29042022_ First India New Delhi.pdf

NCB ARRESTS ONE
WITH 50 KG OF
HEROIN IN DELHI
New Delhi: The Narcotics
Control Bureau has seized
about 50 kg of “high-qual-
ity” heroin and arrested
a man after it conducted
raids in the Shaheen Bagh
area, the federal anti-
narcotics agency said on
Thursday, claiming to have
busted an Indo-Afghan
drug-smuggling racket.
NCB Deputy Director
General (operations)
Sanjay Kumar Singh said
during a press briefing
that cash amounting to Rs
30 lakh was also seized.
The drugs were kept in
backpacks and jute bags
and were wrapped in
packets of e-commerce
major Flipkart and other
companies, he said. P2
Pradhan to launch ‘mandate document’ of
National Curriculum Framework today
New Delhi (PTI): Un-
ion Education Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan
will release a “mandate
document” listing the
development process,
structure and objectives
of the National Curric-
ulum Framework (NCF)
on Friday
, officials said.
The National Educa-
tion Policy-2020 recom-
mended the develop-
ment of NCF in four ar-
eas — school education,
early childhood care
and education (ECCE),
teacher education and
adult education.
For providing inputs
for the development of
thesecurriculumframe-
works, 25 themes based
on the perspectives of
the NEP are identified
under three categories
— curriculum and peda-
gogy, cross-cutting is-
sues, other important
areas of NEP focussing
on systemic changes
and reforms.
“The Mandate Docu-
ment describes the de-
velopment process of
the NCF, its expected
structure and objec-
tives, and some of the
basic principles from
the NEP 2020 that will
inform the develop-
ment of the four NCFs.
The NCF is being draft-
ed through a collabora-
tive and consultative
process, starting from
district to state level
and then national lev-
el,” a senior ministry
official said.
“The ‘Guidelines for
Position Papers for the
Development of the Na-
tional Curriculum
Framework’ is an inte-
gral part of this Man-
date Document. The
entire process of cur-
riculum framework is
being done in a paper-
less manner with very
wide consultation at
school, district and
state levels with the
help of a tech platform
and mobile app,” the of-
ficial added.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. —FILE PHOTO
NEW DELHI l FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 239
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Ranchi: Former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad was on Thursday released on bail
from the Birsa Munda Jail after his bail bond was paid. The RJD chief
was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court last week almost 42 weeks
after his conviction in the Doranda case.
LALU PRASAD
YADAV GETS
BAIL, RELEASED
FROM JAIL
Mumbai: Indian markets gained on Thursday, as investor sentiment improved
on optimism that the Covid-19 situation in China may not be as bad as feared.
Investors also cheered strong earnings from Meta Platforms, leading to a bounce
in technology stocks. Sensex gained 702 points and nifty ended near 17,250
MARKETS
RALLY AS GLOBAL
SENTIMENT
IMPROVES
Working on lifting AFSPA
from Northeast: Modi
Guwahati: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Thursday said the Cen-
tre was working to-
wards lifting the Armed
Forces (Special Powers)
Act [AFSPA] from the
Northeast. “For long,
many states of the
Northeast have been
under AFSPA. But in
the past eight years, be-
cause of peace and bet-
ter law and order situa-
tion on the ground, we
have lifted AFSPA from
many parts of the re-
gion,” said Modi, ad-
dressing a “Peace, Uni-
ty and Development”
rally at Diphu in As-
sam’s Karbi Anglong
district.
Earlier in the day, the
prime minister inaugu-
rated three colleges for
veterinary science and
agriculture in Diphu.
He also launched the
Amrit Sarovar Project
to rejuvenate 2,950 wa-
terbodies across the
state. Modi said that
since 2014, violent inci-
dents had reduced by 75
per cent in the region.
“That is why we were
able to lift AFSPA first
from Tripura, then
Meghalaya,” he said.
“In Assam, in the
past few years, the situ-
ation has improved so
much that AFSPA was
lifted from 23 districts,”
he said, adding that the
Centre was working to-
wards lifting the Act
from Nagaland and Ma-
nipur.
PM MODI-RATAN TATA
INAUGURATE 7 STATE-
OF-THE-ART CANCER
HOSPITALS IN ASSAM
Dibrugarh: Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi along with industrialist
Ratan Tata on Thursday inaugu-
rated seven state-of-the-art cancer
hospitals and laid the founda-
tion stone for seven new cancer
hospitals. “Today, 7 new cancer
hospitals have been inaugurated
in Assam. There was a time, even
one hospital getting opened up in
7 years was a thing to celebrate.
Times have changed now. I have
been told 3 more cancer hospitals
will be ready for your service in a
few months,” PM Modi said.
PM LAUDS
DOUBLE-ENGINE
GOVT FOR ASSAM
‘BODO ACCORD’
BROUGHT LONG-
LASTING PEACE
INSURGENCY IN NORTH EAST
REDUCED BY 80 PERCENT: MHA
Diphu: PM lauded the
double-engine govern-
ment for the development
of northeast regions.
“Today, the double-engine
government is developing
the nation with the mantra
of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka
Vikas’,” he said.
Diphu: PM Modi hailed
the Bodo Accord, saying it
has brought “long-lasting
peace” to Assam. “Last
year, several organisa-
tions from Karbi Anglong
joined the resolve for
peace and development.
Bodo Accord opened new
doors for lasting peace in
2020,” said PM Modi in
Assam.
New Delhi: Incidents of insurgency in the north-
eastern states reduced by 80 per cent in the last
eight years while casualties of security forces
went down by 75 per cent and civilian deaths by
99 per cent, an official report said. According to
the annual report of the MHA, the security situ-
ation in the northeastern states has improved sub-
stantially since 2014 and the year 2020 recorded
the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties
among the civilians and security forces during the
last two decades.
“Modi’s Federalism is not
cooperative. It’s coercive”
Rahul attacks PM over fuel price issue
New Delhi: Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi
on Thursday accused
PM Narendra Modi of
“abdicating responsi-
bility” by ‘blaming’
states for the inflation
despite the Centre tak-
ing 68 per cent of all
fuel taxes.
“High Fuel prices –
blame states. Coal
shortage – blame
states. Oxygen short-
age – blame states,”
Gandhi wrote. “68 per
cent of all fuel taxes
are taken by the centre.
Yet, the PM abdicates
responsibility. The PM
abdicates responsibili-
ty. Modi’s Federalism
is not cooperative. It’s
coercive,” Gandhi
tweeted.
MAHA GOVT’S COLLECTED RS 79, 412 CR
AS FUEL TAXES: HARDEEP SINGH PURI
New Delhi: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas
Hardeep Singh Puri questioned the Maharashtra govern-
ment’s decision to not reduce VAT on fuel in order to provide
relief to people. Puri stressed his stand by highlighting that
the State government is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore
as fuel taxes this year. “The truth hurts, but facts speak for
themselves. Maha govt is expected to collect Rs 33,000 crore
this year. Why did it not reduce VAT on fuel to provide relief
to people?,” he asked.
PM Modi being felicitated with traditional Assamese
Japi by Assam CM Sarma and Union Minister
Sonowal in Dibrugarh on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
CRUCIAL READ
DELHI-CENTRE POWER ROW:
SC RESERVES ORDER
New Delhi: The SC on Thursday reserved its
order on whether or not to refer to a five-judge
Constitution bench a contentious issue of who
should control administrative services in Delhi.
The Central government has sought a hearing by a
five-judge bench on the matter pertaining to a legal
dispute between the Delhi government and the
Centre regarding the control over administrative
services in the national capital.
COURT RESERVES ORDER
ON MEVANI’S BAIL PLEA
Barpeta: A court in Assam’s Barpeta
district on Thursday reserved its or-
der on Gujrat MLA Jignesh Mevani’s
bail plea in a case where he is ac-
cused of “assaulting” a policewoman
while being brought by a police
posse from Guwahati to Kokrajhar.
DELHI’S HOTTEST APRIL DAY
IN 12 YEARS @ 43.5°
IMD issues orange
alert for 5 states
Kamal Nath
resigns as LOP
in MP Assembly
Bhopal: Congress lead-
er Kamal Nath has re-
signed as the Leader of
Opposition in the Mad-
hya Pradesh Assembly
.
The Congress high
command has accepted
the former chief minis-
ter’s resignation from
the post and appointed
Dr Govind Singh as the
Leader of the Congress
Legislature Party, and
therefore the Leader of
Opposition in the Mad-
hya Pradesh Assembly
.
In a letter dated April
28, Congress general
secretary KC Venugopal
wrote to Kamal Nath,
“This is to inform you
that Hon’ble Congress
President has accepted
your resignation from
the post of Leader, Con-
gress Legislature Party
,
Madhya Pradesh with
immediate effect. The
party wholeheartedly
appreciates your contri-
bution as the CLP Lead-
er, Madhya Pradesh.”
Bhubaneswar: The In-
dia Meteorological De-
partment (IMD) has is-
sued an orange alert for
five districts in India
overcontinuedheatwave
conditions until May 1.
The five districts which
have been warned are:
Bihar, Jharkhand, inte-
rior Odisha, Chhattis-
garh and Gangetic West
Bengal April 30 and Tel-
angana till May 1.
“There has been no
significantrainfallsince
February25.Inbetween,
on April 14 and April 21,
there were dust storms
in Rajasthan and Hary-
ana but there was no sig-
nificant rain. Hence the
long dry spell has result-
ed in high tempera-
tures,”seniorIMDscien-
tist R.K. Jenamani said.
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police Crime Branch on
Thursdayarrestedoneof
the most wanted accused
of Jahangirpuricommu-
nal riots from West Ben-
gal, sources said. The ac-
cusedhasbeenidentified
as Farid alias Neetu, a
history-sheeter in the Ja-
hangirpuri area with
cases of robbery
, snatch-
ing, burglary etc.
“He was very actively
involved in the commu-
nal riots and played a
major role. Our several
teams who have been
deployed in West Ben-
gal arrested him on
Thursday from his
aunt’s house in Tamluk
village. He is being
brought to New Delhi
via flight today,” one of
the sources said.
The accused had fled
from the spot after the
riots and had been
changing his locations
and moving across West
Bengal.
KOVIND, SHAH TO MEET BENGAL
VIOLENCE VICTIMS
New Delhi: President and Union home minister
Amit have agreed to meet a delegation of lawyers
representing victims of post-poll violence on
April 29. According to sources, the President has
consented to meet the delegation of lawyers at
noon. Shah will meet the delegation the same
day at 9 pm. The lawyers will also hold a peaceful
candle march in the national capital on Friday to
highlight the “struggle and fight of the affected
people of the state”.
JAHANGIRPURI VIOLENCE
Key accused Farid arrested from Bengal
Pedestrians shield their faces from the heat with a scarf, in
Gurugram, Thursday, April 28, 2022. —PHOTO BY PTI
Farid alias Neetu
PM Modi receives a traditional welcome
during his visit to Dibrugarh on Thursday.

