First India-Lucknow Edition-03 June 2021

SEVEN OFA
FAMILY SUCCUMB
TO C-19 IN
LUCKNOW
Lucknow: Eerie yet
deafening silence has
muffled the lanes of
Imalia village. The
village is located at
Bakshi Ka Talab region
under Lucknow district
where eight people have
passed away in the last
15 days or so, all from
the same family. Of
the eight, seven died
of Covid-19 related
complications while one
family member couldn’t
stand the trauma of los-
ing seven in the family
and suffered a massive
cardiac arrest. P3
M Tariq Khan/Shashikant
Sharma
Lucknow: Putting spec-
ulations and rumours to
rest, Narendra Modi,
Amit Shah and Mohan
Bhagwat have report-
edly come out in com-
plete support of CM
Yogi Adityanath for
strategic reasons, as
BJP national general
secretary (organisation)
BL Santhosh gave a
clean chit to the Yogi
Adityanath govern-
ment, which has been
under attack from oppo-
sition parties over its
handlingof theCovid-19
crisis, including from
its own ministers and
leaders. After the Luc-
know feedback the deci-
sion was taken that the
upcoming 2022 polls will
be fought under Yogi.
“In five weeks, @my-
ogiadityanath’s Uttar
Pradesh reduced the
new daily case count by
93% ... Remember it’s a
state with 20+ Cr popu-
lation. When munici-
pality CMs could not
manage a city of 1.5Cr
population, Yogiji man-
aged quite effectively,”
BL Santhosh, the BJP’s
national general secre-
tary of organization,
tweeted after his re-
turn from state capital
Lucknow.
The tweet put paid
rumours that the BJP
top brass was consider-
ing a change at the very
top in UP, which could
include replacing the
Chief Minister or his
two deputies. Sources
have rubbished specu-
lation that the three
will be replaced ahead
of the polls. While State
BJP chief Swatantra
Dev Singh will also con-
tinue, the party may
bring in a Yadav leader
in place of present UP
in-charge Radha Mo-
han Singh, said a party
functionary
.
IntwotweetsWednes-
day, the BJP general
secretary, Santhosh,
heaped praise on Yogi
government’s efforts
during the pandemic. In
his second tweet, he
wrote, “The UP govern-
ment led by CM Yogi
decided to vaccinate
parents of children be-
low 12 years. Turn on P2
BJP leadership backs Yogi as crucial feedback mission ends
YOGI TO STAY AS CM
PM Modi Amit Shah Mohan Bhagwat B L Santhosh CM Yogi Adityanath
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
LUCKNOW l THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 172
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD & LUCKNOW
SCasksfor‘coronabalance
sheet’fromCentre: Furnish
complete information on various
domestic, foreign vaccine prices
The Supreme court also asked
Centre to place on record all
relevant documents and files reflecting
its thinking on the vaccination policy
The Centre, in reply, said this is a
dynamic situation, no policy is cast
in stone. It also said it hopes to vaccinate
all eligible persons by the end of 2021
1 2 3
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court has asked
the Centre to furnish
detailed data on the pur-
chase history till date of
all Covid vaccines in-
cluding Covaxin, Cov-
ishield and Sputnik V
. It
also asked the Centre to
place on record all rele-
vant documents and file
notings reflecting its
thinking culminating in
the vaccination policy
.
A special bench of
Justices D Y Chandra-
chud, L N Rao and S
Ravindra Bhat said,
“While filing its affida-
vit, UoI (Union of India)
shall also ensure that
copies of all the relevant
documents and file not-
ings reflecting its think-
ing and culminating in
the vaccination policy
are also annexed on the
vaccination policy
.
Hence, we direct the UoI
tofileitsaffidavitwithin
2weeks,”thebenchsaid.
Apart from asking the
Centre to place the en-
tiredataonthepurchase
history of all Covid vac-
cinesonrecord,theapex
court ordered that the
data should clarify the
datesof allprocurement
orders placed by the
Centre for all three vac-
cines, Turn to P6
New Delhi: Coming
downheavilyontheCen-
tre for not fully utilising
the Covid vaccine manu-
facturing capacity in the
country
, the Delhi High
CourtonWednesdaysaid
that some people need to
be “charged with man-
slaughter if they have
beenjustsittingoverthis
untapped potential”.
What answer will you
give for the loss of lives
because of the lack of
vaccines, the court
asked the Centre.
“There is a lot of
scope and infrastruc-
ture which is available
for manufacturing of
vaccines. This untapped
potential has to be uti-
lised. Your officers are
not realising this. You
handhold these vaccine
manufacturers and take
them all over India and
tell them this hub is
available and use this,”
the division bench told
the Centre.
‘GIVE US FULL DATA ON
CORONA CATASTROPHE
SC SNUBS GOVT
INDIA
UTTAR PRADESH
1,32,788
new cases
3,207
new fatalities
1,514
new cases
115
new fatalities
 To Centre saying
court should keep
away from executive
decisions: Our
constitution does not
envisage courts to
be silent spectators
when constitutional
rights of citizens are
violated because of
executive policy
 Court asks
government to clarify
how the 35,000
crore earmarked in
the Union Budget for
procuring vaccines
have been spent so
far and why they
cannot be utilized for
vaccinating persons
aged 18-44 years
 The government
also has to submit a
comparison of prices
of vaccines available
in India to their
international prices
 Court asked for a
roadmap on availibility
of vaccines till Dec 31
Need to be charged
with manslaughter
Govt holding discussions
with Pfizer and J&J: Reddy
New Delhi: The Cen-
tral government is im-
porting COVID-19 vac-
cines and is in talks
with COVID-19 vaccine
manufacturers Pfizer
and Johnson & John-
son, Union Minister of
State for Home Affairs,
G Kishan Reddy said on
Wednesday
.
While speaking at the
inauguration of a COV-
ID-19 vaccination drive,
the Minister added that
the COVID-19 vaccina-
tion should not be po-
liticised.
“For the production
of 250 crore vaccine
doses after speaking to
several pharma compa-
nies. Sputnik arrived in
Hyderabad yesterday
and discussions are on
to get the Pfizer and
Johnson & Johnson
shots too,” Reddy said.
Delhi HC raps Centre for not fully utilising
vaccine manufacturing capacity in country
VACCINE
PURCHASE’
SUPREME COURT SLAMS CENTRAL GOVT’S
VACCINATION POLICY FOR 18-44 YEAR-OLDS
RAHUL APPEALS TO
CITIZENS TO RAISE
VOICE FOR FREE JAB
HOAX: MAMATA ON
ICMR CHIEF’S VAX
FOR ALL BY DEC
New Delhi: The Centre’s policy of giving free vaccination to the 45-plus
age group and a having paid system for those below, is “prima facie
arbitrary and irrational”, the Supreme Court said. Flagging several other
flaws -- including shortage of vaccine doses and problems faced by ru-
ral people in accessing vaccines -- the court asked the Centre to review
its vaccination policy and “place on record a roadmap”.
New Delhi: Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday
appealed to
the citizens
of the nation
to raise their
voice in sup-
port of free
Covid vaccination for all,
as he underlined that the
vaccine provides strong-
est protection against the
pandemic. Rahul also shared
the hashtag of #SpeakUp-
ForFreeUniversalVaccination.
Kolkata: West Bengal CM
Mamata Banerjee said that
the state-
ment made
by ICMR chief
Dr Balram on
giving vaccine
to the whole
country by December
is a hoax. Meanwhile
Didi also claimed that
ex-CS Alapan is a closed
chapter now, but will
back him in row with
Centre. P6
Mehul Choksi has to be deported
to India, Dominica govt tells court
New Delhi: The Do-
minican government
argued in court on
Wednesday that Mehul
Choksi - the fugitive di-
amond trader wanted
over the Rs 14,000 crore
loan fraud at the Punjab
National Bank - be de-
ported to India. The Do-
minican Public Prose-
cution Service has told
the High Court that the
petition filed by the
62-year-old is not main-
tainable and it should
not be heard. India is
pressing for his early
deportation, arguing
that he continues to be
an Indian citizen, a gov-
ernment official said.
Mehul Choksi -- who
was caught in Domini-
ca last week while try-
ing to move to Cuba to
escape extradition to
India -- is attending the
trial via video-confer-
ence. He is currently at
a hospital, being treated
for his injuries his law-
yers say he sustained
during the alleged kid-
napping from Antigua.
His team -- Queen’s
Counsels Justin Simon
and John Carrington --
is arguing that he had
been abducted and
brought to Dominica. If
the court accepts the ar-
gument, he will be sent
back to Antigua, where
he had obtained citizen-
ship and escaped before
he could be brought to
book in India. Turn to P6
Justice Mishra takes
charge as NHRC chief
New Delhi: Former Su-
preme Court judge Jus-
tice Arun Mishra took
office as Chairperson of
the National Human
Rights Commission
(NHRC) on Wednesday
.
He had retired from the
apex court on Septem-
ber 3 last year.
Appointed as a Su-
preme Court judge in
2014, Justice Mishra had
been the Chief Justice
of Rajasthan and Cal-
cutta High Courts. As
chairperson of NHRC,
his tenure will be for
five years or till he at-
tains the age of 70,
whichever is earlier.
Justice Mishra is
learnt to have been ap-
pointed on the recom-
mendation of a high-
powered committee
comprising Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi,
Home Minister Amit
Shah, Lok Sabha Speak-
er Om Birla and RS LOP
Mallikarjun Kharge.
IB, CBI, I-T, CRPF debarred from
publishing material without consent
New Delhi: Govern-
ment servants having
worked in any intelli-
gence or security-relat-
ed organisation have
been directed through a
notification not to make
any publication without
prior clearance from the
competent authority
.
The Departments cov-
ered under the notifica-
tion by the Department
of Personnel and Train-
ing(DoPT)includeRAW
,
IB, DRI, CEIB, ED, NCB,
ARC, Special Frontier
Force, BSF, CRPF, ITBP
,
CISF
,NSG,AssamRifles,
SSB, DG Income Tax (in-
vestigation), NTRO, FIU,
SPG, DRDO, Border
Road Development Or-
ganisation, NSC, CBI,
NIA and Natgrid.
These rules are part
of the Central Civil Ser-
vices (Pension) Amend-
ment Rules 2020, noti-
fied on May 31, 2021.
The material that
cannot be published by
former government
servants includes the
domain of the organisa-
tion including any ref-
erence or information
about any personnel
and his designation and
expertise or knowledge
gained by virtue of hav-
ing worked in that or-
ganisation.
In addition, it in-
cludes sensitive infor-
mation, the disclosure
of which would prejudi-
cially affect the sover-
eiginty and integrity of
India, the security, stra-
tegic, scientific, or eco-
nomic interests of the
state Turn to P6
Mumbai: SSensex ended at 51,849 levels, down 85 points or 0.16 per cent,
with ITC (down 3 per cent), Asian Paints, HDFC, Axis Bank, Tech M, HCL
Tech, and TCS leading the list of losers. On the NSE, the Nifty50 index set-
tled at 15,576 levels, up 1 point. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended lower
at 73.08 per dollar, amid volatility in the domestic equity market.
Gulf of Oman: Iran’s largest navy warship sank in Gulf of Oman on Wednesday
after firefighters were unable to contain a huge fire which swept through the
vessel, the country’s media reported. Around 400 troops fled the Kharg after it
caught fire in unclear circumstances with 20 suffering injuries. British-built ship
was named after island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran.
