First India-Mumbai Edition-04th October 2022 by firstindia

l A 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed in India by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

l They are armed with 20mm turret guns, 70mm rocket systems and air-toair missiles

l They have armour pro tection, night attack capabil ity as well as crash-worthy landing gear

l The choppers can be deployed in high-altitude areas over 20,000 feet

l In March, PM Modi-led CCS approved the procure ment of 15 indigenously developed LSP LCH at a cost of Rs 3,887 crore

PILOTS: FLIES LIKE A BUTTERFLY AND STINGS LIKE A BEE

“To quote a famous boxer, Mohammed Ali, all I can say is this machine flies like a butterfly and stings like a bee,” sharing his experience of flying the LCH, Wing Com mander Saurabh Sharma, who is also the Flight Commander of Dhanush Squadron 143 Helicopter Unit said.

INDIA’S OWN HELL-BIRD ARMED AND READY!

India sees induction of first made-in-India light combat helicopter’ Prachand’ in the Air Force with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in attendance

Sangeeta Sharma and Shiv Prakash Rajpurohit

Jodhpur: Indigenouslybuilt light combat heli copter (LCH) ‘Prachand’ was inducted into the Indian Air Force at Jodhpur airbase, in the presence of Defence minister Rajnath Singh, CDS General Anil Chau han and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. Rajnath Singh attended the in

duction ceremony of the first indigenously developed LCH in Ra jasthan’s Jodhpur on Monday and a ‘sarvdharam’ prayer was also performed. Singh also took a sortie in Light Combat Helicop ter (LCH) called “Prachand” at Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan.

Speaking at the in duction ceremony, Ra jnath Singh said, “For a long time, there was a

need for attack helicop ters and during the 1999 Kargil war, its need was felt seriously. The LCH is a result of research & development for two decades. And its induc tion into the IAF is an important milestone in defence production.”

He added, “LCH is ca pable of dodging the en emy, carrying a variety of ammunition, and de livering it to the site quickly.”

Bharat Jodo Yatra: In a day, RaGa visits mutt, mosque and church

Moni Sharma

Mysuru: As Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the 26th day, Congress lead er Rahul Gandhi visited a mutt, a mosque and a church in a single day.

Rahul Gandhi visited Suttur Mutt in Mysore and met the Seer Sri Shi varatri Deshikendra Swamiji during his on going Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Security tightened in Mum ahead of Dussehra rallies by Sena factions

Mumbai (PTI): Strin

gent security measures are in place across Mumbai in view of two rallies on Dussehra or ganized by Shiv Sena factions led by Chief Minister Eknath Shin de and party president Uddhav Thackeray, said a police official on Mon

day.

The rebellion by Shinde in June brought down the Thackeray-led

Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the two factions have shared an acrimonious relationship since, with workers clashing at times on streets.

While Thackeray will address the October 05 rally at the Sena’s tradi tional venue Turn to P6

The Wayanad MP paid a visit to Masjid-eAzam in Mysore during the Karnataka leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The yatra entered day four in the southern district of Karnataka on Monday. He also vis ited Saint Philomena’s church in the city.

Congress said that Rahul interacted with women weavers of Kha di Gramodyog, workers raised concerns related to wage hike along with better supply and infra.

Rival Sena groups to face-off in Andheri (East) by-poll

Seat fell vacant after Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke died of a heart attack in May this year

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena fac tion will face its first popularity test on No vember 03, during the election for Mumbai’s Andheri (East) Assem

bly seat to find a re placement representa tive for the late Shiv MLA Ramesh Latke.

As both factions of Shiv Sena are vying for the party’s bow and ar row symbol—with the matter being heard by the Election Commis sion of India—the up coming by-poll becomes much more interesting as it is anyone’s guess which camp will be al lowed to use the party symbol.

The schedule for the by-poll was announced on Monday by the ECI.

Counting of votes will take place on Nov 06.

The Andheri (East) seat fell vacant after the death of Latke, who had won the seat two times in a row, in May this

in the by-election. Ud dhav Thackeray’s camp is likely to field the de ceased legislator’s wife Rutuja Latke.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday that his party will support Thackerayled Shiv Sena in the byelection.

SONIA ARRIVES IN MYSURU, TO JOIN YATRA ON OCT 6

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday reached Karnataka to take part in Bharat Jodo Yatra. She will walk with Congress leaders and workers on October 6. Sonia will fly to Madikeri in Coorg and stay at a private resort. Rahul will finish Mysuru stretch & fly to Madikeri to meet his mother. They will spend 2 days in Coorg before resuming the Yatra on October 6.

ED’S FRESH SUMMONS TO K’TAKA CONG CHIEF

ED on Monday issued fresh summons to Karnataka Cong chief DK Shivakumar and his brother, MP DK Suresh in con nection with a probe related to their fin contribution to YI. They have to appear on Oct 7.

CONGRESS RELEASES NORMS FOR PREZ POLL

Congress on Monday issued a set of guidelines for the election, debarring party officebearers from campaigning for the candidates. Those who wish to support any candidate will have to resign from org post.

Sweden’s Paabo wins Nobel Prize in Medicine

year. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shinde faction have fielded Murji Patel, a former councillor of the Mumbai civic body,

Andheri East Assem bly constituency is one of the 26 segments lo cated in Mumbai subur ban district. It is part of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha con stituency. Turn to P6

Stockholm: Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discover ies “concerning the ge nomes of extinct homi nins and human evolu tion”, the awardgiving body said on Monday. The prize, arguably among the most prestig ious in the scien tific world, is awarded by the No bel Assembly of Swe den’s Karolinska Insti tute and is worth 10 million Swedish

crowns ($900,357). It is the first of this year’s batch of prizes.

Paabo, son of the No bel Prize-winning bio chemist Sune Berg ström, has been credit ed with transforming the study of

Votes to be cast on Nov 03, counting will take place on Nov 06. ‘NO PROPOSAL TO SCRAP MINORITY AFFAIRS MINISTRY’ New Delhi: The Govt on Monday said there is no proposal under consideration to scrap Ministry of Minority Affairs. The response came due to media report that claimed that Centre may scrap Ministry of Minority Affairs, merge with Social Justice ministry. UP: 5 CHARRED TO DEATH, 64 SUSTAIN BURNS AMID PUJA Lucknow: Five persons died while dozens sustained severe burns when a fire broke out in a makeshift pandal erected for a Durga Puja celebration at Bhadohi district in eastern UP, about 280 km from the state capital of Lucknow, on Sunday late night. RUSSIAN HACKER HELD BY CBI FOR JEE 2021 PAPER LEAK JASPRIT BUMRAH OFFICIALLY RULED OUT OF ICC T20 WC New Delhi: The CBI on Monday arrested a Russian national in connection with its probe into alleged manipulation of JEE (Mains) exam last year. CBI had issued a ‘Look Out Circular’ against Mikhail Shargin, suspected to be main hacker examination, agency said. New Delhi: Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to his injured back, the BCCI announced on Monday. Bumrah’s injury comes as a major blow to India after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ruled. The board will announce replacement soon.

It is a momentous occasion reflecting India’s capability in defence production.

—Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister

AMIT SHAH Union Home Minister Amit Shah being recieved by MoS for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh as LG J&K Manoj Sinha looks on in Jammu on Monday. (Top) The induction ceremony of the first indigenously developed Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur. (Left) Rajnath Singh takes sortie in ‘Prachand’. (Right) A ‘sarv-dharam’ prayer being performed at induction ceremony of the first indigenously developed LCH ‘Prachanda’ in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, at Jodhpur Airbase in Rajasthan on Monday. New Delhi: A bomb threat onboard an Iranian passenger jet over Indian airspace, with a final destination in China, triggered an alert on Monday, following which IAF scrambled fighter jets. The passenger jet was allowed to fly toward China after clearance. At 2.45 pm IST, Mahan Air said aircraft has landed ‘safely on time’. IRAN’S LEADER BREAKS SILENCE ON PROTESTS, BLAMES THE US Dubai: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded publicly on Monday to biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called “rioting” and accuse US and Israel of planning protests. The unrest, ignited by death of a woman in custody of Iran’s morality police, is flaring up across country for the 3rd week. RAHUL’S ‘CHARISMA’ CROWD! (From Left) Rahul Gandhi being felicitated by Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji at Suttur Mutt, he meets nuns at St Philomena Church and also visits Masjid-e-Azam in Mysuru on Monday. FOR GRABS Sonia Gandhi reaches Mysuru on Monday.

READ Crucial www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 148 OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI BSE 56,788.81 638.11 | NSE 16,887.35 207.00 Durga Navami Greetings! ARAMBH HAI ‘PRACHAND’

ON A 3-DAY J&K TOUR

INDIGENOUS COMBAT HELICOPTER BOMB SCARE: IAF SCRAMBLES FIGHTER JETS

ATTRACTS HUGE

IT’S ‘KAMALABAI’ VERSUS ‘PENGUIN SENA’

Rivalry between the BJP and former CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction heats up ORIGIN OF ‘ENDEARMENTS’

Prashant Rangnekar

Mumbai: The bitter ness between the Ud dhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be grow

tacks. The former has labelled the ruling outfit as ‘Kamalabai’ and has been called the ‘Penguin Sena’ in return.

‘Kamalabai’ is a ref erence to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)

The term ‘Kama labai’ was mostly used by Sena founder Bal Thackeray in private and was later used in ‘Saamana’, said Congress MP and senior journalist Kumar Ketkar. Even though the two parties were

Thackeray-led Sena.

Bringing penguins to Mumbai was a pet pro ject of Aaditya Thack eray, son of Uddhav Thackeray and chief of Yuva Sena, the par ty’s youth wing.

Eight Humboldt penguins were brought to the city’s Byculla

Man who threatened Maha CM arrested, says Fadnavis

First India Bureau

Nagpur: Police have arrested a man in connection with the threat to Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde’s life, said Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur on Monday.

Speaking to report ers, Fadnavis said the state Home Department headed by him has tak en cognizance of all the threats against the chief minister.

“We are paying full attention to the security of the chief minister and other aspects. The person who threatened the CM on Sunday has been arrested,” he said, adding that the CM’s se curity is very impor tant.

Though Fadnavis did not share details re garding the arrested person, Pune police had registered a non-cogni zable (NC) offence against a man who had called up the police con trol room claiming a “plot” to kill CM Shinde at a hotel in Lonavala in Pune district.

The man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk when he made the call on Saturday to “teach a lesson” to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, said a

senior police officer on Sunday.

The State Intelli gence Department (SID) on Saturday received a specific input about the threat to the life of the chief minister, follow

ing which his security was increased.

Additional security has been provided to the CM, who enjoys a Z Plus category security cover, a senior SID offi cial had said.

Security was also stepped up at Shinde’s private residence in Thane and the official residence ‘Varsha’ in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis also condoned ban on Popular Front of India (PFI) by saying Naxalites supporting the outfit means Centre was right in banning the organization.

ideologically aligned on the issue of Hindutva, Bal Thackeray was never very fond of the BJP, he added. Senior journalist Prakash Akolkar said ‘Penguin Sena’ is a direct jibe at Aaditya Thackeray, who was instrumental

zoo from Seoul in South Korea in 2016.

But this verbal war is not just limited to the Thackeray-led Sena and the BJP alone, as the former has also been passing vitriolic re marks against the par ty’s rebel legislators, who are now part of the state government.

in bringing penguins to the city zoo. The zoo is managed by the cashrich BMC, which the Sena controlled for over 25 years. The project is criticized by the BJP and also by Congress for high maintenance costs that it incurs.

The Thackeray fac tion has been calling the group of rebel law makers led by Chief Minister Eknath Shin de as ‘gaddar’ (traitors) and taunting them with ‘50 khoke (boxes)’ re mark, implying that each MLA of the Shin de faction got Rs50 crore to switch loyalties.

Leading the attack against the dissidents is Aaditya Thackeray, who last month dubbed state Health Minister Tanaji Sawant as ‘khekda’ (crab).

And this verbal ex change is expected to escalate further ahead of the crucial polls to the cash-rich Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which both the war ring sides are vying to win.

The Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had collapsed on June 29 this year after a revolt by Shinde and 39 other legislators

against the Sena lead ership. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister the next day along with BJP’s Dev endra Fadnavis as his deputy. Of late, the Shiv Sena has started

using the word ‘Kama labai’ for the BJP.

While Kamal is the election symbol of the BJP, ‘bai’ in Marathi means a woman.

It referred to the BJP with the name in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ last month. It riled the BJP so much that its Mumbai unit Presi dent Ashish Shelar shot off a letter to Ud dhav Thackeray, who is also the edi tor of ‘Saama na’, and asked him whether his faction be called as ‘Pen guin Sena’. –PTI

Uddhav-led party is ‘real’ Shiv Sena: NCP

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray group is the “real” Shiv Sena though the decision is pending with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and two rallies are being organized on Dusseh ra day by rival fac tions, said the Nation alist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday.

