First India-Delhi Edition-9th December 2022

Results out, Celebrations in MODI-SHAH ‘DUET’ BRING ‘GIGANTIC’ VICTORY OF BJP

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.

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.

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.

Cong shifts MLAs to

to

Congress

KEJRI THANKS

GUJARAT

FOR MAKING AAP A NAT’L PARTY

he AAP has become a na tional party, 10 years after it was formed, as it has won Five seats in Gujarat with a 12.9 percent vote share. Currently, there are 8 recognised national parties in India — BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI, CPM, All India Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, and National Peoples’ party headed by Conrad Sangma.

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

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.

Jaguar crash case: Noida cops impound 6 more luxury cars

Noida (PTI): The Noi da police have impound ed at least six more luxury cars as part of investigation into the Jaguar road crash that led to the death of a woman riding a scooter, officials said Thursday.

Among the cars im pounded are two BMWs, a Porsche, an Audi, a Range Rover and a Sko da as they were part of the convoy in which the Jaguar, which hit the 24-year-old woman, was also there, a police official said.

COURT SAYS SEC 304A, NOT 302

Deepika Tripathi, who worked as a recep tionist at a private firm, was killed on Sunday morning outside Su pertech e-Square build ing in Sector 96 when the high-speed Jaguar

drew Pyster (31), who works at American Ex press in Faridabad, was held and sent into judicial custody.

It was alleged that Pyster was part of a group of people from Delhi NCR who were out with their luxury cars for drive in Noida on Sunday morning, when the road crash took place.

This victory is the victory of the reso lution of the people of Himachal for the issues and progress.

best wishes to all the leaders of the party. Your hard work paid off.

hit her scooter. The Jag uar’s driver Samuel An

“These vehicles have been impounded for rash driving under pro visions of the Motor Vehicle Act. Their own ers live in Delhi, Hary ana and only one of these cars’ owner lives in Noida,” the official told PTI, wishing not to be named.

The Odisha registered Jaguar with a VIP number that crashed into the woman riding a scooter on Sunday.

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

Narendra Modi Prime Minister

Amit Shah Union Home Minister

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

Chandigarh,

hold meeting in Shimla today

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

HP CM Jai Ram Thakur sub mits 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

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

Mallikarjun Kharge Congress President

Priyanka Gandhi Cong General Secy

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 SP retained Mainpuri

LS seat, while BJP wrested Rampur Sadar assembly seat

it

Kurhani

Happy Birthday!

BYPOLL: SP WINS 1 SEAT, BJP 2, CONGRESS 2

P8

Delhi govt moves SC, seeks review of verdict

WILL CONSIDER: CJI-LED BENCH

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its November 7 ver dict acquitting three death row convicts of gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi’s Chhawala area in 2012, saying the of fence was “diabolic in nature exhibiting grave depravity and bestiality” and fell un der the “rarest of rare” category.

Highlighting that sci entific evidence “with stood legal scrutiny”, the review plea said the DNA sample tests

showed “positive re sults” linking the ac cused with the crime.

The top court had on November 7 acquitted the three men while set ting aside the Delhi High Court’s August 26, 2014, order upholding the death sentence awarded by the trial court. Several review pleas including the one filed by the father of the deceased victim against the apex court verdict

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will take a call on listing for hearing a plea seeking review of its November 7 verdict acquitting three death row convicts for gang-raping and killing a 19-year-old girl in Delhi’s Chhawla area in 2012. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions of a lawyer that the review plea be listed for hearing. “This is an extremely important case which has shaken the public confidence. Needs to be listed urgently,” the lawyer said. “I will take a call after going through it,” the CJI said.

have been filed recently. The Delhi govern ment’s review plea, set tled by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Ad ditional Solicitor Gen eral Aishwarya Bhati, referred to “errors ap parent on face of the re cords” in the apex court judgement. “Offences like these do not just af fect the victim and her family but have a much larger and grave impact on the society as well,

Ex-MLA Asif Khan gets bail in police manhandling case

First India Bureau

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to former MLA Asif Mohammad Khan who was accused of manhandling and abusing a police officer on duty in Shaheen Bagh on November 25.

Additional Sessions

Judge Anuj Aggarwal noted that Khan was in custody since Novem ber 26 and was not re quired for further in vestigation. “The MCD elections are over and therefore there is no possibility of the appli cant disturbing the law and order situation in the locality,” the court said.

The former MLA, whose daughter Ariba Khan won the Abul Fazal Enclave ward in the December 4 MCD elections, was granted bail on furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount.

The court also warned that if Khan commits a breach of any condition the pros ecution was at liberty

to seek cancellation of his bail.

Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who ap peared for Khan, had argued that there was a material change in the circumstances since the MCD elections were over. Gupta argued that the apprehension of the police that if he was released he would disturb law and order situation was not a fac tor anymore in decid ing his bail.

On November 30, a metropolitan magis trate denied Khan bail stating that his actions

against the police had “an adverse societal impact” which has “detrimental effects on the police-community relationship.

Khan’s lawyers, on the other hand, alleged he had visited the area after hearing news that AAP candidate Wajid Khan allegedly have Rs 50,000 to the ‘Imam’ of the mosque while his aides announced that a total of Rs 1 lakh will be handed over to the ‘Imam’ with a plea to vote for the party dur ing the civic body elec tions.

which is bound to ad versely influence the na tion’s fight of zero toler ance of sexual offences against the women.

“Acts of gruesome na ture such as rape not only violate the victim’s personal integrity but also leave an indelible mark in the society at large. This is the reason why families do not feel confident enough to send their daughters out,” the plea said.

Seeking the verdict to be set aside, it said the trial court and the high court had awarded the death penalty to the con victs after taking note of the “diabolic” manner, exhibiting grave deprav ity and bestiality, in which the crime was committed.

“In the instant case the crime and the man ner in which the said crime was committed reflects the nature of sexual predators and sexual psychopaths who with complete im punity and brazenness chose to kidnap the young 18-year-old girl from a public road while she was on her way back from office along with her friends,” the plea said. It said the observation of the top court in respect of tam pering of DNA samples was “misconceived and incorrect”.

Order granting bail to DHFL promoters not to be given effect to till Feb 1: HC

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court has directed that a trial court's order granting bail to former Dewan Housing Finance Cor poration Ltd (DHFL) promoters, Kapil Wad hawan and his brother Dheeraj, who were ar rested by the CBI in connection with a mul ti-crore bank loan scam case, shall not be given effect to till February 1, next year.

The high court's or der came after the counsel for Wadhawans and the CBI consented to it.

"Senior Counsel ap pearing on behalf of the respondents (Wad hawans), on instruc tions, submits that the respondents will not proceed with their bail bonds before the learned Special Court.

"With the consent of both the parties, it is hereby directed that the impugned order dated December 3 will not be given effect to,

till the next date of hearing. List on Febru ary 1, 2023," Justice Amit Sharma said in the order passed on Wednesday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has challenged the trial court's order granting statutory bail to Wad hawan brothers be cause of "incomplete charge sheet".

The special court, in its order, has said that on merits, the two ac cused persons might not be entitled to any bail keeping in view the gravity and seri

ousness of the case. However, it has said the court was "com pelled" to release them from custody under statutory law by giving mandatory concession of default bail due to incomplete charge sheet.

The CBI counsel had argued before the high court that the agency had given a statement in the trial court that the investigation qua these two accused was complete, however, the special judge has not considered dealt with it in the order.

NSE phone tapping: Ex-Mumbai Police chief gets bail

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Mumbai Police Commis sioner Sanjay Pandey in connection with a mon ey laundering case regis tered by the ED in rela tion to the alleged phone tapping at the National Stock Exchange.

The bail was granted with conditions by Jus tice Jasmeet Singh. “The application is allowed

and the applicant is granted bail,” said Jus tice Jasmeet Singh. The money launder ing case, which is being probed by the ED, arises

from a CBI FIR against Pandey and his company iSec Services Private Limited for the alleged commission of offences under the Indian Penal

‘Discharge of Umar Khalid, Saifi doesn’t mean lack of evidence’

New Delhi (ANI): Con cluding its argument opposing the bail plea of Abdul Saifi, Special Public Prosecutor for Delhi Police on Thurs day submitted in the HC that the discharge of Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi in Khajuri Khas riot case does not mean that there is lack of evidence.

The HC listed the matter on Monday for rebuttal argument on behalf of appellant Ab dul Khalid Saifi. A spe cial bench, comprising

Two associates of Sushil Kumar arrested

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Crime Branch has arrested two associates of Olym pic medallist Sushil Ku mar wanted in connec tion with the murder of 23 year-old budding wrestler Sagar Dhankar last year, officials said on Thursday.

The accused have been identified as Ankit Dabas (28), a resident of village Sultanpur Da bas and Joginder alias Kala, 43, a resident of village Pooth Kalan, Special Commissioner

said.

A reward of Rs 50,000 each was declared for any information lead ing to their arrest, he said. Inspector Robin

Tyagi received an input that the duo was hiding in rural districts of UP's Baghpat and a po lice team, in the guise of agricultural labour ers, was deployed in the

area for surveillance, he said. The accused were tracked down near Balaini village. When the police team reached the spot, they tried to escape but were appre hended, Yadav said.

Sushil Kumar is lodged in Tihar jail in the case along with 18 others. On May 23, 2021, Kumar was arrested along with co-accused Ajay Kumar from Mundka area. Kumar and his associates alleg edly assaulted Dhankar and two of his friends over a property dispute.

A special bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar listed the matter on Monday for rebuttal argument on behalf of Abdul Khalid Saifi.

justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar, listed the matter for hearing re buttal arguments after hearing submissions of Special public prosecu tor (SPP) Amit Prasad. Prasad said, “Before we go ahead, the first is sue is the celebrated order regarding dis

charge in case, that was quite a bone of conten tion to say this is the kind of prosecution they have been made to face. As far as Saifi and Umar are concerned, the reason for their dis charge is not lack of evidence but because they are being prosecut ed in this case.”

Woman’s decomposed body found in suitcase

New Delhi (PTI): A highly decomposed body of an unidentified woman was recovered from a suitcase which was lying in a drain in West Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh area, police said on Thursday.

There were no visible injury marks on the body, which was disfigured beyond recognition, they said. The suitcase was spotted by a pas serby on Wednesday after he sensed a foul smell emanating from it and informed the police. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ghan shyam Bansal said the victim’s identity is yet to be established but said it appeared to be a young woman. The body has been kept in a mor tuary. Post-mortem will be carried out after the victim’s identity is ascertained, he said. Bansal said samples of the body and the suitcase were sent for forensic examination and that police were examining CCTV footage from the area.

Code, Indian Telegraph Act and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Pandey was arrested by the ED on July 19 and was subsequently sent to judicial custody. In Au gust, the trial court had rejected his bail and said the material available prima face showed he was actively involved in the execution of record ing and monitoring of calls, and was directly communicating with the bourse staff as well as

those of the iSec Servic es Pvt Ltd, the company he founded and which was responsible for the cyber security audit of the NSE.

The trial court had noted that the material collected by the investi gating officer “prima face” showed Pandey was in de facto control of the affairs of iSec even after 2006, when he re signed as a director, and kept attending meetings with NSE officials.

Centre’s response on Sweden-based prof Swain’s plea sought

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thurs day sought the Centre’s response to Swedenbased professor Ashok Swain’s plea challeng ing the cancellation of his Overseas Citizen ship of India (OCI) card by the Indian Embassy in Sweden.

The matter was listed before a single-judge bench of Justice Prathi ba Singh who at the out set said she will only is sue notices at this stage. The respondents – the Ministry of Home Af fairs, External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Sweden and Latvia – have been given four weeks’ time to file their reply and the mat ter is next listed on Feb ruary 7, 2023.

Swain claimed that he received a show cause notice on October 6, 2020, from the Indian Embassy whereby his OCI card was arbitrar ily barred on the al leged premise that he was indulging in “in flammatory speeches and anti-India activi ties”. He said that no specific instances or materials were referred

to in the show cause no tice to “substantiate such bald allegations or drastic measures un dertaken by the Re spondents”. He added that he replied to the notice in November 2020, asking for the rea sons or materials to cor roborate the allegations but did not receive any response from the au thorities.

n Top court had acquitted the 3 men on Nov 7

n Plea says DNA sample tests show positive results

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in CBI custody. —FILE PHOTO

ACCUSED OF ABUSING POLICE OFFICER

of Police (Crime) Ravin dra Singh Yadav

SAGAR DHANKAR MURDER

ED ARRESTED FORMER COP ON JULY 19

File photo of wrestler Sushil Kumar and his associate Ajay Kumar in custody. —PHOTO BY PTI

‘

DELHI HAS BEEN WON BUT THAT WON'T SOLVE PROBLEMS OF NCR TOUGH FOR KEJRIWAL

Saksena

New Delhi: At the helm of MCD, the AAP may now have better control over Delhi but the fortunes and future of Delhi extend much beyond the geographi cal boundaries of the capital. Cities like Gu rugram, Ghaziabad and Noida have a ma jor role to play in the socio-economic suc cess of Delhi.

While on the one hand the NCR region holds some of the best prospects for the up wardly mobile, young educated Indian, but

on the other hand it also has a dark and messy backyard, con veniently hidden away from the public glare, which is silently grap pling with surmount ing pressure to fulfil the needs of an ever increasing population.

In Gurugram for in stance, the economic slowdown gradually making its way across various indices of life may not be as starkly visible, but the ancil lary support system that goes into the suc cess of a sustainable cityscape is clearly buckling.

Today in policymak ing conference rooms Gurugram has become a reference point of how to not build a city. Public transport and last-mile connectivity is a major problem in Gurugram. People still mostly use their per sonal vehicles and we know the outcome of such a practice on envi ronment and sustaina bility. Traffic mess is increasing due to lack of parking space, illmaintained traffic sig nals and signages, and crater-size potholes. A rain of 4 days this Sep tember submerged the

whole city. The project to make roads 24-metre wide is still in limbo.

Water scarcity is snowballing into a ma jor crisis with ground water extraction reach ing over 300 per cent.

With over 45 per cent power being used up by industries and 32 per cent by commercial spaces, only 23 per cent is left for residents, leading to perennial power outages.

Have made dent in BJP’s Guj fortress, hope to win it next’

New Delhi (Agencies): AAP national convener

Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday thanked the people of Gujarat for helping his party breach the BJP's Guja rat “fortress”, and hoped to win the next assembly elections.

In a video message, Kejriwal said, “I am thankful to the people of Gujarat for helping us attain the status of national party. Very few parties enjoy the status and now we are one of them. Ours is only a 10-year-old party.”

Gujarat is considered a BJP “fortress” and the people of the state have helped AAP make a dent in it, he said. “Hopefully, next time we will be able to win.”

Kejriwal said that during campaigning, his party and leaders never indulged in mud slinging or abuse but only spoke about the work done in Delhi and Punjab by the AAP.

After heavy defeat, Cong to ‘rework strategy’

New Delhi (PTI):

The Congress' vote share in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections dipped to 11.68 per cent from 21.2 per cent, with the party managing to secure only nine seats in the 250ward civic body.

The party will analyse the results and the strategies worked on accordingly, Congress Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary told PTI.

“The party's strategies will be reworked af ter analysing the MCD election results. But the vote share also sends out a clear message that the Muslim and Dalit votes shifted from the AAP to the Congress,” he said.

Most of the seats the party won in the MCD election are in Muslim-dominated areas.

The party's women candidates won from two wards in south Delhi, including in Shaheen Bagh—the epicentre of the 2019 antiCAA protests—defeating their AAP rivals.

AAP TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR OFFICE SPACE IN PRIME AREA OF CAPITAL

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party will become eligi ble to get office space allotted by the central govern ment in a prime location in the national capital after it is officially recognised as a national party by the Election Commission of India. The party has already an office on the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg allotted by the Delhi government as the city’s ruling party. The president of the national party is also eligible to get a government accommodation.

AAP IS NATIONAL PARTY THANKS TO PEOPLE OF GUJARAT: SISODIA

New Delhi (PTI): Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Thursday said the Aam Aadmi Party is on course to become a national party thanks to the votes given by the people of Gujarat. "Due to the votes given by the people of Gujarat, the AAP is today becoming a national party. The politics of education and health is making a mark for the first time in the country. Con gratulations to the entire country on this," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

MCD: LG to give date for new House to convene

New Delhi (PTI): Au thorities in the MCD are likely to soon ap proach the Lieutenant Governor to seek a date on which the House can convene so that council lors can take oath and a mayor be elected.

The House will be convened at the Civic Centre, the headquar ters of the MCD at Barakhamba here.

A senior MCD official said, “The elections are over and now MCD will

approach the LG, seek ing a date on which the municipal House can be convened so that the councillors can take oath, and then a mayor be elected.”

According to the DMC Act 1957, “The Corporation shall at its first meeting in each year elect one of its members to be the Chairperson to be known as the Mayor and another member to be the Deputy Mayor.”

Other cities of NCR more or less suffer the same woes. With different governments managing different cities, it is hard to reach a consensus and ensure a streamlined development of the NCR region. This way, Kejriwal has a tough task ahead. Just managing Delhi is not enough because it can’t grow in isolation. Delhi’s success depends on how well he uses his diplomatic skills to take the administration of all the cities on board and impress upon them the mutual benefits of such cooperative effort.

The city generates 550 million tonnes of sewage every year, whereas 2/3 of the city is not even connected by sewer lines. Its sew age treatment plants have the capacity to

manage only 250 mil lion tonnes of sewage.

The Bhandwari land fill site is a 150-ft high mount of ignominy that no one has a clue to tackle. At least 2000 tons of unsegregated

waste are dumped here every day. In the 1960s there were over 600 wa ter bodies in Guru gram, today hardly 240 exist, thus destroying the city’s natural drainage system.

66% of councillors in 4170 age group, 53% women

New Delhi: At least 51 per cent of the 250 new ly elected councillors in the MCD have declared educational qualifica tions between Class 5 and Class 12 pass while 66 per cent are in the 4170 age group, according to Association for Dem ocratic Reforms.

Of the 248 winning candidates analysed, 132 (53 per cent) are women, and one— AAP's Sultanpuri-A ward councillor Bobi— from the transgender community. In 2017, of the 266 councillors for whom data was availa ble, 139 (52 per cent) were women.

“...126 (51 per cent) winning candidates have declared their edu cational qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass while 116 (47 per cent) winning can didates have declared having an educational qualification of gradu ate and above. Four winning candidates are diploma holders and two winning candidates are illiterate,” the re port said.

67% COUNCILLORS ‘CROREPATIS’

New Delhi: At least 67 per cent of the 250 newly elected councillors in the MCD are crorepatis, ac cording to an Association for Democratic Reforms report. In 2017, when 270 wards of the then three municipal corporations had gone to the polls, 51 per cent of the 266 councillors analysed were crorepatis, it said.

“Out of the 248 winning candidates analysed, 167 (67 per cent) are crorepatis. Out of 266 coun cillors analysed during MCD elections (in) 2017, 135 (51 per cent) councillors were crorepatis,” the report said. It said 82 councillors who declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore were from the BJP—the highest among all parties. The AAP has 77 councillors who are self-declared crorepatis.

“..82 (79 per cent) out of 104 from the BJP, 77 (58 per cent) out of 132 from the AAP, 6 (67 per cent) out of nine from the INC and 2 (67 per cent) of three Independent winning candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore,” the report added. The average assets per winning can didate of the 104 BJP councillors is Rs 5.29 crore while that of the 132 AAP councillors analysed is Rs 3.56 crore.

TAXI UNION PROTESTS VEHICLE BAN

Delhi Taxi and Tourist Transporters Association members hold placards during a protest over the ban on

INDIA ART FAIR

Contemporary, digital art on show from Feb 9

New Delhi (PTI): The India Art Fair will be gin here from February 9 with special focus on contemporary and digi tal artistic talent along side modern masters.

Organised in part nership with BMW In dia, the fair will present 86 exhibitors, including 72 galleries and 12 insti tutions, at the NSIC Grounds in Okhla.

The meeting ground for collectors, curators and art professionals will also have a studio

presenting the fair’s ‘Digital Artist in Resi dence’ programme.

“The scale and diver sity of the fair in 2023 reflects the expansion

VARIETY OF CULTURAL FESTS

The fair will feature 10 cultural festivals, collectives and foundations, including soft sculptures and book projects by Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka); textile panels by Lakshmi Madhavan for Devi Art Foundation (New Delhi); a group show with works by Siwanbased ceramicist Upendra Ram and Goabased feminist artist Mayuri Chari.

of the contemporary and modern art mar ket,” Jaya Asokan, fair director, said.

artist and il lustrator Mira Felicia

Malhotra will highlight oddities and idiosyn crasies of Indian family life in vibrant portraits of women titled “Log Kya Kahenge”, while

artist, poet and writer Gaurav Ogale will showcase an audio-vis ual book anthology se ries “Bestsellers” to ex plore “the extraordi nary biographies of or dinary people”.

Another artist in res idence, Varun Desai will create an immer sive projection room giving a glimpse of the future, fusing artificial intelligence and human consciousness.

The event will come to a close on Feb 12.

Visual

lll Highlights: Oddities and idiosyncracies of Indian family life in ‘Log Kya Kahenge’, extraordinary biographies of ordinary people in ‘Bestsellers’

the plying of BS-3 Petrol and BS-4 Diesel LMVs (4-wheelers) in Delhi-NCR till December 9 in the wake of the restrictions imposed by the air quality panel under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), outside Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses the media, in New Delhi on Friday.

Aam Aadmi Party supporters celebrate as Arvind Kejriwal declares AAP a National Party, at party HQ in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI

AAP supporters celebrate in Nagpur on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI

A day after the Congress' dismal showing in the MCD elections, the party's Delhi unit chief on Thursday said they wanted to rework the strategies.

Delhi Congress office wears a deserted look on the counting day of the MCD polls.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Abhilasha

Heavy traffic jam on the DelhiGurugram expressway at the Gurugram-Delhi border. —FILE PHOTO

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

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.

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”.

TOP TWEETS

l Vol 2 l Issue No.100

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

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

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 @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 VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

AJAY KUMAR

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

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

2024,” Sarma tweeted.

MEANWHILE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH...

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.

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 with a more persistent and strategic opponent

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!

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

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

Guwahati (PTI): Assam 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

Lucknow (PTI): 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.

than the Congress.

BJP BREACHES AZAM KHAN’S STRONGHOLD

Chhattisgarh

CM Bhupesh Baghel speaks to media in Raipur.

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 Dhankar 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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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.

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

public against the menace, AIG, Excise and Taxation, Gurjot Singh Kaler said.

New Delhi/Dehradun (PTI): External Affairs 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.

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

RBI may effect one more rate hike: Kotak

ACHIEVES 166GW OF RE CAPACITY TILL OCT

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

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 Chan dra, CEO and Editor-inChief, Bharat24-Vision of New India and First India Newspaper was the Chief guest of the programme. ADG Zone Agra IPS Rajeev Krish na and Police Commis sioner Agra IPS Dr Preetinder Singh were also present as the chief guests.

Dr Jagdeesh Chan dra honoured IPS Ra jeev Krishna and IPS Dr Preetinder Singh

with the Police Bravery Shield Award. Around 90 police personnel from 7 districts and Agra Commissioner ate, who did excellent work were presented 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 ad dressed all the police men and all the guests in the event amid thunderous applause. The police officers and policemen felt proud while receiving the awards.

SC rejects curative plea seeking probe into killing, exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

New Delhi (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday has dismissed a curative petition filed by Roots in Kashmir, an NGO, seeking a probe into the killing of Kash miri Pandits in the Val ley in 1989-90, during the heights of militancy.

“We have gone through the curative pe tition and the connected documents. In our opin ion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the deci sion of this Court Rupa Ashok Hurra v Ashok Hurra,” said the top court in its order.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandra chud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Ab dul Nazeer declined the plea saying, “The Curative Petition is dismissed.”

The curative petition was filed against a 2017

order of the top court which had dismissed the NGO’s petition for probe citing a long delay. On July 24, 2017, the Supreme Court dis missed the plea filed by the NGO, saying it is difficult to probe and collect evidence on the issue more than 27 years after the exodus.

IN THE COURTYARD

SC TO HEAR ON JAN 17 MAHA GOVT’S PLEA AGAINST ACQUITTAL OF SAIBABA

New Delhi (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday posted for January 17 the plea filed by the Maharashtra government challeng ing the October 14 order of the Bombay High Court which discharged former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and others in an alleged Maoist links case. A bench of Justices MR Shah and Hima Kohli asked the parties in the case to complete plead

ings in the matter. So licitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Maharashtra gov ernment, told the bench that the entire evidence on record comprising 10 volumes will be filed within a week.

A local court on Thursday granted bail to journalist Fahad Shah, arrested this year.

As per Shah’s lawyer Umair Ronga, the editor of online portal ‘The Kashmir Walla’ was granted bail by a special court designated under the National Inves tigation Agency Act, 2008.

“Special court designated under NIA today granted bail to the chief editor of @ tkwmag @pzfahad in FIR No 70/2020 P/S Safakadal

and FIR No 19/2022 P/S Pulwama,” Ronga said in a tweet. He said there was still one case pending in Jammu against the journalist. “We have also challenged his detention under the Public Safety Act. It will come up for hearing on December 15,” Ronga added. Shah was arrested in February this year for “glorifying terror ism, spreading fake news, and inciting general public against law and order.”

MEHBOOBA VACATES GOVT ACCOMMODATION IN ANANTNAG

Srinagar (PTI): PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday vacated the government accommodation provided to her in Anant nag district of Jammu and Kashmir, more than a week after the local authorities had asked her to move out. Mufti, who was one of the eight former legislators to have been issued a notice, took her belongings from the bungalow in the morning,

The entire programme was presided over by Consulting Editor Shishir Awasthi. Before the start of the pro gramme, the chief guests were felicitated by Shishir Awasthi by pre senting 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.

Shivpal, Akhilesh together again: PSPL merges with SP

Saifai (ANI): Pragat isheel Samajwadi Party Lohiya (PSPL) founder and former SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday announced the merger of his party into Samajwadi Party. The announcement was made by Shivpal Singh Yadav in the pres ence of his nephew and SP chief Akhilesh Ya dav in Saifai. Akhilesh Yadav presented a party flag to his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav in Saifai, indicating the merger of PSPL with the SP. The SP flag was also put on Shivpal Yadav’s vehicle.

“We have merged Pra gatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) into Sa majwadi Party. In 2024, we will fight unitedly. From today, there will be Samajwadi Party flag (on the car),” Shivpal Singh Yadav said while speaking to reporters at Saifai on Thursday.

the past record when it gave over 90,000 lead to ‘netaji’ (Mulayam). He said this is the victory of the “ideals of netaji’ and development works carried out by him.

Sonia Gandhi reaches Sawai Madhopur, birthday to be celebrated in Ranthambhore

Sawai Madhopur

(ANI): UPA Chairper son Sonia Gandhi ar rived in Jaipur on Thursday as the par ty’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is passing through Ra jasthan, party leaders said.

Former Congress president Sonia Gan dhi is on a two-day tour of Rajasthan, and after arriving at Jaipur air port on Thursday af ternoon, she flew to Sawai Madhopur in a helicopter. She will be staying in Sher Bagh

her

they said.

Members of Kashmiri Pandit community protest against the alleged atrocities.

officials said.

New Delhi(PTI): A new book chronicles the events and “untold stories” that occurred in Jammu and Kashmir after Article 370 was revoked on August 5, 2019. “A Dismantled State”, written by journalist Anuradha Bhasin, is based on eyewitness accounts

of a range of people. “The dilution of Article 370 and subsequent events in Jam mu and Kashmir have not only reshaped the region’s sociopolitical and economic landscape but have also led to a near extinction of any news that does not conform to the official narrative.

“This book is my attempt to combat disinformation in Kashmir’s dangerous infor mation desert. Through it, I hope to fill at least some gaps in the understanding of how the post-5 Aug 2019 developments are impacting lives of common Kashmiris,” Bhasin said.

‘A DISMANTLED STATE’: BOOK CHRONICLES UNTOLD STORY OF KASHMIR AFTER ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370

KASHMIR JOURNALIST FAHAD SHAH GRANTED BAIL BY SPECIAL COURT

FAMILY UNITEDLY CONTESTED BYPOLL: SHIVPAL Lucknow (PTI): As SP candidate Dimple Yadav took a comfortable lead in Mainpuri, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday said the party is heading for a big victory as the entire family contest ed the bypoll unitedly. Soon after Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, took a lead of over one lakh votes over her BJP rival, Shivpal Yadav visited his brother and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s memorial in Mainpuri and paid floral tributes to him.“The entire family unit edly contested the bypoll due to which we are heading for a big victory. In all future elections, the family (Yadav family) will remain united and contest together,” he told reporters in Mainpuri. Shivpal Yadav said his Jaswant Nagar constit uency, which lies in Mainpuri parliamentary constituency, has broken

Hotel of Ranthamb hore, and

birthday will be celebrated there on Friday,

Upon arrival, Sonia

Gandhi was welcomed by administration and police department of ficials. Her daughter and Congress leader

Priyanka Gandhi also reached Sawai Mad hopur via road and joined her mother, they said.

UPA Chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi reaches Ranthambore by helicopter to celebrate her birthday, in Sawai Madhopur on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Srinagar (PTI):

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav presents party flag to his uncle Shivpal Yadav at Saifai in Etawah district on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Shubham Dubey, Deepak Kaushik & Neeraj Parihar

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.

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 addresses the gathering during the programme.

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 3 MOU between var ious

includ

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

cricket boards

ing Sri Lanka

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.

FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ART OF ACTING

Honey Launches New App

RAGHVIKA KOHLI, AN ACTOR FROM DELHI, SHARES HER JOURNEY WITH CITY FIRST

the other way.

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

elieve in your dreams and they may come true, belief in yourself and they will come true,’ says Ragh vika Kohli. She is a be liever and a very pas sion-driven person. She has a positive optimis tic approach to things. Meeting new people, travelling, exploring culture, trying different cuisines, reading and dancing are a few things that I en joy doing apart from acting.

Born and brought up in Delhi, completed her post-graduation in Ra dio and TV Journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communica tion. She is a trained dancer, having been dancing since the age of five. “I had an artis tic inclination through out and knew that I

wanted to have an artis tic career only,” she said.

When asked how her journey as an actor be gin she said that it all started back in school when she used to perform in drama and skits, she enjoyed a lot be ing on stage and per forming. After postgraduation, she joined a theatre group in Delhi itself to learn more about this craft and at that time she got sure about taking acting as a career, a profession.”

Being an actor you get to live so many lives and growing up I want

ed to be a doctor, be in the army, I wanted to have so many different lives. I wanted to do so much and that’s why I choose acting,” said Raghvika.

Where do you see yourself in the next 20 years?

In the next 20 years, want to see myself hap py both physically and emotionally and hope my family would be proud of me. Would have done some pro jects as an actor that brings a positive change in society. Also making positive contributions to the world in some or

A CORNER IN THE EAST

Nature is the purest portal to inner space. Thus City First brings to you a glimpse of a rare sight of Capital, where flowers bloom and so does hope.

The biggest battle I had to fight was mostly to do with myself. Have the courage to take up acting as a full-time ca reer with no resources and knowledge. Espe cially fact that you don’t have anybody to guide you in this indus try, and have no con tacts, it gets tougher.

Choosing an unconven tional profession was the biggest battle that I fought during my ini tial days. The other bat tle that I fight is to re main consistent, to be there, facing audi tions, and rejections, to hang in there and believe in myself.

Talk to us about your achievements.

I have won a beauty pageant titled ‘Miss India Global Inter national.’ Apart from that I did a web series called NCR Days, I’ve done a few advertisements for different brands and also have worked in a few short films.

Nizamuddin East is one of Delhi’s many high-sta tus enclaves, but it is set apart from its cousins by its tree-lined lanes rich with kaleido scopic views of the 16th-century tomb of poet Rahim, a monu ment that lies right at the entrance. And then there is the wonder of

Bollywood’s well-known singer and rap per Honey Sin gh was in the lime light as he launched his new ‘App Toddy’ on Wednesday in an event held in Leela Chanakya puri Hotel, Delhi. Hon ey Singh’s part ner Vinit Kumar also joined the singer during the launch.

This app is for those people who are fond of parties and nightlife. It will help party freaks search for events hap pening in the city and you will get to see your new offers and dis counts on the passes and tickets on your phone itself. Its second special thing is that

this place,

through this ‘you will get unlimited drinks in the offer starting from Rs 399.

Apart from Honey Singh, many celebs including Sohil Khan, famous Punjabi sing ers Milind Gaba, Sid dharth Kannada and Gaurav Taneja, at tended the launch.

“During the occasion, Vineet Kumar stated “when you have a bar, you queue for drinks in the car” Apart from this, Vineet gave a piece of advice to the party enthusiasts on how to take care of health suggesting further that the par ty is just a matter of enjoying and our health should be our first priority.

from

Nizamuddin

the trees,

One ought to walk through the hood sim ply

this tomb and also for the sudden sighting of famous peo ple living here.

AISHA GUPTA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

CITY FIRST

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

CITY FIRST

oozing with silence, dense with el egant multi-storey houses with curvy backstairs on their rear. The centu ries-old stone walls of the Hum ayun Tomb com plex run along the length of this peaceful avenue.

East is one of Delhi’s many high-status en claves, but it is set apart

its cousins by its tree-lined lanes rich with kaleidoscopic views of the 16th-cen tury tomb of poet Rahim, a monu ment that lies right at the entrance.

to enjoy

the birds and

Raghvika Kohli

Rohit Chabra, Honey Singh and Vinit Kumar Milind Gaba

Sohail Khan

Agsy World

Nitin Arora

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