First India-Mumbai Edition-6th October 2022

G20 PARL SPEAKERS’ SUMMIT IN JAKARTA

PILOT DIES IN ARMY CHOPPER CRASH IN ARUNACHAL

READ Crucial AIIMS BILASPUR TO BE KNOWN AS ‘GREEN HOSPITAL’: PM MODI

New Delhi: An Army pilot died in a Cheetah helicopter crash near Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday morning. “The Cheetah helicopter flying in forward areas near Tawang crashed at around 10:00 AM during a routine sortie. Both the pilots were evacuated to the nearest Military Hospital,” Army said.

3 JeM TERRORISTS

NEUTRALISED IN J&K ENCOUNTER

Shopian: Security forces neutralised three terrorists linked with the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed in an encounter in the Drach area of Shopian, said the police on Wednesday morning. The encounter between security forces and terrorists had broken out last evening. Another encounter broke out early morning in Moolu area of Shopian, which according to ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar is in progress.

FIR FILED AGAINST MALLYA IN CHEQUE BOUNCE CASE

Bilaspur (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugu rated the All India Insti tute of Medical Sciences here and said that the hospital will be called the ‘Green Hospital’.

“In last 8 years, we have worked on ensur ing development bene fits reach the remotest parts of the country. AIIMS Bilaspur will not only increase access to affordable healthcare in Himachal but is also ecofriendly and will be known as ‘Green AIIMS’,” he said. Term ing the inauguration of AIIMS a moment of pride in Himachal, PM Modi said that the state has played a crucial role in “Rashtra Raksha” and the hospital will now play a “pivotal role in Jeevan Raksha” adding that Himachal is one of the three states chosen for establishing Bulk Drugs Park that will en sure the access to afford able medicines in India.

Narendra Modi @narendramodi

Many many congratulations to all the countrymen on Vijayadashami, the symbol of victory. I wish that this auspicious occasion brings courage, restraint and positive energy in everyone’s life.

India needs a population control policy applicable to all: Bhagwat

New Delhi: A fresh FIR has been filed against fugitive offender Vijay Mallya by Delhi Police for not appearing before a special court in connection with a cheque bounce case. The hearing was going on in Rouse Avenue Court. The court noted that the accused was skipping the trial and was not willing to appear before it.

201 RAS OFFICERS

RE-SHUFFLED IN RAJASTHAN

Jaipur: In a major administrative reshuffle, 201 Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officers were transferred in Rajasthan on Wednesday. As many as 20 officers of the Tehsildar service became RAS as the Personnel Department issued promotion order. About a third i.e. as many as 67 SDOs have been shuffled.

Nagpur (Agencies): RSS chief Mohan Bhag wat said on Wednesday that India needs a policy for population control “equally applicable to all”, and cited “religionbased imbalance” and “forced conversions” to raise the spectre of the country breaking apart. He cited East Timor, Ko sovo and South Sudan as examples of “new coun tries that emerged be cause of religious com munity-based imbalanc es”. He said this at the annual Dussehra rally of the RSS. “Along with pop ulation control, balance on religious basis is also a matter of importance which cannot be ig nored,” he stressed in his speech, just weeks after he met some Muslim leaders in what was seen as RSS’s outreach. P2

‘NEED TO EMPOWER WOMEN’, SAYS RSS CHIEF IN HIS VIJAYADASHAMI ADDRESS

Nagpur (Agencies): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday strongly advocated for women empowerment in the country, and said that men and women are equal in every aspect and respect, have equal potential and capabilities. In his speech on the customary Vijayadashami celebration here at the RSS headquarters, Bhagwat pointed out that women, who are regarded as “jagat janani (mother of the uni verse)”, but at home they are treated as “slaves”.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: In a major kick in the teeth to the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena, Jaidev Thackeray, the elder brother of the Sena chief on Wednes day evening shared the stage with Maharash tra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

While the Uddhav Thackeray faction’s rally was held at the his

Shah rules out talks with Pak, says won’t tolerate terrorism

PM GAVE VOICE TO HIMACHALIS, SAYS BJP CHIEF NADDA

Bilaspur: BJP chief JP Nadda on Wednesday said that PM Modi has given a number of schemes to Himachal Pradesh on the occasion of Vijayadashmi.

“On the occasion of Vijayadashmi today, PM Modi is giving the state not only one but a number of schemes. I welcome him on this day on behalf of everyone here,” Nadda said in his address here.

MODI GETS WARM WELCOME AS HE ARRIVES IN KULLU

Kullu: PM Narendra Modi received a warm welcome as he arrived for the International Kullu Dussehra Festival here. He participated in the Dusshera festival here for the first time after becoming the PM. The PM extended greet ings on Dussehra and expressed his happiness to be a part of the Kullu Dussehra Festival.

Baramulla (ANI): Un ion Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednes day ruled out any dia logue with Pakistan and asserted that the Narendra Modi govern ment will wipe out ter rorism from Jammu and Kashmir and make it the most peaceful place in the country.

At a rally here, Shah asked whether terror ism has ever benefited anyone as it has claimed 42,000 lives in J&K since the 1990s.

He also blamed the families of the Abdul lahs (National Confer

Baramulla: In a major announcement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir will “full transparency” as soon as the work of compiling the voters’ list is completed.

ence), Muftis (PDP) and Nehru-Gandhi (Con gress) for the alleged underdevelopment of Jammu and Kashmir as they ruled the erstwhile state most of the time since Independence in 1947.

Sonia offers Dussehra prayers in K’taka

Mysuru (PTI): Con gress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday offered Dussehra prayers at the Bheemanakolli temple in Begur village of HD Kote Assembly segment in Karnataka.

She prayed to the pre siding deity at the old temple in the village near Nagrahole forest reserve in the morning.

Telangana’s KCR moves to national stage with Bharat Rashtra Samithi

Hyderabad: Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, aspiring for a na tional role ahead of the 2024 election, launched the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a new version of his party on Wenesday. The Telan gana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is now BRS, Rao declared after a meeting

Let Shinde-Raj come. If you asked me, I will say take elections again, and let ShindeRaj come. My blessings are always with him…. Everyone is asking me, during the past week, if I have joined Shinde camp. I liked the ideas he put forth. Maharash tra needs a man of such courage. I have come here today out of my love for Eknath. Don’t let him get alone.

him

toric Shivaji Park in Dadar in central Mum bai, a venue associated with the Shiv Sena since its inception in 1966, the rebel group led by Shinde organized their event at the MMR DA ground at the Ban dra Kurla Complex (BKC). The MMRDA ground is located close to ‘Matoshree’, the pri vate residence of the Thackeray family in Bandra.

Jaidev Thackeray’s estranged wife Smita was also present at the MMRDA Turn to

of his party. Workers celebrated by bursting crackers.

OWAISI WELCOMES

BRS, BJP RAPS KCR

Hyderabad: The AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has welcomed the decision of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to enter the national politics by changing its name to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) while the BJP has termed it as misadventure by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

INDIA CAPITALS WIN THE LEGENDS CRICKET TITLE

She was accompa nied by village pan chayat members and local MLA Anil Kumar C. Gandhi is here to take part in the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra and will walk with the other yatris in Mandya dis trict, from where it will commence on Thursday after a two-day break for Dussehra.

‘Fact-checker duo from India in race for Nobel Peace Prize’

New Delhi (Agencies): Fact-checkers Moham med Zubair and Pratik Sinha are among the contenders to win the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, reported Time.

A Time report said the co-founders of factcheck site AltNews, Sinha and Zubair are among the contenders to win the prize based on nominations that were made public.

Zubair was arrested in June this year for a 2018 tweet that was “highly provocative and more than sufficient to incite feelings of hatred” as per a Delhi Police First In formation Report (FIR). The Delhi Police charged him for promoting en mity between different groups on grounds of religion and deliberate acts to outrage religious sentiments.

Balasaheb Thackeray’s son Jaidev Thackeray showed his support for CM Eknath Shinde by appearing alongside him at the Dussehra rally at BKC ground in Mumbai on Wednesday.

conference (organization of the parliaments of G-20)

J&K POLLS AFTER VOTERS’ LIST COMPILATION: SHAH

A historical photo of Narendra Modi (2nd R) with the then Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal (C) and other leaders during Kullu Dussehra festival in 1998. Modi was the BJP’s in-charge of Himachal Pradesh affairs.

PM Modi with JP Nadda, Anurag Thakur, Himachal Guv Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, CM Jairam Thakur during the ceremony for foundation stone laying of multiple projects, in Bilaspur, on Wednesday.

Union HM Amit Shah along with J&K Lt Guv Manoj Sinha and MoS Jitendra Singh releases a publication during inauguration of various projects at a function at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar, on Wednesday.

Mohan Bhagwat felicitates mountaineer Santosh Yadav during a Vijayadashmi function, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi offers prayers at the Bheemanakolli Temple on Dussehra, in Mysuru, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Jaipur: India Capitals has won the final match of the Legends League Cricket. Batting first, India Capitals set a target of 211 runs before Bhilwara Kings in the final match played at

Stadium in

Bhilwara

—PHOTO BY PTI

‘Community-based population imbalance shouldn’t be ignored’

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat says India should develop a comprehensive population control policy that applies equally to all social groups

First India Bureau

Nagpur: Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh

(RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Wednesday that India should develop a com prehensive popula tion control policy that applies equally to all social groups. He also raised the issue of demographic ‘im balance’ while claim ing there was no dan ger to minorities.

Speaking at the an nual RSS Dussehra rally at Nagpur’s Reshim bagh Ground, Bhagwat called for women’s em powerment and touched on a variety of issues, including “Hindu Rash tra,” education, self-reli

Alongside the differences in birth rate, conversions by force, lure or greed and infiltration are also big reasons. All these factors have to be mulled over. When expecting the government to institute the promo tion of mother tongue, we should also consider whether we sign our names in our mother tongue or not? Whether the nameplates affixed on our res idences are rendered in mother tongue or not? Whether household invitations bear the texts in the mother tongue or not? While we are trying to control the population, we should see what happened in China. That country went for the one child policy and now it is getting older.”

ance, India’s assistance to crisis-hit Sri Lanka, and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.

He stated that com munity-based “popula tion imbalance” is an

—Mohan Bhagwat, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Chief

important subject that should not be over looked because it leads to changes in geographi cal boundaries.

“Seventy five years ago, we experienced this

population imbalance in certain territories of In donesia, Sudan and Ser bia,” he said.

The new population policy should be applica ble to all communities equally to strike a bal ance, he said, adding that there has to be a bal ance among the commu nities in this country.

“Alongside the differ ences in birth rate, con versions by force, lure or greed and infiltration are also big reasons. All these factors have to be mulled over,” he said.

Bhagwat emphasized on the use of mother tongue and claimed that “English language is not important for building a career.”

Cong to support Uddhav-led Sena’s candidate in bypolls

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Maha rashtra Congress on Wednesday an nounced support for the candidate of the Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena in the November 03 byelec tion to Andheri East Assembly constitu ency in Mumbai.

Addressing the me dia, state Congress chief Nana Patole said that his party would support Rutuja Latke, the deceased MLA’s wife who has been fielded by the Shiv Sena.

in our country. In the 21st century, three new countries that have come into existenceEast Timor, South Su dan and Kosovo they have been the results of

TMC Addl Commissioners ask officials to expedite beautification works in Thane

First India Bureau

Thane: Sandeep Mal vi and Sanjay Her wade, Additional Commissioners of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have instructed the officials to come ahead and contrib ute to making the city beautiful.

