First India-Mumbai Edition-10th October 2022

EAM TAKES UP INDIAN STUDENTS’ ISSUES WITH NZ

GUJARAT CONG MLA ATTACKED BY BJP WORKER; FIR FILED

Navsari: Congress MLA Anant Patel was hurt after he was attacked by a local BJP functionary and his supporters in Navsari, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on Saturday evening and FIR was registered at Khergam police station in the wee hours of Sunday in which Patel accused BJP leader Babu Ahir and his supporters of attacking him

SIX DIE DUE TO ELECTROCUTION IN UP’S BAHRAICH

Bahraich: Six people, including five minors, were killed and four sustained burn injuries after they came in contact with a high-tension wire here on Sunday. The incident occurred around 4 am in Masupur village in the Nanpara area when the villagers were taking out a procession.

NCPCR TO SEEK NIA PROBE INTO DUMKA GIRL’S KILLING

Ranchi: Apex child rights body NCPCR will recommend an investigation by the NIA into the murder of the class 12 girl in Jharkhand’s Dumka who was set ablaze as she spurned advances by accused, its chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said.

Kanoongo said that social media campaigns funded by Bangladesh organisations were on to prove that the girl was not a minor.

STALIN ELECTED UNOPPOSED AS DMK CHIEF

Chennai: DMK stalwart and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin was elected as party president at the party’s general council meeting here on Sunday.

In the newly constituted general council, which held its meeting here, the DMK declared Stalin as elected unopposed to the top party post.

‘INDIA COULD GET A CHUNK OF EU’S EURO 300 BN FUND’

New Delhi: India could get a chunk of the Euro 300 billion fund announced by the European Union under its Global Gateway scheme aimed at expanding connectivity including in the Indo-Pacific region, French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said. The investment plan for connectivity projects is seen as a counter to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

Wellington: EAM S Jaishankar on Sunday urged New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta to take a sympathetic view on the difficulties faced by Indian students, who were impacted during the COVID-19

NEED FOR GROWTH IN TRADE WITH INDIA: SL PM

P6

READ Crucial ‘GUJ BLESSED WITHOUT LOOKING AT MY CASTE’

Modhera (Agencies):

In the run-up to the As sembly elections in his home state Gujarat, Prime Minister Naren dra Modi on Sunday said the people of the state have blessed him for the last two decades and voted for him irre spective of his caste.

Addressing a rally here, Modi said, “Peo ple of Gujarat have blessed me for the last two decades without looking at my caste, without looking at my political background.”

Before becoming the prime minister, Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat between 2001 and 2014.

Assembly elections in Gujarat are slated to be held soon. The elec tions are crucial for the ruling Bharatiya Jana ta Party (BJP), which aims to retain power in PM Modi’s home state, while the Congress hopes for a win after re maining out of power for 27 years in the state.

PM DECLARES MODHERA AS INDIA’S FIRST 24X7 SOLAR-POWERED VILLAGE

Modhera (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared Modhera in Gujarat’s Mehsana district as India’s first 24x7 solarpowered village. Addressing a rally here after that, Modi said Modhera was known for the Sun temple, now it will also be known as solar-pow ered village. Making Modhera the country’s first round-the-clock solar-powered village involved developing a ground-mounted solar power plant and more than 1,300 rooftop solar systems on residential and government buildings, a government release said. Assembly elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat are scheduled to be held by the end of this year.

PM GREETS THE NATION ON VALMIKI JAYANTI

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Sunday greeted the nation on Val miki Jayanti. The Prime Minister also shared a video of his thoughts on Maharshi Valmiki.

PM MODI GREETS PEOPLE ON MILAD-UN-NABI

On Milad-un-Nabi, PM tweeted: “Best wishes on Milad-un-Nabi. May this occasion further the spirit of peace, togetherness and compas sion in our society. Eid Mubarak.”

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Kanpur for Sangh’s music camp

Kanpur (PTI): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reached Kanpur to at tend the first ‘Swar Sangam Ghosh’ camp of north India being held here. Bhagwat came here on Saturday on a two-day visit. The RSS chief addressed the people of Valmiki Samaj at Nanarao Park. The five-day ‘Swar Sangam Ghosh’ camp (the annual musical band camp of the Rash triya Swayamsevak Sangh) had began on Thursday at Deendayal Upadhyaya Sanatan Dharma Vidyalaya and VSSD College, here.

MUSLIMS USE CONDOMS THE MOST, POPULATION ON DECLINE: OWAISI ON RSS CHIEF’S REMARKS

Hyderabad:

Owaisi said

to

remark.

chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent population

his

Mulayam Singh Yadav quite critical

Gurugram (ANI): For mer Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav is quite critical to day and is on life-sav ing drugs, informed Gurugram hospital on Sunday.

Dr Sanjeev Gupta, Medical Director at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram said that the founder of the Sa majwadi Party is be ing treated in the in tensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital by a comprehensive team of specialists.

Uddhav-led Sena gives 3 choices for poll symbol

Mumbai (PTI): The Ud dhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has submit ted to the Election Com mission three options of a trident, rising sun or mashaal (burning torch) for its poll symbol, sourc es said on Sunday. The poll panel had on Saturday barred the Shiv Sena factions led by for mer CM Thackeray and present Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde from using the party name and its election symbol ‘bow & arrow’ in the Andheri East Assembly bypoll on November 3. In an interim order

over claims by the rival factions for control of the organisation, the ECI asked them to sug gest by Monday three different name choices and also as many free symbols for allocation to their respective groups.

SHAH AT KAMKHYA TEMPLE!

—PHOTO BY PTI

Rahul resumes Karnataka leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Tiptpur

Tiptur (ANI): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday resumed the Karnataka leg of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Tiptur in Tumkur dis trict which marked the 32nd day of the Yatra.

The march started at 6:45 am, informed Con gress leader Jairam Ramesh. “Day 32 of #BharatJodoYatra started at 6.45 am. The entire day will be spent in the Tumkuru district which contributes more than 1/3rd of total coco nut production in Kar nataka. An interaction with coconut farmers is planned in the after noon”, Ramesh tweeted.

11 of 12 deceased identified; truck driver arrested

Luxury bus had caught fire after collision with truck on Saturday

First India Bureau

Nashik: Police have ar rested the driver of the truck involved in the accident that left 12 bus passengers dead and 43 injured in Nashik on Saturday. Officials say that the 12 dead includ ed eight men, a 15-yearold boy, a woman and a three-year-old girl. One

of the deceased is yet to be identified, civil hos pital sources said on Sunday.

Police have arrested the driver of the truck, Ramji alias Lavkush Jadhir Yadav, who fled the spot after the acci dent, an official said on Sunday.

The deceased had been travelling from Yavatmal to Mumbai in a luxury bus, which caught fire after colliding with the trailer truck going to Pune at an intersec tion near Mirchi Hotel on

ducted to establish the identity of the unknown deceased. A case was reg istered under sections 304 (A) (Causing death by negligence ), 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) 336 (Act en dangering life or person al safety of others), 337 ( Causing hurt by an act which endangers human life, etc), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by an act which endangers human life,), 427 (Mischief caus ing damage to others) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections 184, 134 (A) (B) of Motor Vehicle Act.

Srinagar: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sun day said his contest with Shashi Tharoor for the post of party president was aimed at putting forth their view points for the betterment of the country and the party.

To steal anklets, thieves chop off woman’s feet

Satyanarayan Sharma

Jaipur: Unidentified miscreants chopped off the feet of a woman, said to be more than 100 years old, to steal the silver anklets she was wearing here on Sun day, police said.

The incident took place in the Galta Gate area in the morning.

The victim, Jamuna Devi, a resident of Mee na Colony, lives with her daughter and grand daughter. The woman, who is 108 years of age according to her family

members, was dragged out of her house by the miscreants, who chopped her feet off with a sharp weapon, stole the silver anklets she was wearing and fled the spot, Galta Gate SHO Mukesh Kumar Khardia said.

Colombo: Sri Lankan PM Dinesh Gunawardena has met top Indian executives and stressed the need for further growth in bilateral trade and increase Indian investments in new areas, where the techno knowhow from the neighbouring country could be introduced.

RUSSIAN STRIKES ON UKRAINIAN CITY KILL 17 Kyiv: A Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia overnight struck apartment buildings and killed at least 17 people, an official said on Sunday. City council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said the city was struck by rockets overnight, and that at least five private houses were destroyed and around 40 were damaged.

Earlier, we were unable to make even cycles in Gujarat; now we are making cars and days are not far when we will make aircraft in the state, says PM Narendra Modi

PM Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone & dedicates development works at Modhera village in Mehsana, on Sunday. Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and Gujarat BJP President CR Patil are also seen.

‘CONTEST IS FOR CONG’S BETTERMENT’ ‘RaGa WILL BE IN NEW AVATAR POST YATRA’

Turuvukere: Rahul Gandhi has become a symbol of “Bharat jodo” (unite India) and will be seen in a new avatar post the Congress’ pan-India march, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with party leaders during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Tumakuru, Karnataka, on Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI

‘SHINDE CAMP WILL SUCCEED WHEN ECI TAKES FINAL DECISION’

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the Shiv Sena fac tion led by CM Eknath Shinde will “succeed” when the Elec tion Commis sion of India (ECI) takes a final decision on proprietary over the party name and elec tion symbol.

Fadnavis said he was not surprised at the ECI’s interim decision on Saturday barring the Shiv Sena factions led by Thackeray and Shinde from using the party name and its election symbol ‘bow and arrow’ in the to Andheri East Assembly bypoll.

TUSSLE OVER ‘REAL’ SHIV SENA

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat being felicitated during a programme on Valmiki Jayanti, in Kanpur, on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (R) and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla (L) offers prayers during a visit to the Kamkhya temple, in Guwahati, on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Uddhav Thackeray

Uddhav Thackeray faction terms ECI’s Sena poll symbol order as ‘injustice’

Aaditya Thackeray slams rebel faction MLAs for ‘freezing party name’, vows to ‘fight and win’

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Uddhav

Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Saturday termed the Election Commission of In dia’s order barring both the Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions from using the party name and election symbol in the coming Andheri East Assembly bypoll as “injustice”.

On the other hand, the group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shin de, termed the ECI or der appropriate.

The poll body should have holistically taken a decision rather than passing an interim de cision for the bypoll, said Ambadas Danve, Leader of the Opposi tion in Maharashtra Legislative Council, a

Thackeray loyalist.

“This is injustice,” he said.

Shiv Sena leader and former minister Aadi tya Thackeray on Sat urday lashed out at the rebel Sena leaders after the ECI order.

“Khokewale traitors committed this shame less and vile act of freezing the name Shiv Sena and symbol”, he tweeted, adding that the

people of Maharashtra would not tolerate it.

“We will fight and win. We are on the side of the truth. Satyamev Jayate!” he said in the Marathi tweet.

On his Instagram page, Aaditya posted Harivansh Rai Bach chan’s famous poem ‘Agnipath’.

Aaditya and other leaders of the Uddhav Thackeray faction have

PARTY BATTLE

T The rival factions had approached the Commission after the split in the Shiv Sena ranks in June, claim ing to be the ‘real’ Shiv Sena. The Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP), an ally of the Shinde faction, has decided to field Murji Patel, a councillor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation,

been accusing the re bels led by CM Shinde of committing treach ery for the lure of “khoke” or boxes of cash. The November 03 bypoll to the Andheri East constituency in suburban Mumbai is the first electoral test for the Thackeray group after the split in the party in June this year, leading to the fall of the Uddhav Thacker

for the bypoll neces sitated due to the death of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. The Congress and the NCP have decided to support the late Latke’s wife Rujuta, the candidate of the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, their coalition partner in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

ay-led government.

Chandrakant Khaire, former MP and another leader from the Thack eray camp, attacked the rival faction led by Shinde and said who ever has done this can not undo the “sin” they have committed.

Prataprao Jadhav, an MP from the Shinde camp, said the ECI has taken the right deci sion. Uddhav Thacker

“The Commis sion is duty bound to ensure that all electoral steps of the bye-election are free of any confusion and contradiction and thus its next step is necessari ly agnostic to the possi bility of either of the fac tions participating in the poll.”

—ECI interim order

ay discarded the ideol ogy of Sena founder Bal Thackeray and formed an alliance with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, he said.

The interim order came on Saturday on the Shinde faction’s re quest seeking it be al located the symbol as the Andheri East As sembly bypoll is set to be held in November.

‘Thackeray faction not weak or down’

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Nation alist Congress Party (NCP) on Sunday termed the Election Commission of In dia’s order on the use of the Shiv Sena par ty name and election symbol in an upcom ing Assembly bypoll as “surprising”. How ever, the party said that it did not mean the Uddhav Thacker ay-led group was weak or demoralized.

Speaking to report ers in Mumbai, NCP Chief Spokesperson, Mahesh Tapase, said the ECI’s decision to freeze the Shiv Sena symbol and party name is surprising and pain ful. But, it is not the fi nal decision of the Commission.

“The Eknath Shindeled (Sena) camp is not even contesting the byelection, still the use of the party name and symbol was restricted.

The freezing of the symbol does not mean

the (Thackeray-led) Sena workers have be come weak or are de moralised. The Shiv Sena (Thackeray fac tion) along with the NCP and Congress will give a tough fight to the BJP,” he said.

“This election will be a one-on-one contest as the BJP has fielded its candidate against the Uddhav Thackeray camp’s nominee,” he said.

The ECI on Saturday barred the Shiv Sena factions led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and current CM Eknath Shinde from using the party name and its election symbol in the Andheri East Assembly bypoll.

Mumbai cops lodge FIR over 4.5K ‘fake’ affidavits filed before ECI

Shinde faction claims they were prepared in support of Uddhav-led Sena group

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Mum bai police have regis tered an FIR against unidentified persons on charges of cheat ing and forgery after recovering more than 4,500 affidavits being prepared in support of the Uddhav Thack eray-led Shiv Sena faction.

RaGa should think before speaking against Savarkar: Manisha Kayande

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Condemn ing former Congress President Rahul Gan dhi’s remark against activist Vinayak Sa varkar, Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kay ande on Sunday said that he “should think” before making such statements.

Gandhi said at a rally in Karnataka that Sa varkar used to work for the British during the

freedom struggle and that he used to get mon ey for it.

“Rahul Gandhi should

Former Thane Mayor Naresh Mhaske, who is the spokesperson of the other Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, in a video message claimed the Mumbai police have found 4,682 “fake” affi davits and registered a criminal case against unidentified persons based on a complaint.

that these false and fake affidavits of Shiv sainiks had been pre pared for filing before the Election Commis sion,” he said.

Mhaske claimed all this was happening un der the guidance of ‘Ma toshree’.

FIR AGAINST KHAIRE FOR ‘OBJECTIONABLE’ REMARK

Mumbai (PTI): Po lice on Sunday filed a First Infor mation Report (FIR) against Shiv Sena leader Chan drakant Khaire in Aurangabad city for allegedly mak ing objectionable remarks against state Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde.

think before speaking against Savarkar. We prohibit his statement,” said Kayande.

He thanked the police and criticized the Thackeray-led faction over the alleged mal practice for the submis sion of affidavits before the Election Commis sion of India (ECI), in the wake of a dispute with the Shinde faction over the party’s bow and arrow poll symbol.

“It is my allegation

‘Matoshree’ is the pri vate residence of for mer chief minister Ud dhav Thackeray in sub urban Bandra.

According to a police official, the case was reg istered at Nirmal Nagar police station in Mumbai on Saturday under Indi an Penal Code (IPC) sec tions 420 (cheating) and 465 (forgery) after they recovered the affidavits from a notary wherein important details like

CULTURAL STUDIES

The FIR stated that the complainant had gone to a Bandra court and found two persons with heaps of affidavits with them affixing the notary seal and stamp on it. The police seized all the affidavits and registered the offence against unidentified persons, it said.

According to an offi cial from the police sta tion, we will call those people and verify wheth er they had got the affi davits prepared in sup port of the Thackeray faction, and if they had any idea about the affi davits prepared in their names, he said.

The case was reg istered at Satara po lice station in Au rangabad based on a complaint lodged by Rajendra Janjal, the district unit chief of the Shiv Sena (Shin de faction).

Khaire, a former MP from the Au rangabad Lok Sabha constituency, is a loyalist of Uddhav Thackeray, who heads another fac tion of the Shiv Sena.

The FIR said that Khaire had made ob jectionable com

ments against CM Shinde while speak ing to media persons. In his interview with a regional news channel, Khaire said that had Shinde’s mentor and late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe been alive, he would have thrashed Shinde after hanging him upside down for being a traitor. He re ferred to his recent rebellion in Maha rashtra.

Knowledge without narrative attached: Pune institute’s motto

Through its online learning platform ‘Bharat Vidya’, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute offers free as well as subscription-based resources

Sandip Kolhatkar

Pune: A city-based in stitute is offering on line courses on In dia’s rich heritage and knowledge sys tem with an aim to provide authentic in formation to people without any narra tive attached to it.

Topics like religion, literature, philosophy, governance and policy making, astronomy, mathematics, sciences, medicine, art, architec ture, history and cul ture are covered as part of the courses offered by the Bhandarkar Ori ental Research Insti tute (BORI), through its

online learning plat form ‘Bharat Vidya’.

“When these topics are taught in schools

and colleges, only the given syllabus is taught and a large part of the topic remains unex

plored. So, the idea is to provide expertise and resources to educational institutes,” said Chin

may Bhandari, Coordi nator, Digital Initiatives.

The online learning platform is getting a good response as people from different walks of life are enrolling them selves in its courses, said officials.

The institute launched its online learning platform re cently to take this treasure trove of knowledge to people across the country and globe. The platform of fers free as well as sub scription-based re

sources and courses on India’s rich civiliza tional heritage and In dian knowledge sys tem, said Bhupal Pat wardhan, Executive Chairman of BORI.

Set up in 1917 for In dology and Asian stud ies, BORI is home to more than 28,000 manu scripts and 1.53 lakh rare books. Bhandari said that BORI has been working on the digitization of manu scripts and books for the last few years.

“In 2019, we started

our digital library, and to complement it we thought of creating a parallel learning plat form where people with diverse interests can explore the resources available with the insti tute and interact with each other,” he said. Among the subscrib ers, Bhandari said, the largest demographic was persons between 25 and 40 years old, mostly working professionals, trainers, coaches, engi neers, professors and doctors.

PTI

Aadhaar cards of the Shiv Sena supporters were attached.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray —FILE PHOTO

Courses on Indian heritage are offered at BORI.

NCP Spokesperson Mahesh

Specially-abled persons in action at a wheelchair cricket match at Mumbai University’s sports complex in Santacruz area of Mumbai on Sunday. The game was organized by NGO Trinayani to create awareness about specially-abled people. —PHOTO BY ANI

Shiv Sena’s Chandrakant Khaire —FILE PHOTO

Rahul Gandhi is touring the country as part of Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ —PHOTO BY ANI

With this, total protected mangroves Raigad’s Uran swells to more than 2,200 ha Maha forest department to take over 195 ha mangroves

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Forest Department will take over as much as 195 hectares of mangroves currently under the revenue department’s jurisdiction in Uran in Raigad district for bet ter conservation, as per a Bombay High Court judgement to treat the sea plants as protected forest, offi cials said.

A gazette order dated September 28 facilitates the fresh transfer of 195 hectares of mangroves in 17 villages of Uran Taluka of Raigad dis trict under Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act.

“With this, the total area of mangroves to be conserved in Uran swells to over 2,200 hec tares – equal to the area of about 220 Azad Maidans,” Uran Range Forest Officer Na thuram Kokare said.

Welcoming the pro

cess, NatConnect Foun dation director BN Ku mar said the man groves under the Navi Mumbai Special Eco nomic Zone (NMSEZ)— of which CIDCO is a 26% stakeholder—are yet to be taken into ac count. “The delay in transferring these sea plants is giving an op portunity for rampant

destruction,” he said, adding “Most of the 1,250 hectares of NM SEZ is either a man grove zone or under wetlands.”

Earlier, the Revenue Department handed over 25 hectares to the Forest Department in 2015 and notification was issued for transfer ring 42 hectares in Feb

Two teenaged boys drown in water-filled Thane quarry

Thane (PTI): Two boys drowned in a waterfilled quarry in Dom bivli town of Thane district on Sunday, a civic official said.

The incident took place at a quarry in Bopar village in the af ternoon, when the boys were riding a bicycle and lost their balance and fell in the water, said Avinash Sawant, chief of the regional disaster management cell (RDMC) of the Thane Municipal Cor poration.

Initially, other chil dren who were around

tried to save the duo, but they soon raised an alarm and the firemen reached the spot, he said.

The bodies of Ayush Mo han Gupta (14) and An kush Milind Kedare (13), both residents of Ahire

village, were fished out and sent for post-mortem to a government hospi tal, the official said. A case of accidental death has been regis tered in this regard, he added.

ruary this year and 1,100 hectares in July, officials said. In addi tion, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) handed over 814 hec tares of mangroves.

Officials said as much as 300 hectares of mangroves, grown mostly on unirrigated farmlands, are yet to be taken into account by

ONGOING EFFORTS

In March, the Bombay High Court allowed Tata Power Co. Ltd to remove 477 man groves to construct a 5km transmission line to augment electric ity supply Mumbai, on the condition that the company planted 5,000 mangrove sap lings, as suggested by the Bombay Natural History Society in its environment impact assessment report.

CIDCO as they are all under dispute with the local farmers.

Meanwhile, Nanda kumar Pawar of Sagar shakti, the marine divi sion of Vanashakti, said JNPT also has kept about 100 hectares of mangroves with it. This must be handed over to the Forest De partment, he said.

GOING, GOING, GONE!

1 killed, 2 injured in blast at power plant

First India Bureau

Navi Mumbai: One person was killed and two others were injured after a ma jor blast occurred at the Uran Combined Cycle Thermal Pow er Plant in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

Prima facie, a boil er pump exploded at the gas turbine power station of Mahagenco (Maharashtra Power Generation Compa ny) in Uran, about 48km from Mumbai, which triggered a fire at around 4:15 PM, an official said.

As per the prelimi nary information, ini tially three persons— technician Kundan Patil, worker Vishnu Pail, and junior engi neer Vivek Dhu male—were injured in the explosion and

Prima facie, a boiler pump exploded at the gas turbine power station, officials said

were taken to the Na tional Burns Hospital in Airoli. Investigat ing Officer Suhas Chauhan informed that Dhumale suc

cumbed to his inju ries en route to the hospital. The authori ties have launched an investigation into the explosion, the reason for which is yet to be ascertained.

Efforts are on to control the gas leak, officials said.

The Uran Com bined Cycle Thermal Power Plant is a 672MW gas fired pow er power generation plant owned by Maha rashtra State Power Generation with a stake of 100%.

Maha sees 455 new nCoV cases, 0 deaths

MACT dismisses accident claims by 2 brothers

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has dismissed “‘false and frivolous” accident claims filed by two brothers and ordered action against a tempo driver and two policemen who as sisted the petitioners in filing the claim.

In the October 06 or der made available on

Saturday, MACT mem ber HM Bhosale also im posed a penalty of Rs3,000 each on the two brothers, Avinash Arjun Chikhale and Devesh Arjun Chikhale. The brothers in their peti tion said that on Septem ber 1, 2017, they were returning home in Virar town from Sakhlewadi on a motorcycle, when a tempo coming from the opposite direction crashed into them at a

The petitioners have not sustained inju ries as a result being rammed into by the offending tempo. They fell down from the mo torcycle as Devesh lost control. Therefore, the pe titioners are not entitled for compensation and the claim petitions deserve to be dismissed.

—HM Bhosale, MACT member

turn near Aptagaon in Panvel. As a result, they fell and suffered injuries for which they were treated. They claimed compensation for the in

juries and treatment.

The respondents in the case were the owner of the offending tempo, which the petitioners claimed to have hit them,

and the vehicle’s insurer. The tempo owner did not appear before the tribu nal, hence the matter was decided ex-parte against him.

The insurer contend ed that the FIR was lodged 112 days after the accident. The police have not recorded statements of independent witness es and the medicolegal certificates relied on by the petitioners do not show that they were ad mitted soon after the ac cident. The disparity in the time of accident and admission in hospital shows the tempo has been “planted”, it said.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The state on Sunday recorded 455 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,24,754, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,357, an official from Maha rashtra’s health de partment stated.

The recovery count increased by 356 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,74,031, leaving the state with an active case load of 2,366, he said. State health department data put the recovery rate at 98.14% and the fatality rate at 1.82%.

So far, 8,49,52,601 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the state, including 17,944 in the last 24 hours, offi cials data revealed.

& DOWNS

On Saturday, Maha rashtra had recorded 480 new cases and two deaths, which took the tally to 81,24,299 and the toll to 1,48,357. This was a considerable rise from the 366 cases registered on Friday, which had also seen five persons succumb to the infection.

Of the new cases reg istered on Sunday, Mum bai accounted for 172, while Thane saw 59. With this, the tally of infections in the state capital rose to 11,51,342, an official from the Bri hanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. That in Thane is now 7,45,393.

BMC mulling online booking for entry to Byculla zoo

First India Bureau

Mumbai: To reduce large crowds at ticket ing counters outside Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, the BrihanMumbai Mu nicipal Corporation is planning to begin on line bookings for en try into the premises.

Popularly known as Rani Baug or Byculla zoo, average footfall at the zoo on weekdays is about 3,000, while on the weekends it increases three fold to 9,000. Ac cording to BMC offi cials, during vacation time, the average num ber of daily visitors in creases further to about

12,000—adding to the municipal body’s reve nue. This past Dussehra

holiday, the zoo had a record number of 30,000 visitors in the last four

days of Dussehra—Oc tober 02-05—and earned revenue of Rs11.88 lakh.

Although the zoo is closed on Wednesdays, it was kept open as it was Dussehra, and hence a holiday. The zoo

recorded 5,876 visitors throughout the day, while 16,734 visitors were recorded on Octo ber 02. The zoo charges entry fees at Rs25 for children, Rs50 for adults, but Rs100 for a

family of four. The big gest crowd-puller at the zoo are the nine pen guins—three males, four females and two penguin chicks born in May and August 2021.

Before the penguins were added to the zoo, the entry fee was Rs5.

One of the most popu lar destinations for fam ilies, the zoo was closed in March 2020, when the first lockdown was an nounced. Although it opened to the public in February 2021, it was

closed again in April 2021 due to the increas ing number of COV ID-19 cases in Mumbai during the second wave.

Data showed that since the reopening in November 2021, the post-pandemic number of visitors to the zoo doubled when com pared to before. In the 10 months between No vember 2021 and August 2022, the zoo recorded 17.22 lakhs of visitors and earned more than Rs6 crore in revenue.

All six coastal districts of Maharashtra are home to mangroves.

—FILE PHOTO

Authorities are investigating the explosion. —PHOTO BY ANI

Efforts are on to control the gas leak, officials

The Shree Siddhivinayak temple (Prabhadevi) Trust held an auction for the gold jewellery and other items offered by devotees during the recent Ganpati festival, in Mumbai on Sunday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Maha on Sunday tested 17,944 persons for COVID-19. —FILE PHOTO

THAT CAN MAKE EDUCATION IN INDIA MORE INCLUSIVE

The potential of digital in terventions in the field of education in India is im mense: the market for on line education has grown four times since 2019 to $3 billion. A KPMG assess ment showed that India is the second largest market for online education after the US. With conducive policies and initiatives of the Government of India, such as the National Edu cation Policy (NEP) 2020 and over 5000 EdTech startups , the current education environment is potent for digital transformation.

Alongside this, learning outcomes among school children show significant scope for improvement.

The global Corona pandemic has not only made digital learning central to teaching worldwide, but it has also widened the digital divide, leaving those without devices and internet connections further behind.

According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2020-2021 survey, only around 41.3% of schools have access to computers, and 24.5% had access to the internet in 2020-2021.

The National Achieve ment Survey (NAS) of 2021 reported an average learn ing level of 59% in grade 3, 49% in grade 5, 42% in grade 8 and 36% in grade 10. This indicates a decline in learning levels with an increase in grade level and has far-reaching implica tions for young Indians’ readiness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Furthermore, the COV ID-19 pandemic has high lighted the digital divide caused by disparate access and affordability of tech and devices varying across demographics.

ENHANCING LEARNING AND REDUCING INEQUITIES

While recognizing the huge potential of technol ogy for enhancing learn ing, as well as the need to reduce inequities in edu cational access for all girls and boys, the Education 4.0 India initiative utilizes digital and other technolo gies to address learning gaps and make education accessible to all.

A joint effort between the World Economic Fo rum, UNICEF and Yu Waah (Generation Unlim ited in India) proposes so lutions that align with, and augment and amplify, India’s NEP 2020 and the National Digital Educa tion Architecture of 2021. India’s NEP 2020 aims to improve the delivery of quality education for all learners, including through digital means. From revamping the edu cational structure to creat ing a robust digital learn ing system, the NEP 2020 is aligned with the goals of 21st-century education.

KEYS AREAS THAT REQUIRE INTERVENTION

The report identifies four focus areas for interven tions: foundational litera cy and numeracy (FLN), teachers’ capacity build ing, school-to-work transi tion and connecting the unconnected. The inter ventions are categorised under five building blocks, namely: curriculum, con tent, capacity, community

If we recognize the huge potential of technology for enhancing learning, as well as the need to reduce inequities in educational access for all girls and boys, the Education 4.0 India initiative will utilize the digital and other technologies to address learning gaps. India’s NEP 2020 aims to improve the delivery of quality education for all learners, including through digital means. From revamping the educational structure to creating a robust digital learning system, the NEP 2020 is aligned with the goals of 21st-century education. It emphasizes the development of the creative potential of each child. The most important part of the plan is managing shortcomings.

and digital.

1. Foundational literacy and numeracy

In FLN, a major gap identi fied is the lack of “bytesized” content in early learning that can ignite a child’s interest, as well as engage parents who may not be educated. Storytell ing, read-aloud and inter active content, flip books, and the use of digital tools can address these chal lenges. FLN solutions are centred around the capa bility of the solution to engage the home environ ment and the relevant fac

tors viz parents, caregiv ers and community.

2. Teachers’ capacity building

Enhancing teachers’ ca pacity to deliver education in newer formats is essen tial, as is their buy-in and involvement in creating and providing tech-ena bled curricula. To this end, the report suggests ways to strengthen teach ers’ capacity building – for instance, by improving the quality of teachers’ train ing, linking training with career progression, and involving teachers in de

AFGHAN COMMUNITY RALLIES TO PROTEST

Carrying signs saying ‘Stop Hazara Geno cide’ and ‘Let us live,’ more than a hundred protesters gathered on Parliament Hill Saturday to demand action after several attacks on the ethnic Hazara mi nority group in Afghani stan. The protest was or ganized after a recent sui cide bombing at a Shia ed ucational centre in a Haz ara neighbourhood in the capital city of Kabul on Sept 30. The United Na tions said at least 100 peo ple were wounded and more than 50 people, most ly teenage girls, were killed. The Hazara people are an ethnic minority in

Afghanistan who are pre dominantly Shia Muslims.

They have been a frequent target of violence.

“We want to raise our voice to make people aware that a crime is going on in Afghanistan,” said Ahmad

Seyar Lalee, one of the or ganizers of Saturday’s pro test. Lalee said similar pro tests are also taking place in the United States, the United Kingdom and across Canada in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

Suicide bombing in Hazara neighbourhood killed more than 50. The protest was organized with placards saying ‘Stop Hazara Genocide’ and ‘Let us live,’ more than a hundred protesters gathered on Parliament Hill to demand action after the attacks on the ethnic minority

The protests are also a way to urge officials with the Canadian government to recognize a “Hazara geno cide,” Lalee said, and take preventative steps.

“We are asking them, as Afghan-Canadian citizens,

to stand with us and stand for justice in Afghanistan and support us,” he added.

‘IT’S UNACCEPTABLE’

Goli Akbari, a member of the Hazara community, said she was heartbroken to hear of the suicide bombing. “It’s so hard as a mother to see somebody’s young kids go to school and get killed. It’s unaccep table,” she said.

Akbari said she’s proud to be both Afghan-Canadi an and Hazara. By attend ing the protest, she hoped to spread awareness about the situation in Afghani stan. “Please stop this,” she urged. “Stop killing our future generation.”

signing a holistic teach ers’ capacity building pro gramme.

3. School-to-work transition

The third priority area, school-to-work transition, focuses on making stu dents job-ready in a rapid ly evolving employment landscape. Nearly 85% of Indian schools have yet to implement vocational courses as part of their curriculum. This report suggests interventions us ing digital and hybrid models to upskill students to find a good fit with avail able and emerging jobs.

4. Connecting the unconnected

The global pandemic has not only made digital learning central to teach ing worldwide, but it has also widened the digital divide, leaving those with out devices and internet connections further be hind. According to the Unified District Informa tion System for Education (UDISE) 2020-2021 survey, only around 41.3% of

schools have access to computers, and 24.5% had access to the internet in 2020-2021. For the fourth focus area, connecting the unconnected, this report categorizes schools based on their access to digital infrastructure.

TRANSFORMING THE EDUCATION SECTOR

The Education 4.0 India initiative builds on efforts by the central and state governments and leverag es their interventions. The interventions recom mended by the initiative can create tremendous im pact – from making educa tion more accessible and inclusive to reducing drop out rates and improving learning outcomes by us ing more adaptive learn ing systems and commu nity engagement.

The report presents a roadmap to enhance In dia’s school education eco system and gives out a call to action to all stakehold ers in the edtech space to come together to trans form the sector.

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

There was a time, when the existence itself of the State of Assam was in danger. And we, the BJP leaders and Karyakartas resisted the situation with a slogan - ‘Delhi Ho ya Guwahati, Apna Desh Apni Maati’.

Happiness will only come to those who appreciate the little things in life. Finding the root of the problem and being satisfied with what you have, will take you to the path of happiness. Buddha

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Narendra Modi @narendramodi

Big day for Modhera as it takes a giant leap towards harnessing solar power. Modhera, which is associated with the Sun Temple will also be known for its strides in solar energy.

TOP TWEETS

SOURCE: WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

To

More girls should be enrolled in technical educational institutions: Prez

New Delhi (Agen cies): President Drou padi Murmu on Sunday said the number of girl students should be in creased in technical educational institu tions to give more impe tus to the progress of the country.

Speaking at the 52nd convocation and clos ing ceremony of cente nary year celebrations of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) in Chan

digarh, she said Kalpa na Chawla, alumna of PEC's Aeronautical En gineering Department, became the first woman astronaut of Indian ori gin who created an in spiring history of selfsacrifice for science.

She was happy to note that the Kalpana Chaw la Chair of Geospatial Technology is estab lished in PEC.

The President said she was happy to note

that PEC has provided many luminaries to the country in the fields of technology, industry, civil services, educa tion and research, which include former Chairman of ISRO and father of experimental fluid dynamics re search in India, Prof Satish Dhawan; emi nent educationist and founder-Director of IIT, Delhi, Prof R.N. Dogra; an expert in Missiles

Technology and Strate gic Systems, Dr Satish Kumar. Address

possibilities, she has no doubt that they are ca pable of converting

OWAISI REACTS TO RSS CHIEF SAYS MUSLIM FERTILITY RATE IS DIPING

Owaisi asked Bhagwat to “not fret” as the Muslim population was “rather declining”

Hyderabad (ANI): AIMIM chief Asadud din Owaisi has asked RSS chief Mohan Bhag wat to "not fret" as the Muslim population was "rather declining" in the country, asserting that Indian Muslims were the ones using contra ceptives the most.

His remarks came days after Bhagwat had called for a comprehen sive population policy to ensure that the rising population do not be come a burden but can be used as a resource. "Don't fret. The Muslim population is not in creasing. It's rather fall ing... Who's using con

doms the most? We are. Mohan Bhagwat won't speak on this," Owaisi said. Addressing the an nual RSS Vijayadashmi festival, Bhagwat called for a "comprehensive policy on population"

and said that it should be applied equally to all.

"Population control and religion-based popula tion balance is an im portant subject that can no longer be ignored," he had said.

Shahnawaz slams Owaisi over his population remark

Patna (ANI): BJP lead er Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Sunday slammed the AIMIM chief Asa duddin Owaisi over the latter's re marks on popula tion and said that the Telangana leader wanted to create a controversy.

"Asaduddin Owaisi has become 'Bayan Pu rush', he wants to create a controversy. A low population is beneficial for society," said Hus

N-E’s financial discipline vital for India economy: Amit Shah

New Delhi (PTI): BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at Nitish Kumar on Sunday for defending his new ally, RJD chief Lalu Pras ad, after the CBI filed a chargesheet against them, saying it is “shameful” and “un fortunate” how the Bi har chief minister has turned a blind eye to the issue of corruption.

Addressing a press conference, the former Union minister said Ku mar is “compromising the core of his life’s sav ings” by defending Lalu Prasad in the corrup tion case. The Bihar CM on Saturday voiced his disapproval of the CBI chargesheet against Lalu Prasad in a case pertaining to RJD chief’s tenure as the railway minister.

Guwahati (PTI): Finan cial discipline of North eastern states is essential to make the Indian econ omy the second largest in the world, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.

Addressing the 70th plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here, Amit Shah said insurgency, lack of connectivity and failure of previous governments to focus on Northeast hampered the region’s development for decades.

“Prime Minister Nar endra Modi’s govern ment tried to under stand the core problems and evolved ways to per manently solve the is sues to take the region to the path of develop ment,” he said.

During the last eight years of the PM Modi government, many ef forts have been made to

bring peace to the region, enhance connectivity and give priority to devel opment, he added.

NEW DAWN BLOOMS

sain. His remarks came after AIMIM chief Owaisi asked RSS chief to "not fret" as the Muslim population was "rather declin ing" in the country, asserting that In dian Muslims were the ones using con traceptives the most. The BJP leader also cleared his take on the popula tion and said, "The more the population grows the bigger the problem it creates. That should be kept in mind."

whatever they choose to become in their life.

She said they are the builders of India of to morrow. It is expected from them that they will use the knowledge acquired in this pres tigious institution in the service of human ity too. She urged them to keep Mahatma Gan dhi's message of 'Sar vodaya' in their indi vidual priorities. She said it is the moral

duty of every citizen, especially the youth, to put into practice the values of the a Father of the Nation'. Presi dent inaugurated the newly constructed building of UT Chandi garh Secretariat. The President said estab lished in Lahore in 1921, PEC has emerged as a leading institute for research and con tributed to the global technological change.

It is a premier insti tute of the country as well as a harbinger of technical education in this region.

The National Educa tion Policy -- 2020 states that a good educational institution is one in which every student is welcomed and cared for and where an in spiring environment with good infrastruc ture and appropriate resources exists.

Nitish has turned delusional: Kishor

New Delhi (ANI): Con gress' Pawan Khera on Sunday reacted to the alleged attack on the party's tribal leader Anant Patel and said that anyone who does not get ma nipulated by the Bharatiya Janata Party gets attacked.

"Yesterday our MLA was attacked as he brought the Central and State government to its knees. Anyone who is not influenced by this government gets at tacked," said Congress leader Pawan Khera.

Congress MLA and Tribal leader Anant Pa tel was allegedly thrashed by goons.

West Champaran, Bihar (ANI): Hitting back at Nitish Kumar, political strategist Prashant Kishor to day said that the Bi har chief minister has become "delusional" and "politically isolat ed" and speaks things other than what he actually means.

He also said that Kumar's age is affect ing him and it reflects in his "nervousness".

Kishor was re sponding to the chief minister's comment that the political strategist, who has recently launched a

Prashant Kishor

state-wide 'padayatra' to bring 'Jan Suraj' in Bihar, was "working for the BJP" after he claimed that Mr Ku mar had asked him to join his Janata Dal (United) party.

"He (Kumar) said I am working on BJP's agenda and asked him to merge with Congress. How is it even possible? If I were supporting BJP, why would I ask him to strength en Congress? If the second claim is correct, the first one gets wrong," Kishor told ANI.

‘BJP has come to change HP’s destiny’

Kangra (HP) (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Sunday said they have come to the state to change the image and destiny of Himachal Pradesh.

"Elected representa tives are sitting here... We have not come here to sit on our seats, we have come to change the

image and destiny of Himachal Pradesh," said BJP chief JP Nadda

3 top officials arrested in UKSSSC recruitment case

Dehradun (ANI): In a major breakthrough in the UKSSSC scam, three senior government offi cials were arrested by the Uttarakhand STF in connection with the case, said the officials on Saturday.

The arrested accused have been identified as RBS Rawat (former chairman), secretary Manohar Kanyal, for mer controller of ex amination RS Pokharia were arrested on Satur

at the conference of rep resentatives of Pan chayat Raj institutions.

He further said that the "chair" (power) is es sential but not their goal, it is necessary for development. Terming the BJP as the world's largest political party, Nadda said, "Political parties are unable to conduct meeting with

the number as we have in our conference.

Earlier, Nadda was on a tour to Assam with Amit Shah and while ad dressing the inaugural function of BJP's big gest party headquarters

Atal Buhari Vajpayee Bhawan in Guwahati he said that BJP is the only ideology-based and na tional party in India.

day in the investigation of rigging in the VPDO recruitment examina tion conducted by Utta rakhand Subordinate Service Selection Com mission in 2016.

KCR’s bets on national aspiration to win state assembly elections!

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: Telangana

Chief Minister K Chan drasekhar Rao has an nounced to change the name of his party Telan gana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

He had fixed an auspi cious time for this and on October 5, on the day of Dussehra, at 1.19 o’clock, he announced to change the name of TRS to BRS.

Earlier, he met leaders of Tamil Nadu’s party VCK

and Karnataka’s JDS. Before that, he has been meeting leaders of oppo sition parties across the country. Now he has an nounced that he will do national level politics by forming Bharat Rashtra Samiti and will try to make Bharat Rashtra Samiti a na tional party. However, the reality is that his party is one of the few renowned regional par ties who have no influ ence outside Telangana.

All parties like NCP, Trinamool, Shiv Sena, JDU, RJD, AAP have or ganizations in more than

one state. DMK is also in Tamil Nadu and Puduch erry. But TRS does not have any organization

outside Telangana. So how will the change from regional to national party become a possibility? That’s why it seems that he has done this work to create a message of Telangana pride for the party work ers and the people of the state before the assem bly elections to be held next year. He wants to send the message that he can be the face at the all India level and can also be the prime minis

terial candidate from the opposition side.

Through this, he will ap peal to the people of the state to win them the as sembly elections and then he will take the Telugu identity to the whole country in the Lok Sabha elections. In fact, all his worries are about winning the next year’s election. For this, elections were held be fore time last time and this time the narrative is of national politics.

New Delhi (ANI): The All India Muslim Personal Law Board filed an application for impleadment in the matter dealing with the Places of Worship Act 1991 and defended it saying that the object of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 is to prevent such disturbance of public order and to maintain peace and strengthen basic feature of secularism. AIM PLB has filed an application for impleadment in the matter dealing with the places of worship act and urged the Supreme Court to allow it to be impleaded as the party in the mat ter. AIMPLB said that the object of the Places of Worship Act, of 1991 is to prevent such disturbance of public order and maintain public peace and strengthen basic features of secularism.

Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka High Court has said that non-matching DNA samples would not absolve a crime accused since it is only corrobo rative evidence. The court rejected the petition of a 43-year-old bus conductor who is accused of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old relative.

He rushed to the High Court, seeking quashing of the case after a DNA test showed that his blood sample and that of the foetus did not match.

The accused is a resident of Mysuru. He has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complaint was filed by the mother of the victim on February 19, 2021. The bus conductor is alleged to have sexually abused the girl due to which she became pregnant. The police filed a charge-sheet in the case while the report of the DNA test was still pending.

DNA MISMATCH WON'T ABSOLVE ACCUSED: KARNATAKA HC

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi addressing a press over Muslim fertility rate is diping, in Hyderabad on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Khera reacts to attack on Cong tribal leader Anant Patel

‘Shameful’: Prasad on Nitish's disapproval of CBI chargesheet

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurates the newly-built Convention Centre at Assam Police Training College, in Golaghat on Sunday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy as they announce that JDS and BRS parties to work together.

Accused in STF custody.

HM asks the chief ministers to ensure financial discipline of their states

SHAH OFFERS PRAYERS AT KAMAKHYA TEMPLE

AIMPLB FILES APPLICATION FOR IMPLEADMENT IN SUPREME COURT

JP Nadda

President Droupadi Murmu

2nd highest rainfall since 2007 in Delhi

Incessant rains for the second consecutive day in the national capital improved the air quality on Sunday to “satisfactory” level.

New Delhi: The nation al capital received the second highest rainfall since 2007 in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am, ac cording to the India Me teorological data on Sunday.

The city weathered near ceaseless rains –measuring 74mm till 8.30 am Sunday – that brought the maximum temperature on Satur day down by 10 notches, closing in the day-night temperature gap to a re cord low.

Incessant rains for the second consecutive day in the national capi tal improved the air quality on Sunday to “satisfactory” level. The air quality index record ed at 9 am was 54 which falls in the “good” cate gory, according to the Central Pollution Con trol Board data.

The minimum tem perature in the national capital settled at 23.4 de grees Celsius, a notch below the season’s aver age, a weather official said. The difference be tween minimum tem perature (20.8 degrees

Celsius) on Friday and maximum temperature (23.4 degrees Celsius) on Saturday was 2.6 de grees Celsius -- the low est since 1969, the offi cial said.

Earlier, the lowest such margin was re corded on October 19, 1998 at 3.1 degree Celsi us, the IMD added. Rela tive humidity recorded at 8.30 was 100 per cent, he said.

READ

Jammu and Kashmir: J&K Police on Saturday foiled an attempt by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists as they recovered three IEDs and sticky bombs from the Bill awer area of Kathua district.

According to the police, the recovery was made on the disclosure of a JeM terrorist arrested from Kathua on October 2. SSP) Kathua, RC Kotwal said, “On inter rogation and disclosure of arrested former terrorist Zakir Hussain Bhat, a resident of Malad Billawer.”

PHOGAT DEATH: FAMILY RECEIVE TWO LETTERS

MINOR DALIT GIRL RAPED IN AMETHI, ACCUSED HELD

Uttarkashi (PTI): Ten more bodies of mountaineering trainees were brought to Uttarkashi on Sunday as search and rescue opera tions continued for the sixth consecutive day at the ava lanche site near Draupadi Ka Danda-II peak. A total of 27 bodies have been retrieved so far out of which 21 have been brought to Uttarkashi to be handed over to their families, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM)

U’khand: Pilgrimage to Hemkunt Sahib halts due to heavy snowfall in Chamoli

Uttarakhand (ANI):

The pilgrimage to the Hemkunt Sahib in Utta rakhand’s Chamoli has stopped just a day before the closing of its doors due to heavy snowfall here.

As the Chamoli dis trict has received fresh snowfall today, Superin tendent of Police (SP) Shweta Choubey in formed that the region has received snow cover age of more than 2 ft,due to which the pilgrimage at Govindghat and

Ghangariya has stopped,” said SP Shwe ta Choubey said.

Shri Hemkunt Sahib Trust Vice President

HEAVY SNOWFALL IN PITHORAGARH

Uttarakhand: Heavy snowfall lashed several areas in Dharchula town in Pithoragarh, leaving up to two feet of snow in the upper areas and block ing key roads near the Nepal border on Sunday, officials said. Sashas tra Seema Bal (SSB) officials said that some roads have been blocked following the continu ous snowfall because of which locals and security personnel have been facing problems.

Narendra Jeet Bindra on September 7 had in formed that the portals of Gurudwara will be closed at 1 pm on Oct 10.

AMARAVATI: IMD RELEASES WEATHER WARNING FOR NEXT FIVE DAYS

said. Four bodies were brought to Uttarkashi on Fri day, seven on Saturday and 10 more on Sunday, it said.

Andhara Pradesh: If you plan to go outside for shopping ahead of Diwali this week, then this week’s downpour schedule may ruin them away. The IMD, Amaravati released weath er warnings on Sunday. IMD Metrological Centre, Amaravati has forecasted light to moderate-intensity rain in the region for the next five days. According

France want to be India’s partner in defence

New Delhi: France wants to be India’s “best partner” in boosting its defence manufacturing and has decided to share the best technolo gies and equipment in sync with the growing “trust” between the two sides, French Ambassa dor Emmanuel Lenain has said. Without di vulging specific details, the envoy said French and Indian companies are working together on “equipment of the fu ture”, platforms and

engines. “I do not think any country provides India with the same level of technology. The pro gress is also due to the fact that we recognise that India wants to boost

its strategic autonomy, wants to build its indus trial base and we want to be India’s best part ner in this move,” he told PTI.

Indo-French strategic ties have been on a ma

KCR governing with tantrik advice: Nirmala Sitharaman

Haryana: Family mem bers of deceased actor and BJP leader Sonali Phogat have received two letters from an anonymous sender. Sonali’s brother-in-law Aman Poonia has stated that both letters should be investigated as they hold important informa tion regarding the case. In the first letter, it was stated that a deal of Rs 10 crore was made in the murder case.

Amethi: A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by a man in a village in Jamo area here, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on October 3 when the man looking after music arrange ments in a Durga puja pandal raped her in the field when she went to attend nature’s call, they said. The accused identified as Monu has been arrested, he said.

New Delhi: Union Fi nance Minister Nirma la Sitharaman on Satur day alleged that Telan gana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao stopped going to the state Secretariat and did not induct women in his Cabinet for a long time on the advice of “tantriks” and numer ologists.

Sitharaman also claimed that Rao, popu larly known as KCR,

NEW ZEALAND VISIT

changed the name of his party — Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) — on the advice of “tantriks” (oc cultists).

Interacting with par ty workers in Hy derabad, Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar also made simi lar allegations.

The Chief Minister’s Office did not immedi ately react to the com ments.

Rao renamed his par ty to BRS earlier this week as part of his na tional expansion plans ahead of 2024 Lok Sab ha polls.

EAM raises problems faced by Indian students

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EAM also touched upon the topic of direct air connectivity between India and New Zealand and said that it will be taken care of

Wellington (PTI): Ex ternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that he has urged New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Nanaia Ma huta to take a sympa thetic view on the diffi culties faced by Indian students, who were im pacted during the COV ID-19 pandemic.

Jaishankar, who is here on his first visit to New Zealand as the Ex ternal Affairs Minister,

said this while interact ing with the Indian community during the inauguration of the

students, he said that they have had tough times during COVID.

jor upswing after India inked an inter-govern mental agreement with France in Sept 2016 for the procurement of 36 Rafale jets at a cost of around Rs 59,000 crore.

“Defence has always been a very strong com ponent of our coopera tion because there is a lot of trust between our two countries. When you want to work on these is sues, you need trust be cause you commit your self for 10, 20, 30 years,”

Lenain said.

Iran state TV hacked by digital activists: Report

Paris: Digital activists supporting Iran’s wave of women-led protests have hacked a state tel evision live news broad cast, superimposing crosshairs and flames on the face of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The blood of our youths is on your hands,” read a message on screen in the broad cast that started 9pm local time Saturday.

to IMD, heavy rain is likely at isolated places in the Rayalaseema region and thunderstorms accom panied by lightning are likely at isolated places in NCAP & Yanam, SCAP and Rayalaseema for the next three days. On days 4-5, October 12-13, IMD Metrological Centre fore casted heavy downpours at isolated places in SCAP.

NO RAIN IN DELHI FROM TODAY: IMD

New Delhi: Senior Sci entist at the India Mete orological Department (IMD) RK Jenamani on Sunday said that there would be no rain in the national capital and its surrounding areas from tomorrow onwards.

“Highest rainfall was recorded at our station in Mayur Vihar on Sat urday. From tomorrow onwards there will be no rain in Delhi-NCR,” said RK Jenamani, Senior Scientist, IMD.

UP BUREAUCRACY By Ahtesham Siddiqui...

Kaushal Raj Sharma is new Commr of Varanasi

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has appointed Varanasi DM Kaushal Raj Shar ma as the new commis sioner of Varanasi. Moreover, till the time a suitable officer is found, Sharma will also hold the additional charge of DM of Banaras.

Being the parliamen tary constituency of Prime Minister Naren dra Modi, the search for a qualified District Mag istrate has intensified in Varanasi. On January 1, 2022, Sharma was pro moted to the rank of Secretary, but even after this, he had been carry ing out the responsibil ity of Varanasi DM.

After relieving Vara nasi Commissioner IAS Deepak Agrawal, who has gone on central dep utation, the government has made Varanasi DM the new commissioner of Banaras.

With the transfer of

IAS Kaushal Raj Shar ma, IAS Shambhu Ku

mar 2010 batch Special Secretary Secondary Education has been made the new MD of Purvanchal Vidyut Vit ran Nigam, whereas IAS Rupesh Kumar serving as Special Secretary, Sugar and Sugarcane has been made Special Secretary, Secondary Education.

2006 batch IAS officer Kaushal Raj Sharma has made a new record of serving as DM for the longest time as he re mained DM even after being promoted to secre tary rank. Kaushal Raj Sharma, a resident of Bhiwani in Haryana, has been serving as DM since 2008.

Responsible nations should call out international terrorism, says India

new Indian High Com mission Chancery in Wellington.

In respect of Indian

“None of us had an easy time during COV ID. But students per haps took a bigger hit than most of us. So, I urged the Prime Minis ter and the Foreign Min ister to take a sympa thetic view and under standing of students who enter and I was glad to be assured that they would approach the issue sympatheti cally,” Jaishankar said.

New Delhi: Respond ing to Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto`s comments on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, during a joint press conference with German counter part Annalena Baer bock, India has said that all “serious and consci entious members of global community have a role and responsibility to call out international terrorism, especially of a cross cultural nature”.

External Affairs Min

istry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Sat urday said in a state ment said that Jammu and Kashmir witnesses a similar and sustained terrorist campaign for decades.

“This continues. For

eign nationals have been victims there as also in other parts of India. The UN Security Council and FATF are still pursuing Pakistanbased terrorists in volved in 26/11 at tacks,” Bagchi said in the statement.

He further said that when “states don`t rec ognise such dangers be cause of self-interest or indifference, they un dermine the cause of peace, not promote it and do grave injustice to victims of terrorism”.

Shri Hemkunt Sahib Trust VC Narendra Jeet Bindra on Sept 7 had informed that portals of Gurudwara will be closed at 1 pm on Oct 10

A view of the Snow-Covered Hemkunt Sahib, the holy pilgrimage of Sikhs, after fresh snowfall, in Chamoli on Sunday.

Vehicles ply on roads during rains, in New Delhi, Sunday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

10 MORE AVALANCHE VICTIMS BROUGHT TO UTTARKASHI

COPS RECOVER EXPLOSIVES, STICKY BOMBS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR’S KATHUA

S Jaishankar speaks during inauguration of the new Indian High Commission Chancery, in Wellington, Sunday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Kaushal Raj Sharma

Nirmala Sitharaman

Emmanuel Lenainc

MAJOR UPSWING

Arindam Bagchi

—PHOTO BY ANI

business

INDIA STEEL OUTPUT UP 2.5% AT 30 MT

Direct tax kitty up 24% to ` 8.98 L cr

New Delhi (PTI): The gross collection of tax on corporate and individual earnings jumped nearly 24% so far in the current fiscal year to ` 8.98 lakh crore, the tax department said on Sunday.

(BE) for the full year tax collection target, the de partment said.

New Delhi: India’s crude steel output rose by 2.56% to 30.06 million tonne (MT) during the Ju ly-September period of the ongoing financial year.

As per research firm SteelMint, the top six steel makers — SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, AMNS India and RINL — produced 18.29 MT steel, the rest 11.77 MT came in from the secondary sec tor. During same period last fiscal, large producers had jointly manufactured 18.39 MT steel, while the secondary industry pro duced 10.92 MT.

SEVEN OF TOP-10

FIRMS ADD `1 LAKH CRORE IN M-CAP

This includes a 32% growth in personal income tax (including Securities Transaction Tax) mop up and 16.73% increase in cor porate tax revenues over the same period last year.

After adjusting for re funds, the net direct tax col lections between April 1October 8 stood at ` 7.45 lakh crore, which is 52.46% of the Budget estimates

The Budget had estimat ed direct tax collection at `14.20 lakh crore this fiscal, higher than ` 14.10 lakh crore collected last fiscal (2021-22). Tax on corporate and individual income makes up for direct taxes.

“Direct Tax collections up to 8th October, 2022 show that gross collections are at ` 8.98 lakh crore which is 23.8% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year,” the tax depart ment said in a statement.

Refunds amounting to

India-UK FTA talks face deadlock over data: Report

Lo ndon:

New Delhi: The combined market valuation of seven of the 10 most valued firms climbed `101043.69 crore last week, with Reli ance Industries and TCS emerging as the biggest gainers.The market valua tion of RIL climbed `37581.61 crore to reach `1646182.66 crore. Tata Consultancy Services added `22,082.37 crore, taking its valuation to `1121480.95 crore. In the ranking of top-10 compa nies, RIL remained the most valued Indian firm, followed by TCS.

SBI LINES UP NPAs

OVER `746 CR FOR SALE IN OCT-NOV

Data locali sation and UK compa nies being allowed to bid for Indian government con tracts are among the issues causing a possible dead lock in the final stages of the India-UK FTA negotia tions towards a Diwali draft completion deadline, according to a UK media.

‘The Daily Telegraph’ quoted a source close to the talks to say that data locali sation rules that prevent foreign companies taking data out of India and allow ing UK firms to bid for pub lic sector contracts are two key “sticking points” to a comprehensive deal. The likelihood of a so-called “thin” trade deal within the symbolic Diwali or October

24 dead line and further “it erative” deals at a later stage is now looking like a likely outcome.

“The stumbling blocks are absolutely to do with digital. How ambitious and comprehensive this deal is is in some way a function of time,” the newspaper quoted an “insider” as say ing. It follows UK Trade Secretary indicating that just because there may be an FTA struck with India, it did not mean “we can’t do even more later”.

The DIT also reiterated the government stance that any FTA would be agreed only if it meets the UK’s interests.

`

1.53 lakh crore have been issued between April 1-oc tober 8, an increase of 81% over the corresponding pe riod last year.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z After adjusting for refunds, the net direct tax collections between April 1 - Oct 8 stood at `7.45 lakh crore, which is 52.46% of the Budget estimates (BE) for the full year tax collection target

z The Budget had estimated direct tax collection at `14.20 lakh crore this fiscal

in any country. But in In dia, the robust tax collec tion was despite a slow down in industrial produc tion and exports.

Some analysts believe that the economic growth has lost momentum but corporate profits are keep ing the engine running.

Merchandise exports have lost on the momen tum of last year’s surge and shrunk by 3.5% in Sep tember. Trade deficit has nearly doubled in the first six months.

After adjusting refunds, net direct tax collection stood at ` 7.45 lakh crore, 16.3% higher over the yearago period. This includes a

16.25% increase in PIT (in cluding STT) and 16.29% in corporate tax.

Tax collection is an indi cator of economic activity

India will stand out with 7% growth rate in FY23: Sanyal

New Delhi (PTI): Amid fears of the world slipping into recession, India will perhaps emerge as the strongest major economy with 7% growth rate in FY23, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Min ister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal said on Sunday.

Sanyal observed that In dia can grow at 9% in an external conducive envi ronment like in early 2000s.

“We are clearly entering an environment where many countries around the world will be facing much slower growth or even slip ping into recession.

“This is due to a combi nation of factors ranging from tighter monetary pol icy to higher energy costs, as well as disruptions caused by the Ukraine war,” he said.

TCS, Infosys results, macro data to drive markets this week: Analysts

New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) has lined up various non-per forming assets up for sale this month and the next, including the fraud ac count of Sintex BAPL, to recover over `746 crore.

In an auction scheduled for November 4, SBI will put up NPAs for sale to asset reconstruction com panies/ FIs, banks or NBF Cs. The auction of NPAs will include accounts of Sintex BAPL with an out standing of `197.74 crore; Surat Hazira NH6 Tollway Pvt Ltd of expo sure of `335.54 crore and Shreebhav Polyweaves Pvt Ltd (`20.20 cr).

FPIs INVEST `2,400 CRORE IN INDIAN EQUITIES IN OCTOBER

New Delhi (PTI): Trading in the domestic equity market this week will be influenced by quarterly re sults from TCS and Info sys, besides inflation and industrial production data as well as global trends, analysts said.

Movement of the rupee, which has slumped to re cord lows against the US dollar, will also be tracked by investors, they added.

“This week, participants will be eyeing important macroeconomic data viz

their numbers along with two other heavyweights Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank,” said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Performance of the US markets, FIIs’ trend, and movement in currency and crude will also remain on their radar, Mishra added.

TOP TALKING POINTS

z The World Bank on Oct 6 projected 6.5% growth rate for the Indian economy for 202223, a drop of one percentage point from its June 2022 projections, citing deteriorating international environment

He emphasised that the cumulative impact of sup ply side reforms over many years by the Modi gover

CAR PRICES TO RISE NEXT YR

z Sanyal observed that India can grow at 9% in an external conducive environment like in early 2000s when the global economy was growing

z He however cautioned against pushing growth unnecessarily “when the highway has so many bumps”

ment has meant that In dia’s economy is currently much more flexible and resilient than it used to be.

OTHER STORIES

IIP growth was subdued at 2.4% in July while ‘core sector’ hit a nine-month low of 3.3% in August.

IOC, HPCL, BPCL may post 2nd consecutive quarterly loss

New Delhi (PTI): Stateowned oil marketing com panies IOC, BPCL and HPCL may for the first time ever post the second consecutive quarterly loss with a combined loss of ` 21,270 crore in July-Sep tember, on holding petrol and diesel prices below the cost of production.

The three state-owned firms -- Indian Oil Corpora tion, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hin dustan Petroleum Corpora tion Ltd, had in the first quarter of the current fis cal year (April-June) post ed a combined loss of `18,480 crore due to erosion in the marketing margin on petrol, diesel and do mestic LPG.

The three firms are to announce second quarter earnings later this month or in early November.

GOVERNMENT TO KICK OFF ITS ANNUAL BUDGET MAKING EXERCISE FOR FY 2023-24 TODAY

New Delhi: After with drawing over `7,600 crore last month, foreign investors have resumed buying Indian stocks and have invested more than `2,400 crore in the do mestic equity markets in the first week of October. FPI flow is expected to re main volatile in the com ing months, experts said. According to data with the depositories, FPIs invest ed a net `2,440 crore in equities during October 3-7, after pulling out over `7,600 crore in

IIP, CPI and WPI... Besides, the week also marks the be ginning of the earnings season with IT majors like TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro announcing

NO MATERIAL IMPACT OF RATE HIKE

Last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 764.37 points or 1.33%. The domestic equity markets were closed on Wednesday for Dussehra.

New Delhi (PTI): Passen ger and commercial vehi cle prices are expected to rise as automobile compa nies invest in upgrading vehicles to meet stricter emission norms that kick in from April next year.The Indian automobile indus try is currently working to make their products meet the second phase of Bharat Stage VI, in real time driv ing conditions. Four-wheel er passenger and CVs will need more sophisticated equipment to be added to meet the next level of emis sion standards.

Home loan outstanding of banks doubles

New Delhi (PTI): Interest rates do not seem to have a material bearing on people who buy their dream resi dential properties on bor rowed funds as the home loan outstanding of banks almost doubled to ` 16.85 lakh cr in the last five yrs, shows Reserve Bank data.

Even in the first five months of the current fis cal, home loan outstanding of banks has clocked dou ble-digit growth, despite the Reserve Bank raising the key interest rate thrice during this period by a whopping 140 basis points (bps), which led to a hike in

the home loan rate.

As per the RBI data, the housing loan outstanding of the banks was at Rs 8,60,086 crore at the end of fiscal 2016-17, and the same has increased to Rs 16,84,424 crore at the end of 2021-22.

Experts from banking and real estate industry are

of the opinion that though interest rates are impor tant, they do not deter a home buyer as the decision is based on current income and future prospects.

Also people are becom ing increasingly aware that interest rates would move up and down during the life

DESPITE RATE HIKES THRICE

z Even in the first five months of the current fiscal, home loan outstanding of banks has clocked double-digit growth

cycle of a loan, which is typically for around 15 years.

The RBI data revealed that banks’ housing loan outstanding increased in the range of 13.7 to 16.4 per cent year-on-year in each of the first five month of the current financial year.

New Delhi: The government on Monday will kick off its annual Budget making exercise for financial year 2023-24, that is expect ed to look at measures to revive growth amid a gloomy global out look. The meeting would start with consultations with various ministries and departments on the revised estimates (RE) of expenditure for ongoing financial year and the fund requirement for 2023-24. On the first day on Monday, RE meetings with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Labour And Employment, Ministry of Information and Broadcast ing, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports would take place. —PTI

HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA

POSTS HIGHEST PAT IN 4 YEARS AT `2,861 CR

New Delhi: Hyundai Motor In dia Ltd recorded a 55% rise in its profit after tax at `2,861.77 crore in the fiscal ended

31, 2022, its highest in four years, accord ing to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. The company, which is an unlisted entity, had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of `1,847.16 crore in 2020-21.

previous highest PAT of HMIL was at `2,581.73 crore in 2018-19.

PE INVESTMENT IN REAL ESTATE UP 40% IN APRIL-SEPTEMBER

New Delhi: Private equity (PE) investment in real estate in creased 40% during the AprilSeptember period of this fiscal to $2.8 billion, with a huge inflow coming from foreign funds especially in office assets, says a report. According to the Anarock report, investments by foreign investors contributed around 78% to the total inflow in the first half of this fiscal, reflect ing their strong confidence in Indian real estate.

ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS SECTOR HAS MAX NUMBER OF DELAYED PROJECTS AT 248

New Delhi: The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 248, followed by railways at 116 and petroleum sector at 88, showed a government report. In the road transport and highways sector, 248 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedule out of the 831 monitored, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for August 2022.

Similarly in railways, out of 173 moni tored projects, 116 are delayed, while for petroleum, 88 out of 139 projects are delayed.

Gandhi family blessing me and Kharge: Tharoor

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Congress presidential polls candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the Gandhi fam ily was blessing him and the other candi date Mallikarjun Kharge, and had no bias towards either of them. He referred to Congress Presi dent Sonia Gandhi, son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Speaking to media persons after meeting

party functionaries at Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) office in Mum bai, the former diplo mat also said his aim was to make Congress

Many facets of ‘Mahakal Lok’

Ujjain (PTI): Two grand gateways, a ma jestic colonnade of 108 ornate pillars made of intricately carved sand stones, gushing foun tains and a running panel of over 50 murals depicting stories from Shiv Puran are among the major highlights of the soon-to-open ‘Ma hakal Lok’ in Ujjain.

Prime Minister Nar endra Modi will on Oc tober 11 inaugurate the first phase of the Rs 856-crore Mahakalesh war Temple corridor development project here, located around 200 km from the state capi tal Bhopal.

The over 900-metrelong corridor -- ‘Ma hakal Lok’ -- billed as one of the largest such corridors in India skirts around the old Rudrasa gar Lake which has also been revived as part of the redevelopment pro ject around the ancient Mahakaleshwar Tem ple, one of the 12 ‘jyotir lings’ in the country that gets devotees throughout the year.

Two majestic gate ways -- Nandi Dwar and Pinaki Dwar -- separat ed by a short distance, have been erected near the starting point of the corridor, which winds its way to the entrance of the ancient temple and offers aesthetic views along the way.

Sandstones sourced from Bansi Paharpur area in Rajasthan have been used for building structures that populate the corridor. Artists and craftsmen mainly from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Orissa worked on chisel ling and embellishing raw stones into aesthet

ic pillars and panels, a senior official, associat ed with the project since its beginning, told PTI. Sources in the Madhya Pradesh government said the ambitious pro ject that began in 2017 seeks to “emphasise and re-evoke the ancient glory of the historic city of Ujjain” through use of ancient temple archi tecture while providing all amenities to visitors

and using latest technol ogy to enhance its phys ical and cultural value.

So, while 108 pillars with ornamental ele ments on top bearing trishul-style design dot the corridor at regular intervals, CCTV camer as and public address system have been har moniously incorporated in them, they said.

The PA system will be used for making an

nouncements for crowd management and for playing devotional songs once the corridor is opened to the public.

Besides, an integrat ed control and com mand centre has been set up to monitor secu rity arrangements in the temple corridor complex.

Chief Executive Of ficer, Ujjain Smart City, Ashish Kumar Pathak, said Ujjain is an ancient and holy city and old Hindu texts describe the presence of a ‘Ma hakal Van’ around the Mahakaleshwar Tem ple aeons ago.

IMD issues yellow alert for parts of Maha

Mumbai (ANI): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday gave a yel low alert for parts of central Maharashtra, Marathwada and over Konkan, for the next three to four days.

“Mostly for the en tire of Maharashtra, there are expectations of thundershowers, as sociated with isolated heavy rainfall.

Thun derstorm warning- yel

er,” he said.

Tharoor dismissed speculation that the on going electoral battle with Kharge was one between an “official candidate” (Kharge) and an “unofficial” one (himself) as claimed by certain leaders.

opposition as they will have to sit there after the 2024 elections, said Tharoor.

“Our party needs change and I feel I am the one who will be the catalyst of change,” said Tharoor.

Congress state unit chief Nana Patole was not present.

low warning- given for parts of central Maha rashtra, Marathwada

stronger before the 2024 polls.

“The Gandhi family is blessing me and Kharge ji. Because we are contesting for mak ing the party strong

“My interactions with the Gandhi family have convinced me that there is no bias from them towards either me or Kharge,” he said.

The Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) should start preparing for being a part of the

The leader further stated that Congress has run the country nicely and has experi enced people in the par ty. “We need to win the trust of voters,” he add ed, during the delegate outreach event at the Congress state head quarters in Mumbai.

“I had a word with Patole ji and he in formed me about his prior commitment. I am not complaining at all,” said Tharoor, when asked about Patole’s ab sence from the meet.

Members of the All India Professional Congress greeted Tha roor at Tilak Bhavan.

Former Lok Sabha MP Priya Dutt and former Rajya Sabha MP Bhal chandra Mungekar were also present.

Food chain launches inquiry after Mumbai man finds glass in pizza

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A popular global fastfood brand has ordered an inquiry after a Mumbaikar tweeted photos of glass shards he allegedly found in his pizza toppings to the Mum bai Police’s Twitter handle, and asked the cops to advise him on the next step.

Mumbai Police in a reply tweet advised him to write to the cus tomer care of the pizza company before taking any legal action.

Taking cognizance of the complaint, a spokesperson from the company said its qual ity team conducted a thorough inspection of the pizza outlet in question, but no anom aly was found.

The company also contacted the aggrieved customer to ascertain

the facts of the matter through various chan nels of communication.

“We follow a strict noglass policy in the kitch ens... and follow the highest standards of quality and safety,” the firm said, adding, “We will be investigating the matter further once we get the samples from the user and take action accordingly.”

The customer had questioned the quality

of the food sold by the pizza outlet and asked whether it should en danger his life.

He said he discov ered the “glass pieces” in a pizza that he or dered through a popu lar delivery app and that the box was sealed. However, in the initial tweet, he hadn’t men tioned the delivery partner, the outlet or the date and time the pizza was delivered.

UPDATE

We follow a strict noglass policy in the kitchens... and follow the highest standards of quality and safety. We will be investigating the mat ter further once we get the samples from the user and take action accordingly.

—Company

ALLEGATION

Man stabs friend to death over debt, informs cops, gets arrested

Woman loses ` 2L over ‘power disconnection’

and over Konkan, for the next three to four days,” IMD Mumbai

Nitha TS, Scientist-C had told ANI.

Several parts of Mumbai faced water logging due to inces sant heavy rainfall on Saturday morning.

“Generally cloudy sky with moderate to heavy rain/thunder shower in the city and suburbs in the next 24 hours,” India Meteoro logical Department had said on Saturday morning.

Mumbai (PTI): A man stabbed his friend to death over a mone tary dispute and then called the police to confess, officials said on Sunday.

The victim, identi fied as Bipin Shailen drakumar Dubey (29), had left home in Kaly an for work on the morning of October 8. Later, his brother re ceived a call that he had been found dead at the friend’s house.

The victim was found with multiple stab wounds and a fin ger of his right hand had been chopped off,

The victim had borrowed `4.5L from his friend and refused to pay it back

the police said.

According to police, the accused, identified as Rajeshwar Pandey had given the victim a sum of Rs4.5 lakh as a loan. However, the vic tim refused to pay it back.

A case under section 302 (murder) of the IPC has been regis tered and the accused has been arrested.

Thane (PTI): A 54-year-old woman teacher has been cheated of Rs 1.97 lakh by an unidenti fied person who sent her a message about electricity supply disconnection, a Thane police official said on Sunday.

She called up the number mentioned in the mobile phone mes sage containing the threat of power supply disconnection if she did not pay her out standing bill, he said.

“The accused first got her to pay Rs10 by an online app and then managed to ob tain her PIN and ATM details to transfer Rs1.97 lakh from her bank account on July

17,” the MFC police station official said.

A case has been registered under In dian Penal Code and Information Tech nology Act provi sions and efforts were on to nab the accused, he said.

Several parts of Mumbai were waterlogged aftrer heavy rainfall over the weekend. —PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

The man said he found multiple pieces of glass on his pizza.

Congress leader expresses need to win trust of voters, usher in change for Grand Old Party ahead of prez poll

Congress Presidential election candidate Shashi Tharoor addresses an Organisation Election 2022 event, at the MPCC office, in Mumbai on Sunday.

BY ANI

Views of the newly developed Shri Mahakal Lok ahead of its inauguration by PM Narendra Modi, in Ujjain on Sunday. The PM will dedicate to the nation the newly built corridor on October 11.

Mahakal temple is not just a religious centre of Ujjain, but it is linked to social, cultural and economic spheres of the city too. —Ashish Kumar Pathak, CEO, Ujjain Smart City

POWER OF PINK!

The colour pink is a statement. Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink. City First brings to you the meaning and significance of the colour pink in the fashion world!

SHUBHANSHI PATHAK cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

Pink is a colour that at tracts people, particu larly girls. Pink is ac tually the new black, too. Pink is a soft red colour that is fre quently linked to ro mance and love. The colour pink is regarded to be relax ing. The connotations and meanings of a particular pink colour might vary. While hot pink may be perceived as strong, adventurous and terrify ing, light pink is frequently as sociated with softness, heal ing, and calm. It is a colour that can inspire senti ments of happiness and joy or inspire creativity and the arts. It is a tender, thoughtful love that is focused on the closeness of the other. Fashion in pink displays tender ness, friendliness, un derstanding and sensi tivity. It is intuitive and perceptive. Pink is a symbol of hope ac cording to colour psychology. It is a cheerful colour that evokes sentiments of warmth and comfort and confidence that everything will work out. The colour pink awakens people’s most loving side, including their desire for both receiving and giv ing love, care and attention. In terms of fashion, pink is a non-

threatening colour that aims to win admiration, respect and appreciation. In its most powerful forms, pink denotes wealth, power, glamour, and stunning beauty. It has an energising quality and is playful and bold but fa miliar at the same time. Unlike other colourful shades, it is not intimidat ing or difficult to wear. Pink has a wide range, which adds to its beau ty and it will surely keep playing a part in fashion. Because of its ability to defy expectations, it serves as a hyper-saturated reminder of the thrill of fashion. Anybody can wear the colour, as long as the fabric and cut complement their body type and skin tone. Pink represents softness and disruption and has the quality of being strong without consciously choosing to be such.

FIRST INDIA QUEEN

UNVEILING THE BEAUTIES!

FIRST

irst India Queen, where beauties from pan India will compete for the privileged ti tles and crowns, at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai on Octo ber 21, revealed its top 30 finalists on Sunday! City

First brings to you stun ning faces and the part ners behind the magnifi cent beauty pageant!

Global standards of beauty have undergone a sea of change over the years, and beauty pag eants are no exception.

The criteria to win is not just looks, but a fit body, an all-round personality, spoken skills and inner depth. Right from when they are shortlisted dur ing the auditions, con

testants are encouraged to eat healthy, exercise, and adopt healthy habits.

More than a hundred talented and ravishing women from across the country walked the ramp and showcased their tal ent during various audi tions rounds held across multiple cities. The event focuses on improv ing the overall personal ity and confidence of the participants. Grooming and training sessions were held where contest ants prepared in various aspects to enhance selfconfidence while walk

ing the ramp, personali ty enhancement, nutri tion, fitness and other areas of development that are needed to be come a professional model.

First India Queen is curated by Blanckanvas Media and the finale will be

Apart from

Anchal Yadav, Delhi

Yoshita Arora, Jaipur

Apoorva Sharma, Gwalior

Victoria Fernandes, Mumbai

Bhanushree HK, Banglore

Sowmya Kharatmal, Bangalore

Divya Mamnani, Jaipur

Sanya Hissaria, Jaipur

Kajol Saraswat, Agra

Kulsum Khatoon, Kolkata

Anisha Bhati, Delhi Khushboo Kungwani, Jaipur

Avani Kakekochhi, Banglore

Vaishnavi TN, Bangalore

Chahat Singh, Mumbai

Suhani Chauhan, Noida

Garima Ahuja, Kanpur

Samruddi Shetty, Bangalore

Kalpana Yadav, Gurugram

Marishca Rodrigues, Mumbai

Anshika Choudhary, Jaipur Khushi Vijayvargiya, Jaipur

Bhakti Jani, Mumbai

Swati Yadav, Delhi

Dr. Chandana Ambati, Hyderabad

Svara Mandlik, Mumbai

Jasmine Mahindroo, Gurugram

Rukaiya Kalyanwala, Mumbai

Kanupriya Brella, New Delhi

Neha Varma, Mumbai

Niraj: Film which lacks emotion, lacks connection

Talent is not limited to a person, the more you explore, the more you excel. The same could be said about Niraj Mishra, who is not only a successful writer who worked on films like Baaghi 2 but also is an ex cellent director who is gear ing up for another feature film after a successful one. Talking about his struggles, success, work and more, he gave a candid interview with City First.

Revealing how he recog nizes a good film, Niraj said,

Faith in Adipurush

Not days after the Adipurush teas er was released, there have been calls for a boycott of the film and it has been heavily criticised for several aspects.

Right from its painstakingly poor quality of CGI to Saif Ali Khan's bearded and heavi ly kohled eyes look, the criticism is se vere. Saif looks noth ing like the intelligent Sri Lankan king but rather a poor version of a Mughal emperor. Also, the CGI looks so bad that many have compared it to the early 2000s films.

Now, reacting to the backlash film's director, Om Raut said, "Hum par vishwas rakhein (have faith in us). For us, our audience is su preme. So all the sages, our elders, whoever is

telling us things, we are taking note of it. We are writing it down and I assure you that when this film releases on January 12, 2023, we will not disappoint any one. Believe in us, we will make it happen."

On whether is open about the idea of mak ing changes to his film, Raut said, "We have seen only 95 seconds of the teaser. I say this again, we are taking all the notes. I guarantee that nobody will be dis appointed."

“Story and storytelling, nar rative, screenplay and the visual presentation should remain the priority. The sec ond priority should be given to the right visualiser and choosing the right actors as per the script. A good film is a good recipe for many things which starts with the right content and the right intent.”

Mentioning his early life and struggles, the filmmaker said, “Writ ing started early in my life, and it came from my father. My father is a retired bank officer, but from the beginning, he was very pas sionate about poetry, he used to write poems in his leisure time and he still does. So the inspiration started from home and I also started writing random stories and poems. Initially, my world was different, I was more passionate about

sports and defence services and had zero plans to ven ture into the entertainment industry. One more thing, I also want to add is I got my skills in still photography from my father. So his old analogue black and white Kodak camera got my atten tion during my early years.”

He added, “Where there is a dream, there is a strug gle. I come from a very small town and a work ing middle-class family. I always wanted to do some thing substantial in my life and hence from the begin ning, I continued hopping from one place to another in search of the right path. Ul timately, it ended up in the entertainment industry. Nor mal is too boring for me, so to keep myself away from bore dom I keep aspiring high, it gives me a goal and it gives me purpose. As it is said, if one has extraordinary goals,

then one has to make ex traordinary efforts too. So challenging one’s potential and learning continuously are key factors in my life.”

Talking about his series Samanantar, Niraj re vealed, “Samanantar is very close to my heart as it’s my ‘first’ feature film as a Director and a Producer.

It was one hell of a ride, can’t tell you much, but the struggle behind the scene is a film itself, maybe one day, I’ll bring that story onto the screen too.”

He added about his up coming film, “Yes, it’s a psy chological and philosophi cal thriller, something fresh and original. Scripting is done and now we are in talks with the actors and the rest of the technicians.

Will give you more informa tion once the official an nouncement is done, keep ing my fingers crossed.”

Malvika's dubai diaries

Actress Malvika Raaj is a true wanderer and we all know it. This diva knows how to create a fine balance between work and leisure activities. she is current ly on a vacation and she keeps shar ing some scintillating captures of her vacation in Dubai, where she is travelling with her sister Sonaakshi Raaj. Her travelling goals will not only help you plan your next vaca tion but inspire you to take droolworthy fashion cues as well. She has taken over to her Instagram stories to share some lovely pictures from their time together.

Her stories reflect the amazing moments that the two sisters are sharing.

Malvika’s style quotient is also high and she is giving us some sneak peeks, where the actress looked beautiful in a black chic suit in one of the pics. She chose a great glittering violet dress for her dinner at a famous Dubai restaurant GAL and looked just perfect.

attention when she played the role of young Pooja or Pooh in Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' and then her Bollywood debut as the leading lady in her debut in 'Squad'.

GENELIA trends again Maniesh wraps shoot!

The omnipresent enter tainment extraordi naire Maniesh Paul who is ruling every medium with exemplary per formances has now wrapped the shoot of his upcoming debut in the digital world.

Announcing the end of the shoot for the show, Maniesh Paul posted an Insta story from the sets of Ritam Srivastav's directorial venture.

Leading the thriller-dra ma show, Maniesh Paul will be seen in a never before ava

the wrap, a source revealed, "Maniesh began the shoot for the show in Mid-June, around the promotions for his film Jugjugg Jeeyo. He is an ex tremely dedicated and hard

was shot in Dehradun, post which the team shot por tions in Delhi, Jaipur and parts of Vasai, Naigaon and Madh Island in Mumbai, while also juggling

he effervescent actor, producer, entrepre neur and super mom, Genelia Deshmukh is again trending for all the most amazing reasons. Hours ago she shared stories on her Instagram account and it is the most heart warming thing that can make any person smile just as she did through her movies.

In two of the stories she put on, she emphasised the importance of val uing kids the right way like ap preciating them with little as surances from time to time. She writes, “Everyone needs a little assurance that they are amazing, even your children do.”

We can also identify her having a great week end with homemade pan cakes for her son whom she referred to as “Rock star Riaan.” She illus trates in her story how the pancakes do not in clude any maida or dairy products show casing that people can still have delicious, yummy, and yet healthy food. She even men tioned “lotsa Aai-Baba love” and it only points towards one thing, the importance and bless ing of parents which is something everyone should cherish thor oughly to make a home.

Nimrit's captaincy

N

imrit Kaur has been able to sustain and maintain the throne of captaincy for a week now. No wonder her fellow contestants have been trying their way out to win that role.

In today's episode of Shanivaar ka vaar, viewers wit nessed a lot of fights over food and petty issues.

When Archana and other house members kept on fighting, Nimrit tried her best to resolve the issues despite not keeping well. The fight went to such an

extent that Nimrit shattered in tears. She eventually ended up asking her fellow housemates to stop their fights about overcooking the food.

She vented her emotions and said, “Koi humanity na hin hai,” Gautam then calmed Nimrit and offered her a glass of water.

After the epi sode, 'Badass Cap tain Nimrit' started to trend on Twitter. A fan tweeted, “nimrit the hardworking un derpaid no sick leave mentally harassed at capitalist workplace captain.”

Niraj Mishra

Om Raut

Malvika Raaj

Prabhas and Om RautPoster of the film