20012022 first india ahmedabad

CORONA
CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
20,966
NEW
CASES
8,529
NEW CASES
IN A’BAD
12
NEW DEATHS
70-80% of all nCoV cases Omicron ones: Health Min
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The state
government has not
been releasing Omicron
case information sepa-
rately in its daily bulle-
tins since 70-80% of all
new infections are of
the new variant of the
novel coronavirus, Gu-
jarat’s Health Minister
Rushikesh Patel said on
Wednesday
.
“When there were
fewer cases, the health
department bulletin
mentioned Omicron
cases separately
. Now,
the ratio is so high there
is no need to separate.
On average, the state
conducts about one lakh
testsaday
.So,inthepast
three days, about three
lakh samples have been
tested,” Patel added.
Interestingly
,thestate
hascometothisnumber
(70-80%) based on an al-
gorithm, and not on ac-
tual genetic testing,
Manoj Agrawal, Chief
Secretary (Health), ad-
mitted. He also declined
to share any data on the
capacity of state labora-
tories for Omicron test-
ing.
Omicron infections
do not require hospitali-
zations the way it was
seen during the second
wave, but as the variant
is spreading faster, a lot
of people can still end
up in hospitals mem-
bers of the Gujarat gov-
ernment’s COVID-19
task force warned on
Wednesday
, with Health
Minister Patel urging
people to be more care-
ful.
“Do not make the
mistake of taking Omi-
cron as (lightly as) the
common flu. The man-
ner in which the cases
are rising, it is possible
that hospitalisations
will increase. Turn to P2
Shah: NDRF symbol of
courage,dedication
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah praised the Na-
tional Disaster Re-
sponse Force (NDRF) on
its Raising Day, saying
that the force is a sym-
bol of courage, service,
dedication, and faith.
The National Disas-
ter Response Force
(NDRF) is a highly
trained force that can
respond to any type of
crisis both in the coun-
try and abroad.
Every year, the NDRF
Raising Day is celebrat-
ed on January 19 to com-
memorate the organisa-
tion’s founding, which
took place on January
19, 2006.
TheNDRFiscelebrat-
ing its 17th anniversary
this year.
Health Minister Rushikesh Patel addressed the media in
Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
AHMEDABAD l THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 56
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
India’s Sania Mirza announced her retirement plans on Wednesday. The news
comes after her defeat in the first round of women’s doubles at the Australian
Open 2022. Sania said 2022 is going to be her last season on the tour. After
she announced her decision, fans flooded social media with heartfelt tweets for
the ace tennis player. Twitter users thanked her for the glorious years.
Sensex ended at 60,098.82 points, which was 656.04 points or 1.08 per cent
down from its previous day’s close. The broader Nifty 50 ended at 17,945.30
points, which is 0.93 per cent or 167.75 points down from its previous day’s
close. The Nifty touched a high of 18,129.20 points and low of 17,884.90
points. While shares of IT dragged, metals saw a steep rise on Wednesday.
SANIA ANNOUNCES
RETIREMENT: 2022
WILL BE HER
FINAL SEASON
SENSEX PLUNGES
656 POINTS, NIFTY
ENDS BELOW 18,000;
METALS SHINE
‘CHAOTIC’BJPTAKES
ONEFROMSPCAMP
Aparna Yadav joins BJP, likely to
be fielded as candidate in UP polls
Aparna, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger son Pratik’s wife, joined BJP in
Delhi in the presence of BJP National President JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh
CM Yogi Adityanath, UP Deputy CMs and party’s state chief Swatandra Dev
Punjab: No CM
face, Cong to
contest under
collective
leadership
New Delhi: Amid
tussle over the Con-
gress party’s chief
ministerial (CM) face
in Punjab, state Con-
gress in-charge Har-
ish Choudhary on
Wednesday said the
party would contest
the Assembly elec-
tions 2022 under the
collective leadership.
Harish Choudhary
claimed that the Con-
gress would win more
seats than it had se-
cured in the 2017 As-
sembly elections in
Punjab.
Refuting any differ-
ence of opinion be-
tween Navjot Singh
Sidhu and Chief Min-
ister Charanjit Singh
Channi, Chaudhary
said “all is well” in-
side the party
.
Mohd Fahad Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: Samajwadi
Party (SP) patron Mu-
layam Singh Yadav’s
daughter-in-law Apar-
na Yadav Wednesday
joined the BJP in Delhi
ahead of the upcoming
Uttar Pradesh election.
She is likely to be field-
ed as a candidate in the
election, said BJP
sources.
The switch, a shot in
the arm for BJP, comes
at a time when a slew of
OBC leaders are quit-
ting the saffron party
and joining the SP
, hurt-
ing BJP’s narrative in
the poll-bound state.
Aparna, Mulayam
Singh Yadav’s younger
son Pratik’s wife, joined
the BJP at the national
headquarters in Delhi
in the presence of Uttar
Pradesh Deputy Chief
Minister Keshav Pras-
ad Maurya and the par-
ty’s state chief Swa-
tandra Dev Singh.
Aparna contested and
lost 2017 polls to BJP’s
Rita Joshi from Luc-
know Cantt. See also P5
Jan 27: PM to host first
India-Central Asia meet
New Delhi: After ris-
ing Covid-19 cases can-
celled the visit of the
leaders of five central
Asian nations, the Min-
istry of External Af-
fairs on Wednesday said
India will host the Pres-
idents of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyz Republic, Tajik-
istan, Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan virtu-
ally
. The summit will be
held a day after Repub-
lic Day, which the five
presidents were to at-
tend as chief guests.
Themeetingissignifi-
cantgiventhat3of these
5 nations — Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uz-
bekistan—sharebound-
aries with Afghanistan,
where Taliban takeover
in August last year left
India concerned.
INDIA LOSE TO SA BY 31 RUNS
SC considers hearing PIL on use of EVMs
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Wednes-
day agreed to consider
listing a PIL challeng-
ing the Constitutional
validity of a provision
of the Representation
of People Act which had
led to the introduction
of electronic voting ma-
chines (EVMs) instead
of ballot papers for polls
in the country
.
A bench comprising
Chief Justice of India
(CJI)NVRamanaheard
the submissions of law-
yer ML Sharma, who
filed the plea in his per-
sonal capacity, that the
petition required hear-
ing in view of upcoming
assembly polls in five
states — Uttar Pradesh,
Goa, Punjab, Manipur
and Uttarakhand.
“We will see it… I
may list it before some
other bench as well,”
the CJI said.
Sharma said Section
61A of the Representa-
tionof PeopleAct,which
permitted the use of
EVMs,wasnotpassedby
Parliament and hence
cannot be imposed.
Bengaluru: TwoIndiGo
flights that took off from
the Kempegowda Inter-
national Airport in Ben-
galuru on January 7 had
come close to colliding
with each other mid-air
whiletakingoff,revealed
chief of DirectorateGen-
eral of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) Arun Kumar.
Kumar has ordered a
probe and said strict ac-
tionwillbetakenagainst
thoseresponsibleforthe
error. Another senior of-
ficer of DGCA said,
“The north runway was
being used for depar-
tures and the south run-
wayforarrivalof flights.
But later, the shift in-
charge decided to close
the south runway but
did not inform the air
traffic controller of the
south tower.”
Luckily, radar con-
troller spotted the error
and alerted the pilots.
400 lives were at stake: DGCA orders probe
into Jan 7 near miss involving Indigo aircrafts
PM MODI TO VIRTUALLY ADDRESS
‘AZADI KE AMRIT MAHOTSAV SE
SWARNIM BHARAT KI ORE’ TODAY
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
deliver the keynote address at the national launch
ceremony of ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim
Bharat Ke Ore’ on Thursday at 10:30 AM through
virtual mode. Year-long initiatives dedicated to
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Brahma Kumaris
will be unveiled as part of the program. These
initiatives include over 30 campaigns and more
than 15,000 programs and events, according to a
statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
INDIA EXTENDS
BAN ON INT’L
FLIGHTS TILL FEB 28
New Delhi: The DGCA on
Wednesday announced
the extension of ban on
scheduled commercial
passenger flights till
February 28. All flights
under Air Bubble
agreements and Mission
Vande Bharat will continue
to operate as before.
l India’s inexplicable
middle-order collapse
ensured that fine half-
centuries from Shikhar
Dhawan and Virat Kohli did
not count for much as the
team was handed a 31-run
defeat by a resolute South
Africa in the opening ODI
in Paarl on Wednesday.
l Chasing 297, India were
cruising at 138 for one
before wickets fell in a
heap dashing the hopes of
the visitors who trail 0-1
in the three-match series.
India’s ended at 265/8.
l South Africa skipper
Temba Bavuma (110
off 143) and Rassie van
der Dussen (129 not
out off 96) had scored
contrasting hundreds en
route to their 204-run
stand to take South Africa
to 296 for four.
YADAV’S CHEEKY
RETORT TO BJP’S
APARNA GAIN
WILL ASK PEOPLE OF AZAMGARH:
AKHILESH ON FIGHTING POLLS
Lucknow: Akhilesh
Yadav, reacting to his
relative Aparna Yadav
switching to the BJP
weeks before Uttar
Pradesh Assembly
elections, said that he
hoped she “carries our
ideology to the BJP”.
“I want to thank the
BJP that they are giving
tickets to those who
even we are unable
to give tickets to,”
Akhilesh Yadav quipped
in trademark humour.
Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav refused to
confirm reports that he was contesting
polls. “I will seek the permission of people
of Azamgarh if I decide to contest
the elections. I need to seek their
permission because they elected
me from there,” he said.
RAKESH TIKAIT DENIES EXTENDING
SUPPORT TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY
Prayagraj: National spokesman of Bharatiya Kisan
Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait has denied the reports of
the Union extending support to any political party in
the run-up to the assembly elections in five states.
On Sunday, Naresh Tikait had appealed for support to
Rashtriya Lok Dal-Samajwadi Party alliance in the UP
polls. However, he later withdrew his statement.
ORDER RESERVED
CONGMAN RPN SINGH
TO TURN SAFFRON?
The Supreme Court
reserved order on
pleas filed by 12 BJP
MLAs challenging their
one-year suspension
from Maharashtra
Assembly for allegedly
misbehaving with
the presiding officer.
A three-judge bench
asked parties to file
written submissions
within a week.
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: The ‘rel-
evant’ political circles in
the national capital have
suddenly become acuzz
with the discussion of
RPN Singh joining BJP
at any time even as
murmurs are heard in
BJP circles of a pro-
posal by BJP to RPN in
this regard and contest
elections in front of
Swami Prasad Maurya
after joining the saffron
party. Furthermore, he
has reportedly also been
assured of appointing
him as a cabinet minister
on formation of BJP
government after victory
and in case he loses,
he has been assured
of a Rajya Sabha seat.
Although earlier also
there have been reports
of RPN joining BJP but
Singh himself has de-
nied the same claiming
that he will go in broad
daylight if he has to and
not in a discreet fashion.
RPN Singh is currently
in charge of Congress
Jharkhand.
Aparna Yadav, ex-Uttar Pradesh CM Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law being greeted by BJP
National President JP Nadda, at BJP HQ in New Delhi on Wednesday. UP CM Yogi Adityanath, UP Dy
CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and BJP UP chief Swatantra Dev Singh also seen.
RAISING DAY

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: BJP state
unit president CR Patil
will address 40,000
workers at a time on
Thursday, as part of an
exercise to strengthen
its organisation ahead
of the upcoming state
Assembly polls. To stay
in line with COVID-19
protocols, this interac-
tion will be held virtu-
ally, via video confer-
encing, while workers
gather simultaneously
at 579 places across the
state.
The Assembly polls
in Gujarat are expected
to be held in December
this year.
This is the first time
in India that a party will
hold over 500 physical
meetings at the same
time across the state,
the state BJP's media
coordinator Yagnesh
Dave said.
The BJP has divided
its organisation in Gu-
jarat into 579 blocks or
mandals, in taluka or
town level.
“In view of the COV-
ID-19 pandemic and
guidelines issued by the
government, only 50 to
100 party workers will
attend each of these 579
meetings, which will
start at 12.15 pm on
Thursday and continue
for nearly two hours.
