First India-Lucknow Edition-08 May 2021

Yogi government adds more districts in C-Vax arsenal
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Starting
with seven districts ini-
tially with a high-active
caseload on May 1, the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment has decided to
scale up the Covid-19
vaccination pro-
gramme for over 18 age
group to 18 districts
now from May 10.
The decision was tak-
en by the UP CM Yogi
Adityanath at a high-
level meeting with his
Team 9 and other senior
officials here on Friday
.
“Vaccination for the
age group of 18-44 will
start in these districts
from Monday, May 10.
The concerned minis-
ter-in-charge or local
public representative
should be present at a
few vaccination cen-
tres. The presence of
public representatives
will help encourage
people” said CM Yogi,
adding that continuous
contact with vaccine
manufacturing compa-
nies should be main-
tained from the level of
Minister of Medical
Education.
The Phase-3 of Cov-
id-19 vaccination had
come into force from
May 1 in 7 districts of
Uttar Pradesh for 18+
with more than 9000 ac-
tive cases. On Thursday
,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath decided to
expand the programme
to 11 more districts in a
phased manner.
While reviewing the
Covid-19 situation, the
CM said, ”vaccine wast-
age is reduced to only
0.11% in the category of
18-44 years because of
the active participation
of people. It needs to be
brought to zero”. The
Chief Minister Turn to P6
UP & JABBING
CITIES UP FOR JAB
The total 18 districts
where vaccination will
be done include Luc-
know, Kanpur, Prayagraj,
Varanasi, Gorakhpur,
Meerut, and Bareilly, Ali-
garh, Agra, Ghaziabad,
Jhansi, Moradabad,
Saharanpur, Firozabad,
Mathura, Ayodhya,
Shahjahapur and
Gautam Budh Nagar.
CM Yogi Adityanath has lead the state from the front in fight
against Covid-19.

The state has
decided to
scale up the
Covid-19
vaccination
programme for
over 18 age
group to 18
districts now
from May 10
OXYGEN
SUPPLIES
CONTINUE TO
REACH UP
Lucknow: Facing one of
its toughest challenges
to ramp up supply of
Medical Oxygen across
the state, the Yogi
Adityanath government
has roped in Corporates
and its own Excise and
Sugarcane Departments
to meet the demand-
supply gap in the State.
Two more oxygen
express trains carrying
Liquid Medical Oxygen
(LMO) arrived in the
state capital on Friday.
Besides, Uttar Pradesh
will also receive 80
tonnes of oxygen from
Jamnagar (Gujarat) on
Saturday. More on P2
COMBAT-READY?
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LUCKNOW l SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 147
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
 Third Covid wave may not happen if
we take ‘strong measures’, says Principal
Scientific Advisor to PM K Vijay Raghavan
 Maharashtra, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan,
Chhattisgarh, Telangana & Jharkhand
show plateauing of daily cases: Centre
New Delhi: India may
manage to dodge a
deadly third wave of
the coronavirus if nec-
essary steps are taken,
the government’s top
scientific adviser
said on Friday,
two days after
asking the
country to
brace for follow-
ing spikes in
COVID-19 infections.
“If we take strong
measures, the third
wave may not happen in
all the places or indeed
anywhere at all. It de-
pends much on how ef-
fectively the guidance
is implemented at the
local level, in the states,
in districts and in the
cities everywhere,” Dr
K VijayRaghavan said.
The comments were a
step-downfromWednes-
day when he said,
“Phase 3 (third wave) is
inevitable, given
the high levels at
which this virus
is circulating.
But it is not clear
at what time
scale this Phase
3 will occur.”
The current surge in
infections seems to be
because of the Indian
“double mutant” coro-
navirus and the spread
of the UK variant has
slowed, he had said,
Turn to P6
Disappointing...
Unexpectedly so:
Sonia on poll results
File report on post-poll
violence: Calcutta HC
to Bengal Home Secy
Will bear cost
of coronavirus
treatment for
all: Tamil Nadu
new CM Stalin
New Delhi: Congress
Interim President So-
nia Gandhi on Friday
described the party’s
performance in last
month’s Assembly
elections as “very dis-
appointing” and added
that it was “unexpect-
edly so”.
Gandhi said the
CWC (Congress Work-
ing Committee) - the
party’s highest deci-
sion-making body -
would meet soon to re-
viewtheresults.“...but
it goes without saying
that we, as a party col-
lective, must draw ap-
propriate lessons from
this setback in a spirit
of humility
,” she said.
“Unfortunately, our
own performance in
all the states was very
disappointing and if I
may say, unexpectedly
so. The CWC is meet-
ing shortly to review
results...” she said at a
virtual meet of the
Congress Parliamen-
tary Party, as she con-
gratulated Mamata
Banerjee and MK Sta-
lin for their wins.
Turn to P6
Kolkata: Taking a se-
rious view of violence
after the Assembly
poll results in West
Bengal, the Calcutta
High Court on Friday
ordered the state
Home Secretary to file
a report mentioning
the places where the
post-poll violence oc-
curred and the steps
taken to contain the
violence.
A five-member Con-
stitution Bench of the
Calcutta High Court
passed the order.
The next date of
hearing regarding the
matter is on May 10.
Violence has been
reported in several
parts of West Bengal
after the results of the
assembly elections
were declared on May
2. Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) alleged
that nine of its party
workers have been
killed in the post-poll
violence. However, the
TMC is denying the al-
legations. Turn to P6
New Delhi: Tamil
Nadu Chief Minis-
ter M K Stalin on
Friday said his gov-
ernment will bear
the cost of Covid-19
treatment for pa-
tients who are ad-
mitted in private
hospitals. This will
be covered under the
Chief Minister’s
C o m p r e h e n s iv e
Health Insurance
Scheme.
This was among
Stalin’s first of five
orders after assum-
ing office this morn-
ing. He also ordered
Covid-19 financial
aid of Rs 4,000 to
2,07,67,000 rice card-
holders across the
state. “To implement
the scheme, the
Chief Minister has
signed the order to
provide the first in-
stalment of Rs 2,000
in May itself at Rs
4,153.69 crore,” an
order said.
‘NATION SINKING
UNDER WEIGHT
OF MODI GOVT’S
INDIFFERENCE’
New Delhi: Slamming
the Modi government
over its handling of
the covid situation,
Sonia said the Centre
has failed the people of
India as the “country
is crippled by political
leadership that has
no empathy for its
citizens. The nation is
sinking under the Nar-
endra Modi govern-
ment’s indifference.”
Dena hi padega: Supply 700 MT oxy to Delhi: SC
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Friday
directed the Centre to
supply 700 metric tonnes
of medical oxygen to
Delhi everyday till fur-
ther orders as top hospi-
tals in the national capi-
tal have been struggling
totackleanunprecedent-
ed rise in Covid-19 cases.
A bench headed by
Justice DY Chandra-
chud took note of the
submission of the Delhi
government on defi-
cient supply of oxygen
to the national capital
and warned that it will
pass orders against of-
ficials concerned if 700
MT of LMO is not sup-
plied daily
. Turn to P6
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
INDIA
4,14,188
3,915
new cases
new fatalities
ARMY’S PRIMARY
JOB ISN’T HANDLING
COVID: HC TO DELHI
VACCINES BE GIVEN
TO THE STATES FOR
FREE: BENGAL TO SC
New Delhi: While rejecting a
submission against Centre’s
refusal to accede to Delhi
government’s request for
setting up of field hospitals
by Army in the national
capital, the Delhi High Court
on Friday said that the
armed forces would have to
remain in readiness to first
discharge the duty for which
they havwe been raised, and
it does not want the corona-
virus to spread like “wildfire”
among the armed forces.
Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee’s
government in West Bengal
told the Supreme Court
today that there should be a
uniform vaccination policy
and the new differential pric-
ing mechanism in the latest
phase of inoculations must
be scrapped. The Centre
must take immediate steps
to ensure vaccines are made
available and given to states
free of cost, Bengal said in
an affidavit before hearing on
vaccine policy next Monday.
Beneficiaries in the age group of 45 and above get vaccinated
against COVID-19, at a drive-in camp in Mumbai on Friday.
Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi.
ITBP IG Anand Swaroop visits the wards of 500 oxygen bedded
Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre, Radha Soami Beas in New Delhi.
A covid patient looks on during her treatment at Jawahar Lal
Nehru Hospital in Ajmer on Friday. —PHOTOS BY PTI
DRIVE-IN VACCINATION
New Delhi: To cut back on data entry
errors about vaccination status and incon-
venience caused to citizens, the CoWIN
system will introduce a four-digit security
code from Saturday, the Health Ministry
has said. In some instances, the Ministry
noted, citizens who had booked their
appointments but could not go for the
vaccination received SMS notification that
a shot has been administered to them.
Upon enquiry it was found to be an in-
stance of data entry error by the vaccina-
tor, it stated. “In order to minimise such
errors and the subsequent inconvenience
caused to the citizens, the CoWIN system
is introducing a new feature of four-digit
security code in the CoWIN application
from May 8. The new feature will be ap-
plicable only for citizens who have done
an online booking for a vaccination slot
COWIN TO SEND 4-DIGIT
CODE FROM TODAY. KNOW
WHY THAT’S HAPPENING
UTTAR PRADESH
28,076
372
new cases
new fatalities