“The Sharad Pawarled party is of the view that the ‘real’ Shiv Sena carries the ideas of the party founder the late Bal Thackeray, which is

Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena,” said Party Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.

“Two Dussehra ral lies will be held this year. One is of tradi tion, loyalty, self-respect and ideas of Balasaheb (Thackeray) which means the one led by Uddhav Thackeray. Even though the deci sion on which is the real Shiv Sena is pend ing with the Election Commission (of India), the real Shiv Sena is the one that has the ideas of Balasaheb (Thack eray) which means it is

the Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena,” he said in a video statement.

In a setback for Thackeray, the Supreme Court last week allowed the ECI to go ahead with hearing the

BJP chief slams Uddhav for taking jibes, warns MLA exits

First India Bureau

Nagpur: The Bharati ya Janata Party’s (BJP) unit chief, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, on Mon day said Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thack eray should stop tak ing jibes at others or else the few party members standing by him will also leave the fold.

Talking to reporters, Bawankule said people were showing confi dence in Eknath Shin de-Devendra Fadnavis government who are working 18 hours a day

SQUASHING UNTRUTHS

for people of the state.

“By 2024, several good workers from other par ties will join the BJP. The Congress and NCP (Na tionalist Congress Par ty) will be in for big shocks. If Uddhav

Thackerayji does not stop taking jibes at oth ers and instead think about Maharashtra’s de velopment, then the few workers left with him will also leave. He will only have ‘hum doh hamare doh’ and there will be no one else with him,” said the leader.

Reacting to Congress chief Nana Patole’s statement terming Dev endra Fadnavis as ‘Spi der-Man’ for his appoint ment as the guardian minister of six districts, Bawankule said the dep uty chief minister can not only manage six, but even eight districts.

Islamic bodies to dispel misbeliefs about faith

The ‘Prophet for All’ campaign will be launched on October 09 to coincide with birth anniv of Prophet Mohd also known as Eid-e-Milad

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Prominent Islamic organizations and members of the community will launch a campaign to address misunder standings and miscon ceptions about Islam and Prophet Moham med among people from other religions.

The ‘Prophet for All’ campaign will be launched to mark the

birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed, which is celebrated as Eid-e-Milad or Miladun-Nabi, on October 09.

Several organizations such as Anjuman-e-Is lam, Islam Gymkhana, Markazul Maarif, Ma him Dargah Trust and Urdu Headmasters’ As sociation will be part of the campaign and NGOs from Mumbai and Mira Road and Mumbra areas of neigh

bouring Thane district will also participate.

Community mem bers from different parts of the city and suburbs have started visiting orphanages, schools, hospitals and temples for the drive.

More than 200 NGOs

and individuals have been roped in for the campaign, which is aimed at dispelling mis conceptions about the Prophet and giving a clearer picture about him, said a volunteer.

As part of the cam paign, community mem

“With this campaign, we want to spread Prophet Muhammad’s message about peace. Our volunteers will try to reach out to more people through social media as well. We will not only visit masjids, but also temples such as Siddhi Vinayak in the city and other religious places to clear misunderstand ings about the Prophet.”

—Yusuf Abrahani, Former Congress MLA

bers will celebrate the Prophet’s birthday with people of other faiths by visiting their houses and also by inviting them to their homes.

On October 08, volun teers will display plac ards and banners and distribute pamphlets

outside bus stops and railway stations, while a procession will be taken out on October 09.

Many events have been planned and are being initiated to start a dialogue among other communities, stated a release.

Eknath Shinde group’s plea seeking recogni tion as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and allocation of the party’s bow-and-ar row poll symbol to it.

The Thackeray-led faction is scheduled to hold a rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, while the group led by Chief

Minister Eknath Shin de has booked the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for the October 05 congregation.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar and top leaders of the party have been backing the Thacker ay-led faction since the split in Shiv Sena.

The Thackeray-led Sena is one of the three members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

The MVA govern ment collapsed in June this year following the rebellion by 39 MLAs of Shiv Sena led by Shinde.

Excise dept may invoke MCOCA against liquor transport offenders

Pune (PTI): Maha rashtra Excise Minister Shambhu raje Desai on Mon day said the depart ment is consider ing invoking the stringent Maha rashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against repeat of fenders involved in illegal transporta tion of liquor from neighbouring Goa to the state.

Talking to report ers in Satara, Desai said the department will carry out a drive to crackdown on smuggling of liquor from other states, es pecially Goa, where alcohol is cheap com pared to the other regions.

“In a recent review of some districts (which share a bor der with Goa), we found out about ille gal transportation of liquor from Goa. It looks like there is a

SIs of excise depts in dists will send MCOCA proposals to the police; If cops find it a fit case, they will act on it, says Desai

big racket behind this,” said the minis ter.

“I have asked su perintendents of the excise departments to draft a proposal to slap MCOCA against a person or gang found to be repeat edly involved in ille gal sale of liquor and send it to the excise commissioner,” said Desai.

The director gen eral of police (DGP) has assured that if the police receive a proposal to invoke the MCOCA against repeated offenders, they will act on it, he said.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has assured that the safety of CM Eknath Shinde will not be compromised. —FILE PHOTO

Cops nabbed a man from Lonavala who claimed he had plotted to assassinate Shinde

Sharad Pawar –FILE PHOTO Faction upholding Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s ideas, feels party chief Sharad Pawar Chandrashekhar Bawankule —FILE PHOTO Liquor is usually transported illegally from other states, especially Goa, which shares border with Maharashtra. NEWS MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 02 www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia —FILE PHOTO

ODE TO THE GODDESS!

Passenger held at Mumbai airport with heroin worth `34.79 crore

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Customs of ficials seized 4,970g of heroin worth Rs34.79 crore from a passenger who had hidden the contra band in a specially created cavity in a trolley bag, an offi cial said on Monday.

The heroin was seized after Customs officials, acting on specific infor mation, stopped a pas senger at the airport on Saturday. During the search of his luggage, the officials found the contraband kept in the specially made cavity inside the trolley bag, Mumbai Airport Cus toms tweeted.

The passenger has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substanc es (NDPS) Act. He was produced before a

court which remanded him in judicial custody, it added.

In another action, the Mumbai Airport Cus toms seized 9,115g of gold valued at Rs4.53 crores on Friday and Sat urday and arrested three persons in six cases, as per the tweet. The seized gold was found con cealed in a specially de signed jacket, flight, mixer transformer windings, trolley wheels, shoes and body, it added.

According to the news reports, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed an international smug gling racket of drugs in

Case against man who committed suicide after killing wife, two children

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Mumbai police have registered a case against a man who committed sui cide after killing his wife and two children two months ago in the eastern suburb of Go vandi, informed an of ficial on Monday.

Shakeel Khan hanged himself at his house sit uated in the Indira Na gar area on July 29, after giving poison to his wife and two children, said the official from Shivaji Nagar police station.

Initially, the police had registered an accidental death report (ADR), but the medical report point ed out that Khan had in tentionally poisoned his wife Raziya and children Sarfaraz (7) and Atika (3) to kill them. The police official further informed that Khan used to run a

Shakeel Khan hanged himself after poisoning his wife and children on July 29

grocery store and had taken some steps due to which he was facing loss es in the business, the official said.

The deaths of Khan and his family members came to the fore when Khan did not open his store at the usual time and one of his relatives came to check on him. He peeped inside the house and saw the dead bodies of Khan and his family members.

a multi-agency coordi nated operation across three states.

Based on intelligence input, officers of DRI, Mumbai, seized 3.5kg of hydroponic weed from a US-origin postal con signment fabricated as ‘food items’ at the For eign Post Office, Mum bai. The said consign ment was consigned to Hyderabad, Telangana. DRI investigation re vealed that the cartel operated from different states and the consign ment was to be ex changed in Delhi in stead of sending to Hy derabad at the consign ee address.

Two girls burnt alive by father die in hospital

First India Bureau

Thane: Two girls, who were allegedly burnt alive by their father, died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Thane district on Monday.

Sameera Shantaram Patil (14) and her sister Samiksha (11) suffered 91% burns in a fire at their house in Bopar area of Dombivili town on Saturday morning. Their mother Preeti (35) died of burn wounds on Sunday, an official said.

The police have regis tered a case under sec tion 302 (murder) and other relevant provi sions of the IPC against the accused Prasad Shantaram Patil (40), who was injured in the incident. Probe revealed that the accused was having an affair with an other woman and hatched a conspiracy.

Surveillance was kept and two persons includ ing the mastermind of the cartel were arrested in Hyderabad, said DRI.

Further investiga tion revealed the use of dark web in placing or ders from the US and the use of cryptocur rency in making pay ments for the same.

The agency said a total of 5.3kg of ganja (hydroponic weed) hav ing a value of Rs2.36 crores in the illicit market has been recov ered and seized in this case including 1.8kg seized from Delhi. Fur ther investigation is in progress.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has unearthed an international smug gling racket of drugs in a multiagency coordinated operation across three states. Based on intelligence in put, officers of DRI, Mumbai, seized 3.5kg of hydroponic weed from a US-or igin postal consign ment fabricated as ‘food items’ at the Foreign Post Office, Mumbai. The said consignment was ent to Hyderabad, Telangana. DRI in vestigation revealed that the cartel operated from dif ferent states and the consignment was to be exchanged in Delhi instead of sending to Hy derabad at the consignee address. Surveillance was kept and two per sons including the mastermind of the cartel were arrested in Hyderabad.

Govt to start 4 mental health courses in regional hospitals

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Three years after receiving ap proval, the state health department is finally getting ready to launch four mental health cours es in three regional mental hospitals lo cated in Thane, Pune, and Nagpur.

The initiative is part of the National Mental Health Mission, with the goal of producing more specialists and filling vacant posi tions at these hos pitals. At present, nearly 70% of positions in Maharashtra’s four regional hospitals are unfilled.

According to the sources, 16 students would be chosen for M Phil courses

INNOVATIVE IDEA

in clinical psychology and psychiatric social work. A total of 40 stu dents would be appoint ed for diploma courses in psychiatric nursing and another four for MD programs in psy chiatry. Some of the courses have already begun at the Pune men tal hospital.

“The current short age of skilled health workers to provide mental health services

will make it difficult to deal with mental health problems in the years to come, if the shortage isn’t addressed on time.

The need of the hour is thus to increase the number of trained per sonnel providing men tal health services at all levels,” Dr Sadhana Tayade, director of health services said.

As part of this project, these hospitals would be turned into centres of excellence, focusing on training of mental health teams, increasing awareness and re ducing stigma related to mental health prob lems, provid ing services for early detection, treat ment of mental illness, and collecting valua ble data.

‘Artist’ creates paddy art to tell about Sahyadri flora, fauna

The piece, measuring 80 ft, has been created at Gorhe Budruk on Sinhagad Road; it can be viewed from a raised steel platform

First India Bureau

Pune: A 72-year-old man, using his farm land on the outskirts of Pune as a large canvas, has been mak ing paddy art to create awareness about the flora and fauna of Sahyadri range in the Western Ghats.

Over the years, Shri kant Ingalhalikar has created seven images of

rare life forms of the range with two varieties of paddy.

Using paddy plants, he has created figures of animals and birds like black panther, emerald dove, pit viper, gaur and leafbird in the past.

“I am doing this to create awareness about rare species of the Western Ghats and try ing to bring to people’s attention the flora and

BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

CRUCIAL

MAN DIES AT GARBA EVENT IN VIRAR, FATHER FOLLOWS SUIT IN SHOCK

Palghar: A man died while dancing at a garba event in Virar town of Palghar district, informed the police on Monday. Manish Narapji Sonigra collapsed while dancing at a garba event on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, an official from the Virar Police station said.

He was taken to the hospital by his father Narapji Sonigra (66) and was declared dead by the doctors there.

The father collapsed hearing the news of his son’s death and died on the spot, the official said.

INJURED IN E-BATTERY BLAST BOY DIES DURING TREATMENT

body is plain black. It hovers over treetops in search of prey, which include birds, lizards, snakes and squirrels.

It can be easily identi fied by its black feathers and peculiar flight pattern,” he ex plained. According to him, the bird can be spotted on the hills of Bhimashankar, Matheran, Mahabalesh war and Amboli.

Explaining his art, Ingalhalikar said, “This…commences during the season of paddy plantation in June with the arrival of monsoon. I use green

leaf and black leaf plants. In the first stage, seeds are sown some where else and the plants are later uproot ed and sown on a mud dy farm as per the de sign…basically a com bination of sketching, computer graphics and agriculture.”

“An image as per the size of the field is de signed on a computer and accordingly, the planting is carried out.

And once the rice plants grow, the picture emerg es and becomes clearer. So, it takes a month to view the art piece,” clarified Ingalhalikar.

Palghar: A sevenyear-old boy who got injured after a battery blast on September 23 in Vasai city, died during treatment, a police official said on Monday. The deceased, identified as Shabbir

Ansari suffered injuries when the battery of an e-scooter exploded due to excess heating.