Gujarat BJP president
CR Patil came up with
this unique idea of
holding meetings simul-
taneously so that all
mandals get covered,”
Dave said.
For the last two and
half decades BJP has
been practising a for-
mula in which 10 youths
are assigned to each poll
booth--one to stay at the
booth while the rest go
out into the field to
bring maximum voters
out to vote, and thus en-
sure that the party gets
a lion’s share of votes.
Given that there are
50,000 polling booths in
the state for 182 Assem-
bly seats, the BJP will
need a minimum of
50,000 polling agents if
it is to contest all 182
seats.
The purpose of these
meetings is to strength-
en page and booth com-
mittees ahead of the
polls and to guide the
ground-level workers
about pro-people
schemes floated by the
BJP government in Gu-
jarat and at the Centre,
he said. “Nearly 40,000
to 50,000 workers will at-
tend these meetings
across the state tomor-
row. Speakers will in-
clude MPs, MLAs, elect-
ed representatives of
local bodies and other
local leaders. We have
also invited former min-
isters and former party
office-bearers to pro-
vide guidance to the
workers,” Dave said.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After
Shehzad Khan Pathan
was inducted as the
new leader of opposi-
tion recently, his ap-
pointment was met
with opposition from
other councillors due
to his tainted past.
Days after the official
announcement, sever-
al councillors con-
vened for a meeting
with senior leaders on
Wednesday. Former
union minister Bhar-
atsinh Solanki has
taken up the task to
mediate and resolve
the matter.
Shrunk to half their
previous strength in
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(AMC) body, Congress
party councillors are
still struggling to set-
tle down a year post
election. Former Lead-
er of Opposition
Dinesh Sharma had
stated that a commit-
tee had been formed to
brainstorm over the
appointment earlier.
Speaking to First India
on Wednesday, he in-
formed, “Even during
the meeting, after
hearing all council-
lors, the party declared
a name which was pro-
tested by most of them.
They had expressed
their dissatisfaction
by remaining absent
from his (Pathan’s) in-
duction ceremony.”
He further stated the
elected representatives
approached Solanki,
who played a vital role
in distribution of tick-
ets in the local body
election. “The council-
lors have put forth
three demands before
the state incharge
Raghu Sharma, who
will be visiting on Jan-
uary 21. Solanki will
recommend rotational
LoP post for the four-
year term and that Pa-
than apologizes to
women councillors for
his misbehaviour,”
said Sharma.
Meanwhile, several
party leaders have
questioned the pruden-
cy of dredging up old
issues in an election
year. “It’s about an ego
clash between two
MLAs who have played
a major role in sinking
the Congress’ ship in
the city. The party
stands to hardly win
any seats from
Ahmedabad in the 2022
election because of
them,” said a source
privy to the develop-
ment.
First India Bureau
Surat: The State Organ
and Tissue Transplant
Organization (SOTTO)
Gujarat has granted
permission to New Civ-
il Hospital (NCH) in Su-
rat for performing or-
gan donation opera-
tions. Within hours of
securing permission,
the first such procedure
was performed at the
hospital.
Family members of a
patient, who was de-
clared brain dead after
undergoing treatment,
donated his organs by
paying heed to the doc-
tors’ advice. One of his
relatives termed organ
donation as the “most
valuable donation in
the world that gives new
life to many individu-
als.”
“Every Indian needs
to come forward and
create awareness
among people about or-
gan donation. It can
give life to many. The
happiness of someone
else can be greater than
our imagination if our
loved ones continue to
live in beneficiaries’
bodies,” he said.
Rutambhara Mehta,
Dean, Government
Medical College, Surat,
informed First India
that approval for organ
donation was granted
once the family agreed
to donate. “The joy is
that people are awaken-
ing. I would like to
thank this family which
saved many lives by do-
nating organs of their
loved one,” she said.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: In the
wake of continual
surge in COVID-19 cas-
es and advent of the
pandemic’s third wave,
the state government
on Wednesday can-
celled all cultural pro-
grammes scheduled for
the eve of Republic Day
and on the day itself.
Only flag hoisting cer-
emonies will now be
held across the state
presided over by minis-
ters and local high-
ranking officials, with
adherence to COVID-19
guidelines.
Announcing the deci-
sion, state Education
Minister Jitu Vaghani
said, “Chief Minister
Bhupendra Patel and
cabinet members dis-
cussed the current
COVID-19 situation.
And it was decided that
the Republic Day cele-
brations this year will
be kept low-key without
much fanfare.”
Governor Acharya
Devvrat and Chief Min-
ister Bhupendra Patel
will be hoisting the na-
tional flag in Gir Som-
nath, Revenue Minister
Rajendra Trivedi will
attend a similar cere-
mony in Anand, Educa-
tion Minister Jitu Va-
ghani will be in Rajkot,
and Health Minister
Rushikesh Patel will
hoist the tricolour in
Ahmedabad. The flag
will be hoisted by min-
isters in 26 districts and
by collectors in seven
districts.
Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment has also de-
cided to ramp up RT-
PCR testing in the state.
Number of COVID-19
care centres, especially
in rural areas, will be
increased to aid the ef-
fort.
A committee has also
been set up to study and
recommend solutions
for the demands put
forth by doctors of gov-
ernment hospitals.
They have asked for an
increment in pay scale
and sought more allow-
ance.
Earlier in the day,
Minister of Social Wel-
fare Justice Pradip
Parmar launched hel-
pline services for sen-
ior citizens. By dialing
the number 14567,
grievances of the elder-
ly will be addressed.
The service was
launched with the help
of Help Age India foun-
dation.
70-80% of all...
Children and others
who have not been in-
oculated need to be es-
pecially careful, and
those who have not
taken the vaccine
should take it immedi-
ately,” said Dr Sudhir
Shah.
Public health expert
Dr Dileep Mavalankar
said social distancing
remains the most effec-
tive way to prevent the
spread of the virus
along with proper use
of face masks.
“Do not go out unnec-
essarily, and do not
cause crowding. Take
immediate recourse (to
precautions) after
cough symptoms.
(Practice) Self-isola-
tion and wearing
masks even at home....
elderly people should
stay away from young
members who go out
for work,” he said, add-
ing, “If we control this
new wave, we can hope
for the pandemic to
wane, unless a new var-
iant emerges. We have
to remain alert from a
mild variant, but there
is no need to panic.”
Infectious diseases
specialist Dr Atul Patel
said the entire popula-
tion of Gujarat was
susceptible to catching
the infection of the
new variant, and there-
fore “it is not a virus to
be taken lightly.” “The
need for hospitalisa-
tion is very low, at
hardly 1-2 per cent. But
that is no reason to re-
lax,asOmicronspreads
very fast, and if the
number of cases rises
in lakhs, then even
1-2% ending up in hos-
pitals will be a large
number,” he said.
FROM PG 1
State cancels R-Day cultural programmes amid nCoV surge
SMART MOVE
(Extreme left) Additional Chief Secretary for Social Welfare Justice Sunaina Tomar and (centre)
Minister of Social Welfare Justice Pradip Parmar at the launch of a helpline for senior citizens.
Plans to ramp up RT-PCR
testing facilities across Guj;
committee formed to probe
demands of govt docs
CR Patil to address 40K BJP workers virtually
Physical meetings to be held
in 579 mandals for pre-poll
strengthening simultaneously
BJP supporters at a rally. —FILE PHOTO
Senior Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki —FILE PHOTO
Solanki to mediate resolution of Cong AMC LoP issue
First India Bureau
Surat: The core com-
mittee of the Surat
Diamond Bourse has
decided to cease the
sale of cut and pol-
ished diamonds from
Mumbai. In another
decision, the bourse
will grant a weaver
of six-month mainte-
nance charges to any-
one who starts a busi-
ness from there. Ad-
ditionally, a ‘lifetime
list’ will be placed at
the diamond bourse’s
reception to honour
members who join it
by December 31, 2022.
Efforts have been
initiated by the com-
mittee to ensure that
diamond trading
takes place in Surat
instead of Mumbai.
The SDB has issued a
circular informing
members that under
phase one, the sale of
polished diamonds
from Mumbai will be
completely stopped.
Those who will begin
trading from Surat
by December 31, 2022
will benefit from
waiverof the6-month
maintenance charge.
If any member
sends a sample of
polished diamonds to
Mumbai for sale,
they will not be
granted relief in
maintenance charg-
es. Also, their name
will not be included
in the ‘lifetime list’.
Vallabh Lakhani,
Chairman, Surat Di-
amond Bourse, said,
“We have come up
with this scheme to
boost Surat Diamond
Bourse business. We
will completely shut
down our company
Kiran James in
Mumbai and run it
entirely from Surat.”
Bizmen have been offered waiver of 6-month maintenance
charges. —FILE PHOTO
SDB gunning for
100% shift of
business to Surat
SOTTO authorizes organ donation at NCH
Family members of the brain dead patient whose organs were donated.
PM MODI TO INTERACT WITH GUJ
BJP WORKERS ON JAN 25
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
interact virtually with BJP workers
in Gujarat on January 25, a party
office-bearer said on Tuesday.
During the interaction, the PM
would provide guidance to work-
ers of the ruling party in the state,
where assembly polls are due
in 2022-end, said Gujarat BJP’s media coordinator
Yagnesh Dave. BJP workers from across Gujarat will
join the interaction with our PM on January 25. After
finishing the registration process through the NaMo
app, selected workers will get the link to join the inter-
action, said Dave. He said Modi will provide guidance
and share his views about suggestions mentioned by
workers while registering themselves for the event.

GUJARAT
03
With 20.9K added in a
day, state’s active tally
inches towards 91K cases
Brother-sister duo held
for `3 cr Ponzi schemes
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
city crime branch
has arrested a broth-
er-sister duo for al-
legedly duping sev-
eral people of Rs2.92
crore through Ponzi
schemes, officials
said on Wednesday
.
Although the mas-
termind of the racket,
Mahesh Bhadra, is yet
tobenabbed,thecrime
branch has arrested
his son Chirag Bhadra
(29) and daughter
Mamata Bhadra (24).
The cops recently
learnt that Mahesh
Bhadra was collecting
money from people by
floating two invest-
ment schemes under
thenameChiragMitra
Mandal, under which
good returns were
promised.Thetriowas
operating from two of-
fices, one in Behram-
pura and another in
Nikol area of the city
.
In the first scheme,
floated in September
2018,peoplewereasked
to deposit 32 monthly
instalments of Rs2,000
each. Bhadra had
promised to pay Rs1.5
lakh prize money to
the winner of a lucky
draw in the first
month, with the pot in-
creasing by Rs50,000
each subsequent
month. The Bhadras
even promised 100g
gold bars to the run-
ners-up every month.
To those who did not
win a single lucky
draw, they promised
Rs70,000 at the end of
the 32 months.
In another scheme,
floated in March 2019,
people were asked to
deposit Rs1 lakh ad-
vance to take part in a
monthly lucky draw
which offered Rs2 lakh
prize money
.
In the first scheme,
thetriocollectedRs2.78
crore, of which they
paid Rs20.59 lakh to-
wards the prizes and
kept Rs2.57 crore for
themselves. Of the to-
tal Rs60 lakh collected
in the second scheme,
the trio kept Rs35 lakh
and paid the remain-
ing to the members.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Guja-
rat on Wednesday
recorded its highest
single-day rise of
20,966 new COV-
ID-19 infections be-
sides 12 deaths, the
state health depart-
ment said.
On Tuesday, the
state had reported
17,119 new cases, the
highest one-day rise
till then. People
should not take the
Omicron variant of
the novel coronavirus
as lightly as common
flu and must follow
precautions like so-
cial distancing, mem-
bers of the Gujarat
government’s COV-
ID-19 task force said
earlier in the day
.
The caseload in the
state rose to 9,77,078
on Wednesday while
the death toll on ac-
count of the pandem-
ic reached 10,186.
Six patients died in
Ahmedabad, two each
in Valsad and Sabar-
kantha, and one each
in Surat and Bhavna-
gar districts.
A total of 9,828 cor-
onavirus patients re-
covered during the
day
, taking the tally of
recoveries to 8,76,166.
