02042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

Yogi exempts Ayodhya temples, religious shrines of civic body taxes
Ayodhya (PTI): Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath on Friday visited
Ayodhya and asked the
city’s municipal corpo-
ration not to impose
commercial taxes on
temples and other reli-
gious shrines.
On his first visit to
Ayodhya after assum-
ing charge of the state
for the second term,
Adityanath also re-
viewed the prepara-
tion for the upcoming
Ram Navami Mela in
the temple town.
Around 10 lakhs devo-
tees are expected to
participate in the fair
that would be held af-
ter two years due to the
Covid pandemic.
At Ayodhya, Adity-
anath offered prayers at
the Hanumangarhi tem-
ple and paid a visit to
the construction site of
the Lord Ram temple.
The chief minister also
visited Balrampur dis-
trict later and offered
prayers in three temples
there. He will have a
night halt at the Devi
Patan temple there and
leave for Siddharthna-
gar on Saturday
.
A report from Gora-
khpur said CM Adity-
anath will observe a
nine-day fast during
“Chaitra Navratri” be-
ginning Saturday and
will perform special
puja there for peace,
prosperity, health and
happiness in the state
and nation. In Ayodhya,
Adityanath asked the
Ayodhya Municipal
Corporation not to
charge house tax, water
tax, sewer tax from
monasteries, temples,
‘dharamshalas’ and
charitable organisa-
tions at commercial
rates as all these insti-
tutions do charity work
and public service.
The CM asked the
civic body to take only
financial cooperation
from religious shrines
in the form of token
monetarycontributions.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in
Ayodhya on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
‘CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS’
CM Yogi Adityanath will
observe a nine-day fast
during “Chaitra Navratri”
beginning Saturday and
will perform special
puja t the Gorakhnath
Temple there for peace,
prosperity, health and
happiness in the state
and nation. On Saturday,
Durga Saptshati Paath
will begin in Shakti tem-
ple on the first floor of
the Gorakhnath temple
Math, Dwarika Tiwari of
the temple said.
CM ON 9-DAY
NAVRATRI FAST
BJP FIRST PARTY
SINCE 1990 TO
TOUCH 100-MARK
IN RAJYA SABHA
New Delhi: For the first
time in its history, the
BJP has reached the feat
of having 100 members
in Rajya Sabha after the
party won one seat each
in Assam, Tripura and
Nagaland in the elections
held on Thursday. In the
recently held biennial
polls for 13 Rajya Sabha
seats across six states,
the BJP lost its solitary
seat from Punjab but
gained one each from the
three northeastern states
and Himachal Pradesh
where all five outgoing
members were from
Opposition parties.
LET CHILDREN FOLLOW
THEIR OWN DREAMS
New Delhi: At the fifth
edition of Pariksha Pe
Charcha Saturday,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi Saturday
dealt with a myriad set
of issues related to ex-
ams and education, in-
cluding stress manage-
ment, dealing with so-
cial media distractions
and choosing between
competitive and school
exams.
He also spoke of the
National Education
Policy and the role of
women in education.
He said students
should appear for ex-
ams in a “festive mood”
and without any stress.
...PM MODI’S MESSAGE
TO PARENTS, TEACHERS
PM Narendra Modi interacts with students during ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ programme in New Delhi.
l From stress to
social media to NEP:
Modi tackles range of
questions at Pariksha
Pe Charcha
l The event was held
at Talkatora Stadium
and saw the presence
of around 1000
students from schools
of Delhi NCR, along
with their teachers
Technology was not a bane and it should be used effectively.
Students can use ‘online’ medium to gain knowledge and
execute it offline. When you read, do you actually read or
watch reels? In reality, the fault does not lie with online or
offline mediums —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
MISS UNIVERSE HARNAAZ SANDHU
REVEALS SHE HAS CELIAC DISEASE
Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu offers prayers at the Golden temple in Amritsar on Friday.

z Miss Universe
2021 Harnaaz Kaur
Sandhu revealed that
she is suffering from
Celiac disease

z Sandhu said, I’m
one of those who was
first bullied that ‘she’s
too skinny’ and now
being labelled as fat

z Celiac disease is an
autoimmune condition,
in which the affected
person’s own immune
system works against
the body causing
weight loss, gain and
neurological diseases
Ready to discuss if India wants
to buy anything from us: Lavrov
Most major
Russian oil
buyers in
Europe: India
response to
UK minister
New Delhi: An un-
scripted sharp ex-
change between Ex-
ternal Affairs minis-
ter S Jaishankar and
his counterpart, vis-
iting British Foreign
Secretary Liz Truss,
highlighted the di-
vergences between
New Delhi and Lon-
don on the issue of
sanctions on Russia.
With Secretary
Truss listening, Jais-
hankar said that talk
of sanctions “looks
like a campaign” and
it was Europe that
was buying more oil
from Russia than be-
fore the war.
While the British
Foreign Secretary re-
peatedly talked about
Russian aggression,
Jaishankar did not
name Russia in his
statements during
the 45-minute talk.
The Russian Foreign Minister highlighted the possibility of
India becoming a mediator between Russia and Ukraine
and resolve the conflict. He said efforts to move away from
dollar-based payments and pitched for ruble-rupee system
New Delhi: Russian
Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov on
Friday, after holding
talks with External
Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar, said that
Moscow is ready to
discuss India’s re-
quirement of crude
oil, if the country
wants to buy it from
them. The high-level
talks come in the
backdrop of indica-
tions that India could
buy greater volumes
of discounted Rus-
sian oil and both
sides were keen on
having a ruble-rupee
arrangement for bi-
lateral trade.
“If India wants to
buy anything from
Russia, we are ready
to discuss it,” he said.
The US warned of
consequences over
attempts to “circum-
vent” American
sanctions against
Moscow. After the
meeting, Lavrov said
that the “Indian for-
eign policies are
characterised by in-
dependence and the
concentration on
real national legiti-
mate interests.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov. In the 40-minute meeting, PM
Modi called for an end to violence as Lavrov briefed him
on Ukraine situation including peace negotiations.
IN RUSSIAN AIRSPACE,
UKRAINE CHOPPERS
STRIKE FUEL DEPOT
Moscow: Talks to stop
the fighting in Ukraine
resumed on Friday, as
Russia accused the
Ukrainians of a cross-bor-
der helicopter attack on an
oil depot. The governor of
Russia’s Belgorod region,
Vyacheslav Gladkov, said
an airstrike on Russian
soil by a pair of helicopter
gunships caused fires and
wounded two people.
NEPAL PM MEETS EAM,
TO HOLD TALKS WITH
PM MODI TODAY
New Delhi: Nepal Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur
Deuba met External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar and
Foreign Secretary Harsh
Shringla in Delhi on Friday.
The Nepalese PM arrived
in India today for a three-
day visit, accompanied by
officials and his spouse Dr
Arzu Deuba. Nepal’s Prime
Minister is visiting India at
the invitation of Modi.
INDIA IN FAVOUR OF RESOLVING DISPUTES
VIA DIPLOMACY: SAYS EAM JAISHANKAR
New Delhi: India has always been in favour of resolving
disputes through diplomacy, External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar said on Friday during a meeting with his
Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi. In his
opening remarks at the Hyderabad House, Jaishankar
said: “Our bilateral relations have continued to grow
in many areas and we have diversified our cooperation
by expanding our agenda. Our meeting takes place in a
difficult international environment quite apart from the
pandemic,” added Jaishankar.
Punjab Assembly passes
resolution for transfer
of Chandigarh to Punjab
Chandigarh: Days af-
ter Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah an-
nounced that the Cen-
tral Service rules will
be applicable to employ-
ees of Chandigarh in-
stead of the Punjab ser-
vice rules, the Punjab
Assembly in a special
session Friday unani-
mously passed the offi-
cial resolution reiterat-
ing the state’s claim on
Chandigarh.
The Resolution was
passed by voice vote in
absence of BJP mem-
bers, who walked out.
The newly-inducted
Punjab Chief Minister,
Bhagwant Mann,
while addressing
the House, said, “I
guarantee the people
of the state that I will
fight for the rights of
the state, seek ap-
pointment with Prime
Minister and take up
the issue with him.”
My life is in danger, says
PM Imran ahead of voting
on no-vonfidence motion
Islamabad: Prime
Minister Imran Khan
said on Friday that he
has credible informa-
tion that his life is in
danger but asserted
that he is not afraid and
will continue his fight
for an independent and
democratic Pakistan.
In an interview with
ARY News ahead of
Sunday’s no-confidence
motion in the National
Assembly against him,
Mr Khan said the “es-
tablishment” (the pow-
erful military) gave him
three options - no-confi-
dence vote, early elec-
tions or resignation as
the Prime Minister.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan
A ‘powerful country’
supporting India is
angry with Pak for
Russia visit: Khan
LUCKNOW l SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 139
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The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by the Maharashtra government chal-
lenging the Bombay High Court order which rejected its prayer to constitute a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases against former Home Minister Anil Desh-
mukh. “It is a complete red herring…I thought the state will see some sense. But,
these are different nature of battles. Sorry, dismissed,” said Justice S K Kaul. P5
SC REJECTS
MAHARASHTRA
PLEA ON A PROBE
ON DESHMUKH
The police should reclaim social legitimacy and public trust by breaking the “nexus
with the political executive”, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said on Friday.
Ramana was speaking at the CBI’s D.P. Kohli Memorial Lecture on the topic — ‘De-
mocracy: Role and Responsibilities of Investigative Agencies’. The chief justice said
investigative agencies should “stand by ethics and integrity”.
NEED TO RECLAIM
PUBLIC TRUST: CJI
NV RAMANA AT
CBI FUNCTION
HAPPY
CHAITRA
NAVRATRI

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022
02
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CM Yogi calls for crackdown on criminals
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath on
Friday directed the offi-
cials to take stern ac-
tion against the crimi-
nals and mafias by de-
molishing and seizing
illegal properties. Yogi’s
office tweeted, “Stern
action should be taken
against criminals and
mafias by demolishing
and seizing the illegal
properties.
There should be no
leniency towards min-
ing, liquor, animal, for-
est, land mafias or any
other professional
criminal.”
Earlier, the CM held a
meeting with the Home
Department officials
late on Thursday night
and directed to fix pri-
orities as a part of a 100
days work plan and take
swift action on it. “Un-
der ‘Mahila Shakti’
campaign, women secu-
rity should be conduct-
ed effectively and ac-
tively
. Special campaign
should be launched at
school, college, market
and crowded places,” he
said. He said that secu-
rity
, good arrangements
and good governance
were the priority of
the state government.
“Security arrange-
ments at all places of
faith and important in-
stallations should be
made better,” he direct-
ed. Yogi. directed that
police lines should be
established properly in
every district within a
year. “Police officers at
every level should do
foot patrolling every
day. Patrolling by PRV-
112 should be conducted
effectively on a regular
basis” instructed Yogi.
He directed that all
senior officers should
carry out field visits.
“Establishment of fire
service should be in-
cluded on the 100 days
priorities and be com-
pleted accordingly.
“Working of the Anti
Corruption Unit and
Vigilance Unit should
be made more effec-
tive,” he said.
The CM directed that
recruitment of 10,000
pollice personnel
should be ensured in
100 days Crime should
be controlled in rural
areas by interacting
with village chouku-
dars Construction
works should be com-
pleted in a speedy man-
ner for establishment
of three women battal-
ions of PAC Prosecu-
tion in crimes related
to women accountabil-
ity of police officers
should be ensured at
every level “Policy of
zero tolerance should
be followed against
crime, criminals cor-
ruption and the cor-
rupts Top 10 criminals
should be identified at
every police station
and district level and
stern action should be
taken against them,”
he said.