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Lucknow: UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath’s helpline is com-
ing to the aid of thou-
sands of Covid infected
persons everyday
.
Out of the 18,55,788
people who have con-
tacted the CM Helpline
through its toll free
number 1076 for differ-
ent kinds of support, it
has addressed issues of
8,13,930 people to date.
Rajesh Sundaram, a
resident of In-
drapuram, Ghaziabad,
is one of the many Cov-
id patients who sur-
vived due to timely in-
tervention of the health
staff when he contacted
the helpline while he
was in home isolation
and his oxygen level
dipped below 90.
Sundaram’s condi-
tion started deteriorat-
ing after being in home
quarantine for 11 days.
His oxygen level
dropped to 84.
Subsequently, his
friends made frantic
calls to the CM Helpline
seeking help. The
health staff responded
quickly and Sundaram
was rushed to Medanta
Hospital where he got
timely treatment that
saved his life. His broth-
er Rahul says that his
brother is alive today
only because of the
timely help that he re-
ceived from the health
staff after being con-
tacted through the CM
Helpline.
He has taken a pledge
to raise people’s aware-
ness about the helpline
so that critical patients
could get timely help.
The Helpline keeps in
regular touch with Cov-
id patients to stay up-
dated on the status of
their health conditions
and offer timely assis-
tance if need be.
Meanwhile, call cen-
tres of CM Helpline
have been set up tempo-
rarily at four new plac-
es to contain Covid-19
spread.
For inbound calls, a
separate dashboard has
been created on the Ja-
nasunwai portal of the
Chief Minister, where
all the complaints are
registered.
CALL FOR HELP
CM Helpline comes to aid C-patients, clocks 70K calls daily
HELPLINE STATS
Ambulances ferry patients to the newly set up DRDO facility at
Awadh Shilp Gram in Lucknow. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Yogi govt is making all possible efforts to ramp up oxygensupplies
Noida to float global tenders
forcryogenicO2containers
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Facing one
of its toughest chal-
lenge to ramp up supply
of medical oxygen
across the state, the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment has asked
NOIDA authorities to
float gobal tenders to
procure cryogenic oxy-
gen containers.
The government has
also roped in corporates
and the Exicse and Sug-
arcane Departments to
meet the demand-sup-
ply gap in UP
“We have started
work on setting up oxy-
gen generators plants at
hospitals in 27 out of
the total 75 UP districts
with the help of Excise
and Sugarcane depart-
ments,” said an official.
He said a list of hos-
pitals in the remaining
districts too had been
prepared and work for
establishing O2 plants
would commence very
soon.
Against 64 initially,
UP, now has 89 tankers
and the NOIDA author-
ity has been asked to
float global tenders to
procure cryogenic oxy-
gen containers on Sat-
urday
. The Yogi govern-
ment has also procured
oxygen tankers from
corporate giants such
as Reliance and Adani
Groups. UP has also
been provided tankers
of 400 MT capacity by
the Centre.
On May 6, the state
claims to have arranged
for a record supply of
about 1032 MT of O2
out of which, 612 MT
was supplied through
the refilling system.
This is the largest-
ever supply volume in a
day and was far more
than many other states.
In addition, a total of
10 MT of oxygen for
trial purposes was also
supplied to the COVID
hospitalsetupbyDRDO
in Varanasi on Thurs-
day, which is soon going
to be operational.
Two more oxygen ex-
press trains carrying
Liquid Medical Oxygen
(LMO) arrived in Luc-
know on Friday. Be-
sides, UP will also re-
ceive 80 tonnes of oxy-
gen from Jamnagar on
Saturday. Oxygen gen-
erators will also be in-
stalled in Community
Health Centres in dis-
tricts including Bareil-
ly, Banda, Gorakhpur,
Shamli, Mathura,
Hapur, Hardoi, Balram-
pur and Aligarh with
the help of government.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
CM Yogi has ex-
pressed grief over
the death of people
due to thunder and
lightening in Hardoi,
Badaun, Sitapur and
Gautam Buddha Nagar
and announced a com-
pensation of Rs 4 lakh
each to the kins of the
deceased.
UP CM has expressed
profound grief
on the passing away
of Justice (retired)
Dharamvir Sharma of
the Allahabad High
Court, senior journalist
Shesh Narain Singh,
BJP MLA Dal Bahadur
Kori and former min-
ister Vinod aka Pandit
Singh and conveyed
his condolences to the
bereaved family.
CM Yogi paid
tribute to famous
poet,Nobel Prize winner
and author of National
Anthem Gurudev Ra-
bindra Nath Tagore on
his birth anniversary on
Friday.
MAULANA HAMZA HASANI NADWI NO MORE
Maulana Hamza Hasani Nadwi, Secretary Nadwa-
tul-Ulama and Member All India Muslim Personal
Law Board breathed his last at 6:30pm on Friday.
He was was the coordinator of 100 Nadwa branch-
es spread all over the country and was unwell for
the last one month. He was aged was about 70
and is survived by 2 sons.His Namaz-e-Janaza
was led by ML Rabey Hasni Nadwi at Nadwa and
he was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at
Takiya situated in Raebareli.
CM Yogi leads from the front to provide all that is needed to combat Covid-19. —FILE PHOTO
Attendance rules relaxed,
women, disabled and sick
can now work from home
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Yogi
government on Friday
further relaxed its at-
tendance rules for gov-
ernment and private
companies employees
to provide ‘work from
home’ facility to sick,
disabled and women
working in their offices
in the wake of an unre-
lenting surge in Covid
cases across the State.
More employees have
been exempted to work
from home in a revised
circular.
The government has
given 100 per cent ex-
emption to certain vul-
nerable groups such as
pregnant women, dif-
ferently-abled persons
and those living inside
containment zones
from attending offices.
But they shall con-
tinue to work from
home, said an official
commuiqnue from the
CM’s office.
The revised order
will be in force till the
end of May
.
These government
employees will now be
allowed to work from
home till May 31, 2021.
In an earlier order, the
state government had
announced staggered
working hours and 50
per cent attendance for
employees amid a re-
cord surge in daily
caseloads of the virus
across the State. A par-
tial curfew has been
imposed by the govern-
ment over the growing
corona infection in UP.
During this time, the
government’s full
thrust is to have the
least movement of peo-
ple in the state.
People should stay in
more and more homes
and do not get caught in
the disease, for this,
they did not call the of-
fice of sick and disabled
employees and preg-
nant women employees
working in government
and private institutions
to provide ‘work from
home’ facility at home.
The Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has also
issued instructions
that officers and em-
ployees of the state
government, that
they can purchase
oxygen concentrator
on behalf of the gov-
ernment under the
rules of permissible
medical reimburse-
ment to face any
emergency situation
in the wake of the
pandemic.
CM IN BAREILLY
BJP MLA
dies of post
covid issues
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Dal Baha-
dur Kori, 64-year-old
BJP MLA from Salon
seat, died due to post-
COVID complications
on Thursday night,
family sources said.
He was admitted to
Sanjay Gandhi Post
Graduate Institute of
Medical Sciences (SGP-
GI), Lucknow after be-
ing tested positive for
Covid-19. He was dis-
charged when reports
came negative.
Later, he was admit-
ted to a private hospital
succumbed because of
post covid complia-
tions.
CM Yogi, and senior-
BJP leaders have con-
doled the death of Kori,
terming it a loss for the
party
.
Earlier, BJP MLA
from Nawabganj in
Bareilly Kesar Singh
Gangwar (64), died of
COVID-19 at a hospi-
tal in Noida. Lucknow
(West) legislator
Suresh Kumar Srivas-
tava and Auraiya
MLA Ramesh Chan-
dra Diwakar had also
succumbed to the vi-
rus.
Dr Roshan Jacob inspects
Balrampur hosp,Cancer instt
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Dr. Roshan
Jacob, Officer-in-charge
Covid-19, Lucknow, on
Friday inspected the
Balrampur Hospital
and Cancer Institute.
Dr. Roshan Jacob dur-
ing the inspections in-
structed the adminis-
tration of the hospital
to ensure that no incon-
venience is caused to
anyone coming for vac-
cination and complete
compliance of Covid
protocols like social dis-
tancing, mask, etc. is
taken care of.
Dr. Roshan Jacob in-
spected the Covid ICU
Ward of Balrampur
Hospital and interacted
with patients and took
feedback on the treat-
ment being provided.
She during the in-
spection found that
high flow oxygen ward
was not being used
properly and instructed
officials to repair the
oxygen pipeline imme-
diately
.
She instructed the
CMO to send a team to
verify whether 100 oxy-
gen concentrators are
being used in Balram-
pur Hospital.
During the inspec-
tion of Cancer Insti-
tute, Jacob found that
every patient was moni-
tored by the integrated
control room and even
coordinated with an
oxygen plant operator
to ensure availability of
oxygen to the hospital.
COVID-HANDLE WITH PRAYER
For the first time in history of Lucknow, the magnanimous icon of Awadhi Culture—the Bada Imambada wears a deserted
look on the occasion of Alvida Ki Namaz that marks the last Friday of Ramzan. Covid has had many repercussions, one of them
is distancing humans from humans! —ANI
Launched, during the pandemic, the
CM Helpline (1076) is helping a large
number of Covid patients in the sate
Late Dal Bahadur Kori.
Dr Jacob inspects one of the hospitals in Lucknow.
—FILE PHOTO
Maulana Hamza Nadwi

