First India-Delhi Edition-7th December 2022

MODI GOVT PLANS TO INTRODUCE 16 BILLS

Moni Sharma

New Delhi: The results of the Assembly elec tions in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Dec 8are likely to play out during the Winter session of Parliament beginning today. The government plans to in troduce 16 bills during 17 sittings in the ses sion, while the Congress will seek to corner the government over a host of issues, including the situation on the border with China.

Meanwhile, an allparty meet was con ducted on Tuesday to discuss the issues that might come up during the sessions over the next few days. RS Secre tariat has released a Code of Conduct for its members. In the meet, Congress raised ques tions on hasty appoint ment of ECI, China-In dia border, GST and other issues. While the BJD demanded passage of women reservation bill, the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction wanted the population control bill. Leaders from more than 30 parties took part in the meeting.

DR AMBEDKAR’S STRUGGLES GAVE HOPE TO MILLIONS!

Congress

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, PM

Modi, LS Speaker Om Birla

Union Minister Virendra Kumar

floral tribute to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his Mahaparinirvan Diwas at Parliament premises on Tuesday. Modi said that his struggles gave hope to millions and his efforts to give India such an extensive Constitution can never be forgotten.

TMC’s Saket Gokhale arrested over ‘fake tweet’, in police custody till Dec 8

First India Bureau

Ahmedabad/Jaipur:

The Gujarat Police ar rested TMC’s national spokesperson Saket Gokhale on Tuesday over a tweet endorsing an alleged fake news about PM Modi’s visit to Morbi after a bridge col lapse incident there. Gokhale was detained from Jaipur airport during the early hours by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell. He was sent to two-day police custo dy after interrogation.

Woman riding scooter crushed by speeding Jaguar; MNC employee booked for murder

First India Bureau

Noida: The police have arrested a Faridabadbased employee of mul tinational bank Ameri can Express after his Jaguar XK car struck a woman riding a twowheeler, killing her, in Noida’s Sector 96, offic ers said Tuesday.

The accused, Samuel Andrew Pyster, 31, had allegedly been speeding when his vehicle struck Deepika Tripathi, 24, who worked as a recep tionist. He was arrested from the scene of the incident, officers added.

Pyster was earlier booked for causing death by negligence but the charge was convert ed to murder on Tues day after Police Com missioner Laxmi Singh visited the incident spot, the officials said.

Joint Commissioner (law and order) Ravi Shankar Chhabi said, “On the basis of spot review and eyewit ness’s accounts, the ac cused has been booked under IPC section 302 (murder) now.”

The incident took place Sunday morning just outside the Su

pertech e-Square build ing in Sector 96.

Deepika Tripathi, a Noida resident, worked as a receptionist at eSquare, while Pyster, who lives in Faridabad, works for American Express. “The police were alerted about the incident around 10 am on Sunday after which the victim was rushed to a private hospital in

Sector 110. However, the doctors declared her dead,” police said.

According to the complaint registered by police, the car was be ing driven “carelessly” at a “high speed”. “The severity of the damages on the scooter indicates that the car was overspeeding,” police said.

GOKHALE MADE NO MISTAKE: MAMATA

OTHER COURT ORDERS

JET AIRWAYS REVIVAL HITS NEW SNAG, BANKS PUSH BACK ON FUNDS

Deepika Tripathi, 24, worked as a receptionist; ‘Severity of damage on the scooter indicates the car was over-speeding’

The utterly mangled scooter and the Jaguar car; (R) The 24-yr-old Deepika Tripathi

Noida: Newly ap

Ahmedabad: Noted economist and former union minister Yoginder Kumar Alagh, 83, passed away on Tuesday at his residence in Ahmedabad after a brief age-related illness. PM Modi expressed anguish over death of Yoginder Kumar Alagh.

WOMEN’S IPL MATCH LIKELY TO BEGIN ON MARCH 7 FRANK, THOUGHT PROVOKING: KANT CALLS G20 SHERPAS TALK

Udaipur: Frank and thought-provoking discussions were held with the G20 Sherpas who participated in the very first G20 Sherpa meeting in Udaipur under India’s Presidency, said India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant who is presiding entire meeting.

He was held for his tweet endorsing an alleged fake news about Modi’s visit to Morbi

Gokhale recently tweeted a news clipping which appeared to have been published in a leading Gujarati newspaper. The news clipping claimed a query under the RTI revealed the Gujarat govt had spent `30 crore on PM Modi’s visit to Morbi after a bridge col lapsed there in October.

THE ‘FAKE’ TWEET

Jaipur: WB CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday at Jaipur Airport said that she condemned the BJP government’s “vindictive attitude”. “It’s a very bad, and sad (incident). Saket (Gokhale) is a bright man. He is very popular on social media. He has made no mistake.”

(T) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visits Ajmer Sharif Dargah on Tuesday. (L) ‘Didi’ offers prayers at Brahma Temple in Pushkar on Tuesday.

Rajnath Singh, Prahlad Joshi, Arjum Ram Meghwal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Derek O Brien, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TR Baalu and others attend an all-party meeting in the Parliament Library Building, on the eve of the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stands in front of portrait of Dr BR Ambedkar during the paying tribute ceremony on the latter’s death anniversary at Parl lawn. P5

PHOTOS BY HIMANSHU SHARMA AND ANAND SHARMA

PREGNANCY

HC UPHOLDS ‘WOMAN’S CHOICE’ TERMINATION

Judgment says court acknowledges parents’ mental trauma, dilemma

India Bureau

First

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed a 26-year-old married woman to un dergo medical termina tion of her 33-week pregnancy. The peti tioner sought to termi nate her pregnancy af ter she found out that the foetus was suffering from certain cerebral abnormalities.

The court said the ‘ultimate decision’ in matters of abortion ought to recognise a woman’s choice to give birth and the possibili ty of dignified life of the unborn child.

In a 33-page judg ment, a single judge bench of Justice Prat ibha Singh said, “The Court has clearly been able to gauge the mental trauma affecting the parents, their economic and social conditions, as also, the fact that the Petitioner is taking a

Chinese man arrested for `1.25-cr fraud

in Gr Noida

Noida (PTI): A 33-year-old Chi nese national was arrested in Great er Noida Tuesday in connection with a probe into a case of fraud worth over Rs 1.25 crore, police said.

The case was lodged at Dadri Po lice Station in April 2021 and four other accused in the matter – all In dians – have al ready been arrest ed, the officer said.

“Haomin was arrested near Haier roundabout in Greater Noida around 1.30 pm on Tuesday. He, who possesses a Chi nese passport, cur rently lives in Gu rugram,” the of ficer said. Accord ing to complain ant Mohd Anas, he was hired in April 2020 by Haomin and other four ac cused who had told him they had a construction company.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that a wife’s convenience is paramount when it comes to petitions for transfer of matrimonial cases.

A bench of Justices MR Shah and Justice Hima Kohli said this on a trans fer petition filed by a wife on the grounds that she was suffering from cancer.

cautious and well-in formed decision, while seeking termination of pregnancy. She has un derstood as to what ter mination of pregnancy

The court rejected the husband’s argument that the wife’s claim cannot be believed since there were photographs of her travelling, vacationing and scuba diving.

Justice Hima Kohli asked how will court know when those photographs were taken? She further asked that such photos should

entails at such an ad vanced stage.”

The judge, while per mitting the woman to immediately undergo medical termination of

no more be filed.

Justice Shah added that convenience of the wife matters equally.

The bench then proceeded to allow the wife’s plea for transfer.

The Top Court had recently allowed another transfer plea while emphasising that wife’s convenience is paramount.

pregnancy, noted that the medical board un fortunately did not give a ‘categorical opinion’ on the degree of handi cap or the quality of the

life of the foetus after birth and thus opined that “such unpredicta bility ought to weigh in favour of the woman seeking termination of pregnancy.

“In conclusion, the court holds that the ulti mate decision in such cases ought to recognise the choice of the mother as also the possibility of a dignified life of the un born child...This court holds that medical ter mination of pregnancy ought to be permitted in the present case,” the court ruled.

“The right of a preg nant woman to termi nate her pregnancy or abort her foetus has been the subject matter of debate across the world. This right gives the woman the ultimate choice as to whether she wants to give birth to the child she has con ceived. India is among the countries which rec ognises this choice of a

Show remorse in person: HC asks Vivek Agnihotri to appear before it

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri to ap pear before it in connec tion with a criminal con tempt case relating to his remarks against a judge of the high court.

The HC asked him to appear before it and ‘show remorse in per son’ after he tendered an unconditional apology, through an affidavit, for his alleged remarks.

A bench of Justices

Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh asked if Agnihotri has any diffi culty in appearing be fore this court in person.

“We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain

All of this sub mission you can make once he is present before this court. Let him appear. Is there any difficulty in appearing before this court? We hope not.”

—HC Bench

present because he is the alleged contemnor. Does he have any difficulty to appear before this court? He has to be present and show remorse in person.

“Does he have any dif

ficulty if he has to ex press remorse in per son? The remorse can not always be expressed by way of an affidavit," the bench told Agni hotri's lawyer.

His lawyer submitted that the filmmaker has tendered an uncondi tional apology stating that he deleted his tweets against the judge him self. However, the court was informed by the amicus curiae that the submission was wrong and it was Twitter which deleted his tweets.

MLA’s brother arrested for duping contractor INDO-GERMAN

Gurugram (PTI): Madhya Pradesh Police arrested brother of In dependent MLA Balraj Kundu from Sector 50 here on a charge of cheating a Jhajjarbased building contrac tor, police said Tuesday.

Police arrested Shivraj Kundu, a resi dent of Rohtak's Me ham constituency, late Monday night, they said.

"Madhya Pradesh po

lice arrested one of the accused, Shivraj Kun du, in a case of cheating from Sector 50 Police Station area Monday night and took him with them," Virender Vij, DCP, East, said.

A case of cheating was registered against MLA Balraj Kundu, his brother Shivraj Kundu, and one VK Lamba at Moti Nagar Police Sta tion, Sagar in Madhya Pradesh in 2021.

woman in its law,” the court said.

“The court comes to the conclusion that the mother’s choice is being made in a bonafide man ner”, it added while al lowing the petitioner to undergo medical termi nation of pregnancy im mediately at LNJP, GTB or any other approved medical facility of her choice as per law.

The court clarified that prior to undergoing termination, the in formed consent of the petitioner would be tak en and she would un dergo the procedure at her own risk.

In its order, the court also acknowledged ‘se vere dilemma’ women undergo while taking a decision to terminate pregnancy in such cas es, adding even judges, in such cases, grapple with issues that are not merely factual or legal but also involve ethical and moral factors.

HC to hear pleas seeking same-sex marriages next yr

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court said on Tues day it will hear on April 24 a batch of petitions to recognise same-sex mar riage under various laws. A bench of Chief Justice SC Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was informed by the parties that a similar issue is pending before the Supreme Court.

Senior advocate Sau rabh Kirpal, who ap peared for one of the petitioners, urged the bench to give a date in the matter as a similar issue was coming up for hearing before the top court on January 6.

The Centre’s counsel also informed the court about the petitions pend ing in the apex court seeking similar relief.

On November 25, SC had sought response from the Centre on pleas by two gay couples seek ing enforcement of their right to marry and a di rection to the authori ties to register their

marriage under Special Marriage Act. Eight pe titions by same-sex cou ples seeking a declara tion recognising their marriages under Spe cial Marriage Act, Hin du Marriage Act, and Foreign Marriage Act are pending before HC.