CAPITOL
NEW DELHI | FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2022
02
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Tosupply1,000milliongallonsofdrinkingwaterdailyduringsummerseasonasagainst935MGDearliertomeetrisingdemand
GOVT UPS WATER SUPPLY IN CITY
New Delhi (PTI): Amid
a deadly heatwave
building up in various
parts of the country
, the
Delhi government on
Thursday said it will
supply around 1,000
million gallons of
drinking water every
day during the summer
season as against 935
MGD earlier to meet the
rising demand.
Sharing its Summer
Action Plan, the Delhi
Jal Board (DJB) said a
total of 1,198 water
tankerswillbedeployed
across the city during
the peak summer sea-
son (April-July) to pre-
vent water scarcity
.
Large swathes of In-
dia are reeling under a
punishing heatwave,
with temperatures
nearing the 45-degree
mark at several places
in the national capital.
The heatwave is pre-
dicted to turn deadlier
in the coming days.
“To meet the water
requirement of the city
residents, especially
considering the rising
heat this year, the Delhi
government is target-
ing to supply about
1,000 MGD of potable
water during the sum-
mer of 2022 by optimis-
ing all the resources,” a
statement quoted water
minister Satyendar
Jain as saying.
Earlier, the DJB sup-
plied 935 MGD of drink-
ing water to the city
residents on an average.
“The system has been
made efficient and ro-
bust so that there is no
water scarcity in the
summer season. The
water minister is per-
sonally monitoring the
situation,” the state-
ment said.
The Delhi govern-
ment is also keeping a
close watch on the level
of ammonia in the raw
waterreleasedfromHar-
yana so that it does not
impede the water supply
in the national capital.
All the jhuggi-jhopri
clusters in the city avail
the facility of public hy-
drants and water tank-
ers. Additional water
tankers will be provid-
ed if there is scarcity of
water, Jain said.
Depending on the re-
quirement during peak
summer, the trips of the
tankers will be opti-
mised to supplement
the demand in the wa-
ter-deficient areas and
regions lacking piped
water supply
.
The DJB has
equipped the tankers
with GPS systems to
track their movement.
It will bring in more
transparency and im-
prove the service qual-
ity, Jain said.
The board has also
replaced old pipelines
and fixed leakages to
minimise water loss
and contamination.
Area-wise timings for
water supply will be
made available on the
DJB website.
The emergency con-
trol rooms have been
provided with adequate
staff, communication
facilities and better
equipment for griev-
ance redressal and
monitoring, the DJB
said.
Noida (PTI): A sky-
walk linking the Sector
52 station of Delhi Met-
ro’s Blue Line to the
nearby Sector 52 station
of Noida Metro’s Aqua
Line will be built with-
in a year, the NMRC
said on Thursday
.
The Noida Metro Rail
Corporation made this
promise two days after
its Board meeting.
During its 31st Board
meeting, the NMRC
also deliberated upon
expediting the Centre’s
approval of a detailed
project report for ex-
tending the Aqua Line
from Sector 51 station
in Noida to Knowledge
Park V in Greater Noi-
da (West) by May this
year, the NMRC said.
The meeting was held
on Tuesday during
which the Board also
approved a budget of Rs
287.62 crore for the fi-
nancial year 2022-2023
and gave its go-ahead
for an internal audit re-
port, it added.
The Board meeting
was convened for stand-
ard statutory compli-
ance, like approval of
the budget for the finan-
cial year 2022-2023
amounting Rs 287.62
crore (net) and approval
of internal audit report,
NMRC Managing Direc-
tor Ritu Maheshwari
said in a statement.
The Board also dis-
cussed expediting the
Centre’s approval of
DPR from Sector 51 to
Knowledge Park V
, posi-
tively by May 2022 for
ease of commuters and
ridership enhance-
ment, she added.
The Board was also
informed that the FOB
between sector 51 and
52 metro stations will
now be built by the Noi-
da Authority and the
work will be completed
within a year, Mahesh-
wari, who is also the
CEO of the Noida Au-
thority, said.
Aqua Blue Line FOB linking to be ready within a year
NMRC MAKES PROMISE
CONNECTING LINK
MAN STABBED TO
DEATH IN KALYANPURI;
TWO ARRESTED
ANTI-ENCROACHMENT
AT SARITA VIHAR
DROPPED
New Delhi (PTI): A
25-year-old man was
stabbed to death allegedly
by two men in front of his
wife over an old enmity
in the Kalyanpuri area of
east Delhi, police said on
Thursday. Deepak (19)
and Gulshan (18), both
residents of Kalyanpuri,
were arrested for stab-
bing Sachin alias Baba
when he, along with his
wife, was out shopping
on Wednesday. Deputy
Commissioner of Police
(East) Priyanka Kashyap
said information was
received at Kalyanpuri
police station from Lal
Bahadur Shastri hospital
that Sachin was brought
dead to the facility.
New Delhi (PTI): An
anti-encroachment
drive of the South Delhi
Municipal Corporation
(SDMC) scheduled to
be carried out at Jasola
and Sarita Vihar had to
be cancelled due to the
unavailability of adequate
police force on Thurs-
day, the civic authorities
said. According to SDMC
officials, the drive was
planned for Thursday in
the Jasola-Sarita Vihar
area to remove permanent
and temporary encroach-
ments from roads and
government land. The
drive was scheduled a
day after SDMC Mayor
Mukesh Suryan visited
these areas.
CRUCIAL READ
GURGRAM: SNAKE CHARMERS HELD FOR
SNATCHING WOMAN'S BRACELET
Gurugram (PTI): Two snake charmers were arrested for
allegedly snatching a gold bracelet from a woman after
threatening her with the snakes, police said on Thurs-
day. Rohit Nath and Farman
Nath, both residents of Sapera
Basti in Delhi, were arrested
on Wednesday. Two snakes
and the stolen gold bracelet
were recovered from them. It
happened Wednesday when the
victim, Megha Jaitley, came out of her car after parking
it outside a coffee outlet in Suncity Golf Course.
1 held with 50 kg heroin in Jamia Ngr
New Delhi (PTI): The
NCB has seized about 50
kg of “high-quality” her-
oin and arrested a man
after it conducted raids
intheShaheenBagharea
of Delhi’s Jamia Nagar,
thefederalanti-narcotics
agencysaidonThursday
,
claiming to have busted
an Indo-Afghan drug-
smuggling racket.
Narcotics Control Bu-
reau (NCB) Deputy Di-
rector General (opera-
tions) Sanjay Kumar
Singh said at a press
briefing that cash
amounting to Rs 30 lakh
was also seized after the
operationataresidential
premises in the south
DelhiareaonWednesday
.
Thedrugswerekeptin
backpacks and jute bags
and were wrapped in
packets of e-commerce
majorFlipkartandother
companies, he said.
He said this was one
of the biggest narcotics
seizures in Delhi, that
too from a residential
area, in the recent past.
Another 47 kg of “sus-
pected” narcotics were
seizedfromthepremises
and sent for testing. It
has been revealed that
an Indo-Afghan syndi-
cate based in Delhi and
the NCR and the neigh-
bouring states is con-
nected with the case.
These syndicates have
expertiseinmanufactur-
ing and adulterating
heroinlocally
,”headded.
Narcotics Control Bureau had conducted raids in Jamia Nagar.
FAKE ARMS LICENCES: 4 IN NET
New Delhi (Agen-
cies) The Delhi Police’s
inter-state crime branch
has arrested four men,
including a gun house
owner, for allegedly
operating a fake arms
licence racket. The
arrested men allegedly
obtained 15 fake arms
licences issued from
JK and procured ordi-
nance arms.The arrested
men include Abhimanyu
Rai (30), Sakesh Kumar
(50), Rameshwar Datt
(50) and Ashok Aggar-
wal (64).
COVID-19 FOURTH WAVE SCARE
Riseincasesbut
notinsevere
disease,saysJain
New Delhi (Agencies):
The COVID-19 cases are
increasing in the na-
tional capital but the
situation is not serious
as people are not devel-
oping severe disease
and hospitalisation rate
is low, Delhi‘s Health
Minister Satyendar
Jain said on Thursday
.
He attributed the low
hospitalisation rate to
vaccinations and natu-
rally acquired immu-
nity
.
The minister also
said there is no need to
panic about cases
among children with
several serosurveys
showing that they are
not at high risk for se-
vere Covid though the
infection rate among
children and adults is
almost the same.
“Though Covid cases
have increased in Delhi,
people are not develop-
ing severe disease and
the hospitalisation rate
is low. This is because
our population is fully
vaccinated and a large
number of people have
had the disease in the
past. So, the situation is
not serious,” Jain told
reporters here.
Earlier, when Delhi
would have 5,000 active
cases, 1,000 people
would require hospi-
talisation, he said.
Of the 9,390 beds
available for COVID-19
patients in various hos-
pitals, only 148 (1.58 per-
cent) are occupied.
NDMC fined
`50L over fire
at landfill site
Delhi Pollution Control
Committee (DPCC) on
Thursday imposed a
fine of ` 50 lakh on the
North Delhi Municipal
Corporation for being
negligent and not tak-
ing proper steps to pre-
vent the fire at the
Bhalswa landfill.
Environment Minis-
ter Gopal Rai had earli-
er asked the anti-pollu-
tion body to probe the
incident and submit a
report within 24 hours.
“The North MCD did
not take proper steps to
prevent and contain the
fire. As per the standard
operating procedure, the
MCD should have kept
watertankersonstandby
to deal with such a situa-
tion,” an official said.
The fire started in a
small area, but it spread
due to negligence of
civic officials and en-
gulfed the entire moun-
tain of garbage, he said.
Rai on Wednesday
said the BJP-ruled mu-
nicipal corporations
should have used the
bulldozer to clear the
mountains of garbage
in Delhi and that repeat-
ed incidents of fire at
landfills in the capital
are a result of corrup-
tion in the civic bodies.
Benito Juarez Marg underpass to
be opened in May,says Sisodia
The much-delayed Ben-
ito Juarez Marg under-
pass will be opened to
the public from next
month, Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia said on Thurs-
day after he inspected
and reviewed work on
the stretch near South
Campus.
Presently, commut-
ers travelling to and
from Gurugram and
the airport have to take
Dhaula Kuan route to
reach AIIMS and Cen-
tral Delhi. Once the un-
derpass is ready, these
commuters can take
Outer Ring Road via
the underpass to reach
AIIMS and Moti Bagh,
said officials.Besides,
the public works de-
partment (PWD) is also
constructing a 670-me-
tre long skywalk that
connects the South
Campus areas, residen-
tial colonies and the
colleges situated on the
opposite side near Babu
Dham like JMC and
Maitreyi College. The
skywalk and foot over-
bridge (FOB) will have
four lifts with a total
capacity of 24 people
and two escalators for
physically disabled and
senior citizens.
CITY’S POWER
DEMAND
CROSSES 6K MW
New Delhi: With the
mercury shooting
up in Delhi, the
power demand on
Thursday crossed
6,000 MW mark for
the first time in the
month of April, dis-
com officials said.
The peak power
demand of the city
was 6000 MW at
3.31 pm, according
to realtime data of
State Load Dispatch
Centre (SLDC)
Delhi. “For the first
time in April, Delhi’s
peak power demand
clocked 6,000 MW.
It was 3.7 per cent
more as compared
to 5,769 MW on
Wednesday,” said a
discom official.
national capital on Thurs-
day witnessed a warm
morning as the weather
office predicted a heat-
wave in the region during
the day with the maxi-
mum temperature likely
to touch 43 degrees
Celsius. According to
the India Meteorological
Department, Delhi’s mini-
mum temperature was
recorded at 23 degrees
Celsius, a degree below
the season’s average.
“Heatwave is likely to
sweep across the region
with the maximum
temperature hover-
ing around 43 degrees
Celsius on Thursday,”
an IMD official said. For
the plains, a heatwave
is declared when the
maximum temperature
is over 40 degrees
Celsius, and at least 4.5
degrees above normal.
The temperature at the
Safdarjung Observatory
- Delhi’s base station - is
also expected to touch
44 degrees Celsius by
Friday, the weather office
predicted. The maximum
temperature on Wednes-
day had settled at 41.5
degrees Celsius, three
degrees above normal.
IMD officials said the
relative humidity of the
city at 8:30 am was 34
per cent. Delhi’s Air
Quality remained in the
poor category as the air
quality index stood at
293 at 9:05 am today, the
Central Pollution Control
Board data showed.
AT 43-44° CEL, HEATWAVE TO
CONTINUE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS
To meet the water requirement of the city residents, especially
considering the rising heat this year, the Delhi government is
targeting to supply about 1,000 MGD of potable water dur-
ing the summer of 2022 by optimising all the resources.
—Satyendar Jain, Water Supply Minister
Water consumption has increased with the rise in mercury. —REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE
Manish Sisodia

