First india lucknow edition-03 february 2021

UP to imbibe mantra of ‘Minimum Government
and Maximum Governance’: Yogi Adityanath
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow : In a tryst
with technology, UP
CM Yogi Adityanath
has given the go-
ahead for implement-
ing a new paperless
policy to push effec-
tive governance in the
country’s most popu-
lous state. The new
technology model
will ensure transpar-
ency and also en-
hance accountability.
A beginning in this
regard was made on
Tuesday when the UP
CM held a training
session for all his cab-
inet colleagues to ac-
quaint them with his
idea of paperless gov-
ernance. For a change
instead of carrying
pouches and hand-
bags, the officials and
‘mantrijis’ came to
the training session
with their laptops and
tablets. Turn to P2
CM Yogi chairing a meeting through video conferencing on e-cabinet at CMR on Tuesday afternoon.
All MLA-
MLCs to be
equipped with
tablets, UP’s
budget likely to
be paperless
TAINTED EX-IAS OFFICER
SATYENDRA SINGH IN CBI NET
Lucknow : In a move that was being seen in anticipation
for quite some time, retired IAS Satyendra Singh was
booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths
for graft. Singh has charges against him for giving leases
to facilitate illegal mining of minor minerals in Kaushambi
when he was posted as a district magistrate during the
years 2012-14. The sleuths searched at nine locations,
including residential premises of the tainted officer. The
searches, as per the officials, have led to heavy-weight
findings including recovery of documents of 44 properties
worth crores in the name of the officer and his relatives in
Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and New Delhi. —Also see P7
COVID HOSPITALS TO FUNCTION
AS NORMAL OPDS IN EAST UP
LUCKNOW : With vaccination against Corona having
begun in Varanasi and the count of new cases
witnessing significant decline in last few days leading
to drop in death graph, the district administration is
gearing up to restart normal OPD in government and
private hospitals in district by withdrawing anti Covid
arrangements, officials said.In Varanasi, less than 50
new patients per day were received in last ten days
while in past three days, the count declined to less
than 20 per day. Most of the patients are staying in
home isolation. —Also see P3
E-CABINET ON CARDS
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 81
VANDE MATARAM RECORD
SETTING FEAT TO UNITE 50K
VOICES ACROSS UP
P5 P2
NO PLANS TO ENACT CENTRAL
ANTI-CONVERSION LAW TO CURB
INTERFAITH MARRIAGES: MHA
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
TIKAIT WARNS! FARMERS TO STAY PUT,
STIR WON’T CONCLUDE BEFORE OCTOBER
Ghaziabad: Bhartiya
Kisan Union (BKU)
spokesperson Rakesh
Tikait on Tuesday
warned that the farm-
ers’ agitation will not
conclude unless govern-
ment repeals the three
newly enacted agricul-
ture laws and it may go
on till October.
“Our slogan is ‘Ka-
noon Wapsi Nahi toh
Ghar Wapasi Nahi’.
This agitation will not
conclude before Octo-
ber, it will not end any-
time soon,” said Tikait
while addressing a rally
at Ghazipur border.
Reacting to the heavy
deployment of security
personnelandfencingat
the borders of Delhi, he
said,“Thegovernment’s
strategy to stop the
farmersisgoingtoback-
fire as it will restrict
movements of farm pro-
duces to various places
and in turn harm com-
mon people. I urge all of
you to be prepared to
carry this movement till
October/November. Let
the government do as
much fencing as they
want to do.”
Tikait said the youth
who hoisted the flag at
Red Fort was given way
by the authorities them-
selves. “All this was
done to malign the im-
age of Punjabi commu-
nity and paint the im-
age of farmers as anti-
national,” he added.
Security has been
beefed up at Ghazipur,
Singhu Turn to P6
Barricades, boulders, drones!
Security beefed in New Delhi
New Delhi: Security
has been beefed up at
the three borders and
barricades, boulders,
barbed wires have come
up as additional forces
made their way to Ghaz-
ipur, Singhu and Tikri
borders amid the appre-
hensions of more farm-
ers joining the protest
from Punjab, Haryana
and Western UP.
Dronesarebeingused
to keep surveillance and
intense checking is be-
ing done at the border
areaswhichhasresulted
in massive traffic snarls
in the capital. The Traf-
fic was affected on Road
no. 56 from ISBT Anand
VihartoGhazipurdueto
closingof border.Traffic
jam were also noticed at
ITO and other places in
Delhi amid heavy police
checking.
The Delhi Police
blocked roads near Ak-
shardhamandvehicular
movement was restrict-
ed between Delhi and
Ghaziabad on National
Highway-24. Turn to P6
SAYS,OURSLOGANIS‘KANOONWAPSINAHITOHGHARWAPASINAHI’
BKU’s Rakesh Tikait having his meal at Ghazipur border during farmers ongoing protest against the
new farm laws, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
New Delhi: Congress
and other Opposition
parties on Tuesday
forced adjournments of
Rajya Sabha proceed-
ings twice in pre-noon
session as they insisted
on taking up a discus-
sion on the issue of
farmers’ protest over
the three new farm bills.
The House was first ad-
journed for about 40
minutes till 10.30 am.
As soon as the House
met again, similar
scenes were witnessed
leading to another ad-
journment till 11.30 am.
Congress, Left, TMC,
DMK and RJD mem-
bers first walked out
from RS after their de-
mand for suspension of
business of the day for
taking up the discus-
sion was rejected by the
Chairman M Venkaiah
Naidu. The leaders gave
notice for suspension of
business under Rule 267
of Rules Turn to P6
New Delhi: The government
on Tuesday asserted in Lok
Sabha that it was ready to dis-
cuss issues related to farmers
both inside and outside Parlia-
ment amid vociferous protests
by the Opposition which
forced the House to adjourn
twice, first for almost an hour
and then for nearly two hours.
Agriculture Minister Nar-
endra Singh Tomar said dur-
ing Zero Hour, which began at
5 pm, that the Modi govern-
ment is always committed to
discuss the farmer’’s issues.
“Government is ready to
discuss issues related to
farmers inside and outside
Parliament,” he said amid slo-
ganeering by opposition mem-
bers.
Tomar’s reply came after
Congress leader in Lok Sabha
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
claimed that 170 farmers have
died during the ongoing agita-
tion against the three conten-
tious farm laws.
Turn to P6
OPPN STAGES WALKOUT
AFTER NAIDU REJECTS
SUSPENSION NOTICE
‘PRIME MINISTER ARE YOU ON
WAR WITH FARMERS?’
BUILD BRIDGES, NOT WALLS:
RAHUL GANDHI SLAMS CENTRE
New Delhi: Amid the stale-
mate between the central
government and protesting
farmers, AICC GS Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday
questioned PM Modi whether
he is on a war with the farm-
ers. “Honourable PM, are you
on war with your farmers?”
tweeted Vadra in Hindi.
New Delhi: As security was
beefed up at different borders
of the national capital in
light of the ongoing farmers’
protest, Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday
advised the BJP-led central
government to ‘build bridges
and not walls’.”GOI, Build
bridges, not walls!,” tweeted
Gandhi on Tuesday.
Barricades set up at Delhi-UP Ghazipur border to stop farmers
from marching towards in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Govt ready to discuss issues
inside & outside Parl: Min
BJP SKIPS ALL-PARTY
MEET CALLED BY CAPT
CONG LEGAL DEPARTMENT TO GIVE
LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS
Chandigarh: An all-party meeting was
held at Punjab Bhawan chaired by
Punjab Chief Miniter Captain Amarinder
Singh on the issue of Central Farmer
Legislations, however, Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) skipped the meeting. The
meeting had been called to discuss the
farmers’ agitation against agricultural
laws in the light of the recent develop-
ments in the national capital.
New Delhi: Amid reports of Delhi Police filing FIRs against many
farmers and their leaders, Congress legal dept headed by Vivek
Tankha on Tuesday formed teams to assist them for any legal
help. A resolution passed by dept says, “Delegations of legal dept
from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi will be visiting farmer leaders at
protest-sites at borders of Delhi to apprise them of legal services
already taken to help farmers and journalists regarding relief and
redressal.” The department will display in public a list of lawyers
in each district of the four states who will visit jails and find out
about the persons missing and also visit police stations.
CBSE Class X, XII
Exams from May 4
New Delhi: The CBSE
board exam for Class X
and XII will begin on
May 4, the Education
Ministry said on Tues-
day, as it released a
datesheet for both
classes.
Class X exams will
finish on June 7, while
Class XII exams will
conclude on June 11.
Practical exams will
begin from March 1.
On four days the Class
XII exams will be held
in two shifts - the first
will be from 10.30 am to
1.30 pm, and the second
will be from 2.30 pm to
5.30 pm. All Class X ex-
ams will be held from
10.30 am to 1.30 pm. All
exams will be held in
the offline-written
mode, and with COV-
ID-19 safety protocols
in place. These include
wearing face masks at
all times, the use of
hand sanitisers and
maintaining social dis-
tance.
The CBSE has also
said that on the four
days Class XII exams
will be held over two
shifts, staff working in
the morning will not be
given afternoon duty.

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021
02
UP CM has directed
officials to send a
proposal to Centre for
extending the ‘Ganga
Expressway’ project to
Haridwar and Varanasi
and connecting the
‘Purvanchal Express-
way’ to Ballia.
CM directed officials
to expedite estab-
lishment of Institute of
Virology in Lucknow
adding that it should
be developed on the
lines of National Insti-
tute of Virology, Pune.
CM thanked NIti Aay-
og CEO Amitabh
Kant for declaring
Shrawasti as the top
aspirational district in
making rapid progress
on health and educa-
tion index.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
Videos of singers across 75 districts will be uploaded to the Guiness World Records site
Vande Mataram record setting
feat to unite 50K voices across UP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: After get-
ting an entry into the
Guinness World Re-
cords for lighting over
5.50 lakh lamps during
Deepotsav Program in
Ayodhya last year, the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment is all set to
add yet another world
record in its name this
time by getting 50,000
artists to sing India’s
national song ‘Vande
Matram’ in all 75 dis-
tricts of the state.
Their videos will
be uploaded on the
website of Guinness
World Records to
mark centenary cel-
ebrations of Chauri
Chaura incident on
February 4.
The centenary cele-
brations will be inau-
gurated virtually by
the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Feb-
ruary 4. The PM will
also release a postal
stamp on the occasion
through video confer-
encing.
To make the year-
long centenary cele-
brations memorable,
the state government
has made special ar-
rangements for sing-
ing of Vande Matram
in all 75 districts. The
event is being organ-
ized by the state’s cul-
tural department and a
rehearsal of the event
was done on Tuesday.
After rehearsal,
singers will sing the
first few lines of
Vande Mataram in
saluting position
which will be video-
recorded for upload-
ing. The Guinness
Books of World Re-
cord will provide a
link on its website to
upload 30-second
videos from different
districts of Uttar
Pradesh.
Earlier, China held
the record when 10,369
videos of people in sa-
luting positions were
uploaded in December
2019 in Beijing.
Principal Secretary
Culture and Tourism
Mukesh Meshram
said that selected
singers across the
state of UP will recite
Vande Matram in
schools and other suit-
able places that are
well connected with
the internet facility.
They will record the
video in saluting pos-
ture to set the unique
world record.
Guinness technical
team will examine
uploaded videos on
February 5 and de-
clare the result the
next day.
RESUME CLASSES!
