MUMBAI l WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 96 FBI AGENTS RAID TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO FLORIDA ESTATE
INDIAN STUDENTS WILL RETURN ‘SOON’: CHINA
Washington: The FBI raided Donald Trump’s private estate in Florida to probe into the handling of presidential documents, including classified materials, triggering an angry outburst from Trump who called it an attempt to block his 2024 White House bid.
Beijing: China has said it has started the process for the return of Indian students stuck back home due to COVID-19 visa restrictions here and the first batch may arrive soon, raising hopes for thousands of students waiting to re-join their colleges.
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI
SL TO PROMOTE RAMAYANA TRAIL FOR INDIANS
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s newly-appointed tourism brand Ambassador and cricket legend Sanath Jayasuriya has said his country will concentrate on promoting the Ramayana trail to Indian tourists, as the crisis-hit island nation seeks to boost tourism for economic recovery.
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Different tales of 2 States
Amit Shah pitches for more reforms Nitish Kumar splits with ally BJP again, 20-member cabinet in in co-op societies Maha has no woman; stakes claim as Grand Alliance Govt CM Oppn, activists rap govt —PHOTO BY PTI
Patna (PTI): In a day of fast-moving political developments, Bihar’s mercurial leader Nitish Kumar twice met Governor Phagu Chauhan, first to hand in his resignation as NDA chief minister and then after being elected leader of the RJD-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ to stake claim for the top job in the state once again. His move which was a reversal of what happened in 2017 when he left the Mahagathbandhan to rejoin the NDA, left ally BJP out in the cold for second time. After meeting Chauhan, Kumar went to the residence of ex-CM Rabri Devi to confabulate with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. Later, he called on the governor again to stake claim to form the govt after getting the support of Mahagathbandhan constituents.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari congratulates Sudhir Mungantiwar after he was sworn-in as a minister, in Mumbai, on Tuesday. CM Eknath Shinde and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis also seen.
Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar with Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap (R), in Patna, on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
BJP ACCUSES NITISH KUMAR OF INSULTING PEOPLE’S MANDATE
NITISH’S OATH TODAY, TEJASHWI TO BE DY CM
New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday accused Nitish Kumar of “insulting and betraying” people’s mandate while blaming his prime ministerial ambition for the JD(U)’s decision to walk out of the NDA and joining hands with the RJD-led Opposition. BJP leaders noted that he had snapped ties with RJD in 2017 over allegations of corruption against Tejashwi Yadav and asked how he will justify the alliance with RJD again. P5
Patna: Nitish Kumar will take oath as Chief Minister of Bihar on Wednesday at 2 pm, after he ditched the BJP on Tuesday and announced a new “Grand Alliance” which includes RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and other Opposition parties.
Crucial Freebie culture bad READ TYAGI, NOIDA WOMAN ABUSER, ARRESTED
for country: Naidu
New Delhi: Shrikant Tyagi, absconding after an FIR was lodged against him for abusing and pushing a woman at the Grand Omaxe society in Noida, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday, said senior officials. Tyagi was on the run since Friday, when the FIR against him.
CUSTOMS TO CHECK INT’L FLYERS’ PNR New Delhi: Airlines will have to mandatorily share PNR details of passengers with customs authorities 24 hours prior to departure of international flights, a move which will help prevent law offenders from fleeing the country.
VP Venkaiah Naidu with VP-elect Jagdeep Dhankhar & LS Speaker Om Birla, at the latter’s residence in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
New Delhi (PTI): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday cautioned against populist measures to garner votes by various political parties and said the “freebie culture” has led to deteriorating financial
health of many states. The government should definitely support the poor and needy, but at the same time should prioritise health, education and infrastructure development, Naidu said. More on P6
Quit India anniv: Sonia exhorts people to defend freedom New Delhi (PTI): On the Quit India movement anniversary, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday exhorted countrymen to defend the country’s freedom with “all our might”, while the Opposition party also hit out at the RSS, alleging that it supported the British. In her message, Gandhi said that on this historic day, Aruna Asif Ali held aloft the National flag when lakhs and lakhs of Congress workers were beaten and jailed.
NO FINAL WORD
Kotak to fight BJP’s BMC battle, as ministerial allocations take time
No official announcement on portfolios or guardian ministers was made as meet stretched late into night Renni Abraham
Supporters of Uday Samant congratulate him on securing the Industries portfolio.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday decided to retain the Urban Development and the Home & Finance departments for themselves respective-
ly, while allocating portfolios of the state cabinet. With the induction of incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Chandrakant Patil in the cabinet, Chandrashekar Bawankule is expected to replace
him in the post. Meanwhile, Manoj Kotak was entrusted with the charge of Mumbai’s forthcoming civic body elections. Cabinet expansion on Tuesday was executed keeping in mind the ensuing Monsoon ses-
sion of the state legislature to proliferate treasury benches with another in the offing in September. This will be held during Ganesh Chaturthi just before the onset of the 15 days of Pitrupaksh at around September 12. Even as the official portfolio announcements were expected to be made late on Tuesday night, sources indicated that Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil was the new Revenue & Cooperatives minister, Mangal Prabhat Loda will have Law and Judiciary department charge, Shamhuraj Desai will take charge as the the Excise Turn to P6
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Tuesday expanded his two-member ministry 41 days after taking oath as the CM by inducting 18 ministers, nine each from his rebel Shiv Sena group and the BJP. The list doesn’t include women, a move being panned by politicians and women’s rights activists. With no representation for women in the Shinde cabinet, NCP leader Supriya Sule said
Narendra Modi @narendramodi Congratulations to all those who took oath as Ministers in the Maharashtra Government today. This team is a great blend of administrative experience and the passion to deliver good governance. My best wishes to them for serving the people of the state.
the decision shows that the ruling parties in Maharashtra do not respect women. More on P2
—PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi (PTI): Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday pitched for reforms in cooperative societies, saying the same person cannot be elected year after year and the election process has to become more transparent. Shah was addressing an event here after the online launch of the onboarding of cooperatives on the government’s e-marketplace (GeM) platform. He stressed the need to expand and modernise the cooperative sector, which he said, has been a “neglected” sector. “There is a need to bring changes in the cooperative sector at a fast pace,” Shah said, adding, “We will have to change, else people will change us.” He emphasised bringing transparency in all spheres of the cooperative sector, particularly in three areas, including the election proces. More on P5
Amit Shah addresses at the onboarding programme of cooperative societies, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
AFTER SHAH VISIT, K’TAKA ABUZZ WITH CM CHANGE TALKS Bengaluru: There are speculations of change in chief ministership in Karnataka after Amit Shah’s recent visit. CM Basavaraj Bommai, who has come under severe criticism from within the BJP itself following the recent murder of a youth leader in Dakshina Kannada district, went into self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 for third time on Aug 6, ahead of a scheduled visit to Delhi.
Maharashtra’s 8-18 cabinet plan in
‘RELIGIOUS’ DILEMMA?
Phase II of expansion must by August-end or be stalled till October due to Pitrupaksh and other festivals
CM Shinde (right) and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis must act soon to initiate Phase II of cabinet expansion. —FILE PHOTO
Renni Abraham Mumbai: The Maharashtra council of ministers expanded ten-fold from two (Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis) to 20 on Tuesday, after the planned lean addition of 13 inductees (teen-tera plan) on August 03 was shelved. Unrest within CM Shinde’s camp of 50 MLAs insisting upon ministerial accommodation saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conceding to a 50:50 expansion plan despite having 115 of its own MLAs and independents to look out for. As predicted by this newspaper, the BJP has matched Shinde with state BJP President Chandrakant Patil, the former revenue minister of the previous BJPled government (between 2014 and 2019). Dissatisfaction with the cabinet was prevalent right after the swearing-in ceremony, with the independent 3-MLA party leader Bachu Kadu insisting on his pound of flesh and
securing a cabinet berth for himself. Shinde and Fadnavis assuaged Kadu’s feelings with the promise of a ministerial berth by September (when 22 more inductions are slated). However, that would entail a religious challenge of auspicious timing. “The September plan runs into the 10day Ganesh Chaturthi festival as well as 15 days of Pitrupaksha, followed by nine days of Navratri ending on Dussehra, thereby ruling out fresh inductions till October. The expansion must be done by August-end, immediately after the conclusion of the Monsoon Session of the state legislature starting August 17,” said a senior BJP leader. The induction of Sadabhau Khot (rebel-Sena MLA) immediately sparked off protest from BJP’s women’s
PLACATED FEELINGS
wing chief Chitra Wagh (another ministerial aspirant), who pursued a public crusade against him, then minister in the erstwhile MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray. Thackeray had procured his resignation over the suicide death of a woman in Pune, Khot’s close acquaintance. As reported by this newspaper, Abdul Sattar made the cabinet cut despite efforts to sabotage his appointment through a news media campaign on Monday. Former minister in the Fadnavis-led government (2014-2019) Girish Mahajan also found a place in the new
council of ministers after visiting Union Home Minister Amit Shah a few days back (as reported by First India). Former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also joined the cabinet of ministers. Other inductees in this cabinet expansion include Vijaykumar Gavit, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Suresh Kade, Sandipan Bumre (former minister in MVA), Uday Samant (former MVA minister), Tanaji Sawant, Ravindra Chavan, Deepak Kesarkar, Atul Save, Shambhuraj Desai (former MVA minister) and Mangalprabhat Lodha.
NEWS MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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No woman finds place in Shinde’s council of mins Women will be fairly represented in Maha cabinet soon: Fadnavis
State inducts a 20-member cabinet 41 days after induction of the new Maharashtra government First India Bureau Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday expanded his two-member ministry 41 days after taking oath to the top post by inducting 18 ministers, nine each from his rebel Shiv Sena group and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The list did not include women, a move being panned by politicians and women’s rights activists. The BJP has 12 women legislators in the state, including one from the Legislative Council. The Shinde group has two women legislators and also the backing of an Independent woman MLA. There are 28 women legislators in Maharashtra, including three from the Legislative Council. Maharashtra was the first state in the country to provide reservation to women. When 50% of India’s population is of women, they are not represented in the state cabinet, said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule. Eighteen MLAs, including state BJP Presi-
MAHARASHTRA COUNCIL OF MINS
Devendra Fadnavis
First India Bureau The ‘all male’ cabinet at the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Tuesday. —ANI PHOTO
Women activists, politicos outraged at exclusion of women
dent Chandrakant Patil, were sworn in as cabinet ministers at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. The strength of Maharashtra ministry has now gone up to 20, less than half the maximum allowed strength of 43. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office to the ministers. No minister of state was sworn in. Another ministry expansion will be held later.
