First India-Lucknow Edition-17 May 2021

UP All Set To Deal With 3rd C-Wave: Yogi
First India Bureau
Lucknow: As the active
number of Covid cases
have been declining
steadily, Uttar Pradesh
continues to fight the
second wave of novel
coronavirus effectively
and has also formulated
a stringent action plan
to deal with the third
wave of the virus as
predicted by experts.
To further curb the
spread of the deadly vi-
rus and to minimise its
devastating impact, the
state has equipped itself
to fight the anticipated
third Covid wave with
complete preparedness,
said Uttar Pradesh
Chief MinisterYogiAdi-
tyanath while address-
ing various eminent me-
dia institutions in a
pressconferenceonSun-
day at Noida Film City
.
As per predictions,
the third Covid wave
could severely affect the
children,womenandthe
vulnerable groups. Re-
acting to the expert as-
sessments on a probable
third wave, immediate
directions have been is-
sued to ramp up the
health infrastructure in
all the Community
Health Centres and set
up paediatric ICUs with
a minimum capacity of
20 beds in all the dis-
trictsforproperandspe-
cial care of the children.
With this, directions
have been given to set
up 25-30 beds addition-
ally in the medical col-
leges. Turn to P6
CM Yogi has issued instructions to
set up 25-30 beds additionally in all
the medical colleges of the state
eyeing the possible severity
CM Yogi handing over a media person her vaccination certificate
after she was jabbed during the special drive for media in Noida
on Sunday. CM Yogi had inaugurated the drive.
71
HOUSES
271
ELECTRIC
POLES
76
FISHING
BOATS
155-165
2
DEATHS
IN GOA
500
TREES
FALLEN
1
KILLED IN
KARNATAKA
9kmph
CYCLONE
INITIAL SPEED
KMPH WIND SPEED
DAMAGED
LUCKNOW l MONDAY, MAY 17, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 155
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
HIKE IN PETROL,
DIESEL PRICES
YET AGAIN
ISRAEL PM VOWS
TO CONTINUE
STRIKE ON GAZA
New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices have been hiked again across the
metros on Sunday, May 16, after a day’s pause. In Lucknow, petrol prices
remained the same at `90.37 per litre and diesel was at `83.68 per Litre.
The last change in Lucknow’s diesel price was on May 15, 2021 and it
was increased by +0.36 rupees, according to Indian Oil Corporation.
Tel Aviv: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the at-
tacks in Gaza will continue “as long as necessary.” “Unlike Hamas, which
deliberately intends to harm civilians while hiding behind civilians, we are
doing everything, but everything, to avoid or limit as much as possible
harming civilians and to directly strike terrorists instead,” said Netanyahu.
Tauktae
Hammers
WEST COAST
Bengaluru/Panaji/
Ahmedabad: Gale-
force winds, heavy rain-
fall and high tidal waves
swept the coastal belt of
Kerala, Karnataka and
Goa as Cyclone Tauktae
hurtled northwards to-
wards Gujarat on Sun-
day, leaving six people
dead, damaging hun-
dreds of houses, uproot-
ing electricity poles and
trees and forcing evacu-
ation in low-lying areas.
AccordingtotheIndia
Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD), Tauktae
which has taken the
form of a “very severe
cyclonic storm” is likely
to intensify further dur-
ingthenext24hoursand
reach the Gujarat coast
on Monday evening.
Strong winds with
speed reaching up to 90
km/perwerelashingthe
western coastal region.
According to the Cy-
clone Warning Division
of the IMD, Turn to P6
AMITSHAHTAKESSTOCK
OFRESCUEPREPARATIONS
New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed
the preparedness for Cyclone Tauktae in Gujarat,
Maharashtra and the Union territories of Daman
and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Havel and “specifi-
cally” stressed that all health facili-
ties, including those for COVID-19
treatment, falling in the affected
areas should be secured along
with the patients. Shah also
advised them to ensure adequate
stocks of all essential medi-
cines and supplies in the
hospitals, keeping in
view a likely disruption
in the movement of
vehicles.
PM speaks to CMs for 11th time,
but exercise loses its charm
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday spoke to the
chief ministers of Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Chhattisgarh and Pu-
ducherry on the COV-
ID-19 situation in the
states and the union ter-
ritory, government
sources said.
Modi has been regu-
larly speaking to chief
ministers to take stock
of the pandemic’s situa-
tion in states and union
territories.
Infact, since last year
when corona pandemic
made its entry into the
country, PM intracted
six times with various
chief ministers while
this year since April he
has spoken to CMs on
five different occasions.
On Sunday, PM took
stock of the pandemic
management strategies
adopted by the State
governments in order to
tackle the situation.
Turn to P6
PM INTERACTS WITH YOGI
New Delhi/Lucknow: PM Narendra Modi on
Sunday spoke at length with CM Yogi Adity-
anath along with CMs of thress other states in-
cluding Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry
As per sources, PM took stock of the Covid-19
situation in the state and appreciated efforts be-
ing put in by the state government. He also gave
several instructions. Modi has been regularly
speaking to CMs of various states.
Patna: Senior Congress
leaders,includingRahul
Gandhi, Priyanka Gan-
dhiVadraandPChidam-
baram,Sundayhitoutat
the Centre over the ar-
rests of people who had
allegedly put up posters
criticising the govern-
ment’s handling of the
Covid-19 crisis.
“Arrest me too,” Ra-
hul tweeted on Monday
while sharing the poster
which read: “Modi ji
hamare bachchon ki
vaccine videsh kyon
bhej diya (Why did you
send our children’s vac-
cines abroad?)”.
Congress leaders
have also changed their
display pictures on the
social media platform to
voice their opposition to
the arrests.
A senior Delhi Police
official said that around
25 FIRs have Turn to P6
‘Arrest me too’, says Rahul
over ‘PM vaccine’ posters
Farmer-policemen clashes mark
Khattar’s Hisar visit, several injured
Hisar: As Haryana
Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar visited
Hisar for inaugurating
a 500-bed hospital for
Covid-19 patients on
Sunday
, a large number
of protesting farmers
who tried to enter the
venue clashed with po-
lice personnel, leading
to several being injured.
A large number of
farmers, who were pro-
testing against the farm
laws, had started assem-
bling near the venue
since morning.
As Khattar landed in
Hisar, the agitated farm-
ers, who were shouting
slogans against the gov-
ernment and blamed
Khattar for the spread
of Covid infection in the
villages, started march-
ing towards the venue,
breaking down police
barricades and pelting
stones. When the cops
stopped them from pro-
ceeding Turn to P6
Ploughs through coastal Kerala, Ktka, Goa;
Gujarat braces for impact by today evening
INDIA
3,11,170
new cases
4,077
new fatalities
UTTAR PRADESH
10,682
new cases
311
new fatalities
CORONA CATASTROPHE
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is
expected to occur in coastal
areas of Gujarat on May 17 &
May 18. Extremely heavy rainfall is also
expected at some places. At the time of
landfall, winds speed is expected to be 155-
165 kmph gusting to 145 kmph
—IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
High sea waves due
to cyclone Tauktae hit
Bhagavathi Prem Sinken
Dredger near Mangaluru.
Fishing boats are
anchored at a fishing
harbor due to the Cyclone
Tauktae, in Karachi.
NDRF team clears a
road blocked by the
falling of trees due to strong
winds in Panaji on Sunday.
Local carry their
belonging after their
houses were destroyed in
Alappuzha in Kerala.
1
2
3
4
IMPACT ZONE
Gujarat
Maharashtra
Karnataka
TN
Kerala
Goa
2
May 16
May 17
May 16
May 16
May 15
...speaks to
CMs of UP,
Rajasthan,
Chhattisgarh,
Puducherry
According to politi-
cal observers, the
exercise is losing
its charm because
of PM’s frequent in-
teraction with CMs,
who are already
over occupied in
day-to-day corona
management. PM’s
dialogue with CMs
and collectors
should be in the
‘rarest of the rare’
circumstances oth-
erwise in a federal
system it becomes
a routine exercise,
which doesn’t
suit the status
and authority of a
towering PM like
Narendra Modi.
The poster image tweeted by
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Several protesting farmers and cops were injured in the clashes.
1
2
4 3

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | MONDAY, MAY 17, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a novel ini-
tiativeaimedatbringing
lightof educationtochil-
dren on the one hand
andempoweringwomen
on the other, the Yogi
AdityanathGovernment
in Uttar Pradesh has
launched a project to
manufacture solar
lamps and distribute
themtochildreninrural
areas of the state at rea-
sonably low cost.
The beneficiaries of
this project also include
the school children and
women of the ancestral
villageof PresidentRam
Nath Kovind called Pa-
raunkhinDerapurblock
of Kanpur (Rural) dis-
trict.Withthehelpof the
Government and the
CSR Fund, women of
self-help groups are cre-
ating these solar lamps,
which are being made
available to the school
children by the Govern-
ment for Rs 100 per piece
against their market
rate of a whopping Rs
500 per piece.
Earlier, the Yogi gov-
ernment distributed 28
lakh solar lamps made
by4,000womentoschool
children in 75 blocks
spread over 30 districts
of UP
. The initiative is
part of the Prerna Ojas
Programme of UP State
Rural Livelihoods Mis-
sion(RuralDevelopment
Department) that helps
women of self-help
groups to become self-
reliant and socially and
economically empow-
ered.
Kanpur (Rural) Dis-
trictMagistrateJitendra
Pratap Singh said that
thisinitiativewouldhelp
children a great deal in
pursuingeducation,add-
ing that it is a matter of
prideforthedistrictthat
womenhavefoundaway
to become self-reliant by
making solar lamps.
Solar lamps distributed to ‘enlighten’ society
HELPING HAND
School students will get solar lamps at Rs 100 per piece.

Women of self-
help groups are
creating these
solar lamps,
which are being
made available to
the school
children by the
Government at
reasonably
low cost
Govt says the state has 80,000 hospital beds in L2 and L3 category where coronavirus positive patients can be treated;
vaccination will begin in 23 districts from today; monitoring teams screening people in rural areas of the state
First India Bureau
Noida: Over 4.5 crore
Covid-19 tests have been
conducted in Uttar
Pradesh so far, while 1.5
crore people have been
vaccinated for corona-
virus, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath said on
Sunday
.
The CM said the state
did not have “much ca-
pacity” for COVID test-
ing till March last year
but is now conducting
2.5 lakh to 3 lakh tests
every day
.
“On March 2, 2020, we
did not have much ca-
pacity for COVID tests
nor isolation beds for
treatment of COVID pa-
tients in the state. With
support from the Cen-
tre, the state govern-
ment’s machinery along
with help from various
organisations, today we
are conducting 2.5 lakh
to 3 lakh tests every
day
,” Adityanath told re-
porters in Noida during
a visit here to review the
pandemic situation.
“The state has 80,000
hospital beds in L2 and
L3 category where coro-
navirus positive pa-
tients can be treated,”
he said. He said the Cen-
treisprovidingvaccines
for free to people above
the age of 45 years while
the state government is
doing it for the people
aged between 18 and 44
years.
“We have so far vac-
cinated 1.5 crore people
inthestateandcontinue
(to do so) at war-footing
as per a comprehensive
strategy,” Adityanath
said.
