First India-Mumbai Edition-16th November 2022

PM MODI AT G20 SUMMIT IN BALI

Moni Sharma

Bali: The annual G20 Summit opened in Bali on Tuesday with world leaders set to discuss over the next two days challenges triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and more recently topped by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Prime Min ister Narendra Modi was welcomed at the summit venue by Indo nesian President Joko Widodo, ahead of the formal opening of the summit.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo told G20 members they must avoid another world war as he opened a lead ers’ summit dominated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Bali on Tuesday.”We should not divide the world into parts. We must not al low the world to fall into another world war,” he said as he opens a lead ers’ summit dominated

by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Bali.

During the day, PM Modi, along with other world leaders, partici pates in G20 summit’s second working session on the theme of ‘Health’, at Apurva Kempisnky hotel in Bali. PM Modi greeted the gathering at the In dian community event in Bali, as people chant ed “Modi, Modi”. Ad dressing the Indian di aspora Modi said

UNITED WE STAND!

I have repeatedly said that we have to find a way to return to the path of ceasefire and diplomacy in Ukraine. Over the past century, WWII wreaked havoc in the world. After that leaders of that time made a serious effort to take the path of peace. Now it’s our turn.

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

We also witnessed the world order & int’l law being tested. Today, eyes of the world are focussed on our meeting - will we be able to succeed or will we add another item to number of failures? In my view, G20 must succeed & must not fail and we must end the war.

—Joko Widodo, Indonesian President

The war should be ended “justly and on the basis of the UN Charter and international law”. I urge world leaders to back a plan to end the war in his country, saying now was the time to push for peace after Russia’s defeat in the southern city of Kherson. Ukraine would not allow Russian forces to regroup after their withdrawal from Kherson.

—Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President

A useful exchange between PM Modi and US Prez Biden on sidelines of G20 summit in Bali, Indo nesia. Leaders appreciated continuing deepening of India-US Strategic Partnership & close cooperation in groups like Quad, I2U2, etc. Agreed to maintain close coor dination during G20 India —Ministry of External Affairs

MODI SPEAKS

l India’s self-sufficiency in medicines, vaccines during the pandemic benefitted the world

l Indonesia and India are companions in both good and bad times

l India is a ray of hope for world in 21st century

l India has the Hima layas, Indonesia has Mount Agung; if India has Ganga, Indonesia has Tirta Gangga — we are united through cul tures and traditions

l No restrictions on energy supplies, stability in the energy market should be ensured, India’s energy security is imp for growth

MAJOR G-20 HAPPENINGS

l Ukraine’s Zelensky suggests ‘all for all’ pris oner swap with Russia

l Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen tests positive for Covid-19 at G-20 inaugural summit

l G20 summit: Russian President Vladimir Putin may be absent, but he is still on leaders’ minds

l Biden, Xi clash on Taiwan, find common ground on Ukraine

l PM Modi and US President Joe Biden on Tuesday shared a warm hug at the summit

l PM Modi seeks agree ment to maintain supply of manure, foodgrains

l ‘Have to return to path of ceasefire and diplomacy in Ukraine,’ PM Modi says at the G20 Summit

l FIFA boss Gianni In fantino trolled for urging Russia-Ukraine ceasefire during World Cup 2022

1,11,000 JOBS, 39 CORPORATES, ONE GOVT!

Gujarat:

Nandgaonkar

Washington: The US has ordered Tata-group-owned Air India to pay a whopping $121.5 mn as refunds and $1.4 mn as penalties for extreme delays in providing refunds to passengers due to the cancellation during pandemic, officials said.

LARGESSE OF STATE GIVEN TO…: GUJARAT HC ON MORBI TRAGEDY

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat HC on Tuesday heard a suo motu PIL on Morbi bridge tragedy and asked the state government as to how no expression of interest was tendered, and how the “largesse of the state” was given to an individual without floating a tender.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the bail plea by Chitra Ramkrishna in the money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping on the NSE employees.

Mumbai: The Maha rashtra state govern ment has been burning the midnight oil on the issue of employment opportunities for youth in the state and will an nounce 1,11, 000 new jobs commitments through 39 corporate MOUs come Wednes day.

Smarting over the re cent exit of the Fox conn-Vedanta joint ven

ture from Maharashtra into the neighbouring Gujarat state, the Ma harashtra government has shifted into top gear to recompense the state for the perceived no tional job losses, had the project been housed in the state.

rates that individually will commit to job crea tions

numbering 1, 11, 000 in all, as the state govern ment hopes to secure 5 lakh jobs for unem ployed youth in Maha rashtra this fiscal year (2022-2023).

Confirming the bigticket job creation drive to be formalised on No vember 16, a top state secretariat (Mantra laya) official said, “We also want to cement the roadmap for future job fairs organised in Ma harashtra to ensure they are effectively con

ducted with clearer out comes. The Skill Devel opment, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department of the Ma harashtra government was accorded the hon ourable Governor’s as sent to hold a meeting at the Durbar Hall at Rajbhavan on Wednes day for a meeting with 39 reputed industry es tablishments, business organisations and placement agencies where the MOUs will be inked.”

Maharashtra’s Com missioner for Skills De velopment, Employ ment and Entrepre neurship Dr Ramaswa my N told First India, “We had reached out to 133 corporates for this first of its kind initia tive to crystallise jobs. 39 firms confirmed their commitment and MOUs will be signed on Wednesday. This is dis tinct from the annually organised job fairs in Maharashtra hitherto.”

Related report P8

MLA Kadam to seek probe into ‘Love Jihad’ angle

of Mumbai city on Tuesday and raised slo gans against Walkar’s live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of killing her and has been arrested by the Delhi police.

an American crime TV series.

Mumbai:

Mumbai.

They had also brought an effigy of Poonawala to mark their protest.

VETERAN TELUGU ACTOR KRISHNA PASSES AWAY

Hyderabad: Veteran Tollywood actor, Congress parliamentarian Ghattamaneni Krishna, popularly known as Super Star Krishna passed away at a hospital in Hyderabad after a brief illness in early hours of Tuesday, officials said. He was 79 and is survived by 5 children.

a term used by right-wing groups and activists to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to con

“Love

vert Hindu women to Islam through mar riage.

Mumbai MLA Kadam and his supporters gath ered in Ghatkopar area

Poonawala had told the police during inves tigation that he killed Walkar after a quarrel over marriage and the idea of chopping her body into 35 pieces was inspired by “Dexter”,

Speaking to reporters here, MLA Kadam said, “I will write a letter to the Delhi police request ing them to conduct a probe into the possibil ity of ‘Love Jihad’ be hind the killing of Shraddha by Aaftab Poonawala. Are there any groups or gangs be hind such an incident?

Is an enemy state in volved in it? It should be probed.”

Kadam also extended his support to the de ceased woman’s family.

Narendra Modi @narendramodi Krishna Garu was a legendary superstar, who won hearts of people through his versatile acting and lively personality. His demise is a colossal loss to the world of cinema and entertainment. In this sad hour my thoughts are with @urstrulyMahesh and his entire family. Om Shanti.

SHRADDHA WALKAR MURDER

Renni Abraham & Satish

Come Wednesday

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fad navis and Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mangal Prabhat Lodha

will ink memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with 39 corpo

in Maharashtra

First India Bureau

Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) MLA Ram Kadam on Tuesday said he will write a let ter to the Delhi police to seek a probe into the possible “Love Jihad” angle behind the mur der of Shraddha Walkar, a resident of Vasai near

jihad” is

Supporters of the BJP leader gathered in Ghatkopar area to protest against accused Aaftab

BJP supporters express outrage over Shraddha Walkar’s murder with effigy of Poonawala in Ghatkopar on Tuesday. —ANI PHOTO

Shinde-Fadnavis govt takes leaf out of PM’s book, to secure over 1L jobs commitments from corporates through MoUs today

MAHARASHTRA GOVT’S MAHA ‘JOB MONSOON’!

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and CM Eknath Shinde

PM attends G20 Indonesia working session on food & energy security

PM Modi likely to hold bilateral talks with over 8-9 leaders today

World faces crisis upon crisis and sharpening rivalries: Prez Joko

After Bali meet, India will take over Group of 20 presidency for one year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets United States President Joe Biden and Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the 17th G20 Summit, in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday. —PHOTOS BY ANI

(Top) Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanges warm greetings with French President Emmanuel Macron. (Left) Prime Minister

Narendra Modi interacts with his United Kingdom counterpart Rishi Sunak for the first time at the G20 Summit. (Right) Prime Minister

Narendra Modi interacts with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Welcoming Dinner during the G20 Leaders’ Summit, at Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, in Badung, Bali on Tuesday. It was for the first time that Modi and Xi exchanged words publicly.

Kochi: Actress Sunny Leone has approached Kerala HC seeking to quash case registered against her by Kerala crime branch on a complaint alleging that she cheated by receiving advance for a stage show but fell back on the promise.

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah met Gachchadhipati Acharya Bhagwant Manohar Kirti Sagar in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. During the day, while inaugurating the BJP’s election office here, Shah said BJP will form government in Gujarat.

Mumbai: Kieron Pollard, who made his MI debut back in 2010, has now been appointed as batting coach for Mumbai Indians. He will also play inaugural International League T20 in UAE for MI. Pollard on Tuesday announced his retirement from the IPL.

New Delhi: Actor Jacqueline Fernandez on Tuesday was granted mail by a Delhi court in `200 crore money laundering case. The money laundering case involved conman Sukesh Chandrashekar that is being probed by the ED.

GUJ: GANDHIs, KHARGE, GEHLOT AMONG CONG STAR CAMPAIGNERS

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the 40 star campaigners for Gujarat assembly polls. Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, CMs of Cong-ruled Raj and C’garh, are also in list. P5

GHATTAMANENI KRISHNA

BHARAT JODO YATRA

‘Only Cong can save Constitution, rights of tribals’

Washim (PTI): Con gress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed the Bharati ya Janata Party (BJP) keeps attacking the Constitution every day as it does not want to accept that Dalits, tribals and the poor should get rights, and hit out at Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar for “working” for the British.

Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra en tered its 69th day and reached Washim dis trict in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra from Hingoli on Tuesday, said it is only the Con gress that can protect the Constitution, give education to tribals and safeguard their land and rights.

He was addressing a public meeting in Washim district on the occasion of tribal free dom fighter Birsa Mun da’s birth anniversary, which is also celebrated as the Janjatiya Gaurav Divas or Tribal Pride Day. The rally was at tended by tribal com munity members.

He sought to draw a parallel between Birsa Munda and Savarkar, and said the tribal icon

November 19

Mumbai: The police told a special court here on Tuesday that they will not take any action against Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana and her father till November 19 over a non-bailable war rant (NBW) issued against them earlier this month in the fake caste certificate case.

The NBW was issued by Metropolitan Magis trate PI Mokashi on No vember 07.

Rana had sought a stay on the proceedings of the magistrate court as the matter related to the case is pending in the Supreme Court.

The prosecution sought time to file its response as the investi gation officer was not present in the court on Tuesday. Rana’s lawyer Rizwan Merchant urged the court to grant interim relief to the MP and her father.

The prosecution sub mitted before the court that it will not execute the warrant till the fil ing of its reply. Special Judge RN Rokade took the submissions on re cord and adjourned the matter till November 19 for a hearing.

OUTRAGE

Attacking the BJP further, Gandhi al leged it is shutting down public sec tor companies and privatizing educa tion and healthcare.

“What will happen if all government schools are shut? (Underprivileged) people will remain illiterate and it is the BJP who will benefit from this. They are shutting all avenues. The doors to em ployment, education and healthcare are getting shut,” said the Congress leader.

It is only the Con gress who can protect the Constitution, edu cation to tribals, their land and their rights. Only the Congress can give a fight (to its political oppo nents). The Con gress fights, but it should fight more strongly.

—Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader

7 lakh youth in state to work as climate change ‘warriors’

Mumbai: As part of the state govern ment’s agreement with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), seven lakh youngsters in Maha rashtra will be able to work as “climate change warriors”, a senior state minister said on Monday.

The “warriors”, ac cording to Chandrakant Patil, the higher and technical education minister, will operate as emissaries of state’s water and environment ‘army’ and sensitize people about eco-friend ly lifestyles, the effects of changing environ ment and water conser vation.

Patil said that to ac celerate their work of educating people, the “warriors” would have to work with local envi

ronment conservation organizations, he said.

“Seven lakh youth would be roped in from various state-run uni versities. Of them, 60% will work in urban areas as the issues of

water and pollution are more prominent there,” Patil said.

After their assign ments, the participants will get a certificate, fel lowship, and grade in their academics. “The state-run universities will design an action plan for their areas, in which the students will participate as warri ors,” he said.

Chief of Field Office at UNICEF Maharash tra Rajeshwari Chan drashekhar attended the function to sign a Memorandum of Un derstanding (MoU).

“We would like to rope in 24 lakh more for UNICEF’s upcoming programmes for action on climate change and participation of the youth. Training will be imparted…about joint action on issues related to water, climate and sustainability,” she said.

stood steadfast for his ideals.

“He (Munda) did not step even an inch back. He was killed and mar tyred. It is your (trib als) symbol and shows you the path. The BJPRSS symbol is Sa varkar. He was jailed in Andaman for two-three years. He started writ ing mercy petitions,” he said.

Gandhi claimed Sa varkar wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was.

“He used to take pen sions from the British, work for them, and work against the Con gress,” he said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Kerala said tribals are the “original own ers of the country” and their rights come first before anyone.

Gandhi alleged the ideals of Birsa Munda were being attacked from all sides by the Rashtriya Swayamse vak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP.

“The BJP attacks the Constitution everyday because they don’t want to accept that Dalits, adivasis and the poor should get rights,” claimed the former Congress president.

Yatra has brought unity in party, says Jairam Ramesh

Hingoli/Washim: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said that the Rahul Gandhi-led ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ has brought unity in the Congress in the last 70 days as the party has been fighting po litical challenges.

Speaking to the me dia in Washim district of the Vidarbha region, Ramesh said Gandhi will also address a pub lic meeting of tribals on the occasion of the birth anniversary of iconic tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

The Congress leader said that the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ has nothing to do with the vote bank. It’s purpose is above politics. “It is the yatra of a political party and we are fighting political challenges," he said.

On Tuesday morn ing, Gandhi started the foot march from Phalegaon in Hingoli district. Ramesh, for mer Maharashtra min ister Yashomati Thakur and other par ty leaders walked along with Gandhi.

Ramesh remembered tribal leader Birsa Mun da on his birth anniver sary on Tuesday.

He posted a tweet say ing, “Today is the 69th day of #BharatJodoY atra and the 147th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, born just 15 days later than Sardar Patel. But tragically, he died in a British jail in Ranchi at the very young age of 25.”

Targeting the Cen tre, Ramesh claimed

the Forest Rights Act and the Land Acquisi tion Act 2013 have been weakened and this is specially harmful for tribals. The legisla tions were brought during the rule of the United Progressive Al liance (UPA).

Ramesh alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government’s policy was to forcefully take the land of farmers and give it to the big companies.

Vichare alleges hooliganism by

supporters in Thane

Latur (PTI): Forty functionaries of the Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) and Congress from Latur have joined the Balasahe banchi Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a dis trict office-bearer from the CM-headed party said on Tuesday.

Shinde was present at the event in Mumbai when they joined his party. Among those in ducted are former BJP Latur tehsil President Balaji Adsul, former Zilla Parishad member Rajkumar Kalame and former councillor Prakash Patil Wan jarkhedkar.

“We worked against Congress leader and for mer CM Vilasrao Desh mukh to strengthen the BJP, but today the scene is different,” said Adsul.

BLAME GAME

First India Bureau

Thane: Lok Sabha MP Rajan Vichare, who supports the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, has al leged hooliganism by supporters of the Sena camp headed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde dur ing an event in Thane city. The charge has been denied by the ri val group.

The incident took place late Monday night following which the Thackeray group sup porters went to Shri Na gar police station in Thane to lodge a com plaint.

A group of people al legedly attacked the supporters of former CM Thackeray outside the police station fol lowing which police re sorted to baton-charge to disperse them.

Some videos of the incident later went vi ral on social media.

While talking to re porters, Vichare con demned the alleged hoo liganism by the Shinde faction supporters, and

said he had complained about it to Deputy Com missioner of Police Amarsingh Jadhav. However, the Shinde group’s Spokesperson and former Mayor Nar esh Mhaske dismissed Vichare’s allegations and claimed everything was “well-planned to defame them”. In turn, he alleged that mem bers of the Thackeray camp had created trou ble at the venue.

BID TO TAKE INDUSTRIES OUT OF STATE: AJIT PAWAR

tries out of the state”.

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Tuesday took a swipe at Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari indi rectly by stating that people in higher posi tions should not at tempt to “take indus

His statement comes a day after Koshiyari presided over an event promoting investment in his home state of Ut tarakhand.

While addressing a press conference at party headquarters, Pawar said, “All indi viduals in higher posi

tions should try and ensure that industries remain in the state. But during the period of this government, chief ministers of oth er states and even the higher ups in Maha rashtra from other states are advising that the industries should go to other states. I must say that this is not the right thing to do.”

According to Raj Bhavan office, a Memo

randum of Under standing (MoU) was signed between the Ma harashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA) and the SIDCUL Manu facturers Association Uttarakhand on Mon day at an event where Koshyari and Uttara khand’s Minister of Industries Chandan Ram Das were present.

Speaking on the oc casion, Governor Ko shyari had said Uttara

khand has much scope in sectors like informa tion technology, herbal industries, adventure tourism and others. He called upon the mem bers of the MACCIA to help the hill state come up in trade.

Meanwhile, the NCP leader also said that he did not receive any in vitation from Congress for attending Rahul Gandhi’s rally at She gaon in Buldhana dis trict on Friday.

First India Bureau

Rahul Gandhi with children during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Washim on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Rahul Gandhi calls tribals ‘original owners of the country’ as Bharat Jodo Yatra entered its 69th day and reached Washim dist of Vidarbha

Cong leader Rahul Gandhi with padayatris during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Washim on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Local artistes perform during the yatra at Phalegaon in Hingoli. —PHOTO BY ANI

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

BY BHUSHAN KOYANDE

CM

Higher & Technical Edu Minister Chandrakant Patil. –FILE PHOTO

Police personnel baton-charge agitators following a clash between groups of suspected supporters of Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions, at an event in Thane, on Monday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Will work with environment conservation groups to create awareness

Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena group denies charges, accuses Thackeray group

40 BJP, Cong activists join CM Shinde-led Sena faction

Navneet Rana, her father get interim relief till

First India Bureau

Civic body launches Phase 1 of ‘MyBMC Building ID’ project

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched phase 1 of the ‘MyBMC Build ing ID’ project to con nect various permits, licenses and IDs across departments onto one ID to bring transpar ency and efficiency.

The facility was launched internally at the BMC Head Office by Additional Municipal Commissioners (AMCs) Ashwini Bhide and Aashish Sharma and will soon go live for citi zens.

The project includes various BMC permis sions at the building level including property tax, fire NOC for build ings, water connection

MyBMC ID number is a 15-digit SAC number given by the A&C dept to assessed properties

to buildings, building proposal approval, build ing actions and factory permits, tree records and trimming, solid waste management, and sewage management. Apart from these, var ious civic body permis sions and services at the unit level, including trade license shop and establishment, fire NOC for commercial units, di rect water supply to units, waste manage ment commercial units, building actions and fac tory permits, and health license are also included.

MEASLES OUTBREAK

Toddler dies in Mumbai; 126 kids infected this year

MAHAPREIT and Konkan Railway to set up cold storage

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Amid an out break of measles in Mumbai, a one-yearold boy has died of the viral infection in the city, where 126 chil dren have contracted the disease so far this year, said civic offi cials on Tuesday.

The boy, who lived in Null Bazar area, was un dergoing treatment at the Brihanmumbai Mu nicipal Corporation-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli since last week and died on Mon day, said a BMC official.

According to doctors, “septicemia with acute renal failure with mea sles bronchopneumo nia” was the cause of the child’s death, he said.

Some parts of Mum

Deadline to submit tenders for redevt of Dharavi ends

Mumbai: The dead line to submit ten ders for the redevel opment of Dharavi ended on Tuesday.

Around eight to nine companies from across the globe have shown in terest in the project.

Certain clarifica tions and demands have been made dur ing the initial rounds of talks between gov ernment officials and developers, such as extending the overall project’s completion deadline since, given the size of the project, seven years is insuf ficient. According to the interested parties, at least 12 years are required.

The Maharashtra government and the Rail Land Develop ment Authority (RLDA) reached an agreement in October

The developer has to acquire 24.62 hectares of pvt land.

During the initial rounds of talks extending the project’s deadline was discussed

to transfer over 45 acres of land for this ambitious project. The agreement was signed after the Union and State Governments ar rived at a conclusion that profits from the project will be shared

with the Centre.

According to the mutually agreed-up on solution, RLDA will receive 0.21% of the profits. If the re construction project becomes stalled, the state government will owe Rs3,800 crore to the Union ministry.

The project will be awarded to the con sortium quoting the highest amount of in vestment, above the stipulated Rs1,600 crore.

bai have witnessed an outbreak of measles. At least 99 children have been found infected with the viral disease since September and 126 since January this year, as per the civic body’s health bulletin.

The BMC has set up a special ward at the Kas

turba Hospital for the treatment of the chil dren infected with mea sles.

As per its bulletin, 61 children were admitted to the Kasturba Hospi tal with measles-like symptoms between No vember 4 and 14. Twelve of them were hospital

ized on Monday, it said. Civic officials have appealed to the parents to get children in the 9-16 age group vaccinat ed against the disease.

“In measles, the child gets fever, cold, cough and red rashes on the body. Complications from this disease can be serious in children who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated,” said a BMC release earlier.

Last week, the Union Health Ministry said it has deputed a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Mumbai to take stock of the upsurge of mea sles cases in the city.

HC issues notice to BCI on PIL against court vacations

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tues day issued a notice to the Bar Council of In dia (BCI) seeking its response on a plea challenging the prac tice of courts taking long vacations, there by affecting hearing of cases.

A bench comprising Justice SV Gangapur wala and Justice SG Dige noted that the ex pectation of the litigant was legitimate, but add ed a shortage of judges was also an issue that needed to be addressed.

“From where do you get judges to constitute benches? Expectation of the litigant is legitimate and we understand, and the predicament too, but what can we do,” the court said.

The bench was hear ing a public interest liti gation filed by one Sabi na Lakdawala challeng ing the vacations being taken by the high court

CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC

A

claiming the practice is in violation of the funda mental rights of liti gants whose rights to seek justice gets affected.

The bench noted that the views of the BCI, on the plea, were relevant.

The high court breaks for vacations three times every year–summer va cation (one month), Di wali vacation (two weeks) and Christmas

break (one week). Lak dawala’s lawyer Mathews Nedumpara contended that judges could be encouraged to take leave at different times of the year so that the court remains func tional throughout the year. The bench, howev er, noted this may not be feasible.

“Imagine if this is a school. What if the maths teacher takes leave in January, science teacher takes in Febru ary, some other teacher takes in some other month, how will the school function?” asked Justice Gangapurwala.

Mumbai: The Mahat ma Phule Renewable Energy and Infra structure Technology Limited (MAHAPRE IT) and Konkan Railway Corporation Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a cold storage plant in Ratnagiri.