The number of ac-
tive cases rose sharp-
ly to 90,726. Of these
patients, the condi-
tion of 125 is critical,
the health depart-
ment said.
As per the data for
Tuesday (which be-
came available on
Wednesday) the
state’s positivity rate
was 13.11 per cent.
On Wednesday,
Ahmedabad district
recorded 8,529 fresh
COVID-19 cases, fol-
lowed by Surat with
3,974 cases, Vadodara
2,252 and Rajkot 1,386,
among other districts.
Some 2.02 lakh peo-
ple received coronavi-
rus vaccine shots dur-
ing the day, taking the
number of doses ad-
ministered so far in
the state to 9.55 crore.
First India Bureau
Anand: Team Ojas-
wat Motorsports of
CHARUSAT Univer-
sity shines at nation-
al event Formula
Bharat. They se-
cured the second po-
sition in the drag
event, a sub-event of
the Formula Bharat
called Rev-It. They
secured the fifth po-
sition in the engi-
neering design pres-
entation and ranked
sixth out of the 32
participating teams.
The event was from
September to Novem-
ber 2021.
The team of 14 un-
dergraduate students
of the mechanical and
electrical branch of
Chandubhai S Patel In-
stitute of Technology
(CSPIT), CHARUSAT
University in Anand,
made car OMS 8.0. For-
mula Bharat provides
a platform to students
who wish to engineer a
formula race car by de-
signing and fabricat-
ing the vehicle, using
the rules and safety
regulations provided
by the organizers. The
event challenges the
undergraduate stu-
dents of CSPIT to
brainstorm, design,
fabricate and race a
formula type car.
Faculty advisor Prof.
Anand P Patel said,
due to the pandemic
the event was conduct-
ed in two phases—on-
line and offline.
A 3D model of the
racing car was pre-
pared by the team and
then it was simulated
for validation using
various software. The
team was headed by
Jenish Meruliya and
technical head Jimit
Desai.
Team CHARUSAT shines at nat’l
engineering design competition
RACE TO NATIONAL RANKING
14 undergrad
mechanical
electrical
engineering
students
created a
racing car with
virtual
simulations for
the contest
COVID-19 UPDATE
8,76,166
TOTALRECOVERED
9,828 MORE
IN A DAY
9,77,078
TOTAL CASES
20,966 CASES
IN A DAY
8,529 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
10,186
TOTAL DEATHS
90,726
12 DEATHS
IN A DAY
Notice issued to Bharuch
school over offline classes
Air pollution rapidly becoming matter of concern: CSE
First India Bureau
Bharuch: A notice
has been issued by
the Bharuch district
primary education of-
ficer to Bright Angels
School in Bharuch
city for conducting of-
fline classes. Accord-
ing to new guidelines
issued by the state
government, in-per-
son teaching has been
prohibited for stu-
dents of Class I to IX
till January 31.
Bharuch District
Education Officer
(DEO) Navnit Mehta
told media persons on
Wednesday, “This is-
sue came to my knowl-
edge through local me-
dia and social media
platforms. Bright An-
gels School on Sher-
pura Road was con-
ducting offline classes
and I immediately in-
structed the education
officers to carry out an
inspection. The offi-
cials reached the
school and discovered
that the information
was valid and lectures
were underway.”
In the notice issued
to the school, authori-
ties have asked the
school to submit an ex-
planation on its failure
to comply with govern-
ment orders. They
have also asked why
the department should
not take action against
its management and
teaching staff for vio-
lation of COVID-19
guidelines, putting
children’s lives at risk,
and file a criminal
complaint under the
Epidemic Diseases Act
and Disaster Manage-
ment Act.
On the other hand,
the school’s manage-
ment has claimed that
it never received any
notification from the
education department
regarding the suspen-
sion of classes.
“Over the past few
days, Bharuch district
has reported an aver-
age of 200 COVID-19
cases daily, similar to
the numbers it had re-
corded during the first
and second wave of the
pandemic. In the cur-
rent situation, despite
state guidelines in
place to shut down of-
fline classes, the man-
agement of Bright An-
gels School continued
to conduct them.
Therefore, strict ac-
tion will be taken
against them,” Educa-
tion Inspector Divyesh
Parmar said.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Air pollu-
tion is rapidly becom-
ing a matter of con-
cern in Maharashtra
and Gujarat despite
their geographical
advantages and fa-
vourable meteorolo-
gy, according to a
new analysis of re-
gional air pollution
levels by the Centre
for Science and Envi-
ronment (CSE).
The analysis cov-
ered 56 continuous am-
bient air quality moni-
toring stations
(CAAQMS) spread
across 15 cities in the
two states, including
from one station each
in Ankleshwar, Nande-
sari, Vapi and Vatva,
four in Gandhinagar,
and eight stations in
Ahmedabad.
The researchers
found that nearly all
cities in the region
show a drop in annual
average PM2.5 levels in
2020—the year with the
maximum number of
lockdown phases. But
there has been a re-
bound and a rising
trend is visible in 2021.
Gujarat’s cities are
more polluted than
those in Maharashtra.
Vatva and Ankleshwar
have the most polluted
air in the region with
the 2021 average of
PM2.5 at 67 microgram
per cubic metre. This
is followed by Vapi and
Ahmedabad with 2021
annual averages at 54
microgram per cubic
metre and 53 micro-
gram per cubic metre,
respectively.
With 102 days of
poor and very poor
AQI, Ankleshwar in
Gujarat has the un-
healthiest days in the
region, followed by
Kalyan with 84 days,
Vatva (75 days), and
Navi Mumbai (54
days).
Vapi has 48 days of
poor and very poor
AQI — but its data is
missing for 138 days
(mainly for the winter
months). Mumbai has
registered 42 days of
poor and very poor
AQI despite meeting
the annual standard.
First India Bureau
Gandhidham: Three
police constables—
Jagdish Solanki,
Haresh Chaudhari
and Raja Hiragar—at-
tached to Gandhid-
ham ‘
A’ division police
station in Kutch were
suspendedonWednes-
dayafteravideoshow-
ing them enjoying
music during a car
journey while not fol-
lowing traffic rules as
well as the mask man-
date gained traction
on social media.
Kutch-East Super-
intendent of Police
Mayur Patil took ac-
tion against the con-
stables for “indecent
behaviour, violating
traffic rules and in-
dulging in acts which
tarnished the image
of the police,” an offi-
cial press note said.
Class I students are not supposed to be going to school right now. —FILE PHOTO
Air pollution had fallen in 2020 thanks to the lockdowns, but has
quickly rebounded. —FILE PHOTO
‘Musical journey’ sans
mask lands cops in soup
Bright Angels School came to the attention of DEO through social media
MEANWHILE, IN A’BAD...
The team of 14 undergraduate students with their racing car model and a faculty member.

PERSPECTIVE
04
lVol3lIssueNo.56
l RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Do not let any unwholesome
talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for
building others up according
to their needs, that it may
benefit those who listen.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
On the 30th on this month, the first
#MannKiBaat of 2022 will take place.
I am sure you have lots to share in
terms of inspiring life stories and
topics. Share them on @mygovindia or
the NaMo App. Record your message
by dialling 1800-11-7800.
Kiren Rijiju
@KirenRijiju
Greetings to the @NDRFHQ on their
Raising Day. The response of NDRF in all
natural or man-made disaster and saving
the lives of the people and property are
always swift. PM @NarendraModi Ji has
accorded top priority to make India a
disaster resilient nation.
TOP TWEETS
UTTAR PRADESH
FACES WRATH OF
APEX COURT AND
DELHI HIGH COURT
tate officials keep
causing embarrass-
ment to the govern-
ment by their lax
ways even towards
orders of the Supreme Court.
The police are acquiring infamy
for their criminal ways of tor-
turing and detain innocent peo-
ple like the killing of a Kanpur
businessman in a hotel by the
Gorakhpur police and the ab-
duction of two men from Delhi.
In a strong order on Wednes-
day, a Supreme Court bench
headed by Justice AM Khan-
wilkar rapped the UP govern-
ment for not releasing the ac-
cused Vijay Kumar Sharma in
the Rs 3500 crore “bike bot”
ponzi on bail despite the apex
court’s month-old order. As if
the state has a parallel judicial
system, a magisterial court ex-
tended his judicial custody in
violation of the SC order.
On Tuesday the Delhi High
Court pulled up UP Police for
resorting to “complete forgery
of documents” and “illegally”
arresting two men from Delhi.
While arresting the two men,
the UP Police didn’t inform
their Delhi counterparts.
S
parna Yadav, wife
of Akhilesh Ya-
dav’s half brother
Prateek, who was
fielded as the SP
candidate from Lucknow
Cantonment seat, lost the
2017 Assembly elections to
BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Subsequently
, she was kept at
an arm’s length by the Sama-
jwadi Party president. That
did not dampen Aparna’s am-
bitions and she continued to
eye a role in UP politics. So
the moment Ajay Bisht (Yogi
Adityanath’s original name),
was anointed the chief min-
ister of UP, Aparna grabbed
the chance with both hands.
Her maiden name Aparna
Bisht made it easy for her to
connect with the chief minis-
ter. That both belong to the
Garhwal region also helped
her cause, though not imme-
diately
. Aware of Yogi’s dedi-
cation for cows, Aparna in-
vited him to her cow shelter
in Lucknow soon after he
became the chief minister in
March 2017. And now she has
joined the BJP.
Aparna’s joining the BJP
has given the party a psycho-
logical advantage over the SP
and a stick to beat Akhilesh
Yadav with. The SP chief was
in news when he had an on-
stage scuffle with his uncle
Shivpal Yadav who broke
away to form his own party
in 2017. It is only now that the
two have patched up.
At the same time the BJP
may find it difficult to choose
its candidate for the Luc-
know Cantonment seat.
There’s Aparna Yadav and
the last election’s winner
Rita Joshi who wants the
ticket for her son. Possibly,
Dr Dinesh Sharma, the Dep-
uty Chief Minister, is also
said to be in contention for
that seat.
APARNA YADAV SEES
OPPORTUNITY IN BJP
Aparna’s joining the BJP
has given the party a
psychological
advantage over the
SP and a stick to beat
Akhilesh Yadav with.
The SP chief was in news
when he had an on-stage
scuffle with his uncle
Shivpal Yadav who
broke away to form his
own party in 2017
A
he killing of civilians in a
botched-up ambush, mistak-
en to be NSCN terrorists by a
SF unit of the armed forces
in Nagaland’s Mon district in
first week of December 21
and its violent countrywide
fallout have once again put
the spotlight on the very rel-
evance and necessity of the
Armed Forces Special Pow-
ers Act (AFSPA) of 1958. The
incident not only gave wings
to various human rights ac-
tivists to rekindle the flames
but also has undone, to a
great extent, NAGA peace
talks progressing well for
over two decades.
So, let us understand the
AFSPA? In simple words, AF-
SPA bestows Armed forces
with the authority to main-
tain public order in “dis-
turbed areas”. It gives the
authority to Army to prohib-
it a gathering of five or more
persons in an area, allows it
use of force or, even opens
fire after administering due
caution if someone is in vio-
lation of the law. Also, if ap-
propriate reasoning exists,
arresting an individual or,
entering/searching premises
without a warrant; and ban
the possession of firearms.
Actually
, the Act came into
being in September 1958, in
the context of increased vio-
lence in the Northeastern
States more than six decades
ago when the legally elected
government and the civil ad-
ministration failed to control
the situation through the
meanswithin.Overtheyears,
theerstwhilestateof JKwas
also brought under the Act in
September 90 for law and or-
der. Nevertheless, at this
stage, it may be pertinent to
view how have the people of
these states taken the imposi-
tion of this Act? Indeed, it has
all through been a controver-
sial one, with human rights
groups opposing it as being
aggressive and regressive.
In spite of SC holding the
constitutional validity, AFS-
PA provokes strong reactions
both in the Northeast as well
as the Kashmir region. The
perception remains that it is
particularly an anti-people
act that gives the armed forc-
es the license to act with im-
punity and commit human
rights violations without ac-
countability. A few far and
widespread cases of alleged
human rights violations,
where the armed forces have
stonewalled attempts to in-
vestigate and punish the
guilty, have only strength-
ened the belief and percep-
tion of the local populace.
