First india lucknow edition-26 march 2021

First India Bureau
Kolkata: Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath on Thurs-
day lashed out at his
West Bengal counter-
part Mamata Banerjee,
alleging that she is not
interested in her state’s
development and only
wants to promote goons
and extortionists.
Storming the home
turf of her WB chief
minister on the day
when campaigning for
first phase came to an
end, BJP’s star cam-
paigner said that her
days were numbered
and the countdown for
change had begun.
“West Bengal was once
an advanced and pro-
gressive state. But the
Congress, the Left Front
and then the TMC stunt-
ed the industrial growth
of the state and corrup-
tion blossomed,” he
said, while addressing a
rally in Sagar assembly
constituency in South
24 Parganas district.
The UP CM also
thanked TMC-rebel and
now BJP candidate Su-
vendu Adhikari for
showing the courage to
work for Turn to P6
WBasafe-houseforgoons&extortionistsunderDidi:Yogi
If BJP comes into power, West Bengal will
be turned into ‘Sonar Bangla’, CM Yogi
Adityanath said during a rally
CLASH OF TITANS NOD TO POLICE
COMMISSIONERATE SYSTEM IN
VARANASI AND KANPUR
Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government on
Thursday approved the commissionerate system
of policing for Varanasi and Kanpur. The system
which gives more responsibilities, including
magisterial powers, to IPS officers of Additional
Director General of Police (ADG) rank posted as
commissioners was first implemented in Noida
and Lucknow in January, last year. With Kanpur
and Varanasi now added to the list, UP now has
four cities with this system. Satisfied over its
success in curbing crime and effectively maintain-
ing law and order, the government may gradually
implement in other districts as well, according to
sources. The decision was taken a meeting of the
State cabinet held late in the evening at the official
residence of CM Yogi after his return from poll
campaign in West Bengal. More on Page 2
BENGAL DEPRIVED
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OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD
& LUCKNOW
‘MISOGYNY, BRAZEN’
Kolkata: Trinamool
Congress leaders on
ThursdayhitoutatWest
Bengal BJP chief Dilip
Ghosh for again making
disparaging comments
on Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee.
“Mamata Banerjee is
the Chief Minister of
Bengal. She should re-
spect Bengal’s culture. A
womaninasareeisshow-
ing her legs repeatedly is
not Bengal’s culture,”
Ghosh said during cam-
paigning on Thursday
.
The BJP chief’s com-
ments come a day after
he had mocked Mamata
for“displaying” Turn to P6
Mumbai: Nervousness
in the Chinese market,
coupledwithasteeprise
in the daily Covid-19 in-
fections back home
along with monthly ex-
piry of the derivative
contracts, turned mar-
kets volatile on Thurs-
day
. Even though bulls
triedtowrestlebackand
took the benchmark
Sensex647pointshigher
from the day’s low, bears
had the last laugh.
Among the key indi-
ces, the BSE barometer
of 30 shares ended at
48,440 levels, down 740
points or 1.5 per cent.
On the NSE, the broader
50-share index ended at
14,348 levels, down 201
points or 1.4 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki, Bhar-
tiAirtel,HindustanUni-
lever, Bajaj Finance,
ONGC, UltraTech Ce-
ment, and Reliance In-
dustries were the top
laggards on the Sensex,
while Indian Oil Corpo-
ration, Hero MotoCorp,
Coal India, Eicher Mo-
tors, and Britannia were
the additional losers on
the Nifty
. These stocks
were down between 3
per cent and 4 per cent.
On the upside, Tata
Steel, ICICI Bank, L&T,
HDFC, and Dr Reddy’s
Labs were the top gain-
ers on the indices,
Turn to P6
Sensex ends
740 down at
48,440 points
FARMER UNIONS’ CALL:
BHARAT BANDH TODAY
New Delhi: New Delhi:
Rail and road transpor-
tationservicesarelikely
to be affected and mar-
kets may remain closed
in parts of the country
on Friday as farmer un-
ions protesting against
the three agri laws have
called a complete
‘Bharat Bandh’, even as
it will not be observed in
four poll-bound states
and Puducherry
.
According to the
Samkyukta Kisan Mor-
cha, the nationwide
shutdown will start at 6
am and it will be in
force up to 6 pm across
the country on March
26 which marks four
months of the farmer
agitation at Delhi’s
three borders -- Singhu,
Ghazipur and Tikri.
In a video message,
SKM leader Darshan
Pal said that supplies of
vegetables and milk
will also stopped by the
protesting farmers.
The Samkyukta
Kisan Morcha, an um-
brella body of protest-
ing unions, appealed to
protesting farmers to be
peaceful and not get in-
volved in any kind of
illegitimate debate and
conflict during the
‘bandh’.
“All shops, malls,
markets and institu-
tions will remain closed
under complete Bharat
Bandh. All minor and
big roads and trains
will be blocked. All ser-
vices will remain sus-
pended except for am-
bulance and other es-
sential services. The
effect of Bharat Bandh
will be observed inside
Delhi as well,” SKM
said in a statement.
Senior farmer leader
Balbir Singh Rajewal
said that road and rail
transport will be
blocked, claiming that
markets will also re-
main closed.
The Morcha said that
the ‘bandh’ will also be
observed in the nation-
al capital. Turn to P6
Three soldiers burnt alive, five
critical as vehicle catches fire
First India Bureau
Sriganganagar:Three
soldiers, including a
subedar, were killed
and another five in-
jured on Thursday
whentheArmyvehicle
they were travelling in
overturned and caught
fire in Sri Ganganagar
district, police said.
CM Ashok Gehlot,
former CM Vasundha-
ra Raje and several
otherleadersexpressed
grief over the incident.
The accident occurred
inRajiyasarareainthe
border area adjacent to
the Indo-Pakistan bor-
der on the early hours
of Thursday
, they said.
Turn to P6
The ill-fated jeep.
DILIP GHOSH DEFIANT, SAYS SHOWING LEGS
IN A SAREE NOT BENGAL’S CULTURE
Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, shredded by political
leaders over his shocking comment that CM Mamata
Banerjee should wear Bermuda shorts if she wished to
display her legs, remained defiant. It is inappropriate for
a sari-clad woman to show her legs, he told the media.
All shops, malls, markets and institutions will remain
closed under complete Bharat Bandh. All minor and big
roads and trains will be blocked. All services will remain
suspended except for ambulance and other essential services.
The effect of Bharat Bandh will be observed inside Delhi as well
—Samkyukta Kisan Morcha
6 AM TO 6 PM
TMC hits back at Dilip Ghosh
over Mamata‘saree’ comment
The Bandh will not be observed in four poll-bound states and Puducherry.
LUCKNOW l FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 106
A HOLI MILAN TO REMEMBER!
(Above): Govind S Dotasra lighting the lamp in the presence of (from left) Bhajan Lal Jatav, Lal Chand Kataria, Vaibhav Gehlot,
Jagdeesh Sharma, Jagdeesh Chandra, Niranjan Arya, Rafiq Khan and Ramlal Sharma during the Holi Milan Samaroh hosted by
First India on Thursday evening at Hotel Marriott. (Top Right): BD Kalla, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Amin Kagzi and Jagdeesh
Chandra during the event. (Bottom Right): Mamta Bhupesh, Rafiq Khan, Satish Poonia, BL Soni and Jagdeesh Chandra.
Dr Subhash Garg, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Mahesh Joshi, Ravi Jain, Jogaram, Prahlad Krishniya, Antar Singh Nehra, Ashok Parnami,
Mahant Kailash Sharma, Rajeev Arora, Sangeeta Beniwal, Dr Somya, Archana Sharma, Suman Sharma, Rukshmani Kumari, Ved
Prakash Solanki and others attended the event and appreciated the initiative by First India.
—PHOTOS BY SUMAN SARKAR & SANTOSH SHARMA

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021
02
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First India Bureau
Lucknow: After pass-
ing the “paperless” an-
nual budget on March
4, moves are now afoot
to introduce “paper-
less” budgetary sanc-
tions to various de-
partments of Yogi-led
Uttar Pradesh govern-
ment.
The finance depart-
ment has also designed
a format for monitoring
the budgetary utilisa-
tion on an online basis,
from the next financial
year commencing from
April 1, 2021.
Chief minister Yogi
Adityanath has been
paying keen attention
to the process to en-
sure quick and trans-
parent on-line budget-
ary expenditures
across all depart-
ments.
The government has
decided to do so after
the CM’s “integrated
grievance redressal
system” (IGRS), an on-
line portal to lodge
grievances, evoked
good response from
people across the state.
Jansunwai.up.nic.in
is an open online plat-
form for all to lodge
their grievances. The
portal has helped in
tightening noose
around irresponsible
officers who normally
avoid listening the pub-
lic grievances. It is to
be noted that, apart
from the general citi-
zens of the state, Min-
ister Swati Singh, BJP
MP Kaushal Kishore,
MLA Suresh Shrivas-
tav, Neeraj Bora, MLA
Arun Kumar and sev-
eral others also had
lodged their com-
plaints.
According to sources,
all budgetary sanctions
from April 1 would be
on a paperless mode.
inance department
has already issued nec-
essary instructions to
all departments to
streamline the process.
The department has
provided an online for-
mat, that requires all
departments to pro-
vide required informa-
tion.
This would update all
departments on finan-
cial matters and ease
monitoring of expendi-
tures.
“With a click of a
mouse, the depart-
ments would be able to
know as to how the al-
located budgets are be-
ing utilised” said an
officer of the finance
department.
Yogigovtgoeshi-techwith“paperless”budgetaryallocations
DIGI-MODE
TECH FRIENDLY: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is making efforts
to use technology for better governance across all districts of
Uttar Pradesh.
—REPRESENTATIVE PICTURE.
Govt to provide financial guarantee to purchasing institutions under MSP for Rabi purchase
SPLFACLITIESFORPROJECTSABOVE
RS200CRIN ‘BACKWARDREGIONS’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a boost to
promote industries and
strengthen infrastruc-
ture, the UP cabinet on
Thursday gave nod to a
proposal for giving spe-
cial facilities and con-
cessions to projects
above Rs 200 crore in
economically backward
regions of the State un-
der the Accelerated Pro-
motion Policy
.
The government has
also decided to provide
financial guarantee to
various purchasing in-
stitutions under MSP
for its Rabi purchase
scheme and sops for
ethanol production.
The meeting which
was headed by Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath also cleared pro-
posals related to UP
Special Protection
Rules, 2021, appoint-
ment of members of its
members, recruitment,
prosecution and regu-
lating powers, setting
up of universities un-
der private sector, rec-
ommendations of ad-
ministrative committee
headed by Chief Secre-
tary on Hi-Tech Town-
ship and transfer of
government land in Ba-
reilly and Prayagraj for
construction a bus sta-
tion and PAC Batallion
respectively
.
Under Infrastructure
and Industrial Policy
2012, special facilities
and concessions will be
given to projects above
Rs 200 crore on a case to
case basis. Special fa-
cilities will also be giv-
en under UP Industrial
Investment and Em-
ployment Promotion
Policy 2017 to boost
economy hit by the pan-
demic to units to be set
up under the economi-
cally backward regions
of the state. Former
DGP and present Rajya
Sabha member Brij Lal
have lauded Yogi Adity-
anath government for
extending Commission-
erate system for Vara-
nasi and Kanpur dis-
tricts.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the cabinet meet organised on Thursday. —FILE PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Yogi’s Holi Gift:
Gkp to Lko flight
service frm Mar 28
First India Bureau
Lucknow: There is a
lot happening in the
air in Uttar Pradesh
with private players
flocking here. Come
Holi and UP will wit-
ness yet another avia-
tion boost with com-
mencement of flights
between Lucknow and
CM Yogi’s home con-
stituency, Gorakhpur
on March 28.