SENSEX FALLS
85 POINTS, NIFTY
CLOSES FLAT
IRAN’S BIGGEST
WARSHIP SINKS IN
GULF OF OMAN
Mehul Choksi
Justice Arun Mishra

UTTAR PRADESH
LUCKNOW | THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021
02
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Nation-
al Green Tribunal has
directed the Chief Wild-
life Warden of Uttar
Pradesh to look into a
plea alleging that the
proposed widening of
the national highway
119 will affect the eco
sensitive zone of Hasti-
napur Wildlife Sanctu-
ary located in five dis-
tricts of the state.
A bench headed by
NGT Chairperson Jus-
tice Adarsh Kumar Goel
asked the Chief Wildlife
Warden at Lucknow
that if there is any vio-
lation of law is noticed,
remedial action be tak-
en, as may be found nec-
essary
, according to law.
The Hastinapur Wild-
life Sanctuary is spread
over districts of Muzaf-
farnagar, Meerut,
Hapur, Bijnor and Am-
roha.
The tribunal was
hearing a plea filed by
Dr. Ashok Shastri
against widening of the
road cutting across the
ESZ as it would be ille-
gal and in violation of
the 2018 notification is-
sued by the Ministry of
Environment and For-
ests.The tribunal said
the notification sought
to be enforced is only a
proposal.
The applicant has
stated that final Notifi-
cation is presumed to
have been issued but is
not available. Thus, wid-
ening of the road cut-
ting across the ESZ will
be illegal and in viola-
tion of the Notification
in pursuance of Notifi-
cation dated February 2,
2018.
We find that the ap-
plication is based on
non-existent edifice.
All contentions are
based only on a pro-
posed Notification
without showing that
final notification in
pursuance thereof
has been ever issued.
Thus, violations as-
sumed are imaginary
,
the bench also com-
prising Justice Sudhir
Agarwal said.
The NGT said
though in absence of
final notification no
case is made out for
interference by it, by
way of abundant cau-
tion, we direct that
the Chief Wildlife
Warden, UP at Luc-
know may look into
the matter and if
there is any violation
of law noticed, reme-
dial action be taken,
as may be found nec-
essary, according to
law, the bench said.
NGT directs CWW to look into plea opposing widening of NH- 119
@HASTINAPUR SANCTUARY

The tribunal, on
a precautionary
note has
directed the
Chief Wildlife
Warden(CWW)
to assure that
there are no
legal violations
in construction
of the highway
—FILE PHOTO
15 KMS AFFECTED
GOVT TO PROVIDE `1,01,000 AID AT THE TIME OF MARRIAGE OF GIRLS
AFTERPARENTSSUCCUMBTOC-19,
2309ORPHANSTOHAVECM’sBACK
First India Bureau
Lucknow:The Uttar
Pradesh government is
allsettorollout‘Mukhy-
amantri Bal Vikas Yoja-
na’ and issued an order
on Wednesday laying
down guidelines and
necessary criteria for
beneficiaries to all the
district magistrates to
ensure its implementa-
tion.
The UP Child Rights
ProtectionCommission,
which has prepared the
scheme’s blueprint, has
identified 2,309 children
who were orphaned due
to coronavirus.
Under the scheme the
state government will
give a monthly stipend
of Rs 4,000 for each child
and state funding of
their education and
marriage.
UP Child Rights Pro-
tection Commission
Chairman Vishesh Gup-
ta has directed officials
concerned to identify
such children.
According to reports
240 orphaned children
were identified in Sa-
barannur 144 in Muzaf-
farnagar, 98 in Aligarh,
88 in Lucknow, 81 in
Ghaziabad, 70 in Praya-
graj, 62 in Merut, 61
Varanasi, 58 in Mau, 50
in Ballia, 49 in Ayodhya,
46 in Farrukhabad, 45 in
Kushinagar, 45 in Deo-
ria, 45 in Unnao, 36 in
Kanpur and 32 in Kan-
pur Dehat districts. Of
2,309 children, 287 have
lost both their parents.
The cabinet on Mon-
day had approved the
‘Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Child Service
Scheme for provision of
maintenanceandeduca-
tion of the children who
were orphaned during
the Corona epidemic.
Under this scheme, the
legal guardian of the or-
phan children will be
givenRs4,000permonth
till the child attains
adulthood. In the mar-
riage of orphaned girls,
thegovernmentwillgive
financial assistance of
Rs 1,01,000. Besides, the
children will get free
education.Under the
proposal approved by
the state cabinet, if
both the parents or ei-
ther of the mother or
father have died due to
corona, then the chil-
dren will get the ben-
efit of this scheme.
‘WORLD CLASS’ AYODHYA 41.56 LMT WHEAT PROCURED
Lucknow: Yogi has directed officials to restore pristine
glory of Ayodhya and develop it as a world class religious
city. He said this during a virtual presentation of the
Temple Town’s masterplan by senior officials. “Apart from
giving Ayodhya a global identity, its all-round develop-
ment with moden facilites is our priority,” he said. Chief
Secretary RK Tiwari, ACS(Home) Awnish Kumar Awasthi,
ACS to CM SP Goyal, ACS Urban Development Rajneesh
Dubey, Secretary to CM Alok Kumar, PS Public Works Nitin
Ramesh Gokarn, PS Housing Deepak Kumar and other
officials were present on the occasion.
Lucknow: In keeping with its promise of buying wheat
despite Covid constraints, the UP government has
purchased 41.56 LMT of wheat from 8.83 lakh farmers
so far across all districts of the state.
Procurement of Wheat in ongoing Rabi Marketing sea-
son 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in Uttar Pradesh at
MSP. Food and Supply Commissioner Manish Chauhan
said that about 8,83,603 (8.83 lakhs) farmers have
already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procure-
ment operations. On June 1, the government purchased
around 1.06 LMT of wheat from the farmers.
From taking precautionary measures to combat 3rd wave of C-19, that is slated to impact kids by setting up PICUs across the state, to
ensuring benefits for children orphaned during the pandemic, CM Yogi has always been considerate for children. —FILE PHOTO
Free ration scheme
for poor, migrants
to take off today
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Taking for-
ward its massive food
grain distribution to the
poor and migrant la-
bourers amid COVID-19,
the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment will start dis-
tributing free food grain
under PMGKAY to
about 14.71 crore benefi-
ciaries from today
.
Under this initiative
the state government
will distribute free 5 kg
free ration (3 kg of
Wheat and 2 kg of Rice
grain).
Under the Intra-State
portability, the benefi-
ciaries and migrants
would be eligible to get
food grains from any
fair price shop only
from June 13 to 15.
“The distribution of
these food grains will
start from June 3 and
will continue till June
15,” said Commissioner,
Food and Supply Man-
ish Chauhan. He said in
May, 704518.140 Metric
Tonnes of ration was
distributed under the
PMGKAY to 14.09 crore
beneficiaries.
In this regard, the
ration shops will re-
main open through-
out the day from 6 am
to 9 pm and distribu-
tion of ration will also
be done continuously
.
This time the free ra-
tion will be distribut-
ed at fair price shops
under the token sys-
tem.
According to the De-
partment of Food and
Supply, ration distribu-
tion will be done
through e-POS ma-
chines after the Aad-
haar card authentica-
tion.
CS Tiwari goes through
Swachh Bharat DPRs
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Chief Secre-
tary (CS) Rajendra Ku-
mar Tiwari chaired a
meet consisting of
steering committee of
Swacch Bharat Mission
(Urban), where approv-
al of DPRs of 20 urban
bodies with regards to
construction of Solid
Waste Processing
Plants was approved.
The collective of con-
struction of such plants
is Rs 143 crore. DPRs
costing around Rs 257
crore came from 37 dis-
tricts across the state
out of which 20 were
approved.
The CS has asked
the DMs of remaining
17 districs to shortlist
land areas for setting
up of Solid Waste
Processing Plants so
that their DPRs could
be approved as well.
CS Tiwari presides over the meet of the steering committee of
Swachh Bharat Mission in Lucknow.
YOGI TO STAY AS CM... Guv reviews academic works
across six universities in UP
FROM PAGE 1
A wise move, consider-
ing the logic that if at
all a third wave hits, it
may affect children
more. Parents will be
around to look after
them more safely.” Al-
though BJP officials
called it part of a re-
view exercise on the
functioning of the par-
ty, the visit had created
a buzz on possible
changes in the party or-
ganisation as well as
the government.
The BJP duo, during
their visit are said to
have met 15 ministers
of the Yogi government
over the course of the
three days. This includ-
ed both deputy chief
ministers, Keshav Pras-
ad Maurya and Dinesh
Sharma; cabinet minis-
ters Swami Prasad
Maurya, Brajesh
Pathak, Mahendra Sin-
gh, Jai Pratap Singh,
Suresh Khanna, Anil
Rajbhar, Dara Singh
Chauhan, Ashutosh
Tandon; ministers of
state (independent)
Ashok Kataria, Satish
Dwivedi, Swati Singh
and ministers of state
Gulab Devi and Mohsin
Raza. “The reason be-
hind meeting 15 out of
53 ministers is that
these 15 people repre-
sent the whole govern-
ment,” a state BJP lead-
er said on the condition
of anonymity
.
“Both deputy CMs
were there to provide
feedback on the overall
performance of the gov-
ernment. Jai Pratap
Singh (Health Minister)
and Suresh Khanna
(Medical Education)
were called to give feed-
back on Covid manage-
ment. Since Yogi cabi-
net proposed reshuffle
and expansion would be
undertaken on the basis
of this feedback, the
BJP team spoke to min-
isters from all castes.
“While Brajesh Pathak
is the cabinet’s Brah-
min face while Gulab
Devi is the Dalit in the
government, Dara Sin-
gh Chauhan, Anil Ra-
jbhar and Swami Pras-
ad Maurya represent
OBC while Mohsin
represents minorities.
During the meeting,
Keshav Maurya is un-
derstood to have ex-
pressed concern that
party leaders and
workers were being ig-
nored by the govern-
ment.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Gover-
nor and Chancellor of
Uttar Pradesh Anandi-
ben Patel while chairing
a review meet, dis-
cussed the beginning of
new session besides top-
ics related to recruit-
ment to academic posts,
audit objections, distri-
bution of degrees, wom-
en upliftment activities,
construction works,
new education policy,
corona vaccine festival,
etc in Pandit Deen Dayal
Upadhyay University
Gorakhpur, Chaudhary
Charan Singh Universi-
ty Meerut, Harcourt
Butler Technical Uni-
versity Kanpur, Prof
Rajendra Singh (Rajju
Bhayya) University
Prayagraj, Dr Ambed-
karUniversityAgraand
Khwaja Moinuddin
Chishti Bhasha Univer-
sity
, Lucknow.
Additional Chief Sec-
retary to Governor Ma-
heshKumarGupta,Vice
Chancellors and Univer-
sity officials were pre-
sentintheonlinereview
meeting. While discuss-
ing the academic ses-
sions, the Governor has
instructed to conduct
examinationinaphased
manner in 2020-21 ses-
sion or to give promo-
tion to next year as de-
cided by the govern-
ment.
Yogi Speaks
Yogi Speaks
CM Yogi has ex-
pressed grief and
condoled death of peo-
ple in the gas cylinder
explosion accident in
Gonda. The DM has
been asked to submit
report immediately
and provide medical
relief to the injured.
UP Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has
issued orders for imple-
mentation of Bal Vikas
scheme for Covid-
orphans and has asked
DMs to monitor it.
CM Yogi said that Oxy-
gen Audit has helped
in a big way in resolving
the Oxygen crisis and
today there is a backup of
at least three to four days
with all hospitals in Uttar
Pradesh.