He said vaccination
for people aged above 45
is being done at 2,500
centres and for the 18-
plus category, the gov-
ernment had started the
vaccination process in
seven districts in the
first phase where active
cases and positivity rate
were the highest.
“In the second phase,
we brought all munici-
pal corporations on
board and in the third
phase, which starts on
May 17, we will begin
vaccination at all head-
quarters of commis-
sionaries. From tomor-
row, vaccination will
begin in 23 districts of
the state,” he added.
In the wake of suspi-
cions being raised that
the virus is spreading to
rural areas, the govern-
ment had implemented
a comprehensive strat-
egy for it on May 2, the
chief minister said.
“We have a monitor-
ing team in every vil-
lage. Keeping 97,000 rev-
enue villages in focus,
the monitoring teams
are screening people for
Covid,” he said. Those
whoarepositiveorshow
symptoms for the infec-
tion are provided medi-
cine kit and a data is
prepared of such people
which is given to the In-
tegrated COVID Control
Centre (ICCC) from
where rapid response
team (RRT) goes to the
village and conducts
tests on contact persons
of the patient and
makes necessary ar-
rangements for them,
he added.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
CM Yogi has asked
officials to focus
on making available
the report of RT-PCR
test as early as pos-
sible, preferably in
24-hours after the
test. Samples should
be allocated accord-
ing to the capacity of
the testing lab..
CM Yogi Adityanath
on Sunday visited
Noida and Meerut
region of Western Ut-
tar Pradesh where he
took stock of facilities
relating Covid-19. In
Meerut, Yogi said that
the state has been
doing everything to
prevent it from further
damage.
CM Yogi Adi-
tyanath has
mourned the deaths
of former Minister
Shivbalak Pasi, MLA
Pzremwati & Kusma
Devi, mother of Ankit
Srivastava, bureau
chief of a private
news channel.
CM Yogi Adity-
anath on Sunday
announced that nine
medical oxygen
plants have been ap-
proved for Ghaziabad
and three for adjoin-
ing Gautam Buddh
Nagar district
4.5CRC-TESTEDWHILE
1.5CRVAXED:YOGIGOVT
VACCINATION DRIVE ON WAR FOOTING
Jacobreviewsarrangements
for Covid patients at
Balrampur Hospital
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In order to
provide immediate
treatment to Covid pa-
tients in rural areas, a
surprise inspection of
Balrampur and Lok-
bandhu Hospital was
conducted by Nodal Of-
ficer Covid-19, Lucknow
Dr Roshan Jacob.
She reviewed ar-
rangements available
for treatment of Cov-
id-19 infected patients
in the Balrampur Hos-
pital.
Nodal officer direct-
ed to reserve 250 cylin-
ders available in addi-
tion to 300 oxygen cylin-
ders currently in use
for Covid patients,
filled with oxygen by
supplier firm and in
this regard asked dis-
trict administration to
provide full support to
hospital. The availabil-
ity of specialist human
resources in hospital
like OT technician, ICU
technician and Anes-
thetist was discussed,
on which hospital ad-
ministration informed
that presently only 3
OTs technicians were
available while no ICU
Technician was pre-
sent.It was informed
that out of 08 anesthe-
tists sent by Director
General from other dis-
tricts (Hardoi-03, Un-
nao-02 and Baraban-
ki-03), only 04 had con-
tributed while remain-
ing not attended duties
in hospital till now. The
nodal officer directed to
immediately send req-
uisition to CMO to pro-
vide specialist human
resources to hospital
administration. It was
informed that supply of
human resources was
being done by Vanshika
Sewa Pradata Firm and
as soon as the demand
letter for human re-
source was received
from the hospital, the
demand would be met
as per rules.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a meeting with Editors from various media organisations in Gautam Buddha Nagar on Sunday. Also seen are Navneet Sehgal, ACS Information, Principal Secretary to
CM Sanjay Prasad along with other members from his team.
Policeman kills wife,
jumps before train
First India Bureau
Ghazipur: A 43-year-
old Uttar Pradesh Po-
lice head constable al-
legedly killed his wife
and critically injured
three children before
ending his life by jump-
ing in front of a train
here, police said on
Sunday.
The head constable
has been identified as
Munshi Singh Yadav,
they said. Superinten-
dent of Police Om-
prakash Singh said that
Yadav was depressed
over his skin ailment.
Yadav was sleeping on
the roof of his house
and his neighbours
heard the cries of his
children early Saturday
morning. As they
rushed there, they saw
Yadav’s wife Nisha Devi
lying in a pool of blood
and his sons Krishna
and Shyam and daugh-
ter Sudha critically in-
jured, police said.
The injured were tak-
en to a government hos-
pital where Nisha Devi
(38) was declared
brought dead. The chil-
dren were referred to
Varanasi for treatment,
they said. Later, Yadav
jumped before a train
outside his village and
ended his life, police
said.
Yogi govt committed to providing proper
healthcare facilities to policemen
First India Bureau
Noida: With an aim to
provide prompt and bet-
ter treatment with ade-
quate healthcare facili-
ties to the Police Force
contributing as ‘Front-
line Warriors’ amid the
prevailing pandemic,
on instructions of CM
Yogi Adityanath, Covid
Care Centres have been
set up at Reserve Police
Lines across 66 districts
of UP
.
To provide proper iso-
lation and quarantine
facility and immediate
required medical aid to
asymptomatic and mild
symptomatic police per-
sonnel, Covid Care Cen-
tres have also been es-
tablished at about 34
PAC Battalions. Com-
mitted to the well-being
of personnel of UP Po-
lice, Provincial Armed
Constabulary (PAC),
Government Railway
Police (GRP) who have
been tirelessly working
to maintain the law and
order amid the ongoing
corona crisis and regu-
larly monitoring the
partial corona curfews,
theYogiAdityanathgov-
ernment has set up Cov-
id-carecentreswith2993
beds, out of which 299
are oxygen beds in the
Police Lines.
Besides, a provision
of 628 beds has been
made for better treat-
ment and health care of
personnel of the UP
Provincial Armed Con-
stabulary (PAC). As
many as 589 policemen
were undergoing medi-
cal treatment at these
Covid-care centres, out
of which, a total of 244
policemen have com-
pletely recovered
whereas, 322 policemen
are being currently
treated in these cen-
tres.
A 107-bedded COV-
ID-care centre exclu-
sively for frontline
workersbyGovernment
Railway Police (GRP)
and a 236-bedded COV-
ID-care centre by the
Training Directorate
has been set up to pro-
vide immediate and
proper medical treat-
ment to the Policemen.
Isolation wards set up at
Police Lines in Hamir-
pur, Siddharthnagar
and Unnao.
CM Yogi Aditynath speaking with health workers in Noida.
Nodal Officer Covid-19, Lucknow Dr Roshan Jacob reviewing
arrangements at Balrampur Hospital on Sunday.
550 CYLINDERS

UTTAR PRADESH
03
At least 38 AMU teachers have died of Covid or Covid-like symptoms in last one
month, triggering doubts if any new deadly strain of the virus has been in circulation
First India Bureau
Aligarh: Genome se-
quencing of Covid-19
samples has not found
any new coronavirus
strain behind the infec-
tion around the AMU
campus, university au-
thorities said Sunday as
anothermemberof their
fraternity died.
Professor Abu Qamar,
75, the former dean of
the Faculty of Medicine
in the Jawaharlal Nehru
Medical College and
Hospital died here on
Sunday of Covid-19 after
battling it for nearly
threeweeks,JNMCPrin-
cipal Shahid Ali Sid-
diqui said.
Prof Qamar died two
days after AMU’s for-
merproctor,Prof Nasim
Beg, 76, died in a New
Delhi hospital where he
was shifted to and ad-
mitted after his condi-
tion worsened here, his
family members said.
At least 38 AMU teach-
ers, including 21 serv-
ing ones, have died of
Covid or Covid-like
symptoms in the last
one month, triggering
doubts if any new dead-
ly strain of the virus
has been in circulation
on the AMU campus.
These doubts also
prompted the varsity’s
JNMC authorities to
send Covid-19 samples
from the AMU campus
and its neighbouring
Civil Lines area for ge-
nome sequencing to
the CSIR-Institute of
Genomics and Integra-
tive Biology in New
Delhi.
No new strain of coro-
navirus has been detect-
ed in samples sent for
genome sequencing to
the CSIR in New Delhi,
said a senior JNMC offi-
cial,inarelief tothehos-
pital’s beleaguered staff
who have been on the
edge following a large
number of deaths of the
servingandretiredAMU
employees.
Prof Haris Manzoor
Khan, the head of the
JNMC’s Department of
Microbiology and the
principalinvestigatorof
the AMU’s Viral Re-
search and Diagnostic
Laboratory
, said out of
the 20 samples sent to
CSIR for genome se-
quencing,18(90percent)
had B.1.617.2 lineage re-
ferred to as the double
mutation variant, first
identified in Maharash-
tra on October 5, 2020.
It is a subtype of
B.1.617 variant which is
the main virus circulat-
inginthesecondwaveof
COVID-19 in Uttar
Pradesh, he added.
The WHO has de-
scribed it as a Variant of
Concern because of its
higher transmissibility
and reduced neutraliza-
tion from pre-existing
antibodies, he said.
B.1.617 has a higher
growth rate than other
circulating variants
suggesting a potentially
increased rate of trans-
mission.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In what can
be termed as a tremen-
dous fightback against
the dreaded Coronavi-
rus, Uttar Pradesh has
managed to bring num-
ber of positive cases
down to an plausible
level. While the fresh
cases have come down,
the number of deaths
continues to be on the
higher side remaining a
cause for major concern
in the state.
The COVID-19 related
death toll in Uttar
Pradesh rose to 17,546
with 311 more fatalities
while the infection tally
climbed to 16,19,645 as
10,682 fresh coronavirus
cases were reported, of-
ficials said on Sunday
.
Of the fresh deaths,
Meerut reported 27 fol-
lowed by Lucknow (20),
Kanpur (13), Chandauli
and Basti (12), Mathura
(10), the state govern-
mentsaidinastatement.
At 701, the maximum
number of new cases
were reported from
Meerut followed by Luc-
know (525), Varanasi
(496), Deoria (471), Bu-
landshahr (451) and Sa-
haranpur (437).
In the last 24 hours;
24,837COVID-19patients
have recovered from the
disease taking the
total number of
patients dis-
charged so far
in the state to
14,39,096. The
number of active
covid cases in the state
stands at 1,63,003; the
statement said.
Over 2.67 lakh sam-
ples were tested in the
last 24 hours. So far, over
4.46 crore samples have
been tested in the state,
the statement said.
First India Bureau
Rae Bareli: Former
minister and Congress
leader Shivbalak Pasi
died on Sunday follow-
ing a prolonged illness.
He was 81. Pasi’s fam-
ily members said
the former minis-
terhadbeensuffer-
ing from a liver ail-
ment for long.
He also had pneumo-
nia when the end came
on Saturday
, they added.
Aresidentof Deehblock
of Rae Bareli district,
Pasi’s condition deterio-
rated on Thursday and
family members rushed
him to Lucknow where
hefailedtogetahospital
bed, following which he
was taken to Amethi
where was admitted to a
hospital.
He died on Saturday
.
Pasi was a five-time
MLA from the Salon as-
sembly constituency of
Rae Bareli district.