Well, on the other hand, as
a veteran who has operated
both in North East and Kash-
mir valley, my personal per-
spective is that the army is
one of the important stake-
holders in the entire debate,
and therefore, its version is
based on ground realities
should be given a due weight-
age. The three major argu-
ments I shall offer in the de-
fense of military perspective
would be, firstly, that India is
fighting a proxy war in these
states and therefore, AFSPA
enables the security forces to
fight both external and exter-
nally-abetted forces that
threaten to destabilize and
break the country
.
Secondly
, the army has its
institutions, set-ups, and even
road convoys running through
areas where AFSPA is ineffec-
tive.Therefore,theoverallsecu-
rity of men and material mer-
itsprotectionunderthepowers
of AFSPA. Last but not the
least, operations hot pursuit
may well take soldiers from ar-
easwherethelawisimposedto
where it may have been re-
voked, thus allowing terrorists
safe hideouts for themselves.
Considering a wider per-
spective of current times, the
violence by terrorists is ex-
pected to increase in the near
future as the US troops have
withdrawn from Afghanistan
and various insurgent
groups are looking for occu-
pation and money. In such
conditions, military authori-
ties feel that once AFSPA is
removed, compulsions of pol-
ity will not allow its re-impo-
sition even if the situation
worsens and that may jeop-
ardize our national interests.
Yes, its never easy to fight
your own brethren who pick
up weapons against the state.
The forces in such circum-
stances are always working
“with one hand tied behind
their back”. We need to real-
ize that “forces are deployed
not by choice but out of duty”
and if the political masters
feel that AFSPA needs to be
repealed, then, “the army
must be moved back to bar-
racks” and the civil adminis-
tration police given charge
to deal with the problem.
There is no doubt that in
insurgency and militancy-
affected areas, provisions
must be made for the protec-
tion of the armed forces dur-
ing operations, and as such
most provisions of the Act
are perfectly valid and essen-
tial. However, in a democracy
,
public opinion and percep-
tions must be taken into ac-
count when examining
whether a particular action
needs to be amended, re-
viewed or even repealed.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
AFSPA: GENESIS,
RELEVANCE
AND NECESSITY
T
In spite of SC holding the
constitutional validity,
AFSPA provokes strong
reactions both in the
Northeast as well as the
Kashmir region. The
perception remains that it is
particularly an anti-people
act that gives the armed
forces the license to act with
impunity and commit
human rights violations
without accountability
The killing of civilians
in a botched-up
ambush, mistaken to be
NSCN terrorists by a SF
unit of the armed forces in
Nagaland’s Mon district in
first week of December 21
and its violent
countrywide fallout
have once again put
the spotlight on the very
relevance and necessity of
the AFSPA of 1958
RETD. COL
ANUPAM JAITLY
Defence expert, Motivational
speaker Corporate Trainer

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INDIA
05
Panaji: The Aam Aad-
miPartyhasannounced
its Chief Ministerial
candidate for Goa. Amit
Palekar will be AAP’s
CM candidate, Delhi
chief minister and
AAP’s national conven-
or Arvind Kejriwal
said. The party will be
contesting all the 40 As-
sembly seats in Goa.
Palekar is an advocate
by profession and
comes from the
Bhandari community,
Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal had held a
door-to-door campaign
on Sunday in Cortalim
village of Goa, which is
scheduled to go to polls
this Feb. As a part of
the campaign, Kejriwal
along with other party
members was seen in-
teracting with voters in
Cortalim. Pamphlets
were distributed to the
voters during the cam-
paign.
Kejriwal has prom-
ised cash assistance of
Rs 1,000 per month for
every woman above the
age of 18 years if his
party came to power in
the state in the 2022 As-
sembly elections. Kejri-
wal said, “Griha Aad-
har benefit for women
will be increased from
Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 per
month. Rs 1,000 per
month will be given to
every female over 18
years.
New entrant Amit Palekar is
AAP’s CM face for Goa polls
‘SHIV SENA, NCP TO GO WITHOUT CONG’
18,000 AS PENSION PER FAMILY, PER YR
Panaji: AAP chief ministerial candidate Amit
Palekar for the Goa Assembly polls on Wednesday
assured a corruption-free Goa and promised to
bring back the glory which the State lost in the
last 20 years. “Amit Palekar will be AAP’s chief
ministerial candidate for the Goa Assembly pollsr.
He has done a lot for goa, contributed a lot in
corona times, and a new face who has never done
politics,” said Kejriwal. “I am guaranteeing you a
Corruption-free Goa. We will get back Goa’s lost
glory. A Goa everyone dreamt of. Goa which lost
its identity in the last 20 years, we promise to get
back that Goa. I will keep every word that I have
said and that is my guarantee,” said Palekar.
AMIT ASSURES CORRUPTION-FREE GOA
GOA ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
Arvind Kejriwal with the CM candidate Amit Palekar in Panaji
Union Home MinisterAmit Shah arrives for BJP CEC meeting at BJP headquarters,in New Delhi onWednesday.
Modi leads UP star campaigner
list: Maneka-Varun excluded
UP ASSEMBLY POLLS UPDATE
New Delhi: The BJP on
Wednesday released a
list of 30-star campaign-
ers for UP Assembly
elections. While many
star campaigners like
PM Modi, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah are
on the list, party MPs
and mother-son duo
Maneka Gandhi and
Varun Gandhi have
been excluded from the
list. The duo has been
victorious multiple
times from Sultanpur
and Pilibhit. In the re-
cent rejig of the BJP
national executive com-
mittee, the two were
also dropped from that
list. BJP releases a list
of 30 leaders.
New Delhi: Congress
Central Election Commit-
tee (CEC) to meet on Wed
through video confer-
encing for the selection
of candidates for the
upcoming UP Assembly
elections, sources said.
Till now, the party has an-
nounced 125 candidates
for the polls. The polling
in Uttar Pradesh will be
held on February 10.
New Delhi: BJP presi-
dent J P Nadda on Wed
announced an alliance
with Apna Dal and
Nishad Party, two parties
that draw their support
primarily from sections
of backward castes, for
the UP assembly polls.
Addressing a press con-
ference, Nadda said the
three National Democratic
Alliance partners in the
state will fight the elec-
tions together.
Dehradun : The Central
Election Committee (CEC)
of the Congress will meet
on Thursday at 5 pm for
the Uttarakhand assembly
polls, said sources on
Wednesday. The polling
for Uttarakhand Assembly
Election will take place in a
single phase on February
14. The counting of votes
will take place on March 10.
Lucknow: Ittihad-e-Millat Council chief Maulana Tauqeer
Raza Khan has said that after meeting Cong leaders Pri-
yanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he realised that these
two siblings were truly secular and therefore decided to
support them. “We had our resentment with Congress,
but BJP took advantage of it. We are responsible for the
loss of the country. This step has been taken to rectify
that mistake,” he said.
Lucknow : BJP MP and a
senior leader from UP Rita
Bahuguna Joshi on Wed
said that she is patiently
waiting for the decision of
the party’s top leadership
about her proposal sent to
BJP chief JP Nadda for giv-
ing ticket to her son in the
upcoming state elections.
She is hoping that their
decision will be communi-
cated and accordingly, she
will make her next move.”
New Delhi:VijayRawat,
brother of India’s first
Chief of Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat
who recently died in a
helicopter crash, joined
the BJP on Wednesday
.
TheBJPmayfieldhimas
its candidate in poll-
bound Uttarakhand,
sources said. Vijay Raw-
at, who retired as a colo-
nelfromthearmy
,joined
BJP in the presence of
Uttarakhand CM Push-
kar S Dhami and RS MP
Anil Baluni. He thinks
out of the box and all his
efforts are directed to-
wards the country’s bet-
terment, Rawat said.
Delhi HC issues notice to ED
on Pinki Irani’s bail plea
New Delhi: The Delhi
HighCourtonWednes-
day issued notice to
Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) on bail Plea
of Pinky Irani, an al-
leged aide of multi-
millionaire conman
Sukesh Chan-
drasekhar, arrested on
December 9, 2021, by
ED in the Rs 200 crore
money laundering
case.
On January 11, 2022,
the trial court had re-
jected Irani’s bail peti-
tion in the matter. The
bench of Justice Muk-
ta Gupta on Wednes-
day issued notice to
the probe agency and
sought a response of it
and listed the matter
for February 14, 2022,
for further hearing.
According to the ED,
Pinki Irani introduced
Chandrasekhar to Bol-
lywood actor Jacque-
line Fernandez.
Late CDS Rawat’s brother joins
BJP, may contest U’khand polls
Bareilly : Day after
joining the party, Con-
gress leader Maulana
Tauqeer Raza Khan on
Wednesday said that
those killed in the Batla
House encounter in the
national capital in 2008
should be declared as
“martyrs”. “People who
died in Batla House
were not terrorists,
they should be given
martyr status,” Khan
told ANI.
He said, “After the
formation of the Con-
gress government at the
Centre, they said an in-
vestigation will be con-
ducted into Batla House
encounter.
Those killed in the
Batla House encounter
were not terrorists,
they should get martyr
status. But Congress
did not get the inquiry
done.” “I will always op-
pose Congress if they
go wrong.
But, as of now, it
seems that only Con-
gress is needed for Ut-
tar Pradesh and for the
whole country. Con-
gressmen are true secu-
larists,” he said.
Politician and Islam-
ic cleric Maulana
Tauqeer Raza Khan,
who was earlier booked
for derogatory com-
ments against PM Nar-
endra Modi and report-
edly issuing threats
against the Hindu com-
munity, joined Con-
gress ahead of the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly polls
on Tuesday
. I request all
the UP people, especial-
ly Muslims that if you
want to maintain peace
here, vote for Con-
gress,” Khan had said.
Batla House terrorists were ‘martyrs’: Raza Khan
CLAIM GAME
SAMBIT PATRA CONDEMNS REMARKS
IN THE COURTYARD
SC TO STEER EX GRATIA
PAYMENT TO KIN OF
COVID-19 DECEASED
CONGRESS CEC TO MEET
TODAY FOR U’KHAND
POLLS
NADDA ANNOUNCES
ALLIANCE WITH APNA
DAL, NISHAD PARTY
BJP’S RITA SEEKS TICKET
FOR SON, OFFERS TO
RESIGN FROM LS
BATTLE FOR UP: RAHUL, PRIYANKA ARE SECULAR,
SAYS IMC CHIEF
‘REACH OUT TO
FAMILIES, DON’T WAIT
FOR THEM TO FILE
CLAIMS’, SC TO STATES
ON COVID
COMPENSATION
FORMER SC JUDGE EXPRESSES CONCERN ON
BOOKING CRITICS OF GOVT FOR SEDITION
New Delhi: The
Supreme Court on
Wednesday pulled up
state govts for failing to
disburse claims to the
next of kin of COVID-19
victims, and issued a
show cause notice to
the AP chief secretary
as to why contempt
action be not initiated
against him.
New Delhi: The SC on
Wed told the state govts
to reach out to the fami-
lies who lost their loved
ones to Covid.Justices
M.R. Shah and Sanjeev
Khanna told the Kerala
govt counsel to send
out its officers to those
families.
Mumbai: Calling for abolishing the law on sedition,
former SC judge Rohinton Nariman has expressed
concern on booking of people who criticized the
govt for sedition. “Now, unfortunately, of late, we
have had in this country, young persons, students,
stand-up comedians, all being booked for freely
criticizing the govt of the day under sedition law.
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: One of the
most widely read and
appreciated epic from
Indian history has been
the Mahabharata,
which has not only left
an indelible civiliza-
tional mark on land but
alsoleftitsstamponthe
psyche and even the
politics of the nation.
But, like they say his-
tory repeats itself, it
seems that the grandest
epicisbeingrepeatedin
thepresentdayandage,
and in fact in the same
region as all those eons
ago - Yesterday’s Hasti-
napur, today’s Uttar
Pradesh.
But the parallels
don’t end there. In the
epic was a family and
two sets of opposing
groups and in the ‘Kali-
yuga’Mahabharatatoo,
there is one family and
two sets of opposing
groups! Interestingly,
here too both the fac-
tions are aiming for po-
litical power.
