First India-Delhi Edition-06th December 2022

BJP SET FOR LANDSLIDE WIN!

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

Over 5,200 voters from 4 villages in the Mehsana district of Gujarat boycott ed polls over unresolved water shortage issue

Panchmahal Congress candidate Prabhatsinh Chauhan was attacked by

man near Kalol l Exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat while most of them gave an edge to it in Himachal Pradesh, indicating re-election of the ruling party in both states

Forced religious conversion a serious issue: SC to Centre

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Su preme Court on Mon day reaffirmed that forced religious conver sion is a “serious issue” and asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit after collecting infor mation from the state governments on anticonversion laws. Stat ing that it forced conver sion is against the Con stitution, a SC bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar posted the matter for hearing on December 12.

OTHER COURT ORDERS

l SC on Monday imposed `1 lakh as exemplary costs on a PIL petitioner who wanted a judicial dec laration to recognise the leader of a sect as Para matma to whom everyone should pay obeisance. He urged SC to direct the citi zens to accept Sri Sri Anukul Chandra as “Supreme Spirit”.

l Bombay HC extended till January 25, 2023 relief granted to Congress

l

CRUCIAL READ OTHER TOP STORIES

CASTE-BASE RALLIES: ECI GETS FRESH HC NOTICE FOR RULES

New Delhi: 9 years after it passed an interim order banning caste-based rallies in UP while hearing a PIL Allahabad HC has issued notices to ECI and 4 political parties (BJP, Cong, SP, BSP) in the case, listing the matter for next hearing on December 15.

INDIA & GERMANY INK KEY MOBILITY PARTNERSHIP PACT

New Delhi: India and Germany on Monday inked a mobility partnership pact and held comprehensive discussions on key global challenges including the Ukraine conflict, the situation in Afghanistan and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.P6

BY-ELECTIONS IN 6 ASSEMBLY SEATS OF 5 STATES INCLUDING UP, RAJ CONCLUDED

New Delhi: The voting in UP’s Rampur among 6 Assembly seats of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh concluded on Monday. Over 70% voter turnout in Padampur till 5 pm, 51.89% in Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), 72.09% voter turnout in Rajasthan’s Sardarshahar.

INDIA TO ALLOW E-VISAS TO UK

NATIONALS AGAIN

New Delhi: India is all set to resume e-visa facility for UK citizens for 1st since Covid outbreak in March 2020, just ahead Christmas vacations. The service was restored for all countries earlier this year barring a handful of nations, including UK and Canada.

Exit polls predict major AAP win in Delhi

New Delhi (Agencies):

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to get 155 of the 250 wards in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election, according to NDTV’s poll of exit polls.

The AAP may get 149171 wards, according to an exit poll by Aaj TakAxis My India. Another exit poll by Times NowETG shows Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejri wal’s party getting any where between 146 and 156 wards.

Aaj Tak shows BJP getting 69-91 wards; Times Now exit poll shows BJP with 84-94 wards. News X-Jan Ki Baat exit poll gives the AAP 159-175 wards and the BJP 70-92.

All the three chan nels’ exit polls have the Congress getting 10 or less wards. Others would bag around 5-9 seats, the three exit polls show.Zee NewsBARC exit poll gives the AAP 134-146, BJP 82-94 and Congress 8-14.

In the 2017 polls, BJP won 181 of 272 seats, AAP won 48 and Con

gress won 30; BJP’s vote share was a little over 36%, AAP’s was 26% and Congress’ was 21%.

The voter turnout on Sunday was only 50.47%, the lowest in municipal polls since 2007, when only about 48% of those eligible voted.

BJP has been ruling MCD for 15 years, be

tween 2007 and 2022 and won all three corpora tions (North, South and East) even after trifur cation in 2012. The par ty is battling anti-in cumbency as well as a sustained attack by AAP over issues of gov ernance, solid waste management and cor ruption. Air pollution, garbage management,

and landfill sites were among the core poll is sues in the capital that saw intense campaign ing both the BJP and the AAP.

The BJP had brought union ministers - in cluding Jyotiraditya Scindia - among others and CMs of several states to back party candidates.

SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA IS NEW RAJ CONG INCHARGE!

New Delhi: After much debated and ‘hushed’ resignation of Rajasthan Cong incharge Ajay Maken, Sukhjinder S Randhawa is new Cong state in-charge on Monday. Cong is in my heart and mind. It will not take much time to understand politics in Raj, he said. P5

WELCOME ‘DIDI’!

NUMBER OF FARM FIRES SEE DECLINE

New Delhi: The total number of paddy crop residue burning events during September 15-October 30 period in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have come down to 53,792 this year, a reduction of over 31 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

Delhi Police bust int’l cyber fraud gang duping job aspirants, 4 held

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has busted an international cyber fraud gang running a fake call centre for dup ing unemployed youths on the promise of pro viding them with work from home roles with an e-commerce compa ny, officials said on Monday.

Four accused -- Amit Kedia (30), Sachin Gup ta (36), Rohit Jain (36) and Pradeep Kumar (34) -- were arrested, police said, adding that the kingping of the gang, Gulati, operated from Dubai.

The accused posed as officials of the e-com merce firm and pro cured details of job seekers from various

online job providing portals such as Naukri. com and Shine.com, they said.

The matter came to light after a complaint was received from a woman who alleged that she received a mes sage from an unknown mobile number. The caller introduced him self as Nathalie from Amazon Company and

subsequently, she was cheated of Rs. 3,15,745 on the pretext of work from home after she fol lowed the link to a fake website that was shared by the accused in a WhatsApp message sent to her.During en quiry, it was found that the cheated money was transferred to various bank accounts via Pay tm, police said.