UP CM Yogi Adity-
anath said training
of nurses and doctors
in paediatric care unit
has begun to prepare
them for the possible
third Covid-19 wave for
children.
—FILE PHOTO
COVERING 14.7CR
Governor Anandiben Patel.

UTTAR PRADESH
03
Lucknow: Eyeing the decline in the number of
Covid-19 cases, the Uttar Pradesh government
has said that hospitals across the state can
once again start the Outpatient Department
(OPD) facilities for non-covid patients as well.
This has come with a rider that OPD services
in those districts where active cases are above
600, cannot yet start the services, said a gov-
ernment official.
Lucknow: Owing to ongoing Corona phase
which could wreak havoc in overcrowded
jails of state, prisoners are being released on
special parole or interim bail so as to save
prisoners from Covid infection. Giving this
information Additional Chief Secretary (Home
and Prisons) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said
till now 12223 under trials had been released
on interim bail and special parole across the
state. He informed that 2472 prisoners serv-
ing not more than 7 years sentence or other
categories in jails all over the state had been
released on special parole. It may be men-
tioned that in accordance with instructions of
the Supreme Court and on the recommenda-
tions of the High Powered Committee consti-
tuted under the chairmanship of Chief Justice
of High Court, the above action had been taken
by the Government to release convicted pris-
oners on parole.
START OPD FACILITIES FOR NON-COVID
PATIENTS: UP GOVT TO HOSPITALS
EARLY RELEASE OF ELIGIBLE CONVICTS
TO SAVE FROM COVID-19 INFECTION
Awanish Kumar Awasthi Additional Chief Secretary
(Home and Prisons)
Vishal Srivastav
Lucknow: Eerie yet
deafening silence has
muffled the lanes of
Imalia village. The vil-
lage is located at Bak-
shi Ka Talab region un-
der Lucknow district
where eight people
have passed away in the
last 15 days or so. Of the
eight, seven died of
Covid-19 related com-
plications while one
familymembercouldn’t
stand the trauma of los-
ing seven in the family
and suffered a massive
cardiac arrest.
The remaining fam-
ily members from this
Yadav clan and all the
villagers are echoing
the lapses on the gov-
ernment’s part stating
that had there been
any help or interven-
tion from the govern-
ment, none of the fam-
ily members could
have died. The family
members have claimed
that they did not get
oxygen ventilated beds
for their ailing family
members and hence
they all succumbed.
The deceased include
four brothers of the
family, two sisters and
two elderly women.
According to Omkar
Yadav, who is now the
head of the family de-
spite being the young-
est of all brothers, said,
“My four brothers, two
sisters and mother died
of Covid within days of
each other. My aunt
could not bear the
shock and she died of a
heart attack.”
He further said, “I
have performed the
last rites of my mother
in the morning and
then cremated three
brothers, the same af-
ternoon. My younger
brother and two sisters
died in the following
days.” Yadav said that
his family members
were taken to a hospi-
tal but they were not
provided oxygen beds
and proper treatment.
On Monday, he per-
formed the ‘Tehravi’
ritual of five members
of the family. Rituals
for the remaining
three members will be
performed later.
Mewaram, the head
of the village, said that
not a single represent-
ative from the govern-
ment had even visited
the village. He said
that despite the spate
of deaths, sanitization
in the village had not
taken place.
“We have been left to
fend for ourselves and
die without treat-
ment,” he added.
The children in the
family are yet unable to
fathom why so many el-
ders have suddenly dis-
appeared. “We sent
them to a neighbour’s
house when the bodies
camein.Theystillthink
that the missing mem-
bers will return soon,”
said a family member.
He also voiced his
concern about the fu-
ture of these children
who have lost their
parents. “We are not
even sure if there will
be any government as-
sistance for us because
no one has even con-
tacted us till now,” the
family member said.
COVID-19 SILENCES 7 (8) OF A FAMILY IN LUCKNOW
While seven members succumbed to Covid within two weeks, one family member died of heart attack after the trauma
COVID-19 UPDATE
LUCKNOW 54
VARANASI 58
KANPUR 27
MEERUT 96
SAHARANPUR 70
GORAKHPUR 60
G B NGR 79
G’BAD 49
TOTAL CASES
16,93,992
TOTAL DEATHS
20,787
NEW CASES
1514
NEW DEATHS
115
RECOVERED 16,44,511
ACTIVE CASES 28,694
Family members cremating their dead in Lucknow. . —Photo by Sumit Kumar/File Photo
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh on Tuesday
achieved yet another
milestone of testing as
many as 5 crore samples
for coronavirus infec-
tion. Testing an average
3 lakh samples daily
, Ut-
tar Pradesh became the
first state in the nation
to cross the milestone.
“Intensifying preven-
tive measures to control
the spread of Covid-19
as per the target of
‘Trace, Test and Treat’,
the Yogi-led state con-
ducted a total of 3,31,511
tests in the last 24 hours,
out of which nearly
1500 samples tested pos-
itive,” said Navneet Se-
hgal, ACS Information.
He added that the
state has come a long
way from getting the
first Covid test conduct-
ed from the lab at Na-
tional Institute of Virol-
ogy
, Pune in 2020 to over
5 crore tests today
. More
than 3 lakh tests con-
ducted in the last 24
hours testifies the en-
larged testing capacity
in the state.
Despite being the
most populous state in
the country, UP has
outperformed all other
states including Delhi,
Maharashtra and Ra-
jasthan by conducting
a total of 1.50 lakh RT-
PCR tests on an aver-
age daily. With thor-
ough functioning of
both Government and
Private Laboratories,
the state has ramped
up its Covid Testing
Capacity from 1 lakh
RT PCR tests per day to
1.5 lakh or more RT
PCR tests per day in
just 40 days.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Divi-
sional Administration
of Kanpur is taking nec-
essary steps in the di-
rection of the Govern-
ment to increase the
Numberof Beds,ensure
oxygen self-sufficiency
& to ensure sufficient
Oxygen Beds & Paediat-
ric ICUs for the treat-
ment of children before
the expected 3rd wave
of Covid-19 arrives.
Starting with a new
initiative, the Divisional
Administration will in-
troduce“VisheshPoshan
aur Swasthya Parikshan
Abhiyan” for the Mal-
nourished Children in
Rural areas along with
identify & vaccinate all
parents who have Mal-
nourished children &
who have children below
12 years age. To study &
plan for best possible ex-
ecution, Commissioner
Kanpur visited Bibipur
village in Bilhaur tehsil
Kanpur where Hon’ble
MLA Bilhaur & AD
Health, SDM Bilhaur &
other officers were also
present. Commissioner
issuedShowcausenotice
to the ANM & ASHA for
not maintaining Health
record of the malnour-
ished children & also for
not getting their Health
checked on a regular ba-
sis. Also, Commissioner
directed ASHA, ANM &
MOIC Bilhaur to get the
parents of malnour-
ished children Vaccinat-
ed for Covid 19 on prior-
ity basis.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Headache,
swelling in one side of
face, formation of black
crust, nasal blockage,
reduction of facial sen-
sation and dental com-
plications can be initial
symptoms associated
with mucormycosis aka
black fungus. It is a se-
vere fungal infection
caused by group of
moulds called mucro-
mycetes, commonly
found in soil, plants and
decaying organic mat-
ter, experts said adding
that people having his-
toryof uncontrolleddia-
betes, excess use of ster-
oids, prolonged ICU stay
accompanied with inva-
sive oxygen therapy
were at high risk for the
disease. It was observed
that cases of black fun-
gus suddenly rise dur-
ing Corona period. In
post Corona complica-
tions infection was com-
mon as immunity of the
person was dipped. It
was advised by doctors
to maintain blood sugar
level and steering clear
steroids may reduce
risk of disease. Around
250 patients of black
fungus were admitted in
KGMU till date while 7
in past 24 hours.
UP scales new peak
as total number of
tests cross 5 cr mark
Headache is an
initial symptom of
Black Fungus
UP reports 115
Covid deaths,
1,500 new cases
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The state
Uttar Pradesh reported
115 fresh COVID-19
deaths and 1,514 infec-
tions on Wednesday,
pushing the state’s
overall figures to 20,787
fatalities and 16,93,992
cases, the health de-
partment said.
Of the fresh deaths,
11 were reported from
Gorakhpur, 10 from
Kanpur Nagar, eight
from Lucknow, six each
from Allahabad,
Meerut, Jhansi, Am-
roha and five from Ayo-
dhya among others, a
health department re-
lease said. The state
tested more than 3.31
lakh samples in the
past 24 hours, pushing
the total number to
over five crore, the re-
lease added.
Kanpur gears up for 3rd wave,
to ramp up beds,O2 & vaccine
‘VAX FOR FREE’
AMBULANCE RENTAL RATES CAPPED
Lucknow: The Indian
National Trade Union
Congress has con-
demned the Central
Government’s current
vaccine policy and
has appealed to the
central government
to vaccinate the
people of the country
free of cost. The
Union criticized the
central government’s
decision to handover
the responsibility of
vaccinating the peo-
ple to the states.
The UP Transport Department has capped the price
of Ambulance rental rate of private hospitals and ser-
vice providers and has warned of stringent measures
like cancellation of Ambulance registration & driver’s
license of those who charge more than prescribed
rate. With new cap for the first 10 KM a Medical First
Responder Ambulance can charge Rs. 500, patient
transport ambulance can charge Rs. 1K, Rs. 1500
will be charged by Basic Life Support Ambulance &
Rs 2K for Advance Life Support Ambulance.
2 HEALTH WORKERS HELD FOR
SENDING COVID TEST STICK FOR
ANALYSIS WITHOUT TESTING
Police on Wednesday booked two health work-
ers after a video surfaced on social media
showing them packing and sending a Covid
test stick for analysis without actually taking the
sample. Basti District Magistrate Saumya Agar-
wal also ordered a probe into Monday’s incident
which took place at Manjharia Primary Health
Centre (PHC) in Mahripur village UP’s Basti. The
video shows an elderly man waiting for his Covid
test while lab technician Nitesh Kumar opens the
kit and then packs it without taking the sample.
Ward boy Mohammad Hassan can be seen filling
up the form with the man’s details. This will
result in the “test” not showing any valid result
and spoiling the kit, officials said.
WOMAN RAPED IN HOSPITAL ICU
BY WARD BOY IN MEERUT
In a shocking incident a ward-boy deployed in
the ICU of a private hospital raped a woman
after making her unconscious. It was report-
ed that a woman was admitted to a private
hospital after complaints of high fever. She was
shifted to ICU when her condition deteriorated.
It was alleged that a ward-boy in ICU raped her
after making her unconscious. Whole incident
was captured in CCTv installed in the ICU. On
the complaint of a family member of the victim
police have arrested accused Kasib. Police
have recovered CCTv footage from the hospital
and further investigations are underway. Hos-
pital staff including the arrested accused were
interrogated and further actions will be taken
after the investigation report, police said.
Briefs
Briefs
TWO ARRESTED FOR FIRING ON
HOSPITAL MANAGER IN LUCKNOW
The Police have arrested two accused who
opened fire on Dr Sandeep Agarwal on May
25, from Deva Road in Chinhat area. Police have
recovered the crime weapon and the vehicle
used in the crime from the spot. Dhananjay
Pandey, inspector, Chinhat police station said
that arrested accused Amir Chaudhary and
Rashid were interior designers. He had admitted
his brother Khalid in a private hospital owned by
Dr Sandeep Agarwal. Amir and Rashid accused
that his brother Khalid died due to mistreatment
of Dr Agarwal and they attacked him on May 25
so to seek revenge, they attacked Dr Sandeep
Agarwal on May 25. Police also said that the
accused took a car on rent for this purpose.