Adityanathemphasisesonmakinggoodsecurity,goodgovernanceapriority
CM Yogi presides over a high level meeting of the Home department on Friday. ACS (Home) Awanish
Awasthi, DGP Mukul Goel, ACS (CM) SP Goyal, ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar and other
officials were present.
RECRUIT 10KCOPS IN NEXT100 DAYS: CM
CM Yogi Adityanath on Friday held a meeting
with senior officials of the police department and
directed them to recruit at least 10,000 police
personnel in the next 100 days.Later in the day,
the state home department approved filling up of
5,381 posts already created in the cybercrime, fo-
rensic science, social media, STF and ATS wings.
Women safety: Yogi orders to
activate anti-Romeo squads
Lucknow (PTI): Ut-
tar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Aditya-
nath has directed the
state police to run a
special campaign for
the safety of girls and
activate anti-Romeo
squads from Saturday
,
the first day of Navra-
tras, a senior official
said.
Additional Chief
Secretary (informa-
tion) Navneet Sehgal
on Friday said the
Mission Shakti will
also start on April 10.
Anti-Romeo squads
were formed soon af-
ter Yogi Adityanath
assumed the office of
the chief minister in
Uttar Pradesh in the
year 2017.
Dressed in plain
clothes, sleuths are
generally deployed at
public places like col-
leges, shopping malls,
markets, parks, bus
stands, railway sta-
tions and schools to
“protect” women.
The Mission Shakti
focuses on ensuring
the safety and dignity
of women and girls.
Sehgal said, “From
the first day of Navra-
tras, the Police De-
partment will start a
special campaign per-
taining to women’s
safety
.
Anti-Romeo squads
will be activated near
schools and colleges.”
“In the evening, po-
lice will undertake
patrolling in busy
markets and crowded
places,” he added,
stressing that the Mis-
sion Shakti will begin
on April 10.
Meanwhile, an offi-
cial spokesperson
said the chief minis-
ter has directed the
state’s Home Depart-
ment to expedite fix-
ing priorities for the
government’s 100-day
plan.
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has fur-
ther directed the Po-
lice Department to
identify top 10 crimi-
nals in every police
station area.
—FILE PHOTO
Wheat procurement begins, CM tells
officers to pay farmers within 72 hrs
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Rabi
crop procurement on
fixed MSP for the 2022-
23 marketing year
started from Friday in
Uttar Pradesh. The
government has fixed
a target of procuring
60 lakh MT of Wheat
this year.
The Central govern-
ment has fixed the min-
imum support price
(MSP) of wheat at Rs
2,015 per quintal, hik-
ing it by Rs 40 from last
year’s Rs 1,975 per
quintal.
Chairing a high-level
review meeting of offi-
cials, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath issued
directions that the mon-
ey for the procurement
of wheat should be
transferred to the bank
account of the farmers
within 72 hours of the
crop procurement.
“Officers should
make all the necessary
arrangements for the
procurement of wheat
in their respective dis-
tricts so that farmers do
not face any problem,”
said the Chief Minister
further said.
As informed by de-
partment officials, till
now, over 148383 farm-
ers have registered
themselves for selling
their produce.
Total, 4593 centres
have been opened for
the convenience of the
farmers of which pur-
chase has begun on 3980
centres.
The Chief Minister
also directed the offi-
cials to ensure timely
lifting of the crop from
the mandis and to make
all necessary arrange-
ments for the farmers
in the mandi.
Procurement of
wheat would be done by
food and civil supplies
department, UP Coop-
erative Federation
(PCF), UP Cooperative
Union Ltd (PCU), Man-
di Parishad, UP Con-
sumer Cooperative
Union (UPSS), SFC, and
BFC are designated as
purchase institutions
for the purchase of
wheat under the Mini-
mum Support Price
Scheme.
MISSION SHAKTI RESUMES ON APRIL 10
Right before the start of auspicious Chaitra
Navratri, the UP Government has announced
that the Mission Shakti programmes will be im-
plemented across the state from April 10. Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing a
high-level meeting, has instructed the officials
to ensure every preparation is in place before
the due date.
Soon, phase 2 of smartphone, tab distribution to students
SOWING DIGI SEED
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Inpursuance
of the promises made in
the Lok Kalyan Sankalp
Patra,andtoensurewel-
fare of the youth, the
Yogi-led Uttar Pradesh
government has so far
distributed over 2.45
lakh tablets and smart-
phones in the state.
Plans are now afoot
to take this forward in
the second phase and
restart distribution of
smartphones and tab-
lets to students. Accord-
ing to a state govern-
ment spokesperson,
over 7.20 lakh tablets
and 10.5 lakh smart-
phones have been allo-
cated so far. 97,740 tab-
lets and over 1,48,238
smartphones have al-
ready been distributed.
Out of these, topping
the list, as many as
16,936 tablets in Luc-
know, 11,541 tablets in
Gorakhpur, 8,518 tab-
lets in Moradabad, 7,617
tablets in Saharanpur
and 5,323 tablets in
Pratapgarh have been
provided so far.
Similarly, over 25,770
smartphones in Luc-
know, 24,620 smart-
phones in Ambedkar
nagar, 12,990 smart-
phones in Moradabad,
10,776 smartphones in
Saharanpur and over
10,346 smartphones in
Muzaffarnagar have
been distributed. As per
the announcement
made by the govern-
ment, free smartphones
and tablets will be given
to two crore youth in
order to make them
technically advanced.
Under which, the first
phase of the distribu-
tion started in the state
on December 25, 2021.
The Uttar Pradesh
government, led by vi-
sionary Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath is also
providing free digital
access to the youth
along with the gadgets
in view of the ongoing
pandemic crisis, mak-
ing online education
more accessible.
Yogi govt wants to digitally
empower the youths across
all districts of Uttar Pradesh
CM TO SUPERVISE
Minorities Welfare Minister Danish Azad meets CM Yogi on Thursday and congratulated him for
being chosen as CM for the second time in UP.
CM ADITYANATH STOPS
CAVALCADE TO MAKE
WAY FOR AMBULANCE
Lucknow(PTI): The
cavalcade of CM Yogi
stopped and made
way for an ambu-
lance here, an official
said on Friday
.
DCP Traffic Sub-
hash Chandra
Shakya on Friday
said the incident
took place near Raj
Bhavan on Thursday,
when the CM’s caval-
cade was going from
Hazratganj to Ban-
dariyabagh.
An ambulance was
stopped along with
other vehicles in or-
der to allow the CM’s
cavalcade to pass, he
added.
“As soon as he (Ad-
ityanath) saw that an
ambulance, the
Chief Minister
asked his security
men to stop and al-
low the ambulance to
go,” an official said.
Bhaskar Singh, a
resident of the Ma-
diaon, who was rid-
ing a motorcycle and
stopped there, said,
“It was a good hu-
manitarian gesture
on the part of CM
Yogi. All people wait-
ing for the cavalcade
to pass were seen
praising him.”
CM Yogi —FILE PHOTO
Conduct a detailed review of fire
safety in hospital, instructs Yogi
Lucknow (PTI): En-
suring a safe environ-
ment for the patients,
doctors and staff in
all the hospitals and
medical colleges in
the state, Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
has asked the officials
of the health depart-
ment to effectively im-
plement fire safety
and electrical safety
mechanisms at all
places.
While charging a
high-level review
meeting with senior
officials on Friday
, the
Chief Minister in-
structed, “Conduct a
detailed physical re-
view of fire safety and
electrical safety
mechanisms at all the
hospitals and medical
colleges. Wherever re-
quired, the system
should be updated to
avoid any kind of mis-
happenings.”
Furthermore, Yogi
Adityanath also in-
structed that regular
cleanliness drives
should also be carried
out in all the hospitals
and medical colleges
to maintain hygiene.
The Integrated Com-
mand Control Centres
(ICCCs), which con-
tributed significantly
towards Covid-19
management, have
also been asked to re-
main functional 24*7.
Over 93.2 pc
15-17-year-olds vacci-
nated .
Strengthening its
fight against the
Covid-19 pandemic,
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment is providing
vaccination cover to
all children between
12 to 17 years of age in
a time-bound manner.
CM Yogi presides over a high level Covid-19 review meet
in Lok Bhawan on Friday. Dy CM Brajesh Pathak, MoS
Sandeep Singh, CS DS Mishra, ACS (Info) Navneet Sehgal,
ACS (Panchayati Raj) Manoj Singh, ACS Urban Development
Rajnish Dubey and DGP Mukul Goel were present.
BEST FACILITIES FOR ‘EMERGENCY’
CM extends
festival
greetings
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
on Friday greeted and
extended his warm
wishes to the people of
the state ahead of the
Cheti Chand (Bhagwan
Jhulelal Jayanti).
He stated that Bhag-
wan Jhulelal showed a
new path to the society
by giving the message
of harmony and unity.
He added that the mes-
sage of Bhagwan Jhule-
lal has become more
relevant in the present
times.
The Chief Minister
extended his warm
greetings and best wish-
es to the people of the
state ahead of the
‘Bharatiya Nav Nav
Samvatsar and Chaitra
Navratri’ which starts
with Chaitra Shukla
Pratipada Samvat-2079.
The Chief Minister fur-
ther wished for the hap-
piness, prosperity and a
happy future for all the
people across Uttar
Pradesh.
—FILE PHOTO

UTTAR PRADESH
03
CRUCIAL READ
Lucknow: ACS Rural Development Manoj Kumar
Singh conducted a surprise inspection of UP Rural
Road Development Agency office on Friday. He in-
spected presence of officers and employees, mainte-
nance of files, working system and cleanliness. Singh
also reviewed the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
He said there were clear instructions of government
that all officers and employees should attend office at
all times and take PM Gram Sadak Yojana to public
with full readiness and sensitivity.
Lucknow: A 52-year-old woman tried to immolate
herself here on Friday near Lok Bhawan, housing the
office of CM Yogi also, the police said. The attempt,
however, was foiled by vigilant police personnel,
who rushed the woman to a hospital where she was
administered first aid. The woman took the extreme
step, accusing the police of having arrested her son in
a false case, an allegation denied by senior police of-
ficers. Confirming the self-immolation bid, Hazratganj
police station’s SHO Shyam Babu Shukla said, “One
Ram Pyari Devi of Gosaiganj area reached near the Lok
Bhawan secretariat at around 12:30 pm. She poured
kerosene over herself. This is when the police person-
nel stopped her. A police team took her to hospital.”
5,381 NEW POSTS
APPROVED BY
GOVT: AWASTHI
Lucknow: ACS (Home)
Awanish Awasthi
informed that about
5,381 new posts had
been approved by the
government for various
units of Police Depart-
ment like Cyber Crime,
Forensic Science, Social
Media, STF, ATS etc.
Awasthi said, there were
86 gazetted catego-
ry posts and 5,295
non-gazetted posts. In
the gazetted category, 3
posts of ADG of Police,
3 posts of IG, 6 of DIG,
32 of SP, 7 of ASP, 1
post of Jt Director Pros-
ecution and 35 posts of
DSP were included.
