13012022 first india new delhi

‘Our goal is to make Aam Aadmi as Khaas Aadmi’
First India Bureau
Kharar: AAP National
Convenor & Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal kicked
off AAP’s door-to-door
campaigning for the
Punjab Assembly elec-
tions on Wednesday.
Following the COVID
guidelines of the Elec-
tion Commission, Del-
hi CM Kejriwal, along
with the party’s Punjab
Convenor Bhagwant
Mann and AAP Candi-
date from Kharar An-
mol Gagan Mann, met
people door-to-door, lis-
tened to their prob-
lems, and informed
them of the party’s
plans for Punjab.
Delhi CM Kejriwal
told to locals that the
Aam Aadmi Party is a
party for common peo-
ple. He stated, “Our leg-
islators and ministers
are from normal fami-
lies. As a result, they
have a complete under-
standing and knowl-
edge of the common
people’s sufferings and
pains. Following the
formation of the Aam
Aadmi Party govern-
ment in Punjab, all fa-
cilities available to so
called important peo-
ple (such as MLAs,
MPs, Ministers, Chief
Ministers, and so on)
will be made available
to the general public as
well. Our goal is to
make every ‘Aam Aad-
mi’ in the country
‘Khaas’.
People greeted Delhi
CM warmly as he trav-
elled from one doorstep
to another. The elder
bestowed blessings and
best wishes for a mag-
nificent election
victory. More on P5 & P7
People greet Delhi CM Kejriwal warmly as he travels from one
doorstep to another.

Delhi CM
Kejriwal during
his door to door
campaign said
that Aam Aadmi
Party is a party
for common
people, our
legislators and
ministers know
the depth of
common issues
BARC RELEASES
NEWS RATINGS
New Delhi: As First
India had reported that
News Broadcasters
Federation had raised the
stalled rating issue with
Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting, the
Ministry on Wednesday
asked Indian broadcast-
ers’ body BARC to re-
lease news ratings with
immediate effect after
the council said it has
taken initiatives to revise
its protocols and mecha-
nisms. This comes after
over a year of suspen-
sion of television news
ratings following the
controversy surrounding
the alleged TRP scam
which came to the fore
in October 2020.
SC panel headed by ex-judge
to probe PM security breach
New Delhi: The Su-
premeCourtonWednes-
day appointed an in-
quiry committee under
its former judge Justice
Indu Malhotra to probe
the security breach dur-
ing Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi’s visit to
Punjab on January 5.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice of India
said that the committee
will also include the
Registrar General of
the Punjab and Hary-
ana Court, the Director
General of the National
Investigation Agency or
an officer nominated by
him not below the rank
of Inspector General,
and ADGP (Security) of
Punjab Police.
The matter “can’t be
left to one-sided enquir-
ies” and that it must be
looked into by a judi-
cially trained mind,
said the SC Bench.
SC ISSUES NOTICE
ON HATE SPEECH
The Supreme Court
on Wednesday issued
notice on a PIL seeking
probe into the alleged
hate speech by par-
ticipants at two separate
events in Haridwar and
Delhi on December 17
and 21. A bench headed
by CJI NV Ramana is-
sued notice on the plea
by Delhi resident Qurban
Ali and Senior Advocate
Anjana Prakash.
‘2 crore teens got
jab since Jan 3’
New Delhi: More than
two crore children be-
tween the ages of 15
and 18 have received
their first dose of the
Covid vaccine since
January 3, Health Min-
istry said.
CORONA CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
27,561
NEW
CASES
14,957
RECOVERED
40
NEW DEATHS
PM inaugurates eleven
medical colleges in TN
New Delhi/Chennai:
PM Narendra Modi, on
Wednesday
, virtually in-
augurated 11 new gov-
ernment medical col-
leges in Tamil Nadu.
New colleges in Ari-
yalur,Dindigul,Kallaku-
richi, Krishnagiri, Na-
gapattinam, Namakkal,
Ramanathapuram, the
Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Tiru-
vallur and Virudhuna-
gar, would have an in-
take of 1,450 MBBS stu-
dents annually
.
On the occasion, CM
MK Stalin reiterated Ta-
milNadu’sstandagainst
the NEET-based medi-
cal admissions, and ap-
pealed to Modi to allow
admissions on the basis
of Class-XII marks.
Meanwhile on Thurs-
day PM will interact
with CMs of all states
on COVID-19 situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Taking a break from political slugfest, Congress’s
national general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka
Gandhi celebrated her 50th birthday with husband
Robert Vadra and kids in Ranthambore on Wednesday.
PLAYING IN UP POLITICAL CORRIDORS
CASTE AWAY
A DAY AFTER MAURYA, ANOTHER UP CABINET MINISTER DARA SINGH
CHAUHAN, OBC LEADER, QUITS, SP CHIEF ‘WELCOMES’ HIM TO PARTY
Mohd Fahad
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Minister and
BJP leader Dara Singh
ChauhanonWednesday
resigned from the Yogi
Adityanath Cabinet.
This comes a day af-
ter five-term MLA Swa-
mi Prasad Maurya re-
signed as minister from
the Yogi Adityanath
government and
seemed headed to the
rival SP, posing for a
photograph with its
chief Akhilesh Yadav
soon after. In his letter
of resignation, Chau-
han wrote, “The gov-
ernment’s attitude to-
wards backward was
very neglectful. I am
hurt by the mess with
the reservation of back-
wards and Dalits.”
...featuring CM Yogi, delighted Akhilesh!
ARREST WARRANT
AGAINST MAURYA;
LAST NAIL IN BJP
COFFIN ON JAN 14,
HE HITS BACK
‘All will be revealed on
January 14 (Friday)’ -
influential OBC leader
Swami Prasad Maurya’s
responded to furious
speculation surrounding
his political future after
he quit the BJP. Maurya
also played down talk
over the arrest warrant
issued in his name - 24
hours after his resigna-
tion - in connection with
a 2014 hate speech case.
“If there is a case, the
law and the judiciary is
there to judge it”.
YOGI ADITYANATH
LIKELY TO CONTEST
FROM AYODHYA
UP Chief minister Yogi
Adityanath is likely to
contest assembly elec-
tions from Ayodhya.
The process for ticket
distribution within the
ruling party is in the final
stage. Earlier, there were
reports that the UP CM
may contest from Ma-
thura or Gorakhpur. BJP
lawmaker Harnath Yadav
had also written
to BJP president JP
Nadda for considering
picking Adityanath as a
candidate from Ma-
thura. But the party has
decided against it.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted the picture with Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday.
WHO IS OBC NETA CHAUHAN?
Dara Singh Chauhan, from eastern UP, was the minister
for environment and forests in the Adityanath
government and had joined the BJP in 2015, after years in
the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He was made the head of
the BJP's OBC Morcha - a plum post, and then a minister
after he won the 2017 assembly election. When in BSP,
Chauhan was a Lok Sabha MP between 2009-14 and a
Rajya Sabha MP in the late 90's.
Akhilesh Yadav @yadavakhilesh
Hearty welcome
and greetings to
Shri Dara Singh
Chauhan ji, the relentless
fighter of the struggle for
‘social justice’! The SP
and its allies will unite and
take forward the move-
ment of equality.
According
to sources,
Dara Singh
Chauhan is
now preparing
to contest
from Mukhtar
Ansari’s Ghosi
seat. It is
believed that
if Chauhan
contests from
this seat on
SP ticket, then
his victory will
be absolutely
certain.
(THERE IS A HEAVEN ON EARTH)
boatman stands near his shikara during sunset, after
recent snowfall on the outskirts of Srinagar. The MeT
Department said the weather was likely to stay mainly
dry over the next few days. The view is apt to define the
legend that when Mughal Emperor Jehangir visited Kashmir in
the 17th century, he defined the beauty, “Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin
ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.” It translates into English
meaning ‘If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here’.
A
Rocket scientist S Somanath
has been appointed as the
new chief of Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO)
and secretary of Dept of
Space. He replaces K Sivan,
whose tenure ends on Jan 14.
ROCKET MAN SOMANATH
IS THE NEW ISRO CHIEF
HAPPY
LOHRI
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
NEW DELHI l THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No.135

