First india lucknow edition-16 february 2021

CMYogigiveswingstoyouths’dreamswithAbhyudaya
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath on
Monday launched his
ambitious Abhyudaya
Schemeunderwhichstu-
dents all over the state
will be provided free on-
line and offline coaching
classes for competitive
examinations.
Launchingthescheme
through video-confer-
encing, Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath said
that the scheme will be a
guidinglightforstudents
preparing for competi-
tions. He said that the
government had decided
to launch this unique
scheme when over 30,000
students were stuck in
Kota,Rajasthanafterthe
outbreak of Covid-19
pandemic. “It was then
the government had de-
cided to extend the Kota-
like facility within the
state free of cost to stu-
dents preparing for com-
petitive exams. The
scheme will help those
studentswhocan’tafford
to get enrolled in coach-
ing classes due to their
poor financial condi-
tions,” he stated.
“I am sure students
will be benefited greatly
by the scheme in crack-
ing competitive exami-
nations to make a career
of their choice,” hoped
theChief Ministerwhile
interacting virtually
with selected students.
Offline classes for the
freeof costcoachingwill
begin from Tuesday
. In
the first phase, offline
classes have been set up
at 18 divisions. Later, the
facility will be made
available in all 75 dis-
tricts of the state for the
convenienceof students.
Over 5 lakh students
registeredthemselvesfor
the free coaching classes
in just four days. Out of
the total number of stu-
dents registered, 50,192
have been selected for of-
fline classes starting
fromTuesdaythroughan
online test. Selected stu-
dents will be provided
guidance by senior IAS,
PCS and other officials
and study material, in-
cluding question bank,
forallcompetitiveexams.
Principals of Army
Schools will make ar-
rangements to run class-
es for the NDA, CDS and
CRPFwhilestudentswill
be trained by profession-
als for UPSC, UPPSC,
NEET,JEE,BankingSer-
vices, B.Ed TET etc.
Over 5 lakh students registered
themselves for the free coaching
classes in just four days
LAUNCH PAD
CM Yogi dedicating the Abhyudaya coaching scheme to the youth on Monday. He is joined by Deputy
CM Dinesh Sharma, Chief Secretary RK Tiwari and others on the dais.
A Medical
college in
each district
of UP now
First India Bureau
Lucknow: In a big-
push to strengthen
health infrastruc-
ture and provide af-
fordable and up-to-
date medical facili-
ties to the people,
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath plans to
construct a medical
college in each of
the75districtsinthe
State. Sixteen dis-
tricts which do not
have any medical
college have been
identifiedinthefirst
phase of the project
that would be imple-
mented on Public-
Private-Partnership
(PPP) model. see P2
DCPs EQUIPPED
WITH MORE POWERS
PM MODI TO LAY FOUNDATION STONE TODAY
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 94
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police on Monday al-
leged that climate activ-
ist Disha Ravi along
with two other suspects
Nikita Jacob and Shan-
tanu created the
“toolkit” document re-
latedtothefarmers’pro-
test and shared it on so-
cialmedia.Copsclaimed
Disha,whowasarrested
on Saturday from Ben-
galuru, sent the
“toolkit” to teen climate
activist Greta Thunberg
via Telegram app.
Addressing a press
conference, Joint Com-
missioner of Police (Cy-
ber) Prem Nath claimed
that Disha deleted a
WhatsApp group she
created to spread the
“toolkit”. The Delhi Po-
liceearliersaidnon-bail-
able warrants have been
issuedagainstJacoband
Shantanu for allegedly
sharing the “toolkit” on
social media.
Nath claimed that Ni-
kita and Shantanu at-
tended a zoom meeting
organised by ‘pro-khal-
istani’ Turn to P6
SC notice to Centre, WA
over new privacy policy
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day asked the Centre
and WhatsApp to reply
to a fresh plea alleging
lower standards of pri-
vacy for Indians in com-
parison to European
users saying it is the
duty of judiciary to pro-
tect citizens’ privacy
.
People have grave ap-
prehensions that they
will lose their privacy
and it is our duty to pro-
tect them, SC said.
“You may be two or
three trillion compa-
nies but people value
their privacy more than
money
,” a bench headed
by Chief Justice SA
Bobde told WhatsApp
even as it sought to ar-
gue that Europe has
special data protection
laws which India
doesn’t. SC issued no-
tice to government and
Facebook-owned app on
an interim application
filed by Karmanya Sin-
gh Sareen in a pending
petition of 2017.
Senior advocate Shy-
am Divan, appearing for
the petitioner, argued
that the messaging app
was applying lower
standards of privacy for
Indians and they be
barred from sharing
data with Facebook.
The bench observed,
“We are impressed
Turn to P6
A‘TOOLKIT’OFCONSPIRACIES!
Nikita, Shantanu the creators; Disha Telegramed it to Greta
AFTER DISHA, DELHI
COPS ON LOOKOUT FOR
2 MORE ACTIVISTS
New Delhi: Non-bailable warrants have been
issued against a Mumbai lawyer and a Pune
engineer for allegedly creating a protest
toolkit backing the farmers’ agitation along
with arrested climate activist Disha Ravi and
collaborating with pro-Khalistani elements,
Delhi Police officials said on Monday
. Lawyer
Nikita Jacob and engineer Shantanu, who
are absconding, also attended a Zoom meet-
ing organised by ‘pro-Khalistani’ group Po-
etic Justice Foundation, Joint Commissioner
of Police (Cyber) Prem Nath said at a press
conference. Turn to P6
New Delhi: MO Dhaliwal, founder of
pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation
contacted activist Nikita Jacob through
his colleague Puneet, a Canadian citizen,
to create a storm on Twitter ahead of
Republic Day, police revealed on ‘Toolkit’
case. Sources say, an investigation into
the toolkit conspiracy has revealed the
deeper conspiracy associated with the
Google document. There was a zoom
meeting before Republic Day which was
attended by MO Dhaliwal, Turn to P6
Zoom meet before Jan
26 to create a storm!
BJP, Oppn engage in
WAR OF WORDS
New Delhi: The action
taken by the Delhi Po-
lice on an FIR related to
a toolkit shared by cli-
mate campaigner Greta
Thunberg in support of
the ongoing farmer pro-
tests has triggered a
war of words between
the opposition and the
ruling BJP.
Accusing the govern-
ment of “murdering de-
mocracy” by using force
against a 21-year-old,
the Opposition on Mon-
day said the voice of In-
dia cannot be silenced
even as the BJP defend-
ed the action, saying a
crime is a crime no mat-
ter at what age.
Congress leader Ra-
hul Gandhi led the Op-
position offensive fol-
lowing Disha’s arrest
and said the country
will not be silenced.
“Your lips are free to
speak. Say that the truth
is still alive. They are
scared, not the country
,”
he said in a tweet in
Hindi. “India will not be
silenced,” he added.
Union minister and
BJP leader Gajendra
Singh Shekhawat tweet-
ed, “If age is the crite-
ria then Param Veer
Chakra Second Lt Arun
Khetarpal, martyred at
21 is who I am proud of.
Not some toolkit propa-
gandists.”
Delhi CM Arvind Ke-
jriwal said, “
Arrest of 21
yearoldDishaRaviisan
unprecedentedattackon
Democracy
. Turn to P6
Gujarat CM
Rupani tests
Covid +ve
Ahmedabad: Gujarat
Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani has tested posi-
tive for coronavirus,
said a hospital where
the CM is admitted af-
ter he fainted in a rally
.
He has mild symp-
toms and his condition
is stable, Ahmedabad-
based medical facility
said on Monday. On
Sunday, Rupani, 64,
fainted on stage while
addressing a rally in Va-
dodara for upcoming
civic polls, following
which he was flown to
Ahmedabad & admitted
to a hospital.
Govt shortlists 4 banks
for privatisation: Report
New Delhi: The Gov-
ernment has shortlist-
ed four mid-sized state-
run banks for privatisa-
tion, under a new push
to sell state assets and
shore up government
revenues, three govern-
ment sources said.
Privatisation of the
banking sector, which is
dominated by state-run
behemoths with hun-
dreds of thousands of
employees, is politically
risky because it could
put jobs at risk but
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi’s administra-
tionaimstomakeastart
with second-tier banks.
The four banks on the
shortlist are Bank of
Maharashtra, Bank of
India, Indian Overseas
Bank and the Central
Bank of India, two offi-
cials told Reuters on
condition of anonymity
as the matter is not yet
public. Turn to P6
Sensex breaches 50K
mark, Nifty soars high
Mumbai: The Sensex
rallied 610 points to fin-
ish above the 52,000-
mark for the first time
while the Nifty soared
past 15,300 on Monday
as investors piled into
banking and finance
stocks amid a bullish
trend overseas.
Supportive macroe-
conomic data and una-
bated foreign fund in-
flows added to the mo-
mentum, traders said.
After touching a re-
cord high of 52,235.97
during the day, the
30-share BSE Sensex
ended 609.83 points or
1.18% up at its new clos-
ing peak of 52,154.13.
Similarly, the broad-
er NSE Nifty soared
151.40 points or 1% to
finish at a record
15,314.70. It touched an
intra-day peak of
15,340.15. Axis Bank led
the Sensex gainers’
chart, Turn to P6
INDIA-ENG 2ND TEST: ASHWIN
SHINES WITH CENTURY AS
INDIA DOMINATES DAY 3
Ravichandran Ashwin hit his fifth Test
century on Monday, Day 3 of the second
Test between India and England. This was
also the third instance of Ashwin getting
a 100 and a five-wicket-haul in the same
match. He hit his century off 134 balls with
14 fours and one six and finished the in-
nings with 106 runs to his credit. Ashwin’s
knock and his partnership of 96 runs with
India captain Virat Kohli helped India build
a big second-innings lead even as the hosts
attempt to level the series after having lost
the first Test. India were bowled out for 286
runs in their second innings and set Eng-
land a daunting 482 runs to win the Test.
Prem Nath
Disha Ravi
Nikita Jacob

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021
02
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath praised the initia-
tives taken by PM Narendra Modi adding that it
was due to the foresightedness and decisions taken
by PM Modi that the entire Nation is safe today.
The Chief Minister also said that ODOP scheme
floated by the state government is proving to be the
base for Prime Minister’s Aatm Nirbhar Bharat (Self
dependent India) vision.
The Chief Minister has extended warm
greetings to the people on the eve of Bas-
ant Panchami and to the devotees attending
the Magh Mela. “Greetings and best wishes
to the people of the state and the devotees
who attended the Magh Mela. I urge and
appeal to everyone to please follow social
distancing norms and Covid protocol in all
the rituals on Basant Panchami also and be
safe,” said the CM.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: CM Yogi
Adityanath showered
blessings on the newly
wed couples at the mass
marriage function or-
ganised by the Labour
Department in Mo-
radabad on Monday
.
He announced a
slew of projects for
the brass city (as Mo-
radabad is known)
and laid the founda-
tion of 48 projects
worth about Rs 183
crore which included
projects of drinking
water, basic educa-
tion and other build-
ing constructions.