Let us clear the
smoke. The family is
‘Netaji’ Mulayam Ya-
dav’s and the groups
are Akhilesh Yadav’s
and the other being,
Aparna Yadav - the wife
of Mulayam’s second
wife’s son. On Wednes-
day
, amidst much pomp
and fanfare, Aparna
joinedtheBharatiyaJa-
n a t a
Party,
which is being seen as a
major blow to the SP
and particularly the Ya-
dav family
.
But what transpired
that Aparna had to en-
ter BJP, against the
family and deal this
shocker to the SP right
before elections? In-
formed sources in the
‘relevant circles’ close
to Aparna and Akhile-
sh,revealthatalmost16
years ago, there was an
agreement between her
husband -Prateek Ya-
dav - and Akhilesh Ya-
dav. According to the
agreement, the parties
had agreed that only
Akhilesh will be the
heir to the father’s po-
litical legacy’, thereby
pushing Prateek to a
‘Vanvasa’, hypotheti-
cally speaking. Fur-
thermore, it was also
agreed upon that Mu-
layam’s second wife -
Sadhna Gupta’s son
- Prateek will never en-
ter politics.
In fact, just like
the Kuru land
was divided
equally be-
tween Hastinapur and
Indraprastha, similar,
in the modern version
too, at the time of the
agreement, Mulayam’s
property was also di-
vided equally between
the two brothers - Akh-
ilesh and Prateek. How-
ever, much like Akhile-
sh’s wife Dimple, Apar-
na too wanted her
‘right’ in the party and
due to this insistence of
Aparna, SP gave her
ticket in 2017. She con-
testedandtasteddefeat.
However, she blamed
Akhilesh for her defeat.
In such a situation,
Akhilesh Yadav, this
time around, did not
give the ticket to any
family member and the
political circles are rife
with this belief that af-
terthisdecisionof Akh-
ilesh, Aparna came in
contact with BJP and
formally accepted the
membership of BJP
.
So battleground ‘Ku-
rukshetra’(UP)isready
to witness yet another
Mahabharata, and this
time too, the victor will
rewrite the history of
the land!
Modern-day Mahabharata in UP as ‘PATRIARCH’
Mulayam unable to pacify and settle warring cousins!
THE INTERNAL STORY OF HOW AND WHY, APARNA YADAV DEFECTED NOT JUST HER PARTY BUT EVEN FAMILY TO JOIN THE BJP!
Mulayam S Yadav Akhilesh Yadav Prateek Yadav Aparna Yadav
CONG CEC TO MEET
VIRTUALLY FOR SELECTION
OF CANDIDATES FOR
UPCOMING UP POLLS

INDIA
06
Anita Hada
New Delhi: Every year
tableaux of States, Un-
ion Territories, depart-
ments of the Govern-
mentof India,etc.march
down New Delhi’s Raj-
path on 26 January
. Last
year, a total of 32 tab-
leaux rolled down Raj-
path of which 17 were
from States and UTs. A
selected number of tab-
leaux make it to the Re-
public Day parade. So,
obviously the tableaux
of some states get reject-
ed every year. But this
yearwhenthecountryis
celebratingthe‘
AzadiKa
Amrit Mahotsav’, per-
haps some relaxation
can be given and the
number of tableaux can
be increased. However,
even if the number is in-
creased, the controversy
that is happening now
would not have hap-
pened.
Right now there is a
controversy regarding
the tableaux of West
Bengal and Kerala. Sur-
prisingly
,thetableauxof
West Bengal was based
on the heroes of inde-
pendence, yet it was re-
jected.TheStateGovern-
menthassaidthatonthe
occasion of 125th birth
anniversary of Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose, a
tableauof theAzadHind
Sena was made and pho-
tographs of great free-
dom fighters of Bengal
were also included in it.
Pictures of Gurudev Ra-
bindranathTagore,Swa-
mi Vivekananda, Desh-
bandhu Chittaranjan
Das, Maharishi Arvind,
Matangini Hazra, Bhag-
wan Birsa Munda etc.
were also put in the tab-
leaux.
Similarly
, the tableau
of the Kerala govern-
ment was based on the
great social reformer
Narayan Guru, who
campaigned for break-
ingthecaste-barrierand
untouchability
. Along
with this, the state gov-
ernment had also shown
Jatayu Park as a tourist
center in the tableau.
But it was rejected. It is
being told that the cen-
tral government wanted
the tableau to be on
Shankaracharya.Kerala
tableau has been reject-
ed thrice in the last four
years and that is when
the ruling Communist
Partymadeitabigissue.
Stateministersandlead-
ers have asked the BJP
whether they agree with
thecentralgovernment’s
decisiontorejectthetab-
leau of Narayan Guru.
What is actual reason behind rejecting tableaux?
PM lauds zeal of teens for getting jabbed
Momentum must continue, says PM while reacting to Mandaviya’s tweet
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday lauded
youngsters in the 15-18
age group for showing
enthusiasm in getting
vaccinated against Cov-
id-19 and called for con-
tinuing the momentum.
While reacting to Un-
ion Health Minister Dr
Mansukh Mandaviya’s
tweet the Prime Minis-
ter said “Young and
youthful India showing
the way! This is encour-
aging news. Let us keep
the momentum. It is im-
portant to vaccinate
and observe all Covid-19
related protocols. To-
gether, we will fight this
pandemic.”
Earlier on Tuesday,
Mandaviya informed
that over 50 per cent of
children between the
15-18 age group have re-
ceived the first dose of
Covid-19 vaccine so far
in the country, since
January 3 when vacci-
nation drive for the age
group commenced.”Big
day for India’s fight
against Covid-19! Over
50 per cent of our
youngesters between
15-18 age group have re-
ceived their 1st dose of
the Covid-19 vaccine.
Well done, my Young
Friends! Your enthusi-
asm for vaccination is
inspiring people all
over India. Sabko Vac-
cine Muft Vaccine,”
Mandaviya tweeted.
“Amazing enthusi-
asm among young India
for Covid-19 vaccina-
tion over 3.5 crore chil-
dren between the 15-18
age group have received
the first dose of Cov-
id-19 vaccine, since Jan-
uary 3. Congratulations
to all my young friends
who have got vaccinat-
ed,” the health minister
tweeted. —ANI
PFC-REC MAKE
FURTHER
REDUCTION IN
LENDING RATES
ED SEIZES `10 CR
FROM RESIDENCE OF
PUNJAB CM’S
RELATIVE, OTHERS
New Delhi: State-
owned non-banking
financial companies,
Power Finance Corpo-
ration (PFC) and REC
Limited have further
reduced their lending
rates across all types of
loans by 40 Bps. Union
Minister RK Singh
expressed satisfaction
at the continued efforts
by both companies
to reduce rates and
remain competitive. In
the last about one year,
both the organisations
have reduced lending
rates cumulatively by
upto 3 per cent. —ANI
New Delhi: The ED has
seized more than Rs 10
crore cash, gold worth
above 21 lakh and a
Rolex watch worth Rs 12
lakh from the residential
premises of land mafia
Bhupinder Singh Honey,
a relative of state Chief
Minister Charanjit Singh
Channi, and others in
connection with an al-
leged illegal sand mining
case. The ED declares
the recoveries after it
concluded its two-day
raid conducted at the
business and residential
premises of the accused
persons. —ANI
AIR INDIA CURTAILS US OPERATIONS OVER
5G ISSUE, FOUR FLIGHTS SUSPENDED
New Delhi: New Delhi: After several international airlines
curtailed their operations to the United States due to
deployment of 5G communications in the US, Air India on
Wednesday also suspended four of its flights scheduled to
the US. Air India announced the suspension of flight op-
erations between Delhi Airport and San Francisco, Chicago
and John F Kennedy. It will also suspend a Mumbai to
Newark flight. It will continue to fly into Washington DC’s
Dulles International Airport. Air India in a tweet said, “Due
to deployment of 5G communications in the USA, our op-
erations to the USA from India stand curtailed/revised with
change in aircraft type from 19th January 2022. Update in
this regard will be informed shortly.” —ANI
CRUCIAL READ
Mumbai: As many as
28 Mumbai police-
men tested positive
for Covid-19 in the
past 24 hours, in-
formed police on
Wednesday
.
With this, the tally
of positive police per-
sonnel rose to 1,273 in
the city
. A total of 127
personnel have died
so far from the infec-
tion, said the Mum-
bai police.
A total of 10,666 po-
licemen have been
found positive in
Mumbai so far.
Also, 21 police per-
sonnel tested Cov-
id-19 positive on
Tuesday in Pune city
.
With this, the num-
ber of infected police
personnel in the city
rose to 504, said Pune
police. Meanwhile,
Maharashtra report-
ed 39,207 new Cov-
id-19 cases and 53
deaths in the state on
Tuesday
. —ANI
A girl reacts as she gets inoculated with a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, at SKM Hall, in Patna on
Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
28 Mumbai, 21 Pune cops
test +ve in last 24 hours
84IAStrainees,facultymembers
test+veatMussoorieinstitute
Mussoorie: A total of
84 IAS trainee officers
and faculty members
have tested positive at
the Lal Bahadur Shas-
tri National Academy
of Administration,
Mussoorie, said acad-
emy administration on
Wednesday.
After the massive
spread of the virus on
the campus, to control
the spread further, the
administration has
made containment
zones inside the acad-
emy itself. ‘Everyone’s
health is being checked
at the campus. Notably,
Uttarakhand on Tues-
day reported 4,482 new
Covid cases, 1,865 re-
coveries and six deaths
in the last 24 hours.
The active cases stand
at 20,620. —Agencies
NDRF’s courage, professionalism
extremely motivating, says Modi
 India’s Covid-19
vaccination coverage
exceeds 158.88 crore
 Karnataka to take
decision on relaxa-
tion after consulting
experts
 MoS Kapil Patil
tests positive
 Fardeen Khan tests
positive for Covid
 No relaxation on
norms in Delhi as
positivity rate ‘not
low enough’: Jain
 Czech singer Hana
Horka dies after
catching Covid
 US to provide
additional one million
vaccine doses to
Afghanistan: Blinken
 Grammy Awards
2022 rescheduled
due to Omicron
concern for April in
Las Vegas
 Study: No evidence
of transmitting virus
through breastfeeding
HIGHLIGHTS
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednes-
day lauded the National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) on its Raising Day and said that the force was
at the forefront of many rescue and relief measures.
The Prime Minister said that NDRF’s courage and
professionalism are extremely motivating. “Greetings
to the hardworking @NDRFHQ team on their Raising
Day. They are at the forefront of many rescue and relief
measures, often in very challenging circumstances.
NDRF’s courage and professionalism are extremely
motivating. Best wishes to them for their future en-
deavours,” Prime Minister tweeted. —ANI
New Delhi: With an
aim to ensure the suffi-
cient number of the
IAS officers for the Cen-
tral deputation, the
Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and
Pensions is planning to
amend the existing ser-
vice rules of IAS
(cadre) Rules, 1954, of-
ficials said.
According to offi-
cials, the Ministry’s
proposal will ensure a
greater say of the Cen-
tre compared to the
States and Union Ter-
ritories or from
the joint cad-
re.
T h e
Central
move came after it
found that states
have not re-
leased ade-
quate numbers
of IAS officers
as part of the
central depu-
tation re-
s e r v e
de-
spite several reminders
by the Ministry of the
Personnel.
The Ministry sent the
proposal to seek chang-
es in IAS (Cadre) Ser-
vice Rule, 1954, to all the
State Governments on
December 20 last year
and were asked to re-
spond by January 5,
2022 with their com-
ments. —Agencies
New Delhi: Rahul Gan-
dhi, for the second day
in a row, took a swipe at
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi, this time over
reports of China con-
structingabridgeonthe
Pangong Tso Lake in
Ladakh near the Line of
Actual Control (LAC).
The former Congress
chief had questioned
the Prime Minister’s si-
lence on the same on
January 4 as well. This
time he tagged a picture
with arrows showing
the alleged Chinese
bridge on Pangong Tso
Lake, which is extreme-
ly close to the LAC.
“China is building a
illegal bridge in our
country
. The PLA’s spir-
its are increasing due to
the silence of the PM.