LKO MUNICIPAL
OFFICERS INSPECT
CLEANLINESS
Lucknow: Municipal
Commissioner Ajay
Kumar Dwivedi and
Additional Municipal
Commissioner Abhay
Pandey on Friday held
an inspection in Haz-
ratganj and other areas
to see the work done
to keep the areas clean
as well as functioning
of the door to door gar-
bage collection. Dwivedi
found garbage on some
roads and the cleaning
staff and supervisor
were not found working,
following which he
directed the officials to
suspend the cleaning
supervisor immediately.
ACSMANOJKUMAR CONDUCTS SURPRISE
INSPECTION OF RURAL ROAD DEV OFFICE
POLICE FOIL IMMOLATION BID BY 52-YR
OLD WOMAN IN FRONT OF LOK BHAWAN
HC to DM: Probe safety violations by Lko schools
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Luc-
know Bench of Alla-
habad HC has directed
a committee headed by
the DM to conduct an
inspectionandsubmita
report on the violation
of safety standards and
rulesandregulationsin
schools operating in
Lucknow’s residential
areas.
Division Bench of CJ
Rajesh Bindal and Jus-
tice Alok Mathur
passed this order while
hearing a PIL by Gomti
River Bank Residents
throughSecretaryGird-
har Gopal.
The issue pertains to
commercial and
non-residential activi-
tiesbeingcarriedoutin
residential areas. Park-
ing places, restoration
of foot paths, construc-
tioninviolationof mas-
ter plan in residential
areas and shifting of
dairiesfromsuchareas,
are other issues.
The issue has been
specifically raised with
referencetothenumber
of schools running in
residential areas. Spe-
cific reference was also
made to a school situat-
ed at Jopling Road.
“...we expect that the
inspection shall be car-
riedout,asexpeditious-
ly as possible, and a re-
port is submitted to the
Court on the next date
of hearing,” the order
reads. The court has
fixed the next hearing
of the petition on April
18, 2022.
8 MORE ARRESTED
in UP board question paper leak case
Ballia (PTI): Eight
more people, including
the alleged mastermind
in the Class 12 English
exam question paper
leak, were held on Fri-
day
, taking the total
number of arrests to 34,
the UP Police said.
The Uttar Pradesh
school examination
board’s English lan-
guage exam was can-
celled in 24 districts on
Wednesday after the pa-
per was leaked, prompt-
ing Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath to order
stringent action, includ-
ing invoking the Nation-
al Security Act, against
the culprits.
Among the Friday ar-
rests,theallegedmaster-
mind Mulayam Chau-
han and three of his ac-
complices were nabbed
by the police in Nagra
and four others by a
team in Sikandarpur.
Confirming the ar-
rests, Deputy Superin-
tendent of Police, Rasra,
Shivnarayan Vaishya
said, “A team of Nagra
police has arrested one
MulayamChauhan,who
is said to be the master-
mindbehindtheEnglish
question paper leak. A
total of seven other sus-
pects have been arrested
by our teams. They will
be produced before a
magistrate.”
The police teams had
earlier arrested 26 peo-
ple, including Ballia’s
District Inspector of
Schools (DIoS) Brajesh
Mishra and three jour-
nalists, officials said.
The DIoS and one of
the arrested journalists
Ajit Ojha were sent to
judicial custody on
Wednesday after they
were produced before
the chief judicial magis-
trate. The remaining ac-
cused were produced
before the judicial mag-
istrate on Thursday and
wereremandedin14-day
judicial custody
.
Police have lodged
three FIRs at the Ballia
City Kotwali, Nagra and
Sikandarpur police sta-
tions. A fresh exam will
be held on April 13, ac-
cording to an official
statement.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: To know
about the progress of
water projects, Jal
Shakti Minister
Swatantra Dev Singh
made a quick visit to
the under construction
water projects and labs
in MohanlalGanj and
Gosai Ganj areas here.
While inspecting the
projects, Singh ques-
tioned the officers
about the construction
quality and speed of
water projects as well
as employment genera-
tion in the villages.
“Carry out the schemes
for supplying drinking
water to the villages at
a better and faster
pace,” the minister di-
rected.
Singh, on Friday,
started the tour by in-
specting the lab at Ar-
junganj. After reaching
the Central Yard of
NCC company working
under Har Ghar Nal
scheme of Namami
Gange and Rural Water
Supply Department, he
checked the quality of
pipes and construction
materials. He also test-
ed the quality by getting
the machines of Cen-
tral Yard Lab running.
The minister later
reached Daud Nagar
village and inspected
the construction of
borewells and tanks for
water supply in the vil-
lages. He also inquired
about the time limit for
completion of construc-
tion works and plans
from NCC company GM
M Satish.
Singh appreciated
the officers for the qual-
ity and timeliness of
the projects. Along with
the minister, Executive
Director Akhand Prat-
ap Singh was also pres-
ent. Later, he reached
Rambaksh Kheda vil-
lage along with the offi-
cers and inspected the
work of pipelines being
laid for water supply in-
side the village.
Lucknow(PTI):Inabid
to ensure that no ques-
tion papers of the state’s
school examination
board are leaked, the Ed-
ucation Department has
enforced a strict regula-
tory regime for strong
rooms stocking papers
across the state.
The regulatory com-
mands range from sur-
prise physical checks of
strong rooms to limiting
visitors to them and put-
ting a complete ban on
theuseof mobilephones
by staff manning or vis-
iting them, an official
said on Friday
.
The additional mea-
sureswereimplemented
following the recent
leaks of class 12 board
exam papers that led to
the cancellation of ex-
aminations in 24 dis-
tricts across the state.
While the investiga-
tion of the incident is
underway and over 34
suspects have been ar-
rested so far, CM Yogi
hasorderedinvokingthe
NSA against those in-
volved in the leakage.
In Ballia district,
where the question pa-
pers were leaked, senior
officials, including the
DMandSP
,arepersonal-
ly reviewing the ar-
rangements put in place
to prevent the leakage.
“Officials in the dis-
trict have been asked to
strictly monitor strong
rooms where the board
exampapersarekept.At
exam centres, the offi-
cers have been asked to
ensure that the entry
into the strong rooms is
strictlyregulatedandde-
tails of everyone enter-
ing it are registered in a
logbook,”JointDirector
(Education) Yogendra
Singhof AzamgarhDivi-
sion told PTI on Friday
.
The officer had on
Thursday personally in-
spected the district level
board exam control
room at the office of Bal-
lia’s chief development
officer.
“The concerned offi-
cials have been asked to
practice utmost strict-
ness to ensure that no
mobile device is allowed
inside the strong room
orlockerroomwherethe
exam papers are kept.
Absolutely no one is al-
lowed to take a mobile
phoneinsidethatroom,”
he said.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: A rape
victim was report-
edly gang-raped by
brother of accused
and other accom-
plice in a hotel room
in Civil lines area
here on Friday.
The rape victim
was in the city to
record her state-
ment on a hearing
in HC. It was al-
leged that Brijesh
Kumar and his ac-
complices intoxi-
cated her in her
room and gang
raped her. The vic-
tim registered case
in Civil Lines police
station and alleged
Brijesh Singh raped
her with other ac-
complicesandmade
video of the crime.
He blackmailed her
to record statement
in favour of his
cousin who was
rape accused.
It was revealed
that Brijesh had as-
sured victim that he
will arrange mar-
riage of his cousin
with her if she gave
favourable state-
ment in court but
he denied after the
statements were re-
corded in court.
Students, teachers and parents listen to PM Modi in live telecast
of the 5th edition of ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ at UP Sainik School in
Lucknow on Friday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
Total 34
arrests
made so far
Mastermind
Mulayam
Chauhan held
PRIYANKA’S JIBE
‘UP govt enforces strict regulatory
system to prevent Q-paper leaks’
A team of Nagra police
arrested one Mulayam
Chauhan, said to be the
mastermind behind the
question paper leak.
Total seven other sus-
pects have been arrested
by our teams.
Shivnarayan Vaishya,
DSP, Rasra
CM Yogi has ordered
invoking NSA against
those involved in
the paper leak
Rape victim
gang-raped
before hearing
in high court
Swatantra takes stock of
watersupplyschemes,labs
Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh discusses work progress
with an official during his inspection of water supply projects in
different areas of Luckow on Friday.
CRIME
BRANCH
NOIDA MAN ARRESTED
FOR RAPING STEP-
DAUGHTER, BOOKED
UNDER POCSO ACT
Noida: A 47-year-old man was arrested
in Noida on Friday for allegedly raping his
12-year-old step-daughter and booked under
the stringent POCSO Act, police officials
said. The arrest followed six months after
an FIR was lodged
at the Phase 3
police station in
the case on the
complaint of the
girl’s mother, the
officials said.The
mother had filed
a complaint on
September 1 last
year saying that
her daughter had
gone missing after which an FIR was lodged
under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code,
a police spokesperson said. The child was
recovered on September 4 last year after
which her statement was recorded and
she went through medical examinations
which suggested rape. IPC section 376
(rape) and provisions of Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)
Act too were added in the FIR after this, the
spokesperson said. In pursuance of the case,
the absconding step-father was arrested on
Friday and has been remanded in judicial
custody, the police said.
POLICE SEEK SURRENDER OF RAPE
ACCUSED, WARN OF RAZING HOUSE
Saharanpur: Police on Thursday threatened to raze the houses of two
rape accused in this Uttar Pradesh district if they do not surrender
in 24 hours, a senior officer said. The two men, both residents of
Chilkana village in the district, had allegedly
raped a minor girl a week ago and have been
absconding since then, said Superintendent
of Police (SP Rural) Atul Sharma. Police
have been raiding all the spots where the
accused are likely to be hiding, he said. Police
reached the houses of the rape accused with a
bulldozer and made an announcement if they
do not surrender by Friday, their houses will
be razed, he said.
9 ARRESTED OVER SEX RACKET IN GZB
Ghaziabad: Police have arrested five men and four women involved in a
sex racket after raiding at spa centre at Mahugun Mall in Kaushambi area
here. Arrested accused were identified as Nitin, Rashid Alvi, Dilshad, Ajay
Kumar, Kunal and Ankit along with four women from the Rudra spa
centre. The manager of the spa centre was also arrested in the raid. The
actions were taken after an objectionable video of spa centre was
recovered. It was reported that police arrested two persons in unpleasant
situation. Police have registered case against accused and manhunt was
launched to nab other culprits. Police said more accomplices were
related to the centre and further investigations were underway.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 2 l Issue No. 139
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
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
It’s rightly said, ‘There is
enough for everyone’s
need but not greed.’
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Thank PM @narendramodi ji for taking
out his valuable time to bless guide
our young friends—the pillars of a
strong and an #AatmanirbharBharat.
There is no doubt that Hon’ble PM’s
words of encouragement at the
#ParikshaPeCharcha will boost their
confidence help them excel.
Arvind Kejriwal
@ArvindKejriwal
I am very delighted that Thiru @
mkstalin visited Delhi Government’s
schools and Mohalla Clinics today.
This country can only progress if we all
learn from each other’s good ideas.
TOP TWEETS
AKHILESH-SHIVPAL
BONHOMIE WAS A
PRETENCE ONLY
FOR UP ELECTIONS
he Samajwadi Party,
which flattered to
deceive during the
UP assembly elec-
tions, is back at self-
destruction. The family feud
between Akhilesh Yadav and
his uncle Shivpal years before
the polls dented the party’s fu-
ture prospects. A humiliated
Shivpal was forced to form his
own Pragatisheel Samajwadi
Party. Realising Shivpal’s hold
on Yadav votes in the Mainpuri,
Etawah region, Akhilesh
patched up with his uncle for
the duration of elections. Shiv-
pal won his Jaswantnagar seat
by a margin of 90,000 votes but
couldn’t help the SP to go be-
yond 125 seats. This was an un-
expectedly low number for a
party which was dreaming of
ousting the BJP.