The Chief Minister-
during his presence at
the function said that
his government came to
the help of migrants
labourers during Cov-
id-19 when they were
dumped by all other
governments.
“Providing free ra-
tion, shelter and even
jobs to migrant labour-
ers was and is still
among our top priori-
ties,” he said while at-
tending wedding cere-
mony of 2754 girls of
construction labourers.
Talking at length
about the Kanya Su-
mangala of Social Wel-
fare Department, aimed
at self-reliance and dig-
nity of the girls, Yogi
said that it has been a
great success in which
the government ar-
ranged marriages of
over 1.25 lakh poor girls
in two years.
Under this scheme, a
financial package of Rs
15,000 is given to girls.
In the ‘Samuhik Vivah’
scheme of labour de-
partment, Rs 65,000 is
given at the time of
marriage of daughters
of labourers while Rs
51,000 is provided to
other poor girls. The so-
cial welfare department
provides additional Rs
20,000.
The CM said that the
underprivileged bene-
fited from welfare
schemes of his govern-
ment as they were im-
plemented without any
discrimination of
caste, religion or re-
gion.
Knot done: CM Yogi blesses newly weds
WEDLOCKED
Yogi Adityanath giving ‘marriage certificate’ to a couple at the mass marriage event.
Cabinet clears many proposals including Rs 3,000-cr loan for land acquisition for Ganga Expressway
YOGI GOVT GIVES MORE TEETH TO
DCPS, CAN INVOKE GANGSTER’S ACT
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Taking its
fight against mafias
and criminals to a new
level, the Yogi Adity-
anath government has
now decided to author-
ise Deputy Commis-
sioners of police to in-
voke Gangsters Act
against them. Earlier,
only the Commissioner
of police had the power
to do so.
It is to be noted that
only Lucknow and Noi-
da cities of Uttar
Pradesh have the police
commissioner system.
A proposal to this
effect was mooted and
cleared at a cabinet
meet on late Sunday
night. It also gave its
nod to not to change
the State Advisory
Price (SAP) of sugar-
cane for the current
crushing season and
half-a-dozen other
proposals.
The state cabinet also
approved the gover-
nor’s address of the
joint budget session of
the UP legislature to be
held on February 18.
According to official
sources here on Mon-
day, the cane farmers
will get Rs 310 per quin-
tal on rejected variety,
Rs 315 per quintal on
common variety and Rs
325 per quintal on ad-
vanced variety of sug-
arcane that reaches the
sugar mills.
This would be the
third successive season
that no hike has been
witnessed in the sugar-
cane prices in the state.
The state cabinet has
also given a green sig-
nal to the government
by permitting it to take
a loan of Rs 2900 crore
for the 1022 kilometer
Ganga expressway pro-
ject for purchase of
lands. The loan will be
taken from Housing
and Urban Develop-
ment Corporation for
the Ganga Expressway
project which will be
constructed from
Meerut to Prayagraj.
The cabinet also em-
powered the Deputy Po-
lice Commissioner
(DCP) of Lucknow and
Noida to invoke Gang-
ster Act against any
criminal. Earlier only
the Commissioner of
Police (CP) had this
power.
Apart from the above,
the state government
has also decided to or-
ganise Chitrakoot and
Nauchandi fairs.The
cabinet also gave its
nod for giving land to
the election department
in Prayagraj and Agra
to build warehouses in
order to store EVMs
and VVPAT machines.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
Third successive season, where no hike has
been proposed by the cabinet with regards
to the sugarcane prices in Uttar Pradesh
Cabinet gives nod to organising fairs in
Chitrakoot, Nauchandi, land for election
department in Prayagraj and Agra
FOR MORE TOURISTS
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addresses the gathering at a mass marriage function in Moradabad.
CMforonemedicalcollegeineachdistt
Continued from Page 1
The move is aimed at
strengthening health
facilities at the grass-
roots level. The govern-
ment also intends to
increase the number of
health centers in rural
and urban areas. Super-
specialty hospitals will
be constructed in dis-
tricts including Gora-
khpur, Agra, and Vara-
nasi.
A new policy in this
regard would be an-
nounced soon by the
state government. As
part of its rural out-
reach, the state govern-
ment is already holding
‘Jan Arogya Melas’ to
take health services to
those who do not have
access. “The govern-
ment will extend full
support if somebody
wants to set up these
hospitals. For example,
Gorakhpur has many
patients coming from
Bihar and Nepal and
the super-specialty hos-
pitals are always need-
ed there,” said a senior
official.
He said the establish-
ment of AIIMS in Gora-
khpur and Rae Bareli is
proving to be a mile-
stone in terms of UP’s
medical education and
health facilities.
To deal with a situa-
tion like the COVID-19
pandemic, there are
also plans to set up labs
in hospitals of every
district. For this, the
Department of Medical
and Health will seek the
cooperation of Rs 20
lakh crore from the
Central Government,
he said.
Till 2016, there
were only 12 medical
colleges and the
health facilities in the
state were also poor.
Now foundation
stones of as many as
28 medical colleges
has been laid. Out of
28 colleges, the stud-
ies in seven medical
colleges have been
started. Construction
work for 13 colleges
has been started,
whereas, the con-
struction work in as
many as eight colleg-
es will be completed
by next year.
Mission Shakti’s mega event
‘Ananta’ on Women’s day
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Yogi Gov-
ernment is gearing up
to celebrate success sto-
ries and achievements
of women in the State
in a big way on the In-
ternational Women’s
Day on March 8.
Titled ‘Ananta’ the
proposed mega event
will be jointly organ-
ised by the Women Wel-
fare Department and
the Bal Vikas Sewa
Evam Pushtahar Vib-
hag under the Mission
Shakti campaign.
Under the event,
the stories of such
women who have
brought positive
changes in the society
through their efforts
and are continuing to
do so, will be shared
among the masses
through television
programmes, FM ra-
dio and community
radio, talk shows,
seminars and news-
papers.
Ahead of this event,
from March 1 to 7 the
department will launch
a drive to identify the
successful women from
each district, at both ru-
ral and urban level,
whose stories will be
shared on the public
platform.
The departments
have also decided to
hold a master training
of the module ‘Social
and Behaviour Change
Communication’ (Sa-
majik vyavhar Pari-
vartan sanchar) in col-
laboration with
UNICEF (United Na-
tions International
Children’s Emergency
Fund) for around 450
of its officers and staff.
The training will be for
two days of total six
hours (three hours
each day).
These officers and
staff will later train the
staff and officers of
other government de-
partments who will
further create aware-
ness among the masses.
Basically, the module
focuses on eradicating
the social evils in the
society that often prove
to be a hindrance in the
overall development
and progress of women
such as patriarchy,
child marriage, dowry,
domestic violence, gen-
der inequality and oth-
er such issues.
Tight security ahead of
Yogi ’s Bahraich visit
Ajay Sharma
Bahraich: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi
will lay foundation
stone of Maharaja
Suheldev memorial on
banks of Chitora Lake
through virtual medi-
um, around 8 km from
district headquarters in
Bahraich on Tuesday
.
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath would also
be present during
Bhoomipujan and foun-
dation stone laying cer-
emony
.
Strong security ar-
rangements have been
made ahead of CM’s
visit with the entire
venue surrounded in
three layer security net.
Reports revealed
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath would ar-
rive at 10 am on Tues-
day to attend Bhoomi
Poojan followed by
foundation stone lay-
ing ceremony where-
in PM Modi would lay
foundation stone of
memorial through
virtual medium by
pressing remote but-
ton.
Governor Anandiben
Patel would also attend
the program ‘virtually’.
In the program an ex-
hibition on life of Ma-
haraja Suheldev be-
sides screening of a
documentary based on
his life as-well-as a Kavi
Sammelan would also
be organized. Yogi will
also distribute aid to
beneficiaries of state
government schemes.
Barricades erected at Chitora lake area of Bahraich, ahead of
CM’s visit to lay foundation stone of Suhaildev Memorial today.
CM Yogi has given impetus to increase medical facilities in UP.
Mission Shakti programme organised recently at Lucknow
University. —FILE PHOTO
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Additional DCP
Chiranjeev Nath Sinha
distributes diaries
with Police emergency
helpline numbers to
girl students to raise
awareness on help
against rising crime
on women under
‘Mission Shakti’ at
National PG college in
Lucknow.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his govern-
ment wants to bring changes in the lives of
farmers but some people with vested political
interests and those who had an axe to grind do not
want to see farmers happy and prosperous.

UTTAR PRADESH
03
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Yogi
government will now
keep an e-eye on the food
being served at Angan-
wadi centres through a
dedicated portal that
would monitor the
menu and quality of
food being supplied.
“The move is a part of
UP CM’s focus on nutri-
tion and good health of
infants, pregnant wom-
en and teenage girls in
the state,” said an offi-
cial of the Child Devel-
opment and Nutrition
Department. To spread
the message, the depart-
ment also plans to hold
Nutrition Festival at all
Anganwadi centres
across the state on Take
Home Ration (THR) dis-
tribution day i.e on
March 6 and 7. The festi-
val will feature events to
raise awareness of
women and girls regis-
tered with Anganwadi
centres about good
health, supplementary
nutrition and nutrition.
The festival will also
include training ses-
sions for women on how
to prepare healthy reci-
pes from foodstuff such
as fortified rice, por-
ridge, gram pulses as
wellasfortifiedmustard
and soybean oil, which
will be delivered
throughself-helpgroups
associated with Rural
Livelihood Mission of
Integrated Child Devel-
opmentServices (ICDS).
As part of the festival,
awareness camps will
also be held at Angan-
wadi centres every
month focusing on
health issues of mal-
nourished children and
anaemic women.
There are around 1.60
crore beneficiaries of
Yogi Government’s Sup-
plementary Nutrition
scheme that include
children between six
months and three years,
pregnant and breast-
feeding women, mal-
nourished kids aged six
months to six-years and
adolescent girls aged 11
to 14 years. The benefi-
ciaries are selected on
the basis of their weight
and height.
The festival will fea-
ture events to raise
awareness of women
and teenage girls regis-
tered with Anganwadi
centres about good
health, supplementary
nutrition and nutrition.
Yogi’s ‘e’ eye portal to scan Anganwadi menu
HEALTHY INDIA
—FILE PHOTO
There are 1.60 cr beneficiaries of Yogi
Govt’s Supplementary Nutrition Scheme
First India Bureau
Jaunpur: Governor
Anandiben Patel in a
meeting with Red
Cross Society and
philanthropicorgani-
sations who adopted
TB patients said chil-
dren with TB was an
area of concern and
taking care of them
was a moral duty
.
At Veer Bahadur
Singh Purvanchal
University
, Jaunpur
on Monday she said
university
,collegeand
schools should adopt
such kids for taking
care till they were
healed. She said Gov-
ernment of India had
decided to make coun-
try TB free by 2025.
