PM Modi to inaugurate Delhi's 1st tunnel connecting Pragati Maidan to India Gate

PM to inaugurate Pragati Maidan tunnel, 5 underpasses tomorrow
New Delhi (PTI):
Prime Minister Naren-
draModiwillinaugurate
the main tunnel and five
other underpasses part
of the Pragati Maidan
Integrated Transit Cor-
ridor project here on
June 19, officials said on
Friday
.
The inauguration of
the 1.6-km-long tunnel,
which will be Delhi’s
first, will allow commut-
ers travelling to India
Gate and other central
Delhi areas from east
Delhi, Noida and Ghazi-
abad to ditch traffic
snarls at ITO, Mathura
Road and Bhairon Marg.
The Pragati Maidan
Integrated Transit Cor-
ridor project has been
built at a cost of more
than `920 crore and fund-
ed entirely by the central
government, the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO)
said in a statement.
Itisaimedatproviding
hassle-free and smooth
access to the new world-
class exhibition and con-
vention centre being de-
veloped at Pragati Maid-
an, thereby facilitating
easy participation of ex-
hibitors and visitors in
the programmes being
heldatPragatiMaidan,it
said.
Public Works Depart-
ment(PWD)officialssaid
that once the tunnel is
operational, motorists
travelling from Noida,
GhaziabadandeastDelhi
areas will have signal-
free access to India Gate,
SupremeCourt,Mathura
Road and vice-versa.
The tunnel starts near
theNationalSportsCom-
plex of India (NSCI) at
the Purana Qila Road
and passes underneath
the redeveloped Pragati
Maidan to culminate at
the Ring Road near the
Pragati Power station.
“It will be Delhi’s first
tunnel in which traffic
will move. It is equipped
with the latest technolo-
gies such as a digital con-
trol room with the facili-
ty of a public announce-
ment system inside the
tunnel.
“To allay fears of wa-
terlogging, we have
constructed seven un-
derground sumps to
collect and drain storm
water automatically,” a
PWD official said.
Theconstructionwork
of the tunnel was started
in March 2018 and was
scheduled to be complet-
ed by September 2019.
This deadline was ex-
tendedtoJune2020dueto
thecomplexitiesinvolved
intheconstructionwork.
Thedeadlinewaslater
pushedtoDecember2020
duetotheCOVID-19lock-
downandfurtherextend-
ed to March 2022.
This will be the PWD’s
second big road infra-
structure project that
will be thrown open to
the public this year.
BUILT AT COST OF
`920 CRORE
1.6-KM-LONG
TUNNEL’S ROUTE
The 1.6-km-long
tunnel tunnel starts
near the National
Sports Complex of
India (NSCI) at the
Purana Qila Road and
passes underneath the
redeveloped Pragati
Maidan to culminate at
the Ring Road near the
Pragati Power station.
The inauguration of the
1.6-km-long tunnel, which
will be Delhi’s first, will al-
low commuters travelling to
India Gate and other central
Delhi areas from east Delhi,
Noida and Ghaziabad to
ditch traffic snarls at ITO,
Mathura Road and Bhairon
Marg. It has been built at
a cost of more than `920
crore and funded entirely by
the central government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. —ANI/FILE PICTURE
❍ PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Shekhawat convener
of BJP’s 14-member
management team
New Delhi (PTI): The
BJP has constituted a
14-member ‘manage-
ment team’, with Union
Minister Gajendra
Shekhawat as its con-
vener, for coordinating
with all its state units
and allies for the presi-
dential elections.
BJP General Secre-
taries Vinod Tawde and
C T Ravi are the co-con-
veners of the team.
Tarun Chugh, who is
also a general secretary
,
is also part of the team.
Union Ministers G
Kishan Reddy
, Ashwini
Vaishnaw, Sarbananda
Sonowal, Arjun Meghw-
alandBharatiPawarare
also members of team.
The other members
are BJP’s national vice-
president D K Aruna,
national secretary Rit-
uraj Sinha, national
president of women’s
wing Vanati Srinivasan,
national spokesperson
SambitPatraandAssam
unit vice-president Raj-
deep Roy
. More on P3
Mumbai cops in
Delhi in search of
Nupur Sharma
Mumbai: A Mumbai
police team is in Delhi
in connection with the
p r o b e
against now
suspended
BJP leader
N u p u r
Sharma for
alleged objectionable
comments against
Prophet Mohammad,
an official said on Fri-
day. The team is in Del-
hi for the past five days
as it needs to physically
hand over summons to
Sharma to appear be-
fore the police.
Sonia Gandhi
diagnosed with
fungal infection
New Delhi: Congress
President Sonia Gan-
dhi, who was admitted
to Ganga
Ram Hospi-
tal on June
12, has got a
fungal in-
fection and
do the post -Covid com-
plications, according to
the party’s official state-
ment. She has been de-
tected with a lower res-
piratory tract infection
after her admission to
the hospital and doctors
areobservingherhealth
conditions closely
.
CRUCIAL READ
CHINA BLOCKS MOVE
TO LIST LeT DY CHIEF
AS TERRORIST
WTO SIGNS
LANDMARK DEAL
AFTER A DECADE
Geneva: The 164 member
countries of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) finally
sealed a package of trade
agreements in the wee hours
on Friday in Geneva, with
India leading the course. The
deals approved at the 12th
ministerial conference of the
WTO were ground out over
days of round-the-clock talks.
United Nations: China has
put on “technical hold” the
proposal to list Lashkar-e-
Toiba’s (LeT) deputy chief
Abdul Rehman Makki as
a global terrorist, sources
said on Friday. On June 1,
India and the United States
had jointly proposed to
list Makki at the United
Nations.
PM MODI TO LEAD INT’L YOGA DAY
CELEBRATIONS ON JUNE 21
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the
International Yoga Day celebrations from the Mysuru Palace
Grounds on June 21, Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
said on Friday. The event will also witness the participation
of Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai. Nearly 15,000 yoga en-
thusiasts will perform yoga, and the event will be organized
with the support of MPs, departments of Karnataka Govt.
POLITICAL REACTIONS AGAINST & FAVOUR
RAHUL GANDHI tweeted
that Prime Minsiter Naren-
dra Modi does not under-
stand what
the country
wants,
listing out
initiatives by
the central
government
that were “rejected” by the
people. “He can’t hear any-
thing except the voice of
his ‘friends’,” Rahul said.
PRIYANKA GANDHI asked
PM Modi to withdraw the
scheme immediately. She
added that
the govern-
ment had
changed its
rules for the
Agnipath
recruitment
plan in less than 24 hours,
indicating that it is being
imposed on the youth in
a hurry.
BHUPESH BAGHEL,
Chhattisgarh CM, slammed
'Agnipath'
scheme;
says Centre
playing with
nation's se-
curity, future
of youths.
JP NADDA, National Presi-
dent of ruling BJP, said it
(Agnipath scheme) shows
that Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi is
fully seized
of the con-
cerns of the
country’s youth and is
making efforts for their
bright future.
DHARMENDRA PRADHAN,
Union Education and Skill
Development Minister,
said that the
Agnipath
scheme will
boost the
creation
of a young
and skilled
workforce for Indian
Armed Forces.
ANURAGH THAKUR,
Union Minister for
Sports & Youth Affairs,
on Friday
reached out
to army as-
pirants in an
attempt to
clear doubts
regarding
the new Agnipath recruit-
ment scheme.
KNOW ABOUT
AGNIPATH
l The Agnipath scheme
has been designed
to enable a youthful
profile of the Armed
Forces.
l The scheme aims at
providing an opportu-
nity to the youth who
may be keen to don the
uniform.
l It is envisaged that the
average age profile
of the Armed Forces
would come down by
about 4-5 years with
this scheme.
l The Defence Min-
istry had said while
launching scheme that
the nation stands to
benefit from infusion
of the highly inspired
youth who would be
adequately skilled.
l Is is a major defence
policy reform intro-
duced by the Govt to
usher in a new era in
the Human Resource
policy of the three
Defence Services.
POLITICAL REACTIONS AGAINST & FAVOUR
A vehicle is set on fire by the protesters
in Danapur on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
FURORE
INTENSIFIES
AGAINST AGNIPATH
 One person dead, 13 injured in police firing in Telangana
 Haryana blocks internet for 24 hrs, buses targeted in Delhi
 HM Amit Shah and Army Chief step in to assuage concerns
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Nationwide
protests intensified on
Friday against the Cen-
tral government’s Ag-
nipath defence recruit-
ment scheme leaving
one person dead and 13
injured in police firing
in Telangana. The re-
ports of violent protests
were received from Bi-
har, Madhya Pradesh,
Telangana, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Delhi.
In Telangana, agita-
tors vandalised the Se-
cunderabad railway sta-
tion premises in Hy-
derabad and set a train
ablaze during a protest
against the Agnipath
scheme. In police firing
one person was killed in
Secunderabad, the first
casualty of protests
against the defence re-
cruitment scheme. Be-
sides at least 13 persons
were injured
As irate protesters,
some armed with brick-
bats and stones, fanned
out across large parts of
thecountry
,HomeMinis-
terAmitShahandArmy
chief Gen. Manoj Pande
stepped in to assuage
concerns.
BJP TRIES TO DEFEND
AGNIPATH SCHEME
Facing countrywide pro-
tests over the Agnipath
scheme, the ruling BJP on
Friday rallied its leaders to
put up a stout defence of the
new recruitment initiative for
the armed forces, with its
senior leader and Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh term-
ing it as a “golden opportu-
nity” for the youth to serve
the country.
CONGRESS DEMANDS
ROLLBACK OF AGNIPATH
The Congress on Friday de-
manded immediate rollback
of the Agnipath scheme, saying
it is neither in the interest of
country nor its security. Party’s
Rajya Sabha MP Deepinder
Hooda said the scheme should
be taken back immediately and
a 3-year age relaxation be an-
nounced for youths who could
not join the armed forces due
to delays in recruitment.
SECTION 144 IN HRY
DISTS; INTERNET OFF
In Haryana protests erupted
at Hero Honda Chowk in
the Narnaul Mahendragarh
district on Friday. Police had
to chase away the agitators
and detain a few of them.
The protestors vandalised
the police barricades, which
had been put on the roads
of Narnaul, following which
Section 144 was clamped in
the area.
2ND BJP OFFICE SET ON
FIRE IN MADHEPURA
Bihar continued to be tense
as violent protests over
the Agnipath scheme con-
tinue on second consecutive
day and second BJP office
was set afire in Madhepura.
On Thursday, a BJP office
was set ablaze in Nawada.
Violent protests in Bihar
left vehicles vandalised and
trains burnt on Thursday and
Friday.
OVER 340 TRAINS AFFECTED ACROSS
THE COUNTRY DUE TO VIOLENT PROTESTS
As many as 340 train services were affected on Friday
due to youth’s agitation against the Agnipath recruitment
scheme. As per the latest reports by the Railways Minis-
try, 94 Mail Express and 140 Passenger Trains have been
cancelled, whereas 65 Mail Express and 30 Passenger Trains
have been partially cancelled to run in the country. Bihar re-
mained the most affected state due to protest as the agitation
continued for the second day on Friday.
AGNIPATH
SCHEME
RECRUITMENT PROCESS TO BEGIN
SOON, SAYS ARMY CHIEF GEN PANDE
‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ SCHEME FOR
FORCES: DEFENCE SERVICE CHIEFS
A policeman firing in the air to disperse people protesting
against Centre’s ‘Agnipath’ scheme, in Danapur on Friday.
Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said, “The recruit-
ment process is going to begin soon. Within
next 2 days, notification will be
issued on joinindianarmy.nic.in.
After that, our Army recruitment
organisations will declare a de-
tailed schedule of registration
and rally...” “the training of first
agniveers will begin this December (in 2022) at the
centres,” the Army Chief told ANI.
The three chiefs of Indian Defence services on Fri-
day hailed the decision of the Central government
to approve the Agnipath Scheme, a recruitment pro-
cess for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces.
Agnipath Scheme, approved by the Union cabinet on
June 14, was launched in an effort to bring a change
in the recruitment process of the Armed Forces. With
the new military recruitment scheme facing criti-
cism, the Centre has decided to bring a change in
the upper age limit for recruiting Agniveers.
—PHOTO BY PTI
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 SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 289
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, LUCKNOW, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he will
soon present to Parliament a roadmap for overcoming the ongoing
economic crisis that has led to an acute shortage of essential items like
food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the debt-ridden island nation.
British Interior Minister Priti Patel on Friday approved the extradition of
WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange to the United States to face criminal
charges, bringing his long-running legal saga closer to a conclusion.
Assange is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts.
BSE SENSEX 51,360.42 135.37 | NSE NIFTY 15,293.50 67.10