Kanpur Commissioner
Rajshekhar visiting a school on
Wednesday
ACS Navneet Sehgal

PERSPECTIVE
04
l Vol 1 l Issue No. 172
l RNI NO. UPENG/2020/04393.
Printed and published by
Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of
First Express Publishers. Printed
at Amar Ujala Ltd. B-5 Amausi
Industrial Area Kanpur Road Luc-
know. Published at 98, Friend’’s
Colony, Raheem Nagar, Dudouli
Road, Madiyaon, Lucknow (UP).
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Promoted by First India
News International Pvt. Ltd.
Rajnath Singh
@rajnathsingh
India has redefined
#EaseOfDoingBusiness under the
astute leadership of PM Shri @
narendramodi as it has taken a leap of
79 positions to reach the 63rd rank on
the Ease of Doing Business rankings
in recent years. India continues to
steadily move towards positive growth.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Reviewed 16 focused sectors with
the Steering Committee on Advancing
Local Value-add & Exports (SCALE).
We are committed to providing all
possible support to the industry to
realise our collective vision of an
Aatmanirbhar Bharat and make India a
global manufacturing hub.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
—Romans 12:2
IN-DEPTH
MENTAL HEALTH
PATIENTS NEED
EMPATHY
hen it comes to
health issues, mental
health is a much ne-
glected area of un-
derstanding by soci-
ety
. It is an ailment afflicting top
athletes, sportsmen, film stars
and millions of other people in
society. Unfortunately there’s a
stigma attached to mental prob-
lems and people don’t avoid talk-
ing about it, not even depres-
sion. A study said that 43 per
cent Indians suffer from depres-
sion. If left unattended, it can
even prove to be life-threaten-
ing. Gradually people are open-
ing up and talking about depres-
sion. Several Bollywood celebri-
ties have spoken about how they
overcame depression.
Those who face mental health
issuesneedempathyandsupport.
Not the way young tennis player
NaomiOsakahasbeentreatedby
the French Open organisers. For
refusing to attend a post-match
press conference, a mandatory
exercise, the four-time grand
slam winner was fined 10,000 dol-
lars. The organizers refused to
consider her mental health is-
sues, which made her avoid jour-
nalists, forcing Osaka to pull out
of the tournament.
TOP TWEET
W
accines and vac-
cination in India
have been grab-
bing headlines
with the Central
government drawing flak
first for not ensuring enough
stocks of the shots for its
own people while giving
away large quantities to oth-
er countries and later for
asking the states to make
their own arrangements. In
the latter case several states,
though aware that they were
chasing a chimera, publi-
cized their vaccine acquisi-
tion efforts by floating global
tenders. Despite being told
by several vaccine manufac-
turers that they will deal
only with the Union govern-
ment these states continue to
wait for some manufacturer
to respond. Delhi realized
early that it cannot procure
the jabs, but Uttar Pradesh is
still hopeful.
The Centre has also invit-
ed criticism over the cost of
vaccines and how it planned
to get the entire population
vaccinated to ensure that the
feared third wave of Covid-19
does not hit us. The Supreme
Court has got into action to
see how the Central govern-
ment was planning to carry
out its vaccination drive and
other details. On Wednesday
the court asked for “all rele-
vant documents and file not-
ings reflecting its thinking
on vaccination policy and
the purchase history till
date” of Covaxin, Covishield
and Sputnik V. The details
sought include dates of all
procurement orders placed
for the three vaccines, quan-
tity of vaccines ordered on
each date and the projected
date of supply
.
Remember, the Central
government aims to vacci-
nate all citizens by year-end.
How does it propose to do it
when there are no vaccines
will be known when it re-
plies to questions by the Su-
preme Court.
SC STEPS IN TO TAKE
STOCK OF VACCINES
The Centre has also
invited criticism over the
cost of vaccines and how
it planned to get the
entire population
vaccinated to ensure that
the feared third wave of
Covid-19 does not hit us
V
Oh Calcutta
THE CHANCES OF CALCUTTA REMAINING WITH INDIA WERE MUCH
STRONGER - FOR IN THE EARLIER DIVISION OF BENGAL IN 1905, DHAKA
HAD SERVED AS THE CAPITAL OF EAST BENGALAND ASSAM
ast week we discussed the
capital disputes around
Chandigarh, Hyderabad,
Bombay and Madras. This
time we will discuss Calcutta
in the context of the Parti-
tion. The chances of Calcutta
remaining with India were
much stronger - for in the ear-
lier division of Bengal in
1905, Dhaka had served as the
capital of East Bengal and
Assam. Historically too, long
before Calcutta became the
headquarters of the East In-
dia Company
, Dacca had been
the pre-eminent city of the
region – it had been referred
to as the Venice of the East,
and had all the infrastructure
– Court buildings, Assembly
House, Secretariat, civil lines
and the cantonment – every-
thing necessary for becoming
a provincial capital.
The disputes in and about
Kolkata were different. These
were related to a move to pre-
vent the division of Bengal,
and posit it as the third Do-
minion (with India and Paki-
stan), and the second was to
make Calcutta a port city/
Crown colony, directly under
Whitehall, much like Hong
Kong and Singapore.
The three key dramatis
personae in the first proposi-
tion were the Governor of
Bengal Sir Fredrick Bur-
rows, a greenhorn appointee
of the Labour PM Clement
Atlee, the Premier of Bengal
Suhrawardy under whose re-
gime Kolkata had witnessed
the most horrific communal
killings in August 1946,and
Sarat Bose , whose main
claim to fame was that he the
elder brother of Subhas
Bose. However, as Shyama
Prasad Mookerjee pointed
out to Patel, Sarat could not
hold a single meeting on his
own. However , in May
1947,Suharwardy and Sarat
Bose thrashed out a ‘ United
Bengal’ plan with joint elec-
torates and universal adult
franchise. Hindus and Mus-
lims would have equal quotas
in the military and the police,
and a Hindu-Muslim coali-
tion government with a Mus-
lim PM and Hindu Home
Minister was proposed . Jin-
nah was indifferent, for with-
out Calcutta , east Bengal or
East Pakistan had no signifi-
cance for him. Governor Bur-
rows was very excited, and
he convinced Mountbatten to
cable the British government
about ‘a partition plan that
made an exception for Ben-
gal: it would be allowed to
remain independent, should
it so chose to’. The British
saw in it a way to protect
their substantial commercial
stakes in Kolkata Recently
declassified records show
that Attlee had briefed the US
ambassador in the United
Kingdom on June 2, 1947 of “
the distinct possibility(that)
Bengal might decide against
partition and against joining
either Hindustan or Paki-
stan”.WhatAttleewasspeak-
ing about was a plan to have
not two but three successor
states to British India: Hin-
dustan, Pakistan and Bengal.
However, within the Con-
gress, both Nehru and Patel
opposed it: they saw in it a
possibility for other prov-
inces getting similar ideas,
and Nehru announced that
the Congress would “agree to
Bengal remaining united
only if it remains in the [In-
dian] Union”, leading to Ben-
gal governor Burrows an-
nouncing that “Bengal will
be sacrificed at the altar of
Nehru’s all-India outlook”.
Nehru’s opposition to the
proposal was enough for
Mountbatten to backtrack on
pushing the plan any more
with London. A last ditch ef-
fort was made by the twenty
thousand strong expatriate
community to exclude Cal-
cutta from both East and
West Bengal and to be admin-
istered directly by a Council
reporting to the White Hall
in London. It may be men-
tioned that the idea of Crown
colonies for the North East
was being actively supported
by the administrators of that
region, and had the implicit
support of the ruling estab-
lishment. While Burrows
was willing to give it some
consideration, it was reject-
ed outright by Mountbatten
for he knew that the Con-
gress would treat it with ab-
solute contempt!
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
L
The disputes in and about
Kolkata were different.
These were related to a move
to prevent the division of
Bengal, and posit it as the
third Dominion (with India
and Pakistan), and the
second was to make
Calcutta a port city/Crown
colony, directly under
Whitehall, much like Hong
Kong and Singapore
It may be mentioned that
the idea of Crown
colonies for the North
East was being actively
supported by the
administrators of that
region, and had the
implicit support of the
ruling establishment
DR SANJEEV CHOPRA
The writer is a historian, public policy analyst,
and Festival Director of Valley of Words,
a literature and arts festival based out of
Dehradun. Till very recently, he was a member
of the IAS and posted as the Director of LBS
National Academy of Administration

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INDIA
05
Achhe din for farmers as
procurementatalltimehigh
New Delhi: While 12.70
per cent more wheat
was procured in com-
parison to last year cor-
responding period, pad-
dy procurement also
reached at all time high
level, surpassing previ-
ous high of 773.45 LMT
in KMS 2019-20.
According to the Min-
istry of Consumer Af-
fairs, Food and Public
Distribution, procure-
ment of wheat in the
ongoing rabi marketing
season (RMS) 2021-22 is
continuing smoothly in
the procuring states of
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Bihar, Ra-
jasthan, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh and
Jammu and Kashmir at
minimumsupportprice
(MSP), as was done in
previous seasons. Till
now (upto June 1) a
quantity of over 409.80
lakh metric tonne
(LMT) of wheat has
been procured (which is
all-time high, as it has
exceeded previous high
389.92 LMT of RMS
2020-21) against the last
year corresponding
purchase of 363.61 LMT.
About 44.12 lakh
farmers have already
benefited from the on-
going RMS procure-
ment operations with
an MSP value of Rs
80,936.19 crore, the Min-
istry said.
Paddy procurement
in the ongoing season
Kharif 2020-21 is also
continuing smoothly in
the procuring states
with purchase of over
796.46 LMTs of paddy
(includes Kharif crop
706.69 LMT and Rabi
crop 89.77 LMT) up to
June 1 against the last
year corresponding
purchase of 726.85 LMT.
“About 118.16 lakh
farmers have already
been benefited from the
ongoing Kharif market-
ing season (KMS) pro-
curement Operations
with an MSP value of
Rs 1,50,370.25 crore.
Paddy procurement has
also reached an all-time
high level, surpassing
the previous high of
773.45 LMT in KMS
2019-20,” it added.
Based on the propos-
al from the states, ap-
proval was accorded for
procurement of 107.81
LMT of pulse and oil-
seeds of KMS 2020-21
and RMS 2021 and sum-
mer season 2021 for the
States of Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Maharash-
tra, Telangana, Guja-
rat, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Odisha, Rajasthan and
Andhra Pradesh under
Price Support Scheme
(PSS).
“The sanction for
procurement of 1.74
LMT of Copra (the per-
ennial crop) for the
States of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, and Kerala
was also given. For oth-
er States/UTs approval
will also be accorded on
receipt of proposals for
the procurement of
pulses, oilseeds, and Co-
pra under PSS. Upto
June 1, the Government
through its Nodal Agen-
cies has procured
7,29,854.74 MT of
moong, urad, tur, gram,
masoor, groundnut
Pods, mustard seed and
soyabean having an
MSPvalueof Rs.3,818.78
crores benefitting
4,32,323 farmers in Ta-
mil Nadu, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Maha-
rashtra, Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh, Telangana,
Haryana and Rajasthan
under Kharif 2020-21
and Rabi 2021.
