First India-Delhi Edition-10th November 2022

‘

I will protect all citizens’

Justice DY Chandrachud takes oath as 50th Chief Justice of India

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Justice DY Chandrachud took oath as the 50th Chief Jus tice of India (CJI) on Wednesday, after over 6 years as a judge of the Supreme Court. His fa ther was former CJI YV Chandrachud. Justice Chandrachud and his father are only fatherson duo to have reached position of CJI in the country’s judicial his tory. Justice Chandra chud as CJI took oath administered by Presi dent Droupadi Murmu. As he took oath, he said he aims to, “serve the nation is my priority. We’ll protect all the citi zens of India, be it in terms of technology or registry reforms, or ju dicial reforms.”

Justice Chandrachud will serve as CJI till Nov 10, 2024. LS Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Min ister Amit Shah and fin min Nirmala Sithara man were

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‘QUAD’ COUNTRIES KICK OFF MALABAR EXERCISE, CHINA ON THEIR RADAR

New Delhi: The ‘Quad’ countries of India, the US, Japan and Australia have kicked off their top-notch Malabar naval exercise off Yokosuka near East China Sea, with China’s aggressive moves in Indo-Pacific figuring radar screens.

PROPHET REMARK:

Book online for night viewing of Taj Mahal!

New Delhi (PTI): In good news for tourists wanting to visit the iconic Taj Mahal on a moon-lit night, the Su preme Court on Wednesday directed au thorities to start online ticketing facility. A bench of justices San jay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka modified an earlier order which said tickets had to be collected physically from ticket counters 24 hours before the visit.

‘I GOT THIS WRONG’

Mark Zuckerberg says “Sorry” as Meta fires 11,000; 13 per cent of workforce

New Delhi: Facebook’s parent company Meta on Thursday announced they would fire more than 11,000 employees to reduce costs following disappointing earnings and a drop in revenue. The broad job cuts fol low layoffs at other ma jor tech companies in

cluding Musk-owned Twitter and Microsoft.

“We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient com pany by cutting discre tionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1,” Zuckerberg added. P7

I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone and I am especially sorry to those impacted. —Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s Chief Executive

PM MODI VISITS CHAMBI & SUJANPUR IN HP

Congress betrayed people of Himachal, says Modi

First India Bureau

Chambi/Sujanpur: PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed public meetings in Chambi & Sujanpur in Himachal Pradesh. PM Modi started his first address at Chambi by highlighting that Himachal is in an im portant stage of devel opment and, thus, it needs a stable and strong government. Hit ting out at the opposi tion, PM Modi said, “Congress can never give a stable govt to Himachal… Cong is a guarantee of instability. Congress is guaranteed to stop devp works”.

Highlighting differ ences between BJP and Cong, PM in Sujanpur said that BJP has made devp of nation its top priority in the politics. Modi also spoke about development of educa tional avenues here.

Post rally, Modi also stopped his convoy to give way to an ambu lance on Wednesday.

HC REFUSES URGENT STAY ON BAIL TO RAUT; ED PLEA HEARING TODAY

Mumbai: The Bombay HC on Wednesday refused to grant urgent stay on bail granted to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut by a low er court in an alleged money laundering case regis tered by ED. Stating that it can not pass such an order without hearing both parties, HC posted matter for hearing on Thursday. A special court earlier in the day granted bail to Raut and co-accused Pravin while rejecting ED’s request to stay effect of or der till Friday. Central agency then moved the High Court and sought an interim stay.

HC DISMISSES APPEAL AGAINST ACQUITTAL OF ADVANI, OTHERS

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Wednesday dismissed criminal appeal filed against acquittal of 32, including BJP leaders LK Advani and Uma Bharti, by Special CBI court in Babri Masjid demolition case.

GUJ ENCOUNTERS: SC

TO CONSIDER REPORT OF COMMITTEE

New Delhi: A Supreme Court on Wednesday said it needs to see whether any directions are required to be issued on a report by Justice HS Bedi Committee, which investigated alleged fake encounters in Gujarat.

‘Dismantle support system of terrorism’

First India Bureau

New Delhi: In a meet ing that started at 11am at a secret and highly secured location in the national capital and went on till 5pm, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday told Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers from across the country that victory is possible only through a decisive fight against both terrorism as well as its support system. Shah also said there is a need to control Left

Wing Extremism by dis mantling the financial and logistical support system. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, IB chief Tapan Deka were among those who attended the meeting.

Shah stressed on the need to “strengthen in formation sharing be tween counter-terror ism and anti-drug agen cies” and also said, “We have to make coastal security impenetrable. We should keep a close eye on even the smallest and most isolated port.”

‘USE DRONES TO STOP DRUGS SMUGGLING’

Referring to the circula tion of drugs, Shah said narcotics not only ruin the youth of the country but money earned from it also affects the internal security of the country, therefore everyone has to work together for its destruction. “We have to make maximum use of anti-drone technology to stop smuggling of drugs from across the border through drones,” he said.

l India and England are facing off against each other for the first time in T20 World Cup after a huge gap of 10 years

l Team India skipper Ro hit Sharma, after getting injured on Tuesday, said on Wednesday that he has been declared fit to play the crucial semi-final

l Team England has also reported injuries and may

l

l Weather.com’s forecast says there is a 34 percent chance of precipitation in Adelaide in South Aus tralia on Thursday.

AMIT SHAH TO IB OFFICERS

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrives for a day-long interaction with IB officers from across the country on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

earthquake

London: The High Court in London on Wednesday ordered diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s extradition to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering, amounting to an estimated $2 billion in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case.

SUNAK UNDER PRESSURE AS MIN QUITS AMID BULLYING ROW

London: British PM Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from the Oppn on Wednesday as Gavin Williamson, who was MoS without portfolio yet resigned from Cabinet. He was accused of abusive behaviour towards fellow Conservative Party colleagues and civil servants.

EARTHQUAKE: 6 KILLED IN NEPAL; TREMORS FELT IN DEL, RAJ

COURT FREES JAILED

BJP MLA RAJA SINGH Hyderabad: Telangana HC’s bench of Justice Abhishek Reddy, Justice Juvvadi Sridevi set aside Preventive Detention Act filed against suspended BJP MLA T Raja Singh, ordered his release from prison on Wednesday.

He will have a two-year long tenure at the Supreme Court

also present on the occasion.

President Droupadi Murmu with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, outgoing CJI Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, new CJI Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ANI

Narendra Modi @narendramodi

Congratulations to Dr Justice DY Chandrachud on being sworn in as India’s Chief Justice. Wishing him a fruitful tenure ahead.

Kiren Rijiju @KirenRijiju

Heartiest congratulations Dr Justice DY Chandrachud on being appointed as the 50th Chief Justice Of India! Best wishes to him and look forward to working in very close coordination to ensure the speedy delivery of Justice.

PM Narendra Modi with HP BJP president Suresh Kumar Kashyap and BJP candidates wave to supporters during Vijay Sanklap Rally, at Chambi, in Kangra on Wednesday.

It is the BJP which can take Himachal to new heights of de velopment. Therefore, this time the return of the BJP government in Himachal is necessary.

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

To serve the nation is my priority.

play without its star bats man Dawid Malan and star bowler Mark Wood

In the T20 WC, former India captain Virat Kohli has been in sparkling bat ting form with Suryaku mar Yadav second in line

BJP BRASS FINALISES GUJARAT CANDIDATES New Delhi: A meeting of the BJP’s central election committee was held Wednesday to finalise 182 candidates for the polls in Gujarat. PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, BJP president JP Nadda and

other top leaders attended the meeting at the party headquarters here. P5

‘LOVER’ PUSHES WOMAN TO DEATH

Noida (PTI): A 22-yearold woman died after being allegedly pushed off the third-floor of her office building here by a colleague with whom she had broken up after learning that he was already mar ried.

The man, identified as Gaurav, came down from the building and put the woman in an au torickshaw, telling peo ple who had gathered around that he was her brother and was taking her to hospital.

Instead, he took her to Lal Kuan area on Noida’s border with Ghaziabad. He booked an ambulance there to take her to Meerut, po lice said Wednesday, a day after the incident.

“The accused had en tered Meerut district along with the woman’s body in the ambulance but was traced by a po lice team around 4.30 pm,” Additional DCP (Noida) Ashutosh Dwivedi said. Both worked at an insurance company. “She had

called off their relation ship after getting to know his marital status. However, the accused continued to pester her,” the official said.

Police said the wom an complained to police about this on Septem ber 29. The man was then called to the police

‘WASN’T RESPONDING ON PHONE’

Primary schools reopen amid pollution concerns

station on September 29. “The families of both were also present at the police station and Gaurav assured in writing that he would stop bothering her,” Dwivedi said

According to a pre liminary investigation, he met the woman in

AQI improves after winds, rains in Raj, Haryana

office again on Tuesday and tried to force her into remaining in the relationship. He then allegedly pushed her off the building.

The Sector-49 police station was alerted by local people about a woman “jumping off” the office building and

The accused Gaurav had entered Meerut district along with the woman’s body in the ambu lance but was traced by a police team through electronic sur veillance at 4.30 pm —Ashutosh Dwivedi, DCP (Noida)

being taken to a hospi tal by “her family”.

Gaurav was not re sponding to any phone calls. He was tracked through electronic sur veillance and caught by a police team, which was accompanied by the woman’s family, Dwivedi said.

SEEN IN SRINAGAR

Woman found dead on roadside, with signs of rape, brutalisation

Faridabad (PTI): A woman was found dead on a street here, her half-naked body showing signs of rape and brutalisation, po lice said.

Police said the body, spotted by a passer-by in sector-7, bore several injury marks.

It was found with a broom handle insert ed in the victim’s pri vate parts, they said.

Police said they suspect the victim, in her mid-30s, was raped. A police team led by DCP (Ballabh garh) Kushal Singh reached the spot and took the body into

custody, they said. The post-mortem is underway and the re port will give more clarity to the case, DCP Singh said. An FIR has been regis tered at the sector-8 police station under sections of the Indian Penal Code including murder, he said. Gu rugram police spokesperson Sube Singh said CCTV footage of the camera installed in and around are being scanned by the Crime Branch and the Po lice Station team and they are also ques tioning the people around the spot.

New Delhi (ANI): The primary schools in the city reopened on Wednesday after re maining closed since November 5 following a Delhi government order.

Many parents are un happy with the govern ment’s decision fearing pollution-related prob lems to their kids.

“It would have been better if children were kept at home only as it is difficult for them to manage as neither there is much greenery nor the schools are capable enough to provide facili ties to students. Around 80 per cent students in my child’s class have a sore throat and this pol lution can affect their health severely,” said a parent, Upasana.

She said even if it is needed to open schools, they should ensure pro visions like air purifier in class and teaching in closed rooms.

“It is a huge problem for us to drop kids to

New Delhi (PTI): Un ion Minister Meenak shi Lekhi lashed out Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, saying the city did not require a “part time chief minister” who was not concerned about its problems but was busy in “political tourism”.

Citing RTI replies, the senior BJP leader said out of over Rs 1,286 crore collected as environment cess in the past seven years, the Kejriwal govern ment had spent only a little more than Rs 272 crore on fighting pollution. o money was

school as we can’t even send them via bus and rather prefer dropping them off in our own ve hicles. I think schools should have remained shut until the air quality improved,” said another

spent on creating infra structure and training of personnel to combat pollution, she said.