They also asked the officials to make the city a zero-waste city adding that officials should listen to the grievances faced by the public.

The Assistant Com

missioners gave the in structions in a meeting organized at the Naren dra Ballal auditorium on October 04. The meet was attended by TMC engineer Prashant Son gra, Deputy Commis sioner Manish Joshi, and Deputy Commis sioners of all ward com mittees, assistant and

Strict action will be taken against the officials for providing sub-standard services to people

heads of various de partments of the Thane Municipal Corporation.

Addressing the meeting Sandeep Mal vi said, “It is the duty of the local (self) gov ernment body to pro vide basic services to the citizens and citi zens are constantly in teracting with the civic

CRUCIAL READ

FIRE ENGULFS 18TH FLOOR OF HIGH RISE BLDG IN THANE, RESCUE STAFF SAVES TEN RESIDENTS

a

Thane: Ten residents were saved

on the

floor of

at Ghodbunder

the

Sawant, chief of Thane

said

body’s

body. If the citizen ap proaches the con cerned ward commit tee for any work, it must be disposed of at the local level.”

He also emphasized proper planning at the ward committee level so that people do not have to contact the civ ic body headquarters for small tasks.

On the other hand, Sanjay Herwade warned the officials that strict action will be taken against the of ficials in case they pro vide below-standard services to the public.

WESTERN RAILWAY REVISES NEWLY-INTRODUCED VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS TRAVEL TIME

He further added, “When expecting the government to institute the promotion of moth er tongue, we should also consider whether we sign our names in our mother tongue or not? Whether the name plates affixed on our residences are rendered in mother tongue or not? Whether household invitations bear the texts in the mother tongue or not?”

The election was necessitated by the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. He died on May 11 this year while on a trip to Dubai.

Ramesh Latke, a two-time MLA, had defeated Congress’s Suresh Shetty in 2014 from the constituency to enter the Legisla tive Assembly.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress was formed after the 2019 Assem bly elections results to keep the “commu

nal” BJP out of power in the interest of Ma harashtra, Patole said, adding that the MVA coalition gov ernment took many decisions for the peo ple’s welfare.

The BJP misused central agencies like the ED and CBI to top ple the government, but its efforts to break the MVA would not succeed, he added.

The BJP plans to nominate Murji Patel, as per party sources.

“In the battle against the BJP, the Congress will not field its candidate in the Andheri East bye lection. We will work with full strength to ensure that Shiv Se na’s candidate wins,”

Patole said. This would be the first election in the state after the split in the Shiv Sena in June.

Meanwhile, city Congress leader and former MP Milind De ora said the Shiv Sena should support a Con gress candidate next time as a reciprocal gesture.

Will start preparations for 2024 polls from Parli: Pankaja Munde

First India Bureau

Aurangabad: Bharati ya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pankaja Munde on Wednesday said she was not disgruntled over not getting any post, and would start preparations for con testing the 2024 Maha rashtra Assembly elections from Parli.

Munde, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopi nath Munde, was speak ing at her customary Dussehra rally at Sawar gaon Ghat in Beed dis trict.

“Struggle is part of everyone’s life. Even Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma haraj had to struggle.

Munde did not make it to the cabinet when the BJP came to power this June in alliance with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction

clear that she wanted to contest again from Parli, where her estranged cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde had defeated her last time.

“But the party organi zation is above any per son. I am not disgruntled with anyone. I shall start preparations for 2024 polls if the party gave me a ticket,” she said.

Late Gopinath Munde had to struggle through out his entire political career. He got into gov ernment for only four and a half years,” she said.

incident took place at around 2pm on the

Management Cell (RDMC).

floor of the

building. A team of the local fire

men rushed to the

and

and doused the fire. Ten residents were saved from the

floor,” he said. The cause behind the fire accident is being investigated, added Sawant.

Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) has further reduced the travelling time of the newly-introduced Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express train with effect from Wednesday. There is no change in the train’s departure timing of 6.10 am from Mumbai Central and 2.05 pm from Gandhinagar. However, as per the revised timetable, the Gandhinagar-bound Vande Bharat Express will reach its destination at 12.25 pm instead of the current 12.30 pm. It will reach Mumbai Central at 8.15 pm instead of the current timing at 8.35 pm.

She was carrying for ward the legacy of Jan Sangh ideologue Deen dayal Upadhyaya, Pan kaja further said.

FESTIVE BONANZA

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda had seen the crowds at her earlier Dussehra rallies and asked her to work for these people, she said.

“People think their

leader should get some thing and there is noth ing wrong with that. I am not holding any post since 2019 Assembly polls but I am not dis gruntled,” the former state minister said.

She, however, made it

Munde was a cabinet minister in the Deven dra Fadnavis-led govern ment in the state be tween 2014 and 2019. But she did not make it to the cabinet when the BJP came to power again this June in alliance with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction.

Police personnel to get home loan at low interest rates in Maha

lll

The scheme, which was launched in 2017 and implemented till 2019, was discontinued by the Uddhav

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Maha rashtra cabinet has cleared a proposal to allow police person nel to take home loans at subsidized interest rates.

The scheme was ear lier launched in 2017 and was implemented till 2019, after which it was discontinued by the Uddhav Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The new Eknath

Shinde-led govern ment has decided to reintroduce the scheme for which the State Po

MORE SOPS ANNOUNCED

phase-1 of the Nagpur Metro project.

The state has sanc tioned Rs622 crore in terest free loan for the Nagpur Metro phase-1 project and also ap proved the land trans fer proposal, the state ment said.

lice Housing and Wel fare Corporation will operate as the nodal agency, a government

statement said on Tuesday.

The cabinet also

cleared a revised pro posal of Rs9,279.06 crore to speed up

The cabinet has also cleared the pending project of transporta tion of the Krishna river water to Marath wada by sanctioning Rs11,726.91 crore. It will benefit 33,945 hec

tares of land for irriga tion in eight districts.

Under the Krishna Bhima rivers stabiliza tion project, the con struction of a connect ing tunnel for both the rivers has also been included.

The cabinet has also decided to notify state or Union governmentowned companies as implementing agen cies on a turnkey basis for projects under the state disaster manage ment plan.

Struggle is part of everyone’s life. Even Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had to strug gle. Late Gopinath Munde had to struggle throughout his entire political career. He got into government for only four and a half years. People think their leader should get something and there is nothing wrong with that. I am not holding any post since 2019 Assembly polls but I am not disgruntled.

—Pankaja Munde, Bharatiya Janata Party leader

Mohan Bhagwat performs ‘Shastra Puja’ during Vijaya Dashami festival, in Nagpur. —PHOTO BY ANI

Rutuja Latke. —FILE PHOTO

5 people killed, 8 injured in multi-vehicle wreck on Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mum

Speeding car rammed into three stationary cars and an ambulance at the site of accident

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Five people were killed and eight others injured after a speeding car rammed into three other sta tionary cars and an ambulance on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai on Wednesday, police of ficials said.

The accident took place around 3 am be tween pole numbers 76 and 78 on the southbound stretch of the sea link bridge, which con nects Bandra in west ern suburbs to Worli in south Mumbai.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.

“Pained by the loss of lives due to an acci dent on the BandraWorli Sea Link in Mumbai. Condolences to the bereaved fami lies. I hope that those who have been injured have a speedy recov ery: PM @naren dramodi,” the PMO tweeted.

A police official said an initial investigation into the incident has revealed that they came to know that a car ini tially hit a divider on the bridge and an am bulance was dispatched to the spot for assis tance.

The occupants of two other cars also halted their vehicles to pro vide help, he said.

At that time, another car coming from be hind rammed into three stationary cars and the ambulance, the official said.

Thirteen people, in cluding a woman and a Sea Link employee, were injured and five of them were later de clared dead during treatment, he said.

Six of the injured were undergoing treat ment in different hospi tals. Two others were allowed to go after be ing treated for minor injuries, the police said.

Sanjeev Jha, general manager, operations and maintenance of

3 held for grabbing `20 crore property of deceased man

Roadways Solution In dia Infra Ltd which manages the toll booth on the bridge, said the deceased were working for his company. They had rushed to the spot when the first accident took place, he said.

He identified the de

ceased—all men—as Satyendra Faujdar from Bharatpur in Ra jasthan, Gajaraj Singh from Madhya Pradesh, Rajendra Rajput, Chetan Kadam and am bulance driver Som nath Salve (32).

Another employee,

Hemant Toraskar, was seriously injured and was undergoing treat ment at Lilavati Hospi tal in the city, he said.

“All of them were working here for the last many years,” said Pradeep Mishra, an other employee.

WHAT HAPPENED

Prime accused in `12 cr bank heist arrested

First India Bureau

Thane: Police have arrested a Christian priest, a woman who worked at a bar, and one more person from Thane city for allegedly grabbing Rs19.70 crore worth of property belong ing to a dead man by creating his fake marriage certificate, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused were identified as Anjali Agarwal (30), Thom as Ramul Godpawar (50) and Mahesh Kat kar (37), he said.

Agarwal was in love with one of the customers (35), who was a regular at the bar where she worked. After his death in November 2021, Agarwal, with the help of the other two accused, created a fake marriage cer tificate and grabbed his property worth Rs19.70 crore in Thane’s Kavesar area, senior inspec tor Maloji Shinde of

Agarwal was in love with a regular at the bar she worked.

After he died, she and the other accused grabbed his property using a fake marriage certificate

the property cell of crime branch said.

After their alleged irregularity came to light, the deceased man’s mother lodged a complaint at Nau pada police station, based on which the trio was booked un der various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The complaint said that the accused grabbed his property by showing the fake marriage certificate, he said. The accused were presented be fore a local court, which remanded them in police custo dy till October 07.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Police have recovered Rs9 crore of the Rs12.20 crore that was stolen from a pri vate bank in July and arrested the main ac cused, who is believed to have spent a year planning the crime.

PMO India @PMOIndia

“Pained by the loss of lives due to an accident on the BandraWorli Sea Link in Mumbai. Condolences to the bereaved families. I hope that those who have been injured have a speedy recovery,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted on Wednesday.

With the arrest of Al taf Shaikh (43) from Pune on Monday, police have now arrested five accused in the July 12 robbery at the ICICI Bank in Thane’s Man pada area, an official said on Wednesday.

“In his job as a custo dian with the bank, Mumbra-resident Shai kh was the caretaker of the bank’s locker keys. He spent a year planning the robbery; he studied the loopholes in the sys tem, and gathered the tools to pull it off,” an of ficial of Manpada police station said.

The investigation re vealed that Shaikh had enlarged the AC duct to pass the cash to the gar

After deactivating the alarm system and sabotaging the CCTV, Shaikh opened the bank vault and transferred the cash via th0e AC duct to the chute. The incident came to light after the bank realized that the money was missing, as were the DVRs of CCTV footage.

bage chute and tampered with the CCTV footage.

After the incident, Shaikh went on the lam.

He changed his looks and used a burqa to hide his identity. His sister Neelofer, who was aware of his movements, hid some cash in her home.

She has been booked as co-accused in the case and arrested, police said.

Earlier, the police had arrested Neelofer and three others— Abrar Qureshi (33), Ahmed Khan (33) and Anuj Giri (30).

