07032022 first india new delhi

Smriti Irani raps Oppn over criticism of
Centre on handling of Ukraine crisis
FRESH SALVOS
CORONA CATASTROPHE
New Delhi Recovered
338
NEW
CASES
249 NEW
DEATHS
00
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Condemn-
ing Opposition leaders
for what she termed un-
necessary criticism of
the Union Government,
Union Minister Smriti
Irani has said that there
should be no politics
over matters of nation-
al interest.
She said that the Op-
position has the right to
criticise the Govern-
ment but in case of mat-
ters of national inter-
est, the Opposition lead-
ers should not indulge
in politics. Irani’s com-
ments came in the wake
of the Congress attack-
ing the Narendra Modi-
led BJP government
over the crisis unfold-
ing in Ukraine and
evacuation of the Indi-
an students stranded
there.
While speaking to a
TV news channel, the
Union Minister took a
swipe at Congress lead-
er Rahul Gandhi saying
he was busy using
phone during a very im-
portant briefing by the
Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA). Irani welcomes Indians evacuated from Ukraine. —FILE PHOTO
Union Minister says there should
be no politics over matters of
national interest
Op Ganga proof of our
influence in world: PM
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA IS READY FOR TALKS AND THAT
UKRAINE ‘OPERATION’ WILL ONLY STOP IF HIS DEMANDS ARE MET
NEW DELHI l MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 187
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The voting for the seventh phase of assembly polls in
Uttar Pradesh will be held on Monday. The counting of
votes will take place on March 10. Around 2.06 crores
voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. The exit
polls will be released after 7 pm on Monday.
POLLING FOR
SEVENTH AND
LAST PHASE IN UP
TO BE HELD TODAY
Mukul Arya, India’s representative at Ramallah, passed
away on Sunday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
said. Deeply shocked to learn about the passing away
of India’s Representative at Ramallah, Shri Mukul
Arya,” Jaishankar tweeted.
MUKUL, INDIA’S
REPRESENTATIVE
AT RAMALLAH,
PASSES AWAY
ERDOGAN DIALS PUTIN, URGES
FOR ‘URGENT CEASEFIRE’
NEARLY 16K INDIANS
EVACUATED
FILL GOOGLE FORM:
EMBASSY TO STUDENTS
INDIANS UNABLE TO
USE CEASEFIRE ROUTES
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
appealed for an urgent general ceasefire in
Ukraine when he spoke on Sunday to Rus-
sian leader Vladimir Putin by telephone,
Erdogan’s office said. The two heads of
state spoke several days ahead of a diplo-
matic forum in the southern city of Antalya
on March 11-13 that Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to attend.
New Delhi: Under ‘Operation
Ganga’, 2,135 Indians have
been brought back today
by 11 special civilian flights
from Ukraine’s neighbouring
countries. With this, more
than 15,900 Indians have
been brought back since Feb-
ruary 22. Among the special
Civilian flights today, 9 landed
in New Delhi while 2 reached
Mumbai.
New Delhi: The Indian em-
bassy in Ukraine on Sunday
advised all students stranded
in the war-hit country to
fill up an online form on an
“urgent basis”. “All Indian
nationals who still remain in
Ukraine are requested to fill
up the details contained in
the attached Google Form
on an URGENT BASIS,” the
embassy said in a tweet.”
New Delhi: Russia and
Ukraine announced on Satur-
day a ceasefire — they called
it a “regime of silence” —
and humanitarian corridors
for civilians to leave the cities
of Mariupol and Volnovakha,
but Indians stranded in east-
ern Ukraine were unable to
use these exit routes. Ukraine
said the Russians violated the
agreement.
UKRAINE MAKING NUCLEAR ‘DIRTY
BOMB’ IN CHERNOBYL: RUSSIA
Russian media cited an unnamed source on
Sunday as saying that Ukraine was close to
building a plutonium-based “dirty bomb”
nuclear weapon, although the source cited no
evidence. The TASS, RIA and Interfax news
agencies quoted “a representative of a compe-
tent body” in Russia on Sunday.
MACRON, PUTIN HOLD TELEPHONE
TALKS FOR OVER AN HOUR
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday
held new telephone talks with Russian President
Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The call, which a presidential official said lasted
1 hour 45 minutes and was at Macron’s request,
was the fourth time they had spoken since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Pune: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Sun-
day said the ongoing
evacuation of students
from war-torn Ukraine
is a proof of India’s
growinginfluenceinthe
world. Modi was speak-
ing at the Golden Jubi-
lee programme of the
Symbiosis University in
Pune. Modi said that
morethan1,000students
have been evacuated
from Ukraine till date.
“At a time when other
countries are finding it
difficult to rescue its
citizens, we managed to
get our people out. This
proves the increasing
influence of India in the
world,” Modi said.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
pays homage to the
statue of Mahatma
Jyotirao Phule in
Pune on Sunday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
Indians unable to use ceasefire routes, Government seeks safe corridor for students.
Indian students stranded in Ukraine receive humanitarian
assistance in Sumy on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
R
ussian Presi-
dent Vladimir
Putin warned
Ukraine on Sunday that
Russia’s military oper-
ation would only be
halted if Kyiv stopped
resisting and fulfilled
all of the Kremlin’s de-
mands. Putin stressed
that Ukraine’s negotia-
tors should take a more
“constructive” ap-
proach. Ukrainian am-
bassador to the United
States, Oksana
Markarova called Rus-
sia a “terrorist state” in
an interview with Fox
News on Sunday
.
Putin: I WILL STOP... only if...
Police inspect Warne’s room hours after his death. —FILE PHOTO
BSF jawan
shoots dead
4 colleagues,
kills self
Amritsar: A Border Se-
curity Force (BSF)
jawan allegedly opened
fire inside the force’s
headquarters in Khasa
in Punjab’s Amritsar
district Sunday morn-
ing and killed four of
his colleagues before
turning the weapon on
himself, the police said.
Amritsar Rural police
senior superintendent
of police (SSP) Deepak
Hilori confirmed the
five casualties, includ-
ing that of the jawan
who opened fire. Anoth-
er BSF personnel was
also critically injured
in the firing and is un-
der treatment at a pri-
vate hospital in Amrit-
sar. The BSF has not
released any statement
so far, however, sources
said that the jawan, who
opened fire was upset
with his duty hours.
CISF should develop model
to train pvt agencies: Shah
Warne’s room had blood stains on
floor and bath towels: Thai Police Ghaziabad: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Sunday pitched
for a “hybrid” security
model where the CISF
could train and certify
private security agen-
cies so that they can
take over the task of ef-
ficiently guarding vari-
ous kinds of industrial
and manufacturing
units in the country
.
Speaking at the 53rd
Raising Day celebra-
tions of the CISF, Shah
said the CISF worked
like a silent “karmayo-
gi” to ensure the coun-
try’s industrial develop-
ment and secured the
private manufacturing
production units.
Bangkok: Thailand po-
lice have reportedly
found “blood stains” on
the floor of Shane
Warne’s room and on
bathtowelswhilesearch-
ing the villa where the
legendary Australian
cricketerdiedwhileholi-
daying. Warne was de-
clareddeadbydoctorsin
the Thai International
HospitalonFridaynight,
after friends tried to re-
vive him in his luxury
villa hours earlier.
Home Minister Amit Shah
WoMEN in BLUE
strike high!
The Men and Women
Indian cricket team
won their matches
against Sri Lanka and
Pakistan respectively
as both the national
squads displayed su-
perb game skills. Pooja
Vastrakar’s 59-balls
67 and Sneh Rana’s
unbeaten 53 (48)
helped India register a
thumping 107-run win
over Pakistan in their
opening ICC Women’s
World Cup match at
Mount Maunganui.
India continued their
unbeaten run against
Pakistan in women’s
ODIs, winning all their
11 matches, with
four of those being in
World Cups.
Indian team players click selfie with Pakistan skipper
Bismah Maroof and her daughter Fatima after winning
the ICC Womens World Cup 2022 match against Pakistan
Women, at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja celebrates the dismissal of Sri
Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella on the 3rd day of the first test
match between India and Sri Lanka, at PCA Stadium, in
Mohali on Sunday. —PHOTOS BY ANI
‘RIVERS OF BLOOD’ FLOWING
IN UKRAINE, SAYS POPE FRANCIS
Pope Francis on Sunday rejected Russia’s use of the
term “special military operation” for its invasion of
Ukraine, saying the country was being battered by war
and urging an immediate end to the fighting. “In Ukraine,
rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not just a
military operation but a war which sows death, destruc-
tion and misery,” the pope said in his weekly address to
crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
02
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New Delhi (PTI): Sev-
en big cats have died in
around two-and-a-half
years at the Delhi zoo
which is a participant
in the conservation
breeding of Asiatic li-
ons and Bengal tigers.
According to records,
of the seven big cats, at
least four died due to
kidney dysfunction.
“Big cats in captivity
are very much prone to
kidney ailments. Fur-
thermore, lack of en-
richment tools and ex-
ercise, obesity, and ste-
reotypic behaviour
have been observed in
big cats in captivity
.
“To address this, spe-
cial emphasis has been
given in providing di-
verse food (adding chev-
on) and putting enrich-
ment tools in big cats in
particular. Routine in-
vestigation (blood pa-
rameters) helps in
checking health. Cre-
atine: albumin ratio in
urine has been found
effective in early diag-
nosis of kidney ail-
ments,” the zoo’s annu-
al report for 2020-21
read. Delhi Zoo Direc-
tor Dharamdeo Rai,
who took charge on Feb-
ruary 21, said the issue
needs to be studied in
detail. “We will try to
find out more about
their lineage and prog-
eny, and look into the
causes of death before
we can conclude any-
thing,” he said.
The latest death was
recorded on January 10
when an eight-year-old
lioness, Hema, died due
to “multiple organ fail-
ure,” an official said.
Hema and a lion,
Aman, were brought
from Chhatbir Zoo,
Chandigarh, in 2015.
Aman died on May 9
last year apparently
due to cardiac arrest.
7BIGCATSDIEDATDELHIZOOIN2.5YEARS
CAUSE OF CONCERN
lll
According to
records, the
latest death was
recorded on Jan
10 when an
eight-year-old
lioness, Hema,
died due to
‘multiple organ
failure’
MCD Elections: ‘Ganna Kisan’, Ice cream on list of 197 poll symbols
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dependent candidates
contesting the Delhi
civic body polls this
year will have an inter-
esting mix of around
200 election symbols to
choose from, including
‘Ganna Kisan’ (sugar-
cane farmer), ‘Nagrik’
(citizen), noodles bowl,
ice cream, a range of
daily use items, fruits,
vegetables and kitchen
appliances.
The State Election
Commission, Delhi,
has notified that the
election to 272 wards of
three municipal corpo-
rations is scheduled to
be held in April.
The list of 197 poll
symbols was issued on
Friday by the Commis-
sion in its ‘Municipal
Corporation of Delhi
Election Symbols (Res-
ervation and Allot-
ment) Order, 2022’.
The ‘free symbols’
meant for independ-
ents and candidates of
unrecognised parties
include fruits like ap-
ple, grapes and pineap-
ple; food items like bis-
cuits, cake, bread;
kitchen items like pres-
sure cooker, mixee,
bread roller and many
other electronic items.
A few of the relative-
ly obscure symbols like
electric pole, gift pack,
extension board, wall
hook, envelope and
door handle also find a
place in the list.
