First India-Mumbai Edition-9th December 2022

GUJARAT AND HIMACHAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2022

Results out, Celebrations in

MODI-SHAH ‘DUET’ BRING ‘GIGANTIC’ VICTORY OF BJP

Ruling BJP in Gujarat retained power for the straight 7th time

Overcome with lot of emotions: Modi after record-breaking win

BY ANI

Thank you Gujarat. I am overcome with a lot of emotions seeing the phenomenal elec tion results. People blessed politics of de velopment and at the same time expressed a desire that they want this momentum to continue at a greater pace. I bow to Guja rat’s Jan Shakti.

Narendra Modi Prime Minister

Ahmedabad: The BJP on Thursday registered a historic win in Guja rat even smashing the records of the 2002 elec tion where the party under the leadership of Chief Minister Naren dra Modi won 127 seats.

Congress had blamed AAP and AIMIM for its poor show while Rahul Gandhi accepted the mandate and promised that the party will work hard. AAP's perfor mance fell short in com parison with the glitz in their campaigning. But the votes in Gujarat made it a national party.

PATEL TO RETAIN CM POST, WILL TAKE OATH ON DEC 12

Incumbent Gujarat CM, Ghatlodia MLA Bhupendra Patel will retain his post and take oath at 2pm on December 12, said BJP Gujarat chief CR Patil on Thursday. PM Narendra Modi and Union HM Minister Amit Shah will take part in the oath-taking ceremony. VILLAGES FROM MAHA MAY BE MERGED INTO K’TAKA WHERE POLL IS DUE: UDDHAV

hiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thurs day said that Maha rashtra were taken away to poll-bound Gujarat, villages from Maharashtra may also be given to Karnataka where elections are due.

People of Gujarat have given an unprecedent ed mandate to the party by rejecting those who do politics of hol low promises, freebies and appeasement. In the last two decades, under the leadership of Modi ji, the BJP broke all records of development in Gujarat and today the people of Gujarat have blessed the BJP and broken all records of victory.

Amit Shah Union Home Minister

Gujarat has set new records of develop ment in the last two decades under the leadership of Modi ji and today the people of Gujarat have bless ed the BJP and cre ated a new record of victory. Every section has wholeheartedly blessed the BJP. This is the victory of peo ple’s unwavering faith in BJP’s policies.

Jagat Prakash Nadda BJP National President

MAHA-K’TAKA BORDER ROW

Shimla: Congress’s late surge during the cam paign for Himachal Pradesh was successful in keeping the BJP from realising its ‘Mission Repeat’ in the hill state, with the party easing to victory. The high turn out of women seems have gone in favour of the Congress, as there was a lot of resentment among the voters against the ruling BJP government over the is sues of rising prices of essential commodities like fuel and gas.

The fact that Con gress leader Priyanka Gandhi with Chhattis garh CM & party’s state in-charge Bhupesh Baghel had campaigned hard across the state.

Shah cancels time allotted to MVA MPs

Mumbai:

While

is reluc tant to intervene in the matter.

Even after it became

evident that Shah would not be in the Par liament building for their meeting, which had been scheduled for 12.40 pm on Thursday, the MVA MPs proceed ed to Shah’s office any way. There, they issued a statement, which was also emailed to the minister.

In addition to detail ing the sentiments of the Marathi-speaking populace of the border areas such as Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani, the statement also de tails the on-ground situation, which has turned violent. Fur ther, the MVA MPs have also demanded

The Union Home Minister had given time to meet NCP, Shiv Sena - UBT and Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha at 12.40 pm on Thursday

that the Centre inter vene to stem the con stantly rising tensions immediately.

“We went together to Shah’s office to make this statement to un derline that the opposi tion parties in Maha rashtra are equally se rious about this issue,” one MP said.

Congress party is committed to fulfill the 10 promises made to the people of Himachal Pradesh.

This victory is the victory of the reso lution of the people of Himachal for the issues and progress. Many best wishes to all the leaders of the party. Your hard work paid off.

NCP, Cong MPs submit ‘Suspension of Biz’ notices in RS

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Vandana Chavan on Thursday submitted a ‘Suspension of Busi ness’ notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss “ram pant outrageous” re marks by state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari targeting iconic leaders, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The no tice was moved under Rule 267 to discuss “dis respect the people of Maharashtra are facing at the hands of their Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari through his outrageous remarks on the revered iconic lead ers of not only the state,

but the country.”

Similarly, Congress MP Rajani Patil also pre sented a notice on the same issue. The contro versy pertaining to Ko shyari erupted in No vember after he called the 17th century warri or king an icon of “old en times” at an event.

His statement sparked a massive uproar and drew censure from Mar atha organizations and opposition leaders alike.

‘ENQUIRY AGAINST UDDHAV, KIN OVER INFLATED ASSETS’

Mumbai: A preliminary enquiry has been initiated against former CM Uddhav Thackeray and his family on a complaint about alleged disproportionate assets, Mumbai police told Bombay High Court on Thursday. Uddhav Thackeray’s counsel Aspi Chinoy objected to this and said it was an “abuse of the process of law.” P2

Kartikey Dev Singh

Union Amit Shah on Thursday can celled his appointment with Parliamentarians from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance comprising the Con gress, Nationalist Con gress Party and the Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray after the issue of bor der dispute was raised in the Lok Sabha.

the official reason given was that Shah could not reach Parliament House on time, those familiar with the issue say the fact is that the Union government

Jodhpur: 60 people got injured and a oneand-a-half-year-old toddler died after five gas cylinders burst at a wedding ceremony in Jodhpur. The incident happened at Bhungra village near Shergarh on Thursday.

DELHI HC GRANTS BAIL TO FORMER MUMBAI TOP COP SANJAY PANDEY

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail to ex-Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey in the money laundering case registered by ED in relation to alleged illegal phone tapping of NSE employees from 2009 to 2017.

Moni Sharma

PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh being garlanded during a celebration after the party’s victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections, at party headquarters, in Delhi on Thursday.

—PHOTO

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with his sister and party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Cong shifts MLAs to Chandigarh, to hold meeting in Shimla today

A B’DAY GIFT TO SONIA: CONGRESS GETS HIMACHAL IN IT’S KITTY!

HP CM Jai Ram Thakur sub

his resignation to Guv RV Arlekar on Thursday.

Hearty congratula tions to all Congress workers and leaders for their hard work and dedication. Rahul Gandhi Senior Cong Leader

Mallikarjun Kharge Congress President

Priyanka Gandhi Cong General Secy

ormer Congress President Sonia Gandhi turns 76 today. Sonia reached Sawai Madhopur on Thurs day to celebrate her birthday with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra & other family members today.

Prelim enquiry against Uddhav, kin over inflated assets: Police

of the state govern ment’s stand.

“The Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiat ed a preliminary en quiry into the allega tions,” Pai told the court.

With Gujarat, HP polls done, Aaditya Thackeray challenges Shinde-led govt to elections

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A preliminary enquiry has been initi ated against former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his fam ily on a complaint about alleged disproportionate assets, Mumbai police told Bombay High Court on Thursday.

Public Prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai in formed this to the HC after a division bench of Justices Dheeraj Thakur and Valmiki Menezes re served its order on a pub lic interest litigation. It sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Inves tigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directo rate (ED) against the Thackerays for allegedly amassing wealth dispro portionate to known sources of income.

The Thackerays sought dismissal of the PIL on the ground that it was filed on assump

ABUSE OF POWER?

tions and without any factual foundation.

The petition, filed by city resident Gauri Bhide, sought a direction to the CBI and the ED to

conduct a “thorough and impartial” investigation against Thackeray and his family.

The bench heard the matter briefly in the

NCP must work to fill political vacuum in Maha, says Pawar

Mumbai (PTI): Na tionalist Congress Par ty (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his party was capa ble of filling the politi cal vacuum in Maha rashtra and asked the state leadership to work on building the next generation of leaders.

Addressing the state party executive meet ing, Pawar said there is always a political vacu um (in any state), which was filled by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.

“Such a vacuum ex ists in Maharashtra and NCP can fill it by emerging as an alterna tive. We have to work to unite all forces which oppose the BJP’s ideol ogy,” Pawar said.

Even though civic

and local body polls are delayed, the NCP lead ership in the state shouldn’t be compla cent and must utilize this time to encourage a new breed of leader ship, the former Union minister said.

It was NCP which took the lead to organ ize a protest against the state government scheduled on Decem ber 17 in Mumbai, Pa war asserted.

Speaking on the sim mering border row with Karnataka, Pawar claimed Maharashtra’s stand on the rights of

Marathi-speaking peo ple there was taken to a different level by the government in the southern state.

“The state govern ment in Karnataka used its machinery to suppress the Marathi speaking people and now they hold the win ter session of their leg islature in Belagavi,” he said.

Pawar also expressed anger at a NCP taluka president taking the lead to announce that some villages in Na shik district want to merge with Gujarat.

morning session and closed it for orders.

However, in the after noon session, Pai men tioned the matter once again to inform the court

Uddhav Thackeray’s counsel Aspi Chinoy objected to this and said it was an “abuse of the process of law.”

Bhide, before filing the petition, had sent a letter to the Mumbai po lice commissioner on her allegations.

However, on Thurs day, Bhide told the court that she has not been informed about any such enquiry initiated by the police.

“My request is that the central agencies should be directed to conduct a probe,” Bhide told the court.

The plea stated Bhide was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fight against cor ruption and claimed she has evidence to show the Thackeray family accu mulated properties and assets illegally.

It further alleged that Uddhav Thackeray and his family never dis closed any particular service, profession and business as their official source of income.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: With the BJP is on a winning streak with a clear ma jority in the Gujarat elections, the Congress has won in Himachal Pradesh, Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thack eray has now thrown down the gauntlet, challenging the Shinde faction and the BJP in Maharashtra to face elections.

Speaking to the me dia in Mumbai on Thursday, the Thack eray scion said, “I con gratulate the winning candidates in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Now, elections should also be held in Maha rashtra. Polls are al ready pending in Mum bai, Thane, Pune and other municipalities.

