First India-Delhi Edition-8th December 2022

TALIBAN PUBLICLY EXECUTE MURDER ACCUSED

AMAZON PLANS TO

PEOPLE

OVER-HIRING

AAP SCRIPTS HISTORY, ENDS 15-YEAR BJP RULE IN MCD

KEJRIWAL & CO WINS

‘DILLI DANGAL’!

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday won MCD polls with 134 seats, end ing the 15-year rule of the BJP in the prestig ious municipal corpora tion and reducing the Congress to just nine seats in a house of 250.

BJP, which was pre dicted to suffer a mas sive defeat in exit polls,

put up a spirited fight, winning 104 municipal wards, while Congress managed to win just 9, down from 30 in the pre vious civic poll. In his address to party work ers at AAP office, CM said civic body will be rid of “corruption and bribery”. BJP suggest ed that mayor’s election was still an open game and noted that Chandi garh has a BJP Mayor.

Barely 10-year-old party has “de feated” BJP in their stronghold. People have proved that AAP is honest party. BJP had gone all guns blazing, deploying all its top leaders, including 17 central ministers, for campaigning.

—Sanjay Singh, AAP Rajya Sabha MP

READ Crucial

2ND ODI: ROHIT’S FIGHT GOES IN VAIN; B’DESH BEAT IND, SEAL SERIES

Dhaka:

who injured his left thumb and index finger while attempting a catch at 2nd slip during fielding, exhibited a great character and courage on Wednesday as another edge of the seat thriller saw Bangladesh beat India by 5 runs, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in 3-match series.

AISA ACCUSES

New Delhi: The Leftaffiliated AISA alleged that several of its activists were “brutally beaten” by members of the RSS-affiliated ABVP on Wednesday during a demonstration against the Nation Education Policy (NEP) at Delhi University’s Arts Faculty.

You won’t miss court in parliament: PM Modi’s warm welcome for VP Dhankhar

First India Bureau

New

you... you would not miss the court here”.

PM further reminded the members about the G20 presidency in the 75th year of independ ence. India took helm of G20 on December 1.

Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to be taken to Punjab for a day, under extreme security

42 armed personnel with sophisticated weapons, in 10 vehicles, will guard Bishnoi

First India Bureau

New Delhi (ANI): The Patiala House Court of Delhi on Wednesday granted transit remand of Lawrence Bishnoi to Punjab Police for one day to produce him in a

Punjab court. Bishnoi is to be produced before the CJM Sri Mukhtsar Sahib on Thursday in a case of threatening for ransom a hotel owner.

Bishnoi was brought to the Patiala House Court by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has Bish noi’s custody. Addition al Sessions Judge Shailendra Malik noted

that Punjab Police had filed an affidavit stating that the accused would be under complete secu rity. It was stated that one DSP, one inspector, three SIs and 52 escort policemen, including 42 armed personnel with sophisticated weapons, travelling in 10 vehi cles, of which one is bulletproof, will guard Bishnoi.

BJP

New Delhi: The BJP fared well in trans Ya muna areas, includ ing northeast Delhi that was rocked by communal riots in 2020, but its perfor mance took a hit in the city’s northern and southern parts.

The BJP won 22 of the 36 wards in the East Delhi parliamen tary constituency. The AAP won 11 and Con gress three wards in East Delhi represent ed in the Lok Sabha by party MP Gautam Gambhir. In North east Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, repre sented by MP Manoj Tiwari, the BJP won 21 of the 41 wards.

However, in Patel Nagar assembly con stituency, where Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta lives, the party failed to win even a sin gle of the four wards.

All the four wards were won by the AAP. In South Delhi, the BJP could win just Meethapur ward un der Badarpur assem bly seat represented by Leader of Opposi tion in Assembly Ram vir Singh Bidhuri. The Pasmanda Muslim experiment of the BJP also suf fered reverses in the MCD polls. All the four women candi dates lost.

Note ban: SC directs Centre and RBI to submit records

New Delhi (FIB): The SC on Wednesday asked the Centre and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to place before it the re cords pertaining to the 2016 demonetisation de cision in a sealed enve lope. Hearing petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to ban `500 and `1,000 notes, a 5-judge bench has reserved its order on the plea.

RBI hikes repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25 percent

New Delhi (FIB): T The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday hiked key repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25% as inflation showed signs of easing. With the lat est rate hike, which was in line with the market expectations, the apex bank has raised the repo rate by two percentage points in half a year.

Delhi Police, social activist move review petition in SC

New Delhi (ANI): Del

hi Police and social ac tivist Yogita Bhayana on Wednesday moved two separate review pe titions in the Supreme Court challenging its order which acquitted three men who were awarded the death pen alty by a Delhi court for raping and killing a 19-year-old woman in Delhi’s Chhawala area in 2012.

On Monday, the vic tim’s parents had also moved a review petition in the Supreme Court. In her plea, Yogita Bhayana submitted that apparent errors

which warrant a review include casting doubts over the CFSL’s Biologi cal Examination and DNA Profiling Report dated April 18, 2012.

The review petition also raised the point that the top court had not taken into consid eration the evidence ad duced before the Trial Court and various oth er aspects related to the case.

NIA produces Lawrence Bishnoi before Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Social activist Yogita Bhayana

This AAP win is the first time it has unseated the BJP in any election

AAP’s Bobi wins from Sultanpuri-A, MCD to get 1st transgender councillor

BJP suggests election of upcoming Delhi Mayor remains open race

A child dressed as CM Arvind Kejriwal takes part in celebrations of AAP’s victory in the MCD polls, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

DHANKHAR, AS RS CHAIRMAN, SENDS OUT CLEAR MESSAGE TO JUDICIARY ON NJAC

Formally assuming charge as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, on Wednesday, questioned the Supreme Court ruling striking down the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act (NJAC) in 2015, saying there was no parallel to such a development in democratic history where a duly legitimised constitutional prescription was judi cially undone. This, he said, was a glaring instance of severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the mandate of the people of which the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha were custodians.

CJI DY Chandrachud on Wednesday announced that SC Mobile App 2.0 with additional features is ready for Android us ers. It will enable all law officers and govt depts to track their cases. CJI said for IOS users App will be available in a week.

DESPITE WRIST PAIN, CHANU BAGS SILVER

India’s Mirabai Chanu poses after winning silver medal in 49kg category weightlifting at the World Championships in Colombia on Wednesday.

Rajya Sabha Chairman, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar greets at 1st day of the Winter Session of Parl, in Delhi on Wednesday.

Delhi: PM Naren dra Modi gave a warm welcome to Vice Presi dent Jagdeep Dhankhar in Rajya Sabha who was officiated as the chair man of the upper house on Wednesday with the start of winter session in parliament. Refer ring to VP’s three-dec ades long career in courts, Modi said, “I can confidently tell

G20 presidency is ‘huge opportunity’ for India, says Modi

MODI URGES MPs TO MAKE PARL SESSION VERY PRODUCTIVE

BIRLA WARNS ADHIR AMID PROTESTS OVER PANELS’ CHMN’SHIP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged leaders of all political par ties and all floor leaders to give more opportunities to first-time, new and young MPs in Parl, and to make the Winter Session produc tive with combined effort.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday warned Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury against challenging the Chair after he alleged that chairman ship of all Parliamentary panels has been taken away from the opposition parties.

PM Narendra Modi addressing the media at Parliament on 1st day of winter session, in New Delhi on Wednesday

Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla speaking at 1st day of the Winter Session of the Parliament, in Delhi on Wednesday.

Moni Sharma

Kabul: The Taliban administration on Wednesday put to death a man accused of murder in western Afghanistan, its spokesperson said, in 1st officially confirmed public execution since group took over country last year. Execution in Farah province was of a man accused of stabbing another man to death

Shillong: Lt Gen KC Panchanathan, 57, the general officer commanding of 101 Area here has died due a heart attack, officials said on Wednesday. Lt Gen Pachanathan was rushed to NE Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and died late Tuesday.

SACK 20,000

AFTER

New Delhi: Soon, Amazon may lay off around 20,000 employees, including corporate executives. The tech giant, which employees more than 1.6 million globally, will likely show the door to staff from various departments.

ABVP OF BEATING UP ITS MEMBERS IN DU

Skipper Rohit Sharma,

DELHI CM KEJRIWAL SEEKS PM NARENDRA

his first address after the victory, an elated Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal vowed to improve civic amenities in the national capital, and sought the “blessings” of the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve that. Now over to electing a Mayor for New Delhi. It will all depend on who can hold the numbers in a close contest, which way the nominated councillors vote etc. Chandigarh has a the BJP Mayor, for instance. —Amit Malviya, BJP’s Nat’l I-T Dept incharge

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal greets PM Narendra Modi during an AllParty Meeting on G20 Summit, in New Delhi on December 5 in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

BJP Delhi President Adesh Gupta speaks to media at BJP office on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

NO. WARD WINNER 1 Narela Sweta Khatri, AAP 2 Banker Dinesh Kumar, AAP 3 Holambi Kalan Neha, AAP 4 Alipur Yogesh, BJP 5

Bakhtawarpur Janta Devi, BJP 6

Burari Anil Kumar Tyagi, BJP 7 Kadipur Munesh Devi, AAP 8 Mukundpur Gulab Singh, BJP 9 Sant Nagar Rubi, AAP 10

Jharoda Gagan Chaudhary, AAP 11 Timarpur Promila Gupta, AAP 12 Malka Ganj Rekha, BJP 13 Mukherjee Nagar Raja Iqbal Singh, BJP 14 Dhirpur Neha Aggarwal, AAP 15 Adarsh Nagar Mukesh Kumar Goel, AAP 16 Azadpur Suman Kumari, BJP 17 Bhalswa Ajeet Singh Yadav, AAP 18 Jahangir Puri Timsy Sharma, AAP 19 Sarup Nagar Joginder Singh, AAP 20 Samaypur Badli Gayatri Yadav, BJP 21 Rohini-A Pardeep Mittal, AAP 22 Rohini-B Suman Anil Rana, AAP 23 Rithala Narender Kumar Singh, BJP 24 Vijay Vihar Pushpa, AAP 25 Budh Vihar Amrit Jain, AAP 26

Pooth Kalan Ritu Mukesh Kumar, AAP 27 Begumpur Jai Bhagwan Yadav, BJP 28 Shahbaad Dairy Ram Chander, AAP 29 Pooth Khurd Anju Devi, BJP 30 Bawana Pawan Kumar, AAP 31

Nangal Thakran Babita, BJP 32 Kanjhawala Sandeep, AAP 33 Rani Khera Manisha Jasbir Karala, AAP 34 Nangloi Hemlata, AAP 35 Mundka Gajender Singh Daral, Ind 36 Nilothi Babina Shokeen, AAP 37 Kirari Ramesh Chand, AAP