Similarly
, 5,089 MT of
copra (the perennial
crop) having an MSP
value of Rs 52.40 crore
has been procured bene-
fitting 3961 farmers in
Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu during the crops
season 2020-21. “The re-
spective State/UTs Gov-
ernments are making
necessaryarrangements
for the commencement
of procurementfromthe
date as decided by the re-
spective States based on
the arrivals of pulses
and oilseeds,” the Minis-
try added. —ANI
New IT rules
not related to
us: Google
New Delhi: US-based
Google LLC has con-
tended that India’s new
IT rules for digital me-
dia are not applicable to
its search engine, and
urged the Delhi High
Court on Wednesday to
set aside its single judge
order which applied
them to the company
while dealing with an is-
sue related to the remov-
al of offending content
from the internet.The
single judge’s decision
had come while dealing
with a matter in which a
woman’s photographs
were uploaded on a por-
nographic website and
despite court orders, the
content could not be re-
moved in entirety from
the World Wide Web and
“errant parties merrily
continued” to re-post
and redirect it to other
sites. A bench of Chief
Justice DN Patel and
Justice Jyoti Singh is-
sued notice to the Cen-
tre, Delhi govt, Internet
Service Providers Asso-
ciation of India, Face-
book, the pornographic
site and the woman, on
whose plea the single
judge’s ruling had come.
Union Cabinet
gives nod to Model
Tenancy Act
New Delhi: The Union
Cabinet on Wednesday
approved the Model
Tenancy Act, aiming to
bring about wide-rang-
ing reforms, including
setting up of separate
rent authorities, courts
and tribunals in every
district to protect the
interest of both the
owner and tenant.
Under the Act, for
residential premises,
tenants will have to sub-
mit a security deposit
of maximum two
months’ rent, while in
case of commercial
property, six months
rent will have to be de-
posited.
States and union ter-
ritories can adopt the
Model Tenancy Act
(MTA) by enacting
fresh legislation or they
can amend their exist-
ing rental laws suitably
.
The government said
that it is expected to
give a fillip to private
participation in rental
housing as a business
model for addressing
the huge housing short-
age in the country
.
The Act mandates for
written agreement for
all new tenancies,
which will have to be
submitted to the con-
cerned district ‘Rent
Authority’.
The government said
that the MTA will be ap-
plicable prospectively
and will not affect exist-
ing tenancies. Rent and
duration of tenancy
will be fixed by mutual
consent between owner
and tenant through a
written agreement.
—ANI
Cabinet nod to
mass media
cooperation
New Delhi: Cabinet
accorded an ex-post
facto approval for
signing and ratifying
an agreement on
cooperation in field of
mass media between
all member states of
the Shanghai Coop-
eration Organisation
(SCO). Agreement
aims to promote
equal & mutually
beneficial cooperation
among associations
in the field of mass
media. It will assist
in broadcasting of
television and radio
programmes. —PTI
PM & PREZ GREET PEOPLE OF
TELANGANA ON STATE FORMATION
New Delhi: Telangana
is celebrating its eighth
formation day. On this day
in 2014, Telangana came
into existence after being
bifurcated from Andhra
Pradesh. Since then, June
2 is marked every year as
Telangana Formation Day
or Telangana Statehood
Day. President Ram Nath
Kovind, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Chief
Minister K Chandrasekhar
Rao and others took
to Twitter and greeted
people of the state on
Wednesday. Celebrations
of Telangana Formation
Day are low-key for the
second consecutive year
due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic. Telangana Chief
Minister K Chandrashekar
hoisted the National Flag
on the occasion.
EXPERT COMMITTEE TO DECIDE
ON MADHYAMIK, HS EXAMS
Kolkata: Though West Bengal chief minister
Mamata Banerjee had earlier announced that
there will be Madhyamik and Higher Secondary
examinations this year but the state government,
on Wednesday formed an expert committee to
decide whether the board exams are possible
in this pandemic situation. The expert commit-
tee has been asked to give its report within 72
hours. On Wednesday, it was supposed to be
announced, the state government postponed the
announcement and formed an expert committee.
ANURAG THAKUR HITS BACK
AT P CHIDAMBARAM
New Delhi: Hitting out at former union minister
P Chidambaram for his criticism of the govern-
ment’s handling of economy, Minister of State for
Finance Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday that
the Congress leader had ignored hard data and
“instead went ahead with ‘whataboutery’” and
noted that Indian economy will rebound in the
times ahead based on consistent reforms. Refer-
ring to “gloomy forecast” portrayed by Chidam-
baram, Thakur said international agencies project
India to grow by 12.5 per cent in FY 2021-22.
EX-UN ENVOY JOINS KAUTILYA
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Hyderabad: Former dip-
lomat Syed Akbaruddin,
who made his mark as
India’s permanent repre-
sentative at the UN from
2016 to 2020, has taken
the academic path after
retirement. He has joined
the Kautilya School of
Public Policy, Hyderabad
on Tuesday. A statement
issued by the School, said
that the former career
diplomat and Indian
ambassador has joined
the institution, as it’s
Dean. “Excited to make
a new start with Kautilya
School of Policy. Look-
ing forward to be part of
an environment that will
enable students better un-
derstand the processes,
programs and politics in
a globalized world,” said
Syed Akbaruddin.
100th day of
ceasefire,
Army chief to
visit Kashmir
Central Vista
Challenged in
Supreme Court
Distribute textbooks, tech
devices to students: HC
New Delhi: A plea was
Wednesday filed in the
Supreme Court chal-
lenging the Delhi High
Court’s May 31 verdict
which dismissed a peti-
tion seeking to suspend
all construction activi-
ty of the Central Vista
Avenue redevelopment
during the COVID-19
pandemic while de-
scribing it as a vital”
and “essential project
of national importance.
The project entails con-
struction activities on
Rajpath and the sur-
rounding lawns from
the India Gate.
Bengaluru: The Karna-
taka High Court in a
move directed at safe-
guarding the interest of
students and their edu-
cation amid the pan-
demic has asked the
state government to pro-
vide necessary educa-
tion infrastructure to
children, especially to
those studying in the
rural areas and the eco-
nomically weaker sec-
tions to keep them with-
in the educational
framework in the ab-
sence of the physical
classes amid continued
lockdown restrictions
to contain the COVID-19
pandemic.
Karnataka HC while
directing the state to act
upon in upholding the
students’ interest re-
marked, “Pandemic or
no pandemic, education
of children has to go on
and the state govern-
ment has to rise to the
occasion.”
New Delhi: With the
ceasefire between the
armies of India and Pa-
kistan along the Line of
Control (LoC) entering
the 100th day, Army
chief Gen Manoj
Mukund Naravane
would be in Srinagar on
a two-day visit starting
Wednesday to review
the situation on ground
along the border and
the counter-terrorist
operations in the valley
.
The latest ceasefire
agreement between In-
dia and Pak had started
in the last week of Feb-
ruary after talks be-
tween the director gen-
erals of military opera-
tions of both armies
and it has been ob-
served by both sides
since then.“The Army
chief would be in Srina-
gar to review the situa-
tion.” sources said.
Tathagata Roy to present report on Bengal defeat
Wrestler murder case:
Sushil Kumar used
Telegram and dongle
New Delhi: Murder ac-
cused wrestler Sushil
Kumar was using Tele-
gram app and internet
dongle to use his SIM-
less phone to contact
his associates while on
the run from police,
Crime Branch has re-
vealed.
The 2-time Olympic
medallist called several
people using Telegram.
India Today has also
learnt that Crime
Branch is checking the
original paper of the
flat which was bought
by Sushil in the name
of his wife.
The Crime Branch on
Monday took murder
accused wrestler Sushil
Kumar to Haridwar to
collect further evidence
in the Sagar Rana mur-
der case. Notably, the
38-year-old had escaped
to Hardiwar after the
death of 23-year-old Sa-
gar Rana.
Sources have con-
firmed that the Sushil
is not cooperating in
the investigation and
that his mobile was yet
to be discovered. It is be-
ing believed that Sushil
got rid of his mobile
phone in Haridwar only
.
Also, police are looking
for the clothes Sushil
was wearing on the
night of the incident.
Sushil Kumar is firm on
his statement that kill-
ing Sagar was not the
motive and that he had
called boys to just beat
him up. —PTI
New Delhi: The turbu-
lence in the Bharatiya
Janata Party in West
Bengal, which recently
lost the Assembly elec-
tions, does not seem to
have an end as the par-
ty’s veteran leader and
former Governor of
Tripura and Meghalaya
Tathagata Roy is ready
to visit the top BJP lead-
ership in the national
capital.
The BJP leader said
that he has prepared a
detailed report factor-
ing in various reasons
why the party lost the
West Bengal elections
and would present it to
the party’s top leader-
ship once he comes to
Delhi.
Days after losing the
West Bengal polls to the
ruling Trinamool Con-
gress, Roy in a series of
tweets had put the
blame on ‘KDSA’, BJP’s
top leadership of Ben-
gal (BJP national gen-
eral secretary Kailash
Vijayvargiya, state par-
ty chief Dilip Ghosh,
national joint general
secretary (organiza-
tion) Shiv Prakash and
national secretary
Arvind Menon).
Roy alleged that tick-
ets were given “while
sitting in Hastings and
7-star hotels to incom-
inggarbagefromTMC”.
He also reacted
sharply on leaders not
coming to aid the “ideo-
logically driven work-
ers or devout swayam-
sevaks working for the
party since the 1980s
and facing persecution
at that hands of Trina-
moolis”. —ANI
IN THE COURTYARD
Juhi’s suit against 5G
disrupted by her songs!
New Delhi: The virtual
hearing on actress Juhi
Chawla’s suit against
implementation of 5G
in India before the Del-
hi High Court on
Wednesday was repeat-
edly disrupted by un-
known persons who
sang songs from her
movies.
Someone entered the
virtual courtroom on
WebEx platform at least
thrice and started sing-
ing songs like ‘Meri
Banno Ki Aayegi
Baraat’. The users ap-
peared with names like
‘Manisha Koirala’ and
‘Jahnvi’ on the screen.
Taking a strong note of
the interruptions, Jus-
tice Midha ordered his
staff to identify the per-
sons so that contempt
action can be taken.
The court also ordered
removal of the persons.
Chawla had shared the
link on her social media
accounts. —ANI

INDIA
06
‘Give us...
the quantity of vaccines
ordered as on each date,
andtheprojecteddateof
supply
. It also asked the
Centre to provide an
outline for how and
when the Centre seeks
to vaccinate the remain-
ing population.
It also asked the Cen-
tre to furnish data on
the percentage of popu-
lation that has been vac-
cinated (with one dose
and both doses), as
against eligible persons
in the first three phases
of the vaccination
drive. “This shall in-
clude data pertaining to
the percentage of rural
population as well as
the percentage of urban
population so vaccinat-
ed,” the court stated.
The Supreme Court
also sought steps being
taken by the Central
Government to ensure
drug availability for
mucormycosis.
On May 31, while
hearing a suo motu
matter on issues relat-
ing to Covid-19 manage-
ment, the top court had
wondered if the manda-
tory registration re-
quirement on the CoW-
IN portal for people to
access vaccines is prac-
tical given the digital
divide in the country
. It
had asked the govern-
ment to “wake up and
smell the coffee” and
ensure that its vaccine
policy is flexible enough
to accommodate chang-
es to address concerns.
Mehul Choksi...
Antigua, though, has
said he should be de-
ported straight to India
from Dominica after it
became known that he
had skipped the coun-
try. In both nations --
Antigua and Dominica
-- the opposition parties
have accused the ruling
parties of collaborating
with Mehul Choksi.
An eight-member
multi-agency team, the
Central Bureau of In-
vestigation and the En-
forcement Directorate
-- is in Dominica for
Choksi’s extradition.
The government has
also sent its High Com-
missioner from Trini-
dad & Tobago to assist
the officials.
