18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

SMRITI SAYS CONG IS STILL UPSET WITH
HER FOR DEFEATING RAHUL GANDHI
Pune (PTI): Union
Minister Smriti Irani
has said that the Con-
gress was still upset
with her for defeating
its then-president Ra-
hul Gandhi from Ame-
thi in Uttar Pradesh in
the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections.
Pune units of the
Congress and its ally
NCP had staged pro-
tests over the issue of
price rise at venues
where Irani attended
events during her visit
to the city on Monday
.
Speaking to reporters
before an event here,
Irani said in the 2014
Lok Sabha polls she had
shown audacity to con-
test from Amethi, a
Congress fortress.
“However, in 2019, the
BJP fought such an elec-
tion that then-Congress
president (Gandhi) had
to run and find another
seat (in Kerala). So the
Congress’s disappoint-
ment towards me is ob-
vious,” Irani said, refer-
ring to Congress pro-
tests in the city during
her visit. She said the
NCP was born out of
the Congress so she can
understand the party’s
aggressive stance
against her.
“It has been the BJP’s
pride that with the help
of party organization
and under the leader-
ship of Modiji (PM Nar-
endra Modi), a sitting
Congress president
(Gandhi) was defeated
(in 2019) for the first
time in Indian politics.
We are facing the reper-
cussions of that victory
and we will continue to
bear it,” she said.
Union Minister Smriti Irani at an event in Pune on Monday.
3 BJP WORKERS
BOOKED FOR
ASSALUTING NCP
WOMAN MEMBER
Pune (PTI): The Pune
police have lodged an FIR
against 3 BJP workers for
assaulting an NCP woman
member here during a
face-off between the two
sides at a book release
event attended by Union
Minister Smriti Irani, an
official said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on
Monday when Congress
and NCP workers staged
protests against price
rise where Irani attended
events during her visit.
CRUCIAL READ
NO RELIEF TO AZAM KHAN AS TOP
COURT DENIES INTERIM BAIL
New Delhi: SC on Tuesday reserved order on interim
bail plea of SP leader Azam Khan in another case relating
to Kotwali police station in UP. A bench of justices L
Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, who was hearing
matter, reserved the order. Additional Solicitor General SV
Raju, appearing for UP state, opposed plea and said that,
he is a land grabber and various pvt complaints are filed.
SC TELLS ED TO
GRILL TMC MP,
WIFE IN KOLKATA
4 WANTED IN 1993
MUMBAI SERIAL
BLASTS ARRESTED
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Tuesday ruled
ED can question TMC MP
Abhishek Banerjee and
his wife in a case related
to smuggling of coal in
Kolkata and not Delhi.
Abhishek is the nephew of
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee and also
general secretary of TMC.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat’s
ATS on Tuesday said it
has arrested four people
wanted in connection with
the 1993 Bombay bomb
blasts cases. People aware
of the matter identified the
four as Abu Bakar, Yusuf
Bhakta, Shoeb Baba, and
Sayyed Kureshi. The police
have released pictures too.
SC COLLEGIUM
RECOMMENDS
JUSTICE SS SHINDE
AS CJ OF RAJ HC
Jaipur: SC collegium has
recommended the name
of Justice SS Shinde as
new CJ
of Ra-
jasthan
HC.
Justice
Shinde
is pres-
ently
serving as a Judge of
Bombay HC. Born on
August 2, 1960, Justice
Shinde completed
his LLB course from
Marathwada University
at Aurangabad, Maha-
rashtra and obtained LLM
degrees from Pune Uni-
versity and from Warwick
University in UK.
GYANVAPI MOSQUE ROW
VARANASIDISTRICTCOURT
AXESCOMMISSIONER
Varanasi: The team ap-
pointed by a Varanasi
court to survey the
premises of the Gyan-
vapi Mosque complex
has been given two days
to submit its report be-
fore the court. The civil
court in Varanasi,
which was hearing the
case, removed one of
three commissioners it
had appointed - Ajay
Mishra. Mishra’s assis-
tant had reportedly
leaked info about the
surveytothemedia.The
twoothers-VishalSingh
and Ajay Pratap - will
continue as Court Com-
missioner and Deputy
Court Commissioner re-
spectively
.TheGyanvapi
Mosque in Varanasi,
nexttotheKashiVishwa-
nath Temple, is em-
broiled in a long-drawn
legal battle. More on P7
l Varanasi court
grants two days
to submit report
l The Supreme
Court to hear the
matter tomorrow
Protect ‘Shivling’, don’t stop namaz
SC’s FAIR ACT
TOP COURT ASKS
VARANASI DM
FOR PROTECTION
OF THE AREA
COMPLEX CANNOT
STAY SEALED AND
THE ORDERS ARE
ILLEGAL: AHMADI
SACKED COMMISSIONER
SLAMS ALLEGATIONS OF
DEFYING COURT SECRECY
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Tuesday
clarified that the Vara-
nasi court order shall
confine to the protection
of the ‘shivling’ report-
edly found but there
won’t be any restrictions
on the entry of Muslims
and offering namaz in
the Gyanvapi mosque.
The top court adjourned
the hearing till Thursday.
New Delhi: SC bench
issued notices to Hindu
petitioners UP govt on
plea of Anjuman Intezamia
Masajid Committee which
challenged Varanasi court
order which directed
videographic survey
of Gyanvapi Mosque
complex, adjacent to Kashi
Vishwanath Temple. Adv
Huzefa Ahmadi told bench,
“If premises are sealed,
there is alteration of status
quo. Sec 3 of Places of
Worship Act makes it clear
that it can’t be done”.
Advocate commissioner Ajay Mishra,
who was removed from his post in
panel tasked to conduct a survey
inside Gyanvapi
mosque complex,
said he will respect
local court’s order,
while blaming spe-
cial advocate com-
missioner Vishal
Singh for outcome.
“I have not done anything that reveals
secrecy of matter. I was removed
because of allegations of advocate
Vishal, whatever has happened is only
because of (him),” Mishra said.
(T-R) Security personnel guard outside
Gyanvapi mosque after its survey by a
commission, in Varanasi on Tuesday.
‘BRIBE-FOR-VISA’ TO CHINESE COMPANY
CBI BOOKS 5, INCLUDING
KARTI CHIDAMBARAM
6G in India by 2030 Amarnath Yatra:Amit
Shah holds 2 meetings
New Delhi (ANI): HM
Amit Shah on Tuesday
chaired 2 separate back-
to-back marathon meet-
ings on preparations for
Amarnath Yatra, which
is all set to start on June
30 after a gap of 2 years.
The 2 meetings were
about Logistics, infra,
health, emergency situ-
ation, road connectivi-
ty, deployment of secu-
rity personnel, threat
assessment and other
management of the pil-
grimage to the 3,880-me-
tre-high cave shrine.
..says PM Modi while inaugurating self-made 5G
Test Bed at silver jubilee celebrations of TRAI
New Delhi (ANI): India
is planning to launch 6G
services by the end of
this decade and a task
force has started work-
ing in that direction,
PM Narendra Modi said
on Tuesday, underscor-
ing the importance of
faster and efficient tech-
nology in accelerating
development employ-
ment generation. “This
will boost growth in sec-
tor like agri, health,
edu, infra etc. For rapid
roll-out of 5G, efforts of
both govt and industry
are needed,” Modi said.
GOVT EASES RESTRICTIONS ON WHEAT EXPORT
New Delhi: Centre has relaxed its wheat export ban order of
May 13 to allow export consignments that were registered
in Customs Dept’s systems and handed over to for examina-
tion on or prior to May 13, Commerce and Industry Ministry
said on May 17. The govt also allowed a wheat consignment
headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the
Kandla port, following a request by Egyptian Govt to permit it.
THAKUR IN FRANCE
FOR CANNES 2022
Union Minister for IB and Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag
Thakur takes a tour of the India Pavilion at the Cannes Film
Festival on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday.
India Pavilion will be inaugurated by Thakur on May 18.
MODI WISHES
INDIA SUCCESS
AHEAD OF THE
CANNES 2022
New Delhi: PM
Narendra Modi’s note,
wishing India success
at Cannes can be read,
“I am delighted to learn
about India’s participa-
tion as a Country of
Honour at the Marché
du Film - festival de
Cannes. As India cel-
ebrates its 75th year of
Independence, the 75th
anniversary of Cannes
Film Festival, as well
as 75 years of Indo-
French diplomatic ties
enhance the pride and
joy associated with the
momentous milestones.
Films and society are
mirror images of each
other.” More on P8
HM Amit Shah holds high-level meetings with JK Lieutenant
Governor Manoj Sinha and top officials in New Delhi on Tuesday.
PM Narendra Modi dedicating 5G Test Bed to Nation at the silver
jubilee celebrations of the TRAI, via VC, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Multiple searches were conducted at the residential official
premises linked to Congress leader P Chidambaram’s son
Karti Chidambaram, his associate Bhaskaraman and others
Moni Sharma
New Delhi:TheCBIhas
registered a case on
Tuesdayeveningagainst
5 accused including Kar-
ti Chidambaram and
peoplebasedinChennai,
Mumbai,pvtfirmsbased
inMumbai,Mansa(Pun-
jab),etcandunidentified
public servants and pri-
vate people. As per CBI,
case has been registered
on allegations including
bribery to facilitate issu-
ance of a visa to Chinese
companybeyondceiling.
“It has been said firm
based at Mansa was in
processof establishinga
power plant establish-
ing of plant was out-
sourced to a Chinese
Company in order to
avoid penal actions for
delay
, said firm was try-
ingtobringChinesepro-
fessionals needed Pro-
jectVISAs,”agencysaid.
THE FRESH CASE STATES
The investigative agency has registered a fresh case against
Karti Chidambaram, sources say, accusing him of receiv-
ing Rs 50 lakh as bribe to facilitate the visa of 250 Chinese
nationals for a power project in Punjab between 2010-14.
TIMING OF SEARCH INTERESTING, SAYS
FORMER UNION MINISTER CHIDAMBARAM
New Delhi: Birbal Singh, a guard said, ‘There were 7 members in
CBI team. Karti was not at his residence during raid at 7.30 am’.
Later, P Chidambaram questioned timing of search and took to
Twitter, “This morning, CBI team searched my residence at Chen-
nai and Delhi. Team showed me a FIR in which I am not named
as an accused. Search team found nothing and seized nothing. I
may point out that the timing of the search is interesting.”
Karti P
Chidambaram
@KartiPC
I have lost count, how
many times has it
been? Must be a record.
The team of CBI officers during a raid at the residence of Congress
MP Karti Chidambaram in Chennai on Tuesday.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
NEW DELHI l WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 258
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI MUMBAI
NEW SRI LANKA PM WICKREMESINGHE
SAID ON TUESDAY THAT GOVT WILL
SELL AIRLINE, PRINT MONEY TO PAY
WAGES TO STABILIZE FINANCES
P5
DELHI, ISRAEL CAN WORK
TOGETHER FOR PEACE,
SAYS KEJRIWAL AFTER
MEETING NAOR GILON P2
INDIA REJECTS RESOLUTION
MOVED IN PAK’S ASSEMBLY
AGAINST THE DELIMITATION
PROPOSAL IN JK P3
ELON MUSK SAID HIS OFFER WOULD
NOT MOVE FORWARD UNTIL TWITTER
INC SHOWS PROOF THAT SPAM BOTS
ACCOUNT FOR LESS THAN 5% OF USERS