The boy was reported to be sleeping with his mother when the incident took place.

“Prima facie, the battery exploded due to excess heating,” he said.

Mumbai: A man identified as 27-yearold Rishabh fell and reported chest pain while playing garba on Saturday. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead by the doctor. The deceased was a resident of Dombivili West and used to work with a private company.

An Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered by the Mulund Police and an investigation is on, informed an official.

FOUR INVOLVED IN 16 CASES OF HOUSE-BREAKING THEFTS ARRESTED

Thane: Police in the Thane district have arrested four people who have allegedly been involved in 16 theft-related cases. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II in Bhiwandi) Yogesh

Chavan told reporters that many stolen items including gold, 11 motorcycles, and an autorickshaw worth Rs8.17 lakh were recovered from them. One of the accused was to flee to Nepal to sell the stolen items, informed Shital Raut, senior inspector of the Shanti Nagar police station.

The Customs Department of Mumbai Airport arrested a foreign passenger and recover 5kg of heroin, valued at `34 crore, in Mumbai on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

DRI unearths an international drug smuggling racket in a multi-agency coordinated operation across three states

fauna of Sahyadri,” said Ingalhalikar. An engineer and a graphic designer, this year, Ingalhalikar cre ated a flying black ea gle, a predatory bird found atop the ever green forests of Sahy adri, a biodiversity hot spot in the Western Ghats. “The bird has a yellow beak and legs, while the rest of the Shrikant Ingalhalikar stands near the paddy art created by him to raise awareness about the flora and fauna of Sahyadri range in the Western Ghats. —PHOTO BY PTI MAN REPORTS CHEST PAIN WHILE PLAYING GARBA, PASSES AWAY Women perform the ‘Dhunuchi Naach’ (Dhunuchi dance) in devotion to Goddess Durga during the ongoing Durga Puja festival at the Bengal Club in Shivaji Park area of Mumbai on Monday night. According to popular belief, the goddess performed the dance before slaying the demon Mahishasura. —PHOTOS

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MID-CAREER CHALLENGE

go job rotation.

EMBARRASSING U-TURN BY BRITISH GOVT ON MAJOR CUT FOR THE RICH

There were four stages aka ashrams namely –Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa – with each having unique dharma or duties to be undertaken during that period. But with the passage of time the meaning, interpretation, and application of this ashram system have sadly vanished

In ancient India, the activities of individuals – mainly for the men of the household –were strictly regulated ac cording to their stage of life. There were four stages aka ashrams namely – Brah macharya, Grihastha, Vanap rastha, and Sannyasa – with each having unique dharma or duties to be undertaken during that period. But with the passage of time the mean ing, interpretation, and ap plication of this ashram sys tem have sadly vanished.

Drawing a corollary for modern-era business execu tives, their professional ca reer can be nebulously divid ed into trainee, rapid growth, plateau, and finally retire ment phases. Though there aren’t any defined formulae the deepest worries are ob served when one’s career moves to auto mode – routine, less challenging, and conse quently negligible growth for a few years. Often this reverie is ignored until a rude shock awakens one with either get ting a pink slip or noticing peers leapfrogging ahead. This usually happens in midforties as the career pyramid sharply tapers that allows only the best to progress, leaving the rest behind.

The source of discontent at the mid-career stage usu ally emanates not as a regret about one’s past but because

INDIA CLIMBS

HIGHER WITH LCH

of a sense of futility in the present. The prospect of do ing things stuck in a rut be comes self-defeating and de pression-causing. Another concern is a sense of empti ness at the mid-career level that questions the existential worth of any sensitive indi vidual. Being unhappy at work could also be due to lack of self-motivation and a sense of jealousy at smarter younger colleagues. It is in scenarios like these that one’s negative attitudes –usually – come to the fore fur ther accentuating the down ward spiral.

There are notably many ways to handle a mid-ca reer slump. Some of them could be:

l Don’t play safe: Arguably, there exists a direct con nection of high-risk ca reer jumps resulting in lofty gains, but this usual ly gets tampered as one ages. Concurrently, there cannot be any justification for one closing the oppor tunity window to seek growth either within the organization or externally and instead deciding to stay put.

Listening to inner voice: Largely depends on the type of person one is. No pain no gain remains a valid dictum all through one’s career. Keep evaluat

Many professionals often get trapped in the mid-career maze due to their hesitancy to take even minor risks and staying cocooned in their comfort zones fearing losing out of their happy present while staying blind to their invisible dark future. Thus, in summary and as the cliché goes, a person feeling professionally burnt out and traversing through a rough patch must convince oneself

ing oneself with peers, ad visably external ones.

l Reinvent your personal brand: Just like a consum er brand if not constantly invested could gather dust same could happen to one’s career. Keep bur nishing one’s personal brand at regular intervals to keep it relevant and at tractive.

l Find your sweet spot: Iden tify and pin those activi ties that give an adrena line rush, and one enjoys doing, even repeatedly without having a sense of boredom.

l Job enrichment: Doing re petitive tasks for years can cause disillusionment. To break the monotony, one can proactively redesign or change tasks, or under

l Accept career dip: Living in denial can be danger ous. Accepting a career dip and coming out of it courageously requires bold consistent actions. This could possibly turn one’s pitiable situation on its head and help unearth new facets.

Explore unknown terrain: Shed rigidity. Push oneself to vocations never tried before and maybe it would thus trigger luck to get di verse new opportunities.

l Learn, Unlearn and Re learn: Continuous learn ing could be unnerving and may not be humanly possible. Hence one should keep deleting the obsolete before adding new skills to their bouquet and support recrafting the story.

Switch off: Take time off professionally. It has been noted a deliberate career break can facilitate one to come back rejuvenated and recharged with sharp er focus.

l Ostrich-like approach: Re flect on your career and if the honest conclusion is it’s time to quit, then don’t dither. Be strong, ostrichlike behaviour never helps. Stretching the inevitable could bring in more igno miny and heartbreak. Thus, in summary and as the cliché goes a person feel ing professionally burnt out and traversing through a rough patch must convince oneself that tough times don’t last but tough people do.

In India Liz Truss would have been called a roll-back Prime Minister for reversing her deci sion to retract her proposal to cut taxes of high income groups barely ten days after making the announcement. Her proposal to reduce income-tax from 45 per cent to 40 percent for those earn ing 150,000 pounds or more a year sent the pound-sterling in a tailspin. Truss faced strong crit icism for the decision which she said was taken by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

Growing criticism from with in her Conservative Party, the British people, a tumbling pound seemed to have brought about this U-turn. Above all, there was the fear of the policy being voted down in parliament. The deci sion to withdraw the proposal is being looked at as detrimental for the Conservatives in the next general elections.

When the 45 billion pound tax cuts were announced the Inter national Monetary Fund urged the Truss government to pro vide relief to families facing hefty power bills instead of un funded tax cuts to the rich.

India took a major step towards indi genisation to cut down import of defence material with the induction of highly advanced Light Combat Heli copter (LCH), appropriately named Prachand for its lethal ity and reach. The fighter chopper described as a lean and mean machine was in ducted into the air force at a befitting ceremony in Jodh pur. Technologically it is supe rior to any of its peer combat choppers around the world.

The LCH has been designed keeping in mind the high alti tude forward areas in Ladakh and Siachen where India has to keep an eye on both China and Pakistan. Once its produc tion picks up, India’s depend ence on American Apache and

With defence-related exports totaling ` 1,387 crore, the government’s policy to promote self-reliance in defence manufacture is now bearing fruit with about 2,500 defence items having been indigenised already

Russian Mi 35 combat helicop ters will be substantially re duced. ‘Prachand’ follows the made in India Tejas, the light est and smallest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft. Countries like the US, Ma laysia, Australia, Indonesia

and Egypt have shown inter est in Tejas. Armenia has bought the India-made Pina ka multi-barrel rocket launch system, which shoots and scoots, to take on Azerbaijan in Russia’s backyard. India’s stress on indigeni sation in defence sector and export of military hardware is boosting its image as a re gional power. India’s defence exports have grown by 334% in last 5 years, making it a key player in the field. With defence-related exports total ing `1,387 crore, silent change taking place in this sector can be described as nothing short of a revolution. Govt’s policy to promote self-reli ance in defence manufacture is now bearing fruit with 2,500 defence items having been indigenised already.

Judiciary has to secure the trust and confidence of the people. All Judges must remain accountable to legal and ethical standards. Lawyers are the Vehicles for providing Justice to people.

l Vol 1 l Issue No.

RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652

Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701. Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Phone 022-46031417. Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp In the ever-evolving Industry 4.0, such practical-oriented programs are preparing skilled workforce for the jobs of the future. Glad that @TCS is playing its part in empowering youth with new-age digital skills and in making India a digital-first economy. Kiren Rijiju @KirenRijiju SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things. Buddha

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL SABYASACHI DUTTA The writer is A business executive with more than two decades of corporate experience spanning across the globe; writing is a passion for Sabyasachi. He primarily writes on emerging management and leadership topics

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PM to inaugurate AIIMS Bilaspur on Oct 5, kick-off `3,650 cr works

courses every year.

ED raids Chinese app firms in Bengaluru, seizes `5.85 crore

New Delhi (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Himachal Pradesh on October 5 where he will inaugurate the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur as well as lay the founda tion stone of projects worth over Rs 3,650 crore.

According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), AIIMS Bilaspur con structed at more than Rs 1470 crore, is a state-ofthe-art hospital with 18 speciality and 17 super speciality departments, 18 modular operation theatres and 750 beds with 64 ICU beds. Spread over 247 acres, the hospi tal is equipped with 24 hours emergency and dialysis facilities, mod ern diagnostic machines like ultrasonography, CT scan, MRI etc, Amrit Pharmacy and Jan Aus hadhi Kendra and also a 30 bedded AYUSH block.

The Hospital has also set up the Centre for Digital Health to pro vide health services in the tribal and inacces sible tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh.

JP NADDA INSPECTS ARRANGEMENTS FOR PRIME MINISTER MODI’S OCTOBER 5 VISIT TO HIMACHAL

Bilaspur (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a visit to Himachal Pradesh on October 5 and inaugurate the All India Institute of Medical Sci ences in Bilaspur, said Union minister Anu rag Thakur. Himachal

Also, specialist health services will be provided by the hospi tal through health

Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, Anurag Thakur and BJP President JP Nadda inspected the arrangements for PM Modi’s October 5 visit.

“PM Modi is coming to Bilaspur on October 5 and a public meeting will also be held. PM will

camps in the inaccessi ble tribal and high Him alayan regions like Kaza, Saluni, and Key

inaugurate AIIMS Bilas pur which has been built with a cost of around Rs 1,500 crores and will dedicate it to the people.

PM Modi considers Himachal his second home. People are wait ing for him to come here,” Thakur said.

long. The hospital will admit 100 students for MBBS courses and 60 students for nursing

“Prime Minister’s vi sion and commitment to strengthen health ser vices across the country is being showcased again through the inau guration of AIIMS Bilas pur. The hospital, whose foundational stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in October 2017, is being established under the Central sector scheme Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yo jana,” PMO said.

The International Kul lu Dussehra Festival will be celebrated from Octo ber 5 to 11 in Kullu.

The Festival is unique in the sense that it is the congregation of more than 300 Deities of the Valley. On the first day of the Festival, the Dei ties in their well-deco rated palanquins pay their obeisance at the temple of the Chief De ity Bhagwan Raghunath Ji and then proceed to the Dhalpur Ground.

The PM will witness this Rath Yatra and the grand assembly of Dei ties in historic Kullu Dussehra celebrations.

New Delhi (Agencies): The Enforcement Direc torate (ED) on Monday said that they recently conducted search oper ations on 12 entities in Bengaluru having Chi nese links and seized around Rs 5.85 crore.

These firms were cheating innocent youths on the pretext of providing them parttime jobs through the Chinese app ‘Keepshare’ and collecting money from them. The money thus collected was used to buy crypto currencies.

The ED initiated money laundering in vestigation on the basis of an FIR registered at the South CEN Police Station, Bengaluru City in a matter related to the part-time job fraud.

The ED learnt in the investigation that gulli ble public, mostly youths,

PROPERTY OF I-T OFFICER ATTACHED IN PMLA CASE

New Delhi: The ED has attached immovable property worth Rs 7.33 crore in disproportionate assets case against An dasu Ravinder, additional income tax director who was compulsorily retired by the Finance Ministry.

The ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the CBI, against Ravinder, who along with his wife Kavi tha Andasu, amassed wealth in his name and in the name of his wife from 2005 to 2011.

were cheated by some Chinese persons through a mobile app namely ‘Keepsharer’ which promised them to give part-time jobs and col lected money from them.

Cross-voting in RS polls; 2 K’taka MLAs served notice

Bengaluru: Notices have been served to two expelled MLAs of re gional party JD (S) in connection with crossvoting during the recent ly held Rajya Sabha elec tions in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

Secretary of the Leg islative Assembly

Vishalakshi has issued notices to Kolar MLA Srinivas Gowda and Gubbi MLA SR Srinivas.

