01012022 first india lucknow

Congress country’s biggest problem:
CM Yogi in Gandhis’ backyard
Rae Bareli: Attacking
the Congress in its bas-
tion Rae Bareli, Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath on Fri-
day said the Sonia Gan-
dhi-led party is a “prob-
lem” for the country
and the root of anarchy
and corruption.
Adityanath, who was
addressing a gathering
as part of the ruling
BJP’s ‘Jan Vishwas
Yatra’ ahead of the 2022
Uttar Pradesh Assem-
bly polls, also attacked
the Samajwadi Party,
saying that the people
of the state know that a
vehicle with the party’s
flag means that there is
a goon sitting inside.
Turn to P2
CM Yogi chairing the all-important Covid review meeting at Lok Bhawan. The meeting was attended
by ACS Information Navneet Sehgal, ACS Home Awanish Awasthi, ACS Health Amit Mohan Prasad,
PS to CM Sanjay Prasad, DGP Mukul Goel ADG L&O Prashant Kumar among others.
In Congress bastion,
the CM accuses the
party of stalling
India’s growth &
being the root cause
of corruption
VK TRIPATHI
APPOINTED AS
NEW CHAIRMAN,
CEO OF RLY BOARD
New Delhi: The Appoint-
ments Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC) approved
the appointment of
VK Tripathi, General
Manager, North Eastern
Railway to the post of
Chairman and CEO of
Railway Board, New
Delhi. The committee
has approved a six-
month extension, that is,
upto December 2022. As
per an official statement
from North Eastern Rail-
way, Tripathi did B Tech
(Electrical Engineering)
from Roorkee and joined
railways through the
Indian Railway Service
of Electrical Engineers
(IRSEE) batch of 1983.
His first posting was as
an Assistant Electrical
Engineer on Northern
Railway. More on P7
VAX v/s OMICRON
India crosses milestone of 145 crore
Covid jabs as variant cases spike
India saw highest single-day rise of 309 cases of Omicron, taking the tally of such cases
to 1,270, said health ministry. It also recorded 16,764 fresh cases and 220 more fatalities
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya on Fri-
day said that India has
crossed the milestone of
145 crore Covid vaccina-
tions. “My gratitude to
our doctors, scientists,
healthcare and frontline
workers for displaying
immense grit, determi-
nation & resolve in the
challenging 2021 year,”
he said in a tweet.
On December 4, Ma-
harashtra detected its
first patient with new
Covid variant B.1.1.529
or Omicron. In the last
26 days, the total num-
ber of Omicron cases,
which is more trans-
missible than Delta, the
dominant variants dur-
ing the second wave,
and also has a higher
potential of immunity
escape has surged.
MUMBAI COVID CURBS: NO ENTRY TO
BEACHES, PARKS BETWEEN 5-5 TILL JAN 15
Mumbai: Mumbai Police issued an order under section 144
of the CrPC, prohibiting people from visiting beaches, open
grounds, sea faces, promenades, gardens, parks or similar
public places between 5 pm and 5 am daily till January
15 in view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation. Genome
sequencing at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Mumbai, has
detected the new variant Omicron in nearly one-third of
samples it tested in indication of community transmission.
‘FREE OMICRON TEST’
OFFERED ONLINE IS A
CYBERCRIME: CENTRE
New Delhi: Amid a rise in
Omicron cases, the Minis-
try of Home Affairs (MHA)
has issued an advisory
against cybercriminals
targeting potential victims
by offering them free tests
for detecting Omicron vari-
ant of COVID-19. Further, it
mentioned that fraudsters
send emails regarding PCR
testing for Omicron with
malicious links and mali-
cious files attached.
WOMAN TESTS POSITIVE MID-AIR,
ISOLATES IN PLANE TOILET FOR HOURS
New York: A US woman was quarantined in an aero-
plane bathroom for three hours after testing positive for
COVID-19 halfway through a flight from Chicago to Iceland,
according to media reports. Marisa Fotieo, a teacher from
Michigan, said her throat began to hurt halfway through the
trip on December 19 so she went to the bathroom to per-
form a rapid Covid test which confirmed she was infected,
local news channel WABC-TV reported.
ISRAEL DETECTS 1ST CASE OF ‘FLORONA’,
DOUBLE INFECTION OF COVID & INFLUENZA
Tel Aviv: Israel detected the first case of “florona” disease, a
double infection of COVID-19 and influenza, said Arab News
on Friday. An Israeli newspaper reported that the case of
double infection was found in a woman who entered Rabin
Medical Center this week to give birth. Israel, which led a
world-beating vaccination programme in 2020, will adminis-
ter a fourth dose to elderly residents and care homes staff.
NO EXTENSION OF DEC 31
DEADLINE TO FILE I-T
RETURNS: GOVERNMENT
New Delhi: The government
on Friday announced that
there was no proposal to ex-
tend the deadline for filing in-
come tax returns beyond its
current deadline of December
31. Revenue Secretary Tarun
Bajaj said that December 31,
2021, remained the official
deadline for filing returns.
GST Council
defers rate
hike on textiles
from 5 to 12%
New Delhi: The Goods
and Services Tax (GST)
Council has decided to
defer the hike in tax rate
on textiles from 5% to
12%, announced Union
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman on
Friday
.
At a media briefing,
Sitharaman said the
GST meeting was called
under the “emergency
provision”, and that the
GST Council only had a
brief meeting with one
agenda.
“Gujarat FM request-
ed for deferment of deci-
sion taken in the Sept
Council meet on inver-
sion of tax structure,”
she said.
Hike of GST rate on
textiles was to come into
effect from January 1.
I-T raids on SP leader Pushpraj,
other perfume traders’ premises
Kannauj: The Income
Tax department on Fri-
day raided multiple
premises linked to cer-
tain perfume traders,
including a Samajwadi
Party MLC, in Uttar
Pradesh and other plac-
es as part of a tax eva-
sion investigation, offi-
cial sources said.
They said about 30-40
premises spread across
the national capital re-
gion, Kannauj, Kanpur,
Surat, Mumbai and
some other places are
being searched as part
of the operations that
started early morning
with police accompany-
ing the raiding team.
Among the buildings
searched are a residen-
tial building in south
Delhi’s New Friends
Colony and about a doz-
en premises in Mum-
bai, the officials said.
Coming as they do in
the run-up to the assem-
bly polls in Uttar
Pradesh, the tax raids
triggered a political
war of words, with the
SP alleging the search-
es were launched by the
“BJP government”.
In a tweet, the SP said
the Kannauj premises
of its MLC Pushpraj
alias Pampi Jain who
has interests in per-
fume manufacturing
and other businesses
have been raided.
The Directorate Gen-
eral of GST Intelligence
(DGGI), an investigation
agency under the Cen-
tral Board of Indirect
Taxes and Customs
(CBIC), had recently car-
riedoutlarge-scaleraids
in Kanpur and Kannauj
and later arrested per-
fume trader Peeyush
Jain and seized over Rs
197 crore cash, gold and
sandalwoodoil.More on P3
IT IS NOT BJP MONEY,
SAYS SITHARAMAN
New Delhi: Union Finance
Minister Nirmala Sithara-
man on Friday said the
nearly Rs 200 crore cash
recovered in tax searches
on perfume maker Peey-
ush Jain is not BJP money,
and that the raid was at the
correct address and not by
an outcome of knocking
at wrong doors. Staunchly
defending the action, she
said the raids, which were
based on actionable intel-
ligence, seemed to have
“shaken” Akhilesh.
NO ONE LIES BETTER
THAN BJP: AKHILESH
Lucknow: BJP leaders
always come to UP flanked
by central investigation
agencies and use raids as
material for their political
speeches, SP chief Akh-
ilesh Yadav said, hinting
that recent raid on a party
leader in Kannauj was
politically motivated. “They
had pre-written speeches
mentioning the raid on SP
leader, how is that pos-
sible? Who gave them that
information even before
the raid?,” asked Yadav.
‘For ages, karsevaks laid
down lives for Ram Mandir’
Ayodhya: Union home
minister Amit Shah on
Friday referred to the
firing on karsevaks (vol-
unteers) in 1990 during
the campaign to build a
Ram Temple in place of
Babri Masjid in Ayod-
hya and asked voters to
question Samajwadi
Party (SP) chief Akh-
ilesh Yadav what was
the need for it when he
comes to seek votes.
Yadav’s father, Mu-
layam Singh Yadav, was
the chief minister when
police fired on the vol-
unteers. “For ages, a
large number of people
sacrificed their lives for
the Ram Mandir in Ayo-
dhya. But temple never
came up,” said Shah at
a rally in Ayodhya.
Shah referred to the
ongoing income tax
raids in Uttar Pradesh
and attacked SP saying
there was earlier “ma-
fia raj in Uttar Pradesh”
but now they are sur-
rendering to police.
More on P2
Home Minister Amit Shah
VIRENDER SINGH
PATHANIA NEW DG
OF COAST GUARD
New Delhi: The Centre
appointed Virender
Singh Pathania as the
new Director General of
the Indian Coast Guard
on Friday. He is currently
posted as the Additional
Director General at the
Coast Guard Headquar-
ters. Virender Singh
Pathania has served the
organisation in various
assignments over the past
three and a half decades.
LUCKNOW l SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 51
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
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WISHING A SAFE YEAR
Fireworks explode over the Sydney
Opera House and Harbour Bridge as New
Year’s celebrations began in Sydney.
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 2022
02
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‘WHY RAM LALA STAYED IN A
TENT FOR SO MANY YEARS?’
PEOPLESTILLREMEMBERWHOSHOTTHEKARSEWAKSINAYODHYA:AMITSHAH
Ayodhya: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah on
Friday lashed out at Sa-
majwadi Party, Bahu-
jan Samaj Party and
Congress over the issue
of construction of Ram
Temple saying that peo-
ple still remember who
shot at ‘Kar Sewaks’
and asked why ‘Ram
Lalla’ had to stay in a
tent for so many years.
“Many efforts were
made by Congress, SP
and BSP during their
tenure to prevent the
construction of the
Ram temple. Do you re-
member who shot at
Kar sevaks. They were
thrashed badly, killed
and thrown in the Sar-
ayu River,” said Shah.
“Why did ‘Ram Lala’
have to stay in a tent for
so many years? Who
stopped Ram Navami
and Deepotsav celebra-
tions in Ayodhya? We
must remember all
this. Now, no one can
stop the construction
of a grand Ram Temple
here,” he added.