INDIA
03
Why did talks between Congress and PK fail?
Sharat K Verma
New Delhi: Once again
Prashant Kishor’s talk
with the Congress party
failed, however, the dif-
ference this time is that
Prashant has targeted
the Congress. The last
time things went wrong,
he was very angry and
attacked the Congress.
PK had said that the
Congress is not a party
of the Nehru-Gandhi
family, but they are its
custodians. He had also
said that it is not a di-
vine right of anyone to
take over the leadership
of the Congress. But
this time he tweeted,
andpolietlydeclinedthe
offer to become a mem-
ber of the Empowered
Action Group. Rejecting
the Congress proposal,
he further wrote that
the Congress does not
need him, rather needs
leadership and collec-
tive will to rectify its
deep structural flaws.
The question is that
despite such a long con-
versation and giving
presentations at least
thrice, what happened
that there was no com-
munication between the
two. According to in-
formed sources, both
Congress and PK did not
accept each other’s pro-
posals. Prashant Kishor
hadofferedtotakeevery-
thingintohisownhands.
It is being told that he
wastryingtohandleeve-
rything alone and said
that there should be no
interference from the
partyleaders.Hewanted
to report directly to So-
niaorRahulGandhi,but
the party leaders were
not ready for this.
Ontheotherhand,the
condition laid by Con-
gress was that PK’s com-
pany i.e. Indian Political
Action Committee, I-
PAC should break ties
with all other parties as
Congress considered
Prashant Kishor and I-
PACasone.ButPrashant
saidthatI-packisasepa-
rate company, with
which he is no longer
related. He said that he
has been separated from
election strategy mak-
ing and election man-
agement and the com-
pany is working inde-
pendently
. But the I-PAC
deal with the TRS in
Telangana and his pres-
ence in Hyderabad dur-
ing this time caused
Congress leaders to
raise eye brows.
A third reason is the
insecurities of some
baseless and parasitic
leaders of the Congress,
who felt that if PK took
overthereinsof theCon-
gress, they might be
shown the door. That’s
why they created suspi-
cion through propagan-
da.ItistruethatPrashant
had tried to break the
Congress for the first
time when things went
wrong and many leaders
were instigated. But this
timehesincerelywanted
the Congress to contest
the 2024 elections as he
saw only possibility in
this. But in the name of
anti-Congress relations
with Narendra Modi,
Congress leaders ob-
structed his path.
Sonia Gandhi Prashant Kishor
CRUCIAL READ
MAMATA TO ATTEND NAT’L CONCLAVE
IN DELHI TODAY, WON’T MEET PM MODI
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee said she will go to Delhi on Friday to attend
a national conclave slated to be held there the next
day where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be
present, but will not meet him as she will return
to the city to attend the programmes on May Day
and Eid-ul-Fitr. “I will reach New Delhi tomorrow
(Friday) night and return the next day (Saturday).
I have my tickets booked. That is the reason why
I will not get the time to meet the PM this time. I
have no appointment with the PM,” Banerjee told
reporters at the state secretariat on Thursday.
MAHA MINISTER NAWAB MALIK SEEKS
INTERIM BAIL ON MEDICAL GROUND
Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, ar-
rested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money
laundering case, sought interim bail on medical
ground from a special
PMLA court here on
Thursday. Malik (62)
had earlier told the court
that was unwell due to
kidney ailments and had
swelling in his legs. His
advocate Tarraq Sayyed
moved the plea for interim bail before special
judge RN Rokade. The court is likely to hear the
plea on Monday.
89 SWORDS SEIZED IN MAHA AFTER
CAR CHASE,4 ARRESTED
Mumbai: In a major development, Maharashtra
Police have seized 89 swords and a dagger
from an SUV in Maharashtra’s Dhule district
and arrested four people in connection with the
case, Dhule Superintendent of Police Pravinku-
mar Patil said on Thursday. A police team inter-
cepted the vehicle after chasing it on Wednes-
day in Shirpur area while it was heading
towards Dhule city, located over 300 km from
Mumbai, the official said. The police arrested
the four persons - Mohammed Sharif Moham-
med Shafique (35), Shaikh Iliyas Shaikh Latif
(32), Saiyad Naim Saiyad Rahim (29) and Kapil
Dabhade (35), all residents of Jalna district.
Bihar CM meets Lalu sons again;
other leaders also in attendance
Patna (Agencies): Bi-
har Chief Minister and
JanataDal(United)lead-
er Nitish Kumar, Rash-
triya Janata Dal (RJD)
leaders Tejashwi Yadav
and Tej Pratap Yadav
met in another Dawat-E-
Iftaar party in Patna on
Thursday
.
The Dawat-E-Iftar
gathering was being or-
ganised by Salim Parvej,
the president of JD(U)
minority wing of Bihar.
“We have personally
invited CM Nitish Ku-
mar for the Iftar party
and he has accepted
our invitation. Besides,
I have also sent invita-
tions to former CM
Rabri Devi, leader of
opposition Tejashwi
Yadav, Tej Pratap Ya-
dav, Jagadanand Singh,
leaders of BJP, Con-
gress, CPI, CPM, CPI
(ML), AIMIM, HAM
and VIP. I am expecting
all leaders will come to
the Iftar party. The ven-
ue of the Iftar party is
Patna HAJ Bhawan,”
Pravej said.
Don’t allow BSF, it is
killing people: Mamata
Kolkata (Agencies):
In a move which may
provoke the BJP gov-
ernment at the Centre,
West Bengal Chief Min-
ister Mamata Banerjee
on Wednesday asked
the Cooch Behar Police
not to allow the Border
Security Force (BSF)
beyond 50 kms from the
international border.
The Chief Minister
also alleged that the
“BSF is entering the vil-
lages and beating peo-
ple while also throwing
them on the other side
of the international
border”.
“Don’t allow BSF to
enter 50 kms of the area
beyond the internation-
al border in the state
because they are enter-
ing the village, killing
people and throwing
them on the other side,”
the Chief Minister said.
Mamata Banerjee
Karnatakaleadersacrosspartiesunite,slamAjayDevgn
HINDI ‘NATIONAL LANGUAGE’ ROW
Bengaluru (PTI): The
subject of Hindi being
India’s national lan-
guage – a debate that
has repeatedly sparked
controversy – is once
again a hotly debated
topic, following the war
of words on Twitter be-
tween Bollywood actor
Ajay Devgn and Kan-
nada actor Kichcha Su-
deep.
Politicians across
party ranks in Karna-
taka have come out in
support of Sudeep and
have slammed Devgn,
who took to Twitter to
respond to Sudeep by
saying, “Hindi was, is
and always will be our
national language.”
Former Chief Minis-
ter of Karnataka and
leader of the opposition
in Karnataka Legisla-
tive Assembly, Siddara-
maiah, tweeted, “Hindi
was never will never
be our National Lan-
guage. It is the duty of
every Indian to respect
linguistic diversity of
our Country. Each lan-
guage has its own rich
history for its people to
be proud of. I am proud
to be a Kannadiga!!
(sic)”, Siddaramaiah
tweeted.
Karnataka Congress
president D K Shivaku-
mar said, “There are
19,500 mother tongues
spoken in India. Our
love for India feels the
same in every language.
As a proud Kannadiga
and a proud Congress-
man let me remind eve-
ryone that Congress
created linguistic States
so that no one language
dominates another.”
Another former
Chief Minister and Ja-
nata Dal (Secular) lead-
er HD Kumaraswamy
slammed Ajay Devgn
and tweeted, “Actor Kic-
cha Sudeep saying that
Hindi is not a National
Language is correct.
There is nothing to find
fault in his statement.
Actor Ajay Devgn is not
only hyper in nature
but also shows his ludi-
crous behaviour.” He
posted a series of tweets
and said India is a land
of multi-cultures and
no effort should be
made to disrupt this.
At a film launch event
last week, when he was
askedhowheviewedthe
record-breaking pan-In-
dia success of the Kan-
nada film “KGF: Chap-
ter 2,” Sudeep had said,
“Hindi is no more our
national language.”
KGF’s Hindi version
alone has minted Rs 336
crore since its April 14
release, while the film
has reportedly earned
Rs 850 crore worldwide,
media reported.
Addressing the me-
dia in Kannada, Sudeep
had said, “Hindi (film-
makers) should say
they are making pan
India movies. They
have been dubbing
those (Bollywood) mov-
ies into Tamil and Telu-
gu, etc., and they are
struggling. They are
not able to. Today, we
just make films that
reach everywhere.”
INDIA TOO DIVERSE TO HAVE
ONE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OR
RELIGION: OMAR ABDULLAH
Srinagar (PTI): National Conference (NC) vice president
Omar Abdullah on Thursday said India is too diverse a
country to have a national language. “The idea of India
is that it gives space to everybody. If the Indian currency
note gives space to all languages, then it’s understood
that we are more than just one language, culture and re-
ligion,” the former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir
said. Speaking of slogans outside mosques, Abdullah
asked, “How would one feel when he listens to ‘ Iss mu-
luk mein rehna hai, Jai Shri Ram kehna’
(if you want to stay in this country,
you have to say Jai Shri Ram)? How
would one feel when the houses of
Muslims are bulldozed?” Abdullah
said he understands that politicians
do or say things for political motives
but, “how would one feel when TV
anchors onboard a bulldozer
suggest that only the
roof but not walls have
been dismantled?”
CM BOMMAI
COMES OUT IN
SUPPORT OF
ACTOR SUDEEP
Basavaraj Bommai Kichcha Sudeep Ajay Devgn
IED recovered along highway in
Jammu, cops avert major incident
Srinagar (Agencies): A
major tragedy was avert-
ed in Jammu on Thurs-
day after police detected
and defused an impro-
vised explosive device
(IED)alongahighwayon
the outskirts of Jammu.
The IED was planted
along the highway at
Sidhra by suspected ter-
rorists, officials said. A
police team reached the
spot after receiving in-
formation about a sus-
picious object found
alongside the highway
.
“
An information was
received regarding some
suspicious object found
alongside highway in
Sidhra area of Jammu
city outskirts. A team
from nearby station
rushedtothespotlater
senior officers also
reachedatthesite”tweet-
ed Additional Director
General police Jammu.
The site was cordoned
off soon after the explo-
sive was detected. The
bomb squad of Jammu
Police destroyed the de-
vicethroughacontrolled
mechanism, police said.
This is the third ter-
rorist-related incident
in Jammu in less than a
week causing serious
security concerns in the
city. Two Pakistani ter-
rorists of the Jaish-e-
Mohammed (JeM) were
killed in an encounter
with security forces in
Jalalabad on the out-
skirts of Jammu on Fri-
day. A CISF officer was
killed and nine security
personnel were injured
in the gunfight.
A bomb disposal squad of the army destroyed the IED. —FILE PHOTO
Cabinet talks:
Bommai to
visit New Delhi
Bengaluru (Agencies):
With Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj Bom-
mai confirming his New
Delhi visit, lobbying for
statecabinetpostshasbe-
gunintherulingBJPgov-
ernment.
Bommai said that he
is leaving for New Delhi
on Friday
.
The long-pending ex-
ercise of cabinet expan-
sion is expected to be
done during the first
week of May
.
Political heavy weights
have already started hec-
ticlobbyingtogetorretain
powerful Cabinet berths.
Withtheresignationof KS
Eshwarappa from the
cabinet, five posts are ly-
ing vacant. The party
high command is also
contemplating overhaul
of the state cabinet.
Two terrorists
eliminated in
Kashmir: Cops
Srinagar (Agencies):
Two terrorists, respon-
sible for recent terror
attacks on labourers
from outside JK in
Pulwama district, have
been neutralised, police
said on Thursday
.
Police said on a spe-
cific input generated by
Pulwama police regard-
ing presence of terror-
ists in Mitrigam area of
Pulwama, a joint cor-
don and search opera-
tion was launched by
police, army, and the
CRPF on Wednesday
.
“During the search
operation, as the joint
search party proceeded
towards the hiding ter-
rorist, they fired indis-
criminately upon the
search party which was
retaliated leading to an
encounter,” police said.
Chennai: Even though
the Indian Institute of
Technology-Madras is
an autonomous institu-
tion under the Minister
of Education of the
Government of India,
the premier institution
will play the Tamil
state anthem, ‘Tamil
Thai Vaazhthu’ hence-
forth in its official
functions.
IIT-Madras to play
TN state anthem
during functions
B’desh offers Chittagong
Port for use to India
Dhaka (PTI): External
Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar on Thursday
called on Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, who under-
lined the importance of
connectivity between
the two neighbours and
offered her country’s
main seaport — Chit-
tagong Port — to India’s
landlocked northeast-
ern states.
Jaishankar, who ar-
rived in Dhaka on
Thursday on a brief of-
ficial visit, handed over
an invitation to Ms
Hasina on PM Naren-
dra Modi’s behalf to
visit New Delhi.
“Thank Prime Minis-
ter Sheikh Hasina for
her warm reception.
Conveyed personal
greetings of PM @nar-
endramodi. Our bilat-
eral relations are mov-
ing from strength to
strength under the
guidance of the two
leaders,” Jaishankar
tweeted.

