First India-Mumbai Edition-06th December 2022

PM Narendra Modi shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote for 2nd phase of Gujarat elections, in Ahmedabad on Monday.

BJP SET FOR LANDSLIDE WIN!

Latest exit-poll surveys indicate that BJP will be easily able to retain the majority in Gujarat

Moni Sharma

Ahmedabad: The poll ing for the second and the final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elec tions concluded on Monday. The approxi mate voter turnout is 65% till 5 pm. Official figures will come out soon. Till 3 pm, it was 50.51%. Till 1 pm, it was 34.74%. A voter turnout of 63.14 percent was re corded in the first phase of elections held on 1 December. Naren dra Modi, Amit Shah and others casted votes in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, ABP CVoter’s latest survey indicated that BJP will be easily able to retain the majority in the 182-member legislative state assembly. The re sults for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Elections will be de clared on Dec 8. P5

EXIT POLLS PREDICT SEVENTH TERM FOR BJP IN GUJARAT BJP CONG OTHERS Chanakya 150 19 11 Times Now 109 70 03 Republic Tv 108 74 00 News X 120 75 4 News Nation 128 56 3 India Today 113 82 1 Zee News 113 82 01 News 18 108 74 00

Over 5,200 voters from 4 villages in the Mehsana district of Gujarat boycott ed polls over unresolved water shortage issue z Panchmahal Congress candidate Prabhatsinh Chauhan was attacked by

UNION HOME MIN SHAH AND FAMILY CAST THEIR VOTE

Union Home Home Minister Amit Shah along with his family members including wife Sonalben Shah, son Jay Shah & his wife Rishita Patel on Monday casted vote in Ahmedabad and appealed to people to strengthen the state’s “development model” by coming out to vote in large numbers.

to bring back Shivaji's 'Bagh-Nakh'!

Mumbai: Maharashtra's Cul tural Minister Sudhir Mungan tiwar has announced to bring back the 'Bagh-nakh' (Tigerclaw weapon) used by Chhatra pati Shivaji Maharaj from Brit ain to the state on the lines of Shivaji's 'Jagdamba' sword. Talking to reporters on Mon

grams will be organized. Mun gantiwar told that discussions are on with Union Home Minis ter Amit Shah to bring back the tiger claw used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He has as sured that efforts will be made to bring the weapon to the state before the Shivarajyabhishek.

REMARKS AGAINST SHIVAJI

Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad’s kidney transplant surgery on Monday in Singapore was successful, his son and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said. Yadav said his father, elder sister Rohini, who donated one of her kidneys to dad, were fine.

UDDHAV THACKERAY ATTEMPTS AT ‘POLITICAL RESURRECTION’ BANKS ON BHEEM VOTERS’ ‘AASHIRWAAD’!

Mumbai: With new challenges befalling the opposition parties in the state, newer alli ances are being forged to address these chal lenges. In this connec tion, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Chief and former Ma harashtra Chief Minis ter Uddhav Thackeray and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi President Prakash Ambedkar held a secret meeting in Mumbai on Monday. In terestingly, a high level of secrecy was attempt

We should not be in a hurry to unite Shivshakti and Bhimshakti. Shivshakti and Bhim shakti are coming together after Balasaheb Thac keray’s appeal.

Prabodhankar Thac keray and Babasaheb Ambedkar created an ideological platform in the state and if their grandchildren are coming together, then attention should be paid not to politics but also to social causes.

If Bhimshakti and Shiv Shakti come together, then it can be a wel come step.

—Ambadas Danve, Shiv Sena leader

If Prakash Ambedkar and Uddhav Thackeray think about an alliance, then it is a good thing for Maha rashtra politics.

—Neelam Gore, Shiv Sena leader

Uddhav Thackeray

ed in organizing this meeting, however, word did spread about it in the political circles. The meeting between

In Monday’s meeting, both the leaders also discussed the seatsharing formula if the alliance is decided for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhansabha elections, and whether Vanchit Aghadi would have an alliance only with Shiv Sena or whether Prakash Ambedkar will bring his party directly under Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Thackeray and Ambed kar was earlier to be held at the Four Sea sons in Worli, Mumbai, but suddenly Turn to P6

MVA ANNOUNCES ‘MAHA-MORCHA’ TO CORNER SHINDE-FADNAVIS GOVT

Mumbai: After the meeting, Uddhav Thackeray from Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar from NCP and Balasa heb Thorat from Congress came before the media and slammed the government for its soft stand on the Maharashtra-Karnataka dispute, Governor’s remarks in Chhatrapati Shivaji and announced that the Maha VIkas Aghadi will take out a grand ‘Mahamorcha’ against the government on Decem ber 17. This morcha will leave Mumbai’s Jija Mata Udyan and continue till Azad Maidan. Not only that, Uddhav Thackeray has appealed that patriots and those who have faith in Chhatrapati should also join the procession. Interestingly, this morcha is for the fight for the survival and political relevance of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

HOW WILL MVA BENEFIT FROM ALLIANCE WITH PRAKASH AMBEDKAR?

Mumbai: Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Aghadi

a huge loss to Congress-NCP in the last Loksabha elections. Although Vanchit Aghadi has no major presence in Maharashtra politics, but in the last Loksabha elections where the party had contested, about 14% votes were cast in favour of the party. Not only this, the Congress NCP had to lose about 15 seats in the Lok Sabha elections only because of the Vanchit Aghadi. Like the Lok Sabha, the alliance between the Vanchit and the AIMIM caused Congress and NCP's defeat on about 35 seats. Uddhav and NCP understand this issue and perhaps that is why they are ready for alliance, but Prakash Ambedkar, the leader of Aghadi, also understands his political relevance, and hence he is being cautious in striking a deal.

Udayanraje's supporters block Pune-Bangalore highway, char tyres!

The Satara royal's supporters try to corner current state govt on remarks by union minister Raosaheb Danve

Mumbai: Supporters of BJP and Member of Par liament Udayanraje Bhosale blocked the Pune-Bangalore Nation al Highway near Shen dre village on Monday and burnt tires while raising slogans against union minister Raosa heb Danve for his use of singular language in ref erence to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As

soon as the information about the incident was received, the Satara ta luka traffic police reached the spot, cleared the road by removing the burnt tires on the high way and brought nor malcy back to the affect ed area.

A few days ago, Gover nor Bhagat Singh Koshy ari and some BJP leaders made controversial state ments while talking about Chhatrapati Shiva ji Maharaj. Thereafter, a video of union minister Raosahab Danve also surfaced wherein he is seen speaking about Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma haraj and is reportedly from two years ago.

Meanwhile, Danve

was also criticized after this video. After this vid eo went viral on social media, Danve has given clarification on this and said that he apologized to the entire country for that statement. Danve clarified that he has not made any such state ment about Shivrai at present.

Instead of rioting

Mumbai: In the last one month, four-five BJP leaders have made statements insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In a scathing attack, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Com mittee President Nana Patole said on Monday that this has not hap pened unknowingly, but it is a well-planned conspiracy by the BJP to defame Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Patole said, "Gov ernor Bhagat Singh Koshyari used to call Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma

haraj the old role model. So, Gadkari was the new role model and he insulted Maharaj. After

CHIEF PATOLE

that BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi made a shameless statement that Maharaja had asked Aurangzeb for five years." Tourism Minister Mangalprabhat Lodha likened the Maharaja's escape to Agra to a political rebellion. Then, MLA Prasad Lad's son-in-law said that the Maharaja was born in Konkan."

"Now the video of Union Minister Raosa heb Danve mentioning Shivaji has gone viral on social media. There is a common thread that

all those who insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji belong to the BJP," Nana Patole said, add ing further, "When such derogatory statements are being given openly, action is expected by strongly condemning these statements. But BJP did nothing like this. BJP has become a party without rules. The audacity to insult great men has happened due to the rise of power and the people of Maharashtra will never tolerate insult to their Gods."

First India Bureau

and protesting around Maharashtra, he (Udayanraje) should go to Delhi and force the central government to take a decision about the Governor (BS Koshyari).

—MLA

Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale

WHY IS BJP NOT TAKING ACTION AGAINST THOSE WHO INSULTED SHIVAJI, ASKS CONG

Udayanraje Bhosale

Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale

Nana Patole

Sandeep Shukla

Uddhav Thackeray attempts a secret meet with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi President Prakash Ambedkar, hopes to find support and relevance in a politically parched landscape

caused

Srinagar: Former CM and Lok Sabha member, Dr Farooq Abdullah was re-elected unopposed as the president of the National Conference (NC) party on Monday. NC presidential polls were held at party headquarters, ‘Nawa-e-Subha’ in Srinagar.

LALU’S

KIDNEY TRANSPLANT SUCCESSFUL IN SINGAPORE

P4

GUJARAT ASSEMBLY POLLS: POLLING ENDS, EVMs SEALED, EXIT POLL IN FOCUS

PM Modi’s 100-year-old mother, Heeraben Modi, casts her vote.

z

Fadnavis

‘Final call on mins’ visit to disputed areas on CM’

ACTIVISTS PROTEST IN BELAGAVI

Matter in court, fight it legally: Bommai to Shinde

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Deven dra Fadnavis on Mon day addressed the Maharashtra-Karna taka village border row and said Chief Minister Eknath Shin de will take the final call on whether the ministers appointed for coordinating the dispute should visit contested areas.

State ministers Chan drakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai, who have been appointed as coordinating ministers, are scheduled to meet activists of Maharash tra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) at Belagavi in Karnataka on Decem ber 06. They plan to

hold talks with them on the border issue.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Fadnavis said, “The two minis ters, who had earlier an nounced their visit of the disputed areas, were invited by locals

Relief to RaGa in defamation case hearing appearance

on the occasion of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s death anniversary. Our opinion is to avoid any legal complications by arranging such a visit to the disputed areas. However, the final call on the ministers’ visit

will be taken by the chief minister.”

Belagavi, Karvar and many villages on the Maharashtra and Kar nataka border are in dispute over which state should get their administrative control.

CRUCIAL READ

6 BARGES, 2 BOATS SEIZED IN SAND MINING RAID OP

Alibag: At least six barges and two boats were seized during raids against sand mining in the creeks of Raigad district, an official said on Monday. As per a release, the raids were conducted by the police in creeks at Panvel, Taloja and Kharghar recently. Sand worth crores recovered.

UNION MIN VISITS VILLAGE HIT BY MILD TREMOR

Thane: Union Minister of State Kapil Patil on Monday visited a village in Thane district where a mild tremor was experienced last week. Patil inspected the damages to 15 houses and assured villagers of government aid. He distributed Rs10,000 to 15 fami lies affected by quake.

THREE HELD WITH 100KG OF GANJA WORTH `10 LAKH IN THANE DISTRICT

The dispute is pending before the Supreme Court since Maharash tra’s inception in 1960.

“Nobody should be prohibited from visiting a place, as we are an in dependent country. However, the case relat ed to the disputed area is still going on in the Su preme Court and we want to avoid any fur ther complications in the issue. Nobody can

stop the ministers from visiting the disputed ar eas if they decide to do so,” said the deputy CM.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka CM Basa varaj Bommai had said that he will ask his Ma harashtra counterpart Shinde not to send his cabinet colleagues to Belagavi, as their visit may disrupt the law and order situation in the border district.

Mumbai: Karnata ka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday swaid he has appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to fight the border dispute is sue legally in court.