Slamming Samajwa-
di Party, the Home Min-
ister said, “There used
to be three P’s at the
time of SP government.
Those P’s were Parivar-
wad (nepotism), Paksh-
pat ( (favouritism) and
Palayan (migration).
However, the BJP
government works on
three V’s which are Vi-
kas (development), Vya-
par (business) and
saanskrtik Viraasat
(cultural heritage).
Speaking about the
raids on perfume mak-
ers in Uttar Pradesh,
Amit Shah said, “The
smell of ‘corruption’s
perfume’ shows us how
deep are the roots of
SP’s sins. When those
roots are being at-
tacked, why do you feel
‘sick’ Akhilesh Yadav?”
Earlier this morn-
ing, the Income Tax De-
partment started
searches at the premis-
es of perfume business-
man and Samajwadi
Party (SP) MLC Push-
praj Jain and one other
perfume trader for tax
evasion, said sources.
A Kanpur-based per-
fumebusinessmanPeey-
ush Jain was also ar-
restedearlierthismonth
after a raid at his resi-
denceledtotherecovery
of unaccounted cash,
gold and sandalwood.
Amit Shah is on a
one day visit to Ayod-
hya, which he com-
menced by visiting
Ram Janmabhoomi
Teerth Kshetra Tem-
ple. This visit by the
Shsh holds importance
due to upcoming elec-
tions in UP. —ANI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Ram temple, during his state visit ahead of 2022 UP assembly polls, in Ayodhya on Friday.
Shah greets President of Ramjanmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Nritya Gopal Das and received his
blessings on the eve of the new year on Friday in Ayodhya on Friday.
BAREILLY VISIT
PM to lay Meerut
Sports University
foundation stone
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi will lay the
foundation stone of
the Major Dhyan
Chand Sports Uni-
versity in Meerut on
January 2.
Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath had
announced the set-
ting up of the univer-
sity to promote
sports in the state.
According to the gov-
ernment spokesman,
“The Major Dhyan
Chand Sports Uni-
versity will be a mile-
stone in equipping
the youth to give an
excellent perfor-
mance on the nation-
al and international
platforms.
Training in all
kinds of sports will
be given here and
based on perfor-
mance in national
and international
competitions.
The university
will have BA in
sports courses and
offer diploma, certifi-
cate, postgraduation,
M.Phil and Ph.D de-
grees. The university
will come up in an
area of about 91
acres.
The University
will have an indoor
stadium, skating
rink, synthetic hock-
ey field, a swimming
pool of Olympics
standards, football
field, volleyball
court, basketball
court, handball,
kabaddi grounds,
tennis court, gymna-
sium and multi-pur-
pose hall.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed the
students of IIT Kanpur. —FILE PHOTO
The Major
Dhyan Chand
Sports
University will
have the
capacity for 540
male and 540
female
candidates.
ASHA sisters are the backbone of Rural Healthcare: Yogi
ENCOURAGEMENT
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Hailing the
tireless efforts of the
ASHA Workers, who
worked at the grass-
roots level to save the
state amid the Covid-19
peak, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath said
that at the time when
the entire world was
gripped with challenges
posed by the pandemic,
the ASHA workers re-
mained on the ‘front-
line’ to save the state.
“ASHA sisters gave
their services diligently
during Covid-19 peak
and because of their ef-
forts, the most populous
state contained the
spread efficiently,
which gained apprecia-
tion even globally.
ASHA workers are the
backbone of the rural
healthcare system and
their contribution is
unparalleled,” said the
Chief Minister while
inaugurating ‘Aashaon
ka sammelan’.
The Chief Minister
went on to say that with
the combined efforts of
the state and central
government, smart-
phones are being dis-
tributed to 80,000 ASHA
sisters here...the re-
maining 80,000 will be
provided smartphones
in the second phase...
this will help in reduc-
ing their burden of get-
ting involved in unnec-
essary paperwork.
Yogi Adityanath also
announced a signifi-
cant hike in monthly
honorarium and incen-
tives of the Accredited
Social Health Activists
(ASHA) workers.
An additional hono-
rarium of Rs 500 per
month to ASHAs from
a period from Jan
1,2020 to March 31,2022
for their contribution
in fighting against Cov-
id-19, the state govern-
ment will also double
their usual pay, i.e.
from Rs 750 to Rs 1500
per month.
With Rs 1500 per
month from the central
government, the ASHA
workers will receive a
total of nearly Rs 6000
monthly taking into ac-
count all allowances.
Besides, the Contrac-
tual ANMs, who played
a crucial role in vacci-
nation and worked for
more than 60 days will
receive a single-time Rs
10,000 honorarium.
UP govt announces significant hike in
monthly honarariums ‘health activists’
CM Yogi distributing mobile phones to ASHA workers at the Ashaon
ka Sammelan event organised in Lucknow on Friday. Health
Minister Jai Pratap Singh and MoS Atul Garg were also present.
Cong will
be uprooted
from Rae
Bareli:Yogi
Continued from p1
Rae Bareli is the
Lok Sabha constitu-
ency of Gandhi.
Adityanath said,
“The way the Con-
gress’ public repre-
sentatives from Rae
Bareli are joining
the BJP, the Con-
gress will be uproot-
ed from Rae Bareli.
The Congress is a
problem for the
country. Rae Bareli
has never accepted
foreign rule.”
The Congress is
the root of terror-
ism, anarchy and
corruption in the
country, and works
to spread casteism
and linguistic dif-
ferences, he alleged.
Hitting out at the SP
and the Bahujan Sa-
maj Party, Adity-
anath said, “The SP
and BSP are (a prob-
lem) for the state.
Today
, the people of
the state know that
a vehicle with the
SP’s flag means that
some goon is sitting
inside.”
“Our government
works for the people
and also works to
respect faith. Could
Congress, the SP
and the BSP do this?
Those who had
termed Ram and
Krishna imaginary,
can they build a
temple?”, he asked.
SP leader, MLC Shatrudh
Prakash joins saffron party
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a setback
to the Samajwadi Party
(SP), its MLC and for-
mer Uttar Pradesh min-
ister Shatarudra
Prakash joined the BJP
at the saffron party’s
state headquarters here
on Friday. Prakash
joined the BJP in the
presence of the party’s
state unit chief Swatan-
tra Dev Singh.
Prakash, who joined
politics while studying
in the Banaras Hindu
University (BHU), was
elected as a member of
the Legislative Assem-
bly for the first time in
1974 from Varanasi
Cantonment as a Social-
ist Party nominee.
Three years later, he
was again elected from
the same constituency
as a Janata Party candi-
date.Prakash won the
polls as a Lok Dal candi-
date in 1985 and as a Ja-
nata Dal nominee in
1989. He was a cabinet
minister in the UP gov-
ernment headed by Mu-
layam Singh Yadav.
Earlier, Prakash had
congratulated PM Nar-
endra Modi and CM
Yogi for inaugurating
the the world class
Kashi Vishwanath
Dham corridor.
LMC readies
to combat the
new variant
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Municipal
Corporation Lucknow
has started efforts in ad-
vancetopreventthenew
variant B-1.1.529 (Omi-
cron) of Covid-19 virus
from spreading in city
.
In this regard, while
coordinating with
Health Department
and District Adminis-
tration, officers of
Municipal Corpora-
tion, Lucknow, includ-
ing City Health Offic-
er, Chief Engineer
(Civil), Officer-in-
Charge (RR), all Zonal
Officers issued neces-
sary instructions to
city engineer and oth-
er subordinates.
Instructions were
given to make special
cleaning arrangements
and sanitization in en-
tire city by using fog-
ging/lime etc besides
Mohalla Surveillance
Committee (Surveil-
lance Team) constitut-
ed for the prevention
of new variants of the
virus, was directed to
be reactivated by
strengthening it more
than before.
Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta
Bhatia presides over a meet of
LMC officials, Corporators in
Lucknow on Friday.
CM emphasises on vigilance against Covid-19
DURING RAM MANOHAR LOHIA INSPECTION
First India Bureau
Lucknow: CM Yogi
Adityanath on Friday
said that though there
are only 829 active cases
of COVID-19 and the
positivity rate in the
state is below 0.05 per
cent “vigilance and cau-
tion are necessary
.”
Addressing a press
conference, after the in-
spection of the COVID
facility and Oxygen
Plant at Dr Ram Mano-
har Lohia Hospital in
Lucknow, the Chief
Minister said, “Today, I
have inspected the dedi-
cated COVID-19 Dr Ram
Manohar Lohia Hospi-
tal. According to ex-
perts, the third wave is
not as dangerous as
compared to the second
wave. But from the
point of view of vigi-
lance and caution, it is
necessary that all the
arrangements are done
by the administration.”
The Chief Minister
further said there is no
need to worry about
COVID and added, “We
just have to take precau-
tions. The positivity
rate in the state is below
0.05 per cent.”
Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath inspects preparations against Covid-19 at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
on Friday.
CM Yogi has wished people a happy and
prosperous New Year 2022 and has appealed
to them to follow the Covid protocol and social
distancing in the celebrations.
CM Yogi has stressed the need
for coordination among vari-
ous departments in the imple-
mentation of Integrated Traffic
Management System to
prevent road accidents
in the state.
Management System to
prevent road accidents
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
Shatrudh Prakash joining BJP
in presence of state president
Swatantra Dev Singh at BJP
HQ on Friday. President of
joining committee Laxmikant
Bajpai was also present.
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UTTAR PRADESH
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I-TRAIDON SPLEADER,AKHILESHSAYSBJPSCARED
First India Bureau
Lucknow: TheIncome
Tax department on Fri-
day raided multiple
premises linked to cer-
tain perfume traders,
including a Samajwadi
Party MLC, in UP and
other places as part of a
tax evasion investiga-
tion, sources said.
They said about 30-40
premises spread across
the national capital re-
gion, Kannauj, Kanpur,
Surat, Mumbai and oth-
er places were being
searched as part of the
operations that started
early morning with po-
lice accompanying the
raiding team.
Among the buildings
searched are a residen-
tial building in south
Delhi’s New Friends
Colony and about a doz-
enpremisesinMumbai,
the officials said.
Coming as they do in
the run-up to the as-
sembly polls in UP, the
tax raids triggered a
political war of words,
with the SP alleging
the searches were
launched by the “BJP
government”.