Reliance Hosp receives anonymous bomb threat

Mumbai (PTI): An unidentified person called up Sir HN Reli ance Foundation Hos pital in south Mum bai on Wednesday and threatened to blow it up, a police of ficial said.

“The caller also issued threats in the name of some members of the Ambani family,” he said.

The person called up the hospital’s landline number at 12.57 pm from an unknown number, the official said.

An FIR has been regis tered at DB Marg police station against the uni dentified person and an investigation is on into the matter, he added. In August this year, a jewel ler was arrested after he

allegedly called up the hospital and threatened to kill industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members.

In February 2021, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) laden with explo sives was found near Ambani’s south Mumbai residence ‘Antilia’.

300-YEAR-OLD TRADITION

On Dussehra, this village performs Ravan ‘aarti’

Dhakre told PTI on the occasion of Dussehra on Wednesday.

Akola (PTI): Resi dents of a nonde script village in Ma harashtra celebrate Dussehra in a differ ent way as they per form the ‘aarti’ of demon king Ravan on the festival when his effigies are burnt in other parts of the country.

Many residents of Sangola village in Ako la district believe they are employed and able to sustain their liveli hood because of Ra van’s blessings and the

peace and happiness in their village is because of the demon king.

Locals claim the tra dition of worshipping Ravan for his “intelli gence and ascetic quali ties” has been going on in the village for the last 300 years.

At the centre of the village stands a tall black stone statue of the 10-headed demon king.

The villagers believe in Lord Ram, but they also have faith in Ravan and do not burn his effigies, local resident Bhivaji

Visitors from across the country come to this small village on Dussehra every year to catch a glimpse of the Lanka king’s statue and some even offer prayers, locals said.

Sangola resident Sub odh Hatole said, “With the blessings of Mahat ma Ravan, today many people in the village are employed. On the day of Dussehra, we worship the statue of Ravan with a maha-aarti.”

Some of the villagers hail Ravan as a “schol ar” and believe he ab

ducted Sita for “politi cal reasons and pre served her sanctity,” Dhakre said.

Local temple priest Haribhau Lakhade said while the rest of the country burns effigies of Ravana on Dussehra, symbolizing the victory of good over evil, resi dents of Sangola wor ship the demon king for his “intelligence and ascetic qualities”. Lakhade said his family has since long been worshipping Ra van and claimed the happiness, peace and contentment in the vil lage is because of the Lanka king.

— Police official

Sangola villagers believe they owe him their peace and happiness

Married women apply vermillion on each other as they participate in ‘Sindoor Khela’ on the last day of Durga Puja festival celebrations, in Mumbai on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital. —FILE PHOTO

An ambulance and two cars had stopped at the scene of an earlier accident to offer assistance to the injured. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE & PTI

INDIA WINS SERIES WITH PROTEAS BUT BOWLING WORRIES DEEPEN

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN

India ended their prepara tions for the upcoming T20 World Cup by winning the series against South Africa 2-1. But the loss in the final match has left more ques tions unanswered than Team India would have liked. The balance of the squad is a huge problem still and despite nu merous changes and combi nations, Indian bowling re mains a major worry. India had clinched the series with an emphatic victory in the second match but their hopes of ending on a high and scor ing a clean sweep were dashed as the Proteas won by 49 runs in the last game.

poor bowling which failed to defend substantial totals.

It was felt that Bumrah and Harshal Patel’s inclusion in the playing 11 after the Asia Cup would infuse a muchneeded boost to the bowling department, but that has not materialized as the series against the Aussies and the Proteas have shown. The two games that Bumrah did play, he returned with figures of 23 for 1 and 50 for none. Thereaf ter his back injury flared up again, forcing him to bow out of the World Cup team.

It was another pathetic show by the bowlers in the final game against the Pro teas as India was set a stiff target of 228. Barring Ash win, none of the bowlers could restrict the African batters and all pacers had an economy rate of over 11.

Significantly, Team India has played most of its T20 games this year without Bumrah who is so special that nobody even comes close to him. In the absence of ‘Boom Boom’, one hopes the World Cup will inspire other bowlers to step up & perform with greater purpose & responsibility

nings that South Africa, cour tesy David Miller’s outstand ing century, fell short by only 16 runs. At one point they were 70 for 3 in the first ten overs.

Indian bowlers leaked 151 runs in the last ten overs without picking a single wicket!

TELANGANA CM’S AMBITIOUS MOVE TO TAKE POLITICAL CENTRE-STAGE

It was another pathetic show by the bowlers in the final game against the Proteas as India was set a stiff target of 228. Barring Ashwin, none of the bowlers could restrict the African batters and all pacers had an economy rate of over 11. Quinton De Kock and Rilee Rossouw carted the Indian bowlers all over the park. Rilee was magnificent

Before the Asia Cup, it was felt that Indian bowling was more or less settled and the batters needed to get back in form. The aggressive batting approach adopted after the loss in the last year’s World Cup turned around fortunes of some of the struggling batsmen in the team. But it’s the flop show by the bowlers that has been instrumental in some of the recent losses. The shock exit from the Asia Cup where India lost to Paki stan and Sri Lanka in crunch games, was also the result of

FREEBIES: EC CHANGES MIND

Quinton De Kock and Rilee Rossouw carted the Indian bowlers all over the park. Ri lee, especially, was magnifi cent as he hit a century in just 48 balls. It wasn’t just them but David Miller too joined in the fun as he hit 3 sixes of Deepak Chahar in the final over to end the in nings with an imposing total.

India had rested Rahul and Kohli for the game which meant the batting was slight ly thin and there was a long ish tail. Dinesh Karthik was promoted to number 4 ahead of Suyakumar Yadav after India were down 2 wickets early in the powerplay. While

India did maintain a steady run rate, they lost too many wickets too quickly. Eventu ally Karthik was the highest scorer with 46 runs which included 4 fours and 4 sixes. India was down to 120 for 8 but some lower order resist ance saw them reach 178. Eventually, they were bun dled out with 9 balls remain ing, losing by 49 runs.

Suryakumar was awarded the Man of the Series for his 2 brilliant fifties. Currently, In dian batting is firing all guns blazing and with Kohli back in form, it is a formidable line-up in Australian conditions which suit the batsmen more. Even in the second game in this series, India got away with a win only due to the fact that they posted a massive total of 237. While it was expected to be an easy win, bowlers were so tardy at the backend of the in

In the post-match inter view, Rohit Sharma men tioned the worry he has about the bowling unit. Team India leaves early for the World Cup as they will get time to prepare for the condi tions better. While Jadeja’s absence has been well-filled by Axar Patel, India would hope that the same happens quickly with the vacant spot left by Bumrah. The mis match between the batting and bowling departments has meant that every single time India bats, they have to score heavily as a cushion for their bowlers, which is near ly impossible.

Significantly, Team India has played most of its T20 games this year without Bumrah who is so special that nobody even comes close to him. In the absence of ‘Boom Boom’, one hopes the World Cup will inspire other bowlers to step up and per form with greater purpose and responsibility. Despite recent losses, India do have the players to win the T20 World Cup but for that to hap pen the bowlers will need to fire at their very best!

That K. Chandrashek har Rao (KCR) of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi is nurturing national ambitions was never in doubt. Over the past several months he was busy meeting several opposition lead ers across the political spectrum for consensus on a political alter native to the ruling alliance led by the BJP. His national alterna tive plan has the backing of Ja nata Dal-Secular leader HD Ku maraswamy, the former chief minister of Karnataka. The Con gress does not figure in KCR’s anti-BJP plans as he did not find the grand old party strong enough to lead an alliance against the ruling dispensation.

To realise his political ambi tion KCR announced the forma tion of a new national party--the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) --- on Wednesday. It needs the approval of the Election Commission to be formally reg istered as a national party.

It is a major announcement that should, over the next few months, give a clearer picture of opposition unity. The Congress and Trinamool Congress could be the main stumbling blocks.

TOP TWEETS

C

entre and opposi tion-ruled States are headed to wards a conflict over freebies or revadis as described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The opposition has flagged the issue as a threat to feder alism and interference in their domain. After the gov ernment drummed up the is sue in view of deteriorating economies of some states, the matter reached the Supreme Court. On August 3, the Su preme Court asked the Cen tre, Niti Aayog, the Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India to come up with “constructive sugges tions” on the “serious” issue.

On August 10 the apex court suggested that it will form a committee to tackle

The EC welcomed the suggestion but said that it will not be a part of the committee as it was a “constitutional authority”. In a sudden U-turn the Election Commission has asked political parties about how they will finance their poll promises, how much expenditure will be incurred and who will be the beneficiary

the issue. The Election Com mission welcomed the sug gestion but said that it will not be a part of the committee as it was a “constitutional au thority”. In a sudden U-turn the Election Commission has asked political parties about how they will finance their poll promises, how much ex

penditure will be incurred and who will be the benefi ciary. Union finance secretary or the state chief secretary’s information on budget esti mates. To incorporate the de tailed information the EC proposes to change the Model Code of Conduct to get rid of hollow poll promises.

The DMK, Shiv Sena and Congress have challenged the EC move saying that the EC was overstepping its au thority to end democracy in the country. The DMK called it an assault on the directive principles of state policies and argued that the EC’s role was limited to conducting free and fair elections.

The EC move will cripple a political party’s freedom to make promises and leave them hugely disadvantaged.

Amit Shah @AmitShah

Chaired a meeting to review the security situation of J&K in Srinagar. People of J&K is witnessing a new era of peace, progress and prosperity under the leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji. I applaud the relentless & coordinated efforts of our security forces to curb terrorism.

Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh

Celebrated Vijaya Dashmi with the Indian Army and ITBP personnel at Auli Military Station in Uttarakhand today. Lauded their contribution in providing a secure environment in the country which enables growth and prosperity.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Always speak if you are right and don’t blame others. Bhagavad Gita

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY

AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works

an actor

Hindi film

To

ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN J-K AFTER VOTERS’ LIST COMPILATION: SHAH

J&K (ANI): In a major announcement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that elections will be held in J&K will “full transparency” as soon as work of compiling the voters’ list is com pleted. Shah said that manner in which delim itation has been done in region, representatives of the people’s choice will be elected.

Assembly polls to elect the govt in the UT are due since the abro gation of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019. The Centre while abrogating the special status of the region, had said that the status of state will be given to J&K at the appropriate time and the elections will be held after delim itation. The orders of the Delimitation Com mission were effective from May 20 with the Centre choosing the day for the move using pow ers of the J &KReorgani sation Act, 2019.

As per the final De limitation Order, out of the 90 (ACs) in J&K, 43 will be part of the Jam mu region & 47 for the Kashmir region keep ing in view provisions of Section 9(1)(a) of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and Section 60(2)(b) of J&K Reorganization Act, 2019.

As soon as the work of compiling the voters’ list is completed, elections will be held in J&K with full transparency. Earlier the delimitation was done in such a way that only the representatives from the three families would be elected, no matter what you do. The delimitation that Election Commis sion has done, your own representatives will win the elections and rule. —Amit Shah, Union Home Minister

JAMMU AND KASHMIR VISIT: SHAH CHAIRS HIGH-LEVEL MEETING IN SRINAGAR

Jammu and Kashmir (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a security review meeting here, on Wednesday directed to strengthen the security grid to ensure zero fear of terrorists and separatists. The Minister also reviewed the working of the security grid and progress made on various items of the security agenda in previous meetings to reduce the incidents of terrorism and the stranglehold of the separatist networks over the system. Shah’s direction came during the security review meeting earlier in the day.