UP is the first
state in India, where
five international
airports are being
built simultaneous-
ly
. It has 8 operation-
al airports and 13
more are coming up.
With this new air
connectivity, the air
journey from Guru
Gorakhnath Gora-
khpur Airport to
Lucknow can be
made in an hour.
Travellers aboard
inaugural flight com-
ing from Gorakhpur
will be given a grand
welcome at Lucknow
Airport. Not only the
people of Gorakhpur,
but people of Nepal
and Bihar were also
waiting for this flight
for a long time.
Flights will also
start from Aligarh,
Azamgarh, Mo-
radabad, Shravasti
Airport soon. Air-
strips at Aligarh,
Azamgarh, Mo-
radabad, Shravasti,
Chitrakoot and Sonb-
hadra have been se-
lected for air services
under ‘Udaan’, the re-
gional connectivity
scheme of central gov-
ernment. Airports at
Aligarh, Azamgarh,
Moradabad and
Shravasti are under
development. While
Chitrakoot and Sonb-
hadra airports are
nearing completion, a
budget of Rs 101 crores
is proposed for Mary-
ada Purushottam Shri
Ram Airport in Ayod-
hya. Procurement of
land for the airports at
Saharanpur, Jhansi,
Meerut and Lalitpur is
also underway
.
CM Yogi has endeavoured to better air connectivity by setting
airports in various parts of UP. —FILE PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
1.6cr students, frm Class
I to VIII, to get promoted
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Yogi gov-
ernment has brought
cheers to students of
class I to VIII ahead
of Holi. They can now
enjoy the festival of
colours sans any ex-
amination jitters. In a
decision, the govern-
ment has decided to
promote over 1.6
crore students be-
tween Class I and
Class VIII in Uttar
Pradesh without
them having to ap-
pear for annual ex-
aminations due to
COVID-19 pandemic.
The state govern-
ment scrapped annual
examinations in about
1.3 lakh primary
schools for these class-
es. The exams were
scheduled to be held on
March 25 and 26. But
due to the second surge
of coronavirus cases in
about 65 districts, the
government has an-
nounced the+ closure
of these schools till
March 31.
Primary schools
were declared closed in
March last year. They
were reopened on Feb-
ruary 10 for Class V to
VIII and March 1 for
classes I to IV
.
The Director Gener-
al, Primary Education,
Vijay Kiran Anand said
that the new session of
Class 1 to VIII will be-
gin from April 1. A deci-
sion on holding offline
or online classes will be
taken shortly after as-
sessing the second
surge of Covid-19 in UP.
No exams, no stress. —FILE PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Sex determination:
Six, including four
women arrested
by health dept
BJP launches
mass contact
drive in UP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Health de-
part team arrested six
persons including four
women, who were in-
volved in illegal sex de-
termination in Baghpat
district of Uttar
Pradesh.
The Health depart-
ment team raided at
Rana Nursing home at
Railway road here and
arrested six persons in-
cluding four women,
who were involved in
conducting illegal preg-
nancy tests.
The health depart-
ment team has also re-
covered instruments
and medicines used in
illegal sex determina-
tion diagnostic service.
Police sources over-
here said that health
department team
caught doctors, nursing
staff and staff mem-
bers red handed while
performing illegal sex
determination tests in-
cluding sonography
.
The team had sealed
ultrasound machine
and other equipments
that were used in illegal
medical examinations
of pregnant women.
Sources said that act-
ing on tip-off team raid-
ed at the nursing home
and caught women
along with doctors and
their staff red handed.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party
on Thursday launched
a two-day mass contact
programme on a state
wide basis to apprise
the people about the
four-year achievements
of the Yogi Adityanath
government. During
the door-to-door contact
programme, the party
leaders would also dis-
tribute booklets enu-
merating performance
of the Yogi-led govern-
ment.
The party sources
said that the party lead-
ers, MLAs, MPs and
ministers fanned out
the mass contact pro-
gramme at the booth
levels across the state
on Thursday, and will
also continue on today
as well.
HOLI DASH WITH ASH
Ever wondered if instead of Gulal, Holi can also be played with remains of human ashes from
pyres? That is how Naga Sadhus and devout do it at the mythologically iconic Manikarnika
Ghat of Varanasi, the only place on the planet where Hindus are cremated 24 hours a day!
Incredible India, Isn’t it?
CM Yogi said the
zero tolerance for
crime has yielded
result, according to
NCRB data. It shows
45.43% drop In rape
cases, 19.80% fall in
murder since 2016
and UP now was much
safer for women than
many big states.
Yogi said that sev-
eral policy initiatives
have been taken by the
state government for en-
couraging investments.
A positive atmosphere
has been set up in the
state to attract invest-
ment from abroad
CM Yogi has extended
his greetings to all
the revered saints and
devotees visiting the
holy Mathura-Vrindavan
city on the auspicious
occasion of Rangbharni
Ekadashi.
KEY DECISIONS
Paperless budgetary allocations
will ease monitoring of expenditures
of the all the departments

UTTAR PRADESH
03
28-YEAR -OLD COP
COMMITS SUICIDE BY
HANGING FROM TREE
22-YEAR-OLD KIDNAPPED, RS 22L
RANSOM DEMANDED
THREE JAIL WARDENS SUSPENDED,
SUPERINTENDENT SHIFTED TO HQ
Aligarh: A 22-year-old youth was abducted in
Khairtownof Aligarhdistrictandunknownper-
sons have demanded a ransom of Rs 19 lakh for
theboy’ssafereturn,policesaid.“Amessagewas
received from the mobile of the kidnapped youth
on his father’s number on Tuesday demanding a
ransom of Rs 19 lakh,” Muniraj, Senior Superin-
tendent of Police (SSP) Aligarh, told reporters.
Farrukhabad: Following inspection of Cen-
tral Jail, Fatehgarh and recovery of three mo-
bile phones, three jail wardens were suspended
and jail superintendent was shifted to head-
quarter. Jail in-charge Girija Shankar regis-
tered case against inmates Siraj, Gaurav and
Munna in same reference. DG Jail Anand Ku-
mar suspended wardens Veeresh Singh, Jay
Prakash and Sanjeev Kumar.
Deoria: A police con-
stable allegedly com-
mitted suicide by hang-
ing himself from the
roof of his rented house
here, police said on
Thursday Constable
Pappu Singh, 28, a resi-
dent of Mahuli police
station area Sant Kabir
Nagar, was posted at
Rampur Karkhana po-
lice station, they said .
On Tuesday night, he
allegedly committed
suicide in his rented
house located at Ram-
pur factory market, Su-
perintendent of Police
Shripati Mishra said.
CRIME ROUND UP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The rise in
Covid-19 positive cas-
es continued unabat-
ed for the seventh day
in a row with the vi-
rus getting alarm-
ingly expansive in
the state. On Thurs-
day, the deadly virus
gripped 836 more
people staring close-
ly at the four-figure
mark.
The state also regis-
tered four deaths with
one being in the capital
Lucknow and three be-
ing in Kanpur, Praya-
graj and Sultanpur re-
spectively. This has
taken the total death
toll in the state to 8,773.
The state also reported
836 new cases of coro-
navirus infection, rais-
ing the caseload to
6,10,273, a state govern-
ment medical bulletin
said. In the past 24
hours, 165 Covid-19 pa-
tients recovered from
the disease, taking the
number of cured pa-
tients to 5,96,451.
The count of active
Covid-19 cases in the
state stands at 5,049,
the statement said.
The state govern-
ment has directed all
district magistrates to
ensure proper follow-
ing of guidelines by the
people.
However, the Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday, had said
that it was unhappy
with the way people
in UP were behaving
and flouting the Cov-
id guidelines. The
court’s observations
hold true as there is a
gross violation of
guidelines in the
state with respect to
adherence.
A majority of people
can be seen roaming
without masks in the
markets, especially at
the weekly makeshift
markets including the
traditionally crowded
Buddh Bazar held at
Gole Market and Nak-
khas Market held on
Sundays.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: CEO of UP-
EIDA, Awanish Kumar
Awasthi chaired a re-
view meeting of the
Bundelkhand Express-
way project. In the meet-
ing he was informed
that over 50 per cent of
the total physical work
of the project has been
completed as of now. He
was also apprised of the
fact that work up to bitu-
minous level has been
completed in 140-km
stretch of the express-
way
.
The bridges being
builtoverRiverYamuna
in the Bundelkhand Ex-
pressway project was
recently reviewed by
CM Yogi Adityanath.
Awasthi was in-
formed that construc-
tion of bridges over riv-
ers Yamuna, Betwa and
Ken is being carried out
atarapidpaceandatthe
same time the quality of
the construction is also
being monitored. Awan-
ish Kumar Awasthi dur-
ing the meeting pointed
out that UPEIDA will set
a record with the con-
struction of bridges
over River Yamuna in
such a short time of 6-8
months.
The 296-km E’way
will link Bundelkhand
to Delhi via the Agra-
Lucknow Expressway
,
First India Bureau
Pilibhit: The two teen-
age sisters who were
found dead in Pilibhit
district under mysteri-
ous circumstances were
allegedly murdered by
their family members,
police said on Thursday
,
in what appears to be a
case of honour killing.
The girls’ mother, one of
their brothers and a
brick-kiln owner have
been arrested, while
searchisonfortwoother
family members, the po-
lice said.
One of the teenagers,
aged 17, was found dead
in a field at Jasauli vil-
lage in Bilaspur block,
around 38 km south of
Pilibhit city
, while the
other, 19, was found
hanging from a tree on
Tuesday morning, the
police had said. On Mon-
day
,familymemberssaw
theeldersistertalkingto
someoneoverthephone,
following which she was
beaten up by them.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Anti
Terrorist Squad (ATS)
of Uttar Pradesh has ar-
restedamanfromNoida
for allegedly supplying
high-quality Fake Indi-
an Currency Notes
(FICN), officials said
here on Thursday
.
Sadar Ali, a resident
of West Bengal, was ar-
rested on Wednesday
from Mahamaya Flyo-
ver in Noida, an official
statement from the ATS
said, adding that he was
carrying reward of Rs
25,000 on his head.
Ali had been supplying
FICN for the past decade
in Uttar Pradesh, Hary-
ana and NCR towns, it
said, adding that the
currency was produced
in Pakistan which was
being brought and sup-
plied into India through
Bangladesh.
In 2010, Ali was ar-
rested from Baharam-
pur in West Bengal’s
Murshidabad district
with FICN worth Rs 4
lakhs, officials said.
In that case, he spent
three months in jail af-
ter which he got bail,
they said.
In the same year, he
was again arrested from
Malda district of West
BengalwithFICNworth
Rs 1.5 lakh, officials
said.
Recently Ali’s name
re-surfaced after two
men named Tehsin
Khan and Wasim Khan
were arrested by the
ATS on November 1 last
year with FICN worth
Rs 5.97 lakh, they said.
Duringinvestigations,it
cametolightthatTehsin
and Wasim brought
FICN from West Bengal
resident Sadar Ali and
his wife Mumtaz, the
ATS said.
First India Bureau
Meerut: Mining mafias
attacked a forest depart-
ment team when they
triedtointerceptthemin
Kharkaali forest area.
Accusedmafiasthrashed
the team members and
tried to run over them in
which two forest depart-
mentsub-inspectors,for-
est guard and forester
were severely injured.
Police said that team
of forest department
rushed to the spot after
information of illegal
mining in Ganga banks
area.
When the team inter-
cepted accomplices of
mining mafias, they at-
tacked the team with
iron rods, digger and
other instruments used
for mining. They tried to
run over the team with
tractors.
