First india lucknow edition-05 february 2021

First India Bureau
Lucknow: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
on Thursday inaugu-
rated a series of
events to kick off the
Chauri Chaura cente-
nary celebrations in
Gorakhpur district of
Uttar Pradesh. He
also released a post-
age stamp via video
link dedicated to the
Chauri Chaura inci-
dent that took place
on February 4, 1922.
Addressing the inau-
gural function virtually
,
PM Modi said the mar-
tyrs of Chauri Chaura
have not received their
due respect in India’s
history and lauded the
UP government and
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath for taking
the responsibility to cel-
ebrate the contribution
of the freedom fighters.
“The incident of
Chauri Chaura was not
limited to a police sta-
tion being set on fire.
The message of the in-
cident was huge. Due to
various reasons, it was
treated as a minor inci-
dent, but we should see
it in context. The fire
was not just in the sta-
tion but in the hearts
of people,” the PM said.
He termed it “unfortu-
nate” that the martyrs
of the historic incident
have not been dis-
cussed as much as they
should have been. “Al-
though they have not
been given significance
in the pages of history,
their blood is in the soil
of the country and
keeps inspiring us,” he
added. Turn to P6
Country’s unity foremost says PM, inaugurates
Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations
PM lauds CM Yogi for taking the
responsibility to celebrate the contribution
of the freedom fighters
PM Narendra Modi inaugurating the Chauri Chaura celebrations through video conferencing from
Delhi as CM Yogi applauds and Governor Anandiben Patel looks on. (Top Left) Postage Stamp
released by PM to mark 100 years of incident. (Bottom Right) People participating in Chauri Chaura
event in Gorakhpur.
Vande Mataram
mass recital lands
UP in record books
M Tariq Khan
Lucknow: Yogi Adi-
tyanath government
has created yet an-
other world record
beating China by re-
cording mass recita-
tion of ‘Vande Mata-
ram’ on Thursday to
mark the centenary
celebrations of Chau-
ri Chaura uprising.
“The largest online
video album of peo-
ple saluting on the
occasion of 70th an-
niversary of Peoples’
Republic of China
consists of 10,369 vid-
eos. Our video upload
count of mass recita-
tion of ‘Vande Mata-
ram’ has already
crossed 1.40 lakh, the
audit is still being
done by a team of the
Guinness Books of
World Record. The
result will be an-
nounced on Friday
but I am sure we will
reach half-a-million
mark,” Principal Sec-
retary Culture and
Tourism Mukesh Me-
shram told First In-
dia News. Turn to P2
‘STOPMONOLOGUE,
GETBACKTODIALOGUE’
Oppn gherao govt in Parliament
Shah holds meet
with NSA Doval,
Intelligence chief
New Delhi: Opposition
parties on Thursday as-
sailed the government
over its handling of the
farmer protests against
the three contentious
farm laws, saying BJP
ministers believe in
monologue and trench-
es have been dug,
barbed wires put up and
spikes installed when
bridges should have
been built to win over
farmers.
Sanjay Singh, who
was among three AAP
leaders marshalled out
of Rajya Sabha on
Wednesday over unruly
behaviour, on Thursday
hit out at the central
government saying
farmers are being lathi-
charged, called traitors,
terrorists and Khal-
istanis.
“Talks happened 11
times, all failed. Gov-
ernment claims to be a
call away, but doesn’t
bother,” he said in the
Rajya Sabha. Stating
that about 165 farmers
have lost their lives in
the past 76 days, Singh
appealed to the Modi
government to “have
mercy and repeal the
three black laws”.
Opening the second
day of discussion on a
motion thanking the
President for his ad-
dress to the joint sitting
of Parliament at the
start of the Budget Ses-
sion, Manoj Kumar Jha
of the RJD said the gov-
ernment has lost the
patience to hear and
any criticism is painted
as anti-national.
“With folded hands, I
request you to please
understand the pain of
farmers. Turn to P6
New Delhi: Home Min-
ister Amit Shah on
Thursday convened a
meeting in Parliament
House regarding the
proposed call for a na-
tionwide ‘chakka jam’
on February 6 (Satur-
day). Present at the
meeting were NSA Ajit
Doval, the Director of
the Intelligence Bureau
Arvind Kumar and Del-
hi Police Commissioner
SN Shrivastava, among
other officials of the
Home Ministry
.
Farmer unions on
Monday (February 1)
had announced a coun-
trywide ‘chakka jam’ on
February 6 (Saturday)
when they would block
national and state high-
ways for three hours for
the repeal of three farm
laws, Bhartiya Kisan
Morcha (R) president,
Balbir Singh Rajewal
said on Monday
.
“We will block both
state highways and na-
tional highways for
three hours from 12
noon to 3 pm on Febru-
ary 6. We will protest for
our demand of complete
rollback of farm laws,
against the repressive
measures being taken
across Delhi, and
against anti-farmer and
pro-corporate budget,”
he said at a press confer-
enceorganisedbySamy-
ukt Kisan Morcha.
The Samkyukt
Kisan Morcha (SKM),
an umbrella body of
protesting unions, also
alleged that the Twit-
ter accounts of Kisan
Ekta Morcha and a
user named ‘Trac-
tor2Twitter’ have been
restricted.
MPs stopped from
reaching Ghazipur
New Delhi: A delega-
tion of 15 MPs from 10
Opposition parties, led
by Shiromani Akali Dal
MP Harsimrat Kaur
Badal, was on Thursday
stopped by the police
from reaching the Ghaz-
ipur border to meet the
farmers protesting
against the Centre’s
three new farm laws.
Security has been
tightened at the Ghaz-
ipur, Singhu, and Tikri
borders, where thou-
sands of farmers have
been camping since De-
cember, after the vio-
lence and vandalism on
January 26 during a
farmers’ Turn to P6
Still stand with farmers: Greta
after police files ‘toolkit’ case
New Delhi:Greta Thun-
berg’s controversial
tweet on a “toolkit” for
supporting the farmer
protests was cited in a
case filed on Thursday
by the Delhi Police that
includes charges of se-
dition, an overseas
“conspiracy” and an at-
tempt to “promote en-
mity between groups”.
The police said its case
is against the creators
of the toolkit and does
not name Greta Thun-
berg. The teen climate
campaigner, unfazed,
tweeted that she “still”
stood with farmers and
“no amount of threats”
would change that.
Greta Thunberg’s
tweets in support of the
protests near Delhi
against farm laws are
among Turn to P6
The high-level review meet focussed
on Feb 6 ‘Chakka Jam’ by farmers
AAP MP Sanjay Singh and RJD MP Manoj Jha during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Home Minister Amit Shah
Greta Thunberg
NSA Ajit Doval at Parliament.
SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal along with other Opposition
MPs were stopped near Ghazipur border on Thursday.
Farmers’ stir
discussed in
team meeting,
says Virat Kohli
Chennai: Indian crick-
et captain Virat Kohli
on Thursday said that
the ongoing farmers’
protest against new ag-
riculture
laws has
come up for
discussion
in his team
m e e t i n g
where everyone has “ex-
pressed their views”.
Kohli, speaking on-
line to the media ahead
of the first test against
England in Chennai,
did not share the details
of the “brief” conversa-
tion on the matter.
“Any issue which is
present in the country,
we do talk about it and
everyone has expressed
what they had to say
about the issue. We
briefly spoke about it in
the team meeting
Turn to P6
New Delhi: India has asked for US help in inves-
tigating Sikhs for Justice - a Khalistani group.
The request has been sent to US Department of
Justice, foreign ministry said. Delhi Police has
registered a case, citing an “overseas” conspiracy
behind violence during Republic Day tractor rally.
Rampur: Congress
leader Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra on
Thursday
said that
the gov-
ernment
has failed
to identify the agitation
against the three farm
laws as a real struggle
and does not recog-
nise the plight of the
protesting farmers.
New Delhi: ”We have
to pledge that the unity
of the
country is
our prior-
ity and its
respect
above
everything. ,” Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
said at the inauguration
of the centenary cel-
ebrations of the Chauri
Chaura incident.
INVESTIGATE SIKHS FOR JUSTICE:
INDIA URGES UNITED STATES
‘STOP VIEWING
PROTESTS AS
POL CONSPIRACY’
UNITY OF NATION
OUR PRIMARY
PRIORITY: PM
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 83
NEXT REPUBLIC DAY PARADE WILL BE
ON CENTRAL VISTA AVENUE AND IT WILL
BE A ‘SYMBOL OF MODERN INDIA’: PURI
THERE IS JUST TALK, THERE IS NO
UNDERSTANDING, NO STRATEGY AND NO
LEADERSHIP IN COUNTRY: RAHUL
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
AAP MP Sanjay Singh
and RJD MP Manoj Jha
spearheaded attack as
Opposition tore into
government’s stand
towards farmers’ protest

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021
02
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Min-
ister Yogi Adityanath
met around 200 people
and ordered prompt ac-
tion on their complaints
during Janata Darshan
in Gorakhpur on Thurs-
day
.
In fact, in one in-
stance the property of a
complainant was
cleared from illegal pos-
session of ‘land mafias’
within an hour after re-
ceiving CM’s direction,
who issued a warning
to the officials also.
One Rajendra Yadav
of the Khoa Mandi,
complained to CM that
land mafias had illegal-
ly grabbed his property
during the Janata Dar-
shan programme at the
Gorakhnath Temple.
“The land was regis-
tered in my name in
1983, however, a land
Mafia got the land ille-
gally registered in his
name and also demol-
ished the house by mis-
leading officials,” Ra-
jendra informed CM.
Yogi not only
hauled up the offi-
cials, but to the sur-
prise of everyone pre-
sent there, he said “I
remember that about
10 years ago, I had
myself visited the
spot and got the house
vacated, Rajendra
was given the posses-
sion. How come the
Mafia was again giv-
en the possession
without examining
the facts and the
house was demol-
ished?”
Following the direc-
tions, officials of the
administration, police
and the revenue depart-
ment reached the spot
along with a JCB and
the under- construction
house was demolished
within an hour.
Man gets back property from land mafia’s grab
within an hour of bringing the issue to CM’s notice
PROMPT ACTION
CM Yogi during the ‘Janata Darshan’ at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.
‘Chauri-Chaura’ gave a new direction to the freedom struggle, said CM as centenary celebrations kick off
CHAURI CHAURA: CM YOGI HAILS
HEROIC SAGA OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath along
with Governor Anandi-
ben Patel took part in
an event held at Chauri
Chaura memorial in
Gorakhpur to mark the
centenary celebrations
that were flagged off
virtually by PM Naren-
dra Modi.
Addressing the event,
CM Yogi said that the
Chauri Chaura Shatab-
di Mahotsav is the an-
them of the heroic saga
of freedom fighters’
sacrifice.
“The sacrifice of
‘Chauri-Chaura’ is a
‘symbol’ of India’s ex-
pression and is a conflu-
ence of commitment,
motivation, and matu-
rity,” said the UP CM
while paying tribute to
the martyrs who sacri-
ficed their lives in the
freedom struggle.
