11012022 first india lucknow

PATIENT WILL RECOVER IN 3-4
DAYS FROM OMICRON: YOGI
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath said
on Monday that 90 per-
cent of Covid patients in
the state are asympto-
matic. After inspecting
the Integrated COVID
Control Centre at Lal-
baghinLucknow,theCM
said, “90 percent Covid
patientsareasymptomat-
ic and under home isola-
tion. Integrated COVID
Control Centre in every
district keeps in touch
withCOVID-19patients.”
Hefurthersaidthatthere
are 4,800 COVID-19 pa-
tients in Lucknow, of
which 45 are admitted to
hospitals.“The new vari-
ant of COVID-19, Omi-
cron,isquicklytransmit-
ting, but it is also less
virulent. If a patient is
infected with COVID-19,
then within 3-4 days the
patient will recover from
the infection,” the CM
told reporters.
CMYogiAdityanath inspects the Integrated Command & Control Centre
at Lalbagh in Lucknow on Monday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
CM says 90
percent of Covid
cases in state are
asymptomatic
VIRUS RETURNS TO VARANASI
A lone priest performs the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi on Monday as the
district administration has barred entry of people at the ghats after 4pm in view of rising Covid-19
cases. —PHOTO BY PTI
Kavita Pant
New Delhi: Five to 10%
of active Covid cases
this time so far needed
hospitalisation but the
situation is dynamic
and may change rapid-
ly, the Centre said on
Monday asked states
to keep a watch on cases
under home isolation
and in hospitals.
Union Health Minis-
ter Dr Mansukh Man-
daviya on Monday ad-
vised five States and
one Union Territory to
ensure that all kinds
of oxygen infrastruc-
ture is functional and
operational, in view
of the surge in COV-
ID-19 cases across the
country.
He met health minis-
ters, officials from Gu-
jarat, Rajasthan, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Goa,
Dadra and Nagar Have-
li, Daman and Diu, and
Maharashtra on Mon-
day to discuss COVID-
situationinthesestates.
STATES, UTs TOLD
TO KEEP TAB ON OXY
Govt warns: 5-10% cases requiring hospitalisation this
time but situation may change; Mansukh Mandaviya
meets Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Goa, Maha, Dadra and
Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu’s health ministers
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court Monday
said it would set up a
panel headed by its for-
mer judge to probe the
security breach during
PM Narendra Modi’s re-
cent visit to Punjab and
stayed the parallel in-
quiries by committees
of Centre and state gov-
ernment into the lapses.
SC stressed that was
not undermining im-
portance of PM’s secu-
rity dealing it with all
seriousness. The bench
headed by CJI NV Ra-
mana, took note of sub-
missions of SG Tushar
Mehta about the time
frame within which
court-appointed panel
should give the report
said it will keep this as-
pect in mind. SC also
took note of concerns
of Punjab govt that its
officials are being con-
demned by the central
government panel. —ANI
PM SECURITY BREACH
SC to form probe panel
headed by retired judge
SC to hear PIL
on alleged
hate speeches
New Delhi: Supreme
Court Monday agreed
to hear a PIL seeking a
direction to ensure in-
vestigation and action
against those who made
hate speeches during
two separate events
held recently at Dhar-
am Sansad’ in Harid-
war, Uttarakhand, and
in the national capital.
A bench comprising
CJI NV Ramana Jus-
tices Surya Kant and
Hima Kohli took note of
the submissions of sen-
ior advocate Kapil Sibal
that no action has been
taken against those
who made hate speech-
es despite FIR by the Ut-
tarakhand police.
“I have moved this
PIL in respect of what
happened in Dharam
Sansad in Haridwar on
December 17 19 (last
year),” Sibal said. —ANI
HC’s interim bail to
SAD leader Majithia
in NDPS case
Chandigarh: The Pun-
jab and Haryana High
Court granted interim
bail to SAD leader
Bikram Singh Majith-
ia on Monday in con-
nection with a NDPS
case against him.
The Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD) leader’s coun-
sel, Damanbir Singh
Sobti, said Majithia will
join the investigation at
11 am on Wednesday
. He
also said the court has
granted interim bail to
Majithia in the matter.
“After seeing all the
records, the high court
gave directions that this
is a case where he can
join the investigation
and when he joins the
investigation, he will
not be arrested,” Sobti
told reporters.
Court has fixed Janu-
ary 18 as the next date
of hearing in the matter,
he said. The SAD has
been alleging that the
FIR against Majithia is
a result of “political
vendetta”.
Reacting to the relief
granted to Majithia,
SAD chief Sukhbir Sin-
gh Badal, in a tweet,
said “justice prevails”.
Reacting to the develop-
ment, Punjab CM
Charanjit Channi said
interim bail does not
mean the case is over.
—ANI
LUCKNOW l TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 61
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
An Australian judge reinstated tennis star Novak
Djokovic’s visa, which was canceled after his
arrival last week because he is unvaccinated.
Judge also ordered govt to release Djokovic from
hotel quarantine within 30 min of his decision.
Britain’s Rolls-Royce Cars created history last year
selling most cars it has ever sold in its 117-year
history. Luxury carmaker sold 5,586 cars globally
last year, which is 1,836 more than in COVID-
wrecked 2020 461 more than 2019 record.
The Indian equities markets witnessed strong rally
on Monday defying concerns over rising COVID
cases weak global cues. The Benchmark Nifty 50
crossed psychologically important 18,000 points
mark and Sensex climbed 651 points.
OZ JUDGE
REINSTATES
DJOKOVIC’S
VISA
ROLLS-ROYCE
HITS RECORD
SALES IN
PANDEMIC
NIFTY SOARS
PAST 18K
MARK; SENSEX
CLIMBS 651 PTS
COVID ALERT!

z Bihar CM Nitish
Kumar Karna-
taka CM Basavaraj S
Bommai test +ve

z BCCI postpones
Cooch Behar Trophy
knockout games

z 25 international pax
offloaded at Delhi air-
port after testing +ve

z Cyprus finds Covid
infections that com-
bine Delta Omicron

z Vaccination a
‘weapon’, needn’t
interfere in curbs for
unvaccinated on local
trains: Bombay HC

z AIIMS Director
takes ‘precautionary
dose’ of vaccine
DEFENCE MIN
RAJNATH SINGH
TESTS POSITIVE
FOR COVID-19
New Delhi: Defence
Minister Rajnath Sin-
gh on Monday said
he has tested positive
for COVID-19. In a
tweet, he said he has
“mild symptoms”
and is under home
quarantine. “I have
tested positive for
Corona today with
mild symptoms.
I am under home
quarantine. I request
everyone who have
recently come in my
contact to isolate
themselves and get
tested,” Singh said.
INDIA STARTS BOOSTERS AS
CASES TOUCH 1,80,000 MARK
New Delhi: Amid surge
in COVID cases driven
by Omicron variant, In-
dia began administer-
ing ‘precaution doses’
to healthcare, frontline
workers and senior
citizens with comor-
bidities on Monday.
Beneficiaries hailed the
government’s decision
and said that it is a
good initiative.
‘3RD
WAVE: SHARP RISE IN JAN END,
SHARP DECLINE IN MID-MARCH’
Kanpur: Amid surge in COVID-19 infec-
tions in the country, IIT Kanpur professor
Manindra Agrawal on Monday stated that the
peak of the infection will hit the nation in the
January-end. He also said that the virus cases
will overtake the cases recorded during the
second wave. “As per preliminary data, cases
(nationally) will peak by end of this month
are likely to cross second wave numbers.
Since this time the peak is coming up very
rapidly, the rise is very sharp,” he said. —ANI
BJP CHIEF JP NADDA
TESTS COVID +VE
HIGHLIGHTS
FIGURES
SAY IT ALL
New Delhi: BJP National
President Jagat Prakash
Nadda tweeted on Monday,
“I got my COVID-19 test
done after witnessing initial
symptoms. My report has
come positive. I am feeling
fine now. On the advice of
doctors, I have isolated
myself.”
PM TO INAUGURATE 11 NEW MEDICAL
COLLEGES IN TAMIL NADU ON JAN 12
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate 11
New Govt Medical Colleges across Tamil Nadu new
campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai
on January 12 at 4 PM through video conferencing,
informed PMO on Monday. New medical colleges are
being set up at an estimated cost of `4,000 cr, out of
which `2,145 cr has been provided by Centre. —ANI
PROPOSED PANEL ‘GETTING THREATS
TO STOP PROBE’
One retired SC judge to
head the panel. Members
would be DGP Chandigarh,
IG National Investigation
Agency, Registrar General
of the Punjab Haryana
HC and one more person
from Punjab.
Several SC lawyers wrote
to SC alleging they have
received calls threatening
judges over security
breach case. They claimed
calls were made allegedly
by pro-Khalistan org SFJ.
4,033
cases of the Omicron
variant reported so far
1,216
in Maharashtra
529
in Rajasthan
513
in Delhi
1,552
patients infected with
Omicron have
recovered.
69,15,75,352
tests conducted so far,
says ICMR data.
Stays probe by
Centre, Punjab
14th round of India
China talks on Jan 12
New Delhi: India is
looking forward to
“constructive” dialogue
with China to resolve
issues in remaining
friction points in east-
ern Ladakh, sources in
the security establish-
ment said on Monday
ahead of the 14th round
of military talks be-
tween the two sides on
the 20-month row.
The talks will take
place on January 12 at
the Chushul-Moldo
meeting point, on the
Chinese side of the Line
of Actual Control in
eastern Ladakh, the
sources said. The ‘Sen-
ior Highest Military
Commander Level
(SHMCL)’ talks will be-
gin at 9:30 am, they said.
“Indian side is look-
ing forward to construc-
tive dialogue to resolve
the balance friction ar-
eas,” a source said. It is
learnt that major focus
of the talks will be on
disengagement in the
Hot Springs area. —PTI

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022
02
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BJP’S DOOR-TO-DOOR MASSIVE
OUTREACH DRIVE FROM TODAY
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The
Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty Uttar Pradesh will
launch a massive out-
reach drive from Tues-
day and will list the
Yogi-led government’s
achievements before
the public.
After the announce-
ment of the elections,
which will be held in
seven phases, the par-
ty will go door-to-door
adhering to Covid-19
protocols and estab-
lish a mass contact
with over one crore
people appealing them
to extend their support
once again to the party
.
The Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party has formed
groups of around five
people each constitut-
ing the workers, lead-
ers and public repre-
sentatives to create
awareness among peo-
ple of every village,
every city, every socie-
ty and especially
crores of beneficiaries
and women about the
various schemes of
the central and state
government.
With this door-to-
door mass contact
drive , the party work-
ers will distribute leaf-
lets showing the
achievements of the
government along
with masks and sani-
tizers to prevent the
spread of novel coro-
navirus at 1,74,000
booths.
Through this mass
contact drive, BJP will
work to strengthen its
base in the coming as-
sembly elections by
motivating the voters
of all sections and
groups of the state to
give their support to
the strong govern-
ment.
BJP workers will
make people aware of
various schemes of
the central and state
government.
The party workers
will inform the benefi-
ciaries about the
schemes like PM Awas
Yojana and CM Awas
Yojana, distribution of
free ration to 15 crore
people every month,
the Ujjwala scheme un-
der which free gas con-
nection were given to
1.67 crore beneficiar-
ies, the Ujala scheme,
Kisan Samman Nidhi
and other farmer wel-
fare schemes, Medical
colleges, Kanya Su-
mangala and Mukhy-
amantri Samuhik Viv-
ah Yojana for girls.
BJP WORKERS TO DISTRIBUTE PAMPHLETS ALONG WITH MASKS AND SANITISERS
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reaches BJP Headquarters in
Lucknow to attend an all important meeting related to the
upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
—PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
BJP will undertake door-to-door campaign
across the state from Tuesday to highlight the
Uttar Pradesh government’s achievements,
party state president Swatantra Dev Singh said.
After the Makar Sankranti on January 14, the
party will deploy LED Raths equipped with
large TV screens to apprise voters of the gov-
ernment’s achievements in the state, he added.
LED RATHS WITH LARGE TV SCREENS
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Even as the
itinerary of its star-
campaigners for UP as-
sembly elections 2022 is
being fine tuned by the
high command, the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has sent a team of
165 party leaders each
from Gujarat, Haryana,
Maharashtra, Ra-
jasthan and Delhi who
will camp in the poll-
bound state to imple-
ment successful strate-
gies from their home
states.
To supervise constit-
uencies in every dis-
trict, the BJP will have
two MLAs, excluding
those already in charge
of the assembly seats,
taking stock of dis-
tricts.
The idea behind seek-
ing reinforecement
from other states is that
being ‘outsiders’ these
party workers will be
able to gauge the pulse
and prevailing political
situation.
Gujarat state BJP
vice-president and for-
mer BJP MLA of Surat
city Karanj assembly
seat, Janak Bagdana,
has been appointed
Pravasi Pramukh (visit-
ing president) for Uttar
Pradesh, assigning him
the responsibility of
working in the Awadh
zone, which has 71 as-
sembly seats across 11
districts and the cities
of Lucknow and Ayod-
hya.
Each state has to pre-
pare a list of 165 BJP
leaders who are former
MPs and MLAs or sen-
ior leaders in the party
organisation who have
earlier worked in other
states during elections.
Surat has been a sort of
backroom for Uttar
Pradesh elections —
when present BJP state
president CR Paatil was
put in charge of the
state and in 2014 when
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi was contest-
ing as for an MP seat
from Varanasi.
“Out of 165 members,
14 members are from
Uttar Pradesh and set-
tled in Gujarat, while
the others are from
across Gujarat. Our 165
members will stay in
Uttar Pradesh till the
assembly elections.
These members will
work on Panna Pra-
mukhcommittee,Booth
Pramukh committee,
Ward pramukh commit-
tee and make appropri-
ate appointments. Lat-
er, meetings of all will
be organised and they
will be trained. We will
create micro-level
teams for UP elections.
The accommodation
and transportation fa-
cility will be managed
by local BJP leaders in
the Awadh zone. My
role is to supervise the
arrangements and mon-
itor the progress of
work,” said a party
source.
POLL ROLE
—FILE PHOTO
UP BJP to get party workers from other states as reinforcement