CM Yogi Adityanath ex-
pressed grief over the
demise of the veteran
Congress leader.unable
to bear expenses of cre-
mation, please inform
us. We will make the ar-
rangements,” the police
said.If any person is un-
able to bear expenses of
cremation, please in-
form us. We will make
the arrangements,” the
police said.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: Minister of
State for Industrial De-
velopment, Satish Ma-
hanaonSunday
,inaugu-
rated the Oxygen Gen-
erator Plant, set up at
Ursula Hospital.
In his address at the
inauguration ceremony
,
he said that the people
of Kanpur would not
have to worry about
shortage of oxygen in
Kanpur as there is
enough supply of it in
the city
. He added that
the city will now in fact
provide liquid oxygen to
surrounding districts.
Satish Mahana in his
address assured that the
state government is tak-
ing steps to further im-
prove the infrastructure
of the district and one
such step is the con-
struction of oxygen
plants in the hospitals
in the district. He added
that the oxygen genera-
tor plant in the Ursula
Hospital has been com-
missioned in a mere 21
days and another plant
will also come up in the
hospital in another
month as the approval
for the second plant has
been given to District
Magistrate Kanpur Na-
gar on Sunday
.police
said.If any person is un-
able to bear expenses of
cremation, please in-
form us. We will make
the arrangements,” the
police said.
‘Nonewvirusstrainbehind
spate of C deaths in AMU’
Ex-minister Shivbalak
Pasi passes away
Ind Dev Minister
Mahana inaugurates
O2 plant in Kanpur
SANDY
ADIEU
As crematoriums run full with bodies of covid
victims, people bury their dead kin in the sand
on the banks of the Ganges in Prayagraj on
Sunday. —PTI PHOTO
Of the 20 samples,
18 had B.1.617.2
lineage referred to as
the double
mutation variant,
first identified in
Maharashtra on
October 5, 2020.
CASES REDUCE TO
IN 24 HOURS
10,682
Despite covid wreaking havoc in the state, people are still seen roaming callously without masks or
any protective gear in Lucknow, on Sunday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
‘35 NEW PLANTS IN MEERUT DIV’
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that
work is currently underway to set up 35 new
oxygen plants in Meerut division. He said in
Meerut alone, there are 10 oxygen plants which
are either being constructed or will soon be
constructed. The CM said the government has
decided to provide relief money to those who
earn their livelihood on day-to-day basics. The
professions to be covered are street vendors,
rickshaw and e-rickshaw operators, organized
and unorganized sector laborers, porters, sail-
ors, coolies, cobblers, barbers and washermen.
COVID-19 UPDATE
TOTAL CASES
TOTAL DEATHS
17,546
NEW CASES
10,682
NEW DEATHS
311
MEERUT 701
LUCKNOW 525
VARANASI 496
DEORIA 471
BULANDSHAHR 451
SAHARANPUR 437
RECOVERED 14,39,096
ACTIVE CASES 1,63,003
16,19,645
CHEER AMID GLOOM
Taking advantage of the absolute empty roads during the ongoing Corona Curfew,
youngsters in Aminabad play cricket on Sunday. What otherwise happens to be one of the
busiest roads in Lucknow, is wearing a deserted look these days. With people getting fed
up keeping indoors, seeing these boys play brings some cheer.
Industrial Development Minister Satish Mahana inaugurating the
oxygen plant at Ursula Hospital in Kanpur on Sunday.
INFRA BOOST
Janardan Misra
Lucknow: Amidst rins-
ing coronavirus infec-
tion in the state and
shortage of oxygen in
hospitals, Bill and
Melinda Gates Founda-
tion will establish oxy-
gen plants in 10 hospi-
tals.
The Foundation had
asked for list of 10 hos-
pitals from UP govern-
ment and government
has suggested that oxy-
gen plants would be set
up in Lucknow, Gautam
Buddha Nagar, Kanpur,
Bijnor, Amethi, Deoria,
Etawah, Mathura and
Pilibhit districts.
Pranjal Yadav, special
secretary here said that
letters were issued to
hospitals where oxygen
plants will be estab-
lished. The chief medi-
cal superintendents
were instructed to pro-
vide required arrange-
ments for setting up of
hospitals.
In the letter it was
mentioned that oxygen
plants will be estab-
lished in Avanti Bai
Women Hospital and
RSM Hospital of Luc-
know, 300 beds capacity
hospital of Gautam
Buddha Nagar, Manya-
var Kashi Ram Trauma
Centre in Kanpur, DC
Hospital in Amethi, dis-
trict hospitals of Bijnor,
Deoria, Pilibhit and
Etawah districts and
Combined hospital in
Mathura.
Also, civil work and
electric work for estab-
lishing oxygen plants
will be conducted by
PATH organisation.
Earlier, the foundation
had supported in estab-
lishing hospital with
oxygen supply facility
in Gorakhpur district.
The Covid hospitals
will benefit patients
from Gorakhpur and
nearby districts.
Several patients have
been died due to short-
age of oxygen in state.
Though government
has claimed that there
was no scarcity of oxy-
gen in state but the
ground reality presents
different picture.
Oxygen plants in hos-
pitals will be more ben-
eficial for the hospitals
as transportation of
oxygen gas was also
problematic on large
scale.
Gates Foundation to help establish oxy plants in 10 hosps
HELPING HAND
Bill Gates —FILE PHOTO
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 155 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
COVID-19 AND
THE GAME OF
FUDGING NUMBER
OF DEATHS
ruth has been the biggest casualty
in the ongoing pandemic. Many
states including Maharashtra, Gu-
jarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh,Odisha,Karnataka,Bihar,
Haryana and Chhattisgarh allegedly reported
fewer than the actual Covid-19 deaths. The sus-
pected under-reporting of positive cases and
huge under-counting of those succumbing to
Covid-19 in cities and villages eroded people’s
trust in governments. Added to this was lack
of transparency
.Togetherthesecreatedasense
of fear in the people. That may have been the
reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to
saythat“statesshouldbeencouragedtoreport
theirnumberstransparentlywithoutanypres-
sure of high numbers showing adversely on
their efforts”. By allegedly undercounting
casualtiesthestateswerefloutingIndianCoun-
cil of Medical Research guidelines. As per the
guidelines even if the person dies without
Covid-19 symptoms but has tested positive it
should be recorded as a coronavirus death.
It is not late for states to start reporting
actual numbers of infections and virus re-
lated deaths as it begins to cause havoc in vil-
lages. People are scared anyway so true num-
bers won’t change anything for them. Fami-
lies have lost their loved one(s) to Covid-19.
Not including their dead in official records
as a Covid-19 death will not alter the situation
for them. Until scarcity of medical oxygen
and hospital beds eased people were depend-
ent on God after all.
The undercounting of deaths due to Cov-
id-19 has been a typical feature of the pandem-
ic not just in India but in several countries of
the world. In the US, a study found that the
country undercounted 3.4 lakh Covid deaths.
The official US toll is 5.85 lakh. Adding the es-
timated “uncounted” 3.4 lakh to the official
tally will push the total Covid deaths to 9.25
lakh.That’sahugenumberforoneof themost
advanced countries in the world. Russia is es-
timated to have left out 5.93 lakh deaths from
its final total of Covid-19 fatalities. The study
by the Institute for Health Metrics & Evalua-
tionof theUniversityof Washingtonanalysed
data from 20 countries from March 2020 and
May 2021 before coming to the conclusion that
Covid-19 deaths were undercounted.
ThestudyclaimedthatIndiatooundercoun-
ted Covid-19 deaths by 4.3 lakh. That various
states were allegedly Covid fatality numbers
was raised by courts and the media. The Guja-
rat High Court pulled up the state government
by saying, “The state had nothing to gain by
hiding the real picture and hence suppression
andconcealmentof accuratedatawouldgener-
ate more serious problems including fear, loss
of trust and panic among the people at large.”
Foreign and Indian media regularly point-
ed out that the Covid-19 fatalities in India
were much higher than were being reported.
And PM Modi has come forward well in time
to guide the states not to under report and be
transparent.
IN-DEPTH
T he onslaught of the new mu-
tant and variant that has hit
the Indian peninsula has truly
crumbled the socio-economic
fabric and has left all of us
gasping and groping under a
volcanic eruption of a degener-
ating health system. While on
one side it is the helplessness
of a common man on the other
hand micro and small busi-
nesses face unprecedented re-
cession. The International La-
bour Organization estimates
that 400 million people in India
may sink deeper into poverty
.
The pandemic has probably
given the biggest blow to Indian
economy which remained unaf-
fectedevenduringtheeconomic
depressionof 2007–08.Whether
thegovtagreesornot,economic
activity across the country has
either stalled or significantly
decelerated taking away mil-
lions of livelihoods and closure
of a sizable number of micro
and small business units.
In 2020 March, since the first
lock down was clamped, it’s
been a long story of partial or
complete lock down derailing
the small business to succumb
to financial pressures. While
the businesses were planning
to revamp and stabilize, the
second wave has broken the
back bone of the businessmen.
The covid 19 pandemic has
left its footprints on almost all
sectors of Indian economy, but
nowhere is the hurt as grave as
the Small and Micro Enterpris-
es in the country
.
If we believe govt figures, In-
dia’s economy shrank 7.5 per-
cent in just the three months
that ended in September 20.
However, traders’ associations
remain in disagreement and
say that the figures are fudged
and doctored. As per the Con-
federation of All India Traders
(CAIT) small business and re-
tail traders have faced a loss of
approximately 15 trillion over
the last 14 months.
So, what kind of problems do
small businesses in India face
in these difficult times? Major
issue is that most of them are
not registered anywhere. May-
be because of the reason that
they are not big enough. Even
in the limits of GST these do
not really qualify. This appar-
ent opaqueness tends to cut
both ways, for the businesses as
well as against them. As they
remain out of the formal net-
work, maintaining accounts,
paying taxes or adhering to
regulatory norms does not ap-
ply to them. This brings down
their costs. But, when the crisis
strikes, the government’s abil-
ity to help them diminishes.
The second problem is of
zero footfall and it shall con-
tinue until the lock downs per-
sist and the common man lives
under the fear of pandemic and
poor medical infrastructure.
If these are the problems,
what can be done to redeem
them? The govt and the RBI has
beentryingtopumpmoneyinto
this sector but given the struc-
turalconstraints,ithashadlim-
ited impact. The registered en-
trepreneurs are just 30 – 35% of
the existing lot and therefore,
the bulk remain left out with no
relief reaching them.
Actually, there are no easy
answers. The government can
only extend tax relief in form
of GST and other taxes, give
faster refunds, and can provide
cash availability through DTB
to rural India to boost demand
for products. But for this to
happen, the mapping of all
players is a must and this is not
likely to happen in the near fu-
ture as the government does
not have the will to do it.
In the absence of govern-
ment relief and funding, the
next alternative is to arrange
more cash on the existing loans
through the financial institu-
tions. Again, not an easy job as
loans to such companies are
mostly given against property
(as collateral) because often
there isn’t a robust cash flow
analysis available. But in times
of pandemic, property values
have fallen and that inhibits
the extension of new loans.
Though, a credit guarantee by
the government may help, but
this may increase the debt in
the budget in the form of NPAs.