Invoking the valour
of the freedom fighters
and their sacrifices
thereof in the wake of
the historic uprising
that took place on Feb-
ruary 4, 1922, CM Yogi
said that the incident
gave a new direction to
India’s independence
movement against Brit-
ish rule.
“We have gathered
here today to pay rever-
ence and respect to all
those immortal sacri-
fices,” he said.
‘Swachhta’, ‘Swab-
lamban’ and
‘Swadeshi’ all togeth-
er will lead us to-
wards making India
self-reliant,” he
pointed out. Explain-
ing the meaning of
the logo of the Cente-
nary event, released
by the state govern-
ment on the occasion,
UP CM said that the
words ‘Swarakte,
Swarashtram Rak-
shyet’ meant ‘Tera
Vaibhav Amar Rhe
Maa, Hum Din Char
Rahe Na Rahe’ (we
protect our nation
with our blood) .”
He regretted that this
chapter of freedom
struggle had been con-
signed to anonymity
but now onwards this
place would be a new
‘teerth’.
The programme was
started with police
band playing and floral
tributes paid to the
martyrs. The centenary
celebrations will be
marked by the illumina-
tion of all the martyrs’
memorials in the state
along with a series of
events to invoke the sac-
rifices of the freedom
fighters.
TWITTER TRIBUTE
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma, BJP’s state president Swatantra Dev
Singh, ACS (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi, ACS (Information and MSME) Navneet Sehgal, DGP HC
Awasthy and Lucknow DM Abhishek Prakash at Shaheed Smarak.
CM Yogi Adityanath paid floral tributes at Shaheed Smarak in
Lucknow to mark centenary celebrations of ‘Chauri Chaura’.
CM Yogi pays tributes at Shaheed Smarak in Lucknow and is
seen with Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia, Deputy CM Dinesh
Sharma and BJP’s state president Swatantra Dev Singh.
CM to inspect upcoming ‘Navya Ayodhya’ soon
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath will
soon be visiting Ayod-
hya to review the pro-
gress of the develop-
mental works being car-
ried on to place the city
on world tourist map.
The new-look ‘Navya
Ayodhya’ will be an in-
tegrated model of Vedic
and modern city
.
The government is
preparing a new model
of development in Ayo-
dhya and world-class
consultant will be ap-
pointed for the same.
Yogi government
plans to develop the his-
toric city as an eco-
friendly tourist point as
it expects footfalls to
manifold once the Ram
Temple is functional.
Only electric vehicles
will be commuting from
the entry point of the
city to the grand Ram
temple to ensure that
the environment re-
mains free from pollu-
tion, a government
spokesman had said.
The CM will review
the progress of pro-
jects that include the
expansion of Bhajan
Sandhya Sthal, Queen
Ho Memorial Park,
Ram Katha Park,
beautification of Ram
Kath Gallery, Ram Ki
Paidi, renovation of
roads and footpaths
and the Hanuman
Garhi - Kanak Bha-
wan Road, according
to an official.
Priyanka meets
family of farmer
deceased on R-day
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Congress
General Secretary Pri-
yanka Gandhi on
Thursday met family
members of Navreet
Singh, a farmer who
lost his life during the
protest in New Delhi on
Republic Day, and also
attended a prayer cere-
mony for him.
The 27-year-old Singh
died after his tractor
overturned during the
farmers’ tractor parade
on January 26.
Accompanied by sen-
ior Congress leaders
including party’s Uttar
Pradesh unit chief Ajay
Kumar Lallu, Gandhi
arrived at the native
Dibdiba village of the
deceased farmer
around noon.
She attended the ‘an-
tim ardas’ (final
prayers for the de-
parted) and sat with
family members with
her head covered .
Earlier on her way
to Rampur, three to
four vehicles in Gan-
dhi’s convoy collided
with each other on a
highway in western
Uttar Pradesh’s
Hapur district on
Thursday morning.
No one was hurt in
the incident that took
place near Gajraula
area.
The vehicles at the
end of the convoy hit
each other, media in-
charge of the Congress,
Lalan Kumar informed
about the incident in
Lucknow.
Priyanka Gandhi condoles family of late Navreet Singh.
AAP to continue supporting
protest against farm laws
First India Bureau
Sultanpur: Aam Aad-
mi Party Rajya Sabha
member Sanjay Singh
on Thursday said the
party will continue to
support protesting
farmers and asked the
government to take
back the new farm laws.
Participating in a dis-
cussion on a motion
thanking the President
for his address to the
joint sitting of Parlia-
ment at the start of the
Budget Session, Sanjay
Singh stated said the
Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) has been helping
farmers who are pro-
testing against the laws
and would continue to
do so in the future for
the farmers.
“This government
works just for the bene-
fit of their four corpo-
rate friends. This is a
government of these
four corporates from
whom they take offer-
ings to fight elections,”
Singh said in Rajya
Sabha.
‘Village Haats’ to bolster farmers
UP beats dragon, as 1.4 Lakh
singers sing Vande Mataram
Cont’d from page 1
Needless, he said, the
feat would not have
been possible without
encouragement from
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, who par-
ticipated and led the
campaign in Gorakh-
pur, said Meshram.
China uploaded the
videos over 29 days
(from Nov 19 to Dec 17)
to bag the Guinness re-
cord in 2019. UP beat the
Dragon with a huge
margin in just 24 hours!
The mass recitation of
‘Vande Mataram’ that
started at 10 am on
Wednesday came an
end at 12 noon on Thurs-
day. Yogi Adityanath
led government in Ut-
tar Pradesh holds an-
other Guinness Books
of World Records for
lighting over 5.50 lakh
lamps during Deepot-
sav Program in Ayod-
hya last year.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: According
top priority to farmers’
welfare, Yogi Adity-
anath government has
decided to set up 53 ‘Vil-
lage Haats’ and ‘Rural
Markets’ to sell their
produce and increase
their income.
The UP Mandi Pari-
shad has been given
the task to set up
these ‘rural haats’
and markets across
the state. These rural
markets to be built at
a cost of Rs 25 crores,
will provide all kinds
of facilities to the
farmers and enable
them to sell their
crops in city markets.
With the availability
of markets near the vil-
lages, the farmers will
also be able to buy all
the things they require.
It will also lead to re-
duction in cost of trans-
porting the produce to
distant markets and
will save a considerable
amount of time for the
farmers. The farmers
will be able to sell all
kinds of crops includ-
ing vegetables, grains
and fruits in these mar-
kets.
There will also be a
provision of Drinking
water and Restrooms.
Apart from this, the fa-
cility of rain and sun
protection to the crops
will also be provided.
The government will
also monitor the facili-
ties being provided to
the farmers at the local
levels.
The Mandi Parishad
has begun work to set
up these Haats. These
markets are expected to
become operational in
the next few months. In
order to boost the over-
all economic develop-
ment of the state, the
UP Government has
also taken measures to
include all the neglect-
ed and backward re-
gions of Purvanchal in
this scheme.
Uttar Pradesh CM
Yogi Adityanath on
Thursday announced
the launch of an
ambitious, state-wide,
free coaching facility
programme on Basant
Panchami to help
students prepare for
various competitive
examinations. Named
‘Abhyudaya’, the free
coaching facility will
start from upcoming
Basant Panchmi on
February 16--the day
to worship goddess of
learning, Saraswati,
said Adityanath during
his address on state’s
establishment day.
“From the day of
Basant Panchami,
‘Abhyudaya’, the free
coaching facility for
students of the state
appearing in various
competitive examina-
tions will commence,”
said the CM
“In the first phase, it
will be organised in
18 divisional head-
quarters of the state,
where coaching will
be imparted physically
and virtually. Officials
will also devote their
time and experts will
also be posted there,”
he said.
CM Yogi Adityanath in Ayodhya —FILE PHOTO

UTTAR PRADESH
03
NEWSat a glance
OVER 1 LAKH HEALTH WORKERS VAXED
Over 1 lakh healthcare workers received covid vac-
cines on Thursday in UP, taking the total number of
those vaccinated to 5.4 lakh, a government release
said. Almost 1,600 sessions were held throughout
the day for administering vaccines, the statement
read. The vaccination for frontline workers will
start in UP from February 5.
TAINTED OFFICER ARVIND SEN IN JAIL
Tainted IPS officer Arvind Sen was
lodged in Lucknow Jail after facing arrest
warrant in a corruption case. He had
surrendered before a special anti-graft
court in Lucknow and was sent in14-
days’ judicial custody. He had surrendered before the
anti-corruption court of Special Judge Sandeep Gupta
after being declared a proclaimed offender in the case
of an alleged bribe of `10L taken by him for awarding
tender of Animal Husbandry Dept.
14 GIRLS RESCUED IN SEX RACKET
UP Police on Thursday busted an alleged sex
racket in Noida Sector 18 and rescued 14 girls.
“We had information on spas luring customers by
prostitution. We conducted raids following that
and arrested the owners and customers,” said DCP
Police Commissionerate Rajesh S. He added, “We
are considering the girls to be victims.”
FIRING AT GOODS TRAIN
Three unidentified persons fired at a goods train in
Agra section on Thursday, damaging the window-
pane of the driver’s cabin, officials said. The train
was going from Khurja to Dhampur when it came
under attack between Eitmadpur and Tundla.The
driver immediately reported the incident to the RPF
and the control room, RPF SI Amit Kumar said.
‘MORE FOR CHAURI CHAURA HEROES’
MLA Yashwant Singh speaking at the Chauri
Chaura Centenary Celebration at Chandrashek-
har Chabutra Darulshafa said Chauri Chaura Jan
Virodh had shaken up the British Empire, but still
the heroes of the event had not received the kind
of recognition they deserved.
First India Bureau
Bengaluru/Lucknow:
Union Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh inspect-
ed the stall of Uttar
Pradesh Defence Indus-
trial Corridor (UPDIC)
set up by Uttar Pradesh
Expressways Industrial
Development Authority
(UPEIDA) on Thursday
.
UPEIDA is being head-
ed by Additional Chief
Secretary Home Awan-
ish Awasthi.
Expressing his confi-
dence that UPDIC would
certainly attract foreign
investors, opening the
door for investment in
the defence sector in UP
,
the Defence Minister
said it was an opportune
time for such invest-
ments in the state. UP-
EIDA is participating in
Aero India -2021 being
held in Bengaluru from
February 3 to 5, 2021.
Minister for Industri-
al Development Satish
Mahanainauguratedthe
stall of UP Defence In-
dustrial Corridor in
Aero India -2021 besides
also launching the offi-
cialmicrowebsiteof UP-
DIC. The website would
provide investors infor-
mation about latest poli-
cies and updates about
the corridor including
availability of land, ex-
isting basic infrastruc-
ture and connectivity at
the nodes. He also inter-
acted with representa-
tives of various foreign
companies on possibi-
lites of investment.
Visit by Chief of the
Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat,
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM,
YSM, SM, VSM, ADC,
visited the UPDIC Stall
on Thursday
, where he
was briefed about the
project.