The world record to-be will be Yogi’s symbolic salute to India’s National song.
Chauri Chaura to be shaped
as heritage tourist attraction
‘UP govt better than others
at clearing farmers’ bills’
Cabinet meets to go digital
Cont’d from page 1
“From Cabinet meet-
ings to all the Legisla-
ture Proceedings in Ut-
tar Pradesh, every ac-
tivity in the Legislative
Assembly and the Leg-
islative Council will be
taken forward through
digital means. There
will only be a provision
of e-cabinet meetings in
the state and even the
Budget of the state is
expected to be present-
ed in a paperless for-
mat. After that, the pro-
ceedings of state legis-
lature will also be pa-
perless.”, the CM said
“The Pandemic has
taught us of numerous
benefits of being well
equipped with technol-
ogy
. UP will imbibe PM
Modi’s resolution of
‘MinimumGovernment
and Maximum Govern-
ance’ which will be UP’s
way of bringing into
force the Digital India
Programme.”, he said.
There was a time when
people made fun of
PM’s initiative of ‘Jan
Dhan Yojana’, however,
now it is highly appreci-
ated by everyone, the
CM added.
The UP Secretariat is
already following an e-
office system.
With 217 services avail-
able online, the state
government is to shift
the cabinet meetings on
a digital mode.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment has planned to de-
velop the ‘Chauri Chau-
ra’ Martyrs’ Memorial’
in Gorakhpur as a her-
itage tourist spot and
hold yearlong celebra-
tions to mark 100 years
of the historic incident.
The UP CM has em-
phasised that the pro-
grammes should be or-
ganised with the objec-
tive of instilling a sense
of patriotism in the
minds of the young gen-
eration and expressing
gratitude to the free-
dom fighters who had
made several sacrifices
for the country’s inde-
pendence.
“Make this country
your own, live those
dreams for which the
freedom fighters sac-
rificed themselves.
Develop passion and
devotion for the coun-
try you are living in,”
the Chief Minister
said.
Munshi Premchand
and Firaq Gorakhpuri
of this region gave up
their jobs to express re-
sentment towards the
British Rule.
The historic incident
derives it name after
the place (Chauri
Chaura) in Gorakhpur
district where it took
place on February 4,
1922. There was a mass
demonstration of peo-
ple against the brutal
measures of the Brit-
ishers in response to
which the police opened
fire on them.
This led to the death of
three civilians and
twenty-three police-
men. The incident
shook the foundation of
the British Empire in
India. Mahatma Gan-
dhi, who was strictly
against violence, halted
the Non-cooperation
Movement on the na-
tional level on February
12, 1922, as a direct re-
sult of this incident.
First India Bureau
Lucknow:Amid the
farmers’ protest over
the new agri-marketing
laws, an Uttar Pradesh
minister on Tuesday
said the state’s BJP gov-
ernment has done bet-
ter than the previous
ones at settling the bills
of sugarcane growers
and opening new sugar
mills.
Sugar Industry Min-
ister Suresh Rana
claimed that in the past
four years the Yogi Adi-
tyanath government
paid out Rs 1.2 lakh
crore to cane farmers
who bring their pro-
duce to state-owned
sugar mills, compared
to the Rs 95,000 crore
during the Samajwadi
Party’s five-year term.
He accused the pre-
vious SP and Bahujan
Samaj Party govern-
ments of selling off
21 sugar mills at
throwaway prices .
According to him, 19
mills shut down be-
tween 2007 and 2012
when the BSP was in
power and 10 closed
from 2012 to 2017 during
the SP period.
But the BJP govern-
ment has set up new
sugar mills at Ramala
in Baghpat, Munderwa
in Basti and Pipraich in
Gorakhpur, Rana said.
He also rejected
claims by SP president
Akhilesh Yadav on the
neglect of the Sathia-
nav sugar mill in Azam-
garh district.
Yogi Adityanath. —FILE PHOTO
Sugar Industry Minister Suresh Rana.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Converting
challenges into oppor-
tunities, the Yogi Adity-
anath government has
achieved yet another
milestone in the MSME
sector by achieving the
stipulated target in dis-
tributing loans and em-
ployment generation
ahead of the deadline.
According to govern-
ment statistics, loan
worth Rs 62000 crore
has been distributed to
MSME units of the
state from April 1, 2020
to December 31, 2020.
The task has been ac-
complished not only
three months ahead of
March 31, 2021 deadline
but it has also sur-
passed many sectors in
the process.
“Buoyed by the
achievement, the
state government has
now set a revised tar-
get of Rs 76000 crore
for the current fis-
cal,” said Additional
Chief Secretary,
MSME Navneet Se-
hgal, who presided
over a meeting of
State Level Banking
Committee (SLBC) to
review the progress.
“The credit to
MSME units helped
them continue with
their activities even
during the trying
times of Corona and
generated additional
employment of 30
lakh,” he said adding
“‘by the end of cur-
rent financial year,
the total employment
through MSME units
is likely to cross 80
lakh mark.”
UP accounts for
about 14 percent of
MSME units in the
country. CM Yogi has
been projecting it as
the growth engine of of
the state in terms of in-
dustrial activities and
generation of employ-
ment.
MSME sector achieves loan target, sets new one
FULFILLING
Three-day Sunahri
Kand Mahotsav soon
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh Government is
all set to organise a
three-day Mahotsav on
Sunahri Kand (also
known as Orange-
Fleshed Sweet Potatoes)
in Gorakhpur in the
third week of February
.
A proposal has also
been sent to the govern-
ment to include OFSP,
loaded with Vitamin A,
fiber, potassium, pro-
tein, etc into the Hot
Cooked Scheme of An-
ganbari and Mid Day
Meal Scheme of prima-
ry schools so that it
helps fight the deficien-
cy of Vitamin A and
malnutrition in chil-
dren.
The event is expected
to be held between
February 19 and 21.
In a meeting chaired
by Additional Chief
Secretary, Horticulture
Manoj Kumar Singh,
the action plan of the
Mahotsav was dis-
cussed. The main aim
of the Mahotsav will be
to give farmers, who
cultivated Sunahri
Kand, the fair price of
their produce. People
will also be made aware
of the benefits and nu-
tritional values of this
super fruit.
Enriched with antioxi-
dants, Sunahri helps in
promoting skin health
and reduces the risk of
cancer. This fruit can be
consumed in the form
of vegetables, fritters,
cutlets, pickles, or des-
sert. Apart from these,
many different delica-
cies can be made from
this wonder fruit.
Apart from eye diseas-
es, the deficiency of vi-
tamins also accounted
for a high number of
deaths because of diar-
rhea as antibiotics
failed to act in Vitamin
A-deficient children. To
tackle this situation,
the cultivation of Su-
nahri Kand was
planned- the best and
cheapest source of Vita-
min A.
SOARING HEIGHTS
Mountaineer Nitish Singh from Gorakhpur unfurled the National Flag at the Mt Kilimanjaro
peak, the highest mountain in Africa on January 26.“People have supported me to
overcomedifficulties. Now I aim to scale the top seven highest peaks of the world,” he said.
Proposal sent
for four more
Eklavya Schools
First India Bureau
Lucknow: UP govern-
ment has sent a propos-
al to the Centre to build
four more Eklavya Mod-
el residential Schools in
the state.
The places where
these schools have been
proposed include Luc-
know, Sonbhadra, Bi-
jnor and Shravasti dis-
tricts.
Eklavya schools are
currently running at
Bahraich and Lakh-
impur in the state as
well as one is under
construction in Lalit-
pur.
The Central and the
State Government in
UP are collectively mak-
ing efforts to improve
the level of education in
tribal areas.
GOVT FOR MSP
Sunehri Kand
ACS, MSME Navneet Sehgal,

UTTAR PRADESH
03
NEWSat a glance
COURT GRANTS 24-HR CUSTODY OF SEN
The Special Court of Prevention of Corruption
Act on Tuesday granted 24 hours’ custody of IPS
Arvind Sen to Gomtinagar police in an animal hus-
bandry department scam. Special Judge MK Singh
further allowed the police to collect his voice sam-
ple. The court passed the order on applications
moved by Investigating Officer Shweta Srivastava.
PLEA ALLEGING DETENTION DISMISSED
Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC dismissed a
habeas corpus petition filed by a man who alleged
that his wife was detained by her parents after
she converted to Islam and married him.Passing
the order, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh said the
petitioner had alternative remedy to approach the
proper court under the Civil Procedure Code.
SAMPOORNA SAMADHAN DIVAS HELD
Sampoorna Samadhan Divas was organised in
Mohanlalgnj Tehsil in the presence of DM Abhishek
Pradhan. The DM said it’s the government’s priori-
ty to solve the grievances of the public at the local
levels, which is why Sampoorna Samadhan Divas
is being organised. He instructed the officials to
make sure that all complaints are resolved and in
case of delay, proper reason be to be present.
GIRL INJURED IN FIRE SUCCUMBS
A second daughter of a man, who had set ablaze
his six children and wife before setting himself too
afire in a desperate bid to save a piece of his land
in Kanpur dehat area, died of her burn injuries on
Tuesday. The 7-yr-old daughter of Gulfam, 35, a
resident of Kanpur dehat’s Moosa Nagar, died of
her injuries at KGMU in Lucknow.
MASCOT DESIGNING CONTEST
Amit Rajan Rai, Assistant Divisional Transport
Officer (Enforcement) Lucknow said under the
National Road Safety Month that started January
21, a mascot designing competition has been
organised, which is open for students of colleges
(technical, law and medical) of UP. The terms and
conditions for the contest can be found in ‘What’s
New’ section of website uptransport.upsdc.gov.in
GHAZIPUR BORDER TENSE AS MORE
TROOPS REACH SITE, FARMERS DIG IN
Unprecedented barricading at and around site,
that includes barbed wires, nails on the road
First India Bureau
Ghazipur: With multi-
layered barricading,
iron nails on road,
barbed wires, rods be-
tween cemented barri-
ers and deployment of
extra personnel on
ground, the tremen-
dous security cover at
and near the farmers’
protest locations have
now become sites of
unusual attraction.
The strengthened se-
curity measures come
after the violence dur-
ing the Republic Day
tractor parade by pro-
testing farmers’ in
which 394 security per-
sonnel were injured.
ABKUoffice-bearerat
Ghazipur border, said
despite the odds, sup-
portersfromfar-off plac-
es are reaching the site
to express solidarity
with farmers.
“Andolan to hota hi
hai mushqil mein,
aaraam se kaun sa an-
dolan hota hai (Move-
menthappensinadverse
conditions only
, it never
happens in comfort),”
BKU’s UP unit spokes-
man Pawan Khatana
said. He said supporters
from UP
, Haryana, Pun-
jab, Rajasthan, U’khand
have come to Ghazipur,
while small groups from
Maharashtra, K’taka
and Bihar too have
reached here. “But what
doesthissecuritymean?
Forget humans, nobody
keeps even animals in
this manner,” he said.
BKU office-bearer says despite the odds,
supporters from far-off places reaching site
(Clockwise from left) Multiple layers of barricading seen at Ghazipur border that include concrete
barriers built on order in 24-hrs, especially for the purpose. Unrelenting farmers seen in aggressive
mood near the border. Iron nails put up on the road near the border to stop farmers’ movement.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: In one of the
significant moves on
the occasion of World
Wetlands Day, Kanpur
Commissioner Raj
Shekhar visited the
wetland area of Kan-
pur Zoo and took stock
of the persisting wet-
land areas there.