History made in Amit Shah’s rally in Rajouri during J-K visit

Jammu and Kashmir) (ANI): History was made on Tuesday when Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a huge public rally in J&K’s Rajouri, the first by any home minister on such a large scale since 1991 in the Pir Panjal re gion.Shah is on a threeday visit to Jammu and Kashmir, where he had an eventful day on Tues

day. According to a re port, nearly 60,000 peo ple from the border dis tricts of Poonch and Rajouri districts partici pated in the public meet ing, which was the Shah’s first visit to the Pir Panjal region as a Home Minister.

“So far, no public rally has been held in this re gion on such a large scale. In 1991, the then

Union Home Minister Shankar Rao Chauhan held a rally in Mendhar in which thirty thou sand people, mostly hill tribes, participated,” said the report.

History was made when Shah announced that the Pahari tribes, who have been strug gling for more than five decades, will be given Schedule Tribe status.

DON’T TOUCH INNOCENTS, DON’T SPARE THE GUILTY: SHAH TO J&K SECURITY

Amit Shah chaired a high-level security meeting on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha was also at the meeting, which was attended by senior police, paramilitary and intelligence officers of the union territory and the Centre. Shah took a review of antimilitancy operations in the UT and directed the security agencies to show zero tolerance towards terrorism while ensuring that innocent people are protected.

GUPKAR LAID OUT ‘RED CARPET’ FOR PAK TERRORISTS

Launching an unsparing attack on former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minis ters Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the ‘Gupkar alliance’ of “laying a red carpet” for Pakistani terrorists into the country. His remarks came while address ing a public meeting in Baramulla.

NO TALKS WITH PAK: SHAH IN KASHMIR

Amit Shah said assembly polls will be held with “full transparency” in Jammu and Kashmir after the EC publishes the revised electoral rolls and asserted that the Modi govt will wipe out terrorism from the Union territory. Ad dressing a public rally in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, Shah lashed out at those advocating dialogue with Pakistan.

SHAH PAUSES SPEECH AFTER HEARING ‘AZAAN’ FROM NEARBY MOSQUE

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday briefly stopped his speech during a rally in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Azaan’ or Muslim call to prayer was going on from a nearby mosque. After a brief moment, he said the call for prayer has now stopped and asked if he would continue his speech.“Should I start or not? Say it loudly, should I start,” he asked and then went on with his speech.

THREE FAMILIES MADE J&K ‘TERRORIST SPOT’ WE MADE IT ‘TOURIST SPOT’: SHAH

Tharoor wins hearts, but Kharge to take the votes

Thiruvananthapuram:

Demand for smaller allies amid alleged rift in Bihar

Bihar: Smaller constitu ents of the ruling ‘Maha gathbandhan’ or grand alliance in Bihar sought to step up the demand for the early formation of a coordination committee amid a perceived rift be tween the JD(U) and the RJD, two largest parties of the coalition. None theless, smaller allies, especially the Left par ties, feel that it was high time that a “coordination committee” was put in place, an absence of which is often blamed for the disintegration of the NDA in the state.

Shashi Tharoor seems to have won the hearts many, but those do not find a place in the voters list and that’s where Ma likarjuna Kharge, who has now got the tag of the being the ‘official’ candidate will help him. The moment Tharoor’s name surfaced as a like ly candidate, those who are aligned to the Gan dhi family smelt a rat and then things took a different turn. The high light is that two Keralites are doing their very best to see that an other Keralite does not walk away with the hon ours, when votes are counted after the Octo ber 17 polling day. Sources said that calls are now going to all to see that there should be no doubt whom they should vote for.

IN THE COURTYARD

SOME ASKED RAHUL GANDHI TO REQUEST ME TO BACK OUT, SAYS SHASHI THAROOR

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was asked by some party leaders to seek withdrawal of Shashi Tha roor’s candidature, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, who has made an aggressive bid to its top post, claimed here on Tuesday. Tharoor, who is in Kerala as part of the poll campaign, told reporters here that Gandhi said he will not ask the former to withdraw as a contest would benefit the grand old party.

“He reminded me that he has been saying so for the past 10 years that there should be a contest for the party chief’s post.

“He also told me that some persons have asked him to request me to withdraw my candidature,” he said.

Congress eyes revival in Uttar Pradesh through BSP votebank

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: The Con gress party is eyeing the vote bank of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, it is tra ditionally the vote of the Congress, which has gone to the BSP and is now splitting away from the BSP because BSP chief Mayawati is not very active in politics and is working as a reluctant politician. In the last as sembly elections, there was no feeling that the party was contesting. As a result, a big party like BSP could win one seat out of 403 assembly seats. Just think, a party which has 10 MPs in the LS won one assembly seat.

However, the vote that brought power to the BSP was the vote of Dal its, Brahmins and Mus lims which has tradi tionally been a Congress vote. But due to the weakening of the BSP, some part of the Dalit vote has gone to the BJP, the Muslims are now al most completely with the Samajwadi Party and the Brahmins com

pletely with the BJP. Congress has to get these three ‘votes’ back. The party has created such an equation through the new state president and six provincial presi dents, which will help in getting this vote.

The Cong has made an aggressive Dalit leader Brijlal Khabri, who was in the BSP, the state pres ident of the party. Along with him, Muslim leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui, who was in the BSP, has been made the provin cial president of the Western Zone. Former minister Nakul Dubey, who was one of the Brahmin faces of BSP, has been made the presi dent of Awadh zone.

PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKERS’ SUMMIT

Priyanka to start Cong poll campaign in Himachal

New

of

The

appearances before it. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said that if the state governments failed to file their responses their principal secretaries have to appear before the court and explain as to why they should not be proceeded with under the coercive arm of the law.

New Delhi: The SC has said that granting compassionate employment is intended to enable the family to tide over the sudden crisis by providing a source of livelihood and should not be considered as a right. The apex court’s remark came while setting aside a Bombay HC order which directed to appoint the respondent woman, who was married and youngest daughter of the deceased, on compassionate ground in the Water Resources Department in Maha. The top court observed that the respondent woman cannot be said to be dependent on the deceased employee, i.e., her mother.

New Delhi: Rajya Sab ha MP Kapil Sibal took a dig at the EC proposing a change in the model code to ask political parties to provide au thentic in formation to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises, saying maybe the poll watchdog itself needs a model code of conduct. The EC has asked parties to submit their views on the pro posals by Oct 19.

New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Pri yanka Gandhi Vadra will start the election campaign from Solan in Himachal Pradesh from October 10 and will ad dress a rally in the state. Priyanka is likely to hold the fort of the Cong in the state since Rahul Gandhi is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress is eyeing a comeback in the hill state and this will be the first election in the state which will be without Virbhadra Singh.

Birla reaches Jakarta to attend 8th Summit

Jakarta (ANI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Bir la on Wednesday reached Jakarta to at tend the 8th G20 Parlia mentary Speakers’ Summit.

Birla is leading the Indian delegation of the P-20 conference (or ganization of the par liaments of G-20) to Ja karta comprising Rajya Sabha Deputy Chair man Harivansh, Secre tary-General of Rajya Sabha PC Mody, and other officials. He was

OM BIRLA VISITED GARUDA WISNU KENCANA CULTURAL PARK (GWK) IN BALI

welcomed by the Indian Ambassador to Indone sia, Manoj Bharti.

Speaker Birla and Indi an parliamentary party welcomed the P-20 sum mit being held in Indo nesia.

The organization of the parliaments of G-20 countries is P-20. It rep resents 80 per cent of the world’s GDP and 75 per cent of trade. It also represents two-thirds of the world’s population.

Amit Shah addresses a public rally, in Baramulla district on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Om Birla visited the Garuda Vishnu Kencana Cul tural Park (GWK) in Bali. The colossal Garuda Vishnu Kencana statue located in the Garuda Vishnu Kencana Cultural Park is a splendid example of architecture and engineering. This statue is based on Indian mythology. He also briefed about the concept of the statue.

Amit Shah along with Manoj Sinha greets the people gathered for a public rally, in Baramulla district on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that Mufti & Co and Abdullah & Sons had made Kash mir a ‘terrorist spot’ while Modiji has made it a ‘tourist hotspot’. Shah addressed a large public rally in Baram ulla town, his first public meeting in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. He started his speech with a glowing tribute to the son of soil, Maqbool Sherwani who was martyred fighting the tribal invaders in 1947.

‘EC itself needs a model code of conduct’

CM DHAMI CONDUCTS AERIAL SURVEY OF RESCUE OPERATIONS

Uttarkashi (ANI): A day after four mountain eers lost their lives in the avalanche in Ut tarkashi with several still missing, the survi vors narrated their hor rific experiences on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Uttara khand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an aerial in spection of the rescue and relief operation be ing carried out to find the mountaineering trainees who were hit by an avalanche. In a tragic accident on Tuesday, four mountaineers lost their lives in the ava lanche at Draupadi’s Danda-II mountain peak. 14 have been res cued so far.

The mountaineers, who were rescued reached Matli where they are being provided with first aid treatment. These people were evac uated via chopper to the 12th Battalion ITBP in Matli, Uttarkashi. “Deep Singh (Guj), Rohit Bhatt), Suraj Singh (UK), Sunil Lalwani (Mumbai), Anil Kumar (Raj), Manish Agarwal (Delhi), Kanchan Singh (Chamoli) and Ankit Singh were amongst who have been rescued,” Police said.

25 PEOPLE DEAD IN BUS ACCIDENT

CM reaches Simdi village with MoS Def Ajay Bhatt

8 OF 29 TRAINEE MOUNTAINEERS RESCUED BY ITBP

New Delhi (ANI):

Def min performs Shastra Puja in Auli

Chamoli (Uttara khand) (ANI): Un ion Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday ex pressed confidence in the armed forces of the country and said that they are the “pride of the na tion”.

Pauri Garhwal:

Twenty Five people were killed in the Pauri Garhwal bus accident that took place on Tuesday night in the Birokhal area of Dhumakot in Uttarakhand, informed Deputy General of Police Ashok Kumar.Police and SDRF rescued 21 people overnight and the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals, he added.

EAM Jaishankar begins his visit to New Zealand, Australia

New Delhi (ANI): Ex ternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar kicked-off his official visit to New Zealand and Australia from Wednesday. He will be in New Zea land and Australia from Wedesday. It is to be noted that the visit will be Jaishankar’s first visit to New Zealand.

According to the Minis try of External Affairs, the EAM will partici pate in an event on Thursday in Auckland along with Prime Minis ter of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern to fe licitate members of the Indian community for their exceptional achievements. Both leaders will re lease India@75 postage stamps to commemo rate and showcase Aza di Ka Amrit Mahotsavin

New Zealand. Jais hankar will also launch the book ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery’. Also, a book showcasing Prime Minister Naren dra Modi’s special bond with the Sikh commu nity ‘Heartfelt - The Legacy of Faith’ will be released. He will have a bilateral meeting with Nanaia Mahuta, MoF Affairs of New Zealand in Auckland to discuss and review the entire gamut of our relations, added the release.

Pauri Garhwal (Utta rakhand) (ANI): Utta rakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday reached Simdi village in Bi rokhal of the Dhumakot area of Pauri, where as many as 25 people were killed and 21 others were injured in a tragic bus accident.