The UPDIC team,
headed by Col Tyagi,
also discussed the im-
portance of components
andsubsystemmanufac-
turing in the defence in-
dustry
, the change in the
industrywhichhasbeen
heralded by the an-
nouncement and subse-
quent setting up of the
Defence Corridors and
recognition of UPDIC as
a special manufacturing
hub by the Ministry of
Defence.
Meanwhile, Emma-
nuel Lenain, the Am-
bassador of France to
India, also visited the
UPDIC Stall, where he
was briefed about the
project.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: A day after
having been booked by
the Maharastra police
for allegedly hurting re-
ligious sentiments of
people with his remarks
at Elgar Parishad con-
clave in Pune, former
AMU student Sharjeel
Usmani was slapped
with the charge of sedi-
tion by Lucknow police.
ThecaseagainstUsm-
aniwaslodgedatHazrat-
ganj police station here
on Wednesday on the
complaint of a city resi-
dent Anurag Singh, po-
lice said on Thursday
.
Singh has alleged in
his complaint that Usm-
ani used provocative
words and language in
his speech at Elgar Pari-
shad conclave on Janu-
ary 30 in Pune with an
aim to trigger hatred
and anger against the
UP government and pro-
moting enmity among
religious communities.
OnSingh’scomplaint,
an FIR has been lodged
against Usmani under
sections 124A, 153 A and
505 (1) (B) of the IPC for
allegedly committing
sedition, promoting
communal hatred and
making statements
aimed at alarming peo-
ple and inciting them to
commit offences against
the state, a senior police
official said.
Earlier on Tuesday,
the Pune police had
booked Usmani under
section 153 A for alleg-
edly promoting enmity
between different
groups of people on the
ground religion e
A day after the regis-
tration of the FIR
againstUsmaniinPune,
Maharashtra Home
Minister Anil Desh-
mukh had on Wednes-
day said the former
AMU student leader
would be arrested from
whichever state he is in.
He had said the police
booked Usmani, a UP-
resident, for his “offen-
sive remarks” after con-
ducting a probe into the
video clippings of the
Jan 30 conclave in Pune.
During the conclave,
writer-activist Arund-
hatiRoy
,Justice(Retd)B
GKolsePatilandformer
IPS officer S M Mushrif
were also among those
who addressed the gath-
ering.
Three years ago, sev-
eral Left-leaning activ-
ists were arrested for
alleged Naxal links fol-
lowing the December 31,
2017, Elgar Parishad
conclave and the caste
violence at Koregaon-
Bhima war memorial
the next day
.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: District
Magistrate Abhishek
Prakash inspected the
work progress Purvan-
chal Express-Way Pack-
age-01 at Chand Sarai,
Lucknow along with
teams from the Reve-
nue Department, UP-
EIDA and Gayatri Pro-
jects Ltd. Expressing
his satisfaction with
progress of the con-
struction work of Rail-
way Over Bridge (ROB)
and Trumpet, the DM
gave certain sugges-
tions on the quality of
work. He asked the au-
thorities to make sure
that the construction
work be completed in
time while adhering to
the quality standards.
Purvanchal Express-
way will begin from
Chand Sarai village
and go up to Haidaria
village in Ghazipur.
The physical work of
the project is likely to
be inspected by CM
Yogi Adityanath on
February 8, which is
why the DM had come
for prior inspection
and to give necessary
guidelines.
First India Bureau
Etawah: Former dis-
trict president of Sama-
jwadi Party (SP) Yuvjan
Sabha and current vil-
lage chief Raj Kumar
Yadav ‘Bablu’ was shot
dead here in Bhadava
village in Basehar area
on Thursday evening.
SSP Akash Toman
has formed two teams to
nab the culprits. He said
that manhunt was
launched to nab the sus-
pects who escaped after
the incident.
It was speculated that
this could be a political
murder. It was also re-
ported that Yadav was
close to former district
Panchayat president
and cousin of SP presi-
dent Akhilesh Yadav.
Just before the panchay-
at elections, the murder
of the youth leader has
triggered panic.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting the Uttar Pradesh stall at Aero
India 2021 in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Sharjeel Usmani —FILE PHOTO
ACS Home Awanish Awasthi chairing the meet on Thursday
Rajnath lauds defence corridor on
visit to UP pavilion at Aero Show
Lucknow police slap sedition
charge on Sharjeel Usmani
DM inspects progress of Purvanchal Exp’way work
SP youth leader shot
dead in Etawah in UP
Defence Minister exudes
confidence at UP’s initiatives
In Feb 5 ‘Bandhan’ prog, MoUs
with 17 firms are to be signed
Investments worth ` 5,000
crore likely in state
First India Bureau
Ghaziabad: “Mujhekya
pata, kara hoga. Main
kyaunhejaanun!”farm-
er leader Rakesh Tikait
said on Thursday
, break-
ing into his characteris-
ticrusticstyleof conver-
sationwhenaskedabout
the support from several
internationalcelebrities
to the protests against
new agri laws.
The 51-yr-old Bharati-
ya Kisan Union (BKU)
leader from the hinter-
lands of Muzaffarnagar
inwesternUPwelcomed
the support from inter-
national artistes and ac-
tivists, including Rihan-
na and Greta Thunberg,
although admitting he
didn’t know them.
Talking to the media
at Ghazipur on the Del-
hi-UP border, Tikait,
who is credited with re-
viving the agitation that
had gone slim after the
January 26 violence in
Delhi, sought to know
who these people were.
“Kaun hain ye videshi
kalaakar? (Who are
these foreign artists)?
Tikait said exhibiting
unawareness when
asked about the foreign-
ers supporting the farm-
ers’ movement.
When informed about
Americanpop-singerRi-
hanna, adult star Mia
Khalifa and Swedish
teenclimateactivistGre-
taThunberg,theSisauli-
born Tikait responded:
Mujhe kya pata, kara
hoga. Main kya unhe
jaanun! (They would
havesupportedthefarm-
ers’ protest, but I don’t
know them!).
Koi videshi agar
samarthan kar raha to
kyadikkathai,kuchle-de
thodi na raha hai (If
some foreigner is sup-
porting the movement,
then what is the prob-
lem. They are not giving
us or taking anything
away from us), he said.
Tikait said he did not
have any talk with the 15
MPs who had tried to
come to Ghazipur to
meet the protestors.
Who is Rihanna, asks Tikait welcoming support
GLAMOUR GLITCH
Feigning ignorance about int’l stars, the
leader sees no harm having them around
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Before com-
mencement of cleanli-
ness survey on Thurs-
day
, Municipal Commis-
sioner issued orders for
appointing nodal offic-
ersforintensivesupervi-
sion of cleaning work.
The officers include
Addl Municipal Com-
missioner (AMC) Amit
Kumar of Rajaram Mo-
han Roy Ward, AMC
Archana Dwivedi of
Vikramaditya Hazrat-
ganj-Ramathirtha, AMC
Rakesh Yadav of Mahat-
ma Gandhi ward, Jt Mu-
nicipal Commissioner
Avanindra Kumar of
Mashkaganj - Wazirganj
ward, Municipal Health
Officer Dr Sunil Kumar
Rawat of Babu Banarsi
Das Ward, Jt Director
ArvindKumarRaoof JC
Bose Ward, Chief Fi-
nance Accounts Offic-
er Mahamilind Lal of
Nazarbagh, Chief Engi-
neer (Civil) Mahesh Ver-
ma of Yadunath Sanyal
Ward among others.
Cleanliness
drive: Nodal
officers for
supervision
First India Bureau
Lucknow:ACSHome
Awanish Awasthi
chaired a meeting of
the State level Author-
ityCommitteeatCom-
mand Centre, Lok
Bhavan here on
Thursday
.Proposalfor
m o d e r n i s a t i o n
scheme of the police
force was discussed,
under which total of
Rs.105.31croreistobe
spent. The Centre will
contribute Rs 63.19
crore which is 60% of
the fund and the state
will contribute Rs
42.21 crore which is
40% of the fund.
The proposal for
the scheme which
was prepared by the
Logistics Headquar-
ters of the Police De-
partment has been
approved by the State
level Authority Com-
mittee to be sent to
theMinistryof Home
Affairs.
Under the scheme,
the purchase of digi-
tal VHF (very-high
frequency) radio sets
and VHF wireless de-
vices are to be pro-
cured. Also under the
scheme modernisa-
tion of police stations
are to take place and
body worn cameras,
drones and post mor-
tem kits, full body
protector for women
cops and other equip-
mentaretobebought.
Equipment re-
quired for training of
STF and ATS, foren-
sic tools for ATS and
weaponsforSTFtobe
purchased has been
proposed.
Janardan Misra
Ayodhya: Ayodhya po-
lice,onThursday
,arrest-
ed a man under espio-
nagechargeswithsecret
documents related to In-
dian Army
. Arrested ac-
cused was identified as
Arif Hussain of Sadar
Bazar area under Can-
tonment police station.
According to sources
military intelligence
had tip about Arif that
he was collecting Army
information and he was
under scanner. Several
sensitive documents re-
lated to Mahu and Bel-
gaon Army headquar-
ters along with seven
books, papers related to
Dogra regiment, laptop,
printer and four pen
drivers were recovered
from Arif’s possession.
It was reported that
recovery of such sensi-
tive documents from
Arif indicates involve-
ment of some insider.
Awasthi discusses
policemodernisation
Man held with Army
secret doc in Ayodhya
DM Abhishek Prakash inspecting the expressway work on Thursday
Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on his visit to the UPEIDA
stall at the Aero Show on Thursday. Secretary to CM Adityanath, Sanjay
Prasad also seen.
Accused Arif Hussain

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 83 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
There isn’t enough darkness
in all the world to snuff out
the light of one little candle.
—Buddha
Spiritual
SPEAK
TOOLKIT PLOT
AGAINST INDIA
CAUSES UPROAR
here’s an ugly spat going on in
the cyberspace with two western
celebrities --- pop star Rihanna
and environment activist Greta
Thunberg (whom Kangana
Ranaut called a rat) — pitted against the
Government of India and Indian idols like
Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, and the
Queen of nationalism in India, the vitriol-
spewing Kangana Ranaut, who is ready to
cross swords with the high and mighty dar-
ing to criticise the Narendra Modi govern-
ment. Any Indian defending the farmers’
protest is an enemy of the country, a traitor,
a Khalistani, or a Pakistani agent. Kangana
has been bombarding actor Diljit Dosanjh
with tweets asking him to denounce farmers
and say that he is not a Khalistani. She called
cricketer Rohit Sharma “a dhobi ka kutta”
for not calling farmers terrorists. After a
surfeit of such hate-spreading tweets, Twit-
ter decided to act. It deleted three of Kan-
gana’s tweets in two hours as they violated
the platform’s hate speech rules. Her ac-
count was earlier suspended briefly after
she called for the beheading of producers of
a TV show which, she said had hurt the Hin-
du sentiments.
Rihanna’s tweet defending the farmers’
agitation triggered a deluge of tweets
against her. The Central government joined
the issue with her by defending the farm
laws and asking external forces to stay off.