London: Vodafone CEO Nick Read is stepping down, British telecoms group said Monday, after a four-year tenure marked by a steep fall in company’s share price. Read will leave his role at end of Dec following over 20 years at group.

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

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.

VODAFONE CEO NICK TO STEP DOWN AFTER 4 YEARS

Ajmer: WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit Ajmer today. After paying obeisance at the Dargah, she will visit the Brahma temple in Pushkar. Preps are being made by district administration for visit of WB CM as a team led by ADM City Bhavna Garg inspected the dargah and the Brahma temple.

leader Rahul Gandhi from appearance before a local court in defamation plaint pertaining to his alleged remarks against PM Modi.

Fake currency, terror financing and black money are 3 evils & are like ‘Jarasandha’ (an antagonist in Mahabharat) and should be cut into pieces: Centre told the SC on Monday.

Moni Sharma

AMIT SHAH AND FAMILY CAST THEIR VOTE Modi works a lot, he should take some rest: Modi’s brother

MAKE EVERY INDIAN PART OF G20 GLORY: PM

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.

PM Modi’s brother Soma bhai Modi gets emotional as he talks about him on Monday post meeting Modi after 6 years. I asked him (PM Modi) that he works a lot for the country, he should take some rest as well, said Somabhai.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired an all-party meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan to solicit suggestions for G20 summit next year. Addressing his party, he instructed them to focus on making the occasion glorious.

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

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav & Prahlad Joshi in a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday.

GOVT FOR DELHI-CENTRE ROW BE REFERRED TO LARGER SC BENCH

Delhi government counsel opposes Centre’s plea saying this will only delay process

New Delhi (Agencies):

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has filed a fresh plea seeking reference to a larger bench a mat ter involving a Consti tutional issue related to the control of services in the national capital.

The Delhi govern ment, represented by senior advocate AM Singhvi, opposed the Centre’s plea before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, saying, “this will only create delay and such tactics cannot be al lowed.”

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appear ing for the Centre, said at the outset “there are no facts to be contro

Govt doctor booked for ‘harassing’ woman

Noida (PTI): A doctor of a govern ment-run hospital in Greater Noida has been booked by the police for alleg edly sexually har assing a 24-year-old woman lab techni cian, officials said on Monday.

The doctor has been booked under the Indian Penal Code section 354 (A) for sexual har assment by physi cal contact or ad vances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures, a police official said.

“The FIR has been lodged on the basis of the com plaint by the tech nician. An investi gation is underway in the case,” San tosh Kumar Shuk la, the local Kasna police station incharge, told PTI.

According to a hospital official privy to the matter, the doctor and the technician had an altercation in No vember and a de partment-level in quiry was held af ter which they reached a compro mise.

verted. But, I have filed an IA (interim applica tion) stating that this matter (Delhi-Centre case) may have to be re ferred to a larger bench”.

Singhvi opposed the submission, saying it amounted to seeking a review of the apex

court order which had said the matter did not require reference to a larger bench and the only issue remaining between the parties was the dispute pertaining to control over services in Delhi.

“What action has to be taken on IA can be

NO POLITICAL ROLE

Murari, was unwell, in dicating that the pro posed hearing on De cember 6 may get post poned.

On November 11, the top court had said it will step back from the “actual arena of politi cal conflict” between the Delhi government and the Centre and only deal with the Constitu tional issue related to the control of services in the national capital.

Clear cut objective to harm Hindus: Court

New Delhi (Agen cies): A court here on Monday framed charg es against former AAP Councillor Tahir Hus sain, Liyaqat Ali, and others for their in volvement in the riots in Delhi in 2020.

The court said there was clear cut objective to harm Hindus in every manner possi ble while framing charges against the accused, involving Ta hir Hussain.

decided when the Con stitution bench assem bles to hear it,” the CJI said, adding that it can be raised at the time of hearing.

The CJI also in formed the lawyers that one of the judges of the five-judge Constitution bench, Justice Krishna

The observations had come when Singhvi wanted to bring to the notice of the bench an affidavit by Delhi Depu ty Chief Minister Man ish Sisodia in which he alleged that there was “paralysis in adminis tration” as no bureau crat was responding to ministers’ calls.

“The former coun cillor Tahir Hussain, Riyasat Ali, Gulfam, Shah Alam, Rashid Saifi, Arshad Qayy um, Liyakat Ali, Mohd Shadab, Mohd Abid and Irshad Ahmad, other unknown per sons had the objective to harm Hindus in their body & proper

Last opportunity to ED on Bahl plea: HC

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Monday granted "last opportunity" to the En forcement Directorate to respond to a petition by media baron Raghav Bahl to quash a money laundering case against him, and refused to pass an order staying the in vestigation at this stage.

Justice Jasmeet Sin gh said that the court would take up the peti tion as well as the appli cation seeking interim relief on January 16.

The counsel for the agency informed the court that the high court denied any inter

im relief to the petition er last December and even the Supreme Court refused to interfere, but the applicant is again seeking a stay on the in vestigation.

Building collapses in Shastri Nagar

New Delhi (ANI): A four-storey building col lapsed in North Delhi’s Shastri Nagar on Mon day. “No injury or casu alties were reported since the building was empty,” a police officer was quoted as saying by news agencies.

The official added that the incident was report ed around 8:45 am.

