29012022 first india ahmedabad

CM LAUDS GREEN ENERGY AND
ORGANIC FARMING ACTIVITIES
First India Bureau
Anand: Chief Minister
Bhupendra Patel visit-
ed the plant of Bharat
Biogas Energy Ltd at
Sundalpura in Anand
district and inspected
various sections of the
plant. He applauded the
firm’s work on green
energy, and gleaned in-
formation on the com-
pany’s natural farming
and organic missions.
Addressing the farm-
ers of Gujarat, Patel
called them to work to-
gether and realize the
aim of Prime Minister
NarendraModitoexpand
thescopeof naturalfarm-
ing to go back to basics.
In this context, he
said, “Natural farming
has the threefold benefit
of saving the environ-
ment, saving water and
getting good prices for
farm produce. Not only
this,butgrainsproduced
with the help of natural
fertilizers and methods
arebeneficialforhuman
health.” In a meeting
with the firm’s chair-
man and directors, Patel
assured them of “full co-
operation”fromthestate
government to advance
of natural farming in
Gujarat. Turn to P6
ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY
He paid a visit to
Bharat Biogas
Energy Ltd at
Sundalpura in Anand
CM Bhupendra Patel visited a biogas plant in Anand district on Friday.
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 64
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 Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given vaccine manufacturer
Bharat Biotech approval for conducting Phase-III clinical trials of an intranasal
booster dose for those who have received both doses of Covaxin. Only the
Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli, certified batches shall be used in
the clinical trials, which will be conducted at nine sites, including AIIMS.
Scientists from China’s Wuhan, where the Covid-19 virus was first discovered
in 2019, have warned of a new type of coronavirus ‘NeoCov’ in South Africa,
stated to have a high death (1 in 3) and transmission rate, according to a
report by the Russian news agency Sputnik. The new variant of NeoCov virus
is not new, says report. The report is yet to receive peer reviews.
BHARAT BIOTECH
GETS NOD FOR
INTRANASAL
BOOSTER TRIALS
WUHAN SCIENTISTS
WARN OF VIRUS
‘NEOCOV’ WITH HIGH
DEATH RATE
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: “Unconsti-
tutional, substantively
illegal, worse than ex-
pulsion, irrational”,
these were the precise
words used by the Su-
preme Court to describe
the July 6, 2021 resolu-
tion passed by the Ma-
harashtra Assembly to
suspend 12 BJP MLAs
from the state assembly
for one year for their al-
leged misconduct with-
in and outside the
house.
The bench led by Jus-
tice Khanwilkar or-
dered their reinstate-
ment in the Assembly
.
“We have no hesita-
tion in allowing these
writ petitions and to de-
clare that the resolution
directing suspension of
the petitioners beyond
the period of the
remainder of the
concerned Monsoon
Session held in July
2021 is non-est in the
eyes of law.
Muzaffarnagar: With
his Jat ally by his side,
Akhilesh Yadav
launched an all-out at-
tack against the BJP
in Muzaffarnagar on
Friday.
In a savage swipe, Ya-
dav denied the buzz
about a post-poll alli-
ance between the BJP
and the Rashtriya Lok
Dal’s Jayant Choud-
hary. “Unka niyotaa
maan kaun raha hai?
Sochiye kaise halaat
hain unki ki niyotaa
dena pad raha hai.
(Who is accepting their
invitation? Imagine
what condition they’re
in ... that they’re send-
ing invites).”
“A historic SP-RLD
win will wipe out the
BJP (in UP),” he de-
clared, demonstrating a
united front amid a sea-
son of crossovers in the
state ahead of the Feb-
ruary-March polls.
Sources had earlier
said that feelers were
sent to the Jat leader by
the BJP in an attempt to
consolidate the crucial
Jat vote of west UP
where farmers are a
key vote bank.
Akhilesh Yadav on
Friday yet again tar-
geted the rival party
over the farm laws and
the clampdown later.
SC, ST QUOTA IN PROMOTIONS
SC refuses to lay
down yardstick
SUPREME COURT STAYS
SPICEJET WINDING UP
ORDER FOR 3 WEEKS
New Delhi: A court order to wind
up SpiceJet was paused for three
weeks by the Supreme Court on
Friday as the private airline said it
is trying
to resolve
issues with
Credit Sui-
sse AG. The
case relates
to the non-
payment of
$24 million
(Rs 180 crore) to the Switzerland-
based stock corporation. “We are
asking for three weeks. We are
trying to work out something,” said
senior lawyer Mukul Rohtagi, ap-
pearing for SpiceJet.
...SAYS STATES OBLIGATED
TO COLLECT CASTE DATA
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
on Friday refused to lay down the
“yardstick” for determining the
inadequacy of representation for
granting reservation in promo-
tions for Scheduled Caste/Sched-
uled Tribe candidates in govern-
ment jobs. It held ‘cadre’ and not
class, group or the entire service
as the unit for purpose of collec-
tion of quantifiable data for giving
promotion quotas. In respect of
the unit of collection of quantifi-
able data, the court held that the
State was “obligated to collect
quantifiable data on SC/STs.”
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
AND IRRATIONAL
...says Apex Court while quashing 1-year
suspension of 12 Maharashtra BJP MLAs
VERDICT SLAP ON MVA
GOVT’S FACE: FADNAVIS
MAJITHIA FILES
PAPERS FROM
AMRITSAR EAST
EX-CM FALEIRO
STEPS DOWN AS
TMC CANDIDATE
RAJ BABBAR HINTS AT CONG EXIT
The Supreme Court’s decision was a
“tight slap on the face” of the ruling
tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govern-
ment, said ex-CM and BJP LoP Devendra
Fadnavis. He stated that the Uddhav
Thackeray-led government (of
the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist
Congress Party and the Con-
gress) often acted as though
they were above the Constitu-
tion. He accused the MVA of
‘conspiring’ to suspend the
MLAs as they had been
fighting for rights of
the OBC community.
Shiromani Akali Dal
leader Bikram Singh
Majithia on Friday ac-
cused Punjab Congress
chief Navjot Singh Sidhu
of having “failed” the
people of Amritsar East
as their representative as
he filed his nomination
papers. Majithia also
alleged that Sidhu, who
is the sitting MLA from
Amritsar East, has not
done anything for
the people of his con-
stituency.
Trinamool Congress
national vice-pres-
ident Luizinho Faleiro
on Friday withdrew his
candidature from Goa’s
Fatorda assembly con-
stituency. Days ahead of
the assembly elections,
Faleiro, ex-Goa CM who
recently switched over
from Congress, said
he has decided to hand
over to a young female
professional on the lines
of the party’s policy to
empower women. Faleiro
joined TMC in Septem-
ber and was elected to
Rajya Sabha from West
Bengal, where Mamata’s
party has an overwhelm-
ing majority.
Senior Congress leader Raj Babbar has
voiced support to the Padma Bhushan
award for Congress leader Ghulam Nabi
Azad, toeing a different line than his party
colleagues. Babbar in a series of tweets
voiced support to Azad for being honoured with the
prestigious and hinted that he could be the next ‘big fish’
from the grand old party to jump the ship.
Akhilesh Yadav alleged that his helicopter was briefly stopped
from flying from Delhi to UP’s Muzaffarnagar - he called it
“losing BJP’s conspiracy”. Nearly half an hour after accusing
the ruling party of halting his chopper, he posted a cheeky
tweet - “We are ready to take the flight to victory”.
Father Stan Swamy, accused in Elgaar
Parishad case, dies waiting for bail at 84
JUSTICEdelayed
denied
is
With word from 10 Janpath, Maken comes calling
Jaipur: Amid the ongo-
ing ‘hushed war’ be-
tween the Gehlot and
Pilot camps; where the
attacks are as violent as
before but kept under a
garb to project that all is
well in the state Con-
gress; AICC General
Secretary incharge of
Rajasthan Ajay Maken
is heading to the state
capital to bring about
an end to the feud. Mak-
en, who will be reaching
Jaipur on Tuesday after
orders directly from 10
Janpath, will meet the
leaders of the Gehlot-
Pilot camps and listen
to their issues and grei-
vances. Maken can also
meet CM Ashok Gehlot
and talk about the po-
litical tussle. Moreover,
sources reveal that
along with pending po-
litical appointments, ap-
pointments of district
Turn to P6
tan Swamy, an
8 4 - y e a r - o l d
priest-activist
arrested under
an anti-terror
law in the Elgar Pari-
shad case last year, died
on Monday in the mid-
dle of his fight for bail
on health grounds. The
Jesuit priest had been
on a ventilator since
yesterday when his
health took a sharp turn
for the worse.
Stan Swamy was be-
ing treated at the pri-
vate Holy Family Hospi-
tal in Mumbai following
a court order on May 28.
The National Investiga-
tion Agency (NIA) had
suggested a government
hospital, to which, he
had said: “I’d rather die
here in prison.”
CM Ashok Gehlot
Ajay Maken
State Incharge
to make all out
attempt to bring
the tussle to an
end after meeting
Gehlot to chalk
out proper strategy
for the same
Amarinder to
meet Sonia
today in Delhi
New Delhi: Amid a
simmering feud in
the Punjab Congress,
state
Chief
Minister
Captain
Ama-
rinder
Singh is finally set
to meet AICC in-
terim president Sonia
Gandhi on Tuesday,
sources said. Ama-
rinder had sought
time from Sonia a few
days ago when he had
visited New Delhi.
“I WOULD DIE SOON,” Stan Swamy
had told the High Court via video-
conferencing that his health had consistently
declined at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai
and interim bail must be granted
I would say what is happening to me is not unique. Many activists,
lawyers, writers, journalists, student leaders, poets, intellectuals
and others who stand for the rights of adivasis, Dalits and
the marginalised and express their dissent to the
ruling powers are being targeted
—Father Stan Swamy, tribal rights activist after arrest
12 BJP MLAs in Maha
suspended for a year for
abusing Assembly Speaker
Mumbai: The Monsoon
Session of the Maha-
rashtraassemblystarted
withchaosonMondayas
the house suspended 12
MLAs of the BJP for a
year for abusing and
manhandling the Speak-
er-in-chair.Leaderof the
Opposition Devendra
Fadnavis, who was al-
legedly present during
the ruckus which took
place in a cabin, insisted
that these are “false al-
legations”. The sus-
pended MLAs are meet-
ing the Governor, hop-
ing for a reprieve.
“These are false alle-
gations. A story is being
created... no one from
the BJP abused,” Fad-
navis told the media.
“For OBC (Other Back-
ward Castes) reserva-
tions, we are ready to
sacrifice more than 12
MLAs,” he added, refer-
ring to one of the key
issues that his party is
set to highlight during
this session.
The Opposition had
created uproar in the
House over the OBC is-
sue today and alleged
that Speaker-in-Chair
Bhaskar Jadhav did not
give them enough time
to speak. The matter es-
calated after the House
was adjourned.
“Opposition leaders
came to my cabin and
abused me using unpar-
liamentary language,”
Jadhav told media.
IT Rules ‘law of
the land’, Twitter
required to follow,
Centre tells court
NewDelhi:TheITRules
2021 are the “law of the
land” and Twitter is
“mandatorily” required
tocomplywiththem,the
Centre told the Delhi
HighCourtMonday
.The
centralgovernmentalso
told the court that Twit-
ter has failed to fully
comply with the rules,
which results in the mi-
cro-blogging site losing