38 Prem Nagar Neela Kumari, BJP 39 Mubarikpur Rajesh Kumar Gupta, AAP

40 Nithari Mamta Gupta, AAP

41 Aman Vihar Ravinder Bhardwaj, AAP

42 Mangol Puri Rajesh Kumar, AAP

43 Sultanpuri-A Bobi, AAP

44 Sultanpuri-B Daulat, AAP

45 Jawalapuri Santosh Devi, AAP

46 Nangloi Jat Poonam Saini, BJP

47 Nihal Vihar Mandeep Singh, Inc

48 Guru Harkishan Nagar Monika Goyal, BJP

49 Mangolpuri-A Dharam Rakshak, App

50 Mangolpuri-B Suman, AAP

51 Rohini-C Dharambir Sharma, BJP

52 Rohini-F Ritu Goel, BJP

53

Rohini-E Pravesh Wahi, BJP

54 Rohini-D Smita, BJP&Nbsp;

55 Shalimar Bagh-A Jalaj Kumar, AAP

56 Shalimar Bagh-B Rekha Gupta, BJP

57 Pitam Pura Amit Nagpal, BJP 58 Saraswati Vihar Shikha Bhardwaj, BJP

59 Paschim Vihar Vineet Vohra, BJP

60 Rani Bagh Jyoti Aggarwal, BJP

61 Kohat Enclave Ajay Ravi Hans, BJP

62 Shakur Pur Kishan Lal, BJP

63 Tri Nagar Meenu Goel, BJP

64 Keshav Puram Yogesh Verma, BJP

65 Ashok Vihar Poonam Sharma, BJP

66 Wazir Pur Chitra Vidyarthi, AAP

67 Sangam Park Sushil, BJP 68 Model Town Vikesh Sethi, BJP 69 Kamla Nagar Renu Aggarwal, BJP 70 Shastri Nagar Manoj Kumar Jindal, BJP 71 Kishan Ganj Pooja, AAP 72 Sadar Bazar Usha Sharma, AAP 73 Civil Lines Vikas, AAP 74 Chandni Chowk Punardeep Singh, AAP

75 Jama Masjid Sultana Abad, AAP&Nbsp; 76 Chandani Mahal Aaley Mohammed Iqbal, AAP 77 Delhi Gate Kiran Bala, AAP 78 Bazar Sita Ram Rafia Mahir, AAP 79 Ballimaran Mohd Sadiq, AAP 80 Ram Nagar Kamal Bagri, BJP 81

Quraish Nagar Shamim Bano, AAP 82

Pahar Ganj Manish Chadda, BJP 83 Karol Bagh Urmila Devi, AAP 84 Dev Nagar Mahesh Kumar, AAP 85 West Patel Nagar Kavita Chauhan, AAP 86 East Patel Nagar Shelly Oberoi, AAP 87

Ranjeet Nagar Ankush Narang, AAP 88

Baljeet Nagar Runakshi Sharma, AAP 89 Karam Pura Rakesh Joshi, AAP 90 Moti Nagar Alka Dhingra, AAP 91 Ramesh Nagar Puneet Rai, AAP 92

Punjabi Bagh Suman Tyagi, BJP 93 Madipur Sahil Gangwal, AAP 94

Raghubir Nagar Urmila Gangwal, BJP 95 Vishnu Garden Meenakshi Chandela, AAP 96 Rajouri Garden Shashi Talwar, BJP 97

Chaukhandi Nagar Sunil Kumar Chadha, AAP 98

Subhash Nagar Manju Setia, AAP 99 Hari Nagar Rajesh Kumar Ladi, AAP 100 Fateh Nagar Raminder Kaur, AAP 101 Tilak Nagar Ashok Kumar Maanu, AAP 102 Khyala Shilpa Kaur, AAP 103 Keshopur Harish Oberoi, BJP 104 Janak Puri South Dimple Ahuja, AAP 105 Mahaveer Enclave Parveen Kumar, AAP 106 Janak Puri West Urmila Chawla, BJP 107 Vikas Puri Sahib Kumar, AAP 108 Hastsal Rakhi Yadav, AAP 109 Vikas Nagar Ashok Pandey, AAP 110 Kunwar Singh Nagar Raj Bala, AAP 111 Baprola Ravinder, AAP 112 Sainik Enclave Nirmala Kumari, AAP 113 Mohan Garden Surender Kaushik, AAP 114 Nawada Nirmla Devi, AAP 115 Uttam Nagar Deepak Vohra, AAP 116 Binda Pur Krishna Devi Raghav, AAP 117 Dabri Tilotma Choudhary, AAP 118 Sagarpur Simmi Yadav, AAP 119 Manglapuri Narender Kumar, AAP 120 Dwarka-B Kamaljeet Sehrawat, BJP 121 Dwarka-A Ram Niwas, BJP 122 Matiala Anuradha Sharma, BJP

Kakrola Sudesh Kumar, AAP 124 Nangli Sakrawati Savita, BJP 125 Chhawala Shashi Yadav, BJP

Kejriwal asks BJP, Cong to ‘WORK TOGETHER’

New Delhi (ANI): Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked people for "believing" in him and also sought coopera tion from the BJP and Congress in working "together" for the city.

Addressing party workers and candidates after registering a win in the MCD polls, Kejri wal said, "I congratulate the people of Delhi for this win and thank them for bringing change. We have fulfilled the re sponsibilities that the people of Delhi gave us.

I am indebted to you for believing in me and giv ing me love. We all have to work together. I ap peal to all the candidates and parties that politics was only till today, we all have to work for the bet terment of Delhi," Kejri wal said.

"I want cooperation from BJP and Congress. I expect their coopera tion. I appeal to the Cen tre and ask for the PM’s blessings to make Delhi

better. We have to make MCD corruption-free. Today, the people of Del hi have given a message

AAP’s Bobi is first transgender councillor

to the entire nation," he said.

DyCM Manish Siso dia and Punjab CM

BJP has got the answer ... people of Del hi vote for those who work, not for the ones who defame. It fielded its MPs, ministers, CBI, ED, but people still voted for AAP.

—Raghav Chadha, AAP MP

Bhagwant Mann were also present on the occa sion. Sisodia said the mandate by the people of Delhi was to oust the BJP from power.

“People of Delhi have not only given the man date to make Kejriwal win, but also to oust the BJP from the MCD. It is not just a victory but a big responsibility to clean the city,” he said.

Way before the final results were declared, celebrations started at the AAP office here af ter the trends showed that the party is set to take over the MCD from the BJP.

AAP’S WOMEN CANDIDATES DO WELL

AAP, which had fielded more than 50 per cent women candidates, saw several of them emerge winners. Among the notable winners are Manju Devi who won the Badarpur seat, Tilotima Chaud hary who won the Dabri seat, Pinky Tyagi, who bagged the Chattarpur seat, and AAP’s Sarika Chaudhary who clinched Daryaganj.

NO. WARD WINNER 126

Isapur Meena Devi, Independent 127

Najafgarh Amit Kharkhari, BJP 128 Dichaon Kalan Neelam, BJP 129 Roshan Pura Devender, BJP 130

Dwarka-C Sunita, AAP 131

Bijwasan Jaivir Singh Rana, BJP 132

Kapashera Aarti Yadav, AAP 133

Mahipalpur Inderjeet Sehrawat, BJP 134

Raj Nagar Poonam Bhardwaj, AAP 135 Palam Seema Pandit, BJP 136 Madhu Vihar Sushma Rathee, BJP 137 Mahavir Enclave Ajay Kumar Rai, AAP 138

Sadh Nagar Inder Kaur, BJP 139 Naraina Umang Bajaj, BJP 140 Inder Puri Jyoti Gautam, AAP 141

Rajinder Nagar Arti Chawla, AAP 142

Daryaganj Sarika Chaudhary, AAP 143 Sidhartha Nagar Sonali, BJP 144

Lajpat Nagar Kunwar Arjun Pal, BJP 145 Andrews Ganj Anita Baisoya, AAP 146 Amar Colony Sharad Kapoor, BJP 147 Kotla Mubarakpur Kusum Lata, AAP 148 Hauz Khas Kamal Bhardwaj, AAP

149 Malviya Nagar Leena Kumar, AAP

150 Green Park Sarita Phogaat, AAP

151 Munirka Raj Bala Tokas, AAP 152 R.K. Puram Dharamvir Singh, AAP 153 Vasant Vihar Himani Jain, AAP

154 Lado Sarai Rajeev Sansanwal, AAP 155 Mehrauli Rekha Chaudhary, AAP

156 Vasant Kunj Jag Mohan Mehlawat, BJP

157 Aya Nagar VedPal Sheetal Chaudhary, Inc

158 Bhati Sunder Singh, AAP

159 Chhatarpur Pinky Tyagi, AAP

160 Said-Ul-Ajaib Umed Singh, AAP

161 Deoli Anita, BJP

162 Tigritigri Jyoti Prakash Jarwal, AAP

163 Sangam Vihar-A Chandan Kumar, BJP

164 Dakshin Puri Prem Chauhan, AAP

165 Madangir Geeta, AAP

166 Pushp Vihar Arun Navariya, AAP

167 Khanpur Mamta Yadav, BJP

168 Sangam Vihar-C Pankaj Gupta, AAP

169 Sangam Vihar-B Kajal Singh, AAP

Tughlakabad Extension Bhagbir, AAP

170

171 Chitaranjan Park Ashu Thakur, AAP

172 Chirag Delhi Krishan Jakhar, AAP

173 Greater Kailash Shikha Roy, BJP

174 Sri Niwas Puri Rajpal Singh, BJP

175 Kalkaji Yogita Singh, BJP

176 Govind Puri Chander Prakash, BJP

177 Harkesh Nagar Mamta, AAP

178

Tughlakabad Sugandha, AAP

179 Pul Pehladpur Rakesh Lohia, AAP

180 Badarpur Manju Devi, AAP

181 Molarband Hemchand Goel, AAP

182 Meethapur Guddi Devi, BJP

183 Hari Nagar Extension Nikhil Chaprana, AAP

184 Jaitpur Hema, AAP

185 Madanpur Khadar (E) Praveen Kumar, AAP

186 Madanpur Khadar (W) Braham Singh, BJP

187 Sarita Vihar Neetu, BJP

188 Abul Fazal Enclave Ariba Khan, Congress

189 Zakir Nagar Naziya Danish, Congress

190 New Ashok Nagar Sanjeev Kumar Singh, BJP

191 Mayur Vihar Phase-I Beena, AAP

192 Trilokpuri Vijay Kumar, AAP 193 Kondli Munesh, BJP

194 Gharoli Priyanka Gautam, AAP

195 Kalyanpuri Dhirender Kumar, AAP

196 Mayur Vihar Phase-2 Devendra Kumar, AAP

197 Patpar Ganj Renu Chaudhary, BJP

198 Vinod Nagar Ravinder Singfh Negi, BJP 199 Mandawali Shashi Chandna, BJP 200 Pandav Nagar Yashpal Singh, BJP 201 Lalita Park Shweta Nigam, AAP 202 Shakarpur Aram Kishor Sharma, BJP 203 Laxmi Nagar Alka Raghav,&Nbsp;BJP 204 Preet Vihar Ramesh Kumar Garg, BJP 205 Ip Extension AAP, Rachna 206 Anand Vihar Monika Pant, BJP 207 Vishwas Nagar Jyoti Rani, AAP

Anarkali Meenakshi Sharma, BJP

Jagat Puri Raju Sachdeva, BJP

Geeta Colony Neemaa Bhagat, BJP

Krishna Nagar Sandeep Kapoor, BJP

Gandhi Nagar Priya Kamboj, BJP

New Delhi (ANI): Bobi, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) transgen der candidate wrote his tory after she won from the Sultanpuri-A ward on Wednesday in the MCD polls.

After the big win, Bobi said she aspired to work for development in her area. “I want to ded icate my victory to the people who worked so hard for me. I would like to thank everyone. Now I just have to work for development in my area,” said Bobi.

In 2017, Bobby fought the MCD polls as an in dependent candidate but didn't win.

On October 12, 2022, Bobi had filed a nomina tion. She said, "I am grateful to Arvind Kejri wal for making me a candidate. Till now I was engaged in social service work at my level, now after winning I will

I want to ded icate my vic tory to the people who worked so hard for me. I would like to thank everyone. Now I just have to work for development in my area.