Now it is a fear that PM
may not reach to inau-
gurate this bridge too,”
said the Rahul throwing
shade at the PM. The
construction of the
bridge across the Pan-
gong gives Chinese forc-
es the ability to mobilise
soldiers to either bank
of the Lake. —Agencies
New York: Al-Qai-
da’s linkages with
UNSC proscribed Pa-
kistan-based terror
groups like LeT and
JeM has continued to
strengthen, India’s
envoy to the UN has
said, underlining
that the recent devel-
opments in Afghani-
stan have only served
to re-energise the ter-
rorist group.
India’s Permanent
Representative to the
UN Ambassador TS
Tirumurti told the
International Coun-
ter-Terrorism Con-
ference 2022 organ-
ised by the Global
Counter-Terrorism
Council on Tuesday
that the Islamic State
(ISIS) has changed its
modus operandi with
its core focus is now
on regaining ground
in Syria and Iraq, and
its regional affiliates
are strengthening
their expansion.
“Similarly, al-Qai-
da remains a major
threat and recent de-
velopments in Af-
ghanistan have only
served to re-energise
them. Al-Qaida’s
linkages with Secu-
rity Council pro-
scribed terrorist enti-
ties like Let and JeM
has continued to
strengthen,” he said.
Tirumurti, who is
also the Chair of the
UNSC Counter-ter-
rorism Committee
for 2022, said that in
the global counter-
terrorism domain,
the 9/11 terrorist at-
tacks in 2001 had
proved to be a “turn-
ing point in our ap-
proach towards ter-
rorism.”
The September 11
attacks highlighted
that the threat of ter-
rorism is grave and
universal and can
only be defeated by
the collective efforts
of all UN member
states, he said. —PTI
‘Al-Qaida’s links with
terror groups LeT,
JeM strengthening’
Rahul takes swipe at Modi
over China’s illegal bridge
Centre to amend rules to ensure
availability of babus for deputation
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Many
learned individuals be-
lieve that it is a good de-
velopment that the sale
of Central Electronics
Limited (CEL) has
stopped. The govern-
ment had decided to sell
it and Nandal Finance
and Leasing Company
Pvt Ltd had bought it at
a bid of Rs 210 crore.
Two companies had bid
to buy this PSU located
in Sahibabad, adjacent
to Delhi. The bid of the
second company was Rs
190 crore.
But workers’ unions
opposed it, opposition
MPs wrote letters, cam-
paigns took place on so-
cial media, and one of
the best Congress
spokespersons, Gaurav
Vallabh, explained the
nuances of it by holding
apressconference.After
all this, the government
has banned its sale and
is investigating allega-
tions of being sold to the
company at a low bid.
Surprisingly
,whywas
thecompany’sworthnot
assessed before selling?
This company has 50
acres of land in Sahiba-
bad, which is worth
around five hundred
crores. Think, the com-
pany has more than
twice the land that the
company was being sold
on and on top of that the
companyismakingprof-
it. This company of the
Government of India,
formedin1974,madethe
first solar cell and the
first solar panel and es-
tablished the first
solar plant.
The third thing is that
theworkof thecompany
to whom it was sold is of
furniture and interior.
Premier Furniture In-
teriors Pvt Ltd holds
99.96 per cent stake in
Nandal Finance which
had bought it.
HOW DID THE SALE OF CEL STOP?
CABINET OK’S `1,500 CR FOR IREDA
New Delhi: The Gov-
ernment on Wednesday
approved the extension
of the tenure of the Na-
tional Commission for
Safai Karamcharis for
threeyearsuptillMarch
31, 2025. The total impli-
cation of the extension
for three years would be
approx Rs 43.68 crore.
The decision was tak-
en in a meeting of the
Union Cabinet chaired
by PM Narendra Modi,
IB Minister Anurag
Thakur said. —ANI
Tenure of National
Commission for
Safai Karamcharis
extended till 2025

BIZ BUZZ
07
FinMin asks depts to restrict expenses within prescribed limit
New Delhi: In a bid to
maintain fiscal deficit
within the targeted
limit, the finance min-
istry has asked minis-
tries and departments
to restrict their ex-
penses with the re-
vised estimates.
The communication
comes ahead of the
Union Budget 2022-23,
likely to be unveiled on
February 1.
In an office memo-
randum seeking pro-
posals for the third
and final batch of Sup-
plementary Demands
for Grants, the eco-
nomic affairs depart-
ment under the fi-
nance ministry asked
the ministries and de-
partments to submit
their proposals by Feb-
ruary 10.
“While processing
proposals for supple-
mentary grants, the
grant-controlling au-
thority must invaria-
bly identify savings
available within the
grant so that the in-
fructuous or inflated
supplementary de-
mands are weeded out
and the eventuality of
surrender after ob-
taining supplementa-
ry grant is avoided,” it
said.
The proposal for
Supplementary De-
mands for Grants may
be projected after a
thorough and objec-
tive assessment of ad-
ditional requirements
of funds, it said.
“All the ministries
and departments have
been requested to con-
tain the expenditure
within the approved
Revised Estimate ceil-
ings,” it said.
The government es-
timates a fiscal deficit
of 6.8% of the gross
domestic product
(GDP) in the current
financial year ending
on March 31. —PTI
All the min-
istries and
departments
have been requested
to contain the ex-
penditure within the
approved Revised
Estimate ceilings
—ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
DEPARTMENT
Jio Pays ` 30,791 cr to
DoT FOR SPECTRUM
New Delhi: Telecom
Reliance Jio on
Wednesday said it has
paid `30,791 crore, in-
cluding accrued inter-
est, to the Department
of Telecom to clear the
entire spectrum pay-
ments liabilities that
the company acquired
before March 2021 auc-
tions.
The payments in-
clude the liabilities
pertaining to the spec-
trum acquired in auc-
tions of year 2014, 2015,
2016, and the spectrum
acquired in the year
2021 through trading of
right to use with Bharti
Airtel Limited, the
company said.
“Reliance Jio Info-
comm (RJIL)... has
paid `30,791 crore (in-
cluding accrued inter-
est) to the Department
of Telecom towards
prepayment of the en-
tire deferred liabilities
pertaining to spectrum
acquired in auctions of
year 2014, 2015, 2016
and the spectrum ac-
quired in year 2021
through trading of
right to use with Bharti
Airtel,” the company
said in a statement.
The company had ac-
quired 585.3 MHz spec-
trum through these
auctions and trading.
“The company esti-
mates that the above
prepayments will re-
sult in interest cost sav-
ings of around `1,200
crore annually, at the
current interest rates,”
the statement said.
Reliance Jio has
cleared all dues even
after government has
given options to tele-
com operator of avail-
ing four years morato-
rium on all spectrum
related payments.
RJIL had executed
the first tranche of pre-
payment on the anni-
versary date in the
month of October 2021
pertaining to spectrum
acquired in auction in
the year 2016.
These liabilities
were due in annual in-
stalments from finan-
cial year 2022-23 to 2034-
2035 and carried inter-
est rate between 9.30 to
10% per annum with
an average residual pe-
riod of more than sev-
en years.
—PTI
ALL DUES CLEARED
SEBI launches
Saa`thi app for
investor education
New Delhi: Markets
regulator Securities
and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI) on
Wednesday launched
“Saa`thi” – a mobile
app on investor educa-
tion. The app aims to
create awareness
among investors about
the basic concepts of
the securities market.
Additionally, the
app will also explain
about KYC process,
trading and settle-
ment, mutual funds
(MF), recent market
developments, inves-
tor grievances redres-
sal mechanism, etc,
the market regulator
said in a press release.
Launching the app,
SEBI chairman Ajay
Tyagi said, “This mo-
bile app is yet another
initiative of SEBI with
a view to empowering
investors with knowl-
edge about securities
market. With the re-
cent surge in individu-
al investors entering
the market, and more
importantly a large
proportion of trading
being mobile phone
based, this app will be
helpful in easily ac-
cessing the relevant
information. I am sure
that in coming times
this App will be popu-
lar among the inves-
tors especially the
young ones.”
—Agencies
JIO BECOMES
LARGEST
FIXED LINE
BROADBAND
PROVIDER
New Delhi: In
about two years
of commercial roll
out of its fixed-line
broadband services,
Reliance Jio has
toppled 20 -year-old
state-run telecom
company BSNL as top
service provider in the
segment. According
to a monthly telecom
subscribers report
released by the
telecom regulator
Trai, Jio now leads the
fixed-line broadband
segment with 4.34
million customers.
The segment had
been dominated by
the state-run telecom
since its inception
about 20 years ago.
Reliance Jio fixed-line
broadband customer
base increased to 4.34
million in Nov from
4.16 million in Oct.
BSNL’s
customer
base
declined
to 4.2
million
in Nov
from 4.72
million in
Oct. —PTI
The SEBI Saa`thi
mobile app is
available in Hindi
and English
HAL signs
helicopter
deal with
Mauritius
New Delhi: In line with
the central govern-
ment’s vision to boost
defence exports to
friendly foreign coun-
tries, Hindustan Aero-
nautics Limited has
signed a contract with
the Government of
Mauritius for export of
one Advanced Light
Helicopter (ALH Mk-
III) for the island na-
tion’s police force.
With this contract,
HAL and the Govern-
ment of Mauritius,
which already operates
an HAL-built ALH and
Dornier-228 aircraft,
have further strength-
ened the long-standing
business relations span-
ning over three decades,
the Bengaluru-head-
quartered company
said in a statement.
The contract was
signed by General Man-
ager, Helicopter Divi-
sion-HAL, B K Tripathy
,
and Secretary of Home
Affairs, PMO, Govern-
ment of the Republic of
Mauritius, O K Dabidin.
—PTI
Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and
Nifty tanked around 1% on Wednesday due
to sharp losses mainly in IT, banking and
FMCG shares.The 30-share Sensex
declined by 656.04 points
to close at 60,098.82,
with 23 of its constitu-
ents ending in the red.
The broader NSE Nifty
plunged by 174.65 points
to close at 17,938.40.
—PTI
SENSEX, NIFTY TANKS
AROUND 1%
Tokyo: Around 1.12
crore domestic pas-
sengers travelled by
air in Dec, approxi-
mately 6.7% higher
than the 1.05 crore
who travelled in November, the
country’s aviation regulator said on Wednes-
day. Overall, 8.38 crore people travelled on
domestic flights in 2021 as compared to 6.3
crore in 2020, showing a jump of 33%, the
DGCA stated in its monthly statement. —PTI
1.12 CRORE DOMESTIC AIR
PASSENGERS IN DEC: DGCA
BharatPe MD Grover takes
voluntary leave from Co.
New Delhi: BharatPe
co-founder and man-
aging director Ash-
neer Grover has taken
a voluntary leave till
March-end, as per a
statement issued by
the fintech company
on January 19.
Grover informed
the company’s Board
about his decision to
proceed on leave ear-
lier in the day, the
statement noted.
The announcement
comes amid the con-
troversy over Grover’s
alleged use of inap-
propriate language
against Kotak Group
staff.
In Grover’s ab-
sence, BharatPe said
it “will continue to be
ably led by our CEO
Suhail Sameer and
our strong manage-
ment team”.
—Agencies
New Delhi: Dileep Sanghani, a former cabinet
minister in the Government of Gujarat and senior
co-operator, on Wednes-
day became the 17th chair-
man of Indian Farmers Fer-
tiliser Cooperative (IFFCO).
Reacting to his election to
the new position, Sanghani
said, “IFFCO is committed
to farmers and cooper-
atives and will continue
to work for the farmers
on the lines of Sahkar se
Samridhi”. —ANI
EX GUJ MINISTER DILEEP SANGHANI
ELECTED AS IFFCO CHAIRMAN
In Grover’s
absence,
BharatPe will
continue to be
ably led by
CEO Suhail
Sameer
New Delhi: Shares of
One97 Communica-
tions, the owner of
Paytm brand, hit life-
time low as it plunged
as much as 5% in a
weak market on Wednesday.