165 BJP
workers who
are former
MPs, MLAs or
senior leaders
from different
states are set
to camp in
Uttar Pradesh
till assembly
polls are over
STRATEGY
All govt, private offices to
work with 50% workforce
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Scaling up
preventive measures to
check spread of Cov-
id-19 in the state, the Ut-
tar Pradesh govern-
ment has brought in
additional restrictions,
which will be put in
with immediate effect.
All government and pri-
vate offices will func-
tion with 50 percent
strength at a time. The
government is also en-
couraging work from
home module and has
urged to implement a
rotation system at the
workplace to bring the
transmission levels
down.
While reviewing the
Covid condition in the
state with senior offi-
cials in a high-level
meeting on Monday, the
Chief Minister directed
that to save both ‘Lives
and livelihoods’, all the
government and pri-
vate offices should func-
tion with a maximum
50 per cent capacity to
avoid any chance of in-
creased transmission.
Describing the need to
promote ‘Work from
Home’ culture so that
there is no inconven-
ience in the work, he
also directed to imple-
ment a rotation system
in the offices. Accord-
ing to the new Covid
control guidelines of
the state government,
if an employee serving
in private sector offices
turns out to be Covid
positive, then he will
also be given 7-day leave
with no deduction in
salary
.
In the review meet-
ing, ACS Health, Amit
Mohan Prasad in-
formed that a total of
8334 new patients were
confirmed out of the
2,01,465 samples tested
in the last 24 hours. In
the same period, 335
people were treated and
recovered from the in-
fection. At present, the
total number of active
cases is 33,946, out of
which 33,563 people are
in home isolation.
CM Yogi Adityanath inspects the Integrated Command and Control Center at Lalbagh in Lucknow on
Monday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
CM Yogi said that information of hailstorm has
been received from some districts of the state
and has directed officials to make assessment of
the damage caused by the hailstorm and to pro-
vide immediate compensation to the affected.
CM Yogi has asked officials to
ensure farmers get MSP for their
produce and said that the state
government’s paddy procurement
reached 46.50 lakh tonnes adding
that paddy worth Rs 8760.04
crore has been procured so
far from over 7 lakh
farmers.
that paddy worth Rs 8760.04
crore has been procured so
far from over 7 lakh
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
State govt approves
VRS request of Knp
Police Commissioner
Kanpur: The Uttar
Pradesh government on
Monday approved the
voluntary retirement
request of Kanpur Po-
lice Commissioner
Asim Arun, official
sources said.
The senior IPS officer
of the 1994 batch had
applied for pre-mature
retirement amid specu-
lation of his entry into
active politics and con-
testing the assembly
polls.
The UP government
has approved the VRS
request of the Kanpur
Police Commissioner
Asim Arun, official
sources in the UP police
establishment told PTI.
The 51-year-old Arun
is an additional direc-
tor general of police
(ADGP)-rank officer,
who has previously
helmed the state’s Anti-
Terrorist Squad, the 112
service besides leading
the police force in dis-
tricts like Aligarh,
Gorakhpur and Agra.
During central depu-
tation, Arun served in
the Core Protection
Group of former Prime
Minister Manmohan
Singh’s Special Protec-
tion Group (SPG) and
earlier got trained in
policing in Kosovo in
Europe in 2002-03.
It is being speculat-
ed that Asim Arun, af-
ter taking retirement,
would be contesting
for the polls from a
Kannauj seat.
Asim Arun
SUNDAY MEET 55 paramilitary cos to be
deployed in Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar: Fifty-
five companies of para-
military personnel will
be deployed in Muzaf-
farnagar district of Ut-
tar Pradesh for peaceful
conduct of assembly
polls to be held on Feb-
ruary 10, an official
said.
District Magistrate
Chandra Bhushan Sin-
gh said the district has
six assembly constitu-
encies and 20,20,826 vot-
ers, including 9,37,688
women.
He said the district
has been divided into
25 zones and 156 sec-
tors to be overseen by
zonal and sectoral
magistrates.
Fifty-five companies
of Central Armed Po-
lice Forces (CAPF)
personnel will be de-
ployed in the district
for peaceful conduct
of assembly polls.
One company of
CAPF usually has
around a hundred per-
sonnel. —PTI
Lucknow: Ahead of
Uttar Pradesh Assem-
bly elections, Minister
Sidharth Nath Singh
on Sunday took a dig
on Samajwadi Party
(SP) chief Akhilesh Ya-
dav and alleged that he
knows that he’ll lose,
and is therefore look-
ing for new excuses
every day.
Talking to ANI, UP’s
MSME Minister said,
“Akhilesh Yadav knows
very well that he is go-
ing to lose the Assembly
elections in UP so he is
finding new excuses
every day. Yesterday he
accused the Election
Commission, saying
digital elections are un-
fair. Today, he wrote to
the EC demanding sus-
pension of government
officers.” —ANI
SSP Abhishek
Yadav said 238
antisocial
elements have
been “expelled”
from the district
Akhilesh knows he'll lose, finding new
excuses every day, says Sidharth Nath
Sidharth Nath Singh
Six arrested in P’yat chairman
murder case including ex-MP
Lucknow: Six people,
including ex-Balram-
pur MP of Samajwadi
Party, Rizwan Zahir,
and his daughter have
been arrested for their
alleged involvement in
killing of former Tul-
sipur panchyat chair-
man Firoz Khan Pappu
on January 5, police
said.
Pappu was hacked to
death on January 4
night by some persons,
Superintendent of Po-
lice Hemant Kutiyal
said, adding that on ba-
sis of CCTV footage and
surveillance records
police has arrested two
accused Merajul Haz
and Mehfooz for killing
him.
Former MP Rizwan
Zahir, his daughter
Zeba Rizwan, son-in-
law Ramiz and one oth-
er accused were also
arrested for their in-
volvement in the mur-
der, he said.
The motive behind
the killing is political
rivalry and “rising pop-
ularity” of Pappu, who
was demanding SP tick-
et from Tulsipur seat
from where Zeba was
also campaigning as a
prospective party can-
didate.
According to sources
the weapons used for
conducting the crime
has also been recovered
by the police force. Ac-
tion under Gangster’s
act will be taken against
all the accused and the
matter will be taken to
the fast track court, the
SP said.
More than 250 CCTV
camera footages have
been used to investigate
the issue.
—PTI, other agencies
—FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Elec-
toral Officer of Uttar
Pradesh Ajay Kumar
Shukla has informed
that in context of UP
Legislative Assembly
elections, a total of
9,60,482 publicity mate-
rialswereremovedfrom
government and private
propertiestoensurethat
the model code of con-
duct is implemented.
Out of this a total of
7,32,186 publicity mate-
rialswereremovedfrom
government properties
while a total of 2,28,296
publicity materials
were removed from pri-
vate properties.
9,60,482 publicity
materials removed
from properties