Forest department SI
Vinod, Akash, forest
guard Amit and forester
Manoj were severely in-
jured in the attack.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Central
Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) conducted search-
es at more than 100 plac-
es across India, includ-
ing several cities in Ut-
tar Pradesh, in connec-
tion with over 30 cases
of bank fraud amount-
ing to over Rs 3,700
crore. These searches
are part of Special
Drive to book fraudust-
ers on the complaints
received from different
nationalised banks in
India including Indian
Oversea Bank, Union
Bank of India, Bank of
Baroda, Punjab Nation-
al Bank, State Bank of
India, IDBI, Canara
Bank, Indian Bank and
Central Bank of India.
The various cities/
towns where the search-
es were conducted in-
clude Kanpur, Ghazi-
abad, Mathura, Noida,
Gurugram, Delhi,
Chennai, Thiruvarur,
Vellore, Tiruppur, Ban-
galore, Gantur, Hyder-
bad, Bellery, Vadodara,
Kolkata, West Goda-
vari, Surat, Mumbai,
Bhopal, Nimadi, Tiru-
pati Visakhapatnam,
Ahmedabad, Rajkot,
Karnal, Jaipur and Sri
Ganganagar.
During searches, var-
ious incriminating doc-
uments and other mate-
rial/digital evidences
have been recovered.
It may be stated that
CBI has been receiving
a number of com-
plaints from various
banks alleging cheat-
ing, diversion of funds,
submission of fake/
forged documents by
different defaulting
firms while obtaining
loans/credit facilities
etc.
WorryingTrend:Covidsurgecontinuesinstate
836 new cases
on Thursday;
admn seals
lane in Narahi
area after nine
test positive
PGI DIRECTOR TESTS POSITIVE DESPITE JAB
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel taking the covid jab on
Thursday at Ahmedabad.
ACS Awasthi reviews
progress of e’way work
Pilibhit girls killed
by family: Police
A bridge being built on Betwa river.
—FILE
PHOTO
CBI search op in Kanpur, Noida
Man held by
ATS for fake
currency
note supply
Forest SIs,
forester hit by
mining mafia
Woman gang raped,
brutally stabbed to
death; suspects grilled
UPstandsdigi-TALL
amongotherstates
First India Bureau
Kanpur: In a hor-
rific event a women
was gang-raped and
brutally killed by
stabbing many times
in Banpurva village
of Barra area here.
Police soucres here
said that residents of
Banpurva area found
dead body of a wom-
en in a pool of blood
near an under con-
struction house of
Pradeep Yadav. After
information police
rushed to the spot
and initiated the in-
vestigation.
Prima facie it
seems that woman
was gang-raped and
then brutally mur-
dered. She was iden-
tified by her brother.
Police collected fo-
rensic evidences
from the spot and
sent the body for
post-mortem.
Forensic experts
said that victim was
stabbed more than 15
times and she was
brutally beaten to
death.
Police have de-
tained some suspects
and interrogating
them. Family mem-
bers of the deceased
accused that woman
was murdered by
man of their neigh-
bourhood. Police
said investigations
were underway and
further actions
would be taken after
post-mortem report.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh government
has set a record in the
number of digital trans-
actions done by any
state in the country
.
The feat has been
achieved during the pe-
riod which includes the
most trying times of
corona. And the banks
played a vital role in en-
couraging and giving
a fillip to digital trans-
actions giving wings
to the Digital India cam-
paign.
The transactions
through banks have
crossed the figure of 286
crore till December 2020
in the financial year
2020-21 which was 151
crore more than during
the same period in 2019-
20, an increase of 112
per cent.
According to an offi-
cial spokesman, the
digital transactions
were to the tune of
122.84 cr in 2017-18
whichroseto161.69crin
2018-19 and further to
189.07 cr in 2019-20.
Thesetransactionswere
facilitated through vari-
ous modes like mobile
banking, Unified Pay-
ment Gateway (UPI)
App, internet banking,
debit card etc.
In addition to this, the
RBI has identified two
districtsof Siddharthna-
gar and Firozabad as the
‘digital districts’ where
digital transactions are
aimed to be encouraged
through expanding and
strengtheningthedigital
payment ecosystem.
First India Bureau
Johannesburg/Luc-
know: The Consulate
General of India here
has partnered with UP
to boost tourism to India
post covid, highlighting
the state’s various at-
tractions.
Mukesh Kumar Me-
shram, Principal Secre-
tary for Tourism and
Culture, shared the de-
tailed plans on attract-
ing tourists to the state
at a meet titled Post-Cov-
id Tourism to India’
which was organised by
the Indian Consul Gen-
eral in Johannesburg
AnjuRanjanonWednes-
day
. UP was the partner
state in the programme.
We are committed to
making Ayodhya a lead-
ing place among reli-
giousplacesintheworld
(for tourism), Meshram
said, as he highlighted a
wide range of Hindu,
Muslim, Buddhist and
Christian sites in the
state that could attract
tourists. He also high-
lighted the wildlife and
handicrafts of the state.
Meshram also talked
about the new tourism
policy of UP which fea-
tures special incentives
for the tourism sector,
including state subsi-
dies in a wide range
of areas for boosting
tourism.
On partnering with
the state, Ranjan said,
“we partnered with UP
because a large number
of the descendants of
the first Indians who ar-
rived in South Africa
from1860onwardscame
from UP and Bihar.
We get many requests
to help them trace their
ancestry so that they
can get OCI cards, Ran-
jan said, adding that UP
has a special desk called
“Tracing the Roots” for
this purpose.
The diaspora plays a
major role in promoting
tourism, the diplomat
said.
Explainingthereason
behind inviting local
operators from the tour-
ism sector to the meet,
Ranjan said tourism
was the best way to re-
vive the economies of
both India and South
Africa.
S Africa diaspora to step ‘UP’ tourism post covid
TRACING THE ROOTS
Lit up ghats of the Saryu river in Ayodhya. —FILE PHOTO

Vol 1 Issue No. 106 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi Industrial Area Kanpur Road Lucknow.
Published at 98, Friend’’s Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP). Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
OPPOSITION
CRIES FOUL AS
PARL. PASSES
NCT BILL
he Rajya Sabha on Wednesday
passed a Bill to bestow the Lieu-
tenant Governor (LG) of Delhi
with greater powers by taking
away the right of elected repre-
sentatives. The Bill, which was passed by the
Lok Sabha on Monday, seeks to amend the
Government of NCT of Delhi (NCTD) Act,
1991. It was enacted “to supplement provi-
sions of the Constitution relating to Legisla-
tive Assembly and a Council of Ministers for
the National Capital Territory of Delhi”.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge
of the Congress asked that if the LG has to be
in-charge, “what is the point of holding elec-
tions”. Abhishek Manu Singhvi described the
National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amend-
ment) Bill was “coercive federalism” by the
Central government. Union Minister of State
for Home G. Kishan Reddy defended the Bill
and refuted the charge that the amendment is
intended to curtail the powers of the elected
government. The amendments, he said, were
on “technical” grounds alone.
Reddy’s refutation is not convincing if one
looks at the amendment being made to the
term“Government”.“TheexpressionGovern-
ment referred to in any law to be made by the
Legislative Assembly (of Delhi) shall mean
the Lieutenant Governor,” the Bill states. The
Billprovidesthat“beforetakinganyexecutive
action to exercise powers of Government, the
opinion of Lieutenant Governor shall be ob-
tained on all such matters as may be specified
by the Lieutenant Governor.” Doesn’t that
undermine the powers of the chief minister
and his council of ministers?
Theseamendmentsgoagainst the2018 judg-
ment by a five-judge Bench of the Supreme
Court which defined the powers of the Lieu-
tenant Governor. In Government of NCT of
Delhi versus Union of India, the SC had ruled
that according to Article 239 AA of the Consti-
tution of India, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor
didnothaveanyindependentdecision-making
powers and had to follow the “aid and advice”
of the chief minister-led council of ministers
of the Government of Delhi on matters which
the Delhi legislative Assembly could legislate
on…TheSupremeCourtalsosaidthat“theLG
has not been entrusted with any independent
decision-making power. He has to either act on
the aid and advice or is bound to act on the
order of the President if a matter is referred
to him”. And that was to be the exception.
The Opposition argued that the Bharatiya
Janata Party, which has been out of power in
Delhi for the last about 20 years, wants to
grab power through the Lieutenant Governor
and asked if the Central government will
bring about similar changes in Pondicherry
.
The Bill would mean that the people of
Delhi will not have an effective representa-
tion in the Assembly
. A representative of the
Union government, whom the people cannot
oust from power, will decide their fate.
IN-DEPTH
T
aving spent the
early months of
2021 exiled from
social media,
Donald Trump
may be set to make a re-
turn, circumventing his
Twitter ban by creating a
social media platform of
his own. Jason Miller, the
Trump aide who an-
nounced the news, has said
the platform could be ready
in “two or three months”.
Whiletheannouncement
might seem ambitious,
building a social media
platform is actually rela-
tively easy
. In 2004, a rudi-
mentary form of Facebook
was developed in just two
weeks. Since then, advanc-
es in software development
and cloud computing have
made it far easier to create
a social media platform in a
short space of time.
But keeping the new plat-
form online after its release
could prove difficult. It’ll
havetoavoidthefateof “free
speech” social media plat-
forms favoured by Trump’s
supporters. One such plat-
form, Parler, found itself
droppedfromappstoresand
forced offline after being ac-
cused of hosting content
linked to the violence at the
January 6 Capitol riot.
The platform will also
likely become a target of
hackers and “trolls” op-
posed to Trump’s brand of
politics, who may look to
find ways to shut it down
or cause disruption.
Trump’s new social media
platform may well go live
in two to three months –
but keeping it online and
free from disruption will
be the real challenge.
TRUMP
DEPLATFORMED
Trump’s plan comes after
Twitter and Facebook de-
cided to “deplatform” him
in response to the January
6 Capitol riot. Twitter’s
Trump ban is permanent.
Facebook’s ban is current-
ly under review.
Along with the suspen-
sion of Parler, these moves
have forced millions, in-
cluding many Trump sup-
porters, onto a smattering
of niche social media plat-
forms. Many of these peo-
ple are likely to flock to a
platform created by
Trump, guaranteeing it a
large user base at the very
least. As Miller empha-
sised in his statement: “It
is going to be big.”
BUILDING A
PLATFORM
Technically speaking, the
new social media platform
could be built and launched
in a matter of weeks. Soft-
waredevelopershaveaccess
to easy-to-copy coding tem-
plates that mean it needn’t
be built from scratch.
But to support millions
of potential users, the new
platform will require the
infrastructure to scale
quickly
. If the correct infra-
structure isn’t in place to
support growth, Trump’s
platform will simply crash
under the strain of new us-
ers after its launch. The
cloud computing infra-
structure necessary to
avoid crashing is typically
provided by tech giants like
Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft’s
Azure, or Google’s Cloud.
Trump’s platform may
be developed as a smart-
phone app that features in
app stores, a website acces-
sible through web brows-
ers, or both. An app would
be especially vulnerable to
the whims of leading app
stores – those run by Goog-
le and Apple – which could
refuse to host the app if
activity on it was seen to
violate their terms of use.
One of the biggest chal-
lengesforTrumpiswhether
all these providers, who are
essentially the gatekeepers
of theweb,willagreetosup-
port his platform. Even if
they do, the Parler prece-
dent could see them with-
draw their hosting at any
time if users’ violent rheto-
ric goes unpoliced.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Trump is building a social media platform
H
Words have the power to
both destroy and heal. When
words are both true and kind,
they can change our world.
—Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Pursuant to our intervention, in
2020, Odisha Government had
accorded clearance to project
proposal which was filed by NTPC
in 2017. This project is crucial
for the livelihood and economic
development of the region and
ensuring sustained availability of
low-cost reliable power.