theimmunitygrantedto
intermediaries under
the law.
The reply was filed in
response to a petition
alleging that the micro-
blogging site has not ap-
pointed a resident
grievance officer, as per
the IT Rules 2021. The
Centre told the court
that Twitter had initial-
ly appointed interim
Resident Turn to P6
PM:IndiatomakeCoWIN
availabletoallcountries
New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Monday said the gov-
ernment is preparing
its Covid vaccination
platform — CoWIN —
as an open-source and
soon it will be available
to all countries.
“Indian civilization
considers the whole
worldasonefamily
.This
pandemic has made
many people realize the
fundamental truth of
this philosophy
. That’s
why, our technology
platform for Covid vac-
cination — the platform
we call CoWIN — is be-
ing prepared to be made
open-source,” he said
while addressing Global
CoWin Conclave via vid-
eo conference. Turn to P6
Restore J&K statehood before polls:
Gupkar leaders’ unanimous appeal
Srinagar: Former J&K
CM Farooq Abdullah-
led People’s Alliance
for Gupkar Declaration
(PAGD or Gupkar Alli-
ance) has said that as-
sembly elections
should be held only af-
ter full statehood is re-
stored. The coalition
said that the BJP-led
central government
should honour its
promise made in the
Parliament on this sub-
ject. PAGD spokesper-
son and CPI(M) leader
MY Tarigami said in
the statement: “As far
as full statehood of
J&K is concerned, it
was promised by the
BJP in the Parliament
and they should honour
their word.”
India a democracy, ignore
toolkit if don’t like it: SC
NewDelhi:Thetimehas
come to take action
about the frivolous peti-
tions filed in court, the
Supreme Court said to-
day
,refusingtoentertain
a Public Interest Litiga-
tion that sought a probe
by the National investi-
gation Agency into the
Congress toolkit case.
The petitioner also
wanted that the regis-
tration of the Indian
National Congress be
suspended if the allega-
tions against them on
“anti-national acts” are
found true. Turn to P6
1
S
WHO WAS SWAMY WHAT THE CASE WAS
Father Stan Swamy was
a Jesuit priest and a
tribal rights activist based in
Jharkhand. He had worked
for over three decades on
issues of the adivasis on
land, forest and labour rights
including setting up of a
Tribes Advisory Council.
RAHUL: STAN DESERVED JUSTICE
SOREN: CENTRE RESPONSIBLE
“DEVASTATING...”: EU, UN HUMAN
RIGHTS REPS ON SWAMY’S DEATH
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his Ker-
ala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, and Congress
leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
were among hundreds of politicians, journalists and
intellectuals to mourn the death of Stan Swamy
Eamon Gilmore, European Union’s Special Repre-
sentative for Human Rights, and Mary Lawlor, a
UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders
expressed shock over Swami’s death. “The news
from India today is devastating,” Lawlor tweeted.
The NIA, which took over the
investigation into the Elgar
Parishad/Bhima Koregaon
case, alleges that all the
accused have links with
the banned CPI (Maoist).
Swamy from Ranchi on
October 7 last year, and
later chargesheeted.
CORONA CATASTROPHE
INDIA
RAJASTHAN
39,796
new cases
723
new fatalities
55
new cases
03
new fatalities
BJP-SENA REUNION HITS DEAD END?
New Delhi: Reported talks between the Shiv Sena
and the BJP, which could lead to a realignment in
Maharashtra, are believed to be a factor in holding
up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet expan-
sion, expected any day now. According to reports,
a possible deal in discussion is for Devendra
Fadnavis (considered the main rival to Maharash-
tra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray) to move to
Delhi as a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet and for
Uddhav Thackeray to continue as CM with two
deputies from the BJP. But BJP sources deny this,
claiming the delays in the cabinet expansion are
not linked to the Maharashtra developments.
His lawyers moved the Bombay High
Court on Monday morning, seeking
an urgent hearing on his medical bail plea.
The HC bench expressed shock over the
news and said it was at a loss of words
2
BJP MLA Ram Satpute protest against the naming of
underconstruction Navi Mumbai International Airport, during the
opening day of Maharashtra Assembly in Mumbai on Monday.
Apex court refuses
to hear plea against
Congress ‘toolkit’
UTTARAKHAND EXTENDS CURFEW
TILL JULY 13; GOA TOO TILL JULY 12
CABINET EXPANSION, FINALLY?
Highly placed sources reveal that Maken will also look into
the work related to cabinet expansion which will be completed
by July 15 as the high command as ‘finalised’ the formula for
Rajasthan. A suitable package has also been finalised for Pilot
camp as the high command has also decided on Pilot’s role.
Furthermore, Maken’s arrival at Jaipur will also bring some
development in Hemarama Choudhary resignation case while
word is that few BSP turncoats could be adjusted to the position
of Parliamentary Secretary. Moreover, Maken will also hold talks
on PCC expansion and appointment of district presidents while
also paving a road for political appointments. It is said that a
few major appointments will be done in the ongoing months, as
Pilot camp has also given its suggestions in this regard.
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
JAIPUR l TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 30
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held
marathon meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah and
BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh in
what is being seen as the final touches being given to
the details of a likely expansion of the Union Cabinet.
Shah and Santhosh confabulated with Modi at his
residence for several hours on Saturday and Sunday
amid a “strong possibility” that the Cabinet reshuf-
fle may happen very soon. Some sources said the
swearing-in may happen as early as Wednesday.
If the prime minister goes ahead with the exercise, he
will be expanding his Council of Ministers for the first
time since assuming the charge in 2019. The current
strength of the Council of Ministers is 53, besides
Modi, and the maximum number can be 81.
PM MODI HOLDS MEETINGS WITH
SHAH, SANTHOSH BEFORE JULY 7
LIKELY UNION CABINET EXPANSION
CRUCIAL READ
PRANAB’S SON ABHIJIT JOINS TRINAMOOL
‘ED CREATING PREJUDICES AGAINST ME’
Kolkata: Ex-President Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit
Mukherjee joined Trinamool Congress. Mukherjee said
he had full faith in Mamata Banerjee. “The way she halted
the recent communal wave by BJP, I believe she would
be able to do the same in the entire country,” he said.
Mumbai: Ex-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh
wrote to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding the
ongoing investigation against him and alleged that the
probe is not transparent. Deshmukh, who was sum-
moned by ED on Monday skipped appearance again.
‘WHY USING STRUCK
DOWN SEC OF IT ACT’
BEST TREATMENT FOR
KALYAN SINGH : MODI
New Delhi: Supreme Court
expressed shock at the
practice of police register-
ing FIRs under Section
66A of the IT Act that was
struck down in 2015.
New Delhi: PM Narendra
Modi called up former
Uttar Pradesh chief min-
ister Kalyan Singh’s son,
Rajveer Singh, to enquire
about his father’s health.
During the Maharashtra Assembly’s
monsoon session last year, 12 BJP
MLAs were suspended for one year
for allegedly misbehaving
with the presiding officer
in the Assembly
Speaker’s chamber.
YOU READ IT FIRST IN FIRST INDIA
JULY 06, 2021
Who wants your invite? Akhilesh
rubs into BJP with Jayant by side
SHAH ON DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN SPREE
Union Home Minister Amit Shah distributes pamphlets during his door-to-door campaign ahead of the
Uttarakhand Assembly elections in Rudraprayag on Friday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Yediyurappa’s
granddaughter
found dead
New Delhi: The Centre
appointedVenkatraman
Anantha Nageswaran
as the next Chief Eco-
nomic Advisor.
Nageswaran assumed
charge on Friday
. He re-
places Krishnamurthy
Subramanian, who re-
turned to academia in
December after a three-
year tenure as CEA.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav with RLD’s Jayant
Choudhary during a press conference in Muzaffarnagar.
AKHILESH: CHOPPER DELAY FROM
DELHI TO UP WAS “CONSPIRACY”
Balance between real, virtual
lives challenges youth: Modi
V ANANTHA NAGESWARAN IS THE
NEW CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
New Delhi: Drugabuse,
misinformation and the
balance between the
real and virtual worlds,
these are the three main
challenges facing the
country’s youths today,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi said Friday
while addressing a rally
of the National Cadet
Corps (NCC).
He also asked the ca-
dets to encourage the
use of locally-manufac-
tured items.
He said that digital
technology and infor-
mation pose great op-
portunities but “there
are dangers of misin-
formation”.
HIGH LEVEL EXPERT COMMITTEE TO
REVIEW NCC: DEFENCE MINISRTY
New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence has constituted
a High-Level Expert Committee, for a comprehensive
review of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Former
Member of Parliament (MP) Baijayant Panda will be the
Chairperson of the Committee. The 15-member com-
mittee will also include Cricketer MS Dhoni and Mahi-
ndra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra as members.
Turban-clad PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh with cadets during NCC rally in New Delhi on Friday.
Akhilesh Yadav after his
helicopter was allegedly
halted from flying, at
airport in New Delhi.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
12,131
NEW
CASES
4,124
NEW CASES
IN A’BAD
30
NEW DEATHS
Philippines to
buy BrahMos
missile system
from India for
$375 million
Manila: Philippines on
Friday signed a
$374.96-million deal
with BrahMos Aero-
space Private Ltd. for
the supply of shore-
based anti-ship variant
of the BrahMos super-
sonic cruise missile.
This is the first export
order for the missile.
Tensions are high be-
tween Philippines and
China over the disputed
islands in the South
China Sea, and the cur-
rent purchase will bost
the Eastern country’s
defences.
Bengaluru: Soundar-
ya, 30, granddaughter of
the former Chief Minis-
ter BS Yediyurappa, was
found dead at her flat in
VasanthnagaronFriday
morning. The police
suspect it is a case of
suicide. She was rushed
to a private hospital,
where doctors declared
her “brought dead”.
A surgeon by profes-
sion, Dr. Soundarya is
the daughter of Yedi-
yurappa’s eldest daugh-
ter, Padma.
New Delhi/Udaipur:
Congress National Gen-
eral Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra wrote a
letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi demand-
ing to immediately bring
the dead body of Hiten-
dra Garasiya, a resident
of Udaipur who died
in Russia six months
ago, from Russia to
India. She said that the
Government of India
should take immediate
action on a very serious
matter related to human
sensibilities. Priyanka
met Hitendra’s family.
PRIYANKA
WRITES TO PM
TO BRING
UDAIPUR MAN’S
DEAD BODY
FROM RUSSIA