UTTAR PRADESH
03
First India Bureau
Lucknow: V is regard-
edasasymbolof victory
but in UP assembly polls
2022anotherVthatstand
for virtual polling has
come to haunt political
leaders and conestants
alike. Ironically
, most
politicians had initially
welcomed the decision
when the Election Com-
mission announced a
ban on political rallies
and meetings till Jau-
nary 15 and directed for
strict compliance of
Covid protocols in poll
campaigs.
On second thought,
theseleadersarenowde-
veloping cold feet on the
issue. “We cannot pub-
licly oppose the ECI’s
decision on virtual cam-
paigning but the fact re-
mains that this will not
work in semi-urban and
rural constituencies.
The reality is that even
those who have smart-
phones, use them only to
watch movies and web
series. My own driver
sayshewillnotrecharge
his data to watch politi-
cal events,” says a BJP
leader.
Whileallpartiesclaim
to have a definite pres-
ence in the virtual world
and exude confidence
about campaigning on
social media, it is the
candidates and aspir-
ants who are worried.
“Now that even cycle
rallieshavebeenbanned,
how do we connect with
our voters? Electioneer-
ing involves a personal
touch where you go and
meet voters, seek their
support and blessings.
You cannot expect to get
votesthroughWhatsApp
messageandFacebook,”
said an SP MLA.
He said there was in-
sufficienttimeforadoor-
to-door campaign too.
“My constituency goes
to polls in the first phase
and I cannot cover the
entire constituency in
this manner. People
wanttomeettheircandi-
dates and virtual rallies
are not enough.” Several
candidates are now ap-
prehensive that if the
curbs continue beyond
January 15, it could im-
pact voter turnout. A
BSP candidate from
Kanpur said since there
was no physical cam-
paigning, voters cannot
be mobilised only
through social media.
“We know how diffi-
cult it is to get voters-es-
pecially those from edu-
cated class-to come out
and vote on the polling
day
. Most people prefer
to relax at home since it
is a holiday
,” he said.
Analysts, are still un-
sure about the impact
that virtual campaign-
ing will have on voter
turnout. Senior journal-
ist RK Singh said: “We
still don’t know how vir-
tual campaigning will
impact voter turnout.
There are still people
even in urban areas who
are not active on social
media.”
Candidates miss voter connect, get wary of virtual campaigning
UNCERTAIN TERRITORY
After the EC mandate to stop political
rallies till January 15 in wake of Covid
surge, parties left to milk social media
CRUCIAL READ
ENSURE 100 PER CENT VACCINATION IN
STATE BY JAN 31: CS MISHRA
Mumbai: Chairing a meeting of State Steering Commit-
tee constituted for Covid-19 vaccination, Chief Sec-
retary Durga Shankar Mishra said in view of present
situation and the impending elections, necessary
action should be ensured to achieve the target of cent
per cent vaccination in state by January 31, 2022. He
said vaccination of NCC students of target age group
should be ensured so that they motivate children in
schools for vaccination and 100 per cent vaccination of
children of target age group could be achieved.
GUARD KILLS
SANITATION
WORKER AT MALL
Aligarh: A sanitation
worker was shot dead
by a security guard on
Monday at City Centre
mall in Civil Lines area
here after a minor tiff,
police said. The incident
took place in the morn-
ing when sanitation
worker Puneet, 40, had
some argument with
security guard Anshu
Chauhan, the police said.
The victim was rushed
to JL Nehru Medical Col-
lege Hospital where he
died during treatment.
SUBROTO ROY
UNDERGOES
BRAIN SURGERY
Mumbai: ‘Saharasri’
Subrata Roy Sahara
successfully underwent
a brain surgery done by
Dr Manish Srivastava
at Kokilaben Hospital,
here on January 6 2022.
He was detected with
a brain disease and
advised brain coiling,
which was done by
fixing stent and Endo
saccular device. Roy
was discharged from
hospital on Monday. He
praised highly of the
hospital doctor staff.
Gzb sees 1,385 new cases, Lko reports 1,114 cases; 34k active cases in state
WITH NEAR 10% JUMP IN 24
HRS,8,334NEWCASESINUP
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh recorded 8,334
new cases of Covid-19
on Monday along with
four Covid-related
deaths. One death each
was reported from
Meerut, Prayagraj, Bu-
landshahrandSonbhad-
ra districts. Sunday’s
total tally was about
7,690 cases.
The maximum num-
ber of new cases were
reported from Ghazi-
abad (1,385), Gautam
Budh Nagar (1,223), Luc-
know (1,114), and
Meerut (1,071) districts.
The number of active
cases in Lucknow now
stands at 4,702, in Gau-
tam Budh Nagar at
5,779, in Ghaziabad at
4,614, in Meerut at 3,556,
in Varanasi at 1,592, in
Agra at 1,216, in Mo-
radabad at 1,216, in Kan-
pur City at 855, in Ma-
thura at 739, in Praya-
graj at 737, in Muzaffar-
nagar at 674, and in
Gorakhpur at 661. The
total number of active
Covid cases in the state
is 33,946.
Varanasi reported 285
new cases on Monday,
Agra 264, Moradabad
250, Kanpur City 205,
Gorakhpur 205, Mathu-
ra 185, Muzaffarnagar
161, Saharanpur 148, Bu-
landshahr 133, Aligarh
121, Jhansi 134, Shamli
113, Prayagraj 106, Ba-
reilly 88, Rampur 70,
Baghpat 65, Barabanki
62, Ayodhya 52, Amroha
55, and Ghazipur 51.
A total of 335 Covid
-19 patients recovered
and/or were discharged
from hospitals during
the last 24 hours.
Social distancing norms flouted as people throng the registration counter at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
Civil Hospital in Lucknow on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI
Frontline workers and senior citizens took the booster dose of Covid-19
vax at Lucknow on Monday. —PHOTO BY SUMIT KUMAR
OVER 330 PATIENTS RECOVER IN 24 HRS
Govt asks health dept to
provide teleconsultation
First India Bureau
Lucknow: To ensure
adequatemedicalinfra-
structure and resourc-
es are in place to com-
bat the anticipated
third wave of Covid-19,
CM Yogi Adityanath
has directed the health
department to provide
teleconsultation facili-
ties to patients.
Onlineappointments
forOPDpatientsarebe-
ing encouraged in all
hospitals.
Addressing a meet-
ing on Monday
, Yogi
said, “People testing-
positive at bus stands,
railway stations, and
airports are being kept
in institutional isola-
tion.Adequatearrange-
ments like food and
proper treatment have
been made at the quar-
antine centres.”
Nodal officers have
beensenttovisittotake
stock in their districts.
BAHRAICH DM, SSP LEAD LAUNCH OF
COVID BOOSTER DOSE DRIVE IN DIST
Bahraich: DM Dinesh Chandra and SSP Keshav
Kumar Chaudhary along with other senior officials
of the district received their booster dose to
launch the booster dose vaccination campaign
for frontline workers, health workers and citi-
zens above 60 years of age, at an inauguration
programme at the Collectorate Auditorium on
Monday. DM Dinesh Chandra speaking on the oc-
casion appealed to the people of the district to get
their complete vaccination as it has an important
role in preventing a third wave of Covid-19.
Block chief of BJP in Agra
arrested for gang rape
First India Bureau
Agra: A case of gang-
rape has come to light in
Tajganj police station
area of Agra. The block
chief of BJP has been
accused of gang-raping
the girl. According to
the allegations, the girl
was gang-raped on Sun-
day in a hotel lo on Fate-
habad Road in the Tha-
na Tajganj area. The girl
informed the police af-
ter she was released
from the clutches of the
accused. On the com-
plaint of the girl, the
police registered a case
against Bah’s block
chief Lal Singh, Jiten-
dra and Dev.
The police have ar-
rested main accused Lal
Singh. The girl has al-
leged that the block
chief had called her
from Khurja to Agra ta-
jganj area, on the pre-
text of a job. When she
reached the mentioned
place, Singh took her to
a hotel where, he gang-
raped her along with his
accomplices. SSP Su-
dhir Singh said main ac-
cused Lal Singh had
been arrested, while the
search was on for the
other accused.
Regarding the main ac-
cused Lal Singh in the
gangrape case, the police
said that the main accused
Bah’s block chief Lal
Singh was in contact with
the girl for three months.
WhatsApp chatting done
between Lal Singh and the
girl has also been found
in the girl’s mobile. Police
arrested the main accused
from Faraira village in Bah
early on Monday morning.
While in search of his
accomplices, the police
are raiding their possible
hideouts.
SINGH WAS IN CONTACT WITH GIRL FOR
THREE MONTHS, SAYS WHATSAPP CHAT
Charge sheet in POCSO
courtagainstschoolowner
67 PNB A/Cs of
Ansal Properties
seized in Delhi
First India Bureau
Agra: On the instruc-
tions of Agra SDM Sad-
ar, the team of Revenue
Department has seized
about 67 accounts of
Ansal Properties in
Punjab National Bank.
Total over Rs 35.83 crore
is said to be deposited in
the seized bank ac-
counts. If sources are to
be believed, action has
been taken not only by
the Revenue Depart-
ment but also by Income
Tax and Sales Tax on
Ansal.
The builder Ansal
Properties Infrastruc-
ture Limited owes Rs
3.26 crore to the Real Es-
tate Regulatory Author-
ity (RERA). The Agra
administration has
seized over Rs 35.83
crorefromtwobranches
of Punjab National
Bank at Connaught
Place, New Delhi.
The revenue team
from Sadar Tehsil
went to Delhi for ac-
tion.Tehsildar Rajnish
Bajpai said the builder
had built many colo-
nies in Agra. Cases
were filed in RERA for
fraud and violation of
terms and conditions
by the builder.
Muzaffarnagar: Police
onMondayfiledacharge
sheetinaspecialPOCSO
court against a school
owner and an official for
allegedly molesting sev-
eral girl students in a
case that rocked Uttar
Pradesh late last year.
Yogesh Chouhan,
ownerof aschoolinMu-
zaffarnagar had in No-
vember taken 17 girl
students of Class X from
his school to another
one on the pretext of
preparing them for
practical examinations.
However, Chouhan
and Arjun Singh, man-
ager of the host school,
convinced the girls that
they stay overnight as it
was too dark to return.
They allegedly gave
the students food laced
with sedatives and lat-
er molested them.
The incident came to
light only when two
girls complained of un-
easiness and confront-
ed Chouhan and Singh,
who threatened to kill
their families if they
revealed the incident.
A case was registered
against the duo under
sections 328 (causing
hurt by means of poi-
son, etc.), 354 (assault or
criminalforcetowoman
with intent to outrage
her modesty) and 504
(intentional insult with
intent to provoke breach
of the peace) of the IPC
and Protection of Chil-
dren from Sexual Of-
fences Act.
Chouhan and Singh
are in judicial custody.
Meanwhile, AAP in-
charge of Uttar Pradesh
Sanjay Singh raised the
issue in Rajya Sabha
and demanded speedy
trial. —PTI
Lal Singh with Dy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. —FILE PHOTO
Lal Singh in police custody.
CMYogi chairing a Covid review meet on Monday.ACS Navneet Sehgal,Awanish Awasthi also seen.
Arjun SIngh in police custody. (Inset) Yogesh Chouhan.
DM Dinesh Chandra SSP KK Chaudhary