Ontheoccasion709
patients including
257 children were
adopted by 23 volun-
tary organisations of
district. In another
programme, the Gov-
ernor met women of
Self Help Group and
farmers producer or-
ganisation (FPO)
wherein women ap-
prised her about the
work being done by
them including mak-
ing pickles, incense
sticks, candles, sew-
ing-embroidery and
other products. She
directed setting up
selling centres for the
products.
The Governor
while reviewing
schemes of Agricul-
ture Department and
Farmer Production
Organisation, Prad-
han Mantri Fasal
Bima Yojana evam
Kisan Samman Ni-
dhi, Krishi Sichai Yo-
jana,etcorderedmak-
ing scheme benefits
available to farmers.
‘Moral duty to take
care of kids with TB’
GovernorAnandiben Patel meeting Self-Help Group representatives.
MAIN ACCUSEDINAJITSINGHMURDER
CASE GUNNED DOWN IN ENCOUNTER
Incidenttookplaceat3amwhile accused was being taken to locate weapons usedincrime
Janardan Misra
Lucknow: The main
accused in the murder
of gangster Ajit Singh
was killed in an encoun-
ter with the police here
on Monday, officials
said adding that three
policemen were injured
in cross-firing during
encounter.
Girdhari Vishvakar-
ma (40) alias doctor, ac-
cused of shooting dead
Ajit Singh in the posh
Gomti Nagar area in
the state capital on Jan-
uary 6, was killed in the
encounter in the city
Monday morning, Luc-
know police commis-
sioner DK Thakur
here said. “Three po-
licemen were also in-
jured in the incident”,
he underlined.
“At around 3.00 am,
Girdhari (who was ar-
rested earlier) was tak-
en to Khargapur cross-
ing in search of weapon
used in the crime. When
sub inspector Akhtar
Usmani was getting
down from the vehicle
with him, the accused
hit him on his nose.
“The officer fell down
and the accused
snatched his pistol and
started running. The
sub inspector followed
him, but Girdhari went
behind the bushes and
started firing,” Joint
Commissioner of Po-
lice (crime) Nilabja
Choudhury said.
The incident was re-
ported to the police
control room and a
team of Deputy Com-
missioner of Police
(East) reached the spot.
“The police sur-
rounded the bushes and
asked Girdhari to sur-
render, but he contin-
ued firing with Usma-
ni’s pistol. In retaliato-
ry firing, a bullet hit the
accused, and he fell
down,” the official said.
The accused was tak-
en to the emergency
unit of Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital, where
he succumbed during
treatment, he added.
Police Commission-
er DK Thakur said sub
inspector Akhtar Usm-
ani got injuries on his
nose, a bullet touched
the right arm of sub in-
spector Anil Singh,
while another bullet
hit the bullet-proof
jacket of inspector
Chandrashekhar, in
the incident.
All the injured police
personnel have been
hospitalised and are out
of danger, he said.
SI Akhtar Usmani injured in the encounter. (R) Girdhari Vishwakarma.
—FILE PHOTO
COPS INJURED IN ENCOUNTER
Woman burnt alive
over inter-faith affair
First India Bureau
Gorakhpur: In a
shocking incident, what
seems to be a case of
honour killing, a wom-
an was burnt alive by
her family members
over an inter-faith love
affair, said the police.
According to the po-
lice, the family had
hired a contract killer,
Varun Tiwari, and paid
him Rs 1.5 lakh to elimi-
nate the woman over
her relationship with a
Muslim man.
“The victim’s father
Kailash Yadav, brother
Ajit Yadav, brother-in-
lawSatyaprakashYadav
and one Sitaram Yadav
were arrested on Sun-
day
. A petrol container
and motorcycle used in
the crime have also been
recovered. A hunt is on
to trace the contract
killer,” the police said.
Speaking at a press
conference on Sunday,
SP of Sant Kabir Nagar,
Kaustubh noted, “
A half-
burnt body of a young
woman was found at vil-
lage Jigina under
Dhanghata police sta-
tion on February 4. With
the help of local police,
surveillance,CCTVfoot-
age, field unit and dog
squad, the body was
identifiedasthatof Ran-
jana Yadav of Belghat
area in Gorakhpur.”
PMO query
on HBTU
alumni
association
First India Bureau
Kanpur: The
Prime Minister’s
Office has sent an
email to Harcourt
Butler Technical
U n i v e r s i t y
(HBTU) alumni as-
sociation about a
social media ac-
count through
which derogatory
comments were
being posted. PMO
asked if it belongs
to alumni associa-
tion and if not
then why they
were not taking
actions against it.
It was reported
that association
has reported the
matter to HBTU
administration
and registered
case against uni-
dentified culprits
running such fake
account in Nawab-
ganj police sta-
tion. The assoicia-
tion has replied to
PMO that account
was fake and they
had no connection
with it.
HBTU V-C
Neeraj Singh said
some miscreants
were using name
of alumni associa-
tion in a wrong
way. Complaint
was filed to stop it
and for taking ac-
tions against cul-
prits in Nawab-
ganj PS.
About 70,000 frontline workers
vaxed, though 2.5L target still far
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Thefrontline
workers of the state who
had not been adminis-
tered the vaccine were
vaccinated on Monday
,
whilethe second dose of
the vaccine was admin-
istered to the benefi-
ciaries who took the
first dose on January
16, with the help of 2,333
Covid vaccination
booths. The beneficiar-
ies were administered
doses of either Cov-
ishield or Covaxin.
As per the CoWin por-
tal total 69,742 (27.5%)
frontline workers were
administered the vac-
cineagainstthetargetof
2,53,538. The number of
vaccine administered
though is less than ex-
pected but all the benefi-
ciaries are safe and
healthy
. The second dose
for those who were vac-
cinated on Feb 15 will be
given on March 15.
Thenextphaseof vac-
cination drive for front-
line workers will be con-
ducted on February 18,
while on February 19
second dose of the vac-
cine will be adminis-
tered to the frontline
workers who took the
vaccine last month.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Secre-
tary RK Tiwari chaired
a review meet of the de-
velopment works in the
state, which was attend-
ed by Divisional Com-
missioners and DMs.
In his address the CS
directed the officials to
make sure that the en-
tire population of the
state is vaccinated after
the vaccination of front-
line health workers. He
added that the benefi-
ciary of the vaccination
drives will have to be in-
formed in prior through
the Integrated Com-
mand Centre.
During the review of
Jal Jeevan Mission, Ti-
wari asked the officials
to expedite the work re-
garding projects under
this scheme. Talking
about paddy purchase
under the price support
scheme, he instructed
officials to increase
CMR delivery and also
to make necessary ar-
rangement before the
procurement of wheat
begins in the state.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Alla-
habad High Court on
Monday stopped Luc-
know University from
finalising the selection
of assistant professors
for time being for its
various departments
while allowing it to keep
on the selection process.
A Lucknow bench of
the high court put the
interim stay on a plea
by an aspiring appli-
cant for the post of as-
sistant professor in the
Anthropology Depart-
ment, who had ques-
tioned the rationale be-
hind reserving seats in
various departments.
The bench of Justice
Irshad Ali also asked
the varsity to keep one
post of the assistant
professor in the Anthro-
pology Department va-
cant for the petitioner,
Dr Preeti Singh, a gen-
eral category candidate,
till the decision on her
petition.
The bench also asked
the state government
and University to file
their replies to Singh’s
petition by March 10,
the next date for the
hearing of the case.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Nine people
fromUPhavediedand59
others are still missing
after the flash floods in
Uttarakhand, possibly
triggered by an ava-
lanche in the upper
reaches of the Alaknan-
da river system.
In a statement issued
here, UP’s Relief Com-
missioner Sanjay Goyal
said, “As of February
14, nine people have
died in the Uttarakhand
glacier burst, while 59
are still missing. A total
of 23 people from UP
have been found alive
after the disaster.”
Of the 59 missing, 30
are from Lakhimpur
Kheri, followed by 10
from Saharanpur, five
fromShravasti,twofrom
Raebareli and one each
from Sonbhadra, Shah-
jahanpur, Moradabad,
Mirzapur, Mathura,
Kushinagar, Gorakhpur,
Deoria, Chandauli, Bu-
landshahr, Azamgarh
and Amroha.
A portion of the Nan-
da Devi glacier possibly
burst through its banks
in Chamoli district on
February 7.
Covid testing of legislative members and assembly employees in
progress before the Assembly session in Lucknow on Monday. The
session starts from February 18. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
CS chairs review meeting of
various development projects
HC bench asks LU not to finalise
selection of asst professors
Nine confirmed dead from UP in
Uttarakhand tragedy, 59 still missing
CS RK Tiwari chairing the review meeting on Monday.
Site of the tragedy.

l Vol 1 l Issue No. 94 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
s the red I see
the same as the
red you see?
At first, the
question seems
confusing. Colour is an in-
herent part of visual expe-
rience, as fundamental as
gravity. So how could any-
one see colour differently
than you do?
To dispense with the
seemingly silly question,
you can point to different
objects and ask, “What col-
our is that?” The initial
consensus apparently set-
tles the issue.
But then you might un-
cover troubling variability
.
A rug that some people call
green, others call blue. A
photo of a dress that some
people call blue and black,
otherssayiswhiteandgold.
You are confronted with
an unsettling possibility.
Even if we agree on the la-
bel, maybe your experi-
ence of red is different
from mine and – shudder
– could it correspond to my
experience of green? How
would we know?
Neuroscientists, includ-
ing us, have tackled this
age-old puzzle and are
starting to come up with
some answers to these
questions. One thing that is
becoming clear is the rea-
son individual differences
in colour are so disconcert-
ing in the first place.
COLOURS ADD
MEANING TO WHAT
YOU SEE
Scientists often explain
why people have a colour
vision in cold, analytic
terms: colour is for object
recognition. And this is
certainly true, but it is not
the whole story
.
The colour statistics of
objects are not arbitrary
.
Thepartsof scenesthatpeo-
ple choose to label (“ball,”
“apple,”“tiger”)arenotany
random colour: they are
more likely to be warm col-
ours (oranges, yellows,
reds), and less likely to be
cool colours (blues, greens).
This is true even for artifi-
cial objects that could have
been made any colour.
These observations sug-
gest that your brain can use
colour to help recogniSe
objects, and might explain
universal colour naming
patterns across languages.
But recognising objects
is not the only, or maybe
even the main, job of colour
vision. In a recent study,
neuroscientists Maryam
Hasantash and Rosa Lafer-
Sousa showed participants
real-world stimuli illumi-
nated by low-pressure-sodi-
um lights – the energy-effi-
cient yellow lighting you
have likely encountered in
a parking garage.
The yellow light pre-
vents the eye’s retina from
properly encoding colour.
The researchers reasoned
that if they temporarily
knocked out this ability in
their volunteers, the im-
pairment might point to
the normal function of col-
our information.
This research builds up
the idea that colour is not
so critical for telling you
what stuff is but rather
about its likely meaning.
Colour does not tell you
about the kind of fruit, but
rather whether a piece of
fruit is probably tasty
. And
for faces, color is literally a
vital sign that helps us
identify emotions like an-
ger and embarrassment, as
well as sickness, as any par-
ent knows.