Ministry of Defence Ajay Bhatt was also pre sent with CM Dhami.

Police and SDRF had rescued these 21 people overnight and admitted the injured persons to nearby hospitals, Depu ty General of Police Ashok Kumar informed.

The Uttarakhand Police on Tuesday informed

Punjab Police bust drone-based arms smuggling module

Chandigarh (Agen cies): Punjab Police on Wednesday busted a drone-based arms/am munition smuggling module with the arrest of its two members in cluding a prisoner.

Those arrested have been identified as Jaskaran Singh of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran, currently lodged at Sub Jail Goin dwal Sahib, and Rattan bir Singh of Khem karan in Tarn Taran, out on bail.

The Punjab police on Wednesday have also recovered 10 foreignmade pistols including five .30 bore (made in China) and five 9mm (made in USA Beretta) along with 8 spare mag azines recovered from both of them, besides a mobile phone con cealed by Jaskaran in his barrack.

about the bus carrying a wedding procession of 45 to 50 people fell into a gorge near Simdi village in Pauri Garhwal.

“Twenty five people were found dead in the Pauri Garwhal bus ac cident that took place last night in the Bi rokhal area of Dhu makot. Police and SDRF rescued 21 people over night; the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals,” DGP Ashok Kumar said.

Eight of the 29 train ee mountaineers, who were trapped in the Uttarkhand ava lanche on Tuesday, have been rescued and taken to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Hospital for treatment, the ITBP said. “Eight moun taineers were imme diately rescued by the team. However, there has been no clarity on deaths,” Vivek Pandey, ITBP’s PRO told ANI, add ing that the group was on a mission to reach Draupadi’s Danda-2 mountain peak, located at 18,000 feet when an avalanche at around 8 am. The ITBP, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Re sponse Force along with local police started the rescue operation as soon as they received the information about the incident.

“We are confident that our country is safe in the hands of our armed forces.

The jawans of our armed forces and paramilitary forces are the pride of our country,” Rajnath Singh said after per forming ‘Shastra Puja’ in the presence of Army Chief Gen eral Manoj Pande at the Auli Military Sta tion in Uttarakhand. He further said that India is the only country where “Shaastra” as well as “Shastra” are wor shipped.

Singh’s remarks came while he was interacting with the Army jawans de ployed at the forward post located on the China border in Utta rakhand. He was also seen with the latest weapons and ma chines used by the Army in the forward areas.

‘Our rally is not political’

Badrinath (ANI): Union Defence Minis ter Rajnath Singh on Wednesday offered prayers at Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand on the occasion of Dussehra. Singh is on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand from Tuesday to cel ebrate the festival of Vijayadashmi with the Jawans of the Indian Army. On the occa sion of the victory of good over evil, Singh performed ‘Shastra Puja’ at the Auli Mili tary Station in Uttara khand in the presence of Army Chief General Manoj Pande. He was also seen with the latest weapons and machines used by the Army in the forward

areas. He expressed confidence in the armed forces of the country and said that they are the “pride of the nation”. “We are confident that our country is safe in the hands of our armed forces. The jawans of our armed forces and paramilitary forces are the pride of our country. India is the only country where ‘shaastra’ (ethology) as well as ‘shastra’ (weapon) both are worshipped,” he said. Singh’s remarks came while he was interacting with the Army jawans de ployed at the forward post located on the China border in Ut tarakhand.

READ

‘ADIPURUSH’ NOW FACES POLITICAL FLAK TOO

Nagpur (ANI): Maha rashtra BJP leader and former minister Pan kaja Munde on Wednes day said that she would like to hear both Shiv Sena factions in their respective Dussehra ral lies and extended good wishes to them.

Talking to the media, Pankaja Munde said that her party’s rally is not political but for the common people of soci ety. Notably, the Dusseh ra rallies of Eknath Shinde-led Sena and Ud dhav Thackeray-led Sena are to be held to day at different venues in Maharashtra after a months-long tug of war over the rally. The Bom bay High Court ruled in favour of the Thacker ay-led Sena faction and

ELECTION PROMISES

allowed them to hold the Dussehra rally at the Shivaji Park on Septem ber 23.

The tussle between the Shinde-led faction and former Chief Min ister Uddhav Thacker ay-led faction was on for weeks and the decision came only after multi ple brawls came to the fore. “We talk about the subjects on which our supporters and unprivi leged people expect from us. Our rally is not a political rally, but I

would like to hear both factions. Let’s see on which issues they are going to talk,” Pankaja Munde said.

Pankaja said that our rally is to be held, our rally is not for the po litical but for the com mon society. Pankaja, talking about the real ‘Sena’ said that she would not speak any thing about it. “I will not say anything about this as I consider my self too small to com ment on it.”

EC wants parties to give info on financial viability

lll

In a letter to all recognised national and state political parties, the EC asked them to submit their views on the proposals by

New Delhi (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tues day wrote to the politi cal parties for provid ing authentic informa tion to the voters to as sess the financial via bility of their election promises.

“It cannot overlook inadequate disclosures on election promises and consequential un desirable impact on fi nancial sustainability as empty Election promises so made have

far-reaching ramifica tions,” said ECI. ECI prescribes a standard ized disclosure profor ma, facilitating compa rability, with minute

details broadly captur ing standard parame ters as used by FC, RBI, FRBM, CAG and in Budgets. Election Com mission aimed to in

form voters about the financial feasibility of election promises in the manifesto and also whether sustainable within the financial space of the State/Un ion. While the existing guidelines under MCC require the political parties and candidates to explain the rationale for promises made therein as well as the possible ways and means to finance such promises, the ECI has observed that the decla

rations are quite rou tine, ambiguous and do not provide adequate information to voters to exercise informed choice in an election.

EC in its meeting led by CEC Rajiv Kumar and attended by EC Anup Chandra Pandey decided that ECI cannot remain a mute specta tor and overlook the un desirable impact of some of the promises and offers, on the con duct of free and fair elections.

Lucknow (Agencies):

Om Raut’s magnum

opus ‘Adipurush’ is now attracting political flak.

Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said that no one will be allowed to play with the sentiments of millions of Hindus.He said that a number of saints had objected to the portrayal of gods in ‘Adipurush’ and their demand to ban the film was justified.

BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said that the film makes a mockery of Hindu deities.

ISSUE IS THE DEMAND FOR RESTORATION OF J&K’S AUTONOMY: SOZ

Srinagar (Agencies):

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader on Wednesday said that a section of the J&K mainstream politicians was creating confusion on the real demand of the people of UT relating to its autonomy within the Constitution of India. “I feel deeply surprised that certain J&K mainstream leaders are creating confusion on the basic issue of the people regarding autonomy within the Constitution of India.

UDDHAV THACKERAY’S...

ground in BKC, the ral ly site in suburban Mumbai, along with Ni har, the son of late Bin dumadhav Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray’s eldest brother.

Champa Singh Thapa, a trusted aide of the late Bal Thackeray who served the Shiv Sena founder for 27 years, was also present at the event.

Talking to reporters, Smita Thackeray said she was invited to the rally by Shinde, who heads the rebel faction of the Shiv Sena.

Jaidev Thackeray, son of Bal Thackeray, is said to share an uneasy relationship with his younger brother Ud dhav Thackeray.

The Uddhav Thacker ay-led faction has or ganized its own Dusseh ra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.

Both Shinde and Ud dhav Thackeray claim their faction is the “real” Shiv Sena.

Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav Thack eray’s leadership had led to the collapse to the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vi kas Aghadi (MVA) gov ernment in June.

INDIAN NAVY’S TRAINING SQUADRON COMPRISING NAVAL SHIP IN KUWAIT Kuwait City (ANI): In an opportunity to expose trainees to the military and maritime linkages of India with Kuwait, the ships of the First Training Squadron comprising Indian Naval Ship Tir, Sujata and Coast Guard Ship Sarathi arrived at Port Al-Shuwaikh, Kuwait. The ships arrived at the port and are deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of their training deployment. The naval ships were accorded a warm welcome by senior officers of the Kuwaiti Naval forces, Border Guard and the Embassy of India officials.

BJP’s Pankaja Munde on Dussehra rallies of two Shiv Sena factions

Maharashtra BJP leader and former minister Pankaja Munde.S Jaishankar

Defence Minister Rajnath addressing media Uttarakhand’s Auli district on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

SINGH OFFERS PRAYERS AT BADRINATH DHAM IN U’KHAND

PLANS

AUCTION 22 MINERAL BLOCKS

WTO sees slowdown in global trade in 2023

Sugar exports up 57% to record 109.8 lakh tonnes in 2021-22

CURRENCIES

New Delhi: The govern ment plans to auction 22 mineral blocks in Maha rashtra, UP and Goa in November and December. The mines to be auc tioned include six iron ore blocks, three blocks each of limestone and gold, two blocks of bauxite, one block each of copper, phosphorite and glauco nite. The notice inviting tenders for the blocks were floated in Septem ber. While the mines in Maharashtra will be auc tioned next month, those in UP and Goa will be put on sale in Dec.

OYO VALUATION DIPS IN PVT MKT AFTER REPORTED MARKDOWN

Geneva (Agencies): The World Trade Organisation is predicting global trade volumes will grow a lack luster 1% next year as cri ses and challenges weigh on markets, including high energy prices, rising inter est rates and uncertainties about Chinese manufactur ing output amid the linger ing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Geneva-based trade body said Wednesday that the amount of goods shipped between countries are expected to rise 3.5% this year, up from the 3% that WTO anticipated in its first forecast for the year in April. In 2023, the predic tion is for such trade vol umes to grow just 1%, down from the 3.4% expect ed previously. “The risks are certainly to the down side” next year, WTO Di rector-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told report ers at its headquarters.

TOP TALKING POINTS

z The Geneva-based trade body said that the amount of goods shipped between countries are expected to rise 3.5% this year, up from the 3% that WTO anticipated in its first forecast for the year in April

sought alternative sources, WTO economists say.

z The WTO laid out several factors weighing on trade, including higher energy prices resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine

z In 2023, the prediction is for such trade volumes to grow just 1%, down from the 3.4% expected previously

New Delhi (PTI): India’s sugar exports rose 57% to 109.8 lakh tonnes during 2021-22 marketing year end ed September, resulting in foreign currency inflow worth about Rs 40,000 crore into the country, the gov ernment on Wednesday said.

Sugarcane arrears to farmers stood at only Rs 6,000 crore at the end of 2021-22 marketing year (Oc tober-September) as mills have already paid Rs 1.12 lakh crore to farmers out to total payable amount of Rs 1.18 lakh crore.

In 2021-22 marketing year, the food ministry said that “India has emerged as the world’s largest produc er and consumer of sugar as well as the world’s 2nd largest exporter of sugar”.

FTA with India won’t be ‘free-for-all deal’, says UK minister

New Delhi: Valuation of IPO-bound OYO in the private market has dipped to around $6.5 billion fol lowing reports of a mark down of valuation of the hospitality and travel-tech firm by SoftBank in its private books. Nearly 12.3 lakh shares of the compa ny were sold in the pri vate market as compared to over 1.6 lakh shares sold in previous week. The sell-off followed re ports that its largest in vestor SoftBank has cut the valuation of hospitali ty platform by 20%.