A wetland is an area
of very wet, muddy
land with wild plants
growing in it. Wetlands
have great ecological
significance. They are
natural habitats of
hundreds of species of
birds, reptiles, fish and
other species. The com-
missioner was accom-
panied by KK Singh,
Conservator of Forest,
Arvind Kumar DFO
and DD Kanpur zoo.
Raj Shekhar said
Kanpur Division
doesn’t have a Notified
Wetland as of now. But
there are many places
which have potential to
be considered wet-
lands.
“Under “Namami
Gange Project” of Gov-
ernment of India, all
such places along the
sides of the River Gan-
ga which have poten-
tial to be considered as
wetlands are being
identified by the Forest
Department & Irriga-
tion Department Joint-
ly. As of now around 35
potential areas (Kan-
pur 13, Farrukhabad 17
and Kannauj 5) have
been short listed . The
survey works are in
progress which will be
completed in next two
months,” Raj Shekhar
added.
The commissioner
also interacted a young
team of volunteers who
are working selflessly
for the conservation of
wild life.
35 potential wetland areas along the Ganga in state under survey
WORLD WETLAND DAY

Kanpur
commissioner
Raj Shekhar
says 13 areas in
Kanpur division
have been short
listed for
consideration as
designated
wetland areas
Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar with officials at Kanpur zoo wetland area on Tuesday.
Summit building sealed after video of clash
in bar goes viral; manager, 5 others booked
Janardan Misra
Lucknow: The police
have sealed Summit
building here, includ-
ing closure of all bars
and pubs after a video
of girls fighting with a
man went viral on so-
cial media. FIR was also
registered against the
bar manager and man-
hunt was launched to
nab the culprits in-
volved in the clash.
Assistant deputy
commissioner of police
Kasim Abdi here said
that taking clash be-
tween two groups in My
Bar at Summit building
on serious note, Boom
Box bar, Farzi Café and
Bar, My Bar, LBW bar,
Lord of Drinks bar,
Downing Street bar and
The Beer Café bar at
13th and 15th floor of
Summit building here
were sealed. Police have
also launched vehicle
checking drive near the
building, he added.
DK Thakur, Commis-
sioner of police told
First India “We have
instructed bar owners
and building owners to
deck up their security
arrangements if they
want to continue their
business. They should
also increase number
of bouncers along with
sufficient number of
lady-bouncers to avoid
such situations.”
Apart, Thakur also
directed to open a police
outpost inside the build-
ing premises. “Women
police officials will be
deployed in adequate
numbers in this police
out post,” he said add-
ing that number of po-
licemen at outpost will
be decided according to
the need.
In the case, FIR was
also registered against
Hamza, Rohit, Akank-
sha Pandey
, Rashmi and
Dolly on complaint of
bar manager Rajendra
Maurya.
2 PAC jawans killed as truck rams tent
First India Bureau
Bulandshahr: In a
tragic incident, two UP
Provincial Armed Con-
stabulary (PAC) jawans
were killed while
two other were griev-
ously injured in the Si-
kandrabad area here
after a truck ran over
them early morning on
Tuesday.
What is ironical in
this unfortunate inci-
dent is the fact that the
jawans were on duty
and were in their tent
placed at a pavement on
the roadside. The truck
that rammed into their
tent first collided with
another truck head on
and them smashed the
tent, killing two of the
jawans.
Surendra Nath Ti-
wari, SP City Buland-
shahr said, “Two PAC
jawans on duty lost
their lives after a truck
ran over them in Sikan-
drabad area of Buland-
shahr early morning on
Tuesday
. The truck lost
control after colliding
with another truck. A
case has been regis-
tered.”
Meanwhile, Chief
Minister Yogi Aditya-
nath expressed grief
over the death of police-
men and instructed se-
nior officers to provide
all the possible help.
The police are inves-
tigating the incident.
Khushinagar aerodrome
to be developed into
an international airport
First India Bureau
Kushinagar: Kushi-
nagar has its own signif-
icance in Buddhism due
to it being the place
where Lord Gautam
Buddha attainted ‘Pa-
rinirvana’. Buddhists
from all the over world
consider their life will
be blessed if they visit
Kushinagar.
Currently Kushi-
nagar is not connected
by train, or airport as
the Kushinagar Express
from Mumbai has its fi-
nal stop at Gorakhpur
due to lack of rail route.
In1995, thenCMMay-
awati decided to develop
the airstrip built during
the English rule into an
international airport.
The foundation stone
was laid by then Avia-
tion Minister Ghulam
Nabi Azad.
The project which
saw various hiccups
over the years has final-
ly found the right direc-
tion under the BJP rule
and will soon be added
to the list of interna-
tional airports in the
state.
Waning corona: Many
covid hosps to be shut
Continued from page 1
Lucknow: Total 15 hos-
pitals, including gov-
ernment and private
hospitals, were turned
into covid hospitals
having 1,518 beds of
which 1,476 beds are
presently unoccupied.
Presently covid pa-
tients are admitted in
BHU, Apex and Max-
well only while efforts
were on to close many
covid hospitals, official
announcement for
which would be made
soon. As per plans, only
two hospitals would be
retained for covid pa-
tients and incase the
count increases, the
same would be admit-
ted in two alternate hos-
pitals.
For the time being
Deen Dayal Upadhya
Hospital would be re-
tained for Covid pa-
tients while apart from
Apex Hospital, normal
OPD would be resumed
gradually in other hos-
pitals.
My Bar in Summit building where the incident took place.
BIODIVERSITY PARK
Amrit Yojana: CS asks
DMs to update by Feb 5
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Reviewing
implementation of Am-
rit Yojana at a meeting
Chief Secretary Rajen-
dra Kumar Tiwari di-
rected officials to con-
duct on-the-spot inspec-
tion of construction
works besides ensuring
use of high quality ma-
terial. He directed DMs
to provide information
about status of work by
February 5, 2021.
It was informed Am-
rit Yojana was imple-
mented in 60 urban local
bodies of which 7 have
population over 10 lakh
and 53 have between 1 to
10 lakh.
The dumper truck ran over the pavement and crushed the jawans.
CS RK Tiwari chairing the meet
on Tuesday.

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 81 l RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi Industrial Area Kanpur Road Lucknow.
Published at 98, Friend’’s Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP). Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra. Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVE
04
n increase in the healthcare
budget of 137%, increase in the
budgeted infrastructure spend-
ing by 32%, which excludes the
2 lakh crores budgeted for states
andautonomousbodies,privati-
sationof twopublicsectorbanks
and an insurance company
, a
bad bank in the private sector to
clean up the balance sheets of
the banks, no increase in taxes
combined with significant
streamlining of the tax system,
significantly enhanced fiscal
spending to further the econom-
ic recovery that is underway
evenwhileprovidingamedium-
term fiscal consolidation frame-
work, including a plan for mon-
etisation of assets. After the
Pujarasque work done by the
Atmanirbhar Bharat packages
1-3,whichhasensuredthatIndia
got through the historical pan-
demic with minimal damage
and generated a V-shaped eco-
nomic recovery
, the Finance
Minister played a Rishabh Pant
like a knock on Monday as she
delivered a budget that will be
remembered by history
.
In an economy, the factor in-
puts comprise of the soft and
hard infrastructure, labour, and
capital. Traditionally, labour
and capital are regarded as the
key factor inputs. However,
since the soft and hard infra-
structure increases the produc-
tivity of labour and capital, for
purposesof analysingthebudg-
et, we can regard them both as
factor inputs as well. While the
soft infrastructure stems from
human development, the hard
infrastructure comprises of the
physical assets. Given the pan-
demic that has highlighted the
keyroleof health,ithasbecome
a critical element of soft infra-
structure. Similarly, the hard
infrastructure enables private
investmentandtherebyacceler-
atesthevirtuouscycleof invest-
ment,growthandconsumption.
This year’s budget will be re-
garded historic because it posi-
tively impacts each one of these
factor inputs.
In India, an NIPFP study
shows that the fiscal multiplier
from investments in physical
infrastructure has been very
high – 2.5 in the year when the
investment is made and 4.5 over
a few years. Therefore, if we
just consider the impact of the
5.54 lakh crores allocated for the
implementationof theNational
Infrastructure Pipeline, this cu-
mulates to 2.5% of GDP
. Taking
the multiplier of 2.5, 2.5% * 2.5
= 6.25% of GDP growth can be
expected to stem from the
spending on the infrastructure.
This is above and beyond the
significant ramp up in the Gov-
ernment’s capital expenditure
since the months of October
this year, as a result of which
the revised estimate for the
same would be 4.39 lakh crores
instead of 4.2 lakh crores that
was set out in the budget of FY
20. This increase of 4.5% when
compared to the budgeted esti-
mate is expected to manifest
despite the washout in capital
expenditure spending during
the months of the lockdown.
The significant outlays that
havebeenprovidedforroadsand
railways will especially enable
better logistics infrastructure in
the country and thereby reduce
the costs of doing business for
Indian companies. These add to
the several reforms that have
been launched in Atmanirbhar
Bharat 1-3, including the labour
reforms, the MSME definitional
changes, the Production Linked
Incentives scheme, and will en-
ablethemanufacturingsectorin
thecountry
.Thebillthatwillpro-
vide for the infrastructure fi-
nancing corporation in the pub-
lic sector is intended to enable
the setting up of the infrastruc-
turefinancinginstitutionsinthe
privatesectortoo,whichwilladd
financing options to the public
spendingthathasbeenprovided.
The impact of the gigantic in-
crease in the healthcare spend-
ing would of course manifest
over time. But, the Rs. 35000
crores budgeted for vaccination
together with the promise for
providingallnecessaryamounts
during the year act as a vaccine
for the economy as well. The im-
pact of this will be felt in the
contact-sensitive service sec-
tors, where pent up demand can
be expected to come back with a
vengeance. Therefore, this
spending on vaccination will
have its impact this year itself.
Thestreamliningof theexpend-
iture through the Atmanirbhar
Bharat Swasthya Yojana, fo-
cused on the full value chain of
healthcare from primary
through secondary to tertiary
care, can be expected to help in-
crease the productive impact of
the healthcare spending. The
significant increase in health-
care spending signals a key de-
parture in the emphasis placed
on health and will benefit the
common man over the medium
to long-term. The improvement
in human development that this
is likely to herald should mani-
fest in higher productivity of
labour and thereby improve-
ment in the overall productivity
.
Apart from the signal change
in healthcare, this year’s budget
could mark the start of the
transformation of the financial
sector in India. Three key initia-
tives stand out in this regard.
First is the setting up of a bad
bank, where the implementa-
tion will be done via a private-
sector structure to enable deci-
sion-making that is critical for
value generation in stressed as-
sets. Second, is the proposed pri-
vatisation of two public sector
banks and an insurance com-
pany with the necessary legisla-
tivechangesthatwouldbemade
to enable the same. Finally
, the
increaseinthethresholdforFDI
in insurance from 49% to 75%
with the necessary safeguards.