—Bobi, Councillor

work as a representative of my community."

“I have been engaged in social service work since the time of Anna's movement. So far, I have got 150 girls married, es pecially since I help all disabled and helpless people who come. My aim is to win the elec tion so that I can serve such people," she added.

She said, "I will also raise issues related to transgendes. Most of the poor people live in my area, I will work for them.”

IN

CONSTITUENCIES

OF SISODIA AND SATYENDAR JAIN, AAP FARES POORLY

Aam Aadmi Party’s performance in wards under assembly con stituencies of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both targets of BJP’s sustained campaign, suggests AAP was unable to sway voters in its favour. Jain, who has been in jail for over six months now on allegations of money laundering, is MLA from Shakur Basti. There are three wards in Jain’s as sembly constituency — Saraswati Vihar, Paschim Vihar and Rani Bagh. All three were won by BJP councillors, just like in 2017. In Patparganj, Sisodia’s constituency, BJP won three out of four wards, the same as in 2017.

SOUNDS, SONGS & COLOUR AT AAP OFFICE

Celebrations started at AAP office here with supporters carrying party flags distributing sweets and dancing to the beat of drums.

The mood at the AAP's office on Rouse Avenue was celebratory since morning with songs blaring through loudspeakers and the entire premises decked up with colourful balloons. Supporters and leaders, including Gopal Rai, Atishi and Durgesh Pathak, started gathering at the office as count ing progressed and numbers swung in favour of the AAP. Hoardings reading 'acche honge 5 saal, MCD mein bhi Kejriwal' lined the street outside as supporters revelled to the AAP's official poll song 'MCD mein Arvind Kejriwal'.

Shastri Park Sameer Ahmad, Inc

Azad Nagar Neelam, BJP

Shahdara Bharat Gautam, BJP

Jhilmil Pankaj Luthra, BJP

Dilshad Colony Preeti, AAP

Sundar Nagri Mohini, AAP

Dilshad Garden B S Panwar, BJP

Nand Nagri Ramesh Kumar Bisaiya, AAP

Ashok Nagar Reena Maheshwari, BJP

Nagar East Chander Prakash Sharma, BJP

Rohtash Nagar Shivani Panchal, AAP

Welcome Colony Ritesh Suji, BJP

Seelampur Shakila, Independent

Gautam Puri Satya Sharma, BJP

Chauhan Banger Shagufta Chaudhary, Con

Anil Kumar Sharma, BJP

Puri Chhaya Gaurav Sharma, AAP

Rekha Rani, AAP

Ghonda Preeti Gupta, BJP

Vihar Pramod Gupta, BJP

Subhash Mohalla Manisha Singh, BJP

Kabir Nagar Zarif, Inc

Gorakh Park Priyanka Saxena, AAP

Kardam Puri Mukesh Kumar Bansal, BJP

Harsh Vihar Poonam Nirmal, AAP

Saboli Jaswant Singh, AAP

Gokal Puri Somwati Chaudhary, AAP

Joharipur Roshan Lal, AAP

Karawal Nagar- East Shimla Devi, BJP

Dayalpur Puneet Sharma, BJP

Mustafabad Sabila Begum, Inc

Nehru Vihar Arun Singh Bhati, BJP

Brij Puri Nazia Khatoon, Inc 246 Sri Ram Colony Mohammad Aamil Malik

Sadatpur Neeta Bisht, BJP 248 Karawal Nagar- West Satyapal Singh, BJP 249 Sonia Vihar Soni Pandey, BJP

Sabhapur Brijesh Singh, BJP

Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Environment Minister Gopal Rai and other leaders at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTOS BY PTI

WORLD’S BIGGEST & MOST NEGATIVE PARTY DEFEATED, SAYS SISODIA

AAP leader and lone transgender candidate Bobi (right) flashes victory sign after winning from Sultanpuri, Wednesday.

Sarika Chaudhary & (R) Pinky Tyagi

Manish Sisodia Satyendar Jain

AAP’s Ankush Narang celebrates his win from Ranjeet Nagar ward, outside a counting centre at Gole Market, Wednesday.

BJP’s vote share greater than in 2017

New Delhi: While the Aam Aadmi Party man aged to significantly in crease its vote share as compared to its perfor mance in the 2017 MCD elections, so did the BJP, despite cornering fewer seats this time round.

As of 3 pm, the AAP’s vote share in the mu nicipal polls stood at 42%, well above its 2017 MCD poll vote share of 26 percent.

However, even though BJP’s tally has gone down to 104 out of 250 wards from 2017’s 181 out of 272 wards, its vote share has seen an uptick from 36% in 2017 to 39% this year.

The Congress’s vote share, meanwhile, slid from 21% to 12%, indi

cating that both the AAP and BJP have swung sections of the Congress’s vote share in their favour.

Also, the AAP’s vote share in the 2022 mu nicipal polls is signifi cantly less than its vote share in the 2020 state assembly polls, which stood at 54%. On the other hand, the BJP’s vote share in the mu

nicipal polls is roughly the same as its perfor mance in the 2020 as sembly polls, when it had a 41% vote share.

Among the three ma jor parties, the Con gress is the only one which has a better vote share in the municipal polls than both the 2020 and 2015 assembly polls (12% and 10% respec tively).

PROMINENT BJP FACES

THREE FORMER WOMEN MAYORS AMONG BJP

Congress reduced to 9 wards but does well in riot-hit areas

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Con gress ended up with just nine of the 250 wards in the MCD election re sults declared on Wednesday, which also saw a sharp dip in its vote share.

WIN FOR BJP IN BOYCOTT WARD

BJP’s Babita won the Nangal Thakran seat. One village in the ward had boycotted the polls. No votes were cast by voters at 3 polling stations in ward 31 due to reported boycott by the voters on grounds of non-development.

New Delhi: Three former women mayors of Delhi who fought on BJP tickets emerged victorious in the civic polls on Wednesday, while an ex-mayor of North Delhi lost the contest in Civil Lines ward. Former women mayors Neema Bhagat, Satya Sharma and Kamaljeet Sehrawat won. While Bhagat and Sharma have served as the East Delhi mayor in the past, Sehrawat is a former mayor of South Delhi.

In 2017, when the MCD was a three-corpo ration body, Congress had won 30 seats and had a vote share of around 21%. It ended up with 11.68% votes this time. It even lost ground to AAP in parts of Old Delhi where it tradi tionally held strong and where it had picked up several wards in 2017.

FORMER MAYOR

LOSES IN CIVIL LINES

Former north Delhi mayor Avtar Singh bit the dust in Civil Lines, losing to AAP’s Vikas by 6,953 votes. Singh had claimed on Sunday that his party was “ahead” of its rivals in MCD polls, and ac cused AAP of making “false claims to hide its failures”.

Bhagat, who won from Geeta Colony ward, told PTI, “I am very happy, and there is a celebratory mood in our area. Party workers are playing drums, dancing and taking selfies. Our party has given a good fight in the civic polls.”

Sehrawat, who registered a victory in Dwarka-B ward, took to Twitter to thank vot ers. Sharma won from Gautam Puri ward.

As many as 784 candidates lost their deposit with the re sults announced on Wednes day, according to data shared by the State Election Com mission. These include 370 Independents, 188 candidates from the Congress, 128 from the BSP, 13 from the AIMIM, three from the AAP and 10 from the BJP, among others. A total of 1,349 candidates were in the fray.

Sitaram Bazar, which elected a Congress councillor in 2007, 2012 and 2017, voted for AAP this year. Similarly, the Congress lost Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid and Daryaganj wards it had won in 2017 to the AAP.

The wards which the party retained include Northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad, Southwest Delhi’s Aya Nagar and Zakir Nagar in South east Delhi. Congress also won from North east Delhi’s Brijpuri which, along with Mustafabad and riot-hit areas in 2020, recorded a polling percentage of over 60% this year.

In Andrews Ganj,

CONGRESS' ARIBA KHAN WINS ABU FAZAL ENCLAVE SEAT

where Congress leader Abhishek Dutt served as councillor for two consecutive terms, the

RICHEST CANDIDATES RECEIVE A DRUBBING

party lost to AAP.

The Congress wrest ed Shastri Park and Ni hal Vihar, which BJP

z Most candidates hailing from political families emerged victorious while the richest contender faced a drubbing.

z The BJP’s Ram Dev Sharma, the richest candidate to have contested the MCD polls, lost to AAP’s Mohd Sadiq by 11,626 votes in Ballimaran.

z In Shastri Nagar, Manoj Kumar Jindal of the BJP got the better of AAP’s Babita, one of the richest candidates, by 12,209 votes.

z Nandani Sharmi, who had declared assets worth over Rs 49 crore, lost to AAP’s Leena Kumar in Malviya Nagar ward by 3,630 votes.

had won in 2017, and Chauhan Banger and Abul Fazal Enclave, where it replaced AAP.

z Delhi BJP vice president Aditya Jha’s wife Sunrika Sharma lost to AAP’s Preeti by 2,643 votes in Dilshad Colony.

z Kunwar Arjun Pal Singh Marwah, son of former Jungpura MLA Tar winder Singh Marwah who recently joined the BJP, defeated Subhash Malhotra of the AAP in the Lajpat Nagar ward.

z AAP MLA Pawandeep Sawhney’s son Punardeep Sawhney won the Chandni Chowk ward by 1,216 votes, defeating Ravinder Kumar of the BJP.

z Former Congress MLA Balram Tan war’s son Joginder lost by over 4,000 votes in the Bhati ward.

z In Tigri, AAP’s Jyoti Prakash Jarwal, the wife of AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal, won over BJP’s Meera by 6,191 votes

First India Bureau

BJP supporters celebrate Delhi MCD election results outside a counting centre at Patel Nagar, in New Delhi, Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Manoj Tiwari

@ManojTiwariMP

Thanks to the people of Delhi who have shown faith in the BJP by giving so many seats for the fourth consecutive time, and thanks to our workers.

Abhishek Singhvi @DrAMSinghvi

Although it's nice to see a tightly contested election between AAP & BJP, I am deeply disappointed at Congress result. Introspection and structural change vital.

WINNERS

BJP’s Umang Bajaj celebrates after his win in MCD polls, outside Gole Market counting centre, in New Delhi on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI/SHRIKANT SINGH

MAHILA MORCHA

PRESIDENT WINS

Yogita Singh won from Kalkaji, defeating AAP’s Bunty Gautam. She is the President of Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha.

FORMER NORTH MCD MAYOR WINS BJP candidate Raja Iqbal Singh, former mayor of North NCD, has won from the Mukherjee Nagar seat.

A deserted look of the Delhi Congress office on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Former Congress MLA Asif Khan daughter Ariba Khan, contesting on a Congress ticket, won the Abu Fazal Enclave seat. Asif Khan is in jail for manhandling a cop in Jamia Nagar. The incident took place when Asif was using a megaphone to address a crowd while gathered near Tayyab Masjid in Shaheen Bagh along with his supporters.

Independent candidate Shakeela Begum won Seelampur seat. In 2017, she had won the same seat on a BSP ticket. Independent candidate Gajender Singh Daral won the Mundka seat, wresting it from AAP. In 2017, Daral had contested on a BJP ticket from the seat and had come second. Meena Devi won Isapur by 2,170 votes.

AAP’s Aaley Mohammed Iqbal, son of AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal, won with the highest vic tory margin of 17,134 against Congress rival Mohd Hamid. Iqbal got 19,199 votes and Hamid bagged 2,065 votes. AAP’s Ashu Thakur defeated the BJP’s Kanchan Choudhary in Chittranjan Park by the lowest margin of 44 votes. Choudhary is for mer councillor Subhash Badhana’s daughter.