“We have already communicated to them that it will cre ate a law and order problem, therefore, it’s not the right time to come. I appeal to the Maharashtra CM that the matter is in court and fight it le gally,” said Bommai while speaking to mediapersons in Bengaluru.

CM Bommai also warned of ‘strict ac tion’ if the ministers

arrive in Belagavi.

On the other hand, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Dev endra Fadnavis said since the matter has landed in court nei ther Maharashtra nor Karnataka gov ernments can take a decision on it.

Maharashtra min isters Chandrakant Patil and Shamb huraj Desai, who were scheduled to visit Belagavi on De cember 03, have post poned their visit to December 06.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Mon day extended appear ance relief granted to Congress leader Ra hul Gandhi in a defa mation case till Janu ary 25, 2023. The com plaint pertains to his alleged remarks against Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi.

A single bench of Justice Amit Borkar ad journed hearing till January 20, 2023 on the plea filed by Gandhi challenging the sum mons issued to him by the local court.

“The interim relief granted earlier shall continue till January 25, 2023,” said Justice Borkar.

Gandhi’s advocate

Sudeep Pasbola told the court this is a case where a person is claim ing to be defamed by al leged comments made on the prime minister.

Justice Borkar said the court would hear the matter on January 20.

The local court had directed Gandhi to ap pear before it in a defa mation complaint filed by one Mahesh Shrishrimal, claiming to be a BJP party work er. The complaint had been filed for Gandhi’s “commander-in-thief” remark against Prime Minister Modi in 2018 over the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Gandhi had later ap proached the high court challenging the sum mons issued to him.

Thane: Three persons were arrested allegedly with ganja worth Rs10 lakh in Thane, a police official said. They were nabbed from the GB Road area on Satur day. A search of their car led to the seizure of 80kg of ganja worth Rs8 lakh, said Crime Unit V (Wagle Estate) Senior Inspector Vikas Ghodke. They led police to a closed hotel where a consignment of 20 kg of ganja worth Rs2 lakh was hidden. A case has been lodged.

MAN HELD FOR DUPING SINGER OF `2.5 LAKH IN GOA

Mumbai: A 32-year-old man was arrested from Goa for allegedly posing as an Indian Police Ser vice officer and duping singer Ashok Arjun Nikhalje (42) of Rs2.5 lakh on the pretext of organizing a show of the latter. The accused had asked the singer to de posit Rs2.5 lakh into his account for the show.

PRISONER ESCAPES FROM LOCK-UP, NABBED

Palghar: A 28-year-old man escaped from the lock-up at Mandvi police station in Palghar and was apprehended from a jungle in the vicinity. The accused, who was in custody in over a case of house-breaking and theft, jumped out of the window of a toilet and escaped into the jungle on Sunday.

Maha

First India Bureau

BJP chief mocks Uddhav

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state President Chan drashekhar Bawankule on Mon day took potshots at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s political engage ments, including meetings with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Nationalist Congress Party leaders.

He also “congratu lated” him for coming out of Matoshree, the private residence of the former chief minister.

The BJP would rou tinely criticize Thack eray for not leaving

First India Bureau

Thane: National Con gress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad was a hit on social me dia after his sarcastic remarks on Chief Minister Eknath Shin de went viral.

The leader had tweet ed about him being framed in a pickpocket ing case after CM’s event at the Thane Mu

DHARAVI REDEVT PROJECT

“Uddhav

over political meets, ‘hails’ him for going out Ahwad’s dig at CM grabs social media

(NCP leader) Ajit Pa war’s house with the proposal. Congratula tions to him for his journey from monarchy to democratic values.

BJP has always wel comed every develop ment that upholds dem ocratic values,” said Bawankule in a series of tweets.

Bawankule, in anoth er tweet, claimed a for mal invitation was giv en to Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pa war on November 15 in connection with a meet ing related to G20 pro grammes but the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief chose to hold a meeting with Ambedkar.

nicipal Corporation (TMC) headquarters. Taking a dig at CM Shinde, Awhad tweet ed, “Earlier, I was false ly framed in a molesta tion case when I went for the Kalwa bridge inauguration event re cently. On Saturday, the TMC had invited me to the CM's ‘Mukhy amantri Aanche Badalte Thane’ cam paign launch, but I will

avoid going there be cause if I stand beside the CM, the police will falsely frame me in a pickpocketing case.”

Awhad added, “When I ask Shinde about framing me, he will say ‘you know I haven't done it’ while the police will say that we have re ceived orders from top officials. I know my days are not good but they will pass.”

Bombay HC seeks Maha govt, SRA reply on nature park inclusion

Dharavi notified area, when it should have been entirely deleted from the project documents.

Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra gov ernment and Slum Re habilitation Authori ty (SRA) to file affida vits in response to a petition challenging the inclusion of the Mahim Nature Park in the Dharavi rede velopment project.

A division bench comprising Chief Jus

tice Dipankar Datta and Justice Abhay Ahuja was hearing a public in terest litigation (PIL) claiming that the Ma him Nature Park, which is a protected forest, has been unlawfully includ ed in the redevelopment of Dharavi, Asia’s larg est slum.

The PIL filed by NGO Vanshakti and environ mental activist Zory Ba thena stated that it

wants to ensure that the park, admeasuring 27 acres, is not unlawfully covered under the pro

posed Dharavi Redevel opment Project.

The petitioners had earlier written to the

Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appear ing for the project au thority, told the court on Monday that it has already clarified to the petitioners that the Ma him Nature Park was not included in the re development project.

But the authority was, however, silent on whether the park would be shown in the catego ry of “excluded area” in the tender documents.

The bench then di

rected the state govern ment and SRA to file their affidavits clarify ing their stand by Janu ary 02, 2023.

As per the plea, the Mahim Nature Park was declared as a pro tected forest in 1991.

The petition chal lenged the demarcation and inclusion of the pro tected park forest in the category of “excluded area” in project tender.

“This demarcation and inclusion would al low project proponent to develop the park in violation of its protect ed status,” it stated.

OUTRAGED

In October 2022, a tender was issued calling for bids for the redevelopment of Dharavi. The tender grants the project proponent the right to acquire excluded areas, including the Mahim nature park, the PIL alleged. “The Mahim Nature Park should never have been included within the boundary of the Dharavi project and should be deleted from project docu ments,” it added.

Bandra-based Ma toshree or touring the state when he was chief minister between 2019 and June this year. Amid talks of an alli ance, Thackeray had met Vanchit Bahujan

Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar here during the day.

Thackeray, who never stepped out (of Matoshree), goes to meet Prakash Ambed kar and then goes to

project authority seek ing a clarification on whether the park was included within the

PIL filed challenging mention of Mahim Nature Park under ‘excluded area’ in project tender documents

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Dy CM

expresses govt wish to avoid legal complications over visit of state ministers to K’taka

A number of pro-Kannada activists from across Karnataka flocked to Belagavi on Monday to stage a protest ahead of Maharashtra ministers’ visit to the border city. Demonstrators gathered at the Rani Chennamma circle in the city and raised slo gans against Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai. They demanded that the ministers not be allowed entry into the state.

Mahim Nature Park is a protected forest located in Mumbai city.

—FILE PHOTO

CBI UNEARTHS `74 LAKH scam in EPFO, books officials

MODUS OPERANDI

BMC EYES TO POPULARIZE ‘DEBRIS ON CALL’ SCHEME

Mumbai: With an aim to create aware ness about its chargeable facility for disposing of de bris, the Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now decided to publicize the initiative.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investiga tion (CBI) has uncov ered a scam and booked officials of the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) after investiga tion on the basis of a complaint lodged with it. The agency has re ported loss to the tune of Rs73.97 lakh under 359 bogus claims.

It is also revealed that between 2016 and 2019, officials of the EPPO Aurangabad, in cahoots with an accountant at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd (MSC CGMFL), approved fraudulent claims in the names of employees

of the federation.

According to the cen tral agency, the action of suspects caused wrong ful loss to the EPFO with corresponding gain to themselves. It had re ceived a complaint from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (Vigilance), EPFO.

An undertaking of the Government of Maha rashtra’s Textiles Minis try, MSCCGMFL was es tablished to procure cot ton from growers. It has

a zonal office at Aurang abad and pension ac counts of its employees are registered with the local EPFO office.

“The concurrent au dit cell of EPFO identi fied certain irregulari ties in payments in some pension accounts of the EPFO. It observed that multiple payments involving an amount of Rs7.49 lakh were affect ed to the same members with different member IDs, with the same date

of joining and date of leaving, while granting withdrawal benefits un der EPS in respect of ex-employees of (the federation),” stated the CBI in its FIR.

“Subsequently, the re gional office of the EPFO, Aurangabad, an alyzed the withdrawal benefit claims processed in the preceding 10 years in respect of various es tablishments, including MSCCGMFL, through a committee headed by

the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner. It was observed that MSC CGMFL failed to pro vide the contribution details after verifying the annual returns sub mitted by MSCCGMFL,” the FIR added.

The analysis showed that a total contribution of only Rs2.80 lakh was received from the exemployees while the to tal withdrawal benefit paid to them was Rs73.97 lakh.

The civic body has started distributing pamphlets about it and there are plans to reach out to housing societies, with details of the service.

According to Sew age Waste Manage ment (SWM) Deputy Commissioner Chan da Jadhav, we impose fines on trucks if they are found throw ing debris on the street. Usually, these trucks throw debris where CCTVs aren’t installed.

“Kanjurmarg, Vikh roli and Ghatkopar are some of the areas where you can see de bris thrown besides the road. We are think ing of installing more CCTVs in such areas,” Jadhav said.

She further added,

School van owners to go on indefinite strike from today

First India Bureau

Navi Mumbai: Schoolgoing students of the Panvel area are likely to face difficulties in reaching schools from Tuesday as around 700 school van owners may go off the road.

According to the sources, the school van owners are going on an indefinite hunger strike

from December 06 to press their demand to bring changes in licence renewal process to ferry students from schools.

They claim that a number of vans are op erating without licence as they could not renew due to changes in the procedures. A letter of consent from the con cerned school is made mandatory for vans to

get a new license or re new old ones.

Clash between 2 groups after boy’s bicycle hits man in Mum

Mumbai: Two groups clashed with each other after a minor boy, riding a bicycle hit a 45-year-old man in Santacruz area of Mumbai, police said on Monday.

The incident took

day night when the man was standing in front of a mosque. After incident, the man then allegedly slapped the boy and took the bicy cle into his possession, an official from Vakola police station said.

The minor boy re turned home and nar

ed the ordeal to his fa ther, who along with others went to the spot and allegedly assaulted the man who had slapped his son, the of ficial added.

The 45-year-old man and his supporters also beat up members of the rival group and pelted stones at them, the po lice said. The situation became tense and shops in the area were closed for sometime.

The police brought the situation under control and registered cases against members of both the groups, the official said.

The van owners are going to press their demand to bring changes in licence renewal process to ferry students from schools

Pandurang Humane said that as per plan, only representatives of

van owners will go on an indefinite hunger strike, but van owners may join. He further added that the consent letter from school is mandatory to apply for a new licence or renew old one.

“We have held several meetings with the RTO, and district education department but could not reach a conclusion,” he informed.