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2022
02
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Cen-
tral government is re-
quired to stimulate
growth and boost in-
vestment with confi-
dence from both public
and private sectors in
the Union Budget 2022,
officials from Gujarat’s
corporate houses said.
Special emphasis
should be on job crea-
tion, lifting consump-
tion & sentiments, and
building infrastructure
in the priority sectors
of education, health, ru-
ral & MSME, they said.
Mahendra Patel,
Managing Director,
Lincoln Pharmaceuti-
cals Ltd, said, “The
healthcare sector will
look for higher alloca-
tion towards produc-
tion-linked incentive
schemes to encourage
capacity expansion of
sensitive APIs, com-
plex excipients, drug
intermediates, etc. In-
terest subsidies and
restoration of weight-
ed tax deduction u/s
35(2AB) to encourage
innovation and R&D
are some of the key
measures required for
the sector. Funds allo-
cated for healthcare as
a percentage of GDP at
1.5% continue to be
lower than most devel-
oping nations.”
“The logistics indus-
try is hoping that Fi-
nance Minister Nirma-
la Sitharaman’s budget
would contain some
bold measures to in-
crease logistics compet-
itiveness and overall
infrastructure develop-
ment. On the techno-
logical front, the cen-
tral government should
pave the way for invest-
ments towards digitiza-
tion of supply chain
management,” Ajay
Mokariya, Managing
Director, Shree Maruti
Courier Services Pvt.
Ltd said, adding, “The
budget should focus on
technology, R&D, espe-
cially in the field of the
location intelligence in-
dustry. We expect the
budget to focus on in-
vesting in infrastruc-
ture. It should also pro-
pose noteworthy incen-
tives for adopting green
logistics to reduce envi-
ronmental impact.”
Prafulla Gattani, MD
& CEO Instatrade Busi-
ness Venture Group,
said, “Government
must bring more dis-
posable money into the
system to drive con-
sumption. For this, the
individual IT exemp-
tion limit must be
raised to 10 lakh as this
is the bare minimum
today, considering the
present rate of inflation
of the past five years. To
boost the digital econo-
my and artificial intel-
ligence, spending on
education must be in-
creased, and exemption
on educational expens-
es must be raised to Rs1
lakh per annum as any
good institute is not
charging fees less than
this for a child. Also,
there should be a focus
on policy for alterna-
tive energy sources,
and a long-term policy
should be made to pro-
mote and reduce de-
pendency on crude.”
He added: “A large
package is required for
MSME, and the defini-
tion of MSME must be
raised to an investment
of Rs100 crore. Spend
on infrastructure must
continue for a better
and stronger India, and
all construction mate-
rial must be brought
into the GST limit of
12% instead of 18%.”
Guj-based corporates have high hopes from Union Budget 2022
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Special emphasis should be on job
creation, lifting consumption &
sentiments, and building
infrastructure in the priority sectors
The MSME sector has been hit badly by the pandemic. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Guja-
rat Mineral Develop-
ment Corporation Ltd
hasannounceditsfinan-
cial results for the third
quarterandninemonths
ended December 31.
In its third-quarter
results for the financial
year 2022, GMDC posted
a profit (before tax) of
Rs220 crore The com-
pany reported its best
quarter this year with a
revenue of Rs764 crore.
During the year 2021-
22, lignite production at
the public-sector firm’s
Bhavnagar mines
achieved was 12.86 lakh
MT, an increase of 7.92
lakh MT, as against 4.94
lakh MT in 2020-21.
The production target
of lignite for the year
2021-22 is 86.83 lakh MT
andGMDChasachieved
65.64 lakhs MT as of
January 23 and is ex-
pected to reach around
80 lakh MT for the year
2021-22,anincreaseof 20
lakh MT compared to
2020-21., i.e., 33.34 %
compared to last year.
In December, the pro-
duction achieved was
8.42 lakh MT which is
the highest production
achieved during the
month of December
over the last four years.
The production stood
highest at 22.16 lakh MT
in the third quarter,
which is also the highest
productionachieveddur-
ing similar comparable
quarters of the past four
years. Its revenue from
operations was Rs725
crore and profit after tax
stood at Rs150 crore. The
company’s earnings per
share were Rs4.71.
Commenting on the
financial performance
of the company Roop-
want Singh, IAS, Man-
aging Director, GMDC
said, “GMDC’s finan-
cial performance re-
flects its robust infra-
structure as the coun-
try's largest merchant
seller of lignite. This is
a validation of the com-
pany's collaborative ap-
proach to business
transformation.”
GMDC market capitalization
increases to `3,534.57 crore
Post highest-ever
quarterly revenue
of `764 cr
GMDC is one of India’s biggest mining firms. —FILE PHOTO
BJP DECLARED `4,847.33 CR
ASSETS IN 2019-20, ADR SAYS
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Members
of the Bharatiya Janata
Party declared assets
worth Rs4,847.78 crore,
the Association for
Democratic Reforms
has revealed in a report
released on Friday
. The
reportisbasedonADR’s
analysis of assets and
liabilities of national
and regional parties in
financial year 2019-20.
According to the
analysis, the total as-
sets declared by the
seven national and 44
regional parties during
the financial year
amounted to Rs6,988.57
crore and Rs2,129.38
crore, respectively
.
BJP’s assets account
for 69.37% of total as-
sets declared by all the
parties. Meanwhile,
BSP came in a distant
second with assets of
Rs698.33 crore (9.9%),
followed by the Con-
gress with Rs588.16
crore (8.42%), accord-
ing to the poll reforms
advocacy group.
Among the 44 regional
parties, the assets of the
top10partieswerecumu-
lativelyworthRs2,028.715
crore--95.27%of thetotal.
In fiscal 2020, among the
regional parties, the
highest assets were de-
claredbytheSamajwadi
Party at Rs563.47 crore
(26.46%), followed by
TRS at Rs301.47 crore
and the AIADMK at
Rs267.61 crore.
Fixed Deposits/FDR
constituted the largest
share of Rs1,639.51
crore (76.99%) of the to-
tal assets declared by
regional parties.
Under the FDR/Fixed
Deposits category for
the financial year, the
BJP and the BSP de-
clared Rs3,253.00 crore
and Rs618.86 crore, the
top two among all na-
tional parties, while the
Congress declared
Rs240.90 crore.
Regional political par-
ties such as the SP
(Rs434.219 crore), TRS
(Rs256.01 crore), AIAD-
MK (Rs246.90 crore),
DMK (Rs162.425 crore),
Shiv Sena (Rs148.46
crore) and BJD
(Rs118.425 crore) de-
clared highest assets un-
derFDR/FixedDeposits.
The total liabilities de-
clared by the seven na-
tional and 44 regional
parties for FY 2019-20
amounttoRs134.93crore.
“National political
parties declared total li-
abilities of Rs74.27
crore in FY 2019-20. Na-
tional Parties declared
Rs4.26 crore under ‘bor-
rowings’ and Rs70.01 cr
under ‘other liabilities’.
Congress declared the
highest total liabilities
of Rs49.55 crore
(66.72%) followed by
AITC that declared
Rs11.32 crore (15.24%),”
the ADR said.
Regional political
parties declared total li-
abilities of Rs60.66 crore
in FY 2019-20, it said.
ACCOUNTS FOR 69.37% OF ALL
ASSETS ACROSS NAT’L PARTIES
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Hemant
Shah, President of the
Gujarat Chamber of
Commerce and Indus-
try, said that there are
huge opportunities in
India's toy industry. He
lauded the initiative
taken by the Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS)
to ensure the safety
and quality of toys. He
also mentioned the
problem faced by the
toy industry owing to
BIS certification made
mandatory on toys and
suggested that toy re-
tailers should be given
some time to empty
their existing stock.
A seminar on BIS
Law and its application
on toys was jointly or-
ganized by GCCI and
the Ahmedabad Toy
Association. Given the
nCoV epidemic, par-
ticipants also joined
through a virtual plat-
form. Shah delivered
the welcome address
and also, informed
them about UEEE and
its activities.
As per data available
under Udyog Aadhaar
Memorandum, there
are 8,366 registered MS-
MEs in India under the
National Industrial
Classification Code
2008 (NIC 2008) for toy
manufacturing.
With the Toys (Qual-
ity Control) Order com-
ing into effect--all toys
and materials designed
or intended for use in
play by children below
14 years of age are to
be certified by BIS. The
certification is neces-
sary to be eligible to
sell in India and, the
absence of such certifi-
cation will entail crim-
inal liability under the
BIS Act, 2016, includ-
ing imprisonment and
substantial fines.
‘Give retailers time to empty toy stocks’
In a seminar on
BIS Laws, GCCI
president Hemant
Shah cleared the
air on mandatory
BIS certificate
FOR THE PEOPLE
The Congress party on Friday dedicated three ambulance vans—Indira Gandhi ICUs on
Wheels—and three "Indira Gandhi" mobile clinics, under the Gujarat Relief Committee. On
the occasion, Dr Raghu Sharma, the party's Gujarat in-charge said the vans and clinics would
serve the needy in the state's hinterland. Sharma recalled his tenure as health minister of
Rajasthan and narrated how the state set an example tacking the COVID-19 pandemic.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Acourt-
appointed joint task
force (JTF) has found
that not a single efflu-
ent treatment plant
(ETP) is working ef-
fectively in the state.
Following the revela-
tion, the High Court
division bench of Jus-
tices JB Pardiwala
and Vaibhavi Nana-
vati noted that it is not
advisable to permit
industries to dis-
charge effluent into
sewage systems.
“These industries are
only interested in dis-
charging effluent but
are least concerned
aboutpeople'shealth,”
the bench observed.
The bench is hear-
ingasuomotupetition
on pollution in the Sa-
barmati river due to
non-functional Sew-
age Treatment Plants
(STP),duringwhichit.
During the hearing, it
came to the notice of
the court that indus-
trial units were dis-
charging untreated ef-
fluents in violation of
standard norms.
Coming down heav-
ily on the Gujarat Pol-
lution Control Board
(GPCB), the court
asked why it has not
acted so far.
TheJTFreportstates
that not a single ETP
has its own laboratory
totesteffluentsandthat
ETPs are using PSC to
treat effluent, thus
causing more harm to
the environment. Fur-
ther, industries have
beendischargingefflu-
ent directly into sew-
age lines.
The court has asked
civic bodies to contin-
ue its action against
industries that are
discharging untreated
effluents and to ap-
proach the court if
they face any pressure
from politicians or
any other forces.
Not a single ETP working
effectively, JTF tells HC
‘ALLOW ADVOCATES TO WORK PART TIME’
Advocate Paresh Jani has requested the Bar Council
of Gujarat to allow advocates to do part-time jobs
other than legal practice, since many advocates’
incomes have been badly affected due to the pan-
demic, making it hard to make ends meet. Notably,
such part-time work is illegal for practising advo-
cates under the Advocates Act.