Therefore, in my opinion, as
India looks to shore up its econ-
omy, it is worth reflecting on
the other systemic actions that
are needed to shift towards a
more sustainable and resilient
economy. Firstly, it should In-
vest in sustainable Infrastruc-
ture which is an effective way
to boost economic activity and
create jobs. Secondly, Build the
resilience for the most vulner-
able. About 90% of India’s
workforce is informally em-
ployed. This group of popula-
tion is most vulnerable to eco-
nomic downs and requires a
greater hand holding to social
safety nets like insurance and
pension schemes. Unless the
strong and socialistic econom-
ic actions are introduced, its
unlikely to surface out this eco-
nomic tsunami.ut
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
COVID-19 VS MICRO &
SMALL BUSINESSES
T
In the absence of
government relief and
funding, the next
alternative is to
arrange more cash on
the existing loans
through the financial
institutions. Again,
not an easy job as
loans to such
companies are mostly
given against
property (as
collateral) because
often there isn’t a
robust cash flow
analysis available
t this point in
the pandemic,
thekeyquestion
is whether vac-
cine production
can be ramped up quickly
enoughtoallowmostpeople
to be vaccinated relatively
soon. But implicit in that
question is another: wheth-
er and under what circum-
stances it is appropriate to
suspend domestic and in-
ternationally agreed intel-
lectual-propertyrights.The
matterisbeingdiscussedin
the World Trade Organiza-
tion now that US President
Joe Biden’s administration
has surprisingly come out
in support of a COVID-19
waiver, exposing a rift be-
tween Western govern-
ments.
Most agree that if any
set of conditions justifies a
waiver, this pandemic sure-
ly meets them. The mil-
lions of lives threatened by
the virus ought to trigger a
shared sense of humanity
.
And vaccination is a public
good, because everyone’s
safety ultimately depends
on everyone else’s. In some
cases, governments have
co-invested with compa-
nies in vaccine develop-
ment, strengthening the
case for mandatory licens-
ing. But whatever we do to
provideit must not produce
adverse or unintended con-
sequences that could im-
pair our responses to fu-
ture crises of this kind.
We need to start with a
basic question: would the
proposal under discussion
waive IP rights, or would it
simply allow for compul-
sory licensing, under
which the company retains
its IP rights and the right
to earn a return from
them? Of the two, compul-
sory licensing is prefera-
ble. By acknowledging that
the creator is entitled to a
return, it would minimize
the adverse effect on future
incentives.
Of course, an important
variable is what, exactly
, is
being licensed. Are we talk-
ingaboutthechemicalcom-
position of the drug itself,
ordoesthelicenseextendto
all of the technology em-
bedded in a scaled-up pro-
ductionprocess?Increasing
global production would
most likely require both.
Manufacturing capacity
is another significant vari-
able. How much is there
now, and how much more
would need to be built
quickly to ensure high-
quality output if IP is
transferred? Whatever the
precise answers, the point
is that even if the IP issue
can be resolved, manufac-
turing and distribution
will remain binding con-
straints, alongside a third
key variable: price.
The fairest way to think
about this is to base prices
on the per capita income of
the country whose govern-
ment is buying the vac-
cines. (Depending on their
mission, aid agencies and
nonprofits can further sub-
sidize purchases.) But
since discriminating be-
tween countries opens the
possibility that unscrupu-
lous entrepreneurs and
governmentsmaygamethe
system via trans-shipping,
an international institu-
tion like the United Na-
tions ideally would negoti-
ate for and buy large quan-
tities of vaccines for distri-
bution to countries below a
certain income level.
The COVID-19 Vaccine
Global Access (COVAX) fa-
cility, launched in 2020 by
the World Health Organiza-
tion, Gavi, the Vaccine Alli-
ance, and the Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness In-
novations, is intended to do
this, with funding from ad-
vanced economies. It is a
good idea and should be
retained. But while it has
made progress in acquiring
and distributing vaccines,
it is underfunded and sub-
ject to the same supply
problems (vaccine nation-
alism, licensing require-
ments, and manufacturing
bottlenecks) as developing
countries typically face.
SOURCE: PROJECT SYNDICATE
Vaccine licensing, production, and global distribution
A
Be not quick in your spirit
to become angry, for anger
lodges in the heart of fools.
—Ecclesiastes 7:9
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Cognisant to the growing demand of
medical Oxygen in the country, both
public private sector steel plants
have ramped up daily production
capacities, including through diverting
liquid nitrogen and argon production
capacity towards production of
additional quantities of LMO.
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
Despite COVID-19 challenges,
Railways achieved a major
milestone with completion of 800m
tunnelling in East-West Kolkata
Metro Corridor. This will facilitate
extension from Phoolbagan to
Howrah Maidan, reduce travel
time enhance connectivity for all
passengers.
So, what kind of problems do small
businesses in India face in these difficult
times? Major issue is that most of them
are not registered anywhere. Maybe
because of the reason that they are not big enough.
Even in the limits of GST these do not really
qualify. This apparent opaqueness tends to cut
both ways, for the businesses as well as against
them. As they remain out of the formal network,
maintaining accounts, paying taxes or adhering
to regulatory norms does not apply to them
RETD. COL
ANUPAM JAITLY
Defence expert, Motivational
speaker Corporate Trainer

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New Delhi: Provision
of Rapid Antigen Test
(RAT) kits should be
made at all public
health facilities in-
cluding sub-centres or
health and wellness
centres and Primary
Health Centres, the
Union Health Minis-
try said.
As rural areas see a
rise in Covid-19 cases,
the Centre Sunday is-
sued new guidelines
for containment of
the coronavirus, ad-
vising that peri-urban
and rural areas plan a
minimum 30-bed Cov-
id Care Centre for
asymptomatic cases
with comorbidities or
mild cases where
home isolation is not
feasible.
Provision of Rapid
Antigen Test (RAT) kits
should be made at all
public health facilities
including sub-centres
or health and wellness
centres, the Union
Health Ministry said.
The ministry released
the ‘SOP on Covid-19
Containment and man-
agement in Peri-urban,
Rural Tribal areas’ to
enable primary level
healthcare. —ANI
New rules to tackle Covid in rural areas
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a new set of guidelines to check the spread of coronavirus in tribal areas
Representational image| Life of women staying in villages in India.
New Delhi: Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
chief JP Nadda on Sun-
day discussed the pre-
caution and relief work
with the lawmakers of
the party and state of-
fice bearers of Goa, Ma-
harashtra, Kerala, Kar-
nataka, Daman Diu
and Gujarat in view of
cyclone Tauktae.
“We must fulfill our
responsibilities as a re-
sponsible political par-
ty to mitigate this cri-
sis. We must ensure
that states where the
BJP has a government,
we must work with the
administration, and
where the party doesn't
have a government, co-
ordinate with the local
administration with a
positive note,” Nadda
told the workers.
He then asked for the
state-level teams of the
party to be made public
and they should work
towards handling the
relief and rescue work
in the wake of the cy-
clonic storm.
Nadda then asked the
BJP's members of Par-
liament and MLAs to
establish a channel of
communication with
the panchayat repre-
sentatives of the affect-
ed states. “The MLAs
and MPs should estab-
lish person-to-person
communication with
representatives of pan-
chayats, and block de-
velopment councils,”
the BJP chief added.
The cordination with
medical personnel
should be robust, he
added. —ANI
Help Cyclone Tauktae-hit states: JP Nadda
New Delhi: It is a BIG
FEAT for Indian Rail-
ways as the national
transporter has com-
missioned Wi-Fi at
6,000th Railway station.
Indian Railways said
that it is continuing to
extend the Wi-Fi facili-
ty at far flanged sta-
tions to connect the
passengers and the
general public with
digital systems.
With the commis-
sioning of Wi-Fi at Haz-
aribagh Town falling
under Hazaribagh dis-
trict of Jharkhand state
in Dhanbad Division of
East Central Railway as
on 15.05.2021, Indian
Railways commis-
sioned Wi-Fi at 6,000
Railway stations. —PTI
From 1 to 6000
in 5 years! Wi-
Fi at 6,000th
railway station
EDUCATION MINISTER LIKELY TO
TAKE DECISION CLASS 12 EXAM
New Delhi: Even as the
demand for the cancel-
lation of CBSE Class 12
Board exams gathers mo-
mentum, Union Education
Minister Ramesh Pokhri-
yal Nishank is scheduled
to hold a crucial meet
on May 17 regarding
the matter. Pokhriyal is
expected to take a final
call if the class 12 boards
exams should be held or
not after interacting with
education secretaries
of all states on Monday,
May 17. In the virtual
meeting, the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic
on the education sector
will be reviewed. Also,
the minister will discuss
the promotion of online
education and the im-
plementation of the New
Education Policy (NEP).
TUNNELLING WORK COMPLETE
IN EAST-WEST KOLKATA METRO
New Delhi: The tunnelling work in East-West
Metro Corridor with the breakthrough of “Urvi”
at Kolkata’s Bowbazzar has been completed by
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), informed the Rail-
ways Ministry. With this breakthrough, the entire
TBM tunnelling for the Kolkata East-West Metro
Project is completed. According to the ministry,
the 800 meters challenging tunnel drive has been
completed successfully following COVID-19
protocol. “The stretch was difficult for tunnelling
work as it had century-old,” the ministry said.
THREE BJP MLAS IN CUSTODY
FOR FLOUTING NORMS
West Bengal: Three BJP MLAs were detained in
Siliguri in West Bengal on charges of violating
lockdown rules. However, all three were later
released . These three MLAs – Shankar Ghosh,
Anandamay Burman, and Shikha Chattopadhyay
were protesting against the state government in
North Bengal over Corona’s rising deaths at the
Safdar Hasami Chowk in Siliguri. Taking a jibe
at the BJP MLAs, a senior Trinamool leader said
that these MLAs have betrayed the people of
their constituency, as they organized protests.
BSF RECOVERS PISTOL, DRUGS
IN PUNJAB’S ABOHAR
Abohar (Punjab): The
Border Security Force
(BSF) Punjab Frontier on
Sunday informed that
the troops of the second
battalion have recovered
three packets weighing
2.580 kilograms which
are suspected to be
heroin and one pistol
from Punjab’s Abohar.
According to BSF, an
intelligence-based search
operation was carried
out by personnel of the
second battalion lead-
ing to the recovery of
the packets with a pistol,
made in Turkey and one
magazine. Informing
about the seized drugs
and other items, BSF
wrote on Twitter, “In
Intelligence based search
operation seizure of three
packets of heroin.”
 Covid Care Centres
(CCC) can admit
a suspect or
confirmed case
but should have
separate areas
for suspected
and confirmed
cases with preferably
separate entry and
exit for each.
 In every village, active
surveillance should
be done for influenza-
like illness/ severe
acute respiratory
infections (ILI/SARI)
periodically by ASHA.
 CHOs and ANMs
should be trained in
performing Rapid
Antigen Testing.
Provision of RAT
kits should be
made at all public
health facilities.
 It is desirable for
each village
to have
adequate
number of
pulse oxi-
meters and
thermom-
eters.
 The SOP recom-
mended developing a
system of providing
pulse oximeters and
thermometers on loan
to families with a con-
firmed case of Covid.
 Plan a minimum
30-bed Covid Care
Centre for asympto-
matic cases where
home isolation is not
feasible.
 Follow-ups for
patients undergo-
ing isolation or
quarantine could
be done through
household visits by
a frontline worker.
 Covid care centres
should also have a
Basic Life Support
Ambulance (BLSA).