According to DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi, the building’s owner, Balraj Arora, had it abandoned in May af ter cracks appeared. The municipal department was made aware of the situation.

The MCD inspected

the site, he said.

Earlier in October, a building collapsed at Central Delhi’s Lahori Gate owing to heavy rain, killing three peo ple, including a fouryear-old girl, according to sources.

In September, five peo ple were trapped after a building collapsed in North Delhi’s Azad Mar ket region.

The petitioner cannot "ask this court, when they fail in special leave petition (before the top court), to sit on appeal against Allahabad HC judgement that no

We will take up your peti tion for hear ing on 16 January but there is no question of ex parte ad-interim stay. ED is given two weeks as the last oppor tunity to file a reply, — Justice Jasmeet Singh Delhi HC judge

scheduled offence is made out'', the counsel said. The ED case against the petitioner arises from a complaint by the Income Tax (I-T) Department and con

cerns the alleged laun dering of funds to pur chase an undisclosed asset in London.

The counsel for the petitioner said he was “not attacking sched uled offence” in the pre sent case and that the SC did not grant relief in appeal only on the prem ise that the main peti tion and application were pending before HC.

He emphasised that there has not been any adjudication on his plea for interim relief and the HC had earlier de nied a direction of no coercive steps as an “ad interim ex parte” order.

Consent of minor is ‘no consent’ says HC denying bail in rape case

New Delhi (PTI): Con sent of a minor is not consent in the eyes of law, Delhi High Court has observed while de nying bail to a man ac cused of raping a 16-year-old girl and also getting her date of birth changed on her Aad haar card.

The HC also said the conduct of the man in getting the girl’s date of birth changed on Aad haar card was a “serious offence”.

“It seems that the ap plicant (man) wanted to take advantage by get ting the date of birth on the Aadhaar card changed so that when

the applicant estab lished physical relation ship with the complain ant, she was not a minor.

“The consent of the minor at the age of 16 years, specially, when the applicant was 23 years old and already married also disentitles him for grant of bail.

CELEBRATION OF URDU

Consent of a minor is no consent in the eyes of law,” Justice Jasmeet Singh said in a recent order.

An FIR was lodged in 2019 on the complaint of the girl’s father that his daughter was missing. Later, she was rescued from UP’s Sambhal.

ty,” Delhi Court said. in this case.

The court held all the accused liable to be tried for hatching a criminal conspiracy to indulge in riots & to harm the properties of Hindus, assaulting persons from the Hin du community, who were present in that building.

Citing video clips, the court said evidence makes it amply clear

that former AAP Councillor Hussain was actively partici pating in rioting and persons present on his terrace were pelting stones at adjoining properties on road.

The court rejected the submission of Hussain wherein he contended he was ac tually throwing wa ter to extinguish the fire and was actually a victim.

Two men on bike killed in suspected hit-and-run case

New Delhi: In yet an other suspected hit-andrun casein the city, an unidentified vehicle rammed a bike carry inmg two men, leading to their death, the Delhi Police said on Monday.

The victims were identified Sameer (21) and Md. Islam Khan (19) of Daryaganj, they said.

The accident took place on Sunday near a gurd wara on GT Karnal oad in Siraspur, police said.

An information was received from SRHC Hospital, Narela regrad ing death of two youths after which the police rushed to the spot.

According to the po lice, the family mem bers of the deceased told officials that both were going to Murthal, Hary ana on a bike when they met with the accident.

On the basis of MLC (Medico-legal Case) and circumstances, a case

under sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (causing death by negli gence) of the Indian Pe nal Code has been regis tered at Samaypur Badli police station, a senior police officer said.

After autopsy at Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, the bodies were handed over to their family members for last rites, police said, adding CCTV cameras are also being scanned to identify the accused.

Jashn-e-Rekhta: The festival that binds people over language & food

Number of Urdu newspapers in India in 2007 was over 3k against 513 such publications in 1957

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The 7th edi tion of the world’s larg est literary festival of Urdu, Jashn-e-Rekhta at Major Dhyan Chand sta dium of the capital con cluded with pomp and show.

There were many speakers who indulged

in conversations and among them, there were three prominent Indian journalists Agha, Sha hid Siddiqui, and Na deem Siddiqui who have richly contributed to Urdu journalism.

These speakers dis cussed the role of Urdu journalism in India. Jam-e-Jahan Numa, the

first Urdu newspaper, which literally means world news in a chalice, was published on 27

March 1822.

While recalling those times of Urdu journal ism, Agha said that dur

CELEBRATED FEST

was much bigger in number than Hindi newspapers in those days. During the time of partition, there were 415 Urdu newspapers in cluding daily, weekly, fortnightly, and monthly magazines. But after partition, 345 of them remained in India as owners of 70 papers mi grated to Pakistan.

And after fifty years, the figure of Urdu news papers alone was over 3,150 and the combined circulation of all Urdu newspapers was over 1.7 crores as per RNI report 2007, as per Mrinal Chat terjee, who is the profes sor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

could read and write Urdu.

The 3-day fest which celebrated all facets of Urdu language and lit erature through various art forms was organised by Rekhta Foundation and left everyone mes merised.

ing that period, Urdu newspapers started spreading across India and the Urdu readership

As per the RNI report of 1957, there were 513 Urdu newspapers and the combined circula tion was 7.48 lakh.

The speakers said be fore Independence, these Urdu newspapers were the source of informa tion about the daily hap penings in India for the common people who

To add to the festive flavour, food stalls were set up by locals and also Afghani refugees who came to not just enjoy the fest but also to try and serve various dis tinct dishes.