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
02
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: There has
been an increase in the
number of people tak-
ing the third Covid pre-
caution dose in Delhi
after the government
made it available for
free across age groups,
with the number of
precaution doses ad-
ministered over the
last one week crossing
doses one and two for
the first time.
There were 3,036 pre-
caution doses adminis-
tered till 7 pm on Mon-
day, which accounted
for over 73 per cent of
total doses adminis-
tered on the day. (The
number of shots ad-
ministered is usually
lower on Sundays and
holidays.)
The city adminis-
tered just under 87,000
precaution doses over
the last seven days, ac-
counting for over half
of all doses adminis-
tered in Delhi over this
period.
“There has definitely
been an increase in the
number of people tak-
ing the precaution dose
and there are two rea-
sons for it — one, it be-
came available to the
younger group of those
between 18 and 45 years
and two, the Delhi gov-
ernment made it free
for all. The numbers, of
course, increased dras-
tically once it was made
free,” said a senior of-
ficial from the New
Delhi district.
So far, 9.65 lakh pre-
caution doses have been
administered in Delhi
since it was started at
the beginning of the
year. This, however, still
accounts for a very
small proportion, only
6.4%, of Delhi’s total 1.5
crore adult population.
More people opting for third Covid dose since it’s free
PANDEMIC
lll
There were 3,036
precaution doses
administered till
7 pm on Monday,
which accounted
for over 73
per cent of
total doses
administered
on the day
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
FIRE BREAKS
OUT IN DTC
BUS IN DELHI
SCAVENGER DIES
AFTER CONCRETE
SLAB FALLS
RAI TO CHAIR
MEETING ON
GREEN COVER
New Delhi (PTI):
A fire broke out
in a DTC cluster
bus in southeast
Delhi’s Govindpuri
area on Tuesday
morning, officials
said. According
to fire department
officials, informa-
tion about the blaze
was received at
8.45 am after which
three fire tenders
were rushed to the
spot. The flames
were brought under
control at 10.20 am,
they said.
New Delhi: A worker
died while two oth-
ers received injuries
after a portion of a
concrete slab of a
sewer, inside which
they were engaged
in cleaning, fell on
them near August
Kranti Marg in South
Delhi on Sunday, po-
lice said on Monday.
The deceased identi-
fied as 55-year-old
Ramesh Kumar,
lived near the Public
Works Department
office and was hired
on a contract basis
to work for the de-
partment. The other
two injured labour-
ers— Pankaj Singh
(26) and Jitender
Mangal (35)— were
also hired to clean
the sewer near the
Moolchand flyover
by the department.
New Delhi (PTI):
Delhi Environment
Minister Gopal Rai
held a review meet-
ing with officials of
the Forest Depart-
ment and the PWD
to discuss ways to
increase roadside
green cover in the
city to curb air pol-
lution.Rai had earli-
er asked the PWD to
form a special task
force to increase
the roadside green
cover in Delhi.
Kejriwal and Gilon show both the countries can further be made stronger
DELHI, ISRAEL CAN WORK
TOGETHERFORPEACE:CM
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi
and Israel can work to-
gether towards ensur-
ing peace and welfare
for humanity, Chief
Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal said on Tuesday af-
ter the country’s Am-
bassador to India Naor
Gilon called on him
here, an official state-
ment said.
The statement from
the Delhi government
said that Kejriwal and
Gilon discussed how
the relationship be-
tween Delhi and Israel
can be enhanced over
the course of time.
“They talked about
the rich history both
the countries share and
how they can further be
made stronger. Both the
leaders also deliberated
on how Delhi and Israel
can help each other be-
come more efficient and
work towards positive
progress and growth.
Arvind Kejriwal assert-
ed that both Delhi and
Israel have the poten-
tial to work together
towards ensuring peace
and welfare for human-
ity,” it said.
The CM Office also
tweeted about the meet-
ing and said, “Israel
Ambassador to India
H.E. Shri Naor Gilon
called upon Chief Min-
ister of Delhi Shri
Arvind Kejriwal at Del-
hi Secretariat today.
Both Delhi and Israel
will work together to-
wards ensuring peace
and welfare for the peo-
ple (sic).” The statement
said that the Israeli am-
bassador heaped praises
on the development of
Delhi in the recent past
and expressed his de-
light on meeting Kejri-
wal. “I live in Delhi so
Kejriwal is our Chief
Minister too and I am
very happy to meet
him,” the statement
quoted Gilon as saying.
VC’s intervention
sought after CoA
begins admission
New Delhi (PTI): Elev-
en teachers of Delhi
University’s Academics
for Action and Develop-
ment on Tuesday wrote
to varsity’s Vice Chan-
cellor Yogesh Singh
seeking his “necessary
intervention” after the
College of Art (CoA)
started its admission
process as a part of the
Ambedkar University
.
The College of Art of-
fers master’s and bach-
elor’s courses in fine
arts.
In the letter, the 11
teachers, including
members of the varsi-
ty’s Executive Council
(EC) and Academic
Council (AC), said such
an “unfortunate ac-
tion” is in contraven-
tion of the Acts and
Statutes of the Delhi
University (DU).
This comes amid
an ongoing tussle be-
tween the Delhi Univer-
sity and the Delhi
government over the af-
filiation of the art col-
lege.
GOVT STARTS IDENTIFYING LAND
FORSETTINGUPFOODTRUCKHUBS
New Delhi (PTI): The
Delhi government
has started identifying
land for setting up food
truck hubs as an-
nounced in its Rozgar
Budget 2022-23, with
teams of DTTDC and
land owning agencies
conducting surveys
across the city, officials
said.
A report on the iden-
tified locations based
on the survey is expect-
ed to be submitted to
the government this
week, said an official of
the Delhi Tourism and
TransportDevelopment
Corporation (DTTDC).
TheDTTDC,assigned
to prepare the food
truck policy, is also
working on various ini-
tiatives of the Delhi
government, including
redevelopment of five
prominent retail mar-
kets in the city
.
“Various factors, in-
cluding the availability
of land, footfall and the
availability of infra-
structure, are to be con-
sidered in setting up the
food truck hubs as per a
policy to be framed by
the government,” the
officer said.
The food truck mar-
kets would create a “vi-
brant nightlife experi-
ence” for the people in
the city besides serving
as a catalyst to Delhi’s
night-time economy,
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia had
said earlier.
AISA protests at
Hansraj College
Left-affiliated All India
Students’ Association
(AISA) on Tuesday pro-
tested outside Delhi Uni-
versity’s Hansraj Col-
lege against its tie-up
with a private institute
for IAS coaching. AISA
members raised slogans
against what they
termed the “raging pri-
vatisation of education”
and carried placards
that read: ‘Shame on
Hansraj Principal’, ‘No
private coaching in DU’,
‘Beacon IAS Go Back’.
Multi-modal integration
system at Karkardooma
Metro station approved
Delhi government has
provided administra-
tive approval and ex-
penditure sanction of
Rs 45.31 lakh for the im-
provement of the ‘mul-
ti-modal integration’
system at Karkardooma
Court metro station in
east Delhi, an official
order said on Tuesday
.
Under the project,
connectivity of buses,
autos and e-rickshaws
will be made seamless
around the metro sta-
tion to ensure a hassle-
free commute, officials
said.
According to officials
of the Public Works De-
partment (PWD), the
move will benefit thou-
sands of commuters by
providing last-mile con-
nectivity options and
decongestion of streets
around the metro sta-
tion.
Karkardooma Court
Metro Station falls on
the Pink Line of the
Delhi Metro.
“In pursuance of the
proposal of executive
engineer Shahdara
Road Division, PWD, I
am directed to convey
the administrative ap-
proval and expenditure
sanction of the superin-
tending engineer (Shah-
dara) for carrying out
the work ‘Improvement
of Multi Modal Integra-
tion System’ at Karkar-
dooma Court metro sta-
tion for an estimated
cost of Rs 45,31,300,” a
PWD order said.
Earlier this month,
Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia had
convened a meeting of
PWD officials and em-
phasised on developing
the MMI system near
metro stations, bus ter-
minals among others.
DJBholdsHaryanaresponsible
for water crisis in nat’l capital
New Delhi (ANI): Yamu-
nariverhasstarteddrying
up in Delhi, Delhi Jal
Board said on Tuesday
adding that the water of
Delhi’s share is not being
released by Haryana, fol-
lowing which the Yamuna
river has started appear-
ingindryconditionandso
water supply in Delhi will
also be affected.
In a conversation with
ANI,SaurabhBharadwaj,
Vice-Chairman of Delhi
Jal Board said that Hary-
ana is stopping water
which would be enough
for13lakhpeopleof Delhi.
“There has been a short-
age of water in many are-
asof Delhi.Thewatersup-
ply provided by the Jal
Board is not reaching the
people of many areas
smoothly
,” he said.
Sukhdev, a local living
in Wazirabad village said
in a conversation with
ANIthat“wateriscoming
only once, either in the
morning shift or in the
evening shift for the last
one month. This is due to
less water in the Yamuna
river.Suchaproblemhap-
pens every year.”
Same-sex marriages: HC takes
exception to Centre’s affidavit
Delhi High Court Tues-
day expressed displeas-
ure over the filing of an
affidavit by the Centre
opposing a plea by LG-
BTQ couples seeking live
streaming of proceed-
ings on a batch of peti-
tions to recognise same-
sex marriage under vari-
ous laws, as it contained
certain alleged objec-
tionable words. As the
petitioners claimed that
the Central government
has used “highly objec-
tionable and demeaning
comments” in the affida-
vit, the high court said
the affidavit should not
come from the ministry
and the counsel should
not file it without read-
ing.The court was in-
formed that though the
government’s affidavit
has been filed, it was not
on record. “Have you
read the affidavit? We ad-
vise you not to place it on
record and have a relook.
Don’t place it on record.
This is not correct. Your
affidavit should not
come from the ministry
and you should not file it
without reading,” a
bench told the counsel
representing the Centre.
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
Security beefed up at
CM’s residence:Police
New Delhi (PTI):
The city police on
Tuesday informed
the Delhi High Court
that security outside
Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal’s
residence, where an
incident of vandal-
ism occurred in
March, has been
beefed up with the
deployment of addi-
tional armed guards.
The police said the
proposal to curtail
entry on the road
where the chief min-
ister’s residence is
located is also under
consideration and
discussions are on
with the residents
welfare associations
(RWA).
The court was in-
formed by the coun-
sel for police that the
status report is un-
der preparation and
sought some time to
file it on record.
A bench of Acting
Chief Justice Vipin
Sanghi and Justice
Navin Chawla grant-
ed time to the police
to file the status re-
port and said it shall
be filed positively be-
fore the next date,
that is, May 30.
The Delhi govern-
ment standing coun-
sel (criminal) San-
jay Lau submitted
that the status re-
port of Delhi Police
was under prepara-
tion and it could not
be filed as Addition-
al Solicitor General
Sanjay Jain was not
available.
KEJRIWAL SLAMS OMISSION
OF LESSON ON BHAGAT SINGH
FROM K’TAKA TEXTBOOK
New Delhi (PTI): Hitting
out at the BJP govern-
ment in Karnataka over
reports about removal
of a lesson on Bhagat
Singh from a school
textbook, Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
on Tuesday said it’s an
insult to the sacrifice
made by the iconic
freedom fighter, and
demanded a roll back of
the decision. Taking to
Twitter, the AAP national
convenor said the coun-
try will not tolerate such
insult of its martyrs,
and asked the BJP
why “its people” hate
Bhagat Singh so much.
Kejriwal’s reaction
came a day after some
organisations, including
All-India Democratic
Students Organisation
(AIDSO) and All-India
Save Education Com-
mittee (AISEC), claimed
that the Karnataka
government has omitted
a lesson on freedom
fighter Bhagat Singh
and included a speech
by RSS founder Keshav
Baliram Hedgewar
in a revised Kannada
textbook for students
of class X. “Why do
BJP people hate Amar
Shaheed Sardar Bhagat
Singh ji so much?
Removal of Sardar
Bhagat Singh ji’s name
from school books is an
insult to the sacrifice of
the amar shaheed,” Ke-
jriwal tweeted in Hindi.
Saurabh Bharadwaj