Ring Road: Maharashtra’s nod to `3,500 crore for land acquisition

First India Bureau

Pune: Maharashtra state government has given in-principle ap proval for Rs3,500 crore from the Hous ing and Urban Devel opment Corporation (HUDCO) for land ac quisition in Pune ring road project.

The proposed project

would ease the traffic woes by providing peo ple with alternate routes to pass through the city without entering its ar terial roads.

It will be a six-lane ex press highway, with ex pandable provisions, with a vehicle speed limit of 120km per hour. Rs17,412 crore (approx) is the estimated con

struction cost without including the land acqui sition cost.

With the availability of funds, the ring road project work is likely to speed up as it could not have begun till 80 per cent of the land acquisi tion work is complete.

The MSRDC has start ed granting compensa tion to land owners.

“A few years back, we tried to reach societies in Zone 3 which com prise Bandra, Khar, Mahim, Andheri and Vile Parle areas. We used to distribute pamphlets in socie ties. We had got good response from citizens hence we are restart ing the initiative. Our ‘Debris on Call’ scheme is more rea sonable than private contractors.”

The BMC swung into action mode after noticing that several unidentified trucks dumped debris on the road hence defacing

The civic body has begun distributing pamphlets; plans to reach out to housing societies and spread the word on scheme

the city. Despite sev eral complaints, such incidents have not de creased. Hence, the civic body took the step to popularize its facility of calling the civic body for getting rubble lifted from the societies.

Signature drive by locals to oppose transfer of ‘honest IAS’

First India Bureau

Thane: The citizens’ forum from Amber nath, Badlapur, Ulhas nagar and Kalyan have initiated a signa ture campaign to pro test the arbitrary transfer of IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe from the Maharashtra State Health Depart ment in just two months.

The signature cam

paign started on Decem ber 03 and will continue till December 06 from 7 pm to 9 pm at Shivaji Chowk in Ambernath.

The members of the citizens forum feel that Mundhe is being pun ished for acting against the corporate lobby in the health department.

According to social ac tivist from Ambernath and Founder of Amber nath Citizens Forum (AMF) Satyajit Burman,

we have initiated the sig nature campaign to pro test the arbitrary trans fer of IAS officer Tukar am Mundhe.

We are aiming at getting 5,000 signatures and also planning to mail around 1 lakh letters to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to stop the transfer of honest officer Mundhe… We will write letters to PM Narendra Modi saying that if an honest officer like Tukaram Mundhe is transferred for doing his duty with dedication, then in future no officer will perform his duty honestly.

—Satyajit Burman, founder of Ambernath Citizens Forum

“We are aiming at get ting 5,000 signatures and also planning to mail around 1 lakh letters to the Maharashtra Chief

Minister Eknath Shinde to stop the transfer of honest officer Mundhe,” Burman said.

On Saturday, in just

two hours from 7 pm to 9 pm, around 600 signa tures were received. Peo ple also are drafting let ters urging the CM to cancel the transfer order.

“We will write letters to PM Narendra Modi saying that if an honest officer like Tukaram Mundhe is transferred for doing his duty with dedication, then in fu ture no officer will per form his duty honestly,” Burman said.

Thane: The Anti-Cor ruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested a policeman for allegedly accepting a bribe, an official said. Based on a complaint, Thane unit of the ACB laid a trap and arrested an assis tant police inspector of Mumbra police station while accepting the bribe. A case under rel evant sections has been registered. The accused had allegedly demanded Rs80,000 from a man.

After negotiations, the accused settled for Rs35,000.

Palghar: Four persons were arrested with Am bergris (whale vomit) worth Rs70 lakh in Palghar district, police said on Monday. Crime branch team raided a hotel on Sunday on a tip-off and seized 788 gm Ambergris from the possession of the four, an official said. The sale of Ambergris, which is used to make perfumes, is prohibited by law, as the sperm whale is an endangered species that is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA).

PROFESSOR, PEON OF COLLEGE HELD FOR BRIBERY; PRINCIPAL ON THE RUN

Thane: A professor of a women’s college in Thane district and one more person were arrested on Mon day for allegedly accepting a bribe from a colleague who was on medical leave and wanted to get her job back as well as wages of the previous months, an Anti-Corruption Bureau official said. The principal of the college, who first sought the bribe, was on the run, the official added. “The complainant was working as a professor in the college and was on medical leave for three months. When she approached college authorities to get her job back and also her wages, the principal sought a bribe of Rs5 lakh. The accused later brought down the demand to Rs2 lakh,” he said.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Airport Customs seized 4.7 kg of gold worth Rs2.5 crore and arrested three people in two different cases, said a senior Customs official on Monday. In the first case, the department seized 1.8 kg gold hidden in specially-de signed undergarments, and in another one, 2.8 kg of the precious metal hidden in the toilet of a fligt during a search. A total of three accused have been arrested for gold smuggling and further investigation is underway.

Palghar: A teen boy has been arrested in Palghar district for allegedly raping his 5-year-old neighbour. The accused, from Van jarwada, took the girl to his house at around 2:30 pm on Sunday and raped her, after which he threatened to kill her if she revealed the ordeal to anyone, the Boisar police station official said. After she confided in her mother, the latter filed a com plaint. The 19-year-old boy has been charged with rape and other offences under IPC.

In violation of existing procedure, the suspect officials of the EPFO Au rangabad processed and approved the aforesaid false claims without verifying the actual contributions made. —First Information Report

Over 359 bogus claims were filed by EPFO Aurangabad employees. —FILE PHOTO

Accused colluded with accountant of MSCCGMFL, who approved fraudulent claims

First India Bureau

TEEN BOY HELD FOR RAPING 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL

Speaking to media,

President of Panvel Rickshaw Vidyarthi Va hak Sanstha (PRVVS)

First India Bureau

IAS Tukaram Mundhe

NaMo: HARBINGER OF NEW AGE ‘BHARATIYA VICHAR’

I want 5 Fs. I don’t want just a cotton exporter. I don’t want yarn. I want Farms; from farms I want Farming; from farming I want Factories. From factories I want to tap into Fashion; and from fashion I want Foreign exchange.

PM MODI: THE MAN WHO HAS DREAMT

The narrator shares his vari ous experiences with Naren dra Modi and how every inter action with the PM left him enlightened and wiser. He be lieves that Modiji has the acu men of an industrialist and his ideas are truly transfor mational and futuristic.

When I met him for the first time, he was very direct in telling me, “No, you won’t ex pand your business in Vapi. You will do it in Kutch.” It was 2002 and the devastating memories of Bhuj earthquake were as alive as if it was yes terday. I was in disbelief of what Modiji had just said. I replied, “Sir, Kutch is still reeling under the tremors of the quake. There is no water, electricity, roads. How can we establish a textile plant in such a place?” Modiji said “No Goenkaji. You do not

know the strength of Kutch. The land in Kutch has the power to yield a dollar for a rupee worth of investment you make!” He continued, in a very matter of fact tone “You are a businessman Goenkaji and I am a politician. But this suggestion to build Kutch is personal. And rest assured, whatever support you need, I will facilitate that.”

Well, any industrialist would have considered the decision to enter Kutch over and again at that point. But I gathered courage which was ultimately built on the tre mendous faith I have on Modiji. His suggestion to me was so genuine, that it touched a chord in my heart. His words were so replete with confidence, that I was sure that this was not the voice of politics, it was indeed the voice of his mann. We ex ported the first towel in 9 months. We managed water via a 300km pipeline from Narmada. We made available electricity and roads. Today we have more than 25,000 em ployees. We also invested Rs 25,000 crore. Well, at that time, it was difficult for anyone to think of investing in Kutch. But Kutch is exactly from where we started to grow. The Welspun Group had definite ly started out on its road to success from Kutch.

From then, I got the oppor tunity to travel with Modiji and got to know him closely as one of the most genuine persons one can ever know. I was part of the delegations that visited Australia, China and what I realized during these interactions with Modiji was that he had a

completely unique perspec tive about everything. He looks at everything in a way nobody does! His level of in quisitiveness is unparalleled. After his visit to the solar park in China, he ensured that solar power in India too witnessed an enormous growth. In 2006-07, he got the solar policy for the first time in India. His vision was su premely ambitious. His vi sion of providing energy at Rs 19 per unit and giving Rs 14 per unit on an average in a period of 15 years came at a time when people knew very little about solar power. No one was prepared to believe in it! Modiji was convinced that solar energy was the greatest power alternative in India which could help us re duce our dependence on oil and gas. He would always talk of renewables! He would en vision panels over the Nar mada canal, and then put up a technical question to me “How do you think this will benefit us?” I would say “Sir we will save on land, farmers will get electricity.” “No!”

Modiji would correct me. The biggest advantage is that ef ficiency would go up by 2%. When water flows below the panel, it has a cooling effect. The panel works better.” Thus, going into the minutest detail of everything is a hall mark of Narendra Modi.

Let me tell you, when we will look back from 2030, we will see that it was this man’s vision to make India the larg est in renewable energy. And we are sure to be somewhere, whether we talk about hydro gen, ammonia, or solar. India is going to be absolutely self-

reliant. This dream which was envisioned in 2006-07 will become a reality by 2030. India is already a global example now in the renewables sector.

As far as I am concerned, he was very sure what he wanted from me. “I want 5 Fs.

I don’t want just a cotton ex porter. I don’t want yarn. I want Farms; from farms I want Farming; from farming I want Factories. From facto ries I want to tap into Fash ion; and from fashion I want Foreign exchange” he would say. So he wanted maximum value-addition in India, job creation, and that the GoI should get foreign exchange.

He was the CM then and came up with Vibrant Guja rat in 2007-08. The entire world was reeling under the great recession sparked by

This is all about the vision of this extraordinary gentleman, the dreams that Modiji has for India. These are all transformational, futuristic ideas. And he

a reality They are happening in our country now. Take Start-up India, Stand Up India, child education, focus on the girl child, for example

the crash of the Lehman Brothers. But he came up with Vibrant Gujarat. I met him and said “Sir, we must defer Vibrant.” He said “What do you say Goenkaji? Now is the opportunity.” I said “No investor is going to turn up. The world has taken an economic downturn.” But Modiji was determined. Be ing at the helm of leadership in the state, he just said noth ing doing. There is an oppor tunity here as well.

Thus Modiji is vision, deter mination and leadership dif fused together. When I met him recently, he spoke about changing the ship industry, how shipping could incorpo rate e-shipping, how we could use wind turbines and gener ate hydrogen from water and use the energy to run ships!

Now again, this is all about the vision of this extraordinary gentleman, the dreams that he has for India. These are all transformational, futuristic ideas. And he is making them a reality. They are happening in our country now. Take Start-up India, Stand Up India, child education, focus on the girl child, for example. The way he mingles with children, his exuberance, warmth and playfulness is worth admir ing. He has given all the press ing issues of India a concrete form and transformed them into revolutionary ideas. Who would not be inspired by such leadership?

‘MODIJI IS ONE OF THE MOST GENUINE PERSONS ONE CAN EVER KNOW, MEET’

From then, I got the opportunity to travel with Modiji and got to know him closely as one of the most genuine persons one can ever know. I was part of the delegations that visited Australia, China and what I realized during these interactions with Modiji was that he had a completely unique perspective about everything. He looks at everything in a way nobody does! His level of inquisitiveness is unparalleled.

THE INDIAN DREAM!