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Kerala is witnessing the worst kind
of hypocrisy; what is the State
Government’s stand on entry of
women in Sabarimala temple. Both
LDF and UDF are synonymous.
he word, cancer, sends an eerie chill
down everyone’s spine, or cascading
gunfire in one’s mind. In medical
terms, cancer is a group of cells, usu-
ally derived from a single cell that
has lost its normal control mecha-
nism. The consequence is unfettered
cell growth. Cancer can begin almost
anywhere in the body. While cancer
cells from the primary — or, initial
— site can spread, or metastasise,
throughout the body
, the disorder per
se represents a group of more than
one hundred different diseases — all
of them highlighted by uninhibited,
anomalous growth of cells. Cancer
also spreads to and affects the lymph
nodes — the tiny bean-shaped struc-
tures that filter the flow of lymph, an
important part of the body’s immune
system. Clusters of lymph nodes are
sited in different parts of the body —
the neck, groin, and armpits.
Trying to ‘crack’ what causes can-
cer is synonymous with searching for
a needle in a haystack. The factual
cause of cancer is subject to conjec-
ture. One may, for the sake of con-
venience, think of substances, or
carcinogens, that are known to cause
cancer — for example, nicotine.
Sounds simple; actually, it is not. Be-
cause it’s often easier said than done
to prove what substances cause can-
cer, most clinicians acquiesce to the
fact that the treacherous disorder
results from the complex interaction
of genetic and environmental fac-
tors, not just solitary threats.
Such factors may be external and
internal. The former includes life-
style indiscretions — smoking, chew-
ing tobacco, alcohol overuse, obesity,
and so on. Environmental factors
that may have a say in cancer are ex-
posure to chemicals and radiation
— including viral and bacterial infec-
tions that can injure cells and wilt
our immune system. Most important-
ly, the basis of cancer may be related
to our genes — this is inherited. One
may also blame genetic mutations
and hormonal contexts — e.g., oestro-
gen — for the onset of the dreadful
disease, including genes getting dent-
ed by microorganisms, chemicals,
sunlight, or tobacco abuse. Such ge-
netic modifications, or acquired mu-
tations, are slow in their onset. It
takes more than a few years before
full-scale cancerous cells ‘explode.’
Cancer can lead to a composite
amalgam of symptoms. Symptoms
may be subtle and apparent. Some
symptoms — or, what are often called
cautionary clues — are best identi-
fied by a specialist. Besides, there are
symptoms that develop only after the
disease progresses. They are not
helpful in the early detection of can-
cer, although one would do well to
quickly evaluate symptoms like un-
explained nausea, loss of appetite,
fatigue, diarrhea, and vomiting, as
possible warning signs, or conse-
quences of treatment. While some
symptoms occur with almost all can-
cer types, there are others that are
specific, especially when the disease
is mounting. It is, therefore, essential
to summon screening programmes
for the early detection and diagnosis
of cancer. The reason is simple and
insightful — the earlier the disease is
detected, the more effective the treat-
ment.
Cancer cells develop from healthy
cells. The process — called transfor-
mation — is as complex as the disease
itself.Thefirststep,wherecancercells
grow from healthy cells, is called as
initiation. A change in the cell’s ge-
netic material, especially in the DNA,
and at times in the chromosomal
structure, propels the cell to become
cancerous. This may happen instinc-
tively;itisalso,contextually
,triggered
by genetic mutations and/or carcino-
gens — chemicals, tobacco, viruses,
radiation, and sunlight. All the same,
there are no set rules for the progres-
sion of cancer. Also, not all cells are
vulnerable to carcinogens. What
makescellsweakisageneticfault,not
to speak of prolonged physical abnor-
mality
.Therestisdisasterepitomised.
Well, despite all the gloom, it is yet
plausible to ‘prevent’ cancer, though
its incidence differs from one popula-
tion to the other. In Japan, for exam-
ple, there has customarily been a
high occurrence of gastric cancer,
unlike the US, where the frequency
of colon cancer is high. It is also iron-
ic that Japanese immigrants have
seen a dramatic change in the pat-
tern. This is purportedly because of
a change in diet and lifestyle prac-
tices — from soya to the Western diet
— although not necessarily genetics.
Well, there’s no failsafe plan to pre-
vent cancer, although one real way of
doing it, imaginably, is by asking the
cells in our body not to divide. This
isn’t possible. Studies, therefore, sug-
gest that it would be useful to take
good care of one’s health, eating a
balanced diet, with 4-5 daily servings
of fruits and vegetables, taking ap-
propriate nutritional supplements,
doing regular exercise, also medita-
tion, and most importantly giving up,
or not smoking, and avoiding alcohol.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
Trying to ‘crack’
what causes cancer
is synonymous
with searching for
a needle in a
haystack. The
factual cause of
cancer is subject to
conjecture. One
may, for the sake
of convenience,
think of
substances, or
carcinogens, that
are known to cause
cancer — for
example, nicotine.
Sounds simple;
actually, it is not.
Because it’s often
easier said than
done to prove what
substances cause
cancer, most
clinicians
acquiesce to the
fact that the
treacherous
disorder results
from the complex
interaction of
genetic and
environmental
factors, not just
solitary threats
CANCER CAN LEAD TO A
COMPOSITE AMALGAM OF
SYMPTOMS. SYMPTOMS
MAY BE SUBTLE AND
APPARENT. SOME
SYMPTOMS — OR, WHAT
ARE OFTEN CALLED
CAUTIONARY CLUES — ARE
BEST IDENTIFIED BY A
SPECIALIST. BESIDES, THERE
ARE SYMPTOMS THAT
DEVELOP ONLY AFTER THE
DISEASE PROGRESSES
RAJGOPAL
NIDAMBOOR
WELLNESS PHYSICIAN,
INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER
AND AUTHOR
THE GENESIS
PREVENTION
PREVENTION
IS
THE GENESIS
THE GENESIS
CANCER

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INDIA
05
EYEWITNESSES RECOUNT PANIC
DURING GTB HOSPITAL SHOOTOUT
New Delhi: When I heard
gunshots, I got scared
and sat down inside my
food stall from where I
could see people running
for their lives, said a
shopkeeper near the GTB
hospital here where a
gunfight broke out on
Thursday between the
police and those who had
come to aid the escape
of a notorious criminal.
The fierce gunfight
left one assailant dead
and triggered chaos
with patients and their
relatives running for
cover, officials said.
While the criminal
escorted by the police
managed to flee, the
police nabbed one of his
six associates who was
injured in the gunfight,
they said.
CANDIDATES SPICE UP
CAMPAIGN FOR TN POLLS
Chennai:Amusing spectacles unfold everyday
with candidates attempting a variety of things
from donning the role of a chef to washing clothes
to woo voters, spicing up the campaign for the
April 6 Assembly polls in TN. Amid laughter and
claps, AIADMK candidate from Royapuram here, D
Jayakumar filled a pot fully with water for a woman
by manually operating a roadside handpump. Also,
the Fisheries Minister Jayakumar dons the signa-
ture ‘MGR’ cap sometimes and goes around his
constituency on a cycle-rickshaw to seek votes.
MAHA TOPS IN VACCINATION
DRIVE, SURPASSES RAJ
Mumbai:Maharashtra has emerged as the leader
in the COVID-19 vaccination drive as it has
administered vaccine doses to 43,42,646 people,
an official said. The state surpassed Rajasthan
in the vaccination drive on March 24, he said.
Rajasthan now ranks second as it has vaccinated
43,27,874 people, the official said. “Maharashtra
tops the list of states in the country in terms of
the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses admin-
istered,” Dr Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary of
Maharashtra Public Health Department, said.
KHAJURI KHAS ASSAULT: MAIN
ACCUSED ARRESTED
New Delhi: The main
accused in the alleged
assault of a man in north-
east Delhi was arrested
on Thursday, police said.
In a video widely shared
on social media, Ajay
Goswami was purport-
edly thrashing the man at
Khajuri Khas and telling
him to say “Hindustan
zindabaad” and “Pakistan
murdabad”. Goswami,
a resident of Old Garhi
Mendu village in Shah-
dara, was arrested and a
case registered against
him under relevant sec-
tions of the Indian Penal
Code, police said. The
person who was record-
ing the video has been
identified as Deepak
Baisala, who is on the
run. Action will be taken
against him, police said.
IN THE COURTYARD
Kangana gets partial
relief in defamation case
SC quashes FIR against Shillong Times journalist Patricia
New Delhi The Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day quashed the crimi-
nal case registered
against Editor of
Shillong Times Patricia
Mukhim, in relation to
a Facebook post by her
decrying violence
against non-tribal peo-
ple in the State.
The judgment was de-
livered by a bench of
Justices L Nageswara
Rao and Ravindra Bhat
on a plea filed by Mukh-
im, against the Megha-
laya High Court’s order
dismissing her plea to
quash criminal pro-
ceedings.
The criminal pro-
ceedings pertained to a
Facebook post pub-
lished by Mukhim seek-
ing action by the State
against an attack on
some non-tribal boys in
Meghalaya.
A case was filed
against Mukhim alleg-
ing the commission of
offences under Sections
153-A (promoting en-
mity between different
groups on grounds of
religion, race, place of
birth, residence, lan-
guage, etc), 500 (punish-
ment for defamation)
and 505 (statements
conducing to public
mischief) of the Indian
Penal Code.
BJP faces tough
challenge from oppn
in upper Assam
SC directs
Army to grant
PC to officers
Dibrugarh: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is
facing a tough fight
from the Opposition in
the upper Assam re-
gion where 47 seats will
go on polls in the first
phase on March 27.
BJP is banking on
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi to pull off a
victory in upper Assam
where he has held five
rallies so far whereas
Congress has promised
to stop the implementa-
tion of the Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA)
and increase wages of
tea workers.
Assam BJP presi-
dent Ranjit Kumar
Dass has exuded confi-
dence that his party is
going to sweep the elec-
tions polls in the state.
He has said that the
party will soon imple-
ment the BJP if it is re-
elected to office. He fur-
ther claimed that the
CAA is not an issue in
the upcoming Assem-
bly elections in the
state as people will vote
logically, not emotion-
ally.
Around 260 candi-
dates are in the fray out
of which 101 are crore-
pati candidates and 41
candidates have de-
clared criminal cases
against them. —ANI
Mumbai: The Andheri
court in Mumbai has
granted bail to Bolly-
wood actor Kangana
Ranaut on Thursday
after she moved the
court for the cancella-
tion of the bailable war-
rant that the court is-
sued against her in the
defamation case,
brought against her by
lyricist Javed Akhtar.
She has been granted
bail upon furnishing a
surety of 15,000 and a
cash surety of 20,000,
Bar and Bench report-
ed. On March 1, the
court ordered a bailable
warrant against the ac-
tor as she failed to re-
spond to the summons
issued by the court.
Delhi water supply: SC
directive to Punjab, Haryana
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court order the
Punjab and Haryana
governments and
Bhakra-Beas Manage-
ment Board (BKMB) to
maintain the status quo
on the water supply to
Delhi till Friday
. The di-
rective came after the
Delhi Jal Board said the
water supply could be
reduced in the city by
25% because of closing
of canal gates for repair.
Notices have also
been issued to the gov-
ernment of Punjab,
Haryana and BBMB on
DJB’s plea against the
curtailment of supply
of water to Delhi.
“Respondents are di-
rectedtomaintainstatus
quo regarding the sup-
ply of water to Delhi”,
ordered the apex court
bench. The bench, head-
ed by Chief Justice of
IndiaSABobde,alsosaid
that it would hear the
caseonFridayasthereis
“urgency” in the matter.