The stock has been in a declining trend for a
while now. It has closed in the red 11 times
in the last 12 sessions, declining 26% in the
process. The scrip has fallen about 54% from
the IPO price. —Agencies
PAYTM SLIPS 5%
TO HIT NEW LOW
Mumbai: The rupee
snapped its 3-day
losing streak to set-
tle 14 paise higher at
74.44 against the $
on Wednesday. At the
interbank foreign exchange
market, the rupee opened lower at 74.70 a
dollar and it pared losses and witnessed an
intra-day high of 74.32. The domestic unit
finally settled at 74.44 against the American
currency, up 14 paise over its last close. —PTI
` SNAPS 3-DAY LOSING STREAK,
SETTLES 14 PAISE HIGHER
Budget shouldn’t focus on
fiscal consolidation alone: SBI
New Delhi: Econo-
mists at the nation’s
largest lender State
Bank of India (SBI)
have urged the govern-
ment to budget for
nursing the pandemic-
ravaged economy and
not to focus too much
on fiscal consolidation
as there is a need for
more stabilisation
measures to sustain
the fledgling recovery
.
And one of the best
way to begin the new
fiscal is to complete the
share sale of LIC this
fiscal. This can go a
long way in repairing
the overstretched bal-
ance sheet which in
turn will bring down
fiscal deficit to a much
lower 6.3% in FY23 as
the public coffers will
be left with a cash sur-
plus of at least Rs 3
lakh crore to begin the
new fiscal, SBI chief
economist Soumya
Kanti Ghosh said in a
pre-Budget note on
Wednesday
.
He said the Budget
should not correct the
fiscal deficit by more
than 30-40 bps as most
sectors of the economy
still need support.
Pencillingina6-6.5%
fiscal deficit for FY23,
down from 6.8-7.1%
from FY22, he said the
Budget should also al-
low for very gradual
fiscal consolidation.
For FY23, the fiscal
consolidation should
remain limited to 30-40
bps from the current
fiscal. He also cau-
tioned against any new
taxes like wealth tax or
others at this point as
that could do more
harm than benefit.
Assuming the gov-
ernment keeps the ex-
penditure growth at
8%overFY22estimates
at `38 lakh crore in
FY23. —PTI
New Delhi: India ur-
gently needs to move
away from incremen-
tal budgetary policy
moves and stop
thinking only about
areas like manufac-
turing or agriculture,
according to former
Reserve Bank of India
governor Raghuram
Rajan. “There has to
be a definite pathway
on how to get the
economy back on
track. The pathway
should appear credi-
ble, one that doesn’t
hint at profligacy”, he
said in an interview.
INDIA NEED TO
MOVE FROM
INCREMENTAL
BUDGETARY
POLICY MOVES:
RAJAN
Nirmala Sitharaman

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
55,75,701
TOTAL DEATHS
27,14,67,563
TOTAL RECOVERED
5,87,54,601
ACTIVE CASES
33,57,97,865
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,87,226
TOTAL DEATHS
3,55,83,039
TOTAL RECOVERED
18,30,976
ACTIVE CASES
3,79,01,241
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Womancharredtodeath
as pvt bus catches fire
First India Bureau
Surat: A woman was
charred to death,
while a man received
severe burn injuries
after the private luxu-
ry bus in which they
were travelling caught
fire and exploded in
the Varachha area of
Surat on Tuesday
night, said officials.
Primary investiga-
tions revealed there
were around 15 passen-
gers in the bus when it
caught fire, which
spread quickly in the
vehicle, said Chief
Fire Officer of Surat,
Basant Pareek.
“While all other pas-
sengers managed to
alight in time, a wom-
an and a man got stuck
in the burning bus.
While the woman was
charred to death, the
man, who suffered se-
vere burn injuries,
was somehow pulled
out of the bus by some
people,” Pareek said.
According to locals,
there were very few pas-
sengers in the bus when
it started its journey to-
wards Bhavnagar from
the Katargam area.
When it reached Hi-
rabaug Circle at
around 9:30 pm to take
on more passengers,
the bus was engulfed
in flames after a sud-
den spark followed by
a blast, said Pareek.
“We believe a spark
in the engine area
started the blaze. The
fire spread after it
caused an explosion in
the AC compressor of
the vehicle. Due to
presence of foam and
other synthetic materi-
als in the bus, the fire
spread very quickly,”
the officer said.
Two people had been
feared dead when ini-
tial reports came in on
Tuesday night.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: Police on
Tuesday arrested
four persons for
carrying out an il-
legal sex determi-
nation racket. The
arrest also in-
cludes a fe-
male who
had gone to
get a pre-
natal test
done.
Accord-
ing to re-
p o r t s ,
those ar-
rested in-
cludes Dr
Mukesh Toli-
ya, com-
p o u n d e r
Aavesh Pinja-
ra, a nurse and a
woman from Suren-
dranagar who had
gone for the pre-natal
test. The tests were
conducted in a rent-
ed house in Shiv
Shakti colony on
University road.
The police acted
on the tip-off and
raided the premises
after the suspected
woman entered it for
her scheduled test. A
mother of five girl
children, the woman
from Surendrana-
gar, had gone for the
test after being re-
ferred to it by a
nurse working at the
Metoda Sanjivani
hospital. She is said
to have paid Rs10,000
for the test.
The police have
seized the sex deter-
mination machine,
gel and other goods
worth Rs2.90 lakh
from the premises.
Dr Toliya holds
a BHMS degree
and for the past
year has been
practising as a
medical offic-
er in various
private hos-
p i t a l s .
While Pin-
jara has
worked at
a hospital
in Dhoraji.
A c c o r d -
ing to police,
the doctor has
confessed to
conducting five
tests in the past but
kept changing his lo-
cation to evade ar-
rest. Police also sus-
pect abortions but
are still investigat-
ing it. They are also
looking at the in-
volvement of other
people and the total
number of illegal
tests done to date.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Five monks
and two sevaks were
arrested by the Va-
dodara Taluka police
for beating Sevak Anuj
Chauhan in Sokhada
Swaminarayan temple
near Vadodara. How-
ever, they were later
released on bail. The
monks appeared at the
police station on
Wednesday after a po-
lice complaint was reg-
istered against them
on Tuesday.
Chauhan, who works
in the temple’s accounts
department, was beaten
by monks and two se-
vaks on January 6. On
Tuesday, he and his fa-
ther gave statements to
the Taluka police.
The police had only reg-
istered a case against
five monks Prabhupri-
ya Swami, Harismaran
Swami, Bhakti Vallabh
Swami, Swamiswaroop
Swami, Hiral Swami,
and two sevaks Pranav
Asoj and Manahar
Sokhdawala.
On Wednesday, all
seven were arrested af-
ter the nCoV test. Ajay-
palsinh Raulji, PSI and
Investigation Officer
Taluka Police Station
Vadodara, is investigat-
ing the matter. The of-
fense was registered
under sections 143, 147,
149, 323 and 294 (b) of
the Indian Penal Code.
On January 6, on
hearing some shouting,
Anuj reached the spot
to see what had hap-
pened. But Pranav and
Manohar abused and
asked him to go back.
Meanwhile, they also
grew suspicious that
Anuj was shooting the
fight on his mobile, so
they started beating
him and the monks
joined in.
First India Bureau
Rajkot: For the first
time in its history
, the
general body meeting
of the Rajkot Munici-
pal Corporation
(RMC) ended on
Wednesday without a
question-answer ses-
sion. It was also for the
first time that the
meeting ended in less
than five minutes.
“Many councillors
and RMC employees
have tested positive for
COVID-19. Even the
RMC Health Commis-
sioner was unwell and
absentfromthemeeting.
Due to a surge in cases,
we decided to skip the
question-answer ses-
sion. Also, the meeting
ended in less than five
minutesforthefirsttime
in history
. Councillors’
questions councillors
will be replied to in writ-
ing,” sources said.
However, the Con-
gress emerged trium-
phant on Wednesday in
their week-long battle
against an RMC propos-
al to convert a plot on
Sadhu Vaswani road re-
servedforahospitalinto
commercial land.
“During the pandem-
ic, we had demanded
that RMC build a multi-
speciality hospital in
the hospital reserved
land spanning across
5,388 sq. m, similar to
the Ahmedabad civic
body’s Vadilal Sarabhai
Hospital,” said Bhanu-
ben Sorani, leader of
Congress party
.
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Dileep
Sanghani, a former
cabinet minister in
the Government of
Gujarat and senior co-
operator, on Wednes-
day became the 17th
chairman of Indian
Farmers Fertiliser Co-
operative (IFFCO).
The Board of Direc-
tors of IFFCO unani-
mously elected Dileep
Sanghani as the new
chairman. He was ear-
lier serving as vice
chairman of IFFCO.
The election of the
new chairman was held
due to the demise of in-
cumbent Chairman
Balvinder Singh Nakai
on October 11, 2021, IFF-
CO said in a statement.
Reacting to his elec-
tion to the new position,
Sanghani said, “IFFCO
is committed to farmers
and cooperatives and
will continue to work
for the farmers on the
lines of Honourable
Prime Minister’s vision
of Sahkar se Samridhi”.
Sanghani is a senior
co-operatorfromGujarat
and he is also the chair-
man of Gujarat State Co-
operativeMarketingFed-
erationLtd,aposthehas
held since 2017.
He is also a former
minister of Agricul-
ture, Co-operation
Animal Husbandry,
Fisheries, Cow-Breed-
ing, Prison, Excise
Law Justice, Legis-
lative Parliamenta-
ry Affairs in the cabi-
net of the Govern-
ment of Gujarat.
He was elected as the
vice-chairman of IFF-
CO in 2019. In 2021,
Sanghani was elected to
the position of the Pres-
ident of the National
Cooperative Union of
India (NCUI), the apex
body of the Coopera-
tives in India.
The charred remains of the bus after the fire, at Varachha area in Surat on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
One of the five monks while entering the Taluka police station.
State BJP chief CR Patil congratulates Dileep Sanghani on his
new position.
Spark in the engine believed to have spread after it caused an explosion in AC compressor
Sex determination
racket busted, 4 held
5 monks among
7 held on bhakt’s
police complaint
Ex-Guj min Dileep Sanghani
elected IFFCO Chairman
HOME SWEET HOME
RMC members during their board meeting on Wednesday.
RMC general body meeting ends in 5 mins, skips QA
LIGHTNING SPEED
A bird house has been built by
a man named Bhagwanjibhai
Rupapara (seen here) in Navi
Sankli village of Jetpur taluka.
Constructed in the shape of a
shivling, 2,600 earthen pots
have been used to provide
a home to birds, especially
during the monsoon season. A
farmer by profession, the bird
lover used galvanized pipes to
attach and connect the pots
and set up the structure over
the course of a year.
The human being is a “work in
process”, over the years I have
realized that all of us are
incomplete, striving towards ‘completeness’.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY
JANUARY 20, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
With a combo of chill and pandemic times, on-
screen time is going to go—high and this
Throwback Thursday we bring you, Jawaani
Diwani, a 1972 movie – with songs you still
dance and sway too!
awani Diwani, I
would like to ask
you to watch it for
its stellar perfor-
mances and excel-
lent plot, but I
can’t … so won’t.
The plot with
young love reject-
ed by elders, due to the family
feud is old hat.
So, I will ask you to watch it
for the RD Burman scores, beau-
tifully supported by Kishore Da
and Asha Bhonsle to give one
among the most memorable
tracks ever where each number
is still hummable after decades.
I would ask you to watch it to
see Jaya Bhaduri in a different
role, glamorous, candy-floss with
trend-setting clothes and hair-
styles as she trots around hold-
ing a doll and falling in love with
a chubby Randhir Kapoor but
she is hardly her confident self.
I could ask you to watch it for
a feisty, non-weepy Nirupama
Roy, a different A K Hangal but
not much then too.
I suppose I could ask you to
watch for the college an-
tics, the pattern of
college-love set by
this movie for
others to fol-
low till date-
the songs,
the circle
of friends, wooing the girls, the
ongoing rivalry, with the bets
and pranks they engage in etc.
But it is the music that carries
Jawani Diwani They add the ex-
uberance of youth and the expec-
tations of the flower generation
with an unapologetic abandon, a
joie de vivre and more to the
movie that by the time one starts
looking around for the plot and
characterisations amid the col-
lege rebellion, the movie is over
and you carry on singing the
songs for a long long time.