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 239
l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed at
Impressions Printing and Packaging
Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59,
Noida-201301. Published at G-20,
3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New
Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Sharat K Verma
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Love should be shown without
pretending. Hate evil, and
hold on to what is good.
—Bible
IN-DEPTH
Bhupender Yadav
@byadavbjp
Chaired the 28th Annual General Meeting
of ICFRE with senior officials of the
Ministry in Dehradun today. Deliberated
upon important measures which can be
taken and implemented by ICFRE during
#AmritKaal for long-term preservation
and conservation of our ecology.
Sarbananda Sonowal
@sarbanandsonwal
Honoured to join Hon’ble PM Shri @
narendramodi ji at the inauguration of
Dibrugarh Cancer Centre in presence of
Hon’ble Governor Shri @jagdishmukhi
ji and CM Shri @himantabiswa. The
state-of-the-art centre will greatly
benefit the people of the region. My
heartfelt thanks.
TOP TWEETS
LEARNING TO BEAR
THE SCORCHING
HEAT AS CLIMATE
GETS WARMER
t is that time of the
year when swelter-
ing heat and heat
waves dominate con-
versations. With
wheat grains shriveling in Pun-
jab affecting output, some states
facing severe heat waves, which
is the longest in April in a dec-
ade, and coal and power short-
age adding to the hardship of
those managing without coolers
and air-conditioners. Absence
of rain is adding to woes. The
conversations invariably veer
towards the villain of the piece-
--global warming.
The more pressing issue at
hand is keeping power plants
running by maintaining a regu-
lar supply of coal. Power cuts
have been reported from several
states as they struggle to meet
record demand this season.
There was a shortage of 623 mil-
lion units over a week which was
equal to the total electricity
shortage in March and that
should give an idea. To ensure
that coal carrying trains have a
free passage the Railway Board
hascancelledeightexpresstrains
in Uttar Pradesh. Will the prob-
lem worsen in years to come?
I
ost the comments
by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
naming states for
not lowering their
taxes on fuel in the interest of
the people, a blame game has
started between the Centre
and states of Tamil Nadu,
West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tel-
angana, Kerala, Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra.
States blame the Centre for
unfair sharing revenue from
Centralexciseandcessonpet-
rol. In the slugfest over “nam-
ing and shaming” of seven
states, it is the common man
who continues to suffer. The
prime minister blamed these
states for not passing on the
duty relief, which the Centre
effected in November last
year,totheconsumerasheap-
pealed for “co-operative feder-
alism”. Reduce the Value
Added Tax (VAT) now, Modi
urged governments of the
seven states on Wednesday
.
The states immediately
started to hit back. Tamil Na-
du’sfinanceministerPalaniv-
el Thiaga Rajan said it was
not feasible for the state to
reduce taxes on fuel as the
Central taxes were already
very high. Tamil Nadu claims
thatithadprovidedarelief of
Rs 3 per litre by reducing VAT
in August last year. Rajan
charged the Centre for “sub-
stantially increasing” levy in
the last seven years.
West Bengal’s finance min-
ister Chandrima Bhattachar-
yaalsorejectedthesuggestion
to cut fuel prices even though
petrol is selling at around Rs
115 per litre. Compared to Ma-
harashtra, Kerala, Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana “our
VAT is already low” and can’t
be lowered any further, she
said. Responses of other tar-
geted states were no different.
It is ironic that party poli-
tics dominates federalism in
our country at the expense of
citizens.
PEOPLE PAY AS CENTRE,
STATES SPAR OVER FUEL
States blame the Centre for
unfair sharing revenue from
Central excise and cess on
petrol. In the slugfest over
“naming and shaming” of
seven states, it is the common
man who continues to suffer.
The prime minister blamed
these states for not passing on
the duty relief, which the
Centre effected in
November last year, to the
consumer as he appealed for
“co-operative federalism”
P
istory proves that all reigns
mustendonedayandallking-
doms must fall eventually
.
The tale of Mumbai Indians
and Chennai Super Kings in
IPL 2022 resembles those em-
pires which rule for long peri-
ods but when they crumble,
they fall in a heap. A month
before the tournament finale,
the heavyweights are strug-
gling but T-20 fans have been
treated to some exceptional
cricket and edge-of-the-seat
thrillers by the new entrants
- Gujarat Titans and Lucknow
SuperGiants. A mid-season
snippet offers a captivating
mix of flops, successes, come-
backs and new finds.
Mumbai Indians are the
big flops and already out of
the Semi-final race after 8 de-
feats in 8 games. Chennai Su-
per Kings are also on the
verge of elimination and
need a miracle to stay in con-
tention. Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers, another champion side
of the past, is also languish-
ing in the bottom three of the
points table. Besides cham-
pion sides, two superstars of
Indian cricket, Virat Kohli
and Rohit Sharma are also
going through a terrible
slump. This is the worst IPL
season for both and ahead of
the T20 World Cup in Austral-
ia, the form of the big guns is
a big worry for Team India.
Another flop show is all-
rounder Ravindra Jadeja who
is performing poorly in all
departments of the game.
Jadeja’s feast of runs and
wickets at IPL 2021 had made
him the highest-paid reten-
tion for CSK for the 2022 edi-
tionatawhoppingRs16crore.
But his output this season has
been dismal. In 8 matches so
far, Jaddu has scored just 112
runs with the highest score of
26; also, he has taken just 5
wickets at an average of over
42 and an economy rate of
8.09. Even Jadeja’s outstand-
ing fielding has dipped and he
dropped two catches in a sin-
gle game. Clearly, CSK cap-
taincy is a burden that’s hurt-
ing Jadeja’s form.
Despite pre-season favour-
ites floundering, the IPL has
been full of thrills and high-
voltage action. Debutants
Gujarat Titans and Lucknow
SuperGiants are both doing
really well thanks to their in-
spirational leaders. While KL
Rahul has led the way for
Lucknow with two terrific
tons, Hardik Pandya is back
at his best and has taken the
Gujarat Titans to the top of
the Points table. Besides solid
batting, Pandya is bowling
quite effectively and seems
fit and ready to regain his
spot in Team India.
Among other major suc-
cesses is Rajasthan Royals
who are on a remarkable roll.
Jos Butler’s brilliance has
notched up three splendid
tons, a feat never achieved in
any IPL season. While Sanju
Samson has provided aggres-
sive batting and leadership,
Yuzi Chahal and Ravi Ashwin
are spinning a web in the mid-
dle overs after sharp spells by
Boult and Prasiddha Krishna
provide initial shocks to most
oppositions. If they can con-
tinue this form, the Royals
may triumph this year and
pay a special tribute to Shane
Warnewhotookthemtoglory
in IPL’s inaugural season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and
Royal Challengers Bengalu-
ru are also locked in a close
race to clinch a spot in the
Final Four. After a fab start,
RCB have disappointed in a
few recent matches and need
to pull up their socks. In con-
trast, SRH is cruising to-
wards the top after a sedate
start and could well be the
surprise package of the sea-
son under Kane Williamson’s
able leadership.
Talk of SRH brings us to
Umran Mallik, the BIG FIND
of this season! The Kashmir
boy is the fastest pacer in this
IPL and his thunderbolts are
a special challenge for all op-
position. His incisive spells
areproducingbreakthroughs
at vital moments and even in
the loss to Gujarat Titans on
Wednesday
, Umran picked up
five wickets. Malik’s raw
pace has led to calls for him
to be fast-tracked into Team
India for the T20 World Cup
in Australia.
If Mallik is the newcomer
creatingwaves,DineshKartik
is the big comeback story of
thisIPLedition.Afterbeingin
the TV Commentary team for
an year, ‘DK’ as he’s fondly
called is now batting like nev-
er before. His power-packed
displays have kept RCB in the
hunt despite Virat’s horror
season. DK is keen to return
to Team India and with Ishan
Kishan being in woeful form,
Kartikmaywellgetthenodas
Finisher and 2nd stumper.
Overall, IPL 2022 so far has
provided a lot of thrills, spills
and high quality action. With
favourites floundering, debu-
tants shining and the race for
Final Four tightening, the
season seems set for a thrill-
ing climax.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SPILLS, THRILLS AND NAIL-BITERS
DOMINATE IPL 2022!
DK is keen to return to Team
India and with Ishan
Kishan being in woeful
form, Kartik may well get
the nod as Finisher and 2nd
stumper. Overall, IPL 2022
so far has provided a lot of
thrills, spills and high
quality action. With
favourites floundering,
debutants shining and the
race for Final Four
tightening, the season seems
set for a thrilling climax
H
SIDDHAARTH MAHAN
The writer is a specialist on Sports
and Cinema who works as an actor
in the Hindi film industry
MISSES

z Mumbai Indians are the big flops
and already out of the Semi-final
race after 8 defeats in 8 games

z Chennai Super Kings are also on
the verge of elimination and need
a miracle to stay in contention

z Kolkata Knight Riders, another
champion side of the past, is
also languishing in the bottom
three of the points table

