash with the state au-
thorities in 2017.
Except around over a
dozen seats where the
Gorkhaland demand
matters, the rest of Ben-
gal is against the state-
hood. Rather than ar-
resting him for several
pending cases, Mamata
has already extended an
olive branch to Bimal by
allowing him to hold a
rally. For BJP, there is a
clear opportunity: “It is,
say, 15 versus 280 seats.
The TMC can now
easily be accused of
soft-pedaling the
Gorkhaland issue. For
us, we’ll go with the rest
of Bengal,” said a BJP
leader. On Muslim
votes, the AIMIM of
Asaduddin Owaisi has
staked its claim. In a
state where the Trina-
mool is hard-pressed to
corner the minority
vote in the face of Con-
gress straining every
nerve to sew up an alli-
ance with the Left
Front, the prospect of
vote division looks emi-
nently clear.
BSP prez
dishes up
toddy gyan to
fight corona
BJPmakes inroads in high octaneBengalTMC battles BJP
on one side, Cong-
Left on the other,
with AIMIM eyeing
the Muslim votes
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Benarjee greets Union Home Minister Amit Shah —FILE PHOTO
Bhim Rajbhar
NEW YEAR
CHEERS FOR 100
OFFICERS
The New Year is
expected to bring cheer
for around 100 IAS officers
in the form of promotion
and hurt burns for some
other colleague, who will
have to wait for their turn
till the next meeting of
department promotion
committee.
As on January1, 2020, 126
IAS officers are in the line
of promotion in various
posts and pay scales.
The UP Appointments
Department has started
proceedings. While seven
IAS officers are expected
to be promoted to the rank
of Principal Secretary from
the level of Secretary and
Commissioner, another 14
officers including Special
Secretary to the CM and
Director of Civil Aviation
Surendra Singh will
also move up the ladder
from Special Secretary
to Secretary. Two of the
officers proposed for
promotion to the post of
secretary include DM of
Jaunpur and Ghaziabad.
Apart from these, there
will be promotion from
Junior Administrative
Grade to Selection Grade,
Senior Time Scale to
Junior Administrative
Grade and Junior Scale
to Senior Time Scale. The
1990-batch IAS serving
as principal secretaries,
however, will have to wait
to get promoted as ACS
as the government is yet
to take a call on them and
create requisite vacancies
as the the Finance
Department is considering
its justification. In fact, the
1988 batch officers too
had to wait for promotion
from January-2019 till
July this year when 20 of
them were promoted from
Principal Secretary to ACS.
—M Tariq Khan
DNA TEST TO
TEST PATERNITY
OF ‘CHEATING
FATHERS’!
Now DNA test will
be used to identify
deceitful fathers who
indulge in affairs and then
shirk the responsibility of
parenthood. It is a matter
of fact that when love and
passion are at their peak
then nothing matters. But
there is hope as everyone
is equal in the eyes of law.
In a case in Mirjamurad
a lover was sent to jail
for physical exploitation
and the pregnant woman
became an unwed mother.
But the joy of motherhood
of the young mother was
fractured by the fact that
her innocent child had no
father. At this moment the
law of the land came to her
rescue and gave directions
to the Forensic laboratory
to ascertain the lineage of
the baby. On Monday, the
two-month old baby had
to undergo a DNA test. A
heartrending scene took
place where on one hand
there was the deceitful
father refusing fatherhood
and on the other hand
a young unwed mother
fighting for the rights of
her baby! On Monday,
the police brought the
accused from jail and the
blood sample was taken
of both the ‘father’ and the
‘baby’ in the presence of
the Magistrate. The sample
was sent to the Forensic
Laboratory in Lucknow for
DNA testing.
—Amit Baliyan
CBI LODGES FIR
FOR FAKING CM
YOGI’S
SIGNATURE
The CBI Delhi Crime
Branch has registered
an FIR in connection
with the fake signature
of CM Yogi Adityanath
for sending letters to PM
Narendra Modi. The case
was later transferred to
the CBI Lucknow unit.
The case was investigated
by the CBI Lucknow unit
on the instructions of
Assistant Director of the
Prime Minister’s Office
PK Issar. Investigation
revealed that the letter was
sent from Badlapur post
office in Jaunpur district
on 13 June 2019. The
sender of the letter wrote
his name as Sandeep
Singh.When the CBI
interrogated Sandeep,
the letter’s handwriting
revealed that the letter was
sent by Sandeep’s known
Shivaji Yadav, a resident of
Jaunpur. The investigation
also revealed that Shivaji
was in constant contact
with a person named
Vishal Yadav via mobile
phone. Vishal told CBI that
Shivaji was trying to get a
ticket from BJP.