UTTAR PRADESH
03
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a move
that will both, strength-
en and ease the Covid
patient admission sys-
tem in the city
, Lucknow
District Magistrate Ab-
hishek Prakash has tak-
en up measures to en-
sure that patients do not
go through a harrowing
experience, at least in
the state capital.
District Magistrate
AbhishekPrakashwhile
chairing a meeting with
officers of sector teams
at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
Auditorium in Collector-
ate on Friday
, directed
officialsforfollowingthe
instructions issued by
him for treatment and
controlof Covid-19cases.
He said that at district
level also a monitoring
team had been consti-
tuted, in which three-
member include Addi-
tional District Magis-
trate (Administration),
AdditionalDeputyCom-
missioner of Police
(Protocol) and Chief
Medical Officer.
The District Magis-
trate said that the dis-
trict had been divided
into 24 sectors with the
aim of providing proper
treatmenttoCovid19pa-
tients. A three-member
team of administrative
officers, police officers
and medical officers had
been formed in each sec-
tor which would ensure
direct admission of Cov-
id patients in Covid Hos-
pitals located in their
respective sectors.
He instructed that in-
formation about availa-
bilityof bedsindifferent
categories of ICU, HDU,
Isolation etc. in Covid
Hospitals should be
made public between
8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily
.
MANAGING COVID-19 SPREAD
DM forms teams to keep eye on hosps in Lucknow
RAMPAGE CONTINUES
DM Abhishek Prakash holding meet with district officials.
CORONAVIRUS JOLTS UP WITH
HIGHEST DEATH TOLL EVER
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In an un-
wanted development,
the death toll due to
Covid-19 in Uttar
Pradesh has reached a
staggering high of 372,
the highest ever till
date.
The state also regis-
tered 28,076 fresh cases,
an increase of close to
2000 cases since Thurs-
day, even as a senior
health ministry official
said the second wave of
Coronavirus seemed to
have crossed its peak in
the state.
With the fresh fatali-
ties and cases, Uttar
Pradesh’s death toll
stands at 14,873 and the
infection tally at
14,53,679, according to a
health bulletin issued
here.
While 28,076 fresh
COVID-19 cases were
recorded the previous
day, 33,117 patients
recovered from the
disease, Principal Sec-
retary, Health, Alok
Kumar said.
“Currently, there are
2,54,118 active cases in
the state and the num-
ber of those who have
recovered stands at
11,84,688,” he said.
Since April 30, when
there were 3,10,783 ac-
tive Covid-19 cases, the
number of cases has
come down by over
56,000 as recoveries
have increased. It ap-
pears that the Covid
wave has crossed its
peak, he added. Kanpur
reported the highest
number of deaths at 31,
followed by 30 in Hapur,
25 in Lucknow, 18 in
Ghazipur, 16 in Hardoi,
15 in Gorakhpur, 12
each in Meerut.
CS Tiwari holds meet, discusses
strategy to control second wave
BINDU, A RAY
OF HOPE FOR
PEOPLE IN
KANPUR
Lucknow: UP Chief Secretary Rajendra
Kumar Tiwari chaired a meeting of state
working committee under Disaster
Management Act on Friday wherein
discussions were held on the strategy
to control second wave of Covid 19
in state. In the meeting approval was
given for purchase of consumables/
medicines worth `1 crore each to
CSIR, CDRI, NBRI and Birbal Sahani
Institute of Paleontology, Lucknow
besides `7.72 crore was sanctioned
for running quarantine centres in 75
districts. Further a grant of `225 was
also approved for supply of medical
consumables in 75 districts like PPE
kits, N95 masks, oxygen cylinders,
medicine kits for home isolation
patients, Covid testing kits, rent for
vehicles to be used in contact tracing,
medical surveillance and screening
operation, setting up of quarantine
camp/screening camps, setting up
of oxygen plant, etc. Also `45 crore
was sanctioned for PPE kits and other
consumables for police department
besides `20 crore was sanctioned for
railways for transporting Oxygen.
DOC-TEL: A medical personnel helping a Covid-19 patient on ventilator in communicating with her
family members at Era Hospital in Lucknow on Friday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Kanpur: Bindu Mukesh
Goyal has become the
ray of hope for people
who have been let down
by the helpless system.
Bindu Mukesh Goyal is
a female philanthropist
from Kanpur who has
dedicated her life for the
welfare of the public.
Her efforts have saved
hundreds of lives in the
city of Kanpur. Bindu has
been helping people by
getting beds in hospital,
procuring oxygen cylinder
kit and oximeter, etc.
and she has also been
providing food to patients
and their families as well
as providing information
on gas refilling stations,
etc. Bindu Mukesh Goyal
is the founder member of
Pardhi Seva Sansthan.
COVID-19 UPDATE
TOTAL CASES
TOTALDEATHS
14,873
NEW CASES
28,076
NEW DEATHS
372
LUCKNOW 1,982
VARANASI 909
KANPUR 777
MEERUT 1,817
PRAYAGRAJ 563
GAUTAM BUDDH
NAGAR 1288
GKP 839
RECOVERED 33,117
ACTIVE CASES 2,54,118 MP Brajbhushan
Singh shouldered
the body of SP leader
Pandit Singh, who died
due to Covid. The two
have been fierce
rivals.
Justice
Dharamveer
Sharma, the judge
who gave Ram Mandir
verdict in the year 2010,
died on Friday
due to Covid-19
complications.
Several hospitals
including Charak, OP
Chaudhary & Makewell
Hospital have been
warned for carrying out
malpractices during
Covid times.
KEY
Highlights
SP chief
Akhilesh alleged
that the BJP govern-
ment in UP has failed
to protect people from
coronavirus, with no
health facilities
available.
On May 6, govt
claims to have
arranged a supply of
about 1032 MT of O2 out
of which, 612 MT was
supplied through the
refilling.
14,53,679
First India Bureau
Noida: Veteran jour-
nalist Shesh Narayan
Singh passed away on
Friday while undergo-
ing treatment for COV-
ID-19 at a government
hospital in Uttar
Pradesh’s Greater Noi-
da, officials said.
The 70-year-old jour-
nalist was admitted to
the Government Insti-
tute of Medical Scienc-
es (GIMS) after being
diagnosed positive for
the Coronavirus, a hos-
pital official said.
A resident of Greater
Noida, Singh is sur-
vived by his wife, two
daughters and a son, his
media colleagues said.
President Ram Nath
Kovind, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and a
host of politicians be-
sides media groups paid
their tributes to Singh,
a veteran journalist,
columnist and political
commentator.
“The news of the de-
mise of Shri Shesh
Narayan Singh, a sen-
ior journalist, who is
famous for his clear
ideas, unambiguous ex-
pression and friendly
behaviour is very sad.
His departure is a big
loss for Hindi journal-
ism. My condolences to
his heartbroken family
and well-wishers,” Ko-
vind tweeted in Hindi.
PM Modi said Singh
will always be remem-
bered for his contribu-
tion to journalism and
described his demise as
“extremely painful”.
Union Ministers Ra-
jnath Singh and Amit
Shah, Uttar Pradesh
CM Yogi Adityanath
also paid rich tributes
to Singh. Gautam Bud-
dh Nagar Police Com-
missioner Alok Singh
and Noida MLA Pankaj
Singh took to Twitter to
pay their homage to the
veteran journalist.
Press colleagues in
Noida and Greater Noi-
da remembered him as
a “guide and patron”
who was “always keen
to help and devote time
for journalistic initia-
tives”.
“To keep his memory
alive, the Noida Media
Club (NMC) has decid-
ed to organise regular
seminars annually
from now on to pay
homage to him,” Noida
Medic Club’s president
Pankaj Parashar said in
a statement.The NMC
also announced an ini-
tiative to build a memo-
rial in Noida as a mark
of respect to those jour-
nalists who have lost
their lives to the pan-
demic across India.
Veteran journalist Shesh Narayan
dies of Covid, Prez condoles death
Shesh Narayan Singh.
The administration taking cognizance of the
exorbitant charges being charged by ambu-
lance operators has decided to cap the price of
ambulance. With the new rules in place, normal
ambulance operators can charge of `1000 per
10 KM for with an additional charge of `100 per
KM if the distance is more than 10 KM. For an
ambulance with oxygen support, the operator
can charge `1500 per 10 km and an additional
charge of `100 per KM if the distance is more
than 10 KM. For ambulances with ventilator sup-
port, the operator can charge `2500 per 10 km.
LOCKED-UP IN LOCK-DOWN
Security personnel deployed at the Bara Imambada entrance in Lucknow as it remained
locked up to avoid untoward incidents. No Friday prayers were allowed in Mosques across
UP due to implementation of Section 144 here. People prayed from their homes
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Luc-
know University and
UNICEF on Friday
jointly organised a we-
binar to answer the que-
ries of students about
vaccination and moti-
vate them to follow Cov-
id-19 protocol. During
webinar, experts in-
formed Lucknow Uni-
versity students about
vaccination and post-
vaccination precau-
tions.
Dr NK Arora, mem-
ber of the National
AEFI Committee, New
Delhi interacted with
students and told them
about the importance
of vaccination. He said,
“It is necessary to fol-
low all Covid appropri-
ate behaviours and get
vaccinated so that we
can overcome the pan-
demic. He emphaised
on ensuring all precau-
tions, including mask
and social distancing at
the vaccination sites.
Dr Arora answered
the queries of students
about Covid vaccina-
tion and fear/myth as-
sociated with the same
during an interactive
session.
An overview of the
Covid pandemic was
shared with students by
Dr Ashutosh Agrawal,
OSD Routine Immuni-
zation WHO.
Talking about mild
symptoms and isolating
at home, Dr Kanupriya
Singhal, Health Special-
ist UNICEF discussed
about safe home isola-
tion with students. Dr
Singhal talked about
the precautions that
can be followed by
asymptomatic patients
at home. Dr Kanupriya
said, “We should follow
doctor’s advice during
home isolation and not
indulge in any self-med-
ications.” Dr Kanupri-
ya emphasized on the
use of triple-layer sur-
gical mask or an N95
mask for home isola-
tion patients and car-
egivers and urged stu-
dents to consult a doc-
tor for dip in SPO2 lev-
els below 94% or any
other complication im-
mediately during home
isolation.

Dr NK Arora,
member of the
National AEFI
Committee, New
Delhi interacted
with Lucknow
University
students and told
them about the
importance of
vaccination Experts informed Lucknow University students about vaccination and post-vaccination precautions.
Lucknow varsity & UNICEF hold vaccination awareness camp
DRIVE AGAINST C-19
ADMN CAPS AMBULANCE RATES IN DIST
—FILE
PIC
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 147 l RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi Industrial Area Kanpur Road Lucknow.
Published at 98, Friend’’s Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP). Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
et us say I cannot see clearly,
and I need to walk through a
group of people, but I am very
confident. What will happen if
I walk through? A lot of people
are walking through their life
like this. They cannot see a
damn thing but it does not mat-
ter, they are confident. This is
disastrous for you and for eve-
ryone around you. If there is no
clarity in my vision but I have
confidence, I am a disaster.
There is a city called Manga-
lore on the west coast of India.
It is a beautiful, quaint, little
town and I have been associat-
ed with this place for some
time. I had not gone there for
almost four or five years, and
then I happened to visit. There
was a homeopathic doctor
there who was over seventy-
five years of age, but he was
still managing a small clinic. I
went there to visit him, not as
a client, but just to see him. The
clinic is in the Malabar region
– the land of the king cobra –
snake bites are common. Out-
side the clinic there was an
advertisement which said, “A
common antidote for all types
of snakes.” I know enough
about snakes. I have lived with
them, I have them all around
me, I have been bitten by them
any number of times, and
snakes and me have been very
closely associated for a very
long time. So, I know enough
about them to survive.
Essentially in India, there
are two basic varieties of ven-
oms. One is a neurotoxin and
the other affects your cardio-
vascular system; a very small
number of snakes have both.
These are two completely dif-
ferent kinds of chemicals, so
there cannot be a common an-
tidote. Today, because people
cannot identify what snake is
what, doctors are administer-
ing an antidote for both togeth-
er, which is very damaging for
the system.
I went in and was in conver-
sation with the doctor, casually
I said, “How did you allow this
board to come up in your clin-
ic? This is not right. Someone
is claiming there is a common
antidote.” He is a very wise
doctor. He said, “See, almost
ninety percent of the Indian
snakes are non-poisonous, and
this antidote works ninety per-
cent of the time.”
Ninety is a good percentage
for anything. Confidence is like
that. If a snake bites you, just
look up at the sky and say
“Dam-doom-dis-dis-dis!” the
venom will go away… ninety
percent of the time. And people
will get more confident because
it works ninety percent of the
time. That is a fool’s way to ex-
ist, isn’t it? What you need is
clarity, not confidence.
Everywhere, people are be-
ing taught to be confident. We
think confidence is a kind of a
substitute for clarity – it is not.
Let’s say whenever you want to
make big decisions in your life,
either professional or family-
related, all you do is get your-
self a 1-rupee coin and flip it,
“Heads we will do this, tails we
will do that.” It will work fifty
percent of the time! If you are
right only fifty percent of the
time, there are only two profes-
sions you can pursue – you can
either be a weatherman or an
astrologer. If you are in any
other job and you are right only
fifty percent of the time, you
would most likely be fired.
If we want life to happen the
way we want it, the first and
foremost requirement is to be
clear about what it is that we
really want. Even simple prac-
tices can go a long way in creat-
ing this. Every day when you
wake up in the morning, sit up
on your bed cross-legged, sit
with your hands open, eyes
closed and just look at every-
thing you are not. Appreciate
all that you have gathered –
your home, your family, your
relationships, your qualifica-
tions, your body, your clothes
– everything. Be thankful for
that. At the same time, identify
everything that is not you as
“This is what I have gathered”
and mentally keep it aside.
What you gather can be yours,
but it can never be you. Spend
ten minutes in the morning
and ten minutes in the night
every day
. This will bring clar-
ity. If one is properly initiated
by a Guru, this particular pro-
cess can take on a new dimen-
sion. But till such an opportu-
nity comes in your life, you can
do this by yourself. It will defi-
nitely have a big impact upon
your clarity
.
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
CONFIDENCE
AND CLARITY
L
If we want life to
happen the way we
want it, the first and
foremost requirement
is to be clear about
what it is that we
really want. Even
simple practices can
go a long way in
creating this
he average per-
son knows
about 5,000 fac-
es – from family
and friends to
the cashier at the local
store. Most people can rec-
ognise familiar faces with
ease, even from low-quality
images, or from photos
that are many years old.
We often recognise famil-
iar faces even if we cannot
remember a person’s name
or how we know them.
Most of us take this abil-
ity to recognise familiar
faces for granted – but
when public health issues
require our friends to
mask up, covering their
chins, lips, cheeks and nos-
es, are our facial recogni-
tion skills scrambled?
We investigated this
question in our recent
study and compared the
impact of masks (which
cover the lower portion of
the face) with that of sun-
glasses (which cover the
eye region). Despite face
masks covering a large
proportion of our faces, we
found that people find it
surprisingly easy to recog-
nise familiar faces behind
masks – speaking to the
remarkable versatility of
this human skill.
Familiar faces
Identifying familiar faces
is a useful day-to-day skill,
but the identification of
unfamiliar faces is also im-
portant in the context of
forensic investigations and
security scenarios. Our
study measured the recog-
nition of both familiar and
unfamiliar faces.
We presented our par-
ticipants with pairs of face
images and asked them to
decide whether the faces
belonged to the same per-
son or different people.
One image of the pair was
always presented with no
concealment, and the other
showed either no conceal-
ment, an image in sun-
glasses, or in a face mask.
Participants completed the
task for familiar faces (im-
ages of celebrities) and for
unfamiliar faces.
Even though face masks
cover a significant part of
the face, we found that our
participants identified fa-
miliar faces in masks with
around 90% accuracy – no
worse than the results for
faces wearing sunglasses,
and only slightly worse
than unconcealed faces.
These results demon-
strate just how robust fa-
miliar face recognition
can be. And our task only
involved comparisons of
still images of faces. It is
possible that in the real
world, information from
the body or gait or from
clothing may supplement
the reduced information
from the masked face, in-
creasing accuracy further.
For unfamiliar faces,
both masks and sunglasses
reduced recognition accu-
racy further. Face masks
reduced performance the
most, but only a little more
than sunglasses. But with
or without masks and sun-
glasses, recognising unfa-
miliar faces generally
tends to be difficult and
error-prone.
Still, some people are
highly adept at this task.
Super-recognisers – people
who excel at recognising
faces – were also recruited
to complete the tasks by
Professor Josh Davis from
the University of Green-
wich Face and Voice Rec-
ognition Lab database.
Super-recognisers were
also impaired by masks,
but they performed far bet-
ter than regular people in
all concealment condi-
tions.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Why we can still recognise people in face masks
T
Virtue is persecuted more
by the wicked than it is
loved by the good.

—Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Hardeep Singh Puri
@HardeepSPuri
Congress doesn’t stop at hypocrisy.
Look at their shameful double face.
During UPA, Congress leaders
wrote about the need for a new
parliament. The Speaker in 2012
wrote a letter to Urban Development
Ministry for the same. And now
they have the gall to oppose the
same project?
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank
@DrRPNishank
@iitmadras researchers from
#UnitedKingdom researchers have
developed a low-cost paper-based
that can detect antimicrobial
resistance triggering pollutants,
which induce antimicrobial
resistance in water bodies.
SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential
people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic,
visionary and a New York Times bestselling
author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma
Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017,
the highest annual civilian award, accorded for
exceptional and distinguished service
Essentially in India, there are two basic
varieties of venoms. One is a neurotoxin
and the other affects your cardio-vascular
system; a very small number of snakes
have both. These are two completely different kinds of
chemicals, so there cannot be a common antidote.
Today, because people cannot identify what snake is
what, doctors are administering an antidote for both
together, which is very damaging for the system
IN-DEPTH
APEX COURT STEPS
IN TO SAVE LIVES
ne is witnessing a pro-people avatar of
the Supreme Court after a long time and
it has come as a boon to the populace in
these harsh times. In the last about five
years the apex court had come to be crit-
icized in a manner of speaking, for ignoring the
rights of the people, like the plight of migrants dur-
ing the lockdown last year . When the Police recent-
ly invoked the draconian NSA against those men-
tioning shortage of oxygen and hospital beds on
social media platforms, the Supreme Court cracked
the whip. Those arresting such people will be liable
for contempt of the court, it said.
IntheongoingfeudbetweenDelhiandtheCentral
governmentoversupplyof oxygenalsotheSupreme
Court ordered that 700 MT of medical oxygen was
the daily requirement and the Centre has to ensure
that the national capital continues to receive the
given quantity to avoid any coercive order from be-
ing passed by the apex court. The Bench of Justice
D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice M.R. Shah also up-
held the Karnataka High Court’s order of May 5,
directing the Centre to supply 1200 MT of oxygen to
the southern state every day
. The Supreme Court’s
proactive role will ensure that Covid-19 patients do
not die of oxygen shortage. In these catastrophic
timesitisencouragingtoseethehighestcourtof the
country drive the government to put logistics in
place to ensure that the life-saving gas is equitably
distributed among the crisis-hit states. Saving lives
is more important and courts are doing just that.
O
IPR WAIVER ON COVID
SHOTS A FAR CRY
tarting from scratch vaccine production
is a multi-billion dollar business, which
is unaffordable by poor countries. It is
the big multinational pharmaceutical
companies and billionaires like Bill
Gates with the wherewithal who invest in research
and creation of a vaccine. American companies
have enjoyed protection under their intellectual
property rights law from sharing the technology or
formula with other countries as it would cut into
their profits. In a recent statement President Joe
Biden strongly supported the idea of waiving intel-
lectual property rights (IPR) for Covid-19 vaccines
sending shockwaves in the pharma industry
. The
US President’s top trade negotiator Katherine Tai
backed him. A statement issued by Tai read, “This
is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary cir-
cumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for ex-
traordinarymeasures.TheAdministrationbelieves
strongly in intellectual property protections, but in
service of ending the pandemic supports the waiv-
er of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines.”
The protection of IPRs prevents poorer countries
from buying versions of Covid-19 vaccines at a
cheaper cost. Patents help big pharmaceutical com-
panies make billions in profit. Although Biden’s
statement did make the stocks of Moderna and
other pharma companies take a tumble, the compa-
nies maintained that Joe Biden won’t be able to go
far toimplementhisannouncement.Waiving IPR is
importantformakingtheCovid-19vaccineavailable
to all. If the basic formula of a vaccine is shared
thosewithnecessaryinfrastructureandtechnology
can also produce those vaccines. This has led to a
situation where more people in rich countries have
been vaccinated than those in poor countries.
S

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INDIA
05
SSR DRUG CASE: NCB ARRESTS
DRUG PEDDLER FROM GOA
MUMBAI: Narcotics
Control Bureau (NCB)
on Friday arrested a
drug peddler from Goa
in a case related to actor
Sushant Singh Rajput’s
death. The drug peddler
has been identified as
Hemal Shah and will be
produced before a court
later in the day.
Last month, the NCB
had detained two drug
peddlers after conducting
raids at several locations
in Mumbai (Malad, Parel
and Santacruz) in connec-
tion with the late actor’s
death and the agency
had also recovered drugs
from the possession of
the arrested persons. The
NCB has been probing
the drugs angle after it
received official commu-
nication from the ED.
DETERMINED TO HELP INDIA IN
‘HOUR OF NEED’: KAMALA
Washington: Asserting that the welfare of India is
critically important to the United States, US Vice
President Kamala Harris on Friday said Wash-
ington is determined to New Delhi in “its hour of
need” amid a COVID-19 surge in the country.
Addressing an event, Harris said that the surge of
COVID-19 infections and deaths in India is noth-
ing “short of heartbreaking”. “As many of you
know, generations of my family come from India.
My mother was born and raised in India. And I
have family members who live in India today.
JUSTICE (RETD) JOSHI SWORN IN
AS NEW GOA LOKAYUKTA
Panjim (Goa): Retired judge of the Bombay HC,
Justice Ambadas Haribhau Joshi on Friday took
oath as Goa’s new Lokayukta via video confer-
encing. Maharashtra and Goa Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to
Justice Joshi from Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Justice
Joshi has also served as the chairman of the
Maha Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai from July
2014 to July 2019. In Jan this year, the Goa Gov-
ernment had amended the Goa Lokayukta Act, to
make the institution a powerless chair. —ANI
CJI RAMANA MOURNS PASSING
AWAY OF JUSTICE MY EQBAL
New Delhi: The Chief
Justice of India (CJI) Nut-
halapati Venkata Ramana
expressed deep sorrow
at the passing away of
former Judge of Supreme
Court Justice MY Eqbal
on Friday. Recalling his
association with Justice
(Retired) Eqbal, Justice
Ramana described him as
“a conscientious profes-
sional who stood for
humane values.” Justice
Ramana also offered con-
dolences to the bereaved
family. When the bench
assembled in court num-
ber 1 this morning, Chief
Justice Ramana made a
reference in this regard
and offered condolences
on behalf of the Supreme
Court. Justice Eqbal
passed away at a private
hospital in Gurugram.
New Delhi: A public
interest litigation (PIL)
in the Delhi High Court
on Friday urged that
students who will ap-
pear for class 12 board
exams should receive
the vaccine on priority
.
It asked the court to di-
rect the Centre and Del-
hi government to vac-
cinate all class 10 and 12
students who would be
appearing for board ex-
ams in the 2020-21 ses-
sion.
A bench of Chief Jus-
tice DN Patel and Jus-
tice Jasmeet Singh is-
sued notice to the min-
istries of Health and
Education and the Del-
hi government.
New Delhi: A public
interest litigation (PIL)
has been filed in the Su-
preme Court seeking
direction to convert the
religious and charitable
places that enjoy tax
benefits, into Covid
Care Centers as well as
cease any further trans-
actions with immediate
effect and utilise their
funds for Covid pa-
tients.
The plea also request-
ed for a district-wise
data collection of
Covid-19 patients
across the country con-
taining the details of
demand for oxygen,
medicine, hospitaliza-
tion etc. —ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
MoU signed for projects to
develop Badrinath temple
Dehradun: An agree-
ment for projects worth
Rs 100 crore was signed
on Friday between Shri
Kedarnath Utthan
Charitable Trust and
the PSUs of the Minis-
try of Petroleum and
Natural Gas to develop
Badrinath as a spiritual
township.
Secretary Tannu Ka-
poor, on behalf of the
Ministry of Petroleum
and Natural Gas, and
Tourism Secretary Dil-
ip Jawalkar, on behalf
of the state govern-
ment, signed the Memo-
randum of Understand-
ing (MoU) in the pres-
ence of Union Petrole-
um Minister Dharmen-
dra Pradhan and Chief
Minister Tirath Singh
Rawat.
Speaking on the occa-
sion, CM Tirath Singh
Rawat said reconstruc-
tion works that were
started in Kedarnath
under the guidance of
the PM after the 2013
natural disaster are in
their final stages.
“Under the inspira-
tion and guidance of
Prime Minister Modi,
the reconstruction
work started after the
disaster in 2013 which
is now in its final stag-
es. On the lines of Ke-
darnath, the PM also
decided to give a make-
over to Badrinath
where facilities are to
be developed gradually
over an area spread
over 85 hectares,” said
Rawat. —ANI
Central Vista: SC declines to interfere,
asks Delhi HC to consider early hearing
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Friday de-
clined to interfere with
the Central Vista rede-
velopment project, cit-
ing that the matter is
already pending with
the Delhi HC, Bar and
Bench reported. While
pronouncing the order
on a petition seeking to
halt the construction
activities of the project,
a bench of Justices
Vineet Saran and
Dinesh Maheshwari,
however, granted the
petitioner the liberty to
mention it before the
Chief Justice of Delhi
High Court for early
hearing. The apex court
also asked the Delhi HC
to consider the plea for
an early hearing. “Since
the matter is pending
before High Court and
appeal is against order
of adjournment, we are
not inclined to enter
into the merits of the
case. In the given
circumstance, we re-
quest High Court to
take up the matter,” the
bench. —ANI
Visual of Badrinath —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi: The
Delhi HC on Fri-
day (May 7) issued
a notice to Arvind
Kejriwal govern-
ment over a PIL
that sought three
meals a day and
other basic neces-
sities for the
homeless in the
national capital.
The plea was filed
by Bandhua Mukti
Morcha (BMM), a
registered organi-
zation working for
the marginalized
people. It urged
the HC to direct
the Delhi govt and
the urban shelter
i m p r o v e m e n t
board, DUSIB, to
provide three
meals a day to the
homeless in all the
shelter homes.
Acting on the plea,
a bench asked the
Delhi govt to file
their response.
New Delhi: West
Bengal BJP Presi-
dent Dilip Ghosh
has launched a
protest against
post-poll violence
in the state saying
the saffron party will
not participate in
Speaker’s election
nor attend Vidhan
Sabha sessions.
Our protest will
continue until
safety is ensured,
he added. Violence
has been reported
in several parts of
West Bengal after
the results of the
assembly elections
were declared on
May 2. Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
has alleged that nine
party workers have
been killed in
post-poll violence.
—ANI
New Delhi: Jharkhand
CM Hemant Soren on
Thursday termed PM
Narendra Modi’s phone
call on Covid-19 situ-
ation as PM’s Mann Ki
Baat instead of any Kaam
ki baat—a comment
that did not go down
well with BJP leaders
who accused him of
“politicising” pandemic.
His Andhra counterpart
Jagan Reddy, too, urged
Soren that it is not the
time to point fingers but
work unitedly.
In a strongly-worded
message, Union Health
Minister Dr Harsh Vard-
han told Soren to “fight
Corona and not the PM”.
HC seeks
Delhi govt’s
response
WILL BOYCOTT
SPEAKER’S
ELECTION, SAYS
DILIP GHOSH
BJP leaders attack
Soren over PM jibe,
Jagan calls for unity
PIL seeks to vaccinate students
of class 12 appearing for Board
PIL requests SC to convert religious
places into Covid Care Centers
WELL CONSPIRED VIOLENCE: RSS
They even said that post-poll violence is against democracy and safety of people living in Bengal
New Delhi: The Rash-
triya Swayamsevak
Sangh on Friday con-
demned the post-poll
violence in West Bengal
and demanded that the
newly-elected govern-
ment in the state should
immediately contain
violence and effectively
establish rule of law as
its top priority
. The RSS
also urged upon the un-
ion government to take
necessary steps to es-
tablish peace in the
state.
In a statement,
Sarkaryavah (general
secretary) of RSS Dat-
tatreya Hosabale said
that the acts of violence
appeared “to be well
conspired”.
“In elections, there
are allegations and
counter-allegations
made in a fit of emo-
tions but it should be
remembered that all
parties contesting be-
long to the country in-
cluding candidates,
supported and voters.
The violence unleashed
state wide, soon after
the election results
came out, is not only
highly condemnable
but appears to be well
conspired also.
The RSS condemns
this gruesome violence
in severest terms. It is
our considered opinion
that this post-poll-result
violence is contrary to
the Bharatiya tradition
of co-existence and re-
spect to the opinion of
all, as also it is totally
opposed to the very
spirit of democracy and
one people enshrined in
our Constitution,” the
statement said.
Hosabale demanded
legal action against the
perpetrators of the vio-
lence to instill confi-
dence and safety
.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat during the inauguration of Bhagirathi Deepa Stambha, in Haridwar.
MAMATA WRITES TO PM MODI,
SEEKS INCREASE IN SUPPLY
MY VALUES NOT IN CONSONANCE WITH
EC: POLL PANEL COUNSEL RESIGNS
TEAM ASSESSES VIOLENCE-
AFFECTED AREAS IN WB
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee Friday wrote
to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, seek-
ing increased supply
of medical oxygen for
COVID-19 treatment.
Banerjee also said that
the Centre hiked oxy-
gen allocation for other
states out of the total
production in Bengal,
despite its enhanced
requirement. The chief
minister said daily con-
sumption of oxygen in
her state has gone up
to 470 MT in the last 24
hours and is expected
to increase to 550
MT per day in about a
week. I would request
you to kindly have the
allocation of medical
oxygen reviewed and
instructions issued for
an immediate allocation
of at least 550 MT per
day of MO, she said in
the letter to Modi.
New Delhi: Advocate
Mohit D Ram, the panel
counsel representing the
Election Commission of
India, tendered his resig-
nation on Friday, 7 May,
pointing out that “my val-
ues are not in consonance
with the current function-
ing of the commission”.
Mohit D Ram had, as per
media reports, been the
panel counsel represent-
ing the poll-body in the
Supreme Court since
2013. In a letter ad-
dressed to the Director
(Law) of the Commission,
Ram wrote: “It was an
honour to represent the
Election Commission of
India. I had a cherishing
milestone of my career, in
the journey which began
with being part of the of-
fice of Standing Counsel
of ECI and progressed as
one of the counsels of the
ECI.” —ANI
Kolkata: A four-member
team of the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA)
visited Satgachhia and
Nodakhali areas of the
North 24 Parganas district
in West Bengal to assess
the ground situation amid
the reports of post-poll
violence in the state. The
team interacted with locals
and assessed the property
vandalism in those areas.
The MHA has deputed a
four-member team, led by
an Additional Secretary
level official including a
Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) official, to
visit the affected areas.
The team reached West
Bengal yesterday. —ANI