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
We have more arrangement than the number of beds given in LNJP and Rajiv Gandhi hospitals: Health Minister
POSITIVITYRATESTABLE,COULDLIFT
CURBS IF THIS CONTINUES, SAYS JAIN
New Delhi: Delhi
Health Minister Satyen-
dar Jain on Wednesday
said that COVID-19 cas-
es in the Union Terri-
tory continue to be
above 20,000 but the
positivity rate is stable
around 25 per cent,
which is a good sign.
He further informed
that the hospital admis-
sion rate has not risen
in the past four-five
days and if it holds then
there will be some re-
lief in restrictions.
“COVID-19 cases in
the Union territory con-
tinue to be above 20,000
but the positivity rate is
stable at around 25 per
cent which is a good
sign. The union terri-
tory has reported 21,259
COVID-19 positive cases
and 23 deaths on Tues-
day
. Hospital admission
rate has not risen in the
past 4-5 days, if it con-
tinues, there will be
some relief in restric-
tions,” Jain told ANI.
Talking about deaths
due to COVID-19, he
said, “Most of the
deaths that are taking
place are also due to
serious injuries and
otehr disease. For ex-
ample, a few days ago a
case had come where a
boy had attempted sui-
cide, who later died in
the hospital. He was
COVID-19 positve also.
It should be considered
a suicide but it is said
that he died due to COV-
ID-19”.
“In Delhi, 2209 beds
were filled till yester-
day, while 12,000 were
vacant. There is an oc-
cupancy of 15 per cent.
Only 15,000 beds have
been released so far.
While there is a provi-
sion of 37 thousand
beds. We have more ar-
rangement than the
number of beds given
in LNJP and Rajiv Gan-
dhi. We will put more
when needed, but looks
like it they won’t be
needed.”
On the restrictions
imposed in Delhi, he
said, “Fewer people are
getting admitted to hos-
pitals. It seems that the
cases are going down,
so if they go down then
the restrictions will be
reduced”.
Speaking about the
ICMR guidelines, he
said, “They are correct
instructions. —PTI
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested 28 people,
including 25 women, for allegedly cheating people with
fake loan scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar
Yojana, officials said on
Wednesday. The racket was
unearthed when a woman,
a resident of Rohini Sector
5, made a complaint with
police about being cheated
of her money. In her com-
plaint, she reported receiving a call from a man named
Satish who introduced himself as bank employee and
offered her a loan of `6 lakh under PMRGP, police said.
New Delhi: A 56-year-old Assistant Sub Inspector
(ASI), who was allegedly bitten by a stray dog, has
been sent to district lines after a video of him beat-
ing the stray dog with a stick went viral, police said
on Tuesday. According to the police, the incident took
place on January 10 when
ASI Ravinder, posted in
Jaffrabad Police Station,
was deployed for motorcy-
cle patrolling in the area.
“When he was patrolling in the Gali No. 44 one stray
dog attacked him and injured him by biting on his leg.
Reacting to that and in his self-defence, he hit the dog
with the stick unintentionally,” said the police.
FAKE LOAN GANG BUSTED IN
NORTH DELHI, 28 ARRESTED
DELHI COP SENT TO DISTRICT
LINES FOR THRASHING STRAY DOG
New Delhi: Delhi’s minimum temperature in-
creased slightly on Wednesday due to partly cloudy
sky and settled at 8.2 degrees Celsius, a notch
above normal. Shallow fog was recorded at some
places in the city. According to India Meteoro-
logical Department (IMD), the national capital’s
maximum temperature is likely to settle at around
19 degrees Celsius. Over the last three days, Delhi
has seen a sharp decline in the minimum tempera-
ture due to cold northwesterly which commenced
after the withdrawal of a western disturbance.
The minimum temperature had increased up to
15.2 degrees Celsius on January 8 due to cloudy
weather for last week. It came down to 6.5 degrees
Celsius by Tuesday.
DELHI’S MINIMUM TEMP INCREASES
SLIGHTLY TO SETTLE AT 8.2 DEG C
New Delhi: Hoteliers in
Delhi have been again hit
by the fifth wave of COV-
ID-19 in the national cap-
ital.
The hoteliers who
were already dealing
with the impact of previ-
ous waves of COVID-19
have started experienc-
ing cancellations by the
tourists.
Hoteliers claimed that
their business had been
impacted by approxi-
mately 50 pc as the tour-
ist have again started
cancelling the hotel book-
ings amid the rising cas-
es of COVID-19, Omri-
cron cases in the national
capital.
“As soon as the week-
end curfew started in
Delhi, our bookings start-
ed cancelling. We are get-
ting a lot of cancella-
tions. We had 40 bookings
on the first week of Janu-
ary. Out of which, 50 per
cent are cancelled as of
now. 45-50 percent of our
business was affected,”
Sourabh Tiwari, owner
of Sushant Travels told
ANI. “After October, our
business was getting
packed. We were getting
a lot of bookings. We
were completely packed
since October last year
till first week of January.
After October, we had 15
groups of international
arrivals. We could enter-
tain only four interna-
tional tours. All other
groups were cancelled
due to rising cases of
COVID-19,” he added.
“We are currently pro-
viding all the services
with full protocols. We
fully vaccinated drivers
and sanitized vehicles.
We are trying to make the
tourist travel to places
where there are very low
COVID-19 cases,”he stat-
ed. “Advanced bookings
are 50 pc cancelled. Peo-
ple are extre-mely scared
of the new wave,” he
added. —ANI
Delhi hoteliers say business badly affected by COVID-19
NEW WAVE
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
BUSINESSMAN SAYS
Rohinicourtshootout
mainconspiratorarrested
Delhi Riots: High Court
questions delay in probe
New Delhi: Nearly two
years after the death of
23-year-old Faizan, who
was seen in a video lying
injured on the ground as
security personnel
forced him to sing Vande
Mataram and the nation-
al anthem during the
2020 Delhi riots, the po-
lice informed the Delhi
HC that they have identi-
fied and questioned a
head constable.
The single-judge
bench of Justice Mukta
Gupta, however, ques-
tioned the delay in prob-
ing the case, and asked:
“It has been two years,
you have been able to just
identify some person?”
While adjourning the
case for hearing on Feb-
ruary 22, the court also
sought a detailed status
report on the investiga-
tion.
Faizan died in a hospi-
tal on February 26, 2020,
a day after his release
from a police station,
where he was taken after
he had been allegedly as-
saulted by policemen on
66 Foota Road in North-
east Delhi and, along
with four others, was
forced to sing Vande Ma-
taram and the national
anthem. —Agencies
New Delhi: The main
conspirator of the
shootout in Rohini
Court, wherein gang-
ster Jitender Gogi was
killed, has been arrest-
ed after a brief ex-
change of fire from
north Delhi’s Narela
Industrial area, police
said on Wednesday
.
The accused has been
identified as Rakesh Ta-
jpuriya (31), a resident
of Alipur and associate
of Tillu gang, they said.
According to police,
Rakesh is one of the
most active members
and sharp shooters of
Tillu gang. He was car-
rying a reward of Rs
50,000.One semi-auto-
matic pistol with three
live cartridges and
three empty shells were
recovered from the spot,
police said.
Rakesh was the main
conspirator behind the
killing of his gang’s ri-
val Jitender alias Gogi
as per the directions of
Sunil Tillu from jail,
they said.
Police said that on
Tuesday, they received
a tip-off that Rakesh
would come near Xing
Chemical Factory Road,
Narela Industrial area
around 10 pm to meet
his associate. —PTI
Delhi Police Special Cell, Southern Range arrested an associate
of Tillu gang Rakesh Tajpuriya who supplied the weapons that
were used to murder rival gangster Jitender Gogi inside a Rohini
courtroom in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
8 arrested for
duping 300
people
New Delhi: The Noida
police have arrested
eight cyber fraudsters
for allegedly duping
nearly 300 people across
the country of crores of
rupees by offering coun-
terfeit insurance poli-
cies. The police have re-
covered Rs 47.5 lakh, a
Harley Davidson motor-
cycle and 85 Aadhaar
cards from the accused.
The main accused
Neeraj, the police said,
is an MBA graduate
who was pursuing a Rs
35-lakh per annum job
in a Mumbai-based or-
ganisation. Another ac-
cused Umarpal is an
MCA graduate from a
Meerut university, add-
ed the police. —PTI
SATYENDAR JAIN SAYS
ONLINE YOGA CLASSES
BEGIN FOR COVID PATIENTS
New Delhi: Delhi Health
Minister Satyendar Jain
announced that the city
government’s online yoga
classes for coronavirus
patients in home isolation
kicked off on Wednes-
day.The city had 74,881
active coronavirus cases
of which 50,796 were
in home isolation on
Tuesday.“Delhi govt kicks
off the first session of
the yoga classes that was
facilitated for the corona
positive patient’s in home
isolation. This is a brilliant
initiative undertaken by
Delhi govt to keep the
people engaged in physi-
cal activities while they
are in isolation,” Jain said
on Twitter.There will be
eight classes of one hour
each from 6 am to 11 am
and 4 pm to 7 pm under
the the “Dilli ki Yogshala”
programme.“To help
patients who are recover-
ing at home, the Delhi
government has brought
forward a one-of-a-kind
programme. The pro-
gramme will be unique
in itself throughout the
globe. In my understand-
ing, we are the first to
design something like
this,” CM Arvind Kejriwal
had said on Tuesday. —PTI
1,700 POLICE PERSONNEL
TESTED POSITIVE SO FAR
42 STAFF TEST POSITIVE AT
BJP HQ, BUILDING SANITISED
New Delhi: A whop-
ping 1,700 Delhi Police
personnel have tested
positive for the novel
coronavirus infection
since January 1, of-
ficials said on Wednes-
day, adding that a
special camp has been
organised for police
headquarters staffers
to administer booster
doses to the eligible
beneficiaries. “A total
of 1,700 personnel of
the force have tested
positive for the infec-
tion from January 1 to
January 12. All of them
are doing fine and are
under quarantine. They
will be joining duty
after recovery,” a senior
police officer said.The
strength of the Delhi
Police force is over
80,000, police said.As
a precautionary welfare
measure, a special
camp has also been or-
ganised for the staffers
working at Delhi Police
Headquarters on Jai
Singh Marg for admin-
istering booster shots
to those found eligible,
they said.“Special
arrangements for ad-
ministering precaution
dose of Covid vaccine
is organised from 11:30
am onwards at Officers
lounge on the ground
floor of PHQ. —PTI
New Delhi: Forty-two
staff at the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
headquarters in Delhi
have tested positive for
COVID-19, sources have
said. A mass testing was
done on Monday ahead
of the BJP’s core group
meeting, after which
the 42 staff were found
positive.Many of those
infected are sanitation
workers, sources said.
All of them have been
asked to self-isolate.
The Bharatiya Janata
Party’s headquarters
in central Delhi’s Minto
Road was fully sanitised
later, sources said. The
BJP has started a new
protocol where all staff
at their headquarters in
Delhi will be tested for
COVID-19 ahead of any
big meeting.“Only people
engaged in important
activities related to the
office are coming to the
headquarters,” news
agency ANI reported
quoting an unnamed
BJP official.Yesterday,
a meeting of the BJP’s
core committee on the
Uttar Pradesh assembly
election was held at
the party headquarters.
The second round of
the meeting will be held
today. On Monday, BJP
chief JP Nadda said he
tested positive. —PTI
FINE OF `1.10 CR
IMPOSED FOR
VIOLATING NORMS
New Delhi: Delhi govern-
ment imposed a total
fine of `1,10,88,800 on
Tuesday for violation
of COVID protocols in
Delhi. A total of 63 FIRs
were registered by the
administration. Most
cases of violation came
from South Delhi and
East Delhi among the
11 districts. As many
as 782 cases of COVID
rules violations were
seen in South Delhi while
704 cases came from
East Delhi. In total 5,590
cases including 5,440 for
not wearing masks, 108
for not following social
distancing norms and
42 for spitting in public
places were lodged by
the administration. Delhi
reported 21,259 new
COVID-19 during the past
24 hours with a positivity
rate of 25.65 per cent,
informed the state health
bulletin on Tuesday. —ANI
New Delhi: Lok Nayak
Jai Prakash Narayan
(LNJP) Hospital of Delhi
conducted a study on
the Omicron variant
which shows that the
virus is mutating but the
disease severity is mild.
In the research, it was
discovered that 35 mu-
tations included 3 non-
significant mutations in
the spike protein. “This
is one of the best re-
search in Omicron done
by gene sequencing lab.
LNJP has done a study
on Omicron and
submitted data of 13
patients. We have com-
pared the original virus
from Wuhan, China.
In the study, we found
35 mutations which
include 3 non-significant
mutations in the spike
protein in this variant,
as compared to 31-32
mutations in the South
African variant. —PTI
LNJP STUDY
SHOWS OMICRON
VIRUS IS MUTATING