In the complaint, the party had sought expul sion of the two legisla tors from the Assembly.

The MLAs have been asked to give written clarification on the al legations. It was alleged that Srinivas had voted for BJP Rajya Sabha candidate Lehar Singh. Srinivas Gowda had an nounced that he had voted for the Congress, embarrassing the lead ership of JD (S).

JD (S) MLA Venkata rao Nadagouda had filed a complaint against the two de manding termination of their membership. The ruling BJP had managed to ensure vic tory of all Rajya Sabha candidates in Karnata ka, though it did not have required numbers.

New Delhi (ANI): A CBI court recently granted bail to a woman who is an alleged kingpin in a bribery case. This case pertains to the demand for bribes for getting approval of a proposal from the Union Ministry of Culture for setting up the Tagore Cultural Complex in Arunachal Pradesh. Accused Akila Jangru and her co-accused Rajpal Singh Arora were arrested on August 22, 2022. Special CBI judge Anil Antil of Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to Akila Jangru on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties in the like amount.

EC ANNOUNCES BY-ELECTIONS IN 6

STATES ON NOV 3

New Delhi (ANI): The ECI on Monday announced the schedule for by-elections in seven Assembly constituencies across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha and UP. As per the Gazette notification will be issued on October 6.

While the polling on the seats will take place on Nov 3 and the results will be declared on Nov 6, the release stated.

UNION MINISTER APPEARS IN COURT IN 2013 CASE

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan and other BJP leaders on Monday appeared in an MP/MLA court here in connection with a case of violating prohibitory orders and inciting communal tension during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The court fixed October 10 as the next date of hearing as all accused were not present in the court.

APPOINTMENT ON COMPASSIONATE GROUND CONCESSION NOT A RIGHT: SUPREME COURT

New Delhi (PTI): Appointment on compassionate ground is a concession not a right and the object of granting such employment is to enable the affected family to tide over a sudden crisis, the Supreme Court has said. The apex court last week set aside the judgement of a division bench of the Kerala High Court, which confirmed the verdict of a single judge directing the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd and others to consider the case of a woman for appointment on compassionate ground. A bench noted that the father of the woman was employed with Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd and died while on duty in April 1995.

Farmers protest on anniversary of Lakhimpur Kheri incident

Chandigarh: Farmers under the aegis of Kisan Mazdur Sangarash Committee (KMSC) held protest and rail roko prorgramme at 17 differ ent places in Punjab on Monday to mark the an niversary of Lakhim pur Kheri incident.

Notably, eight persons including four farmers had died during a pro test in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, 2021.

In Amritsar, farmers also blocked the rail track at Vallah, de manding stern action against person respon sible for the incident.

General Secretary, KMSC, Sarwan Singh Pandher alleged “The conspirator of the Lakhimpur Kheri mas sacre is still enjoying prime post while the in nocent farmers present at the site of the inci dent have been sent to jail after registration of cases against them.”

Another farmer lead er Gurbachan Singh Chaba said the success of the Delhi farmer’s

SEASON

agitation was due to the sacrifice of 750 protest ers and Lakhimpur Kheri ‘martyrdom’ was

Lakhimpur Kheri (Agencies): Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Monday that the families of those who died in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence last year are yet to get justice. He said the nation will never forget the violence that took place in Tikunia village on this day last year and claimed eight lives, and despite assurances, the government had not ensured justice for the farmers. On

one of the most signifi cant. “We demand that the killers of farmers should be hanged and

New menu in domestic flights of Air India

New Delhi (PTI): Ta

tas-owned Air India has introduced a new inflight menu on domes tic routes amid the on set of the festive season.

Since taken over by the Tatas in January this year, the loss-mak ing airline has been making efforts to re vamp services, expand its fleet and increase its overall market share in the fast-growing domes tic aviation space.

The new in-flight menu, featuring an as

sortment of gourmet meals, trendy appetis ers and decadent des serts, showcases India’s

locally sourced culi nary influence, it said in a release.

The menu was intro

duced on October 1.

“The new menu choices have been cu rated to ensure that the flyers enjoy a gourmet meal with emphasis on health and well-being...

We are excited to roll out this new menu on domestic routes, and are hard at work pre paring a revamp of the international menu as well,” Sandeep Verma, Head of Inflight Servic es at Air India, said.

Last month, Air India unveiled ‘Vihaan.AI’, a

comprehensive trans formation plan with a detailed road map for the next five years un der which the airline aims to have a domestic market share of 30 per cent and significantly strengthen its interna tional operations.

Meanwhile, Vistara — a joint venture be tween Tatas and Singa pore Airlines — has started offering live tel evision channels on its Dreamliner aircraft from October 1.

October 3 last year, farm ers were staging a protest in Tikunia village against a visit of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya when four of them were crushed under the wheels of a convoy of cars. In the subsequent violence, four others including two BJP work ers and a journalist were killed. “It was a week of peace. The violence that broke out claimed the lives of eight people. It was unfortunate,” Tikait said.

action should be taken against those responsi ble for the Lakhmipur Kheri,” said Chaba.

Mahatma Gandhi-lookalike ‘asura’ at Kolkata Durga Puja Pandal sparks row

Kolkata (ANI): Organ isers at a Durga Puja pandal here provided a wig and a moustache to the ‘Mahisasura’ idol, which bore an uncanny resemblance to Mahat ma Gandhi and stoked a controversy, prompting police to intervene after a complaint was filed.

Put up as part of the pandal display by the All India Hindu Mahas abha the ‘asura’ idol was a bespectacled, dho ti-clad bald man with a walking stick, which ac cording to complaint bore resemblance to the Father of the Nation.

West Bengal Congress leader Koustav Bagchi

on Sunday made a com plaint with the police to lodge a Zero FIR in con nection with the matter.

Candrachud Goswa mi, organiser of Puja Pandal said they changed the appearance of the idol after a lot of calls and that they have not done so willingly.

“The idol of Asura did resemble Gandhi, we do not deny it. It has been changed. We have not made the changes. We received a lot of calls. We have been made to change it force fully. We do not accept the changes. Our free dom of expression has been curtailed,” he said.

BSF seizes Pak fishing boat from ‘Harami Nala’ creek area of Guj

New Delhi (ANI): The Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday seized one abandoned Paki stani fishing boat from ‘Harami Nala’ creek area near Bhuj in Kutch of Gujarat, along the In dia-Pakistan maritime boundary, the force said.

The boat was found from ‘Harami Nala’ around 6 am by BSF team patrolling in the area. Some ice boxes, jerry cans and fishing nets were seized by the BSF personnel. Howev

er, the men on the boat managed to flee towards the Pakistan side.

“We seized a Pakistani fishing boat from ‘Hara mi Nala’ in Kutch of Gu jarat around 6 am. A few people were seen on the

boat, but they jumped into water and swam to wards the Pakistan side. Icebox, jerry can and fishing net have been seized by the BSF person nel from the abandoned boat,” a BSF official said.

PHOTO BAIL FOR WOMAN KINGPIN IN ARUNACHAL’S TAGORE CULTURAL COMPLEX BRIBERY CASE A BSF team found the Pakistani boat while patrolling. (Combo pic) Idol remade to look like an Asura. —PHOTO BY ANI Farmers block railway tracks on first anniversary of Lakhimpur Kheri case, in Jalandhar on Monday. NO JUSTICE YET FOR LAKHIMPUR KHERI FARMERS: TIKAIT According to ED, these firms were duping innocent youths. MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 05INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia BJP chief JP Nadda with Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur reviews the preparations for the public meeting to be addressed by PM Narendra Modi on Oct 5, in Bilaspur on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

FESTIVE

The menu was introduced from October 1. —FILE

IN THE COURTYARD

MODI TO VISIT HIMACHAL PRADESH

Rahul Gandhi’s pilgrimage during Yatra

Mysore (ANI): Con gress leader Rahul Gan dhi on Monday visited the famous Suttur Matt, a pilgrim centre in Mysore, under the ban ner of the party’s mass contact campaign Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi, the Lok Sab ha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, who reached Karnataka on Septem ber 30, visited the centu ries-old Matt and sought the blessings of Seer, Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji, on the fourth day of his visit to the state.“Shri Rahul Gan dhi visited Suttur Mutt in Mysore and sought blessings of Seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji”, the Congress Party tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi is cur rently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra- the 3,500-km march from Kanyaku mari to Kashmir, cover ing as many as 12 states. The Padyatra will cover a distance of 25 km eve ry day. On Sunday, the Congress MP addressed a public rally amid a heavy downpour in Mysuru. Addressing the rally, Gandhi said, “This yatra is like a river that will flow from Kanyaku mari to Kashmir. This journey will not stop due to heat, storm, rain, or cold. In this river, you will not see any hatred or violence. The river will showcase love and brotherhood.”

—PHOTO BY ANI

Thiruvananthapuram (Agen cies): Congress’ Kerala unit chief K Sudhakaran changed his stance and batted for Mallikarjun Kharge, the “official” candidate for the party’s presidential poll. All the prominent leaders, in cluding AK Antony, Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and several others, have chosen Kharge over their local party col league Shashi Tharoor. Till the official statement was announced, Sudhakaran held to “let the voters cast their vote according to their ra tionale”. With this, it's more or less certain that from the around 300 voters, Tharoor is unlikely to get more than two dozen votes.

Hyderabad (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that with two consecutive losses in the Lok Sabha elections, there is a need for a “renewed and reinvigorated” party to take on the challenge of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. Tharoor is currently in Hyderabad campaigning for the upcoming presidential polls of the party in which he is up against the veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge. “This election is about how Congress should be best equipped to take on the ruling govt today, which is BJP. We have lost two elections... We need a renewed, reinvigorated Congress party where it is mobilized effectively to take on this challenge,” Tharoor said while speaking to the media. He denied the existence of the G-23 group within the Congress (which wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking reforms in the party), and said that it was a “media idea”. “There is no G-23 group. There never was, it was a media idea. As far as I can tell you, a couple of seniors wrote the letter. They invited a large number of people to support them. They told me that by phone they have contacted over a hundred people who have extended support. There was COVID lockdown in 2020. Only 23 people were available in Delhi to sign it at that time,” he said.

WILL DIGVIJAYA BE THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION OR THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF PARTY ORGANIZATION?

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: Mallikar jun Kharge is set to be the Congress president. He has resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha with his nomina tion for the post of party president and with this, speculation has intensi fied as to who will be the new Leader of Opposi tion. Kharge was the Leader of the Opposi tion in the Rajya Sabha for one and a half years. Before him, Ghulam Nabi Azad was the Lead

CRUCIAL READ

ODISHA: 5-TIME MLA BIJAYA RANJAN SINGH BARIHA NO MORE

er of the Opposition in the Upper House for seven years. Kharge be came the leader after Azad retired from the Rajya Sabha. Now a new leader has to be appoint ed in his place. It is gen erally believed that Dig vijaya Singh will be made the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He came within reach of becoming the party president. Rahul Gandhi had sent him to Delhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and he had also taken the nomina tion papers. But at the

last moment, Kharge's name was forwarded by the party.

Only then it is being said that Digvijaya Sin gh will get the post of LoP in the Upper House.

Apart from him, P Chid ambaram is also being said to be a contender

for the post of LoP. The names of Pramod Ti wari, Mukul Wasnik and Jairam Ramesh are also discussed. But the trouble with Chidam baram is that he is from South India. With Kharge's elevation, both, the National Presi dent and Organization General Secretary, would be from South In dia. The post of leader in the Lok Sabha is held by Adhir Ranjan Chowd hury of West Bengal. In such a situation, it will be necessary to give rep resentation to North In

Om Birla to participate in G20 Speakers’ Summit in Jakarta

dia somewhere. In this sense, only a North In dian leader will get the post of Leader of Oppo sition in Rajya Sabha. In this respect, Digvijaya's claim is strong. But it is also possible that he may get a higher posi tion in the organization. It will be difficult for KC Venugopal to remain as organizational general secretary after Kharge becomes the president. If Digvijay becomes the General Secretary of the organization in his place, then it will be bet ter for the party.

I&B Ministry’s advisory against betting advts

CONGRESS PREZ POLL THAROOR WELCOMES GUIDELINES ASKING CANDIDATES TO ENSURE "NO MALA FIDE CAMPAIGN"

Mulayam Singh Yadav moved to critical care unit: Medanta Hospital

Bhubaneswar (Agencies):

Veteran tribal leader and fivetime MLA from Padampur seat in Odisha’s Bargarh district, Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha died on Sunday night, family sources said. Bariha is survived by his wife Tilotama, daughters Barsha, Kadambini, and son Bhojraj. He was elected to the state assembly five times from Padampur seat -- twice on Janata Dal ticket in 1990 and 1995, and three times on BJD ticket in 2000, 2009 and 2019.