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Thurs-
day directed directed
the Army to consider
the grant of the perma-
nent commission for
women officers within
a month and allow the
permanent commis-
sion within 2 months
after following the due
process. A bench of the
Apex Court passed the
judgment on hearing a
batch of petitions filed
by many women offic-
ers for permanent
Commission in the In-
dian Army,.
1st phase: Campaigning ends in
WB, Assam voting on Saturday
New Delhi: The high-
voltage campaign for
the first phase of the
poll in Assam and Ben-
gal came to an end on
Thursday evening. A
total of 77 assembly
constituencies (47 in
Assam and 30 in Ben-
gal) will go to the polls
on March 27.
In Bengal, the 30 seats
are spread across tribal-
dominated Purulia,
Bankura, Jhargram,
Purba Medinipur (Part
1) and Paschim Medin-
ipur (Part 1) districts
which were once con-
sidered the citadel of
the Left in the state.
The campaign for the
seats saw high profile
leaders of BJP, which
has emerged as the
main opposition to the
ruling TMC, addressing
poll rallies in Purulia,
Jhargram and Bankura
districts.
In Assam, where the
fate of 264 candidates
hang in balance, the
hectic campaign wit-
nessed the presence of
several national leaders
including Modi, Union
HM Amit Shah, BJP
president JP Nadda,
Congress’ Rahul and
Priyanka Gandhi, who
crisscrossed the state to
garner support for their
respective parties.
Sachin Waze’s custody
extended till April 3
Mumbai: A special
court extended the NIA
custody of suspended
police officer Sachin
Waze, arrested in con-
nection with the recov-
ery of explosives-laden
vehicle near industrial-
ist Ambani’s house, till
April 3. He had nothing
to do with the crime
and had been made a
scapegoat, he told the
special NIA court.
Waze (49), an assis-
tant police inspector
with Mumbai crime
branch, was arrested on
March 13 by the Nation-
al Investigation agency
.
The NIA, which has
invoked the stringent
provisions of Unlawful
Activities (Prevention)
Act (UAPA) against
Waze, sought his custo-
dy for another 15 days.
“I have been made a
scapegoat and have
nothing to do with the
case,” Waze told judge
P R Sitre during the
hearing.
“I was investigating
officer of the case for
one and a half days, and
didwhatever I could in
that capacity
. But there
was suddenly change in
some plan somewhere. I
went to the NIA office
on my own and was ar-
rested,” the police of-
ficer said, adding he
had not confessed to
anything. —PTI
State tops in
FB political
ad spend
over others
Kolkata: Among the
four states and one
union territory that
are going to polls
from March 27, West
Bengal emerged as
the topper in spend-
ing for political ad-
vertisements on Fa-
cebook this year, ac-
cording to data avail-
able with the social
media platform. Be-
sides West Bengal,
assembly elections
will be held in three
other states Assam,
Kerala and Tamil
Nadu and in the un-
ion territory of Pu-
ducherry.
The Facebook ad
spend of the Trina-
mool Congress which
seeks to return to
power in West Ben-
gal for the third con-
secutive term, ex-
ceeds that of the BJP,
the main rival of the
Mamata Banerjee-
led party, in 90 days
till March 22, the
data revealed.
EC NOTICE TO TIWARI
FOR MANIPULATING
MITHUN LEADS MEGA ROADSHOWS IN BENGAL
SHARAD PAWAR TO
CAMPAIGN FOR DIDI
Kolkata: BJP candidate from Pand-
abeswar Jitendra Tiwari was issued
a show-cause notice by the Election
Commission (EC) for promising voters
a free trip to the temple of Lord Ram
in Ayodhya if elected, officials said.
Mr Tiwari made the remarks twice
-- while speaking at a public meeting
in Haripur on March 21, and later at a
party meeting. The Trinamool Con-
gress lodged a complaint with the poll
body on March 22 over the issue.
Keshiary: Bollywood superstar Mithun Chakraborty led two mega roadshows
in the Jungle Mahal region of West Bengal in support of the BJP candidates.
Chakraborty, who was in a white kurta with a long saffron scarf loosely
wrapped around his neck, led the first roadshow in Saltora in Bankura, while
the second one was in Keshiary in the Paschim Medinipur district. Amid chants
of ‘’Jai Shri Ram’’, Chakraborty greeted the enthused supporters people
went atop their houses and gathered near Chakraborty’’s car to have one look
at the superstar. “The overwhelming response, the emotion of the people show
change is inevitable and irreversible in Bengal,” he told reporters in Keshiary.
New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will travel to
West Bengal to campaign Chief Min-
ister Mamata Banerjee in the state As-
sembly polls, said NCP spokesperson,
Mahesh Tapase on Thursday. “NCP
chief Sharad Pawar will campaign in
West Bengal in support of Mamata
Banerjee. He will be on a three-day visit
to the state from April 1, to hold vari-
ous rallies, press conferences and meet
Mamata Banerjee and TMC workers.
ANIL DESHMUKH WRITES TO
PROBE CORRUPTION CHARGES
‘NOBODY HAD
HAND IN
TRANSFERS’
BJP SLAMS
SANJAY RAUT
FOR RALLYING
Mumbai: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Desh-
mukh informed that he has written a letter to CM
Thackeray to investigate the corrupt malpractices
allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai
Police chief Param Bir Singh. Taking to his Twitter
handle, Mr Deshmukh shared the letter written to
Thackeray. “I have asked the CM to inquire into
the allegations made against me by (former Police
Commissioner of Mumbai) Param Bir Singh to
bring out the truth,” he tweeted in Marathi.
Mumbai: The “phone tap-
ping” by the intelligence
department evoked angry
reactions in the meet-
ing of the Maharashtra
cabinet, housing minister
Jitendra Awhad said. NCP
leader Mr Awhad alleged
that then Commissioner
of Intelligence Rashmi
Shukla intercepted calls
without permission.
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra BJP leader Pravin
Darekar on Thursday hit
out at Shiv Sena leader
Sanjay Raut for his re-
fusal to seek state Home
Minister Anil Deshmukh’s
resignation despite “seri-
ous” allegations levelled
against him by former
Mumbai police chief
Param Bir Singh.
Athawale
demands
President’s
rule in Maha
Mumbai: Union Minis-
ter Ramdas Athawale
on Thursday said that
he had met President
Ram Nath Kovind and
demanded President’s
Rule in Maharashtra.
“The situation in Ma-
harashtra is out of con-
trol. The government is
not able to control the
surge in COVID-19 cas-
es in the state. They are
not able to handle the
law and order of the
state,” Athawale told.
Referring to the alle-
gations of the former
Mumbai Police Com-
missioner Param Bir
Singh over the involve-
ment of home minister
Anil Deshmukh’s in-
volvement in severe
“malpractices”, he said,
“No inquiry can take
place until the Maha-
rashtra government is
removed.”
Athawale had earlier
sent a letter to the Un-
ion Home Minister
Amit Shah, demanding
President’s Rule in Ma-
harashtra. —ANI

INDIA
06
WB a safe-house...
the betterment of his
state.
“PM Narendra Modi
had given Rs 1,000 crore
to the state after cyclone
Amphan but the money
never reached the peo-
ple and was usurped by
the TMC leaders,” he
said.
Launching a scathing
attack on Mamata for
not showing sympathy
to the people of her own
constituency, CM Yogi
said, “Today during my
visit to Nandigram, I
met the families of mar-
tyrs who sacrificed
their lives during the
clash with the commu-
nists. But what did
‘Didi’ do for these fami-
lies? All she takes care
of is her party and
power.”Stating that BJP
has never uttered a
word against any reli-
gious celebration, Yogi
questioned Mamata
that why was Durga
PujaandSaraswatiPuja
celebration stopped in
the state. He also as-
sured, “Once BJP is
voted to power, no one
will stop you from per-
forming Saraswati and
Durga Puja.” He also as-
sured the people that
once BJP Government
is formed, strict action
within 24 hours will be
taken against cow
slaughters.
Farmer unions...
Rajewal said that
trade unions from or-
ganised and unorgan-
ised sectors, and
transport and other
associations have ex-
tended their support
for the ‘Bharat Bandh’
call of farmer organi-
sations on March 26.
“Farmers will block
rail tracks in various
places. Markets and
transport services will
be closed during
‘Bharat Bandh’,” Ra-
jewal told PTI.
He said that howev-
er, emergency services
like ambulance and
fire will be allowed
during the nationwide
shutdown.
Thousands of farm-
ers, mainly from Pun-
jab, Haryana and west-
ern Uttar Pradesh,
have been camping at
Singhu, Tikri and
Ghazipur demanding
a complete repeal of
the three farm laws
and a legal guarantee
for the minimum sup-
port price on their
crops.
Farmer leader Ab-
himanyu Kohar, who
is also senior member
of Samkyukta Kisan
Morcha, said that the
major impact of the
‘Bharat Bandh’ will be
felt in Haryana and
Punjab.
The farmer leader
said that in poll-bound
Tamil Nadu, Assam,
West Bengal, Kerala
and Puducherry, the
Samkyukta Kisan
Morcha has appealed
to people to not ob-
serve ‘Bandh’ there.
Sensex ends...
up in the range of 0.35
per cent to 3 per cent.
Pain in the broader
market was even more
severe. The SP BSE
MidCap and SmallCap
indices closed 2.22 per
cent and 1.85 per cent
lower, respectively
.
The overall market
breadth remained titled
towards bears with
2,224 stocks ending the
day in the red as against
just 684 stocks that end-
ed in the green on the
BSE.
As regards sectoral
performance, the Nifty
PSU Bank index skid-
ded 2.5 per cent on the
NSE, sliding over 5.5
per cent in two days.
Meanwhile, the Nifty
Reality, Media, and
Auto indices dropped 2
per cent each. Other
sectoral indices ended
up to 1.5 per cent lower,
barring Nifty Metal in-
dex, up 0.02 per cent.
‘Misogyny, brazen’...
her bandaged leg to peo-
ple, and advised her to
wear bermudas instead
of a sari so that her leg
can be seen “clearly”.
Reacting to Ghosh’s
comments, Kolkata
Mayor Firhad Hakim
tweeted on Thursday,
“If the only sitting fe-
male CM in the country
can be disrespected so
brazenly, am afraid to
imagine what they can
say about our daugh-
ters!”
Three soldiers...
“The Gypsy over-
turned and caught
fire. Five injured sol-
diers managed to come
out of the vehicle but
three were trapped in-
side it and died,” Sta-
tion House Officer
(SHO) Vikram Tiwari
said.
After the accident,
the army gypsy was
completely gutted.
Eight army personnel
were carrying out
some manoeuvers
when the accident
happened. The de-
ceased personnel were
from the 47-AD unit of
Bathinda.The police
suspect gunpowder or
some other flammable
material was kept in
the vehicle for mili-
tary exercise due to
which it caught
fire but the exact cause
behind the accident is
being probed.
FROM PG 1
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Thursday said it is not
right to call the RSS and
its associated groups
‘Sangh Parivar’ as a
family has women, re-
spect for elders, com-
passion and affection,
and the organisation
has none of these.
Gandhi’s remarks
come a day after he said
the alleged harassment
of nuns belonging to a
Kerala-based congrega-
tion in Uttar Pradesh
was a result of the
Sangh Parivar’s “vi-
cious propaganda” to
pitch one community
against another and
trample on minorities.
In a tweet in Hindi on
Thursday, he said he
will no longer refer to
the Rashtriya Swayam-
sevak Sangh as ‘Sangh
Parivar’, united family
.