SOP ON COVID19 CONTAINMENT MANAGEMENT
BJP national president JP Nadda addresses during the
inauguration of 17 mobile medical units and medical aid for
Himachal Pradesh.
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: A petition
has been moved in the
Supreme Court seek-
ing a court-monitored
independent inquiry
by the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI)
or National Investiga-
tion Agency (NIA)
into alleged killings
of inmates at Chitra-
koot jail in Uttar
Pradesh. The plea has
sought the appoint-
ment of a Central
Agency like CBI or
NIA, under supervi-
sion of the apex court,
to investigate into al-
leged killings of three
under trial inmates.
Petitioner, Advocate
Anoop Prakash
Awasthi, further
sought direction for
all alleged extra-judi-
cial killings that
have taken place in
Uttar Pradesh after
March 18, 2017.
INQUIRY BY CENTRAL AGENCY
FORCHITRAKOOTJAILKILLINGS
Allahabad: A peti-
tion has been moved
before the High
Court here seeking
directions for live
streaming of pro-
ceedings and allow-
ing reporters to ac-
cess courtrooms,
both physically and
virtually so that
court proceedings
can be reported.
The petitioners
sought appointment
of a High Powered
Committee headed
by a sitting or retired
Judge(s) of Alla-
habad High Court to
work out and provide
appropriate recom-
mendations.
Journalists
Law Students
seek Live
Streaming New Delhi: A Delhi
court has granted bail
to one of the accused
of allegedly plotting to
kill a human rights ac-
tivist Sushil Pandit.
While granting bail to
accused Sukhvinder
Singh, Additional Ses-
sion Judge Dharmend-
er Rana on Saturday
noted that another two
accused-- Lakhan Ra-
jput and Mohit-- are
reported to have been
granted bail. The past
criminal antecedents
of the accused are re-
ported to be absolutely
blemish-free. The
charge-sheet has al-
ready been filed in the
matter. —ANI
Accused in Activist
Pandit matter gets bail
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has seven
vacancies, two high courts are functioning
without regular chief justices and two high
court chief justices are set to retire in the
next one and a half months, a government
functionary said. He said the government is
awaiting recommendations from the apex
court collegium to fill up the slots. The first
vacancy in the Supreme Court arose follow-
ing the retirement of Justice Ranjan Gogoi
in November 2019 as the Chief Justice of
India (CJI). Subsequently
, a few more vacan-
cies arose in the top court. —ANI
Recommendations to fill
vacancies in SC awaited
New Delhi: The Cen-
tre directed Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar on
Sunday to prevent
dumping of dead bod-
ies in the Ganga and
its tributaries, and fo-
cus on their safe dis-
posal and a dignified
cremation after corps-
es were seen floating in
these rivers following
a spurt in the number
of coronavirus cases.
At a review meeting
conducted on May 15-16,
the Centre said dump-
ing of dead bodies and
partially burnt or de-
composed corpses in
the Ganga and its tribu-
taries has recently been
reported, which is
“most undesirable and
alarming”. —PTI
Centre asks
states to stop
dumping of
dead bodies
TIGRESS FOUND DEAD IN
PANNA; 4TH IN 10 DAYS
Madhya Pradesh: A
radio-collared tigress
was found dead in
Madhya Pradesh’s
Panna Tiger Reserve,
a senior forest official
said on Sunday. This
is the fourth tiger
death reported from
the state in 10 days.
The carcass of the
tigress, identified as
P-213(32),wasfoundon
Saturday in Gahrighat
range of the Panna Ti-
ger Reserve, located
over 350 km from Bho-
pal, the official said.
The tigress was spot-
ted with swelling in its
left leg on May 12, he
said, adding the feline
was then tranquilised
andlaterreleasedafter
being provided medi-
cal treatment.
On Saturday, forest
officials reached the
spot after getting
information about the
carcass. They did not
find any illegal activi-
ty there, the official
said.Thetigressseems
to have died of natural
causes, he said.
After the autopsy,
the carcass was dis-
posed of as per guide-
lines of the National
Tiger Conservation
Authority (NTCA), he
added. Earlier, the de-
composed carcass of a
tiger was found in a
buffer zone of the
Bandhavgarh reserve
in MP on Friday
.
On May 8, a tiger
was found dead in the
state’sKanhaTigerRe-
serve. Besides, a dead
sub-adult tiger (aged
between 18 and 24
months) was found
floatinginacanalof an
inter-state water pro-
ject in Balaghat’s War-
aseoni tehsil on May 7,
officials said. —ANI
‘Composed
Carcass’ Earlier,
the decomposed
carcass was found
Bandhavgarh
reserve in MP at
Covid dedicated
hospitals.
INDIA
05

INDIA
06
UP All Set...
In order to ‘Break The
Chain’ of the transmis-
sion, the state under its
rigorous T3 regime-
‘Test, Trace and Treat’
has conducted over 4.46
crore tests so far. Over
2.5 lakh tests are being
carried out on a regular
basis.
To contain the spread
of the virus in rural
pockets of Uttar
Pradesh, according to
the instructions, the
Teamworkersarereach-
ing the houses of pa-
tients to treat and coun-
sel them. More than 4
lakh members of sur-
veillance committees
are conducting door-to-
door tests, enabling ear-
ly detection, isolation
and treatment and keep-
ing the virus from
spreading further in
more than 97000 villag-
es.
“The concerned au-
thorities as directed
havebeenprovidingfree
and proper treatment
withmedicinekitstothe
patientsevendeveloping
mild symptoms,” ex-
plained the CM, adding
that, “early treatment is
being provided without
waitingfortestresultsto
not let the patient get
critical.”
Furthermore, the CM
said that strict direc-
tives have been issued to
facilitate easy and time-
ly availability of medi-
calresources,ambulanc-
es, and other covid-19
related supplies to any
person in need. Besides,
theauthoritieshavealso
been directed that if the
patient’s RT-PCR report
is negative and the pa-
tient still shows symp-
toms of corona, a digital
x-raymustbedonetoget
the correct result.
As a result of swift
measures and alertness,
the state has been re-
cording more daily re-
coveries than the num-
ber of fresh cases since
the beginning of May
itself.
The discharges were
more than double of the
fresh cases in the last 24
hours, as the number of
fresh cases came down
to around 10 thousand,
whichisthelowestsince
the end of last month.
The daily Covid positiv-
ityrate—thenumberof
positive cases against
the total tests done —
dipped to 5 percent
which had earlier raised
to 22 percent.
Tauktae Hammers...
by May 18 the wind
speed is expected to in-
crease to 150-160 km per
hour, gusting up to 175
km per hour. An esti-
mated 1.5 lakh people
are being shifted from
low-lying coastal areas
in Gujarat while 54
teams of the National
DisasterResponseForce
(NDRF) and State Disas-
ter Response Force
(SDRF) have been de-
ployed in the state. Ma-
harashtra too was brac-
ing for the storm as the
Metdepartmentpredict-
ed heavy to very heavy
rains at isolated places
in north Konkan, Mum-
bai, Thane and Palghar
and extremely heavy
rainfall in Raigad on
MondayFour deaths
were reported from Kar-
nataka’s Uttara Kanna-
da, Udupi, Chik-
kamagaluru and Shi-
vamogga districts and
two in Goa in cyclone-
related incidents. —PTI
PM speaks...
The Prime Minister had
on Saturday held a high
level meeting with Cabi-
net Secretary and other
senior government offi-
cials to assess the COV-
ID related situation and
the vaccination pro-
gramme in the country
.
Meanwhile, Delhi on
SUnday extended lock-
down by a week. With
3.11 lakh fresh coronavi-
rusinfections,Indiasaw
the lowest rise in daily
COVID-19 cases after a
gap of 25 days, while the
death toll rose to 2,70,284
with 4,077 new fatalities,
according to the Union
HealthMinistrydataup-
dated on Sunday
.
Farmer-policemen...
towards the venue,
clashes ensued, with po-
lice personnel resorting
to lathicharge and firing
tear gas shells to dis-
perse the agitators. Sev-
eral farmers and police
personnel including a
DSP were injured. Hary-
ana police, in a state-
ment issued late on Sun-
day evening said, “Mis-
creants attacked and
pelted stones at police-
men on the pretext of
protest outside Chaud-
hary Devi Lal Sanjivani
Hospital.
‘Arrest me...
been registered so far
regardingthematter.Be-
sides Rahul, several oth-
ers have criticised the
arrests, with Abhishek
Manu Singhvi saying it
indicates a “lawless
state gone amuck”. “I
am shocked and
stunned.Mayvehement-
ly disagree but under
what authority, what
law, what power can you
arrest those who put up
posters, eg auto driver,
printer, daily wager etc.
This, like UP arrest of
person who complained
on losing his father,
smacksof alawlessstate
gone amuck!” he wrote
on Twitter.
FROM PG 1
POSITIVITY
RATE BELOW 16.98%
New Delhi: India’s
COVID-19 active cases
count has decreased to
36,18,458 with a net de-
cline of 55,344 cases be-
ing recorded in the ac-
tive caseload in a span
of 24 hours, while the
daily positivity rate
dropped to 16.98 per
cent, the Union health
ministry said on Sun-
day
.
The total active case-
load now comprises
14.66 per cent of the
country’s total infec-
tions, it said.
Ten states--Karnata-
ka, Maharashtra, Kera-
la, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Gujarat and
Chhattisgarh--cumula-
tively account for 74.69
per cent of the country’s
total active cases, the
ministry said.
A declining trend in
the positivity rate is also
observed which has
dropped to 16.98 per cent
(May 16) from 24.47 per
cent recorded on May 3,
it said.
India’s cumulative re-
coveries have reached
2,07,95,335 with 3,62,437
patients recuperating in
a span of 24 hours. It
outnumbers the coun-
try’s daily COVID-19
casesforthefifthtimein
the last six days, the
ministry said.
Nation’s covid active caseload drops to 36,18,458
STATES TO RECEIVE NEARLY 51 LAKH COVID
VACCINE DOSES IN NEXT 3 DAYS: CENTRE
New Delhi: More than 1.84 crore COVID-19 vaccine
doses are still available with states and Union Territo-
ries, while nearly 51 lakh doses will be soon received
by them within the next three days, the Union Health
Ministry said on Sunday. The Centre has so far provid-
ed more than 20 crore vaccine doses (20,28,09,250)
to states and UTs free of cost, it said. “More than 1.84
crore Covid vaccine doses (1,84,41,478) are still avail-
able with the states and UTs to be administered.
BIGGEST-EVER CONSIGNMENT OF OVER 3,600
OXYGEN CONCENTRATORS LANDS IN DELHI
New Delhi: Setting a new record, the biggest-
ever single consignment of oxygen concentrators
landed in New Delhi from China on Sunday amid the
Covid-19 crisis in India. A consignment of more than
3,600 oxygen concentrators weighing approximately
100 tonnes arrived from Hangzhou Airport in China
in a Boeing 747-400 wide-body aircraft. The jumbo
charter landed at Delhi airport at 3:18 pm on Sunday.
‘COVAXIN WORKS
AGAINST UK
STRAIN, VARIANT’
New Delhi: Bharat
Biotech has said its
Covaxin is effective
against aggressively
virulent B.1.167
strain of Covid de-
tected in India and
the UK variant of the
virus B.1.1.7. The
study by National
Institute of Virology
Indian Council of
Medical Research
has been published
in a peer-reviewed
journal, Clinical
Infectious Diseases.