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol 2 Issue No. 61
RNI NO. UPENG/2020/80229.
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 Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Vishal Srivastav
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Promoted by First India
News International Pvt. Ltd.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
To keep the body in good
health is a duty, for
otherwise we shall not be
able to trim the lamp of
wisdom, and keep our
mind strong and clear.
—Buddha
IN-DEPTH
Jagat Prakash Nadda
@JPNadda
From today, health workers, frontline
workers and citizens above 60 years
of age across the country have started
getting the vaccine for protection
against Covid. Under the leadership of
Prime minister @narendramodi ji, he
has played an important role in giving
impetus to the ongoing vaccination
campaign. Be sure to get a ‘vaccine’.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Govt’s policy on ‘Prashasan Gaon Ki
Aur’ is taking essential services to
every citizen. Tremendous possibilities
for startups to improve last-mile
delivery of these services through
value addition.
TOP TWEETS
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
GIVES BJP TACTICAL
ADVANTAGE IN UP
ASSEMBLY POLL
he Election Commis-
sion’s decision to re-
strict physical cam-
paigning till January
15, has left political
parties to rely on virtual cam-
paigning. If Omicron cases con-
tinue to rise, they’ll only have a
virtual medium to reach out to
their voters. With its digital war
room better equipped and more
efficient the BJP is ahead of its
other political rivals. Samajwa-
di Party president Akhilesh Ya-
dav has asked the Election Com-
mission for funds to provide a
“level-playing field”. The BJP,
Akhilesh told the EC, has better
(digital) infrastructure and to
match it the regional parties
need to be funded. It is not only
the digital infrastructure but
also the financial resources in
which the BJP is way ahead of
its rivals. With IT and ED raids
on their purported financiers,
these parties find their channels
of funds choked.
The SP and BSP ought to have
worked on their digital set-up as
it has been in vogue since 2014.
Of course, the going would not
have been easy
.
T
t the heart of Con-
gress leader DK
S h iva k u m a r ’s
marathon march
of about 94 km
over Karnataka’s Mekedatu
project may be yet another
watersharingrowwithTamil
Nadu. And, like the Cauvery
water sharing dispute, the
Mekedatu project is unlikely
to be resolved soon. Shivaku-
mar’s walk for water may not
serve any purpose other than
gaining political brownie
points over an emotive issue
and embarrassing the Basa-
varaj Bommai government.
The Mekedaku dam pro-
ject is caught in a legal battle
with the Tamil Nadu govern-
ment filing a batch of peti-
tions in the Supreme Court.
Tamil Nadu’s argument is
that the implementation of
the project will cost enor-
mous damage to the environ-
ment. The construction
work, Tamil Nadu claimed,
will affect large tracts of Re-
serve Forests and wildlife
sanctuaries. Karnataka’s ob-
jective is to provide adequate
drinking water to Bengaluru
and generate hydroelectrici-
ty. The dam’s construction
will block the free flow of wa-
ter into Tamil Nadu from Me-
kedaku area, which is the
last free point from Karna-
taka, as release of water will
be in the control of the BJP
government.
Thethemeof Shivakumar’s
10-day march “Namma Neeru
Namma Hakku” (our water,
our right) should not lead to
parched throats in Tamil
Naduwhereshortageisequal-
ly, if not more, acute than in
Bengaluru where encroach-
ments have led to the disap-
pearance of its many water
bodies. Shivakumar would do
well to first chalk out another
water-sharing formula with
Tamil Nadu before starting
the dam’s construction.
The Congress leader’s defi-
ance against getting himself
tested for Covid while defy-
ing Covid-19 protocol also de-
fies logic.
CONG STIRS ANOTHER
DISCORD OVER WATER
Shivakumar’s walk for
water may not serve any
purpose other than
gaining political
brownie points over
an emotive issue and
embarrassing the
Basavaraj Bommai
government
A
nfighting and in that matter to
be precise… unrest has been
an integral part of West Ben-
gal BJP especially since the
poll debacle on May 2, 2021. Of
late, the party has been hit by
a huge revolt within after Un-
ion minister of state for ship-
ping Santanu Thakur and sev-
eral newly-elected MLAs have
left the party’s WhatsApp
group for not getting posts in
the recent rejig in the party
stateunit’sorganizationunder
the leadership of Balurghat
MP Sukanta Majumdar.
The reshuffle within which
took place in December, saw
the ouster of several old-tim-
ers of the BJP and the emer-
gence of a section of youth
leaders,includingsomewitha
RSS background, in the par-
ty’s state unit. This, however,
dashedthehopesof manywho
did not get a place in the state
committee or other bodies
even after getting elected
through the ballot and had be-
comepeople’srepresentatives.
Coming a day after the BJP
was massively trounced in
the Kolkata municipal polls
and six months after the saf-
fron camp secured 77 of the
state’s 294 assembly seats
against the mighty TMC’s 213
(then), the strategic rejig was
undertaken following consul-
tation with the central lead-
ership in Delhi.
The general sentiment of
the old-timers was that prob-
ably, “There was no visible
effort to project people who
have worked with the Rash-
triya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), which used to be the
old practice, and keep out for-
mer TMC leaders.”
The West Bengal unit of
BJP announced its new state
committee on December 22
evening, replacing several
veterans and triggering un-
rest in the organisation by
retaining many who had
come from the TMC.
Most of those who quit the
group are followers of Santa-
nu Thakur, who is from the
Matua community and is also
MP from Bongaon region in
West Bengal. He was peeved
over the fact that he found
himself sidelined and none
of the five MLAs from the
community of Hindu mi-
grants (Matuas), who were on
his side, was included in any
of the committees.
Thakur even told report-
ers… “I will not say anything
now. I will act when the time is
right.”
Thakur is closely associ-
ated with the All India Matua
Mahasangha.
At the epicenter of vote
bank politics… Matuas… a
Scheduled Caste group with
a population of over 3 crore
across the state, have influ-
ence in over 70 assembly con-
stituencies and is spread
across North 24 Parganas,
South 24 Parganas, Nadia
and other smaller pockets of
South and North Bengal.
West Bengal has 10 out of
42 Lok Sabha constituencies
reserved for the Scheduled
Castes and has the second
highest SC population in the
country
. In the 2019 Lok Sab-
ha elections, the BJP man-
aged to win four of 10 SC
caste seats and thereby stir-
ring the Matua vote mainly
on the issue of the Citizen-
ship Amendment Bill.
As a result, this group be-
came extremely important
even for the TMC and both
parties have been focussing
on the Namasudra vote bank.
Thakur has spoken several
times over the delay in the
implementation of the Citi-
zenship (Amendment) Act.
Coming back to the recent
crisis in the BJP state unit,
thelegislatorswhoareunhap-
pyareAsimSarkarof Haring-
hata, Ambika Roy of Kalyani,
Subrata Thakur of Gaighata,
Mukut Mani Adhikari of
Ranaghat South and Ashok
Kirtaniya of Bongaon North
MLA. Subrata is also the
brother of Santanu. Santanu,
alongwiththefiveBJPMLAs,
had quit the party’s What-
sApp group on January 3.
He later said: “The present
leadership of the Bengal BJP
does not need me or the Mat-
uas’ vote bank. So, I do not
need to be there.” Having
said that… Santanu Thakur
held a closed-door meeting
and set four demands for the
appointment of the five
MLAs in various posts before
the party
.
Recently
, another MLA, Hi-
ran Chatterjee, left the party’s
WhatsApp group and vented
his ire by saying, “It is point-
less to be in the party’s What-
sApp group when I have not
been given any responsibility
.
The state leadership and the
central leadership are talking
differently on the affairs here.
Since I have been elected as
an MLA, I will rather keep
myself focused in that role
only,” said the actor-turned-
legislator from Kharagpur.
Reacting to the develop-
ment, BJP state president
Sukanta Majumdar said,
“We will sort out any misun-
derstanding with Thakur. He
is very much a part of the
BJP parivar.” Asked to com-
ment, Trinamool Congress
Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu
Sekhar Roy told reporters
that the BJP had used the
Matua community for its
own electoral gains.
“But it (BJP) was not con-
cerned about their real devel-
opment. It is clear now,” he
added.
On the other hand, Adhi-
kari went on to say that the
aspirations of the people of
his constituency may not get
fulfilled under the newly
formed BJP state committee.
Post May 2021… West Ben-
gal unit of BJP has been
hugely affected by defections,
infighting and unrest and it is
high time, the state unit Pres-
ident, Sukanta Majumdar, ad-
dresses these issues which
have been heavily pulling
down the party’s fortunes es-
pecially with the Lok Sabha
elections just two years away
.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
WHAT’S UP WITH WEST
BENGAL’S BJP UNIT?
I
He later said: “The present
leadership of the Bengal BJP
does not need me or the
Matuas’ vote bank. So, I do
not need to be there.” Having
said that… Santanu Thakur
held a closed-door meeting
and set four demands for the
appointment of the five
MLAs in various posts
before the party
Of late, the party has
been hit by a huge
revolt within after Union
minister of state for
shipping Santanu Thakur
and several newly-
elected MLAs have left
the party’s WhatsApp
group for not getting
posts in the recent rejig
in the party state
unit’s organization
under the leadership
of Balurghat MP Sukanta
Majumdar
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India

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INDIA
05
Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: The elec-
tions in five states are a
test of ambition of Aam
Aadmi Party’s national
convener and Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal. The
results of these elec-
tions may give wings to
his all-India political
ambitions or he may sit
in tatters. Although Ke-
jriwal has had the ambi-
tion of doing all-India
politics for a long time,
but after forming the
govt in Delhi for the sec-
ond time in 2020, his
hopes have increased.
This time he is expect-
ing good performances
in Punjab, Uttarakhand
and Goa. In Punjab, his
party is looking at the
possibility of forming
the govt. Several pre-
poll surveys have pro-
jected the AAP to be the
single largest party.
However, even in
the 2017 elections,
many survey agen-
cies were forming
the AAP govt in
Punjab. Fur-
thermore,
the BJP
has created a ‘wave of
sympathy’ towards
AAP by getting a BJP
leader elected as Mayor,
despite AAP winning
the Chandigarh Munic-
ipal Corporation elec-
tions.
In Uttarakhand, Ke-
jriwal has made retired
army officer Ajay Koti-
yal as the chief
ministerial candi-
date and is mak-
ing many lofty
claims rang-
ing from
free elec-
t r i c i t y,
water to employment.
In Goa too, he is contest-
ing elections on similar
promises. His attempt
is to open an account in
Uttarakhand. So their
effort in Goa is to some-
how win two-four seats
so that AAP can play a
role while forming the
govt in a hung assembly
.
He wants to get enough
seats in Punjab, Goa
and Uttarakhand that
his party can go ahead
to become a national
party
. After that he will
focus on Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh.
A test of Kejriwal’s ambition!
ELECTIONS OF 5 STATES
New Delhi: Rahul Gan-
dhi will hold a huddle
with the Goa Congress
leaders in Delhi on
Tuesday to discuss the
possibility of an alli-
ance with Mamata Ba-
nerjee’s Trinamool
Congress in the coastal
state that votes next
month, sources said.
Gandhi met senior par-
ty colleagues KC Venu-
gopal P Chidambar-
am to strategise over
state elections on Mon-
day. Meanwhile, Con-
gress leader Rahul Gan-
dhi on Monday said the
upcoming assembly
elections are a right
time to defeat hatred.
Assembly elections
in five states including
in UP will be held in
seven phases starting
February 10 to March 7.
Elections right time to defeat hatred: RaGa
TRINAMOOL + CONGRESS FOR GOA POLLS? RAHUL GANDHI’S HUDDLE, LEADERS CALLED TODAY
Jairam Ramesh
pushes for online
Parl committee
meetings
Punjab Lok Cong
gets party symbol
New Delhi: In the wake
of the rise in Covid cas-
es in the national capi-
tal, the meetings of sev-
eralParliamentarycom-
mittees have been can-
celled after over 400
Parliament staff tested
positive for Covid-19
during random testing.
“I requested the
Chairman of the RS on
the last day of the Win-
ter Session to allow on-
line meetings of stand-
ing committees. And yet
again it was disallowed.
Now,importantcommit-
tee meetings are being
cancelled. I simply can-
not understand why on-
line meetings cannot be
held,” Congress leader
Jairam Ramesh said.
Chandigarh: Former
CM Amarinder Singh’s
newly launched politi-
cal outfit Punjab Lok
Congress on Monday
said it has got a party
symbol. ‘Happy to in-
form that Punjab Lok
Congress has received
its Party Symbol --
Hockey Stick with Ball.
#Bas Hun Goal Krna
Baki (Making goals
only left now),’ the Pun-
jab Lok Congress said
in a tweet.
Kochi: The actor in the
assault case in which
actor Dileep is an ac-
cused spoke out public-
ly on Monday for the
first time, saying even
though she was not the
one who committed the
crime, there have been
attempts to humiliate,
silence and isolate her.
The survivor, using
her Instagram handle,
said her name and iden-
tity were suppressed for
the last five years.
“This has not been an
easy journey. The jour-
ney from being a victim
to becoming a survivor.
For 5 years now, my
name and my identity
have been suppressed
under the weight of the
assault inflicted on me.
Though I am not the
one who has committed
the crime, there have
been many attempts to
humiliate, silence and
isolate me,” she said in
her post.
The survivor thanked
everyone who had stood
by her and said some
have stepped forward to
keep her voice “alive”.
“Now when I hear so
many voices speak up
for me, I know that I am
notaloneinthisfightfor
justice,” she said. —PTI
‘I’m not alone in fight’: Actor Dileep
case sexual assault survivor speaks out
Thiruvananthapuram:
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vi-
jayan on Monday con-
demned the murder of
an activist of the SFI in
Idukki district and said
attempts to create riots
in colleges will be not
allowed. Dheeraj Rajen-
dran (21), a student of
Idukki Engineering
College, was stabbed to
death during a scuffle
with Kerala Students
Union (KSU) activists,
police said.
In a Facebook post,
Vijayan wrote, “Murder
of Dheeraj Rajendran, a
student of Govt Engi-
neering College, Iduk-
ki and an SFI activist,
is extremely sad and
condemnable. Police
have been directed to
bring Dheeraj’s killers
before law.”
The Kannur resident
was stabbed around
1pm on Monday, police
said, adding he was
rushed to the local med-
ical college, but could
not be saved. —ANI
SFI activist murder: Won’t allow bid to
create college riots, says Pinarayi Vijayan
Congress gears up for virtual
campaign, prepares for battle
ASSEMBLY POLLS
New Delhi: After the
ElectionCommissionof
India banned physical
rallies till January 15 in
the five poll-bound
states due to a surge in
COVID-19 cases, the
Congress is gearing up
to conduct virtual ral-
lies. According to Con-
gress sources, a green
roomwillbesetupatthe
party headquarters in
Delhi, state capitals and
several districts of the
poll-bound states so that
the leaders can virtually
connect with the people.
Green rooms will
also operate from the
residences of Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gan-
dhi, the sources said.
Congress will also use
social media platforms
for its digital campaign.
Twitter will be used to
set the narrative from
the latest data and Face-
book and Insta-
gram will be used on
several issues. Live vid-
eo content will be put up
on social media plat-
forms. The sources stat-
edthatthepartywillpay
special attention to the
contentof thedigitalral-
lies. The content will be
new, attention-grabbing
and energizing to en-
gage the general public.
BJP fully prepared for digital
rallies in Uttarakhand: Bhatt
New Delhi: Union Min-
isterof StateforDefence
and Tourism, Ajay
Bhatt, on Monday as-
sured that there will be
no connectivity issue
during digital rallies in
Uttarakhand because
BJP is fully prepared for
it. The ECI on Saturday
announced the schedule
for the upcoming As-
sembly elections in Ut-
tar Pradesh, Goa, Pun-
jab, Manipur and Utta-
rakhand and directed
that no physical politi-
cal rallies and road-
shows will be allowed
till January 15. Speak-
ing to ANI, he said,
“BJP workers are law-
abiding, we always fol-
low the instructions of
ECI. We are fully pre-
pared for the digital ral-
lies. We have done such
a rally earlier. There
will be no connectivity
issues during digital ral-
lied in Uttarakhand be-
cause people here are
very cooperative and
they do whatever told to
do by the govt.”
‘GAME-CHANGER’:SIDHUASACTORSONU
SOOD’S SISTER JOINS CONGRESS
Moga: Bollywood actor Sonu Sood’s sister Malvika
Sood on Monday joined Cong in presence of Punjan
CM Charanjit Singh Channi and state Cong president
Navjot Singh Sidhu. The the development comes as
a “game-changer” ahead of the February 14 assem-
bly polls. Speaking on the occasion, Malvika Sood
said she has taken the political plunge to dedicate
herself to serve the people. Referring to Malvika
Sood’s joining Cong, Sidhu said, “In the cricketing
world, it is called a game-changer.”
BJP MLA RADHA KRISHNA JOINS SP
Lucknow: In yet another jolt to the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP), its sitting MLA from Bilsi Assem-
bly seat in Badaun district Radha Krishna Sharma
joined the
Samajwadi
Party (SP)
on Monday.
SP shared
a picture of
Sharma with
party presi-
dent Akhilesh
Yadav. The party said in a tweet, “Expressing faith
in the leadership of the national president, MLA
from Bilsi, Badaun Radha Krishna Sharma has
taken the membership of the Samajwadi Party.
Warm welcome and greeting to you.” This is the
second jolt to the ruling BJP within a week. Last
week, BJP MLA from Nanpara in Bahraich district
Madhuri Varma also joined SP. —Agencies
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: A plea
has been moved in
Delhi High Court
seeking direction to
quash Section 14 of
the impugned Nation-
al Commission for In-
dian System of Medi-
cine (NCISM) Act,
2020 that mandated a
common NEET for
taking admission in
all the disciplines of
medical education
like MBBS, BDS,
BAMS, BSMS, BUMS
and BHMS.
The bench of Jus-
tice DN Patel and Jus-
tice Jyoti Singh on
Monday issued notice
to Union of India Min-
istry of Ayurveda,
Yoga and Naturopathy,
Unani, Siddha and Ho-
moeopathy (AYUSH),
National Commission
for Indian System of
Medicine, National
Commission for Ho-
moeopathy, National
Testing Agency and
others and tagged the
matter with other sim-
ilar pending matters.
The Court listed the
matter for March 30,
2022, for further hear-
ing the matter.
Plea in HC challenges NCISM Act mandated in
NEET for admission in all medical disciplines
New Delhi: The SC
Monday said it
would hear on Janu-
ary 25 the arguments
on a batch of peti-
tions which have
raised issue con-
cerning interpreta-
tion of certain provi-
sions of the PMLA.
The top court, which
was scheduled to
hear the pleas on
Tuesday, deferred
the hearing after
senior advocates Ka-
pil Sibal and Mukul
Rohatgi,whoarerep-
resenting some of
the petitioners, men-
tioned the matter
and requested the
bench to defer it for
some time. Sibal told
abenchof JusticesA
M Khanwilkar and C
T Ravikumar that
they are ready with
the matter but the
problem is that their
juniors are down
with COVID. -PTI
PMLA matter: SC to hear
batch of petitions on Jan 25
Court sends ‘Bulli
Bai’ case accused
to police custody
Mumbai: Two accused
inthe‘BulliBai’appcase-
Shweta Singh and Ma-
yank Rawal- have been
sent to Mumbai Cyber
Police custody till Janu-
ary 14 by the Bandra
court on Monday
. The
court initially remanded
Shweta Singh and Ma-
yankRawaltopolicecus-
tody till January 10.
Meanwhile, the Bandra
CourtsentVishalKumar
Jha, another accused in
the same case to 14-day
judicial custody
.
New Delhi: A plea has
been moved in the Delhi
HC seeking direction to
the Centre through the
Ministry of Law and
Justicetoenactlawsand
guidelines regulating
the activities of private
detectives on account of
their conduct being in
violation of Article 21 of
the Constitution of In-
dia. The petition further
seeksdirectiontoconsti-
tute a State Board, com-
prising of a member
from the Judiciary
, from
the State Home Depart-
ment, a member from
theStateIntelligenceDe-
partment, a member
from the State Police De-
partment, a nominee
member from the Na-
tional Human Rights
Commission of India
andtwoeminentperson-
alities. The matter on
Monday got adjourned
for February 21 as the
main counsel from the
petitioner side was un-
well. The matter was
listed before the bench
of Justices DN Patel and
Jyoti Singh. —ANI
Direct Centre to
frame laws for
pvt detectives:
PIL in Delhi HC
SC restrains Tripura cops from acting
against activist’s tweets on violence
New Delhi: The SC
Monday restrained
TripuraPolicefromact-
ingonitsnoticetoTwit-
ter Inc with regard to a
journalist’s tweet about
alleged communal vio-
lence in the state.
Abenchof JusticesD
YChandrachudandAS
Bopanna issued notice
on the plea and tagged
the plea of Samiullah
Shabbir Khan with oth-
erpendingmatters.The
bench said, “Issue no-
tice. Pending fur-
ther orders, there
shall be an ad-inter-
im direction stay-
ing the first re-
spondent (Super-
intendent of Police
(Cyber Crime)) from
acting on communica-
tion dated Nov 22, 2021
with regard to the peti-
tioner in these proceed-
ings”, the bench said.
COVID-19 PIL: SC JUNKS PLEA
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dis-
missed a plea alleging that China is deliberately
spreading the COVID-19 virus as a biological
weapon. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul
and MM Sundresh dismissed a plea filed by a
Karnataka-based lawyer who has contended that
virgin coconut oil can dissolve the virus and
sought directions to the Central government to
stop China from spreading the virus. The Bench
said the petition was only a publicity move. —ANI
E
E
E
SURVIVOR WRITES TO CM
Ajay Bhatt
Jairam Ramesh
Rahul Gandhi
Pinarayi Vijayan
Malvika Sood with Charanjeet Singh Channi and Navjot
Singh Sidhu in Moga.
Arvind Kejriwal