COMPILED AND EDITED BY SHASHIKANT SHARMA AND SHWETA SHARMA

is making them

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

BATTLEGROUND GUJARAT EXIT POLLS PREDICT BIG MAJORITY FOR BJP IN GUJ, EDGE IN HIMACHAL

New Delhi (PTI): Exit polls on Monday pre dicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat while most of them gave an edge to it in Himachal Pradesh, indicating reelection of the ruling party in both states.

However, two exit polls showed a dead heat between the BJP and the Congress in Himachal Pradesh where results could go either way.

The counting of votes in both states will take place on December 8. Elections for the Himachal Pradesh As sembly took place on November 12, while polling in Gujarat hap pened in two phases on December 1 and 5.

Most exit polls pre dicted a big mandate for the BJP in Gujarat in the range of 117-148 seats in the 182-member assembly, while the Congress was predicted to bag seats in the range of 30-51 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party was pro jected to bag anything between three and 13 seats. The majority mark in Gujarat is 92.

In Himachal Pradesh, the exit polls projected a range of 24-40 seats for the BJP and 26-40 seats for the Congress. The AAP was projected to bag seats in the range of 0-3. The ma jority mark is 35 seats.

According to the News X-Jan Ki Baat exit poll on Gujarat elections, the BJP was likely to get 117140 seats, Con gress-NCP 34-51,

In the

COURTYARD

APEX COURT PULLS UP PUNJAB OVER SALE OF SPURIOUS LIQUOR

New Delhi: In an impor tant development, the Su preme Court on Monday pulled up the Punjab gov ernment over the issue of sale of spurious liquor in the state, saying “Punjab is a border state and this is a very serious matter”. The top court asked the state government to come up with specific steps to curb the menace of spurious liquor, while adding that the youth will be finished.

CHILD BEGGARS: DELHI HIGH COURT RAPS AAP GOVT

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has rapped the Delhi govt for not submitting the status report on a petition seeking direction to take steps to eradicate begging by children and related problems in and around Delhi. “The govt either doesn’t file the response, doesn’t provide a copy to the respondents or files a defective one, to delay the proceedings,” it said.

SC JUNKS PIL ON ‘WRONG HISTORICAL FACTS’ ON TAJ MAHAL

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seek ing removal of what the petitioner claimed were “wrong historical facts” related to the construc tion of the Taj Mahal from history books. This is the second such petition it has heard in the last two months. A bench asked the petitioner, “What kind of PIL is this?”

ALL SECTIONS OF PEOPLE COME OUT TO VOTE

Ahmedabad: Bedridden people, patients on oxygen support, senior citizens includ ing centenarians, and transgender persons were among those who came out to vote in the Gujarat Assembly elec tions on Monday, setting an example for others to exercise their demo cratic right. Physically challenged Ankit Soni, who was born without arms, took everyone by surprise as he used his toes to sign a form at the polling booth and push the button on the EVM in Nadiad town of Kheda district.

AAP 6-13 and others 1-2.

Republic TV P-MARQ predicted 128-148 seats for the BJP, 30-42 for the Congress-NCP, AAP 2-10 and others 0-3.

TV9 Gujarati forecast that the BJP would get 125-130 seats, CongressNCP 40-50, AAP 3-5 and others 3-7.

Congress alleges PM violated model code by taking out ‘roadshow’ during polling

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday ac cused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of vio lating the model code by taking out a “road show” before casting his vote in the second phase of polling in Gu jarat and claimed that the Election Commis sion is “afraid” to act.

Congress head of media and publicity Pawan Khera alleged inaction on the part of the Election Com mission on its com plaints over the last several weeks and said the party is deliberating on taking necessary legal measures on

the issue.

“The BJP is continu ously violating the mod el code but the EC is not

acting against them and has turned silent. It seems the EC is afraid of taking action,” he said.

PM Modi inaugurates two-day meeting at BJP headquarters

New Delhi (ANI): PM Narender Modi on Mon day inaugurated a twoday high-level meeting with officer bearers at BJP headquarters in the national capital.

The meeting is un derway at BJP head quarters. PM Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, the party’s State presidents and general secretaries are among those present at meet.

National General sec retaries Dushyant Gau tam, Bhupender Yadav, Baijant Panda, Tarun Chugh, and CT Ravi are participating in the meeting. Along with

them, UP BJP president BJP president Bhupend er Chaudhary, Uttra khand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt and other BJP state presi dents are present at the

MODI, NADDA ATTEND OPENING SESSION OF 2-DAY NAT’L MEET

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda and other leaders attended the opening ses sion of the two-day national office bearers’ meeting of the BJP at party headquarters in the national capital on Mon day. The PM arrived in the national capital after casting his vote in the Assembly elections of Gujarat.

Khera said the value of the vote of the prime minister or that of any common man is the

same. “But how is it that the PM holds a roadshow for 2.5 hours when he goes to vote,” he said.

“What are the com pulsions of the Election Commission that it can not see any violations by the prime minister,” he said.

“We have been mak ing representations to the Election Commis sion at various levels.

Every second or third day, we have made some representations or the other in Gujarat, in Del hi, but, I am afraid the Election Commission looks like it is willingly under pressure,” he told reporters.

Bypolls: SP, BJP trade charges in UP, EVM snags in Odisha

New Delhi (PTI): Mod erate polling was record ed till noon in the bypoll to six assembly constitu encies in five states and the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in UP on Monday amid complaints of glitches in EVMs and al legations by the Sama jwadi Party that the po lice and administration were preventing people from casting vote.

Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratap pur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where bypolls were held.

All eyes are on Main puri seat which was represented by SP patri arch Mulayam Singh Yadav five times in the past. The poll is a battle of prestige for Akhilesh Yadav whose wife Dim ple Yadav is contesting the polls. She is pitted against BJP’s Raghuraj Singh Shakya.

The bypoll to Main puri Lok Sabha seat is taking place due to the death of Mulayam Sin gh Yadav, while the by polls in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli were ne cessitated after SP MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini were disqualified following their convic tion in separate cases.

In Odisha’s Padam pur, over 29 per cent poll ing was recorded in the first four hours of vot ing. Odisha’s Chief Elec toral Officer SK Lohani said glitches in EVMs were reported in four booths following which the EVMs were replaced.

Congress’ new in-charges for Raj, C’garh and Haryana

New Delhi (FIB): Con gress pesident Mallikar jun Kharge appoints new in-charges for Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Haryana on Monday.

Ajay Maken has been relieved of his charge from Rajasthan at a time when the Bharat Jodo Yatra bhas entered the State. He has been re placed by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as the Rajasthan in-charge.

meeting. It is being told that in this meeting, the upcoming strategies will be discussed.

According to the sources, the review of preparations in the

states where assembly elections are going to be held next year, and vari ous organizational ac tivities from booth com mittees will also be dis cussed.

Maken had urged Kharge to relieve him of his responsibilities in the wake of a leadership tussle between CM Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy, Sachin Pilot and his failure to

POST CONG’S BHARAT JODO YATRA

hold a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Rajasthan.

Kumari Selja, has been made the new in-charge for Chhattisgarh by re lieving PL Punia. This Congress-ruled State too had seen a tussle between CM Bhupesh Baghel and minister TS Singhdeo.

Kochi: Hours after an offer made by NCP state president

Chacko, Congress MP Shashi Tha roor made it clear that he is not going to NCP. Tha roor also said there was no such matter discussed with Chacko. Tharoor reacted to Chacko’s com ment at Kochi while he was speaking to report ers. Tharoor said, “I need to be welcomed if I am going there. I am not go ing to NCP. Such matters were not discussed with PC Chacko.” On Sunday Chacko, who was in Congress for a long time welcomed Tharoor to his party at Kannur.

What will be the next course of action of RJD and Left leaders?

Shamsher Singh

New Delhi: The Left parties had opposed the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress in Kerala. Since in Kerala there is a one-on-one contest be tween the two parties and both the parties openly fight against each other, there was no question of the leaders of the Communist par ties joining Rahul Gan dhi’s visit there. But it is

not known what will be the stand of the commu nist parties going for ward. Keep in mind that there is good co-opera tion between the Con gress and the Commu nist parties and in West Bengal both fought the elections in coordina tion. In Kerala, the party usually runs according to Prakash Karat, but elsewhere Sitaram Yechury has more pow er and Rahul Gandhi

has a very good relation ship with Yechury. Only then it is being specu lated that communist leaders may also partici pate in the two-monthlong yatra.

It is being expressed that if the leaders of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal U, the al lies of the Congress in Bihar, join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, then along with them the leaders of the communist parties

can also be a part of the yatra. CPI, CPM and CPIML are part of all three Grand Alliance in Bihar. Although the MLAs of these three par ties are not part of the government, they have extended outside sup port to the government.

That’s why it is being speculated that the lead ers of the parties of the Grand Alliance may at tend the Congress rally.

However, Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar and Depu ty Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav have not yet decided in this re gard. Now the Congress yatra will remain in the state of North India and the leaders of the Con gress believe that if the leaders of RJD, JDU and Left join the yatra then there can be benefit in the election-bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattis garh.

People wait in a queue to cast their votes during the second and final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections, at a polling station in Ahmedabad on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI

PM Narendra Modi waves at supporters as he leaves after casting his vote at a polling booth during the second and final phase of Gujarat elections, at Ranip area in Ahmedabad on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI

PM Narendra Modi with BJP chief JP Nadda during party’s National Office Bearers Meeting, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and State Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav at an event, in Patna. —FILE PHOTO

I’M NOT GOING TO NCP: CONG’S SHASHI THAROOR

PC

Mallikarjun Kharge

Many CMs attend meet chaired by PM

Mamata Banerjee (WB), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Kejriwal (Delhi), Jagan Mohan Reddy (AP) and other CMs in attendance

New Delhi (PTI):

Prime Minister Naren dra Modi on Monday chaired an all-party meeting at the Rashtra pati Bhavan to solicit suggestions for the G20 summit next year.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, her Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik, Sik kim’s Prem Singh Ta mang, and Maharash tra’s Eknath Shinde at tended the meeting.

Also in attendance were Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mo han Reddy, Tamil Na du’s MK Stalin, BJP President JP Nadda, Congress President Mal likarjun Kharge, former PM H D Deve Gowda, CPI(M) general secre tary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, TDP chief Chan drababu Naidu.

Those on the govt side present at meeting in cluded Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nir mala Sitharaman, Ex ternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

At the meeting, the

Ministry of External Af fairs is expected to make a presentation about the programmes planned by the government during India's presidency of G20, sources said.

India officially as sumed the G20 presi dency on December 1.

The country is expect ed to host over 200 pre paratory meetings across the country be ginning this month. The next G20 Leaders' Sum mit at the level of heads of states or governments is scheduled to be held on September 9 and 10 next year in New Delhi.

EAM Jaishankar holds talks with German counterpart Baerbock

New Delhi (PTI): Ex ternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on Monday held wideranging talks focusing on ways to ramp up bi lateral ties, especially in areas of energy, trade and climate change.

Baerbock arrived here this morning on a two-day visit, four days after India formally took over the presiden cy of the G-20 grouping.

In a statement, Baer bock described India as Germany’s “natural partner” and that the country will have a deci sive influence in shap ing the international order in the 21st century.

“The Indian govern ment has set itself am bitious goals not only in the G20 but also at home for its own people.

When it comes to ex panding renewable en ergies, India wants to push ahead with the

energy transition more than before. Germany stands by India’s side,” Baerbock said.

