First India-Delhi Edition-11th November 2022

on

injured when

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday rapped ED for adopt ing a pick-and-choose policy and asked why they had not arrested actor Jacqueline despite lookout circular. Order on the bail plea reserved till Nov 24, 25. P2

NAVLAKHA’S HOUSE ARREST: CAN’T USE NET,

MCD polls: BJP issues ‘Vachan Patra’, with pics of EWS flats

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi BJP on Thursday is sued a ‘Vachan Patra’ (letter of pledge) ahead of the MCD polls, prom ising to provide EWS flats equipped with all the amenities to every slum dweller in the city.

The ‘Vachan Patra’ was released by Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, MP Manoj Ti wari and MCD poll management commit tee head Ashish Sood. It carries pictures of the EWS flats allotted to

slum dwellers recently in Kalkaji by the prime minister.

“The BJP is commit ted to provide such flats as were built in Kalkaji to all the slum dwellers as per Jahan Jhuggi Wahin Makan scheme,” Gupta said.

Tiwari said the BJP will distribute the ‘Vachan Patra’ to people living in the slums. The ‘Vachan Patra’ has a form which they will fill and the BJP workers will submit them to the departments concerned and the slum dwellers

BJP BETS ON ‘YOUNG AND FRESH’ FACES!

l BJP releases 1st list of 160 candidates, 38 sitting MLAs dropped

l The list includes 14 women, 13 SC, 24 ST leaders

Moni Sharma

Gandhinagar: Faced with the prospect of an ti-incumbency in up coming Gujarat elec tions, the ruling BJP has denied tickets to as many as 38 sitting MLAs, picking 69 of the incumbent lawmakers in its first list of candi dates for the December 1 and 5 Assembly elec tions in Gujarat. The list of 160 candidates out of a total 182 was released by Union minister Bhu pendra Yadav on Thurs day. Notable names missing in the first list include former CM Vi jay Rupani, former dep uty CM Nitin Patel, for mer minister RC Faldu, Bhupendrasinh Chu dasama and senior lead er Pradipsinh Jadeja.

(From Left) Senior BJP leaders Mansukh

PROMINENT NAMES AND THEIR CONSTITUENCIES Chhota Udepur RAJENDRABHAI RATHVA Morbi KANTILAL AMRUTIYA Rajkot DARSHITA PARAS SHAH Ghatlodia CM BHUPENDRA PATEL Viramgam HARDIK PATEL Jamnagar (N) RIVABA JADEJA Talala BHAGVANBHAI BARAD Tharad SHANKAR CHAUDHARY

“Himachal

—Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister

ment has never tried to improve the living con dition of the slum dwellers but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved his concern for the poor by providing good quality flats to them with all amenities, Gupta said.

BJP is pledging to provide pucca houses to people living in slums at the same place, Sood said. “This is not just a guarantee or promise because it has been done by the Prime Min ister and 3024 flats have been provided,” he said.

GUPTA TO HEAD 20-MEMBER ELECTION COMMITTEE

New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday formed a 20-member election com mittee for the MCD polls, headed by Delhi unit president Adesh Gupta The committee includies all the seven BJP MPs from Delhi and other senior leaders. It was formed after approval of national president JP Na dda. Delhi BJP in-charge Baijayant Jay Panda and co-incharge Alka Gurjar will be special invitees to the committee. Leader of Opposition in Delhi

Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, former state chiefs Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay, former Union minister Vijay Goel will be members of the committee. The commit tee met on Thursday to discuss candidates for the polls to 250 wards of the MCD.

Congress is not a democratic party, it is born out of dynasty, says Amit Shah

...on last day of campaign for HP

Assembly polls

First India Bureau

son’ when you look at Cong minutely? There is a ‘mother-son’ in Delhi as well as HP. Cong is not a democratic party, par ty born out of dynasty.”

During the day, Shah in Palampur said, “We have promised in our poll manifesto that once BJP comes to power in HP, we will implement ‘Common Civil Code’ in the state and added ear lier, no one believed that Article 370 could be removed (from J&K).

Union Home Minister Amit Shah being felicitated by the party candidate Vipin S Parmar during an election campaign rally at Dehan in Palampur on Thursday. Voting for 68 seats tomorrow.

The

England’s skipper Jos Buttler shakes hands with India’s Virat Kohli after beating India by 10 wickets during the Semi-Final match of ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022, at Adelaide Oval on Thursday. England face Pakistan for coveted trophy on Sunday.

Kerala government on Thursday removed Governor Arif Mohammad Khan as the chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam deemed-to-be-university through an amendment. As per the new amendment, the chancellor will be an eminent person in the field of art and culture appointed by the sponsoring body.

The Indians planning to travel to the US may continue to experience delays in visas at least for the next few months as a significant fall in waiting time is expected only in the summer of 2023.

Excise policy leaked to liquor cos: ED

The PMLA court sent both to seven days’ ED custody.

Officials claimed the two were “evasive” dur ing questioning.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Delhi excise policy, scrapped over allegations of cor ruption, was “leaked” to certain liquor manu facturers much before its release and a probe found that three dozen VIPs, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, changed as many as 140 mobile phones with the inten

tion to destroy digital evidence, the ED said Thursday.

The federal agency informed this to a spe cial Prevention of Mon ey Laundering Act (PMLA) court after it

The ED said that the excise police was leaked in exchange of bribes and kickbacks to excise officials and members of the Delhi govt. It said several people ques tioned by it “have re vealed that bribe to the time of Rs 100 crore had been given in advance for undue benefits to se lect business groups to operate in the Delhi ex cise policy 2021-22.”

arrested two executives -- Benoy Babu, Delhi re gional head of French wine company Pernod Ricard, and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, wholetime director of Aurob indo Pharma Ltd.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia is an accused in the excise policy case.

‘Sisodia, others changed 140 phones to destroy digital evidence’

will get houses, the Lok Sabha member from Northeast Delhi said.

“It’s BJP’s promise to

provide every slum dweller in Delhi such flats with amenities that are enjoyed by the

crorepati people living in society colonies,” Gupta said. The Kejriwal govern

BJP Delhi President Adesh Gupta (centre), BJP MP Manoj Tiwari (R) and party’s MCD poll management committee head Ashish Sood (L) release the ‘Vachan Patra’ in New Delhi on Thursday.

OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, NEW DELHI & MUMBAI

New Delhi: Bihar politician Lalu Yadav, who has been unwell for some time, will receive a kidney from his daughter Rohini Acharya. RJD leader will go through a kidney transplant later this month.

I’m destiny’s child and so proud to give my kidney to papa,” said, Lalu’s 2nd daughter, who is based in Singapore.

Port Blair: A local court on Thursday rejected anticipatory bail plea of former Andaman and Nicobar CS Jitendra Narain in a gang rape case. Soon after the verdict, a team of policemen reached a private resort where Narain is staying and arrested him.

several others

BJP is looking to break its own record of 127 seats in the 182-seat Assembly. We will create a record of sorts this time. We aim to win 150 seats.

Palampur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah ad dresses rally at Paonta Sahib on last leg election campaign here attacked Opposition Congress in a veiled attack at “moth er-son” Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. “Do you see an ything besides ‘mother-

ENG ROUT IND, SEAL FINALS BERTH!

OTHER TOP STORIES

A day after UK HC ordered extradition of fugitive diamond Nirav Modi to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering, the MEA Thursday said that country wants to bring “him back as soon as possible”.

SC refuses urgent hearing of PIL on Delhi air pollution

AQI ‘POOR’, MAX TEMP 29.5

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to ac cord urgent hearing to a PIL seeking fresh guidelines on stubble burning to curb air pol lution in Delhi-NCR, saying some issues are not "judicially amena ble" and stressing the need for "genuine solu tions".

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chan drachud and Justices Hima Kohli and JB Pardiwala asked lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha, who filed the PIL, whether banning stub ble burning alone would help in curbing air pollution.

"So what is your solu tion to Delhi pollution," the CJI asked Jha.

On being told that stubble burning is caus ing the pollution, the bench said, "So we ban it? Will that stop? Do we enforce it against every farmer? Let us think of some genuine solu tions. There are things, (where) courts can do something and there

Some matters courts can look into and some it cannot. Since they are not judicially amenable... We have heard you and it won’t be taken up now.

are somethings where courts cannot do. We are to look at the judi cial aspects."

"Some matters, courts can look into and some it cannot. Since they are not judicially amenable... We have heard you and it would not be taken up now," the CJI said.

The PIL has sought a direction to schools, colleges and govern ment and private offic es to go virtual/online.

Pollution penalties on two builders in Noida, Gr Noida

BY PTI

New Delhi: Air qual ity in the national capital was recorded in the ‘poor’ cat egory on Thursday while the maximum temperature set tled at 29.5 degrees Celsius. According to the Central Pollu tion Control Board, Delhi’s 24-hour aver age Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 295. An AQI between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’.

The minimum tem perature settled at 16.8 degrees Celsius, three notches above the average.

PANEL TO REVIEW STAGE 3 CURBS TODAY

Court reserves order on bail of Jacqueline

Noida (PTI): Penalties of over Rs 9 lakh were issued to offenders, including two real estate developers, for violating guidelines of Grade Response Action Plan in Noida and Greater Noida, officials said.

The Noida Authority said it issued penalties to violators in 11 cases where construction ma terial was found kept in open, in violation of the anti-pollution rules. "Penalties totalling Rs 3.80 lakh were imposed on the offenders in these 11 cases," it said. In Greater Noida, the local authority said it penalized two real estate developers for violating the National Green Tribunal's norms for checking pollution.

Elderly businessman kills wife, himself in posh Noida society

Gurugram

(Agen cies):

An elderly couple living in a posh highrise society in Noida was found dead inside their home on Thursday morning, police said.

Police suspects that the man, 61, first alleg edly strangled his 60-year-old wife and then hanged himself from a fan inside their room in the apartment, located under Bisrakh Police Station limits in Central Noida.