INDIA
03
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court-appointed
technical committee
probing the Pegasus es-
pionage case had issued
a public notice, asking
anyone who believes
that their phone was
hacked and spied on
with Pegasus
software, to come for-
ward and submit their
phone so that it can be
sent for forensic exami-
nation. The committee
had given a week’s time
for this, which ended on
January7.Sofaritisnot
knownhowmanypeople
came forward on panel’s
appeal and how many
submitted their phones
for forensic examina-
tion. But it is certain
that phone of former
Congress President Ra-
hul Gandhi will not be
verifiedbecausewasout
of the country till the
deadline and also there
is no such intention of
Congress to deposit Ra-
hul’s phone.
Rahulhadgoneabroad
at the end of last year to
celebrate New Year. Had
the Congress submitted
his phone for investiga-
tion, it would have in-
formed about it by hold-
ing a press conference.
Significantly
, this espio-
nage scandal was ex-
posed in the media just
before Monsoon Session
of Parliament.Investiga-
tive journalists from all
over the world worked
together on this. Accord-
ing to this disclosure,
even Opposition leaders,
journalists,ministers,of-
ficials and judges were
spied upon in India.
When the news came,
many ministers of the
BJP & also government
had challenged that peo-
ple whose phones are be-
ingsaidtobespiedupon,
should get FIR lodged.
But even then no one
came forward and even
now no one is coming.
This would mean that
just like minor ‘corri-
gendum’ carried by a
some media, even politi-
cians & civil society’s
claims were baseless
and all were engaged in
making allegations just
to corner government.
Pegasus row: Rahul fails to give phone
to SC tech panel for forensic exam!
What happened to SP
& TMC alliance in UP?
Sharat K Verma
Lucknow: Did Sama-
jwadi Party and TMC
fail to reconcile? In late
November last year,
when Mamata Banerjee
went to Mumbai and
met NCP and Shiv Sena
leaders, it was then that
news came that she
would go to Uttar
Pradesh in December.
By mid-December, there
was news of her going
to UP and meeting SP
national president Akh-
ilesh Yadav and the
word was that there
would be coordination
between SP & TMC. The
great-grandsons of Pan-
dit Kamalapati Trip-
athi,aveteranCongress
leader from UP, left the
Congress and joined
TMC recently. It was
said Didi would talk to
Akhilesh & he would
leave at least two seats
for Rajeshpati Tripathi
and Laliteshpati Trip-
athi. But till now there
is no news on this. De-
cember passed & Didi
did not visit UP. It is yet
not known whether she
is helping Akhilesh!
Kavita Pant
New Delhi: Prepara-
tions are underway for
the Budget Session of
Parliament and the gov-
ernment is preparing
theBudget.OnFebruary
1, Union Finance Minis-
terNirmalaSitharaman
will present the coun-
try’s General Budget. At
that time the campaign-
ing for the Assembly
elections in five states
including Uttar Pradesh
will be at its peak.
The first phase of
polling is to be held on
February 10. Just be-
fore that the General
Budget will come. So
just imagine, what ad-
vantage the BJP can get
from this Budget rues
the Opposition! Last
year also the General
Budget was presented
just before the elections
to five states and even
then this issue arose
and interim budget is
presented before every
Lok Sabha election and
even then such ques-
tions arise.
But the Election
Commission has al-
ready made it clear that
it cannot do anything
in the matter of the
General Budget. When
questions were asked
about this at the time
of announcement of
elections, the Commis-
sion declared that its
hands were tied. This
means that the General
Budget will come be-
fore the first phase of
polling, in which the
government can make
a lot of election an-
nouncements in the
name of public welfare.
In order to please the
middle class, there can
be announcement like
exemption in direct
tax, then government
can make some an-
nouncements regard-
ing excise duty etc.
Then there will be an-
nouncements about
new trains, new roads
and industries. An an-
nouncement will be
made about small and
medium industries. A
rosy picture of the
country’s economy will
be shown in the Eco-
nomic Survey and the
growth rate will be es-
timated. Imagine how
the Opposition will re-
spond to this and you
will know what is about
to happen, politically,
in the days to come!
ADVANTAGE IN POLL BOUND STATES?
GENERAL BUDGET 2022-23
Retail inflation spikes to 5-month high of 5.59% in Dec
New Delhi: In a double
whammy for the econo-
my, India’s retail infla-
tion rate shot up to a
five month high in De-
cember and growth in
factory output deceler-
ated to a nine month
low in November.
Data released by the
statistics department
showed retail inflation
rate as measured by the
consumer price index
rose to 5.59 per cent in
December from 4.91 per
cent a month ago.
Growth in factory out-
put as measured by the
Index of industrial pro-
duction (IIP), on the
other hand, dipped to
1.4 per cent in Novem-
ber compared to 4 per
cent in the preceding
month.
Rising pricing pres-
sure in clothing and
footwear (8.3 per cent)
and fuel group (10.95 per
cent) contributed to the
rise in retail inflation
while food inflation also
rose to 4.05 per cent. For
factory output, manu-
facturing sector growth
slowed down to 0.9 per
cent while mining and
electricity output grew
at 5 per cent and 2.1 per
cent respectively
.
According to the gov-
ernment’s statistics de-
partment, the economy
is expected to grow at 9.2
per cent in FY22, lower
than the 9.5 per cent es-
timate by the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund
as well as the Reserve
Bank of India. The eco-
nomic damage brought
about by the second
Covid wave in India has
already been unwound,
with output effectively
returning to pre-pan-
demic levels even
though contact-inten-
sive sectors, like trade
and hotels are still be-
low pre-pandemic lev-
els.
However, most econo-
mists believe the official
GDP data has over-
looked the imminent
impact of the third wave
on growth momentum.
With the escalating Cov-
id-19 caseload, many
states have imposed
night and weekend cur-
fews to curb the spread
of the third wave, ad-
versely impacting mo-
bility and contact sensi-
tive services.
Sluggish growth mo-
mentum in the Decem-
ber quarter and emerg-
ing risk from the third
Covid-19 wave may
shave 80 basis points
(bps) off India’s real
GDP growth to 9 per
cent for FY22, Citigroup
said in its latest esti-
mate.
The World Bank on
Tuesdaywhileretaining
its 8.3 per cent growth
forecast for FY22 said
easing supply disrup-
tions related to Covid-19
and deficient demand
led to a return of infla-
tion in India toward the
central bank’s target in
late-2021. —PTI
THREATHASBYNOWAYBEENREDUCED:
NARAVANEONCHINABORDERCONCERNS
Army has reorganised and rebalanced forces to meet the threat from both China and Pakistan: Gen
New Delhi: India and
China have been work-
ing on “mutual disen-
gagement” and there
have been positive de-
velopments, but the
“threat” is very much
high, Army chief
General MM Nara-
vane told reporters
today. The 14th round
of commander-level
talks between the two
neighbours were also
held on Wednesday.
“The 14th round of
the Corps Commander
level talks is underway,
and I am hopeful that
you shall see further
developments in the
days ahead. But while
there has been partial
disengagement, the
threat has by no means
reduced,” General
Naravane told report-
ers on the occasion of
Army Day.
Disengagement has
to happen from friction
areas, then we can think
of deescalation, the
Army chief said.
He said India’s re-
sponse to Chinese at-
tempt to unilaterally
change status quo
along the Line of Ac-
tual Control, or LAC,
was “very robust”.
On a question about
China building a village
in Arunachal Pradesh’s
Upper Subansiri dis-
trict, General Naravane
said, “The MEA (Minis-
try of External Affairs)
has amply clarified our
position. This is arising
because the LAC is not
demarcated and there
are different percep-
tions. As long as the
boundary issue is con-
cerned, for once and for
all, the border issue has
to be resolved. As far as
we are concerned, we
are very well poised all
along our borders and
there is no question that
any status quo as it ex-
ists today will be altered
by force.”
General Naravane
said the Army has reor-
ganised and rebalanced
forces to meet the threat
from both China and Pa-
kistan. “In line with our
operational realities, we
have undertaken reor-
ganisation and rebal-
ancing of forces. Reori-
entation of additional
forces to the northern
borders has been car-
ried out, while retaining
ourpunitivestrikecapa-
bility
, along the western
front,” he said. —ANI
INDIAN ARMY DEVELOPING INFRA IN
BORDER AREAS: GEN NARAVANE
ARMY CHIEF TERMS NAGALAND
FIRING INCIDENT AS ‘REGRETTABLE’
New Delhi: Indian Army Chief General MM Nara-
vane on Wednesday said that the Indian Army is
upgrading and developing infrastructure at the bor-
der areas to deal with the ‘nefarious’ neighbours.
“Up-gradation and development of infrastructure
along the Northern Borders are being carried out
in a holistic and comprehensive manner including
roads and tunnels, for all-weather connectivity,
strategic railway lines, additional bridges across
the Brahmaputra, up-gradation of bridges on
critical Indo-China Border Roads, and storage for
supplies, fuel and ammunition”, informed Gen MM
Naravane. He added that since January last year,
there has been a positive development on India’s
northern and western borders. —ANI
New Delhi: Army Chief General MM Naravane on
Wednesday termed the Nagaland firing incident as
“regrettable” and said that it is being thoroughly
investigated and also assured of “appropriate
action” based on the outcome of the in-
vestigation. “The regrettable incident
that occurred in Oting, Nagaland
on December 4 is being thor-
oughly investigated. We remain
committed to the security of our
countrymen, even during the
conduct of operations,” the
Army Chief said while
addressing media
persons. —ANI
POLICE ARRESTS 3
FOR KIDNAPPING
16-YR-OLD BOY IN
FEROZPUR
Ferozpur: Ferozpur Po-
lice arrested 3 persons
for allegedly kidnapping
a 16-year-old. As per the
police, the accused have
been identified as Karan,
23, Raj Singh aka Rohit
and Amarjit Singh, 22.
However, the fourth ac-
cused, their accomplice
Akash aka Jani man-
aged to flee. The Police
have also recovered
two pistols along with
two cartridges, one
motorcycle, the victim’s
scooter and three
mobile phones from the
possession of arrested
accused persons.
ED ATTACHES
FUNDS OF NBFC IN
CHINESE-FUNDED
INSTANT LOAN APPS
New Delhi: The ED has
attached Rs 72.32 crore
lying in various bank
accounts and payment
gateway accounts of Ku-
dos Finance and Invest-
ments Pvt Ltd, an Indian
Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC), and its
various fintech partner
companies in a laundering
case. The agency attached
the amounts under the
PMLA, 2002. ED is con-
ducting money laundering
investigation against a
number of Indian NBFC
companies & their fintech
partner Mobile Applica-
tions (APPs).
ARREST PUNJAB CM: HIMANTA BISWA
SARMA ON PM SECURITY BREACH
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma on Wednesday alleged that the Congress
high command and his Punjab counterpart had
conspired to assassinate the prime minister
through the ‘security breach’ on January 5 while
Narendra Modi was visiting the northern state. He
demanded that Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief
minister of Punjab, should be arrested for his role
in the alleged conspiracy.
J-K: ENCOUNTER BREAKS OUT BETWEEN
SECURITY FORCES, TERRORISTS IN KULGAM
Jammu and Kashmir: An encounter broke out
between security forces and terrorists at the
Pariwan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam
district, informed Kashmir Zone Police late on
Wednesday.“#Encounter has started at Pariwan
area of #Kulgam. Police and security forces are
on the job. Further details shall follow. @JmuK-
mrPolice,” Kashmir Zone Police tweeted. More
details are awaited.
CASE AGAINST ACTOR SIDDHARTH OVER
DEROGATORY COMMENT AGAINST NEHWAL
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police on Wednesday filed a
case actor Siddharth for allegedly making derogatory
comments against Saina Ne-
hwal on Twitter. In a telephonic
conversation, KVM Prasad,
Additional DCP, Cyber Crime
Wing, Detective Department,
Hyderabad said, “A woman
named Prerna approached
Cyber Crime Wing and lodged a complaint against actor
Siddharth for his sexist remarks against shuttler Nehwal
on Twitter.” The police official said that the basis of the
complaint a case has been registered under Sections
509 of the IPC and 67 of Information Technology Act.
INDIA-US AGREE TO ADVANCE COOPERATION
IN COUNTER-TERRORISM, CYBER SECURITY
New Delhi: India and the US on Wednesday agreed
to advance cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber
security, securing critical infrastructure and global
supply chains among other issues during the senior
officers meeting of the India-US Homeland Secu-
rity Dialogue. Maritime security, aviation security,
customs enforcement and trade security were also
focused areas of the dialogue on which both sides re-
viewed the ongoing cooperation and identified further
steps that can be taken to explore opportunities and
synergies in advancing cooperation, said a statement
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
General MM Naravane
Rahul Gandhi
Mamata Banerjee
CRUCIAL READ