Guests at the Jash-e-Rekhta soiree on the concluding day.

Tthe proposed hearing on December 6 may get postponed.

Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain —FILE PHOTO

Media baron Raghav Bahl

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

RASH DRIVING

FAMILY FILES REVIEW PLEA AT SC AGAINST ACQUITTAL OF CONVICTS

New Delhi (Agencies):

The parents of the Chhawla rape victim have moved the Su preme Court seeking a review of the top court’s November order which acquitted three con victs facing the death penalty.

Last month, the Su preme Court acquitted three men facing the death penalty for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Delhi’s Chhawla area in 2012 on the basis of “cir cumstantial evidence”.

Now, the parents of the victim have filed a review petition claim ing an ‘error’ in the ver dict as important evi dence in the form of DNA evidence, Test Identification Parade (TIP) was incorrectly

interpreted by the SC. The review petition also pointed out that the mobile phone location and bloodstains on the clothing of the convict, Rahul, had proved his involvement, but the court acquitted him.

The three accused in the Chhawla rape-mur

der were awarded the death sentence by a tri al court which was up held by the Delhi High Court for the gruesome rape-and-murder of the 19-year old woman on February 9, 2012 at Chhawla, Dwarka. They had appealed against the sentence in

Tihar issue: Will take steps: Delhi govt to HC

New Delhi (Agencies):

The Delhi government on Monday assured the High Court that it shall take “necessary steps” for clean drinking wa ter and hygienic toilet facilities for inmates of Tihar Jail.

A bench of Justice Satish Chandra Shar ma and Justice Subra maniam Prasad in the Delhi High Court had sought answers from the concerned officials of the Delhi govern ment in the matter on Monday. In the PIL, a demand has also been made to ensure proper sanitary conditions in cluding clean drinking

water in the jail.

Significantly, this PIL was filed on behalf of the Delhi High Court Legal Services Commit tee (DHCLSA). The peti tion stated that the lack of adequate and clean drinking water, proper sanitation and poor

Dengue cases are on rise, 272 infections reported in one week

New Delhi (Agencies):

Sudden surge in dengue cases was registered in the national capital when 272 fresh cases were reported during the past week.

While 3,595 cases of dengue have been re ported this year, not a single dengue death was reported this year.

So far this year, 236 cases of Malaria have been reported, and six cases have come to the fore during the last week. Not a single case of Chi kungunya has been re ported during the last week, however, 44 cases of Chikungunya have been reported so far this year.Earlier, UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak had instructed the team of doctors and paramedical staff to remain ready for 24 hours in the hospital to deal with viral, den

The medicines of the hospital should be pro vided to the patients. Doctors prescribe the medicines available in the hospital to the patients

gue, chikungunya and other fevers.

Pathak directed the CMOs and CMs across the state to provide bet ter treatment to the pa tients. “The medicines of the hospital should be provided to the patients. For this, make arrange ments for adequate anti biotics and medicines used in the treatment of fever in the hospital. Doctors prescribe the medicines available in the hospital to the pa tients,” he had said.

sanitation conditions in Tihar Jail premises is to be highlighted. At the same time, after fil ing the PIL, the jail was also inspected.

During the investiga tion, several deficien cies were found in the jail premises.

the SC, which, in its judgment on November 7 set aside the trial court and high court or ders.

“These three men got the death penalty on the basis of circum stantial evidence. In this case, the fact situa tion did not show such

3 accused in the case were awarded the

sentence by a trial court which was upheld by the Delhi HC for the gruesome rapeand-murder of the 19-year old girl on February 9, 2012 at Chhawla, Dwarka in New Delhi

clarity. If the evidence is not strong, then to give the death penalty only because the trial court and HC did so, then why should the matter come to the SC?” the then Chief Justice UU Lalit had said while releasing the three convicts.

CBI moves HC against bail to DHFL promoters

New Delhi (PTI): The CBI on Monday ap proached the Delhi High Court challenging the statutory bail granted to former Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) promot ers, Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj, in connection with a multi-crore bank loan scam case.

The plea, which was mentioned by the CBI counsel for urgent list ing before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, is likely to be heard on Tuesday.

The CBI has chal lenged a trial court's De cember 3 order granting statutory bail to Wadha wan brothers due to "in complete charge sheet".

The special court, in its order, has said that on merits, the two ac

CBI has challenged a trial court’s Dec 3 order granting statutory bail to Wadhwan brothers

cused persons might not be entitled to any bail keeping in view the gravity and seriousness of the case.

However, it said the court was "compelled" to release them from custody under statutory law by giving mandato

ry concession of default bail due to incomplete charge sheet.

"The CBI cannot be entirely blamed for fil ing incomplete charge sheet because it was not humanly possible and was also practically very difficult to com plete the very big inves tigation task within a period of 90 days espe cially when the accused persons themselves took several years altogether to complete the offenc es," it has said.

No plying of BS-III petrol, BS-IV diesel vehicles

DELHI'S AIR QUALITY SHOWS

MARGINAL IMPROVEMENT

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi government on Monday imposed a ban on plying of BS-III pet rol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in the city till December 9, in view of restrictions clamped by the Cen tre’s air quality panel under stage III of the Graded Response Ac tion Plan (GRAP).

The sub-committee for implementation of GRAP held a meeting on Sunday to review the air quality scenario in the region as well as the forecasts for mete orological conditions

PICTURE PERFECT

and the air quality in dex of Delhi as air pol lution turned severe.