According to the or-
der, each independent
candidate will mention
three preferences of
chosen symbols in his
nomination paper. In
case more than one
candidate falls for the
same symbol, the re-
turning officer of the
elections will conduct
a draw of lot for alloca-
tion of the symbol.
The candidates of
national parties, in-
cluding the All India
Trinamool Congress,
BSP, BJP, CPI, CPI(M),
INC; and Meghalaya-
based National Peo-
ple’s Party will be al-
lotedreservedsymbols.
The Aam Aadmi Par-
ty recognised by the
ECI as “Delhi State
Party” has ‘broom’
symbol alloted to it.
The Commission, in
another order, also said
that maximum limit of
expenditure to be in-
curred by a candidate
in the ward elections
of 3 municipal corpo-
rations will be `8 lakh.
There are 104 wards
each in North and
South Delhi municipal
corporations. The East
Delhi Municipal Cor-
poration has 64 wards.
Half of the wards are
reserved for women
candidates. There are
also reserved wards for
SC candidates.
In the last MCD polls
in Delhi, the BJP regis-
tered an impressive
victory, returning to
power in the three cor-
porations by winning
181 of 272 wards.
Delhi government has prepared the draft to tackle rising air pollution levels in the city
DRAFT READY TO MAKE PUC
CERTIFICATES MUST IN DELHI
New Delhi (Agencies):
The Delhi government
has prepared the draft
policy for making Pollu-
tion Under Control Cer-
tificates (PUCC) manda-
tory to refuel at fuel
pump stations in the
city to tackle the rising
air pollution levels.
“To control vehicular
tailpipe emissions, all
the dealers of the pet-
rol, diesel, CNG pumps
are directed to dispense
and sell the petrol, die-
sel and CNG to motor
vehicles only on pro-
duction of valid Pollu-
tion under Control Cer-
tificate (PUCC) with
immediate effect”,
reads Delhi Gazette no-
tifications. Petrol
pumps, CNG stations
and Commissioner,
Transport Department,
Delhi will implement
the directions in letter
and spirit. The viola-
tion of the directions
issued may include im-
prisonment up to five
years and, or with fine
which may extend to `1
Lakh or with both.
The Delhi govern-
ment had announced in
January that the gov-
ernmentwillsoonmake
PUCC mandatory to re-
fuel at vends in the city,
in a bid to tackle the
city’s crippling air pol-
lution levels, much of
which is caused by vehi-
cles.
The Pollution Under
Control (PUC) certifi-
cate is an important in-
strument for vehicles
issued through regis-
tered PUC centres to
control vehicular tail-
pipe emissions and is
crucial in monitoring
vehicular pollution and
certifying fitness of ve-
hicles as per emission
norms, the notification
reads.
According to the
draft notification, the
draft policy will be tak-
en into consideration
by Delhi Lt Governor
on or after the expiry of
60 days from the date of
publication of this noti-
fication in the official
Gazette.
PWD to revamp
arterial Delhi roads
New Delhi (PTI): Del-
hi’s PWD will soon re-
vamp its arterial roads
having 30 metres or
more right of way fol-
lowing instructions
from the city govern-
ment to strengthen
such stretches, officials
said on Sunday. These
roads include Flag Staff
Road, Sachivalaya
Road, Velodrome Road,
Satyagrah Marg, Club
Road and IG Stadium
slip road, among others,
the PWD officials said.
“This exercise will be
separate from the regu-
lar maintenance drill of
the major arterial
roads.
HCslamsofficialsforderelictionofduty
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi High Court has
sought response from
several city officials on
why contempt proceed-
ings should not be initi-
ated against them for
dereliction of duty in
protecting and preserv-
ing trees.
Asserting that dam-
age to trees cannot be
condoned, Justice Naj-
mi Waziri issued notice
to several authorities
including officials of
the PWD, forest depart-
ment, BSES RPL and
the Delhi Police. Seek-
ing their presence on
the next date of hear-
ing, on March 14, Jus-
tice Waziri said despite
judicial orders, “some-
how the disposition of
some authorities and
agencies appear to be
callous towards compli-
ance”. The judge em-
phasised that harming
trees and causing a set-
back to the green ambi-
ence which leads to
eventual damage to the
environment cannot be
overlooked and the citi-
zens have a right to re-
tain and care for their
ambient neighbour-
hood in accordance
with the law.
The court took on re-
cord several photo-
graphs of a Chittaran-
jan Park pavement
which was dug up for
civil work.
It noted that “the dig-
ging distance from the
tree trunk is less than
one metre, the tree roots
have been cut/dam-
aged, the orders of this
court and that of the
NGT have been deliber-
ately breached”.
Illegal ‘ahata’ in G’gram
shut down after raid
Gurugram (PTI): An
‘ahata’ (open bar) oper-
ating illegally here was
shut down following a
joint raid by the chief
minister’s flying squad
and the excise depart-
ment, police said on
Sunday.
The cashier of the
establishment was ar-
rested during the raid
that was conducted on
Saturday night, they
said.
Police said the ‘aha-
ta’ owners did not have
the requisite licences
to serve alcohol and
hookah.
Deputy Superinten-
dent of Police Inderjeet
Yadav of the CM’s fly-
ing squad said on the
basis of a complaint, a
special team was
formed to raid the ‘aha-
ta’, Desi Khaat, located
in Backyard Sports
Club, Sector 65.
During the raid,
more than 90 people
were found drinking
liquor and smoking
hookah at the ‘ahata’.
The ‘ahata’ operator
turned off the lights
during the raid and the
main accused managed
to flee, he said. The
‘ahata’ was running il-
legally but its owners
posted advertisements
for bookings on social
media, he added.
An FIR has been reg-
istered against the
‘ahata’ owner, Yogesh,
his partners and others
at Sector 65 police sta-
tion.
According to police,
more than 20 beers and
three hookahs, among
other things, were re-
covered from the ‘aha-
ta’. They have been
sent for testing.
Dhull’s 200* saves Delhi
from defeat in Ranji Trophy
New Delhi (FIB): In-
dia’s U-19 World Cup-
winning team captain
Yash Dhull smashed an
unbeaten double centu-
ry for Delhi on Day 4 of
their Ranji Trophy
match against Chhattis-
garh on Sunday
.
Dhull scored 200 off
261 balls, including 26
boundaries in Delhi’s
second innings to help
his side draw the match.
This was Dhull’s
maiden double century
in the three First-Class
matches that he has
played so far. Dhull had
scored two centuries in
his debut Ranji Trophy
match against Tamil
Nadu. Dhull is having a
fantastic season as a
professional cricketer
rightnow.Hehashelped
India win a record fifth
U-19 WC victory, signed
an IPL contract , and
then struck two back-to-
back century on Ranji
debut.
Soon PUC certificate will be must to refuel at fuel pump stations
Nearly 300 people held by
police in last two months
New Delhi (PTI):
The Delhi Police has
arrested over 60 peo-
ple under the Arms
Act, 89 under the Ex-
cise Act and 39 under
the NDPS Act in the
national capital’s
southeast district in
the last two months,
official data revealed.
In January, the
southeast district po-
lice had arrested 27
people under the
Arms Act and recov-
ered seven country-
made pistols, three
live cartridges and 18
knives from them, the
data said.
A total of 38 people
were arrested under
the Excise Act and
2,434 liquor bottles
were recovered from
their possession. In
January, five people
were arrested Under
the NDPS Act and
nine kilograms of
ganja was recovered
from them, the data
revealed.
The northeast dis-
trict police registered
76 cases under the
Arms Act, 36 under
the Excise Act, three
under the NDPS Act
and 17 under the Gam-
bling Act, it said.
The district arrest-
ed over 100 people in
these cases in the last
two months, police
said.
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
IN SOLIDARITY
Army Wives
showcase their
artistry skills
New Delhi (ANI): On
the occasion of Interna-
tional Women’s Day, the
Army Wives Welfare
Association (AWWA)
organised an exhibition
to showcase artistry
and entrepreneurial
skills across the coun-
try. Echoing the senti-
ments of Women’s Day,
AWWA is organising a
PAN India exhibition
for its artists and entre-
preneurs under Central
and Regional AWWA,
Army officials said
here.
AWWA President
Veena Naravane wife of
Army Chief General
MM Naravane visited
one of these exhibitions
organised in the DLF
Mall in Vasant Kunj in
New Delhi.
220 Army wives will
be showcasing their art-
istry and entrepreneur-
ial skills thereby reveal-
ing their artistic and
creative side.
Ukrainian
citizens hold
placards as
they gather
in solidarity
for the people
of Ukraine, at
Jantar Mantar,
in New Delhi on
Sunday.
—PHOTO BY ANI

INDIA
03
Abhishek Mishra
Lucknow: Ever heard
the Hindi saying “Teen
Tigada, Kaam Bigada”?
Well the BJP may wit-
ness such a ‘Kaam
Bigada’ in days to come
as three BJP MPs in Ut-
tar Pradesh are very
angry and it has been
declared also. The BJP
is assessing the impact
of their displeasure on
voting and BJP leaders
are of the view that at
least in their own area
and in the areas nearby
to their own constitu-
ency, there must have
been some significant
impact of this disgrun-
tlement. The reason for
this is that these three
MPs are relatively pop-
ular and influential.
Voting has been com-
pleted in the Lok Sabha
constituencies of these
three MPs.
Sultanpur MP Mane-
ka Gandhi, Pilibhit MP
Varun Gandhi and
Budaun MP Sanghmi-
tra Maurya have
worked silently or ac-
tively against the BJP.
Maneka Gandhi has not
given any statement but
everyone knows that
she is upset over being
dropped from the Union
Cabinet. She has not
even got a place in the
party organisation and
the party has not asked
her to campaign in Ut-
tar Pradesh. Therefore,
there is a possibility of
loss to the BJP in the
five assembly seats of
Sultanpur i.e. her con-
stituency
.
Her son and Pilibhit
MP Varun Gandhi has
openly opposed the poli-
cies of the central and
state government and
made a statement
against it. He has been
tweeting continuously.
Therefore, there is a
possibility of loss to the
BJP in his area and the
surrounding Terai are-
as. The case of Sang-
hamitra Maurya is dif-
ferent from these two.
Swami Prasad Maurya,
father of Badaun MP
Sanghamitra Maurya,
has joined the Sama-
jwadi Party. That is
when Sanghamitra, de-
spite being a BJP MP,
has openly sought votes
against the BJP. So,
there is a possibility of
damage to the saffron
party in areas other
than these MPs’ con-
stituencies.
‘TeenTigada’ofBJPMPs,‘KaamBigada’inUPpolls!
INTERNAL RIFT WITHIN BJP
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh is witnessing a
four-cornered contest
this Assembly election.
While the ruling
Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party
(BJP) un-
der the
leadership
of Chief
Minister Yogi
Adityanath is seeking a
second consecutive
term, it is a do-or-die
battle for the Samajwa-
di Party led by Akhile-
sh Yadav and BSP led by
Mayawati. Uttar
Pradesh has voted al-
ternatively voted for
the SP and BSP before
2017 when the BJP
pulled off a stunning
win, dethroning the SP
government.
This time, the BJP is
hopeful that the coun-
try's most populous
state will break this
trend and vote over-
whelmingly in its fa-
vour, delivering a clear
majority again. The
Congress which is con-
tinuously losing its
ground since its 2014
loss, is also expecting a
change in its fortune
with general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra spearheading
the campaign.
Besides Uttar
Pradesh, Assembly
polls are also being held
in Uttarakhand, Pun-
jab, Manipur and Goa.
