First India-Delhi Edition-08th November 2022

GURU NANAK GURPURAB GREETINGS! ARMS DEALER BHANDARI CAN BE EXTRADITED TO IND, RULES UK COURT

NEW DELHI l TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 69

London: A UK court on Monday ruled that Sanjay Bhandari, an accused middleman and consultant in arms deals, can be extradited to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering and paved way for British govt to order his extradition.

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI

BSE SENSEX 61,185.15

COPS HELD 2 HYBRID TERRORISTS FROM BANDIPORA

TWITTER FIRES MORE THAN 90% OF INDIA STAFF, A DOZEN LEFT

Srinagar: In J&K, Sopore Police has arrested two terrorists in connection with the recent Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast incident that took place at Kehnusa in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. Meanwhile, a case has been registered and the necessary investigation was going on.

234.79 | NSE NIFTY 18,202.80

85.65

New Delhi: Elon Musk-led Twitter has fired more than 90% of its staff in India severely depleting its engineering and product staff. Firm had just over 200 employees in India, and the cuts left it with just about a dozen staff.

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WAR ON QUOTA FOR POOR

SC upholds 10% quota for economically weaker sections by 3:2 majority Moni Sharma New Delhi: The Supreme Court, by a majority view of 3:2, has upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to people belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs. Of the fivejudge bench that delivered the verdict, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, Justice Bela M Trivedi, and Justice JB Pardiwala ruled in favour of the quota, stating that the law on reservation for EWS does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

Crucial READ

BJP LEADER SHOT DEAD IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN BIHAR’S KATIHAR: COPS

Patna: A district-level BJP leader was shot dead near his house in Bihar’s Katihar district on Monday, police said. Sanjeev Mishra, 55, was talking to some people near his house at about 8am when two men came on a motorcycle and opened fire, a police officer of Katikar Telta PS 300km from Patna said, added will nab accused soon.

COPYRIGHT ISSUES! BLOCK TWITTER A/C OF CONGRESS: COURT Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Monday directed Twitter to temporarily block accounts of Congress party and Bharat Jodo Yatra for allegedly infringing statutory copyright owned by MRT Music by illegally using sound records of film ‘KGF Chapter-2’. Cong said it did not receive a copy of order.

INDIA WILL WITNESS LUNAR ECLIPSE IN FEW STATES TODAY

New Delhi: The total lunar eclipse today will be last one for next 3 years. The eclipse will begin at 2.39 pm, total eclipse will start at 3.46 pm, ending time of totality is 5.12 pm and ending time of partial phase is 6.19 pm. It will be visible in few states including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Rajasthan, Bengaluru, Odisha and others.

WHO FILED THE PETITIONS?

A BIG WIN FOR MODI’S

SOCIAL JUSTICE MISSION!

Constitution bench Tof 40heverdict came on a batch petitions, filed by NGOs

Janhit Abhiyan and Youth for Equality, among others, challenging the Amendment on the ground that economic classification cannot be the sole basis for reservation.

The judgment marks a new beginning, petitioner’s advocate Varun Thakur said after verdict.

Justice DY Chandrachud, the CJIdesignate, on Monday said there will be a continuity in the reforms ushered in by CJI UU Lalit, during his 74-day tenure. Chief Justice Lalit will demit office on Tuesday.

He said, “Your tenure as CJ saw a large number of judicial reforms.” Chandrachud will take oath as next CJI on November 9.

My journey began from this court and it ends in this court.

—Justice DY Chandrachud

IN HONOUR OF HON’BLE JUSTICE UU LALIT EWS quota is valid and constitutional. Amendment as a separate class is a reasonable classification. Legislature understands needs of people, it is aware of economic exclusion of people from reservation.

—Justice Bela Trivedi

The EWS amendment does not violate equality code or essential features of Constitution. Reservation is an instrument of affirmative action so as to ensure an all-inclusive march for goals of an egalitarian society.

—Justice Maheshwari

I have concurred with view taken by Justice Bhat.

In view of the decision rendered by majority, challenge raised to 103rd amendment fails. Writ petitions and other proceedings stand disposed off accordingly.

—CJI UU Lalit

Reservation on an economic basis is permissible, excluding SC/STs and Other Backward Classes from EWS cannot be permitted and amounts to discrimination against them.

—Justice S Ravindra Bhat

The ones who have moved ahead should be removed from backward classes so that ones in need can be helped, ways to determine such classes need a re-look so that ways are relevant in today’s time.

—Justice Pardiwala

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN WHICH SC DELIVERED VERDICT JANUARY 8, 2019 For the 1st time the Lok Sabha in Parliament clears the 103rd Constitution amendment Bill

JANUARY 12 Ministry of Law and Justice issues notice, saying Prez Ram Nath Kovind has given assent

JANUARY 9 Rajya Sabha clears the 103rd Constitution amendment Bill

FEBRUARY 6, 2021 SC issues notice to govt on pleas challenging amendment

FEBRUARY 8 SC declines to stay 10 per cent EWS quota SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 SC bench headed by CJI UU Lalit constitutes bench to hear appeals SEPTEMBER 13 Top Court starts hearing

PM Modi on Guru Purab Eve: Received guidance from Guruwani centuries ago New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Monday addressed a gathering in Delhi, on eve of Sikh festival Guru Purab. He said he is inspired by thoughts of Guru Nanak. India is moving ahead with spirit of welfare of 130 crore Indians, he added. “The guidance that India received from Guruvani centuries ago is also a tradition, a belief and a vision of a developed India for us today,” he said. “During my tenure

THERE WILL BE CONTINUITY IN REFORMS USHERED BY CJI LALIT: JUSTICE CHANDRACHUD

SEPTEMBER 27 SC reserves order NOVEMBER 7 SC, by majority of 3:2, upholds validity of 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 pc reservation to EWS in admissions and the govt jobs

CJI UU Lalit being felicitated as CJI-designate Justice DY Chandrachud looks on, during farewell ceremony organised for CJI Justice UU Lalit by SC Bar Association on Monday.

OTHER TOP COURT ORDERS OF THE DAY z SC allowed appeals of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, state govt against HC order on maintainability of PILs for probe in mining lease issue.

z The Supreme Court on Monday acquitted three men sentenced to death for gangrape, murder of a 19-year-old woman in Delhi’s Chhawla area

z Businessman Dinesh Arora, who CBI said is a close aide of Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia is set to turn into an approver in Delhi liquor policy case.

z Gujarat HC has taken suo motu cognisance of Morbi tragedy, issued notices to the state govt to submit a status report in matter by 14 November.

FIRE, WATER, SKY

PM MODI TO UNVEIL LOGO OF INDIA’S G20 PRESIDENCY TODAY

Modi will on Tuesday Pfor Munveil India’s logo and theme its presidency of G20. The

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in the 553rd Birth Anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak Dev ji, in Delhi on Monday.

as the PM, we got the privilege of celebrating 350th Prakash Parv of

Guru Gobind Ji, 400th Prakash Parv of Tegh Bahadur ji,” PM said.

logo will reflect the country’s message and overarching priorities to the world. The country will assume the presidency of the grouping of the world’s 20 largest economies on December 1, following the G20 Summit hosted by Indonesia in Bali during November 15-16.

The PM will unveil the logo, theme and website of India’s G20 presidency via VC at 4:30pm on Tuesday, the external affairs ministry said on Monday.

Fireworks during Dev Deepawali celebrations in Varanasi on Monday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

BJP demands CBI probe BAN ON BS-III PETROL, BS-IV DIESEL VEHICLES into Sukesh’s claims CLEARING THE AIR

TO CONTINUE TILL NOVEMBER 13 IN DELHI Primary classes to reopen from Nov 9, Work From Home order revoked New Delhi (PTI): Movement of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles in Delhi will remain banned till November 13, while trucks will be allowed to enter the national capital, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said at a press conference here on Monday.

@33, HIGHEST TEMP FOR NOV SINCE 2008

People walk along a railway track amid heavy smog in Gurugram on Monday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

The Delhi government on Monday also decided to reopen pri-

mary classes from November 9 and revoke the order that asked 50

Delhi on Monday recorded its maximum temperature at 33 degrees Celsius, the highest since 2008 for the month of November. While the maximum temperature was recorded four notches above the season’s average, the minimum temperature at 17 degrees Celsius stood three notches above the season’s average.

per cent of its staff to work from home.

The transport depart-

ment, in an order, said that vehicles found plying in violation of the rule will be prosecuted under the Motor Vehicles Act, which could invite a fine of Rs 20,000.

Vehicles deployed for emergency services, and government and election-related work do not come under the ban’s purview.

The department, in another order, said that there will be no ban on the entry of trucks into Delhi.

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi BJP on Monday demanded a CBI probe into jailed comman Sukesh Chandrashekhar’s claims that he had bribed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta also demanded the transfer of jailed AAP minister Satyendar Jain from the capital to a prison either in Uttar Pradesh or Haryana.

BJP MP Parvesh Verma, too, demanded Jain’s transfer to a pris-

Chandrashekar being brought to the ED office on Thursday.

on in any state except the AAP-ruled Punjab.

“If Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia gets arrested in the liquor scam as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claims, he too should not be kept in any Delhi jail,” Verma said.

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02

THREE ACQUITTED BY SC IN CHHAWLA GANG RAPE, MURDER

Absolutely outrageous: Women’s rights activists Acid was poured in the woman’s eyes, bottle of liquor inserted in her private parts. Wouldn’t this boost the morale of rapists? asks DCW chief New Delhi (PTI): Women’s right activists on Monday criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to acquit three men sentenced to death for the gang-rape and murder of a woman in Delhi’s Chhawla area, and asserted that this will embolden the accused.

The three men are accused of abducting, gang-raping and brutally killing the 19-year-old woman in February 2012. Her mutilated body was found three days after she was abducted.

In 2014, a trial court awarded death penalty to the three accused, terming the case “rarest-of-rare”. The judgment was later upheld by the Delhi High Court.

Activist Yogita Bhayana was standing outside

The three men were accused of abducting, gangraping and brutally killing the woman in February 2012.

the Supreme Court with the victim’s parents when the verdict was monitoring the proceedings.

“I am totally overwhelmed. In the morning, we were fully hopeful that the apex court will uphold the capital

punishment and we were even mentally prepared that they might convert the death sentence to life imprisonment.

“But when I first heard about the acquittal, I could not believe my ears. There is absolutely

decide on Nov 14

117 DSSSB posts to be ‘filled within two weeks’

New Delhi (PTI): A court here will decide on November 14 whether to allow the CBI to make businessman Dinesh Arora, the ‘close aide’ of DeputyCM Manish Sisodia, an approver in the Delhi excise policy case.

Special Judge MK Nagpal will also hear arguments on Arora’s plea to grant him pardon in the matter and allow him to become a witness in the matter.

During the hearing, the accused told the court that he was ready to make “true disclosure voluntarily” about the case and he wanted to be an approver in the case.

“There is no pressure or threats by the CBI or anyone else,” he said in response to the court’s query.

Arora’s counsel also moved an application for in-camera proceedings, saying it is a sensitive matter and the media should be kept out at this early stage.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

New Delhi (PTI): The 117 vacancies in Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) are likely to be filled within two weeks, sources said on Monday.