Polls over, Akhilesh and Shiv-
pal were back at feuding. Shiv-
pal was not invited to the SP
legislature party meeting. In
return, Shivpal boycotted the
meeting of allies called by Akh-
ilesh. The bonhomie over, Shiv-
pal met Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath and set off rumours
of his joining the BJP. What has
soured the chacha-bhatija rela-
tions now, nobody knows.
T
he tragic killing
of some civilians
in Nagaland’s
Mon district in
D e c e m b e r
2021had led to loud protests
over removal of Armed Forc-
es Special Power Act in the
North-eastern states Naga-
land, Assam and Manipur.
Following insurgency, the
three states were put under
the Disturbed Areas Act in
the Nineties. The Act is re-
quired in some border states
where there is insurgency
. It
empowers armed forces with
extraordinary powers to
search and arrest without
warrant and shoot a suspect
without the fear of prosecu-
tion. With a botched opera-
tion like the one in Mon, the
demand for the Act’s with-
drawal gained momentum
and anger against the Cen-
tral government also mount-
ed. Eight civilians and a sol-
dier were killed at Mon. Such
incidents had alienated a
large chunk of the local pop-
ulation and prevented their
integration in society
.
In a welcome move, Union
Home Minister Amit Shah
tweeted to announce the
withdrawal of AFSPA from
several areas in the three
states. It was clarified that
the AFSPA has not been en-
tirely withdrawn and it will
continue to remain in force in
some areas. Disturbed Area
notification is to be scrapped
from 23 of 33 districts of As-
sam. It will remain in force in
nine districts. One district
will have partial withdrawal.
That makes Assam the big-
gest beneficiary of the “his-
toric” decision.
Assam Chief Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma wel-
comed the move but said it
was fraught with risks. The
withdrawal has, however,
been made possible due to the
vastly improved security
situation and development in
the North-east. Over time the
region may be completely
free of AFSPA.
CENTRE’S WELCOME
MOVE IN NORTH-EAST
The AFSPA has not been
entirely withdrawn and it
will continue to remain
in force in some areas.
Disturbed Area
notification is to be
scrapped from 23 of 33
districts of Assam
T
BALANCED SIDE AND FLYING
START GIVES HOPE FOR ROYALS TO
EMULATE WARNE TRIUMPH IN IPL!!
In their opening game
against Sunrisers
Hyderabad, the Royals
displayed their skills to the
hilt and demolished the
Kane Williamson-led side
by 61 runs. In the process
they pumped their net run
rate which might become
important in the latter
part of the tournament.
Sanju Samson scored
55 off just 27 balls
or Rajasthan royals, IPL 2022
has a special significance – it
comes barely a month after
the stunning death of Shane
Warne, the Aussie legend
who led them to victory in
the 1st IPL in 2008. However,
after being the inaugural
champions, the Royals have
never made it to the finals of
the tournament again and
have finished among the bot-
tom three in most seasons.
But now, with a fresh look
and a balanced side, most
fans and experts hope that
things will change this year
as the mix of young and old
players in the squad looks
not just promising but are be-
ing tipped as the Dark Horses
of the current season.
With a lot of fresh ammu-
nition in their arsenal, the
Royals look impressive on
both fronts - bowling and bat-
ting. Rajasthan had a huge
purse at their disposal going
into the IPL auction. Every-
one expected them to spend it
on big names but the team
selection was done with a
great deal of prudence and
planning to make it a cohe-
sive unit in all departments.
The core of the team re-
volves around new skipper
Sanju Samson and Jos But-
tler who were both retained
by the franchise due to their
fabulous batting and wicket-
keeping abilities. Rest of the
team is equally impressive
with Ravi Ashwin, Yuzi Cha-
hal and Trent Boult leading
the bowling attack.
In their opening game
against Sunrisers Hy-
derabad,theRoyalsdisplayed
their skills to the hilt and de-
molished the Kane William-
son-led side by 61 runs. In the
process they pumped their
net run rate which might be-
come important in the latter
part of the tournament. San-
ju Samson scored 55 off just
27 balls, proving why he is
always the name discussed in
selection meetings for the na-
tional T20 team.
Devdutt Padikkal, one of
the new entrants who has en-
joyedtwosuperbseasonswith
Royal Challengers Bangalore,
batted in the middle order in-
stead of his usual opening
spot scoring 41 along with
power hitter Shimron Hetmy-
er. They took Rajasthan past
the 200 mark and gave a stiff
challenge to Hyderabad.
Giventheirrichexperience,
the Ashwin-Chahal duo kept
the opposition in check in the
crucial middle overs. The 8
overs between them cost only
43 runs and Chahal got 3 cru-
cialwicketsaswell.Moreover,
Prasidh Krishna and Trent
Boult took 2 wickets each, go-
ing less than 6 runs an over.
Prasidh is the most expen-
sive buy at 10 crores for Roy-
alsandprovedhisworthearly
when he got rid of Kane Wil-
liamson. In addition, they
also have the option of play-
ing Nathan Coulter-Nile and
Navdeep Saini to sharpen
their bowling armoury
. Sig-
nificantly, the Royals have
also roped in Sri Lankan leg-
endanddeathbowlingexpert-
Lasith Malinga as their fast-
bowling coach who could play
a key role in bringing some
control in the death overs.
While Royals have got off
to a flying start with a com-
manding win in their season
opener, their next match
against Mumbai presents a
much tougher test. If Royals
can keep up their momentum
and perform to their poten-
tial, they could spring a huge
and most pleasant surprise
this season. Adding to Mum-
bai’s strength would be Indi-
an middle order batsman,
Suryakumar Yadav, who was
out of the first match due to
a wrist injury. Malinga has
been with Mumbai Indians
for a long period and would
be able to build plans for Ra-
jasthan bowlers to tackle the
likes of Rohit Sharma , Ishan
Kishan and Suryakumar.
A possible weakness for Ra-
jasthan might be their bench
strength which has many
young upcoming bowlers but
lacks any stop-gap batsman.
Thatiswhyitiscrucialthatthe
main batters play well along
withkeepingthemselvesfitfor
alongseasonahead.Inthefirst
match Rajasthan looked like a
well-oiledmachinerywitheve-
ryone playing their roles to
perfection. The fielding stand-
ard of the team, barring a few
exceptions like Ashwin and
Chahalistopclassanditseems
they have the wherewithal to
stand up to the rigours of IPL
grind and take the title.
If the dangerous dark
horses go on to reach the fi-
nal and lift the trophy, the
Royals could pay the perfect
tribute to Shane Warne – the
Wizard of leg spin who pro-
vided inspirational leader-
ship to their only champion-
ship win till now!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
F
While Royals have got
off to a flying start
with a commanding
win in their season
opener, their next match
against Mumbai presents
a much tougher test. If
Royals can keep up
their momentum and
perform to their
potential, they could
spring a huge and
most pleasant
surprise this season
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry

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INDIA
05
Bengaluru (Agen-
cies): Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi on Fri-
day virtually sounded
the poll bugle for Kar-
nataka Assembly elec-
tions a year away by
calling upon the party
functionaries to aim to
win a minimum of 150
seats in the 224-mem-
ber house.
“We should not aim
to win these elections
with a close margin. We
should be very clear in
our minds that we are
going to win not less
than 150 seats and we
should start our calcu-
lations from the 150-
seat mark,” said Gan-
dhi, while addressing a
gathering of Congress
functionaries before in-
teracting with different
sections of the state
unit at the party office
including the enrollers
of membership drive.
He said winning 150
seats would not be a dif-
ficult task for the Con-
gress if the party func-
tionaries fight the polls
unitedly, fight on the
right issues and the
party guarantees merit
as the criterion for the
party’s candidates,
leaders and voters.
Alluding to internal
fights among the fac-
tions within the party,
Gandhi called upon
KPCC president DK
Shivakumar, Congress
legislature party lead-
er Siddaramaiah and
leader of opposition in
Rajya Sabha Mallikar-
jun Kharge to work to-
gether.
“Siddaramaiah ji,
Shivakumar ji and
Kharge ji, you are sen-
ior leaders and I know
you very well and
worked with you close-
ly during the previous
elections. The most im-
portant requirement is
that you should fight
unitedly and your high-
est responsibility is
that you should be
more intense in what
you are doing and en-
sureC winning 150
seats,” he said.
Gandhi gave his par-
ty functionaries three
principles to win the
elections: fighting elec-
tions with an objective
on winning it decisively
with a minimum of 150
seats, making decision
of merit, and reward-
ing the party workers
with party ticket strict-
ly based on the loyalty
to the party
.
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Elections
are being held for 13
seats of Rajya Sabha, in
which the Congress is
going to face a major
loss. After this, 21 seats
will be falling vacant be-
tween June 21 and 30, 34
betweenJuly1and7and
two seats in August. Ac-
cordingly, elections for
57 seats are going to be
held in the next two-
three months.
The loss that Con-
gress is facing is one as-
pect, but it will gain
someseatsinRajasthan,
Chhattisgarh and Hary-
ana. If allies show good-
will, the Congress can
get one seat each in Ta-
mil Nadu, Bihar and
Jharkhand as well.
Congress will defi-
nitely get three seats in
Rajasthan and two in
Chhattisgarh. The party
can get one seat in Hary-
ana. Apart from this,
there will be one seat
each in Karnataka and
Maharashtra but again
Jairam Ramesh from
Karnataka and P Chid-
ambaram from Maha-
rashtra are likely to be
repeated. So, the eyes of
all the contenders of the
Congress are on Ra-
jasthan, Chhattisgarh
and Haryana. Among
the contenders for the
RajyaSabha seat,onone
side are the old Con-
gress and G-23 leaders,
who are trying to get the
Rajya Sabha seat by
twisting the arm of the
party high command,
and on the other hand
are the leaders of Rahul
Gandhi’s team, who rely
on Rahul and are sitting
in the hope of getting
the Rajya Sabha berth.
Jitendra Singh’s
name has suddenly ap-
peared among the close
friends of Rahul Gan-
dhi. He was in charge in
the states like Odisha,
Assam etc. but the per-
formance of Congress
was not good in either
of these states. It is be-
ing told that he is the
contender for one of the
threeseatsinRajasthan.
He belongs to Rajasthan
and has been a Union
Minister. So, the party
will not face any prob-
lem in giving him a
ticket.
There is already one
outsider in Rajya Sabha
from both Rajasthan
and Chhattisgarh.
Therefore, there will be
opposition in the state
committee, yet Mukul
Wasnik and Anand
Sharma are claiming
berths from Rajasthan,
Chhattisgarh and Hary-
ana. By the way, the
number one contender
from Haryana would be
Kumari Selja, whose
seat was forcefully va-
cated by Bhupinder
Singh Hooda last time,
who in turn sent his son
to RS from the seat. So,
this time Shailja’s has
laid claim on that seat.
However, it is also pos-
sible that Hooda, who is
associated with the
G-23, may pressurize
the high command to
give a seat to a leader of
the same group. It is be-
lieved that Ghulam
Nabi Azad will go to Ra-
jya Sabha from some
state the Congress has a
good presence in.