Barring Punjab, the re-
maining states are
ruled by the BJP.
PM’s LS SEAT VARANASI SET FOR SPOTLIGHT
The Varanasi district is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among the BJP, Samajwadi Party and Congress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi. —FILE PHOTO
LAST PHASE OF UP POLLS TODAY
Rush of political leaders at
Kashi temple in final phase
Varanasi (PTI): As
the fiercely contested
Uttar Pradesh assem-
bly elections enter
the final round, the
Kashi Vishwanath
temple here is wit-
nessing a rush of po-
litical leaders.
They have been mak-
ing a beeline at the fa-
mous shrine dedicated
to Lord Shiva since the
past few days in Vara-
nasi, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s parlia-
mentary constituency
and the focus of the sev-
enth phase of the As-
sembly elections.
Friday was a busy
day for the temple as
Modi, Congress leaders
Rahul Gandhi and Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
and Union minister
Smriti Irani came to of-
fer prayers.
The Prime Minister,
who held a roadshow in
the city on Friday to
drum up support for
BJP candidates, went to
temple before the mega
programme ended.
Hours before Modi,
Rahul Gandhi and Pri-
yanka Gandhi paid a
visit to the temple. Irani
had come earlier.
Samajwadi Party
president Akhilesh Ya-
dav, who was in the tem-
ple town to hold a road-
show on Friday
, reached
the shrine at night to
seek blessings.
On Wednesday, West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee ar-
rived in Varanasi and
paidavisittothetemple.
Thiruvananthapuram
(PTI): Indian Union
M u s l i m
L e a g u e
President
and promi-
nent spir-
itual lead-
er Panak-
kad Sayed Hyderali
Shihab Thangal died
at the age of 74 on Sun-
day. Thangal remained
indisposed for the last
few months. He passed
away at a private hospi-
tal at Angamali in Er-
nakulam district.
Ahmedabad (PTI): An
All India Majlis-E-Itte-
hadul Muslimeen leader
was attacked and in-
jured by a group of peo-
ple after he intervened
in a fight in a market in
Ahmedabad on Sunday,
police said.
Shamshad Pathan,
who was recently made
vice president of
AIMIM’s Gujarat unit,
has been hospitalized
and his condition is sta-
ble, an official said.
“Pathan sustained in-
juries after being at-
tacked with a spade by
four people when he in-
tervened in a fight in
Gurjari bazar. He has
been hospitalised. Two
people received minor
injuries. One Faizu
Babu and his associates
are allegedly involved
and an FIR is being
lodged,” Riverfront
(East) police inspector
Vijaysinh Zala said.
Mr Pathan, a lawyer
by profession, told re-
porters Fiazu Baba and
others were beating up
somepersonsandhehad
intervened to stop them
when he was attacked.
IUML chief Sayed
Hyderali Shihab
Thangal dies at 74
AIMIMleaderattacked
in Ahmedabad market
Assam civic elections: Over 50% polling till 2 pm
Guwahati: Over 50
per cent voter turnout
has been registered till
2 pm, as polling for 80
civic bodies in Assam
progressed peacefully
on Sunday, a State
Election Commission
official said.
Though the voting
percentage was low at
20.73 per cent in the
first three hours of
polling, which com-
menced at 8 am, it has
been on an increasing
trend, he said.
Voting will end at 4
pm. “The voter turn-
out till 2 pm has been
50.23 per cent,” the of-
ficial said.
Electronic Voting
Machines are being
used for the first time in
the history of civic elec-
tions in the state.
No report of any un-
toward incident has
yet been received, the
official said.
A total of 2,532 candi-
dates are in the fray,
with the ruling BJP hav-
ing the maximum num-
ber of 825 nominees.
Kolkata (ANI): West
Bengal Governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar and
Assembly Speaker Bi-
man Banerjee had an
hour-longinteractionon
Sunday regarding the
session of the House
commencing from Mon-
day
, as the state’s consti-
tutional head wrote to
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee seeking a dia-
loguewithherattheear-
liest. The governor had
invited the Speaker for
an interaction on,
among other things, live
coverage of his address
to the House on Monday
complaining that it had
been “blacked out" on
earlier occasions.
“There was (an) inter-
action at Raj Bhawan
todaybetweenGovernor
and Assembly Speaker
for an hour regarding
the upcoming assembly
session," Dhankhar
tweeted. The Assembly
has been summoned by
the governor at 2 pm on
Monday after an im-
passe over the timing of
the sitting of the House
with the Governor tak-
ing the stand that a typo-
graphical error in an
earlier communication
that gave the unearthly
2 am as the time of com-
mencement of the budg-
et session, could only be
changed if the cabinet
met again and passed
another resolution cor-
recting the time while
following all constitu-
tional procedures.
WB Guv talks to Assembly Speaker
JP NADDA CHAIRS MEET WITH BJP'S NAT’L GEN SECRETARIES
New Delhi (ANI): BJP national president
JP Nadda on Sunday chaired a meeting
with national general secretaries at the
party headquarters in the national Capi-
tal. This comes on the eve of the last
and seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections, which will see poll-
ing in Varanasi the Lok Sabha Assembly
constituency of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. Eight Assembly seats in Varanasi
will be in the focus in the last phase of
the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
BJP chief JP Nadda with other party leaders
in New Delhi on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Refurnished temple complex of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
WhenwilltheMaharashtra
Government ‘retaliate’?
Moni Sharma
Mumbai: The loud-
mouth leaders of the
Shiv Sena-led MVA
government of Maha-
rashtra are shooting
verbal barbs and cau-
tioning BJP every day
.
Shiv Sena has said
that the names and
exploits of ‘Dirty Doz-
en’ of BJP will be re-
vealed. That is, a doz-
en BJP leaders will be
exposed. Party MP
Sanjay Raut has said
that a cell is being pre-
pared for four senior
BJP leaders in jail.
Such things are being
heard for the last sev-
eral months and in
the meantime, the
BJP-led central gov-
ernment has started
cracking down on
Shiv Sena, NCP and
Congress leaders.
The state govern-
ment sent a BMC team
to probe the alleged
illegal construction
of BJP leader and Un-
ion minister Narayan
Rane’s bungalow in
Juhu and within two
days, senior state
minister Nawab Ma-
lik went to jail. Earli-
er, a BMC team had
demolished an alleged
illegal construction at
the house of film ac-
tress Kangana Ranaut
and a few days after
that, Anil Deshmukh,
who was the state’s
home minister, was
put in jail. Raids have
been conducted on
Sanjay Raut’s rela-
tives and close friends
and many people, in-
cluding Praveen Raut,
are in jail.
Last week, the In-
come Tax Depart-
ment conducted a
raided on Shiv Sena
councillor Yashwant
Jadhav. His wife
Yamini Yashwant is a
legislator from Shiv
Sena. Prior to that the
Income Tax and ED
team had raided the
family members of
Sharad Pawar. That
is, the action of the
central government
agencies is increas-
ing and on the other
hand the rhetoric of
Shiv Sena leaders is
also increasing in the
same proportion.
Now it is to be seen
when, if at all, the
Shiv Sena-led govern-
ment retaliates. It is
believed that the way
Mamata Banerjee has
controlled the BJP
leaders in her state,
she has shared the
same mantra with
Sharad Pawar also.
Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav
Thackeray with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Voters stand in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station for
the municipal polls. —PHOTO BY PTI
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party
(BJP) un-
der the
leadership
of Chief
UP
UP
UNION MIN SONOWAL CASTS
VOTE IN LOCAL BODY POLLS
Dibrugarh (ANI): Union Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday
expressed confidence over the
victory of BJP candidates in the
ongoing Municipal Corporation
polls in Assam as he visited a
polling booth station in Dibrugarh
district to cast his vote. "Public is
happy with the development initia-
tives taken up by the Central govt
led by PM Modi," said Sonowal.
Discusses live coverage
of his address; writes
to CM Mamata
seeking early dialogue

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 187
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Saddened by the passing away of Shri
Shiv Kumar Pareek Ji. Firmly rooted
in our Party’s ideology, he devoted
himself to service, nation-building
and worked closely with Atal Ji. Will
cherish my interactions with him over
the years. Condolences to his family.
Om Shanti.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
The dream of farmer welfare is being
fulfilled, India is becoming prosperous
and happy as its own.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Believe nothing, no matter
where you read it, or who
said it, no matter if I have
said it, unless it agrees
with your own reason and
your own common sense.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
STREET DOGS’
RIGHT TO FOOD IS
IN THE HANDS OF
SUPREME COURT
an’s best friend finds
himself abandoned
by the Supreme
Court of India, at
least for the time be-
ing, which stayed the Delhi High
Court’s directions for the wel-
fare of stray dogs. In 2021 the
high court allowed stray dogs to
be fed in residential societies
and said that street dogs also
“have the right to food and citi-
zens have the right to feed com-
munity dogs but in exercising
this right, care and caution
should be taken to ensure that it
does not impinge upon the rights
of others or cause any harm”.
This, incidentally, went against
a 2015 order of the Supreme
Court restraining high courts
from passing any order relating
to the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act, 1960 “and the 2001
rules pertaining to dogs”.
Street dogs become a menace
once they start breeding and
civic officials do nothing to ster-
ilise them. Their increased num-
bersposearisktomotor-cyclists,
cyclists and even pedestrians.
Yet, should they be starved?
TOP TWEETS
M
he war in Ukraine
is set to rend a
jumbo-sized hole
in our pockets.
The biggest con-
tributor will be the rising
price of crude but there will
also be other commodities
which will take a hit. Ana-
lysts warn that crude may
touch $150 a barrel in the
event the West puts sanctions
on Russian energy supplies.
At present Brent crude was
selling at $118 a barrel. It is
anticipated that oil compa-
nies will raise prices by Rs 15
to Rs 22 per litre to meet its
revenue losses. India imports
85 percent of its oil and the
rising prices mean a rising
import bill and a consequent
ripple effect on inflation.
Cooking oil prices have al-
ready seen a jump of Rs 25/
litre in the aftermath of the
Ukraine crisis. In 2021, about
13 percent of India’s edible oil
(mainlysunflower)camefrom
Ukraine and Russia. Prices of
other oils like mustard and
palm may also see a spike.
While mustard, sunflower
and refined oil prices will di-
rectlyimpacthouseholdbudg-
ets, leading producers of
palm-oil based commodities
are likely to raise prices as it
has also become costlier.
In the case of wheat, the
war is proving to be a boon.
With disruption in supplies
from Russia, which is the sec-
ondlargestexporterof wheat,
Indiahassteppedupitswheat
export.Wheatfromthegrana-
ries of Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh is meeting
the requirement. However, if
steps are not taken to check
unlimited outflows from
warehouses of Food Corpora-
tion of India, supplies in the
domestic market will be ad-
versely impacted.
WAR IN UKRAINE IS
PUSHING PRICES
The war in Ukraine is
set to rend a jumbo-
sized hole in our
pockets. The biggest
contributor will be the rising
price of crude but there will
also be other commodities
which will take a hit.
Analysts warn that
crude may touch $150
a barrel in the event the
West puts sanctions on
Russian energy supplies
T
RAJ DHARMA 4
FROM PAST PRECEDENTS
TO FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
special high-
light of the
first Aarambh
were the ses-
sions with the
faculty from
S i n g u l a r i t y
University an
institution that
believes that ‘exponential
technology can give anyone,
anywhere, the ability to cre-
ate a positive impact in which
people and planet work in
harmony rather than at cross
purposes. Rather than worry
about ‘disruption’, it advo-
cates looking at the future
from the point of view of dis-
ruptive technologies, and
their impact on products, ser-
vices, and entrepreneurship.