“As per the direc tions as provided under Stage III of the revised GRAP and under sec tion 115 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, it is hereby ordered that there shall be restric

tions to ply BS-III pet rol and BS-IV diesel LMVs (four-wheelers) in NCT of Delhi with immediate effect till December 9 or till downward revision in GRAP stage, whichever is earlier,” read an or der issued by the trans port department.

New Delhi (PTI): A day after entering the "severe" category, Delhi's air quality showed a marginal improvement as it came under the "very poor category" on Monday morning. Delhi's air quality index (AQI) read 363 at 8.10 am. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ''poor'', 301 and 400 ''very poor'', and 401 and 500 ''severe''. As pollution levels in the national capital shot up on Sunday, the Centre's air qual ity panel directed authorities in the Delhi-NCR to ban non-essential construction work in the region under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Delhi's 24-hour average AQI stood at 407 at 4 pm on Sunday. The city air quality was last classified in the "severe" cat egory on November 4, when the AQI was 447. The minimum temperature on Monday was 7.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's av erage. The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 95 per cent. The weather office has forecast mainly clear skies for the day with the maximum tem perature likely to settle at 26 degrees Celsius.

CPI calls for abolition of governor's office

New Delhi (PTI): The CPI has asked the Cen tre to abolish the gover nor's office, alleging that it had become a ‘camp office’ of the BJP.

Shikaras anchored on the banks of Dal Lake on a foggy morning, in Srinagar on Monday.

RULES’ VIOLATION

“The CPI has called on the democratic forces to rally together to end the federal structure of the country. The party alerted the nation about the move of the RSScontrolled government to undermine the consti tutional foundations,” the party said.

“The office of the gov ernor is being misused for this purpose, guided

by the RSS ideology of centralisation. In states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, etc the Raj Bhavans are made to act as camp offices of the BJP. In this background the CPI believes that the time has come to de mand the abolition of the office of the gover nor” the party said.

The CPI calls up on the Party units all over the country to observe December 29 as 'Defend Federalism Day'; the state councils would plan various campaigns on that day," it said.

Noida society asks bachelor tenants to vacate

further sub-let to five, six, or even seven girls.

Noida: Emerald Court society of Noida has asked bachelor tenants to vacate premises, cit ing violation of its rules.

The residential body of the society in Sector 93A said they had been getting complaints from

other residents because of which notices have been issued to those liv ing as paying guests (PGs). “It’s an old rule of the society mentioned in the notice. Violating the rule some people are running PGs and we were getting complaints by other residents,” UB

“This notice is to check the violation of the society rule. We have not asked anyone to va cate overnight but given two to three months times. The notice was is sued in November,” Teo tia said. He said some cases have come to the fore in which rent agree ment of an apartment is made in the name of one person but that flat is

“All this cannot be al lowed,” added Teotia, who had spearheaded the residents’ fight against developer Su pertech Ltd which led to the SC ordering demoli tion of the twin towers built illegally in the soci ety’s premises. Accord ing to local tenants, bachelors often face problems finding apart ments or independent house on rent in the city.

First India Bureu

Singh Teotia, president of Emerald Court resi dents’ association said.

Bacherlor tenants have two-to three months time to vacate the house in Emerald Court Society.

Notices issued to those living as PGs after receiving complaints from other residents, says society

The parents of the victim have filed a review petition claiming an ‘error’ in the verdict.

The

death

—Brijesh Pathak UP Deputy CM

—PHOTO BY ANI

Wadhwan brothers —FILE PHOTO

During investigation it was found that adequate and clean drinking water was not being provided in the premises of Tihar Jail.

The pollution level in Delhi entered the ‘severe’ category reaching 407 on Sunday evening.

Ban on such 4-wheelers till December 9

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 INDIAN DREAM!

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

country now.

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!

Start-up

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?

EDITED BY SHASHIKANT SHARMA AND SHWETA SHARMA

‘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.

COMPILED AND

is making them

happening in our

Take

India, Stand Up India, child education, focus on the girl child, for example

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

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,

COURTYARD In the

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.

Gangster Goldy

Brar claims he is not detained in United States

Chandigarh (PTI): Days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that Goldy Brar was de tained in California, a purported interview of the gangster surfaced online on Monday wherein he claimed that he was not held and nor was he in the US. Mann on Dec 2 had confirmed that Brar -the alleged mastermind behind the killing of Sidhu Moosewala -- had been detained by the police in California and that he would “definite ly be brought to India”. He will be in the custo dy of the Punjab Police “very soon”, Mann had told reporters.

However, Brar in a purported interview given to a journalist on YouTube denied these claims. The authenticity of the interview could not be ascertained.

In the purported in terview, the person call ing himself Goldy Brar claimed that he had not been detained and also he was not in the US. In the audio clip of the in terview, he could be heard contradicting Mann’s claims about his detention.

Brar was the alleged mastermind behind the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala in May this year. Mann has been under fire from the op position parties over his claim of the deten tion of Brar. Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia had ear lier asked the Punjab Police chief to confirm the news of detention of the gangster in the US.

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.

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

Kochi: Hours after an offer made by NCP state president PC 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.

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

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.”

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.

HARYANA: POLITICIAN AND HSVP OFFICIALS BOOKED FOR FRAUD

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

First India Bureau

K'taka denies entry to Maha ministers

Belagavi (Agencies): In a major development, the Karnataka govern ment has denied entry to Maharashtra minis ters visiting the border ing Belagavi district.

Nitesh Patil (in pic), Deputy Commissioner of Belagavi said on Monday that the Maha rashtra Ministers and parliamentarians will not be let inside the state of Karnataka on Tuesday.