CBI challenge on bail to Wadhawans requires

detailed consideration: HC

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi High Court said on Tuesday the CBI’s plea challenging the statuto ry bail granted to for mer Dewan Housing Fi nance Corporation Lim ited (DHFL) promoters, Kapil Wadhawan and brother Dheeraj, who were arrested by CBI in connection with a multicrore rupees bank loan scam case, requires de tailed consideration.

Justice Amit Sharma, who heard the matter for few hours, said fur ther hearing will con tinue on Wednesday.

COOPERATION

“This matter requires detailed consideration,” the judge said.

During the hearing, the judge orally said some of the observa tions made by the spe cial judge in his order

statutory bail were not acceptable.

CBI has challenged a trial court’s December 3 order granting statuto ry bail to Wadhawan brothers because of “in complete charge sheet”.

Teacher rapes girl for 2 yrs, warns of ‘Shraddha’s fate’

Ghaziabad (PTI): A 32-year-old computer teacher was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl over two years, police here said on Tuesday.

Fake social media narratives a challenge: CEC

toral processes for hold ing free, fair, inclusive elections, he said, add ing the EC ensures par ticipation of political parties at every stage.

The girl confided in her parents about the assault after the accused, identified as Saurabh Gupta, threatened that she would meet the same fate as Shrad dha Walkar, who was allegedly killed and dismembered by her live-in part ner, they said.

exercise of electoral management by EC in the largest democracy in the world given the chal lenges of diverse geogra phy, culture and elector ate.

New Delhi (PTI): Fake social media narratives potentially affecting free and fair polls is fast emerging as a common challenge for most elec tion management bod ies, Chief Election Com missioner Rajiv Kumar said on Tuesday.

Addressing a delega tion led by Germany’s Foreign Minister An

nalena Baerbock, he said the idea of democ racy is deeply rooted in India’s historical con text and traditions.

The German delega tion was at the Nirva chan Sadan here to meet the Commission.

Kumar informed the German delegation of the humongous exercise the poll panel carries out

involving more than 95 crore voters across 11 lakh polling stations.

Over one crore polling personnel are deployed to ensure a robust elec

According to an EC statement, Kumar said apart from the logistic challenges, the disrup tive impact of fake so cial media narratives in potentially affecting free and fair elections is fast emerging as a common challenge for most elec tions management bod ies. The German minis ter appreciated the vast

The delegation was briefed about the exten sive use of technology by the EC in the conduct of elections broadly un der three verticals of voters’ participation, po litical parties and candi dates and election ma chinery logistics. She personally cast a vote through an EVM.

DCP (City) Nipun Agarwal said the ac cused lured the girl when she was a Class 9 student on the pre text of improving her grades in school. She started talking to Gupta, who took ad vantage of the situa tion and allegedly raped her. Whenever the girl protested, he threatened to fail her and warned her of dire consequences, he said.

After the Shraddha Walkar murder case came into the lime light, Gupta threat ened her that if she disclosed the abuse to anyone, he would "sever her into pieces like Aaftab", the sen ior police official said. After the girl final ly narrated her or deal to her parents, they lodged a com plaint at Nand Gram police station on Sun day, following which an FIR under Section 376 (rape) of IPC and sections of POCSO Act was registered, he said.

Emergence of modern tech nology to de tect abnormalities in an unborn child, the issues surrounding termination are bound to become more and more complex.

—Justice Pratibha Singh, Delhi High Court

TRANSFER PLEAS: PREFERNCE TO ‘CONVENIENCE OF WOMEN’

FREE & FAIR POLLS

Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar demonstrates EVM to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in New Delhi. —Photo By ANI

Visiting German minister lauds vast exercise of electoral mgmt by EC in world’s largest democracy

First India Bureau

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri

granting

Kapil Wadhawan Dheeraj Wadhawan

The accused was arrested from Jaitpur of Gautam Budh Nagar district

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tries her hands at making a chapati during her visit to Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, in Old Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY ANI

YOUTUBER THREATENS BIZMAN OF RAPE CASE, EXTORTS `80L

Social media influencer Namra

Gurugram (PTI): Del hi-based YouTuber Namra Qadir has been arrested for allegedly extorting more than Rs 80 lakh from a private firm's owner after hon ey-trapping and threat ening to implicate him in a rape case, police said on Tuesday.

She was arrested from the national capi tal on Monday and sent to four days police re mand after being pro duced before a duty magistrate's court, they said.

Qadir's husband and co-accused Manish alias Virat Beniwal is at large, police said, adding that raids are being conduct ed to apprehend him.

Twenty-two-year-old Qadir has more than 617k subscribers on the video sharing platform.

Dinesh Yadav (21), a resident of Badshahpur, had lodged a complaint in August but the couple moved court for interim bail, police in Guru gram said.

It was only after their interim bail was can

Qadir has con fessed to the crime and we have tak en her on remand to recover the money and other items that were taken by her from the victim under alleged pressure.

—Rajesh Kumar, SHO, Sec 50 PS

celled that an FIR was registered on November 26 at the Sector-50 police station against them, they said and added that Qadir and Beniwal are residents of Shalimar Bagh in Delhi.

"Qadir has confessed to the crime and we have taken her on police re mand to recover the money and other items that were taken by her from the victim under alleged pressure. Her husband and co-accused Manish alias Virat Beni

search on for co-accused husband

Man threatens women online to meet or face acid attack

CBI to question KCR's daughter K Kavitha on December 11

Sisodia’s allegations on bureaucrats false, Centre to SC

wal will be arrested soon," Sector-50 Station House Officer Inspector Rajesh Kumar.

In his complaint

Dinesh Yadav, who runs an advertising firm, said he got in touch with Qadir sometime ago and Beniwal was with her. He claimed that Qadir demanded Rs 2 lakh for promoting his firm on her channel, and he paid the amount.

Qadir after a few days expressed her liking for him and said she want

New Delhi: A 24-yr-old man was arrested for al legedly harassing several women online by threat ening to throw acid on them and making their "objectionable" videos viral if they did not meet him, police said on Tuesday. Aman Yadav created a fake Instagram profile about one and a half years back and had gathered around 1,100 followers, most of them women, they said. From his fake profile, he would send messages to women and later, threaten to throw acid on them and make their "obscene videos" viral in a bid to force them to meet him in person, police said. The matter came to light after a woman, a resident of Farsh Bazaar, lodged a police complaint. She alleged that on November 27, she on her Instagram chat was threatened by an user, anshikasharma188, that acid would be thrown on her and her videos would be made viral, according to police. DCP (Shah dara) R Sathiyasundaram said the IP address of the Instagram page (anshikasharma188) and some call records were analysed. The page was being allegedly operated by Yadav, he said. Police conducted a raid and Yadav was arrested from Subhash Nagar, Sathiyasundaram said.

ed to marry him. They became good friends, ac cording to the com plaint.

"In August I along with Qadir and Manish went to a club to party. We booked a room there

late at night. The next morning, when I woke up, Qadir asked me to handover my bank cards and (smart) watch. She threatened to impli cate me in a rape case," the complainant said.

New Delhi (ANI): The Central Bureau of In vestigation will probe TRS leader and KCR's daughter K Kavitha on December 11 at 11 am in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case.

This comes a day af ter Kavitha wrote to the probe agency seeking deferment of her sum mon, which was slated on Tuesday, to anytime between December 11 and 15 (except 13) be cause of her preoccu pied schedule.

In a letter to the TRS MLC, the CBI said that it would visit her resi dence on December 11 and record her state ment in connection with the case. It also sought confirmation of her availability at her residence on the said date and time.

BY ANI

New Delhi (ANI): The Centre in an affidavit told the Supreme Court that allegations of DyCM Manish Sisodia of non-cooperation from officials were false.

Sisodia had filed an affidavit saying bureau crats in Delhi were not cooperating with AAP government, thereby, paralysing the imple mentation of policies of the elected government.

Disputing his claim, Un ion home secretary Ajay Bhalla said he could have filed details of each incident alleged by Siso dia to prove him wrong.

The affidavit said the illustration given by Sisodia in an affidavit about the non-coopera

tion is, "by and large, vague and incapable of any precise examina tion by the central gov ernment more particu larly, when no contem poraneous intimation of alleged failure is com municated to the central government.

“I am advised not to deal with individual il lustrations which would have clearly shown the falsehood contained therein since the depo nent of the affidavit is the DyCM and it may not be proper, appropri ate or in good taste to deal with such asser tions, more particularly, when I have found them to be not true," Bhalla said in the affidavit.

Over 10,000 cops on duty at counting centres, strongrooms

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The final round of the two-day 18th Joint Working Group meeting on secu rity and border man agement between India and Bangladesh was held on Tuesday at the Ministry of Home Af fairs. Indian delegation for the meet is being led by Piyush Goyal.

An 8-member Bang

First India Bureau

New Delhi: As the votes are going to be counted today, at least 20 companies of para military personnel and over 10,000 officers of Delhi Police have been deployed at all the 42 counting centres, offi cials said on Tuesday.

Counting will begin at 8 am under tight se

curity arrangements, they said. Besides the counting centres, heavy police presence will

BY PTI

also be ensured outside the offices of political parties. Adequate secu rity personnel will also be deployed to prevent clashes between activ ists of different parties.

Deputy Commission er of Police (Public Re lations) Suman Nalwa said adequate security arrangements had been made for the day of counting.

CM congratulates Delhiites after exit polls show AAP win

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Par ty (AAP) national con vener Arvind Kejri wal Tuesday thanked Delhiites after the positive exit poll pre dictions for the party in the MCD elections held last Sunday.

Three exit polls on Monday predicted a clear win for the AAP in the Delhi munici pal polls, with the BJP emerging a distant second.

New Delhi (PTI):

Hackers allegedly tried to breach the website of the apex health research body ICMR but their at tempts have been foiled, according to a government official.

The official said that hackers apparently from Hong Kong tried to attack the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research around 6000 times in a span of 24 hours on No

‘CENTRE’S DUTY’

vember 30.

The attacks come close to the heels of the alleged ransomware attack that had para lysed AIIMS online services here.

"The contents of the ICMR website are safe. The site is hosted at NIC Data Centre, hence the firewall is from NIC which they regularly update. The attack has been pre vented successfully," the official said.

"I would like to con gratulate the people of Delhi. They have again showed their faith in us. Let's wait for tomorrow (Wednesday)," he told reporters on the side lines of an event.

On the Gujarat exit polls, the Delhi CM said a new party like the AAP getting "15 to 20 per cent vote share" in a state considered the BJP's stronghold was a "big thing".

Nobody should sleep hungry: SC on migrants

Bhushan said 14 states filed affidavit stating their quota of foodgrains had been exhausted

New Delhi (PTI): It is our culture to ensure no body goes to sleep empty stomach, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday and asked the central government to see to it that foodgrains under the National Food Secu rity Act (NFSA) reaches the last man.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and Hima Kohli

directed the Centre to submit a fresh chart with the number of mi grant and unorganised sector workers regis tered on eShram portal.

“It is the duty of the central government to ensure foodgrains under NFSA are reaching the last man. We are not say ing that Centre is not do ing anything, the Union

of India has ensured foodgrains to people during Covid. At the same time, we have to see it continues. It is our

culture (to ensure) that nobody goes to sleep empty stomach,” the bench said.

It was hearing on its

own a public interest matter related to the plight of migrant work ers during the Covid pandemic and the result ant lockdowns.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for social activists Anjali Bharadwaj, Harsh Man der and Jagdeep Chhokar, said the coun try’s population has in creased after the 2011 census and so has the number of beneficiaries covered under NFSA.