These posts were created by a decision of the LG in May and consist of deputy secretaries, section officers, assistant section officers, legal assistants and peons.

With these 117 people onboard, the process to fill up the 30,000 vacant positions in the Delhi government, some of which are lying vacant since 2013, will be expedited, they said.

“Their recruitment is in the final stages and will be completed within two weeks. Once these posts are filled, the DSSSB will be fully staffed and we can expect it to expedite the process of efficiently conducting exams and interviews to select the 30,000-odd candidates for various government departments, including health and education,” a source in DSSSB said.

Dinesh Arora

did not oppose the application for the in-camera proceedings.

The court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to Arora after the probe agency did not oppose the bail plea.

The CBI, in its reply to the anticipatory bail plea, had stated that Arora joined the investigation and disclosed certain facts which were vital for the probe and hence, “the CBI has no objection if the anticipatory bail is granted to the applicant by this court”.

In August, CBI had registered a case in the excise policy scam and issued a look out circular against eight people named as accused in the case.

next move during a meeting on Tuesday that will see the presence of NGOs and people from the Uttarakhand community.

There is a high probability that we will file an appeal and even approach the President of India,” he said.

Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal asked will this not boost the morale of the rapists.

“In 2012, a 19-yr-old was gangraped and murdered in Delhi. The High Court sentenced the culprits of this terrible case to death but was acquitted by the Supreme Court. Acid was poured in the woman’s eyes, bottle of liquor inserted in her private parts. Wouldn’t this boost morale of rapists?

Lost will to live: Victim’s parents on court verdict New Delhi (PTI): “We have not just lost the battle but also the will to live,” said the mother of Chhawla gangrape victim as she broke down following the Supreme court’s decision on Monday to acquit all the three accused.

The victim’s father said the apex court has “let them down” and they have lost faith in the judiciary.

He also alleged the system is taking advantage of their poverty.

The Supreme Court acquitted three men sentenced to death for the gangrape and murder of the 19-year-old woman

DELHI HC HAD UPHELD DEATH

trial court had A awarded death to the accused, terming

the case “rarest-ofrare”.The judgment was upheld by Delhi HC. The mutilated body of the woman was found 3 days after she was abducted.

in Delhi’s Chhawla area in 2012. In 2014, a trial court awarded death to the accused, terming the case “rarest-of-rare”.

The judgment was later upheld by Delhi HC. The three men are accused of abducting,

raping and killing the woman in February 2012. Her mutilated body was found three days after she was abducted.

“Even after 11 years, this is the verdict. We have lost it...We lost the battle...I was living with this hope...I have lost my will to live. I thought my daughter would get justice,” the victim’s mother said, breaking into tears. The father of the victim said, “What was supposed to happen with criminals ultimately happened with us. It has been 11 years since we have been running from pillar to post... Supreme Court let us down.”

37% women drinking more since pandemic

FOR SELFLESS SERVICE

—PHOTO BY PTI

Sisodia aide to be approver? Court to

no justification for this acquittal. We will go for an appeal,” she said.

She said the victim’s parents are “speechless and completely shattered”.

Social activist Vinod Bachheti, who had been supporting the family for the last 10 years in their fight for justice, said they will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the future course of action.

“We have been supporting the family for the last 10 years. The incident happened on February 9, 2012, and after 10 months, the Nirbhaya gang-rape happened.

The (Chhawla) victim was also taking care of her family’s expenses.

“Her father works as a security guard and earns Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000. We will decide the

President Droupadi Murmu presents National Florence Nightingale Award 2021 to a nurse for exemplary work and selfless service, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday.

New Delhi (PTI): Over 37 per cent of women in Delhi believe that their alcohol consumption has increased in the last three years, indicating the impact of the pandemic on alcohol habits, a survey has claimed.

Over 45 per cent women said that the reason for their increased drinking frequency was “stress,” the survey said.

The survey conducted by the Community against Drunken Driving (CADD), an NGO, cited the pandemic, the ensuing lockdown, increased availability of

Over 45% women said that the reason was stress.

alcohol, and changed expenditure pattern, as factors that contributed to the increased drinking among women.

Out of the 5,000 women surveyed, 37.6 per cent of women agreed that their alcohol consumption has increased, the CADD said in a statement.

Police arrest 3 members of ‘Zeher Khurani’ gang New Delhi (PTI): Three members of ‘Zeher Khurani’ gang, known for robbing people after sedating them with sleeping pills, have been arrested, police said on Monday.

Kamal Singh, 34, Pawan, 32, and Gourav, 30, were based in Seelampur area of east Delhi, they said.

Police said the gang

would make people eat sweets mixed with powdered sleeping pills and would rob them after they would get unconscious.

One such matter came to light on October 23, when a 43-year-old resident of Chandni Chowk approached Gulabi Bagh Police Station with a complaint of robbery, they said.

According to police, the victim said on October 21 around 7 am, he was travelling with 23

ceiling fans and some copper wires in his auto rickshaw.

The accused at some point accosted him feigning that they were distributing sweets and offered him a laddoo’ laced with the narcotic, which he ate. He started feeling dizzy and became unconscious near Shastri Park Metro Station.

The accused all this

while followed the auto rickshaw and robbed him when the victim lost his consciousness, he said. The accused confessed that they robbed the man, and revealed that they sold the stolen goods to one Raju, a resident of Seelampur, for Rs 45,000.

They said that they spent the money on the Diwali celebration.

HARBINGER OF HOPE

Dribble Academy in Noida: A social game changer for rural kids Around 3,000 underprivileged children, mostly girls, in 7 villages, are being trained for free by former basketball player Pradyot Voleti Ashwini Shrivastava Noida: Beating all odds, several underprivileged kids from Noida’s Gejha village are learning basketball with a hope to make a name for themselves and helping their families overcome hardships.

These kids, whose parents work as house helps, security guards, plumbers, electricians, vegetable sellers and small-time shopkeepers, come to Dribble Acade-

my’ -- a basketball training centre at the premises of NEM Public School at Sector 93 here -- after their school hours with a hope to do well in their lives.

Dribble Academy is the brain-child of Noida-based Pradyot Voleti, a former basketball player.

“We have been working with 3,000 underprivileged kids in seven villages. At UP’s Gejha village project, we currently have around 400-

Pradyot Voleti with a group of young basketball players.

500 children and half of them are girls,” said Voleti, founder of Dribble Academy Foundation, a not-for-profit organisa-

tion, which trains kids free of cost.

“Basketball has definitely been a game changer for them.

Through this sport they learn discipline, team work and time management. They also learn to respect each other as

boys and girls compete together,” said Voleti.

Our request to the government is that every five-ten square kilometre of area should have a mini stadium where children have an opportunity to learn multiple sports, he said, adding, “Just an empty ground with some grass is purposeless”.

Children deserve an equal opportunity as a fundamental right to have basic access to multiple sports, Voleti said, and asked the government to come up with a policy to set up sports infrastructure at village levels.

“I have been coming to this training centre

for the past four years. I want to encourage more girls from my area to learn basketball,” said Kajal Kumari, a 15-yearold student.

Kajal, whose father works in a private factory, wants to convince parents of other girls from her area to let their children play basketball as she feels they can do wonders by learning the game.

For Anshu Pal, another young player from the academy, basketball has made her confident and also brought many positive changes in people around her.

“Initially, neighbours were a bit unhappy about girls wearing

shorts for playing basketball. But, after having joined this academy, I have noticed positive changes in people around me,” she said.

Like girls, boys from the area also come in huge numbers to practice and learn the game.

“Once my father saw me playing basketball in one of the recent tournaments. May be he realised my potential and since then he has controlled his drinking habit,” said Arun Kumar, a 13-yr-old student.

Urmila Singh, a coach at the academy said, “It is heartening to see these underprivileged children play so well,” said Singh.

—PTI

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03

‘MCD polls crucial for entire country’ Says Minister Hardeep Puri while flagging off fleet of video vans for campaigning in 70 constituencies New Delhi (PTI): India will become a developed country by 2047 as per the vision of PM Modi where there is no place for “revri politics”, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday, taking a dig at the AAP-led Delhi government.

He also said the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls are “crucial” not just for the capital, but for the entire country.

Puri was speaking after flagging off a fleet of video vans as part of the BJP’s electoral campaign. Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta were also present at the event.

“Under the Modi government, India has become the fifth largest economy of the world and is slated to be the third largest in a few years. According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, India has to become a developed country by 2047, in which anarchism and ‘revri politics’ have no place,” Puri underlined.

Attacking the Arvind Kejriwal-led city government, the minister said the dispensation did not allow the implementation of various welfare schemes of the Centre in Delhi.

“Before elections, they (AAP) start talking

Docs wear black ribbons to support Rohtak students New Delhi (PTI): Doctors at government hospitals here wore black ribbons in solidarity with MBBS students in Rohtak protesting a policy that mandates them to pay a bond fee of Rs 10 lakh during admission.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association has given a call for the nationwide black ribbon protest, saying it was in response to the alleged police action against MBBS students of a medical college in Rohtak who were protesting against the “new bond policy”.

Arvind Kejriwal in a roadshow for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections in Rajkot district on Monday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Union Minister Hardeep Puri at the flagging off event in New Delhi on Monday. BJP Delhi President Adesh Gupta, leaders Harsh Vardhan and Gautam Gambhir also seen.

—PHOTO BY PTI

NOMINATION BEGINS FOR MCD POLLS

Under the Modi government, India has become the fifth largest economy of the world and is slated to be the third largest in a few years.

Hardeep Puri, Union Minister

about freebies...,” he alleged.

“The party has deployed video vans in each of the 70 constituencies which will showcase videos highlighting the work of the municipal corporations under BJP rule and expose the failures and scams of the AAP government,” Delhi BJP vice president Aditya Jha said.

A man passes by the BJP’s campaigning vehicles parked outside the party office as the party starts campaigning for the MCD elections, in New Delhi on Monday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

New Delhi (PTI): AAP leader Gopal Rai on Monday said his party will raise the issue of garbage mismanagement in the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, asserting that BJP has to answer why the trash mountains across the

A herd of cows seen at the Ghazipur Landfill Site.

capital haven’t been cleared yet.

The BJP has been in

Wife arrested in Gurugram property dealer’s murder First India Bureau

Gurugram: The wife of slain property dealer Dharmesh was arrested here on Monday for her alleged involvement in the case.

Dharmesh, 42, was shot dead on October 29 at an under-construction building allegedly by one Mohammadin.

Mohammadin, who was arrested on Sunday, was hired by the accused Neetu to kill her husband, as she wanted to grab his property.

The building where the incident took place.

According to the police, Neetu confessed to have colluded with her lover Babloo Khan, to kill her husband and marry him.

Neetu and Mohammadin, a native of Sambhal, were taken

on police remand, respectively, they said.

Neetu revealed before having her husband killed, she had given 65 tola gold to Babloo to keep with him.

She wanted to kill Dharmesh and live off his money after marrying Khan, police said.

Khan too had started building his new house in his village to stay with Neetu after marriage.

Neetu and Dharmesh were married for 20 years and have two children, ACP, Crime, Preet Pal Singh Sangwan said.

Hundreds of students staged a protest on Thursday demanding the opening of hostels.

The notifications come after hundreds of students protested on campus, demanding the reopening of the hostel which has been lying shut for over two years.

“The officials came to the protest site and assured us that the process of reopening hostels has already been started. However, the

New Delhi (PTI): The process of filing nominations for the upcoming civic polls in Delhi began on Monday. Polling for the municipal elections in Delhi will be held on December 4 and the votes will be counted on December 7. This will be the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the much-awaited poll covering 250 wards will be held in the gap between the two phases of the Gu-

A nomination centre for MCD polls, at DM office, New Delhi jarat elections, which will take place on December 1 and 5. Candidates can submit their nominations between 11 am and 3 pm, SEC officials had said.

AAP to raise garbage issue in MCD polls: Rai

Jamia set to reopen hostels New Delhi (PTI): After over two years, the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has begun the process of reopening its hostels for the 2022-23 academic session.

However, no notification has been issued for the allotment of rooms to first-year students.

The hostels were closed after the nationwide Covid-led lockdown in March 2020.

Last week, provosts of several hostels issued notices informing students that applications are invited from eligible residents for renewal of hostel admission for the session 2022-23.

“The application completed in all respect should be submitted to their respective Provost’s Office latest by 20 November 2022,” the notices read.

Muslim women wait outside Delhi BJP office for MCD election tickets, in New Delhi on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI

allotment to first-year students has not begun yet. We have told them we will wait till November 9 and if no notification is issued till then, we will resume the protest,” said Swaleh Ansari - a student.

On Thursday, the university issued a statement saying V-C Najma Akhtar has given a go-

ahead for the reopening of all the hostels.

“All Provosts of the Hall of Boys’ and Girls’ Residences are, therefore, requested to start the process of renewal/ new allotment in a timebound manner so that students may use the hostel facilities after winter vacation,” it added.

power in MCD -- trifurcated in 2012 and then unified this year -- for

three straight terms.

The high-stakes civic polls on December 4 is largely being seen as a three-way contest between the BJP, the AAP and the Congress.

Rai said AAP will hold public meetings till November 20 and raise the issue of garbage.

CM Kejriwal again hits out at BJP on Morbi bridge crash Rajkot (PTI): CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said whatever happened to the victims of the Morbi footbridge collapse can happen to anybody in the BJPruled Gujarat and sought to know why the owners of the private firm that renovated the ill-fated carriageway were not booked for the tragedy.

Addressing people at roadshows in Rajkot and Kalavad near here, the AAP convener said it was sad to see there was an attempt to save the company which renovated the bridge and its owners as they have not been even named in the FIR. “Shouldn’t the owners of the company be arrested? They have not even named the company and its owners in the

I will not ask for more than five years... If I tell a lie, I will not ask for votes.

Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister

FIR. Why was there an attempt to save them?

There were 55 children out of the 135 who died (in the October 30 tragedy),” Kejriwal said.

“They (the victims) were our own. They were our own children, brothers and sisters.

Whatever happened to them today can happen to us, to anybody. Their bridge collapsed yesterday, tomorrow our bridge can collapse,” he said.

PERSPECTIVE www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/delhi I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia

COP27

ABHINAV CHUGH

The writer is content and Partnerships Lead, Expert Network and Content Partners, World Economic Forum

NATHAN COOPER

The writer is lead, Partnerships and Engagement Strategy, Climate Action Platform, World Economic Forum

A

However, major barriers still exist to scale these best practices. One such barrier to mobilising investors, insurers and companies to scale adaptative measures is a lack of financial incentives and business models for the private sector to invest in adaptation. Upfront revenue streams from adaptation efforts are often difficult to generate as adaptation interventions are mostly designed to reduce the risk of future damages to public goods. Blended finance models, where public funds are used to de-risk private investments, can be a powerful tool to tackle these barriers

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

HOW CLIMATE FINANCE AND ADAPTATION CAN SUPPORT VULNERABLE COUNTRIES

s the first developing nation to host the UN Climate Conference (COP) since Morocco in 2016 (COP22), Egypt is pushing the needs of developing nations to the top of the COP27 agenda, with a focus on climate finance, climate adaptation and loss and damage. To date, the global response to climate change has focussed on climate mitigation — an issue championed by the developed world, which is calling on all countries, not just historical emitters, to make drastic efforts to cut emissions.

Equally, with more than a third (702) of the world’s largest companies having net zero commitments, and 550 financial institutions committing to aligning their portfolios with a net zero world, the private sector is mobilising around global mitigation targets.

However, as Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, highlighted in a recent interview for the World Economic Forum, there is a growing need to focus on financing climate adaptation efforts. She notes: “The world has largely galvanised around the concept of mitigation, which is reducing carbon emissions.

But we must deal with the reality that climate change is here to stay and even with all the best will in the world we’re going to have to deal with this. Therefore, we need finance to flow towards the reality that is here.”

TRANSITIONING TO INNOVATIVE FINANCING MODELS Developing countries also want more public finance and grants instead of loans, as many of the worst-impacted countries face debt crises. Jennifer Morris, CEO, The Nature Conservancy, notes: “A lot of countries are unable to adapt because of increased debt burden. Between 2010 and 2020, the public debt of developing countries increased from 40% of their GDP to an average of 62%. More than a third of that happened in 2020 alone. We have to think of the climate crisis in the frame of the debt crisis as well. Most climate finance – 61% ($384 billion) – was raised as debt, of which only 12% ($47 billion) was lowcost or concessional.

04

IN-DEPTH

RAPISTS, KILLERS CONVICTED BY HIGH COURT SET FREE BY THE SC

I

n 2017 a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, R. Bhanumathi and Ashok Bhushan upheld the death sentence awarded to four men convicted for raping and brutally killing Nirbhaya in 2012. The case had jolted the country’s conscience and barring activists opposed to death penalty, the judgment was widely hailed.

In an ironic and disappointing twist the Apex Court not only overturned the death sentence awarded to three men convicted of brutal rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman by the Delhi High Court which described them as “predators prowling the streets for prey”. This crime was also committed in 2012.

A Bench of CJI UU Lalit and justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Bela M. Trivedi set the accused free as there was not “a shred of evidence”. Did the Delhi Police, which opposed their acquittal and the prosecution failed to produce solid evidence? Or they were let off as there was no candle light vigil for the victim?

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

The COP27 Egyptian presidency is aiming for COP27 to be the implementation COP to radically accelerate the delivery of countries’ climate pledges, as pressure mounts on developed countries to provide more climate finance following their failure to hit the $100 billion target set for 2020 ROLE OF MULTISTAKEHOLDER PARTNERSHIPS ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION Adapting to climate change requires a concerted global response. This includes leveraging innovative forms of blended finance, forging new multistakeholder partnerships and incubating innovative solutions to adapt to climate impacts. Governments, businesses, investors and innovators can partner with communities

EWS QUOTA IS T HERE TO STAY

he Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of the 103rd Amendment of the Constitution to provide 10 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Economically Weaker Section among the forward castes by a 3-2 majority verdict. The 10 percent quota for EWS is beyond the 50 percent reservation in jobs and educational institutions meant for Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes. The Chief Justice of India, Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat dissented with the majority opinion of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M. Trivedi and JB Pardiwala.

The “breach of 50 percent does not violate the basic

at the frontline of climate impacts, to ensure they not only survive but thrive in a climateimpacted world.

CREATING INCENTIVES FOR BUSINESS ADAPTATION The adaptation market could be worth $2 trillion per year by 2026, with the developing world standing to benefit from much of this. Currently, only 1.6% of all adaptation funding comes from private invest-

The 10 percent quota for EWS is beyond the 50 percent reservation in jobs and educational institutions meant for Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.

The CJI, Justice UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat dissented with the majority opinion of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M. Trivedi and JB Pardiwala structure of the Constitution,” Justice Maheshwari said in his judgment upholding the amendment. The Central government has assured that the EWS quota will not impact the seat share of open or reserved category candi-

ment — making climate adaptation an untapped opportunity. There is a clear business case for climate adaptation: a 2019 report by the Global Commission on Adaptation demonstrated that investing $1.8 trillion globally in climate adaptation measures, such as early-warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure and nature-based solutions from 2020 to 2030 could generate $7.1 trillion in net benefits.

“If we think about this in the context of a generated market rate of return, a US dollar invested in climate adaptation generates five to seven times that investment in risk or GDP degradation avoided.

There’s a real economic case here for those investments,” Drew adds.

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

—Buddha

TOP TWEETS Narendra Modi @narendramodi

I pay homage to Thiru Azha. Valliappa on his birth centenary. He is not only remembered for his outstanding writing and poetry but also for his efforts to popularise history, culture and literature among children. His efforts continue to inspire several people in today’s era.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

SOURCE: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

dates as additional seats will be created for which a budget has been earmarked. The Central government moved the Bill to amend Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. It was passed by the Lok Sabha with 323 votes in favour and three against on the last day of the Winter Session in 2019.

The amendment is intended to help the economically weak in upper castes as they were said to be losing out in jobs and education due to the castebased reservation. Those enjoying benefits of quota on caste basis will not be eligible for benefits under this amendment. The amendment was challenged on the ground that the Constitution does not permit reservation based on economic factors. Social benefits aside, it will also be used to attract voters.

“The amendment is valid and in no manner alters the basic structure of the constitution”— Hon. #SupremeCourt’s nod to uphold 10% reservation for the EWS is a slap on the face of parties with vested interests who have tried to sow discord amongst citizens with their propaganda. l Vol 2 l Issue No.69 RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.

Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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Vote for good ‘malis’ who will watch over your garden: Nadda Rampur (PTI): BJP National President JP Nadda urged the voters of Himachal Pradesh on Monday to exercise their franchise in the November 12 Assembly polls with their future in mind and not on the basis of emotions, urging them to opt for good “malis” to watch over their gardens.

Addressing a public meeting in Rampur in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kaul Singh, Nadda said Singh has protected the people's interests in the region despite losing the last Assembly poll contest.

He said Singh has remained a good "chowkidar" (guard) all these years.

Nadda accused the Congress of trying to confuse the voters on a range of issues, saying "those who have nothing to show always tend to confuse the voters and undermine the democratic process".

The BJP chief said the Congress is trying to seek votes in the name of a family, which shows that it has not done anything and is standing on crutches.

"Do not take deci-

BJP chief JP Nadda being garlanded by party supporters during the public meeting for Himachal elections, at Jubbal Kotkhai assembly constituency, in Shimla on Monday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

BJP SET TO BE IN POWER IN HIMACHAL FOR NEXT 25 YEARS: CM JAI RAM THAKUR Shimla: Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday made light of the Himachal Pradesh “convention” of electing a new party ever assembly poll and predicted that the BJP was set to be in government in the state over the next 25 years. The state, which goes to the polls on Saturday, has a history of alternating between the Congress and the BJP every assembly election since 1982. Thakur said the Congress may be banking on Himachal’s “rivaj” (convention) but people have made up their mind to break from tradition this time - and bring back the Bharatiya Janata —PTI Party to accelerate development.

sions based on emotions, keep your future in mind," he said.