In a tweet, the SP said
the Kannauj premises
of its MLC Pushpraj
alias Pampi Jain who
has interests in per-
fume manufacturing
and other businesses --
have been raided.
Party chief Akhilesh
Yadav also held a sched-
uled press conference at
Kannaujwherehespoke
abouttheraidsandother
issues.ThroughitsTwit-
terhandle,theSPdubbed
the action as “open mis-
use of central agencies
by a scared BJP”
Cops on guard during the I-T raid at the house of Pushapraj Jain
‘THERE WAS INFO’
First India Bureau
Kanpur: Police have
arrested two accused
for murder of an MSc
girl student and
claimed that the ac-
cused gang-raped her
before murder.
Police said that an
MSc student was
missing after she left
for college on Wednes-
day morning.
Her body was found
late in the night near
COD bridge.
DCP (East) Pramod
Kumar said case was
registered against
Somnath Gautam un-
der murder charges.
Police nabbed So-
manath and his friend
Satyam Maurya in
Rail Bazar area.
During investiga-
tion it was revealed
that Satyam was
classmate of the vic-
tim and had one sided
feeling for her but she
had refused him.
After several at-
tempts when the vic-
tim refused his pro-
posal, Satyam con-
spired to take re-
venge.
Satyam gave her
lift in his car and of-
fered juice which was
mixed with drugs.The
victim fainted after
consuming juice. He
raped the girl with his
friends Satyam Mau-
rya and Ravindra
Vishwakarma. After
gang-rape they mur-
dered her. Police have
launched manhunt to
nab third accused
Ravindra.
First India Bureau
Aligarh: A woman
was mentioned in de-
ceased list for ex-gra-
tia and her relatives
refused to take bene-
fit as she was alive.
The health depart-
ment said it was a
mistake.
Sources said the
health department re-
leased list of some 108
persons who died due
to Covid, in which
there was name of
Shakuntala Devi who
was alive while the
name of one other
person who died in
the epidemic was
missing from the list.
Hemant Chaud-
hary, son of Shakun-
tala Devi said he was
informed about the
ex-gratia from gov-
ernment to deceased
persons and he re-
fused to take the ben-
efit as his mother
was alive and healthy
.
He said her mother
had Covid but she re-
covered well.
Two arrested for rape
murder of MSc student
Healthdept‘mistake’puts
alivewomanondeadlist
Man shoots doc after wife
dies during treatment
First India Bureau
Bijnor: A man shot at doctor who treated
his wife as she died during treatment.
Police sources said Dr Tilakram was doc-
torinKamrajpurinShekhpurvillageunder
Nangal police station area. It was alleged
that Salman’s wife died
during treatment under
Dr Tilakram a few days
back. Salman had alleged
that negligence of doctor
was reason behind death
of his wife.
Dr Tilakram was shot
atbytwobike-borneassailantsinNagalSoti
area. He was rushed to the nearby hospital
from where he was referred to Meerut hos-
pital. Case was registered against Salman
andhisfriendMehamoodandmanhuntwas
launched to nab both accused.
Meanwhile, condition of injured doctor
was stated to be critical in hospital. Police
haveraidedseveralplacestonabtheaccused
and claimed that both will be arrested soon.
Shakuntala Devi
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 51
l RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229.
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 Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Vishal Srivastav
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Promoted by First India
News International Pvt. Ltd.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Whatever action is performed
by a great man, common
men follow in his footsteps,
and whatever standards he
sets by exemplary acts, all the
world pursues.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Rahul Gandhi
@RahulGandhi
My thoughts are with the people of
Tamil Nadu. Heartfelt condolences to
those who’ve lost loved ones in the
heavy rains. Please stay safe and follow
all government advisory. Take care.
Dalai Lama
@DalaiLama
My favourite prayer says: “For as long as
space endures, And for as long as living
beings remain, Until then may I too
abide, To dispel the misery of the world.”
And, in trying to fulfil that aspiration, I
feel my life has been of some benefit.
TOP TWEETS
LIKE IT OR NOT,
AFSPA TO REMAIN
IN NAGALAND FOR
6 MORE MONTHS
ew days after a high-
powered committee
meeting to discuss
withdrawal of
Armed Forces (Spe-
cial Powers) Act (AFSPA) from
Nagaland, the Central govern-
ment extended the draconian
law’s imposition by six months.
The decision was strongly criti-
cised by the Naga People’s Front,
a member of Nagaland’s ruling
United Democratic Alliance,
which was “aghast and affront-
ed” at the decision. The party’s
reaction must be taken with a
pinch of salt as the Centre must
have consulted the government
before extending the law. The
main tribal body
, the Naga Hoho,
expressed “extreme shock.”
There was an outcry against
AFSPA in the state after six in-
nocent coal miners were killed
in the Mon district on December
4 by the armed forces in a case
of mistaken identity. An in-
quiry into the goofed-up opera-
tion is on. The tragedy reignited
the demand for repeal of AFSPA
which was due to expire today
.
The debate over continuation
of AFSPA in Nagaland has cen-
tred around othering and secur-
ing of the state bordering China.
F
nion Home Min-
ister Amit Shah
made a pertinent
point when,
tongue-in-cheek,
he cajoled Mayawati to step
out of her comfort zone and
start electioneering. At a
rally in Moradabad he said,
“Behenji ki to abhi thand hi
nahi udi hai. Yeh bhaibheet
hain. Behenji, chunav a gaya
thoda baahar nikaliye. Baad
me ye na kehna ki maine
prachaar nahi kiya.” It is in-
deed strange that Mayawati
has yet to step out to smell
the coffee. Her social engi-
neering formula has lost its
edge. Muslims are veering
towards Samajwadi Party,
aware of the fact that the
BSP chief wouldn’t be averse
to joining hands with the
BJP to keep SP out.
As for Brahmins she’s
barely left with Satish
Mishra and his close family.
The party’s Rajya Sabha MP
has addressed a few meetings
of Brahmins, but has no po-
litical base or else, he
wouldn’t have taken the Ra-
jya Sabha route to enter poli-
tics. That leaves Behenji with
only Jatav votes, the caste to
which she belongs, as other
Dalits may be lured by the
BJP and SP. BJP is going all
out to win over Mayawati’s
core Jatav voters too. Former
Uttarakhand governor Baby
Rani Maurya has been roped
in with that intent.
Pinning all her political
hopes on one man---Satish
Mishra---is quite unlike
Mayawati who, like a banyan
tree,doesn’tallowastrongsec-
ond rung leadership to take
root. There are about 86 seats
where the presence of BSP
voters is strong but even in
those seats the party is facing
a challenge due to Mayawati’s
defeatist mindset.
HAS MAYAWATI GIVEN
UP THE FIGHT ALREADY
Pining all her political
hopes on One man-
Satish Mishra- is quite
unlike Mayawati who, like
a banyan tree, doesn’t
allow a strong second
rung leadership to take
root. Party is facing a
challenge in 86 seats due
to her defeatist mindset
U
UNFOLDING 2022
Harness Hope and Happiness
ew Year’s gala time is proba-
bly the most active-minded
holiday, as people evaluate
their experiences to the time
gone by and look forward to
the coming one. Probably we
take our lives more resolute-
ly on New Year. While worry-
ing anxiously about both the
present and the future, we
fundamentally believe that
change is necessary. This
hope for change manifests in
numerous ways in our circa-
dian lives. However, slow but
every step towards progress
shouldremindusthatchange
is achievable if we continue
to bear the brunt for it. Wit-
nessing an era in which,
there are so many reasons
not to have hope for change,
it remains phenomenal that
our contemporary peers are
holding on to the hope that
things will be better, beyond
the shadow of a doubt.
Whenwebasehopeonreal-
ity
,tangiblerisks,andintangi-
ble plans, it results in trust,
which is instrumental in im-
plementinganystrategy
.Hope
recognises and accepts the
harsh truth that failure hap-
pens, challenges are pro-
nounced than plans, and suc-
cess is not assured. Hope
doesn’t define and decorate a
beeline pathway, but it does
guide us through twists and
turns. Hope views the glass as
half full, not half empty
. Hope
reinforces realistic optimism.
Theinvinciblelawsof theuni-
versedonotdemandustobow
down in fear, but beacon us to
practice prudence and perse-
verance and build relation-
ships with empathy and com-
passion with fellow beings.
When we practice hope, it
comes back to basics. We can
start by displaying gratitude.
Reflecting a few minutes each
day
, recounting the positives
in one’s life; even small ones
likeexperiencingamomentof
stillness in the sunshine, ex-
changing greetings to a near-
by
, can refuel us with positivi-
ty
. Envisioning realistic ways
that our times may improve,
can help subside pain and dis-
comfort. Even deep sorrows
canhealwithtime.Inallthese
cases,thestrategyissimple:to
embrace the change by choos-
ing to be mindful, even in the
face of despair.
Medical evidence has cou-
pled positive emotions with
better mental health, longer
life, and greater well-being.
Juxtaposed to it, persistent
anger, worry, and feeling of
fearfulness and hatred in-
crease the risk of developing
the cardiac disease, as these
feelings are associated with
raised blood pressure. Equal-
ly significant is to address
and recognise mood disor-
ders that are frequent in a
stressful and hectic lifestyle.
There is no better time than
now to sit and take on prior-
ity these aspects of our lives.
Acknowledging that we all
are together in this, an aspi-
rational feeling that circum-
stances can improve, that we
can persist, that there is at
least as much good in the
world as bad, helps us har-
ness happiness. From the ce-
lestial bonds that connect us
with one another to the ever-
present vulnerability, we
share as humans in a chaotic
world, our lives are forever
saturated in the possibility of
unforeseen. The human spir-
it is enduring. It has survived
many battles and it remains
hopeful in unprecedented
times such as ours in the pan-
demic. One can find a ray of
joy in being someone’s hope
and it can be equally comfort-
ing. That is the beauty of the
marvel called - the human
heart. Is not it contending to
acknowledge that there can
be good in our lives, even un-
der challenging circumstanc-
es? Realistic optimism is es-
sentially a firm faith that
things will work out in the
future although times are
dingy. Cultivating and shar-
ing this feeling is edifying.