z Besides champion sides, two
superstars of Indian cricket, Virat
Kohli and Rohit Sharma, are also
going through a terrible slump

z All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is
performing poorly in all depart-
ments of the game
HITS

z Debutants Gujarat Titans and
Lucknow Super Giants are both
doing really well thanks to their
inspirational leaders

z KL Rahul has led the way for
Lucknow with two terrific tons

z Hardik Pandya is back at his best
and has taken the Gujarat Titans
to the top of the Points table

z Jos Butler’s brilliance has
notched up three splendid tons

z Sunrisers Hyderabad and RCB
are also locked in a close race to
clinch a spot in the Final Four

z SRH brings us to Umran Mallik,
the BIG FIND of this season

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The Con-
gress party is actually
facing an existential
crisis. There has been
an uproar since Mon-
day that Congress presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi has
formed six committees
to formulate the strate-
gy for the 2024 Lok Sab-
ha elections. These are
being called the Em-
powered Committees.
Although the role of
these committees is not
yet known, yet if the
Congress party has
formed a committee for
the 2024 elections, then
the party should think
about it once again be-
cause the Lok Sabha
elections are still far
away and before that
the assembly elections
in 10 states are to be
held. Assembly elec-
tions are to be held be-
fore the Lok Sabha in
both the states where
the Congress is in pow-
er - Rajasthan and Chat-
tisgarh. That’s why the
Congress should focus
on the assembly elec-
tions instead of the Lok
Sabha elections.
If Congress does not
win the assembly elec-
tions to be held in these
two years, then it will
not be able to contest the
Lok Sabha elections and
will become a political
outcast. Parties will not
coordinate with it and
even if the party breaks
up and falls apart, it will
not come as a surprise.
Keep in mind that this
year there are assembly
elections in Himachal
Pradesh and Gujarat.
Elections to Tripura,
Meghalaya and Naga-
land are due at the be-
ginning of the year next
year.Thereareelections
in Karnataka in the
middle of the next year
and finally in Ra-
jasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh
and Telangana. That is,
before the Lok Sabha,
there are elections to 10
states. Congress will
have to perform well in
these states under any
circumstances, only
then it will be able to
contest the 2024 Lok
Sabha elections. That’s
why Congress should do
whatever it has to do in
the Chintan Shivir but
keep the focus on the
state elections. If it wins
two-three states, it will
automatically become
the center of Lok Sabha
elections.
Cong must focus on State polls and not look at LS!
CLUELESS CONGRESS
What is special in 8th
anniv of Modi Govt?
Moni Sharma
New Delhi: Next
month, the Narendra
Modi government will
complete eight years.
The third anniversary
of his second govern-
ment is on 30 May.
Modi’s second govern-
ment was formed in
May 2019 and in Janu-
ary 2020, the Corona
pandemic hit the na-
tion. So, the first and
second anniversaries of
his second term could
not be celebrated. On
the occasion of the gov-
ernment’s anniversary
in 2020 and 2021, the
BJP launched cam-
paigns to help the Co-
rona affected. But this
time BJP is preparing
to do something new
and at a larger scale.
However, this time also
the government and the
BJP have nothing spe-
cial because there is a
crisis of inflation and
unemployment and the
country’s economy has
not fully recovered from
Corona.
Despite this, the par-
ty leaders are preparing
to celebrate the anni-
versary with pomp this
time and right now the
theme of this ‘anniver-
sary’ is being discussed.
Many senior leaders of
the party and two min-
isters of the govern-
ment — Anurag Thakur
andRajivChandrashek-
har — have mulled over
it and although no deci-
sion could be taken in
the first meeting, it is
being told that some
plans have been made.
Whatever be the case,
the government’s big
publicity campaign will
run on this occasion
and three issues would
be highlighted to the
maximum i.e. free vac-
cine for corona virus,
free food grains scheme
across the country and
BJP’s victory in four
states. The entire cam-
paign of the BJP and
the government will re-
volve around these
three things.
India-Japan ties deepened
in every sphere: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): On
the 70th anniversary of
the establishment of
diplomatic relations be-
tween India and Japan,
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Thursday
said that the ties be-
tween the two countries
have deepened in every
sphere, be it strategic,
economic or people-to-
people contacts.
The recent visit to In-
dia by Japanese PM Fu-
mio Kishida for the an-
nual summit laid out a
roadmap for deepening
the Special Strategic
and Global Partnership
between the two coun-
tries in a post-Covid
world, Modi said in a
tweet.
He said, “As we cele-
brate 70 years of estab-
lishment of diplomatic
relations between India
and Japan today, I am
happy to see that our
ties have deepened in
every sphere, whether
strategic, economic or
people-to-people con-
tacts.”
Joe Biden to meet Modi at Quad summit
in Japan next month, says White House
New Delhi: US President Joe Biden will travel to South Korea and Japan next
month and attend the QUAD summit in Tokyo, during which he will also meet
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House has said. Biden’s trip
to South Korea and Japan has been scheduled for May 20 to 24. “This trip will
advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s rock-solid commitment to a free and
open Indo-Pacific,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday
here. Biden will also hold bilateral meetings with South Korea President Yoon
Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan. “The leaders will discuss
opportunities to deepen our vital security relationships,” Psaki said.
‘Ukrainewarshowsbeing
self-reliant is necessity’
New Delhi (PTI): De-
fence minister Rajnath
Singh said on Thursday
said the Russia-Ukraine
conflict has highlighted
that being self-reliant in
military hardware is a
vital necessity
, even as
he called for tri-services
synergy in dealing with
security challenges.
In an address at the
Navy Commanders’ Con-
ference, he said “joint-
ness” in operations will
be critical in any future
wars and restructuring
of military commands
and establishment of
theatre commands is the
way ahead.
“I am aware that ade-
quate progress has been
made towards the study
of maritime theatre
command,” he said.
Each of the theatre
commands will have
units of the Army
, the
Navy and the Air Force
andallof themwillwork
asasingleentitylooking
aftersecuritychallenges
in a specified geographi-
cal territory under an
operational commander.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses the Naval Commanders Conference 2022, in New Delhi.
Parl panel
to summon
Google, Twitter,
Amazon, others
Delimitation
panel set to
submit report on
JK next week
New Delhi (PTI): With
a number of global tech
giants facing Competi-
tion Commission of In-
dia (CCI) probe for al-
leged anti-competitive
practices, a key Parlia-
mentary panel on
Thursday decided to
summon representa-
tives of Google, Ama-
zon, Facebook, Twitter
and others to examine
their competitive be-
haviour.
The next meeting of
the panel on the issue is
likely to be held on May
12. The issue was dis-
cussed in detail by
members of the Stand-
ing Committee after a
presentation was made
before it by the CCI.
The regulator told
the panel that it was set-
ting up a ‘Digital Mar-
kets and Data Unit’ for
effectively dealing with
anti-competition prac-
tices of big tech compa-
nies and bringing a new
bill to amend the CCI
Act. CCI also cited a
number of investiga-
tions it is carrying out
in the digital space.
New Delhi (PTI): A De-
limitation Commission,
mandated to redraw the
assemblyconstituencies
of Jammu Kashmir, is
set to submit its report
to the government next
week, sources said on
Thursday
.
The panel would also
make public its “award”
detailing the number of
constituencies and their
size by bringing out a
gazettee notification af-
ter the report is submit-
ted to the government,
the sources said.
The award will deal
with basic details such
as number of constitu-
encies and their size.
Nod on vax for 5-12 age group likely today
New Delhi (PTI): A de-
cision on vaccinating
children aged 5-12 years
will be taken on the ba-
sis of the recommenda-
tion by an expert com-
mittee, Union Health
MinisterMansukhMan-
daviyasaidonThursday
.
The issue may be dis-
cussed in a meeting of
National Technical Ad-
visory Group on Immu-
nisation(NTAGI)sched-
uled on Friday
.
PM Modi in an inter-
action with CMs had
said that the govern-
ment’s priority is to
vaccinate all eligible
children at earliest with
“special campaigns”.
90-year-old Padma Shri awardee
evicted from Govt housing
Centre on Wednesday
asked eight eminent ar-
tistes, who were allot-
ted government accom-
modations years ago
but which were can-
celled in 2014, to vacate
the facilities by May 2,
a move that comes a
day after eviction pro-
ceedings were conduct-
ed against 90-year-old
Padma Shri awardee
and Odissi dancer
Guru Mayadhar Raut.
A senior Union
Housing and Urban Af-
fairs Ministry official
said out of 28 artistes,
there are still around
eight who have not
moved out of their gov-
ernment accommoda-
tions despite multiple
notices.
“These eight artistes
assured us that they are
in the process of vacat-
ing their bungalows
and sought some more
days. They have given
us an undertaking in
written that they would
vacate the facilities by
May 2 and we have giv-
en them time till then,”
the official told Press
Trust of India.
New Delhi (PTI): Over
a fortnight after She-
hbaz Sharif became Pa-
kistan’s new PM, India
asserted there is no
change to its approach
that talks between the
two sides can only take
place in an atmosphere
free of terror.
External Affairs Min-
istry spokesperson
Arindam Bagchi also
said that the terror at-
tack in Karachi only
underlined the need for
all countries to take an
“undifferentiated” posi-
tion against terrorism..
The MEA said on
Thursday that it was
not an opportune mo-
ment to discuss the re-
sumption of issuance
of tourist visas to Chi-
nese nationals in view
of the Covid-19 situa-
tion there.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail
to former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma
in a case related to the AgustaWestland chopper
scam. Special Judge Arvind Kumar grants relief
to Sharma on a personal bond of Rs two lakh,
with one surety in the like amount. The advocates
appearing for Sharma told the court that he was in-
nocent and was been falsely implicated in the case.
The court had on April 11 summoned Sharma.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana
and Chief Justices (CJs) of all the 25 High Courts
would take part in the 39th CJs’ conference here on
Friday to address issues concerning the judiciary
ranging from appointments of judges in HCs. The
Chief Justices’ conference, which would be attended
by two senior-most apex court judges — Justices UU
Lalit and AM Khanwilkar — in a programme to be held
in the apex court premises.
CHOPPER SCAM: COURT GRANTS BAIL
TO EX-DEF SECY SHASHI KANT SHARMA
CJI, CJS, ACJS OF 25 HIGH COURTS TO
DISCUSS ISSUES CONCERNING JUDICIARY
SHAH FAESAL TO
RETURN TO
SERVICE IN JK
NSA SLAPPED
AGAINST 3 IN UP
BOARD PAPER LEAK
CRUCIAL READ
BIOTECH MUST
ADDRESS WHO’S
SUSPENSION: MEA
HIGHLIGHTS
Weeks after WHO suspended
the supply of Covaxin
through UN procurement
agencies, the MEA sug-
gested that vaccine-maker
Bharat Biotech addresses the
issue immediately to avoid
cancellation of the world
health body’s emergency
use approval for the jab. The
MEA said many issues about
vaccines have arisen and
these must be addressed.