Among the old leaders,
Subodh Kant Sahai is a
contender for the seat of
his home state
Jharkhand. Milind De-
ora is also pushing, but
party sources reveal
that his chances are not
too strong. Moreover,
Kapil Sibal will retire
from his seat but it ap-
pears that this time the
party will not give him
a seat but he will reach
Rajya Sabha anyhow!
Ruckus in Congress over RS berths!
INTERNAL RIFT
New Delhi (ANI):
The Centre on Friday
extended the Armed
Forces (Special Pow-
ers) Act in three dis-
tricts of Arunachal
Pradesh including
Tirap, Changlang,
and Longding from
April 1 to September
30 this year, according
to a notification is-
sued by the Ministry
of Home Affairs.
In addition, the
Government of India
has also extended AF-
SPA in the areas fall-
ing within the juris-
diction of Namsai and
Mahadevpur police
stations in Arunachal
Pradesh.
“The Central Gov-
ernment in the exer-
cise of the powers
conferred by section 3
of the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act,
1958 had declared the
Tirap, Changlang,
and Longding dis-
tricts in Arunachal
Pradesh and the areas
falling within the ju-
risdiction of Namsai
and Mahadevpur po-
lice stations in Nam-
sai district, bordering
the State of Assam as
‘disturbed’ areas,” the
notification read.
Mumbai (ANI): Maha-
rashtra Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray on
Friday said that he has
full faith in state Home
Minister Dilip Walse
Patil, dismissing re-
ports of him being up-
set with his Cabinet
minister.
“I have full faith in
Home Minister Patil
and he is doing a good
job,” the Chief Minis-
ter’s office said in a
statement after the
meeting of Thackeray
and Patil concluded at
‘Varsha’ bungalow
here. Their meeting
lasted for more than
an hour.
Uddhav denies
report of row with
Home Min, says
‘full faith in him’
New Delhi (PTI): Tak-
ing a swipe at the BJP
government in Uttar
Pradesh, Congress lead-
er Priyanka Gandhi
VadraonFridayaskedit
to hold a “charcha” on
the paper leak and said
“no bulldozer is target-
ing”thesysteminvolved
in such acts.
Her attack came af-
ter the Uttar Pradesh
secondary school
board’s Class 12 Eng-
lish exam was can-
celled in 24 districts on
Wednesday following a
question paper leak.
“TheBJPgovernment
should have a ‘charcha
on paper leak’ in Uttar
Pradesh,” she said.
“Last year, on Novem-
ber 28, lakhs of youth
suffered a blow due to
theUPTETexamination
paper leak. In the name
of action, nothing hap-
pened except preten-
tious steps,” Priyanka
Gandhi said.
Tilltoday
,theyouthof
Uttar Pradesh do not
knowwhichcorruptsys-
temof theUttarPradesh
governmenthadcarried
out the paper leak, the
Congress general secre-
tary claimed, adding the
result of it was another
paper leak.
Thistimealsothegov-
ernment is not doing
anything except taking
pretentious steps, she
said. “The journalist
who reported the news
of paper leak is being
sent to jail.”
Tushar Kumar
New Delhi: Like Maha-
rashtra, Congress is
said to be in danger in
Jharkhand too. The
membership of Bandhu
Tirkey, one of the two
MLAs who broke away
from Babulal Marandi’s
party and joined the
Congress, is in danger
as a special CBI court
sentenced him to three
years of imprisonment
in the disproportionate
assets case. If the High
Court does not stay the
sentence, then his mem-
bership will be termi-
nated. So, the state BJP
leaders are believing
that now the ‘political
game’ has started as it is
attempting to break the
12 Congress MLAs and
form a separate faction
and join them in the
BJP so that the govern-
ment falls and the BJP
government is formed.
There is a group
of BJP leaders who
want mid-term elec-
tions instead of form-
ing the government
now. Because of this,
the BJP’s campaign
has come to a halt.
On the other hand,
the dilemma of Con-
gress MLAs is how can
they join BJP? This di-
lemma is faced by the
tribal MLAs and espe-
cially the MLAs who
won from Christian ma-
jority seats as they
don’t want to go with
BJP. There are at least
three MLAs from
around Ranchi who are
keeping a distance from
the BJP due to the con-
cern of the Christian
vote and because of this
the BJP’s campaign has
come to a halt. At the
same time, it is also re-
ported that more than
the Congress leader-
ship, Chief Minister
Hemant Soren and his
political manager are in
touch with the Con-
gress MLAs and are tak-
ing care of them. That’s
why these MLAs are not
giving any special at-
tention to the Congress
leadership. It is also dis-
cussed that in the next
election, more than
half of the sitting Con-
gress MLAs can contest
from Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha ticket.
Congress MLAs in a major
dilemma in Jharkhand!
Bandhu Tirkey
Karnataka: RaGa sounds poll
bugle, sets 150-seat target
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka on Friday.
New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday
(April 1) targeting the BJP-led Karnataka govern-
ment called it the “most corrupt government in the
country”. Addressing a party meeting in Bengaluru,
Gandhi said that the BJP cannot provide employ-
ment as “they have destroyed small and medium
industries”. “The economy of our country has col-
lapsed. Unemployment and inflation have increased,
these are the biggest issues in the country. Even
if BJP wants, they can’t provide jobs to people in
India because they have destroyed the employment
providing sectors,” the Congress leader said. “The
Prime Minister used to speak about corruption, but
if he speaks about it in Karnataka, people will laugh
as this (BJP govt) is the most corrupt state with 40
percentage (commission) govt,” Gandhi alleged.
Kolkata (PTI): Rights activist
Irom Sharmila, who was on
a 16-year-long hunger strike
demanding repeal of AFSPA,
welcomed the Centre’s decision
to reduce areas under the Act’s
purview in Assam, Nagaland and
Manipur, but maintained that the
“draconian, colonial law” should be rolled back com-
pletely. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday
announced a reduction in the number of “disturbed
areas” in the three northeastern states where the
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 continues
to be imposed along with Jammu and Kashmir.
RAHUL SLAMS KARNATAKA GOVT
AS ‘COUNTRY’S MOST CORRUPT’
ACTIVIST IROM SHARMILA WANTS
COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL OF AFSPA
The biggest responsibility of state Congress leaders is to fight
unitedly and win 150 seats in the Assembly polls next year
Government
declares these
areas as
‘disturbed’ areas
from April 1 to
Sep 30, 2022
Centre extends AFSPA in 3 dists
of Arunachal for six months
Colombo (Agencies):
As Sri Lanka’s worst
economic crisis in dec-
ades brought more pow-
er cuts and gloom, peo-
ple in the country are
staring at a very bleak
future. The country ran
out of diesel on Thurs-
day and the island na-
tion of 22 million peo-
ple is struggling with
rolling power cuts for
up to 13 hours a day as
the government is una-
ble to make payments
for fuel imports because
of a lack of foreign ex-
change.
Sri Lankans are now
blaming the govern-
ment for the worst eco-
nomic crisis since its
Independence in 1948.
On Wednesday,
March 30, Sri Lanka be-
gan imposing record
nationwide 10-hour
daily power cuts, up
from the seven-hour
power outage an-
nounced in the first
week of March, as it ran
out of hydroelectricity
.
Mumbai (PTI): Central
Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) will be taking the
custody of former Ma-
harashtra Home Minis-
ter Anil Deshmukh, sus-
pendedcopSachinWaze
and Kundan Shinde on
Friday, in the corrup-
tion case.
The Bombay High
Court will be hearing,
on April 8, Mr Desh-
mukh’s bail plea in the
case. On March 25, the
court granted a week’s
time to the Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED)
to reply to the bail ap-
plication filed by Mr
Deshmukh.
Anil Deshmukh was
previously lodged in
Arthur Road Jail.
The Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) in its
charge sheet filed in
February this year in
the Rs 100 crore extor-
tion and money laun-
dering case said that
Anil Deshmukh has
been taking undue ad-
vantage of the posi-
tions he held since 1992.
“Anil Deshmukh
took the wrong advan-
tage of his position
since 1992. He made a
lot of money and prop-
erty through illegal
means. The illegally
earned money was
used in 13 companies.
These are either owned
by his sons or his close
associates,” reads the
chargesheet.
CBI to take custody of
Maharashtra ex-Home,
others in graft case
Yogi Govt should hold ‘charcha
on paper leak’ in UP: Priyanka Violent protests
outside Prez house
SRI LANKA CRISIS
Members of the Socialist Youth Union scuffle with police as they
attempt to enter the Sri Lankan President’s office in Colombo.
Mumbai (PTI): The
Congress in Maha-
rashtra on Friday
accused PM Modi of
ignoring critical issues
facing the country and
sought to know when
he will hold an interac-
tive session on rising
inflation. State Cong
chief Nana Patole said
the PM was en-
grossed in organising
events like ‘Pariksha
Pe Charcha’, his an-
nual interaction with
students, and seems
to have no time to ad-
dress pressing issues
like inflation, sluggish
economic growth
and unemployment.
“The PM is ignoring
burning issues of the
country. The ‘publicity
minister’ is engrossed
in organising events,”
he said.
WHEN WILL PM
HOLD MEHANGAI
PE CHARCHA?
Anil Deshmukh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

INDIA
06
New Delhi: India effec-
tively handled the Omi-
cron wave, which
caused numerous
deaths in other coun-
tries, because of better
Covid management and
a massive vaccination
drive, Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya
said on Friday
.
Replying to a supple-
mentary question in
the Lok Sabha, Man-
daviya said the ICMR
has from time to time
guided the country and
helped in vaccine-relat-
ed research leading to
India having its own
indigenous vaccine.
“It was under PM
Narendra Modi’s guid-
ance that India saw best
Covid management...
While Omicron caused
numerous deaths in
other countries, India
sailed through the Omi-
cron wave because of
v a c c i n a -
tion,” Man-
daviya said
during the
Q u e s t i o n
Hour.
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: After the
victory of the BJP in
the elections of four
States, apprehensions
are being raised about
the Maharashtra and
Jharkhand Govern-
ment. The Govern-
ments of both the
States are also engaged
in the ‘siege’ of their
MLAs but now, it seems
that the focus of the
BJP is on Bihar. More
than Maharashtra and
Jharkhand, the BJP is
focussed on making its
Chief Minister in Bi-
har. Keep in mind that
BJP has had a Chief
Minister in both the
States, but in Bihar, the
BJP has not been able
to field its own CM. Bi-
har is the only state
among the big states of
Hindi belt, where till
date the BJP has not
had a Chief Minister.
So, the BJP is desperate
for this achievement.
But the question is,
how will the BJP bring
its own chief minister
in Bihar? Will Nitish
Kumar get the BJP gov-
ernment formed or
will he keep bowing be-
fore the BJP to save his
own Government? Go-
ing to Lucknow for
Yogi Adityanath’s oath
ceremony and bowing
on the stage to greet
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi is a sign that
Nitish understands the
game plan of the BJP
and will give his last
try. He is trying to
make sure that some-
how he remains the
Chief Minister.
JD(U) leaders are of
the view that BJP needs
Nitish Kumar till the
next Lok Sabha elec-
tions as Bihar has 40
seats, out of which NDA
got 39 seats last time.
On the contrary, BJP
leaders say that out of
39, BJP has only 17 seats
and JD(U) also has 17,
whereas in 2014, when
BJP fought separately
from them, the BJP had
23 seats and JD(U) was
reduced to two seats.
That’s why many party
leaders want that there
is no point in retaining
Nitish while worrying
about the Lok Sabha
elections.