Two charred to death as MSRTC bus hits 7 vehicles

Nashik (PTI): Two per sons were charred to death after a Maharash tra State Road Trans port Corporation (MSRTC) bus hit seven vehicles in Nashik district on Thursday, police said. The acci dent took place near Palse village on the Nashik-Pune highway around 11.45 am, said an official.

A state transport bus, on its way from Rajgu

ing from Sinnar, he said.

“Two motorcyclists were trapped between the buses and two were charred to death as their bikes caught fire. One person received serious injuries. The bus com ing from Rajgurunagar also caught fire,” the of ficial said.

Locals broke the win dows of the burning bus and rescued all 43 pas sengers, he added. Two

fire tenders from Na shik Road fire station and one rescue van from Shingada Talao fire sta tion were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused, the police offi cial said.

Some passengers in the bus which caught fire received minor inju ries and were being treated at Nashik Mu nicipal Corporation’s Bytco Hospital, he said.

DEPUTY CM SAYS BJP WILL WIN BMC WITH ‘ALLIANCE PARTNER’

Also, elections must be held in a democratic manner in Maharash tra.”

He added: “In a de mocracy, one party has come (to power) in one state and another in the second. Now the time has come to hold elec tions in Maharashtra. Elections for 40 seats in the state Assembly and 12 in the Parliament

were supposed to be held, but that has not happened yet. Now, there can be no prob lem in holding elec tions in Maharashtra.” In the 2017 BMC elec tions, BJP won 82 of the BMC’s 227 seats and eight of the 10 signifi cant municipalities, while the Shiv Sena fin ished marginally ahead with 84.

MUMBAI AIRPORT ISSUES ADVISORY; ASKS PASSENGERS TO ARRIVE 3.5 HOURS EARLY

Mumbai: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has issued a passenger advisory. The airport of ficials have requested passengers travelling to international destinations to arrive at least three-and-a-half hours early before their boarding time while domestic travellers have been advised to arrived at least two-and-a-half hours prior to their boarding time. “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Interna tional Airport is already seeing a surge in passenger volume with the onset of the festive season, and the numbers are expected to further rise in the coming weeks. We request all our passengers, transiting through the airport, to allocate additional time for travel related formalities and mandatory security protocols,” the advisory read.

RAILWAY STATIONS IN NAVI MUMBAI TO GET LIFTS, ESCALATORS

Mumbai roads to be pothole-free in 2.5 years: Shinde

Mumbai (PTI): Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said the roads of Mumbai will be cement concretised and pothole-free in the next two-and-half years.

While speaking at the launch of the Brihan mumbai Municipal Cor poration’s (BMC) ‘Mum bai Beautification Pro ject’ at Gateway of India, Shinde said that within one or two months, there will be a visible change in the city.

Informing that the BMC had invited bids for cement concretisa tion works worth

Rs6,000 crore, the chief minister said he had asked the corporation to give contracts to re puted firms instead of issuing it for small patches (piecemeal).

Shinde further added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked his government to carry out radical change in Mumbai in keeping with its status as the country’s finan cial capital and an in ternational city.

Speaking on the occa sion, Deputy Chief Min ister Devendra Fadnavis asked people to accept

some troubles while roads are being concre tised as it would result in pothole-free streets for the next 30 years without any need for repairs.

AMBITIOUS PLAN

Without naming for mer chief minister Ud dhav Thackeray or his Shiv Sena (UBT) party, Fadnavis said those who couldn’t come up with these initiatives had tak en a meeting on Wednes day to bring three-four parties together to come up with a strategy to find flaws in these works and have even formed a task force with this aim.

Mumbai: Railway stations in Navi Mumbai are set to get escalators and elevators soon. CIDCO, which built the stations on the trans-harbour line and maintains them, has started the process of tenders. Speaking to the media, Thane MP Rajan Vichare said, “CIDCO has begun processing tenders for escalators and eleva tors for all stations under it in Navi Mumbai and soon all of them will have these facilities.” Though swank and multi-storied, most of the stations in Navi Mumbai do not have escalators and elevators even as all other stations on the Mumbai suburban railway network belong ing to Indian Railways have gradually started the facilities. According to the sources, currently only a few stations in Navi Mum bai, such as Kharghar and Panvel, have escalators.

TRIBAL STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN SCIENCE CONGRESS

Thane: A science project by students of predominantly tribal Jawhar in Palghar district has been selected for presentation at the 30th National Children Science Congress 2022, an official said on Thursday. Science projects made by Pratima Chandar Bhoye and Rohit Devram Koti of Shri Jayesh war Vidya Mandir in Palgh gar and Virjeet Phunde and Nivida Pagar of Saraswati Secondary School of Thane will be presented at the 108th Indian Science Con gress to be held at Nagpur in January. The selection was done online after 3,000 projects from 36 districts were registered, and 264 of these were selected by a panel of experts. According to the Chairperson of the National Children Science Congress, Maharashtra, Surendra Dighe this year’s theme is ‘Understanding the Eco System for Health and Wellbeing’.

MSEDCL VASHI RUNS CAMPAIGN TO CURB ELECTRICITY THEFT, PENALIZES 56 PERSONS

“Repeatedly the same contractor, same work and the same money. Every year this formula was going on. A decision has been taken to stop

this formula in the mu nicipal corporation,” Fadnavis said, adding there will be transpar ency in allotting and im plementing these works.

Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the civic body will complete the black topping of 120km of asphalt roads within 30 to 45 days.

Navi Mumbai: As part of a regular pick-up campaign by the Vashi Sub-Division of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) checked 2,131 meters of consumers and penalized a total of 56 consumers for stealing electricity and illegal connection. The campaign was carried out from April 2022 to November 2022. The action was taken against 34 violators under section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003 for stealing stolen electricity and under section 126 of the same act for unauthorized electricity connec tion. The campaign was carried out under the supervision of Vashi Division Execu tive Engineer Ms Shamkant Borse and Additional Executive Engineer of Vashi Sub-division Ravindra Jadhav to reduce power loss.

CM Eknath Shinde and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis during BMC's event 'Mumbai Beautification Project' on Thursday.

Bombay High Court reserves order on PIL seeking probe; petitioner seeks intervention of central agencies

Aaditya and Uddhav Thackeray at the Dussehra rally held at Shivaji Park in Oct this year. —FILE PHOTO

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fad navis on Thursday exuded confidence that the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena combine would win the upcoming Brihanmumbai Mu nicipal Corporation (BMC) elections. “We will win the BMC elections along with our alliance partners,” he said. In September, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with party leaders in Mumbai and had set a target of 150 seats for the BJP-Shinde Sena alliance in the next BMC polls.

I congratulate the winning candidates in HP and Gujarat. Now, elections should also be held in Maharash tra. Polls are already pending in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and other municipalities. Also, elections must be held in a democratic man ner in Maharashtra.

—Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena MLA

Sharad Pawar —FILE PHOTO

Urges workers ‘not to be complacent’ and encourage new leadership breed

BMC GETS ACTION PLAN

TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY

First India Bureau

Mumbai: City record ed “poor” air quality index on a fourth con secutive day. Mumbai’s average Air Quality In dex (AQI) on Wednes day was of 271—catego rised as “poor”.

Due to the alarming situation, all 24 admin istrative wards have been directed to take immediate remedial measures to deal with rise in AQI levels by the Brihanmumbai Munic ipal Corporation (BMC)-appointed Aira vat Enviro Engineers and Consultants.

A group of experts has now asked the BMC to clean road dust and sprinkle water. Addi tionally, air pollution hotspots and micro hot spots, such as BKC junc tion or a potholed road should be identified.

The experts have sug gested a ban on open garbage burning but security guards in housing societies are known to burn wood

during winter.

“Trucks that come and go at construction sites lead to dust being emitted. Industrial are as of Chembur and Ma hul add to air pollution, which will be moni tored. These small steps are a part of our action plan,” head of Airawat

Edu inst owner conned of `15 lakh, six held

Enviro Engineers and Consultants said on condition of anonymity.

The consultants held a special meeting earli er this month with the civic body and pointed to four wards that showed rise in AQI lev els, much above 200. They are: A Ward in

Colaba-Churchgate, M East Ward in Mankhurd, P North Ward in Malad and R (Central) Ward in Borivali.

An AQI between 200 and 300 is rated in “poor” category, while an AQI of over 300 is placed in the “very poor” category. AQI lev

REMEDIAL MEASURES

Cycling or walking to locations which would take only five minutes by car is a smart way to improve air quality

Opting for public transport will also reduce both pollution and traffic

Contractors should spray water before and during the demolition of a building

Vacuum machines that absorb dust can also be used

Cutting marble, granite or aluminium should not be done at home

Patients living close to the dumping ground should keep air puri fiers on, especially at night

el’s increase can be due to local factors such as burning green waste or construction sites pre sent near monitoring stations.

Traffic curbs imposed in city to ease traffic woes

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Mumbai traffic police on Wednesday issued an order prohibiting vehi cles from loading and unloading goods, stop ping or parking vehi cles in certain areas. Deputy Commissioner of Police (TrafficSouth), Gaurav Singh issued the notification in order to prevent ob struction and inconven ience to the public and to maintain easy traffic movements.

“The reconstruction of the Carnac Bunder flyover is underway in the Pydhonie Traffic Division jurisdiction. Therefore, to avoid traffic jams and ensure

Forest dept captures ‘conflict tiger’

First India Bureau

Yavatmal: The Pand harkawda forest divi sion in Yavatmal dis trict have tranquilized and captured a “conflict tiger” that had killed one person in the Kolar area last month, a forest official said.

NO FOUL PLAY IN DEATH: OFFICIALS

smooth traffic move ment in commercial areas such as Narsi Na tha Street, Katha Bazar, Janabai Rokade Marg, Kazi Syed Street, Bhandari Street, Sam

uel Street, Nandlal Jani Road and Keshavji Naik Road in Masjid Bunder area, small and large goods vehicles (light, medium and heavy) are prohibited from loading and un loading goods, stop ping and parking,” read the order. Goods vehicles sup plying essential servic es have been exempted from the restrictions. These include vegeta ble, milk, bread, and bakery products, drink ing water tankers, pet rol, diesel, and kero sene. Ambulances, gov ernment and semi-gov ernment vehicles, and school buses are also exempted from the restrictions.

NEW VERSOVA BRIDGE LIKELY TO OPEN IN EARLY 2023, TO HELP EASE TRAFFIC JAMS

Mumbai: 6 persons have been caught by the Tilak Nagar police in connec tion with a fraud on the pretext of exchanging Rs15 lakh with fake cur rency notes. The owner of an educational insti tute was asked to bring Rs15 lakh and get fake currency notes worth Rs75 lakh in return.

The accused had called the complainant to Ghat kopar East with the mon ey, where another man posing as a cop took it away. The kingpin of the racket is still at large.

The victim, a 25-yearold founder of an educa

tional institute in Wada, Palghar, was told by one of his friends that if he had currency in cash, he knew some persons who could give him fake notes three times the amount. The police said it was not clear yet why the Palghar resident wanted the fake notes.

“After he was assured about getting the money, the complainant went to Ghatkopar in the after noon on November 25. He waited at the spot but when accused didn’t ar rive, he started walking towards the railway sta tion. That’s when the gang acted,” DCP (zone 6) Hemsingh Rajput said.

Pandharkawda Depu ty Conservator of Forest (DCF) Kiran Jagtap said the tiger was seen mov ing around very close to Bramhani and Kolar vil lages last month.

“There was fear among the villagers as

incidents of tiger at tack took place very close to the villages. Hence, the forest de partment decided to tranquilize the con cerned tiger and re move it from the area,” he said on Wednesday.

Ahead of the opera tion, the forest depart

Thane: The female leopard whose carcass was found in Thane’s Yeoor forest area on Novem ber 25 died of natural causes, forest department officials confirmed on Thursday, ruling out foul play. Deputy Director (North) of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) Uday Dhage said the post-mortem conducted by veterinary doctors on the carcass of the leopardess, aged around five years, confirmed that she died a natural death. “There was nothing suspicious in the death of the animal,” the official said in a release.

ment started tracking and monitoring the ti ger. “Later, the Amra vati Rapid Rescue team succeeded in tranquiliz ing the tiger (on Wednes

day morning) near the Pimpri substation in Kolar. The concerned tiger has been sent to Gorewada rescue centre in Nagpur,” he said.

Now, team formed to check seat belt compliance

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Now, the seat belt rule is required to be strictly followed by all vehicles crossing toll booths along the Mum bai-Pune Expressway. A team of IRB Infra (pri vate company) will be stationed at several booths to keep a check if the driver and front co-passengers are wear

ing seat belts. The rules are also to be followed by all state transport buses while driving on

On Wednesday, Re

(RTO) conducted a meet ing with Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Maharashtra State Road Development Corpora tion (MSRDC), Public Works Department, traf fic police and highway police to partake in the awareness drives along Mumbai-Pune Express way and National Highway 48.

Mumbai: Work on the new four-lane bridge over Vasai Creek is nearing completion and will likely open for public in early 2023. It will help mitigate traffic jams on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, NHAI officials said. One of the two existing bridges on either side of the Versova bridge near Ghodbunder on National Highway 8 is very old and was repaired in 2013-14.

33-YR-OLD LABOUR CONTRACTOR DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUND DRUGS WORTH

Thane: Labour contractor and local goon Ganesh Kokate (33), was shot by a motorcycle-borne person and has succumbed to his injuries, police said on Thursday. Rivalry is suspected to be the motive behind the killing. The victim had several cases registered against him, police said. He was shot near Kasheli village on the Thane-Bhiwandi road.

LAKH SEIZED IN MUMBAI, 1 HELD

Mumbai: The AntiNarcotics Cell seized 100 grams of the banned drug mephedrone worth Rs20 lakh from a 26-year-old man in Dharavi, an official said. The accused was held while loitering in a suspicious manner near the Sion-Bandra Link Road. A case has been filed under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added.

FIRE IN MULTI-STOREY GOREGAON AREA; NO CASUALTIES REPORTED SO FAR

Mumbai: A ground-plus-four-storey building in Goregaon caught fire on Thursday, but nobody was injured, a civic official said.The incident occurred in ‘Nisarg’, a building located opposite Goregaon police station. “The fire was confined to a ground floor shop and the office of deputy collector (encroachment) located on the first floor of the building,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers celebrate the party’s win in the Gujarat Assembly elections outside its office at Nariman Point in Mumbai on Thursday.

—PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

the highways and ex pressways .

gional Transport Office

First India Bureau

The city has seen poor air quality for four consecutive days, which could cause breathing difficulties and worsen heart conditions

Several neighbourhoods in Mumbai have registered AQI readings worse than that of Delhi.

—PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

Tilak Nagar police with the cash recovered from accused

` 20

MODI MAGIC GRAND SLAM IN GUJARAT –IMAGE SAVER IN HIMACHAL

what meets the eye. With Ra hul Gandhi and the entire Congress brass overtly preoc cupied with Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gujarat was left only with the state leaders – most of whom are discredited, dis gruntled, demotivated. Last minute infusion of Ashok Ge hlot couldn’t lift the morale of the disillusioned state appa ratus. Quite unlike the 2017 elections when Ashok Gehlot had plotted the entire election machinery into a near win ning machine – after all 2017 polls saw the best perfor mance of Congress post 2002, 77 seats when contrasted with 99 of BJP.

SC UNHAPPY WITH DHANKHAR QUESTIONING ITS JUDICIAL POWER

Little did the Congress or AAP realize that both got played by none other than the BJP strategists. Gujarat was the pride – the prime jewel in 2022 election and PM Modi, simply had to bedazzle the crown. And he did it.. This is the biggest take away from Gujarat & Himachal elections –Bhupendra Bhai walks away with the bigger winning margin than Narendra Bhai – but then, it’s Narendra Bhai Modi, who is the Krishna of Indian politics

AJAY KUMAR

154seats out of 182 in Gujarat, the clarion call of 150+ final ly came through. Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi es timate it, at all? It seems so, as the votes finally got count ed. In all his campaign speeches PM Modi enthused the Gujarati voters to make Bhupendra Bhai’s winning margin, much larger than Narendra Bhai. No doubt, Modi’s self-respect resonat ing with Gujarati Pride, de livered. 27 years of BJP dom inance got another 5 years of resounding success and 149 seats won over by Congress in 1985, got washed away in the swath of Modi support. Then why did Himachal Pradesh retain its inherent character of changing the ruling party every 5 years? Reasons for maintaining the 37 year old legacy are a plen ty. But first, we need to bear in our minds what most Himachali journalists put their money on – if there is any national leader who knows Himachal as the back

of ones’ hand, it’s PM Modi. Because it was Modi who had scripted the victory of Prem Kumar Dhumal with his in novative organizational changes way back in 90s. So, what happened? Frankly “Congressization” of BJP happened in Himachal. The cadre-based BJP had conflict ing ambitions at play, faction alism played its hand at full and over dependence on claims of development un dertaken by Jai Ram Thakur, backfired. Voters across the state knew of the three con flicting camps at play in Himachal politics. Voter apa thy exhibited in the high handed approach of local BJP leaders had reached leg endary heights. Farmers were at loggers end with the big agri-tech firms perceived as modern colonizers. And the most vocal government staff rued the implementa tion of New Pension scheme. Most of all, women voters found the going tough as pan demic Corona ate away their savings and denied them al ternate income sources. Had it not been for the personal intervention by PM Modi, which included direct phone calls to rebel candidates, BJP could have been limited to negligent 15 out 68 seats. It was Modi’s concerted cam

MODI HAS GUJARAT UNDER HIS SPELL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mojo still has Gu jarat under its spell. During an election rally in Kaprada, Modi said that he was there to beat all records. And, that’s what he did. The Bharatiya Janata Party ensured its sev enth win in a row. The party has been in power in Gujarat for 27 years yet there was no sign of any anti-incumbency factor as it marched to its highest ever tally of 150 plus seats leaving the 127 seats it won in 2002 way behind. Re placing four chief ministers in one year also did not have any impact and unlike Himachal Pradesh there was no rebellion either. That only goes to show Modi’s iron grip on the state.

In all his campaign speeches, PM Modi enthused the Gujarati voters to make Bhupendra Bhai’s winning margin, much larger than Narendra Bhai. No doubt, Modi’s self-respect resonating with Gujarati Pride, delivered.

27 years of BJP dominance got another 5 years of resounding success and 149 seats won over by Congress in 1985, got washed away in the swath of Modi support

paign in the hill state, tai lored with mass contact pro gram banking on PM Modi’s past experiences that saved the looming rout. So, every seat the BJP secured beyond 15 seats, should in effect be credited to Modi magic. What then worked in Guja rat? After all BJP has been in power for the past 27 years –Modi has not been active in Gujarat for over 8 years – com pared to the 13 years of Modi rule, the dynamism of incum bent chief ministers pales into oblivion – so is it just, the son of soil image of Modi that made the Gujarati voter queue up? Actually December 2022 polls has been more than

Top this lackluster halfhearted initiative of Congress with the active participation of Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), post their sojourn in Surat Municipal polls. The “Free”“Free”, sale announced by AAP for monthly electricity bill/monthly dole for women/ Mohalla Clinic in localities or for the auto rides by Arvind Kejriwal, roadshows of Man ish Sisodia or radical-abusive statements on PM Modi by AAP State chief – AAP, gave Congress a run for its money during the election coverage. Till the first phase polling BJP ensured that in national mindset, the Gujarat elec tions were all about BJP & AAP. While Congress grap pled with this perception slight, Modi and his core team concentrated in the rural and tribal areas of Gujarat – the core bastion of the Congress. The Prime Minister’s road show at Amba - the 50 km long road show near Ahmedabad, the focused group rallies host ed by Amit Shah and J P Na dda, the Jan Yatra covering 150+ constituencies starting from 4 corners of Gujarat, were all efforts to claim the Congress bastion.

Little did the Congress or AAP realize that both got played by none other than the BJP strategists. Gujarat was the pride – the prime jewel in 2022 election and PM Modi, simply had to bedazzle the crown. And he did it.. This is the biggest take away from Gujarat & Himachal elec tions – Bhupendra Bhai walks away with the bigger winning margin than Naren dra Bhai – but then, it’s Nar endra Bhai Modi, who is the Krishna of Indian politics.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

BJP has been in power in Gujarat for 27 years yet there was no sign of any anti-incumbency factor as it marched to its highest ever tally of 150 plus seats leaving 127 seats it won in 2002 way behind. Replacing 4 CMs in one year also did not have any impact and unlike HP there was no rebellion either. That only goes to show Modi’s iron grip on the state

For the Congress the shock of a humiliating defeat in Gujarat will be more over whelming than the euphoria of victory in Himachal Pradesh where it was closing in on the majority mark. De spite BJP’s best efforts it could not change the state’s tradition of ousting the in cumbent party from power. Despite having the numbers the Congress will find it dif ficult to form a government as its MLAs are vulnerable to temptations.

Nothing, however, explains the Congress losing around 62 seats in Gujarat except that it went down without even a semblance of resist ance. Former party president Rahul Gandhi took time off from his Bharat Jodo Yatra to address only two rallies. Mal likarjun Kharge, the new Congress president, had no impact on the voters. He may have also conceded advan tage to the BJP by comparing Modi with Ravana. The party must collectively introspect.

Tussle over judicial appointments have the making of a turf war between the leg islature and the judi ciary with a Supreme Court bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Vikram Nath and Abhay S. Oka expressing its displeasure over the remarks made by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar who, in his maiden speech, slammed the Supreme Court for invalidating National Judicial Appointments Commis sion (NJAC). Recalling the “his toric mandate” for the 99th Con stitutional Amendment Bill which paved the way for NJAC, Dhankhar said that the undoing of the mandate by the Supreme Court was “a glaring instance of severe compromise of parlia mentary sovereignty and disre gard of the mandate of the peo ple…” He hinted that Parliament could discuss the matter afresh.

Responding to Dhankhar’s comments the Supreme Court said that “while Parliament has the right to enact a law, the pow er to scrutinize it lies with the court. The bench said that the “comments are not well taken” and asked the attorney-general to “advise them”.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

@nitin_gadkari

MAHENG/2022/14652

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Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra

Editor: Kartikey Dev Singh responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Bible

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

Jai Gujarat, Vijay Gujarat! Reposing faith in the service and good governance of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, congratulations to the people of Gujarat for blessing @BJP4India with an unprecedented victory. This grand victory is the victory of the people of Gujarat, the victory of the faith of women, youth, farmers and the poor.

Nitin Gadkari

The resounding victory of the BJP in Gujarat is the victory of the unwavering faith and affection of the people of Gujarat towards the BJP and Modi ji. The politics of development done by the BJP in Gujarat, the public has once again stamped on it. Many thanks to the people of Gujarat for this trust.

The writer is a senior journalist

VOTERS’ VERDICT

JAI GUJARAT, VIJAY GUJARAT!

Gandhinagar (Agen cies): Gujarat CM Bhu pendra Patel took over in September 2021 after his BJP removed in cumbent Vijay Rupani, and is set to be sworn-in again on December 12 after the party’s land slide victory in the As sembly elections.

The Patel ministry totalled 25, including the Chief Minister, but for the two-phase De cember elections, five ministers were denied tickets. Of the other 20, the Chief Minister and 18 others have got reelected to the Assembly.

While Patel has won with a massive margin of 1,92,263 votes, other colleagues who won with large margins are Purnesh Modi (104,637), Harsh Sanghvi (131,675), Kanu Desai (97,164), Nar esh Patel (93,166), and Manish Vakil (98,597).

Other ministers who have won are Jitu Va ghani, Rishikesh Patel, Raghavji Patel, Kirit sinh Rana, Arjunsinh Chauhan, Jagdish Pan chal, Jitu Chaudhary, Mukesh Patel, Nimisha Suthar, Kuberbhai Din dor, Gajendrasinh Par mar, Vinubhai Moradia and Devabhai Malam. But, minister Kirtisinh Vaghela lost the poll.

“It’s victory of PM’s leadership, defeat of anti-national forces”

Gandhinagar (PTI): With the Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) set for a landslide victory in Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday credited Prime Minister Naren dra Modi for it and said the people of the state have rejected the antinational elements in the Assembly election.

Gujarat BJP presi dent C R Paatil said Bhupendra Patel would continue as the state’s chief minister and his swearing-in ceremony would be held on De

cember 12. The Bharati ya Janata Party with a vote share of nearly 54 per cent was ahead in 152 out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat, as per

GUJ HAS SOUNDED BUGLE FOR BJP’S SUCCESS IN 2024

LS POLL: HIMANTA

Guwahati (PTI): Assam

AAP’S CM CANDIDATE ISUDAN GADHVI LOSES BY OVER 19,000 VOTES

z RECORD BROKEN #1: Biggest Haul For BJP

z The BJP got a whopping 86% of the total seats in the state.

z It is, so far, the highest number of seats that the BJP has won in Gujarat...ever!

z RECORD BROKEN #2: The Biggest Ever in Gujarat

z Not just is it the BJP’s highest total ever in Gu jarat, it is also the highest ever total by any party in an Assembly election in the state!

the latest trends, and could surpass its previ ous best showing of 127 seats in 2002 when Modi was the state’s chief minister.

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that BJP’s win in Gujarat poll has sounded the bugle for the party’s success in the 2024 LS polls. The people of Gujarat, where BJP recorded seventh win in the assembly poll, have showered their love and admiration for PM Modi, he said.“Gujarat Bugle for In dia! By showering (sic) this historic mandate out of their love and admiration for Hon PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, people have shown the path for 2024,” Sarma tweeted.

MEANWHILE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH...

Lucknow (PTI):

Devbhumi Dwarka: (ANI): AAP’s CM candidate Isu dan Gadhvi lost his seat by 19,000 votes as the BJP raced to its best-ever result in the western state. The journalistturned-politician, a native of Pipaliya village of Devb humi Dwarka district, was born in a farming family. He lost his seat to a BJP candidate. Now, the AAP is expected to force a change in the binary politics of the state and present the BJP

more

Congress sweeps away the apple belt

Shimla (Agencies):

TThe result of the Himachal Pradesh Leg islative Assembly elec tion 2022 is out and Con gress has swept away the apple belt in the Shimla district except Chopal.

Shimla district has eight seats which in clude five seats of apple growing belts Rohru, Jubbal-Kotkhai, TheogKumarsain, Rampur Bushahr and Chopal. All these areas are ma jor producers of apple and stone fruits.

In Theog, former Himachal Pradesh Con gress Committee (HPCC) President Kul deep Singh Rathore won

by 5,269 votes, in Rohru, Mohan Lal Bragta re tained his seat as he won by 19,339 votes.

In Rampur, Congress candidate Nand Lal faced stiff competition

BAGHEL SAYS NEED TO ‘PROTECT’ HP CONG MLAS FROM ‘POACHING’ BID

Raipur: As the Assembly poll trends showed the Congress was likely to get a majority in Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said the party needed to protect its MLAs in the hill state from any possibility of horse-trading. The BJP can “go to any level”, he claimed. The Congress surged ahead of the BJP on 39 of the 68 seats with one seat already under its belt, while the ruling party has won four seats and was ahead in 21 constituencies, as per trends from Himachal Pradesh where the counting of votes was underway.

The only defeat Con gress faced in the apple belt of the state is Cho pal where BJP MLA Balbir Verma was able to retain his seat. Ver ma defeated Congress General Secretary Ra jneesh Kimta by a mar gin of 5,033 votes.

and

z RECORD BROKEN #3: BJP Bests BJP, Vote Share Is Proof

z Prior to this, the BJP’s best performance was in 2002, when they won 127 out of 182 seats. After that, even though they remained in power, their seat tally only dipped, garnering 117 seats in 2007, 115 in 2012 and 99 in 2017.

OTHER BYPOLLS

SP defends Mainpuri, BJP wrests 2 assembly seats, loses one, Cong retains 2

from BJP candidate Kaul Singh Negi as he won by a difference of 567 votes.

In Jubbal-Kotkhai, Ro hit Thakur retained his seat after he defeated

BJP candidate Chetan Bragta by 5,067 votes.

The seat was vacated after former MLA Nar inder Bragta passed away in 2021. Later in the by-elections, Con

gress candidate Rohit Thakur defeated his son Chetan Bragta who con tested the elections as an independent candi date after he was denied a ticket by BJP.

Congress was also able to win Shimla (Urban) seat after a gap of one and a half decade while the party retained its seats in Kasumpti and Shimla (Rural) after An irudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh, son of former six-time Chief Minister Virb hadra Singh won by a margin of 8,655 and 13,860 votes.

Will Kharge forge his team in party’s third session?

Shamsher Singh

New Delhi: It is now al most certain that Con gress President Mall ikarjun Kharge is not going to form his team as of now. His team will be formed only after the Congress session to be held at the end of Febru ary. This was indicated in the first meeting of the massive steering committee he had formed after becoming the president. Sonia Gandhi was also present

in the meeting held on Sunday and there Kharge gave a sound ad vice to the party leaders. It was also clear from his advice that even though the office bear ers of the party have resigned, they will con tinue to work as before. That’s why it is surpris ing as to what was the need to resign? When Randeep Surjewala will continue to be in charge of Karnataka and Avi nash Pandey will con tinue to be in charge of

Jharkhand, then what was the point of them resigning from the post of General Secretary?