Israeli diplomat visits kin
of woman killed in attack
Honoured to pay my respects to the family of Soumya as
she was laid to rest in her home town: Consulate General
Idukki: Jonathan
Zadka, consul general
of Israel to South In-
dia on Sunday extend-
ed condolences to the
family of Kerala wom-
an Soumya Santhosh,
who lost her life dur-
ing the Hamas strike
in Israel.
“CG, @Jonathan_
Zadka, paid a visit to
the family of Soumya
Santhosh who lost her
life during #Hamasat-
tack on #Iseael. On
behalf of the Israeli
people, @israelin-
benguluru extends its
condolences to the
family at loss. We
hope peace restores
soon,” the Consulate
General of Israel to
Bengaluru said.
“Honoured to pay
my respects and con-
vey our sympathies to
the family and friends
of Soumya Santosh as
she was laid to rest in
her home town
Keerithod, Kerala.
May she RIP our
prayers are with the
family that lost an an-
gel in a cowardly ha-
mas terror attack,”
Zadka tweeted.
The 30-year-old
woman, hailing from
Idukki in Kerala, was
among those killed in
a rocket attack by a
Palestinian Islamist
group on Tuesday
. She
was working as a care-
taker to an elderly
woman at a house,
which borders the
Gaza strip. According
to her family, she was
living in Israel for the
last 7 years. Her hus-
band nine-year-old
son live in Kerala. The
ongoing violence be-
tween Israel Pales-
tine marks a dramatic
escalation of tensions
linked to the potential
eviction of Palestini-
an families from East
Jerusalem by Israeli
settlers access to
one of the most sa-
cred sites in the city,
which is a key hub for
Islam, Judaism
Christianity
.
Srinagar: PDP presi-
dent Mehbooba Mufti
on Sunday criticised
the arrest of people
for holding protests
against Israel over the
Middle-East conflict
during a corona
curfew in the Union
Territory. “People all
over the world are
protesting against the
atrocities committed
by Israel on Palestine.
But in Kashmir
it’s a punishable
offence where an
artist is booked
under PSA
a preacher
is arrested
simply for express-
ing solidarity with
Palestinians,” she
alleged on Twitter.
On Saturday, police
arrested 21 persons
from Srinagar and
Shopian districts for
holding pro-Palestine
protests during a cur-
few imposed in the UT
due to the pandemic.
MUFTI QUESTIONS ARREST OF PEOPLE
FOR HOLDING ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST
Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel to South India with
the family of Kerala woman Soumya Santhosh on Sunday.
New Delhi: The Nation-
al Human Rights Com-
mission (NHRC) has
warned of coercive ac-
tion while issuing a fi-
nal reminder to the Sec-
retary, Department of
Education and Secre-
tary, Ministry of Hu-
man Resource Develop-
ment, Government of
India over the hard-
ships, miseries and suf-
ferings of financially
backward students and
those living in remote
and inaccessible areas.
The NHRC in its or-
der stated, “This is a
complaintreceivedfrom
human and social rights
activist drawing the at-
tention of the Commis-
sion to poor conditions
of living, unavailability
of smartphone, lack of
power and internet con-
nectivity, etc. affecting
the fundamental right
of educationof students
across India who are liv-
ing in remote/inacces-
sible places.” The NHRC
passed the order acting
on a petition filed by a
civil liberties lawyer,
noted human rights ac-
tivist and Supreme
Court advocate, Radha-
kanta Tripathy
. Taking
cognizance, notice was
issued to the concerned
authorities as the inter-
vention of the Commis-
sion is sought by Tripa-
thy to ensure availabili-
ty of smartphone to the
poor students, proper
supplyof electricityand
network connectivity
.
NHRC further said,
“No report is received
from Secretary, Minis-
try of HRD and Secre-
tary
, Education, Depart-
ment of Higher Educa-
tion despite notice is-
sued. Let reminder be
issued to the authori-
ties concerned to sub-
mit a report within four
weeks failing which the
commission shall be
constrained to take re-
sort to coercive meas-
ures under section 13 of
the Protection of Hu-
man Rights Act.”
New Delhi: Security
forces detected and neu-
tralised an improvised
explosive device (IED)
on Sunday following in-
puts about a terror at-
tack in Jammu and
Kashmir’s Shopian dis-
trict, police said.
They had inputs
about the attack and the
IED was recovered after
intense searches were
launched this morning,
Senior Superintendent
of Police (SSP), Shopi-
an, Amrit Pal Singh
said. The IED was “de-
tected and neutralised
between Sugan and
Turkhwangam (areas
in Shopian) by alert se-
curity forces”, he said.
“Police and the Army
were aware of likely at-
tempts by some Paki-
stani-sponsored terror-
ists attempting to use
an IED against security
forces,” Mr Singh said.
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Investigation
Agency (NIA) on Sun-
day conducted searches
at four places in Ma-
durai in connection
with its probe relating
to incriminating Face-
book posts by a suspect
- Mohammad Iqbal. He
is believed to be an ex-
tremist advocating the
ideology of ISIS and
Hizb-Ut- Tahrir, a fun-
damentalist organisa-
tion, the agency said in
a statement. The case
was originally regis-
tered by the Tamil
Nadu police last year
for alleged incriminat-
ing posts on the social
media platform. The
central agency took
over the investigation
on April 15.
NHRC warns Centre over plight of
students from poor backgrounds
Security Forces detect,
neutralise IED in JK
NIA raids at TN over
hateful posts on FB
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Security beefed-up in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district.
NIA conducts searches in Tamil Nadu over social media posts
advocating ISIS ideology case. —FILE PHOTO
Covid19 patients take rest inside Jayanagar Eidgah Masjid
Covid Care Center in Bengaluru on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

NEWS
07
First India Bureau
Muzaffarnagar: CM
Yogi Adityanath will
visit several district to
review covid prepared-
ness. He will visit Mu-
zaffarnagar and Saha-
ranpur on Monday re-
garding which Bharati-
ya Kisan Union (BKU)
leaders had announced
to protest against CM
visit and also not let his
chopper land. BKU has
also called a meeting of
activists and officials in
this regard wherein a
strategy was to be
chalked out to oppose
the CM’s program.
On Sunday, DM, Mu-
zaffarnagar Selva Ku-
mari held a meeting
with BKU national pres-
ident Naresh Tikait on
the issue.
After the meeting
Chaudhary Naresh Ti-
kait, said that the Uniob
would not oppose the
visit and also cancelled
its meeting called in this
context.
He said that farmers
were with the district
administration and
would welcome CM to
take stock of arrange-
ments in district. The
five-member delegation
of BKU took this deci-
sion after talks with ad-
ministration.
Uttar Pradesh CM
Yogi Adityanath is on a
tour of three districts of
Meerut, Noida and Gha-
ziabad on Sunday where
he would review grow-
ing cases of Corona. He
will visit Muzaffarna-
gar and Saharanpur on
Monday
. Regarding
which, preparations are
being completed by the
administrationheretoo.
At the same time,
BKU had uploaded a
post on Facebook, an-
nouncing its decision to
oppose CM’s program.
The post mentioned that
would oppose CM Yogi’s
program for which
workers should prepare,
to not let helicopter of
CM to land.
It may be mentioned
that farmers’ movement
is going on amidst in-
creasing cases of Coro-
na. At the same time,
workers of BKU were
angry about the agrari-
an movement in west-
ern Uttar Pradesh.
The BKU leaders
were leading the move-
ment in this area. Even
in Panchayat elections,
people here have ex-
pressed their displeas-
ure over the BJP
.
First India Bureau
Maharajganj/Banda:
Two major incidents of
cruelty with innocent
girls which occurred in
two separate districts
of UP. In Maharajganj,
where a 10-year-old-girl
was gang raped by 9
years, 11 years, and 13
years old accused, a
4-year-old girl was sub-
jected to torture by a
25-year-old in Banda.
A 10-year-old minor
hailing from a village
under Parasmalik po-
lice station area of Ma-
harajganj district was
gang-raped.
The charges have
been leveled against
three boys of the village
aged 9 years, 11 years
and 13 years. It is al-
leged that the 10-year-
old girl was first lured
and made to come out
of the village where
11-year-old and 13-year-
old accused were al-
ready waiting and com-
mitted the crime. When
family of victim came
to know, they lodged a
police complaint. The
accused also confessed
their crime in front of
police while the victim
was sent to hospital for
treatment.
SP, Maharajganj
Pradeep Gupta said the
incident of rape of ten-
year-old girl was had
occurred and the ac-
cused were also minors
and have confessed
their crime. Since the
accused are minors,
they will be referred to
Juvenile Court while
girl has been given med-
ical treatment. Both the
accused and victim be-
long to same caste. Po-
lice force has been de-
ployed in village in
view of security ar-
rangements.
Similarly, in a village
Jhanjhari Purva under
Jaspura police station
area in Banda a 25-year-
old youth raped a 4-year-
old girl.
Family members said
that there was a wed-
ding program in the
neighborhood in which
all had gone. The baby
girl was also with her
family who slept while
family members got
busy with wedding pro-
grams late at night.
However, the child
went missing when her
family members came
back to their room in
the morning. After an
intensive search, she
was found behind the
house bleeding. The po-
lice arrived on receiv-
ing information.
Additional Superin-
tendent of Police Ma-
hendra Pratap Chau-
han said when the girl
was asked to identify
the culprit, she pointed
towards a young man in
the crowd which was
arrested.
The girl was sent for
treatment where doc-
tors claimed her condi-
tion to be fine.
BKU agrees not to
oppose CM Yogi’s
visit to Western UP
10-year-old-girl
gangraped by three
boys in Maharajganj
First India Bureau
Lucknow: It is good
news for about 30 lakh
students doing gradua-
tion and post gradua-
tion in Uttar Pradesh.
This time also, there
will be no exams for
first and second year
students in graduation
besides for first year in
post graduation.
Students will be pro-
moted without exams.
For final year students
of BA, BSc, BCom, ex-
ams could be conduct-
ed between June and
July.
Students who study
under Semester pro-
cess will not have their
examinations from 1st
to 5th semester while
final semester exams
could be held in June or
July for courses like
B.Tech, Pharmacy and
Management.
The final decision is
yet to be taken by gov-
ernment regarding the
examinations for
which a committee of
three chancellors has
been constituted. This
committee will have to
submit its report to
government within 7
days about the exami-
nations.
In this committee,
Vice Chancellor of Luc-
know University Prof
Alok Rai, Vice Chancel-
lor of Kanpur Univer-
sity Prof Vinay Kumar
Pathak and Vice Chan-
cellor of Rohelkhand
University, Bareilly
Prof Krishna Pal Singh
atr members. Prof Vi-
nay Kumar Pathak in-
formed that the com-
mittee will have its
first meeting soon
wherein appropriate
decision would be tak-
en keeping in mind
current situation and
career of students.
There has been a
sharp decline in new
cases of corona in the
state, but the fear of
black fungus and the
third wave was still
ahead.
In such a situation
the government does
not want to take any
kind of risk. According
to the data, due to the
lockdown, there has
been a decrease of
about 46 thousand ac-
tive cases in the state in
the last 25 days.