The second Aarambh fo-
cused on the related themes
of Ek Bharat – Shresth
Bharat: Cultural diversity
and synergy in India as an
Influencer; Economic diver-
sity and oneness as strength,
Atma Nirbhar Bharat: In En-
ergy, Health and building
large systems for handling
black swan events and
Naveen Bharat: Research
Innovation in Education, In-
dustry, and Administration.
Officer Trainees made pres-
entations on these themes to
the Prime Minister.
‘Moving towards a sustain-
able Five trillion-dollar econ-
omy’ was the theme for the
third Aarambh held at SoU
on January 11 and 12. The is-
sues discussed included driv-
ers and constraints to
growth, strengthening the
Infrastructure pipeline, scal-
ing up the investment in the
private sector, new education
policy, and skilling and holis-
tic social protection infra-
structure.
In all the three Aarambh
programs, the key message
was that while it is good to
keep the past precedents in
mind, it was equally, if not
more important to look at the
possibilities which the future
held. Thus, even as the coun-
try celebrates the Azadi ka
Amrit Mahotsav, the next
twenty-five years are envi-
sioned as the Amrit Kal – the
dawn – for India’s century
2047-2147 which would see
the resurrection of India as
the knowledge hub and
thought leader of the world.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
A
SANJEEV CHOPRA
The writer is Distinguished Fellow, USI Delhi
and Historian Policy Analyst. Also former
Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy
of Administration, Mussoorie
This phase marks the beginning of an IAS officers’
professional training in the Service. In addition to the
traditional attachments with the armed forces, the public
sector, municipal bodies, voluntary agencies, tribal areas,
Non-Government Organizations(NGOs) officers also see
new age infra projects in PPP mode. Thus, even as Yoga
Karmasu Kaushalam (YKK) remains the leitmotif – the
platforms and agendas are totally different: while at
Bengaluru ( then Bangalore)the 1985 batch trained with
the HMT (which is now defunct), the 2020 batch were
attached to the Bengaluru International Airport Limited
(BIAL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created with
LT, Siemens, Zurich airport and 13% share each of the
Union and Karnataka governments to establish a world
class airport in the PPP mode.
In this phase, officers develop actionable skill sets to dis-
charge administrative responsibilities in the first decade
of their career. This is usually as field functionaries in the
District Administration, or as CEOs in Zilla panchayats
or Municipal corporations. The focus is on partnerships
, working with people, non-adversarial communication,
and technology driven public systems which offer trans-
actions at near zero costs and a guaranteed time frame.
Over the years, district training has become more struc-
tured, and while the role of the DM as the mentor to the
officer trainee continues as before, institutional training
at ATI, attachments at the Secretariat and independent
charges have ensured that they get a 360-degree view
of the district administration. After a series of attach-
ments with the Collectorate, Zila Parishad, SSP, District
Session Judge, DFO, CMO, PWD, Municipal Corporation/
Council, officers are given independent charges, viz. that
of BDPO, Tehsildar and in some cases those of Executive
Officer in a Municipal Council.
Having spent a year with an ‘ear- to- the- ground’, this
phase is designed to ‘analyse individual and collective
experiences of District Training through a process of
structured reflection’. They also make a presentation
of their Action research reports in the district which
are evaluated by their peers, internal faculty and an
external domain expert.
An important highlight of this course is the ‘effective
SDO seminar’. It involves bringing one SDO from all
cadres from batches immediately prior to the one be-
ing trained. They share their experiences and provide
a nuanced view of the problems likely to be seen in
the field.
Till the outbreak of Covid, Officer Trainees also went
on a week-long Foreign Study Tour (FST) to the Civil
Services College, UK and the KDI at South Korea to
understand global best practices. On return, they write
a group paper highlighting the administrative practices
that can be adapted or replicated in the Indian context.
The Academy awards a Masters’ Degree in Public
Management (recognized by the Jawaharlal Nehru
University) to Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
Officer Trainees on completion of their two-year long
induction training.
From 2015, the Department of Personnel and Training
has been entrusted with ASAP on completion of their
phase II Training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie. It must
be clarified here that the ASAP – is not training, but
an on-the-job assignment. The idea was to expose
officers to the actual implementation, monitoring and
review of policies and programmes of Government
of India implemented at the district and sub- district
levels. Officers are assigned important Desks in the
Ministries and report to Deputy Secretaries/Directors.
It must also be placed on record that several state
governments, including West Bengal, Telangana and
Tamil Nadu had expressed initial reservations on this
training as they felt that younger officers are best sent
to the field after the Mussoorie training.
YOGA KARMASU KAUSHALAM:
YOGA IS A SKILL IN ACTION
THE DISTRICT TRAINING:
LEARNING BY ‘SEEING AND DOING’
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
PROFESSIONALS
MAKING SENSE OF THE JIGSAW: THE
ASSISTANT SECRETARY’S
ATTACHMENT PROGRAM (ASAP)
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
YOU READ RAJ DHARMA 3 IN FIRST INDIA
ON FEBRUARY 22, 2022
In 3 Aarambh programs, key
message was that while it is
good to keep the past
precedents in mind, it was
equally, if not more
important to look at the
possibilities which the future
held. Thus, even as country
celebrates Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav, the next
twenty-five years are
envisioned as the Amrit
Kal – the dawn – for
India’s century 2047-
2147 which would see the
resurrection of India as the
knowledge hub and thought
leader of the world
Officers also work on assessing the ground level
implementation of programs like Swachh Bharat or
Poshan Abhiyan The 2018 batch studied the status of
brick kiln workers to understand the gap between the
legal norms and entitlements for migrant workers and
their children, and the ground reality. From 2019, offic-
ers have been assigned the responsibility of identifying
commodities, products and processes which have /
can have the GI tag and document the forward and
backward linkages

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INDIA
05
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Two phases
of polling are pending
in Uttar Pradesh and
one in Manipur. Voting
will end on March 7.
The results will come
on March 10. If we un-
derstand from the pre-
vious example, then
two days after the re-
sults are out, the prices
will start rising. On
May 2 last year, the elec-
tion results of West
Bengal and four other
states were declared
and two days after that,
the prices of petrol, die-
sel started increasing.
Afternearlytwomonths
of stability, prices start-
ed rising in such a way
that the fuel price, in
most parts of the coun-
try
, crossed the hundred
mark, while the price of
crude oil at that time
went up to $ 73 a barrel.
Now crude oil is at one
hundred dollars per
barrel. So, after the re-
sults of March 10, there
will be an increase in
inflation.
Its small tremors are
just beginning to be felt.
Just as there are small
aftershocks before a big
earthquake, similarly
small tremors are felt
before the rapid rise in
inflation. As the price
of milkincreased.Amul
and Verka have in-
creased the price of
milk and soon the price
of Mother Dairy and
other brands will in-
crease. The prices of
commercial LPG ie 19
kg and 5 kg cylinders
have increased. The
price of 19 kg cylinder
has increased by Rs 105
percylinder,afterwhich
its price has reached
above two thousand in
Delhi and above 21 hun-
dred in Chennai. Simi-
larly
, the price of five kg
cylinder has increased
by Rs 27 per cylinder.
The price of domestic
LPG i.e. 14 kg cylinder is
at nine hundred in Del-
hi, which is expected to
go to a historic high this
month. It is not possible
to even guess how much
the price of petrol, die-
sel will increase.
Elections over: Is it time for price rise?
MODI FLAGS OFF PUNE METRO, TAKES A RIDE
PM buys Metro ticket for inaugural ride, ensures convenient and comfortable travel for people of Pune; cost of project is over `11,400 crore
Pune (Agencies): Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday flagged
off the Pune Metro Rail
and later took a ride
from the Garware col-
lege to Anandnagar
metro stations. Prior to
boarding the metro
train, Modi unveiled a
plaque relating to the
project, took a review
of the entire project
from a senior official.
On board the train,
Modi interacted with
specially-abled children
during the 10-minutes
journey at Anandnagar
metro station. The PM
reached the Garware
metro station after un-
veiling a statue of
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj at the Pune
municipal corporation
headquarters. He was
accompanied, among
others, by Maharashtra
Governor Bhagat Singh
Koshiyari, deputy chief
minister Ajit Pawar,
Leader of Opposition
and former CM Deven-
dra Fadnavis, Minster
for Urban Development
Department Eknath
Shinde, Pune Mayor
Murlidhar Mohol and
other dignitaries.
ALL IN A DAY
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the Pune
Metro Rail Project, in Pune on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi enhancing Pune’s
development journey and rides in Pune Metro with the
school children after inaugurating it, in Pune on Sunday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
PM WITH YOUNG FRIENDS!
PM Modi unveils Shivaji Maharaj statue
Pune (PTI): Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Sunday unveiled a stat-
ue of Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj on the
premises of Pune Mu-
nicipal Corporation.
The statue is made up of
1,850 kg of gunmetal
and is about 9.5-feet tall.
Making a pitch for
the rejuvenation of riv-
ers, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Sun-
day called upon people
to observe ‘Nadi Utsav’
in urban cities once a
year to spread aware-
ness among people for
water conservation in
society
.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays floral tributes to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj after
unveiling it on the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation, in Pune on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI
PM DEDICATES
150 ELECTRIC
BUSES FOR
TRANSPORT
Pune (ANI): Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday
dedicated a fleet of
150 electric buses,
manufactured by
Olectra Green, for
public transport.
Besides, PM Modi
also inaugurated
a state-of-the-art
electric bus depot
and charging station
in the Baner locality
of Pune during an
event, the Hyderabad-
based manufacturer
of e-buses said.
MAHARASHTRA DY CM’S NEW DIG AT GOVERNOR IN FRONT OF PM
Pune (PTI): Maha-
rashtra Deputy
Chief Minister Ajit
Pawar on Sunday
said some people
holding high posts
were making unnec-
essary comments
and this was not ac-
ceptable to the peo-
ple of the state.
NCP leader Ajit
Pawar made the com-
ments, apparently
aimed at Maharash-
tra Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshyari, at
Pune’s MIT College
ground, where PM
Narendra Modi and
the governor were
present during the
inauguration of var-
ious projects.
On Sunday, before
PM Modi’s public ad-
dress, Pawar said, “I
want to bring one
thing to the PM’s no-
tice. Of late, some
people holding im-
portant positions are
making unnecessary
comments which are
not acceptable to
Maharashtra.”
“ChhatrapatiShiva-
ji Maharaj and his
mother Rajmata Ji-
jau formed Swara-
jya. Mahatma Jyoti-
ba Phule and Kranti-
jyoti Savitribai Phule
(both social reform-
ers from Maharash-
tra) laid the founda-
tion for women’s ed-
ucation. We need to
carry forward their
legacy without hold-
ing grudges against
anyone and without
bringing politics into
the development
works,” the NCP
leader said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated by Maharashtra
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. —PHOTO BY ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
Rape case: SC stays death sentence,
orders psychological evaluation
Supreme Court has
stayed the operation of
the death sentence
awarded to a man con-
victed for raping and
murdering an 11-year-
old girl in Dehradun in
2018. The SC, which was
hearing an appeal filed
by the convict against
the January 2020 ver-
dict of the Uttarakhand
High Court which had
confirmed the death
penalty awarded to him
by a trial court, directed
that psychological eval-
uation of the appellant
be done and its report
be placed before it.