IAS Bipin Shrimali, Chairman and MD of MAHAPREIT and Sanjay Gupta, Presi dent and MD of Kon kan Railway Corpora tion Limited finalized the agreement on Monday.

Under the MoU, de velopmental work will be jointly carried out on the erection of a

Both corporations to jointly undertake e-mobility, other projects in future

cold storage plant pro posed in Ratnagiri. Similarly, e-mobility and other projects will also be undertaken by the two corporations jointly, in the future. Other dignitaries present during the signing ceremony in clude, Vijay Kumar Kalam Patil, Director (Operations), Sunil Pote, Executive Direc tor (Operations), MA HAPREIT, LK Verma , Chief Commercial Manager, Konkan Rail way Corporation Lim ited, among others.

Palghar: The body of a 21-year-old scrap dealer was found on a roadside in Palghar district and police suspect it to be case of murder. A village police patil on Monday spotted the body on Bhiwandi road and alerted personnel of the Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar police commissionerate, Mandvi police station’s senior inspec tor Prafulla Wagh said on Tuesday. The police rushed to the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. A case was registered against unidentified persons under IPC Sec tion 302 (murder) and search was on

School bus operators demand change in timings

Due to the closure of Gokhale bridge, bus drivers are finding it tough to manage multiple shifts

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Closure of the Gokhale Road bridge has led to se vere traffic woes and increased travel time for daily commuters as vehicles are being diverted to other routes. As a result, school bus operators

have been forced to seek a change in the timings of some schools in and around Andheri area.

According to the President of School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA), Maharashtra, Anil Garg, the traffic moving between And heri East and West is

completely out of con trol. After the Gokhale bridge was closed, school buses, among other vehicles, are get

ting stuck in traffic for a long time.

“Since, drivers are not able to manage mul tiple shifts and match

the school timings, we will be requesting some of the schools to close half an hour early, to ease the pressure on us and the traffic,” Garg said.

He further added that drivers and bais (wom en helpers) have said that they will not work in school buses due to the delay caused by the traffic. Most schools in the area close around 5.30 pm, leading to a sudden surge in vehicles.

Vakola traffic po lice have said that they will not allow buses on Vile Parle bridge. We will be meeting different authorities, including school management, to discuss what can be done.

—Anil Garg, President SBOA

Mumbai: A fire broke out in the basement of a footwear showroom in Chembur area, a fire brigade official said.

No one was injured in the blaze that erupted at around 10.45 pm on Monday in the basement at Shivashish Complex.

The basement was used for the storage of stock by a shoe company and it was gutted in the fire.

At least five fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused by 3.30 am on Tuesday.

“In

MUMBAI TO HOST WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS FROM NOVEMBER 18-21

Mumbai: For the first time in the 118 years of its history, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), is hosting the World Congress Of Accountants (WCOA) in the megapolis. Like the Olympics, the WCOA is also held once in four years, and the megapolis will be hosting the 21st congress from November 18-21, the Institute of Chartered Account ants of India (ICAI) president Debashis Mitra said here on Monday. The theme of the congress is ‘Build ing trust and enabling sustainability’.

First India Bureau

FIRE BREAKS OUT IN FOOTWEAR SHOP IN MUMBAI; NONE HURT

DY BANK MANAGER HELD ON CHEATING CHARGES IN PUNE

Pune: A deputy bank manager, along with two other men, was arrested for allegedly taking Rs2 crore from a cur rency chest of a public sector bank in Pune in an unauthorized way, police said on Monday.

the investigation, it was revealed that Sushil Rawale works as a deputy manager with the bank’s currency chest at Manchar and he, by misusing his position, took out Rs2 crore in an unauthorized manner,” the police said.

21-YEAR-OLD SCRAP DEALER FOUND DEAD IN PALGHAR DISTRICT, POLICE SUSPECT MURDER

for the killers.

First India Bureau

Bombay High Court breaks for vacation three times every year in summer, Diwali and Christmas. —FILE PHOTO

petition has challenged holiday breaks taken by court, termed it ‘violation of fundamental rights’

First India Bureau

61 children admitted to state-run Kasturba Hosp with measles-like symptoms from Nov 04 to 14

The BMC began immunization of kids against preventable diseases.

—FILE PHOTO

IN ACTION

MAHAPREIT & Konkan Railway members at MoU signing ceremony.

The facility has been launched internally at the BMC Head Office.

School bus operators are in talks with authorities seeking a change in the timings of some schools around Andheri. —FILE PHOTO

GIRI’S BLUNDER MAY FLOUNDER

TMC’S TRIBAL PROSPECTS

tution into Santhali lan guage’s Ol Chiki script.

The Trinamool govt is in a spot once again, thanks to Bengal Minister Akhil Giri who has come under severe criticism over his controversial remarks on President Droupadi Murmu recently

The Trinamool government is in a spot once again thanks to West Bengal min ister Akhil Giri who has come under severe criti cism over his controversial remarks on President Droupadi Murmu recently.

KEEPING DISTANCE

After a video of his com ments went viral, the Tri namool Congress (TMC) minister apologised on Friday and Sunday and on Monday, the party supre mo and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Baner jee, had said the party con demned and apologised for her minister’s comments on President Droupadi Murmu. Saying it is not in her party’s culture to make personal comments, she added the MLA has been cautioned over his comments and her party has also apologised.

“We respect the Presi dent a lot. She is a very sweet lady, I apologise for the comments,” Ms Baner jee said, adding that “Akhil (Giri) has done something wrong; I condemn the com ments and I apologise.

“Beauty is not about how you look, it is about how you are from the inside,” she added. Earlier, while the BJP demanded his ar rest and removal from his post besides a public apol ogy from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the TMC distanced itself from his comments. The TMC is having a tough time as the party, in order to steer clear of controversy, has had to distance itself from a lot of its stalwarts.

Calling the comments “irresponsible”, the party had distanced itself from Giri’s remarks. “This is an irresponsible comment & does NOT represent the views of @AITCofficial. We are extremely proud of the President of India &

MONDAY

MAMATA

“I AM

fter a video of his comments went viral, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister apolo gised on Friday and Sunday and on Monday, the party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, had said the party condemned and apologised for her minister’s comments on President Droupadi Murmu. Saying it is not in her party’s culture to make personal comments, she added the MLA has been cautioned over his comments and her party has also apologised.

hold her & her office in the highest regard,” read the tweet by TMC spokesper son Saket Gokhale.

The BJP claimed when he made those comments, the women welfare depart ment minister of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet Shashi Panka was also there.

While sharing the video on social media, the state BJP accused Mamata Ba nerjee and the Trinamool of being anti-tribal.

COURTING TROUBLE

Such a remark by one of its ministers regarding President Droupadi Mur mu threatens to derail the TMC’s ambitious plans to keep the substantial tribal population in West Bengal from drifting away to wards the Saffron might.

BJP, meanwhile, is do ing everything to keep the heat on TMC and have also

demanded his resignation.

THE TRIBAL CARD Tribals account for about 7 to 8% of Bengal’s popula tion. In four parliamenta ry constituencies in Jun glemahal region, compris ing Jhargram, Bankura, Purulia and West Mid napore districts, and eight constituencies spread across North Bengal dis tricts, such as Cooch Be har, Darjeeling, Alipurdu ar, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur and Malda, the tribal pop ulation count may go up to almost 25%.

It may be recalled that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elec tions, the BJP had sur prised the TMC by win ning 18 seats… while the TMC registered wins in 22 seats. What is important is that the BJP had picked up considerably in the tribal-

A mit Malviya, in-charge of the BJP’s National Information & Technology Dept, and co-in-charge of West Bengal, tweeted: “Mamata Banerjee has

been anti-Tribals,

support President Murmu for office, and now this. Shameful level of discourse.”

dominated areas and the party had bagged all the seats in Junglemahal and six constituencies in North Bengal.

SEESAW BATTLE

As they say, nothing and no one are permanent en emies. The TMC had fought and won a huge number in the 2021 Assem bly elections, especially in the Junglemahal districts, which led to the TMC’s massive mandate. Modi government’s ace decision while nominating Murmu as the President had made the TMC chief wary of the binary of regional politics.

After the former Jharkhand Governor’s name was announced, Mamata had created a flut ter by saying that if the BJP had consulted the Op position parties, Murmu could have been a “consen

What is the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia?

The latest G20 Summit is be ing held in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15 and 16. It is the culmina tion of a series of G20 events that have been go ing on for the past year.

But what are these G20 meetings really about?

What are the goals and benefits for member states, countries around the world, and for host nation Indonesia in particular?

Reports and statements conveyed by state officials that have attempted to ex plain this often use com plex and sometimes diplo matic language, making it difficult for the public to understand. This is unfor tunate as this year’s G20 meetings have attracted more international atten tion than previous years.

The results of this summit

will undoubtedly deter mine the cohesiveness, solidarity, and effective ness of the G20 forum and its member countries.

WHAT IS THE G20?

The G20 is a multilateral forum representing the world’s largest economies, involving 19 countries – Ar gentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Sau di Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US – plus the European Union.

GLOBAL HEALTH

The main agenda for the health sector is strength ening “global health archi tecture”. The G20 member countries, usually repre sented by their respective ministers, hold a series of meetings to discuss how to

build a resilient global health system, align global health protocols, and es tablish centres for the manufacture and research of genomes and vaccines.

DIGITAL CHANGE

The next primary agenda item in G20 discussions is on digital transformation.

The topic is being discussed by countries and stakehold ers through the G20 Digital Working Group, which has carried out a series of ac tivities and meetings since March 2022.

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

The third agenda item at this year’s G20 meetings is

on achieving a sustainable energy transition. This re fers to efforts to encourage global transition from nonrenewable energy use, such as petroleum and coal, to renewable energy, including solar, wind, and hydro.

Human activities, how ever, have disrupted this natural balance. These in clude the combustion of fossil fuels, pollution that destroys marine life, and forest encroachment. Ulti mately, these activities will continue to increase the Earth’s temperature, which has increased by 1.2°C since the pre-industrial era.

For this reason, coun tries worldwide – includ ing the G20 – are presently taking various measures to restore this balance. Ac cording to the Paris Agree ment, the deadline is 2050.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

sus candidate” for the country’s top post.

WHAT DIDI HAD SAID

“Had we known that they (the NDA) were planning to field a tribal woman or a member of a minority community, we could have thought about it (consen sus). We have great respect for people from tribal com munities and for women,” Mamata said, adding that now that (Yashwant) Sin ha had already filed his nomination papers….

Not only stopping at that, the astute politician that Prime Minister is, apart from nominating Murmu as the President, the PM through his Mann Ki Baat reached out to the Santhal tribe by lauding the efforts of Prof Sripati Tudu from none other than West Bengal, who had translated the Consti

For TMC, matters could not be worse as the party’s supremo was set to visit Jhargram to celebrate tribal legendary figure Birsa Munda’s birth anni versary on Tuesday in a bid to reach out to the trib als and Giri’s gaffe has dampened this initiative. TMC had also declared the day as a general holiday.

BJP’s West Bengal state president, Sukanta Ma jumder, used the opportu nity to target the TMC and he also accused the party (TMC) of being “anti-trib al”. Amit Malviya, incharge of the BJP’s Na tional Information & Tech nology Dept, and co-incharge of West Bengal, tweeted: “Mamata Baner jee has always been antiTribals, didn’t support President Murmu for of fice, and now this. Shame ful level of discourse.”

The TMC had distanced itself from Giri’s remarks soon after the row broke out on Friday. Party said that what Giri said was “irre sponsible”, and did not rep resent party’s views. “We are extremely proud of the President & hold her & her office in the highest re gard,” tweeted TMC spokes person Saket Gokhale.

On Sunday, TMC Adi vasi leader and minister Jyotsna Mandi said: “I cannot support what Giri said regarding a woman President.” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, who also condemned Giri’s re marks, added, “Where is the condemnation from BJP leaders when (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari keeps referring to the honorable CM as ‘Begum’? Where is the BJP’s ‘Nari Samman’ plank when its leaders use reprehensible remarks against women leaders?”

Already on the backfoot with job scam and with party stalwarts like Mon dol and Partha in custody and with panchayat elec tions in a few months’ time, now Giri’s words has put TMC in deep trouble.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

TOP TWEETS

I bow to Lord Birsa Munda ji on his birth anniversary and wish everyone a Happy Tribal Pride Day. Birsa Munda ji fought with the British for the protection of water, forest and land. His valor and his lifelong struggle for the upliftment of tribal society will continue to inspire us.

Anurag Thakur @ianuragthakur

PM @narendramodi ji said, “in India, in order to further sustainable food security, we are emphasising on natural farming and making millets, along with other traditional food grains, more popular.”

He also talked about India’s strides in renewable energy. #G20Summit

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

TMC MINISTER APOLOGISES ON FRIDAY AND SUNDAY; ON

WB CHIEF MINISTER

SAYS,

CM MAMATA BANERJEE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ANTI-TRIBALS, SAYS BJP’S AMIT MALVIYA

always

didn’t

Amit Shah @AmitShah

ROBIN ROY

writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India

HC JUNKS UDDHAV’S PLEA AGAINST POLL SYMBOL’S FREEZING

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea moved by Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission’s decision to freeze Election Symbol of Bow and Arrow. The Bench also directed ECI to decide the dispute as expeditiously as possible which is pending before it.

SC TO HEAR PLEA

FOR LIFETIME BAN ON CONVICTED NETAS

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday posted for next week hearing in a plea seeking to debar convicted Members of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies from contesting elec tions for life. A top court Bench said that it will hear the matter next week as it was hearing other matters.

GUJ HC JUDGE RECUSES

HIMSELF FROM BAIL PETITION OF SETALVAD

Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court judge Justice Samir Dave on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the regular bail petition of activist Teesta Setalvad in connection with a case of the alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people concerning 2002 Gujarat riots. Setalvad is out on interim bail.

MLAS POACHING: HC SAYS NO TO BJP’S PLEA FOR CBI PROBE

Hyderabad: The Telan gana High Court on Tues day rejected BJP plea to hand over the TRS MLAs poaching case to the CBI but made the SIT prob ing the case independent. The court also ruled that a single judge will moni tor the probe into the case relating to arrest of 3 alleged agents of BJP for “luring” 4 TRS MLAs.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that its orders of October 10 and November 3 on the adoption of constitution and polling for executive committee of the Indian Olympic Association shall be scrupulously followed. A bench recorded assurance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on this matter.

“

BJP will break all records” Shah confident of forming govt again

Ahmedabad (ANI): Un ion Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday exud ed confidence in the BJP forming government in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and said that the party will “break all records and win with the most num ber of seats”.

The Union Home Minister is in Gujarat's Ahmedabad where he accompanied the San and constituency candi date in filing his nomi nation for the upcoming assembly elections. Speaking to the media here, Shah said, “BJP in this Assembly elections, will break all records and win with the most number of seats and will form the govern ment with a majority.”

Shah hailed the lead ership of Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupen dra Patel and said that they are giving pace to the developmental work in the state.

The Union Minister also mentioned the law and order situation and said that it has im proved in the state.

“The leadership of PM Modi and CM Patel is giving pace to develop ment work. Gujarat’s law and order situation has improved, state’s economy has grown. PM Modi's development model for Dalits, tribals and OBC community of Gujarat is being followed by CM Patel,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Kanu Patel to contest from the Sanand constituency in Ahmedabad for the polls slated to be held in two phases on Decem ber 1 and December 5.

On Monday, the BJP released its fourth list of candidates, where it announced 12 names in cluding two women can didates.

Earlier, the party re leased the names of 167 candidates for Gujarat polls.

The leadership of PM Modi and CM Patel is giving pace to development work. Gujarat’s law and order situa tion has improved, state’s economy has grown.

PM Modi’s development model for Dalits, trib als and OBC community of Gujarat is being followed by CM Patel.

Amit Shah, Union Home Minister

MODI, BJP CHIEF NADDA, HM SHAH AMONG PARTY’S STAR CAMPAIGNERS

KHARGE, GANDHIS, KANHAIYA: CONG’S STAR CAMPAIGNERS FOR GUJ POLLS

AMIT SHAH’S ‘TLC’ APPROACH FOR PARTY REBELS

Rattled by protests and angry statements by leaders denied tickets for Gujarat elections, the BJP is “taking a love and compassion” (TLC) approach suggested by Home Minister Amit Shah, and plans to hold one-on-one discussions with discontented leaders, sources said on Tuesday. It comes a day after many BJP workers protested at the party’s headquarters, Kamalam, in Gandhinagar over the tickets from some seats. The party has so far announced 160 of 182 candidates, and al ready dropped 38 MLAs. “A team of state leaders has been given the job to talk to the disgruntled ones,” said a source in the party. In power in Gu jarat for 27 consecutive years, the party has partly tried this approach in the past few days, deput ing state home minister Harsh Sanghavi.

TRIANGULAR CONTEST IN

KHAMBHALIYA SEAT

The BJP has drawn up a list of star campaigners for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. Topping the list is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The other prominent names on the list include BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and fellow central cabinet colleagues Smriti Irani, Dharmen dra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya and Purushottam Rupala. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is seeking a fresh mandate from the Ghatlodia Assembly segment, also features in the star campaigners list along with BJP state president CR Patil and state Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi.

Yatra has brought to fore ‘real’ Rahul: Ramesh

Washim (PTI): The Bharat Jodo Yatra has brought to the fore the “real” Rahul Gandhi and completely changed his image, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh asserted on Tuesday.

Responding to a ques tion at a presser in here where the yatra has reached on its 69th day, Ramesh said the crosscountry foot-march led by Gandhi has nothing to do with any state poll and if its impact has to be assessed, then it can only be done in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Ramesh said Gandhi is “not a dettol or fevi col brand” that he has to be rebranded and the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala has his own views on key issues.

ED turns down Soren’s request to advance summons

Ranchi (PTI): The ED has not agreed to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s request for re scheduling the sum mons issued to him for questioning on Novem ber 17 in a money laun dering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state, sources said on Tuesday. The JMM leader had asked the ED to advance the date of appearance to November 16, which has not been agreed to by the agency. Soren was initially sum moned by the federal probe agency on No vember 3, but he did not depose citing official engagements. He had then sought a threeweek deferment of the summons. The CM has been asked to appear at ED’s regional office.

“India undertaking efforts to fight climate change”

New Delhi (PTI): India is undertaking an ardu ous effort to fight cli mate change despite accounting for less than 4 per cent of the world’s cumulative emissions so far, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday.

Delivering the na tional statement at the UN climate summit in Egypt, Yadav said India responded to the call for increased ambition in the 2030 climate targets and updated its Nation ally Determined Contri butions in August.

“India, home to 1.3 bil

lion people, is undertak ing this arduous effort despite the reality that our contribution to the world’s cumulative emis sions so far is less than 4 per cent and our annual per capita emissions are about one-third of the global average,” he said.

The minister said the country has embarked on far-reaching new ini tiatives in renewable energy, e-mobility, etha nol blended fuels, and green hydrogen as an alternate energy source.

It seeks to foster strong international co operation through ac

tion and solutions-ori ented coalitions like International Solar Al liance and the Coalition of Disaster Resilience Infrastructure, both of which were launched

India would assume the presidency of the G20 in 2023 with the motto of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

“Our journey towards a planet safe for human ity is one that no nation can undertake alone. This is a collective jour ney to be undertaken with equity and climate justice as our guiding principles,” he said.

Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections next month, the Congress on Tuesday released a list of 40 star campaign ers, which includes former party president Sonia Gandhi and her children Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel are among the other prominent names on the list. Interestingly, it also includes former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot who had led an unsuccessful rebellion against Gehlot. Former CMs of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, are also scheduled to campaign in Gujarat.

Everyone living in India is ‘Hindu’, says RSS chief Bhagwat

Shillong: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said all people living in India are Hin dus in terms of identi ty. Elaborating the RSS’ philosophy, he said that Hinduism is not a reli gion but a way of life.

At a gathering in Shillong, the RSS chief said all are Hindus as all Indians are the in habitants of Hindu stan, which, he said is in the south of the Him alayas, north of Indian Ocean, on the bank of the Indus river.

“The habitants of this area are tradition ally called Hindus. This is also called Bharat,” said Bhagwat.

The RSS chief said even before the Mughals

The stage is set for a triangular fight in the Khambhaliya seat of Devbhumi Dwarka district with senior Congress leader Vikram Madam, Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gad hvi and BJP candidate Mulubhai contesting the next month’s Assembly polls. Congress leader Madam has grabbed eyeballs not for his high winning chances, but for his political maturity, diplomacy, and the way he praised his elec toral opponent and AAP candidate Isudan Gadhvi in public meetings. His speech has gone viral on social media winning several hearts.

and nurtured by India, Yadav said.

“This is a testimony to our ethos of collec tive action for global good,” he said.

Yadav mentioned that

“We hope that the fight against climate change will unite the world as one family,” the Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change said.

“AMAZON FUNDING CONVERSIONS IN N-E”

New Delhi: RSS-linked weekly ‘Organiser’ has accused US e-commerce giant Amazon of financing a “Christian conversion module” in India’s north eastern states and being involved in suspected money laundering. The publication carried a cover story in its latest edition.

who have spread Islam and the British rulers who spread Christiani ty, Hindus were already in existence.

Kolkata (Agencies): West Bengal Chief Min ister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday questioned whether she will have to touch the feet of the Prime Minister Naren dra Modi to get the dues of the state government on account of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaran tee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.

“To get the Central funds for the 100-day job scheme under MGNRE GA scheme is our right. I personally met the Prime Minister and spoke to him in the mat ter. Will I have to touch his feet now? The Union government will have to pay our dues at any cost. Else the positions of power have to be va cated,” the CM said at Jhargram on Tuesday.

D Bravo, K Williamson, N Pooran released ahead of IPL auction

New Delhi (PTI): IPL giants Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday end ed their hugely success ful 11-year association with legendary allrounder Dwayne Bravo while Sunrisers Hy derabad released star batter Kane Williamson ahead of the cash-rich league’s mini auction.

Tuesday was the last date to announce the full list of players re tained and released by the teams ahead of the mini auction, sched uled to be held on De

cember 23 in Kochi.

The day started with Mumbai Indians’ long standing West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pol lard announcing his re tirement from the IPL, only to be drafted as the five-time champions’ batting coach.

Amit Shah greets the BJP supporters as he arrive to inaugurate the party’s election, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

PM

FOLLOW OUR ORDERS ON ADOPTION AND POLLING FOR IOA: SC

Union Minister Bhupender Yadav at at COP 27, in Egypt.

Mumbai Indians have released 13 players. In other big movements, Punjab Kings have re leased their last edi tion’s captain Mayank Agarwal, while West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran was released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi embraces the people during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Hingoli on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

KERALA CONG PREZ SUDHAKARAN’S

FAUX PAUS LEAVES SEVERAL FUMING

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Congress President K Sudha karan has come under attack from not just the CPI-M but even his party men after he purportedly made ‘pro-RSS’ comments. On Children’s Day on Monday, Sudhakaran said that PM Jawaharlal Nehru had struck a truce with “communal fascists” for democracy’s sake by agreeing to accommodate Jan Sangh founder and RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukher jee in the Cabinet. A few days ago, he said Congress workers had protected the RSS offices during his heydays in Kannur, when it came under duress from the Left forces.

Didi: Will I have to touch PM’s feet for MGNREGA funds?

MURDER

‘She was a different person before meeting Aaftab’

Accused Aaftab Poonawala taken to forested area in Delhi’s Mehrauli to trace Shraddha Walkar’s body parts

New Delhi: “If Aaftab Poonawala has done everything he has claimed during the in terrogation, he must be hanged. I think he de serves stringent punish ment for killing my daughter and hiding everything for months. I wish we knew what was going on…It was her friends who informed us…(she was) missing,” said Vikas Walkar, fa ther of the 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar, who was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Poon awala at their rented flat in South Delhi’s Meh rauli in May this year.

The incident came to light six months after the murder and Poon awala was arrested on Saturday. He allegedly told the police that he chopped Shraddha’s body into 30-35 pieces and dumped them in the forest area nearby. He al legedly spent two to three months dumping

Shraddha Walkar and Aftab Poonawala.

the pieces.

Both the accused and victim hail from Vasai in Maharashtra’s Pal ghar district and met on a dating app in 2019. Sen ior Delhi Police officers on Tuesday took Poon awala to the Mehrauli forest area to recover Shraddha’s body parts.

New Delhi: Aaftab Ameen Poonawala, who allegedly killed Shraddha Walkar, his live-in partner, stayed active on her social media ac count to conceal the grisly murder. To counter the stench in the apartment, Aaftab would light agarbatti or incense sticks. He was inspired by the American crime show ‘Dexter’, police said on Monday.

Shraddha Walkar killing revives memories of Gulati murder case

Dehradun (PTI): Twelve years before Shraddha Walkar’s murder shook the country, Dehradun lived its own night mare with the Anupa ma Gulati killing, in which her husband sawed her body into 72 pieces and froze them, before dumping them over several days. The two

horrific murders have several

SHRADDHA WALKAR’S FATHER SUSPECTS ‘LOVE JIHAD’ ANGLE

New Delhi: The father of Shraddha Walkar demanded a death penalty for the accused while also suspecting a “love jihad” angle behind the incident. “I suspected a love jihad angle. We demand death penalty for Aftab. I trust Delhi Police and the probe is moving in the right direction. Shraddha was close to her uncle and didn’t talk to me much,” her father Vikas Walkar told.

AAFTAB DATED ANOTHER WOMAN AFTER KILLING SHRADDHA

New Delhi: Aaftab Poonawala, who allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, started dating and brought another woman to his house even while Sharddha’s body parts were stored in his refrigerator, police said. The police said Aaftab met another woman through a dating app and brought her to the same flat, where he had allegedly killed Shraddha.

Prez Murmu, V-P Dhankhar, PM Modi pay tributes

New Delhi: PM Naren

dra Modi addressed the nation on the occasion of Jan jatiya Gaurav Di vas on November 15. He said, “ I consider this the fortune of my govt that it got the opportunity to declare 15th Nov (birth anniversary of Birsa Munda) as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. He was not only the hero of our political independence, but he was also the con ductor of our spiritual and cultural energy.” He further added, “ Today, the entire country is cel ebrating the birth anni versary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda with devo tion and respect.”

Lucknow (ANI): Stat ing that the poor and underprivileged re mained deprived of benefitting from ambi tious government schemes like PMAY before 2017 in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minis ter Yogi Adityanath said that previous gov ernments divided the society to salvage the lost political ground

and to increase their vote bank.

New Delhi (ANI): Ex tending greetings on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the na tion is moving with the energy of ‘Panch Praan’ to realize the dreams of Bhagwan Birsa Munda and crores of Janjatiya braveheart.

irsa Munda was a young freedom fighter and a tribal leader, whose spirit of activism in the late nineteenth century, is remembered to be a strong mark of protest against British rule in India. Born and raised in the tribal belt around Bihar and Jharkhand, Birsa Munda’s achieve ments are known to be even more remarkable by virtue of the fact that he came to acquire them before he was 25.“Expressing pride in the tribal heritage of the country through Janjatiya Gaurav Di was and resolution for the development of the

New Delhi: In a mile stone for humanity, the global population hit 8 billion on Tuesday after having added a billion people in last 12 years, with India on cusp of overtaking China as the world’s most popu lous country next year.

UNs said global mile stone signals major im provements in public health that have low ered risk of death, in creased life expectancy

msg

New Delhi: “I am 25-years-old now and I have every right to make my own deci sions. I want to be in a live-in relationship with Aaftab Poonawala. So, you may think that I am not your daughter from today.” These were the last words Shrad dha Walkar told her parents while leaving her Mumbai home in 2019, as per an FIR filed on the basis of her fa ther’s complaint. On May 18, Shraddha was murdered, allegedly by Aaftab, who chopped her body into over 30 pieces and disposed of them over three months. Ever since their confrontation in 2019, the relationship between Shraddha and her family had been “strained”, and they hardly ever saw each other.

SEVEN

APE LIKE ENDANGERED ANIMALS SEIZED

New Delhi: Kerala Gover nor Arif Mohammad Khan responding to the LDF pro test outside the Raj Bhavan said,

Adivasi

community is part of that energy”, PM said. PM Modi paid tributes to Bhagwan

India, US kick-start mega military drills

New Delhi (PTI): The armies of India and the US on Tuesday began an over two-week mega military exercise at a military facility in Utta rakhand with an aim to exchange best practices and tactics in sync with growing defence ties be tween the two coun tries.

The ‘Yudh Abhyas’ exercise began amid the 30-month border standoff between India

and China in eastern Ladakh. The exercise is con ducted annually be

tween India and the US. The previous edition of the exercise was con ducted at Joint Base El

Officials said the 18th edition of the exercise began on Tuesday and will end in the first week of December.

US Army soldiers of second brigade of the 11th Airborne division and Indian Army sol diers from the Assam Regiment will be par ticipating in the exer cise.

“Seven Ape-like endangered animals were seized by Hailakandi police team of Ramnathpur PS. Animals were transported from Mizoram,” Hailakandi police said. Earlier on Septem ber 16, Khawzawl Police at Tuisenphai Checkgate rescued three two-spider monkeys (female with a baby) and one Indri Lemur suspected to be smuggled from Myanmar.

WHATSAPP INDIA HEAD AND META INDIA’S DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY RESIGN

New Delhi: WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose and director of Public Policy at Meta India Rajiv Aggarwal resigned from their positions on Tuesday. Shivnath Thukral, director of WhatsApp Public Policy in India, has now been made the director of Public Policy for all Meta brands in the country. The development came after Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on November 9 that it will fire over 11,000 employees. The layoff will reduce Meta’s staff strength by 13%. The company has also extended a freeze on new hiring till first quarter (Jan-March) of next fiscal.

ODISHA EOW ARRESTS THREE CYBER CRIMINALS

district.

in

we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and havenots, we are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and mistrust, crisis & conflict.

1.426 BILLION

z

SURPASS

WORLD’S MOST POPU LOUS COUNTRY IN

2023

THE DATA STATES...

I’ve every right to make decisions: Shraddha’s

aspects in common. Experts here said they not only reveal the bru tality of the killers but

also the fact that the murders were premed itated, and not commit ted in a fit of rage.

AAFTAB POONAWALA GOOGLED WAYS TO CLEAN BLOOD STAINS

mendorf Richardson, Alaska (the US) in Octo ber last year.

OUR GOVT WILL DEAL WITH RELIGIOUS CONVERSION: BAGHEL

Bhubaneswar: Three cyber criminals, including two from Rajasthan, were arrested for allegedly cheating several people of Odisha. Mahmud Khan and Munfed Khan were arrested from Rajasthan and Anil Khiller from Odi sha’s Mayurbhanj district, an official of the economic offences wing

(EOW) of Odisha said. The accused along with few others have opened about 2000 mule accounts with Indian Post Payment Bank (IPPB) in the name of different innocent/rustic persons of Odisha, West Bengal, Bi har, and Assam. They have cheated several people of Odisha’s Nabarangpur

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said one’s caste is accorded by birth and one cannot change the caste into which one is born. However, while everybody has the right to choose his or her religion, his government is strict and unsparing when it comes to dealing with forcible religious conversions, he added. Strict action will be taken if any compaint of forcible religious conversion is brought to the government’s notice, the CM added. The SC on Monday observed that everyone has the right to choose their religion but there should be no forced conversion.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF BIRSA MUNDA

President Droupadi Murmu meets with the family members of Birsa Munda in Jharkhand on Tuesday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Munda was carrier of our spiritual & cultural energy: PM on Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas

Birsa Munda and said that 15th November is a day to celebrate Adivasi tradition.

VP Dhankhar at Birsa Munda birth anniversary celebration in Delhi.

B

Image for representational purpose only.

UP: Yogi takes part in Griha Pravesh

give me one instance where I tried to interfere in the business of the govt, I shall resign at that very moment. Khan said, Job to run universities is with the chancellor, to run govt is with elected govt. Give me one instance where I tried to interfere in the business of the government, I shall resign at that very moment. He added, “I’m not going to deal with these things. But I can tell you one thing, I think there’s enough evidence for you to come to the conclusion that I’m not the type of person who can be pressurised.”

SHRADDHA

CRUCIAL READ

Governor Shaktikanta Das will hold a meeting with CEOs of public sector banks on Wednesday to discuss issues concerning slow deposit growth and sustainability of high credit demand. As per the RBI data, deposits rose by 9.6% as compared to 10.2% on a Y-o-Y basis, while credit offtake wit nessed a jump of 17.9% as against 6.5% a year ago. According to an agenda circulated for the meeting, sustainability, in cluding pricing and slow growth of deposits, would be discussed.

SBI HIKES MCLR BY UP TO 15 BPS ACROSS TENORS

New Delhi: SBI has raised the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 15 basis points across tenors, making most consumer loans costlier for borrowers. The revised rates come into ef fect from November 15, 2022. The benchmark one-year MCLR, which is used as base for fixing most of home, auto and personal loans, has been raised by 10 basis points (bps) to 8.05%, as against 7.95% earlier. Likewise, the two-year and threeyear MCLRs have been raised by 10 basis points each. —PTI

HDFC TO RAISE UP TO `5,500 CRORE VIA BONDS

New Delhi (PTI): HDFC will raise up to `5,500 crore by issuing bonds on private placement basis to shore up its resources. The secured redeemable non-convertible deben tures issue will have a base size of `4,000 crore with an option to retain oversubscription of up to `1,500 crore. “The object of the issue is to augment the long-term resources of the Corporation,” Housing Development Fi nance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd said in a regu latory filing. —PTI

ONGC Q2 PROFIT

TUMBLES 30 PER CENT TO `12,826

New Delhi (PTI): India’s top oil and gas producer ONGC reported a 30% fall in September quarter net profit after the govern ment brought a new tax on windfall profits arising from a spurt in interna tional energy prices. Net profit of `12,825.99 crore, or `10.20 a share, in July-Sept 2022-23 is compared with `18,347.73 crore, or `14.58 per share net profit in the same period a year ago, ONGC said in a statement. —PTI

COMMODITIES

SENSEX UP TO NEVER-BEFORE HIGH

Mumbai (PTI): Market

benchmark Sensex climbed 248 points to close at its all-time high of 61,872 on Tuesday, propped up by robust fag-end buying in banking and energy stocks amid a positive trend in global equities.

A strengthening rupee, encouraging domestic in flation data and unabated foreign capital inflows fur ther bolstered sentiment, traders said.

After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 248.84 points or 0.40% to settle at 61,872.99 -- sur passing its previous clos ing peak of 61,795.04 on November 11.

During the day, the index witnessed a high of 61,955.96 — its 52-week in

traday high — and a low of 61,436.90.

The broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nif ty advanced 74.25 points or 0.41% to finish at 18,403.40.

“Following gains in glob al equities, early losses in

IN EVs PRODUCTION

the domestic market were reversed, with banking stocks steering the recov ery. Food and commodity price declines have helped to keep domestic inflation below 7%.

PowerGrid topped the

` GAINS 17 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.11/$

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated by 17 paise to close at 81.11 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, on positive domestic macroeconomic data and weak American currency. Forex traders said a firm trend in domestic equities, sustained foreign fund inflows and easing crude oil prices also supported the local unit. At the in terbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.18 and touched an intra-day high of 81.04 and a low of 81.45 against the green back. The local unit finally settled at 81.11, registering a rise of 17 paise over its previous close. On Monday, the rupee depreciated by 50 paise to close at 81.28 against the US currency.Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.38 per cent to 106.25.

Sensex gainers’ chart, ris ing 2.20%, followed by ICI CI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Ul traTech Cement, SBI, Dr Reddy’s, Titan, M&M and HDFC Twins.

In contrast, Bajaj Fin serv, ITC, Reliance, Sun

‘India has potential to become world leader’

Washington (PTI): India has the potential to become the world leader in electric vehicles production, a re search by Berkeley Nation al Laboratory and UCLA said, underlining that mak ing the transition from diesel-fuelled trucks to electric-charged will ena ble the country to meet the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070.

India imports 88% of the oil it uses and of the total petroleum consumed by the country’s transport sec tor, nearly 60% used by freight trucks.

A study by the Depart ment of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Labora tory (Berkeley Lab) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Monday revealed that elec

Exports decline by 17 pc to $29.78 billion in October

New Delhi (FIB): India’s exports entered negative territory after a gap of about two years, declining sharply by 16.65% to $29.78 billion in October, mainly due to global demand slow down, even as trade deficit widened to $26.91 billion, according to data by com merce ministry.

Key export sectors, in cluding gems and jewellery, engineering, petroleum products, ready-made gar ments of all textiles, chem icals, pharma, marine products, and leather, re corded negative growth during October.

Imports during the month under review rose by about 6% to $56.69 bil lion on account of increase in the inbound shipments of crude oil and certain raw materials such as cot ton, fertiliser and machin ery. During April-October

2022, exports recorded a growth of 12.55% to $263.35 billion. Imports rose 33.12% to $436.81 billion.

The merchandise trade deficit for April-October 2022 was estimated at $173.46 billion as against $94.16 billion in April-Octo ber 2021, as per the data.

Trade deficit in October 2021 was $17.91 billion. Last time it was in November 2020, when exports con tracted by 8.74%.

‘Direct tax collection to exceed budget target’

New Delhi (PTI): The di rect tax collection in the current fiscal is likely to exceed the budget target of ` 14.20 lakh crore by about 30%, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Nitin Gupta also said that the Budget for next fiscal could bring about some tweaks in the TDS provi sion for online gaming to check tax evasion.

“Currently there is a pro vision for deduction of TDS on online gaming. There is existing provi

sion, if it needs to be modi fied or retained in the same way that needs to be seen,” he said. Currently, a 10% TDS is levied on income from online gaming.

Gupta further said that given the current buoyan cy in collections, the Budg et target for the next fiscal is also likely to be higher.

ACC TO DATA IN OCTOBER 2022

z Key export sectors, including gems and jewellery, engineering, petroleum products, ready-made garments of all textiles, chemicals, pharma, marine products, and leather, recorded negative growth

z Imports during the month under review rose by about 6% to $56.69 billion

tric trucks would be more affordable to operate than diesel and India could be come a world leader in pro ducing electric vehicles.

The transition will also help India reduce its reli ance on imported oil, im prove the air quality, and meet the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070, the study said on Tuesday.

Pharma and Nestle India were among the laggards, shedding up to 0.76 per cent. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.08% and smallcap index ended marginally higher by 0.01%.

OTHER STORIES

GOLD GAINS `294; SILVER CLIMBS `366

New Delhi (PTI): Gold rallied by `294 to `53,275 per 10 gram in the national capital on Tuesday amid rise in prices of the metal in interna tional market, according to HDFC Securi ties. Silver also climbed ` 366 to ` 63,148 per kilogram. In international market, gold was trading in the green at $1,780 per ounce while silver was up at $22.14 per ounce.

Among sectoral indices, oil & gas climbed 0.99%, tel ecommunication jumped 0.79%, auto (0.75%), bankex (0.70%) and utilities (0.53%).

FMCG, industrials, capi tal goods, metal and realty were among the laggards.

US ORDERS AIR INDIA TO PAY $121.5 MN AS PASSENGER REFUNDS & $1.4 MN AS FINES

Washington: The US has ordered Tata-group owned Air India to pay a whopping $121.5 million as refunds and $1.4 million as penalties for extreme delays in providing refunds to passengers due to the cancellation or change in flights, mostly during the pandemic, officials said. Air India is among the six airlines that have agreed to cough up a total of over $600 million as refunds, the US Department of Transportation said on Monday. Air India’s policy of “refund on request” is contrary to the Department of Transportation policy, which mandates air carriers to legally refund tickets in the case of cancellation or change in flight, officials said.

CCI TO TAKE UP GST COMPLAINTS FROM DECEMBER 1

New Delhi (PTI): The pro posed data protection bill will put an end to misuse of customer data, and viola tors will face punitive ac tion under the rule, Minis ter of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chan drasekhar said on Tuesday.

The minister shared his reaction in response to Google’s settlement of an investigation in the US which outlines that the in ternet giant misled users and continued tracking their location even after they opted out of the loca tion tracking system. “This type of “misuse” of custmr data violates #Privacy n #DataProtection expecta tions India’s #DigitalData Protection bill will put a stop to this - & ensure that any Platform/Intermedi ary that does this will face punitive & financial conse quences, “ Min tweeted.

New Delhi: All GST anti-prof iteering complaints would be dealt with by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) from Decem ber 1 as the extended ten ure of National Anti-profiteer ing Authority ends this month, an official said on Tuesday.

A notification in this regard is expected to be issued by the finance ministry later this month, the official added.

The National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) was set up in November 2017 under Section 171A of Goods and Services Tax (GST) law to check unfair profiteering activities by regis tered suppliers.

MOODY’S ACCORDS

NEGATIVE OUTLOOK TO CREDIT WORTHINESS

New Delhi: Moody’s on Tuesday gave a ‘negative outlook’ to credit worthiness of countries globally for 2023, saying high prices of food and energy would curb eco nomic growth and raise social tensions. Tighter financial conditions and economic scarring will push some debt burdens to unsustainable levels, while rising borrowing costs will erode debt afford ability, according to Moody’s. It forecast that as many as 13 nations, including India, would spend over 20% of their government revenue in servicing debt next year.

GOVT ISSUES DRAFT NOTIFICATION TO STREAMLINE, STRENGTHEN TOURIST PERMIT REGIME

New Delhi: With an aim to further streamline and strengthen the tourist permit regime, the ministry of road transport and high ways (MoRTH) has issued a draft notification to supersede the All India Tourist Vehicle (Authorisation or Permit) Rules, 2021. According to an official statement, the rules notified in 2021 provided a significant boost to the tourism sector in India by streamlining and simplifying the permit regime for tourist vehicles. “MoRTH has issued a draft notification on 11 November 2022 to supersede the All India Tourist Vehicle (Authorisation or Permit) Rules, 2021.

THIS AND NEXT FISCALS HIGHLIGHTING POINTS

Crisil foresees bank credit growing 15%

Mumbai (PTI): Riding on a broad-based economic re covery and stronger, clean er balance sheets, lenders are expected to see their credit growing at 15% this fiscal and the next, a report said on Tuesday.

Credit growth so far this fiscal has printed in at around 18%, which is a dec adal high.

Already, large lenders have seen corporates flock ing to banks for funds for capital expenditure and also for working capital as the demand side of the economy is faring better.

SBI has the best corpo

rate loan sales in Q2 re cording a 20% growth and so did most other lenders including private sector banks. Bank credit is seen growing 15% per annum in

fiscals 2023 and 2024, Crisil said in a report.

The agency said that its forecast is based on an ex pected 7% GDP growth this fiscal, as well as the expect

z Credit growth so far this fiscal has printed in at around 18%, which is a decadal high

z State Bank of India (SBI) has the best corporate loan sales in Q2 recording a 20 per cent growth

ed continuation of the credit push from govern ment’s infrastructure spends, higher working capital demand in a highinflation environment.

New Delhi: Reserve Bank

‘Data protection bill will end misuse of customer data, penalise violators’

FADNAVIS GOES ALL OUT TO BUILD MAHARASHTRA!

CORPORATE COMPANIES SET TO SIGN MoUS

Aaftab’s family shifted to Mumbai only 15 days ago

First India Bureau

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has been holding a spate of meetings with representatives of foreign govern ments recently. This includes his meet with the Ambassador of Belgium to India Did ier Vanderhasselt and Consul General of Belgium Frank Geerk ens, Indian Ambassa dor to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat on No vember 8, where is sues of business pros pects for Maharashtra were discussed.

The next day, his oneon-one interaction with Mayor of West Midlands (in UK) Andy Street and

Anticipatory bail to MLA Awhad in molestation

case

Thane (PTI): A court in Thane granted pre-arrest bail to Na tionalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad in a molestation case reg istered against him, on Tuesday.

Sessions court judge PM Gupta granted the anticipatory bail on a bond of Rs15,000 with certain conditions, the lawyer representing Awhad told reporters.

The prosecution op posed the plea saying it is a sensitive case.

Awhad’s lawyer said the charge against his client was politically motivated.

Complainant alleged that he pushed her while making way for himself at an event in Mumbra on Sunday

The Mumbra police had registered a case af ter midnight on Monday against Awhad under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) on the complaint of a woman.

The complainant al leged the MumbraKalwa MLA pushed her while making way for himself during the dis persal of the crowd af ter an event of Chief Minister Eknath Shin de in Mumbra on Sun day evening.

Deputy High Commis sioner of UK Alan Gem mell saw the Maharash tra deputy CM ratchet ing up his international business confabulations.

On November 10, he met with the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Mumbai Aleksei V Surovtsev, who handed him a let ter from the Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of Saint Petersburg Evge ny Grigoriev.

Fadnavis’ blitzkrieg of business interac tions continued on the same day with another meeting with the dele gation of AmericanJewish Committee led by Dr Bharat Barai, and Chairman of the US-

India Friendship Coun cil, Nissim Reuben, at his official residence Sagar in Mumbai.

The following day, he was informed by Abin bev India President, Kar tikeya Sharma of an ad ditional Rs800 crore infu sion into Maharashtra to expand their business presence in the state.

This meeting was fol lowed up with a meet

Mumbai: Param Skill Training India Pvt Ltd and Yuvashakti Skill India Pvt Ltd would be inking respective MoUs committing to providing 10,000 jobs each at an event on Wednesday. Similarly, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, Metric Academic, Vandana Hospitality, Nettur Technical Training Foundation, Western Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce Industries, Agro and Education, TANS Enterprizes Quess Cap Ltd, BASA Corporation Ltd and BVG India Limited will commit to providing 5,000 employment opportunities. Imperative Business Ventures Pvt Ltd will also ink an MoU committing to 3,000 jobs in Maharashtra. The remaining business enterprises will in the deal will provide 2,000 jobs each with some firms com mitting to 150, 500 and 1,000 jobs respectively.

ing with the Avaada Group led by Vineet Mittal on a green hydro gen project worth Rs45,000 crore that will anchor future green en ergy transitions and holds potential for cre ating 12,000 jobs which Maharashtra is keen to attract into the state.

Clearly, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his dep uty Fadnavis and the

Extortion case: HC grants prearrest bail to DCP Tripathi

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Bom bay High Court on Tuesday granted prearrest bail to sus pended Deputy Com missioner of Police (DCP) Saurabh Trip athi in the angadiya (traditional couriers) extortion case.

A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati Dan gre noted that Tripathi had cooperated with the

investigation and charge sheet in the case already filed by the police.

Tripathi had ap proached the high court after a sessions court rejected his anticipato ry bail plea.

The LT Marg police, on February 19 regis tered an FIR in connec tion with the extortion case, in which four po licemen, including Tri pathi, an IPS officer of the 2010 batch, were named as accused.

An inspector, an as sistant inspector and a sub-inspector attached to LT Marg police sta tion were arrested in the case. They are out on bail now.

Tourism and Skills De velopment, Employ ment and Entrepre neurship Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha have taken a leaf out of the book of Prime Min ister Narendra Modi who, leading by exam ple had in similar fash ion on handed out ap pointment letters to 75, 000 Indian youth across India last month.

Mumbai: Accused of brutally killing his live-in partner Shrad dha Walkar in Delhi, Aaftab Amin Poon awala had visited the housing society in Va sai, in Palghar district, a fortnight ago to help his family members shift to Mumbai, a so ciety member said on Tuesday.

“(Aaftab) Poonawala had visited Unique Park Housing Society in Vasai around 15 days back to help his family members who shifted from the society to Mumbai,” the housing society member said.

He said the Poonawa las own a flat in the so ciety and lived there for 20 years before shifting.

“When we asked them the reason behind shifting, Aaftab’s father told us that his son got a job in Mumbai and his company will pay rent.

COURTESY VISIT

They also spoke about inconvenience (about shuttling between Mumbai and Vasai, which is in Palghar dis trict and part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region),” he said.

The housing society’s secretary Abdullah Khan, who lives on the third floor of the wing where the Poonawalas have a flat, said Aaftab and his family mem bers behaved nicely to other residents.

“Around 15 days back they vacated the flat

and rented it out. They shifted somewhere near Mumbai. Aaftab told me that he was staying in Delhi. I didn’t notice any change in his be haviour. We are shocked to know about the crime,” he added.

29th witness in 2008 Malegaon blast case turns hostile in court

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A former Army personnel on Tuesday became the 29th witness to turn hostile in the special NIA court hearing the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

The witness, a former colleague of accused Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, had given a statement to the Maharashtra An ti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which initially probed the case, in 2008.

While deposing on Tuesday, the witness told

the special court that he knew Purohit, but he was declared hostile af ter he denied giving any statement to ATS.

In his purported

THE INCIDENT

case, used to visit fre quently and stay at Deo lali Camp near Nashik.

The case’s previous witness, too, had turned hostile when he had to testify again before the special National Investi gation Agency (NIA) court on November 05. He told the court he did not remember his state ment given to ATS.

Navlakha brought to spl court for house arrest formalities

First India Bureau

statement to ATS, the witness had said while Purohit was working as an intelligence officer, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, another accused in the

Reportedly, the wit ness had given a state ment against the then sitting Bhopal MP Sad hvi Pragya Singh Thakur and another accused.

Mumbai: Activist Gautam Navlakha was on Tuesday brought to a special National Investiga tion Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai hearing the matter pertaining to his re lease formalities from jail for house ar rest. He is an accused in the Elgar ParishadMaoist links case.

The other accused in the case were also brought to the court from the jail as the case

was listed on Tuesday for regular hearing.

Last week, the Su preme Court had al lowed Navlakha, who is

lodged at the Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, to be placed under house ar rest for a month owing to his medical condition. But, he could not walk out of the jail as formali ties for his release were under process.

The 70-year-old activ ist, who claims to be suf fering from multiple ail ments, has been in cus tody since April 2020.

The case relates to al leged inflammatory speeches made at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ con clave held in Pune on December 31, 2017.

Amit Shah’s firmness helped transition of power in Maha: Fadnavis

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Maharash tra Deputy Chief Min ister Devendra Fad navis on Tuesday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s firmness helped in the smooth transition of power in the state earlier this year as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) countered “betrayal by the Shiv Sena”. He also added that “Shah’s thoughts had the potential to change anyone’s life.”

Fadnavis was speak ing in Mumbai as the chief guest at the launch of a booklet inspired by the thoughts of senior BJP leader Shah.

Addressing the gath ering, Fadnavis said, “Shah’s thoughts have the potential to change anyone’s life. Open any page of this booklet and you would certainly get some knowledge, which would inspire you. Eve ry sentence of the ‘Vi chaar Pushp’ booklet guides us toward a path in life.”

He (Shah) be lieves in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Veer Savarkar. He not only possesses leadership abilities, but also tremen dous decision-making ability. Everyone has seen the change (change of re gime) in Maharashtra.

—Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Deputy CM

2014, we all saw how the party clocked the high est number of seats in Uttar Pradesh with him

as the national general secretary. If anyone can take credit for this, it is only the leadership of Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and the work of Amit bhai. They toured almost all over the country to strength en the party. They stayed for several days in each state. Amit bhai has reached every section of the society by holding 40-40 meetings in a day.”

Crediting the suc cessful induction of the BJP government in Ma harashtra to Shah, Fad

navis added, “Amit Shah also stayed in Ma harashtra for two-anda-half months and han dled the election pro cess from the state BJP office. And as a result, the BJP government came into power with its own chief minister in Maharashtra.”

The book launch event was also attended by BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, cabinet min ister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, among others.

DyCM holds meetings with foreign officials, secures investment for state

Police personnel along with accused Aftab Amin Poonawala at Mehrauli police station, in New Delhi —PHOTO BY PTI

Aaftab (28) was arrested on Saturday by Delhi police for allegedly killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar

Pragya Singh Thakur is one of the accused. —FILE PHOTO

Hailing the Union minister for his dedica tion towards the party, the Maharashtra deputy

CM said, “We have seen his work as BJP nation al president. During the Lok Sabha elections in

Education is the base, but it is experience which builds the tall buildings, fueled by the mortar of dreams.

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

Gautam Navlakha has been lodged in Taloja jail since April 2020. —FILE PHOTO

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

(L to R) BJP leader Madhavi Maik, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, BJP Mumbai Vice Prez Acharya Pawan Tripathi, Maha Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Maha BJP prez Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Maha cabinet ministers Mangal Prabhat Lodha & Atul Save at launch of ‘Vichaar Pushp’ booklet in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra greeted LS Speaker Om Birla during a courtesy visit at the latter’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

Dr Jagdeesh Chandra greeted BJP National General Secretary and BJP State in-charge Rajasthan & Karnataka Arun Singh, during a courtesy visit at the latter’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday.

www.firstindia.co.in

YOUR FASHION GAME

Every living thing has lace in it, including the barren branches of winter, cloud formations and the water’s surface as it moves with the wind. If you look closely enough, even the matted fur of a wild dog will display a lacy pattern. So, let’s dive into the world of ethereal lace fashion with City First!

An elaborately laced dress is not only lovely but also en hanced by the so cial standing of the privileged who may wear it and the general public who de sire it. Even just the term “lace” conjures up a

silk, or metallic threads.

Lace has been worn as a status symbol since the 15th century when whitebordered cuffs and collars indicated your social stand

result of the expansion of the lace industry and the flappers’ demand for a more contemporary inter pretation of lace, which featured garments with straight lines, a loose fit, and mixed lace designs. It’s still a fabric that, over a century later, isn’t sure if it’s an angel or a demon; a pricey material we put on the highest pedestal or a sassy fibre used to produce budget négligées.

Although it was mostly a 20th-century fixation that has lost its relevance now, purity is a secondary con notation of white lace. White lace has earned a reputation for also repre senting fresh starts and re birth.

ing. It is a common trim today, especially for linge rie and bridal attire.

Lace evolved into one of the most sophisticated ma terials on the planet as a

If a pattern is recognised as being from a specific area, it might honour a lin eage or a family’s heritage. You can still buy heirloom lace. Additionally, there are those who can knit heirloom lace, continuing the tradition of handcraft ed lace.

MRIDULA SHARMA

REKHA KUMAR rekhakumar@protonmail.com

Acouple were very much in love when they got married.

However, only six months later, they decided to get a di vorce. Why?

“My husband did what ever his family asked him to do, but he never consult ed me. I asked him, who is more important to you, your mother or me?” said the wife.

The husband related. “I discovered that my wife and I were less compatible than I thought. When we watched T.V., I liked sports, but she liked dramas. I liked going out, but she liked staying at home. I be came frustrated and asked a senior colleague for ad vice on how to deal with my wife. He said, ‘just tell her to shut up and if she com plains, knock her down.’

One time, when I slapped her, there was a big fight and she left.”

To keep the marriage bond strong, good commu nication is vital. When discussing matters that

affect one’s partner, it is best to first tell how one would like to handle the situation by presenting one’s thoughts as sugges tions and not as final deci sions or ultimatums. Sec ondly, asking one’s partner to express his/her opinion, and also, accepting his / her right to hold a different viewpoint is important.

At times, a husband can internally feel unmanly to consult his wife. He can have this thinking because of his background and up bringing.

Also, a wife may be used to asking her family for ad vice which she may con tinue doing so even after being married for many years.

“My father hardly ever consulted my mother about family issues or decisions. So I ruled my wife as a mon arch,” expressed one hus band.

“I demanded that my husband should be neat and tidy, just as my own fa ther was. But my bossy ap proach only seemed to make him more stubborn,” related a wife. Contentious issues can be discussed calmly. Instead of attacking the character of one’s part ner, one must attack the problem. It is easy for a hus band/wife to accept sugges tions when they speak tact fully rather than frequently highlighting the mistakes made. Keeping a list of

MARITAL BLUES CONSULTING TOGETHER

‘changes I need to make,’ instead of constantly tell ing the other partner where she/he needs to improve will prevent inner frustration to de velop. A husband some times can treat his wife like a child, demanding her obe

YOUR DAY

ARIES

dience at all costs. He does not consider her feelings or opinions thus leading to conflict since no one can be obedient flawlessly all the time.

Two clashing voices are bad enough. Why add a third voice to the clamour?

It is the responsibility of marriage partners to work out their difficulties by con sulting together privately, rather than letting their friends or family members enter into the fray.

A happy home is one where ‘two equals one.’ Our

TAURUS

culture generally works against openness. We are taught to mind our own business – to be secretive about money, ideas, and feelings – anything person al. This conditioning sim ply does not go away, when one ‘falls in love,’ or gets married. Unless a continu ous effort for openness and consultation takes place, intimacy cannot flourish.

Times of relaxation can become stressful when there is no open talk. Is it always what the husband wants to do, that is being done by the family? Or do they mutually consult each other?

Also, the partners can consult together to share time with each other’s rela tives. A wife/husband can make things miserable when either one’s relatives come for a visit when there is no open talk on the matter.

Often a husband leaves all the disciplining of the children to his wife; when they do well, they are his

GEMINI

MAY 21 - JUNE 21

MAR 21 - APR 20

Some clarification will need to be sought on a financial issue, before you take the next step. A project left halfway by someone else may come on your shoulders, but your efforts will be acknowledged. Some of you are all set to enjoy a splendid vacation.

LEO

JULY 24 - AUGUST 23

Continue doing whatever you are doing to remain healthy. Some of you will have to curb your splurging ways. Family life will cruise along smoothly with much love and bonhomie. Don’t speed up on the road. Chance of moving to a new location on transfer is likely for some.

SAGITTARIUS

NOV 23 - DEC 22

Money coming from various streams will keep you in an elated state of mind. A new fitness regime that you have adopted promises to keep you in the pink of health. Getting an old furniture upholstered may be at the top of the mind of some homemakers. Your search for perfect partner may soon be over.

CAPRICORN

Your stars favour a bright beautiful day . A setback you have recently experienced can make you come out stronger. Tax advisor will be a big help in saving taxes, so don’t hesitate to contact one.It is difficult for the relationship of friends turned lovers to fall apart, so relax.

LIBRA

SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22

Money put together on previous occasions is likely to come in handy now. A family youngster is keen to learn from you, so don’t disappoint. Settling down in a new house is indicated for some.You may have to awaken partner’s interest in you once again.

AQUARIUS

JAN 21 - FEB 19

A vacation you only dreamed

children. And when they do not do so well, they are her children. But if there is a united effort in the rearing of the children, how much more it can add to their sat isfaction?

Keeping finances trans parent and having a regu lar brief conversation ei ther on the first day of each month or each week can increase mutual trust.

Learning to maintain a balanced relationship is like learning to swim. One can expect some tumbles as one gains confidence as a swimmer. Similarly, one can expect to make embar rassing blunders as one gains experience in mar riage. An efficient contrac tor will never start con struction without first con sulting an architectural drawing. A husband and wife can iron out their problems by getting to know each other better and by consulting together re sulting in unity in the mar riage bond.

CANCER

JUNE 22 - JULY 23

Previous

the very same exotic destination that they had been to.No amount of excuses will dispel lover’s suspicions about your tendency to stray the path.

SCORPIO

OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22

Something

PISCES

FEB20 - MARCH 20

Your financial situation is set to improve, as earning opportunities come to you. Help from co-workers in a time consuming task will be forthcoming on the work front. Support of family will encourage you to take up a challenge. Socially, your presence will be much looked forward to.

you have implemented at work is likely to profit the company. You are likely to celebrate the achievement of a family youngster in a grand way. Shifting into your very own house may soon become a reality. An exotic island destination beckons, for which you may already be making plans!

Horoscope by Saurabbh Sachdeva

One year has passed since Raj kummar and Patralekhaa's wedding. Before being mar ried last year on November 15 in Chandigarh, the couple dated for more than ten years. The Hum Do Hamare Do actor celebrated the an niversary on his social media ac counts with a compilation of their previously unpublished photos

MAJOR HUSBAND GOALS!

The adorable pair was unable to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary since Deepika Padukone had other engagements. Ranveer Singh, however, once again redefined what a great husband should be by dropping by his wife's workplace unexpectedly and surprising her with flowers and chocolates. On his official Instagram account, he later posted a photo of Deepika working in her office with her staff. Ranveer Singh captioned his Instagram story, "When she has to work on your anniversary so you surprise her at her office.."

Additionally, he provided some special advice for males in his Instagram story, in which he wrote: "Ps: Never un derestimate the power of flow ers & chocolates. Diamonds not needed buahaha, Take notes and thank me later gentlemen."

urrently enjoying Yashoda's popular ity, Samantha Ruth Prabhu has truly left the audience impressed with her performance. As the actress brought her action avatar in the film, it is indeed a result of the tough training that she went in to bring out the best of herself.

Samantha shared a BTS of her ac tion scenes from her blockbuster movie Yashoda on social media as she began her demanding training for the movie Today. She can be seen working quite hard to prepare in the BTS video, and she was pretty badass throughout the action scenes. Yashoda, which was produced and di rected by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad under the Sridevi Movies label, debuted on November 11, 2022. The acfeels ‘humbled’ after getting posi tive response from the Hindi audience

ollywood

has

Kors

ambassador

Michael Kors' timepiec

in India. "I have long ad mired the standout nature and unique designs of Mi chael Kors watches, I am happy to be working with them as an ambassador. I believe the Michael Kors brand mirrors many of my

principles, and its in novative creations are an authentic expres sion of individuality.

The Michael Kors brand has a historic lineage, and I am hon oured to represent its global heritage in India," Anushka said when asked about the collaboration. The actress shared news of the collaboration on her so cial media account.

Alia Bhatt and Ran bir Kapoor are the new parents in BTown as they re

about the arrival of her

As Alia gave birth to a baby girl, now, a throw back video of the ac tress from her childhood is

doing rounds on the inter net. In the video, baby Alia looks cute as a button in a pink dress as she can be seen sitting on her filmmaker father Mahesh Bhatt's tummy. The Sadak filmmaker is seen talking on the phone, he also sings, “happy birthday” for “dar ling Alia," while baby Alia plays on his belly and ador ably calls out to her mother Soni Razdan, who appears to be shooting the video. Alia originally shared this precious video on her 25th birthday and wrote: "Dad dy's little girl. Whether you're 1 or 25!"

ania Mirza, a well-known tennis player from India, turned 36 on No vember 15. She had a blast with popular singer Ananya Birla and filmmaker Farah Khan, among others, to celebrate her big day in style. Although Mirza was seen joyfully celebrating her special day, her husband Shoaib Malik was missing from the festivities. How ever, Shoaib Malik made his wife a heartfelt birthday wish. He posted a picture on instagram with the cap tion "Happy Birthday to you @mir zasaniar. Wishing you a very healthy & happy life! Enjoy the day to the fullest…" Sania Mirza has not yet commented on this development. If rumours are to be believed, the couple is allegedly on the verge of divorcing.

actress Anushka Sharma

been named by Michael

as the newest brand

for

es

Deepika Padukone

Patralekha

Paul

Alia Bhatt

Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Anushka Sharma

Sania Mirza

Ranveer Singh’s story...

Her post...

Rajkumar Rao’s post...

Shoaib Malik’s

RADHIKA MADAN IN AND AS ‘SANAA’

esting project. Current ly, the actress shared the first look of her upcom ing next titled 'Sanaa.'

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

Radhika Madan, who was last seen in Shid dat, Off lately, is hustling through sched ules for her up coming projects. Radhi ka has had a very busy year with multiple pro jects. She delivered a path-breaking perfor mance as Didi in Netf lix's short film Spotlight under the anthology Ray, which even won her multiple awards for her impactful performance. After that, she im pressed the audience with her chirpy, lighthearted performance as an influencer in Netflix's 'Feels like Ishq.' Post winning the hearts of the audience with her performance in Shiddat, which emerged as one of the top-rated films on IMDb this year, Radhika marked another inter

Ahead of its World Premiere at the 26th Tal linn Black Nights Film Festival, Sudhanshu Saria’s much-awaited in trospective drama 'San aa' has dropped its first poster. The intriguing poster introduces Radhi ka Madan and Sanaa, an ambitious and head strong woman who is fighting an internal bat tle due to unresolved trauma. The actress looks commanding in a sharp corporate getup, shiny black heels and a slick side-parted hairdo. With her piercing gaze, she exudes grit and de termination as she sits against an imposing backdrop.

'Sanaa' also stars Pooja Bhatt, Sohum Shah, Shikha Talsan ia, Nikhil Khurana and Navneet Nishan in piv otal roles. It is the only Indian film competing for The Grand Prix For Best Film at the ongoing 2022 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia.

Director Sudhanshu Saria says, “I’m thrilled

to finally present the first poster look of San aa to the world. It is a film about a feisty and powerful woman who is in complete control of her world until some thing unfolds to upset that balance. We wanted the poster to reflect San aa’s personality and un matched dominion over her terrain. She is an unprecedented pro tagonist in our cin ema and Radhika has portrayed her with utmost honesty and perfection.”

Radhika Madan says, “Inhabiting the myriad dimensions of a charac ter like Sanaa was one of the most thrilling ex periences of my acting life. She is smart, un flinching, conflicted and emotional all at the same time. I also thor

oughly enjoyed donning the girl boss look for this film. Viewers will witness a completely new side to me in Sanaa and I cannot wait for them to experience it.”

Radhika added, "There are times when you inhabit the charac ter and there are times when the character just inhabits you.

'Sanaa' did the latter. I can't wait to share this experi ence with the world!"

It is worth mentioning here that Ra dhika Madan has time and again bro ken the moulds of stereotypes to present interesting and uncon ventional characters through her films. Her up coming project also includes Kut tey with Ar jun Kapoor.

UMAR QUESTIONS BB16

Alot is going on in the Bigg Boss 16 house, right from spats, romance and allianc es to enemies. Recently, con testant Archana Gautam was evict ed from the house for alleged vio lence. But since she was allowed back in the house, the decision of the makers has irked several loyal fans and ex-contestants who claim the decision to be biased.

Archana had choked fellow con testant Shiv Thakare, the winner of Bigg Boss Marathi S2 during

an argument. Umar Riaz, the brother of Asim Riaz, who was part of Bigg Boss 15 too expressed that he felt the decision was bi ased. In a now-viral tweet, Umar wrote, "So #archana was allowed to enter the house after her evic tion for alleged violence but why the rules were diff for me? I was pushed into the pool. No action! I was pushed into the task for which I reciprocated but every blame was put on me. why this bias? @ColorsTV #biggboss16."

SHUBMAN SPILLS THE BEANS

Sara Ali Khan and Shub man Gill have been mak ing quite a noise when it comes to their dating ru mours. However, none of them had spoken about their rumoured relationship till now. But it seems that Shubman may have spilt the beans during his latest appear ance on a talk show.

The young cricketer recently appeared on the Punjabi talk

show Dil Diyaan Gallan. He was asked to name the fittest actress in Bollywood and unsurprisingly, Shubman took Sara’s name. the topic immediately changed to their alleged scandal with the hosts asking the under-19 crick eter whether he is dating Sara Ali Khan. Shubman coyly replied with a “Maybe.” He then proceed ed to joke, “Sara da sara sach bol diya. Maybe, maybe not.”

Karan Kundrra has been quite the sensation this year with his never-ending reel of success. The dynam ic actor has a bunch of projects lined up, and the specula tions are a fly if his latest post might just be an easter egg for an up coming thriller show

The actor recently posted on Instagram like usual, however, the smokey eye and the uto pian garb have left the

fans full of curiosity if it is a sneak peek of his new character but the ac tor has remained mis chievously tight-lipped. This however hasn’t de terred the fans from sing ing praise for the ac tor’s new look. The fans have taken to social media to coo over this new avatar. This speculation was sparked after a recent ex clusive source revealed that the actor is going to start shooting for an in teresting new show start ing mid-November.

RANVEER SURPRISES DEEPIKA

a cute surprise for his wife.

While Deepika was busy in a meeting at her office, Ranveer came in to surprise her with flowers and chocolates. Taking to his Insta gram stories, Ranveer shared a picture of Deepika busy in a meeting and wrote, “When she has to work on your anniversary so you surprise her at her office...”

He added a postscript to his story where he suggested to all gentle men that diamonds aren’t needed, flowers and chocolates work the best. He wrote, “Never underes timate the power of flowers and chocolate. Diamonds are not needed buahahaha. Take notes and thank me later, gentlemen.”

Rhea Chakraborty Mercilessly TROLLED

Ever since Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, Rhea Chakraborty continues to make headlines every time she steps out. Time and again we see the actress getting trolled and bashed by SSR fans for allegedly being his ‘murderer’. However, re cently what has left neti zens fuming is Rhea Chakraborty’s latest photos with Bollywood biggies like Karan Johar and others.

On Monday, November 14, Karan Johar was seen par tying with the stars of Fab ulous Lives of Bollywood Wives. In the photos shared by Sohail Khan's ex-wife Seema Kiran Sajdeh on her Instagram account, she was seen posing with the ace

wrote,

anveer Singh and Deepika Padu kone are one of the most beautiful couples in BTown. The couple re cently celebrated their fourth wed ding anniversary on Monday but unfor tunately were unable to celebrate to gether. While Deepika was busy with her work commitments, Ranveer had just flown after his foreign business. But being the doting husband that he is, the actor made sure to pack in

Bollywood producer and the other two stars from the show, Maheep Kapoor and Bhavana Pandey. Seeing Karan and Rhea together, Sushant Singh Rajput's fans stormed Seema's comments section calling the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director and Chehre actress 'murderers'. One of Sushant's fans

"Now I don't have any doubt left regarding SSR murder being linked to KJo n gang", while an other commented, "Omg boycotting this show...Why would you hang out with Rhea!!!".

Umar Riaz

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone

His story...

Rhea Chakraborty

Seema Sajdeh’s post...

Shubman Gill and Sara Ali Khan

Karan Kundrra

Poster of the film

Radhika Madan