The man had suffered financial losses in his business in the past but was unable to move on from it and had been

At around 10am, their son knocked on the door of the parents’ room but there was no response. He then pushed it open to find their bodies, police said.

owed some money which he was unable to recover, Deputy Com missioner of Police (Central Noida) Ram Badan Singh said. “The man has left be hind a purported sui cide note in which he has mentioned about the financial loss and his unrecovered dues. He has mentioned the name of a business con tact, claiming that he is

Class 8 student hangs self in Ghaziabad ‘over fees’

First India Bureau

Ghaziabad (PTI): A Class 8 student alleg edly hanged himself in his room with his fa ther claiming that his son took the step after being harassed in school for not submit ting his fees, police said on Thursday.

The father of the de ceased has lodged a complaint against the school management al leging that his son was harassed and not per mitted to attend classes for failing to pay his fees, the police added. The child felt insulted

and hanged himself af ter returning home from school, Circle Of ficer (City 2nd) Alok Dubey said, quoting the complaint.

During interroga tion, the school man agement said the stu dent and his classmate had a tiff, for which their parents were called. While the father of the other students reached school, the de ceased student did not inform his parents. On Thursday, he was told to call his father, fail ing which he would not be allowed to attend classes, the police said.

taking the extreme step because of him,” Singh told PTI.

“An FIR would be lodged against this per son on the basis of the suicide note and he would be booked for sui cide abetment for fur ther investigation in the case,” the DCP said.

According to police, the man had a business of his own which went into losses a few years ago.

New Delhi: With air pollution levels in Delhi coming down to the ‘poor’ catego ry, the Commission for Air Quality Man agement (CAQM) on Thursday said it will review the situation on Friday and take a call on revoking curbs under stage 3 (very poor) of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

All construction and demolition work, except for essential projects, is banned in Delhi-NCR under stage 3 of GRAP. Brick kilns, hot mix plants and stone crushers are also not allowed to operate.

New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Friday rapped the Enforce ment Directorate for adopting a pick-andchoose policy, and asked why the agency had not arrested actor Jacqueline Fernandez despite issuing a look out circular against her in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving conman Su kesh Chandrashekar.

Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted Fernandez interim bail, reserved order for Friday on the bail plea of the actor after hear ing arguments from the lawyers appearing for Fernandez as well as the ED.

On the ED's submis sion that Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court questioned why the actor was not ar

rested so far.

The agency told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country.

"Why haven't you (ED) arrested Jacque line yet during the in vestigation despite is suing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy," the court asked the probe agency.

The accused has sought bail, saying there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed.

The court had on September 26 granted interim bail on a per

sonal bond of Rs 50,000. The court had on Au gust 31 taken cogni zance of a supplemen tary charge sheet filed by the ED and asked Fernandez to appear before the court.

Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connec tion with the investiga tion, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplemen tary charge sheet.

The ED's earlier charge sheet and a sup plementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the de tails of the

Brick makers urge govt to ‘reduce back’ GST to 1%

New Delhi (PTI): Brick makers, on a strike for nearly four months, have urged the government to bring down the GST rate on bricks from 6 per cent to the earlier level of 1 per cent. The new GST rate has been effective since April 1 this year, Omvir Singh Bhati, Gen eral Secretary of the All India Brick and Tile Manufacturers Federa tion (AIBTMF) told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.

"We are facing a tough time.Our kilns all over the country are

Members of AIBTMF protest at Ram Lila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

shut at the moment as we are finding it diffi cult to do business in absence of demand and high input cost. We de mand the government to reduce back the GST,"

he said.

Kiln owners are on a nationwide strike for the past three to four months, he said, citing reasons for shutdown of the units.

DU postpones third round of seat allocation

New Delhi (PTI): The third round of seat allo cation at Delhi Univer sity scheduled to begin on Thursday has been postponed, the varsity said. The new schedule will be announced on Friday, it said in an offi cial statement.

A senior university official said the re scheduling has been done as the varsity needed some time to prepare the list for the admission for all super numerary seats like those under economi cally weaker section and sports categories.

Robbers barge into house asking for water to drink

New Delhi (PTI): A group of unidentified men allegedly barged into the house of a 52-year-old woman in Delhi’s Rohini area and robbed her of her gold jewellery and cash after threatening her, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place late Wednesday night when two or three unidentified people barged into her house on the pretext of drink ing water and asking for other items, they said.

Police said the wom an is a widow and has been running a grocery shop in her locality in

Rohini’s Prem Nagar area. She has been liv ing alone at her house since the death of her husband while her daughter stays abroad.

According to the po lice, finding the right op portunity, they “forci bly” gained entry into her house and asked her for water and some oth er items. They robbed her of the gold jewellery that she was wearing by threatening her.

n Plea sought guidelines on stubble burning n It also wanted schools, offices be asked to go online n Some issues are not ‘judicially amenable’: SC

Workers spray water as part of efforts to curb air pollution, in Gurugram on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

—DY Chandrachud Chief Justice of India

Labourers at an underconstruction bridge, amid a thick layer of smog in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, on Thursday.

—PHOTO

statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi.

Jacqueline Fernandez at Patiala Court in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Why haven’t you (ED) arrested her de spite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why pick-&-choose policy?

—Special Judge Shailendra Malik STAR

BJP MP Hema Malini performs during ‘Raas Mahostav’ programme at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura on Wednesday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

‘Vote Bandi’ against AAP, BJP by Anganwadi workers

New Delhi (PTI): A un ion of Anganwadi work ers here on Thursday announced that it would boycott the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections and campaign against the BJP and the AAP over the “abrupt” termina tion of 884 of their coun terparts.

Shivani Kaul, presi dent of the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, said all 22,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers un der its ambit and their family members would not cast their votes.

The union will also hold a ‘vote bandi’ cam paign against the two parties, she said.

“Not only will the 22,000 Anganwadi work ers (in the union) not vote for either of these two parties but their families and friends will actively boycott them. We will also hold cam paigns for a complete ‘vote bandi’ of these two parties,” Kaul said.

She alleged that po litical parties had al ways “used” Anganwa di workers and helpers as “vote banks” and “tools” in their cam paigns.

“All the parties have used Anganwadi work ers as a vote bank and a tool for their campaigns as they are aware that we have access to every nook and corner. We will target all those par ties who terminated our workers instead of lis tening to their constitu tional demands,” she

said. Anita, another An ganwadi helper, said the Congress was no excep tion as senior party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the Delhi government in a case against the termi nated workers at the high court.

“We saw the true col ours of all the parties during our strike. Both the BJP and the AAP worked hand-in-glove against us. And the Con gress is no exception,” she alleged. “The Delhi government is being represented by senior Congress leader Ab hishek Manu Singhvi in the high court.”

Anita added that the Anganwadi workers would not allow BJP and AAP leaders to cam paign in their areas.

The union said the Delhi government is sued termination notic

es to 884 Anganwadi workers and show-cause notices to another 11,942 for taking part in a 39day strike to press for a hike in minimum wage and respectable work hours.

Dikshit, Tytler in Cong’s

New Delhi (PTI):

The Congress on Thursday constituted various panels for the upcoming elections to the Municipal Corpo ration of Delhi with its pradesh election committee including the likes of state unit chief Anil Chaud hary, Ajay Maken, Sandeep Dikshit and Jagdish Tytler.

The Congress also set up a campaign committee, coordina tion committee, mani festo committee, me

Girl kidnapped two months ago back with family, teenager arrested

New Delhi (PTI): A 13-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped was reunited with her family in south Delhi after over two months, police said on Thursday.

Jitender Kumar (19) has been arrested in connection with the al leged kidnapping, the police said.

According to the complaint lodged by the girl's brother, she had

gone missing from their house on September 7 and was suspected to have been kidnapped. A case under Section 363 (punishment for kid napping) of the IPC was registered at Greater Kailash police station, a senior officer said.

During the investiga tion, the police ana lysed footage from CCTV cameras in the area and the girl was

spotted with a man. The route taken by the ac cused was then fol lowed. His picture was also circulated, the of ficer said.

The man's location was zeroed in through technical analysis and he was arrested from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh, Deputy Com missioner of Police (South) Chandan Chowd hary said.

40-member poll panel

FROM P1…

Excise policy...

The agency said 34 im portant persons in volved/suspected to be involved in the excise scam have changed a total 140 phones with intention to destroy digital evidence.

“These persons in clude all the main ac cused, liquor barons, senior government of ficials, excise minister of Delhi (Sisodia) and other suspects. The timing of change of phone indicates that these were mostly changed just after the scam surfaced,” it said.

The agency said it has evidence that indi cate the policy was “leaked” to certain liq uor manufacturers on May 31 last year while it was made public two months later on July 5.

The agency also al

leged that a “large number” of approvals to L1 wholesalers were given by excise officials “beyond working hours or late at night”.

Benoy Babu, the ED alleged, colluded with Sameer Mahandru and others to create a “nex us of manufactureswholesalers-retailers to gain market share by unethical means.”

“Analysis of the email dump of Benoy Babu revealed that he was in possession of the excise policy much before the same was made public,” it said. It alleged Babu cre ated “severe loopholes” in the policy that even tually gave “undue” benefits to Pernod Ri card such as price in crease for its brands.

TWO ACCUSED SEEK BAIL IN CASE INVOLVING JAIN

Wife and I being threatened in Tihar: Sukesh to LG

First India Bureau

New Delhi (PTI): Two accused in a money laundering case involv ing Satyendar Jain on Thursday urged a Delhi court to grant them bail, saying that no purpose will be served by keep ing them in custody any longer.

Sandeep Dikshit Jagdish Tytler

dia committee, public ity committee, and digital and social me dia committee.

The 40-member pradesh election com mittee includes Chaudhary, former Delhi Congress chiefs

Maken and Subhash Chopra, Dikshit, Tytler, Jai Prakash Agarwal, Manish Chatrath, Devender Yadav, Arvinder Sin gh Lovely, Rajesh Lilo thia, Krishna Tirath and Alka Lamba.

New Delhi: Jailed conman Sukesh Chan drashekhar has written another letter to Del hi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Sent by Sukesh's lawyer AK Singh on his behalf, the letter dated November 9 claimed that Sukesh has received "constant threats" and pressure to withdraw complaints filed before the LG office against Satyendar Jain, Arvind Kejri wal and Kailash Gehlot. Sukesh also sought transfer of himself and his wife, both of whom are lodged in Tihar Jail, to any other jail across the country "to ensure safety of their lives and limbs".