BJP has included
three MLAs of Mukesh
Sahni’s party — VIP in
its party and it is the
largest party in the As-
sembly. On this basis, a
group of party leaders
want to talk to Nitish
and find a way out for
his honorable farewell.
That’s when it has
been publicised that
Nitish should be made
the Vice-President
or President and in
return he should ap-
point a BJP CM in Bi-
har. BJP leaders are
also proposing merger
of the JD(U) with the
BJP. However, this
does not seem to be
possible immediately.
If Nitish is not ready
for a dignified fare-
well, the BJP is also
thinking of ways to
‘extract’ the ‘desired
result’ through other
means. Be that as it
may, the preparation
of the BJP is to make
its Chief Minister be-
fore the 2025 Assembly
elections.
How will BJP bring about its Chief Minister in Bihar?
New Delhi: The Centre
has told the Supreme
Court that quashing of
reservation in promo-
tion to SC/ST employ-
ees in government jobs
may lead to employee
unrest and multiple
litigations. In an affida-
vit filed before a bench
of JusticesLNageswara
Rao and BR Gavai, the
centre informed it that
the policy for reserva-
tion is in consonance
with the Constitution
and the law laid down
by this court.
If the case is not al-
lowed, it would neces-
sitate withdrawal of the
benefits of reservation
in promotion granted to
SC/ST employees. This
may lead to reversions
of SC and ST employ-
ees, re-fixation of their
salaries including re-
fixation of pension of
many employees who
may have retired in the
meantime, recovery of
excess salaries/pension
so paid to them. This
would lead to multiple
litigations and employ-
ee unrest, the Centre
said. Defending its poli-
cy, the Union of India
stated that representa-
tion of SCs/STs in gov-
ernment jobs is inade-
quate and contended
that grant of reserva-
tion does not in any
manner hamper the ad-
ministration.
The administrative
efficiency is ensured
through the system of
Annual Performance
Assessment Report
which captures assess-
ment of work output,
personal attributes and
functional competency
of each officer, it said.
The centre further
submitted data of 75
ministries and depart-
ments under its juris-
diction and said out of
27,55,430 total employ-
ees, 4,79,301 are SCs,
2,14,738 are STs and the
number of OBC em-
ployees is 4, 57,148.
The court had earlier
directed the centre to
file an affidavit on the
c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s
data that is available
to the government
along with applica-
tion of mind on data
for providing reserva-
tion in promotion to
Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in
government jobs.
Quashing quota in promotion
may cause unrest: Centre to SC
Centre contended that policy for reservation is in consonance with Constitution
New Delhi: Russia is
offering India steep dis-
counts on the direct
sale of oil as mounting
international pressure
lowers the appetite for
its barrels elsewhere
following the invasion
of Ukraine.
The sanctions-hit na-
tion is offering its flag-
ship Urals grade to In-
dia at discounts of as
much as $35 a barrel on
prices before the war to
lure India to lift more
shipments, the people
said, asking not to be
identified discussing
confidential delibera-
tions. Headline Brent
prices have risen about
$10 since then, implying
an even larger reduc-
tion from current pric-
es. Russia wants India
to take 15 million bar-
rels contracted for this
year just to begin with,
they said, adding the
talks are taking place at
government level.
Asia’s No. 2 oil im-
porter is among a hand-
ful of nations that have
been doubling down on
Russian crude, defying
international pressure
and sanctions. Russian
barrels have been flow-
ing to Asia in greater
volumes as buyers
across Europe and the
US shun supply follow-
inginvasionof Ukraine.
RUSSIA OFFERS OIL TO INDIA
AT STEEP DISCOUNT: REPORT
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court collegium
recommended 39 wom-
en for appointment as
high court judges in the
last one year, out of
whom 27 were appoint-
ed and the remaining 12
cases are under various
stages of the process,
Lok Sabha was in-
formed on Friday
.
In written reply to a
question, law minister
Kiren Rijiju said in the
present system of ap-
pointment of Supreme
Court and HC judges
through the collegium
system, the onus to pro-
vide social diversity
and representation to
all sections of the soci-
ety, including SCs, STs,
women and minorities,
primarily falls on the
judiciary
.
Responding to the
question on the repre-
sentation of women in
courts, he said the gov-
ernment remains com-
mitted to social diver-
sity in the appointment
of judges in the higher
judiciary
.
Govt: 27
women judges
appointed in
HCs in one year
‘RECLAIM CREDIBILITY, PUBLIC TRUST’,
CJI NV RAMANA TELLS CBI, POLICE
MATERNITY
SHOULD NOT BE
BARRIER: JUDGE
SC SETS ASIDE
HC’S SABARMATI
ASHRAM VERDICT
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on
Friday said the CBI, through its “actions and inac-
tions” have often raised “questions on its credibil-
ity”. Speaking at a function of the agency, he also
suggested that the need of the hour is to “reclaim
social legitimacy and public trust” and the first step
to that “is to break nexus with political and execu-
tive”. ““There is an immediate requirement for the
creation of an independent umbrella institution,
so as to bring various agencies like the CBI, SFIO,
ED, etc. under one roof. This body is required to be
created under a statute, clearly defining its powers,
functions and jurisdictions,” he said.
New Delhi: Maternity
should not be a barrier
in women’s careers
and providing access
to quality childcare
at the workplace
would ensure that
motherhood does not
become an obstacle
to women’s empower-
ment, said Supreme
Court Judge Justice BV
Nagarathna on Friday.
Justice Nagarathna,
who was speaking as
the guest of honour
at the inauguration of
a crèche facility at the
Delhi High Court.
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Friday
asked the Gujarat High
Court to hear afresh
Mahatma Gandhi’s
great grandson’s
plea against the state
government’s plan to
redevelop Sabarmati
Ashram. The Supreme
Court has set aside the
high court’s November
21 verdict dismiss-
ing Tushar Gandhi’s
plea against the plan
which he contended
will corrupt the pristine
simplicity of the
Ashram.
India sailed through
Omicron wave due to
vax drive: Mandaviya
WhatwillhappenifNitishdisagrees
to place a BJP CM in Bihar CMO?
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: What will
happen if Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Ku-
mar does not accept
BJP’s plan and does
not agree to get the
BJP filed its own
Chief Minister in Bi-
har. BJP leaders have
a plan for this also. A
meeting of BJP lead-
ers was held in Delhi
last week, which was
attended by all the
members of the core
committee. After the
meeting, there was a
campaign run by
Mukesh Sahni to
merge three party
MLAs with the BJP. It
is being told that the
party’s further strate-
gy was decided in the
meeting. The main
thing in this strategy
is to spoil the image of
Nitish Kumar as
Chief Minister. Under
this scheme, right
from BJP Central
Ministers to State BJP
leaders, are giving
statements on law and
order and opposing
the prohibition of liq-
uor. Giriraj Singh’s
statement on Hindu-
Muslim divide is also
part of this strategy
.
It is also being said
that preparations are
also being made to
hold mid-term elec-
tions in the State, the
timing for which is
not yet decided. Ac-
cording to informed
sources, a new politi-
cally active Governor
will be brought first.
After that initiative
will be taken in this
direction. If every-
thing goes according
to the BJP’s strategy,
it will withdraw its
support and claim to
form its government
as the single largest
party and the Gover-
nor will give it a
chance.
BJP’s effort is to
make its own Chief
Minister once, so that
the message goes to its
voters that BJP can
make its own CM. For
example, when Atal
Bihari Vajpayee be-
came PM for 13 days in
1996, the way for BJP
that the party can
field its own PM, was
opened and in 2000,
when Nitish Kumar
became CM for seven
days, he emerged as
an alternative. Simi-
larly, BJP will try to
give a message to the
hardline Hindutva
voters that it can field
its own CM.
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and his Nepa-
lese counterpart Sher
Bahadur Deuba will
jointly inaugurate
India-Nepal rail ser-
vice on Saturday
through videoconfer-
encing, at an event at
New Delhi’s Hy-
derabad House.
East Central Rail-
way (ECR) chief pub-
lic relations officer
(CPRO) Birendra Ku-
mar has said the
launch of the much-
awaited rail services
would give further
impetus to the bilat-
eral relations between
the two countries.
MODI-DEUBATOFLAGOFF
INDO-NEPALTRAINTODAY
—FILE
PHOTO
DEUBA
VISITS
BJP HQ
BJP national president
JP Nadda with Nepal’s
Prime Minister Sher
Bahadur Deuba during
their meeting, in New
Delhi on Friday.
NAGALAND
GOVT LIFTS ALL
COVID CURBS
Kohima: In view of
the weekly Covid-19
positivity remain-
ing below two per
cent for the past one
month in Nagaland
and advisory issued
by Ministry of Home
Affairs, the state has
announced that all
curbs stand with-
drawn from Friday.
There will be no re-
striction on number
of people who can
attend event, Chief
Secy J Alam said.
Mansukh Mandaviya
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
SHAH IN KARNATAKA
Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
inaugurates “The
Bharat Darshan
Sushasan Yatra”
along with MP
Tejasvi Surya
and Karnataka
CM Basavaraj
Bommai, in
Bengaluru on
Friday.
—PHOTO BY ANI

NEWS
07
WILL
NASIMUDDIN,
BABU SINGH
KUSHWAHA
REJOIN BSP?
After a miserable performance
in the just-concluded
assembly election, BSP chief
Mayawati has launched a hectic
exercise to gear up organization
for the 2024 Lok Sabha
elections. Even as she has
already re-inducted Shah Alam
Guddu Jamali into the party and
announced him the party
candidate for Azamgarh Lok
Sabha byelection, there is a
buzz in the BSP circle about the
return of Nasimuddin Siddique
and Babu Singh Kushwaha to
the party fold. Both these
prominent leaders, who had
played a crucial role in the
victory of BSP in 2007, were
expelled after the BSP was
defeated in 2012. Now there is a
feeling in the party that all those
old guards should be brought
back to the BSP to regain the
lost ground. However, Siddique
has denied any such move to go
back to BSP. But nothing is
impossible in the fluid political
situation in UP. The Congress,
which could get only a 2 percent
vote in the assembly elections,
is in flux, and the possibility of
migration of senior leaders for
greener pasture cannot be ruled
out. Since smaller parties like
than outfit of Babu Singh
Kushwaha have hardly any
future, their leaders have started
planning to go back to their
roots for political survival.
Kushwaha had joined hands
with AIMIM chief Asaduddin
Owaisi in the assembly election.
But the alliance badly
performed.
—First India Bureau
CYBER CELL
NABS NIGERIAN
WHO ‘DUPED’
WOMEN VIA
MATRIMONY
SITES
ANigerian national was
arrested here for allegedly
duping women by contacting
them through matrimonial sites
using fake identities, police said
on Friday. The 37-year-old
accused had come to India in
2018 on a medical visa and was
staying on rent in Greater Noida,
an official said. The man was
arrested by the Noida unit of the
UP Cyber Cell, he added.
Accused Oshitor Churchill Paul
would befriend women through
matrimonial websites identifying
himself as an NRI (non-resident
Indian) and gain their confidence
by promising to marry them, the
police said. He would then trap
women by saying he has sent
expensive gifts and cash in
foreign currency but they are
stuck with the Customs
Department at the airport. The
gifts, however, would be
released after payment of some
fees, he would tell women, the
police said in a statement. In
his fraudulent act, Paul was
helped by his wife Josalyn, an
Indian national from Goa. They
had got married in a church in
Delhi in 2014, the police said.