“Issue notice of lodg-
ment of appeal to the
state of Uttarakhand,
returnable on May 4,
2022,” a bench headed
by Justice UU Lalit
said.
SC UPHOLDS
DISMISSAL
OF CISF
CONSTABLE
New Delhi (PTI):
The Supreme Court
has upheld a 2001
order sacking a CISF
constable, who had
allegedly assaulted
an officer after he
reprimanded him
for sleeping during
patrolling duty,
saying a sense of
integrity, discipline
and camaraderie is
“paramount” given
the nature of the
force.
MEDIA UNDER ATTACK: EX-TOP COURT
JUDGE’S DON’T ‘TOE THE LINE’ ADVICE
New Delhi (PTI): For-
mer Supreme Court
judge Justice Madan
B Lokur noted on Sat-
urday that the media is
under attack “in many
ways” in the country
but the freedom of
press is a fundamental
right guaranteed un-
der the Constitution
and journalists must
stand up to protect it.
Addressing a pro-
gramme organised to
present the IPI-India
awards for excellence
in journalism, he said
a series of events, in-
cluding lodging of
FIRs against scribes
and putting them un-
der arrest for doing
their job, has had “a
chilling effect” on me-
diapersons, forcing
them to become “far
more cautious than
they ought to be”.
Prez Kovind flags off fitness
run at Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi (PTI): Pres-
ident Ram Nath Kovind
on Sunday organised a
run at the Rashtrapati
Bhavan here to promote
fitness and health con-
sciousness as part of
‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahot-
sav’ celebrations, an of-
ficial statement said.
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Ma-
hotsav’ is an initiative
of government of India
to commemorate 75
years of independence.
The run was flagged
off by the President and
First Lady Savita Ko-
vind, the statement is-
sued by the President’s
office said. The 5-km
run started from the
Rashtrapati Bhavan
forecourt and ended at
the Rashtrapati Bhavan
sports complex, it said.
Along with the Presi-
dent, senior officials
and staff of the Presi-
dent’s Secretariat par-
ticipated in the run, it
said.
President Ram Nath Kovind flags off a run in New Delhi on
Sunday. First Lady Savita Kovind also present. —PHOTO BY ANI
WILL WE WITNESS ANOTHER
WAVE OF CORONAVIRUS?
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Is the Cov-
id-19 pandemic over or
there is still a possibil-
ity of its return? Now
less than 10,000 new
cases are being record-
ed in India every day
and the death toll due to
infection has also come
down significantly. De-
spite this, a study has
been done by IIT Kan-
pur, according to which
the Covid-19 pandemic
may spike again. Ac-
cording to this study,
the fourth wave of Cov-
id-19 may start around
June 22 and peak from
mid to late August. If it
comes, then its effect
will be there for the
next two months.
Keep in mind that the
third wave was not very
deadly
. It was definitely
contagious but not
many people died in it.
This was because the
Omicron variant that
caused the third wave
was not lethal. But it
can’t be said that if any
next wave comes, it will
be similarly less lethal.
Situation can also be
like the second wave. It
depends on the variant
and its potency
. If a new
variant comes, it can be
dangerous too. Accord-
ing to the study by IIT
Kanpur, the nature of
the variant and the sta-
tus of vaccination will
ascertain how the
fourth wave will
behave.
Keep in mind that
when the world is con-
sidering the virus to be
over, it has caused hav-
oc in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, under
the zero covid policy,
everyone has got the
vaccine. Despite this,
there has been an epi-
demic of corona and
the administration
there is preparing for a
very strict lockdown
like China. Therefore,
it can be dangerous to
consider that the Cov-
id-19 pandemic is over
as of now.
—FILE PHOTO
Week after Imran met Putin,
Pak NSA’s visit to UK cancelled
New Delhi: Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s visit to Moscow,
which coincided with
the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, seems to have
caused a diplomatic re-
percussion for the coun-
try — the cancellation
of National Security
Adviser Yusuf Moe-
ed’s official trip to the
United Kingdom.
Moeed was supposed
to land in London Sat-
urday to meet his Brit-
ish counterpart, he
could do neither of the
two events in person.
According to news re-
ports from Pakistan,
the UK government
cancelled the proposed
visit due to the coun-
try’s stance on Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine.
The Pakistan PM’s
two-day visit to Russia,
along with his first-ever
summit meeting with
President Vladimir Pu-
tin, had run concur-
rently with the invasion
on 24 February
.
3 killed, 36 injured after bus
carrying labourers overturns
Shahdol (PTI): Three
passengers, including a
minor girl, were killed
and 36 others injured
after a bus carrying la-
bourers from Chhattis-
garh to Uttar Pradesh
overturned in Shahdol
district of Madhya
Pradesh.
The accident took
place around 11.30 pm
onSaturdayatPathkhai
Ghat, some 35 km from
the Shahdol, when the
private bus was on way
to the Lucknow,
Sinhpur police station
in-charge Rameshwar
Uike said.
—FILE PHOTO

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
UKRAINE CONFLICT LIKELY TO AFFECT
GROWTH: RBI MPC MEMBER VARMA
New Delhi (PTI): Emi-
nent economist Jay-
anth R Varma on Sun-
day said the Russia-
Ukraine conflict is
likely to have adverse
effects on both econom-
ic growth as well as in-
flation and policy mak-
ers must remain alert
and ready to respond
rapidly to the emerging
situation.
Varma, who is also a
member of the Mone-
tary Policy Committee
(MPC) of the Reserve
Bank, in an interview
to PTI said inflation is
higher than target,
though it is within the
tolerance band.
Listing challenges
faced by the Indian
economy, Varma said
while the economy
has yet to recover
from the cyclical
economic slow-
down which began
around three years
ago, investment has
remained subdued
during this period, and
private consumption
has not fully recovered
from the pandemic.
“The economy faces
new stresses emanat-
ing from geopolitical
tensions,” he said, add-
ing that inflation is
higher than the target
t h o u g h
within
the tolerance band.
Varma, who is a pro-
fessor of finance and
accounting in IIM
Ahmedabad said: “The
conflict is likely
to have adverse
effects on both
e c o n o m i c
growth and on
inflation... Poli-
cy mak-
e r s
must in
m y
view
r e -
m a i n
alert and
stand ready
to respond
rapidly to
the emerging
situation.”
A s i a ’ s
third-larg-
est econo-
my is pro-
jected to
grow 8.9%
in the fiscal
year ending
March 31, slower than
previously anticipated
9.2%, according to the
recent government
data.
“RBI projected 2022-
23 inflation to be not
much above the target
of 4%, but the degree
of confidence in this
point estimate is quite
low, and there is a non-
trivial chance of infla-
tion ending up above
the tolerance band.”
Varma further noted
that the opposite is also
true and the possibility
of inflation being much
lower than the estimate
cannot also be ruled
out.
He pointed out that
the reason why it is so
difficult to forecast in-
flation (both in India
and globally) is that
supply disruptions
have been a big contrib-
utor to rising prices,
and it is hard to say
how long these disrup-
tions will last.
He said the pandem-
ic shifted demand from
contact intensive ser-
vices to goods.
“Consequently, there
has been a shortage of
goods on the one hand
and a surplus capacity
in services. Relative
price changes that
make goods more ex-
pensive and services
cheaper are one way to
rebalance the econo-
my,” the eminent econ-
omist opined.
Eco yet to recover
GovtmaydeferLIC
IPOtonextfiscal
amidUkrainecrisis
New Delhi
( P T I ) :
The gov-
er nment
is expect-
ed to
d e f e r
t h e
mega
initial
public
offer-
i n g
(IPO)
of LIC to the next
financial year as the
ongoing Russia-
Ukraine war has
dampened fund
managers’ interest
in the public issue,
market experts said
on Sunday
.
The government
was looking to sell
5% stake in Life In-
surance Corpora-
tion (LIC) this
month, which could
have fetched over
`60,000 crore to the
exchequer.
The IPO would
have helped meet
the curtailed disin-
v e s t m e n t
target of
` 7 8 , 0 0 0
crore this
fiscal.
“The cur-
rent ge-
opolit-
ical is-
s u e
b e -
t w e e n
Russia and Ukraine
makes the global eq-
uity markets jittery
.
Indian markets also
reacted negatively
to this development
and corrected near-
ly 11% from their
all-time high.
“Thus, the cur-
rent market volatil-
ity is not conducive
for the LIC IPO and
the government is
most likely to defer
the issue to next fis-
cal year,” Arijit
Malakar, Head of
Retail Equity Re-
search, Ashika
Group, said.
Skoda set to play part in green mobility space
New Delhi (PTI):
Czech carmaker Skoda
is mulling to drive in
electric vehicles in the
Indian market as it ex-
pects the green mobili-
ty segment to pick up
significantly in the
country over the next
few years, acc to a sen-
ior company official.
The automaker,
which is witnessing a
turnaround in its do-
mestic business, how-
ever, has no plans to
get into the CNG
space in the
immediate
future.
“We will
have to (get
into the EV
segment) be-
cause we plan a
long term future in In-
dia,” Skoda Auto India
Brand Director Zac
Hollis told when asked
if the company is look-
ing to launch electric
vehicles in the country
.
“We estimate that by
2030, 25-30% of the
market would be elec-
tric cars and we need to
make sure that we play
our part, so we will
bring EVs to the mar-
ket,” he added.
Hollis noted that
group firms like Audi
and Porsche have al-
ready started to launch
high-end electric vehi-
cles in the Indian mar-
ket.
“The electric car
launches from the
group enable us to see
how the technology is
working in the
I n d i a n
road conditions and
climate and also it will
help us learn from the
dealer aspect as well,”
he started.
When asked
about the
launch time-
lines, Hollis
said: “Can’t
give a time-
line as it is
still under
discussion.”
On the introduction
of CNG models, he stat-
ed: “We have no short
term plans for CNG...
the problem is that
with our platform,
technology and TSI en-
gines we cannot be
competitive and a CNG
car is predominantly at
a lower end of the mar-
ket.
“I think that is the is-
sue we need to look at..
so no plans in the short
term but we will keep
reviewing it.”
Many domestic car-
makers are expanding
their CNG product
lineup in the country
amid an increase in
fuel prices and a drop
in diesel car sales.
The automaker, which
is witnessing a
turnaround in its
domestic business,
however, has no plans
to get into the CNG
space in near future.
Centre may
miss revised
disinvestment
target
India set to
export record
7 mn tonnes
wheat this yr
dia will miss its re-
vised disinvestment
target for the second
time in the past eight
years by a wide mar-
gin, as the govern-
ment may not be able
to raise an expected
over `60,000 crore
from the IPO of in-
surance behemoth
LIC in 2021-22.
Since the Modi
government came to
power in 2014, it was
only in 2019-20 that it
failed to achieve the
revised CPSE disin-
vestment target of
`65,000 crore. The
mop-up during the
year was only `50,304
crore. So far, the gov-
ernment has collect-
ed `12,400 crore and
was banking on LIC
IPO to achieve the re-
vised target of
`78,000 crore.
dia is set to export a
record of 7 million
tonnes of wheat this
year as a rally in
global prices gives
the India an opportu-
nity to gain market
share. “Indian wheat
exports have picked
up. By the end of Feb,
we had already ex-
ported 6.6 million
tonnes of wheat. Still
one month is left”,
the most senior civil
servant at the Minis-
try of Consumer Af-
fairs, Food and Pub-
lic Distribution, told
reporters.
government is plan-
ning to strengthen the
rail infrastructure and
has stressed on com-
missioning 14 critical
coal-evacuation rail
projects for faster
transportation of fuel,
as higher fuel prices is
likely to put pressure
on the railways for
transportation of do-
mestic coal.
The projects include
-- Tori-Shivpur Rail-
way Line (on Deposit
Basis), Jharsuguda-
Barpali-Sardega Rail
Link at Ib-Valley Coal-
field of MCL in Odisha
(on deposit basis) and
Shivpur-Kathautia
Railway line (through
SPV).
In a meeting held
last month, under the
Chairmanship of Coal
Secretary A K Jain, the
status and progress of
these projects was re-
viewed.
Thermal power gen-
eration from imported
coal-based plants is
likely to drop further
due to higher fuel pric-
es and would put stress
on the railways for
transportation of do-
mestic coal.
“Almost 8% of the
thermal power genera-
tion used to come from
imported coal-based
plants, which has fall-
en to 3% due to higher
coal prices. This is
most likely to drop fur-
ther in future, this will
bring stress on rail-
ways for transporta-
tion of domestic coal
in order to eliminate/
substitute import of
thermal coal,” Jain
said.
According to the
minutes of the meet-
ing, this issue is linked
with the necessity of
energy for the country
.
Govt working on 14 critical
coal-evacuation rail projects
GST COUNCIL TO
CONSIDER
RATIONALISING
SLABS
BCCL’S OUTPUT
UP BY RECORD
61% IN FEB
2022 TO 3.24 MT
New Delhi (PTI):
The GST Council in
its next meeting may
look at raising the
lowest tax slab to
8%, from 5%, and
prune the exemption
list in the Goods and
Services Tax regime
as it looks to increase
revenues and do
away with states’
dependence on
Centre for compensa-
tion, sources said. A
panel of state finance
ministers is likely to
submit its report by
this month end to the
Council suggesting
various steps to raise
revenue, including
hiking the lowest slab
and rationalising the
slab. Currently, GST
is a four-tier structure
attracting a tax rate
of 5, 12, 18 and 28%.
Essential items are
either exempted or
taxed at the lowest
slab, while luxury and
demerit items attract
the highest slab.
Luxury and sin goods
attract cess on top of
the highest 28% slab.
Ranchi (PTI): Coal
India’s subsidiary
BCCL has posted a
record 61% growth in
its production to 3.24
million tonne (mt)
in February this year
over the correspond-
ing month last fiscal.
Bharat Coking Coal
Ltd (BCCL), a Dhan-
bad-based subsidiary
of the Maharatna
public sector under-
taking, also claimed
that it registered
the highest offtake
growth of around
66% to 2.93 mt dur-
ing the last month.
“BCCL has achieved
a record growth in
coal production and
dispatch in Feb 2022
as compared to the
same month last fis-
cal,” the miner said.
The output increased
by 61% in the last
month to 3.24 mt as
compared to 2.01 mt
in Feb 2021. The coal
offtake was at 2.93
mt last month, up by
66% from 1.76 mt in
the year-ago month,
BCCL said.
AWAITING RBI GUIDELINES ON SWIFT: PNB
COSTLIER CRUDE OIL PUSHING UP PRICES: JSPL
New Delhi (PTI): Country’s second-largest bank Punjab
National Bank (PNB) has said it was awaiting advisory
from the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) regarding SWIFT-related transactions with Russian
entities. “...we have not received any advisory from the
RBI/Finance Ministry regarding SWIFT-related transac-
tions with respect to Russia. Any action in this regard
shall be taken after receipt of guidelines from RBI or
finance ministry,” PNB said in a response to queries on
Russia-related transactions.
New Delhi (PTI): There is a need to control energy
prices across the globe as rising crude oil rates, amid the
Ukraine-Russia conflict, are making raw materials costlier
for the steel industry, according to a top industry execu-
tive. On the ongoing conflict between the two countries,
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) Managing Director V
R Sharma said, “It is a very unfortunate situation. Some
oil companies are taking advantage of the situation... Re-
spective governments across the world can keep a price
control as everything is run by energy.”
FPIS PULL OUT `17,537 CR FROM INDIAN MKTS
New Delhi (PTI): Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled
out as much as `17,537 crore from the Indian markets
in just three trading sessions of March as investors’
sentiment got dented by the uncertainty triggered by
the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising crude oil prices.
As per depositories data, they pulled out `14,721 crore
from equities, `2,808 crore from debt segment and Rs 9
crore from hybrid instruments between March 2-4. This
took the total net outflow to `17,537 crore. “The market
sentiments have been impacted globally by the uncertainty
triggered by the war and the surge in crude,” said VK
Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Finan-
cial Services.
Projects include
Amul expects 18%
growth in turnover
dia’s leading dairy co-
operative GCMMF,
which markets dairy
products under the
Amul brand, is ex-
pecting an 18%
growth in its turno-
ver this fiscal year to
around `46,000 crore
on better de-
mand, its
Managing
Director R
S Sodhi
said. Guja-
rat Coopera-
tive Milk
M a r k e t i n g
Federation Ltd (GC-
MMF) had posted a
marginal growth of
2% during the 2020-
21 financial year to
`39,200 crore despite
the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
In an interview
with PTI, Sodhi
said: “We are ex-
pecting around
18% growth
this fiscal
year to
a b o u t
` 4 6 , 0 0 0
c r o r e. ”
The de-
mand for
all prod-
ucts, like
butter, ice
c r e a m ,
milk, has im-
proved, he
added.

07
NEWS
NIT legislator Neeraj Sharma adjudged best MLA
Ahmedabad (PTI): The
Gujarat Anti-Terrorist
Squad seized drugs esti-
mated to be worth 2,170
crore in the last three
years and arrested 73
people,includinganum-
ber of Pakistani nation-
als, in this connection,
the ATS said on Sunday
.
It claimed that Paki-
stani smugglers many
timestriedtousetheGu-
jarat coast to smuggle
drugs, but all such at-
tempts were foiled.The
Gujarat ATS carried out
joint operations with the
Indian Coast Guard and
local police to bust sev-
eral such attempts, the
anti-terror agency said
in a release.
In 2021 alone, narcot-
ics worth Rs 1,466.18
crore were seized, while
drugs worth Rs 704.04
crore were confiscated
in the previous two
years, it said. Many of
theseseizuresweremade
inoperationscarriedout
in the Arabian Sea off
the Gujarat coast, , it
said.
The figure does not
include the drug seizure
worth Rs 21,000-crore
made by the DRI from
the Mundra port in
Kutch district in Sep-
tember last year.
First India Bureau
Faridabad: People
from NIT Faridabad
constituency came in
big numbers to wel-
come their MLA
Neeraj Sharma who
has been adjudged the
best legislator. People
of his constituency are
ecstatic over the
achievement of MLA
Neeraj Sharma. On
Sunday, when MLA
Neeraj Sharma
reached NIT after get-
ting this distinguished
achievement at Vidhan
Sabha, prominent peo-
ple from this constitu-
ency gave him a rous-
ing welcome at Hard-
ware Pyali Chowk.
They welcomed MLA
Sharma with the beats
of drums and garland-
ed him.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Ministry
of Culture, Ministry of
Jal Shakti, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Af-
fairs in collaboration
with Sulabh Interna-
tional organized an
event “Swacchagraha”
under the aegis of Aza-
di Ka Amrit Mahotsav
to encourage the mass
awareness with the core
thought of “Swachhta,
Swadhinta and Sulabh”
in New Delhi.
Vice Chairman, Gan-
dhi Smriti Vijay Goel;
Yoga Guru Baba Ram-
dev; Bindeshwar
Pathak,founder of Su-
labh Sanitation, Social
Reform Human
Rights Movement; OSD,
Ministry of Culture,
Ratnesh Jha; Deputy
Secy. Rajeevi Jauhari
from Ministry of Jal
Shakti; Priyanka Chan-
dra Director; and Usha
Chaumar, President,
Sulabh International
Social Service Organi-
zation were among
those who participated
in the event.
The event was con-
ducted in two sessions,
in first session Dr
Bindeshwar Pathak,
founder of Sulabh Sani-
tation, Social Reform
Human Rights Move-
ment addressed the au-
dience. Addressing the
event, Dr Pathak men-
tioned that it’s a grand
opportunity to join
hands with the Minis-
try of Housing and Ur-
ban Affairs, Ministry of
Jal Shakti and Ministry
of Culture, Govern-
ment of India to cele-
brate the countrywide
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahot-
sav.
He further highlight-
ed that the Amrit Ma-
hotsav is about the
Prime Minister’s grand
vision of India 2.0 as
Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
He said “We all as Su-
labh family affirm our
faith in and resolve to
work for, as also the pro-
found vision and dream
of Mahatma Gandhi for
Swachh Bharat.”
He also added that
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi, has done a lot
to do away with defeca-
tion in the open and
equip all schools in the
country with sanitation
facilities.
On the occasionYoga
Guru Baba Ramdev
from the Patanjali Yo-
gpeethcenter also ad-
dressed the audience
virtually
.
Ministry of Culture celebrating Swachhta and Swadhinta
AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV
lll
Dr Pathak
highlighted that
the Amrit
Mahotsav is
about the Prime
Minister’s grand
vision of India
2.0 as
Aatmanirbhar
Bharat
Baba Ramdev many others participated in Swacchagraha event organised by Ministry of Culture.
UKRAINE CRISIS
OVER 2100 INDIANS BROUGHT
BACK BY SPECIAL FLIGHTS
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Gov-
ernment of India
(GoI) said on Sunday
that under ‘Opera-
tion Ganga’ to rescue
Indian citizens, 2135
Indians have been
brought back today
by 11 special civilian
flightsfromUkraine’s
neighbouring coun-
tries.
With this, more
than 15 thousand 9
hundred Indians
have been brought
back since the special
flights began on Feb-
ruary22.Thenumber
of Indiansairliftedby
66 special civilian
flights goes up to
13852. Till date, the
IAF has flown 10 sor-
ties to bring back 2056
passengers.
Among the special
Civilian flights on
Sunday, 9 landed in
New Delhi while 2
reached Mumbai.
There were 6 flights
from Budapest.
8 FLIGHTS
TO BRING
BACK 1500
INDIANS
New Delhi (PTI):
Eight flights with
over 1,500 Indians
will operate from
war-torn Ukraine’s
neighbouring
countries to India
on Monday, the Civil
Aviation Ministry
stated on Sunday.
The Ukrainian air-
space has been shut
since February 24
due to the Russian
military offensive.
Indian citizens
fleeing Ukraine
are being airlifted
from its neighbours
such as Romania,
Hungary, Slovakia
and Poland. “Under
‘Operation Ganga’
to rescue Indian citi-
zens, 2,135 Indians
have been brought
back today (Sun-
day) by 11 special
civilian flights from
Ukraine’s neigh-
bouring countries,”
the ministry noted
in a statement.
“Tomorrow, eight
special flights are
expected to operate
from Budapest
(five), Suceava
(two) and Bucha-
rest (one), bringing
more than 1,500 In-
dians back home, it
mentioned. To date,
the Indian Air Force
has flown 10 sorties
to bring back 2,056
passengers while
taking 26 tonnes of
relief load to these
countries as part of
‘Operation Ganga’.
The IAF is con-
ducting its flights
using C-17 military
transport planes.
The civilian flight
are being operated
by Indian carriers
such as IndiGo, Air
India, Vistara and
SpiceJet.
PM’s personal ties made
evacuation possible:Yogi
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adity-
anath on Sunday met
Indian students who
have been braught
from war-torn
Ukraine, at his offi-
cial residence. The
students were evacu-
ated under the gov-
ernment of India’s
special “Operation
Ganga” mission.
During the interac-
tion, the students
from different parts
of Uttar Pradesh who
have returned from
the war-hit Ukraine
expressed their grati-
tude to Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi
and Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath and
lauded the govern-
ment for rescuing
them when they had
lost all hope. “Modi
hai toh Mumkin hai”,
they said.
“It is shameful that
some ‘politicians’ in
India do not want our
Indian students to re-
turn safely. They are
still doing politics
amid the ongoing
Ukraine-Russia cri-
sis,” Yogi said, ex-
pressing his sympa-
thies with the stu-
dents who, he added,
had to go through
such an experience at
a young age.
Lucknow (PTI): In-
teracting with stu-
dents who returned
from Ukraine, Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
on Sunday claimed
that such a successful
and systematic oper-
ation to evacuate In-
dian citizens was
never undertaken in
the past.
He said it was due
to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s
“personal” relations
with Ukraine’s neigh-
bouring countries,
including Romania
and Hungary, that
these countries had
opened their borders
only to Indian citi-
zens, which led to the
safe return of stu-
dents.
In a meeting with
52 students evacuated
from Ukraine and
their parents at his
official residence, 5,
Kalidas Marg, the
chief minister said it
is only because of
their faith in the Nar-
endra Modi govern-
ment that their safe
return has been pos-
sible.
Indian medical students abroad join forces
to help peers stranded in war-torn Ukraine
New Delhi (PTI):
Need a cab for four peo-
pleinKyiv.Doweknow
someone in Poland
who can drop food
packets at the border?
A group is starting
from Kharkiv, any up-
dates on trains?
Thousands of such
messages keep pour-
ing in WhatsApp, Tel-
egram and social me-
dia groups created by
Indian medical stu-
dents abroad who have
volunteered to help
their peers stranded in
Ukraine amid the Rus-
sian invasion.
The volunteering
students are studying
in China, Uzbekistan
and Philippines. While
manyof themarehelp-
ing from their univer-
sity campuses, the oth-
ers are those who had
returned to India in
the wake of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic and
are attending online
classes.
As soon as the news
of Indian students be-
ing stranded in war-hit
Ukraine spread, these
volunteers sprung into
action. “We were con-
nected with some of
the medical students
in different countries
since we went to coach-
ing institutions togeth-
er before leaving India.
“We also had multi-
ple groups on What-
sapp and Telegram to
exchange updates,
notes and other infor-
mation on Foreign
Medical Graduate Ex-
amination (FMGE),
which we are supposed
to write to practice in
India,” P Sharma, a
student of China’s
Harbin Medical Uni-
versity
, told PTI.
“When things start-
ed going south in
Ukraine, we thought
why not use these to
help our fellow stu-
dents stranded there.
Wecollatedallcontacts
and shared the group
links on social media.
Within two days, there
were over 5,000 sub-
scribers in the Tele-
gram group and we
made it a virtual war
room,” he added.
Coordinating across
time zones, managing
hundreds of messages,
watching the news to
stay abreast of the con-
stantly evolving situa-
tion in Ukraine keeps
the young volunteers
busy
.
Another Indian
medical student at Ca-
gayan State University
in Philippines said the
groups receive at least
100 messages every 15
minutes.
Modi hai toh mumkin
hai: Rescued students
GUJARATATSSEIZEDDRUGSWORTH
` 2,170 CR IN 3 YRS; 73 PEOPLE ARRESTED

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
60,17,280
TOTAL DEATHS
37,88,03,239
TOTAL RECOVERED
6,08,60,378
ACTIVE CASES
44,56,80,897
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
5,15,063
TOTAL DEATHS
4,23,88,475
TOTAL RECOVERED
59,415
ACTIVE CASES
4,29,62,953
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
If something stirs a feeling deep
inside you, it was meant to be -
it’s connected to your purpose.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Hyderabad: Vice Presi-
dent M Venkaiah Naidu
on Sunday said that the
media “should not mix
news with views” and
maintain objectivity in
bringing facts to the
people. He observed
that people take the con-
tent of the news and
broadcast media to be
credible and media or-
ganisations should live
up to their expecta-
tions. “Journalism
should be treated as a
mission,” he said.
Releasing a collection
of editorials titled ‘Mut-
nuri Krishna Rao Sam-
padakeeyalu’ here on
Sunday, Naidu high-
lighted the critical role
of media as the ‘fourth
pillar of democracy’ in
protecting and preserv-
ing democracy. He said
the media is the vital
channel of communica-
tion that can take the
issues of the people to
the government and the
schemes and policies of
the government to the
people.
Vice President Naidu
stressed that the media
has the right and re-
sponsibility to question
and criticise the gov-
ernment and suggest
alternative solutions.
At the same time, he ob-
served, media organisa-
tions should not rake up
trivial issues and
spread panic among the
people.
Observing the tre-
mendous impact the
media has on people,
the Vice President said
journalists should
weigh the consequenc-
es of each word they
print and broadcast on
society. “They must re-
member that they are a
part of society too,” he
added.
Naidu lauded jour-
nalists for their resil-
ience and courage dur-
ing the pandemic and
said they have shown
great grit and resolve in
bringing out reports
from the ground.
Vice Prez Naidu suggests media ‘should not mix news with views’
Johannesburg (PTI):
The current Ukraine
crisis triggered after
the Russian military op-
eration has given rise to
“disturbing” reports of
racism against students
of several nations, in-
cluding India, who have
been attempting to flee
the war-torn country,
the Nelson Mandela
Foundation (NMF) said.
As per reports in the
international media, In-
dian, South African, Ni-
gerian and students of
other nationalities have
been debarred from us-
ing transport to reach
neighbouring Poland as
thousands of Ukraini-
ans fled the country
.
Some complained of be-
ing beaten up as they
tried to join the fleeing
crowds, purely because
of their skin colour.
“The conflict has fore-
groundedanotherglobal
fault line: racism. There
have been disturbing re-
ports of Black people
and people of colour, be-
ing denied seats in buses
evacuatingrefugees,and
turned away from the
Polish border, the NMF
said.
“This illustrates once
more a common global
phenomenon in which
the sufferings of white
people in conflict situa-
tions habitually receive
more attention and
care, it said, adding that
white lives are seen to
matter far more than
the lives of others.
Racism remains as
insidious and ubiqui-
tous as it has ever been,
it said in a statement.
The Johannesburg-
based Non-profit organ-
isation said that achiev-
ing solidarity in the
global community re-
quired recognition of
shared humanity and
defending equally all
victims of war and prej-
udice.
TRIBUTES TO MUTNURI KRISHNA RAO
ModigovtisdeprivingPunjabof
itsrights,saysBhagwantMann
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
Punjab’s Chief Ministe-
rial candidate and
Member of Parliament
Bhagwant Mann has al-
leged that the BJP gov-
ernment led by PM Nar-
endra Modi is inciting
and trying to provoke
the people of the state
by continuously imple-
menting anti-Punjab
decisions.
Mann said that its re-
cent example is the
“robbery” of the post of
Managing Director of a
business entity in the
state capital Chandi-
garh, Chandigarh In-
dustrial and Tourism
Development Corpora-
tion (CITCO). Mann ap-
pealed to PM Narendra
Modi to stop imple-
menting anti-Punjab
decisions and refrain
from any attempt to pro-
voke the people of Pun-
jab as Punjab is a bor-
der state and people
have been suffering
from atrocities for a
long time.
In a statement issued
on Sunday, BMann said
that in Punjab Assem-
bly elections, the Nar-
endra Modi Govern-
ment had consistently
implemented anti-Pun-
jab decisions which was
causing displeasure
among the Punjabis
against the Modi gov-
ernment.
Chandigarh: Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP)
Punjab Senior Leader
and Leader of Oppo-
sition Harpal Singh
Cheema said that
people of Punjab have
issued their mandate in
favour of Aam Aadmi
Party and on March
10 the same will be
announced. The AAP
leader was reacting to
a statement of Con-
gress leader Rajinder
Kaur Bhattal where she
suggested an alliance
with Aam Aadmi Party.
In a statement issued
on Sunday, Cheema
said that the people of
Punjab had voted for
change and their party
was confident that
the Aam Aadmi Party
government would
be formed in Punjab
with an overwhelming
majority. Therefore,
the political alliance is
not their agenda but
the AAP is currently
formulating a strategy
for the development of
Punjab. Cheema said
that traditional parties
were always involved in
political maneuvering
and were far away from
the common people and
their issues but here the
Aam Aadmi Party was
different from these
parties, as we don’t
plan alliances but devel-
opment strategies.
PEOPLE OF PUNJAB HAVE ISSUED
MANDATE IN FAVOUR OF AAP: CHEEMA
Kashmiri migrant pandits
demand hike in monthly relief
Jammu (PTI): Scoresof
migrant Kashmiri pan-
dits on Sunday held a
demonstration outside
their township to press
for their various de-
mands including a hike
in the monthly relief
fund and government
jobs to unemployed
youthsof thecommunity
.
Theprotestwasorgan-
ized by Jagti Tenement
Committee. They also
demanded the setting up
of three satellite town-
shipsinthevalleyforthe
resettlement of migrant
Kashmiri pandits.
“We have been living
in exile for the past 32
years and are facing
various problems in
meeting our daily ex-
penditure due to rising
prices. The government
should enhance the
monthly relief from Rs
13,000 to Rs 25,000,”
committee president
Shadi Lal Pandita said.
He said the govern-
ment should also an-
nounce an employment
package for unem-
ployed youths of the
community besides in-
terest-free bank loans
for those who have
crossed the age limit for
government jobs.
Youth Wing Presi-
dent Naveen, said the
Central govt had pro-
vided a package of 6,000
government jobs and an
equal number of resi-
dential quarters to the
unemployed migrant
pandits in 2008.
He said the govt has
failed to implement the
package till date. Many
of the youths who got
the jobs under the pack-
age are living in private
rented accommodation,
he said, urging the gov-
ernment to speed up the
process and announce
more jobs for them.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu releasing collection of editorials in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
Indian students in Shehyni, Lviv Oblast before crossing the Ukraine-Poland border. —FILE PHOTO
This file photo shows Migrant Kashmiri pandits holding dharna.
Bhagwant Mann speaking to media. —FILE PHOTO
GAURAV SAMMAN HOLI MILAN SAMAROH
(Top) Radha Vallabh folk
group artistes from Mathura
present their performance.
Seen here Jagdeesh
Chandra, Randeep Singh
Surjewala, Bhajan Lal Jatav,
Joginder Singh Awana and
others look on.
(Bottom) Vishvendra
Singh and Randeep Singh
Surjewala lighting the lamp
as Ranjeeta Koli, Bhajan
Lal Jatav and Jagdeesh
Chandra look on.
Ukraine crisis leads to reports of
racism: Nelson Mandela Foundation
RESCUE OPERATION

www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
DESIGNERS DEPEND ON STYLISTS AND
PHOTOGRAPHERS TO CAPTURE AND
SHOWCASE THEIR CREATIONS THE BEST.
WITH RAPID CHANGING SCENARIOS AND LOW
ATTENTION SPAN, CREATIVITY NEEDS A BOOST
AND- ARTISTIC, ZANY, QUIRKY PHOTOSHOOTS
ARE BECOMING MORE COMMON TO DRAW
EYEBALLS AND HOLD THEM. CITY FIRST
CELEBRATES A FEW SHOOTS.