GUJARAT
03
GUJ SEES 12,131 CASES,
30 DEATHS IN 24 HOURS
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Gujarat
recorded 12,131 new
COVID-19 infections
and 30 deaths in the
last 24 hours, the state
health department
said on Friday
.
The caseload rose to
11,32,791 and death toll
reached 10,375. During
the same period, 22,070
persons recovered from
COVID-19, taking the
tally of recoveries to
10,14,501. The rate of re-
covery now stands at
89.56%.
Ahmedabad city re-
corded the highest num-
ber of new infections at
4,046. It was followed by
Vadodara city (1,999 cas-
es), Rajkot city (958), and
Surat city (628).
As per data available
on the state govern-
ment’s COVID-19 dash-
board, nearly 1.20 lakh
COVID-19testsarebeing
conducted everyday
.
Gujarat’s positivity
rate now stands at
10.67%.
At present Gujarat
has 1,07,915 active cases,
of which only 297 pa-
tients are on ventilator
while the rest are stable.
As many as 9.73 crore
doses of anti-COVID-19
vaccines have been ad-
ministeredinthestateso
far, including 1.94 lakh
doses on Friday
, an offi-
cial said.
Night curfew im-
posed in 27 cities in Gu-
jarat from 10 pm to 6
am in a bid to curb the
pandemic has been ex-
tended till February 4,
The decision to ex-
tend the date of the
night curfew was taken
by Chief Minister Bhu-
pendra Patel during a
core committee meeting
in Gandhinagar, a re-
lease said.
Shops, shopping
complexes, marketing
yards, salons, spas and
beauty parlours, etc.,
are allowed to operate
till 10 pm, while home
delivery of food from
hotels and restaurants
is allowed 24 hours.
Casesfallingslightlybutcautiousgovtextendsnightcurfewin27cities,towns
A medic tests a child for COVID-19 at Ahmedabad’s Prabhat Chowk. —FILE PHOTO
COVID-19 UPDATE
10,14,501
TOTALRECOVERED
22,070 MORE
IN A DAY
11,32,791
TOTAL CASES
12,131 CASES
IN A DAY
4,124 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
10,375
TOTAL DEATHS
1,79,915
30 DEATHS
IN A DAY
MORE CURFEW
Rajkot: At around 11:20 am on
Friday, two city bus drivers,
Divyesh Ghanshyam Malan and
Vijay Kapdi, near the Malaviya
chowk crossroads, got in an argu-
ment with an elderly man on a
motorbike. Kapdi even slapped
him a couple of times. Although
the elderly person went away, po-
lice inspector of A division CJ
Joshi followed the buses and ar-
rested the drivers from Limda
chowk. “Both Malan and Kapdi
have been arrested, and the police
have become the complainants.
We have also written to RMC and
the private agency managing the
city bus staff for misbehaviour in
public,” said Joshi to First India.
Vadodara: Thieves break into
DabhoiBJPMLAShaileshMehta’s
(Sotta) office but find nothing. Me-
hta rushed to the spot after learn-
ing about the incident and also in-
formed the police. Mehta said that
burglary incidents have been on
the rise in Dabhoi taluka for some
time now. There were complaints
of theft and it is a matter of con-
cern that locks of his BJP office
were broken on Thursday. He has
referred the matter to SP and will
speak to the state Home Minister
Harsh Sanghavi too about the inci-
dent. Earlier, break-ins in five
shops were reported. He has re-
quested the police to intensify
night patrolling and catch the ac-
cused as soon as possible.
Rajkot: Against the property tax
target of around Rs300 crore
fixed by the Rajkot Municipal
Corporation for the financial
year, 2021-22, RMC has collected
Rs193 crore so far. RMC assistant
tax commissioner Haresh Kag-
athara confirmed with First In-
dia, “This year a total of Rs75.86
crore worth of property tax is
pending from government bodies.
Last year, the target was Rs245
crore and, we were able to achieve
Rs189 crore. We are hopeful we
will achieve the target by March-
end. A special recovery cell was
set up a few days ago and, 36 peo-
ple are employed who will only
focus on tax collection.”
Surat: The town planning de-
partment of Surat Municipal
Corporation on Friday surveyed
the illegal encroachments in the
SMC made shops and in the pro-
cess, 33 shops were sealed. A to-
tal of 44 shops were set up in the
shopping complex at Kosad
Awas. Three of these shops were
officially allotted by the corpora-
tion. But when the municipal
team investigated, they found
illegal encroachment in all other
shops. Executive Engineer NZ
Ganeshwala said some anti-so-
cial elements had illegally en-
tered the shopping centre of
Kosad Awas and had started
their businesses in these shops.
CITY BUS DRIVERS WHO SLAPPED SENIOR
CITIZEN, ARRESTED
THIEVES BREAK INTO DABHOI MLA OFFICE
`75 CR PROPERTY TAX
OUTSTANDING IN RAJKOT
SMC SEALED 33 SHOPS
IN KOSAD AWAS
CRUCIAL READ
14WORKERSLOSTLIVESDURING
CONSTRUCTION IN 7 YRS: CONGRESS
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Frequent
incidents of bridge acci-
dents/construction
breakdowns in Gujarat
endanger the lives of
millions of citizens of
Gujarat, said Manish
Doshi, chief spokesper-
son of Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee.
However, the criminal
silence of the BJP gov-
ernment’s road-building
departmentandtheBJP-
ruled corporation in the
whole incident is worri-
some, he further added.
“Why is the BJP gov-
ernment silent on this
sensitive issue? Why are
they awarding contracts
worth crores of rupees,
including bridge con-
struction? In return,
these companies fund
crores of rupees in the
elections to BJP
. In the
last seven years, two ci-
vilians were killed and
more than 15 seriously
injured in bridge con-
struction/accidents,” he
said.
Even after the fre-
quent bridge accidents
in the state, the BJP
government is reluc-
tant to act against the
officers and the con-
tractor. “Why was a
blacklisted company
given the work of build-
ing the bridge even in
the serious incident of
bridge accident/con-
struction breakdown in
Shantipura in
Ahmedabad? The peo-
ple of Gujarat want an-
swers from the chief
minister,” said Doshi.
The Congress de-
manded an immediate
and impartial inquiry to
find those responsible
and concrete action be
taken for incidents that
occurredinAhmedabad,
Surat,Rajkot,Vadodara,
Mehsana, among other
districts.
Two workers died and one was injured after they were buried in a cave-in at Naranpura area in
Ahmedabad on Friday, during redevelopment work. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
BOOZEPARTYBUSTED;FORMER
CONGRESSMLA&7OTHERSARRESTED
First India Bureau
Kheda: Kheda town po-
lice on Thursday night
carried out a raid in the
Katakpura Bhatia Laat
area and arrested eight
people enjoying a booze
party
.Oneof theaccused
isformerCongressMLA
Gautam Chauhan.
Accordingtothecrim-
inalcomplaintlodgedby
constable Paresh Barot
with the Kheda Town
Policestation,thesenior
police Sub-Inspector HR
Prajapati had received
informationthatabooze
party was underway be-
hindtheShreejiTraders
Godown in Katakpura
Bhatia Laat area. The
policeteamcarriedouta
raid and found four peo-
plesittingaroundatable
with alcohol-filled glass-
es and IMFL bottles.
On the other table,
four more people were
sitting with alcohol
glasses. Police have re-
covered three bottles of
IMFL with 200ml each
and three bottles of soft
drinks.Allaccusedwere
under the influence of
alcohol. Police have re-
covered Rs12 lakh worth
of carsandmobilesfrom
eight accused and have
registered a case under
various sections of the
GujaratProhibitionAct.
Former Congress MLA Gautam Chauhan and other co-accused in
Kheda town police custody.
Here comes the sun: Guj to see
slightly warmer days this week
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
biting cold could
soon bid Gujarat
adieu, with the In-
dia Meteorological
Department pre-
dicting slightly
warmer weather
for the state. The
temperatures in
most cities will rise
by two to three de-
grees, the IMD said
in its bulletin on
Friday.
The average mini-
mum temperature in
Naliya on Thursday
night was six degrees
below normal at 5.2 °C
on Thursday night.
Yellow Alert is fore-
cast by the weather
department in Naliya
for Saturday. The me-
teorological depart-
ment said, “The aver-
age minimum tem-
perature in the state
will rise by 3 °C from
Friday. After this, the
minimum tempera-
ture is not likely to
change.”
According to the
meteorological de-
partment, the maxi-
mum temperature in
Ahmedabad fell by 3.7
°C to hit 25.5 °C, while
the minimum tem-
perature registered
was 10.0 °C—a whop-
ping 10.9 °C below
normal for this time
of the year.
Notably
, this is the
firsttimeineightyears
that Gujarat has expe-
riencedacoldJanuary
.
Earlier, in Decem-
ber 2013 and January
2014, 30 out of 62 days
were cold.
Even then, Naliya
had record an average
minimum tempera-
ture of around 11 °C,
while Ahmedabad av-
eragedaround14-15°C.
Homeless people huddle
against the cold on a
pavement in Ahmedabad,
where the temperature fell
to 10 °C on Thursday night.
DOLLOP
OF
CUTENESS
Well-fed, sheltered and
free, weeks-old puppies
gambol in the sand, at
a construction site in
Dholka, on the outskirts
of Ahmedabad, while their
mother keeps a watchful
eye from a distance, out
of the frame—a reminder
to take time out for some
fun no matter how hard
the day may be.
—PHOTO BY
HANIF SINDHI
City bus driver Vijay
Kapdi who slapped
the elderly person.
City bus driver Dinesh
Malan who initiated
the argument.