Keep in mind that on

October 26, the day Kharge took over, all the general secretaries had resigned. But no new appointment was

made in their place and no other leader was made in-charge in the states. All the general secretaries who re signed are members of the steering committee. Kharge asked them how many times a month they visit the states un der their charge and what is the status of the organization there at the district and block level. In a way it is clear that all the old office bearers will continue to work as before. All gen

eral secretaries, secre taries, communication team and all spokesper sons will continue to work as before and re port to Kharge. That’s why Kharge is in no hurry to form a new team. At the end of February, there will be a party convention in Chhattisgarh, in which the All India Congress Committee will seal Kharge’s ele vation as president and after that he will form a new team.

New Delhi/Lucknow (PTI): The Samajwadi Party retained the highprofile Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, while the BJP wrested Rampur Sadar assembly seat in UP from it and Kurhani constituency in Bihar from the ruling Nitish Kumar-led alliance in results of the December 5 by-elections an nounced on Thursday.

The ruling BJP in UP, however, lost Khatauli to SP ally RLD. The Con gress retained its two assembly seats - Bhanu pratappur in Chhattis garh and Sardarshahar Assembly seat in Ra jasthan’s Churu dis trict. The party is in power in the two states.

The BJD continued its dominance in Odisha, winning Padampur seat in Bargarh district.

Out of the six assem bly seats in five states where bypolls were held on Monday, the Con gress and the BJP won two each while one each went to the BJD and RLD after counting of votes on Thursday.

Dimple Yadav, the

Rampur: The BJP on Thursday won Rampur Sadar seat for the first time as its candidate Akash Saxena defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party rival Asim Raja. Bypoll to the Rampur Sadar seat, consid ered an Azam Khan stronghold, was necessitated after Khan was sentenced to three years in a hate speech case.

wife of SP chief Akh ilesh Yadav, defeated her nearest rival and BJP candidate Raghuraj Sin gh Shakya by 2,88,461 votes in Mainpuri, a pocket borough of SP patriarch Mulayam Sin gh Yadav’s family.

In Bihar, BJP’s Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) by 3,645 votes in Kurhani seat. The JD(U) had snapped ties with the BJP four months ago.

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel with state BJP chief CR Paatil and others during a press conference after the party’s win in state assembly elections, in Gandhinagar on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Guj CM Patel and state BJP chief CR Paatil show victory signs.

IT’S PEOPLE LOVE FOR PM’S GOOD GOVERNANCE, SAYS YOGI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adity anath on Thursday said the BJP’s grand victory in the Gujarat polls is an expres sion of people’s immense love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good governance. Adityanath also con gratulated all work ers and members of the Gujarat BJP.

with a

persistent

strategic opponent than the Congress.

BJP BREACHES AZAM KHAN’S STRONGHOLD

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel speaks to media in Raipur.

CONSTRUCTION OF 4,766 KMS OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

COMPLETED TILL NOV: GADKARI

New Delhi (PTI):

The Ministry of Road Transport and High ways (MoRTH) has set a target of construct ing 12,200 kilometres of national highways during 2022-23, against which 4,766 kilome tres have been con structed till November, 2022, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said under Bharatmala

ment of highways/ expressways in the country, which facilitate logistic efficiency to India economy, 35 Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) are to be de veloped. These MMLPs would act as major cargo consolidation and distribution hubs, Gad kari added. According to him, under Bharat mala Pariyojana 191 points of congestion were identified on the entire network. Gadkari said of the 191 choke points, de-congestion projects have already been completed in 56 congestion points and jects are under implementa tion in 83 points.

Puri, Adhir spar in LS over Ujjwala subsidy

New Delhi: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ran jan Chowdhury entered into a war of words over Ujjwala scheme subsidy and gas prices in the house on Thursday.

The drama took place during Question Hour, when BJP MP from Bal aghat, Dhal Singh Bisen sought to know from Puri, the quantum of loss faced by the govt as several Ujjwala benefi ciaries have failed to get a second refill of their cylinders and whether the government will in crease the subsidy amount to ensure refill of Ujjwala cylinders.

Puri said that there

New Delhi: Sev eral MPs on Thursday urged the govt to create sports infrastructure in rural areas, as the Lok Sabha resumed debate on sports and steps taken by the govern ment in this regard. The discussion had started in Lok Sabha on March 31, during the Budget Session of Parliament.

Manickam Tagore of the Congress stressed that sports helps in building trust and said it gives confidence and builds trust in com munity. “The need for Bharat Jodo is an important process and Bharat Jito can happen only with Bharat Jodo,”

he said. Tagore also suggested that private sector should be roped in for development of sports facilities in rural areas. “Private sector is also an important part of it. How is the minis try planning to encour age private players to support them?” Tagore said. He alleged that government agencies were hounding those private players who we not supporting the gov ernment. “We have a tax terrorism mentality now. All the agencies are behind the business people... Those who are not supporting the government. Will this mindset be changed?”

New Delhi (PTI): There is a need to take the issue of religious conversions happening across the country seriously, BJP MP from Jharkhand Sunil Kumar Singh said in Parliament on Thursday and claimed it has led to rise of suicides. Speaking during a session in Lok Sabha to discuss matters under Rule 377, he said conversions are changing the direction of society and the country. “Such organisations specially target people from back ward classes. There have been cases that people killed themselves due to religious conversion. As part of a conspiracy, they are encouraged to think that they are not Hindus, they do not believe in Constitution,” Singh said.

seems to be some lack of information on the issue and went on to inform the House that there has been a quantum leap in number of LPG connec

New Delhi (PTI): Ra jya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday assured the House that experienced MPs like former prime minister HD Deve Gow da would be given pref erence to express views on important issues, and not the rule book.

While felicitat ing Dhankhar as new Rajya Sabha Chair man on Wednesday, it was suggest ed by some that experi enced mem bers should be given ade quate time to

tions since 2014.

As Puri explained how the govt has made efforts to keep the do mestic gas prices in check despite a surge in

New Delhi (PTI): Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kumar Ketkar on Thursday alleged that real estate sharks and corporates were devastating jungles and using their money and muscle power to avoid legal action. In order to protect wildlife, not only should the laws be strict but their implementation should also be equally stingent, he said during a discussion on the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill in the Upper House. The bill was tabled by Environ ment Minister Bupender Yadav on Wednesday.

for the benefit of some corporates. So essen tially, the wildlife is actu ally attacked not by any humans as such, but by the corporates and sometimes by celebrity Bollywood types," he said. Stressing on the effective implementa tion of laws, Ketkar said, "The implementation is not strict because the corporates are actually using their money or muscle power or their contacts in bureaucracy and in the govern ment to

its prices internation ally, at this point, Chowdhury interrupt ed Puri, seeking to know the present gas price.

"At present, when we are talking about this Act, Nicobar is being completely ruined, Nicobar jungles are being removed

express views on legis lations and issues of national interest.

“Believe in the Chair. The Chair is not parti san. The Chair is na tional,” Dhankhar said while making an obser vation during the Ques

tion Hour on day two of the winter session of Parliament.

The chairman also urged the MPs to rise above party lines on im portant issues.

Rajya Sabha rules provide for the alloca tion of time during de bates as per the strength of a political partythe larger the number of MPs more is time is given to the party.

Gowda is the sole member of his party (JDS) in the House and hence is allocated the least time to put forth his views.

New Delhi: A bill that seeks to promote the use of non-fossil fuels was introduced in Rajya Sabha for passage on Thursday.

The Energy Conserva tion (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is also aimed at helping the country achieve its international commitments on cli mate change. The leg islation was cleared by Lok Sabha in August.

Piloting the bill in the Upper House, Power Minister R K Singh said the country is working towards reduction in emissions although its per capita emissions is about one third of the global average.

OVER 11,000 'MAT TERS' PENDING IN SC FOR OVER 10 YEARS: GOVT REVEALS IN RS

New Delhi: Over 11,000 “matters” are pending before Supreme Court for over 10 years, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed the RS. Similarly, in 25 high courts, 8.77 lakh civil and 3.74 lakh criminal cases are pending for over 10 years, he said citing data from the National Judicial Data Grid. In the district and other courts, 6.91 lakh civil and 27.26 lakh criminal cases are pending for over a decade, he said.

Minister S Jaishankar, Uttarakhand CM Push kar Singh Dhami and his party colleagues on Thursday paid tributes to former chief of de fence staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat on his first death anniversary.

“Fondly remember India’s first CDS Late Gen. Bipin Rawat on his death anniversary to day. A great soldier, a strong leader and a won derful human being,” Jaishankar tweeted.

In Uttarakhand, after paying floral tributes on Gen Rawat’s picture at the state BJP head quarters in Dehradun, CM Dhami described him as the “pride of the

nation”. He asked party workers to take inspira tion from the life and thoughts of Gen Rawat and work collectively for the all-round devel opment of the state.

Pamban (Tamil Nadu) (ANI): A deep depres sion over the Bay of Bengal that has intensi fied into Cyclonic Storm Mandous will likely cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry by De cember 9 midnight, the weather department said Thursday.

“CS Mandous over SW BoB about 500km ESE of Karaikal. To move WNW and cross north Tamil Nadu, Pu ducherry and adjoining south AP coast bw Pu ducherry and Sri harikota with a wind

speed of 70 kmph around midnight of 09 Dec,” the India Meteor ological Department (IMD) tweeted around Thursday noon. The

IMD also issued a yel low alert for north Ta mil Nadu, Puducherry, and south Andhra Pradesh coasts.

Storm warning cage

no. 2 has been mounted at Pamban Port of Rameshwaram island to warn fishermen of the upcoming storm and deter them from venturing out into the sea.

The MeT has already warned the fishermen not to venture into the rough seas for three days.

Heavy rain is expect ed along the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coastline along with Puducherry over the next few days, it said.

Revenue officers should understand taxpayers’ problems: Birla

of the society.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inau gurated an orientation course on parliamenta ry procedures and pro cesses for Indian Reve nue Service Probation ers of the 75th batch of IRS at the Parliament House Complex on

Thursday.

Speaking on this oc casion, Birla said that though our constitution has given us a strong governance system, but it is our responsibility to strengthen it further and also strengthen our economy and society.