With a New Year ushering
into our lives, many of us are
taking stock of what we’ve ac-
complishedandwhatremains
unfulfilled in our lives. But
instead of beginning a New
Year with visceral and going
hard on ourselves, let us dis-
perse the Lego pieces of the
life’s puzzles we encounter
and engage in self-reflection.
Itisworthstartingagain,may
it be learning a new language,
maybesettingfitnessgoals,or
moving on to a completely
new country
. If a simple expe-
rience of trying a new food
fills us with so much energy,
considermakinganewleapin
life. There are indeed stakes
that always accompany the
new journey
, but it is equally
true that sometimes, we need
to go with the flow and trust
thebiggerplan,ourlivesoffer.
In our journey
, we may know-
ingly and unknowingly in-
spire multifarious people.
Therefore, it is critical to be
benevolent. Unfolding the
miracleof lifeismotivational.
We need to breathe that fresh
air, go out under the blue sky
,
listen to that music of birds
and always give ourselves a
new chance to start again.
Probably this is the message
we see everywhere in nature
when after the dark winters
the grounds sprout with the
new life everywhere.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
N
DR JYOTI JOSHI
The writer is a soft skill, yoga trainer,
business coach and English language
instructor in Germany, Europe
When we practice hope, it
comes back to basics. We
can start by displaying
gratitude. Reflecting a
few minutes each day,
recounting the positives
in one’s life; even small
ones like experiencing a
moment of stillness in the
sunshine, exchanging
greetings to a nearby, can
refuel us with positivity
The human spirit is
enduring& has
survived many battles.
One can find a ray of
joy in being someone’s
hope & it can be equally
comforting. That is the
beauty of the marvel
called- the human heart
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0

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INDIA
05
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0
First India Bureau
Mumbai: In a rare feat,
Brihanmumbai Munici-
pal Corporation (BMC)
Commissioner Iqbal
Singh Chahal has suc-
cessfully rejuvenated
the BMC finances post
Covid-19. Thanks to
Chahal, BMC’s revenue
collection in the form of
premiums from build-
ers has increased nearly
three-times than that of
the pre-Covid era.
A policy decision tak-
en by Chahal in early
2021 proved to be a mas-
terstroke and has start-
ed paying rich divi-
dends to the BMC. It
was in early 2021 that
the Mumbai civic body
cut by half the hefty
premiums, which the
builders pay to it and
the Maharashtra gov-
ernment for additional
construction rights.
For the last one dec-
ade, the BMC was earn-
ing Rs 3,500 to 4,000
crore per annum from
premiums and other
charges from builders.
In 2020 BMC also not re-
mained untouched by
Covid-19 and subse-
quent lockdowns and
its finances were badly
affected and it could
hardly generate Rs 2,500
crore between April
2020 to March 2021. It
was much below the
previous fiscal’s collec-
tion of Rs 3,800 crore.
By cutting the pre-
mium by half, the civic
body has earned a
whopping revenue of
over Rs 11,000 crore and
it is still counting. The
total collection could go
as high as Rs 15,000
crore by March 2022,
Chahal said.
The BMC Commis-
sioner said that when he
had mooted this propos-
al his senior colleagues
opposed it saying that
slashing the premium
would cripple the BMC
finances further. Cha-
hal said that Mumbai’s
about 600 construction
projects, both re-devel-
opment and greenfield,
had become unviable
due to high premiums.
One of such projects
was Godrej Properties
project in Wadala where
the premium was Rs 500
crore and the developer
was finding it to be un-
viable. But, by giving
50% concession, the pre-
mium dropped to Rs 250
crore and the project
became viable, Chahal
said.
Several big builders
and realtors have hailed
the BMC and its Com-
missioner Iqbal Singh
Chahal saying that
these concessions have
given a big boost to the
real estate industry of
Mumbai. They said that
the 50 per cent conces-
sion given by the BMC
resulted in about a 10
per cent reduction in
cost of the development
of the projects and it
helped attain economic
viability
.
Iqbal Chahal’s decision increases BMC’s revenue
collection thrice more than pre-Covid-19 levels
New Delhi: The India
Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD) on Friday
predicted isolated
heavy to very heavy
rainfall activity over
coastal Tamilnadu, Pu-
ducherry and Karaikal
during the next 2 days.
“Isolated heavy to
very heavy rainfall ac-
tivity over coastal
Tamilnadu, Puducher-
ry and Karaikal during
next 2 days and de-
crease thereafter.
Strong northeasterly
winds are prevailing
off the coast of Tamil
Nadu in the lower lev-
els,” IMD tweeted.
IMD informed that a
cyclonic circulation
lies over southwest
Bay of Bengal off Sri
Lanka coast at middle
tropospheric level.
“Fairly widespread
rainfall with isolated
heavy to very heavy
rainfall activity is very
likely to continue over
coastal Tamil Nadu
during next 2 days and
decrease thereafter,” it
added.
“The pattern of cy-
clonic circulation is
persisting at 5.8 km of
height and is still close
to the coast and will
move a little bit east-
west direction. So
coastal Tamil Nadu
will get widespread
rainfall,” Puviarasan,
Director of MET De-
partment, Chennai
told reporters.
He added that some
districts including
Chennai will get heavy
to very heavy rainfall.
“We have issued a red
alert for Nagapattinam
and the rest of the
coastal districts in-
cluding Tiruvallur,
Chennai are in the or-
ange category for the
next 2 days.”
New Delhi: The Union
Home Ministry on Fri-
day extended the valid-
ity of the FCRA regis-
tration of NGOs by 3
months till March 31.
However, organisa-
tions such as the Mis-
sionaries of Charity
will not be eligible for
the extension benefits
as their applications for
a renewal of the For-
eign Contribution (Reg-
ulation) Act registra-
tion have already been
rejected, according to a
notice issued by the
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs (MHA).
The Centre, in public
interest, has decided to
extend the validity of
the FCRA registration
certificates of NGOs up
to March 31, 2022 or till
the date of disposal of
their renewal applica-
tions, whichever is ear-
lier, in respect of only
those entities that fulfil
certain criteria, the no-
tice said.
New Delhi: Former
Union Minister Man-
ish Tewari has dis-
missedmediareports
about being asked by
the Chinese Embassy
here to “refrain from
supporting the cause
of Tibet.”
“Neither have I re-
ceived any letter nor
will I demean or di-
minish myself by re-
sponding to such im-
becile missives,”
Tewari said.
The Congress MP
response followed a
media report which
said that the Political
Counsellor at the
Chinese Embassy
had sent an “unusu-
ally worded letter” to
a group of MPs who
had attended an
event organised by
the Tibetan Parlia-
ment-in-exile in the
national Capital.
The embassy ex-
pressed “concern”
over their participa-
tion and asked them
to “refrain from pro-
viding support to the
‘Tibetan independ-
ence’ forces”.
“My attention has
been drawn to a re-
port published in an
English newspaper
today. Neither have I
received any letter
nor will I demean or
diminish myself by
responding to such
imbecile missives.
Had Wang Yi written
perhaps I would have
considered respond-
ing,” Manish Tewari
said.
OMICRON VEXES INDIA FURTHER, MAHA LOGS
450 CASES; TOTAL TALLY MOUNTS TO 1,270
New Delhi: India saw
the highest single-day
rise of 309 cases of the
Omicron variant of the
coronavirus, taking the
country’s tally of such
cases to 1,270, the Union
Health Ministry said on
Friday
.
It also recorded 16,764
fresh Covid-19 cases
and 220 more fatalities
due to the viral disease.
Of the 1,270 patients
infected with the Omi-
cron variant of the vi-
rus,374haveeitherrecu-
perated or migrated, ac-
cordingtotheMinistry’s
data updated at 8 am. Of
the 23 States and Union
Territories that have re-
cordedOmicroncasesso
far, Maharashtra has
registered the highest
number of 450, followed
by Delhi (320), Kerala
(107) and Gujarat (97).
The daily rise in the
number of coronavirus
cases crossed the 16,000
mark after 64 days, tak-
ing the country’s Cov-
id-19 tally to 3,48,38,804,
while the number of ac-
tive cases of the infec-
tion has gone up to
91,361, according to the
data. The death toll due
to the viral disease has
climbed to 4,81,080 with
220 more fatalities, the
data stated.
The country had wit-
nessed 16,156 fresh cor-
onavirus cases on Octo-
ber 27. The 91,361 active
Covid cases account for
0.26 per cent of the total
caseload, while the na-
tional Covid-19 recov-
ery rate was recorded at
98.36 per cent, the min-
istry said. —PTI
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala reported 44 new
cases of the Omicron,
informed the State
Health Minister Veena
George on Friday
.
With this, the total
tally of Omicron cases
in the State has risen to
107, stated George.
Speaking about the vac-
cination drive against
Covid-19 in Kerala, the
State Health Minister
said that 98 per cent and
79 per cent of the eligi-
ble population has been
inoculated with the
first dose and second
dose respectively in the
state so far.
Speaking to ANI here
on Friday, George said,
“Total 44 new #Omi-
cron cases reported in
Kerala on Friday, tak-
ing the total tally to 107.
Genomic sequencing
samples are being sent,
sentinel surveillance is
underway
.” —ANI
Mumbai: More than a third of the
positive Covid-19 samples of Mumbai
residents with no travel history detected
between December 21-December 22 are
of the Omicron variant, the Brihanmum-
bai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said
on Friday. Of the 375 samples collected,
37 per cent or 141 were detected to be
of the Omicron and none of these cases
have any travel history. The numbers
suggest how quickly it is spreading.
New Delhi: All samples from metro
cities — that have tested positive for
Covid — are being sent for genome
sequencing, government sources said
today, amid fears over an Omicron-
driven third wave, adding that 18% of
recent samples in India had the new
variant. In Delhi, 50 per cent of the
patients’ samples tested since Decem-
ber 12 had the new variant, said to be
highly infectious.
37% OF LOCAL MUMBAI COVID
CASES ARE OMICRON
OMICRON’S TRANSMISSION IN
DELHI WITH 50% OF CASES
Omicron invades Kerala, 44 fresh
cases reported, total tally rises to 107
A man walks past a mural depicting doctor and coronavirus —FILE PHOTO
Commuters wade through a flooded street during heavy rainfall,
in Chennai on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Manish Tewari
Patna: A day after
Bihar reported its
first Omicron case,
Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar on Friday said
that the third wave of
Covid-19 has begun
and urged people
to remain vigilant.
He also spoke out
opening a genome
sequencing labora-
tory in the State.