INDIA
03
India rejects ‘farcical’ Pakistan
resolution on JK delimitation
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Pakistan has no
locus standi to pro-
nounce on or interfere
in India’s internal mat-
ters, the Foreign Minis-
try said on Tuesday in
sharp remarks to a
resolution passed in
Pakistan on the delimi-
tation exercise in Jam-
mu and Kashmir. “The
entire territory of the
Union Territories of
Jammu and Kashmir
and Ladakh has been,
is and shall always re-
main an integral part
of India,” the govern-
ment said, calling the
resolution passed by
Pakistan National As-
sembly “farcical”.
“We categorically re-
ject the farcical resolu-
tion passed by the Na-
tional Assembly of Pa-
kistan on the subject of
the delimitation exer-
cise in the Indian Union
Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir. Pakistan
has no locus standi to
pronounce on or inter-
fere in matters that are
internal to India, in-
cluding the Indian ter-
ritories under Paki-
stan’s illegal and forci-
ble occupation,” Exter-
nal Affairs Ministry
spokesperson Arindam
Bagchi said.
Bagchi said the de-
limitation exercise in
Jammu and Kashmir is
a democratic exercise
based on the principles
of extensive stakehold-
er consultation and par-
ticipation.
The Foreign Ministry
spokesperson said Paki-
stan should work on
“putting their own
house in order” rather
than interfering in In-
dia’s internal affairs
and engaging in base-
less and provocative
anti-India propaganda.
“It is regrettable that
instead of putting their
own house in order, the
leadership in Pakistan
continues to interfere
in India’s internal af-
fairs and engage in
baseless and provoca-
tive anti-India propa-
ganda,” the Foreign
Ministry added.
Thisstatementwasis-
sued in response to me-
dia queries regarding
the resolution passed by
the Pakistan National
Assembly last week.
Pakistan Foreign
Minister Bilawal Bhut-
to Zardari, who moved
the resolution, had al-
leged India’s move is
aimed at artificially al-
tering the electoral
strength of Jammu and
Kashmir, media report-
ed.
Earlier, the Foreign
Ministry had asked the
Organisation of Islam-
ic Cooperation (OIC) to
refrain from “unwar-
ranted” comments on
Jammu and Kashmir.
“The OIC should re-
frain from carrying out
its communal agenda
vis-a-vis India at the be-
hest of one country,”
the Ministry spokesper-
son said in an oblique
reference to Pakistan.
Delimitation Commission for Jammu Kashmir finalises the Delimitation order. —FILE PHOTO
We categorically
reject the farcical
resolution passed
by the National Assembly
of Pakistan on the subject of
the delimitation exercise in
the Indian Union Territory
of Jammu Kashmir.
Pakistan has no locus
standi to pronounce on or
interfere in matters that are
internal to India, including
the Indian territories under
Pakistan’s illegal and
forcible occupation.
—Arindam Bagchi, External
Affairs Ministry Spokesperson
Militants’ plan to push KPs
out of Kashmir: JK Police
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) visits protesting
Kashmiri Pandits in Budgam, urges them not to leave
Srinagar (Agencies):
The Jammu and Kash-
mir Police on Tuesday
said the killing of Rahul
Bhat,astategovernment
employee, by terrorists
was a part of their plan
to push the Kashmiri
Pandits out of the valley
,
which will be defeated.
Vijay Kumar, Inspec-
tor General of Police
(Kashmir) was speak-
ing to the protesting
Kashmiri Pandits in
Budgam district and
urged them not to fall
prey to the militant de-
signs to leave the Valley
.
“This is the plan of
the militants and their
masters across and this
has to be foiled by all
means,” the IGP said.
He assured the Pan-
dit community of every
help and promised
them better and en-
hanced security cover
in the days ahead.
TWO LeT TERRORIST ASSOCIATES
ARRESTED FROM JK’S BUDGAM
Srinagar (Agencies): Two terrorist associates of proscribed
terror outfit LeT were arrested by a joint team of security
forces in JK’s Budgam on Tuesday, police said. Jammu
and Kashmir Police, at a checkpoint established at Chand-
pora area of Budgam along with the Army and the CRPF, ar-
rested the two, identified as Zahid Ahmad Sheikh, resident
of Alamnag Poshkar Khag, and Sahil Bashir Dar, resident
of Mamath, Budgam. Incriminating materials of proscribed
terror outfit LeT, explosive material and ammunition includ-
ing a hand grenade, two pistol magazines and 15 AK-47
rounds have been recovered from their possession. Police
have registered a case and investigation has been initiated.
IGP Kashmir meets protesting Pandits in Budgam on Tuesday.
Post Chintan Shivir, Cong top brass meet in Delhi
New Delhi (ANI): Con-
gress top brass met once
again on Tuesday to
chalkoutafuturecourse
of action on organisa-
tionalreformsdiscussed
during the three-day
Chintan Shivir held in
Rajasthan’s Udaipur.
The party has also re-
leased a detailed copy of
its Udaipur declaration.
Congress party’s gen-
eral secretaries, in-
charges and CLP lead-
ers, including Priyanka
Gandhi were present at
themeetingheldatAICC
headquarters in Delhi.
According to sources,
it was decided that a
two-day conclave will be
held in every state so
that the members of
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittees (PCC) are in-
formed about the chang-
es that are to be made in
the coming months.
Also, state units will
prepare a list of empty
posts at block, district
and state levels.
A meeting between
the General Secretary
and in-charges will
also be held at AICC
Headquarters tomor-
row, May 18.
The resolution reads:
Indian nationalism is
the core character of
the Congress and in
contrast, the pseudo-
nationalism of the BJP
is centred on the hun-
ger for power. It is the
duty of every Con-
gressperson to bring
out this difference to
the people. In the pre-
vailing extraordinary
circumstances, the po-
litical group stressed
that every Congressper-
son should imbibe the
principles of Bhartiya-
ta and Vasudhaiva Ku-
tumbakam.
The Congress has al-
ways believed in unity
and inclusiveness, and
appreciatedandcelebrat-
ed the diversity of India.
The party also re-
solved that all members
would protect and follow
Gandhianvaluesandthe
Nehruvianideaof India.
Party General secretaries, state incharges including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra release detailed copy of Udaipur
Congress general secretaries and AICC incharges in New Delhi.
RETIREMENT AGE TO
BE DECIDED AFTER
2024 LS ELECTIONS
New Delhi (ANI): After the
Congress Youth Commit-
tee headed by the Punjab
Congress president and
former Youth Congress chief
Amarinder Singh Raja Brar
recommended 65 years as
the retirement age for party
leaders, sources said that the
CWC has decided that this
will be implemented in the
party after 2024 LS elections.
Caste-based census:
‘BJP not against it’
Patna (Agencies): A
day after Chief Minister
NitishKumardecidedto
call an all-party meeting
to discuss the issue of
caste-based census, BJP
Rajya Sabha MP Sushil
KumarModionTuesday
claimed that his party is
notagainsttheproposal.
His statement comes
at a time when BJP Bi-
har wing leaders real-
isedthattheyshouldnot
stop or delay any fur-
ther caste census in the
stateaftertheannounce-
ment of Nitish Kumar.
BJP leadership of Bi-
har have realised that it
is better for them to
catch the bus rather
thanmissingit.Theidea
wouldbetoatleastclaim
before the people of the
state that they were not
againsttheprocess,apo-
litical expert said.
Sushil Kumar Modi
Jet Airways
completes key
test, awaits final
flying permit
New Delhi: Jet Air-
ways has completed the
second, and the last, set
of two proving flights
and now awaits the
grant of air operator
certificate (AOC) by
aviation regulator Di-
rectorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA),
its owner Jalan-Kalrock
Consortium said on
Tuesday
.
Proving flights is the
last step before the air-
line can be granted air
operator certificate. A
total of five landings
(five flights) have to be
done by the aircraft to
successfully complete
its proving flights.
“We have successful-
ly conducted our prov-
ing flights over two
days, and we now look
forward to the grant of
the AOC by the DGCA,”
the spokesperson of
Jalan-Kalrock Consor-
tium said in a statement
on Tuesday
.
Kanimozhi-led TN MPs to meet
FM and Textile Minister today
Chennai (Agencies): A
delegation of Members
of Parliament from Ta-
mil Nadu’s western belt
led by DMK MP Kani-
mozhi will meet Union
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman and
TextilesMinisterPiyush
Goyal on Wednesday
.
The delegation will
impress upon the two
Union Ministers to find
a solution to the prob-
lems faced by the weav-
ers on the advice of Ta-
mil Nadu Chief Minis-
ter M.K. Stalin.
The proposed meet-
ing of the Tamil Nadu
MPs with the two Union
Ministers follows Sta-
lin’s letter to Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi about the high
cotton and yarn prices
affecting the textiles
sector and the workers.
Meanwhile, the gar-
ment units in Tirupur
in Tamil Nadu downed
their shutters on Mon-
day and Tuesday pro-
testing against the
high prices of cotton
and yarn.
Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman
First India Bureau
Agra: The 41st Hunar
Haat is going to be orga-
nized from May 18 to
May 29 at Shilpgram,
Agra. More than 300
stalls of around 800 arti-
sans, craftsmen and ar-
tisans from 32 states and
union territories have
been set up at Hunar
Haat. These include
stalls of various culture
crafts and cuisines.
On the lines of Taj
Mahotsav, various pro-
grammes will be organ-
ised every evening at
Hunar Haat. Veteran
actors of Bollywood will
give scintillating perfor-
mance. Apart from this,
there will be daily 3
shows of the famous
Rambo International
Circus. In this people
can also enjoy the laser
show. The most import-
ant thing about Hunar
Haat is that the entry is
completely free. Hunar
Haat is organised by the
Union Ministry of Mi-
nority Affairs, whose
objective is to give re-
spect to the arts and rec-
ognition to the artist.
Under the guidance of
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi and under the
leadership of Union Mi-
nority Affairs Minister
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi,
Hunar Haat is playing a
vital role in strengthen-
ing the “Vocal for Local”
campaign. Hunar Haat
has been successfully
organized in 40 cities be-
fore Agra.
Over 300 stalls at 41st Hunar Haat starting today in Agra
READY TO HOST OVER 800 ARTISANS
lll
Several veteran
actors of
Bollywood will
give scintillating
performance
during the
10-day
long event
Shilpgram in Agra gears up to host the 10-day crafts fest.
Ensure there are
no riots: Mamata
Banerjee tells cops
Kolkata (Agencies):
West Bengal chief min-
ister Mamata Banerjee
on Tuesday directed the
police to ensure that no
riots break out when
Rashtriya Swayamse-
vak Sangh (RSS) chief
Mohan Bhagwat is
camping in the state.
“The RSS chief will
be staying at Keshiary
from May 17 to May 20.
What’s his purpose?
Give him protection and
ensure that there are no
riots. Send him sweets
and fruits on behalf of
the administration. He
should feel that we wel-
come our guests. But
don’t go overboard else
he may take advantage.
Keep a good watch,” Ba-
nerjeetoldtheofficer-in-
charge of Keshiary po-
lice station on Tuesday
.
She was holding an
administrative meeting
at West Midnapore dis-
trict. It was attended by
senior bureaucrats of
the state, top officials
from the district, local
MLAs and the police.
“The local legislator
should also keep
watch,” she said.
Bhagwat is scheduled
to camp at Keshiary in
Bengal for four days
where he will take part
in a RSS training camp.
The camp will be held
for three weeks. Politi-
cal observers are of the
opinion that RSS’s ac-
tivities and work have
helped the BJP gain
popularity in Bengal in
recent years.
The BJP made maxi-
mum inroads in Jangal-
mahal — a region
spread across West Mid-
napore,Purulia,Banku-
ra and Jhargram dis-
tricts in south Bengal
— in 2019 Lok Sabha
polls when it had won 18
of the state’s 42 seats.