“This person (Kejriwal) is doing nothing. Delhi does not need a part time chief minister who spends his time in political tourism for campaigning in poll bound states,” the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture said at a press conference.

parent Braj. Many parents said on line education was easy and safe for minors.

I believe primary sec tion should be given 15 days more leaves,” said Rani, another parent.

New Delhi (PTI): Air pollution in Delhi ame liorated from “very poor” to “poor” on Wednesday owing to fa vourable wind speed at night, sporadic rains in adjoining states and a considerable drop in emissions from stubble burning. The 24-hour av erage AQI stood at 260, the lowest AQI since Oc tober 20 when it was 232, dropping from 372 on Tuesday. Parts of east Rajasthan such as Alwar, Bhiwadi and Rewari and some areas in Haryana reported sporadic rains under the influence of a western disturbance.

DCW seeks security for family of Chhawla gang rape victim

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has is sued a notice to Delhi Police to ensure securi ty to the family of the 2012 Chhawla gang rape victim. It is also seeking legal opinion on the matter. The Supreme Court on Monday ac quitted the three men sentenced to death for the gang rape and mur der of the 19-year-old in Delhi’s Chhawla. The court noted that the prosecution failed to provide clinching and clear evidence against the accused.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal said the panel was also seeking legal

opinion to ascertain if an appeal could be filed against the verdict and “justice ensured”. A team is also in touch with the victim’s family, she said.

“I am deeply an guished by the heinous crime and the trajecto ry of the case, which ultimately led to denial of justice to the de ceased and her family... It raises several ques tions on our system.

“The commission is seeking legal opinion in the matter. Meanwhile, ... we have issued a no tice to Delhi Police to ensure the same,” the women’s panel chief said in a statement.

Nepal quake: Tremors felt across Delhi-NCR

New Delhi (PTI):

Strong tremors were felt in Delhi-NCR as a 6.3-magnitude earth quake hit the lower Himalayan region in the early hours of Wednes day, jolting people out of their sleep with many of them coming out of their houses in panic.

The quake hit the low er Himalayan region at 1.57 am, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), lead ing to tremors rippling across north India and

parts of Nepal.

Several people took to social media to share their experiences.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to social media and wrote: “I hope all of you are safe.”

The resident welfare associations in the na tional capital said there were no reports of dam age or casualties.

“We have not received any report of structural damage or injury from any of the RWAs. How

ever, there was a bit of panic when people could not figure out what was happening and came out

of their houses. Howev er, things calmed down after a while,” United Residents Joint Action

president Atul Goyal said.

Kritima Bhapta (25), a resident of south Del hi’s Amar Colony, shared her experience, saying it was “scary”.

“I felt tremors for 10 seconds straight. It was scary. The doors and windows were shaking and I could not figure out what was happen ing. I only got to know from social media plat forms that it was an earthquake,” she said.

“Omg just had #earth

quake.... I feel that in delhi, hope everything is fine in Nepal (sic),” Krish Andrew said in a tweet.

“It’s 2 am in the morn ing and people are hav ing a stroll on the streets... Reason#Earthquake in #Del hiNCR,” Aakash Biswas wrote on Twitter and shared an 11-second vid eo, in which people are seen gathered outside a residential building and some of them talking over the phone.

Fake call centre duping ppl with ‘loans’ busted, 11 arrested

New Delhi (PTI): The police have busted a fake call centre and arrested eleven people, including six women for allegedly duping over 1,700 people on the pretext of provid ing them loans, police said on Wednesday.

The call centre, dis guised as a medicine supply store, was being operated at Bal Udhyan Road in Uttam Nagar by one Faisal and his team since February this year, they said.

At least 29 registers were recovered which contained a list of peo ple the accused have duped and the details of transactions, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M Harsha Var dhan said.

After analysing the registers it was found that the accused had cheated more than 1,700 people of over Rs one crore, he said.

During enquiry, Fais al misled the investiga

tors by claiming that he was running the call center for selling medi cines, a senior police of ficer said. Further in vestigation revealed that Faisal’s employees, posing as customer sup port agents, used to call people on the pretext of offering loans. The ac cused then used to share the bank account de tails, and ask the people to deposit the process ing fee in that account, he said.

The DCP said one of the accused Paras, a resident of Ghaziabad, had taken the place on rent. He is absconding and efforts are being made to nab him.

Apart from Paras, three others are also in volved in running the fraud syndicate. They used to provide backend services like bank accounts for collecting money and SIM cards, and sending bulk SMS regarding loans, he said.

Noida: Spurned by ex-lover, married man pushes colleague from 3rd floor of office building; tries fleeing with body in ambulance

Rescue operation underway at Doti, Nepal. —PHOTO BY ANI

Some of the accused seen in police custody.

A snow leopard seen on the hills in Srinagar on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

Students arrive at school in Yamuna Vihar in New Delhi on Wednesday morning. —PHOTO BY ANI

DELHI DOESN’T NEED ‘PART-TIME CM’: MEENAKSHI LEKHI

The accused in police custody.

FAMILY TO APPEAL

New Delhi (PTI): Deputy Chief Minis ter Manish Sisodia on Wednesday al leged that the BJPled Municipal Corpo ration of Delhi (MCD) has taken out garbage from the Ghazipur landfill site and dumped it in nearby areas to “give an impression” that its height has come down.

Interacting with reporters after visit ing the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi, he said, “For 15 years, the BJP which has ruled the MCD, and what has it done to reduce these moun tains of garbage.

And, now just to give an impression to peo ple, from a distance, that the height of the

Ghazipur landfill has come down, the BJPled MCD has taken garbage from it and dumped it in nearby areas. This is a con spiracy,” Sisodia al leged, adding that the saffron party “lacks the intention to solve the problem”.

“Six months ago, these places were all empty. And a wall col lapsed here due to this dumping. Thank fully, it happened at night, when no work was going on, else there would have been loss of life and property too,” he told reporters.

Children live in an ashram located near the site of the wall collapse, they nar rowly escaped this incident, he claimed.

MCD DENIES

MCD Director (Press and Information), Amit Kumar, countered the allegation, saying, “It is not true”. “The MCD has already disposed of 77 lakh MT of legacy waste from three landfill sites. The space so getting emptied by continuous disposal of legacy waste is being replaced by the legacy waste, from the height above. The waste from above is brought to the locations of trommel machines for bioremediation,” he said. This spreading out of legacy waste to trommel machines “cannot be termed as dumping to nearby areas”, he said. The MCD workers and engineers have been sweating it out to reduce the height and flatten the landfill. It does no good to “trifle the good work done in this regard,” he added.

MCD ELECTION

Mountains of garbage will disappear in 5 yrs: Sisodia

New Delhi (PTI): Dep uty CM Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said peo ple will vote for the AAP in the upcoming munic ipal polls to clear the "garbage of the BJP" and if the Arvind Kejri wal-led party comes to power in the MCD, it will make the "moun tains" of trash disap pear from the city in five years.

Sisodia said this while interacting with reporters after visiting the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi.

Just to show that the height of the Ghazipur landfill has come down,

the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has taken gar

bage from it and dumped it in nearby ar eas, he alleged, adding that the saffron party

CM Kejriwal to announce 10 ‘guarantees’ today

New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister Arvind Kejri wal will launch the par ty’s 10 guarantees for MCD polls on Thursday, announced his deputy Manish Sisodia.

Kejriwal chaired a meeting on Wednesday with senior MLAs and office-bearers to review the party’s preparations for the MCD elections.

“Kejriwal will launch AAP’s highly successful ‘Kejriwal Ki 10 Guaran tee’ campaign for MCD polls today. People are actively seeking such a government in MCD that can rid them of BJP’s maladministra

tion, corruption and gar bage mountains. BJP has completely wrecked the MCD from inside, they’ve ruined Delhi, spread garbage all over, every gully-mohalla and park is full of garbage.

SOME LEEWAY

Traders are being har assed and exploited by the BJP. The common man can’t even build his home unless he pays up to BJP’s mafias,” Sisodia told reporters after the meeting on Wednesday.

lacks the intention to solve the problem. In the December 4 MCD election, people

will vote for "jhadu" (the Aam Aadmi Party's poll symbol) to "clear the garbage of the BJP" for a clean Delhi, Siso dia said.

CM Arvind Kejriwal himself is an engineer and makes meticulous plans, he said, adding that a plan has also been made to clear the moun tains of garbage and trash piled up in vari ous parts of Delhi.

If the AAP comes to power in the MCD, "all mountains of garbage in Delhi will disappear in five years. We have a plan," Sisodia said when asked about a timeline.

Nadda chairs meet with Delhi BJP core group

New Delhi (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Wednesday chaired a Delhi BJP core group meeting at his residence in the nation al capital over the up coming Municipal Cor poration of Delhi (MCD) elections.

Core group members include BJP Delhi Presi dent Adesh Gupta, Delhi state incharge Baijant Jay Panda, co-incharge Alka Gujar, convenor of election management committee Ashish Sood, state general secretary (org) Siddharthan.

According to a source, the meeting lasted for an

SC ‘considering’ allowing house arrest of Navlakha

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was considering allowing house arrest request of activist Gautam Nav lakha incarcerated in connection with the El gar Parishad-Maoist link case.

The top court asked Addl Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for NIA, to seek instruc tions and inform it about restrictions that can be placed on Navlakha while keeping him un

der house arrest for a few days.

A bench of justices K M Joseph and Hrishike sh Roy said it will pass the order Thursday after hearing the ASG.

“He is a 70-yr-old man. We don’t know how long he will live. Certainly, he is going towards the in evitable. It’s not that we are going to release him on bail. He is not going to enjoy the default bail which comrade Sudha (Bharadwaj) got... We are conscious that we

have to tread carefully. We agree that house ar rest as an alternative has to be used carefully...

“We are concerned

about what restriction would you like to place. Place whatever restric tions. It’s not that he is going to destroy the

country... At least let him remain in house ar rest for a few days. Let’s try to work it out,” the bench said. Advocate

Kapil Sibal, appearing for Navlakha, said medi cal reports show there’s no possibility of him be ing treated in jail.

hour. “Discussion was done on the candidate list, Delhi's current air pollution, landfill issue, campaigning modes and medium etc," the source said.

Delhi BJP sources in formed the list of candi date list will be out by November 12 and 13.

Also manifesto will be released by next week.

Cong first list of 125 candidates ‘by Friday’

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Congress will release the first list of 125 candidates for MCD polls in the next 48 hours, a source in the party said on Wednesday.

According to the Congress' Delhi chief Anil Kumar, a meeting to discuss names of probable candidates was con vened earlier in the day, headed by the party's MCD elec tion in-charge Ajoy Kumar and attend ed by screening committee head Avinash Pandey and members K Jay akumar and Qazi Mohd Nizamuddin, Kumar said.

"The party's post er will be launched and names of the first 125 candidates will be declared in the next 48 hours. The names are be ing finalised," the source said, adding district presidents of the party here have already met the ticket aspirants.

"Cleanliness will be our main focus. The party's motto will be 'MCD matlab meri chamakti Dil li'," sources added.