Independent candidate Shakeela Begum won the Seelampur seat, an area badly affected by the 2020 riots.

All of us have a genetic make up that, to some degree, de termines the kind of person we are. Also, the environ ment and background influ ences one’s inner self to a large extent. Should one then, just shrug off the mat ter and adopt a defeatist at titude by saying, “I cannot help the way I am.”

Conversely, we know some people who are very negative and critical about nearly eve rything. Are they really hap py people? Much depends on one’s attitude and outlook. There are others who allow themselves to be overcome by an inferiority complex. With such feelings, they view themselves as worthless. Many feel weary due to exces sive anxiety.

REFINING THE INNER PERSON

realize it existed.

Such self examination helps to see the weak spot and also recognize one’s own con tribution to the problem, rath er than becoming frustrated by focusing solely on the oth er person’s errors regarding which there is no control or one can do little about it.

Taking an objective look at the other person helps in get ting an overall view. Perhaps, the person is falling short in just one area. Would it be proper then to judge an indi vidual on the basis of one or two irritating traits? Usually, one’s judgement is influ enced by personal feelings of the moment.

Trying to see the other person’s point of view is not always easy, especially when their view points are dia metrically opposed to ours. Yet the effort one makes in trying to see things differ ently serves to offset one’s own feelings and has a calm ing effect. It gives us insight on how others feel and act to some extent.

All of us have a genetic makeup that, to some degree, determines the kind of person we are. Also, the environment and background influences one’s inner self to a large extent. Should one then, just shrug off the matter and adopt a defeatist attitude by saying, “I cannot help the way I am”

people requires not to ‘give up’ on others. Initiating friendships and then drop ping them at the first sign of disagreement or letting fric tion break up work arrange ments leads to loss of respect and confidence.

when positive thoughts fill our mind. Difficulties are easier to bear when there is no grumbling and brooding. This improves health as it keeps in check such emo tions as anger, jealousy, ha tred and revenge. The happy, contented, tolerant person cheers others.

Positive persons give us vigour to persevere and with stand heavy storms in life.

“Hitch your wagon to a star” advises an old saying. Goals of high purpose give mean ingful direction and keeps one from floundering or stag nating. Any attempt to re store a man’s inner strength is in showing him future goals, says a psychiatrist.

IN-DEPTH FORCED TUBAL STERILISATIONS A REMINDER OF EMERGENCY DAYS

Tiredness ceases the moment a meaning is found in life. Negative thinking gives negative results. Doubts are traitors that makes one lose what one may win if tried. As the person thinks, so is he! It is well worth the effort to cultivate and to maintain a cheerful, balanced disposition, for one’s own welfare and that of others.

Analysing oneself from time to time helps. Do I get upset over the habits or shortcomings of others? If so, it may be that the problem lies more with me than with the other person. Do I quick ly get irritated or hurt? If so, could it be that I think too highly of myself or I’m over ly sensitive? Often, when we do this introspection, we find that our “reasons” are quite petty. One may discover with in, a motive that one did not

AAP STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO

A person with negative thinking is usually sluggish and tends to make excuses to justify his course. In any un dertaking or job, satisfaction comes when one sees it through without quitting.

Some jobs appeal, some do not. By looking not just at the surface or at the immediate benefits that comes in terms of pay, one can also think about the moulding effect it can have on one’s personality.

Working effectively with

The very act of working at the problem reduces the like lihood of losing control. It also keeps one conscious of the need to adjust one’s think ing, if there is constant irrita tion due to others’ failings.

Challenges can make life interesting. Rather than run ning away, rising to meet them with extra effort, thought, energy and time makes one resourceful and prevents our life from becom ing just a series of failures and unfinished projects. Much happiness is derived through accomplishment.

Negative aspects of life fade into the background

The consciousness of one’s inner value is anchored in higher things. There is noth ing that would help one to survive even the worst condi tions, as the knowledge that there is meaning in life. A long life without the feeling of fulfilment is very tedious.

We feel useful when we help others. Useful lives be come meaningful lives. Tiredness ceases the moment a meaning is found in life.

Negative thinking gives negative results. Doubts are traitors that makes one lose what one may win if tried. As the person thinks, so is he!

It is well worth the effort to cultivate and to maintain a cheerful, balanced disposi tion, for one’s own welfare and that of others.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has stormed Bharati ya Janata Party’s (BJP) citadel — the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD) — which it ruled for 15 long years.

For Arvind Kejriwal, dis lodging the BJP from power in its stronghold with 134 seats out of 250 is a big achievement but the victory will have little impact on na tional politics. Though it lost power, the BJP has done bet ter than what the exit polls predicted. It had to settle for 104 seats, 66 less than its 2017 numbers. The silver lining for the BJP is that it has im proved on its vote share from 36.4 percent in 2017 to 39 per cent now.

What the AAP leadership

The AAP has stormed BJP citadel - the MCDwhich it ruled for 15 long years. For Arvind Kejriwal, dislodging the BJP from power in its stronghold with 134 seats out of 250 is a big achievement but the victory will have little impact on national politics

can tom-tom is that it won a majority in MCD despite the BJP using all its top guns in the civic polls. At the same time Arvind Kejriwal has to ensure that his corporators

are sincere about cleaning mountains of garbage litter ing the national capital and the broom is strong enough to do so. That’s a huge re sponsibility as the party has promised to clear the pile of dirt from the garbage landfill site in east Delhi.

The AAP has promised to clean up Delhi in the next five years and Kejriwal has sought the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in delivering on his promise. With the Delhi government having limited power, it is a sensible move on the part of Delhi’s chief minister who dreams of a bigger role in na tional politics.

Gujarat results are expect ed to indicate that MCD vic tory does not mean that Ke jriwal has arrived.

The 24 tubectomy sur geries performed without anaesthesia in Bihar’s Khagaria district is a grim re minder of the forced tubecto mies and vasectomies per formed during the Emergency on the orders of the late Con gress leader Sanjay Gandhi. During the Emergency, states were given targets for the num ber of such surgeries to be per formed and the fear of govern ment action for failing to meet the targets resulted in atrocities on innocent women and men. The sterilisation programme became the most notorious as pect of the Emergency.

There were no targets to be met in Khagaria where 24 wom en were subjected to horrific, painful surgeries without the set practice of administering lo cal anaesthesia being followed. The doctors and medical person nel involved in these senseless surgeries should have been sus pended immediately but action has been put on hold pending an inquiry by the civil surgeon who called it a case of serious medi cal negligence. Inaction is a clas sic example of administrative callousness. Health Minister Tejashvi Yadav’s silence is equally intriguing.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Despite

l Vol 2 l Issue No.99

l 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

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

I bow to the valour & selflessness of our armed forces on Armed Forces Flag Day and extend my greetings to our armed forces personnel and their families. They safeguard our country’s sovereignty each day. Let us all show our gratitude to our heroes & contribute to their welfare.

Anurag Thakur @ianuragthakur

her wrist injury, she still won a silver medal at the WC with a total lift of 200kg. Congratulations @mirabai_ chanu on winning silver in women’s 49kg at the WWC. She beats Olympic champ Hou Zhihua 198kg from China. 2017 WC gold, 2020 Olympics silver, 2022 WC silver. Proud of you!

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

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

REKHA KUMAR

The writer is a personal development skills facilitator. rekhakumar@protonmail.com

IT IS SENSIBLE TO GET BEST DEAL IN INTEREST OF INDIANS: JAISHANKAR

WINTER SESSION

New Delhi (ANI): The government does not ask Indian companies to buy oil from Russia but it is a sensible poli cy to get the best deal in the interest of Indian people, External Af fairs Minister S Jais hankar said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Responding to ques tions from members in the Upper House, the minister said that it is his duty to prioritise the interests of the In dian people and to pre vent them from being affected by the actions of other countries or regions for fertilizer, food, etc.

“We do not ask our

companies to buy Rus sian oil. We ask our companies to buy oil, what is the best option that they can get. Now it depends on what the market throws up.

“If tomorrow the market gives us more competitive options. Again, please do under

stand. It’s not just that we buy oil from one country. We buy oil from multiple sources, but it is a sensible policy to go where we get the best deal in the interests of the Indian people and that is exactly what we are trying to do,” Jais hankar added.

14 from minorities killed in J-K so far in 2022: Govt

New Delhi: Fourteen people belonging to mi nority communities, in cluding three Kashmiri Pandits, were killed in J&K this year till Nov 30, the Union ministry of home affairs told Parlia ment on Wednesday, adding that various measures have been tak en to “protect the lives of minorities in the re gion”. Rai was respond ing to question of SP member Javed Ali Khan who asked if the govt has failed to provide se curity in J&K.

New Delhi (ANI):

Speaking on Vice Prezi dent J Dhankhar’s first day as the Rajya Sabha Chairman, LoP Mall ikarjun Kharge said that he hoped that no law will be passed in haste, and promised that the Opposition will cooperate in running the House. Kharge said, “In this House many laws have been passed in haste and later courts commented on them

Lucknow (ANI): Melinda Gates, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Founda tion (BMGF), paid a courtesy call on Chief Minister Yogi Adity anath at his official residence on Wednes day.

At a special meeting, between Gates and the chief minister, enhanc ing technical coopera tion in the fields of health, nutrition and agriculture were dis cussed. During their discussion, Gates laud ed the work done by Ut tar Pradesh in recent years underlining the Covid management and encephalitis con trol despite a dense population.

which is not good for the House and hope that all the bills are passed with proper discussion.” “If laws are made in haste, then they attract judi cial scrutiny.

go to the Karnataka border but they were thrashed,” Sule said in the Lok Sabha.

ENPO delegation meets Amit Shah, puts demand for ‘Frontier Nagaland’

New Delhi (ANI): An 11-member delegation team of Eastern Naga land Peoples’ Organisa tion (ENPO) met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to seek separate statehood for “Frontier Nagaland”.

The ENPO, an um brella organisation of seven tribal bodies, in a press statement said that the Union Home Minister has appreciat ed the Eastern Naga land people for being a part of nation-building force thus far, which, Prime Minister Naren dra Modi is also aware of. “The Union Home Minister stated that the

grievances and request for a separate entity are understood and he high lighted a clear roadmap for Amicable, Legisla tive and Sustainable So lution for Eastern Naga land, which will include consultation with the people of Eastern Naga land and Nagaland State Govt,” the ENPO team said.

Gujarat results

LS discusses Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill

New Delhi(Agencies):

Both Lok Sabha and Ra jya Sabha conducted business as usual on the first day of Winter Ses sion, as opposed to a tur bulent previous session.

On day one, Rajya Sab ha discussed the Wild life Protection (Amend ment) Bill 2022, and Ex ternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar responded to queries on India’s for eign policy.

The Lok Sabha dis cussed The Anti-Mari

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY

z 56 cases registered against MPs, MLAs in 5 years, informs DoPT z CBI’s overall convic tion rate dips: Centre informs Lok Sabha

time Piracy Bill, 2019.

As per the notified schedules, the govt plans to introduce 16 new Bills during the ses sion. These include a draft law to increase ac

Bureaucracy: Six IPS shuffled in UP

Siddiqui

z

countability and reform the electoral process in multi-state cooperative societies. The Canton ment Bill deals with the administration of can tonments to impart de

mocratisation and in crease efficiency. The session is all set to be stormy as the Opposi tion prepares to corner the Centre on issues such as the border situ ation with China, price rise, unemployment and the alleged misuse of govt agencies. At a meet ing called by the Centre to discuss the legislative agenda, the Opposition listed over a dozen is sues for raising during the session.