❍ RSS CHIEF IN BENGAL
Mamata Banerjee
Mohan Bhagwat

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 258
l 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
In whom there is no
sympathy for living beings:
know him as an outcast.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Congrats to the Indian contingent
for the best ever performance at the
recently concluded Deaflympics!
Every athlete of our contingent is an
inspiration for our fellow citizens. I will
be hosting the entire contingent at my
residence on the morning of the 21st.
Nitin Gadkari
@nitin_gadkari
Under the leadership of PM Shri @
narendramodi ji, the Expressways
are crucial category of the ambitious
#Bharatmala Pariyojana Under Phase
-1, total of 8 Expressways of total
length 3,852 km are being developed at
total cost of `2,36,765 Crore.
TOP TWEETS
WILL GYANVAPI
MEET THE FATE OF
AYODHYA’S RAM
JANMABHOOMI
he Gyanvapi mosque
controversy has
reached the Supreme
Court which will also
be examining the va-
lidity of the Places of Worship
(Special Provisions) Act. Until
the Act is overturned the Gyan-
vapi mosque cannot be harmed
no matter how desperate a sec-
tion of Hindus may be. The 1991
Act prohibits “conversion of
any place of worship and to pro-
vide for the maintenance of the
religious character of any place
of worship as it existed on the
15th day of August, 1947, and for
matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto”.
The “religious character” of
Gyanvapi mosque is being
sought to be altered with Hindus
seeking permission to worship
inside the mosque which, they
claim, houses Shringar Gauri.
The Varanasi court ordered sur-
vey was supposed to have been
submitted for the court. Even
before the court could see it, the
Hindu side claimed the presence
of a Shivling inside the mosque.
Should one be a crystal ball gaz-
er to see what the future holds
for Gyanvapi.
T
rimeMinisterNar-
endra Modi’s visit
to Nepal, his fifth
since2014,istofur-
ther strengthen
bilateral ties by “bringing soft
power to the centre stage” of
bilateral ties between the two
countries. The visit coincided
with Buddh Purnima and the
prime minister used the occa-
siontolaythefoundationstone
of theIndiaInternationalCen-
tre for Buddhist Culture and
Heritage in the Lumbini Mo-
nastic Zone. Lumbini is the
birth place of Lord Gautam
Buddha and is close to Kushi-
nagar, where Lord Buddha
took nirvana, in eastern Uttar
Pradesh.
India has found a friendly
PrimeMinisterinNepal’spre-
sent incumbent Sher Bahadur
Deuba unlike KP Sharma Oli
whosegovernmenttriedtocre-
ate hurdles in relations with
India. Resentment against In-
dia increased in 2015 when the
Nepal government accused
NewDelhiof interferinginthe
drafting of its constitution.
Ties faced a severe test in 2020
when the Oli government
showed Indian territories in
the new map of Nepal.
The boundary dispute over
Lipulekh pass, where India is
engaged in road widening to
counter the Chinese moves,
was also an irritant. The
Communist Party of Nepal-
Unified Marxist-Leninist ob-
jected to the construction ac-
tivity and also urged India to
withdraw its troops from
Kalapani. The opposition par-
ties of Nepal also laid claim to
Limpiyadhura as being part
of Nepal but India strongly
rebutted that claim.
The opposition parties also
pressured Prime Minister
Deuba to raise the issue with
India but during his three-
day India visit in April, Deu-
ba said that the boundary
should not be politicised. In
this background Modi’s visit
is of great significance.
MODI’S NEPAL VISIT
TO BOOST RELATIONS
India has found a friendly Prime Minister in Nepal’s
present incumbent Sher Bahadur Deuba unlike KP
Sharma Oli whose government tried to create hurdles
in relations with India. Resentment against India increased
in 2015 when the Nepal government accused New Delhi of
interfering in the drafting of its constitution
P
Poll wary party’s strategic move
to renew brand BJP in Tripura?
REPLACING YOUNG BIPLAB WITH AGEING MANIK
he Saffron party’s High Com-
mand’s decision to replace
the young Biplab Kumar Deb
with an ageing dental sur-
geon, Dr Manik Saha (69) as
the CM of Tripura especial
withjusteighttoninemonths
left for the crucial Assembly
elections is seen as a major
brand renewal exercise in
this strategically placed gate-
way state to the north east.
Political grapevine has it
that the move comes after an
analysis which was meticu-
lously made by the RSS to
BJP’s central leadership and
it said that there was need for
a change of guard in the par-
ty and government.
Also, the party felt that de-
cisions had to be taken al-
most ASAP to strengthen the
party especially when there
were internal rifts which
could be costly if not dealt
with properly and on time.
Party insiders also said the
situationwasnotquitecondu-
cive as a section of young
workers, dubbed the ‘bike
gang’, were reportedly in-
volvedinactsof high-handed-
ness,whichwas,inturn,ham-
pering the image of the party
.
However, the party high
command was actually wor-
ried and literally having
nightmares over the meteor-
ic and sudden rise of the
Tripura Indigenous Progres-
sive Regional Alliance or TI-
PRA Motha, a regional politi-
cal party led by the royal
scion Pradyot Kishore Deb-
barma, seeking a separate
state for the indigenous peo-
ple of Tripura.
It may be recalled that the
party had also swept the
Tripura Tribal Areas Auton-
omous District Council
(TTAADC) elections held in
April, 2021 by winning 18 of
the 28 seats over the ‘Greater
Tipraland’ demand in a
straight contest with the rul-
ing BJP-IPFT alliance.
The statehood demand was
giving the BJP the jitters and
this (statehood demand)
could actually affect results
in many assembly seats,
where tribals hold a consid-
erable amount of clout politi-
cally. The TIPRA Motha had
completely polarized the
state’s politics by raising the
demand for a separate tribal
state and had also triggered
tensions in some certain
pockets of the state with a
considerable count of tribals
where it accounted for a third
of the population!
Party sources are of the
opinion that it could be an
uphill task for the BJP to
counter the rise of TIPRA
Motha in the tribal-dominat-
ed areas and the tribal party
has a very good chance to
sweep especially in the tribal
areas in the forthcoming As-
sembly polls.
Also, what is threatening
the BJP is that the tribal par-
ty plans to field candidates in
at least 25 (general) seats out
of 40 (general) seats. With
tribals accounting for a sig-
nificant section of the votes
(in these seats), it would
mean Debbarma’s clout and
support could well hold the
key to the next elections, as
per political analysts.
Meanwhile, what has add-
ed to the BJP’s woes is that
the party’s (BJP’s) tribal ally
,
theIndigenousPeople’sFront
of Tripura (IPFT), could not
secure a single seat in the last
tribal council elections and it
recently suffered a vertical
split and was divided. Given
the current circumstances
and political scenario, the
saffron party has decided to
strengthen its party organi-
zationally and go in for a ma-
jor rejig in the tribal wing,
the Janajati Morcha.
It is here where the Saffron
party feels that the “accept-
able and amiable” Manik
Saha would be able to tackle
so many diverse issues left
behind as a legacy by his pre-
decessor and steer BJP to a
clear victory in the coming
elections.
The other headache of the
Saffron party is the re-emer-
gence of the Left and the sur-
facing TMC and not to ignore
especially the young royal’s
party
. In all, the BJP has a lot
to worry about as far as the
state is concerned.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
T
Meanwhile, what has added
to the BJP’s woes is that the
party’s (BJP’s) tribal ally,
the Indigenous People’s
Front of Tripura (IPFT),
could not secure a single seat
in the last tribal council
elections and it recently
suffered a vertical split and
was divided. Given the
current circumstances and
political scenario, the saffron
party has decided to
strengthen its party
organizationally and go in
for a major rejig in the tribal
wing, the Janajati Morcha
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India
Biplab Deb Manik Saha
WHY SAHA?
Saha, a maxillofacial surgeon
had passed out from King
George Medical College, Luc-
know and was a member of the
Congress before he joined BJP
in 2016 and became the Saffron
party’s state President in 2020 af-
ter Biplab Deb had quit that post.

z A former badminton player of
repute, Saha is also chief of
the cash-rich Tripura Cricket
Association

z His importance to BJP actually
emanated from his clean image
and his track record which
includes scripting BJP’s victory
in all thirteen civic bodies in the
polls held in November 2021 in
Tripura at a time when TMC was
engaged in the same elections

z His imprint in the BJP
continued to grow manifold
with Deb making way for him
to take over as the Tripura BJP
president in January 2020

z Deb’s removal as the party
unit chief was a key demand
of the dissident leaders, who
wanted the leadership to
enforce the “one man, one
post” policy in Tripura

z Also, in March 2022, Saha
created history when he
became the first BJP leader
from the state to get elected to
the Rajya Sabha

z Now, it is left to be seen
how deftly Saha shuttles his
problems around and plays
the defensive strokes on the
already bouncy political pitch
which he inherited from Deb
Newly sworn-in Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha with former State Chief
Minister Biplab Kumar Deb during his oath-taking ceremony on May 15.
PERSPECTIVE
04

To Receive Free Newspaper
PDF Daily
Whatsapp:
http://bit.ly/whatsappdelhi
Telegram:
https://t.me/firstindianewdelhi
Click the above link☝ subscribe us on your
preferred platform.