“I believe it is not
right to call the RSS and
associated organiza-
tions Sangh Parivar --
there are women in the
family, there is respect
for the elderly, a sense
of compassion and af-
fection -- which is not
there in the RSS,” he
said on Twitter. —PTI
Karnal: The Bharati-
ya Kisan Union leader
Rakesh Tikait on
Thursday said the agi-
tating farmers were
prepared for a long
haul and will relent
only when their de-
mands are met. Tikait
reiterated that the
Centre must withdraw
the new farm laws and
provide a legal guar-
antee on MSP.
He said the farm laws
were not only adversely
affecting the farmers
but will impact other
sections as well. “This
fight is not just of farm-
ers but it is also for the
poor, small traders,”
said Tikait while ad-
dressing a farmers’
‘mahapanchayat’ at As-
sandh in this district.
Asserting that farm-
ers were prepared for a
long haul, he said, “This
agitation will go on for
long. We have made
preparations till No-
vember-December.”
Referring to his late
father Mahender Singh
Tikait, he said, “Tikait
sahib used to say that
when Haryana stands
in support of an agita-
tion, govt shivers. —PTI
FEAROF2NDWAVECONTINUESIN6STATES
With another 53,476 fresh new coronavirus cases, the nation saw the biggest single-day jump in total infections in nearly five months
New Delhi: Nearly 81
per cent of the new cor-
onavirus cases record-
ed by India in the last 24
hours were reported
from six states - Maha-
rashtra, Punjab, Kerala,
Karnataka, Chhattis-
garh and Gujarat, the
government said today.
Of these, Maharashtra
and Gujarat recorded
the biggest single-day
jump in total infections
ever since the pandemic
hit India.
As India logged the
highest number of cas-
es in a single day since
October 23 with 53,456
new infections, Maha-
rashtra, the worst-hit
state by the pandemic,
recorded 31,855 cases
in the last 24 hours
taking the total num-
ber of infections in the
state to 25,64,881. So
far, over 53,000 people
have died of coronavi-
rus in the state.
India’s financial cap-
ital Mumbai reported
5,185 new coronavirus
cases in 24 hours - the
city’s biggest ever sin-
gle-day spike, and a
nearly 48 per cent in-
crease from the preced-
ing period. The city
has banned celebration
of Holi - which falls on
March 28 and 29 - in
public or private spac-
es. Authorities will
also carry out random
Rapid Antigen Tests
(RAT) of people in pub-
lic spaces.
Meanwhile, in Guja-
rat, 1,790 fresh cases
were recorded and the
tally rose to 2,92,169.
In a statement,
Health Ministry today
said ten states - Delhi,
Tamil Nadu, Chhattis-
garh, Karnataka, Hary-
ana, Rajasthan, Maha-
rashtra, Gujarat, Pun-
jab and Madhya
Pradesh - are showing
an “upward trajectory
in daily cases”.
Three states, Maha-
rashtra, Kerala and
Punjab, account for
74.32 per cent of total
active cases in the coun-
try -3,95,192. Maharash-
tra alone accounts for
62.91 per cent of the to-
tal active cases in the
country
.
Across India, 251 peo-
ple died of coronavirus
in the last 24 hours, the
government said. “Six
states account for
78.49% of daily deaths.
Maharashtra saw the
maximum casualties
(95). Punjab follows
with 39 daily deaths and
Chhattisgarh reported
29 deaths in the last 24
hours,” the Health Min-
istry statement further
read. —Agencies
New Delhi: India is wit-
nessing an increase in
the daily new cases of
COVID-19 since Febru-
ary, “clearly indicating a
second wave”, a report
by the State Bank of
India (SBI) said. The
second wave may last
up to 100 days, when
counted from February
15, it said.
Based on trends till
March 23, the total
number of coronavirus
cases in India in the
second wave is ex-
pected to be around 25
lakh, the forecast said.
The 28-page report
said localised lock-
downs or restrictions
have been “ineffective”
and that mass vaccina-
tion is the “only hope”
to win the battle against
the pandemic.
“Considering the
number of days from
the current level of daily
new cases to the peak
level during the first
wave, India might reach
the peak in the second
half of April,” it said.
Focusing on the
economic indicators,
the SBI report said
the business activity
index, based on high
frequency indicators,
has declined in the last
week, adding that the
impact of the lock-
down or restrictions
imposed by certain
states might become
visible next month.
The report also calls
for an increase in the
pace of vaccination
across states. Increas-
ing daily vaccination
from the current 34
lakh to 40-45 lakh per
day would mean that
inoculation of citizens
over 45 years can be
completed in 4 months
from now. —PTI
CURRENT WAVE COULD PEAK IN 2ND HALF OF APRIL: SBI REPORT
NEARLY 36,000 NEW COVID CASES IN MAHARASHTRA
NEGATIVE RT-PCR REPORT MUST FOR ALL PASSENGERS ARRIVING IN BENGALURU
Mumbai: Maharash-
tra reported 35,952
new coronavirus
cases on Thursday,
its single-highest
surge in 24 hours
since the beginning of
the pandemic, along
with 111 deaths.
The country’s finan-
cial capital Mumbai
too logged 5,504 new
infections - crossing
5,000 for the second
day in a row - to post
a new single-day high.
Maharashtra had
logged 31,855 new
cases a day before
while Mumbai re-
ported 5,185.
The rate at which
infections in Mumbai
are doubling now
stands at 75 days
- a worrying figure -
and it is decreasing
rapidly, experts said.
Authorities ordered
people indoors
in some towns in
western India as the
number of new coro-
navirus infections
hit 53,476 infections
overnight, the high-
est in five months,
data showed earlier
in the day.
Cases have surged
across several states
in since late February,
following a near-full
reopening of the
economy and flouting
of safety measures
such as the wearing
of face masks and so-
cial distancing, health
officials say.
More than half
the new infections
were reported from
Maharashtra, home
to financial capital
Mumbai, where mil-
lions have returned
to work in offices and
factories. The local
government imposed
a full lockdown for ten
days in the worst-af-
fected towns Nanded
and Beed following a
cabinet meeting, an
official said.
New Delhi: Karnataka
health minister K Sudha-
kar said that all passen-
gers travelling to Ben-
galuru, from any state,
will have to produce an
RT-PCR negative report.
Addressing reporters,
the minister said that
this guideline will ap-
ply only to the Bruhat
Bengaluru Mahanagara
Palike limits. For the rest
of the state, an RT-PCR
negative test report is
mandatory for those
arriving from Punjab,
Chandigarh, Maharash-
tra Kerala. He said that
a decision was taken to
expand these regulations
to all travellers since
Bengaluru has been
reporting the highest
number of cases in the
state. Stating that 60 per
cent of cases have an
interstate travel history,
Sudhakar said that the
government is planning
to revive the stamping of
hands of those who have
to undergo home isola-
tion. “Many youngsters
who are supposed to
undergo home isola-
tion are freely walking
around because they are
asymptomatic. We need
to curb this,” he said.
People flouting norms of social distancing throng at Sadar Bazar Market ahead of Holi Festival in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
‘Will no longer call
RSS Sangh Parivar’
Farmers prepared for
a long haul: Tikait
Don’t foresee anymore lockdowns, GDP
growth forecast remains 10.5%: RBI Guv
Mumbai: The rising
COVID-19 infections
across the country are
a matter of concern,
but it may not impact
the ongoing economic
revival as one does not
foresee lockdowns, Re-
serve Bank Governor
Shaktikanta Das said
today
.
The economic re-
vival will continue
“unabated”, Mr Das
said, asserting that
there is no need for a
downward revision of
RBI’s 10.5 per cent
GDP growth forecast
for FY22.
Speaking at Times
Network’s India Eco-
nomic Conclave 2021,
Mr Das said, “We have
‘insurance’ to protect
economic revival like
a fast-paced vaccina-
tion drive, greater
ability among people
to follow COVID proto-
cols”, and one does not
see lockdowns as well.
“The renewed surge
in COVID cases in
many parts of the
country is a matter of
concern,” the gover-
nor said.
“I would feel that
the revival of econom-
ic activity, which has
happened, should con-
tinue unabated going
forward. My under-
standing and our pre-
liminary analysis
shows that the growth
rate next year the 10.5
per cent which we had
given would not re-
quire a downward re-
vision,” he added.
It can be noted that
India reported over
50,000 new COVID-19
infections on Wednes-
day with states like
Maharashtra report-
ing newer highs, and a
new strain of virus
has also been found.
Some pockets of the
country have already
resorted to stricter
lockdowns in the face
of the rising infec-
tions. It can be noted
that a nationwide
lockdown last year led
to a deep economic im-
pact and the GDP is set
to contract by over 7
per cent in FY21.
“...at this point of
time, one does not for-
see a kind of lockdown
that we experienced
last year. Last year, it
cameasahugeshock,”
Das said.
Governor affirmed
the central bank’s
commitment to use all
its policy tools to fa-
cilitate the economic
revival from the de-
bilitating impact of
the pandemic while
ensuring price and fi-
nancial stability
. —PTI
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait

NEWS
07
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In the ongo-
ing Lok Sabha session
of 2021 in the state, Eta-
wah MP has raised the
issue of not having rail
lines in Auraiya and
Kanpur Rural.
The MP said that the
survey work of Phap-
hund to Jalaun-Konch
rail route and Etawah
to Bindki road rail
route to connect the dis-
trict Auraiya was com-
pleted in the year 2014
but no work has been
undertaken to con-
struct rail tracks and
operate trains in the
route.
MP Ram Shankar
Katheria said that if the
rail tracks are con-
structed from Phap-
hund to Jalaun-Konch
and with railway sta-
tions Babarpur, Ajit-
mal, Sikandra, Rajpur,
Satti, Bhoganipur,
Moosanagar, Ghatam-
pur, Jahanabad and
Bindki Road the Aurai-
ya station can be made
as a junction.
These railway lines
will help businessmen
of ghee, pulses, oilseeds
based from Auraiya and
farmers as well as gen-
eral traders will benefit
from this.
The MP said that
with the operation of
rail route between Eta-
wah to Bindki, places
like Etawah, Bakwer,
Pukhrayan will be con-
nected along with Au-
raiya and the strain on
trains from Kanpur will
also be reduced as these
trains will no longer be
needed to stop in the ru-
ral areas.
He added that since
the survey work from
Phaphund to Jalaun-
Konch and Etawah to
Bindki Road has been
completed long back,
the train track in the
said route should be
constructed at the earli-
est.
Janardan Misra
Bulandshahr: Mar-
tyr Sub-Inspector
Prashant Yadav was
cremated here at his
native place in Chha-
tari area. He attained
martyrdom when he
tried to resolve dis-
pute between two
brothers over potato
crop harvesting in
Agra and one of them
shot him in his neck.
SI Prashant was
2015 batch PPS officer
and he was posted in
Agra from past ten
years. His dead body
reached at his native
place at around 1300
Hrs and everyone pre-
sent there was paying
his tribute to brave of-
ficer. Some of them
were raising slogans
like “UP police Badla
Lo” (UP Police take re-
venge) and “Prashant
Yadav amar rahega”
(Prashant will never
die). Several young-
sters joined his last
rituals with national
flags in their hands.
Prashat had reached
Nerrha village in Agra
district with constable
Chandrasen, after
complaint of dispute
between two brothers
Vishwanath and
Shivnath over crop
harvesting. When SI
Prashant tried to in-
tercept Vishwanath he
opened fire on SI and
bullet went through
his neck. Prashant fell
down after the shot
and he was rushed to
CHC where doctors de-
clared him brought
dead.
UP CM Yogi Adity-
anath had expressed
deep condolences over
demise of young po-
lice officer and had an-
nounced ex-gratia of
Rs 50 lakh for the fam-
ily of deceased along
with government job
to one member of the
family. It was also an-
nounced that a road in
his native village will
be named after him.