l Vol 3 l Issue No. 64
l RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita Hada
Sangwan on behalf of First Express
Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Published at
D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium
Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka,
Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
He who experiences the unity of
life sees his own Self in all beings,
and all beings in his own Self,
and looks on everything with
an impartial eye.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
Over 1 crore #PrecautionDose
administered to frontline workers
and eligible senior citizens in a span
of 19 days. Under the leadership
of PM @narendramodi ji, the
#LargestVaccineDrive is strengthening
India’s fight against #Covid19 with
speed and scale.
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
The stopping of works against the
Constitution and democracy of the
Maha Vikas Aghadi government by the
Hon’ble Supreme Court is the victory
of truth. I congratulate all the 12 MLAs.
The BJP will continue to raise its voice
against the unconstitutional activities
of the Maharashtra government.
TOP TWEETS
RAHUL VS TWITTER
AS CONG SCION’S
FOLLOWERS REMAIN
LARGELY STATIC
ith the social media
reach playing a cru-
cial role in political
and other spheres Ra-
hul Gandhi has rea-
son to ask Twitter if it was “un-
wittingly complicit” in curbing
free speech in India. The Con-
gress leader claims that the num-
berof hisfollowershasremained
static since August last year. His
followersonthesocialmediahan-
dle have totalled around 20 mil-
lion while those of Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi touched over
70 million last year. In the first
seven months of 2021 the Con-
gress scion was adding “nearly
400,000newusersamonth.Rahul,
whohasbeenthemostoutspoken
criticof theprimeminister,natu-
rallysuspectsagovernmenthand
in the sudden plummeting of
numbers.Twitterrespondedwith
the explanation that it removes
millions of accounts each week
for violating its policies, manipu-
lation or spam.
One doesn’t know if other ac-
count holders have complained
about such huge fluctuations in
their followers. At least no one
fromthegovernmenthasflagged
the issue.
W
welve BJP legisla-
tors who were
suspended during
the Monsoon Ses-
sion of the Maha-
rashtra Assembly last year
for misbehaving with the
Speaker in his chamber have
got relief from the Supreme
Court which found the
12-month suspension order
“arbitrary
, illegal and uncon-
stitutional”. The Supreme
Court’s judgment has come
as a shot in the arm for the
BJP which described the ver-
dict as a slap on the Shiv Se-
na-led Maharashtra Vikas
Aghadi government. The Su-
preme Court ruled that an
MLA cannot be suspended
beyond the duration of a ses-
sion. The MLAs had chal-
lenged their suspension on
principles of natural justice
and violation of Article 14 of
the Constitution.
After the apex court’s order
reinstating the suspended
MLAs, Chief Minister Deven-
dra Fadnavis demanded an
apologyfromthestategovern-
ment. Maharashtra’s Minori-
ty Development Minister
Nawab Malik said, “After the
legislature secretariat re-
ceives the Supreme Court
judgmentcopy
,itwillexamine
it and the Speaker will take
the final decision. It is not just
a question of Maharashtra,
but of Parliament, of Assem-
blies across the country
.”
Malik was hinting at a ju-
risdictional tussle between
the judiciary and the legisla-
ture which this verdict could
lead to. Section 2 of Article
212 of the Indian Constitu-
tion states, “No officer or
member of a Legislature of a
State in whom powers are
vested by or under this Con-
stitution for regulating pro-
cedure or the conduct of
business, or for maintaining
order, in the Legislature shall
be subject to the jurisdiction
of any court in respect of the
exercise by him of those pow-
ers.” The government may
rely on this provision.
SC JUDGEMENT A SHOT
IN THE ARM FOR BJP
The Supreme Court’s
judgment has come as a
shot in the arm for the
BJP which described the
verdict as a slap on the
Shiv Sena-led
Maharashtra Vikas
Aghadi government
T
ith no immediate solution de-
spite the high-level negotia-
tions between the US Secre-
taryof State,AntonyBlinken,
and the Russian Foreign
Minister,Sergey Lavorov, the
Russian- Ukrainian standoff
on the borders has caused
worldwide concern.
Earlier, India, though hav-
ing close relations with
Ukraine and Russia, has de-
cided to remain neutral on
the ongoing crisis. India is
quite aware of the western
policy that NATO has violat-
ed its earlier promise that it
would not use Ukraine as a
NATO’s Trojan Horse to un-
dermine Russia’s strategic
interests in the region.The
sudden resignation of the
German Navy Chief, Kay-
Achim Schoenbach, who has
expressed reservation about
the anti-Russian policy also
indicates that NATO is di-
vided on this issue.
Earlier, he had told an in-
teractive session of a defence
think tank in New Delhi, that
the west, including Germany
,
and India need Russia to
counter China in the geo-pol-
itics. It caused uproar among
the NATO powers finally forc-
ing him to quit, but he did not
withdraw his comment.
India’s cool response to
mediate us natural, because
a similar suggestion from the
European Union had re-
ceived an aggressive re-
sponse from Russia.
Interestingly
,if theUSPres-
ident, Joe Biden, decides to
dumptheadviceof theformer
USSecurityAdvisor,Zbigniew
Brezeninski, that a stable
Ukraine as “counterweight”
to Russia, the NATO-Russian
confrontation can end. The
Russian are keen to have a Eu-
ropean identity
.the western
powers are keen to lure
Ukraine to their camp for
endingtheRussiainfluencein
theEurasianregion.However,
in his new aggressive ‘avtar’
the Russian President,
Vladimir Putin, is taking no
chances, and has been follow-
ing the Primkov Doctrine.
YevgenyMaksimovichPrima-
kov, a former prime minister,
had scripted the doctrine. He
was convinced that the west-
ernpowerswouldneveradjust
Russia in Europe or NATO.
It means that both Biden
and the Russian President
Vladimir Putin have to un-
shackle the past.The USA
cannot afford another pro-
tracted war. These two world
powers have to reinvent their
strategies, especially when
China has emerged as the
economic Superpower. In the
next two decades, it might
also surpass both the USA
and Russia in military might.
The outcome of the conflict
may embolden the Chinese
President, XI Jinping, for big-
ger roles in the geo-politics.
The first agenda in the on-
going US-Russian talks is
that the NATO powers would
not provoke Ukraine to can-
cel the lease of the warm wa-
ter port, Sevastopol. It was
renewed in 2010 allowing
Russia to deploy it’s Black
Sea fleet till 2042.
Itappearsthathehasadopt-
ed the Primkov Doctrine that
Russia must form an alliance
with China and India for play-
ing a decisive role in geo-poli-
tics. However, the USA has
already faded that the new
triangular Superpowers com-
prising the USA, China and
Russia have emerged on the
global horizon.
The American invincibili-
ty became much more pro-
nounced during the past two
years (2020-21), when the
Covid-19 pandemic hit the
world. It, however, was not
expected that this decline
would snow-ball in to a ‘pa-
thetic’ surrender of the US-
led western powers in Af-
ghanistan on August 15, 2021.
In the new triangular play
of geo-politics, Russia is keen
to have a three-power alliance
comprising Russia, India and
China (RIC) for strategic and
economic stability
. It is a part
of the Primakov Doctrine.
The growing understand-
ing between Russia and India
mightsoonropeinChina.The
RICisexpectedtomaterialize,
especially following the grow-
ing Russian assertion in Cen-
tral Asia. The Chinese deci-
sion not to claim Vlodistok,
the Russian port in the far-
east,andthewithdrawalof its
comment against the the Rus-
sian forces in Kazakhstan are
indicative of the new situa-
tion. The Chinese newspaper,
Global Times, which had crit-
icized the Russian action in
Kazakhstan not only with-
drew it’s comment, it also ten-
dered apology
The American penetration
in the region, which once be-
longed to the USSR is not ac-
ceptable to Putin. Meanwhile,
the Russian’s strategy has
been to implement the Prim-
kov Doctrine. The trust being
built during the era of US
President Barack Obama has
been lost.Do the Americans
have a counter strategy? It’s
profit-crazy business corpo-
rates have amassed wealth by
using cheap efficient labour-
ers of China, which is the
world’s industrial hub. Biden
under the pressure of the big
business is unable to have a
long-term perspective accom-
panied by well-defined goals.
It is doubtful whether he
would be able to delink the
priorities of the with those of
it’s military-industrial estab-
lishment. Therefore, the In-
dian reluctance in playing the
role of a mediator is natural.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
THE WEST SEEKS INDIAN
MEDIATION IN THE UKRAINE CRISIS
INDIA IS RELUCTANT
W
The American invincibility
became much more
pronounced during the past
two years (2020-21), when
the Covid-19 pandemic hit
the world. It, however, was
not expected that this
decline would snow-ball
in to a ‘pathetic’ surrender
of the US-led western
powers in Afghanistan on
August 15, 2021