INDIA
06
Chennai: Apple Inc
supplier Foxconn will
reopen an iPhone man-
ufacturing facility in
India on Wednesday
with 500 workers, gov-
ernment officials and a
legislator in the region
where the plant is lo-
cated said.
The Foxconn plant,
in the town of Sripe-
rumbudur near the Ta-
mil Nadu state capital
of Chennai, employed
about 17,000 people but
was closed on Decem-
ber 18 after protests
over 250 of its workers
who fell sick with food
poisoning.
Apple has since
placed the factory on
probation after discov-
ering that some dormi-
tories and dining rooms
did not meet required
standards. Foxconn and
Apple did not immedi-
ately respond to a re-
quest for comment.
K Selvaperunthagai,
a member of the state
assembly for the area,
said the Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister MK Sta-
lin told the Assembly
late on Friday the plant
would reopen on
Wednesday with 500
workers. Government
officials have said Fox-
conn intended to re-
sume production grad-
ually but have not said
when the full workforce
would be back on the
job. Foxconn has been
making the iPhone 12
and testing production
of the iPhone 13 at the
Sriperumbudur facility
,
its only plant in India,
government officials
have said.
Selvaperunthagaisaid
the state government
would build a hostel fa-
cility with a capacity to
house tens of thousands
of workers from various
industries. —Agencies
Foxconn’s iPhone plant near Chennai to reopen
FOXCONN TO RESUME OPS