Overall, the first budget of
the decade has provided a sig-
nificant roadmap for the Indian
economy to not only return
back to the pre-Covid growth
path but also accelerate growth
over the decade. Madam Fi-
nance Minister, You have deliv-
ered what you promised… a
budgetforhistorytoremember!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
A DREAM BUDGET THAT LAYS THE PATH FOR NOT ONLY IMMEDIATE POST-COVID
RECOVERY BUT ALSO HIGH GROWTH OVER THE DECADE
‘DREAM BUDGET’ 2021
A
The significant
outlays that have
been provided for
roads and
railways will
especially enable
better logistics
infrastructure in
the country and
thereby reduce
the costs of doing
business for
Indian
companies. These
add to the several
reforms that have
been launched in
Atmanirbhar
Bharat 1-3,
including the
labour reforms,
the MSME
definitional
changes, the
Production
Linked Incentives
scheme, and will
enable the
manufacturing
sector in the
country
THE SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE IN
HEALTHCARE SPENDING
SIGNALS A KEY
DEPARTURE IN THE
EMPHASIS PLACED ON
HEALTH AND WILL
BENEFIT THE COMMON
MAN OVER THE MEDIUM
TO LONG-TERM
DR KV
SUBRAMANIAN
CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
recent model-
ling study paint-
ed a reassuring
pictureof apost-
pandemicfuture
inwhichSARS-CoV-2transi-
tions, over “a few years to a
few decades”, from danger-
ouspathogentojustanother
common-cold coronavirus.
This predicted loss of viru-
lence, the authors stress, is
based on a specific idiosyn-
crasy of the virus, namely
that it rarely causes serious
disease in children.
Still,manyexpertsagreed
that we should not be in the
least surprised by the au-
thors’ conclusion, as all vi-
ruses “become more trans-
missible and less pathogen-
ic over time”. After all, the
seductive logic goes, from
anevolutionaryperspective
it makes no sense for a path-
ogen to harm the host on
which it depends for its sur-
vival. According to this rea-
soning, virulence is little
more than a temporary evo-
lutionary imbalance.
This comfortable chain
of reasoning was rudely
broken by the announce-
ment of “a realistic possi-
bility” that the new highly
transmissible B117 variant
“is associated with an in-
creased risk of death”.
Although the evidence is
still accruing, early esti-
mates from Nervtag, the
UK’s New and Emerging
Respiratory Virus Threats
Advisory Group, suggest
that B117 may be around
30% more deadly
.
But perhaps this is a sin-
gle exception to an other-
wise well-observed rule,
andwecanstillbeconfident
thatSARS-CoV-2willslowly
fade away to obscurity
. So
whatistheevidenceforthis
view? And how confident
can we be in predicting how
evolution will shape the re-
lationship between a patho-
gen and its host?
LAW OF DECLINING
VIRULENCE
It was the bacteriologist
and comparative patholo-
gist Theobald Smith (1859-
1934) who began the narra-
tive of the “law of declin-
ing virulence” in the late
19th century
.
Studying tick-borne dis-
ease of cattle during the
1880s, Smith realised that
the severity of the disease
was determined by the de-
gree of prior infection.
Cattle that had been re-
peatedly exposed to the
pathogen suffered from
much more moderate dis-
ease than cattle encounter-
ing it for the first time.
Smith reasoned that this
was because host and path-
ogen conspired over time
towards a mutually benign
relationship.
The story then takes a
distinctly antipodean turn.
In 1859, the year Charles
Darwin published his Big
Idea, European rabbits
were introduced to Aus-
tralia for sport, with devas-
tating consequences for
the indigenous flora and
fauna. Having turned
down Louis Pasteur’s offer
of mass délapinsation us-
ing fowl cholera as a bio-
logical control agent, the
Department of Agricul-
ture turned to the myxoma
virus that causes the le-
thal, but highly species-
specific disease, myxoma-
tosis in rabbits.
By the 1950s, the myxo-
ma virus was spreading
rapidly among the rabbit
population. Recognising
the opportunities provided
by this unique experiment,
the virologist Frank Fen-
ner documented how the
virulence of the disease
decreased over a few years
from 99.5% mortality to
about 90%. This was taken
as strong empirical evi-
denceinsupportof Smith’s
law of declining virulence
– and occasionally still is.
Source: The Conversation
Will coronavirus really evolve to become less deadly?
A
Approach those who have
realized the purpose of life
and question them with
reverence and devotion; they
will instruct you in this
wisdom. —Bhagavad Gita
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh
Tejas is not only indigenous, but
it is also better than its foreign
equivalents on several parameters
and also comparatively cheaper.
Many countries have shown interest
in Tejas. India will achieve the target
of Rs 1.75 lakh Cr in the field of
defence manufacturing in few years.
K C Venugopal @kcvenugopalmp
Disallowing debates discussions is
no way to run a democracy! The cold
shoulder the Modi govt is showing
to the Opposition in Parliament
- for raising genuine concerns of
annadatas- clearly shows the BJP is
in power not for a billion Indians, but
for a handful of billionaires.
IN-DEPTH
UPROAR OVER FARM
LAWS IN HOUSES
arliament on Tuesday witnessed uproar-
ious scenes over the three farm laws. As
the din persisted, both the Houses were
adjourned. The Opposition stormed the
two Houses demanding a discussion on
the farm laws. Agriculture Minister Narendra
Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha that the govern-
ment is ready to discuss issues related to farmers
inside and outside the House. Demanding repeal
of the laws the Opposition forced the Lok Sabha to
be adjourned twice. The attack was led by Con-
gress’ Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary. Before the start
of the session, the Opposition had made it clear
that it will raise the farmers’ issue and force the
government to withdraw the laws. Boycott of the
President’s address to the joint session by 16 op-
position parties over the contentious laws was the
prelude to their action plan.
If the Opposition raised the heat in the Rajya
Sabha and the Lok Sabha, the police in Delhi and
Uttar Pradesh were busy putting up layer after
layer of barricades to make it virtually impossible
for more farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,
and Punjab to join protesters at Shinghu, Tikri,
and Ghazipur. Farmers have been at these three
sites for almost two months and are resolute on not
moving from there till the laws are repealed. The
State has shown its might also by cutting off pow-
er and water supply to the protesters’ camps, leav-
ing many of them without food and water. With
most democratic institutions being in awe of the
government, farmers will find it difficult to hold
the fort for long. If they do, it’ll be historic.
P
THE SASIKALA FACTOR
IN TN POLITICS
he release from jail of Sasikala Natara-
jan,acloseaideof formerChief Minister
J Jayalalitha, is expected to spice up Ta-
mil Nadu politics. Immediately after her
release from prison after four years of
simple imprisonment, Sasikala required hospitali-
sation for Covid-19 treatment. There was no politi-
cal chatter until Sasikala stepped out of the Victo-
ria Hospital and got into a car flaunting the AIAD-
MK flag. She was expected to go with her nephew
TTV Dinakaran who floated a new party, the
AMMK,afterhisexpulsionfromtheAIADMK.That
set pundits guessing. Will she join and then take
over the party established by MG Ramachandran
and nurtured by his protégé? Since the AIADMK
has already aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty
, it cannot take a decision on its own. The BJP has
provisioned Rs 1.03 lakh crore worth investment for
3,500 km of National Highway work. For Chief Min-
ister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami could find himself
on a slippery slope once Sasikala starts making her
moves. To avoid that, Tughlaq Editor S. Gurumur-
thy
, believed to be a BJP strategist, has advised AI-
ADMK to admit her to avoid a split in the party
.
The Congress, which was the ruling party in
Tamil Nadu in the first 20 years after Independ-
ence, consistently lost the plot thereafter. Now the
party’s shambolic state doesn’t offer much, while
the BJP is on the ascendant. Congress’ hopes rest
on the DMK, its political ally in the state. Senior
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has predict-
ed a “strong walkover” for the Congress-DMK al-
liance. The situation may change after PM Naren-
dra Modi goes on the offensive.
T

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INDIA
05
2 INCLUDING A WOMAN INJURED
IN ACID ATTACK IN KOLKATA
Kolkata: Two persons,
including a woman, have
sustained critical burn
injuries when a youth al-
legedly threw acid on them
at Ultadanga area, police
said. The suspect, with
whom the woman had a
relationship before her
marriage a few years back,
had been trying to befriend
her since the coronavirus
lockdown, but she was
avoiding him. It appears
that she was attacked for
this reason, the officer
said. The youth allegedly
splashed acid on the wom-
an when she was returning
home on Monday evening
from a bulb factory where
she was employed. A man
who was accompanying
the woman was injured
when he tried to save her,
according to police.
NCB SEIZES MEPHEDRONE
WORTH RS 15 LAKH IN MUMBAI
Mumbai: The Narcot-
ics Control Bureau has
seized mephedrone,
a banned drug, worth
around Rs 15 lakh in
Mumbai and appre-
hended three persons
in this connection, an
NCB official said on
Tuesday. Based on a
specific information,
the NCB arrested
two suspected drug
peddlers at Mahim
railway station around
Monday midnight
and seized a “com-
mercial quantity” of
mephedrone, weighing
136 gram and valued
around Rs 15 lakh,
from them, he said.
NO DECISION YET ON NRC, MHA
TO PARLIAMENTARY PANEL
New Delhi: Centre has
not taken any decision
on the roll-out of the
NRC for the whole
country, the Ministry
of Home Affairs has
told a parliamentary
panel. “It has been
clarified at various
levels in govt time and
again that till now no
decision has been tak-
en to create National
Register of Indian cit-
izen,” MHA told Par-
liamentary Standing
panel on Home Affairs
headed by Congress
leader Anand Sharma,
according to a report
tabled in Parliament
on Tuesday.
WE HOPE WE WILL BE ABLE TO RE-
OPEN SCHOOLS SOON: DELHI CM
New Delhi: While inter-
acting with the princi-
pals and management
authorities of private
schools, Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
on Tuesday expressed
hope that the schools in
the national capital will
be able to re-open in full
capacity soon following
the arrival of COVID-19
vaccines.Mr Kejriwal
said, “Children want to
go back to schools and
colleges but parents and
teachers are worried.
Since vaccines are here,
we hope we will be able
to open schools soon.”
Talking about the nursery
admissions for this year,
the Chief Minister said,
“We will start the process
of nursery admission
soon.”
New Delhi: The central
government has no
plans to enact an anti-
conversion law to curb
interfaith marriages,
the Lok Sabha was in-
formed on Tuesday
.
Union Minister of
State for Home G Kis-
han Reddy said issues
related to religious con-
versions are primarily
the concerns of state
governments, adding
that law enforcement
agencies take action
whenever such instanc-
es of violation occur.
Reddy said in a writ-
ten question that the
central government has
no plans to enact a cen-
tral anti-conversion law
to curb interfaith mar-
riages. “Public order
police are state subjects
as per the 7th Schedule
to the Constitution
hence, prevention, de-
tection, registration,
investigation prose-
cution of offences re-
lated to religious con-
versions are primarily
the concerns of state
governments Union
Territory administra-
tions.
“Action is taken as
per existing laws by law
enforcing agencies
whenever instances of
violation come to no-
tice,” he said.
The issue came in the
wake of widely-criti-
cised laws that target
interfaith marriages
enacted by both Uttar
Pradesh Madhya
Pradesh ruled by the
BJP. Several states gov-
erned by the party in-
cluding Haryana, As-
sam Karnataka have
also announced plans
for such laws.
No nationwide anti-conversion
law planned, says Centre in Parl
New Delhi: The Delhi
High Court has ad-
journed a plea, seeking
direction to Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA)
and Delhi Police to take
action against perpetra-
tors of violence that
marred Republic Day
celebrations till Febru-
ary 4. The Division
Bench of Justice DN Pa-
tel and Justice Jyoti
Singh on Tuesday ad-
journed the hearing as
the counsel for the peti-
tioner could not join a
video conferencing due
toconnectivityproblem.