z The US Secretary of
State, Antony Blinken, has
stated that “ we are in seri-
ous diplomatic path” for re-
solving the Russian-Ukraine
standoff. Similar senti-
ments were recently echoed
in Moscow by the Russian
envoy, Dmitry Kozak, that
within next two weeks talks
will be held in Berlin for
resolving the issue.

z Meanwhile, the Defence
Minister of Canada, Anita
Anad, will soon be visiting
Latvia and Ukraine, to reas-
sure the two countries of
the Wests’ support.

z The two women mem-
bers of the Congress, both
belonging to the Democratic
Party, Pramila Jaipal and
Barbara Lee have asked that
President Biden, should be
given adequate space for
negotiating peace.
GOPAL MISRA
The writer is accredited as a journalist
of long and distinguished service with
the Press Information Bureau of the
Information and Broadcasting Ministry

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

CRUCIAL READS
Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday stated
that the Maharashtra government’s decision to allow the
sale of wine in supermarkets and walk-in stores would
boost farmers’ income.
“Wine is not liquor. If wine
sale increases, farmers will
benefit from it. We’ve done
this to double farmers’ in-
come,” said Raut. Hitting out
at the BJP for criticizing the
state government’s decision, Raut said, “BJP only op-
poses but does nothing for farmers. Mallikarjun Kharge
has said it right. BJP has sold the public sector.”
WINE IS NOT LIQUOR, SALE WILL DOUBLE
FARMERS’ INCOME, SAYS SANJAY RAUT
Gurdaspur (Punjab): A BSF personnel sustained bul-
let injury while resisting armed smugglers in Punjab’s
Gurdaspur along the International Border on Friday. The
incident led to the seizure
of drugs, arms, and am-
munition. “As suspected,
smugglers both inside Indian
territory between Border Post
No 33/06 and 33/07 were
observed while engaging in
illegal activity, taking cover of dense fog at about 5.15 am,
alert BSF team comprising Head Constable Gyan Singh and
Constable Raju Biswas challenged them,” said the force.
BSF MAN INJURED IN ENCOUNTER WITH
SMUGGLERS IN PB; DRUGS, ARMS SEIZED
PROBE LAUNCHED ON
INDIAN FAMILY THAT
FROZE TO DEATH IN USA
New York/Toronto: Days af-
ter a family of four Indians
from Gujarat was found
dead near the Canada/US
border, Canadian authori-
ties are investigating how
they travelled to the border
and is asking people to
think about what they
“went through” and share
any info they may have.
Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel
and his 3 family members
were found frozen to death
near Emerson, Manitoba.
ARMY AIRCRAFT
CRASHES IN BIHAR’S
GAYA, PILOTS SAFE
Gaya (Bihar): An aircraft
of Indian Army crashed
on Friday in Bihar’s Gaya
shortly after take-off,
informed Army officials.
According to the officials,
both the pilots in the air-
craft are safe. “An aircraft
of the Indian Army’s Offic-
ers’ Training Academy in
Gaya, Bihar today crashed
soon after taking off dur-
ing training. Both the pilots
in the aircraft are safe,”
said Army officials.
INDIA
05
‘Fresh review of Mullaperiyar Dam’s safety required to be undertaken’
New Delhi: A fresh re-
view of the safety of
126-year-old Mullaperi-
yar dam is now due and
is required to be under-
taken, the Central Wa-
ter Commission (CWC)
and the supervisory
committee have told the
Supreme Court.
Theapexcourtisseized
of pleas raising issues
pertaining to the dam,
whichwasbuiltin1895on
the Periyar river in Iduk-
ki district of Kerala.
In a status report
filed in the top court,
the CWC and the super-
visory committee have
said that aspects per-
taining to the safety of
dam were carried out
during 2010 to 2012 by
the empowered commit-
tee constituted under
the directions of the
apex court in 2010.
It said the empow-
ered committee, based
upon the investigations,
tests and studies car-
ried out by apex nation-
al organisations and
specialist expert agen-
cies, had arrived at a
conclusion that Mulla-
periyar dam was found
to be safe in all respects
-- hydrologically, struc-
turally and seismically
.
The status report said
that in addition to the
study conducted by the
empowered committee,
thesupervisorycommit-
tee had also visited the
Mullaperiyar dam dur-
ing the annual meetings
held at the project site.
Till date, 14 meetings
of supervisory commit-
tee have been held, the
last one being on Febru-
ary 19, 2021, it said.
In the minutes of
meeting of 9th, 10th,
11th, 12th, 13th and 14th
meetings of superviso-
ry committee, it has
been recorded that over-
all condition of the dam
and its appurtenant
structure, based upon
visual inspection, is
found to be satisfactory
,
the status report said.
However, a fresh re-
view of the safety of the
Mullaperiyar Dam is
now due and is required
tobeundertaken,itsaid.
The status report
said that in a recent
meeting of the supervi-
sory committee held on
December 8, 2021, Kera-
la had expressed dis-
pleasure on the erratic
spillway shutter opera-
tion at the Mullaperiyar
reservoir and the re-
lease downstream by
the state of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu submit-
ted that as the rainfall
data was made available
to them by Kerala on
daily basis and not on
an hourly basis as envis-
aged from installing te-
lemetry system, they
don’t have sufficient
time for making deci-
sions in advance, it said.
—PTI
WhenwillIndiagettheland
Chinahasoccupied:Rahul
New Delhi: After the
Chinese People’s Liber-
ation Army handed
over the 19-year old Mi-
ran Taron to the Indian
Army at Wacha-Damai
interaction point in
Arunachal Pradesh on
Thursday, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi on
Friday said that it is
comforting to know
that China has returned
Taron, while question-
ing the Centre on the
return of “the land
which China has occu-
pied”.
“It was comforting to
know that China has re-
turned Miram Taron.
When will India get the
land which China has
occupied, Prime Minis-
ter?” the Congress lead-
er tweeted (roughly
translated from Hindi)
tagging his previous
post dated January 23
urging the government
to bring back the
19-year-old boy. Earlier,
Rahul Gandhi had com-
mented on the incident
and tweeted, “If there is
a government, then do
your duty. Bring back
Miram Taron! Bring
back #MiramTaron!”
The Chinese People’s
Liberation Army hand-
ed over the 19-year old
Miran Taron to the In-
dian Army at Wacha-
Damai interaction
point in Arunachal
Pradesh on Thursday, a
week after the teenager
went missing. —ANI
CONG TO RAISE FARMERS’ ISSUE, AIR INDIA
DISINVESTMENT DURING BUDGET SESSION
Rahul Gandhi
Om Birla reviews preparations at Parliament
New Delhi: Ahead of
the commencement of
the Budget Session, Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Bir-
la reviewed the prepara-
tions at the Parliament
premises on Friday
.
The Lok Sabha Speak-
er has also
called an all-
party meet on
January 30
ahead of the commence-
ment of the Budget Ses-
sion of the Parliament.
In this customary
meeting, floor leaders
of various political par-
ties will be present to
discuss the smooth
functioning of the Par-
liament session under
the chairmanship of
the Lok Sabha Speaker.
On January 30 at 3:00
pm, the government
has called for an all-
party meeting with
leaders from
the Lok Sab-
ha and the Ra-
jya Sabha to
discuss how to go about
the business as well as
take into concern the
opposition’s demand for
discussion.
At 5:00 pm the same
day
, the Rajya Sabha
chairmanhascalledfora
meeting of the Rajya
Sabhaleaders.Thismeet-
ing will take place virtu-
ally and will be chaired
by M Venkaiah Naidu.
The Budget Session
of Parliament will be-
gin on January 31 at 11:
00 am with the Presi-
dent of India address-
ing both houses in a
joint session following
which the economic
survey will be tabled.
Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
will present the Union
Budget at 11:00 am on
February 1 and this
time, it will be a Paper-
less Budget. —ANI
SESSION
BUDGET
'MEDIATION BILL 2021' REFERRED TO STANDING COMMITTEE'S
PUBLIC GRIEVANCES DEPARTMENT FOR EXAMINATION, REPORT
New Delhi: The ‘Mediation Bill, 2021’ has
been referred to the Department-related
Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and
Justice for examination and report, said
the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on Friday. As
per an official statement, the Bill inter-alia
proposes to encourage and promote
institutional mediation for resolution of
disputes. “To have a wider consultation
on the Bill, the Committee has decided
to invite Memoranda containing views/
suggestions from concerned Stakehold-
ers interested in the subject matter,” the
statement read. A copy of the Bill, along
with other details are available on the
website of the Rajya Sabha under the link
‘Bills with the Committee’. —ANI
Om Birla
ACTRESS SHWETA
TIWARI CHARGED
FOR REMARK ON GOD
Bhopal: Police on Friday
registered a case against
TV Actress Shweta Tiwari
for allegedly hurting reli-
gious sentiments through
her remark on God.The
case was registered against
her after MP’s Home
Minister Narottam Mishra’s
instructed city police to
investigate her remark.
Meanwhile Actress have
apologised and responded
that her remarks are taken
out of context.
IN THE COURTYARD
HC STAYS PROBE ORDER
ON 9 SAHARA GRP COS
New Delhi: The Delhi HC
has stayed an order issued
by the Centre against nine
Sahara Group of Com-
panies, in which the govt
asked the investigating
officials to submit a probe
report of the companies.
The bench of Justice D.N.
Patel and Jyoti Singh said.
PLEA IN SC SEEKS BAN ON
‘WHY I KILLED GANDHI’
New Delhi: A plea has been
filed in the SC seeking pro-
hibition of any exhibition or
publication of the film “Why
I killed Gandhi” on any OTT
platform or social media.
The petition by Sikarndar
Behl, sought to direct the
Respondents to remove all
contents of the film.
SC: STATE GOVERNMENTS OUGHT TO COLLECT DATA
New Delhi: The SC says state govts ought to collect quantifi-
able data before granting reservation in promotion to SC/ST
employees; further added that it cannot lay down new yard-
stick after Constitution bench decisions. A three-judge Bench
of Justices Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna, and BR Gavai
made these remarks while delivering its judgment on the is-
sue of the grant of reservation in promotion to the Scheduled
Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in govt jobs.
Punjab needs
‘honest CM’,
says Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal & Bhagwant Mann
Phillaur: AAP’snation-
al convenor Arvind Ke-
jriwal on Friday said
Punjab needs a CM who
isveryhonestandurged
people in the state to
choose AAP over par-
ties who have been ac-
cused of selling ‘drugs’
and ‘sand’.
“Punjab needs a hon-
est CM. On one hand,
we’ve people with alle-
gations of drugs sale,
sand mining against
them, On the other hand
there’s a honest man
who never took even 25
paise from anyone,”
said Kejriwal while
addressing a town
hall in Phillaur. —ANI
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
Ahead of UP polls,Nadda holds BJP
workers’ meeting in Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur: Ahead
of UP Assembly polls,
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) National Presi-
dent Jagat Prakash Na-
dda on Friday convened
a meeting of party
workers in Shahjahan-
pur district.
"Addressed an organ-
izational meeting with
key workers of all the
Legislative Assemblies
of the district in Shah-
jahanpur, Uttar
Pradesh," Nadda tweet-
ed. Nadda is also sched-
uled to participate in
various other programs
of the party in Bareilly
later in the day
.
In Uttar Pradesh, the
first phase polling will
be held on February 10,
the second phase on
F e b r u a r y
14, the
t h i r d
p h a s e
on Feb-
r u a r y
20. —ANI
Uttarakhand polls: CM Dhami holds
door-to-door campaign in Khatima
Khatima: Ahead of
Uttarakhand polls,
state Chief Minister
Pushkar Singh Dhami
held a door-to-door
campaign at the Mel-
ghat area of his Kha-
tima constituency on
Friday
.
Addressing the peo-
ple Dhami said, “I am
your son, your broth-
er. In the coming days,
all your problems will
be heard.” He further
stated that all the gov-
ernment plans started
by Prime Minister
Modi are for the poor.
“No other party had
worked so much for
Uttarakhand’s devel-
opment as BJP did”,
he claimed.
On Thursday, Utta-
rakhand Chief Minis-
ter Pushkar Singh
Dhami filed his candi-
dature for the Assem-
bly elections from the
Khatima Assembly
seat. Polls to elect the
70-member Uttara-
khand Legisla-
tive Assembly
are scheduled
to be held on
Feb 14. —ANI
BJP RELEASES 3RD LIST OF TWO
CANDIDATES FOR U’KHAND
Dehradun: The BJP on Friday released the third
and final list of two candidates for the Uttarakhand
Assembly polls. The BJP has fielded Kishor Upad-
hayay from Tehri and Brijbhushan Gairola from
Doiwala assembly constituencies. In a statement,
BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said,
“The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the BJP
has decided the following two names for the ensu-
ing general elections to the Legislative Assembly
of Uttarakhand.” Former Uttarakhand Congress
president Upadhayay joined the BJP on Thursday
after being expelled from the party on Wednes-
day. Upadhayay was elected twice from the Tehri
Assembly constituency in the past. In 2017, he
was denied a ticket from Tehri and fielded from the
Sahaspur Assembly constituency
in Dehradun. He lost the election
from Sahaspur.
JP Nadda Pushkar Singh Dhami
Visionary Awards 2021: Governance
Now to honour achievers today
New Delhi: Govern-
ance Now a platform for
analysisof publicpolicy
and governance from
the house of Sri Adhi-
kari Brothers will hon-
our achievers with Vi-
sionary Awards of 2021
in a virtual webinar to-
day
. The event will be at-
tended by thousands of
followers.Hon’bleUnion
Minister, Law, and Jus-
tice, GoI, Kiren Rijiju,
willpresentGovernance
Now, Visionary Awards
to7exclusivedignitaries
in different categories.
On this occasion,
BMC Commissioner,
Iqbal Singh Chahal
tweeted, “Receiving VI-
SIONARY AWARD, 2021
in the category of Best
Administrator(handling
Covid situation) in the
country
.GOVERNANCE
now is a public policy
and analysis platform
which has created its
credibility amongst the
policy makers.” —ANI
TO BE AWARDED
Anil Kapoor (Entertainment),
Ashish Chauhan (Finance),
Iqbal Chahal (Best Adminis-
tration), NP Singh (Person-
ality of the Year), Rajdeep
Sardesai (Popular Face
News - English), Shehzad
Poonawala (Political Spox of
the Year) Sudhir Chaudhary
(Popular Face News - Hindi)
Iqbal Singh Chahal