Earlier there were
2,23,544 active cases in
the state till April 20
which declined to
1,77,346 by May 15 after
the lockdown.
When the govern-
ment decided to impose
a complete lockdown
from the weekend lock-
down, there were 2,422
deaths over the next 10
days (April 20 to 30).
There were 3,087
deaths in the next 10
days (May1 to 10) after
the full lockdown was
imposed. Apart from
this, the truth of deaths
from Corona was visi-
ble with dead bodies
flowing in Ganga (1140
km) in district sitiated
on river bank in UP.
There is no record of
people who are dying in
villages.
According to govern-
ment, on Saturday,
12,547 new infections
were detected and
28,407 patients were
cured within the last 24
hours besides 281
deaths. So far 17,238
have died in the state.
PROMOTION SANS EXAM FOR UG-1ST, 2ND AND PG-1ST
YEAR STUDENTS, FINAL YEAR EXAMS LIKELY IN JUNE, JULY
CASE LODGED
FOR TAKING
OUT BARAAT
In a serious violation of
lockdown rules and Covid’s
SOP, a marriage procession
of 125 people who were not
wearing masks and not following
social distancing were booked
under Pandemic Act. On May
13th, the marriage procession
of Sudhir Singh, a resident
of Dumri, Deoria had come
to Prince Lawn near Sports
College. A video of the same
went viral and in the video,
majority of the members were
seen not wearing masks as
well as not maintaining social
distancing. Taking cognizance
of the viral video, Inspector
Chilluatal JN Shukla took action
and after asserted the facts filed
a case against Sudhir Singh
along with the Band members
and other members of the
procession for violating Covid
guidelines under the Pandemic
Act. The police have placed
barricades at 25 places in the
city of Meerut and have been
strictly imposing Corona curfew
in the state. If any one is being
encountered in the road, then
the police are questioning the
reason for them to venture out
of their home and if the reason
stated is not satisfactory, a case
is being filed against them. In
such a scenario, the incident of
more than 100 people gathering
has left many questions to be
answered as to how these many
people assembled without the
knowledge of police being the
major one.
—First India Bureau
THE STORY
OF LDA’S
MISSING FILES
Strange are the ways of
functioning of Lucknow
Development Authority (LDA).
A development body, which is
supposed to help the people,
seems to be a big trouble maker
for them. The babus are expert
in making the files of people
“disappear” at will. You keep on
taking round of the LDA office,
the Babu will never trace the file
of the allotment of your land or
house. The mystery was exposed
when some of the almirahs of
the office were broke open and
hundreds of “missing” files
tumbled out. The officers were
shocked to see the “missing
records” for which concerned
people had to take round of the
office unsuccessfully over the
years. When the officers broke
open the almirahs at first and
sixth floor of the building they
found files which could otherwise
have helped the allottees. There
were 32 files of Gomtinagar
which were connected with the
registration documents of the
allottees. The story doesnot
end here. There is dispute with
a scanning company PN Writer
which was given files more than
1.50 lakh but 23000 files for
scanning. The LDA has accused
the company for disappearance
of files. —First India Bureau
Family members mourn death of a covid victim at Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital in Prayagraj on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI
LOCKDOWNSCRAPSSHINEOF
GOLD THIS AKSHAYA TRITIYA
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Akshaya
Tritiya which is con-
sidered an auspicious
day to buy gold saw lit-
tle fervor this time
around due to the lock-
down imposed in ma-
jority of the states in
the country.
The bullion busi-
nessmen had placed
their bet on online
shopping but that too
didn’t help increase the
sale of the precious
metal by much.
State president of In-
dia Bullion Jewelers
Association, Anurag
Rastogi said that as per
traders the online sell-
ing of gold were not
great as sharing of im-
ages of design over in-
ternet, demand for pay-
ment during delivery,
seeing the images of
ornaments etc. were
not favorable situation
for the traders.
These shortcomings
of the online shopping
meant that traders
were not able to sell as
much thorough online.
The same though
cannot be said for cor-
porate level as they
dealt with ETF gold
bonds or gold coins.
Aadish Jain of Or-
ganization Minister
Lucknow shared the
same feeling as Anurag
Rastogi and said that
customers had to be
sent photos of items
every time and there
was always the catch
that not everyone who
asks for design were
authentic buyers which
is why traders were ap-
prehensive of selling
gold ornaments online.
Pradeep Aggarwal,
senior general secre-
tary of Lucknow Bul-
lion Association Amin-
abad, said that the cus-
tomers were asking the
traders for sending
pictures of the orna-
ments before buying
and since the shops
were closed, it would
not be possible to send
real-time pictures
which would ultimate-
ly make the customer/
trader drop the idea of
buying/selling orna-
ments online.
MOURNING THEIR LOSS!
On Sunday, DM,
Muzaffarnagar Selva
Kumari held a meeting
with BKU
national
president
Naresh
Tikait on
the issue.
After the
meeting
Tikait, said that the
Uniob would not op-
pose the visit and also
cancelled its meeting
called in the context.

08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A plea has
been filed in the Su-
preme Court seeking
direction for a CBI or
NIA probe, supervised
by the top court, into
the alleged killing of
three under-trial pris-
oners in Chitrakoot
district jail.
The plea filed by Su-
preme Court lawyer
AnoopPrakashAwasthi
has also sought fixing
accountability and tak-
ing appropriate action
against those found re-
sponsible. Direction for
a probe by the CBI or
the National Investiga-
tion Agency (NIA) into
all extrajudicial kill-
ings that took place
since March 18, 2017, in
UP after Yogi Adity-
anath took over charge
as CM was also sought
by the petition.
On May 14, three un-
der trial prisoners, in-
cluding a member of
BSP MLA Mukhtar An-
sari’s group, were shot
dead inside the Chitra-
koot district jail after
which the UP govern-
ment suspended two jail
officials,policehadsaid.
The three inmates
gunned down were
identified as Anshu
Dixit, Merazuddin alias
Meraj Ali and Mukeem
Kala, belonging to Sita-
pur, Ghazipur and
Shamli districts. The
plea alleged that in civi-
lised and rule of the law
based country like In-
dia, history of violence
should not repeated,
but in UP, a battle is be-
ing fought in its jails
where the police, under
the direct orders of the
top of the administra-
tion is summarily exe-
cuting the prisoners on
frivolous excuses.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Giving a be-
fittingreplytoSamajwa-
di Party chief Akhilesh
Yadav, the UP cabinet
minister and spokesper-
son of the state govern-
ment Sidharth Nath
Singh said the former
had indulged in petty
politics instead of help-
ingthepeopleonground.
Expressing displeas-
ure over the confusing
statements of Akhilesh
Yadav, the UP minister
said that former CM
should learn from Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath that despite being
corona positive, he con-
tinued to work in the
public interest. He did
not rest for a day despite
being Corona positive
few days ago even held
regular meetings with
the officials.
“As soon as the CM
turned Covid negative,
hewentouttoreviewthe
health preparations in
the districts without de-
lay
,” Siddharth Nath
said adding “ it is easy
for opposition leader to
make political remarks
whileconfinedinhis AC
room.”
He said that first Akh-
ilesh created confusion
among the people in the
name of ‘BJP’s vaccine’
and now he has been
talking about making a
policy on the vaccine.
Nath wanted to know
from Akhilesh how
many places he himself
visited to know the
ground reality and help
the citizens of the state.
He said that CM Yogi-
reviewed the health fa-
cilities in about 38 dis-
tricts, physically or
virtually. He said the
state government
would provide free ra-
tion to weaker section
and financial assis-
tance to daily wage
earners of urban areas
like the government
did the last year.
First India Bureau
Bulandshahr: Police
have registered a case
against 12 persons and
15 unidentified persons
for lethal attack on a
cleric and his family
when he suggested not
tocongregateatMosque
due to Corona in Sohan-
pur village of Gulavathi
area here.
Police sources here
said that Nanhe Khan
was manager and cleric
at Jama Mosque in So-
hanpur village. On May
13 about 30-40 people
were gathered for even-
ing prayers but when
manager of mosque
prohibited them for
gathering and suggest-
ed to follow Corona
guidelines some mis-
creants attacked on him
and his family
.
It was reported that
on May 15 more than 25
miscreants attacked on
Nanhe Khan and his
family with batons,
rods, swords and other
shar weapons. Nanhe,
his brother Insar Ali,
his nephw Sarfaraz and
other members of the
family were severely in-
jured in the attack.
Police have registered
the case against cul-
prits under Epidemic
Diseases Act 1897 and
initiated the investiga-
tions.
The police have
launched manhunt to
nab the culprits and in-
terrogated some per-
sons into the matter.
Pleaseeksprobeintokilling
ofinmatesinChitrakootjail
SP leader spreading confusion,says Sidharth Nath Singh
Case against
12 for lethal
attack on
cleric, family
Questions raised on inside security
Lucknow: Chitrakoot jail incident has raised seri-
ous questions on security system in jails in the
state. Two-hour gun fight inside jail premises,
weapon in jail, CCTV not working has forced
officials to review security systems in jail. Apart
from that inmates who died in jail were in different
barracks, two of them were transferred from other
jail few months back and availability of weapons,
electronic gadgets, mobile indicates severe fault in
security which was used by dreaded criminals in
past. DGP (Jail) Anand Kumar said CCTv cameras
were not repaired after faults as maintenance com-
pany workers were unable to visit due to Corona.
First India Bureau
New Delhi/Lucknow:
The Centre directed Ut-
tar Pradesh and Bihar
on Sunday to prevent
dumping of dead bodies
intheGangaanditstrib-
utaries, and focus on
their safe disposal at a
dignified cremation af-
ter corpses were seen
floating in rivers follow-
ing a spurt in the num-
berof coronaviruscases.
At a review meeting
conducted recently
, the
Centre said dumping of
dead bodies and partial-
ly burnt or decomposed
corpses in the Ganga
and its tributaries has
recently been reported,
which is “most undesir-
able and alarming”.
“Namami Gange di-
rects states to prevent
dumping of dead bodies
in the Ganga and focus
on their safe disposal
and providing support
for ensuring dignified
cremation,” the Jal
Shakti Ministry has
said. The state pollution
control boards were di-
rected to monitor the
water quality more fre-
quently in consultations
with the health depart-
ments. The Central Pol-
lution Control Board
(CPCB)wasassignedthe
task of overall monitor-
ing, providing guidance
tothestatepollutioncon-
trol boards and taking
up advanced analysis in
the matter.
Support for crema-
tion needs to be given
top priority
. Effective
implementation of the
government orders
needs to be ensured. No
loss of time should take
place in implementa-
tion, the ministry said.
An advisory was is-
sued by Rajiv Ranjan
Mishra, Director Gener-
al, National Mission for
Clean Ganga, to the dis-
trict magistrates, who
are also the chairper-
sons of the district Gan-
ga committees, on May
11. This was followed up
byaletterthenextdayto
the chief secretaries to
prevent the dumping of
bodies in the river and
ensure enforcement of
the government guide-
linesonthecremationof
COVID-19 victims.
Theletteralsoadvised
the states to provide fi-
nancial assistance as
wellasregulatetherates
for the cremation or bur-
ial process. On May 15,
the steps taken in this
regard in Uttar Pradesh
andBiharwerereviewed
at a meeting chaired
Pankaj Kumar, Secre-
tary
, Ministry of Jal
Shakti, and further ac-
tionpointsweredecided.