“Bihar has recorded
the first Omicron
case. Everyone has
to be alert. The State
is witnessing a sharp
rise in cases, with the
maximum being reg-
istered in Patna and
Gaya. A large number
of people from other
States reside in these
two places, and this
could be a reason
behind the spike in
cases in these areas,”
he told said. “The
third wave has begun
in the State. We are
fully prepared. The
health department
has upgraded hos-
pital infrastructure,”
Kumar said. —PTI
New Delhi: The big-
gest challenge India
will face amid the
Omicron crisis will
be the sudden need
for medical care,
WHO Chief Scientist
Soumya Swamina-
than said. “The surge
is going to be very
fast and many people
are going to be sick,”
she warned with the
new variant of con-
cern already driving
up cases across the
world.
The Omicron
outbreak, which
has triggered fresh
concerns globally and
raised an alarm, will
see the burden shift
from hospitals to the
out-patients depart-
ment, from ICUs to
home-based care, Dr
Swaminathan said.
“People are wor-
ried. You may not
have symptoms but
you would want to
talk to a doctor, you’d
want to see a health-
care worker, and
you’d want advice.
THIRD WAVE
STARTED IN
BIHAR: NITISH
KUMAR
‘SURGE WILL
BE SO FAST,’
WARNS WHO
EXPERT
—FILE PHOTO
CRUCIAL READ
IMA: NEET-PG
COUNSELLING
BEFORE JAN 6
New Delhi: Indian Medi-
cal Association (IMA)
president Sahajanand
Prasad Singh on Friday
said that Union Health
Minister Mansukh Man-
daviya has assured him
that NEET-PG counsel-
ling will start before
January 6, 2022. As per
a press release, “Health
Minister has assured us
that the NEET-PG coun-
selling will start before
6th Jan’2022. There will
be no FIRs on the doc-
tors. There is no need to
panic for Omicron but
all precautions should
be taken by the people.”
HEAVY RUSH AT
SABARIMALA
TEMPLE
Sabarimala: The
Sabarimala Ayappa
temple reopened for the
Makaravilakku festival
on Friday. “Heavy rush
was witnessed today in
Sabarimala today due
to the festival”, said
the Sabarimala Tem-
ple’s Devaswam board
representative on Friday.
As per temple sources,
the temple had opened
yesterday evening and
the devotees are al-
lowed to visit the alter
from today. Earlier, the
temple was closed after
the Mandala pooja on
26 December 2021.
RLYS LAUNCHES
DRIVE TO CURB
ILLEGAL VENDING
New Delhi: In another
step towards improv-
ing passengers’ safety,
the Indian Railways has
started a massive drive
to curb unauthorised
vending in trains and
directed the Railway
Protection Force and
Zonal Railways to expe-
dite their inspections to
deal with the menace.
In an official order, the
Railway board has ad-
vised both the Railway
Protection Force and
the Zonal Railways to
carry out inspections
against unauthorised
vending.
VICE PRESIDENT NAIDU BEGINS FIVE-DAY
VISIT TO KERALA, LAKSHADWEEP
Kochi (Kerala): Vice President M Venkaiah
Naidu arrived at Kochi Naval Airport on Friday
on a five-day visit to
Kerala. Kochi City Police
Commissioner CH
Nagaraju, Ernakulam
District Collector Jafar
Malik, Additional State
Protocol Officer MS
Harikrishnan received
him at the airport. The Vice President left for
Lakshadweep and will return to Kochi on January
2 and attend various events in the city. Naidu will
be in Kottayam on January 3 and will leave for
Nagpur on 4.
COBRA INSPECTOR
DIES BY SUICIDE
IN SUKMA
Sukma: An inspec-
tor posted with the
Commando Battalion
for Resolute Action
(CoBRA) allegedly
committed suicide in
the Sukma district of
Chhattisgarh, informed
the police on Friday.
Inspector Valang, hailed
from Nagaland and was
posted as an inspector
in CoBRA’s 206 Battal-
ion in Burkapal Camp, a
severely Naxal affected
area, said Superinten-
dent of Police Sunil
Sharma. A week ago, he
had returned after leav-
ing home, SP said.
Heavy rainfall in TN, Pondy
for next 2 days, predicts IMD
Haven’t received
any letter: Tewari
Orange alert in
Chennai, Red in
Nagapattinam
for next 2 days
MHA extends
validity of FCRA
registration of
NGOs till Mar 31
Iqbal Singh Chahal

INDIA
06
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0
New Delhi: Amid the
ongoing row over the
renaming of 15 places
by the Chinese govern-
ment in Arunachal
Pradesh, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
on Friday slammed the
Centre and said that
the security of the na-
tion demands wise and
strong decisions, add-
ing that hollow
words will not bring
success.
The Congress leader
also shared a report on
China renaming 15
places in Arunachal
Pradesh, on Twitter.
Just a few days back
we were remembering
India's glorious victory
in 1971. For the security
and triumph of the na-
tion, wise and strong
decisions are needed.
Hollow words do not
bring success! reads
Mr Gandhi's tweet
roughly translated from
Hindi.
The government
said on Thursday that
it has seen reports of
China attempting to re-
name some places in
Arunachal Pradesh in
its own language and
asserted that the bor-
der state has been and
will always be an inte-
gral part of India and
assigning invented
names does not alter
this fact.
In response to a me-
dia query on reports
that China has renamed
some places in
its own language, Minis-
try of External Affairs
Spokesperson Arin-
dam Bagchi said Chi-
na had also sought to
assign such names in
April 2017.
We have seen such
reports. This is not the
first time that China
has attempted to re-
name places in the
state of Arunachal
Pradesh. China had
also sought to assign
such names in April
2017, Mr Bagchi said.
Arunachal Pradesh
has always been, and
will always be an inte-
gral part of India. As-
signing invented names
to places in Arunachal
Pradesh does not alter
this fact, he added.
Media reports said
the Chinese govern-
ment has sought to re-
name 15 places in
its map two days ahead
of implementing new
border law. —PTI
RaGa slams Centre on vaccine
backlog, Chinese standoff
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on Friday slammed the Modi
government for not fulfilling its
“promise” to fully vaccinate all eligi-
ble beneficiaries against Covid-19 by
the end of the year. The government
had told the Supreme Court in
June that it
expected
the
entire
eli-
gible
popu-
lation
to be
vaccinated
against
Covid-19 by
end of the year.
“The Centre had
promised
to vaccinate everyone with two
doses of vaccines by end of 2021.
Today, the year comes to an end.
The country is still away from the
vaccine. Another rhetoric bites the
dust,” Gandhi said on Twitter. As on
Friday afternoon, more than
144.67 crore doses of
Covid-19 vaccines
had been adminis-
tered across the
country. More
than 84.51 crore
beneficiaries have
received the first
dose of the vac-
cines, while more
than 60.15 crore
beneficiaries have
been received both the
doses. —PTI
RAHUL GANDHI SLAMS CENTRE FOR
MISSING VACCINATION TARGET
New Delhi: Exports of
India’s agricultural and
processed food products
rose to $20.67 billion in
2020-21 from $16.7 billion
in the previous year, the
Ministry of Commerce
and Industry said on
Friday
.
Non-Basmati rice has
emerged as India’s top
export item among the
many agricultural and
processed food product
exports under Agricul-
tural and Processed
Food Products Export
Development Authority
(APEDA) basket, con-
tributing close to one-
fourth of the total ex-
ports in 2020-21.
Top three products in
the APEDA export bas-
ket in 2020-21 were Non-
Basmati Rice (23.22 per
cent share), Basmati
Rice (19.44 per cent) and
Buffalo Meat (15.34 per
cent) and these products
together account for 58
per cent of total ship-
ments, according to data
released by the Directo-
rate General of Com-
mercial Intelligence and
Statistics (DGCIS).
Benin, Nepal, Bangla-
desh, Senegal and Togo
were the top importers
of Non-Basmati Rice
from India in 2020-21.
Major export destina-
tions for Basmati Rice
in 2020-21 were Saudi
Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yem-
en and UAE. For Buffalo
Meat exports, the top
importing nations were
Hong Kong, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Egypt and In-
donesia. —ANI
Farmprocessed
foodexportsrise
to$20.6billion
Image for representational purpose only.
T h i r u v a n a n -
thapuram: The new
Special Public Prosecu-
tor appointed in the
2017 case of a Kerala ac-
tor's kidnapping and
sexual assault has quit.
This is the second time,
in almost a year, that a
special public prosecu-
tor has resigned from
the high-profile case.
The first one had quit
just days after the Kera-
la HC rejected the survi-
vor's plea to change the
trial court judge.
The case is at a cru-
cial stage of hearing
with the Kerala High
Court's February 16
deadline to end the case
- after the second exten-
sion of six months -
nearing.
In February 2017, a
woman actor was alleg-
edly kidnapped and
sexually abused on her
way to Kochi for work.
The accused had alleg-
edly filmed the crime.
Malayalam movie star
Dileep, the eighth ac-
cused in the case, was
arrested in July 2017
and released two
months later on bail.
OnWednesday
,thepo-
lice sought a fresh probe
into the scathing allega-
tions by film director
Balachandra Kumar
against actor Dileep.
The director, in his com-
plaint to Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan last
month, alleged that he
had seen the prime ac-
cused in the case Pulsar
Sunni at actor Dileep's
house. —ANI
Kerala actor sex assault case: Second
special public prosecutor quits, 2nd in a yr
Dileep was charged with conspiracy to abduct. —FILE PHOTO
Mumbai: The (ED has
now filed a chargesheet
against Yes Bank found-
er Rana Kapoor, his wife
Bindu Kapoor, and
Avantha group promot-
er Gautam Thapar in
connection with the
money laundering case.
The chargesheet has
been filed at a PMLA
courtinMumbai.Asper
ED reports, some senior
officers of Yes Bank
have also been named in
the chargesheet. The ED
has filed a chargesheet
against Yes Bank found-
er Rana Kapoor and
some other promoters
in the PMLA court in
Mumbai. The
chargesheet is 1300-page
longandincludesnames
of 10 people as accused
in the money launder-
ing case. Rana Kapoor is
currently in judicial
custody
.