He submitted many eligible and needy bene

‘DELHI GOVT FOLLOWING IN AMBEDKAR’S FOOTSTEPS’

education and we, too, are working towards it. It will lead to equality in society," Kejriwal said. Ambedkar, known as the Father of Indian Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.

Indo-Bangla final round meet on security held CJI Chandrachud pays respects to Ambedkar

ficiaries will be deprived of the benefit under the law if it is not enforced effectively.

Bhushan said the gov ernment is claiming the per capita income of people has increased in recent years, but added India has slipped rapidly in global hunger index.

Addl Solicitor Gener al Aishwarya Bhati, ap pearing for the Centre, submitted there are 81.35 crore beneficiaries under NFSA, a very large number even in the Indian context.

CJI Chandrachud, along with Justice BR Gavai, paid a floral trib ute to Ambedkar in Su preme Court’s library before proceedings to the Court for the ses sions.

CJI said he was glad to be there paying tribute to Dr Ambedkar, who was the architect of the Constitution and is ad mired by many people.

CJI added that what ever we are today is be cause of the vision of great man like Dr. BR Ambedkar.

Qadir arrested,

SC praised Centre for ensuring foodgrains to people during Covid.

LG VK Saxena at the 60th Raising Day of Home Guards, in New Delhi on Tuesday. SBK Singh, DG Home Guards, also present.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and others at a ceremony to pay homage to Babasaheb BR Ambedkar on his Mahaparinirvan Diwas, at Delhi Assembly complex on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday paid floral tributes to BR Ambedkar on his death anniversary at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha and said the AAP government was following in his footsteps. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, too, was present. "Today I appeal to everyone to take inspiration from Ambedkar's life that was full of struggles. He fought for the rights of the poor. He focused on

ladeshi delegation will discuss the issues of common concern of the two neighbouring countries.

New Delhi: Chief Jus tice of India DY Chan dhrachud paid his re spects to Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his death anniversary.

SABKA SAATH

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs a meeting to improve the efficiency of the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) and Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) fund utilisation, as Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh look on, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

‘Hackers attack ICMR site 6k times a day’

A security personnel stands guard outside a strong room at Gole Market, New Delhi Tuesday.

Minister Piyush Goyal

K Kavitha

CJI DY Chandrachud before the portrait of BR Ambedkar.

—PHOTO

—PHOTO

POLLS

NARENDRA (2022) DEFEATS NARENDRA (2017);

BATTERED’ CONG 2ND, AAP RISING

n our presentation this week when we talk about the exit polls of different agencies which have pre dicted massive win by the BJP in Gujarat, we also focus on how these exit polls have shown the posi tion of the Grand Old Par ty vis-à-vis the AAP and thereby what is means for the Opposition politics in the country given the fact that the Lok Sabha is scheduled for 2024.

Aam Aadmi’s entry in the fray in 2022 has made the election all the more interesting as the party is on an upswing since win ning Punjab early in 2022 especially post the results which were announced on march 10. While the exact picture and the perfor mance of AAP (in the Gu jarat Assembly Elections 2022) will be known only on December 8, let’s present a percentage vote share, rise and dip scenario thereby as predicted by these exit polls. It will also give a pic ture of how the Opposition parties are placed and what it means during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Compared to 2017, the Congress, as per exit poll outcomes, may see a significant reduction in vote share. Axis MyIndia and ETG predict the most drastic decrease for the Congress, pegging the fall at 15.4 and 18 percentage points in respective orders

BUT IN MCD POLLS...

AAP TO EMERGE AS A LANDSLIDE WINNER!

AAP’s entry in the fray in 2022 has made Gujarat polls all the more interesting as the party is on an upswing since winning Punjab early in 2022 especially post results which were announced on march 10

UPHILL TASK FOR OPPOSITION PARTIES TO GIVE A FIGHT TO BJP

Going by the exit polls and the massive outcome of the Saf fron might and the fractured “mandate” of the Opposition Congress and AAP…basically parties eating into each other’s votes would only indicate that before the 224 Lok Sabha, it would be an uphill task for the Opposition parties to come together to give a fight of any kind to the BJP. Even 2023’s poll calendar is impressive, but Opposition parties are fragmented as far as the third front is concerned.

While News24 -Today’s Chanakya has predicted big gains for the Saffron might compared to other parties, the survey predicts BJP may be headed for a mas sive win with around 50% votes. Congress may get up to 26% votes while AAP may get up to 20% votes.

News24-Today’s Chanakya has predicted that BJP may win around 150 seats while Congress may be reduced to 19 seats. AAP may win 11 seats. If BJP manages to win over 150 seats, it will be its big gest-ever win in the state.

However, a closer look will clearly reveal that the

lion’s share of AAP’s in crease in vote share in Gu jarat appears to have come at the expense of the Con gress itself rather than that of the BJP.

While psephologists pre dict through several exit polls that the Saffron might’s vote share will not drop much, the Congress, as per the exit polls, is esti mated to witness a severe drop in vote share, matched by a boosted rise in vote share for Arvind Kejri wal’s Aam Aadmi Party.

Compared to 2017, the

Congress, as per exit poll outcomes, may see a sig nificant reduction in vote share. Axis MyIndia and ETG predict the most dras tic decrease for the Con gress, pegging the fall at 15.4 and 18 percentage points in respective orders.

ETG estimates a 24.2% vote share for AAP, pre dicting a larger vote share for Kejriwal’s party than even the Congress, which has been pegged at 23.4%.

While the Axis MyIndia is giving AAP a 20% vote share in the Gujarat elec

tion, the Congress has been given only 6 percentage points ahead of AAP. CVot er and PMARQ have marked AAP’s vote share around 15% and Jan Ki Baat pegs it at a 12-19% range.

Axis MyIndia pegs the Congress’ decrease in vote share from 2017 at 15.4 per centage points, which equals 77.4% of AAP’s in crease in vote share.

ETG places the Con gress’ decrease in vote share from 2017 at 18 per centage points, which is 74.7% of AAP’s increase

whereas Congress

is predicted to win three to seven seats whereas ‘Others’, which include In

ECONOMY IS ON RIGHT TRACK

The World Bank’s forecast for India’s growth pros pect in 2023 has come as a boost for the economy and the Central government. Those doubt ing the performance of the Indian economy amidst global gloom would be ef fectively silenced unless numbers prove them right.

From its earlier projection of 6.5 percent the World Bank in its India Develop ment Update has revised the growth rate for 2022-23 to 6.9 percent with the gov ernment meeting the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent. India is also projected as one of the fastest grow ing economies by the World Bank’s Update.

At 6.9 percent the growth will be lower th an finan cial year 2021-22 when it stood at 8.7 percent. The

lower growth can be attrib uted to high commodity prices and the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of monetary policy like other central banks.

Given the resilience of India’s economy the pro jection is neither surpris

ing nor improbable. What may need to be factored in is inflation. At 7.1 percent it will, however, be a spot of bother for the Reserve Bank of India and consum ers in the current fiscal. It had dropped from 7.41 per cent to 6.77 percent in Oc

tober but was considered high above the RBI’s com fort level.

The RBI’s monetary pol icy committee is expected to further hike interest rates to fight inflation. Some of the Indian econo my’s performance will

At 6.9 percent, the growth will be lower than financial year 2021-22 when it stood at 8.7 percent. The lower growth can be attributed to high commodity prices and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tightening of monetary policy like other central banks

hinge on global develop ments based on the Ukraine war. With cheap Russian oil India has been able to face the headwinds so far, though the benefit of the deal has accrued more to oil companies and not ordinary consumers.

in vote share. In compari son, the scale of BJP’s vote share decrease is only 10% of the scale of AAP’s vote share increase.

CVoter puts the Con gress’ decrease in vote share from 2017 at 8.4 per centage points, which is 56.4% of AAP’s increase in vote share. As per the same exit poll, the amount that the BJP’s vote share has decreased by is only 0.7% of the amount AAP’s vote share has increased by.

Going by the exit polls and the massive outcome

of the Saffron might and the fractured “mandate” of the Opposition Congress and AAP… basically par ties eating into each other’s votes would only indicate that before the 224 Lok Sab ha, it would be an uphill task for the Opposition parties to come together to give a fight of any kind to the BJP. Even 2023’s poll calendar is impressive, but Opposition parties are fragmented as far as the third front is concerned.

VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

TOP TWEETS

Babasaheb Ambedkar gave the country a justice-oriented, progressive and all-inclusive constitution, which ensured the protection of the rights of every class. Babasaheb’s struggling life, thoughts and achievements are a source of inspiration for all. Today, on his Mahaparinirvan day, I remember him and bow down to him.

Bhupender Yadav @byadavbjp

New India is unstoppable! India’s GDP growth estimates have now been revised upwards by the @ WorldBank from 6.5% to 6.9%. The country has the resilience and internal robustness to fuel higher growth rates.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Amongst thousands of persons, hardly one strives for perfection; and amongst those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows me in truth. Bhagavad Gita

THE

Amit Shah @AmitShah

ROBIN ROY

The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India

MODI 2017 MODI 2022

The AAP has emerged as a landslide winner in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi exit polls (MCD exit polls) conducted by India Today-Axis My India and Times Now. MCD exit polls reveal that the BJP stands a distant 2nd in MCD elec tions and the Congress could be reduced to single digits. Of the 250 MCD wards, AAP is predicted to win 149-171 seats, accord ing to India-Today Axis My India MCD exit poll. BJP is predicted to be a distant second with 69-91 seats,

has been driven to margins and it is predicted to secure fewer seats than even the Independents. Congress

dependents, are expected to secure 5 to 9 seats.

VOTING FALLS PERCENTAGE

Lalu in better condition post kidney transplant

Patna (ANI): Rashtri ya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Misa Bharti on Tuesday extended gratitude to the people for their wishes on the behalf of her father Lalu Prasad Yadav who underwent a kidney transplant sur gery in Singapore on the previous day.

2017

2022 65.22% 69.99%

Ahmedabad (PTI): A voter turnout of 65.22 per cent was recorded in the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections in 93 seats, as per the latest data shared by the Election Commis sion on Tuesday.

In 2017, these constit uencies had registered 69.99 per cent turnout.

The voting on Mon day covered the 93 seats spread across 14 dis tricts of north and cen tral regions of Gujarat.

The first phase of elections held on De cember 1 covered 89 As sembly seats and record ed 63.31 per cent polling.

Gujarat, having a total of 182 Assembly seats, had registered 68.41 per cent voting in 2017.

In second phase polls on Monday, Ahmedabad district, which has 21 seats, registered the lowest voter turnout of 59.10 per cent, while Ba naskantha was on top at

BATTLEGROUND GUJARAT

72.49 per cent.

Sabarkantha district of north Gujarat was on second spot with 71.43 per cent turnout, fol lowed by Kheda 68.55 per cent, Panchmahal 68.44 per cent, Anand 68.42 per cent, Arvalli 67.55 per cent, Gandhi nagar 66.90 per cent, Mehsana 66.42 per cent,

In the

ED GETS CUSTODY OF CHHATTISGARH CMO OFFICER FOR 4 MORE DAYS

Raipur: A special court here on Tuesday allowed the custodial interrogation of bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia, a deputy secretary posted in CM Bhupesh Baghel’s Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for four more days in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal levy scam. The court also ex tended the judicial custody of Indian Administrative Ser vice (IAS) officer Sameer Vishnoi, coal trader Suryakant Tiwari and two other accused by four more days in the same case. Additional District and Sessions Judge Ajay Singh Rajput extended the ED remand by four days of Chaurasia after she was produced before the court on expiry of her current custody, said Chaurasia’s lawyer Faizal Rizvi. The court also extended the judicial custody of Vishnoi, Suryakant Tiwari, his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari and another coal businessman Sunil Agrawal by 4 days.

ODISHA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO 20 YEARS JAIL TERM FOR RAPING MINOR

Baripada: A court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday sentenced a 58-year-old man to 20 years rigor ous imprisonment for raping a minor girl. Mayurbhanj District Fast Track Court Judge Durga Charan Mishra convicted Dulal Singh for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2019 and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. The incident took place in the forest near the village Kachhim bila under Betnoti Police Station on May 20, 2019. Dulal took the minor girl to the nearby forest and raped her.

Patan 66.07 per cent, Chhota Udepur 65.48 per cent, Vadodara 65.24 per cent, Mahisagar 61.69 per cent and Da hod 60.07 per cent.

A total of 87 ballot units, 88 control units and 282 voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) were replaced during the second phase of voting, which took place between 8 am and 5 pm on Monday across 14,975 polling stations in 14 districts.

Comments that triggered row and grabbed headlines

Ahmedabad (PTI):

Strong comments cheered by supporters, slammed by rivals and deemed controversial by others are always head line-makers during poll campaigns and the Gu jarat assembly elections were no exception.

As people are waiting for the results on Thurs day, here is a list of such remarks and the lead ers behind them.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma drew crit icism from the Con gress but was feted by the BJP’s Hindutva base after he took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi by likening his new bearded look to that of former Iraqi dictator

NITISH DUCKS QUERIES ON EXIT POLLS PREDICTIONS

Patna: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday ducked queries about exit polls predicting wins, in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, for his former ally BJP which he has vowed to defeat with the help of a united opposition in the next general elections. Most exit polls have predicted a huge victory for the BJP in Gujarat, the home turf of PM Narendra Modi.

Saddam Hussein.

UP CM Yogi Adity anath’s swipe at Arvind Kejriwal at a public meeting on November 26 also drew criticism.

Murmu, Dhankhar, others pay tributes to Dr Ambedkar

New Delhi (ANI): Be sides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Presi dent Droupadi Murmu, Vice Presdident Jagdeep Dhankhar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Bir la and several leaders on Tuesday paid floral tributes to Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his death anniversary at his stat ue in the Parliament.

“President Droupadi Murmu paid floral trib utes to Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar on his Mahaparinirvan Diwas at Parliament House Lawns, New Delhi,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted. President Murmu was accompa nied with Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha speaker Om Bir la and other leaders and

dignitaries at the Par liament premises.

Besides, BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former UP CM and BSP supremo Mayawati, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami, Delhi CM Arvind Kejri wal and several Con gress leaders paid trib utes to Dr Ambedkar.

UP GOVT TO BUILD MEMORIAL OF AMBEDKAR: CM YOGI

Lucknow: UP CM Yogi Adity anath on Tuesday paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar, the ar chitect of India’s Constitution, on his death anniversary, and said his efforts gave inspira tion to the downtrodden. CM Yogi announced that his govt will build a grand cultural centre and memorial named after Dr BR Ambedkar.

She took to Twitter and said in Hindi, “Your prayers boosted my fa ther’s morale and made him feel better today! Papa has said Thanky ou to all of you.”

She also attached a video where Lalu Yadav could be heard saying: “Aap logo ne sab dua kiya, acha feel kar rahe hain hum, acha feel kar rahe hain hum (You all prayed, I am feeling bet ter).”

Lalu’s son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday informed that the party chief under went kidney transplant surgery successfully at a hospital in Singapore.

“After the successful operation of my fa ther’s kidney trans plant, he was shifted from the operation the atre to ICU. Donor elder sister Rohini Acharya and the party national president are both healthy. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes,” tweeted Tejashwi Yadav.

GIRIRAJ PRAISES LALU’S DAUGHTER

ROHINI WHO DONATED HER KIDNEY

Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who donated a kidney to her father, has earned the praise of Union minister Giriraj Singh, one of the most strident opponents of the former Bihar chief min ister. Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat of the state, expressed his sentiments on Twitter, sharing a picture of Acharya fast asleep on her hospital bed after the surgery in Singapore. “Beti ho to Rohini Acharya jaisi (Rohini Acharya is the kind of daughter one should have),” Singh tweeted in Hindi, adding that the Singapore-based daughter of Prasad, in her early 40s, “shall serve as an example for the future generations”.

PM MODI SPEAKS TO TEJASHWI, ENQUIRES ABOUT LALU’S HEALTH AFTER SURGERY

We will win the legal battle: Bommai on border dispute with Maharashtra

Bengaluru (ANI): Kar nataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday as serted that Karnataka will win the legal battle with Maharashtra over the border issue be tween the two states.

“Karnataka’s stand had nothing to do with elections, it is a long dragged issue by Maha rashtra. These tensions are created because of Maharashtra. There is prosperity among the people of both states, this (Border issue) is in Supreme Court and I am sure that we will win the legal battle” Bom mai said, a day after ap pealing to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to fight the border dispute issue legally. Reacting to

Uddhav Thackeray’s re marks questioning if it is their (Karnataka’s) strategy to transfer vil lages before the elec tions in Karnataka, Bommai said: “We are committed to safeguard ing our borders and peo ple. Not only that we are also committed to safe guarding the Kannadi gas in Maharastra, Ker ala and Telangana.”

MP cops

on hunt

to nab author of controversial book

Bhopal (PTI): The Madhya Pradesh Police on Tuesday constituted several police teams to arrest the author of a controversial book against whom a case was registered last week, state Home Min ister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday.

The case was regis tered after activists of Akhil Bharatiya Vid yarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest on the premises of the govern ment Law College in Indore alleging the book, being taught to students, has very ob jectionable contents against the Hindu com munity and the Rash triya Swayamsevak Sangh, which encour ages religious funda mentalism.

Will Rahul Gandhi’s BJY ‘companions’ bond with him in politics?

Several allies have given open support to Yatra eversince it was started in Sep

New Delhi: Allies are openly supporting Con gress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra. The allies of the states through which the Yatra is going on under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi have supported the yatra, but the leaders of the allies of the states where the yatra is not going are also joining the yatra. Earlier it seemed that UPA’s allies in the states where the Yatra would not go, would only give moral

support to the Yatra. But as the Bharat Jodo Yatra progressed and it got a response, it seems that the opinion of the allies changed and they decid ed to give open support to the Yatra.

The Jharkhand Muk ti Morcha, a major ally of the Congress, sent its leader to join the yatra. Keep in mind that Bharat Jodo Yatra is not going to Jharkhand. That’s why Jharkhand Congress leaders had reached Madhya Pradesh to join the yatra. At the same time Congress’ ally JMM sent its senior leader and state minister Mith ilesh Kumar Thakur to join the yatra. On the

GOOD PERFORMACE SO FAR

IN OVER LAST 100 DAYS

When the yatra reached Maharashtra, leaders of both the allied parties joined the yatra after initial hesitation. Many big leaders including Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar also attended the yatra. On behalf of the Shiv Sena, Aditya Thackeray, son of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and former minister of the state government, participated in the yatra.

sidelines of the visit, Rahul Gandhi posed for photographs with Jharkhand Congress and JMM leaders and

and

the same was released on social media. Signifi cantly, Jharkhand has JMM government with the support of Congress

Similarly,

eral senior party lead ers joined him and praised Rahul’s yatra. Keep in mind that the Goa Forward Party was earlier an ally of the BJP. But ahead of the last election, Sardesai had aligned with the Congress after the par ty was split by the BJP.

However, the leaders of the allied parties from the states through which the Congress yatra passed, joined the yatra and walked with Rahul.

When the yatra started from Kanyakumar in Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK leader in the state and Chief Minister MK Stalin attended the pro gramme. After that, lead ers of Congress’s allies in

Kerala also participated in the yatra. Congress has no allies in Karnata ka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. But when the yatra reached Maha rashtra, leaders of both the allied parties joined the yatra after initial hesitation. Many big leaders including Supri ya Sule, daughter of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar also attended the yatra. On behalf of the Shiv Sena, Aditya Thack eray, son of former Chief Minister Uddhav Thack eray and former minis ter of the state govern ment, participated in the yatra. Supriya Sule even participated in the Con gress rally held in Maha rashtra.

Polling officials monitor strong room through CCTV footage ahead of counting for the Gujarat elections, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

BSF personnel stand guard at a strong room ahead of counting, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday to enquire about the recovery of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav who underwent a kidney transplant surgery in Singapore. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on phone this morning and inquired about the health of RJD National Presi dent Lalu Prasad Yadav after the kidney transplant operation,” according to RJD. Lalu’s son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday informed that the party chief underwent kidney transplant surgery successfully at a hospital in Singapore.

President Murmu, VP Dhankhar, PM Modi arrive to pay homage to Dr Ambedkar. Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge also seen.

Shamsher Singh

Hemant Soren is the Chief Minister.

the Con gress yatra is also not going to Goa, but Vijay

Sardesai, the head of Goa Forward Party, an ally of the Congress in Goa, joined the yatra in Madhya Pradesh. Sev

Rahul Gandhi with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, her husband Robert Vadra during the Yatra.

COURTYARD

K’taka CM Basavaraj Bommai

CONSTRUCTION YET TO BEGIN ON AYODHYA’S NEW MOSQUE

Ayodhya: Barbed-wire fencing and a board put up by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation are the only indicators that a mosque complex is set to come up at this spot in Dhannipur vil lage near Ayodhya.

The board bears an illustration of the pro posed mosque for which the Supreme Court had ordered allocation of a five-acre plot.

But three years after the apex court settled the Ram JanmabhoomiBabri Masjid land dis pute, there are no signs of any building activity.

The Ayodhya Devel opment Authority is yet to approve the trust’s proposal. But the trust expects that this will now happen soon.

The Indo-Islamic Cul tural Foundation is a trust tasked by the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board with the mosque’s construction.

A pothole-riddled road breaking off from the Lucknow-Faizabad highway leads to Dhan nipur village, 16 km from district headquar

PROPERTY DEALERS INTERESTED

Village head Jeet Bahadur Yadav said the prices of land soared following the announcement of the mosque complex’s construction and property dealers were regu larly visiting. “Property dealers, both from the Ayodhya and nearby districts, frequent the village looking for property. Some villagers even entertain them but I don’t think anybody is ready to sell their lands as of now,” Yadav said. “If people of the village get jobs, why will anybody sell their property and move out?” he asked.

ters. Narrow roads lined with houses, a vet erinary hospital and a new farmers’ centre give way to the large va cant plot of land. Until recently, the land was used for farm ing. It now has a 10-foothigh barbed wire fence. When the land was al located for the mosque, the villagers had hoped

for a brighter future.

Mohammad Gamu (60), whose home over looks the site, said, “Nothing has been done in three years. Not a single brick has been laid.” Gamu’s wife com plained that she has not received any benefit of PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwa la scheme or Kisan Samman Nidhi. —PTI

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla addresses annual convocation of ILBS

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate three National Ayush Institutes on December 11. The institutes to be inaugurated by PM Modi include All India Institute of Ayur veda (AIIA), Goa, National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM), Ghaziabad and National Institute of Ho moeopathy (NIH), Delhi.

BY PTI

BABRI ANNIVERSARY: JUST ANOTHER DAY IN AYODHYA

Ayodhya (PTI): It was business as usu al in the pilgrim city on Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of the Babri demolition.

In a break from the curfew-like situation on some past occa sions, life remained normal in the city with schools, colleg es, offices and public institutions remain ing open.

Like any other day, local people were seen queuing at the Ram temple complex for a ‘darshan’ while traffic remained heavy during morn ing rush hour.

Unlike in the past, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is not cele brating any “Shau rya Diwas” (bravery day) and there are no plans by the Muslim community to ob serve a Black Day.

Senior Superinten dent of Police, Ayod hya, Muniraj G said “routine arrange ments” have been made in the city.

UP:

VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma told PTI on Tuesday that no event is lined up for the day. “The ‘Shaurya Diwas’ which used to be cel ebrated has been called off as our main ‘sankalp’ (vow) was fulfilled. And af ter that, all we want ed was a peaceful en vironment,” he said.

Babri petitioner Haji Mehboob said, “We organised Quran Khani (recita tion of Quran) in re membrance of those who lost their lives in Ayodhya after demo lition of the mosque. No other pro grammes have been planned.”

Others keen to replicate our digital transformation: Kant

Udaipur (PTI): India’s initiatives in digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar, unique payment infrastructure and direct benefit trans fer have been lauded at the G20 Sherpa meeting here, with several mem bers stressing on the "need to replicate the model" in other develop ing countries, G20 Sher pa Amitabh Kant said.

He highlighted the digital initiatives taken in healthcare such as the Cowin app for imple menting the Covid vac cination drive and Ayushman Bharat scheme that has extend ed health insurance cov er to 500 million people at first meeting of Sherpa under India’s Presidency.

With Ukraine conflict festering on, Kant said all countries were ap preciative of PM Modi’s emphasis on peace and harmony in the article he had penned for news papers across the world on the day India as sumed G20 Presidency.

Kant said developing nations holding the G20 Presidency for the next three years would help emerging economies set their narrative on the global stage.

Udaipur: Different groups of G-20 countries will have more than 200 meet ings in India under the Indian Presidency. G-20 Prime Ministers’ meetings will be held in Delhi in Sep 2023. Before that, a series of meetings of various working groups will be held in every state of the country with an objective is to promote the culture of the state along with the policy of the country, G-20 Operation Head Muktesh Pardeshi said.

This series began with the first Sherpa meeting in Udaipur. He said that the meeting of the Develop ment Working Group will be held in Mumbai from Dec 13 to 16 and that

of the Finance Group in Bengaluru from December 16 to 18. Apart from this, Rajasthan will be such a state where meetings of different groups will be held in three cities of Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur. Pardeshi visited the Passport Seva Kendra in Subhash Nagar and met the officers and employ ees there. He took stock of the work. He said that it was because of him that Udaipur got the Passport Seva Kendra.

5 SENIOR IPS OFFICERS SET TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR

Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: In the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy, year 2023 will bring in a ‘flood of retirements’ as five senior IPS offic ers will retire. With the retirement of 5 officers of DG rank, ADG offic ers will definitely get the benefit of promo tion. However, every one’s is more con

cerned about only one issue: Who will be the next UP DGP.

Presently acting UP DGP Dr D S Chauhan will retire in March and according to sources, it is very difficult for IPS Devendra Singh Chau han to get extension from the center because UPSC has already re turned his file. Sources further reveal that in the

new year, the center will finalize who will become the new DGP of Uttar Pradesh.

At present, some of ficers of the bureau cracy are busy helping both the central and the state government. Among those who will retire in the new year are IPS Gopal Lal Mee na DG Cooperative who will retire in January.

IPS Dr Rajendra Pal Singh DG Training will retire in February, IPS Dr DS Chauhan DGP & DG Intelligence and Di rector Vigilance will retire in March while IPS Dr Raj Kumar Vish wakarma will retire in May, as will IPS Chan dra Prakash DG Spe cial Inquiry.

Interestingly, for choosing the next DGP

of Uttar Pradesh, the exercise will start in February and efforts will be made once again to stamp the name of DS Chauhan through another extension. With 2024 slated for Lok Sabha election, in such a situation, the better coordination between the state and the center will finalize the name of the DGP’s chair!

Hornbill Festival: Naga CM regrets absence of 7 tribes

Bhagalpur: The Bihar Police have arrested two persons for allegedly attacking a woman and chopping off her body parts, leading to her death, in the Pirpainti police station limits of Bihar’s Bhagalpur. The arrested persons have been identified as Shakeel Miyan.

BIHAR MAN CHOPS OFF WOMAN OVER DEBT ISSUE BSF SEIZES DRONE, CONTRABAND IN TARN

TARAN

Tarn Taran: The Border Security Force recovered a drone carrying contraband suspected to be heroin weighing 2.4 kg near the Kalia village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, an of ficial said. According to the PRO, BSF, Punjab Frontier, the troops deployed at the border recovered the contraband on Monday.

TWO COLLEGE

STUDENTS HELD FOR FRAUD

New Delhi: Two finalyear college students were arrested from Haryana for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of providing them with player IDs for a popular online game at discounted rates, police said on Tuesday. Bunty and Sagar, both 21, were arrested from Sonipat.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ad dressed the 8th annual convocation of the In stitute of Liver and Bil iary Sciences (ILBS), here on Tuesday.

Congratulating the students, Birla said that ILBS is a place dedicated to education, research and treatment, where thousands have received state-of-the-art treat ment at affordable rates.

Referring to the contri

bution of ILBS in the field of liver transplanta tion, he said ILBS has increased awareness about organ donation among the general public and has worked to take the idea related to organ donation to the masses.

He said that ILBS is playing the role of a guide across the country in liver related issues and ILBS has a major role in spreading infor mation about this dis ease to every nook and corner of the country.

New Delhi (FIB): Inau gurating “Women Lead ing Change in Health and Science in India” conference in here in the presence of Melinda French Gates, Co-chair and Trustee Bill and Melinda Gates Founda tion, MoS Dr Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday that Indian women are gradually evolving from participatory to leader ship role and constitute an essential component of nation’s inclusive

growth as envisaged by PM Modi. He said, wom en leaders are a crucial part of the new India growth story, as projects, programmes and poli

DRONE YATRA BEGINS

cies are now moving from women-specific to women-led, or we can say from an era of women participation to an era of women leadership.

Kohima (PTI): Naga land Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tues day said that non-par ticipation of seven tribes of the eastern part of the state in the ongoing governmentorganised Hornbill Fes tival was unfortunate.

Seven tribes in six districts of Eastern Na galand are not partici pating this year to press for their demand for a separate state.

The ENPO, the apex

India will become a hub of drone technology: Thakur

Launch

Chennai: India will be come a hub of drone technology and India will require at least 1 lakh drone pilots by next year, said Union Information and Broad casting Minister Anur ag Thakur. He was ad dressing the gathering after flagging of the ‘Drone Yatra 2.0’, in

Chennai on Tuesday.

Technology is truly transforming the world at a rapid rate and it has never been more rele vant than now as its ap plications are solving some of the most press ing problems on the planet, said the Minis ter. He said “Prime Min ister Modi once re marked that ‘India has a billion solutions to a

million problems.’ As the country of a billion plus people, India is in creasingly leveraging

technology to stay ahead of the curve”.

Detailing the ad vancements in drone

technology in India, he said that during the Beating Retreat, the en tire nation was mes merised by the spectac ular display of 1000 ‘Made in India’ drones by Indian start-up ‘Bot lab Dynamics’ led by an IIT alumni. As a part of the SWAMITVA scheme (Survey of villages and mapping with impro vised technology in vil lage areas), the survey of the land and houses are being prepared through drones in the villages, he added.

Drones are increasingly being used to sprinkle pesticides and nano fer tilizers in the fields in rural villages.

He said that recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had granted condition al exemption to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the deployment of drones for live aerial cinematography of the India Cricket Season in 2021.

body of these seven tribes, has been de manding a separate state since 2010. It was scheduled to meet Un ion Home Minister Amit Shah in New Del hi Tuesday evening.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Union Edu cation Minister Dhar mendra Pradhan on Tuesday invited stu dents, teachers and par ents to participate in the 6th edition of “Pariksha Pe Charcha 2023” and get a chance to be mentored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this pro gramme, students, par ents, teachers across the nation and also from overseas interact with the Prime Minister.

Chandan Kumar and Qazi Faraz Ahmed

A board with Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation’s (IICF) name inside the perimeter fence of the five-acre plot allotted by the government, at Dhannipur village in Ayodhya district, on Tuesday.

—PHOTO

Pochury tribe performs during the sixth day of Hornbill festival on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Ravi Sharma

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

India’s G20 Sherpa highlights digital initiatives taken for healthcare like Cowin app and the Ayushman Bharat scheme

DIFFERENT G-20 COUNTRIES GROUPS TO HAVE OVER 200 MEETS UNDER INDIA’S PRESIDENCY

G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, with his wife Ranjeeta Kant, arrives to attend cultural programme at G20 Sherpa meet, in Udaipur.

of 1st Drone Skilling & Training Conference & Flag-off of Drone Yatra held at Garuda Aerospace, Agni College

Union Minister Anurag Thakur after flagging-off the ‘Drone Yatra 2.0’, in Chennai on Tuesday.

“Make Pariksha Pe Charcha 2023 a bigger success”

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla addresses annual convocation of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Indian women are evolving from participatory to leadership role, says MoS Dr Jitendra Singh

MoS Dr Jitendra Singh addressing the conference in New Delhi.

BRIEFS

INDIA’S THERMAL POWER GENERATION RISES BY 16.28%

World Bank raises India’s GDP forecast to 6.9 percent

New Delhi: India’s ther mal power generation registered a growth of 16.28% at 87,687 MU in November this year as compared to 75,412 MU generated in the corre sponding month of previ ous fiscal. The overall generation of power in the country also in creased by 14.63% from 1,02,968 MU to 1,18,029 MU in the reporting month yoy. Power utili ties’ despatch went up by 3.55% to 62.34 MT dur ing November this year as compared to 60.20 MT in the year-ago month. —PTI

New Delhi (PTI): The World Bank on Tuesday re vised upwards its GDP growth forecast for India to 6.9% for 2022-23, saying the economy was showing higher resilience to global shocks.

In its India Development Update, the World Bank said the revision was due to higher resilience of the In dian economy to global shocks and better-than-ex pected second quarter numbers. India’s economy grew at 6.3% in September quarter 2022-23 as com pared to 13.5% in the pre ceding June quarter, main ly on account of contrac tion in output of manufac turing and mining sectors.

This is the first upgrade of India’s growth forecast by any international agen cy amid the global turmoil.

In October, the World Bank had cut India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.5%

OTHER STORIES

from 7.5% earlier. Now, it has upgraded the projec tion to 6.9% for 2022-23 (April 2022 -March 2023).

The report titled ‘Navi gating the Storm’, said while the deteriorating ex ternal environment will weigh on India’s growth prospects, the economy is relatively well positioned to weather global spillo vers compared to most other emerging markets.

Impact of a tightening

global monetary policy cy cle, slowing global growth and elevated commodity prices will mean that the Indian economy will expe rience lower growth in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22 (8.7%), it said.

Despite these challenges, it said, the update expects India to register a strong GDP growth and remain one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, due to a robust do

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z In October, the World Bank had cut India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.5% from 7.5% earlier. Now, it has upgraded the projection to 6.9% for 2022-23

z This is the first upgrade of India’s growth forecast by any international agency amid the global turmoil

mestic demand.

“The World Bank has re vised its 2022-23 GDP fore cast upward to 6.9% from 6.5% (in October 2022), con sidering a strong outturn in India in second quarter (July-September) of 2022-23 financial year,” the India Development Update said on Tuesday.

The report projected that the Indian economy will grow at slightly lower rate of 6.6% in 2023-24.

‘Eco growth to slip to 4-4.5% in 2HFY23’

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Economic re covery in FY23 has been resilient and encouraging, but challenges such as high inflation and weak demand (both internal and external) are expected to pull down the economic growth to 4-4.5% in 2HFY23 from 9.7% in 1HFY23, In dia Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.

The agency says as per the latest estimates of the National Statistical Organ isation, the GDP grew 6.3% yoy during July-September 2022 (2QFY23). “The data indicates that despite the geopolitical uncertainty and fear of a global growth slowdown, the Indian econ omy has shown resilience.

In fact, the 2QFY23 GDP growth print remains next only to Saudi Arabia (8.6% yoy) among the major econ omies,” says, Paras Jasrai, Analyst, Ind-Ra. Given that Saudi Arabia is a key ben eficiary of the current oil

SAYS KIRIT PARIKH PANEL

price boom, India’s GDP growth is indeed a shining spot across the globe.

The biggest worry stems from India’s merchandise exports that contracted by a massive 16.7% yoy to $29.8 billion in October 2022. This is the first con traction in 19 months. Mer chandise imports grew 5.7% yoy in the month, tak ing the trade deficit in goods to a three-month high of $26.9 billion in Oc tober 2022. Favourably, the trade surplus of services continues the buoyancy reaching a record high of $12.3 billion, growing by 40.7% yoy (10-month high) in October 2022.

New Delhi: Gold price fell by Rupees 473 to `53,898 per 10 gram in the national capital on Tuesday amid weak global trends, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the pre cious metal had touched `54,371 per 10 gram. Sil ver also tumbled by `1,241 per kg to Rupees 65,878 per kilogram. In the international market, gold was trading lower at $1,770.75 per ounce while silver was down at $22.38 per ounce.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA TO RECALL 9,125 VEHICLES

GLOBAL AIRLINE INDUSTRY TO POST 6.9 BILLION

US

DOLLAR LOSS IN 2022: IATA

Geneva: The global airline industry is projected to report a lower loss at $6.9 billion in 2022, mainly due to stronger passenger yields and cost control by carriers amid rising fuel prices, according to industry body IATA. In June, the IATA projected the industry loss at $9.7 billion. In October 2021, it forecast a loss of $11.6 billion for this year. On Tues day, IATA said the global airline industry is expected to return to profitability in 2023 and post a small net profit of $4.7 billion. After being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the airline industry is on the recovery path. —PTI

UPI TRANSACTIONS SEE 650% RISE AT RURAL, SEMI-URBAN STORES

New

Nov 2-28, 2022.

“It is suspected that there is a possible defect in one of the child parts of shoulder height adjuster assembly of front row seat belts, which in a rare case, may lead to seat belt disassembly,” it said.

The company has decided to recall the vehicles for inspection and replace ment of the faulty part, free of cost. —PTI

SEIZURE OF HIGH VALUE DRUGS RISES MANIFOLD IN FY22

New Delhi: The unified pay ments interface (UPI) transac tions witnessed a meteoric 650% rise at the semi-urban and rural stores in India this year, a report showed on Tuesday. There was a growth of 25% and 14% in value and volume, respectively, in assisted financial transactions across semi-urban and rural retail counters in the country in 2022. While there was a 25% increase in the demand for micro-ATMs and mPOS. —ANI

FERTILISER

SUBSIDY

BILL IN FY’23 SEEN AT `2.3-2.5 LAKH CR: FAI

New Delhi: The government’s fertiliser subsidy will rise to `2.3-2.5 lakh crore in this fiscal but the bill may fall by 25% in the 2023-24 financial year with moderation in global prices, according to industry body FAI. It expressed concern that the fixed cost of urea has not been increased affecting the viability of urea plants. It also pointed out that the industry is running on a very thin margin, which is ham pering new investments. —PTI

TOP PALM OIL BUYER INDIA’S NOVEMBER IMPORTS

JUMP

29% TO

1.14

MILLION TONNES: DEALERS

New Delhi: India’s palm oil imports jumped 29% in November from a month ago, as a steep discount to rival soyoil and sunoil made buying of the tropical oil lucrative for local refiners. Higher imports by India reached 1.14 million tonnes last month, the average estimate from five dealers with trading firms showed. In November 2021, India had imported 539,639 tonnes of palm oil. For November shipments, buyers mostly placed orders in October, when palm oil was nearly $500 per tonne cheaper than rival soyoil and sunflower oil. —FIB

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said it expects the five-month-old tax on windfall profits made by oil companies to be phased out in 2023 on the back of moderating oil rates.

The government had on July 1 levied a new tax on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on the export of petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) to take away windfall gains accruing to oil companies from a global surge in energy prices fol lowing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The tax rates are revised every fortnight based on prevailing international rates. The levy on petrol export has since been abol ished. “We expect the wind fall taxes on domestic crude oil production levied by the government in 2022 to be phased out in 2023 with moderating prices,” Fitch said in its APAC Oil & Gas Outlook 2023.

Cut excise duty on CNG till gas is included in GST

New Delhi (PTI): The Un ion government should moderate the excise duty it levies on CNG till such time that the environmentfriendly natural gas is in cluded in the one-nationone-tax GST regime, Kirit Parikh Committee has rec ommended.

Natural gas is currently outside the ambit of GST, and existing legacy taxes —central excise duty, state VAT and central sales tax —continue to be applicable on the fuel.

While the central gov ernment does not levy ex cise duty on natural gas when sold in gaseous form, it charges a 14% tax on CNG. States levy VAT as high as 24.5% on gas.

The Parikh Committee, which was formed to rec ommend fair price of gas to

TOP TALKING POINTS

z Natural gas is currently outside the ambit of GST, and existing legacy taxes — central excise duty, state VAT and central sales tax — continue to be applicable on the fuel

z The central govt does not levy excise duty on natural gas when sold in gaseous form

the end consumer and a “market-oriented, trans parent and reliable pricing regime”, in its report to the Oil Ministry last week sug gested that “gas should be brought under the GST re gime”. “The committee rec ognise that this requires consensus among the states,” it said.

MSMEs grow

New Delhi: High-value drugs like cocaine, meth amphetamine and heroin have witnessed record seizures by revenue intel ligence officers in the last fiscal. Signalling a dis turbing trend, the figures revealed that the seizure of highly addictive party drug cocaine has shot up 36-fold to 310 kg in 2021-22. Another highvalue party drug metham phetamine saw a 14-fold increase in seizures by DRI officers at 884.69 kg in 2021-22. —PTI

Adani features in Forbes’ philanthropy list

GAUTAM ADANI’S COMMITMENT

z Adani was listed for having pledged `60,000 crores ($7.7 billion) when he turned 60 in June this year

The

Adani was listed for hav ing pledged ` 60,000 crores when he turned 60 in June this year.

The pledge makes him

z The money will address healthcare, education, and skill development

one of India’s most gener ous philanthropists, the release said.

The money will ad dress healthcare, edu cation, and skill de velopment and will be channelled

through the family’s Adani Foundation, which was founded in 1996.

Self-made billionaire and philanthropist Shiv Nadar counts among the top do nors in India,

ing

channelled close to $1 bil lion of his wealth over a few decades to various so cial causes through the eponymous Shiv Nadar Foundation.

This year he donated `11,600 crore to the founda tion he established in 1994, intending to create an eq uitable, merit-based socie ty by empowering individ uals through education.

Tech tycoon Ashok Soota has pledged ` 600 crore to the medical re search trust he founded in April 2021 for the study of ageing and neurological illnesses.

New Delhi (PTI): Walmart and Flipkart on Tuesday joined hands with the Na tional Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) to ac celerate capacity building for micro, small and medi um enterprises (MSMEs) across India, help them unlock export potential and become part of retail supply chains locally and globally.

The agreement was signed at a summit here to mark the milestone of 20,000 MSMEs completing their training under the Walmart Vriddhi Supplier Development Programme, of which Swasti is a pro gramme partner.

The Vriddhi programme also includes training, seminars and mentoring sessions conducted regu larly for MSMEs. Tens of thousands of MSMEs have registered for the pro gramme from metros and Tier II and III cities.

Mkts settle lower on Tue; Sensex falls for third day

Mumbai (PTI): Bench mark indices ended the day in the negative territory on Tuesday amid weak global market trends and rising crude prices.

Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 208.24 points or 0.33% lower at 62,626.36. During the day, it tumbled 444.53 points or 0.70% to 62,390.07.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 58.30 points or 0.31% to end at 18,642.75.

HUL, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid and Nestle were among the winners.

` SLUMPS 76 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.61

AGAINST US DOLLAR

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined by 76 paise to close at 82.61 against the US dollar on Tuesday due to heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and rising crude prices. During the day, the local unit

GOLD FALLS `473; SILVER PRICE ALSO TUMBLES BY `1,241

Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday said it is recalling 9,125 units of its models Ciaz, Brezza, Erti ga, XL6 and Grand Vitara to fix possible defects in a part of the front row seat belts. The affected vehi cles were manufactured between

New Delhi (PTI):

Fitch expects windfall tax on oil to be phased out in next year

Walmart, Flipkart join hands with NSIC to help

witnessed an intraday high of 81.94 and a low of 82.63.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Indian billion aires Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar, and Ashok Soota were named in the 16th edi tion of Forbes Asia’s He roes of Philanthropy list released on Tuesday.

unranked list “high lights leading altruists in the Asia-Pacific region who demonstrated a strong personal commitment to philanthropic causes.”

NSA calls for collective action against terrorism

is the “lifeblood” of terrorism and greater priority should be accorded to counter terror financing.

New Delhi (PTI): The NSAs of India and Cen tral Asian countries on Tuesday called for collec tive action to combat challenges like terror fi nancing, radicalisation and use of terrorist prox ies for cross-border ter rorism, while asserting that Afghanistan must not become a safe haven for terrorist activities.

The meeting hosted by NSA Ajit Doval also emphasised the need for respecting Afghani stan’s sovereignty, unity

and territorial integrity and urged non-interfer ence in its internal af fairs. A joint commu nique said the officials agreed that the expan sion of terrorist propa ganda, recruitment and fund-raising efforts have serious security impli cations for the region, and therefore, a collec tive and coordinated re sponse is essential.

“The misuse of new and emerging technolo gies, arms and drugs trafficking, using ter

rorist proxies for crossborder terrorism, abuse of cyber space to spread disinformation and un

manned aerial systems present new challenges in counterterrorism ef forts and call for collec

Plea in SC challenges UP Gangster Act

New Delhi (ANI):

A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of various provisions of “The Uttar Pradesh Gangster and AntiSocial Activities (Prevention) Act.

Rahul blows kisses to group shouting ‘Modi’ slogans

Jhalawar (PTI): In the last leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh, a group of people in a town in Agar Malwa district raised slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi after spotting Rahul Gandhi, who responded by giv ing flying kisses.

The incident oc curred on December 4 evening in Soyat Kalan town when the Yatra was headed towards the Rajasthan border.

A video clip of the in cident surfaced on Mon day evening and went viral. The video shows a group of persons standing on the terrace and the balcony of a mall and shouting

“Modi”, “Modi” in di rection of Gandhi when he reached the market area of the town. Gan dhi pointed towards the group and asked them to shout more loudly. He was seen blowing kisses and smiling.

Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra re

MELINDA GATES CALLS ON PRESIDENT MURMU

New Delhi (ANI):

Welcoming Melinda Gates to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President noted the work done by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation over the past two decades.

The President said that the Union government was investing signifi cantly in health and de velopment through a range of flagship initia tives. It was making spe cial efforts to ensure an

inclusive approach, so that the benefits reach the most vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of society, she added.

She expressed confi dence that the Founda tion would make efforts to reach those who are most in need - whether they are women & girls, tribal communities, or those residing in remote parts of the country.

sumed from Khel Sankul in Jhalawar, Ra jasthan, on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the party high command appoint ed senior Punjab Con gress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as the Rajasthan in-charge af ter Ajay Maken ten dered his resignation.

The plea has been filed by Advocate-onRecord Ansar Ah mad Chaudhary. The petition has sought to issue an appropri ate direction declar ing certain Sections of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and AntiSocial Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, along with some Rules of The Uttar Pradesh Gang ster and Anti-Social Activities (Preven tion) Rules, 2021, as unconstitutional, il legal and void.

The petition also sought to pass an appropriate order directing the re spondents to keep in abeyance the fur ther proceedings of the already regis tered cases under section 2/3 of the Gangsters Act, 1986 till the pendency of the present writ petition.

tive action,” it said.

The mentioning of cross-border terrorism is seen as a reference to

Pakistan’s support to various terror groups which have been target ing India. The meeting also strongly called for an early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on Interna tional Terrorism to ef fectively deal with the menace. It also reiterat ed that greater connec tivity could be a force multiplier for enhanc ing trade and commerce as well as for ensuring closer interactions be tween India and Central

Asian countries.

“They agreed that connectivity initia tives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local pri orities. financial sus tainability and respect for sovereignty and ter ritorial integrity of all countries,” it said in remarks seen as an oblique reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In his inau gural address, Doval said financial support

Describing Central Asia as India’s “extend ed neighbourhood”, Doval said New Delhi accords “highest prior ity” to this region, add ing Afghanistan is an important issue “con cerning all of us”.

Doval hosted the con clave with a focus on evolving a common framework to deal with challenges of terrorism in the region including Afghanistan and ways to bolster overall secu rity cooperation in sync with a decision taken at the first India-Central Asia summit in January.

Home Secy chairs high-level meeting to take stock of J-K’s security situation

New Delhi (ANI): Un ion Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Tuesday chaired a highlevel security review meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, sources said. They said it was a monthly review meet ing to take stock of secu rity in J&K as well as ongoing development projects there. The offi cials told ANI that the Home Secretary was ap prised about the prevail ing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and other issues per taining to the Union Territory.The meeting lasted for over two-anda-half hours in the Min istry of Home Affairs in

a hybrid mode with sen ior officials in the min istry joining it in the presence of Director Intelligence Bureau Ta

al Dinkar Gupta and

Central

(CRPF)

pan Deka, Research and Analysis Wing chief Sa mant Kumar Goel, Na tional Investigation Agency Director Gener

Nadda calls for ‘house to house’ campaign, ‘emotional’ connect

New Delhi (PTI): With an eye on the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024, BJP National President JP Nadda on Tuesday asked party leaders to launch a ‘house to house’ campaign to reach out to people and build “emotional con nect” with them.

Addressing BJP of fice-bearers from across the country, he said the exercise should not be limited to handing over some party literature to people. Party members

should discuss issues with the people, under stand their problems and help them address their concerns, he said, according to a party statement.

Discussions were held on a number of As sembly elections, in cluding in Tripura, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and pres entations were made, a party statement said.

Mathura: Hindu Mahasabha leader held on way to recite Hanuman Chalisa at Idgah

New Delhi: An Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasa bha leader was arrest ed and 40 activists of Hindutva organisa tions were taken into custody as a preventive measure on Tuesday who were allegedly go ing to recite Hanuman Chalisa at the Shahi Masjid Idgah in the Shri Krishna Janmab hoomi complex, as per officials.

It was also reported that seven-eight other leaders of the organisa tion were also detained

Mahasabha

in their houses under different police stations of the city. The Hindu

“No member of the organisation could

reach near Idgah as per their programme. As a preventive measure about 40 persons were taken into custody. They would be released on personal bond after completing the formal ity,” stated senior su perintendent of police Shailesh Pandey.

Additional Superin tendent of Police (City) Martandey Singh said police arrested the Ma hasabha’s Agra region in-charge Saurabh Sharma when he was making an attempt to go towards the Idgah mosque in the complex.

General Sujoy Lal Thaosen was also pre sent in the meeting that started around 12:30 pm. Senior Jammu and Kashmir Police and ad ministration officials attended the meeting via video conference. The meeting was held days after The Resist ance Front (TRF) -- an offshoot of Pakistanbased terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba — is sued a threat letter to 56 employees of the Educa tion Department from the Srinagar district.

Rlys increases speed of trains to prevent delays in foggy weather

New Delhi: To avoid delay of trains during the foggy season, the In dian Railways has de cided to increase the maximum permissible speed of trains to 75 km per hour from present 60 km per hour during win ter months, the national transporter said on Tuesday. The national transporter has asked railway zones to keep ad equate supply of detona tors appliances fixed on rails that explode with a loud report when an en gine passes so as to at tract driver ‘s attention.

“Lime marking across the track at the sighting board (or at distant signal in case of double distant signals) must be done,” it said. The Railways may cre ate infrastructure at new/additional crew changing locations.

The meeting agreed to have security chiefs meet on a regular basis to discuss India’s ‘extended neighbourhood’

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Tajikistan’s Security Council Secretary Nasrullo Mahmudzoda, Kyrgyzstan’s Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov in a group photo with other dignitaries during the first India-Central Asia meeting of the National Security Advisers/ Secretaries of Security Councils, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi waves to a group of BJP supporters during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

The meeting hosted by NSA Ajit Doval emphasised the need for respecting Afghanistan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and urged non-interference in its internal affairs

Di rector General of Police J&K Dilbag Singh.

Reserve Po lice Force

Direc tor

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla leaves after chairing the MHA security review meeting, at North Block in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTOS BY ANI

NIA Director-General Dinkar Gupta leaves after attending the MHA security review meeting, at North Block in New Delhi on Tuesday.

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

had called upon residents of Ma thura to recite the Hin

du prayer at the mosque to mark the 30th anni versary of the demoli tion of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Police personnel stand guard outside Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura on Tuesday.

Police detain members of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in Mathura on Tuesday.

—PHOTOS BY ANI

Melinda French Gates, co-chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

JP Nadda addresses the closing session of the twoday ‘National Office Bearers Meeting’ on Tuesday.

‘WILL FIND WAY TO RESOLVE INFIGHTING’

www.firstindia.co.in

EMPRESS OF HER KINGDOM

Beauty and brains, pleas ure and usability – they should go hand in hand as beauty gets the attention and Personality gets the heart. From handling her little dreams to wearing the crown of First India Queen Victoria has proved that atti tude, knowledge and skills are the best foundation of real Victoria’s inimitable style transformation from freshfaced girl to modelling powerhouse shook every one, when asked about her struggle the crowned beauty comes from a humble background which instilled in her the virtue of being kind and giving. She spends a day every week in commu nity service to give back to society in small ways.

As an elder daughter growing up she was backed with responsibili ties and challenges to set an example, and to make her family proud, cer tainly, she has. Being born and brought up in Mumbai she has a bach elor’s degree in Mass Media from St Andrew’s

She started her pro fessional life as Social Media Marketing In tern at Reliance Nip pon Life Insurance and Currently is working as an Account Execu tive at an Advertising Firm. Victoria started a small business page on Instagram (@vii_crochet

clothing). during the lockdown “It’s a hobby turned into a small business” she says with pride.

The elegant queen further said, “I am extremely grateful to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra and First India Queen for making my dream come true, something great like this can only be visualized by JC sir, he has opened open the gates of opportunity for many deserving girls like us.”

Victoria Fernandes, a supermodel hailing from Mumbai and one of the finalists of First India Queen shares he inspiring journey with City First!

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

Victoria Fernandes, First runner-up during the grand finale of First India Queen

Ahuman brain is a unique machine which can think endlessly and talk with itself on so many subjects in cluding bizarre and familiar. The mind which is like cloud storage in a digital device and is beyond scope of any definition, can talk with itself or rather itself talks continuously.

This self-talk can be posi tive or negative. A positive internal dialogue makes a person feel good about self and situations while nega tive self-talk is a product of intense anxiety, lack of con fidence and self-belief. Think ing is easy and spontaneous but positive thinking needs training as well as guidance.

A person capable of posi

LEARN TO TALK WITH YOURSELF

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

Listening to someone’s advice on the professional front will be in your interest. You are very generous by nature and also you are the backbone of your family. Be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. Your lover may finally say yes to get married to you.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

It will be in your interest to guide a family youngster on the academic front.

Scrumptious food is what you are craving for today.

You may start a side business to earn extra money. You are not a jealous kind and you feel happy for others. You are a very grounded person.

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

logue is a natural cognitive process which helps in im proving mental health, work performance and relation ships. Very recent studies and observations by alert clinicians have shown that people who had positive selftalk fared better on the ground of anxiety and death during Covid 19 pandemic.

There were lesser inci dents of obsessive-compul sive behaviour regarding extreme hygiene of hands and mouth. The positive selftalk helped them cope better than others as far as emotion al storms were concerned. As per a school study, the stu dents who had a habit of selftalk did better in school de bate and speech competitions as it boosted their morale.

A 2022 study concluded that athletes who were talk ing with themselves gave a superior and consistent per formance on the ground and even enjoyed the tremendous stress they underwent.

One more thing that came to light was that the athletes who used words like you or their first name as a second person to talk showed im proved and steady progress

Your spouse is someone who can do anything for your happiness.

You are happy spending whole day at home.

Tensions on the family front may sorted out. Help your mothers at home today and give them a reason to smile. You are opportunist and this will make you successful one day.

CANCER

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22 Fortunes are set to rise for those in trade and business. You love to live close to your family. You are a child at heart and never let this child die.

You have a big heart and you always help someone if you can. Expected payments are likely to get released soon.

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

Family will be supportive of your ideas, but only to an extent. You give tough competition to people. You will get special treatment from your dear ones. Good health is assured through own efforts. Meeting people you get along with well is likely to make the day enjoyable for you.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

Whatever you have in mind, you will manage to implement it at work. You are likely to feel much healthy and energetic today. Visit a doctor if you have any doubts about your health. You want to have your own house and you will work hard to make your dream come true.

CAPRICORN

tive self-talk can think opti mistically to get motivated. As a result of this optimism, it becomes easier to tide over the crisis and find a better solution even if the situation or problem is beyond total resolution. This way, our thinking becomes introspec tion and contemplation. In trospection may bring out our strength to cope with ad versity and helps in finding a solution. This internal dia

than the group which used the word I as a second person. This indicates that an egois tic attitude is a hindrance to improvement and upgrade.

Then there is a huge group of people perpetually in volved in negative self-talk. This is, in fact, an almost to tal majority in many groups of human societies. Their behaviour of negative selftalk is detrimental to self-es teem and self-worth. They

always underestimate their capabilities. This leads to self-fulfilling prophecies of doom and a vicious cy cle of negativism. In their talk with them selves, they repeat again and again that they won’t succeed, and that things are be yond their control. This behaviour puts them at a disadvantage as they won’t put their full effort to achieve a goal or change a situa tion. Because of this temperament, they won’t succeed but con clude that I already told you, I already knew" This self-inflicted failure may push them towards depres sion and anxiety.

The whole situation can be changed by proper training by an experienced mentor or behaviour therapist with a philosophical inclination. As a negative attitude is a habit so it can be changed. A diffi cult situation can be taken as a challenge rather than an

obstacle. I can’t do situation can be perceived as an oppor tunity to prove one's worth. We all mess up life at one point or another. A posi tive talk is capable of con verting messed up incidents as part of experience and learning. One may fail but the potential to succeed hasn’t been lost by this single failure if one is ready to try again.

Life might be miserable but always remember that it could have been in the worst situation.

People may dislike but you need not worry till you love and like yourself. Self-love has no baggage and condi tions. Learn to love yourself. You might not be knowing a lot of things but everything is fine if you want to know and put your best efforts in that direction. We all suc cumb to negativity off and on but if it becomes a dominant behaviour pattern, you need help and should seek it at the earliest without any hesitation.

LEO

AQUARIUS

VIRGO

PISCES

DAY

FACEOFTHEDAY

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

DR RAMAWTAR cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Simple sweet

Vicky Kaushal, Ki ara Advani, and Bhumi Pednekar are currently gearing up for the re lease of their upcoming film, Govinda Naam Mera. It is directed by Shashank Khaitan and will be released on Dis ney+ Hotstar on Decem ber 16. The film is being produced by Karan Jo har’s Dharma Produc tions. Ahead of the film’s release, on Tues day, the makers of Go vinda Naam Mera unveiled the third song titled Kyaa Baat Haii 2.0 which is recreated version of Harrdy

hu’s hit Punjabi song Kya Baat Ay. In the three-minute-elevenseconds long video, Vicky and Kiara can be seen flaunting their ‘dancer’ moves as they grooved to the track. Kyaa Baat Haii 2.0 is composed by B Praak and recreated by Tan ishk Bagchi, it is written by Jaani. Sung by Harrdy Sandhu and Nikhita Gandhi. Sharing the song, Vicky captioned it: “Yeh sirf gaana nahi hai, it’s a whole vibe and it’s all yours now!

#KyaaBaatHaii 2.0 song out now.” Ki ara, on the oth er hand, wrote: “Get ready for the groovi est tune in town!”

Katrina Kaif is current ly enjoying her mar ried life with Vicky Kaushal. After keep ing their relationship under wraps, the love birds got mar ried in December last year in an intimate ceremony in Ra jasthan. Now, ahead of their first anniversary, the actress was seen making a style state ment at the Mumbai airport earlier today. Katrina never fails to impress when it comes to fashion.

Katrina was seen entering the Mumbai airport on Tues day morning. She decided to opt for a casual outfit. In the video, the ace actress is seen sporting a blue oversized tshirt with a pair of ripped

ith December 25 just around the corner, excite ment for Christ mas is at its peak. The lat est celeb to embrace the festive mood is Pooja Hegde. The Radhe Shyam star took to her Instagram handle and shared a hap py post with the caption, “My most favorite time of

jeans. She styled her look with mini mal makeup, chic sunglasses and soft curls. The actress sure ly looked like a breath of fresh air in an-all blue look.

It’s a pink and pretty world right now and we’re happy to be its desi mem bers. Need a good five-minute look at what we’re loving today

Yashoda’s OTT debut

After taking the cinema halls by storm, Sa mantha Ruth Prab hu’s new-age thrill er Yashoda is all set to entertain the movie buffs on the OTT platform. The much-appreciated drama will be pre miered on 9th De cember this year.

For those who have not witnessed the film yet, it talks about a woman named Yashoda, who opts to become a surrogate mother

in an attempt to raise funds for her sister’s surgery. During her stay at the surrogacy cen tre, she uncovers a deep-rooted medical scam. The film will be premiered in 240 countries world wide in multiple languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kan nada, Hindi, and Malayalam on Ama zon Prime. Sharing the news, the OTT platform Tweeted, “unravel this oh-somysterious trap with Yashoda.”

Helmed by director

the year is here and San ta’s squad was back in ac tion to help set the mood... Joy and good vibes only# happypuppy.” The video featured her having a

good time decorat ing the Christ mas tree. Re cently, Pooja Hegde informed through social media that she has started using spec tacles. Dropping some stills of herself in specs on the photo-sharing app, she wrote, “Guess who’s a chashmish now?”

avya Naveli Nanda is one of the most fa mous star kids. She has not entered Bol lywood but still enjoys a huge fan following. Her show What The Hell Navya on the podcast is very popu lar among fans. Well, Shweta Bachchan and Nikhil Nanda’s daugh ter are celebrating her birthday today. Her friend Ananya Panday took to her Instagram stories and wished her. She also shared a pic ture from their vacation.

Sand

and forever? Shraddha Kapoor’s latest airport look features all our favourites from head to toe. She fully is a doll and it’s also the total blast of glamour we dig here. Attend ing weddings and family gatherings sounds like a December lifestyle so we’re here to talk about something note-worthy right now. Give a head start to the ethnic season with this fresh inspiration that came just in time. It’s been a while since we spotted the Kapoor girl at the airport. Thank you for this gem, Shraddha. Dressed in what could be deemed as a hero pick, the Bollywood actress’s Anarkali is as flawless as it comes. Made to play fabulous and remain versatile, it got us in a minute. She donned a Gopi Vaid monotone pink set which was utterly regal with a midi kurta and its features like scoop neckline.

Shraddha Kapoor

Ananya Panday

Katrina Kaif

Shraddha in Gopi Vaid monotone pink set

Still from the movie

INDIA DESIGNER SHOW 2022

CITY FIRST

India Designer Show held the launch party of the fourth edition of their upcoming show at Molecule Air Bar, Green Park on December 6 and pre sented collections by an array of the city’s up-and-coming designers in an event designed to promote Indian craftsmanship and design. The event was or ganised by Modern Stage Events By Ronit Aggarwal and was attended by designers in cluding Rosy Ahluwalia, and Amit Talwar to name a few.

INDIA DESIGNER SHOW will be high lighting the culture and sophisticated glam our that solidify Indian culture. INDIA DE SIGNER SHOW, a combined effort from the Indian Government registered company, MSE is organising this event and supported by the Indian Government Organisation MSME, India Textile Department.

Stunning Art Galleries of Delhi

Our selection of the top 5 galleries in Delhi NCR will DRAW you there if you're an artist or an art aficionado. Go ahead and express your passion for art in these stunning galleries right away.

NATURE MORTE

Delhi's Nature Morte

Contemporary Art Gallery features a range of works. This collection has a lot to offer, ranging from interesting abstract paintings to riveting socio-political movies and poignant images. Amazing pieces by artists like Aditya Pande, Mrinalini Mukherjee, and Sheba Chhachhi are featured in this expertly produced display.

Delhi Art Gallery is the place to go if you're looking for current Indian art! The gallery's collection is a result of the contributions of artists from all across India and even Europe. The artworks on display here are a remarkable example of Indian modernism while also displaying a strong influence of western art trends.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART

NGMA is clearly among Delhi's top art galleries since the Ministry of Culture supports it. They have artwork by M.R. Acharekar, Arpana Caur, Thomas Daniell, and Rabindranath Tagore in their collection. In addition to exhibiting and caring for modern art, they also host special exhibits across the world and hold lectures and seminars to advance study in the areas of art history, enjoyment of the arts, criticism, and more.

EXHIBIT 320

VADEHRA ART GALLERY

Visit Vadehra without a doubt if you wish to see the works of Indian artisans. When you see the works of artists like Ravinder Reddy, Atul Dodiya, and Zakir Hussain here, you'll be in awe. Additionally, they founded the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art a nonprofit organisation dedicated to education, where individuals may access a variety of artrelated books.

Contemporary art from India and the subcontinent may be seen in Exhibit 320. Here, there is a lot of aesthetic and visual discourse carried by the wonderfully well-made exhibitions. Exhibit 320 features work by contemporary artists like Sunoj D, Sumakshi Singh, and Kumaresan Selvaraj. Additionally, this gallery hosts talks, lectures, and seminars that place art in a critical context.

'Ek Thi Raat' song launch

CITY FIRST

Ending the year on a high-octane note, India’s lead ing music compa ny OSM Records has launched yet another chartbuster - ‘Ek Thi Raat’ that tells the story of a dynamic friendship weaved into a ‘noir’ cin ematic aesthetic. The energetic song features popular actor Shivankit Singh Parihar who is widely known for his splendid performances in shows such as TVF Bachelors & Rabish ki Report and Badri Chavan known for his great comic timing in Bollywood movie Stree, TVF Bachelors and Ma laal. Within 24 hours of the launch, the video has become the go-to song for gen Z, garnering an overwhelming response on YouTube and other streaming platforms such as Spotify and Ap ple Music.

Shot against the back drop of a stormy winter night, Ek Thi Raat is about two friends and how their lives come full circle when they find out the truth about each oth er. The song promises to have a bit of theatrical flair with lots of dramat

ic moments between the duo building up on the intricacies of their friendship. With an un dertone of dark comedy, amplified by a zesty tune, the song will definitely find its way into fans' road trip playlists.

Commenting on the song launch, an excited Manpreet Kaur, CoFounder, OSM Records said “We

are thrilled to launch the latest single of our label starring none other than two of the most promis ing actors- Shivankit and Badri. This peppy song with meaning ful lyrics, upbeat music and powerful rapping by Himanshu Shekhar will surely be come the crowd's favour ite. We look forward to working with more tal ented musicians and art ists from across the

Tell us something about yourself.

I am a 23 years old, happy and cheerful person but emotional at the same time. I am a very easygo ing person, and I guess

people enjoy my com pany. I am a trained ac tor from a renowned film institute. Apart from acting, I love to do dubbing as well.

Where do you see yourself after the next 20 years?

I see that I would have worked with the people I admire like Nawazud din Siddiqui, Rajkumar Rao and most impor tantly Leonardo DiCap rio. Also would have cre

ated history by achiev ing an Oscar as an actor from India. And most importantly people would recognize me as a good actor.

How did your journey begin?

It isn't like I wanted to become an actor since the beginning but in stead wanted to join the airforce and was prepar ing for it. Then one day I saw a movie name Ra man Raghav 2.0 which

changed my life. It was the movie that inspired me to become an actor. I started to explore more into Acting and got admitted to a film school and from there my real jour ney started.

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

If talking about the bat tle I didn't have any ma jor obstacles when I

started except for con vincing my family. Here in Mumbai, it gets diffi cult cause I am having no contacts in this industry. But I knew

I had to stay strong and still achieve my goals. "Though this is a lengthy process suc cess is no accident," says Vishal Goswami.

Talk to us about your achievements. Have worked in the Bollywood movie Mere

Desh ki Dharti, in a few episodes of Mauka E Vardat, a few short films, 2 upcoming web series for OTT and a few theatre play.

DELHI ART GALLERY

Vishal Goswami, an actor from Meerut, shares his journey with City First

AISHA GUPTA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

L-R Sandeep Bagha,Amit Bharadwaj, Bibin Babu

Sangeet Kaur

Rosy Ahluwalia, Ronit Aggarwal and Meeta Nagpal

Meeta Nagpal and Manoj Nagpal Rajpreet and Vinit Malhotra GG and Krishna

JSL Singh, Himanshu Shekhar, Manpreet Kaur and Badri Chavan during the poster launch

Poster of the song

Vishal