The Cyber Cell estimates that the
Nigerian national has so far
duped his victims of at least Rs
50 crore. The police have also
traced a farmhouse that Paul
purchased near Pune in the
name of his wife, the police said
in a statement. His arrest came
after an FIR was lodged on
Wednesday on the complaint of
a Noida-based woman who
alleged cyber fraud of Rs 1.07
lakh with her by a man, who
identified himself as Yogesh
Jain, an NRI. —PTI
AIMPLB asks Muslims not to be
misled by anti-Hijab propaganda
First India Bureau
Lucknow: TheAllIndia
Muslim Personal Law
Board (AIMPLB) has
called upon the commu-
nity not to be misled by
propaganda of commu-
nal forces on Hijab is-
sue, which was now be-
fore Supreme Court.
The general secretary
of the board Maulana
Khalid Saifullah Rah-
mani said in statement
today that immediately
the crisis erupted in
Karnataka the board
had contacted the com-
munity’s leaders in the
state. But they said that
matter would be re-
solved mutually with
talks. But there was no
breakthrough in discus-
sion as the BJP govern-
ment of Karnakata ad-
opted anti-Muslim poli-
cy ontheissue.Maulana
Rahmani said there
were various reasons
which led to adverse
judgement from the
High Court. Calling
upon Muslims to have
patients and stick to
“Hijab” the clerics also
laid stress on education
in the community
.
The cleric said that
AIMPLBhadalreadybe-
come party in the case
in apex court. The AIM-
PLB, in its petition, has
contended that the HC
did not address the issue
of whether or not it is
necessary to consider
going into essential reli-
gious practices since
FundamentalRightsun-
der Article 25(1) and
19(1)(a) of the Muslim
girls have bee violated.
It also said that uni-
formity should not be-
come so paramount
that it infringes on the
constitutional and ba-
sic rights of minority
groups. “Laying too
much emphasis on
bringing ‘uniformity’
without accommodat-
ing a person of one reli-
gion ‘to cover her hair
with a piece of cloth’ is
a travesty of justice,”
said the AIMPLB.
Furthermore, it ques-
tioned the court decid-
ing on essentials of re-
ligion when that auton-
omy should lie with
those practising the
faith. “The ground real-
ity is that the petition-
ers are compelled to re-
move their hijab to
avail the right of educa-
tion, at the cost of
self-respect and digni-
ty,” said the plea. At
least 2 appeals are pend-
ing before the top court
against the HC verdict.
TheAIMPLBallegedthattheKarnatakagovernmenttookastandthatwentagainstthecommunity
ADVERSE JUDGEMENT FROM HIGH COURT
The general secretary of the board Maulana Khalid
Saifullah Rahmani said in statement today that im-
mediately the crisis erupted in Karnataka the board
had contacted the community’s leaders in the
state. But they said that matter would be resolved
mutually with talks. But there was no breakthrough
in discussion as the BJP government of Karnakata
adopted anti-Muslim policy on the issue. Maulana
Rahmani said there were various reasons which led
to adverse judgement from the High Court.
Diabetes expert holds conference on fasting during Ramadan
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With the
holy month of Rama-
dan, commencing on
April 3, the prominent
diabetes specialist Dr
AK Tewari, Director
of Jai Clinic and Dia-
betes Care Centre has
asked diabetes pa-
tients observing the
Ramadan fast to follow
certain important
guidelines to avoid any
complications. Dr Ti-
wari, who organised a
camp at his clinic said
that people facing the
problem of diabetes
should be careful in
observing fast during
Ramadan. He said dia-
betes patients should
observe fast after con-
sulting the doctors.
Instructions were
also given to the people
about food intake
during Sahri and Iftar.
He asked the patients
to be in touch with doc-
tors during Ramadan.
Dr Tewari, who is also
the founder and presi-
dent of HIDA, said in a
statement here today
that IDF Diabetes and
Ramadan Alliance
(DAR) had issued
guidelines categoris-
ing 14 risk factors that
should be kept in mind
while observing fast.
Dr Tewari said Dia-
betes and Ramadan
(DAR) group has devel-
oped a risk score under
which certain guide-
lines had been issued
to observe fast. These
guidelines indicated
theoverallconditionof
the patient, medicines,
including insulin be-
ing taken by him, prob-
lems with low and high
sugar, and other issues.
He said that under the
guidelines those com-
ing under the “high
risk” category have
been advised to avoid
observing fast.
Those in ‘high
risk’ category
are advised to
avoid observing
fast: Dr Tewari
Two criminals held
after gunfight with
cops in Noida: Police
Noida (PTI): Two al-
leged criminals in-
volved in several cas-
es of robbery were
arrested after a gun-
fight with the police
in Noida in which
the duo suffered bul-
let injuries, officials
said on Friday. The
gunfight took place
late Thursday eve-
ning during a police
check in the Phase 2
area, Additional Dep-
uty Commissioner of
Police (Central Noi-
da) Elamaran G said.
The accused were on
a motorcycle.
On being asked to
stop for inquiry, they
sped away
. The police
party chased them
and a gunfight en-
sued in which both
of them got injured
and were held, Ela-
maran said. The ac-
cused were identified
as Sumit and Danish,
both residents of
Gautam Buddh
Nagar district, he
said. Two illegal fire-
arms along with
some ammunition
and seven stolen mo-
bile phones were re-
covered from their
possession, the po-
lice said.
According to the
police, Danish has at
least eight FIRs
lodged against him
in various police sta-
tions of the district
while Sumit has been
booked in six cases.
A fresh FIR was
lodged against the
duo and they have
been remanded in ju-
dicial custody, the
police added.
MULTIPLE FIRs
Man axed to death over land dispute
First India Bureau
Basti: Panic triggered
in the area after two
persons chopped off a
man while four others
were severely injured
over a land dispute in
Azgara village under
the Harraiya police
station area.
Police sources said
that Amarnath (40) res-
ident of Azgara village
was on his agriculture
farm with his wife
Kiran, his brother Ra-
manand and sons Nak-
chhed, Vinod, and Ram
Ajor when his distance
relative Ramswarath
with his sons Laksh-
man and two others
reached the farm and
attacked Aarnath and
his family. Amarnath
died on the spot while
Ramanand, Kiran, and
others were severely
injured in the attack.
Ashish Srivastava,
superintendent of po-
lice here said that a
case was registered
against the accused
and a manhunt was
launched to nab the
culprits. He said that
police have interrogat-
ed several persons
from the village about
the incident and fur-
ther investigations
were underway.
Lovershootsatgirl,yettobenabbed
First India Bureau
Agra: A woman was
shot at by a man who
was in love with her in
the Etmaddaulah police
station area of Agra on
Thursday
. The accused
has been identified as
Dev Gurjar. The inci-
dent took place when
Dev reached the wom-
an’s house through the
terrace and opened fire
on the victim, Uma.
The accused also hit
her on the head with the
gun and fled the spot.
The police reached the
spot and hearing the
screams of the woman,
her family members
went to her and rushed
her to a SN Medical Col-
lege for treatment.
Police has started the
investigation to nab the
accused. There is a pan-
ic situation in the area
due to the incident of
firing in front of the po-
lice station. It has been
reported that both the
young man and the girl
belong to different com-
munities, so a precau-
tionary force has been
deployed. According to
the information, Dev
was harassing Uma and
it was revealed that the
accused was madly in
love with her but she
did not respond. In or-
der to take revenge, the
accused shot her.
SP City with police team at crime scene.
TO TAKE REVENGE
KRIBHCO MANAGER COMMITS SUICIDE OVER
CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS IN BULANDSHAHR
First India Bureau
Bulandshahr: The re-
gional manager of pub-
lic sector fertilizers
manufacturing compa-
ny Krishak Bharati Co-
operative (KRIBHCO)
committed suicide after
consuming poison. The
senior area manager of
thecompanyhasalleged
thatthedeceasedregion-
al manager was accused
of Rs 80 lakh fraud
family members of the
deceased accused offi-
cials of creating illegal
pressure. Police said
that KRIBHCO regional
manager Kapil Chaud-
hary, a native of Titoli
village in Shamli dis-
trict was residing in
Awas Vikas Colony in
Bulandshahr. He had
consumed poison on
Thursday and he was
rushed to hospital after
his health deteriorated.
Kapilsuccumbedduring
treatment in hospital.
PROBE ON
Police officer’s
wife kills self
Dozen illegal
farmhouses
demolished
in Noida
Sultanpur (PTI): Apro-
bationary police offi-
cer’s wife committed
suicide by hanging at
her residence here on
Friday, less than 4
months after marriage,
officials said. The de-
ceased Monika Pandey
had entered wedlock
with Shivam Mishra, a
trainee deputy superin-
tendent of police, on De-
cember 7 last year. The
couple had a court mar-
riage in Lakhimpur.
Noida (PTI): Around a
dozen farmhouses that
came up illegally along
Yamuna floodplains
here were demolished
by the Noida Authority
on Friday
, officials said.
Some 10 to 12 farmhous-
es spread in an area of
around 25,000 sq metres
were demolished today
.
These farmhouses in
Sector 134 and Sector
135 lie in the floodplains
of theYamunaandwere
built illegally
, Noida Au-
thority’s officer on spe-
cial duty Prasun Dwive-
di said. He said the ex-
act cost of the demol-
ished structures was yet
to be ascertained but
estimated them to be in
crores . The officer said
some of the farmhouses
were old while some
were built recently
.
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
—REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

08
2NDFRONT
Dignity and grace, these ‘mere’
words add beauty and peace to
life-in big doses.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
CORDIAL MEET
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel during their
meeting in New Delhi on Friday.
EXISTENTIALIST CRISIS
BSP reaches nadir, winning just 1 seat in ’22
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: The BSP
,
whichispassingthrough
the worst phase since its
formation, is facing a de-
cisive struggle for its ex-
istence. While BSP su-
premo Mayawati is re-
building the party orga-
nization through reshuf-
fle, the plan is also being
implemented to include
the veteran leaders who
left the party back.
Shah Alam alias Gud-
du Jamali has returned
to BSP
. Jamali, who con-
tested from Mubarak-
pur assembly seat from
Owaisi’s party AIMIM,
has also been declared
by Mayawati as the par-
ty candidate for the
by-electionof Azamgarh
parliamentary seat.
At the same time,
there were speculations
about the entry of for-
mer cabinet minister
Naseemuddin Siddiqui,
who had been expelled
from the BSP, again in
the BSP. Siddiqui was
also contacted by the
BSP coordinators but he
rejected any such pro-
posal and expressed his
faith in the Congress
leadership.
Notably, many politi-
cal stalwarts are includ-
ed in the list of leaders
who have left the BSP;
important among them
areBabuSinghKushwa-
ha, Swami Prasad Mau-
rya, Brajesh Pathak,
Masood Ahmed, Di-
nanath Bhaskar, Inder-
jit Saroj, Ramvir Upad-
hyay, Lalji Verma and
Ramchal Rajbhar.
Some of these leaders
have been well settled
in other parties, while
some are still deprived
of a safe political space.
Election results clearly
indicate that the perfor-
mance of BSP has
reached its worst level
since 1993. The vote
share of the BSP, which
won just one seat in this
election, has come
down to about thirteen
percent.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: Senior BJP
leader and former
MLC Lal Singh Tomar
in an exclusive inter-
view with First India
said Samajwadi Party
(SP) was no longer the
same party as experi-
enced leaders in SP
were being neglected.