“We have got the tour programme of two min isters of Maharashtra and one MP. Earlier, they claimed that the visit will be made on December 3 earlier, now it is informed that they will visit on Dec 6 (Tues day),” the Deputy Com missioner stated.

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

BOOSTING TIES

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

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.

“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

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.

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

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.

Several attend Kurnool meet in support of 3 Andhra capitals

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 supporting de centralisation.

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.

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.

Gurugram: The Gurugram division of the State Vigi lance Bureau has arrested builder and local leader Vashisht Kumar Goyal and booked the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran officials for alleged fraud in its commercial property located in Sector 23-23A in the district. The FIR was registered against Goyal and other HSVP officials under relevant sections of the IPC.

3 HELD WITH HUGE CACHE OF DRUGS, ARMS IN MEGHALAYA Shillong: The Meghalaya Police have seized a large quantity of various types of drugs, arms and ammunition, and arrested three persons in this connection in West Garo Hills district, bordering Assam. During an opera tion on Sunday, the police recovered huge quantities of varied drugs, three mobile phones, one pistol and huge quanti ties of cartridges from a car at Garobadha. Three persons identified as Ranggam Marak, Sakwan Chandra Sangma and Conrad K Marak were ar rested for carrying these drugs, and arms.

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

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.

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%

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. “Indian service providers continued to reap

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

Woman seeks termination of 33-week pregnancy as foetus suffers from cerebral abnormalities

HC slams city hosp for delaying medical test of pregnant woman

New Delhi (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday pulled up the administration of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) for delaying ex amination of a woman seeking permission for termination of a 33-week-old foetus suf fering from a cerebral anomaly. On Friday the HC directed the medical board of LNJP to exam ine Monday a woman seeking termination of pregnancy. The hospital was directed to file a re port by Monday.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh asked the counsel for the hospital, “She has been there since 9 am. It is 10:30 am. Who is the doctor concerned who made her wait.”

The counsel for LNJP submitted that in view of advanced pregnancy and complications therein the medical board also wanted a

BSF recovers another drone carrying heroin in Amritsar

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Border Security Force foiled another cross-border drug-smuggling at tempt on Monday and recovered a drone along with a packet of heroin near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab’s Am ritsar district, the offi cials said.

The BSF personnel opened fire after hearing the buzzing sound of a drone near Roranwala Kalan village around 2:35 am. While searching the area, the troops re covered a broken quad copter and a packet of narcotics, officials said.

On Sunday, a drone was recovered near the international border along with 3 kg of hero in and also on Decem ber 3, they recovered about 25 kg of heroin.

neurologist there in the team doing the review. An MRI of the foetus is to be done Monday.The court asked, “Why was this not done this morn ing?” The LNJP counsel said the delay was due to administrative rea sons and election duty.

The court called the reason suspicious and said “ I want it today by 1 PM. And if doctors don’t do it, they should be before the court.The

matter was to be heard at 2.30 PM Monday again. The court on Fri day said in view of the gestational age of the foetus and abnormality it has asked the medical board at LNJP to con duct an examination and file a report.

The bench also noted the submission made by advocate Aneesh Mad hukar’s counsel for the petitioner that she has approached the Guru

Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB). However, the ex amination could not be conducted as a medical board was not consti tuted there.

The counsel for Delhi Government submitted that the petitioner might be referred to AIIMS or LNJP where there are already medi cal boards. After noting the submissions the bench directed LNJP to conduct an examina

CASE BEYOND LIMITS

Police arrest two over sacrilege incident in Punjab’s Gurdwara

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The inci dent of sacrilege was reported from a gu rudwara in Punjab’s Jalandhar district, police said on Mon day adding that two persons, who were said to be migrant la bourers, have been ar rested in the case.

tion and file a report.

The petitioner is a 26-year-old married woman. The petitioner submitted that she had undergone periodic ul trasounds and no abnor mality was reported. It was for the first time detected on November 11. The abnormality in the foetus’ brain was found. It was also con firmed by another ultra sound on November 14.

“Today, the accused related to the sacrilege incident at the Gurd wara Sahib of village Mansoorpur, PS Goraya District Ja landhar (Rural) have been arrested. The case has been regis tered and investiga tion is ongoing, the situation is under con trol,” the Jalandhar Rural Police tweeted.

Where miscreants entered the Gurdwara tried to loot money by breaking the locker and also spit tobacco in the Gurdwara.

On learning about the sacrilege incident, villagers reached the

J-K to set up incubator for cybersecurity startups

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The gov ernment of Jammu and Kashmir plans to set up a dedicated incubator for cybersecurity start ups in an attempt to boost local industry.

As part of the recently introduced Cyber Secu rity Policy, the adminis tration will also out

source relevant research and development pro jects to the corporate sector. It is also mulling

Police release sketch of man accused of raping, killing 6-yr-old girl

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Police have released a sketch of the accused man who abducted, raped and killed a six-yearold girl in Ghaziabad on Monday. Police said that the child was last seen playing outside her house and then

went missing. Her body was found 30 metres from the house, police said. According to the post-mortem reports, the child was raped be fore being killed.

Following this, a case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act, police said.

to provide special fiscal and non-fiscal incen tives to cybersecurity firms operating in the

union territory (UT) ac cording to the prevailing government policies.

J&K would endeav our to conduct Cyber Security Expos to show case the advantages of the indigenously devel oped products by SMEs and Startups, it said.

“The government of J-K shall set up a dedi cated incubator for cy

ber security related startups. The UT shall also develop a venture capital model to provide assistance to first gen eration entrepreneurs, startups and small and medium-sized enter prises (SMEs) operat ing and intending to enter in this field (cy bersecurity),” the poli cy document said.

Cong accuses BJP of shielding ‘VIP’ in Ankita murder case

Dehradun (PTI): The Congress’ Uttarakhand unit on Monday accused the state’s BJP govern ment of hiding the name of the “VIP” that cropped up in the Anki ta murder case and de manded a CBI probe, saying it was necessary for the sake of justice.

“The BJP govern ment is hiding the name

of the VIP. People have lost confidence in the investigation being car ried out by the police. A CBI probe is needed so that the victim’s kin get

justice,” the Congress’ Uttarakhand unit chief Karan Mahara said. The name of the VIP should be disclosed and the meaning of “special service. The police have been busy demolishing evidence related to the case from day one un der pressure from the BJP government,” Ma hara said.

BHARAT JODO YATRA’S 89TH DAY: FIRST DAY IN RAJASTHAN

The miscreants entered the Gurdwara and tried to loot money by breaking the locker

spot and demanded strict action against the accused. Senior Su perintendent of Police of Jalandhar Rural, Swarandeep Singh along with other police personnel reached the Gurdwara to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, the inci dent drew strong con demnation from vari ous political leaders

who demanded strict action on the matter. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh dubbed the incident as unpardonable and de manded stringent ac tion in the matter.

“Strongly condemn the heinous act of #sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Gurdwara Singh Sab ha in village Mansur pur. I urge CM @bhag wantmann to direct @ DGPP DGPPunjabPo lice for taking imme diate & stringent ac tion against the cul prits. This painful act is unpardonable,” Badal tweeted.

UP BYPOLLS

BJP, SP, accuse each other of stopping public from voting

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The 2 main contenders BJP and Sa majwadi Party, have been accusing each oth er of disrupting the elec toral process. The SP, using its Twitter handle, alleged that the police force was being used and officials on election duty were preventing people from casting their votes, especially in Rampur. It also posted a

video accusing the BJP agents of distributing money in Mainpuri’s Bhogaon area.

BJP too alleged on Twitter that in some booths, “unscrupulous elements of the SP” were preventing people from casting their votes and sought the Election Commission’s interven tion and added that SP is making baseless alle gations as it is going to taste defeat.

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!

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,

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.

“These

cies

Justice Prathiba M Singh fumed over Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital after woman seeking termination of 33-Week pregnancy made to wait.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav with wife and party’s Mainpuri LokSabha by-elections candidate Dimple Yadav in Etawah on Monday.

On learning about the sacrilege incident, villagers reached the spot and demanded strict action against the accused.

—PHOTO BY ANI

PEOPLE OF RSS, BJP WILL HAVE TO SAY ‘HEY RAM, JAI SIYARAM’: RAHUL GANDHI

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

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

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 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

l Gandhi set off the yatra at 6.10 am when temperature was 13 degrees Celsius l Rahul was comfortable walking in a half sleeves T-shirt,

trousers and sports shoes

Other leaders and workers were seen in the jackets

Rahul sipped his morning tea at a dhaba in Jhalawar

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.

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.

“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

WHAT’S HAPPENING!

Madhumita Nath, also known as Camfemadhumita shares her beautiful journey with City First

MY DEAR ZINDAGI!

present but yes I would love to see my self as an established DOP and make Not2Raw a brand.

How did your jour ney begin?

something challeng ing and here I am.

What were some of the battles you fought and are still fighting in your journey?

AISHA GUPTA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Tell us some thing about yourself.

I'm a Delhibased DOP/ Cinematog rapher & still photographer.

Currently, I'm do ing music videos, short films, fash ion photoshoots & event shoots as Not2Raw which is a duo formed by me & my partner Glisson.

Also, I like to do dif ferent things in life maybe that's why I chose this field and I enjoy what I do.

Where do you see yourself after the next 20 years?

I don't know where I see myself in 20 years it is a very long time. I'm the kind of person who believes in the

It's a funny story, a few years back I watched a movie called Dear Zindagi. In that movie, I heard the term cinematog

The battle I'm still fac ing is many people still don't believe in me & take me seri ously as a DOP. They have this mispercep tion especially in In dia that a woman can't do much good at this job. Though my family is very sup portive and appre ciates me for eve ry achievement.

Talk to us about your achieve ments.

rapher & that was the moment my journey as a cinematographer began. Also, I am a feminist so I had this thing in my mind that I wanted to do some thing different,

I haven't achieved much yet but there is one achievement that I want to share. I have done more than 10 music videos in just 2 years of my career.

I'm sure for many peo ple it won't be consid ered an achievement but for me it is. Also, I had a chance to work with Badshah, Raga & many more brilliant artists. I feel so thank ful and blessed.

CHRISTMASSY SPIRIT

CITY FIRST

To celebrate the spirit of festivi ty, joy and to getherness, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida (CPGN), hosted the 'Christmas Tree Lighting,' ceremony on December 5. people got to see the fun-filled with lots of joy at CPGN lob by, while the lobby was dressed up in hues of red white and green. This lighted tree, cut outs of Santa, shim mery wreaths, baubles, pinecones and carols brighten the atmos phere. Christmas Tree Lighting is a symbol to officially flag off the festive season.