New Delhi: Union
Minister for Chemi-
cal and Fertilizers,
Mansukh Mandaviya
on Thursday virtu-
ally launched the
Research Portal of
the National Institute
of Pharmaceutical
Education and Re-
search (NIPER)."This
research portal of
NIPER will help the
MSME sector. NIPER
may connect with in-
dustries to develop a
model to fulfill the re-
quirements. Research
is very important,"
the Union Min said
while launching the
portal.He reiterated,
"This will lead to
better coordination
between industry and
NIPER and will also
give an opportunity
to know about the
research being done
by NIPER. Research
is the backbone of
the economy of many
countries. The govt of
Modi is committed to
promoting research.
MANDAVIYA
LAUNCHES
NIPER
RESEARCH
PORTAL
INDIA
06
New Delhi: Air India
was officially handed
over to the Tata Group
on Thursday, Jan 27.
The Finance and Civil
Aviation Ministry offi-
cials met with Tata
Group officials and
completed the formal
handover of Air India.
Following the hando-
ver, Civil Aviation Min-
ister Jyotiraditya Scin-
dia said that the airlines
had to be sold because
of piling debt.
He further informed
that the amount used to
pay off the flyers’ debts
can now be used for de-
velopment purposes.
Scindia, while speak-
ing about the disinvest-
ment said that the
debts had risen to lev-
els that could no longer
be sustained by the
govt. Speaking a day
after Tata group for-
mally took over the air-
line, Aviation Minister
Scindia said, “A carrier
that had a running loss
of Rs 85,000 Cr over last
14 years, was earning
losses of almost Rs 20
Cr a day.”
“If you look at it
from a substitution
point of view, the mon-
ey will be used in areas
that will give much
more gains to the econ-
omy and the country.
At the same time, the
airline is being handed
over to the private sec-
tor that will enable it to
give tremendous value
to the customer,” Scin-
dia added while reiter-
ating that the disinvest-
ment was a smart move
by the Centre. —ANI
Customers to get best value, facilities, says Scindia
ON AIR INDIA DISINVESTMENT
New Delhi: The Union
Health Minister Man-
sukh Mandaviya in a
COVID-19 review meet-
ingwithSouthernstates
and UT’s Health Minis-
ter on Friday stressed
upon e-Sanjeevani, tele-
consultation, monitor-
ing, home isolation and
increasing RT-PCR tests
in states which are re-
porting lower percent-
age testing, official
sources said.
The Union Health
Minister conducted a
high-level meeting on
Friday through video
conferencing in the
context of the Omicron
variant of SARS-CoV-2
with Health Ministers
of Southern States/
UT’s Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Telangana, Lakshad-
weep, Tamil Nadu, Pu-
ducherry and Anda-
man and Nicobar Is-
land.The meeting was
also attended by senior
health officials.
Earlier, he conducted
a high-level meeting
with nine Northern
States and UTs and ad-
vised them to send
COVID testing and vac-
cination data timely.
The Union Health Min-
ister also said that test-
ing should be ramped
up in the States where
it has gone down. He
also advised states and
UTs to ensure that
those in home isolation
are efficiently moni-
tored in line with the
National Guidelines.
According, Union
Health Minister “Dr
Mansukh Mandaviya
urged the States and
UTs to adopt the hub
and spoke model and
ensure that more and
more centres of tele-
consultation are
opened. This will ena-
ble beneficiaries to ac-
cess expert advice from
experts stationed at the
district hubs.” He also
said that e-Sanjeevani
has been able to provide
services to 2.6 core ben-
eficiaries where people
can seek medical advice
from the confines of
their homes. —ANI
HEALTHMINWARNSOFFICIALS
INCOVID-19REVIEWMEETING
MandaviyaurgedStatestoadoptthemodelforexpert’steleconsultation
Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya holds a meeting regarding preparedness for the third wave of
Covid-19 via Video conferencing. —FILE PHOTO
CBI OFFERS 50K FOR
INFO ON ACCUSED IN
BJP MURDER CASE
Kolkata : The Central
Bureau of Investigation
has announced a reward
of Rs 50,000 each on the
absconding accused in the
murder case of Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) worker
Abhijit Sarkar, said CBI DIG
Akhilesh Singh on Friday. “If
any information about the
five fugitives is given to the
Central Intelligence Agency,
the name of the informant
will be kept secret and the
cash reward will be given,”
the CBI said in a formal
advertisement on Friday.
ANDAMAN AND
NICOBAR COMMAND
INDUCTS MK III
New Delhi: In a boost
to maritime security, the
indigenous Advanced Light
Helicopter MK III aircraft
was formally inducted at
INS Utkrosh by Command-
er-in-Chief, Andaman and
Nicobar Command (CIN-
CAN), Lieutenant General
Ajai Singh, at Port Blair on
Friday. The ministry said the
induction marks a continu-
ing increase in the capabili-
ties of the AN Command
in the past two decades of
its raising as India’s only
joint theatre command.
New York: Seven Indian nationals, who entered the US illegally
and were arrested near the US/Canada border last week, will
be deported to India after they were released from US Border
Patrol’s custody. “All seven migrants who illegally entered the
US last week were administratively processed for removal and/
or placed into removal proceedings as per the Immigration and
Nationality Act,” according to a statement by the US Customs
and Border Protection. “All the migrants have been released
from Border Patrol’s custody” and ordered to report to US Im-
migration and Customs Enforcement at a later date.
Bengal: Leader of opposition in WB Assembly Suvendu
Adhikari has approached the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) saying his movement has been
repeatedly obstructed by the West Bengal Police, which is
against the ‘fundamental right’ to move free-
ly within the country.Adhikari requested
the NHRC chairperson to take appropriate
action, which would put an end to such
unconstitutional actions and reestablish
his rights. Adhikari also wrote to the West
Bengal Governor in this regard. Adhikari
mentioned that he was stopped on his way
to Netai by a huge contingent Police.
BENGALPOLICEREPEATEDLYOBSTRUCTING
MY MOVEMENT: SUVENDU ADHIKARI
CRUCIAL READ
Rijiju slams Hamid
Ansari over Hindu
nationalismremark
RRB NTPC:
Rlys forms
High Power
Committee
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister of Law and Jus-
tice Kiren Rijiju on Fri-
day countered former
Vice President Hamid
Ansari’s latest contro-
versial statement on
the atmosphere of in-
tolerance and insecu-
rity for Muslims in the
country and said that
before 2014, communal
riots and violence were
regular, but India is
more peaceful now.
Taking to the micro-
blogging platform, Riji-
ju said, “Some isolated
incidents do take place
at an individual-com-
munity level, but Indi-
an culture is always in-
clusive. Modi’s mantra
is ‘Sabka-Sath Sabka-
Vikas Sabka- Vishwas
Sabka-Prayas’.” What
Hamid Ansari Ji said is
wrong. I belong to a mi-
nority community and I
can proudly say that In-
dia is the safest nation,”
he added. Rijju also
added that the minori-
ties facing trouble in
any of India’s neighbor-
ing countries prefer to
seek refuge in India be-
cause India is safe.
“Let’s be grateful to our
great nation,” he said.
Recently, Ansari has
made a controversial
statement on Hindu na-
tionalism. Addressing
the Indian American
Muslim Council pro-
gram, Ansari had said,
“Hindu nationalism is a
matter of concern.
New Delhi: A high pow-
er committee has been
formed to look into the
concerns and doubts
raised by candidates in
regard to the 1st Stage
CBT results of CEN
01/2019 of NTPC.
RRB NTPC Recruit-
ment Update: As sev-
eral students have
raised concerns over
the recently announced
results of Indian Rail-
ways’ First Stage Com-
puter Based Test (CBT)
of Centralized Employ-
ment Notification
(CEN) 01/2019 of Non
Technical Popular cat-
egories, the Railway
Ministry has formed a
high power committee
to look into the matter.
According to a state-
ment issued by the Rail-
way Ministry, a high
power committee has
been formed to look
into the concerns and
doubts raised by candi-
dates in regard to the
1st Stage CBT results of
CEN 01/2019 of NTPC
issued by Railway Re-
cruitment Boards
(RRBs) earlier this
month on 14-15 January
2022. The committee
will look into the issues
of First Stage CBT re-
sults of CEN 01/2019
and Introduction of the
CBT-2 in CEN RRC
01/2019. —ANI
COMMENT COMBAT
Congress Leader’s ‘Tehzeeb’ dig at
Mamata over R-Day Invitations
FinMin allows 2 states
to borrow `7,309 cr
New Delhi: The fi-
nance ministry on Fri-
day granted additional
borrowing permission
of Rs 7,309 crore to two
states for undertaking
stipulated power sector
reforms. Rajasthan and
Andhra Pradesh have
been allowed to borrow
additional Rs 5,186
crore and Rs 2,123 crore,
respectively
.
“Department of Ex-
penditure has granted
additional borrowing
permission of Rs. 7,309
crore to two States for
undertaking the stipu-
lated reforms in the
power sector,” an offi-
cial statement said. The
ministry, based on the
recommendations of
the 15th Finance Com-
mission, has decided to
grant additional bor-
rowing space of up to
0.5 percent of the GSDP
to the states every year
for a four-year period
from 2021-22 to 2024-25
based on reforms un-
dertaken by them in the
power sector.
This will make avail-
able additional re-
sources of more than
Rs 1 lakh cr every year
to the states. —PTI
Kolkata: Congress
leader Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury on Thurs-
day termed the West
Bengal gov-
ernment’s
decision to
drop names
from the in-
vitee list
for Republic Day cele-
brations held at Red
Road in Kolkata as “un-
fortunate”.
Notably, it is for the
first time that Opposi-
tion leaders were not
invited to the pro-
gramme by the Mamata
Banerjee govt. Speak-
ing with media, Mr
Chowdhury said, “It is
unfortunate that govt
officials did not even
send an invite for par-
ticipation to opposition
leaders in the Republic
Day ceremony
.” Attack-
ing the Trinamool govt,
the Lok Sabha MP said,
“I don’t know on whose
behest or for what rea-
sons but I am surprised
that they celebrated the
country’s ceremony
without us.” “The cul-
ture (tehzeeb) of Bengal
does not say that the Op-
position should not be
invited. —ANI
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Fri-
day said the Tata Group's takeover of Air India is
a win-win situation for all stakeholders concerned,
adding the deal represents a huge quantum jump
in the capabilities of the country's aviation sector.
Speaking to ANI, Scindia said the deal is also a
representation of the culmination of a long process
that took almost two decades to conclude. “It also
sets in perspective a 69-year-old history which was
started on the wrong step by the nationalisation
of an airline that actually belonged to the private
sector, It is going back to the private sector,” Scin-
dia said. “We will have a player with tremendous
capabilities for international and domestic traffic a
party that probably has a game plan and strategy to
ensure the best value for our customers.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
AVIATION MINISTER SCINDIA
SAYS WIN-WIN DEAL FOR ALL
1,000‘MAKEININDIA’DRONESTOENTHRALL
AUDIENCEATBEATINGRETREATCEREMONY
Atotal of 1000 indigenous drones and new tunes will enthral the audience
during the Beating the Retreat ceremony, scheduled to take place on Jan 29
at Vijay Chowk on the foothills of Raisina Hills. The ceremony which President
Ram Nath Kovind will grace will commemorate the 75 years of India’s freedom
from the British colonial regime, being celebrated as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
The show would be of 10 minutes duration involving around 1,000 drones fabri-
cated through indigenous technology. Synchronised background music will also
be played during the drone show. “Martial musical tunes with Indian fervour will
be the flavour of the ceremony this year. A total of 26 performances will enthral.
IIT JODHPUR DEVELOPS COVID DIAGNOSIS TECHNIQUE
New Delhi: The researchers from IIT
Jodhpur have developed an automat-
ed Artificial Intelligence solution for
COVID-19 prediction from chest X-
rays.The experiment was performed
with more than 2,500 chest X-ray
images and achieved about 96.80 per
cent sensitivity. The statement issued
by IIT Jodhpur said that the research-
ers at IIT Jodhpur have proposed
a deep learning-based algorithm
called COMiT-Net, which learns the
abnormalities present in the chest X-
ray images to differentiate between a
COVID affected lung and a non-COV-
ID affected lung. The developed AI
algorithm not only predicts whether
the CXR has COVID-19 pneumonia or
not, but it is also capable of identify-
ing the infected regions in the lungs.
‘HAMID ANSARI
AS SUPPORTER
OF TUKDE-TUKDE
GANG’
Bhopal : MP Home
Minister Narottam
Mishra on Friday hit
out at former Vice
President Hamid Ansari
and said that as UP
elections are approach-
ing, the supporters of
the 'Tukde Tukde' Gang
are getting exposed.
His statement came as
a reaction to Ansari's
recent statement that
there is an atmosphere
of intolerance and in-
security for Muslims in
the country that
is extremely
unfortunate
and con-
demnable.
—ANI
Kiren Rijiju
CM lauds...
He also appreciated the
fruitful work of con-
necting the new genera-
tion with natural farm-
ing through this unit
which has given a prop-
er impetus to natural
farming as per the vi-
sion of PM Modi.
On this occasion,
Bharat Patel, Chair-
man of Bharat Biogas
Energy Ltd, briefed the
CM about the works un-
dertaken by Bharat Bi-
ogas Energy over the
past eight years in the
field of gas and fertiliz-
ers, explaining how the
overuse of chemical
fertilizers and pesti-
cides have put human
lives at stake.
FROM PG 1
7 INDIANS ARRESTED NEAR US BORDER TO
BE DEPORTED