Tomar who had
been in SP for 29 years
and was close to party
founder Mulayam
Singh Yadav, joined
BJP before 2022 elec-
tions. He has been an
MLC besides contest-
ed Lok Sabha elec-
tions three times and
his name in Uttar
Pradesh politics is
considered as of a sea-
soned politician.
His wife Aruna
Tomar had been elect-
ed MLA from Kan-
pur’s Sarsaul assem-
bly constituency twice
from SP.
While lashing out at
Akhilesh, he said SP
was no longer the
same party. Earlier,
old leaders were re-
spected and their ex-
perience made SP a
strong party. However
Akhilesh Yadav ne-
glected experienced
leaders due to which
many seasoned lead-
ers left SP.
He said BJP did not
do politics on caste ba-
sis but had the vision
of gaining everyone’s
faith which was the
reason why people of
state ensured victory
of Yogi government
again.
New Delhi (PTI): A bill
to include certain tribal
communities in the list
of Scheduled Tribes in
four newly-created dis-
tricts in Uttar Pradesh
was passed in Lok
Sabha on Friday with
members seeking bet-
ter implementation of
the reservation policies
for such categories.
The bill, which was
approved by voice vote
by the Lower House,
amends the Scheduled
Tribes Order to recog-
nise Gond community
in the districts of
Chandauli, Kushinagar,
Sant Kabir Nagar and
Sant Ravidas Nagar.
Piloting the Constitu-
tion (ST and SC) Orders
(Second Amendment)
Bill, 2022, Tribal Affairs
Minister Arjun Munda
said that the Narendra
Modi government is
committed to welfare of
tribals and has in-
creased budgetary allo-
cation over the years for
the welfare schemes of
tribals. The Modi gov-
ernment, he said, “is
committed to the wel-
fare of tribals and the
bill is just a way for-
ward.”
Munda said the gov-
ernment was coming up
with different bills for
reservation of tribals
as the list of such tribes
is different in different
states and the issues
ought to be deliberated
in Parliament.
Rejecting the Opposi-
tion charge of politicis-
ing the issue, the minis-
ter said that bill pro-
vides for welfare of tri-
bals in UP where the
elections have already
been completed.Con-
gress leader Adhir Ran-
jan Chowdhury said the
government should
come up with a compre-
hensive bill for reserva-
tion of scheduled tribes
instead of working in a
piecemeal manner.
BJP MP from Mad-
hya Pradesh Guman
Singh Damor said some
tribals who are very
poor and uneducated
are being converted by
offering inducements.
These people are get-
ting converted for in-
ducements and due to
this our tribal culture is
being “destroyed”, Da-
mor said. “I would re-
quest the minister that
our culture must be pro-
tected. If some people
have converted, then
they must be considered
as not coming under the
definition given in Arti-
cle 366 of the Constitu-
tion and should be ex-
cluded from the ST list,”
he said.
Mathura (PTI): The
Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) has expelled its
three leaders, including
a former legislator, for
indulging in indisci-
pline, a party leader
said on Friday
.
BSP’s Mathura dis-
trict president Yogesh
Kumar said two-time
MLA Rajkumar Rawat
and two other BSP lead-
ers SK Sharma and Son-
pal were expelled from
the party on Thursday
.
Kumar, however, did
not mention the period
of the expulsion of the
three leaders.
Kumar said these
leaders did not even at-
tend the party’s recent
meeting in Lucknow,
convened to examine
the reasons for elector-
al losses. He said Rawat
was elected from the
Gokul assembly con-
stituency in 2007 and
the Govardhan assem-
bly constituency in
2012.Sharma had con-
tested the recent UP as-
sembly polls from the
Mathura constituency
while Sonpal had con-
tested from Chhata
constituency.
Sharma, however,
claimed he had re-
signed from the BSP
membership on March
11 itself.
For damage control, the
BSP chief has dissolved
the entire executive body
of UP BSP except the
state president and district
president. Mayawati has
appointed her nephew
Akash Anand as national
coordinator of the BSP
and has also made3 chief
coordinators
ENTIRE EXECUTIVE
BODY DISSOLVED
Once the BSP had
reached political heights
by connecting the OBC
castes with 22 pc of
the Dalits of the state,
but during the past ten
years, the graph of the
party is going downhill.
In the 2014 elections, not
a single BSP candidate
could win.
PARTY GOING
DOWNHILL IN 10 YRS
Former MLC Lal SIngh Tomar reading First India newspaper
Party has reached its worst level
since 1993; Now Mayawati is
rebuilding party organisation
SP is no longer
the same
party.
Akhilesh Ya-
dav neglected
experienced
leaders due to
which many
seasoned
leaders left SP
Lal Singh Tomar,
Senior BJP leader
Ex-legislator, 2 more
BSP leaders expelled
for indiscipline
LS passes bill to include some
tribal communities in ST list
The bill, which was approved by voice vote by the
Lower House, amends the Scheduled Tribes Or-
der to recognise Gond community in the districts
of Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and
Sant Ravidas Nagar.
GOND COMMUNITY TO GET RECOGNITION
Rajbhar to act as
peacemaker in
Yadav family feud
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Suheldev
Bhartiya Samaj Par-
ty (SBSP) president
Om Prakash Rajbhar
will now mediate in
the Shivpal-Akhilesh
cold war and make a
sincere effort to iron
out the differences
between the two.
“I will be meeting
Shivpal Singh Yadav
in the coming days
and then Akhilesh
Yadav. I will make an
effort to broker peace
between the two and
ensure that the alli-
ance remains intact.
Ourfightisalongone
and we cannot afford
to spoil things over
smallissues,”hesaid.
Rajbhar further
said the rift between
the two leaders of the
Yadav clan was essen-
tially a family issue
and should not cloud
the political situa-
tion. Rajbhar said, “I
have also spoken to
Akhilesh and he has
also agreed that I
should talk to Shivpal
Singh at the earliest.”
PragatisheelSama-
jwadi Party (PSP)
leader Shivpal Yadav
has been upset ever
since he was not in-
vitedtotheSPlegisla-
ture party meeting
even though he has
been elected on an SP
ticket. Shivpal
skipped the meeting
of allies that SP chief
Akhilesh Yadav had
convened earlier this
week, making it clear
that he was in no
mood for rapproche-
ment.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav with uncle Shivpal Yadav
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Deputy
Chief Minister Keshav
Prasad Maurya
scotched rumours on
Pragatisheel Samajwa-
di Party (Lohia) found-
er, Shivpal Yadav join-
ing BJP and being of-
fered a berth in the
backdrop of his recent
meeting with chief min-
ister Yogi Adityanath.
“Abhi to hamare yah-
an aisi koi vacancy
nahi hai (we don’t have
any vacancies right
now),” said Maurya,
when asked about the
speculation of Shivpal
joining forces with the
BJP after souring ties
with the Samajwadi
Party.
Shivpal Yadav had
skipped the meeting of
allies called by his
nephew and SP chief
Akhilesh Yadav recent-
ly. He is said to be an-
gry with Akhilesh for
not being invited to a
meeting of MLAs.
Amid reports that
Shivpal may be sent to
the Rajya Sabha by the
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty, which may revive
the Yadav family feud,
Maurya told a news
portal adding that not
much should be read
into the Yadav’s meet-
ing with CM.
“Yogi Adityanath is
our chief minister and
anyone can meet him.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyan-
ka Gandhi and Akh-
ilesh Yadav too has met
him,” said Maurya
when asked about the
speculation that
Shivpal is aiming to get
plum posts for himself
and his son in the BJP.
Maurya who has been
given the charge of the
UP rural development
ministry was in the na-
tional capital to “seek
blessings” of the cen-
tral leadership for the
second term that the
Yogi Adityanath-led
BJP government has
got in the state after an
impressive election vic-
tory in March.
“I have come to Delhi
to seek blessings of the
central leadership af-
ter assuming office and
taking charge of the
departments I have
been given,” added the
deputy CM.
Anyone can meet CM, says Maurya
SHIVPAL’S MEETING WITH YOGI
CM Yogi Adityanath (R) Shivpal Yadav
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Metropoli-
tan President Mukesh
Sharma on Friday said
that Defense Minister
Rajnath Singh will
reach Lucknow airport
at 2:40 PM on April 2,
from where he will di-
rectly head to Chuhiya
Purva, Jankipuram. Af-
ter having refreshments
with the local people of
the village, he will leave
for Dilkusha residence
at 6 PM in the evening
on the same day
.
He added the minis-
ter will briefly stay at
Dilkusha Residence be-
fore leaving for Indira
Nagar to meet promi-
nent businessmen at
Sanjeev Agarwal’s resi-
dence. On April 3, the
Defense Minister will
visit DAV College Naka
Hindola before attend-
ing the Holi Milan pro-
gram organized by the
BJP, Lucknow Mahana-
gar at 5:15 PM in the
evening.
Rajnath Singh
to reach
Lko today
Rajkumar Rawat SK Sharma Sonlal
Experienced leaders getting
no place in SP, says Tomar
BSP supremo Mayawati

avya Kapoor has
been walking cat-
walks for a few
years now, one of
those rare models
who has set a huge
benchmark in the
fashion and glamour indus-
try with her charisma.
When asked about her
initial journey, Kavya
shared, “My journey has
been a roller coaster ride
emotionally, mentally as
well as physically. I was a
plump kid
throughout my teens due to
which I was always bullied
andheardcountlesstaunts.”
The passionate young
soul has worked day and
night to achieve her goals
and aspires to rule the mod-
elling industry one day
.
Talking about her
achievements, the beauty
exclaimed, “I have been the
cover girl for Spotless Fash-
ion Magazine, an interna-
tional magazine for fashion
and lifestyle). I have also
been the showstopper for
global fashion week 2021 for
all designers. Have done
various shoots including
print ones for re-
nowned brands, eth-
nic clothing brands
and many more.”
Her victory at
First Miss India, a
national level
beauty pageant
held in Goa on
October 30, 2021,
was indeed a
turning point
in her life.
When asked
what major changes came in
her life post crowning, the
alluring beauty said, “The
moment was surreal and
life has become more beauti-
ful. I wouldn’t say any dras-
tic change followed, but yes,
personally and profession-
ally, I witnessed huge
growth. My confidence level
raised. I learned from my
flaws and developed a better
understandingof mywork.”
Kavya Kapoor doesn’t
just contain multitudes, she
displays them, boldly. For
her, fashion is some-
thing that shifts on
the regular, but it’s
always fun.
“For me, the
whole point of
getting dressed
is, who do you
want to be to-
day? And
who do you
want to be
perceived
as today?”
K a p o o r
said. She
fur ther
added, “For me, I don’t have
one fashion statement that
stays with me every single
day and I just whip out a dif-
ferent shirt or jeans. I am
someone completely differ-
ent every single day and I
love that part about me.”
“But I think after all of
this time, these moments
where you get to express
yourself and show that fash-
ion is, however, you’re feel-
ing,” she concluded.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/lucknow I twitter.com/
thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 9
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
K
KAVYA
DAUNTLESS BEAUTY!
LUCKNOW, SATURDAY,
APRIL 2, 2022
Young, fearless
and a woman
with big dreams,
Kavya Kapoor
from Uttar
Pradesh, in a
candid
conversation
with City First,
shares her
modelling
journey and
future plans!
Kavya is a
person who has
found the right
spirit and path
to transform
her dreams
into reality,
without
compromising
on her
principles.

02042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

02042022_First India Lucknow.pdf

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