An official of the Un-
ion Home Ministry
said that India is of the
view that Mehul Chok-
si has acquired Anti-
gua citizenship on ba-
sis of false declarations
“and we have been op-
posing it”.
IB, CBI,...
or relation with a for-
eign State or which
would lead to incite-
ment of an offence.
“The Head of the Or-
ganisation shall vest
with the authority to
decide as to whether the
proposed material for
publication is sensitive
or non-sensitive and
whether it falls in the
tion”, the notification
said. “..do solemnly de-
clare that save with
prior approval of the
Competent Authority, I
shall not publish in any
manner, while in ser-
vice or after retirement,
any information or ma-
terial or knowledge
which is related to the
tion and obtained by
virtue of my working in
the organisation. The
declaration is notwith-
standing my responsi-
bilities and liabilities in
terms of the relevant
conduct rules, pension
rules, laws dealing with
offences related to offi-
cial secrets or national
security and the Intel-
ligence Organisation
(Restriction of Rights)
Act, 1985, as the case
may be. I further agree
that in the event of any
failure of the above un-
dertaking by me, the
decision of Govt as to
whether it was likely to
prejudicially affect the
aspects stated above
will be binding on me”,
the undertaking reads.
FROM PG 1 Severely dented IAS: Govt
sources on Alapan issue
New Delhi: Taking
strong exception to for-
mer West Bengal chief
secretary Alapan Ban-
dyopadhyay skipping a
meeting of Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi,
government sources on
Wednesday said his
conduct has made a se-
vere dent to IAS and it
could lead to anarchy
.
They questioned
Bandyopadhyay’s ac-
tion on May 28 for keep-
ing Modi waiting for
him and leaving the
meeting venue without
making a presentation
to the prime minister.
“Mind you, the re-
view meeting was held
by no less than the
prime minister himself
who had come for the
meeting after making
an aerial survey of cy-
clone YAAS affected ar-
eas,” a source said.
The sources asked
what if central govern-
ment officers in various
departments concerned
including PSUs and Na-
tional Disaster Manage-
ment Authority
(NDMA) refuse to at-
tend meetings called by
the chief secretary on a
whole lot of situations,
including calamities?
—PTI
Kolkata: West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee on Wednesday
dubbed as “hoax” the
Centre’s claim of vac-
cinating the entire pop-
ulation above the age of
18 years by December
2021, and asserted that
the union government
must provide jabs free
of cost to states.
“That claim is just a
hoax. The Centre says
things like these. Before
the Bihar elections,
they had promised to
inoculate its population
after the elections, but
nothing happened,” she
told reporters at the
state secretariat.
Banerjee said consid-
ering the gap between
doses, the process to
vaccinate the entire eli-
gible age group should
take six months to a
year to complete. She
said her government
has spent Rs 150 crore to
procure vaccines, but
only 1.4 crore of the
state’s over 10- crore
population could be in-
oculated so far.
“Whatever little
stock that is supplied,
gets depleted within
days... It must give free
vaccines to state gov-
ernments,” she said.
The central govern-
ment had on Monday
said it expects to inocu-
late the country’s adult
population. —ANI
Madhya Pradesh
cancels Class 12 state
board exams. 7-day
Covid-19 vaccination
drive launched in
Indian Oil HQ in Bhu-
baneswar.
Delhi saw oxygen
shortage, only perma-
nent solution is to plant
trees: Environment
Minister Gopal Rai
Plea filed in Supreme
Court against Delhi HC
order allowing Central
Vista construction
Bollywood producers’
body organises free
vaccination drives for
members
HIGHLIGHTS
TWO IPS OFFICERS SHIFTED IN AP
K Arif Hafeez has been appointed as SP, Guntur
Urban while R N Ammi Reddy was directed to
report to PHQ in Andhra Pradesh.
MRS B NAVYA GETS POSTING IN AP
Mrs B Navya waiting for posting has been appoint-
ed as Secretary, AP, Social Welfare Residential Ed-
ucational Institutions Society in Andhra Pradesh.
She is an IAS officer.
EX-EMPLOYEES CAN’T PUBLISH
INFORMATION RELATED TO
SECURITY AFTER RETIREMENT
The officers and employees who have served
in Intelligence or Security related organizations
included in the second schedule of the Right to
Information Act will not make any publication after
retirement, or any material relating to security.
VETSA RAMAKRISHNA GUPTA
SELECTED AS DIRECTOR (FIN), BPCL
Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta, CGM, BPCL, has been
selected for the post of Director (Finance), Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at a Public
Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Six candi-
dates were interviewed for the same.
Mrs Rina Mitra appointed as OSD, ACB
in West Bengal
Mrs Rina Mitra, presently posted as Principal
Advisor, Internal Security, West Bengal, has been
appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the rank
of DGP in Directorate of Anti Corruption Branch
(ACB) in West Bengal. She is a 1983 batch retired
IPS officer of MP cadre.
Will West Bengal cadre IPS officer be
DG of J & K ?
In case Dilbagh Singh, DGP of J & K, moves as
Delhi Police Commissioner on July 1, West Bengal
cadre 1988 batch IPS officer Zulfiquar Hasan
is likely to be posted as DGP of J & K . In fact,
Hasan has spent most of his career in the Valley in
various CPOs.
POWERGallery
By arrangement with: http://
whispersinthecorridors.com
IT’S A HOAX, BASELESS!
MAMATA ATTACKS VAX FOR ALL DRIVE
In a rare gesture,
Odisha Chief Minis-
ter Naveen Patnaik has
reached out to chief
ministers of all states
to put pressure on
central government for
a centralised procure-
ment of global Covid-19
vaccines. In his letter to
the CMs, Patnaik sug-
gested that “all the state
governments should
come to a consensus on
this issue. We should
act fast before any third
wave comes and cre-
ates further havoc”. He
added that no state is
safe unless all the states
adopt vaccination as the
top most priority. —ANI
In a video tweet, Con-
gress leader Shashi
Tharoor urged central
government to inoculate
all people for free. Tha-
roor said: “It is unaccep-
table that the government
wants states or private
hospitals to buy vaccines
at different prices.” Tha-
roor, who tested positive
for coronavirus in April,
recovered from the infec-
tion very recently.
Odisha CM Naveen
Patnaik on Wednes-
day wrote to all the chief
ministers in the country,
urging them to build a
consensus over pro-
curement of the Covid
vaccines by the Centre for
distribution among the
states. In the letter, Pat-
naik wrote that no state is
safe unless all the states
adopt vaccination as the
top most priority.
The Drugs Con-
troller General
of India (DCGI) has
approved vaccines
that have already
been approved
for restricted use
by the US drug
body FDA, EMA,
UK MHRA, PMDA
Japan or listed for
Emergency Use by
the World Health
Organisation. —ANI
ODISHA CM CALLS FOR UNITY
VAX SHOULD BE
FREE FOR ALL,
SAYS THAROOR
22.8 CRORE
COVAX DOSES
IN A YEAR
MORE VAXS
GET DCGI
APPROVAL
What happened to the promise made during Bihar elections?
West Bengal chief minister asks BJP-led central government
Mamata Banerjee steps up attack against central government’s
reluctance to provide vaccines free for states.
PM decision to scrap CBSE
exams historic: Minister
Congress leader Pri-
yanka Gandhi Vadra
on Wednesday appealed
to the chief ministers of
states to take “student-
friendly” decisions
regarding the State
Board Class 12 exami-
nation. “Like CBSE, the
stateboards should also
listen to the students,
parents, teachers,”
she tweeted. “I appeal
to the chief ministers,
education ministers to
listen to the voice of the
students and to give
importance to protect-
ing their health,” she
added. The government
on Tuesday decided that
class XII exams of CBSE
would not be held this
year. —ANI
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
entrance exam will be conducted whenever
it is safe for students to write it, assured JNU
Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar on Wednes-
day. He added that the decision to cancel the
Class 12 Board exams in light of the Covid-19
pandemic was pragmatic and rational, and the
University would adjust its academic calendar
if the entrance exam is delayed. —ANI
‘TAKE STUDENT-FRIENDLY
DECISIONS ON STATE BOARDS’
JNU NOT IN HURRY TO HOLD
ENTRANCE EXAMINATION
New Delhi: Union
Education Minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal
on Wednesday
termed Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi’s
decision to cancel the
Central Board of Sec-
ondary Education
(CBSE) Class 12
board examinations
“historic”.
He said that PM
Modi has taken the
decision in favour of
students keeping in
view their safety
amid the ongoing
Covid-19 situation.
The minister added:
“We have full confi-
dence that students,
parents, teachers,
and officials, related
to the board exami-
nation will appreci-
ate this step.”
On Tuesday, PM
Modi chaired a re-
view meeting regard-
ing the board exams.
There, officials gave
a detailed presenta-
tion on their consul-
tations with all stake-
holders, including
the state govern-
ments.On April 14,
the Central govern-
ment took the deci-
sion to cancel Class
10 board exams.
New Delhi: As con-
struction work re-
sumed in the national
capital as part of eas-
ing of coronavirus re-
strictions, only half of
the usual labour force
turned up. Workers
said that rooms provid-
ed on-site could accom-
modate four or five but
for those with families
it was difficult.
Meanwhile, at a
DMRC Phase 4 con-
struction site, work
continued throughout
the lockdown. However,
the work had slowed
down due to a labour
shortage. A security
guard said only 25 out
of 175 labourers stayed
when the lockdown was
first announced. —PTI
First India Bureau
Jaipur: Experts have
warned of a third wave
of coronavirus pan-
demic as severe as sec-
ond wave amid reports
of Covid-19 witnessing
a sharp decline across
the country
.
India’s largest public
sector bank, State Bank
of India (SBI), in its
five-page-long report,
said that the impact
could be significantly
minimised by rigorous
vaccination and provid-
ing better health infra-
structure. Experts have
raised an alert because
only around 3.2 per cent
of the Indian popula-
tion has been fully vac-
cinated.
“However it is also
observed that in third
wave, if we are better
prepared, the decline in
serious case rate will
lead to less number of
deaths,” the SBI re-
search document read.
As per the official
data, around 162,000
had died of Covid-19 till
March-end. Within two
months, the death toll
of Covid-related fatali-
ties to over 330,000.
Hojai: A doctor on Cov-
id-19 duty in Assam
was assaulted by rela-
tives and friends of a
patient who died at a
health facility on Tues-
day afternoon. The po-
lice arrested 24 people
allegedly involved in
the incident early on
Wednesday.
Assam Chief Minis-
ter Himanta Biswa Sar-
ma put out names of the
arrested people on
Twitter. The incident
came to light after a
video was shared wide-
ly on social media.
Dr Seuj Kumar Sena-
pati was kicked and
thrashed with brooms
and utensils by the mob
at the Udali Covid care
centre in Hojai district.
Dr Senapati was carry-
ing out the government-
mandated rural service
duty after completing
his post-MBBS intern-
ship.
He had been recently
posted at the Udali facil-
ity
. Hojai district SP Ba-
run Purakayastha, told
the media, “The patient
died at the hospital.”
—Agencies
Priyanka Gandhi appeals CMs for student-friendly decision.
SBI report calls for rigorous vaccination drive across the country.
Delhi unlocks, but few
turn up for site work
3rd wave can’t be ruled out
24 held for attacking
doctor on Covid duty
BJP leader shot dead in J&K
DROP IN CASES
Srinagar: Militants
shot dead a BJP council-
lor at Pulwama district
in Jammu and Kashmir
on Wednesday
. The mili-
tants opened fire on
Rakesh Pandit at his
home. Pandit was
rushed to a hospital
where he died. A woman
–whoseidentityisbeing
ascertained – also sus-
tained injuries in the fir-
ing by militants.