Tamil Nadu, one
of the country’s
industrialised
State, is called
the “Detroit of
Asia”. It is home
to factories of
cos including
BMW, Daimler,
Hyundai, Nissan
NAIDU, BIRLA SEEK COVID NORMS REVIEW
Presiding officers of 2 Houses asks officials to chalk out measures to hold a safe Budget Session as 400 staffers tested +ve
New Delhi: Amid a
surge in Covid cases
across the country and
around 400 Parliament
staff members testing
positive for the infec-
tion, presiding officers
of the two Houses on
Monday asked officials
to chalk out measures
to hold a safe Budget
Session.
Rajya Sabha Chair-
man M Venkaiah Naidu
and Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla on Monday
directed the secretaries
general of both the
Houses to examine in
detail the prevailing
scenario of the Covid
pandemic and suggest
measures for the safe
conduct of the Budget
session, sources said.
Though the dates
have not yet been an-
nounced, the Budget
Session usually begins
at the end of January
.
According to sources,
Naidu had called up
Birla and the two took
stock of the situation
and directed both secre-
taries general accord-
ingly
.
The Monsoon Ses-
sion of 2020 was the
first full session held
under Covid protocol
with the Rajya Sabha
meeting in the first half
of the day and Lok Sab-
ha during the second
half.
The same protocol
was followed for the
first part of the Budget
Session during 2021.
For the second part
of the Budget session,
and the Monsoon and
Winter sessions last
year, Rajya Sabha and
Lok Sabha reverted to
normal timings with
members sitting in the
chambers and galleries
of Parliament. —ANI
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Covid behaviour, vaccination main
shields against variants, says expert
New Delhi: Noting that
there has been a sudden
rise in Covid-19 cases
across India, a health
expert has advised peo-
ple to follow Covid ap-
propriate behaviour
and get vaccinated say-
ing that precaution is
the only important
thing to protect from all
mutations of virus.
“For all variants of
Covid-19, be it Delta,
Omicron or any other
variant, precaution is
most important, which
we call as Covid behav-
iour. This involves so-
cial distancing, wear-
ing masks, and getting
vaccinated. —ANI
Teenagers pose for the photo after recieving a dose of Covaxin at
Haryana Guest House, in Guwahati on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI
NO SYMPTOMS OR NOT AT
‘HIGH RISK’? DON’T GET
TESTED, SAYS CENTRE
New Delhi: Contacts
of Covid-19 patients,
unless identified as
high-risk, don’t need
to be tested, the Gov-
ernment’s top medi-
cal body said on Mon-
dayina new advisory
.
Asymptomatic in-
dividuals in commu-
nity settings, pa-
tients who stand dis-
charged as per home
isolation guidelines,
also patients dis-
charged from a Cov-
id-19 facility and in-
dividuals undertak-
ing inter-state do-
mestic travel need
not be tested, said the
Indian Council of
Medical Research.
Those with cough,
fever, sore throat,
loss of taste or smell,
breathlessness and
other respiratory
symptoms) individu-
als should be tested,
said the body
.
—Agencies
 DDMA decides to
close restaurants, only
take away facility al-
lowed: Delhi LG Baijal
 Health Ministry joint
secretary advises Omi-
cron patients to go in for
home isolation, rely on
only authentic sources
 CRPF reports 931
active Covid-19 cases
across all formations
 Karnataka police
lodged an FIR against the
State Congress president
DK Shivakumar, Opposi-
tion leader Siddaramaiah
and 30 others for carry-
ing out padayatra despite
Covid curfew order.
 Nick Kyrgios tests +ve
ahead of Australian Open
 Surge in cases forces
Sports Authority to shut
its training centres
 25 international fliers,
found Covid +ve, de-
boarded at Delhi Airport
HIGHLIGHTS COVID
POSITIVE
TN ALLOWS
JALLIKATTU THIS
YEAR WITH CURBS
Chennai: Tamil
Nadu Government
has allowed the
famed Jallikattu
event this year with
Covid-19 restric-
tions. According to
the circular, only 150
spectators or 50 per
cent of the seating
capacity will be al-
lowed. The specta-
tors must carry full
vaccination cer-
tificate or negative
RT-PCR test report.
New Delhi: The
Centre made it
clear to States
and UTs that no
time limit has
been set for the
operationalisation
of vaccination
centres, and that
they can operate
till 10 pm.
About 1K Delhi
Police personnel, 46
prisoners in Delhi
l Rajnath Singh l
BJP Leader Khushbu
Sundar l Bihar CM
Nitish Kumar l BJP
chief JP Nadda l
K’taka CM Bommai
l Union Minister
Ajay Bhatt
Bhopal: A Madhya Pradesh police constable who
was placed under suspension for keeping his hair
and moustache long in alleged
violation of service rules for uni-
formed personnel was reinstated
on Monday, with a senior official
stating that the order to take
him off duty was not issued by a
competent authority. Constable
Rakesh Rana, posted as a driver in the police’s motor
transport wing, was suspended, as per an order of
Prashant Sharma, Assistant Inspector General, Coop-
eratives Fraud and Public Service Guarantee. —PTI
Mumbai: The Mumbai
International Airport
skirted a major fire
incident when the vehicle
that tows the plane —
pushback aircraft tow
tug — caught fire on
Monday. The aircraft
tug which was to push
back Air India flight
AI-647 caught fire near
the plane. The plane was
destined to Jamnagar
with 85 passengers on
board. —Agencies
Banihal/Jammu:
The Jammu-Srinagar
National Highway was
reopened for traffic today
after remaining closed
for the past three days
due to heavy snowfall
and multiple landslides in
Ramban district, officials
said. The clearance of
debris is still going on to
ensure smooth move-
ment of traffic. —ANI
Balrampur: Six people,
including ex-Balrampur
MP of Samajwadi Party,
Rizwan Zahir, and his
daughter have been
arrested for their alleged
involvement in kill-
ing of former Tulsipur
panchyat chairman Firoz
Khan Pappu on January
5, police said. Pappu
was hacked to death on
January 4 night by some
persons, SP Hemant
Kutiyal said. —PTI
Dehradun: In yet another
decision to please the
priest community after
withdrawing the Chard-
ham Devasthanam Board
Act, the Uttarakhand
government has recon-
stituted the Badrinath-
Kedarnath Temple Com-
mittee under a new head
to manage the affairs
of the two Himalayan
shrines. —ANI
MP COP SUSPENDED FOR REFUSING
TO TRIM MOUSTACHE REINSTATED
CLOSE SHAVE FOR
85 FLIERS AS TUG
CATCHES FIRE
JAMMU-SRINAGAR
NH REOPENS
AFTER 3 DAYS
EX-MP, DAUGHTER
AMONG 6 HELD FOR
MURDER IN UP
BADRI-KEDAR
TEMPLE PANEL
RECONSTITUTED
Kottayam: Seven people have been arrested from
Karukachal in Kerala for their alleged involvement
in a case relating to partner swapping, police said.
Seven people, including the husband of a woman
who had filed a complaint that she was being
forced by her husband into unnatural sex, were
arrested. The gang was busted during the investi-
gation into the complaint of the woman, they said.
According to the complaint, the woman was forced
into unnatural sex with other men. The gang is said
to have used Telegram, Messenger apps. —ANI
‘PARTNER SWAPPING’ RACKET BUSTED IN
KERALA,7 ARRESTED,SAY COPS: REPORT
CRUCIAL READ
No time limit
set for vaccine
centres: Govt
I’m ashamed: Kerala Guv on
denial of honouring President
Kerala: The ongoing
tiff between Kerala
Governor Arif Moham-
med Khan and Pinarayi
Vijayan-led State Gov-
ernment over the denial
of giving the Honorary
D Litt to President of
India took a turn for the
worse, with the former
slamming the Kerala
University Vice-Chan-
cellor.
Speaking to the me-
dia soon after arriving
from Delhi, Khan said
he is ashamed and has
to hang his head in
shame.
“Kerala University is
one of the oldest uni-
versities in the country
and the Vice-chancellor
cannot even write five
lines correctly. He also
cannot even speak prop-
erly. I was really
ashamed,” said Khan.
Khan said he was
surprised to find out
that no convocation has
been held at the Kerala
University for the past
10 years, so he told the
V-C to hold one.
“After a month he
came back to me and I
told him that I will per-
sonally go to the Presi-
dent of India to come
and attend the convoca-
tion. But on 5th Decem-
ber he calls the Raj
Bhavan and I was
shocked to hear what he
was saying. It took me
10 minutes to regain
myself when I heard
what he was saying.
Soon after that, I called
the Chief Minister,”
said Khan. —ANI
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan
70-km long march seeking
repeal of AFSPA begins
Dimapur: Hundreds of
Nagas joined a two-day
walkathon on Monday
from Nagaland’s com-
mercial hub Dimapur
to state capital Kohima,
a distance of more than
70 km, demanding the
repeal of Armed Force
Special Power Act (AF-
SPA) and justice for the
14 civilians who were
killed in Mon district.
The walkathon,
which stemmed out of
social media posts fol-
lowing the Mon kill-
ings, gained the support
of various tribal bodies
and civil society organi-
sations in the State.
It began at the Super
Market area of Dima-
pur with volunteers and
participants holding
placards, demanding
the repeal of AFSPA.
Rukewezo Wetsah,
one of the coordinators
of the walkathon, said
it was a peaceful, silent
and democratic meas-
ure to convey the re-
sentment of the people
over AFSPA, and reas-
sert “our dignity as hu-
man beings”. —PTI
Outrage over actor’s tweet on Olympic Bronze medallist Saina
New Delhi: Actor Sid-
dharth’s tweet on bad-
minton player Saina
Nehwal’s comment on
PM Narendra Modi’s
recent security scare
has run into a contro-
versy over outright sex-
ist overtones.
Nehwal had raised
concerns over PM’s con-
voy’s being stopped for
some 20 minutes.
“No nation can claim
itself to be safe if the se-
curity of its own PM
getscompromised.Icon-
demn, in the strongest
words possible, the cow-
ardlyattackonPMModi
by anarchists,” Nehwal,
anOlympicBronzemed-
allist, tweeted.
Retweeting Nehwal,
Siddharth posted, “Sub-
tlecockchampionof the
world... Thank God we
haveprotectorsof India.
Folded hands. Shame on
you Rihanna.” —Agencies
New Delhi: The
National Commission
for Women on Monday
said that it has written
to Twitter to block the
handle of actor Sid-
dharth for a tweet on
shuttler and BJP leader
Saina Nehwal calling it
“misogynist and outra-
geous” and the Com-
mission has also asked
the DGP to investigate
the matter and register
an FIR. Siddharth, who
primarily works in Ta-
mil and Telugu cinema.
—ANI
NCW ASKS TWITTER TO BLOCK ACTOR’S
HANDLE FOR ‘MISOGYNIST’ COMMENT
—FILE PHOTO
Actor Siddharth
Saina Nehwal

Lucknow: Mayawati
has said it would be a
mistake to say that her
Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) is out of the race
in the assembly elec-
tions. And led by Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra,
the Congress hopes to
upset the balance with
its women-centric
agenda. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah, CM Yogi Adity-
anath other BJP lead-
ers have been targeting
Akhilesh Yadav, fur-
thering the impression
that they regard his SP
as the main challenger.
Banking on the Hin-
dutva plus development
plank, the BJP has it-
self crafted an alliance
with some Other Back-
ward Class parties for a
comeback bid in a state
where no party has won
two consecutive elec-
tions over the past 35
years.
The BJP has allied
with the Apna Dal (Son-
elal) and the Nishad
party, a combination of
backward castes. Akh-
ilesh Yadav is trying to
upset the BJP with the
help of a rainbow coali-
tion, which includes
Om Prakash Rajbhar’s
Suheldev Bharatiya Sa-
maj Party -- a former
ally of the BJP in UP --
the Rashtriya Lok Dal
and uncle Shivpal Ya-
dav’s Pragatisheel Sa-
majwadi Party (Lohia).
It is yet to be seen if
Priyanka Gandhi’s
women card — she has
even promised that 40
per cent of party tickets
will go to women —
would outplay the caste
and communal calcula-
tions of the main play-
ers. After Rahul Gandhi
lost the 2019 Lok Sabha
polls from the family
bastion of Amethi, the
party faces a big chal-
lenge of winning from
the five assembly seg-
ments in Rae Bareli —
party president Sonia
Gandhi’sparliamentary
constituency. Though
the BSP is not much vis-
ible on the ground or
digital platforms so far,
it support base lies
among the Dalits who
form about 20 percent
of the state’s popula-
tion. The 403-member
UP house has 86 re-
served seats for the
Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.
With the UP polls
considered crucial for
the general elections in
2024, Arvind Kejriwal’s
Aam Aadmi Party and
Asaduddin Owaisi’s All
India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen are also try-
ing to expand their po-
litical presence in the
populous state. The poll
outcome will also have
a bearing on the Presi-
dential elections in
July. Before that 73 Ra-
jya Sabha members
would have retired, in-
cluding 11 from UP.
Buoyed by the mas-
sive assembly election
victory in home state
West Bengal last year,
the Trinamool Con-
gress is vying the Con-
gress space in the oppo-
sition and contesting
the polls in Goa and
Manipur. In UP, howev-
er, Mamata Banerjee’s
party has indicated
that it would not take
the plunge and instead
help Akhilesh Yadav.
NDA allies Janata Dal
(United), Hindustani
Awam Morcha of for-
mer Bihar chief minis-
ter Jitan Ram Manjhi
and Vikassheel Insaan
Party of Bihar minister
Mukesh Sahni are try-
ing to get the BJP share
some seats. —PTI
NEWS
07
BJP UNDER
PRESSURE IN
KALYANPUR
ASSEMBLY SEAT
Kanpur, which has remained a
BJP stronghold since the
Modi wave swept through the
country in 2014, will now see
tougher competition in many
seats, with the toughest expected
to be the Kalyanpur assembly
seat where Neelima Katiyar of the
BJP, who is currently the MLA
from Kalyanpur assembly seat
and is the daughter of former
MLA Premlata Katiyar, is facing
stiff competition from former SP
MLA Satish Nigam. There has
been a lot churning going on in
Lucknow regarding party tickets
to candidates on the basis of the
report card of the work done in
the assembly seat sent by booth
presidents. The report cards have
reiterated the need for harder
work to keep rivals at bay. The
people in the Kalyanpur assembly
seat have reportedly expressed
displeasure with the work done
by elected representatives during
the Covid pandemic, which has
given the opposition an
opportunity to attack the current
representative of the seat. The
coming elections amidst another
Covid wave may see an
interesting turn of events as
many leaders are afraid of not
bagging the ticket and some are
even considering switching sides.
Many veteran leaders are eager
to establish some connections
with the main rival, the SP, while
the Congress and BSP are yet to
show their cards ahead of the
elections. —Sumit Awasthi
WHO WILL BE
NEXT KANPUR
POLICE
COMMISSIONER?
The search for the next
Commissioner of Police,
Kanpur City, has intensified after
IPS Asim Arun took VRS recently.
The state government has sent a
panel of names of 3 IPS officers
to the Election Commission and
as the model code of conduct has
been imposed in the state due to
the upcoming assembly
elections, the decision of posting
a new officer as Kanpur Police
Commissioner has to be taken by
the Election Commission. Once
the instructions from the Election
Commission are received, the
Police Commissioner of Kanpur
City will be appointed. Our
sources in the bureaucracy have
hinted that an officer from the
1996 batch might soon be posted
as Kanpur’s Police
Commissioner. Another source in
the Election Commission has
informed that IPS Vijay Singh
Meena ADG Vigilance, IPS Dr N
Ravinder ADG Vigilance, and Dr
Ramkrishna Swarnkar ADG PSR
PB UP Police, all three from
the 1996 batch, are front-runners
for the post of Police
Commissioner. The name of
Kanpur’s new Police
Commissioner will only be
revealed after the Election
Commission gives its final go-
ahead. —Ahtesham Siddiqui
NOTJUSTBJP-SP RACE,OTHERSMATTERTOO
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the BJP and the SP
may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh
But others threaten to open up the field a bit. Mayawati has
said it would be a mistake to say that her BSP is out of the race
‘PEOPLE’S ANGER’
FROM BJP TO SP
BJP has suffered a setback ahead of the elections as its
MLA from Bilsi in Badaun district, Pandit Radha Krishna
Sharma has joined Samajwadi Party.
‘Stop musical chair of power between Cong
BJP, give AAP chance to rule U’khand’
Dehradun: AAP lead-
er Manish Sisodia on
Monday appealed to
people of Uttarakhand
to see the coming as-
sembly polls as an op-
portunity to change
their lives and get rid
of the problems plagu-
ing the state for years.
Initiating the Aam
Aadmi Party’s (AAP)
Nav Parivartan Sam-
vad (dialogue for
change) in the poll-
bound state virtually,
the Delhi Deputy CM
said in the past 21 years
of its existence Uttara-
khand has failed to
achieve the goals for
which it was created.
“BJP Congress have
been in power alter-
nately in Uttarakhand
but done nothing for its
development which
was the main objective
behind its creation. All
they have done is fill
their coffers. Problems
like migration, lack of
schools hospitals re-
main where they were
at the time of its crea-
tion 21 years ago,” the
AAP leader said.
“February 14 brings
to you an opportunity
to vote for change and
get rid of the problems
plaguing the state for
years,” he said. Sisodia
asked people to stop the
“musical chair” of
power going on be-
tween the Congress
and BJP for two dec-
ades and give AAP
leader Arvind Kejriwal
a chance to implement
the Delhi model of de-
velopment in Uttara-
khand. “If you want
good schools and good
hospitals, crops in your
fields and the deserted
villages in the hills re-
populated give us a
chance,” he said. —PTI
AAP leader Manish Sisodia —FILE PHOTO
BADRI-KEDAR
TEMPLE COMMITTEE
RECONSTITUTED
Lucknow: In yet an-
other decision to
please the priest com-
munity after with-
drawing the Chard-
ham Devasthanam
Board Act, the Utta-
rakhand government
has reconstituted the
Badrinath-Kedar-
nathTempleCommit-
tee under a new head
to manage the affairs
of the two Himalayan
shrines. The move re-
vives a body which
controlled the two
temples before the
Chardham Dev-
asthanam Board was
constituted through a
legislation in the
state assembly to con-
trol the affairs of 51
temples, including
Char Dham. It is be-
ing seen as the state
government’s mes-
sage to the priest
community ahead of
the coming assembly
polls that it is com-
mitted to protect
their traditional
rights over the Hima-
layan temples. BJP
leader Ajendra Ajay
has been appointed
president of the com-
mittee, Kishor Pan-
war its vice presi-
dent, and BD Singh
its chief executive
officer, a notification
issued by culture sec-
retary HC Semwal
said. Besides, there
are 13 members on
the committee. Con-
stituted through a
legislation during
Trivendra Singh
Rawat’s chief minis-
tership, the Chard-
ham Devasthanam
Board was disman-
tledandtheActwhich
had led to its creation
waswithdrawninDe-
cember due to a pro-
longed agitation by
priests. —PTI
Badrinath Dham covered in a thick blanket of snow.
‘Feb 14 brings to
you an
opportunity to
vote for change
and get rid of the
problems’
Congresswillputanendtocrime
againstwomen:KarishmaThakur
Sumit Awasthi
Kanpur: President of
UP Congress women’s
wing and Bundelkhand
in-charge Karishma
Thakur is making head-
lines these days for her
working style. In a con-
versation with First In-
dia News, the Congress
candidate from Kan-
pur’s Govind Nagar
Vidhan Sabha constitu-
ency said that under the
leadership of Priyanka
Gandhi, every worker
of the Congress party is
going amidst the public
to speak up for and safe-
guard their rights. Also,
if voted to power, Con-
gress will put an end to
unemployment, price
rise, crime against
women in the state,
Thakur said. Thakur is
one of the top leaders of
the Congress in UP and
has long been active in
politics in the Govind
Nagar Vidhan Sabha
constituency
.
Karishma Thakur
Police nab man
for raping minor
Firozabad: A man has
been arrested for alleg-
edly raping a 12-year-old
girl in Shikohabad area
of Uttar Pradesh’s Firo-
zabad district, police
said on Monday
. The ac-
cused was the driver of
a car of a transgender
who came here to attend
“Kinnar Sammelan” be-
ing organised from Jan-
uary 1 to 14, Additional
Superintendent of Po-
lice (Rural) Akhilesh
Narain said. —PTI
Gang that sold minor girls to
older men busted, six held
Greater Noida: Six
members of a gang in-
volved in child traffick-
ing have been arrested
in Greater Noida, in-
formed local police on
Monday
. “The arrest
came after an operation
was carried out by
Badalpur Police Station
on Sunday to squeeze
out the gang involved in
child trafficking. Three
women and three men
have been arrested so
far. 5 more are identified
which will be arrested
soon,” said Vrinda
Shukla, Deputy Com-
missioner of Police,
Women and Child Safe-
ty
. “The Gang used to
lure minor girls from
outside their homes.
were being sold to mar-
ry older men for money
.
The gang was mostly ac-
tiveinHaryana’sRohtak
many places of the
country
,” it added. —PTI
—
PHOTO
BY
ANI
IPS Vijay Singh Meena
IPS Dr. N Ravinder IPS Dr. Ram Krishna Swarnkar
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Priyanka Gandhi.