It might be the colour’s
importance for telling us
about meaning, especially
in social interactions, that
makes variability in colour
experiences between peo-
ple so disconcerting.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Does everyone see the same colour when they see red?
I
Create in me a clean heart,
O God, And renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
—Psalm 51:10
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Prakash Javadekar
@PrakashJavdekar
Kudos to the meticulous
coordination of team Dudhwa
and SSB that led to nabbing of
two poachers with tiger skin in
Dudhwa who were trying to sell
the skin to a prospective buyer.
Happy to note that the agencies
are working on investigating all
the possible linkages.
Dr Harsh Vardhan
@drharshvardhan
India with its ancient medical
wisdom, advancement in modern
medicine holistic approach
can provide to the world a robust
model to ensure ‘Health for
All’#Budget2021 has provided
ample stimulus to strengthen our
healthcare system deliver a
globally exemplary model for UHC
eisure is a beautiful gar-
ment, but it will not do for
constant wear.” These words
illustrate the value of lei-
sure, but it must be balanced
with productive activity.
In the high-pressure world
of global markets, cut-throat
competition and mass produc-
tion, many people do not look
forward to work each day
. Lazi-
ness corrodes self-respect and
the respect others have for us.
Good work habits do not come
about by accident; they need to
be acquired.
There are others, for
whom their profession be-
comes an obsession. They
have no time to enjoy the re-
wards of their achieve-
ments. Working too hard or
too long is counterproduc-
tive because we neglect the
things that are responsible
for our happiness – our rela-
tionships and our health.
Despite working hard, some
come to the inevitable realiza-
tion that not everybody will
make it to the top. Do we some-
times feel that we running in a
circle, always busy and tired
but never getting anywhere? If
so, it is time to evaluate our
work ethics.
We can ask ourselves,
“What kind of quality and
diligence do I put into my
work? Do I complete each
task on time and to the best
of my abilities? Am I fully
satisfied with the way I car-
ry out my assignments?
What have I achieved so far?
Does it matter if anybody
notices my work?”
A competitive spirit pushes
people to outdo one another,
breeds jealousy and in the end,
proves futile. Hence one must
seek to develop a cooperative
spirit to protect one’s emotion-
al health.
Regular breaks are re-
freshing and rejuvenating to
release stress. The choices we
make, our habits, our daily
routine, and our goals reveal
where our life is going.
Many people feel a sense of
accomplishment when they re-
ceive praise and admiration for
theirwork.Itis“thebarometer”
to measure the worthiness of
their labours. Normally
, work is
done to impress others. It is not
what others think, but having a
personal satisfaction of doing
quality work, is what matters.
Hard work becomes mean-
ingful when it benefits oth-
ers. ‘Satisfying work’ is de-
fined as ‘work that brings
convenience, comfort or
pleasure to many people’s
lives.’ Doing such work pre-
vents loneliness and empti-
ness.
To make our job interesting
and to prevent boredom, we
must act enthusiastic. Work, as
if you are enjoying it by smil-
ing often. Whenever we are
happy, we are usually produc-
tive. We readily follow instruc-
tions and get along well with
others. If we are unhappy, our
work tends to become a drudg-
ery – something monotonous,
boring, even emotionally tax-
ing, leading to unproductive
work habits. We must avoid
thinking about the lunch hour,
the weekend or even another
job to be done. By concentrat-
ing wholly on the task at hand,
our time then will seem to
move quickly
.
Doing our best helps us to
achieve job satisfaction. Ne-
glect, procrastination and
minimal effort deplete en-
ergy and add fatigue and
anxiety. By striving to im-
prove in our work whether
we are being monitored or
not, we will be esteemed and
trusted in the long run.
Working hard on a project
even makes leisure hours
more enjoyable. A job per-
formed well, leaves an inner
glow of satisfaction.
Instead of competing with
others, we must endeavour to
surpass ourselves. So we must
set new standards and new
goals, keep a track of hour-by-
hour productivity and try to
increase it. We must make ef-
fortstoworkuptoourpotential.
Being creative can help us
to decorate our jobs. Design
your space and personalize
it. Just doing what is expect-
ed of us is like inhabiting a
bare house. By adding our
personal style, we can make
our job more interesting.
To feel a sense of achieve-
ment, we must complete what
we start. This can be done by
laying out a step by step plan
and setting sensible deadlines.
To derive meaning and
satisfaction from work, one
must keep learning. We can
learn from our mistakes and
successes and by observing
others. Also, taking new
courses to upgrade skills in-
creases confidence, abilities
and improves attitude to-
wards life – that problems
can be solved and fears can
be conquered.
So let us free ourselves from
the thinking that makes the
workweek dark in contrast
with the weekend. May we not
waste time reviewing our past
failures, imagining what will
go wrong next, and worrying
about what others think of us.
Look at the job in front of you,
give full attention and be ab-
sorbed in it as you would in
your favourite hobby, and take
pride in a job well done!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
MAKING WORK
MEANINGFUL AND
INTERESTING
“
L
REKHA
KUMAR
BEING CREATIVE CAN
HELP US TO DECORATE
OUR JOBS. DESIGN YOUR
SPACE AND PERSONALIZE
IT. JUST DOING WHAT IS
EXPECTED OF US IS LIKE
INHABITING A BARE
HOUSE. BY ADDING OUR
PERSONAL STYLE, WE
CAN MAKE OUR JOB
MORE INTERESTING
The writer is a personal
development trainer working with
corporate and SME sector
To make our job
interesting and to
prevent boredom,
we must act
enthusiastic.
Work, as if you
are enjoying it by
smiling often.
Whenever we are
happy, we are
usually
productive. We
readily follow
instructions and
get along well
with others. If we
are unhappy, our
work tends to
become a
drudgery –
something
monotonous,
boring, even
emotionally
taxing, leading to
unproductive
work habits
PGV BACKS FARMERS
WITH EYE ON VOTES
way from the hubbub of New Delhi, Sin-
ghu, Tikri, and Ghazipur sites of farm-
ers’ protests, Congress general-secre-
tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been
addressing large gatherings of farmers
in Uttar Pradesh, informing them about the finer
points of the new farm laws and how they will im-
pact the agriculturists. Priyanka Gandhi and Aam
Admi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are
the only two opposition leaders who are visibly
trying to rally support for their respective parties
by espousing the cause of protesting farmers. Both
the parties are eyeing panchayat elections which
are scheduled to be held in April this year. It will
be the first electoral test of Yogi Adityanath before
the assembly elections are held next year. If the
protesting farmers stick to their stand of continu-
ing their agitation till October, the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party will find the going tough in panchayat
and assembly elections in Western UP. Farmers of
the region are spearheading the agitation on Del-
hi’s borders with Rakesh Tikait of the Bharatiya
Kisan Union leading the fight.
To win over farmers Priyanka Gandhi held a
kisan mahapanchayat in Saharanpur six days ago
and in Bijnor on Monday where she slammed the
farm laws calling them “monster-like” and attacked
the BJP for leaving farmers vulnerable to exploita-
tion by big business houses. Before that, she went
to Rampur to meet the family of Navreet Singh who
died when his tractor overturned during the pro-
tests in New Delhi on Republic Day
. Priyanka Gan-
dhi plans to address a series of such meetings to
improve her party’s electoral chances in UP
.
A
IN-DEPTH
NO ONE’S FRETTING
OVER FUEL PRICES
or the seventh straight day fuel prices
were hiked on Monday and nobody
, at
least not the government, seemed con-
cerned at the mounting financial burden
on the common man. After a 25 paise hike
petrol in Mumbai is now selling at Rs 95.46 per litre
to close in on an all-time high of Rs 100 a litre. The
government can extend relief to consumers by cut-
ting taxes but it won’t. This was stated indirectly by
the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Prad-
hanrecentlywhenhesaid,“Someof thecomponents
of the petroleum price are coming from the tax re-
gime. We are passing through an unusual phase due
to the Covid-19 pandemic.” To preclude any possibil-
ity of tax cuts on petroleum products, the Union
minister said, “The spending of the Union and state
governments have gone up. There is a 34 percent in-
crease in capital expenditure in the Budget. But we
have to carry forward our economy and we need re-
sources.” Other than taxes, artificial price mecha-
nisms by oil-producing countries are blamed for the
fuel price increase in India. These countries had to
cut down production after slumping in demand dur-
ing the pandemic-related lockdown.
With geopolitical reasons behind the sustained
rise in fuel prices, and the Union government’s eco-
nomic compulsions preventing a cut in taxes,
there’s little that the common man can do other
thantrymanaginghismonthlyfuelbill.If thetrend
in petroleum prices continues, it will have a cascad-
ing effect on the prices of commodities, daily com-
mute, transportation, etc. What is encouraging for
the government is that no one’s complaining.
F

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INDIA
05
INDIA TO START TRIALS OF 160 KM
STRIKE RANGE ASTRA MISSILE
New Delhi: In a step that
would establish its superi-
ority in air combat over
China and Pakistan, India
would start testing the
Astra Mark 2 beyond visu-
al range air to air missile,
which would be capable
of taking down enemy air-
craft from a range of 160
kilometres. The extended
range Astra Mark 2 would
give India an edge over
its adversaries and would
add more lethality to its
fighter jets in aerial com-
bat, like the one which
happened a day after the
Balakot airstrikes on Feb
26, 2019. “The trial for
the Astra Mark would be
starting in the second half
of this year and we are
hoping to see the missile
fully developed by 2022,”
government officials.
BJP HAS PLANS TO FORM
GOVERNMENTS IN NEPAL: DEB
Agartala: Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar
Deb has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has plans to expand their party in the
neighbouring countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The Tripura CM while addressing the party work-
ers in Agartala recalled a meeting with the Union
Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then BJP
national president, during his visit to the state
and said, “When the home minister was our party
chief, while discussion we said that BJP had
come to power in several states.” —ANI
RJD SLAMS CENTRE OVER
ARREST OF J-K LEADERS
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP
Manoj Jha slammed the Centre stating that
house arresting of political leaders in JK is
a very serious issue and raised concerns over
the government claims that situation in the
region is normal. “This is a very serious issue.
When the JK MPs were retiring recently. How
do we look at Kashmir? I have heard that a
delegation is about to come. Before that, you
are house arresting the public representatives?
What type of democracy is this?,” Jha said.
EMPOWERING DOMESTIC
INDUSTRIES: HARSH VARDHAN
New Delhi: The new
policy of institutionalising
ease of access of geo-
spatial data will empower
domestic industries and
surveying agencies,
Union Minister Harsh Var-
dhan addressing media
here, the minister said:
“PM Swamitva Yojana is
a shining example of the
use of geospatial data
to empower our rural
population. Increased
participation of private
sector will augment the
growth of new tech-
nologies, platforms and
application of geospatial
data contributing to the
country’s progress.” The
union minister said that
it will help drive efficien-
cies in agriculture, and
enhance our emergency-
response. —ANI
New Delhi: Taking a
dig at the Central gov-
ernment over the lique-
fied petroleum gas
(LPG) domestic cylin-
der price hike in Delhi,
nn on Monday said the
government is ‘looting’
from the public. Taking
to Twitter, Rahul Gan-
dhi said, “Loot from the
public, Development of
only two.” He also
shared a news clipping
which reported on the
hike in LPG cylinder
prices.”
The price of the LPG
domestic cylinder in
Delhi has been in-
creased by Rs 50 per
unit on Sunday. The
new price of Rs 769 per
14.2 kilograms LPG cyl-
inder is applicable in
the national capital
from 12 am today. This
is the second price hike
in the month of Feb.
The oil marketing com-
panies had increased
the price of non-subsi-
dised LPG cylinders by
Rs 25 in metro cities.
—ANI
Sirf ‘do’ ka vikas: Rahul Gandhi slams
Centre over LPG cylinder price hike
This is the second price hike in this month. Price of non-subsidised LPG cylinders by Rs 25 in metro
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over LPG cylinder price hike.
Visual from Tapovan Tunnel on Monday.
Jind (Haryana): In re-
marks that are likely to
stoke controversy, Har-
yana Congress leader
Vidya Rani urged party
workers to strengthen
the farmers’ agitation
and said they can con-
tribute “be it money,
vegetables, liquor”.
Speaking at Congress
executive meeting in
Jind, Vidya Devi said
that Congress was fac-
ing an existential crisis
in the state after Lok
Sabha and assembly
elections but the protest
by farmers had helped
revive the party. “We
will take out a ‘pady-
atra’ in Jind. Congress
was facing a crisis in
the state but the farm-
ers’ protest has helped
strengthen the party.
Farmers protest will
give new direction and
strength to Congress,”
she said.
Vidya Devi said farm-
ers agitation had suf-
fered a setback after
incidents of Jan 26 but
it has revived itself.
“We should help
them. Be it money, veg-
etables, liquor - we can
contribute as we like
and strengthen this
agitation.,”Devi added.
—ANI
Serve liquor to farmers: Cong leader
PM Modi announces
ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh
SC grants relief to
NDTV promoters New Delhi: Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on
Monday announced an
ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh
each for the next of kin
of the deceased in the
truck accident in Jal-
gaon, Maharashtra.
PM Modi also an-
nounced Rs 50,000 for
those seriously injured
in the accident. “PM
Narendra Modi has ap-
proved an ex-gratia of
Rs 2 lakh each from
Prime Minister’s Na-
tional Relief Fund for
the next of kin of those
who have lost their lives
due to the tragic truck
accident in Jalgaon,
Maharashtra. Rs 50,000
would be given to those
seriously injured,” the
Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO) said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Modi
has expressed grief at
the loss of lives in a
road accident in Maha-
rashtra’s Jalgaon dis-
trict and offered condo-
lences to the families of
the victims. —ANI
New Delhi: In a relief
to New Delhi Television
Ltd (NDTV) promoters
Prannoy Roy and Ra-
dhika Roy, the Supreme
Court Monday directed
the Securities Appellate
Tribunal (SAT) not to
insist on a deposit of
half the amount of
fines as a pre-condition
for hearing their ap-
peals against the orders
of markets regulator
Securities and Ex-
change Board of India
(SEBI).
The NDTV promoters
have challenged the
SAT order directing
them to deposit 50 per-
cent of the alleged un-
lawful gains which the
SEBI found to have been
made by them.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice S A Bobde
said the appeals of the
Roys will be heard by
the SAT without insist-
ing on deposit.
“Appeals are to be
heard on March 4. No
amount shall be recov-
ered coercively in ab-
sence of any deposit for
hearing the appeals.
The order shall not be
treated as a precedent,”
said the bench which
also comprised Justices
A S Bopanna and V Ra-
masubramanian.
—Agencies
New Delhi: Con-
gress leader Jaiveer
Shergill slammed the
central government
over the continuous
surge in fuel prices
saying that the rul-
ing party is fulfilling
its mission of “Abki
baar fuel 100 par”.
Shergill said, “There
is no date in the cal-
endar when the BJP
government has not
increased the price
of the cylinder in the
past two months.
This is the fourth
hike, which is mak-
ing a mockery of the
system. It is an insult
to the injury of the
common people. By
continuously raising
the fuel price BJP
government is fulfill-
ing its mission of
Abki baar fuel 100
par.” “The finance
minister must con-
sider giving cycle
subsidies,” he added.
This comes as the
central government
hiked the fuel and
petrol prices in the
national capital.
Shergill tweeted his
video to make the
point on the petrol
and diesel price hike.
—ANI
New Delhi: As the fuel prices continued its upward spiral, SC Mishra, former
Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said the economic situation has
improved since 2020 and the central government should have given a relief of Rs 12
per litre on petrol and Rs 14 per litre on diesel to the common man. Mishra under-
lined the fact that the government had raised the taxes on petrol by Rs 12 per litre
and on diesel Rs 14 per litre, twice in March and May 2020, to garner extra revenue.
Adding to this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman levied an additional agriculture
Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs
4 per litre on diesel in the Union Budget presented on February 1. Talking to ANI,
Mishra said the government finds fuel an easy commodity to tax.“Both state govern-
ments and central government are quite happy to tax fuel and raise revenues for
their various activities,” he said. —ANI
BJP is fulfilling its
mission of ‘Abki baar fuel
100 par’: Jaiveer Shergill
GOVT SHOULD HAVE GIVEN RELIEF OF RS 12-14 ON
PETROL, SAYS FORMER PETROLEUM SECRETARY
Congress should
explain opposition
to CAA: Naqvi
New Delhi: Union Min-
isterof MinorityAffairs
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
on Monday challenged
the Congress party to
explain its opposition to
the Citizenship Amend-
ment Act (CAA).
Reacting to Rahul
Gandhi’s comments
that CAA will not be im-
plemented, the minister
said,”What enmity does
Congress have with the
tortured minorities of
Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Afghanistan? Why
does Congress oppose
these people being giv-
en citizenship?” “The
Congress party which
cannot even change it-
self is claiming it will
change all the laws in
the country,” he added.
Naqvi also took a jibe
at Rahul Gandhi stating
that the “political play-
er” refuses and rejects
everything.
“Modi government
works for the better-
ment of the country.
This political player
cannot just accept this
fact and is refusing and
rejecting everything”,
Naqvi said.
He asked Rahul Gan-
dhi to recall Manmohan
Singh’s tenure to under-
stand real inflation and
unemployment. On
Sunday Rahul Gandhi
in Assam made a scath-
ing attack on the Cen-
tral government on the
issueof unemployment.
Meanwhile, on the ar-
rest of climate activist
Disha Ravi’s arrest by
Delhi Police Naqvi said:
“There is a big list of
‘Bharat bashing bri-
gade’. They are conspir-
ing against India and
undertaking a negative
campaign to sully the
country’s image.” —ANI
Uttarakhand glacier burst
death toll increases to 55
Chamoli: Chamoli Po-
lice recovered three
more bodies from the
Tapovan tunnel on
Monday, taking the
death toll due to the Ut-
tarakhand glacier burst
to 54.
“Today, three more
bodies have been recov-
ered from the Tapovan
tunnel. Till now, from a
total of 55 dead bodies
and 22 human organs,
we have identified 29
bodies and one organ.
The DNAs of unidenti-
fied bodies have been
conserved,” informed
the Chamoli police in a
tweet on Monday
. Miss-
ing reports of 179 peo-
ple have been filed till
now in the Joshimath
police station. Relief
and rescue operations
are still underway
.
“A total of 8 bodies
have been recovered
from here (Tapovan
tunnel) so far. Opera-
tion is still underway,
we are working 24/7. 7
bodies have been recov-
ered in Raini, so a total
of 15 bodies have been
recovered from the two
work sites,” National
Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) Deputy
Commandant Aditya
Pratap Singh told ANI.
Meanwhile, the Utta-
rakhand Police on Sun-
day had said that the
Alaknanda River at Sri-
nagar in Pauri Garhwal
is flowing at the normal
level; no alert has been
issued by the district
administration in this
regard.
A glacier burst in the
Tapovan-Reni area of
Chamoli District of Ut-
tarakhand last week,
which led to massive
flooding in the Dhauli-
ganga and Alaknanda
rivers and damaged
houses and the nearby
Rishiganga power pro-
ject. —ANI
WB Congress
to hold
meeting for
poll prep
Kolkata: The West
Bengal Pradesh Con-
gress Committee (WB-
PCC) on Monday will
hold a meeting with its
district wings ahead of
the talks with the Left
parties regarding the
seat-sharing in the up-
coming Assembly elec-
tions in the state. The
meeting will be chaired
by the president of WB-
PCC, Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury
.
According to the
sources, the meeting is
being held to discuss the
on-going preparations
of the upcoming Assem-
bly elections, including
the seat-sharing with
the Left parties.
Congress and Left
parties will soon decide
on the seat-sharing
through a couple of
meetings scheduled
next week.
Earlier, the Congress
party and the Left Front
alliance held two
rounds of meetings re-
garding the seat-shar-
ing agreements for 193
of the total 294 seats.
In the 2016 Assembly
polls, the Left parties
and Congress bagged 76
seats whereas Trina-
mool bagged 211 seats.
—ANI

INDIA
06
A ‘toolkit’...
group Poetic Justice
Foundation and added
that Jacob was also one
of theeditorsof “toolkit”
document.Raviwassent
to five days police re-
mand on Sunday by a
Delhi court here. —PTI
Zoom meet...
NikitaandDisha,among
others.Themotiveof the
meeting was to create a
Twitter storm ahead of
Republic Day
. They also
spoke about the death of
a farmer. According to
the sources, four days
ago Special Cell team
went to Nikita Jacob’s
house and examined
her electronic gadgets.
Delhi police told her
that they would again
question her but she is
currently not available.
After Disha...
Delhi Police officials
said they were conduct-
ing raids in Mumbai
and other places to nab
Jacob and Shantanu,
known so far only by
one name.
Meanwhile, Jacob ap-
proached the Bombay
High Court seeking
transit anticipatory bail
forfourweekssoshecan
approach the concerned
court in Delhi to apply
for pre-arrest bail. The
high court will hear the
pleaonTuesday
.Shesaid
in her plea she is una-
ware if she is named as
an accused or witness in
the case. “However, the
applicant (Jacob) fears
that she may be arrested
due to political vendetta
and media trial,” her ap-
plication said. —PTI
Govt shortlists...
Two of those banks will
beselectedforsaleinthe
2021/2022 FY which be-
gins in April, officials
said. The shortlist has
not previously been re-
ported. Govt is consider-
ing mid-sized to small
banks for its first round
of privatisation to test
the waters. In the com-
ing years it could also
lookatsomeof thecoun-
try’s bigger banks, the
officials said. A finance
ministry spokesman de-
clined to comment on
the matter. —Agencies
BJP, Oppn...
Supporting our farmers
is not a crime.”Reacting
to the Opposition charg-
es, BJP spokesperson
Gaurav Bhatia said, “A
criminal is a criminal,
gender and age are im-
material if not a juve-
nile. Just for your
knowledge, Kasab was
21 when he attacked
Mumbai.” “Supporting
‘farmers’ is not a crime
but conspiring against
India and inciting oth-
ers surely is,” he said.
In a tweet in Hindi, Con-
gress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
said, “The ones with
guns are afraid of an
unarmed girl. The
flames of courage from
an unarmed girl have
spread.” She also used
hashtags “ReleaseDis-
haRavi” and “IndiaBe-
ingSilenced”. —PTI
Sensex breaches...
climbing 5.88%, fol-
lowed by ICICI Bank,
Bajaj Finance, SBI, In-
dusInd Bank, HDFC,
Bajaj Finserv and
HDFC Bank. On the
other hand, Dr Reddy’s,
TCS, Tech Mahindra,
HUL, Asian Paints and
Titan were among the
laggards, sliding up to
1.77 per cent. The rupee
gained 7 paise to settle
at 72.68 against the US
dollar. —PTI
SC notice...
byMr.Divan’sargument
that it was proposed be-
foreusthatadataprotec-
tion law would be
brought into force.“Now
under this policy you
will share ata of Indi-
ans.”
Senior advocate Kapil
Sibal, appearing for
WhatsApp, contended
thatEuropehasaspecial
law (General Data Pro-
tection Regulation) and
it will follow law if the
Parliament makes it a
similar law. The bench,
alsocomprisingJustices
A S Bopanna and V Ra-
masubramanian, said
that citizens have great
apprehension about loss
of theirprivacyandthey
think that their data and
chats being shared with
others and it has to be
looked into.The Centre
told the apex court that
the social media apps
cannot share data of us-
ersanddatamustbepro-
tected.The petitioner
challenged privacy poli-
cy alleging that there is
huge metadata of users
whichisbeingsharedfor
profit.The top court had
in 2017 referred social
media platform What-
sApp’s privacy policy
matter to a Constitution
benchsayingitconcerns
the larger issue of pri-
vacyandrighttoperson-
alliberty
.Theappealfiled
in the apex court by
Karmanya Singh Sareen
andShreyaSethiassailed
the Delhi high court ver-
dict on the ground that
no relief was granted for
datasharedbyuserspost-
September25,2016,andit
amounted to an infringe-
ment of fundamental
rights under Article 19
(Freedom of Speech and
Expression)and21(Right
to Life) of the Constitu-
tion. —PTI
FROM PG 1
New Delhi: The Union
health ministry has is-
sued new ''SOPs to con-
tain spread of COV-
ID-19 in offices'' and
according to these, if
one or two cases are re-
ported, the disinfec-
tion procedure will be
limited to the areas oc-
cupied and visited by
the patient in the last
48 hours.
Work can resume af-
ter disinfection has
been completed as per
laid down protocols,
the standard operating
procedures (SOPs),
which were issued on
Saturday, stated.
If a larger number
of cases are reported
at workplace, the
whole block or build-
ing should be disin-
fected before work is
resumed, the ministry
said.
Officers and staff re-
siding in containment
zones should inform
the same to their su-
pervisory officer and
not attend office till the
containment zone is
denotified. Such staff
should be permitted to
work from home, the
new SOPs stated.
Offices in contain-
ment zones shall re-
main closed except for
medical and essential
services and only those
outside will be allowed
to open up, the docu-
ment said.
The SOPs stated that
only asymptomatic
staff or visitors shall
be allowed entry, indi-
viduals must maintain
a minimum distance of
six feet in common
places as far as feasi-
ble, and use face covers
or masks at all times.
“They must be worn
properly to cover the
nose and the mouth.
Touching the front por-
tion of the mask or
face cover to be avoid-
ed,” the ministry said.
CENTRE ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR OFFICES
The Health Ministry said that if cases are reported at workplace, the whole block or building should be disinfected before work is resumed
A worker sanitizes the pandal of Lord Ganesh on the occasion of ‘Maghi Ganpati Janmotsav’, at Pratiksha Nagar in Mumbai. The
Pandal portrays the awareness of the COVID-19 vaccination. —PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi: Describ-
ing as “alarming” the
rise in fresh COVID-19
cases in some districts
of Maharashtra, Dep-
uty Chief Minister
Ajit Pawar on Monday
warned of taking
some “harsh deci-
sions” and asked peo-
ple to be prepared.
Some districts in
Vidarbha region in
east Maharashtra, es-
pecially Amravati and
Nagpur, and Nashik in
north Maharashtra
have seen the number
of new cases rising
over the last few days.
Speaking to report-
ers, Pawar expressed
displeasure over peo-
ple not following the
pandemic-appropriate
behaviour and violat-
ing guidelines.
Pawar, who also
holds Finance minis-
try, was in Aurang-
abad to chair a review
meeting of eight dis-
tricts under the Mar-
athwada region.
“I have come across
((reports that) people
are not following the
COVID-19 guidelines
which are aimed at
checking the spread of
the infection.
CasesrisinginMaharashtra
is alarming: CM Ajit Pawar
Coimbatore: The
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi will visit Co-
imbatore and address
an election meeting on
February 25, BJP Tamil
Nadu president L Mu-
rugan said on Monday
.
The venue and time
of the rally will be an-
nounced in a couple of
days, Murugan told re-
porters, after a meeting
with party executive
and senior leaders from
12 districts in the West-
ern Region of the State.
During his visit to
Chennai on Sunday,
Prime Minister Modi
had handed over to the
Army, the home-made
Arjun Main Battle
Tank (MK-1A) and
launched various pro-
jects and laid the foun-
dation for several oth-
ers in different sectors,
including Railways, in
Tamil Nadu.
Similarly, Defense
Minister Rajnath Singh
will address a Bharati-
ya Janata Party Youth
wing conference in Sa-
lem on February 21,
Murugan said.
PM to kickstart BJP poll campaign
in Coimbatore on February 25
Guwahati: External
Affairs Minister
(EAM) S Jaishankar on
Monday said a closer
India-Japan partner-
ship is most natural
and has had a central
place in India's mod-
ernisation and devel-
opment efforts.
“It has long been in-
volved in expansion of
our economic and so-
cial infrastructure.
Across our states and
cities, Japanese official
development systems
have funded roads,
rails, urbanisation and
energy,” said Mr Jais-
hankar during an event
at the water purifica-
tion plant in Kharghuli.
Asserting that Japan
was the original model
for the revival of na-
tion post-colonialism,
the minister said a cu-
mulative impact of
this relationship on
contemporary India is
worth noting.
“It is actually re-
markable that within a
decade, the India-Japan
partnership is today
seen in Asia, perhaps in
the world, as most natu-
ral and close. The
awarding of Padma
Vibhushan to previous
(Japan) PM Shinzo Abe
was symbolic of our
journey,” he added.
India-Japan p’ship
has Central place in
devp efforts: Min
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar addresses during a talk
Act East Policy and India Japan Cooperation in Guwahati.
POLLS ON MAR 10
18-19 VAX AGAINST COVID IN PIPELINE
Mumbai: Maharashtra recorded 4,092 new coro-
navirus cases, which took the state’s infection
tally to 20,64,278, while 40 deaths pushed the
count to 51,529, health department said. A total
of 1,355 patients were discharged during the day.
With this, the recovery count in the state grew
to 19,75,603, it said. There are 35,965 active
cases in the state at present. Currently, 1,74,243
patients are in-home quarantine and 1,747 others
in institutional quarantine, the department said.
Bengaluru: The Serum Institute of India will
ship the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COV-
ID-19 vaccine to Canada in less than one month,
Serum's chief executive said on Monday. “As
we await regulatory approvals from Canada, I
assure you, @SerumInstIndia will fly out #COV-
ISHIELD to Canada in less than a month; I'm on
it!” CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Twitter, refer-
ring to a brand name for AstraZeneca's vaccine.
MAHARASHTRA REPORTS
OVER 4,000 NEW CASES
‘WILL SEND VAX TO CANADA
IN LESS THAN A MONTH’
Kolkata: West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep
Dhankhar on Monday
sought a response from
the West Bengal Gov-
ernment for increasing
its share holding in the
Andal Airport in Dur-
gapur from 11 per cent
to 26 per cent and 26 per
cent to 47 per cent. “Pot
boiling Andal Airport.
Response sought @
MamataOfficial How
much Govt spent in in-
creasing share from 11-
26 per cent and 26-47 per
cent? Details-share pur-
chases-from whom; at
what rate and at what
rate they were allotted
these shares? Who initi-
ated purchase process
from 11-26 and 26-47 per
cent?” tweeted the Gov-
ernor. The spat between
Dhankhar and Chief
Minister Mamata Ba-
nerjee started since the
former took the office
in July 2019. —ANI
Guv questions Didi on airport issue
New Delhi: Several ar-
eas in northern states
will continue to experi-
ence dense in the morn-
ing for the next two
days, the IMD said on
Monday. As per IMD,
dense to very dense fog
will prevail in isolated,
some pockets over Pun-
jab, Haryana, Chandi-
garh, Delhi West Ut-
tar Pradesh in the
morning hours of Feb-
ruary 16 and February
17 followed by reduction
in intensity and spatial
distribution afterwards.
However, a reduction in
the current spell of
dense fog occurrences
over Punjab and Hary-
ana is likely to occur
over next two days.
Meanwhile, the rise in
mercury will continue
in the northern states
during the week.”
Dense Fog to engulf
Delhi, Haryana other
North states till Feb 17
MEAL AT RS 5
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
—PHOTO
BY
ANI
Shah reviews preparation
for celebrating India @75
New Delhi: Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah on Monday re-
viewed the prepara-
tions for the celebra-
tions of 75th year of
India’’s independence,
400th ‘’Prakash Purab’’
of Guru Teg Bahadur
and 125th birth anniver-
sary of Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose.
The central govern-
ment has already de-
cided to celebrate the
three events in a befit-
ting manner.
“HM @AmitShah
held review meeting
with officials of MHA,
@MinOfCultureGoI
@MIB_India on prepa-
rations for celebration
of India@75. Also re-
viewed progress of
work for celebrations
marking 400th Prakash
Purab of Guru Tegh
Bahadur ji and 125th
Jayanti of Netaji Sub-
hash Chandra Bose,”
Shah tweeted.
On August 15, 2022,
several mega projects
are expected to be dedi-
cated to the nation on
the occasion of 75th an-
niversary of India’’s
independence.
The govt has already
set up a committee un-
der chairmanship of
PM Modi to commemo-
rate the 400th ‘’Prakash
Purab’’ celebrations of
Guru Tegh Bahadur
(April 1, 1621--Novem-
ber 11, 1675). —PTI

NEWS
07
Purusharth Aradhak
Noida: Yogi Adity-
anath government has
directed Noida Author-
ity to settle all long
pending farmers issues
and render them relief.
Following the direc-
tion, the Noida Author-
ity has set a record by
solving more than ten
thousand farmers’ is-
sues within a year.
These issues were
pending for over a dec-
ade. The officials said
that this initiative will
boost the authority’s
land bank and lure in-
vestment.
On further explain-
ing the details, Noida
Authority, OSD San-
tosh Upadhyay said
that government wants
to lure investment in
the state and for that
reason, the land bank
is required. Noida au-
thority CEO Ritu Ma-
heshwari has been con-
stantly working to re-
solve farmers’ issues.
She is regularly hold-
ing meetings with all
stakeholders.
“Farmers are also a
stakeholder and the
story of development
cannot be written with-
out their participation.
So we started sorting
out the farmers’ is-
sues,” he said that
there were decades
pending issues of farm-
ers and many of farm-
ers had approached
various courts to seek
justice. “We invited all
the farmers and devel-
oped a sense of positiv-
ity among them and
picked the issues of
farmers village wise.
This move has helped
us a lot. We are aggres-
sively sorting out com-
pensation issues and
handing over the devel-
oped plots to the farm-
ers in lieu of their land
acquired,” he further
said.
It is pertinent to
mention that Noida au-
thority gives monetary
compensation and de-
veloped plots to the
farmers against their
land acquired.
Issues of Mohiyapur,
Jhatta, Shehdra, Mang-
roli, Gulawali, Nalgar-
ah villages have been
settled. These villages
are important as land
in these villages falls
along Noida-Greater
Noida Expressway.
“We have benefited
nearly ten thousand
farmers in Noida and
handed over-developed
plots and monetary
compensation. Now
farmers are also coop-
erating with us,” Upad-
hyay said.
On elaborating fur-
ther plans, Upadhyay
said, “There is a clear
cut direction from the
government to benefit
the farmers with all
the schemes. We have
also been working out
on some of farmers
welfare schemes and
soon to be tabled be-
fore the state govern-
ment.”
The officials said
that with settling farm-
ers’ issues, Noida Au-
thority has managed to
secure good land bank
in sector 161, 162, 163,
164, 165, 166 etc.
Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment officials said
that the state is in
talks with big corpo-
rates.
“The corporates are
keen to come up in Ut-
tar Pradesh. They are
seeking big land par-
cels. We have generated
good options for them.
Huge investment in the
state will generate jobs
and boost the economy
as well,” the official
added.
ADITYANATH GOVT DIRECTS NOIDA AUTHORITY
TO SETTLE LONG-PENDING FARMER’S ISSUES
iPADS FOR
BUDGET
OR FUN?
As the UP government
has decided to use
iPad for the upcoming
budget session it has
thus provided Apple
iPads to all the legislators
and ministers in order
get them accustomed to
the tablets. While some
ministers and MLAs
know how to operate
the iPads but there are
many who are still unable
to operate the iPads
properly. In 3-day training
that took place, in that the
MLA’s and ministers were
taught how to operate
the iPad and also how
to handle information
regarding the budget
session. The 3-day
training programme
but were not enough
for some MLAs as they
couldn’t completely grasp
everything but have
received an iPad. Under
these circumstances,
the colleagues of such
MLA’s who are a bit
more accustomed to the
technology can be seen
explaining others how
to operate iPad. Some
legislators were also
seen using their iPad for
entertainment purpose
like watching movie or
listening to songs. The
incorporation of the iPad
was though criticized
by some, as they felt
that the money spent on
procuring iPad could be
more than what it would
have cost to print the
budget. While some
were of the opinion that
the iPad will be used for
viewing the budget but it
can also be used for other
entertainment purposes.
—Ahtesham Siddiqui
STAR OF
THE SHOW
The Chief Minister
of Uttar Pradesh
Yogi Adityanath on
Monday inaugurated
the Abhyudaya Yojana.
During the occasion
the CM appreciated the
two officers who are
posted in Lucknow for
preparing blueprint of
the Abhyudaya Yojana.
On the occasion of the
launch of ‘Abhyudaya’
scheme on Monday,
in his address during
the programme CM
Yogi praised IPS Laxmi
Singh, IAS Ranjan
Kumar for the outline
and implementation
of the entire scheme.
The recognition of
the two IAS officers
by CM Yogi has made
the whole of UP
bureaucracy proud.
This recognition will
now motivate and
encourage the IAS
and IPS of the state
to promote various
schemes of the
government.
—Shishir Awasthi
First India Bureau
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Mon-
day granted 5-day in-
terim bail to journalist
Siddique Kappan, ar-
rested on his way to
Hathras where a young
Dalit woman had died
after being allegedly
gang-raped, to visit his
ailing mother.
A bench headed by
Chief Justice S A Bob-
de, however, said that
during his visit he shall
not give any interview
to the media, including
social media.
The bench, also com-
prising Justices A S Bo-
panna and V Ramasu-
bramanian, said that
Kappan will not meet
members of the public
except his relatives and
doctors concerned.
It said he will be es-
corted by a team of Ut-
tar Pradesh police of-
ficers and police in
Kerala will cooperate
with them. Senior ad-
vocate Kapil Sibal, ap-
pearing for Kerala Un-
ion of Working Jour-
nalists (KUWJ), stated
that Kappan’s mother
could not talk on video
conference and the doc-
tors have said she
might live only for two
or three more days. So-
licitor General Tushar
Mehta, appearing for
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment, said however
that the condition of
Kappan’s mother was
not as serious as was
being projected and no
medical certificates are
provided.
“There are posters in
Kerala and the wife of
Kappan is collecting
money in his name as if
he is a martyr... When
he goes to Kerala to vis-
it his mother political
opinions would be
formed,” Mehta said.
The bench said it was
taking Sibal’s state-
ments on face value and
“we will not allow him
(Kappan) to be paraded
and he will go to his
house under protection
of armed guards”.
On November 16 last
year, the top court had
sought a response from
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment on the plea
challenging the arrest
of the journalist on his
way to Hathras.
Sibal had sought bail
for the journalist say-
ing that there was noth-
ing against him in the
FIR lodged at Mathura
by UP Police.
TheFIRhasbeenfiled
under various provi-
sions of the IPC and the
Unlawful Activities
(Prevention)Act(UAPA)
against four people hav-
ing alleged links with
the Popular Front of In-
dia, or PFI.
PFI had been accused
in the past of funding
protests against the
CAA across the country
.
SC grants five-day
bail to journalist to
visit ailing mother
New Pink Seva on wheels
from Lucknow to Jaipur
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The online
book of seats for the
pink buses from Luc-
know to Jaipur has al-
ready begun. The pink
buses are to leave for
the Pink City from 16th
February and these
buses will be operating
from Alambagh Termi-
nal to Jaipur on daily
basis. These pink buses
will be operated in pairs
on both sides of the
route. One specialty
about these pink buses
is that they will start at
7 PM from both Luc-
know and Jaipur and
will cover a distance of
around 599 KM in about
12 hours.The bus which
starts its journey from
Alambagh terminal at 7
PM will reach Jaipur at
around 5 AM the next
day. The fare for the
buses has been fixed at
Rs. 1171 per seat.
The tickets for these
pink buses can be
booked via online
through the UPSRTC
website (upsrtc.co.in)
and the booking for
these buses have been
opened from 15th Feb-
ruary
.
Cash facility still available on
the Agra-Lucknow Expressway
First India Bureau
Lucknow: On the
Agra-Lucknow Ex-
pressway, the payment
of toll can be done ei-
ther by cash or by the
use FASTag. The facili-
ty for using FASTag to
pay for toll though is
available only at the toll
booths at Lucknow or
Agra and now in be-
tween as the provision
for the same has been
built as of now. As per
UPEIDA officials, an or-
der from the state gov-
ernment is awaited re-
garding the collection
of tax, which is why the
dual system of collec-
tion of tax in the ex-
pressway will continue
for a while.
In the Agra-Lucknow
Expressway vehicles
were able to ply on
them even without a
FASTag as they had
paid the tax manually.
Several drivers who ar-
rived at the toll plaza
located at Faguha Bhat-
ta and Thathia were un-
able to pay the toll us-
ing the FASTag and had
to resort to pay the toll
in cash.
Mirzapur: Two
youths were killed
when the motorcy-
cle they were rid-
ing hit a tractor in
Mirzapur in Uttar
Pradesh on Mon-
day morning, po-
lice said.
Kotwali police
station SHO
Ravindra Pratap
Singh said the de-
ceased were Sumit
Verma (16) and
Aditya Tiwari (17)
The tractor has
been seized and its
driver arrested,
the police officer
said.
Kanpur: A man
named Shivam
who threatened to
blow up the Kan-
pur Central Sta-
tion and the Go-
vindnagar Station
has been arrested.
Barra Police Sta-
tion who traced
the number to
Kanpur arrested
the youth.
On 10th Febru-
ary, SP Eastern
received a call on
the CUG number
during which the
caller threatened
to blow up many
places in the city
.
Greater Noida : Uttar
Pradesh police has ar-
rested two criminals
after an encounter
near Mirzapur village
in Greater Noida. The
encounter took place
under Rabupura police
station jurisdiction.
The police recovered
two cars, three coun-
try-made pistols, sev-
eral cartridges, and
twenty thousand ru-
pees from the crimi-
nals.
The Rabupura police
injured three crimi-
nals in an encounter
near Mirzapur village.
One of them managed
to flee the spot.
Balrampur: Three
precious idols of deities
were stolen from an-
cient Radha Krishna
temple here in Mathura
Bazar under Laliya po-
lice station area.
Police sources said
that thieves entered in
the temple after break-
ing back wall and stole
precious idols of Lord
Hanuman, Ganesh and
Garuna. When temple
head priest Kailash
Nath Kasaudhal opened
temple in morning he
found the wall broken
and idols were missing.
He then reported the
matter to the police.
2 killed in
road mishap
in Mirzapur
Hoax caller
arrested by
Kanpur cops
Police nab two
criminals in
Greater Noida
3 idols stolen
from Radha
Krishna temple
CRIME ROUND-UP
SHIVA ON SAND!
Students of Allahabad University make sand sculpture during a competition at Magh Mela.
The ‘Pink Seva’ bus.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Noida authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari
 Over ten thousand farmers have
benefitted in last one year
 More than Rs 70 crore has been
distributed among farmers as
compensation
 Land parcels have been developed in
various sectors for big corporate houses

Greetings on the occasion of
Basant Panchmi. May
Spring spark hope and
positivity in each heart.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor, First India
08
2NDFRONT
RIDE OF PRIDE
Ahtesham Siddiqui
Lucknow: Due to the
latest reshuffle in the
IPS officers of ADG
level, the Uttar Pradesh
government has at its
disposal more ADG of-
ficers than there are
posts available.
Due to this abun-
dance in ADG level of-
ficers, officers who
were promoted to ADG
are still awaiting their
posting. The latest
shuffle in the ADGs
was a delayed one as
originally the transfer
list was to be released
on January 1 but was
released on February
12. The shuffle has re-
sulted in another span-
ner in work as in Agra
Zone there are 2 ADGs,
one who was named in
the shuffle and another
in IG A.
Satish Ganesh who
recently got promoted
but didn’t receive a new
posting. In a similar
situation Varanasi IG
Vijay Singh Meena is
holding the IG post even
after his promotion for
ADG came through.
Even in the Police
Headquarters there is
only a single post of
ADG but currently
three ADGs are posted
here (ADG BP Jogan-
dand, ADG Navneet
Sikera and ADG
Ravinder).
Law and Order de-
partment also has 2
ADGs thanks to ADG
Prashant Kumar and
IG Jyoti Narayan who
was recently promoted
as ADG. Similarly even
the STF department
has an extra ADG as
the ADG of Law and
Order also holds charge
as ADG, STF.
This situation arose
due to the recent pro-
motion of IG STF Am-
itabh to ADG.
With all the recent
changes, the number of
ADG level officers in
the state has increased
which is becoming dif-
ficult for the govern-
ment to manage.
Reshuffle mess: Too many ADG-level officers spoil the policing broth
CROWDING AT THE TOP

Due to
abundance in
ADG ranks,
officers who
were promoted
to ADG level,
are still
awaiting their
postings
UP SEES GREATER INFRA BOOM IN
YOGI’S TENURE THAN ANY OTHER CM
State under Chief Minister Adityanath is building longest expressway network in the country
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Four years
into his first term as
Chief Ministerof India’s
most populous state, the
English media remains
ashostileandprejudiced
against Yogi Adityanath
as it was in 2017. His re-
cordasCMisseldomdis-
cussed. And when it is,
facts are conveniently
ignored to reach a pre-
conceived notion.
The most recent ex-
ample of this was the
claim that Adityanath
has done little to im-
prove UP’s infrastruc-
ture over the past four
years. Adityanath, un-
like his predecessors
Akhilesh Yadav and
Mayawati, doesn’t have
anything to show for as
achievement on infra-
structure. If you look at
his tenure, there’s not
much that stands out in
terms of infrastructure
creation, in terms of big
tangible projects, noth-
ing to show for unlike
MayawatiandAkhilesh.
Nothing can be fur-
therawayfromthetruth
than this claim when it
comes to Adityanath’s
recordoninfrastructure
over the past four years.
When he came to power
in 2017, the state had two
functional expressways
— Yamuna Expressway
and the Lucknow-Agra
Expressway
. But when it
completes five years in
office in 2022, the Yogi
government would have
finished work on three
expressways — the
Purvanchal Express-
way, Bundelkhand Ex-
pressway and the Gora-
khpur Link Expressway
.
The Purvanchal Ex-
pressway was conceived
under the SP govern-
ment which had also
built the Agra-Lucknow
Expressway
. However, it
was mostly a project on
paper when the SP lost
power in 2017. Unlike
Mayawati and Yadav,
Adityanath has not re-
mained fixated on one
project.Infact,UPunder
Adityanath is building
the longest expressway
network in the country
.
The Ganga Express-
way project was revived
by Adityanath last year
with a new alignment to
address environmental
concerns. “The CM is
very clear that express-
ways will bring a com-
plete change in the in-
frastructure status of
the state. They will open
up the backward areas
for industry, and im-
prove connectivity
. He
has stressed on the im-
portance of express-
ways repeatedly
,” Awan-
ish Awasthi, the CEO of
the UP Expressways In-
dustrial Development
Authority
, said recently
.
By the time Adity-
anath ends his current
five-year term, he would
have delivered more on
expressways than not
only his predecessors
but possibly any other
chief minister in the
country
. When all the
expressways that UP is
working on are com-
plete, almost every sec-
ond district of the state
will have an expressway
passing through it.
The Adityanath gov-
ernment is also work-
ing on other ambitious
projects, like the Jewar
International Airport
and the UP Defence
Corridor, with the Cen-
tre.The first phase of
land acquisition for the
Jewar airport, which
had been in the cold
storage since it was pro-
posed in 2001, has al-
ready been completed.
When complete, the
airport will be the coun-
try’slargest.TheUPgov-
ernment has been focus-
ing on developing Ayod-
hya and other tirthas in
the state, such as Ma-
thura,asmajorrevenue-
generating tourism cen-
tres. The government is
alsoupgradingtheexist-
ing airstrip in Ayodhya
to a full fledged airport
for better connectivity
.
Within the city
, multiple
other existing facilities
and tourist attractions,
including the city’s bus
station and the ghats
along the Sarayu River,
are being revamped. A
1,200-acre area in the
town will be developed
as ‘Smart Ayodhya’.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP
supremo Mayawati.
Priyanka Gandhi meeting farmers during the Kisan
Mahapanchayat in Bijnor on Monday.
Priyanka’s turbulence
over PM’s plane purchase
First India Bureau
Bijnor: The National
General Secretary of
the Congress party and
the UP in-charge, Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra,
once again lashed out at
the BJP government at
the Centre.
Speaking at a Kisan
Mahapanchayat in Bi-
jnor on Monday
, Priyan-
kaallegedthatPMbought
twoairplanesforhistrips
for Rs 16,000 crore, while
sugarcane dues of each
farmer would have been
clearedwiththisamount.
She said that the PM has
money to roam around,
butnomoneyforthepoor
farmers.
Priyanka said
through new agricul-
tural laws, the corpo-
rates will hoard and the
farmers will not even
get the minimum sup-
port price.
Priyanka said, “I have
not come here to give a
speech. I have come to
talk to you. Sometimes I
wonder why the public
elected Modi twice. May-
be people were confident
hewouldbringsuchpoli-
cies that will increase
prosperity
, but nothing
like this has happened. .
They have no money for
farmers. The trust of the
peoplehasbeenbroken.”
First India Bureau
Varanasi: After de-
veloping four villag-
es, the Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi
will adopt two more
villages in his parlia-
mentary constituen-
cy Varanasi under
‘Sansad Adarsh
Gram Yojana’
(SAGY), launched by
him in 2014 when he
became the country’s
head.
Last year, the
scheme was put on
hold due to the out-
break of Covid-19
pandemic. It was due
to this reason, the
Prime Minister has
decided to adopt two
villages this year un-
der SAGY to keep his
track record of devel-
oping villages.
SAGY is broadly a
rural development
programme focusing
upon social and cul-
tural development of
a village and mobili-
zation of village
community for an
overall development.
Modi had exhort-
ed all MPs to adopt
one village every
year to make it a
model for others to
follow. Though all
BJP MPs had adopt-
ed villages but there
were not many tak-
ers from the opposi-
tion parties.
PM Modi to adopt
two Varanasi villages
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Over 83% of
low-income households
in Uttar Pradesh report-
ed a fall in their income
after a family member
met with a road acci-
dent, and their financial
loss amounted to more
than seven months’
household income, ac-
cording to a latest World
Bank report.
Comparatively, it
was equivalent to less
than one month’s
household income for
high-income house-
holds, the report stated.
The report has allo-
cated the bottom 40%
of the population by
per capita income as
low-income households
and the top 10% of the
population in terms of
per capita income as
high-income house-
holds. Titled “Traffic
Crash Injuries and Dis-
abilities: The Burden
on Indian Society”, the
report, released by un-
ion minister for trans-
port and highways Ni-
tin Gadkari in Delhi on
Saturday, highlights
the disproportionate
impact of a road crash
on poor households
that pushes them into a
vicious cycle of pover-
ty and debt.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Sama-
jwadi Party on Monday
expelled MLA Hariom
Singh Yadav from the
party for six years on
charges of anti-party ac-
tivities.
SP state president
Naresh Uttam Patel said
that Hariom Singh Ya-
dav, MLA from Sirsa-
ganj, has been expelled
from the Samajwadi
Party for six years for
his involvement in anti-
party activities and col-
luding with the BJP as
directed by Akhilesh
Yadav.
Yadav was found in-
volved in anti-party ac-
tivities and hobnobbing
with the BJP, the party
release said.
It is worth mention-
ing that after the defeat
of SP candidate from
Tundla seat of Firo-
zabad during the by-
election held in Novem-
ber last year, Hariom
Singh Yadav made a
statement against party
leaders including Akh-
ilesh Yadav.
Hariom Singh Yadav
had said, Samajwadi
Party lost the Tundla
seat because it did not
get support from local
leaders. Hariom Yadav
has been considered
close to Mulayam Singh
Yadav’s family
.
83%poorseeincomedippostmishap
—FILE
PHOTO
SP MLA Hariom Yadav expelled
for 6 yrs for anti-party activities
Hariom Singh Yadav
First India Bureau
Noida: Six police per-
sonnel in UP have been
booked for alleged ex-
tortion and corruption
and one of them has
been arrested along
with a private individu-
al, the Noida police said
on Monday
.
‘’Constable Nitin
Chaudhary and an in-
dividual, named Sonu,
have been arrested to-
day in connection with
an extortion and cor-
ruption case,’’ Central
Noida Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police Harish
Chander said.
A sub-inspector and
four more constables
attached with the Cy-
ber police station in
Lucknow, are on the
run, a senior official
said.
Six cops booked for
extortion, corruption
OTHER PROJECTS
The ‘Victory Flame’ lit in New Delhi to honour the valour and sacrifice of the brave sons
of the soil during the 1971 war, entered Lucknow on Monday on its pan India journey.
The Victory Flame will be touring various locations in Central UP including Unnao and
Fatehgarh before moving on east-wards on its journey.
Amitabh Yash Sateesh A Ganeshn Navneet Sikera Vijay Singh Meena

LUCKNOW, TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 16, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
Basant Panchami declares the onset of the spring season, it’s time to dig out
your ‘yellows’to wear today. City First gives you a brief insight of the festival
and wishes all its readers a Happy Basant Panchami!
MITALI DUSAD
mitalidusad01@gmail.com
ne of the foremost festivals of the
spring season is Basant Pancha-
mi, also known and celebrated as
Saraswati Puja in many parts of
the country
. People rejoice as they
welcome the spring season or
the Vasant Ritu which is consid-
ered the king of all seasons as it is a bal-
ance between scorching heat, harsh win-
ters, and heavy rains. Popular belief says
that Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of
Knowledge, Art, Music, Science and Tech-
nology, was born on Basant Panchami and
thus people worship her on this day
.
Predominantly, celebrated in eastern
parts of India as Saraswati Puja, particu-
larly in West Bengal and Bihar. However,
in North India, especially in Punjab, Bas-
ant Panchami is celebrated as a festival of
kites whereas in Rajasthan wearing jas-
mine garland to celebrate this festival is a
part of the rituals.
Also, according to Hindu Panchami
marks the beginning of the spring season.
As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the
fifth day of the Magha maas (month).
The day is considered extremely auspi-
cious to start new work, get married or
perform house warming ceremony (griha
pravesh). The colour yellow has a great
significance in the celebration of Vasant
Panchami as it marks the harvest time
of mustard crop that has yellow blooms,
which is Goddess Saraswati’s favourite
colour. Yellow attire is therefore worn by
the followers of Saraswati. Moreover, tra-
ditional feast is prepared for the festival
wherein the dishes are usually yellow and
saffron in color. Yellow colour also symbol-
izes peace, prosperity, light, energy and
optimism.
O
BASANTAAYORE...

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