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022
02
AGNIPATH SCHEME: STUDENTS STAGE PROTEST
Commuters face hardship as Delhi Metro closes gates of several stations
New Delhi (PTI): Ac-
tivists of several stu-
dent groups, including
the left-affiliated AISA,
staged a protest here on
Friday against the
Agnipath defence re-
cruitment scheme,
and termed it “disas-
trous”.
The All India Stu-
dents’ Association said
the scheme is nothing
but a design to destroy
permanent jobs in the
armed forces.
The protesters raised
slogans — “Agnipath
wapas lo, tanashahi
nahi chalegi (take back
Agnipath, dictatorship
won’t work) and also
held placards which
read ‘Immediately fill
all vacant posts in de-
fence on a permanent
basis’ and ‘Rollback Ag-
inpath scheme.
Both AISA and Stu-
dents’ Federation of In-
dia (SFI) alleged that
several of their mem-
bers were “brutally de-
tained” .
A senior police offic-
er said 17-18 people had
gathered at the ITO to
hold a protest. They
were detained and im-
mediately removed
from the area.
Police personnel detain All India Students Association (AISA) supporters during a protest against the Agnipath
Recruitment Scheme for the Armed Forces, outside ITO Metro station. —PHOTO BY ANI
GATES OF SEVERAL METRO STATIONS CLOSED
New Delhi (PTI): Entry and exit gates of some Delhi Metro stations were closed on
Friday as members of the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association protested
against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and demanded
its rollback. In a series of tweets, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation alerted com-
muters about the closure of gates of stations due to “security reasons”. The AISA
also demonstrated against police action on those protesting against the Agnipath
scheme, that since its announcement has kicked off a firestorm across the country.
Section 144 imposed
in Gurgaon
Gurugram: Antici-
pating protests in the
city against the cen-
tral government’s Ag-
nipath scheme for the
armed forces, section
144 of the CrPC was
imposed in Gurgaon
Friday, the police said.
“Prohibitory orders
u/s 144 CrPC are is-
sued to restrict gath-
ering of more than
four persons in Guru-
gram. Strict action
will be taken against
violators, who take
the law into their
hands,” the Gurgaon
police said in a state-
ment. The Gurgaon
district magistrate
also issued an order
regarding the imposi-
tion of section 144.
“Protests are likely to
happen against the
Agnipath Scheme
Government of India
in various districts of
the state of Haryana
including in the dis-
trict Gurugram… It
has been made to ap-
pear to me that the
crowd may assemble
around the railway
stations, bus stands,
markets, national
highways power grid
and other places of
district Gurugram
which may create ob-
struction,” DM Nis-
hant Kumar Yadav
said.
HOUSEMAID
KILLED BY LOVER
IN VASANT KUNJ
ELDERLY COUPLE
FOUND DEAD IN
EAST DELHI HOME
New Delhi (PTI): A
38-year-old man was
arrested for alleg-
edly killing his woman
friend in southwest
Delhi’s Vasant Kunj
area for allegedly
pressurising him for
marriage, police said
on Friday. The ac-
cused, Sanjay, a resi-
dent of Masoodpur
Village in Vasant Kunj,
had been arrested
for killing his wife in
2011 and had spent
eight years in Tihar
jail, they said.
New Delhi (PTI): An el-
derly couple was found
dead inside their house
in east Delhi’s Nirman
Vihar area on Friday
morning, police said.
The police said they
do not suspect any
foul play. On Friday, a
man named Pramod
Kumar Talwar told the
police that his brother
and his wife live at
Nirman Vihar and
were not opening their
door despite repeated
knocks, a senior police
officer said.
CRUCIAL READ
MAN STABBED
TO DEATH
New Delhi
(PTI): A man
was stabbed to
death and three
others sustained
minor injuries
during a quarrel
between two
families over a
trivial issue in
northwest Del-
hi’s Jahangirpuri
area, police said
on Friday. The
deceased was
identified as
Abdul Mutalif
(42).
DDA conducts second phase
of draw for allotment of flats
New Delhi (PTI): Draw
of lots for allotment of
flats to 903 beneficiaries
were conducted on Fri-
day under an in situ re-
habilitation scheme of
the Delhi Development
Authority (DDA), offi-
cials said.
DDA has constructed
3,024 flats for the resi-
dents of Bhoomiheen
Camp at Kalkaji Exten-
sion area under the
scheme, and the first
phase of the draw was
conducted in February
this year, they said.
As many as 2,890
households were found
to have existed at JJ
camp in the preliminary
survey, the DDA said in a
statement.
Under in situ rehabili-
tation, multi-storey flats
have been built at the
very same location
where the camp earlier
existed. First phase of
draw of lots was con-
ducted in February 2022
for the allotment of flats
to their JJ households
who were found eligible
for the rehabilitation by
the Eligibility Determi-
nation Committee
(EDC). Thereafter, allot-
ment-cum-demand let-
ters were issued to the
allottees, it said. In the
first phase of draw of
lots, allotment-cum-de-
mand letters were issued
to 673 eligible house-
holds, the DDA said.
5,300 fine issued for
flouting Covid norms
Delhi BJP demands
action against AAP leader
over ‘Pakistani’ jibe
New Delhi: Several
parts of Delhi received
mild rainfall in the early
hours of Friday as pre-
dicted by the India Mete-
orological Department
(IMD) earlier this week.
The minimum tem-
perature on Friday is
likely to hover around 26
degrees Celsius, while
the maximum tempera-
ture is predicted to reach
37 degrees Celsius.
The minimum tem-
perature on Thursday
stood at 23.8 degrees Cel-
sius, while the maximum
temperature was 40.2 de-
grees Celsius.
Delhi’s air quality was
in the moderate category
on Friday morning. Data
from the Central Pollu-
tion Control Board
showed that the hourly
air quality index (AQI)
stood at 104 at 7 am. On
Thursday, the average 24-
hour AQI was 132, which
is in the moderate cate-
gory.
An AQI between zero
and 50 is considered
‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satis-
factory’, 101 and 200
‘moderate’, 201 and 300
‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very
poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘se-
vere’. On Friday, the Un-
ion ministry of earth sci-
ence’s air quality moni-
toring centre — System
of Air Quality and
Weather Forecasting and
Research (Safar) — said,
“Last night, rain im-
proved air quality and
reduced temperature be-
low 40 degrees Celsius.
AQI today indicates ‘low-
er end of moderate’ air
quality, with PM10 as the
primary pollutant. Dust
(size 2.5 micrometer)
contributes ~ 75% to
PM10. For the next 3 days
(17th, 18th, 19th) peak
wind speed is likely to be
~ 24 km/hr, causing mod-
erate dispersion and AQI
is likely to be within
‘moderate’ or ‘lower end
of poor’.”
Drizzles keep temperature in check; AQI in ‘moderate’
RESPITE FROM HEAT
lll
The minimum
temp on
Thursday stood
at 23.8 degrees
Celsius, while
the max temp
was 40.2
degrees Celsius. Paramilitary personnel enjoy the rain as the capital receives
respite from heat, in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi (Agencies):
Security has been in-
creased outside the
mosques in Delhi ahead
of Friday namaz and
DCPs in all 15 districts
have been asked to
make elaborate securi-
ty arrangements,
against the backdrop of
recent protests against
remarks by suspended
BJP leader Nupur Shar-
ma.
Delhi Police Commis-
sioner Rakesh Asthana
visited the Central dis-
trict on Friday morning
to review the security
arrangements at Jama
Masjid, where a brief
protest was seen last
week.
On Thursday, Special
Commissioner of Po-
lice (northern zone)
Dependra Pathak held
a meeting with all
the DCPs regarding
security arrangements.
Security hiked
outside
mosques,
DCPs on alert
INSPECTION
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia conducts on-ground inspection of Kirti Nagar
market —PHOTO BY ANI
DSEU begins 2nd batch of admissions
with more programmes and seats
New Delhi: Admis-
sions to the Delhi Skill
and Entrepreneurship
University (DSEU) for
the academic year 2022-
2023 opened on Friday.
This is the second batch
of admissions at the
Delhi government Uni-
versity
.
This time, the num-
ber of seats across pro-
grammes has increased
to 7,571 from 6,000. Some
new undergraduate de-
gree courses have been
introduced, including
BSc Optometry, Bache-
lor in Library Sciences,
a three-year pro-
gramme in automotive
retail management and
a BBA in Hospital Man-
agement.
Vice-Chancellor Ne-
harika Vora also stated
that two new campuses
of the university will
become functional – one
in Mayur Vihar and the
other in Dhirpur – tak-
ing the total number of
campuses to 17. “Last
year, we had given more
than 500 scholarships.
This year, we plan on
giving more than 700
with special focus on
girls who join our uni-
versity. We want to en-
courage girls to join
technical courses and
join the workforce,”
said Vora.
New Delhi (PTI): Over
5,300 challans were is-
sued across Delhi be-
tween June 10 and 15 and
fines to the tune of over
Rs 26 lakh were imposed
on those flouting Covid
norms amid a surge in
cases here, officials said.
However, the total
fines collected was Rs
14,60,980, almost half of
the amount of fines im-
posed by the districts.
Officials explained
that while some people
pay the fine amount on
the spot, there are others
who pay the fine later in
the court.
On many occasions,
violators do not have suf-
ficient amount to pay the
fine. In that case, we is-
sue challans and send
them to the violator’s
residence or email them,
said an official.
The enforcement team
of the New Delhi district
issued the maximum
number of challans
while the southwest dis-
trict administration is-
sued the least number of
fines and recorded sin-
gle-digit number on all
six days between June 10
and June 15. Delhi re-
corded 1,323 new Covid
cases and two deaths on
Thursday, while the posi-
tivity rate stood at 6.69
per cent, according to
data shared by the health
department here.
New Delhi (PTI): BJP
leaders of the city on
Friday met Delhi Chief
Electoral Officer and
demanded action
against an AAP spokes-
person for allegedly
terming their party’s
candidate for the June
23 Rajinder Nagar As-
sembly bypoll, Rajesh
Bhatia, a “Pakistani”.
A delegation of Delhi
BJP leaders headed by
Leader of Opposition in
the Assembly Ramvir
Singh Bidhuri accused
the AAP spokesperson
of “insulting” Bhatia
and also violating the
model code of conduct.
In a news channel de-
bate, the AAP spokes-
person had purportedly
said that Bhatia’s an-
cestors “must have
come to India from Pa-
kistan so he was a Paki-
stani”. He was replying
to BJP’s attack on AAP
candidate Durgesh
Pathak as an outsider
in Rajinder Nagar.
—REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
Some new degree
courses are
introduced,
including BSc
Optometry,
Bachelor in
Library Sciences