To welcome the sea son of joy and to spread cheer, the staff at CPGN make sure that this magical evening is filled with laughter, cel ebration and surprises for the patrons and

Delhi Comic Con 2022

CITY FIRST

After an outstand ing show at Comic Con In dia, Bangalore, the World University of Design is preparing to make waves at the Delhi show which will be held from December 9 to 11 at NSIC Exhibition Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi.

It is noteworthy that the World University of Design continues to be the first and only university to come up with an original in-house designed and taught and manu factured program which is ready to trans form the market.

The team of students along with their men tors will gear up to showcase an extraordi nary VR experience of a walk-through of the university premises

wherein different stu dent-made environ ments is being created and treated differently. Another striking fea ture of the display is the 3D Hand Made Dio rama of the university made by students along with a lot of other work on character and sce nario design.

According to Prof. Raghuvanshi, “For a department this young (established in 2018) it is commendable to achieve this level of confidence and im press patrons in such a huge conven tion like Comic Con In dia. Credit goes to our faculty who have de signed the curriculum and pedagogy such that the student learns the process and pipeline of leading studios - mak ing the classroom a workplace rather than just a class."

guests at the hotel. To spread the festive vibe across the lobby, they decorated the sur rounding with Christ mas decor. The stun ning Christmas tree right in the centre of the lob by displayed until 2nd January 2022.

The ceremony was at tended by luminaries, in-house guests and team members, who graced the ceremony with great cheer. The tree was lit by General

TERRACE GARDEN from 500

CITY FIRST

Indra and Malvika Singh set up a ter race garden with Rs 500 in Delhi by using sustainable gar dening methods. corn in regal blue, round bottle gourd, a not-sospicy chilly, Italian basil with an exotic fragrance, an off-sea son but naturally sweet watermelon, and more — welcome to Indra and Malvika Singh’s colourful ter race garden in Delhi.

With 35 rare and ex otic varieties of or ganic vegetables and fruits, this garden grown by the mother-

son duo is a feast for the senses — the air around it is redolent with a mix of deli cious smells. The twopeople team set up their urban garden with less than Rs 500 and more important ly, they spend zero money on its maintenance!

They recycle discarded waste like fruit crates and use wastewater and homemade compost.

“My professional life involves a lot of travelling in India. I come from an agrari an family and by that virtue, seeds are my souvenirs. I covered

over 1,200 villages and even got some seeds from friends,” Indra said

The duo began by planting easy-to-grow seeds like chillies, to matoes and tama rinds in crates and then branched out to pumpkin, brin jals and bottle gourd. Indra rec ommends planting not more than two seeds in one crate/ pot.

During the process, Indra and Malvika strictly avoided gen erating carbon foot prints and spending a hefty amount on gar dening.

Manager Sharad K. Upadhyay in the pres ence of patrons, guests, Executive Chef Sau rabh Singh Chandel, F&B Director Amit Chawla, Pastry Head Chef Chandan Singh and CPGN Team.

"The team has put in great efforts to make the ceremony festive and memorable and I feel overwhelmed, the Christmas tree symbol izes celebrations, hope and joy, and we strive to present festivities in

such a way that they can feel CPGN their home away from home," Sharad K. Upadhyay said "To make the festive season more exciting for their customers we have a series of upcom ing events and food that are going to be a special part of the festival so that our guests and friends can spend an amazing time and a memorable season with CPGN," said Amit Chawla, Director F&B.

‘RULE 23’ WORKSHOP IMPARTS STRATEGIES

CITY FIRST

One of Asia lead ing sales train ing and business mentorship academies, the Gaurav Bhagat Academy re cently organised a oneday workshop, titled ‘Rule 23’ at Gaurav Bha gat Academy’s centre in Noida. During the event, key delibera tions were made on how to chalk out a plan to get off to a strong start of the year. The program focused on goal-setting, developing the base plan of ever lasting success, and other strategic plan ning to succeed in 2023, along with reviewing

the year gone by and amplifying what went wrong during it and avoiding repeating it.

“As one of the pres tigious academies for self-motivation and pro fessional guidance, Gaurav Bhagat Acade my strives to assist sev eral businesses in overcoming their difficulties and ob stacles. The workshop on strategizing the road map for 2023 is aimed at encouraging business leaders and working professionals to further seek more success in the coming year,” noted eminent motivational speaker and business coach Gaurav Bhagat.

The motivational event was organised amidst the august pres ence of a host of busi ness owners, entrepre neurs, working profes sionals, companies, marketers, self-em ployed individuals, graduates, and sales experts. Discussions and deliberations at the event encircled the challenges of 2021 and 2022 and the opportunities ahead in the new year. The par ticipants of the work shop got enriched with guidance on how to leave behind unpleas ant business experienc es from the past and buckle up to get off to a strong start in 2023.

Award-winning filmmaker Rahul Mittra called on India’s top economist and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister Dr Bibek Debroy at his residence in the capital on December 4. Padma Shri Dr Debroy has worked in the realm of academia, the government and research institutions in senior capacities. An astute scholar, Debroy has translated the unabridged version of the Mahabharata into English, in a series of 10 volumes, which he presented to Rahul Mittra. Soon after the meeting, Rahul Mittra shared photos on his Instagram handle @ramitts: Enlightened to meet up with top economist Padma Shri Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister of India (EAC-PM) and acclaimed Sanskrit scholar along with his gracious wife Suparna at their lovely home and to be presented with his 10 volume unabridged translation of the Mahabharata !!

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

Madhumita Nath

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida spreads the Christmassy spirit with Christmas tree lighting

Mesmerizing Christmas Decoration

Glimpse from the workshop

Indra Singh