Ritu Raj Awasthi is new law commission head

New Delhi (PTI): Re tired Karnataka High Court chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who had headed the bench which delivered the hijab ver dict, on Wednesday took charge as the chairper son of the 22nd Law Commission.

The current law pan el was constituted on February 21, 2020, but its chairperson and members were appoint ed on Monday, months before the end of the panel's three-year term.

"Congratulated Hon

Manish Sisodia at Ghazipur Landfill site on Wednesday to take stock of the situation after a wall near the landfill collapsed.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia attacks BJP, claiming it did nothing to clear mountains of garbage despite 15 yrs in MCD

Municipal Corporation hits back saying it has already disposed of 77 lakh MT legacy waste from three landfill sites

‘Garbage dumped in nearby areas to show reduced height’

‘CM HAS PLAN’

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

—FILE PHOTO

Livestock on sale at Bakra Mandi, near the Ghazipur landfill site in New Delhi, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Activist Gautam Navlakha.

—FILE PHOTO

Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi on assuming as the new Chairman, Law Commission of In dia, at my residence, New Delhi," Law Minis ter Kiren Rijiju tweeted sharing a picture of the meeting.

COURT RAPS ADDL SOLICITOR GEN RAJU

—PHOTO BY ANI

SKY IS LIMITLESS THE SENSATIONAL RISE AND RISE OF SURYAKUMAR YADAV

scorching pace. In fact, Surya’s 360-degree game has often reminded fans and ex perts of South Africa’s leg endary great, AB de Villiers.

His solid performances all through 2022 have helped Surya peak at the World Cup where his journey so far has been bordering on exquisite as well fantastic. Notching up 225 runs with three fifties, he displayed his class with the highest score of 68 against a world-class South African pace attack on the bouncy Perth pitch. That superlative knock is being rated as one of the finest in the history of T20 World Cups and former Indian opener Gautam Gamb hir has called it ‘the best T20 innings ever by an Indian.’

IN-DEPTH

NITIN GADKARI STANDS OUT FOR HIS QUALITIES AS MINISTER

A week after Surya reached No.1 ranking in T20 internationals, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma will hope that his most in-form batter will continue to thrive in the knock-out games. For Team India to lift the trophy that’s eluded them since 2007, it is critical that Surya maintains his form and if he can play at his best, the soaring hopes of Indian fans could see a happy fulfillment. As he redefines T20 batting by matching the lofty standards set by AB de Villiers, Surya may just be the trump card Team India needs to crown itself to glory

As the Men in Blue take on England in the T20 World Cup Semi-Finals, Suryaku mar Yadav will be the focus of all attention. In India’s star-studded batting line-up, Yadav has suddenly become a superstar, despite the pres ence of heavyweights like Virat Kohli and Rohit Shar ma. Over the past year, Surya has emerged as the most threatening striker for all bowlers. His red-hot form and amazing stroke-play have made Surya the top bat ter in ICC T20I rankings and Team India’s go-to player at the ongoing T20 World Cup.

Though fans and experts who saw him batting in his early days were sure that Surya would shine, his crick eting journey has been no smooth sailing. He had to wait till he was over 30 to play for Team India, despite his obvious talent and magnifi cent performances in IPL and domestic cricket. Ig nored by selectors for years, Surya has admitted that he would often wonder what was needed to be done for se lection into the national squad. Despite the doubts, his determination never wa vered, and he kept piling runs in style, thus silencing the doubters and breaking

GOVERNORS VERSUS THREE STATE GOVTS

In India’s star-studded batting line-up, Yadav has suddenly become a superstar, despite the presence of heavyweights like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Over the past year, Surya has emerged as the most threatening striker for all bowlers. His redhot form and amazing stroke-play have made Surya the top batter in ICC T20I rankings and Team India’s go-to player at the ongoing T20 World Cup

down selection doors.

Once picked, Surya made an immediate impact for Team India early last year. In his very first innings in the blue jersey against England, Yadav began aggressively, hooking the first ball from Jofra Archer for six! In just 31 balls, he got to his first half-century that was stud ded with three huge sixes and six fours. That blistering knock on debut against an England attack, comprising a fit Jofra Archer and superpacy Mark Wood, showcased Surya’s exceptional talent. Since that impressive in ternational debut, Sky (as he’s fondly called) has made rapid strides. In 39 T20 inter

nationals he has played so far, Surya has scored 1270 runs at an average of 42.33 with a fabulous strike rate of 179.63. In 2022 alone, he has smashed 1026 runs in 28 T20I innings at a strike rate of 186.54, making all applaud his great form!

Though numbers speak loudly, it is his aggressive style and attitude that make Surya stand out as a remark able batter. Not only has SKY got all the shots in the book but also has yen for some au dacious ones too, making bat ting look easy. Besides his stroke-play, what makes him an amazing batsman is the exceptional consistency of scoring and that too at a

In his latest knock against Zimbabwe, Surya again hit 61 off just 25 deliveries. The power-packed innings also made him only the second batter in the history of T20I cricket after Pakistan’s Mo hammad Rizwan to score over 1000 runs in a calendar year. In the World Cup games so far, Surya has hit 25 bound aries and 8 sixes in the 116 balls he has faced – and is currently averaging a mas sive 75 runs at a strike rate of over 193!!

Ahead of the semi-final clash in Adelaide, Surya’s fabulous record against Eng land is worth underlining. Ever since he made his T20I debut against them last year, Surya has displayed a special liking for the English attack.

In six T20Is against England, SKY has amassed 260 runs at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 195.48. His only T20I century was also a brilliant effort where Sky decimated everyone in the England at tack with equal ease.

A week after Surya reached No.1 ranking in T20 interna tionals, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma will hope that his most in-form batter will con tinue to thrive in the knockout games. For Team India to lift the trophy that’s eluded them since 2007, it is critical that Surya maintains his form and if he can play at his best, the soaring hopes of In dian fans could see a happy fulfillment. As he redefines T20 batting by matching the lofty standards set by AB de Villiers, Surya may just be the trump card Team India needs to crown itself to glory.

nion Road Transport and Highways Minis ter Nitin Gadkari be longs to the breed of politicians which is no longer found in India’s politi cal landscape. Which other min ister has accepted a fault and tendered public apology for the poor quality of work done under the watch of his or her ministry?

At an event in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla the conscientious Union minister apologised to citizens for the poor quality of a stretch of highway and ordered a fresh contract. It is an example which state governments must follow for ensuring good quality of state highways and city roads. His gesture showed that he was open to criticism and willing to say sorry. Leave alone an apolo gy, no minister ever admits to a mistake. Gadkari too could have instituted an inquiry before or dering a new contract.

His recent praise for former Prime Minister Manmohan Sin gh also showed his class and ma turity. Praising the contribution made by a former Congress PM deserves all-round appreciation.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Like West Bengal where the gover nor and govern ment were in volved in a seem ingly unending row, gover nors of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are giving governments of their respec tive states a difficult time. So much so that the three gov ernments headed by the CPM, DMK and Telangana Rashtra Samithi have joined hands to take on the “puppets of the Centre”.

With their disagreements turning bitter, governments of the three states have upped the ante against Kerala’s Arif Mohammad Khan, Tamil Na du’s RN Ravi and Telangana’s Tamilisai Soundarajan.

Soundarajan is facing flak for trying to take control of

Kerala governor is refusing to give his nod to the Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill and the University Laws (Amendment) Bill for the last one month. Governor Ravi is said to be sitting over 20 Bills sent for his assent

universities and interfere in state politics. A former sen ior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, she has been criticised by the DMK for “poking her nose” in state politics and by Chief Minister K Chan drasekhar Rao for interfer ing with appointments in

universities.

Kerala governor is refus ing to give his nod to the Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Bill and the University Laws (Amendment) Bill for the last one month. Governor Ravi is said to be sitting over 20 Bills sent for his assent. Article 200 does not specify a time frame for a governor to give his assent to a Bill sent to him but says that he should send it back “as soon as pos sible”. It is this phrase which the three governors are ex ploiting to assert their power and in the process of “being puppets” of the Central gov ernment. The epithet may not be wrong as they are po litical appointees after all. It may not be long before mat ters reach the courts for resolution.

l Vol 2 l Issue No.71

l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840

Printed and published by Anita Hada

behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Impressions Printing and Packaging Limited, C-21, 22 Sector-59, Noida-201301. Published at G-20, 3rd Floor, 309, Preet Vihar, New Delhi-110092. Phone 011-49846474.

Editor-In-Chief:

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Sangwan on

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra

Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

Greetings and best wishes to the people of the state on the foundation day of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, full of picturesque natural beauty. I wish for the prosperity and bright future of the progressing Uttarakhand under the guidance of respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji and under the leadership Chief Minister Shri @ pushkardhami ji.

Kiren Rijiju

@KirenRijiju

The National Legal Services Day is celebrated across the country on Nov 9th every year. It aims to spread awareness for ensuring speedy & fair justice procedure for citizens of India. My best wishes to all Panel Lawyers, PLVs, Officials and citizens. #NationalLegalServicesDay

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. Bible

TOP TWEETS

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN

The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi film industry

NOMINATION OF EX-CJI TO RS: SC JUNKS PLEA

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the nomination of former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha by the government on the ground that he was not eligible. Dismissing the plea, a bench of Supreme Court Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka said it was publicity interest litigation. The counsel for petitioner Satish S Kambiye said the former CJI was not eligible to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

NOTE BAN PLEAS ADJOURNED TO NOVEMBER 24

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred to Nov 24 the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the Centre’s 2016 decision to demonetise currency notes of denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice SA Nazeer adjourned the matter after Attorney General R Venkataramani sought time to file a comprehensive affidavit in the matter.

Venkataramani apologised to the bench for not being able to prepare the comprehensive affidavit and sought a week’s time.

AZAM CASE: EC TOLD TO HOLD BYPOLL NOTIFICATION

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission not to issue till November 10 the notification for the assembly bypoll in Rampur Sadar in UP, which fell vacant following the disqualification of SP MLA Azam Khan after his conviction in a hate speech case. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed a special sessions court to hear and decide on Thursday itself the appeal of Khan seeking a stay on his conviction so that he survives disqualification as a lawmaker.

E-SURVEILLANCE:

HC GIVES TIME TO CENTRE TO REPLY

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted three weeks to the Centre to file its response to a petition concerning the disclosure of information on statesponsored electronic surveillance under the Right To Information Act.

Advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for petitioner Apar Gupta, told the court that despite the Centre being asked to convey its stand on earlier occasions, it is yet to file its reply and emphasised that he does not want the “actual intercepts” but only the “statistical data” on the matter.

NGT PANEL TO VERIFY NARMADA RIVER’S POLLUTION

New Delhi (PTI): The National Green Tribunal has formed a committee to verify the “factual position” regarding discharge of sewage into Narmada river in Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh, and directed it to submit its report within a month. A bench said that prima facie, the allegations made in a plea raised questions relating to the environment. “In view of the allegations made in the application, we consider it appropriate that a joint committee be constituted to verify the factual position,” the NGT bench said.

attended meeting

BJP MEET TO FINALISE GUJ CANDIDATES

New Delhi (PTI): A meeting of the BJP cen tral election committee got underway here Wednesday evening to finalise the party’s can didates for the assem bly polls in Gujarat, where the party is eye ing a victory for a sev enth consecutive time.

PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, BJP president JP Nadda and other top leaders attend ed the meeting at party headquarters here.

Polling will be held in two phases in Gujarat on December 1 and 5.

The saffron party is likely to finalise all 182 candidates during the meeting and announce their names in the next few days, sources said.

Aiming to set a new record in terms of the number of seats won, the BJP is looking to in ject new energy into the organisation. Hence, the possibility of drop ping several senior lead ers from the list of can didates cannot be ruled out, the sources said.

They also said the party has received sug gestions that it should opt for new and young faces.

Talala (ANI): Days before Gujarat elections, Con gress MLA Bhagvanbhai D Barad on Wednesday resigned from all posts party posts. Seeking ac ceptance of his resigna tion to Governor Acharya Devvrat, Barad said, “I, Bhagvanbhai, MLA hereby give my resignation from 91 - Talala Constituency and from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress. Please accept it.” Barad, later, tendered his resignation Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Earlier on Tuesday, veteran Congress leader and 11 times MLA Mohan Singh Rathwa, along with his sons joined the BJP in Ahmedabad.

4 TOP GUJ BJP LEADERS, INCLUDING RUPANI & NITIN PATEL, NOT TO CONTEST ELECTIONS

Rajkot (PTI): Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel, both senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Wednesday night announced they will not fight the next month’s Assembly elections. Two other senior BJP leaders, Bhupen drasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja — who were ministers in the Rupani cabinet — also announced they will not seek tickets for the polls. Their statements come at a time when the central Parliament Board of BJP has convened the meeting to finalise the names of candidates in Delhi under the leadership of PM Modi. “These four senior leaders of our party have written separate letters to state unit party president C R Paatil, saying they do not want to fight the upcoming elections,” Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas said. “I have decided not to fight elections this time. The BJP gave me chance to be the Gujarat CM for five years. Now they have made me in-charge of Punjab, I have declared ear lier that I will not fight this election,” Rupani told reporters.

AAP RELEASES LIST OF STAR CAMPAIGNERS

New Delhi (ANI): The names of the party in cluding Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Man ish Sisodia, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are among the star campaigners of the Aam Aadmi Party for the Gujarat elections. AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha also fea ture in the list of 20 star campaigners for Gujarat where the party is eying to make inroads.

‘USING’ CAA

EYE ON GUJ POLLS: MAMATA

Krishnanagar (PTI): West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was “using” Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) with an eye on the upcoming Gujarat assembly elec tions. She asserted that she will never allow the implementation of CAA or NRC in West Bengal.

AAP WANTS NARODA PATIYA TO MOVE ON BUT SCARS OF 2002 RIOTS REMAIN

Ahmedabad (PTI): Twenty-one years after the Gujarat ri ots, wounds of Naroda Patiya have turned to scar tissue, still visible, often painful and reminder of a communal divide still to be bridged. But life has to go on and focus should be on “community neutral” issues such as price rise, says AAP MLA hopeful Omprakash Tiwari. Hoping to win over the people of Naroda Patiya, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad that came to be associated with the 2002 riots, and the assembly polls next month, Tiwari said he would like religion to be left aside and for people to come together to vote for change. “We have forgotten what happened here 20 years ago. India is a religious country and everyone has freedom to practise the religion of their choice,” Tiwari told PTI. “But we have to first address the issues of unemployment, price rise and lack of affordable education for all,” he added when asked if the riots that followed the Godhra train burning were an issue in the constituency that has been voting for the BJP since 1990.

BJP cannot fool Himachalis with its jumlas: Kharge

Banuti (PTI): Ad dressing his first pub lic meeting in the Himachal Pradesh as sembly elections, Con gress president Mall ikarjun Kharge on Wednesday trained his gun on the BJP and said it may have fooled people across the coun try with its "jumlas" but cannot do so in the hill state.

“People here are edu cated, understand eve rything and take a con sidered decision (in vot ing).... The BJP may have been able to fool people all over the coun try with its jumlas (rhetoric) of Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts and jobs, but it cannot do so here,” Kharge said.

Kharge, who was

elected Congress presi dent recently, arrived in Himachal Pradesh Tuesday evening and addressed his first pub lic meeting in Banuti in support of party candi date from the Shimla Rural assembly constit uency Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday.

The Congress is seek ing to wrest power from the BJP in the hill state, where the Congress and the BJP have governed alternately for the past many decades.

The Congress presi dent said the Congress would fulfil all its prom ises made in the mani festo and the restora tion of the old pension scheme would be the first decision of its gov ernment, if elected.

“Metal road connectivity to every village in 5 years if BJP re-elected”

New Delhi (PTI): Un ion Minister Anurag Thakur has said the next BJP government in Himachal Pradesh will connect every vil lage in the state with metal roads in five years and improve ba sic infrastructure at pil grimage centres.

Addressing election rallies in Ghumarvi, Jhanduta and Sadar as sembly constituencies in Bilaspur district,

Thakur said the BJP will implement ‘Project Shakti’ in the state over the next 10 years to im prove transport infra structure.

He said Rs 12,000 crore will be spent over the next 10 years to im prove transport and ba sic infrastructure near pilgrimage centres and temples in the state.

In a bid to strengthen the health infrastruc ture, the number of mo

bile clinic vans will be doubled in every assem bly constituency to en sure that people in farflung places get access to medical facilities.

Thakur said the “double engine” gov ernment in Himachal Pradesh has built 12,000 km long rural roads in the last eight years and the state was also con nected to the national capital with the modern Vande Bharat train.

OLD IS GOLD

India has 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100: CEC Rajiv Kumar

Pune (PTI): There are 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100 in India, Chief Election Com missioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

Besides, 1.80 crore voters are over 80 years, Kumar said after flag ging off a bicycle rally in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Wednesday to create an awareness about voter registration as part of the national

level launch of a special summary revision of the voters’ list. The EC’s initiative is aimed at in creasing the electoral rolls in urban areas.

Explaining the ro bustness and beauty of the Indian electoral rolls, Kumar said the country has voters from the highest peaks of Himalayas, from the 6,000-km coastline in south, deserts in the

west and regions from the east. “You will be happy to know we have close to 2.49 lakh voters in our rolls who are (aged) 100 plus and what a relief and ecstasy it gives when you interact with them and find that they have been voting all through their lives,” he said.

The CEC said India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi, who recently

died, was 106 years old and voted through post al ballot just three days before his death.

Kumar said the sum mary revision takes place every year, but this year they are doing a very focused activity and starting it all over the country from Pune with a specific purpose to increase the partici pation of citizens from urban areas.

“What does it mean? Everywhere in the country and the far thest possible states, be it hills, coastal lines, everywhere, inaccessi ble terrains, deserts, everywhere every sin gle citizen gets enlisted as a voter and strength ens the democracy by not only getting regis tered but also casting his/her vote,” CEC Ra jiv Kumar said.

PM Modi, Nadda, Amit Shah, Guj CM Patel and others

In 2017 Gujarat polls, BJP had bagged 99 seats and Cong won 77 seats

BJP is likely to announce its candidates in the next few days

AAP’s entry this time has opened a new front in the bipolar Guj polls

GUJ AAP CHIEF ITALIA TO CONTEST FROM KATARGAM ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCY

Ahmedabad (PTI): Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat president Gopal Italia will contest the upcoming election from Ka targam in Surat, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday. AAP’s Gujarat general secretary Manoj Sorathiya will contest from Karanj Assembly seat in Surat, Kejriwal said in a tweet. The AAP has so far announced the names of its 158 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. “The participa tion of youth in politics is essential. In Gujarat, our state president and popular youth Gopal Italia will contest from Surat’s Katargam Assembly seat and state general secretary Manoj Sorathiya will contest elections from Karanj Assembly seat,” Kejriwal tweeted.

AAP candidate Gopal Italia during an election rally, at Dabholi Road, in Surat on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

BJP

WITH

ANOTHER GUJ CONG MLA BHAGVANBHAI

D BARAD RESIGNS

PM Modi interacts with Nadda at BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting as Amit Shah looks on.

‘RIWAZ NAHI, RAJ BADLEGA’, BJP GOVT WILL BE VOTED OUT IN HIMACHAL, SAYS HOODA Manali (PTI): The BJP’s development claims in Himachal Pradesh are “hollow” and the people have made up their mind to bring the grand old party to power in the state, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Wednesday. The former Haryana CM has been cam paigning in Himachal’s Kullu-Manali and Lahaul area. The state has a history of alternating between the Congress and the BJP every assembly election since 1982. Himachal CM Jairam Thakur said on Monday that Congress may be banking on Himachal’s ‘riwaz’ (convention) but people have made up mind to break from tradition this time and bring back the BJP govt.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur at a rally at Naina Devi assembly constituency on Wednesday.

CEC Rajiv Kumar with Election Commisioner Anup Kumar Pandey at an event in Pune, on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge at a rally in Shimla. —PHOTO BY PTI

JAIN GETTING MASSAGE, SPECIAL FOOD IN TIHAR: ED

ASG shows CCTV footage: ‘Dekhiye chair pe massage chal raha hai’

New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directo rate on Wednesday told a court that arrested Delhi minister Satyen dar Jain was getting special treatment in side Tihar Jail.

The ED made the sub mission before Special Judge Vikas Dhull while concluding its ar guments opposing Jain’s plea.

“Unknown persons were giving massages and foot massages to Jain, even beyond cur few hours. He was given special food,” said Ad ditional Solicitor Gen eral (ASG) S V Raju, appearing for the ED.

The ASG shared cer tain CCTV images with the court and alleged that most of the time Jain was either in hos pital or in the jail enjoy ing facilities.

COURT RESERVES ORDER ON BAIL OF VIJAY NAIR, ABHISHEK BOINPALLY

further said it has evi dence revealing that Jain was in control of the accused company.

CONG SLAMS

‘Be prepared for any operational contingency’

tions on November 14.

“Dekhiye chair pe massage chal rha hai, papers diye jaa rahe hain (See he’s getting massage sitting on a chair, newspa per is being giv en to him),” he told the court.

The ED

PM MODI TO INAUGURATE TERMINAL 2 OF KEMPEGOWDA AIRPORT IN BENGALURU

New Delhi (PTI): PM Narendra Modi will on Friday inaugurate the Terminal 2 of the Kem pegowda International Airport in Bengaluru that has been built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore, according to offi cials. With the inaugu ration of T2, the passen ger handling capacity as well as the number of

counters for check-in and immigration at the airport will double, helping people im

CRUCIAL READ

BSF SHOOTS DOWN PAK DRONE ALONG INT’L

New Delhi: The BSF has shot down a drone entering from Pakistan into Indian territory in the Ferozepur district in Punjab, the force said on Wednesday. BSF's 136 Bat talion deployed at the border heard the buzzing sound of a suspected flying object or drone entering from Pakistan into Indian territory in the area near Gandu Kilcha village in Ferozepur at around 11.25 pm on Tuesday, the force said in a statement.

BIHAR COPS SEIZE ARMS FROM AURANGABAD

New Delhi: The Bihar police in a joint operation recovered several arms & ammunition. The joint operation was launched by a team of 205 Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)& Bihar Police in the Kariba Dobha area of Bihar’s Aurangabad district on the basis of intelligence inputs.