It was reported that
in the memory of
brave police officer all
officers and employ-
ees of Agra district
have decided to donate
one day salary to fam-
ily of martyr.
Inspector General,
Agra Zone A Satish
Ganesh had an-
nounced reward of Rs
50,000 on arrest of
prime accused
Vishwanath and sev-
eral teams were
formed to nab the ac-
cused. It was reported
that after the incident
even relatives of the
accused were fled from
the village after lock-
ing their houses.
Etawah MP rues not
having rail lines in
Auraiya and Kanpur
Martyr SI cremated
at his native place
in Bulandshahr
First India Bureau
Ballia:Afterhisremarks
calling burqa an evil cus-
tom triggered a row, Ut-
tar Pradesh minister
Anand Swarup Shukla
on Thursday back-
tracked, saying women
should have the freedom
to wear their choice of
clothes.
Shukla, the Uttar
Pradesh Minister of
State for Parliamentary
Affairs, had on Wednes-
day described the prac-
tice of wearing burqa as
an “inhuman and evil
custom”andcomparedit
tothebannedtripletalaq.
“Women of all reli-
gions should have the
freedom to choose what
to wear. Nothing should
be imposed on them in
the name of conserva-
tism and tradition. Reli-
giousleadersshouldtake
the society forward with
the 21st century
,” he told
reporters here.
Claiming that burqa
has been banned in sev-
eral Muslim countries,
Shukla said Muslim
women should have the
right to choose whether
ornottowearitandthose
with progressive think-
ing are shunning the
practice.
On being asked if the
government will take
steps to ban burqas, he
said: “This topic is about
society
. Muslim religious
leaders should take cog-
nizance of this and take
the opinion of Muslim
women.”
However, Shukla had
onWednesdaysaid,Mus-
lim women will be freed
from burqa like triple ta-
laq. There will come a
time when they will get
rid of it. The Muslim
Women (Protection of
Rights on Marriage) Act
2019 makes the practice
of instant divorce
through triple talaq a
punishable offence.
Under the provisions
of theAct,aMuslimman
who pronounces triple
talaq upon his wife can
be sentenced to a jail
term that may extend to
three years.
Recently
, Shukla had
written to the Ballia dis-
trict magistrate, com-
plaining that he is facing
difficulties in discharge
of his duties due to loud-
speakers at mosques and
said their volume should
be fixed according to the
courtorders.Elaborating
on his complaint, he said
court orders restricting
the use of sound ampli-
fiers from 10 pm to 6 am
should be followed and
the volume should be
controlled even during
the daytime.
Referring to the reac-
tionof someMuslimreli-
gious leaders over his
remarks, Shukla said he
doesnotgetperturbedby
threats.
‘WOMEN SHOULD HAVE FREEDOMTO
WEAR THEIRCHOICEOFCLOTHES’
‘BABUS’
SAMJHO
ISHARE!
Compulsorily Retired,
reads the name plate
on Thursday outside
Amitabh Thakur, the
IPs officer, who was
shown the door by
the Centre only a day
ago. The selfie posted
by the ‘rabble-rouser’
police officer on his
Twitter account soon
became a trend. While
Amitabh could read the
writing on the wall as
early as in December
2019 when he posted
a long-note quoting
reliable sources that he
may get the axe soon
and yet chose not to
‘mend his ways’, his
counterparts in the
civil services including
IAS officers have been
rattled by this bold
‘bolt from the blue.’
This may not be an
isolated case of giving
a shock treatment
to a complacent and
growingly dishonest
civil service even
though Amitabh may
not come under that
category. Cynics
may argue this is a
gimmick or a symbolic
act that would hardly
mend the ways of
the bureaucracy. But
the fact remains the
Modi Government
wants to convert the
bureaucracy into an
accountable body
that is sensitive to
public demands. And
for lethargic “Babus”
this does not bodes
well as their would be
quarterly review of their
performance now by
a vigilant Department
of Personnel and
Training. Against this
backdrop an interesting
study would be to
find out how some
senior officers become
deadwood, and how
only a few select ones
get to be in important
positions during their
careers. —MTariqKhan
NO ACTION, ONLY
ASSURANCE
B rother-In-law
Hukam Singh kept
on requesting for a CBI
inquiry in the case of
slain SI Prashant Yadav
and at one point of time
even called for placing
a call to CM Yogi as
there has only been
assurance but not much
action has been taken
against the accused.
He was later calmed
down by the police and
administrative officials
and the slain SI’s mortal
remain was laid to rest.
Earlier in the day, the
mortal remains of slain
SI Prashant Kumar
triggered a wave of
mourning. The family
of the slain SI has been
inconsolable since the
news of his death was
received and when the
mortal remain reached
his residence, his sister
fainted upon seeing
the lifeless body and
the wails of his mother
and wife spent shivers
down the spine of many
present. The mortal
remains of the slain SI
Prashant Yadav was laid
to rest with state honors
and various officials
like Shikarpur MLA Anil
Sharma, DM, SSP, etc.
paid their respect to the
slain SI. The pyre of the
slain SI was put on fire
by his 4-year old son
Parth Yadav. The people
of the village who had
collected around the
residence made a lot of
slogans and called for
strict action against the
accused in the case.
—FirstIndiaBureau
ONE YEAR OF LOCKDOWN
A group of migrants engage in a scuffle for packets of free food and water bottles distributed by railway officials during
ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, at the railway station in Prayagraj on Monday, June 1, 2020. —PHOTO BY PTI
Large scale illegal land mining busted
‘Daughters of India proving
their talent round the globe’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Large scale
illegal land mining in
the village Chaurahia
under Sushant Golf
City police station of
Lucknow has come to
notice of the adminis-
tration.
The administration
which received news of
large scale illegal land
mining in the area un-
der the direction of Dis-
trict Magistrate Ab-
hishek Prakash raided
the spot late at night
and found people en-
gaged in illegal mining.
The team consisting of
Mining Officer Dr.
Shushil Kumar, Tehsil-
dar Sandeep Tripathi
and Nayab Tehsildar
Manish Tripathi found
on the spot 9 dumping
trucks and 2 earth mov-
ers which were seized
by the Sushant Golf
City police station.
According to Nayab
Tehsildar Manish Trip-
athi the mining mafias
were involved in illegal
mining in 15.46 hectares
of government pasture
land in Chaurahia on
the banks Gomti River
and were selling the
sand in Barabanki
without paying royalty
.
While the 9 dumping
trucks and 2 earth mov-
ers were seized, the roy-
alty from the illegally
mined sand was sent to
DM. The Department of
Mining has also filed a
cased against the peo-
ple involved in illegal
mining.
First India Bureau
Muzaffarnagar: Ma-
harashtra and Goa
Governor Bhagat Sin-
gh Koshiyari who at-
tended the annual fest
in Shri Kund Kund
Jain Degree College in
his address said that
daughters of India are
proving their talent in
many fields today in
the country as well as
in foreign countries.
The Governor while
taking the example of
Kamala Harris who is
of Indian origin and
was recently named as
the Vice President of
USA said that girls of
the country have been
doing great not only in
the field of studies but
also other fields like
business, etc.
The Governor said
that under Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi,
the youth are becoming
self-reliant within the
country
.
He added that women
have always been re-
spected even in the slo-
gans of the religious
scriptures and even
Lord Krishna has been
known to have used the
phrase Bharat Mata ki
Jai in the religious
scriptures. He further
added that students
should make the coun-
try and society proud
no matter in whichever
field they plan to follow
their career in.
Anand Swarup
Shukla, UP Minister
of State for Parlia-
mentary Affairs, had
on Wednesday de-
scribed the practice
of wearing burqa as
an “inhuman and
evil custom” and
compared it to the
banned triple talaq.
On being asked if
the government will
take steps to ban
burqas, he said:
“This topic is about
society. Muslim
religious leaders
should take cogni-
zance of this and
take the opinion of
Muslim women.”
Maharashtra and Goa Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

08
2NDFRONT
If you want your relationships
with others to be strong and grow
stronger then instead of being a
critic become an encourager.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
‘Ensure uninterrupted
power supply to tubewells
in Banda village’
‘Mafias’ properties to be seized before polls’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A petition has been
filed before the Supreme Court
regarding reservation in the Ut-
tar Pradesh Panchayat Election
2021 (Panchayat Chunav), chal-
lenging the Allahabad High
Court order to shift the base
year for reservations to 2015
from 1995. The plea also sought
to hold the Panchayat Chunav
by May 25. The high court order
has extended the elections by
ten days.
The question is, will the UP Pan-
chayat elections be postponed fur-
ther? Supreme Court has listed the
hearing for March 26. The final
reservation list from all districts
will be sent to the government by
March 26.
A 186-page petition was filed in
the Supreme Court to reconsider
the reservation of seats. The peti-
tion stated that during the 2015 Pan-
chayat Chunav, the Uttar Pradesh
government had amended the
Rules 1994 through the 10th amend-
ment and incorporated a provision
to Rules 4.
As a result, it initiated a new ro-
tation of seats ignoring the prior
reservations for gram panchayat
with respect to the respective re-
served categories. Another objec-
tion raised was regarding the res-
ervation of women and OBCs in
every district. In the OBC quota for
gram panchayat, women from the
reserved category get more than
33% reservation, while women
from unreserved category get less
than the standard 33% reservation.
The Uttar Pradesh government has
said that no matter what the Su-
preme Court decision is with re-
gards to the reservation of seats,
there will be no change in the date
set for UP panchayat elections.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Alla-
habad High Court di-
rected the concerned
government agencies to
ensure uninterrupted
supply of electricity to
all tube-wells in affected
areas of Bachheura vil-
lage in Banda district.
Interrupted supply of
electricity that affects
the supply of water to
the agricultural fields
amounts to violation of
Article 19 of the Consti-
tution as it affects busi-
ness and profession of
the agriculturists, the
Allahabad HC observed
on Tuesday (Nathu
Prasad Kushwaha v.
State of UP).
A Division Bench of
Chief Justice Govind
Mathur and Justice
Saurabh Shyam Sham-
shery, therefore, direct-
ed the concerned gov-
ernment agencies to
ensure uninterrupted
supply of electricity to
all tube-wells.
“We are of considered
opinion that in com-
mandareaanyeventual-
ity that adversely affects
the water supply to the
agricultural fields virtu-
allyamountstotheviola-
tion of Article 19 of the
Constitution. The re-
sponsible government
agencies must ensure
that in normal course,
thetube-wellssituatedin
command area must re-
main operational,” the
order said.
First India Bureau
Noida: Police Commis-
sioner Alok Singh has
ordered a crackdown on
criminal and land mafias.
He also issued directions
to put an end to women-
related crime.
All the officers present
during a meeting were
also briefed about the up-
coming Uttar Pradesh
(UP) panchayat elections
(Chunav). The Noida po-
lice commissioner also di-
rected strict action against
mafias, wanted criminals,
and those involved in
women-realted crimes in-
cluding chain-snatching
and molestation.
Meanwhile, prepara-
tions are on for the Uttar
Pradesh panchayat polls.
For the same, the Ghazi-
abad district administra-
tion has divided the entire
district into 25 zones and
75 sectors while appoint-
ing a government official
to handle poll-related mat-
ters in each of them.
The designated zonal
and sectoral magistrates
were given day-long train-
ing to handle poll-related
matters. They were asked
to visit their respective
areas and apprise them-
selves of the ground situ-
ation there, Ghaziabad
District Magistrate Ajay
Shankar Pandey had said.
These officials will iden-
tify sensitive polling
booths in their areas for
the panchayat elections
and submit their reports to
the district election office.
Pandey said no officer can
leave the headquarters
without taking prior per-
mission, ahead of the UP
panchayat election 2021.