—Shishir Awasthi
GORKHALAND A MAJOR ISSUE
CM CONDOLES
‘Panchayat polls
by March-end,
notification soon’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The con-
fusion over the date
of the Panchayat elec-
tions in UP, after the
tenure of the prad-
hans (heads) ending
in December, was
cleared by Panchayati
Raj Minister Bhupen-
dra Singh Chaudhary
on Tuesday.
He has asked to is-
sue a notification
once the primary
work for the prepara-
tion of Panchayat
elections is complet-
ed. He was attending
the three-wheeler ve-
hicle distribution
programme at Kan-
nauj Collectorate.
During the distri-
bution of equipment
to the differently-
abled, journalists
asked the minister on
the ending tenure of
the heads. He said the
Panchayati Raj de-
partment was doing
the primary work of
elections. Gram sab-
has had been recalcu-
lated and now a noti-
fication would be is-
sued after delimita-
tion and reservation
and panchayat elec-
tions would be held by
the end of March. He
said the constitution-
al system would re-
main in force as be-
fore till the term of
the Panchayat ends.
The minister
termed the Agri Re-
form Bill as beneficial
to farmers. He said
the public had chosen
BJP and political peo-
ple were obstructing
the work of the elect-
ed government. “It is
being prevented from
working for the farm-
ers. Such people have
not been able to suc-
ceed in politics.
Hence, they are frus-
trated and agitating
by misleading farm-
ers,” he said. “The
PM has pledged to
double the income of
farmers by 2022. The
government has tak-
en steps to remove the
roadblocks in achiev-
ing the target,” he
added.
Panchayati Raj Minister
Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary
at an event on Tuesday.
—FILEPHOTO

9. An individual’s happiness is
always dependent on the
outside and the within and
the within has a bigger role.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: The corri-
dors of bureaucracy
are buzzing with the
imminent meeting of
departmental promo-
tion committee (DPC),
which would decide
on the promotion of
seven IAS officers as
principal secretaries.
The DPC would meet
on Thursday. The
1996-batch officers, if all
goes well, would be ele-
vated as principal secre-
taries in their current
cadre, UP.
On top of the list is
Dheeraj Sahu who is at
present Commissioner,
Transport. Similarly,
Nitishwar Kumar who
is on Central deputa-
tion and posted as mem-
ber, secretary NCTE,
Department of Educa-
tion and Literacy is sec-
ond on the list.
Commissioner, Meerut
Division, Anita Mesh-
ram would join the
league of her husband
as a principal secretary.
Her husband Mukesh
Meshram of 1995-batch,
principal secretary, UP
Tourism, was promoted
last year. Secretary, Ir-
rigation and Water Re-
source Department
Anil Garg also figures
in list.
While M Devaraj who
is holding dual posts in
UP- MD of both UP Pow-
er Corporation Limited
and Water Election Cor-
poration- is fifth on the
list in seniority. Sub-
hash Chandra Sharma,
Commissioner Jhansi
division and V Hekali
Zhimomi, Secretary,
Medical Health and
Family Welfare depart-
ment, are two other of-
ficers up for promotion.
Jhimomi’s work dur-
ing the Covid-19 pan-
demic has been widely
appreciated in the gov-
ernment. Sources said
the officers would be
assigned new responsi-
bilities with their pro-
motion. At the same
time, the government
would have to appoint
new commissioners in
Jhansi and Meerut
where the positions
would become vacant.
Crucial DPC meet tomorrow; to decide on IAS officers’ promotions
IN THE WINGS
Aneeta C Meshram Dheeraj Sahu Nitishwar Kumar Anil Garg Subhash Chandra M Devaraj V Hekali Zhimomi
7 officers of 1996-batch of UP cadre
likely to be elevated as principal secys
COVID-19
UPDATE
UTTAR PRADESH
8,224
DEATHS
5,76,824
CONFIRMED CASES
GUJARAT
4,248 DEATHS 2,37,247 CASES
DELHI
10,329 DEATHS 6,18,747 CASES
WORLD
17,15,207
DEATHS
7,80,03,474
CONFIRMED CASES
INDIA
1,00,97,540
CONFIRMED CASES
1,46,438
DEATHS
MAHARASHTRA
48,876 DEATHS 19,02,458 CASES
RAJASTHAN
2,634 DEATHS 3,00,716 CASES
KARNATAKA
12,016 DEATHS 9,10,241 CASES
GOODWILL GREETINGS
Former Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore called on UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence in Lucknow on Tuesday.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath has not yet com-
pleted four years at
the seat of power, but
today he has become a
role model for all the
BJP-ruled states.