INDIA
03
New Delhi: The BJP on
Fridayformeda14-mem-
ber management com-
mittee for next month's
Presidential poll.
Union Minister for
Water Resources Gajen-
dra Singh Shekhawat
has been made convener
and BJP national gen-
eral secretaries Vinod
Tawde and C T Ravi are
co-conveners of the
committee. Union min-
isters G Kishan Reddy,
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Sar-
bananda Sonowal, Ar-
jun Meghwal and
BharatiPawararemem-
bers of the committee.
Bharatiya Janata Party
national general secre-
tary Tarun Chugh, vice-
presidentDKAruna,
national secretary
Rituraj Sinha,
women's wing na-
tional president
Vanati Sri-
navasan, spokes-
p e r s o n
Sam-
b i t
Patra and MP and vice-
president of the party's
Assam unit Rajdeep Roy
are also part of the
14-member committee.
Sources said
that the com-
mittee will
manage a
nationwide
campaign for
the NDA can-
didate.
I n
a n
electoral college of
around 10.86 lakh votes
for the Presidential
polls, the BJP and its
alliance partners in the
NDA are a little short
of the halfway mark
but are likely to get
their nominee elected
as the next President of
India.
The Presidential poll
will be held on July 18
and counting of votes
will take place on July
21. The last day for filing
nomination papers is
June 29.
AHEAD PRESIDENT POLL
BJP’s 14-MEMBER PANEL TO
MANAGE CAMPAIGN FOR NDA
Minister for Water Resources Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been made convener
New Delhi: The oppo-
sition parties will meet
on June 21 to discuss
the candidate for the
Presidential election.
The meeting will be
chaired by NCP chief
Sharad Pawar. Sources
say that 17 parties will
attend the meeting.
The parties have to ar-
rive at a consensus on
the candidate's name
after Sharad Pawar de-
clined to contest. The
opposition parties had
on Wednesday decided
to field a joint candi-
date in the Presidential
polls next month. The
meeting of opposi-
tion leaders, called by
Trinamool Congress
supremo and West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, was
held here for building
a consensus on a joint
opposition candidate.
In the meeting, a
resolution was passed
to field a common
candidate.
OPPOSITION
MEET TO PICK
PREZ CANDIDATE
ON JUNE 21
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: AICC gen-
eral secretary and close
aide of the Nehru-Gan-
dhi family- Ajay Maken
- lost the Rajya Sabha
election and with it any
hopes of sitting in the
hallowed Upper House
of the Indian Parlia-
ment is also lost. BJP
supported independent
candidate Karthikeya
Sharma defeated him
by a very narrow mar-
gin in a close contest.
Voting was held on Fri-
day and after hours of
drama, the results were
declared at around 2.30
am. After settling vari-
ous disputes, the count-
ing of votes started at
1.30 pm. Congress lead-
ers started celebrating
as soon as the Election
Commission ordered
the counting of votes to
begin. Because the elec-
tion officer had rejected
the demand of BJP to
reject two votes of Con-
gress, so, Congress lead-
ers were confident that
Maken got 30 out of 31
votes.
But when the results
were announced, it was
found that he got only
29 votes and the vote of
a Congress MLA be-
came invalid. Kuldeep
Bishnoi, a Congress
MLA, had already voted
for the BJP on the basis
of conscience. He fol-
lowed the rules of Rajya
Sabha voting and
showed it to Congress's
election in-charge
Vivek Bansal by voting
for BJP. So his vote
could not be cancelled.
Despite this, the Con-
gress was confident
that it had garnered 30
votes. The surprising
thing is that the Con-
gress does not know
about the one vote
which has been
canceled.
So, now there is a dis-
pute as to whose fault
led to Maken's Maken
electoral loss. Leaders
close to Bhupinder Sin-
gh Hooda say that all the
fault lies with the Con-
gress high command,
while on the other hand,
leaders close to the high
command are claiming
in the media that Hooda
could not handle or
could not arrange one
or two extra votes.
Those close to Hooda
are claiming of two mis-
takes of the high com-
mand. The first is the
fault of Vivek Bansal,
the in-charge, who did
not even know which
MLA's vote was invalid.
All the MLAs cast their
vote by showing him
their choice, but he
could not understand
which MLA did what
mistake, due to which
the vote may become in-
valid. The second mis-
take is that of Rahul
Gandhi, who did not
give time to meet Kul-
deep Bishnoi.
On the other hand,
leaders close to the
high command and the
anti-Hooda lobby says
that the Congress lost
because of overconfi-
dence of Hooda father-
son as both did not ar-
range for a single addi-
tional vote. Even know-
ing that Bishnoi would
cross vote, the duo did
not try to persuade
him. If Bishnoi was not
being persuaded, an ad-
ditional vote should
have been arranged. In
that scenario, inde-
pendent Balraj Kundu
could have been per-
suaded. Independent
legislator Rakesh
Daulatabad and INLD's
Abhay Chautala voted
for the BJP supported
candidate. However, it
is a matter of satisfac-
tion for Hooda that he
managed to keep 29
Congress MLAs united
but the bad thing is
that he could not pass
in the very first exami-
nation.
Who is at fault over
Maken’s RS poll loss?
PROVEN SAFE
IN THE COURTYARD
SC JUDGE JUSTICE
MR SHAH
UNDERGOES
ANGIOPLASTY
New Delhi: The SC on Friday said that the
Jharkhand govt’s plea challenging the HC order
on the maintainability of the PIL in connection
with shell companies allegedly related to CM
Hemant Soren and his associates will be listed
before an appropriate bench after reopening of
the top court. The vacation bench of justices AS
Bopanna Vikram Nath said that on request of
Sr Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, list the matter upon
reopening before an appropriate bench.
SC LISTS HEARING ON J’KHAND
GOVT PETITION CHALLENGING HC
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to halt the
Jharkhand High Court’s proceedings against Chief
Minister Hemant Soren on PILs seeking a CBI/ED
probe against him in connec-
tion with the grant of mining
lease and transfer of funds
into shell companies. Hear-
ing a plea against the High
Court order which had upheld the maintainability of
the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Soren,
a bench comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and
Justice Hima Kohli asked the petitioner to approach
the High Court with the matter.
SC REFUSES STAY ON HIGH COURT
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST CM SOREN

—
PICTURE
FOR
REPRESENTATION
Punjab: Jailed Dera Sa-
cha Sauda chief Gur-
meet Ram Rahim Singh
walkedoutof aprisonin
Haryana's Rohtak Fri-
daymorningonamonth-
long parole. Haryana's
Jails Minister Ranjit
Chautala said the 30-day
parole was granted by
the Rohtak Divisional
Commissioner on the
recommendation from
officials concerned. Ac-
cording to the minister,
Singh had said in his
plea he wanted to go to
the Dera Sacha Sauda
Ashram, Barnawa in Ut-
tar Pradesh's Bhagpat.
A go-ahead from the
administration in Bagh-
pat was taken before
clearance was given for
theparole,ministersaid.
Ram Rahim
Singh gets one
month parole;
leaves jail
Ajay Maken
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
COVAXIN SAFE FOR CHILDREN AGED
2-18 YEARS, SAYS BHARAT BIOTECH
Hyderabad: Bharat
Biotech International
Limited on Thursday
announced that Covax-
in, its whole-virion in-
activatedCOVID-19vac-
cine has proven to be
safe, well-tolerated, and
highly immunogenic in
paediatric subjects in
phase II/III study
, said a
press release.
The study has been
accepted and published
in Lancet Infectious
Diseases, a peer-re-
viewedhigh-impactfac-
tor journal, added the
statement. Bharat Bio-
tech conducted phase
II/III, open-label, and
multicentre studies to
evaluatethesafety
,reac-
togenicity, and immu-
nogenicity of COVAX-
IN in healthy children
and adolescents in the
2-18 years of age group.
The clinical trial con-
ducted in the pediatric
population between
June 2021 to September
2021 has shown safety,
lessreactogenic,andro-
bust immunogenicity
.
Thedatawassubmit-
ted totheCentralDrugs
Standard Control Or-
ganisation (CDSCO) in
October 2021 and re-
ceived a nod for emer-
gency use in children
aged 6-18years. Dr
Krishna Ella, Chair-
man and Managing Di-
rector, Bharat Biotech,
said, “Safety of the vac-
cine is critical for chil-
dren and we are glad to
share that COVAXIN
has now proven data for
safety and immuno-
genicityinchildren.We
have now achieved our
goal of developing a
safe and efficacious
COVID-19 vaccine for
adults and children, for
primary immunization
and booster doses, and
making COVAXIN a
universal vaccine.
New Delhi: Justice M
R Shah, a sitting judge
of the Supreme Court
who was airlifted to New
Delhi on Thursday after he
complained of chest dis-
comfort, has undergone
angioplasty at a private
hospital in the national
capital, said a statement
from Fortis Escorts.
Justice Shah was airlifted
after he experienced chest
discomfort while travel-
ling to Kangra, Himachal
Pradesh on Thursday and
was admitted to the Fortis

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 289
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: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Detachment from
material things is the
way to inner peace.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
India rallies for the poor at WTO.
PM @NarendraModi ji’s unflinching
commitment to Garib Kalyan reflects
in our stand at @WTO.Forum echoes
India on multiple issues, emerging
as a trusted partner in global good.
#NewIndiaAtWTO
Ashwini Vaishnaw
@AshwiniVaishnaw
The decision to increase the entry
age from 21 to 23 years for Agniveer
reflects the people-centric governance
approach.Thankful to PM @
narendramodi Ji.
TOP TWEETS
INDIANS ONCE
AGAIN CHOOSE
TO PARK THEIR
WEALTH IN
SWITZERLAND
rores of rupees
which were deposit-
ed by Indians in their
Swiss bank accounts
were supposed to
have been brought back. That
was the promise made in 2014.
Maybe, some portion of unac-
counted wealth was netted by
tax authorities but that did not
dampen the penchant of Indians
to park their money in the Swiss
National Bank. After declining
in 2018 and 2019, the deposits
rose to a 14-year high of 3.83 bil-
lion Swiss franc in 2021.
Of all opposition leaders it is
Mayawati, president of the Ba-
hujan Samaj Party, who has
raised the issue through a tweet.
She said in her tweet that there’s
a buzz about Indian deposits in
the Swiss bank having touched
a record high but those facing
unprecedented crisis of poverty
,
inflation and unemployment
don’t know how to feel happy
about it, a tongue in cheek re-
mark on the social divide. De-
tails of funds having been
shared with India, tax officials
can always investigate.
C
gnipath, the radi-
cal recruitment
scheme for armed
forces, is already
meeting with vio-
lent resistance from the
youth for whom it is meant.
Arson and stone pelting by
those who were ready for en-
trance tests before they were
cancelled and by those wor-
ried about their future after
four years continued for the
second day across several
states. Not just the chiefs of
the three services but also
chief ministers of Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
and Haryana have promised
to absorb these youth after
they have served their term
in para-military forces, police
and state government’s jobs.
The government also agreed
to raise the upper age limit.
But the angry young men
are not convinced. Those in
Haryana point to the unem-
ployment rate of 34.5 per-
cent, as per CMIE data, which
is highest in the country to
assert that post army stint
their prospects won’t be as
rosy as is being made out. In
states like MP and UP where
governments have been suc-
cessful in bringing down un-
employment rates convinc-
ing these job aspirants will
be relatively easy
.
The Central government
has defended Agnipath argu-
ing that schemes such as
these exist in several coun-
tries. It also denied that the
scheme would weaken the ef-
fectiveness of the forces.
These were not the main
concerns of aspirants. Many
of them were angry that they
had already applied against
earlier recruitment adver-
tisements when the govern-
ment decided to introduce a
new policy which does not
offer pension and gratuity
benefits as money was need-
ed to buy military hardware.
The government should
stay firm and convince pro-
spective Agniveers of the
scheme’s benefit.
FUTURE AGNIVEERS
ON WARPATH
Many of them were angry
that they had already applied
against earlier recruitment
advts when the government
decided to introduce a new
policy which doesn’t offer
pension gratuity benefits as
money was needed to buy
military hardware
A
hose who do not learn from
history are doomed to repeat
it’. Defence Forces are a
‘force of deterrence’ and a
price that nation state pays
for unhindered peaceful
growth and prosperity of it’s
citizens. The expenditure on
defence should never be con-
sidered as extravagance.
Those who do not agree, can
have a look at Ukraine war.
Citizens of Ukraine are sub-
jected to devastation, misery
and humiliation, though be-
ing a developed nation with
luxurious lifestyle. This hap-
pened because they did not
pay attention to defence pre-
paredness and thought some-
one else will do that for them.
Hon’able Raksha Mantri,
flanked by the three Service
Chiefs, addressed a press
conference on June 14, 2022,
introducing ‘Agneepath’ con-
cept for entry into Armed
Forces. Agneepath is about
a 04 years tenure with de-
fence forces, as soldier/ air
warrior/ sea warrior. More
than 46,000 Agniveers will be
inducted to armed forces this
year. Only 25% of these, if
found suitable will be ab-
sorbed, permanently. The
youth and defence aspirants
have expressed their anguish
by riots, protests and disrup-
tions. Sensing an opportuni-
ty to create chaos, they are
well supported by opposition
parties. I am sure 90% of the
protestors don’t even know
the details of Agnipath or
what they are protesting
against. Situation is akin to
the ‘Kisan Andolan’.
CHALLENGES