Meanwhile, a case
has also been regis-
tered against Kapoor
for illegally providing a
Rs 1900 crore loan to
Gautam Thapar’s Avan-
ta company
. The ED has
also alleged that a Rs
300 crore bribe was
paid to Kapoor for fa-
cilitating loans worth
Rs 1900 crore from Yes
Bank to Gautam
Thapar’s company
. The
charge sheet which has
Rana as the primary ac-
cused also holds names
of someseniorYesBank
officers, who helped Ka-
poor with the loan
transactions. —ANI
184 TERRORISTS KILLED IN JK IN 2021: TOP COP
Jammu: Year 2021
saw the elimination of
a total of 182 terror-
ists, including 44 of
their top commanders
and 20 foreigners, in
100 successful anti-
terror operations by
JK police and secu-
rity forces in the Un-
ion Territory, police
chief Dilbagh Singh
said on Friday
.
The JK director
general of police re-
vealed the number of
total casualties of ter-
rorists a day after the
100th successful anti-
terror operation by
the JK police.
He also said a total
of nine Jaish-e-Mo-
hammad terrorists in-
volved in the attack on
a police bus in Pantha
Chowk were eliminat-
ed in the last 24 hours
while a total of 20 for-
eign terrorists were
killed during the year.
DGP Singh also
said the year saw few-
er infiltration of ter-
rorists from across
the border with the
UT coming across no
instance of any ter-
rorist from Afghani-
stan infiltrating into
the country.
Last night, we com-
pleted 100th successful
operation. In 100 suc-
cessful operations, we
have eliminated 182
terrorists of various
outfits, Singh said.
Money laundering: ED files
chargesheet against Kapoor
HYDERPORA ENCOUNTER ‘TRANSPARENT’: DILBAG
Jammu: Jammu: Jammu and
Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh on
Friday asserted that Hyderpora
encounter was “transparent” and
that political leaders who have
been questioning the “clean chit”
given to the forces should sub-
mit evidence to the investigation
panels. “We have made it clear
Hyderpora operation was transpar-
ent. If they have evidence, they
should present it to the investiga-
tion panels,” he said at a press
conference on asked about the po-
litical leaders’ comments against
the probe by the local police.
Rana Kapoor
Punjab: Punjab Con-
gress chief Navjot
Singh Sidhu on
Thursday targeted for-
mer chief ministers
Parkash Singh Badal
and Amarinder Singh
for allegedly “looting”
the state over the last
25 years.
He blamed the previ-
ous governments led by
Badal and Singh for
leaving the state with a
heavy debt burden.
“For 25 years, two
chief ministers looted
Punjab,” said Sidhu
while addressing a
gathering in Sanaur.
“They (Parkash Sin-
gh Badal, Amarinder
Singh) left the state in
such a situation that
the youth do not want
to stay here,” he al-
leged, referring to
youngsters’ preference
to go abroad.
He said Punjab is
carrying a heavy debt
burden. The state does
not generate enough
revenue to be able to
meet its total expendi-
ture of `1.40 lakh crore.
It pays `30,000 crore as
interest on debt, he
claimed.
Sidhu said the GST
compensation from the
Centre will stop in June
next year and this will
add to the state’s fiscal
deficit. —PTI
Sidhu attacks Badal, Singh for ‘looting’ Punjab
BLAME GAME
They (Parkash
Badal, Amarinder
Singh) left the
state in such a
situation that the
youth do not
want to stay here
RAISING ISSUES
CRUCIAL READ
LUDHIANA BLAST CASE: NIA TO PROBE
SIKHS FOR JUSTICE MEMBER IN GERMANY
New Delhi: The NIA has registered a case against
Jaswinder Singh Multani, an alleged operative of
the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) who has been detained
in Germany, for hatching
a criminal conspiracy to
wage war against India and
attempting to revive terror-
ism in Punjab, officials said
on Friday. A case against
Multani, who was detained in Germany last week,
was booked under various sections of the IPC.
GOLD GAINS `144; SILVER JUMPS `
664, SENSEX ENDS 460 POINTS
New Delhi: Gold price in the national capital on
Friday gained Rs 144 to Rs 46,874 per 10 gram
in line with strong international precious metal
prices. The yellow metal
settled at Rs 46,730 per 10
gram. Silver also jumped
Rs 664 to Rs 61,015 per
kg from Rs 60,351 per kg
in the previous trade. Gold
was trading with gains at USD 1,816 per ounce
and silver was flat at USD 23.15 per ounce.
3 TERRORISTS
KILLED NEAR
SRINAGAR: COPS
Srinagar: Three terror-
ists, including a JeM
terrorist involved in
an attack on a police
bus earlier this month,
were gunned down by
security forces during
an overnight encounter
on the outskirts of Sri-
nagar, the police said.
One of the killed terror-
ists has been identi-
fied as Suhail Ahmad
Rather, a JeM terrorist
who was involved in an
attack on a police bus.
TMC RELEASES
CANDIDATE LIST
FOR 4 WB POLL
Kolkata: The TMC on
Thursday announced
its list of candidates for
corporation elections
in Bidhannagar, Chan-
dannagar, Asansol and
Siliguri, which are slat-
ed to be held on Jan
22, 2022. Of the four,
Asansol is the largest
municipal corporation
with 106 seats, fol-
lowed by Siliguri with
47, Chandannagar with
33 Bidhannagar with
41 wards.
GOVT ANNOUNCES ` 50L EX-GRATIA,
JOB TO KIN OF MARTYRED SOLDIER
Chandigarh: The Punjab government on
Friday announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs
50 lakh and a government job to a fam-
ily member of soldier Jasbir Singh (26),
who was killed during an encounter with
militants. Extending his condolences to the
bereaved family, Chief Minister Charanjit
Singh Channi said Singh’s utmost dedica-
tion to defend the country’s sovereignty,
besides safeguarding its unity and integrity,
will inspire his peers to perform their duties
with far more devotion and commitment.

NEWS
07
BUSINESSMAN
PIYUSH JAIN
SAYS HE IS
READY TO PAY
THE PENALTY
Even after the seizure of Rs
196 crore and huge gold
Kanpur businessman Piyush
Jain has not so far revealed
further about the modus
operandi of his business. He
has given a strange logic to
GST authorities who are
probing his case. Jain is
reported to have told his
interrogators that “ you have
seized Rs 196 crore which is
mine and have arrested me, so
the matter is closed”. This
interestingly made flummoxed.
Accepting that he was the owner
of the entire business, Jain said
huge cash was the result of tax
evasion. However, Jain said he
did not remember from where
he used to purchase raw
material to manufacture the
chemical compound which he
was selling to various traders of
pan masala. Not revealing the
names of buyers of his
products, Jain also said that
whosoever came the goods
were supplied to him. Asserting
that he was ready to pay the tax
with penalty Jain said the matter
was closed here. Sources said
Jain was extremely evasive in
his reply and did not coming out
well to the queries of the
interrogators.
—First India bureau
NOIDA POLICE
ON TOES
The Noida Police on Friday
conducted foot marches and
checks across markets, shopping
malls, metro stations and other
public places in the city to review
security arrangements on New
Year’s eve, officials said. Besides
police personnel, specialised
Pinaka commandos and dog
squads were also roped in for the
intensive checking that also
covered congested city lanes as
well metal detectors installed in
private establishments, the
officials said. The police also
raised awareness among the
public about the surge in
COVID-19 cases and the night
curfew, which begins at 11 pm,
and said efforts were being made
to enforce the restrictions strictly.
“The drill was carried out on
instructions of Police
Commissioner Alok Singh under
supervision of Assistant
Commissioner of Police (Noida 1)
Ankita Sharma and ACP (Noida 2 )
Rajneesh Verma,” a police
spokesperson said. ACP Ankita
Sharma said occasions like New
Year or New Year’s eve become
vulnerable to anti-social activities
since crowds gather at public
places for celebrations. “Hence,
comprehensive checking was done
at shopping malls, metro stations,
markets and other public places. A
decoy was also sent to some
shops and malls in a surprise
check of their security
installments, which were found
working well. Their metal detectors
were also found functional,”
Sharma said. Some suspicious-
looking persons who were found
during the checks were questioned
by police, she said. The officer
said a night curfew has been
imposed from 11 pm to 5 am on
the basis of the new guidelines of
the UP government for the
coronavirus pandemic and police
will take strict action against those
flouting the norms.
—First India Bureau
BJP misusing
agencies to
conduct
raids: SP MP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Follow-
ing income tax
raids at the prem-
ises of Samajwadi
Party’s (SP) Push-
prajJainonFriday
,
party MP Ram Go-
pal Yadav took a
dig at the BJP ac-
cusing it of using
central agencies to
target Opposition
fearingdefeainup-
coming2022UPAs-
sembly polls.
“BJP got scared
after looking at the
popularity of SP
chief Akhilesh Ya-
dav the number
of people who at-
tend his public
meetings. They are
staring at defeat in
UP
.That’swhythey
are stooping so low
and doing such
things. They have
conducted raids at
some of our party
workers and found
nothing. After they
got to know Peey-
ush Jain has links
with BJP
, news
about the raids
stopped coming,”
the SP MP said.
Pushpraj Jain aka
Pampi Jain is a
Member of the
Legislative Coun-
cil from the SP in
UP. The IT Dept
conducted search-
es at the premises
of Pushpraj Jain,
who is involved in
the business of
perfume.
RATIONALE BEHIND WOMEN CENTRIC
INITIATIVES OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN UP
Conghasfocuseditselectoralcampaignonwomeninresponse,otherpartiestoobeganfocusingonwomenissues
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: With the an-
nouncement of fielding
40 percent women in
the upcoming elections
in UP, the Priyanka-led
Congress has focused
its entire electoral cam-
paign on women. In re-
sponse to the Con-
gress’s “Ladki Hoon,
Lad Sakti Hoon” cam-
paign, other parties
have also increased mo-
mentum to make in-
roads among women.
BJP’s Mahila Morcha
is engaged in a cam-
paign to connect wom-
en to the party through
‘Kamal Saheli Club’.
While Dimple Yadav is
active on behalf of SP
to win the trust of wom-
en voters, So at the
same time, besides
Mayawati, Kalpana
Mishra, wife of Satish
Mishra, has also been
entrusted with the re-
sponsibility of connect-
ing women with BSP.
According to Prof.
