25012022 first india new delhi

SPREAD GOVT’S
GOOD WORK IN
5 POLL-BOUND
STATES: KEJRI
New Delhi: AAP nation-
al convenor and Delhi
CM Arvind Kejriwal on
Monday launched the
“Ek Mauka Kejriwal
Ko” campaign for the
upcoming Assembly
elections in five states.
Kejriwal has requested
the people of Delhi to
share video testimony
of the party’s work in
the national capital on
social media. P2
Unvaccinated people, children below
15 yrs not allowed at R-Day parade
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police’s guidelines men-
tion that the people at-
tending the Republic
Day parade must be
fully vaccinated against
Covid and children be-
low 15 years of age will
not be allowed to attend
the function. Police also
said that people will
have to adhere to all
Covid protocols, such as
wearing face masks and
maintaining social dis-
tancing, at the pro-
gramme on Rajpath on
January 26. “It is neces-
sary to have both doses
of anti-coronavirus
vaccine. Visitors are re-
quested to bring their
vaccination certifi-
cate,” the Delhi Police
tweeted. It said that
children below 15 years
of age are not allowed
in the function.
The national Covid
vaccination pro-
gramme, which initial-
ly started with health
care and frontline work-
ers on January 16 last
year, was gradually ex-
tended for all those
above 18 years of age.
—PTI
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
People will have
to adhere to all
Covid protocols,
says Delhi Police
‘Pakistan PM Imran Khan lobbied
for his ‘old friend’ Navjot Sidhu’
Chandigarh: Punjab’s
former Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh’s seat
sharing announcement
with the BJP was ac-
companied by a shocker
– one about his arch-ri-
val Navjot Sidhu and his
old cricketing buddy,
Pakistan Prime Minis-
ter Imran Khan.
Soon after dropping
Sidhu from his cabinet,
he had received a call
from a mutual acquaint-
ance from Pakistan,
Singh told reporters.
“The Pakistan Prime
Minister had sent a re-
quest, saying if you can
take back Sidhu into
your Cabinet I will be
grateful, he is an old
friend of mine,” he said.
Delhi court
frames sedition
charges against
Sharjeel Imam
New Delhi: A Delhi
court on Monday
framed charges against
JNU student Sharjeel
Imam for allegedly
making inflammatory
speeches at Aligarh
Muslim University and
in Delhi’s Jamia area
against CAA.
Additional sessions
judge Amitabh Rawat
framed the charges un-
der Sections 124A (sedi-
tion) among others. The
FIR was against Imam
was registered on Janu-
ary 25, 2020 with regard
to speeches made in the
Jamia area on Decem-
ber 13, 2019.
DRUG CASE: HC
REJECTS BAIL
PLEA OF MAJITHIA
AMARINDER ON 37,
BJP ON 65 SEATS
SP-RLD ALLIANCE
RUNS INTO TROUBLE
RAWAT TO CONTEST
FROM RAMNAGAR
NO SAINT CAN BE CM:
SEER ON ADITYANATH
Chandigarh: BJP will contest
65 seats in Punjab elections
while former Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh’s new party
Punjab Lok Congress has
got 37 and their third alli-
ance partner Shiromani Akali
Dal (Samyukt) getting 15.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi
Party- Rashtriya Lok Dal
alliance has run into trouble
with RLD chief Jayant
Chaudhary facing strong
dissent from his party’s top
Jat leaders in Siwalkhas
constituency, located in
Meerut but under the
Baghpat Parliamentary seat.
The disagreement is over
the candidature of Ghulam
Mohammed, a SP member.
New Delhi: The Congress on
Monday released its second
list of 11 candidates for Utta-
rakhand assembly elections
and fielded former chief
minister Harish Rawat from
the Ramnagar assembly
constituency. The Congress
also fielded Anukriti Gusain
Rawat, daughter-in-law of
Harak Singh Rawat, from
the Lansdowne assembly
constituency. Full list on P5
Lucknow: A saint cannot
be a chief minister as after
taking the oath of secularism
as a constitutional dignitary,
he cannot stay “religious”, a
prominent seer said on Mon-
day, in an apparent reference
to UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
Chandigarh: The Pun-
jab and Haryana High
Court on Monday dis-
missed the anticipa-
tory bail plea of SAD
leader Bikram Singh
Majithia in the alleged
drugs case. Majithia,
who is facing an FIR
registered by Punjab
Police in an NDPS
case, is presently on
interim anticipatory
bail. The interim bail
has been granted
to him by the High
Court on a condition
of cooperation in the
investigation.
Witnesses saw bright flashes arcing over the Emirati
capital Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Monday morning as
two ballistic missiles were intercepted, scattering debris
WAR!
WORLD
WORLD
at
UAE jet bombsrebels’ big launcher after
YemenfiresmissilesatAbuDhabi,SaudiArabia
Mohd Fahad
Sanaa (Yemen):
Yemen rebels fired
missiles at the Unit-
ed Arab Emirates
and Saudi Arabia,
with coalition forces
hitting back by blow-
ing up the insur-
gents’ launchpad as
a sharp escalation of
hostilities entered a
second week on
Monday.
The attack came a
week after the Iran-
backed Huthi rebels
killed three people
in a drone and mis-
sile assault on the
city triggering a vol-
ley of deadly air
strikes on Yemen.
Separately, mis-
siles were fired on
Saudi Arabia in
southern regions
bordering Yemen,
with two people
wounded in Jazan,
and another missile
intercepted over
Dhahran al-Janub.
The UAE said an
F16 fighter jet de-
stroyed a Huthi mis-
sile launcher in Al-
Jawf in northern
Yemen at 4:10 am
(0110 GMT).
NATO puts ships, jets on standby amid
fears of Russian invasion of Ukraine
The move added to a flurry of signals that the West is
bracing for an aggressive Russian move against Ukraine,
though Moscow denies any plan to invade
Ky iv / B r u s s e l s :
NATO said on Mon-
day it was putting
forces on standby
and reinforcing east-
ern Europe with
more ships and fight-
er jets in response to
Russia’s military
build-up at Ukraine’s
borders.
The move added to
a flurry of signals
that the West is brac-
ing for an aggressive
Russian move
against Ukraine,
though Moscow de-
nies any plan to in-
vade.
“I welcome allies
contributing addi-
tional forces to
NATO,” the Western
military alliance’s
Secretary-General
Jens Stoltenberg said
in a statement.
Britain said it was
withdrawing some
staff and dependants
from its embassy in
Ukraine.
NEW DELHI lTUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNITITLE NO.DELENG/2021/19840 lVol 1 l Issue No.147
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
The Supreme Court Monday said it would hear on Tuesday a petition which
has sought quashing of the Centre’s alleged decision by which 5,789 entities
lost their Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration. The FCRA
registration is mandatory for any association and NGO to receive foreign
funding. The petition is filed by US-based NGO ‘Global Peace Initiative’.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can take his legal fight against extradi-
tion to the United States to Britain’s Supreme Court, the United Kingdom’s
High Court has ruled. While the court in London gave Assange permission to
appeal, the Supreme Court must agree to accept the case before it can move
forward. The decision is the latest step in Assange’s long battle to avoid trial.
SC TO HEAR PLEA
TODAY AGAINST MHA
DECISION TO CANCEL
NGOs’ FCRA LICENCE
JULIAN ASSANGE
WINS RIGHT
TO APPEAL
EXTRADITION IN UK
AMARINDER SHOCKER
Sensex crashes by over 1,500
pts; Nifty dives to reach 17,149
Mumbai: Domestic
market indices NSE
Nifty 50 and BSE
Sensex fell for the
fifth consecutive day
on Monday to end
deeply in red. Both
Sensex and Nifty
crashed over 2.5 per-
cent at the end of the
trading session. While
Sensex fell 2.62 per-
cent to 57,491.51, Nifty
slumped 2.66 percent
to 17,149.10.
Weak global cues
and selling by inves-
tors led to the market
crashing at the start
of the pre-Budget
week. More on P6
RBI SET TO CONDUCT OVERNIGHT
VRR AUCTION OF `75,000 CRORE
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said
it will be conducting an overnight variable rate repo
auction under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) for
an amount of Rs 75,000 crore. The date of reversal
is on Tuesday, the central bank said in a release. On
January 20, the RBI had conducted an overnight
variable rate repo (VRR) auction of Rs 50,000 crore.
The central bank had said it will continue to rebal-
ance liquidity conditions in a non-disruptive manner
while maintaining adequate liquidity to meet the
needs of the productive sectors of the economy.
YOU READ IT FIRST
IN FIRST INDIA
NOVEMBER 29, 2021
Destructive scenes from Yemen after multiple stikes by coalition forces including Saudi Arabia.
BEATING RETREAT REHEARSAL
Camel-mounted Border Security Force (BSF) jawans during rehearsals for the Beating
Retreat ceremony ahead of Republic Day, at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Monday.
—PHOTO
BY
PTI
Sharad Pawar tests +ve CONGRESS LEADER RPN
SINGH TO JOIN BJP TODAY
Congress leader RPN Singh will be joining BJP today.
First India had already predicted this possibility in issue
dated January 20, Thursday. This political develop-
ment has created chaos in the Congress
circles especially since
the name of RPN Singh
was included in the list of
Congress Star campaign-
ers for UP polls declared
on Monday. RPN Singh
will be formally leaving the
Congress and procedurally
joining the BJP today.
Mumbai: Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
supremo and Rajya Sab-
ha member Sharad Pa-
war tested positive for
Covid-19 on Monday
.
He informed every-
one about this news
through Twitter.
Taking to the social
media platform, the for-
mer three-time Maha-
rashtra CM said, “I have
tested Covid positive
but there is no cause for
concern. I am following
the treatment as sug-
gested by my doctor.”
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
NEW DELHI
5,760
NEW
CASES
14,836
RECOVERED
30
NEW DEATHS

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022
02
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
New Delhi: Aam Aad-
mi Party (AAP) supre-
mo Arvind Kejriwal on
Monday launched a
campaign for poll-
bound states, asking
Delhiites to upload vid-
eos of the Delhi govern-
ment’s ‘good work’ on
social media platforms.
The Delhi chief min-
ister said his govern-
ment has done a num-
ber of good works such
as providing free elec-
tricity and water, and
urged Delhiites to also
share their videos per-
sonally with their ac-
quaintances in Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Goa
and Uttarakhand, and
appealed to voters in
the poll-bound states
to give the AAP a
chance.
Launching the “Ek
Mauka Kejriwal Ko”
(one chance to Kejri-
wal) campaign, he also
asked the AAP volun-
teers to ensure
m a x i m u m
sharing of
such videos
and
make them viral on so-
cial media platforms.
Kejriwal promised to
meet and dine with the
creators of top 50 vide-
os after the elections.
The AAP is con-
testing on all seats
in the As-
sembly polls to be held
in Punjab, Uttar
Pradesh, Goa and Utta-
rakhand.
“Make videos on
good works of Delhi
government telling
how you benefitted, and
share them on Twitter,
Instagram Facebook,
Whatsapp, etc., appeal-
ing to people to give one
chance to Kejriwal if
they want similar good
works in their states
too, the AAP national
convenor said.
Also, WhatsApp your
videos to people known
to you in these states ap-
pealing them to give a
chance to Kejriwal, he
said. After elections, I
will meet and have din-
ner with the creators of
such top 50 videos.
Urging Delhiites to
help drive his party’s
campaign in the poll-
bound states, Kejriwal
said he does not have
crores of money to
spend on elections as he
has worked very hon-
estly
. —ANI
New Delhi: Delhi Po-
lice has cracked the sen-
sational molestation
case of a PhD student
of Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) and
arrested the accused.
The robbed mobile
phone of the complain-
ant and the two-wheel-
ers used in the crime
are siezed from the pos-
session of Akshay Dolai
(27), the police said.
“On the intervening
night of January 17-18,
at 00:42 hours, a PCR
call was received at PS
Vasant Kunj North, re-
garding the JNU stu-
dent molestation within
the university Campus
by one unknown per-
son. The staff rushed to
the spot and met the
complainant who stated
that while she was jog-
ging at VC Residence
Road, one scooty
stopped in front of her
and the rider tried to
molest her,” the police
said. It was further al-
leged that the accused
drove off with the vic-
tim’s mobile phone.