FROM PG 1

Security tightened...

Shivaji Park in cen tral Mumbai, Shinde’s faction has organized their Dussehra event at the MMRDA ground in Bandra-Kurla Com plex (BKC). The latter is located close to ‘Ma toshree’, the private residence of former chief minister Thack eray.

“Thousands of peo ple are expected from across the state for both rallies and, therefore, arrange ments have been made to ensure law and or der and deal with any untoward incident.

Local police as well as additional cover by other units will be in place,” said an offi cial.

Mumbai Joint Com missioner of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil said his team visited Shivaji Park and BKC

Chennai (Agencies): The Villupuram police have arrested four youths with narcotic substances, including opioid-based tablets, ganja, sodium chloride injection, and syringes.They were arrested during a routine vehicle check-up by the special team of the Villupuram police on Sunday night. The four arrested were produced before a judicial magistrate court and remanded in prison.

New Delhi (ANI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Bir la and Rajya Sabha Dep uty Chairman Hari vansh will be partici pating in the 8th G20 Parliamentary Speak ers' Summit in Jakarta.

Om Birla will be lead ing the Indian delega tion to Jakarta.

An official of the Par liament told ANI on condition of anonymity that the 8th Summit of Speakers of G-20 Parlia ments (P-20) will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from October 6-7, 2022.

to take stock of secu rity arrangements at the venues.

Stringent security measures are in place as there is a possibili ty of supporters of the two rival factions coming face to face in the metropolis, which may lead to law and order issues, said po lice.

Rival Sena...

The late Latke had wrested the seat from Congress in 2014. In 2009, it was represent ed by Suresh Shetty of Congress.

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar on Sun day inaugurated the party’s central office for the by-poll in sub urban Andheri. He took to his Twitter handle and tweeted that Murji Patel en joys a lot of support among local people.

Om Birla, Harivansh and Secretary-General of Rajya Sabha PC Mody, and other offi cials shall be attending the summit as a part of the Indian Parliamen tary delegation. Sourc es saidthat the Indian delegation will leave for Jakarta on October 4.

VENKAIAH NAIDU DEVOTED HIS ENTIRE LIFE FOR PEOPLE’S WELFARE: BIRLA Nellore (FIB): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ad dressed the dignitaries and other visitors as the chief guest at the programme of Swarna Bharat Trust at Nellore on Monday. Former Vice Presi dent Venkaiah Naidu was also present on the oc casion. Mentioning that the entire life of Venkaiah Naidu, the Director of Swarna Bharat Trust, has been devoted to the welfare of the society, Birla said that the basic objective of the Trust has been service, education, women’s upliftment. Birla said that under the leadership of Naidu, Swarna Bharat Trust is working to provide education to the children of weaker economic group and self employment training for the youth.

New Delhi (FIB): The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday issued two Ad visories, one for private television channels and the other for digital news publishers and OTT platforms strongly advising them to refrain from showing advertise ments of online betting sites and surrogate ad vertisements of such sites. The Ministry had earlier issued an Advi sory on 13 June, 2022 ad vising newspapers, pri vate TV channels and digital news publishers to refrain from publish ing advertisements of online betting platforms.

New Delhi (ANI): Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor on Monday welcomed guidelines laid down by the party's Chief Election Authority asking the contestors to take "utmost care" to ensure "no malafide campaign" against the two competitors as it would bring "disgrace to the party".

The series of guidelines stated by Congress' Central Election Authority chair man Madhusudan Mistry for the party's internal polls scheduled to be held on October 17, said, "Utmost care must be taken to ensure that there is no mala-fide campaign against any candidate. The sensitivity of the election process must be upheld at any cost." Mal likarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are up against each other in the polls. It was also stated that no leader of the party holding an organisational post can participate in the campaign process of the elections. It asked the party leaders to tender their resignations first "if they wish to support any candidate". "Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are contesting the election of Congress President in their personal capacity," stated the guidelines.

Gurugram (PTI): For mer Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulay am Singh Yadav is ad mitted to the “critical care unit” of Medanta Hospital here and is be ing treated by a “com prehensive team of spe cialists”, the hospital said on Monday.

The announcement from the hospital comes a day after the Sama jwadi Party on Sunday said its 82-year-old pa triarch’s health had de teriorated. Mulayam has been under treat ment at the hospital since August 22. He was admitted to the hospital in July as well.

Meanwhile, SP work ers organised special prayers in many tem ples across the state on Monday for long life of the party founder Mu layam Singh Yadav.

In Lucknow, party workers prayed at Hanu man temple at Vikrama ditya Marg, just a stone’s throw from the Yadav’s residence, a SP office bearer said. In Varana si, they offered prayers at various temples in cluding Hanuman tem ple in Gilat Bazar and Bada Ganesh Mandir in Lohatia.

UP BUREAUCRACY By Ahtesham Siddiqui...

DOPT GIVES ANOTHER IAS OFFICER TO UP FROM ‘20 BATCH

Lucknow: DOPT has giv en another IAS officer to the Uttar Pradesh bureau cracy. 2020 batch IAS of Tripura cadre - Abhishek Kumar — who was posted as Assistant Col lector Training in North Tripura District of Tripura had applied to DOPT to send him from Tripura Carder to Uttar Pradesh Corder on spousal base.

IAS Abhishek Kumar’s wife is IAS Nidhi Bansal serving in the UP cadre of 2020 batch and is currently posted as Assistant Collector of Fatehpur District !! DOPT, considering the applica tion of IAS Abhishek, had sought NOC from the Tripura and UP govern ment for their cadre change which was sent by both the governments to DOPT. After this, Uday Bhan Tripathi, Under Sectorary of DOPT issued

a notification allotting Abhishek the UP cadre. Now the number of IAS officers in the 2020 batch has increased from 16 to 17 with the arrival of IAS Abhishek. 2020 batch UP cadre IAS are Jaidev CS, Nupur Goyal, Ajay Jain, Pratyush Pandey, Nidhi Bansal, Neha Bandhu, Parikshit Khatana, Ramaya R, Suthan Abdullah, Mahajan Sumit Rajesh, Ojaswi Raj, Vishal Kumar, Abhinav Gopal, Navneet Sehra, Pawan Kumar Meena and Ajay Kumar Gautam.

REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

Dr Jitendra launches portal for PM’s Excellence Awards

New Delhi (PTI): Un ion Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday launched a dedicated website for the Prime Minister’s awards for excellence in public administration and said that the emphasis will be on qualitative achievements rather than achieving the quantitative targets while deciding the honour.

The registration on PM’s awards web portal — http://www.pma wards.gov.in — has

commenced from Mon day for due registration and the submission of applications till Novem ber 28. Singh, the Minis ter of State for Person

nel, said, under the lead ership of Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi, the entire concept and for mat of the PM excel lence awards has under

gone a revolutionary change after 2014. The objective of the Scheme is to encourage con structive competition, innovation, replication, he said. The PM’s awards, 2022 will con sist of a trophy, scroll and an incentive of Rs 20 lakh to the awarded district to be utilised for implementation of pro ject/programme or bridging resources gaps in any area of public welfare, a statement is sued by the Personnel Ministry said.

‘AWARD’S CONCEPT HAS UNDERGONE REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE AFTER 2014’ New Delhi (Agencies): Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh has launched the Web portal for Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2022. The portal was launched in New Delhi on Monday. The registration on PM’s Awards web portal commenced on Monday and the submission of applications will be held till the 28th of November this year. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh said, the entire concept and format of the PM Excellence Awards has undergone a revolutionary change after 2014. He said, the objective of the Scheme is to encourage constructive competition, innovation, replication and institutionalisation of best practices.

4 HELD IN CHENNAI FOR SUPPLYING DRUGS TO SCHOOLCHILDREN Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Karnataka party president DK Shivakumar offers prayers at Chamundeshwari Temple during their party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Mysuru on Monday. Digvijaya Singh SUDHAKARAN JOINS SUPPORT KHARGE'S CANDIDATURE LEADER HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR “RENEWED, REINVIGORATED” CONG TO TAKE ON BJP Union Minister Jitendra Singh launching website for the Prime Minister’s awards for excellence in public administration, on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with Venkaiah Naidu in Nellore. IAS couple Abhishek Kumar and Nidhi Bansal MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 06INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Anurag Thakur

BHARAT JODO YATRA IN KARNATAKA

New Delhi: Seasoned fi nance professional and an old public sector hand Sandeep Kumar Gupta on Monday took over as the chairman and managing director of GAIL (India) Ltd, the nation’s largest gas utility. Gupta, who previously was Director (Finance) at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), replac es Manoj Jain, who su perannuated on August 31. A commerce graduate and CA by education, Gupta has more than 31 years of working experi ence at Indian Oil Corpo ration.

MS INDIA VEHICLE PRODUCTION RISES TO 1,77,468 UNITS

Sept factory activity slows to 3-month low

New Delhi (PTI): Manu facturing activities in In dia eased marginally in September but remained in good shape amid compa nies hiring more workers and cooling price pres sures, according to a monthly survey released on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufac turing Purchasing Manag ers’ Index (PMI) indicated a strong improvement in the health of the Indian manufacturing industry, as companies stepped up pro duction in tandem with a sustained increase in new work intakes.

The PMI at 55.1 in Sep tember continued to be in expansion mode for the 15th consecutive month but was slightly lower than 56.2 recorded in August.

TOP TALKING POINTS

z Seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) indicated a strong improvement in the health of the Indian manufacturing industry

z The PMI at 55.1 in Sept continued to be in expansion mode for the 15th consecutive month but was slightly lower than 56.2 recorded in August

z A PMI score above 50 indicates expansion and a print below that level reflects contraction in mfg activities

Govt to approach capital market this month to raise `2,500 cr for 3 road projects

New Delhi (PTI): The gov ernment will approach the capital market this month to raise around `2,500 crore to fund three road projects, a senior official said on Monday.

The money will be raised through Infrastructure In vestment Trusts (InvITs), the government official added.

“We will be approaching the capital market this month to raise around ` 2,500 crore for the three road projects,” he said.

Infrastructure Invest ment Trusts (InvITs) are instruments on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from inves tors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time.

Sensex, Nifty fall over 1 per cent on selling in banking, auto shares

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India on Monday reported an over two-fold rise in its vehicle production at 1,77,468 units in Septem ber 2022. “The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month,” Maruti Suzuki India said. Total passenger vehicles pro duction was at 1,73,929 units last month. It was at 77,782 units in Septem ber 2022. Passenger cars production was up at 1,31,258 units as against 47,884 in 2021.

—PTI

SAVWIPL BEGINS EXPORT OF MID SIZED SUV KUSHAQ

“Rates of expansion re mained historically high, despite easing from Au gust. To accommodate higher sales and greater output needs, firms hired extra workers and acquired more inputs. The upturn in input buying was aided by cooling price pressures.

“Purchasing costs rose at the slowest pace in just un der two years, while output charge inflation receded to a seven-month low,” the

Vi CEO urges govt to slash levies to help telcos invest in 5G networks

First India Bureau

RUPEE PLUNGES 49 PAISE TO 81.89 AGAINST US DOLLAR

New Delhi: Skoda Auto Volkswagen India on Monday said it has com menced exports of midsized SUV Kushaq. The company has started shipments of left-handdrive Kushaq to Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In September, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) commenced export of Tai gun and Virtus. “The Sko da Kushaq is the third made-in-India car to be exported this year..The market acceptance and success of all our exports highlight our global quali ty standards,” SAVWIPL said. —PTI

LED BY SUVs, M&M REPORTS BEST EVER WHOLESALES IN SEPT

LAVA LAUNCHES ITS 1ST 5G PHONE, PRICED AROUND `10,000

New Delhi: Homegrown smart phone brand Lava International on Monday launched its of first 5G smartphone - Lava Blaze 5G - for its con sumer in the country, which is likely to be priced around `10,000. The pre-bookings for the 5G smartphone will com mence around Diwali this year.

The smartphone sports 50MP AI triple rear camera and 8MP front camera for a superior pho tography experience and selfies.

The smartphone is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 700 & has 4GB+3GB Virtual RAM. —PTI

PROSUS CALLS OFF $4.7 BN ACQUISITION OF BILLDESK

New Delhi: Prosus NV, which owns PayU, has terminated a $4.7 billion (about `38,400 crore) deal to acquire Indian pay ments firm BillDesk after conditions on the deal weren’t met. In a statement, Prosus said certain conditions precedent weren’t met by the deadline at the end of Sep tember. Approval of the CCI, which was one of the conditions precedent, was received on September 5 but Prosus did not specify which other conditions were not met. —PTI

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea (Vi) CEO Akshaya Moon dra on Monday has asked the government to cut the hefty levies plaguing the sector to enable operators to boost cash generation and invest in capital inten sive 5G networks.