However, it is Greta Thunberg’s tweet and
the Twitter toolkit she used which have
pushed the climate activist in the eye of the
storm. The Delhi Police have registered a
case against the creators of a toolkit, used
“accidentally” by the Swedish activist, for
promoting enmity between groups” and for
being part of a greater conspiracy. The
toolkit first posted by Greta called for sup-
port for the violent Republic Day protests by
farmers. She deleted the tweet after an up-
roar and uploaded an updated toolkit. This
updated version spoke of seven ways of sup-
porting the farmers’ agitation and called for
protests outside Indian embassies. After the
Delhi Police case, Greta only renewed her
support for the peaceful protests. Whether
the Delhi Police will go to some foreign coun-
try to unravel the plot behind the toolkit,
which essentially mobilises support for the
agitation, or seek Interpol’s help remains to
be seen. India’s counter-hashtag campaigns
and police cases won’t help the country’s im-
age globally.
In this age of Facebook, Twitter, Telegraph,
and Instagram the only way to block all com-
munications is to develop some social media
platforms of our own. That will take some
years. In the meantime, the government
thought of blocking internet services in pro-
test sites. The action may have left farmers
cut off from the world, but it also inconven-
ienced the common man.
As farmers have moved too far away from
ending the agitation and the government ob-
stinately resolute, the crisis created by new
farm laws has reached unmanageable levels.
IN-DEPTH
T
iscerning eyes
have known for
quite a while
that the Arab
world is more
than it appears in conven-
tional photography. The
old visual language of min-
arets and souks, of unas-
suming eyes set deep in
dark faces, of conceptual
or actual “unveilings” and
of non-consensual or am-
bivalent colonial portrai-
ture is one of yesterday
.
Though this may have
seeped backward, another
dynamic of documentary
photography came for-
ward, one defined by the
symbiotic relationship be-
tween news cycles and pho-
tographers in the region.
Whatever media outlets
needed, photographers
were shooting. From this
political economy of pho-
tography arose the decades
of image production that
defined a new visual short-
hand for the Arab world:
namely, the necessary but
relentless Rolodex of photo
stories focused on war, con-
flict and revolution.
In recent years, however,
remarkable bodies of work
have been coming out of a
new generation of young
Arab photographers, due
in part to the support of
institutions like the Bei-
rut-based Arab Fund for
Arts and Culture (AFAC).
Its Arab Documentary
Photography Program,
which has been training
and funding emerging
Arab photographers since
2014, has helped produce
an impeccable collection
of photo essays.
Launched in 2014 in
partnership with Magnum
Foundation and the Prince
Claus Fund, the program
provides financial support
as well as group and one-
on-one mentoring from
Arab and American pho-
tographers and Magnum
fellows Randa Shaath, Eric
Gottesman, Tanya Hab-
jouqa and Peter van Agt-
mael. After the conclusion
of each round, photogra-
phers also have opportuni-
ties to exhibit across the
Arab region as well as in
Europe and the US.
More than intentionally
shifting who holds the cam-
era and has the kind of ac-
cess and training to shoot
these projects, the genera-
tion of photographers that
AFAC is helping foster is
also opening up entirely
new places and perspec-
tives for visual storytelling.
In addition to their sup-
port of emerging Arab
photographers, AFAC has
funded over 1,500 projects
across the region since
2007. Its support extends to
institutions and individu-
als in the fields of the per-
forming arts, visual arts,
writing, cinema, music,
events and research.
In the past decade, since
the Arab uprisings of 2011,
AFAC has also emerged as
a lifeline for creative com-
munities in times of crisis.
In 2012-13, the AFAC Ex-
press program gave sup-
port to artists living in af-
fected countries who want-
ed to fast-track projects
under restrictive condi-
tions. In 2014, AFAC’s film
program Crossroads ena-
bled filmmakers to create
what they wanted, as op-
posed to the generally one-
note projects that film fes-
tivals and production
houses wanted to market
about the region.
Though AFAC’s work is
markedly different from
the kind of humanitarian
aid that institutions
rushed into, the organiza-
tion decided to reopen the
Solidarity Fund for indi-
viduals. To date, 210 artists
who had lost homes, studi-
os or workspaces to the ex-
plosion have been directly
supported by the fund.
“It was a strategic deci-
sion. We work to support
art that is critical, that is
provocative, that asks ques-
tions, that opens dialogue.
And this work can’t be done
if artists and writers and
researchers weren’t able to
survive circumstances like
2020’s.”
SOURCE: FAIR OBSERVER
The new generation of Arab photographers
D
Top
TWEET
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Powering Make in India
Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives,
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in
West Bengal produces its 300th
locomotive of Financial Year 2020-21.
Despite COVID, this feat has been
achieved in just 215 working days, as
compared to 292 days in 2017-18.
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Out of 1000 cranes tagged in
Russia for research purposes,
one Demoiselle crane managed to
fly down to a village in Rajasthan
where she was spotted recently.
Interesting to note that she has
travelled over 4300kms, the longest
distance covered by the tagged
migratory birds so far
represent the generation
called “Baby Boomer” which
saw the computers when
they were past 40 - 50 years
of age. Yet, many of us re-
mained the link between
digital illiteracy and the
tech-savvy Generations X, Y,
and now Z in India. The dif-
ferences between genera-
tions and the way they inter-
act with media is important
for all to understand. The
social media behavior of my
generation is obviously go-
ing to be vastly different
from those of successive
generations. Never the less,
we can learn from the
younger generation rekin-
dle with them if we reignite
a newfound sense of curios-
ity amazement as we open
our minds to the vast digi-
tal/online world.
As a matter of fact, in today’s
world, the purpose of social me-
dia (SM) is primarily to build a
brandandincreaseitsvisibility
,
may it be a product, service, or
personality
. With social media
becoming more popular, the
more a brand is covered across
social media the more is the re-
call value and acceptability
.
If I may emphasize, the
main characteristic of social
media is its diverse content,
copiously generated by both
standard outlets and general
users, constantly competing
for the scarce attention of
large audiences. Out of this
flood of information some
topics manage to get enough
attention to become the most
popular ones and thus to be
prominently displayed as
trends. Equally important,
some of these trends persist
long enough so as to shape
desired social agenda or the
opinion of the masses.
In 21st century, the internet
and SM provide young people
with a range of benefits, and
opportunities to empower
themselves in a variety of
ways. They can maintain social
connections and support net-
works that otherwise wouldn’t
be possible, and can access
more information than ever be-
fore. The communities and so-
cial interactions young people
form online can be invaluable
for bolstering and developing
young people’s self-confidence
and social skills of debating
and discussion in a local, na-
tional or international context.
However, the paradox of
SM is a double-edged weap-
on. While the past decade
has witnessed an explosive
growth of media, in the
form of news, videos and
stories leading to a flux of
inputs from which it is hard
for users to sort out the rel-
evant pieces to concentrate
on. Thus, the end-user often
is confused in understand-
ing the problems of culture,
decision making and opin-
ion formation and this is
where the SM influences and
makes its audiences believe
in what it throws at them.
On one hand, these plat-
forms are highly beneficial en-
vironment for word-of-mouth
(WOM) propagation of new
ideas and products making
them a focus of marketing com-
munications. On the other
hand, companies and their
brands as well as politicians,
governmental institutions, and
celebrities have increasingly
been facing the impact of nega-
tive online comments and com-
plaint behavior. In reaction to
any questionable statement or
activity, social media users can
create huge waves of public
opinion within just a few
hours. These so-called online
firestorms pose new challenges
for marketing communications
and social causes alike.
All in all, SM mirrors the
current trends and often in-
dicates the perceptual reali-
ties which leaves a lot of
room for varied interpreta-
tions leading to social dia-
logues. It facilitates the in-
teractive web by engaging
users to participate in, com-
ment on and create content
as means of communicating
with other users, where citi-
zens are able to talk about
the issues of day-to-day life
and also about issues of
global importance.
In current times, the availa-
bility of different types of Plat-
forms for chats, blogs, and vid-
eos are not just innovations in
the internet world, but are fast
emerging as influencers and
opinioncreatorsworldoverasit
was evident in the presidential
elections of USA and the last
two general elections in India.
Therefore, if our world
and the people around us are
immersed neck-deep into
technology and digitization,
its ripe time for yester gen-
erations to get hands-on op-
erating knowledge of this
magnificent technology and
remain connected not only
with our next generations
but also with the environ-
ment. With the advent of
ever-changing technology,
some gaps in information
and knowledge will neces-
sarily surface. Needless to
say, that in Indian social
panorama, cautious surveil-
lance is desired as the dis-
cretion level of the larger
masses remains questiona-
ble due to comparative lit-
eracy levels. But having said
that the prevalence of social
media is a necessary evil
that needs harnessing for
optimum utilization.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
SOCIAL MEDIA!
A PARADOX
I
In the 21st century,
the internet and
SM provide young
people with a
range of benefits,
and opportunities
to empower
themselves in a
variety of ways.
They can
maintain social
connections and
support networks
that otherwise
wouldn’t be
possible, and can
access more
information than
ever before. The
communities and
social interactions
young people form
online can be
invaluable for
bolstering and
developing young
people’s self-
confidence and
social skills of
debating and
discussion in a
local, national or
international
context
IN CURRENT TIMES, THE
AVAILABILITY OF
DIFFERENT TYPES OF
PLATFORMS FOR CHATS,
BLOGS, AND VIDEOS ARE
NOT JUST INNOVATIONS
IN THE INTERNET WORLD,
BUT ARE FAST EMERGING
AS INFLUENCERS AND
OPINION CREATORS
WORLD OVER AS IT WAS
EVIDENT IN THE
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS OF USA AND
THE LAST TWO GENERAL
ELECTIONS IN INDIA
RETD. COL
ANUPAM JAITLY
Defence expert, Motivational
speaker Corporate Trainer

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INDIA
05
7,139 INDIAN PRISONERS LODGED
IN FOREIGN PRISONS: MEA
New Delhi: A total of
7,139 Indian prisoners,
including undertrials,
are lodged in various
jails around the world,
the Ministry of External
Affairs said on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia has the
highest number of 1,599
Indian prisoners, followed
by the United Arab Emir-
ates with 898 and Nepal
having 886 inmates,
according to information
provided by Minister of
State for External Affairs
V Muraleedharan in
Rajya Sabha. “As per the
information available with
the ministry, the number
of Indian prisoners in for-
eign jails as on December
31, 2020, is 7,139, which
also includes undertri-
als,” he said responding
to a question.
IAF TO GET 1ST LAC TEJAS BY
MARCH 2024: HAL CHAIRMAN
New Delhi: Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited
Chairman and Manag-
ing Director R Madha-
van gave information
of delivering 83 LCA
Tejas to Indian Air
force. He said that
the 83 LAC Tejas
will be delivered to
IAF according to the
contract. “We will be
doing by March 2024
the first delivery, the
first year the delivery
will be of probably 2
aircraft or something
which will be rammed
up to 16. The total
supply time post the
first delivery is 6
years,” he said.