BIZ BUZZ
07
New Delhi: The Centre
on Friday said it has de-
cidedtoconvertasmany
as 150 villages into ‘Vil-
lagesof Excellence’in12
states with technical as-
sistance from the Israel
government.
Already, the Israel
government has estab-
lished 29 Centre of Ex-
cellence (CoEs) in 12
states, which are pro-
ducing more than 25
million vegetable
plants, over 3,87,000
quality fruit plants and
can train more than 1.2
lakh farmers per year.
The 150 villages that are
located around CoEs
will be converted into
‘Villages of Excellence.’
“Out of which, 75 vil-
lages are being taken up
in the first year to com-
memorate the 75th year
of India’s independ-
ence, where India and
Israel will work togeth-
er,” Union Agriculture
Minister Narendra Sin-
gh Tomar conveyed in a
meeting with new Is-
raeli Ambassador to In-
dia Naor Gilon on Janu-
ary 27.
The minister ex-
pressed joy over the
completion of 30 years
of diplomatic relations
between India and Is-
rael and said that the
government is satis-
fied with the function-
ing of 29 CoEs, accord-
ing to an official state-
ment.
The Ambassador of
Israel, Gilon, said these
CoEs are a great exam-
ple of cooperation be-
tween the two countries
and proposed the certi-
fication of CoEs to fur-
ther enhance the stand-
ards and quality of ser-
vices being provided to
the farmers.
He also evinced inter-
est in further collabora-
tion with agri-research
body ICAR and making
available the latest tech-
nologies available with
Israel. —PTI
Indiatoconvert150villagesinto‘VillagesofExcellence’
WITH ISRAEL’S HELP
Indian village REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE
`50K cr bad debt to go to
NARCL by March end
New Delhi: State Bank
of India Chairman
Dinesh Khara on Fri-
day said the National
Asset Reconstruction
Company (NARCL) or
bad bank and India
Debt Resolution Com-
pany Ltd are ready to
commence operations
and a total of 38 NPA ac-
counts worth `82,845
crore have been identi-
fied to be transferred to
NARCL initially
.
Khara said the trans-
fer of 38 accounts will
happen in a phased
manner, and in the
phase one 15 accounts
worth `50,000 crore will
be transferred to NAR-
CL in the current finan-
cial year. “In the phase
one, about 15 accounts
aggregating to `50,000
crore are expected to be
transferred to the NAR-
CL. We are trying to
have these accounts
transferred within this
financial year after
completing all the re-
quired processes,” Kha-
ra told reporters.
He said while public
sector banks have taken
a majority stake in
NARCL, IDRCL will be
majorly owned by pri-
vate sector banks.
SBI, Union Bank of
India and Indian Bank
have picked up 13.27%
stake each in NARCL.
Explaining the ar-
rangement, Khara said
that NARCL will ac-
quire
and ag- gregate
the identified NPA ac-
counts from the banks,
while IDRCL, under an
exclusive arrangement,
will handle the debt
res- o l u -
t i o n process.
This exclusive ar-
rangement will be as
per the scope defined in
the debt management
agreement being exe-
cuted between the two
entities, he said. The ar-
rangement will be on
principal-agent basis
and final approval and
ownership for the reso-
lution will lie with the
NARCL as the princi-
pal, he added. —PTI
Adani Wilmar
IPO subscribed
1.13 times
HPCL expands
in non-fuel
retailing
Google to
invest $1 bn
in Airtel
India’s gold
demand rise
to 797.3 tons
New Delhi: The
initial public offering
of Adani Wilmar Ltd
was subscribed 1.13
times on the second
day, led by demand
from retail inves-
tors. The IPO was
subscribed 57% on
day one. The firm
is selling shares at
`218-230 apiece
in its three-day
offer—a fresh issue
of `3,600 crore. At
the upper-end price
of `230, it is seeking
a market value of
`29,887.8 crore. It
is offering 12% eq-
uity of the post-offer
equity share capital.
New Delhi: HPCL
will set up its own
chain of multi-chan-
nel retail stores at
its petrol pumps as
the retailer looks to
give a push to non-
fuel retailing. As part
of this, HPCL has
opened two more
convenio stores un-
der the brand name
'HaPpyShop'.The
new HaPpyShop
stores have been
opened at the
company's Auto
Care Centre, Bandra
West in Mumbai and
Millennium Retail
Outlet in Visakhapat-
nam, it said. —PTI
New Delhi: Internet
giant Google will
invest $1 billion in
telecom major Bharti
Airtel which includes
equity investment
as well as a corpus
for potential com-
mercial agreements,
to be identified and
agreed on mutu-
ally agreeable terms
over the course of
the next five years.
“This will com-
prise – $700 million
equity investment
in Bharti Airtel at a
price per share of
`734,” Airtel said in
a statement. —PTI
Mumbai: India’s
gold consumption
surged to 797.3
tonnes in 2021, on
the back of recovery
in consumer senti-
ments and pent-
up demand post
Covid-19-related
disruptions and the
bullish trend is set
to continue in 2022
as well. India’s total
gold demand rises
to 797.3 tonnes in
2021, registering
a massive 78.6%
jump from 446.4
tonnes during 2020.
NARCL TO START OPERATIONS
Aiming to bring net NPAs under 4.5% by March: PNB MD
New Delhi: The second
largest state-owned
lender Punjab National
Bank (PNB) is targeting
to bring down its net
non-performing assets
(NPA) below 4.5% by
March 2022 from 4.9%
currently, on the back of
`5,000 crore recovery
during the ongoing
Jan-March
quarter, MD
and CEO S S
Mallikarjuna
Rao said. The
bank is also
targeting
“on
a
conservative level”
to bring down
gross NPAs
under 12%
from 12.88%
reported in the
December
quarter.
The
lender is expecting
recoveries to the tune
`5,000 crore in the
ongoing quarter from
cases that are being re-
solved through National
Company Law Tribunal
(NCLT) and otherwise,
as well as small ac-
counts, Rao said. —PTI
RBI not behind curve
with easy policy: Patra
New Delhi: Address-
ing criticism of the RBI
being “behind the
curve” by continuing
with the accommoda-
tive stance longer than
other countries, Deputy
Governor Michael
Patra on Friday said
“the approach has
served us well”.
India is placed “much
better” to deal with fu-
ture waves of the pan-
demic as compared to
being affected the worst
in the first after the na-
tionwide lockdown, he
said, expressing con-
cerns on inflation being
elevated due to crude
prices.
It can be noted that
the RBI has been cri-
tiqued in some quarters
for being ‘behind the
curve’ by holding on to
its GDP growth-enhanc-
ing accommodative
stance, even as the
pressures on its core
objective of inflation
become evident and at a
time when many of its
peers have shifted to
rate tightening. Those
making such calls have
been suggesting that
the central bank shift
its policy stance to neu-
tral.
“Yes, there has been
criticism that RBI has
fallen behind the curve
but only time will tell
whether or not India
got it right. So
far, the ap-
p r o a c h
h a s
s e r v e d
us well
and has
h e l p e d
in chart-
ing a
course for
ourselves
into the future with a
difference to the rest of
the world, Patra said,
delivering the 18th C D
Deshmukh Memorial
Lecture organised by
Council for Social De-
velopment.
Patra said the slew of
over 100 measures tak-
en by the central bank
since the onset of the
pandemic, which in-
cluded conventional
ones like rate cuts
and also uncon-
ventional ones,
have contrib-
uted signifi-
cantly in
engineer-
ing a turna-
round in the
Indian econ-
omy
.
—PTI
SC to hear FRL plea
to extend payment
deadline on Monday
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court said it
will hear on Monday a
Future Retail Ltd
(FRL) petition seeking
an extension of the
deadline to repay a
`3,500-crore debt in-
stalment to its lenders,
which is scheduled for
later this month.
FRL had on Tuesday
approached the apex
court in a bid to stop
SBI, Bank of India,
Bank of Baroda and
HDFC Bank among
two-dozen lenders
from classifying its
outstanding debt as
non-performing assets
(NPA) if the retailer
fails to pay the instal-
ment by the deadline.
As part of a one-
time restructuring
agreed by the lenders
last year, FRL has to
sell its smaller store
networks of more
than 800 outlets in-
cluding Easyday and
Heritage among other
chains to raise `3,000
crore to pay the lend-
ers. The grace period
from the lenders for
the pay-out expires on
Jan 29.
“Let us see on Mon-
day,” Chief Justice of
India Justice NV Ra-
mana said. “We have
to hear the other side
also. Amazon is not
concerned with your
(this particular) case
but the problem is now
whatever order we are
passing is linked with
the other interim re-
lief. —Agencies
IN A BID TO STOP
LTbagsoffshorecontractfromONGC
New Delhi: Larsen
Toubro (LT) on Fri-
day said that its whol-
ly-owned arm has
bagged a large off-
shore contract from
ONGC for the seventh
development phase of
their pipeline replace-
ment projects.
This contract repos-
es ONGC’s confidence
in LT Hydrocarbon
Engineering (LTHE)
capabilities and com-
mitment to support
ONGC in strategic oil
and gas sector, and
contribute to coun-
try’s energy security
.
“LTHE, a wholly
owned subsidiary of
Larsen Toubro, has
secured a contract
from...ONGC for the
seventh development
phase of their Pipe-
line Replacement Pro-
jects (PRP-VII),” the
company said.
The contract in-
volves engineering,
procurement, con-
struction, installa-
tion and commission-
ing of 350 km subsea
pipelines and related
offshore works
spread out across
country’s west coast
offshore fields of
ONGC. —PTI
SENSEX ENDS
77 POINTS
LOWER
Mumbai: The BSE
gauge Sensex dived
nearly 900 points
from the day’s peak
to finish Friday’s
highly volatile ses-
sion 77 points lower
at 57,200, triggered by
a late sell-off mainly
in banking and auto
shares.
Starting off on a
high note, the
30-shareindexsoared
to trade briefly above
the key 58,000-level in
afternoon trade, be-
fore plunging to a low
of 57,119.28. After
fighting bouts of vol-
atility towards the
fag-end of the ses-
sion, the index final-
ly closed 76.71 points
lower at 57,200.23.
Likewise, the NSE
Nifty too swung be-
tween gains and loss-
es before ending 8.20
points down at
17,101.95.
The Sensex was
pulled lower mainly
by Maruti. —PTI
DEVAS MULTIMEDIA: AIR INDIA SEEKS TO
END $1.2-BN US CASE CITING NEW OWNER
New Delhi: Air India
Ltd is seeking to end a
case filed by Devas
Multimedia Pvt in a
US court, arguing a
recent change in own-
ership of the carrier
prevents demands
over recovery of arbi-
tration awards. The
company is seeking to
seize overseas assets
of the formerly gov-
ernment-owned flag
carrier, which was
handed over to Indian
conglomerate Tata
Sons Pvt on Thursday
The district court
in New York can dis-
miss and dispose of
Devas’ case entirely
based on Air India’s
request, or it can iden-
tify remaining issues
in the case if the de-
mand is denied, ac-
cording to a filing by
the airline. —PTI
Michael Patra
SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara

29012022 first india ahmedabad

29012022 first india ahmedabad

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to 29012022 first india ahmedabad

Similar to 29012022 first india ahmedabad (20)

More from FIRST INDIA

More from FIRST INDIA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (11)

29012022 first india ahmedabad