FINMIN MODIFIES ECLGS TO HELP AVIATION SECTOR

This year, the higher pre dicted increase in trade volumes stems from better data that arrived in the middle of the year, contrib uting to a clearer forecast, and a boom in trade vol umes from oil- and gas-pro ducing countries in the Middle East as supplies from Russia were shunned and consuming countries

OTHER STORIES

The WTO laid out sev eral factors weighing on trade, including higher en ergy prices resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which prompted a number of countries — including European Union members that are big consumers of Russian oil and gas — to slap economic sanctions on Moscow.

“Today, the global econo my faces a multipronged

COMMERCE MINISTRY SAYS NO EXPORT BAN ON RICE AND TRADERS CAN SHIP THE COMMODITY

New Delhi: The commerce ministry clarified that there is no export ban on rice and traders can ship the commodity after paying 20 per cent duty. On September 8, the government banned exports of broken rice. In a trade notice, the directorate gen eral of foreign trade said it has received representations regarding rice (5% and 25% broken) where irrevocable letter of credit has been issued before September 8 is also being stopped at the ports. “It is clarified in respect of normal rice that rice (5% and 25%) is already exempted as it is not broken rice but normal rice with permissible limits of broken rice as per standards. However, it will carry 20% duty,” it said.

—PTI

crisis,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “Monetary tightening is weighing on growth across much of the world, includ ing in the United States. In Europe, high energy prices are squeezing households and businesses. And in China, COVID-19 outbreaks continue to disrupt produc tion and ordinary econom ic life.” “Low-income devel oping countries in particu lar face serious risks from food insecurity and debt distress,” she added.

India Inc’s foreign commercial borrowings rise by 4.6% in Aug

Mumbai (PTI): India Inc’s foreign commercial bor rowings in August this year rose by nearly 4.6% to $2.98 billion, according to the RBI data.

A record of more than 5,000 lakh tonnes sugar cane was produced in the country during 2021-22, out of which about 3,574 lakh tonnes were crushed by sugar mills to produce about 394 lakh tones of sugar (sucrose).

London (PTI): The free trade agreement (FTA) be ing negotiated with India won’t be a “free for all deal” but something that is good for both countries and not a particular sector, the UK government cautioned as a Diwali deadline set at the prime ministerial level for the pact approaches.

UK Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch was addressing concerns around access for the country’s services sec tor into the Indian market.

The senior Cabinet min ister also indicated that the Diwali timeline set by for mer Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not “arbi trary” and could be met with further aspects cov ered beyond that deadline.

“We want something comprehensive, but it has to be right for both coun tries,” said Badenoch.

Mid-course changes in gas pricing to delay investments: Reliance

WHAT RIL SAID TO GOVT PANEL

z The senior Cabinet minister also indicated that the Diwali timeline set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was not “arbitrary” and could be met with further aspects covered beyond that deadline

“The Prime Minister has a deadline, which the previ ous Prime Minister had. That was quite a long dead line, so it’s not arbitrary, it wasn’t set last week. But doing a trade deal is not a simple and easy thing. So, what we want to do is some thing that lifts both coun tries. It may not be every thing the services sector wants, we may not get eve rything, we are not doing a unilateral, free-for-all deal,” she said.

City gas volume growth to more than halve to 8-10 percent

New Delhi: The finance ministry has modified the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by raising loan limit under the scheme to `1,500 crore from `400 crore to help the COVIDhit industry tide over li quidity stress. Recognis ing that an efficient and strong civil aviation sec tor is vital for the eco nomic development of the country, the Department of Financial Services has modified the ECLGS on Tuesday to enhance the maximum loan amount eligibility for airlines, an official statement issued on Wednesday said.

FITCH AFFIRMS ‘BBB-’ TO BANK OF BARODA, STATE BANK OF INDIA

RUPAY CREDIT CARD USE ON UPI FREE FOR SOME PAYMENTS

New Delhi: There will be no charge for RuPay credit card use on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for transactions up to `2,000 in line with the RBI Direction, a recent NPCI circular said.

credit card on-boarding on the apps, the device binding and UPI PIN setting process shall include and be construed as customer consent for credit card enablement for all types of transactions,” the circular dated October

24 STATES, UTs ROLL OUT NEW BH-SERIES FOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION

New Delhi: To ensure seamless movement of personal vehicles across India, 24 states and UTs have rolled out the new Bharat Series (BH-series) for vehicle registration, according to the minutes of the annual meeting of the Transport Development Council. “Since policy incep tion, more than 20,000 vehicles have been registered in 24 different States and UTs,” the minutes of the meeting said on Wednesday.

In August 2021, the Indi an businesses borrowed $2.85 billion in the form of external commercial bor rowings.

Of the total borrowings in August this year, over $2.47 billion was through the automatic route of rais ing funds from foreign sources. While more than $502.79 million was raised by way of issuing rupee de nominated bonds (RDBs) or masala bonds.

Among the major bor rowers include mortgage lender HDFC Ltd $1.1 bil lion for the purpose of sublending; FS India Solar Ventures $500 million for a new project.

New Delhi (PTI): Billion aire Mukesh Ambani’s Re liance Industries has told a government-appointed panel reviewing gas pric ing that any ‘retrograde’ move to artificially cap rates will add to fiscal poli cy instability, delays invest ment and dent India’s at tempt to become Atmanirb har in fuel production.

In a submission to the committee headed by Kirit Parikh, which has been asked by the Oil Ministry to look at setting a ‘fair price to consumers’, the

30% growth in e-commerce platforms sales

New Delhi: Global rating agency Fitch assigned a stable outlook to public sector lenders State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) while af firming their ‘BBB-’ rat ing. The probability of ex traordinary state support is the highest for SBI among Indian banks due to its high systemic im portance as the largest Indian bank, the state’s 56.9% controlling owner ship, and its broader poli cy role than peers, Fitch said in a statement.

New Delhi (PTI): E-com merce platforms during the first week of festive season are estimated to have regis tered 30% growth year-onyear, inventory and ware house management tech firm EasyEcom said on Wednesday.

EasyEcom said that ecommerce volume will grow more in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns compared to Tier-1 cities, with non-met ros driving nearly 80% of the total e-commerce sales along with Tier-2 towns adding about 60% to the fig ure. “The first week of the festive sales across e-com

merce platforms in India will exceed the gross mer chandise value on non-sale days by five times, project ing a figure which will be around 1.3 times up from

VOL GROWTH IN TIER-2 & 3 TOWNS

z EasyEcom said e-comm volume will grow more in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns compared to Tier-1 cities, with non-metros driving nearly 80% of the total e-commerce sales along with Tier-2 towns adding about 60% to the figure

z RIL has informed govt panel that any ‘retrograde’ move to artificially cap rates will add to fiscal policy instability, delays investment

firm detailed how the eco nomics of its about-to-start field in the KG-D6 block, where billions of dollars have been spent to recover reserves lying several kilo metres below the seabed, will be impacted under dif ferent prices.

The mid-course changes through price caps not just go against pricing and mar keting freedom contracts and government policy promises to companies but also add to uncertainty to a fiscal regime which would impact investments.

Mumbai (PTI): With the cost of natural gas increas ing by a steep 40% from this month on top of a steeper 110% hike during April-September, volume growth is seen more than halving to 8-10% this fiscal from the earlier forecast of around 25%, says a report.

Rating agency Crisil sees industrial consumers switching to other cheaper fuels leading to a demand compression of 10-12% this fiscal, while piped cooking gas demand may fall to 8-10% from an earlier pro jection of 20-25% as prices since the beginning of this fiscal skyrocketed by 150%.

IPOs worth more than `1 lakh cr set to hit D-Street

New Delhi (FIB): After 14 IPOs in the first half of 2022 financial year, 71 new IPOs are ready to hit Dalal Street soon. Emcure Phar maceuticals, Navi Technol ogies, Bikaji Food, and Mo bikwik are among the prominent names set to hit the primary market.

last year,” EasyECom said on Wednesday.

The company said that its analysis is based on data captured by its software-asa-service platform which

focuses on omnichannel inventory & warehouse management and reconcili ations. The company has seen a 14% growth in prod uct lines on e-commerce.

Presently, 71 companies proposing to raise `1,05,000 crore have Sebi approval. Another 43 companies looking to raise about ` 70,000 crore are awaiting approval from the market regulator. Out of these 114 companies, 10 are NATCs, looking to raise roughly

` 35,000 crore. Pranav Hal dea, Managing Director, Prime Database Group, said IPO activity would be impacted by the volatility in the secondary market, mainly because of reces sionary fears and rising interest rates.

‘Ravan once had 10 heads, now has 50’

UDDHAV BLASTS SHINDE FACTION AT DUSSEHRA RALLY; SAYS ‘STAMP OF TRAITOR WILL REMAIN FOREVER’

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Pulling no punches in his attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his supporters, Shiv Sena president Ud dhav Thackeray on Wednesday said their reputation as “trai tors” will never be washed away.

Addressing the annu al Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground here, Thackeray lashed out at Shinde, whose rebellion in June this year brought down the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.

“As time changes, Ra van’s face also changes. Today, it is the traitors (who are Ravan). When I was unwell and under went a surgery, I had given the responsibility to him (Shinde). But he conspired against me thinking I will never stand up on my feet again,” the former chief minister said, re ferring to an alleged of fer of Rs 50 crore to MLAs to switch sides.

The Shiv Sena does not belong to one per son but it belongs to all loyal Sena workers,

Thackeray said, adding, “If you feel I should not remain the Sena presi dent, I will quit.”

Further targeting Shinde, he said, “There is a limit to lust for power...After the act of treachery, he now wants the party, its symbol and also wants to be called the party president.”

He formed a postpoll alliance with tra ditional foes Congress and Nationalist Con gress Party to teach the BJP a lesson for breaking its promises, Thackeray said.

“I swear on my par ents that it had been decided that the BJP and Shiv Sena will share the chief minis ter’s post for two and a half years,” Thackeray said.

The Sena had parted ways with the ally BJP after 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over the post of chief minister.

Hitting out at Shinde, “Do you deserve it? Have you any thoughts of yourself? You steal others’ fathers (refer ring to Bal Thackeray). If you have the courage, then face elections by using your own father’s name,” he said.

‘TODAY I HAVE NOTHING….’

Facing the grave challenge of re taining control over the party founded by his fa ther, the late Bal Thackeray, Ud dhav sought sup port and strength from the Sena cadre. “Today I have nothing. But with your support the Shiv Sena will rise again. I will make a Shiv Sena worker chief min ister again. We have to defeat the traitors in every election,” he said, apparently refer encing the Assem bly by-election in Andheri East slat ed to be held on November 03.

Revolt, not betrayal: Eknath Shinde defends claim to Balasaheb’s legacy

Mumbai (PTI): Chief Minister Eknath Shin de on Wednesday as serted his rebellion was not an act of “be trayal” but a “revolt”, and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to kneel at party founder Bal Thackeray’s memori al here and apologize for going against his ideals and aligning with the Congress and the Nationalist Con gress Party.

Addressing a mega rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex’s MMRDA ground on the occasion of Dussehra, Shinde said voters in the state elected the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the 2019 Assembly elections, but Thackeray “betrayed” them by joining hands with the Congress and the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. He said massive crowds at his Dussehra rally was proof enough to show who the true inheritors of Bal Thackeray’s lega cy are.