TEJASHWI SEEKS SPECIAL STATUS FOR BIHAR

Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday demanded special category status for the state as a “birthday gift” from his rivals in the BJP who were greeting him on the occasion. The RJD leader, who turned 33, expressed his wish at a govt function, attended by CM among others.

REPRESENTATIVES

Washington: A record five Indian-American politicians from the ruling Democratic Party, including Raja Krishnamoor thi, Ro Khanna, Ami Bera and Pramila Jayapal, are headed to the US House of Representa tives on Wednesday following the highly polarised midterm elections. The new US Con gress will begin in January next year. Apart from these five politicians, many others from the community won across the country to state legislatures.

ASSETS OF RETD DG’S WIFE, OTHERS ATTACHED BY ED

New Delhi: Assets belong ing to son of retired Tamil Nadu IAS officer K Raja manickam, wife of former IPS officer S Jaffar Sait and a real estate developer have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in a case linked to alleged irregularities in the allotment of govt plots.

ED RAIDS TRS’S PROPERTIES IN TELANGANA

New Delhi: The ED on Wednesday raided premises linked to Telan gana minister and TRS leader Gangula Kamal akar as part of a money laundering probe related to alleged granite scam, official sources said. The legislator is reportedly out of country at present.

mensely, the officials said. The airport will be able to handle around five-six crore passen gers annually from its current capacity of 2.5 crore. Terminal 2 is de signed as a tribute to the garden city and the passenger experience is meant to be a “walk in the garden”, the officials said.

“Money was routed and dummy persons were made the direc tors, who were not even aware about the com pany affairs. Jain was the beneficial owner,” the ASG said, adding that Jain did not coop erate during the investi gation and misled the agency by giving false evidences and record ing wrong statement.

The counsel for Jain told the court that he will start argument in the response to the ED’s submission on the next date, after which the judge posted the matter for Thursday.

Jain, arrested by the ED under the PMLA Act, is currently in judi cial custody.

BJP FOR LOTUS FEATURING IN G20 LOGO

New Delhi (ANI): Veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that PM and BJP would not lose any oppor tunity to “promote themselves shame fully.” “Over 70 years ago, Nehru rejected the propos al to make Congress flag the flag of In dia. Now, BJP’s elec tion symbol has be come official logo for India’s presiden cy of G20!” Ramesh tweeted.India will take over the G20 Presidency from the current chair Indonesia on Dec 1.

New Delhi (PTI): De fence Minister Rajnath Singh called on the top Army commanders on Wednesday to always maintain the force’s operational readiness at its peak level amid a lingering border row with China in east ern Ladakh.

Singh reasserted the faith of the billion-plus citizens in the Indian Army as one of the “most trusted and in spiring organisations” in the country.

At the five-day con ference that started on Monday, the command ers are carrying out a comprehensive review of India’s national se curity challenges along the borders with China and Pakistan, besides delving on ways to bolster the 1.3 million-strong force’s military prowess.

The main highlight of the third day’s pro

INDIA TO RECEIVE ITS LAST RAFALE JET FROM FRANCE BY DECEMBER 15

India will receive its 36th and final Rafale fighter jet from France by December 15 completing the delivery of all the aircraft it had signed for in an over Rs 60,000 crore deal inked in 2016. "The last aircraft will arrive in India around December 15. The aircraft was used for developing the India-specific enhancements in the Rafale fleet of the Indian Air Force," senior defence officials told ANI. India had signed a deal for 36 of these planes and 35 of them have already arrived.

ceedings was Singh’s interaction with the senior leadership of the Army, which was pre

ceded by a briefing on “Transformational im peratives for a futureready force”.

UP CS Mishra to retire in Dec, might get extension

Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: UP Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra will retire on December 30. The 1984 batch IAS of ficer is counted among the most trusted offic ers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ahead of the UP assembly elections, it was decid ed to replace IAS Rajen

dra Kumar Tiwari and make Durga Shankar Mishra on central dep utation as the Chief Secretary by giving a year’s extension.

Mishra is the senior most IAS officer in the state’s bureaucracy. Af ter that, Rajendra Ku mar Tiwari, a 1985 batch IAS officer, is the chair man of UPSRTC and his retirement is also due in

RaGa interacts with locals on 63rd day of Bharat Jodo Yatra

Nanded (PTI): Con gress leader Rahul Gan dhi resumed the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Biloli in Nanded district of Ma harashtra on Wednes day morning as the foot march entered its 63rd day. Gandhi halted brief ly at some places to in teract with locals who had gathered to greet him. AICC general sec retary (organisation) K C Venugopal, Maharash tra Congress president Nana Patole, Mumbai party chief Bhai Jagtap, and other party leaders walked with Gandhi.

AICC general secretary (communications)

Jairam Ramesh, Con gress veteran Digvijaya Singh and party leader Kanhaiya Kumar walked with the Seva Dal workers.

February 2023. The third is 1985 batch IAS Shalini Pras ad Additional Sector

Panchayati Raj on Cen tral deputation. She is retiring in December 2022. The fourth is 1987 batch IAS Arun Sin ghal, who is posted at the Centre and his re tirement is in May 2025.

IAS Mahesh Kumar Gupta is the fifth senior most officer of the state and a 1987 batch officer, whose retirement is due in May 2024. If sources

are to be believed, Mishra might get an ex tension as he has a good hold of bureaucracy at the Centre and state level and is a very hardwork ing and honest officer. Most of the senior officers of the state government are near ing retirement. Mishra also has the charge of Delhi Chief Resident Commissioner.

DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT

Adani Ports acquires 49.38% stake in Indian Oiltanking Ltd

First India Bureau

BHARAT JODO YATRA, A ‘SANJEEVNI’ FOR CONGRESS: JAIRAM

FM CALLED 1991 REFORMS ‘HALFBAKED’ CONG Maharashtra: “The Bharat Jodo Yatra has come as a ‘Sanjeevani’ for the Congress Party”, said Congress MP and General Secretary, Incharge of Communications Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday. The press conference was calledfor to announce and chart out plans for the Maharashtra Leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Jairam was joined by Maha rashtra PCC President, Nana Patole and Former CM of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, amongst others.

New Delhi: The Cong took a swipe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her remarks a few weeks ago calling the 1991 reforms "halfbaked", and said "MasterChef Nitin Gadkari" has baked it fully and well by paying fulsome tributes to former prime minister Manmohan Singh. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had on Tuesday said the country is indebted to former PM Manmohan Singh for the economic reforms of 1991 started by him.

Ahmedabad: Adani Ports and Special Eco nomic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), the largest transport utility in In dia, has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Oiltanking India Gm bH’s 49.38% equity stake in Indian Oil tanking Ltd (IOTL). This agreement also includes acquisition of an additional 10% equity stake in IOT Utkal Energy Services Ltd, a 71.57% subsidi ary of IOTL.

Over the last 26 years, IOTL has built a network of six ter minals across five

states with a total ca pacity of 2.4 Mn KL (owned capacity of 0.5 Mn KL and BOOT ca pacity of 1.9 Mn KL) for storage of crude and finished petrole um products. The owned facilities in clude Navghar termi nal in Maharashtra, Raipur terminal in Chhattisgarh and Goa terminal. The BOOT terminal with Indian

ANNUAL CONVENTION OF CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION

Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) is at Paradip (Odisha) and O&M contracts with IOCL are at JNPT (Maha rashtra) and Dumad (Gujarat). The com pany also has a biogas plant of 15 TPD capac ity in Namakkal (Ta mil Nadu).

“With this acquisi tion, APSEZ’s oil stor age capacity jumps 200% to 3.6 Mn KL, making it India’s larg est third-party liquid storage company. This ties well with our am bition to become the largest transport util ity globally,” said Karan Adani, CEO and Whole Time Di rector of APSEZ.

Birla stresses on effective use of RTI for corruption free country

MAIN AIM OF RTI

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said the ef fective use of the Right to Information Act (RTI) will help in building a developed and corrup tion free country as en visioned by Prime Min ister Narendra Modi.

Inaugurating the 15th Annual Conven tion of Central Infor mation Commission (CIC), the Speaker said the main aim of the RTI Act is empowering citi zens, bringing trans parency, getting system

rid of corruption and taking democracy to the people of the coun try in the true sense.

Addressing the twoday convention titled

Pensions, Jitendra Sin gh said the non-domi ciles and non-State sub jects of Jammu and Kashmir will also now be entitled to file RTI

related on issues relat ed to Union Territory (UT) or agencies.

Lauding the Commis sion for hearing peti tions from newly

carved out Union Ter ritories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh during the peak of Cov id lockdown, the minis ter said applicants from the UTs filed RTI appli cations from homes.

Singh said despite the challenges posed by the unprecedented pandemic situation, earnest efforts were made by the CIC and SICs to dispose of RTI second appeals and complaints and some Commissions even ex ceeded pre-pandemic figures of disposal dur ing certain periods.

First India Bureau

“Azadi Ka Amrit Ma hotsav: Citizen — cen tric Governance through RTI”, Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances and

Durga Shankar Mishra

PM Narendra Modi

Rajnath Singh with the Indian Army Commanders at the Commanders’ Conference, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Om Birla, YK Sinha at the inauguration of CIC.

BORDER IN PUNJAB’S FEROZEPUR

FIVE INDIAN-AMERICANS HEADED FOR US HOUSE OF

Rahul Gandhi with supporters during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Nanded district. —PHOTO BY PTI

Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday reserved order on the bail peti tions moved by Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) communication in-charge Vijay Nair in connec tion with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Special Judge MK Nagpal reserved the order after the conclusion of the bail arguments made by the accused’s lawyer and by the prosecution agency. The court said the order will be passed on the bail peti

TATA MOTORS Q2 NET LOSS NARROWS TO `945 CRORE

New Delhi (PTI): Tata Motors on Wednesday re ported narrowing of con solidated net loss at `945 cr for the second quarter ended Sept 30, as sales picked up in marquee brand Jaguar Land Rover and across domestic as well as commercial vehi cle segments. The auto major had reported a net loss of `4,442 crore, at tributable to shareholders of the company, in the Ju ly-Sept period of 2021.

Consolidated net loss for the second quarter stood at `898 crore. It was at `4,416 crore in 2021.

ELON MUSK SELLS

$3.95 BN WORTH OF TESLA STOCK

META CUTS 11K JOBS

New York (Agencies): Fa cebook parent Meta is lay ing off 11,000 people, about 13% of its workforce, as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees on Wednes day.

The job cuts come just a week after widespread lay offs at Twitter under its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk.

There have been numer ous job cuts at other tech companies that hired rap idly during the pandemic.

Zuckerberg as well said that he had made the deci sion to hire aggressively, anticipating rapid growth even after the pandemic ended.

“Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I ex pected,” Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.

Washington (Agencies):

Twitter’s new owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares, ac cording to regulatory fil ings. Musk sold 19.5 mil lion shares of the electric car company from No vember 4 to November 8, according to Tuesday’s fil ings with the Securities and Exchange Commis sion. He sold $7 billion of his Tesla stock in August as he worked to finance the Twitter purchase he was trying to get out of at the time.