Following the case
registered at Vasant
Kunj North Police Sta-
tion, an investigation
was taken up.
Speaking to ANI,
DCPSouthWestGaurav
Sharma said that the
initial challenge before
the police was to iden-
tify the two-wheeler of
the offender as there
were no entries of two-
wheelers at entry gates
of JNU by security
staff. —PTI
New Delhi: The servic-
es of Delhi Metro will
be partially curtailed
on Republic Day as part
of the security arrange-
ments for the day as per
the instructions of the
Delhi Police.
The Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation, in its offi-
cial press note men-
tioned the guidelines.
The services on Line-2
(HUDA City Centre - Sa-
maypur Badli) of the
Delhi Metro will be par-
tially regulated on
Wednesday
.
This is being done as
part of the security ar-
rangements for the Re-
public Day
.
For the HUDA City
Centre-Samaypur Badli
metro route, the entry
and exit at Central Sec-
retariat and Udyog Bha-
wan Metro stations will
remain closed from the
start of revenue servic-
es till noon. Central Sec-
retariat station will
only be used for the in-
terchange of passen-
gers between Line 2 and
Line 6. Entry and exit at
Patel Chowk and Lok
Kalyan Marg Metro sta-
tions will remain closed
from 8:45 AM to noon.
All metro parking
lots will also remain
closed from 6 AM on
January 25 to 2 PM on
January 26, 2022. This
step has also been taken
as part of the security
arrangements. —ANI
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Green Tribunal
(NGT) said that action
of preparing integrated
Environmental Man-
agement Plan (EMP) by
the Ministry of Envi-
ronment, Forest and
Climate Change be tak-
en and till it is done,
EMPs prepared for reju-
venation and protection
of the Najafgarh lake be
enforced by the State of
Haryana and the NCT
Delhi.
The EMPs of Delhi
and Haryana do not
make specific provi-
sions for the budget
which is necessary ex-
cept saying that provi-
sion will be made imme-
diately making of such
provisions may be en-
sured by the Chief Sec-
retaries of Delhi and
Haryana.
Wetland (Conserva-
tion and Management)
Rules, 2017 be strictly
followed alongwith the
Guidelines issued by
MoEF&CC, said the Tri-
bunal.
The Tribunal’s obser-
vation came on Janu-
ary 21, 2022 while hear-
ing a plea that sought
execution of earlier or-
der of the Tribunal di-
recting steps for rejuve-
nation of Najafgarh
Jheel (Lake) on Delhi-
Gurgaon border by the
NCT Delhi and State of
Haryana. The matter
was earlier disposed of
in view of a statement
on behalf of the State
of Haryana that the wa-
ter body in question
was a lake and the State
was in the process of so
declaring.
The water quality of
the Jheel needs to be
maintained for atleast
Class ‘C’ and healthy
biodiversity needs to be
ensured. The outlet of
the Najafgarh Jheel
which is leading to the
Najafgarh drain should
remain free from sew-
age before it joins river
Yamuna. Action taken/
status reports as on
31.07.2022 may be filed
by the concerned Wet-
land Authorities with
Tribunal, said the
Bench.
The Bench header by
its chief, Justice Adarsh
Kumar Goel further
added that the National
Wetland Authority
needs to monitor pro-
gress of implementa-
tion of action plans
with both the States i.e.
Haryana and Delhi
through their respec-
tive State Wetland Au-
thorities and resolve
inter-state dispute, if
any
. —ANI
NGT pushes for strict action plan for Najafgarh Lake
REJUVENATION
20 DENGUE CASES REPORTED IN FIRST
THREE WEEKS OF JANUARY: CIVIC BODY
New Delhi: At least 20 cases of dengue were
reported in Delhi in the first three weeks of
January this year, according to a civic report. For
the January 1-22 period, no cases were recorded
in the preceding three years, while three cases
was logged in 2017 and five in 2018, as per the
report. Cases are usually reported between July
and November, but the period may stretch till
mid-December. Last year, 9,613 dengue cases,
the highest number of cases recorded in Delhi in
a year since 2015, and 23 deaths were reported.
New Delhi: Senior India Meteorological Department
scientist, RK Jenamani on Monday said that the cold
wave will intensify in city af-
ter January 26. He also said
that no rain is predicted in
Delhi, Punjab and Haryana
till February 2 now. “There
is no rain predicted in Delhi,
Punjab and Haryana till February 2 now. The western
disturbance has moved further east,” Jenamani said.
“In these areas, the temperature will remain around
15-17 degrees Celcius. Cold wave will intensify in
Delhi after January 26,” he added.
COLD WAVE TO INTENSIFY IN DELHI
AFTER JAN 26: SENIOR IMD SCIENTIST
CRUCIAL READ
COLD WAVE
Police arrested an accused in
the molestation case of a Ph.D.
JNU student. —PHOTO BY ANI
A crowd of factory workers, wearing masks, head for work on a cold winter day at
Dundahera-Kapashera Delhi border, in Gurugram. —PHOTO BY ANI
AAP BEGINS
CM seeks support from Delhiites to win poll-bound states
‘EK MAUKA KEJRIWAL KO’
CAMPAIGN FOR ASSEMBLY POLLS
WhatsApp your videos
to people known to you
in these states
appealing them to give
a chance to Kejriwal.
After elections, I will
meet and have dinner
with the creators of such
top 50 videos.
—ARVIND KEJRIWAL,
Delhi Chief Minister
Delhi Metro services
will be partially
curtailed on R-Day
JNU student molestation case
cracked, accused arrested
Auto-rickshaw driver molests
Woman near IGI stadium
New Delhi: A 23-year-
old assistant general
manager (AGM) of a
nationalized bank was
allegedly molested by
an auto-rickshaw driv-
er near Central Delhi’s
IGI stadium on Monday
morning. The woman
in her complaint told
the police that she had a
scuffle with him and
also tried to stop him,
but he managed to es-
cape.
DCP (Central dis-
trict) Shweta Chauhan
said, “We immediately
rushed to the spot after
she made a call to the
PCR. We have recorded
her statement and ap-
propriate legal action
will be taken against
the accused.”
The woman’s mother
told indianexpress.com
that her daughter is
posted in western Uttar
Pradesh and came back
home two weeks ago af-
ter she tested positive
for Covid-19. “She re-
covered and was re-
turning. —Agencies
AAP seeks freedom
fighters’ memorial
New Delhi: Delhi
Cabinet Minister Go-
pal Rai on Monday
urged Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to set
up a memorial for the
martyrs of the coun-
try’s freedom move-
ment in front of Rash-
trapati Bhawan to pay
tributes to them.
Rai posted a video
message on his Twit-
ter account and said
that there is no dedi-
cated memorial for
the freedom fighters
who laid their lives
for the independence
of the country
.
AAP leader said
that India Gate was
built by the Britishers
in the memory of sol-
diers martyred dur-
ing First World War
and name of not even
a single martyr of
country’s freedom
movement is there on
India Gate.
“The country is cel-
ebrating 75th year of
Independence but in
all these years we
could not make even a
memorial dedicated
to our martyrs of free-
dom struggle. I re-
quest you (Narendra
Modi) to build a na-
tional memorial for
martyred freedom
fighters.
“I hope that you
will construct a me-
morial for martyred
freedom fighters in
front of Rashtrapati
Bhawan and start a
new tradition of pay-
ing tributes to our
lakhs of martyred
freedom fighters at
there on Independ-
ence Day and Repub-
lic Day, Rai said in his
video message. —PTI
LG PAYS HOMAGE TO MARTYRS
AT NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL
New Delhi: Delhi Lieuten-
ant Governor Anil Baijal
on Monday paid homage
to martyrs at the National
War Memorial at India
Gate here, officials said.
Baijal visited the memo-
rial at 9.45 am to pay
tributes to martyrs In
the visitors’ book at
the memorial, Baijal
wrote that
“It is a
proud
yet
humbling occasion for
me to pay my homage
to the most exalted sons
and daughters of Mother
India.The National War
Memorial indeed is a
befitting tribute from
an indebted Na-
tion to those
who made
the supreme
sacrifice. Jai
Hind!” —PTI
Gopal Rai
Anil Baijal

INDIA
03
IN THE COURTYARD
PIL OVER BENGAL
GOVT’S RD TABLEAU
DISMISSED IN HC
Kolkata: The Calcutta HC
on Monday dismissed
a PIL over the cancella-
tion of the West Bengal
government’s tableau for
the Republic Day parade
in Delhi saying that the
matter cannot be judged
in such a short period.
The PIL filed by advocate
Ramprasad Sarkar sought
a direction to the central
government to permit
display of the state’s
tableau in the Republic
Day parade to be held on
January 26.
TRIPURA VIOLENCE:
SC TO HEAR PLEA
IN CASE ON JAN 31
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday posted
for hearing on January
31 a plea seeking an
investigation by a special
investigation team (SIT)
into the recent communal
incidents of violence in
Tripura. A Bench headed
by Justice DY Chandra-
chud said it would hear
the matter next Monday
and granted time to the
petitioner to file a rejoin-
der on the affidavit filed
by the Tripura govern-
ment.
TOP COURT REFUSES
KERALA GOVT PLEA
IN CASE OF DILEEP
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court refused to entertain
the Kerala Government’s
plea seeking extension of
time to complete the trial
in the Malayalam actress
assault case, involving
actor Dileep. A bench of
Justices AM Khanwilkar
and CT Ravikumar dis-
posed of the state of Kera-
la petition and said that it
leaves it to the discretion
of the trial court to take an
appropriate view in that
regard. The petition was
opposed by Dileep.
SC REFUSES TO
GRANT BAIL TO UP
MLA VIJAY MISHRA
New Delhi: The SC on
Monday refused to grant
bail to UP MLA Vijay
Mishra and dismissed his
petition seeking relief in
view of the upcoming UP
elections. A Bench headed
by Justice DY Chandra-
chud said that it is not a
fit case for bail and dis-
missed Mishra’s special
leave petition. Court clari-
fied that petitioner would
be at liberty to revive his
application of bail after
evidence of witnesses are
recorded in trial.
New Delhi: A plea was moved in the Delhi High
Court seeking direction to declare that the Special
Protection Group (SPG) shall have absolute power
of superintendence for the purpose of
discharging its functions in view of
the provisions of the SPG Act, 1988.
The Bench of Justice DN Patel and
Justice Jyoti Singh on Monday said
the matter is already seized
with the Supreme Court
and a ‘Commission’
has already been ap-
pointed by SC.
PM SECURITY: PLEA SEEKS POWER OF
SUPERINTENDENCE TO SPG IN HC
Anita Hada
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral Government has
made a rule to take the
All India Services - In-
dian Administrative
Service i.e. IAS, Indian
Police Service i.e. IPS
and Indian Forest Ser-
vice i.e. IFS cadre com-
pletely underitscontrol.
WB CM Mamata Baner-
jee has written two let-
ters to the PM. Apart
from states ruled by the
opposition,atleastthree
state govts of the BJP
and its allies - MP
, Bihar
and Meghalaya - have
also objected to it.
It does not seem that
the central govt will
take cognizance of the
opposition of the states.
Even though the govt is
saying that fewer offic-
ers are coming from the
states on deputation, so
there is a shortage of of-
ficers with the govern-
ment. But this is not an
excuse since the Centre
has so many officers for
whom there is literally
no work. Officers, even
after promotion to sec-
retary level, have been
given the duties of ad-
ditional secretaries.
In fact, Centre has
taken this decision af-
ter thinking about the
incident in WB. Keep in
mind that the Centre
called 2 police officers
of WB on deputation to
the Centre but the state
govt did not allow them
to come. To avenge the
same, rules are being
changed for the entire
All India Service. If this
rule is implemented,
then central govt will be
able to arbitrarily force
any officer to come on
central deputation. If
Centre elects an officer
and says that he has to
contribute to the ser-
vice of GoI by a certain
date, then whether that
officer wishes or not
and the state govt re-
leases him or not, their
service in the state will
end. It will be deemed to
be self-released on the
date fixed by the Centre.
Centre ‘clinching’ command of the All India Service!
RULES RELATED TO CONTROLLING 3 CADRES
lll
Central govt has
made changes in
the rules related to
controlling these 3
cadres and central
deputation of
officers of these
services, sent its
draft to states.
Centre has asked
states for their
opinion by January
25. Many states
have opposed it
THE CPSEs NOT
COVERED IN LIST
l National Seeds
Corporation Ltd
l Bharat Immunological &
Biological Corporation Ltd
l National Informatics
Centre Services Inc.
l FCI
l HLL Infratech Services Ltd
l Scooters India Ltd
l HPCL Biofuels Ltd
l Kolkata Metro Rail
Corporation
l Karmajar Port Ltd
l Antrix Corporation Ltd
l Central Cottage
Industries Corporation
of India Ltd
l National Textiles
Corporation Ltd
SIMPLE YARDSTICK FOR EVALUATION OF
PARAMETERS FULFILLED BY COMPANIES
Excellent
90% 70-90%
Very Good
50-70%
Good
30-50%
Fair
30%
Below
Poor
THE PERFORMANCE SCORED FOR FY21
REPRESENTING 17.88% OF TOTAL EVALUATED CPSEs,
AND 31.70%, 22.76%, 16.26%, AND 11.38% RESP
EXCELLENT
22
CPSEs
VERY GOOD
39
CPSEs
GOOD
28
CPSEs
FAIR
20
CPSEs
POOR
20
CPSEs
ANNUAL OFFICIAL EVALUATION REPORT
RATINGS FOR 123 CENTRAL PSUs ANNOUNCED
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: The annual
officialevaluationreport
shows that of 123 CPSEs,
45improvedtheirperfor-
mance over FY20 either
in terms of Score or Rat-
ing or both, 36 CPSEs
maintained their previ-
ous ratings/perfor-
mancewhereas41CPSEs
were losers - HIL being
the worst with a score of
0, MTNL 1.40, and ITPO,
NEHHDC trailed among
poor performers.
From the evaluation
report, it is not clear if
any of the CPSEs failed
to submit the perfor-
mance documents for
the period. In FY2019-20
of 144 CPSEs, 4 had
failed to submit the per-
formance documents
and were put under the
‘poor’ category
.
The ratings of CPSUs
isanannualexercisecar-
ried out by the Depart-
ment of Public Enter-
prisesbasedontheMoUs
which it signs with all
CPSEs at the beginning
of thefiscalyearinApril
and covers the perfor-
mance of the company
till the end-March of
next year. Because of the
collation and analysis of
data on a large scale, the
reportnormallyhasalag
effect of one year.
The Department of
Public Enterprise (Min-
istry of Finance) had
for FY20 announced the
MoU Score & Rating of
144 CPSEs whereas for
FY21 it announced the
rating for 123 CPSEs.
The reasons for the re-
ducednumberof CPSEs
can be attributed par-
tially to the selling-off
of five Air India entities
to Tata Sons and others
including State Trading
Corporation (STCIL).
22 SCORED EXCELLENT, 14 POOR, REST RATED AS VERY GOOD, GOOD & FAIR
BJP’s ‘Carpet Bombing’ in Western UP!
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Voting for
58 seats in western UP
will be held on Febru-
ary 10, but about 20
days before that BJP
is setting the agenda.
In this context, the
day of January 22 was
the most important.
On Saturday, four BJP
veterans were present
in western UP and set
the agenda for the
next 20 days of cam-
paigning, and in the
campaigning, it is be-
ing stressed that since
the BJP government
came to power in the
state, the exodus of
Hindus has stopped.
This is the agenda of
BJP from Saharanpur
to Kairana.
BJP national presi-
dent JP Nadda also
reached western UP
on Saturday and cam-
paigned for the party
in Bijnor. At the same
time, CM Yogi Adity-
anath was in Aligarh,
while the party’s
state president Swa-
tantra Dev Singh was
campaigning for the
party in Saharanpur.
In this way, even be-
fore the start of the
campaign, four vet-
eran leaders of BJP
camped in western
UP set the agenda of
BJP’s campaign.
UNION HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH ON SATURDAY TRIED TO
PERSUADE ANGRY JATS AND MOBILIZE VOTES IN FAVOR OF BJP
SHAH’S DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN! Union Home Minister Amit Shah interacts with a child
during a door-to-door campaign for the upcoming UP Assembly election, in Kairana on Saturday.
Leaders from across the
country will campaign in UP!
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: UP is the
largest state of India
and 80 MPs come from
that state. Therefore,
the election there can-
not be like any other
state. It seems that the
assembly elections of
UP are being fought at
the national level and at
the same time it seems
that parties from all
over the country will
reach to contest the
elections in UP and if
not for contesting, they
will definitely reach for
campaigning.
The leader of almost
every part of the coun-
try will reach UP in
some or the other cam-
paign. All the parties
are doing their posi-
tioning keeping in mind
2024 LS elections.
SP has given only
one seat to Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP)
but it is being said that
NCP chief Sharad Pa-
war will campaign in
UP. Apart from him,
other NCP leaders will
also reach for the cam-
paign. There is talk of
Nawab Malik especially
coming to UP for cam-
paigning. Similarly,
Akhilesh has also given
a seat to Mamata Baner-
jee’s party and it is be-
ing said that she will
also campaign.
There is a talk that
Akhilesh and Mamata
have held two virtual
meetings. It is being
told that Tejashwi, LoP
in Bihar Assembly, will
also reach UP to cam-
paign with SP. Cong has
imposed separate du-
ties of its CMs, leaders
across nation. AAP is
contesting polls in UP &
Kejriwal’s campaign
schedule is in place too.
It will not be surprising
if Shiv Sena also reach
UP in campaign.
The leader of almost
every part of the
country will reach
UP in some or the
other campaign. All
the parties are doing
their positioning
keeping in mind the
2024 LS elections
New Delhi: Daily Cov-
id-19 cases in India will
start to decline after
February 15, said offi-
cial govt sources on
Monday
. “Covid cases in
country to decline after
February 15. The cases
have started reducing
and stabilising in some
States & metro cities,”
sources told. Stressing
that vaccination has re-
duced impact of third
wave, sources added,
Union Health Min is co-
ordinating with States
and UTs. 74% of adult is
fully jabbed. —ANI
Daily Covid cases in India will start
to decline after Feb 15: Govt sources
CLASSES 1-12 BACK TO SCHOOL IN MUMBAI!
A child undergoes thermal screening as offline classes start in Mumbai
on Monday. Schools in Mumbai on Monday welcomed students of
all classes as they reopened with stringent adherence to Covid-19
protocols. Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aditya Thackeray has said
that parents are free to make their own decisions in this regard.
Covid can end in 2022
if Int’l body takes
measures: Tedros
Geneva: The international
community can put an end
to the corona pandemic
in 2022 if it
takes com-
prehensive
measures,
DG of the
WHO Tedros
Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said on Mon-
day. “The WHO continues to
work nationally, regionally
and globally to provide the
evidence, the strategies,
the tools and the technical
and operational support
countries need.
MHA readying papers of
‘physical, financial targets’
New Delhi: The minis-
try of home affairs
(MHA) has asked its
various divisions to fur-
nish details regarding
“physical and financial
targets” fixed for Cen-
trally sponsored
schemes or Central sec-
tor for consideration of
Demands for Grants,
and it is directed to sub-
mit details in 3 days. As
per order issued by
MHA, it is directed to
all concerned Addl and
Jt Secretaries of minis-
try to submit all the spe-
cific info by Jan 27. —ANI
CGHS WEBSITE
LINKED WITH APP
New Delhi: The
revamped Central Gov-
ernment Health Scheme
(CGHS) website has been
linked with mobile app
‘MyCGHS’ to provide
easy access to healthcare
services to more than 40
lakh beneficiaries, Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya said on
Monday.
DEMAND FOR GRANTS 2022-2023

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 1 Issue No. 147
RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
They blame those who remain
silent, they blame those who
speak much, they blame those
who speak in moderation.
There is none in the world who
is not blamed.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Prime minister @NarendraModi Ji
changed the thinking of women’s
development into women-led
development and opened the doors of
opportunities. Today the daughters of
the country are illuminating the name of
India in every field. On ‘National Girl Child
Day’, I convey my best wishes to every
daughter of India, the pride of the country.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Just like you came forward for the
cleanliness campaign, you also
came forward for the #Vocal4Local
campaign. Make a list at home that how
many such products are there, which are
not made in India and are foreign. Urge
people to buy a similar product in future
if it is made in India.
TOP TWEETS
RICH GOT RICHER
AND THE POOR
BECAME POORER
DURING PANDEMIC
he ICE360 Survey
2021 has come up
with shocking data
about the rich-poor
gap in the country.
The rich-poor gap widened to a
frightening level in the pandem-
ic-hit year. What is disconcert-
ing is that the income of the
poorest 20 percent fell 53 percent
while that of the rich 20 percent
jumped by 39 percent sharpen-
ing the disparity between class-
es. Simply put, the rich get rich-
er and the poor got poorer. At the
same time the income of the
upper middle class rose by 7 per-
cent. Another interesting find-
ing of the survey is that a major-
ity of top 20 percent Rich India’s
bread winners have completed
high school. In the bottom 20
percent are illiterate or have on
primary education. Income dis-
parity in a way is also the cause
of the wide gap in education.
The economy faces another
round onslaught, this time by
Omicron which, hopefully
, will
notdisruptlivesandeconomythe
way it happened in 2021. But end-
ing the disparities won’t be easy
.
T
ustice Rahul
Chaturvedi of the
Allahabad High
Court made an
important point
while granting bail to a mur-
der accused recently
. Justice
Chaturvedi said, “Caste sys-
tem in our society is deep
rooted. We boast ourselves as
an educated society but we
live our lives with double
standards. Even after 72
years of independence we
are not able to get out with
this social menace. This is
pitiable and tragic.” The
judge urged introspection in
the country and said the
downtrodden and the under-
privileged should be protect-
ed. The change which Justice
Chaturvedi would like to see
in the society is impossible to
accomplish as the malaise is
too deep-rooted in our minds.
Look at the race for Rajput,
Brahmin, OBC and Dalit
votes in Uttar Pradesh before
it goes to poll. After Swami
Prasad Maurya left the BJP
and joined the SP, the BJP set
off to make its own OBC vote
bank stronger. It was then
mentioned that Brahmins
were angry with the BJP and
the party immediately swung
into action to fill that gap. In
between, Uttarakhand Gov-
ernor Baby Rani Maurya was
brought back to UP in the
hope of managing Jatav
votes of BSP chief Mayawati.
These are only broad catego-
ries of castes. Each of these
categories includes a long list
of other castes. Each of these
castes wants a caste-based
census to determine their
place in accordance with
their numbers.
A political party can ig-
nore one caste only if there’s
another one to back it. When
Yadavs backed the SP, Kur-
mis, Lodhs and others sided
with the BJP.
LIVING WITH THE EVIL
OF CASTE SYSTEM
A political party can ignore
one caste only if there’s
another one to back it.
When Yadavs backed
the SP, Kurmis, Lodhs
and others sided
with the BJP
J
Experimentation and Captaincy Woes
lead to India’s Rout in South Africa
ndian Cricket team landed on
South African shores buoyed
by their success in England
and Australia series. While
there was off-field drama over
captaincy issues, the team
was expected to win against a
South African team which is
in a rebuilding stage. It was
proven to be an arduous task
as India was defeated 2-1 in
the Test series and routed 3-0
in the ODIs. There was so
much hullabaloo over new
management and captaincy
change but the on-field Indian
team continued to play the
same outdated style of Crick-
et which has prevented them
from winning any of the
world titles in recent years.
After under-performing in
the Tests, the personnel
changefortheODIswasaimed
atbringingfreshenergytothe
dwindling fortunes of the
team. The absence of Rohit
Sharma,thenewODICaptain,
hurt the team’s balance and
made the Captaincy debate
even more complicated.
K.L.Rahul, the new In-charge
of the ODI team looked out of
sorts and bereft of ideas when
the momentum was with the
opposition. Moreover, ex-Cap-
tain, Virat Kohli lacked his
usual enthusiastic and infec-
tious energy throughout the
series.Eventheteamselection
was puzzling as India picked
Venkatesh Iyer as an all-
rounder only to make him
bowl just 5 overs in the two
matches he played. He has
been touted as a big hitter but
hecouldnotprovehisprowess
at all, batting well below his
IPL strike rate.
Then there is the curious
case of Bhuvneshwar Kumar
who has remained injured
most of the last few years but
continues to get picked for his
control and swing. Both these
skills have not been on the
show for a while now and Ku-
mar would be thanking his
starsif heispickedinthenext
assignment at home against
the West Indies. Selection ab-
surditiesdon’tendhere.Surya
Kumar’s exclusion from the
firstcoupleof ODIsalsoraised
eyebrows as he has been given
the role to stabilize the middle
order in the crucial mid-overs
without compromising on the
run rate. India played with
just5batsmenand3‘potential’
all-rounders.
The playing style of the
team also made fans pull their
hair out. The cricketing world
has moved on to an aggressive
stylewherecapitalizingonthe
firsttenoverswiththebatand
thencarryingthatmomentum
tomakescoresof over300plus
is almost the norm. India
meanwhile, prefers to build
their innings on the back of
their star players in the top 3
and then try an onslaught, if
possible,atthebackendof the
innings.Thishasbeenarecur-
ring and acknowledged prob-
lem by the team management
butonethathasnotbeenrecti-
fied at all.
The new Indian Head
Coach, Rahul Dravid talked
about this dilemma and add-
ed that lack of partnerships
hurt India’s chances. The
other worry Dravid pointed
out was the lack of wicket-
taking thrust in the middle
overs by Indian bowlers. It
was striking that nobody
from the Indian side could
notch up a century in the 3
ODIs, but given India’s bowl-
ing limitations, the South
Africans scored three!
Experts also feel that off-
field issues might have had a
deep impact on the team’s
performance.TheKohli-BCCI
battle of nerves has been an
unstated but open secret in
recentmonths.Thedeparture
of Ravi Shastri has left Kohli
a bit lonely and cornered.
Tensions in relations with
BCCI honchos have hastened
Virat’s decision to move away
from captaincy which has left
the Indian team rather rud-
derless. With Rohit Sharma
absent and battling fitness
concerns, India needs Kohli
to support Rohit’s deputy
withhiscaptaincyexperience
and his batting for the upcom-
ing series. For that, the strain
between him and BCCI needs
to be ironed out.
The next ODI World Cup is
in India in 2023 and there are
huge expectations from the
team. Last time when the
World Cup was held in the
country in 2011, M.S.Dhoni’s
men made it memorable by
lifting the trophy. The South
Africa ODI series might be
looked at as one of numerous
experimentations but the
new leadership of Rohit-
Dravid will know that if
there is to be any chance of
India’s success in 2023 World
Cup, then the team needs to
move away into a fresh mind-
set and take a leaf out of Eng-
lish team’s book of aggres-
sive play. Sadly, till now, de-
spite the big changes at the
captain-coach level, the play-
ing style of the team remains
unchanged, doing justice to
the proverb, “the more things
change, the more they re-
main the same!”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
I
The next ODI World Cup is
in India in 2023 and there
are huge expectations from
the team. Last time when the
World Cup was held in the
country in 2011,
M.S.Dhoni’s men made it
memorable by lifting the
trophy. The South Africa
ODI series might be looked
at as one of numerous
experimentations but the
new leadership of Rohit-
Dravid will know that if
there is to be any chance of
India’s success in 2023
World Cup, then the team
needs to move away into a
fresh mindset and take a
leaf out of English team’s
book of aggressive play.
Sadly, till now, despite the
big changes at captain-
coach level, the playing style
of the team remains
unchanged, doing justice to
the proverb, “the more things
change, the more they
remain the same!”
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry
(From Left) Indian team’s Deepak Chahar is distraught after holing out for 54 off 34. South Africa celebrate clean sweeping India 3-0, South Africa vs India, 3rd ODI in Cape Town on Sunday.
The absence of Rohit Sharma, the new ODI Captain,
hurt the team’s balance and made the Captaincy debate
even more complicated. K L Rahul, the new
In-charge of the ODI team looked out of sorts
and bereft of ideas when the momentum was with
the opposition. Moreover, ex-Captain, Virat Kohli
lacked his usual enthusiastic and infectious
energy throughout the series

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INDIA
05
Rakesh Ranjan
New Delhi: The inno-
vative Conciliation and
Settlement Committee
(CSC) set up by the Min-
istry of Port, Shipping,
and Waterways is said
to be proving effective
in resolving contractu-
al disputes among con-
cessionaires, contrac-
tors, consultants, ser-
vice providers, and
major ports through
mediation and mutual
understanding
The CSC constituted
in October 2021, is head-
ed by former Ministry
secretary Gopal Krish-
na and includes former
Commerce Ministry’s
Special Secretary (Lo-
gistics) N Sivasailam,
former DoPT secretary
Dr. C Chandramouli,
former special secre-
tary and financial ad-
viser of RTH, Ship-
ping and Power Shamb-
hu Singh, and Infra-
structure Finance De-
velopment Corporation
senior director in
charge of project fi-
nance A Balasubrama-
nian.
The committee tasted
its first success on De-
cember 27, 2021, when
its mediation made
Chennai Port Authority
and Chettinad Logistics
Pvt Ltd sign a settle-
ment agreement to end
a decade-old dispute
over a contract awarded
to Chettinad in 2008 for
installing a semi-mech-
anized closed conveyor
system for coal han-
dling at Jawahar Dock
and its operation and
maintenance (OM) for
three years (though the
last one was terminated
prematurely after the
Madras High Court or-
dered Chennai Port to
stop handling dusty
cargo such as coal and
iron due to environ-
mental concerns).
t is pointed out that
the committee has a
tough job ahead as there
are more than 100 cases
pending before the
courts or arbitration
panels on contractual
disputes in major ports.
However, the silver lin-
ing is that the dispu-
tants are aware that the
committee, which is
composed of top retired
officials, is a sensible
forum to resolve their
disputes because arbi-
tration and court proce-
dures aren’t only
lengthy but also expen-
sive.
And the committee’s
success in resolving a
decade-old dispute in
less than six months is
said to have sent out a
very positive signal.
EX-PORT SECRETARY GOPAL KRISHNA
HELPS RESOLVE A DECADE-OLD DISPUTE
‘DON’TTAKESTRESS,DRAWINSPIRATION’
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi on Monday
virtually interacted
with the winners of the
Pradhan Mantri Rash-
triya Bal Puraskar
(PMRBP) and awarded
digital certificates.
“You all must work
keeping in mind how
your work can help the
country,” PM said. PM
Modi also called these
children inspiration for
the whole society. Each
child has been given a
medal, a cash prize of
Rs 1,00,000 and a certifi-
cate.
PMRBP is given as
recognition to children
aged 5-18 years with ex-
ceptional abilities and
outstanding achieve-
ment in 6 fields of inno-
vation, scholastic excel-
lences, sports, arts and
culture etc. —PTI
PM Modi: Bal
Puraskar
awards comes
with huge
responsibility
PM Modi interacts with the PMRBP awardees, via video conferencing, in New Delhi on Monday.
Your achievements are bigger than your age:
PM tells Bal Puraskar awardee from K’taka
New Delhi: PM Naren-
dra Modi on Monday
told a young dancer
from Karnataka that
her achievements are
much bigger than her
age and also extended
greetings of National
Girl Child Day
. The PM,
during an interaction
with Pradhan Mantri
Rashtriya Bal Puraskar
(PMRBP) awardees,
congratulated Kumari
Remona Evvette
Pereira who excels in
classical dance Bhara-
tanatyam and said that
Remona’s achievements
are much bigger than
her age and told her that
her art is a way of ex-
pressing the strength of
the great country
. In her
reply she said, , “My
mother was very much
interested in dancing.
She started teaching
me. Eventually I gath-
ered interest.” —ANI
‘WE ACCORD IMMENSE PRIORITY
TO EMPOWERING GIRL CHILD’
New Delhi: Greet-
ing citizens on the
occasion of Nation-
al Girl Child
Day, PM
Modi said
that it is a
day to cel-
ebrate the
exemplary
accomplish-
ments of girls in
different fields.
“National Girl
Child Day is an oc-
casion to reiterate
our commitment
and further
strengthen on-
going efforts
to empower
the girl child.
It is also a
day to cele-
brate the exem-
plary accomplish-
ments of them,”
PM tweeted.
NATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY
al Girl Child
Day, PM
Modi said
that it is a
day to cel-
ebrate the
exemplary
accomplish-
and further
strengthen on-
going efforts
to empower
the girl child.
It is also a
day to cele-
brate the exem-
Amit Shah lauds PM’s efforts that
revolutionized country’s sex ratio
New Delhi: Union
HM Amit Shah on
MondaypraisedPM
Modi’s schemes ap-
pealing to people to
adopt daughters as
a symbol of pride,
after taking charge
as head of the coun-
try, which resulted
in a “mass cam-
paign” and also
“revolutionized the
sex ratio”.
“PM appealed
people to adopt
daughters as a sym-
bolof pridethrough
various schemes
like ‘Beti Bachao-
Beti Padhao’, As a
result, the move
turned into a mass
campaign and revo-
lutionized the sex
ratio.” he tweeted.
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
UP ELECTION: BJP SLAMS AKHILESH
Lucknow/New Delhi:
The BJP on Monday
slammed Samajwadi
Party chief Akhilesh
Yadav for his reported
comments that China is
India’s real enemy
while Pakistan is a “po-
litical enemy” which is
targeted by the ruling
party for “vote poli-
tics”.
BJP spox Sambit
Patra said this shows
Yadav’s mindset and he
should tender an apol-
ogy to the country for
the comments which
show his “love” for Pa-
kistan. What the SP
president has said is
very unfortunate and
disappointing, he said.
Meanwhile Akhilesh
Yadav defended his
comment that China is
the real enemy while
Pakistan is only the
“political enemy” and
he only referenced the
Gen Bipin Rawat, the
former Chief of De-
fence Staff, who died on
Dec 8 in chopper crash.
SP FIELDS AZAM
KHAN; BJP FIELDS
AP SINGH IN UP
BJP COMMITTED
FOR DEVELOPMENT
OF UP : AMIT SHAH
Lucknow: Jailed SP MP
Azam Khan will contest
from his home turf
Rampur, SP announced
on Monday. Khan has
been in jail since Febru-
ary 2020. Party has also
named Abdullah Azam,
Azam Khan’s son who
was also in jail for two
years and recently got
bail, as the candidate
from Suar. Mean-
while Bhartiya Janata
Party has fielded Ajay
Pratap Singh from the
Thakurdwara seat, the
party said in its official
release on Monday.—ANI
New Delhi: Wishing
people of UP on its
foundation day, Union
HM Amit Shah on
Monday asserted that
BJP is committed to
the development of the
state and said that UP
has regained its glory
due to the tireless ef-
forts of Yogi Adityanath
government. —PTI
Harish Rawat to contest from
Ramnagar as Congress
releases list of 11 candidates
New Delhi: The Con-
gress party on Mon-
day evening released
another list of 11 can-
didates for the upcom-
ing Uttarakhand As-
sembly Elections
2022.
Former Uttara-
khand Chief Minister
Harish Rawat will be
contesting from Ram-
nagar and Anukriti
Gusain Rawat, the
daughter-in-law of
Harak Singh Rawat,
from Lansdowne.
Meanwhile, the Ut-
tarakhand Congress
launched a poll cam-
paign, “Char Dham,
Char Kam”, making
four promises to peo-
ple of the state if it
comes to power in
coming polls.
The promises in-
cluded Rs 40,000 per
annum to five lakh
families in the state
and not letting the
LPG cylinder price
cross Rs 500. Launch-
ing the poll campaign
in the presence of
Cong campaign head
Harish Rawat, C’garh
CM Bhupesh Baghel
said the four promis-
es are being made as
price rise and unem-
ployment are at their
peak while the poor
are getting poorer
and the rich becom-
ing richer under the
present government
at the Centre.—Agencies
Gurjeet Singh urges Sonia to intervene in ticket distribution
Jalandhar: Punjab
Technical Education
Minister Rana Gur-
jeet Singh on Monday
urged Congress chief
Sonia Gandhi “to in-
tervene into the allot-
ment of party ticket
from Bholath to Sukh-
pal Singh Khaira” for
the state Assembly
polls and demanded
his expulsion while
calling him “a tainted
minister” for his al-
leged involvement in
‘drug money’ launder-
ing. In a letter to Gan-
dhi, Rana said, “He
(Khaira) is currently
in jail. It is not the rou-
tine money laundering
case of unaccounted
wealth or money
. It re-
lates to drug money
.”
BADAL DEMANDS RELEASE OF BHULLAR
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: Polling for
60 assembly seats in Ma-
nipur will be held in two
phases on March 27 and
February 3. It maybe a
big surprise and contra-
diction in the policies of
certain parties where
BJPisaskingforvotesin
the Eastern state. Citi-
zens of the country have
been banned from visit-
ing Manipur. If a citizen
wants to go to Manipur,
then he/she will have to
take a permit and only
after taking prior per-
mission the citizens of
the country will be able
to go to Manipur. This
system of Inner Line
Permitwasapplicablein
some other areas of the
Northeast,butnotinMa-
nipur.
The double engine
government of Manipur
and the Centre imple-
mented the system of in-
ner line permit in the
state in 2019. At this
point, there is a sense of
contradiction where on
one hand, the slogan of
abrogationof Article370
from JK is being beat-
en on the ground stress-
ing that now the real
merger of the state has
taken place in India and
now any citizen of India
can go to Jammu and
Kashmir unhindered.
But on the other hand,
the system of carrying
permits is being imple-
mented in Manipur. Ac-
cording to political ob-
servers, there should
have been an attempt to
connect the entire area
with India by abolishing
thepermitsystemimple-
mented earlier in the
north-eastern states.
However, on the contra-
ry
, new areas are being
brought under the per-
mit raj. In fact, there
may be some political
compulsions for the rul-
ing party BJP which
have forced the party to
have two sets of rules
and regulations. Howev-
er, the result of this con-
trary arrangement will
eb visible only in the
election results.
BJP’S MANIPUR POLLS
PITCH LACED WITH NAT’L
CONTRADICTIONS!
PUSHP KUMAR
JOSHI TO BE NEXT
CMD OF HPCL
AI CABIN CREW
UNION OBJECTS TO
NEW WEIGHT RULE
New Delhi: The Public
Enterprise Selection
Board (PESB) on
Monday selected
Pushp Kumar Joshi for
the post of Chairman
Managing Director,
Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Limited
(HPCL).
New Delhi: The Air
India cabin crew union
has objected to a new
rule that mandates BMI
and weight checks for
crew members prior to
boarding a flight. AI’s
cabin crew union has
objected to this new
company circular.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) President
of Pune Jagdish Mulik has passed a controversial
remark against Maharashtra Congress chief Nana
Patole calling him a “stray dog”, days after the latter’s
objectional remark on PM Narendra Modi. “Nana Pa-
tole is a stray dog. It is often said that a barking dog
should be ignored, but if the dog barks, there is no
alternative but to bark. Nana, activists will teach you
the right lesson,” the Pune BJP chief tweeted.
PUNE BJP CHIEF CALLS NANA PATOLE
‘STRAY DOG’ ON REMARK AGAINST PM
New Delhi: The Enforcement Di-
rectorate (ED) has attached assets
worth Rs 69.14 crore of Tamil
Nadu-based businessman Dhanraj
Kochar and his family members in
connection with a case of cheating of
more than Rs 100 crore, the agency said on Monday.
The attached properties include immovable assets as
well as movable assets (in the form of fixed deposits
and jewellery) to the tune of Rs 69.14 crore.
ED ATTACHES RS 69.14 CR ASSETS OF
TN-BASED BIZMAN DHANRAJ KOCHAR
NEWS DIGEST
Khan: Mamata is doing
‘Nautanki’ over Netaji
New Delhi: Bengal BJP
vice president Soumi-
tra Khan on Monday
took a potshot a West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee for
filing a PIL in Calcutta
High Court over the re-
jection of Bengal tab-
leau for Republic Day
parade, terming it as
her ‘nautanki’ and poli-
tics over Netaji Sub-
hash Chandra Bose.
“Nautanki Mamata
Banerjee does drama in
everything. She did the
same with Singur
youth. Yesterday by
blowing a conch shell
on the occasion of Ne-
taji Subhash Chandra
Bose’s birthday she
gimmicked whole of
Bengal”, said Khan.
“Earlier Mamata Ba-
nerjee was a Central
Minister, why didn’t she
raise Netaji’s topic in
the Lok Sabha among
the other Central Min-
isters that time”, asked
Khan. According to
him, Mamata Banerjee
has failed the Azad
Hind Fauj soldiers by
not doing anything for
them. —ANI
Gopal Krishna

BIZ BUZZ
06
MONDAY MAYHEM!
`9.15LAKHCRINVESTORWEALTHWIPED
OUTASSENSEXCRASHES1,546POINTS
New Delhi: On a man-
ic Monday, equity in-
vestors were left look-
ing for relief as the
market crash extended
to the fifth straight ses-
sion amid increasing
geopolitical tensions
and rising inflation.
All sectors were deep
in the red.
The ad-
vance-
d e -
cline ratio was in fa-
vour of losers. Tech
stocks were especially
beaten down during
the session, taking
cues from heavy sell-
off in the US tech
stocks.
The 30-share pack
Sensex crashed 1,545.67
points or 2.62% to close
at 57,491.51. The in-
dex has fallen about
3,820 points in the
last five sessions.
Its broader peer
NSE Nifty fell
4 6 8 . 0 5
points or 2.66% to
17,149.10.
Investors were left
poorer by `9.15 lakh
crore as the total mar-
ket cap of BSE-listed
firms, which reflects
investor wealth,
slipped to `260.49 lakh
crore. Investors have
lost `19.33 lakh crore in
the market fall since
Tuesday last week.
“While a further 500
points downside can-
not be ruled out in the
Nifty, on the brighter
side, the stock market
is much lighter and
healthier, heading into
the Union Budget, after
the high in mid-Octo-
ber 2021,” said Amar
Ambani, Head – Insti-
tutional Equities, YES
Securities. “Corporate
earnings have been
positive so far and
Omicron didn’t disrupt
the economy material-
ly
. The structural story
remains intact
and I am
con-
fi-
dent that the Nifty will
achieve a higher high
in 2022, than what we
saw in 2021.”
Among the
b l u e c h i p
names, Cipla
was the top
gainer, rising
2.86%. ONGC
was another
gainer of the
day. JSW
Steel was the
top loser in
the Nifty
pack for an-
other day,
falling 6.92%.
Bajaj Fi-
nance, Tata
Steel, Grasim In-
dustries and Hin-
dalco Industries
were other
stocks that end-
ed in the red.
—PTI
SENSEX ENDS DAY AT 57,491.51
Zomato shares fall
to lowest level
since listing in July;
Paytm down 57%
Mumbai: The shares
of food delivery plat-
form Zomato contin-
ued to remain under
pressure on Monday,
plunging another 10%
to go below `100 on
the BSE. This is it’s
lowest level since its
debut in July 2020.
The stock has plum-
meted over 25% in
the last five sessions.
Paytm too was trading
nearly 4% lower at
`924. It is down
over 57% from
its issue
price of
2,150.
Rupee falls by 19
paise to 74.62/$
Mumbai: The rupee
on Monday slumped
by 19 paise to 74.62
(provisional) against
the US dollar at close
due to high crude
oil prices, forex
outflows and
heavy losses in do-
mestic equities
amid growing
geo-political wor-
ries.
Forex trad-
e r s
s a i d
t h e
strength of the Ameri-
can currency in the
overseas market and
weak appetite for risk-
ier assets also dragged
down the local unit.
At the interbank
foreign exchange mar-
ket, the local currency
openedat74.43against
the greenback and
witnessed an intra-
day high of 74.42 and
a low of 74.69 during
the session.The rupee
finally settled at 74.62,
down 19 paise or 0.26%
over its previous close
of 74.43. —PTI
Mumbai: Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday declined 4%
amid profit-taking in line with an overall weak trend in the equity mar-
ket. The stock of India’s most valued firm by market valuation jumped
1.04% to `2,504.10 in early trade on the BSE. But, later the stock gave
up all its early gains and settled at `2,377.55, lower by 4.06%. On the
NSE, it settled at `2,379.90, a decline of 3.95% after gaining 1.08%
in early trade to `2,504.75. The company’s market valuation tumbled
`68,404.59 crore to `6,08,275.41 crore on the BSE. —PTI
RIL SHARES DOWN 4%; M-CAP DIPS BY `68,404 CR
Mumbai: FMCG major Adani
Wilmar, which has grown to
become the largest category
leader through acquisitions,
has set aside `450 crore from
the share sale that opens later
this week, to tap more acquisi-
tion-led growth opportunities
primarily in its non-edible oils
business. The company, which is
an equal joint venture between the Adani Group
and Singapore’s Wilmar Group, is launching a
`3,600-crore IPO on January 27. —PTI
ADANI WILMAR TO USE IPOs `450
CR TO TAP INORGANIC GROWTH
New Delhi: Axis Bank’s con-
solidated net profit for the
December quarter zoomed
nearly three-folds to `3,973
crore, as the money set
aside for any reverses on
loans reduced to nearly a
third of the year-ago period. On a standalone
basis, the third largest private sector lender on
Monday reported a profit after tax of `3,614.24
crore, as against `1,116 crore in the year-ago
period and `3,133 crore in the preceding Sep-
tember quarter. —PTI
AXIS BANK POSTS THREE-FOLD
RISE IN Q3 NET PROFIT
New Delhi: Real estate
portal Housing.com on
Monday said it has tied
up with Loom Solar to
provide solar rooftop
solutions for homes. With
the help of this innovative
residential solution, homeowners can save
up to 90% on their electricity bills, it said in a
statement. The partnership aims at leveraging
and augmenting the strength of both organ-
isations for providing a one-stop solution to
home owners for their solar needs. —PTI
HOUSING.COM, LOOM SOLAR TO
PROVIDE ROOFTOP SOLUTIONS
New Delhi: Bitcoin tumbled over 7% on Monday to its lowest in six
months, as fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine saw riskier assets world-
wide extend their selloff. The largest cryptocurrency trading down 7.4%
at $33,650, its lowest since July 24, taking losses from its all-time high
of $69,000 hit in Nov past 50%. Smaller cryptocurrencies, which
tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, also slumped. Ether fell
11% to $2,253, its lowest since July 28. — Agencies
BITCOIN TUMBLES 7% TO LOWEST SINCE JULY
Air India likely to be
handed over to Tata
group by weekend
New Delhi: Air India
is likely to be handed
over to the Tata group
by the end of this
week, senior govern-
ment officials said on
Monday
.
After a competitive
bidding process, the
government had on
October8lastyearsold
Air India to Talace Pri-
vate Limited -- a sub-
sidiary of the Tata
group’s holding com-
pany -- for `18,000
crore.
Following that, on
October 11, a Letter of
Intent (LoI) was issued
to the Tata group con-
firming the govern-
ment’s willingness to
sell its 100% stake in
the airline. On October
25, the Centre signed
the share purchase
agreement (SPA) for
this deal.
Officials said on
Monday that the
remaining for-
malities re-
garding this
deal are ex-
pected to be
completed in
the next few
days and
the airline
will be
handed over to the
Tata group by the end
of this week.
As a part of the deal,
the Tata group will
also be handed over
Air India Express and
a 50% stake in ground
handling arm Air In-
dia SATS.
Tatas had on Octo-
ber 8 beat the
`15,100-crore offer by a
consortium led by
SpiceJet promoter
Ajay Singh and the re-
serve price of `12,906
crore set by the gov-
ernment for the sale of
its 100% stake in
the loss-making
carrier. —PTI
New Delhi: Exporters have
demanded support
measures, including
enhanced alloca-
tions for RoDTEP scheme,
high import duty on plas-
tic finished goods, setting
up of an Indian ship-
ping line and reinstat-
ing exemption for duty free
import of critical inputs for
leather products, in the
forthcoming Budget to pro-
mote growth of the coun-
try’s outbound shipments.
They have also suggested
fiscal incentives to address
logistics challenges, and re-
duction of income tax on
partnerships and LLP’s to
support MSME players.
The FIEO said that there
is a need to encourage large
Indian entities to build an
Indian shipping line of
global repute as it would
help reduce dependence on
foreign shipping lines.
It said that the export sec-
tor is facing major issues
due to rising freight cost
and its dependence on glob-
al shipping companies. —PTI
India’s fuel demand recovery to continue: Fitch
New Delhi: India’s
fuel demand will con-
tinue to recover
through the current
quarter as the easing
of Covid-19 pandemic-
related restrictions
boosts economic activ-
ity, Fitch Ratings said,
adding a caveat that
this was subject to the
risk of a resurgence in
infections and the re-
sultant impact on econ-
omy and mobility
.
The recovery should
support higher
throughput at most oil
marketing companies
and strong prices are
expected to improve
the financial profiles of
upstream oil and gas
companies.
Fitch said it “expects
India’s petroleum prod-
uct demand to remain
moderately strong in
the fourth quarter of
the financial year end-
ing March 2022, as the
easing of pandemic-led
restrictions boosts eco-
nomic activity
.”
However, recovery
expectations remain
subject to further re-
strictions due to the
risk of a resurgence of
Covid-19 cases with the
emergence of new vari-
ants, even as the coun-
try makes progress in
its vaccination plan.
—PTI
Exporters demand support measures in Budget
RIL EXPECTS
BUMPER PROFITS
The government does
not expect the latest
move by Devas
shareholders to
hinder Air India
handover to the Tata
Group.

Prayagraj: A saint
cannot be a chief
minister as after tak-
ing the oath of secu-
larism as a constitu-
tional dignitary, he
cannot stay “reli-
gious”, a prominent
seer said here on
Monday, in an appar-
ent reference to UP
CM Yogi Adityanath.
The claim was
made by Swami
A v i m u k t e s h -
waranand in his re-
ply to a query on
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath’s status
as a saint and the ma-
hant of Gorakhnath
temple in Gorakhpur.
No man can abide
by two pledges. A
saint can be a ma-
hant’ but not a chief
minister or prime
minister. This is pos-
sible in the khilafat’
system of Islam in
which the religious
head also happens to
be the king, the seer,
attending the Magh
fair here on the bank
of Ganga, said.
The seer also ex-
pressed concern over
the alleged misman-
agementinorganizing
the Magh fair in Pray-
agraj this year. —PTI
Lucknow: With the
BJPtakingtothestreets
with a team of women
leaders, at least three of
whom joined the saf-
fron party in recent
times, the Congress on
Monday termed it the
Priyanka effect and a
face-saving exercise for
the government.
Union Minister for
Information and Broad-
casting Anurag Thakur,
along with a team of
women leaders, includ-
ing the latest entrants-
Aparna Yadav, Aditi
Singh and Priyanka
Maurya- was on the
campaign trail in the
heart of the state capi-
tal on Sunday
.
“The ‘Ladki Hoon
Lad Sakti Hoon’ slogan
given by Priyanka Gan-
dhi Vadra and the man-
ner in which she has
been fighting for their
cause has forced other
political parties to real-
ize that politics cannot
be done without wom-
en. What we saw on the
roads of Lucknow yes-
terday (Sunday) can
clearly be termed the
Priyanka effect,” Uttar
Pradesh Congress Com-
mittee chief Ajay Ku-
mar Lallu told PTI in an
interview.
“After announcing 40
per cent tickets to wom-
en, Priyanka had stated
that no party can ig-
nore half the popula-
tion. This is coming
true and we find that
the BJP leaders are
marching on the streets
projecting a women-
friendly face,” Lallu
said.
“Even then, they had
to resort to women lead-
ers who crossed over to
the BJP only in the last
few days,” Lallu said.
Holding placards that
gave out messages on
women’s safety, the
BJP’s new women lead-
ers were seen on the
roads of Lucknow on
Sunday
. —PTI
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Haryana
Chief Minister Mano-
har Lal Khattar’s cam-
paign to digitize the
functioning of govern-
ment offices was taken
further when the Chief
Minister launched a pi-
lot project for those
seekinginformationun-
der the Right to Infor-
mation Act in the form
of an online RTI portal.
The main objective of
starting the online RTI
portal of the Chief Min-
ister is also to take for-
ward the Digital India
campaign of PM Modi.
State Information
Commissioner Arun
Sangwan apprised the
CM that the informa-
tion would be put on the
portal by the SPIO as
first appeal and second
appeal would be heard
by the State Informa-
tion Commissioner’s of-
fice. He also informed
that initially this portal
has been linked to the
Chief Secretary’s office
and Haryana State In-
formation Commission-
er’s office as a pilot pro-
ject. Any person can
register by logging on
to the portal http://rti-
haryana.gov.in and for
this OTP will come on
their mobile. To get in-
formation from any de-
partment, they can put
their information on
this portal and the in-
formation sought by the
State Public Informa-
tion Officer (SPIO) of
the concerned depart-
ment will be uploaded
on the portal online.
07
NEWS
Mumbai: A day after
Maharashtra Chief
Minister Uddhav
Thackeray’s comments
on Hindutva, senior
BJP leader Devendra
Fadnavis on Monday
hit back at former ally
Shiv Sena, saying its
Hindutva is merely on
paper and doesn’t go be-
yond speeches.
Fadnavis said under
the leadership of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi, a Ram temple is
being built in Ayodhya.
Modi also developed the
Kashi Vishwanath tem-
ple corridor, the former
Maharashtra CM said
at a press conference.
On the other hand,
the Sena (which is in
power in Maharashtra)
could not even rename
Aurangabad as Samb-
hajinagar, and Os-
manabad as Dharashiv.
But, Allahabad was re-
named as Prayagraj
(under the BJP govt in
Uttar Pradesh), while
the Sena kept merely
mincing words, he said.
The Shiv Sena has
time and again referred
to Aurangabad a city
built by Mughal ruler
Aurangzeb as Samb-
hajinagar after second
Maratha king Chhatra-
pati Sambhaji (the son
of Maratha warrior
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj), and Os-
manabad as Dharashiv.
The Sena fell out with
the BJP after the 2019
Maharashtra polls and
tied-up with the NCP
and Congress to form
the Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) govt in the state.
In his address to Shiv
Sainiks on Sunday,
which was also the
birth anniversary of
his father and party
founder Bal Thackeray,
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray said the
Sena has left the BJP
and not Hindutva.
Fadnavis on Monday
said, “Who all from the
Sena participated in the
Ram Janmabhoomi
movement? We are the
ones who took bullets
and lathis in the move-
ment. Your (Shiv Sena)
Hindutva is merely on
paper.” —PTI
First India Bureau
Ayodhya: Work at the
Ram TempleinAyodhya
is underway in full
swing as workers began
placing blocks of gran-
ite on the raft built at the
temple site on Monday
.
“This afternoon, the
work of elevating the
floor of the temple start-
ed by placing blocks of
granite stone on top of
the raft built at the site
of Shri Ram Janmab-
hoomi temple. Trust
members,reveredsaints
and senior administra-
tiveofficerswerepresent
on the occasion,” the of-
ficial account of Shri
Ram Janmbhoomi
TeerthKshetra,thetrust
constituted to look after
construction and temple
management, tweeted.
Priests and construc-
tion workers offered
prayersbeforethestones
were laid to raise the el-
evation of the temple
floor. The temple - the
construction of which
started on August 5 last
yearwiththefoundation
stone being laid by PM
Narendra Modi - is ex-
pected to be ready by De-
cember 2023.
No steel or bricks are
being used in the con-
struction of the temple
which will have 160 col-
umns on the ground
floor, 132 columns on the
first floor, and 74 col-
umns on the second
floor. The three-floor
structure will have five
“mandaps”orpavilions.
Around four lakh cu-
bic feet of stone and
marble from Rajasthan
will be used for the
building which will
stand 161 feet over the
sanctum sanatorium.
The temple complex
will house a pilgrim fa-
cilitation centre, muse-
um, archives, research
centre,auditorium,cattle
shed, a place for rituals,
administrative building,
and rooms for priests.
Construction of Ram Temple in full swing in Ayodhya
WORK IN PROGRESS Bulli Bai App creator Niraj
Bishnoi moves bail plea in
Delhi session court
New Delhi: The alleged
creator of the Bulli Bai
app, Niraj Bishnoi, has
moved a bail petition in
a session court of Delhi
on Monday
.
Bishnoi, a 21-year-old
engineering student,
who is said to be the
main conspirator and
creator of the Bulli Bai
app on GitHub and the
main Twitter account
holderof theapp,wasar-
rested by Delhi Police
Special Cell’s Intelli-
genceFusionandStrate-
gic Operations unit
(IFSO) from Assam’s
Jorhat on January 5,
2022. Additional Session
Judge Dharmender
Rana is scheduled to
hear the bail plea of
BishnoionTuesday
.Ear-
lier,theMagistratecourt
on January 13, 2022, had
dismissed the bail peti-
tion of Niraj Bishnoi
statingthatavilification
campaign against wom-
en containing derogato-
ry content. —ANI
SHIVSENA’SHINDUTVANOT
BEYONDSPEECHES:FADNAVIS
CONGRESS ASKS MAHA CM TO STOP
RELEASE OF MOVIE ‘WHY I KILLED GANDHI’
Mumbai: The Congress on
Monday appealed to Maha-
rashtra Chief Minister Ud-
dhav Thackeray to stop the
upcoming telecast of the
movie ‘Why I killed Gandhi’
on January 30, saying it
will strengthen racist ten-
dencies. NCP MP and actor
Amol Kolhe is playing the
lead role of Mahatma’s as-
sassin Nathuram Godse in
this movie, to be released
on January 30, the death
anniversary of the Father
of the Nation. In a letter to
CM Thackeray, Maharash-
tra Congress chief Nana
Patole said that the movie
‘Why I killed Gandhi’ will
be released in theaters and
OTT platforms on January
30, the death anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi, which
is observed as the National
Unity Day, for (upholding)
communal harmony world
over. On one hand, Gan-
dhiji’s death anniversary is
observed for non-violence
and peace. On the other
hand, ‘Why I killed Gandhi’
is being released. This
will give strength to racist
tendencies. Indian culture
has always opposed
inhuman acts. This is why
this movie should not be
released in state’s theaters
and OTT platforms, Patole
stated in his letter. —PTI
Bihar to dilute prohibition
law, speculations are rife
Kumar Pramod
Patna: Speculations
are rife that the strin-
gentprohibitionlawin
Bihar may be diluted
in wake of the menace
of illegal liquor smug-
glingandhoochdeaths
across the state. After
13 hooch deaths in Na-
landa, eleven people
have reportedly died
in Chapra after con-
suming hooch.
Reports say that the
state government has
already prepared a
draft for diluting the
prohibition law and it
is expected to be intro-
duced as an amend-
ment bill in the com-
ing budget session.
In the run-up to the
2015 Assembly elec-
tions in Bihar, there
were widespread pro-
tests by women’s
rights activists de-
manding complete
prohibition. Nitish
Kumar made a poll
promise that he would
implement complete
prohibition if voted to
power and it is
claimed that the wom-
enfolk voted en masse
for him in 2015.
Consumption of
liquor was connected
with the increased in-
cidents of domestic
violence, particularly
in rural areas. Nitish
Kumar won poll and
imposed complete
prohibition in Bihar
in April 2016.
As per the Econom-
ic Survey of 2014-15,
Bihar used to earn Rs
3,100 crore excise duty
from the sale of liquor
in the state. The esti-
mated projection of
revenue earned from
liquor sales was Rs
4,000 crore in 2015-16.
An IndiaSpend re-
port said Bihar used
to consume 2.5 crore
litre of liquor before
prohibition was im-
posed. Since the pro-
hibition was imposed
in Bihar in 2016,
around 3.5 lakh people
have been arrested for
illegal consumption
of liquor. The authori-
ties also seized 1.5
crore litre of hooch.
As per the stringent
rules of prohibition,
if a bottle of liquor
was seized from a
house, the entire
premises would be
subject to legal action.
Patna High Court
took a potshot at the
prohibition policy
asking if “the whole
court premises would
be seized if a bottle is
found?”
It is being mulled in
wake of the menace
of illegal liquor
smuggling from
other states
Haryana launches pilot
project for online RTI portal
‘Priyanka effect’ Cong
on BJP’s UP campaign
Main objective of
this portal is also to
take forward Digital
India campaign of
PM Modi
The Congress has
termed it the
Priyanka effect and
a face-saving
exercise for BJP
No saint can be
CM: Seer on Yogi
Adityanath
Devendra Fadnavis
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
Swami Avimukteshwaranand
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar presiding over a high-level meeting with the
Administrative Secretaries in Chandigarh, on Monday.
Ex-Maha CM hits back at past ally saying its Hindutva is only on papers
Priests and workers perform puja before the start of placement of
granite blocks at the temple site in Ayodhya, on Monday.
Nana Patole

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
56,16,487
TOTAL DEATHS
28,03,98,416
TOTAL RECOVERED
6,66,94,597
ACTIVE CASES
35,27,09,500
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,89,896
TOTAL DEATHS
3,68,04,145
TOTAL RECOVERED
22,49,287
ACTIVE CASES
3,95,43,328
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
Israeli PM Bennett likely to visit India to strengthen ties: Envoy
Jerusalem: Israeli
Prime Minister Naftali
Bennettandothersenior
officials are likely to vis-
it India this year as the
two countries celebrate
30 years of diplomatic
relations, Israel’s Am-
bassador to India Naor
Gilon said on Monday
.
In a Webinar held for
the virtual launch of a
special logo to set in mo-
tion the year-long cele-
brations to commemo-
rate the occasion, Gilon
saidhefeelsveryluckyto
be Israel’s Ambassador
in India when “relations
areexceptional”and“be-
yond regular”, one of
“partnership between
ancient civilisations”.
To further deepen bi-
lateral cooperation in
diverse areas, Gilon
said Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett and
other officials are likely
to visit India as the two
countries celebrate 30
years of establishment
of diplomatic ties.
External Affairs Min-
ister S Jaishankar had
extended an invitation
to Bennett from Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi during his visit to
Israel last year.
“This is an important
occasion to reflect on
our mutual successes as
well as a good opportu-
nity to look ahead and
shape the next 30 years
of our relations. I am
sure that our close exist-
ing cooperation in dif-
ferent fields will only
continue to grow and
flourish in the coming
years, Gilon stressed.
Gilon launched the
logo virtually along
with his Indian counter-
part in Tel Aviv, Ambas-
sador Sanjeev Singla.
The logo features the
Star of David and the
Ashoka Chakra, the two
symbols that adorn the
national flags of both
countries, and forms
the numeral 30 depict-
ing the 30th anniversa-
ry of bilateral relations.
The Israeli envoy in
his speech highlighted
ties going back thou-
sands of years with no
trace of anti-semitism
in India, unlike in Eu-
rope and other parts of
the world.
Recalling the visit of
Jaishankar, Gilon men-
tioned India’s role in
shaping the region with
Indian soldiers partici-
pating in the World
Wars and buried in dif-
ferent parts of Israel.
Israel’s first PM Da-
vid Ben-Gurion saw In-
dia and Israel’s national
movement as “sister
liberation movements”,
he said.
Singla in his address
said 2022 also marks
five years of bilateral
strategic partnership
which was established
during the historic visit
of Prime Minister Modi
to Israel in 2017.
The year, therefore,
provides an opportuni-
ty to not only look back
and take account of the
bilateral achievements
of the past thirty years
but also the past five
years when the relation-
ship was put on a “qual-
itatively higher trajec-
tory”, he said. —PTI
BOOSTING TIES
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in Glasgow. —FILE PHOTO
Effectively nabbed intruders,
foiled drug smuggling: BSF
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: BSF Gu-
jarat Frontier personnel
last year apprehended
three Pakistanis, two
Bangladeshis and 24 In-
dians from near the in-
ternational border with
Pakistan, and also foiled
attempts to smuggle
narcotics from the
neighbouring country,
the force said on Mon-
day
.
The Border Security
Force Gujarat Frontier
takes care of the securi-
ty of 826km of the inter-
national border from
Barmer district in Ra-
jasthan to Gujarat, in-
cluding 85km of coastal
area.
Of the 24 Indian na-
tionals apprehended
near the international
border, two were Punjab-
based smugglers found
to be involved in trans-
border crimes, and had
come to the border area
in Barmer sector in Ra-
jasthan to receive a con-
signment of 15kg heroin
from Pakistan-based
smugglers, it said in a
release.
Also, from June, 2020
till date, the BSF and
other agencies have re-
covered 1,428 suspected
packets of charas from
Jakhau port area along
the Gujarat coast, GS
Malik, Inspector Gener-
al, BSF Gujarat said at a
media briefing at its
headquarters here on
Monday
.
“Charas packets
seized are part of the
drugs thrown into the
sea off the Karachi coast
by Pakistani smugglers.
Moreover, three Paki-
stani intruders appre-
hended from near the
border, including a child
and an elderly person,
were returned to the
neighbouring country
as part of confidence-
building measures be-
cause they were found to
have crossed the border
inadvertently,” he said.
They were apprehend-
ed ahead of the fence,
between the internation-
al border and the fence,
which is generally lo-
cated at a distance of
around 150 yards from
IB inside Indian territo-
ry, Malik said.
The BSF Gujarat
Frontier also made func-
tional contact with bor-
der-deployed Pakistan
Rangers at the level of
company commander to
ensure proper communi-
cation, and this also in-
volved the exchange of
sweets as well as good-
will gestures during Eid,
Diwali and on Independ-
ence Day of both India
and Pakistan, he said.
Punjabis will have their say
in state budget,says Kejriwal
Mahesh Kumar
Chandigarh: AamAad-
mi Party (AAP) national
convener Arvind Kejri-
wal has said that when
the Aam Aadmi Party
governmentisformedin
Punjab in 2022, the an-
nual financial budget of
the state will also be pre-
pared with the sugges-
tions of the people of
Punjab, because the peo-
ple have the best solu-
tions for the problems
theyarefacing.Kejriwal
said that in Delhi, his
government prepares a
budget by considering
the public opinion.
In a statement issued
by the party on Mon-
day, Arvind Kejriwal
said that the AAP gov-
ernment of Delhi has
started deliberations
for the budget for the
next financial year
2022-23. Suggestions
are being sought from
the common people
and businessmen of
Delhi to prepare the
budget. In Punjab too,
the budget will be pre-
pared in a similar man-
ner when the AAP gov-
ernment is formed.
Before preparing the
budget of Punjab, opin-
ions of all sections, in-
cluding common peo-
ple, especially traders-
businessmen, farmers-
labourers, women,
youth and employees,
will be regarded.
Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has
urged the Punjag Governor to file a criminal case
against Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi in
the matter of sand mafia. On Monday, a delegation
of AAP led by AAP’s Punjab affairs co-in-charge
and MLA from Delhi Raghav Chadha met Punjab
Governor Banwari Lal Purohit and submitted
a memorandum. The delegation informed the
Governor that crores of rupees and sensational
documents seized in the ED raids from the rela-
tives in the case of illegal sand mining belong to
CM Channi and demanded a more thorough and
impartial inquiry into the matter. After the meeting,
Raghav Chadha briefed the media and said that the
Governor took his complaint seriously.
AAP DELEGATION MEETS PUNJAB GUV
TO DEMAND ACTION AGAINST CHANNI
Crypto theft in India leads
Delhi Police investigators
to Middle East terror trail
Book to uncover untold story
of WWII’s Battle of Kohima
New Delhi: A new book
uncovers the untold
story of how Kohima
went from being a non-
descript small hillock to
becoming the political
and administrative
headquarters of the
British government and
inadvertently ending up
as a site of World War II.
Tentatively titled
“His Majesty’s Head
Hunters”, the book by
Naga poet-politician
Mmhonlumo Kikon
will be published under
Penguin imprint Vi-
king later this year.
“The battle of Kohi-
ma is often referred to
as the Stalingrad of the
East by Western schol-
ars. Historians even say
that this was the last
real battle of the Brit-
ish Empire and the first
battle of the new India.
However, the real his-
tory left behind by the
Japanese army led by
Lieutenant General
Sato and the allied forc-
es remains to be told,”
Penguin said in a state-
ment.
Kikon said the “dia-
logue with our past
must continue in the
light of the present and
be constantly reviewed
by revisiting history,
and that is what I will
be doing in my first
book of nonfiction”.
“The Empire mani-
fests itself in many as-
pects of our policies
and we must keep ex-
ploring these as new
vistas of history get
written,” he added.
According to Pre-
manka Goswami, asso-
ciate publisher at Pen-
guin who also commis-
sioned the book,
Kikon’s forthcoming
work will “open a win-
dow to the ultimate
sacrifice of the Naga
community, which
completely changed
the fate of World War II
and significantly im-
pacted the course of
world history”. —PTI
AussiePrimeMinister
Morrisonlosescontrol
ofWeChataccount
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police on Monday said it
has solved a case of
cryptocurrency theft by
busting a cyber fraud
module operated by Al-
Qassam Brigates, the
militarywingof Hamas,
which operated by hack-
ing into crypto-wallets
of people and transfer-
ring the stolen virtual
currency into the digital
wallets linked to the ter-
rorist organization.
The police started in-
vestigations, based on a
case that was first regis-
tered at Paschim Vihar
Police Station in the na-
tional capital in which
the complainant report-
ed that some unknown
persons had fraudulent-
ly transferred crypto-
currency including Bit-
coins, Etherum and Bit-
coin cash -totaling a
value of worth about Rs
30 lakh -from his crypto-
currency wallet. Initial-
ly
, a case was registered
at Paschim Vihar Police
Station, on the orders of
the Court but subse-
quently, the investiga-
tion was transferred to
Cyber Crime Unit, Spe-
cial Cell, Delhi. —ANI
Canberra: Australian
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison has lost con-
trol of his account on
the Chinese-owned so-
cial media platform We-
Chat and a lawmaker on
Monday accused Chi-
na’s leaders of political
interference.
Morrison’s 76,000 We-
Chat followers were no-
tified his page had been
renamed Australian
Chinese new life earlier
this month and his pho-
tograph had been re-
moved, Sydney’s The
Daily Telegraph news-
paper reported. The
changes were made
without the govern-
ment’s knowledge, the
report said.
Morrison’s office de-
clined to comment on
the report. —AP
TERROR LINK
COMING SOON
DENIAL MODE
If we are to become what we
repeatedly do, then excellence is a
habit, isn’t it?
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India

arigiri is the ulti-
mate fashion des-
tination for the
modern woman
who is always on
the lookout for
exquisitely craft-
ed designs. Today
, modern
fashion is all about the
beautiful amalgamation
of diverse styles and cul-
tures. Founders and own-
ers, Arpita and Sulaksha-
na strive to integrate dif-
ferent cultures through
vibrant prints
colours in
their fashion wear just for
everyone to stay on-trend.
Karigiri Studio is a flag-
ship store nestled in the
streets of Kapil Vihar,
Pitampura in Delhi.
The store began its
m o n u m e n t a l
journey about
sevenyearsago
in 2015 with,
ArpitaandSu-
lakshana with
their degrees
in designing
coming to-
gether with the aim of
bringing Karigiri to life.
When asked about their
exclusive collection, the
young entrepreneurs
Arpita and Sulakshana
said, “We bring to you fu-
sion fashion with women
apparel in distinct styles
that adds loads of appeal
to your look and also lets
you stand out from the
crowd.” They further add-
ed,“WeatKarigirispecial-
ise in women’s Indian
wear with signature west-
ern twists and outlooks
which include unconven-
tional lehengas, sarees,
gowns and dresses.”
On being the partici-
pating pre finale design-
ers for FC Season 11, they
said, “We are glad to be a
part of the grand show to
be held in Dubai. It’ll be a
great way to expose our
Indian heritage brand to
theworldbytakingpart
in fashion connect
Dubai. Our vision is to
bring life to such piec-
es of women’s wear
which exude ele-
gance, grace, and
beauty with a dash
of boldness and
pride. We aim at pre-
serving the Indian her-
itage but with a mod-
ern lens and outlook.
It is such dedication,
commitment, trust
and innovation in
the fusion of cul-
tures and heritage
thatmakeKarigiri
special and
unique.”
At Karigiri,
you experience
true variety in
fashion. Say
goodbye to
youroldward-
robe and em-
brace the
power of fu-
sion in
style!
NEW DELHI, TUESDAY
JANUARY 25, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
WHENVIBRANTHUESMEETDELIGHTFULDESIGNS
Shine through
the festivities with
Karigiri’s wide range of
ethnic wear. Designers Arpita
and Sulakshana are all set to
celebrate stunning supermodels in
the warmth of their ethereal sets at
First India Fashion Connect
Season 11 to be held at Oaks
Ibn Batuta Gate Hotel,
Dubai on March 12!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
K
Arpita Bhareja and Sulakshana Kukreja
WHENVIBRANTHUESMEETDELIGHTFULDESIGNS

10
ETC
ASMITA
ARORA,
Influencer
FACE
OF
THE
DAY!
Aries
MARCH 21 - APRIL 20
You are likely to have
fun at work today. A
changed lifestyle
promises good health.
You may not be in the
best of financial situations, but things
are likely to improve. Much excitement
is foreseen on the family front. There is
some scope of improving your scores
on the academic front.
Gemini
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Homemakers will get a
chance to implement
their ideas. You are
likely to be recognised
for your efforts on the
professional front. Some of you can be
invited for guidance or consultancy.
Chance of a raise is possible for some.
Timely and correct decwision will help
you in saving a lot of money.
Leo
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Job prospects for those
freshly out of profes-
sional institutes are set
to brighten up soon. A
positive outlook will
help you throw out the negativity
within. You will manage to ignore
distractions and interruptions at work
to complete a pending task in time. is
so miffed.
Libra
SEPTEMBER 24 - OCTOBER 22
This is the day to play
your winning card on
the professional front. A
lot of time may be
wasted in socialising,
but you will love every moment of it!
Time is ripe for investing in a scheme
you have been considering for long.
Your upbeat mood and a happy
demeanour will brighten atmosphere.
Sagittarius
NOVEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 22
Sticking to workout
routine may benefit you
on the health front.
Meeting relatives at a
marriage or party cannot
be ruled out. Accompanying someone
you click with is likely to make your
business journey entertaining. Support
from the family may seem most
encouraging.
Aquarius
JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 19
Balancing act between
home and office will
remain most smooth
for working women.
You succeed in putting
an ambitious project on the tracks and
cross all hurdles in making it a
success. Love beckons and promises
to give immense joy and fulfillment.
Homemakers can exceed budget.
Taurus
APRIL 21 - MAY 20
A major purchase may
make a dent in your
savings, but will help in
keeping up with the
jonesses. Speculation
may not be profitable and you can very
well burn your fingers. Some of you
may get hard pressed to find a good
match for someone eligible in the family
down, Saturn will save you.
Cancer
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You may get motivated
to shake a leg just to get
on the fitness trail. It will
be important to keep a
tab of your expenses
today. Some shuffling on the work front
is likely but will not affect you. Peace
and tranquillity prevail on the home
front and will help you unwind.
Romance seems on the upswing.
Virgo
AUGUST 24 - SEPTEMBER 23
Satisfaction is foreseen
for the image conscious
people trying to achieve
perfect figure and
physique. You will
succeed in surmounting the odds to get
a stalled job back on the tracks. Your
efforts on the academic front will keep
you in contention. You are likely to
spend an enjoyable time.
Scorpio
OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 22
You will succeed and
move ahead in your
professional life, as the
year begins. Be careful,
though, as your daily
routine may be affected adversely.
Your boss may be the reason for your
annoyance. Pressure tactics can
infuriate you. Probably, by 5th or 6th,
you may think of taking up a new job.
Capricorn
DECEMBER 23 - JANUARY 20
Focussing on your
career graph at this
juncture will be a step
that will take you far. A
rethink is in order for
those going in for a heavy investment.
Recovering a loaned amount from
someone will not pose much difficulty.
You will manage to defuse tensions
prevailing at home.
Pisces
FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 20
Financial condition of
those down in the
dumps is set to
improve. Your
efficiency at work is
likely to impress those who matter at
work. Your biggest asset is your sense
of humor try to use it to cure your not
so good health. Spending time with
family.
YOUR DAY Horoscopeby
SaurabbhSachdeva
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Subscribe “First India” Daily
E-News Paper For Free On Whatsapp
To Receive the Most Exclusive News from
the Power Corridors of Rajasthan Delhi.
iterature, power-
ful, thought-pro-
voking, insightful
writing, has en-
thralled, inspired,
q u e s t i o n e d ,
through the ages.
A great piece of writing
isn’t just a record of life
and times for posterity, it
is indeed capable of
shifting and shaping
opinion and society.
More specifically chil-
dren’s literature con-
tains the same power.
Power to influence, insti-
gate, inspire. However, to
analyze the impact that
children’s literature can
have on society at large,
the ways in which it can
create confidence glob-
ally, we need to under-
stand certain nuances.
ENTERTAINMENT
WITH IMAGINATION
In the modern era, with
the digital age and over-
exposure to the visual
medium, it has been felt
by large sections of soci-
ety that children are con-
suming content that is
making them duller,
rather than more intelli-
gent. In this kind of sce-
nario, the importance of
children’s literature is
greater than ever. The
best part about literature
is that it presents the best
form of entertainment to
children. While stories
of fantastical lands, wiz-
ards and sorcerers
delight children,
they also don’t
spoon-feed (like
a lot of visual
content), forcing
readers instead, to
develop their own
images and interpre-
tations. This helps
children become
more creative, im-
aginative, analyti-
cal and critical. It
really is the best
kind of entertain-
ment, the kind that
endows readers
with conscious
and uncon-
scious life
skills!
A THTINKING
GENERATION
First and foremost, chil-
dren’s literature, with its
plethora of offerings
raging from fiction, nov-
els, poems, books and
magazines, informs and
moulds an entire genera-
tion’s way of thinking,
and greatly influences
children’s worldview.
When I was a child, for
instance, and I was ex-
posed to literature, it is
what captivated me to-
wards animals and wild-
life. It sparked my life-
long interest, one that
has endeared and turned
me into a nature lover. It
has made me sensitive,
aware, and kind. That of
course is something that
took place at a personal,
micro-level. Today, when
an entire generation is
exposed to literature
that uses real-life issues
as a backdrop or prem-
ise, topical, contextual
concerns such as war,
climate change, and gen-
der equality; these is-
sues become part of an
entire generation’s con-
cerns, by first familiar-
izing children with their
existence and meaning,
and then compelling
them to examine them,
and form their own opin-
ions. Literature, there-
fore, doesn’t just enter-
tain, it also serves a
deeper function of
getting children to be-
come thinkers.
WRITER’S GERM
Exposing children
to timely read-
ing and sto-
ries also
s e w s
t h e
seeds of creativity and
writing within them.
Not only do young
learners gain exposure
to different facts, points
of view and opinion-
building; it instils in
them an unconscious
yet strong urge to write
themselves. If there is a
young child who be-
comes keenly interested
in reading, there are
imminent chances that
he or she will want to
write too! And rather
than being ‘taught’ how
to write, the best way of
learning is through
reading and organically
inculcating the nuanc-
es, tips, tricks, and
methods of writing
one’s own original ma-
terial, be it fiction or
non-fiction. It is a kind
of educational sensiti-
zation process, the best
kind of orientation –
much more effective
than a later creative
writing class or work-
shop!
GLOBAL CONFIDENCE
With the combined vir-
tues of imbuing stu-
dents with life skills
and fueling their quest
and concern for press-
ing issues; children’s
literature has the
unique ability to create
an entire generation of
tomorrow’s adults and
leaders who will be
self-aware, generally
aware, sensitive, ques-
tioning, and enlight-
ened. The world today
is in dire need of free-
thinking, imaginative,
innovative do-gooders
who can tackle a myri-
ad of problems that
plague the world,
through thoughtful ac-
tion rather than by
force and supremacy.
And a generation fueled
by a diet of literature
can be that change-
agent, inspiring and
building global confi-
dence and instill-
ing mankind’s
faith, once again,
in humanity!
KARTIK BAJORIA
(the author is a Jaipur-based
Communication Skills Educator
Writer)
L
LITERATURE
FOR CHILDREN

I am a sucker for nature, beauty and
art. I believe in promoting tourism
via my art too. Kalga, Himachal
Pradesh, ain’t just a destination but
it has given a new meaning to my
work. I started learning my tattooing
in January 2018 at a shop in Jaipur
named Zero Error Tattoos. I was
always into art and drawing because
of my immense understanding of
portraits and nature. When I was
a kid I used to make portraits but
never I’ll come this far. I myself got
amazed by them because I never ex-
pected that I can create something.
The person who is the backbone
in this process and my better half,
Aryaman pushed me and made me
understand to just to try it once and
then I knew I wanted a career in art
(somehow). I just enjoyed doing it.
Kalga, where I live now is a place
that I feel like I won’t find it any-
where else for my profession. You
have to climb Kalga and then you’ll
reach my cafe Tabiba where I make
tattoos surrounded by the mighty
mountains. It’s so much fun making
tattoos there that it doesn’t even feel
like I’m working, I make sure
to provide best expe-
rience artwork to
all the clients that
come and visit
me there.
—ARYA
TAK
ETC
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022
11
Life is a journey...
not a destination
NATIONAL TOURISM DAY 2022
THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
SUFFERED A HUGE BLOW IN 2020
AS A RESULT OF LOCKDOWNS AND
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AIMED AT
CURBING THE SPREAD OF
COVID-19, WHICH MADE PEOPLE
AROUND THE WORLD LIMIT THEIR
ACTIVITY AND LOSE THEIR
LIVELIHOODS. CITY FIRST BRINGS
TO YOU VIEWS OF OUR ARDENT
READERS OF A MEMORY FROM
THEIR FAVOURITE TRIP, THE
IMPORTANCE OF THE TOURISM
SECTOR IN INDIA’S ECONOMY,
THE PROPOSED MEASURES AND
RECOVERY PLANS!
s we cele-
brate Na-
t i o n a l
T o u r i s m
Day, on
January 25
every year,
the day is observed
by the government
to encourage tour-
ism and explain the
essential role of it
in the growth of the
country!
India is a country
where ethnicity,
practice, culture,
etc changes with
every kilometre as
one moves from
North to South. In-
dia being the 7th
largest country in
the world stands
apart from the rest
of the Asian conti-
nent. It has moun-
tains and the sea,
which makes the
country a distinct
geographical entity
.
Travel tourism
industry in India
has been a signifi-
cant contributor to
the country’s GDP.
The sector even
generates a large
employment base.
So when by mid-
March 2020, the
popular tourist at-
tractions in India
started to close
down, and the news
on putting a halt on
flying began to
make rounds, we all
started to predict
the grim future of
the travel industry
in the country al-
ready. In fact the
shutting down of
the iconic Taj Ma-
hal on March 17,
2020, which attracts
millions of visitors
every year, was a
sign enough to as-
sess the hard blow
this pandemic was
launching at us. As
the tourism indus-
try is now reviving
slowly, some of us
still feel they won’t
be travelling any-
time soon.
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
I can’t believe I went to
a trip in the first month
of 2020. It feels sur-
real. I visited Kashmir
with my friends and
it was no less than a
magical experience.
I hope this pandemic
settles soon and we
get to experience more
hustle free travels. The
beauty of the country
should be preserved at
all costs.
—HARISH JANGID
Travel, for me, is an
escape from the gen-
eral monotonous rou-
tine of life. It helps me
calm down to enjoy
the little things in life
and pace the otherwise
overwhelming life. It
gives me sheer joy to
spend time with nature
ultimately running to-
wards the hills to soak
the sight of sunsets.
—SATYENDRA
PRABHAKAR
Now and then my life
becomes a constant
circle of functioning a
work-life balance and
to do it along with a
toddler is just hectic.
Travelling to a new place
comes as restitution to
me. It’s the only thing
that helps me reju-
venate, energize and
come back stronger to
deal with the everyday
chores of life.
—LUBNA ABBAS
Travelling is one of the
most blissful things in
the world. I enjoy the
beauty of nature. Tourism
industry definitely faced
a huge setback post
pandemic. It did leave the
inner traveller in
me disappointed for a
while, But eventually
2021 saw things taking a
better shape and I hope
this third wave settles
soon.
—KOMAL KHANCHANDANI
A
Tattoo Artist, Arya Tak promoting tourism and culture with her art
Alleppey Backwaters, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Amer Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Kalga, Himachal Pardesh
Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
Buddha Park,
Ravangla, Sikkim

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