INDIA
05
Assam (ANI): Theflood
situation in Assam con-
tinues to remain grim
amid heavy downpour
on Tuesday affecting
2,02,385 people in 24 dis-
tricts of the state.
According to the re-
port of the Assam State
Disaster Management
Authority, so far 24 dis-
tricts namely Bajali,
Baksa, Biswanath, Bon-
gaigaon, Cachar,
Charaideo, Darrang,
Dhemaji, Dhubri, Di-
brugarh, Dima-Hasao,
Hojai, Kamrup, Karbi
Anglong West, Kokra-
jhar, Lakhimpur, Maju-
li, Nagaon, Nalbari,
Sonitpur, Tamulpur,
Udalguri, Jorhat, Kam-
rup Metro are affected
with the flood in the
state. Landslides have
also been reported from
Dima Hasao, Karim-
ganj, Hailakandi dis-
tricts as of May 16.
A total of 811 villages
are affected due to the
flood in the state while
1,277 houses are fully
damaged and 5,262 are
partially
.
Nearly 1.97 lakh peo-
ple in 20 districts of the
state were affected in
the last 24 hours due to
floods.The flood waters
inundated new areas at
Kampur area in As-
sam’s Nagaon district
affecting nearly 16,000
people in the area.
Many people have
been forced to leave
their homes after flood
waters entered into
their homes and taken
shelter in schools and
high lands.
The water level of
the Brahmaputra river
is flowing above the
danger level mark at
Neamatighat in Jorhat
district and Kopili riv-
er in the Kampur area
in Nagaon district.
Normal life has been
affected as the flood
situation prevails in
Nagaon district’s Kam-
pur area. On Monday it
crossed its previous
highest flood level of
61.79 meters.
Boulders fall on NH7, Char Dham
Yatra stops on Badrinath route
Owaisi’s AIMIM to give a fight
to Cong in poll-bound Gujarat
Baramulla: 1 killed, 3 hurt in
grenade blast at liquor shop
Ahmedabad: The
AIMIM entry into Guja-
ratpoliticsmaynothave
a significant impact but
it is definitely going to
affect the Congress.
Muslim community
leaders fear that if the
AIMIMputsupitscandi-
dates in Muslim domi-
nated seats, their repre-
sentative strength will
fall further in the state
assembly
. Once there
were at least eight Mus-
lim MLAs in the state as-
sembly
. The number has
fallen to three after the
2017 assembly elections.
AIMIM President As-
aduddin Owaisi visited
Gujarat on Sunday and
Monday and addressed
twopublicmeetings,one
in Ahmedabad and an-
other in Chhapi in Vad-
gam taluka of Banas-
kantha district.
The venues of the
meetings clearly indi-
cate that the party is tar-
geting constituencies
where the Congress has
a presence and its repre-
sentatives have got elect-
ed. Chhapi is the place
where the biggest pro-
test against the Citizen-
ship (Amendment) Act
and the NRC had taken
place.
Chhapi falls under
Vadgam assembly con-
stituency which is re-
served for Scheduled
Castes. Jignesh Mevani
got elected in 2017 as an
independent MLA from
here and has now joined
the Congress.
The Muslim popula-
tion in the state is 58.47
lakh – 9.67 % of the total
population. Going by
thesenumbers,itshould
have 18 representatives
in the assembly
.
Srinagar: An employee
of a newly-opened wine
shop was killed and
three others injured in a
grenade attack by ter-
rorists in Baramulla dis-
trict of north Kashmir
on Tuesday, police said.
“At about 2010hrs, 02
terrorists riding on a
bike stopped near the
newly opened wine shop
at Dewan Bagh Baram-
ulla. The pillion rider
wearing a Burka walked
to the window of the
said wine shop and
dropped a grenade in-
side the said wine shop
through the port hole
window and thereafter
fled away on the bike
from the spot,” said a
police spokesman.
Uttarakhand (ANI):
The traffic movement
on Badrinath route,
NH7, near Panchpulia
in Uttarakhand’s Kar-
naprayag was disrupted
after boulders fell from
the hill on Tuesday
.
Following the disrup-
tion, the Badrinath Yatra
through this route was
stopped due to the clo-
sure of the highway and
the operation to open the
route is underway.
The Badrinath Yatra
had resumed only a few
hours ago before it was
suspended on Monday
amid heavy rainfall fol-
lowed by falling boul-
ders near Hanuman
Chatti and rising water
in Lambagad drain.
The portals of Badri-
nath Dham were opened
on May 8, with the car-
rying capacity of 16,000
devotees to the Dham in
a day. According to the
Chamoli District Magis-
trate Himanshu Khura-
na, as many as 115 vehi-
cles had left Badrinath
this morning, as soon as
weather cleared.
Assamflood:Over2lakhpeople
affectedin24districtsofState
LANDSLIDES IN
AP CAUSE
CONNECTIVITY
TO SNAP
Itanagar: Land-
slides triggered
by heavy rains
caused destruc-
tion in Arunachal
Pradesh, snapping
connectivity in many
areas, officials said
on Tuesday. Road
connectivity between
Itanagar and Ziro in
the Lower Subansiri
district via Potin
was disrupted after
a massive landslide
blocked the road,
they said.Hundreds
of vehicles were
stranded as road
clearing operations
were underway, they
added. The road
from Itanagar to
Gohpur in Assam
was also blocked
due to mud slips.
Landslides were also
reported from Kars-
ingsa block point
along the Itanagar-
Banderdewa NH-415,
Itanagar Gompa
and RWD Colony,
officials said.
Colombo (PTI): A no-
confidence motion ta-
bled by the Opposition
against Sri Lankan
President Gotabaya Ra-
japaksa was defeated in
Parliament on Tuesday,
in a comfortable win for
the embattled President
amidst nationwide pro-
tests demanding his
resignation due to the
country’s worst-ever
economic crisis.
The motion by Oppo-
sition Tamil National
Alliance (TNA) MP M A
Sumanthiran to sus-
pend Parliament’s
standing orders in or-
der to debate an expres-
sion of displeasure over
President Rajapaksa
was defeated with 119
MPs voting against it,
the Economy Next
newspaper reported.
Only 68 MPs voted in
favour of the motion, it
said, giving the 72-year-
old President a comfort-
able victory
.
The main Opposition
Samagi Jana Balave-
gaya (SJB) MP Laksh-
man Kiriella had sup-
ported the motion.
According to SJB MP
Harsha de Silva, among
those who voted against
the motion was Sri Lan-
ka’s newly-elected
Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe.
Human rights lawyer
Bhavani Fonseka tweet-
ed after the vote that the
motion’s defeat exposed
MPs who protect Presi-
dent Rajapaksa.
On Tuesday, Parlia-
ment met for the first
time after the appoint-
ment of new Prime
Minister Wickremesin-
ghe, as the country
looks to undertake ma-
jor constitutional re-
forms amid the worst
economic crisis.
Sumanthiran, who
moved the motion,
wanted the standing or-
ders suspended to carry
on with the debate.
The government,
however, objected to
suspending the stand-
ing orders.
The Speaker then or-
dered a vote on the
question of suspending
the standing orders.
The government won
the vote and forced the
adjournment motion
moved on the violence
suffered by the ruling
party politicians since
May 9.
The police on Mon-
day said that some 78
ruling party politicians
had suffered damage to
properties.
The Opposition said
the motion of displeas-
ure could be moved on
Friday
.
Sri Lanka is witness-
ing an unprecedented
economic crisis.
The Rajapaksa gov-
ernment had taken
some arbitrary deci-
sions like banning
chemical fertiliser im-
ports in favour of or-
ganic farming and re-
sisting turning to the
International Monetary
Fund which led to the
country’s worst eco-
nomic crisis since its
independence from
Britain in 1948.
A crippling shortage
of foreign reserves has
led to long queues for
fuel, cooking gas and
other essentials while
power cuts and soaring
food prices heaped mis-
ery on the people.
A total of 811
villages are
affected due to
the flood in the
state
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court is scheduled
to hear the bail plea
of Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) student
leader Sharjeel Imam, on
May 26, seeking interim
bail for alleged inflam-
matory speeches given
by him at Aligarh Muslim
University (AMU) and in
the Jamia area during
the anti-CAA agitation
in 2019 and 2020. The
hearing on the matter on
Tuesday got adjourned as
the concerned bench of
Justice Siddharth Mridul
and Justice Rajnish
Bhatnagar, didn't as-
semble. Days after the
Supreme Court of India
put the trial on sedition
cases on hold, Sharjeel
Imam approached the
Delhi High Court stating
that since the apex court
has put sedition (section
124-A) in abeyance, his
case has improved for
grant of bail'.
DELHI HC TO HEAR
SHARJEEL IMAM’S
BAIL PLEA ON MAY 26
DELHI HC FINES EX-CBI DIRECTOR RAO
OVER 'TWITTER BLUETICK' PLEA
SC GRANTS 3 MONTHS INTERIM BAIL
TO JITENDRA TYAGI IN HATE SPEECH
HC RAISES CONCERN OVER RELIGIOUS
STRUCTURES IN THE MIDDLE OF ROAD
New Delhi: The Delhi High COurt on Tuesday
imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on former CBI head
Mannem Nageswara Rao, who has moved the
court against Twitter for taking down his blue
tick verification from the microblogging website.
Dismissing his plea, a single judge bench of Jus-
tice Yashwant Varma said the court has already
passed an order in the matter. The bench also
came heavily on the petitioner during the course
of the hearing.
New Delhi (ANI): The SC on Tuesday
granted three months of interim bail
to Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, for-
merly known as Wasim Rizvi, in con-
nection with the investigation into the
hate speeches at the Hardiwar Dharam
Sansad held in Dec last year. A bench headed by
Justice Ajay Rastogi granting interim bail to Tyagi
on medical grounds said he has to give an under-
taking that he would not indulge in hate speech and
not give any statement to media.
New Delhi (ANI): The Delhi HC on Tuesday raised
concern over encroachment in the form of religious
structures, allegedly in the middle of the roads in
the national capital. Coming heavily on the city
government for not taking proactive action against
the encroachers, a bench comprising Acting Chief
Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla
asked how will a civilised society survive like this.
IN THE COURTYARD
SC Collegium recommends elevation
of five Judges as Chief Justices of HCs
New Delhi: The Su-
premeCourtCollegium
headed by Chief Jus-
tice N V Ramana on
Tuesday recommended
the elevation of five
Judges as Chief Jus-
tices of various High
Courts.
The Collegium in a
meeting held today
took the decision and
the resolution was up-
loaded on the apex
court website.
The names recom-
mended for elevation
are -- Justices Vipin
Sanghi (from Delhi HC
to Uttarakhand HC ),
Amjad A Sayed (from
Bombay HC to
Himachal Pradesh HC
), S S Shinde (from
Bombay HC to Ra-
jasthan HC), Rashmin
M Chhaya (from Guja-
rat HC to Gauhati HC)
and Ujjal Bhuyan who
is presently judged in
Telangana HC will be
elevated as Chief jus-
tice there.
Besides this, the Col-
legium has also recom-
mended the transfer of
Justice Satish Chandra
Sharma, Chief Justice,
Telangana High Court
to Delhi High Court.
Besides Ramana,
JusticesUULalitandA
M Khanwilkar are part
of the three-member
Collegium which takes
decisions concerning
the high court judges.
A road is damaged due to incessant rainfall, in the Dima Hasao district of Assam on Tuesday.
—PHOTO BY ANI
Sri Lankan Parliament defeats
no-confidence motion by Opp
against President Gotabaya
Katra: After a brief pause for a day
, the Helicopter
services in Katra resumed today, news agency ANI
reported. The Shrine Board had informed about
the suspension of helicopter services on Monday
morning. The development was announced hours
after a fire broke out in the forest area of Trikuta
mountain near Mata Vaishno Devi late Sunday
evening. The fire that occurred near the Sanji Chhat
helipad was brought under control to a great extent.
The movement of pilgrims to and from Badrinath
Dham, which was suspended on Monday after
heavy rainfall, has resumed today morning.“As
soon as the weather cleared, 115 vehicles left
Badrinath Dham this morning. The movement of
passengers has started for Badrinath Dham” said
Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana on
Tuesday. The movement of pilgrims was suspended
amid heavy rainfall followed by falling stones near
Hanuman Chatti. Speaking to ANI, District Magis-
trate Himanshu Khurana said, “Due to heavy rains
last night, movement of passengers were banned
due to the falling of stones from the rock in Baldoda
ahead of Hanuman Chatti on Badrinath National
Highway and rising water in Lambagad drain.”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami
on Monday appealed to devotees to embark on the
pilgrimage only after consulting their doctors.
BADRINATH DHAM YATRA RESUMES
AFTER WEATHER CLEARS IN U’KHAND
Dehradun (ANI): The
Uttarakhand govt on
Tuesday
, issued an advi-
sory for the Chardham
yatra pilgrims to man-
datorily register them-
selves before commenc-
ing their journey
.
The government has
urged the devotees to
start their journey only
after checking the reg-
istration slots available
on the portal of the Ut-
tarakhand Tourism De-
partment. According to
the advisory, no pilgrim
will be allowed to go be-
yond Rishikesh without
registration.
The tourism depart-
ment has also set a cer-
tain limit for the regis-
tration of pilgrims in
the state.
U’khand govt mandates
registration for Char Dham Yatra
After fire incident, helicopter
services resume from Katra
CLASS 11 STATE BOARD EXAMS SUSPENDED
—FILE PHOTO