Pune (PTI): Rights activists and female politicians have expressed disappointment over the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra failing to induct women into the cabinet, which was expanded on Tuesday after 41 days. Eighteen MLAs, including state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Chandrakant Patil, were sworn in as cabinet ministers at Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai. However, the list does not include women, a move being panned by politicians
It was unfortunate and shocking that not a single woman could find a place in the expanded cabinet. Many times people of that party express the view that women should be confined to the kitchen...it has started reflecting in their words and actions. NCP MP Supriya Sule
and women’s rights activists. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule said not inducting women shows the “BJP’s mindset”. Talking to reporters, Sule said it was unfortunate and shocking that not a single woman could find a place in the expanded cabinet.
—Supriya Sule, NCP MP
Without taking Patil’s name, she said that many times BJP leaders have expressed views that women should be confined to the kitchen. In May, Patil had taken a jibe at Sule asking her to go home and cook. He had later said he meant no disrespect to women. Activist Trupti Desai of Bhumata Bri-
gade, who had spearheaded a protest for women’s entry at the Shani temple in the Ahmednagar district in 2016, expressed disappointment over not a single woman legislator finding a place in the Shinde cabinet. “This is an insult to women in general in a progressive state like Maharashtra,” she alleged.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who was widely criticized for not including any woman in Maharashtra’s cabinet on Tuesday, was defended by his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who said “women will get appropriate representation” in the state cabinet in the next round of expansion. The exclusion of women was denounced by politicians and women’s rights activists alike. However, Fadnavis, who was in Pune attending a public event, said, “The objection that there is no woman minister in the newly formed cabinet will be addressed soon. Women will get appropriate
Points out previous MVA govt’s initial cabinet also did not have women ministers representation in our cabinet.” Justifying Shinde’s announcement, Fadnavis pointed out that the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government also had only five ministers initially and none of them were women, hence they had no right to make disparaging comments now. “The party whose two former ministers are in jail on charges of corruption has no moral right to put out the list (of our ministers),” Fadnavis said, referring to NCP leaders Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik.
Ex-Mum mayor takes dig at Rathod, Three out of 18 new Maha cabinet ministers embroiled in controversies Sattar’s inclusion in Maha cabinet First India Bureau
First India Bureau Mumbai: Out of 18 ministers sworn in on Tuesday during the Maharashtra cabinet expansion, three have been embroiled in controversies. Sanjay Rathod, who has served as a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led state government had resigned last year after he was linked to a women’s death in Pune. Another MLA is embroiled into controversies is MLA Abdul Sattar. Names of three of his daughters and a son appeared in the list of 7,880 candidates who were disqualified and banned for alleged
Abdul Sattar
Sanjay Rathod
rigging of the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) 2019-2020. Sattar was previously in Congress and had joined the Shiv Sena before the 2019 Assembly polls. The political leader chose to join the Shinde camp after the rebellion. Sattar, on Monday said that it was a po-
litical conspiracy and questioned the timing of the list on the eve of Maharashtra cabinet expansion. Newly inducted minister and BJP leader Vijaykumar Gavit was also found guilty of corruption and irregularities in the tribal development department led by him between 2004 and 2009.
Vijaykumar Gavit
Despite being marred with allegations of corruption, link to a death & cheating, all 3 have been inducted into the cabinet Gavit has won the 2014, 2019 Assembly polls with the BJP.
Mumbai: After the induction of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs Sanjay Rathod and Abdul Sattar in the Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday, former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar compared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a washing machine. “It’s (the BJP) like a washing machine. Once leaders go there, they come out clean,” said Pednekar, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction. Rathod, who was part of the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, had resigned from his post last year
SHINDE DEFENDS INCLUSION OF SANJAY RATHOD IN CABINET
Kishori Pednekar —ANI PHOTO
over his alleged link to a woman’s death. Recently, names of three daughters and a son of Sattar appeared in the list of the 7,880 candidates who were disqualified and banned in connection with the alleged rigging of the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) 2019-20. Shinde and 39 other
Sena legislators had revolted against the party leadership in June this year, which led to the collapse of the Thackeray-led MVA government. On June 30, Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as deputy CM.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday defended the induction of Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Rathod into the state cabinet, saying police had given him a clean chit in a case of a woman’s death. Talking to reporters, Shinde also said another round of cabinet expansion will take place soon. “During the MVA (rule), he (Rathod) was given a clean chit. So, he was included in the cabinet. Police had given him a clean chit. If anyone has anything more to say on it, then that can be heard out,” said Shinde.
RISING THROUGH THE RANKS
Chandrakant Patil becomes Maharashtra minister for second time lll
The two-term MLC and firstterm MLA from western Maha had served as the revenue and public works dept minister during 2014-19; is the state chief of BJP unit
First India Bureau Mumbai: Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil was inducted as a minister in the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on Tuesday. The two-term MLC and first-term MLA from western Maharashtra, who comes from a humble background and rose through the BJP ranks, has now become the state minister for the second time. Patil (63),
had served as the revenue and PWD minister during 2014-19. Born to a tea seller in Mumbai, Patil struggled till his college days before he found a place in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. During his work with the ABVP, he got in touch with senior BJP leader Amit Shah. He also led the ABVP’s ‘Chalo Kashmir’ campaign in 1990 to hoist a flag in Srinagar.
POLITICAL QUEST
BJP leader Chandrakant Patil takes oath as Maharashtra minister, in Mumbai on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
Patil joined the BJP in 2005 and was made secre-
tary of the party’s Maharashtra unit. He won the
MLC elections from Pune graduate constituency in 2008 and 2014. After the BJP came to
power in Maharashtra in 2014, Patil was made the cabinet minister and he held various portfolios such as revenue, textile, public works department, cooperation and marketing. In 2019, he decided to contest the Assembly election and the BJP fielded him from Pune city, instead of sitting BJP MLA Medha Kulkarni. Patil hails from Kolhapur district, but he has never contested an election there. In June this year,
Eknath Shinde and 39 other Shiv Sena legislators rebelled against their party leadership, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackerayled Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The BJP, which the largest single party in the state Assembly, sprang a surprise later when it announced that Shinde should become the CM. Patil had last month said the party decided with a “heavy heart” that Shinde should become the state’s CM instead of Fadnavis.
MAHARASHTRA MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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03
Heavy rains lash Mumbai, low-lying areas inundated First India Bureau
Mumbai: Many lowlying areas were inundated as heavy rains coupled with strong winds lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Tuesday, informed a civic official. The heavy rains led to a delay of 5 to 15 minutes in the local trains and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) services, he added.
The met department has forecasted moderate to heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs in the next 24 hours
According to the official the city is expected to brace a high tide of 4.03 metre at 9.54 am the next morning and could face water logging if rains continue to lash the city. An ‘orange’ alert was issued for Mumbai as the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Some citizens report-
ed of heavy rainfalls starting from Monday midnight. The intensity of these rains accompanied with strong winds, increased on early Tuesday morning, they said. The heavy rains also forced the authorities to divert traffic through alternate routes since low-lying areas such as
Andheri subway were submerged. Till the 24-hour ending 8 am on Tuesday, the city had recorded 51.35mm rain. The eastern and western suburbs received 76.18mm and 97.11mm rains. The IMD has forecasted a moderate to heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs with a possibility of very heavy to extremely heavy showers at isolated places in the next 24 hours.
Vehicles ply on the Western Express Highway amid incessant monsoon rains in Jogeshwari area of Mumbai on Tuesday. —PTI PHOTO
MAN, WIFE SWEPT AWAY IN DRAIN
People drive through a flooded street in Palghar district. —ANI PHOTO
Yawatmal: A man and his wife fell into an overflowing major drain (nullah) in Yavatmal district on Monday morning, informed an official. The incident took place in Warud Jahangir village of the district and the deceased were identified as Subhash Raut (55) and his wife Sulochna (50). The couple was guarding their crops from the animals for the last two to three days and got swept away in an overflowing drain.
In absence of bridge funeral procession pass through flooded river First India Bureau Pune: In the absence of a bridge, residents of a village in Solapur district were forced to undertake a dangerous journey wading through a swollen river to bury a man as the village doesn’t have a graveyard. A video of the funeral procession of Pitapur village resident Noor Ahmed (48) being carried out by people wading through the flooded Harna river on Tuesday has gone viral on social media.
Commuters wade through a waterlogged road following monsoon rains in Palghar district, on Tuesday. —PTI PHOTO
CRUCIAL READ COP HELD FOR DEMANDING BRIBE FROM ROBBERY CASE ACCUSED
CULTURAL CELEBRATION A man belonging to an indigenous community plays the tarpa (a type of musical instrument) as other members dance to mark International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples (World Tribal Day), at Aarey Colony in Mumbai on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE
Thane: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested a woman police naik from Raigad district for allegedly demanding bribe from a person accused in a robbery case. Kunjan Dharmesh Jadhav (32) of Raigad’s Mangaon police station allegedly demanded Rs1 lakh from the person to assist him in getting out of the case. According to ACB Raigad’s deputy superintendent of police Sushma Sonawane, Jadhav later agreed to accept Rs90,000 from him. The accused in the robbery case complained to the ACB, which conducted an investigation and arrested Jadhav on Monday.
Three con D-Company’s Salim Fruit of `50L, held First India Bureau
80TH ANNIVERSARY OF QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT CELEBRATED Mumbai: On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Quit India movement, tributes were paid to martyrs on Tuesday at the August Kranti Maidan in New Delhi. Floral tributes were paid to freedom fighters and others who laid their lives in the freedom struggle. This is the ground from where Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘do-or-die’ for independence. People visited the August Kranti Maidan in the morning and offered floral tributes at the Gandhi Smruti Stambh. The movement began in August 1942, with Mahatma Gandhi’s call for immediate independence, at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank, which later became known as August Kranti Maidan due to its historical significance.
MUMBAI POLICE TO LAUNCH DRIVE TO REUNITE MISSING KIDS WITH FAMILIES Mumbai: The Mumbai Police will soon launch a campaign to reunite missing or abducted children with their families. The ‘Operation Reunited’ will begin on August 15 and will last until September 15. Throughout the month-long exercise, police will also look for the parents of such children and assist them in reuniting with their families. The police also appealed to people to inform them on helpline numbers 100 or 1098 about children found in suspicious condition, those begging on railway stations, bus depots and roads, and those engaged in rag-picking.
Mumbai: Three persons were arrested by the police on Monday for conning gangster Chhota Shakeel’s close aide Salim Fruit of Rs50 lakh, by posing as rescuers who could save him from an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The police have identi-
fied the accused as Vishal Devraj Singh, Jafar Usmani and Pawan Durijeja. The arrest of the three occurred consequent to Salim Fruit aka Mohammed Salim Iqbal Qureshi, who is notorious gangster Chhota Shakeel’s brother-in-law. Shakeel is D-Company supremo Dawood Ibrahim’s henchman. Salim was arrested last Thursday by the
NIA in a case related to terrorist and criminal activities. “Salim Fruit, a close aide of D-Company, played an active role in extorting huge amounts of money in the name of Chhota Shakeel via property dealings and dispute settlements for raising terror funds in furtherance of terrorist activities of D-company,” NIA said.