“In a country where tar iffs are the lowest, India’s telecom industry has the highest levies anywhere in the world…if one includes the price of spectrum, con verts it to an annuity value and calculates that as a percentage of revenue, that’s an additional 28% of industry revenue over and above the more visible 30% (of revenue) levies ele ment, comprising GST (18%) and licence fees/ spectrum usage charges (12%),” Moondra said.

Accordingly, he said, the

TOTAL PAYMENT TO GOVERNMENT

z Total telecom levies payable to the government, including the price of spectrum, amount to a whopping 58% of overall industry revenue

BSNL TO ROLL OUT 4G NETWORK FROM NOV

New Delhi (PTI): State-owned telecom firm BSNL will start rolling out 4G network from November onwards and gradually upgrade it to 5G by August next year. The company has plans to roll out almost 1.25 lakh 4G mobile sites in 18 months, BSNL chairman and MD PK Purwar said.

“The first roll out (of planned 4G network) should take place in No vember,” Purwar said. The company is in discussion with IT major TCS and state-run C-DOT-led consortium to deploy indigenously developed 4G technology in the network. When asked about the timeline of BSNL’s plans to roll out 5G services, Purwar said the company is on its path to deploy 5G as per the deadline of August 15, 2023, set by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

government needs to re duce the levies burden on the sector so that opera

Inc’s credit quality continues to improve

New Delhi: Driven by strong demand for its sports utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra on Monday reported the highest ever monthly wholesales of 64,486 ve hicles in September. Last month, the Mumbaibased auto major posted its highest ever monthly sales of sports utility ve hicles (SUV) at 34,262 units. The company’s products like Scorpio-N, XUV700, Thar, Bolero Neo and even Scorpio Classic have seen robust re sponse in market.

—PTI

Mumbai (PTI): India Inc’s credit quality showed fur ther improvement in AprilSeptember period with the ratio of upgrades to down grades inching higher.

The credit ratio’s im provement to 5.52 in H1FY23 as compared to 5.04 in H2FY22 was driven by leaner balance sheets led by healthy cash flows and muted investments, Crisil Ratings said.

However, the agency clarified that the data may not be fully representative as many small businesses with outstanding ratings have turned non-coopera

tive in sharing data on a continued basis which can be driven by adverse finan cial health.

“India Inc has emerged stronger post-pandemic,” its managing director Gur preet Chhatwal said, exud ing confidence that the cor porate India can weather the current storm caused by global events like higher inflation.

Crisil’s senior director Somasekhar Vemuri said there can, however, be a moderation in the credit ratio going ahead due to some of the challenges faced by companies.

HIGHLIGHTING FACTORS

z The credit ratio’s improvement to 5.52 in H1FY23 as compared to 5.04 in H2FY22 was driven by leaner balance sheets led by healthy cash flows and muted investments

z The credit ratio moved ahead in first half of FY majorly driven by the infrastructure sector, which contributed a third of the upgrades

z There can, however, be a moderation in the credit ratio going ahead due to some of the challenges faced by companies

tional cash generation can actually be released for investmen.

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee fell by 49 paise to close at 81.89 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as heavy selling pressure in the domestic equities and a spike in crude oil prices weighed on the local unit. Besides, a stronger greenback against key rivals and persistent foreign fund outflows put pres sure on the domestic currency, forex dealers said. At the inter bank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened weak at 81.65, fell further to 81.98 against the American currency. It finally ended at 81.89, down 49 paise over its previous close on Friday.

Nafed offloads buffer onion of 20,000 tons in different cities

New Delhi (PTI): To check the sudden spike in onion prices, cooperative Nafed has offloaded 20,000 tonnes of the bulb from the gov ernment’s reserves in the last three weeks across In dia, official sources said.

Onion is being disposed of at the “going market rate” in major cities like Delhi, Patna, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Chennai and Hyderabad among others, sources said.

Nafed has been creating a buffer stock of onion on behalf of the government under the Price Stabilisa tion Fund (PSF) for the last few years.

For 2022-23, Nafed has built a record onion re serve of 2.50 lakh tonnes to deal with a potential spike in onion prices during the lean season that runs from August to December.

States borrowing cost rises for third consecutive week

New Delhi(PTI): The aver age cost of market borrow ing for states rose 12 basis point to 7.77% on Monday, increasing for the third consecutive week.

The cost of funds has seen a cumulative hike of 31 basis points (bps) during the past three weeks.

At the latest auction of debt, 10 states raised `19,500 cr on Monday, draw ing down the full amount indicated for this week.

The weighted average cut-off of the debt rose by 12 bps to 7.77% from 7.65% in the last auction, despite the weighted average ten

or declining to 13 years from 15 years, Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra, said.

Before the yields began to climb three weeks ago, for four successive weeks the rates had been falling & touched a low of 7.46%.

SANDEEP KUMAR GUPTA TAKES OVER AS GAIL CHAIRMAN

MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 07www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Commodity Price Change % Chg GOLD 50,682.00 161.00 0.31 (Per 10g) SILVER 58,039.00 1010.00 1.74 (Per 1kg) COMMODITIES Currency Price Change % Chg USDINR 81.89 0.49 0.59 GBPINR 91.71 0.94 1.04 CURRENCIES business BRIEFS

—PTI

*Rates till the edition went to print.

MAY MODERATE GOING AHEAD

‘NCP not offered any alliance with Cong, Shiv Sena in 2014’

‘CM MUST ENSURE HIGH SPIRITS’

Principles more imp than venue, asserts CM Shinde

First India Bureau

Pune: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday dismissed Congress leader Ashok Chavan’s claim that Shiv Sena want ed to form a govern ment in alliance with Congress in 2014.

He also denied the lat ter’s statement that Sena was told to consult Pawar if it snapped ties with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar also said the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ has been organ ized by Congress and there is no reason for other parties to take part in the foot march led by its leader Rahul

Gandhi.

“I also do not see if anyone has asked (oth er parties) to join the yatra,” he said.

When asked about Chavan’s claim that there was a proposal from Shiv Sena for forming a government with the Congress and the NCP in 2014, Pawar said no one gave such a proposal to the NCP.

“Had a proposal been put forth to NCP, I would

have known a bit about it. Though leaders of NCP have the right to take a decision, at least they keep me posted. So whatever Ashok Chavan said, I never heard of it,” he said.

Chavan had said Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, the incumbent state chief minister, was part of a delegation that had met him with a proposal to form a SenaCongress alliance gov

Court extends ATS custody of five accused till Oct 08

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A Mumbai court has extended the ATS custody of five alleged members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) till Oc tober 08. They were arrested during mul ti-agency raids con ducted in the state.

Multi-agency raids were conducted all across the nation and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maha rashtra arrested 20 peo ple during the opera tion on September 22.

Five of those were produced before the court of additional ses sions judge AM Patil on Monday on expiry of their previous remand and the squad demand ed their custody for eight more days. After arguments from both sides, the court agreed to extend their custody

for five days.

The accused have been booked on the charges of engaging in unlawful activities, promoting enmity among communities, and waging a war against the country.

In a crackdown on the PFI, multi-agency teams had arrested 106 leaders and activists of the radical Islamic out fit in near-simultane ous raids in 15 states for allegedly involving in terrorist activities.

Maharashtra and Karnataka accounted

for 20 arrests each, fol lowed by Tamil Nadu with 10, Assam nine, Uttar Pradesh eight, Andhra Pradesh five, Madhya Pradesh four, three each in Puduch erry and Delhi and two in Rajasthan.

ernment.

The senior Congress leader had also claimed that Shinde came with a proposal to snap ties with the BJP, after which the former asked him to consult Sharad Pawar.

If he agreed, Chavan would talk to the Con gress central leader ship, but nothing hap pened after that.

The Shiv Sena was the alliance partner of

Mumbai: Taking a dig at Shiv Sena chief Ud dhav Thackeray, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said princi ples are important ir respective of the ven ue. His remark comes ahead of the Dusseh ra rally by his faction at the MMRDA ground in BandraKurla Complex (BKC).

He asserted that his faction’s event on Octo ber 05, will be a success as lakhs of people are expected to attend the rally.

pounded by party founder late Bal Thack eray.

NCP and Congress un der the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govern ment of Maharashtra, which remained in pow er from November 2019 to June 2022.

“I have visited the venue (in BKC) and preparations are in full swing. Lakhs of people from across the state will come to the rally and all departments are working to ensure they do not face any prob lems. Our preparations will be over by tomor row (Tuesday) and this rally will be a success,” Shinde said.

The chief minister said his faction of the Shiv Sena is taking for ward the ideals pro

Maharashtra witnesses 180 nCoV cases, no death; active tally stands at 2,739

First India Bureau Mumbai: Maharash tra on Monday report ed 180 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,22,432, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,347, an official said.

It is a sizable dip from

the 379 cases recorded on Sunday, which saw one death due to the in fection, he added Mumbai accounted

for 66 of new cases, the official said. The recov ery count increased by 357 in the last 24 hours and touched 79,71,346, leaving the state with an active caseload of 2,739.

Total number of COV ID-19 tests conducted was 8,48,50,798, includ ing 8,511 in the last 24 hours.

“Principles are im portant irrespective of the ground (Dussehra rally venue). We are taking forward the ide as of Balasaheb Thack eray. Looking at the re sponse, the people have accepted our decision (to part ways with the Thackerays for the Sena aligning with the Na tionalist Congress Par ty and the Congress),” he said, referring to his rebellion in June that led to the collapse of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govern

Maha Chief Minister takes dig at Uddhav Thackeray, reiterates people have accepted the rebellion

ment.

The Uddhav Thack eray faction will hold its own Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park in central Mum bai.

Both the factions claim to be the ‘real’ Shiv Sena and the ral lies are being seen as a show of strength by them.

CRUCIAL READ

MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 082ND FRONT www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Greetings on the occasion of Durga Navmi, Power and Prosperity to all! —Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India INVOKING THE SHAKTI!

GOLD BISCUITS AND CASH VALUED AT `1.71CR SEIZED

Export subsidy withdrawal to affect grape farmers’ income

decline this year, feel industry sources.

Grape growers in the state are not happy with the decision to with draw the export subsidy and have raised the is sue with the central government.

Mumbai: With the Union government withdrawing the sub sidy for outbound shipment of grapes, export of the popular fruit from Maharash tra is likely to see a

Maharashtra is the largest producer and exporter of grapes in India with Nashik dis trict being its biggest production centre.

A delegation of Ma harashtra State Grape Growers’ Association (MSGGA) recently sub mitted a list of demands

comes and profit mar gins of grape farmers.

He said the subsidy was withdrawn in Janu ary this year.

“The transport and marketing subsidy was Rs40,000 per container of grapes, which was later increased to Rs60,000. At the same time, transportation charges for the UK or the European Union were USD 1,800 per con tainer which was later hiked to USD 4,000. Now, it is USD 7,500, but the government has withdrawn the subsi

dy,” said Nimse.

“It is becoming im possible for us to export grapes. We need at least Rs1,50,000 subsidy per container so that we can compete in the in ternational market,” said the office-bearer of the state’s apex body of grape farmers.

Nashik district pro duces around 1,400 tonnes of exportable grapes every year. In the last few years, farm ers have been cultivat ing grape varieties that are in good demand in the foreign market.

Thane: A passenger named Ganesh Mondal was ap prehended and detained by Railway Protection Force Police (RPF) with cash and gold biscuits worth Rs1.71 crore in his backpack at the Titwala railway station of Thane district, informed an RPF official on Monday. The seized gold biscuits and cash were handed over to the Income Tax depart ment for further investi gation into the matter. He was carrying Rs56 lakh in cash and two gold biscuits worth Rs1,15,16,903 in formed the officials adding that the replies given by Mondal with regards to the whereabouts of the money were unsatisfactory.

Aurangabad: A lady conductor was suspended for shooting videos inside a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) while sitting in the driver’s seat of a bus and uploading them on social media, informed an official on Monday. The lady conductor named Sagar Mangal Gowardhan worked at the Kalamb depot of Osmanabad district and was suspended on Saturday. She has been asked to file a reply within the next 15 days, informed an MSRTC official. The lady said that she has been framed as she continued during a strike called earlier by MSRTC employees.

TWO MEN ARRESTED FOR BUYING AND SELLING ILLEGAL ARMS IN VERSOVA

Mumbai: Two men were arrested by the police for possessing country-made pistols and six cartridges in Versova. The duo was nabbed at the MHADA Four Bungalows locality, in formed an official. Accused Shanisingh Mukeshsingh Thakur (21) and Abdul Ka reem Qureshi (48) also had Rs40,000 cash in their pos session, he added. Thakur, a native of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh and daily wage labourer, came to the locality to deliver the pistols and cartridges to Qureshi, who runs a garage in Patan Wadi locality of Malad, the official said. They have been arrested under relevant sections of the Arms Act and remanded to police custody till October 06, he said.