Manjula Upadhyay,
Principal Navyug Kan-
ya Mahavidyalay, Over
the past decade, women
have started to be estab-
lished as prime stake-
holders in the political
discourse of UP. The
progress of education
and awareness has led
to women empower-
ment, now women have
started voting accord-
ing to their choice, be-
coming vocal and mak-
ing their presence felt
in the political space.
She further added that
the power of women
voters is emerging as a
strong vote block. Their
political importance
has increased, so all the
parties are trying to at-
tract women voters in
their own ways. Prof.
Manjula’s viewpoint is
also ratified by the elec-
toral trend in UP, as in
the three assembly elec-
tions before the year
2017, whichever party
came to power had been
getting close to 25 to 30
percent of the votes. Ob-
viously, the vote chunk
of 18 percent of the
women voters played a
decisive role in these
victories. In the 2017
elections, 41 percent of
women voted in favor of
the Saffron party
. Obvi-
ously, these voters
played an important
role behind the massive
majority of the BJP.
However, It is a fact
that electoral struggle is
agameof numbers.Eve-
ry single vote is very
crucial to ensure victo-
ry in the elections, in
such a situation, it is
impossible for any party
to deny the role of wom-
en voters who are con-
sistently outperforming
their voting turnout as
compared to men.
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Police unearth
ATM theft gang in
Agra; accused held
First India Bureau
Agra: The police has
disclosedtheincident
of ATM theft in
Agra’s Tajganj police
station area on De-
cember 24. In the en-
counter between the
policeandthemiscre-
ants, the police have
arrested 3 ATM
thieves while two ac-
cused escaped from
the spot.
Police have recov-
ered Rs 5,26,000 in
cash from the arrest-
edaccused.TheATM,
located about 500 me-
ters away from Tora
Chowki in Tajganj,
Agra, was targeted by
vicious thieves. In
this case, two consta-
bles including the
outpost in-charge
were suspended for
not patrolling and be-
ing negligent.
Although CCTV
cameras were not in-
stalled in the ATM
cabin, but with the
help of cameras in-
stalled nearby
, the po-
lice was trying to find
the clues of the ATM
thieves. SSP Sudhir
Kumarsaidthatthree
teams were consti-
tuted under the lead-
ership of SP City Vi-
kas Kumar for the
disclosure of ATM
theft. The police were
continuously raiding
Agra and surround-
ing areas to search
for the vicious
thieves.
Meanwhile, the po-
lice got information
that the accused, who
carried out the rob-
bery incident in Taj-
ganj area on Decem-
ber 24, are going to
carry out another in-
cident in Agra. Tak-
ing action on the ba-
sisof theinformation
received, the team of
SOG, CIW and police
station Tajganj laid
siege at the men-
tioned place. Police
have recovered 3 pis-
tols, a huge amount
of cartridges and
other things used to
uproot the ATM.
VinayTripathiisnewchairman,CEOofRlyBoard
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Ap-
pointments Committee
of the Cabinet (ACC)
has approved the ap-
pointment of Vinay Ku-
mar Tripathi, General
Manager, North East-
ern Railway to the post
of Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO)
of Railway Board, New
Delhi. The Appoint-
ments Committee of the
Cabinet has approved a
six-month extension,
i.e, upto December 2022.
As per an official
statement from North
Eastern Railway, Trip-
athi did B Tech (Electri-
cal Engineering) from
Roorkee and joined rail-
ways through the Indi-
an Railway Service of
Electrical Engineers
(IRSEE) batch of 1983.
His first posting was as
an Assistant Electrical
Engineer on Northern
Railway. In his distin-
guished career, Mr Tri-
pathi has successfully
discharged the duties
of important post of
Electrical Department
on Northern, Central
Western railway as well
as held key posts of Di-
visional Railway Man-
ager, North Central
Railway, Allahabad,
Chief Electrical Loco-
motive Engineer, Addi-
tional General Manag-
er of Western Railway
and Additional Mem-
ber/Traction in Rail-
way Board.
He has attended high-
er management train-
ing programmes in
Switzerland and USA.
Mr Tripathi played a
key role in the commis-
sioning of state of art
three-phase locomo-
tives and their indigeni-
zation, which are now
the workhorse of Indi-
an Railways. Mr Trip-
athi played a key role in
the commissioning of
state of art three-phase
locomotives and their
indigenization, which
are now the workhorse
of Indian Railways.
DISTINGUISHED CAREER
4 injured in firing by a
suspended constable
First India Bureau
Agra: Four men were
injured in firing alleg-
edly by an Excise de-
partment constable in
Keet Ganj area of the
district here, police said
on Thursday. The in-
jured were taken to
SRN Hospital for treat-
ment, where one of
them was said to be in
critical condition, Su-
perintendent of Police,
Prayagraj Range, Rake-
sh Kumar, said.
The constable, identi-
fied as Vimlesh Pandey
,
is reportedly on suspen-
sion from duty
, he said.
Accordingtoalocal,Pan-
deyhassetupanofficein
an establishment he en-
croached upon in the
area and was sitting in it
with five other men at
the time of the incident.
Reward carrying gangster held by STF in Gzb
First India Bureau
Agra: A 29-year-old
murder accused was ar-
rested by Noida unit of
Special Task Force from
Khanjarpur village gate
located on Modinagar-
Hapur Road, police said
here. The accused, iden-
tified as Lokendra alias
Louki, carried a reward
of Rs 50,000 on his ar-
rest, they said. Police
have recovered one
country-made pistol of
.315 bore and three live
cartridges from his pos-
session.
The accused belongs
to Bisokhar village of
Modinagar Police Sta-
tion area of the district,
Additional Superinten-
dent of Police (STF) Raj
Kumar Mishra said.
During interrogation he
told officials that his el-
der brother Navneet
Nehra was a notorious
criminalandwasassoci-
ated with gang of anoth-
er dreaded goon Himan-
shu Jat, a native of
Sarurpur Police Station
area of Meerut district.
He said after coming in
contact of Himanshu
Jat he joined his gang.
Thereafter I along-
with Himanshu Jat and
his accomplice killed
Manoj Kumar on Sep-
tember 1, 2017, for which
we were paid 10 lakh ru-
pees, Louki said, accord-
ing to police. After being
in jail for nine months, I
along with my brother
Azad and father Vijay
Vir eliminated Satyen-
dra Pal, a native of Ro-
uri village of Modina-
gar, on February 18,
2019,whohadpurchased
our ancestral agricul-
ture land from my uncle
Chandravir,” he said.
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
THE VOTING TURNOUT
Newly appointed Railways CEO Vinay Kumar Tripathi
The remains of the ATM and the accused in police custody.
The accused
added he has
been absconding
since then while
his father and
brother have
been lodged in
jail.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0

08
2NDFRONT
YEAR
HAPPY
2
NEW
2 2
0
A New Year - a beginning - let us
resolve to be kinder and better
this year than the last!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
Akhilesh pitches ‘history’ to
woo itra traders, corner BJP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
ruling BJP and Sama-
jwadi Party trading
charges over IT and
GST raids on business-
men connected with
perfume industry in
Kannauj, the issue has
takenapoliticalturnin
the run up to 2022 UP
elections.
While BJP has been
trying to run down the
SP by connecting it
with these raids, the SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav
said the BJP has de-
famed the whole per-
fume industry of Kan-
nauj which has a glori-
ous past. Yadav has
been trying to turn
raids into political op-
portunity by express-
ing solidarity with the
industry
. Reports indi-
cated that Kannauj
traders were quite
scared of these raids.
Addressing a rally in
Ayodhya, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah at-
tacked Akhilesh Yadav
for his involvement in
‘perfumebusinessrack-
et’.Shahsaid‘foulsmell
of itra is spreading all
over after the raids on
various establish-
ments’. Whilelastweek
PMNarendraModihad
indirectly targeted Ya-
dav for GST and IT
raids on Piyush Jain,
CM Yogi Adityanath
has been continuously
carrying on campaign
against SP
, which has
taken a further curious
turnafterfreshraidson
Friday
. Significantly
takingtheadvantageof
emerging situation Ya-
dav today rushed to
Kannauj to take stock
of the development and
assess the mood of the
perfume traders.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Additional
Director General of Po-
lice, Bareilly Avinash
Chandra and Dr Sanjay
M Tarde have been
made Director General
(DG) while 1997 batch
IGrankofficersNaveen
Arora, Mohit Agarwal,
Gajendra Kumar
Goswami and Bhajani
Ram Meena have been
promoted as ADG. The
government has pro-
moted 28 IPS offcers.
Dr Pritinder Singh,
Luv Kumar and Chan-
dra Prakash-II have
been promoted to IG.
BhartiSingh,VipinKu-
mar, Madhav Prasad
(Senior), Sabharaj,
Swami Prasad, Saumi-
tra Yadav, Ramesh,
Sureshrao Anand
Kulkarni, Shripati
Mishra, Ajay Kumar
Singh,JugulKishar,Vi-
nod Kumar Mishra, Ba-
lendu Bhushan Singh,
Devendra Pratap
Narayan Pandey
, Sud-
hir Kumar Singh,
Arvind Bhushan Pand-
ey and Rajiv Malhotra
have beem made DIG.
SP President Akhilesh Yadav addressing a press conference in
Kannauj on Friday.
Govt promotes 28 IPS officers in state
After Piyush Jain, the IT
officers on Friday raided
the business premises
of SP MLC Pushparaj
Jain, who had last
month launched “Sam-
ajwadi” Itra. The raids
were also conducted at
another perfume trader
Malik Miyan in Kannauj.
In Ambedkarnagar, the
officers conducted raids
at pan Masala manufac-
turer Haji Nasim.
ONCE AGAIN IT
RAIDS IN KANNAUJ
IPS Mohit
Agrawal
IPS Naveen
Arora
IPS Dr G K
Goswami
IPS Bhajani
Ram Meena
First India Bureau
Kanpur: INTUC Con-
gress’s National Vice
President Vijay Singh
Martolia while lashing
out at the Central and
State govern-
ment of the
BJP said that
Priyanka Gand-
hi’s slogan
‘Ladki Hoon
Ladh Sakti
Hoon’ for wom-
en empower-
ment and giv-
ing 40 percent
share in politics to wom-
en had created ripples in
political circles of state
besides the growing pop-
ularity of Priyanka
Gandhi in state had put
the BJP in a shock.
He said with fast ap-
proaching elections and
seeing the ground slip-
ping under its feet, the
government was harass-
ing entrepreneurs
through raids.