z US biotech firm Mod-
erna seeks US authorisa-
tion for jabs in children
under 6

z India records 3,303 new
Covid-19 cases, 39 Covid
deaths in 24 hours: Centre

z Health expert advises
people to not be careless,
says impact of Covid-19 ‘is
down but not out’

z Patna detects first case
of new Omicron variant
BA.2.12
Jammu: Shah Faesal,
the Jammu and Kashmir
cadre IAS officer who
resigned from service, is
going to return to work
after his resignation was
declined by the Centre.
Faesal, who had decided
to form his own political
party after resigning from
service, became disgrun-
tled with politics and later
stepped out of it by giv-
ing up his position in the
JK People’s Movement.
He formed the JK
People’s Movement on
February 4, 2019, but
resigned from politics.
Lucknow:Ballia Police on
Thursday imposed the
NSA, 1980 provisions
against three persons for
their alleged involvement
in the leak of the UP state
board’s Class 12 English
question paper. The
three accused have been
identified as Ravindra
Nath Singh, Rajiv Pratap
alias Raju and Nirbhay
Narayan Singh. “It is
noteworthy that the
examination of English to
be held on March 30 had
to be cancelled in 24 dis-
tricts due to the question
paper leak.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. —FILE PHOTO
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah.
Sonia Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi. —FILE PHOTO
Padma Shri awardee Guru Mayadhar Raut being evicted by
Directorate of Estates on Tuesday. His belongings, including the
Padma Shri citation, can be seen strewn outside the home.
WANT TO KEEP GROWING TIES WITH
INDIA, SAYS UK FOREIGN MINISTER
London (PTI): The UK wants to keep growing its ties
with India as part of efforts to work more closely with
allies to create a so-called Network of Liberty, Foreign
Secretary Liz Truss said in a foreign policy speech. The
Minister used her address at the Lord Mayor’s Easter
banquet to issue a stark warning to Russia and China on
its aggressive stance as the UK prioritises “security and
respect for sovereignty over short-term economic gain”.
No change in India’s
approach: MEA on Pak

BIZ BUZZ
06
Promoted by
AU Small Finance Bank
WTO chief warns against
retreat from global trade
Washington (Agen-
cies): Fragmentation
of the global economy
and a retreat from
global trade would
make countries more
vulnerable to produc-
tion shocks arising
from natural disasters
and outbreaks of fatal
diseases, the head of
the world trade organi-
zation said.
WTO Director Gen-
eral Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala told an event
hosted by the National
Foreign Trade Council
that economists esti-
mated that a fragmen-
tation of the global
economy could reduce
global gross domestic
product by 5% in the
longer run.
She said those losses
would be compounded
by higher transaction
costs and balance of
payments distress. It
would also make it
much harder to tackle
problems such as cli-
mate change, or stabi-
lizing global food and
fertilizer markets that
had been badly dis-
rupted by the war in
Ukraine.
Fertiliser subsidy likely to go
up to record `2.5 tn in FY23
New Delhi (PTI): In-
dia’s fertiliser subsi-
dy bill is likely to shoot
up by 55 per cent to re-
cord Rs 2.5 lakh crore
this fiscal as the gov-
ernment will provide
additional funds to
make up for the spike
in cost from higher im-
port price, top sources
said on Thursday
.
The government
will ensure that there
is no shortage of ferti-
lisers in the country
during the kharif
(summer-sown) and
rabi (winter-sown)
season and it is al-
ready in talks with
major global produc-
ers to import key soil
nutrients, they added.
According to the
sources, Union Chemi-
cals and Fertilis-
ers Minister Mansukh
Mandaviya is likely to
visit many countries,
including Saudi Ara-
bia, Oman and Moroc-
co, soon to secure
imports on both
short and long term
basis.
“The government is
working hard to ensure
there is no shortage
of fertilisers in the
country,” said a top
government function-
ary, and added that the
country has sufficient
stocks for the ongoing
kharif season, and
there would be no prob-
lems during the rabi
season as well.
It is to be noted that
fertiliser consumption
during rabi season is
10-15 per cent more
compared to the sum-
mer crops.
The government
will not increase retail
prices of urea and also
provide adequate sub-
sidies to ensure that
the maximum retail
prices of non-urea fer-
tilisers remain at the
present level, the
sources said.
Economists
estimated that a
fragmentation of the
global economy
could reduce global
gross domestic
product by 5% in the
longer run.
NO SHORATGE
Labour survey
shows rising
employment trend
Sensex rallies 701
points on positive global
cues; HUL, RIL surge
Oil prices fall as China fuel demand
dwindles due to Covid restrictions
Oil prices dropped on
Thursday on caution
about dwindling fuel de-
mand in China, the
world’s biggest oil im-
porter, due to the eco-
nomic impact of
Covid-19 restrictions.
Brent crude futures
had fallen 62 cents, or
0.59%, to $104.70 a bar-
rel by 0712 GMT. U.S.
West Texas Intermedi-
ate crude futures
slipped 48 cents, or
0.47%, to $101.54 a bar-
rel.
Both contracts had
settled over 30 cents
higher on Wednesday
on worries
a b o u t
t i g h t
world-
w i d e
o i l
s u p -
p l i e s
a n d
anoth-
e r
drawdown in U.S. distil-
late and gasoline stocks.
The U.S. Energy In-
formation Adminis-
tration said crude
stocks rose by just
692,000 barrels
l a s t
w e e k ,
short of
expectations,
but distillate
i nve n t o r i e s,
which include
diesel and jet
fuel, fell to their
lowest since May 2008.
In China, Beijing
closed some public spac-
es and stepped up COV-
ID-19checksatotherson
Thursday
, as most of the
city’s 22 million resi-
dentsembarkedonmore
mass testing aimed at
averting a Shanghai-
like lockdown, which
has disrupted factories
and supply chains rais-
ing concerns about the
outlook for the coun-
try’s economic growth.
New Delhi (PTI) : As
many as 3.14 crore
workers were em-
ployed in nine indus-
tries in the December
quarter of 2021, indi-
cating a rising trend
in employment in the
organised sector, ac-
cording to a Labour
Bureau survey
.
In the September
quarter of 2021, the
number of workers
stood at around 3.10
crore.
The Ministry of La-
bour and Employ-
ment on Thursday re-
leased the report of
the Quarterly Em-
ployment Survey
(QES) for the period
October-December
2021 period.
“Happy to inform
the report on 3rd
Round (Oct –Dec, 2021)
of Quarterly Employ-
ment Survey shows a
rising trend in em-
ployment in organised
sector, employing 10 or
more workers, of the
selected 9 sectors,” La-
bour Minister Bhu-
pender Yadav said in a
tweet.
Mumbai (ANI): The
Indian stock market’s
benchmark Sensex
surged 701 points on
Thursday led by
strong buying support
in FMCG, energy,
banking and IT stocks
as positive cues from
the global equities
boosted inves-
tors’ senti-
ments. The
30 stock
SP BSE
S e n s e x
s u r g e d
7 0 1 . 6 7
points or
1.23 per cent to
57,521.06 points
against its previous
day’s close at 56,819.39
points.
Earlier, the Sensex
opened in the positive
at 57,296.31 points.
However, it slumped
to a low of 56,936.94
points in the morning
trade. The markets
firmed up in the after-
noon on positive cues
from the European eq-
u i t i e s.
T h e
Sensex
surged
to a high
o f
5 7 , 7 9 0 . 8 5
points in the
intra-day. The bench-
mark Sensex had lost
537.22 points or 0.94
per cent on Wednes-
day
.
The broader Nifty 50
of the National Stock
Exchange surged
206.65 points or 1.21
per cent to 17,245.05
points against its pre-
vious day’s close at
17,038.40 points.
The
30 stock SP
BSE Sensex surged
701.67 points or 1.23 per
cent to 57,521.06 points
against its previous day’s
close at 56,819.39
points.
Google, T’gana sign MoU to support youth
Hyderabad (ANI):
Google said on Thurs-
day it has signed a
memorandum of un-
derstanding (MoU)
with the Telangana
Government to provide
technical and financial
support to youth and
women entrepreneurs
in the state.
As per the deal,
Google will collaborate
with the Government
through its various
arms to extend scholar-
ships for Google Career
Certificates to Telan-
gana’s youth, support
women entrepreneurs
through digital, busi-
ness and financial
skills training, and
strengthen the Govern-
ment’s school moderni-
sation efforts with digi-
tal teaching and learn-
ing tools and solutions.
Underlining its com-
mitment to investing
and expanding its pres-
ence in Telangana,
Google also unveiled
thedesignof itsground-
up development at the
7.3-acre site it acquired
in Gachibowli in 2019.
The 3 million square
footbuildingprioritises
sustainability and en-
ergyefficiencythrough-
out its design.
Tata Motors aims to
build 80,000 EVs this
financial year: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Tata
Motors expects to ag-
gressively ramp up an-
nual production of elec-
tric vehicles (EVs) to
more than 80,000 units
this financial year,
sources with knowl-
edge of the matter told
Reuters.
That compares with
the 19,000 EVs it built
and sold in the last fi-
nancial year.
Tata, India’s biggest
automaker, declined to
comment on produc-
tion plans but said EV
sales were growing rap-
idly with demand out-
pacing supply. The
sources were not au-
thorised to speak to me-
dia and declined to be
identified.
Tata last year an-
nounced plans to
launch 10 EV models by
March 2026, investing
about $2 billion on new
vehicle architecture, re-
lated technology and
infrastructure.
Tech pioneer
Nilekani takes
on Amazon,
Walmart
New Delhi (Agen-
cies): Nandan Nile-
kani, the high-profile
mogul is helping
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi build an
open technology net-
work that seeks to
level the playing field
for small merchants
in the country’s frag-
mented but fast-
growing $1 trillion
retail market.
Its stated purpose
is to create a freely
accessible online sys-
tem where traders
and consumers can
buy and sell every-
thing. But its unspo-
ken objective is to
eventually curb the
powers of Amazon.
com Inc. and
Walmart Inc.-owned
Flipkart.
FUTURE INVESTMENT
Toyota Kirloskar Motor reaches 20 lakh
units cumulative wholesales milestone
New Delhi (PTI): Toy-
ota Kirloskar Motor
(TKM) on Thursday
said it has reached the
20 lakh units cumula-
tive wholesales mile-
stone ever since its in-
ception in India.
The company, which
started production in
the country in Decem-
ber 1999, said it
achieved the feat in
April 2022, while hand-
ing over a new Glanza
hatchback at its deal-
ership, Nippon Toyota
at Trichur, Kerala.
“Over the last two
decades, Toyota has de-
veloped a solid founda-
tion of renowned qual-
ity, durability, and reli-
ability (QDR) and we
hope we will be able to
cater to more segments
as well as newer mar-
kets in 2022 and be-
yond, helping us
achieve our ultimate
goal of delivering
‘Mass Happiness to
All’,” TKM Associate
Vice President, Sales,
and Strategic Market-
ing Atul Sood said.
Over the years, the
companyhascontinued
to expand its product
lineup providing a wide
range of options, tai-
lored to meet the evolv-
ing needs of the Indian
customers, TKM said.
Apart from its popu-
lar multi-purpose vehi-
cle Innova Crysta and
SUV Fortuner, the
company has also in-
troduced compact SUV
Urban Cruiser and pre-
mium hatchback Glan-
za, the cross-based ver-
sions of Maruti Suzu-
ki’s Vitara Brezza and
Baleno respectively
.
While the company
has been successful
with Innova Crysta and
Fortuner, its made-for-
India products like se-
dan Etios and hatch-
back Etios Liva could
not match up with the
former two.
However, its self-
charging vehicles,
Camry hybrid, and
Vellfire have created
their own niche.
Camry Hybrid is the
first locally manufac-
tured strong self-
charging hybrid elec-
tric vehicle in India,
the company said.
Moving forward,
TKM said its aim is to
expand footprints with
a special focus on Tier
II and Tier III markets.
MILESTONE
TAILORED TO NEEDS