Salim in NIA custody after his arrest. —ANI PHOTO
As a temporary way out, the admin has asked villagers to try to convince any resident to donate land in the village for a burial ground
“We have been demanding a bridge over the river so that the residents do not have to face hassles in the event of flooding and heavy rains while carrying out a funeral procession,” said Sandip Pachange, gram panchayat secretary,
Pitapur village. Speaking about the incident, he said family members of Noor Ahmed decided to carry out his funeral procession wading through the swollen river. “Empty barrels were tied to the bottom of the bier so that it doesn’t sink while crossing the river. The funeral procession crossed the river with the help of some good swimmers,” said Pachange. Akkalkot tehsil Block Development Officer (BDO) Sachin Khude visited the village on Tuesday.
Marathi actor Pradeep Patwardhan dies at 65 First India Bureau Mumbai: Veteran Marathi Actor Pradeep Patwardhan, known for his roles in films such as Chashme Bahaddar, Ek Shodh and Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, died on Tuesday morning due to a heart attack, confirmed actor Vijay Patkar. Patwardhan, 65, lived at his residence in Girgaon in southern Mumbai. “He passed away at his residence at around 7 to 8 am at his residence. The actor also had suffered severe health complications some five years ago,” Vijay said. The veteran actor was working actively in the film industry. His demise is a shocking news said Patkar, who worked with Patwardhan in “Lavu ka Laath” and “Chashme Bahaddar”. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
CM Eknath Shinde mourned Patwardhan’s demise and said that a ‘great artiste’ was lost by the Marathi Cinema today mourned Patwardhan’s demise and said that a ‘great artiste’ was lost by the Marathi Cinema today. Pradeep Patwardhan, the evergreen actor who ruled the hearts of the audience with his graceful acting in Marathi cinema, passed away tragically. With his departure, the Marathi art world has lost a great artist, the chief minister wrote in Marathi on Twitter.
‘STAGED’ SOIREE
NSD’s ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’ opens in Mumbai Theatre festival began in Delhi on July 16 and has already been held in Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar and Bengaluru cities First India Bureau Mumbai: The 22nd edition of the ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’, presented by the National School of Drama (NSD), began in the
city on Tuesday. Various plays about the “unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle” will be staged across the state capital. The festival is being organized as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’—celebrating the 75th year of India’s Independence—an initiative of the central government. The theatre festival kicked off in Delhi on July 16, and was held in cities of Bhubaneshwar,
National School of Drama in Delhi.
Varanasi, Amritsar and Bengaluru, before coming to Mumbai. It was inaugurated on Tuesday
—FILE PHOTO
at the Rabindra Natya Mandir in the city and will run till August 13. The ‘Bharat Rang Ma-
hotsav’ is being jointly organized by the Union Ministry of Cultural Affairs and PL Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Akademi, as informed by a press release. The five-day programme opened with Chandrakant Tiwari’s ‘I am Subhash’, written by Dinesh Nayar, and it will conclude with Bhishm Sahani-written ‘Rang De Basanti Chola’ directed by Mohammad Nazir Qureshi. Other plays that will be performed as part of
the theatre festival include ‘Gandhi-Ambedkar’ directed by Dr Mangesh Bansod, Rupesh Pawar’s ‘August Kranti’, and ‘Tilak Ani Agarkar’ directed by Sunil Joshi. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inaugurated the festival as its chief guest in the presence of renowned actress Rohini Hattangadi, veteran actor Satish Kaushik, and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) member Vani Tripathi Tikoo.
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RERUN OF MAHA EPISODE? KOI SHAQ? NITISH ‘DIVORCES’ BJP
JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar interacts with media after submitting his resignation to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan, outside Raj Bhavan in Patna on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India
I In the whole episode, it seemed that Nitish Kumar reportedly feared that the BJP may have wanted to repeat the Maharashtra saga in Bihar. Time will only clear the air, however, for now, Nitish has made up his mind and it was perhaps Shah’s “perceived” grip on Bihar through the selection of ministers which Nitish saw as an apparent threat
n politics, there is nothing called permanent friends or foes. Strange bedfellows make the script of Indian politics the way actually voters want to see it. Around 1.20 pm Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar announced that the alliance with the BJP in Bihar has ended. Tension or reported “rift” between the two parties had hammered on a breakpoint over (Nitish) Kumar’s concerns that Union Minister Amit Shah was working overtime in order to create fissures in the Janata Dal (United). Nitish squarely blamed RCP Singh, a former leader from his own party, for serving as proxy to Shah. RCP had quit the JDU on the weekend after his party accused him of corruption. The RJD, which is the state’s single-largest party, also met on Tuesday to discuss the political crisis brewing in the state. The party is currently headed by Tejashwi Yadav. According to political grapevine RJD is set to join Nitish in order to revive an earlier alliance they once had… at least till this article was written. Hope floats and hence one keeps planning likewise… probably. JD(U) hopes that if
NITISH DUMPS BJP, GOES BACK TO RJD
(such) an alliance performs well (in Bihar) in 2024, Nitish could easily be catapulted to the epicentre of the Opposition core. However, this alliance is also desperately looking for faces which have both political clout and credibility. However, the undercurrent of political ambitions among leaders in the Opposition camp is running high and Nitish’s rise is certain to “take on” Mamata’s hopes of taking along the Opposition parties all this while and Nitish’s rise in that sense might also hit a roadblock in the form of the Left parties. As a result, the fractured bonhomie would continue to exist. Whether Nitish’s magnum gameplan shuttles him to the national centre stage again (or not), Nitish’s political divorce at least for now will hugely affect the politics not just in the Hindi heartland but also have a ripple effect in the national scenario. While the BJP might be the second-largest party in Bihar in the 2020 Assembly elections, just 1 seat behind the RJD and far ahead of the JD(U), having Nitish by its side has always aided the party hugely. Nitish’s pro-development card might still be saleable among the voters and it may any day help dilute and smudge the taint of corruption charges against the RJD. It is important to note here that the RJD, despite the absence of Lalu has still managed to hold on to its old form and that was clearly evident
P
olitics is always full of surprises. Not long ago Eknath Shinde upstaged Uddhav Thackeray with the help of Bharatiya Janata Party to grab power and the party in Maharashtra, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s announcement that “alliance with BJP is over” has left the coalition partner of Janata Dal-United “nervous”. It may not be the right word to capture the BJP’s response to the situation as the word may not be part of the party’s lexicon. Its leadership is capable of carrying out a surgical strike in Bihar on the lines of Maharashtra where the Thackerays and even Sharad Pawar have been pushed to the sidelines.
However, this alliance is also desperately looking for faces which have both political clout and credibility.If JD(U) sources are to be believed, Nitish was upset with the “overt political posturing” by the central BJP leadership during a two-day national meeting of all its frontal organisations held in Patna between July 30 and 31 in the last Assembly polls when it emerged as the single-largest party. Earlier, the Congress and Left parties handed over the lists of their legislators to Tejashwi Yadav. Mandan Mohan Singh, the state president of Congress said: “We will support Nitish Kumar if he leaves the BJP and forms a new government with the help of Mahagathbandhan. We have also given the list of all 19 MLAs of our party to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.” Mahboob Alam, the MLA of CPI (ML) said: “We have also given the list to Tejashwi Yadav. We will uproot the BJP from power. We are giving support to Nitish Kumar for the formation of a new government.” Currently, BJP holds 77 seats in the Bihar Assembly. JD(U) holds 45, the Congress 19, the Left led by CPIML(L) has 16 and the RJD 79.
Nitish Kumar is known for moving in and out of alliances. Before the just-ended alliance, the JD-U remained an ally of the BJP for 13 years. He parted ways with the saffron party after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014 One must wait for the BJP’s strategists to come up with a response to Nitish’s coup. Nitish Kumar is known for moving in and out of alliances. Before the just-ended alliance, the JD-U remained an ally of the BJP for 13 years. He
Nitish, it seemed, was unhappy for quite some time. It may be recalled that Nitish had skipped the NITI Aayog meeting held by Prime Minister. This is the fourth Central meeting since July 17 that he (Nitish) has kept himself away from amid strained relations with the BJP. On Sunday, one of its senior most leaders, R C P Singh, who had run into rough weather with Nitish over accepting a Cabinet berth at the Centre, had quit the JDU. It may also be mentioned that on July 22, Nitish chose to stay away from the farewell dinner hosted by outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind. On July 25, he also did not attend the swearing-in of NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu as the new President. If JD(U) sources are to be believed, Nitish was upset with the “overt political posturing” by the central BJP leadership during a two-day national meeting of all its frontal organisations held in Patna between July 30 and 31. Even though Shah talked about “contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Assembly polls in alliance with the JD(U)”, the Bihar CM reportedly took note of the fact that several second-rung leaders had spoken “too much about repeal of Article 370 and nationalism” which did not suit his agenda in politics in the given circumstances. Nitish, grapevine says, was also unhappy with the Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha’s “handling” of the concluding function of the Assembly’s centenary celebrations on July 12, which was attended by Modi and incidentally, Nitish’s name was missing from the invitation! It was an obvious sign that Nitish’s decision not to attend NITI Aayog meeting did not go well with the BJP central leadership. In the whole episode, it seemed that Nitish Kumar reportedly feared that the BJP may have wanted to repeat the Maharashtra saga in Bihar. Time will only clear the air, however, for now, Nitish has made up his mind and it was perhaps Shah’s “perceived” grip on Bihar through the selection of ministers which Nitish saw as an apparent threat. And the tripping point was what RCP had said hinting at Nitish while the former quit, “I’ll just say that there’s no cure to jealousy...Nitish Kumar will not become Prime Minister in any of his seven lives.”
IN-DEPTH
LET THERE BE NO FUSS OVER ANDA IN CHILDREN’S MID-DAY MEALS
M
id-day meals in schools have been a subject of discussion from the time the scheme was launched. From ideal calorie count to hygiene, fixing responsibility for cooking to deciding the menu has been discussed at regular intervals. Cooked meals containing 480 calories and 13 grams of protein per child per day for a minimum of 200 days per year are prescribed for government and government-aided schools. Schools have a meagre budget, which is also not regularly disbursed in some states, to provide the meals. The required amount of protein, essential for the growth and development of children, can’t be had from a bowl of lentils and some paneer (cottage cheese). Yet, there’s a controversy over including eggs as part of mid-day meals even for those who eat it. So far 13 states give eggs to children, while Karnataka, which is facing opposition, is also planning to introduce it. Such fuss over an egg should be avoided in the interest of children’s health.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK The spirit is beyond destruction. No one can bring an end to spirit which is everlasting. —Bhagavad Gita
TOP TWEETS Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp
Be it the Rabaris in Rajasthan, Abhuj Marias in Chattisgarh or the Sauras in Odisha, India is home to the most number of ethnic groups and also a large concentration of tribal population. Our tribal communities have played a vital role in India’s progress. #IndigenousPeoplesDay
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
parted ways with the saffron party after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014 and formed a government with support from the RJD and the Congress. In 2017 he won the Bihar elections at the head of a Grand Alliance with the RJD and the Congress but the unity didn’t last. After two years Nitish broke the alliance over differences with Tejashvi Yadav, who faced allegations of money laundering, and formed a government with the BJP’s participation. Nitish is now returning to the old combine of JD-U, RJD and the Congress. Given his political fickleness, the JD-U leader must already be planning his future move while building his defences against a possible Operation Lotus.
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Bhupender Yadav @byadavbjp
Why, with 61 medals, #CommonwealthGames2022 is India’s best performance ever at the Games. Way to go! Vol 1 l Issue No. 96 l RNI TITLE NO. MAHENG/2022/14652 Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Dangat Media Pvt Ltd, No.22, Dighe MIDC, Vishnu Nagar, TTC Industrial Area, Dighe, Navi Mumbai-400701. Published at Plot No. 3 Scheme C of Manglorean Garden Home, CHS Limited, Survey No. 5, 6C (Part) Ville Parle East, Mumbai 400057. Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act l
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Oppn hails Nitish’s BJP rebuttal Developments in Bihar strong indictment of BJP’s ‘politics of intimidation’: Parties unite in glee New Delhi (PTI): Opposition parties on Tuesday said the JD(U) breaking ranks with the BJP is a “strong indictment” of the saffron party’s “politics of intimidation” and shows a change in Indian politics. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met Governor Phagu Chauhan on Tuesday and tendered his resignation. This came after the decision to quit the BJP-led NDA was taken at a meeting of JD(U) MPs and MLAs. “#NitishKumar breaking alliance with BJP is a strong indictment of the politics of intimidation practiced by BJP. “BJP’s authoritarianism leaves no scope for cooperation. After Akalis & Shiv Sena, JD(U) is latest example. Cracks are visible in the relationship of BJP & AIADMK too,” Communist Party
CAG flags J-K govt on utilisation certificates Jammu (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir government has failed to submit utilisation certificates for grants worth more than Rs 10,000 crores to the Centre till March 2021, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said. Non-submission of the UCs means the authorities have not explained how funds were spent over the years in the Union territory, the apex auditing body said. The CAG released a fresh report on finances of J&K for the year ending March 2021. It recommended to hold into account those responsible for late submission of UCs. “As many as 3,215 number of Utilisation Certificates for grants paid up to 30 September 2019 amounting to Rs 10,076.58 crore were outstanding up to 31 March 2021,” the CAG report said.
—PHOTO BY ANI
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav speaks to the media as Nitish Kumar looks on, in Patna on Tuesday.
of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja said in a tweet. CPI MP Binoy Viswam said the events in Bihar indicate that a change is underway. “Bihar conveys the message of far reaching change in Indian politics,” said Viswam. TMC MP Derek O’Brien said it is one of the reasons behind the Parliament session being cut short by the government. —MORE ON P6
New Delhi: As he snapped ties with the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has once again been pitched as a PM candidate for the 2024 elections by some, but a majority of the Opposition still view the JD(U) leader with suspicion citing his numerous U-turns’. Kumar first became chief minister in 2005 on the back of a campaign against jungle raj’ of Lalu Prasad’s RJD in Bihar. Kumar dumped the BJP in 2013 after Narendra Modi was projected as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Kumar then forged a grand alliance with RJD and Congress and returned as chief minister in 2015. He walked out of the grand alliance in 2017, accusing the RJD of corruption and choking governance in the state.
Nitish insulted people’s mandate, says BJP They also threw the jibe “Paltu Ram” and rejected claims that their party was undermining him. RCP Singh, once a close aide of Kumar, also accused the chief minister of betraying the mandate of the 2020 assembly polls in the favour of the BJP-led NDA.
Patna/New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of “insulting and betraying” people’s mandate while blaming his prime ministerial ambition for the JD(U)’s decision to walk out of the NDA and joining hands with the RJD-led opposition.
SHAH PITCHES FOR MORE REFORMS IN COOP SOCIETIES
Home Minister Amit Shah speaks at the event, as Minister Piyush Goyal and others look on, in New Delhi on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI
India. On the launch programme, the cooperative societies have been onboarded and enabled as buyers on the GeM. Major cooperatives that have been onboard-
ed on Tuesday include IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, Amul and Saraswat Co-op Bank. It is expected that orders worth `25 crore will be placed on the day of the launch.
New Delhi: Amit Shah on Tuesday pitched for reforms in cooperative societies, saying the same person cannot be elected year after year and the election process has to become more transparent. Shah stressed the need to expand and modernise the cooperative sector, which he said, has been a “neglected” sector. “There is a need to bring changes in the cooperative sector at a fast pace,” he said. “We will have to change, else people will change us,” he told top officials of cooperatives present at the event. Shah also spoke about the need to bring transparency in purchases and for that there is no better medium than the Government e-marketplace (GeM). He said the ministry is coming up with a new cooperative policy, preparing a database, setting up a university for conducting training purposes and also establishing an export house to boost overseas shipments. Shah said the ministry will also bring changes to the Multi-State Co-operatives Act.
NEET PG counselling likely from Sept 1 New Delhi (Agencies): After the Supreme Court refused a plea to stay the counselling process of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) over alleged discrepancies in test scores, the NEET PG counselling will begin on September 1 as per official sources. NEET PG 2022 counselling is expected to be held by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) like in previous years. Going by past
trends, the NEET 2022 counselling will be held over several rounds and in every round, a seat allotment result will be released. Unlike NEET UG, where candidates can challenge the answer key, with no such provisions in NEET PG.
(httptlugcereso urces.in/)” with Common Service Centres (CSCs)/Special Purpose Vehicle (SpVl of MeitY) in rural India”. The portal will have 25 SWAYAM postgraduate non-engineering MOOCs courses. These courses will be in eight Indian languages, including Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, and Tamil. The portal will also have e-PG Pathshala e-content developed in 67 PG subiects and 35 PG and 243 PG SWAYAM MOOCs courses in emerging areas.
TEACHING THE LEADERS
How are MPs who do not know how to vote! Mahesh Sharma
New Delhi: It is a wonderful aspect that the honourable Parliamentarians of India, who are elected by millions of people by casting their votes, when it comes to their turn to vote, they make a mistake. The votes of 15 MPs have become invalid in the election of the Vice President. Think about these MPs! An MP is the representative of an average of 1.6 m people and what can be said
about him if he does not know how to perform a simple task like casting votes? There were only two candidates for the Vice-President’s elec-
tion and each MP had to write his order of preference next to the candidate. That is, if the MP was from BJP, he had to write 1 in front of
Dhankhar’s name and if he was from Congress, he had to write 1 in front of Margaret Alva. Despite this, vote of 15 MPs became invalid. In the presidential election held just 15 days ago also, the votes of 15 MPs were also invalid. In the presidential election, close to 4,800 MLAs cast their votes and 748 MPs voted. Vote of only 38 MLAs became invalid, while the vote of 15 MPs of 748 became invalid. There too only 1 was to be written in front of
NIA NABS TWO SUSPECTED JMB MEMBERS IN MP
MP TO RELEASE 356 PRISONERS ON I-DAY
Bhopal: The National Investigation Agency has arrested two alleged members of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Bhopal city, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday. The suspects, Hamidullah aka Raju Gaji and Sahadat Hussain, had been on the radar after the arrest of active JMB members in March this year, Mishra said.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday said it will release 356 prisoners undergoing life imprisonment in various jails in the state on August 15 to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. Home Minister Narottam Mishra said prisoners undergoing life term will be released as per guidelines of the Union Home Ministry and norms of state government.
the candidate of his choice. There were only 13 states in the country where no MLA cast invalid votes. Among them there are also states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh. But many MLAs from Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra cast invaild votes. MPs and MLAs are trained properly, yet they make mistakes even in such a simple voting process. Certainly they should be traced and trained as well as warned.
MULLAPERIYAR SAFE, SAYS STALIN AS WATER LEVEL NEARS CAPACITY
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday informed his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan that the Mullaperiyar Dam is safe in all aspects. Earlier on August 5, the Kerala Chief Minister wrote to Stalin seeking his intervention in regulating water discharge from Mullaperiyar dam, where the water level has gone beyond the permissible level of 136 ft.
AAP VOLUNTEERS TO ADOPT GOVT SCHOOLS IN GOA
ANOTHER SSLV FLIGHT SOON: KIRAN KUMAR
Panaji: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday volunteered to adopt government-run primary schools in Goa. AAP’s Goa unit president Amit Palekar said the government wants to merge or shut primary schools with just one teacher or less students. Palekar met director, education Shailesh Zingade and said AAP can adopt such schools.
New Delhi:The failure of India’s newest rocket to put small satellites in orbit was not a setback and ISRO will soon attempt another flight, Space Commission member AS Kiran Kumar said. “No, no, no. It is not a setback. We were only marginally short in the end,” Kumar, a former chairman of ISRO said on the sidelines ofan event here.
IN THE COURTYARD HC DIRECTS TEHSILDAR TO REMOVE ENCROACHMENTS ON TEMPLE LAND
UGC TO LAUNCH E-RESOURCES PORTAL FOR RURAL STUDENTS New Delhi: The University Grant Commission (UGC) has recently joined hands with the Ministry Of Electronics And lnformation Technology (MeitY) to launch an e-resources portal. It will provide digital courses to millions of students in rural areas. In a recent notification, the UGC stated, “to mark 2 years of NEP-2020 and to facilitate last mile accessibility (ensuring that no learner is left behind), UGC has integrated its “UGC e-resources Portal
CRUCIAL READ
NITISH AS OPPOSITION’S PM CANDIDATE IN 2024? MANY WARY OF HIS ‘U-TURNS’
Shah launches GeM portal, 300 co-ops onboard New Delhi (Agencies): Cooperation Minister Amit Shah today announced that over 300 cooperatives have been onboarded as buyers on the GeM portal to help them purchase goods and services at competitive prices. Amit Shah today virtually launched the process of onboarding cooperatives on the GeM portal. In the first phase, all eligible cooperatives, having a turnover/deposits of ₹ 100 crore, will be able to start placing orders on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. There are more than 8.5 lakh cooperatives in
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HC LAUDS STEPS BY INDIA TO FULFIL CLIMATE COMMITMENTS
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has appreciated steps taken to implement the climate change commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the court was told the government has approved India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. The government also informed the court on August 4 the updated NDC will be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).NDC encompasses national plans and pledges made by a country to meet the goal of maintaining global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial levels, while aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Chennai: The first bench of the Madras HC has directed the local tehsildar to inspect the properties belonging to Sri Venugopala Krishnaswamy temple at Mannadi here and submit a report to the state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment department, which should take immediate action to retrieve the properties. The bench gave the direction, while disposing of a PIL from A Radhakrishnan of Kannankurichi in Salem.
PRADEEP RAMDANEE, POLICE GET 2-DAY MONEY LAUNDERING CUSTODY OF ISIS ACCUSED, GETS BAIL SUPPORTER New Delhi: A Delhi Court granted bail to accused Pradeep Ramdanee, (one caught in a trap collecting money from Aditi Singh) in a Rs-200 crore money laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar. Pradeep Ramdanee is admitted to bail after furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 1,00,000 with one surety of like amount, to the satisfaction of this court.
Erode: Erode Principal District Judge granted two days’ police custody and permitted the police to enquire Asif Mohideen, a supporter of ISIS, who was arrested here. Last month, NIA, based on information, visited Manickampalayam Housing Unit here and secured two persons. On suspicion, cops arrested one of them - Asif Muzabdin (28) - an employee of a private tiles sales firm.
DELHI HC ALLOWS ULTRASOUND MACHINE IN ELDERLY PATIENT’S HOUSE New Delhi: Delhi HC has allowed a private hospital to transport an ultrasound machine to the house of a 70-yrold man who is under domiciliary hospitalisation. Under the law an individual is prevented from accessing a portable ultrasound machine. The man’s plea said he is suffering from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, which attacks the nerve cells causing acute problems with balance, movement, vision and speech, and is receiving treatment at home ICU.
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OPPN CONG QUESTIONS GOVT’S RUSH TO END PROCEEDINGS
‘Monsoon session extremely disappointing’ QUIT INDIA ANNIV: SONIA EXHORTS PEOPLE TO DEFEND FREEDOM
Congress leader and party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh said against 32 bills listed, the government could pass only 7 bills in Lok Sabha and 5 in Rajya Sabha. —FILE PHOTO
Ramesh said at a press conference. He said the government had listed 32 bills at the start of the session but managed to pass only seven in the Lok Sabha and five in the Rajya Sabha. “It was also extraordinary that one-and-a-half days of proceedings were disrupted by treasury benches which kept insisting on an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for remarks made by the leader of the party in Lok Sabha who had already apologised for his statement both verbally as well as in writing,”
Dividing people on caste, religion will weaken country: Yogi Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said India’s strength is its unity and the country will be weakened if citizens are divided on the basis of caste and religion. The CM was addressing a programme to mark the Kakori incident on August 9, 1925, in which freedom fighters stopped a train and decamped with money to buy weapons. “India’s strength is its unity. When 135 crore people speak together, India not only remains the largest democracy in the world but is also seen representing and guiding the world as the mother of democracy,” he said. “When we are divided on basis of caste, creed, religion, region and language, it only divides our strength, weakens India, hinders development and gives rise to anarchy that can create a crisis on the independence of the country,” the CM added.
New Delhi: On the Quit India movement anniversary, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi exhorted countrymen to defend the country’s freedom with “all our might”. Gandhi said on this historic day, Aruna Asif Ali held aloft the National flag when lakhs of Congress workers were beaten and jailed. Her act of courage became the symbol of our quest for freedom, Sonia Gandhi said. “As we commemorate the Quit India movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, let us not forget the price that millions of our countrymen and women paid for India’s freedom. Let us renew our resolve to defend it and protect it with all our might,” she said. “When the country under the Congress leadership was engaged in a decisive struggle against the British, the RSS not only boycotted the movement but also actively supported the British,” the Congress said on itsTwitter handle.
Yogi Gets Death Threat Over Emergency WhatsApp Helpline Lucknow: A WhatsApp message threatening to ‘kill’ Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was received on the Uttar Pradesh police’s text helpline following which a case was registered against a man, officials in Lucknow said today. The police said the message was sent allegedly by a person named Shahid on the WhatsApp number of Dial112 helpline. He threatened to “bomb” the Chief Minister, the police told news agency Press Trust of India. An FIR or police case was filed at Sushant Golf City PS here.
Ramesh said. He said the coming together of opposition parties to demand a review of the Supreme Court’s order on PMLA is a “huge step towards strengthening democracy”. “It is a matter of great satisfaction that all opposition parties, 16 opposition parties came together to raise serious concerns on the Supreme Court judgment on the PMLA amendments that were carried out between 2014 and 2018 and have called for a review of that judgment and that statement has already been circulated,” Ramesh noted.
9 blacklisted for ‘harassing’ officials through RTI Ahmedabad (PTI): In an unprecedented move, the Gujarat Information Commission has blacklisted nine persons for “harassing” officials by filing repeated RTI queries and ordered their applications should not be responded to henceforth. An NGO which analysed the orders of information commissioners over 2 years said this is the first occasion in Gujarat wherein people are “banned for a lifetime from seeking information”. The commission said these ersons were “repeatedly using the RTI Act”, “harassing officials by filing RTI applications”, filing queries with “malafide intentions” and it also found an applicant “cantankerous”.
If BJP allowed to become stronger, people may lose their voting right: Akhilesh
IYC RALLY TO DEMONSTRATE CONG ROLE IN INDEPENDENCE
Kannauj: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here on Tuesday alleged that people may lose their right to vote if the BJP is allowed to become stronger as he accused the ruling party of undermining the country’s democratic institutions and the Constitution. He said there are some countries where “no voting takes place” and in sweeping remarks questioned the electoral system in China and Russia. “Is there any election in the neighbouring country of China. If you go beyond, are there any elections in Russia?
New Delhi: Indian Youth Congress launched ‘Aazadi ki Gaurav Yatra’ to demonstrate Congress’ role in freedom struggle and development of the country, officials said. IYC began the rally while celebrating its 62nd foundation day. It will culminate on August 15. “I feel proud that the service and dedication with which Youth Congress organisation was established, every worker of the party has been fulfilling those resolution with full devotion,” IYC president, Srinivas BV said.
US delegation meets Jitendra Singh, talks on collaboration New Delhi: A US delegation of National Science Foundation, called on MoS Jitendra Singh and discussed bilateral collaboration between the countries. Kendra Sharp, Head, Office of Int’l Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation of USA, Brian Stone, Chief of Staff, NSF, Bridget Turaga Program Director, Office of International Science and Engineering, NSF, Drew Schufletows-
ki, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science & Technology Affairs, US Embassy in India, William Harford Chief of Environment, Science, and
opened the front for the most fight against the BJP and created the most ruckus for opposition unity, did not vote
Technology Unit, US Embassy and Sethuraman Panchanathan Director, NSF among others, were part of the delegation joined the meeting.
during an event at Jhauva village on August Kranti Diwas. Yadav alleged that the BJP takes votes of backward castes and the Dalits but did not give them their due.
‘OPPOSITION IN COUNTRY ISN’T UP AGAINST JUST BJP BUT AUTHORITARIAN GOVT TOO’
Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said opposition parties in the country were not up against just the BJP but an authoritarian government that is weaponising state institutions to ensure an opposition-free India.”The predicament Nitish Kumar & opposition parties find themselves in isn’t just because they are facing BJP. Instead, they are facing the might of an authoritarian government that’s weaponising every agency be it NIA, ED, CBI etc to ensure an opposition-free India,” Mehbooba tweeted. She said for Jammu and Kashmir, the damage is not restricted to only political parties. It is far worse as the state has been butchered and disempowered unconstitutionally.
FROM PG 1 Kotak to... department minister, Uday Samant will get Industries, Sudhir Mungantiwar will handle Power and Forests, and Atul Save will bag the Public Health department. Similarly, Tanaji Sawant is the likely to receive the portfolio of Higher and Technical Education, while Housing will probably go to Ravindra Chavan. Deepak Kesarkar will, in all likelihood, take charge of Tourism and Environment departments, Abdul Sattar will handle
Minority Affairs, Sandipan Bhumre will be Employment Guarantee Scheme minister. According to sources, Gularao Patil may secure the Water Supply department, while Social Justice and Water Resources may go to Suresh Khade and Girish Mahajan respectively. Surprisingly, Chandrakant Dada Patil is being touted as the next Public Works Department minister. Sources have indicated that Sanjay Rathod has bagged Rural Development, while Dada Bhuse has secured Agriculture.
Naidu, Birla discuss nat’l Bihar’s political chess game issues with Dhankhar matches BJP’s Maha gambit New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday hosted outgoing Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and his successor Jagdeep Dhankhar at his residence. Naidu and Birla shared insights and experiences on issues of national interest and parliamentary affairs with Vice Presidentelect Dhankhar, the Lok
Sharat K Verma New Delhi: After the presidential election, the unity of the Opposition parties has now been exposed even in the election of the Vice Presidential post. When two parties that did not vote for a common Opposition candidate in the presidential election returned to the Opposition camp this time, two major Opposition parties were thrown out. Mamata Banerjee, who
In Pakistan, the Army rules the roost and install in power whoever they want to. Are there any elections in Myanmar and its surrounding countries? So, be careful,” Yadav said
Bengaluru: Calling RSS an “association of upper castes”, senior Karnataka Congress leader Siddaramaiah called the government’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign a “drama”, and PM Modi a “great dramatist”. The former CM questioned BJP’s and RSS’ contribution to India’s freedom struggle and alleged they had opposed the national flag, anthem and the Constitution. “How can they be patriots?” he asked. “I have been opposing RSS from the beginning as it is just an association of upper castes, that’s the reason they believe in ‘Chaturvarna’ system. Chaturvarna system believes in the supremacy of upper castes; if that continues, there will be inequality which may in turn lead to exploitation,” he said.
Sabha Secretariat said in a statement. Naidu’s term ends on August 10 and Dhankhar will take oath the next day. The vice president is also chairperson of Rajya Sabha. When Dhankhar assumes charge, presiding officers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will be from Rajasthan. Birla represents Kota.
Is ‘United Opposition’ a mere farce? JMM, a party with 3 MPs, voted for the Oppn candidate. This was also decided keeping in mind the large Christian population of Jharkhand
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav felicitates the relatives of freedom fighters at an event, at Tirwa, in Kannauj on Tuesday.
RSS AN ASSOCIATION OF UPPER CASTES, PM MODI A GREAT DRAMATIST: SIDDARAMAIAH
UNCERTAIN PREMISE
lll
—PHOTO BY ANI
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday termed the Monsoon session of Parliament as “highly disappointing” and claimed the government did not have an appetite to run proceedings even though the Opposition was willing to sit till the very end to debate and pass bills. The Monsoon session ended on Monday, four days ahead of schedule, after continued disruptions during the last three weeks over issues like price rise, suspension of 27 MPs, the controversial “Rashtrapatni” remark and the ED’s action. The principal opposition party questioned the decision to curtail the session and alleged that after the prime minister, his ministers too were “ignoring” Parliament. The Opposition was ready to sit on August 10 and 12 to discuss and pass bills but the government was in a rush to curtail the session, AICC general secretary, communication, and party’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam
for the opposition candidate. She had asked her 36 MPs to abstain from voting, out of which two voted for the BJP candi-
date. Margaret Alva’s votes would have been over two hundred if her 34 MPs had voted. Similarly, 7 Shiv Sena MPs also did not take part in the voting. These MPs belong to the Uddhav Thackeray camp. MPs of Eknath Shinde camp voted for BJP’s Jagdeep Dhankhar. Last time under pressure, Uddhav asked his MPs to vote for the NDA candidate. But this time he remained silent. So, his MPs remained absent.
Rennie Abraham Mumbai: Bihar’s political power game mirrors the identical reversal of the political scenario in Maharashtra. Nitish Kumar (43 MLAs) has claimed majority in alliance with RJD (79 MLAs) and Congress (17 MLAs) and intends to form a government that will last the rest of the tenure till 2025 when assembly polls are due. The Eknath Shinde led government in alliance with BJP similarly intends to continue for another two years, till polls though Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray has dared them to face voters right now. In one situation the BJP cannot pull down the new dispensation in Bihar till 2025, while in Maharashtra it won’t be pulled down till 2024 (other political dynamics things remain constant (U) MLAs for some time. Two days ago, when Singh held a function, 30 MLAs from JD(U) attended it, prompting Nitish to take it on and follow it
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, (R) Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
up with suitable political action, to retain power. The BJP, for its part, maintained that it wanted Nitish to leave the alliance as it had committed to Kumar leading the state as CM till 2025. Now BJP is smarting from the wily CM’s political moves that has put it out of power and will bide its time to return better MLA numbers at the next polls. The same thing was done to the BJP in Maharashtra after the 2019 assembly elections when the Shiv Sena led MVA government (in alliance with NCP and Congress) came to power. This political favour was returned with interest by BJP that broke off 400 Shiv Sena MLAs
led by Shinde with 10 independents in tow to form government in Maharashtra now. Now the BJP seeks to return Kumar’s political favour by encouraging a vertical split within the JD(U) and the Congress in Bihar as it did in Maharashtra by spiriting away enough MLAs from the soon to be formed government that excludes them. In Maharashtra Sena hopes for the SC to overturn the rebel Sena CM Eknath Shinde led government’s applecart soon enough. Maharashtra and Bihar are definitely a study on political fortunes making a to and fro movement, almost like a musical chairs gamesmanship of power.
COMMODITIES
CURRENCIES
Commodity
Price
Change
% Chg
Currency
Price
Change
% Chg
GOLD
52,490.00
97.00
0.18 (Per 10g)
USDINR
79.64
0.40
0.50
SILVER
58,465.00
527.00
0.90 (Per 1kg)
GBPINR
96.2688
0.0731
0.0760
MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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business BRIEFS
GAIL TO DOUBLE SHARE CAPITAL, ADD SPECIALTY CHEMICALS
New Delhi: Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) wants to double its share capital as well as add specialty chemicals and clean energy to its line of business as it looks to diversify business beyond natural gas transmission and distribution. GAIL has sought shareholder approval to increase the authorised share capital of the company to `10,000 crore from the current `5,000 crore to help raise finance for its expansion plans over the next 3-4 years. —PTI
OYO ACQUIRES BORNHOLMSKE FERIEHUSE
New Delhi: Travel and hospitality technology platform OYO on Tuesday said it has acquired Denmark-based holiday home operator Bornholmske Feriehuse for an undisclosed sum. Based out of Bornholm island in Denmark, Bornholmske Feriehuse has 737 holiday homes spread over 30 holiday parks on its platform and expects to clock more than 2.5 lakh guest nights in 2022, OYO said in a statement. The transaction has been carried out by company’s subsidiary DanCenter. —PTI
DEPENDING ON ATF PRICE MOVEMENT
Govt will re-evaluate airfare cap New Delhi (PTI): The government will certainly reevaluate the fare cap in place for domestic airlines once there is a healthier environment in terms of jet fuel prices, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. After the coronavirus pandemic rattled the country’s civil aviation space, the sector is now in recovery mode, especially in terms of the number of air travellers and Akasa Air has also started services, becoming the first domestic carrier to launch operations in the last eight years. Against the backdrop of lingering pandemic blues, the ministry has put in the fare cap system for the local airlines. Currently, the fare capping is applicable on a rolling basis for a 15-day cycle. Scindia said that as it stands today, the fares of airlines are not close enough to the low portion of the fare cap and are very far away from the high por-
CURRENT SCENARIO
z Against the backdrop of
lingering pandemic blues, the ministry has put in fare cap system for local airlines
z As it stands today, the fares
of airlines are not close enough to the low portion of the fare cap and are very far away from the high portion.
z Currently, the fare capping is
applicable on a rolling basis for a 15-day cycle.
AIRLINES TO SHARE INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS’ INFO WITH CUSTOMS
New Delhi: The government has asked airlines to share all international passengers’ details, including contact and payment information, with customs authorities 24 hours prior to the departure of flights. The move is aimed at preventing law offenders from fleeing the country. The CBIC, under the finance ministry, on August 8 notified the ‘Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022’, which aims at “risk analysis” of passengers to prevent economic and other offenders from fleeing the country as well as check any illicit trade such as smuggling. ‘The National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger’, set up by the CBIC, will process information for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences under the Customs Act and also for the law enforcement agencies or government departments or any other country, it said. “Every aircraft operator shall transfer the passenger name record information... Of passengers they have already collected such information in the normal course of business operations, to the designated customs systems,” the regulations said.
EVERY TOWN BY 2024
Bharti Airtel to launch 5G services this month
tion of the fare cap. “I have seen stabilisation happen and at an appropriate time, we will certainly look at that. I am looking at ATF prices also coming off and as that becomes a more healthier environment, we will certainly re-evaluate that,” the minister said. In May, Scindia had said that the fare cap acts as a protector for air travellers as well as airlines. The Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) or jet fuel prices
Talks on FTA with UK moving at faster pace, says Piyush Goyal New Delhi (PTI): Negotiations for the proposed FTA between India and the UK is progressing at a faster pace, Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries. India has signed a trade pact with the UAE in a "record" time and "now our talks with the UK is moving at a faster pace", Goyal said. In such pacts, two or more countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms for promoting trade in goods and investments.In January, India and the UK formally launched talks for a FTA. They have set the deadline for concluding talks by Diwali.
Agartala: PSU major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will soon conduct a trial run for transporting fuel to Tripura through Bangladesh, an official said on Tuesday. During the trial run, the IOC will transport three LPG tankers and seven tankers of petrol and diesel through Bangladesh from Guwahati. Each LPG tanker can transport 17 mt of gas, while each oil tanker has the capacity of carrying 12,000 liters, an official said said. —PTI
New Delhi (PTI): Telecom operator Bharti Airtel will start rolling out 5G services this month and cover all towns and key rural areas of the country by March 2024, a senior company official said on Tuesday. Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal also said that the price of mobile services in India is very low and needs to go up. “We intend to launch 5G starting August and extend to a Pan India roll out very soon. By March 2024 we believe we will be able to cover every town and key rural areas as well with 5G. “In fact, detailed network rollout plans for 5,000 towns in India are completely in place. This will be one of the biggest rollouts in our history,” Vittal said during the company’s earning call. Bharti Airtel in the recently-concluded spectrum auction acquired 19,867.8 MHz frequencies by securing a pan-India
INDIAN VISITORS TO DUBAI MORE THAN DOUBLE TO 8.58 LAKH
Allahabad guava witnessing fall in production
Mumbai: The number of Indian visitors to Dubai rose more than twofold to 8.58 lakh during JanuaryJune 2022 compared to the year-ago period, according to the Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). In the first half of 2021, over 4.09 lakh people from India visited Dubai, the DET data showed. Overall, Dubai attracted 71.2 lakh international overnight visitors between January and June 2022, recording close to three-fold growth in visitors compared to 25.2 lakh tourists in same period in 2021. —PTI
Kaushambi (PTI): Allahabad guava, which attracted fruit lovers for its unique taste, has been witnessing a fall in production and area under cultivation due to land fragmentation. Wilting (ukta rog) is another reason for the fall in production of the fruit, which lured people from different parts of the country passing through the area. The state government is extending support to boost the cultivation of the fruit. District Agriculture department officials said that farmers are being given saplings at a subsidised price and training programmes are being organised frequently to perk up the cultivation of Allahabad guava.
IOC TO TRANSPORT FUEL TO TRIPURA VIA BANGLADESH
07
WHAT AIRTEL MD & CEO SAY z Bharti Airtel MD and CEO
also said that the price of mobile services in India is very low and needs to go up
z Vittal said the company’s
capex will remain around the existing levels.
footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and select purchase of radiowaves in the low and mid-band spectrum. Vittal said the company’s capital expenditure
will remain around the existing levels and played down the need for buying premium spectrum in the 700 megahertz band, which requires less number of mobile towers for coverage compared to other bands that telecom operators currently have. “Our competition does not have such a large mid-band spectrum. Do remember that if we did not have this large chunk of precious mid-band spectrum we would have had no choice but to buy expensive 700 Mhz spectrum.
MAJOR REASONS z Allahabad guava has
been witnessing a fall in production & area under cultivation due to land fragmentation
z Wilting is another reason
for the fall in production
z The state government is
extending support to boost the cultivation of the fruit
Though the fruit is identified with Allahabad, now Prayagraj, the bulk of area under cultivation falls in Kaushambi, which was carved out of Allahabad and created as a new district 25 years ago. As of now, the guava is
grown on 500 hectares in Kaushambi in different blocks -- Sirathuu, Kurhaa, Mooratganj, Chayal and Nevada. Guava has been selected as the fruit from the Kaushambi district under the ODOP scheme. It comes in three varie-
ties -- Surkha, Safeda and Lalit (red seeds). Cultivation is done mainly of Surkha and Safeda varieties. As the saplings are ready to produce fruits after 4-5 years but, owing to wilting, they start drying and this reduces the profits.
have been on an upward trajectory in recent months, especially in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Recently, the prices in the country were cut but remain much higher than the level seen during the prepandemic time. While acknowledging that airlines are facing many structural issues, Scindia said the ATF price has gone up because of the Russia-Ukraine war from `53,000 per kilo litre in 2019-20 to almost `1,41,000 per kilo litre till last week. The price has been reduced by almost 16% or around `21,000 per kilo litre but it is still double than it used to be, he noted. “If you are an airline, 39% of your cost structure used to be ATF at `53,000 per kilo litre. Now, the ATF price has gone to `1,20,000 per kilo litre. Therefore, from a structural point of view, that is the challenge they are facing,” the minister said.
Tea exports in first five months increase 7% Kolkata (PTI): Exports of tea during the first five months of the current calendar from Jan to May 2022 increased around 7% at 78.64 million kg. For the first time, UAE lifted 13.17 million kg during the current five-month period, more than Russian Federation which stood 11.52 million kg during concerned period. During the period, Russia lifted 11.52 million kg during the current fivemonth period as against 13.52 million kg in the previous period. Sources in ITA said this has been possible due to present Russia-Ukraine conflict which restricted offload by the CIS country and exporters are finding new avenues in the UAE to export tea.
Gold ETFs log `457 crore outflow in July New Delhi (PTI): Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) witnessed a net outflow of `457 crore in July as investors parked their money in other asset classes as part of their portfolio rebalancing strategy. This was in comparison to a net inflow of `135 crore in June, data with Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed. The outflow has pulled down the asset under management of the category to `20,038 crore last month from `20,249 crore in June. However, the category
saw a slight increase in the number of folios by over 37,500 to 46.43 lakh during the period under review. This suggests that investors are likely continuing to invest in gold ETF's as a means to diversify their portfolio and hold the financial instruments a hedge against market risks, Krishnan said.
OTHER STORIES FINANCE MINISTRY INVITES APPLICATION FOR PFRDA CHAIRPERSON POST
New Delhi : The government has started the search for a successor to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay whose term is ending in January next year. PFRDA chairperson holds office for five years or till the age of 65 years. The chairperson is entitled to a consolidated salary of `4.50 lakh per month without facility of house and car, the finance ministry said while inviting application for the post. —PTI
HPCL, HONDA JOIN HANDS TO BOOST E-MOBILITY
New Delhi : Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Honda Motor have joined hands to set up battery swapping stations for electric vehicles at the state-owned oil firm’s petrol pumps. HPCL and Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co Ltd (Honda), launched their first ‘e:swap’ station at HPCL’s petrol pump in Bengaluru on August 6, the state-owned firm said in a statement on Tuesday. —PTI
PSU GENERAL INSURERS BOOK `26,364 CRORE LOSS
New Delhi : All four public sector insurers incurred losses of `26,364 crore in the health insurance portfolio for the last five years due to higher claims in group policies. “The losses of the health insurance business of PSU insurers either wiped out/ decreased the profits of other lines of business or increased the overall losses,” an report by CAG said. The aggregate loss of the four PSU insurers was `26,364 cr during 2016-17 to 2020-21. —PTI
NHB OKAYS MERGER OF HDFC, HDFC BANK
New Delhi: Mortgage major HDFC has received approval from the National Housing Bank (NHB) for its merger with subsidiary HDFC Bank, a regulatory filing said on Tuesday. The NHB has also approved the merger of two wholly-owned subsidiaries — HDFC Investments and HDFC Holdings Limited — of the housing finance company with HDFC, the filing said. —PTI
A good team can create wonders, but a great team can do miracles.
2ND FRONT
— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India
MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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Police seek Centre’s nod to prosecute Rashmi Shukla
First India Bureau Mumbai: The Mumbai Police informed a court here that they have sought the central government’s nod to prosecute IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in an alleged phone tapping case. The Colaba Police are conducting a probe into the case and had filed a charge sheet against Shukla in April this year. However, the magistrate court is yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet in the absence of sanction to prosecute Shukla. On August 06, the police told the court that they have sought sanction from the Centre under relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) in the case against Shukla. Section 197 of the CrPC requires the sanction of competent authorities before prosecuting public servants if the alleged act is directly related to the official duty. The charge sheet includes statements of at least 20 people, including Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut whose phones were allegedly tapped while Shukla was head of the Maharashtra State Intelligence Department.
A
08
Maha releases 25% equity share in bullet train SPV Cong chief Nana Patole calls out CM Shinde-led government for prioritizing Guj’s interests over Maha farmers
Uddhav Thackeray yet to formally resign from MLC First India Bureau
First India Bureau Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has picked up 25% of the share capital invested in the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) and released six crore rupees towards its share in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project. The NHSRCL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created in 2016 for the high speed train project. The SPV has a share capital of Rs20,000 crore, out of which, the Centre contributes 50% share of Rs10,000 crore and the Gujarat and Maharastra governments cover 25% share of Rs5,000 crore each, stated a Government Resolution (GR). In the review meeting for the bullet train project held on April 12,2002, the Centre directed Maharashtra government
State govt has contributed Rs5,000 crore towards the bullet train project.
This government does not have money to pay the flood-affected farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada, but it has money to pay Rs5,000 crore for the interest of Gujarat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream bullet train project. Is the ‘ED’ (referring to CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis) government working for Gujarat or Maharashtra? —Nana Patole, Maha Congress chief
to release the money towards buying its shares. The government has released funds now, in accordance with the GR. As soon as the chief minister Eknath Shinde-government came to power, it revived all the Central government projects and put them
back on track. The bullet train project—which had slowed down under the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government—was fasttracked and granted necessary clearances. On July 25, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), which is also funding the Mumbai Metro network, released the third tranche of Rs6,000 crore. The official development loan is part of Japan’s Rs18,000 crore commitment towards the project, which was made in 2017. State Congress chief
—FILE PHOTO
Nana Patole on Tuesday criticized Maha Yuti government’s push for the bullet train project, ever since it came to power. “This government does not have money to pay the flood-affected farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada, but it has money to pay Rs5,000 crore for the interest of Gujarat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream bullet train project. Is the ‘ED’ (referring to CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis) government working for Gujarat or Maharashtra?” asked Patole.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has not formally resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) despite the fact that he announced this decision while stepping down as chief minister 40 days ago. A senior Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan official on Monday said that technically Uddhav Thackeray is still an MLC as he has not submitted a written resignation. “He has not yet officially resigned as a member of the Legislative Council. His resignation as the chief minister of Maharashtra was approved by Governor BS Koshyari but we
Shiv Sena has not explained why the former CM has not yet formally resigned as an MLC have not received any written communication from him regarding his membership of the Upper House of the state legislature,” the official said. Deputy chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council and Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe refused to comment. Shiv Sena has not explained why Thackeray has not yet formally resigned as an MLC after announcing his decision on the night of June 29. His son Aaditya is an MLA from Mumbai.
Mumbai court grants bail to two persons in money laundering case First India Bureau Mumbai: A special court here on Monday granted interim bail to two persons, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering, noting the duo was discharged from the
“predicate” (scheduled) offence which led to the ED case. The order comes following the guidelines issued last month, which stated that if there is no scheduled offence a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be con-
Court says, if a person is discharged or acquitted in the predicate offence then there can be no offence
tinued if there is no scheduled offence. Hence the special court has no jurisdiction to extend the judicial custody of the persons arrested under the Act. As per the provisions of the PMLA, a prior FIR (scheduled offence) is a requisite for the ED to initiate action
against the person involved with the process or activity. The special PMLA court on Monday granted bail to Babulal Verma and Kamalkishor Gupta, arrested by the ED based on a case registered against them by the Aurangabad Police in Maharashtra.
The duo has been in judicial custody since January 2021. The duo’s advocates Vijay Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal filed a plea in the special court in Mumbai challenging the remand applications of the ED and seeking interim relief by way of bail.
team orientation workshop of the Bharat24 Editorial team was held on Tuesday, August 9 at Radisson Blu, Kaushambi Noida. Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, graced the occasion and addressed the bureau chiefs, reporters and other editorial staff who had come from across India for the orientation workshop. Ajay Kumar (Managing Editor), Manoj Jagyasi (Chief Business Officer) and Syed Umar (Senior Editor) also spoke at length with the staff members explaining the various facets of editorial policy, workflow and expectations. After the HR, Input, Output and technical & other sessions, the bureau chiefs were invited to come up and share their views and experiences. Many of the staff members had already worked in the past with Jagdeesh Chandra and very soon anecdotes and incidents were being shared among laughter and high emotional moments. Mimansa Malik also put forth her views. The team orientation was indeed like a family get-together with each and everyone committing themselves to making the to-be-launched on August 15, national Hindi news channel Bharat24 a huge success! MORE ON PG 12
Jagdeesh Chandra with Purnima Mishra, Sonal Dahiya, Gitanjali, Kavita Singh, Sachin Arora, Mimansa Malik, Ajay Kumar, Naina Yadav, Anita Hada, Manoj Jagyasi, Syed Umar and Monica Jaiswal.
Jagdeesh Chandra addressing the staff members.
Ajay Kumar (R) and Syed Umar (L)
Manoj Jagyasi
Aditi Nagar
Jagdeesh Chandra introducing visiting First India Jaipur team- Jinendra Shekhawat, Mahesh Sharma and Shishir Awasthi, also seen are Sandeep Mishra, Kumar Prabodh, Ahtesham Siddiqui and Sudhanshu Mathur.
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09
SIBLINGS ON
KOFFEE COUCH S
Glimpse fro
m the prom
onam Kapoor and Arjun Kap o o r ’ s much-awaited promo from Karan Johar’s chat show, Koffee With Karan season 7 is finally out! This marks Sonam’s first on-screen appearance after she announced her pregnancy with her husband Anand Ahuja earlier this year. Sharing the Arjun and Sonam’s
o
promo video, Karan Johar captioned it: “This episode is all about the S and M: side-splitting laughter and mind-boggling revelations. Watch the sixth episode of #HotstarSpecials #KoffeeWithKaranS7 streaming this Thursday from 12:00 am only on Disney+ Hotstar.” The promo begins with Karan introducing Sonam and Arjun and saying, “Oh my god, I have S-N-M on the couch.”
Sonam Kapoor Ahuja
LIGER PROMOTIONS
T
he promotions of Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday starrer Liger are going on in full swing. Every day, the co-stars are seen talking about their forthcoming sports drama in a new city and fans are in awe of this fresh pair. On Tueday the lead made a stop in Mumbai. While VD looked charming in a leopard print shirt with baggy black pants, Ananya Panday opted for a green cord set as her outfit of the day. After a successful promotional trip
RASHMIKA ON
PUP T
RUMOURS
LOVE
R Spotted
to Ahmedabad and Vadodara., Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday returned to Mumbai last night. The Arjun Reddy star nailed the off-duty look in a baggy, beige linen shirt with a pair of black trousers. He completed the attire with slippers. Meanwhile, the leading lady went for a patterned co-ord set in hues of dark blue and white.
ashmika Mandanna is one of the most popular actresses, who has a pipeline of movies in South and Bollywood as well. Rumours of her dating life with rumoured boyfriend Vijay Deverakonda have always caught the limelight. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Rashmika Mandanna was quoted as saying, “Sometimes, I am like ‘Arrey yaar, I am doing five films a year but you are still coming and asking me, ‘Who are you dating? What is your personal life?” “You (people) can talk s**t about us, you can say negative things about it. Because in the end, we are public figures. We can’t choose just the good bits, thinking people just focus on work and not personal life. So, they are free to talk about anything, just don’t come to a conclusion. Till the time you hear from me, that is not true”.
Her post...
couple of photos with her dog, which she captioned, “Happy Friendship Day to the ones who give us unconditional love and show us what real trust and love means!”
Rashmika Mandanna
ARGUMENT WITH
PAPARAZZI T
aapsee Pannu is currently gearing for the release of her mystery drama film, Dobaaraa. Recently, the actress attended a promotional event for her upcoming film Dobaaraa at Mithibai College in Mumbai. Taapsee is seen arriving at the venue and immediately rushing inside instead of giving the paparazzi a few minutes to take pictures of her. Later, she got into an argument with the paparazzi outside the venue after they requested her to stop for photographs, and the actress tried to clarify that she followed the instructions that were given to her according to which they would have been waiting inside. Later, when the photographers told her they have been waiting for two hours, she said, “Yaar daant kyun rahe ho? Isme meri kya galti hai? Mereko kyun sunaa rahe ho?”
Spotted... Ananya Panday
ara Sutaria is one of the most talented and promising actresses in Bollywood. The actress took to her Instagram stories and shared a cute video with her dog and he is clearly not in a mood to say hi. Sharing the video, Tara wrote, “Clearly does not want to say hi.” In the video, we can see Tara asking her cute puppy to say hi, but he seems in no mood to interact. The actress shared a
Taapsee Pannu
Tara Sutaria
ITALY VACAY
A
Alia Bhatt
Her post...
lia Bhatt is currently enjoying the most amazing phase of their lives these days as she is all set to embrace parenthood with her husband and actor Ranbir Kapoor. Alia and Ranbir have taken time out for themselves and are currently vacationing in Italy. Now, the Student Of The Year 2 actress shared a selfie from her holiday with Ranbir and her pregnancy glow is unmissable in the photo. Taking to her Instagram handle, Alia also thanked her fans for showing love for her recently released film, Darlings. She captioned the picture: “Eternally grateful for this sunshine THANK YOU for all the love my lovesssss.” Reacting to the photo, Sonam Kapoor sent love to Alia and said: “I went there for my Babymoon too! It’s literally the best! Have fun!”
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OUTFIT IDEAS FOR
RAKSHA
BANDHAN! Hence, it is important to maintain a wonderful wardrobe plan amidst all the festivities. Here are some outfits that one can try this Raksha Bandhan:
DHANUSHREE VYAS cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
F
estivals are a respite from the hectic schedules of daily life where one can go traditional and get decked up for a change. Therefore, festivals are mandatory occasions to try stylish ethnic wear that one does not wear daily. They bring with them special moments as well as the re-establishment of social bonds.
ETHNIC WEAR IN PASTEL COLOURS
Ethnic wear offers a great variety of patterns, prints, designs and colours. Ethnic wear in the colour palette of gentle pastels such as pink, blush pinks and pastel yellow never gets outdated. Lehenga, Kurti, palazzo, etc in pastel tint suits all skin tones and can make one seem spectacular.
SILK OUTFITS
Silk is a rich fabric which is produced by the silkworm. It is
widely used to make clothing and accessories. A bright silk lehenga choli and salwar suit make a style statement among people.
CHIKANKARI ATTIRES
Chikankari offers the most tranquil attires for any celebration. It has a lot of options from dark to light colours in different designs and patterns. It provides a great mix of elegance and sass.
ANARKALI
It is the best style to represent festive cheer. It looks great on any body type given its Angrakha Kurti to kneelength suit. It has a combination of classic, modern, and fashionable looks.
It can be tedious to choose the right outfits when it comes to festivals! So, City First brings to you categories of clothes that perfectly radiate the festive vibes of Raksha Bandhan
FUSION OUTFITS
Fusion outfits have textures, designs and silhouettes that distinguish themselves from traditional clothes. They give a combined vibe of fashion and culture.
SHARARA
It is an elegant outfit with a modern twist which enhances style. The distinct nature given to its vivid colours makes it suitable for Raksha Bandhan.
ORGANZA OUTFITS Organza is a sturdy fabric that has a silky appearance. Organza has been a popular fabric for its subtlety and delicateness. It has become a trend among women.
FLORAL PRINTS
Floral patterns have garnered exponential popularity recently. They never fail to appear attractive. They are visually comforting and graceful to carry.
MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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DREAMSCAPE
WITHOUT
COLOURS!
A distinctive fashion presentation called “Gaba Arch Fashion Show” was put on by Arch College of Design and Business on Thursday at Hotel Diggi Palace as part of the Global Educator’s Fest 2022.
A
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
Top: (L-R) Sonal Kukreja and Aasawari Sahni Bottom: Anjali Khandal, Archana Jangid and Simran Mahendrawal
distinctive fashion presentation called “Gaba Arch Fashion Show” was put on by Arch College of Design and Business on Thursday at Hotel Diggi Palace as part of the Global Educator’s Fest 2022. During the Global Educators Fest 2022 in which principals from reputed schools and educational institutions walked the ramp. Jagdeesh Chandra, Abdul Rashid Ahmed, Minister of State for Education, Maldives and Lakshya Raj Singh, Mewar of Udaipur and Trustee, Maharana of Mewar Foundation and Charitable Trust were present on the occasion. Under the Design Culture Initiative, ARCH partnered with Global Educators Fest 2022 and provided another platform for its students to showcase their design talent and creativity. Everyone’s mouth dropped in surprise when fashion designer Shachi Jain showcased her exclusive collection called ‘Memoir’ on the ramp. This collection is an ode to the beautiful motherhood journey and celebrating it through different phases of life. It is a journey of self-discovery. The black and white collection represents the yin & yang of this society and tries to depict the woman who brings the crucial balance to society with her love, vulnerability, farsightedness and strength to hold everyone together. Not just a mother but much, much, more than that The collection explores a curious student and an adoring daughter, a loving mother and a passionate professional woman. Retained with elegance and transparency, the silhouettes of this collection are comfortable Indo western fusion, with h a n d painted motifs and pear-cut embell i s h ments. The annual event is organized under the leadership of Ravi Santalani at the flagship of ScooNews. The show was conceptualized by Archana Surana, Founder & Director, of ARCH College. The Fashion Show was Choreographed by Abhimanyu Singh Tomar. Creative Hair and Makeup by Kunjal and Himanshi Rawal from Classic Make-up studio Jodhpur. Backstage is Managed by Arpita Parihar and Music by Tanmay Surana from Trinati. Style Skool Models Zara Sheikh, Kashish Rathore, Shubhangi Dadhich, Sushi, Archana Jangid and Anjali Khandal graced the ramp. Dipesh Verma was the official photographer of the show.
CITY
STAY MASKED
GET VACCINATED
BUZZ
MUMBAI | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
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SOME MORE GLIMPSES FROM
BHARAT 24 TEAM ORIENTATION Manish Desai
Jagdeesh Chandra shares a moment of laughter with Ajay Kumar, Manoj Jagyasi and Syed Umar as Manoj Tripathi relates an anecdote.
Manoj Rajan Tripathi and Avnish Vidhyarthi Sandeep Mishra
Harbans Nagokay, Surender Kumar and Tajamul
Mimansa Malik
MADE PEACE WITH AUDIENCE NEVER ACCEPTING ME: JANHVI KAPOOR ASHISH TIWARI
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
J Janhvi Kapoor
anhvi Kapoor has opened up about facing hardships in her life despite her privile g e and how she had
SHEHNAAZ CLARIFIES RUMOURS
I
t was reported that Shehnaaz Gill unfollowed Salman Khan on Instagram after her sudden exit from Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali, which added more fuel to the rumours. However, Shehnaaz has finally broken her silence on the matter. Shehnaaz Gill assures fans that she is still in Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali. The actress’s statement came after reports claimed she has been replaced in the Salman Khan starrer. The actress is starring in Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali alongside the Bigg Boss 15 host and the shoot has already begun. The Honsla Rakh actress reacted to these claims via a statement on her Instagram Stories. “LOL! these rumours are my daily dose of entertainment since last few weeks I can’t wait for people to watch the film and of course me too in the film,” she wrote.
given up on being accepted by the audience. Janhvi has paved a way into the hearts of her fans and has created a mark for herself in the industry. The actress happens to be the daughter of late actress Sridevi and film producer Boney Kapoor’s eldest daughter. Just like every other star kid, Janhvi too is often trolled about being privileged in the industry. Janhvi said, “I had made my peace with whether people will ever really accept me because
of this whole baggage of privilege and nepotism. It’s surprising and very heartening how lovely and appreciative people have been because honestly, I didn’t realise how desperate I had been for this feeling that audience accepts me. I think that has happened to some extent with Good Luck Jerry but there is a long way to go.” Janhvi added, “Yes, I come from privilege. Just because my struggles in life have not been putting food on the table or to stand in line to au-
dition for a film doesn’t mean I haven’t dealt with hardships. They have been extremely unrelatable hardships but hardships nonetheless. I am not asking for anyone’s sympathy. I’m just asking them to look at me with an open mind because I do work and try hard to entertain people.” Meanwhile, The Kargil Girl actress is currently enjoying the success of her recently released film, Good Luck Jerry. Next, she will star in Bawaal, Mili, and Mr & Mrs Mahi.
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ix teams, 66 female celebrity players, 15 matches and a Broadcast of the Entertainment world’s biggest and first-ever extravaganza for a cause, a starry press conference held on Tuesday in the city kickstarted the celebration. The star-studded press conference saw the presence of Shefali Bagga, Mansi Srivastav, Chitrashi Rawat, Mreenal Deshraj, Palak Purswani, Sanaya Pithawalla, Priya Singh, Jaswir Kaur, Vandana Lalwani, Shruti Panwar, Leena Jumani, Nahalaxmi Iyer, Heena Panchal, Sangeeta, Kapure, Kajal Chohan alongside the spokespeople Pushpa Gup-
ACTORS IN ACTION IN WCCL
Team of WCCL
ta, Bhanujeet Singh Sudan, Jigar Shah, Arun Tyagi & Arun Tiwary. Announcing the league in October, the practice sessions will be held in September. Six teams will be playing the tournament and sports like Tennis,
Ball, Turf and cricket would be the game highlights. Although women have played many games in the reel world on-screen, this will be the first time actresses close to our hearts will be in action in the field as well.
AYUSHMANNANANYA’S NEW PAIR?
A
yushmann Khurrana has delivered some massive hits in the past and his 2019 film, Dream Girl with Nushrratt Bharuccha is one of them. Now, with the success of the first film, the makers are gearing up to work on its sequel. As the makers were looking for young talent, new generation actress’s names started floating in the air. According to a report, the leading lady has been finalized to be Ananya Panday. A source close to the development revealed, “The
Shehnaaz Gill
Pramod Raghavan
Priyanka and Devesh
makers were in talks with Ananya for Dream Girl 2. And as per our sources, makers of the film have zeroed down Ananya Panday opposite Ayushmann Khurrana.” However, no confirmation has been given on the same by Ananya.
Ananya Panday