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
55,07,612
TOTAL DEATHS
25,97,14,030
TOTAL RECOVERED
4,29,65,125
ACTIVE CASES
30,81,86,767
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
4,83,936
TOTAL DEATHS
3,45,00,172
TOTAL RECOVERED
7,23,619
ACTIVE CASES
3,57,08,442
TOTAL CASES
08
2NDFRONT
As the National Road Safety Week
begins, let us all pledge to be better
‘on the road’ and obey traffic rules!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Ten trainee
IPS officers of Uttar
Pradesh cadre (73rd RR,
year 2019-20 batch) met
Additional Chief Secre-
tary
, Home Awanish Ku-
marAwasthionMonday
in the auditorium room
in Lok Bhavan.
Director General of
Police, Uttar Pradesh,
Mukul Goel also met the
trainee IPS officers at
the Police Headquarters
whilstfollowingCovid-19
guidelines. The trainees
after receiving basic
trainingfromSardarPa-
tel NationalPolice Acad-
emy
, Hyderabad, and Dr.
Bhimrao Ambedkar UP
Police Academy
, Morad-
abad, reached the Head-
quarters for meeting,
tour/training before be-
ing assigned different
districtsfortheirdistrict
training.
Sharing his experi-
ences, the ACS informed
the new IPS trainees
about the ways to
strengthen peace and
preventcrimeeffectively
so that a safe environ-
ment to women, general
public, etc.
He further stated that
Uttar Pradesh is a vast
and beautiful state and
the opportunity to work
in the state will help
them directly connect
with the people.
ACS (Home) Awanish
Kumar Awasthi while
congratulatingthetrain-
ee IPS officers for their
bright future wished
that all the IPS trainees’
success in meeting the
aspirationsof thepeople
and urged them to dis-
charging their duties
andresponsibilitieswith
full dedication whilst
gaining the trust of the
public.
The IPS trainees who
met Additional Chief
Secretary
, Home Shakti
Mohan Awasthi,
Manush Parik, Patil Ni-
mish Dashrath, Amit
Kumawat, Ayush
Vikram Singh, Chirag
Jain, Puneet Dwivedi,
Shiva Singh, Anukree-
thy Sharma and Shruti
Srivastava.
Uttar Pradesh welcomes 10 new IPS officers
NEW BEGINNING
DGP Mukul Goel meeting trainee IPS officers at Police Headquarters
in Lucknow on Monday.
QUICK LOOK
Yogihas16.8millionfollowersonTwitter,Akhileshhas15.4MPriyankahas4.4Mfollowers
Gyanendra Kumar Shukla
Lucknow: Due to the
outbreak of Covid-19,
the Election Commis-
sion has has banned
any kind of rally or
road show of political
parties till January 15.
For this reason, all po-
litical parties in UP
have to focus their elec-
toral campaign on so-
cial media to reach out
to voters.
When it comes to the
use of social media,
BJP seems to be getting
the edge compared to
other parties because
the Saffron Party has
been active on social
platforms for a long
time. According to so-
cial media expert
Gaurav Senger, “It
would be pertinent to
say that PM Modi is in
the league of some of
the biggest global politi-
cians in terms of social
media presence. His so-
cial media presence is
intertwined with his
rise from Gujrat CM in
2012 to the national
stage as PM in 2014”.
In the 2014 and 2019
Lok Sabha elections
and 2017 UP elections,
the BJP has succeeded
to create an atmosphere
in its favor with better
use of social media. If
we analyse the Twitter
accounts of politicians
who have influence in
the UP elections, then
PM Modi is at the top of
the chart. He has 74.3
million followers, he
follows 2433 people.
Yogi has 16.8 million fol-
lowers and follows 50
people. After these two,
Akhilesh Yadav comes
in the popular category
on Twitter, whose Twit-
ter account has 15.4 mil-
lion followers and he
follows only 24 people.
Priyanka Gandhi’s ac-
count has 4.4 million
followers, she follows
191 accounts. BSP su-
premo Mayawati is a
politician who became
active on social media
after a long delay
.
Her blue ticked
Twitter account has
2.3 million followers.
She does not follow
any account other
than Twitter support.
It is evident from the
verified Twitter ac-
counts of the parties
that BJP-India has 17.3
million followers; BJP-
UP followed by 2.9 mil-
lion people. The Na-
tional Congress has
almost half of BJP’s
followers i.e. 8.4 mil-
lion , the party follows
2358 people on Twitter.
The followers of UP
Congress’s twitter
handle are only 461.4
thousand. The SP has
2.8 million followers,
so the party follows 52
people. There are only
24.5 thousand people
who follow BSP. If
we judge the political
parties according to
the overall presence
on social platforms the
resulting sequence in
the decreasing order
will be..BJP, SP, Con-
gress and BSP.
BJP EXPLOITS MATHURA SENTIMENT
TO STRENGTHEN POLL PROSPECTS
BJP’S UP CORE GROUP MEETING TODAY
Lucknow: Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has said
that the one who has
guts will make Mathura.
“We will make temple
in Mathura like a grand
Ram temple was built in
Ayodhya,” the CM said
speaking to a news chan-
nel. When Uttar Pradesh
BJP tweeted this state-
ment from its Twitter
handle, it was speculated
that after Ayodhya, Kashi
it is now Mathura on
BJP’s agenda. Saints
welcomed this state-
ment. After the constant
tweets and statements
about Mathura, some
people are associating it
with the assembly elec-
tions. People believe that
the BJP on seeing itself
on the backfoot after the
farmers’ agitation has
started raising the issue
of Mathura. Through
Mathura, the BJP wants
to show its Hindutva im-
age among the people in
the polls. After this tweet
surfaced, some people
are also looking at the
CM’s ongoing chances of
contesting from Mathura.
Political experts see the
reason behind raising the
issue of Mathura by the
BJP for retaining its hold
which was weakened due
to the farmers’ agitation
in western UP. In 2017,
of 126 seats in western
UP, the BJP had won 109
seats.
The announcement of dates for the
UP assembly elections, has kick
started preparation for selection of
candidates by all the parties of the
state. The BJP’s State Election Com-
mittee met in Lucknow on Monday
ahead of a big meeting of the UP Core
Group in Delhi on Tuesday. The meet-
ing will have BJP President JP Nadda,
National Organization General Secre-
tary BL Santosh, CM Yogi Adityanath,
both Deputy chief ministers, State
President Swatantra Dev Singh and
Sunil Bansal along with possibilities
of Union Home Minister Amit Shah
attending the meeting. The leaders
will discuss about potential candi-
dates for various seats.Some names
of potential candidates have already
been decided following a survey
conducted by the BJP central leader-
ship and the meeting on Tuesday will
see discussion on all the aspects like
caste equation, position in the area,
chances of winning etc. CEC of the
BJP will also meet after 2-3 days and
take a final decision on the selection
of the candidates.
Congress not to stop
deserters, says PGV
on Imran’s resignation
First India Bureau
Lucknow:Evenasprom-
inent Muslim face of
west UP Imran Masood
on Monday formally an-
nouncedtoquitCongress
andjoinSP
,theAICCgen-
eral secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra said that
without any break the
party would continue its
fight against BJP
.
ReactingtoImran’sde-
parture, Priyanka said
“those who want to leave
theyarefreetogo,wewill
not stop. If they do not
have capability to fight
they should go.”
The departure of
Masood from the Con-
gress is being seen in po-
litical circle as major set-
backforthepartyinwest
UP
, where the efforts
were being made to gain
some grounds. Masood
wasquiteclosetoGandhi
family
. The party had
made him AICC secre-
tary and his voice was
important in west UP is-
sues.Butaftersuccessive
defeatsImranhasveered
round to the view that it
was not advisable to con-
tinue in the party
. “It is
not good to face continu-
ing defeats and strength-
en the BJP
,” Imran told
First India after an-
nouncinghisresignation
from Congress. He has
good following among
Muslims in Western UP
especiallyinSaharanpur,
Muzaffarnagar and
Meerut regions.
Masood said he had
sought the time from SP
chief Akhilesh Yadav
and would formally join
the party in a few days.
Imran had a meeting
with Yadav last week in
Lucknow. Imran said the
way Congress had been
carryingoutitscampaign
it would not help the par-
ty
. It would only help the
BJP
. Imran said the Con-
gress had lost base in the
western UP
. In 2017 elec-
tion the Congress had
won two seats while one
hadgonetoSP
.Imransaid
nowtherewasdirectcon-
test between the SP and
BJP in entire state.
Minister inaugurated
incomplete bridge: SP
Kamlesh Sharma
Shajahanpur:TheSam-
ajwadi Party has ac-
cused UP Finance and
Parliamentary Affairs
MinisterSureshKhanna
of inaugurating a
half-finishedbridge,say-
ing that this work has
beendonetofoolthepub-
lic. Municipal Commis-
sioner Santosh Sharma
said on Monday that
MinisterSureshKhanna
had inaugurated a
bridge of Setu Nigam
connecting Kakra to
Azizganj Nagaria Modh
on the Garra river last
Thursday
. Although ac-
cording to sources, the
railing of the bridge and
the road connecting the
main road to the bridge
are not yet built, but the
Municipal Corporation
hastily got it inaugurat-
ed, fearing the imple-
mentation of the model
code of conduct.
SP’s district president
Tanveer Khan alleged
that BJP wants to take
credit by inaugurating
half-completed works
which was an attempt to
deceive the public. He
claimed that BJP had
failed everywhere and
knew it well that it woul
not return to power,
hence unfinished proj-
ects are also being inau-
gurated in haste. Chief
Project Manager of Setu
Nigam Devendra Singh,
said that the bridge will
be opened for public on
January 26. He said that
some work was yet to be
completed which is be-
ing completed beside
work of road was going
on.
BSP announces
candidates from
Ambedkar Nagar
First India Bureau
Ambedkar Nagar:
The Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) announced
its candidates for two
seats in Ambedkar
Nagar district which is
considered one of its
strongholds.
TheBSPfollowingthe
instructions of its su-
premo Mayawati an-
nounced Prateek Pand-
ey, son of former Bahu-
bali MLA Pawan Pand-
ey as its candidate from
the Katehri assembly
seatwhileManojKumar
Verma has been handed
a ticket from the Tanda
assembly seat. Manoj
Kumar Verma is no
newbie to Tanda assem-
bly seat as he had previ-
ouslycontestedfromthe
same seat on a BSP tick-
et in 2017 elections,
Half-finished bridge inaugurated by minister Suredh Khanna (inset)
ShivpalassertsAkhilesh
YadavwillbenextCM
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Days after
the Election Commis-
sionof Indiaannounced
the schedule for the UP
election, Shivpal Yadav
reiterated that his par-
ty-the Pragatisheel Sa-
majwadi Party (Lohia)
will fight polls with
Akhilesh Yadav’s Sama-
jwadi Party
.
Shivpal said that he
has given suggestions
but left the final deci-
sion on topics related to
the election, on his
nephew Akhilesh.
“He (Akhilesh)
should give the tickets
to the candidates who
have a high chance of
winning so that the vic-
tory of our alliance is
assured in the elec-
tions,” Shivpal said,
adding “May we form
the government, and
may Akhilesh Yadav be
the next Chief Minister
of the State.”
Shivpal Yadav with SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
LEADING ON FB TOO
Insocialmediawarroom
BJPaheadofopponents
FIR AGAINST
IMRAN MASOOD
The Saharanpur
police today registered
FIR against Imran
Masood for viola-
tion of Model Code of
Conduct (MCC). Imran
had called a meet-
ing of more than 300
people to discuss the
political situation and
take decision about
quitting the Congress.
Since the EC, in view
of rapid surge in C-19
has imposed a ban on
gathering till Jan15, the
police registered a case
against Imran