Highlighting the in-
structionsalreadygiven,
Kumar had called for ex-
peditious action and un-
derscored the need to
give equal attention to
such incidents in urban
andruralareasalongthe
Ganga and other rivers.
“Stoppingof dumping
of dead bodies as well as
their safe disposal and
protectionof waterqual-
ity have to be ensured on
a war footing. After
knowing the progress
fromthestates,theCWC,
the CPCB and the state
pollution control boards
would also be giving
their feedback and ac-
tion plans,” he had said.
SACRED GANGA: CENTRE PUTS A LEASH ON UP, BIHAR
State pollution control board directed to monitor the water quality more frequently in consultations with the health departments
Relatives of a Covid-19 victim performing rituals after burying a person at a sandbank adjacent to
Ganga in Prayagraj on Sunday. —PTI PHOTO
Chitrakoot District Jail —FILE PHOTO
Akhilesh Yadav Sidharth Nath Singh
AT A GLANCE
First Akhilesh created
confusion among the
people in the name of
‘BJP’s vaccine’ and
now he has been
talking about making a
policy on the vaccine
LONE WALKER
A woman passing through a guarded lane in a deserted Aminabad market during Corona Curfew on Sunday.
—PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Janardan Misra
Lucknow:After Coro-
na virus infection cas-
es increases in rural
areas of the state, Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment has decided to
strengthen health in-
frastructure in rural
areas ensuring estab-
lishment of fully dedi-
cated Covid care cen-
tres, hospitals and
health centres across
the state.
Speaking with First
India, Uttar Pradesh
Health Minister Jay
Pratap Singh said
“Government was con-
cerned about spread-
ing of Corona infec-
tion in rural areas in-
cluding tribal areas
and to ensure primary
level health facility fo-
cused for Covid man-
agement, Covid care
centres, health centres
and hospitals will be
established in these ar-
eas.”
Health minister said
that screening of per-
sons having symptoms
of cold, cough, fever
was being conducted
by frontline workers in
rural areas in present
scenario. After screen-
ing medical kits with
description of medi-
cine use, were distrib-
uted among them, he
pointed out adding
that medical examina-
tions of persons with
symptoms were being
conducted at health
centres.
The planning for es-
tablishment of health
centres in rural areas
has been completed.
As per the directions
of Health and Family
Welfare ministry, cov-
id care centres
will have 30 beds where
patients with mild
symptoms will be ad-
mitted.
Regular monitoring
of oxygen level and
beathing issues of pa-
tients will be conduct-
ed at these centres.
These centres will be
established at primary
schools, community
halls, marriage halls,
Panchayat buildings
where proper arrange-
ments of cleanliness,
ventilation and toilets
will be there.
These Covid care
centres will have am-
bulances equipped
with basic life support
and 24 hours oxygen
supply to transfer any
covid patient to higher
medical centres when
required, Singh said.
UP minister said
that Community
health Centre officers
and ANM workers will
be appointed as Nodal
officer for Covid care
centres and Asha,
Aganbadi workers will
assist these officials.
These centres will be
under supervision of
nearby PHC or Health
and wellness centres.
With the help of
ICDS department, edu-
cation department and
NGOs village Panchay-
ats in the state will
launch awareness cam-
paigns about the Covid
virus and its preven-
tions.
Cleanliness and hy-
giene will be on prime
focus in rural areas
and special awareness
drives in these areas
will be conducted to
ensure the same.
Yogi government to strengthen rural health units in state
HEALTH IS WEALTH
Health Minister Jay Pratap Singh says
Covid care centres, health centres and
hospitals will be established in villages
Health Minister Jay Pratap Singh
When you sit down to set your goals, aim
them the highest possible so that at least
you have to strive and stretch beyond
your comfort zone, even if you fail, you will at least
have learned and reached higher than you thought.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

A
fter Gal Gadot took to social media to voice
her concerns about the ongoing Israel-Pal-
estine conflict, Sisters Bella Hadid and Gigi
Hadid have openly voiced their support to
Palestine amid the Israel-Gaza attacks which con-
tinue to take place. Supermodel Bella went a step
ahead as she joined marches in support of Pales-
tine. Bella also shared a series of photos and videos
on Instagram in which she was seen rallying with
citizens in the streets. —Agency
A
riana Grande is all set to replace Nick
Jonas as a coach on The Voice’s 21st sea-
son. The announcement of Grande com-
ing on board for the singing reality show
was made in March this year. In a recent inter-
view, Nick Jonas discussed handing over the
mantle of the coach to Grande and also shared a
key piece of advice for her. In his recent appear-
ance on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Jonas spoke
about Ariana Grande’s The Voice stint and how
he thinks it will turn out to be. Nick said, “I
mean, Ariana, as we all know, is one of the best
singers in the game and she’s gonna be an incred-
ible coach. I think the only advice I would give is
just not to trust any one of you.” —Agency
LUCKNOW, MONDAY
MAY 17, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Wrap up
Sad Demise!
miniTV
M
oney Heist Season 5 recently wrapped
up its shoot and it has been an emotion-
al moment for fans given that their fa-
vourite show is finally coming to an
end. Not just fans though, the series’ cast too went
through a sea of emotions as they bid adieu to
their characters. Recently, the series’ co-director,
Koldo Serra also took to Instagram to express his
feelings after the finale wrap. Serra shared a pic-
ture of himself holding a clapboard in his hands
and spoke about feeling empty
. —Agency
A
y y a p p a n
Gopi, a Ta-
mil comedy
star, died of
a heart attack on Satur-
day
. He has appeared in
a number of films, in-
cluding Rajini Muru-
ganandDhillukuDhud-
du. Many celebrities
and fans took to social
media to express their grief. —Agency
W
ith this launch, Amazon has two video
entertainment offerings – miniTV and
PrimeVideo.miniTViscompletelyfree
and it does not require a separate app.
PrimeVideore-
quires a Prime
subscription
and offers a col-
lection of
award-winning
Amazon Origi-
nals, latest
movies and TV shows, in English and 9 Indian
languages. Viewers can access Prime Video on the
app or stream it on their smart TVs. —Agency
V
i c k y
K a u s h a l
has suc-
cessfully
completed anoth-
er year around the
sun. The star who
turned 33 on Sun-
day celebrated his
birthday in a low-
key manner with
only his family’s
presence. Sunny
Kaushal, Vicky’s
younger brother,
perfectly captured
Vicky’s birthday moments and posted a sneak
peek on social media. Sharing the photo, Sunny
wrote, “Janamdin mubarak ho mere bhai @vick-
ykaushal09” —Agency
Family Birthday
CELEBRATION
...Sunny Kaushal’s post
Late Ayyappan Gopi
Poster of the
series
A
mitabh Bachchan received the second
dose of the covid vaccine on Sunday
. Big
B took to Instagram to post a photo from
the vaccine centre, where he could be seen
receiving his second jab and wrote, “Doosra bhi
ho gaya. Covid wala, Cricket wala nahi. sorry
sorry that was really bad one.” The veteran actor
also bought 50 oxygen concentrators from Poland
for relief work in India. —Agency
Big B Vaccinated
Kobe Forever
No Kids
Amitabh Bachchan
Late Kobe Bryant
Lauren Seth Rogen
alman Khan’s recent-
ly released film Rad-
he: Your Most Wanted
Bhai has been in the
news lately. Directed
by Prabhu Deva, the
film was released on
various OTT platforms on the
occasion of Eid. However, the
actioner got leaked online
within hours of its release on
a digital platform and was
available for free download in
HD quality on the website.
While Radhe is streaming on
pirated sites, the Wanted ac-
tor has now released a state-
ment requesting his fans not
to participate in watching
the film on pirated
sites. The handsome
star also warned
that the Cyber
cell will take
stringent action
against this se-
rious crime.
Taking to his
social media
handles, Salman
shared a note
that reads as
“We offered you to watch our
film Radhe at a reasonable
price of INR 249 Per View. In-
spite of that Pirated sites are
streaming Radhe illegally
which is a serious crime. Cy-
ber Cell is taking action
against all these illegal pirat-
ed sites. Please don’t partici-
pate in piracy or the Cyber
Cell will take action against
you as well. He added, “Please
understand you will get into a
lot of trouble with the Cyber
cell.”
The Prabhu Deva’s directorial
has become Salman’s second
lowest-rated film on IMDb. It
has registered one of the low-
est-ever scores on IMDb. The
film currently has a 2.1/10 rat-
ing on the platform.
Besides, Sultan actor, Rad-
he also featured Disha
Patani, Jackie
Shroff and Ran-
deep Hooda in
pivotal roles.
—Agency
WARNED
Consequences
THE SALMAN KHAN STARRER ‘RADHE: THE MOST WANTED BHAI” ALSO
FEATURING DISHA PATANI HAS HIT THE DIGITAL PLATFORMS, WITH
AROUND 4.2 MILLION VIEWS ALREADY. SALMAN KHAN URGED HIS FANS
AND EVERYONE TO NOT VIOLATE THE CYBER CELL CRIMES BY WATCHING
IT ON ONLINE PLATFORMS!
S
Salman Khan and Disha
Patni in the film, ‘Radhe’
L
ate basketball legend Kobe Bryant was in-
ducted into the 2020 Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Mi-
chael Jordan inducted the NBA star at the
Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony
which was also attended by his wife Vanessa Bry-
ant. At the ceremony, Vanessa remembered her
husband Kobe and daughter Gianna Bryant who
passed away in a fatal helicopter crash at the be-
ginning of 2020. —Agency
S
eth Rogen opened up about not wanting
children, a decision he and his wife are
psyched about. Lauren and Seth Rogen
have been married for ten years and are
completely on the same page. They are both con-
tent with the fun life they’re living currently and
are convinced that they wouldn’t get the same
amount of happiness with the responsibility of
kids. Seth believes there’s no one’s child who’d
give him and his wife as much joy as they are get-
ting right now. —Agency
Lost a Gem
T
he veteran actor KD Chandran, who is
also the father of actor and dancer, Sudha
Chandran breathed his last on Sunday
morning. The late actor suffered from a
heart attack, he was admitted to Criti Care Hos-
pital, Mumbai. Earlier this month, Sudha shared
a snap with her father as they celebrated his
birthday. KD Chandran has worked in films in-
cluding Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, China Gate,
Junoon Pukar, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chah-
ti Hoon!, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Koi... Mil
Gaya among others. The actor was part of sev-
eral Television shows as well. —Agency
Late KD Chandran
The new coach
The new coach
Unexpected
FAREWELL MARCH FOR
PALESTINE
R
apper Nicki Minaj’s father Rob-
ert Maraj passed away earlier
this year after succumbing to in-
juries in a hit-and-run case. The
tragic incident had occurred on New
York’s Long Island and a 70-year-old
man was arrested. Nicki has broken her
silence following the demise of her fa-
ther. Minaj penned an emotional letter
on her official website, “Tho I can’t re-
ally bring myself to discuss the passing
of my father as yet; I can say it has been
the most devastating loss of my life,”
Minaj wrote. —Agency
Nicki Minaj
...Salman Khan’s post
...Bella Hadid’s post
Bella Hadid
Ariana Grande

First India-Lucknow Edition-17 May 2021

First India-Lucknow Edition-17 May 2021

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