CHINESE ACTIONS “SERIOUSLY
DISTURBED PEACE”: CENTRE
New Delhi: The Chi-
nese military’s attempts
to unilaterally alter the
status quo along the
Line of Actual Con-
trol (LAC) in eastern
Ladakh have seriously
disturbed peace and
tranquillity in the
region, the government
said in Rajya Sabha.
Minister of State for
External Affairs V
Muraleedharan said
the attempts have been
responded to “appro-
priately” by the Indian
armed forces and it has
been made clear to the
Chinese side that such
unilateral attempts are
“unacceptable”.
MAHARASHTRA FARM WIDOWS
SLAM KANGANA, BURN EFFIGY
Maharashtra: Widows
of farmers on Thursday
staged a noisy protest in
Yavatmal to slam Bolly-
wood actress Kangana
Ranaut for her “anti-farm-
ers remarks”, burnt her
effigy demanded an un-
conditional apology from
her. The protesters carry-
ing banners and placards
to proclaim ‘Yes, we are
farmers but not terrorists’,
referring to Kangana’s
recent statement to malign
the farmers protesting on
Delhi borders compare
them to terrorists also
burnt her pictures. The
protesters announced their
resolve to boycott all films
of Kangana till she did not
withdraw her remarks and
tender an unconditional
apology to farmers for her
“insulting statements”.
WILL IMPROVE EFFICIENCY OF
MARKETS: US ON FARM LAWS
Washington: Recognis-
ing that peaceful pro-
tests are a hallmark of a
thriving democracy
, the
US has said it welcomes
steps that would im-
prove the efficiency of
India’s markets and at-
tract greater private
sector investment.
The State Depart-
ment, responding to a
question on the ongoing
farmers’ protests in In-
dia, said on Wednesday
the US encourages that
any differences between
the parties be resolved
through dialogue.
Indicating that the
new Biden administra-
tion is supportive of the
Indian government’s
move to reform the ag-
ricultural sector that
attracts private invest-
ment and greater mar-
ket access to farmers, a
State Department
spokesperson said: “In
general, the United
States welcomes steps
that would improve the
efficiency of India’s
markets and attract
greater private sector
investment”.
“We recognise that
peaceful protests are a
hallmark of any thriv-
ing democracy and note
that the Indian Su-
preme Court has stated
the same,” the official
said. Meanwhile, sev-
eral American lawmak-
ers came out in support
of the farmers’ protests
in India. —PTI
High security at Delhi-Ghazipur border amid ongoing protest, in Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Previous governments
drafted Budget with eye
on vote bank: PM Modi
Gorakhpur: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi on Thursday tar-
geted previous govern-
ments, saying they
drafted the Union Budg-
et with an eye on their
vote bank and made
budgets a medium of
announcements they
could not fulfil but now
the country has
changed its approach.
“From decades, the
meaning of budget in
our country was only
restricted to what an-
nouncements have been
made on whose name.
Budget was turned into
an account for the vote
bank,” he said after in-
augurating via video
conference the cente-
nary celebrations of the
historic Chauri Chaura
incident, a landmark
event in the country’s
fight for Independence.
“You all make an ac-
count of household ex-
penditure by keeping in
mind present needs and
future responsibilities.
But earlier govern-
ments made budgets a
medium of such an-
nouncements that they
could not fulfil. Now the
country has changed
such ‘soch’ (thought)
and approach,” the
prime minister said.
Modi also released a
postage stamp to mark
the beginning of the
centenary celebrations.
—ANI
KAPIL DEV: WISH
TIFF BETWEEN
FARMERS, GOVT
GETS RESOLVED
New Delhi: Amid
the ongoing standoff
between the farm-
ers and Centre over
newly-enacted three
farm laws, former
Indian skipper Kapil
Dev on Thursday
said, “I simply love
India, I wish the tiff
between Farmers and
Govt gets resolved
ASAP. Let the experts
take a call. One thing
for sure India is su-
preme,” Dev tweeted.
India and England
are set to lock horns
in a four-match Test
series. The first Test
will be played from
Friday, while the sec-
ond is slated to begin
on February 13. Dev
wished the Indian
side a “grand suc-
cess” in the series.
NAILS NOT REMOVED, JUST
“REPOSITIONED”, SAYS COPS
New Delhi: Nails fixed on the road at the farm-
ers’ protest site near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh
border are not being removed but only being
repositioned to not cause problems to the
public who may cross some spots, Delhi Police
said after videos of the nails being taken off the
road emerged. “Videos and photos are getting
circulated in which it’’s shown that nails are be-
ing taken off in Ghazipur. These are just being
repositioned. Position of arrangement at the
border remains the same,” the police said.
SOME FOREIGN ELEMENTS TRYING
DEFAME INDIA: JAVADEKAR
New Delhi: Amid the controversies over
‘Toolkit’ regarding ongoing farmers’ protest,
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar while
interacting with media persons said, “The
‘Toolkit’ matter is a serious one. It clearly shows
that some foreign elements are conspiring
to defame India.” “The ‘Toolkit’ matter is a
serious one. It clearly shows that some foreign
elements are conspiring to defame India.”
Javadekar told reporters in New Delhi. —ANI
GOVT FAILED COUNTRY AT MANY
LEVELS, SAYS DEREK O’BRIEN
New Delhi: TMC MP Derek O’Brien on Thursday said
that the government failed to uphold Parliament’s
sanctity because of its arrogance, adding that it has
“failed India at many levels”. On September 20, 2020,
seven MPs who stood for farmers were suspended. I
stand in solidarity with the farmers who lost their lives”
said TMC leader. Speaking on the Motion of Thanks
on President’s Address, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP
Sanjay Singh also slammed the government for its
reaction on the issue. —ANI
‘MSMEs ‘betrayed’ in
‘crony-centric’ budget’
New Delhi: Describ-
ing the Union Budget
as “crony-centric”,
Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi said the
micro, small, medi-
um enterprises (MS-
MEs) were given no
low interest loans or
GST relief which
meant that the em-
ployers of India’s
largest workforce
were “betrayed”.
The Congress had
slammed the budget,
saying it was a “let
down like never be-
fore”. The Opposition
party had claimed
that the budget will
unravel soon.
Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the budget
for 2021-22 from a tab-
let, instead of a con-
ventional paper docu-
ment, the first paper-
less budget since In-
dependence. Hitting
out at the govern-
ment, Mr Gandhi on
Thursday tweeted,
“Modi’’s crony cen-
tric budget means
Struggling MSMEs
given no low interest
loans, no GST relief.
The employers of In-
dia’s largest work-
force betrayed.”
Another
arrest in SSR
death case
New Delhi: The Nar-
cotics Control Bureau
(NCB) has made anoth-
er arrest on Thursday.
The NCB official re-
vealed that they have
arrested a person
named Jagtap Singh
Anand who is connect-
ed to Karamjeet Singh.
Singh was arrested ear-
lier in connection to
peddling drugs. “Nar-
cotics Control Bureau
makes another arrest of
one Jagtap Singh Anand
in connection with drug
cases related to Sushant
Singh Rajput’s death. He
is associated with anoth-
er accused Karamjeet
Singh who was arrested
earlier,” NCB said.
‘Ready to supply weapon
systems to IOR countries’
PM Modi has given
special focus to
Kerala,says Nadda
Large population still
vulnerable to covid:
ICMR’s 3rd serosurvey
New Delhi: Despite
achievingarecordrecov-
ery rate against the nov-
el coronavirus, a large
proportion of Indian
population still remains
vulnerabletoit,thethird
serosurveyconductedby
the Indian Council of
Medical Research
(ICMR) has revealed.
Sharing the findings
of the survey at a press
conference, the Union
HealthMinistrysaidthe
third national serosur-
vey has found that 21.5
per cent of population,
surveyed from Decem-
ber 17 to January 8,
showed evidence of past
exposure to the corona-
virus. A large popula-
tion still remains vul-
nerable and vaccination
is necessary, the minis-
try said. The urban
slums have reported the
highest seroprevalence
with 31.7 per cent, the
ministry said. The ur-
ban slums had reported
the highest seropreva-
lence in the last serosur-
vey as well, with popula-
tion density coupled
with high mobility, and
challenges in safe dis-
tancing and hand hy-
giene being the key
driver of spread of in-
fection.
Bengaluru: India is
ready to supply various
weapons systems, in-
cluding missiles and
electronic warfare sys-
tems, to countries in
the Indian Ocean Re-
gion (IOR), Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh
said on Thursday
.
Rajnath said organis-
ing a conclave of coun-
tries in the IOR on the
margins of the interna-
tional event “Aero In-
dia-2021” shows the im-
portance India attaches
to the vision of common
growth stability, and
constructive engage-
ments with them. Our
efforts are to synergise
the resources and ef-
forts in the Indian
Ocean, including, de-
fence Industry indus-
trial cooperation
amongst participating
countries,” Singh said.
Manyof theIORcoun-
tries are becoming glob-
ally competitive and are
developing new technol-
ogies, including defence
shipyards for design and
shipbuilding, he said.
He said the Indian
aerospace and defence
industries present an
attractive and signifi-
cant opportunity for
foreign companies
across the supply chain
to take their coopera-
tion to newer levels.
“India is ready to sup-
ply various types of
Missile systems, Light
Combat Aircrafts/Heli-
copters, Multi-Purpose
Light Transport air-
craft, Warship and Pa-
trol Vessels, Artillery
Gun systems, Tanks,
Radars, Military Vehi-
cles, Electronic Warfare
Systems other weap-
ons systems to IOR
countries,” he said.
Thrissur: BJP Nation-
al President Jagat
Prakash Nadda on
Thursday said that spe-
cial attention and focus
have been given to Ker-
ala under the National
Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government led
by PM Narendra Modi.
While addressing a
public rally at Thrissur,
BJP Chief said that Rs
3,000 crore has been
spent on a 450 kilome-
tre-long natural gas
pipeline from Kerala’s
Kochi to Mangaluru.
“Under the NDA gov-
ernment led by PM
Modi, special attention
and focus have been
given to Kerala. Rs 3,000
crore have been spent
on a 450-km long natu-
ral gas pipeline from
Kochi to Mangaluru un-
der the ‘One Nation,
One Grid’ program,”
Nadda said. He further
said that Rs 16,000
crores have been spent
for Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Ltd Inte-
grated Refinery Expan-
sion Complex in Kochi.
“In terms of infrastruc-
ture, I can assure that
Rs 12,000 crores will be
spent on six mega pro-
jects whose foundation
stones have been laid,”
the BJP chief said add-
ing that the six-laning
work of several high-
ways and high-level
bridge construction has
also been undertaken
under the leadership of
PM Modi. —ANI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses at the IOR Defence
Ministers’ Conclave during Aero India in Bengaluru on Thursday.
—PHOTO
BY
ANI

INDIA
06
Country’s unity
foremost...
Amidst growing unrest
in Uttar Pradesh over
the three contentious
farm laws, the PM said
farmers have been be-
hind the progress of
the country and added
that they also played an
important role in the
Chauri Chaura strug-
gle. Stating that his
government has taken
steps to make farmers
self-reliant in the last
six years, Modi assert-
ed that the agriculture
sector has grown even
during the pandemic. “
‘Stop monologue...
In harsh winter you
stopped water supply
and toilet facilities,
dug trenches, put
barbed wires, and in-
stalled spikes,” he
said. “Such aggressive
approach wasn’t even
heard of towards the
neighbouring nations
who came inside (the
Indian territory).”
To the response to a
tweet by pop star Ri-
hanna on the farmer
protest, he said the de-
mocracy will not be
weakened by a tweet
but by the approach of
the government.
“Your backbone is the
farmer. 303 (seats won
in last general elec-
tions) did not come
from cold storage or
godowns but from
these very people,” Jha
said in a veiled refer-
ence to cold storage
chain and godowns
built by private corpo-
rates such as Adani
Group. “We will sup-
port you but every
world against you is
not anti-national. Pat-
riotism is not be worn
on sleeves but carried
in heart,” he said in
his speech loaded with
poetry and sarcasm.
Further pointing out
that 11 rounds of dis-
cussion held by the
government have
failed, he said its min-
isters “believe in
monologue and not
dialogue”.“They talk
of having given this
and that to farmers,
but there is no place
for language of char-
ity in a democracy.
The monologues
should be ended,” he
said in Parliament.
Jha also noted that
the protesting farm-
ers and critics have
been painted as ‘Khal-
istanis’, ‘Naxals’ and
‘Pakistani agents’ and
its citizens pitted
against each other
just like the agitation
against the Citizen-
ship Amendment Act
(CAA). “You have lost
the patience of hear-
ing, you only dictate,”
he said. “The govern-
ments are formed to
build bridges but you
have built walls,” he
added, echoing Con-
gress leader Rahul
Gandhi. He said, when
trenches have been
dug, barbed wires
erected and spikes in-
stalled to cut off farm-
ers, they have stripped
off basic facilities like
water supply and toi-
lets. “Who are you
fighting? They are
your own farmers,” he
said.
MPs stopped...
tractor rally. Concer-
tina wires have been
used to cover vast
stretches, and at Tikri
and Ghazipur, police
have also put metal
spikes on the roads
leading to the protest
sites.According to
Badal, the Opposition
leaders were not al-
lowed to cross the bar-
ricades and reach the
protest site. “Saw first
hand the conditions
created at Ghazipur
border. Shocked to see
the treatment being
meted out to the an-
nadaata. Farmers are
barricaded behind
fortress-like concrete
barriers and barbed
wire fencing. Even am-
bulances and fire bri-
gades cannot enter the
protest site,” Badal
said in a tweet.
Farmers’ stir...
and then we carried on
discussing the team’s
plans,” Kohli said when
asked about the agita-
tion that has been go-
ing on for over two
months. tivist Greta
Thunberg highlighted
the farmers’ protest
and efforts by authori-
ties to stifle.
Still stand...
many posts that have
drawn international
attention over the
past two days to the
farmers’ agitation
that began late-No-
vember. The Cyber
Cell of the Delhi Po-
lice is investigating
several tweets but the
subject of the FIR re-
fers to Greta Thun-
berg’s tweet this
morning on a “toolkit”
guiding people on how
to support the farm-
ers’ protests.The Del-
hi Police said “some
elements” were trying
to take advantage of
the farmer protests
and “one account”
had posted a toolkit
that was authored by a
group called the “Po-
etic Justice Founda-
tion” that was a “Khal-
istani organisation”.
FROM PG 1
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
Next R-Day
parade on
Central Vista
Avenue: Puri
Bengaluru: Union
Minister Hardeep Sin-
gh Puri said that the
next Republic Day pa-
rade will be on Central
Vista Avenue and added
that it will be a ‘symbol
of modern India’. “Next
R-Day parade will be on
Central Vista Avenue.
It’ll be a symbol of Mod-
ern India. Some don’t
understand its impor-
tance. They were ques-
tioning the COVID vac-
cine too but as all can
see, we had a phenome-
nal rollout,” said the
Union Minister.
New Delhi:The Su-
preme Court is sched-
uled to hear on Friday a
plea filed by comedian
Munawar Faruqui,
who is accused of hurt-
ingreligioussentiments
by allegedly passing ob-
jectionably remarks
about Hindu deities
during a show, challeng-
ing the Madhya Pradesh
HC order denying him
bail. Faruqui’s plea
would come up for hear-
ing before a bench com-
prising Justices RF Na-
riman and BR Gavai.
Faruqui and four oth-
ers were arrested on
January 1 following a
complaint by a BJP
MLA’s son that alleged
objectionable remarks
about Hindu deities and
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah were passed
during a comedy show
at a cafe in Indore on
New Year’s day
.
One more person was
arrested subsequently.
The high court, in its
order passed on Janu-
ary 28, had refused to
grant him bail noting
that to “promote har-
mony” is one of the con-
stitutional duties. It had
also turned down the
bail plea of another ac-
cused in the case.
Faruqui and others
were arrested for the al-
leged offences punisha-
ble under various sec-
tions of the IPC, includ-
ing section 295-A.
SC to hear comedian’s plea against
HC order denying him bail today
About 140 lawyers on
Wednesday have sent
a signed petition to Chief
Justice of India SA Bobde
requesting him to take
suo motu cognisance of
mobile Internet suspen-
sion near farmers’ protest
sites. They have also
demanded to set up an
inquiry commission to
probe the police inaction
dealing with violence
during a tractor rally on
Republic Day. They have
demanded inquiry.
LAWYERS REQUEST
CJI TO TAKE NOTE
OF INTERNET BAN
SECOND DOSE OF VACCINE SHOT TO
BE ADMINISTERED FROM FEB 13
INDIA WAS THE FASTEST COUNTRY TO REACH FOUR MILLION VACCINATIONS
II PHASE OF VAX FOR
COPS, OTHER
FRONTLINE WORKERS
NO NEW COVID-19 CASES IN 47
DISTS IN PAST 3 WEEKS: GOVT
Up to 47 districts have reported no new Covid-19 cases
and 251 districts have reported
no Covid-19-related deaths in
the past three weeks, the Union
Health Ministry said. India’s
cumulative Covid-19 positivity
rate is 5.42 percent and the
positivity rate last week was
1.82 percent, the secretary said.
At least 44,49,552 ben-
eficiaries have received
COVID-19 vaccination
in merely 19 days, the
MoHFW said on Thurs-
day. India’s Covid-19
active caseload has
dropped to 1.55 lakh
(1,55,025) and comprises
just 1.44 per cent of the
total infections.
NEARLY 4.5 MLN
BENEFICIARIES
VACCINATED
98.43% have confirmed
that they were informed
about the vaccine process
and given the vaccine
properly, Union health
secretary, Rajesh Bhush-
an said. The government
is collecting feedback
from beneficiaries a day
after vaccination through
a ‘Rapid Assessment’.
97% PEOPLE ARE
SATISFIED WITH
VACCINATION
New Delhi: The second
dose of Covid-19 vac-
cines will be adminis-
tered to healthcare
workers from February
13, NITI Aayog member
Dr VK Paul said at a
press conference on
Thursday
.
“The second dose of
vaccine will be adminis-
tered to healthcare
workers from 13th Feb-
ruary
. Only the first
dose has been given to
them so far,” he said.
During the press confer-
ence, Union Health Sec-
retary Rajesh Bhushan
said that 1,239 private
and 5,912 public hospi-
tals were being utilised
as vaccination session
sites. Bhushan also said
that the the country’s
Adverse Event Follow-
ing Immunization
(AEFI) system was ro-
bust and was strength-
ened for the purpose of
Covid-19 vaccinations.
He also noted that 0.18%
of vaccinationswerefol-
lowed by adverse events.
“There is a very struc-
tured robust system
of AEFI monitoring in
this country
. It has been
further strengthened in
view of Covid-19 vacci-
nation. We have 8563
AEFI so far when we
have done vaccination
in lakhs. This is 0.18%
of vaccinated people,”
he said. As per the gov-
ernment, 45,93,427 ben-
eficiaries have been vac-
cinated against Covid-19
till 1.30pm on Thursday
.
India was the fastest
country to reach four
million vaccinations.
ED attaches over Rs14 cr assets
of Choksi in PNB fraud case
New Delhi: The En-
forcement Directorate
has attached assets
worth over Rs 14 crore
belonging to the Gitan-
jali Group and its pro-
moter and jeweller Me-
hul Choksi, one of the
prime accused in the
alleged over Rs 13,000
crore PNB loan fraud
case. The properties at-
tached, under the anti-
money laundering law,
include a flat measur-
ing 1,460 sq feet located
at O2 Tower in Gore-
gaon area of Mumbai,
gold and platinum jew-
ellery, diamond stones,
necklaces made of sil-
ver and pearls, watches
and a Mercedes Benz
car, the ED said in a
statement. A provision-
al order for attachment
has been issued under
the Prevention of Mon-
ey Laundering Act
(PMLA) for the assets
worth a total Rs 14.45
crore that are in the
name of Gitanjali
Group of companies
and its director Mehul
Choksi, it said. Choksi,
61, is the maternal un-
cle of Nirav Modi who
is the other prime ac-
cused in the alleged
over USD 2 billion
(more than Rs 13,000
crore) Punjab National
Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Choksi has fled India
and is stated b y probe
agencies to be based in
Antigua and Barbuda.
Modi, 49, is in a London
jail after he was held by
authorities there in
2019 on the basis of a
legal request made by
the ED and the Central
Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) in this case.
Bill to amend
arbitration law
introduced in LS
New Delhi: The gov-
ernment on Thursday
introduced a bill in Lok
Sabha to amend the ar-
bitration law to ensure
that all stakeholders
get an opportunity to
seek unconditional stay
on enforcement of arbi-
tral awards where the
agreement or contract
is “induced by fraud or
corruption”. Introduc-
ing the Arbitration and
Conciliation (Amend-
ment) Bill, 2021 amid
uproar by Opposition
members over the three
farm laws, Law Minis-
ter Ravi Shankar Pras-
ad said the bill seeks to
check fly-by-night op-
erators who take advan-
tage of the law to get
favourable award by
fraud.
The bill intends to re-
place an ordinance is-
sued on November 4,
2020. Among other
things, the bill, seeks to
do away with the the
necessary qualifica-
tions for accreditation.
SISODIA: UNION
CABINET GAVE NOD TO
GNCTD AMENDMENT
BILL SECRETLY
New Delhi: Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia on Thursday
alleged that the Union
Cabinet has secretly
given nod to a bill
that would give more
power to the Lieutenant
Governor. Sisodia
termed the bill as the
“murder of constitutional
democracy” and said that
the Central government
wants to impede Delhi’s
development and
progress by enhancing
Lieutenant Governor
(LG)’s power.
POWER OF THE ELECTED GOVERNMENT
New Delhi: Sisodia further said, “It is clearly
mentioned in our Constitution that barring police,
land and public order, everything else falls under
the ambit of an elected government in Delhi. In
its reading of the Constitution, the Constitutional
Bench of the Supreme Court has also clearly
distinguished the powers of the elected govern-
ment and LG.”
SANJIV RANJAN OJHA
EMPANELLED AS ADG IN GOI
Sanjiv Ranjan Ojha has been empanelled
for holding Additional Director General and
equivalent posts in Government of India. He is a
1989 batch IPS officer of HP cadre.
NITIN AGARWAL EMPANELLED
AS ADG IN GOI
Nitin Agarwal has been empanelled for holding
Additional Director General and equivalent posts
in Government of India. He is a 1989 batch IPS
officer of Kerala cadre.
NEERAJ SINHA EMPANELLED
AS ADG IN GOI
Neeraj Sinha has been empanelled for holding
officer of Bihar cadre.
YB KHURANIA EMPANELLED
AS ADG IN GOI
YB Khurania has been empanelled for holding
officer of Orissa cadre.
SUDHANSU SARANGI
EMPANELLED AS ADG IN GOI
Sudhansu Sarangi has been empanelled
1990 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.
SEEMA AGRAWAL EMPANELLED
AS ADG IN GOI
Seema Agrawal has been empanelled for holding
in Government of India. She is a 1990 batch IPS
officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.
SANDEEP SALUNKE EMPANELLED
AS ADG IN GOI
Sandeep Salunke has been empanelled for
holding Additional Director General and
1990 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
DILBAGH SINHA EMPANELLED FOR
ADG EQUIVALENT POSTS IN GOI
Dilbagh Sinha has been empanelled for holding
officer of JK cadre.
SANJIV KUMAR SINGHAL
EMPANELLED FOR ADG
EQUIVALENT POSTS IN GOI
Sanjiv Kumar Singhal has been empanelled
1988 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre.
RASHMI SHUKIA EMPANELLED FOR
Rashmi Shukia has been empanelled for holding
in Government of India. Shukia is a 1988 batch
IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre.
ASHOK KUMAR EMPANELLED FOR
Ashok Kumar has been empanelled for holding
officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
ANIL PALTA EMPANELLED FOR ADG
EQUIVALENT POSTS IN GOI
Anil Palta has been empanelled for holding
officer of Jharkhand cadre.
SAJJAD WASI NAQVI EMPANELLED
FOR ADG EQUIVALENT POSTS IN GOI
Sajjad Wasi Naqvi has been empanelled
1990 batch IPS officer of MP cadre.

NEWS
07
Janardan Misra
Prayagraj: Allahabad
High Court has sternly
directed the State Elec-
tion Commission (SEC)
to conduct panchayat
elections in the state by
April 30. A case on the
Panchayat election was
heard division bench
of Justice MN
Bhandari and Justice
RR Agarwal of Alla-
habad High Court after
a petition was filed by
Vinod Upadhyay.
Hearing the petition
on Thursday, the High
Court directed the SEC
to hold the election for
Pradhan by April 30,
block Chief and district
Panchayat member by
May 15. The High Court
directed the SEC and
UP Government to de-
cide soon on the elec-
tion dates for the three-
tier Panchayat and an-
nounce it.
The Court also in-
structed the state gov-
ernment to complete
the process of determi-
nation of reservation
for the panchayat elec-
tion by March 17 and
fix dates for the elec-
tion of Pradhan, Zilla
Panchayat members
and block heads.
The High Court
while hearing the peti-
tion of Vinod Upad-
hyay, was very upset
with the SEC’s stand.
The Court on Wednes-
day sought a response
from the Commission,
who filed their reply on
Thursday. In the reply,
the SEC had mentioned
that there were plans to
conduct the elections
in May.
The Court rejecting
the proposal of con-
ducting the election in
May said that the elec-
tions were to be com-
pleted by 13th January
2021 and that the sug-
gestion of the Commis-
sion was against the
constitution. The state
government, in its de-
fense, said that the rea-
son for not completing
the panchayat elections
in time was due to the
COVID pandemic situa-
tion.
The SEC told the
High Court that the
voter list for the Pan-
chayat elections had
been prepared by Janu-
ary 22 and by January
28, the work of delimi-
tation has also been
completed, but the res-
ervation of seats was
yet to be finalized by
the state government.
And due to this the
election schedule has
not been released so far.
The commission said
that after the comple-
tion of the reservation
for all seats, the elec-
tion will take in 45
days.
First India Bureau
Mathura: Pragatisheel
Samajwadi Party (Lo-
hiya) President and for-
mer minister Shivapal
Singh Yadav said that
had SP not disintegrat-
ed into 3 parties, the Sa-
majwadi Party would
have formed govern-
ment in 3 states of the
country
.
He said that his party
or he are not the B party
of BJP or Yogi as people
are claiming them to be,
but in fact the people
with such claims are
the ones who are B par-
ty
. The former minister
was on Thursday was
speaking with report-
ers at the Braj Press
Club. In the meet he
criticized the central as
well as state govern-
ment for not having
done enough work for
the development but
has only harmed the
common man with
their work from the
start.
He also accused the
central government of
implementing lock-
down when there were
already thousands of
people infected by co-
rona.
Talking about the
farmer’s movement, the
former minister said
that his party Pragat-
isheel Samajwadi Party
(Lohiya) has always
supported the farmer
movement. The former
minister added that his
party has always con-
tested from every as-
sembly seats in the state
and that his party will
contest elections to-
gether will small par-
ties.
Shivpal Yadav didn’t
rule out contesting elec-
tions together with SP,
but ruled out the merg-
ing of Pragatisheel Sa-
majwadi Party (Lohiya)
with Samajwadi Party
.
Conduct panchayat
elections in the state
by April 30: HC to govt
‘SP would be ruling
3 states if not broken
into as many parties’
COURTESY MEET
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Suresh Khanna called on Union Minister for Health Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan at the
latter’s Ministry in New Delhi. Also seen with them is Shahjahanpur MP Arun Kumar Sagar.
First in five years: Dudhwa Tiger
Reserve rejoices baby elephant
First India Bureau
Lakhimpur Kheri:
The birth of a baby el-
ephant in the Dudhwa
Tiger Reserve, has giv-
en a reason to rejoice
for everyone at the re-
serve after 5 years. Te-
resa, an elephant of the
tiger reserve has given
birth to a female baby
.
There are 23 domesti-
cated elephants in the
Tiger Reserve includ-
ing 17 females. The ele-
phants are used for pa-
trolling the reserve and
to give rides to tourists.
Teresa, the female ele-
phant was brought to
the reserve five years
ago and has given birth
to the first elephant in
the last 5 years. The for-
est department has
asked the general pub-
lic for their suggestion
in selecting the name.
The names for the
baby elephant can be
sent by February 15,
and the forest depart-
ment will award
the person whose sug-
gested name will be se-
lected.
The suggestion for
the name of the little
elephant can be sent to
the WhatsApp number
7839435186 or emailed to
d u d h w a n p. p a l i a @
gmail.com.
Anita Hada
Lucknow: With the
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath all set to
launch high voltage
election campaign in
forthcoming assembly
election in West Bengal,
UP has another power-
ful link with the people
of Bengal- their highly
emotional connect with
Ram Temple in Ayod-
hya.
In assembly elec-
tions, where the resur-
gent BJP, is determined
to wrest power from
TMC, Ayodhya too has
all the potential to tilt
balance in favour of
BJP. The recent objec-
tionable comments of
some TMC leaders have
given enough indica-
tions about their des-
peration in this matter.
The emotional at-
tachment of Bengalis
with Ram Temple in
Ayodhya is quite well-
known as bus-loads of
pilgrims almost every-
day has been a regular
phenomenon in temple
town over the years.
“Of nearly 4000 to 5000
daily arrival of devo-
tees to Ram temple over
the years, there has
been substantial num-
bers from West Bengal”,
commented a senior se-
curity officer in Ayod-
hya.
Now the BJP hopes to
reach out to the people
with its popular Ram
temple movement face
Yogi Adityanath, who
will be star campaigner.
The BJP and RSS work-
ers have been extensive-
ly working in all over
the state and reaching
out to far flung rural ar-
eas with Ram temple
project.
The Temple trust has
also commenced mass
level fund raising drive
in which there is plan to
give thrust to West Ben-
gal with beautifully
decorated Rs ten post
card size coupons for
temple donation. The
temple trust plan is to
connect with nearly
nine crore people
through fund-raising
exercise in the country
.
Political observers
here feel that apart
from other developmen-
tal issues in UP, Yogi is
also going to lay empha-
sis on final commence-
ment of construction of
temple and the deep
emotional bond of peo-
ple of West Bengal with
it. In 2019 Lok Sabha
election a slogan of “Jai
Shri Ram versus Jai
Maa Kali” was raised
during election cam-
paign but then the BJP
had carefully kept away
from it and scuttled
machination of the
TMC. The BJP would
certainly not want such
types of slogans to di-
vide its votes in the
state during forthcom-
ing elections.
With Bengal’s 30%
Muslims known to be
off the BJP’s radar and
firmly with the TMC,
both parties are going
to be locked in desper-
ate combat for 70% Ben-
gali Hindu vote in
which Ayodhya’s up-
coming Ram temple
could play prominent
role for “BJP connect”.
The BJP through ag-
gressive “Project Ayod-
hya” has succeeded in
widening its base in
West Bengal. And now
the UP chief minister is
all set to counter TMC
propaganda against the
BJP
. Yogi’s role in devel-
opment of Ayodhya
during the last four
years is well-known and
is being publicised in
election-bound state.
Some Cabinet minis-
ters have already made
forays to West Bengal to
prepare the ground.
AYODHYA’S EMOTIONAL CONNECT WITH
BENGAL’S PEOPLE LIKELY TO HELP BJP
The newborn elephant with mother Teresa.
Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) President Shivapal Yadav
50 DOCTORS
AND 58
PARAMEDICAL
STAFF
SUPERVISING
THREE CORONA
PATIENTS
The spread of
corona virus in
Uttar Pradesh has been
reducing as can be seen
with the number of
active cases decreasing
day by day. But in
Kanpur, 50 doctors and
58 paramedical staff
have been engaged
to supervise 3 corona
positive patients. The
number of medical staff
deployed right now is
similar to the times when
the COVID-19 pandemic
was at its peak. The
reduction of active
cases in the state hasn’t
necessarily brought relief
to the medical staff,
as more than needed
medical staff have been
asked to report for
COVID duty. In fact, in
Hallet Covid Hospital
which is affiliated to the
GSVM Medical College,
Kanpur more than 50
doctors and even more
paramedical staff are
being asked to report to
work for the COVID duty
even when only 3 COVID
positive patients are
currently being treated
in the hospital. As per
reports, only 5 COVID-19
positive patients have
been treated in the past
11 days at the COVID
ward of the Hallet’s
Neuro Covid Hospital. Of
the 5 patients, 3 patients
have since tested
negative for Corona
virus and have been
discharged. The doctor
and the medical staff of
the hospital want their
work load to be reduced
due to non-availability
of COVID-patients. On
Wednesday morning,
when two COVID-19
positive obstetricians
along with another
serious patient with
serious condition was
admitted, the entire staff
went back to doing what
they do best which is
safe lives.