EXCENTRIQUE
POUR TOI
NEW DELHI, MONDAY,
MARCH 7, 2022
This shoot
celebrates just
make-up, red
is a universal
shade regardless
of the dress. The
blank back-
ground focuses
only on the lips
while the flowers
and gloves shout
‘I am a lady’!
From cute dogs
to the majectic
lion- animals
have been chosen
to celebrate the
theme of a collec-
tion since decades.
The golden flow-
ing pantaloons,
bralette with a
tribal jacket find
an echo is the
haughty camel -
all celebrate the
uniquness of
the desert.
The beautiful spring
fashion gown is
highlighted with the
Japanese kimono look,
with the focus on eye
make-up as per the
same theme, however
the elaborate flowery
tiara gives it a look
of flamboyance.
Only one who knows
pain can celebrate
joy- the contrast
theme with white
brings out the abso-
lutely flawless cut of
the gorgeous black
dress and the while
pearl choker adds
to the stark look.
Black leather patent dress shot in
a ripped blue frame hints that with
this dress you will ‘always’ make an
entry- what else do you want?
The mixed hues hint at meloncholy and the photographer
highlights the aspect with the model’s body language,
hair style and shadowed eyes as the light artfully plays
across with shadows on her legs and shoulder blades.
In-motion photograph with an art-heist theme
shows off the silver ball gown underlaid with
electric blue. This is something which will
remain in memory for a long time.
The bright forest green
frayed denim skirt and
jacket strongly moves
away from the denim
blue and the stylist
exploits the strong
colour with bold
eyeshadow and white
puffed sleeved top.

10
ETC
Similar treatment to women is a
must for the holistic
development of society
omen today have
education, em-
powerment and
freedom and can
very well under-
stand prejudicial
b e h a v i o u r
against them and mental
harassment. They know
how to fight their battles
and win back what is le-
gally due to them and
also their respect and dig-
nity
. Even if that requires
breaking the norms set
by the society and defin-
ing their own rules.
Still, we see only a few
women, howsoever edu-
cated they may be, dare to
challenge the accepted
norms and discriminato-
ry treatment being meted
to them at the workplace
probably in the fear of be-
ing ridiculed. It is mainly
because society has al-
ways undermined the
self-respect and individu-
ality of a woman. Her
problems are ignored and
her voice is suppressed
because she belongs to a
weaker gender.
Thus empowering
women is the fundamen-
tal right of women. They
should receive similar
treatment like men and
be involved in the deci-
sion making process at
every level. In other
words, they should have
proportionate rights to
contribute to society
But the fact is that for
years women have been
made to feel that they
should settle for less than
what they deserve. Also
as females, we always
have been taught to keep
patience, that in hopeless
situations it is better to
keep quiet than resist it,
that things will turn for
better after some time,
that harassment is not
something that we dis-
cuss or reveal to others
people. If a woman fights
for her rights, self-respect
and equality and refuses
to be a part of the patri-
archal framework, she is
branded as self-centred.
The basic idea of females
questioning the limits of
gender is not acceptable
to the patriarchal society
.
Our Constitution has
provided for equal rights
and opportunities to men
and women. Govern-
ments and people do also
talk about equality and
egalitarianism but rarely
work towards achieving
them. It is only limited to
granting balanced rights
to women. Governments
do make various acts and
provisions to provide a
healthy working environ-
ment and protection to
women personnel but
rarely sensitize the male
personnel on gender
equality
. In such a scenar-
io if any woman dares to
raise her voice against
inequality, gender dis-
crimination, unbalanced
working conditions and
intolerance, expresses
her opinion and asserts
herself at her workplace,
it is considered blasphe-
mous and sacrilegious for
the patriarchal frame-
work that can ruin her
career and peaceful life.
The point Is that is it so
hard to respect opinion-
ated and assertive women
in this male-dominated
society. Why a woman
cannot aspire to be inde-
pendent, why a woman is
not allowed to make a
choice to do ultimately
what she feels is right for
her, that a woman wish-
ing for something other
than a good husband and
marriage is still a hard
idea for the society to di-
gest. Even today women
are pestered about their
marriage plans than they
are even asked about
their professional ambi-
tions. Everybody in the
Indian household has
their own set of plans and
targets about their
daughter’s future specifi-
cally about her marriage
Our culture also glori-
fies the male ego no mat-
ter how reckless it is but
holds women on to whole
different selflessness and
magnanimous level. It is
expected of women that
they must be humble, big-
hearted, obedient, polite,
altogether virtuous. In
other words, our culture
applauds women’s self-
sacrifice but abhors any
form of female assertion.
The patriarchal society
has always been aware of
the enormous capabili-
ties of women, which is
why it has imposed the
obligation of selflessness
on women. Right from
ancient times to modern
times, society has eter-
nalised the rhetoric of
selflessness to control
women. In fact, selfless-
ness is an instrument of
oppression that keeps
women from seeking po-
sitions of power. It denies
them the freedom to live
out their lives according
to their wishes and de-
sires, to prove their self-
worth, shackles them to
live up to other people’s
expectations, leaving
them, mentally
, emotion-
ally and physically ex-
hausted.
However, Today Gen Z
women are learning to
prioritise the self. They
are standing up for them-
selves and they should be
because when we honour
ourselves and our needs,
we take responsibility for
our own lives. We reclaim
what’s ours and establish
a framework to thrive.
These women are begin-
ning to see through the
false morality of selfless
sacrifice and are stand-
ing up for themselves.
This is necessary to pro-
tect their self-worth in a
society that’s relentlessly
misogynistic.
There is nothing wrong
with speaking your mind
or having an opinion.
When one is self-reliant
and confident, one doesn’t
get fazed by others’ opin-
ions. After all, it’s just an
opinion and not a fact and
we all are surrounded by
a sea of opinions. When
we are confident, the in-
ner voice becomes strong-
er than the outer noise.
So the characteristics
of assertiveness, bold-
ness and opinion are not
bad things at all, rather
they are very good traits.
And yes we all agree on
this point that, irrespec-
tive of gender, society
out of its manipulation
tactics do label good peo-
ple with firm stance rude
when they actually are
not and many times re-
ally kind.
So we need to under-
stand that being asser-
tive and opinionated is
fine but at the same time
giving respect and being
tolerant to others’ opin-
ions is also important for
the harmonious and bal-
anced development of
society.
So dear society, please
accept a woman for who
she is and remember, she
has every right to defy the
norms you have set for
her. She will and should
have an opinion of her
own. All her perceptions
and approaches to self-
care are also necessary
for her personal growth.
Every woman needs to in-
dividually think about
what’s good for her. Put
herself first. Value her
worth. Recognise that she
is deserving of dignity.
Pleasing people in one’s
life with no boundaries
whatsoever will only re-
sult in resentment. It is
good to give, sure, but it
is also important to re-
ceive, In fact, new re-
search in human decision
processes suggests that
by being selfish, you not
only get the best for your-
self but also maximise
the benefits for everyone
around you.
So ladies stand up, as-
sert and express them-
selves and realise your
worth. You must know
that opportunities will
not reach your laps, you
would have to determine
ways to create them. You
need to empower yourself
by being aware and con-
fiscating chances to bring
a shift in your status. At
the same time, be warned.
The patriarchal society
may try to demoralise
you first as it is espe-
cially cruel to women
who stand up for
themselves, You will
be called negative,
selfish, greedy
, cal-
culative. But re-
fuse the judge-
ment. Rise and
shine you will.
ALKA SAXENA
Additional Director, DIPR, Rajasthan
W

oday
, the world
over, great
pens will spew
reams of mat-
ter on women,
each with a dif-
ferent perspec-
tive, some flowery
, some
condescending!!
However, I cannot
take my attention away
from the sins against
women that never let
humanity experience
total equanimity or
peace. A woman carries
emotion, love, caring in
abundance. A woman's
greatest desire is a ro-
mantic relationship
seeped in trust fideli-
ty
.Imaginehowhersoul
isexcoriatedbytheugly
,
lust of strangers ravag-
ing her routinely
. A
woman's silent torment
scorchesthesoulsof the
perpetrators. Can there
be peace harmony in
theworldwherewehave
men suffering the
heat of that infer-
no? Can these dis-
dained women be
any less than the
netherworld??
Even though an ordi-
nary woman absorbs so
manyslightsduringher
lifetime, she is seldom
the cause of civil strife
or war. She is the Ganga
that accepts and cleans-
es all these sins, only to
face another sacrilege
against her very being.
The very fact that In-
ternational Women's
Day came to
becelebrated
as late as 1909, a f -
firms the centuries-old
bias, stereotyping dis-
crimination against
women. This male dom-
ination kept society in
the DARK MODE for
aeons. But as soon as
this Half of society
started participating on
an equal footing in
progres-
sive nations,
theyovertookthe
rest of the world by
leaps bounds. They
are now havens of pros-
perity
, becoming mag-
nets for migrants from
all corners of the world.
As this movement
g a t h e r e d
momentum on basic
issueslikevotingrights,
working conditions, the
right to hold public of-
fice,etc.,thesecountries
emergedfromtheDark-
ness of deprivation
illiteracy
.
Having said
that,itwould
be germane
to quote the fa-
mouspoet/lyricistSahir
Ludhianvi, whose birth-
day too falls today
. Even
as he spoke about the
underdogs of society
, he
reserved his greatest in-
tensity for the plight of
women pushed into
prostitution. He called it
the greatest iniquity of
humanity. His blister-
ing words will put to
shameanyoneworthhis
salt:TheseravagedCar-
avansof Life;Whereare
those custodians of the
great Egos; those who
are so proud of their
Culture,wherearethey
.
On this very special
day
, there must be a
pledge by those Custo-
dians to eradicate this
scourge from the face of
the earth. Otherwise,
uncalled-for and devas-
tating wars will contin-
ue to snuff out many a
precious life, as being
experienced currently
amongtheEasternSlav-
ic brothers!!
ETC
11
RAINU SINGH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
T
CELEBRATING WOMEN
God made woman,
A chef d’ oeuvre of
his creation
A pure heart lady
Beyond one’s
imagination
A heart full of love
And a mind full of
devotion
Emotions so deep
Like a never-ending
ocean
Of all her beloved
ones
She embraces their
souls
Adorably and
flawlessly
Playing her diverse
roles
A compassionate
aura
Her beatific vibes
In a part of her
heart
A whole generation
survives
Her extraordinary
percipience
A blessing of the
supreme
Her solicitousness
for the beloveds
Makes her the most
esteemed
Respect, love and
care
That’s all she
wishes
That’s the real
treasure
That’s the real riches
There’s a reason why
we refer
To the Earth as
our mother
And the reason
is that
Like a WOMAN,
there is no one other
AWOMAN
NAMAN JAIN
ये लुटे हुए कारवां ज़िन्दगी क
े ;
कहाँ हैं, कहाँ हैं, मुहाफ़ि़ि खुदी
क
े ; जिन्हें ना़ि है हहन्द पर, वोह
कहाँ हैं ?
ये लुटे हुए कारवां ज़िन्दगी क
े ;
कहाँ हैं, कहाँ हैं, मुहाफ़ि़ि खुदी
क
े ; जिन्हें ना़ि है हहन्द पर, वोह
कहाँ हैं ?

07032022 first india new delhi

07032022 first india new delhi

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