NEWS
07
Janardan Misra
Gonda: Eight persons
lost lives while seven
others severely injured
in a suspected cylinder
explosion late on Tues-
day night in Tikari vil-
lage of Wajirganj area.
It was reported that two
adjacent houses were
collapsed and several
persons were buried un-
der debris. As many as
15 people were rescued
and eight of them were
declared dead while 7
others were shifted in
hospital where their
condition was stated to
be critical. CM Yogi
Adityanath expressed
deep grief over demise
of eight persons and
instructed concern of-
ficials to provide every
possible medical help
to injured. He also in-
structed district magis-
trate to file detail re-
port for cause of the
incident.
It was also revealed
that illegal manufac-
turing of crackers was
also conducted in that
area. Police and foren-
sic deteams were inves-
tigating the matter. Af-
ter the incident Bal-
rampur police have ar-
rested two perpetrators
for illegal stocking of
firecrackers.
8 killed, 7 injured in
cylinder explosion, CM
Adityanath seeks report
PRAYAGRAJ &
AGRA TO FANCY
RAILKASAFAR
 The Indian
Railways in order to
improve the travel
experience of AC
3-tier passengers has
come up with
European style AC
economy coach
 The Indian railways
has built 15 such
coaches and have
sent 10 of these to
Prayagraj, Agra and 5
to Mumbai division
RAM BHAKTS
KEEP CASH
FLOW GOING
IN LOCKDOWN
Lord Ram’s followers even during
the Corona pandemic have
contributed in large numbers for
the construction of the Lord Ram
temple in Ayodhya. The Corona
pandemic though put an end to
the arrival of devotees to Ayodhya
to pray at Ram’s birthplace but
was unsuccessful in deterring
followers from donating for the
construction of the new Lord Ram
temple here in Ayodhya. The Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra
Trust has from the last weeks of
April to May had received more
than Rs. 11 crores in donations for
the construction of the temple. The
highest contributions have been
made by devotees from the city of
Mumbai and state of Gujarat. The
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth
Kshetra Trust also on April 23rd
and 24th received donations from
Tata Sons Mumbai and Neelika
Chemical Pvt Ltd, Bansi, Mumbai
to the tune of Rs. 5 crore each.
Another company named Rakesh
Chemical Pvt Ltd Mumbai had also
donated Rs. 1 crore to the fund. In
May, Natarajan Chandrasekhar of
Tata Sons Mumbai sent a check of
Rs 10 lakh to the trust office, which
was recently submitted to the bank.
A primary school teacher from
Andhra Pradesh had sent a sum
of Rs. 34,000 to the fund while
various enterprises and individuals
from Gujarat donated a total of
Rs. 16,77,000. Prakash Gupta, in-
charge of the trust office said that
even though people were unable
to see the idol of Lord Ram due
to the pandemic, a lot of people
have donated for the construction
of the temple which shows their
excitement for the new temple.
—Amit Baliyan
THIS DEPT IN
KANPUR IS IN
DEEP SLUMBER
There seems to be a department
in Kanpur that seems to be in
a deep slumber and has forgotten
to mark land due to which under
the guise of Corona and lethargy
of departmental officers, the
land mafia have robbed the
government of crores of land. The
officers in slumber seem have
suddenly woken up after rumors
of appointment of a new Chief of
Department started spreading.
The authorities have not woken
up to correct the wrong but to
indulge in lobbying to ensure their
transfer before a new Chief takes
over so that they escape from
the wrath of the Chief. Files of
projects worth crores are currently
collecting dust in the department
and in such a situation the dream
of smart city in the states is
proving to be far-fetched. Next
to the multi-divisional building of
Singhpur, on the way to Gangpur
Chakwanda many acres of land
was acquired under the pretext of
development work and crores of
money fund were released. Due
to non-availability of officers from
the department, the contractors
have taken advantage of it and
constructed buildings which
don’t exude a lot of confidence.
The clumsiness of the authorities
has also meant that the land
mafias has paralyzed the project
with illegal constructions or
some other means. The rumor
of appointment of a new head of
the department have instilled fear
in the authorities and many have
begun working on clearing files,
to safeguard themselves from
any wrath. —Sumit Awasthi
First India Bureau
T
hese European
styled AC 3-tier
coaches will
have 83 seats in
one coach upped from 72
seats in present in nor-
mal AC 3-tier coaches.
Piyush Goyal-led In-
dian Railways is up-
grading the Golden
Quadrilateral and its
diagonalswithanaimto
run trains at speeds of
up to 160 kmph.
According to railway
officials, sleeper class
coaches cannot take
speeds greater than 110
kmph, hence there is
need for Economy AC
coaches that can replace
sleeper-class coaches in
Mail/Express trains.
However, railways has
clarified that sleeper
coaches will continue to
beusedintrainsrunning
at110kmph.Thefaresfor
theEconomyACcoaches
are expected to be higher
than sleeper class but
lower than AC-3 tier tar-
iff.Thesecoachesarealso
keeping in line with the
improved growth for AC
in last few years.
SAVING `6 LAKH
KEEPING SPACE INTACT,ELECTRIC PANEL MOVED DOWN THE COACH
ENHANCED SANITIZATION WITH TOILETS OPERATED WITH FOOT PERSONALISED AC VENTS, USB CHARGING FOR EVERY BERTH
HIGH SPEED OF 160 KMPH WHILE MEETING ALL STANDARDS
These increase in the number of
seats though have not had any
effect on the overall space pro-
vided to passengers. The electri-
cal panel has been moved down
instead of at the top of the coach
and the high current circuits
have also been excluded in these
coaches which will decrease the
possibility of fire due to short cir-
cuits, etc. The coaches have been
made while keeping passengers in
mind as all the berths have been
provided with dedicated AC vents,
reading light, bottle holders for
each berth and USB charger port
with bracket to hold mobile. The
seat cover also features HN3 fire
resistant and the interiors of the
coach also follow a color coordi-
nated design in line with standard
of European specification. The
first seat of each coach has been
made to help the specially abled.
The Research Design and Stand-
ards Organization of the Railways
conducted the trial of these
coaches in March at a speed of
160 km per hour in the Southern
Railway and then in Rajasthan’s
Kota Railway Division. Once the
trial was successful, the Com-
missioner of Railway Safety
tested its standards. The coaches
have also redesigned ladders
which were used by the middle
berth and upper berth passen-
gers. The ladders have designed
in such a way that it looks beauti-
ful and doesn’t cause inconven-
ience to passengers. The previ-
ous coaches had another issue
with the middle birth causing
issues and fixing of the middle
would need a lot of work to be
done in the factory. The new
coaches have different frames so
that it can be easily replaced.
The toilets in these high-tech
new age railway coaches have
also been fitted with fitting which
can be easily operated with foot,
thereby limiting the use of hand
and provide enhanced sanitized
operation. What is surprising is
that while the normal AC 3-tier
coaches were built at a cost of
Rs. 2.80 - 2.82 crores, these
modern ones have been built at
Rs. 2.76 crores only. The en-
gineers of the factory have set
themselves a target of produc-
ing 110 modern coaches in the
month of June.
Personalised AC vents and read-
ing lights, USB charging points
for every berth and more - these
are some of the features pas-
sengers can look forward to
in the new AC coach by Indian
Railways. Initially, a prototype AC
3-tier coach with aircraft-style
comforts was rolled out. The
Economy AC coach has 83 berths
- 11 more than the conventional
AC-3 tier coach which has 72
berths. The space for more
coaches has been made by mov-
ing main electrical control below
the train - that is underslung.
What is
inter-
esting
is that
while the normal
AC 3-tier coaches
were built at a cost
of Rs. 2.80 - 2.82
crores, these mod-
ern ones have been
built at Rs. 2.76
crores only. The en-
gineers of the facto-
ry have set them-
selves a target of
producing 110
modern coaches in
the month of June
Ravindra Gupta, GM,
Kapoorthala Rail
Coatch Factory
First India Bureau
Meerut: India’s largest
and best sports products
are produced in the
Meerut.
The sports products
manufactured in
Meerut are supplied
not only in different
parts of country but all
over the world also as
these are much liked by
players.
Notonlycricketbutall
sports goods are made
here. Now the people of
America while ignoring
Chinese products are
showing interest in table
ball and pool stick manu-
factured in Meerut. If
thesesportsproductsare
sent from Meerut to
America, there will be
turnover of crores of ru-
pees annually
. Rakesh
Kohli, the champion of
table tennis products,
made his table tennis
manufacturingcompany
get recognition all over
the world.
He has now again
madepreparationstohit
the kick shot at the right
time, as the outdoor
game of pool is now be-
coming a hot favorite in
America. For various
reasons, Americans are
currently ignoring Chi-
nese sports products.
When an entrepre-
neur innovates, accept-
ing the challenge of in-
ternational market, he
seeks the highest posi-
tion there. Following
this thinking, Meerut
earned a name in the
cricketproductindustry
.
The table tennis prod-
ucts market generally
had little relation with
India, even after this,
Stag International made
India’s name high in the
world by making a mark
in this sphere. Now this
company will make ta-
blesandballsfortheout-
door game of pool and
supply to America. The
company has sent its
sample to America.
The annual business
of poolgameproductsin
the US is around Rs 250
crore. This market is
completely new in a way
,
hence has ample oppor-
tunity to establish one’s
place in it, says Kohli.
China’s loss is
Meerut’s gain
With the Americans currently ignoring
Chinese sports products, Meerut city, the
sporting-manufacturing hub looks to
thrive on opportunity by exporting goods

08
2NDFRONT
A good life is a way of being, it is
not a destination to be reached
and be done with; rather it is
finding beauty and happiness in each
and everything that one comes across.
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India
Plea in SC seeks direction for removal of bodies found floating in Ganga
First India Bureau
New Delhi: A plea has
been filed in the Su-
preme Court seeking
directions to the Centre
and four states, includ-
ing Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar, to take immedi-
ate steps to remove the
bodies found floating in
river Ganga amid the
ongoing wave of Cov-
id-19 pandemic.
The petition, which
referred to reports of
bodies found floating
in river Ganga in UP
and Bihar, urged the
apex court to issue
guidelines or formu-
late a standard operat-
ing procedure (SOP)
for proper and digni-
fied cremation or buri-
al of bodies of victims
of coronavirus as per
the rituals.
The plea, filed by
Youth Bar Association
of India, sought direc-
tions to the chief secre-
taries and district mag-
istrates to ensure that
no dead body is allowed
to be thrown in any
river on any ground
and to take stern action
against the culprits.
It is the duty of the
state to protect the
rights of the deceased,
which also includes the
right to decent burial/
cremation, said the
plea,filedthroughadvo-
cate Manju Jetley
. It
said the Ganga origi-
natesfromUttarakhand
and flows down to UP
,
Bihar and West Bengal
and floating of corpses
intheriverwouldcause
environmental hazards
and it is also in viola-
tionof theguidelinesof
National Mission for
Clean Ganga.
The plea said the au-
thorities should be di-
rected to take measures
forensuringremovalof
bodies from rivers. It
saidtheauthoritiescon-
cernedbedirectedtoset
up a 24x7 toll free hel-
pline number in every
district so that the de-
ceased can be taken to
the crematoriums on
the request of family
members. The plea has
also sought directions
totheCentreandothers
to adhere to the last
month’s recommenda-
tions of the National
Human Rights Com-
mission on issues, in-
cluding on handling of
dead bodies.
Dalit politics in UP at crossroads
as Mayawati takes back seat
Sidharth & Akhilesh trade allegations
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Eight
months before Uttar
Pradesh goes to polls, a
critical aspect that de-
fines and determines its
political trajectory
seems unsettled. It’s
crunch time for Dalit
politics in UP that was a
crucible for the rise and
empowerment of the
SCs, shepherded by the
BSP
, its late founder
Kanshi Ram, and his
protégé Mayawati who
became the state’s first
Dalit CM with an abso-
lute majority
. Mayawati
is rarely seen or heard
except on Twitter and
theBSP’sonce-indomita-
bleorganisationisvirtu-
ally “dysfunctional,”
admitted insiders.
Anecdotal evidence
suggests that the BSP
chief is unable to make
up her mind on whether
she wants to become an
appendage of the BJP or
reclaim the Opposition
turf. Mayawati’s mani-
fest preoccupation is to
hand over her legacy
and her party to Akash
Anand, her young Lon-
don-returned nephew
who was anointed as the
“heir”, and her brother,
Anand Kumar, who was
re-appointed as the
BSP’snationalvice-pres-
ident. That makes the
BSP one more dynast-
helmed entity for the
BJP to add to the line-up
of “vanshvaad rajniti”
in the heartland state.
UP’spartiesarepalpa-
bly thrilled to see the
Dalit space opening up
before the 2022 elections.
But while the BSP has
behind it decades of
hard ground work, a
committed cadre and an
ideology that was unfor-
tunately undermined by
the leadership’s propen-
sitytostrikecompromis-
es for short-term bene-
fits, the credentials of
the other parties want-
ingtoprojectthemselves
as “pro-Dalit” are also
questionable.
Talking to First In-
dia, senior political ana-
lyst Gyanendra Shukla
said that under the lead-
ership of Mayawati BSP
has resorted to several
socio-religious-caste ex-
periments. The much
hyped dalit-muslim-
brahminformulalostits
impact within a decade,
as is, evident from the
factthatBSP’svoteshare
went down from 30% in
2007 to 22% in 2017. This
fall continued during
2019 Loksabha elections
in which BSP got only
19.3% of votes.
In the Modi era BJP
made a visible dent in
BSP’s dalit vote bank.
The BJP has successful-
ly inculcate a Hindutva
identity among Dalits .
Many prominent faces
of the BSP have joined
theSPandalsoCongress
and BJP
. The advent of
Chandrasekhar Azad
alias Ravan in dalit po-
litical arena of western
UP perplexed BSP lead-
ership, Also, with con-
tinues electoral losses
put Maya is in dilemma,
having calculated less
potential for electoral
politics of radical Dalit
consciousness she opted
to play Hindutva’s game
on her own turf.
Change in Lko div
Inviewof 2022elections,
the BSP appointed six
new sector incharges.
Responsibility has been
given to Intezaar Abdi
aka Bobby
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The Bar
Council of India has
constituted a high-
level expert commit-
teetodecidethemeth-
od of evaluating Law
students in the inter-
mediate semester,
amid the ongoing
Covid-19 pandemic.
Former Chief Jus-
tice of the Allahabad
High Court, Justice
Govind Mathur, will
chair the 12-member
committee. The BCI,
however, will not is-
sue any guidelines
with regard to hold-
ing of examinations,
according to reports.
“Bar Council of In-
dia’s predominant
view this year has
been to leave this mat-
terwiththerespective
Universities and ena-
ble them to take a de-
cisionkeepinginview
the convenience and
the situation, the Uni-
versity and Students
are placed in”, Bar
and Bench quoted the
BCI as saying.
The BCI has decid-
ed to form a commit-
tee of experts to delib-
erate on the issue af-
ter receiving requests
from law students
across the country
. It
said Prof Vandana,
Dean, Faculty of Law,
DU, had asked the
council if it had is-
sued any instructions
in this regard.
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Minister
and spokesperson Sid-
harth Nath Singh on
Wednesday once again
hit out at SP president
Akhilesh Yadav for his
diatribe against the
State government. Sin-
gh said Akhilesh is cut
off from ground reality
as he never ventures
out from his air condi-
tioned comforts.
“It is most unfortu-
nate that a person like
Akhilesh, while sitting
in an ivory tower, did
not bother to mention
even one of many pro-
people steps taken by
the Yogi government
instead he unsuccess-
fully tried to run down
the popular govern-
ance,” Singh said add-
ing ‘’Akhilesh should
show some maturity in
this regard.’’
Attacking the UP
government and the
Centre, SP president
Akhilesh Yadav on
Tuesday said double
engine of the BJP gov-
ernment is stranded in
the railway yard for
past eight years lead-
ing to backwardness of
the country. “In four
years of the BJP in the
state, the double en-
gine did not move an
inch. Development
plans are waiting on
the platform. No one is
there to ask and BJP
government keeps
shunting the officials
only,” he alleged.
Yadav made a special
demand on board ex-
ams. He said state
boards should also take
decisions on board ex-
aminations like CBSE.
Akhilesh tweeted, “Fi-
nally, the insensitive
BJP government had to
succumb to pressure
from examinees and
parents and decided to
cancel the CBSE 12th
examination.”
First India Bureau
Prayagraj: The Alla-
habad High Court on
Wednesday inquired as
to what steps have been
taken for enabling live
streaming of Court pro-
ceedings in terms of the
directions issued by the
Supreme Court in Swap-
nil Tripathi case.
A Division Bench of
Justices Pankaj Naqvi
and Jayant Banerji di-
rected Standing Counsel
Ashish Mishra, appear-
ing for the High Court
administration, to seek
completeinstructionsin
the matter.
The development
comes in a PIL filed by
legal journalists Areeb
Uddin Ahmed (Bar &
Bench) and Sparsh
Upadhyay (LiveLaw)
along with three law
students, seeking pub-
lic access to virtual
courts.
‘The concept of jus-
tice, in its truest sense,
would only be realized
in an environment of
absolute transparency
(barring a few excep-
tional cases) in the af-
fairs of the Indian Judi-
ciary,’ the Petitioners
said in their petition.
Dead bodies being cremated on the bank of Ganga river.
—FILE PHOTO
A DIFFERENT BALL GAME
Expectant beneficiaries of Covid-19 vaccines wait under makeshift tents erected near the
Cricket pitches at the KD SIngh Babu stadium on Wednesday.
HC seeks
reply on steps
taken for live
streaming
ST Hasan
likens Covid
to ‘Aasmani
Aafat’
First India Bureau
Lucknow: The DGP
Headquarters on
Wednesday gave new
postings to ten IPS of-
ficers and three Depu-
ty Superintendents of
Police. IPS Nikhil
Pathak, who was Assis-
tant Commissioner of
Police, Kanpur Com-
missionerate, has now
been named as the Ad-
ditional Deputy Com-
missioner of Police,
Kanpur Commissioner-
ate.
IPS Shraddha Naren-
dra Pandey, who was
the Assistant Commis-
sioner of Police in Gau-
tamBuddha Nagar, has
now been made the Ad-
ditional Deputy Com-
missioner of Police,
GautamBuddha Nagar
In a major late-night
reshuffle, a number of
IPS&2PPSofficerswere
transferred. What holds
importance with these
transfers is the fact that
SPsof fivedistrictswere
also shuffled. IPS Shiv
Hari Meena is now the
SSP
, Jhansi, Ashok Ku-
mar is now SP Mainpu-
ri, Ashok Kumar will be
taking charge as SP
Firozabad, Ajay Kumar
will head Hardoi unit
while Sudha Singh has
been made SP Mahoba.
The DGP Headquar-
ters had on Wednesday
issued transfer order to
three PPS officers too
namely
,COArunKumar
Singh, AbhishekKumar
Rahul and Shwetabh
Pandey
.
Major Shifting In Police Dept: Ten IPS and 3 PPS officers transferred
RESHUFFLE

IPS Shiv Hari
Meena is now
SSP Jhansi
& IPS Ashok
Kumar is SP
Mainpuri among
others Nikhil Pathak Shraddha Narendra Pandey
Sidharth Nath
Singh
Akhilesh
Yadav
BSP’s think-tank under-
stands the ground reality
that in changing socio-eco-
nomic-political conditions, it is not
easy to mobilize Dalits as a unitary
force for independent Dalit politics.
—Gyanendra Shukla, Senior political analyst
BSP chief is
unable to
make up her
mind on
whether she
wants to
become an
appendage of
the BJP or
reclaim the
Oppn turf
BarCouncilsets
uppaneltodecide
exammethod
First India Bureau
Lucknow: Holding a
degree of MBBS, Sama-
jwadi Party leader and
Moradabad MP Dr ST
Hasan feels that the on-
going pandemic and re-
cent cyclonic activities
are a result of govern-
ment’s attempt to bring
in CAA which he feels
is to shunt Muslim com-
munity members from
the country
.
He said that the cata-
strophic activities are
a result of aasmani
aafat (divine interven-
tion) against injustice
being carried out
against Muslims in the
form of Citizen’s
Amendment Act (CAA)
and similar interfer-
ences with the Muslim
law of Sharia.
However, Mohzin
Raza, junior minister
for minority welfare,
Muslim waqf and Haj
has termed Hasan’s ap-
proach similar to that
of the ISIS.
—FILE
PHOTO
—PHOTO
BY
SUMIT
KUMAR

LUCKNOW, THURSDAY
JUNE 3, 2021
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
he music and Meena
Kumari kept me
glued to Baiju Bawra
when I watched it a
couple of years ago.
As a teenager when I
had watched the
movie, the doomed love story
had broken my tender heart,
I loved the songs on surface
and Meena Kumar’s beauty
had awed me, at the time I
wasn’t mature enough to ap-
preciate the depth of the mu-
sic that Naushad and Baiju
Bawra had to offer.
Soul-stirring music define
the movie and rightly so!
Each song is a classic rendi-
tion and it is really difficult
to decide a favourite. I loved
Tu Ganga ki mauj as much
for the chocolate faced Bharat
wooing the gorgeous Meena
Kumari as for the tides turn-
ing scene with the power of
his voice. I adore the scene as
the complete village sings
along, supporters of this
young love story!
Mohe bool gaye sanwari-
yaa, the heart weeps with im-
possibly beautiful and deso-
late Meena and O Duniya ke
Rakhwaale in Raga Darbari
is still as powerful. I will not
go into the historical aspects
of themoviethoughof course
the backdrop of Ashoka’s
court, Tansen and Bajinath
Prasad, (the actual name of
the maestro) makes an inter-
esting read. The thread of
revenge running through the
movie makes it gripping even
as Bharat forgets it in
love and remem-
bers it. Door koi
gaaye glides
over us
while Bach-
pan ki Mo-
habbat ko
as Bharat
is lead away
by the lady
dacoit and
Meena puts her
helplessness in
the powerful
words is one of my
favourites. Man
tadpat Hari darshan
ko aaj once again
b e a u t i f u l l y
showcases the
power of the voice of the
maestro. The way the general
population responds to the
songs is a joyful watch
throughout the movie.
One of the most powerful
scenes for me is when Bharat
goes to kill Tansen in revenge
and but stands transfixed in
sheer joy as he hears Tansen-
Oh! the power of music!
Baiju Bawra is a must
watch for the music and
songs, for the cute love story,
for the metamorphosis of
Meena Kumari from a
bubbly teenager to a
lovelorn young
woman (her ex-
pressions leave
one speechless) as
for the sheer mag-
ic of the power of
music which is
rarely seen
nowadays.
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
Preet na
Preet na
kariyo koye…
kariyo koye…
This Throwback Thursday, City First invites you to
drown in the sheer magic of music with Baiju Bawra!
T

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