Additional Solicitor
General Chetan Shar-
ma appeared for the
Union of India in the
matter. The plea was
filed by Shubham
Awasthi and two oth-
ers, who are residents
of Delhi-NCR, through
advocate Vivek Naray-
an Sharma. The peti-
tioners said that inci-
dent of Republic Day
unfurled create a
sense of panic and hys-
teria in national capi-
tal.The petition sought
a direction to respond-
ents to investigate the
incidents which hap-
pened during the farm-
ers’ tractor rally on
Republic Day arrest
the individuals who
disrespected the na-
tional flag at Red Fort
and ITO and other plac-
es in Delhi under sedi-
tion laws.
R-Day violence: HC
adjourns plea seeking
directions to MHA
New Delhi: A Delhi
court Tuesday granted
bail to freelance jour-
nalist Mandeep Punia
who was arrested by
Delhi Police from
farmers’ protest site at
Singhu border.
The complainant,
victims and witnesses
were police personnel
only, “hence, there is no
possibility that ac-
cused/ applicant can
able to influence any of
the police officials ,
Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Satvir Sin-
gh Lamba said while
granting the bail.
Punia was arrested
by police on Sunday in
an FIR registered under
various sections includ-
ing 186, 353 and 332 of
IPC. The judge also not-
ed in the order that the
alleged scuffle incident
of case was of around
6.30 PM, however, the
present FIR was regis-
tered at around 1.21 AM
on the next day .
He further said, Ad-
mittedly, the accused is
a freelance journalist.
Moreso, no recovery is
to be effected from the
accused person and
keeping the accused
further in Judicial Cus-
tody would not serve
any cogent purpose.
He said it was well
settled legal principle
of law that bail is a rule
and jail is an exception.
—PTI
Farmers’protest:Delhi
courtgrantsbailto
journoMandeepPunia
New Delhi: The Parts
of north and central In-
dia are likely to receive
rains from February 3
to 5, the IMD said on
Tuesday. “A gradual
rise in minimum tem-
peratures is very likely
over most parts of
northwest adjoining
central India during
the next 3 to 4 days
the current spell of
cold wave conditions is
likely to abate in the
next 24 hours. Isolated
heavy rainfall/snow-
fall is likely over Jam-
mu Kashmir on Feb-
ruary 3 4, over
Himachal Pradesh on
February 4,” IMD said.
North India to
witness rains
in Feb: IMD
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on
Wednesday will hear a
batch of pleas pertain-
ing to tractor rally vio-
lence in the national
capital on the Republic
Day, including the one
which has sought set-
ting up of a commis-
sion headed by a retired
apex court judge to in-
quire into the incident.
The tractor parade
on January 26 that was
to highlight the de-
mands of farmer un-
ions to repeal three new
agri laws dissolved into
anarchy on the streets
of the national capital
as thousands of pro-
testers broke through
barriers, fought with
the police, overturned
vehicles and hoisted a
religious flag from the
ramparts of the iconic
Red Fort.
The petitions would
be taken up for hearing
by a bench comprising
Chief Justice SA Bobde
and Justices AS Bopan-
na and V Ramasubra-
manian.
One of the pleas filed
by advocate Vishal Ti-
wari has sought setting
up of a three-member
inquiry commission
under the chairman-
ship of a former apex
court judge and com-
prising of two retired
high court judges for
collecting and record-
ing evidence and sub-
mit a report on the
January 26 violence to
the top court in a time
bound manner. —PTI
SC TO HEAR PLEAS ON R-DAY VIOLENCE
RAGA SLAMS CENTRE POST TWITTER BANS
ACCOUNTS OVER PROVOCATIVE CONTENT
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi slammed
the Central government
after Twitter temporar-
ily blocked accounts
related to farmers’
agitation on the direction
of the Union Ministry
of Electronics IT
(MeitY). Citing a article
about the microblogging
site’s action, Gandhi
Tweeted, “Modi style of
governance- Shut them
up. Cut them off. Crush
them down.” Twitter
on Monday temporarily
blocked 250 accounts
after MeitY directed the
microblogging platform
to take action against
accounts for making
‘fake, intimidatory and
provocative’ Tweets.
Farmers tractor rally on Jan 26 created anarchy on streets of Delhi
Punjab: A clash broke
out between SAD and
Congress workers in
Punjab’s Jalalabad
on Tuesay in which
SAD chief Sukhbir
Singh Badal’s car was
damaged, officials
said. Although Badal
escaped unhurt, four
other persons sus-
tained injuries in the
incident. The incident
occured when Badal
was accompanying
Akali candidates for
filing of nomination
papers for the Febru-
ary 14 civic polls.
SUKHBIR BADAL’S CARS ATTACKED;
FOUR INJURED IN CONG-SAD CLASH
The tractor parade on January 26 that was to highlight the demands of the farmers.
New Delhi: The Na-
tional Investigation
Agency (NIA), which
deals with terror cases
in India, will now probe
the Israel embassy blast
case. The Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA)
has issued an order to
hand over the case,
sources said.
Following the order,
NIA will register cases
under appropriate sec-
tions and will start an
investigation. The Del-
hi Police’s Special Cell
will need to handover
all relevant evidence
and documents to the
agency
.
NIA officials had al-
ready visited the spot
when the blast took
place.
So far, Delhi Police’s
Special Cell has failed
to get any lead in the
case and no suspect has
been identified.
Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi on Monday
assured his Israeli
counterpart Benjamin
Netanyahu of punish-
ing the perpetrators of
the minor bombings
near the Israeli embas-
sy on January 29.
Probe into blast near Israel
embassy handed over to NIA
NIA officials had already visited the spot when the blast took place. —FILE PHOTO
Falakata (WB): West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on
Tuesday accused the
central government of
doing nothing for the
people of the northern
districts despite having
“so many” BJP MPs
from the region.
Banerjee said before
every election, BJP
leaders make promises
of reopening defunct
tea gardens in North
Bengal, but “flee” after-
wards.
“They had promised
to reopen all the seven
closed tea gardens be-
fore the Lok Sabha elec-
tions, but not a single
one has resumed opera-
tions. There are so
many (BJP) MPs who
have won from North
Bengal, but tell me what
have they done for this
region... Nothing,” she
said.
The Trinamool Con-
gress supremo was
speaking to reporters
on the sidelines after
inaugurating a mass
wedding event here.
Later, she also handed
over land pattas (deeds)
to several tea garden
workers.
“Our government is
for the people, for the
farmers, for the sched-
uled tribes. We will not
do anything that is anti-
farmer or anti-people.
We have already reo-
pened nine closed tea
gardens and will try to
get the others to func-
tion again, too,” she
said. Banerjee set out
on a four-day tour of
North Bengal from
Monday
. —PTI
BJP MPs have done nothing for
North Bengal, says Mamata Banerjee
ANOTHER TMC
MLA JOINS BJP
Mamata Banerjee
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Tuesday
refused to grant pro-
tection to Rajya Sabha
MP Sanjay Singh
against whom a non-
bailable warrant
(NBW) has been issued
on an FIR lodged in
Lucknow after his
press conference on
August 12 last year at
which he alleged that
the UP government
was favouring a cer-
tain class of society.
The AAP leader has
moved the apex court
seeking quashing of
multiple FIRs lodged
against him in various
districts of Uttar
Pradesh after the press
conference, saying they
have been “maliciously
instituted to unleash
political vendetta”.
In a separate peti-
tion, Singh has also
challenged the January
21 order of the Alla-
habad High Court
which refused to quash
the FIR in Lucknow.
The matter came up
for hearing on Tuesday
before a bench, com-
prising Justices Ashok
Bhushan and R S Red-
dy, which said it would
not pass any order
without going through
the high court verdict.
Apex Court declines
Sanjay ’s plea seeking
protection from arrest
Sanjay Singh

INDIA
06
TIKAIT WARNS!...
and Tikri borders, as
farmers continue to
make their way to the
protest sites for the past
two to three days.
The Delhi Police have
blocked roads near Ak-
shardham and vehicu-
lar movement has been
restricted between Del-
hi and Ghaziabad on
National Highway-24.
BARRICADES,
BOULDERS...
Meanwhile, a day after
Shahdara district po-
lice distributed 60
lance-like metal batons
to police personnel in
their district, senior of-
ficials from Delhi Police
Headquarters Tues-
day asked them to
rollback the decision
to use them as anti-
riot equipment and
wait for their ap-
proval.
A senior police of-
ficer said 60 sword-
like metal batons
were distributed in
Shahadara district on
Monday to protect
themselves from riot-
ers armed with
swords. “The decision
to use the metal baton
was taken after many
security personnel
were injured by pro-
testers armed with
swords during their
recent clashes with
the police,” an officer
said.
However, after
some pictures were
shared on social me-
dia on Monday after-
noon, senior officials
at Delhi Police Head-
quarters asked offi-
cials to withdraw the
decision to distribute
the batons immedi-
ately.
GOVT READY...
“Atrocities are being
committed on farmers.
Situation is similar to
British rule,” he al-
leged.
As opposition mem-
bers, including from
Congress, DMK, Trina-
mool Congress, SP and
BSP, trooped near the
well, Speaker Om Birla
appealed to them to go
back to their seats so
that House can taken up
normal business.
“This House is for de-
bate and discussions.
Please go back to your
seats,” he said.
However,theunrelent-
ing opposition contin-
ued their protests, lead-
ing to the Speaker an-
nouncing the second ad-
journment till 7 pm. —PTI
OPPN STAGES...
and Procedure and
Conduct of Business.
Naidu, the Rajya Sab-
ha Chairman, said
that the discussion on
farmers’ protest will
start tomorrow not
today. “The President
has referred to farm-
ers’ agitation in his
address. I wanted the
discussion to start to-
day but I was told
that the discussion
first starts in Lok
Sabha. Keeping this
in mind we have
agreed to have a dis-
cussion on Presi-
dent’s address tomor-
row,” said RS Chair-
man M Venkaiah
Naidu.
Earlier, Parliamenta-
ry Affairs Minister
Pralhad Joshi said op-
position members
themselves were de-
manding Question
Hour and the govern-
ment agreed.
Opposition parties
including the Congress,
Left, TMC and DMK
had given a notice un-
der rule 267 that calls
for setting aside of busi-
ness of the day to take
up a discussion on the
issue pressed.
Chairman Naidu
had, however, disal-
lowed the motion say-
ing the members were
free to raise the issue
during the discussion
on Motion of Thanks
to the President’’s ad-
dress.
When the House
met for the day
, Naidu
said he has received
notice under rule 267
from various mem-
bers but the issue can
be raised during the
discussion on Motion
of Thanks to the Pres-
ident’’s address to the
joint sitting of both
houses of Parliament.
Naidu, however, al-
lowed members who
gave notices to make
very brief mentions.
Leader of the Oppo-
sition and senior Con-
gress leader Ghulam
Nabi Azad said the
farmers have been
camping for more
than two months and
the issue needs to be
discussed.
However, Naidu did
not agree to their mo-
tion after which the
members of Congress,
Left, TMC, DMK and
RJD staged a walkout.
“No one is stopping you
from discussing the is-
sue tomorrow. Tomor-
row you will get an op-
portunity,” he said.
Naidu said 10 hours
have been allocated for
discussion on Motion
of Thanks to the Presi-
dent’’s address and an
equivalent amount giv-
en for discussion on
Budget.
“Please take the op-
portunity tomorrow,”
he said.
FROM PG 1
AK MADHESHIYA MOVED TO NER
Ashish Kumar Madheshiya has been transferred
from Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) to
North Eastern Railway (NER) on his own request.
He is an Indian Railway Service of Electrical
Engineers (IRSEE) officer.
8 IPS OFFICERS GET NEW
ASSIGNMENTS IN DELHI POLICE
As many as eight IPS officers have been given fresh
assignments in Delhi Government. Accordingly,
Deepak Purohit has been promoted to Addl CP had
posted at the Headquarter while Chinmoy Biswal
was posted as DCP, Crime and Gaurav Sharma is
DCP, Security. Rajiv Ranjan Singh has been ap-
pointed as DCP, Outer North district DCP; Esha Pan-
dey as DCP, PCR; Urjiva Goel as DCP, West district;
Ghanshyam Bansal as DCP, Traffic and Manoj C was
made Addl DCP, Outer North Delhi district.
MS RAJNI HASIJA LIKELY TO GET
ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF CMD, IRCTC
Ms Rajni Hasija, Director (Tourism Marketing),
is expected to get an additional charge of CMD,
Indian Railway Catering Tourism Corporation
(IRCTC) after the vacancy of this post with the
retirement of incumbent CMD M P Mall.
SANGEETA BAHADUR APPOINTED
HIGH COMMISSIONER TO MALTA
Ms Sangeeta Bahadur, presently Ambassador of
India to Belarus, has been appointed as the next
High Commissioner of India to the Republic of
Malta. She is a 1987 batch IFS officer.
RAGHU GURURAJ IS AMBASSADOR
TO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
Raghu Gururaj (YOA:2006), presently Consul
General of India to Medan, has been appointed as
the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic
Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.
SILENCE ON CBI FRONT?
Deaf silence about the appointment of new CBI
Chief is being talked about in the corridors of
power. Tenure of present CBI Chief Rishi Kumar
Shukla is coming to an end on Feb 3.
DEPUTATION TENURE OF
SHAILENDRA SINGH EXTENDED
The deputation tenure of Shailendra Singh,
working as Additional Secretary, Department of
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, has
been extended upto July 21, 2021. He is a 1988
batch IAS officer of MP cadre.
MAJ. GEN. RK SINGH MAY HEAD HAWS
Major General RK Singh could be considered for
the position to head High Altitude Warfare School
(HAWS), Gulmarg in Kashmir.
AIS OFFICERS TO GET HOME
STATE CADRE IN JK
All India Service officers hailing from Jammu
Kashmir will be allocated Jammu Kashmir
cadre in order to meet the shortage of officers.
A MESSAGE TO JUDICIARY?
The Government has last month given subtle
message to the Judiciary – ‘don’t flex your mus-
cles beyond a point’.
MOHANTY IS NEW CHAIRMAN
OF ODISHA PSC
Satyajit Mohanty has been appointed Chairman
of the Odisha Public Service Commission. He is
1988 batch IPS officer.
JAN E ALAM IS ACTING CHIEF
SECRETARY OF NAGALAND
Jan E Alam has been appointed acting Chief Sec-
retary of Nagaland. He is 1991 batch IAS officer
of Nagaland cadre.
RAJIV KUMAR TANDON APPOINTED DG,
SPL POLICE ESTABLISHMENT IN MP
Rajiv Kumar Tandon has been appointed as Di-
rector General, Special Police Establishment, Lo-
kayukta Organization, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of MP cadre.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
New Delhi: The PM-
CARES fund, which has
been set up to provide
relief duringthecorona-
virus pandemic, has
contributed over Rs
2,200 crore for the first
phase of vaccination
drive, which is looking
to inoculate frontline
healthcare workers, the
Expenditure Secretary
said on Tuesday
.
Set up in March 2020,
the exact collections
made by the fund
through voluntary con-
tribution by individuals
and corporates, are not
known but the corpus
managed by the PMO
has been providing re-
lief to pandemic-hit sec-
tors.
With the Budget for
current fiscal, which
waspresentedbeforethe
onset of the pandemic,
making no separate al-
locationforvaccination,
more than 82 per cent of
the cost of the same dur-
ing January to March is
being borne by PM
CARES Fund.
Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman in her
Budget for the next fis-
cal beginning April 2021
has set aside Rs 35,000
crore towards COVID
vaccination.
Expenditure Secre-
tary T V Somanathan
said the cost of vaccina-
tion of frontline and
healthcare workers in
the current fiscal is be-
ing borne fully by the
central government and
the money is coming
from PM CARES fund
and Health Ministry
.
Meanwhile, a Nation-
al Expert Group on vac-
cine administration for
COVID-19 (NEGVAC)
has been established for
providing guidance on
all aspects of COVID-19
vaccination including
prioritisation of popula-
tion groups, procure-
ment and inventory
management, vaccine
selection, vaccine deliv-
ery
,andtrackingmecha-
nism, Union Minister of
StateforHealthAshwini
Kumar Choubey in-
formed on Tuesday
.
Accordingtoawritten
reply in the Rajya Sabha
today
, Choubey said,
“NEGVAChastherepre-
sentation of Secretaries
from MEA, Department
of Expenditure, Depart-
ment of Biotechnology
,
Department of Health
Research, Department
of Pharmaceuticals,
Ministry of Electronics
and Information Tech-
nology
, a representative
from five state govern-
ments and technical ex-
perts.” —Agencies
PM-CARES Fund to foot over 80%
cost of 1st phase of Covid vax drive
THE FUND WAS SET UP TO PROVIDE RELIEF DURING CORONA PANDEMIC
INDIA REPORTS
8,635 NEW
COVID-19 CASES
TALLY OF ACTIVE COVID-19 CASES
SHRINKS TO 1.63 LAKH; TOTAL 39.50
The tally of active COVID-19 cases in India has shrunk to
1.63 lakh which is just 1.52 per cent of the total instances of
the infection reported so far, while 39.50 lakh beneficiaries
have received vaccine jabs till Tuesday morning, the
Union health ministry said. It also said that India’s daily
new coronavirus cases has been consistently following a
downward slope. After reaching a peak of 95,735 daily cases
on September 10 last year, India on Tuesday recorded 8,635
new instances of the infectreported so far, while 39.50 lakh
beneficiaries have received vaccine jabs till Tuesday morning.
India registered 8,635
new coronavirus infec-
tions in a day, the lowest
in eight months, while
the daily deaths fell below
100 after almost nine
months, according to
Union health ministry data
updated on Tuesday. The
country’s COVID-19 tally
stands at 1,07,66,245 and
the death toll increased
to 1,54,486 with 94 new
fatalities, the data updated
at 8 am showed. The
number of people who
have recuperated from
the disease surged to
1,04,48,406 pushing the
national recovery rate to
97.05 per cent, while the
COVID-19 case fatality
rate has dropped to 1.43
per cent. The COVID-19
active caseload remained
below two lakh for the
14th consecutive day.
DEFENCE MANUFACTURING
India can’’t remain
dependent on other
countries: Rajnath
Bengaluru: Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
said on Tuesday that In-
dia cannot remain de-
pendent on other coun-
tries for its defence and
that the indigenously
developed Tejas was
better than its foreign
equivalents on several
parameters and also
comparitively cheaper.
Under the ‘’Aatmanirb-
har Bharat Abhiyan,
India is looking forward
to increase its defence
manufacturing capa-
bilities, said Singh, who
inaugurated Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited’’s
second LCA-Tejas pro-
duction plant here. “In-
dia cannot remain de-
pendent on other coun-
tries for its defence”, he
said. Singh said Tejas is
not only indigenous,
but better than its for-
eign equivalents on sev-
eral parameters and
also comparatively
cheaper. “Many coun-
tries have shown inter-
est in Tejas. India will
achieve the target of Rs
1.75 lakh crore in the
field of defence manu-
facturing in (a) few
years”, he said. The de-
livery of the Tejas LCA
to the Indian Air Force
under a Rs 48,000-crore
deal will begin from
March 2024 and around
16 aircraft will be rolled
out annually
. —PTI
Franklin Templeton to pay `9,122
crores to investors in 20 days: SC
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Tuesday
ordered that Rs 9,122
crore be disbursed with-
in three weeks to the
unitholders of Franklin
Templeton’s six mutual
fund schemes which are
proposedtobewoundup.
A bench of Justices S
A Nazeer and Sanjiv
Khanna said that the
disbursal of money
would be done in pro-
portion to unitholders’
interest in the assets.
In the proceedings
conducted through vid-
eo conferencing, the
bench entrusted State
Bank of India (SBI) Mu-
tual Fund to disburse
the money as all the
counsels gave consent
to the court’s order.
Thebenchgrantedlib-
erty to the litigating par-
tiestoapproachthecourt
in case of any difficulty
in the disbursal of mon-
ey to the unitholders.
Thecourtalsogavethe
parties liberty to move
applications in case of
anydifficultyarisingout
of the process.
The lawyer, repre-
senting Franklin Tem-
pleton Trusts Services
Limited, told the bench
that the company would
render cooperation
with SBI Mutual Fund.
The bench on Janu-
ary 25 had said it would
first deal with the is-
sues related to objec-
tion to the e-voting pro-
cess for winding up of
the six mutual fund
schemes and distribu-
tion of money to the
unitholders. —PTI
Nadda’s 2-day visit to poll-bound
Kerala begins from today
New Delhi: BJP Na-
tional President Jagat
Prakash Nadda will be
on a two-day visit to
Kerala from Wednesday
to review the election
preparations ahead of
upcoming state Assem-
bly polls. He will also
address a public rally at
Vadakkunnathan Tem-
ple Ground, Thrissur
on Thursday
. The public
rally would be the first
major rally of BJP in
Kerala, kick-starting
the assembly campaign.
According to Nadda’s
schedule, the party
president will reach
Trivandrum Interna-
tional Airport on Feb-
ruary 3, where the state
party leaders will ac-
cord a grand welcome
to him and a motorcade
rally is also planned.
Nadda will attend
state BJP core commit-
tee meeting ahead of
seat-sharing discus-
sions candidates se-
lection regarding Kera-
la Assembly polls. He
will also address newly
elected Councilors and
Block, Zilla Panchayat
members of BJP at an
event in Kowdiar. —ANI
BJP appoints in
charges for
Assam,TN, Pondy
New Delhi: BJP on
Tuesday appointed Un-
ion ministers Narendra
Singh Tomar, G Kishan
Reddy Pralhad Joshi
its Assembly poll in-
charges for Assam, Ta-
mil Nadu and Kerala
respectively
.
Arjun Meghwal is in-
charge for the assembly
polls in Puducherry
, the
party added. Jitendra
Singh VK Singh will
be co-incharges for As-
sam TN. —PTI
Didi’s
Santhali
dance video
goes viral
West Bengal: A video
of West Bengal Chief
minister Mamata Ba-
nerjeedancingatamass
marriage ceremony in
Falakata of Alipurduar
district has gone viral
on social media.
The 45-second clip,
which is being widely
circulated online, fea-
tures the 66-year-old
politician matching
steps with the Santhali
dancers at the ceremo-
ny. Clad in masks, the
dancers are seen hold-
ing Banerjee’s hand and
dancing to the beats of
the dhol.
The video comes al-
most a month after a
picture of Banerjee
cooking at a tribal vil-
lage had gone viral on
social media. Since be-
ing shared online, the
clip has garnered over
13,000 views.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses during inauguration
of HALs Second LCA Production Line in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

NEWS
07
Killing two
birds with one
stone
A ctions speak louder
than words. And if
Monday’s bureaucratic
reshuffle and allotment
of a nondescript
bungalow to former IAS
officer and BJP MLC AK
Sharma is anything to
go by - the message is
loud and clear, nothing
happened by accident
but then nothing is
also certain in politics.
A senior IAS official
had been eyeing the
plum Infrastructure and
Industrial Development
Commissioner post ever
since it became vacant
following Alok Tandon’s
elevation as Secretary to
Government of India.
Grapevine has it this
civil servant had left no
stone unturned to lobby
for the coveted position
and even tried to use
the office of a power-
broker at the Centre to
pursue his case. But by
giving Chief Secretary
RK Tewari, the addi-
tional charge of IIDC,
the UP CM has snubbed
all such overtures. Last
seen, the IAS officer
was trying to maintain
a low-profile and busy
himself with the job
at hand. On the other
hand, the allotment of
an ordinary accom-
modation to Sharma
seems to have come as
a dampener to all those
who were trying to build
a ‘powerful’ narrative
about his perceived
role not to mention an
important berth in the
Yogi cabinet.
—M Tariq Khan
Officer’s secret
of balancing
with 3 begums
A mong the
bureaucracies of
the country, officers of
different calibers can
be found. But to find an
officer who knows the
secret of balancing work
along with responsibility
of his begums would be
improbable.
One such officer is
posted in Lucknow, who
has not one or two but
3 begums and while
lovingly takes care of all
them, makes sure that
his personal life does
not come in-between
duty for the job. The
officer who has worked
in both Mayawati’s as
well as Akhilesh Yadav’s
government is known to
be a shrewd officer who
captivates the hearts
of all with his work. He
is also known to be in
the good books of the
incumbent government.
Not only is he a favorite
of the government but
also a favorite in his
department. There is a
general opinion that, a
person who can handle
government’s work
along with the respon-
sibility of 3 begums can
handle anything thrown
at him.
—Ahtesham Siddiqui
Shelter to Ansari:
BJP MLA Alka
writestoPriyanka
IIT’s‘EndureAir’ to
be showcased at
Aero-India 2021
Etawah records lowest
temp of 2.8 degrees Celsius
Lucknow: Cold to se-
vere cold day condi-
tions occurred at iso-
lated places over east-
ern Uttar Pradesh with
Etawah recording the
lowest minimum tem-
perature at 2.8 degrees
Celsius, the Meteoro-
logical Department
said on Tuesday
.
“Dense to very dense
fog occurred at isolat-
ed places over east UP
and dense fog occurred
at isolated places over
west UP,” it said.
“Cold day to severe
cold day conditions oc-
curred at isolated plac-
es over east UP,” the
department said.
The highest maximum
temperature over the
state was 28.4 degrees
Celsius at Jhansi ob-
servatory. The lowest
minimum tempera-
ture was 2.8 degree
Celsius at Etawah ob-
servatory. The day
temperature rose in
Ayodhya and Mo-
radabad divisions and
there was no large
change in the other
parts of the state.
Night temperatures
rose appreciably in Al-
lahabad and Agra divi-
sions and there was no
large change in the re-
maining divisions of
the state, it said.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: BJP’s Mo-
hammadabad MLA
Alka Rai has written to
Congress leader Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra,
accusing her party’s
governments in Punjab
and Rajasthan of
shielding gangster-
t u r n e d - p o l i t i c i a n
Mikhtar Ansari and his
son Abbas Ansari.
Alka Rai is the wife
of the slain MLA Krish-
nanand Rai, who was
shot dead in 2005.
Mukhtar Ansari was
accused of killing her
husband but was later
acquitted in the case.
Currently
, Mukhtar An-
sari, a BSP MLA from
Mau, is lodged in a Pun-
jab jail in an extortion
case and have several
criminal cases regis-
tred against him. ‘I have
to tell you with grief
that your governments
in Punjab and Ra-
jasthan have given
guest status to my hus-
band’s killer Mukhtar
Ansari and his son Ab-
bas Ansari, who carry
reward for their ar-
rest,” Rai alleged in the
letter to Priyanka Gan-
dhi on January 30.
The letter was shared
with the media on Tues-
day
.
Pointing at some pho-
tos said to be published
in newspapers, the Mo-
hammadabad (Ghaz-
ipur) MLA alleged that
the Abbas’s marriage
took place under the Ra-
jasthan government’s
patronage.
‘After seeing these
pictures, my family and
I felt pain,” she said,
claiming that earlier
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment had sent vehi-
cles 32 times to bring
Mukhtar Ansari back
to the state but the Pun-
jab government shield-
ed him.
‘Being a woman, I
thought you will feel my
pain. You talk against
crime and criminals
regularly but you nei-
ther replied me nor
took any initiative to
ensure justice to me. It
is clear that you and
your governments are
standing with Muktar
and his crime. I will
wait for your reply,’ Rai
said in the letter.
First India Bureau
Kanpur: IIT Kanpur
has built a helicopter
which could be used to
locate enemies on the
border, control crowd
and also capture photo
and record video. The
specialty of the helicop-
ter is its weight; Weigh-
ing at only 4 Kg, the
helicopter can stay air-
borne for long duration
of time. The announce-
ment of the helicopter
was made by IIT Kan-
pur via a tweet and will
be showcased at the
Aero-India 2021 to be
held in Bengaluru.
The helicopter was
made by a start-up of
IIT Kanpur named ‘En-
dureAir’, which will
help the army with
their operations, may it
be rescue or offensive
missions. The helicop-
ter was made under the
guidance of Prof. Ab-
hishek Senior Scientist
of Aerospace Engineer-
ing Department.
The helicopter ‘En-
dure 15’ is fitted with
the latest sensors like
CBRNE and various
state of the art technol-
ogies like LIDAR, etc.
The key features in-
cludes vertical take-off
and landing, long range
and endurance, ob-
struction avoidance,
video streaming and
precise navigation.
The helicopter has
been made completely
from the scratch and
can work efficiently in
transporting medical
supplies, crowd man-
agement as well as
search and rescue op-
erations.
The specialty of the
EndureAir helicopter is
that it can operate at
minus 20 to 50 ° C as
well so that it can be
used in wide range of
environment condi-
tions.
Alka Rai and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. (inset letter).
The specialty of the helicopter is its weight.
CTET paper leaked in Agra two
hours before start; six detained
First India Bureau
Agra: The Central
Teacher Eligibility Test
(CTET) exam which
was held on Sunday had
its question paper
leaked 2 hours prior to
the start of the exam.
The question paper was
leaked in a WhatsApp
group. Police have de-
tained 6 persons in sus-
picion of leaking the
question paper and in-
terrogating them while
the leader of the group
is suspected to be based
from Prayagraj. Police
teams have been formed
to nab the kingpin of
the racket.
The CTET exam was
held in all districts of
the state on Sunday. In
Agra, the examination
was conducted in 96
centers in two shifts
one in the morning and
one in the evening and
was attended by 50
thousand candidates.
The Agra police had
inkling that the CTET
paper could be leaked
before the examination
and were in wait for
solid proof. With
enough proof in their
hand, the police began
their operation and de-
tained 6 persons associ-
ated with leaking the
question paper. The
racket had shared the
question paper in the
WhatsApp group chat.
When the detainees
were interrogated, it
was found that the king-
pin of the racket is from
Prayagraj and the rack-
et had members from
Etawah and Agra.
SP City, Botre Rohan
Pramod said that a case
of CTET paper leak has
come to his view and
police have detained
some people and inter-
rogation is on to get to
the base of the case.
The CTET exam was held in all districts of the state on Sunday.
HIGHWAY MISHAP
Three
passengers
traveling in an
SUV were
killed after it
collided head-
on with a truck
at Lucknow-
Prayagraj
highway in
Rae Bareli
district on
Tuesday.
ILLEGAL MINING: CASE HAS BEEN REGISTERED AGAINST THEN DM OF KAUSHAMBI
CBI BOOKS RETD IAS OFFICER FOR GRAFT
First India Bureau
Lucknow: CBI has
booked a retired IAS
officer for alleged
corruption in giving
leases to facilitate il-
legal mining of mi-
nor minerals in
Kaushambi when he
was posted as a dis-
trict magistrate dur-
ing 2012-14, officials
said Tuesday.
Searches at nine
locations, including
the residential prem-
ises of accused officer
Satyendra Singh, led
to recovery of docu-
ments of 44 properties
worth tens of crore in
the name of the officer
and relatives in Luc-
know, Kanpur, Ghazi-
abad and New Delhi.
“During searches
at the premises of
then district magis-
trate, cash of Rs 10
lakh (approx); docu-
ments relating to
around 44 immovable
properties; fixed de-
posits worth Rs 51
lakh (approx); around
36 bank accounts, in
the name of said pub-
lic servant and his
family members at
Lucknow, Kanpur,
Ghaziabad, New Delhi
and keys of six lockers
were found. Gold and
silver jewellery of Rs
2.11 crore(approx) and
old currency of Rs one
lakh (approx) were
also found in the lock-
ers,” CBI spokesper-
son RC Joshi said.
He said it was al-
leged that during 2012-
14, the then district
magistrate, Kausham-
bi had awarded two
fresh leases and re-
newed nine existing
leases to the other ac-
cused to facilitate ille-
gal mining of minor
minerals without fol-
lowing e-tendering
procedure as men-
tioned in the orders
dated May 31, 2012 of
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment.
The case is part of
a probe into illegal
mining in UP during
the SP government
that was handed over
to the CBI by the Alla-
habad High Court in
which a former minis-
ter of the state was
also booked by the
agency.
According to a
source, the probe
was launched
against Singh after
Special Secretary RP
Singh issued order
for the probe on Oc-
tober 1, 2019. The
probe was ordered
following two com-
plaints received
against Singh from
an advocate of the
Lucknow bench of
the Allahabad High
Court.
SEARCHES HELD
Accused former IAS officer Satyendra Singh

Over the years I have realised
that only once we act as if our
actions make a difference, then
they do.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
08
2NDFRONT
PARTIESHUDDLEAROUNDPURVANCHALPOLLLAB
Focus on projecting leaders from the region to woo voters who have always played a decisive role in govt formation
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The road to
power in UP passes
through Purvanchal
but voters here have
been changing their
choice after every five
years for past three de-
cades.
This has led to polit-
ical parties focussing
on the region with Sa-
majwadi Party having
already established its
residential party head-
quarters here for 2022
assembly elections
while BJP is banking
upon CM Yogi Aditya-
nath as-well-as Arvind
Kumar Sharma, mem-
ber of Bhumihar com-
munity for strengthen-
ing its political base.
Likewise, the BSP, Con-
gress and AIMIM are
depending upon lead-
ers from the region.
Purvanchal region
comprises 28 districts
and 162 assembly seats
having a significant say
in political scene of
state.
The BJP won 115 of
164 seats in Purvanchal
in 2017 while 17 went to
SP, 14 to BSP 14, 2 to
Congress besides 16 to
others. In 2012 elec-
tions, SP won 102 seats,
while BJP 17, BSP 22,
Congress 15 while 8
seats went to others.
Similarly, in 2007, BSP
managed to win 85
seats while SP won 48,
BJP won 13, Congress
won 9 while others got
4 seats.
This proves that Pur-
vanchal region was nec-
essary for a win.
Despite SP performing
well in 2012 and BSP in
2007, they could not re-
tain grip while Yogi Adi-
tyanath hailing from
Purvanchalgothisshare
in 2017. The BJP knows
it well that for a win in
2022inabsenceof Manoj
Sinha, Purvanchal was
the way for which it has
roped in Arvind Kumar
Sharma.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Thanks to
the farmers’ agitation,
after sulking for nearly
five years the older gen-
eration Jats in Western
UP are once again in
reckoning to regain the
mantle of leadership
from the younger gener-
ation. Riding on com-
munal clashes wave in
2013 the GenNext had
completely grabbed the
socio-political space
leading to massive vic-
tory of the BJP in 2014
Lok Sabha election.
The trend continued
even in 2017 and 2019 as-
sembly and Lok Sabha
elections respectively
, as
the younger generation
refused to listen to the
old people in Baliyan
Khap- a powerful social
organisation in 84 vil-
lages in western UP
.
But the farm protests
causing unrest against
the NDA government
have brought smile on
the faces of ‘Taus’ as the
elderly are called in ru-
ral areas. They have not
only succeeded in re-
gaining lost socio-politi-
cal ground but have
tamed the younger lot.
This has also reinforced
the ‘Hookah politics’ in
villages to mobilise the
well-entrenched Jat
community
. In two pre-
vious polls the older
generation tried to
bring balance by also
makingeffortstoensure
victory to RLD headed
by Chaudhury Ajit
Singh but could not suc-
ceed. The GenNext un-
der the spell of the BJP
frustrated all efforts of
Ajit Singh to pacify the
agitating Jat communi-
ty to restore normalcy
.
“Now the situation
has drastically changed.
Hookah Panchayats
were being held in al-
most all the villages to
set the agenda for the
region,” said Anuj Bali-
yan of Soram village.
‘Taus’ regain centre stage as farm stir unites young Jats
NEW FARM LAWS

They have not
only succeeded
in regaining lost
socio-political
ground but have
tamed the
younger lot who
have also now
gathered around
the agitation.
UNITE WITH OLD GUARD
Samajwadi Party MPs Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jaya Bachchan, Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav, Dr. ST Hasan, Vishambhar
Prasad Nishad during the budget session of Parliament on Tuesday.
‘Three held en route to meet Hathras rape
victim’s family, can meet counsel in Jail’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The UP Gov-
ernment has told the
Allahabad High Court
that Atiq Ur Rehman
and two others arrested
by the UP Police last
year, along with jour-
nalist Siddiqui Kappan,
while en route way to
meet the family of the
Hathras gang rape vic-
tim would be allowed to
meet their counsel in
jail.
Apart from Rehman
and Kappan, the police
had also reportedly ar-
rested activist Masood
Ahmed and Moham-
mad Alam, the driver of
the taxi taken to Hath-
ras.Earlier, the Court
was orally informed by
the State that the ac-
cused could meet their
lawyers, but no order
was passed. When the
matter came up on Jan-
uary 28, the Court was
told that the jail author-
ity is not allowing the
counsel to meet the ac-
cused in jail. The Divi-
sion Bench of Justices
Surya Prakash Kesar-
wai and Shamim
Ahmed has also taken
on record that the
State’s counter-affidavit
in the habeas corpus
plea moved by the three
accusedhasbeenserved
on them. The matter is
expected to be taken up
for hearing again on
February 4.
SC refuses to grant protection to AAP
MP Sanjay Singh against arrest warrant
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Tues-
day refused to grant
protection to MP San-
jay Singh against
whom a non-bailable
warrant has been is-
sued on an FIR lodged
in Lucknow after his
press conference on
August 12 last year.
An FIR was lodged
against the AAP leader
after he had accused the
Yogi Adityanath gov-
ernment of being
‘pro-Thakur’ in a press
conference. Singh had
also claimed in his press
conference that the
BJP had insulted the
Dalits by not inviting
President Ram Nath
Kovind for the ‘Bhoomi
Pujan’ of Ram Mandir
in Ayodhya.
Following multiple
FIRs against him, Singh
had approached the
apex court to quash all
the charges or alterna-
tively transfer them out-
side of the State.
He had also filed a pe-
tition against the order
of Allahabad High
Court, which refused to
quash the charges on
January 21 this year.
However, the SC refused
to pass any verdict with-
out going through the
HC’s order first.
Singh’s lawyer Sumeer
Sodhi said, “In the said
press conference, the pe-
titioner had merely
raised certain social is-
sues, namely neglect
and apathy of the gov-
ernment towards a cer-
tain class of society
.”
Youth collecting money in
name of PM’s brother held
First India Bureau
SULTANPUR: A youth
was arrested for al-
legedly collecting mon-
ey in the name of the
prime minister’s broth-
er, police said on Tues-
day.
Police had received
information from the
Prime Minister’s Office
that one Jitendra Ti-
wari alias Jitu was in-
volved in forgery in the
name of the PM’s
brother, Station House
Officer, City police sta-
tion, Bhupendra Singh
said.
Acting on the input,
Tiwari was arrested
near Vikas Bhavan on
Monday, he said.
Tiwari’s car had a
poster of a proposed
programme of prime
minister’s brother
Prahlad Modi in Mad-
havpur, Gujarat, on
February 4, police said.
BJP district president
R A Verma said a youth
had come to him but he
did not entertain him.
Police said they are
probing the matter.
AAP leader Sanjay SIngh (R) Supreme Court.
FOLLOW NORMS
MLC Arvind Kumar
Sharma allotted
bungalow in Dalibagh
First India Bureau
LUCKNOW: Putting
all speculations to
rest, bureau-
crat-tur ned-MLC
Arvind Kumar Shar-
ma has been allotted
a bungalow in Dali-
bagh colony by the
estate department.
A spokesman of
the state confirmed
the allotment of the
bungalow to Sharma
by the estate depart-
ment. Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath had
constituted a com-
mittee headed by par-
liamentary affairs
minister Suresh
Khanna for taking
the final decision on
allotment of bunga-
lows to ministers,
MLAs and MLCS.
The estate depart-
ment has allotted the
bungalow to Sharma
in the capacity of a
BJP MLC and with
this, the government
has scotched all ru-
mours of Sharma
being allotted a bun-
galow at Kalidas
Marg. Now, since the
bungalow has been
decided, it is being
hotly debated what
portfolio would be
given to Sharma by
the CM in the minis-
try rejig expected
very shortly
.
Sharma, who re-
signed as secretary,
MSME at Centre to
join BJP, is a known
Modi loyalist having
worked with him for
nearly 20 years in Gu-
jarat and Delhi, and
hence it is being said
that he would get a
plum portfolio in the
state cabinet.
Arvind Kumar Sharma
GAME CHANGERS
UP govt drops
“Breach of
peace” notice
sent to farmers
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Uttar
Pradesh government on
Tuesday told the Alla-
habad High Court that it
is dropping proceedings
against 162 farmers is-
sued “breach of peace”
notices asking for expla-
nations why they should
not have to furnish per-
sonal bonds of `10 lakh
each. The notices were
issuedJanuary19mostly
to tractor-owning farm-
ers in Sitapur on “appre-
hension that they would
violate law and order in
light of farmers protest
inthedistrict”.Lastweek
the court asked state and
district officials to ex-
plain how and why poor
farmers had been issued
these notices.
CM Yogi Adityanath BSP supremo Mayawati SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

K
atrina Kaif is
paired for the
very first
time with
Siddhant Chatur-
vedi and Ishaan
Khatter for the up-
coming horror
comedy, Phone
Bhoot. The
trio seems to
enjoy their
time with
each other
as they pre-
pare them-
selves for
the film in
Udaipur. The film is
much awaited for the
fresh pairing of the trio.
Siddhant Chaturvedi has
taken to Instagram as they
invite Katrina Kaif in their
intense workout session.
—Agency
T
he first ever pairing
on-screen, Rakul
Preet Singh and
Ayushmann Khur-
rana have joined the cast of
Doctor G directed by Anub-
huti Kashyap and produced
by Junglee Pictures. The
film is a campus-comedy
drama and the shooting is
awaited. The film is estab-
lished in a campus of a mdi-
cal institute, wherein,
Ayushmann will
be seen as Dr
Uday Gupta
and Rakul
as Dr Fa-
tima.
—ANI
A
lia Bhatt who had
been shooting for the
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
film, Gangubai Kathi-
awadi, has taken a break from
shooting, as she is rehearsing
her dance moves for 2 dance
songs featuring in the film be-
fore calling it a wrap.
The tracks are going to be
filmed in the grand Sanjay Lee-
la Bhansali’s demeanour as 200
dancers background dancers
are being trained for the same
along with the lavish set. Mean-
time, the actress recently spent
some quality time with her beau,
Ranbir Kapoor, in New Delhi.
Alia Bhatt was also seen playing
the game of Truth or Dare on
her Instagram with her fans, where
she revealed her love for aloo,
chocolates and the fact that she actu-
ally hates shopping!
—Agency
LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 3, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
MAGICAL
MALDIVES
isha Patani has shared a throw-
back picture on her Instagram
where she is seen soaking the
sun in Maldives. The actress
stuns in the white bikini.
The actress took a break
and has spent leisure
time in Maldives. Fans have
been appreciating the
picture as well as Tiger
Shroff’s sister Krishna
Shroff couldn’t stop
herself from dropping a
comment. Disha Patani
was last seen in Ma-
lang with Aditya Roy
Kapoor, Anil Kapoor
and Kunal Kemmu.
Her upcoming pro-
ject is Radhe:
You most wanted
Bhai alongside
Salman Khan,
Jackie Shroff and
Randeep Hooda.
The film is set to
release on Eid
2021. Apart from
this, Disha has an-
other upcoming
project, Ek Vil-
lain-2. —Agency
D
NEED A
BREAK
A
fter wrapping up the shoot of
Rakshmi Rocket, Taapssee
Pannu has revealed the first
lookof hernextfilm,‘Looop
Lapeta’. With one after the other
projects in her hands, Taapsse
hassharedonherInstagramthe
character Savi who is question-
ing herself how did she end up
here!Thefilmisahindiremake
of the German 1998 film Run
Lola Run. Taapsee had been
shooting in Goa for the film.
The 1998 German
film featured
Franka Pontete
and Mortiz
Bleibtreuinthe
lead role. It por-
traysthestoryof
a woman who has
to arrange 1,00,000
DeutscheMarkin20
minutes to save her
boyfriend. —Agency
RunSavi
RUN
Doctor G NOTHING
LIKE HOME
W
hile the shoot
life takes you
to a lot of
p l a c e s
around, there is no
place like home, but
Parineeti Chopra has
earned the privilege to
shoot at her hometown
as she is soon to begin
shooting for a brand
campaign. The actress
is thrilled to spend
some quality time with
her family as she is
soon to return to Mum-
bai for the promotion of
her upcoming film, The
Girl on The Train. The
GirlonTheTrainwhich
also features Aditi Rao
Hydari and Kirti Kul-
hari is a mystry thriller
film and is based on
British author Paula
Hawkins’ 2015 debut
novel of the same name.
—Agency
FUN AND
WORKOUT
Disha Patani
Rakul Preet Singh
...her post
Parineeti Chopra
Alia Bhatt Taapssee Pannu Katrina Kaif

First india lucknow edition-03 february 2021

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