LADY CONDUCTOR SUSPENDED FOR SHOOTING VIDEOS COLLEGES NEED TO TEACH ‘MUSEUM SCIENCE’ AS SPECIALIZED SUB: ICCR Thane: President of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, on Monday said colleges in the country must have courses in ‘museum science’. The ICCR is an autonomous organization under the Union government tasked with enriching the country’s global cultural relations and helming exchange programmes. Sahasrabuddhe, a former Rajya Sabha MP, on Sunday said museums have immense historical importance for any country and, therefore, there was a need for colleges to teach museum science as a specialized subject. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar —FILE PHOTO

Ashok Chavan revealed that Shiv Sena ‘proposed’ alliance govt with Congress in 2014

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde —FILE PHOTO First India Bureau to Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pawar, who is a Lok Sabha member from Nashik district. Ravindra Nimse, Na shik Divisional Chair man of MSGGA, said cutting off the subsidy for grape export will di rectly affect the in SOUR

Union govt’s decision is likely to hit overseas shipments of the fruit from Maharashtra

Located around 200 km from Mumbai, Nashik district is often called the ‘grape capital of India’. —FILE PHOTO The accused have been booked for engaging in unlawful activities and promoting enmity among communities PFI RAIDS Dr. Jagdeesh Chandra performing Maha Aarti in the Durga festival being held at Tika Kund temple of Hindaun City, Karauli on Monday. Ashok Pathak, Shivprakash Patwa and Vishnu Jindal from the temple committee were also present during the worship.

NOTE

THE STORY OF

The momen tous grand play of Mrs Uttar Pradesh Queen of Vir tue season 2 featured a flash of beauty and glamour. On Friday, the magnificent Ut sav of fashion took place in the Nawab city of Uttar Pradesh at The Cen trum, Luc

During the scintil lating finale, Aparna Yadav, a prominent public icon graced the occasion as the chief guest and motivated the participants with her encouraging words. Sanyukta Bha tia, Mayor Lucknow, Renuka Tandon direc tor of Amren Founda tion and Dr Shefali Raj, MD PSIT Kanpur were present as guests of honour.

The beauties made an effort to fling a great image of themselves to the judges on the basis of their talent, confi dence, and flair. The most prominent and well-known beauty pageant in Uttar

Pradesh was held with the goal of giving a stage to the talent re siding in various areas of the state.

Manasa Varanasi Femina Miss India 2020, Dr Vandana Se hgal, Principal and Dean AKTU and Aditi Jaggi Rastogi, famous celebrity fashion de signer were present as judges for the finale and examined the par ticipants based on their intelligence, talent and confidence. Bollywood actor Himanshu Ashok Malhotra anchored the show well and won many hearts through his performance.

The gorgeous par ticipants were groomed and mentored by celeb rity mentors including Lokesh Sharma, Sana Dua, Grace Arun and Surabhi Aples. Ishika Dwevedi Tyagi won the crown of Mrs Uttar Pradesh, queen of virtue 2022 followed by Major Neetika Rana and Sheetal Singh. UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in Title Queens of Mrs Uttar Pradesh Queen of Virtue season 2, Ishika Dwevedi Tyagi, Major Neetika Rana and Sheetal Singh Beauties Ishika Dwevedi Tyagi, Deepika and Sheetal Singh flaunting their attires Manasa Varanasi and Dr Vandana Sehgal felicitating Preeti Yadav Manasa Varanasi and Dr Vandana Sehgal Himanshu Ashok Malhotra Aditi Jaggi Rastogi and Preeti Yadav —PHOTOS BY SUMIT www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbaiI twitter.com/ thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09 MUMBAI, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 SHARMA

JOLLY GOOD JOURNAL

‘DEAR DIARY

Today I told my wife I was leaving for the office at 9 am and left the house. But I did not go to the office. I made a u-turn on the main road and drove straight to meet my grandson. I knew he had broken his remote-controlled car and I just had to go and fix it. When I reached Aman was very upset and begging his mother for a new toy car. I sat him down and explained to him that we must at least try to repair the broken one. I was hard at work, and Aman served as my dutiful assistant, handing me whichever tools I asked him for. On the fourth attempt, the car sprang to life, as did Aman’s smile. It was a great day at the office. That’s when I realized that writing a diary is not just some silly thing elderly people do. It is in fact, a record of each day of one’s life. I found that amazing. Ever since that day, I secretly kept a diary of my own. A simple, calendared diary where at the end of each day, I’d take five to ten minutes, and even if I was very tired or short of time, at least write down the highlights of my day. Formally called a Journal, I want to share with you today, how many ways keeping one can be useful.

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

Yoga would help in raising energy levels and improve your metabolism. Some of you are going experience emotional fulfillment on romantic front. Place emphasis on domestic affairs to enhance the domestic tranquility and harmony. Associating yourself with humanitarian group would benefit you.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

It is good day to confess your love as stars appear favourable for positive reply. Your sole dependency on friends may fail to bring any respite from loneliness today.A sound financial health of businessmen would enable to give monetary benefits to employees. Roadblock in the matrimonial alliance gets cleared brings happiness.

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

A sound monetary position would enable you to keep pace with changing times. Avoid raising controversial issues at home to maintain harmony. Successful implementation of new ideas and projects would add to your prestige on the professional front. It is a wonderful day to build new connections.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

There was a time when I would see my grandfather write some thing in a black diary every day, and I would wonder what he would write. One day, I just could not handle the suspense any longer. I just had to find out. So I snuck in and took out his black diary from his bedside drawer and read the latest en try. Do you know what it said? Let me share an excerpt…

RECORD HISTORY: As students, we have such incredibly busy and stressful lives that we often forget what happens during our days. Even if we were to quickly scribble the important things, positive or neg ative, that happened dur ing our day, we will have a private record with us, forever!

THERAPEUTIC:

There are so many things as young people we are shy or uncom fortable talking about. Sometimes we don’t even want to tell our parents or friends. Something that scares us. Something we are worried about. Perhaps a classmate we have a crush on. Now with a Journal, we can say ANYTHING. And we will feel light er when we write it and get it

A journal therefore can become our best friend.

APPLICATIONS &AMP; ADMISSIONS: Nowadays, college ad missions, in India or abroad, are no longer just about one’s exam marks and SAT scores. There needs to be more. We have to convince the college that we are in teresting, engaging in dividuals who deserve a spot in their pro grams. So where will these interesting anec

even be that one day when you helped a visually impaired man cross the road but had you not written it in your journal, you’d probably not remem

ber! 4. WRITING: The best stories come from memories. And the best way of preserving memo ries is through a jour nal. When I write any thing, be it an article like this one, a Short Story, or even when I work on my novel – all my infor mation comes from the many pages of my past journals. All of you students are just about to begin your summer holidays. Keep a journal. I promise by the end of your vaca tion, you will have a huge reserve of sto ries, or at least story ideas (called Prompts) based on your own vacation experiences.

Distant relatives may drop in for a surprise visit. Investment antiques and jewellery would bring handsome financial gains. On professional front, recognition for good work would motivate you to work harder. Those awaiting an affirmation on romantic front are likely to get lucky today, as partner responds positively.

LEO

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Chances of being misled by competitors in business are high, so remain alert. You may get a chance to pursue old hobby. Health tips from an expert will enable you to get closer to your fitness goals. Your generous behavior would enable to enjoy some lovely moments with family.

VIRGO

AUG 24 - SEP 23

Senior management will be appreciative of your creative inputs on professional front. Seek the opinion of your family before finalizing a property deal. An impromptu invitation to a function from an unexpected friend or relative is likely to be received.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

Your hard work and dedication are likely to be noticed by seniors, paving way for promotion or increment. Better to consult an expert in financial matters before making an investment. Family will be supportive of career aspirations. A promising day overall as you stay in limelight without any efforts.

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

Rewards and recognition will come your way for your involvement in a social endeavour. It’s a very good day to take calculated risks in financial matters. Those suffering from chronic ailments may find remarkable improvement in their health with home remedies. Today you will enjoy the trust of senior management.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

You will succeed in resolving confusions with family members, normalizing ties. You will remain much in demand on social front. You need to stand by romantic partner during testing times to make the relationship stronger. Seek opinion of expert before opting for a health supplement.

CAPRICORN

DEC 23 - JAN 20

Develop a good adaptability to handle pressurized situation on professional front. Paying special attention to plan your career would give immense joy. You are likely to get clearance or approval for your construction plans. You find things moving in the way you want them.

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

Avoid being indulgent in your spending to balance budget. Continue to put in efforts at work and you will see promising opportunities coming your way. Matrimonial match for siblings will bring happiness for entire family.

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20

ORGANIZATION: Finally, keeping a journal also helps us remember things and organize our selves. As human beings, we tend to remember things better if we write them down. Let’s say you had band practise and you just did not manage to get one sec tion right on the drums. If you wrote it in your journal, you will know what part you need to prac tise and improve on! Keeping a journal or a diary is a wonderful habit. In a world where everything is becom ing digital, there is an old-world charm in handwriting a jour nal. Who knows, may be your diary could someday become your famous pub lished memoir!

YOUR DAY

FACEOFTHEDAY

NANDANI YADAV, Model Don’t give a firm commitment in financial matters before considering the viability of the project. You succeed in completing an important project well before deadline. Disagreements on the family front are foreseen. Be careful about the legal apprehensions in the property you are planning to buy. Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva KARTIK BAJORIA (The author is a Jaipur-based Communication Skills Educator & Writer)

10ETC MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

Tamannaah Bhatia has been treating us with some bookmark-wor thy looks and the latest one in red makes for a timeless silhouette. For an event re cently, the Babli Bouncer ac

FASHION IS THE BEAUTIFUL ESCAPISM

From Sonakshi Sinha to Moni Roy, the ramp at Bombay Times Fashion Week was a starry af fair with a celes tial lineup of design ers including Gopi Vaid and Bhawna Goenka. Brah mastra actress Mouni Roy astound ed at Bombay Times Fashion Week on Monday. The gorgeous diva turned showstopper for Streax Professional Times India Hair Style Icon finale collection by Ab hishek Sharma on Day 3 of the Bombay

Times Fashion Week 2022. Streax Professional showcased chic hair dos curated by Ab hishek Sharma at BTFW. Her gown de sign was worthy of all

DEEPZ DONNING IN LV!

the attention and she fin ished off her look with beautiful soft curls adorned with stylish hairpins.

Jagdeesh Chandra graced the occasion with

his presence and moti vated the beauties with his encouraging words.

City First brings to you some highlights from the fashion extravaganza. cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Kajal congratulates Suriya and Jyothika

cannot get enough of. The stunner teamed her classic red piece with a halter neck blouse by Payal Khandwala. Styled by Ami Patel, Tamannaah capped her look with minimal make up, glossy lips and mascara and for hair, she decided to keep is bouncy and natural open. A giant Kada in hand and a pair of earrings com pleted the ensemble.

Lady in Louis Vuitton! Deepika Padukone at tended an event that was set to be a swanky Business of Fashion 500 gala in Paris. Famous faces like Kylie Jenner, Natasha Poonawalla, Ashley Gra ham, Leto, and others sure did not appear tossed-up with their fashion choices, the memo to deliver acefashion was followed. With us and much of the world turning to big jacket ener gy, the urgency to reach for one prevails. Leaning heav ily on the fashionable side

is Deepika’s classy jacket. Styled by Shaleena Natha ni in everything LV, it’s hard to not take notes from this look. She rocked a bomber jacket that featured a collar, multiple zips, a snap fas tener placed on cuffs, and a gold foil-like detail. Seems bulky, looks stylish and comforta ble.

SLOTH ANANYA!

Ananya Pan day was last seen in Liger costarring Vijay Deverakonda. The film flopped at the box office. However, she was criti cized by the moviegoers for her acting. Mean while, the actress loves to keep herself fit too. She never misses a chance of going to the gym but she loves doing Yoga more.

She shares a lot of pictures from the

classes. Even the actress is often spotted exiting yoga classes. Today also, she shared an update on her Instagram stories.

Sharing her Insta gram stories, Ananya wore black shorts and a grey tee with ‘Sloth Yoga’ written on it. She kept

her hair tied in a bun style. With no makeup, the Gehraiyaan tress flaunted her blemish-free skin. She was happy posing for her trainer.

Anushka wrote, “When a sloth turns up on Mon day.” To note, the actress has recently announced her new project Dream Girl 2 co-starring Ayush mann Khurrana.

uriya recently bagged the prestig ious National Award for Best Ac tor for his blockbuster performance in Soorar ai Pottru. Congratulat ing him on this hon our, the Hey Sinami ka actress Kajal Ag garwal took to her Twitter handle and penned a post, “Big con gratulations @Suriya_ offl and #Jyotika for your very well deserved national awards.” She also dropped a few photographs from the ceremony in which Suriya, and Jyothika are seen receiving their

In addition to Suriya, his better half and ac tress Jyothika was also awarded the Best Fea ture Film for Soorarai Pottru. Meanwhile, the Jai Bhim actor also shared a family picture with his wife Jyothika, kids, and par ents. Dedicating the award to his ‘Anbana fans’, Suriya wrote on Twitter, “Ever grate ful Sudha! Hearty congratu lations to all the winners. This one’s for you Anbana fans!! #SooraraiPottru #Na tionalFilmAwards.”