INDIA
06
Yogi government...
further informed that
the state government is
providing vaccine cover
to all the citizens free of
cost. After consulting
various health experts,
CM Yogi asked people
not to get vaccinated if
they are infected with
Covid-19 or experienc-
ing symptoms. Similar-
ly, health experts also
believe that the Covid
infected person should
undergo vaccination at
least one month after re-
covery
. The CM asked
the officials to make
people aware of this im-
portant information re-
lated to their health.
The chief minister
asked the team mem-
bers to ensure that the
vaccination centers are
strictly adhered to by
the COVID protocol. On-
the-spot registration
can lead to a clutter. It is
advisable to keep the on-
line registration system
in force to avoid unnec-
essary crowd. Contact-
ing people whose turn is
about to come, by phone
one or two days in ad-
vance will lead to a bet-
ter vaccine administra-
tion to the public at
large”,said the CM.
Disappointing...
The Congress strug-
gled to appeal to voters
in this round of As-
sembly elections.In
Bengal, where the par-
ty joined hands with
the Left, it was shut out
and the alliance was
decimated. By contrast
the Trinamool swept to
victory with 213 seats
to the BJP’s 77.In As-
sam - widely seen as a
Congress stronghold
until it was breached
in 2016 - the party did
marginally better, win-
ning 29 of 95 seats it
contested. But the op-
position alliance failed
to challenge the BJP,
winning just 50 seats to
the ruling party’s 75.In
Kerala, the Congress at
least held its ground,
losing just one seat
from 2016 to finish with
41. The Left front, how-
ever, registered a com-
manding win by claim-
ing 99 seats. The BJP
won zero seats.Over
the past year several
senior Congress lead-
ers have called for in-
trospection over con-
tinuing poor perfor-
mances in elections,
including veterans like
Ghulam Nabi Azad,
Anand Sharma and Ka-
pil Sibal.
3rd wave...
adding that vaccines
will need to be updated
to tackle the new
strains that are spread-
ing the contagion fast-
er.India’s healthcare
system is crumbling
under the weight of pa-
tients, with hospitals
running out of beds
and medical oxygen.
Morgues and cremato-
riums can not handle
the number of dead and
makeshift funeral
pyres burn in parks
and car parks.
The country reported
another record daily
rise in coronavirus cas-
es, 4,14,188, on Friday.
Deaths from COVID-19
rose by 3,915 to 2,34,083.
Medical experts say
the real extent of COV-
ID-19 in India is five to
10 times the official tal-
lies.
File report...
The Union Home Minis-
try has deputed a four-
member team, led by an
Additional Secretary
level official, to visit the
state and assess the
ground situation. The
team reached the state
on May 6
Additional Secretary
Home Ministry Govind
Mohan, Additional Sec-
retary Education Minis-
try Vinit Joshi, Joint
Director of Intelligence
Bureau Janardan Singh
and IB Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) IB,
Nalin are among the
team.Meanwhile, Union
Minister V Muraleed-
haran’scarwasattacked
in West Bengal’s
Panchkhudi on Thurs-
day
. The Minister al-
legedthattheattackwas
perpetrated by Trina-
mool Congress (TMC)
goons.Union Home Sec-
retary Ajay Bhalla has
alsowrittentoWestBen-
gal Chief Secretary re-
minding him of the let-
ter written on May 3 to
check the post-poll vio-
lenceandalsotoprovide
areportontheincidents.
Dena hi...
“We want 700 MT oxy-
gen to be supplied to
Delhi on daily basis and
wemeanbusiness.Ithas
to be supplied and we
don’t want to be coer-
cive. Our order will take
time to be uploaded by 3
pm. But you proceed
and arrange the oxy-
gen,” said Justice DY
Chandrachudaccording
to the Bar and Bench.
Justice MR Shah, who
was on the Bench along
with Justice Chandra-
chud, added, “You have
to supply 700 MT oxygen
every day till further or-
ders.”
This is the third
straight day that the
shortage of medical ox-
ygen — a key challenge
that has emerged in In-
dia’s fight against a
deadly second Covid
wave — was discussed
in the top court.
FROM PG 1
SYED SEHRISH ASGAR POSTED AS
MISSION DIRECTOR IN JK
Syed Sehrish Asgar has been posted as Mission
Director, Rural Livelihood Mission, JK. He is a
2013 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.
BASHIR AHMED BHAT IS VICE
CHAIRMAN, JK LWDA
Bashir Ahmed Bhat is posted as Vice Chairman,
JK Lakes and Waterways Development
Authority (LWDA). He is an IRS officer.
MANOJ YADAV IS ALSO CHAIRMAN,
HARYANA MINERALS LTD.
Haryana DGP Manoj Yadav has been given
additional charge of Chairman, Haryana Minerals
Ltd., New Delhi.
5 IAS OFFICERS GET NEW
POSTINGS IN MP
Five IAS officers have been given new postings
in MP. Kumar Purushottam has been posted as
Collector, Ratlam, while Frank Nobel was made
Collector, Guna and Anup Kumar Singh joins as
Collector, Damoh. Besides Gopal Chandra Dand
was made Additional Secretary in Mantralaya and
Tarun Rathi is appointed as Deputy Secretary.
H C KISHORE CHANDRA APPOINTED
AS CHAIRMAN, RERA KARNATAKA
H C Kishore Chandra has been appointed as
Chairman, Real Estate Regulatory Authority
(RERA). He is a 1984 batch retired IPS officer of
Karnataka cadre.
MS NEELAMANI N RAJU APPOINTED
AS MEMBER, RERA KARNATAKA
Ms Neelamani N Raju has been appointed as
Member, Real Estate Regulatory Authority
(RERA). She is a 1983 batch retired IPS officer of
Karnataka cadre.
V IRAI ANBU IS NEW CHIEF
SECRETARY, TAMIL NADU
V Irai Anbu has been appointed new Chief
Secretary of Tamil Nadu after the formation of
new Government in the State. He is a 1988 batch
IAS officer.
OUTGOING CS RAJEEV RANJAN IS NOW
CMD, TAMIL NADU NEWSPRINT PAPERS
Outgoing Chief Secretary, Rajeev Ranjan has
been appointed as CMD, Tamil Nadu Newsprint
and Papers Limited. Ranjan, who belongs
to 1985 batch IAS officer is due to retire in
September this year.
STALIN GIVES CLARION CALL
FOR MAJOR BUREAUCRATIC
CHANGES IN TAMIL NADU
Contrary to all expectations, the newly installed
Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin
has issued a clarion call for major bureaucratic
changes by appointing a new Chief Secretary
soon after taking on the mantle of Tamil Nadu
State. The bureaucrats were of the view that
present incumbent Rajeev Ranjan would continue
as Chief Secretary. After his removal, more
unexpected changes are to take place soon under
the new regime.
PRAVEEN KUMAR IS ALSO
SECRETARY, SCHOOL EDUCATION
Praveen Kumar has been assigned an additional
charge of Secretary, School Education Literacy
for the period of leave of Mrs Anita Karwal.
SATYA PRATAP SINGH RETURNS
TO PARENT CADRE
Satya Pratap Singh, Director, Central Vigilance
Commission, has been given premature
repatriation to his parent cadre in order to avail
of the benefit of promotion. He is a 2003 batch
IDAS officer.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi : Dr. Harsh
Vardhan, Union Minis-
ter of Health and Fam-
ily Welfare today re-
viewed in person the
preparedness of Dr
Ram Manohar Lohia-
Hospital, New Delhi for
clinical management of
the severe COVID19 pa-
tients. He has been per-
sonally reviewing the
management of COV-
ID19 in the Central Hos-
pitals that serve Delhi
and had also visited the
Lady Hardinge Medical
College recently
.
In view of the un-
precedented surge in
daily COVID19 cases,
uninterrupted require-
ment of oxygen, oxygen
supported and ICU beds
has increased manifold
in the Capital. The Gov-
ernment of India in
line with its pro-active
and graded approach
has continuously re-
viewed the emerging
situation in Delhi.
VARDHAN THANKS
HEALTHCARE WORKERS
New Delhi: More than
90 lakh Covid-19 vac-
cine doses are still
available with the states
and UTs and they will
receive over 10 lakh
more vaccine doses
within the next three
days, the Union Health
Ministry said on Friday
.
The Centre has so far
provided more than
17.35 crore vaccine dos-
es to states and UTs free
of cost. Of this, the total
consumption including
wastages is 16,44,77,100
doses, according to of-
ficial data. More than
90 lakh Covid vaccine
doses are still available
with the states and UTs
to be administered.
States with negative
balance are showing
more consumption (in-
cluding wastage) than
vaccine supplied as
they have not recon-
ciled the vaccine they
have supplied to armed
forces,” the ministry
said.
Furthermore, more
than 10 lakh vaccine
doses will be received,
it said in a statement.
Over10lakhCOVIDvaccinedosesto
be received by states, UTs in 3 days
Family members mourn the death of the COVID-19 patient outside an isolation ward outside mortuary
at LNJP hospital in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Dr. Harsh Vardhan interacts with medical staff of Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital, New Delhi.
COVID UPDATE
 India reports highest-
ever single-day spike
with 4,14,188 new
COVID-19 cases
 Delhi reports 19,832
new COVID-19 cases,
341 deaths in last 24
hrs, positivity rate at
24.92 pc
 Air India to operate
flights from London
Heathrow to Mumbai
from May 17
 Health Ministry
requests States, UTs to
prioritise beneficiaries of
2nd dose of COVID-19
vaccine
 AIIMS Delhi refutes
reports of Chhota
Rajan’s death, says
gangster undergoing
COVID-19 treatment
 Delhi Police arrests
owner of ambulance for
charging Rs 1.2 lakh
from patient
 Tea estate in Dibru-
garh shut down as 133
test COVID positive
New Delhi: Congress
interim President So-
nia Gandhi, in its par-
liamentary party meet-
ing on Friday, demand-
ed an all-party meeting
and a meeting of Parlia-
ment Standing Commit-
tee on Health regarding
the COVID-19 situation
in the country. The
meeting is being held
under the chairman-
ship of Gandhi through
video conferencing. Ac-
cording to sources, the
meeting started with
paying tribute to all for-
mer MPs, including for-
mer President Pranab
Mukherjee, Ahmed Pa-
tel, Motilal Vora, Tarun
Gogoi, who have recent-
ly passed away
.
Earlier, the Congress
President had written a
letter to PM Narendra
Modi alleging the new
COVID-19 vaccination
policy was not only dis-
criminatory but also a
complete abandonment
of the youth and urged
the government to re-
verse the ill-considered
decision.
It is surprising that
despite the harsh
lessons of last year
and the pain inflicted
on our citizens,
she had written in the
letter. —ANI
Sonia Gandhi calls urgent all-party meet on Covid
New Delhi: Airports
Authority of India, Goa
International Airport
and its frontline corona
warriors are geared up
to combat COVID-19 by
facilitating the seam-
less delivery of medical
essentials, said the Min-
istry of Civil Aviation
on Friday
.
During the first
phase of the pandemic,
Goa International Air-
port catered to eight
LifeLine Udan flights
intended to transport
essential medical cargo
to remote parts of the
country amid lockdown
with a total inbound
cargo of 2.15MT and
outbound cargo of 3.96
MT. According to the
Ministry of Civil Avia-
tion, the Goa Airport
also handled three lots
of COVID-19 vaccine for
the state of Goa and one
lot for the neighbouring
state Karnataka.
AAI,Goa Airport geared up for
delivery of medical essentials
New Delhi: For more
than 20 days, 56-year-old
Delhi Police Assistant
Sub-Inspector (ASI),
Rakesh Kumar, has
been performing the
last rites of people who
had no one to cremate
them at the national
capital's Lodhi Crema-
torium amid the devas-
tating second wave of
COVID-19 pandemic.
Since April 13, Ku-
mar had performed last
rites of more than 50
bodies and assisted in
the cremation of at
least 1,100 bodies.
Delhi cop helps perform
1,100 cremations
Wardha: The Centre
has decided to increase
production of anti-viral
drug Remdesivir and it
will be provided to peo-
ple at government's
price, said Union Min-
ister Nitin Gadkari.
This comes after sever-
al cases of blackmar-
keting of Remdesivir
came to light amid the
COVID-19.
There was a short-
age of Remdesivir in-
jection. Because of this,
incidents of black mar-
keting took place, sev-
eral people lost their
lives as they have not
received Remdesivir, so
we decided to increase
its production, Gadka-
ri said. But we tried
(and to got manufactur-
ing rights), Remdesivir
will be provided to peo-
ple at government's
price. Now, I think there
will be no black market-
ing or no person will die
due to lack of it, there is
no reservation, can be
provided to other states
when there will be sur-
plus, he added.
On Thursday he vis-
ited Wardha to oversee
the production. —ANI
Remdesivir to
be available at
govt’s price,
says Gadkari
BJP LEADER CT RAVI SLAMS RAHUL
Visual from Goa Airport where essential medical cargo is being
transported. —PHOTO BY ANI
GOA TREATING
Sonia Gandhi