Sukesh further claimed that his wife is be ing "threatened and abused" by senior jail of ficers to convince her husband to withdraw the complaints.

Sukesh alleged that he was assaulted by CRPF personnel inside the jail on August 31 this year due to which he got a severe injury in his genital part.

The accused, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, who are currently lodged in Tihar jail along with the AAP leader, told Special Judge Vikas Dhull that both were not required for the investigation any further.

"The investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed. The accused are no longer required to be kept in custody any longer," the counsel appearing for both the accused told the court. Satyendar Jain is likely to advance his argu ments in support of his bail plea on Friday.

Travancore House ‘sold’, royal owners shocked

Thiruvananthapuram

/New Delhi (PTI): A group of persons, re portedly belonging to a branch of the erstwhile Travancore Royal fam ily, has entered into an agreement with a Chen nai-based realtor to sell a prime property worth a few hundreds of crores of rupees at Kas turba Gandhi Marg in Lutyens' Delhi, current ly in the possession of the Kerala government. The Travancore

House, categorised as a heritage building by the New Delhi Municipal Council, is the former residence of the Maha raja of Travancore.

IN A QUANDARY

A Bengaluru-based family, claimed to be le gal heirs of a senior Ma harani of Travancore, signed the agreement with a Chennai-based

Travancore

House is situated at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in the heart of the city

real estate and builders firm to sell the Travan core House, along with a property in Bengalu ru, for Rs 250 crore.

However, the Kowdi

ar Palace in Thiru vananthapuram where the head of the Travan core Royal family re sides, said it has no connection with the said deal and asserted nobody had the right to sell it. A family mem ber said the deal was reportedly signed by the erstwhile Regent Queen's family and they might have been "misled" by someone to stake claim on the property.

Chintels tower demolition: Residents have no clue of compensation

lll

The district administration said a meeting of Tower-D residents, the developer, and the evaluator has been called to settle the matter.

First India Bureau

Gurugram: The dis trict administration’s order to demolish Tow er D of Chintels Parad iso in Sector 109, where two women were killed in February, has sparked confusion among the allottees.

On February 10, the dining room floor of a sixth-floor apartment at Tower D came down, triggering the collapse of roofs and floors di rectly under it, till the

first floor.

The incident prompt ed the authorities to conduct a structural audit of many high-rise buildings in the city.

On Saturday, Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said an IIT-Delhi team had found structural defi ciencies in the construc tion of the tower, whose repair is not possible on technical and economic grounds and ordered it to be demolished. The developer has also been

instructed to settle the claims of allottees with in 60 days.Despite this

‘THREE OPTIONS’

tional Deputy Commis sioner Vishram Kumar Meena has not just up held IIT-Delhi’s recom mendation of demol ishing Tower D but also vacating towers A, B, C, E, F, G, H and J till fur ther investigation. The committee has recom mended the immediate evacuation of towers E and F.

the cost of a similar re placement flat in the same location.

The district adminis tration on Thursday said a meeting of Tow er-D residents, the de veloper, and the evalua tor has been called to settle the matter.

A magisterial in quiry headed by

The residents said they had no idea when they would get the com pensation and on what basis, and demanded

Rakesh Hooda, presi dent of the residents’ welfare association, said the allottees were ready to settle but the developer or the au thorities should meet their demands.

In protest against ‘abrupt’ termination of 884 counterparts

All 22,000 workers and helpers and their family members won’t vote

Will also campaign for complete ‘vote bandi’ of both the parties 39-DAY STRIKE

Both the BJP and the AAP worked handin-glove against us. And the Congress is no exception.

—Shivani Kaul, President of the Delhi State Union

New Delhi (PTI): AAP's Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai on Thursday inaugurated the party's war room for the upcoming MCD elections from where it will con duct, among others, the nomination process and social media cam paigns for the polls. "The war room will have a set of 10 tasks, includ ing booth management, candidate monitoring, social media campaign and star campaigners," Rai said.

When asked about nominations, he said the candidate selection process was underway.

GOPAL RAI LAUNCHES AAP WAR ROOM

direction, Tower-D al lottees said the district administration had

muddled the situation.

Addi

Businessmen Sharad Reddy and Binoy Babu being taken from Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

—REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO

INSPIRED ENGLAND THRASH

INSIPID INDIA, DASH HOPES OF DREAM FINAL WITH PAKISTAN

and 4 fours to make a splen did 63 off 33 balls. Kohli played second fiddle to keep the innings intact, reaching his half century too. India scored 58 runs in the last 5 overs of which Hardik scored 50, helping the team’s total to 168 runs. On a pitch that looked slightly slower and where the spinners were able to turn the ball, the score looked above par and it was now the turn of Indian bowl ers to hold their nerves and push the team into the final.

IN-DEPTH

SPECIAL JUDGE’S STRONG REMARKS AGAINST THE ED ARE TELLING

As India heads home, there are questions galore for them. After the defeat in the last World T20, India talked about setting a new template of aggressive cricket but it was the same old story in the semifinals with the team showing nerves and playing well its potential. After the match, Rohit Sharma admitted that the bowlers did not begin well and the game was taken away from them pretty quickly. India’s ageing team, bowlers who can bowl over 140 kms/h consistently and fearless opening batters have to be the most needed changes staring at the Indian Team management

It was yet again a story of what might have been as In dia was demolished by Eng land on Thursday evening at Adelaide. The Men in Blue crashed out of the World T20 Championship losing by 10 wickets. So, convincing was the English win that they still had 4 overs left after the win. India now goes back to the drawing board and has to take a hard look at some of its tactics and combinations, many that have been far be hind the way World T20 cricket is progressing!

Winning the toss, England captain, Jos Buttler, chose to field first. It was cited that the ball might come on the bat better in the second half of the contest, although In dian Captain, Rohit Sharma said that his preference was to bat first. He got his wish but it was a sedate start to the proceedings as India lost KL Rahul inside the first couple of overs, fending a rising de livery by Chris Woakes to the keeper. As Kohli joined Rohit in the middle, the run scor ing became difficult against a steady attack and India could accumulate only 38 runs in the powerplay. India

DEMOCRACY GETS A BOOST IN US

Winning the toss, England captain, Jos Buttler, chose to field first. It was cited that the ball might come on the bat better in the second half of the contest, although Indian Captain, Rohit Sharma said that his preference was to bat first. He got his wish but it was a sedate start to the proceedings as India lost KL Rahul inside the first couple of overs, fending a rising delivery by Chris Woakes to the keeper

needed to up the tempo but unfortunately Rohit skied off Sam Curran, scoring just 27 in 28 balls. The less than 100 strike rate of Rohit meant that India was under score board pressure throughout its innings and they stayed behind in the game until the last 5 overs.

India’s sensation, Suryaku mar hit a six in his trade mark style, pulling one straight over the keeper’s head but didn’t stay long at the crease as an impressive tossed up leggie by Adil

Rashid beat him in the air and he was holed up at sweep er cover making only 14. This brought Hardik Pandya in the middle and he, along with Kohli, started the rescue work for India. Kohli was the aggressor initially in the partnership but as the situa tion got desperate, it was Pandya who showcased his power hitting abilities.

India was 110 for 3 after 15 overs and well below the po tential par score at the point but Pandya took on the Eng lish bowlers, hitting 5 sixes

But that wasn’t to be so. The blistering knock by Pan dya did nothing to swing the momentum India’s way as Jos Buttler too came out fir ing and hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 3 boundaries in the very first over. The tone of the English innings was set then itself. Indian swing bowling had no effect as both Buttler and Alex Hales used the crease to good perfection, targeting the smallish square boundaries. The re sult was that they cruised to 63 for no wicket in the first powerplay and even the in terjection of spin did noth ing to stop the carnage. Such was their dominance that the English openers hit 10 sixes between themselves, finish ing the match in just 16 overs without losing a wicket!

As India heads home, there are questions galore for them. After the defeat in the last World T20, India talked about setting a new template of aggressive cricket but it was the same old story in the semifinals with the team showing nerves and playing well its potential. After the match, Rohit Sharma admit ted that the bowlers did not begin well and the game was taken away from them pretty quickly. India’s ageing team, bowlers who can bowl over 140 kms/h consistently and fearless opening batters have to be the most needed chang es staring at the Indian Team management.

The hopes of a dream final between India-Pakistan are over and fans have been left utterly disappointed in the manner that their team bowed out. It’s now the best time to rebuild as the next T20 World Cup is 2 years away because the best stories are written not of those who continue to win but of those who rise like a phoenix from the ashes!

hiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut got bail after spending over three months in jail. The Bombay High Court also refused to give immediate relief to the Enforcement Direc torate which arrested Raut in an alleged money laundering case. The high court may or may not overturn the order of the Spe cial Court whose strictures against the ED and its function ing is noteworthy.

“Not a single trial right from the establishment of this Desig nated Court, the ED has con cluded by leading evidence and the Court could give a single judgment right from the last decade. There is absolutely not a single judgment after a com plete trial in this Court right from the beginning and during the tenure of all my predeces sors,” Special Judge MG Desh pande remarked. The ED has used its exceptional powers very casually, the judge said.

The judge’s remarks need no elaboration. They prove that the ED first detains an accused and then collects evidence with the purpose of keeping the accused in detention.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

It is better to do nothing, than to do what is wrong. For whatever you do, you do to yourself. Buddha

Donald Trump’s politics of reli gion, race, gun culture and antiabortion did not fetch dividends the former US President may have been hoping for. The US midterm election results for the House of Representatives and the Senate turned out to be disap pointing for the Republican Party and put a question mark on the popularity of Trump who was believed to have been eyeing another shot at presidency. The re sults should sober him down.

At least his supporters expect him to delay that announce ment. President Joe Biden hinted at a press conference that he intended to run again.