He said that a strong, transparent and ac

countable economic system leads to pro gress and equitable de

velopment. He urged the officers to work with honesty and integ

rity to ensure that the benefits of develop ment reach the last man

Talking about India's journey of 75 years after Independence, Birla said that during this pe riod India's economy has got strengthened. After the Covid pandem ic, while the economies of developed countries are showing signs of re cession, India has not only successfully faced Covid, but our economic base has also been strong and in terms of development, our coun try's economy is ahead of other countries.

New Delhi: A BSF jawan who accidentally crossed the International Border in Punjab’s Abohar has been released by the Pakistan Rangers. According to the BSF, the jawan mistakenly entered Pakistan while patrolling on Wednesday morning, due to dense fog and was taken into custody by Pakistan.

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing row between the Centre and the judiciary over delay in appointments of judges, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that as on Nov 30, sanctioned strength of high court judges is 1,108 and working strength is 776, resulting 332 vacancies.

Chandigarh: A meeting of Excise officials of Punjab Police was conducted here on Thursday to boost joint operations of Excise Department and police against the illicit liquor trade, besides creating awareness among the public against the menace, AIG, Excise and Taxation, Gurjot Singh Kaler said.

New Delhi/Dehradun (PTI): External Affairs

walk out of Lok Sabha alleging that they were not allowed to raise various issues

ON SPORTS, MPS URGE GOVT TO FOCUS ON RURAL AREAS

BILL TO PROMOTE THE USE OF NON-FOSSIL FUELS INTRODUCED IN RAJYA SABHA

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury speak during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTOS BY ANI

BRIEFS

ACHIEVES 166GW OF RE CAPACITY TILL OCT

RBI may effect one more rate hike: Kotak

New Delhi: India has achieved 165.94GW of re newable energy capacity till October as against the target of 175GW by 2022.

“Against the target of achieving 175 GW of Re newable Energy installed capacity by 2022, a total of 165.94 GW of renewa ble energy capacity has been installed in the country as on October 31, 2022,” Power and New & RE Minister said. A ca pacity of 76.13 GW is un der various stages of im plementation and a ca pacity of 36.44 GW is un der various stages. —PTI

HUL TO BUY STAKE IN OZIVA AND WELLBEING NUTRI

New Delhi (PTI): A day after the RBI raised the benchmark lending rate by 35 basis points, Kotak Ma hindra Bank Managing Di rector Uday Kotak on Thursday said the central bank may go for one more rate hike to bring inflation below its upper tolerance level of 6%.

On Wednesday, the RBI indicated that it wants in flation to be within the band first and then move towards the target of 4%, Kotak said.

“My sense is that there could be one more rate hike and that may be the time for thinking about a

pivot, but we got to watch very closely the data, and maybe around 6.5%, as it looks today, subject to what happens to the world, subject to what happens to oil, subject to what hap pens to many other things,” he said.

Kotak further said the US Federal Reserve’s deci sion on interest rates this month will be a signal for other central banks.

“I think that is going to be a very crucial signal about what is the interest rate trajectory in the larg est market and the largest pool of money in the world, which is the US,” he said.

URBANISATION GOING TO BE KEY: NITI AAYOG CEO

New Delhi (PTI): NITI

Aayog CEO Parameswaran

Iyer on Thursday said that urbanisation is going to be the key as 50% of India’s population will live in ur ban areas by 2047. “Urbani sation is going to be the key.

The Reserve Bank of In dia (RBI) Wednesday hiked the key repo rate by 35 ba sis points to 6.25%, the fifth straight increase

TOP TALKING POINTS

z The RBI Wednesday hiked the key repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25%, the fifth straight increase since May

z In all, the RBI has raised the benchmark rate by 2.25% since May this year

z US Fed Reserve’s decision this month will be a signal for other central banks

There are opportunities to move up the ladder, to be among the top three in the world, and its realisation would depend on certain metrics, including eco nomic performance in terms of absolute GDP and absolute per capita income instead of the PPP com parison, he said.

since May.

In all, the RBI has raised the benchmark rate by 2.25% since May this year.

On the potential of the

Indian economy, Kotak said the country has be come the fifth largest in the world at about $3.2 trillion and has huge potential.

Inflation for FMCG segment cooling down, says ITC CMD

New Delhi: Leading FMCG maker HUL on Thursday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in OZiva and a 19.8% equity in Wellbe ing Nutrition with a total investment of `335 crore to foray into the health and wellbeing segment.

Hindustan Unilever Limit ed will acquire a 51% stake in Zywie Ventures Private Ltd, which owns the brand OZiva, for a consideration of `264.28 crore, making its entry into the health and well being segment.

LANDMARK CARS

IPO TO OPEN ON DECEMBER 13

By 2047, 50% of the popula tion will live in urban are as, if you don’t have basic services in urban areas, then it is going to be a big challenge,” he noted. He said the circular economy is now also becoming in creasingly important.

On a question on issues

OTHER STORIES

of cleanliness of India’s tourist destinations, Iyer said,” If you want to pro mote tourism in India ag gressively, you better have clean places around, you better have better behav iour by tourists and by the locals.” Most beautiful tourist destinations in In dia are littered.

New Delhi (PTI): Infla tionary pressure on the FMCG segment is “cooling off a little” and volume growth from the rural mar kets is going to be better, ITC Chairman & Managing Director Sanjiv Puri said on Thursday.

Presently there is a “phe nomenal” amount of infla tion, hence FMCG volume growth in rural areas is “muted” and the bulk of the growth is inflation lead, he said. When asked about the consumption trends,

ONLINE GAMING INDUSTRY FOR 28% GST ON GROSS GAMING REVENUE, NOT ON ENTRY AMOUNT

New Delhi: Online skill-based gaming industry is fine with the government raising GST on online gaming from 18% to 28% but it should be levied only on gross gaming revenue (GGR) and not on contest entry amount as could hit the $2.2-billion sector, say industry play ers. There are reports that upcoming GST Council may consider imposing a 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the total amount rather than the current practice of 18% on GGR. —PTI

RGIC SEEKS `600 CR

New Delhi: Automobile dealership chain Land mark Cars Ltd on Thurs day said it has fixed a price band of `481-506 per share for its `552 crore initial share-sale that opens for public sub scription on December 13. The three-day initial public offering (IPO) will conclude on December 15 and the bidding for an chor investors will open on December 12, the company said in a state ment. The public issue consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregat ing to `150 crore and an Offer-For-Sale (OFS) of up to `402 crore. —PTI

GOVERNMENT

INFUSES `5,000 CR IN SWAMIH FUND

CAPITAL INFUSION FROM PARENT

New Delhi: Reliance General Insurance Company (RGIC) has sought ` 600 crore capital infu sion from its debt-ridden parent entity Reli ance Capital Ltd (RCL) to grow its business in line with peers, sources said. In a letter to Reliance Capital’s administrator, RGIC has sought ` 600 crore capital support by this month-end. The Committee of Creditors (CoC) is expected to discuss RGIC’s request for capital infusion in its meeting soon, the sources added in a statement on Thursday. —PTI

POWER DEFICIT DECLINES TO 0.1% IN OCT FROM

2%

IN APRIL

New Delhi: Power deficit or gap between electricity required and supplied has fallen from 2% in April this year to 0.1%, Par liament was informed on Thursday.

“The gap between energy re quirement and energy supplied has been reduced from two per cent to 0.1% between the month of April, 2022 and Oc tober, 2022,” Power Minister R K Singh said. The data showed that the deficit was 2,752 mil lion units (units) in April this year which came down to 124 MU in October, 2022. —PTI

FPIs inject `14,205 crore in November

New Delhi (PTI): The In dian financial services space seems to be in a sweet spot as foreign investors have made a net invest ment of `14,205 crore in the sector in November amid strong credit growth and manageable non-perform ing loan portfolio.

The investment comes following a net withdrawal of `4,686 crore from finan cial services stocks in Octo ber on account of profit booking.

Overall, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have made a net investment of `36,238 crore in the country’s eq uity markets in November. Of this, the financial ser vices sector attracted ` 14,205 crore, which ac counts 39% of total invest ment made by FPIs in equi ties, data with NSDL showed.

Puri said, “In the FMCG segments, we are seeing both the trends of permu tation and at the same time there is a lot of value-seek ing behaviour and stress at the lower price points.”

However, he also said that presently India is “much better” than the rest of the world, witnessing high inflation.

“As far as consumption is concerned, the main stress point is inflation in duced because prices of lots of products have gone up at a percentage probably in the prior period that would have taken five years to go up,” Puri added.

However, Puri also added that rural demand is going to get better.

Sensex rises 160 pts in choppy trade

Mumbai (PTI): Bench mark BSE Sensex rose by 160 points on Thursday in choppy trade following gains in select banking and auto counters amid mixed global cues.

The 30-share index gained 160 points to settle at 62,570.68 as 13 of its com ponents advanced while 17 declined.

The barometer opened lower but later gained mo mentum to touch a high of 62,633.56 in the day’s trade on Thursday.

The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange

advanced 48.85 points to settle at 18,609.35, with 27 of its constituents closing in the red.

Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, L&T, Infosys, M&M and Maruti were major gainers among Sensex stocks.

RUPEE GAINS 3 PAISE ON THURSDAY TO CLOSE AT 82.44 AGAINST US DOLLAR

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and set tled 3 paise higher at 82.44 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by positive domestic equities. At the inter bank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.34 and touched an intra-day high of 82.26 and a low of 82.47 against the greenback. It finally settled at 82.44, registering a rise of 3 paise over its previous close of 82.47.

To develop world class Indian companies, he stressed on the need to build scale in manufactur ing based on cutting edge product innovation and de veloping IP rights rather than depending on arbi trage alone to secure an advantage.

IBA, FIEO to organise sensitisation programmes on promoting rupee trade

Mumbai: The government has put in an additional `5,000 crore into the SWAMIH Invest Fund-I to help the stressed realty investment platform achieve its final close at `15,530 crore, its manag er SBI Capital Ventures said. The fund set up un der the Special Window for Affordable and MidIncome Housing is India’s largest social impact fund, according to a statement, which said the government recently in fused `5,000 crore. —PTI

Air India to refurbish legacy wide-body fleet

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Tata groupowned full service carrier Air India on Thursday said it plans to refurbish its legacy wide-body fleet, comprising 40 Boeing planes, at an investment of over $400 million (about `3,295 crore).

The company has man dated London-based prod uct design companies JPA Design and Trendworks to assist with the cabin inte rior design elements of the refurbishment exercise, the airline said in a state ment. Of the 40 planes

which are set to go for re furbishment, 27 are Boeing 787-800s and 13 Boeing 777s.

All these planes were ac quired when the airline was under state ownership. The Tata Group regained

control of Air India in Jan uary this year. The first such refurbished aircraft is expected to be in service by mid-2024, as per the release. With this significant in vestment, Air India said it

FOREIGN COMPANIES

z

is committed to providing its passengers with a com fortable, modern, and tech nologically advanced cab in. In September, the air line announced a transfor mation plan.

New Delhi (PTI): In dian Banks’ Associa tion and apex export ers body FIEO will or ganise sensitisation programmes in differ ent parts of the coun try to educate stake holders on modalities of rupee trade.

It was decided on De cember 5, when the fi nance ministry held a review meeting with commerce ministry of ficials, CEOs of banks, and exporters to pro mote cross-border trade in the rupee.

An RBI representa tive gave clarifications of issues raised by ex port promotion coun cils and concerned banks on the matter “and it was decided that the Indian Banks Association and FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations) will jointly organise a sensitisation on rupee trading arrangement so that bankers, as well as exporters, get clari ty on how to do this,” the official said.

Samsung to collaborate with technology startups

New Delhi (PTI): Con sumer electronics maker Samsung on Thursday said it will partner with start ups working on technolo gies around the govern ment’s Digital India stack, to accelerate its digital journey in the country.

The company is inviting startups to collaborate on technologies which include UPI, DigiLocker, Open Net work for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Open Credit Ena blement Network (OCEN), and Unified Health Inter face (UHI) among others, a statement issued by Sam sung said.

As part of this, startups will partner with Sam sung’s R&D centres and business units in India on domains such as wallet, health, and fitness, where products and services will be integrated with the com pany’s ecosystem, it added.

It will also provide fund ing support to some of these startups.

INDIA

Agra’s brave cops felicitated amid thunderous applause

Shubham Dubey, Deepak Kaushik & Neeraj Parihar

Agra: The Police Brav ery Award programme was organised by Bharat24 News Channel and First India on Wednesday at Hotel Hol iday-Inn, Sanjay Place in Agra city.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India Newspaper was the Chief guest of the pro gramme. ADG Zone Agra IPS Rajeev Krishna and Police Commission er Agra IPS Dr Preetin der Singh were also pre sent as the chief guests.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra honoured IPS Rajeev Krishna and IPS Dr Preetinder Singh with

the Police Bravery Shield Award. Around 90 police personnel from 7 districts and Agra Com missionerate, who did excellent work were pre sented with the Police Bravery Award by Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, IPS Rajeev Krishna, and Dr

Preetinder Singh. Johnny Dog and the policemen of the Dog Squad, who made many revelations, were also honoured with the award.

Dr Chandra addressed all the policemen and all the guests in the event amid thunderous ap plause. The police offic ers and policemen felt proud while receiving the awards.

The entire pro gramme was presided

over by Consulting Edi tor Shishir Awasthi. Be fore the start of the pro gramme, the chief guests were felicitated by Shishir Awasthi by presenting them with books.

During the event, Ut tar Pradesh Bureau Chief Avinash Vidhyar ti, Marketing Head Da wood Ahmed Siddiqui, Agra Bureau Chief Shubham Dubey, and their reporting team were present.

145 MSRTC buses with 7K devotees return from annual fair

were defaced in Pune district allegedly by activists of the Shiv Sena - Uddhav Bala saheb Thackeray and the Maha rashtra Navnir man Sena (MNS).

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Maha rashtra State Road Trans port Corporation (MSRTC) on Thursday confirmed all its 145 bus es that carried around 7,000 pilgrims from the state to Saundatti in Karnataka for an annual fair at Goddess Yellamma temple earlier this week, returned safely to Kol hapur on Thursday morning.

These devotees had travelled to Saundatti in the buses on Monday to

take part in the fair, said an MSRTC official.

Maharashtra and Kar nataka are locked in a bit ter boundary dispute with leaders from both the states currently trad ing barbs against each other. The border row spilled onto roads on Tuesday with stones being hurled at vehicles entering Kar nataka from Maharash tra near a toll booth at Hirebagewadi in Belaga vi district.

Similarly, at least four buses from Karnataka

Sambhajiraje lends support to bandh

Mumbai: While ad dressing all-party pro testers in PimpriChinchwad on Thursday, Chhatrapati Sambhaji raje, who belongs to the Kolhapur royal family, strongly criticized the government by support ing the all-party bandh.

A one-day bandh was observed against people who made controver sial statements about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other his torical figures. Samb

‘There is no person in Maharashtra who does not respect Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’

hajiraje also slammed Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis for not “expel ling” Governor BS Ko shyari after his remarks.

The royal scion also said the Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) and CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction should have participat ed in the bandh.

In view of the situa tion, the MSRTC sus pended from Tuesday af ternoon 382 of its 1,156 servic es operated dai ly to Karnataka on instruction of local police and district adminis tration.

Talking on the matter, a MSRTC spokesperson said, “All 145 ST buses with repair trucks and inspection teams carry ing around 7,000 devotees safely reached Kolhapur from Karnataka early Thursday morning un der protection of the po lice from the neighbour ing state.”

Belagavi

MAHA VEHICLE TARGETED IN K’TAKA AGAIN

With “vehicle wars” escalating amid the border tension between Maharash tra and Karnataka, some pro-Kar nataka organiza tions again blocked vehicles from Maha rashtra and smeared black ink on them in Karnataka’s Gadag district on Thursday. In addition, protesters raised slogans and also climbed onto the vehicles. Meanwhile, NCP MLA Rohit Pawar has warned that if Sharad Pawar goes to the border, the entire state of Maharashtra will be in trouble.

“Eknath Shinde has no right to sit on the post of chief minister,” he said. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP from the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has demanded that CM Eknath Shinde resign.

Aaditya Thackeray targets CM for his silence on border row

First India Bureau

Mumbai: With reports of another case of Ma harashtra-based vehi cles being stopped and vandalized at the Ma harashtra-Karnataka border coming in ear lier in the day, former cabinet minister Aadi tya Thackeray on Thursday attacked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for not doing enough to stem

the tide.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Aaditya targeted CM Shinde di rectly. “He is yet to ut ter a single word on the border issue. They have no right to the Shiv Sena name. The ones who are afraid cannot call them selves Shiv Sena. A fear ful govern ment cannot

take the people for ward,” he said.

Warning people of Karnataka not to test the patience of people in Maharashtra, Aadi tya Thackeray said, “Maharashtra has ex ercised restraint and has not gone astray like Karnataka. Both chief ministers need to find a middle path. While the battle is going on in the court, what is being done by Karnataka is not right.”

Centre can’t stay mute spectator, says NCP chief

Bureau

First India

Mumbai: In midst of a smoldering border conflict between Ma harashtra and Karna taka, Nationalist Con gress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pa war stated that the central government cannot remain a mute spectator.

Addressing a party meeting here on Thursday, Pawar said that if power is mis used to destroy the idea of a language medium and move ment, there is bound to be a reaction. But, the Centre has turned a blind eye to it.

According to the former union minis ter, the MaharashtraKarna taka

On Wed, the border dispute issue was raised in Lok Sabha by NCP’s Supriya Sule seeking intervention of Union Home Ministry

boundary dispute is not between the two states, but for the rights and justice of the Marathi- speak ing people in the bor der areas of the neighbouring state.

“Yesterday, the Lok Sabha Speaker told Supriya Sule that the issue is between two states and not an is sue to be raised in Parliament. If Parlia ment will not look into the dispute, who will?” asked Pawar.

He added the Kar nataka government has always taken a different stand on the bor der issue.

After mega projects, villages may leave Maha too: Uddhav

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Shiv Sena –

Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray President, Ud dhav Thackeray, on Thursday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said Maha rashtra villages could be merged with Karnataka just as big-ticket projects were shifted from the state to Gujarat.

He cited upcoming 2023 Karnataka Assem bly elections as the rea son for the border row,

similar to the shift that happened ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls this year.

The shifting of the projects to Gujarat from Maharashtra earlier this year played a major role in the BJP’s re

sounding victory in the neighbouring state, he said. “Just the way pro jects in Maharashtra were taken away to pollbound Gujarat, villages from Maharashtra may also be given to Karna taka where elections are due,” he said.

“Karnataka CM Basa varaj Bommai staking claim over the areas of Maharashtra has to be taken seriously. The BJP has a ploy to destabilize Maharashtra,” claimed Thackeray.

People from Maharashtra had travelled to Karnataka for fair at Goddess Yellamma temple this week. —FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray —FILE PHOTO

TOTAL

DISPUTE

Karnataka

MAHARASHTRAKARNATAKA BORDER ROW

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra felicitates ADG Zone Agra, IPS Rajeev Krishna with the Police Bravery Shield Award during the event.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra felicitates Police Commissioner of Agra, IPS Dr Preetinder Singh with the Police Bravery Shield Award.

l Around 90 police personnel from 7 districts and Agra Commissionerate were presented with Police Bravery Award for exemplary work

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra addresses the guests during the Police Bravery Award at Hotel Holiday-Inn, Sanjay Place in Agra.

Anchor Surbhi Tiwari in conversation with IPS officers Rajeev Krishna and Dr Preetinder Singh during the mega event.

Shishir Awasthi speaks during the programme.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra felicitates SOG Agra in-charge, Inspector Kuldeep Dixit during The Police Bravery Award programme at Hotel Holiday- Inn, Sanjay Place in Agra in the presence of IPS Rajeev Krishna, IPS Dr Preetinder Singh, Dr Sameer Bhati, Director Star Imaging & Path lab Pvt Ltd and Yuvraj Ambrish Pal Singh, Trustee, RBS College, Agra.

Once we accept that the richness of our society comes from its diversity, we will be happier, more peaceful.

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

THE MATCH FULL OF MAGIC

The Abu Dhabi T10 League 2022 marks the sixth edi tion of the tournament commenced on November 23 and the summit clash was played on December 4.

As the name suggests, the Sheikh Zayed Cricket

trants in New York Strikers and Morrisville Samp

tled it out for the coveted teresting clashes live on Television on Sports18, Colors Cineplex and the Live Stream was available

The blockbuster final of nals of Abu Dhabi T10 League - Season 6, the World’s Fastest cricket for mat took place on Sunday,

ly 90 minutes. The tourna ment is a double roundrobin followed by Elimina tors and the Final. The In ternational Cricket Coun cil (ICC) officially sanc tioned the league in 2018.

The grand finale of Abu Dhabi T10 Season 6 was played at Magnificent Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

While interacting with the media, Rajeev Khanna, Abu Dhabi T10 COO said, “The sixth season of Abu Dhabi T-Ten was a great

I am very happy to inform we have signed

Zimba bwe ICC to launch respec tive T-Ten in their respec tive countries. We have also signed an afro African cup with the

Cricket as sociation, wherein 30 coun tries compete with each other.”

The energetic and mes merizing final was followed by a scintillating music concert wherein Guru Randhawa, Iulia Vantur and Parvati Nair gave a dazzling performance and enthralled the audience present during the match.

THE BLOCKBUSTER FINAL OF THE 2022 EDITION OF THE FINALS OF ABU DHABI T10 LEAGUE - SEASON 6, THE WORLD’S FASTEST CRICKET FORMAT TOOK PLACE ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 AT THE SHEIKH ZAYED CRICKET STADIUM. CITY FIRST BRINGS YOU SOME ICONIC MOMENTS FROM THE GREAT MATCH!

success. I would like to con gratulate Deccan Gladia tors for winning the Abu Dhabi season 6. I believe all teams played fantastic cricket, we plan to take the T-Ten globally, and as far as our global expansion plan, we are already in touch with various cricket boards across the world.

3 MOU between var ious cricket boards includ ing Sri Lanka And

Africa

KAVITA CHAUHAN cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Rajeev Khanna, Nicoles Pooran and Matt Boucher of AbuDhabi cricket council

Live dance performance during the Abu Dhabi Season 6 T-10 cricket league

Glimpse from the powerful match

THE POLICE BRAVERY AWARD PROGRAM

City First brings to you some more glimpses beautifully covered by SHUBHAM DUBEY AND DEEPAK KAUSHIK, from 'The Police Bravery Award program' was organised by Bharat24 News Channel and First India newspaper at Hotel Holiday-Inn, Sanjay Place, Agra city on Wednesday. Dr Jagdeesh Chandra was the Chief guest of the program. ADG Zone Agra IPS Rajeev Krishna and Police Commissioner Agra IPS Dr Preetinder Singh were also present as the special guests. During the award program, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra honoured IPS Rajeev Krishna and IPS Preetinder Singh with the Police Brewery Shield Award. Around 90 police personnel from 7 districts, including Agra Commissionerate, who did excellent work were presented with the Police Bravery Award.

“A GUY FROM TELEVISION

Made a Blockbuster Like Aankhen ”

GIORGIA NEARLY HURT

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

roducer / Di rector Vipul Shah has been an es teemed mem ber of Bolly wood. He is responsible for back ing memorable mov ies like Aankhen, Waqt- Race Against Time, Namastey London, Singh Is King and other films that went on to become block busters. After making waves in Bollywood, Vipul also made a mark on the OTT plat forms. Shah joined Ashish Tiwari of First India for an exclusive conversation.

Sharing his journey he said, “Since Child

hood, I knew I had to be in this field, I always wanted to do theatre. I was a backstage boy at Prithvi Theatre. Even tually, I realised I am not an actor but direc tion is what attracted me. I wrote Aankhen which later was made into a movie. The journey then went ahead on Television with a show at that time I got an offer to direct a Gujrati film.”

The television show had completed 1000 episodes and post that working with an ensemble cast at his first at tempt he shared, “ I am extremely lucky that, Amit, Sushmita Sen, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Arjun Rampal ac cepted my film it was very fortunate that a guy from the TV could make this happen and gave me the freedom to work as a director “ He added, “I gate-

National Crush’s Rohit Saraf celebrates 25th birthday

2022 has been a big year for actor

Saraf! From starring in Vikram Vedha along side Bollywood legends to finally getting to re lease the second instal ment of the much an ticipated Mismatched to being the face for over a dozen brands, Rohit Saraf’s 25 has been the defini tion of Hot and Happening Which is why the ac tor has de cided to

have a chilled and laidback birthday. The ac tor revealed that he will be spending his day

crashed Amit Ji’s shoot to approach him for the movie and to my shock he recog nised me and he of fered me his time dur ing his break and he agreed to do the film I was stunned by his re action. That’s how the journey began”

Sharing his expe rience of working with an ensemble cast he shared, “It was their love to wards me that they never let me feel that I was directing for the first time. It was their effort and cooperation that made the film a blockbuster”

Talking about his range of work he said, “ If I keep repeating the genre I’ll make a terri ble film. When I like a story it’s always of a different genre com pared to my last film. That’s what excites me. There’s a risk involved always but. I tried changing the action game to Commando”

Indeed Commando was a path-breaking film talking about it he shared, “I always knew that Commando will be a franchise, when we received so much love for the movie we kept going on”

Speaking about giv ing opportunities to upcoming talents he shared, “I believe every new talent brings in new energy and new thinking that teaches me and the audiences that’s what is their en tertaining aspect. A new talent just needs one support to blos som.

“

Vipul Shah is cur rently elated as his se ries Human has been regarded widely among the audience, and it also earned apprecia tion among critics. Shah also backed Vidy ut Jammwal starrer Sanak, which was re leased on the digital platform, and now it's been considered to be remade in Hollywood.

Giorgia Adriani, the actor Ar baaz Khan's girl friend, has been in the news because of their relationship. She was struck by a car late

ward the venue when she collides with a car that is being parked nearby.Smart internet users quick ly started trolling the actress in the com

begging her driver to unlock her car door. One netizen wrote, “Forget the car, she couldn’t open the door for herself and waited for the driver

Another wrote, “mere sath to Aisa roj hota hai uske baad

tude se nikal jaate hai glass close kiye hue car wale ko gali

amongst family and friends, unwinding be fore welcoming the new year.

The actor does have quite the calendar filled with various endorse ment deals, Ishq Vishk Rebound and a few oth er big projects that are still in nascent stages.

We truly hope that 26 becomes the na tion’s crush’s best year so far! Wishing him a warm and peaceful birth day

Kajol on trolling

The

Kajol said, “You will always be protective about your children, but you have to [under stand] that this is bound to happen. So, the four of us spoke about it. I explained to them that if two or five people are writ ing negative things about them, there are 2,500 others who have said lovely things about them. They should concentrate on that.”

Regarding Salaam Venky, it will be re leased on December 9 and is based on the true tale of Kolavennu Venkatesh and his mother.

Salman celebrates mother's birthday

Kajol is ready to dazzle viewers with her new movie ‘Salaam Venky,’. The actress has been discussing her children, daughter Nysa and son Yug, in media interviews as she works to promote the film. She discussed the tips she provided her chil dren for dealing with internet harassment in a recent interview.

Dilwale actress said she instructs her daughter and son to place more emphasis on good than on bad things.

Salma Khan, the mother of actors Salman, recently celebrated her 80th birthday. A grand celebration was arranged for her by her daughters Alvira Khan Agnihotri and Arpita Khan Sharma. A glimpse of the all-black party was shared by singer Harshdeep Kaur who was invited to sing at the event.

Vipul Amrutlal Shah

Giorgia Andriani

Salma Khan and Harshdeep Kaur

Kajol

Rohit Saraf

Jagdeesh Chandra reached the office of Bharat24- Vision of new India at Noida on Thursday late afternoon and appreciated the efforts of the entire team in bringing timely results and credible analysis of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha results to its lakhs of viewers. Bharat24, with Managing editor, Shamsher Singh and Senior editor Syed Umar has been at the forefront with its in-Depth analysis, forceful discussions and First and Foremost breaking results of seats of MCD, Delhi on Wednesday and then Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, notching up viewership on the channel and its digital platforms.

Jagdeesh Chandra congratulated First India news team for the wonderful coverage of results of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections. The channel was in top form on the day with analysis and discussions. Editor Jinendra Singh Shekhawat thanked Chandra for motivating and inspiring the team.

—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA

Jagdeesh Chandra with Shazia Nisar, Shikha Thakur, Amit Mishra, Syed Umar, Shamsher Singh, Sandeep Mishra, Mimansa Malik, Poornima Mishra, Aditi Nagar and others

Jagdeesh Chandra with Syed Umar and Shamsher Singh

Jagdeesh Chandra with Prasoon Shukla, Amit Mishra, Kshama Tripathi, Sandeep Mishra, Ankit Tomar, Aditi Nagar, Shamsher Singh, Syed Umar, Anu Shridhar and Nisha Sinha

Jagdeesh Chandra greeted by Jinendra Singh Shekhawat. Also seen are Shaan, Shishir Awasthi, Jawed Khan, Ashish Aman, Naresh Sharma, Vijendra Singh Solanki, Tripti, Dimple and Megha among others.

Jagdeesh Chandra congratulates Jinendra Singh Shekhawat. Also seen are Megha Kaushik, Shaan, Shishir and Naresh

Jagdeesh Chandra cuts the celebratory cake with Jinendra Singh Shekhawat. Megha, Shaan, Shishir, Naresh and others