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 135
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
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
There are three gates to
this self-destructive hell:
lust, anger, and greed.
Renounce these three.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Interacted with representatives from
various industry associations to
discuss growth opportunities amidst
the pandemic. Took detailed feedback
suggestions of industry leaders on
ways to combat ongoing challenges,
support affected sectors improve
ease of doing business.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya
@mansukhmandviya
In 2014, there were only seven
AIIMS in the country. But after 2014,
the number of AIIMS approved has
increased to 22. At the same time,
various reforms have been undertaken
to make the medical education
sector more transparent: PM @
NarendraModiJi #TNThanksModiji
TOP TWEETS
IMRAN’S LAUGHABLE
BOAST ON PAKISTAN
ECONOMY IS BETTER
THAN INDIA’S
ast year Pakistan got
a US$ 3 billion loan
from Saudi Arabia in
a bailout package.
The terms on which
the loan was given would embar-
rass any sovereign nation, but
not Pakistan.
The money had to be kept in
the State Bank of Pakistan and
Islamabad is required to return
the money whenever the Saudis
demand. Overall, Pakistan is
among the top ten countries
with largest debts along with
Angola, Ethiopia and others.
Pakistan is also unable to rein
in inflation which is in double
digits compared to single digit
in India. Yet Prime Minister Im-
ran Khan would like to boast
that his country’s economy was
doing better than that of India.
He claimed that “Pakistan is
still one of the cheapest coun-
tries in the world”.
Ironically, his statement has
come at a time when the country
finds itself cash-strapped.
While being boastful of his
country’s performance Imran
Khan forgot that Pakistan is ac-
tually caught in a debt trap.
L
ed by cabinet min-
ister Swami Pras-
ad Maurya,
Bharatiya Janata
Party legislators
have resigned due to their
sudden disenchantment with
the ruling dispensation.
Maurya, who was the first to
resign as minister, has de-
nied that he is joining the
Samajwadi Party
.
At a press conference he
told the media to wait till
January 14 when he will an-
nounce his future roadmap.
Besides Maurya, Dara Singh
Chauhan, another minister,
and four MLAs have also
jumped ship. It is believed
they are headed towards the
SPcamp.Mauryahasclaimed
that 10-12 legislators are
poised to quit in a day or two.
That means more resigna-
tions are likely. What raises
doubts about their objective,
however, is that these rebels
are yet to resign from the
BJP. Is some bargaining be-
tween them and the BJP top
leadership underway?
If these leaders do join the
SP, it will indeed be a huge
setback for Yogi Adityanath
and the BJP. Many of these
rebels, including Maurya,
not only belong to the OBC
category but wield consider-
able influence among back-
wards. The BJP, which is fo-
cused on OBCs, Dalits (in-
cluding Jatavs) and upper
castes, will have a tough op-
ponent in SP if it can bring
together OBCs and Muslims.
Until these rebels decide on
their future course of action,
SP seems to have won a psy-
chological war over the BJP.
These Gaya Rams do not
always succeed in deciding
the fate of elections in favour
of the party they join. One
may recall how Trinamool
Congress leaders had
dumped Mamata Banerjee
before assembly elections.
Didi only emerged stronger.
WAIT TILL SP MAURYA
RESIGNS FROM BJP
If these leaders do join
the SP, it will indeed be a
huge setback for Yogi
Adityanath and the BJP.
Many of these rebels,
including Maurya, not
only belong to the OBC
category but wield
considerable influence
among backwards
L
Revolt against the Plutocracy in the
‘Land of wanderers’ Kazaksthan
‘Kazakhs are accustomed
to patience but they have
grown tired and they
have had enough’ as the
locals are heard chanting
in the streets gathering
more people to join the
march against the
exploitative eco-political
class and the one clan
which lives well and
everyone else is in poverty
n the bastion of stability in
central Asia, there was an up-
rising of the common citizens
and large gatherings of mass
civilians which commenced
in front of mayor’s house in
the Mangystau province and
soon the mayor’s office in Al-
maty the largest city of the
9th largest Country in the
world was set ablaze. For the
first time since the formation
of sovereign and independent
Kazaksthan in 1990 there has
been unrest and protests on
the street witnessed of this
magnitude with charred cars
littering the nomadic cities.
This new year brought with it
the shift in the balance of
power from Government led
authoritarianregimetowards
thestreetsformoredemocrat-
ically open political system.
The protests sparked by
soaring fuel prices and al-
most doubling of LPG prices
on the 1st of January, 2022
went onto leading to bottled
up emotions oozing out and
protestors grew to address
the wider grievances such as
the Kazakh elites trading po-
litical freedom for economic
growth, rise of inequality
and gap enlarging between
haves and have nots, lack of
people’s representation in
politics and rampant corrup-
tion to top it all.
‘Kazakhs are accustomed to
patience but they have grown
tired and they have had
enough’asthelocalsareheard
chanting in the streets gather-
ing more people to join the
marchagainsttheexploitative
eco-political class and the one
clan which lives well and eve-
ryone else is in poverty
.
PLUTOCRACY
Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, a for-
merloyalistof thecommunist
party who has been known as
Elbasy (meaning the father of
the nation) has been the Presi-
dent of Kazaksthan for 5 con-
secutive terms starting from
1990andfinallysteppingdown
only in 2019 as President but
remainedtheChairmanof the
National Security Council till
he was succeeded by the cho-
sen one and passing the baton
of power to the current all-
powerful President Kassym–
Jomart Tokayev who has is-
sued the ‘shoot-to-kill’ order
and suspiciously blaming a
band of international terror-
ists behind the widespread
violence engulfed recently
. In
thecountrywhichisstruckby
the crippling economy
, down
paddling of GDP and current-
ly marred by the pandemic
there are political elites of
Astana sitting in Chateaux of
western European nations
dealingincryptogoldforthe
large reserves of oil, gas and
uranium they possess where-
as larger local populace de-
mandspoliticalaccountability
and protection of their lands.
SHAL KET !
“OLD MAN, GO”
The Prime Minister along
with his cabinet resigning on
the 5th January and fuel pric-
esreducedasaresponsetothe
mass protests, the President
Tokayevacceptedtheresigna-
tion and also took on charge
as the Chairman of the Na-
tional Security council and
stating that he would act as
tough as possible showcasing
the shift of power from de
facto ruler Nur-Sultan also
calledasdictatorbythefellow
opposing party men went on
becoming from being the be-
loved father of the nation to
being the most hated person
of the Nation, Nur Sultan’s
statues have been vandalized
and brought down by the an-
gry mob who once paid re-
spect to the man who won 5
consecutiveelectionsandwon
twice with 98% votes, the sec-
ond time was as recent as 2015
elections but now the major
cities of Kazaksthan have the
slogan of shal ket ! (go old
man, go) indicating the disap-
pointment towards their for-
mer President and the protest
is not just against the oil pric-
es but the grievances are
much wider and have deep
roots in the eco-political land-
scape of Kazaksthan.
TOKAYEV’S IRON HAND
After Ukraine and Belarus,
Kazaksthan is the 3rd former
Soviet country to face similar
protests. Tokayev, The Presi-
dent issuing a decree banning
mass gatherings, restricting
movements, curb on internet
and imposing an overnight
curfew to remain until 19th
January and a peace keeping
mission being deployed by
CSTO (Collective Security
Treaty Organization) on the
President’s request to an old
ally and one of the closest
friend, Kremlin sending in
2000 troops to stabilize the
situation and to assist local
law enforcement officers to
bring back normalcy and dis-
place the common populace
off the streets.
ALGA! KAZAKSTHAN
Amid the death toll rising
above 160, the protestors moti-
vated by different grievances
and motives and staging pro-
test in different places and re-
jecting the soviet-era leaders
want a strong, sovereign and a
trulypoliticallyrepresentative
independent country
.
Alga(forward)!Kazaksthan
– marking the new age slogan.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
PURUSHENDRA SINGH
The writer is Assistant Professor, Dept. of
International Relations, Vivekananad Global
University, Jaipur /(VGU,Jaipur)
For the first time since formation of sovereign
and Independent Kazaksthan in 1990 there has
been unrest and protests on the street witnessed of
this magnitude with charred cars littering the
nomadic cities. This new year brought with it the shift
in the balance of power from Government led
authoritarian regime towards the streets for
more democratically open political system

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INDIA
05
PUNJAB ASSEMBLY POLLS
CHANNI’S HINT FOR CONGRESS
AFTER SIDHU’S WARNING
Sidhu said that people of Pb will pick
new CM, as opposed to high command
Chandigarh: The Con-
gress may have kept
any decision on a Chief
Minister candidate in
Punjab at bay ahead of
elections but its two top
faces, CM Charanjit
Singh Channi and state
Congress chief Sidhu
are not having it.
As Sidhu said on
Tuesday that “the peo-
ple of Punjab” will pick
the new CM, as opposed
to the party high com-
mand, Channi dropped
a big hint of his own.
The Congress should
announce a CM candi-
date before the elec-
tion, Channi told a lo-
cal channel, Pro Pun-
jab TV
. “Whenever the
party has not an-
nounced a CM candi-
date, it has lost,” he
said when asked wheth-
er his party should
name a candidate be-
fore the February 14
election.
“When the party de-
clared its CM candidate
during the 2017 elec-
tions, it won. Before
that, when it did not de-
clare the candidate, it
lost. Whenever the par-
ty has not announced
the CM candidate, it
has lost. So the
party should an-
nounce it,” he
said.
Chief Minis-
ter Charanjit
Singh Channi
refused to com-
ment on who
should be named by
the party but he
talked about people
waving at him wherev-
er he went and even
breaking through
barricades to
tryandmeet
him. —ANI
Chandigarh: Sanyukt
Samaj Morcha (SSM), a
political front of 19
farm organisations, on
Wednesday announced
a list of 10 candidates
for the February 14
Punjab assembly polls.
Morcha convener
Balbir Singh Rajewal
will contest from Sam-
rala. Other candidates
are: Prem Singh
Bhangu from Ghanour,
Harjinder Tanda from
KhadoorSahib,Ravneet
Brar from Mohali, Dr
Sukhmandeep Dhillon
from Taran Taran,
Rajesh Kumar from
Kartarpur, Ramandeep
Singh from Jaitu, Ajay
Kumar from Phillaur,
Balraj Thakur from Qa-
dain and Navdeep Sang-
ha from Moga. —ANI
SSM declares 10 candidates,
Rajewal to fight from Samrala
New Delhi: A day after Punjab Chief
Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the
Congress “should announce” its chief
ministerial candidate, senior Congress
leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari
on Wednesday said the Chief Minister has
made a “fair point.” “The Chief Minister
makes a fair point that since he was put
in the saddle three months
back, why shouldn’t he
be the face of the party
for the 2022 elec-
tions?” Tewari told.
Manish Tewari
@ManishTewari
Punjab requires a CM who has
solutions to Punjab’s chal-
lenges, capacity to take tough
decisions. Punjab needs seri-
ous people whose politics is not
Social Engineering, Entertain-
ment, Freebies and not regime
favourites rejected by people in
successive elections.
Fair point: Tewari on Channi’s remarks
Mohali: Revealing the 10-point agenda of the Aam
Aadmi Party for the upcoming Punjab assembly
election, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on
Wednesday said that the party would focus on generat-
ing employment opportunities in the state. Kejriwal
said, “We have prepared a 10-point ‘Punjab Model’
to make the state developed and prosperous if Aam
Aadmi Party comes to power. We will make
such a prosperous Punjab that the
youth who went to go to Canada
for employment will return in
the next 5 years.”
AAP REVEALS 10-POINT AGENDA
CM CHANNI’S
COUSIN
BROTHER
JASWINDER
JOINS BJP
Ahead of the Punjab
Assembly Elections,
Jaswinder Singh
Dhaliwal, cousin
brother of the Punjab
Chief Minister Charan-
jit Singh Channi joined
the BJP on January 11
in Chandigarh, Punjab.
He joined the party in
the presence of Punjab
BJP in-charge Gajen-
dra Singh Shekhawat.
Many political leaders
are switching their
sides ahead of the
elections. The Punjab
Assembly Elections
will be held on Febru-
ary 14.
BSP TO LAUNCH DIGITAL
CAMPAIGN AFTER EC’s NEW
NORMS ON JAN 15: MISRA
UP POLITICS SET FOR
CHANGE: RAUT ON
UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Lucknow: BSP will not lag be-
hind other parties in online public
outreach in UP and a blitzkrieg
digital campaign will be undertaken
after assessing the poll panel’s
guidelines post-January 15, its
leader SC Misra said on Wednes-
day. Announcing elections in Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,
Manipur and Goa with a strong
focus on digital and virtual modes
of campaigning, the Election Com-
mission has banned physical rallies
and roadshows till January 15 due
to Covid concerns.
New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay
Raut on Wednesday claimed a
political change was imminent in
poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and the
recent move by a state minister and
some other BJP MLAs to leave the
saffron party was just the beginning.
Talking to reporters here, Raut also
said he wants to tell the people of
Goa, where polls to the 40-member
Assembly are scheduled on Febru-
ary 14, not to fall prey to monetary
inducements, and that the Shiv Sena
will stand against any such move by
the BJP in the coastal state.
115 DEATHS REPORTED GLOBALLY DUE TO OMICRON,
ONE IN INDIA, SAYS HEALTH MINISTRY
Maharashtra, Delhi, 6 others emerging
as states of concern, says Central govt
Policewomen after receiving booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine
during rehearsals for Republic Day parade in Jammu on Wednesday
CENTRE REVISES DISCHARGE POLICY
CAPT AMARINDER TESTS +VE, ISOLATES SELF
New Delhi: A total of
115 people died across
the world due to the
Omicron variant of
Covid-19 so far, out of
which, one death has
been reported in India,
informed Lav Agarwal,
Joint Secretary, Union
Health Ministry on
Wednesday
. —ANI
In Maharash-
tra, the case
positivity rate
surged from 0.87% on
December 22 last year to
22.39% today. The week-
ly cases in the state are
at 257,000. In WB, the
positivity rate has gone
up from 1.52% on De-
cember 22 to 32.18% to-
day and cases are in-
creasing rapidly. Simi-
lar trends are seen in
Delhi, TN, Karnataka,
UP, Kerala and Gujarat.
—Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary,
Union Health Ministry
New Delhi: Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar
on Wednesday mocked Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan,
a day after Pakistan
PM claimed that Pak’s
economic condition is
better than India. Remark
drew sharp reaction
from Indian politicians
and Union minister
of state for IT Rajeev
Chandrasekhar’s was
one of them. While addressing inaugural ceremony of
International Chambers Summit 2022, Imran report-
edly said despite unprecedented challenges, Pak’s
economic condition was better than many countries
particularly India.
Kabul: Two members
of the Taliban were
injured in an explosion
in Afghanistan’s capital
Kabul on Wednesday,
local media reported
citing officials as say-
ing. Aqil Jan Ozam,
deputy spokesman of
the Interior Ministry,
said the explosion tar-
geted a military vehicle
in Police District 9 of
Kabul city at around
11 am (local time) on
Wednesday.
New Delhi: Trinamool
Congress party is
not averse to a larger
alliance for opposi-
tion unity to take on
the BJP in the Goa
assembly polls but
such a coalition cannot
be forged with a “big
brother” attitude, TMC
leader Sushmita Dev
said on Wednesday in
an apparent swipe at
the Congress.
New Delhi: Royals
Sports Group-owned
IPL franchise Rajasthan
Royals on Wednesday
announced the launch of
the RRAC, which will be
based at Truro School.
The RRAC will provide
a coaching pathway for
aspiring Cornish boys
and girls cricketers who
will have a chance to
enroll with the academy
at a young age, and
develop into top-class
players.
New Delhi: SC on
Wednesday slammed
the real estate devel-
oper Supertech over
non-payment to the
homebuyers for the flats
which were ordered to
be demolished. A Bench
headed by Justice
DY Chandrachud told
Supertech to keep their
office in order and to
make the payment to
home buyers by Jan 17.
AAPKE PASS SIDHU HAIN: RAJEEV ON
IMRAN’S ‘PAK BETTER THAN IND’ CLAIM
TWO TALIBANS
INJURED IN
KABUL EXPLOSION
DEV: TMC READY
TO FORGE LARGER
ALLIANCE IN GOA
COVID
HIGHLIGHTS
RR LAUNCH NEW
ACADEMY IN
CORNWALL
SC SLAMS SUPER
TECH FOR NON-
PAYMENT TO BUYERS
New Delhi: The Centre extended the last date for submis-
sion of applications for various central govt scholarship
schemes, from the school to the post-graduate levels, for
meritorious students to January 15. The applications, for all
central sector post-matric, merit cum means and top-class
schemes, can be made through the website scholarships.
gov.in which has detailed information on the eligibility,
documents needed and monthly stipend provided by the
govt. A notification to the tune also mentioned that candi-
dates can contact the help desk for resolution of technical
problems with the scholarships at 0120 – 6619540.
CENTRE RENEWS APPLICATION DEADLINE
FOR SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES TO JAN 15
CRUCIAL READ
Shah chairs second round of UP core group meeting
New Delhi: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
chaired the second round
of UP core group meet-
ing of BJP held at party
headquarters in the na-
tional capital on Wednes-
day.On Tuesday, after the
first round of meeting,
Shah took over as three
sitting BJP MLAs includ-
ing Swami Prasad Mau-
rya quit the party, said
sources. Besides Shah,
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath,
Deputy Chief Ministers
Keshav Prasad Maurya
and Dinesh Sharma, state
election incharge Dhar-
mendra Pradhan, party
general secretary BL
Santosh and BJP state
president Swatantra Dev
Singh were present at the
meeting. BJP president
JP Nadda joined the
meeting virtually. The
meeting was held to dis-
cuss the poll strategy and
deliberate on the name of
the probable candidates
who will be put before
the Central Election Com-
mittee (CEC) in a couple
of days. “BJP is trying
to bring back Swami
Prasad Maurya and other
three MLAs who quit
on Tuesday. Also, those
candidates who did not
perform well and have
disappointed the public
will not get tickets again,”
sources said. —ANI
New Delhi: Centre on Wednesday announced that it has
revised Covid discharge policy after a review meeting
with PM Modi. Severity of corona cases has been catego-
rised into mild and moderate, Lav Agarwal stated. If there
is resolution of symptoms if patient maintains O2 satu-
ration of more than 93% for 3 successive days without
O2, then that person will be discharged, said Agarwal.
z New Delhi reports
27,561 new cases,
highest in 8 months
z Ministry of AYUSH
issues revised norms
z Covaxin can neu-
tralise Delta, Omicron
variants of coronavi-
rus: Bharat Biotech
z US Presidential
medical adviser Fauci
says Omicron will
infect everybody
z Pune launches
Covid-Free Village
contest to curb spread
z Vaccination is criti-
cal pillar of our Covid
response: Dr VK Paul
z Third FIR against
Karnataka Cong chief
for flouting COVID-19
norms during Meke-
datu padayatra
Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister and Punjab
Lok Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh on
Wednesday tested positive for Covid and has self-
isolated himself. Singh requested all those who came
in contact with him to get themselves tested.
SAD LEADER BIKRAM SINGH MAJITHIA
APPEARS BEFORE SIT IN DRUGS CASE
PM Modi to convene meeting with
CMs on COVID-19 situation today
Chandigarh: SAD
leader Bikram Singh
Majithia was on
Wednesday questioned
for more than two
hours by a special in-
vestigation team prob-
ing a drugs case regis-
tered against him. Ma-
jithia, who was grant-
ed anticipatory bail by
the Punjab and Hary-
ana HC two days ago,
appeared before SIT at
the state crime branch
at 11 am. Talking to re-
porters after appear-
ing before the SIT, he
said he assured the in-
vestigating officers of
his full cooperation in
the case.
Bikram Singh Ma-
jithia said he asked the
officers to take note of
Punjab Congress chief
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s
statement on the ap-
pointment of Sid-
dharth Chattopad-
hyaya to the post of
DGP and also the com-
ments of Deputy Chief
MinisterSukhjinder
Randhawa against
him. —ANI
New Delhi: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi will interact with
the Chief Ministers of
all states on Thursday
at 4.30 pm via video
conferencing on the
COVID-19 situation.
The Prime Minister
had also chaired a
meeting to review the
COVID-19 situation in
the country on Janu-
ary 9, through video
conference. During
that review meeting,
PM Modi had stressed
on the need to ensure
adequate health infra-
structure at the dis-
trict level. He had
asked officials to main-
tain coordination re-
garding this with the
states.
In that meeting, he
had said that a meeting
with Chief Ministers
will be convened to dis-
cuss state-specific sce-
narios, best-practices
and the public health
response.
India has witnessed
a surge in COVID-19
cases in the recent past.
According to the Un-
ion Health Minister,
India on Wednesday
reported 1,94,720 new
COVID-19 cases and
442 fatalities. The daily
positivity rate due to
this virus in the coun-
try is 11.05 per cent.
Active cases account
for 2.65 per cent of the
total cases. —ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Bikram Singh Majithia

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi: A day after
Vodafone Idea Ltd opted
to convert interest on
dues to government eq-
uity
, its CEO on Wednes-
daysaidthegovernment
had made its position
amply clear that it does
notwanttorunthetelco,
and added that existing
promotersarefullycom-
mitted to managing and
running the company’s
operations.
Vodafone Idea (VIL)
on Tuesday announced
its decision to opt for
convertingabout`16,000
crore interest dues lia-
bilitypayabletothegov-
ernment into equity,
which will amount to
around 35.8% stake in
the company
.
If the plan goes
through, the govern-
ment will become the
biggest shareholder in
the company which is
reelingunderadebtbur-
den of about `1.95 lakh
crore.
VIL Managing Direc-
tor and CEO Ravinder
Takkar told reporters in
a virtual briefing that
there is no condition in
the Telecom Depart-
ment’s letter on equity
conversion option,
which allows for board
seats for the govern-
ment.
The existing promot-
ers are fully committed
to managing and run-
ning the company’s op-
erations, he asserted.
“In all of our interac-
tions with the govern-
ment leading up to the
package and even after
the announcement of
the package, it has been
clearly stated by the gov-
ernmentthattheydonot
want to run the compa-
ny
. They do not have the
desiretotakeoveropera-
tions of the company…
They want three private
players in the market,
they do not want duopo-
ly or monopoly
,” VIL
CEO said.
The government has
“made it clear they want
promoters of this com-
pany to run it going for-
ward”, he said, adding
that VIL expects no
change in their position.
Takkar further said
heexpectstheentirepro-
cess to conclude in the
coming months.
On the rationale for
the decision, the VIL top
boss said that given that
most of the telco’s debt
are to the government,
“it was clear to us that
converting some of debt
toequityisagoodoption
for the company to re-
duce its debt going for-
ward”.
Since the average
price of the company
shares with respect to
the relevant date was be-
lowparvalue,theequity
shares will be issued to
the government at par
valueof `10pershare,he
explained. —PTI
Govt doesn’t want to
run Vodafone Idea: CEO
In all of our inter-
actions with the
government lead-
ing up to the package and
even after the announce-
ment of the package, it has
been clearly stated by the
government that they do
not want to run the com-
pany. They do not have the
desire to take over operations of the company…
They want three private players in the market,
they do not want duopoly or monopoly. The gov-
ernment has made it clear they want promoters
of this company to run it going forward.
—VIL Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takkar
Mumbai: Telecom
operators Vodafone
Idea, Tata Teleservices
and Tata Teleservices
(Maharashtra) will not
become public sector
undertakings after their
interest payable on
dues are converted into
government equity, the
communications minis-
try said on Wednesday.
“These three companies
will not become PSUs.
These three companies
will continue to be man-
aged as professionally
run private companies,”
Telecom ministry said in
a statement. —PTI
GOVT: VIL, TATA
TELESERVICES,
TTML WILL NOT
BECOME PSUS
Govtmayseek$203bn
valueforLICinIPO
New Delhi: India is
pushing for a valua-
tion of about `15 tril-
lion ($203 billion) for
a state-owned insur-
er that’s soon expect-
ed to file for the na-
tion’s biggest initial
public offering, peo-
ple familiar with the
matter said, even as
arrangers awaited a
final report on the
firm’s estimated
worth.
The so-called em-
bedded value of Life
Insurance Corp. of
India is likely to be
more than `4 tril-
lion, and its market
value could be about
four times that
amount, the people
said. Once the final
report is in, the valu-
ation the govern-
ment is seeking
could change.
Embedded value,
a key metric for in-
surers, combines the
current value of fu-
ture profits with the
net value of assets.
The gauge will be
part of LIC’s IPO
prospectus that’s
likely to be filed in
the week starting
January 31. Typical-
ly, the market value
of insurers is be-
tween three and five
times the embedded
value.
If investors agree
with those calcula-
tions proposed by
the government, LIC
wouldjointheleague
of India’s biggest
companies - Reliance
Industries Ltd and
Tata Consultancy
Services Ltd - which
have a market capi-
talisation of `17 tril-
lion and `14.3 tril-
lion, respectively
.
—Agencies
The existing promoters are fully
committed to managing and running
the company’s operations, VIL
Managing Director and CEO
Ravinder Takkar asserted
EMBEDDED VALUE 4 LAKH CRORE
World Bank retains India
GDP forecast to 8.3%
New Delhi: The World
Bank has retained In-
dia’s economic growth
forecast for the cur-
rent fiscal at 8.3% as
the recovery is yet to
become broad-based.
“India’s economy is
expected to expand by
8.3 per cent in fiscal
year 2021/22 (ending
March 2022), un-
changed from last
June’s forecast as the
recovery is yet to be-
come broad-based.
“The econo-
my should
b e n e f i t
from the re-
sumption of contact-
intensive ser-
vices, and
ongoing but
n a r row i n g
monetary and
fiscal policy sup-
port,” the World
Bank said in its Global
Economic Prospects
report. Further, the re-
port said that growth
forecast has been up-
graded for 2022-23 and
2023-24 to 8.7% and
6.8%, respectively
. The
upward revision re-
flects an improving
investment outlook
with private invest-
ment.
—PTI
NSO SAYS 9.2%
Sensex surges 533 points, reclaims 61K mark
Mumbai: The BSE
gauge Sensex surged
over 500 points to re-
capture the key
61,000-level on Wednes-
day
.
Extending its win-
ning run for the fourth
straight session, the
30-share Sensex settled
533.15 points or 0.88%
higher at 61,150.04. In-
tra-day, the index
touched its highest
point at 61,218.19. Simi-
larly, the NSE bench-
mark Nifty climbed
156.60 points or 0.87%
to end at 18,212.35.
On the Sensex chart,
MM, Bharti Airtel,
RIL, IndusInd Bank,
ICICI Bank and Tata
Steel were among ma-
jor gainers — rising as
much as 4.68%.
In contrast, TCS, Ti-
tan, HDFC Bank, Tech
Mahindra, Wipro and
Nestle closed in the red,
shedding up to 1.50%.
—PTI
RUPEE @ 73.93
Budget: Ficci suggests
measure for realty
New Delhi:Industry
chamber Ficci on
Wednesday suggested
the government to pro-
vide an interest subsi-
dy of 3-4% on housing
loans and extend the
concessional tax rate
of 15% to companies
that invest in green
technologies, in the
forthcoming Budget.
Housing and con-
struction sectors have
forward and backward
linkages and impact
nearly 200 sectors and
it needs to be provided
holistic support in the
upcoming Union
Budget, it said.
It also recommend-
ed for the government
to subsidise the usage
of 6 -7 cylinders in a
year to poor house-
holds; increasing col-
lateral-free loans un-
der CGTMSE from the
existing `2 crore to up
to `5 crore.
—PTI
High NPAs, joblessness a worry in rural India: Report
New Delhi: Delinquen-
cy rates on rural loans
have deteriorated in
the two years to June
2021, with the microfi-
nance books showing
the maximum stress
despite a reduction in
loans outstanding, a
credit information
company said on
Wednesday
.
The inaugural Rural
Business Confidence
Index (RBCI) prepared
by Crif High Mark in
association with indus-
try lobby CII came at
63.9% for October, and
the positives included
credit expansion, high-
er budget allocations
for rural areas and sur-
vey participants hav-
ing positive or neutral
outlooks.
Delinquency by val-
ue deteriorated by 0.5%
for rural retail credit,
2.8% for microfinance
and 0.2% for rural com-
mercial between June
2019 and June 2021.
The concerns on
higher Non Performing
Assets emanated even
as the overall MFI
loans segment experi-
enced a de-growth by
9% to `1.12 lakh crore
at the end of FY21.
Rural areas, which
support nearly 60% of
the population by some
estimates, saw an in-
crease in the average
unemployment rate to
7.3% in 2021 from 6.8%
in 2019, the report said.
Inflation measured
by the consumer price
index also surged to
5.9% in the rural areas
in FY21 from 4.3%.—PTI
UNEMPLOYMENT
INDIA’S PALM OIL IMPORTS FALL 29% IN DEC 21: SEA
New Delhi: India’s imports of palm
oils declined by 29.15% to 5.44 lakh
tonnes in December 2021, but the
rise in shipments of RBD palmolein is
threatening the survival of domestic
refineries, Solvent Extractors Association
(SEA) said on Wednesday. India, the
world’s leading vegetable oil buyer, had
imported 7,68,392 tonnes of palm oils
in December 2020. In December last
year, palm oil imports fell to 5,44,343
tonnes. The share of palm oil is more than 60% of the country’s total vegetable
oil imports. —PTI
Government will remain an investor
only. The companies will be run by the
professionals. All the debt liabilities will
remain responsibility of the companies. The
companies have given us commitment.
—Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union telecom minister

07
NEWS
Party’s aim is to mitigate the losses and ‘reach a tally of around 240 seats’: Sources
NETAS SHIFTING LOYALTIES:
BJP TO REDRAW POLL PLAN
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Stunned by
the recent desertions
the BJP may have to re-
draw its poll strategy to
ensure a second term in
Uttar Pradesh. The im-
mediate impact of the
resignations by UP min-
isters, OBC leader Swa-
mi Prasad Maurya and
influential community
leaders in their own
right like Dara Singh
Chauhan and Avtar
Singh Bhadana is likely
to weigh heavy on the
minds of BJP high com-
mand as it gets down to
select candidates for the
upcoming UP assembly
elections 2022.
Sourcessaymorethan
three dozen ruling party
legislators/ministers
are weighing their op-
tions and may switch
sidesinthecomingdays.
According to BJP sourc-
es, the party is aware
that it “will not be pos-
sible to repeat its 2017
performance”, when it
stunned everyone by
winning312of thestate’s
403 assembly seats, but
its aim is to mitigate the
losses and “reach a tally
of around 240 seats.”
While the temple blitz-
krieg is aimed at coun-
tering the anti-incum-
bency factor, the BJP
may also attempt a
course correction. For
overayear,farmersfrom
Punjab and western Ut-
tar Pradesh were pro-
testing the Modi govern-
ment’s controversial
Farm Laws. Opposition
is underscoring the
BJP’s humiliating re-
treat.
Party sources say the
BJP central leadership
which had earlier indi-
cated that it could deny
renomination to over
one hundred sitting
MLAs to beat anti-in-
cumbency and negative
feedback from the
ground, has now decid-
ed to either retain most
of the sitting MLAs or
change their constitu-
encies.
It has been decided
that the constituencies
of some sitting MLAs
will be changed instead
of denyingthemrenomi-
nations. Sources said
that the decision was
prompted by apprehen-
sions that those, who
were denied renomina-
tions, could hop over to
the SP or other parties
and get tickets from
them. “Initially
, the par-
ty had short-listed 145
MLAs who were to be
denied ticket on the ba-
sis of feedback. But that
number could now be
restricted to 40-50,” said
a senior party leader.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Political par-
ties have now started
making music for elec-
tioneeringaftertheElec-
tion Commission im-
posed restrictions on
physical campaigning.
This has given an op-
portunitytothelocaltal-
ent to showcase their
skills. UP BJP’s social
mediahead,AnkitChan-
del, said that the party
had not officially com-
missioned any song but
the members had come
forward to release songs
on their own.
“BJP has a host of
committed and talented
workers. Some of them
aresingersandhavepre-
pared songs for the cam-
paign. The party has se-
lected a few songs which
will be played in party’s
eventsandmeetings,”he
said.
These songs are being
played in various pro-
grammes and functions,
including weddings.
Bhojpurisinger,Suraj
MishraVyas,of Gorakh-
pur has released a song
in support of Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath.
“
After the 2017 Assem-
bly elections, I recorded
a song on Yogi Adity-
anath, ‘Sagro UP walon
ko uphar milal ba, Yogi
Baba jaisan CM dam-
daar milal ba’ (UP has
got a gift in a powerful
Chief Minister like
Yogi). It attracted more
than 3.5 lakh views,” he
said.
Vyas said, “I am mak-
ing songs only for the
BJP
. My new composi-
tion for Yogi Adityanath
is ‘Vikas dekh kar dil
hua diwana, suno ji phir
se Yogi ji ko lana’. The
song has been composed
by Dr Shashikant
Mishra of Salempur.”
Bhojpuri singer
Dinesh Lal Yadav a.k.a.
Nirahua has also re-
leased a song, ‘
Ayenge to
Yogi hi’.
Sandeep Acharya’s
song, ‘UP mein gundai
karoge to aukaat dikha
denge, Gorakhpur wale
Baba hain, ghar nilaam
kara denge’, has also be-
come popular.
The Samajwadi Party
has also stacked up
against its music library
.
SP leader Sunil Yadav
has released a song that
says, ‘Chinta chhodo 22
ki,taiyyarikarosafaiki’.
President of Sama-
jwadi Party’s cultural
cell, Dharmendra Solan-
ki said, “Some of the
songs we have released
so far for this election
include “Button dabega
cycle ka, Sultan badalne
wala hai, 22 mein UP ka
parinam badalne wala
hai’and‘
Aayegajabnati-
ja to akhbar dekh lena,
iss baar cycle ki raftar
dekh lena’.
PARTIES TAKING THE MUSIC ROUTE TO WOO VOTERS IN UP
POLL MELODIES