z Soldiering is a serious
profession and short term
Agniveers will destroy the
core competencies of the
Army and make the nation’s
combat readiness weaker.

z Defence forces have always
maintained exacting selec-
tion criteria. By Agnipath
entry, we are agreeing
to dilute our standards of
intake and training. In Army
career, first 03 years are very
crucial for having a strong
foundation. Absence of long
term competence and skill en-
hancement will not be good.

z My other fear is that as the
scheme becomes old, dull
and lackluster, demand for
more and more privileges
and concessions like op-
tions for permanent service/
extensions/ ex-servicemen
status/ECHS/ CSD facilities
will be raised.

z The Agniveers will also be
looking at these four years
for enhancement of his
qualifications, getting awards
for trophy display sake and
focusing on post defence ca-
reer options. Soldiering will
certainly take a back seat.

z A large number of physically
fit and weapon trained ex
Agniveers will be available
in the society. Not finding
a suitable vocation after
Defence tenure, they will be
tempted to join terrorists,
naxals, dacoits and other
anti-national elements.
BETTER SUGGESTIONS

z Optimizing Defence Budget.
Approx 40% of the defence
pension budget goes to civil-
ian defence employees which
are about 22% compared to
approx 78% military pension-
ers. It’s interesting to know
that there are 5.85 lakh civil-
ian-defence employees, who
are paid from defence budget.
Need for civilian support in
the ratio of 1:4 needs intro-
spection. Additionally, Rs
1000 crore annually goes on
attached MoF personnel.

z Induction into CAPF through
Defence. The most simple
method of optimizing defence
expenditure is to have induc-
tion into CAPF and PMF via
defence forces, after a tenure
of 04 years. After 04 years,
75% of Agniveers , who do
not make it to permanent
cadre in defence should be
absorbed directly into CAPF
and state police forces. Du-
plicity of training by Defence
and CAPF will be avoided,
reducing the training cost.
This will resolves all the likely
challenges of Agniveers.
DON’T EXPERIMENT
WITH DEFENCE
In war, there are no runners
up. Either you are a winner
or you are not there. For that
moment of reckoning, we se-
lect the best man and ma-
chine for war fighting. It’s
the man behind the machine
that matters the most. They
lead from the front setting
personal example of bravery,
courage, perseverance and
competence. Professional-
ism, Leadership, camarade-
rie, regimentation and battle
experience are developed
over a period of time. In Ag-
nipath, , these battle winning
factors will certainly be com-
promised. Such experiments
tinkering with established
norms of Defence Forces are
better avoided.
CONCLUSION
Expenditure on defence
should be taken as insurance
on growth and prosperity or
a premium to be paid for un-
hindered growth. In the
Army
, we are preparing hard-
core, battle-worthy and
time-tested soldiers, where
no compromise is made with
the safety and security of
the Nation. Four years, with
truncated training will be too
short a time to mould them
into passionate fearless sol-
diers, ready for combat
against trained terrorists
and battle-worthy enemy sol-
diers. Adventures to experi-
ment with the DNA of the
Armed Forces and it’s opera-
tional readiness, in the name
of ‘economy of resources’
should be best avoided.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
AGNIPATH
PLAYING WITH FIRE?
THOSE WHO FEEL ‘SECURITY OF THE NATION’ IS COSTLY, CAN BUY DEFEAT
“
T
Agneepath is about a 04
years tenure with defence
forces, as soldier/ air
warrior/ sea warrior. More
than 46,000 Agniveers will
be inducted to armed forces
this year. Only 25% of these,
if found suitable will be
absorbed, permanently. The
youth defence aspirants
have expressed their
anguish by riots, protests
Defence forces have
always maintained
exacting selection
criteria. By Agnipath
entry, we are agreeing to
dilute our standards of
intake and training. In
Army career, first 03
years are very crucial
for having a strong
foundation. Absence of
long term competence
and skill enhancement
will not be good
MAJ GEN
CP SINGH (RETD)
The writer is a scholar soldier accredited
with MA, MSc, LLB, MBA, M Phil (Def Mgt)
and M Phil (International Strategic Affairs)

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INDIA
05
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Luc-
know police on Friday
tried their hands on the
act of ‘Gandhigiri’ by
handing out roses to
Muslim ‘Namazis’ out-
side mosques to ensure
that Friday prayers
pass off peacefully
. The
policemen were sta-
tioned outside the
mosques to prevent any
incidents of violence
which had become ram-
pant in the region after
the controversial re-
marks of BJP leader
Nupur Sharma.
On seeing citizens
coming in for the Fri-
day prayers, policemen
handed out roses to
them as a gesture of
goodwill and peace.
During the previous
Friday prayers which
took place on June 10,
there were violent dem-
onstrations in Praya-
graj, Saharanpur, and
some other districts af-
ter the prayers. Close to
13 policemen were in-
jured and UP Police
have arrested around
357 miscreants involved
in stone-pelting and vio-
lence.
The policemen led by
Additional Deputy
Commissioner of Po-
lice (ADCP) Chiranjeev
Nath Sinha, offered a
rose to every ‘namazi’
who came to the Tile
Wali Masjid to offer
prayers. “This was a
gesture on our part to
dispel the negativity
that had been prevail-
ing due to past inci-
dents. We wanted to en-
sure the community
that we were always
there for them and also
send out a message of
love and peace,” Sinha
said.
Lucknow cops offer roses to all namazis
ASSAMFLOODS: 31 DEAD, MANASRIVER
FLOWINGABOVE DANGER MARK
The flood has affected 11.09 lakh people in 25 districts of the state. The flood
waters have submerged 19782.80 hectares of cropland in the flood-hit districts
Guwahati: As many as
31 people died in the last
24 hours in Assam due
to the flood which has
affected 11.09 lakh peo-
ple in 25 districts of the
state.
The water level of the
Manas, Pagladiya,
Puthimari, Kopili,
Gaurang and Brahma-
putra rivers are also
flowing above the dan-
ger level mark in many
places in Assam.The
flood waters have sub-
merged 19782.80 hec-
tares of cropland in the
flood-hit districts. Ac-
cording to state govern-
ment data, 1,510 villages
under 72 revenue circles
are currently underwa-
ter. All educational in-
stitutions in Kamrup
Metropolitan District
are closed on Friday
, in-
view of the heavy rain-
fall warning. In view of
water logging at km
347/6-8 between Nalbari
and Ghograpar of Rang-
iya division of Assam,
services of several
trains have been can-
celled, partially can-
celled and diverted by
North East Frontier
Railway, informed
CPRO, Northeast Fron-
tier Railway
. Earlier on
Thursday, the flood wa-
ters washed away a part
of the Kalaigaon-Udal-
guri connecting road in
the Major area and sub-
merged at least 10 vil-
lages in the Kalaigaon .
Shillong: Incessant
rainfall in Meghalaya
caused a landslide in
Darrang village on Dar-
rang Shnongpdeng
Road under Dawki Po-
lice Station limits in
the West Jaintia Hills
district. The restora-
tion work is underway
at present. Several
roads were also dam-
aged by landslides in
the East Khasi Hills dis-
trict. Four minors were
killed and two injured
in a landslide that oc-
curred at Laitlarem vil-
lage under Mawphlang
CRD block in Megha-
laya’s East Khasi Hills
district yesterday.
Among the deceased
children, two were girls
and all are below 10
years old. The injured
persons are being given
treatment at
Mawphlang CHC. Ac-
cording to the district
administration, one
residential house was
destroyed by the over-
flowing mud.
New Delhi: The En-
forcement Directo-
rate (ED) was con-
ducting raids at mul-
tiple locations in
Delhi-NCR in con-
nection with a Pre-
vention of Money
Laundering case in-
volving the national
capital’s Health Min-
ister Satyendar Jain.
The ED arrested
Jain on May 30 un-
der section 19 of the
PMLA. Officials
from the Dept of
Education were
raiding the offices
of a well-known pub-
lic school system, ac-
cording to reports.
The school is man-
aged by a charitable
trust. Its promoters
and directors are be-
ing questioned be-
cause of their ties to
the Jain case.
Officials from the
Department of Edu-
cation have yet to re-
spond to this. On the
basis of an FIR filed
by the CBI in 2017 un-
der section 13(2) read
with 13(1)(e) of the
PC Act, 1988, the ED
launched a money-
laundering investi-
gation into Jain, his
wife Poonam Jain,
and Ajit Prasad Jain,
Sunil Kumar Jain,
Vaibhav Jain, and
Ankush Jain.
Heavy rainfall triggers
landslideinMeghalaya
ED raids at
places linked to
Satyendar Jain

—PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATION
People gather near a truck after it crashed as some part of the
NH06 caved in due to a landslide in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills
Police offered roses to all the namazis ahead of Friday prayers.
While the south-
ern and eastern
halves of India have
already started enjoying
monsoon showers, the
northwestern parts of
the country are set to
experience some wet
conditions of their own
this week albeit in the
form of pre-monsoon
rainfall. As per the
IMD, a fresh western
disturbance and lower-
level easterly winds
will collectively bring
some wet weather over
the Western Himalayan
Region and the adjoin-
ing plains of Northwest
India. While the rain
spell over the plains was
initially expected to last
only until Saturday, the
updated forecast has
indicated that it may
stretch well up to the
start of next week. The
aforementioned systems
are expected to cause
scattered to rainfall,
across Punjab, Haryana,
Chandigarh, Delhi.
MONSOON ONSET
TO BEGIN NEXT
WEEK IN DEL, RAJ
NEWS DIGEST
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: There is no
need to draw any con-
clusions on the basis of
the victory of the third
BJP candidate in the
Rajya Sabha elections
of Maharashtra as
there is no threat to the
Uddhav Thackeray gov-
ernment of the state.
The government still
has the support of leg-
islators much more
than the figure re-
quired for a majority.
The main opposition
party BJP may have
been successful in get-
ting the cross voting
done in the Rajya Sab-
ha elections but even
the MLAs who have
done cross voting will
not support the BJP in
the task of toppling the
government. They
know that switching
sides will not lead to
the fall of the govern-
ment and if instability
occurs, leading to mid-
term elections, it will
be a problem for them.
Keep in mind that in
the Rajya Sabha elec-
tions, all the three can-
didates of BJP got 123
votes of first prefer-
ence while the party
has a total of 113 votes,
including that of allies
which means that it
added 10 MLAs to its
side. Out of this, except
one MNS MLA, the rest
of the MLAs were with
BJP only till the Rajya
Sabha elections. On the
other hand, despite los-
ing, four candidates of
the Mahavikas Aghadi
government got 160
first preference votes,
while the majority
mark is 145. This
means that the govern-
ment has 15 MLAs
more than the majority
.
Even if the smaller
parties are omitted, the
Mahavikas Aghadi has
a strength of 153 MLAs
from all the three ma-
jor parties – Shiv Sena,
NCP and Congress.
This figure is also more
than required for a ma-
jority
.
MVA’s poor performance in RS election no measure of any threat to its existence!
SEVEN SRI LANKAN TAMIL REFUGEES
REACH TAMIL NADU ON ILLEGAL FERRY
CENTRE URGES STATES TO SPEED UP
COMPLETION OF PROJECTS ECRP-II
Chennai: Seven Sri Lankan Tamil refugees reached Tamil
Nadu’s Dhanushkodi on Friday on board an illegal ferry,
police said. Locals in
Mandapam noticed
them and contacted
the Coastal Security
Police, who arrived on
the scene and arrested
them. According to
police sources, the migrants would be housed at the Man-
dapam refugee camp. The seven persons are from two
families, according to the Coastal Security Police. Doss-
navis (40), his wife Rajini (38), and their three children are
from Vavuniya, while Mathiya (40) is from Trincomalee
and has a seven-year-old son. With the latest arrivals, the
total number of Sri Lankan refugees who have reached
Indian shores since the economic crisis emerged.
New DElhi: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Fri-
day chaired a virtual meeting with all states and Union Ter-
ritories to review the physical
and financial progress under
the National Health Mission,
Emergency COVID Response
Package (ECRP)-II, Pradhan
Mantri Ayushman Bharat
Health Infrastructure Mis-
sion, 15th Finance Commis-
sion grants and the Pradhan
Mantri National Dialysis Programme. The Centre asked the
states and UTs to complete all activities under the ECRP-II
scheme by Dec 31 this year. The states were also advised
that instead of seeking the approval of the Union Health
Ministry, State Health Societies have been authorised to
accord the remaining approvals of activities under ECRP-II.
MAN HELD IN SOUTH DELHI’S TIGRI
COLONY FOR TRYING TO BREAK ATM
New Delhi: A 22-year-old man was arrested in Delhi
for trying to break an ATM in a bid to steal money from
it, an official said on Friday. Sanjay, an Agra resident,
was not carrying any equipment that could be used
to breach the ATM machine. DCP Benita Mary Jaiker
said a PCR call was received at 2.38 a.m. on Thursday
about the entry of a thief into an ICICI Bank ATM at
C Block, Tigri Colony in South Delhi. The cops went
to the scene after receiving information and caught
the accused red-handed. During questioning, it was
discovered that the accused worked as a confectioner
and came to Delhi for work. “He tried to break the ATM
machine because he ran out of money,” the DCP said,
adding that the culprit was discovered drunk.
Bengaluru: Personnel
of the Anti-Corruption
Bureau(ACB) of Karna-
taka raided the offices
and premises of 21 offi-
cials, who are suspected
to have amassed assets
disproportionate to
their known sources of
income, at 80 locations,
ACB authorities said on
Friday
.
The exercise started
from early in the morn-
ing on Friday in which
300 officers and staff
took part, the ACB said.
The officials found valu-
ables and cash, besides
investment documents,
sources in the ACB said.
They, however, did not
share details as the
raids were still under-
way
. Those who were
raided include engi-
neers in the Irrigation
department, public
works department and
Rural Development and
Panchayat Raj. A police
inspector, District Reg-
istrar in the office of the
Inspector General of
Registration, Road
Transport Officer, a Pro-
ject Director of the Nir-
miti Kendra, Panchayat
grade-2 secretary in
Gadagdistrictandassis-
tant comptroller in the
veterinary dept were
also among those whose
premises were raided.
New York: An unprec-
edented 36.5 million
children were displaced
by conflict, violence and
other crises by the end
of 2021, the highest
number since World
War II, the United Na-
tions Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) reported Fri-
day
.The figure, which
increased by 2.2 million
in 2021, includes 13.7
million child refugees
and asylum-seekers and
nearly 22.8 million in-
ternally displaced due
to conflict and violence,
according to the state-
ment issued by the agen-
cy
.
Children displaced by
climate and environ-
mental shocks and dis-
asters, and those dis-
placed in 2022, including
by the Russia-Ukraine
conflict, are not includ-
edinthereport.UNICEF
Executive Director
Catherine Russell said
she hopes the alarming
number will move govts
to prevent children from
being displaced and en-
sure safety
.
Mumbai: The Bombay
High Court on Friday
declined permission for
the temporary release
of Minister Nawab Ma-
lik and former state
Minister Anil Desh-
mukh to vote for the up-
coming June 20 elec-
tions to the Maharash-
tra Legislative Council.
This is the second time
this month that the duo
-- both MLAs -- will not
be allowed to cast their
vote, first in the June 10
RSelectionsandnowfor
the MLC polls. Justice
N.J. Jamdar passed the
ordersinaninterimbail
plea filed by Deshmukh
and a plea by Malik only
seeking relief to enable
him cast his vote under
a police escort.
B h u b a n e sw a r :
Odisha recorded 25
new coronavirus
cases on Friday, 16
less than the previ-
ous day, taking the
tally to 12,88,762, a
health bulletin said.
The toll remained
unchanged at 9,126
as there was no
more death due to
the pathogen in the
last 24 hours. 53 oth-
er coronavirus pa-
tients have died due
to comorbidities so
far, it said. There
are 185 active cases,
while 17 more peo-
ple have recuperat-
ed from the disease,
taking the total
number of recover-
ies to 12,79,398.
lll
Cops were
stationed outside
the mosques to
prevent violence
which had
become rampant
in the region after
the controversial
remarks of BJP
leader Nupur
Sharma
ACB raids premises of
21 officials in K’taka
36 mn kids displaced
globally: UNICEF
For 2nd time, no
relief for NCP
MLAs Deshmukh,
Malik to vote
Odisha logs
25 new
COVID cases
Uddhav
Thackeray
Devendra
Fadnavis