LUCKNOW, TUESDAY
JANUARY 11, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
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A
Y
ANJALI ARORA, Blogger
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Those suffering
from chronic
ailments may
find remarkable
improvement in
their health with
home remedies.
Minor domestic
disputes may
snowball into a major row, so give
attention to the family. Rewards and
recognition will come your way for your
involvement in a social endeavour.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You succeed
in completing
an important
project well
before deadline.
Disagreements
on the family
front are
foreseen. Be
careful about the legal apprehensions
in the property you are planning to buy.
Your intuition will save you from a tricky
spot today.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You will succeed
in resolving mis
understanding
with family
members,
normalizing ties.
Seek proper
valuation of the
property you are
planning to buy. You will remain much in
demand on social front. Place emphasis
on domestic affairs to enhance the
domestic tranquility and harmony.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
A sound
financial health
of businessmen
would enable to
give monetary
benefits to
employees. Your
sole dependency
on friends may
fail to bring any respite from loneliness
today. It is good day to confess your love
as stars appear favourable for positive
reply.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Paying special
attention to plan
your career would
give immense
joy. You are likely
to get clearance
or approval for
your construction
plans. You find
things moving in the way you want them.
Gifting something to your beloved is
likely to make the day memorable. It is a
bautiful day to build new connections.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
Implementation
of new ideas
and projects
would add to
your prestige on
the professional
front. A sound
monetary
position would
enable you to keep pace with changing
times. Avoid raising controversial issues
at home to maintain harmony. It is a
wonderful day to build new connections.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
You will have an
awesome day
today. Continue
to put in efforts at
work and you will
see promising
opportunities
coming your
way. Matrimonial
match for siblings will bring happiness
for family. You will get a good price for
your property. You may receive invaluable
guidance from a spiritual leader.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
Some of you
are going to
experience
emotional
fulfillment on
romantic front.
Yoga would help
in raising energy
levels. Place
emphasis on domestic affairs to enhance
the domestic tranquility and harmony.
Associating yourself with humanitarian
group would benefit you.
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
Health tips from
an expert will
enable you to
get closer to
your fitness
goals. Chances
of being misled
by competitors
in business are
high. Your generous behavior would
enable to enjoy some lovely moments
with family. Love comes your way as
friendship turns into romance.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Seek the opinion
of your family
before finalizing
a property deal.
An impromptu
invitation to a
function from an
unexpected friend
is likely to be
received. Your bold initiatives on romantic
front bring back passion and spark in
romantic relationship as stars appear
favourable for positive reply.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Investment
antiques and
jewellery would
bring handsome
financial gains.
On professional
front, recognition
for good work
would motivate
you to work harder. Those awaiting an
affirmation on romantic front are may
get lucky today, as partner responds
positively.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Your hard work
and dedication
are likely to
be noticed
by seniors,
paving way for
promotion or
increment. Family
will be supportive
of career aspirations. A promising day
overall as you stay in limelight without
any efforts. Harsh words may create a rift
in your romantic relationship; be careful.
YOUR
DAY
Horoscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
ovindji is kind
enough to show me
around the Bhakars.
I see the cave where
Narayan Swamy
and Nepali Baba
lived and meditated.
There are others, one which
houses a Shivalinga with wa-
ter from the mountain cracks
dripping on it. Most of the
caves are under hangs under
massive boulders, where cav-
ities have been carved in the
boulders through erosion
over millions of years. It
gives me shivers to think
about a man living all alone
in such a wilderness. I trek
on, following an uneven pic-
turesque trail that takes me
to the other edge of the Bha-
kar. It has a well-kept cave,
complete with living rooms
where I am told Nepali Baba
later lived and meditated.
Here I am given an audience
of the present incumbent –
Baba Balak Giri who even
offers me a cup of hot re-
freshing tea.
The blue lake shimmering
in the afternoon sun lined by
undulating rocky formations
in a variety of shades of
brown and the city complete
with its other Bhakars, water
bodies and man-made struc-
tures extending into the ho-
rizon make for an enchant-
ing panoramic view. I click a
few pictures with my mobile
phone camera. As I explore a
cave, I come across a young
man and a young woman,
probably college students en-
grossed in each other’s com-
pany; the woman becomes a
little conscious as Govindji
and I negotiate the narrow
stretch inside the cave. Later,
I find the woman striking dif-
ferent poses and her friend
clicking happily indulging
his friend’s craze for getting
photographed. She would
most likely post the pictures
on social media as millions
of others around the world
do, drawing accolades from
family members and friends
and turning them into celeb-
rities in their own right.
I trek on further to the
North with the lake to my
East and the highest point of
the Bhakars – it has a Radar
installation of the Indian Air
Force – to my West. The slow-
ly rotating Radar that is
clearly visible even from long
distances serves as a promi-
nent land mark to me. Skirt-
ing around boulders, going
up and down rock-strewn
slopes and alternating be-
tween depressions and high
grounds, I come upon anoth-
er high ground that has a
lone white washed single sto-
ried house – a temple dedi-
cated to ‘Van Devi Maa’. This
is on the neighboring peak of
the Radar peak. I enjoy the
cool breeze standing atop the
huge and smooth boulders
for a while and click a few
more pictures. It’s a little
while later that I realize that
this high ground is really a
massive rocky overhang that
houses a cave beneath it. As I
trudge my way down, I come
across langoors, cows and
oxen being fed by a few peo-
ple. Jodhpur wallahs are ani-
mal lovers indeed! This hap-
pens to be the Bhim Bhadak
cave. Passing through an iron
grilled door, I get under the
rocky overhang. It’s a temple
built on two levels – the high-
er level appears to have a sa-
madhi and the lower level has
a Shivlinga. Soft twittering
sounds reach my ears. I look
around and spot a few birds
who have made their homes
in the crevices on the craggy
ceiling.
“Aap kahan se aaye hai,” a
voice from behind startles
me. As I turn around, I find
an amiable bearded Baba
who has just stepped out
from an alcove. I introduce
myself and we have a little
chit-chat, following which he
asks me to see the cave. “This
is the cave right,” I ask him.
In response, he points toward
a low entrance guarded by a
wooden door. I crouch and
lower myself into the dimly
lit serpentine cave and nego-
tiate my way cautiously to its
other end which has an altar
with framed pictures of dei-
ties and inscriptions.
Straight out of an Indiana
Jones movie! What if the
Baba locks the door behind
me and traps me here? The
not so noble thought flashes
across my mind. I quickly
make my way out of the cave,
thank the Baba and climb
back onto the rocky ledge. I
reach the edge of the preci-
pice and find a deep gorge
and another escarpment be-
yond it. I think of pressing
on, but decide to forgo it for
another day as my water bot-
tle is nearly empty. I trudge
down to the Bijolai Palace on
the other end. On my way
down, I stop at the Ganesh
Temple built on the hillock
across the water body adjoin-
ing the Bijolai palace. The
palace which was in ruins in
my childhood has been reno-
vated and serves as resort
and restaurant. I have a re-
freshing cup of tea sitting in
the courtyard adjoining the
water body while reminisc-
ing the day’s adventure – ex-
ploring the Bhakars.
CONTINUED...
EXPLORING THE BHAKARS OF JODHPUR
EXPLORING THE BHAKARS OF JODHPUR
G
COL SOMBIT GHOSH, an
Army Officer, hails from
Jodhpur. He has been PRO
Defence in Rajasthan

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