The biggest Trump-backed supporter to lose was Dr Me

US midterm poll results for the House of Representatives and Senate that turned out to be disappointing for Republican Party, put a question on Trump who was believed to have been eyeing another shot at presidency

hmet Oz in Pennsylvania. Dr Oz lost to Democrat John Fet terman. The absence of a much anticipated “giant red wave” was hailed by Presi dent Joe Biden as a “good day for democracy”. The results showed that Americans were ready to bear with high infla

tion as they did not have to worry about unemployment which is at a 50-year low. Bar ring right wing Republicans women voters stood their ground against the anti-abor tion law passed by the Su preme Court and endorsed by Trump supporter. Biden is strongly in favour of wom en’s right to have an abortion.

A lot was at stake on the results of these midterm elections. On the internation al front, America’s policy on Ukraine, much disliked by Trump, and Russia, a Trump favourite, would have caused a shock. Europe must be es pecially relieved to know that the Republicans have fared disappointingly. It is on the domestic front that voters opted for inclusivity, wom en’s rights and secularism.

The gap between internal & external

l Vol 2 l Issue No.72

l RNI TITLE NO. DELENG/2021/19840

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

Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra

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

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda

Respected Prime Minister Shri @ narendramodi ji in his address to the public meetings of Chambi and Sujanpur in Himachal Pradesh has described the dreams of our Devbhoomi as his resolve. Virbhoomi Himachal, a pilgrimage place of faith and spirituality, is marching towards glory under the guidance of the Prime Minister, it will continue.

Rajnath Singh @rajnathsingh

security is narrowing. Concerted international efforts are needed to counter emerging threats like cyberattacks & information warfare. India believes in a multi-aligned policy, not a world order where few are considered superior to others.

TOP TWEETS

SIDDHAARTH MAHAN

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

RESIGNS’ IN GUJARAT

CAMPAIGNING ENDS IN HIMACHAL

JP Nadda enumerates projects of double-engine govt

Multiple CM faces is our strength, not weakness, says Cong president

First India Bureau

Shimla: The Congress and the BJP on Thurs day wound up their As sembly poll campaigns for Himachal Pradesh, which saw high profile leaders with promises that ranged from imple mentation of a common civil code to scooters for college-going women.

The BJP, which is con testing to return to pow er in the Jai Ram Thakur-led state, scored on bringing in the big names. PM Modi visited twice, addressing a se ries of rallies — the last two on Wednesday.

Home Min Amit Shah and party prez J P Na dda also addressed pub lic meetings on last day.

Former Cong prez Ra hul Gandhi, who is busy in Bharat Jodo Yatra, has skipped campaign ing. But Priyanka Gan dhi Vadra made up for him to an extent.

The BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday said the prog ress of Himachal Pradesh will come to a halt if a wrong government comes to power in the hill state. Addressing a rally here in support of party candidate Rakesh Pathania on the last day of campaigning for the November 12 Assembly polls, Nadda enumerated various projects launched by the "double-engine" BJP governments at the Centre and the state and said, "This is the time for a renewal of the government. When one engine goes down, Himachal goes down.... If a good gardener is not chosen, the garden will be ruined." Cautioning people against falling for any kind of bait, he said.

Shimla has seen unprec edented development in the past five years of the BJP regime, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday. He addressed a rally at San jauli in Shimla to seek votes for BJP candidates Sanjay Sood (Shimla Urban) and Suresh Bhardwaj (Kasumpti). He said that “freebies are not “Revdi”, for the clear reason that almost all will give rise

to women led development.” Thakur also welcomed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on her tour to Hi machal Pradesh on Thursday.

Shimla (ANI): The presence of several chief ministerial faces in Himachal Pradesh is not the Congress’ weak ness but its strength, party president Mall ikarjun Kharge said on Thursday as the cam paign for assembly elec tions in the hill state drew to a close. The rul ing BJP, in contrast, is going into elections banking just on PM Modi’s face because it is “aware of the failures of the chief minister (Jairam Thakur) and the state government”, Kharge, who is oversee ing his first elections after assuming charge as Congress president last month, said.

“The BJP has noth ing to show in the form of governance, that is why it is continuously attacking the Congress party on non issues. We have several capable leaders who can be chief ministers. We see it as our strength and not weakness,” Con gress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said.

GANDHI PROMISES OLD PENSION SCHEME

Shimla: Alleging that the BJP has “snatched” the economic security of the elderly by doing away with the old pension scheme (OPS), Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday reiterated that her party will bring it back in HP and Gujarat if it forms govts there. PG Vadra in a Facebook post, said the Cong believes that the employees who have contributed to nation-building should get a pension. “By abolishing the old pension, the BJP snatched the financial security of the elderly in the country. The people who serve the country throughout their life, where should they go in old age?” Vadra asked.

HELD RALLIES ON ALL 68 SEATS

Sirmaur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday, while addressing a public rally at Sataun said, "The BJP government only brought inflation and joblessness in HP. Now is the time for change. The Congress has promised to restore the Old Pension Scheme in 10 days and give jobs to 1 lakh people if voted to power in the state."

The Congress held 'Vijay Ashirwaad' rallies across all 68 Assembly segments of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, the last day for campaigning for the November 12 polls, with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leading a door-to-door campaign in Shimla.

BJP will win max number of seats in Gujarat: Patil

Gandhinagar (ANI): Ahead of the Gujarat As sembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party state Presi dent CR Patil on Thurs day exuded confidence in the party winning the election with the maxi mum number of seats and said that the people of Gujarat are happy with the work done in the state under the lead ership of PM Modi.

Patil said that the names of the candidates have been discussed thoroughly, all the facts have been seen, and after going to every booth and discussing with the workers, a list has been made. A good result is expected seeing support.

Patil, BJP Gujarat Prez

A am Aadmi Party released its 14th list of 10 candi dates for the Gujarat Assem bly Elections on Thursday. The party has fielded Virchandbhai Chelabhai Chavda from the Tharad constituency while Se jalben Khunt will contest from Una. Vishal Tyagi will contest from Jamnagar south, Hemant Khava from Jamjodhpur, Dev ender Solanki from Talala, and Arun Gohil from Khambat.

GUJARAT CONGRESS MLA QUITS PARTY AHEAD OF POLLS, 3RD IN 2 DAYS

Gandhinagar: In another jolt to Congress ahead of the As sembly elections in Gujarat, party MLA from Jhalod Bhavesh Katara submitted his resigna tion to Speaker Nimaben Acharya. He is the second leader to resign on the same day. Earlier, Congress MLA from Talala constituency in Gujarat, Bhagvanbhai D Barad, tendered his resignation from all posts of INC to Dr Nimaben Acharya. He said that he has decided to quit Congress after consultation with his supporters. He will join the BJP. The jolt to the Cong party came the second day in a row after tentime MLA and tribal leader Mohansinh Rathvaresigned.

Our mics, voices blocked inside parliament, demonstrates RaGa

SHOPKEEPERS NEAR

TAJ MAHAL

GRATEFUL TO SC

Agra: The Supreme Court’s stay on closure of shops within a 500-metre radius of the Taj Mahal has come as a huge relief for shopkeepers, who celebrated by distribut ing sweets and dancing to drums. Tajganj Development Foundation president Nitin Singh said, “This order has brought smiles on those fac es who are sole breadwin ners in their families.” Haji Tahir Uddin Tahir, a resident at the South Gate, thanked the apex court.”We were not prepared and had no idea what to do,” Tahir said.

COMEDIAN VIR DAS'S BENGALURU SHOW CANCELLED

Bengaluru: Stand-Up comic Vir Das's show which was scheduled on Thursday in Bengaluru was cancelled at the last moment following protests by Hindu right-wing organisations. Vir Das also took to his Instagram and informed the same. "Hey folks. Due to unavoidable circumstances, we are push ing the Bengaluru show. New details and dates soon. Sorry for the inconvenience," he wrote. The organiser was forced to cancel the house full event after pressure from a Hindu front.

COIMBATORE BLAST: NIA CARRIES OUT SEARCHES IN TAMIL NADU, KERALA

Chennai: The searches were made in connection to a case pertaining to a bomb blast in a car laden with explosives in front of Kottai Eswaran Temple of Coimbatore district on Oct 23 this year. "These searches were conducted in eight districts of Tamil Nadu namely Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvallur, Thiruppur, Nilgiris, Chengalpatu, Kanchipuram and Nagapattinam. One location had also been carried out in the Palakkad district of Kerala," reads NIA statement.

According to preliminary info, accused Jamesha Mubeen was planning to carry out extensive damage, it reads.

TWITTER PAUSES

"OFFICIAL" LABELS ON SELECT ACCOUNTS

New Delhi: Twitter on Thursday announced that it is not putting the "Official" label on the accounts, even though it is still going after impersonation and deception. A tweet from the 'Twitter Support' account read, "We're not currently putting an "Official" label on accounts but we are aggressively going after impersonation and decep tion." Twitter also informed why the "Official" label is being used and said that to distinguish between blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official.

Ludhiana:

da follower Pardeep Singh, an accused in the

case

2015, was shot dead in Pun jab’s Faridkot district on Thursday, the police said. Pardeep was about to open his dairy products shop at Kotkapura market when he was killed. According to the police, five men on two motorcycles reached the spot. One of them opened fire, killing Pardeep and injuring his gunman Hakam Singh and Amar Singh, a former municipal council lor, the police added.

New Delhi(ANI): India is on the rise as never before and is on the way to "reclaim the glory" it had enjoyed ages ago, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Thursday. Addressing a gathering at the opening ceremony of a three-day conference on ‘Infra structure, Information and Innovation for Building New Bharat’, he said that after 34 years a “revolutionary step” has been taken by intro duction of the National Education Policy 2020, and added this policy

will be a “game-chang er”. The conference has been organised as part of the centenary cele brations of the Delhi University. “I congratu late the Delhi University for completing 100 years. It is a milestone in the journey of any organi sation,” he said. The Vice President said the rise of the country is "unstoppable".

“Today it's a matter of pride to be an Indian. Anywhere you go, honour of Indian and Indianness is differ ent,” he added.

Nanded (PTI): Switch ing his microphone off and on, Congress leader sought to give a demon stration of what alleg edly happens in Parlia ment when Opposition leaders speak on issues that the BJP govern ment finds uncomforta ble. “See what they do. Whenever we speak on the note ban (of 2016), mic off — like this,” he said, going inaudible for bit at a public event as part of his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ that’s now in Ma harashtra.

Smiling, he switched the mic back on, speak ing in Hindi: “Here, I have the controls. But in Parliament House the mic is switched off just like that. We keep won dering what happened.”

“China’s army has come in, occupied 2,000 square kilometres — mic off,” he alleged. “No matter what we are say ing, no one will be able to hear it, see it — mic off,” he further said in a

ED 'POLITICAL WEAPON' OF MODI, SHAH TO TARGET POLITICAL OPPONENTS: J RAMESH

Nanded: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday claimed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's bail order indicated that the Enforcement Direc torate was a "political weapon" in the hands of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday granted bail to Rajya

video tweeted by the party’s social media head, Supriya Shrinate. He said the Yatra — Kanyakumari to Kash

PRESIDENT’S TRIP TO HOMELAND

Sabha member Raut in a money laundering case related to the Patra Chawl redevelopment project, saying his arrest was “il legal” and a "witch-hunt”. "Raut's bail order shows that the Enforcement Directorate is not an in dependent institution, but a political weapon in the hands of Modi and Shah," Ramesh claimed.

mir — is also necessi tated as a large part of the mainstream media does not cover the Con gress’s initiatives.

ELECTRICITY CONNECTIONS TO HINDU MIGRANTS

New Delhi (PTI): The Del hi High Court on Thursday directed the Tata PowerDDL to provide within 30 days electricity connec tions to Hindu migrants from Pakistan who have been living in a slum in the city for the last few years without any electricity. The court, which was hearing a PIL on electricity supply to nearly 800 such mi grants, had earlier asked the Centre why no NOC was issued for the last five to six years to facilitate electricity distribution.

RAMPUR COURT REJECTS AZAM KHAN’S PLEA

Bareilly: A Rampur ses sions court today rejected Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s appeal chal lenging his conviction in a hate speech case that led to his disqualification from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The court, after hearing both sides, turned down Azam Khan’s appeal. The verdict will pave the way for holding of bypoll in the Rampur Sadar seat which fell vacant. The court heard Azam Khan’s appeal on the direction of the Supreme Court.

Prez Murmu reaches Odisha, first time after oath

Bhubaneshwar (PTI):

President Droupadi Murmu was given a rousing welcome on Thursday as she ar rived at the Bhubane swar airport on a twoday visit to Odisha, her native state. Governor Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister Naveen Pat naik received her at the airport. She was ac corded a guard of hon our by the state govern ment on her arrival. Soon after, she left for Puri on an Air Force

helicopter. She will be visiting the famed Jag annath Temple in the

seaside town. On her return to Bhubaneswar, a reception will be host

ed in her honour at the Raj Bhavan.

Murmu, who hails

from Mayurbhanj dis trict of the state, is also scheduled to visit her school in Bhubaneswar, besides attending other programmes on Friday. This is Murmu’s first visit to the state after becoming the president in July.

The state govern ment has already de clared a half-day holi day for all offices, schools and colleges in the state capital region on the occasion of Mur mu’s visit.

lll

Prez Droupadi Murmu, who hails from Mayurbhanj district of the state, is also scheduled to visit her school, besides other programmes

The President was accorded a guard of honour on her first visit to Odisha on Thursday. In a rare gesture,

President Droupadi Murmu walked about two kilometers to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath at Puri.

JP Nadda during a rally in Jhanduta on Thursday.

PROGRESS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH WILL STALL IF WRONG GOVT VOTED TO POWER, SAYS NADDA

MANIFESTO PROMISES NOT ‘REVDIS,’ WILL LEAD TO WOMEN-ORIENTED GROWTH: THAKUR

PRIYANKA

VIJAY ASHIRWAAD: CONG

ANOTHER

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress president.

CR

India on the rise as never before, on its way to reclaim past glory: V-P

BHARAT JODO YATRA

Rahul Gandhi, demonstrating ‘mic on-off’ in Nanded on Thursday.

BARGARI SACRILEGE

CASE: ACCUSED DERA FOLLOWER SHOT DEAD

Dera Sacha Sau

Bargari sacrilege

in

IN THE COURTYARD

Vice-President Dhankhar in New Delhi on Thursday.

business

New Delhi (PTI): Stateowned Bank of Baroda on Thursday said it has in creased its marginal cost of funds based lending rate by up to 15 bps across tenors. The lender has approved the revision in marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) with effect from November 12, 2022, Bank of Baroda said in a regu latory filing. The bench mark one-year tenor MCLR has been raised by 10 basis points to 8.05%. It is the rate at which most of the consumer loans such as personal, auto & home are tied to.

CAD likely to be at 3% this fiscal

Mumbai (PTI): State Bank of India has pencilled in lower current account defi cit at 3% for this fiscal as against the minimum con sensus of 3.5%, citing ris ing software exports, re mittances and a likely $5-billion jump in forex re serves via swap deals.

Every $10 increase in crude prices impacts the Current Account Deficit (CAD) to the tune of 40 ba sis points while the same on fuel inflation is 50 bps and also results in 23 bps decline in growth, accord ing to Soumyakanti Ghosh, the chief economic advisor at SBI.

CAD has a counter cycli cal shock absorber, he said in a report on Thursday.

New Delhi (PTI): Shares of Tata Motors on Thurs day closed over 4% lower after the company report ed a net loss of `898 crore for the second quarter ended September.

The stock declined 4.80% to settle at `412.20 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At the NSE, it fell 4.61% to fin ish at `413.20 apiece. In volume terms, 11.83 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and over 2.62 crore units on the NSE during the day. Tata Motors on Wednesday reported a net loss of `898 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2022.

Exchange rate is the ma jor contributor to software exports growth and 40% of its variation is explained by exchange rates. “If we translated these numbers in actual terms, every Re 1 fall against the dollar leads to an increase in software exports by $250 million”.

This, along with an ex pected $5 billion-forex re serve accrual by way of swap transactions and higher remittances, will

OTHER STORIES

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z Every $10 increase in crude prices impacts the Current Account Deficit (CAD) to the tune of 40 basis points while the same on fuel inflation is 50 bps and also results in 23 bps decline in growth

cap CAD at 3% of GDP as against the average lowest level projected for the year at 3.5%, Ghosh said.

The strong remittances and software exports have lowered CAD by 60 bps in the June quarter, adding that if this trends contin ued in the September quar ter, then CAD would be be

z Exchange rate is the major contributor to software exports growth and 40 per cent of its variation is explained by exchange rates

z SBI has pencilled in lower current account deficit at 3% for this fiscal as against the minimum consensus of 3.5%

low 3.5% in the second quarter and at 3% in the full fiscal.

According to Ghosh, fo rex reserves, which have declined from $642 billion in September 2021 to just about $531 billion last week, are expected to rise by $5 billion as swap trans actions reverse.

GST evasion of

`55,575 crore

detected

in 2 yrs

New Delhi (FIB): GST au thorities have detected GST fraud of `55,575 crore over the last two years and arrested over 700 persons for causing loss to the ex chequer, an official said on Thursday.

Over 22,300 fake GST identification numbers (GSTIN) were detected by the officers of the Directo rate General of GST Intel ligence (DGGI).

The government on No vember 9, 2020, launched a nationwide special drive against unscrupulous enti ties for availing and pass ing on Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraudulently by issu ing fake/bogus invoices, thereby evading Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“In the two years of the special drive, GST/ITC fraud worth ` 55,575 crore has been detected. 719 per sons have been arrested, which include 20 CA/CS professionals,” the offi cial said.Voluntary depos its of Goods and Services Tax (GST) worth ` 3,050 crore have been made dur ing the period.

Sensex falls over 410 pts to slip below 61k-level; Nifty retains 18,000

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex de clined over 410 points to close below the 61,000-mark on Thursday, tracking weakness in M&M, Bajaj Finserv and Reliance In dustries amid widespread selling pressure in global markets. A depreciating rupee also put pressure on domestic equities, traders said. In a subdued session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 419.85 points or 0.69% lower at 60,613.70. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty fell 128.80 points or 0.71% to end at 18,028.20.

Axis Bank was the big gest loser in the Sensex pack, followed by Bajaj Fin serv, Titan, M&M, Bajaj Finance & IndusInd Bank.

In contrast, HDFC twins, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy’s were gainers.

FALLS 30 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.77 AGAINST US DOLLAR

New Delhi (FIB): Gold rallied by `135 to `51,898 per 10 gram in the national capital on Thursday amid a rise in price of the metal in inter national market, accord ing to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the yellow metal had settled at `51,763 per 10 gram.

Silver, however, dropped by `250 to `61,618 per kg. In the international market, gold was trading in the green at $1,709 per ounce while silver was flat at $21.05 per ounce.

PFC LOGS HIGHEST EVER QUARTERLY PROFIT OF `5,229 CR

New Delhi (PTI): E-commerce major Flipkart has burnt cash of $3.7 billion (about `30,000 crore) in about a year ending September 2022, according to regulatory filings. Flipkart had $1 billion in cash in July 2021, which came down to $887 million by September 2022. The company, in July 2021, raised $3.6 billion (about `29,000 crore), which has been completely exhausted, according to regulatory filings of Flipkart and Walmart.

Kolkata (PTI): The Tea Board has sought an assistance of `1,000 crore for the industry in the next five years starting 202223. Chairman of Tea Board Saurav Pahari said that in the budget submitted to the Union Commerce ministry, focus has been on handholding the small tea growers (STGs). “We have sought an assistance of Rs 1,000 crore in the budget submitted to the ministry for a period of five years starting 2022-23”, Pahari said.

Mumbai (FIB): States’ debt will stay elevated at 30-31% of their gross domestic products this fiscal as they have been borrowing from the markets much beyond their means amid modest revenue growth, a report said on Thursday. The ag gregate indebtedness of states, as measured by debt to gross state do mestic product (GSDP), is expected to remain elevated at 30-31% this fiscal, almost similar to 31.5% seen in fiscal 2021-22, Crisil said in a report. States’ indebtedness had risen to a decadal high of 34% in the Covid-hit fiscal 2020-21.

New York (PTI): Global entities and fund manag ers are keen to invest in India, Chairman of the In ternational Financial Ser vices Centres Authority (IFSCA) Injeti Srinivas has said, underlining the need to create a platform that intermediates global capital flows into the do mestic economy.

Srinivas is leading a del egation of senior officials from the International Fi nancial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City, are cur rently in the US for meet ings and roundtable discus sions with American and global investors, banking and educational institu tions for business opportu nities.The delegation is on a visit to New York and Wash ington. “We had meetings with fund managers. They are all very keen to invest in India,” Srinivas said.

SALES VOLUME FALLS IN RURAL MKTS

New Delhi (PTI): Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Thursday posted its highest ever quarterly profit after tax of `5,229.33 crore for Sep tember quarter 2022-23 mainly due to higher reve nues. The consolidated profit is 4% higher as compared to the year-ago period when it logged a profit of `5,023.42 crore, it said in a BSE filing. To tal income rose to `19,344.39 crore from `19,282.60 crore in the same period a year ago.

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated by 30 paise to close at 81.77 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, as participants remained cautious ahead of the release of the US inflation data. Forex traders said a weak trend domestic equities also weighed on investor senti ments. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.61 and witnessed a high of 81.54 and a low of 81.92. It finally settled at 81.77 against the American currency, register ing a fall of 30 paise over its last close of 81.47.

India-US CEO forum to further strengthen bilateral economic ties

New Delhi (PTI): India-US CEO forum discussed ways to further strengthen eco nomic ties between the two countries. It was chaired jointly by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Gina Raimondo, US Secy of Commerce.

In the meeting, Goyal highlighted the signifi cant growth of the IndiaUS economic relations, driven by the common in terest of promoting sus tainability, emerging tech nologies, globally resil ient supply chains and small businesses.

“The forum continues to be an effective platform for dialogue across key secto ral themes and to identify areas for closer collabora tion for the mutual benefit of both economies,” the commerce ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

It comprises CEOs from

FMCG industry continues to see slowdown

New Delhi (PTI): The country’s FMCG industry continued to witness con sumption slowdown in the September quarter, with rural markets registering a higher decline in volumes compared to the three months ended June, says a report.

Also, consumers contin ued to prefer purchasing smaller packets amid com panies hiking prices in re sponse to broader inflation ary pressures, according to the report released by data analytics firm NielsenIQ.

The FMCG industry wit nessed an overall volume

decline of 0.9% in the Sep tember quarter in compar ison to the preceding three months. This was the

fourth consecutive quarter with negative volume growth for the industry and is “attributed to the

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS

z The country’s FMCG industry continued to witness consumption slowdown in the September quarter, with rural markets registering a higher decline in volumes

z The FMCG industry witnessed an overall volume decline of 0.9% in the September quarter

double-digit price growth for the past six consecutive quarters,” the quarterly FMCG report said.

leading Indian and US-

TOP TALKING POINTS

z India-US CEO forum discussed ways to further strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

z It was chaired jointly by Piyush Goyal and Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce.

z Goyal highlighted the significant growth of the India-US economic relations

This is the sixth time the forum has been convened since its reconstitution in Dec 2014 by the govern ments of India and the US.

The CEOs, under the seven working groups, pre sented priority areas to create stronger partner ships and boost growth across various critical ar eas, such as entrepreneur ship and promoting small businesses, healthcare and

pharmaceuticals, aero space and defence, ICT and digital infrastructure, en ergy, water and environ ment, infrastructure and manufacturing, financial services, trade and invest ments.

The bilateral trade be tween the countries has increased to $120 billion in 2021-22 from $80.5 billion in 2020-21.

Profitability boost for Ind companies from weak `

New Delhi (PTI): S&P

Global Ratings on Thurs day said about half of the Indian companies that they are getting a boost in their core profitability from ru pee depreciation.

“Much of our rated India corporate portfolio has siz able US-dollar linked reve nue and, therefore, is not exposed to rupee deprecia tion. This encompasses en tities in the IT, metals, and chemicals sectors. About half of the firms we rate are getting an EBITDA boost from currency weak ening,” the US-based rating agency said in a report.

EBITDA or earnings be fore interest, taxes, depre ciation and amortization is a measure of a company’s operating profitability.

S&P said domesticallydriven sectors, such as tel ecom, are also well placed to withstand the rupee de preciation due to their hedging policies.

BANK OF BARODA RAISES MCLR ACROSS TENORS

TEA BOARD SEEKS `1,000 CR SUPPORT FOR INDUSTRY

RUPEE

FLIPKART BURNS OVER $3.7 BILLION CASH IN ABOUT A YEAR

MODEST REVENUE GROWTH, HIGHER CAPITAL OUTLAYS TO KEEP STATES’ DEBT HIGH AT 30-31%

based companies and is cochaired by Tata Sons Chairman N Chan drasekaran and Lockheed Martin President & CEO James Taiclet.

Global Cos keen to invest in India: IFSCA

SC ALLOWS NAVLAKHA’S HOUSE ARREST, WITH MANY CONDITIONS

New Delhi (PTI): In a relief to activist Gau tam Navlakha, who is in jail in connection with the Elgar ParishadMaoist link case, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed his request to be placed un der house arrest, saying prima facie there is no reason to reject his medical report.

Imposing a number of conditions, a bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy said the order to place the 70-year-old activist under house arrest for a month in Mumbai should be implemented within 48 hours.

“It is unlikely that the case will make any progress towards cul mination in the foresee able future, with charg es not being framed...

“We would think that he should be allowed to be placed for (under) house arrest for a peri od of one month,” the bench said.

The apex court also directed Navlakha to deposit Rs 2.4 lakh, an estimated amount which the National In

HAVE TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS NOW, SAYS NAVLAKHA’S PARTNER

house arrest. “Petition er will not use a com puter, internet or any other communication device while under house arrest. He will, however, be permitted to use a mobile phone without internet, pro vided by police person nel on duty, once a day for 10 minutes in the presence of the police,” the bench said.

Petitioner will not use a computer, internet or any other communica tion device while under house ar rest. He will, how ever, be permitted to use a mobile phone without in ternet, provided by police person nel on duty, once a day.

will not attempt, in any manner, to influence witnesses during his house arrest.

GANG RAPE CASE

Police arrest ex-Andaman chief secy Jitendra Narain

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Former Andaman and Nico bar Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain, who is accused of gangraping a 21-year-old woman along with other top officials, was arrested on Thursday. A team of policemen reached a private resort where Narain is staying and took him to a hospital for a check-up and then to the Police Line amid heavy se curity.

A special investiga tion team (SIT) has questioned Narain thrice in connection with the case. It ar rested the bureaucrat after the court reject ed his anticipatory bail plea on Thursday.

New Delhi: India is the number one prior ity for Washington right now with regard to visas, a senior offi cial of the US Embassy said on Thursday add ing that the wait time in getting a US visa will see a significant reduction by the sum mer of 2023.

“Our aim is to bring the situation to the preCovid-19 level by the middle of next year,” the official said.

The US is rolling out a series of initiatives including hiring of more personnel and in creasing the “drop box” facilities considering the long wait time for granting visas, the of ficial said.

India has been one of the very few countries where applications for US visas saw a major upswing after coronavi rus-related travel re strictions were lifted.

The plan is to issue around one lakh visas every month.

The wait time for cer tain categories has al ready been brought down to around nine months from earlier 450 days, he said.

The official also said that India is expected to move to the number two place from current number three in terms of the number of visas being issued by the US.

Currently, Mexico and China are ahead of India.

vestigation Agency (NIA) claims as expens es for making available police personnel.

It also said that Nav lakha will not be al lowed to use a computer and internet during his

Unauthorised construction Delhi’s ‘bane’: High Court

New Delhi (PTI): Un authorised construc tions are a bane to or derly development of Delhi, which is already at its seams and cannot be allowed to continue to stand in perpetuity, the high court has ob served.

The observation came while dismissing an appeal against an or der of demolition of

unauthorised construc tion carried out in a property in south Delhi s Hauz Khas.

Justice C Hari Shankar did not inter fere with the September 14 order of a trial court, which had also dis missed the challenge to tribunal’s decision of ordering demolition of unauthorised construc tion on the property.

The apex court also said that Navlakha shall not be allowed to leave Mumbai and he

Television and news papers will be allowed, but these cannot be in ternet-based, it said. “We observe that the petitioner and compan ion are expected to scrupulously adhere to all conditions. Any de viation will be viewed seriously and may en tail immediate cancel lation of the order,” the bench said.

The SIT was con stituted to probe al legations that a 21-year-old woman in Andaman and Nico bar Islands was lured to the chief secre tary’s home by prom ising a government job and then raped by top officials includ ing Narain there.

SC TO SET UP BENCH TODAY TO HEAR GYANVAPI CASE

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court agreed to set up a bench on Fri day to hear the Gyanva pi-Kashi Vishwanath case in which the Hindu side has sought exten sion of an order by which protection of an area where a “Shivling” was found in Gyanvapi premises was ordered.

A bench headed by

Chief Justice DY Chan drachud on Thursday took note of the submis sions of advocate Vish nu Shankar Jain, ap pearing for some Hindu

devotees, that the May 17 order of the apex court granting protection was expiring on Nov 12 and it needed to be extended.

“We will constitute a bench at 3 pm tomor row,” the CJI said.

While mentioning the plea for urgent hear ing, Jain said the order of protecting the area would be expiring.

Samajwadi Party fields Dimple in Mainpuri

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Sama jwadi Party (SP) on Thursday declared Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Ya dav, the candidate for the crucial Mainpuri parliamentary seat.

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the death of SP founder and leader Mulayam Singh Yadav will be held on December 5 and the re sults will be declared on

in an attempt to inherit the seat from her fatherin-law. Dimple had lost the LS elections in 2019 to BJP candidate Subrat Pathak from Kannauj.

Shivpal Yadav’s Pra gatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) said a final decision on this seat will be taken by the party leadership.

“The party leader ship will make a deci sion in this regard soon,” a PSPL spokes

RAPE ACCUSED

person said.

In 2019, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat by a mar gin of more than 94 thousand votes over his nearest rival BJP’s Prem Singh Shakya.

BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “What else could you ex pect from the SP, which only gives preference to its family. The people of Mainpuri will this time elect a BJP MP.”

Seeking anticipatory bail for Narain, his counsel Deep Kabir submitted that the former chief secre tary was cooperating with the investiga tion and should be granted the relief.

As Narain was the chief secretary of the islands for a con siderable period and

“his power and posi tion cannot be equat ed with a man of common strata,” the judge said, adding, “... the need of custo dial interrogation of the present petition er cannot be ruled out for the interest of the proper and im partial investiga tion.”

Noida airport on schedule, within budget: Top officer

Noida (PTI): The de velopment of the up coming Noida Inter national Airport (NIA) is on schedule and it will be deliv ered in time, by the end of 2024, & within the sanctioned budg et, a top project offic er said on Thursday.

Switzerland-based Zurich International Airport AG (ZIAA) had won the conces sion contract to de sign, build and oper ate the airport for a period of 40 years.

The airport project is a public-private part nership project of the UP government with the Yamuna Interna tional Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a fully-owned subsidi ary of the ZIAA.

“We are on sched

ule to deliver the pro ject as per the terms & conditions of the con cession agreement,” Christoph Schnell mann, the CEO of YIAPL, told a press conference here.

Responding to a query on any cost overrun in the pro ject considering COVID-19 and infla tion, Schnellmann said, “We have se cured a funding of Rs 5,730 crore and we expect to deliver the airport within the funding that has been sanctioned.”

Making efforts to trace self-styled preacher Virender Dev Dixit: CBI to HC

New Delhi (PTI): The CBI Thursday assured the Delhi High Court that all efforts are be ing made to ascertain the whereabouts of self-styled spiritual preacher Virender Dev Dixit who is facing rape cases and has been absconding for several years.

The agency said raids have been car ried out at Dixit’s farm houses and ashrams and special teams have

been constituted to ar rest him.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the CBI to file within four weeks a fresh status report giv ing details of the steps taken by it to locate Dixit. The CBI, in its status report filed on November 7, said vari ous video clips pertain ing to the accused available on YouTube

are being looked into to trace the location or the persons who have

uploaded them. The CBI, which said that there is a possibility

‘ANIMAL-LIKE CONDITIONS’

The high court had earlier constituted a com mittee, comprising lawyers and Delhi Commis sion for Women chief Swati Maliwal, to inspect the premises of the ashram -- Adhyatmik Vidhyalaya, in Rohini. The committee, which included lawyers Ajay Verma and Nandita Rao, had given a report detailing the “horrible” liv ing conditions of the over 100 girls and women who were housed in “animal-like conditions with no privacy even for bathing.”

that Dixit might have fled the country, added that a reward of Rs 5

lakh has also been an nounced for giving any information regarding

Dixit and his name has been sent to the fugi tive cell of CBI to trace his present location. In 2017, NGO Foundation for Social Empower ment, represented by lawyer Sravan Kumar, had moved the high court alleging that sev eral minors and wom en were allegedly being illegally confined at the “spiritual univer sity” and were not al lowed to meet their parents.

The top court also said Navlakha will have to bear the cost of surveillance which is `2.4 lakh

The bench

In this file photo dated August 28, 2018, human rights activist Gautam Navlakha seen during his arrest in New Delhi. —PHOTO BY PTI

Mumbai (PTI): Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case accused Gautam Navlakha’s partner Sahba Hu sain on Thursday expressed happiness over the Supreme Court order allowing him to be placed under house arrest for one month. Husain said, “We are happy even if it is for a month. The order says he will have to be in Mumbai. We have seen certain places... but we are yet to zero in. We have to make arrangements now.”

Jitendra Narain on his way to Police Lines to be questioned by the SIT, in Port Blair on Saturday. —PHOTO BY PTI

‘BAIL ON WHAT GROUNDS?’

December 8. Dimple, 44, will contest the seat

First India Bureau

Akhilesh and Dimple Yadav perform a ritual prior to immersing of ashes of Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Ganga in Haridwar.

—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,

BODDESS BEAUTY: A HUB FOR PERFECTION!

oddess, the omni channel tech beauty platform, held a grand celebration in honour of the opening of its store in the pink city at the Mall of Jaipur, Vaishali Nagar.

Showcasing the brand new Digital and Beauty Tech store the public was invited to join in and celebrate the occasion.

With 200+ beauty brands on its platform, a highly suc cessful online debut, and a Luxe Beauty store in Gur gaon, Boddess Beauty is just in time for all things auspi cious and festive in Jaipur.

The evening was graced by the Chief guest, Ashok Patni wherein he was seen unveiling the experiential Boddess Beauty concept fea turing Magic Mirror – which works as a Skin Analyser; Make-over Station with the best make-up artists; worldclass beauty advisors to solve all skin woes of con sumers and handpicked in

ternational and home-grown beauty brands.

Jagdeesh Chandra also graced the event with his pres ence and congratulated Ashok Patni for the milestone. He was ecstatic to witness the su perb experience store and the members’ hard work.

The city’s beauty enthusi asts, opinion leaders, and ex perts gathered to celebrate and savour the future of beauty retail. The divas were spotted enjoying an exciting shopping experience and scouting the various differ entiators such as exclusive brand offerings, stellar ser

Boddess Beauty is In dia’s finest beauty re tailer that aspires to transform the way people discover beauty and grooming by combining ex periential re tail, virtual technology, and the finest brands from around the world. It is reimagining the ideal customer experience and transforming its dedication to beauty and health into a lifetime partner ship via individu alised product curation, cut ting-edge tech nology, and crucial talent.

Anastasia

Kriti

KAVITA CHAUHAN

Kate Hudson showcasing Juice Beauty

Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Shailendra Godha, Ashok Patni, Atul Jain, JK Jajoo and Mohit Jajoo

Diva showcasing Avon Lipbalm

Sharad Sharma and Ashok Patni during Boddess Beauty launch event

Jagdeesh Chandra and Ashok Patni sharing a moment of joy Alia Bhatt

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

You are very generous by nature and also you are the backbone of your family. Today is a favourable day for business. You may postpone your study plans. You are very fortunate to have a great friend circle. Be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. Your lover may finally say yes to get married to you.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

Visit a doctor if you have any doubts about your health. Don’t attack stress even if you don’t have any. Let go of things that are not in your control. You want to have your own house and you will work hard to make your dream come true.

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

IS ONLY

NEVER FINISHED,

ABANDONED!

Art speaks where words are una ble to explain, the famous say ing has solved the greatest problem of life, this statement depicts the reality of life, which says that, despite the great force and profun dity, words are not al ways as effective at com municating ideas as art is. Although the written or spoken word has con siderable power, a pic ture or work of art may have even more impact on people’s minds and has the power to turn their perception upside down. Let’s learn inter esting facts about Sir Peter Paul Rubens, one of the finest artists of his time.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist most well-known for his ecclesiastical and myth

in the Flemish Baroque tradition. He was the most famous in all of Europe in the 1600s and his masterworks high lighted movement, col our, and debauchery that had royalty and no bility beseeching for more. This interesting and prolific artist was raised in Roman Catho lic and received a classi cal education, he began his artistic training in 1591 as an apprentice to Tobias Verhaecht. After a year, he hauled on to work with Adam van Noort for four years. He was then apprenticed to artist Otto Van Veen and in 1598 was admitted into the painter’s guild of Antwerp, and then finally moved to explore Italy in May 1600.

It is rightly said that art is the reflection of the artist’s character and intelligent and powerful brain. So in Venice when Rubens got inspired by artists such as Titian, Tin toretto, and Paolo Ve ronese before being hired by the duke of Mantua for whom he made replicas of Re naissance paintings.

After learning certain things, the preacher of art lugged on yet again

this time in Florence to attend the marriage of Marie de Medicis to King Henry IV of France and continued to make copies of 16th-century art, which now serves art historians well.

It is rightly said that Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard.

In August 1601, Rubens made his way to Rome where the Baroque style reigned supreme with the revival of Michelan gelo and Raphael styles.

The majestic art lover received his first commission in Spain during this era and he appeared to be taking every thing in. This included amassing a hefty collection of art.

At the end of 1605, he made his second trip to Rome and, along with his brother Philip, be gan amassing and inves tigating all forms of art work and ancient phi losophy. He retained a sizeable collection of Roman scripture, reliefs, portrait busts, and rare

coins. And finally, his hard work paid off when Rubens designed his own art studio and had many assistants. Though tables turned when he received the news of his ill mother, he left and returned to his hometown. The next year, he married Isabella Brant and annexed his painting studio a mar vellous townhouse in the city. Filled with as sistants, collaborators, apprentices, and engrav ers, Rubens was able to produce a tremendous volume of work with their help. The majority of painters in the 1600s worked as contract la bourers who painted for specific jobs. Rubens’ work thus came to be as sociated with particular political groups of the period. The majority of painters in the 1600s worked as contract la bourers who painted for specific jobs. Rubens’ work thus came to be as sociated with particular political groups of the period. After much ef fort, in 1622, Rubens was called for one of his

famous assign ments by Queen mother Marie de Medicis to il lustrate a passage in her newly built Luxembourg Palace. She commis sioned 21 canvases to glorify her life and the regency of France. The interesting fact about this artist is that he mar ried his wife’s niece, Helene Fourment and they were married when Rubens was 53 years old and Helene was just 16. His young wife was a major inspiration be hind his artworks dur ing the last decade of his life, and the curvaceous female figures dominant in some of his later por traits such as The Feast of Venus, The Three Graces, and The Judg ment of Paris were quite reminiscent of Helene.

On May 30, 1640, the art explorer died from gout which resulted in heart failure. He was survived by his eight children, three from Is abella and five from Helene, many of whom married into esteemed and noble families of Antwerp.

You need a break from day to tensions and the way to cope up with stress is to meditate. You must create an environment of understanding at home. You will succeed in any sort of examination if you put your heart and soul to it. Promotion can be expected even if other are not.

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

Your spouse may make you spend more than you expected. Fantastic day for investing money in stock market as you can make fortune. You need help on academic front and you should not shy away from asking. You miss your parents a lot and somewhere fear to loose them. Admit your faults in relationship.

CANCER

JUNE

You care about you lover but somehow hesitate in expressing that care. Don’t make friends for money and status rather make friends who will stick with you forever. On social front, you may have to spend some extra money in buying gifts for someone for some specific occasion.

LEO

Scrumptious food is what you are craving for today. You always maintain cordial relationship with everyone. You workout daily to keep yourself fit. You may start a side business to earn extra money. You are not a jealous kind and you feel happy for others. You are a very grounded person.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

You spouse is someone who can do anything for your happiness. You are opportunist and this will make you successful one day. There may be delays in property possession and it won’t effect you. You are happy spending whole day at home. Help your mothers at home today and give them a reason to smile.

CAPRICORN

DEC

AQUARIUS

VIRGO

PISCES

FACEOFTHEDAY

PRACHI SHARMA, Model

most

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

KIRITI ALONGSIDE KAREENA

The latest announcement of India’s big gest actresses, Kriti Sanon, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Tabu coming to gether has become the talking point of the industry. In a statement to a leading por tal, Rhea Kapoor who will be directing ‘The Crew’ is pretty impressed with Kriti Sanon. She says that Kriti Sanon is the new shining star. “She is a really authentic girl. The min ute you meet her you know that she stays true to her roots and her family, and that was re ally important for this character and the film. More than anything else I like the fact that Kriti is so determined and hardworking.”

New Venture

ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY

Director Siddharth Anand is directing Yash Raj Films’ Pathaan, an impor tant cog in Aditya Chopra’s vision for the biggest spy uni verse in Indian cinematic history. Siddharth Anand said Pathaan will present Deepika at her hottest and coolest best and she will mesmerise everyone with her sizzling screen presence like never before! Siddharth said, “Deepika Padukone is up there with the biggest of superstars in the history of Hindi cinema. Pathaan will showcase her in probably her hottest and at the same time, the coolest self." About

the super-hot pairing of Shah Rukh and Deepika, Siddharth says, “The onscreen jodi of Deepika and Shah Rukh Khan is proba bly one of the biggest pair ings that Indian cinema has ever seen, given their in credible successes in the past. And in Pathaan we have presented SRK and DP in a way that’s unprecedent ed.” He adds, “They have electric chemistry with each other and they look just so hot together. It’s rare to find a pairing like theirs and their Jodi is a huge USP for Pathaan.” Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone re cently sizzled in Spain as leaked photos from the sets took the internet by storm.

WRAP UP!

Actress Saba Azad, who won praises for her role as lawyer Parvana Irani in the first season of the streaming series 'Rocket Boys', has wrapped up the sec ond season of the show, which revolves around the lives of nuclear physicists Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Homi J. Bhabha.

The actress an nounced the wrap of the second season of the show on her Insta gram on Wednesday. She shared snippets

Rashmika TROLLED

Rashmika Mandanna is one of the most popular actresses in the South. She enjoys a massive fan base, and along with love she receives hate and gets trolled often.

Rashmika Mandan na was recently criti

watched Kantara yet when asked about her reaction. After she replied that she hasn’t so far, she was hit with a storm of comments, accusing her of not being re spectful to her sen iors and ‘forgetting her roots.’ For un versed, Rishab Shet

SHE SAID YES!

Malaika Arora and Ar jun Kapoor are one of the most adored cou ples in Bollywood. The duo made their relationship of ficial a few years back and have been dating each other for a quite long time now.

Taking to her Instagram han dle, Malaika shared a picture and wrote, 'I said yes'. She also added some red heart emojis. However, she did not tag her boyfriend Arjun on it. In the

photo, she is seen donning a black sleeveless top and flaunt ing her happy smile for the camera. Malaika's caption has left fans wondering if she's engaged to Arjun Kapoor or if it's a promo tional gim mick.

cording to her caption will be launching on November 11. Today Sidharth Malhotra took to his Instagram stories to share the same picture and wrote, ‘looking forward’. It is cute to see how the star is supportive of his ru moured girlfriend’s family.

Rashmika Mandanna

Malaika Arora

Her post...

Kriti Sanon

Saba Azad

Sidhart Malhotra’s insta story...

Kiara Advani

Deepika Padukone

THE ROYAL POLO AWARDS

CITY FIRST

ANight of Sport

ing Triumph was hosted to celebrate the 2nd edition of La Polo Indian Polo Awards In association with Ra jasthan Tourism, along with Code Silver and Wedding Asia recently at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. The coun try’s greatest names in polo, from players to trainers, groomers to teams, were honoured for their prowess in the sport of kings. The big gest names in polo, along with diplomats, and royals like Gaj Sin gh of Jodhpur-Marwar and Shubhangini Raje Gaekwad of Baroda, gathered for a glittering event hosted by Bolly wood actor Pavleen Gujral and polo commentator Sharad Saxena.

Cherishing this In dian state’s eternal love for polo, The Rajasthan Tourism The Most Val uable Polo Player award was bestowed upon Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur, presented by Dhiraj Srivastava, Com missioner Rajasthan Foundation and Dr Pu nita Singh, Joint Direc tor, Department of Tourism, Rajasthan.

Talking about the event Gaj Singh of Jodhpur-Marwar, said, “Last year was a great

success in Jaipur and what a nice thing to do this year, bring togeth er and pay tribute to all

the people connected with polo, the sport of kings and also for re membering us and in

viting us. It’s not an easy game to carry for ward, as we have issues in India when it comes to grounds and spon sorship. The aim is to find ways and means to give young people who cannot afford it, a leg up, to get on in the game. Events like this help us promote the game, and I wish you very well.”

cityfirstdel@gmail.com

India Kids Fashion Week

CITY FIRST

The 9th season of India Kids Fash ion Week (IKFW) will be organised in New Del hi on November 12 and 13 at The Lalit. The event is organised by Craftworld Events, Club Mahindra and Ryan Group.

The event aims to provide the muchneeded opportunity for designers to show

CITY FIRST

Governor Kalraj Mishra hon oured social worker Vidhi Singhania at Raj Bhavan on Thursday for the spe cial work done for the conservation of Indian culture, traditional clothes and heritage.

The Governor also hon oured four weavers by presenting them with mementoes on the occasion.

It is noteworthy that Singhania is working in Kota and Varanasi to encourage weavers, artists and craftsmen. Governing her a citation and a me mento, the Governor expressed the hope that in future also she would

work for the weav ers and will continue to work in the same way.

Earlier, the Principal Secretary to Governor Subir Kumar read out the citation. In her ad dress, Singhania while thanking the Governor informed about the ef

forts being made by her for the promotion of Kota Doria and weavers.

On this occasion, the Chief Privilege of Gov ernor Govind Ram Jaiswal and people re lated to the weaving sec tor were present. cityfirstdel@gmail.com

case their creativity while kids can get their feet in the fashion industry through a global platform. The fashion week will include kids’ wear brands from India and Dubai.

Speaking about the event, Manoj Mahla, Di rector of IKFW said, “Kids’ fashion is a huge industry and the luxury market for kids is growing the fastest. India is one of the largest contribu tors to the apparel-re tail sector globally and it is becoming a hub for kids’ apparel and fashion retailers as well. Over 375 million individuals are below the age of 15 years in the country. This rep resents a huge con sumer base for the kid’s Fashion mar

ket. IKFW is now the world’s biggest fashion week, being planned in 9 cities in India and Dubai. We always aim to make this platform a worldclass runway show in the Kid’s fashion and luxury market.”

Various brands from across India are going to be a part of this show like The Little Celebs, Ahhaaaa, Devy Kids, Little Ginny by Niharika, Kulreeti by Neha, Label by RS, La dee da by Neha, and many more.

Traditional Cake Mixing Ceremony

CITY FIRST

To bring in the Christmas sea son, Hotel Crowne Plaza, Greater Noida (CPGN), hosted a fun-filled Cake Mixing Ceremo ny here at the hotel premises recently. The festivities kicked off with the CPGN team handing over the aprons, gloves and Santa caps to the guests present. The team led by Hotel GM Sharad K. Upadhyay, Executive Chef, Sau rabh Singh Chandel, Pastry Chef Chandan and Chef Hardev Sin gh along with the guests came together to mix the ingredients.

The age-old tradi tional Cake Mixing was done amid a stun ning ambience with students from Father Angel School perform ing carols and other traditional music. It’s also known to cele brate the advent of Christmas and the be ginning of winter fes tivities, an usher for good tidings and hap piness.

Sharad K Upadhyay,

General Manager, Crowne Plaza, Greater Noida said, “Cake Mixing is a traditional ritual that hails from Europe and this tradi tion is followed all across the globe, and without Christmas cake, the heralds of the Christmas season is incom plete. We are very ex cited to host this Cake Mixing Ceremony as at CPGN we seek to provide our guests with both local and cultural experiences.

CPGN is all set to bring in the festivities by bringing together families and keeping traditions alive.

Amit Chawla, Direc tor F&B, CPGN said,

“To be a part of an ancient culture is quite fascinating, we all are excited for the Christmas season, apart from Christmas cakes, we have a lot in store for our patrons and guests. Especially in the F&B segment, we plan to make this bigger and grand for all the foodies, guests and others visiting CPGN.

(L-R) Vidhi Singhania, M K Sanghi, Kalraj Mishra, Manju Sanghi and Nidhipati Singhania

Kalraj Mishra felicitates Vidhi Singhania

Maninder S Sethi, Kumar Vikramaditya Singh and Vikram Rathore

Mriganka Singh and Daniel Otamendi

Subhangini Raje Gaekwad, Alaukika Raje Gaekwad and Abdul Manaan

Hugo Gobbi with a guest Shikha Durlabhji

Dhiraj Srivastava, Dr Punita Singh and Dino Dhankar

Pavleen Gujral, Maninder S Sethi, Gaj SIngh, Anu Sethi and Shivani Joshi

During the cake mixing ceremony

Harshaali Malhotra

During the event

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN

—PHOTOS BY SHAZID CHAUHAN