Slamming Thackeray, Shinde said the Shiv

‘MY SON WILL NOT BE MY HEIR... MY HEIR WILL BE MY SON’

Ahead of his Dussehra rally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday tweeted a couplet by famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, seem ingly targeting former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aaditya Thackeray. Bachchan’s couplet posted by Shinde said, “My son, being

Sena was not a “private limited company” and maintained the 56-yearold outfit was built through the hard work

my son will not be my heir, whoever will be my heir will be my son.”Aaditya Thack eray, who represents Worli Assembly con stituency in Mumbai, was a minister in the MVA government, while Shinde’s son Shrikant is a Lok Sabha member from Kalyan constituency in Thane district.

of common Sena work ers. He stoutly defended his rebellion against Thackeray’s leadership in June that brought

down the MVA alliance.

Shinde asserted his rebellion was not an act of “betrayal” (gaddari), but a revolt (gadar).

The Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena has often targeted rebels as “traitors”.

The rally was attend ed by Jaidev Thackeray, brother of Uddhav Thackeray, and his es tranged wife Smita Thackeray. Nihar Thack eray, grandson of late Bal Thackeray, also at tended the rally.

Buses diverted, roads closed for rival Sena Dussehra rallies

While BEST diverted routes in both areas, the Central Rly ran suburban services as per weekday schedule, and not a holiday one

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Wednes day’s Dussehra ral lies of the two rival Shiv Sena factions led to the closing of sev eral road in Dadar and the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) as well as change in over a dozen bus routes of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

The faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde organized its rally at the MMRDA ground in BKC, located in suburban Bandra, while the group headed by former CM Uddhav Thackeray held its Dussehra event at Shivaji Park in Dadar.

The civic transport undertaking used its Twitter handle to in form about the change

in routes of buses that usually operate on the BKC Main Road, which was closed for traffic since afternoon.

BEST also announced that it had diverted bus es in Dadar via alterna tive routes and partially closed some roads for traffic in view of the Thackeray faction’s Dussehra rally.

According to those familiar with the issue, the Thackeray faction booked about 700 buses, while the Shinde group hired over 5,000 buses, including 1,700 of state transport undertaking MSRTC, to ferry their supporters to the rally sites from various parts of Maharashtra.

Besides buses, tour ist cabs and private ve hicles, too, were report ed to have been de ployed to bring sup porters to BKC and Shivaji Park.

The Shinde faction reportedly also booked a train from Nanded in central Maharashtra for the rally that reached Lokmanya Tilak Termi nus station on Wednes day afternoon.

Central Railway, which generally oper ates on holiday schedule with 30% services cur tailed on Sundays and major festivals, operat ed its suburban services according to regular weekday schedule de spite Dussehra holiday.

Shiv Sena supporters gather for the Dussehra rally at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, Dadar, in Mumbai on Wednesday.

—PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE & ANI

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray addresses the Dussehra rally at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park, in Mumbai’s Dadar on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Police personnel across the city were also kept on their toes in anticipation of the two events. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

‘Shashtra puja’ was performed on a 51-foot sword, for which a mahant (priest) was called from Ayodhya in UP.

CM Shinde holds a bow and arrow during the Dussehra rally. His faction and the one led by Uddhav Thackeray are battling for the right to use the ‘dhanush-baan’ party symbol as their own.

CM Shinde and other leaders paid tribute to Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe. —PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE & ANI

KAVITA CHAUHAN cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

GLiva Miss Diva 2nd Runner up 2018 and Miss Suprana tional India 2018, as the showstopper of the se quence. The costumes showcased ‘Exclusive IAM, which glorifies the extrava gance collection at afford

UDAIPUR COUTURE SHOW 2022

Italy to our pink city, so I decided to revise the fash ion statement and tried cre ating the amalgamation of Jaipuri ethnic with Italian fashion and that’s how ‘Ex clusive IAM’ was born.”

While sharing her vision the designer further said “Via my creation, we strive to curate the most delin quent fashion trends, which are intricately de signed in traditional and contemporary styles, keep ing sustainability in mind. My collection includes elaborate Anarkalis, Sa rees, Suits, Sharara and a mix of traditional and con temporary Gowns.” De signers from different cor ners of the country show cased their collections dur ing the fashion event.

Gaurav Gaur, the direc tor of the Show said he was overjoyed with the aston ishing designs showcased in Couture Show.

The glorious royal fashion show titled, Udaipur Couture Show 2022 presented by First India and Bharat 24 took place at Ramee Royal Resort, Udaipur on Monday, September 5. City First brings to you glimpses of pure fashion from the mega show!

—PHOTOS BY SUNIL SHARMA

COMMUNICATIONIts Essence in Our Lives

smoothing your way in your re lationships with others. Poor communication skills, on the other hand, can sour relation ships from business to person al, and make your life signifi cantly harder.

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION

CLARITY Language is the me dium of communica tion; hence it should be clear and under standable. The words used should be simple and unam biguous making the message clear

ADEQUACY & CONSISTENCY

Devarshi Narada is con sidered as the first communicator or Journalist of Hindu mythology and since time immemorial com munication has been an essential aspect of human lives. Swami Vivekananda rep resents the high noon of a Hin du revival and conveyed it glob ally with his excellent commu nication skills. From cave paintings, hieroglyphs and car rier pigeons, to e-mails, voicemails and hologram conferenc es, the manner in which hu manity has shared, debated and listened to ideas has undergone drastic changes at a fast paceand continues to do so at an even faster pace now with tech nological improvements and the presence of social media in day to day life. Communication - the human Connection is the key to personal and career suc cess. The new global and di verse workplace requires excel lent communication skills and there is really no escape from this. Communication is most important, both for the spiritu al world and for the material world- whether we are trying to establish a connection with Cosmic-consciousness or with different relationships in the world, personal or professional.

World famous writer Antho ny Robbins said ‘The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ulti mately deter mines the qual ity of our life.

Well, what an appropriate summing up of an

otherwise vast topic of Commu nication which in simple terms means an act of transferring information from one per son to another and one place to other. It can also be seen as a process that links the individual, the groups, and the organiza tions. The process of com munication is what allows us to interact with other people; without it, we would be unable to share knowledge or experiences with anything outside of ourselves. Common forms of communication include speaking, writing, gestures, touch and broadcasting and these take shape of Intraper sonal, Inter-Personal, Group and Mass Communication.

The contribution of the in ternet and WWW has impact ed many, many communica tion technologies that later on contribute to various kinds of users. Starting with the intro duction of the e-mail, this per mitted the business to eradi cate the use of traditional post mail saving money on paper and post services in favour of sending electron ically converted data from one computer to another in just a few seconds. Cell phones have evolved from landline devices to small, pocket-sized apparatus es that incorporate endless pos sibilities of not just communi

cating, but also socializing, sharing media, etc. Good com munication skills can im prove the way that you operate through life,

Principles of Communica tion: Lack of effective commu nication renders an individual or an organization handi capped. Adhering to these prin ciples shall make communica tion effective, minimize human relations problems and increase overall efficiency. These are Clarity, Adequacy, Attention, Timeliness, Consistency, Inte grated Network, Economy of Effort and Feedback.

Importance of Communica tion. An effective communica tion system creates a positive environment and sharing one’s thoughts, ideas and feelings enables us to make our lives fuller and happier. Better com munication is a trusted genera tor among people and provides more opportunities for indi viduals to progress and grow. Admirable communication skills earn

The information to be communicated should be complete and adequate in all respect. It must be con sistent with the objectives, plans, policies and proce dures for achieving the aims/goals both for an indi vidual as well as an Organi sation.

INTEGRATION

The communication must aim at the Integration of all efforts to lead a better life by an individual and achieve ment of corporate objectives for an organisation.

ECONOMY

The system of communica

people's love and respect and help establish a good reputa tion in society. A person's suc cess in his life is at times re lated more to his mastery of communication skills than work skills.

What Impedes Communica tion? There are some factors that impede communica Personal factors like Lack of knowledge of the subject or language, Phys iological Barriers like Ill Health, Pain, Mood, Ener gy Level / Fatigue, Body Language, Environ mental Noise, Atti tudes and other dis tractions. And Ex ternal factors like Cultural Barri ers, Legal Obli gations, Privacy Laws and Social Taboos, Code of Conduct of Or ganisations, Confidentiality and Lack of Trust. It would be pertinent to note that in con flicts 10 % is the dif ference of opinion and 90 % is tone and delivery.

tion must be used efficiently, and timely i.e. at the appro priate time and when it is necessary to save on costs.

FEEDBACK

The confirmation of the re ceipt of the message in its right perspective from its re ceiver fulfils the object of communication.

COMMUNICATION NETWORK Communication networks streamline processes and re sult in effective communica tion.

ATTENTION

Draw the attention of the re ceiver to ensure response and prompt action for success.

Essentials of Effective Com munication: Be Trustworthy and Honest, Avoid Rushing Through, Flexibility and Adapt ability, Stay in the Moment, Pay Attention to Non-Verbal Cues, Pick the Right Medium. Listen ing, Clarity and Concision, Con fidence, Empathy & Respect, and must Follow up and take Feedback.

Great communicators can in fluence change, whether politi cal, cultural or business. From Winston Churchill to Ronald Reagan, Steve Jobs to Martin Luther King, Vivekananda to Mahatma Gandhi history is full of individuals who, through their words and deeds, have shifted public opinion and be haviour. Barack Obama, Ste phen Colbert, and the “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffet are all hailed as great communica tors who have impacted the lives of millions. Narendra Modi uses a mix of message and style which has made him one of the most successful political communicators of modern In dian politics, agree observers, be they, critics or sympathizers. It is his connection and effective communication with the mass es that have made him a worldlevel leader and statesman.

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

Driving down with lover to a happening place is indicated today. A vacation you only dreamed about is likely to become a reality soon . Healthy eating will help prevent digestive ailments. Money will be no constraint in buying what you like. Overall a good day.

LEO

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Wrong decisions may prove heavy on your finances. A family youngster may become a pillar of strength for you. Chance of going on a vacation with family is indicated and will be lots of fun. Your balanced approach will help resolve a property matter amicably.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

Your stars favour a bright beautiful day . A setback you have recently experienced can make you come out stronger. Tax advisor will be a big help in saving taxes, so don’t hesitate to contact one.It is difficult for the relationship of friends turned lovers to fall apart, so relax.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

Something you have implemented at work is likely to profit the company and get you noticed. You are likely to celebrate the achievement of a family youngster in a grand way. Shifting into your very own house may soon become a reality.

VIRGO

AUG

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

Try what you may, making your mark in a totally different field will be difficult. Some of you will fight an infection successfully.

Helpful nature of a relative is likely to ease your job. Some of you may undertake an overseas journey. Good returns are foreseen.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

23

-

Money coming from various streams will keep you in an elated state of mind. A new fitness regime that you have adopted promises to keep you in the pink of health.

an old

the

be

upholstered

of the mind of some

CAPRICORN

DEC 23 - JAN 20

Previous investments are likely to give you good returns. Some of you may decide to follow

of

same exotic

the

and visit the

that they had been to.

about

You are likely to find the day most auspicious. Your knowledge about your line of work will be roundly appreciated and get you the thumbs up from higher ups. Friends and family may get together to give you a surprise and make your day. You may leave little time for romance.

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

Keep on doing whatever you are doing to remain healthy. Some of you will have to curb your splurging ways.

Family life will cruise along smoothly with much love and bonhomie. Don’t speed up on the road. Chance of moving to a new location on transfer is likely for some.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

Good earning opportunities come to you. Help from co-workers in a time consuming task will be forthcoming on the work front. Support of family will encourage you to take up a challenge. Socially, your presence will be much looked forward to.

SCORPIO

-

OCT

You

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20

Visiting a mall or watching a movie with family is likely to be the highlight of the day for some. You may enjoy travelling to a tourist destination recommended by your friends. Reignite the flickering romance in your

stray the

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

Deepika donned a mini dress N

obody loves a mini dress more than Deepika Padukone. Nobody wears one as she does. Mini dresses are probably the word that you may barely hear right now given the festive outfits that are big on style duty by consuming all the limelight. But the Pathaan actress who is now in Paris is thinking of cargo pants and mini dress es. She's safe in the knowledge that glam our is ubiquitous and mini dresses can be feasibly worn even in autumn. Aware of what tips and tricks are? She's got them

right. Deepika's sleeveless dress is made with warm woollen fabric. The exact reason why you need to approve of it instantly. Also tex tured and highlighted with silver and gold threadwork. The close-neck ensemble with two frilled tiers was clubbed with black leather boots that reached almost knee-high. She also carried a Petite Malle V mini handbag worth Rs. 7,72,250.25 which was designed from cowhide-leather trim and sheepskinleather lining. Totally gaga over the colour shots of yellow moth er of pearl and brown together, looks classy.

‘I am true to who I am’

Nora Fatehi is one of the most-loved actresses in Bol lywood. Be it her acting skills or her dancing skills, she always manages to set our screens on fire. The Bollywood star does it again with another gamechanging move that puts India on the world map. Nora now joins the ranks of Jennifer Lopez and Sha kira as she will perform at the FIFA World Cup 2022, making her the only actor to represent India and particularly South East Asia on the FIFA World Stage in December.

After record-breaking artists like Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, Nora Fatehi is the next to feature in the FIFA music video that will see her both singing and perform ing the FIFA anthem this year. The song has been produced by RedOne, one of the most influential record producers in history, who also worked on FIFA anthems like Sha kira’s Waka Waka and La La La. As another milestone in her career, Nora will also perform at the clos ing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup and interestingly, she will also sing in Hindi!

Pretty in Pink

sn't it true it takes mere seconds to fall in love with an ethnic outfit? As these continue to evoke festive spirit in us, let's take a look at a stunning outfit. If heavily bead ed and sequin embroi dery isn't the dress ing-up deal you need, shift your focus to this no-frills attire. There's nothing contentious just chic business out here in this guide. The Good Luck Jerry ac tress, Janhvi Kapoor's latest look gave the young celebrity and us sweet

throwback memories from Dhadak days. Janhvi's outfit is ethnic to the core but it's also pink and lovely with a blast of flower power to hold. Summer is out but our minds are still so invested in floral and all of its functionality whether in our backyards or our ensembles.

Artfully blessed with colours that our sweet and stunning to the eyes, it was formed with natural fibres and the brand's signature, pure mulmul cotton. Janhvi's sleeveless kurta had a peplum-style silhouette with a needlework scalloped hem, cut work embroidery, and a neckline designed with lace that appeared in floral patterns.

LIVE, LOVE & DESSERT

hen it comes to desserts, the love for it knows no bounds. Be it chocolate cake, muffin, or sim ply a brownie, and more, desserts share a separate fan base al together.

Ardent dessert lovers can have it any given time of the day.

Malaika Arora is one such ce lebrity who has confessed her love for desserts many times. It looks like Arjun Ka poor follows

suit. Arjun Kapoor shared a story on his Instagram page in which we can spot Malaika gushing over a plateful of colourful des sert while Arjun Kapoor is enjoying a cup of coffee along with a cookie. Ac cording to the location tag on the picture, it seems like they both are vacationing in London. This year, this popular B-town couple also went to Paris for a vacation and as true foodies, they made sure to binge on al most everything.

We cannot wait to see more of Malaika's foodie adventure, featuring Arjun Kapoor, and much more de licious desserts.

‘Perfection is boring’

gold cape gown created by Gauri and Nainika. At the event, Alia Bhatt delivered an impressive speech, in which she thanked her parents

Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, sister Shaheen Bhatt, and husband Ranbir Ka poor, for their constant support. The Brah mastra actress also gushed about her ‘little one’ who was constantly kicking during her acceptance speech.

Later, Alia Bhatt took to her official Ins tagram page and shared her TIME Award moments, with a heartfelt caption. On a thought-provoking note, the talented actress opened up about the importance of accepting the flaws, that make us, us. “There are so many rules that knowingly or unknowingly we think in order to be liked, to be loved, to be good, we have to be completely devoid of fault - an impossible, mythical being that could only really exist in the pages of a fairytale,” reads Alia Bhatt’s note.

Nora

Arjun’s story...

Katrina Kaif

Malaika Arora

Deepika Padukone

Janhvi Kapoor Her post...

I tend to dismiss my own identity on screen : Ashutosh

ASHISH TIWARI

Disney Hotstar released its new family drama, an epic tale of power and revenge, 'Karm Yuddh' based in the city of Kol kata. The family drama revolves around the power-hungry lives of the Roys, who have dominated the econom ic horizon of the city for decades. It captures the quest for control over the flourishing Roy Group of Indus tries. Ashutosh Rana who depicts the grey character of Guru Shahstri exclusively spoke to Ashish Tiwari of First India News.

Speaking on what is the depiction means of Karam Yudh he said,

“We have learnt about Dharam Yudh from Mahabharat but in to day’s time we see Kar am Yudh. Mahabharat was a family war for the throne. So even Karam Yudh is a war within the family where every one tries to hold on to their rights on the throne.

Satish Kaushik is playing Bhishma and Paoli is playing Guru Shastri. For us, Karam Yudh is playing true to

the character that comes upon us” Explaining his char acter he mentioned, “Gurushashtri is a man of action and in real life, you are very similar to it, “Guru Shas tri is the master mind behind all the actions and reactions in the story. He’s the director of the story. He is someone with mental stability who works according to the situation”

Genelia Deshmukh’s Dussehra Wish!

As the 9 days of Navratri come to an end, the 10th day is cel ebrated as Dussehra. It marks the victory of purity over sins. Each Hindu household ea gerly waits for this fes tival and takes the op portunity to redecorate their house and cele brate it with their friends and family. The festival of Dussehra is unique in its perception and significance. Ac cording to the great Hindu epic Ramayana, Lord Ram killed Ra vana on the tenth day.

Bollywood's most adored couple Genelia

Deshmukh and Riteish Deshmukh celebrate this festival with lots of gaiety with their two sweet sons. "Dussehra is an important festival in our family and we make it a point to be free on this day. I feel Dussehra is a deno tation that all comes to an end only with the victo ry of the good. I wish for a healthy and happy world this Dussehra and that everyone lives a wholesome life. I wish that our children can have all the opportuni ties and wonderful ex periences that we grew up with."

He further added, “I have always lived an independent life from choosing my name to the kind of roles I do, I believe in being inde pendent and I am grate ful that whatever char acter I am offered is al ways similar to what I need to portray on screen. It becomes easy for me as an artist. I be lieve in dissemination of my own identity to play a particular char acter on screen."

On asking how his

role is so impactful on screen, he replied "I believe in the truth of the moment, life is in being present. The past is about guilt while the future is about worries. So as I am at that side of the life where I believe in present and because of this my characters leave a mark on the au dience”

He further added, “I have been blessed to have my guru, because of him I have managed to mark a successful stint in the Industry. He allowed me to face all the obstacles that have come in my way all through my life”

Speaking on taking up selective roles he shared, “I and my wife Renuka have not been a part of any race, whatever we do is be cause of our self and our own happiness”

Having played some exceptional characterdriven roles Ashutosh Rana has managed to always impress us with his movies.

Ayush follows the trend

On the occasion of Dusshera, Aayush Sharma launched a glimpse into his upcom ing film, the untitled project #AS03 marking his third film in Bolly wood. Offering an in sight into the fierce, raw and rustic world of the jungle, AS03 signifies the good over evil, with subtle references to Ramayana.

Following the trend prevailing in the South Indian market, Aayush Sharma's third film is announced by the mak ers as AS03, marking the first one to do so in Bollywood. Keeping de tails under the wrap, Aayush Sharma has re vealed the teaser for the mythological modern

action adventure, hit ting the theatres in 2023.

The actor said, “AS03 is a very special film with an aston ishing con cept that in stantly con nected with me. This is a very unique,

extremely skilled team em ployed to deliver the best for the exemplary vi sion and concept.

I am amazed every day work ing on it, and looking for ward for the audience to ex

plore this world.”

Backed with remark able VFX and cinema tography, the teaser promises to be a visu

for the

'Husband goals'

Ranveer Singh's latest post for his wife Deepika Padukone, who is currently in Paris to attend Louis Vuitton's ready-to-wear Sum mer/Spring 2021 collec tion, is extremely cute.

For the past few weeks, ru mours about Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh heading for separation have been doing the rounds.

Ranveer and Deepi ka have been shutting down rumours in style on social media plat forms. Ranveer Sin gh has now cheered

for Deepika with an Ins tagram post. Sharing two photos of himself posing next to an LV ad featur ing his wife, he wrote, “I just had to!#throwback #cannes #proudme Have a great show today, baby (sic)!”

Fans couldn't stop gushing over this gesture of his and felt that there was nobody like him. Many also praised him for being such a loving and sup portive husband.

On the work front, Ran veer will be seen next in 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' alongside Alia Bhatt while Deepika has 'Pathaan' with Shah Rukh Khan.

Om Raut speaks up on hate

Netizens were eager ly waiting for the first glimpse of the me ga-budgeted film, Adipurush which has the ensemble star cast of Prab has, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Devdutta Nage, Sunny Singh and more. But ever since the first teaser of the Om Raut di rectorial was re leased on the in ternet, negative light has been shed upon it re garding CGI and VFX. Several call the VFX of the film outdated and even made fun of the animation.

Many others even pointed out that Saif Ali Khan’s character looks

more like a Mughal King than a Sri Lankan one.

Speaking about the backlash, Om Raut stated his re action and re vealed that al though he is heart broken, he expect ed that much. He said, “I was dis appointed, but not sur prised be cause this film has been made for a big me dium and big screen. You can re duce it to some ex tent but you can not bring it to the mobile phone. This is an environ ment that I cannot control. I never put it on YouTube but it was the need of the hour or the de mand that we had to do so.”

Sunny in Haseen Dilruba?

Taapsee Pannu who recently tasted success with the release of her film Dobaaraa is now gearing up for her next pro ject, Haseen Dil ruba 2.

Haseen Dilruba was a massive success and had gained massive praise for her and her co-star, Vikrant Massey. While everything is go ing smoothly, interest ing speculations have been raised as now fans are questioning wheth er there has been a new addition to the film.

Recently, Taapsee posted a slew of photos on her social media where she could be seen with the cast of the film. She posted this photo on her story along with the Haseen Dilruba song tune in the background.

Sunny Kaushal too reposted it on his story along with the caption, "Kuch hone wala hai.."

This photo has excited fans and sent the inter net into a frenzy as questions have been raised on whether Sunny is really a part of the beloved film. Haseen Dil ruba received criti cal acclaim and was even loved by netizens who appreciated the story that was inspired by the thriller works of Indian authors.

Ashutosh

Ayush Sharma

His post...

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone

Genelia Deshmukh