The iconic Jaane jaan dhoond-
ta phir raha is hauntingly beau-
tiful and sexy though it’s only
because of it’s lyrics, the music
and Kishore Da and Asha- the
landscape and the stars do not
add to it, trust me.
Saamne yeh kaun aaya is
memorable also for Jaya – one of
her most stylish looks which you
can duplicate even today and
catch eye-balls at a party – a
bright shirt with white denim
and a studded belt to boot. And
regardless of the ‘image-change’
of Jaya, this is the only song
where she is not in a saree.
NahinNahinabhinahin moves
the movie forward sets the stage
for the next scene but hear it for
the sheer reluctance in Asha’s
voice with an underlying inter-
est- the ‘na-na’ is legendary
.
Yeh Jawani hai Diwani is sim-
ply ‘high on life’ hear it on a
down day and it is sure to pep
you up and get your feet tapping.
Agar Saaz chheda the antak-
shri number is better than most,
they were quite a staple in the
earlier movies since in the
days without internet and
surfing – antakshri was a
popular ‘time-pass’ and
many have made eyes at
each other during this
in reel and real life.
Hai tauba mujhe
tune is unremarka-
ble in all respects.
And I would have
preferred a slimmer
hero and a cuter
doll!
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
J

10
ETC
“NOT A MILD FLU, TAKE
PRECAUTION GET TESTED”
he third wave of
Covid-19 is here
with exponential-
ly more and more
people getting in-
fected by the Omi-
cron variant. This
new heavily mutated vari-
ant has taken priority over
the earlier Delta variant.
Although Omicron is said
to be milder, the rate of in-
fection is far greater. With
the disease spreading like
wildfire across the coun-
try, City First spoke once
again to Consultant Pul-
monologist, Narayana
Multispeciality Hospital
in Jaipur, Dr. Shivani Swa-
mi in an exclusive inter-
view to gain a better un-
derstanding of the Omi-
cron variant, its rate of
transmissibility, treat-
ment strategy, and herd
immunity against the vi-
rus.
In the past, Dr. Swami
has worked in some of the
most prestigious hospitals
in the country like the Me-
danta: The MediCity in
Gurgaon and the Fortis
Hospital in New Delhi. She
specialises in pulmonolo-
gy, sleep medicine, allergy
and immunology as well
as critical care.
Q - Some doctors are say-
ing that Omicron is
mild and not so fright-
ening; whereas the
others are saying we
should not sit back
thinking Omicron is
just like a common
cold.
So which statement do
you believe to be true?
A - I think both are par-
tially true. So far, what-
ever we have seen of
Omicron is a mild infec-
tion. However, this vari-
ant is extremely conta-
gious. The turnaround
time that was 3-7 days in
the Delta variant has re-
duced to 1-2 days in the
Omicron variant. We
cannot say it is a mild
infection because as per
international data, the
mortality rate with
Omicron is also around
1-2%. So, we have to
have our guard up, fol-
low Covid appropriate
behaviour and avoid
panic.
Q- What is the difference
between the 2nd wave
and the 3rd wave?
A - Vaccination has made
a lot of difference. The
severity is much less
compared to last time.
This is because of the
massive vaccination
drive that has taken
place in which a major-
ity of the people are al-
ready vaccinated. Hav-
ing said that, there is a
huge scene of reinfec-
tion and breakthrough
infection. This means
that people who
have had previ-
ous Covid in-
fections and
have taken
the vaccine
are also get-
ting infect-
ed.
Q - What
sort of pre-
c a u t i o n s
should peo-
ple be taking
now?
A - Most common
precautions like
social distanc-
ing, hand hy-
giene and mask-
ing are the
most impor-
tant. Apart
from this, those who are
due for the second dose
of their vaccine or the
booster dose should go
forward and do it. Espe-
cially, children over 15
years of age who can
now get vaccinated.
Eventually, we will ex-
pand it to reach other
age groups as well. That
is what will help us
achieve better immuni-
ty
.
Q - What will help flatten
the curve of the 3rd
wave? Herd immunity
or vaccine-induced im-
munity?
A - Both things together
will have a bigger im-
pact. On their own nei-
ther option is full proof.
What we are seeing now
is that vaccinated peo-
ple are getting infected
and those who had Cov-
id earlier are also get-
ting re-infected. There
is no complete bubble
where we can say that
we have achieved com-
plete immunity
. Howev-
er, time will tell. But
eventually, we will have
to live with precaution.
Q - With Omicron being
milder than Delta
would you say we are
slowly nearing the end
of the pandemic?
A – Maybe we are slowly
moving from the pan-
demic stage towards the
endemic stage. It is the
way forward. Hopefully,
we do not get any more
dreadful mutations and
can deal with the dis-
ease properly
.
Q –What is an alarming
trend that can be seen
among people in the
3rd wave?
A - A dangerous trend that
has been noticed is that
those infected are hav-
ing fever for which
they are sitting at
home for two days
after which they go
back to work with-
out getting test-
ed. It needs to be
stressed upon
that if you are
d i s p l a y i n g
symptoms of
Covid you must
get tested. All of
us have children
or the elderly
p o p u l a t i o n
around us. The dis-
ease can take a compli-
cated turn for children
who are not vaccinated.
We need to protect
them, get tested and fol-
low the proper quaran-
tine period and not
take it lightly. A child
may develop complica-
tions later on. Even in
the earlier waves chil-
dren who got Covid
were prone to long term
complications. Omicron
is affecting children
more severely. We have
to be cautious, get tested
and not take it as mild
flu.
Q – As a medical practi-
tioner what do you
think would be the
best response to Omi-
cron by the State?
A – On a strict note, enter-
tainment needs to be
curtailed. If restaurants
and theatres are open
people tend to go. Once
you are sitting inside
the restaurant you will
take off your mask to
eat or drink. We will
have to eventually cur-
tail these activities as
the numbers are expo-
nentially increasing in
every district in the
State especially Jaipur.
We will have to revisit
as a policy public gath-
erings like weddings
and other functions.
Q- How is Omicron not
affecting lungs this
time?
A – Mutations have led to
certain changes in the
virus that so far Omi-
cron is not affecting the
lungs too much. It is ma-
jorly the upper respira-
tory tract only which is
infected. This is a good
thing and the reason
why the hospitalisation
rate is much less.
Q - Is it true that only 7
days of quarantine is
needed for Omicron? Is
this because this vari-
ant is milder?
A - Yes, as per the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the
quarantine period has
been reduced to 5 to 7
days. After which the
next 5 days people can
step out but they have to
be cautious and keep
their masks on at all
times. This is because
after 7 days the viral
load reduces. Also,
healthcare workers
across the globe are get-
ting severely infected
and there is a dearth of
workforce. So, keeping
both these things in
mind, the quarantine
period has been re-
duced.
Q - How is the Narayana
Hospital geared up to
meet the present de-
mand for hospitalisa-
tion? What is the cur-
rent treatment strate-
gy?
A- Right now, we do not
have a lot of patients
that require hospital ad-
mission. We are treat-
ing patients majorly
based on OPD and we
have also started online
consultation. So that
those infected can seek
treatment from our
specialists from the
comforts of their
homes. That being said
we are regularly re-
viewing the situation
and if there is an in-
creased requirement
for hospital beds, we
have the infrastruc-
ture to start immediate
admissions.
T
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
Dr Shivani Swami

ETC
AHMEDABAD | THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022 11
ONLINE BUSINESS IDEAS
YOU CAN START ON THE SIDE
TANYA SARDANA
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
ored sit-
ting at
home in
this lock-
d o w n ?
Have few-
er working hours
in the office due
to the pandemic?
Bored watching
series? Wanting
to do something
productive all
this while? COV-
ID-19 can stop
you from going
outside but don’t
let it stop you
from making the
most out of these
times. You can
make this time
not only produc-
tive but could
generate some
extra income too;
all you need is a
PC or a laptop
with an internet
connection. Here
are 9 online busi-
ness ideas that
could help you
earn some extra
income and of
course help, you
learn something
new.
B
BLOGGING
The first term that comes into
people’s minds when they think of
an online business is blogging. Love
travelling? Are you a great cook? Do
you have a great fashion sense? If
the answer to any of the questions
like these is yes, then blogging can
be your forte. Own a website, create
and publish original content. As your
number of readers increases, your
online generated income also goes
up. Not just that, get a number of
sponsorships and collaborations
from reputed brands. You can later
expand it into any other venture
like e-commerce or maybe affiliate
marketing.You could use apps like
Wordpress, bloglovin’, Tumblr etc as
they can be easily set up, does not
require coding skills, easy to use and
thus beginner friendly.
PROOFREADING
Have a great command of Eng-
lish but don’t have a degree?
Don’t worry! We’ve got you cov-
ered. A lot of content is on the
internet today, but everyone’s in a
haste today. A proofreader checks
the final content thoroughly just
before it gets published. Minor de-
tails like correcting punctuations,
grammatical errors, misspelt
words and even the appropri-
ate line spacing is done by the
proofreader.
PRESENTATION DESIGNER
Ever thought designing a presenta-
tion could generate income? Simple
yet the most difficult task is to design
a presentation with attractive graph-
ics, readable text and a trending design.
Have a passion for slideshow design-
ing? Knows how to work on keynote and
PowerPoint? A presentation designer
works with a business and designs a
presentation emphasizing the product
while keeping the audience engaged. The
best part? No investment is needed! All
you need is a laptop and your presenta-
tion skills of course. Make your profile on
several job finder apps such as LinkedIn,
Internshala, let’s intern etc and post your
resumes and work sample so that your
professional identity gets online visibility
and you could get hired quickly.
MONETISE
YOUR ART
Is your graphic
designing game
strong? Proficient
in using adobe
illustrator and
adobe photoshop?
Commercialise
your designs and
start earning. Start
designing t-shirts,
mugs, hoodies, caps,
posters, bags,
shoes etc and you
could generate
a lot of money.
Worried about the
printing process and
shipment or delivery
hassles? Websites
like overprints and
Shopify take care
of the printing and
shipping process; all
you need is a design.
Tip - keep up with
the trends and colour
schemes. Also don’t
forget to keep your
humour subtle, if any.
AFFILIATE
MARKETING
If you don’t have
the finance for a
startup but have
the marketing
communication skills,
affiliate marketing
is for you. You can
get paid just for
promoting what
you like. Affiliate
marketing is when
you promote a
product of a specific
company and each
time anyone buys
that product with your
referral code, you
earn a commission.
Once everything is
set up, start sharing
and posting about
the benefits of the
product or how
good is it, giving it a
personal touch.
ONLINE COURSES
Have a lot of
knowledge in a field?
Love helping people?
What if I say you
could help people and
yet earn money? Yes,
with online teaching
it’s possible. Build
an online course or
workshops in the field
of your expertise and
get started. It could
be a short digital
media course, baking
workshops or even
a graphic designing
course. With zero
investment, you could
gain a lot of benefits
apart from earning
income. It could
include building
contacts or simply the
satisfaction of helping
someone.
STOCK
PHOTOGRAPHY
Are you the one
who is always seen
clicking pictures in
the family? Do your
friends compliment
you on your
photography skills? If
yes, you can sell your
images online and
get paid every time
someone licenses an
image that you've
created and
uploaded. With
everything shifting
to digital media
today, the demand
for professional
and unique images
continue to rise
rapidly. It could also
help you build your
portfolio.
You can sell your
images to several
stock photography
companies like
istockphoto and
Shutterstock.
ONLINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT
If you spend hours watching the news and
are always updated about what’s happening
around you, the above designation could be
yours. You don’t need a degree to be
an online news correspondent, A lot of
companies like The huff and
others are recruiting people
for local coverages. You
could also be simply hired
for writing your opinions or
interviewing people.
SELL HANDMADE
PRODUCTS
If you're creative and have
a major interest in creating
craft related products,
you can put a price tag
on this hobby of yours.
Today, people love buying
handmade products as
they are either organic,
free of chemicals or hold
traditional value. So if you
can do embroidery, hand
weave, wood paint, make
soaps, scented candles etc,
don't miss this opportunity
as it can fetch money.

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