—Shishir Awasthi
KARMIC
CONUNDRUM
A ll his “puja” and
consultation
with astrologers came
to a naught when CBI
sleuths came knocking
at his door a couple of
days ago. Known for
his flamboyant life-
style, this former IAS
officer, who held key
positions in Samajwadi
Party government,
had cultivated a few
powerful RSS friends
at the fag-end of his
career to ensure safe-
passage in case he came
under scanner under
the BJP regime. “I eat
vegetables grown up by
prisoners in Lucknow
Jail once in a while,” he
once confided to this
correspondent. Seeing
the bewildered look on
my face, he explained,
“Its my way of warding
off evil influence of ‘Ketu’
in my stars. If you eat
‘jail ki roti’ voluntarily,
once in a while at home,
it will negate all your
chances of landing up in
prison and forced to it the
same.” But apparently
the Karmic calling that
forced him to follow the
routine has not been very
effective. The proverbial
long-arm of the law has
finally caught up with him
and though he has not
been arrested and sent to
jail post CBI raids at his
residences, the possibility
cannot be ruled out.
—M Tariq Khan

Isn’t it surprising that we hold
on to grudges for so long and the
happy moments become distant
memories so quickly?
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
08
2NDFRONT
Shishir Awasthi
Lucknow: With the ar-
rival of 2021, attempts
by different political
parties to woo voters
started to gain mo-
mentum in view of the
state assembly polls
next year. However
election analysts feel,
the ongoing peasant
movement could upset
equations for BJP’s
Union minister San-
jeev Balyan as-well-as
Rashtriya Lok Dal’s
Ajit Singh in western
UP
.
Following the Muzaf-
farnagar riots in 2013,
the equations in the re-
gion changed with
Chaudhary Ajit Singh
facingthebrunt.TheJat
community, once a vote
bankof Singh,shiftedto
the BJP, which made
him lose two consecu-
tive elections, with RLD
not getting any seats.
This made Ajit Singh
join hands with Sama-
jwadi Party to return to
mainstream, but failed
to succeed. With the
only hope of BJP hold
becoming weak in the
region at some point,
now the opportunity
seems to have arrived
with Rakesh Tikait do-
ing the expected.
Of late the rise of Ti-
kait as the biggest lead-
er of Jat society has
posed a problem for Ajit
Singhinreturningtoac-
tive politics. Under-
standing the same, Sin-
gh is trying to overcome
Tikait in the midst of
the movement.
Singh has been dis-
cussing the issue with
his near and dear ones
as an alliance with Sa-
majwadi Party in pre-
sent scenario would
help him establish him-
self again in West UP
politics. Singh’s best
performance was when
he was in alliance with
BJP but the latter does
not need him anymore.
However, in present po-
litical scenario if the
BJP finds Tikait to be a
tough rival, it could
once again approach
Singh for countering Ti-
kait in the 2022 assem-
bly polls.
Earlier, Tikait had
helped BJP’s Sanjeev
Balyan register a win
from Muzaffarnagar
parliamentary constitu-
ency
. However, now ad-
mitting the mistake that
he had committed, Ti-
kait is once against
making hectic efforts in
making place in the
heart of Jat community
by gaining faith of the
community
.
As per records, in the
2017 UP Legislative As-
sembly elections, BJP
got a total of 41 per cent
votes, but in western UP
,
BJP received around 44
per cent votes. Further
records of 2019 Lok Sab-
ha elections revealed,
BJP got a total of 50 per
cent votes in UP but in
western UP it got 52
per cent votes.
Rakesh Tikait Ajit Singh Sanjeev Balyan
WestUPlinchpinof statepolitics in poll
seasonaspartiesvietowoovoters
BJP’s stronghold in the last few election
seasons may throw a surprise this time
RLD’s Ajit Singh and farm leader Rakesh
Tikait likely to play key roles in vote swing
PREVIOUS POLLS ANALYSIS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: With RLD
gearing up to hold a
Kisan Mahapanchayat
in the Shamli district of
UttarPradeshonFriday
,
the administration has
decided to impose pro-
hibitory orders under
Section 144 in the dis-
trict for two months.
The prohibitory or-
ders have been imposed
to discourage the gath-
ering of farmers in the
district from February 4
to April 3, in view of the
festivals Good Friday,
Mahashivratri, Holi,
and the upcoming board
examinations in the
state. With the imple-
mentation of Section
144, the Kisan Mahapan-
chayat slated to be held
on February 5 will not
be allowed. The RLD
leader, Jayant Chaud-
hary, earlier gave a call
for the Mahapanchayat
to express solidarity
with the ongoing farm-
ers’ agitation on the bor-
ders of Delhi.
Farmers are protest-
ingagainsttheFarmers’
ProduceTradeandCom-
merce (Promotion and
Facilitation) Act, 2020,
the Farmers (Empower-
ment and Protection)
Agreement on Price As-
surance and Farm Ser-
vices Act, 2020, and the
Essential Commodities
(Amendment) Act, 2020.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj:Allahabad
High Court has asked
Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment to provide
information that how
many police stations
in the state have toi-
lets for women.
The division bench
of Justice Sanjay Ya-
dav and Justice Jayant
Banerjee passed this
order on petition of law
students Anjali Pandey
and 12 others.
Law students from
different universities
have filed public inter-
est litigation to con-
struct toilets for wom-
en offcials and repair
them if already con-
structed in all police
stations across the
state.
Also, petition has de-
manded Principle Sec-
retary Home and Direc-
tor General of police to
issue order for provid-
ing funds for the same.
Petitioners men-
tioned that non-exist-
ence of women toilets
in police stations is vio-
lation of privacy and
dignity to all women
police officials.
The Court has or-
dered to provide status
of women toilets in all
police stations till next
hearing on February
15.
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: The Alla-
habad High Court on
Thursday reserved or-
der in an anticipatory
bail application filed by
Aparna Purohit, Head
of India Originals, Am-
azon Prime Video.
The court further
said that till the pro-
nouncement of order in
the case, no coercive ac-
tion should be taken
against Purohit. Justice
Sidharth passed the or-
der while reserving the
order in the application
filed by Purohit which
will be delivered on a
later date.
Counsel for the peti-
tioner argued, “The
web series was a work
of fiction. There was no
intention of the appli-
cant to outrage the reli-
gious feeling of any
community
.”
In the complaint on
January 19, Balbir Azad
alleged that the series
depicted Uttar Pradesh
and its police in a poor
light.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Retired IPS
officer Bhavesh Ku-
mar Singh is the new
chief information com-
missioner (CIC) of UP.
The selection com-
mittee, which also in-
cluded Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath, had
shortlisted a few names
and finally zeroed in on
Bhavesh, after which
the file was sent to the
Raj Bhavan for
approval, to
which Governor
Anandi Ben Patel
has signed and
notification was
issued thereafter.
The 1987 batch
IPS officer, who retired
from the post of Direc-
tor General, intelli-
gence last year, has
served as the Inspector
General of Gora-
khpur Zone in th-
epast. There were
60 prominent peo-
ple in the fray for
the coveted post.
The post of CIC
has been lying va-
cant for over one year
after the retirement of
Jawed Usmani.
Kisan Mahapanchayat: Section 144
imposed in Shamli dist for 2 months
HC: Provide info of
toilets for women in
UP police stations
Amazon India chief gets HC relief Bhavesh Kumar Singh is UP’s new
chief information commissioner
PM’sbrothervows
tofightforjustice
tohissupporters
First India Bureau
Sultanpur: Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi’s brother
Prahlad Modi on
Thursday met the
family members of
one of his support-
ers, arrested for
unauthorised use
of the political dig-
nitaries’ posters
for the publicity of
the PM’s brother’s
visit here.
The prime minis-
ter’s brother met his
supporter Jitendra
Tiwari’s family
members and vowed
to fight for justice to
him, saying the law
is one and same for
one and all, be it the
prime minister or a
common man.
Prahlad Modi
met Tiwari’s family
members at the
venue of his sched-
uled programme at
Guptarganj Mad-
havpur village un-
der Kudebhaar po-
lice station area in
the district.
Tiwari was arrest-
ed from near Vikas
Bhavan on the com-
plaint of the district
social welfare officer,
accusing him of put-
ting up the posters of
PM Modi, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah and UP Chief
Minister Yogi Adity-
anath on his car in an
unauthorised man-
ner. Tiwari is pres-
ently in judicial cus-
tody. Prahlad Modi
had staged a dharna
at the Lucknow air-
port on Wednesday,
alleging that police
did not let his sup-
porters reach there.
According to
Chaudhary Charan
Singh Airport’s
Additional Gener-
al Manager (Opera-
tions) Bhupendra
Singh, Prahlad
Modi had arrived
at Lucknow by an
Indigo flight
around 4 pm on
Wednesday. He had
sat on a dharna at
the airport prem-
ises as he was un-
happy over police
stopping his sup-
porters from reach-
ing there, Singh
had said.
Prahlad Modi —FILE PHOTO
Allahabad High Court
COURTESY CALL
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath presenting a memorabilia to Governor Anandiben Patel on
the occasion of Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations, at Raj Bhavan on Thursday.
Vishal Srivastav
Lucknow: While Uttar
Pradesh may have
many facets to its de-
meanor, it never fails to
surprise.
For instance, from be-
ing a constable to get-
ting promoted to the
head constable, a per-
son may slog close to 20
years of his life but
there are a privileged
few who already have
their bowls full but still
keep getting more.
All this sums up a spe-
cial and rarest of the
rare promotion of an
IPS officer in the state
who was promoted just
12 hours before he was
set to retire.
The interesting epi-
sode is of IPS Pankaj
Kumar who was pro-
moted from DIG to IG
with just 12 hours to go
for his service to con-
clude. But this promo-
tion has come with
some cautions as well
as against Pankaj Ku-
mar, there was a case in
which a departmental
inquiry was being con-
ducted in Barstow dis-
trict.
As Kumar’s retire-
ment neared, State
Home Department offi-
cials got to their toes
and decided upon the
pending case in a jiffy.
The Home department
closed the case against
Kumar with just half a
day to go for his retire-
ment and promoted him
from DIG to the IG.
However, within the de-
partment, the episode
isn’t being seen with
ease as it has raised
quite of a few impor-
tant eyebrows. The cor-
ridors of the Police
headquarters in Luc-
know are abuzz given
the sudden swiftness in
the case.
People are even say-
ing that Kumar seems
to be knowing some-
thing really nasty about
someone really impor-
tant in the state. What
happens further is to be
seen.
IPS officer gets promotion just 12 hours before retirement
SUDDEN MOVE
Closure of inquiry against Pankaj Kumar
his promotion as IG takes PHQ by surprise
The FIR was lodged
on the complaint of
Balbir Azad of Raunija
village of Greater
Noida
IN CUSTODY

LUCKNOW, FRIDAY
FEBRUARY 5, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
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B
AN ACQUIRED OBSESSION!

First india lucknow edition-05 february 2021

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