BIZ BUZZ
06
LIC sees lacklustre debut,
lists at over 8% discount
Mumbai (PTI): The
country’s largest in-
surer LIC on Tues-
day made a lacklus-
tre debut on stock
exchanges on Tues-
day, listing at over
8% discount after a
successful IPO which
fetched `20,557 crore
to the exchequer.
As against the is-
sue price of `949,
shares of LIC listed
at `872, a discount of
`81.80 apiece, on the
BSE. The stock listed
at `867.20, showing a
discount of `77
apiece, on the NSE.
In intra-day trade
on listing day, the
stock recovered some
ground and was trad-
ing at `883.75, down
6.88% on the NSE. On
the BSE it were trad-
ing at `883.25, down
6.93%.
LIC Chairperson MR Kumar, second from left, and other officials pose with the bull.
Weak LIC listing due to
volatile mkt: DIPAM Secy
Mumbai (PTI): De-
partment of Invest-
ment and Public As-
set Management (DI-
PAM) Secretary
Tuhin Kanta Pandey
on Tuesday said the
weak debut of the
country’s largest in-
surer LIC on the
bourses was due to
unpredictable mar-
ket conditions and
suggested investors
to hold on to the stock
for long-term value.
“Nobody can pre-
dict the market. We
have been saying
that it should not be
held for a particular
day but for more than
a day,” Pandey told
reporters after the
listing of shares.
LIC Chairman M R
Kumar said the re-
sponse for the shares
in the secondary
market is going to be
higher which will
pull the prices up.
“The markets are
also jittery. We were
not expecting a very
big jump.
“It (stock price)
will pick up as we go
along. I am sure a lot
of people, especially
the policyholders
who have missed out
on the allotment will
pick up the shares (in
the secondary mar-
ket). I don’t see any
reason why it should
be tepid for too long,”
MR Kumar told re-
porters.
New Delhi (PTI): The country’s largest insurer LIC is the fifth most valu-
able company in the country with a market capitalisation of about `5.54
lakh crore. Shares of LIC closed at `875.45, down `73.55 or 7.75% over
the issue price, on the BSE. At this price, LIC is valued at nearly `5.54
lakh crore. The market capitalisation of LIC is higher than that of HUL
(`5.27 lakh crore), ICICI Bank (`4.94 lakh crore), SBI (`4.17 lakh crore)
and HDFC (`3.97 lakh crore), as per the BSE data.
LIC WITH M-CAP `5.54 LAKH CRORE IS
FIFTH MOST VALUED INDIAN COMPANY
WPI INFLATION AT RECORD
HIGH OF 15.08% IN APRIL
New Delhi (PTI):
Wholesale price-based
inflation soared to a
record high of 15.08
per cent in April main-
ly on account of spi-
ralling prices of food,
fuel and other com-
modities, which may
prompt the Reserve
Bank to hike interest
rates in upcoming
monetary policy re-
view next month.
The Wholesale Price
Index (WPI) at 15.08 per
cent is the highest in
the new series, the data
for which is available
since 2012-13. The WPI
inflation has remained
in double digit for the
13thconsecutivemonth
since April last year.
“The high rate of in-
flation in April 2022
was primarily due to
rise in prices of min-
eral oils, basic metals,
crude petroleum nat-
ural gas, food articles,
non-food articles, food
products and chemi-
cals chemical prod-
ucts etc. As compared
to the corresponding
month of the previous
year,” the commerce
and industry ministry
said in a statement.
Inflation in food arti-
cles was 8.35 per cent as
prices of vegetables,
wheat, fruits and pota-
to witnessed a sharp
spike over the year-ago
period.
In the fuel and power
basket, inflation was
38.66 per cent, while in
manufactured prod-
ucts and oil seeds, it
was 10.85 per cent and
16.10 per cent, respec-
tively
.
Inflation in crude pe-
troleum and natural
gas was 69.07 per cent
in April.
Data released last
week showed that re-
tail inflation rose to a
near eight-year high of
7.79 per cent in April,
remaining above the
Reserve Bank’s infla-
tion target for the
fourth straight month.
WPI INFLATION HAS REMAINED IN DOUBLE DIGIT FOR 13TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH
With the WPI inflation
remaining solidly in
double-digits, the prob-
ability of a repo hike in the June
2022 review of monetary policy
has risen further. We expect a
40 basis point hike in June
2022 followed by a 35 basis
point rise in August 2022,
amidst a terminal rate of 5.5%
to be reached by mid-2023.
—Aditi Nayar, ICRA chief economist
WPI INFLATION MAY RECEDE
MILDLY BELOW 15% IN MAY 22
ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said
with some correction in commod-
ity prices as a result of the bleaker
demand outlook in China offsetting the
depreciation in rupee, the WPI inflation
may recede mildly below 15% in May
2022, while remaining uncomfortably
elevated. The heat wave led to a spike
in prices of perishables such as fruits,
vegetables and milk, which along with
a spike in tea prices pushed up the
primary food inflation. The core-WPI
inflation reverted to a four-month high
of 11.1% in April.
Economy likely to grow 12-13% in Q1: ICRA
Mumbai (PTI): Citing
the second highest busi-
ness activity index
reading in 13 months in
April, rating agency
Icra on Tuesday fore-
cast the economy to
grow 12-13% in the first
quarter of the current
fiscal.
“Our business activ-
ity monitor for April at
115.7 indicates that ac-
tivity was roughly 16%
higher than the year
ago (period) and pre-
COVID levels in spite of
the global headwinds,”
ICRA Chief Economist
Aditi Nayar said.
This high growth
may persist in May, es-
pecially on an annual-
isedbasis,whichshould
translate into a double-
digit GDP expansion in
Q1 at 12-13%. However,
this may not sustain
and the annual growth
in volume and activity
may moderate, she said.
According to her,
higher input costs may
dampen GVA growth to
single-digits. “There-
fore, we maintain our
GDP growth forecast at
7.2% for FY23”. CPI is
expected to average at
6.3-6.5% this fiscal.
FPI holdings in
dom equities
down 6%
New Delhi (PTI):
The value of foreign
portfolio investors’
(FPI) holdings in
domestic equities
reached $612 billion
in the March quarter,
down 6% from the
preceding quarter,
according to a Morn-
ingstar report. This
was largely on the
back of a massive
sell-off by foreign
investors and cor-
rection in the Indian
equity markets.
New Delhi (PTI): Pet-
rol in India is cheaper
than in countries like
Hong Kong, Germany
and the UK but costlier
than in China, Brazil,
Japan, the US, Russia,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka,
a BOB Economics Re-
search report showed.
Rising fuel prices in
India have led to consid-
erable debate on which
government, state or
central, should be low-
ering their taxes to keep
prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is
mainly due to the global
price of crude oil (raw
material for making
petrol and diesel) going
up. Further, a stronger
dollar has added to the
cost of crude oil.
The report of Bank
of Baroda Economic
Research juxtaposed
petrol prices as of May
9 in various countries
with per capita income.
“For a set of 106 coun-
tries for which data is
available, the price in
India at $1.35/l is 42nd
in rank. Hence there
are over 50 countries
where the price is high-
er. This should provide
some comfort that in
absolute terms India is
not an outlier. The me-
dian price was around
$1.22 a litre,” it said.
Fuel prices in India
are at par with those in
Australia, Turkey, and
South Korea.
It is lower than Hong
Kong, Finland, Germa-
ny, Italy, the Nether-
lands, Greece, France,
Portugal and Norway
where it is above $2/l.
Amongst comparable
countries (per capita
wise), prices in India
are higher than those in
Vietnam, Kenya,
Ukraine, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, and Venezuela
in South America.
Petrol in India costlier than US, China, Pak
The rise in fuel
prices is mainly
due to the global
price of crude oil
(raw material for
making petrol
and diesel)
going up
Sensex, Nifty zoom over
2.5% in surprise rally
Mumbai (PTI): Bench-
mark equity indices
Sensex and Nifty on
Tuesday spurted by
over 2.5% to log their
best single-day gains in
three months, propelled
by heavy buying in met-
al, energy and banking
stocks amid a global
rally in stocks.
The 30-share BSE
benchmark zoomed
1,344.63 points or 2.54%
to settle at 54,318.47
points with all of its
constituents closing
with gains. The broader
NSE Nifty rallied 417
points or 2.63% to finish
at 16,259.30 points. All
the 50 stocks advanced
led by steel and energy
stocks. Both Sensex and
Nifty logged their best
single-day gain since
February 15.
Tata Steel, Reliance
Industries, ITC, Larsen
Toubro, Wipro, ICICI
Bank were the major
gainers.
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia has done extremely
well on the vaccination
front and the challenge
for the country is to
grow 8-9% over the
next three decades,
Niti Aayog CEO Am-
itabh Kant said.
Kant further said
that rise in per capita
income of India is crit-
ical for removing pov-
erty in the country
.
“We bounced back
post-COVID-19, and
have done extremely
well on vaccination,
next year as well we
will grow. The chal-
lenge (for India) is to
sustain high growth of
8-9% over the next
three decades,” he said.
According to Kant,
the government’s role
should be in public
policy and the policy
should create wealth
through the private
sector. “The govern-
ment should be in edu-
cation, health and nu-
trition,” he said.
According to Kant, it
is important for Indian
manufacturers to pen-
etrate global markets
and value chains.
He said without tech-
nological leapfrogging,
it will be difficult for
India to grow at high
rates. The NITI Aayog
CEO said India is cli-
matically-blessed and
it is an opportunity to
use renewable energy
.
Govt mulls extending April
GST payment deadline
New Delhi (PTI): As
taxpayers face techni-
cal glitch on the GST
portal, the govern-
ment on Tuesday said
it is considering ex-
tending the April tax
payment deadline and
has directed Infosys
for early resolution of
the problem.
The Central Board
of Indirect Taxes and
Customs (CBIC) said a
technical glitch has
been reported by Info-
sys in generation of
April 2022 GSTR-2B
and auto-population
of GSTR-3B on portal.
“Considering the
difficulties faced by
taxpayers in filing
their GSTR-3B for the
month of April 2022, a
proposal to extend the
due date of filing
GSTR-3B for April
2022 is under active
consideration,” the
CBIC informed with a
tweet on Tuesday
.
Need to reduce
taxes on oil,
says CII Prez
Greenko setting
up largest RE
storage plant
New Delhi (PTI):
Making a strong case
for reduction in taxes
on petrol and diesel,
CII President Sanjiv
Bajaj said it should be
done in a collaborative
manner between the
Centre and states with
a view to containing
the rising inflation.
He said taxes on
petrol and diesel were
increased at a time
when the price of
crude oil was low and
the same needed to be
reversed.
Kurnool (PTI):
Greenko Group is
setting up the world’s
largest renewable
energy storage
plant here, its Joint
Managing Director
Mahesh Kolli said.
The 5,230 megawatt
(MW) project is
being set up at a cost
of $3 billion. The
project is expected to
be commissioned by
2023.
` RECOVERS FROM
RECORD LOW TO
END 7 PAISE HIGHER
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee
on Tuesday recovered
from its all-time intra
day low of 77.79 to close
higher by 7 paise on a
stellar rally in domestic
stock markets. After
opening lower at 77.67,
the local unit plunged
further to its all-time
intra-day low of 77.79
due to a spike in crude
oil prices and disappoint-
ing macroeconomic data.
However, it rebound and
close at 77.48, showing
net gains of 7 paise.
With transactions worth `1 lakh crore, govt
surpasses FY22 target of monetisation plan
New Delhi (PTI): The government has completed
transactions worth `1 lakh crore under the National
Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) in 2021-22, surpassing
the ambitious programme’s first-year target of Rs
88,000 crore, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said. Kant
said India needs to fire on all cylinders, including manu-
facturing and services, to achieve high growth rates. “...
My asset monetisation target was ` 88,000 crore for
last year. I have crossed it by `12,000 crore,” he said.
‘Challenge is to sustain 8-9% growth’
Amitabh Kant

07
NEWS
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Haryana
Government is actively
working towards mak-
ing the state an indus-
trial and automobile
hub and setting up
Maruti’s 3rd plant in
Kharkhoda will give a
boost to auto industry
in Haryana, stated
Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar.
CM said Khattar the
growth in automobile
sector in Haryana can
be gauged by the fact
that Maruti is coming
up with its 3rd plant in
the state. Maruti Suzu-
ki India Limited
(MSIL)/ Suzuki Motor-
cycle India Private Lim-
ited (SMIPL) and Hary-
ana State Industrial
Infrastructure Develop-
ment Corporation Lim-
ited (HSIIDC) are all set
to sign an agreement
for the allotment of 800-
acre 100 acre land at
IMT Kharkhoda, re-
spectively, in a ceremo-
ny being organised on
Thursday
.
This event would also
celebrate the four dec-
ades of Haryana-Japan
business relationship,
which began in 1981
and continues to flour-
ish even today
.
Khattar said that this
is a huge achievement
for the state as Maruti
is setting up its 3rd
plant in Haryana. He
said that MSIL has pur-
chased an additional
800 acres at IMT Khark-
hoda land for its pro-
posed new car manufac-
turing facility
.
The total project cost
is estimated to be Rs
18,000 crore. It has the
potential to generate
employment for 11,000
skilled, unskilled and
semi-skilled persons.
Along with MSIL, Su-
zuki Motorcycle India
Private Limited (SMI-
PL) has also purchased
a 100-acre land
parcel for setting up an
integrated manufactur-
ing facility for two-
wheelers, including en-
gines.
The total project cost
is estimated to be Rs
1,466 crore, with a po-
tential to generate em-
ployment for 2,000
skilled, unskilled and
semi-skilled persons.
Maruti’s 3rd plant will give a boost to auto industry: Khattar
MARUTI’S PLANT IN HARYANA
lll
Youth of the
state to
get more
employment
opportunities
through new
industrial
units, says
Haryana CM
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
ACHIEVEMENT
EXPORT BAN
AIMPLB slams Gyanvapi survey
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The All In-
dia Muslim Personal
Law Board (AIMPLB)
has reacted sharply and
condemned the survey
of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi
masjid and sealing of
‘wuzu khana’ (ablution
area). The board termed
the survey, its report
and sealing of ‘wuzu
khana’ as gross injus-
tice to Muslims.
In a statement issued
late on Monday even-
ing, the AIMPLB said
the current situation
created about the Gyan-
vapi mosque was com-
pletely unacceptable to
Muslims and Gyanvapi
“was a mosque and will
continue to remain a
mosque till the end”.
AIMPLB General
Secretary, Maulana
Khalid Saifullah Rahm-
ani said, “Gyanvapi is a
mosque and will re-
main a mosque. The at-
tempt to transform it
into a temple is nothing
more than a conspiracy
to spread hate by com-
munal forces.” Howev-
er, Rais Ahmad Ansari,
an advocate of the An-
juman Intezamia Mas-
jid Committee that
manages the Gyanvapi
mosque, has called peti-
tioners’ claim about a
“Shivling” being found
at the mosque “mis-
leading”.
“There’s only a foun-
tain in the mosque’s
wuzu khana,” Ansari
said.His statement
came after a court in Ut-
tar Pradesh’s Varanasi
ordered the sealing of
the spot where “Shiv-
ling” was reportedly
found and Hindu peti-
tioners claimed that a
‘Shivling’ had been
found in the survey
.
The court order was
based on a petition that
was filed by an advocate
that there was some
concrete evidence that
needed to be protected.
4,000 WHEAT-LADEN TRUCKS
STRANDED AT GUJARAT PORT
Ahmedabad (PTI):
The ban on wheat ex-
port by the Centre has
left at least 4,000 trucks
carrying the food grain
stranded outside Deen-
dayal Port at Kandla in
Gujarat for want of per-
mission from authori-
ties to load them into
vessels, port and indus-
try officials said on
Tuesday
.
A three-day holiday
last weekend (Saturday,
Sunday and Monday) at
the Directorate General
of Foreign Trade
(DGFT) has kept four
vessels berthed at the
port awaiting addition-
al permission to load
following the ban noti-
fied on May 13, they
said. From the Deenday-
al Port in Kutch district,
wheat is primarily
transported to African
countries, Bangladesh,
South Korea and Yem-
en. “Around 4,000 trucks
carrying wheat from
Madhya Pradesh, Pun-
jab, Maharashtra and
some other states are
parked outside the
Kandla port since the
last three to four days,
awaiting loading due to
uncertainty caused by
the sudden ban on ex-
port by the Centre,” said
Teja Kangad, president
of the local Gandhid-
ham Chamber of Com-
merce and Industry
.
Compounding the
problem was the ex-
tended three-day holi-
day at the DGFT on Sat-
urday
, Sunday and Mon-
day, due to which four
port to export wheat
were left awaiting addi-
tional permission from
the DGFT for Customs
clearance after the ex-
port ban notification,
he said. Meanwhile, the
port and local adminis-
tration and the Gandhi-
dam industry body have
arranged for food for
around 7,000 to 8,000
drivers and cleaners of
these stranded trucks,
Kangad and an official
of the Deendayal Port
Administration said.
“We believe that
nearly 20-25 lakh tonnes
of wheat has been lying
at the Kandla port go-
downs, complex, and
trucks and vessels
awaiting clearance,”
Kangad said.
Officials of the Deen-
dayal Port administra-
tion said an effort is
being taken to ease the
situation. Of the four
port, one, called ‘Mana’,
was granted permis-
sion on Tuesday to load
the remaining 17,160
tonnes of wheat and al-
lowed to sail to its des-
tination in Egypt, they
said.
MAJOR CONCERN
The ban on wheat export has left at least 4,000 trucks stranded at Kandla port in Gujarat.
Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. —FILE PHOTO
Yogi’s tweet sparks
Lko name-change
speculations
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A tweet by
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath has sparked off
speculations about the
name of Lucknow, the
state capital, being
changed in the coming
weeks.
In the tweet welcom-
ing Prime minister
Narendra Modi to Luc-
know on Monday even-
ing, Yogi wrote:
“Sheshavatar Bhagwan
Laxman ki pawan nagri
Lucknow mein aapka
swagat aur abhinan-
dan.”
This has led to a de-
bate on social media
about the name of Luc-
know being changed to
Laxmanpuri. A grand
temple dedicated to
Laxman is already be-
ing constructed in Luc-
know. A demand to
change the name of
Lucknow to Lakhan-
puri or Laxmanpuri
has been raised several
times by BJP leaders.
Lucknow already has
several landmarks
named after Laxman
and these include Lax-
man Tila, Laxmanpuri
and Laxman Park. The
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment in its previous
term, had changed the
name of Allahabad to
PrayagrajandFaizabad
to Ayodhya.
‘Fees for drone
pilot training
will decrease’
New Delhi (PTI):
Fees for drone pi-
lot training course
will decrease with-
in the next 3-4
months as the
number of schools
providing this
course are going
to increase, Avia-
tion Minister Jy-
otiraditya Scindia
said on Tuesday
.
A farmer — dur-
ing a virtual inter-
action with Scind-
ia on drones —
raised the issue of
high fees for a
drone pilot train-
ing course.
Scindia said,
“You said the fees
of a drone pilot
course is current-
ly quite high. You
should not worry
at all.”
In the last five
months, aviation
regulator DGCA
has certified 23
schools for train-
ing drone pilots,
he added.
“As the number
of schools keep in-
creasing, the cost
of training drone
pilots will keep de-
creasing,” he said.
The minister
gave the example
of mobile phone’s
cost and how it has
decreased gradu-
ally over the years
in India.
13-yr-old girl rescued
in Delhi by DCW
Delhi Commission For
Women (DCW) has res-
cued a 13-year-old or-
phan girl from a house
in northwest Delhi’s
GTB Nagar who was be-
ing inhumanely treated
and forced to work as a
domestic help, it said in
a statement.
The women rights
body received the infor-
mation through an
anonymous source on
its helpline 181. The call-
er said that the girl was
being ill-treated and
beaten up regularly it
said. Upon receiving the
call, a DCW team, along
with police, immediate-
ly reached the spot for
rescuing the girl, but
faced resistance from
the family who tried to
conceal the matter, the
DCW said.
The girl, who is from
Uttarakhand, informed
the DCW that she has
two sisters and that she
was forced to work as a
domestic help in Delhi
for the past four years
without any payment,
the statement said. The
victim said that she was
only9-year-oldwhenher
employers brought her
to Delhi. Since then,
they did not allow her to
meet her family, the
DCW said.
Chandigarh-Mohali
border turns fortress as
farmers plan protest
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: A heavy
contingent of police has
been deployed at the
Chandigarh-Mohalibor-
der after several farmer
bodies’ announcement
of heading towards the
union territory for hold-
ing an indefinite protest
to press for their de-
mandsrelatedtoawheat
bonus, paddy sowing
and MSP
.
Police have put up
barricades, tippers and
rolled out water can-
nons to prevent protest-
ing farmers from enter-
ing Chandigarh.
Several farmer un-
ions have given a call for
organising an indefinite
protest at Chandigarh
on the lines of a year-
long agitation at Delhi
borders against the Cen-
tre’s three farm laws
which were repealed in
response to the protests.
Farmers from vari-
ous parts of Punjab
have assembled at gurd-
wara Amb Sahib in Mo-
hali. They have come in
tractor-trolleys, buses
and other vehicles, car-
rying ration, beds, fans,
coolers and cooking gas
cylinders and other es-
sential items.
Bharti Kisan Union
(Lakhowal) general sec-
retary Harinder Singh
Lakhowal said the farm-
ers will hold their ‘pak-
ka morcha’ right at the
site where they are
stopped from moving to-
wards Chandigarh.
Farmers are demand-
ing a bonus on wheat as
their yield has dropped,
and shriveled because
of the unprecedented
heatwave conditions.
Farmers are also
against the state gov-
ernment’s decision of
allowing paddy sowing
in a staggered manner
next month. They are
demanding that the gov-
ernment permit them
paddy sowing from
June 10.
—With PTI inputs
NO TRANSFORMATION
DELHI’S WATER WOES!
People collect drinking water from a tanker on a hot summer day, at Sanjay Camp, in New
Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

As long as regrets do not take the
place of dreams, a man is young
and can carry on, undiminished.
—Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Kingston (Jamaica):
While hailing the
friendly relations be-
tween India and Jamai-
ca, President Ram Nath
Kovind on Tuesday said
that despite geographi-
cal distance, the eco-
nomic interactions be-
tween the two democra-
cies flourish.
In his speech at the
“Indian Community
and Friends of India
Warm Welcome” Pro-
gramme in Jamaica,
President Kovind said,
“India and Jamaica
continue to enjoy cor-
dial and friendly rela-
tions based on shared
democratic values...
economic and commer-
cial interactions con-
tinue to grow despite
constraints like geo-
graphical distance.
However, there remains
potential for enhanced
trade and investment.”
President Kovind added
that in his talk with
Governor-General of
Jamaica Patrick Allen
and PM of Jamaica An-
drew Holness, they dis-
cussed ways to further
strengthen the close re-
lationships between the
countries.
While addressing the
Indian community in
Jamaica, President Ko-
vind shared that “the
First Lady of Jamaica
was so fascinated with
Indian culture that to-
day she wore a ‘salwar-
kurta’.”
Earlier, President in-
augurated an ‘India-Ja-
maica Friendship Gar-
den’ at the Hope Gar-
dens, Jamaica and
planted a sapling along
with the First Lady
.
President Kovind
also presented a sym-
bolic gift of cricket kits
to Jamaica Cricket As-
sociation, as a mark of
cricket cooperation be-
tween the two nations.
President of the Jamai-
ca Cricket Association,
Wilford Billy Heaven
received the same.
Earlier, on the side-
lines of this inaugural
event, Matthew Samu-
da, Minister without
Portfolio in the Minis-
try of Economic
Growth and Job Crea-
tion said, “Environ-
mental challenges like
climate crisis pollu-
tion are global crises.
India and Jamaica are
developing nations, it is
important that we lead
the world in environ-
mental protection.”
VP to Defence forces: Be
ready to repel security threat
First India Bureau
Udhagamandalam
(TN): India is facing
multiple security chal-
lenges in a highly com-
plex and unpredictable
geo-political environ-
ment, Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu said on
Tuesday and called
upon the armed forces
to be fully prepared to
handle any challenge
and repel any security
threat firmly
.
Also, Venkaiah
Naidu, who is the first
Vice President to visit
the Defence Services
Staff College, Welling-
ton, in the district, in 52
years, said taking into
accountnewandemerg-
ing areas of conflict,
the armed forces should
develop the Indian mili-
tary into a “future
force.”
Previously, Gopal
Swarup Pathak, then
Vice President, visited
the college in 1970.
“We are facing both
symmetric and asym-
metric threats from out-
side and within. There-
fore, our armed forces
should be fully pre-
pared to handle any
challenge and repel any
security threat firmly,”
the Vice President said
while addressing the of-
ficers and staff of De-
fence Services Staff
College, Wellington.
Historically, India
has never been expan-
sionist in its outlook
and her approach has
always been of peaceful
coexistence and one de-
signed to deter the forc-
es of terror and disrup-
tion. “The nation is
confident that any at-
tempt to challenge In-
dia’s sovereignty by in-
imical forces would be
dealt with strongly by
our security forces,”
Naidu warned.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Tuesday said India has a
lot of stories to be ex-
plored and asked inter-
national filmmakers to
benefit from the seam-
lesspossibilitiestomake
movies in the country
.
In a message, he ex-
pressed happiness on
India’s participation as
‘country of honour’ at
the Marche du Films
held alongside the
Cannes Film festival.
“As India celebrates
its 75th year of Inde-
pendence, the 75th an-
niversary of Cannes
Film Festival as well as
75 years of Indo-French
diplomatic ties enhance
the pride and joy associ-
ated with the momen-
tous milestones,” Modi
said.
He noted India was
the largest film produc-
ing country in the world
with rich heritage and
cultural diversity being
its strengths.
“We have a lot of sto-
ries to be explored. In-
dia truly possesses im-
mense potential to be-
come the content hub of
the world,” Modi said.
He said the govern-
ment was steadfast in
its efforts towards fur-
thering ease of doing
business in the film sec-
tor. “From facilitating
international film co-
productions, to ensur-
ing a single window
clearance mechanism
for permissions for
filming across the coun-
try, India offers seam-
less possibilities to film-
makers of the world,”
Modi said.
“Our spellbinding lo-
cations, technological
prowess in film making
and talent of young
men and women pro-
vide a perfect backdrop
for film makers,” he
said.
Modi said it was
heartening to note that
a Satyajit Ray film has
been restored for
screening in the Cannes
Classic Section as India
celebrates the birth cen-
tenary of the legendary
filmmaker.
He noted that start-
ups from India will
showcase their
strengths at the Cannes
Film Festival. He said
the India Pavilion will
display facets of Indian
cinema and promote in-
ternational partner-
ships and learnings.
As a major highlight
of India’s participation
at this edition of
Cannes Film Festival,
worldpremierof “Rock-
etry”, produced by R
Madhavan, is scheduled
to be showcased at the
Palais des Festivals of
the market screening
on May 19.
IB Minister Anurag
Thakur is leading the
Indian delegation.
Lot of stories to explore in India, says PM; invites global filmmakers
WELCOME TO INDIA
lll
PM Narendra
Modi noted
India was the
largest film
producing
country in the
world with rich
heritage and
cultural diversity
being its
strengths
‘Ind-Jamaica ties flourish even
aftergeographicalconstraints’
Prez Kovind inaugurates Ambedkar Avenue addresses Indian Community in Kingston
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
CANNES FESTIVAL
President Ram Nath Kovind presents a symbolic gift of cricket kits to Jamaica Cricket Association
President Willford Billy Heaven as a mark of cricket cooperation between India and Jamaica, in
Kingston on Tuesday. —PHOT BY ANI
Friendship Garden
Naidu calls for developing capabilities in new and emerging
areas of warfare such as information cyber war
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu addressing the officers and staff of Defence Services Staff College,
Wellington, in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.
India and Africa must respond
to uncertain world: Jaishankar
New Delhi (PTI): India
and Africa must re-
spond to the “volatile
and uncertain” world
and important lessons
can be learnt from the
COVID-19 pandemic
and knock-on effects of
the Ukraine conflict,
External Affairs Minis-
ter S Jaishankar said
on Tuesday
.
Jaishankar said de-
velopment partnership
and capacity building is
at the core of India’s re-
lationship with the Af-
rican continent and it
speaks for New Delhi’s
shared desire of devel-
oping together as
“equals”.
He said India was
“very conscious” of the
expanding threats of
radicalism, fundamen-
talism and terrorism to
African societies and
both sides have been co-
operating in dealing
with the challenges.
“Today, our ties too
must respond to the
volatile and uncertain
world that we con-
front,” he said.
“There are important
lessons to be learnt
from the pandemic dis-
ruption. The stresses
from the knock-on ef-
fects of the Ukraine
conflict are also rele-
vant,” Jaishankar said.
Highlighting India’s
development partner-
ship with the African
continent, he said the
“difference that we
have made to the hard
and soft infrastructure
is something of which
we can be justifiably
proud.”
“To date, India has
completed 189 projects
in Africa, with 76 at the
execution stage and 68
today at the pre-execu-
tion stage, he said at a
book release event.
“There are important lessons to be
learnt from the pandemic disruption.
The stresses from the knock-on effects of
the Ukraine conflict are also relevant.
—S Jaishankar, Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister
Shimla (PTI): AAP
senior leader Manish
Sisodia on Tuesday at-
tacked the Himachal
Pradesh government
saying the education
system in the state is
“in shambles” and also
claimed that while his
party delivers quality
education, the BJP in-
dulges in “politics of
riots”
Sisodia, who is also
the deputy chief minis-
ter of Delhi, is visiting
the northern state
ahead of the assembly
polls due in December.
He alleged that the
BJP does “politics of
riots” and pits people
against one another.
He said he had a dis-
cussion with intellectu-
als who had come from
every nook and corner
of Himachal Pradesh
over the education sys-
tem.
“The education sys-
tem in Himachal
Pradesh is in shambles
as government schools
lack basic infrastruc-
ture and quality educa-
tion, while fees in pri-
vate schools are very
high as the state gov-
ernment has given
them free hand to loot
the people,” Sisodia told
reporters.
BJP is doing politics of
riots:Sisodia in Himachal
DELHI MODEL
Manish Sisodia
S Jaishankar
96 dengue
cases in
Delhi so far
New Delhi (PTI):
Nearly 100 dengue
cases have been re-
ported in Delhi till
date, according to a
civic report re-
leased on Tuesday.
Till April 30 this
year, 81 dengue cas-
es had been record-
ed in the city, the
South Delhi Munic-
ipal Corporation
(SDMC) said in its
weekly report.
Ninety-six cases
of dengue have
been reported till
May 14, it said.
No death has
been reported due
to the vector-borne
disease so far, it
said. Delhi had re-
corded 23 dengue
cases in January, 16
in February, 22 in
March, and 20 in
April, the report
said.
T h i r u v a n a n -
thapuram (PTI): The
India Meteorological
Department (IMD) on
Tuesday issued an Or-
ange alert in nine dis-
tricts in Kerala for
Tuesday while it issued
the same for seven dis-
tricts on Wednesday in-
dicating heavy rainfall.
Even though the Red
alert, which indicates
extremely heavy rain-
fall, issued in the last
few days at various dis-
tricts has been with-
drawn, various weather
forecasting centres in
the country have pre-
dicted isolated heavy
rains across the state.
The IMD has issued
an Orange alert on
Tuesday for the dis-
tricts of Ernakulam,
Idukki, Thrissur, Palak-
kad, Malappuram,
Kozhikode, Wayanad,
Kannur and Kasaragod.
However, for Wednes-
day, there is no Orange
alert for Ernakulam
and Idukki. “Fisher-
men are advised not to
venture into these sea
areas,” the IMD said.
Rains continue in
Kerala, Orange alert
in nine districts

—
REPRESENTATIVE
IMAGE
Cyclonic circulation

NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY,
MAY 18, 2022
09
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirst-
india facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
CLOTHED WITH STRENGTH AND DIGNITY, AND
SHE LAUGHS WITHOUT FEAR OF THE FUTURE,
SUPERTALENTED PALAK SHAH SHARED HER
JOURNEY IN A CANDID TALK WITH CITY FIRST
ell us something
about yourself.
I am very hard
working and fo-
cused towards
what I chose. I
lovebeingmyself
and truly want
to follow my
passion and
turn into my
career. I was a
national sports
player back in
school. Travel
junkie,fitnessenthusi-
ast and a confectioner are
some of my personality traits.
I am student pursuing ‘Film
and Television New Media
Course from UPG college,
Mumbai.’
Where do you see yourself af-
ter the next 20 years?
I see myself as a successful ac-
tor and model. Who had done
multiple hit movies and some
amazing fashion shows and
campaigns.Ialsoseemyself as
a business women.
How did your journey start?
I started working at the age
of 16 and so far I have been
working really hard to set my
foot into the industry
. I
hadn’t prioritised this
field rather I was a na-
tional level sports play-
er back in school, a
total Tom boy per-
sonality
. But then I
found myself in-
terested into the field
of glamour and that’s
how my journey started.
What were some of the bat-
tles you fought and are still
fighting in your journey?
I come from a conservative
family and first battle was to
convince my family that it is
something I am sure of doing
and I will do it with atmost
dedication. The battles I face
nowaregrowingslowandpeo-
ple judging me for what I do,
howeverIhavestartedtomake
peace with it that and the fact
thatitwilltaketimebutwillbe
for the best at the end. -
Talk to us about your achieve-
ments?
I made my debut in a music
video called EK RAAH.
It was launched in August
2021. I have been working on
an Amazon Webseries called
Jee Karda along side Taman-
naah Bhatia and is pro-
duced by Maddock
films. Various pro-
jects like LOREAL
fashion show,
GLAMRS cam-
paign, shot for
brands like Kalki,
AZA fashion, Sugar
Cosmetics and many
more. Won pageants-
2nd runners up and
best photogenic face
forMISSMYEARTH
2020, Miss Talented
at QUEEN OF
COSMOS 2022,
finalist for
Mumbai Times
Fresh Face sea-
son 13.
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
T
SOUL OF A
SOUL OF A
WARRIOR!
WARRIOR!

18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

Similar to 18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (10)

18052022_ First India New Delhi.pdf