“Because the dramatic effects of the climate cri sis affect us all, destroy ing livelihoods in Europe as well as in India. That we want to strengthen our economic, climate and security policy coop eration with India be yond our strategic part nership, are not empty words,” she added.

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI THANKS WORLD LEADERS FOR SUPPORTING INDIA’S G20 PRESIDENCY

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked world lead ers, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, for their support to India’s G20 Presidency. Responding to a tweet by Biden, the Prime Minister said: “Thank you @ POTUS. Your valued support will be a source of strength for India’s G-20 Presidency. It is important we all work together to build a better planet.” Respond ing to a tweet by Macron, Modi

FROM PG 1

‘political... the meeting was canceled and held at the Hyatt Hotel in San tacruz. It should be not ed that Uddhav Thack eray and Prakash Ambedkar had come together on the stage in front of the people in a program just a few days ago and at that time also, the talk of MVA uniting with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi had generated immense ‘in terest’ in the political circles of the state.

Word is that Prakash Ambedkar is ready for alliance with Shiv Sena. But whether Ambedkar is ready for alliance with UPA or not, that aspect was necessary to discuss. Not only this, NCP chief Sharad Pa war and Vanchit Agha di chief Prakash Ambedkar do not see eye to eye with each other. Political experts know, Shiv Sena had to keep this meeting confi dential because it was necessary to convince Prakash Ambedkar that MVA, Ambedkar will have to obey Sharad Pa

wrote: “Thank you, my dear friend @ EmmanuelMacron! I look forward to consulting you closely during India’s G20 Presidency, as we work to focus that affect humanity as a whole.” In response to a congratulatory tweet by Japanese Prime Min ister Fumio Kishida, Modi said: “Your solidarity is vital. Japan has contributed a lot to global confident the world learn from Japan’s various fronts.”

war’s words and his ges tures. Moreover, it was necessary for Uddhav Thackeray to know that Ambedkar would walk together in MVA and Prakash Ambedkar is still not fully agreed on this issue.

After the split in Shiv Sena, the biggest chal lenge for Uddhav Thack eray is that the politics of Maharashtra needs to be shown that Thack eray has good leader ship abilities and that although Uddhav may have suffered a political loss, but he still has a good understanding of politics. Although Thackeray knows that if his meeting with Ambedkar fails, this will be another major loss for him, politically, after the split of Shiv Sena, and hence an at tempt was made to maintain secrecy. Nota bly, Shiv Sena MP Vi nayak Raut and party secretary Milind Narvekar were also pre sent in the meeting along with Uddhav Thackeray and Prakash Bedkar.

BOOSTING TIES

Udaipur (ANI): As In dia takes over the Presi dency of Group of Twenty (G20) amid global crisis, G20 Sher pa Amitabh Kant has described this period as an “opportunity” and said the host nation will try to do everything possible to be positive and forward-looking.

“There is a lot of cri sis in the world includ ing disrupted supply chains, geopolitics, global debt, climate fi nance and other chal lenges. A crisis is an opportunity and this

(G20 presidency) is the greatest opportunity we have got. We are putting together the agenda and our leadership will be very decisive and ac tion-oriented. We will try and do everything possible to be positive and forward-looking”, said Amitabh Kant.

Talking about yester day’s event on sustain able development goals in the era of multiple crises, the G20 Sherpa added the session fo cussed on women’s leadership and climate finance.

LINGAYAT SCANDAL: MOTHER OF VICTIMS WRITES TO PREZ

Mysuru: The mother of two victims in the Lingayat Mutt sex scandal on Monday wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, mentioning that they either be given justice or granted consent for mercy killing. “Give justice or grant us mercy killing. You are the rep resentative of oppressed classes. You are like a mother to us and give us justice,” the letter read.

“Few officers have come to the conclusion that the accused seer had not done anything and it is a conspiracy by us and our children,” the letter complained.

New design of President’s Standard & Colour, and Indian Navy Crest unveiled

First India Bureau

New Delhi: President of India has approved in troduction of a new de sign for the President’s Standard and Colour and Indian Navy Crest for the Indian Navy, which were unveiled at Visakhapatnam on Navy Day on Sunday.

Resonant to the ongo ing National endeavour to move away from the colonial past, the Naval Ensign was amended to a new Design that draws inspiration from our history where in the Red Horizontal and Ver tical Lines on the White Ensign were replaced with an Blue Octagon with Twin Golden Bor ders encompassing the National Emblem atop a clear anchor and ‘Na tional Emblem ‘Satya mev Jayate’ inscribed on the stock of the An chor. Further, the Na tional Flag was retained on the upper left can ton. The erstwhile de

sign of the President’s Standard and Colour for the Indian Navy was instituted on Septem ber 6, 2017. The design comprised one each horizontal and vertical red bands intersecting at the centre and the National Emblem in serted at their intersec tion. The National Flag was at the upper left canton adjacent to the staff and a Golden Ele

“India keen to take Space cooperation with UAE”

First India Bureau

UAE: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday described India as a key Global Player in the Space sector and re iterated that under PM Narendra Modi, India is keen to take its Space cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to newer heights.

Addressing the Open ing Ceremony of the UAE summit, “Abu Dha bi Space Debate”, Dr Singh acknowledged

MoS TO INAUGURATE MEET ON “WOMEN LEADING CHANGE IN HEALTH” TODAY

phant was at the lower right canton on the fly side. This design was inspired from the erst while Naval Ensign.

The Indian Navy adopted a new Naval Ensign on September 2 this year, and the new design of the Presi dent’s Standard and President’s Colour awarded to the Indian Navy incorporates this change. The new design

of the President’s Standard and Colour comprises three main constituents - the Na tional Flag in the upper left canton adjacent to the staff, the State Em blem underscribed with ‘Satyamev Jayate’ in Golden Colour on the upper right canton on the fly side, and a Navy Blue - Gold Octa gon below the Golden State Emblem.

Several attend Kurnool meet in support of 3 Andhra capitals

Apart from Sheikh Mo hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of Is rael, Isaac Herzog, and Diplomats from several countries attended the opening ceremony.

the presence of the UAE President, Sheikh Mo hamed Bin Zayed at the Opening Ceremony and conveyed PM Modi’s

warm greetings to him and the people of UAE.

Dr Singh is leading the Indian delegation at the 2-day international meet.

He greeted the UAE people on the occasion of 51 years of formation of this country on behalf of India. He said, another laudable achievement for the UAE this year is completion of the silver jubilee of its space odys sey with several golden milestones.

Kurnool (Agencies): Thousands of people participated in the ‘See ma Garjana’ (Roar of Rayalaseema) in Kur nool district of Andhra Pradesh in support of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government’s plan to build three state capitals.

After ‘Visakha Gar jana’ that was held last month, the supporters of three capitals organ ised a massive public meeting addressed by some state ministers and leaders of the rul ing party.

from different parts of Rayalaseema region attended the ‘Seema Garjana’ organ ised by the Joint Action Committee comprising groups

MoS Dr Jitendra Singh addressing the Opening Ceremony of the UAE summit “Abu Dhabi Space Debate”, on Monday.

New Delhi: Union Minister of State (MoS) (Indepen dent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh will inaugurate a con ference titled, “Women Leading Change in Health and Science in India” in New Delhi on Tuesday. Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Melinda French Gates, Co-chair and Trustee Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Amie Batson, Executive Director, WomenLift Health will also address the conference.

IMD ISSUES RED ALERT FOR 13 TN DISTRICTS ON DEC 8 Chennai: The Indian Me teorological Department on Monday issued a red alert for 13 districts of Tamil Nadu on December 8. This warning comes following the possibility of heavy rains in these districts. The districts that were issued red alert are Villupuram, Chen galpattu, Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, Perambalur, Chennai, Kallakurichi, districts of Tamil Nadu.

President Droupadi Murmu unveils President’s Standard and Colour and Indian Navy Crest for the Indian Navy, at Visakhapatnam on Navy Day on Sunday.

EAM S Jaishankar with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

People

supporting de centralisation.

Our G20 Presidency will be positive, forward-looking, says Sherpa Amitabh Kant

G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant (centre) with Sherpas of various nations, in Udaipur on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends G20 All-Party Meeting, in New Delhi on Monday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other dignitaries also seen. —PHOTO BY ANI

TATA MOTORS LIKELY TO HIKE

DUE TO STRONG DEMAND

Services PMI hits 3-month high in Nov

New Delhi (PTI): Tata Motors is looking to in crease passenger vehicle prices from next month in order to make its model range compliant with stricter emission norms which kick in from April 1 next year. TaMo MD - PVs and EVs Shailesh Chandra said the price revision would also offset the im pact of commodity prices, which have remained high for the most part of the year. He noted that even the battery prices have gone up and the same has not been passed on to the market.

L&T BAGS LARGE ORDER IN BULLET TRAIN PROJECT

New Delhi (PTI): India’s services sector output growth touched a threemonth high in November as business inflows rose markedly amid accommo dative demand conditions, a monthly survey said on Monday.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity In dex rose from 55.1 in Octo ber to 56.4 in November, indicating a sharp increase in output that was the quickest in three months even amid higher operating expenses.

Survey participants linked the latest expansion to demand strength, suc cessful marketing and a

sustained upturn in sales. For the 16th straight month, the headline figure

India records over 23 bn digital payments

First India Bureau

New Delhi (PTI): Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Monday said it has bagged another “large” order in the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bul let train project from the National High-Speed Rail Corporation. The project involves commissioning of a depot spread over around 82 hectares in Gu jarat. Though the engi neering and construction giant did not reveal the worth of the order,it is as sumed that it is in the range of `2,500 crore to `5,000 crore.

DISCOMS AT&C

LOSSES DOWN TO 17% IN FY22

New Delhi: India logged 23.06 billion digital trans actions worth ` 38.3 lakh crore in the third quarter of FY23, stated a report on Monday. These digital transactions include pay ment done by Unified Pay ments Interface (UPI), deb it and credit cards, prepaid payment instruments like mobile wallets, and pre paid cards. The UPI related transactions clocked over 19.65 billion transactions in volume and ` 32.5 lakh crore in terms of value. The UPI transactions vol

ume and value almost dou bled since last year as it recorded about an 88% in crease in volume and over 71% increase in value in Q3 as compared to the same quarter last year.

The top three UPI apps in terms of volume and value were PhonePe, Goog le Pay and Paytm Pay ments Bank App.

“Indian

RBI’s MPC starts deliberations

Mumbai (PTI): The Re serve Bank’s rate-setting panel on Monday started brainstorming for the next round of monetary policy amid expectations of a moderate interest rate hike of 25-35 basis points as in flation has started showing signs of easing and eco nomic growth tapering.

The RBI has hiked key benchmark lending rate by 50 bps thrice since June.

RBI Governor Shakti kanta Das would be an nouncing the bi-monthly monetary policy on Wednesday (December 7) on the conclusion of the three-day of Monetary Pol icy Committee (MPC) meet.

Air India to lease 12 more aircraft

New Delhi (PTI): Aggre gate technical and com mercial (AT&C) losses of power distribution utilities declined to 17% in 202122 from 22% in the previ ous year. Reduction in AT&C losses improves fi nances of utilities (dis coms), enabling them to better maintain the sys tem and buy power as per requirement and benefit the consumers, a power ministry statement said. The AT&C loss and ACSARR (Average Cost of Supply-Average Realizable Revenue) gap are key in dicators of discoms’ per formance.