Bhojpuri singer,
Suraj Mishra
Vyas, of
Gorakhpur has
released a song
in support of UP
CM Yogi
Adityanath—
Sagro UP walon
ko uphar milal ba,
Yogi Baba
jaisan CM
damdaar milal ba
FROM CONGRESS TO SAMAJWADI PARTY...
Scene of an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. —FILE PHOTO
Manipur Assembly polls: Nip
and tuck battle for BJP,Cong
New Delhi: TheBJPand
the Congress are locked
in a close battle in Ma-
nipur,astheyareproject-
ed to poll 36 per cent and
33 per cent votes in the
upcomingAssemblyelec-
tions, respectively
, as per
the ABP-CVOTER Battle
for the States survey
.
The 60-member Ma-
nipur Assembly will go
tothepollsintwophases
on February 27 and
March 3, while the
counting of votes will be
taken up on March 10.
The sample size for
the survey was 2,100
across60Assemblyseats
in the state. The BJP has
led over the Congress
consistently
, albeit with
a wafer-thin margin.
The trend observed so
far seems to be crystal-
lisingandtheBJP’sedge
has withered over the
Congressfromtheprevi-
ous round of tracker.
It is currently expect-
ed to win 25 seats while
the Congress is close on
the heels with 24 seats.
The Naga ethnic party
NPF is expected to mop
up 4 seats and “others”
could tag around the 7
remaining seats. —PTI
A security person stands guard as voters wait in a long queue to
cast votes at a polling station during the last phase of assembly
polls in Tengoupal, Manipur. —FILE PHOTO
AAP’s chief ministerial face for Punjab
to be announced next week: Kejriwal
New Delhi: Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) will an-
nounce its chief minis-
terial face for Punjab
Assembly elections
next week, party’s na-
tional convener Arvind
Kejriwal said on
Wednesday. The Delhi
chief minister also as-
sured that the state’s
law and order situation
will improve and jus-
tice will be ensured in
all previous incidents
of sacrilege if AAP
comes to power in
Punjab.“We assure the
people of Punjab to im-
prove the law and order
situation and ensure
justice in all previous
incidents of sacrilege if
AAP comes to power,”
Kejriwal said during
his two-day trip to Pun-
jab.He added that secu-
rity will be ensured to
all, be it the prime min-
ister or anyone else.
“The announcement
of the CM (chief minis-
terial) face will be made
next week,” Kejriwal
said, refusing to elabo-
rate on the details of
the chief ministerial
candidate.
Kejriwal is on his
first visit to Punjab
since the announce-
ment of the poll sched-
ule by the Election
Commission of India.
Speculations have
been rife around AAP
state unit president and
Sangrur MP Bhagwant
Mann’s name as the
CM’s face but Kejriwal
has been reluctant on
announcing the name
too early
. The Aam Aad-
mi Party contested its
maiden Punjab Assem-
bly polls in 2017 without
a CM face and won 20
seats, becoming the
principal opposition
party in the state.
The party has already
announced names of
candidates for 109 of the
117 Assembly seats and
has maintained that it
will go into polls this
time with a CM face.
The ruling Congress
is yet to release the can-
didates’ list for the up-
coming polls.
The Assembly elec-
tions in Punjab will
take place on Febru-
ary 14 and the results
will be declared on
March 10. —PTI
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. —FILE PHOTO
Uttarakhand polls:
BJPpaneltoshortlist
candidates on Jan 15
Dehradun: The BJP
Uttarakhand elec-
tion committee will
meet on January 15
and is likely to short-
list candidates for
the assembly elec-
tion on February 14.
According to highly
placed sources in the
BJP, the committee
will be formed with-
in a day or two as it is
awaiting approval of
party national presi-
dent JP Nadda. After
this, a day-long meet-
ing will be held at
party headquarters
in New Delhi on Jan-
uary 16.
The sources also
said while the party
has decided to go
into elections under
the leadership of
chief minister Push-
kar Singh Dhami, it
is unlikely that the
party will announce
any chief ministeri-
al candidate ahead
of the results.
With several of its
leadersthreateningto
join Congress ahead
of polls, the BJP has
zeroed in on two to
three candidates for
every seat. —ANI
JP Nadda with U’khand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. —FILE
PM Modi, Home Min Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath during a poll rally in UP. —FILE PHOTO
CONG SCREENING
COMMITTEE
MEETING TODAY
New Delhi: The
Congress Screen-
ing Committee for
Uttarakhand As-
sembly elections
will meet in the
national Capital
on Thursday, as
per party sources.
Meanwhile,
Congress leader
Harish Rawat had
said that the party
will release its
first list of candi-
dates for Uttara-
khand Assembly
polls within the
next seven days
Several rounds
of meetings have
been held by the
AICC screening
committee to
decide the names
of candidates
who will contest
the polls. Polls to
elect the 70-mem-
ber state legisla-
tive assembly are
scheduled to be
held on February
14. The counting
will take place on
March 10.
ASSEMBLY
ELECTION
2022
UTTARAKHAND, UTTAR PRADESH,
GOA, MANIPUR AND PUNJAB
2 SITTING, 1 FORMER MLA,
JOIN BJP AHEAD OF POLLS
Turncoat Maurya
a ‘big catch’ for SP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Defec-
tions of disgruntled
leaders has intensi-
fied even as election-
eering is yet to pick
up in poll-bound Ut-
tar Pradesh. On
Wednesday, two sit-
ting MLAs, one each
from the Samajwadi
Party and the Con-
gress, and another
former MLA joined
the BJP. Three-time
MLA Hari Om Yadav
who is sitting Sama-
jwadi Party legislator
from Sirsaganj in Fi-
rozabad and Naresh
Saini, the Cong MLA
from Behat in Saha-
ranpur,switchedover
to the BJP
. Soon after
he joined the BJP
, the
SPsaidithadexpelled
Yadav from the party
over a year ago for
anti-party activities
and colluding with
the BJP. The third
leader to join was
Dharampal Singh, a
former SP MLA from
Etmadpur in Agra.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: At a time
when Samajwadi
Party has been try-
ing to throw away
“Yadav tag” the in-
duction of BJP de-
serter Swami Pras-
ad Maurya into the
SP is being seen as a
big catch for the par-
ty which has almost
entered bipolar con-
test with the saffron
brigade.
Minus Yadavs, the
BJP has been trying
to keep non-Yadav
OBCs consolidation
intact. This has been
part of BJP electoral
strategy since 2014
LS poll. The party
never looked at Ya-
dav and Jatav con-
stituencies in succes-
sive elections and it
yielded positive re-
sults as other OBC
and non-Jatavs grav-
itated towards it.
However, SP,
which thrived on
Yadav-Muslim (MY)
combination and oc-
casionally succeeded
in getting support of
some segments of
backward communi-
ties, like in 2012, has
now been desperate-
ly trying to come out
of “only Yadavs par-
ty” narrative and
carve out a perma-
nent base in non-Ya-
dav OBCs also.

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
55,23,788
TOTAL DEATHS
26,19,00,448
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,70,05,950
ACTIVE CASES
31,44,30,186
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,84,655
TOTAL DEATHS
3,46,30,536
TOTAL RECOVERED
9,55,319
ACTIVE CASES
3,60,70,510
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Prez Kovind greets people on
eveofLohriandotherfestivals
New Delhi: The Presi-
dent of India, Ram
Nath Kovind has greet-
ed his fellow citizens
on the eve of Lohri
(which falls on 13th
January 2022), Makar
Sankranti, Pongal,
Bhogali Bihu, Uttaray-
an and Paush Parva
(which fall on 14th Jan-
uary 2022).
In a message, the
President has said, “On
the occasion of Lohri,
Makar Sankranti, Pon-
gal, Bhogali Bihu, Utta-
rayan and Paush Par-
va, I extend my greet-
ings and best wishes to
all the fellow citizens
living in India and
abroad.”
“A majority of the
festivals celebrated in
our country depict our
integral relationship
with nature and agri-
culture. The festivals
of Lohri, Makar Sank-
ranti, Pongal, Bhogali
Bihu, Uttarayan and
Paush Parva, mark the
harvesting season of
crops as the winter sea-
son ends and ushers in
the spring,” the mes-
sage read.
“People enjoy the
fruits of good harvest
and celebrate these fes-
tivals which also un-
derline the need to pre-
serve our environment.
It is not only an exam-
ple of Indian diversity
but also that of unity in
diversity of our coun-
try. I pray to God that
these festivals develop
the spirit of fraternity
among the people while
prosperity and happi-
ness prevail in our
country,” it added.
The festivals of
Lohri, Makar Sankran-
ti, Pongal, Bhogali
Bihu, Uttarayan and
Paush Parva mark the
harvesting season of
crops as the winter sea-
son ends and ushers in
spring.
—PTI
On the
occasion
of Lohri,
Makar Sankranti,
Pongal, Bhogali
Bihu, Uttarayan
and Paush Parva,
I extend my greet-
ings and best
wishes to all the
fellow citizens liv-
ing in India and
abroad.
—Ram Nath Kovind,
President of India
‘ConstitutionalLapse’:WB
Guvasofficialsskipmeetings
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
DhankharonWednes-
day said that CS H K
Dwivedi and DGP
Manoj Malaviya skip-
ping two scheduled
meetings with him in
three days was a “con-
stitutional lapse”.
WBGuvDhankhar’s
statement came after
the two top officials of
the state did not attend
a meeting called by
him to know details on
why LoP Suvendu
Adhikari was alleged-
ly stopped by police
from visiting Netai in
Jhargram on Jan 7 to
attend a programme
despite a Calcutta HC
order that there
shouldn’t be any re-
striction on his move-
ment.
“CS @MamataOffi-
cial DGP @WBPolice
‘boycott’ WB Guv
meeting (Re:LOP @Su-
venduWB Netai visit)
for second time in 3
days - actionable in-
condonable constitu-
tional lapse by top of-
ficials @IASassocia-
tion@IPS_Association
bearing out observa-
tion @India_NHRC in
WB ‘Law of Ruler not
of Law’,” he tweeted.
He alleged that the
two officials have not
only “damaged the
reputation of top ser-
vices”butalsoviolated
the “essence of democ-
racy”. —PTI
Governor West
Bengal Jagdeep
Dhankhar @
jdhankhar1
CS @MamataOfficial
DGP @WBPolice ‘boy-
cott’ WB Guv meeting
(Re:LOP @Suven-
duWB Netai visit) for
second time in 3 days
- actionable incondon-
able constitutional
lapse by top officials
@IASassociation @
IPS_Association
bearing out observa-
tion @India_NHRC in
WB ‘Law of Ruler not
of Law.
MSME gave jobs to
3.28 crore people
through ODOP in UP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: MSMEs, the
growth engine of the
Uttar Pradesh, have
provided employment
to more than 3.28 crore
people in 75 districts of
the state. This has come
to the fore in the em-
ployment survey based
on loans taken from
banks.
The Department of
MSME and Export Pro-
motion conducted a sur-
vey to find out how
many people were em-
ployed by MSMEs and
small businesses who
had taken loans from
banks. In the survey,
around 11 lakh bank ac-
counts were randomly
selected out of 95 lakh
bank loan accounts,
along with physical ver-
ification of beneficiary
details. According to
the survey reports,
about 56 lakh jobs have
been generated through
these bank accounts.
The state has re-
ceived a huge invest-
ment of about Rs 4 lakh
crore which has accel-
erated the growth of the
MSME sector. If the re-
sults of the survey are
scaled up by the num-
ber of bank accounts, it
can be concluded that
in the last 5 years, the
government has gener-
ated more than 3.28
crore jobs only through
the MSME sector.
The government has
always prioritised the
MSME sector to im-
prove employment po-
tential along with em-
ployment generation.
The state government
started Mission Rozgar,
which aims to provide
training and skills to
the people and provide
employment opportuni-
ties. The MSME sector
has proved to be the ma-
jor force in this regard.
56 LAC BENEFITED
IB Ministry Twitter account hacked briefly, restored
New Delhi: The official
Twitter account of the
Ministry of Informa-
tion and Broadcasting
(MIB) was hacked for a
brief time on Wednes-
day and was restored
later. According to offi-
cials, some posts tag-
ging entrepreneur Elon
Musk were tweeted
from the ministry’s
Twitter handle.
“It happened for
around 10-15 minutes
after which the Twitter
handle was resumed.
There were random
posts and replies tag-
ging Elon Musk. It is too
early to comment on the
inquiry aspect of the
matter as the plan of ac-
tion is yet to be decid-
ed,” a ministry official
said. As per reports, the
hackers re-tweeted sev-
eral posts of Musk and
also tweeted “great job”
from the official handle
of the ministry. The
tweets were deleted af-
ter the account was
restored.“The account
of @Mib_india has
been restored. This is
for the information of
all the followers,” the
ministry tweeted.
Last month, PM
Modi’s Twitter handle
was also hacked. —PTI
FREQUENT HACK
UN: 'Sulli Deals' form of hate
speech, must be condemned
United Nations/Ge-
neva: Harassment of
Muslim women in India
through social media
apps such as “Sulli
Deals” must be con-
demned and prosecuted
as soon as they occur, a
UN Special Rapporteur
has said. UN Special
RapporteuronMinority
Issues Dr Fernand de
Varennes took to Twit-
ter to raise concern on
the issue of minorities
in India, saying “Mus-
lim women in India are
harassed and sold in so-
cial media apps”.
“Minority Muslim
women in India are har-
assed and ‘sold’ in so-
cial media apps, Sulli
Deals, a form of hate
speech, must be con-
demned and prosecuted
as soon as they occur.
All Human Rights of
minorities need to be
fully and equally pro-
tected,” Varennes said
in a tweet on Tuesday.
Last week, Delhi Police
arrested Aumkaresh-
war Thakur, 26, who is
believed to be the crea-
tor of “Sulli Deals” app
from MP and in a sepa-
rate “Bulli Bai” case,
Niraj Bishnoi, 21, was
arrested from Assam.
‘Sensitive’ Rajasthan CM Gehlot balms rape victim!
First India Bureau
Jaipur: After a men-
tally challenged minor
girl, who was found in a
distressed state after al-
leged rape on Tuesday
night, Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot,
on Wednesday, sought a
report from DGP ML
Lather and directed him
for a thorough investi-
gation and stern action
against the culprits.
Rajasthan CM Gehlot
alsotookfeedbackabout
the investigation from
Alwar SP. On the in-
structions of Raj CM,
health minister PL Mee-
na, women and child
development minister
Mamta Bhupesh, indus-
try minister Shakunta-
la Rawat visited the JK
Lone hospital and met
the victim. On Raj CM
Gehlot’s direction, so-
cial justice and empow-
erment minister Tikar-
am Jully announced a
financial assistance of
Rs3.5 lakh under differ-
ent schemes to the
victim. Under the
Victim Compensa-
tion Scheme, an
amount of Rs5 lakh is
madeavailableof which
Rs2.50 lakh
will be pro-
vided to
the vic-
tim im-
mediate-
ly
.
New Delhi: A hearing will be conducted on Thurs-
day in Delhi High Court in the Rajasthan phone
tapping case related to Lokesh Sharma, OSD of
Rajasthan CM. The Delhi HC had earlier given
respite to Sharma by staying his arrest by Delhi
police’s crime branch till January 13, although
allowing the cops to interrogate him. The dead-
line for the order given by the HC is expiring on
Thursday and now the Court will hear the matter.
RAJ PHONE TAPPING CASE HEARING
TODAY!
FIGHTING COVID AND COLD!
People are seen at a
market outside the
Jama Masjid in New
Delhi on Wednesday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
A very Happy Lohri to all of us!
May our granaries overflow and
no one go to sleep hungry!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

NEW DELHI, THURSDAY
JANUARY 13, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
ohri being
thefirsttradi-
tionalfestival
of the year, is
celebrated
with im-
mense love,
laughter and happi-
ness all around. Cel-
ebrated on January
13, Lohri marks the
endof thewintersol-
stice and is also a
majorharvestfesti-
val.FirstIndiacel-
ebrated the festi-
val with joy and
togetherness,
J a g d e e s h
C h a n d r a
greeted eve-
ryoneonthe
occasion,he
said, “We
are glad to
host this small cel-
ebration so that
the people out
there can safely
rejoice and cher-
ish the festive
spirit with their
friends and fam-
ily
.” He also re-
minded everyone
tokeepCovidprotocolsin
mind.
The evening was replete
with all the elements of the
best of festivities with
bonfires, amazing food,
traditional sweets, Pun-
jabi music and lots of
singing and games.
Shweta Mishra Awasthi
anchored the special
show and the games.
Ashok Singh, Gaurav
Gaur, Yogesh Mishra,
Pawan Tank, Kapil Raj
and Harish Soni were
present as were the stun-
ning models from their
organisations.
The renowned band and
dance troupe Desi Boyz set
fire to the evening with Sim-
ran’s performance drawing
a lot of appreciations and
dance moves too.
Turn to P10-11
The lighting of bonfire during this winter festival
is an ancient tradition. City First brings to you
some glimpses from the First India festive
celebration we wish you a very Happy Lohri!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Shweta Mishra Awasthi
Shivani Jakhar, Kiran Kanwar, Nikita Soni, Simran Singh Khenchi and Sonali Yadav grooving on bhangra beats
—PHOTOS
BY
SANTOSH
SHARMA

SUNIL
SHARMA
Jagdeesh Chandra lights the holy
Lohri fire flanked by Ashok Singh,
Shweta Mishra Awasthi, Yogesh Mishra,
Gaurav Gaur, Pawan Tank, along with
Divija, Simran, Swati, Akanksha,
Sapna, Himadri, Preksha, Jahnvi,
Sapna and Mona
Watch this special First
India Lohri celebration
show on 13 January at 7:55
pm and on 14 January at
8:25 pm, only on First India
News!
L
Divija Gambhir, Poonam Sharma and Sapna Singh
Simran Kashyap

10-11
ETC
...The girls had a thor-
oughly wonderful time
as they hipped and
hopped and swayed to
the bhangra tunes and
Punjabi numbers. The
beautifully decorated
surroundings added a
joyous flavour to the
evening making it a
memorable one. Lohri
is truly all about toast-
ing traditional gaiety
and fervour, relishing
delectable food and put-
ting your best foot for-
ward when you step
out. Singing and danc-
ing form an intrinsic
part of the celebrations.
People wear their
brightest clothes and
come to dance the bhan-
gra and gidda to the
beat of the dhol. Pun-
jabi songs are sung, and
everybody rejoices. Sar-
son da saag and makki
di roti is usually served
as the main course at a
Lohri dinner. Lohri is a
great occasion that
holds great importance
for farmers. However,
people residing in ur-
ban areas also celebrate
Lohri, as this festival
provides the opportu-
nity to interact
with family and
friends.
In the evening,
people gather for
‘Parikrama’ and
munchies like
popcorn, puffed
rice as well as re-
wari are put in the
bonfire as a thank-
ful offering.
Sugarcanes are
also ‘offered’ into the
bonfire. This spreads a
fragrance of burning
sugar all over making it
a very sweet evening.
MUBARAK HO TENU,
LOHRIDATYOHAAAR...
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Sunil, Aditi, Srishty, Vishakha, Muskan, Tanu, Preeti, Angel, Chahak, Poonam, Ayushi, Riya, Ashok, Gaurav, Shweta, Dimple, Sonali, Megha, Shivani, Nikita, Simran, Kiran, Shreya and Taruna
Shivani, Kiran, Nikita and Sonali grooving on Desi Boyz band
Jagdeesh Chandra with Sudhanshu Mathur and Shishir Awasthi
Jagdeesh Chandra with Shaan, Aditi and Sunil
Mona Gautam and Mittali Kaur
Sakshi Bhogal Yogesh Mishra and Pawan Tank Artist Simran during the spectacular performance with Desi Boyz band Vishakha Mathur, Swati Jangid, Tanu Choudhary, Srishty Khatri, Akanksha Bhalla and Pearl Agarwal
Bhangra
dancers
enjoying
the
music
Poonam, Vishakha, Megha, Ayushi,
Dimple and Shweta during the magical
dance performance
Sapna Singh, Himadri Bhatnagar, Preksha Purnam,
Bhavna Vaishnav and Jahnvi Soni caught in a candid moment
FROM PG 1
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA SUNIL SHARMA
Kavita Pant and Moni Sharma
Kapil Raj and Harish Soni

12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
Yogesh Bhateja, a celebrity fitness trainer, announced
an affordable online fitness training program on
Tuesday. The course aims reach out to people and
raise awareness about exercising and eating properly
named ‘Yogesh Fitness’. The course will give you a
total-body cardio-strength workout that tones lengthens and strengthens your entire body.
Yogesh said that “I’m really happy to debut my online services and make the Yogesh Fitness
brand available to a wider audience after ten years in the fitness sector.”
MITRA
n a village in
Firozabad, a
woman died of
tetanus be-
cause she used
a blouse to
stem the flow
of blood that had a
hook on it covered with
rust. Issues related to
menstruation are still
taboo in many areas of
Indian conservative so-
ciety. It is seen that in
the absence of even a
clean piece of cloth,
millions of women
use rags, sand, and
ash to deal with their
menstruation, which
endangers their lives.
GOONJ, a Non-Profit
Organisation was
among the first to
bring this taboo sub-
ject and the related
dire need for cloth into
the limelight with their
menstrual hygiene ini-
tiative named ‘Not Just
a Piece of Cloth’. It
aims to address the
gaps and challenges of
menstrual hygiene and
management for the
last women by engag-
ing comprehensively
with all key stakehold-
ers. It has broken the
culture of shame and
silence around men-
struation in rural and
slums India with a tri-
ple-A approach- Ac-
cess, Awareness and
Affordability
. It is moti-
vating urban masses to
contribute cloth for
making ‘MY Pads’cloth
sanitary pads for wom-
en who struggle even
for this basic. GOONJ
engages women from
nearby slums at pro-
cessing centres in dif-
ferent cities in making
millions of cloth pads.
Male members of
GOONJ hold to break
the silence meetings,
women are pleasantly
surprised by how they
sensitively approach
this taboo topic and
normalize it.
I
EVEN TODAY, THERE ARE SOME PARTS WHERE MENSTRUAL
HYGIENE IS A TABOO, ‘NOT JUST A PIECE OF CLOTH’
INITIATIVE IS WORKING TO NORMALISE MENSTRUAL HEALTH!
CELEBRATE LOHRI WITH IZZHAR!
FITNESS TIME OUT!
DELHI POLICE UPDATES
The season of swaying to the beats of dhol and
feasting has just come. Lohri is all about dancing,
expressing joy, and gifting delectable treats to your
loved ones. Recently, Izzhar launched exclusive
lohri gift collection with the lohri theme to bring
smiles on faces with the trunks packed with
delicacies.
CLEAN
BRUSH,
ROSIE
BLUSH
n Washing your hands be-
foreanykindof makeupap-
plicationisthefoundational
rule to makeup hygiene.
n Sharing isn’t always car-
ing, you should always
avoid sharing makeup with
friends, especially lipstick
or any kind of eye makeup.
n Ensure you close your
makeup containers tightly
after using them. This way
,
dust and germs from the
surroundings won’t get
into your cosmetics and
they will remain in a good
condition for longer.
nBrushesshouldbecleaned
after every use, to prevent
germ buildup.
n Makeup sponges with
their large surface area can
be a haven for bacteria
growth. When your sponge
starts to wear out due to
regular washing, it’s time
for you to replace it.
n It’s never a good idea to
put your contacts in after
you’ve put your eye makeup
on. Why? If you’ve already
applied makeup to your
eyes, there’s a good chance
you have makeup in your
tear film.
n Avoid store testers, you
don’tknowwhattypeof sur-
faces tester products have
been exposed to, and how
many millions of bacteria it
might have bred.
All these practices are a
must to follow also, you
should be extra vigilant in
times of covid.
These practices will not
onlymakeyoulookbeautiful
after makeup but also with-
out makeup as you will be
taking care of your natural
skin and not ruining it.
Yashasvi Shrivastav
C
osmetics are used
to enhance your ap-
pearance. Makeup
has been around
for many centuries, those
days makeup was just sim-
ple eye colouring and lip-
stick. Nowadays makeup
does not have any limit.
But in the process, we
tend to forget how im-
portant it is to follow
makeup hygiene as
well. Using the same
products everyday intro-
duces some hygiene risks;
however, if not stored and
used properly
, makeup can
grow germs, cause break-
outs, and even spread in-
fections. Follow these tips
for practising makeup hy-
giene.
The official Twitter handle of Police
Families Welfare Society shared
glimpses from the event where a
sanitary napkin vending machine was
inaugurated by Arpana Beniwal at
Narela welfare centre in the presence
of Team Leader Bhawna Malik and
Geeta Pathak.
THE WAY
TOWARDS
LIFE!
City First
A
lmost starving,
Dileep Kumar
couldn’t work as a
lawyer after leaving
all his documents at home
and started living as an itin-
erant labourer in Delhi, of-
ten going to Hanuman Man-
dir in Connaught Place to
find food.
Kumar, who recently
worked 10 days as a wall
painter, is grateful for the
turn his life has recently
taken. He is among the 25
beggars being taught
house painting at a
homeless shelter on
Roshanara Road under
the Delhi government’s pi-
lot project to rehabilitate
beggars by providing them
vocational training.
Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan,
an NGO, said two months of
basic training had been
completed and a month
of advance training
would begin from next
week. Apart from skill
training, the beneficiaries
are being counselled to be-
come self-dependent. In ad-
dition, they are being given
yoga and spiritual sessions
and access to legal aid.
Ramesh Singh arrived in
Delhi from his village in
Haryana eight years ago
dreaming of a better income
and a better life. But he met
with an accident soon that
rendered him unemploya-
ble. Circumstances forced
him into beggary. But is fi-
nally happy with his life.
Sanjay Kumar Kushwaha,
got his official documents
and opened a bank account.
After working as a full time
painter under the poilet pro-
ject “I also managed to buy
a SIM card and contacted
my family,” said Kushwaha
while painting a wall at the
shelter. The 25 men now
bond with each other.
The pilot project was
launched after a joint sur-
vey by the department of
social welfare and the Insti-
tute for Human Develop-
ment identified 20,719 indi-
viduals as engaged in beg-
ging in the city
. The men are
trained in house painting
and the women in making
jams, jellies and pickles.
Delhi government wants to
eliminate begging in Delhi
through these progressive
measures.”
GOONJ-A VOICE, AN EFFORT
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
—FILE PHOTO
—REPRESENTATIONAL PICTURES

13012022 first india new delhi

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