07
NEWS
London (PTI): Dr
Charudutt Mishra, a
snow leopard conserva-
tionist from India who
has been working
across the world to pro-
tect the big cat with a
pioneering community-
led approach has won a
prestigious nature
award in London.
Mishra was present-
ed the 100,000 pounds
Whitley Gold Award
from UK wildlife con-
servation charity Whit-
ley Fund for Nature
(WFN), which supports
grassroots conserva-
tion leaders. The award
is geared towards ena-
bling the ground-break-
ing snow leopard con-
servationist to replicate
ethical community en-
gagement on every con-
tinent. This project ad-
dresses one significant
gap in conservation
worldwide — our abili-
ty to work effectively
with local communi-
ties, who represent one
of the most important
stakeholders in conser-
vation efforts, said
Mishra, who is the first
international Executive
Director of the Snow
Leopard Trust (SLT).
Underlying the project
is my strong belief that
what we do in conserva-
tion matters, but how
we do it matters even
more, he said. The con-
servationist’s pioneer-
ing approach has been
named an outstanding
conservation practice
by the UN Biodiversity
Conference, in recogni-
tion that collective, lo-
cally-led conservation
is essential to realising
government ambition
of protecting 30 per
cent of the planet by
2030. Charu epitomises
the grassroots approach
that WFN exists to sup-
port. His revolutionary,
lifelong dedication to
working with local peo-
ple has reshaped the
conservation landscape
to the benefit of all, in-
cluding those commu-
nities of the high Hima-
layas and their majestic
snow leopards, said Ed-
ward Whitley OBE,
Founding Trustee of
WFN.Having worked
with Charu since he re-
ceived his initial Whit-
ley Award 17 years ago,
I have also seen his ef-
forts to support other
conservation leaders
internationally, not
least across all 12 coun-
tries in the snow leop-
ard’s range. I am de-
lighted that the Whitley
Gold Award will give
him the opportunity to
expand this work by
helping hundreds more
wildlife conservation-
ists, on every continent,
to prioritise an equita-
ble future, he said.
Mishra’s PARTNERS
Principles are distilled
from 25 years of suc-
cessful collaboration
with communities to
conserve snow leop-
ards.
Indian snow leopard conservationist wins UK wildlife charity award
PRESTIGIOUS AWARD
RARE FEAT
5G Spectrum auction worth
`7.5 L cr in June: Vaishnaw
GOVTISWORKINGASPEREXPECTEDTIMELINEPROCESSISON
TORESOLVEINDUSTRYCONCERNSAROUND5GSPECTRUMPRICING
government is likely to
hold 5G spectrum auc-
tion in early June, Tel-
ecom Minister Ashwini
Vaishnaw said on
Thursday
.
He said that the De-
partment of Telecom is
working as per expected
timeline and the pro-
cess is on to resolve in-
dustry concerns around
spectrum pricing.
Asked about the
schedule of the spec-
trum auction, Vaishaw
said that it is expected
to be in early June. Set-
ting the stage for the
rollout of 5G services,
telecom regulator TRAI
has mooted a mega auc-
tion plan valued at over
7.5 lakh crore at the
base price across multi-
ple bands for radio
waves allocated over 30
years.
“We are very much as
per our timeline to con-
duct the auction,” Mr
Vaishnaw said.
The minister said
that the Digital Com-
munications Commis-
sion will take a call on
TRAI recommenda-
tions and approach
them for clarification.
The watchdog has
recommended a mega
auction plan of over ₹
7.5 lakh crore for over 1
lakh megahertz spec-
trum in case the gov-
ernment allocates it for
a period of 30 years.
In case of 20 years,
the total value of the
proposed spectrum auc-
tion will stand at
around ₹ 5.07 lakh crore
at the reserve price, ac-
cording to the back-of-
the-envelope calcula-
tion.
While TRAI has re-
duced spectrum price
by about 39 per cent
compared to last price,
telecom operators have
said that the recom-
mended rates are high-
er than global bench-
marks.
TRAI IS TRYING
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. —FILE PHOTO
HCtellsSDMC,Delhi
policetoclearstand
onillegaldairies
Delhi High Court has
soughtthestandof South
Delhi Municipal Corpo-
ration officials and Delhi
Police on a plea alleging
inaction concerning the
sealing and closure of il-
legal dairy farms.
Thecourtissuednotice
on a contempt petition
andsoughtastatusreport
from the respondents on
the plea which has
claimed that the contin-
ued wilful disobedience
of a2019judicialorderon
the removal of illegal
dairies is creating a com-
plete public nuisance and
adversely impacting pub-
lic health and safety
.
“Issue notice... Let
Delhi Police be also im-
pleaded in the array of
parties. The status re-
port be filed before the
next date of hearing,”
saidthecourtinitsorder.
Thepetitioner,Sunay-
ana Sibal, and Akshita
Kukreja, represented by
senioradvocateSaurabh
Kirpal and lawyer Adi-
tya N Prasad, submitted
that in September 2019,
the high court directed
the municipal corpora-
tions in Delhi to take
necessaryactionagainst
allillegaldairiesbyseal-
ing and closing them
down by disconnecting
electricity, water, and
drainage connections
and other actions.
However, when the
petitioners visited the
Kotla Mubarakpur area
last year, they discov-
ered an entire cluster of
sheds housing unli-
censed dairies and
wrote to the authorities
but no action was tak-
en, the petition claimed.
This entire cluster
was established via en-
croachment under the
Baba Bandu Bahadur
Singh Setu flyover in a
non-designated area,
and multiple animals
were also found teth-
ered with short ropes in
neck-high sewage wa-
ter, the petition stated.
MayawatislamsAkhilesh,
saysneverhadPrezdream
First India Bureau
Lucknow: BSP supre-
mo Mayawati on
Thursday junked Akh-
ilesh Yadav’s remarks
about her prospects of
becoming President of
the country
, saying she
has never aspired to be
one and that the SP
leader was dreaming
about it to clear his
pathtobecometheCM.
Her remarks come a
day after Yadav said in
Mainpuri that the
“BSP has transferred
its votes to the BJP in
the Uttar Pradesh
polls. Now it will be in-
teresting to see wheth-
er the BJP makes
MayawatiPresidentor
not) in return”.
Mayawati said, “I
had never dreamt of
becoming the presi-
dent of the country.
All I know that the
work I am doing of
making the downtrod-
den stand on their feet
can be achieved by be-
coming CM and PM
but not president and
so the Samajwadi Par-
ty should forget it,”
Mayawati told report-
ers here.
Yadav had said
that it will be
interesting to see
whether the BJP
makes Mayawati
President (or not)
in return of BSP’s
votes in UP polls
BSP supremo Mayawati. —FILE PHOTO
The petitioner
claimed that there
continues to be
complete inac-
tion on the part of
respondents who
failed to comply with
the court’s direction.
The respondents
have failed to take
any concrete steps
to comply with the
aforementioned
judgment of this
Court, thus exhibit-
ing willful and delib-
erate disobedience,
the petition said.
THE ISSUE
IN QUESTION
RLD’smembership
drivefromMay6
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In order to
expand the party base
acrossUttarPradesh,the
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief
Jayant Chaudhury has
planned a major youth-
centric digital platform
to reach out to the mass-
es during the party’s
membership drive com-
mencing from May 6.
Even though the RLD
had contested the re-
cent assembly elections
in alliance with Sama-
jwadi Party in Western
UP, now it has planned
to widen its base in oth-
er parts of the state.
The RLD had won eight
assembly seats in alli-
ance. This victory en-
couraged the party
leadership to enlarge
the party’s base in en-
tire UP. Now, its think
tank has churned out a
few youth -centric pro-
grammes and is seeking
help of some digital ini-
tiatives to achieve the
goal.
Hry Chief Secy reviews projects worth over `6K cr
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: To ensure
the celebrations of 75
years of Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav are stamped
in the memory of the
people of the State, Har-
yana Chief Secretary
Sanjeev Kaushal direct-
ed the officers con-
cerned to renovate all
signages and milestones
across the State with its
logo reflecting the cele-
bration of 75 years of
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahot-
sav. He further asked
them to enlist the num-
ber of signages and
milestones across the
state and complete this
work on priority
.
Kaushal said this dur-
ing a review meeting of
the 31 projects of four
departments with an es-
timated cost of over Rs
6,400 crore which was
held under his Chair-
manship here on Thurs-
day
. It is worth mention-
ing that each of these 31
projects discussed in
the meeting were worth
over Rs 100 crore.
During this meeting,
Additional Chief Secre-
tary and Financial Com-
missioner, Revenue
Disaster Management
and Consolidation De-
partment PK Das, ACS
(Health) Rajeev Arora,
ACS (Finance and Plan-
ning) TVSN Prasad,
ACS (Public Works) An-
urag Rastogi, Principal
Secretary to Chief Min-
ister V Umashankar,
ACS (Public Health En-
gineering Department)
Apoorva Kumar Singh
and several other offic-
ers were present.
Kaushal reviewed the
progress of all the 31
projects, including 18
projects of PWD (B R)
and Architecture, four
projects of Health
Family Welfare, six pro-
jects of Public Health
Engineering and three
projects of Home De-
partment. Among the
key projects are, con-
struction of roads and
bridges which will en-
hance the connectivity
of the state, projects
further augmenting the
healthcare facilities, an
array of projects per-
taining to construction
of over bridges which
will help smoothen traf-
fic congestion.
EU DELEGATION MEETS NAQVI
A delegation of European Union led by EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore and Ambassador of the
European Union to India, Ugo Astuto meeting Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Directs officers to renovate major
milestones and signages with
logo of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
‘BEAUTIFY ROADS’
Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal. —FILE PHOTO