BIZ BUZZ
06
New Delhi (PTI): Goa,
Nainital, Rishikesh,
Gangtok and Mount
Abu emerged as the top
five favoured family
summer holiday desti-
nations for Indians this
year, according to a sur-
vey by travel and hospi-
tality technology plat-
form OYO.
As per the study -
Summer Vacation In-
dex - Family Edition
2022, 82% of parents felt
they had a difficult time
juggling work and keep-
ing children occupied
during summer breaks.
Therefore, they planned
a family vacation.
“The study high-
lights that over 65% of
parents in India intend
to plan vacations with
their kids this summer,
after two consecutive
years of lockdowns dur-
ing summer breaks,”
OYO said in a state-
ment. According to the
survey conducted in the
first two weeks of June
taking response from
1,072 respondents, 41%
chose Goa as the most
sought-after destina-
tion for family vaca-
tions with kids.
The other preferred
destinations as per
their ranking are Naini-
tal, Rishikesh, Gangtok,
Mount Abu, Puducher-
ry
, McLeodganj and Ma-
habaleshwar, it added.
OYO Senior Vice
President - Product and
Chief Service Officer
Shreerang Godbole
said, “As per these
choices, parents are opt-
ing for nature filled des-
tinations especially at
hill stations or by the
beach.” When it comes
to choice of hotels, 58%
of the respondents said
they would prefer a
stay with a swimming
pool for kids, while 56%
preferred hotels with
kids play areas, fol-
lowed by proximity to
water parks, big televi-
sion in the room,
among others.
Goa, Nainital among top holiday destinations
Summer Vacation Index - Family Edition 2022
lll
65% of
parents in
India intend
to plan
vacations
with their kids
this summer,
after two
consecutive
years of
lockdowns
RBI NOT BEHIND
THE CURVE: DAS
Acc to RBI Governer central bank acted as per the evolving eco developments
Mumbai (PTI): Gover-
nor Shaktikanta Das on
Friday refuted criti-
cism of the RBI being
behind the curve in its
policies, making it clear
that the consequences
of focusing on the 4%
inflation target would
have been “disastrous”
for the pandemic-hit
economy
.
In comments that
came two days after for-
mer CEA Arvind Subra-
manian co-authored an
article blaming the RBI
for acting late on infla-
tion and being behind
the curve, Das said the
central bank acted as
per the evolving eco-
nomic developments
and also gave out a
timeline of its actions
to explain the shift.
“…tolerance of a
higher inflation during
the pandemic was a ne-
cessity, and we still
stand by our decision,”
Das said. He said the
RBI switched into ultra-
accommodation as soon
as the country went
into the lockdown and
shifted focus to infla-
tion two years later in
April 2022, when it saw
that the GDP had gone
beyond the pre-pandem-
ic level.
Despite its accommo-
dative policies, the
economy contracted by
6.6% in FY21 and recov-
ered to barely above the
pre-pandemic levels in
FY22, he said, stressing
that a shift in policy
management to focus
on inflation even 3-4
months before April
2022 was not apt.
“I feel that we are
very much in line with
the requirements of
our time, the RBI has
acted proactively and I
would not agree with
any perception or any
sort of description that
the RBI has fallen be-
hind the curve,” Das
said. Subramanian’s
article blamed the RBI
for being behind the
curve, pointing out that
the 4% inflation target
has not been met since
Oct 2019 and in 18 of the
32 months since then,
the headline consumer
price inflation has
breached even the RBI’s
ceiling of 6%.
Das said the RBI’s
mandate is that of flex-
ible inflation targeting
where it is required to
take care of both price
rise and growth, espe-
cially so in extraordi-
nary situations like a
pandemic.
“If we had been very
firm in maintaining 4%
(inflation) and kept the
rates unduly high, I’m
sorry, the consequences
of that approach would
have been disastrous
for the economy
.
FM to meet
heads of PSBs
on June 20
New Delhi (PTI): FM
Nirmala Sitharaman
is scheduled to meet
heads of public
sector banks (PSBs)
on Monday to review
performance of the
lenders and progress
made by them on
various schemes
launched by the gov-
ernment for revival
of the economy. This
is the first review
meeting after the
presentation of Bud-
get 2022-23. Banks
would be urged to
sanction loans for
productive sectors to
accelerate revival of
the economy facing
headwinds including
from Russia-Ukraine
war, sources said.
Govt expands
USO to remote
petrol pumps
New Delhi (PTI): In a
bid to rein in private
fuel retailers curtail-
ing ops to cut losses,
the government has
expanded the scope
of USO, mandating
licensed entities
to maintain petrol
and diesel sales at
all petrol pumps,
including in remote
areas, for specified
working hours. The
government has now
expanded the horizon
of USO by including
all retail outlets
including remote
area ROs under their
ambit.”
EVs to cost on
par with petrol
vehicles soon
New Delhi (PTI): W
prices of all electric
vehicles (EVs) will be
equal to the cost of
petrol vehicles in the
country within one
year, Road Transport
and Highways Minis-
ter Nitin Gadkari said
on Friday. Gadkari
further said the gov-
ernment is promot-
ing ethanol produced
from crop residue
instead of petrol and
diesel. I am trying...
Within one year,
the cost of electric
vehicles will be
equivalent to the cost
of petrol vehicles
in the country and
we will save money
spent on fossil fuels,
he said.
I feel that we are
very much in line
with the require-
ments of our
time, the RBI has
acted proactively
and I would not
agree with any
perception or any
sort of descrip-
tion that the RBI
has fallen behind
the curve
—Shaktikanta Das,
RBI Governor
Govt to make sure
capex continues:CEA
Mumbai (PTI): The
govt is committed to
ensure that capex will
continue to support
the economic growth
momentum regained
after the third COV-
ID-19 wave, CEA V
Anantha Nageswaran
said on Friday. The
govt has taken various
steps -- including low-
ering taxes, the con-
tinuation of privatisa-
tion, setting up insti-
tutions for sequester-
ing bad loans and
managing them and
launching an asset
monetisation drive --
to strengthen the real
economy, he added.
“Given the ongoing
sense of uncertainty
among the private sec-
tor participants, both
in banking and the
non-banking world,
the govt is committed
to making sure that
capex continues (in)
such (a way) that
growth impulse that
we have regained after
the third wave is not
surrendered,” Nag-
eswaran said.
In the previous fis-
cal, while the capital
expenditure was budg-
eted at `6 lakh crore,
the govt managed to
spend `5.92 lakh crore.
“And hence, for the
current financial year,
if the government is
able to execute the
capital expenditure of
`7.5 lakh crore, then
that is the biggest real
economic interven-
tion,” he said.
He said any inter-
vention in the econo-
my has a fiscal compo-
nent to it, which in
turn, will have an im-
pact on interest rates,
current account defi-
cit and currency
.
Mumbai (PTI): Bench-
mark indices extended
their losing streak to
the sixth straight ses-
sion on Friday, with the
Sensex declining 135
points in choppy trade
amid mixed global mar-
kets, unabated foreign
fund outflows, and ris-
ing crude oil prices.
The BSE benchmark
declined 135.37 points
or 0.26% to settle at
51,360.42. During the
day, the benchmark
faced volatility and
tanked 574.57 points or
1.11% to its one-year
low of 50,921.22.
The NSE Nifty went
lower by 67.10 points or
0.44% to end at 15,293.50.
From the Sensex
pack, Titan, Wipro, Dr
Reddy’s, Asian Paints,
Sun Pharma, Power-
Grid, Larsen Toubro,
UltraTech Cement,
Maruti, TCS and Hindu-
stan Unilever were the
biggest laggards.
On the other hand,
Bajaj Finance, Bajaj
Finserv, Reliance Indus-
tries and ICICI Bank
were among gainers.
Netdirecttaxmop-uprises45%
toover`3.39Lcrtillmid-June
net direct tax collec-
tions till mid-June this
fiscal increased 45% to
over `3.39 lakh crore,
buoyed by decent ad-
vance tax mop-up,
the Income Tax de-
partment said on
Friday.
The net direct
tax collection of
over `3.39 lakh
crore includes
Corporation
Tax (CIT) at
over `1.70
lakh crore
and Per-
sonal Income Tax
(PIT), including Secu-
rity Transaction Tax
(STT), at over `1.67
lakh crore.
“The figures of Di-
rect Tax collections for
the Financial Year
2022-23, as on June 16,
2022, show that net col-
lections are at `3,39,225
crore compared to
`2,33,651 crore over
the corresponding
period of the pre-
ceding year, repre-
senting an increase
of 45% over the
collections of the
preceding year,”
the Central
Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT)
said.
Life Insurance Corpo-
ration of India (LIC) is
seeking buyers for se-
cured bonds worth
`3,400 crore issued by
Reliance Capital, cur-
rently undergoing in-
solvency proceedings,
in an effort to present a
clean book to an inves-
tor base that has wid-
ened since its recent
IPO. IDBI Capital Mar-
kets (IDBI Caps) has in-
vited expressions of
interest (EoIs) from as-
set reconstruction com-
panies (ARCs) by the
evening of July 11.
Jio extends user lead
over Airtel in April
Delhivery launches
‘same-day delivery’
Telecom market leader
Reliance Jio held on to
its active user base in
April 2022, even as near-
est rivals Bharti Airtel
and Vodafone Idea (Vi)
reported heavy losses
on this score. Both Air-
tel and Vi were stung by
a combination of 4G
tariff hikes taken last
November and costlier
entry-level smart-
phones. Jio’s active
user base in April was
virtually unchanged at
379 million, while Air-
tel and Vi lost 3.1 mil-
lion and 3.8 million ac-
tive users.
Mumbai (PTI): Inte-
grated logistics player
Delhivery on Friday
said it has launched
“guaranteed same-day
delivery” service in 15
key cities in the coun-
try to help D2C brands
deliver their orders the
same day. Under the
new service, orders re-
ceived as late as 3 pm
will be delivered on the
same day. Delhivery
will partner with
brands and identify
fast-moving SKUs or
product, which will be
stocked in warehouses
within the city, close to
the end consumer.
Vijay buys Paytm
stocks worth `11 cr
New Delhi (PTI): Dig-
ital financial services
firm One97 Communi-
cations’ MD Vijay
Shekhar Sharma has
purchased 1.7 lakh
shares of the company
worth `11 crore.
The disclosures
from the company,
which operates under
Paytm brand, show
that Sharma bought
the shares on May 30-
31. On May 30, Sharma
bought 1,00,552 shares
worth `6.31 crore and
on May 31, he bought
71,469 shares worth
`4.68 crore. The com-
pany stock was trad-
ing at `625.75 in after-
noon session. As per
regulations, Sharma
was not allowed to buy
shares for at least six
months being a selling
shareholder in Pay-
tm’s IPO and now, with
that restriction being
over, he has purchased
shares of Paytm.
NFTC to launch
Sahakar Taxi on
line of Ola, Uber
New Delhi (PTI):
The National Tour-
ism and Transport
Cooperative Federa-
tion Ltd (NFTC) will
soon launch a new
transport service
‘Sahakar Taxi’ on the
lines of Ola and Uber,
which is aimed at
generating lakhs of
jobs.
Besides the NFTC
will also start a cou-
rier service through
travel and tourism
as well as coopera-
tive courier service
with the transport
depots of the states,
a statement by NFTC
stated.
NFTC chairman V
V P Nair said in the
statement, “Today,
through the Nation-
al Tourism and
Transport Coopera-
tive we are going to
provide employment
to lakhs of people in
the next one year
like Ola and Uber.”
.
Markets decline for
6th day; Sensex
sheds 135 points
` SETTLES FLAT
AT 78.09/$
Gold up by `416;
Silver rise `1,014
Mumbai (PTI): The
rupee pared initial
gains to settle just
1 paisa higher at
78.09 (provisional)
against the US dol-
lar on Friday amid a
muted trend in do-
mestic equities and
unabated foreign
capital outflows.
New Delhi (PTI):
Gold prices in Delhi
on Friday rallied by
`416 to `50,802
per 10 grams. In the
previous trade, the
yellow metal settled
at `50,386 per 10
grams. Silver also
surged by `1,014
to `61,343 per kg
from `60,329 per
kg in previous trade.
LIC seeks buyers
for `3400 crore
RCap bonds

07
NEWS
Azamgarhbypoll:Permutations
combinationsofpoliticalparties
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: In the by-
election of Azamgarh
Lok Sabha seat, the
hopes of SP-BSP and
BJP rest on the caste
equations. All these
three parties have their
own calculus of votes.
According to the demo-
graphic data, there are
about 19 lakh voters in
Azamgarh. Out of
which Yadav and Mus-
lim communities to-
gether make up nearly
45% of the electorate.
Around 30 percent of
the Dalit voters are in a
decisive role here, while
twenty-five percent of
the upper castes and
most backward castes
also have their own in-
fluence. Through the
M-Y (Muslim-Yadav)
combination, the Saifai
family converted this
seat into a pocket bor-
ough of SP. BSP supre-
mo Mayawati has bet on
Muslim-Dalit equations
by fielding Shah Alam
alias Guddu Jamali, a
two-time MLA from
Mubarakpur assembly
seat here.
BJP strategists have
calculated that its can-
didate Bhojpuri singer-
actor Dinesh Lal Yadav
aka Nirahua will make
a significant dent
among Yadav voters as
well as if he gets the
support of the upper
caste, most Dalit and
most backward voters,
then the electoral his-
tory of 2009 can be re-
peated. When for the
first time BJP got suc-
cess from here, Rama-
kant Yadav won the
election as its candi-
date.
Political observers in-
sist that in the last lok
sabha elections the vote
percentage of SP had
increased tremendously
due to alliance with BSP
.
In the elections before
that, the margin of vic-
tory for the SP was rela-
tively small. This view-
point is corroborated by
the fact that Akhilesh
Yadav, who entered the
fray with the SP-BSP al-
liance in the 2019 elec-
tions, won this seat by
securing a record 621578
votes i.e. 60.4 percent
vote share. While BJP
candidate Dinesh Lal
Yadav was runner up by
getting 361704 votes i.e.
35.1 percent votes.
Whereas in the year
2014, SP patriarch Mu-
layam Singh Yadav won
this seat by getting 35.4
percent vote share. BJP
candidateRamakantYa-
dav, who finished sec-
ond, secured 28.9 per-
cent vote share and
Guddu Jamali of BSP,
stood third by getting 27
percent vote share.
There are about 19L voters in Azamgarh.
Out of which Yadav Muslim communities
together make up nearly 45% of electorate
Prophet row: Friday
prayers go 'peacefully'
Lucknow (PTI): A
week after violence
erupted in UP over the
remarks on Prophet
Mohammad by a BJP
leader, no untoward
incident took place
following the Friday
prayers, an official
said.
No protests were
reported from any
part of the state till
afternoon (2.25 PM)
and Friday prayers
passed peacefully,
ADG Law and Order
Prashant Kumar said.
With the help of re-
ligious leaders and
police administration
the prayers were held
in a peaceful manner
in the state, he said.
Speaking before the
Friday prayers at Luc-
know’s Jama Masjid
Idgah, Maulana Mohd
Mushtaq urged the
people to refrain from
any kind of protest at
the mosques.
In a release issued
by the Islamic Centre
of India, Maulana
Mohd Mushtaq said
that the purpose of
mosques is to worship
and offer namaz there
and not for staging of
protests. In a goodwill
gesture, people of-
fered roses to the se-
curity personnel de-
ployed outside the
prominent ‘Tile Wali’
masjid in the state
capital.
Prophet remark row: Bhim Sena chief
arrested for threatening Nupur Sharma
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has ar-
rested Bhim Sena chief Nawab Satpal Tanwar
for threatening and announcing a bounty of
Rs one crore on now-
removed BJP spokes-
person Nupur Sharma
over her remarks on
Prophet Mohammad,
officials said on Friday.
Tanwar was arrested on
Thursday from Guru-
gram in Haryana, they said. The statements
of former BJP office-bearers Sharma and
Naveen Kumar Jindal on Prophet Muham-
mad have sparked a massive controversy.
A
A
A
AZAMGARH LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCY
‘Govt working to expand NH network to 2 lakh kms’
government is working
towards expanding the
National Highway net-
work to 2 lakh kilome-
tres by 2025, Union Road
Transport and High-
ways Minister Nitin
Gadkari said on Friday
.
Addressing an event
organised by Indian
Roads Congress (IRC),
Gadkari also proposed
the setting up of ‘Inno-
vation Bank’ for new
ideas, research findings
and technologies to fo-
cus on quality in infra-
structure development.
“Our govt is dedicat-
edly working towards
expanding the National
Highway network to 2
lakh kilometres by
2025,” he said. He point-
ed out that in the last
eight years, the length
of National Highways
has gone up by more
than 50 per cent -- from
91,000 km in 2014 to
about 1.47 lakh km now.
Noting that the govt is
very committed to the
development of the
northeast region, he
said NHIDCL (National
Highways and Infra-
structure Development
Corporation) is playing
a vital role in develop-
ing infras in this region.
REPORT
GUJARAT RIOTS, CHAPTER ON MUGHAL
HISTORY REMOVED FROM NCERT TEXTBOOKS
New Delhi (PTI):
The NCERT has re-
moved portions about
the 2002 Gujarat riots,
Emergency, Cold War,
Naxalite movement
and Mughal courts
from its class 12 text-
books as part of its
“syllabus rationalisa-
tion” exercise.
The National Coun-
cil of Educational Re-
search and Training
(NCERT) has cited
“overlapping” and
“irrelevant” as rea-
sons for dropping
those portions from
the syllabus.
Many of these
changes were an-
nounced earlier this
year when the Central
Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE) ra-
tionalised its syllabi
in April.
Besides schools un-
der CBSE, some state
boards also use
NCERT textbooks.
—IMAGE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY.
UP BJP top
brass meets to
discuss Centre’s
schemes
Lucknow (PTI): BJP
on Friday held a meeting
of party’s MPs to dis-
cuss party-related issues
and ways to take to pub-
lic the party’s achieve-
ments during its eight
years’ rule at the centre.
“Discussions were
held about various gov-
ernment schemes which
are to be taken to the
general public to mark
eight years of Modi Gov-
ernment,” said Ashwini
Tyagi, party’s general
secretary for UP.
Tyagi said that
around 70 senior mem-
bers of the party includ-
ing MPs and party office
bearers participated in
the meeting.
Ashwini Tyagi
7 INDIAN TOURISTS MISSING
IN NEPAL RIVER RESCUED
Kathmandu (PTI): As
many as seven Indian
tourists, who went
missing while rafting in
a river in Nepal’s Lum-
bini province, have
been rescued, the me-
dia reported on Friday
.
The Indian tourists
from Gorakhpur dis-
trict in Uttar Pradesh
went missing when
their boat capsized
while rafting in Kali-
gandaki river in Palpa
district on Thursday
evening, The Rising
Nepal newspaper re-
ported.
The tourists went
missing near the Rani
Mahal area of Palpa
and were rescued with
the help of local people
within 45 minutes of
the incident, according
to the Chief District Of-
ficer of Palpa Jagga-
nath Panta.
The CDO added that
people have been ad-
vised not to go boating
in the Kaligandaki riv-
er as the monsoon sea-
son has began and the
rivers in the country
were flowing with a
strong current.
TCP cell to be formed
for better placement
of ITI students
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The state
govt has taken a big
step toward making
the youth of the state
self-reliant and con-
necting the youth
power with employ-
ment, self-employ-
ment and entrepre-
neurship. It was de-
cided to constitute
TCP Cell (Training,
Counseling and
Placement) with a
view to prepare the
youth of the state by
giving them skill
training according to
the demand of the
marketandtoprovide
them with a proper
platform for place-
ment. The constitu-
tion of TCP
cells will be
different at
the state and district
level. The main ob-
jective of the Yogi
govt behind this is to
provide a platform,
for skilled youth who
are interested in em-
ployment or self-em-
ployment in any
field, through career
counselling, campus
placement, appren-
ticeship fair, and em-
ployment fair. So that
after getting voca-
tional training in ITI,
they can contribute
to the sustainable
economic develop-
ment of the state.
DHAMI VISITS BADRINATH,
REVIEWS MASTER PLAN
Dehradun (PTI): Utta-
rakhand CM Pushkar
Singh Dhami visited
Badrinath on Friday to
review the progress of
redevelopment projects
taken up at the Himala-
yan temple under a mas-
ter plan and asked offi-
cials to speed up the
work. Projects reviewed
by Dhami included river-
front development, con-
struction of an arrival
plaza, beautification of
lakes near the temple
and construction of a
loop road and a bypass by
the BRO, among others.
Chamoli District Mag-
istrateHimanshuKhura-
na briefed Dhami on the
progress of the projects
taken up in the first
phase of the implemen-
tation of the master plan
for Badrinath.
He asked officials to
complete the projects in
a time-bound manner
without making any
compromises on the
quality of work.
Pushkar Singh Dhami
New Delhi (PTI): Re-
viving a nearly two-dec-
ade-old proposal, the
Election Commission
has made a fresh push
for amending law to bar
people from contesting
from more than one
seat and has said that if
it cannot be done, then
a hefty fine should be
imposed on those vacat-
ing one of the constitu-
encies and forcing a
bypoll.
In a recent interac-
tion with the Legislative
Secretary in the Law
Ministry, Chief Election
Commissioner Rajiv Ku-
mar made this push for
the reform first pro-
posed in 2004.
The Legislative De-
partment is the nodal
agency in the govern-
ment to deal with issues
related to the EC.
As electoral law
stands today, a candi-
date is permitted to con-
test an election from two
different constituencies
in a general election or
a group of bye-elections
or biennial elections. If
a person is elected from
more than one seat, then
the person can only hold
on to one of the seats
that he or she won.
In 1996, the Represen-
tation of the People Act
was amended to restrict
a person from contest-
ing polls from, more
than two seats. Before
the amendment, there
was no bar on the num-
ber of constituencies
from which a candidate
could contest.
The poll panel pro-
posed amendment to
certain sections in the
RP Act in 2004 to pro-
vide that a person can-
not contest from more
than one constituency
at a time.
“However, in case the
existing provisions are
to be retained, a candi-
date contesting from
two seats should bear
the cost of the bye-elec-
tion to the seat that the
contestant decides to va-
cate in the event of him
or her winning both
seats,” a functionary
said citing the proposal.
Ban candidates from contesting polls from
more than one seat, EC urges Centre
The panel
said that if
such an
amendment
is not
possible, a
fine should be
imposed to
deter the
practice

08
2NDFRONT
The number of seats has gone up to 90 with Kashmir having 47 seats and Jammu 43
AssemblypollsinJ-Kbyyear-end
Jammu, Jun 17 (PTI)
In the first indication
of a timeline for assem-
bly polls in Jammu and
Kashmir since it was
downgraded to a Union
Territory, Defence Min-
ister Rajnath Singh on
Friday said there is a
possibility of holding
the polls “by this year-
end”. Addressing a
function here to cele-
brate the 200th year of
the coronation of Ma-
haraja Gulab Singh,
the defence minister
said the delimitation
exercise has been com-
pleted following which
the number of seats
has gone up to 90 with
Kashmir having 47
seats Jammu 43.
Rajnath Singh, who
is on a two-day visit to
the Union Territory,
said, “By this year-end,
there is a possibility of
holding assembly elec-
tions in Jammu and
Kashmir.”
The indication of a
timeline comes two
days after the Election
Commission initiated
the revision of elector-
al rolls in the union ter-
ritory and prepare the
draft rolls by August 31.
According to the of-
ficials, Chief Election
Commissioner Rajiv
Kumar and Election
Commissioner Anup
Chandra Pandey car-
ried out a review and
directed the Jammu
and Kashmir Chief
Electoral Officer to
map the redrawn as-
sembly constituencies.
During the revision
exercise, citizens
would be given oppor-
tunities to enrol, delete
and change their par-
ticulars in the electoral
rolls.
Last month, the Cen-
tral government issued
a notification saying
the orders of the De-
limitation Commission
which redrew electoral
constituencies and pro-
vided six additional as-
sembly seats to the
Jammu division and
one to Kashmir would
come into effect from
May 20.
According to the or-
ders of the Delimita-
tion Commission, set
up under the Jammu
Kashmir Reorganisa-
tion Act of 2019, the Un-
ion Territory will have
90 assembly constitu-
encies -- 43 in the Jam-
mu division and 47 in
Kashmir -- with nine of
them being reserved
for the ST.
The erstwhile state
had 87 seats -- 46 in
Kashmir, 37 in Jammu
and four in Ladakh.
During its reorganisa-
tion, Ladakh was de-
clared a separate union
territory without a leg-
islature.
CBIraidsatpremisesofRajCMGehlot’sbrotherinallegedfertiliserscam
Rajeev Gaur
Jodhpur: The CBI has
registered a case related
to the alleged diversion
of fertilisers meant for
farmersagainstAgrasen
Gehlot, Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot’s
brother, and 14 others,
and carried out searches
athisJodhpurhomeand
16 other locations in
threestates,officialssaid
on Friday
.
The CBI has named 15
persons, including Ge-
hlot, and entities as ac-
cused in the FIR, they
said.
Over 60 officials of the
CBI swooped down at
over17locationsinGuja-
rat, Rajasthan and West
Bengal to carry out
searches in connection
with the case, they said.
A team of CBI officials
alsoreachedAgrasenGe-
hlot’s residence in Man-
dore,Jodhpur,toconduct
searches.
The CBI has also
named Deen Dayal
Vohra, Amrit Lal Bandi,
Brijesh Jairam Nath, Ni-
tin Kumar Shah, Sunil
Sharma and Praveen
Saraf among others as
accused in the FIR, they
said.Reacting to the de-
velopment, Ashok Ge-
hlot said he had recently
sought an appointment
with the Director of CBI
and the ED and the
Chairmanof theIncome
Tax Department. He
said, “On June 13, time
was sought, on 15 the
case was registered, and
on June 17 there were
raids. What is this ap-
proach, it is beyond com-
prehension?”
“If IamactiveinDelhi
or I participated in Ra-
hul’s movement then
why revenge is taken
from my brother. When
there was a political cri-
sis here in our govern-
mentin2020,atthattime
also the ED had raided
my brother’s place,” Ge-
hlot told reporters at the
airport.
Gehlot was in Delhi
for several days to par-
ticipate in the Congress’
protest against the ques-
tioningof RahulGandhi
by the ED in a money
laundering case. Offi-
cials said the search op-
eration can be expanded
if the agency finds any
new material related to
the case.
The case relates to al-
leged corruption in the
import of muriate of
potash (MOP), also
known as potassium
chloride,whichwastobe
distributed to farmers at
around 80 per cent sub-
sidy offered by the gov-
ernment, the CBI has
said.
The MOP imported
for distribution among
farmers was allegedly
repackagedasindustrial
salt fluorspar and ex-
ported to South East
Asian countries, Saudi
Arabia and other mar-
kets, the agency alleged.
STRICT ACTION
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. PHOTO BY ANI
RAJNATH SINGH INAUGURATES
HIMALAYAN MUSEUM IN PAHALGAM
Srinagar, Jun 17
(PTI) Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh on Friday
inaugurated the Himala-
yan Museum at Jawahar
Institute of Mountaineer-
ing and Winter Sports
in Pahalgam resort of
Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh, who is on a
two-day visit to Jammu
and Kashmir to review
the security prepared-
ness, also inaugurated
the Colonel K S Mall
Boulder Climbing Wall.
Singh was accompanied
by Jammu and Kashmir
Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha.
Cong cont anti-BJP
protest in Jammu
Jammu, Jun 17 (PTI)
Several Congress work-
ers were taken into pre-
ventive custody as the
party continued its pro-
test on Friday against
the BJP-led Union gov-
ernment over its “vin-
dictive policies” against
the opposition leaders.
The protesters, led by
vice president of
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittee Mula Ram, were
detained soon after they
tried to take a march
from Press Club here,
officials said.
Besides Ram, promi-
nent others detained
included PCC chief
spokesperson and for-
mer legislator Ravinder
Sharma, former MP T S
Bajwan, former MLA
Balwan Singh, and for-
mer MLC Ved Mahajan.
The Congress work-
ers have been on the
roads since Monday in
protest against the sum-
moning of their leader
Rahul Gandhi by the
ED in the National Her-
ald money laundering
case.
Congress workers in Jammu detained by Police.
ANOTHER RECORD FOR CHERRAPUNJI
972 mm rainfall in a day,3rd highest in 122 yrs
New Delhi, Jun 17
(PTI) Just two days af-
ter recording 811.6 mm
of rainfall in a day,
Cherrapunji in Megha-
laya received a bounti-
ful 972 mm of precipita-
tion in 24 hours ending
8.30 am on Friday, the
highest in June since
1995 and the third high-
est in 122 years, the In-
dia Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) said.
One of the wettest
places in the world,
Cherrapunji has re-
corded more than 800
mm of precipitation on
a June day on nine occa-
sions since the IMD
started keeping records
in 1901, the IMD data
showed.
Till Friday, Cherra-
punji has received a to-
tal of 4081.3 mm rainfall
this month, Sunit Das,
Scientist E at IMD’s re-
gional centre in Guwa-
hati, said.
In 24 hours ending
8:30 am on Wednesday,
the town nestled in the
East Khasi Hills gauged
a copious 811.2 mm of
rainfall.
On June 16, 1995,
Cherrapunji logged
1563.3 mm of rainfall. A
day before, on June 15,
1995, it received 930 mm
of precipitation.
The hill station re-
ported 973.8 mm of pre-
cipitation on June 5,
1956.
“It doesn’t always
rain like this. 50-60 cm
is normal (in Cherra-
punji) once or twice
every year. But 80 cm
and above is certainly
not usual,” Das said.
“Cherrapunji record-
ed 673.6 mm of rainfall
on Thursday, 811.6 mm
on Wednesday, 62.6 mm
on Tuesday, 293 mm on
Monday and 354 mm on
Sunday
.
Six HCs to get new CJs
New Delhi, Jun 17
(PTI) Six high courts,
including that of Del-
hi, are likely to get
new chief justices in
the coming days.
While five judges of
high courts are likely
to be elevated as chief
justices, the chief jus-
tice of the Telangana
High Court Satish
Chandra Sharma
would be transferred
to the Delhi High Court
in the same capacity.
The formal notifica-
tions announcing
their appointments
are likely to be issued
in the coming days,
sources aware of the
procedure said on Fri-
day.
Justices Vipin Sang-
hi from Delhi High
Court is being appoint-
ed as the chief justice
of the Uttarakhand
High Court. Similarly,
Justice Amjad A Sayed
of the Bombay High
Court is being made
chief justice of the
Himachal Pradesh
High Court.
Justice S S Shinde
of the Bombay High
Court is being appoint-
ed as the chief justice
of the Rajasthan High
Court. Justice Rash-
min M Chhaya from
the Gujarat High
Court is being elevated
as the chief justice of
the Gauhati High
Court.
Justice Ujjal Bhuy-
an, who is currently a
judge in Telangana
High Court, will be el-
evated as chief justice
there.
Ahmedabad, Jun 17
(PTI) Twenty fisher-
men from Gujarat, who
had been captured at
sea by Pakistan in the
past, will be released
and handed over to the
Indian authorities on
June 20, a state govt of-
ficial said on Friday
.
“We have been in-
formed that 20 fisher-
men from Gujarat will
be freed from jail in Pa-
kistan on Monday and
handed over to Indian
authorities at Wagah
border in Punjab,” state
Director of Fisheries,
Nitin Sangwan, said.
These fishermen will
be brought to Gujarat
following their release,
he said.
As per the latest fig-
ures shared by the Gu-
jarat govt in March this
year, nearly 500 fisher-
men from Gujarat are
languishing in jails in
Pakistan, of whom 358
were arrested by that
country in the last two
years.
In the last two years,
20 fishermen from Gu-
jarat have returned
home following their
release from Pakistan.
Army’sNorthernCommand
celebrates51stRaisingDay
Jammu, Jun 17
(PTI) The Northern
Command of the
Army celebrated its
51st Raising Day at its
headquarters in Jam-
mu and Kashmir’s Ud-
hampur district on
Friday with its com-
mander Lt Gen Upen-
dra Dwivedi exhort-
ing all ranks to reded-
icate themselves to
safeguard the nation.
The Northern Com-
mand has been at the
forefront of the na-
tion’s effort on the
western and northern
borders as well as to
counter security chal-
lenges posed by ter-
rorism and externally
sponsored proxy war
in Jammu and Kash-
mir.
To commemorate
the occasion, a de-
fence spokesman said
the Chief of Staff,
Northern Command
headquarters, Lt Gen
N S Raja Subramani
laid a wreath at the
Dhruva War memori-
al, paying homage to
the brave soldiers
who laid down their
lives in the line of
duty
.
The General Officer
C o m m a n d i n g - i n -
Chief, Northern Com-
mand, Lt Gen Dwivedi
exhorted all ranks to
rededicate themselves
to safeguard national
integrity and contin-
ue to perform their
task with fortitude,
dedication and profes-
sionalism.
Officers laid wreath at Dhruva War Memorial.
KARGIL VICTORY FLAME
RUN FLAGGED OFF
Jammu, Jun 17
(PTI) The ‘Kargil
victory flame run’,
which will traverse
a journey of 400 km
in 40 days, was on
Friday flagged off
from the northern
Army headquarters
in Udhampur district
of JK, a defence
spokesperson
said. Chief of Staff,
Northern Command
headquarters, Lt Gen
N S Raja Subramani
flagged off the run
on the occasion of
the 51st Raising day
of the command
as part of a series
of run-up events to
commemorate Kargil
Vijay Diwas. Kargil
Vijay Diwas is cele-
brated every year on
July 26 to pay tribute
to all the heroes who
took part in the 1999
Kargil war.
Pak to free 20 Indian
fishermen on Monday
REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
The secret of success is that
our efforts and sincerity are
the same for a minor task as
they are for a major one.
—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,
CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
CBI team outside farm house of Agrasen Gehlot in Jodhpur.

A
ctors Varun Dhawan Kiara Advani vis-
ited Swarrnim Start-UP Innovation Uni-
versity, Ahmedabad to promote their up-
coming film ‘Jugjugg Jeeyo’. The duo re-
ceived a grand welcome from the university.
Rishabh Gayapprasad Jain, Founder President
of Swarrnim Startup and Innovation University
felicitated both the actors with university memen-
tos and their portraits designed by the students of
Swarrnim Institutes of Design. The actors had an
amazingsessioninteractingwithstudentsandfans
present at the campus, talking about their film
experiences in their career.
The students from The
Swarrnim University
campus were delighted
to meet their favorite
actorsandspendsome
time with them. The
actors interacted
with the students and
urged them to inno-
vate newer technolo-
gies startups that can
elevate Bollywood and
Indian cinema.
K
im Sharma and Leander Paes
are the new ‘it’ couple of the
town. The couple has been dat-
ing each other for a while now
and is going strong with their rela-
tionship. Kim, who is quite active on
social media, often shares mushy pics
with her main man as they paint the
town red with their romance. So, as Lean-
der Paes turned 49 today, Kim made sure
to make him feel special and penned a
sweet note for the tennis star on social me-
dia which was all about love and best wish-
es. The actress shares stunning pics of Le-
ander on her Instagram along with some of
their love-filled pics. In the caption, Kim
wrote, “Happy happy birthday to My
Sexy
, Cool, Funny
, Kind, Loving, Disney
loving, Handsome, Irresistible, Goofy,
Soulmate. #49 never looked this
good baby. I love you. May all my
wishes for you come to true Leo”.
Besides, Kim also gave a glimpse
of Leander’s midnight birth-
day celebrations. In the pics,
Leander looked dapper in his
all-black outfit.
mtiaz Ali's style
of cinema is of-
ten associated
with travel,
love stories
and deep hu-
man connec-
tions.Inhiswebseries
She, which returns for its
second season, the filmmak-
er goes off the beaten track and
explores a murky road as he
banks on his capability of writ-
ing layered characters. Starring
Aaditi Pohankar, Kishore Kumar
G,VishwasKini,ShivaniRangole,
Sam Mohan and Suhita Thatte
among others. While Netflix con-
tinues dishing out strong female
characters, Imtiaz Ali's 'She' char-
acter Bhumi Pardeshi is yet an-
other addition to this list. The
gritty drama enters season two
from where it left off and it doesn't
take too long to join the dots. A sim-
ilar setup and the dingy lights of the
red light area where Bhumi (Aadit
Pohankar) takes her covert midnight
stroll for antagonist Nayak.
09
NEW DELHI | SATURDAY,
JUNE 18, 2022
P
inkvilla hosted its
first-ever award
show on Thursday
,
celebs aced the
show with their pres-
ence. Pinkvilla Style
Icons Awards took place
in Mumbai’s JW Marri-
ott. The prestigious
awards ceremony was a
starry affair to celebrate
the style and fashion of cel-
ebs from all fields - entertain-
ment, fashion designing, food,
etc. To note, the jury of Pinkvilla
Style Icons awards included
nameslikeMalaikaArora,Milind
Soman, Karisma Kapoor, Urmila
Matondkar, Eka Lakhani and Ali
Abbas Zafar. It was a night to re-
member for B-town followers as
several stars from the industry
came under one roof for Pinkvil-
la Style Icons Awards. The
awards night was a starry affair
and has been all over the headlines.
Celebs from Bollywood and the tel-
evision industry were seen slaying
on the red carpet and won hearts
with their style sense. From Janhvi
Kapoor to Hina Khan, Ranveer Sin-
gh to Kartik Aaryan, each celeb
brought a new charm to the red
carpet and kept the shutter-
bugs on their toes.
As Pinkvilla Style Icons
awards celebrated the style
and fashion at the grand cer-
emony, the prestigious event
also had some special and fun
moments. Be it Ranveer Singh’s
quirky speech which left every-
one amused or Sara Ali Khan,
Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon and
Kartik Aaryan taking over the
red carpet with a bang, the cel-
ebs were seen enjoying every bit
of the glam night.
JUGJUGG JEEYO
PROMOTIONS
SHE
S2
I
BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATIONS
Aaditi Pohankar
Kim Sharma
Sara Ali Khan Nia Sharma Mandira Bedi
Kiara Advani Urvashi Dholakia
Kriti Sanon Vaani Kapoor Anusha Dandekar
PINKVILLASTYLEICONSAWARDS
Janhvi
Kapoor
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/
thefirstindiafacebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Kiara Advani and Varun Dhawan

PM Modi to inaugurate Delhi's 1st tunnel connecting Pragati Maidan to India Gate

PM Modi to inaugurate Delhi's 1st tunnel connecting Pragati Maidan to India Gate

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PM Modi to inaugurate Delhi's 1st tunnel connecting Pragati Maidan to India Gate