His decisions are be-
coming a foreword for
those states where the
second or third term of
BJP-ruled governments
is going on. The Yogi
Adityanath government
has brought the Uttar
Pradesh Prohibition of
Unlawful Conversion of
Religion Ordinance
2020, more popularly
known as ‘Love Jihad
Law’. Although some
people are criticising it,
the BJP-ruled states are
trying to adopt it. On the
lines of UP, states like
Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh and Karnataka
are working on it.
Haryana CM Mano-
har Lal Khattar had also
constituted a three-
member committee to
study the laws applica-
ble in UP and other
states. Four-time CM of
Madhya Pradesh
Shivraj Singh Chauhan
is preparing for this, for
which the MP Assem-
bly’s Speaker Ramesh-
war Sharma reached
Lucknow in the first
week of December to
understand the provi-
sions of the ordinance.
The Government of
Karnataka is also study-
ing the provisions of the
Ordinance of UP to en-
act a law against ‘Love
Jihad’. In Bihar, BJP
leaders are raising de-
mands for similar legis-
lation from the Nitish
Kumar-led government.
The BJP government
of Himachal Pradesh
has also brought a law to
stop such conversion.
Yogi had taken steps to
prevent cow slaughter
and passed a provision
of 3 to 10 years sentence
and dealt strictly with
protest against the citi-
zenship law.
The Yogi government
has changed the names
of many cities since
coming to power, in
which Allahabad has
been changed to Praya-
graj and Faizabad dis-
trict has been renamed
Ayodhya. Not only this,
the Mughal Museum in
Agra has been renamed
Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma-
haraj Museum. In this
way, many works are be-
ing done or are being
considered on the lines
of UP government in
BJP-ruled states.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Cen-
tral Bureau of Inves-
tigation has made sev-
eral important revela-
tions in its charge
sheet in the case of
the alleged gang rape
of a Dalit girl in Hath-
ras. In the charge
sheet filed in Alla-
habad High Court on
December 18, the CBI
has said the UP police
has committed negli-
gence in the case.
The CBI in its 19-page
chargesheethassaidthat
the victim’s statement
has not been taken on
September14.Thevictim
usedthewordcoercionin
herstatement,butthepo-
lice ignored sexual har-
assment cases two times,
which destroyed the fo-
rensic evidence.
In the charge sheet,
the CBI has claimed that
the victim’s statement
has been taken after 5
days and she was tested
8 days later.
At the same time, the
CBI also alleged that for
the first time, the police
have not included the
names of two other co-
accused, while rejecting
his statement in writ-
ing. CBI said during the
investigation, it collect-
ed soil, dried vegetative
material, including in-
florescence of bajra,
from the crime of scene
and the samples were
analysed by experts at
the Central Forensic
Science Laboratory in
the national capital.
It also got the forensic
psychological assess-
ment and layered voice
analysis test of the ac-
cused and others by
CFSL experts.
The CBI, also got the
brain electrical oscilla-
tion signature and poly-
graph test of the four
accused at the Directo-
rate of Forensic Science
in Gandhinagar on
December 10.
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: After Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath’s approval,
Transport Minister
Ashok Kataria trans-
ferred 20 ARTOs on
Tuesday.
Principal Secretary
Transport R K Singh
gives new deployment
to 20 ARTOs. Now this
is the bureaucracy of
Uttar Pradesh that no
one is aware of the sud-
den transfer. ARTO Ra-
ghavendra Singh got
best posting of HQ to
Ghaziabad.
These ARTOs include
Mohammad Azim Luc-
know to Kushinagar,
Babita Mathura to Gon-
da, Sudhir Kumar Ver-
ma Enforcement to
Kanpur, Satyendra Ku-
mar Yadav Lucknow to
Azamgar, Surendra
Singh Lucknow to
Rampur, Amit Rajan
Rai Headquarters to
Lucknow, RK Saroj
Lucknow to Raebareli,
Sanjeev Kumar Singh
Gonda to Lucknow,
Aditya Tripathi Luc-
know Headquarters to
Amroha, Shivshankar
Singh Amroha to Bi-
jnor, Pranav Jha Bijnor
to Mainpuri, Rajesh
Kardam Headqarters
to Mainpuri among
others.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Away from
the media spotlight
that is currently fo-
cused on the ongoing
farmers’ agitation on
the Delhi borders,
Suheldev Bharatiya
Samaj Party (SBSP)
chief Om Prakash Ra-
jbhar is quietly busy
stitching alliances
with smaller parties
in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajbhar, a BJP ally
till last year, was a Min-
ister in the Yogi Adity-
anath government but
shown the door in the
midst of the 2019 Lok
Sabha elections after he
made several anti-gov-
ernment statements.
The SBSP is focused
on the Rajbhar commu-
nity, which constitutes
around 17-18 per cent of
the population in the
Purvanchal area of Ut-
tar Pradesh.
Sources close to Rajb-
har said that he is in the
final stages of sewing up
alliances with smaller
parties.“Talks with
Shivpal Singh Yadav,
who heads the Pragat-
isheel Samajwadi Party
Lohia, are in the final
stages. Rajbhar also had
a meeting recently with
AsaduddinOwaisiof All
India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen. Talks are
also on with Jan Adhi-
kar Party President
Babu Singh Kushwaha,
Rashtra Uday Party
chief Babu Ram Pal, Ja-
nata Kranti Party Presi-
dent Anil Singh Chau-
han and Rashtriya Up-
ekshitSamajPartychief
Premchand Prajapati,”
the sources said.
Rajbhar plans to mo-
bilise Dalits, backwards
and Muslims so that
they can play a signifi-
cant role in the forma-
tion of the next govern-
ment after the 2022
Assembly elections in
Uttar Pradesh.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath —FILE PHOTO
BJP-ruled states find
role model in CM YogiBihar, Karnataka, MP govts mullling bringing in ‘love jihad’ law
Hathras gang rape case: CBI
accuses UP police of negligence
STRICT STEPS TAKEN BY CM
In a sudden move transport
minister transfers twenty ARTOs
First India Bureau
Mathura: The Uttar
Pradesh authorities
have cut over 1.89 lakh
trees for the construc-
tionof theBundelkhand
expressway, an RTI
query has revealed.
In a reply to Banda-
based activist Kuldeep
Shukla,SeniorManager
of the UP Forest Depart-
ment, Atul Asthana,
said the Expressway In-
dustrial Development
Authority(UPEIDA)has
cut 1,89,036 trees for the
296-km-long project.
The trees were cut in
Banda, Chitrakoot, Ma-
hoba,Hamirpur,Jalaun,
Auraiya and Etawah, it
said. The UPEIDA has
planned to plant over
2.70 lakh saplings along
the expressway, the RTI
added.BandaDivisional
Forest Officer Sanjay
Agarwal said the trees
were cut after permis-
sion from the Centre.
1.89L trees
chopped for
expressway
Away from farmers’ stir, Rajbhar
stitching alliance with smaller parties
SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar
—FILEPHOTO

10. LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 23, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
THE FINALISTS OF MISS OCEANWORLD 2020 FROMTHE
TOP 11 COUNTRIES ABSOLUTELY ACED IT INTHE
‘NATIONAL COSTUME ROUND’HELDVIRTUALLY!
FLAUNTING THE
NATIONALITIES
n international beau-
ty pageant, Miss
Ocean World 2020
which began earlier
this month, recently
held a ‘National Cos-
tume Round’ for all
the finalists competing for the
title. Participants from a total
of 11 countries were a part of
this round, where they flaunt-
ed the traditions and values
of their respective countries.
After this round, a total of 7
finalists will be shortlisted for
the Interview Round, which is
to be held on the 28th of this
month. Renowned people
from the fashion world will be
a part of the interviewer pan-
el, to make the competition
more interesting.
Yogesh Mishra from Jaipur,
who is the host and the inter-
national director of this beau-
ty pageant has been working
extremely hard and making
the Pink City proud with his
achievements. From organis-
ing beauty pageants at the
state level to going interna-
tional, Yogesh has come a re-
ally long way. The pageant
Miss Ocean World is
ranked as #17
in the world
of inter-
national
pageantry, which is an ex-
tremely proud moment for
our country.
Talking about being the
host of the pageant this year
and for the next two years, Yo-
gesh Mishra stated, “Being a
host of this esteemed beauty
pageant is a really great op-
portunity for me. It is the very
first time that I am organising
a pageant virtually, but it is
definitely a great and inter-
esting experience altogether.”
Something that makes this
pageant unique from the oth-
ers is the fact that it acted as
a great opportunity for the
women who were of a bigger
age, and not married.
“We believe that everyone
must receive an equal chance,
and that is the reason why we
didn’t focus much on the age
this time- all we required
were the other criteria to be
fulfilled by the participants,”
said Yogesh.
He added, “This year, the
theme of the pageant is
‘Clean Ocean’. Since there
are hardly any activi-
ties dedicated to
the oceans in
the pageants,
a great buzz
was created
across the
g l o b e
once people found out about
the theme. We will be spread-
ing awareness to save the
ocean and keep it clean.”
The grand finale of Miss
Ocean World 2020 will be held
virtually on 30 December.
NEHAL NAYAR
nehal.nayar@firstindia.co.in
A
Uganda
Tanzania
Peru
India France
Nigeria
Venezuela
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Yogesh Mishra
Egypt