—PHOTOS BY SUMIT KUMAR Tamannaah Bhatia Ananya Pandey Her post... Kajal Aggarwal Her post... Deepika Padukone Jagdeesh Chandra motivates the beauties at Bombay Fashion Week Showstopper Mouni Roy felicitates Amit Tonk with the cheque Showstopper Mouni Roy felicitates Bhaskar Jyoti Saikia with the cheque Mouni Roy addressing the audience Mrunal Thakur with other supermodels flaunting her desinger attire Shilpa Shetty Kundra donning the desinger lehenga Liva Miss Diva Supranational 2020 Aavriti Choudhary during the show Models during the show

ETC www.firstindia.co.in I https://firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022 11

TAMANNAAH’S RED FASHION

Celebs congratulate lovebirds ‘RIALI’

D-day has finally arrived! Richa and Ali Fazal are going to tie a knot on October 3 and to say that excitement is soar ing in the sky would not be wrong. After almost a week of wedding cere monies and a slew of adorable pictures of the couple, it is finally time for the wedding photos to come out! Amidst all the love and excitement, Bollywood celebrities cannot stop pouring in their love for the beauti ful couple and several have come out to wish them on their special day.

Tahira Kashyap and Ayushmann Khur rana shared one of their photos from the ceremo nies and wrote down a cute and simple mes sage for the Fukrey stars. Tahira wrote, "Congratulations you both. Lots of love and happiness always @ richachadha @ali fazal9", while Ayush mann had a cute and short reaction as he

wrote, "Congratulations @richachadha and @ alifazal9 ".

Priyanka Chopra too wished the power cou ple a hearty congratula tions as she wrote, "Many many congratu lations @richachadha @alifazal9. Here is to a lifetime of happiness and love".

“WE MADE IT WITH A LOT OF LOVE, RESPECT, FEAR”: PRABHAS

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

Adipurush stars

Prabhas and Kriti

Sanon were in Ayo dhya for their film's teaser launch on Sunday. The Adipu rush stars Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan were present as the main cast. The epic drama has been helmed by Om Raut. The cast and crew unveiled the teas er on Sunday in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh at a mega event. Ahead of the teaser launch the cast and crew shared the experience of making the highly antici pated feature and what the audience can expect from it.

Om Raut's directorial, Prabhas plays Lord Ram while Saif Ali Khan stars as the antagonist Lankesh. During the grand teaser launch of Adipurush in Ayodhya, Prabhas said he was seeking blessings for the much-anticipated project.

Raut could have called any Indian A-lister for his next film but he chose Prab has. "I always had Prabhas in my mind when I was writing Raghav's character it became so compelling for me," Raut said in a conver sation "If it was not him, I would have not made the film."

While Prabhas con fessed he was scared. The superstar, who is head lining the upcoming myth ological drama, said when he was offered to play the titular part of Lord Ram, he was “frightened.” The film is an adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana.

“We are here to take Lord

Ram’s blessings for Adipu rush. I was really fright ened to do this character. I called up Om after three days and said if I make some mistakes with a lot of love, respect and fear we did this film. May Lord Ram

Celebrities Grace the Grand Opening of Motorsounds

ADITI CHAVAN cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

On a spectacular evening of the grand opening of Motor sounds Lokhandwala

Renewed, Revamped & Robust outlet, on Octo ber, the event was at tended by several BTown Celebrity Names amidst other guests.

The opening ceremony was exalted and majes tic, to say the least, and was much appreciated by all those present.

Merriment followed by celebrations was a part of the ceremoni ous evening and it was blessed with much fun and laughter. Refresh ments and entertain ment were the very best and left the guests happy.

The celebrity Guest list included Aarya Babbar, Aly Goni, Pa ras Madaan, Jaan Ku mar Sanu, Malvi Mal hotra, Ishita raj, Payal Ghosh, Sharik Toshi, Ram Shankar, Sneha Shankar, Ravi Behl, Naira shah, Angela krislinzki, Nikita Raw al, Kenisha Awasthi, MotorSOUNDS

Lokhandwala is a Car accessories store lo cated at Shop no E-4, Green Park, off New Link Road, Millat Na gar, Oshiwara, And heri.

The business is list ed under the best car accessories stores and even the car stereo store category.

The Brand also owns a brand Motor Glaze which is in the manufacturing of Car

a chance to be a part of such a film, to play a part like this. I got it quite early in my life. I really want to thank Bhushan sir and Om that they considered me able for Janki.”

Producer and T-Series head Bhushan Kumar re called the devotional con nect of his father late Gulshan Kumar and said Adipurush is his dream come true. “Everybody is aware of my late father’s faith in devotion, Lord Ram… My father’s dream is coming true today and that’s why, when Om told me that he wanted to make nothing else but a film on Lord Ram and Ramayana after Tanhaji, I didn’t take a second to say yes."

bless us,” Prabhas said.

Actor Kriti Sanon, who stars as Sita in the film, said she feels fortunate to have been offered an oppor tunity to play the part. “I consider myself fortunate because very few actors get

Adipurush is billed as one of the biggest films of the recent times, it will have a wide release on January 12 across multiple languag es such as Hindi Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.

Superstar Ranveer Singh to launch 'O Pari'

Rockstar Sri Devi Prasad is ready to set a firm foot in the Hindi music industry with his debut track ‘O Pari' along with music mogul Bhushan Kumar on October 4. What makes it even more exciting is that the dynamic, energetic and charis matic superstar of the country Ranveer Singh will launch this song! Ranveer and DSP are collaborating for the first time in Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus and the actor is thrilled to launch his nonfilm music video to people pan India.

After working on superhit projects like Dhinka Chika, Daddy Mummy, Srivalli, Oo Antava, and more, DSP is ready to make his mark with this one and with Ranveer launching the song we are surely in for a treat!

DSP’s O Pari is surely the call of the day and is set to rule the music charts when it launches!

Alia's baby kicks

Alia Bhatt has achieved anoth er feat where she has been be stowed with the Time100 Impact Awards. Alia graced the National Gallery Singa pore to collect her hon our. Shining in a beauti ful metallic gown, she could be seen cradling her baby bump while she delivered a power ful speech.

While making the au dience laugh and at the same time, move them with her impactful words, Alia spoke about accepting her flaws and revealed that she start ed her career to make an impact. She further thanked her family, par ents Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, sister Shaheen Bhatt and husband Ranbir Ka poor for “putting up with her”.

Products and accesso ries and is known to be one of the few premi um brands in Maha

rashtra which was re cently also felicitated with the Pillars of Ma harashtra Awards.

In concluding her speech, Alia mentioned “her little one” who was kicking her throughout her speech. She said,

Red Ant Brand Pro motions and PR and Shimmer Entertain ment were the PR agencies that painted the perfect picture of a wonderful event.

“When it comes to making an impact, I hope I can continue to do so in whatever way possible. But for now, tonight, this award has

genuinely made an im pact on me and my little one, who has relentless ly kicked me through out this speech. Thank you so much.”

(L-R) Om Raut, Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Bhushan Kumar during the launch Rushabh with Arya Babbar and his wife Ranveer Singh and Rockstar Sri Devi Prasad Ravi Nandrog and Rushabh with Kenisha Awasth Ravi Nandrog and Rushabhwith Aly Goni Ravi Nandrog and Rushabh with Vishal Kotian Alia Bhatt during the event Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal

12 MUMBAI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2022www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia CITY BUZZGET VACCINATED STAY MASKED

“RELENTLESSLY”

First India-Mumbai Edition-04th October 2022

PILOTS: FLIES LIKE A BUTTERFLY AND STINGS LIKE A BEE

INDIA’S OWN HELL-BIRD ARMED AND READY!

India sees induction of first made-in-India light combat helicopter’ Prachand’ in the Air Force with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in attendance

Bharat Jodo Yatra: In a day, RaGa visits mutt, mosque and church

Security tightened in Mum ahead of Dussehra rallies by Sena factions

Rival Sena groups to face-off in Andheri (East) by-poll

SONIA ARRIVES IN MYSURU, TO JOIN YATRA ON OCT 6

ED’S FRESH SUMMONS TO K’TAKA CONG CHIEF

CONGRESS RELEASES NORMS FOR PREZ POLL

Sweden’s Paabo wins Nobel Prize in Medicine

IT’S ‘KAMALABAI’ VERSUS ‘PENGUIN SENA’

Rivalry between the BJP and former CM Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction heats up ORIGIN OF ‘ENDEARMENTS’

Man who threatened Maha CM arrested, says Fadnavis

Uddhav-led party is ‘real’ Shiv Sena: NCP

BJP chief slams Uddhav for taking jibes, warns MLA exits

SQUASHING UNTRUTHS

Islamic bodies to dispel misbeliefs about faith

Excise dept may invoke MCOCA against liquor transport offenders

ODE TO THE GODDESS!

Passenger held at Mumbai airport with heroin worth `34.79 crore

Case against man who committed suicide after killing wife, two children

Two girls burnt alive by father die in hospital

Govt to start 4 mental health courses in regional hospitals

INNOVATIVE IDEA

‘Artist’ creates paddy art to tell about Sahyadri flora, fauna

CRUCIAL

MAN DIES AT GARBA EVENT IN VIRAR, FATHER FOLLOWS SUIT IN SHOCK

INJURED IN E-BATTERY BLAST BOY DIES DURING TREATMENT

FOUR INVOLVED IN 16 CASES OF HOUSE-BREAKING THEFTS ARRESTED

MID-CAREER CHALLENGE

EMBARRASSING U-TURN BY BRITISH GOVT ON MAJOR CUT FOR THE RICH

INDIA CLIMBS

HIGHER WITH LCH

PM to inaugurate AIIMS Bilaspur on Oct 5, kick-off `3,650 cr works

ED raids Chinese app firms in Bengaluru, seizes `5.85 crore

JP NADDA INSPECTS ARRANGEMENTS FOR PRIME MINISTER MODI’S OCTOBER 5 VISIT TO HIMACHAL

PROPERTY OF I-T OFFICER ATTACHED IN PMLA CASE

Cross-voting in RS polls; 2 K’taka MLAs served notice

EC ANNOUNCES BY-ELECTIONS IN 6

STATES ON NOV 3

UNION MINISTER APPEARS IN COURT IN 2013 CASE

APPOINTMENT ON COMPASSIONATE GROUND CONCESSION NOT A RIGHT: SUPREME COURT

Farmers protest on anniversary of Lakhimpur Kheri incident

SEASON

New menu in domestic flights of Air India

New Delhi (PTI): Ta

Mahatma Gandhi-lookalike ‘asura’ at Kolkata Durga Puja Pandal sparks row

BSF seizes Pak fishing boat from ‘Harami Nala’ creek area of Guj

Rahul Gandhi’s pilgrimage during Yatra

WILL DIGVIJAYA BE THE LEADER OF OPPOSITION OR THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF PARTY ORGANIZATION?

ODISHA: 5-TIME MLA BIJAYA RANJAN SINGH BARIHA NO MORE

Om Birla to participate in G20 Speakers’ Summit in Jakarta

I&B Ministry’s advisory against betting advts

CONGRESS PREZ POLL THAROOR WELCOMES GUIDELINES ASKING CANDIDATES TO ENSURE "NO MALA FIDE CAMPAIGN"

Mulayam Singh Yadav moved to critical care unit: Medanta Hospital

Security tightened...

Rival Sena...

DOPT GIVES ANOTHER IAS OFFICER TO UP FROM ‘20 BATCH

REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

Dr Jitendra launches portal for PM’s Excellence Awards

MS INDIA VEHICLE PRODUCTION RISES TO 1,77,468 UNITS

Sept factory activity slows to 3-month low

TOP TALKING POINTS

Govt to approach capital market this month to raise `2,500 cr for 3 road projects

Sensex, Nifty fall over 1 per cent on selling in banking, auto shares

SAVWIPL BEGINS EXPORT OF MID SIZED SUV KUSHAQ

OTHER STORIES

Vi CEO urges govt to slash levies to help telcos invest in 5G networks

RUPEE PLUNGES 49 PAISE TO 81.89 AGAINST US DOLLAR

LED BY SUVs, M&M REPORTS BEST EVER WHOLESALES IN SEPT

LAVA LAUNCHES ITS 1ST 5G PHONE, PRICED AROUND `10,000

PROSUS CALLS OFF $4.7 BN ACQUISITION OF BILLDESK

TOTAL PAYMENT TO GOVERNMENT

BSNL TO ROLL OUT 4G NETWORK FROM NOV

Inc’s credit quality continues to improve

HIGHLIGHTING FACTORS

Nafed offloads buffer onion of 20,000 tons in different cities

States borrowing cost rises for third consecutive week

‘NCP not offered any alliance with Cong, Shiv Sena in 2014’