TOTAL ELECTRICITY VOLUME TRADE ON IEX GROWS

9%

Mumbai (FIB): Air India on Monday said it will lease 12 more aircraft compris ing both A320 neo and Boe ing 777, which are expected to be inducted in its exist ing fleet in the first half of 2023.

The new planes will be deployed on the airline’s short, medium and longhaul international routes, Air India said in a state ment.

Air India said it has leased 42 aircraft since its privatisation in January this year.

Of the 12 new leased planes, six are wide-body Boeing 777-300ER, while the remaining six are nar row-body Airbus A320 neo, as per the statement.

The airline in Sept this

IndiGo announces 32 new flights

New Delhi (FIB): IndiGo has announced 32 new con necting flights to Europe through its codeshare partner ship with Turkish Airlines. Effective December 07, the new routes include several major destinations including Milan, Manchester, Birmingham, Rome, and Venice. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.

year announced that it will be adding 30 leased aircraft -- 21 A320, 4 A321 and 5 B777-200LR in its fleet over

OXFAM INDIA REPORT

New Delhi (PTI): The total electricity trade volume on IEX has registered a 9% year-on-year growth to 7,392 million units (MU) in Nov 2022. The overall consumption of energy has grown 13% y-o-y to 113 billion units (BU) dur ing November 2022. “The total electricity volume traded in November was 7,392 MU, an increase of 9% on YoY,” it said. How ever, the overall electricity trade volume including the Green Power trade and RECs stood at 7,764 MU in November 2022, a fall of 16% y-o-y, it said.

TOP TALKING POINTS

z The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 55.1 in October to 56.4 in November, indicating a sharp increase in output that was the quickest in three months.

month of 2022 showing fast er increase in new business and output,” said Pollyan na De Lima, Economics As sociate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence on Monday.

On the Jobs front, sus tained expansions in new work intakes and demand buoyancy continued to pro

z On the Jobs front, sustained expansions in new work intakes and demand buoyancy continued to promote job creation in service economy.

z On the prices front, services companies across India reported higher operating expenses.

mote job creation in the service economy.

On the prices front, ser vices companies across In dia reported higher operat ing expenses. In addition to greater transportation costs, firms reported high er prices for energy, food, packaging, paper, plastic and electrical products.

Markets settle on flat note; Sensex declines 34 points

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark indices ended on a flat note on Monday, with the BSE Sensex fall ing nearly 34 points, re cording its second day of decline after an eight-day rally.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE benchmark dipped 33.9 points or 0.05% to settle at 62,834.60. During the day, it fell 360.62 points or 0.57% to 62,507.88.

The broader NSE Nifty eked out marginal gains and ended 4.95 points or 0.03% higher at 18,701.05.

Among the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Tech

Meta-Airtel to invest in telecom infrastructure

Mahindra, UltraTech Ce ment, Dr Reddy’s, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards.

Tata Steel, NTPC, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Power Grid were among the winners.

OTHER STORIES

AFFORDABILITY LEVEL IN TOP 7 HOUSING MARKET DIPS IN 2022

a 15-months period, amid its plan to have 30% share in both domestic and inter national markets.

New Delhi (PTI): Social media giant Meta Plat forms and Bharti Airtel on Monday announced a col laboration to jointly invest in telecom infrastructure to cater to the rising de mand of high speed data and digital services in In dia. The announcement comes on the back of tele com operators’ demand to share revenue with service providers to build networks.“Airtel and Meta will jointly invest in global connectivity infrastruc ture and CPaaS based newage digital solutions to sup port the emerging require ments of customers and enterprises in India.”

WOMEN LAGGING DUE TO DIGITAL DIVIDE

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The percent age of men owning phones in India is as high as 61% while only 31% of womenowned phones in 2021, ac cording to a new report, which claimed that coun try’s growing inequalities based on caste, religion, gender, class, and geo graphic location are being worryingly replicated in the digital space.

Oxfam India’s latest ‘In dia Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide’ report said on Monday that the reach of digital technologies re

mains limited to largely male, urban, upper-caste, and upper-class house holds and individuals. “8%

of the SC

MAJOR FINDINGS

New Delhi (PTI): Affordability level to buy housing properties is estimated to have declined this year across seven major cities due to rise in mortgage and property rates, property consultant JLL India said.

Affordability index in all seven cities, except Mumbai, is in comfortable zone. Kol kata, Pune and Hyderabad are expected to remain the most affordable. Kolkata, with an estimated value of 193, is the most affordable market.

have it. The report analy ses primary data from the CMIE household survey from Jan 2018 to Dec 2021.

`

FALLS 47 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.80 AGAINST $

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee pared its initial gains to settle down by 47 paise at 81.80 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday weighed down by weak domestic markets and rise in crude oil prices. Forex traders said a weak dollar in the overseas market cushioned the downside for the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.26, but pared the gains and ended at 81.80, down 47 paise over its previous close. During the day, the local unit witnessed an intraday high of 81.25 and a low of 81.82.

INDIA’S HIRING ACTIVITY GROWS 27% IN NOVEMBER 2022

New Delhi (FIB): India’s job market rebounded to the prefestive levels in November registering a growth of 27% monthon-month, said the Naukri JobSpeak index. The annual growth rate stood at 43%. This can be attributed to the post-festive recovery. The Insurance sector witnessed a robust growth of 42% fol lowed by Banking and Real Estate sectors which recorded a 34% and 31% growth respectively.

GOVT TAKING STEPS TO MAKE INDIAN MSMEs STRONGER, GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE: MINISTER

New Delhi (PTI): Micro, small and medium enterprises are among the most important pillars of India’s economy and the govern ment is working to make the sector stronger and more developed, MoS for MSME Bhanu Pratap Verma said.

“We will also work to ensure that interrelationship between the MSME sector and other important pillars of the Indian economy are further strengthened as India grows,” the minister said. He urged the industry and other stakeholders to work with the government to make India a $5 trillion economy along with becoming self-reliant.

INDIA’S E-VEHICLE REVOLUTION COULD BEAR FRUIT BY 2030

New Delhi (FIB): A private consumer expectation survey on Monday showed that around 66% of Indians said that electric vehicles will surpass petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The survey, conducted by ACKO and YouGov India, also showed that a majority of In dian consumers, around 57%, want to invest in EVs because of their practical benefits while 56% want to purchase an EV because it is good for the environment.

CANARA BANK HIKES DAILY DEBIT CARD

TRANSACTION LIMIT

New Delhi (FIB): Canara Bank has announced a revision in its daily debit card transac tion limit for ATM cash withdrawals, Point of Sale (POS) and e-commerce transactions for its customers with immediate effect. The daily ATM cash withdrawal cap for Classic Debit Card has been raised from `40,000 to `75,000. The POS limit for these cards would increase from the present limit of `1,00,000 to `2,00,000 per day.

was above the neutral 50 threshold.

service providers continued to reap

the benefits of strong do mestic demand, with PMI data for the penultimate

& Editor-in-Chief, First India

HC ISSUES NOTICES ON PLEA FOR SUBURBAN INCINERATOR PLANT SHIFT

IN VIOLATION

Indian Army recruitment rally to be held

from Dec 6-11

Pune (PTI) : The re cruitment rally for the Agniveer general duty (women military po lice) will be held at BEG Centre in Kirkee from December 6 to 11, an of ficial said on Monday.

The main aim of the rally is to give women from Maharashtra, Gu jarat, Goa, and Daman an opportunity to be screened into the Indi an Army thereby giving them a chance to serve the nation, a Defence release said.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Mon day directed the state government, Maha rashtra Pollution Con trol Board (MPCB), and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corpora tion (BMC) on a peti tion seeking the shift ing of the incinerator plant from suburban Govandi due to the re lease of toxic gases.

A division bench com prising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Jus tice Abhay Ahuja said the public interest litiga tion (PIL) filed by resi dents of Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society, comprising residents of the area, has raised seri ous concerns.

The petitioners de manded the permanent closure of the plant and

Concerns expressed in the PIL are serious. We are of the view that this PIL ought to be heard with the other petition (raising simi lar concerns). Matter posted on January 16, 2023. Respondents can file reply affidavits by then.

its relocation to a place at least 500 m away from their locality in Govandi in a time-bound manner.

The petition also re quested imposition of appropriate environ mental compensation on the company operat ing the plant, SMS Envoclean Pvt Ltd, for failing to adhere to the bio-medical waste man agement rules.

The petitioners’ advo cate Zaman Ali told the HC the number of

Crash cushion installed at Cyrus Mistry accident spot

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Nation al Highways Authori ty of India (NHAI) has installed impact attenuator, also known as crash cush ions, at the spot where industrialist Cyrus Mistry’s car met with an accident.

Although a case of overspeeding was filed against the driver of the vehicle, NHAI has im plicitly accepted the flaw in their design with this step. Now, the NHAI is planning to install

similar safety measures on other river bridges.

A crash cushion ab sorb the energy and can redirect colliding vehi cle. It protects vehicles from damage when they collide with a structure and can potentially save the lives.

—Bombay High Court

tuberculosis cases in the vicinity has risen sharply due to the toxic emissions.

“Concerns expressed in the PIL are serious. We are of the view that this PIL ought to be heard with the other pe tition (raising similar concerns). Matter post ed on January 16, 2023.

Respondents can file reply affidavits by then,” said the bench.

The petition referred to a notice issued by the

MPCB issuing the clo sure directions to the plant. The notice was challenged by the com pany in the HC and the effect of the order had been stayed in 2019.

In their petition, the Govandi New Sangam Welfare Socie ty stated the operation of the plant commenced in 2009 sans any envi ronmental clearance and conducting an environmental impact assessment.

Prospective candi dates will be screened over the next three to four days, it added.

Candidates will have to undergo a physical, and medical exam and take a common en trance exam as part of the selection process. Only candidates who are found physically and medically fit can take the written exam, the release said. The final selection will be based on merit and thereafter, they will be called to join the In dian Army in the Corps of Military Police as Agniveers, it stated.

Based on doctor’s report, Kurla police find the woman had lied about rape; cops uncover drug trade involvement

Sandeep Shukla

found to be a untrue, said an official.

After filing the FIR against the woman, the cops initiated a search for the ‘victim’ who has reportedly gone miss ing. The Mumbai police has taken the step on the basis of doctor’s reports which state that the woman was neither raped nor her private parts were found with burn marks, as claimed by her in the FIR.

registering the FIR, the cops have initiated a search for the woman and the buyers.

According to the FIR, the woman was in volved in trade of drugs. Moreover, the woman’s claim of being raped, has also been

Elgar Parishad accused Navlakha’s partner surrenders liquor, cigarettes

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Elgar Pari shad-Maoist links case accused Gautam Nav lakha’s partner Sahba Husain has surren dered liquor bottles and cigarette packets to police at the place where the former is under house arrest.

The National Investi gation Agency (NIA) had raised an objection over such items brought to the premises, said an of ficial on Monday.

On November 19,

70-year-old Navlakha was released from pris on and taken to the house in Belapur-Agroli area of neighbouring Navi

BHARAT JODO YATRA’S

Mumbai

two liquor

bottles and cigarettes for personal consumption, said the official.

She had declared her purchases to NIA offi cials when they came for a search. She had told agency sleuths that the items were for her con sumption and not for Navlakha, who neither consumes liquor nor smokes.

The NIA sleuths, how ever, took objection to the items and hence, those were given into the custody of CBD Belapur police, he said.

The FIR, a copy of which is with First In dia, states that the FIR has been registered against the woman and her clients and after

Notably, the matter came to light when three men were booked, on Sunday, for gang rape of a 42-year-old woman after the trio al legedly broke into her home in Mumbai’s Kur la area, attacked her with a sharp weapon and burnt her with cig arettes on her private parts in the early hours of last Wednesday.

15 students injured in bus crash near Lohagad fort

First India Bureau

Mumbai: As many as 15 students and two caretakers accompa nying them were in jured when their bus fell in a ghat section near Lohagad hill fort in the state’s Pune dis trict, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday evening when the students of a tuition class centre from Pen town in Raigad district and their caretakers were returning after pic nicking at the fort.

The accident took place at 4 pm in Dudhiware Pass.

l RaGa says, there is a magic and no fatigue in the Bharat Jodo Yatra l Rahul Gandhi becomes messiah for poor family, brings a literal ‘Diwali’ to their home!

Rahul Gandhi charged at BJP on several is sues including reli gion, demonetisation and GST. “I want to ask the BJP that earlier there was a slogan Jai Siyaram. Without Sita there is no Ram and without Ram there is no Sita.

Rahul Gandhi, CM Ashok Gehlot, KC Venugopal, Govind Singh Dotasra, Sachin Pilot, Jitendra Singh, Pratap

l Rahul began Rajasthan leg of his Yatra from Jhalawar l 89th day of BJY started from Kali Talai in Jhalrapa tan, on Rajasthan-MP border

Rahul was comfortable walking in a half sleeves T-shirt,

Rahul sipped his morning tea at a dhaba in Jhalawar

yatris will prove to be assets. Peo ple from all over the world including UAE and Belgium are in volved in the yatra and thus this yatra is impor tant for the whole world and for democracy. The atmosphere in the coun try is against the poli

of the central gov ernment. The Yatra is taking place at a time when the whole country is worried,” he said.

Div bench seeks replies of Maha govt, MPCB and Mumbai civic body; takes cognizance of ‘serious concerns’

town to be kept under house arrest for a month. Husain, who is staying with Navlakha, had brought

The house where Navlakha has been kept under house arrest in Mumbai. —FILE PHOTO

CEO

Mumbai: In what could be termed as a complete U-turn in the shocking case of gang rape of a Mum bai woman by three men at knife-point, the Mumbai police on Monday, instead of catching the ac cused men, filed a First Information Re port (FIR) against the alleged victim.

89TH DAY: FIRST DAY

Deeply impressed by Bharat yatris, they will be an asset, says Gehlot

Jhalawar: On Monday, the first day of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Ra jasthan, Congress lead er Rahul Gandhi lashed out at BJP and RSS. The yatra reached Chandrabhaga inter section of Jhalrapatan at 6 pm. While address ing the Nukkad Sabha,

Singh Khachariyawas, Lalchand Kataria, Krishna Poonia, Rajendra Singh Gudha, Vaibhav Gehlot and others walk as the Rajasthan leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra starts from Nahardi area, Jhalawar on Monday.

MAJOR HAPPENINGS

l Gandhi set off the yatra at 6.10 am when temperature was 13 degrees Celsius

l

trousers and sports shoes

l

l

Rahul ji is main yatri & this is not a yatra to win polls; rather yatra issues are related to common people, hence it is getting immense support here

Jhalawar: Amid Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing “Bharat Jodo Yatra” that is passing through Rajasthan, CM Ashok Gehlot held a presser on Monday in Jhalawar and claimed that he was extremely impressed with the yatris.

“These

cies

“Bharat Jodo Yatra is not a journey of any one person. Rahul ji is the main yatri of this yatra.

Rahul Gandhi, CM Ashok Gehlot and others during yatra on Monday.

The Yatra is covered by First India reporting team, Aditi Nagar, Yogesh Sharma, Bhanwar S Charan, Dimple Sharma, Tripti Gautam and Arif Mansoori and Photojournalist Santosh Sharma

op smiles out of a situation that makes us weep. My hobbies in clude cooking, sketching, art and craft, decor etc which are the best ways I use to express myself none of my strongest sides be sides my interests I am a great listener and I believe that I am kind, punctual and ambitious and love animals a lot.”

WThe stunning beauty is cur rently learning fashion de sign from JD institute of fash ion technology Bangalore.

Like every other dreamer this fighter has also faced many barriers, speaking more about it she said, “I lost my mother when I was 18 and that made me even stronger spiritually mentally and emo tionally to face any kind of situ ation in life also I come from an orthodox Brahmin family which always had certain set backs like how one must be in terms of education and career, but my passion made them feel something about the decision that I took and they started sup porting me for what I’m doing today.” The diva continued, “I have been body shamed a lot for being lean and at the same time appreciated for the beautiful facial features that I have so

sometimes it feels strange to live in society as such but I be lieve that one must embrace our flaws too and I believe in myself and self-confidence is something that can never shake me from anything that takes place in life.”

While sharing about the most memorable moment, she said, “First India Queen has really given wings to my dreams and I am very thankful to Dr Jadeesh Chandra sir for provid ing me with this golden oppor tunity.”

“I believe that one must embrace our flaws too,” said Bhanushree, one of the finalists of First India Queen, as she shares her inspiring journey with City First!

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

DR DEEP NARAYAN PANDEY Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) Aranya Bhawan

Many friends and col leagues frequently ask me what I will do after my retirement from the Indian Forest Service. There have also been ques tions about the fundamen tal priorities before super annuation. I have, almost always, evaded these ques tions. Here, I address these now.

It shouldn’t be a sur prise that there are many people who can do many things equally proficient ly. They can be farmers, teachers, managers, regu lators, scientists, journal ists, authors, drug devel opers, and many more. To be extraordinary, however, they must cover a little ex tra beyond those ordinary miles. Why and how such a feat materialises is com plicated to communicate in words. You have to live and work with them to dis cern the novel insights of their journey. On the face of it, the struggle is nei ther surprising nor a se cret. It takes a fire perpet ually burning within. It takes every minute of a life well invested. It re quires tossing away a mindset of narrow em phasis on income or wealth. Indeed, human flourishing demands much more and provides more abundantly than our imagination. It takes great mental and physical health. It embodies a ro bust meaning and durable purpose, character and virtue, and resilient social relationships. It requires wisdom that in turn yields happiness, life satisfac tion and well-being.

As with everyone else, I would continue to grow wisdom—a substantial de terminant of human flourishing. This wisdom is expected to continue to keep me happy because wisdom is the mother of happiness. Wisdom is a holistic, multidimension al personality trait associ ated with greater well-be ing, satisfaction with life, and overall better health and happiness. I have dis covered and followed sev eral mechanisms to be come wiser. First, pro-so cial behaviors, empathy, compassion, altruism, and a sense of fairness to all.

Second, emotional regula tion, self-control and be ing oneself even when provoked. Third, self-re flection, personal insights, and learning. Fourth, ac ceptance of divergent per spectives and tolerance of different view-point. Fifth is decisiveness or the abil ity to make timely and ef fective decisions even un der uncertainty. Sixth, a general knowledge of life and social decision-mak ing, and finally, a mindset that embraces spirituality in daily life. I have also be lieved very strongly, and continue to act accord ingly, that nothing is un achievable for those who have scholarship, thought fulness, wisdom, atten tiveness, diligence and ac

FLOURISHING BEYOND WOODS AND WORDS!

ues to be my passion. I can also work as a journalist in a cutting-edge media house—print, electronic, and social included. Jour nalism has been my first job way back in 1975 or so!

As a forester, I can help protect, manage, restore and rewild forests and pro tected areas. It is possible because this beautiful pro cess of learning and con tribution has been a major part of my life. Apart from improving the health of the ecosystems, I can also facilitate the improve ment of the health of peo ple by designing drugs and providing preventive strategies that can save humanity from some of the worst ailments. Again, I will not need to learn the whole process all over again. I have already done that parallel to numerous other activities that I not ed here.

I would be happy to im prove the environmental governance, environmen tal compliance, and regu latory environment with in any corporate house such that they are able to adhere to all the manda tory regulations required to have complied, plus nu merous proactive steps that can provide an edge to the business over competi tors.

Let us now move on to priorities. After a satisfy ing career in various posi tions in the Indian Forest Service, the five priorities, apart from routine works, set soon after taking on as the Principle Chief Con servator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) are now getting accomplished.

tion. I continue to be deep ly aware of the fact that really wise people rarely get drunk with wisdom!

Pseudo-wise is another lot. In a nutshell, this mindset weighs a few smiles much more than millions of dollars in the pocket. This has made me what I am. This has given me what I have.

I am someone who was born in a remote village nestled amidst rivers and hills. Obviously, it re quired learning survival strategies to face the va garies and beauty of the inhospitable landscape. One must be a farmer, a labourer, or an ordinary human being willing to acquire traditional skills for survival. No wonder then, given the necessity, I can do farming in my farmlands. I can construct a village pond and grow water chestnuts for liveli hoods. I can also help you cross a rapidly flowing river in the boat that I built. I can also raise a mango orchard for the benefit of generations of humans, birds, insects and other life forms. I

could construct a mud house and practice animal husbandry with equal

ease. I can do a lot more, not because I am willing to learn everything afresh

but because I have already done all these to survive in my village before I left for wilder grounds. All along, I have never forgotten that knowledge is great but do ing is greater still.

In another parallel, soon after my retirement in May 2023, I can teach to facilitate learning of Ayurveda that I learnt be fore the age of 18. I can also take on teaching Ya jurveda chanting to a brand-new generation of youth. Teaching forestry, environmental govern ance and sustainability science at some of the

best-known institutions worldwide is always avail able to me. Again, all this will be possible not be cause I am willing to learn afresh, but because I have already done that by tak ing numerous detours from the Indian forest ser vice.

I have been a professor earlier, and even today I continue to be a visiting professor at the National Institute of Ayurveda. I would be happy to take on a few more such assign ments from among many that I am invited to. It is this group of activities where one can raise the skills of someone else to bring a smile and to make them more worthwhile to society.

No gift is greater than the gift of knowledge! I would always love to work as a scientist once again in the world’s best institu tions working on forest and livelihoods, forest gov ernance, and environmen tal regulations. Doing work on the ground as well as producing new knowledge based on expe rience and science contin

One, with a large num ber of posts vacant, Forest Department was working with almost half the num ber of officials in the field. We have recruited and will now have all the posts filled to work full throttle for the next decade. Two, field staff remained de prived of their promotions for 3-4 years for a variety of reasons. The process has been completed, except for one rank that is soon going to be accomplished. Three, through new exter nally aided projects, we will have a resource of 3600 to 4500 crore rupees to in vest in the protection of forests, wildlife and biodi versity, mitigation and ad aptation to climate change, and improvement of liveli hoods of the local commu nities. Four, good imple mentation is a knowledgeintensive journey that re quires a robust evidence base. We have generated and provided cutting-edge scientific and experiential knowledge for restoration and rewilding.

Implemented is now on throughout the State. At least 10 new conservation reserves, another leopard reserve, and one new tiger reserve have become a real ity. Another Tiger Reserve may soon become a reality. Thus, Forest Department will have forest force, re sources and knowledge to work over the next 10 years that coincide with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Res toration (2021-2030). The fifth priority remains to be realized, but there are six months to concentrate on. Hopefully, with the support of the Government of Ra jasthan, and facilitation by colleagues in the Govern ment and Forest Depart ment, we should be able to resolve several long-pend ing legitimate demands of staff and officials in the field.

This is what I love to call flourishing beyond woods and words. We shall meet again!

(Dr. Deep Narayan Pandey is in the Indian Forest Service; was awarded the highest national honour in forestry—the IPVM Award for the year 1994 and; the Dhanvantari Award of the Department of Ayurveda, Government of Rajasthan for his contributions to Ayurveda. He has more than 38 years of experience working with national and international organizations.) The views expressed here are personal and driven by the principle of the Global Common Good. They do not in any way represent the views of the institution or service to which the author belongs.

Sridevi's comedy timing praised!

ll eyes are on Vicky, Kiara and Bhumi ever since their film Go vinda Naam Mera has been an nounced. A lot of hype has been created about the film ever since the trailer has been released. Well, fans are eagerly waiting to see the film which is re leasing on Decem ber 16. Some ac tors have carved a niche for themselves for their comic sense and have become synonymous with the title, inspiring several ac tors in the process. The lead ing ladies of the film Kiara and Bhumi in an exclusive inter view admired late actress Sridevi’s comic timing. In the opinion of Bhumi Pednekar, Sridevi is the pinnacle of female comedians. She was really amazing; some of her best performances took place when she tried hu mour, and I got a lot of inspi ration from her.

While Kiara believes, "I just adore her comedy timing. I believe she injected such enthusiasm and vig our into every scene that featured comic relief, and she would make every circum stance so pleasurable. Her on-screen per formance is such a delight to see."

Nora Fatehi's appreciation post

Nora Fatehi is not just a Bol lywood super star but has now made a mark on the global stage. Re cently, she gave a mag netic performance at a fan festival of the FIFA World Cup 2022 which took the internet by storm. Soon after this

post her performance at the festival. For the unaware, Nora danced to her Light The Sky anthem at FIFA World Cup 2022 and the lyrics of the song contain some verses in Hindi as well.

On Sunday, Nora dropped an apprecia

tion post for her team who helped her deliver such a power-packed performance at a fan festival of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Tak ing to Instagram, she dropped glimpses of Behind-The-Scenes preparations and cap tioned, “My Team Good, We Don’t Really

Shehnaaz Gill "Ghani Syaani"

hen Shehnaaz Gill and rap per MC Square recently revealed that they would be working together on the Haryanvi music video Ghani Syaani, the announcement went viral online. Later, it was also made known that Shehnaaz would be performing a Hary anvi rap in this music video. With the caption "Forget your Monday Blues with Ghani Syaani, out now with @mcs quare7000 on @playdm fofficial YouTube Chan nel.," Shehnaaz posted a photo of Ghani Syaani on her Instagram account today.

HANSIKA'S Mehendi look

Hansika Motwani tied the knot with her busi ness partner and longtime boyfriend Sohael Khaturiya on December 4 at Mundota Fort and Palace in Jaipur. Hansika's wedding was every bit a grand affair. From floral decor to Bollywood-style sangeet night and Mehendi ceremony, the festivities were brought to life with whimsical arrangements.

For her Mehendi ceremony, Hansika Motwani decided to go for a less-is-more approach that had intricate details with a simple look. She wore an Aseem Kapoor label fronted by the duo Aseem Kapoor and Pooja Haldar for her special day. One can see, Hansika sporting a relaxed-fit short kurti teamed with drape

trousers. The detailing in trib al tassel and pearl on the front neck gave a perfect bo hemian touch.

The cowry shells and dhoti style trousers were a BOMB!

Beauty-wise, she kept it sim ple with hair tied in a po

Priyanka stuns in a yellow bikini

Priyanka Chopra always leaves her fans stunned with her acting skills and fantastic work. She enjoys a massive fan following and every now and then, Priyanka up dates fans with her daily routine on social media. After attending the Red Sea Interna tional Film Festival she took to her Instagram handle and shared a glimpse of her fun-filled weekend in Dubai. In her caption, Priyanka wrote: "Weekend vibes." In the photos, Priyanka can be seen wearing a yellow strapless swimsuit as she lounged on a yacht. While the second photo features the Barfi actress enjoying her champagne amidst the view of the city skyline, dressed in a white and pink striped T-shirt. She also shared a video of herself where she is seen jet skiing at high speed.

SHANAYA'S denim game

roof that a denim jumpsuit can get double the vote. Now, this is what we call the coolest casual outfit. In our years of tracking the old or new fash ion findings, we've understood that it's extremely easy for a stylish and trendy ensemble to get all the attention. Just like how Shanaya gave a very similar-look ing onesie their liking in 2022. We woke up to the latter's look this morning who wore it last night and we were instant ly reminded of how the former rocked Missing out on details isn't a Sha naya thing. With the look of her ac cessory, a red Prada Rs. 2.12 Lakh shoulder bag and her tight-fitted en semble looked all the fun. We're all for embracing the bold here but the 23-year-old's white doublestrapped footwear isn't look ing in sync with her over all look according to us. She tied her hair into a low ponytail, and put on lipstick to

Shanaya Kapoor

Hansika during her mehendi ceremony

Priyanka Chopra

Her post...

Shehnaaz Gill

Nora Fatehi

Kiara Advani

Bhumi Pednekar

Hansika Motwani

Karan Tacker’s gratitude for real IPS Amit Lodha

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

Currently ruling Netf lix by emerging amongst the top trending shows in not just India but also globally, Karan Tacker starrer Khakee: The Bi har Chapter is being praised across all quarters for the act and realistic portrayal of a police officer.

Tracing the story of a young, earnest and dutiful po lice officer, Karan Tacker's character Amit Lodha is based on the real-life of IPS Amit Lodha. Expressing his gratitude towards the inspira tional story and the guidance and support through Karan's journey to play his part, the actor penned a heartwarming post for the real IPS Amit Lodha.

Posting a picture of the reel

and the real Amit Lodha, Karan Tacker said, "I wanna take this moment to thank the man who made it possible. Had it not been for his strug gles, we would have not had a show to make. IPS Amit Lod ha, thank you for your efforts, and for the life, you lived, that I got to emulate your life on celluloid. I’m forced indebted to you sir, not only as an actor but also as a citizen, who feels safe and secure because of men and women like you in uniform. Jai Hind !"

Karan Tacker dis played his commit ment and dedica tion to his craft by transform ing himself mentally as well as physically to fit into the role. From gaining weight and sporting a

moustache, to learning and acing the mannerisms of a police officer, set in the early 2000s of Bihar, Karan left no stone unturned to slip into the skin of his character. From playing the chocolate boy on television to excelling in content-driven roles on the OTT, Karan Tacker has scaled an impressive journey. By choosing the right projects, the actor is widening the spec trum of his versatility, gar nering appreciation from the audience and critics

Set in Bihar, Kha kee: The Bihar Chapter is a crime drama tracing the world of crime based on true events from the first half of the 2000s.

Portraying the cop v/s gangster tiff, the show features Karan Tacker as the police officer while Avinash Tiwary plays the gangster.

Marriage on cards for KARTIK AARYAN

One of the most gifted perform ers working in movies now is Kartik Aaryan. The Pyaar Ka Punchnama actor has elevated himself to the status of one of India's most bankable performers thanks to the success of his most recent film and his wide spread appeal. Cur rently, Kartik is enjoy

front, many people are curious about Kartik's love life.

In a recent inter view, Kartik revealed his wedding inten tions and claimed that his family has not yet put any pressure on him to get hitched. His mother does not want him to become sidetracked, therefore

she wants him to work for the next three to four years before he plans to settle down." I’m also focusing on my work currently.

Thankfully, there’s no pressure from them yet. Having said that, there’s room for love in my life,” he said.

Sara Ali Khan and Kartik previously had a relationship.

The two even worked together on Love Aaj Kal, a 2020 release from Imtiaz Ali. They allegedly split up just before the movie's premiere.

On the professional front, Kartik will next be seen in Shehzada, the Hindi version of Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde's Telugu block buster Ala Vai kunthapurra muloo. Kriti Sanon also ap pears in Shehza da. On February 10, 2023, it is scheduled to pre miere in theatres.

Actress Nargis Fakhri is all set to charm us again in the up coming music video of ‘Fayaah Fayaah’ along side Guru Randhawa.

The music video is shot in the scenic beauty of Bulgaria. Set to release on December 7 2022, the peppy track is from Gu ru’s recent album ‘Man of the Moon’ which is already standing tall on music charts.

With much adula tion on audio tracks, the singer is set to drop a music video along with the talent house Nargis Fakhri. The vo cals, music and lyrics

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On the work front, Kangana Ranaut will be next seen in Tejas. She will also play the former prime minister Indira Gandhi in Emergency.

Well, the news of the hour has to be ace singer Tulsi Kumar and International artist KiDi’s speculative con versation through their Insta gram stories. The two starting to follow each other and shar ing each other’s content on sto ries is definitely hinting to wards an epic collaboration between the two!

While KiDi shared a reel of Tulsi’s recent hit number ‘Killer Haseena’ saying “Whoa that's a killer song @tulsikumar15, you have to teach me these steps”, she replied thank you with a follow back to him.

That’s not all, Tulsi Kumar later took KiDi's track 'Cham pagne' on her Instagram sto ry by saying “Hooked to this one! Let's jam and groove to gether soon?” to which he

event is about how peo ple should step out and meet friends, watch new things and enjoy, rather than just watch things on their mobile at home. The event is allowing people to enjoy and spend a good weekend outside their homes. Malad Masti is not just an entertainment event but a means to connect entertainment and fami lies and bring awareness.

MLA Aslam Shaikh said that the main aim and message of the event this year revolves around child abuse. It is important that people are made aware and children should be pro tected against evil forc es. Kajol and Vishal Jethwa came to promote their film Salaam Ven ky. Ali Asgar, Chinki Minki, Raghav Juyal, and Remo D'souza inter acted with the crowd at the event.

Malad Masti, an event that was attended by many celebs like Kajol, Vishal Jethva , Remo D'souza, Raghav Juyal, Ali Asgar, Chinki Minki, Ridhimi Tiwari , Dr Anil Murarka, Sreera ma Chandra, Baseer Ali, Madhur Sharma, Dhva ni Bhanushali and

on their maiden music video to gether, their sizzling chemistry is sure to make some “Fayaah” on-screen!

Kangana Ranaut starts shooting for Chandra mukhi 2 today.

Padmashri actress took to her Instagram story and shared a picture of the clap board which men tions the title of the Film Chandra mukhi 2.

The actress captioned it

filming for Chandramukhi 2 to day" It was announced earlier that this will be the sequel to the block buster Chandramukhi.

P Vasu-directed drama will see the actor essay the role of a danc er in the king’s court, who was known for her beauty and dance skills.

actor Raghava Lawrence will play the lead role opposite Kan gana in the film. Cos tume designer Neeta Lulla also had released a sketch of Kangana in Chandramukhi’s ava tar.

Tulsi Kumar

Nargis Fakhri

Kangana Ranaut

Her story...

Still from the song

Karan Tacker

Kartik Aaryan

Kajol and Vishal Jethva during the event

Raghav Juyal

Ali Asgar and Chinki-Minki