BANK OF MAHA RAISES ONE-YEAR MCLR BY 10 BPS

“Not only has online commerce returned to pri or trends, but the macroe conomic downturn, in creased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”

Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed

OTHER STORIES

AIR INDIA LEASES SIX A320 NEO AIRCRAFT FROM CDB AVIATION

Singapore (PTI): Air India has leased a fleet of six Airbus A320 neo aircraft from CDB Avia tion, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Develop ment Bank Financial Leasing Co Limited, to boost the Tata Group-owned company’s transformation journey, a statement said on Wednesday.

TOP TALKING POINTS

z The job cuts come just a week after widespread layoffs at Twitter under its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk. There have been numerous job cuts at other tech companies that hired rapidly during COVID.

a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era be cause more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers.

But as the lockdowns ended and people started going outside again, reve

z

z Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era.

nue growth began to falter.

An economic slowdown and a grim outlook for on line advertising — by far Meta’s biggest revenue source — have contributed to Meta’s woes.

This summer, Meta post

ed its first quarterly reve nue decline in history, fol lowed by another, bigger decline in the fall.

Some of the pain is com pany-specific, while some is tied to broader economic and technological forces.

Last week, Twitter laid off about half of its 7,500 employees, part of a cha otic overhaul as Musk took the helm.

He tweeted that there was no choice but to cut the jobs “when the company is losing over $4M/day,” though did not provide de tails about the losses.

Coal demand in India yet to reach its peak: Pralhad Joshi

CIL’S CAPEX RISES 33% TO `7,027 CRORE IN APRIL-SEPTEMBER

New Delhi (PTI): The Cen tre on Wednesday said that the demand for coal in In dia is still to reach its peak and the dry fuel will con tinue to play a key role in the energy mix till 2040 and beyond. Therefore, shift from coal will not happen in foreseeable future in the country, according to coal minister Pralhad Joshi.

Joshi said that there is a push towards energy tran sition away from coal in the global world. “However, for India, coal, being an afford able source of energy, holds prime importance for meet ing its energy needs being fuelled by rising economy,” he said in on Wednesday.

New Delhi (PTI): Coal India Ltd on Wednesday said its capital expenditure grew 33% to `7,027 crore in April-Sept FY23 as compared to the year-ago period. The company’s capex in the year-ago period stood at `5,300 crore. The two coal evacuation infrastructure heads - setting up of CHP/silos and railways lines - together accounted for 36% or `2,547 crore of the total capex in the period under review, CIL said in a statement. Construction of CHPs/silos under first mile connectivity was the major capex head at `1,489 crore during the six-month period of FY23, as compared to `614 cr a year ago.

New Delhi (PTI): Stateowned Bank of Maha rashtra on Wednesday said it has increased its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for select tenor loans. The benchmark one-year MCLR, used to price most of consumer loans such as auto, per sonal and home, has been revised upwards to 7.90% from 7.80%, the lender said in a regulato ry filing. The revised MCLR has come to effect from November 7, 2022.

The one-month MCLR has been raised by 5 bps.

ReNew POWER TO PLANT 1 MILLION TREES BY 2030

CDB Aviation is among the first aircraft leasing companies to secure the placement of Air India’s additional A320 neo aircraft under the recently an nounced multi-stage transfor mation plan.

TVS MOTOR, AMAZON INDIA JOIN HANDS TO BOOST E-MOBILITY

New Delhi (PTI): Amazon India and TVS Motor Company have joined hands to strengthen electric mobili ty in the coun try, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

As part of the collaboration, a fleet of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers from TVS Motor will be deployed for Amazon’s last-mile deliveries.

In addition, the two companies will work in tandem to exam ine EV use cases for various Amazon business groups for its network and logistical requirements.

MAHINDRA TIES UP WITH 3 ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRA PLAYERS FOR CHARGING SOLUTIONS

Framework for sovereign green bonds to match global standards

New Delhi (PTI): The Fi nance Ministry has final ised the framework to issue sovereign green bonds in line with global standards.

The government intends to mobilise ` 16,000 crore from the issuance of green bonds during the second half of the current finan cial year. It is a part of the borrowing programme for the second half of this fis cal. The framework is ready and it would be ap proved soon, the sources said. These rupee-denomi nated papers will have long tenure to suit the require ment of green infrastruc ture projects, they added.

ACCORDING TO PwC REPORT

New Delhi (PTI): ReNew

Power on Wednesday said it will plant one million trees by 2030 as part of its commitment under ‘1t. Org’, an effort by the World Economic Forum.

1t.Org is part of the World Economic Forum’s efforts to accelerate nature-based solutions and was set up to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restora tion. “With our commit ment to plant a million trees by 2030, we will also be working towards meet ing India’s green goals,” said Sumant Sinha, Chair man and CEO of ReNew Power.

terms, 16.29 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and over 4.03 crore shares on the NSE during the day.

Sensex, Nifty close lower on selloff in power, metal stocks

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to close in the red on Wednesday after a selloff in power, metal and con sumer durable stocks amid a weak trend in glob al equities.

However, a rally in the rupee against the US dol lar and unabated foreign capital inflows helped the indices restrict the losses, traders said.

In a largely range-bound session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 151.60 points or 0.25% lower at 61,033.55. The index witnessed high volatility towards the fagend and recorded an intraday high of 61,447.23 and a low of 60,905.15.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty fell 45.80 points or 0.25% to end at 18,157.

PowerGrid was the big gest loser in the Sensex pack, slipping 4.06%, fol

Biz executives see cybersecurity budget rising

New Delhi (PTI): More than 82% of business ex ecutives surveyed in India anticipate an increase in cybersecurity budgets in the coming year.

The survey highlights that of all the risks affect ing organisations, India respondents consider a catastrophic cyberattack, a resurgence of COVID-19 or a new health crisis, and a new geopolitical conflict among the top three risks.

“Over 82% of business executives in India foresee an increase in cybersecu rity budgets in 2023,” said

the PwC survey. 89% of In dian business executives say their organisations’

cybersecurity team detect ed a significant cyberthreat to business and prevented

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

z According to a PwC report released on Wednesday (Nov 9), the survey highlights that of all the risks affecting organisations, India respondents consider a catastrophic cyberattack, a resurgence of COVID-19 or a new health crisis, and a new geopolitical conflict among the top three risks

it from affecting their op erations, as against 70% globally.

RUPEE GAINS 45 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.47 AGAINST US DOLLAR

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated by 45 paise to close at 81.47 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid fall in crude oil prices, dollar weakness and sustained foreign fund inflows. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.43, and witnessed an intra-day high of Rs 81.23 and low of Rs 81.62 during the session. The local unit finally settled at 81.47 against the American currency, register ing a rise of 45 paise over its previous close.

lowed by Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Fin serv, NTPC and M&M. In contrast, ITC, Dr Reddy’s,

Kotak Mahindra Bank, In dusInd Bank and HCL Tech were among the gain ers, climbing up to 1.99%.

Agri Ministry okays setting up 100 fodder-centric FPOs

New Delhi (PTI): The gov ernment has finally desig nated National Dairy De velopment Board (NDDB) as the implementing agen cy for setting up of 100 fodder-centric Farmer Pro ducer Organisations (FPOs) during this fiscal to address the fodder deficit situation in the country.

The Ministry of Fisher ies, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in 2020 had proposed the establish ment of fodder-centric FPOs and requested the ag riculture ministry to allow such FPOs under the cen tral scheme “Formation

and Promotion of 10,000 new FPOs”.

The proposal was con sidered seriously and the agriculture ministry fi nally issued an order on November 4. NDDB has been assigned to form 100 FPOs during 2022-23 within the contours of the scheme guidelines, it added.

New Delhi (PTI): Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday said it has tied up with three electric vehicle infrastructure partners -- Jio-bp, Statiq, and Charge+Zone -- to offer charging solutions for its upcoming range of passenger electric vehicles. With these partner ships, Mahindra EV users will get seamless access to a robust fast charging infrastructure and emobility solutions spanning across discovery, availability, navigation and transactions, the Mumbaibased automaker said in a statement. Mahindra unveiled its first all-electric SUV -- XUV400 recently.

New Delhi (PTI): Shares of Coal India Ltd on Wednesday climbed over 2% after the state-owned mining company announced that its capital expenditure (capex) grew 33%. The stock rose 2.59% to settle at Rs 255.95 apiece on the BSE. On the NSE, it zoomed 2.93% to finish at Rs 256.85 apiece. In volume

COAL INDIA LIMITED SHARES CLIMB OVER 2 PER CENT

Zuckerberg also said that he had made the decision to hire aggressively, anticipating rapid growth even after the pandemic ended.

One gets caught up in the challenges and negative solutions of life but it is crucial to get back our own inherent self quickly.

Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, but justice to all and appeasement to none!

mohan Singh govern ment and now they are saying things about it. So, neither were they learned then, nor are they now. BJP speaks on this issue only when they have conducted due dili gence over the matter.

z So are you going to form the government in Himachal again?

JP Nadda: Yes, we are going to form the govern ment and there are a few reasons for that. Firstly, the love Modiji has shown towards Himachal. Secondly, the work culture that he has introduced in the gov ernments. Thirdly, the mainstreaming of Himachal done by him, so the people of Himachal are eager to support him and as a ‘si lent worker’ Jairam has brought the works till the grass roots, so I can see it. And more than anything, I can see that the people are upbeat. I visited a place today and I am telling you a fact, BJP could never have hoped for such an amaz ing rally. There was a crowd of more than 12,000 people and even though I was an hour late, there was immense excitement in the rally and in all rallies of the BJP. The crowd is re sponsive and people step forward to work for the party, so I think that we are in a comfortable situ ation.

z So what do you think about the num ber of seats you will win since you had 44 seats last time? I won’t be able to ana lyse that right now, I will need a few days for that exercise, but I can say that we are comfortable.

z We have an astrolo ger Dr Kumar Ganesh, who has predicted that BJP will get 45 and Congress would get 21 seats and two are oth ers. So these others would be AAP, since there is no other... No, AAP will not get trac tion here and their secu rity will be forfeited. They are contesting on 67 seats and their security will be forfeited on 67 seats. Their Uttarakhand Chief Minister candi date has joined BJP and is campaigning for us in Uttarakhand and here in Himachal, their Party President has joined us.

z So what are the main issues on which you are contesting elections? Modiji’s face and govern ment’s works? Yes. Development, stabil ity and empowerment of the Himachali people. We have done good work

in health and education and now is the time to consolidate and empow er people and that is what we have been doing.

z Amit Shah said that Uniform Civil Code will be enforced. Does it have any rele vance or impact in Himachal?

Definitely. Our thought has been that we follow Sabka Sath, Sabka Vi kas, Sabka Vishwas, but justice to all and ap peasement to none. Moreover, in a state or in a nation, as citizens, we have to shoulder our col lective responsibilities and for that, uniformity is needed and that is our agenda. The nation does not become strong just like that, everyone has to have an equal partner ship in the nation. And how will that equal part nership come into be ing? When there is Uni form Civil Code.

z And what about giving employment to eight lakh people? See, what has happened is that a new trend has started. I will give eight lakh government jobs, I will give ten lakh govern ment jobs. Tejashwi had said in Bihar. What is the distinction between BJP and other parties? We said that we will give eight lakh employment opportunities, and they said they will give eight lakh jobs. The difference is of giving away ‘Re vadies’. We will empower people which will give them opportunities. Let me give you an example. They said they will give eight lakh jobs. I have grown tired of telling people this: show me one Cabinet note in Inde pendent India that says any government will give this many number of jobs. This is not how jobs are created, no one can just give jobs. After all, who will you give these jobs, where will you give them and how will you give them, these are few things that have to be specified in the cabinet note. This is administra tion and not a shop, where you can run things

as you please. I want a se rious discussion on this issue and it is a serious matter. How is a note pre pared? That Himachal Pradesh has been pro vided a ‘Bulk Drug Park,’ which will be established in Una. The Cabinet de cides that it will be set up at Una and the State Gov ernment has to provide so many acres of land. In that land so many clus ters will be developed and an investment of Rs 2,000 crore will come, which will provide an employ ment of let’s say 1.5 lakh direct employment and 1.5 lakh indirect employ ment. So, we are saying that we are giving job op portunities. This is the difference. They have made fools out of the un employed, and what else have they done? No one hopes for anything from them, neither do they un derstand anything. They may say what they want to since they just know they need to make claims and not follow on word. You pick up our mani festo. We will provide Cy cles to girl child and Scooties to families pur suing higher education, the beneficiaries of which will be to the tune of eight lakh and the amount incurred will be Rs 500 crore. So, we have taken due diligence in this and we have taken care of where we will bring this Rs 500 crore from. We know this amount will not be uti lised in one day and so we will execute the plan in instalment and make ar rangements accordingly.

So, if you look at our en tire manifesto, you will know we have taken due diligence. What happens in politics is that parties want to handle affairs like fast food (immediate results). That is not how things actually work.

What has happened to day is that people of Himachal know that BJP’s manifesto is a cred ible manifesto and they will deliver what they are

promising and have giv en what they have not said but when Congress party presents some thing, then the person who has written the manifesto hasn’t read, and the one who has read, hasn’t written it.

z Is that why you said that Congress does not apply its own manifesto? Yes, they don’t. You see for yourself that they do not have any point of their manifesto in their speeches. Why is it so?

Because, neither are they serious, but they treat it like just an event since the party has to take out manifesto. They put this and that into it.

z Now you are invest ing in tourism and bringing medical col leges also?

Yes and we have decided on the districts as well. I consider myself to be extremely lucky since there was just one Medi cal College in Himachal Pradesh and that too in Shimla. After that, I be came the Health Minis ter of the State and I made the Tanda Medical College and I was fortu nate enough that I could make the most planned hospital building of North India. I feel ex tremely happy about it.

By God’s grace, I got Modiji’s blessings & I became nation’s Health Minister and then we opened a ‘Can cer Centre’ in Shimla, Tanda and Mandi, super speciality block in Chamiyana worth Rs 270 crore, which had 7 super speciality wings. Then, we opened Medical Col leges in Mandi, Chamba, Hamirpur and Sirmour. We gave a ‘Satellite Cen tre’ to PGI. There is a tradition in PGI that when Chandigarh was set up, some part of the services were given to Punjab also & thus, a ‘PGI Centre’ was opened in Firozpur and one ‘Sat

YOU READ PART-1 ON NOVEMBER 9, 2022

We are going to form the government and there are a few reasons for that. Firstly, the love Modiji has shown towards Himachal. Secondly, the work culture that he has introduced in the governments. Thirdly, the mainstreaming of Himachal done by him, so the people of Himachal are eager to support him and as a ‘silent worker’ Jairam has brought the works till the grassroots.

ellite Centre’ was given to Una. And with Modi ji’s blessings, we gave AIIMS to Himachal and it was established in Bi laspur. Five years ago, Modiji had come to lay the foundation stone for AIIMS on Ashtami and now after five years, he dedicated AIIMS to pub lic on Vijayadashmi, and this 5 year period also saw 2 years of Corona pandemic. I took at least 15-20 review meetings. This is why, I say that these Congress leaders don’t know the ‘A’ of ad ministration. They just ran governments with out any inkling to do so. They don’t know about the minute details.

z BJP has prepared another manifesto for women empower ment? Yes we have. See half of Himachal’s population are women and they have

been ignored for a long time. Modiji empowered them a lot through PM Awas Yojana, Saubhag ya Yojana, and others like toilets in every home. Women lived for 70 years without dignity of life. Could you imagine 12 crore families in the na tion lived without toilets and no one ever thought about them? Modiji gave them respect and empow ered them through Awas Yojana. In Himachal, the number of such families was over one lakh which means two lakh children used to go out to defecate. This was a question of dignity. When I used to visit villages, I could come across people with disabilities and when I used to ask about their injuries they would say they went to collect wood and fell due to which they sustained these prob lems. Today, Modiji intro duced Ujjawala Yojana

and Jairam ji gave Sugra hini Yojana. No family today is exempted from gas connection. Then we gave free cylinders as to the poor as well . After all, they too will celebrate Diwali, Holi & Lohri.

Pradhan Mantri Matrit va Suraksha Yojana, which was Modiji’s con cept, under which all pregnant women would undergo free medical checkup on the 9th of each month. They would get all inoculations, their blood pressure, diabetes and other parameters would be checked every month. When the deliv ery time nears, the Asha worker would be respon sible to take her to the institution for which free transportation would be given. If during delivery any complication takes place, the government would bear the expenses and then she would be shifted back to home and on top of that, they would be given Rs 6,000, we de cided on that. Then the Himachal Government decided to provide Rs 25,000, additionally, for the new born child, so that they can be given a better care. So, this is how we are empowering them. But the problem is that Congress leaders can even understand this, because to serve is not on their agenda, but they only want to collect the votes. Hence, they give populist slogans and move on.

z There are also talks about OPS... We also talk about OPS. Look, who gave OROP? But who created the most ruckus... Congress. 35 years went by and they couldn’t give two paise. First, there was due dili gence and talks at vari ous levels and then a committee was formed and although it took a lit tle time, but Modiji en sured providing Rs 60,000 crore to our soldier brethren. Tell me who ended OPS? It was Man

z Ashok Gehlot has said about giving OPS in Rajasthan... But they are not going to do so in Rajasthan. I be lieve, he stressed on giv ing five lakh government jobs and they have given 18,000. He had given Rs 2, 500 as employment ex pense to the youth and Rs 1,500 to women. So, when you do not have to give, then it is merely about giving populist slogans, so you can say as much you want.

z What about faction alism in BJP and re bels here?

See, we try to ensure that everyone is on the same page and we make an ef fort to pacify them. First ly, they have rebelled means that BJP is in the winning position and hence, they want to con test because they want to win. We did try to talk to them. But what happens is that in Himachal, the voters are extremely vigilant and alert and they cast their vote to po litical parties and as the date for election comes near, it becomes clear which party is going to win, so, the voters don’t misuse their franchise. Yes, people talk about re bels, but after a few days, these rebels also end their rebellion and their supporters also return to the party.

z But people talk about Nadda Group, Dhumal Group and Jairam Group....

I can tell you there is no Nadda Group because it is not in my habit to do so. I have never asked anyone to place posters for me, or raise slogans for me or engage in wall writing for me. So, there is no Nadda Group. Now, the other names that you took, let me tell you these are not groups or fac tions, there is no groupism here. There may be difference of opinion, but we talk on issues and resolve them. See, we gave so many tickets, but can any one say that there has been factionalism or prefer ence in ticket distribu tion. No ne can say that because everyone’s con sent has been taken. Had there been groupism, you would have said so many tickets given to this group and this many to that group, but no one can say that.

During the show #JCwithJPNadda trended top All-India on Twitter

BJP’s National President JP Nadda talks to Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Bharat24—Vision of New India and First India; CMD, First India News, and stresses that BJP will form government again. Nadda explains how BJP will enforce Uniform Civil Code, how Congress has lost the plot due to its inefficiency, and how BJP takes due diligence in every step it takes. (Part II)

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra in conversation with JP Nadda during The JC Show in Shimla.

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

KILLER SKIRTS:

WORKS OF ART!

SKIRTS HAVE DOMINATED 2022 MORE THAN ANY OTHER TREND THIS YEAR AND IT’S NOT HARD TO SEE WHY LITERALLY. CITY FIRST BRINGS TO YOU SOME ALLURING PIECE OF FASHION, THAT WILL ENHANCE YOUR WARDROBE.

reaches the backside, has a really wild and quirky ap pearance while still being quite intriguing and fashion able. A short skirt is a highly feminine item of clothing, making it ideal for a fun night out on the town.

SThe short skirt is just as fashionable today as it was 20 years ago since it is avail able in so many different styles and materials. Teen agers and young ladies, es pecially those with good legs and a shapely physique, look best in the short skirt.

A short skirt is popular among ladies who visit clubs. Even though dancing in a short skirt might be en tertaining, it also draws at tention, particularly from the other sex. You may have noticed celebrities sporting one of the newest trends: a very short skirt. To see how the skirt will look before you buy it, you can view it

online or try it on.

When wearing short skirts, pairing them with semi-opaque matching stockings gives you a more put-together appearance; sheer, skin-coloured, and patterned hose call atten tion unnecessarily to the legs. Consider using col oured stripes that will go with anything. Alternative ly, choose plain skirts in the neutral hues of your colour scheme; this will give you the freedom to combine all the hues that go well with you. You’ll probably find that they match a lot of what you currently own. The flap per wore sheer, flesh-col oured stockings below the skirt that she coiled and twisted to hold them in place without garters.

It takes skill to wear a skirt effectively, and like any other art, there is joy in hon ing your skills.

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES THROUGH LEVERAGING CREATIVITY AND CULTURE

MRUNMAYEE MOHAN Cultural entrepreneurship researcher and consultant

ndia and Culture are almost synonymous with each other. It wouldn’t be surprising to say that, the global identity of India stays strong as a culturally rich country for centuries. While the country is celebrat ing and “meme-ing” about the Indian-origin Prime minister of the UK, Indian-origin Chick en Tikka Masala has been the national dish of the UK for cen turies now.

Yoga has spurred the growth of ventures serving alternate products like equipment, apps, camps, or training in schools. Additionally, June 21 is cele brated as International Yoga Day across the globe. While tra ditional cultural practices might be far-fetched from gen Z, the turmeric latte viz Haldi Doodh, is quite fancied in the global café chains. The epics of Indian mythology like Rama yana and Mahabharata have been adapted by many south east Asian countries as a part of performing arts, theatre, lit erature, etc. For centuries, In dia has been eminent and one of the finest centres of handi crafts in the world.

Everyday items are crafted tenderly, in an artistic manner. All of this adds to the cultural

capital of our country. This capital not only brings in mon etary inflow but also brings to gether communities while cel ebrating inclusions. Cultural capital plays a pivotal role in influencing a nation-brand val ue and alternatively, its soft power Cultural capital can be bifurcated into two forms, one is tangible and the other is in tangible.