Noting that Singh remained a good "chowkidar" to safeguard people's interests even though he lost the last

The meeting is scheduled at the party headquarters in Delhi.

“An initial round of the meeting has taken place at the state headquarters in Gandhinagar over three days during which a shortlist of candidates has already been prepared which will be brought for consideration and finalisation to the CEC,” a source told ANI. “Ahead of the meeting of the CEC, the BJP Gujarat core group will also have a separate meeting with JP Nadda and Amit Shah,” another source told ANI.

election, Nadda urged the voters to find good "chowkidars" and "malis" (gardeners) like him.

"If you do not have a good mali, your farm will be destroyed," he said.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday dismissed a contempt petition filed by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against the DGP, alleging that he was not allowed to visit Paschim Medinipur district’s Netai village on January 7, the anniversary of the killing of nine people, despite giving an undertaking.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, who had earlier issued a rule of contempt over the petition, observed that it cannot be categorically said that there was a wilful breach of undertaking by the state “in the strict sense.”

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadda said under him, India has come to a position from where it can give to other countries instead of taking from them.

He also raised the issue of tackling COVID-19 by securing the citizens of the country.

India has given antiCovid vaccines to 48 countries and Himachal Pradesh was the first state to achieve 100-per cent vaccination against the viral disease under Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, the BJP chief noted.

Dharamshala (PTI): The BJP’s poll promise of imposition of the Uniform Civil Code in Himachal Pradesh is not aimed at polarisation, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

“When they (Congress) ask why are we imposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) here in Himachal as 95 per cent of the population is Hindu here, it means they do not want that this law be imposed in the country,” he said.

“When there is no scope for polarisation in Himachal and still the BJP wants to impose the UCC here, it shows that we do not want to impose it for the sake of polarisation,” he said.

MoS Dr Jitendra Singh at a meeting in Dharmshala.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath addresses a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Sanjay Guleria for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh elections, at Jawali, in Kangra.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Haroli (PTI): The Congress could not have taken steps such as construction of the Ram temple, the surgical strike or the abrogation of Article 370 because it does not care for the country’s security or the sentiments of people, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday.

Campaigning for the BJP in this constituency in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district, Adityanath said India is touching new heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country’s prestige has risen on the global stage.

The BJP government at the Centre, he said at

PROBABLY FORGOT TO FILL FUEL: PRIYANKA TAKES DIG AT BJP’S ‘DOUBLE ENGINE’ PITCH Una: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said the BJP’s “double engine” govt was there in Himachal Pradesh for the last five years but it probably forgot to fill fuel in it, as she sought to corner the ruling party on the issues of unemployment and the old pension scheme. At a rally, she also hit out at PM Modi for his remarks that changing medicines frequently neither helps in curing the ailment nor —PTI benefits anyone.

a rally, has taken landmark steps such as the surgical strike across the line of control in Kashmir and the abrogation of Article 370.

The construction of the

Ram temple in Ayodhya also started under this government, Adityanath, who has been campaigning extensively across the hill state, told the gathering.

T’gana leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra concludes The Telangana’s leg of ‘Padyatra’ resumed from Fathalpur Bus Stand in the Kamareddy district on Monday morning Kamareddy (ANI): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday resumed the Telangana leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kamareddy as the march concluded in the state and entered Maharashtra late in the evening.

The Telangana’s leg of ‘Padyatra’ resumed from Fathalpur Bus Stand in the Kamareddy district this morning and halted at Shekhapur. After that, the Yatra resumed a public meeting from Menoor in Kamareddy in the evening, before entering Maharashtra.

On Sunday, Bharat Jodo Yatra completed its 60 days of marching.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted a video on Twitter captioning, “60 days filled with love! A perfect milestone to celebrate this journey of uniting India.

Many more to come.”

However, the Congress Party’s candidate Palvai Sravanthi lost

IN THE COURTYARD CALCUTTA HC JUNKS CONTEMPT PETITION AGAINST WB DGP

Cong does not care for country’s security: Yogi

UCC imposition in HP not aimed at polarisation: Dr Jitendra Singh

Guj polls: BJP likely to finalise its tickets on Wednesday

New Delhi (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party will hold a meeting of its Central Election Committee (CEC) on Wednesday evening in a bid to finalise the first list of candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls.

This meeting will take place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and BJP state president CR Patil and other members of the CEC and the state unit.

05

ENSURE TAGORE’S JORASANKO HOUSE NOT TAMPERED WITH: HC TO WB GOVT

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday asked the state govt to ensure that heritage structures at Jorasanko campus of Rabindra Bharati University are not tampered with. A a PIL claimed that the room in which Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay had interacted for first time is now being used as an office of an association, and that a couple of rooms at campus have been remodelled.

GoI OPPOSES PLEA ON THE SURROGACY LAW’S PROVISIONS

HC REJECTS PLEA OF SISODIA IN CASE FILED BY ASSAM CM

New Delhi: The Centre has opposed a petition in Delhi High Court assailing certain provisions of the surrogacy law, saying the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 were enacted following due procedure.

Guwahati (PTI): The Gauhati High Court has dismissed a petition by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia praying for quashing a criminal defamation case filed against him by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over allegations of corruption.

B’LURU COURT ORDERS TWITTER TO BLOCK HANDLES OF CONG, BHARAT JODO YATRA

Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on Monday directed Twitter to temporarily block the accounts of the Congress party and the Bharat Jado Yatra for allegedly copyright violation. The order came after a petition filed by MRT Music claimed that the respondents had used music from the Kannada film KGF-2 during its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ without permission. The court ruled that the alleged illegal use of music would also encourage piracy at large.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Kamareddy.

the highly discussed, Munugode bypolls in Telangana amid the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra was present in Telangana on Sunday.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy won the Munugode bypolls in Telangana by a margin of 10,309 votes.

According to the

Election Commission, Prabhakar Reddy secured 97,006 votes amounting to a vote share of 42.95 per cent.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy came second with 38.38 per cent of votes.

Notably, the Bharat Jodo Yatra was all set to kick off its march from Maharashtra, in the

—PHOTO BY PTI

evening.

After completion of the foot march in southern states, Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra led by party leader Rahul Gandhi entered Maharashtra in the evening.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra has already covered parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

2 MONTHS AFTER QUITTING, AZAD NOW PRAISES CONGRESS

THAROOR DEMANDS RESIGNATION OF ARYA RAJENDRAN

Srinagar: Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that only Congress could challenge Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, while Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is “merely a party of the Union Territory (UT) of Delhi”.

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday demanded the resignation from Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation Mayor Arya Rajendran over her alleged letter to Aanavoor Nagappan demanding a priority list for appointing party members to 295 temporary posts in the Municipal Corporation.

KARNATAKA BJP RESUMES JANA SANKALP YATRA, ATTACKS CONGRESS PARTY

Udupi: Karnataka BJP took up the second leg of the Jan Sankalp Yatra within the state on Monday. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BJP Central Parliamentary Committee Member BS Yediyurappa inaugurated the Yatra in Udupi district of the state. The yatra can be carried out in Udupi, Haveri and Belagavi districts. The rally might be held on November 9. CM Bommai will take part in three applications organized in district at completely different areas.

COP27: World’s best brains at work

Akali Dal expels Bibi Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates India Pavilion at the meet Jagir Kaur Sharm El-Sheikh (ANI): Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the India Pavilion at the 27th Session of Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27) Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

The COP27 that began on Sunday will be held till November 18, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Welcoming the delegates from all the

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates India Pavilion at COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

countries to the India Pavilion, Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a simple solution to the complex climate

change problem.

He said India believes that climate action starts from the grassroots, individual level and hence designed the

India Pavilion with the theme of LiFE- Lifestyle for Environment.

On this occasion, Yadav also felicitated the COP Young Scholars from India who worked towards Positive Climate Change solutions.

“I am confident that, throughout the duration of COP, the India Pavilion will continue to remind the delegates that simple lifestyle and individual practices that are sustainable in nature can help protect Mother Earth,” said Yadav.

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday expelled Bibi Jagir Kaur from the primary membership of the party for indulging in anti-party activities, including becoming party to a conspiracy to break the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). SAD Disciplinary Committee Chairman Sikander Singh Maluka announced this.

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06

VP Dhankhar greets people on the eve of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti First India Bureau New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar greeted the nation today on the eve of Guru Nanak Dev’s birthday.

In his message to the nation, Dhankhar stated “I convey my hearty greetings and good wishes to the people of our country and those living abroad on the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji.”

Our country has been bless-

Modi to flag off Vande Bharat train in K’taka on Nov 11

ed to have received spiritual and moral guidance from great teachers like Guru Nanak Dev ji, who evoked the inherent unity of mankind that is bound by the univer-

sal virtues of truth, kindness and righteousness, he added.

India earned the esteemed stature of Vishwaguru with the sagely wisdom of preceptors and masters like Guru Nanak Dev ji. He showed us the path of a compassionate virtuous life and an inclusive society. The pantheon of his Shabads and Sakhis is the timeless spiritual heritage of entire humanity, he added.

—With ANI inputs

Narendra Modi @narendramdodi Hearty congratulations on the festival of Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepawali, the symbols of ancient culture, spirituality and tradition of India. May this occasion associated with holy bath and lamp infuse new energy in everyone’s life.

VARANASI LIGHTS UP ON DEV DEEPAWALI Varanasi: After the iconic celebration of Deepotsav this Diwali, Varanasi celebrated Dev Deepawali on Monday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached Varanasi on Sunday evening and held a meeting with top officials in the Circuit House auditorium here regarding the Dev Deepawali festival, a statement from a govt official said.

MHA: Internal security in control during 2021 The Govt fosussed on the capacity building of states police, report says

Bengaluru (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Karnataka on November 11 and participate in several programs and events across the state, said officials.

The list of programs PM Modi is going to attend on November 11 includes the launching of Vande Bharat (Chennai-Mysore-Bangalore) train from SBC railway station. It was a longpending demand of the people of Karnataka state and PM Modi will be flagging off this high-speed train, the officials said.

AL-QAEDA OPERATIVE FROM WWB ARRESTED IN J&K’S RAMBAN Ramban (PTI): An Al-Qaeda operative outfit was arrested with a hand grenade in J&K’s Ramban district, police said on Monday. Amiruddin Khan, a resident of Mashita Haora in West Bengal, was arrested by a police party from Ramban along Jammu-Srinagar national highway, police said.

NOIDA AIRPORT: HUNDREDS OF VILLAGERS PROTEST

Noida (PTI): Hundreds of villagers staged a protest in Greater Noida on Monday seeking enhanced compensation over the acquisition of their land by the UP government for the Noida airport. The protestors were joined by members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

New Delhi (ANI): The internal security situation in India remained under control during 2021, says Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Annual Report 2021-22.

The report, released on Monday, mentions that government’s “due priority” to enhancing internal security has even the reason behind maintaining internal security situation in the country. The principal focus on the internal security front remained on countering terrorism in J&K, improving the security scenario in the North Eastern States and maintaining peace, reads the report.

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, NIA HAS REGISTERED 438 CASES TILL MARCH 2022, OUT OF WHICH, 349 HAVE BEEN CHARGE SHEETED New Delhi (ANI): To strengthen the internal Security, the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) says the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which was constituted under the NIA Act of 2008 as a Special agency for investigation and prosecution of offences specified in the Schedule of NIA Act, since its inception, has registered 438 cases as on March 31 this year. Out of which, 349 cases have been charge sheeted. Trial has been concluded in 89 cases, out of which 83 cases have resulted in conviction. NIA is the premier investigation agency at the Central level to investigate terrorism related cases, including terrorism financing cases.

CRUCIAL READ KERALA GUV ARIF MOHD KHAN STOPS 2 TV CHANNELS FROM COVERING PRESS BRIEFING Kochi (Agencies): Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday barred journalists of Kairali TV and Media One TV channels from covering a press briefing in Kochin after inviting them.

Sidelining of a section of the media has come under fire from both the CPI-M and the Congress-led UDF. Khan has been upset with Media One and said that they are settling scores with him over the Shah bano case by giving false news, while Kairali is a party channel.

WOMAN HELD WITH 28 PYTHONS, SNAKES AND CHAMELEONS ON TRAIN IN TATANAGAR Jamshedpur (Agencies): A woman travelling with pythons, rare species of snakes, chameleons etc worth more than Rs 50 crore was arrested from the general compartment of Nilanchal Express at Tatanagar station in Jharkhand. The arrest was made by a joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and Crime Intelligence Branch (CIB). The seized animals will be handed over to the Forest department.

Bikaji Foods International IPO subscribed 26.67 times on final Day Mumbai (FIB): Bikaner, Rajasthan based snack company Bikaji Foods International Ltd , the third largest ethnic snacks company in India and the second fastest growing company in the Indian organised snacks market has received bids of 55,04,00,900 shares against the offered 2,06,36,790 equity shares , at a price band of * 285-300, according to the data available on the stock exchanges. Overall the issue was subscribed 26.67 times on

the last day of bidding.

The reserved portion for qualified institutional buyer portion saw a subscription of 80.63 times.

Non-Institutional segment saw a response of 7.10 times. The Retail Portion saw a subscription of 4.77 times.

KIN WORRY ABOUT 16 INDIAN SAILORS HELD HOSTAGE IN GUINEA

Kanpur (ANI): Families of 16 Indian sailors held hostage by the Guinea Navy are worried about their safety and have pinned their hopes on the govt. The sailors have been held hostage for nearly the last three months, and the families have demanded an immediate release of the sailors.

COP, CRPF MAN AMONG 4 HELD BY CBI IN J&K RECRUITMENT SCAM New Delhi (Agencies): A police officer and a CRPF personnel were among the four accused arrested by the Centre Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Jammu and Kashmir Police recruitment scam. The accused were identified as J&K Police’s ASI Ashok Kumar and Surinder Kumar, the CRPF constable.

ED grills ex-WB min in teacher recruitment scam Kolkata (PTI): The ED on Monday interrogated former West Bengal minister Paresh Adhikari in a teacher recruitment scam. Adhikari, who had been earlier been grilled by the CBI in the same case, arrived at the CGO complex of the ED office here in the morning to face questioning, sources in the agency said.

The former minister of is facing allegations of adopting illegal means to get his daughter Ankita appointed as a teacher in a govt school in Cooch Behar district.

Panj Pyare’s lead a ‘nagar kirtan’ (religious procession) on the eve of birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, at Golden Temple in Amritsar on Monday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

REACTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES OVER EWS QUOTA VERDICT BY SC

It’s win of PM’s social justice mission, says BJP New Delhi (PTI): The BJP lauded the Supreme Court’s verdict upholding the EWS quota on Monday, saying it is a victory for PM Narendra Modi in his “mission” to provide social justice to the country’s poor. The party also slammed Congress spokesperson and its SC-ST department head Udit Raj for his allegation following the verdict that the apex court is “casteist”, saying it has exposed the opposition party’s “anti-poor” mindset.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said it was contempt of the court which, he added, should initiate proceedings against Udit Raj.

THE VERDICT A SLAP ON FACE OF PARTIES WITH VESTED INTERESTS: PRADHAN New Delhi (PTI): Lauding the Supreme Court’s decision on the EWS quota Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said in a series of “The amendment is valid and in no manner alters the basic structure of the constitution — Hon. #SupremeCourt’s nod to uphold 10 pc reservation for the EWS is a slap on the face of parties with vested interests who have tried to sow discord amongst citizens with their propaganda.”

CONG WELCOMES ORDER, SAYS PROCESS WAS INITIATED BY MANMOHAN GOVT New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict upholding the validity of providing 10 per cent reservation to people from economically weaker sections and said the amendment providing for it was the result of a process initiated by the Manmohan Singh government. The Opposition party also said the Modi govt is yet to clarify its position on an updated caste census. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Congress welcomes the verdict of SC.

CONGRESS LEADER UDIT RAJ CALLS SUPREME COURT “CASTEIST” AFTER EWS QUOTA VERDICT, CLARIFIES LATER New Delhi (ANI): Congress leader Udit Raj on Monday called the Supreme Court “casteist” after it delivered verdict on the validity of the Constitution’s 103rd Amendment Act 2019.

“Supreme Court is casteist, is there still doubt about it! It refused to give reservation to SC/ ST, OBC in Indira Sawhney case citing the Constitution’s limit of 50 per cent but reversed its statement when it came to EWS reservation,” Congress leader Udit Raj said in his tweet in Hindi. In another tweet, he clarified that he was not opposing the reservation of poor upper castes but was only mentioning the SC’s vision in the matter of Indira Sawhney.

FORMER LAW MINISTER WELCOMES SC’S VERDICT

WILL TAKE LEGAL OPINION ON THE MATTER: STALIN

New Delhi (ANI): Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has welcomed the verdict of the Constitution bench in the Supreme Court which upheld the validity of the Constitution’s 103rd Amendment Act with a majority of 3:2. The Constitution’s 103rd Amendment Act provides 10% reservation to the EWS in educational institutions and government jobs. The top court said that the importance of the judgment lies in the fact that economic backwardness as the basis for reservation now stands accepted as a constitutional principle.

Chennai (Agencies): Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin on Monday said that he would take legal opinion before deciding the next course of action on the issue of reservations in education and govt jobs for EWS. Terming the development as a setback to the century-old fight for social justice, Stalin urged Tamil Nadu political parties and other organisation to join hands for the cause of social justice. The DMK govt, which had opposed the amendment, was one of the parties in the case. It had decided not to implement the EWS quota for govt jobs.

BIG CATS BIG FEAT

Cheetahs kill first prey on Indian soil Sheopur (PTI): Two male cheetahs brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh have made their first kill within 24 hours of their release from a quarantine area to a larger acclimatisation enclosure, an official said on Monday.

The cheetahs hunted down a cheetal (spotted deer) either on Sunday night or in the wee hours of Monday, Chief Conservator of Forest Uttam Kumar Sharma said.

The forest monitoring team got this information on Monday morning, he said. This was the first prey of the felines

after their translocation from Namibia to India in mid-September along with six other cheetahs, the official said.

The cheetahs — Freddie and Alton — were the first pair to be released into the larger enclosure on Saturday after being quarantined since September 17.

The successful first hunt by the cheetahs within 24 hours of moving to the larger enclosure has also allayed the park management’s concerns about their prey hunting ability.

He said the two cheetahs were released in the larger enclosure

spread over 98 hectares from a quarantine zone on Saturday.

The other six cheetahs will also be released (in the acclimatisation enclosure) in a phased manner, he said.

The eight cheetahs five females and three males in the age group of 30-66 months - were released in the dedicated quarantine zones in the KNP on September 17 at a function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

COMMODITIES

CURRENCIES

Commodity

Price

Change

% Chg

Currency

Price

Change

% Chg

GOLD

51,201.00

81.00

0.15 (Per 10g)

USDINR

81.90

0.45

0.54

SILVER

60,596.00

244.00

0.40 (Per 1kg)

GBPINR

93.06

0.56

0.61

*Rates till the edition went to print.

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

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business BRIEFS

MFIs SUFFERED UP TO 10% CREDIT LOSS IN FY21, FY22

Mumbai (PTI): Microlenders suffered credit losses of up to 10% during the two years of the pandemic, but things are improving now with stressed asset levels halving, an industry body said on Monday. The lenders, which typically disburse unsecured finance for micro entrepreneurs, suffered credit losses of 5-10% in FY21 and FY22 due to the impact of the pandemic on operations and borrowers’ financial health, Microfinance Institutions Network’s chief executive Alok Misra said.

ADANI GROUP CONTINUES TO SEEK STRATEGIC PARTNERS

New Delhi (PTI): Gautam Adani’s conglomerate continues to seek strategic equity partners aligned with its long-term investment strategy as it expands across the energy to transport to mining sectors. CreditSights said Adani Group is venturing into new or unrelated businesses, which are highly capital intensive.

The conglomerate may invest more than $150 billion over the next decade in expanding new energy businesses to cement and data centres.

TATA MOTORS ROLLS OUT 50,000TH ELECTRIC VEHICLE

New Delhi (PTI): Tata Motors on Monday said it has rolled out its 50,000th Electric Vehicle (EV) unit in the country from its Pune plant. “As the pioneers of EVs in the country, the onus of ensuring successful adoption was on us. With a well calibrated product mix, strong consumer facing initiatives, we have been able to address barriers to EV adoption,” Tata Motors PV MD Shailesh Chandra said in a statement.The company has created an entire EV ecosystem with Tata Group companies to provide simple, cost-effective solutions for customers, he added.

HONDA CARS ACHIEVE 20 LAKH PRODUCTION MILESTONE IN INDIA

New Delhi (PTI): Honda Cars India on Monday said it has crossed the 20 lakh cumulative production milestone in the country. The company has rolled out its 2 millionth unit, a Honda City sedan, from its Tapukara (Rajasthan) based manufacturing plant. The automaker began production operations in December 1997 and has so far cumulatively invested over `10,000 crore since setting up its operations in India.

EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

Multi-bn-$ 5G infra roll-out, soon Singapore (PTI): India is set to witness the world’s largest roll-out of 5G infrastructure with multi-billion-dollar being spent by the country’s leading telcos over the next several years, according to Syed Shahid Hussain, Managing Partner, Financial Services Sector, Asia Pacific, at IBM Consulting.

Additionally, the government is expected to lead in developing the India stack, a network building process that would cover every segment of the economy being digitised with the latest advanced technologies, he said.

“This is a big play,” he said of the advanced technologies adoption in India,

WORLD’S

LARGEST ROLLOUT z India is set to witness the

world’s largest roll-out of 5G infrastructure with multi-billion-dollar being spent by the country’s leading telcos over the next several years

z Govt is expected to lead in

developing the India stack

with IBM Consulting joining international technology groups participating in the large-scale development over several years through strategic partnerships with telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Group.

“We plan to work with

Indian telcos, where we have strategic partnerships like Bharti Airtel to bring secured hybrid cloud services through the 5G network to national enterprises. The agreement with Bharti Airtel is there to launch it,” said Shahid, the Singapore-based IBM ex-

Efforts to bring down NPAs bearing fruits: Sitharaman New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government’s efforts to reduce bad loans are yielding result with 12 public sector banks reporting a 50% jump in combined net profit at `25,685 crore in the second quarter ended Sept.

In the first half of FY23, the cumulative net profit of all PSBs increased by 32% to `40,991 crore.

During the Q2, the SBI reported the highest-ever profit of `13,265 crore. On year-on-year basis, this was 74% higher than the same quarter a year ago.

“The continuous efforts of our govt for reducing the NPAs and further strengthening the health of PSBs are now showing tangible results. All 12 PSBs de-

clared net profit of `25,685 cr in Q2FY23 & total Rs 40,991 cr in H1FY23, up by 50% & 31.6%, respectively (y-o-y),” Sitharaman said.

She further said Canara Bank reports an 89% jump in profit to Rs 2,525 crore as compared to second quar-

ter of the previous fiscal.

Two of the 12 lenders -PNB, and Bank of India -reported profit declines ranging from 9-63%. These lenders’ declining profits have been ascribed to higher provisioning for bad loans.

ecutive. “For this, both the parties will have to spend billions of dollars. Huge amount of money is being spent by the stakeholders in this ongoing process and it will take over a couple of years,” he underlined.

“We are particularly working on securing hy-

Need for single rate GST: EACPM Chairman New Delhi (PTI): Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Chairman Bibek Debroy on Monday said India should have a single rate GST and taxation regime devoid of exemptions.

He said the tax collection of the Centre and states combined is just 15% of GDP, while the demand for government spending on public infrastructure is much higher.

“On GST, it is my submission, therefore, there should be a single rate. I don’t think we will ever get it…,” Debroy said.

Sensex revisits 61K on gains in auto, energy stocks Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 230 points to reclaim the 61,000-mark on Monday, propelled by robust buying in auto, energy and metal stocks amid a firm trend in global equities.

A strong rupee against the US dollar and persistent foreign capital inflows also supported the domestic equities, traders said.

In a highly volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 234.79 points or 0.39% higher at 61,185.15.

The index witnessed a high

of 61,401.54 and a low of 60,714.36 during the session.

The broader NSE Nifty rose by 85.65 points or

India needs $300 billion by 2030 to meet 500GW aim New Delhi (PTI): India will need additional investment of around $300 billion to complete the 500-gigawatt renewable energy capacity target by 2030, according to a report.

With 165 gigawatts (GW) generation capacity already in place, the country is on the right trajectory to meet its goal of having 50% of energy needs through the renewable portfolio, the Arthur D Little (ADL) report said on Monday.

“India needs (additional) strategic investments of over $300 billion to achieve its clean energy capacity target of 500 GW by 2030,”

the study titled ‘Powering India’s Energy Vision 2030’ said.

As per the study, India’s electricity consumption is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.4% over the next decade, with annual demand touching 2,300 billion units (BUs) by 2030.

However, at the current pace, generation will reach only 2,024 BUs by 2030.

0.47% to end at 18,202.80 points.

State Bank of India topped the Sensex gainers’ chart, jumping 3.44%, followed by Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, M&M, Maruti and PowerGrid. In contrast, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma and Titan were among the laggards, shedding up to 2.37%.

The market breadth was in favour of the bulls, with 18 of the 30 Sensex counters closing in the green.

` GAINS 45 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.90 AGAINST US DOLLAR Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated by 45 paise to close at 81.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday amid a weak American currency and sustained foreign fund inflows. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.14 and touched an intra-day high of 81.90 and a low of 82.32 against the greenback.

The local unit finally settled at 81.90, registering a rise of 45 paise over its previous close amid a positive trend in domestic equities.

brid cloud services through the 5G network.” Hybrid cloud is a major shift in the evolution of enterprise IT. The next big thing is to create India stack for different sectors of the Indian economy, he pointed out.

India stack is a set of APIs that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilise a unique digital infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless and cashless service delivery.

Shahid says the government is to lead the India stack and incentivise banks and other stakeholders in the ecosystem for the benefits of consumers.

07

FinMin releases `7,183.42 crore to 14 states First India Bureau New Delhi: The Department of Expenditure under the Finance Ministry on Monday released the eight monthly instalment of the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) grant of `7,183.42 crore to fourteen states as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

With the release of the eighth instalment for the month of November 2022, the total amount of revenue deficit grants released to the states so far in FY23 has gone up to `57,467.33 crore, Ministry said.

OTHER STORIES DUE TO SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION, 30 INDIGO PLANES GROUNDED

Mumbai (PTI): IndiGo on Monday said that around 30 aircraft are grounded due to “supply chain disruptions” and the country’s largest airline is evaluating wet leasing of planes and other options to boost operations. At the end of Sept, the carrier -- also the world’s seventh largest in terms of daily departures -- had 279 aircraft in its fleet.

It operates more than 1,600 daily flights and currently flies to 100 destinations.

LARGE SCALE LAYOFFS COMING AT META THIS WEEK: REPORTS

New York (PTI): After job cuts at Twitter, Facebook’s parent company Meta is planning to begin “largescale layoffs” this week in what could be the largest reduction to date at a “major technology corporation in a year that has seen a tech-industry retrenchment,” a media report said. The Wall Street Journal reported that the layoffs at Meta are expected to affect “many thousands of employees” and could come as soon as Wednesday.

INDIA’S MFG SECTOR TO SUSTAIN GROWTH MOMENTUM FOR NEXT 6-9 MONTHS: FICCI New Delhi (PTI): The growth momentum which has been witnessed by India’s mfg sector for the past few months is likely to stay for the next six to nine months, according to the latest quarterly survey by Ficci. According to the survey, the existing average capacity utilisation in mfg is over 70%, which reflects a sustained economic activity in the sector. The future investment outlook also slightly improved as compared to previous quarter as close to 40% respondents reported plans for capacity additions in the next six months by over 15% on an average.

32 LAKH WEDDINGS IN DEC TO GENERATE `3.75 LAKH CRORE BIZ

New Delhi (PTI): Around 32 lakh weddings are expected to be solemnised in India between November 4 and December 14, which will generate businesses to the tune of Rs 3.75 lakh crore for the country’s trading community, CAIT said on Monday. The Confederation of All India Traders based its assessment on a survey conducted by its research arm.

The survey was carried out in 35 cities with 4,302 traders and service providers.

ISMA CONFIDENT OF GOVT NOD FOR ADD’L 3 MN TONS EXPORT

New Delhi (PTI): Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Monday welcomed the government’s decision to allow export of 6 million tonnes of sugar till May 31, of the 202223 season and expressed confidence of getting export nod for additional 3 million tonnes.

“Sugar industry is confident that the government will allow sugar exports of additional 3 million tonnes,” Indian Sugar Mills Association said in a statement on Monday.

FESTIVE FERVOUR PUTS

Automobile retail sales in fast lane in Oct New Delhi (PTI): Aided by robust festive season offtake, automobile retail sales in India witnessed a 48% annual jump in October, FADA said on Monday.

The total retail sales last month stood at 20,94,378 units, up 48% from 14,18,726 registrations in October 2021.

The festive season this year turned out to be the best for the industry in the last four years.

Last month, all the vehicle segments like passenger and commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, tractors and three-wheelers per-

MAJOR TALKING POINT

z The festive season this

year turned out to be the best for the industry in the last four years.

z The total retail sales last

month stood at 20,94,378 units, up 48% from 14,18,726 registrations in October 2021. They were even better by 8% as against October 2019

formed better as compared to the year-ago period.

Passenger vehicle retails stood at 3,28,645 units last

month, up 41% from 2,33,822 units in October 2021. Similarly, two-wheeler registrations witnessed

a 51% jump last month at 15,71,165 units compared with 10,39,845 units in October 2021.

—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India

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2ND FRONT NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

3 cops who handled rape case against Sengar now face jail If convicted, they can be sent to jail for a period ranging between 6 months and 2 years ‘FALSE & BASELESS’

BJP ex-MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar

—FILE PHOTO

and gang-raped by three other men on June 11, but the police did not take any action on her complaint.

The girl’s complaint was registered in CM’s grievance portal and forwarded to Kunwar Bahadur Singh for inquiry. Kunwar Singh had forwarded the complaint to DP Shukla, who in turn handed it

immolate in front of the chief minister’s residence in Lucknow on April 8, 2018, which snowballed into a major political issue in the state.

It is alleged that the victim in her application to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on August 17, 2017, had said she was raped by Sengar on June 4 that year

GANGRAPE CASE

SC asks ex-chief secy to move trial court for anticipatory bail First India Bureau New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar, Jitendra Narain, who is facing allegations of gangrape and sexual abuse to approach the sessions court to apply for anticipatory bail.

A bench of justices Krishna Murari and S Ravindra Bhat directed the accused, Jitendra Narain, to approach the sessions court on November 9, and directed that the matter be decided by November 11.

“Interest of justice will be served if the respondent applies for anticipatory bail before the jurisdictional sessions court,” the bench said.

Former chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar, Jitendra Narain

ACCUSED HAS ALREADY TAMPERED WITH EVIDENCE: SOLICITOR GENERAL New Delhi: During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the accused has already tampered with evidence.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the accused in the matter, however, told the court that the complaint was motivated as the complainant was the daughter-in-law of a person who was terminated from service by the former chief

secretary. “My client has done nothing in 17 days.

Police is outside the former chief secretary’s residence in Port Blair and he led a blemishless career and just because he terminated someone’s employment, all of this is happening,” he said.

The complainant has alleged that she was raped

by Narain and others after being lured to the chief secretary’s residence with the promise of a government job.

over to Digvijay Singh.

In the inquiry report submitted on August 24, 2017, Digvijay Singh said a case was already registered -- referring to the gang-rape on June 11 -- at Makhi police station and that a chargesheet had also been filed. However, it did not mention anything about the rape by Sengar.

Six held for ‘Pak Zindabad’ at BSP rally First India Bureau New Delhi: Azamgarh police arrested six Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during a rally here. As per police, all accused are said to be local residents.

The incident came to light when a video of the rally went viral on social media that showed some people shouting Pakistan Zindabad’ after a meeting of BSP workers in Jahanaganj held to discuss local bodies poll last week.

Mohd Afzal, Khurshid Ahmad, Pappu Khan, Maksood Alam, Abdul Wasid, and Zubair Ahamad were arrested Saturday after their name came to fore during the probe, the police said.

“He (Digvijay Singh) further mentioned in the report that other allegations of the complainant are baseless and false and she is habitual of giving the applications,” the CBI alleged.

A special CBI court sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment for raping the minor who had come to his house seeking employment on June 4, 2017.

Without giving specific findings in his report to senior officers, Kunwar Singh termed the minor’s complaint against the then MLA “false and baseless”.

This recommendation was not only made in reference to the case sent from the Chief Minister’s Office but also in previous complaints filed by the victim, mentioning both incidents of rape, the CBI alleged.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh being garlanded by BJP leaders during the public meeting for the upcoming HP Assembly elections at Balh Assembly constituency, in Mandi on Monday.

First India Bureau New Delhi: Addressing election rallies in assembly segments of Baijnath and Balh in Himachal Pradesh, Defence minister Rajnath Singh took a jibe against opposition parties Congress and Aam Aadmi Party’s using cricket as an analogy.

“To sum up current politics in terms of cricket, I would say BJP is a ‘good length ball’ on the pitch of politics...

Congress has become a ‘wide ball’ and AAP’s position is no ball’.”

He underlined that BJP’s resolve to imple-

ment the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the hill statis not to get votes.

“We have resolved to implement the Uniform Civil Code in Himachal Pradesh. People from Congress are saying we are doing this to get votes. But we don’t want to get votes by dividing society.

The Uniform Civil Code has been in force in Goa for years. Did society break in Goa,” Singh said. With cricket fever gripping the country during the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia, the leader connected with voters by comparing politics to cricket.

‘Enjoyed journey of 37 years in SC’ New Delhi (PTI): Outgoing Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit turned nostalgic on Monday as he recalled his journey of nearly 37 years in the Supreme Court, saying he enjoyed his stint both as a lawyer and a judge.

He said it was a great feeling to pass on the baton to the senior-most judge, Justice Chandrachud, as he began his stint in the top court by appearing before his father and16th Chief Justice Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud.

“I have spent something like 37 years in this court. My journey in this court began through Court Number 1. I was practising in Bombay and then I came here to mention a case before CJI YV Chandrachud. “My journey began from this court and today it ends in the same court. The person before

—PHOTO BY PTI

New Delhi (PTI): A special court has declined to discharge a police officer from charges of failing to record a rape complaint against BJP ex-MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 by a minor victim, officials said.

The court has listed the matter in January for framing charges against Kunwar Bahadur Singh, then posted as Circle Officer of Safipur, Unnao. Two of his subordinate officers – former Makhi police station SHO DP Shukla and sub-inspector Digvijay Singh – have also been named in the CBI chargesheet.

If convicted, they can be sent to jail for a period ranging between six months to two years.

Even after her complaint to the Chief Minister’s Office remained unaddressed, the victim attempted to self-

Cong wide ball, AAP no ball, BJP good length: Singh

Top Army commanders begin 5-day deliberations New Delhi (PTI) : Top commanders of the Army on Monday began deliberations as part of a 5-day conclave that will review India’s national security challenges along the borders with China and Pakistan as well as ways to bolster the 1.3 million-strong force’s military prowess.

Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande is chairing the conclave taking place in the national capital from Nov 7 to 11. The commanders will carry out a comprehensive review of military preparedness along the 3,400-kmlong Line of Actual Control in view of the lingering military standoff with China in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh, the officials said.

08

—PHOTO BY PTI

Greetings on the occasion of Guru Nank Jayanti, May he continue to show the path to all of us.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit with CJI-designate Justice DY Chandrachud during the farewell ceremony organised for him at Supreme Court in New Delhi on Monday.

NUANCED UNDERSTANDING Praising the CJI for his “nuanced understanding of not only the law but of Indian social life,” Justice Chandrachud said it has added to the stability of this court. “He has had a great sense of stability in turbulent times. All the best for the future. Thank you for the way you have been,” Justice Chandrachud said. Attorney General R Venkataramani said he is deeply indebted to the CJI and finds it difficult to gather his thoughts. “You are leaving without leaving. There have been many subjects on which we had a common understanding. I am deeply indebted to your lordship for having marvelled over very intricate issues before this court and showing how the court can be held,” he said.

whom I mentioned the matter, he passed on the baton to subsequent Chief Justices.

“I now pass the baton to a very distinguished person and the son of that man himself. It is a

beautiful occasion for me and I couldn’t have asked for anything greater than that,” CJI Lalit said.

Referring to forming several Constitution benches, CJI Lalit said it has been a very memorable and satisfactory feeling “to have done something for the Bar”.

“I feel a judge who gets to be a judge of the Supreme Court would be good enough for everything and he or she must have an equal chance to be part of the Constitution benches.

A NONDESCRIPT PLACE

Jayanta Bhattacharya Devtamura: Devtamura, a nondescript place in Tripura where panels of 15th-century rock carvings exist on the steep slopes of a hill along the banks of the Gomati river, is poised to welcome tourists, thanks to an initiative of the state government.

The carvings have 37 sculptures of Hindu deities like Shiva, Ganesha, Kartikeya, Mahisasur Mardini, and Durga on the Kalajhari Hills.

It is not known who carved the figures of gods and goddesses in this place inhabited by Jamatiya & Reang tribes.

The chiselled wonder

also known as Chabimura, 75 km from the capital Agartala, had been pushed to obscurity by decades-old insurgency & a lack of proper infrastructures like roads and accommodation facilities. State Tourism minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the tourism infrastructure is being developed so that footfalls of visitors increase to the archaeological site.

The complete stretch of 12 km between Amarpur, a sub-divisional town, to Devtamura in the Gomati district was recently widened, a tourist lodge was constructed and a boating facility was introduced to attract more visitors, Singha

—PHOTO BY PTI

Mysterious 15th-century rock carvings dot Kalajhari Hills in Tripura

People visit Devtamura along the banks of the Gomati river.

Roy said. One can reach the banks of the Gomati river in a car and then undertake the rest of the journey by boat. The area deserves to find a place in the tourists’ diary for its lush green vegetation dotted with beautiful bamboo-straw huts of tribals. The hill ranges are covered with thick jungles & the area is an eco-tourism centre.

Manas Paul, who authored ‘Eye witness’, a book on militancy in Tripura, says during 3 decades of insurgency Devtamura was completely inaccessible till 2004 as the place was infested by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). —PTI

HISTORIANS’ VIEW Historian Jahar Acharjee, who studied the carvings for his article on rockcut sculpture, wrote that available evidence suggests that some soldiers, who were hiding in the area during a Muslim attack in the 15th century, had made them. However, writer Panna Lal Roy, who also studied the sculptures, contradicted Acharjee’s contention,

saying “there is no historical evidence to support it and that it needs more research to find the creators’. ‘In ‘Rajmala’, a historical chronicle of Tripura, it was mentioned that local Reang tribes, who rebelled against the Manikya kings, named the place Devtamura.The tribes later became loyal to the Mankiya kings, Tourism minister said.

Tourism brings together different cultures and creates good people-to-people relationships. We are attaching maximum importance to this sector and creating more infrastructure to increase footfalls of tourists. —Pranajit Singha Roy, State Tourism minister

CHAKRAK-MA The first panel measures 10.3 metres in height and is spread over a length of 28 m.

The monolith on which the carvings were done stands at an almost 90-degree angle.

The second image of Mahishasurmardini, about one km away from the first panel, stands at a height of over 10 m from the river bed.

It is the largest of all carvings and the locals worship the deity as Chakrak-Ma.

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09

NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

India Fashion Week London

A SYNONYM OF

PERFECTION CITY FIRST

F

ashion in India is a rapidly growing industry with intern a t i o n a l events. The seventh edition of India Fashion Week London on 20 November, a celebration of Asian fashion by national and international renowned designers. The conception of India Fashion Week London has been driven by the need for a platform to showcase the existing creativity of worldclass designers alongside supporting upcoming NEWGEN designers. In what is the 7th year of the prestigious concept by the internationally renowned event production house The Platinum Group, Founder Manny Singh states: ‘To continue to grow and increase visitor numbers after seven years is a huge accolade for us - especially with the growth in new events and interest in the sector.

We want to showcase the best fashion designers the industry has to offer and ensure our visi-

Fashion in India is a growing industry. City First brings to you the 7th edition of India Fashion Week London on 20 November, a celebration of Asian fashion by national and international renowned designers.

“I’m so looking forward to welcoming, the team of First India, the fashion connect and Dr Jagdeesh Chandra to London.”

- Manny Singh, Show organiser, India Fashion Week Global Limited tors see immense value in our live directory. The bond and trust with have with our visitors is key to our success. We understand the world of fashion is changing globally all the time, keeping this in mind we want to ensure the UK audiences have an opportunity to witness world class trends each year. At the same time we set standards of expectations with our exhibitors and also ensure we provide the right tools and support for them to connect with our visitors. This year we are super excited about our partnership with First India and we look forward to develop-

ing a long term working relationship with the team. We take great pride in being able to bring this event to life each year, yet allow it to grow to suit visitor and exhibitor needs.’ The celebration of Indian fashion will involve fringe events in various places across London, ranging from VIP jewellery launch events to seminars on the various styles and trends. The main event will be taking place at Novotel London Hammersmith on November 20; this will consist of a shopping experience for any fashionista alongside catwalk displays.

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NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

10

Prevention Options for

MRIDULA SHARMA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

H

ave you ever noticed how the seasons affect your skin's appearance? If so, you may have observed that the colder winter months tend to make your skin appear drier and flakier more frequently.

Your skin might get dehydrated as a result of the strong winter winds, dry interior heat, low humidity levels and cold air.

Your face, hands, feet, and other exposed regions of skin may all start to seem much less luminous than usual as a result of this.

Even when temperatures drop and there is no way to avoid the dry, chilly air of winter, there are things you can do to keep your skin looking healthy.

Dry winter skin is not always the case. You might be able to keep your skin looking soft, smooth and vibrant all winter long by making a few adjustments to your skincare routine and habits and utilising the proper products.

Let's look more closely at suggestions that might improve your skin's health throughout the drier seasons of the year.

FOLLOWING A WASH, MOISTURIZE IMMEDIATELY

n You remove your skin's natu-

ral oils every time you wash your hands, face, or body. It's crucial to restore these oils since they aid in retaining moisture. Use a moisturiser every time you wash your skin for this reason, especially in the winter. n To serve as a useful reminder, try keeping a bottle of moisturiser close to your sink and carrying a travel-size moisturiser with you at all times.

REGULAR USE OF SUNSCREEN

n It might be

tempting to skip using sunscreen in the morning due to the shorter winter days and less sunshine but resist the urge. Your skin's mois-

DRY WINTER SKIN

ture barrier, which is essential for preserving skin health and hydration, can still be stressed by damaging UV rays even in the winter. n After using a moisturiser in the morning, try applying a layer of sunscreen. n Use of sunscreen with at least SPF 30 is advised by the American Academy of Dermatology.

UTILIZE BEDTIME REMEDIES

n Treatments that are applied

overnight are a fantastic approach to reviving or preventing dry skin. Emollients are excellent moisturisers. They can take longer to penetrate into your skin, though, because they're a thicker kind of cream. n Your skin will have the time it needs to absorb the therapy if you apply an emollient overnight. Additionally, the emollient will replace the moisture and oils your skin has lost.

EMPLOY A HUMIDIFIER n When

indoor heating is turned up in the winter, humidifiers may be extremely beneficial in replenishing moisture in the air. More moisture in the air can serve as a natural moisturiser, preventing and alleviating skin dryness in the process. n In the winter, a humidifier set at 60% helps restore moisture to the top layer of your skin, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

APPLY EXFOLIATES AND SCRUBS SPARINGLY

n Exfoliation, which helps re-

move dead skin cells from the skin's surface, can help maintain the smooth, youthful appearance of your skin. However, if you exfoliate your skin too frequently or with the incorrect products, you risk

overdoing it.

n Consider using a light chemi-

cal exfoliator rather than a physical scrape if your skin appears dry or flaky. Scrubs with larger particles that are harsher may have a higher chance of damaging your skin's moisture barrier.

TRY ADDING OCCLUSIVES TO YOUR ROUTINE

n Earlier, we mentioned using

emollients to help smooth and repair your skin barrier. But, if you find that emollient ingredients aren’t doing enough to heal your dry skin, you may want to consider incorporating occlusive ingredients into your skin care routine.

CHOOSE NON-IRRITATING MATERIALS

n Avoid wearing abrasive mate-

rials whenever you have skin

issues of any kind. Dry skin is also not an exception. To lessen the chance of additional physical irritability, try dressing in loose, comfortable, natural materials if the skin on your body is particularly dry. n Don't wash your items in conventional detergents either.

For detergents that won't include harsh chemicals or strong smells, look for those made for sensitive skin.

MODIFY YOUR SKIN CARE REGIMEN

n You might want to think about

temporarily streamlining your skin care regimen if the dry winter air is making the skin on your face feel particularly sensitive or irritated. n Remember that for serums, toners, and other cosmetic treatments to work effectively, your skin's moisture barrier must be in good condition. n Additionally, inflamed skin may be more sensitive to substances like alcohol and scent.

This implies that cosmetics that would typically feel wonderful on your skin might become irritating. n Try to make your skin care regimen straightforward.

Consider using a light cleanser with a moisturiser in the morning and

only a moisturiser and sunscreen at night.

HYDRATE INTERNALLY

n Making certain to stay hydrat-

ed throughout the day is another essential step to keeping healthy and luminous skin.

Your skin might look different and become more prone to drying out if you don't drink enough fluids. n You may choose to concentrate on consuming foods that are strong in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids in addition to remaining well-hydrated. n Both of these nutrients can help your body produce healthy cells, including skin cells and shield your cells from harm caused by the environment.

ETC NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

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11

Kareena can't wait to meet

‘MINI ALIA BHATT’ K

areena Kapoor has reacted to the arrival of Ranbir Kapoor and his wife Alia Bhatt's baby girl. As she congratulated the couple, Kareena said she cannot wait to meet Alia's mini version. Kareena Kapoor is close to actor-cousin Ranbir Kapoor and is excited to meet his daughter.

Ranbir and actor-wife Alia Bhatt welcomed a baby girl around noon on Sunday. As soon as Alia shared a note on Instagram to announce the baby's arrival, Kareena took to

the comments section to share her excitement.

Commenting on Alia Bhatt's note, Kareena wrote, “Ufffffff my mini Alia can’t wait to meet her.”

Alia's baby announcement had read, “And in the best news of our lives: Our baby is here.. and what a magical girl she is. We are officially bursting with love, blessed and obsessed PARENTS!!!!!."

She signed off by writing, "Love love love, Alia and Ranbir."

Alia’s post...

Kareena Kapoor

‘I was on

painkillers’

J

anhvi Kapoor is all set for her next film Mili which will be released in 3 days.

The film, which is a remake of the Malayalam hit Helen, also stars Sunny Kaushal and Manoj Pahwa in the main roles. Well, the makers are not leaving any stone unturned in promoting the film.

The actress was spotted at a mul-

tiplex in New Delhi for the promotion.

Janhvi Kapoor revealed that she was having nightmares of being shut in a cold and dark space. “The film took a toll on my mental health. I would come back home from the shoot and I would go to sleep and dream that I was still in the freezer. I fell ill and I was on severe painkillers for twothree days and even the director was unwell,” the actress quoted.

SAMANTHA BEGINS ‘YASHODA’ PROMOTIONS

A

s the fans wait for the release of Samanth Ruth Prabhu's new-age thriller Yashoda, the actress commenced the promotions for her next. She shared a few glimpses of her promotional wardrobe on Instagram. She captioned it as, "Like my good friend @raj.nidimoru

B

ollywood is set to witness yet another grand wedding of Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani.

The duo is rumoured to tie the knot in December and we are excited to peak into more wedding updates.

As per reports, the wedding preparations have begun

‘Road to recovery’

already and the couple is looking for a dreamy wedding venue.

It is believed that the couple is looking at tying the knot in Chandigarh and are hunting for a luxurious property. The couple is considering Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort, where Rajkummar and Patralekha got married.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Parineeti Quits YRF?

A

s we informed you previously, Pooja Hegde suffered a ligament tear in the foot recently. Now, the Radhe Shyam actress is on the road to recovery and has been undergoing treatment, along with work. The Beast star took to her Instagram handle and shared a snippet of her recovery journey. In the photo, the diva dips the injured foot in hot water to the heel in the comfort of her home. Pooja Hegde captioned the post, "What my mornings look like now… #roadtorecovery #comingbackstronger."

t...

Her post..

Wedding Venue REVEALED!

Janhvi Kapoor.

Her pos

says, no matter what the day is like and how sh***y things are, his motto is to Shower...Shave...Show up !! I borrowed it for a day...For #yashodathemovie promotions... see you on the 11th."

The stunner looked stunning in a black pantsuit with a green belt.

Her impressive attire was complemented with black framed glasses, open tresses and earrings.

P

arineeti Chopra debuted in Bollywood with YRF’s Ladies vs Ricky Bahl.

However, as per recent reports, it is being said that she’s leaving Yash Raj Films' talent management agency!

For the unversed, before entering the glamour world, Chopra was a part of YRF’s marketing and PR department. Since her association with the organisation goes way back, there’s no bad blood here.

An insider source revealed – “Parineeti and YRF go back a long way and the production house is like a home for her. So, there is no animosity involved here. She wanted to explore other avenues and is moving to another talent management agency.”

Parineeti has done multiple versatile films under the YRF banner like Ishaqzaade, Shuddh Desi Romance, Daawat-eIshq and Kill Dil. Let’s wait and see which talent management agency Parineeti will be on boarding with.

Pooja Hegde

Kiara Advani

Parineeti Chopra

CITY

STAY MASKED

GET VACCINATED

BUZZ

NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022

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SPACE SALT'S ANOTHER HIT

CITY FIRST

S

pace Salt is back with another hit 'Doori'. The band essentially consists of two members - Shravan Sajjan and Atul Arora. Doori’s official Youtube video has reached more than 7 lakh views in just a month and is getting appreciated by its listeners. The song is available on all streaming platforms.

‘Doori’ sends out a

strong message, most relevant in today’s era 'Let your soul not question you...

Kaisi hai yeh Doori khud ki khud se..

Be who you want to be & not what others want you to be.'

The song is a global hit and is trending on #68 in Manchester for the last 2 weeks. Follow Space Salt for more updates and their upcoming releases. cityfirstdel@gmail.com

Shravan Sajjan and Atul Arora

THE AMBASSADOR’S CUP 2022

12

MEDITATION SESSION!

The official Twitter handle of the Police Families Welfare Society shared glimpses of the meditation session organised for the Delhi Police family members recently.

GREETINGS!

CITY FIRST

T

he Golf event ‘Ambassador’s Cup2022’ was organised by DUDigital Global and VFS Global at Qutub Golf Course, New Delhi on Sunday. The Ambassador’s Cup was personally chaired by three prominent dignitaries, Archil Dzuliashvili (Ambassador, Embassy of Georgia to India), Pinak Ranjan (Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs) and Amizal Fadzli Rajali (Deputy High Commissioner of Malaysia).

Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture of India, commenced the game with a tee-off. Diksha Dagar, the only hearing impaired Professional Indian Golf Player, was also a part of this Gala event. She became the leading amateur ladies’ golfer in India in 2015. Other dignitaries to cherish the event were Dr Stephan Hesselmann - Minister Counsellor, Germany, Dr. Juxian Lu-Hesselmann, Wael Mohamed Awad Hamedv - Egypt, and diplomats from Bulgaria, Morocco, and South Korea were also present.

Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture of India, graced the event as the chief guest and presented the prizes to the respective winners personally. The event was scheduled as a day event for November 4, 2022, followed by drinks and dinner.

The event was an attempt to bring together the strategic association at a common forum for better companionship and networking and also promote Golf as a leading sport in India.

CITY FIRST

K

artikotsav, a oneday Maha Raas Leela festivalNRITYA NATIKA in Kathak and Brij Raas Leela Style is being organised by Uma Sharma and Group on the auspicious occasion of KARTIK PURNIMA today, November 8. This particular ‘Maha Raas’ is unique as it combines the traditional Raas of Brindaban with classical Kathak, a field in which Uma Sharma has done considerable research Based on the 10th chapter of Shreemad Bhagavad. The Maha Raas as conceived

by Uma Sharma as a dance form is a unique blend which pinpoints her creative originality as a choreographer and

Kaushalya Jethanadani, Jitesh Jethanandani, Anjali Jethanandani, Arun Sharma, Kapil Mishra, Jugal Sharma and Kavi Raj Sethi Dr Juxian Lu- Hesselman and Dr Stephen Hesselman

Andrei Rzheussky

The grand marriage ceremony of Anjali, daughter of Kaushalya and Rajkumar Jethanandani with Arun, son of Pushpa Devi and Hari Shankar Sharma took place at Radha Krishna Marriage Garden, Mansarovar, Jaipur on Friday, November 4. Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra reached Rajkumar Jethanandani's residence and blessed the newlyweds Anjali and Arun and wished them all the best for their future endeavours. PM Narendra Modi also sent his wishes across through a letter.

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

18th Collage Annual Art Carnival Diksha Dagar and Meenakshi Lekhi

Archill Dzullashvili and Meenakshi Lekhi

Yulia Aryaeva with others during the lamp lighting ceremony

During the art carnival

CITY FIRST

Ashish Shroff and Shivaz Rai

Shristi and Abhyuday Jindal

D

Shiraz Rai and Mandira Rai

Nikhil Kumar

Amizal Fadzli Rajali

Diksha Dagar

elhi Collage of Art (DCA) bounced back in the post-pandemic era with its 18th chapter of the Collage Annual Carnival. The exhibition of over 300 artworks created by 105 participants is being displayed at Galleries 1 to 4 & foyer Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhawan, Ferozshah Road, New Delhi till today November 12.

An initiative of students of Delhi Collage of Art, the event aims at unveiling the traditional and ancient forms of art that

are piled under the dust of time. While modern and contemporary styles of art hold their patrons comfortably in the fast-moving world, it is essential to bring youth face to face with customary techniques that have been longestablished.

The exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi is

a vibrant mix of artworks which celebrate the current chic with an undertone of classic flair. Ranging through a wide spectrum, the creations will boast the use of various media like oil colours, watercolours, charcoal and acrylic set up on different types of surfaces and installations etc.

KARTIKOTASAV 2022 Uma Sharma

Captivating performance by the dancers

also shows her concern for placing Kathak in its true perspective as a dance for the gods, to the gods, in the home of the

gods, in the temples. According to the text, it was on a full moon night that Lord Krishna decided to dance the Raas,

the relationship between the soul and the supreme Lord, dance with his gopis. He decorated himself with fra-

grant flowers and played his flute. On hearing the notes from his flute the Gopis were enchanted. They loft

whatever they were doing at home and rushed to be with their loved Krishna. The lord on his part started advis-

ing them not to leave their homes and husband and come to him in the dead of night in the forest unescorted.

On hearing this, gopis were disappointed & annoyed. Giving in to their pleasure Krishna was surrounded by gopis.