NEWS
07
Cowin or
COWin?
This is not a cow and bull
story. Now, we all know
that the domesticated bovine
is a much-revered quadruple
and their well-being is high on
government priority list. But
thanks to an over-concerned
and over-worked PR pen-
pusher of the ‘Sarkar’ the
Uttar Pradesh government
found itself in a rather co(w)
mic situation. An official
communique on Wednesday
from the State government
said it had issued instructions
to set up help desks in every
districts for the welfare of
cows, taking forward its cow
protection agenda. Wow! With
the State in the grip of an
unprecedented Covid surge,
the hand-out emphasised that
oximeters and thermal
scanners were also being
provided for cows housed in
government ‘gaushalas’
(cow-shelters)! Now, the ever
so cynical members of the
fourth-state saw no reason to
disbelieve or suspect the
solemn intention of the
government and carried the
news-worthy item with
aplomb. It was only when the
social-media, specially,
Twitterati went into splits on
the unintentional faux pas that
the slip caught the official
attention. No, the oximeters
and thermal scanners were
not for the holy cows but for
the staff tending the cow-
shelters, clarified a hasty
rebuttal from the UP
government. Moo to you
morons for mis-reading the
missive.
—M Tariq Khan
WHERE ARE
YOU, Mr MP?
The Member of Parliament of
Shahjahanpur, is missing
nowadays, even at the time of
disaster, despite people trying
to locate him by using a
telescope. People of the
constituency are severely upset
due to the missing MP who
they sent from Shahjahanpur
to Delhi with huge count of
votes. Today, in in times of
crisis he is not coming to help
anyone who voted for him.
Messages like ‘If the MP needs
anything of need we will give
also the same to him, like we
gave our vote for him’ were
doing rounds on social media
about Shahjahanpur MP Arun
Sagar. And in any case, why
not such message go viral as it
was the same Arun Sagar who
was given the ticket to win the
Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha seat
in 2014 with an overwhelming
majority and even Krishnaraja,
who got the position of Union
Minister of State in Modi's
cabinet, was also put on hold.
In such a situation, where the
people of the district are
reeling under Covid crisis, the
MP was not even attending to
phone calls. In such a
situation, the residents have
appealed that as he was sent to
Lok Sabha, similarly if he
needed anything, it will also be
fulfilled. —Amit Baliyan
First India Bureau
Meerut: Not caring for
the surge in Corona
cases resulting in im-
plementation of curfew
all over the state, resi-
dents in large numbers
were seen in markets of
Baghpat, Meerut and
surrounding districts.
The district adminis-
tration has fixed open-
ing hours of milk, fruit,
vegetable and grocer
shops for three hours,
while the markets saw
heavy rush on Friday
morning to buy food
grains and things of
daily need.
The opening hours of
the shops are till 11am
after which the police
had to issue challans
against shop owners
and get their shops
closed. A convoy of of-
ficers including IG,
Meerut and SSP
, Meerut
visited different parts
of on Friday afternoon
from Begumpul to
Hapur Adda, Tejgarhi
intersection, etc city
and inspected Corona
curfew. Officers took
stock of implementa-
tion of curfew and
movement of people.
The police officers in
Shamli, Muzaffarnagar,
Saharanpur and Bagh-
pat also kept an eye on
implementation of Co-
rona curfew. The DM
along with SP distrib-
uted masks near Jama
Masjid while senior of-
ficers visited religious
places in city to take
stock of lock-down and
distributed masks. To
prevent spread of Covid
infection and following
government's Covid
guide line Namaaz was
not carried out on
streets of the area and
instead people chose to
offer prayers at home.
Further, despite Co-
rona curfew in Baghpat
on Friday, huge crowd
was witnessed in mar-
kets. Similar situation
was seen in different
parts of Saharanpur on
Friday. Due to not fol-
lowing of rules includ-
ing wearing of mask,
maintaining social dis-
tance, etc in markets
the risk of spreading of
infection was constant-
ly increasing.
Markets of Meerut,
Baghpat witness
heavy rush in curfew
SUNSAAN BANARAS!
Varanasi Railway Station wears a deserted look due to cancellation of trains in lockdown on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Four children suffocate to death
after getting trapped inside car
First India Bureau
Baghpat: In Baghpat,
four children playing in
a car parked outside the
house died of suffoca-
tion. Police reached the
spot on receiving infor-
mation and removed
another child from the
car who was admitted
to the hospital in criti-
cal condition.
The incident oc-
curred in Singaulitaga
village of Khekra,
Baghpat, which caused
panic in the area. De-
ceased’s children’s rela-
tives have accused the
car owner of murder.
Reports revealed
TATA Tigor car of one
Happy
, son of Rajkumar
and resident of the vil-
lage was parked outside
the courtyard of the
house. During after-
noon, five children from
the neighborhood
climbed into the car
and started playing. Af-
ter some time the cen-
tral lock got activated
which trapped the chil-
dren inside the car. The
children tried to come
out of the car but could
not do so. Nobody could
see what was happen-
ing in the car as there
was no one in the house.
After about two hours,
when relatives reached
the house looking for
the children, they were
left shell shocked on
seeing the condition of
children. The neigh-
bours called Happy and
got the car opened after
which Sandeep’s eight-
year-old daughter
Deepa and another
daughter Vandana
along with Vikas’s
eight-year-old son Ak-
shay and four-year-old
Krishna were found to
have died in the car.
Prashant’s eight-year-
old son Shivang was
hospitalized in critical
condition. According to
villagers, the relatives
of the deceased were ac-
cusing car owner of
killing the children.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In an effort
to check the rising cas-
es of corona during its
second wave CHief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath reviewed ongo-
ing works with mem-
bers of Team-9 at his
government residence
on Friday. He did not
hold a virtual meeting
but sat with officials
and discussed in detail
each point of strategy
being undertaken to
deal with the virus.
The Chief Minister
said government was
engaged in providing
requisite facilities to all
people infected with
coronavirus. Along
with medical oxygen,
provision of covid beds
has been made in hospi-
tals.
The government will
take very strict action
against those obstruct-
ing facilities. He said
that it has been heard
that some private hos-
pitals in various dis-
tricts have tried to cre-
ate artificial scarcity of
medicine and oxygen
etc. along with beds
against whom strict ac-
tion was being taken.
Some private hospitals
who charged many
times more than fixed
fee rate of government
will have to return
money with interest to
the patient.
Strict action has
been taken against
such people and all DM
/ CMOs should keep an
eye on such hospitals
and take appropriate
action and no harass-
ment of patient and his
family members should
be allowed.
He said despite gov-
ernment’s clear in-
structions many Covid
hospitals were neither
giving daily informa-
tion about patient’s
health to their relatives
nor making number of
empty beds public. DM/
CMO should negotiate
with such hospitals and
set up a system or else
ensure action against
such hospitals. Such
hospitals should be
monitored from Medi-
cal Education minister
level. Now L-1 L-2 L-3
beds should be re-
viewed district-wise.
He directed the team
to ensure supply of Ox-
ygen as per need to all
districts in state. He
said that constant sup-
port was being received
from Government of
India. On May 6, 1032
MT was distributed in
state while 612 MT was
supplied in the state
only through refill. DR-
DO’s Covid Hospital,
now operational in Var-
anasi, was provided 10
MT Oxygen for trial
and their other require-
ments should also be
met. By tomorrow, 80
tonnes of Oxygen
would be received from
Jamnagar (Gujarat)
while two Oxygen Ex-
presses were coming by
tonight. The CM said a
detailed action plan
should also be prepared
keeping in view need of
all districts from the
level of Additional
Chief Secretary
(Home). All efforts
should be made to min-
imize oxygen wastage.
STRICTACTIONAGAINSTHOSPITALSTRYINGTO
CREATE‘FAKE’SCARCITYOFMEDICINE,OXYGEN
First India Bureau
Meerut: Multiple in-
stances of inhumane
treatment are being re-
ported from all around
the country after the
second wave of Corona
proved deadly
. The state
has already facing prob-
lems related to black
marketing of essential
items like medicines,
beds, etc. and recently
huge price is being
charged by people to
just move dead body of
infected person from
ambulances to crema-
tion ground and finally
performing final rites.
The fear of getting
infected while being
near bodies of people
who have passed away
due to Covid is forcing
people to indulge the
services of people to
cremate their loved
ones. This fear of get-
ting infected is what al-
lowing the touts charge
exorbitant price to help
cremate the dead bodies
of the infected persons.
On Thursday
, a resident
of Meerut passed away
due to corona in a medi-
cal college and as the
family members want-
ed to stay away from the
body fearing infection,
the family members
took help of two youths
who offered to place the
body in ambulance and
even help in cremation
process. When the fam-
ily members accepted
the offer, the youth then
began asking money
from the family mem-
bers stating that since
they are putting their
life in danger, they
should be paid hand-
somely. The family
members who were
without any other op-
tion decided to pay Rs.
8000, that was demand-
ed by the youths. Once
the money was paid, the
youths took the body in
an ambulance to get it
cremated.
Touts charge exorbitant
prices to cremate bodies
of coronavirus patients
Lucknow hospital
slapped with FIR,
says will move HC
On Wednesday, the
Lucknow administration
filed an FIR against a
city hospital accusing
it of spreading “false
rumours” over shortage
of oxygen. On Thursday,
the hospital administra-
tion, which had put up a
notice on May 3 asking
relatives to take away
patients as it was facing
oxygen shortage, said it
would move high court
over the FIR.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

08
2NDFRONT
PeopleofthestatehavewelcomedAAP
with open arms: AAP State President
Wrong candidates
declared winners
First India Bureau
Lucknow: An FIR
has been registered
against a government
official deputed as ad-
ditional returning of-
ficer (ARO) in IP pan-
chayat polls for alleg-
edly giving winning
certificates to candi-
dates who lost, an of-
ficial said on Friday
.
ARO Virendra Ku-
mar has been booked
for cheating, forgery
and fraud on a com-
plaintfromReturning
Officer Sunil Kumar,
aseniorpoliceofficial
said. On Wednesday,
there was an incident
of arson in Nai Bazar
police outpost by the
supportersof thecan-
didates who alleged
that they were not de-
clared winners due to
fraud committed by
the official.
Police arrested 18
people lodged 4 sep-
arate FIRs in connec-
tion with vandalism
arson of the police
outpost. After the
counting of votes on
Tuesday
,RaviNishad,
acandidateof district
Panchayatwardnum-
ber 60, Kodai Ni-
shad, of ward num-
ber 61, claimed they
have won the election
with over 2,000 votes,
but the administra-
tion didn’t give them
certificate.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The results
of the Panchayat elec-
tions have thrown
some surprising re-
sults with different
parties interpreting
the results in their
own ways. The Sama-
jwadi Party which has
fairly performed well
has been claiming that
the results have fa-
vored them while new
entrants in the state
are also very excited
with the way the re-
sults have come.
The Aam Aadmi
Party, which is a new
entrant in the politics
of the state has per-
formed better than
what was expected.
Sabhajeet Singh, AAP
State President said
that AAP will place its
bet on the newly elect-
ed Zila Panchayat
members for the up-
coming assembly elec-
tions in the state.
He added that AAP
will also nominate the
independent Zila Pan-
chayat members who
have extended sup-
port to the party for
the assembly elec-
tions. Sabhajeet Singh
said that the party
had looked at the Pan-
chayat elections as a
mock election before
the assembly elec-
tions which is why it
had ensured that the
election was fought at
full strength.
He also added that
the party fielded its
candidates for Gram
Pradhan and Zila Pan-
chayat members, and
the people of the state
have welcomed the
party with open
hands. He further
added that only due to
the love of people,
AAP has managed to
hold the fourth posi-
tion in the panchayat
elections
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Prof. SK Ma-
thur resigned from the
post of Medical Super-
intendent (MS) of
BHU’s Sir Sunderlal
Hospital. He was suc-
ceeded by Prof. KK Gup-
ta, Department of Medi-
cine, Institute of Medi-
cal Sciences, who will
continue on the post
until further notice.
The resignation of Prof.
SK Mathur comes
amidst complaints and
allegations of negli-
gence of patients in the
Corona ward in BHU
hospital. Ever-increas-
ing complaints of negli-
gence in the Corona
wards were being re-
ceived by the state gov-
ernment in Lucknow as
well as the Central Gov-
ernment. Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath tak-
ing cognizance of the
complaints had in-
structed the officials to
look into the complains
and held a virtual meet-
ing with the BHU ad-
ministration in order to
give directions to im-
prove the situation.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Urging the
state govt to take strict
action against culprits
responsible for con-
cern post-poll vio-
lence, Mayawati said
that the violence was
very disturbing. As
per reports, at least 6
people have been
killed in Gorakhpur,
Deoria, Azamgarh,
Jaunpur in post-poll
violence.
Moreover, BJP lead-
ers sat on dharnas out-
side their own homes
in protest against post-
poll violence in Bengal.
As per reports, UP
police have booked
over 2000 people for in-
dulging in post-poll vi-
olence since panchayat
polls started on Mar 26.
Filing 203 FIRs, UP po-
lice have arrested 621
and detained 6000.
While over 7.28 lakh
arms being deposited
by licence holders,
mobs attacked several
panchayat poll win-
ners in Gorakhpur,
Deoria, Azamgarh,
Jaunpur, injuring sev-
eral candidates and
their kin after poll re-
sults were announced.
In a severe setback
to the BJP, the party
has lost key districts
like - Varanasi, Mathu-
ra, Ayodhya, and Gora-
khpur in the UP pan-
chayat polls whose re-
sults have were de-
clared late Tuesday
night. While the rural
polls are not fought on
party symbols, most
parties have backed
specific candidates.
UTTAR PRADESH PANCHAYAT POLLS:
POLITICAL MACHINATIONS CONTINUE...
With BJP SP leading the polls, BSP Supremo Mayawati on Friday, expressed concern over post-poll violence in UP where at least 6 killed
Concerned over post-poll violence in
Uttar Pradesh. It was very disturb-
ing and I urge the state govt to take
strict action. Mayawati, BSP Supremo Sabhajeet Singh
PRAYER WITH CARE
Muslim cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid others offering Alvida Ki Namaz at Eidgah on the last Friday of Ramadan in
Lucknow on Friday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
BHU Prof
accused of
negligence,
resigns
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
Code of Conduct which
was in effect due to the
Panchayat elections ex-
piring, it is being pre-
dicted that an early de-
cision will be reached
on the annual transfer
policy, along with the
pending promotions
and filling up of the va-
cant posts.
The State Public
Service Commission
has long before the
elections were due
had received the rec-
ommendation for the
promotion of Tehsil-
dars to the post of
Deputy Collector but
it was postponed due
to the Election Code
of Conduct which was
in place.
The process of pro-
motion from PCS to
IAS cadre has also
been in the pipeline
for quite some time as
the State Public Ser-
vice Commission is yet
to send a proposal to
the Union Public Ser-
vice Commission.
The State Public Ser-
vice Commission in ad-
dition to these works
must also decide on the
transfer policy for the
year 2021-22 and since
the government had
postponed the transfer
for the year 2020-21 cit-
ing exceptional cir-
cumstances arising out
of the Covid epidemic,
the commission has a
lot of pending works in
its hand.
Sincethesecondwave
is proving to be more fa-
tal, the commission will
soon have to come to a
decision on whether to
implement transfer pol-
icy for the year 2021-22or
postpone it again.
Recruitment transfers delayed amid rise in Covid-19 cases
The state might soon see a lot of
transfers, recruitment and promotions
of various officers of different cadre
Lok Bhawan in Lucknow
AKTU to organise hackathon
to find solutions on O2 wastage
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Dr APJ Ab-
dul Kalam Technical
University (AKTU),
Lucknow, will organ-
ise a hackathon to help
find solutions in mini-
mising the wastage,
leakage and misuse of
oxygen at all levels
and ensure the best
utilization of available
oxygen for patients.
Students, research-
ers and faculty mem-
bers can participate in
the hackathon by regis-
tering at the university
website by May 10 (5
pm). The AKTU hack-
athon aims to explore
some technology-based
solutions to prevent
medical oxygen wast-
age, leakage or losses in
hospitals in India, espe-
cially in Uttar Pradesh,
so that the available
oxygen can be utilized
in the best way to sup-
port the patients in the
hospitals during the
fight against the COV-
ID-19 pandemic, an of-
ficial statement said.
The university has
also provided some
problem statements
witty respect to the
hackathon. The best
ideas, the university
statement says, will be
acknowledged and will
be awarded by token of
appreciation. AKTU
has also provided an
email ID and a contact
number for the partici-
pants to address que-
ries regarding the
hackathon.
First India Bureau
Lakhimpur/Kan-
pur: The state gov-
ernment has been
claiming that it has a
better health system
but the ground reali-
ty has been the com-
plete opposite. While
public criticism of
the health system
has been on the rise,
the legislators have
also joined the band-
wagon. On Friday,
Lokendra Singh,
MLA from Moham-
madi seat in Lakhim-
pur Kheri district
and Kanpur MP Saty-
adev Pachauri wrote
a letter to Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
regarding the pathet-
ic condition of hospi-
tals in the state.
MLA Lokendra
Singh wrote that the
Lakhimpur district
has been hit badly by
the Corona outbreak
and with the expo-
nential increase in
the positive cases, a
lot of lives are also
being lost due to a
shortage of oxygen
in the district. He has
stated that the Tehsil-
level Community
Health Center has
also run out of oxy-
gen and many people
are dying in the rural
areas. He requested
the government to
come up with a plan
soon to deal with this
epidemic.
First India Bureau
Bareilly: A lion at the
Etawah Safari Park has
tested positive for COV-
ID-19 and another was
suspected to have
caught the infection,
three days after eight
Asiatic lions in Hy-
derabad were found in-
fected with the virus.
“16 samples of 14 Asi-
atic lions at the Etawah
Safari Park had been
sent to the Indian Vet-
erinary Research Insti-
tute (IVRI) for RT-PCR
tests for COVID-19. On
Thursday, one lion test-
ed positive for the virus,
while another was con-
sidered a suspected
case. The remaining 12
lions have tested nega-
tive,” IVRI Joint Direc-
tor Dr KP Singh said.
He said the sample of
a lion was also received
from the Delhi zoo and
its report came out neg-
ative on Friday. He also
said the report of the
samples is being sent to
the government. The
chain of transmission
of the virus could have
taken place through
any asymptomatic hu-
man carrier, probably
caretakers, working at
the park, Dr Singh said.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Tech Univ
MP writes to CM
over O2 shortage
Lion in Etawah Safari Park tests COVID positive
Health worker helping
patient breathe oxygen.
Etawah Safari Park —FILE PHOTO
Today we need an education
system which teaches a child to live
and survive in adverse challenging
circumstances and not just the curriculum.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

LUCKNOW, SATURDAY
MAY 8, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ALLURING
BEAUTY!
City First in conversation with Pari Sahni, the gorgeous beauty
from Mumbai, whose ambitions are bigger than excuses!
ari Sahni, a very as-
pirational self-de-
pendent modern girl
from Mumbai, whose
persona is bound to
impress everyone. In
an exclusive inter-
view with City First, Pari
talked about her journey
and her career goal!
Originally born and
brought up in Delhi, Pari
moved to Mumbai after high-
er secondary education to
pursue her dream and make
her mark in the industry
. She
rose to fame in Bangalore
when she started modelling
as a runway model and did a
few print shoots as well.
“
After my education, I
moved to Bangalore and
worked there as a dance cho-
reographer and did model-
ling side by side.” She fur-
ther added, “In 2013, I
shifted to Mumbai as I par-
ticipated in MTV Splits-
villa season 6. And then I
didn’t stop. My journey
began as a model and an
actor. I have been in love
with this city ever
since,” she said.
Pari has walked for
Fashion Weeks in-
cluding Lakme Fash-
ion Week, India
Fashion Week, India
Beach Fashion
Week, Times Fash-
ion Week among
others. Besides,
she has done
more than 200
ramp shows
with various renowned de-
signers and choreogra-
phers. “I have been fea-
tured in many music vid-
eos, TV serials and
TV ads. I am look-
ing forward to a
good break-in
acting. My
dream is to
work with big
banners and
do charity for
the poor peo-
ple,” the ac-
tress said.
—PHOTOS
BY
AJAY
JANGID
KARISHMA GWALANI
karishma.gwalani@firstindia.co.in
P
BEAUTIFUL!
uhi, a strong inde-
pendent woman,
grew up in a middle-
class family
.
When asked about
her journey, she
shared. “I was born
in Mumbai in a very support-
ive family
. I am the first girl in
my family to step up into the
field of modelling.” She fur-
ther added, “Coming from a
non-glamour background
family, it was inconceivable
for me to think of fashion and
modelling as my career. But I
am a competitive individual
who is driven and likes to win.
To my surprise, And fortu-
nately, my parents and family
have supported me in all my
ups and downs of life.”
When asked what advice
would she give someone start-
ing, the alluring beauty re-
plied, “To the girls who want
to come into this industry
should be mature enough to
tackle every situation with a
positive attitude and immense
patience. Well, Juhi was very
fortunate to have learned
so much at a young age and
she’s now using
those experi-
ences as a
platform to
speak truth
to others.
Juhi Kaur who hails from Mumbai earned a name and fame
in the field of fashion and modelling. In an exclusive interview
with City First, Juhi talks about her journey so far!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
J

10
ETC
F
A
C
E
O
F
T
H
E
D
A
Y
ANNA SAMUEL, Designer
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Your dreams of achieving
big are likely to be realised
soon. Focussing on your
career graph at this
juncture will be a step that will take
you far. A rethink is in order for those
going in for a heavy investment.
Recovering a loaned amount from
someone will not pose difficulty.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
A long journey may prove
to be both tiring and
uncomfortable. A major
purchase may make a dent
in your savings, but will help in
keeping up with the Joneses!
Speculation may not be profitable
and you can very well burn your
fingers.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
You succeed in putting an
ambitious project on the
tracks and cross all
hurdles in making it a
success. Love beckons and promises
to give immense joy and fulfillment.
Your consistency in performance on
the academic front will be noticed by
those who matter.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Homemakers will get a
chance to implement their
ideas. You are likely to be
recognised for your efforts
on the professional front. Some of you
can be invited for guidance or
consultancy. Chance of a raise is
possible for some. Timely and correct
decision will help you in saving money.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
You will put in extra efforts
to complete a task
entrusted to you. Your
academic aspirations may
take some time to get realised. A
contentious property issue may not
show any signs of getting sorted out,
so have a backup plan ready.
Financial worries will evaporate.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Good budgeting will help you
save much, even for
splurging. Satisfaction is
foreseen for the image-
conscious people trying to achieve
perfect figure and physique. You will
enjoy the company of a younger aged
woman. You will succeed in
surmounting the odds to get a job back.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
It is one of those days
when you will feel satisfied
with whatever you do
today on the social front!
Those seeking love may not get
lucky, but persistence will pay! Those
in the rat race may find it difficult to
pip the rivals at the post. A friend or
relative can touch a sensitive nerve.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Job prospects for those
freshly out of professional
institutes are set to
brighten up soon. A
positive outlook will help you throw
out the negativity within. You will
manage to ignore distractions and
interruptions at work to complete a
pending task in time.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
You remaining on the
saving mode will help you
strengthen your financial
front. Those planning to
study abroad are likely to get a
chance of a lifetime. Your innovative
ideas on the professional front are
likely to be well received. Spirituality
will have a special allure for you.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
Although money is not a
problem, you will have to
curb wasteful expenditure.
Sticking to workout routine
may benefit you on the health front.
New opportunities will be seized on
the professional front. Meeting
relatives at a marriage or party
cannot be ruled out.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Your energy and dynamism
will get you what you aim
for today on the academic
front. This is the day to
play your winning card on the
professional front. A lot of time may
be wasted in socialising, but you will
love every moment of it. You will be
highly motivated today.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Health matters gain priority
and will motivate for
achieving total fitness. A
profitable day for
entrepreneurs is envisaged. You may
be played upon for spending on
someone else’s needs and desires.
Homemakers are likely to enjoy the
day in the company of neighbors.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
yunosuke Akuta-
gawa (1892-1927)
was a Japanese
writer, active in
the Taisho peri-
od.Heisregarded
as ‘the father of
the Japanese stories’. Ja-
pan’s premier literary
award ‘The Akutagawa
prize’ is named after him.
He was raised by his un-
cle, as his mother had
gone mentally deranged
shortly after his birth.
This fear of insanity
haunted him throughout
his brief life. He commit-
ted suicide at the age of 35,
by an overdose of barbital.
Akutagawa had the un-
canny ability to focus an
uncompromising lens into
the darker corners of the
human heart and the
murkier ambiguities of
their condition. He sought
to reconcile Eastern, par-
ticularly Japanese, phi-
losophy, thought and cul-
ture to Western moderni-
zation. He endorsed the
priceless Japanese herit-
age of Bushido. It is a
moral code of conduct,
followed in Japan, particu-
larly by the chivalrous
Samurai warriors, for
their philosophy, princi-
ples, attitude, behaviour
and lifestyle.
‘The Handkerchief’
story focuses on a profes-
sor- Kinzo Hasegawa, at
The Law School of Tokyo
Imperial University. He
considers himself a true
cosmopolitan. He has
studied abroad and his
wife is an American. He
often imagines himself
‘becoming a bridge be-
tween East and West. The
Gifu Lantern hanging in
his verandah is a true rep-
resentative of Japanese
Civilization. He reads
Western literature to keep
up with the thought pro-
cess of the young students
who are more inclined to-
wards modernity
.
On this particular Sun-
day, Professor Hasegawa
is seated in a cane chair,
reading Strindberg’s
‘Dramaturgy’ and admir-
ing his Gifu lantern. His
reading is interrupted by
a visit from Mrs Nishiy-
ama, the mother of one of
his students. She is the
epitome of Hasegawa’s ex-
pectation of a Japanese
‘wise mother’- one who
adheres to the traditions
of Japanese culture. She
has come to tell him of the
death of her son since he
was Hasegawa’s student.
She does it in an almost
detached manner. ‘There
were no tears. The voice
was calm. There was even
a trace of a smile in the
corner of her mouth’.
Mentally
, he compared her
dignified composure to
the impulsive-hyper-open
exhibition of expression
by the Westerners.
As they were formally
reminiscing the de-
ceased’s daily life routine,
along with his expected
glorious future, the profes-
sor accidentally drops a
fan that was in his hands.
He bends down under the
table to pick it up. His eyes
chanced to fall upon the
clenched hands of the
lady
. She held them down,
upon her lap, hidden un-
der the table. He was
shocked to see that her
hands were trembling vio-
lently. To suppress the
shaking, she clutched a
handkerchief so tightly as
to nearly tear it. “The
woman had been smiling
with her face but weeping
with her whole body”. He
was filled with uncompre-
hending sympathy and
awe for this Japanese lady
,
a believer of traditional
Bushido, exhibiting un-
matched bravado even in
her deepest sorrow.
Long after she had left,
he sat in his verandah in
deep reflection. He tries to
fathom the depth of her
profound pain. ‘He shook
his head once or twice, as
though to drive away from
the unpleasant thought,
then looked again at the
newly lit lantern’. Akuta-
gawa’s work is filled with
‘this sort of moment of
recognition- and then re-
jection- of truth.” His
characters exhibit person-
al preference to percep-
tions, based on their self-
delusion. He, therefore,
challenges readers to find
their interpretation, to
look hard at their selves in
search of ‘The Truth’.
This Japanese culture
brings to my mind the
comparable character of
Taka (Koyuki), of ‘The
Last Samurai’ fame. Ta-
ka’s husband is killed by
Algren(Tom Cruise), in a
battle. Algren is taken cap-
tive by Katsumoto, Taka’s
brother, the Chief of the
clan. Algren is lodged in
Taka’s house. She hides
her deep anguish, bitter-
ness, hatred and main-
tains a pleasant, hospita-
ble facade in Algren’s pres-
ence. She serves him as
one would do a most hon-
oured guest. Such is ‘the
Bushido Code’ of Japan!
DEEPAK
deepaklifemusings@gmail.com
DEEPAK’S CORNER
THE HANDKERCHIEF
R
Ryunosuke Akutagawa

First India-Lucknow Edition-08 May 2021

First India-Lucknow Edition-08 May 2021

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