08
2NDFRONT
A day is beautiful in the rays of
the sun, dew on the grass, a ripe
red tomato, a smile from a
stranger - revel in it.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
CISF vehicle attack in J-K:
MHA hands over case to NIA
New Delhi (ANI): The
Ministry of Home Af-
fairs (MHA) has handed
over the case of a terror
attack on a Central In-
dustrial Security Force
(CISF) vehicle carrying
15 personnel on April 22
in Jammu and Kash-
mir’s Sunjwan to the
NIA, top govt officials
said on Thursday
.
The NIA took over
the case soon after the
anti-terror agency re-
ceived an official order
from the MHA asking it
investigate the matter
from all possible angles.
The NIA has re-regis-
tered the case which
was initially being
probed by the Jammu
and Kashmir Police.
The move comes with-
in a week of the incident
following a visit of the
anti-terror agency at the
spot hours after the at-
tack which was reported
at about 4.25 am on April
22 when the 15 CISF per-
sonnel, who were per-
forming duty in the
outer cordon near the
Chadda Camp and their
relieving teams was just
arrived by bus.
The CISF, in a state-
ment then said, all the
CISF personnel came
under heavy firing from
the terrorists.
“The CISF personnel
immediately took posi-
tion and retaliated. Dur-
ing the course of retali-
ation, terrorists lobbed
grenades and by taking
advantage of darkness
managed to escape from
the spot towards the
nearby residential
area,” the CISF had said.
In the attack, the Cen-
tral Armed Police Force
said, Assistant Sub In-
spector S.P. Patel of
CISF laid down his life
while undergoing treat-
ment in hospital, one
personnel was griev-
ously injured and six
other personnel of the
Force sustained minor
injuries while valiantly
retaliating against the
terrorist attack.
In the subsequent ac-
tion, security forces suc-
ceeded to eliminate the
two terrorists responsi-
ble for the attack.
Two fidayeens (Aat-
ma ghati) terrorists of
the Jaish-e-Mohammad
outfit were present in
the area.
The CISF had said
that the terrorists were
planning to target the
security forces and in-
nocent people. “If they
could have managed to
surpass the outer cor-
don (Naka), a major loss
to the security forces
might have been
caused.”
Due to the valiant re-
sponse by CISF person-
nel, a major fidayeen
attack was not only
averted but terrorists
were contained and
eliminated.
The CISF then said its
total of three companies
were deployed in the Un-
ion Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir for Law
and Order duties.
A CISF company (No.
757) of the 3rd Reserve
Battalion was deployed
at Jammu City for main-
taining Law and Order
with the local police of
Narwal Police Station,
Jammu.
Based on the inputs,
the CISF said “some fi-
dayeens terrorist organ-
isations were planning a
major attack in the Jam-
mu region”.
Considering the in-
put, it said a joint
“combing and search
operation was being
carried out in the area,
wherein Central Re-
serve Police Force
(CRPF) and local police
personnel were de-
ployed for inner cordon
and search operation
while CISF personnel
were deputed at Naka
near Chadda Camp
meant for outer cor-
don”.
OFFICIAL ORDER
Need to prepare for
‘short swift wars’
current geopolitical sit-
uation necessitates the
Indian Air Force to pre-
pare for “short swift
wars and long drawn
standoffs” akin to the
situation in eastern
Ladakh, Chief of Air
Staff Air Chief Marshal
VR Chaudhari said on
Thursday. Addressing a
seminar, he also called
for focusing on opera-
tional logistics to deal
with various security
challenges and quoted
famous military strate-
gist Sun Tzu as saying
very aptly that “the line
between disorder and
order lies in logistics.”
“In the force, space
and time continuum,
there would be a need for
us to prepare for short
swift wars as well as be
ready for a long drawn
standoff akin to what we
are seeing in eastern
Ladakh,” he said.
India and China have
been locked in a bitter
faceoff at certain fric-
tion points in eastern
Ladakh for nearly two
years though the two
sides carried out disen-
gagement of troops from
a number of areas follow-
ing a series of military
and diplomatic talks.
Nadda chairs MP BJP core
group meeting in Delhi
New Delhi (ANI):
Bharatiya Janata Party
national president JP
Nadda chaired the Mad-
hya Pradesh core group
meeting in Delhi on
Thursday
.
The meeting com-
menced with Madhya
Pradesh Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chou-
han, state unit party
chief VD Sharma,
Home minister Narot-
tam Mishra, and the
BJP national general
secretary Kailash Vi-
jayvargiya. The meet-
ing is taking place to
deliberate on the strat-
egy for the Assembly
elections in the state
scheduled next year.
There will also be a
detailed discussion for
better coordination be-
tween the organisation
and the state govern-
ment.
Ahmedabad: BJP president JP Nadda will be on a
day-long visit to Gujarat on Friday, where he will
hold meetings with party workers and leaders in
view of the state Assembly polls, expected to be
held in December this year, an office-bearer of
the party said. After his arrival at the Ahmedabad
airport on Friday morning, Nadda would first visit
Gandhi Ashram, Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yamal
Vyas said on Thursday. “From Gandhi Ashram,
Nadda will reach state BJP headquarters ‘Shree
Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar to address a gathering
of key party leaders, including MPs, MLAs and
executive committee members of the state
NADDA TO VISIT GUJARAT TODAY; TO
HOLD MEETINGS WITH BJP LEADERS
CBSE tells board exam centres to make proper
arrangements in view of COVID, heatwave
Central Board of Sec-
ondary Education
(CBSE) on Thursday is-
sued directions to the
board examination cen-
tres to make proper ar-
rangements in the wake
of the current Covid
situation and the heat-
wave.
The CBSE Class 10
and 12 board exams for
the second term began
on Tuesday in the coun-
try and abroad after two
years of pandemic-in-
duced disruptions.
“The board has paid
Rs 5,000 fixed and Rs 5
per candidate per day
for the examination day
to make proper ar-
rangements to avoid
spread of COVID, it is
requested that full
proof arrangements
may be made at the ex-
amination centre and
COVID protocols may
be followed strictly as
given in the guidelines
for centre superinten-
dents and as instructed
by the concerned state
government,” CBSE
Exam Controller Sany-
am Bhardwaj said in a
letter to superinten-
dents of examination
centres.
“The CBSE has also
decided to pay Rs 2 per
candidate per day for
making available pota-
ble water, hence proper
arrangements for
drinking water may be
made at the examina-
tion centre. Your per-
sonal intervention for
making arrangements
in the matter and other-
wise will help in main-
taining the better
health index of the stu-
dents and staff,” he
added.
In the ongoing board
exams, the number of
students permitted in
each classroom has
been capped at 18 and
schools have been asked
to provide separate
rooms to students suf-
fering from COVID-19.
“CBSE has made
elaborate arrange-
ments for the conduct
of examinations in In-
dia and 26 countries.
Since the exams are be-
ing conducted after
Covid, the board has
made all arrangements
for its smooth conduct.
Because of Covid, these
examinations are being
conducted in April,
May and June 2022,”
Bhardwaj said.
The Class 10 board
exams are being con-
ducted at 7,406 centres
while the Class 12 board
exams are being held at
6,720 exam centres.
39 LeT terrorists among
62 ultras killed so far in
Kashmir this year: IGP
Gehlot appeals to PM for
another meet of CMs, this
time on inflation
Srinagar (PTI): Secu-
rity forces have killed
62 terrorists, including
15 of foreign origin, be-
longing to various out-
fits in encounters in the
Kashmir valley so far
this year, police said on
Thursday
.
Among those killed,
39 were from Lashkar-e-
Taiba (LeT) and 15 from
Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM), Inspector Gen-
eral of Police (IGP),
Kashmir, Vijay Kumar
said. “Total #terrorists
killed in encounters so
far this year = 62. #Ter-
ror #Outfit wise: LeT =
39, JeM = 15, HM = 06,
Al-Badr = 02,” the IGP
said in a tweet.
He said among the 62
terrorists killed in en-
counters, 47 were local
and 15 foreigners.
Kumar said due to en-
hanced human and
technical intelligence
and focussed opera-
tions, the surviving rate
of terrorists is drasti-
cally decreasing in the
valley
.
“Out of 62 terrorists
killed so far in the cur-
rent year, 32 terrorists
got #neutralised within
just three months of
their joining #terror
ranks,” he added.
First India Bureau
Jaipur: A day after
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi chaired a meet-
ing with Chief Ministers
andaskedthemtoreduce
thestatetaxesonfuel,Ra-
jasthanCMAshokGehlot
has appealed to PM Modi
tochairyetanothermeet-
ingwithCMsof thestates
on the issue of inflation.
In a series of tweets,
Gehlot said, “Yesterday
PMO India held a meet-
ing through video con-
ferencing regarding
Covid. In this meeting,
only 5 Chief Ministers
got a chance to express
their views. In the end,
the Prime Minister him-
self, in his address, sud-
denly mentioned infla-
tion and rising prices of
petrol and diesel and
tried to blame it on non-
BJP ruled states. People
are suffering from infla-
tion all over the country
.
The economic policies
of the country are main-
ly made and operated by
the central government,
but its effect is on the
states only
. I request the
Prime Minister to hold a
meeting with all the
Chief Ministers on the
issue of inflation and
listen to everyone.
Bulldozer politics not about religion but
is class war between rich poor: Maken
First India Bureau
New Delhi: Former
Union Minister and
senior Congress leader
Ajay Maken has said
that the bulldozer poli-
tics not about religion
but is class war between
rich and poor.
Maken was speaking
at a seminar titled ‘Lok-
tantra vs Bulldozertan-
tra’ organized by mi-
nority department of
Congress which was
also addressed by an-
other Senior Congress
leader Salman Khurs-
hid.
Maken, who led Con-
gress’ delegation to Ja-
hangirpuri after BJP-
ruled North MCD car-
ried out a contentious
demolition drive there,
questioned the timing
and intention of the
drive. Speaking at a
seminar titled ‘Loktan-
tra vs Bulldozertantra’
organized by the minor-
ity department of the
grand old party at the
AICC headquarter in
the national capital,
Maken said that bull-
dozers are being used as
a tool (by the BJP) to po-
larize the politics.
“Narrative is being
set by the ruling party
(against minorities) in
order to keep them in
power,” said Maken,
adding, “BJP has cho-
sen those states where
elections are due in
next year. We have to
understand the timing
also.”
“Bulldozers are being
used at a time when in-
flation has created a re-
cord and unemploy-
ment is at an all-time
high…The bulldozer
politics should not be
seen from the lens of
religion but from class.
It is a class war between
rich and the poor,” em-
phasized Makan.
Defending the poor
(irrespective of their
religious identity),
Maken said that en-
croachment by the poor
is “a need-based viola-
tion”.
Defending the poor
(irrespective of their
religious identity),
Maken said that
encroachment by the
poor is “a need-based
violation”.
Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken
IGP Vijay Kumar Ashok Gehlot

escribe yourself, and
what would you say
are some vital skills
or characteristics to
have to make it in
the modelling world?
I am a person who tries to im-
prove oneself every second
of my life, who believes
that I can accomplish
anything if I believe in
myself. I figured that
if a girl wants to be a
legend, she should go
ahead and be one, I am a per-
son who has the courage to
face the universe all alone and
wants to help the needy people,
besides modelling I love to ex-
press myself through dancing
and singing.

z If you could go in future
and tell yourself one thing
about your career what
would it be?
I see myself as a person who
would overcome all the obsta-
cles of my journey in order to
accomplish the goals that I
have always dreamt of, I want
to tell my futurself that Work
is our worship and we should
always work to inspire others
and to work for the welfare
of the society. I want
to see myself as an
improved version
of myself.

z What inspired you to
write Finding the Super-
model in You, The Insiders
Guide to Teen Modelling?
I was really inspired by Su-
shmita Sen, at the age of 14
and wanted to do something
like her, I wanted to bring
the power to my voice so that
I could bring changes in my
society, so I started search-
ing for beauty pageants and
then I came across one pag-
eant, I got selected at the
ground auditions, I worked
really hard on myself it took
me 6 months to change my-
self as a person before the
competition, I became a
confident and coura-
geous person and
won Star Miss
Teen India 2021,
Delhi.

z What was the
biggest rookie mis-
take you made when
just starting out?
Like every other person
sometimes I go through
mental breakdowns, some-
times I feel low, but at the end
of the day I knew I had myself,
I believe in myself also I am
lucky enough to have a family
who supports me.

z What has been the most
memorable or rewarding
moment in your career?
The moment when I won 2
main titles – Miss Teen India
2021 and Miss Queen of Cos-
mos 2022, it was like a dream
come true juncture.
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
D
ONE OF THE MOST COURAGEOUS THINGS YOU CAN
DO IS IDENTIFY YOURSELF, KNOW WHO YOU ARE,
WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN AND WHERE YOU WANT TO
GO. A BEAUTIFUL DIVA FROM LUCKNOW, SANSKRITI
SHARMA SHARED HER MOTIVATING JOURNEY AS A
MODEL IN CANDID CONVERSATION WITH CITY FIRST
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY,
APRIL 29, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/
thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
THE STORY OF
THE STORY OF
UNSUNG (HER)O
UNSUNG (HER)O

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