The final reservation list
from all dists will be sent
to the govt by March 26
Govt says there will be no
change in the date set for
UP panchayat elections
Plea filed in SC challenging HC order on P’yat
elections to shift quota base year to 2015
—FILE
PHOTO
WHAT PETITION STATED?
FESTIVE FERVOUR
People hold cutouts of the COVID-19 vaccine and UP CM Yogi Adityanath as they sing
songs ahead of the Holi festival, at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi on Thursday. —ANI
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: While re-
moving Principal Secre-
tary Minorities Welfare
BL Meena from the post
of administrator Shia
Central Waqf Board, the
state government has de-
cided to hold the election
to the board on April 20.
The board had come
under the control of the
government in May 2020
after the tenure of its
electedchairmanWasim
Rizvi came to an end.
Earlier this month the
government decided to
appointMeenaasthead-
ministrator of the board
and he took over charge
on March 16.
However, on March 18
a PIL was moved in Luc-
know bench of the High
Court challenging the
appointmentof adminis-
trator. The court while
issuing notice to the
state government want-
ed to know under which
law the Principal secre-
tary had been made ad-
ministratorof theboard.
There is no provision
in Waqf Act about the
appointmentof adminis-
trator after the comple-
tion of five years of the
board. Asperthelawthe
administrator could be
appointed only if the
board is dissolved pre-
maturely
.
Thus, on late Wednes-
day night development
the government with-
drew its order appoint-
ing Meena as adminis-
trator and also issued
notification to hold the
election on April 20. It
may be recalled that for
certain mysterious rea-
son the government had
earlier divested the min-
ister of state Mohsin
Raza from the charge of
Shia waqf board.
The government has
already conducted the
election of Sunni Cen-
tral Waqf Board earlier
this month in which Zu-
farAhmadFarooquehas
been re-appointed as its
chairman. However the
situation in Shia Waqf
Board is quite tricky as
the CBI has been con-
ducting inquiry against
formerchairmanWasim
Rizvi for large scale bun-
gling and for this reason
thegovernmentpresum-
ably wanted to delay the
election.
In 11-member board
there will be two elected
members from Muta-
walli quota, two each
from MPs and MLAs,
two from bar council,
one each cleric and so-
cial activist and one ad-
ministrative officer.
BL Meena removed from administrator’s post
SHIA WAQF BOARD POLLS

PIL was moved
challenging
appointment of
administrator on
March 18. Thus,
govt withdrew
Meena’s
appointment;
now election
will be held on
April 20
BL Meena
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A few days
aftertheUPgovernment
issued notice to officials
after they failed to re-
spond to calls on their
Closed User Group
(CUG) numbers, a reali-
ty check was carried out
andfoundthatonlythree
of 10 answered the call.
The Yogi Adityanath-
led Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment had earlier this
week issued show-cause
noticestoovertwodozen
DMs and five divisional
commissioners after
they failed to respond to
phone calls from the
Chief Minister’s Office
to their official CUG
numbers.Seniorgovern-
ment officials, however,
seem to have not taken
the warning seriously
.
Of 10 officers, seven, in-
cluding Uttar Pradesh
DGP Hitesh Chandra
Awasthi, did not attend
the phone call on their
CUG number..
Other officers who
failed to respond or had
kept their CUG number
with their staff included
Ballia SP Vipin Tada,
Balrampur SP Hemant
Kutiyal, Shravasti DM
TK Shibu, Siddarthna-
gar SP Ram Abhilash
Tripathi, Unnao DM
Ravindra Kumar and
SSP Muzaffarnagar Ab-
hishek Yadav.
Thethreeofficerswho
answered the call were
Lucknow Police Com-
missioner DK Thakur,
CMO Mau Satish Chan-
dra Singh and CMO
Hapur Rekha Sharma.
OnNovember20,2020,
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi
Adityanath had ordered
senior government of-
ficers to attend calls to
their CUG numbers, in a
bid to make administra-
tion and police more ac-
countable and people-
friendly
.
Following a check on
March 15, 2021, the CMO
issued show-cause no-
tices to around 24 DMs,
20 SPs and five commis-
sioners for not respond-
ing to phone calls on
their CUG number.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Nation-
al Human Rights Com-
mission (NHRC) on
Thursday issued a no-
tice to the Uttar
Pradesh Director Gen-
eral of Police (DGP)
over policemen alleg-
edly framing an eatery
owner in Etah district
after they were asked
to pay for the food they
had.
The NHRC said it
took suo motu cogni-
sance of the matter re-
ported by the media
this week. The two po-
licemen, who got into a
squabble with the
dhaba owner, allegedly
falsely implicated and
arrested 10 people —
the brother and a cous-
in of the dhaba owner
and eight customers
— and claimed to have
recovered contraband
from them.
The persons report-
edly arrested by the
police are presently
lodged in judicial cus-
tody. The Commission
has issued a notice to
the DGP, UP, calling for
a report in the matter
within six weeks,” the
NHRC said.
The NHRC said the
matter raised serious
concerns of human
rights violation. “The
incident, apparently, is
a classic example of
failure of entire sys-
tem of checks and bal-
ances. Hence, fair in-
vestigation is required
to be conducted to
know as to from where
the policemen could
manage to procure
these items,” the
NHRC said.
7 SPs,DMs fail to
attend calls on CUG
despite CM’s warning
NHRC notice to DGP over
cops framing dhaba owner
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
HC closed on
April 1-2 in
view of rising
covid cases
First India Bureau
P R A Y A G R A J :
There will be no sit-
ting of courts in the
high court at Praya-
graj and Lucknow on
April 1 and 2 in view
of the rapid surge in
the number of active
coronavirus cases in
the two districts.
Hence, there shall
be no physical filing
or e-filing of cases for
two days. The high
court is closed for
Holi vacations from
March 28 to 31. With
April 3 and 4 being
the weekend, the HC
would resume func-
tioning on April 5.
As per a notifica-
tion issued by chief
justice Govind Ma-
thur, the matters
fixed for April 1 and
2 shall be taken up by
the courts on April 6
and 8, respectively, at
Prayagraj. Accord-
ing to registrar (pro-
tocol), Ashish Kumar
Srivastava, keeping
in view the growing
number of Covid-19
cases, under the or-
der of chief justice,
the photo affidavit
centre has been
closed with immedi-
ate effect.

LUCKNOW, FRIDAY
MARCH 26, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
A
ctor Abhishek Bachchan is
again in the headlines after
his next film titled The Big
Bull trailer released star-
ring Ileana D’cruz and Nikita Dutta.
The film is inspired by the life of
Harshad Mehta and the famous scam
of 1992. The makers dropped the teas-
er of the first song ‘Ishq Namazaa’.
Abhishek Bachchan had also tweeted
about the song and also gave a glimpse
of the romantic number. The full song
has released on Thursday
. Taking it to
his official Twitter handle, Abhishek
Bachchan wrote,“Aur jabse mile hain,
gumshuda hain saara jahan Multiple
musical notes #IshqNamazaa, song
out now”. The song is a compilation
of how their love journey, mar-
riage, and life. The
lyrics are very
soothing and
will soon
tug with
y o u r
heart.
—Agency
I
nterior designer Sussanne Khan is quite ac-
tive on social media and on Thursday neti-
zens went crazy with a response from ex-
husband Hrithik Roshan. Recently
, Sussanne
dolled up in smart casuals to head out in the
town, she clicked a mirror selfie and gave fans
a glimpse of her look. While the photo surely
was stunning and Sussanne looked gorgeous, it
was her hilarious caption that evoked a re-
sponse from ex-husband Hrithik Roshan. Sus-
sanne wrote, “Sometimes in my head.. I think I
am a boy
...” The gorgeous designer left fans in
complete awe of her look. However, Hrithik
chimed in and shared his take on her look in a
comment. He could not stop laughing at the cap-
tion but wrote, “Hahaha nice pic” with a clap-
ping emoticon. —Agency
I am a
I am a boy!
boy!
A
fter Aamir Khan
tested positive
for COVID 19,
fans have been
praying for his recovery.
Now, as per a report, Ki-
ara Advani will have to
undergo a COVID 19 test
again as she was shooting
with Aamir for an ad
film. Earlier this
week after Kartik
Aaryan tested COVID 19 pos-
itive, Kiara had undergone a
test too. Now, as per a report
by Filmfare, the actress was
apparently filming an ad film
with Aamir and director
Nitesh Tiwari. A few days
back, Kiara had shared a
photo on social media with
director Nitesh Tiwari and
hinted at shooting something
big with him. —Agency
R
icha Chadha is currently filming Six Sus-
pects, the screen adaptation of Vi-
kas Swarup’s acclaimed novel
of the same name. Keen to
familiarise herself with the gritty
universe of the murder mystery,
the actor devoured the book be-
fore reporting to the shoot with
co-star Pratik Gandhi. Her ef-
forts to become one with the
character got a boost when the
diplomat-author dropped in on
the set of the Tigmanshu
Dhulia-directed web se-
ries in Mumbai on
Wednesday.“Vikas is
such an amazing
writer, and that
shows in his work.
When I met him in
person, I truly
understood his
nuanced vi-
sion, and by
extension, my
role better.
Meeting him
on the set fur-
ther helped me
do justice to
this character,”
said Chadha,
who plays one
of the prime
suspects in the
murder of a poli-
tician’s son, who
was in turn ac-
quitted in the mur-
der case of a Delhi
bartender. —Agency
f there is one actress in Bollywood who has
managed to leave everyone in awe of her looks
as well as style, it is Katrina Kaif. Not just this,
she is known to be a fitness lover and often
shares a sneak peek into her workout regimen
via her social media handles. From sweating
it out at Pilates class to dancing it out, Katrina
uses various ways to stay fit and fans always are
intrigued to know the secret behind her fit body.
Katrina strongly believes that her fitness not just
comes from her exercising but her healthy routine
that she never fails to follow. Undoubtedly the ac-
tress leaves her fans drooling. —Agency
I
Fitness Freak
COVID 19
TEST AGAIN
SIX SUSPECTS
SIX SUSPECTS
Bunty Aur Babli 2
BIG NEWS
T
here has been a rise in the cases of
Coronavirus cases across the coun-
try
. In some parts, the lockdown has
been announced. And seeing the
pandemic situation getting worse, Aditya
Chopra’s Bunty Aur Babli 2 which was
slated to release on April 23 has been
pushed till further notice. “Aditya Chopra
is playing the big game of making theatri-
cals make a huge comeback and he is ex-
tremely confident that Bunty Aur Babli 2
will entertain the whole of India. The film
is a popcorn entertainer that the entire
family can watch and enjoy. He wants to
hold the film. —Agency
B
ollywood superstar Shah Rukh
Khan is all set to return to the big
screen after a long gap. He will be
next seen in director Siddharth
Anand’s much-awaited action-packed mov-
ie Pathan. The shooting has already begun
in full swing. Musical duo Vishal Dadlani
and Shekhar Ravjiani will be reuniting
with Shah Rukh Khan and will create mu-
sical magic for the film. The news was con-
firmed by Vishal Dadlani on his Twitter.
—Agency
I
t has been a tough few days for the In-
dian Film Industry as several stars
f r o m
showbiz
have tested
positive for
COVID 19.
On Wednes-
day this
week, Aamir
Khan had
tested posi-
tive for the
novel Coro-
navirus and was in-home quarantine. His
3 Idiots co-star, actor R Madhavan also an-
nounced in a post on Twitter that he tested
positive for COVID 19. However, he an-
nounced with a 3 Idiots twist. —Agency
TOUGH WEEK
‘Ishq Namazaa’ Out
Katrina Kaif
Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji
Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani
R Madhavan’s tweet
Ileana D’Cruz
Richa Chadha
Kiara Advani
Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan

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