CM Yogi Adi-
tyanath had
said in a public
rally that after
A y o d h y a ,
Kashi, now it
was the turn of
Mathura which
was a a politi-
cal stunt in the
name of God, apart
from trying to divert
the attention of the peo-
ple of the state which
would not be successful
anymore.
Banda: Moolchand Yadav, who has
been in the discussion these days in ac-
tive politics of Bundelkhand, has en-
tered politics after serving 18 years in
the Indian Army
.
The senior leader of Apna Dal Kamer-
awadi in a chat with First India dis-
cussed the important issues of develop-
ment of Bundelkhand and what Bun-
delkhand got from the ruling party
. He said that Bun-
delkhand is still backward region of the state.
‘BJP only trying to divert
attention of people here’
‘B’khand still backward’
Vijay Singh Martolia

LUCKNOW, SATURDAY
JANUARY 1, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
oday we have
woken up to a
New Year! The
dice has rolled,
the wheels have
turned and 31st
December 2021
has dipped below the hori-
zon and 01st January 2022
has risen!
Regardless of the Hin-
du calendar or the official
Gregorian calendar that
we adhere to, all of us to-
day feel a bit different, a
lil bit new, hope flickers
even as the storms of
Omicron gather again.
Even as most of us will be
unwillingly deluged with
thousands with forward-
ed HNY messages on
WhatsApp, we will pick
up the phone to call those
people who are special
to us, for whom a for-
warded message
will not suffice or
draft a special mes-
sage for them with
our favourite emoticons!
Why is the new year so
special? Actually, any oc-
casion is – it is an excuse
to be together with our
loved ones, to reach out to
the estranged, bury the
differences and also thank
those who walked with us!
First India also decided to
make the coming of 2022
special as a get-together
was held with friends join-
ing in to sing, dance and
jump with joy to not just
make one evening memo-
rable but to make happy
memories last forever!
More on P 10-11
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
T
CITY FIRST
WISHES ALL ITS
READERS A VERY
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
WE BRING TO YOU
GLIMPSES OF THE
SPECIAL
CELEBRATION
HELD AT HOTEL
MARRIOTT, JAIPUR
ON THE OCCASION
OF RINGING IN
2022 AS WE ALL
BID GOODBYE TO
2021!
It’s time for
TWENTY
TWENTY
20 TWO!
20 TWO!
Jagdeesh Chandra accorded a floral welcome by First Miss India 2021
Pearl Agarwal at theFirst India event at Marriott as Shweta Mishra,
Gaurav Gaur and Akanksha Bhalla look on smilingly
Shweta Mishra with (L-R) Simran Modi, Riya Suledia, Chahak Bhandula, Tanu Choudhary, Vishakha Mathur, Upadhi Jolotia,
Angel Sain, Rewati Upadhyay, Srishti Khatri, Akanksha Bhalla, Swati Jangid, Megha Kaushik, Megha Shyam, Preeti Singh, Poonam Sharma,
Tripti Arora, Soni Kumari, Himakshi Choudhary, Tanu Choudhary, Sumitra Godara, Khushboo Dahiya, Karishma Tak and Chhavi Suledia
Poonam Sharma, Karishma Tak,
Rishika Chandnani, Kashish
and Chahak Bhandula
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO

T
he New Year brings hope, we
strive to put difficult times be-
hind us and look ahead with
hope- somehow with a changing
year – 2021—to—2022 – it is easier. This
time, we have all put behind a difficult
year, I think all of us were united in
2021 being a year which wrung us out-
mentally, emotionally, physically and
financially- and how we stand on tip-
toes to welcome this new year!
Asweallswayedandswungtomusic
attheMarriott,theover-ridingthought
was to cherish these moments of joy
and carry life with sparkle and festiv-
ity into the coming days. There was a
sense of togetherness and pervading
joy in the evening as love in the other’s
happiness made every second special.
City First brings to each of you happiness,
success, love and togetherness in each of
the 365 days of this year and we also wish
you good health, we pray for the safety of you
– our beloved readers and your loved ones!
FROM PG 9
It’s time for
10-11
ETC
TWENTY
TWENTY
20 TWO!
20 TWO!
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Riya Suledia, Himakshi Choudhary, Karishma Tak, Sumitra Godara, Tanu Choudhary, Soni Kumari, Divya Kasliwal, Swati Jangid, Yogesh Mishra,
Shweta Mishra, Gaurav Gaur, Ashok Singh, Akanksha Bhalla, Pearl Agarwal, Rishee Miglani, Lokesh Sharma, Poonam Sharma, Manmeet Singh, Vania Singh, Mona Gautam and Kartikey Soni Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R): Manmeet Singh, Vania Singh, Aditi, Sunil and Ashok Singh
(L-R) Rahul Maini, Mohit Mahrishi, Tapan Mudgal and Kumar Gourav
(L-R): Ashok Singh, Gaurav Gaur and Yogesh Mishra
Mona Gautam and Kartikey Soni
during the stunning Bachata performance
Shweta Mishra
Girls enjoying during the ‘blind fold’game
Manmeet Singh woes the audience with his singing
The ravishing divas grooving on bollywood music
Swati Jangid, Divya Kasliwal and Akanksha Bhalla
Tanu
Choudhary,
Srishti
Khatri
and
Vishakha
Mathur
Pearl
Agarwal,
Simran
Modi,
Mansi,
Priya
Yadav,
Khushboo
Dahiya
and
Devanshi
Bugalia
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
s we bid
adieu to the
year gone by
and wel-
come ‘22 in
all its glory,
we solemnly
hope for love,
warmth, health, joy
and success for all
our dear readers.
While 2021 saw
lockdowns and
curfews, we
wish for ‘22 to
bring along
nothing but joy
and togetherness.
May families reu-
nite, lovers make it
to the altar, dreams
come true and the
world becomes hale
and hearty again.
As we step into
new beginnings, we
urge our readers to
stay safe, healthy and
most importantly,
smile wide and wel-
come 2022 with their
arms wide open.
Miss Rajasthan
models joyfully
posed and welcomed
the new year. With
love and faith, City
First wishes its read-
ers a very Happy
New Year. Let us all
embark upon a jour-
ney of gratitude and
love this new year.
A
DOING 2022,
DOING 2022,
with hope love
with hope love
Celebrity Skincare: A Ritual?
I
t’s said that beauty
comes from within,
but a little skincare
sure works won-
ders. An active skin-
care routine in the win-
ters is not only essen-
tial but also a trend to
keepupwithforsmooth
and supple skin.
Skin Care is impor-
tant but how accurate
is it to follow the skin-
care routine of celebri-
ties seen from virtual
reality?
To find out more
about how reasonable it
is to follow the celebrity
skincare routines reli-
giously
, City First had a
conversation with the
city’s prominent beau-
ty influencers.
Shruti Rastogi, a life-
style and beauty influ-
encer said, “Getting a
proper skincare rou-
tine nowadays is pretty
difficult for few people
because they blindly
follow their favourite
celebs skincare routine
despite knowing the
fact that Celebrities
have got each stray
hair, blemish, a patch
of pigmentation, fa-
cials are taken care of
and what I’m trying to
say is please assess
your skin and then fol-
low a routine that
suits you.”
She added, “For
instance, if your
skin is oily then in win-
ters skin’s oil content
will surely lower down
and now you can’t use
products that you were
using for your skin in
summers. I suggest you
use moisture-rich
products so that they
will balance the natu-
ral oil content of your
skin and will help have
a glittering glow.”
Geetika, a beauty in-
fluencer said, “It’s nev-
er too late to develop a
healthy skincare rou-
tine. So following a ce-
lebrityskincareroutine
religiously is not the
only way
. It should be
basedonwhatyourskin
needs and what your
skinisconcernedabout.
Itshouldbesolelybased
on one’s experience
research after using dif-
ferent types of prod-
ucts, be it suggested
by your favourite
celebrity
.”
Shweta Tahlani,
beauty and fashion
content creator said,
“Celebrity skincare
rituals are like a guide
to see what out there
works. But there’s
only one catch that
certain things might
not work for all skin
types. Like Alia
Bhatt’s skincare
works for most skin
types including mine.
She keeps it simple
with a salicylic acid
cleanser paired with a
serum and moisturis-
er to lock that mois-
ture in this winter.
Just choose your ce-
lebrity for your skin-
care routine wisely.”
CITY FIRST HAD A CONVERSATION WITH
PROMINENT BEAUTY INFLUENCERS TO FIND
OUT HOW EFFECTIVE ARE CELEBRITY
SKINCARE ROUTINES AND HOW RELIGIOUSLY
SHOULD THEY BE FOLLOWED
MONICA
PRABHAKAR
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
City First
‘N
eki ki Diwar’ of
La Martiniere
Girls’ College,
Lucknow conducted a
Winter Donation Drive
on 30th December, 2021,
around the city of
Lucknow.
The students and
staff distributed over
300bagsof warmclothes,
200 blankets and masks
to the underprivileged
who are struggling
through these harsh,
windy and freezing win-
ter nights.
Lavanya Gupta,
SaumyaLal,VaanyaJain
andPalakJhunjhunwala
actively participated in
the winter donation
drive. They helped in
sorting clothes, mak-
ing packets and dis-
tributingundertheable
guidance of P Sharma.
The team plans to organ-
ise many more drives
during the winter.
A HELPING HAND
NEW DAY, NEW YEAR!
As the
bright and
rising sun
heralds
the new
year,
City First
wishes all
its readers
a very
happy
2022!
—PHOTO
BY ASHOK
DUTTA
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO
Aaru Yoshita
Sangeeta

Jyotika
The stunning divas welcoming ‘2022’
(L-R) Aaru Nama, Yoshita Arora, Jahnavi Soni, Shruti Sharma, Sangeeta Bhamu and Jyotika Chhatwani
Shweta Tahlani Shruti Rastogi
Geetika
Fashion foot forward!
One District One Product, Uttar Pradesh, in collaboration with
Manjari – A Fashion Hub LLP, is organising a fashion show today
at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Gomti Nagar at 2 PM.
Reference picture
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
The birthday of IAS Shivasharanappa G N, IPS Ganga Nath
Tripathi, IPS Dinesh Tripathi, IPS Ravi Kumar, IPS Sushil Kumar
Shukla and IPS Pawan Kumar was on Friday, December 31. We
wish them all the best!
1 2
3 4
5 6

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