Tangible cultural capital in volves creative artworks such as sculptures, handicrafts, paintings, architectural build ings, etc. Intangible consists of artwork that exists in its pure form as a public good, like music, dance, etc. Cultural ameni ties play a critical role in driving the success of grow ing cities or clus tered suburbs by enabling social interaction and harmony, which encourages inno vation and fur ther leads to de velopment. A flourishing cul tural economy is a driver of econom ic growth, as in fusing commer cial value into cultural goods and services and experiences leads to revenue genera tion. According to the Creative Economy Outlook report by UNCTAD, India is the fifth larg est exporter in the global art and craft sector. This sector not only employs the local people but also earns foreign exchange for the country. The State, of

Rajasthan, houses about 6 lakh craftsmen and artisans. In the year 2020-21, Handicrafts worth Rs. 6205.32 crores were exported from the State; besides this, Gem & Jewellery worth Rs. 4067.36 crores, Textiles worth Rs. 5729.29 crores, Readymade Garments worth Rs. 1764.40 crores and Carpet/Dari worth Rs. 464.70 crores were also ex ported. As the world is sur rounded by machine-made items, the uniqueness of artis tic work would encourage greater demand in the coming future. Which would provide greater economic opportunities

be leveraged and encouraged to add to economic development. Leveraging these creative skills, not only encourages cre ativity but also enhances the sense of identity in the commu nity, solving the migration problem. Jaipur Rugs from Jaipur sets up a perfect exam ple of adapting cultural re sources for its social enterprise model. A social enterprise at its heart and a cultural enterprise at its core Jaipur Rugs stand strong in transforming the lives of more than 60,000 arti sans across 5 states in India.

Founded by Nand Kishore Chaudhary in the year 1958.

It is one of India’s largest hand-knotted rug manufacturing companies that cele brate and preserves indigenous art and culture. Tracing back to the 16th century, ar tisans working in the Jaipur area adopted the traditional Per sian weaving tech niques and reinter preted them according to their creativity. In spired by the Gandhi an Philosophy and Teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Nand Kishore Chaudhary saw the greatest po tential at the bottom of the pyramid by transforming the com munity through creativi ty and adopting regional cultural resources. In the era of technology and advanced machinery, Jaipur rugs focused on human creativity and en couraged artisans to

weave hand-knotted carpets of a high-quality standard. It fo cuses on turning artisans into artists.

With Projects like ‘Mancha ha’ which translates to ‘my heart’s desire’ builds on the journey of converting artisans into artists. ‘Freedom Mancha ha’ offers hope through creativ ity and healing for the incarcer ated. In collaboration with the State of Rajasthan Prison De partment, by conducting prison workshops in Jaipur, Bikaner Central, and Dausa Central jails. Artisans have the choice to weave their unique idea by us

ing leftover hand-spun yarn, weavers-turned-artists tell sto ries that matter to them through their creations, also focusing on environmental sustainability and conscious production. Many such creative enterprises contribute to the creative econ omy which preserves, sustains, and encourages our cultural identity. While art has proven power to change the world, It is also a distinguishing factor be tween us humans versus other animal species. Embracing it in our lives would enable us to lead ourselves on the path of selfactualization.

DEEPIKA AS RANBIR'S MOTHER

Shraddha Kapoor is one of the most talented Bol lywood actors in the film industry. The daughter of actor Shakti Kapoor began her acting career with a brief role in the 2010 heist film Teen Patti and followed it with her first leading role in the drama film Luv Ka The End (2011). And since then, there has been no looking back in her career. In a recent development, she has earned over 75 million Ins tagram followers leaving popu lar actors Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif

behind the race. Feeling over joyed with this development, Shraddha shared a cute picture of herself and cap tioned it by saying: “Celebrat ing 75 Million with Chai on Cheek. Badi badi Instafam, Choti choti Khushiyaan!!!.”

Rashmika's note on receiving hate

Popular South actor Rash mika Mandanna, who made her Bollywood de but with the film Goodbye recently, penned down a long note for those trolling her on so cial media platforms. The Varisu actor highlighted that it is “heartbreaking” and “demoral izing” to receive hate on the in ternet. She further pointed out that false narratives are being spread across the internet which can be very harmful to her and the relationships she has in or outside the industry.

Taking to Instagram, Rash mika wrote, “I have been on the

receiving end of a lot of hate ever since I start ed my career. Quite literally a punching bag for a lot of trolls and negativity out there. I know that the life I’ve chosen comes with a price– I understand that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and certainly don’t expect to be loved by every single person out there. That doesn’t mean because you don’t approve of me you can spew negativity instead."

Rumours about Deepi ka Padukone playing the role of Shiva’s mother Amrita in Brahmastra Part 2 have now been con firmed after fans spot ted her face clearly in Brahmas tra’s OTT version.

Brahmastra Part 1 Shiva, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles, was released on September 9 and it is the first instalment of a planned trilogy. The movie was released on OTT just a few days ago sand eagle-eyed fans noticed something interesting while watching the movie on the digi tal platform. When the movie was released in theatres, there had been rumours that Deepika will play the role of Shiva’s mother Amrita after some fans claimed they spotted the ac tress’ face in the film. Many fans claimed the actress wasn’t visi ble at all. Now, the OTT version of Brahmastra has cleared all doubts as they clearly spotted Deepika as Amrita in the film.

riyanka Chopra, who is one of the most loved actresses in Bollywood, jetted off to Los Angeles on Wednes day. She recently re turned to Mumbai after three years to pro mote her hair care brand. This was her first visit to India

after becoming a mother. She welcomed her and Nick Jo nas’ daughter Malti Marie earlier this year via surroga cy. A while ago, the new mom my took to social media and updated her fans about going back to LA.

The Desi girl shared a selfie with her fans. A tired Priyan ka is seen flashing her smile to the camera. She is seen

sporting an all-white outfit. Along with the picture, she wrote, “Exhausted but happy. Will continue to keep u post ed about my @unicefindia visits.” She used the location stamp that read Los Angeles, California and wrote, “Here I come.” She will be reunit ing with her daughter Malti Marie after staying away from her for a while.

Sara's tight schedule

Sara Ali Khan has a busy sched ule right now because Mum bai is where she is filming her upcom ing movie, Ae Wa tan Mere Watan. This is the actress' third movie of the year, and as she is filming this one, she is also dubbing for two of her oth er films, including Gaslight,

Vicky Kaushal project. According to a source close to the actress, "Sara is now balancing be tween three of her projects. Along with Vicky Kaush al, she is dubbing for her next pro jects Gaslight and Maddock's next while filming for Ae Watan Mere Wa tan, in which she portrays Usha Me

Deepika Padukone

Shraddha’s post...

Rashmika Mandanna

Her story...

Malaika Arora Sara Ali Khan

TRIBUTE TO GURU NANAK

CITY FIRST

Daler Mehndi treat ed his fans with the first-ever Aar ti sung in Raag Dhanasri Raag Prab hati and Raag Sorath.

Mehndi’s classical mu sic training in Patiala Gharana and penchant for Gurbani are at the showcase in this spell binding Celestial Aarti.

The aarti has never in the history of Gurbani singing been sung in all the three ragas like this.

The Arti is authored by Guru Nanak Ji who

Khid: Effortlessly Stylish

deconstructs our narra tive of worship by bring ing to our awareness so we partake in the inces sant celestial Aarti (lamp-lit offering ) in ac tion, the Shabad extends to the prayer offer ings authored by Bhagat Ravidas, Bhagat Kabir, Bha gat Dhanna, Bhagat Sain culminating with Guru Gobind Singh’s words.

It’s an interesting cel ebratory appeal to the Divine, a song of celebra tions, a song of offerings and asking.

For Mehndi, Guru Nanak is breath, music, poetry, light, wisdom, birth, death and the jour ney beyond to me. “I am overwhelmed with love and deep gratitude to Guru Nanak for blessing me with this musical bril liance of the new epic marriage of Dha nasri with Prabhati and Sorath. It took me months of reading the exalted shabads of Guru sahab and the Bhagats in the Aarti and a month of work in the studio there after,” said Mehndi.

Festive Season Special

CITY FIRST

CITY FIRST

Atextile exhibition showcasing the ex quisite collection

Khid by Shilpi Soni recently in the city.

Khid in Thai means “To Think”. It’s also a term that’s used as a refer ence to traditional handmade textiles in Thailand.

Khid is an effortlessly styl ish and intricately hand crafted brand. Since its launch in 2021, Khid has pro duced ranges that include eye-catching colours, pop prints and avant-garde styles. In a very short time, Khid has found an ardent fol lowing amongst celebrities like Malaika Arora and jetsetting crowds across cities.

From new-age fabrics like Scuba to traditional leather, Khid has some thing for everyone. It offers a new range of coats, tracksuits, dresses and much more. Khid com bines spirited aesthetics with contemporary and comfortable silhouettes.

Electronics Mart Hosted its First Ever, ‘Festive Season Special Bumper Draw of Rs. 50 Lakhs Cash Prize’ on Mega Store at Rajouri Garden.

The Lucky Winner of the Bumper Draw was announced by Ac tor Harshvardhan Rane, Actress Payal Rajput where the Win ners were awarded ₹ 50 Lakhs Cash Prize.

Actor Harshvard han Rane expressed delight at the Grand Event Announcing the lucky Winners of the Festive Bumper Draw at Electronics Mart. He also recalled his association with Electronics Mart, he added he Really Loved the Brand Electronics Mart which has opened 12 Mega Stores across Delhi, NCR.

Actress Payal Ra

jput congratulated the Winners & said, “Electronics Mart is known for its excep tional service & cus tomer satisfaction.

BIBLIOPHILES’ GO-TO BOOKSTORES

OXFORD BOOKSTORE

to the area on a short stay.

FULL CIRCLE BOOKSTORE

Whether we talk about the beautiful buddha wall hangings or the cosy wooden backdrop, everything about this location makes us fall in love with it. Without a doubt, this is among the greatest bookshops in Delhi, and it’s also a great Instagram subject. The next time you’re in the mood to visit a cafe cum bookshop, here is the location you must go to because the whole circle is located above cafe turtle.

CHAPTER 101 BOOKSTORE

We are unable to think of a finer location if you are a voracious reader who enjoys the classics than this. The room is tastefully designed with sweeping 90s imagery and oak bookcases, creating the ideal atmosphere for reading. This Delhi bookstore boasts a large selection that includes both classic and modern works which makes it the perfect location for readers of all kinds.

PEOPLE TREE BOOKSTORE

Connaught Place is home to some of the best-kept secrets, but we believe this one will most wow you. If you’re both a reader and an artist, this location would seem like heaven to you. People Tree is more than simply a bookshop; it has become a brand thanks to its incredibly talented and youthful staff of designers, painters, and photographers. You may discover customised t-shirts, arts and crafts, and, of course, the traditional book selection.

FAQIR CHAND BOOKSTORE

On the interior, Faqir Chand & Sons literally looks like books on books on books, and we adore every bit of it. As soon as you enter the store, you are overcome by the old-world charm and nostalgia, and the enormous selection of bestsellers, classics, new releases, and even children’s books will entice you to return time and time again. Every Dilliwala loves and treasures this bookstore since it is one of the oldest family-run bookstores in Delhi.

Since Connaught Place is one of Delhi’s most popular gathering spots, we will unquestionably make it our first pick. One of Delhi’s largest book stores Oxford draws book enthusiasts from all over the world. It is just difficult to resist a bookstore like Oxford, whether you’re a native or a visitor

She Congratulated the Winners & thanked Electronics Mart for inviting her to the Grand Event.

cityfirstdel@gmail.com

Daler Mehndi

Mesmersing collection by Shilpi Soni

Harshvardhan Rane and Payal Rajput

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

—PHOTOS BY MANOJ KESHARWANI

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN