First India-Mumbai Edition-13th November 2022

OVER 800 TEST COVID POSITIVE ON AUSTRALIA CRUISE

Sydney:

VOTERS BRAVE SNOW!

AWHAD GETS BAIL, EXCITED SUPPORTERS CLAIM ‘VICTORY’!

LATER TWEETS ‘CHANAKYA NEETI FAILED’

First India Bureau

Thane: A Thane court on Saturday granted bail to former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad and 11 others in a case where they are ac cused of disrupting a show of Marathi film "Har Har Mahadev".

The Nationalist Con gress Party leader and 11 of his supporters were arrested on Friday for the incident that had taken place at a multi plex inside a mall in Thane city on November 7. The accused were pro duced in a court on Sat urday.

The court remanded them in magisterial cus tody. They subsequently applied for bail which the court granted. Advo cate Prashant Kadam, the accused's lawyer, said they were released on bail of Rs 15,000 each but a detailed order was awaited.

Awhad, who was the housing minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government, tweeted about the devel opment. "Chanakya Niti" (conspiracy) failed,

he said while adding that he received good treat ment in jail.

On Nov 7, Awhad and his supporters forcibly stopped a show of "Har Har Mahadev", alleging that the film distorted the history of Chhatra pati Shivaji Maharaj. Some moviegoers were also beaten up when they protested against the dis ruption, videos of the incident showed.

A First Information

Report (FIR) was regis tered over the incident at Vartak Nagar police sta tion under IPC sections 323 (assault) and 504 (in tentional insult with in tent to provoke breach of peace). As soon as Awhad was granted bail, the NCP workers started cel ebrating and burst fire crackers outside the Var taknagar police station. As soon as Awad came out of the court, flowers were thrown on his car.

Awhad holds PC, 2 hours later, DCP transferred!

Mumbai: Deputy Su perintendent of Police Vinay Rathore, who ar rested NCP leader Ji tendra Awad, was hast ily transferred on Sat urday after department of Home Affairs issued orders and transferred DCP Rathore from Cir cle V to Traffic Branch. There was pressure on the police while arrest ing me, claimed Jiten dra Awad in a press conference on Saturday and stressed that DCP Rathod's face was de spondent at the time of

arrest.Interestingly, Rathod's transfer order was issued by the Home Ministry within two hours after Awhad's press conference. The sudden transfer of DCP Rathore has led to heat ed discussions.

Jitendra Awada along with his workers tried to shut down the show of the movie 'Har Har Mahadev' in the theater in Viviana Mall in Thane. Meanwhile, there was a little row in the cinema hall. Yester day, a case was regis

tered against Awada in this case. He was ar rested yesterday even ing. After yesterday's arrest, the court today sent him to judicial cus tody for 14 days. But af ter Awhad's lawyers ap plied for bail, the Holli day court granted bail to 12 others including Awhad.

"The police had no hand in my arrest at all. The police were under pressure from 'Chanakya'. They kept me in the police station and spoke nicely with

me. By that time, the DCP entered the police station. Later, they said that they are detaining me and arresting me. In the meantime, some one's phone started ringing and I heard them saying "Sir... Sir..." and the DCP went out and started talking. Someone was giving or ders from the other side. It was the duty of the police to follow their orders. DCP Rathore's desperation was visible during my arrest," said the leader.

WB TMC MINISTER APOLOGISES FOR HIS COMMENTS ON PREZ

During 2nd day of his two-day visit to south ern states, while dedicat ing various developmen tal projects to the nation. PM addressed the people of Ramagundam. “PM Gatishakti Nat’l Master Plan

Kolkata: WB minister Akhil Giri addressing a rally said, “He (Suvendu) says I am not good-looking. We don’t judge anyone by their appearance, we respect office of Prez (of India). But how does our Prez look?” Giri later apologised, I did not mean to disrespect Prez.

EARTHQUAKE JOLTS

NEPAL, TREMORS FELT IN DEL-NCR; 3RD IN WK

New Delhi: Strong tremors were felt in Delhi-NCR and Uttarkhand on Saturday evening after an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 on the Richter scale hit Nepal. The quake hit at around 7.57 pm on Saturday. The epicentre was Nepal, 3rd time in a week.

I was in Delhi in morning, then in Karnataka, then in TN, now I am in Telangana, at night I’ll be in Andhra. People ask me, ‘Don’t you get tired?’ I explain to them, ‘See brother, I eat 2 kilos, 2.5 kilos or 3 kilos of gallis daily, almighty has created me in such a way that… god has blessed me in such a way that all the verbal abuses are pro cessed within me and are converted to nutrition.

MODI SPEAKS

PAKISTAN ENGLAND

HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLE

Like Raj, manifesto will be Cong govt's document in Guj: Raj CM

l Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot releases Congress manifesto with 11 promises including OPS

l Gehlot hints that PM Modi might be behind name change of Sardar Patel Stadium

l Gehlot targets Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal questioning his decision to withdraw from Himachal elections

Ahmedabad: The Con gress on Saturday re leased poll manifesto for Gujarat Assembly elec tions with 11 commit ments which include waiving farmers’ loan up to `3 lakh and imple menting the Old Pen sion Scheme in the state.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said that this manifesto would be the govt’s document in the

very first cabinet if the party gets elected in the state assembly election. “This manifesto will be

come govt’s document in first cabinet if our gov ernment is formed. In the first cabinet meeting

in Rajasthan, the points of public manifesto were made official docu ments. We will do the same in Gujarat,” Ge hlot said. He said a judi cial commission will be constituted for the im plementation of the manifesto. The Gujarat Congress has prepared the manifesto after tak ing the opinion of 6 lakh people. People are fed up with 27 years of misrule, he said. More on P5

Nationalist Congress Party leader Jitendra Awhad

The Majestic Princess cruise ship carrying about 800 Covid positive passengers has docked in Sydney and passengers have disembarked in the city. Ship docked at Circular Quay early Saturday, having sailed from New Zealand.

SHAH RUKH BRIEFLY STOPPED AT MUMBAI AIRPORT BY CUSTOMS

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Saturday paid customs duty of `6.88L after personnel at Mumbai airport found `18 lakh worth watches in combined baggage of the actor and five members of his team on their arrival from Dubai in a private jet. P2

First India Bureau

Begumpet/Peddapal li/Visakhapatnam (Telangana): PM Nar endra Modi on Saturday dedicated the Ramagun dam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) plant and Bhad rachalam Road- Sattu palli rail line in Pedda palli district of Telan gana to the nation dur ing the second of his two-day visit to the southern states.

has improved, de veloped connectivity to even remotest areas within country,” PM Modi said. Turn to P6

PM Narendra Modi waves to the people at the foundation of projects worth over `9,500 crore, in Ramagundam on Saturday. G Kishan Reddy and other dignitaries are also present here. (Inset) PM Narendra Modi and CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy sharing ‘laugh out loud’ moment.

Home Minister Amit Shah at Platinum Jubilee of

TN GOVT TO GO FOR MEDICAL, ENGG EDU IN TAMIL MEDIUM, SAYS HM AMIT SHAH Chennai: Batting for medical and engineering educa tion in mother tongue, Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of cement major India Cements Ltd on Saturday described the Tamil Nadu government’s starting such courses as a great contribution to language.

Manish Desai

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Dr Raghu Sharma, Jagdish Thakore and other leaders release party manifesto ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections, at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

RAHUL MAY SKIP PARL

WINTER SESSION: CONG

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said that party leader Rahul Gandhi will not be able to attend the Parliament winter session as he will be busy with Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Rahul Gandhi with padyatris in Hingoli, Maha on Saturday.

Some rebel MLAs will return to fold, feels Sanjay Raut

‘BHARAT JODO’S MSG IS INDIA CAN’T BE DIVIDED, HATRED CANNOT BE SPREAD’

First India Bureau

Hingoli: As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the sixth day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said its message was that In dia cannot be divided and hatred won’t be allowed to spread.

While addressing a gathering, the Con gress leader also tar geted the state and Cen tral governments over the shifting of mega projects like the Vedan ta-Foxconn and the Tata Airbus from Ma harashtra to Gujarat.

lapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vi kas Aghadi government.

“Some of them will certainly come back. I am confident that some will return,” Raut told a Marathi news channel.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader

Sanjay Raut has claimed that some of the rebel MLAs (in the Eknath Shinde faction) will return to the party fold.

Speaking two days af ter his release on bail in a case under the Pre vention of Money Laun dering Act (PMLA), he also said a joint parlia mentary committee should look into all such cases.

As many as 40 Shiv Sena MLAs including current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party leadership in June which led to the col

People think next Baramati MP will be from BJP: Union min

THOUGHT I WOULDN’T GET OUT FOR A

On Friday, former Thane Municipal Cor poration (TMC) coun cillor Ragini Verishetty returned to the UBT faction.

The rebel MLAs were now giving reasons for leaving the party, Raut said, adding, “What has Shiv Sena not done for these people? The party has done more for them than for me.”

In the PMLA cases there is no scope for quick bail, and many of such cases are regis tered out of political vendetta or to settle per sonal scores, said the Rajya Sabha MP.

There should be a “bench” of a retired Su preme Court judge or a joint parliamentary committee with high representation of oppo sition members to look into these cases, he said. Raut also said he had

no personal animosity towards Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) leader and Deputy Chief Minis ter Devendra Fadnavis.

He reiterated his praise for Fadnavis for some of the decisions taken by the government related to housing for the poor.

Attacking the Centre, Raut said, “The situa tion is such that a politi cal enemy is viewed as an enemy of the country and he is to be finished permanently for writing against the government. There was never such an atmosphere before.”

“There are threefour billionaires in In dia. They can do what ever they want. They get whatever business they want, be it air port, port, roads, infra structure, telecom or banking. “But if the country’s youth want jobs, they don’t get them,” he said.

Gandhi asked the crowd to list what the Modi government had done for those who

give their blood and sweat for the country, and for those who feed the country.

Looking at the me dia personnel, Gandhi said, “They are our friends but are unable to help (us). Someone else is controlling them. They can’t speak even if they want to”.

Earlier in the day, the Yatra resumed from Shevala village in Hin goli district on Satur day on its sixth day in Maharashtra.

The foot march passed through Arati village, Pardi Mod bus stand and Kalamnuri

Rahul Gandhi calls out Modi govt for neglecting those ‘who gave blood and sweat to the country’

Zilla Parishad High School ground, before halting for the night at the Shankarrao Satav Arts and Commerce College ground in Kal amnuri, said a party functionary.

Gandhi also interact ed with eminent au thors and cultural activ ists from Maharashtra and Goa during the day.

Aaditya are

the nation’

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Rajya Sab ha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said Con gress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray are two “prominent young leaders” capable of leading the country.

Thackeray partici pated in Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra ear lier in the day.

Two prominent young leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Aaditya Thackeray, walking to gether for Bharat Jodo will give rise to new energy. The two young leaders are capable of leading the country, said Raut.

The Shiv Sena lead er, who was released from jail after getting bail in a money laun dering case, said the Sena was part of the

Bharat Jodo Yatra. They (Gandhi and Thackeray) have a lot of energy to work for the state and the coun try, he said.

Asked about the coming together of Uddhav Thackeray and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar, Raut said a bond ex isted between their respective grandfa thers, and it has now percolated down the generations.

Ambedkar and Thackeray are two forces and when they come together, you will see the politics of the country changing, Raut added.

The prevailing at mosphere in the state will make the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray a bigger force. Everyone trusts him, he claimed.

SRK stopped at Mumbai airport over Customs duty

Pune (PTI):

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and five mem bers of his entourage were detained for an hour at the Mumbai airport by customs of ficers in the early hours of Saturday for failing to pay duty on six expensive watch es, said an official.

The incident hap pened at 12.30 am fol lowing Khan’s arrival

at the airport from Dubai on a chartered flight, according to the official, who also noted that the General Avia tion Terminal’s (GAT) payment counter wasn’t open at that time.

Officials discovered six expensive watches in one of Khan’s suit cases when examining the luggage of him and his team, he claimed.

The bag containing watches was carried by Khan’s bodyguard

Ravi Shankar Singh, the official said.

As the screening pro

The General Aviation Terminal’s (GAT) payment counter was not operational at the time of SRK’s arrival, said an airport official

cess was on, Khan and his team were stopped at the GAT a VIP ter minal for at least an hour, he added.

After some time, Khan, his secretary Pooja Dadlani, and three other members of the team were allowed to leave the airport.

As the Customs duty payment counter at the GAT was not operation al in the early hours, Customs officers took Ravi Shankar Singh with them to TerminalII of the airport, where Rs6.88 lakh was paid to wards Customs duty for the watches, he said.

‘Centre to give `2L cr for 225 devt projects in Maha’

First India Bureau

The Baramati Lok Sabha seat in Pune dis trict is currently repre sented by Supriya Sule, who is Pawar’s daughter.

“People in Baramati think BJP’s candidate should become MP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elec tions. I saw ‘fear’ there and its certificate will be seen in 2024 (in terms of people electing BJP can didate as MP),” Patel— who is Minister of State for Food Processing In dustries—told reporters on last day of his twoday tour of Baramati.

Nagpur: Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde on Saturday said the Centre has approved Rs2 lakh crore for 225 development projects in the state.

He dismissed allega tions that the state lost out the race to bag an other project.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray had alleged that Maharash tra lost five projects due

to the incompetence of the state government in the last three months.

“No project comes and leaves a state in just three months. It does not happen like that. These are just al legations. Our govern ment welcomes and strengthens indus tries. In the coming days, Maharashtra will get big projects.

Prime Minister Naren dra Modi has also as sured the Maharashtra government that big projects will come to

the state and a large number of jobs will be generated,” said the chief minister.

“The Central govern ment has approved Rs2 lakh crore for 225 devel opment projects in the state,” he said.

He denied any politi

cal hand in the arrest of senior Nationalist Con gress Party (NCP) lead er Jitendra Awhad in Thane and said the po lice must have taken ac tion as per law.

Awhad was arrested on Friday, days after he and his supporters dis

rupted the screening of the Marathi movie “Har Har Mahadev” and manhandled a cine-goer at a Thane multiplex. Awhad and his support ers had alleged that the movie has “distorted the history of Chhatra pati Shivaji Maharaj.”

FAKE

Thane: Police busted a fake currency racket on Sat urday near Gaimukh Chowpatty in city and recovered fake currency worth Rs8 crore.

Thane: A Nationalist Con gress Party leader on Satur day submitted a complaint with Thane police against BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule for the latter's alleged statement dub bing Sharad Pawar as a practitioner of black magic.

Bawankule reportedly said Pawar does ‘black magic’on anyone under his influence.

NCP Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase, in his complaint, sought the reg istration of a case under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacri fice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.

Alibag: A revenue official and her associate have been arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe from a man for settling a land dispute in rhe Raigad dis trict, said an official from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday. Based on a complaint, a team from ACB Navi Mumbai on Friday caught the associate of the tehsildar of Alibag accepting the bribe amount on her behalf. According to the complainant, the tehsildar had taken a bribe of Rs3 lakh to give judgment in his favour in a land dispute he had with his relatives, he said.

KIDS OF DECEASED NURSE AWARDED ` 70L COMPENSATION BY LOK

ADALAT

Two persons have also been arrested in the case. According to the police, the accused went to Ghodbunder Road at 10 am on No vember 11 to print fake currency notes. Acting on a tip off, the cops conducted a raid at 10.40 pm on Friday. The accused Ram Hari Sharma (52) and Rajendra Raut (58) were arrested with 400 currency notes of Rs2,000 denomination which amounted to Rs8 crore.

Thane/Palghar: The National Lok Adalat in the Palghar district on Saturday awarded Rs70 lakh compensation to the children of a nurse who was killed in an accident. The settlement was reached between the claimants and Iffco-Tokio Gen. Ins. Co Ltd, the insurer of the car involved in the accident. The deceased Sangita Shan taram Baswant was a nurse at the primary health centre in Durves in the district. She was killed in an accident while riding pillion on a bike in November 2020,

First India Bureau

Shah Rukh Khan

CM squashes allegations of political play in arrest of NCP leader Awhad

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde —FILE PHOTO

FOR THE PEOPLE

Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree in Mumbai. —ANI PHOTO

Sena MP says he has no personal animosity towards Dy CM Fadnavis, hails his work on housing for poor

YEAR: RAUT

Cong leader Rahul Gandhi poses with authors, activists for a photo after a session. —ANI PHOTO

Gandhi leads Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hingoli district on Saturday. —ANI PHOTO

‘Rahul,

both capable of leading

Aaditya Thackeray greets Sanjay Raut after his release from jail on Thursday. —ANI PHOTO

Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel on Saturday said he saw “fear” in Bara mati, the home turf of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, and said people of the Lok Sabha constituency think the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should win from there in 2024 polls.

Prahlad Singh Patel

BMC SET TO RENT AND RUN PVT HOSPITAL

AFTER PROTESTS FROM LOCALS ABOUT NO ALTERNATIVE TO CLOSED GOVT HOSP, CM EKNATH SHINDE HAD INSTRUCTED THE CIVIC BODY TO REMEDY ISSUE EFFICIENTLY

Sarnobat

on a proposal. A deci sion on this can be tak en in the next 15 days.”

Mumbai: In an at tempt to provide re lief to Vikhroli-Bhan dup residents, the Brihanmumbai Mu nicipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to rent and run a private hospital in the area.

Since the Krantiveer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital was shut in 2018, the Sushrusha Hospital of Vikhroli (also known as the Su man Ramesh Tulsiani Hospital) had submit ted a proposal to replace it. According to BMC officials, a decision will be forthcoming in the next 15 days.

“We had invited ex pressions of interest to rent private hospitals in October. Shushrusha Hospital of Vikhroli submitted a proposal.

We are studying it, after which we will decide on a rent amount,” said a BMC official.

Additional Munici pal Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar said, “Our team is working

Palghar: An 11-year-old boy died and a teenager sustained injuries after part of a bus depot’s compound wall collapsed on them at Jawhar in Palghar district, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred at around 8.30 pm on Thursday. “The driver was reversing the bus when it hit the compound wall of Jawhar depot, due to which a portion of the wall col lapsed on those who were standing close to it,” said Inspector Sudhir Sankhe of Jawhar police station.

Pune: In a shocking incident, a 15-yearold girl was allegedly forcibly married by her mother to the lat ter’s 28-year-old lover and she also forced the teen victim to have sexual relations with him.

According to a Chan dannagar police station official, the incident came to light when the victim narrated her or deal to a classmate and a woman social worker was alerted.

“The man is a distant relative and stayed with the accused woman,” the police official said.

The 36-year-old wom an and her lover have been arrested under provisions of the POC SO Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

make a decision.”

“The hospital has a 160-bed capacity. We

NEED AUDIT REPORTS BEFORE BRIDGE HANDOVERS: BMC

Mumbai: With the October audit reveal ing the poor state of 54 bridges under its care, the Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided not to take chances with the handover of overpasses by state authorities.

The civic body’s Bridges Department will write to authori ties concerned and ask them to submit the latest structural audit report of all bridges that they will be transferring. The state government has directed the MMRDA and the MSRDC to hand over all roads, including bridges, under their jurisdic tion to the BMC for maintenance.

will use their infra structure while our doc tors will be deputed there. This is the firsttime BMC is renting a private hospital,” in formed a BMC official.

Another official said the civic body has de cided to redevelop Phule Hospital and the new hospital will have 500 beds.

Expressing angst at delay in identification of the hospital's alterna tive, local resident, Dr Yogesh Bhalerao, said, “BMC should complete this process to rent the hospital quickly. Also, the new hospital should be constructed soon.”

Vikhroli-Bhandup residents had gone on a hunger strike in Septem ber this year to protest closure of Phule Hospi tal in 2018. The building had been declared dilap idated and shut but nothing was done about the facility. Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde had taken note of the hunger strike and asked BMC officials to come up with an immediate solution.

CRUCIAL READ INNOCENT FUN

SEX RACKET BUSTED IN PALGHAR; 1 WOMAN ARRESTED, 2 RESCUED

Palghar: The police have busted a sex racket in Palghar district and arrested a 39-year-old woman who allegedly pushed women into flesh trade, police said on Saturday. The MBVV police had received information about the accused woman who allegedly operated the racket by forwarding photographs of women to custom ers on WhatsApp. The anti-human trafficking cell sent a decoy customer to the woman in Vasai on Wednesday and apprehended her just as the deal was struck, he said.

MAN SHOOTS NEIGHBOUR’S PET DOG FOR BARKING AT HIM IN BEED

Beed: A man allegedly shot his neighbour’s pet dog for barking at him in the Beed district, police said on Saturday. The incident took place in Dharavati Tanda area of Parli taluka on Friday morning, an official said. The accused allegedly shot his neighbour Vikas Bansode’s female pet dog after she barked at him, he said. A staffer at Bansode’s beer bar witnessed the shooting and informed him about it, the official said. No arrest has been made in this regard so far.

Pune: A gang of robbers opened fire and looted Rs25 lakh from an angadia (courier) office in the Market Yard area here on Saturday. The incident took place around 11.30 am. Five people barged into the courier firm’s office and when one of the owners of the firm tried to push an intruder out, his accomplice smashed the office’s glass exterior and fired a round into the ground. The unidentified robbers decamped after looting Rs25 lakh in cash.

HAPPY ENDING

Locals help reunite three leopard cubs with mother in Shiroli village of Pune district

Found in a sugarcane field, they were examined for diseases and tagged with microchips before release

Pune: Three 60 days old leopard cubs were reunited with their mother by farmers of Shiroli village in Pune district.

The agricultural workers stumbled upon the cubs in a sugarcane field, while harvesting the crop. They looked to have been stranded and separated from their

mother. Being used to seeing leopards in the area, they informed the state Forest Depart ment, post haste. Forest officials, along with Wildlife SOS rescue team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Jun nar, took over the case.

The Wildlife SOS vet erinary doctor exam ined the cubs for any diseases and tagged the cubs with microchips before their reunion with the mother.

Dr Chandan Sawne, Wildlife SOS, Veteri nary Officer said, “We conducted a clinical ex

amination to rule out any abnormality or dis ease. Following proto col, we also carefully implanted each cub with a microchip before the release. This is an excellent measure of identifying leopards in the wild and allows us to study the range and

territory of the majes tic big cats.”

The team then waited till nightfall, when the leopards were most ac tive, and placed the cubs in a safe box. In the early hours of Friday morning, a camera in stalled to monitor the cubs recorded the moth er leopard approaching the safe box and reunit ing with her cubs.

The rescue centre’s CEO Kartick Satyanarayan praised the community for their conservation ef forts and mitigating human-wildlife con flict. “The awareness of the local community plays a huge role here in avoiding any kind of mishap and ensur ing that these cubs are safely reunited with their mothers.”

Civic body to introduce night hawking zones in southern Mumbai

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Beautify ing the congested B ward, which com prises areas such as Dongri, Umerkhadi and Mohammed Ali Road, is noth ing short of a chal lenge for the Bri hanmumbai Mu nicipal Corpora tion (BMC).

According to the civic body, there are plans afoot to first clear hawker en croachments and re habilitate vagrants under the bridges to impart an aesthetic look to the B ward.

Dedicated hawk ing zones with night markets, a concept borrowed from Goa, will be implemented first on Mohammed Ali Road, followed by the whole of South Mumbai. The con cept was introduced

BMC plans to clear encroachments and rehabilitate vagrants under the bridges to impart an aesthetic look

at the behest of guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar af ter he visited the ward this week.

According to Depu ty Municipal Com missioner Sangeeta Hasnale, “We are ex ploring the possibili ty of utilizing spaces that empty out in the late evening and can be used for night markets.”

“The sites are yet to be identified, but the concept will be implemented in all of South Mumbai even tually from A ward in Fort to E ward in By culla,” she added.

Group of people kills two history-sheeters with sharp weapons

First India Bureau

Pune: A group of around 10 people al legedly killed two history-sheeters in Pune city by attack ing them with sharp weapons in the wee hours of Saturday.

The police officials suspect that the offence was a fallout of old en mity. The deceased were identified as Anil, alias Popat Walhekar, and Subhash, alias Kisan Rathod.

The incident took place at 3 am near Pandu Laman Wasti in Yerawa da, a police official said.

“Rathod had been ar rested in 2009 in connec tion with an attack on one Shankar Chavhan. He was released from jail just a few days back,” he said.

“When Rathod was

travelling with Walhek ar and one more person, eight to ten people at tacked the trio near Pandu Laman Wasti. While Rathod and Wal hekar died, the third person managed to es cape,” the official added.

Later, Rathod’s broth er lodged a complaint at the Yerawada police station in this connec tion and investigation into the case is on, po lice said.

First India Bureau

A member of the di rectorial board of Sush rusha Hospital, Suresh

said, “We have submitted our pro posal. Now, they will

First India Bureau

BOY DIES AFTER COMPOUND WALL FALLS, 1 INJURED

ROBBERS OPEN FIRE, LOOT `25L FROM ANGADIA OFFICE

Medical staff members at the Global Hospital in Mumbai held a Children’s Day celebration for paediatric patients on Saturday. The day is marked on November 14, which is the birth anniversary of the country’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He was known to be fond of children and was called ‘Chacha Nehru’.

—PHOTOS BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

Woman gets her lover married to her 15-year-old daughter, held

Police officials suspect that the offence was a fallout of old enmity

First India Bureau

Wildlife SOS rescue team with the three cubs.

Democrats defy expectations, push back Republican’s ‘Red Wave’ in US mid-term polls

K NATWAR SINGH The author is Former Minister of External Affairs of India

The outcome of the mid term elections in the Unit ed States took almost eve ry one in America and large parts of the world by surprise. The Republicans, i.e former President Trump took victory for granted. The incumbent President, Joe Biden was more or less written off. To some extent the powerful American media was re sponsible for the denigra tion of Mr Biden.

The vigorous, intellectu ally impressive and untir ing campaigning of for mer president Barack Obama did much to put life into the Democratic Party. The other factor that went against the Republican Party was the divisive, er ratic, irresponsible record of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Apart from the Democrats, the independent voters had not forgotten, the un presented and violent at tack on Capital Hill, mas ter minded by the presi dent and his dangerous and anti-national staff in the White House. The world watched the insur rection on TV and was aghast. The world’s oldest and greatest democracy was being torn apart by hoodlums. The life of Vice President Pence was in grave danger. He had refused to declare that the 2018 election had been stolen.

What happened on last Thursday at Adelaide, was not just a disappointment it was an unmitigated, shameful disaster. India, with the exception of Hardik Pandaya made us all more than uncomfortable. It took Virat Kohli an age to get his fifty. The much praised Surya Kumar Yadav was caught after scoring sixteen runs. He should take lessons in how to be patient

The impartial voter in the mid-term elections made sure that Trump should be taken care of by the electoral guillotine. This mercifully has hap pened. A rival has ap peared. The incumbent Republican Governor of Florida has been re-elect ed. He is no admirer of Mr Trump. He is a dedicated adversary. He will have massive support at the Re publican Convention in 2024. This has changed the political scenario of America. Mr Trump is al ready been called a havebeen. A second Trump presidency would have

been a cataclysm not only for the United States, but for the World.

President Biden lacks charisma, but his politi cal carrier began when he was twenty eight years of age. He is a decent man and an upright one. A vis it by him to India is over due. Humankind is facing horrendous crises. The most frightening is the climate calamity hanging over the globe. It is large ly man made. As the UN

QUOTA POLITICS GOING OUT OF HAND

Tamil Nadu has decided not to implement the 10 percent quo ta for the Eco nomically Weaker Section.

Chief Minister MK Stalin views it as arbitrary and exclusionary. The DMK leader called the Supreme Court’s order upholding the Central government’s decision on the EWS quota as a setback for the centuryold struggle for social jus tice. Stalin has a strong reason to oppose the ver dict as the interest of 82 percent of the population comprising Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class es is at stake. Implementa tion of the Supreme Court’s verdict could cut into the existing quota in the state.

Boycotted by the main Opposition, the AIADMK

Apart from the Democrats, the independent voters had not forgotten, the unpresented and violent attack on Capital Hill, master minded by the president and his dangerous and antinational staff in the White House. The world watched the insurrection on TV and was aghast

Secretary General said at the Sher-mal-Sheikh con ference, “time is running out”. Pious resolutions will not do. Drastic, im mediate action must be

Boycotted by the main Opposition, the AIADMK and the BJP, an all-legislative party meeting called by Stalin there was agreement on rejecting the 103rd Constitutional Amendment which provides for reservation for the EWS as it “created caste discrimination” among the poor

and the BJP, an all-legisla tive party meeting called by Stalin there was agree ment on rejecting the 103rd Constitutional Amend ment which provides for reservation for the EWS as it “created caste discrimi nation” among the poor.

Tamil Nadu is not the

taken to save humanity and the globe. The two are inseparable. Enough con ferences have been held, endless speeches have been made, the T.V

only state to be bothered by the reservation issue. In an other part of the country, Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha government of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, a Bill was passed at a special session of the As sembly to raise caste-based reservation to 77 percent.

The Jharkhand Reserva tion of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill, 2022 raised total reser vations from 60 percent to 77 percent.

Consequently, the quota of Scheduled Castes has gone up from 10 percent to 12 percent, of OBCs has in creased from 14 percent to 27 percent and Scheduled Tribes from 28 percent to 30 percent. This decision will be subject to the Central gov ernment and the Supreme Court’s approval. Preparing for 2024, Mr Soren?

screens are working over time to record the not so inspiring oratory of a hundred world leaders.

NO END TO RUSSIANUKRAINIAN WAR

The end of RussianUkrainian war is nowhere in sight. The number of child orphans and young widows increase by the day. Has humanity gone on an endless furlough.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

TEAM INDIA PLAYED POOR IN SEMIFINALS

Millions of people are enthusiastic fans of our cricketers. Tens of thousands go to stadiums in Mumbai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and other cities to watch them play. Test cricketers have the same popularity as film stars do. The TV audi ences cannot be counted or measured. Nor can the touts who make illegal money. What happened on last Thursday at Adelaide, was not just a disappointment it was an unmitigated, shameful disaster. India, with the exception of Hardik Pandaya made us all more than uncomfortable. It took Virat Kohli an age to get his fifty. The much praised Surya Kumar Yadav was caught after scoring sixteen runs. He should take les sons in how to be patient. Our bowlers could not get a single wicket. The fielding was dismal. The T-20 players are payed huge amounts for playing in T-20 matches. So are the commentators. The BCCI is the second richest sports organisation in the World. One of the current Vice-President’s, I have lit tle doubt does not know the difference between a yorker and a googly. The Cricket Board should meet immediately. Sack six out of eleven of the team that let down India at Adelaide. Unless one is a Bradman, Walter Hammond or Tendulkar, none of the T-20 team players should be retained who are above thirty five years of age.

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures

Editor-In-Chief: Dr Jagdeesh Chandra Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan responsible for selection

might have hope. Bible

Narendra Modi @narendramodi

Shri RL Kashyap was a multifaceted personality and great scholar. He was blessed with rich mathematical and scientific knowledge. He was very proud of India’s cultural roots and distinguished himself in Vedic studies. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family. Om Shanti.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp

The indecent remarks made by Mamta didi’s minister on His Excellency Rashtrapati ji shows his feudal mindset. There is evidence of her tribal and anti-women character. In a democracy like India, there is no place for this kind of inferiority complex and malice towards women of colour, race and women.

TOP TWEETS

VOTING CONCLUDES, RESULTS ON DEC 8

JAIRAM THAKUR WILL CONTINUE TO BE CM FACE, SAYS BJP CHIEF NADDA

I AM CONFIDENT OF WIN, SAYS CM THAKUR AFTER CASTING HIS VOTE

11 IPS including 5 SPs transferred; Vats sent on central deputation

Ahtesham Siddiqui

Lucknow: 11 IPS offic ers including five SPs were transferred in Ut tar Pradesh.

Siddharth Shankar Meena was made the new SP in Unnao while Omveer Singh has been transferred to Ghazipur as SP. He was SP Vigi lance in Lucknow.

IN THE COURTYARD

PIL ASKING TO REMOVE NITISH FROM BIHAR CM POST DISMISSED

New Delhi: The SC has

a PIL

Minister

violation

different provisions

A bench

JP Nadda pose for a picture after casting his vote alongwith his family members in Vijaypur on Saturday.

Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh): BJP Nation al President Jagat Prakash Nadda on Sat urday said that the cur rent Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh would be the face of the new CM of the state if the party wins the as sembly election.

He said, “We definitely are in a comfortable ma jority. The election has been contested under the leadership of Jairam Thakur and he will con tinue (to be the CM face).”

—JP Nadda, BJP National President

He also took a swipe at Congress leader Ra hul Gandhi as the latter did not participate in any campaign for HP assembly election and said that they (Con gress) are careerist leaders. As the state al

ternates between the BJP and the Congress in the last several elec tions, Nadda thinks that this would change in this electio and peo ple of the state were showing zeal to elect the “BJP” again.

HIS

Himachal Pradesh BJP President Suresh Kashyap casts his vote with his wife on Saturday.

C ongress president Anand Sharma on Saturday said that the people of HP are in the mood for a change of government in the state by eliminating the BJP in the state assembly elec

Hemraj Meena who was SP Railways in Prayagraj, has been made SSP Mo radabad whereas DCP in Kanpur commis sionerate Brijesh Ku mar will be the new SP of Kaushambi.

Hemant Kutiyal has been put under await ing posting orders and attached to the DGP Headquarters. Similar ly, Ghazipur SP Botre Rohan Pramod has been kept in the waiting list.

2013-batch IPS officer Anurag Vats, who was posted as the SP of Barabanki, has been re lieved for central depu tation in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov ernment of India.

SP law and order.

Many

sections of the society have suffered especially the govern ment employees, the youth who are desperate due to unemployment, women and youth. who will work after Agnipath.”

Economy fast paced under PM Modi’s rule, says Amit Shah

HM Amit Shah dur ing the event said devel opment of the country was based on its infra structure and robust infrastructure is based on the quality of the ce ment used and noted that the company pro duces 15.5 million tonne of cement through its 10 manufacturing facili ties across the country.

“In the last eight years,

Medical and engineering education should be in Tamil and the State gov ernment should start that, it will be easy for the students to study in their mother tongue and they can also do research and development (R&D) in their own language.

—Amit Shah, Union Home Minister

will become a USD 5-trillion economy, ” Amit Shah said.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Nalini and four others released

Chennai: Nalini Sri haran, her husband and three other convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assas sination case were re leased from Tamil Nadu prisons on Saturday.

Immediately after she was released from special prison for wom en in Vellore, Nalini went to Vellore central prison from where her husband Sriharan alias Murugan was released and became emotional upon seeing him. Earli er, another convict who was set free in May, Per arivalan, along with his mother Arputhammal received the duo at Pu zhal prison.

Nikhil Patha, who was in the waiting list, has been made SP in re gional notification Luc know in place of Brijesh Singh. Singh has been sent to Headquarters as

Unnao SP Dinesh Tri pathi has also been kept in the waiting list of waiting for posting.

Dinesh Kumar Singh has been made the new SP in Barabanki.

New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh state government was ordered to turn over further investigation to a Special Investiga tion Team (SIT) at SC when it was reviewing a father’s petition stating that his son had been missing for nearly 17 years. A minor, Manoj Prajapati, pe titioner Attu’s son, was charged with violating a woman’s modesty in 2005.

Sharat K Verma

New Delhi: Under the pressure of RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, byelection has been an nounced for Khatauli assembly seat in west ern UP. In fact, on Oc tober 11, the verdict came against BJP

MLA Vikram Saini from this seat in the Mu zaffarnagar riots case and he was sentenced to two years jail. But nei ther his membership was terminated nor his seat was declared va cant. On the contrary, the verdict against SP

leader Azam Khan came on 27 October and on 28 October the Speaker of the Assembly declared his Rampur seat vacant.

At the same time, Jay ant Chaudhary raised the question as to why Vikram Saini’s seat is not being declared va

cant. Speaker did not declare Vikram Saini’s Khatauli seat vacant, despite his repeated questions. Then on No vember 5, the EC an nounced by-elections to Rampur assembly seat of UP and the Mainpuri LS seat vacated due to death of Mulayam Sin gh. After this, the con troversy escalated as Jayant Chaudhary and other leaders expressed their Oppn and a day later Speaker declared the seat vacant.

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: There are some areas in Uttar Pradesh, which have been a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party for a long time. Main puri is one such region from where Mulayam Singh Yadav won the Lok Sabha elections.

Another similar SP fort was Azamgarh, which has now ‘collapsed’. Akhilesh Yadav won the Lok Sabha elec tions from Azamgarh.

VP Jagdeep Dhankhar calls on Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

Jagdeep Dhankhar meets Vietnam PM Pham Minh Chinh at the 19th ASEAN-India Summit on Saturday.

attended by Vice-Presi dent Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday, India and the ten-nation bloc “re

But after becoming an MLA this year, he re signed from his seat.

On that seat, the party had contested Mulay am Singh’s nephew

Dharmendra Yadav, who was a multipletime MP from Badaun, but he was defeated by Bhojpuri film actor and BJP candidate Dinesh

Lal Yadav Nirhua. However, he lost by a small margin of eight thousand votes and it was largely due to BSP’s Muslim candi date Shah Alam getting 2.66 thousand votes. Yet a fort of the Mulayam family has collapsed. This time, SP names Dimple Yadav as its candidate from Main puri. This seat is be lieved to be more se cure than Azamgarh and yet, the SP is wor ried about many things.

Poll body prohibits exit, opinion polls for HP, Guj

Shillai recorded the highest turnout at 77 per cent

First India Bureau

Jayant is hoping that Samajwadi Party’s alliance will get him the Khatauli seat again and hoping for favourable ‘clime’, his party has also started preparations for the elections

Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav.

junked

seeking direction to remove Nitish Kumar from the office of Chief

of Bihar alleging that his appointment was in complete

of the

of the Constitution of India.

of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh said that post-poll alliance is allowed by anti-de fection law and the 10th schedule of the Constitution, subject to certain conditions.

First India Bureau

Chennai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the coun try witnessed fast-paced economic growth under the leadership of PM Modi and would achieve the USD 5-trillion econ omy goal by 2025. Shah was speaking during the 75th platinum jubi lee celebrations of N Srinivasan-helmed The India Cements Ltd.

HP CHIEF

CASTS

VOTE

‘CONG TO HAVE MAJORITY, BJP WON’T SUCCEED IN POACHING’

C hief Minister Jairam Thakur, after casting his vote in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, said the BJP is confident of a win and called upon voters to turn out in large numbers and “further strength en democracy”. “I am confident that people want to repeat this govt. I started receiv ing greetings this morning. I received PM Modi’s message a while ago, he gave me his blessings and best wishes,” he added. CM Thakur’s wife, Sadhna, said there are 50 per cent female voters and it is a big day for us.

tions. Slamming the ruling BJP, Sharma said, “There is a climate of change.

They (Congress) are careerist lead ers, realised that they will gain nothing in HP and Gujarat. Once they feel they are winning or can win, they all will come here for credit. They know they won’t gain anything. So they won’t be seen.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with MOS DrL Murugan, TN Governor RN Ravi, releases a special Postal Stamp to mark the Platinum Jubilee of ‘India Cements’, in Chennai on Saturday.

India-ASEAN nations to boost cooperation against terrorism

Phnom Penh: With an eye on the growing Chi nese military and eco nomic assertiveness in the region, India and the 10 members of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Na tions) on Saturday de cided to establish a com prehensive strategic partnership & enhance cooperation against ter rorism. At 19th AseanIndia Summit in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, that was

affirmed the impor tance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safe ty and security, freedom of navigation and over flight in the region” while “enhancing coop eration against terror ism and transnational crimes”. This year marks the 30th anniver sary of India’s relations with southeast Asian grouping and is being celebrated as the AseanIndia Friendship Year.

HM Amit Shah & Vice Chairman, India Cements, N Srinivasan.

the country has seen fast-paced economic growth. By 2025, India

Hemant Kutiyal Siddharth Meena

Anurag Vats

Rohan Botre

Law shouldn’t become instrument of oppression: CJI Chandrachud

New Delhi (PTI): It is the responsibility of all decision makers not just judges to ensure that the law does not be come an instrument of oppression but remains an instrument of jus tice, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Saturday.

Justice Chandra chud, while speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, said it is great to have expectations from citi zens but “we need to understand the limits

as well as the potential ity of the courts as in stitutions”.

“So, how do we en sure, as citizens, that the law becomes an in strument of justice and the law does not become an instrument of op pression. I think the key is the way in which we handle the law which includes all decision makers and not just judges,” the Chief Jus tice of India (CJI) said.

What sustains judi cial institutions in the long run is the sense of

compassion, sense of empathy and ability to answer cries of citizens, he said.

“When you have the

ability to hear unheard voices in your system, (see) unseen faces in the system and then see where the balance be

Sometimes the law and justice do not necessarily follow the same lin ear trajectory. The law can be an instrument of justice but the law can be an instrument of oppression as well. We know how in colonial times the same law, as it exists in the statute books today, could be used as an instrument of oppression.

India

—D Y Chandrachud, Chief Justice of

tween the law and jus tice lies then you can truly perform your mis sion as a judge,” Justice Chandrachud said.

EAM meets Kuleba; discuss nuclear concerns in conflict

Jaishankar met Kuleba on sidelines of the ASEAN-India summit in the Cambodian capital

Phnom Penh (PTI): External Affairs Minis

ter S Jaishankar on Sat urday held a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and both the leaders discussed recent developments in the re gion, nuclear concerns and ways to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Jaishankar met Kule ba on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India sum mit here in the Cambo dian capital.

“Pleasure to meet FM @DmytroKuleba of Ukraine. Our discus sions covered recent developments in the conflict, the grain ini

tiative and nuclear con cerns,” he tweeted.

Jaishankar is accom panying Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar who is leading the Indian delegation to the ASE AN-India Commemora

tive Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit here. Ukraine Foreign Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter and said that he discussed bilateral co operation and ways to end Russia’s war on

PM NARENDRA MODI’S ‘BIG’ SOUTHERN PUSH...

From Pg 1...

PM Modi on Saturday dedicated the RFCL plant and Bhadracha lam Road- Sattupalli rail line in the Peddapalli district of Telangana to the nation during the second of his two-day visit to the southern states. Addressing BJP workers he said it is be cause of the ‘karyakar tas’ of BJP that it has won more than 300 seats in the last LS election, PM Modi said on Satur day while addressing a public rally in Begum pet region of Telangana.

PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of var ious road projects worth over Rs 2,200 crores, namely the Medak-Sid

dipet-Elkathurthy sec tion of NH-765DG; Bod han-Basar-Bhainsa sec tion of NH-161BB; Siron cha to Mahadevpur Sec tion of NH-353C during the event. PM Narendra Modi said while address

ing a public rally in the state’s Begumpet took took a dig at the TRS say ing that the southern state now wants a gov ernment that would work for “every family” instead of “only one”.

Ukraine.

“My Indian counter part @DrSJaishankar and I met to discuss bi lateral cooperation and ways to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. I em phasized that Russia

‘Will hire best lawyers to fight in SC’

Srinagar (PTI): J&K

Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari on Saturday said his party will hire the country’s best law yers to fight in the SC for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A.

On August 5, 2019, the Centre revoked the spe cial status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and divid ed it into two union ter ritories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

It also abrogated Ar ticle 35A which allowed the state to define its permanent residents.

FILE REVIEW PETITION

must immediately cease deadly attacks, withdraw all troops from Ukraine, and com mit to peace. We also focused on global food security,” Kuleba tweet ed. India has not yet con demned the Russian in vasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplo macy and dialogue.

Since the Ukraine conflict began in Febru ary, Prime Minister Nar endra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a number of times.

Social media has posed one of the great est challenges as there is real-time reporting of every little word that

a judge says in court rooms and “you are con stantly evaluated as a judge”, he said.

“There is real-time reporting of every word that a judge says in the court. Those of you who are lawyers will be able to tell your colleagues that everything said by a judge during a course of conversation in the court does not reflect either the mind of the judge or the ultimate conclusion that the judge would arrive at,” the CJI said.

“The process of judg ing that goes on in the courts is dialogic. There is free flowing dialogue between law yers in the court and the judges between themselves in an effort to unravel the truth,” he said.

“So, I do believe that we need to fashion, reengineer, find new solu tions, retrain, recoup, rethink our role in try ing to understand how we meet the challenges of the age we are living in,” he said.

Situation near LAC stable but unpredictable: Pande

New Delhi (ANI): The situation in eastern Ladakh is stable but un predictable and in spite of the onset of winter, there is no significant reduction Chinese ar my’s force levels on Line of Actual Control (LAC), Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Saturday.

The Army Chief was speaking at the ‘Chanakya Dialogues’ here in the national capital on subject ‘Arm ing the Army-At manirbhar Bharat’. Re plying to a question of Major Gaurav Arya (retd) during ‘fireside chat’ on situation in Eastern Ladakh, Gen eral Manoj Pande said “situation is stable but unpredictable”.

Modi govt adopting zero tolerance policy: MHA

New Delhi (PTI): The Modi govt is adopting a zero tolerance policy to wards the terrorism and will convey to the international commu nity India’s determina tion in its fight against the menace.

The Union Home Ministry said the govt of India is organising the 3rd Ministerial ‘No Money for Terror’ (NMFT) conference on November 18 and 19 in New Delhi where repre sentatives of 75 coun tries and international bodies will participate in the deliberations over two days.

Hosting of the NMFT conference shows the importance being given by the Modi govern ment to the issue of in

HM Amit Shah

ternational terrorism as well as its zero toler ance policy against the menace and having dis cussions on this issue in the international community, a home ministry statement said.Union Home Min ister Amit Shah will be participating in the conference and will con vey India’s determina tion in its fight against terrorism.

All-party meet in TN rejects 10% EWS quota

lll Meeting, boycotted by Principal Oppn AIADMK & its ally BJP, urged the state govt to ‘strongly’ register its opinions when a review petition is filed

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Sta lin on Saturday chaired an all-party meeting of representatives of legis lative parties, at which a resolution was passed, rejecting the 103rd Con stitution Amendment providing for a 10% quo ta for economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society. As per the resolution, the parties have also decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court ver dict upholding the valid

ity of the Constitutional amendment.

The AIADMK and the BJP boycotted the meet

MK Stalin

ing. Former CM O. Pan neerselvam’s faction also did not take part in the meeting.

EWS RES. IS CONTRARY

T he EWS reservation is contrary to the social justice princi ple prescribed in the Constitution and also against the various judgements of the Supreme Court and is also discriminatory against the poor, the resolution stated.

Representatives from the Congress, PMK, MDMK, VCK, CPM, CPI, Manithaneya Makkal

Katchi, Tamilaga Val vurimai Katchi and The Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi were pre sent. The EWS reserva tion is contrary to the social justice principle prescribed in the Con stitution and also against the various judgements of the Su preme Court and is also discriminatory against the poor, the resolution stated. It also called for the Tamil Nadu govern ment to put forth its ar gument strongly.

“You are aware about the talks on the politi cal, diplomatic and mili tary level which is going on between the two sides. Because of these talks, we have been able to find resolution in five of the seven friction points which were on the table. And it is for the next two friction points, on that we are trying to find resolu

tion,” Gen Pande said. The Army Chief re ferred to the meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coor dination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held last month in which the two sides agreed to continue discussions through diplomatic and military channels to re solve the remaining is sues along the LAC.

CRUCIAL READ

IN POLL SEASON, TURNCOATS ON THE RISE IN MEGHALAYA, TRIPURA

Guwahati: After some of their counterparts in Tripura, at least five MLAs are likely to change party colours in Meghalaya. Along with Nagaland, these two northeastern States are headed for Assembly polls by FebruaryMarch 2023. Unlike Tripura, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Indig enous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) have lost their MLAs to the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance or Tipra Motha and Congress, the constituents of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government are targeting each other. The MDA is headed by Chief Minister Con rad K. Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP).

New Delhi: The BJP condemned West Bengal minister Akhil Giri’s derogatory comments on Prez Murmu’s looks and sought his dismissal from the state govt. Union Trib al Affairs Minister Arjun Munda also demanded that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tender a public apology for Giri’s comments and clarify that at whose behest he made such “unfortunate” remarks. Munda said Giri had insulted the country and claimed that his statement exposed the state’s ruling Trinamool Cong which has been “exploiting” the tribal population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to RFCL plant, in Ramagundam on Saturday.

S Jaishankar meets with Dmytro Kuleba in Phnom Penh on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

17TH EAST ASIA SUMMIT Indian External Affairs Minister Subrah manyam Jaishankar is accompanying Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is leading the Indian delegation to the ASEAN-India Com memorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit, which are both being held in Cambodia.

D Y Chandrachud

‘

HALF OF META JOB CUTS WERE IN TECH, SAY EXECUTIVES

Economy remains resilient’

New Delhi: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta

California: Facebook own er Meta Platforms told employees that it would stop developing smart dis plays and smartwatches and that nearly half of the 11,000 jobs it eliminated in an unprecedented costcutting move were tech nology roles. In a meeting by Reuters, executives said they were reorganiz ing parts of the company, combining a voice and video calling unit with oth er messaging teams & setting up a new division, Family Foundations, fo cused on tough engineer ing problems. —Agencies

CRYPTOCURRENCY

Das on Saturday exuded confidence that India will continue to be the fastestgrowing major economy with a likely growth rate of 7 per cent in 2022-23 on the back of strong macro economic fundamentals and financial sector sta bility.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2022, Das emphasised that the country’s economy re mains resilient, supported by the banking and nonbanking sectors.

Das said the entire world has withstood multiple shocks. “I call it the triple shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, then the war in Ukraine, and now the fi nancial market turmoil.”

New York: Crisis-struck cryptocurrency platform FTX has gone bankrupt in the United States and its chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried has re signed, it said, the latest blow in a saga that has reverberated across the digital currency land scape. The filing comes after the world’s biggest cryptocurrency platform Binance agreed to buy its rival earlier this week but backed out, leading mar ket players to consider possible regulator re sponses. —Agencies

The Governor said the financial market turmoil is mainly emanating from the synchronised mone tary policy tightening across the world by central banks, especially those in advanced countries, led by the US Fed, and the spillo vers are being felt by the emerging market econo mies, including India.

He further said in this kind of successive tur moil, European Union is

MAJOR CHALLENGE

z Our estimate is India will this year grow by 7%. IMF has projected India will grow by about 6.8% in the current year which puts India among the fastest growing major economies in the world,” the RBI governor said.

facing a recession situa tion, but there are possi bilities that it will avoid that.

The US is holding stable, but there are other coun tries where the growth has slowed down.

“So far as India is con

z Das said India has a major challenge with regard to inflation. Retail inflation in Sept raised to 7.4% from 7% in Aug on higher food and energy costs

z The Governor also said India is taking over the presidency of the G20 at a time which is perhaps the most challenging year in modern times.

cerned, economy, overall macroeconomic funda mentals, the financial sec tor stability, all these as pects remain resilient. The banking sector that is the financial sector is stable because of all the param eters with regard to bank

RBI GOVERNOR

New Delhi: Terming price rise as a major challenge, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Satur day expressed hope that inflation print for October will be lower than 7 per cent. Retail inflation in September increased to 7.4 per cent from 7 per cent in August on higher food and energy costs. Das attributed the expected moderation in inflation in October to measures taken by both the government and RBI in the last 6-7 months. Speak ing at the HT Leadership Summit, Das said there is no need to change the goal post for inflation targeting as higher than 6 per cent inflation would hurt growth.

ing or the non-banking lenders or the other major financial sector players,” he said.

The growth numbers are looking good in the current context, he noted.

“The IMF has projected that India will grow by

India-US trade may reach $500-600 bn by 2030, says Goyal

Upcoming decade going to be ‘Techade’: Sitharaman

New Delhi: Vedanta Re sources Chairman Anil Agarwal on Saturday said production at its semi conductor and display manufacturing unit in Gu jarat will start within two and a half years of the groundbreaking ceremo ny. Semiconductor chips, used in cars, mobile phones and other elec tronics devices, are not manufactured in India at present. Vedanta-Fox conn would invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the facility in Gujarat, which would create one lakh job opportunities, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had said after the MoU was signed. —PTI

OPENS ITS EV CONNECTOR DESIGN TO AUTOMAKERS

Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithara man on Saturday said that the coming decade will be a ‘Techade’, and technology is going to drive us.

Delivering the keynote address at YourStory’s 13th Edition ‘ Techsparks’ here, she also stressed on frugal ity and scalability of inno vation. “.... technology driv en innovators are the ones we need, who are going to look at local solutions which are affordable and have scaling up probabili ties,” Sitharaman said. She said that unless solu

tions are cost-effective and scalable, that typical thing about India innovation is not going to be there, and without these features, things cannot be achieved as aspired. Noting that the coming decade is going to be a “techade”, and technol ogy is what is going to drive us, the Minister said, “in technology is not just going to be looking at some funda mental things you are going to change, but to do some things using several of those, which are yet not available for many of the parts of the world.”

New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday exuded confidence that the IndiaUS bilateral trade in goods and services will reach USD 500-600 billion by 2030 as their relation continues to strengthen.

On whether India will join the trade pillar of 14-member Indo-Pacific Eco nomic Framework for Pros perity (IPEF), Goyal said it would depend on what India will get in return.

“India and the US rela tions are continuously im proving and strengthening and today we have a bilat eral trade of about USD 175 billion (exports and im ports of goods and servic es). I believe that in the com ing 7-8 years , it will be USD 500-600 billion by 2030, when our exports in goods and services will be USD 2 tril lion each,” Goyal said.

z The trade between the two countries stands at about USD 175 billion at present.

z While 13 member countries have joined all four subjects trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy under IPEF

z India has opted out of the trade pillar as of now. It has joined the other 3 subjects.

On a free trade agree ment with the US, the min ister said America is not looking for a new trade pact with any country.

The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee headed by the RBI Governor has been mandated by the gov ernment to keep inflation within 2-6 per cent range. On the Indian economy, Das said the macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong and growth prospects are looking good. “We ex pect the October number which will be released on Monday to be lower than 7 per cent. Inflation is a matter of concern with which we are now dealing and dealing effectively,” he said.The RBI on its part increased the interest rates and the government also announced several supply side measures, he added.

about 6. 8 per cent in the current year. And that puts India among the fast est-growing major econo mies in the world,” he said.

Das, however, added that India has a major challenge with regard to inflation.

OTHER STORIES

VISTARA ANNOUNCES NON-STOP FLIGHTS FOR MUM & MUSCAT

New Delhi: Vistara on Sat urday announced non-stop flights be tween Mumbai and Muscat, the capital of Oman, starting from December 12. Vistara will operate daily flights between the two cities using its A320neo aircraft and will be the only airline to offer the choice of premium economy class on the route, in addition to Business and Economy Class. This new route will further aid the growing traffic between the two countries.

Now, Disney set to reduce workforce, freeze hiring

San Francisco: Facing a slow revenue growth, Dis ney has reportedly planned to reduce its workforce and freeze hiring. According to an internal leaked memo from Disney CEO Bob Cha pek, seen by CNBC, the company is “limiting head count additions through a targeted hiring freeze”.

“Hiring for the small sub set of the most critical, busi ness-driving positions will continue, but all other roles are on hold. Your segment leaders and HR teams have more specific details on how this will apply to your teams”, he wrote. “As we work through this evalua tion process, we will look at every avenue of operations and labour to find savings, and we do anticipate some staff reductions as part of this review,” said Chapek.

z TASKFORCE

z Approximately 190,000 people work at Disney.

z Additionally, the company has planned to create “a cost structure taskforce”.

GODREJ ACQUIRE TWO LAND PARCELS

IN NOIDA FOR `337 CR

New Delhi: Godrej Properties on Saturday said that it has been declared the highest bidder for two adjacent land parcels in Noida for a total bid value of Rs 377 cr. The land parcels are located in Noida. “GPL will de velop residential group hous ing on the land parcels located in Sector 146, Noida. The land parcels will offer approximately 3.2 million square feet of pre mium residential apartments of varied configurations,” Godrej Properties said.

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES TO BUILD INDIA’S FIRST MULTIMODAL LOGISTICS PARK IN CHENNAI

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has been awarded the pro ject to build India’s first multimodal logistics park (MMLP) in Chen nai by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The project comes under the “PM Gati Shakti Na tional Master Plan (NMP)” launched in October 2021 and is aimed at improv ing multi-modal connectivity and lastmile connectivity across the country, according to a statement by the ministry. The estimated project cost is Rs 1,424 crore. The total concession period is 45 years. The SPV will provide four-lane NH connectivity of 5.4 km with an estimated cost of Rs 104 crore and new rail siding to the MMLP site of a length of about 10.5 Km with an estimated cost of Rs 217 crore.

Story Network announces top 10 business trainers in India

New Delhi: Elon Muskowned electric vehicle company Tesla has started to allow other automakers to use its EV connector de sign. The Tesla charging connector, which com bines AC charging and up to 1 mega-watt of DC in a “slim package”, is the most well-known connec tor in America, the compa ny said in a blogpost. It is half the size, twice as pow erful, and has no moving parts compared to Com bined Charging System connectors. —Agencies

New Delhi: Story Net work announced the names of the top business coaches in India who can give you the right vision and direction to grow and scale your business

Saurabh Kaushik

Saurabh is India’s Leading Business Coach, best known for helping indus try leaders, celebrity entre preneurs and legacy busi ness owners grow their businesses through your private one-on-one busi ness training.

motiva tional speaker, leadership

consultant, corporate coach, and inspirational business coach who has set seven Guinness World Records.

Ujjwal Patni Dr. Ujjwal Patni is an inter national coach, a celebrated motivational author, and a top-notch business coach.

Rahul Jain Rahul Jain specializes in advising business owners in the field of SMEs to take their business to the next level.

Nishita Mantry Nishita Mantry – Leading Trainer for Women Entre preneursNishita is a Busi ness Trainer for Women Entrepreneurs.

Suresh Mansharamani Suresh is a serial entrepre neur and the only known and experienced global

OKR (Objective Key Re sults) trainer and mentor to many Indian entrepre neurs.

Rajiv Talreja –Leading Leadership Train er for Asian Entrepre neurs, Rajiv built a clien tele of 110 corporate or ganizations.

Sridhar Laxman Sridhar is a Certified Pro fessional Coach & helps corporate leaders, individ uals, and business owners on their journey.

Dr. Vivek Bindra Founder of Bada Busi ness, Dr. Vivek Bindra is a thought leader,

Patni has inspired and motivated over a million people around the world.

VEDANTA-FOXCONN STARTS PRODUCTION FOR SEMICONDUCTOR

TESLA

RBI

TRADE PILLAR

INFLATION PRINT FOR OCT LIKELY TO BE LOWER THAN 7%, SAYS

Mirch Masala

FIRST INDIA SUNDAY SPECIAL

BY TRIDIB RAMAN

The author is a journalist and political commentator and views expressed are his personal GADKARI PRAISES DR MANMOHAN SINGH

Someone should learn from Nitin Gadkari the skill of ‘hooking or pulling’ dangerous bouncer balls coming towards him on political pitches that bounce uncontrol lably. On November 8, at an important event of ‘TIOL’ at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, in the presence of several corporate leaders, Gadkari heaped praises on former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Giving the ‘TIOL Fiscal Heritage’ award for the year 2022 to former Prime Minister Dr Singh, Gadkari said that ‘The economic reforms initi ated by the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991 worked to show India a new direction, the country will always be grateful for it.” Gadkari advocated a liberal economic policy whose benefits would reach the poor and the farmers. Gadkari also disclosed that he intended to raise money from the common man for the construction of Indian National Highways, for which people would be able to make monthly payments at an interest rate of 8 percent per annum. It should be noted that on the previous day, Gadkari was campaigning for the party in Himachal Pradesh. But to honour Dr Manmohan Singh, he had come straight from airport to the venue of the event.

SANGH ENSURES HIMACHAL’S REBELLION DOES NOT REACH GUJARAT

The Sangh had taken command of the Gujarat elections a year ago, reliable sources related to the Sangh revealed that after consulting the BJP top, the Sangh had entrusted the responsibility of Gujarat to more than 6,000 of its volunteers, one in each assem bly. More than 40 volunteers are active. Two main centres of election management have been set up, one in Ahmedabad and the other in Rajkot for the Saurashtra region. The BJP High Command had clearly told its workers to work in coordination with the Sangh. Perhaps this was the reason that in the Gujarat elections, the BJP cut off the tickets of its established leaders on a large scale, but there was no squabbling anywhere, the Sangh did not allow Gujarat to become Himachal, the Sangh itself took up the task of convincing the angry leaders.

The Congress may have got a new president in the form of Mallikarjun Kharge, but the functioning looks the same. In the Delhi civic polls, the responsibility of distributing tickets has again been given to the same troupe, which was accused of selling tickets indirectly in past. The chairmanship of Screening Committee for polls has been handed over to Avinash Pandey Dr. Ajoy Kumar has been made co-incharge of Delhi. The other two members are Dr KK Jayakumar and Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin, ex- MLA from U’khand. It is this team that becomes active in every election, which is said to have received the blessings of Alankar Sewai, an important member of Rahul’s team. Later Jagdish Tytler’s name was also added. BJP accused Congress of neglecting Sikhs.

RAHUL PUTS CHAVAN IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION!

Afzal Khan tomb case: SC seeks report from collector

Local

When Rahul Gandhi, heading the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, reached Nanded in Maharashtra, he was received by the former Chief Minister of the state, Ashok Chavan, for whom it was being widely discussed that he would be joining the BJP along with 12 of his sup porting MLAs. The names of senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Vadattiwar were also being mentioned.

Anyway, these specula tions were strengthened when Chavan along with his 12 supporting MLAs reached there late during the trust vote motion of Shide-Fadnavis. His meeting with Fadnavis at a friend’s house during Ganesh festival was also in news. Chavan is look ing for a suitable platform to bring his daughter Sreejaya into active poli tics. When Ashok’s father Yashwant Rao Chavan wasn’t declared as Maha CM by Congress, he reportedly got angry & formed a new party.

So, this time as soon as Ashok Chavan received Rahul in Nanded, the Gandhi scion headed straight to a Gurudwara & then held an important meeting of party leaders.

While speaking in that meeting, Rahul pointed to Chavan sitting next to him and said, “Look, he is sitting here, till recently there was talk of joining BJP.” Chavan was left without words.

...AND FINALLY I n Bihar’s Gopalganj seat, Lalu Yadav’s party’s candidate Mohan Gupta had to face defeat at the hands of BJP by just 1,794 votes. In this election, two undeclared friends of BJP i.e. BSP and Owaisi’s AIMIM played an important role in making BJP win. At the last moment, BSP fielded Lalu’s brother-in-law i.e. Sadhu Yadav’s wife Indra Yadav, who single-handedly got 8,008 votes, as long as Sadhu was with Lalu, he used to handle the responsi bility of Gopalganj and still holds some influence there. Owaisi’s candidate got more than 12 thousand votes, Nitish Kumar did not even go for the Gopalganj by-election campaign because Mohan Gupta is a liquor businessman.

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Su preme Court has di rected Satara district collector to file a re port on the process followed for the demo lition of alleged en croachments around Afzal Khan’s tomb at Pratapgarh fort.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli asked the report to be filed within two weeks. In response, the govern

ment of Maharashtra stated that demolition had been carried out of illegal encroachment and the collector could file a report on it.

The court asked the collector to file a report on what structures were there at the location, was due process followed and

NAVAL GATHERING

what kind of demolition was carried out.

The state govern ment informed the court that irregulari ties were discovered on forest land surrounding the tomb of Afzal Khan and that there was no illegality committed by the state, which only

followed a court order. The bench was hear ing a plea filed by Hazrat Mohd Afzal Khans Me morial Society seeking to direct the Maharash tra government to en sure that no damage is caused to the tomb.

According to the peti tion, since November

10, there has been wide spread belief that Afzal Khan’s tomb will be de molished.

“A local online news channel has been run ning live coverage of the demolition of unauthor ized structures around Afzal Khan’s tomb in Satara, Maharashtra. Screenshots from the said live coverage show men climbing the roof of the tomb with the help of a ladder and at tempting to demolish it,” said the plea.

The petitioner sub mitted that they are ap prehensive that the tomb may have sus tained damage during razing of encroachment or it may be demolished. It urged the top court to issue appropriate direc tions to protect the Khan’s tomb that has existed on the site since before November, 1659.

Ayurveda’s spread stopped due to invaders: Bhagwat

Nagpur: The ancient discipline of Ayurve da, the spread of which had halted be cause of foreign inva sions, is getting due recognition again, said Rashtriya Sway amsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhag wat on Saturday.

Maha records 146 COVID-19 cases, no fatality in 24 hours

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Maharash tra reported 146 COV ID-19 cases on Satur day, taking the state’s infection count to 81,34,150, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,400, a health official said.

Most number of cases were reported from Mumbai circle with 78 new cases, followed by

Pune circle 54, Akola cir cle 17, Nagpur circle 6, and Aurangabad circle 5. Three each in Kolhapur, Nashik and Latur circles were reported, he said.

The recovery count increased by 222 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,84,581, leaving the state with an active case load of 1,169. Pune leads with 335 active cases, fol lowed by 331 in Mumbai and 228 in Thane.

STATE OF AFFAIRS

Bhagwat, speaking at the international confer ence ‘Ayurveda Parv’, organized in the city by the Ministry of AYUSH—it encompass es the ancient and alter native medicine systems of Ayurveda, yoga, na turopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy—said more steps needed to be taken so that Ayurveda gets global recognition.

Sarbanand Sonowal, Union AYUSH minister, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were present on the occasion.

“Spread of Ayurveda among people stopped due to invasion by for eigners. But it is again getting recognition and it is time to expand the knowledge of Ayurve da,” said Bhagwat.

“So how should we

Spread of Ayurveda among people stopped due to invasion by foreign ers. But it is again getting recogni tion and it is time to expand the knowl edge…. The way (to do that) is that everyone gets affordable and simple medical treat ment, and for this, there is no better option than Ayurveda.

take it forward? The way is that everyone should get affordable and sim ple medical treatment, and for this, there is no better option than Ayur veda,” he added.

According to the RSS chief, Ayurveda should be practised in its purest form so that it gets inter national recognition.

Speaking at the event, Sonowal said for the past seven years, Ayur veda has been getting international recogni tion, a system that was earlier neglected.

He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for boosting the discipline by forming a separate ministry for it.

Caste consciousness greater today than in 1950s, says Tharoor

“Ambedkar: A Life,” a biography of Dr BR Ambedkar, was launched during the programme.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: There is greater conscious ness of caste in Indi an society today com pared to the decade after independence, said Congress MP and author Shashi Tha roor at an event in Mumbai on Saturday.

Speaking during a discussion on the lost legacy of Dr BR Ambedkar at the Tata Literature Festival, he said now every caste is conscious of its identi ty, and this “identity label has become a marker for political mobilization.”

Tharoor’s book

Ambedkar wanted to completely destroy the caste system and he will probably be horrified to realize that, if any thing, the caste system is more and more en trenched in the political parties, he said.

In response to a ques tion from the audience, Tharoor, the third-term MP from Thiruvanan thapuram, noted that the political parties which are against dis crimination or un

touchability nonethe less seek votes in the name of caste.

The caste system is “far from annihilated”, he added.

Both Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru want ed the caste system to disappear from India and the latter thought that with moderniza

tion it would disappear, said Tharoor.

Ambedkar fought for “annihilation of caste” because he felt that as long as the conscious ness of the caste system existed, oppression would also exist, he said.

Caste is very much a feature of matrimonial pages, he pointed out.

Going forward, “all we can hope is that caste becomes a benign label of identity like an old school tie,” added the Congress leader.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor at the launch of his book at Tata Literature Festival in Mumbai on Saturday.

—PHOTO BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

Cong leader hails social reformer Dr BR Ambedkar for fighting for ‘annihilation of caste system’

A group of 50 young cadets of the Sea Cadet Corps met with Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on Saturday. ‘Grand Old Man of Indian Sailing’ Commodore (SCC) Rabi Ahuja, Western Naval Command Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh were also present on the occasion. —PHOTO BY ANI

First India Bureau

BJP supporters celebrate after demolition of illegal structures near Afzal Khan’s tomb in Mumbai on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI

officials demolished unlawful encroachments around the tomb at Pratapgarh fort on Friday

WHO WAS AFZAL?

Mohan Bhagwat addresses ‘Ayurveda Parv’, international conference as Union Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and others look on, in Nagpur on Saturday. —PHOTO BY ANI

—Mohan Bhagwat, RSS chief

(BR) Ambedkar wanted to complete ly destroy the caste system and he will probably be horrified to realize that, if anything, the caste system is more and more entrenched in the political parties. They are against discrimination or untouch ability but seek votes in the name of caste.

—Shashi

Tharoor, Congress MP

day with

CONG STILL TREADING THE OLD PATH

lthough the shirt may appear unassuming and unimportant, it ac tually plays a crucial role in the history and culture of women. A shirt is more than just a top-of-the-body garment; women have used shirts to rein vent themselves throughout history. Shirts and blouses came to represent women’s freedom and equality, but let’s face it, we still adore shirts. The development of shirts closely parallels the advancement of women and their social roles. Early on, women’s shirts only served the purpose of covering the upper body, but men’s shirts evolved into status and power emblems. Women’s shirts fell behind when it comes to fash ion for a very long period. Women’s shirts have changed over time, moving away from being only functional clothing and toward being more about style and flair. Women’s shirts evolved and took

on a more feminine shape with the addition of finer fabrics and other aesthetic altera tions. The shirt’s focus shifted from pure functionality to el egance and beauty. The gar ment started to draw atten tion to women’s femininity. Shorter sleeves and lower necklines started to high light rather than conceal a woman’s body. The idea that a woman’s body should always be hidden was disproved by this re vealing, which gave women a more sensual and attractive appearance.

The shirts were once again at the forefront of social problems in the last ten or so years. A shirt was used to break down gender bar riers and became a representation of even greater equal ity. Men and women started to find com mon ground as the gender divide started to con verge and blur. In the world, the shirt stood for the strength and equality of women. Shirts have always represented particular decades and times they repre sent. They are worn by all. In their closets, everyone keeps shirts of various styles and colors. The shirt is a fantastic way to show off the wearer.

MRIDULA SHARMA cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

ADELINE DORCAS,  M.SC, M.PHIL cityfirst@firstindia.co.in

The COVID-19 pandemic the coronavirus is changing how we greet each other. The tra ditional Indi an and far east way of greeting with folded hands and saying Na maste is slowly becom ing the accepted norm the world over and re placing the convention al handshake.

Unlike a handshake, in Namaste there is no contact with the other person and so avoids any transfer of bugs, and it makes this a safe practice of greeting one another, amid all this panic and anxiety the virus has created.

The Namaste greet ing is used in yoga ex tensively and is meant to connect both the spheres of the brain through the nerve end ings of our hands. The word Namaste is de rived from the San skrit word. Nama means bow or me, and the means you, hence namaste literal ly means “bow me you” or “I bow to the divine in you.”

Conventionally after folding hands together, one is expected to bow forward towards the other person and close one’s eyes as a gesture of respect. The folded palms and fingers are kept close to the heart and the hands point to the third eye that is supposed to be located between our eyebrows. If it is done with deep feelings in the heart and with our minds surrendered, we can invite a deep union of our spirits.

Namaste in yoga is an Añjali Mudrā and is practised in many Asian countries. It is used as a sign of re spect and a greeting not only in India but also in Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cam bodia, and Indonesia. It is also used among all yoga practitioners, Buddhists, Taoists, and Shintoists. The gesture is incorporat ed into many yoga asanas and is used for worship among Hin dus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists.

This gesture, when used as a mudra, can al leviate mental stress and anxiety and is therefore used to assist yoga and other practi tioners to focus and get into a meditative state of mind. The physical execution of the pose itself helps to promote flexibility in the hands, wrists, fingers, and arms.

INDIAN NAMASTE THE PREFERRED GREETING OVER A

NAMASTE GESTURE AS YOGA ASANA

While Anjali Mudra may be performed by itself from any seated or standing posture, the gesture is also in corporated into physi cal yoga practice as part of many full-body asanas, including:

Anjaneyasana (Cres cent Moon Pose) – Lunge with arms overhead Eka Pada Rajakapo tasana (Pigeon Pose/ King Pigeon Pose) –Seated back-bending

Hanumanasana (Mon key Pose) - Front splits

Malasana (Garland Pose) - Squat

Matsyasana (Fish Pose) – Reclining backbending Prasarita Padottana sana - Wide-legged for ward bend

tancing are the first line of defence to con tain the spread of the virus. These are a few precautions that we can all observe to con tain the virusFrequent hand wash ing using soap or hand sanitiser and use them frequently both at home and when you are outside and touch any object

Keeping a distance of one to two meters when your cough Cough or sneeze into your arm sleeve by turning your face to a side

and even have mild symptoms such as headache and slight runny nose, until you recover

Avoid travel, confer ences and crowded places if it is not neces sary

Covid-19 can be contained if we all follow simple instruc tions, and it all starts with the way we greet each other. So, Na maste is in and hand shakes are out.

https://www. medindia.net/pa tients/lifestylean dwellness/indian-

FACEOFTHEDAY

INDIAN LANGUAGES

The folded hand greet ing though called Na maste or Namaskār in Hindi and Devanagri, is different in other languages. And here is the listHindi & NepaliNamaste Devanagari- Na maste and Namaskar Odia - Namaste/ Na maskar Tamil - Vanakkam Malayalam - Na maste/ Namaskaram Kannada (in Kar nataka – Namaskara (singular) & Nam askaragalu (plural)

Kannada (in North ern Karnataka)Sharanu

Telugu–Dandamu/ Nam askaram (singular) –Dandaalu/ Nam askaralu (plural)

–Pranamamu (Formal Telugu) Bengali–Namashkar (used for mally)

–Pranäm (informally) Assamese - Nômôskar Marathi - Namaskar

NAMASTE IN SOUTH EAST ASIAN LAN

GUAGES

Nepal - Namaste/ Namaskar Bhutan - Kuzoozang po La Burma - Mingalaba Sri Lanka - Ayubowan Thailand - Sawasdee Laos - Sabaidee Cambodia - Sam peah/ Choum Reap Sur Indonesia - Selamat siang

Tadasana/ Samas thiti (Mountain pose) – A variant of the pose used during sun saluta tion sequences

Utkatasana (Chair pose, literally “fierce pose”) - Low squatting with arms overhead Urdhva Hastasana (Upward salute/ Ex tended mountain pose) – Standing and raising arms overhead Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I) – High lunge pose with the right knee bent and arms overhead Vrikshasana (Tree pose) - Balancing pose which replicates the graceful, steady stance of a tree.

WHAT ARE THE UNI VERSAL PRECAU TIONS TO BE FOL LOWED TO CONTAIN THE SPREAD OF CORONAVI RUS (COV ID-19) Self-quar antine and social dis

ARIES

MAR 21 - APR 20

Limiting some items from your diet will have a positive effect on your health. There is much to achieve today and you will find yourself up to it. Academic front seems favourable. You are likely to buy something you have been longing for. You are likely to spend some time in self introspection.

LEO JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Financial front remains rosy and promises to bring in gains. Good professional guidance may become the key to further your career. A family member may make you proud with an achievement. Some of you may decide to take your romance to the next level.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

You will succeed in wriggling out of a tight financial situation by curbing wasteful expenditure. An outing with family promises much fun. Prepare well for a long journey, if you want to travel comfortably. Shifting to a new house or a new city cannot be ruled out for some. Plan an exclusive time with lover.

TAURUS

APR 21 - MAY 20

Your bank balance is likely to swell and make you financially secure. Responsibilities are likely to increase manifold. Those feeling lethargic and unwell may get back on the path to perfect health. Love is in the air and you are likely to enjoy the day in the company of beloved.

VIRGO

AUG 24 - SEP 23

Someone’s

CAPRICORN

DEC 23 - JAN 20

This is a positive day that proves special for some. Meditate to embark on a new spiritual journey. You will be able to regain lost ground on the academic front to come at par with the rest. Excellent showing at work will get you hand-picked for an important assignment.

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

Family issues that are leading to disputes are likely to be resolved amicably. There is a chance of somebody taking you along for a function or a party. Your standing in your professional circle is likely to get a boost. Not keeping regular in your routine can tell on your health.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

You may want things differently on the domestic front, but will need to convince others about your ideas. A break from the routine is indicated and will give you time to do things you were not getting time. Change of season requires you to take good care of your health.

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

Something being organised on the social front may get you totally involved. Workload is likely to increase on the professional front and you’ll manage to earn a lot. Good understanding and mutual respect is likely to enhance togetherness for the newlyweds.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

Problems faced on the financial front are likely to disappear. Someone who admires you will leave no stone unturned in appeasing you today. Those unwell are likely to recover soon through regular medication. Something may keep you from realizing your full potential on the academic front.

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

An initiative on the health front is likely to give rich dividends. Those involved in a project will be able to give a good account of themselves. Someone you despise is likely to turn over a new leaf, so let bygones be bygones. Good news awaits you on the social front.

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20 Going the extra mile for someone will be greatly appreciated by all. Much hustle and bustle can be expected on the social front to your delight. You will get a chance to tap your potential on the professional front and impress those who matter. Overall it will be a good day.

RAKSHANDA TIWARI,

good advice will help in making the right decisions on the academic front. Things start looking up on the health front as you manage to remain regular in your workouts. Prospects of marriage for lovers are set to brighten.Overall health remains perfect.

It's a girl!

Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover are over the moon as they have welcomed their first child- a baby girl! It was in Au gust that Bipasha and Karan announced they are expecting their first child together.

Since then, Bipasha has been posting the loveliest pictures and videos on Instagram, doc umenting her pregnancy jour ney. The couple had been ea gerly waiting for their baby and their joy knows no bounds as she is finally here!

Earlier, in an interview, Bi pasha Basu shared that she and Karan had been trying for a baby before the pandemic, but then they dropped the idea after the pandemic hit. “In 2021 we decided to try again, and God has been kind, we conceived,” she said.

Singer Mame Khan launched Desert Rose in Jaipur on Saturday. During the occasion, he raised the prestige of Rajasthan by performing in 60 coun tries. While interacting with the media, the sing er said, "There is nothing

wrong with recreating songs. But the creation should be made like a fu sion of singers' songs, not confusion. Because sometimes that too is made, which does not freeze. He also shared insights into his journey as a sing

LAUNCH!

er. There are 6 songs in his new album, which have been prepared ac cording to the choice of the youth. He further added that he manages to main tain his voice even after singing for a long time, he said, Singer's throat is

like a bowl. The more you brush it, the more it will shine. My condition is also the same because I start my Riyaz in the morning which contin ues throughout the day. This is the only reason I have been able to main tain my voice.

BHEDIYA IS MY DREAM ROLE’ - VARUN

at Jaipur Marriott Hotel on Saturday.

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

fter mesmer ising the au dience with the energetic song Jungle Mein Kaand, Bhediya costars Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan gave some glimpse of their Magical

Every child has a dream to live like a werewolf or a super hero, as currently, you are living that dream. What was your reaction when you read the script?

I was very happy when I got to read this script, indeed it is my dream role and without wasting a single minute my in ner actor jumped like a Bhediya to get this role, I wanted to feel this Bhediya's every emotion and for that I had taken many ani

prepare yourself for this energetic super natural movie?

This movie is differ ent from all our previ ous releases and we have invested our Blood, Sweat and Tears in this extreme ly precious movie of ours. I had taken ad vanced exercises to get that strong phy sique like Bhediya whereas Kriti had also experimented with her looks.

Did you get inspira tion from the movie JUNOON?

Yes, you can say that, I used to watch that movie a lot and it's a matter of pride that we have such great movies through which we can take

inspiration.

What is the message you learnt from the movie?

Through this movie, we are trying to edu cate people that all animals and hu mans are equally impor tant and we need to re spect each other's exist ence.

We need to protect our envi ronment so all of us can live together happily.

Bling and bright

saree features all-over sequin details. The classic appeal of square-shaped se quins on a colour-rich saree effortlessly translates it into a stand-out ensemble.

Kriti Sanon was recently spotted in a contemporary blingy saree by Akanksha Gajria. The orange-hued

Celebrity fashion styl ist Sukriti Grover styled Kriti’s sequin saree with a bralettestyle satin blouse that definitely added an oomph factor to the sa ree look. The satin blouse featured a dark er shade of tangerine with a bustier neck line and thin straps.

The Bhediya actress's look epitomizes a sar torial way to pull off a saree look.

adhika

Radhika was recently asked about facing rejection be cause the other actors get valued more to which she told inter viewer Siddharth Kan nan, “There’s truth to this, but it becomes sensationalized and it changes its tonality.

Age is a factor and you cannot deny the fact that people want younger actresses in bigger commercial films; it’s just a fact, a younger or conven tional image that they want. You can see the number of surger ies people do. There is an image that we are chas ing and not just in India, across the globe.”

ANANYA’S BIRTHDAY WISH

Aryan Khan turned a year older and cele brated his 25th birthday on Novem ber 12. On this occasion, Ananya Panday took to her Instagram stories and dedi cated a special birthday wish for him. She posted a

major throwback picture that shows Ananya and Ar yan from back when they were little kids. While Ary an can be seen in a red tshirt, Ananya can be seen in a cute pink frock. The picture is just too cute! Meanwhile, in her caption, she wrote that she misses baby Aryan, and called him her ‘first and forever best

“Missing baby Aryan happy birthday to my first and forever best friend @__ aryan__,” wrote Ananya

riti Sanon has her fashion foot forward as she has been stepping out for the promotions of her upcoming film Bhedi ya with co-star Varun Dhawan. This time the actress was spot ted all glammed up in a bright and blingy orangehued saree by Akanksha

Apte is one of the most talented actors in Bollywood.

—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO

Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon during the promotions of Bhediya

Radhika Apte

Kriti Sanon

Kriti in Akanksha Gajria’s saree

Ananya Panday

Mame Khan

Priya shares her journey as MS World

International Ambassador

out that he was unfaithful to me. My ex-husband left a lot of financial burden on me. I had to pay EMI for the house, furniture and even his educa tion loan. In 2018, after our separation I felt like fulfilling all my wishes, that’s where it all started,” she shared.

and counsel ling too and I have started taking acting classes. I would like to be on TV and be a part of the entertain ment. Acting has also been another dream. Being able to do all these things makes me very happy,” she ended.

Priya Paramita Paul always dreamt of rep resenting her country in beauty pag eants. The IT professional talked about her journey and why she would like to con tinue healing peo ple.

“I was born and raised in Guwahati, Assam in a middle-class family. My fa ther was a bank er, mom is a home maker. My young er sister is mar ried and lives in the US. I got mar ried in 2014, but two years later we separated. I found

“As a kid, I was inspired by Sushmita Sen’s journey and always dreamt of wearing the crown and representing my country. After gaining some knowledge, I partici pated in MS World Interna tional as the first Indian par ticipant. Unlike Miss and Mrs in India, MS defines no relationship status of a wom an. This pageant gave me a platform where I could talk about my transformation journey and create aware ness around mental health.” The national-lev el dancer smiled.

Priya’s career goal is to live her life her way. “At present, I am still doing my of fice job as I have seen a lot of changes in my of fice life too. My office has been one of my sponsors and they sup ported my journey so I am grateful to them as well. I am continuing all

hah Rukh Khan is the Badshah of Bollywood and it is proven time and again through his massive fan following. The actor who has been honoured several times around the world had yet another prestigious event to grace this week. He flew from the pri vate airport to Sharjah to attend the Sharjah International Book Fair event.

During the event, when asked whether he was nervous about his up coming films, SRK said that he does not find the need to be nerv ous as all the films are going to be super hits. He further ex plained that the statement does not come from a place of arrogance but rather a belief from within. He said it is the belief that makes a 57-year-old do stunts and work 18 hours a day. “If I did not have that belief that I am making a product that lots of people are going to like then I won’t be able to do it. So, it’s not an arrogant statement, this is what I like to believe,” he explained.

Kevin Conroy, the defining voice of Batman throughout sev eral animated series, films and video games, passed away on Thurs day at the age of 66. The producer of Warner Bros. in a state ment revealed that he was suffering from cancer.

Revealing his life as a gay man in Holly wood, Conroy

Kevin

and siblings Trisha and Tom Conroy.

Growing up, most of us look up to some one as our role model. This per son inspires us to do well and motivates us to keep dreaming and working hard. Actor Anupama Solanki, however, believes to lead her life differently.

The actor revealed, “Well, I live my life on my terms and conditions, so I don’t have any role models, nor do I feel that I need one,” she continues, “I am a happy person, I live in the present and don’t think much about the future. I don’t believe in the role model concept. I do hard work and make my strate gies in my own style. When I set my benchmark, I try to achieve it with my own hard work and ide

as.”

The actor also has her way of defining success. She add ed, “For me, suc cess means you are happy in your life. Since my childhood, I have been watching TV shows with my family. When I came to Mumbai, I got the chance to share the screen with actors I en joyed watching on TV. This is a big achievement but yes actual achieve ment is still pend ing and I am wait ing for that moment. I am sure soon I will achieve it.”

my workshops

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

had once stated, "I’ve often mar velled at how appropri ate it was that I should land this role. As a gay boy growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in a de voutly Catholic family, I’d grown adept at con cealing parts of my

self." He revealed the voice of Bat man was something that -seemed to roar from 30 years of frus tration, confusion, de nial, love, and yearn ing. It was something he did not recognise.

Conroy is sur vived by his husband, Vaughn C. Williams

Kevin Conroy Shah

Priya Paramita Paul

The grand wedding ceremony of Akshat son of Simmi and DC Jain with Nikita, daughter of Shobha and Sumatilal Bafana was held at BSF Camp Chhawala, Delhi on Friday. Jagdeesh Chandra reached to bless the newlyweds and wished them happy married life.

Jagdeesh Chandra with Sanjay Gupta, KK Parashar, DC Jain and Dr BL Jain with others

Jagdeesh Chandra with Sanjay Gupta, KK Parashar, Akshat Jain and Nikita with others

Simmi Jain, Nikita, Akshat Jain and DC Jain

Bharat24 family celebrated the birthday of Syed Umar, Senior Editor, on Nov 11, Friday and of Amit Mishra, Consulting Editor on Nov 10, Thursday. Jagdeesh Chandra also reached NOIDA on Saturday to greet Syed Umar and Amit Mishra and wish them all the best. Cake cutting and greetings were part of the celebrations in which Managing Editor Ajay Kumar and all other members of the team also greeted both of them on the special occasion.

Jagdeesh Chandra greets Amit Mishra, Consulting Editor-Bharat24 on Saturday, on the occasion of his birthday being on November 10, Sandeep Mishra was also present

Jagdeesh Chandra greets Syed Umar, also seen with Ajay Kumar are Arvind Sharma, Anu Shridhar, Mukesh, Shikha Thakur, Poornima Mishra, Aarif Khan, Raj Pathak, Amit Baliyan, Prasoon Shukla, Sandeep Mishra, Amrita Garg, Amit Mittal and Sheetal Jain

Jagdeesh Chandra with Ajay Kumar, Amrita Garg, Mimansa Malik, Poornima Mishra and Shazia Nasir during the celebrations on Saturday

Vijay Shrivastava, Syed Umar, Ajay Kumar, Arif, Aditi Nagar, Raj Pathak, Shikha Thakur caught in a candid moment

Selfie Moment after celebrations: Ajay Kumar and Syed Umar with Poornima, Shikha, Aditi, Aarif, Muzamil and others