New Delhi (ANI): Rid ing on the massive vic tory of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi civic polls, Punjab CM Bhag want Mann on Wednes day claimed that the exit polls which predict ed the party’s loss in Gujarat will prove to be wrong. Mann said that the results in Gujarat, where the party exerted all its efforts to make inroads, will be “sur prising”.

Speaking to the re porters in the national capital, the Punjab CM said, “The trends are

IN THE COURTYARD

now converting into re sults. Kejriwal uproot ed the 15-year-long rule of Cong and now up rooted the 15-year-long rule of the BJP from the MCD.” He said that the people vote for schools, hospitals, cleanliness and infrastructure.

“Amidst the challeng es of Covid, the way, the state leadership tackled the issue of dense popu lation and various so cial challenges is highly commendable,” Gates said. She also lauded the efforts of the Uttar

Government in the areas of health se curity, financial inclu sion, nutrition, educa tion, women empower ment and added, “Uttar Pradesh is a model not only for India but for the whole world”.

BIG CAT MATTERS

Lucknow: Six IPS offic ers, including 2 captains, have been transferred in the UP police dept on Wednesday. The transfer includes 2 IG and 4 SP level officers. IPS Akash Kulhari has been made ACP, Prayagraj while IPS Jugal Kishore has been made DIG, Fire, Lucknow. IPS Atul Shar ma became the new SP of Pilibhit (II) and IPS Dinesh Kumar has been made DCP Ghaziabad from SP Pilibhit, IPS Atul Sharma SP Chitra koot has been made the new SP of Pilibhit.

Moreover, IPS Vrinda Shukla has been made SP of Chitrakoot and IPS Ashtabhuja Prasad Sin gh has been made SP Railway GRP Prayagraj.

Gyanvapi case: Map indicating Hindu deities shown to Ald HC

Prayagraj (PTI): The counsel for the Hindu petitioners on Wednes day showed to the Al lahabad High Court a map purport

Hindu deities at the site prior to demolition of a temple to build a mosque. Hari Shankar Jain, the counsel, said these deities were reg ularly worshipped at their respective places till the year 1993 when the practice was stopped by the govern ment. “So, the request

of Hindu devotees for permission to regular ly worship Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi mosque complex is fully justified,” argued Jain. The HC was hear ing a petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid challenging a Varanasi court order.

BACKWARD CLASSES FEDERATION FILES REVIEW

PETITION AGAINST MAJORITY-VERDICT OF SC

New Delhi (ANI): CJI Justice DY Chandra chud on Tuesday said we must create a multitude of equitable ways for dif ferent groups — women, members of the LGBT+ community, persons with disabilities, elderly, poor and marginalised — to engage and partici pate in the process of adjudication. While de livering a speech in Del hi HC’s new building, he said in order to make sure that we are provid ing equal access to jus tice, attention must be paid to the design of the judicial set-up.

After Namibia, Cheetahs to arrive from South Africa soon: MP forest minister Vijay Shah

First India Bureau

Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Forest Minis ter Kunwar Vijay Shah on Wednesday said af ter Namibia, now Chee tahs were expected to soon arrive from South Africa. The first set of Cheetahs was released by Prime Minister Nar endra Modi in the Kuno National Park here in September, when eight of the big cats were flown in to revive their population in India af

ter over half a century it went extinct in the country.Twelve new en closures with all facili ties were being built at Kuno in Sheopur dis trict, the state minister added. Minister Vijay Shah told ANI, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the initiative of re-intro duction of Cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa.

“We have completed the first phase. After bringing eight Chee

tahs from Namibia, we not only kept them in quarantine but also fa miliarised them with

the environment and released them in an open enclosure. Now, these Cheetahs are

hunting and they are in good health.”

PM Modi released the eight Cheetahs on the occasion of his birthday on September 17 this year. “An MoU (Memorandum of Un derstanding) for the next phase is in pro cess. 12 new enclosures with more facilities were being built at the Kuno National Park. Enclosures are ready but we are improving them further,” he said.

New Delhi (ANI): The Enforcement Directo rate (ED) has seized 5kg gold worth Rs 2.51 crore and over Rs 3 lakh cash from a ‘secret chamber’ from premises linked to a Malappuram-based jewellery house promot er, who is an alleged ben eficiary of the Kerala gold smuggling case, the ED said on Wednesday.

The seizures were made during the agen cy’s searches at four premises including that of Aboobacker Pazhe dath, promoter of Mala bar Jewellery and Fine Gold Jewellery in

Malappuram and the Kozhikode premises of Atlas Gold Super Mar kets Pvt Ltd, it said Besides ED, the NIA and the Customs de partment are investi gating the gold smug

in

5, 2020.

Rs 15

SULE SLAMS KARNATAKA CM IN LOK SABHA OVER BORDER ISSUE WITH MAHARASHTRA

Kharge: Laws passed in haste, comments of court not good

will be surprising, says Mann as AAP wins in Delhi

UP not just model for India but for world, says Melinda Gates

L eaders of several opposition parties on Wednes day attended a meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to evolve a joint strategy for the winter session of Parliament. Left parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), NC and the RSP were represented in the meeting convened before the session commenced. The oppo sition is seeking to corner the government on several issues including price rise and unemployment.

N CP MP Supriya Sule in slammed K’taka CM B Bommai over the border issue between Kar nataka and Maharashtra and urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to speak up regarding it. “For the past 10 days, a new issue has cropped up in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister of our neighbouring state, Karnataka has been speaking nonsense. Yesterday, people of Maharashtra wanted to

Ahtesham

Responding to a question, the EAM said that it is his duty to prioritise the interests of the Indian people and to prevent them from being affected by actions of other nations

EAM Jaishankar speaking in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

z LS Speaker Om Birla adjourns the Lok Sabha and it will reconvene at 11:00 am on Thursday

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11 am on Thursday

Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath greets Melinda Gates, co-founder of BMGF on Wednesday.

gling case

Kerala, in which gold worth

crore was allegedly seized from the diplo matic baggage of the UAE consulate at Thiru vananthapuram airport on July

The seized gold and cash was hidden in a secret chamber at the premises linked to the jeweller house in Kerala’s Malappuram.

(L) File photo of Cheetah in Kuno National Park. (R) Vijay Shah while interacting with media on Wednesday.

OPPOSITION LEADERS ATTEND MEETING CALLED BY CONGRESS CHIEF KHARGE

New Delhi: The All India Backward Classes Federation has filed a review petition against a majority judgment of the SC which upheld the 10% reservation in govt jobs and institutions for economically weaker sections (EWS), in cluding forward castes, of the society. The review petition, settled by Professor G. Mohan Gopal, said EWS reserva tion was for a social- and educational class, the forward class amongst them, with a creamy layer cut-off.

We must create multitude of equitable ways:

CJI Chandrachud

BRIEFS

RBI HIKES REPO RATE AGAIN, BY 35 BPS

New Delhi: Import of coal by the power sector has increased in ongoing fi nancial year and the sec tor imported 38.84 mil lion tonne (MT) of the dry fuel in April-October peri od, Parliament was in formed. “...Import of coal by the power sector in creased during current fi nancial year of 2022-23.

As against the total im port of 27 MT by power sector in entire year of 2021-22, the import of coal by power sector in first 7 months increased to 38.84 MT,” Coal Minis ter said. —PTI

Mumbai (PTI): The RBI on Wednesday expectedly slowed the pace of increase in borrowing costs in signs that rates may be nearing the peak, even as it reiter ated its resolve to fight in flation that has stayed above the comfort zone for 10 straight months.

The Reserve Bank of In dia (RBI) hiked the key repo rate by 35 basis points, the fifth straight increase since May, raising pros pects of EMIs for home, auto and other loans rising further.

The previous four in creases totalled 190 bps, with the last three hikes be ing 50 bps each.

The monetary policy committee (MPC), com prising three members from the Reserve Bank of India and three external members, raised the key lending rate or the repo rate to 6.25% by a 5:1 major ity decision.

HIGHLIGHTS OF RBI’S MONETARY POLICY STATEMENT

and endurance

Inflation to fall below 6 per cent by March, assures central bank

New Delhi (PTI): The Re serve Bank on Wednesday projected inflation to come down below the upper threshold level of 6% by March quarter of the cur rent fiscal.

It, however, retained its 6.7% average retail infla tion forecast for the current fiscal. The retail or CPI based inflation has re mained above the RBI’s up per tolerance threshold of 6% for 10 months till Oct.

Das: Worst of inflation behind us, but no room for complacency

Mumbai (PTI): The worst of inflation is behind us, but there is no room for complacency in the fight against price-rise, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. Das also said that from a growth perspective, India stands out as an isle of resilience in a “gloomy world” which is staring at slowing growth with possibilities of recession in some countries, Das told reporters in the post-policy review on Wednesday.

GDP growth in FY23 may slow to 6.8%: RBI

New Delhi: Exports of broken rice increased 33.37% to 23.82 lakh tonne during April-Sep tember FY23 as against 17.86 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. MoS for Commerce & Industry Anupriya Patel said there has been a sudden in crease in demand for the Indian broken rice in the int’l market. “India’s ex ports of broken rice have increased from 17.86 Lakh MT in 2021-22 (April-Sept) registering a growth of 33.37%,” she said. —PTI

Four of the six members voted in favour of the with drawal of accommodation, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

z Hikes benchmark lending rate by 35 basis points to 6.25%

z Cuts growth projection for this fiscal to 6.8% from 7% estimated in September

z Inflation to come down below 6% in March quarter, to average 6.7% this fiscal

z Economy resilient; India to remain fastest-growing major economy

z Biggest risks to outlook from protracted geopolitical tensions are global slowdown and tighten ing of global financial conditions

z Battle against inflation yet not over as risks remain, RBI to keep ‘Arjuna’s eye’ (keen focus) on evolving inflation dynamics

z Must deal with the current global hurricane with confidence

Sensex sheds 216 pts after RBI interest hike, Reliance suffers most

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex de clined over 216 points on Wednesday, weighed by losses in index heavy weight Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Tata Steel, after the Reserve Bank raised the key inter est rate by 35 basis points.

z Rupee should be allowed to find its level and that is what we have been striving to ensure

z ` movement remained least disruptive as compared to peers amid strengthening US dollar

z Current account deficit immi nently manageable; forex reserve comfortable at $551.2 bn

z Liquidity in the banking system remains in surplus

z Rabi sowing so far is 6.8% higher than the normal sown area

z Non-food credit rose to ` 10.6 lakh cr during April-Novem ber from ` 1.9 lakh cr a year ago

z UPI to soon allow customers to block funds in his/her account for specific purposes.

RBI Governor Shakti kanta Das said the central bank will keep ‘Arjuna’s eye’ (keen focus) on the evolving inflation dynam ics and projected inflation to remain above 4% for the next 12 months.

“Over the next 12 months, inflation is expect

ed to remain higher than the 4% target... While be ing watchful of the impact of our earlier monetary policy actions, we will keep Arjuna’s eye on the evolv ing inflation dynamics and be ready to act as may be necessary,” Das said.

Mumbai (PTI): The Re serve Bank on Wednesday lowered the country’s GDP growth forecast to 6.8% for the current fiscal from 7% earlier, on account of con tinued geo-political ten sions and tightening of global financial conditions.

India, however, remains a bright spot in the other wise gloomy world and will be among the fastest grow ing major economies, said RBI Governor Das while announcing the latest bimonthly monetary policy.

“The biggest risks to the outlook continue to be the headwinds emanating from protracted geo-politi cal tensions, global slow down and tightening of global financial condi tions,” he said. Taking all these factors into consid eration, the RBI projected the real GDP growth for 2022-23 at 6.8%, with the third quarter at 4.4% and the fourth at 4.2%.

Rupee remains least disruptive, size of forex reserves comfortable, asserts Shaktikanta Das

Mumbai (PTI): Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikan ta Das on Wednesday said in the wake of appreciating US dollar, the movement of rupee has remained least disruptive as compared to its peers, and the size of foreign exchange reserve is comfortable.

On a financial year basis (from April to October 2022), the Rupee has appre

ciated by 3.2% in real terms, even as several major cur rencies have depreciated, he said while announcing the latest set of bi-monthly monetary policy.

“The story of the rupee has been one of India’s re silience and stability,” the Governor said while point ing out that the apprecia tion of the US dollar this year, which precipitated

New Delhi: Arun Kumar Singh, former chairman of oil refining and market ing company BPCL, was on Wednesday appointed chairman and managing director of ONGC -- the first instance of a retired person being appointed the head of a Maharatna PSU. “The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for appointment of Arun Kumar Singh, exCMD, BPCL as Chairman, ONGC for a three-year tenure with effect from the date of his assump tion of charge of the post,” an order said. —PTI

Subdued Asian markets and continued selling by foreign investors also weighed on sentiment, traders said.

Extending its losses for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 215.68 points or 0.34% lower at 62,410.68.

Similarly, the broader Nifty fell 82.25 points or 0.44% to 18,560.50.

NTPC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shed ding 2%, followed by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance Indus tries and Sun Pharma.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, HUL, L&T, Axis Bank and ITC were among

New Delhi: Carmaker Re nault India on Wednesday said it will increase the prices of its vehicles across models from the next month to partially offset rising input costs.

The company however, did not disclose the quan tum of its impending price hike. Reasons for the price hike are to par tially offset the impact of constant increases in in put costs largely driven by pricier commodities, fluctuations in foreign ex change rates. —PTI

large-scale depreciation of all major global currencies including the Indian rupee, has drawn wide attention.

Das also stressed it is im portant to make an objec tive assessment of the movement of the Rupee in the context of global and domestic macroeconomic and financial market devel opments. “Through this episode of US dollar appre ciation, the rupee’s move ments have been the least disruptive, relative to peers,” the Governor added.

`

GAINS 3 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.47 AGAINST US DOLLAR Mumbai (PTI): The rupee pared initial losses and settled margin ally higher at 82.47 against the US dollar on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the key repo rate by 35 basis points. Easing crude oil prices also supported the do mestic unit, forex traders said.At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.74 and touched an intra-day high of 82.40 and a low of 82.75 against the greenback.

the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with significant losses.

‘EUROPEAN REGULATORS NEED TO TRUST INDIA’S CREDIBILITY’

Mumbai (PTI): India is much different today than what it was earlier and the developed world needs to trust the credibility and strength of local regulators, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday.

In comments that come in the wake of the European Securities and Markets Au thority (ESMA) and the UK derecognis ing Indian clearing houses, Das said Indian market infrastructure complies with all the international standards. “I think, it is also necessary for regulators on the other side to appreciate the credibility, they must trust the credibility and strength of the Indian regulations. That is what we are trying to impress upon them,” Das said.

WORLD’S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

Sitharaman, 5 other Indians in Forbes’ list

First India Bureau

New

FOUR YEARS IN A ROW

z Ranked at number 36, Sitharaman has made it to the list for the fourth time in a row. In 2021, the 63-yearold minister was ranked at number 37 in the list, while she was in the 41st spot in 2020 and 34th in 2019

Of India (SEBI) Chairper son Madhabi Puri Buch (rank: 54), and Steel Au thority Of India

Ranked at number 36, Si tharaman has made it to the list for the fourth time in a row. In 2021, the 63-yearold minister was ranked at number 37 in the list, while she was in the 41st spot in 2020 and 34th in 2019.

z The list includes 39 CEOs and 10 heads of state

The other Indians to fea ture on the list are HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra (rank: 53), Secu rities And Exchange Board

son Soma Mondal (rank: 67). Malhotra, Ma zumdar-Shaw and Nayar made it to the prestigious list last year also at 52nd, 72nd and 88th spots respec tively.

This year Mazum darShaw is ranked

72, while Nayar is at 89th spot, according to the list released by Forbes on Tuesday.

The list includes 39 CEOs; 10 heads of state; and 11 billionaires worth a combined $115 billion. The list was determined by four main metrics: money, media, im pact and spheres of influence. For politi cal leaders, it weighed gross domestic products and popu lations.

OTHER STORIES

AGRICULTURE SECTOR REMAINS RESILIENT; RABI SOWING IS OFF TO A STRONG START:

Mumbai:

RBI

ENTITIES AS STARTUPS

New Delhi: The government has recognised as many as 84,102 entities as startups as on November 30 this year.

These startups are eligible for availing host of incentives, including income tax benefits under the Startup India scheme, launched in January 2016. “As on 30th November 2022, 84,102 enti ties have been recognised as startups by DPIIT,” MoS for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said. —PTI

GMR AIRPORTS, NIIF

ANNOUNCE FINANCIAL PARTNERSHIP

Mumbai: GMR Airports Ltd and NIIF on Wednesday an nounced a financial partner ship under which NIIF will invest in three airport projects. The investment by NIIF will include the `631 crore in the greenfield international airport at Mopa (Goa), which is set for inauguration on December 11. This will be NIIF’s first investment in the domestic airport sec and its first direct investment in Goa. —PTI

AMALGAMATION OF PSBs HELPED IN IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICES: MoS

COMMERCE

New Delhi: The amalgamation of public sector banks has helped in improving customer services and creating strong banks, MoS for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said. The minister said in LoK Sabha that the objective of amalga mation of the banks was to facilitate consolidation among PSBs to create “strong and competitive banks” capable of achieving economies of scale and realisation of synergy benefits with wider product and service offering to customers. —PTI

BROKEN RICE EXPORTS UP 33% TO 24 LAKH TONNE

RETIRED BPCL CHAIRMAN SINGH IS NEW ONGC HEAD

RENAULT INDIA TO HIKE PRICES ACROSS MODELS FROM JAN

COAL IMPORT BY POWER SEC RISES TO 39 MT IN APRIL-OCT

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the agriculture sector remains resilient, and the rabi sowing has got off to a strong start. However, India is expecting some moderation in kharif production due to uneven rainfall. India’s total kharif crop production is estimated to moderate to 149.92 metric million tonnes (MMT) from 156.04 MMT in the previous kharif crop year, as per the first advance estimate. On the supply side, Das said, the agricultural sector remains resilient. Rabi sow ing got off to a strong start.

Delhi: Finance Min ister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon Executive Chair person Kiran MazumdarShaw and Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar are among six Indians who have made it to the Forbes’ annual list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

Chairper

Sharjeel Imam moves SC against HC order calling him ‘main conspirator’

Imam said that Delhi HC while rejecting Umar Khalid’s bail made certain observations and remarks against him when he was not even a party in that petition

New Delhi (ANI): Sharjeel Imam has ap proached the Supreme Court seeking direction to expunge some re marks made by the Del hi High Court against him while denying bail to Umar Khalid in the 2020 Delhi riots case.

Imam said that Delhi High Court while reject ing Umar Khalid’s bail plea, made certain ob servations and remarks against him when he was not even a party in the said petition. On Oc tober 18, while denying bail to JNU student

Khalid, the High Court had said that Khalid was constantly in touch with Sharjeel Imam, who was arguably ‘at the head of the conspiracy’ and also referred to Imam as the main conspirator in one of the paragraphs.

In the 52-page judg ment, the High Court took note of the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police referring to Imam as the “main con spirator” and further noting that Imam was the main member of a WhatsApp group of Muslim Students of JNU which was formed

CASE BASED ON ALARMING PHRASES, SAIFI TELLS HC

While denying bail to Khalid, the HC said he was constantly in touch with Imam, who was arguably ‘at head of conspiracy’ & seemed to be the ‘main conspirator’

December 4, 2019.

Headless body of Delhi’s missing boy found, accused held

New Delhi (ANI): A three-year-old boy’s headless body was re covered from a sugar cane field in Meerut on Tuesday morning, said Delhi police on Wednes day. The child identi fied as Manav went missing on November 30 from near his resi dence in east Delhi’s Preet Vihar area.

According to the po lice, the parts of the child’s body were de voured by the animals.

As soon as the news of the child’s death spread in the area, his family members and locals protested against the

police citing inaction.

The police revealed that it was the boy’s neighbour who alleg edly kidnapped him and later allegedly murdered him.

The accused had been arrested by the police. However, the reason behind the kid napping and murder has not been ascer tained yet. The matter was reported to police by the victim’s family on November 30 after the boy and his neigh bour went missing from the slum cluster of Chitra Vihar the same day, police said.

one or two days after the Citizenship Amend ment Bill was passed on

New Delhi (PTI): Seeking bail in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 riots, United Against Hate (UAH) founder Khalid Saifi told the Delhi HC on Wednesday the case is not based on evi dence but “frightening and alarming phrases” put forth by police and insisted he cannot be kept in indefinite incarceration. The senior counsel appearing for Saifi argued before a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar that

Imam wants remarks to be expunged where he has been called the ‘main conspirator’ and where the court said that Khalid was in con stant touch with other co-accused, including Sharjeel Imam, who ar guably is at the head of the conspiracy.

prejudice was being created by the Delhi Police against him when not even a prima facie case was made out.

The court was told the whole FIR was set up on the “opinion of two-three men sitting in special cell office”. The counsel claimed the 42-year-old has not com mitted any violence but was himself a “victim of custodial violence”. “What gives them (police) the right to say that seeds of hate were planted by United Against Hate who were in fact united in hate.

ORDER ON UMAR KHALID’S INTERIM BAIL PLEA ON DECEMBER 12

New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Wednesday re served its verdict on an interim bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid who is an accused in a 2020 northeast Delhi riots case. Khalid has moved the plea seeking two-week interim bail for his sister’s marriage. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat will pass the order on December 12. During the hearing, counsel for Khalid cited various judgments where the accused booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were granted interim bail. However, opposing the bail plea, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad said that most of the judg ments which were relied upon were not relevant as they were not for the grant of interim bail, rather they were for the grant of custody parole or interim custody bail because of the peculiar circumstances involved. “The cases relied upon where interim bail was granted were (because of) very exceptional circumstances and such circumstances do not exist here,” he said Prasad said Asif Iqbal Tanha (an accused under UAPA) was granted interim custody bail for appearing in an exam, while Natasha Narwal (another UAPA accused) was granted interim bail on the grounds that she was the only per son to perform the last rites of her father.

REVEALED: AAM AADMI PARTY’S SECRET PLAN IN THE GUJARAT ELECTIONS

the same approach. In terestingly, a cab driver, who worked with AAP’s team for three months prior to the election, re vealed the secret plan of Aam Aadmi Party.

According to the driver, AAP focused on tribal areas, while in urban areas, major cit ies like Surat and Ahmedabad were on

LAZY AS A BEAR

the radar. Delhi’s spe cial team stayed in these areas for 90 days and this team collected grass roots data one by

one. It did the work of connecting organiza tions.

Notably, according to the driver, the cash, re portedly, used to come from Delhi, first to Ahmedabad and then used to reach other ar eas in the state. Word is that AAP’s volunteers were expecting 25 to 30 seats in the election.

Amid yatra in state, Rajasthan Congress leader resigns

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Congress leader and business man Riju Jhunjhunwa la, who contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ajmer in 2019, on Wednesday resigned from the party stating personal reasons. The resignation came while Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was travelling through Kota in Rajasthan.

Jhunjhunwala sent his resignation letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, senior party leader Sachin Pilot, and Congress President Mal likarjun Kharge, stating that he tried to serve the party through various activities but in vain.

Jhunjhunwala tweet ed: “With a lot of seri ous thought and a bit of a heavy heart. @ashok gehlot51 @SachinPilot @INCIndia @INCRa jasthan @GovindDo tasra” and attached his letter on the post.

In his letter, he stat ed: “While I continue with my commitment to serve the people of Ra

jasthan with full zeal in times to come, I’m una ble to add my value to wards this mission through the party.”

“I have the highest possible regards for @ ashokgehlot51 ji and @ SachinPilot ji. The rea sons for my resignation are purely personal. The effort bring out in by @RahulGandhi ji for the #BharatJodoYatra is praiseworthy,” he tweeted.

Mother tracks down dead woman alive to prove son’s innocence

New Delhi: In a shock ing incident reported from Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, a mother who was absolutely cer tain that her son is inno cent after he went to jail for kidnap and murder claims she has found his supposed victim alive and well seven years af ter the alleged crime.

The woman, now 22, was alleged to have been abducted and murdered seven years ago and the man named in reports as Vishnu, now 25, has

FUN WEEKEND FOR DELHIITES

Rabbi Shergill to headline 6th Delhi Poetry Festival

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Delhi Poet

ry Festival is back with its sixth edition and the country will celebrate the 300th birth year of Sufi poet Waris Shah, the 17th century Sufi saint. The festival will begin from December 10 at India Habitat Centre.

The two-day festival will see discussions on poetry, politics, history, music and musical per formances.

Popular singers and poets Rabbi Shergill, Madan Gopal Singh, Manoj Muntashir and Surjit Patar will be among those conversing about poetry, verses and Sufism at the upcoming Delhi Poetry Festival.

This year the multi lingual festival will cel ebrate poetry in four languages - Hindi, Eng lish, Punjabi and Urdu with a special focus on Sufi poet Waris Shah.

The two-day-long

event will be an oppor tunity for the Delhiites to indulge in poetry – a window to escapism. There will be poetry readings, discussions, book launches, work shops and performanc es by Rabbi Shergill and Harpreet Singh.

In its series titled “Conversation & Vers es”, the Delhi Poetry Festival will feature lyricist and poet, Munta shir in conversation with filmmaker Brah

manand Singh to ex plore the nuances of poetry and song writing. Playwright and dan stango Danish Iqbal will present some lesser ex plored nuances of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry.

“I believe poetry is the voice of change. It is both evolving as well as enlightening. The socie ty today needs poetry to calm the turmoil that’s threatening to disrupt it,” founder & festival di rector Dolly Singh said.

been behind bars since then. As per police, the woman was tracked down in Hathras by the mother of the accused.

Vishnu’s mother in formed the police, which promptly took the woman into custody.

Police have now start ed the process to get her DNA profiling done to prove her identity and move ahead in the case.

In 2015, after a 15-yearold girl had gone miss ing, her father had filed a complaint & the mat ter was registered un der sections 363 and 366

of the IPC, pertaining to kidnapping and luring a woman into marriage, Circle Officer, Iglas, Raghvendra Singh said. After some time, the fa ther of the girl came across news of a mur der victim & identified the girl as his daughter. Not convinced with the police investigation, Vishnu’s mother em barked on a probe of her own, and a full sev en years later tracked the woman down in Hathras, where she had gone to attend a reli gious programme.

DELHI COMIC CON RETURNS AFTER NEARLY THREE YEARS

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The epic Comic Con conven tion, which features pop culture merchan dise, cosplay events, comic book artists, and gameplay, has fin lly returned to the country’s capital after almost 3 long years.

The Delhi Comic

Con, which is also said to be the “biggest popculture event” in In dia, will commence on December 9 at the

NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla.

The 3-day extrava ganza will feature In dian publishers such as Amar Chitra Katha, Raj Comics and sever al new indie publish ing houses along with more than 20 leading Indian & international artists & writers show casing their talent.

Cong leader Rahul Gandhi with party’ leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Sachin Pilot during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kota on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Jhunjhunwala sent his resignation letter stating that he tried to serve the party through various activities but in vain

Akhilesh Solanki

Vadodara: What was the Aam Aadmi Party focussing on in the Gu jarat elections? While all parties focus on a particular vote bank, the AAP too undertook

A sloth bear rests at an Agra Bear Rescue Facility started by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, in Agra on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Locals stage protests in Delhi’s Preet Vihar area after learning about the gruesome murder of the three-year-old boy.

EXCLUSIVE

First India Bureau

Rabbi Shergill

A Beautiful Changemaker!

“You cannot change the world, but you change one thought, and the world will change on its own hence,” said Marishca Rodrigues, a ravishing beauty hailing from the green lands of Mumbai called Vasai and one of the finalists of First India Queen, in a candid conversation with City First!

The world needs strong women.

Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved.

Women who live brave ly, both tender and fierce. Women of in domitable will. Marish ca Rodrigues, one of the finalists of First India Queen proved that Many of the things that seem impossible now will become realities of tomorrow and the lim its of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.

From being trolled for the type of acneprone skin and skinny body she carries to be come the girl she always wanted to be, strong, tall and confident, Mar ishca Rodrigues, hail ing from the green

lands of Mumbai called Vasai shook the world with her beautiful transformation.

She again proved that ‘Your success in life isn’t based on your abil ity to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition be

cause change is hard because people overes timate the value of what they have and un derestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.’

When asked about her journey the beauty said, “I am a 24-year-old stand ing 5 feet 11 inches tall,

who is passionate about sports and fitness. I am a trained badmin ton player as well. I am currently pursuing a bach elor’s in Educa tion. I have been a semi-finalist in the top four major pageants of India which includes Miss India, Miss Diva, Miss Earth and Miss Inter national. I be lieve ‘You cannot change the world, but you change one thought, and the world will change on its own hence I am work ing as an educa tor, shaping every child’s future in the best way possi ble thus keeping a balance of my responsi bilities towards my fam ily, studies as well as my passion.”

The ravishing beauty further said, “I am ex tremely grateful to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra and First India Queen for providing me this gold en opportunity and making my dreams come true.”

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Marishca Rodrigues bagged the ‘Best Runway Walk’ title during the grand finale of First India Queen

Writing Ideas FOR

KARTIK BAJORIA (the author is a Jaipur-based Communication Skills Educator & amp; Writer)

New-age Entre preneurs are an inspired, selfmotivated, hun gry, discerning lot of individu als who are on a constant hunt for opportu nities that can enhance and/or bolster their im age, network, and of course, their net worth! To this end, perhaps they’d be wise to think a little out-ofthe-box, to approach life from a slightly alternative standpoint wherein they don’t JUST look into their immediate entrepreneuri al ventures and directlyrelated streams as forms of building their networks and; net-worth. Writing, in fact, a slew of different kinds of Creative Writing, presents a goldmine of un explored and unexploited platforms through which to proliferate a new-age entrepreneur’s vision, ide as, philosophies, achieve ments, and message. Let us examine how exactly this can be extended.

NOVEL IDEA TO BE A NOVELIST!

Many entrepreneurs, espe cially those who have had a flair and interest in writ ing, have a brilliant oppor tunity of becoming novel ists. You’d be hard- pressed to find an entrepreneur who has not had an excit ing, against-all-odds kind of story, or a reservoir of experiences with situa tions and people whilst setting up their business es. All these personal

growth stories and anec dotes, characters met along the way and through their individual journeys, can be used as great fiction material by entrepreneurs and turned into extremely immersive, inspiring and fun novels. Encounters with powerful people, poli ticians, planners, govern ments and departments, industries and boards and the myriad of interesting people an entrepreneur meet along the way; it isn’t always possible to write a non-fiction, tell-all book. So why not turn it all into one exaggerated, superfun, fiction novel with all the twists and turns of a nail-biter? If it hits the mark, there will be anoth er source of personal rev enue and another interest ing dimension to the entre preneur’s personality!

PERFECT CVS & RESUMES

Another facet of writing that most entrepreneurs will understand insight fully and naturally will be how to best represent one self to the public. Having ostensibly represented themselves to many insti tutions, investors, bodies and individuals, entrepre neurs ought to have a firm handle on how to write and put together the most succinct yet impressive and noticeable resumes. Why not turn this inher ent knowledge into a skill that one employs to help others, with the imminent possibility of that itself becoming a real moneyspinner? It might sound a touch mundane when com pared to being a potential ly beloved and recognized novelist, but hey, being someone who helps lessinformed people with their resumes will certainly bring more good karma in one’s favour, and if it clicks, even more in the cash register than some fairly known novelists

could manage!

EDUCATION

The eternal debate, to study or to learn on the job. The great and enviable fact is that an entrepre neur can help bridge this divide between academia and professional experi ence more effectively than anyone else. How? By con tributing their learnings, understanding, insights, real-world-problems and their solutions, and realworld requirements, by way of curating material for online programs rang ing from Entrepreneurial Workshops to Seminars

ARIES

and longer courses even. There is hardly anyone better suited to developing course content than some one who has been through the grind themselves and emerged not only success ful but infinitely more en lightened as a result. Think about it. From startup champion to suave pro fessor! Does have an unde niably nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

BIOGRAPHY

Would it not be utterly fas cinating to read the reallife account of a person such as Elon Musk, the renegade, iconic, new-age

entrepreneur and force be hind the always-in-thenews electric car giant Tesla? Sure, it would be. Becoming one’s own biog rapher for most new-age entrepreneurs, pouring their unique struggles and learnings, triumphs and failures, lessons and dis ruptive ideas into a tell-all the factual book would not just make for interesting reading, it would be a hugely inspirational ac count for upstarts who want to learn, avoid mak ing costly mistakes, even truly test if they have the same fire and passion as is needed to really make it as

TAURUS

a successful entrepreneur. Why not be that entrepre neur who enlightens and shakes up the world with your biography?

BLOGGER

Finally, of course, there’s blogging. Don’t have the time or wherewithal to be come a full-time, long-form writer, no problem at all. Write short, quick yet reg ular and insightful sliceof-life pieces on your own website, blog, microsite or better still, on one or two of a plethora of platforms most suited to your spe cific area of business.

These short writings have the potential of gathering an immense following, a family, a community that will become loyal to you, stay engaged, and come

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

MAR 21 - APR 20

Your innovative ideas on the professional front are likely to be well received. Good health will keep you fit and energetic. Spirituality will have a special allure for you. You are likely to expand your social circle. You are likely to get immense fulfillment in your current romantic relationship.

LEO JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

A job switch needs to be considered taking all aspects into consideration.

It is one of those days when you will feel satisfied with whatever you do today on the social front. Those seeking love may not get lucky, but persistence will pay. A friend can touch a sensitive nerve.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

A profitable day for entrepreneurs is envisaged. You may be played upon for spending on someone else’s needs and desires. Homemakers are likely to enjoy the day in the company of neighbors and friends. Fatigue threatens in a long journey, but adequate breaks will keep you going.

VIRGO

You have a good health and there is nothing to worry as such. To prevent any monetary loss, you should care to read your business proposal twice before taking any decision. In office, you may need to persuade someone to stand in your favour but it will be worth it.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

Homemakers will get a chance to implement their ideas. You are likely to be recognised for your efforts on the professional front. Chance of a raise is possible for some. Timely and correct decision will help you in saving a lot of money. You will be able to de-stress yourself completely.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

Keep a close tab on what you eat if you want to remain healthy. You must limit your expenses to only buying essential stuff. In office, your colleagues may not like your upfront nature. Your love may not give the kind of attention you have been waiting for.

along with you, in what ever you do – an invaluable asset for an entrepreneur, to enjoy that kind of per sonal connect with at least a section of the like-mind ed target audience. As a happy by-product, the en trepreneur gets to write, share, discover, and learn from the highly dynamic, engaged, and interactive nature of the blogging world! New-age entrepre neurs need to not only con duct business in newer, more innovative ways but also find avenues of ex pressing themselves and their personalities in equally unorthodox and alternative ways. Creative Writing in many of its forms could serve as that perfect solution. Happy Writing!

CANCER

JUNE

SCORPIO

OCT

PISCES

FEB20

Kajol to reunite with SRK?

ajol and Shah Rukh Khan are ar guably the most successful onscreen couple in the history of Indian Cinema. In an interview, the Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior actress spilled the beans on join ing hands with King Khan again. She said: "As of now nothing. I don't know. Maybe we should ask him, but as of now, nothing immediately." Further, the actress added that she would love to work with him again. Kajol said that somebody once asked her why Shah Rukh has become such a massive star, and she said, “It’s because he worked hard for it.” —Agency

Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapur are coming togeth er for the first time in a film, Metro In Dino.

The stellar cast includes Anupam Kher, Neena Gup ta, Pankaj Tripathi, Konko na Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, and Fatima Sana Shaikh.

Directed

Ever since the first video of Bade Mi yan Chote Miyan featuring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff has been released, it has ignited the audience's excitement to hear more about the film. While the film features Aksh ay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, now there is an addition to the exciting squad with Prithviraj Sukumaran joining the entertainer. Aksh ay Kumar shared the poster of Prithviraj Su kumaran and wrote, “Welcome on board this crazy action rollercoat er, @therealprithvi.”

—Agency

BAFTAs awards. “The positive things that I learned from her, which is actually very, very similar to my personality is that she never let that child like innocence go, even though she was fighting this big bad world, and being a part of this big bad world, so to speak. Her innocence and her vulnerability was intact, despite having to play this very strong role for these women,” said Alia.

She further added that it also gave her a lot of guts to speak in a big room, some thing she had been nervous to do since she started working at a young age. —Agency

Pooja Entertainment’s next, di rected by Jagan Shakti will feature Tiger Shroff and Sara Ali Khan in lead. The film is said to be among the biggest action entertainers and is set to go on floors in the month of December. Jagan Shakti directorial, titled Ea gle, has gone on floors on December 6 with Tiger Shroff. The producers, Vashu and Jackky Bhagnani, have got the KGF action director, Anbu Arivu on board the film. Sara Ali Khan is expected to join Tiger on the first schedule of Eagle soon.

Body shamed in Bollywood

Priyanka Chopra Jo nas is a global face today. She dons multiple hats of an actor, producer, author, and entre preneur. Recalling what people used to call her, the Mu jhse Shaadi Karoge actress said, “I was called a black cat, dusky.

I mean, what does 'dusky' even mean in a country where we are literal ly all brown? I thought I was

not pretty enough, I believed that I would have to work a lot harder, even though I thought I was probably a little bit more talented than my fellow ac tors who were lighter skinned.” ”I think maybe I’ve built a certain amount of credi bility, and so I’m doing interesting work. We’ll see if that’s accepted or not. It’s really hard to be Indian in Hollywood. There’s still a long way to go,” she

by Anurag Basu, with music by Pritam, the film is produced by Bhush an Kumar, Krishan Kumar,

Anurag Basu and Taani Basu. It will showcase bit tersweet tales of human relationships based on contemporary times. Au diences will not only expe rience a fresh storyline but also witness a fresh pairing of Adi tya and Sara Ali Khan together in this present-day chronicle. —Agency

Sara Ali Khan and Tiger Shroff

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Akshay’s Story

Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff

Aditya Roy Kapur

Sara Ali Khan, Aditya Roy Kapur posing with Anurag Basu, Pritam and Bhushan Kumar

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol

BE STRONGER THAN YOUR EXCUSE

Sristri Thapa, an aspiring actor and a dancer shares her journey with City First

my mind. In 2021, I met a gem of a person and he was the reason I shifted to Mumbai for acting. He is an actor by profes sion and also my mentor.

INNOVATOR TURNS WASTE INTO WEALTH

AISHA GUPTA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Passionate about acting, dancing and writing, I do love playing musical in struments as well. I have been a re bellious kid, that’s what my family says. I knew I had an incli nation towards the creative field but wasn’t sure about acting. I am glad that I have such an amazing mother, being a single parent she has been my father and mother both and my biggest sup porter.

Where do you see yourself after the next 20 years?

To be honest this ques tion scares me a little bit but still, I would say

SIMHIKA: DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST

the best version of my self, more strong, hap py and very successful.

How did your journey begin?

Along with my bache lor’s, I used to work with an NGO and at that point, I had no idea that

I am destined for acting. I was good going with my work and studies but all of a sudden I don’t know where I thought of participating in a local beauty pageant. I even tually won and from there the idea of becom ing an actor came into

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

Too many battles, the very first one is that of being a girl in a con servative family, also the girl wanting to be come an actor is the cherry on the cake. Sec ondly, cancer, with which I fought bravely and won the battle.

Then comes those close ones who instead of supporting you are al ways there to put you down. Anyways I am happy that I got to see the real faces of people.

Talk to us about your achievement. Won the title of Miss Talented of Siliguri. Worked in multiple ad vertisements, and even got a chance to work with P.V. Sindhu. Worked in a T.V. Serial Madam Sir.

CITY FIRST

For anyone who walks into eightyear-old Midushi Kochhar’s bed room in Delhi, a strange but beautiful sight would greet them — seashells strung togeth er, pebbles in jars, dried flowers turned into pot pourri, vibrant snake skins collected on a hike and the list goes on.

While other children of her age would have toys filling the room, why was Mi dushi’s idea of col lectables so different?

“The love for strange things came naturally to me,” the 27-year-old said. “I’d weave a story in my mind around these unique items and display them. It never mattered if others found them beautiful. What mattered is that they were beautiful to me.”

With a graduation project that stunned her professors, Midushi decided to take her skills to the real world

and started a venture in the Netherlands in 2020. Makers on the move aimed at collecting lo cal waste from manu facturing areas and building a material bank. In June 2021 she started YLEM, a brand that would focus on making items out of in novative materials that others would consider waste.

Elaborating on these products, Midushi says the egg ware is a “ce ramic and concretelike material made out of eggshells along with a bio binder.”

These are more of a bespoke luxury product meant for decor and hence production is done on-demand basis of 20 to 30 orders per batch. The unique items have made their way to the shores of China and Milan.

However, she has now partnered with an innovative egg process ing company in Delhi and they supply egg shell powder and flakes.

AN ODE TO THE EPIC MAHABHARAT

7th

CITY FIRST

Padma Shri Geeta

Chandran raises contemporary is sues through classical performance Padma Shri Geeta Chandran presented an emotional dialogue per formance titled ‘Simhi ma: Daughter of the Forest at the India Inter national Centre. Through this perfor mance dialogue, Geeta Chandran showed that dance is not merely a performance, it’s a pas sion, and dedication of an artist, an act, where its rhythm and cadence present a complete sto ry to the audience layer by layer. Padmashree Geeta Chandran showcased the story of a heroine, who is the victim of circum stances. She was accom panied by vocalists K Venkateswaram and Balatachandiren, while Simhika was dressed by Sandhya Raman.

The protagonist SIM HIKA, is a fictional character created for a Kathakali dance-thea tre performance writ

ten

In the original play Kimura

the Kathakali narrative explores SIMHIKA’s story vividly painting her as a rakshasi/demo ness. In her presenta tion, Dancer Geeta Chandran invests SIM HIKA with voice and

thoughts and conflicts in the protagonist through the process of anavarna, a tech nique in Bharatanaty am abhinaya, where layer after layer is un peeled to reveal subtle truths. Geeta Chandran said, “SIMHIKA: DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST focuses on is sues faced by forest dwellers, their struggle with urban expansion, their vulnerability and their quest for justice. During the evening, Prof. Malashri Lal (Gen der expert), Gloria F. Berbena (Minister Counselor for Public Di plomacy, Embassy of among many others were present there.

house

worship

of

of Baha’i: Lotus Temple

ADITI KUSHWAHA

The Lotus Temple is a Bahá’ House of Worship that was established in December 1986 and is situated in Delhi, In dia. It has grown to be a well-known attrac tion in the city and is notable for its flow er-like form. The Lotus Temple is open to everyone, regardless of religion or any other prerequi sites, just like all other Bahá’ Houses of Wor ship. The structure is made up of 27 freestanding, marble-cov ered “petals” that are grouped to create nine sides. Nine portals open into a central hall

with a height of a little over 34 meters and a seating capacity of 1,300 people. The Lotus Temple has received multiple architectural honours.

The temple’s con struction was overseen by an architect by the name of Furiburz Sab ha. This temple has a total of 27 marbleclad petals that are free-standing, and the building is made of white marble. It has nine sides and from the central point, the tem ple has a height of over 40 meters. This gor geous Lotus temple can hold a total of 2500 peo ple. This temple does not serve any one par ticular deity.

CITY FIRST

Art Magnum hosted the closing event and an inter active panel discus sion to “An ode to the epic Mahabharat” on the Monday. The pan elists included the Chief Guest, Priyal Paul ( chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels), Jyotir moy Bhattacharya (Curator), Chandra Bhattacharjee (Art ist), renowned artists Manish Pushkale, Ina Puri (Art curator) and Art critic Suneet Chopra. The event was attended by other prominent personalities from the art frater nity. Art Magnum presented, ‘EXPLOR ING THE EPIC MA HABHARAT’, curat ed by Jyotirmoy Bh attacharya and art ists Aditya Basak, Chandra Bhattachar

jee, Jaya Ganguly, and Samir Aich. Flagged off with a preview, the show had a successful opening and was viewed at leisure by art lovers at Art Mag num Gallery.

Guests present were Safir Anand, Akshay and Rupal

Tyagi, Anita Andley, Artist Vivek, Shridhar Iyer, Sudhanshu and Shivani Paliwal, As hoak and Swati Bhow mich, Sanjay Das, Shampa Sirkardas, Sumer, Neha Gupta and Rohit Kapoor

among others. Shares the cura tor, “There is a popular Bengali adage, ‘Ja nei Mahabharatey, ta nei Bharatey,’ which ap proximately translates as, ‘There’s nothing in Bharat, that’s not there in The Mahab harat. Their percep tive response to our shifting universe is evident in their oeuvres. Their feeling essays on the human condition have, over the years, carved out elevated spaces. This show celebrates the singular style of each artist in interpreting an epic we all share as Indians. These paint ings are not straight forward narratives of events. While they are not illustrative, view ers may still find all 18 eighteen episodes of The Mahabharat con densed in each work”, said Jyotir moy Bhattacharya, Curator.

by Kottayam Tham puran.

Vadham,

agency, unveiling the

Sristri Thapa

Geeta Chandran and Malashri Lal Gloria F Berbena with Rajiv Chandran

Geeta Chandran, Urmimala Sarkar and Molly Kaushal

Geeta Chandran

The Lotus Temple

Sudhanshu Paliwal and Shivani Paliwal

Artist Vivek

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN